Reconstructing the History of Assyrians in Ukraine

A leading scholar from the University of Customs and Finance in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, Professor Dr. Artur Margulov appeared recently on the Assyrian think tank Platform Turabdin to share his extensive research into the harrowing and often overlooked history of the Assyrian minority in Ukraine and the broader Soviet space.

Spanning the early 20th century to the present day, Margulov's work, drawn from over 20 state archives and five KGB repositories, paints a vivid picture of a community navigating the treacherous waters of cultural self-assertion and state-sponsored repression.

Margulov explained during the session that the Assyrian presence in Ukraine began largely as a result of the upheaval during World War I (1914--1918), as families fled from the Urmia region in Iran and south eastern Turkey. Professor Margulov, whose own great-grandfather was shot by Ottoman forces and whose father was born in a Soviet labor camp, noted that these refugees initially viewed their stay as temporary. "They brought with them a tribal and religious system of self-governance," Margulov explained. "They did not rush to learn Russian or Ukrainian, as they relied on their own religious leaders and traditions to survive."

By the 1920s and 30s, the Soviet state began to view this "autonomous" existence with deep suspicion. Margulov's research highlights a dual identity during this era: while the Assyrian community was developing a modern national identity with its own political parties and literature, the Soviet authorities labeled them as a "dark, patriarchal force."

The 1930s marked a period of intense "Sovietization." The state attempted to Latinize the Assyrian alphabet to spread communist ideology and eventually closed all Assyrian schools, forcing children into Russian-language education. The repression peaked in 1938 when the NKVD, the Soviet Union's internal security and secret police agency, targeted Assyrians under the guise of persecuting "Persian subjects." Margulov presented chilling archival evidence of Assyrians being executed for "illegal border crossings" or simply for belonging to the intelligentsia.

Today, the Assyrian community in Ukraine faces a new set of challenges. The ongoing war has physically divided the community between those in Ukrainian-controlled territories and those in occupied zones. Culturally, the impact of decades of Soviet assimilation is evident. "The fourth generation has almost entirely lost the language," Margulov lamented, though he noted that cultural hallmarks like the Kha b-Nisan (Assyrian New Year) and traditional dances still offer a sense of unity.

Professor Margulov is currently preparing an English version of his monograph to ensure this history reaches a global audience. "History tells us how identity is shaped under pressure," Margulov concluded. "There is still much to be made visible that would otherwise remain unseen."
Global focus on China-U.S. trade talks to set tone for economic engagement

10:31, March 16, 2026 By Zhong Sheng ( People's Daily

On March 13, a piece of news quickly made global headlines. China's Ministry of Commerce announced that the sixth round of China-US economic and trade consultations will soon be held in France.

This will mark a new round of talks under the framework of the China-US economic and trade consultation mechanism, following previous meetings in Geneva, London, Stockholm, Madrid and Kuala Lumpur.

This year is widely viewed as pivotal for China-US relations. Whether bilateral economic and trade ties can continue the stabilizing momentum that the world hopes to see makes this round of consultations particularly significant.

China's "two sessions," the annual sessions of the country's top legislature  the National People's Congress, and top political advisory body, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference  have just concluded. A key outcome of the "two sessions" this year was the review and approval of a draft outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030). The document charts China's development blueprint for the next five years and also presents the international community with a new list of opportunities.

The plan outlines China's commitment to coordinating foreign investment attraction with outbound investment. This aims to cultivate new advantages in international trade and two-way investment cooperation, enhance efforts to attract and utilize foreign investment, and promote international industrial and investment collaboration.

As China enters the 15th Five-Year Plan period, the country will steadily advance high-quality development and remain firmly committed to expanding high-level opening-up. In doing so, it will continue to unlock the potential of its enormous market and provide businesses from around the world with new opportunities.

American companies are, naturally, among the partners welcomed by China. This is one reason why the "two sessions" have drawn broad attention across the US. As a report on the website of CNN noted, a message coming from Beijing is that China's push for innovation-driven development will benefit the world.

American businesses are eager to seize the new opportunities arising from China-US cooperation. Whether these opportunities can materialize, however, largely depends on how the US government handles its economic and trade relationship with China.

Recently, US trade policy has been undergoing a reset, yet its protectionist tendencies remain unchanged, adding fresh uncertainty to the global economic and trade order.

Last month, the US Supreme Court ruled that certain tariffs imposed by the US were unlawful. Since then, citing Section 301 of the US Trade Act of 1974, the US side has launched new investigations into 16 major economies, including China, and 60 economies respectively, on the grounds of so-called "overcapacity" and the alleged failure to take action against so-called "forced labor."

The news has triggered widespread concern, and within the United States itself it has also drawn considerable criticism. The reason is simple: American companies have long borne the brunt of tariff shocks.

Research by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York indicated that about 90 percent of the "tariff costs" in the US in 2025 were borne by American consumers and businesses. A report by the JP Morgan Chase Institute likewise said that mid-sized US companies have been hit particularly hard by tariffs, with their monthly tariff expenditures now tripling previous levels.

Whether to uphold openness and cooperation or resort to protectionism  this question once again confronts the US. China's answer remains consistent: the essence of China-US economic and trade relations is mutual benefit and win-win cooperation. The two sides should enable each other's success and pursue common development, rather than impose artificial constraints or tie their own hands.

The stabilization of China-US economic and trade relations has not come easily, and this momentum should not be undermined. Over the past year, the economic and trade teams of the two countries have held five rounds of consultations. Despite twists and turns, the two sides ultimately returned to the right track of resolving differences through dialogue, sparing the world economy from a potential storm.

Through both friction and dialogue, valuable experience has been gained in managing economic and trade differences. Given the immense scale and scope of China-US economic and trade ties, disagreements and frictions in specific areas are inevitable.

When facing such issues, both sides should uphold the principles of equality, mutual respect and mutual benefit, focus on the big picture, and not exaggerate isolated issues. Both sides should look at the overall interests and take a long-term perspective, ensuring that economic and trade ties continue to serve as a ballast and engine for China-US relations, rather than becoming stumbling blocks or sources of confrontation.

As the new round of consultations approaches, China's position is clear: China has always been committed to properly resolving differences through consultations on an equal footing and will never compromise its legitimate rights and interests in exchange for concessions. Should any action substantially harm China's legitimate development interests, China has ample policy tools and response measures at its disposal and will resolutely take countermeasures.

In the long run, China's development and rejuvenation are not contradictory to the US' pursuit of making itself great again. Both China and the United States are major countries; neither can change the other side, but they can change the way they interact. Upholding mutual respect, safeguarding the bottom line of peaceful coexistence, and striving for a future of win-win cooperation serve the interests of both peoples and meet the expectations of the world. The new round of China-US economic and trade consultations should become the starting point for positive and constructive economic engagement between the two countries in the new year.

(Zhong Sheng is a pen name often used by People's Daily to express its views on foreign policy and international affairs.)

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
NEW YORK  On January 1, 2026, Zohran Kwame Mamdani was sworn in as New York City's 112th mayor in the abandoned City Hall subway station, taking the oath on the Quran, with Bernie Sanders officiating the public inauguration. At 34, the democratic socialist and former state assemblyman became the city's first Muslim and first Asian American mayor  and immediately set about trying to transform the economic foundations of the most powerful urban economy on earth.

Born in Kampala, Uganda, and raised in New York, Mamdani built his political profile through grassroots activism: hunger striking alongside taxi drivers to secure over $450 million in debt relief, pushing through a fare-free bus pilot, and defeating a proposed power plant in Astoria. His message  that government can and should lower the cost of living for ordinary New Yorkers  resonated in a city where median rents have soared past $3,500 a month and where poverty has risen even as Wall Street notched record profits.

He now governs a city whose economy generates $2 trillion in annual GDP, more than any other metropolitan area in the world. What he does next will ripple far beyond the five boroughs.

The Agenda: Six Pillars of a Progressive City

Mamdani's platform is one of the most ambitious in modern New York mayoral history. The centerpiece proposals are: a four-year freeze on rents for roughly one million rent-stabilized apartments; universal free childcare from age six weeks; fare-free city buses; a $30-per-hour minimum wage by 2030; city-owned grocery stores offering produce at wholesale prices; and a new Department of Community Safety at an estimated cost of $1.1 billion annually.

To pay for this agenda, Mamdani has called for a 2% increase in personal income taxes on New Yorkers earning over $1 million per year, as well as hikes in the city's corporate tax rate. "That 2% tax would resolve nearly half of our budget deficit," Mamdani told Albany lawmakers in February. "I will continue to advocate for these policies not only because they offer the most direct route out of this budget crisis, but because they will transform what is possible in our state."

The ambition is undeniable. So is the complexity.

The Budget Reality: A $7 Billion Gap and a Credit Warning

Three months into his tenure, Mamdani faces a sobering fiscal reckoning. The mayor inherited a city where every major employment sector except healthcare lost jobs in 2025. The city added a meager 27,100 jobs last year, with losses in manufacturing, retail, finance, professional services, and leisure and hospitality.

Mamdani initially estimated a cumulative two-year budget gap of $12 billion  a figure he described as worse than the Great Recession. Wall Street's record bonus season helped narrow that projection: the mayor announced in February that aggressive savings measures and a revised revenue forecast had brought the gap down to $7 billion. "I'm glad to report that by assuming an aggressive posture on savings without compromising city services, incorporating updated revenue and bonus estimates, and using in-year reserves, we have lowered that $12 billion gap to $7 billion," he said in an address to state lawmakers.

The relief was short-lived. This week, Moody's changed its outlook on New York City's credit from stable to negative for the first time since the pandemic, citing the city's projected spending exceeding likely revenues over the next four years. S&P issued its own risk warnings. City Comptroller Mark Levine was blunt: "New York City is spending more money than it takes in."

The Mamdani administration has proposed a preliminary $127 billion budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1  a record  and has projected a major increase in Wall Street hiring to help offset the fiscal gap. Budget watchdogs warn this assumption is risky given current market volatility, global uncertainty, and the impact of federal tariff policies on the broader economy.

The Tax Battle in Albany

Virtually every major plank of Mamdani's agenda requires approval from Albany. New York's governor, Kathy Hochul, controls the levers on taxation and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and she has so far resisted the mayor's most ambitious proposals.

Hochul threw cold water on plans to raise income taxes on the wealthy, though she has left the door open on a potential corporate tax increase. Both chambers of the state legislature included tax hikes in their own budget proposals last week, but Hochul, facing a re-election campaign in 2026, has refused to sign off. The pattern  legislative inclusion without final agreement  has played out repeatedly in recent years.

Mamdani has countered by proposing a property tax increase and tapping city reserves as a "last resort" to pressure Albany, though both measures face broad political opposition. The property tax system in New York is widely considered inequitable, placing the heaviest burden on rental buildings and overtaxing homeowners in predominantly non-white neighborhoods.

Real Estate: Investors on Edge

No sector is watching Mamdani more closely than real estate. His pledge to freeze rents on approximately one million stabilized apartments has drawn fierce opposition from landlords, developers, and housing economists, even as it has energized tenant advocates.

The rent freeze would be implemented through the city's nine-member Rent Guidelines Board, which the mayor controls. But outgoing Mayor Eric Adams appointed or reappointed four board members in his final days in office, potentially delaying any freeze by a year or more. Mamdani would need to wait for those members' terms to expire before reshaping the board.

Critics argue the freeze, however popular, could backfire. New York Apartment Association CEO Kenny Burgos warned that the policy could deter developers: "I don't know any investor or builder who would want to build in a city where the mayor is threatening to cap revenues." Business analyst Ed Elson echoed those concerns, arguing that freezes paradoxically reduce housing supply by discouraging new construction, pushing rents higher in non-stabilized units.

On affordable housing, Mamdani has proposed building 200,000 new subsidized apartments over a decade  tripling the city's current pace  funded through up to $100 billion in municipal bonds and higher taxes. For developers, the dual signal  more housing but stricter rent controls and higher taxes  has created a climate of uncertainty.

Notably, voters in the 2025 general election approved city charter amendments that shift power over land use decisions from the city council to the mayor and city officials, ending individual council members' effective veto over zoning changes in their districts. This gives Mamdani a tool none of his recent predecessors had: the ability to push through pro-housing zoning reforms that previously stalled in council.

Businesses Sound the Alarm  and Rivals Circle

The reaction from the business community has ranged from cautious to alarmed. Proposals for higher corporate taxes, a $30 minimum wage, and city-owned grocery stores have rattled the financial sector, generating sharp criticism from some of the nation's most prominent executives and local politicians.

The Dallas mayor, Eric Johnson, predicted an "avalanche" of Wall Street firms fleeing to Texas if Mamdani pursues his full agenda. Goldman Sachs is already building a 14-floor campus in Dallas; JPMorgan Chase employs more workers in Texas than in New York. "Now New York has a mayor who is openly hostile towards the business community and is pushing for higher taxes on job creators," Johnson said.

The concerns extended to neighboring states. Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont cautioned before the election that Mamdani's policies could destabilize Wall Street and ripple into Connecticut's own financial ecosystem. "New York City is the financial capital of the world, and we're a big piece of it here," Lamont said.

The financial industry accounted for roughly 7% of New York City's total tax revenue during the 2024 fiscal year. Any sustained exodus of financial firms would have direct consequences for the city's ability to fund Mamdani's social programs. The Mamdani administration has countered that working- and middle-class residents have already been leaving New York for years due to its cost of living  and that affordability is itself an economic competitiveness issue.

A Bifurcated Economy and Social Crosscurrents

The economic picture Mamdani faces is, by most accounts, a tale of two cities. A booming Wall Street has fueled record bonuses and bolstered state income tax collections; at the same time, wage growth for most New Yorkers has failed to keep up with costs, poverty has increased, and hundreds of thousands of residents face the loss of Medicaid and food stamp benefits due to federal policy changes.

Mamdani's first weeks in office were marked by crises beyond his budget: a January winter storm killed 14 people in the city, and in March, a homemade explosive device was thrown at Gracie Mansion during an anti-Islam protest. Two suspects were taken into custody and federal charges were filed.

In February, Mamdani signed an executive order requiring ICE agents to obtain judicial warrants in New York City  a direct confrontation with the Trump administration's immigration enforcement priorities. The move was consistent with his overall stance: politically combative with Washington, pragmatic in his dealings with Albany, and deeply focused on delivering economic relief to working-class New Yorkers.

The Verdict: Promise vs. Prose

In his November victory speech, Mamdani quoted Mario Cuomo's maxim that politicians "campaign in poetry" but "govern in prose." The prose of his first months in office has revealed both the scope of his ambitions and the scale of the obstacles before him.

His agenda is transformational in intent, but every major program must run a gauntlet of Albany politics, credit rating agencies, business community pressure, and a budget that currently spends more than it collects. The path from proposal to policy is strewn with constraints no election victory can dissolve.

What is clear is that New York is running an experiment that the world is watching. If Mamdani succeeds, he will have demonstrated that one of the world's great financial capitals can redistribute its wealth downward while remaining economically vital. If he fails, critics will use the city as a cautionary tale about the limits of progressive governance.

Either way, the stakes  for New York's eight million residents, for the businesses that anchor its economy, and for the global conversation about cities and inequality  could hardly be higher.

Originally published on IBTimes
16 March 2026 08:30 (UTC+04:00)

Akbar Novruz Read more

Azerbaijan boasts a wealth of natural therapeutic resources, including crude oil baths in Naftalan and 300 mineral springs in Lachin. However, the country is largely unnoticed in the global health tourism market, which is valued at hundreds of billions of dollars. Experts warn that the opportunity to capitalize on this market is closing rapidly.

Somewhere in the spa towns of Turkiye, a Russian retiree is soaking in a mineral pool. In Budapest, a German tourist browses brochures for thermal cures. In Georgia, a diaspora family has booked a sanatorium stay combining mountain air with cutting-edge diagnostics. And in Azerbaijan, a country sitting on one of the most extraordinary concentrations of natural healing resources on earth, the phone is barely ringing.

This is the central paradox facing Azerbaijan's health tourism sector: enormous natural endowment, negligible international profile. The country possesses Naftalan crude oil, unique in the world for its therapeutic application in treating skin and joint conditions; more than 900 mud volcanoes; hundreds of mineral springs; salt caves; and climatic microzones spanning subtropical lowlands and high alpine air. Yet most of this remains either entirely unbranded, or known only to a dwindling clientele of post-Soviet regulars.

Azerbaijan's healing waters are world-class. So why does almost nobody know about them?

"Azerbaijan has a vast array of natural healing resources, from Naftalan oil to over 900 mud volcanoes - yet most of them are not part of any national tourism product. We haven't told our story properly," - says Ruslan Guliyev, Chairman, Azerbaijan Health and Thermal Tourism Support Association.

The comparison that haunts Azerbaijani policymakers most is Turkiye. A generation ago, Turkey's health tourism sector was similarly underdeveloped. Today, it is a global juggernaut. In 2023, the country recorded revenues of $3.1 billion from health tourism, welcoming approximately 1.65 million patients. The government has set a target of $20 billion by 2028, a figure that would place it among the world's leading medical destinations.

What Turkiye did was not miraculous, perhaps. JCI-accredited hospitals, state incentives, a coordinated national brand, and a relentless digital presence combined to make health tourism not a side note but a pillar of national economic strategy. Hair transplants, cosmetic surgery and dental tourism became internationally synonymous with Turkish expertise. The lesson for Baku is not that Azerbaijan must copy Ankara, but that targeted investment and narrative clarity can transform niche resources into substantial economic contributors.

The most consequential new chapter in Azerbaijan's health tourism story may be unfolding in its recently liberated territories. The Garabagh and East Zangezur economic regions, historically famed for natural beauty and resource richness, are now the focus of intensive reconstruction. And beneath that reconstruction lies an extraordinary therapeutic foundation.

The mineral springs of Istisu in Kalbajar, Gotursu in Zangilan, and more than 300 further sources identified across Lachin represent a concentration of balneological wealth that few countries can match. New international airports in Fuzuli, Zangilan and Lachin, alongside the already-operational Khojaly airport, are dramatically cutting travel times. The infrastructure of access, in other words, is being built. The question is whether the tourism product will follow.

"The area has the required traits. All it needs is a bold and calculated endeavour to place health tourism as a core element of sustainable economic growth," according to the DTA Report, State Tourism Agency of Azerbaijan, 2022.

There is also a fiscal dimension. Recent amendments to Azerbaijan's Tax Code now entitle foreign nationals and stateless individuals to a full VAT refund on non-cash medical payments, a meaningful competitive edge over neighbouring markets. Combined with the country's comparatively lower price base, this creates genuine value-for-money potential for international patients, if only they can be made aware of it.

What's holding Azerbaijan back

The most structurally damaging legacy, he argues, was the repurposing of health facilities in the 1990s to house internally displaced persons, an entirely understandable humanitarian necessity that nonetheless severed the link between healthcare infrastructure and tourism market development for three decades. Rebuilding that ecosystem requires not just bricks and pipes but institutional memory and market positioning that takes years to establish.

The sector's other deficiencies are catalogued in the sole comprehensive government-commissioned report available on the subject, published in 2022:

Poor global recognition of Azerbaijan as a health tourism destination

Fragmented infrastructure at rural therapy centres and spa facilities

Limited digital branding and international marketing presence

No integration with global medical tourism aggregator platforms

Absence of international accreditation (such as JCI) at major clinics

No unified pricing transparency or online booking infrastructure

Lack of a quality standards framework for international medical tourists

The generational shift in consumer expectations compounds these structural problems. Younger domestic and international tourists are no longer satisfied with Soviet-style sanatorium programmes. They seek hybrid experiences combining wellness, diagnostics, recreation, and flexibility. Guliyev advocates for what he calls a "7-dn 77-y", from 7 to 77, model of multigenerational medical clusters, integrating services for every age group under one roof. No such facility currently exists in Azerbaijan.

What would it actually take to transform Azerbaijan's health tourism sector?

Specialists and policy analysts converge on five priorities. First, the creation of a Unified Medical Tourism Council under the joint auspices of the Ministry of Health and the Tourism Board, a body with genuine coordination power across the currently fragmented ministerial landscape. Second, a serious push for JCI accreditation at major clinics, backed by state incentives to defray the cost of meeting international standards.

Third, an integrated digital platform, encompassing web and mobile, providing international patients with searchable information on procedures, clinic ratings, language support and visa facilitation. Fourth, the embedding of medical tourism into national brand campaigns such as "Experience Azerbaijan," including partnerships with influencers and agencies in key source markets: Russia, Iran, Georgia and, crucially, the Azerbaijani diaspora communities across Central Asia and Eastern Europe. And fifth, the revival and globalisation of Naftalan, Qalaalt and Duzdag as internationally recognised balneological destinations, developed sustainably and with cultural integrity intact.

The economics of health tourism make this investment attractive beyond the obvious revenue headline. Health tourists stay longer than leisure visitors, between 12 and 28 days on average, typically, accompanied by family members, generating substantially higher per-capita spending. And critically, health tourism is non-seasonal. It offers the revenue stability that sun-and-beach tourism, or even cultural tourism, cannot guarantee.

"Without definite action, Azerbaijan becomes a spectator in a sector where it boasts geographic, cultural, and medical advantages compared to most regional competitors," according to the Research on Azerbaijan's health tourism policy gap, 2025.

The diagnosis, then, is clear. Azerbaijan is not short of what health tourists are looking for. It is short of the institutional architecture, the international narrative, and the political will to bring those two realities together. In a region where Turkiye, Georgia, and even Jordan are actively competing for the same patients, the cost of continued inaction rises every year. The healing waters are there. The question is simply whether anyone will build the path to reach them.
16 March 2026 13:02 (UTC+04:00)

Laman Ismayilova Read more

A concert titled "Prokofiev-135," dedicated to the anniversary of the prominent Russian composer, pianist and conductor Sergei Prokofiev, has taken place at the Grand Hall of the Baku Music Academy, AzerNEWS reports.

The event paid tribute to the remarkable legacy of the 20th-century musical visionary, bringing audiences together to celebrate the enduring brilliance and influence of Prokofiev's work.

The host and artistic director of the project, Alena Inyakina, a Doctor of Philosophy in Art Studies and senior lecturer at the academy, spoke about the key stages of the brilliant musician's life and creative work. She highlighted how Prokofiev, a vivid innovator whose works are distinguished by a unique and easily recognizable style, significantly influenced many composers of subsequent generations and contributed to the development of academic music as a whole.

Sergei Prokofiev's work marked an entire era in the world's musical culture of the 20th century. The Baku audience had a unique opportunity to experience the legacy of one of the most influential composers of the last century.

During the evening, the First Piano Concerto, piano pieces "Sarcasms" and "Suggestion Diabolique", fragments from the opera War and Peace (opera), ballets Romeo and Juliet (Prokofiev ballet) and Cinderella (Prokofiev ballet), as well as romances composed to poems by Anna Akhmatova and Zinaida Gippius were performed.

The program featured performances by Honored Artist of Azerbaijan Anton Fershtandt and international competition laureates, including soloist of the Azerbaijan State Academic Musical Theatre Yulia Heydarova, senior lecturer of the academy Lada Mukhtarova, associate professor Nargiz Kangarli, Zuleykha Usubova, and academy student Azerin Mustafazade (class of Professor N. Rimazi).

Media partners of the event are Azernews.Az, Trend.Az, Day.Az, and Milli.Az.
16 March 2026 14:21 (UTC+04:00)

Laman Ismayilova Read more

The Grand Hall of the Heydar Aliyev Palace in Baku was filled with anticipation as one of the greatest masterpieces of world opera, Giuseppe Verdi's Aida, took the stage in a breathtaking performance, AzerNEWS reports.

From the very first notes, the audience was transported to the grandeur and intrigue of Ancient Egypt  a world where love, duty, loyalty, and tragic choices collide.

This four-act opera, renowned for its sweeping choral scenes, epic musical landscapes, and nuanced psychological storytelling, once again proved why Aida is celebrated as one of the pinnacles of operatic art. The evening became an extraordinary journey through Verdi's genius, leaving the audience spellbound.

A highlight of the performance was the debut of the role of Radames by the world-renowned tenor and People's Artist of Azerbaijan, Yusif Eyvazov. His commanding presence and powerful, expressive voice imbued the Egyptian commander with dramatic depth and emotional resonance, captivating the audience from the first aria.

Sharing the stage with him were Azerbaijan's finest operatic talents: Afag Abbasova as Aida, Fidan Gadiyeva as Amneris, Avez Abdulla as Amonasro, Gulnaz Ismayilova as the High Priestess, Akram Poladov as Ramfis, Igor Yadrov as Pharaoh, and Fakhmin Akhmadli as the Herald. Each performance shone with technical mastery and dramatic intensity, creating a truly immersive experience.

The production was led by Honored Artist Ayyub Guliyev as musical director and conductor, staged by Honored Art Worker of Georgia Mikheil Kvaliashvili, and directed by Honored Art Worker Khafiz Guliyev. The set and artistic design by Honored Art Worker Ayyub Fataliyev, along with the choreography by People's Artist of the USSR Gamar Almaszade, brought a visual splendor that complemented the music. Choir master Sevil Gadiyeva and concertmasters Daniil Kirillov, Roza Salimova, and Ilakha Sadikhzade ensured every note resonated with clarity and precision.

With its monumental staging, rich scenic design, and compelling musical drama, the evening became more than a concert, it was a full theatrical spectacle. The standing ovation and prolonged applause reflected the audience's admiration, as Verdi's immortal masterpiece left an indelible mark on all who attended.

Media partners of the event are Azernews.Az,Trend.Az, Day.Az, and Milli.Az.
16 March 2026 17:35 (UTC+04:00)

Laman Ismayilova Read more

The International Mugham Center hosts a wide range of projects dedicated to preserving and promoting the country's musical and literary heritage. Through these initiatives, the Center brings together musicians, poets, and audiences to celebrate and sustain Azerbaijan's rich artistic traditions.

Among these initiatives is the "Sound of the Instrument, Breath of the Word" project, which explores the deep connection between poetry and music. This time, the Center honored the 120th anniversary of People's Poet Samad Vurgun, AzerNEWS reports.

Ilhama Gasabova, PhD in Philology, delivered a detailed address at the event, highlighting the life, achievements, and enduring literary significance of Samad Vurgun.

She emphasized that Vurgun was not only one of the most prominent representatives of 20th-century Azerbaijani literature but also gained widespread respect as a playwright, public figure, and cultural influencer. Dr. Gasabova further discussed the close connection between Vurgun's poetry and the ashik (folk bard) tradition, noting how his verses continue to inspire both literary scholars and performers across Azerbaijan.

Yusif Aliyev, Director and Professor at the Quba branch of the Azerbaijan State Pedagogical University, and Ilham Pirmammadov, Chairman of the "Qazax Xeyriyy" Public Association and professor, spoke about the life and creativity of the poet. They noted that Samad Vurgun was a distinguished figure of Azerbaijani literature, whose rich lyricism and philosophical poems made significant contributions to the development of national poetry and expanded the poetic possibilities of the Azerbaijani language.

It was highlighted that National Leader Heydar Aliyev highly appreciated Samed Vurgun's creative legacy. The attention and respect shown to the poet's heritage at the state level continue to this day. In February of this year, President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree on celebrating the 120th anniversary of the great poet. Following this decree, a series of jubilee events are being held across the country.

The event continued with an artistic program. During the evening, People's Artists of Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan Gulyanaq Mammadova, Peoples Artists Gulyaz Mammadova and Nezaket Teymurova, Honored Artist Zakir Aliyev, the soloist of the International Mugham Center Kamila Nabiyeva, teacher at Khazar University and ashiq Ramin Garayev, performer Sahib Ibrahimov, and ashiqs Avdi Musayev, Shahin Suleymanov, and Samir Jalalov performed songs and ashiq pieces composed to the poet's verses.

At the end, a video clip showing moments of National Leader Heydar Aliyev reciting the poem "Azerbaijan" was presented.

Samad Vurgun remains one of the most influential figures in 20thcentury Azerbaijani literature, celebrated as a poet, playwright, translator, public figure, and academic. Born on March 21, 1906, in the village of Yukhari Salakhli in Gazakh district. His life and work came to embody the spirit of his nation's language and cultural identity.

Vurgun grew up in a humble rural environment. After completing his primary education locally, he continued his studies at the Gazakh Teachers' Seminary, where his talent for literature began to emerge. His first published poem, "Address to Youth," appeared in 1925 in the Tiflis (now Tbilisi) newspaper "Yeni Fikir".

He briefly studied at Moscow University (19291930) before returning to Azerbaijan to continue his literary and academic development at the Azerbaijan Pedagogical Institute.

Vurgun's body of work spans poetry, drama, translation, and literary criticism. His works are marked by passionate patriotism, lyrical richness, and philosophical depth, often reflecting the beauty, history, and human spirit of Azerbaijan. His widely beloved poem "Azerbaijan" has become a defining expression of national pride and identity.

His poetic output includes both lyrical poems and longer epic pieces such as "Mughan" and "Aygun."His exploration of the Great Patriotic War (World War II) produced more than 60 wartime poems, several of which, like "Mother's Parting Words," were recognized internationally and published abroad.

In drama, Samad Vurgun elevated Azerbaijani theater with verse plays such as "Vagif" (1937) and "Farhad and Shirin" (1941). These works blend national themes with universal human questions, and earned him prestigious awards, including the Stalin Prize.

Samad Vurgun was also a distinguished translator, bringing seminal works into Azerbaijani. Notably, he translated Alexander Pushkin's novel in verse "Eugene Onegin," for which he was awarded the Pushkin Committee Medal, and contributed translations of Shota Rustaveli's "The Knight in the Panther's Skin," as well as works by Maxim Gorky and Taras Shevchenko.

His deep respect for the Azerbaijani language and dedication to literary excellence helped shape modern Azerbaijani literature and made his works part of the Golden Fund of national literature.

Vurgun was not only a literary figure but also an active public intellectual. In 1945, he became a full member of the Azerbaijan Academy of Sciences and later served as VicePresident of the Academy. He was elected as a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR for multiple convocations and participated in cultural diplomacy abroad.

Over his lifetime, he received numerous state awards and honors, including high Soviet distinctions, reflecting his broad respect and recognition across the USSR.

Samad Vurgun passed away on May 27, 1956, and was laid to rest in Baku's Alley of Honor.

His legacy continues through literary study, commemorative events, and institutions such as the HouseMuseum of Samad Vurgun in Baku, which preserves his manuscripts, personal items, and artistic heritage.
16 March 2026 16:39 (UTC+04:00)

Laman Ismayilova Read more

An exhibition titled "The Birth of Suzani: The Story of an Embroiderer" has opened its doors at the Azerbaijan National Art Museum, AzerNEWS reports.

The exhibition features unique handmade embroidery pieces from Uzbekistan. The art project, jointly organized by the Azerbaijan Culture Ministry and the National Art Museum with the support of the Embassy of Uzbekistan in Azerbaijan and the Uzbek Association "Hunarmand", is dedicated to the revival and development of the traditions of the Tashkent school of embroidery.

The idea for the project, based on a creative dialogue between theory and practice, between art historians and masters, belongs to Binavshe Nodir, while the artistic expression and practical implementation are the work of the talented master Madina Kasymbayeva. Suzani is a fabric embroidered with natural silk threads.

Speakers at the event included the Azerbaijan Deputy Culture Minister Saadat Yusifova, Director of the National Art Museum, Honored Cultural Worker Shirin Malikova, the Ambassador of Uzbekistan to Azerbaijan Bahrom Ashrafkhanov, Doctor of Philosophy in Art History and editor-in-chief of the journals "Sanat" and "Hunarmand" Binavsha Nodir, Chairman of the Association "Hunarmand" Rasuljon Mirzaakhmedov, and President of the Turkic Culture and Heritage Foundation Aktoty Raimkulova. They expressed joy that the long-awaited exhibition is now in Baku and emphasized the importance of returning tradition to culture as a living art form.

In the documentary film presented by the organizers, visitors could learn about the complex and labor-intensive process of creating suzani, from preparing and dyeing the threads, applying the pattern to the canvas, to the magical moment when the master brings the fairy-tale ornaments to life. There are several schools of this remarkable embroiderySamarkand, Bukhara, Shakhrisabz, and otherseach of which preserves the history, nature, and way of life of the people in its symbols.

The displayed masterpieces, decorated with symbolic floral patterns made of silk threads or embroidery floss, bright colors of natural dyes, and perfect harmony of design, captivate viewers and inspire admiration for the skill and meticulous craftsmanship. Floral motifs, birds, pomegranates, the sun, and stars come alive in the hands of talented female artisans. When asked how much patience and time this work requires, the smiling Madina Khanum replied that it takes one master about eight months to complete an average-sized panel. Often, embroiderers divide the canvas into several sections, and after completing their parts, they join them with an invisible seam.

The central exhibit of the exhibition is one of the largest works in the history of Uzbek embroiderythe suzani "Oy-palyak", measuring 5.3  8 meters. The ornaments adorning it embody symbolic meaning, with each element carrying a special significance.

In the legends, songs, symbols, and ornaments that each people share with the world, there exists such rich diversity that losing these distinctions would mean losing a part of the very soul of the nation. The Tashkent school of suzani was revived thanks to the efforts of a creative team committed to the culture of their homeland. Today, experienced masters pass on their skills to young students, following the ancient tradition of transferring the right to the next stitch after the master.

The exhibition program also includes master classes by Madina Kasimbaeva and a lecture-presentation by Binavshe Nodir titled "The Topography of Tradition."

Visitors can view the exhibition up to April 30.

Media partners of the event are Azernews.Az, Trend.Az, Day.Az, and Milli.Az.
16 March 2026 15:34 (UTC+04:00)

Laman Ismayilova Read more

An evening of chamber music, bringing together prominent figures of the contemporary classical scene, took place in the Great Hall of the Tbilisi State Conservatoire named after Vano Sarajishvili, becoming a memorable event in the cultural life of the Georgian capital, AzerNEWS reports.

The event also served as another example of the vibrant creative dialogue between Azerbaijan and Georgia, demonstrating how art unites countries and cultures.

The performance featured an international trio: Elvin Hoxha Ganiyev, Honored Artist of Azerbaijan and laureate of international competitions, violin; the well-known Georgian cellist and international competition laureate Lizi Ramishvili; and pianist Irma Gigani.

The performers presented the audience with an exquisite chamber music program, noted for its subtle ensemble coordination, artistic depth, and expressive interpretation of classical repertoire.

The program included Piano Trio No. 39 by Joseph Haydn and Piano Trio No. 1 in B major, Op. 8 by Johannes Brahms. The performance was distinguished by meticulous precision, a rich dynamic palette, and emotional intensity, earning the trio a warm reception and prolonged applause from the audience.

In response to the enthusiastic reception, the musicians performed an encore: "Fantasy on Themes of Old Tbilisi" by the renowned Georgian composer Vazha Azarashvili. This moving musical miniature acted as an artistic tribute to the city, adding a special atmosphere to the evening.

Among the concert guests were prominent Georgian musicians, representatives of the cultural community, and staff from the Embassy of Azerbaijan in Georgia.

The musical program was complemented by an educational initiative. Ahead of the concert, free masterclasses were held in Tbilisi for young pianists and violinists, conducted by Irma Gigani and Elvin Hoxha Ganiyev. Talented young performers from various regions of Georgia participated. The event was supported by the Music Academy of the University of Georgia.

Today, Elvin Hoxha Ganiyev, Lizi Ramishvili, and Irma Gigani are recognized as leading figures of the contemporary global classical scene. Their collaborative work unites different schools of performance and traditions, showcasing the high level of modern chamber music culture. Their joint performances continue to attract international attention, and the new trio projects planned for 20262027 promise to become major events on the world chamber music stage.
16 March 2026 14:55 (UTC+04:00)

Elnur Enveroglu Read more

Fazil Mustafa, Chair of the Committee on Public Associations and Religious Organisations of Azerbaijan's National Assembly, has sent a letter to the writer Varis Yolcuyev, sharing his views on the recently published novel "Irvanda xan qalmad" (No Khan remained in Erivan).

The committee chair wrote:

Reviving historical memory through the medium of artistic expression is one of the most important manifestations of civic responsibility. In this work, you present the complex political processes that unfolded at the beginning of the nineteenth century, the fate of the Erivan Khanate, and the dramatic events that took place in Azerbaijani lands during that period through a combination of literary imagination and historical fact. In doing so, the book strengthens the readers sense of historical reflection and national memory. I would particularly like to emphasise that works of this nature contribute to strengthening societys historical consciousness, preserving national memory, and reinforcing the moral foundations of civil society. The expression of historical justice through artistic literature plays a distinctive role in shaping public thought and consolidating a sense of national identity. I am confident that works such as Irvanda xan qalmad will make a significant contribution to increasing readers interest in our history, preserving national memory, and making Azerbaijani literature even more appealing for new generations.

Varis Yolcuyev (often published simply as Varis) is an Azerbaijani writer, journalist, and public intellectual known for his contributions to contemporary Azerbaijani literature and media. Born in 1969 in Baku, he graduated from the Faculty of Journalism at Baku State University. Over the years, he has built a career that combines literary writing with journalism and public commentary.

Yolcuyev first gained recognition through his work in the Azerbaijani press, where he wrote analytical articles, essays, and cultural commentary. His journalism often explores social issues, national identity, and historical memory, themes that later became central to his literary works. In addition to working in the media sector, he has held editorial and communication roles in various institutions and has remained an active voice in Azerbaijans intellectual and cultural life.

As a novelist, Varis Yolcuyev is known for blending historical themes, social analysis, and dramatic storytelling. His works frequently explore Azerbaijans past and present, focusing on the moral dilemmas of individuals caught within broader political and historical transformations. Through fiction, he often revisits episodes of regional history and national experience, aiming to engage readers with both narrative depth and historical reflection.

His recent novel, Irvanda xan qalmad (No Khan remained in Erivan), reflects this approach by examining historical developments surrounding the fate of the Erivan Khanate and the political upheavals of the early nineteenth century.

Today, Varis Yolcuyev is regarded as one of the notable contemporary voices in Azerbaijani literature, contributing to discussions about history, identity, and society through both journalism and fiction.
16 March 2026 22:44 (UTC+04:00)

By Mazahir Afandiyev I AzerNEWS

The South Caucasus region, located between the East and the West, has historically served as the border area of several states and as a place where different peoples have lived together. For centuries, through the Silk Road, this region contributed to the strengthening of economic relations between states and cultural ties among peoples, creating conditions for people to live here in prosperity.

From the perspective of cooperation with Europe, the South Caucasus holds an important geopolitical position on the Asian continent. However, geopolitical developments that have taken place in the region over the past 30 years have affected the security and peace of the peoples living here and have hindered sustainable socio-economic development.

The magnificent Victory achieved by Azerbaijan in the Second Karabakh Patriotic War created new realities in the region and laid the base for discussions on fundamental development strategies.

On March 11 of this year, during the visit of the President of the European Council, Antonio Costa, to Azerbaijan, it was emphasized in the joint press statement with President Ilham Aliyev that our country has always attached great importance to mutual dialogue and close cooperation.

The remarks made by President Ilham Aliyev during his speech once again demonstrated how actively Azerbaijan cooperates with the European Union to ensure the integration of the region into the newly forming political architecture of the world. The Presidents words  In January of this year, 50 percent of our trade turnover was connected with the European Union. Last year the turnover was slightly lower, but it clearly shows that the European Union is our number one trade partner  are a clear example of relations developing with positive dynamics.

In particular, after the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on a Strategic Partnership in the Energy Sector between Azerbaijan and the European Union on July 18, 2022, our country became a key actor for the EU in the region.

Today, against the backdrop of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the global political architecture is rapidly being reshaped. Under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijan is not only a country possessing energy resources within this architecture, but also acts as a guarantor of global security and stability. The visit of the President of the European Council to Baku demonstrates that Brussels regards Azerbaijan as an indispensable partner in the Eurasian spaceone that pursues an independent foreign policy and plays a decisive role in shaping regional configurations.

Based on the historic Declaration signed on August 8, 2025, in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, the agreement on launching the Zangezur Corridor will create new transportation opportunities across Eurasia. This will increase the geopolitical importance of closer connections between Europe and Asia and will also strengthen AzerbaijanEU partnership in practical terms.

The relations established so far between Azerbaijan and the EU represent an effective example of cooperation based on mutual respect and tangible results. Projects such as the Southern Gas Corridor and Green Energy initiatives in the field of energy security are successful outcomes of this cooperation. However, as President Ilham Aliyev has emphasized, these relations now have the potential to go beyond existing frameworks and encompass broader areas.

In general, the issues discussed during the meeting indicate that our partnership with the EU, alongside traditional fields, may also include several new directions aimed at addressing the challenges of the modern era.

Today, the application of artificial intelligence technologies in ensuring sustainable development has become a matter of common interest for all sides. Azerbaijan, as in many other fields, is ready to bring advanced digital solutions into the partnership framework in this area as well.

In this context, emphasizing the role of citizens and exchanging experience in the further modernization of public services (such as the ASAN Service model) also aligns with the EUs social policy agenda.

At the same time, joint efforts in protecting cyberspaceone of the most sensitive areas of global and regional securityas well as in intelligent border management could be considered a direct contribution to the security of both the South Caucasus and Europe.

Thus, by transforming Europes energy map, Azerbaijan is also becoming a central hub for security and development corridors in the new world order. It can be confidently stated that the AzerbaijanEU partnership both meets our countrys national interests and creates a reliable foundation for achieving goals arising from global challenges.

-----

The author is a Member of the Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan

The views and opinions expressed by guest columnists in their articles may differ from those of the editorial board and do not necessarily reflect its views.
More than six weeks after 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie was abducted from her Tucson home, the investigation into her disappearance remains active but without a named suspect or confirmed arrest, authorities said March 13, 2026, as the case entered its 41st day.

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos provided the latest update, stating investigators believe the abduction was targeted and they have a working theory on motive, though he declined to elaborate publicly. "We believe we know why he did this, and we believe that it was targeted," Nanos said in an interview, adding he could not rule out the possibility of the perpetrator striking again. He emphasized the home was specifically chosen, but stressed the investigation continues to explore all angles.

Nancy Guthrie, mother of NBC "Today" show co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, was last seen around 9:45 p.m. on Jan. 31, 2026, after family members dropped her off following dinner and game night. She failed to appear for a virtual church service the next morning, prompting her family to report her missing Feb. 1. Authorities quickly determined she had been taken against her will, possibly in the middle of the night, describing the incident as a kidnapping.

Evidence collected includes DNA from black gloves found at the scene that did not match Nancy or her inner circle, though recent analysis led to a dead end. Investigators continue reviewing laboratory material, images and videos from cameras, including doorbell footage and neighborhood surveillance. A mysterious internet service disruption on the night of the abduction has drawn FBI scrutiny, with some neighbors reporting Ring camera histories unavailable from that period.

Multiple purported ransom notes have surfaced, demanding millions in Bitcoin with deadlines that passed without resolution. The family has posted emotional video pleas directly addressing potential captors, with Savannah Guthrie and siblings Annie and Camron saying "we will pay" and urging her safe return. On Feb. 24, they announced a $1 million reward for information leading to Nancy's recovery, supplementing the FBI's $100,000 offer. Tips can be submitted to 1-800-CALL-FBI.

The Pima County Sheriff's Department and FBI have cleared all family members, including Savannah Guthrie, her siblings and spouses, as suspects. Sheriff Nanos described the Guthries as cooperative victims in the case.

Savannah Guthrie, who has been off air since early February to support her family in Arizona, made an emotional visit to the "Today" studio in New York on March 5. She addressed colleagues, expressing gratitude for their support and affirming her intention to return to the anchor desk. "I'm still standing, and I still have hope, and I'm still me," she said, holding onto faith and quoting her mother: "Where else would I go?" A network spokesperson confirmed she plans to resume on-air duties but remains focused on family and efforts to bring Nancy home.

Public support has poured in, with flowers left at Nancy's Catalina Foothills home and widespread prayers shared online. Savannah posted a photo of the tributes March 2, noting one month since the abduction and asking people not to stop praying and hoping.

Investigators have followed thousands of tips, analyzed a damaged utility box near the residence (deemed unrelated by the sheriff but still examined by the FBI), and reviewed vehicles in the area. A Honda belonging to daughter Annie was impounded briefly for examination and is expected to be returned soon.

The case has captivated national attention, blending the high-profile status of Savannah Guthrie with the mystery of a seemingly random yet targeted crime against an elderly woman described as humble, faithful and proud of her family. No cognitive issues were reported for Nancy, who was in good health.

As the search stretches into March, authorities urge continued vigilance and tips from the public. The Pima County Sheriff's Office and FBI stress the investigation is far from over, with ongoing forensic work and analysis of digital and physical evidence.

The Guthrie family continues to hold out hope, their pleas underscoring a desperate wait for resolution in a case that has raised more questions than answers.

Originally published on ibtimes.com.au
16 March 2026 10:21 (UTC+04:00)

Qabil Ashirov Read more

Expired and unserviceable ammunition will be destroyed at a military training center in Azerbaijans Aghdara district, the countrys Ministry of Defense announced, AzerNEWS reports.

According to the ministry, the disposal operation will take place between March 16 and March 19. The munitions, which have reached the end of their service life and are no longer suitable for use, will be eliminated in strict compliance with established safety regulations at a training facility located in the district.

Officials noted that the controlled destruction process may produce audible explosions in the surrounding area. However, authorities stressed that the procedure is routine and conducted under strict safety measures.

The Ministry of Defense urged residents not to be alarmed by the sounds of explosions during the operation.

We call on the public not to panic due to the sounds of explosions and emphasize that there is no reason for concern, the ministry said in a statement.

The disposal of outdated ammunition is carried out regularly by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces as part of efforts to maintain safety standards and ensure that obsolete military stockpiles are safely removed.
16 March 2026 13:36 (UTC+04:00)

Akbar Novruz Read more

Azerenergy Open Joint Stock Company has signed procurement contracts with the Austrian company GUGLER Water Turbines GmbH for the supply of electromechanical equipment for three new small hydroelectric power stations (SHPs), AzerNEWS reports.

Within the framework of the projects, which have a total value exceeding (USD 12.4 million) 21.1 million AZN, the design, production, transportation, and installation of Francis-type water turbines will be carried out.

Under the agreement, Chardagli-1 and Chardagli-2 small hydroelectric power stations will receive the necessary electromechanical equipment as well as installation supervision. For this purpose, (USD 9.6 million) 16,355,579 AZN has been allocated.

In addition, a separate contract has been signed for the Aliagali small hydroelectric power station. The agreement, valued at (USD 2.8 million) 4,746,480 AZN, covers the supply of relevant equipment and the commissioning of the station.

The projects form part of Azerbaijans ongoing efforts to expand renewable energy capacity and strengthen the countrys hydropower infrastructure.
16 March 2026 16:00 (UTC+04:00)

Qabil Ashirov Read more

Sahiba Qafarova, Speaker of the National Assembly of Azerbaijan, met with Tulia Akson, President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), during the XIII Global Baku Forum, where Akson is visiting Azerbaijan, AzerNEWS reports.

According to the National Assemblys Press and Public Relations Department, the leaders discussed the importance of the forum and the value of discussions held within its framework. Speaker Qafarova highlighted Azerbaijans efforts to promote peace and dialogue amid current regional and international tensions, emphasizing that the Global Baku Forum provides an important platform to address pressing international concerns.

Tulia Akson underlined the forums significance as an international platform. She also praised President Ilham Aliyevs role and initiatives in the peace process between Azerbaijan and Armenia, noting that they serve as a model for resolving disputes between states.

The meeting also covered issues of international cooperation. Both sides expressed satisfaction with Azerbaijans active representation within the IPU and the strong level of parliamentary collaboration with the organization. Additionally, discussions were held on cooperation between the IPU and the Parliamentary Network of the Non-Aligned Movement.

The meeting underscored Azerbaijans commitment to multilateral dialogue and parliamentary diplomacy as a tool for peace and regional stability.
23 March 2026 15:00 (UTC+04:00)

By AzerNEWS Staff

By the close of 2025, Trend News Agency had surpassed the foremost media outlets of Central Asia and Iran, establishing itself as one of the most relevant and indemand sources of information from the region to the wider world. Independent data from Medialogia confirms this achievement.

Supporting diagrams underline Trends leading position in the media landscape.

Trend is an independent news agency specialising in coverage of pivotal events and developments across the Caspian Sea region and Central Asia. Its editorial independence and regional expertise have made it a trusted source for audiences worldwide.

Medialogia, recognised as a leader in media and social media monitoring and analysis, provides services to major commercial enterprises, government ministries and agencies, as well as regional administrations. The platform automatically monitors around 250,000 outlets, ensuring comprehensive and reliable data.

Data for Azerbaijan:

Data for Uzbekistan:

Data for Turkmenistan:
16 March 2026 17:23 (UTC+04:00)

Akbar Novruz Read more

The final hearing in the criminal case launched by the State Security Service of Azerbaijan against Martin Ryan, accused of espionage for France, and Azad Mammadli, charged with treason, has concluded.

According to AzerNEWS, the verdict was announced during a session at the Baku Grave Crimes Court, chaired by Judge Elmin Rustamov.

Under the courts decision, Martin Ryan was sentenced to 10 years in prison, while Azad Mammadli received a 12-year sentence. Both individuals will serve their terms in a strict-regime penitentiary facility.

The court also ruled that Ryan will be deported from Azerbaijan after completing his prison sentence.

According to the indictment, investigators determined that Ryan had received instructions to collect information related to weapons and ammunition produced in Azerbaijan, the recruitment of the Azerbaijani Army during the Second Garabagh War, and individuals who served in the Azerbaijani Armed Forces or were transferred to the reserve.

The charges also stated that Ryan was tasked with gathering information about Azerbaijani citizens who studied in France, foreign citizens and legal entities operating in Azerbaijan, and the possibility of organizing covert financial transfers through the country on behalf of French intelligence services. In addition, he allegedly collected information on Azerbaijans military cooperation and relations with several countries, including Turkiye, Pakistan, Iran, China, Algeria, Somalia, and states in Central Asia.

Authorities said Martin Ryan, who served as the general director of Merkorama LLC, was recruited for secret cooperation by employees of Frances foreign intelligence service, the Directorate-General for External Security (DGSE). According to investigators, he was later declared persona non grata and expelled from Baku.

Both suspects were arrested by the State Security Service on December 4, 2023. Ryan was charged under Article 276 (espionage) of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan, while Azerbaijani citizen Azad Mammadli was charged under Article 274 (treason).
16 March 2026 17:15 (UTC+04:00)

On March 16, a session of the Coordination Headquarters for the Centralized Resolution of Issues in the Liberated Territories of Azerbaijan was held in the city of Khojavend, chaired by Samir Nuriyev, Head of the Presidential Administration of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

AzerNEWS reports that as part of his visit to Khojavend, Nuriyev toured a sunflower oil factory located in the Qirmizi Bazar settlement of the district.

During the visit, officials were briefed on the factorys operations and its contribution to the local economy, highlighting the role of industry in supporting economic recovery in the liberated areas.
16 March 2026 20:01 (UTC+04:00)

Chaired by Samir Nuriyev, Head of the Presidential Administration of the Republic of Azerbaijan and head of the Coordination Headquarters for addressing issues in Azerbaijans liberated territories in a centralized manner, a regular meeting of the Coordination Headquarters was held in the city of Khojavend.

In his opening remarks, Samir Nuriyev emphasized that the Great Return to Azerbaijans liberated territories constitutes a key priority of state policy implemented under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev, forming an essential part of the countrys long-term development strategy, according to AzerNEWS. He noted that the initiative includes not only reconstruction but also restoring life in the region, ensuring sustainable development, and enabling the dignified return of former internally displaced persons.

The head of the Presidential Administration stressed that rebuilding basic infrastructure has been a key priority in the liberated territories. Projects restoring utilities and building transport networks have laid the foundation for the regions revival, while current efforts focus on housing and social facilities to support the return of former internally displaced persons.

Samir Nuriyev noted that 41 settlements in the liberated territories have been rebuilt or newly constructed, with more than 80,000 people now living, working, and studying there. He added that the resettlement process would accelerate as reconstruction progresses. It was also stated that projects in the liberated territories are being implemented within the First State Program on the Great Return, with the outlined measures being carried out consistently to achieve the set goals and ensure the successful continuation of reconstruction efforts.

Noting that sustainable resettlement depends on job creation, Samir Nuriyev highlighted the importance of expanding opportunities in agriculture, services, manufacturing, construction, and logistics, as well as promoting entrepreneurship and attracting investors.

He also described the restoration of historical, cultural, and religious monuments as a crucial component of the Great Return process, playing a key role in preserving national heritage for future generations.

In accordance with the meetings agenda, the Coordination Headquarters reviewed reports on the activities of the Interdepartmental Center of the Coordination Headquarters and the implementation of the First State Program on the Great Return to the Liberated Territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Reports were also presented on efforts in the areas of resettlement, increasing economic activity, developing entrepreneurship, and restoring cultural heritage.

In conclusion, relevant assignments were given to fulfill the tasks set by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

As part of the visit, members of the Coordination Headquarters viewed the progress of restoration, infrastructure, and economic projects underway in Khojavand district, also familiarizing themselves with the master plans of the Khojavand city and the Girmizi Bazar settlement.

They also inspected a newly repaired private house in the Khojavand city, the repair and restoration work carried out in Guzeykhirman village, were briefed on the Hadrut tourism development concept, as well as the upcoming hotel restoration project there; viewed the sunflower oil plant in Girmizi Bazar settlement of the Khojavend district and familiarized themselves with the operations of the plant and its contributions to the local economy.

In conclusion, the officials visited the Hadrut Mosque and the Azikh Cave, where they were informed about the development infrastructure concept of the Cave, as well as the archaeological studies being conducted in the area.
16 March 2026 08:00 (UTC+04:00)

The death toll of Israeli attacks on Lebanon since March 2 has climbved to 850, while the number of those displaced has climbed to 831,000., the country's Health Ministry said in an update on Sunday, AzerNEWS reports.

The ministry noted that there were more than 100 children among the fatalities and that over 2,000 people have been wounded in Israeli strikes.

Meanwhile, Israel claimed it killed a "key Palestinian terrorist who operated under the intelligence of the Iranian terror regime" in attacks on Lebanon over the weekend.

The United States and Israel are continuing their military operations against Iran, launching missiles that have struck multiple sites in central Isfahan province, resulting in dozens of reported casualties.

Iran's Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, stated that Tehran has never sought a ceasefire with the U.S. and is prepared for a prolonged conflict. In response, Iran has launched multiple missile attacks on Israel and claims to have targeted U.S. bases in Iraq and Kuwait. Additionally, they report that the radar system at Kuwait's international airport has been damaged.

U.S. President Donald Trump indicated that Iranian officials have reached out to him for a potential deal; however, he stated that the proposed terms are "not good enough yet."
16 March 2026 09:00 (UTC+04:00)

Akbar Novruz Read more

China and the US ended the first day of trade talks in Paris on Sunday without any major developments. Talks will continue tomorrow when the US delegation is set to leave. The Chinese delegation will stay one more day before leaving on Tuesday, AzerNEWS reports.

The first day of the sixth round of trade talks between the worlds two biggest economies  led by Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent  was rather uneventful for journalists waiting outside the venue, the headquarters of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Vice-Premier He was accompanied by Li Chenggang, Chinas top international trade negotiator, and Bessent was with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.

Trumps visit to China will be the first for a U.S. president since he went in his first term in 2017. It will come five months after the two leaders met in the South Korean city of Busan and agreed to a one-year truce in a trade war that temporarily saw tit-for-tat tariffs soar to triple digits before the two sides climbed down.

Still, trade remains a source of tensions. The commerce ministry on Friday hit back against the Trump administrations new trade investigation into 16 trading partners, including China. The investigation  which came after a Supreme Court ruling struck down Trumps sweeping global tariffs that were imposed last year  could pave the way for new tariffs.

Another issue that could be discussed is the Iran war, especially when global anxiety is soaring over oil prices and supplies. Trump said Saturday that he hopes China, France, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom and others will send warships to keep the Strait of Hormuz open and safe.

Before Sundays talks, Gary Ng, a senior economist at French bank Natixis and a research fellow at the Central European Institute of Asian Studies, said the Paris meeting is likely the most important bilateral one before the Xi-Trump summit.

The key issue is whether China and the U.S. can agree on what is agreed and manage disagreement. Iran is a new factor, but Beijing is more concerned about the flip-flopping of U.S. policies, he said.

Last week, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said it would be a big year for China-U.S. relations. While he did not confirm the state visit, Wang said that the agenda of high-level exchange is already on the table.

Bessent and He have led trade negotiations between the countries since last year, having met in Geneva, London, Stockholm, Madrid and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
16 March 2026 11:33 (UTC+04:00)

AzerNEWS Staff Read more

The government of Japan is not currently considering deploying its naval forces to patrol the waters of the Strait of Hormuz, Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said during parliamentary debates.

As reported by AzerNEWS, speaking in response to lawmakers questions, Koizumi stated that the dispatch of the countrys Self-Defense Forces is not on the agenda at the moment.

At the same time, the minister noted that Japans existing legal framework theoretically allows the deployment of Japanese vessels to the region if it becomes necessary to ensure the protection of Japanese citizens lives, health, or property. However, Koizumi refrained from commenting on whether the current situation in the Middle East meets the criteria for such a scenario.

Meanwhile, Australia has also signaled a limited role in the region. The countrys Infrastructure and Transport Minister Catherine King said in an interview with the ABC Radio that Australia plans to send a military aircraft to the United Arab Emirates to assist with defense-related efforts.

However, King emphasized that Australia will not deploy naval vessels to the Strait of Hormuz.

We have not been asked to do so, and we are not participating in efforts related to restoring navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, she said, adding that Canberra has no plans to send ships to the area.

Earlier reports also indicated that Germany and the United Kingdom are not considering deploying their naval vessels to the Strait of Hormuz either.
A U.S. district court judge in Minnesota said there is "compelling and troubling" evidence that federal immigration agents conducted race-based stops during a large enforcement operation in the state, adding weight to a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union challenging the crackdown.

In a 111-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Eric Tostrud wrote that plaintiffs had shown federal agents adopted a policy allowing officers to stop individuals based on "ethnicity or race without reasonable suspicion that the individuals were violating immigration laws."

The case stems from Operation Metro Surge, a federal immigration sweep that brought roughly 3,000 agents to Minnesota between December and February in what the Department of Homeland Security described as its largest enforcement operation. The operation drew national attention amid broader controversy over federal enforcement tactics in Minnesota, including the fatal shootings of two residents, Alex Pretti and Renee Good, during confrontations with federal agents.

Despite findings, Tostrud declined to issue a preliminary injunction halting the alleged practices, noting that the operation is winding down and the plaintiffs were unlikely to face immediate harm again, as Minnesota Reformer explains. The lawsuit will proceed, and the judge indicated the claims could ultimately succeed.

The lawsuit was filed in January by the ACLU on behalf of several residents who said they were detained despite being U.S. citizens or legal residents. The lead plaintiff, Mubashir Khalif Hussen, a 20-year-old U.S. citizen, testified that agents tackled him and placed him in a chokehold in Minneapolis' Cedar-Riverside neighborhood before detaining him for about two hours, even after he repeatedly said he could show proof of citizenship.

Two other plaintiffs described similar encounters. Mahamed Eydarus, a Somali American citizen, said armed agents demanded he prove he was "not illegal" while he shoveled snow outside his home. Jonathan Aguilar Garcia, a Latino citizen, said agents tackled him at a Target store after asking about his citizenship. Tostrud wrote that Aguilar Garcia was stopped "based solely on his race or ethnicity."

The judge cited testimony from dozens of witnesses describing stops without warrants or probable cause. Government attorneys argued the incidents represented a small fraction of the thousands of arrests made during the operation, but Tostrud said plaintiffs presented a "significant volume of testimony."

The case is part of broader litigation over the crackdown. In February, the ACLU expanded its lawsuit with sworn declarations from more than 80 witnesses describing detentions, surveillance and the use of force against bystanders and observers documenting the operation.

"This is an important vindication of the rights of Minnesota residents who have been racially profiled," said ACLU attorney Catherine Ahlin-Halverson of the judge's comments, though she said the group was disappointed the court declined to immediately block the practices.

Originally published on Latin Times
16 March 2026 11:02 (UTC+04:00)

AzerNEWS Staff Read more

Donald Trump, the president of the United States, said he has discussed a potential international effort to police the Strait of Hormuz with several countries, as tensions threaten shipping through one of the worlds most critical energy routes.

As reported by AzerNEWS, speaking to reporters, Trump said he had held talks with about seven countries regarding possible cooperation to secure the waterway.

The president specifically named China as one of the nations involved in the discussions, noting that Beijing is heavily dependent on oil shipments that pass through the Strait of Hormuz.

While Trump declined to identify the other countries he had approached, he referenced the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and suggested that nations benefiting from the route should take greater responsibility for protecting it.

Earlier, in comments to the Financial Times, Trump said it was only appropriate for countries that rely on the strategic waterway to contribute to efforts aimed at reopening and securing it.

The US leader also warned that a lack of international support could have broader implications for NATO.

If there is no response, it could be very bad for the future of NATO, Trump said, adding that Washington has been very sweet toward its European allies.

He pointed to the Russia-Ukraine War, arguing that the United States had supported Ukraine despite its geographic distance.

We didnt have to help them with Ukraine. Ukraine is thousands of miles away from us But we helped them, Trump said. Now well see if they help us.

The remarks came a day after Trump publicly called on China, France, Japan, South Korea, and the United Kingdom to join a team effort to ensure the reopening and security of the Strait of Hormuz.

The Strait of Hormuz is one of the worlds most important maritime chokepoints, carrying a significant share of global oil exports from the Persian Gulf to international markets.
16 March 2026 17:13 (UTC+04:00)

Akbar Novruz Read more

The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) has prevailed in an arbitration dispute filed by companies belonging to the Palmali Group concerning ten ships sold to SOCAR in early 2017, AzerNEWS reports.

The Palmali Group, headed by Azerbaijani-Turkish businessman Mubariz Mansimov, initiated the arbitration proceedings in June 2023.

The case concluded with a three-week hearing held in London, United Kingdom, in November 2025. During the hearings, Mansimov and several other witnesses from the Palmali side testified in person. Palmali was represented by multiple English and U.S. law firms along with a team of English lawyers.

In its ruling issued in February 2026, the three-member arbitral tribunal determined that Palmalis claims had no legal or factual basis and dismissed them in full on several grounds.

The decision, delivered under the rules of the London Maritime Arbitrators Association, is final and binding and cannot be appealed under the applicable English law agreed upon by the parties.
16 March 2026 23:30 (UTC+04:00)

By Alimat Aliyeva

Vietnam officially inaugurated the Vietnam National Space Center (VNSC) on March 13 with the participation of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh. The project was developed with official development assistance (ODA) from Japan, highlighting the growing technological cooperation between the two countries, AzerNEWS reports, citing foreign media.

The new facility covers nine hectares and required a total investment of about VND 7,000 billion ($266 million). The complex includes a mission operations center, a satellite data processing and application center, a research and development facility, and a ground station equipped with a 9.3-meter satellite antenna. It also houses a training center dedicated to developing highly skilled specialists for Vietnams emerging space industry.

The main objective of the Vietnam National Space Center is to establish the infrastructure needed for technology transfer related to Earth observation satellites while simultaneously building a strong domestic workforce in space science and engineering. The center will also play an important role in improving Vietnams capabilities in disaster monitoring, climate change response, natural resource management, and environmental observation.

During the opening ceremony, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said that Vietnam aims to reach a moderately advanced level in space science and technology in Southeast Asia by 2030. After 2030, the country plans to strengthen its technological independence in satellite development and space research.

The Prime Minister also called for the launch of the LOTUSat1 satellite by late 2027. The 600-kilogram Earth observation satellite was jointly developed by Vietnam and Japan and was initially scheduled for launch in 2025. However, the mission was delayed following issues with the EpsilonS rocket developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

In addition, the Prime Minister encouraged Vietnamese and Japanese universities, research institutes, and private companies to expand cooperation in the space sector. According to him, the Vietnamese government will continue supporting the industry through favorable policies, education programs, and financial incentives.

Experts note that the new space center could become a key hub for satellite technology in Southeast Asia, helping Vietnam not only monitor natural disasters such as typhoons and floods more effectively, but also contribute to regional scientific research and international space missions in the future.
France's populist nationalist anti-immigration National Rally, led by Marine LePen has been leading for months in the polls for the next presidential election, both leading in the first round and winning the runoff. Municipal elections across France Sunday saw them make big gains, emphasizing that surge. with the party making major gains.

https://europeanconservative.com/articles/news-corner/marine-le-pen-national-rally-surges-in-french-local-elections-france-franck-allisio/

In neighboring Germany, the populist nationalist anti-immigration Alternativ fur Deutschland has been leading in national polls for months, and just doubled its state parliament seats and vote share in the important state of Baden-Wurttemberg. Now local government elections in the western state of Hessn have also shown major gains. Party list results show the AfD tripling its vote share in rural areas and doubling it in major cities.

https://europeanconservative.com/articles/news-corner/local-elections-in-hesse-germany-spectacular-afd-gains-national-conservatives/

The election in Hesse was for local mayors and councillors. The next state to elect a state landtag (parliament) will be Rheinland Palitanate on March 22, where polls also show AfD making major gains.

Both AfD and the National Rally are calling for mass deportation of illegal aliens.

Illustrating the illegal immigration problem. German officials have revealed that two thirds of the "asylum seekers" arriving in Germany have no identity documents. That in spite of German law requiring them to produce such documents to apply for asylum.

https://europeanconservative.com/articles/news/germany-two-thirds-asylum-seekers-undocumented/
Bennington, VT (05201)

Today

Partly cloudy this morning, then becoming cloudy during the afternoon. High 68F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph..

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Cloudy skies with periods of rain late. Low 46F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch. Locally heavy rainfall possible.
Song Ji-hyo, a South Korean actress and entertainer, has sparked a new online debate after viewers noticed that she didn't appear much on a recent episode of the long-running variety show Running Man.

The SBS show that aired on March 8 lasted about 90 minutes, but some viewers said that Song only appeared for a short time during the show. The observation quickly spread on social media and online forums, where both fans and critics talked about how little she was in the episode.

A report from Allkpop says that some viewers thought the actress was on screen for only about 10 seconds during the show. Most of the time, she was only in reaction shots or group scenes, not leading games or talking to other cast members.

After the show aired, people started posting their thoughts about it online. Some people who didn't like the show questioned why the actress was in it. "Isn't this a lack of professionalism?" Another viewer wrote, "She's a regular member but her presence is too weak."

However, not every response was negative. Some individuals speculated that the editing process, rather than any shortcomings in her acting, might have contributed to the actress's reduced screen time.

READ MORE: Song Ji Hyo Admits Farting in 'Running Man': Actress' Laid-Back Attitude Shines as She Jokes About Bodily Functions

Others speculated that she may have been in poor shape during filming and advised against making hasty conclusions.

Throughout the show's lengthy history, people have previously raised the issue of Song's screen time. The Chosun Biz said that similar complaints came up in 2023 when some viewers questioned her participation in certain episodes.

At the time, Yoo Jae-suk, another cast member, talked about it on the web show Pinggyego. He talked about how Song felt when she saw episodes where she didn't have much to say or do on screen.

Yoo said during that talk that the actress had been working hard behind the scenes all along. He also said that she was upset after watching episodes where she didn't talk as much or appear as often in segments.

Song has also made it clear what she wants to do with the show. In 2024, she talked about rumors that she might leave the show during a YouTube appearance. She said in the interview that she wouldn't step down unless the production team chose to end the show.

Song joined Running Man in 2010 and has been a main cast member for more than ten years. In 2016, she and Kim Jong-kook, who was also in the cast, were told for a short time that they would be taken off the show. Viewers were outraged about the decision, so the production team had to apologize and bring back both actors.

Even after the most recent argument, the actress is still known as one of the show's longest-serving members.

READ MORE: Song Ji Hyo Reveals THIS Ex-'Running Man' Member Accidentally Admitted To Backstabbing Her
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Janis Joplin and the Kozmic Blues Band were not the first Tanglewood contemporary performers, but they were the first real hard-rocking act that performed under the famed pavilion.
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Ever since Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents rattled several Berkshire neighborhoods with shock-and-awe raids last March, we've been frequent critics of ICE's mission creep and increasingly militant behavior under the Trump administration. For this very reason, we are worried that state officials calling out a Pittsfield vehicle manufacturer that has contracted with ICE redirects scrutiny away from the federal agency responsible for its own bad behavior.
The cover page of the diary of Obadiah Brown, a Windsor man who traveled to Boston to serve in the Revolutionary War.
The atmosphere is full of joyful anticipation. Families and friends are dressed in festive clothing. The room is decorated with meaningful beauty. People smile while tears fill their eyes. Why do weddings fill our hearts with such emotion? Perhaps experiencing the union of bride and bridegroom is reminding our hearts of something for which we were made, toward which we are headed?

The Bible is full of allusions to Gods people being his bride. In the Old Testament, the prophets often portray Gods people as a beloved bride who is also often an adulterous wife. God is seen as a faithful husband who pursues and wins back his bride time and time again, whose steadfast love is strong and lasting.

For example, the book of Hosea portrays the prophet Hosea as being directed by God to remain faithful to a wife who was repeatedly unfaithful to him. This gives us a picture of what God is like in the face of our own idolatry (see Hosea 3).

Jeremiah also contains imagery of Gods people as a formerly loving bride who has now become a prostitute, chasing after other men who use and abuse her (see Jeremiah 2). Ezekiel portrays the tender and generous love of God for his people, which is then thrown in his face as he watches her not even accept payment for her prostitution, but instead bribe other men, paying them to let her be with them (Ezekiel 16). After showing the unfaithfulness of the people in dozens of chapters, Isaiah ends with a beautiful reaffirmation of Gods faithful and enduring love for His people:

It will no longer be said to you, Forsaken, nor to your land will it any longer be said, Desolate; but you will be called, My delight is in her, and your land, Married; for the Lord delights in you, and to Him your land will be married. For as a young man marries a virgin, so your sons will marry you; and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so your God will rejoice over you (Isaiah 62:4-5).

What Does it Mean That Jesus Is the Bridegroom?

Instead of giving up on his adulterous people, God himself came near as Immanuel who dwelt among us. In the New Testament, John the Baptist calls himself a friend of Jesus, who is the bridegroom, saying: The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete (John 3:29).

Jesus also calls himself the bridegroom when he was criticized for not enforcing the level of fasting that the Pharisees practiced among his own disciples, saying: The attendants of the bridegroom cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast (Matthew 9:15).

What Does It Mean That the Church Is the Bride of Christ?

Metaphorical language can be mysterious. It is a beautiful idea that the church is the bride of Christ, but what does this really mean? Paul explains the mystery after giving instructions to Christians husbands and wives in Ephesians 5:25-32:

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.

What Are Characteristics of the Bride of Christ?

Based on this passage, we see two main characteristics of the Church as the Bride of Christ: she is beloved and beautiful.

1. The Church Is Beloved by God

Just like a bridegroom loves his bride, God adores his Church. He hasnt merely professed his love in words, but also showed it through sacrificial actions: God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). Sally Lloyd-Jones explains that the Bible is a love story about a brave Prince who leaves his palace, his throneeverythingto rescue the one he loves.

All the great love stories of the world echo this greatest of love stories. And just like a good husband acts, Gods actions towards the Church are always full of love. He nourishes and cherishes her in everything. She is not left alone (Matthew 28:20). He has her back (Isaiah 58:8). He provides for (Philippians 4:19) and protects her in all things (2 Thessalonians 3:3).

2. The Church Is Radiantly Beautiful

Just like a glowing bride dressed in a white gown on her wedding day, the Church is portrayed in the Bible as washed and splendidly pure because of the work of Christ. Though the Church is made up of sinful people, redemption is a powerful restorative force that also looks forward to glory when everything wrong will be made rightwhen God sees his Church, he sees her made whole and holy, gloriously and graciously freed from the stains of sin and shining in the light of his love.

And just as He demonstrated in the Old Testament through the prophets who portrayed Gods people as a straying wife with an ever-faithful husband, we can rejoice that God delights to cleanse his bride in an ongoing way when she stumbles: If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).

Still Awaiting Happily Ever After

As with so many aspects of the Christian life, there is an already, but not yet element to the Churchs identity as the Bride of Christ. This is the heavenly reality, but the wedding supper celebrating the eternal union of God with his people is still to come. As believers, we are told to await this feast with great joy and anticipation and to prepare ourselves.

Revelation 19:7 lets us see into the glorious future that is to come: Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready. Revelation 21:2 is reminiscent of the glorious moment in a wedding ceremony when the bride appears: And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband (Revelation 21:2).

Paul P. Enns sums up what we are preparing for: The church is the bride of Christ. The kingdom will be the eternal celebration of the wedding of Christ and the church. We will enjoy rapturous celebration as the bride of Christ in the eternal kingdom.

We can join with all believers throughout the ages, longing for our bridegrooms second coming, saying: Come, Lord Jesus! We are part of the greatest love story of all time, and just like in all great love stories, we truly will live happily ever after.

Photo credit: Unsplash/Chein Pham
Orchid Pharma to open new production unit in J&K

March 16, 2026 | Monday | News

Likely to provide direct employment to about 400 people

image credit- pib

Union Minister of State Science & Technology Dr Jitendra Singh laid the foundation stone of a Pharmaceutical Production Unit of Orchid Pharma at Gadadhar village in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K).

The Rs 600-700 crore project of Orchid Pharma is being set up in collaboration with the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) of the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Jitendra Singh said that this investment of about Rs 600 crore under the Production Linked Incentive Scheme of the Government of India reflects the growing confidence in the industrial and innovative potential of the Jammu and Kashmir region. He said that this unit is likely to provide direct employment to about 400 people. It will also generate similar indirect employment opportunities in supply, freight and other related sectors.

Dr Jitendra Singh described the project as a major achievement for the pharmaceutical sector. An important antibiotic intermediate amino cephalosporanic acid (ACA) will be produced in this unit. It is a key element for the formulation of cephalosporin antibiotics. At present, India is completely dependent on imports from China for this intermediate. This makes supply security, price stability, and access to healthcare vulnerable.

The Minister said that this facility at Kathua will significantly strengthen India's strategic capabilities in the field of pharmaceuticals and reduce import dependence for critical intermediate products. He further said, "Antibiotics are the cornerstone of modern healthcare and the pandemic showed how dependence on a single geographical area for essential inputs can become a national weakness. "

The Minister said that such projects not only expand India's pharmaceutical capacity but also strengthen the health security of the country by ensuring availability and affordability of essential medicines even during global disruptions.
Jem's Birding & Ringing Exploits in the Eastern Province and elsewhere in Saudi Arabia
Actor Kim Seung-hyun and his wife, broadcast writer Jang Jung-yoon, showcased affordable dining options in Mapo-gu, Seoul, highlighting practical ways to enjoy meals amid rising living costs. Their culinary outing was documented in a video posted on the YouTube channel Gwangsan Kim Family on March 15.

According to TenAsia, the video titled "Kim Seung-hyun and Jang Jung-yoon's Survival Strategy in the Era of High Prices," the couple visited several eateries offering substantial meals at low prices.

Introducing the context of their restaurant choices, Jang Jung-yoon said, "The economy is very difficult these days. If you look at Hongdae or Mangwon-dong, there are many shops with 'For Rent' signs. The economy is tough, yet prices keep rising."

"So, I found three restaurants in Mapo-gu that offer good value and decent quality, and I plan to introduce them, she continued."

Their first stop was a Korean buffet in Hongdae, where patrons could enjoy unlimited side dishes, soup, and rice for around 10,000 won ($6.80 USD).

Kim Seung-hyun remarked, "It's not easy to eat such a wide variety of side dishes at this price," calling it the "ultimate value for money."

Jang Jung-yoon added, "I like it even more because the food isn't too spicy and feels like home cooking," per Naver.

Following the buffet, the couple visited a Chinese restaurant offering Jajangmyeon for 5,000 won ($3.40), and later a sushi restaurant where each plate cost $1.02.

Jang Jung-yoon noted, "Usually, when I go to a sushi restaurant, I look at the color of the plate and worry about the price, but there is no need for that here." The family enjoyed a variety of sushi, including salmon, eel, and yellowtail, spending roughly 20,000 won ($13.60).

Kim Seung-hyun also offered insight into practical spending, stating, "In this era of high prices, I think finding a restaurant with such good value for money is a good option rather than cooking at home."

Reflecting on their financial stability despite fewer acting opportunities, Jang Jung-yoon shared, "If you are registered with the Writers Association, you receive rerun fees. I am registered with both the Writers Association and the Cast Association, so I receive them. Many people are worried about our livelihood, but it's not something to worry about."

Kim Seung-hyun added with confidence, "They say you shouldn't worry about celebrities, don't they?"


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Geneva, Switzerland (PANA) - UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk has criticised the passing of a new law by Senegals parliament, which doubles the maximum jail term for consensual same-sex relations to 10 years, and urged the President not to sign it into effect
Irish building materials group CRH has revealed plans to delist entirely from the London Stock Exchange two-and-a-half years after it switched its main listing to New York in yet another knock to the UK markets.

The Dublin-based group said that as part of a review of its London Stock Exchange (LSE) listings launched last month, it has carefully considered, among other factors, the level of trading activity for its ordinary shares on the LSE as well as the additional cost, regulatory and administrative obligations arising from retaining the LSE listings.

It said it was satisfied that it is in the best interests of CRH and its shareholders to delist from the LSE, and cancel its preference share listing on the London market, with the latter set to be voted on by investors at its annual general meeting in May.

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It marks a further blow for the London market after a raft of companies have ditched their primary listings in the UK, including Paddy Power owner Flutter.

A raft of companies have ditched their primary listings in the UK, including Paddy Power owner Flutter (Alamy/PA)

CRH  the worlds largest construction materials firm  said it is set to delist from the LSE on Monday April 20, with Friday April 17 marking the last trading day on the London market.

CRH switched its main listing to the New York Stock Exchange in September 2023, saying at the time a US listing would bring increased commercial, operational and acquisition opportunities for the firm, while it added that around three-quarters of CRHs earnings came from North America.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: Having already shifted its primary listing to the US, building materials specialist CRH is to now turn its back completely on London.

The development, though not seismic, is another sign of Londons diminished status in the roster of global markets.

Companies who switch their main listing to the US often pledge to keep a presence in London, but CRHs actions suggest that is no longer a given.
The Co Tipperary secondary school where actor Jessie Buckley attended has said it is filled with immense pride and honour following her best actress win at the Oscars.

The Kerry native scooped the Academy Award for her role in Hamnet, making her the first Irish woman to win in the category in Los Angeles overnight.

Buckley attended Ursuline Secondary School in Thurles, and the principal of the school, Triona Gleeson, said they are immensely proud of their past pupil.

Ms Gleeson said that Buckleys tender, intuitive and resilient portrayal of Agnes Shakespeare in Hamnet brought her this accolade and marks an extraordinary high point in what has been a stunning career to date.

The principal said that following the Oscar winners remarkable career trajectory has filled the entire school community with great pride, and her work has brought honour to the school community through her remarkable passion, talent and commitment to her craft.

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Ms Gleeson recounted that from their school stage and onto the world stage, Buckleys success is testament to her exceptional ability and hard work.

She has always been, and is now more than ever, an inspiration to all those associated with our school, Ms Gleeson added.

Jessies journey represents all of the values we cherish here in the Ursuline: excellence, dedication, creativity and humility. This win also exemplifies the potential we believe is in every one of our students.

Entertainment Jessie Buckley makes history becoming first Irish woman to win best actress Oscar Read more

The famous past pupil visited the school in 2019, where she told students that as young girls they should never be afraid of their own potential, and reminded them that they are more powerful than they can even begin to imagine, explained Ms Gleeson.

Jessie remains a shining example of this, and of what can be achieved with talent and dedication. We extend our warmest congratulations to Jessie, her family, and all who have supported her throughout her career.

She said that the whole of the Ursuline community celebrates this momentous achievement with her and that they consider themselves privileged to have been part of her journey.

As part of a pilot project BreakingNews.ie has used AI to suggest headline options for this article. The final headline was chosen and edited by BreakingNews.ie journalists. Find out more
An airline worker accused of biting his wife "like a dog" in an alleged barbaric attack at their Dublin home has been granted bail with strict conditions.

Samuel David Oteri, 43, formerly of Buckingham Street, Dublin 1, was charged with assault causing harm on March 15.

The Venezuela-born Italian national, who has yet to enter a plea, appeared before Judge Derek Cooney on Monday, when he was warned to comply with a list of terms.

Garda Mark Callinan opposed bail, citing potential witness interference.

He alleged that the injured party reported that she had been attacked by the accused, who had bitten her arm and "described him as being like a dog".

Photos of her injuries were furnished to the court, and the complainant gave evidence in support of the bail objection.

She told the court that she had been using her laptop for an online exam when the accused returned after he had been drinking. She claimed he was aggressive and wanted her phone charger, but she asked him to leave her alone so she could continue her exam.

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The contested bail hearing was told that there was an argument. The woman was using her phone to remain online, and she claimed the accused threatened to take her phone and step out so she would not have data.

He was said to have demanded her phone charger, and the court heard that there was a struggle, and he ended up on her and bit her on the arm.

Defence solicitor Tony Collier submitted that the court should not deny bail, as his client had no prior convictions or bench warrant history, had ties to the country, having lived and worked there for 10 years, and would obey conditions.

Judge Cooney said the man had the presumption of innocence and bail, but he described the allegations as a "barbaric type of behaviour", and if true, it was "some form of savagery".

Ireland Gardai intercepted attempted robbery of German tourist Read more

However, he accepted the defence's points and set cashless bail at 1,000, subject to a list of conditions. The judge warned him that he must furnish gardai with an acceptable alternative address within 24 hours and not contact the woman, or bail would be revoked.

He was also told he must sign on daily at a garda station, stay away from the complainant and remain contactable by phone.

Directions from the Director of Public Prosecutions must be obtained to determine if the case will remain in the District Court or be transferred to the Circuit Court, which has broader sentencing powers.

The case was adjourned for a week to monitor compliance with the terms imposed.
A man serving a life sentence for murder has brought an action seeking to compel Portlaoise Prison authorities to reintegrate him into the jails general population.



Warren Dumbrell (51), once of Emmet Place, Inchicore, Dublin 8, was in 2011 convicted of murdering Christopher Cawley five years earlier, at Tyrone Place Flats, Inchicore. Dumbrells brother Jeffrey was also convicted of killing Cawley.

Dumbrell is suing the Governor of Portlaoise Prison, claiming that he is being housed in the isolation block of the prison, despite recommendations that he be reintegrated into the jails general population.

Dumbrell claims his ongoing isolation is hampering his rehabilitation, and contends that he does not have the same access to services as prisoners in the jails general population. As a result, his ability to obtain parole is hampered, he claims.

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On Monday, Judge Mary Rose Gearty granted permission to Bernard Condon, barrister for Dumbrell instructed by Phoenix Law, to pursue the judicial review proceedings on his clients behalf.

Dumbrell is seeking various court orders, including an order directing the prison to reintegrate him into the general prison population.

According to Dumbrells court papers, a parole board in 2019 recommended that the prisoner be facilitated with a phased plan of reintegration back into the mainstream prison population.

In 2024, a probation report recommended Dumbrell be moved to the general prison population to allow him to progress with his attempts to demonstrate rehabilitation and ready himself for reintegration with society.

Dumbrell has not been issued with a P19 disciplinary sanction since February 2019.

Despite these facts, Dumbrell says he has been effectively kept on a restricted regime in the jails isolation block.

According to Dumbrells documents, prison authorities say the jails Block A, where Dumbrell is housed, is not an isolation block.

They say Dumbrell is free to associate with other prisoners on that block and that he has access to the same services as other prisoners.

Ireland Prison service to spend 480k on hairdressing course at women's prison Read more

While Dumbrell accepts that he can mix with prisoners on his wing, he contends that only two to three other prisoners are housed within the wing. At times, he is the only prisoner there, he says.

In an affidavit, Dumbrell says: It is my strong desire to be released and [to] be able to reintegrate into society and live a normal life. At the moment, I am frustrated and upset that I cannot prove myself to the parole board and show them my ability to interact with others in a positive manner. I feel stuck.

I have done everything asked of me and cannot go any further until the prison service allows me to take this next step and reintegrate back into the main prison population, he adds.

The case returns in May.
A man who used his US citizenship to buy military-grade firearms and ammunition legally in America before selling them on to Irish criminal gangs has been jailed for ten years.

Passing sentence on Conor O'Brien at the three-judge Special Criminal Court on Monday, Judge Karen O'Connor said criminal gangs need firearms to threaten and intimidate others and use them to maim, kill and terrorise.

O'Brien, she said, had shown a cavalier attitude towards the harm he was causing by playing a "crucial, if not imperative role" in providing arms and ammunition.

He took advantage of his dual citizenship to purchase guns in America and sell them here for financial gain, she said, adding that the impact of such crimes "cannot be overestimated".

In communications found on his phone, including one in which he joked about selling guns to "Ireland's top criminals, LOL", O'Connor said he had shown "total disregard for the impact of such deadly weapons on our citizens".

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While O'Brien's guilty plea had been of value, O'Connor said the evidence against him was compelling as he had been caught "red-handed" with an extensive arsenal of firearms, ammunition and components in a shed he was renting.

O'Connor also noted that O'Brien had used his own name and details when purchasing the firearms and ammo in the US, making them traceable to him and showing "an element of naivety" in what he was doing.

O'Connor cited as an aggravating factor the extensive planning and organisation involved in the importation and sale of guns as she set a headline sentence of 15 years, the maximum penalty available.

Having considered mitigating factors, including his guilty plea, she reduced the sentence to 11 years with the final 12 months suspended for one year.

The court ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the firearms and ammunition. However, the court will hear further submissions next week regarding cash that was also seized by gardai investigating O'Brien.

Counsel for O'Brien said there is no consent to the forfeiture of the cash in circumstances where money laundering charges that had been brought against O'Brien are no longer being pursued.

At a previous hearing, Detective Inspector Shane McCartan said: Without Conor OBrien, there would be no criminal organisation, such was his importance."

OBrien and the leader of the gun-running ring, Mark McCourt, were distributing guns and ammunition to criminal gangs in Derry, Armagh, Dublin and Limerick, he said.

Last November, O'Brien (29), of Kilpatrick, Ardee, Co Louth, was arraigned on six charges.

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He pleaded guilty that between February 10th, 2023, and July 19th, 2024 with knowledge of the existence of a criminal organisation, he did participate in or contribute to activity intending to facilitate the commission by the said criminal organisation or any of its members in the importation of firearms and ammunition and explosives.

He further pleaded guilty to five counts concerning the possession or control of a firearm or ammunition in suspicious circumstances, contrary to the provisions of Section 27A(1) of the Firearms Act 1964, as substituted by section 59 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006, as amended by the Criminal Justice Act 2007.

These related to offences at John Street, Blackstick, Ardee, Co Louth, on July 19, 2024, when he had unlawfully in his possession two .233 Remington calibre barrels from AR-15 pattern semi-automatic rifles, in circumstances giving rise to a reasonable inference that he did not possess them for a lawful purpose; he had possession of four .233 Remington calibre barrels from Anderson manufacturing AM-15 pattern semi-automatic rifles; he had eight frames for Sig Sauer semi-automatic pistols; a frame for a Canik semi-automatic pistol; and four slides for a Sig Sauer model P320 9mm Luger calibre semi-automatic pistol.

Additional evidence

At the sentencing hearing, Det Insp McCartan told counsel for the State, Simon Matthews BL, that OBrien and McCourt were involved in procuring the firearms in America and bringing them into Ireland, where they were distributed. Det Insp McCartan explained that the two men were bringing the weapons into Ireland in component parts, which were then reassembled.

The detective inspector said that both men were arrested and their phones seized, with forensic examination of the phones revealing communication between the two and other parties who used aliases.

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He said that in one communication between OBrien and a person known as Eugene, OBrien made reference to a suitcase full of Glocks and .22 is for babies, the latter being a reference to .22 calibre ammunition.

Det Insp McCartan said that in April 2023, McCourt and OBrien flew to Las Vegas, with OBrien returning to Ireland on April 9th. In a communication between OBrien and an individual known as The Keeler, the defendant mentioned 500 rounds of 9mm. OBrien also said that he was going to stick them all together, which Det Insp McCartan explained meant reassembling the component parts of firearms.

The detective inspector said that communication between the parties revealed that OBrien had military-grade rifles and Glock handguns, as well as large drum magazines, which were capable of firing 60 rounds, and assorted ammunition.

Det Insp McCartan gave evidence that, in relation to this particular collection of weapons and ammunition, McCourt had messaged that 75K is the best price.

The witness said that the two men had shared images and videos of the firearms with The Keeler, which showed the type of guns they had for sale. He said that some of the weapons were fully assembled, with everything stored in a shed in Blackstick in Ardee, which was rented by OBrien.

The detective inspector told the court that gardai were able to identify a serial number attached to one of the AR-15 rifles that showed the weapon had been purchased by OBrien from a firearms shop in Nevada in February 2023. He gave further evidence of a conversation between McCourt and an individual known as Vladimir Putin in May 2023, in which McCourt said he could get an AR-15 rifle with long-range bullets that can drop a deer at 900 yards, no problem.

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Det Insp McCartan also gave evidence of further communication between OBrien and a person known as C, in which OBrien said that he had pipes. The witness said that he believed this referred to pipe bombs, with OBrien sourcing clients for pipe bombs which were to be manufactured by McCourt.

In further communication, McCourt made a reference to meeting this other fella today to give him the money for the flight. Det Insp McCartan said that other members of the criminal organisation were travelling to America to support the transportation of ammo and gun parts back to Ireland, with the gun components divided out between these air passengers.

In a communication in July 2024, OBrien told a man called Joe that he was selling weapons to Irelands top criminals.

Det Insp McCartan said that when gardai raided the shed in Ardee in July 2024, they found a suitcase of firearms and handguns, which were semi-automatic pistols and military-grade rifles, all of them in working order. The court was shown an example of the type of handgun and assault rifle that was found in the premises rented by OBrien in Ardee.

The detective inspector said that when arrested, OBrien initially downplayed his role in the offences but then accepted that the items found were his. When asked what his role was, OBrien told gardai: I know guns.

Det Insp McCartan said that he formed the opinion about the existence of a criminal organisation, with OBrien operating in a symbiotic relationship" with McCourt.

Without Conor OBrien, there would be no criminal organisation, such was his importance, said the detective inspector, adding that McCourt was directing operations in Derry, Armagh, Dublin and Limerick and dealing with Ireland's top criminals.

Ireland Gardai intercepted attempted robbery of German tourist Read more

OBrien had no previous convictions.

O'Brien's co-accused, Mark McCourt (34) of Edenreive, Newry, Co Down, was previously jailed for 12 years by the Special Criminal Court, having also pleaded guilty to facilitating the criminal organisations efforts to import restricted weapons between February 2023 and July 2024, and the possession of firearms components.

McCourt told one prospective customer he would throw in ten pipe bombs as a free gift to seal a 75,000 cash deal to supply guns and ammunition smuggled by air from America, the sentencing court heard.

He has 42 previous convictions, including for assault causing harm, theft and dangerous driving. McCourt was previously jailed for going to the home of an off-duty garda and ramming her car.
Gerry Adams may have spectacularly deluded himself into thinking he was not in the Provisional IRA (PIRA) by virtue of his leadership role, the UK high court has heard.

On Monday, journalist John Ware gave evidence at the civil trial being brought against the former Sinn Fein president by victims of three bombings in England.

Jonathan Ganesh was injured in the 1996 London Docklands bombing; John Clark is a victim of the 1973 Old Bailey bombing in London; and Barry Laycock is a victim of the 1996 Arndale shopping centre bombing in Manchester.

Former Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams arrives at the Royal Courts of Justice. Photo: Jordan Pettitt/PA.

The three men allege that Mr Adams was a leading member of the Provisional IRA on those dates, including of its Army Council, and are seeking 1 in damages.

Adams denies ever being in the Provisional IRA and is defending the claim.

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Ware told the court in London that he reported extensively on the Troubles, has made many documentaries about the conflict since the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, and interviewed many people in connection with these stories.

He said his interest in Adams was sparked by the direction in which he seemed to be taking the Provisional IRA.

He said in his witness statement: Im as satisfied as I can be from the reporting I have done that, in 1983, Adams was also a member of the Provisional IRA ruling Army Council and that he was one of the single most influential strategists in the Republican movement.

Ware added: I dont know if Adams has persuaded himself that he wasnt in the Provisional IRA by virtue of his strategic and leadership role, as opposed to being the person who pulled the trigger or planted the bombs, as it were.

Adams does keep insisting that he was never in the Provisional IRA, while the rest of us are metaphorically open-mouthed at his chutzpah, given the sheer weight of evidence from his colleagues, comrades, and other sources. However, if that is Adamss position, then he has spectacularly deluded himself John Ware

My only reason for referencing this is because Adams does keep insisting that he was never in the Provisional IRA, while the rest of us are metaphorically open-mouthed at his chutzpah, given the sheer weight of evidence from his colleagues, comrades, and other sources.

However, if that is Adamss position, then he has spectacularly deluded himself.

The witness also told the court a documentary he made in 1983 examined the Provisional IRA position Adams held at the time of that years election as told by sources that I was satisfied were very much able to know and speak about the same.

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The court heard this included members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary Special Branch, but also former and serving members of the Provisional IRA who had allegedly known Adams from the start of his IRA and Provisional IRA membership.

In his statement, he continued: It clearly grated with many of them that when Adams said that he strongly supported the armed struggle, his denial of actual Provisional IRA membership allowed him to avoid taking personal responsibility for their actions.

Adams seemingly elevated himself to a higher moral plane than the Provisional IRA, when it was they who were sacrificing life and limb  as they would see it  for a cause Adams was leading.

Former Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams arrives at the Royal Courts of Justice. Photo: Jordan Pettitt/PA.

In short, they saw Adamss denial of Provisional IRA membership as insufferably hypocritical.

Edward Craven KC, representing Adams, put to Ware that he was desperate for this evidence to be part of the case.

The witness replied: Certainly not.

If the suggestion is I am here to grandstand, absolutely not.

At the start of the trial last week Craven said that Mr Adams emphatically, unequivocally and categorically denies ever being a member of the IRA.

Ireland Gerry Adams was de facto leader of IRA, court told Read more

He also said that people such as British officials, members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary or other republicans opposed to the peace process had an interest in discrediting Mr Adams, the barrister added.

In written submissions, Craven said: The defendants alleged factual and legal responsibility for the claimants injuries is strongly contested, as is the claimants ability to bring these claims against the defendant several decades after the expiry of the applicable limitation period.

The trial before Justice Swift is expected to end this week, with a judgment expected in writing at a later date.
A 29-year old Ukrainian man who fled to here from the war in Ukraine in 2022 took advantage of the warm welcome he received from the State when illegally claiming Jobseeker's allowance while couch-surfing in Scotland for seven months.

At Ennis District Court, Judge Valerie Corcoran made her comment after Kostiantyn Teliuk, formerly of the Burren Atlantic Hotel, Ballyvaughan, Co Clare pleaded guilty to an offence concerning illegally receiving 4,868 in Job Seeker's benefits from the Irish State from September 2022 to April 2023 while he resided in Scotland.

Teliuk pleaded guilty to not informing the Dept of Social Protection of a change in circumstance that he had left the State in 2022 in an offence contrary to Article 188 of the Social Welfare Regulations 2007

Corcoran said that Teliuks actions constituted a breach of trust and taking advantage of the warm welcome he received from the Irish State in 2022.

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She said that this is deception.

Corcoran said the circumstances of the case warrant that a message be sent out.

She said: Absolutely we will support where appropriate that payments be given to all individuals that are entitled to, but the State should not be taken advantage of and this is what occurred here."

Cororcan said that Teliuk knew well that when he left Ireland that he could not claim when he wasnt resident here from the Irish state while he was couch-surfing in Scotland.

Corcoran said that what Teliuk did is unacceptable on any level and his offence is moving towards a custodial element.

The judge said that she would impose a three-month prison term but if the Probation Service found that Teliuk is suitable for community service, Teliuk would carry out 90 hours community service in lieu of the three months in prison.

In the prosecution taken by the Dept of Social Protection, State Solicitor for Clare, Aisling Casey told the court that Teliuk arrived here from Ukraine in 2022 and completed an application in June 2022 for financial support in the form of job seekers allowance.

Casey said that on September 14th it had come to the attention of the Dept of Social Protection that Teliuk had left the jurisdiction.

Casey said that in June 2023, Teliuk notified the department of a new address provided and he stated that he travelled to Scotland and London for a period of six days.

Casey however said that investigations found that Teliuk travelled to Scotland in September 2022 and didnt return until April 2023 and he was out of the country for quite a period of time

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Corcoran said: So for seven months he was residing in another country and we were paying him?

Casey said that this was the case and the loss to the State in the case is 4,868 and Teliuk has been repaying it back at a rate of 10.

Casey said that Teliuk is not currently in receipt of any State benefit.

Solicitor, Daragh Hassett for Teliuk is very sorry that he betrayed the trust of the state.

Hassett said that Teliuk was homeless here and he moved to Scotland where a person had accommodation, and of course he should have cancelled his benefits here and he didnt do so.

Ireland Man with knife crime convictions who killed 'intruder' outside home is jailed Read more

Hassett said that Teliuk told "the Department that he didnt understand and the Department was not too impressed with that explanation and Im sure you would not be either judge".

Hassett said that Teliuk has seen things in his country that he shouldnt have seen with the war and he has struggled with his mental health.

Hassett said: Mr Teliuk doesnt have work but he should have work.

The judge adjourned the case to May 8th to see if Teliuk is suitable for community service.
Jessie Buckleys family has said they are proud of the Kerrywoman after she won the Oscar for best actress on Sunday night.

She became the first Irish actress to win the prize, taking home the award for her portrayal of William Shakespeares wife Agnes Hathaway  historically known as Anne  in the film adaptation of Maggie OFarrells novel Hamnet.

While Buckleys parents and three sisters attended the ceremony in Los Angeles, around 60 family and friends watched the 98th Academy Awards in the family hotel and bar.

On Monday, the lobby of the Arbutus hotel in Killarney was turned into a radio studio as RTE broadcast a series of interviews about Jessies upbringing and career.

The hallway was decorated with a giant picture of Jessie, a poster of the movie Hamnet, and balloons  in the spirit of Ms Buckleys message back home: Dont go to bed, keep partying.

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Her cousin Brendan Fuller said the bar was filled with people who had been part of Jessies journey on Sunday night, some of whom he had not seen since she was on the BBC show Id Do Anything in 2008.

It was like a carnival from the get-go, he told the Press Association.

It was like a reunion and get together, and there was tuxedos and dresses and glitz and glam and everything.

Admiring her new friend. Jessie Buckley wins Best Actress for HAMNET! #Oscars pic.twitter.com/oP3bHtAVOk  The Academy (@TheAcademy) March 16, 2026

Asked if there were nerves as the ceremony went on, he said: There was so much confidence ahead of the Oscars. Im always more of a realist and a pessimist.

Theres Rose Byrne, theres Emma Stone, theres these incredible actors who did incredibly well, and throughout the night youre seeing these unbelievable performances and movies that are nominated but dont get the award.

It just got shakier and shakier in the room. It went from chatter to kind of a bit more of a simmer down. The best actor award was just beforehand, and then it was really just tense and quiet and nervous.

When it was announced, I heard it was her name, Jess Buckley, but I was still trying to look around people to make sure it was her who was getting up off her seat.

(Youre) trying to soak it all in, but it doesnt actually land at all, at all, I think it, I wont believe it until Im holding Oscar  no pressure Jessie.

Brendan Fuller is Buckleys first cousin (Lina Jevdet/PA)

As media gathered outside the family Arbutus hotel in Killarney, people stopped to shake Mr Fullers hand outside, with some slowing down their drive to ask him how Jessie did at the awards.

Fiona Crowley, who runs a stage school in Killarney that Jessie Buckley worked at while a student, said that her win is huge for younger people.

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She said boys and girls can look up to people like Jessie and say God, maybe I could do that, but also know it is okay to be normal on the global stage.

Jessie Buckley accepting the award for best actress during the Oscars ceremony (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

I think thats really important, and I think thats a really good thing.

I think thats really important for people to see you can be a mom, you can be somebody who is young, whos vibrant, but who has lived a life going in different directions, and yet you can still be yourself.

You dont have to have a fake accent, you dont have to have a fake body, you dont have to have a fake persona. You can actually just be yourself and isnt that what shines in the end?

Marie Moloney, deputy chair of Kerry County Council, said they were so, so proud of her.

Ms Moloney, who is a lifetime member of the Killarney Musical Society, said she had known Jessie Buckley since she was a young girl.

She joined the childrens chorus at Killarney Musical Society back in the year 2000 when she was about 10 years of age, she told the PA.

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Subsequently, she came back, and she auditioned for a lead role in Carousel and got the lead role, went on to receive a nomination for her acting in that role, and won that category with the Association of Irish Musical Societies.

We feel that we gave her a little kickstart in life, brought her into the world of nominations and awards.

The Jessie Buckley you see on the Oscar stage, or on any stage, is the Jessie Buckley that left Killarney 18 years ago to go into that big world of acting. And she has not changed that one bit.

Shes still the Jessie Buckley we all love and adore, and she was always so friendly, so kind and so full of fun, and as Ive said several times to other people, a little bit of devilment thrown in there, too.

She said her Oscars speech made her very emotional and said it was a beautiful tribute for women and to mothers all around the world.

Entertainment Jessie Buckleys old secondary school filled with immense pride after Oscar win Read more

She added: It just goes to show that if you have the belief and the passion and the will to do it (and) hard work, you can achieve that.

All the young boys and girls that are looking on now and seeing what Jessie has achieved might be saying to themselves, well, Id like to do that, and I can do that. If she can do it, I can do it.

She said a civic reception has been approved for Jessie Buckleys return to the town.
Pasadena Memorial High School student Joshua Washington made history Sunday when his rodeo-themed painting sold for a record $525,000 at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo School Art Auction.

The sale set a new auction record for student artwork at the Houston event, more than doubling last year's grand champion price of $276,000.

Washington's piece, titled "Between Boots and Moccasins," was named Grand Champion Work of Art before it crossed the auction block in NRG Arena. According to rodeo officials, the $525,000 bid now stands as the highest price ever paid for a School Art Auction entry in the show's history, as per the Houston Chronicle.

Washington's painting shows two men standing together, one in traditional Native American clothing and the other in classic Western attire, talking in a dusty rodeo scene.

The student artist has said the work is meant to bring different cultures into one frame and invite viewers to create their own meanings from the image. He explained that the contrast between the boots and moccasins highlights shared respect and conversation despite different backgrounds, which he believes reflects the rodeo's focus on community.

The artwork was purchased by a group of longtime Houston rodeo supporters: J Alan Kent Development's Julie and Alan Kent, Kristina and Paul Somerville, Jennifer, Joe, and Bob Van Matre, and Randa and Ray Gilliam.

These donors are among the buyers who regularly pool their bids to boost scholarship funds for Texas students. The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo confirmed that the sale is classified as a "Rodeo Record," underscoring how strongly bidders responded to Washington's work.

Washington, who has been entering rodeo art contests since elementary school, described the moment as overwhelming and surreal. He has already earned several awards through the program and credits years of studying Western and Native American imagery for shaping his style, Yahoo News reported.

The Pasadena ISD senior plans to continue his art studies after graduation, including pursuing graphic design at San Jacinto College and the University of Houston.

The record sale came during a highly competitive 2026 School Art Auction that featured 90 student pieces selected from more than 4,300 submissions across dozens of school districts and private schools in the Houston region.

Pasadena ISD had 18 student artworks in the auction, reflecting the district's strong showing in this year's program. Students whose pieces are sold at the auction are guaranteed scholarship awards, with additional proceeds supporting the rodeo's broader educational and art initiatives.

The Reserve Grand Champion artwork, "Head On," a colored drawing by Fort Bend ISD senior Mingyi Li of Clements High School, also broke a record when it sold for $300,000.

Together, the top two lots brought in $825,000, contributing to what organizers described as a major boost for youth scholarships and arts education in Texas, according to Rodeo Houston.
Senior Kinahan Cartel member Sean McGovern, who last summer became the first person to be extradited to Ireland from the United Arab Emirates, has pleaded guilty at the Special Criminal Court to directing a criminal organisation.

McGovern appeared via videolink before the non-jury court on Monday morning, when prosecution counsel Dominic McGinn SC said the defendant could be arraigned on two charges.

The 39-year-old, with a previous address at Kildare Road, Crumlin, Dublin 12 pleaded guilty to a charge of directing the activities of a criminal organisation between October 20th and December 22nd, 2016, both dates inclusive, both within and outside the State, in relation to the murder of Christopher aka Noel Kirwan.

McGovern also admitted directing the activities of a criminal organisation between October 17th, 2015 and April 6th, 2017, both dates inclusive, both within and outside the State, in connection with the surveillance of James Gately in preparation for the commission of an indictable offence.

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McGovern replied guilty when both charges were read out by the registrar.

Mr McGinn said the pleas were acceptable to the DPP on a full facts basis. The barrister asked the court to set a date of April 27th for a sentencing hearing and said victim impact evidence will be heard on that date.

Asked by Judge Karen OConnor, presiding, whether his client wished to be present for the sentencing hearing or to appear by videolink, Michael Bowman SC, representing McGovern, said it was probably better he appears in person.

He asked that a Governors report be provided from Portlaoise prison.

OConnor directed the preparation of the report and adjourned the matter to April 27th.

McGovern, who was injured during the attack at the Regency Hotel in 2016, was previously named during a separate trial at the Special Criminal Court as "a significant figure" with a "leadership role" in the Kinahan organised crime group.

The court heard that the Kinahan group are involved at an international level in importing drugs and in their distribution at street level. They enforce their control "by violence, using firearms and murder".

The senior leadership is now based in Dubai, with other cells in mainland Europe and South America while some cells remain in Ireland.

Christopher (aka Noel) Kirwan, was an innocent man who was shot dead after he was pictured attending the funeral of a Hutch family member, despite having no connection to either side of the Kinahan or Hutch crime organisations.

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Ireland Woman brandishes imitation firearm in one of two robberies in Cork city Read more

The Special Criminal Court has previously heard that the murder of Kirwan was committed in the context of the Hutch/Kinahan feud as retaliation by the Kinahans arising out of the Regency Hotel attack and other incidents in 2014 and 2015.

In an affidavit previously opened in the High Court, a Criminal Assets Bureau officer alleged that James Gately is "a leading and prominent member of the Hutch Organised Crime Gang" involved in the importation of controlled drugs.

Gately has survived two attempts on his life, including one attempted hit in which he was shot five times as he sat in his car at a petrol station in May 2017.

CAB has alleged that Gately is linked to armed robberies, gangland murders and drug dealing but he has never been convicted of any serious offences.
Immediate action is needed to address the lack of safe home units in Galway, a Fine Gael Senator said.

Safe home units provide medium-term accommodation for individuals and families leaving crisis situations, and are designed to stop survivors from being forced back into unsafe environments.

Senator Sean Kyne has said that it is "completely unacceptable" that Galway has zero safe home units.

"We have 10 refuge units, but no transitional accommodation for families who need a safe place to rebuild their lives, he said.

At a national level, the Government in Budget 2026 increased the Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence funding to 80 million, supporting Cuan and frontline organisations in delivering the Zero Tolerance Strategy against domestic violence.

However, Kyne said while the investment has led to new refuge and safe home units across the country, Galway remains without a single unit, leaving survivors with no supported accommodation options once they leave emergency refuges.

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This gap between services increases the pressure on survivors and leaves them facing impossible choices, Kyne said.

Galway cant be left behind while other counties with smaller populations are seeing real progress. The Government has shown what can be achieved in places like Louth and Dublin. Now that same urgency needs to be applied to Galway.

In 2025, the number of domestic violence refuge units increased by 13 - four in Louth and nine in Dublin, with a commitment by Cuan in 2026 to increase the total number of refuge units across the country to 193.

With eight new Safe Home units built in 2025, the total number of units increased to 60 last year, with Cuan looking to increase this to 94 this year.

Kyne is calling on the Departments of Justice and Housing, Galway local authorities and Cuan to work together to identify suitable units and give a clear timeframe for their delivery.

Survivors in Galway deserve the same access to safety and stability as those in every other part of the country. We have the funding, national strategy and evidence on what works," he said. "Galway must be prioritised without delay.
A man who sexually abused and blackmailed a teenage boy 20 years ago has been jailed for four years.

Kevin Keenan (56) of Casement Grove, Finglas West, Dublin, pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual assault on dates between 2004 and 2006.

The Central Criminal Court was told on Monday that the injured party, Ciaran Brennan, wished to waive his right to anonymity and for Keenan to be named.

Brennan was aged 14 when the abuse started, and Keenan was 20 years older than him.

In his victim impact statement previously read to the court by prosecuting counsel, Brennan outlined the hurt, humiliation and fear he experienced because of the abuse.

He said Keenan used my sexuality against me and pressurised him. He said he was a child, and Keenan used his sexuality to blackmail him.

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He said he felt robbed from a choice I was too young to handle.

Keenan was handed a sentence of five years and six months, with the final 18 months suspended on strict conditions.

Judge Paul McDermott noted the repeated nature of the offending, and said Keenan took advantage of the injured party's youth and vulnerability.

He said the injured party's youth was blighted by what was done to him and that the abuse continues to affect him.

The judge said he took into account the mitigation including Keenan's guilty plea, the contents of psychological and Probation Service reports, his intellectual disability and recent diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia, for which he has being undergoing treatment in the community.

Suspending the final 18 months of the sentence, McDermott directed Keenan to place himself under the Probation Service supervision for two years post-release.

Other conditions of the suspended sentence include that Keenan have no contact with the injured party, that he engage in any risk management process and not be in the company of a child unless in the presence of another adult.

Evidence was previously heard that the injured party came into contact with Keenan through a friend who is related to the defendant, and that groups of friends would often go to Keenan's home

In the first incident, Keenan was sitting beside the boy on the couch, then put his hand on his lap. He then opened a newspaper and moved it over his hand as he rubbed the boy's leg. The boy panicked and jumped up. Others were present in the room, the court was told.

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The boy got up and went to the bathroom and Keenan later asked him if they could meet so he could suck him off.

The boy refused. Keenan contacted the boy after getting his phone number and the injured party told gardai he became very scared, and ultimately wanted to get it over and done with.

He thought it would be a once-off, but the abuse continued, taking place approximately every two weeks over a two-year period.

Keenan's abuse of the boy included inappropriately touching him over his clothing and performing oral sex on him. Keenan also masturbated the boy, the court was told.

The court heard that some of the abuse took place in the bathroom of Keenan's house and the boy was scared someone would come in.

The investigating garda told the court that Keenan used the threat that he had caught the boy engaging with another male to carry out the abuse which happened.

Keenan was cooperative when interviewed by gardai and made some admissions, partly accepting the injured party's account of events.

He has two previous unrelated convictions, dating back to the 1990s, and no previous convictions for sexual offending.

In his victim impact statement, Brennan said he was too afraid to seek support and hid a lot away. He said he took out his pain and suffering on his family when he was a teenager, and they didn't know why he was acting out.

The injured party said he broke down when he was 18 and tried to tell his mother what had happened, but instead told her I was gay and that was why I was acting out.

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He said he continues to struggle with his self-respect and ability to trust others, but his recovery could now start.

He said he now knows how strong he was to report what happened to him.

Dean Kelly SC, defending, outlined that the defendant had been recently diagnosed with schizophrenia and had been hospitalised for some time. He said his legal team had sought an updated psychological report as a result.

He said the accused was currently receiving treatment in the community and taking medication. Kelly submitted that custody will be particularly difficult for Keenan and his treatment will be held up as a result, which was a significant price to pay.

He said reports before the court set out Keenans early difficulties and outlined his limited intellectual capacity.

He said Keenan meets the criteria for an intellectual disability and has met significant difficulties throughout his life. He has a good work history and has been a carer for his mother.

Ireland Gerry Adams may have deluded himself over IRA membership, Court hears Read more

Counsel said Keenan had answered the questions of the gardai, initially suggesting the injured party was 16 but later conceding he may have been younger.

He said his client struggled with the intellectual concept of coercion and bullying, but accepts what he did was wrong and apologised.

Kelly said Keenan was not on the garda radar, there was no suggestion of further offending, and his risk of re-offending has been assessed as being within the moderate range.

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can call the national 24-hour Rape Crisis Helpline at 1800-77 8888, access text service and webchat options at drcc.ie/services/helpline/ or visit Rape Crisis Help. In the case of an emergency, always dial 999/112.
A man charged with the murder of his partner has told the jury at his trial that he killed her whilst denying that he tried to dismember the body at their apartment in Co Cork.

Adam Corcoran (31) is on trial at the Central Criminal Court in Cork, having pleaded not guilty to the murder of Daena Walsh, who was found dead at a burning apartment in Midleton on August 2nd, 2024.

The 27-year-old had 11 stab wounds, 14 incised wounds and a partially amputated left arm.

Corcoran also denied damaging by fire the property he shared with Walsh at John Barry House in Connolly Street in Midleton on the same date.

Corcoran opted to give evidence at his trial on Monday. Whilst under cross-examination by Donal McCarthy, SC, for the prosecution he admitted Yes, I killed her, yes. He also accepted that it wasnt in self-defence.

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However, he denied a suggestion put to him by Donal OSullivan that he tried to dismember the body of his long-term partner.

He also replied no when he was asked if he had started a fire at the apartment on the day his partner was found dead.

OSullivan put it to the accused that he had attacked Daena stabbing her so repeatedly and ferociously that the knife went through her breast bone four times. Corcoran insisted, that is not what happened.

He was asked why he had informed the operator who answered his 999 call that Walsh had attempted suicide. He said that is what he believed at the time.

He insisted that at that point he didnt know what had happened. Corcoran said that it took a period of time of months for him to remember what had occurred.

Meanwhile, whilst being questioned by defence barrister, Brendan Grehan, SC, Corcoran said that he and Walsh had two children together and that he loved her.

The native of Ballincollig in Co Cork said that they both had issues with substance abuse.

Corcoran said that he and Walsh were drinking and taking cocaine and prescription drugs non-stop, everyday in the fortnight before her death.

He recalled the morning of August 2nd, 2024. He claimed that the pair were attempting to sleep, having been up all night.

He stated that they couldnt sleep so they decided to go to Cork city to get a couple of Benzos as they only had fifteen or so left. He stated that they also wanted to look at engagement rings.

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Corcoran said that he and Walsh had been unable to board the bus to Cork as they didnt have change. He claimed that she accused him of looking at one of the girls on the bus.

He stated that they returned to their apartment where they had more alcohol and cocaine. He said that he went into the bedroom and called out to Walsh who didnt reply.

 I went into the kitchen. Daena was over by the cooker. She had a red knife in her hand. She was self-harming. She was shouting at me saying that I was cheating on her."

"She was screaming at me...(she said) she was sick of it - she was going to end it all."

Corcoran claimed that he went to grab Walsh by the wrists.

"She was swinging at me. She was hitting me and head-butting me and lashing out. I did not know where the knife was. I was lashing out at her."

He claimed that Walsh fell over and he toppled onto her.

"I hit her twice in the chest and she stopped moving. I was out of breath. I was very dizzy. When I came around I felt my shirt was wet.

Corcoran replied no when asked by his counsel as to whether he intended to kill or cause serious injury to his partner that day. He said that he loved her very much.

When asked if he recalled how Walsh got her injuries that day he replied no. When further questioned he said I must have done them.

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Grehan further asked his client about a conversation he had with a garda at the scene that day in which he is alleged to have said that her tried to save Walsh.

Ireland Gardai intercepted attempted robbery of German tourist Read more

He also told the garda that his partner had said she loved him and that it (her alleged suicide attempt) wasnt his fault. Corcoran said that he didnt really remember that.

The jury previously heard that Corcoran had described Walsh as his soulmate. In his garda interviews, he stated that he planned to marry her and that they were going to buy a house together.

Walsh was a native of Roundwood in Co Wicklow.

The case will continue on Wednesday in front of a jury of eight men and four women. It is being presided over by Judge Siobhan Lankford.
It is "grim" that a Ukrainian war veteran who once had a "real romance" with his partner tried to murder her by stabbing her 15 times after developing an "unshakeable" belief that she was being unfaithful to him, his barrister has told the Central Criminal Court.

Last month, Ukrainian refugee Viktoriia Pavlenkohas described how she awoke to find her "jealous" ex-partner Hryhorii Sryotenko pinning her down and demanding to be told "the truth" about her "lover" before trying to murder her.

In her victim impact statement, Pavlenko said Sryotenko had "absolutely mad eyes" before launching the attack, in which he repeatedly stabbed her in the face and body.

She added: "He threatened to stab me if I didn't tell him the truth about my lover. I didn't have any lover so I didn't understand what he was talking about. Then he stabbed me on my face and body".

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Last October, Sryotenko (51) with an address at Banna Beach Holiday Homes, Ardfert in Co Kerry pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of Pavlenko at that location on January 13th, 2024.

Sryotenko was previously charged with false imprisonment, assault causing serious harm and the production of a knife during a dispute.

Beginning Monday's plea in mitigation, defence counsel Mark Nicholas SC alongside Maria Brosnan BL told Judge David Keane that this was a "terrifying" experience for Pavlenko and that anything he said was not to not minimise the shock the victim experienced in her own home.

Counsel said his client has no previous convictions and had given enormous service to his own country. He said Sryotenko had joined the army, where he got a significant leg injury in the 2014 Crimean conflict before being discharged.

"When the current invasion took place he tried to make himself available again but was precluded," counsel explained.

Nicholas said Sryotenko had immediately "put his hands up" to gardai in relation to this event and at no point tried to apportion blame elsewhere. "He at all stages expresses he is responsible and hopes the victim will recover," said counsel.

The lawyer told the judge that his client accepts he carried out this very serious assault but said he did not have an intention to kill.

He said it was "unfortunate and grim" that the couple started off "in a very positive way with a real romance" and had formed a loving relationship from 2022 to 2023.

Nicholas said his client had developed an "unshakeable and incorrect belief" that Pavlenko was being unfaithful to him, despite her reassurances.

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The barrister said Pavlenko told gardai that prior to the incident, Sryotenko had a change of personality, was not sleeping and that she was worried about him.

"She said he was mixing up reality with imagination and that this was not the man she knew," he said.

Counsel described the events of that day as shocking and terrifying. He said the assault went uninterrupted for quite some time and it was only when the defendant's son came into the bedroom that things came to an end.

"It is a troubling case in many ways," he said.

He submitted that whilst his client owned up to the assault, he still had difficulty in accepting his plea "to the intention".

Counsel described Pavlenko's statement as "very elegant and kindly crafted". Nicholas asked the judge to take into account his client's guilty plea and lack of previous convictions.

Keane remanded Sryotenko in custody until March 26th, when he will be sentenced.

Sentencing hearing

In her victim impact statement delivered last month, Pavlenko said that she and her daughter had to leave Ukraine in 2022 when the war broke out and "look for a shelter somewhere in a safe place".

The victim said life improved when they came to Ireland and it gave them "a feeling of peace and tranquility" but that "everything changed completely" on the day of the attack.

In her statement, Pavlenko said she met Sryotenko in Ireland and they were neighbours. "At first everything was good, we planned our future life together. But then he turned out to be very jealous. He started to accuse me of saying and doing things I've never said or done"," she said.

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The victim said she started to suspect her partner had some mental health problems. She said they separated in November 2023 but still lived in the same house.

"I will never forget January 13th. I was sleeping peacefully in my bed when I heard a strange noise. I opened my eyes and at first I didn't realise what was going on. I saw Hryhorii in my bed, sitting on me with a knife in his hands.

"His eyes were absolutely mad. He threatened to stab me if I didn't tell him the truth about my lover. I didn't have any lover so I didn't understand what he was talking about. Then he stabbed me on my face and body. I don't know how many times because I was shocked".

"I shouted and luckily his son heard and came into the room and saved me. Truly speaking, I have rather vague memories of that day, mainly because of the pain, fear and shock".

Ireland Cork man charged with murder of partner claims she stabbed herself in stomach Read more

Pavlenko said she was taken to University Hospital Kerry and then Cork University Hospital, where she was operated on for her injuries. The court heard she had 15 stab wounds on her body.

She said she spent weeks in hospital and then months recovering from the injuries and doing special exercises for rehabilitation.

The victim said that "step by step" she is coming back to a normal life with the help of her daughter and her friends.

Sryotenko has no previous convictions. During interviews with gardai, the court heard that Sryotenko admitted stabbing the victim but denied attempting to kill her. The defendant said he had done something terrible and was happy Pavlenko was still alive.
China has warned that US president Donald Trumps latest tariff moves could harm the countries trade relationship, at the end of high-level talks in Paris.

Li Chenggang, Chinas international trade representative, said the Chinese side had expressed serious concern about the trade investigations into manufacturing in foreign countries that the Trump administration launched after the US Supreme Court struck down its earlier tariffs.

We are concerned that the possible results of such investigations may interfere with or damage the hard-won and stable China-US economic and trade relations, Mr Li told journalists.



Treasury secretary Scott Bessent (Alex Brandon/AP)

He said they discussed the possible extension of tariffs and non-tariff measures on both sides, and that China expressed concern over likely uncertainty as the US adjusts its measures.

He said both sides agreed to make efforts to keep the tariffs stable.

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The meeting was meant to prepare for Mr Trumps planned trip to China in about two weeks, though the president has warned that it could be delayed. Mr Li did not address that, and did not take questions.

Treasury secretary Scott Bessent, who led the US delegation in Paris, said the talks were constructive and they show the stability in the relationship, and noted: The purpose of these meetings is to prevent any retaliation.

Mr Trumps visit to China would be the first for a US president since he went in his first term in 2017. It would come five months after he met President Xi Jinping in the South Korean city of Busan.

The Iran war has emerged as a potential stumbling block as the US and China were patching up relations following a tariff war in which import taxes soared to triple digits. The two sides later agreed to a one-year truce.

Mr Trump has suggested he may delay the much-anticipated China visit as he seeks Beijings help to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and calm oil prices that have soared during the Iran war.

But Mr Bessent said any postponement would not be to pressure China on that issue.

If the presidents visit is postponed, it would have nothing to do with the Chinese making a commitment to the Straits of Hormuz, he told journalists.

It would obviously be in their interest to do so, but a postponement would not be as a result of any asks from the president not being met, Mr Bessent added.

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The postponement, if it happens, would be because the commander in chief of the United States military believes that he should stay in the United States while this war is being prosecuted.

US trade representative Jamieson Greer, accompanying Mr Bessent, said the talks sketched out the general terms of a work plan for a Trump-Xi meeting so that it could produce potential deliverables.

He said they also covered the trade investigations that concern China.

We started these talks, really, by giving them a preview of what were doing on US trade policy as we adjust to the Supreme Court, Mr Greer said.

Remember: The presidents trade policy hasnt changed. Our tools may change, and were conducting these investigations. We dont want to prejudge them, and we had a good conversation with our counterparts about that process.
European countries have sought more details about US president Donald Trumps plans for the war on Iran and warned that Nato must not become involved it, as they weighed whether to agree to his call to send warships to help shore up security in the Persian Gulf.

The cool response to Mr Trumps demand reflects wide caution about the US-Israeli war among allies kept in the dark before, and largely since, it was launched on February 28.

Mr Trump has asked partners  including France, China, Japan, South Korea and Britain  to help secure the Strait of Hormuz for global shipping.



(PA Graphics)

He said the United States was talking to about seven countries, but he would not say which ones and gave no indication of when such a coalition might be formed.

UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer insisted Britain will not be drawn into the wider war, and said British troops should only be sent into action that is legal and has a proper thought-through plan.

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But his country is considering other forms of help in conjunction with allies.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Mr Trump also warned that if theres no response or if its a negative response, I think it will be very bad for the future of Nato.

German chancellor Friedrich Merz said that Nato is a defensive alliance, not an interventionist one. And that is precisely why Nato has no business being involved here.

He said he hopes that Nato allies will treat one another with the necessary respect within the alliance.

Mr Merz agreed that this Iranian regime must come to an end, but he said that based on all the experience we have gained in previous years and decades, bombing it into submission is, in all likelihood, not the right approach.

Many are keen to know when the war will end.



(PA Graphics)

At a meeting in Brussels, where European Union foreign ministers gathered to discuss Mr Trumps demand, German foreign minister Johann Wadephul said it is important for the US and Israel to define when they consider the military aims of their deployment to have been reached.

We need more clarity here, Mr Wadephul told reporters.

Estonian foreign minister Margus Tsahkna also said that US allies in Europe want to understand Mr Trumps strategic goals. What will be the plan?

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Polish foreign minister Radek Sikorski invited the Trump administration to go through the proper channels.

If there is a request via Nato, we will of course out of respect and sympathy for our American allies consider it very carefully, he said.

Mr Sikorski made a reference to Article 4 of Natos founding treaty, which allies can invoke if they believe their territory or security is under threat.

Still, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said that it is in our interest to keep the Strait of Hormuz open.

Ms Kallas had urged the 27 member countries to expand the EUs Operation Aspides naval mission to protect shipping in the Red Sea up into the Persian Gulf.

But after chairing the meeting, she said there had been no appetite to boost its mandate.

But Ms Kallas said the EU would closely monitor threats to maritime security also in the Red Sea, where Aspides operates with three warships.

The risk that the Houthis get involved is real. So we must remain vigilant, she said.

Yemens Iran-backed Houthi rebels have so far remained on the sidelines of the war even as it has spread across the Middle East, raising questions about why, and perhaps when, the battle-hardened group might join the fight.

It was not immediately clear whether some European countries might go it alone and form a coalition of the willing to provide military support on an ad hoc basis.

The war in Iran has driven up energy prices worldwide, with Brent crude up more than 40%. The conflict has also disrupted the wider global supply chain beyond oil, affecting things like pharmaceuticals from India, semiconductors from Asia and oil-derived products like fertilisers that come from the Middle East.

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Cargo ships are stuck in the Gulf or making a much longer detour around the southern tip of Africa. Planes carrying air cargo out of the Middle East are grounded.

And the longer the war drags on, the more likely that there will be shortages and price increases on a wide range of goods.

France has said it is working with countries  President Emmanuel Macron mentioned partners in Europe, India and Asia  on a possible mission to escort ships through the strait but has stressed it must be when the circumstances permit, when fighting has subsided.

French senior officials, speaking anonymously on ongoing talks, said the Netherlands, Italy and Greece had shown interest and that Spain might be involved in some way.

Sir Keir said Britain is discussing with the US and allies in Europe and the Gulf the possibility of using its mine-hunting drones already in the region.
Marseille's leftist mayor and his far-right rival were tied in Sunday's first-round municipal election, exit polls showed, boosting the nationalist National Rally's (RN) hopes of winning France's No. 2 city ahead of the 2027 presidential election.

A divisive anti-immigration and eurosceptic party, the RN is now France's largest parliamentary bloc and polls suggest it could win the presidency next year. It has long struggled to build a power base across French towns and cities, but Marseille's stark security situation has given the party hope of scoring a once-unthinkable victory there.

The vote in Marseille was one of the most closely watched battles in France's March 15th municipal elections, in which voters will elect the leaders of some 35,000 towns and cities. The vote serves as a test of the strength of the far-right and the resilience of mainstream parties going into next year's presidential election.

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Marseille has become the epicentre of France's battle with growing drug crime, and polls show security is the top concern for voters in the nationwide elections, a trend that is seen benefiting the RN and its tough-on-crime rhetoric.

Incumbent Socialist Mayor Benoit Payan was seen with 35.4 per cent of the Marseille vote, Ipsos said, with the RN's Franck Allisio also on 35.4 per cent. Other exit polls gave Payan a slight lead.

A candidate from the far-left France Unbowed and from a centrist coalition also made the run-off, resulting in a four-way second-round vote that is hard to predict.

Candidates are likely to jostle to form alliances or drop out ahead of next Sunday's run-off, which is expected to dictate who seizes victory in many of the tightest races across France.

"We call on all the women and men of Marseille - join us. Let us unite to defeat the left and the far left," Allisio said after the results came in. "Where they have let insecurity run rampant, we will restore order."

Signs of mainstream party resilience

RN President Jordan Bardella said the party did well in many municipalities around France, as the country awaited results.

Exit polls showed the party had won Perpignan near the Spanish border in the first round itself, reclaiming one of the biggest cities it already controls. Its candidate in the southern city of Toulon, a larger city it had also set its sights on, came first in the first-round vote.

There were signs of resilience among mainstream parties, however.

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In Paris, Socialist Emmanuel Gregoire came in first, with a significant lead over conservative former minister Rachida Dati, while the rising star of the far-right, Sarah Knafo, was awaiting official results to see if she would hit the 10 per cent threshold needed to reach a run-off.

Former French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe came first in his northern city of Le Havre, delivering a better-than-expected performance that boosts his hopes of running for president in 2027.

Philippe, President Emmanuel Macron's premier until 2020, is seen as one of the few centrist candidates capable of beating the RN in 2027, and had said he would not run next year if he failed to secure re-election in Le Havre.

"Elections are not polls. In a democracy, it is the voters who decide," he said.

__________________________________________

As part of a pilot project BreakingNews.ie has used AI to suggest headline options for this article. The final headline was chosen and edited by BreakingNews.ie journalists. Find out more
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The corporate and property empire of media mogul Antony the Cat Catalano started to unravel on Monday, just days after he was charged with assault, false imprisonment and making threats to kill a woman. The former Domain chief executive and boss of dozens of regional newspapers had his landmark $30 million Melbourne penthouse pulled from the market by selling agents citing sensitivities over the alleged assault. Media boss Antony Catalanos $30 million Melbourne penthouse is no longer up for sale. This masthead has previously reported that police attended the penthouse in St Kildas Saint Moritz building on Thursday evening, and the entrepreneur returned there after he was granted bail at a court hearing on Friday. Hours before the alleged assault, Catalano had been in good spirits, celebrating a 40th birthday at a Greek restaurant in Richmond with his wife, Stefanie Catalano, whose relationship with the media mogul has been turbulent. One source described the event as pretty wild, with many in the crowd downing shots.

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In the wealthy Byron Bay suburb of Wategos, where Catalano and his family have lived for years, associates went to ground. In the increasingly exclusive northern NSW town, which includes celebrities, art dealers and tech entrepreneurs, Catalano is known as the owner of the popular waterfront resort and restaurant Raes. Catalanos property at Wategos Beach in Byron Bay. Natalie Grono Were all in no-comment mode, mate, said his friend Michael Ibrahim, who runs a coffee cart out the front of Raes. Other known associates of Catalano when he was in Byron Bay were also tight-lipped and rejected opportunities to comment on the allegations, either through intercom boxes or at the doorsteps of their multimillion-dollar homes.

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Catalano, the executive chair of Australian Community Media and owner of classified group View Media, was accused in court by Victoria Police of dragging a woman around an apartment by her hair and ankles and swinging a clothes iron at her head, in an alleged assault that left her with a broken coccyx. He was released on bail on Friday and soon after issued a statement saying he would immediately check in to a rehabilitation facility. As Catalano awaited an opening at a rehabilitation centre on Monday, the repercussions of the assault allegations began to show. His six-bedroom, seven-bathroom apartment in St Kilda, initially listed last year with hopes of a $33 million to $36 million sale, was pulled from the market. When it was initially listed it was hoped to top its own suburb record, set in 2019 when Catalano purchased it off-the-plan for $30 million. However, even before charges were laid hopes of a record had dimmed for Catalano after marketing for the penthouse showed a revised guide of $29.95 million.

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The turnaround in Catalanos selling plans came just hours after he stood down from the executive chairmanship of his newspaper business and as a director of two publicly listed companies, Keybridge Capital and Yowie Group. Meanwhile, Catalanos business partner in ACM, Alex Waislitz, released a statement saying all staff at their companies would be supported and heard and the firms would prioritise their long-term interests and their employees and partners. Alex Waislitz says staff at Australian Community Media will be supported and heard. Eamon Gallagher Among the stable of newspapers in ACM, which the pair bought for $125 million from Nine, the owner of this masthead, are The Canberra Times and The Newcastle Herald. The immediate priority is the well-being of the employees and all stakeholders of Australian Community Media and View Media Group, Waislitz said. Both companies will ensure that all employees are supported and heard.

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This masthead reported that there had been rumours of a potential sale of the Community Media business. Waislitz did not address that directly, but he said both it and View were strong organisations with experienced teams that would run them in Catalanos absence. Both companies will continue to protect their long-term interests, their employees, partners and other stakeholders whilst maintaining their integrity and governance practices, Waislitz said. My thoughts are with all those affected by this matter. Catalano has also stepped down as an executive director at financial services group Keybridge Capital and childrens chocolate manufacturer Yowie Group. This leave relates to personal matters concerning Mr Catalano that are currently before the courts, Keybridge Capital said in a statement. Yowie Group, of which Keybridge is a majority shareholder, released an identical statement.

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Catalano owns a 50 per cent stake in ACM, with Waislitz, a billionaire investor, philanthropist and former vice-president of Collingwood Football Club, owning the rest through his Thorney Investment Group. Under their ownership, ACM has undertaken aggressive cost-cutting, with several rounds of redundancies, and promises to phase out print production at several regional titles. Related Article Exclusive

Courts Im dealing with a lot right now: Antony Catalanos wife responds to husbands assault charges Despite ongoing discussions about selling the ACM titles, Catalano has been unable to secure a buyer, despite offering a deal to Southern Cross Austereo in 2024, the radio company which recently merged with Seven West Media. ACM papers have also run advertising for Catalano and Waislitzs digital classifieds business View Media, which recorded a $23 million net loss, according to its most recent financial documents filed with the corporate regulator. Waislitz, who was travelling in the United States when news of Catalanos arrest broke, has been involved in two recent civil court matters. In December, Waislitz agreed to pay his ex-wife, Heloise Pratt, daughter of cardboard baron Richard Pratt, $325 million as part of a settlement made on the eve of a trial that allowed him to retain control of Thorney Investments.

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He has also been drawn into a Victorian Supreme Court battle between his fiancee Rebekah Behbahani and her sister, Real Housewives of Melbourne star Venus Behbahani. On Sunday, this masthead reported that Stefanie Catalano had been left shaken by the charges against her husband. Im really not ready. Im dealing with a lot right now with my family, she said, adding she did not wish to make any further comment on the matter. The Business Briefing newsletter delivers major stories, exclusive coverage and expert opinion. Sign up to get it every weekday morning.
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BusinessCompaniesBulls N' Bears Drill rods spin as Gateway tests standout WA gold target Rowena Duckworth March 16, 2026  1:02pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Share A A A

When geologists start drawing comparisons to Jundee and St Ives, two of the most celebrated gold camps in the Eastern Goldfields, its a sign that something genuinely exciting might be stirring. Thats exactly the narrative building around Gateway Minings Great Western prospect, where drill rods have just turned for the very first time. Gateway has kicked off its debut systematic drill program at the top-priority Great Western prospect, deploying two aircore rigs to systematically test a 16-kilometre-long dolerite unit in the companys WA Yandal project area. Aircore rig at Gateway Minings Great Western prospect near Wiluna in Western Australia. Gateway has spent the past several months doing its homework, mapping the surface, running high-resolution geophysical surveys and tripping over literally hundreds of gold nuggets poking out of the ground along a 7km outcropping stretch of the shear zone. Intriguingly, the target has never seen the drill bit. Despite sitting in one of Australias most gold-prolific regions and with mineralisation expected to be close to surface, Great Western has largely flown under the radar until now.

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Geophysical surveys and detailed mapping has defined what could be one of the most exciting gold targets drilled in the goldfields. Gateway Mining chief executive officer Richard Pugh The geological comparisons to Jundee and Junction have been drawn directly from the rocks character. The target is hosted within a sheared, differentiated dolerite unit - a rock type known to be a highly effective trap for gold mineralisation. The contrast between the dolerite and the surrounding volcanic and basement rocks has created exactly the structural environment that often attracts gold. Geologists call it textbook. Punters might just call it prime gold country. The initial two-week aircore program will step-march along the outcropping 7km portion of the system, focusing first on the areas of strongest gold-in-soil anomalies and nugget fields. The heavier guns will then roll in, with reverse circulation (RC) drilling attacking the deeper into zones of elevated veining and alteration identified by the aircore while also testing areas too deep for the lighter aircore rigs. The full drill program is expected to run for around three months, with assay results to hit the market as soon as they are received, meaning a steady flow of potential news catalysts.

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Gateway Minings chief executive officer Richard Pugh said: Weve been building towards this drill program since first delineating the extensive surface gold anomalism (plus the many hundreds of nuggets which have since been found) along the outcropping portion of the system back in September 2025. Great Western forms part of the companys flagship Yandal gold project, comprising roughly 1,780 square kilometres of world-class Yandal Greenstone Belt real estate 85 kilometres northeast of Wiluna. Gateways tenure sits just 50km northeast of Northern Star Resources Jundee Mill, within the northeastern Yilgarn Craton. Jundee has been a cornerstone operation in the region since mining began 30 years ago, producing gold from both underground and open-pit operations. Its success has long underlined the prospectivity of the Yandal Greenstone Belt, particularly for Archaean, high-grade, narrow-vein lode-style deposits. Gateways broader Yandal project already hosts a resource of 8.17 million tonnes grading 1.52g/t gold for 400,400 ounces. The resource is centred on the Horse Well Gold Camp and the Dusk til Dawn deposit, providing a solid foundation for ongoing exploration success. Initial geological mapping across the newly identified gold-anomalous areas at Great Western has revealed a highly altered, structurally complex landscape riddled with multiple geological structures. Encouragingly, the structural setting also bears similarities to the nearby Horse Well Gold Camp, hinting the area could host a comparable large-scale gold system.

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Gateway also appears ready to crank things up a notch. The company has flagged that additional drill rigs could be brought in as the program gathers momentum. With $19.4 million in cash and a further $9.3 million in liquid ASX securities on hand at the end of December 2025, Gateway has plenty of firepower to keep the drill rods turning without having to go cap in hand to the market. For now, the rigs have only just begun scratching the surface of what could be a sizeable new gold system hiding in plain sight within one of WAs most fertile gold belts. If the drilling starts to mirror the geological promise hinted at by the nuggets, soil anomalies and textbook structural setting, Great Western could quickly become the Yandal belts next serious discovery story. Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@wanews.com.au

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Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: mattbirney@bullsnbears.com.au
Immediate skin-to-skin contact right after birth is now backed by strong new evidence showing it helps newborns survive, grow, and develop better in both the short and long term.

Skin-to-skin contact means placing a naked or diaper-only newborn directly on a caregiver's bare chest, usually the mother, and covering both with a warm blanket. The baby's head is turned to the side so the airway stays clear, and the position is monitored by staff or family. This practice is also called kangaroo mother care (KMC), especially when used for preterm or low-birthweight babies and done for many hours each day.

Latest Guidelines and Why They Changed

In 2022, the World Health Organization (WHO) advised that preterm and small babies should start kangaroo mother care immediately after birth, without first being separated into an incubator.

This was a major shift from older guidance that called for 37 days of stabilization in a warmer before starting KMC. New data show that starting skin-to-skin right away saves more lives, reduces infections and hypothermia, and improves feeding in these vulnerable babies.

A 2025 updated Cochrane review also found such strong benefits of early skin-to-skin that the authors said it is no longer ethical to run trials where newborns do not receive it as part of standard care.

Major organizations like WHO, UNICEF, and the American Academy of Pediatrics now recommend beginning skin-to-skin within about 10 minutes of birth and keeping it for at least an hour whenever mother and baby are stable.

Early Life Benefits for Newborns

Skin-to-skin contact helps newborns adjust to life outside the womb in several key ways.

It keeps babies warm by using the caregiver's body heat, lowering the risk of low temperature (hypothermia).

It supports a more stable heart rate, breathing, and oxygen levels, which is especially important in preterm infants.

It improves blood sugar control in the first hours and days, reducing episodes of low blood sugar.

It lowers stress and crying, with studies showing reduced cortisol (a stress hormone) during and after skin-to-skin contact.

These early stabilizing effects are not just about comfort; they reduce complications, shorten hospital stays in some settings, and can improve overall survival, especially for babies who are born too early or too small.

Breastfeeding and Bonding

One of the clearest findings from recent research is that skin-to-skin contact boosts breastfeeding success, the Center for Breastfeeding said.

The 2025 Cochrane review reported that about 75% of babies who had early skin-to-skin were exclusively breastfed at one month, compared with about 55% who did not.

Mothers who do skin-to-skin in the first hour are more likely to keep exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months.

Skin-to-skin places the baby close to the breast, encourages natural rooting and sucking behaviors, and often leads to earlier first feeds. It also supports stronger emotional bonding and can increase milk volume when mothers express milk soon after a session.

For parents, this close contact tends to reduce anxiety and build confidence in caring for their newborn.

Brain and Long-Term Development

Beyond the first days, there is growing evidence that skin-to-skin care supports brain and behavioral development.

Randomized trials of preterm infants show that babies who receive kangaroo mother care have more mature brain activity patterns on EEG and better early neurobehavior scores as early as 714 days of life.

A 2025 systematic review and meta-analysis found that children who had KMC as newborns often show better cognitive and motor development in infancy and early childhood, especially when KMC starts in the first week and is done for many hours per day.

Long-term follow-up of one landmark trial into young adulthood has even reported higher IQ, better emotional regulation, and structural brain differences, such as larger volumes in key areas related to attention and control.

These findings suggest that the simple act of holding a newborn skin-to-skin can shape stress responses, sleep patterns, and neural connections in ways that support healthier development over many years.

How Often and How Long To Do It

For healthy full-term babies, many professional groups recommend immediate skin-to-skin for at least the first hour after birth, and longer if possible, including during the first breastfeed.

Parents can continue daily skin-to-skin at home during the first weeks and months, using it to calm the baby, support feeding, and strengthen their bond.

For preterm or low-birthweight infants, WHO advises continuous kangaroo mother care for as many hours per day as families can manage, ideally started right after birth. Research suggests that more frequent and longer sessions bring stronger benefits for growth, neurodevelopment, and emotional regulation, as per the Journal of Neonatal Surgery.
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BusinessCompaniesAviation Emirates flights from Australia diverted after attack on Dubai Chris Zappone March 16, 2026  4:45pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Share A A A

An Emirates flight that departed from Melbourne last night bound for Dubai International Airport has been diverted following a drone attack near the airport. EK407 left Melbourne at 10.52pm on Sunday and was due to arrive at Dubai International at 5.40am on Monday (Dubai time), according to information on FlightRadar24. A drone attack near the Dubai International hit a fuel tank, forcing authorities to temporarily suspend flights. The flight instead landed at Dubai World Central, the international airport in Jebel Ali, Dubai, about an hours drive away.

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A Dubai International-bound flight from Sydney was also diverted. EK413 left Sydney at 9.54pm on Sunday and was due to arrive at 5.15 Monday morning Dubai time at Dubai International. It was instead diverted to Dubai World Central, information from FlightRadar24 showed. Both planes were Airbus A380s. Emirates information suggests passengers will be transferred by air to Dubai international. The airline was contacted for comment.

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All flights to and from Dubai have been temporarily suspended, Emirates posted after the attack. An Emirates flight lands. Twitter We would like to thank our customers for their understanding and patience, the Dubai-based airline said, warning passengers not to go to the airport. Later, the Dubai Media Office X account posted that the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority had announced the gradual resumption of some flights to and from Dubai International Airport to selected destinations, following the temporary suspension implemented as a precautionary measure. The incident is the third at the Dubai airport, one of the worlds busiest international travel hubs, since Iran began its attacks on Gulf nations on February 28.

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A significant number of Australians have relied on travel through Dubai to reach Europe and Britain in recent years. The outbreak of the war has paralysed flights between Australasia and Europe, stranding more than 10,000 Australians in transit. Even as Emirates seeks to scale up flights following the start of the war, official Australian government advice is to avoid the region. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, on the Smartraveller.gov.au website, lists the United Arab Emirates as a do not travel country. The regional conflict is likely to escalate further. We advise you to leave the UAE, dont wait until its too late, it says. DFAT also lists Qatar, Kuwait, Israel and Bahrain among other nations in the region.

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Do not travel advice also applies to transit and layovers in affected locations, DFAT says. Even if you dont plan to leave the airport, do not transit through these countries. Airports, hotels, roads, bridges and other locations have been struck with missiles. If you travel to or transit through a Do not travel country, you may be unable to leave. Your safety will be at risk. Iran has been sending salvos of missiles and drones towards military and civilian targets across the Persian Gulf after Israel and the US mounted an attack on Tehran, seeking regime change. The Market Recap newsletter is a wrap of the days trading. Get it each weekday afternoon.
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BusinessMarketsMiddle East at war Biblical disaster: Trump plots a radical move to control oil prices Chris Price and Joe Wright March 16, 2026  5:35pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Share A A A

The Trump administration is considering intervening in oil markets to push down prices despite warnings that it would risk a biblical disaster. Doug Burgum, the US interior secretary, said officials had discussed trading in the so-called futures markets after war in Iran put the price of oil end last week at $US103 ($147) a barrel. US President Donald Trump says Iran is a nation of hate and terror. AP Burgum said there has been a discussion about an intervention in the market by which traders buy and sell contracts agreeing on a price for oil to be delivered at a future date. We have a lot of smart people working in this administration  a lot of smart people work in the energy trading market, he told Bloomberg Television.

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The admission comes after speculation last week that the White House had already intervened in an attempt to push down prices. Related Article Opinion

Middle East at war Trump is holding the world hostage Stephen Bartholomeusz Senior business columnist Oil surged to $US120 a barrel in early trading last Sunday night before rapidly falling back to $US90, a move many investors struggled to explain. The White House denied it was responsible for the drop, but market speculation was enough to prompt a warning from the boss of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), where oil futures are traded. Terry Duffy, the CME Group chief executive, said government intervention risked a biblical disaster.

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He warned that attempts to artificially push oil prices down could fatally undermine faith in the market, with potentially dangerous consequences for the broader economy. Markets do not like it when governments intervene in pricing, he told a conference in Florida last week. US Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said officials had discussed trading in the futures markets. Bloomberg The $US500 billion-a-day oil futures market is far larger than the trade in physical oil and forms a crucial part of the modern global economy. Oil companies and airlines use futures contracts to guard against any unexpected leaps in prices in months ahead, while banks and hedge funds also bet on moves in the price of oil to earn profits.

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The price of oil on the futures market is the most widely quoted benchmark and its surge to $US103 a barrel has created uncomfortable headlines for Donald Trump, whose war in Iran is increasingly unpopular at home. Under the likely White House plan, the US government would spend large sums to bet that the price of oil will fall. The US Treasurys financial heft may allow it to skew the market to lower prices. However, experts cast doubt on the White Houses ability to bring down prices even given the substantial financial resources available. Never been done  for good reason Chris Hodge, an economist at investment bank Natixis, said the US Treasury could use its reserves of around $US200 billion for an intervention at short notice. However, this would be merely a drop in the bucket, he said. Its not going to cause a huge help in the short run, and it will be entirely ineffective in the medium to long run, he said.

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Related Article Middle East at war As oil prices spike, is this the week Trump declares victory in Iran? This is a really deep market and continued intervention is not economically feasible. Its not financially feasible and its not going to be politically feasible either. Felipe Schuurman, the chief executive of energy analytics firm Sparta, said oil trading by the US government had never been done  for good reason. Even the US Treasury, with significant capital at its disposal, would struggle to sustainably move prices against a supply deficit of this magnitude. He added that attempts to drive down the price would also do little to address the fundamental problem: a shortage of oil.

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This is not speculative froth; it is the market correctly pricing a historic physical supply shock, Schuurman said. No amount of futures selling changes the fact that barrels are not reaching refineries. Experts cast doubt on the White Houses ability to bring down oil prices. Bloomberg Speaking to Bloomberg, Burgum acknowledged an intervention to try to manipulate and lower prices would require enormous amounts of capital. Feeling the pressure The White House is considering such a radical option amid growing concern about rapidly rising prices.

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Oil has risen in price by more than 40 per cent since the start of the Iran war because of the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway through which a fifth of the worlds oil and gas exports pass. Related Article Opinion

Middle East at war Trump is facing a humiliating crisis he created himself The rising price of crude has pushed up petrol prices in the US and in turn increased pressure on Trump before the midterm elections this year. In Britain, petrol prices have hit an 18-month high. European jet fuel prices have also risen to a record high. On Friday, Trump said US forces had obliterated military sites on Irans Kharg Island, home to the countrys main oil export terminal. In response, Iran has threatened to attack oil wells and gas terminals in neighbouring countries.

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Mohamed El-Erian, chief economic adviser at Allianz, said on X that the press would have been screaming about another surge in oil prices if the markets werent closed for the weekend. Hodge said: If the administration really wanted to bring oil prices down, the solution would be diplomatic, not economic. You would be talking about OPEC increasing production and thats really difficult to do, even in the best of times. So I dont think theres really any levers the administration can pull to have a durable effect on oil markets. The Telegraph, London The Business Briefing newsletter delivers major stories, exclusive coverage and expert opinion. Sign up to get it every weekday morning.
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BusinessThe economyPopulation Opinion Its one of the greatest challenges we face, but oh baby, simplistic solutions wont fix it Luara Ferracioli Associate professor March 16, 2026  3:33pm

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Matt Canavan has used his first week as leader of the Nationals to call for Australians to have more children. In doing so, he joins a long list of political leaders around the world who have called attention to the problem of depopulation, and to the importance of demographic renewal. Critics have responded by reminding Australians of the sexist and racist undertone of this sort of political speech given that calls for Australian families to have more children are rarely accompanied by a genuine commitment to increasing family support and Australias immigration intake. Australia is already reaching uncharted territory with a birth rate of 1.5. Dionne Gain For a segment of the population, whenever politicians say that Australians need more babies, what they are really saying is that Australians need more white babies to be looked after by their white mothers, who, in turn, should ideally be a stay-at-home parent. Once you add to the mix the fraught relationship between population growth and climate change, it starts to look like depopulation is a problem the right side of politics has invented so that they get a social license to push back against feminist, racial justice and environmentalist agendas.

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If only things were that simple. The truth is that depopulation is one of the greatest challenges of our time. Current demographic trends suggest that by 2100, several major economies could have half of the population they have now. Australia is already reaching uncharted territory with a birth rate of 1.5. Treasurer Jim Chalmers suggested this much in his budget speech last year when he noted demographic changes as one of the five seismic challenges facing the country. In a nutshell, the concern when it comes to depopulation is that in the absence of a robust young demographic to support the economy and an ageing population, governments will simply be unable to maintain current standards of living while communities will be left without adequate access to essential public services, including health care and aged care, and a well-funded pension system. As a result, future generations will become poorer and will enjoy significantly lower levels of human development than current generations enjoy.

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Now, I dont deny that many pronatalist politicians and commentators are not that worried about the future and are simply motivated by nostalgia of a time in our past where we were less multicultural and where women were less empowered. I also dont deny that sometimes pro-natalism overlaps with climate change denial. Related Article Opinion

Political leadership Matt Canavan and the male breadwinner model: A throwback to the 50s Jacqueline Maley Columnist and senior journalist But just because some commentators fail to grasp what is morally at stake or offer misguided solutions doesnt mean we dont have a serious problem in our hands. With population numbers declining so rapidly, we are faced with a serious dilemma: if governments do not actively pursue demographic renewal by some means, there is a serious risk that the rapid transition to a low fertility future will impose unfair burdens on the next generations. But if governments do act, there is a serious risk that current citizens will bear significant moral costs for the sake of demographic renewal. The moral cost of being told by the government to have more children when you can barely afford it, or when it might have serious detrimental effects to your health (think of the risks and side effects of pregnancy) or your career (think of the motherhood penalty) are significant.

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So if we are going to address the problem of depopulation in a way that treats all Australians as free and equal citizens, we need to take seriously the question of whether it is even fair for parents to shoulder so many of the costs of child-rearing when the whole of society benefits from a large enough cohort of young people who will one day pay the taxes and provide the services we all need to function as a society. In many other spheres of life those who benefit from a service are expected to meaningfully contribute to the costs of providing it. Related Article Opinion

Gender equality Matt Canavan wants more Australian babies. But Australian women might just say no Virginia Haussegger Canberra writer and an academic advocate for gender equity. Indeed, if we are going to take the problem of depopulation seriously, we need to ask difficult questions about how to meaningfully support families in all their configurations with the design of family-formation policies that are both legitimate and fit for purpose. We also need to address the immigration part of the puzzle, given that depopulation is now also a problem for many countries in the global south, and so familiar concerns around the brain drain become even more pressing, requiring an ethical response on our part. Telling Australians to have more children when many parents and prospective parents feel that current economic settings have set them up to fail simply adds insult to injury. But conversely, treating depopulation as a mere far-right dog whistle discourages us from having the urgent and important conversations we must have if we are going to maintain an inter-age group social contract that benefits all Australians.

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Luara Ferracioli is an associate professor in political philosophy in the School of Humanities at the University of Sydney. Her recent books include Liberal Self-Determination in World of Migration (Oxford University Press, 2022) and Parenting and the Goods of Childhood (Oxford University Press, 2023). Get a weekly wrap of views that will challenge, champion and inform your own. Sign up for our Opinion newsletter.
Every cafe, bakery, bar, pub and restaurant featured in The Age Good Food Guide in Central Victoria. See all stories .

Kick off your Castlemaine bar crawl here before adjourning to nearby Gornellys or Maurocco Bar. Its predominantly a wine bar and bottle shop, but you can still get charcuterie and chippies to line the stomach. Settle in for a glass (or two), or pick up a bottle to take home  perhaps a Beechworth pret-a-rouge or something special imported from northern France.

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LifestyleFashionQueen Mary Queen Mary swaps tiara for Akubra in first official visit to Australia since new royal title Lauren Ironmonger March 16, 2026  3:04pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Share A A A

Akubras, Zimmermann and a touch of Scandi-chic: such are the style rules for our Aussie Cinderellas first official visit Down Under since being minted queen. King Frederik X and Queen Mary at the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park Cultural Centre on Sunday. Getty Images The Danish royals have started a six-day tour of Australia, their first official visit since they became monarchs in 2024. The Tasmanian-born queen, who met the king-to-be during the 2000 Sydney Olympics, was last in Australia in 2023 on an official tour as princess. Like Princess Catherines fashion choices of late, Marys styling thus far has been rather simple (save for the choice selection of prized jewels eagle-eyed monarchists may recognise).

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In the first official state tour, Queen Mary has shown a refinement with a selection of pared back looks. Queen Mary is not one to distract from official duties  we have seen casual linens in Uluru and feminine florals in the nations capital, says Mattie Cronan, style director of the Australian Womens Weekly. Perhaps the new queen is eager to keep attention on the visits diplomatic goals  to focus on clean energy and deepen ties between Australia and Denmark  and be sensitive to the cost-of-living crisis we common folk are living with. Editor's pick Updated

Royalty Frederik and Mary visit Australias best known landmark In a visit to Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park Cultural Centre on Sunday, Mary dialled down the glitz, swapping her tiara for an Akubra hat straight out of Bob Katters wardrobe, and her princess gowns for a beige skirt and an umbrella-print button-down shirt. On Monday morning, the 54-year-old switched it up with a green floral dress from Australian label Zimmermann, a brand she has worn before, to attend an Aboriginal smoking ceremony in Canberra.

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Mary wore a green dress by Australian designer Zimmermann to a smoking ceremony in Canberra on Monday. Annika Smit Elsewhere, the queen has opted to honour designers from her adopted country. On Sunday night, Mary chose a demure white floral dress, styled with a dusty blue fascinator that would not look out of place at the Melbourne Cup, by Danish designer Claes Iversen for a meeting with Governor-General Sam Mostyn. Queen Mary wears a reworked blue gown by Danish designer Jesper Hvring to the state dinner at Government House on Sunday night. Annika Smit Queen Mary has had the same Jesper Hvring blue gown altered throughout the years: first worn in 2010, then during a visit to Melbourne in 2012 and then in 2019. Getty Images

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Later that night, for a state banquet at Government House, the queen wore an eggshell-blue one-shouldered gown by long-time collaborator, Danish designer Jesper Hvring. Editor's pick Royalty The fashion force of Queen Mary at the coronation The gathered floor-length dress has been a mainstay in Marys wardrobe since 2010, when it featured a cream lace panel. Hvring has helped the queen alter the dress, including for a visit to Melbourne in 2012. It is not the first time that we have seen Mary dressing with sustainability at the forefront, says Cronan. Mary paired the gown with a Star of the Order of the Elephant brooch (Denmarks most distinguished order) and an Ole Lynggaard leaves hairpiece in lieu of a tiara.

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During a visit to the Australian War Memorial on Monday, the queen wore a navy dress with bow detailing by Venezuelan American designer Carolina Herrera, and a matching fascinator. Pinned to her chest was the Connaught sapphire brooch, a priceless heirloom that has been in the Danish family since it was gifted to Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia in 1879 as a wedding present. Later in the week, the couple will visit Melbourne and Hobart. From left: The governor-generals husband Simeon Beckett, Queen Mary of Denmark, King Frederik X of Denmark and Governor-General Sam Mostyn at Government House on Sunday. Alex Ellinghausen King Frederik X of Denmark and Queen Mary of Denmark at the Australian War Memorial on Monday. Alex Ellinghausen Make the most of your health, relationships, fitness and nutrition with our Live Well newsletter. Get it in your inbox every Monday.
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NationalNSWInquest Injured horse returned to work six months early before jockeys fatal fall Amber Schultz March 16, 2026  2:12pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Share A A A

An injured racehorse spent only half the amount of time that a vet recommended on paddock rest before a violent fall that killed an apprentice jockey in country NSW, a coronial inquest has heard. Marina Morel was fatally crushed at the Gulgong racecourse on February 8, 2022 after the horse she was riding, Linas Choice, collapsed while galloping past the winning post. Marina Morel suffered catastrophic injuries in the training incident. Linas Choice shattered a bone in her front leg and slipped onto her front shoulder, throwing Morel onto the ground. Morel suffered catastrophic injuries as she was dragged along the ground as the horse slid along the racetrack, ending up pinned under the thrashing animal. Morel was airlifted to Sydneys Westmead Hospital and pronounced dead four days later, after her distraught mother arrived from France to be at her 30-year-old daughters side.

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Linas Choice was euthanised on the track. The 30-year-old French national had been training Linas Choice with her employer, Brett Thompson Racing, working under Thompson and his sons Ben and Kurt. Apprentice jockey Marina Morel. Facebook The catastrophic incident caused Racing NSW chief veterinary officer Dr Toby Koenig to quit his job after he had repeatedly expressed concerns about a cluster of horse fatalities at Thompsons stables, an investigation by The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald previously revealed. The Herald and Age investigation in 2022 made no suggestion that Thompsons actions, or those of Racing NSW, contributed to Morels death, or that her death would have been prevented had Koenigs concerns been properly acted on.

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Following calls from Morels mother, Maria, a coronial inquest began on Monday, four years after the fatal incident. The inquest is scheduled to run for five days before Deputy State Coroner Derek Lee. The coronial inquest will examine whether Linas Choices pre-existing injury contributed to her fall. Trainer Brett Thompson leaves the Coronors Court in Lidcombe. Jessica Hromas Brett Thompsons son, Kurt. Marina Morel worked under both at the familys stables. Jessica Hromas / SMH In March 2021, Linas Choice, a four-year-old bay mare bred and trained by Thompson, sustained an injury in her front right leg during training. Veterinarian Jack Holman recommended the horse spend six weeks in a stable, followed by 12 months of paddock rest before returning to training or racing, the inquest heard.

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However, in September 2021, just six and a half months into the recommended recovery period, Linas Choice returned to work. Holman provided evidence that he wasnt initially concerned, as ongoing injuries usually surface within weeks of training. He said after Morels death, he read literature that stated six months rest was adequate for the kind of injury Linas Choice had. Morel was remembered as a good horsewoman who was beloved by friends and family. However, two veterinarians who assessed Linas Choice during the post-mortem will provide evidence the break could have been caused by a pre-existing stress fracture, fatigue or overloading, noting that horses are at higher risk during the first three weeks of returning to training. Linas Choice completed two races in December 2021 and on January 31, 2022. The inquest heard no concerns were raised during these matches by the jockey, the foreman, or Morel.

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However, a witness told police during their inquiries that a Thompson staff member said the horse shouldnt have raced. That staff member denied the statement. Linas Choice continued to be assessed by animal osteopath and chiropractor Dr Gary Christou, who provided evidence to the court that he last assessed Linas Choice on February 2, two days after her last race and six days before the fall. Related Article Exclusive

Horse racing Horse safety campaigner backs push for inquest into jockeys fatal fall He noted that Linas Choice had some stiffness and tension in her chest, but said it was a minor issue as he didnt see any soreness with her joints. He cleared her for work but suggested monitoring the chest stiffness. In May 2022, three months after Morel died, NSW Racing integrity staff inspected Thompsons training premises and fined him $7000 for failing to keep NSW Racing informed of the status and whereabouts of 65 horses, a dozen instances of failing to keep treatment records, and a further breach of treatment protocols.

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Counsel Assisting David Kell told the inquest Morel was dearly loved by family and friends, and was remembered as a smiling and joyous woman. Her death had a profound impact on many. She had a reputation as a good horse rider  [she] understood horses very well. Marina was a good horsewoman, he said. Her parents attended the hearing virtually from France, wiping their eyes as they listened to the evidence via a translator. Start the day with a summary of the days most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.
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NationalSocial media What Jefferson wants boys and parents to know about the manosphere Wendy Tuohy March 16, 2026  6:30pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Share A A A

What started with a YouTube search for relationship advice after rejection quickly took Jefferson Nguyen to a destination he did not intend to visit. He was seeking answers about what young women want young men to be, and how to talk to them. What he discovered turned him into a young man even his loving sister found disturbing. Jefferson Nguyen drifted into incel online communities inadvertently after being directed to the content via YouTube. Jason South When you start getting these feelings as a young man of romance and attraction, and then being rejected, it kind of leads you to a viewpoint of you are not good enough, says Nguyen, now in his mid-20s. It becomes an issue of your self-worth. His benign Googling proved a one-way trip into the world of so-called manosphere influencers who insisted what girls want is for you to be aggressive; invalidate their boundaries.

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Nguyen began hitting the gym and started spouting the philosophy at home. My sister overheard me. She pulled me aside as I said all the [influencer] talking points, and showed a lot of tough love. She told me, You are a pretty big idiot  no girl will actually talk to you if you talk like that to her, he says. Related Article Investigation

Extremism An Andrew Tate insider is helping Australian Nazis recruit teens She knew a lot of it was social: I was worried about what other people would think about me if I didnt do this stuff. She pulled the card on me of, What will people think about you if you do this stuff? As parents with Netflix subscriptions reel at Inside the Manosphere, a new documentary from British journalist Louis Theroux revealing what the latest generation of manosphere content creators are telling young male followers, Nguyen describes what can happen as a form of radicalisation.

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He was able to de-radicalise after realising content he was seeing left him feeling worse. It just drags you deeper into it; you get more depressed by following their teachings, and you get more sad, he says. Then you seek more help from them and get more depressed: its a cycle. At the time, Nguyen was a few years older than the 13-year-old main character from Netflix global hit Adolescence, which dramatised the downfall of a teen boy so heavily influenced by misogynistic internet culture that when a classmate rejects him, he commits life-changing violence without remorse. Owen Cooper plays Jamie Miller in the Netflix drama Adolescence, the series that unsettled parents around the world by showing the impact manosphere concepts can have on real-world behaviour. Nguyen thinks himself lucky he became disillusioned before he went into the early manospheres darkest territory. A turning point was encountering an incel  short for involuntarily celibate  influencer baiting men of Asian ancestry. I saw a little bit of his manifesto  like white girls see Asian men as subhuman and things like that, and people were praising him, he says. It gave me a jolt of, Oh, I am not interested in these guys, and then my sister came along.

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New research by the Australian Institute of Criminology into how young men disengage from incel communities finds they are most likely to join when aged 15 to 17 and stay for about 4 years. Respondents to the institutes survey reported joining the communities when struggling with isolation, rejection, or declining mental health and seeking forums offering support. Life has turned around for Nguyen since his brush with the manosphere when he was younger. Jason South But such involvement frequently deepened a sense of hopelessness and loneliness, says report co-author and institute senior research analyst Laura Doherty. Reasons men left forums included growing dissatisfaction with the violence and nihilism perpetuated in these cultures, Doherty said. What motivated men to disengage also centred on the language used about women, and a growing disconnect with the world those communities portrayed and the world they were experiencing in their day-to-day lives.

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The most critical trigger was that the forums were not delivering what they were promising, she said. Forming healthy social connections through friendships, education, hobbies, work or relationships with women helped men choose to disengage with forums, at which point many developed more positive attitudes to women. Others showed limited attitudinal change, underscoring the need for targeted support, the researchers found. Speaking at the No to Violence national conference last week, Monash University researcher Dr Stephanie Wescott said legitimate content about fitness for young men was mixed with highly harmful content by manosphere creators, and attitudes that could lead to violence  such as that women need to be compliant and serve men  were prevalent. Wescott and Australias National Research Organisation for Womens Safety launched a manosphere practical guide for schools, to help teachers and communities understand risks and create responses.

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What we know from teachers is that theyre hearing things from boys that theyve never heard to this extent before, theyre seeing [boys attitudes] change dramatically over a few years, said Wescott, a former teacher. Related Article Streaming Hope is a beautiful thing: Why the writer of Adolescence doesnt fear for the future of boys She warned that displays of overt misogyny are red flags for other types of extremist violence, and that misogynist hand signals created by alleged rapist and human trafficker Andrew Tate were being reported by teachers seeing them in classrooms. Ben Vasiliou, of the preventive mental health organisation the Man Cave, said it can be difficult for boys to realise that the space they are entering online will lead them into dangerous territory for their wellbeing. It often starts with naive searches about how to get fit and ask a girl out, he said. The algorithm attracts particular boys and men in.

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In the past three months, schools had been asking for help to educate boys in increasingly younger years, and calls were coming in about worrying attitudes among students as young as year 5 and 6. Vasiliou said the social media ban had not prevented this content reaching young children. Jefferson Nguyen, who is sharing his experience to try to educate others about the risks of ultra-masculinity rabbit holes online, said good relationships with a diverse group of people in the real world have helped him feel much more mentally equipped for life than he did when he slipped into one when younger. He still loves fitness and gym work, but my life has turned around. Start the day with a summary of the days most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.
Allies push back on Trump's war demands

The UK and Germany insist they won't be drawn into the Iran war despite demands by US President Donald Trump.
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WorldNorth AmericaMiddle East at war How Trumps elite marine unit could wrest control of the Strait of Hormuz Allegra Mendelson March 16, 2026  2:30pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Share A A A

Taiwan: The US has ordered that a 911 force of 2500 marines be redeployed from Japan to the Middle East, signalling the possibility of American boots on the ground. The taskforce is part of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), a rapid-response force trained for amphibious ground and aviation combat, as well as logistical support. The 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit is currently training in the Philippine Sea. US Marine Corps Usually based on Japans southern island of Okinawa, the unit can operate entirely from a floating base, allowing it to remain offshore while staying close to the conflict. MEUs, known colloquially as Americas 911 force because of their high levels of combat readiness, were among the first conventional ground forces deployed by Washington in conflicts such as the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.

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The US has not disclosed the nature of its mission, but the elite force will probably be tasked with regaining control of the Strait of Hormuz, the single entry point to the Gulf. Related Article Middle East at war US-Iran war as it happened: Iran denies asking Trump for ceasefire negotiations; Four more Iranian women footballers withdraw their asylum bid to stay in Australia The vital artery, through which a fifth of the worlds oil passes, has been under attack by Iran since the war began on February 28, bringing shipping to a standstill and triggering global economic upheaval. The Pentagon is now wrestling with the problem of how to prevent Tehrans military from mining the strait. It is holding off sending warships into the narrow waterway, fearful of Iranian drones and anti-ship missiles. But the arrival of the MEU to the strait could signal a new phase of the war opening up: US ground operations.

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The deployment of the 31st MEU should allow the US to launch raids on the islands near the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran has threatened to deploy fast boats carrying mines, US defence officials told The New York Times. Washington has said it is keeping all options on the table, including ground operations, which could also see US forces seize the territory around the strait  a risky and difficult mission. US Marines could stage an amphibious landing to take control of Irans Kharg Island, through which 90 per cent of its oil exports flow. US Marines Corps Each MEU consists of a ground combat unit with infantry, armoured vehicles and artillery, an aviation group with helicopters and fighter jets such as the F-35B, along with logistics and command teams. The 31st MEU also has experience in counter-drone activity, with its ships and escort tankers equipped with jamming vehicles.

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The unit was operating in the Philippine Sea earlier this week and is not expected to reach the Strait of Hormuz for 10 to 15 days, according to estimates by Naval News. Related Article Analysis

Middle East at war With the Iran war entering its third week, what is Trumps exit strategy? However, the parameters of the conflict could change before the marine force arrives. Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz to its enemies, which include the US and Israel, threatening to bomb any ship that attempts to transit without permission. Since the war broke out, Tehran has attacked at least 18 vessels operating around the Gulf and the strait.

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While a handful of ships from countries with closer ties to Iran, such as China and India, have been permitted to pass, the traffic overall is down 97 per cent, according to UN data. On Saturday, Donald Trump said that the US had destroyed 100 per cent of Irans military capability. But he conceded that it would still be easy for Tehran to send drones equipped with bombs and short-range missiles over the Strait of Hormuz. The 2500 marines headed to the Middle East will travel on board the USS Tripoli, which is typically deployed alongside two amphibious transport dock ships, the USS New Orleans and the USS San Diego.

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The USS Tripoli can be adapted to become a Lightning Carrier, specialised in transporting large numbers of F-35B Lightning II fighters alongside MV-22 Ospreys and various helicopters for strikes at sea and inland. The other vessels carry artillery and amphibious assault vehicles for ship-to-shore landings. USS Tripoli amphibious assault ship. AFP Tripolis Amphibious Ready Group will join the USS Gerald R. Ford and USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carriers  two of the USs most powerful ships  which were already deployed to the region. While the redeployment of the 31st MEU indicates a significant need in the Middle East, it has left the Pacific theatre, which includes Taiwan and South Korea, without a quick response force.

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The US had previously moved missiles and launchers from its anti-ballistic missile system, THAAD, from South Korea to the Middle East, prompting concern that this could leave the region vulnerable to aggression from both China and North Korea. The Telegraph, London Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on whats making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter.
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Two weeks into a war against Iran that he chose to launch, President Donald Trump faces a stark choice: stay in the battle to achieve the dauntingly ambitious goals he has set, or try to extract himself from an expanding and intensifying conflict that is generating damaging military, diplomatic and economic shockwaves. He has quickly discovered that both options are deeply problematic, littered with consequences that he and his team played down when he plunged the United States, alongside Israel, into the biggest war in the Middle East in nearly a quarter-century. President Donald Trump may find the Iran war has no easy solutions and plenty of risks ahead. The New York Times He can continue to fight a weakened enemy that has nevertheless proved adept at exacting a fast-rising economic toll on the US and its allies, tying global energy markets in knots and striking a dozen countries across the region. Related Article Middle East at war US-Iran war as it happened: Iran denies asking Trump for ceasefire negotiations; Four more Iranian women footballers withdraw their asylum bid to stay in Australia Battling on would put more American lives at risk, accelerate the financial costs and risk further fraying alliances. There is angst within Trumps political base over the sharp departure from his pledge to avoid entangling the nation in more wars. Or he can begin to pull back, even though most of his objectives  including assuring that Iran never again possesses the capability to produce a nuclear weapon  are not yet met. The biggest military accomplishments of the joint US-Israel action so far, officials say, have been wiping out much of Irans missile arsenal and air defences and crippling its navy. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the countrys brutal leader for nearly 40 years, is dead.

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But an emboldened theocracy is still in power, apparently commanded by the ayatollahs injured son, who has already sworn to continue deploying Irans asymmetrical capabilities, from cyberattacks to planting sea mines and conducting missile strikes on targets in the region. The powerful Revolutionary Guard paramilitary force and the militias that killed thousands of protesting Iranians on the streets in January remain in place. Moreover, if Trump leaves now, the stockpile of near-bomb-grade nuclear fuel at the heart of fears that Iran could manufacture 10 or more nuclear weapons would remain inside Iranian territory, within reach of a wounded Iranian government that may be more motivated than ever to turn that fuel into weapons. People are going to have to go and get it, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said just as the war began, alluding to a ground operation to retrieve the material from deep underground storage in the heart of Iran, an immensely risky operation that Trump has said he is considering but not ready to order. A couple stands in the ruins of their Tehran apartment. The New York Times As the war enters its third week, the consequences are widening. Thirteen Americans have been killed in action. More than 2100 people have been killed since the start of the war, most in Iran, and more than 1348 of them civilians, according to Irans UN representative. The US is deploying 2500 Marines to the Middle East, adding to the 50,000 already there, after US forces attacked Kharg Island, the huge shipping port for the vast majority of Irans oil exports. Despite Defence Secretary Pete Hegseths assertion that Irans success in threatening shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz was nothing to worry about, that vital waterway remains all but shut down, choking off a big chunk of global trade, especially in oil. By Saturday, Trump appealed on social media for China, France, Japan, South Korea and Britain to send naval forces to secure the strait, his first public acknowledgment that keeping the vital waterway open could require help and more resources than the US has in the region now. By Saturday, plumes of smoke were seen rising from a major oil trading port in the United Arab Emirates after a drone attack. To alleviate price hikes, the US even suspended sanctions against some Russian oil sales. The US embassy in Iraq has been attacked twice in recent days.

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Related Article Middle East at war As oil prices spike, is this the week Trump declares victory in Iran? Trump has wrestled publicly with his stay-or-leave options, sometimes suggesting that the war is all but won and at others seeming to acknowledge that there is still heavy fighting ahead. The president, who said he ordered the attack because he had a good feeling that Iran was preparing to pre-emptively attack US forces in the region, said the other day that he would also rely on his instincts on when to get out. He told Fox News he would feel it in my bones. The second week of the war brought a recognition by the Trump administration that Irans willingness and ability to disrupt the global economy by choking off the Strait of Hormuz were greater than officials had anticipated, as was its capacity to widen the war across the region, according to interviews with officials in the US and Israel, many of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss national security matters. Even as Trump repeatedly suggested that the war was almost won, the US and Israel continued to step up the tempo of their operations, and the US continued to move more military resources into the region. There were signs that the US-Israel partnership was undergoing strains. And some Republicans worried that Trumps political base  deeply suspicious of foreign interventions  could fracture if the American commitment grows and US casualties mount. Trumps aides maintain that 14 days into a complex military operation is far too early to judge results. And they insist that Trump is prepared to tough it out. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt says Iran is holding the world hostage. AP He made the decision to take the short-term risk to oil prices for the long-term benefit of wiping out the threat that Iran poses to the United States, Karoline Leavitt, the presidents press secretary, said on Saturday. He is wise enough to know that operations like these are judged by their outcomes. And if the US can say the Iranian military capability is wiped out, the president knows that will be one of the greatest accomplishments of any president in modern times.

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She concluded: The president is dug in to ensure the objectives of Operation Epic Fury are fully achieved. Even if Trump is right, the effects will be felt for years or decades. Hoshyar Zebari, a former foreign minister and deputy prime minister of Iraq, said while he believed the killing of Khamenei was the end of an era for the region, he was not convinced it meant the end of Irans theocratic Islamic Republic. They are resisting; they are resilient, he said. This is a war between technology and ideology. The Iranians are squeezed, and their situation is difficult, but for them, this is to be or not to be. Reopening the strait At a meeting in the Oval Office last week, a frustrated Trump pressed General Dan Caine, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, about why the US could not immediately reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The answer was straightforward: even one Iranian soldier or militia member zipping across the narrow neck of the strait in a speedboat could fire a mobile missile right into a slow-moving supertanker, or plant a limpet mine on its hull. An oil tanker ablaze off the coast of Iraq after being hit by an Iranian drone. Media Office of Iraqi Ports

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With oil hovering about $US100 a barrel and insurance premiums for transiting the Persian Gulf surging, the image of more tankers burning would make the Iranians appear more powerful than they really are. Already, having seen Iran attack shipping around the strait, tanker owners are refusing to take the risk, even after Trump declared on Fox News last Sunday that they should show some guts. By the Pentagons metrics  total air dominance as Hegseth put it, plus the sinking of much of Irans navy and the destruction of hundreds of missiles and launchers  the US military is ahead of schedule. Iran has no air defences, Iran has no air force, Iran has no navy, Hegseth told reporters during a Pentagon briefing. Iran is now firing 90 per cent fewer missiles than at the start of the war, the Pentagon reported, and 95 per cent fewer one-way attack drones. Related Article Explainer

Middle East at war We will hunt you down: Is Pete Hegseth for real? Never before has a modern capable military, which Iran used to have, been so quickly destroyed and made combat-ineffective, Hegseth told reporters on Friday. But the problem is that the destruction of its conventional forces has not eliminated Irans ability to sow chaos, even in its weakened state. And, five years into dealing with Trump, the Iranians appear to understand that soaring oil prices and declining stock markets can be powerful pressure points on him. The strait was Exhibit A in Irans ability to seize an asymmetric advantage. Despite ramped-up strikes in recent days against what little is left of the Iranian navy, traffic through the strait has come to a near halt. A New York Times analysis concluded that as of Thursday, at least 16 oil tankers, cargo ships and other commercial vessels had been attacked in the Persian Gulf, including three in the narrowest part of the strait.

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The Digital Engineering Awards honor organizations that are redefining excellence in technologyenabled transformation. AGCO's award is part of the organization's distinguished "Digital Transformation of the Year" segment, and winning it positions the AGCO Parts Shop B2B Digital Technology Team among the world's leading digital innovators and acknowledges the platform's rapid evolution and its positive impact on dealer experiences.

AGCO Parts Shop B2B is a next-generation, unified digital platform designed to streamline and enhance the part-ordering experience for dealers worldwide. Built on advanced technology, it replaces previous AGCO Parts applications with a single, comprehensive environment that offers transparent processes, real-time order tracking, faster delivery and access to a broad product portfolio. Already deployed across the company's Europe, Middle East, Asia and Pacific regions, and planned for rollout in North America from October 2026 onward, the platform transforms the way dealers interact with AGCO's Parts business. The effort supports AGCO's broader Farmer First strategy by improving the dealer experience and ensuring critical parts are delivered quickly and efficiently to keep farmers operating.

"We are truly honored to receive this award, which recognizes AGCO's ongoing commitment to digital excellence and innovation," said Stefan Caspari, AGCO Senior Vice President, Customer Success and North America Ag. "This achievement reflects our teams' dedication and collaboration as we work to be the most farmer focused organization in the industry."

This award recognizes the strategic work carried out over the past year by the AGCO Parts Shop B2B Digital Technology Team. Through close collaboration with the AGCO Aftersales and Digital Transformation teams, AGCO has delivered a more reliable, intuitive and consistent experience for dealers, strengthening the company's overall digital ecosystem. The recognition underscores the teams' forward-looking vision, strong execution, effective cross-functional collaboration and the measurable business impact achieved through increased platform usage, improved order accuracy and more efficient processes.

As AGCO continues to accelerate its digital evolution, the award reinforces the company's commitment to design smarter processes and develop solutions that deliver meaningful value to dealers and customers. The achievement stands as an important milestone and a strong example of what can be accomplished through vision, teamwork and innovation.

About AGCO

AGCO (NYSE: AGCO) is a global leader in agricultural machinery and precision agriculture technologies. Driven by a Farmer-First strategy, AGCO delivers value through its differentiated leading brands, Fendt, Massey Ferguson, PTx and Valtra. AGCO's high-performance equipment and smart farming solutions, including brand-agnostic retrofit technologies and autonomous offerings, empower farmers to drive productivity while sustainably feeding the world. For more information, visit www.agcocorp.com.

SOURCE AGCO Corporation
Suzuki, both here and abroad, has made a name for itself making cheap, reliable, small cars. Their expertise in this field meant that theyr...
Seasoned staffing executive to lead aggressive US growth, with expanded operations in Colombia and growing support for EMEA markets

CHARLOTTE, N.C., March 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Cloudstaff, a global leader in virtual staffing solutions, announces the appointment of Macon Albertson as General Manager, North America. Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, he will head Cloudstaff's North America operations, driving strategy and building long-term client partnerships across the region.

Cloudstaff Appoints Macon Albertson as General Manager, North America

Macon brings over 25 years of experience in the staffing and workforce solutions industry. His career includes nearly a decade at Randstad Professionals as Executive Vice President, followed by his tenure as President and CEO at Tatum, a Randstad company. Most recently, he provided advisory consulting to multiple staffing and professional services firms. His track record is defined by building scalable, high-performance organizations and delivering the strategic clarity that helps businesses grow predictably and profitably.

"North American businesses are under real pressure to build the right teams, quickly and sustainably," Macon said. "What Cloudstaff has built, combining enterprise-grade technology with genuinely invested talent across global delivery centers, gives clients something most providers can't offer: a team that feels like their own. That's what I'm here to help more businesses experience."

Cloudstaff is in an active phase of US growth, supported by its recent expansion in Colombia, which strengthens its ability to serve clients across multiple geographies. Together with delivery centers in the Philippines, India, and soon Kenya, Cloudstaff's global infrastructure gives North American clients access to specialized professionals across more than 150 roles, drawn from a talent pool of nearly one million professionals.

"Macon's background leading large-scale staffing operations, combined with his instinct for building trusted client partnerships, makes him exactly the right person to lead our North American expansion," said Lloyd Ernst, CEO and Founder of Cloudstaff.

About Cloudstaff

Cloudstaff is pioneering virtual staffing solutions that combine ethical outsourcing with enterprise-grade people tech. They connect businesses embarking on remarkable growth with the world's top talent from their pool of nearly one million professionals. With delivery centers across the Philippines, India, Colombia, and Kenya, and client operations in the US, Australia, and UK, Cloudstaff helps businesses around the globe find staff for over 150 roles. Businesses looking for remote staff can discover why 1000+ companies choose Cloudstaff at www.cloudstaff.com.

Media Contact:

Beth Woods

VP-Marketing, Cloudstaff

+1 800 730 8615

[email protected]

www.cloudstaff.com

SOURCE Cloudstaff
Eoin Reynolds

The Court of Appeal has upheld a decision to extradite two men to Northern Ireland for offences related to the murder of an RUC officer 50 years ago, finding that fugitives who go on to live ordinary lives enjoy "no legitimate expectation of permanent immunity".

However, the three-judge court placed a stay on the extraditions to allow the men to ask the Supreme Court to hear their cases.

John Edward McNicholl (73) of Newmills, Letterkenny, Co Donegal and Seamus Christopher O'Kane (74) of Scalestown, Dunshaughlin, Co Meath are wanted in the UK.

They face charges arising from an investigation into the INLA murder of 25-year-old Constable Robert John McPherson in Co Derry on July 26th 1975 and the attempted murder of a second constable.

McNicholl is charged with murdering Constable McPherson and attempted murder, while O'Kane is charged with possession of firearms, including an RUC-issued firearm taken during the ambush on Constable McPherson.

Those firearms were recovered in an RUC operation on February 16th, 1976, at Garvagh, Co Derry.

Both men escaped from the Maze Prison in a dramatic tunnelling breakout in May 1976 before they could be put on trial.

O'Kane has been living openly in the Meath area for almost five decades, while McNicholl, who was deported from the United States, has been in the Republic since 2003.

At a previous sitting of the High Court, Judge Patrick McGrath said there was no evidence to suggest that McNicholl and O'Kane would not receive a fair trial in Northern Ireland, as he ruled that a delay in serving warrants on the men was not grounds for refusing their surrender.

Judge Alex Owens at the Court of Appeal on Monday said that while the long delays in seeking a warrant indicate "maladministration in Northern Ireland", he said the circumstances do not justify a refusal of the extradition request.

In his judgment, he wrote that the court does not have the power to dismiss an application for surrender just because the issuing State is unable to provide an explanation for not moving forward sooner. Lawyers for the two men had argued that the delay was evidence of an "abuse of process".

However, Owens said delay alone, without evidence of a breach of a right under the Constitution or European Convention, is not a sufficient ground for refusal.

He further rejected suggestions that extradition would be a breach of the men's fundamental rights after they spent several decades living ordinary lives. As fugitives, the judge said, they enjoyed "no legitimate expectation of permanent immunity".

"By getting married, starting a family, buying a home or engaging in ordinary life," the judge said they did not diminish Ireland's interest in honouring its commitments under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, which sets out the parameters for extradition to the UK.

Further arguments related to the men's health "are not the sort of exceptional matters which would justify a refusal," he said.
By Bairbre Holmes, Press Association

Qatar Airlines will resume flights to Ireland on Friday, Helen McEntee has said.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs made the announcement on the social media site X on Monday.

She said: Pleased to announce that we have been informed by Qatar Airlines that it will resume flights from Doha to Dublin on Friday, 20 March 2026.

There will be four direct flights weekly from that date.

Pleased to announce that we have been informed by Qatar Airlines that it will resume flights from Doha to Dublin on Friday, 20 March 2026. There will be four direct flights weekly from that date.  Helen McEntee TD (@HMcEntee) March 16, 2026

In a follow-up post she added: Irish citizens can purchase these tickets on a commercial basis on qatarairways.com.

Please do not travel to the airport without a confirmed flight ticket.

Travel to and from the Middle East has been severely disrupted since war broke out in the region on February 28th.

There were no flights between Ireland and the region for several days after the conflict started, with the first commercial flight from Dubai landing in Dublin on March 4th.
Alison O'Riordan

It is "grim" that a Ukrainian war veteran who once had a "real romance" with his partner tried to murder her by stabbing her 15 times after developing an "unshakeable" belief that she was being unfaithful to him, his barrister has told the Central Criminal Court.

Last month, Ukrainian refugee Viktoriia Pavlenkohas described how she awoke to find her "jealous" ex-partner Hryhorii Sryotenko pinning her down and demanding to be told "the truth" about her "lover" before trying to murder her.

In her victim impact statement, Pavlenko said Sryotenko had "absolutely mad eyes" before launching the attack, in which he repeatedly stabbed her in the face and body.

She added: "He threatened to stab me if I didn't tell him the truth about my lover. I didn't have any lover so I didn't understand what he was talking about. Then he stabbed me on my face and body".

Last October, Sryotenko (51) with an address at Banna Beach Holiday Homes, Ardfert in Co Kerry pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of Pavlenko at that location on January 13th, 2024.

Sryotenko was previously charged with false imprisonment, assault causing serious harm and the production of a knife during a dispute.

Beginning Monday's plea in mitigation, defence counsel Mark Nicholas SC alongside Maria Brosnan BL told Judge David Keane that this was a "terrifying" experience for Pavlenko and that anything he said was not to not minimise the shock the victim experienced in her own home.

Counsel said his client has no previous convictions and had given enormous service to his own country. He said Sryotenko had joined the army, where he got a significant leg injury in the 2014 Crimean conflict before being discharged.

"When the current invasion took place he tried to make himself available again but was precluded," counsel explained.

Nicholas said Sryotenko had immediately "put his hands up" to gardai in relation to this event and at no point tried to apportion blame elsewhere. "He at all stages expresses he is responsible and hopes the victim will recover," said counsel.

The lawyer told the judge that his client accepts he carried out this very serious assault but said he did not have an intention to kill.

He said it was "unfortunate and grim" that the couple started off "in a very positive way with a real romance" and had formed a loving relationship from 2022 to 2023.

Nicholas said his client had developed an "unshakeable and incorrect belief" that Pavlenko was being unfaithful to him, despite her reassurances.

The barrister said Pavlenko told gardai that prior to the incident, Sryotenko had a change of personality, was not sleeping and that she was worried about him.

"She said he was mixing up reality with imagination and that this was not the man she knew," he said.

Counsel described the events of that day as shocking and terrifying. He said the assault went uninterrupted for quite some time and it was only when the defendant's son came into the bedroom that things came to an end.

"It is a troubling case in many ways," he said.

He submitted that whilst his client owned up to the assault, he still had difficulty in accepting his plea "to the intention".

Counsel described Pavlenko's statement as "very elegant and kindly crafted". Nicholas asked the judge to take into account his client's guilty plea and lack of previous convictions.

Keane remanded Sryotenko in custody until March 26th, when he will be sentenced.

Sentencing hearing

In her victim impact statement delivered last month, Pavlenko said that she and her daughter had to leave Ukraine in 2022 when the war broke out and "look for a shelter somewhere in a safe place".

The victim said life improved when they came to Ireland and it gave them "a feeling of peace and tranquility" but that "everything changed completely" on the day of the attack.

In her statement, Pavlenko said she met Sryotenko in Ireland and they were neighbours. "At first everything was good, we planned our future life together. But then he turned out to be very jealous. He started to accuse me of saying and doing things I've never said or done"," she said.

The victim said she started to suspect her partner had some mental health problems. She said they separated in November 2023 but still lived in the same house.

"I will never forget January 13th. I was sleeping peacefully in my bed when I heard a strange noise. I opened my eyes and at first I didn't realise what was going on. I saw Hryhorii in my bed, sitting on me with a knife in his hands.

"His eyes were absolutely mad. He threatened to stab me if I didn't tell him the truth about my lover. I didn't have any lover so I didn't understand what he was talking about. Then he stabbed me on my face and body. I don't know how many times because I was shocked".

"I shouted and luckily his son heard and came into the room and saved me. Truly speaking, I have rather vague memories of that day, mainly because of the pain, fear and shock".

Pavlenko said she was taken to University Hospital Kerry and then Cork University Hospital, where she was operated on for her injuries. The court heard she had 15 stab wounds on her body.

She said she spent weeks in hospital and then months recovering from the injuries and doing special exercises for rehabilitation.

The victim said that "step by step" she is coming back to a normal life with the help of her daughter and her friends.

Sryotenko has no previous convictions. During interviews with gardai, the court heard that Sryotenko admitted stabbing the victim but denied attempting to kill her. The defendant said he had done something terrible and was happy Pavlenko was still alive.
EASTER is early this year, after which, you could say, the academic year is more or less busted for another year. Third-level students will be on study leave getting ready for their exams, while leaving certificate students will be revising and, perhaps, getting themselves in a state of panic about all they still have to review before the exams kick off in the first week of June.

We all know the leaving certificate is a blunt tool used to determine where exactly students will spend the next few years of their lives or, God forbid, determine who will get to pursue what they really want to spend the rest of their lives doing.

Its all about the points and, as we have seen, irrespective of the various alternative routes open to students nowadays, the first round offers from third-level colleges are all-important.

It doesnt matter that the student may spend half-a-day travelling to and from such fine establishments or bankrupting themselves and their parents if they are lucky enough to find some place to live; it is all about getting to enjoy the college experience, if you are to listen to all the hype.

Im not going to talk about the pluses or minuses associated with life on college campus: what I would really like to know is why, after all the studies and all the reports about getting students ready for life in the fast lane that is third-level education, are we constantly hearing horror stories about students suddenly finding themselves out of their depth, suffering from isolation, lacking in motivation  the list is endless.

Most young people, boy or girl, dont want to admit this, but they hate change. They may say they are ready to move on after sitting their leaving certificate, but the facts show otherwise.

Approximately 15% of first-year students in Irish higher education fail to progress to the second year, with about 7,000 students dropping out in the 2021/22 academic year. This represented a significant rise from 12% recorded in the 2020/21 academic year. Before the pandemic, the non-progression rate was 12%, briefly dropping to a low of 9% during the 2019/20 academic year.

Non-progression rates vary by course, with rates higher in level 7 ordinary bachelor degrees (31%) and level 6 higher certificates (25%), compared to 14% for level 8 honours. Not surprisingly, girls are more likely to progress to second year across most sectors.

Such statistics should set off alarm bells all over the place. Here we have students putting their heart and soul into studying for the leaving certificate in order to gain a place on the course of their choice, only to discover that perhaps their expectations were not exactly met, they couldnt keep pace with the course information or they simply hated the whole third-level experience and suffered from isolation, depression and so on.

But did they receive any warning this might happen or, more importantly, if they did, were they given any coping mechanisms or did they even know how to ask for help?

I read a court report recently where a young student was charged with allowing her bank account to be used to launder stolen money. It was accepted by everyone that this student had not gained financially, but over 12,000 had passed through the account before disappearing into a crypto-currency account on Binance, routed through Luxembourg.

As soon as gardai arrested the student, she pleaded guilty and assisted in as much as she could  but it transpired that this was only a small cog in a huge wheel linked to a nationwide social welfare fraud scheme.

You may say this young person should have known better, but by and large young people are very trusting and dont see the dangers in a lot of what they get up to. When it comes to money, most have been the recipients of the bank of Mam and Dad their entire lives; the nuances of how the banking system really works doesnt interest them.

Perhaps that is the fault of parents, but it is also the fault of our education system. We are laser focused on our offspring getting the necessary points to get into the college of their choice, but miss some very important small stuff, such as an awareness of the pitfalls they face by giving personal information, for whatever reason, to new friends, how to make real friends with others, the art of socialising, even how to do a bit of shopping without overloading on crap.

That said, I was heartened by a simple scene played out in the newly-located Mr Price store at Hanover last week. A woman approached the till and asked the assistant if he had a key to release one of the trolleys as she did not have any coins to do so.

The attendant explained that she could use a 20c coin if she didnt have a euro, but the woman replied she only had cards, no coins. Up stepped a student, who quickly produced a coin to allow the woman to proceed with her shopping, leaving me thinking there is hope for us yet.
A LANDMARK illustrated lecture on Co Carlows history from the medieval gaelic era to the modern day will take place in the Seven Oaks hotel on Thursday with free admission and is open to all.

The talk, organised by Carlow Historical and Archaeological Society (CHAS), will be delivered by renowned historian Dr Kevin Whelan, who promises to shed new light on a county he describes as most historic, beautiful and scandalously little-known. Among the lectures more striking claims is that the most undisturbed gaelic landscape in Ireland is not to be found in Connemara, Dingle or Donegal but in the Borris area of south Carlow. Dr Whelan will also argue that the Kavanaghs, long regarded as a Wexford dynasty, were, in fact, more thoroughly rooted in Co Carlow and that the last high king of Leinster, Domhnall Spainneach O Caomhanach of Clonmullen in Barragh parish, was a Carlow man.

The lecture will take audiences through a wide sweep of the countys geography and heritage, with areas including the Blackstairs mountains, Clonegal, Kildavin, Myshall, Leighlinbridge, St Mullins, Ballon, Carlow town, Rathvilly and Tullow all featured across 50 slides. A particular highlight will be the first public showing of early maps of the county recently discovered in America.

Dr Whelan is no stranger to the county. A native of Johnstown, near Clonegal, he attended Clonegal National School and later FCJ Bunclody and played for Kildavin GAA club. He has been director at the University of Notre Dames Dublin campus since 1998 and has lectured in 15 countries and at some of the worlds most prestigious institutions, including Oxford, Cambridge, Yale, the Sorbonne and Berkeley. He has written or edited more than 20 books and over 100 articles spanning Irish history, geography, literature and culture.

The lecture begins at 8pm and all are welcome.
Fauji Cement Co Ltd has published a comprehensive financial report for the period ending in the first half of FY26. The company earned a net revenue of PKR47,353m (US$169.2m), compared to PKR47,844m in the same period last year. The decrease in revenue is mainly due to lower cement prices and reduced export sales volumes. The company earned a profit after tax (PAT) of PKR7317m, compared to PKR7267m in the same period last year, representing a 1 per cent increase (YoY), with a net profit margin of 15 per cent.

The company's dispatches in the first half of FY26 were 2.98 Mt, compared to 2.81Mt in the same period last year; local sales increased by eight per cent (YoY), while export sales declined by nine per cent due to the Afghan border closure. Total sales reached 2.98Mt, a six per cent increase YoY. The gross profit margin remained at 33 per cent, compared to 35 per cent in the same period last year.

Despite rising local coal prices due to the border closure, the company managed to control costs (a two per cent increase over the same period last year) by enhancing its power generation capacity, utilising various alternative fuels, meeting nearly 100 per cent of packing bag requirements through self-production, and optimising fixed costs.

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Outlook

Local dispatches are expected to stay stable over the next six months. Exports depend on the border situation, as Afghanistan remains the company's sole viable market due to the high logistics costs of sea shipping. Lower interest rates should help reduce financial charges. Management will continue its efforts to optimise costs to achieve the best possible results.

By Abdul Rab Siddiqi, Pakistan
Culture Minister Fadli Zon has proposed transforming West Sumatras Indarung I Plant, Southeast Asias first cement factory, into a vibrant educational and artistic space. During a recent visit, Zon suggested revitalising the defunct site into an amphitheatre for theatrical performances and exhibitions, breathing new life into the national heritage landmark.

Operating for nearly 90 years until 1999, the factory holds significant historical weight. Its archives are registered with UNESCOs Memory of the World Committee, recognising its early commitment to gender inclusivity, multicultural workforce, and contributions to Asian infrastructure.

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Zon emphasised that the Ministry of Culture aims to move beyond simple preservation by actively "reactivating" such sites. By collaborating with local governments and state producer PT Semen Padang, the initiative seeks to turn the industrial icon into a centre for public heritage awareness and industrial education, ensuring its legacy serves future generations as a hub for creativity.
The local government unit (LGU) of Bacnotan, La Union, has addressed allegations of hazardous waste dumping by a local cement plant in the villages of Ubbog and Paagan. In a recent statement, the LGU clarified that a multi-partite monitoring team, comprising officials, community organisations, and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), actively oversees the facilitys operations in the Philippines.

The LGU emphasised that groundwater safety and resident health are top priorities, stating that all business activities must remain within ecological safety bounds. Officials rely on on-site inspections and empirical data to ensure compliance with environmental laws, noting that they have a "zero-tolerance" policy for violations.

While remaining open to validating concerns, the LGU urged critics to submit verifiable evidence through official channels before making public claims. This proactive stance aims to prevent unnecessary alarm while maintaining strict oversight of industrial waste disposal in the mountainous region.

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Hiolcim Philippines' La Union plant had received a letter from environmental groups requesting a probe into the plant's haxardous waste operations citing, growing concerns about groundwater safety, public health, and the well-being of nearby communities.
China, Vietnam to hold 10th border defense friendship exchange

Xinhua) 10:36, March 16, 2026

BEIJING, March 15 (Xinhua) -- China and Vietnam will hold their 10th border defense friendship exchange in mid-March, the Chinese Ministry of National Defense announced on Sunday.

The event is set to take place in designated areas and ports in China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Vietnam's Quang Ninh province, as well as waters in the Beibu Gulf, the ministry said in a statement.

During the event, the two sides will organize joint naval fleet patrols and training exercises. They will also hold medical consultations and cultural events with civilians in the border areas, the statement said.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
WASHINGTON, March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is announcing that Shimano, Inc., of Japan, and Shimano North America Holding, Inc., of Irvine, California, have agreed to pay an $11.5 million civil penalty. The settlement, which has been provisionally accepted by CPSC, resolves CPSC's charges that Shimano knowingly failed to immediately report to CPSC, as required by law, that its 11-Speed Bonded Hollowtech II Bicycle Cranksets, Models Ultegra FC-6800 and FC-R8000 and Dura-Ace FC-9000, FC-R9100, and FC-R9100P, contained a defect which could create a substantial product hazard or created an unreasonable risk of serious injury or death to consumers.

Between 2013 and 2022, Shimano received thousands of warranty claims relating to the bicycle cranksets and dozens of reports of consumers globally sustaining personal injuries while using the bicycle cranksets, including bone fractures, joint displacement, and lacerations, due to falls from bicycles, contact with the broken cranksets, and impact with the ground. During this time, Shimano, Inc. made nine overall manufacturing and design changes that resulted in over twenty-five individual changes to the bicycle cranksets to mitigate the potential for the cranksets to separate and break. Despite possessing information that reasonably supported the conclusion that the bicycle cranksets contained a defect which could create a substantial product hazard or created an unreasonable risk of serious injury or death, Shimano did not immediately report to the Commission.

The Commission and Shimano North America Bicycle, Inc. jointly announced a recall of the 11-Speed Bonded Hollowtech II Bicycle Cranksets on September 21, 2023. The press release announcing the recall stated that the firm had received at least 4,519 incidents of cranksets separating, and six reported injuries, including bone fractures, joint displacement, and lacerations.

In addition to the $11.5 million civil penalty, the settlement agreement requires Shimano to maintain internal controls and procedures designed to ensure compliance with the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA), including enhancements to its compliance program. Shimano has also agreed to submit annual reports regarding its compliance program, internal controls, and internal audits of the effectiveness of compliance policies, procedures, systems, and training.

The Commission has provisionally accepted the settlement agreement, subject to public comment. Liana G.T. Wolf, a Senior Trial Attorney in the Division of Enforcement and Litigation, represented the Commission in this enforcement action.

About the U.S. CPSC

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risk of injury associated with the use of thousands of types of consumer products. Deaths, injuries, and property damage from consumer product-related incidents cost the nation more than $1 trillion annually. Since the CPSC was established more than 50 years ago, it has worked to ensure the safety of consumer products, which has contributed to a decline in injuries associated with these products.

Federal law prohibits any person from selling products subject to a Commission ordered recall or a voluntary recall undertaken in consultation with the CPSC.

For lifesaving information:

- Visit CPSC.gov.

- Sign up to receive our e-mail alerts.

- Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, X, BlueSky, Threads, LinkedIn and Truth Social.

- Report a dangerous product or a product-related injury on www.SaferProducts.gov.

- Call CPSC's Hotline at 800-638-2772 (TTY 800-638-8270).

- Contact a media specialist.

Release Number: 26-327

SOURCE U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
Plans are being drawn up to provide new points of access for residents of the Westside community, where a major project of replacing the College Hill Courts is underway.

Officials said Kimley-Horn and Associates will gather feedback and draw up plans to either extend West 12th Street or Grove Street, or both. It is contingent on approval by the City Council on Feb. 24.

West 12th Street connects near the Convention Center at one end and dead ends at Grove Street on the other.

Grove Street ties it with Riverfront Parkway, but it does not go through to West MLK Boulevard (West 9th Street).

Cost of the project is $2,270,565 for a 30 percent design.

Officials said, "Positioned between Chattanooga's downtown core and the Tennessee River lies the historic neighborhood of Westside - one of Chattanooga's oldest communities, dating back to the 20th century.

"This culturally rich community has been isolated since the 1950s due to urban renewal efforts, particularly the construction of Highway 27, which erased the street grid and displaced more than 1,400 residents.

"Today, the neighborhood is home to around 1,500 families who remain disconnected due to an isolated street network. Residents rely primarily on walking, public transit, or biking for their daily travel needs. A 2020 survey from part of the engagement efforts of the Westside Evolves Transformation Plan highlighted significant transportation barriers, health issues, and limited vehicle ownership among residents, underscoring the need for safe, non-motorized transportation options to connect them with employment and amenities.

"This community is desperately seeking to become a 'thriving, growing community, moving, culturally sound, embracing what was, building a healthy, enlightened, rich future for everyone."

"Through the FY23 Neighborhood Access and Equity Program Grant, the city seeks to build on the success and momentum of the Westside Evolves Transformation Plan by taking a critical step forward from concept to reality with the proposed 'Reconnecting Westside' project. This project aims to reintegrate the Westside neighborhood with downtown, the riverfront, and the Bend, focusing on creating safe, accessible, new and improved multimodal connections for pedestrians, cyclists, transit, and private motor vehicles. These connections will include a strong emphasis on vulnerable users.

"Despite its ideal location, the Westside has faced disinvestment, poverty and crime. Recent developments indicate its potential for revitalization. This effort will set in motion the analysis and preliminary design for two key community connection points:

1. Grove Street north to West MLK Boulevard, strengthening the neighborhood's link to the heart of downtown.

2. 12th Street extension to Riverfront Parkway, creating a new connection that aligns with the future roadway network at the Bend, improving access to meaningful public spaces along the riverfront and many of the city's green spaces, while strengthening and improving connectivity to downtown as well."

Kimley-Horn, which is based in Raleigh, N.C., said the project will start with a two-day design charette with the project team and the city of Chattanooga. Key stakeholders such as the developers of the residential multi-family projects in Westside, the Chattanooga Design Studio and similar entities will be invited to participate to provide briefings on past studies as well as current projects within the study area.

There will also be a public open house at a site determined by the city.
In a recent study published in Analytical Chemistry, researchers from the University of Amsterdams Van t Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences (HIMS) reveal a sobering reality regarding "nontargeted" chemical analysis. Although widely used for screening the environment for chemicals, this concept isn't nearly as broad as its name suggests, leaving massive "blind spots" in the data. To quantify these gaps, the team developed a novel computational framework: Measurable Feature Prediction. It helps predict which regions of the vast chemical space are actually measurable  before running real samples.

A novel computational framework: Measurable Feature Prediction HIMS / UvA

While the aim of nontargeted analysis (NTA) is to map the full scope of chemicals that are potentially present in the environment (the chemical space), the Amsterdam research shows that method constraints significantly limit what can actually be measured. The focus of the research was on the gold standard for environmental screening known as LCESIHRMS: Liquid ChromatographyElectrospray IonisationHigh-Resolution Mass Spectrometry. The team shows that physical and chemical constraints of this method, such as ionisation and retention, leave massive "blind spots" in the data. The numbers were much smaller than we expected, says Saer Samanipour, head of the research group Environmental Modelling and Computational Mass Spectrometry.

Measurable Feature Prediction The research was carried out by Samanipours co-worker Lapo Renai under a postdoctoral fellowship funded by the EUs Marie Skodowska-Curie Actions and supported by the UvA Data Science Centre via its Accelerate program. Based on the analysis of internal standards in LCESIHRMS, he developed a similarity-based modelling approach that combines molecular fingerprints with predicted retention indices and ionisation efficiencies. As a result, an estimate of the method-specific chemical coverage can be made.

This Measurable Feature Prediction establishes which regions of the vast chemical universe are actually visible to a specific instrument - and which will remain invisible - before a single real-world sample is even injected. For LCESIHR, the actual number of chemicals that can be analysed in a single measurement turns out to be less than a few thousand. This may sound like a lot, Samanipour says, but compared to the vast chemical space it is about 0.01%, which is a minute amount. He advocates the use of so-called orthogonal approaches, applying complementary analytical methods. We also need to map the blind spots of each method, as those are the real human and environmental health issues of the future.
Dell AI Data Platform, end-to-end infrastructure and services advancements remove barriers to enterprise AI deployment

4,000+ Dell AI Factory customers, up to 2.6x ROI, clear path from experiment to production

Broad portfolio updates streamline enterprise AI deployments, turn siloed data into AI fuel and compress pilot-to-production timeline

SAN JOSE, Calif., March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Dell Technologies (NYSE: DELL) marks the two-year anniversary of the Dell AI Factory with NVIDIA by announcing advancements across its AI data platform, end-to-end AI infrastructure, and AI solutions and services portfolio that help enterprises move AI from pilot to production at scale. With over 4,000 customers deploying the Dell AI Factory, and early adopters seeing up to 2.6x ROI within the first year,1 Dell proves that an end-to-end approach delivers measurable business results.

Why This Matters

The enterprise AI landscape is undergoing a fundamental shift. As AI code assistants and agentic workflows drastically lower the cost and time to build custom applications, CIOs are increasingly choosing to develop AI capabilities in-house, on-premisesdriving the need for owned infrastructure.

Yet unclear ROI remains the top obstacle preventing AI deployments at scale. Two years of the Dell AI Factory with NVIDIA has revealed three critical requirements for achieving measurable returns: data platforms that make enterprise information AI-ready, infrastructure that seamlessly scales the latest innovations efficiently from pilot to production, and solutions and services that compress time to value by simplifying deployments and accelerating ROI. Dell is the premier provider delivering all three with NVIDIA technology at the core, creating a proven path from AI investment to business outcome.

Three Capabilities That Define Enterprise AI Leadership

As the top AI infrastructure provider2, Dell's AI infrastructure portfoliothe industry's broadest3delivers integrated capabilities across data, infrastructure, solutions and services.

Data platforms that turn institutional knowledge into AI fuel

AI is rapidly shifting from assistive tools to autonomous, agentic systems, but its effectiveness is constrained by the data it can access, trust and act upon. The Dell AI Data Platform with NVIDIA addresses this challenge with a unified platform for AI that combines Dell's high-performance storage, modular data engines, and NVIDIA accelerated computing, networking, software and CUDA-X libraries. As the data foundation of the Dell AI Factory with NVIDIA, it handles workloads from retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) and multimodal search to agentic workflows and large-scale data processing. Advancements announced today make it faster and easier for companies to turn data into real AI results.

Infrastructure that enables AI workflows from desktop to data center

Dell's next-generation infrastructure supports AI workflows at every stage, from rapid prototyping to production deployment at scale.

For desktop AI development and autonomous agents:

For production AI at scale:

PowerEdge XE9812 is Dell's flagship liquid-cooled server leverages the NVIDIA Vera Rubin NVL72 platform for massive real-time training and inference.

is Dell's flagship liquid-cooled server leverages the NVIDIA Vera Rubin NVL72 platform for massive real-time training and inference. PowerEdge XE9880L, XE9882L, and XE9885L are liquid-cooled servers featuring NVIDIA HGX Rubin NVL8 designed to accelerate validated AI performance within existing data center footprints and power constraints.

For enterprise workloads in the data center:

For high-performance networking and emerging technologies:

Dell PowerSwitch SN6000-series are NVIDIA Spectrum-6 Ethernet switches with 1.6Tbs, liquid cooling and co-packaged optics options for Vera Rubin-based Dell platforms.

are NVIDIA Spectrum-6 Ethernet switches with 1.6Tbs, liquid cooling and co-packaged optics options for Vera Rubin-based Dell platforms. PowerSwitch SN5610 and SN2201 now offer expanded network OS choices including Cumulus Linux and Enterprise SONiC Distribution by Dell Technologies.

now offer expanded network OS choices including Cumulus Linux and Enterprise SONiC Distribution by Dell Technologies. NVIDIA Quantum-X800 InfiniBand Q3300-LD liquid-cooled switches deliver high-bandwidth networking for AI and cloud-native workloads.

liquid-cooled switches deliver high-bandwidth networking for AI and cloud-native workloads. Dell Integrated Rack Scalable Systems (IRSS) expands to include Dell PowerSwitch and NVIDIA liquid-cooled switching, providing unified, rack-level power and cooling management for AI infrastructure.

NVIDIA NVQLink and NVIDIA CUDA-Q support  Dell is the first OEM to integrate NVIDIA NVQLink with CUDA-Q across PowerEdge servers featuring NVIDIA AI infrastructure, allowing enterprises and research institutions to explore emerging quantum-classical computing use cases. These capabilities accelerate discoveries in advanced drug development and materials science simulations by combining the processing power of Quantum Processing Units with NVIDIA accelerated computing for quantum systems control and error correction on a trusted foundation of Dell PowerEdge servers.

Solutions and services that accelerate deployment and prove ROI

Updated Dell AI Solutions combine new modular architecture with Dell Automation Platform blueprints and NVIDIA AI Enterprise software to deliver enterprise outcomes while simplifying operations and reducing deployment complexity. New services bridge skill gaps and scale deployments from experimentation to production.

Accelerating enterprise AI workloads:

Knowledge assistant provides the foundation for designing, deploying and managing intelligent assistants, working with industry leaders like Aible, Cohere's North and NVIDIA.

provides the foundation for designing, deploying and managing intelligent assistants, working with industry leaders like Aible, Cohere's North and NVIDIA. ClearML blueprint improves agentic AI environments for enterprises with secure, efficient GPU cluster management and workload scheduling.

improves agentic AI environments for enterprises with secure, efficient GPU cluster management and workload scheduling. Agentic AI platform , in collaboration with Cohere's North, DataRobot and NVIDIA allows enterprises to securely deploy and manage AI agents with orchestration, governance and observability.

, in collaboration with Cohere's North, DataRobot and NVIDIA allows enterprises to securely deploy and manage AI agents with orchestration, governance and observability. Dell Accelerator Services for Agentic AI provide packaged capabilities to support businesses at any stage, from experimentation and validation to enterprise-wide integration, closing skill gaps and reducing technical complexity.

Simplifying AI infrastructure deployment:

Dell AI Factory with NVIDIA modular architecture offers a clear, simplified path to enterprise AI by addressing deployment complexity, managing rapid technology change and supporting continuous adoption. Integrated automation gives organizations the flexibility to start at the right size and scale as needs evolve.

Perspectives:

Michael Dell, chairman and chief executive officer, Dell Technologies:

"Two years ago, enterprises were asking how to access AI technology. Today, they're asking how to make their data AI-ready, how to operationalize AI at scale and how to prove ROI. The Dell AI Factory with NVIDIA answers all three questions. We're brought in from the start as a trusted advisor, helping customers navigate their entire AI journeyfrom turning raw data into AI fuel, through deployment and to measurable business outcomes."

Jensen Huang, founder and chief executive officer, NVIDIA:

"AI infrastructure is being built everywhere  every company will be powered by it, every country will build it and it demands integrated data platforms, scalable infrastructure and deployment expertise. Dell Technologies delivers all three, with NVIDIA at the core. The Dell AI Factory with NVIDIA is a proven infrastructure blueprint for every phase of AI powering the next industrial era."

Availability

Dell Pro Precision 5 and 7 Series mobile workstations with NVIDIA RTX PRO Blackwell GPUs will be available in May.

Dell Pro Precision 9 T2/T4/T6 will be available in May.

Dell has shipped Dell Pro Max with GB300 to select customers in March 2026, with plans to ship more broadly in the coming months.

Dell PowerEdge XE9812 will be globally available 2H 2026.

Dell PowerEdge XE9880L, XE9885L will be globally available Q3 2026.

Dell PowerEdge R770, R7715 and R7725 with NVIDIA RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell Server Edition GPUs are globally available now.

Dell PowerEdge M9822 AND R9822 will be globally available in September.

Dell PowerSwitch SN6000-Series will be globally available starting in July.

Dell SONiC with Spectrum-based PowerSwitch SN5610 and S2201 will be globally available in March.

NVIDIA Quantum-X800 Q3300-LD will be globally available by Dell Technologies in Q4 2026.

Dell PowerEdge NVIDIA NVQLink and CUDA-Q integration is available now.

Knowledge assistant is globally available now.

Agentic AI platform with Cohere's North and DataRobot are available now, agentic AI platform with ClearML will be available in March.

Dell AI Factory with NVIDIA modular architecture will be globally available in April.

Dell Accelerator Services for Agentic AI are available now.

Additional resources

Check out Dell ISG President, Arthur Lewis' take on how Dell is ushering in the era of enterprise AI.

Find out more about the Dell AI Data Platform with NVIDIA.

Learn more about how AI at scale stares with your data.

See here for more information about bringing the AI lab to your desktop.

Get more details about Dell compute and networking innovations.

Learn how Dell AI Solutions and Services will accelerate your AI journey.

Connect with Dell on X and LinkedIn

About Dell Technologies

Dell Technologies (NYSE: DELL) helps organizations and individuals build their digital future and transform how they work, live and play. The company provides customers with the industry's broadest and most innovative technology and services portfolio for the AI era.

























1 Based on Enterprise Strategy Group paper commissioned by Dell, "Analyzing the Economic Benefits of the Dell AI Factory with NVIDIA," comparing the ROI of on-premises Dell and NVIDIA solution, August 2025. Estimated costs were modeled utilizing Llama 3 70B LLM for inferencing and model fine-tuning workloads by organizations over a 4-year period. Server models used were XE9680s with 8 x H100 GPUs. Actual results may vary. 2 IDC Worldwide Quarterly Trackers for Servers, External Storage Systems, PBBA, and AI Infrastructure Q32025: showing Dell #1 in AI infrastructure, servers, external storage systems, and purpose built backup appliances worldwide 3 Based on Prowess Consulting's paper commissioned by Dell, "Which Vendor Offers the Broadest AI Portfolio for Scalable Innovation?" October 2025

SOURCE Dell Technologies
Photo Credit: Unsplash/ Sina drakhshani

An Iranian American whose family fled the country decades ago says the current conflict involving Iran has stirred both deep sorrow and unexpected hope as he seeks to show support for Christians worshiping in Irans underground church.

Armin Assadi, who now lives in Minnesota with his wife, Ashlee Assadi, left Iran as a young child after his family witnessed what he described as many atrocities. According to KMSP-TV, the family escaped the country in 1988 when Assadi was 7 years old, first traveling to Pakistan before eventually resettling in the United States.

Tensions in the region escalated on Feb. 28 after the United States and Israel carried out coordinated strikes on Iranian targets. Reports indicated that the attacks killed Irans supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, along with several senior figures in the regime.

In the days that followed, the conflict widened as Irans Revolutionary Guard launched missile and drone attacks toward Israel and several Gulf Arab nations.

Reflecting on the unfolding situation, Assadi said the moment has been emotionally complex, combining grief over the violence with a sense that change might be possible.

Fear, sadness, grief, mourning, but at the same time, you have this weird sense of hope, Armin Assadi told the local Fox affiliate in an interview. Where, wow, Iran might be free for the first time in 47 years if what we think is happening is happening.

Assadi said members of the Iranian Christian community in Minnesota had already been praying for people in Iran even before the latest conflict began.

He also spoke about the long cultural history of Iran and the desperation many Iranians feel under the current political system.

Thats a level of desperation I dont know how to convey to people. This culture has existed thousands of years before this regime ever existed, Assadi said. In honor of the Iranian underground Church, this is where we are going to be doing church in solidarity with them.

Public attention to Assadis perspective grew after his wife shared a widely circulated message on Facebook on Feb. 28 asking others to pray for the people of Iran.

In the post, Ashlee Assadi called for prayers for both civilians and those involved in the conflict.

Lord, protect our troops. Protect the Iranian people from the casualties of war. Shield the innocent, she wrote. Comfort the grieving. Strengthen the underground church. Let a holy battle cry rise from Your people across the world. Shake complacency. Awaken intercessors.

She also wrote that many Iranians have long resisted oppression not through violence but through spiritual practices such as prayer and fasting, pointing to decades of atrocities committed by the Islamic regime that came to power in the late 1970s, which she said has imprisoned and killed Iranian citizens.

Ashlee Assadi said the ongoing war weighs heavily on her and her husband, who remain concerned for innocent people caught in the violence.

We feel grief. We feel the weight of the innocent lives thatve already been lost and the ones who may be caught in the crossfire of war, Ashlee Assadi said about how she and her husband feel about the conflict.

At the same time, she said the moment carries a sense of possibility for the future.

War is never light. Its never clean. It costs something. But beneath the grief, something else is rising. Hope, she added.
Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, Illinois. | Photo credit: Facebook/ Moody Bible Institute

Moody Bible Institute has reached a legal settlement with the Chicago Board of Education that will allow its education students to complete student-teaching placements in Chicago Public Schools after months of litigation.

The agreement follows a four-month legal dispute between the Chicago-based evangelical college and Chicago Public Schools.

According to a statement from Alliance Defending Freedom, the legal organization representing Moody, CPS revised its Student Teacher Internship Agreement to ensure that the schools religious convictions and expectations for students are respected.

The conflict began in November when Moody filed a lawsuit accusing the Chicago Board of Education of religious discrimination. The institute alleged that CPS barred its students from participating in the student-teaching program because of Moodys religious policies.

Founded in 1886 by evangelist Dwight L. Moody, the Christian college maintains standards requiring students and staff to adhere to historic evangelical beliefs and practices. According to the complaint, CPS required Moody to agree to nondiscrimination policies that the institution argued conflicted with those convictions.

Although the Illinois State Board of Education approved Moodys Elementary Education program in January 2024, the lawsuit claimed CPS still prevented Moody students from entering its student-teacher program.

Officials reportedly cited a policy stating that participating colleges cannot discriminate against any individual with respect to compensation, or other terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of ... religion, ... gender identity/expression, [or] sexual orientation.

Moodys legal filing argued that the policy violated constitutional protections as well as state law safeguarding religious freedom.

The complaint also said CPS requirements interfered with the design of Moodys education program, which includes mandatory observation hours in both public and Christian school classrooms.

The dispute drew attention from federal lawmakers, including Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Mich., who sent a letter in December to CPS Interim Superintendent Macquline King raising concerns about the case. According to The College Fix, Walberg described the allegations of religious discrimination as deeply troubling.

Walberg, chairman of the House Education and Workforce Committee, warned that CPS appeared to be pressuring Moody to change its biblical positions on sexuality to participate in the program.

Following the settlement, Moody Bible Institute is now listed on the Chicago Public Schools website as an approved university partner, allowing its students to resume student-teaching placements within the district.
Home Books Amid years of debilitating pain, Shannon Bream reflects on Gods faithfulness: It became a dark place

For years, Shannon Bream showed up to work while living in agony.

A rare genetic cornea condition left the 55-year-old journalist in what she described to The Christian Post as 10 out of 10, chronic pain, a debilitating stretch that took years to diagnose properly and pushed her to emotional and physical limits she never imagined.

It became such a dark, dark place for me for a significant period of time, Bream recalled. To the point where I questioned whether continuing my life on earth was even worth it.

She never doubted Gods presence, she said, but she did plead for relief. When healing didnt immediately come, her prayers shifted.

If youre not going to heal me, she recalled telling God, please at least lead me to somebody to help guide me through this and lead me to the right doctor.

Within 48 hours, she said, she found the physician who would ultimately become her lifeline.

That season of suffering and, more importantly, the faith that carried her through it inspired her latest book, Nothing Is Impossible with God, an exploration of biblical figures who endured adversity and emerged transformed.

The project, Bream said, had been forming in her heart for years.

Ive always loved this collection of stories, she said. They kind of lived in the back of my brain  these stories of overcoming.

Bream, the anchor of "FOX News Sunday," emphasized that every person eventually faces something that must be overcome, whether its a devastating diagnosis, the death of a loved one or the loss of a job. But she also sees overcoming in everyday moments, like the courage it takes to step into parenthood or launch a ministry.

I think Im always in a season of overcoming something, Bream said. So I kept these stories tucked away and collected them together, and it just seemed like a good time to put them in one place.

According to the bestselling author, her own medical crisis reshaped her faith in ways she hadnt anticipated.

You memorize verses, you study the Bible, you learn things intellectually, she said. But walking through something like that really made me feel like I knew Him, that He was with me and present in a deeper way.

For nearly two years, Bream said she lived in constant pain while searching for answers. She fought for a diagnosis and to find the right specialist. Ultimately, she leaned hard into prayer.

Eventually, she underwent a difficult surgery, a painful procedure that doesnt work for everyone  which is why she hesitated for years before agreeing to it.

Youll know when you get there, her doctor told her, she recalled, explaining that patients reach a point when every other option has been exhausted and the pain becomes unbearable.

For Bream, that moment arrived. Today, she says she is pain-free 98% of the time. Even more remarkably, her vision is clearer than it has ever been. Its one of many blessings, Bream said, that followed a long and difficult valley.

Im literally looking out the window at the leaves on a tree, and its a miracle that I can see them individually, she said. I can read street signs. Ive worn glasses since second or third grade, so aside from the relief of the pain, which was the number one issue, I now have vision I never would have had before.

In the book, Bream  who previously authored The Women of the Bible Speak, The Mothers and Daughters of the Bible Speak and The Love Stories of the Bible Speak  weaves her own story alongside biblical figures such as Moses, Jonah, Joseph and Daniel, presenting them as fallible humans wrestling with fear, failure and doubt.

For example, Bream said Jonahs story is often reduced to a childrens lesson about a whale, but the deeper layers are harder and more relevant. Through Jonahs story, Bream said she was forced to confront uncomfortable truths about the human tendency to draw lines around who deserves grace.

It wasnt just that Jonah was afraid, she said. The Ninevites were brutal people. But Jonah also didnt think they deserved Gods mercy.  God is the God of the universe. That means He wants relationship with every single human being, even those you may see as enemies or vehemently disagree with.

If Im holding out on something God is calling me to, why am I doing that? Bream continued. Do I have bias or prejudice against someone I dont want to go to? Why wouldnt I want to share this message of mercy and grace that Ive been blessed enough to experience?

The common thread among all the figures she profiles, Bream added, is perseverance. Sometimes they faced external opposition, enemies plotting against them or systems working to destroy them. Other times, the struggle was internal. She pointed to Peter, who denied Jesus after vowing he never would.

That had to be crushing, she said. But God didnt leave him there.

Instead, Bream noted, Peter, who denied Jesus three times, was restored in a moment that mirrored his original calling, later becoming a foundational leader of the early Church.

So sometimes youre overcoming outside forces, she said. Sometimes its your own mistakes or self-doubt. But theres always something to overcome.

Bream believes doubt itself can become a pathway to deeper faith, emphasizing that throughout her life she has brought her own struggles and doubts directly to God.

We see people doubting God, arguing with God, questioning God all through Scripture, she said. God can take it. He knows were frightened and flawed.

Ill tell Him, I cant order this in my mind. I dont understand this mystery about You. Just meet me where Im at, she said. Theres no shame in having doubts or questions. I think its better to take them to the Lord than to let them grow quietly and pull you away.

The book also reflects Breams vantage point as both a person of faith and a journalist who regularly interviews political leaders, U.S. Supreme Court justices and global influencers. While she maintains professional boundaries, she does not hide her beliefs.

Similarly, she said her hope through the book is to show that faith does not require perfection, only honesty and perseverance. Looking back on her own journey from chronic pain to recovery and peace, Bream stressed that the books title reflects the kind of faith she now lives daily.

He will walk us through every difficult season, she said. The valley and the mountaintops. My plan may be very different than His, but when it comes to what He wants to accomplish, nothing will ever be impossible.

She pointed to Josephs story as a personal anchor: years of betrayal, slavery and unjust imprisonment ultimately giving way to redemption.

Theres that famous verse in Genesis where Joseph says, What you meant for evil, God meant for good, she said. That doesnt mean it makes sense while youre living it. But Gods plan is always better.

What I pray over this book all the time is two things, she said. I want people to be encouraged to see that others, centuries ago, walked through very similar struggles. But I also want to equip them.

Each chapter includes principles and Scripture readers can apply in their own lives, she added  tools for navigating fear, loss and uncertainty.

That people will know theyre not alone, Bream said. That God is still working in their story, whatever place theyre in. If God has called you into a journey, even a painful one, He will walk you through it.
The combination of QuickBooks Online, Finatical's real-time Excel reporting, and AI-powered analysis from Claude creates a complete advisory workflow for fractional CFO and CAS firms

DURHAM, N.C., March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Finatical Software, a provider of real-time Excel-based financial reporting for QuickBooks Online (QBO), today announced a major new release of Flash Reports featuring a powerful new Reporting Pack  and a first-of-its-kind integration with Claude in Excel that brings AI-powered financial analysis directly into the same workbook where live QBO data lives.

Finatical Intro Video Speed Speed Finatical Advisory Workflow

Together, QBO, Finatical, and Claude in Excel create a seamless end-to-end system: live financial data refreshed automatically from QBO, organized into branded, client-ready reports through Finatical's Flash Reports, and now instantly explainable and analyzable by Claude  all without ever leaving Excel.

This combination is a significant accelerator for fractional CFO firms and accounting firms building or expanding Client Advisory Services (CAS) practices, enabling them to deliver deeper financial insight to more clients with dramatically less manual effort.

A Complete Advisory System in Excel

Flash Reports has always given finance practitioners live QBO data in refreshable, customizable Excel reports. The new Reporting Pack takes this further by allowing users to build a full multi-section reporting workbook  complete with a branded cover sheet, index, narrative commentary pages, and any number of financial reports  that can be refreshed in seconds for any client or any reporting period.

Now, with Claude in Excel embedded directly in that same workbook, practitioners can ask Claude to explain variances, summarize trends, identify anomalies, and generate plain-language commentary for any report  with cell-level citations so every insight is traceable back to the source data.

"With this release, Flash Reports becomes more than a set of reports  it becomes a fully integrated advisory system," said Chris Meyer, CEO at Finatical Software. "Practitioners can now refresh live QBO data, generate branded client deliverables, and use Claude to help explain what the numbers mean  all in one place. For fractional CFOs and CAS firms, this changes what's possible."

Introducing the Flash Reports Reporting Pack

The Reporting Pack allows users to create a reusable reporting template that can include:

A branded cover sheet with firm or client logo

An index page

Commentary and narrative pages

Any number of financial reports or dimension-based lists

Once created, a Reporting Pack can be refreshed automatically using updated criteria such as new reporting dates. Each report in the workbook is re-executed with the latest QBO data  and automatically incorporates any new accounts or dimension values added in QBO since the last refresh, eliminating manual rework and reducing the risk of missing data.

Claude in Excel: AI Analysis Where the Data Lives

Claude in Excel allows finance professionals to work directly with Claude in a sidebar inside Microsoft Excel. Within a Finatical Flash Reports workbook, practitioners can use Claude to:

Ask questions about any report, formula, or trend  with cell-level citations for full transparency

Generate narrative commentary explaining variances, unusual patterns, or key highlights

Test scenarios and summarize results in plain language for client presentations

Navigate complex multi-tab reporting workbooks instantly

This transforms the advisory workflow: instead of spending time writing commentary from scratch, practitioners can focus on reviewing, refining, and delivering insights  while Claude handles the heavy lifting of turning numbers into clear explanations.

Built for the Firms Doing the Most Complex Multi-Client Work

Fractional CFO firms and accounting firms building CAS practices share a common challenge: they need to deliver high-quality, insight-driven QBO financial reporting to many clients simultaneously  consistently, efficiently, and with enough time left for actual advisory work. The Finatical + Claude in Excel combination is purpose-built to solve this:

Standardize reporting across all client engagements with reusable Reporting Packs

Refresh live QBO data in seconds for any client or period

Use Claude to generate first-draft commentary and variance explanations

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Spend time on strategic advisory  not manual report preparation

Availability

The enhanced Flash Reports release with Reporting Pack is available now. Claude in Excel is available in beta for Claude Pro, Max, Team, and Enterprise plan customers and can be installed from Microsoft AppSource by searching for "Claude by Anthropic for Excel."

For more information, visit www.finaticalsoftware.com.

About Finatical Software

Finatical Software provides real-time, Excel-based financial reporting for QuickBooks Online users. Designed for finance professionals who live in Excel, Finatical's Excel add-in enables dynamic reporting, forecasting, and analysis with live data refresh  without manual exports or workarounds.

About Claude in Excel

Claude in Excel is an AI-powered add-in from Anthropic that lets professionals work directly with Claude in a sidebar inside Microsoft Excel. Claude can read, analyze, and explain complex multi-tab workbooks, navigate formulas with cell-level citations, and help users understand and communicate what their data means.

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Home News 9 Antifa members convicted for Texas ICE detention center shooting

Nine members of an Antifa cell have been found guilty of violently assaulting a United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Texas last July.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday that a federal jury in Fort Worth found the defendants guilty of charges that included providing material support to terrorists, obstruction, rioting, using weapons and explosives and the attempted murder of an Alvarado police officer.

Those found guilty included Cameron Arnold (also known as Autumn Hill), Savanna Batten, Zachary Evetts, Bradford Morris (also known as Meagan Morris), Maricela Rueda, Daniel Rolando Sanchez-Estrada, Benjamin Song, Elizabeth Soto and Ines Soto.

Seven other individuals  Seth Sikes, Nathan Baumann, Joy Gibson, Susan Kent, Rebecca Morgan, Lynette Sharp and John Thomas  pleaded guilty last year to one count of providing material support to terrorists.

According to testimony and evidence presented during the trial, prosecutors argued that the defendants were part of a North Texas Antifa cell connected to a broader militant network composed of small groups and individuals who share an ideology calling for the overthrow of the U.S. government, law enforcement and the legal system.

An expert witness for the government told jurors that Antifa-affiliated groups often coordinate activities that include riots, violent attacks and armed confrontations with police in an effort to obstruct federal law. The expert also testified that the movement has increasingly targeted agents and facilities tied to the U.S. Department of Homeland Securitys Immigration and Customs Enforcement in opposition to the agencys deportation operations.

U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould for the Northern District of Texas said that the guilty verdicts rightly reflect the vicious, armed attack that these Antifa cell members planned and executed against law enforcement and detention center officers.

Their terrorist acts, attempted murder, vandalism, and explosives launched at a detention facility were a far cry from some peaceful protest or First Amendment expression, stated Raybould.

Because of the prompt action of first responders that night and tenacious work of our law enforcement partners in tandem with the prosecutors in my office, sixteen people have been brought to justice for these violent acts and their attempts to conceal them.

Federal authorities "will continue in this mission to hold others accountable who perpetrate such violence and fund these Antifa groups in the Northern District of Texas," Raybould said.

On Independence Day 2025, a large group of Antifa activists attacked the Prairieland Detention Facility in Alvarado. The attackers donned tactical gear and carried weapons, wounding a local police officer during the assault.

Within days of the attack, Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested 10 people involved in the assault. Suspects faced charges of terrorism, aggravated assault on a public servant with a deadly weapon, or aggravated assault with a deadly weapon against a peace officer.

Acting ICE Director Todd M. Lyons stated in the announcement that an escalation in violence was occurring against his personnel and blamed disinformation and dangerous politically-motivated rhetoric.

The Department of Homeland Security reported in January that ICE officers have faced an 8,000% increase in death threats and a more than 1,300% increase in assaults against them.

ICE operations have garnered increased criticism since last year. Critics have taken issue with tactics that allegedly involve detaining undocumented immigrants in the streets while wearing facemasks and not showing proper identification.

In January, ICE drew more scrutiny for operations in Minnesota over two high-profile incidents that resulted in the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
Home News Assassinated Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei reportedly opposed son Mojtaba as successor

Irans late supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, was opposed to his son Mojtaba Khamenei succeeding him, according to a U.S. intelligence report presented to U.S. President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and other senior U.S. officials.

The assassinated Iranian leader reportedly believed that his son lacked the talent and leadership skills needed to run the ayatollah regime. In addition, Khamenei was opposed to transforming the Islamic Republic of Iran into a hereditary system.

However, last week, Iran announced that Mojtaba Khamenei had been chosen as the new supreme leader. Mojtaba, who has been described as an apocalypse-obsessed radical, has not been seen or heard from in public since the elimination of his father on Feb. 28. There are unconfirmed reports that Mojtaba was seriously injured  or even killed  in the Israeli aerial strike that killed his father and some 40 top Iranian officials.

The Iranian regimes foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, denied in an interview on Thursday that Mojtaba was injured or incapacitated.

The leader is completely healthy, in control of the situation and present in the arena, Araghchi told the Qatari news outlet Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

The message he delivered Thursday was very strong. Not only the leadership, but all state institutions are stable and everything is under control, Araghchi claimed. However, the message attributed to Mojtaba was delivered in writing and the ayatollah regime has so far not produced any credible evidence that the new supreme leader is alive or functioning as the de facto leader of Iran.

The Trump administration reportedly increasingly believes that Iran is currently run and being controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Meanwhile, an unconfirmed report from Kuwaiti news outlet Al-Jarida claims that an injured Mojtaba Khamenei was secretly flown aboard a Russian military aircraft to Moscow for medical treatment. The report quoted an unnamed senior source who said Mojtaba underwent successful surgery in Russia and was receiving care at a private hospital at one of Russian President Vladimir Putins residences.

According to the outlet, ongoing American and Israeli aerial strikes made it difficult for Mojtaba to receive medical treatment in Iran. It also claimed that Putin personally offered to provide treatment for Mojtaba during a phone conversation with Irans president, Masoud Pezeshkian.

While the report may be accurate, it has not yet been confirmed by any independent source.

Some observers have argued that Mojtaba Khamenei is even more radical than his late father. In an exclusive interview with The Rosenberg Report, Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter described Mojtaba Khamenei as a dangerous and evil human being with genocidal intentions.

He's an evil human being and he will not hesitate for a moment to advance his nuclear program, Leiter said in the interview with Joel Rosenberg.

He's an enemy of the West. He was involved in the decision to slaughter Iranians two months ago when they rose up, the Israeli ambassador added.

Leiter emphasized that Mojtaba Khamenei played a central role in the massacre of between 30,000 and 40,000 Iranian civilians in January.

So, he was very involved in that. He has blood on his hands. And, it's certainly no improvement over his father, Leiter said.

This article was originally published by All Israel News.
Home News 'A time of renewal': 1,000 attend revival at Texas university; 80 make decisions for Christ

Approximately 1,000 students attended a multi-night tent revival last week hosted by a Christian university in Texas, with scores deciding to make decisions for Jesus Christ or pursue ministry.

The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton, which is affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas, held its 27th annual three-night tent revival last week, a student-led event featuring worship music and preaching.

UMHB Dean of Students Michael Burns told The Christian Post that planning began last year with four main student leaders and the university's Student Life division. By last September, a committee of 20 additional students was meeting weekly to plan the event.

Revival has long been a part of the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor and the local Baptist community, and it has taken different shapes throughout history, Burns said.

Burns recounted a story of a revival that broke out in the campus community on April 20, 1909, during a chapel service, with school leadership opting to cancel classes that day. By the end of the day, 104 women at the then-all-girls college, known as the Baylor Female College, had come to accept Christ.

A time of renewal seems to be a significant part of our history as Christians, so we do this as a part of that history, Burns added.

Beginning in 1999, the university replaced its morning chapel revival service with an annual multiday tent gathering.

This model emphasized extended worship, prayer, small groups, follow-up and student leadership  creating space for several days of focused spiritual engagement.

Of the approximately 1,000 students who attended last week's gathering, 80 either decided to follow Christ, renewed their faith or answered a call to ministry.

My hope is that the power of the Gospel truly transformed every student, Burns said. We all recognize that the world around us is constantly shaping us, but there is a far greater beauty in surrendering that process to God.

The featured speaker for this year's revival was Shane Pruitt, an author and the national Next Gen director for the Southern Baptist Convention's North American Mission Board.

Pruitt, whose eldest daughter is a student at UMHB and served on the committee that planned the event, told CP that this was his second time preaching at the annual tent revival.

This is a great school and event, he said. So, preaching to and worshiping with college students, plus spending a week with my daughter and watching her serve the Lord, is a win-win.

The theme of Pruitt's preaching was the potter and the clay, as found in Isaiah 64:8: Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.

The messages touched on Christians being shaped by the power of Jesus and urged them to walk in their calling.

It was incredible, Pruitt said. We saw students make professions of faith in Jesus for salvation, many others surrender to a calling to ministry leadership and missions in their lives, and others repent and confess sin and experience victory and freedom in Christ.

Each night  the crowd of college students grew. By the last night, there were overflow chairs, with students unable to fit under the large tent.

Pruitt hopes all of the attendees understood that were all called to be shaped by the Lord, adding that we dont shape and mold Him for our agendas, He shapes and molds us for His mission.
Home News Jerry Kirk, pastor who led national anti-porn fight, dies at 94 Famous for debating pornographer Larry Flynt

Jerry Kirk, an Ohio pastor and conservative Christian activist known for launching a crusade against pornography, has died at the age of 94.

The Center for Christian Virtue, a prominent Ohio-based conservative group that Kirk founded, announced last Friday that the anti-porn activist had died on March 9.

The love of Jesus Christ overflowed from Pastor Jerry Kirk. A joyful warrior, Pastor Kirk inspired countless pastors and parents across Cincinnati to boldly stand for the safety of their communities and kids, said CCV President Aaron Baer, as quoted in the announcement.

While we mourn the loss of a giant in our movement and the founder of our mission, we celebrate that Pastor Kirk is hearing those sweet words from our heavenly Father, Well done, good and faithful servant.

Pastor Kirks life is a testimony to what God can do through the faithfulness of His followers, Baer added.

A native of Seattle, Washington, Kirk made a decision to follow Jesus Christ in high school while attending a Young Life event in Colorado. He later became an active supporter of the Christian youth organization.

According to his official obituary, Kirk earned a Master of Divinity and a Master of Arts in Theology at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. It was at that academic institution that he met his wife, Patricia. The two were married in 1956.

After spending several years pastoring churches in Ohio and Pennsylvania, Kirk turned to activism in the 1980s, founding the National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families, which focused on combatting pornography and fostering sexual purity.

In 1983 at College Hill Presbyterian in Cincinnati, he founded the Concerned Citizens for Community Values, which later became the Center for Christian Virtue. The Cincinnati Enquirer described the CCV as Ohios largest Christian policy group.

In addition to anti-porn activism, the group is known for advocating on behalf of other socially conservative causes, including opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage.

Over the years, Kirk became known for his opinion columns in national newspapers and his periodic debates with wealthy pornographer and owner of Hustler magazine, Larry Flynt.

If we had gotten together sooner for the battle against pornography, thousands of children would still be alive, millions of women would not have been raped, an entire generation of young people would not have been ravaged through drugs and twisted death-dealing sex, Kirk wrote in his 1985 book The Mind Polluters.

Kirk is survived by his wife, five children, 28 grandchildren, and 66 great-grandchildren. A memorial service is scheduled to be held on Saturday at Hope Church of Mason, Ohio.
Home News Man who crucified pastor asks for death penalty in court hearing, says he 'intended it to be heinous'

A man accused of killing an Arizona pastor in a crucifixion-style attack asked a court to sentence him to death during a hearing, saying the case should be resolved quickly so those involved can move forward.

Adam Christopher Sheafe, 51, attempted to plead guilty and requested the death penalty during a court appearance last week, but the request was denied, according to reports.

In April 2025, Pastor William Schonemann of New River Bible Chapel was found dead inside his home in New River, Arizona, with his arms outstretched and his hands pinned to a wall in a position authorities described as resembling crucifixion, the Maricopa County Attorneys Office said.

Schonemann, 76, was discovered after investigators responded to the home and examined the scene. Authorities later said the killing was part of a larger plot investigators believe involved plans to target multiple Christian leaders.

Investigators with the Maricopa County Sheriffs Office identified Sheafe as a suspect through evidence recovered from Schonemanns home and evidence connected to a burglary that investigators say occurred a few days earlier. Items found in Sheafes backpack and a stolen truck also helped authorities link him to the crime.

Prosecutors charged Sheafe with one count of first-degree murder and several other offenses, including first-degree burglary, second-degree burglary, kidnapping, theft of means of transportation, second-degree criminal trespass and three counts of attempted first-degree murder.

During last weeks hearing, Sheafe initially attempted to enter a no-contest plea. Prosecutors rejected the attempt, and the court did not accept the plea, reports local Fox affiliate AZAM.

Sheafe tried to plead guilty and asked the court to impose the death penalty immediately, arguing the case should be resolved so families involved could find closure.

Its an undisputable fact that the victim, Pastor Bill Schonemann, was over 70 years old. Its an undisputable fact that the crime was heinous in nature. I intended it to be heinous, Sheafe was quoted as saying in court. From day one, Ive said I did this. These are the reasons why I did this, and Im not contesting anything, he told the court, adding that continuing proceedings would only prolong the process.

The court declined to accept his request to plead guilty or impose the death penalty at that stage of the proceedings. Sheafe is scheduled to return to court on April 24 and is representing himself.

Prosecutors have filed a formal notice that they intend to seek the death penalty if the case proceeds to trial.

Authorities say the killing was part of a plan in which Sheafe allegedly intended to target 14 pastors or priests across the United States. Investigators say the victim was chosen because of his Christian faith.

In an interview with Arizona Family last year, Sheafe said he crucified Schonemann inside the pastors home and placed a crown of thorns on his head. He also said he planned to kill pastors or priests in multiple cities, including Las Vegas, Portland, Seattle, Billings, Detroit, New York, Charlotte, Mobile, Beaumont and El Paso.

Sheafe said he intended to attack religious leaders when they were alone because he did not want to harm others.

Authorities connected Sheafe to the killing before his arrest in Sedona last April while he was being investigated for other crimes, including inquiries involving the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Sheafe previously lived in Oceanside, California, and worked at a restaurant in Carlsbad. He filed a lawsuit against a trading platform and later sought Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2024 after losing more than $40,000.
Home News Brits fear impact of nation's drift away from Christianity: poll

A new poll has revealed widespread fears that drifting further from Britains Christian heritage could negatively affect future generations.

Just over half of Brits (52%) share this concern, according to a poll of 2,095 adults conducted by research organization Whitestone Insight on behalf of Anglo-Catholic study center Pusey House, Oxford, the Danube Institute of Budapest, and the International Reagan-Thatcher Society.

By contrast, only 19% of respondents felt that such a shift would positively affect society.

A majority of respondents still see a beneficial role for Christianity in public life, with over half (58%) saying that it has something constructive to contribute to the way Britain is governed, either in moral guidance or in practical influence.

The poll coincides with a conference in Oxford last week that brought together Christian politicians, theologians and public commentators to discuss the theme Christian Revival: Our Post-Liberal Hope.

Andrew Hawkins, chief executive of Whitestone Insight, said the findings highlight a broader debate about the moral foundations of British society.

As the debate about Britains future intensifies, the poll points to a central challenge for politics, churches, and civic institutions alike, he said. Can moral renewal be rebuilt through shared responsibility and lived example  or will moral anxiety continue to be channeled into polarization and identity politics?

The survey suggests many people believe Britain is experiencing a loss of shared moral understanding, with 60% agreeing that the country has lost a clear collective sense of right and wrong, while just 11% are of the opinion that Britain today has clear, widely held values and resilient institutions.

Despite this, the findings indicate that many people remain open to moral frameworks rooted in tradition.

Nearly two-thirds (65%) of those surveyed believe that both individual liberties and collective moral responsibilities carry equal importance for maintaining a stable society.

Public opinion remains split over whether Britain should still be considered a Christian country. Over a third (39%) hold that it remains a Christian nation, while half believe that it used to be but has since lost that identity. Over one in 10 (13%) said Britain has never held a Christian identity.

Concern about moral change was not limited to religious respondents, as around a third of respondents with no religious affiliation agreed that Britain drifting from Christianity could harm future generations.

The research also revealed differences in attitudes depending on political and social background.

Supporters of Reform UK were the most likely to say Britain has lost a shared moral framework, while Green Party voters were the most skeptical about religious influence in public life.

At the same time, younger adults appeared somewhat more receptive than middle-aged adults to Christianitys influence on society, disputing widely held beliefs that younger generations are uniformly resistant to religion and reflecting similar results from the Bible Societys Quiet Revival report.

Participants were also asked about the concept of a renewed social covenant grounded in Britains Christian heritage to help strengthen social cohesion.

Two in five (41%) said that such an idea is required to heal divisions in society. However, nearly half (46%) described the proposal as attractive but impractical, while more than half (53%) expressed concern that it could impose particular values on others.

Jonathan Price, conference co-organiser and Matraszek Fellow of Pusey House and St Cross College, said the findings suggest the country is entering a period of renewed reflection on moral and cultural identity.

A new cultural, political and moral moment is emerging, he said.

He continued: From Badenoch, Farage and Lowe on the Right associating Britain with its historic Christian identity, to Glasman and Blue Labour on the Left doing the same, or Sir Ed Davey talking about how God speaks to him, this poll tells us politicians have an audience among voters.

In this post-liberal moment, a trans-denominational Christian restoration is gathering momentum - intellectually, spiritually and culturally. Our conference will examine what this might mean politically for government.

Speakers at the conference included Danny Kruger MP, head of government preparation for Reform UK; Lord Maurice Glasman of the Labour Party; journalist David Campanale; Oxford professor and theologian Joshua Hordern, and Jenny Sinclair of Together for the Common Good.

This article was originally published at Christian Today
Home News Nicaragua bars ordination of new Catholic priests in several dioceses

Nicaraguas government has prohibited the ordination of new Catholic priests and deacons in several dioceses, a move church leaders say intensifies pressure on religious communities in the country.

According to reports published by ACI Prensa, the measure directly affects the dioceses of Jinotega, Siuna, Matagalpa and Esteli  territories currently under heavy government pressure and without the presence of their resident bishops.

This administrative and police restriction represents a direct blow to the ministerial structure of Nicaraguas Catholic Church, preventing young men who have completed their theological training from formally serving their congregations. Local leaders say police are preventing any outside bishop from conducting ordination rites, reinforcing what analysts say is an attempt to dismantle the institutional presence of the Church in the country.

The persecution is not limited to Catholicism. Nicaraguas evangelical community has also faced unprecedented pressure under the administration of Daniel Ortega and his wife, Co-President Rosario Murillo. In recent years, Nicaraguas Interior Ministry has revoked the legal status of more than 1,500 nonprofit organizations, the majority of which were Evangelical churches and missions, confiscating their assets and properties in favor of the state over alleged administrative irregularities.

Leaders of historic denominations and independent ministries have been subjected to surveillance, threats and the forced closure of their Christian radio and television stations. As has happened with the dioceses mentioned above, many Evangelical pastors have fled the country after being accused of treason against the homeland simply for providing humanitarian aid during civil protests or for refusing to align their sermons with the official political narrative.

Experts on human rights and religious freedom describe the situation as critical. Researcher Martha Patricia Molina, author of the report Nicaragua: A Persecuted Church, previously described ordination efforts as a liturgical oasis in the desert of repression.

Critics say the tightening of state policies aims to eradicate the spiritual influence of Christian churches in favor of a political ideology that promotes the cult of the Sandinista regime.

The pastoral impact has been devastating, especially in areas such as Matagalpa in northern Nicaragua, where it is estimated that nearly 70 percent of clergy have been forced into exile to protect their safety. Although the operational capacity of several dioceses has been reduced by half, spiritual resistance remains strong among the faithful.

The Church in Nicaragua is crucified, but not immobilized, a priest said from exile, emphasizing that new vocations continue to emerge despite the risks.

Originally published by Diario Cristiano, Christian Daily International's Spanish edition.
Home News Project Hail Mary highlights empathy, sacrifice and unlikely friendship, creators say (exclusive)

HOLLYWOOD, Calif.  On the surface, Project Hail Mary is an expansive, beautifully shot science-fiction adventure about saving the planet, but the filmmakers behind it say the story ultimately hinges on something deeper: friendship, sacrifice and the power of empathy.

Based on the 2021 bestselling novel by Andy Weir and starring Ryan Gosling, who also produced the film, Project Hail Mary follows Ryland Grace, a middle-school science teacher who awakens alone aboard a spacecraft with no memory of how he got there. As his memories slowly return, Grace realizes he has been sent on a last-ditch mission to stop a mysterious cosmic threat that is slowly dimming the sun and endangering life on Earth.

But as the Amazon MGM Studios film unfolds, the story, which also stars Sandra Huller, James Ortiz, Lionel Boyce, Ken Leung, Milana Vayntrub and Priya Kansara, becomes less about science and more about connection, particularly the unlikely friendship Grace forms with an alien he names Rocky.

For directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller, preserving that relationship was the most important part of adapting Weirs beloved novel for the screen.

The core of the movie and the book is this relationship between Ryland Grace and Rocky, Miller told The Christian Post. We wanted to make sure that we honored that and felt like the spirit of that relationship, how they were finding common ground and working together.

The warmth of that relationship is like the beating heart of the movie, he added. We had to nail it.

Weirs novel is known for its intricate science and clever problem-solving, but Miller said translating those elements to film required delivering the films massive sci-fi scope without losing the friendship at its heart.

The book is so much bigger and more expensive than you can fit into the size of a movie, he said. But we didnt want to take shortcuts.

For example, in the story, the two characters face significant physical barriers, including incompatible atmospheres that prevent them from occupying the same space. But according to Miller, the filmmakers resisted the temptation to simplify those challenges.

They have different atmospheres, so theres always got to be a wall between them, Miller explained. Theres no face, no eyes, no mouth for this alien creature.  Sometimes somebody might go, Thats fine for the book, but for the movie, lets make it easier on ourselves. But we didnt want to do that.

Lord said honoring the complexity of the book was part of embracing its central theme: solving hard problems together.

The book is about problem solving and people coming together to do difficult things, Lord said. So you have to feel like the people who made the movie came together to do something difficult too.

Beyond the technical challenges, Lord said the films deeper message speaks to a cultural moment marked by division and distrust. Stories like Project Hail Mary, he said, which emphasize connection and goodwill, offer an alternative way of interacting with one another.

One of the things weve tried to do with our work is help people imagine goodness, he said. As you say, we are permeated by messages about how divided we are.  It really is useful to imagine what we can accomplish together.

Miller echoed that sentiment, pointing to the unlikely friendship between a teacher and a rock alien at the center of the story. The relationship ultimately becomes essential to the survival of both worlds.

Youve got a story where two beings could not be more different from each other, more other, he said. And the fact that theyre extending a hand to each other and finding a way to accommodate each other and find common ground.

They become the peanut butter and chocolate to make the delicious peanut butter cup that saves their worlds, Miller quipped.

The films themes of compassion and selflessness also play out through its central character, portrayed by Gosling. Grace begins the story as a somewhat reluctant hero, a scientist who retreated from academia to become a middle-school teacher after his controversial ideas were rejected by his peers.

Within the story, Weir said, that choice reflects a moment of vulnerability for the character. Rather than continue fighting critics, Grace withdrew into a profession that felt safer.

He used to be a xenobiologist, like molecular speculative xenobiologist, the author told CP. He was writing papers and stuff like that, but he got shouted down by his community.  He retreated into a profession that was much more safe for him. Hes a middle school science teacher.

But that decision becomes transformative for Grace in unexpected ways.

He was the cool guy teacher who had the planets up on the ceiling and stuff like that, Weir, who also wrote the bestselling novel-turned-blockbuster film The Martian, said. And he found that he really enjoyed the teaching.

For screenwriter Drew Goddard, whose mother has been a teacher for over 50 years, the film highlights the often-overlooked contributions of educators and scientists.

This movie, when we really boil it down, is about teachers and scientists saving the world, Goddard said.

In adapting the novel, Goddard, who earned an Oscar nomination for adapting The Martian, said protecting the emotional arcs of Grace and Rocky became the guiding principle. The most important moments, he said, were nonnegotiable.

I dont even worry about what other people are going to think, he said. I worry about what Im going to be mad about if we have to change.

Without getting into spoilers, the ending of the movie and the ending of the book, all of the big character moments and arc from both Grace and Rocky, are crucial to this story, he said. So when we were setting out, I said thats what we have to protect at all costs. We are protecting Grace and Rocky.

The films themes of sacrifice and compassion ultimately emerge through the unlikely bond between the two characters.

In many ways, its the superpower of the movie, Goddard said. Empathy and compassion. The soul of this movie revolves around a person and an alien from opposite ends of the galaxy reaching out and finding each other and looking at the world through one anothers point of view.

Even the protagonists name, Grace, carries symbolic meaning, though Weir emphasized the inspiration was partly comedic.

I couldnt resist the pun, the author quipped. The name of the ship is the Hail Mary. So now its the Hail Mary, full of Grace, right? Im just that kind of guy. I cant resist a good pun.

Despite the storys themes of sacrifice, compassion and collaboration, Weir insisted he never set out to deliver a moral lesson.

I never have a larger message at play when Im writing a story, he said. I just want people to enjoy the story. Theres no moral, theres no hidden meaning. When youre done with the book, I just want you to put it away and think, That was fun.

Goddard, however, emphasized that the storys deeper themes are intentional, adding: I totally disagree with [Weir].

Thats why we work well together, he said. Because I couldnt disagree with him more. I see the soul. The soul that youre homing in on, the soul thats bringing us all together to make this movie. It is there, despite what he says.

For Lord and Miller, the power of Weir's story ultimately lies in a hopeful vision of the future, one shaped by collaboration and compassion rather than conflict.

Ryan said something really thoughtful today, Lord recalled. A future is not something to fear, it is something to figure out.

The movie is rated PG-13 for some thematic material and suggestive references. The film hits theaters on March 20.
Home News Street preachers sue Chicago over unconstitutional arrests for sharing the Gospel

Chicago has been sued over the arrests of Christian street preachers in a case alleging unconstitutional enforcement of city regulations against religious speech, according to a U.S. legal advocacy organization.

The lawsuit was filed by the American Center for Law and Justice, arguing that the city violated the constitutional rights of three men who were preaching in public spaces near Millennium Park, the ACLJ said in a statement.

The civil rights complaint seeks relief for Brett Raio and two other preachers identified as Reetik and Perez, who were arrested while sharing Christian messages in a public area of downtown Chicago.

Raio was arrested and charged while preaching near Millennium Park, a major public park in Chicagos downtown area that draws large numbers of visitors and public gatherings. His case was later dismissed before trial after video evidence was presented showing the circumstances of the incident.

Days after that dismissal, Chicago police arrested Reetik and Perez at the same location on similar charges, according to the lawsuit, which alleges the arrests occurred under the same enforcement practices that had previously led to the case against Raio.

The complaint claims the city has adopted a policy of arresting street preachers who use sound amplification even when authorities have not determined whether the volume violates Chicagos noise ordinance.

Chicago law requires a permit only if amplified sound exceeds conversational levels measured from about 100 feet away. The complaint argues police officers arrested the preachers without assessing whether their speech actually crossed that legal threshold.

Officers arrived at the location and arrested the preachers immediately without conducting any measurement of the sound level, alleges the petition.

The complaint alleges that the enforcement was directed at street preachers delivering Christian messages and therefore violated protections under the First Amendment.

The lawsuit seeks damages for harm and emotional distress stemming from the arrests and the time spent in custody.

Reetik and Perez were held in jail for more than seven hours following their arrests, according to the filing.

The complaint also alleges the citys enforcement practices place a substantial burden on religious activity under the Illinois Religious Freedom Restoration Act, a state law that protects individuals from government actions that significantly interfere with religious exercise.

Legal filings in the case argue that municipal governments can regulate public spaces for reasons such as crowd control and noise management, but those regulations must be applied neutrally and in a manner consistent with constitutional protections.

Public spaces such as streets and parks have long been recognized in U.S. constitutional law as traditional public forums where individuals can express political, religious and social views. Courts generally require governments to apply rules governing those spaces in a viewpoint-neutral manner.

The lawsuit claims the enforcement pattern in Chicago did not meet that standard, arguing that the city selectively enforced noise rules against religious speakers while allowing other forms of ambient city noise.
Home News Support for Israel plummets to 13% among US voters aged 18-34: 'Sea change'

Support for Israel has declined among all age groups since 2023, with the sharpest decline taking place among those aged 18-34, almost two-thirds of whom expressed a "negative" view of the country, according to a recent NBC News poll.

In what the outlet described as a "sea change" regarding voters' opinions on Israel and the Palestinian territories, the poll of 1,000 registered voters conducted from Feb. 27 to March 3 found that 63% of voters under age 35 have a negative view of Israel, compared to just 13% who have a positive view and 23% who hold a neutral view.

The numbers show a steep drop-off of support for Israel among young voters compared to a similar survey NBC News conducted shortly after Hamas' terrorist attacks against Israel in October 2023, when 26% of voters under 35 years old viewed the nation positively, 37% viewed it negatively and 37% were neutral.

Views toward Israel were least changed among those aged 65 and older, though even that age demographic saw a decline from 64% viewing it positively in 2023 to 55% this year.

Brutal new polling from NBC News shows views of Israel among Americans have declined across all age groups in the past several years. pic.twitter.com/F6LDMtgxWk  a newsman (@a_newsman) March 16, 2026

The poll also found that growing antipathy toward Israel is most evident among Democrats and independents, with almost 60% of Democrats and almost 50% of independents viewing it negatively this year; in 2023, the negative views were 35% and 22%, respectively.

Among Republicans, 63% expressed a positive view of Israel in 2023, compared to 54% this year.

The poll comes as President Donald Trump's political base is fracturing over the war in Iran and other issues in the lead-up to the 2026 mid-term elections.

On Sunday evening, Trump released a lengthy defense of Fox News opinion host Mark Levin after the political commentator, who opposed Trump in 2016, has been engaged in a heated public feud with other conservative pundits such as Megyn Kelly and Tucker Carlson over their divergent foreign policy views regarding the Middle East.

The poll also comes as the number of young American Evangelicals who support Israel and see it as crucial to the End Times had been steadily declining even before the war in Gaza, according to a series of surveys laid out in the 2023 book Christian Zionism in the Twenty-First Century: American Evangelical Opinion on Israel.

Authored by professors Kirill M. Bumin, Ph.D., and Motti Inbari, the book examined the religious beliefs and foreign policy attitudes of Evangelicals in the U.S. and found that 33.6% of young Evangelicals under 30 expressed support for Israel in late 2021, compared to 67.9% in 2018.

Experts who spoke to The Christian Post in 2024 had varying explanations for such a trend, ranging from the antisemitic influence of cultural Marxism in American universities to the internet offering wider exposure to Christian eschatological views that differ from premillennial dispensationalism, which emphasizes the role of modern Israel.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth acknowledged during a recent interview that there is a religious aspect to the war in Iran, which comes amid concerns regarding what role Christian, Jewish and Islamic eschatologies are playing in the conflict.
DUBAI, UAE, March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- GameChange Solar, a leading global supplier of solar tracker and fixed-tilt racking technology, announced that it has signed a contract with Hassan Allam Constructions to supply its Genius Tracker system for a 258 MWp solar project in Benban, Egypt. The project is being developed by Infinity Power, with Hassan Allam serving as the EPC partner. This order marks GameChange Solar's fourth project in Egypt, bringing our total capacity in the country to over 3 GWp.

GameChange Solar - Hassam Allam Benban Project Signing

Benban is one of the largest solar hubs in the region and demands systems that perform reliably in high-heat and high-dust conditions. GameChange Solar was selected based on its experience delivering projects in Egypt, its regional support structure, and its ability to meet accelerated delivery timelines. This project will deploy the company's 1R  4 string tracker architecture, engineered for the site's terrain and civil requirements.

"Working with Infinity Power and Hassan Allam on this project is an important milestone in our regional journey. Our systems are engineered for the high-heat and high-dust conditions common across the Middle East and North Africa, and our teams have steadily expanded their on-ground capability to support fast-moving utility-scale programmes," said Anirudha Sharma, Vice President  Business Development (India, MENA and CIS), GameChange Solar. "The MENA region is a strategic priority for GameChange Solar, and with this order, our cumulative capacity in the region rises to 6.7 GWp, reflecting the trust placed in our technology and our execution."

The Benban Solar Plant will integrate 200 MW of solar generation capacity with 120 MWh of battery energy storage, creating a hybrid renewable energy hub. The project supports Egypt's national energy strategy, which aims to increase the share of renewables in the country to 42% by 2030 and 65% by 2040.

"Benban continues to be one of the most strategic solar developments in the region, and projects of this scale require disciplined planning, predictable timelines and strong coordination across all partners. Our focus is on ensuring seamless execution, and we value partners who match that pace with the right technical inputs. GameChange Solar has demonstrated the responsiveness and technical engagement needed for this project, and we look forward to steady progress as we enter the next stage of construction," said Engg Hany Fayed, Managing Director, Hassan Allam Constructions.

About GameChange Solar

GameChange Solar is one of the top three global providers of solar tracker solutions used in utility-scale and ground-mounted distributed generation solar projects around the world. We have delivered over 58 GW of solar tracker and fixed tilt systems that combine fast installation, bankable quality, and unbeatable value through superior engineering, innovative design, and high-volume manufacturing. Our products enable solar panels at power plants to follow the sun's movement across the sky and optimize plant performance while protecting the array from damaging weather conditions.

For more information about GameChange Solar and its solar tracking solutions, visit www.gamechangesolar.com.

Media Contact

Nisha Wadhwani

Lead  Marketing, GameChange Solar

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SOURCE GameChange Solar
Home Opinion Whats really behind the war with Iran

America is once again at war in the Middle East. In recent days, the United States, together with its ally Israel, has engaged Iran in a rapidly escalating conflict that could shape the future of the region for years to come. War is never entered lightly. It carries immense cost, grave risks, and unpredictable consequences. Yet when a nation commits itself to such a struggle, the public deserves to understand not only what is happening but why.

Recently, Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke bluntly to reporters about Irans leadership, saying the regime was run by lunatics. His remark may have sounded unusually sharp for diplomatic language, but it pointed toward a reality many Americans do not fully understand. The conflict with Iran is not simply another geopolitical rivalry. It is driven in significant measure by an ideology that blends political power with radical religious fanaticism.

Iran today is governed by a system established during the 1979 revolution led by Ruhollah Khomeini. That revolution replaced a secular monarchy with a theocratic regime in which ultimate authority rests with a clerical ruler who claims the responsibility of guiding the Islamic revolution. That role was long held by Irans Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, who ruled the country for more than three decades until his death early in the current conflict. Irans clerical leadership has since elevated his son, Mojtaba Khamenei, to succeed him.

From its earliest days, the regime made clear that its ambitions extended far beyond Irans borders. Its leaders openly declared that their revolution was meant to spread throughout the Middle East. Over time, Iran has cultivated a network of militant allies and proxies to advance that goal. Groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas have received funding, weapons, and training from Tehran, serving as instruments of its broader revolutionary strategy.

For decades, the United States and its allies have been confronting the consequences of this strategy in piecemeal fashion. American forces have battled Iranian-backed militias in Iraq, watched Tehran arm fighters in Syria, and responded to attacks carried out by groups operating with Iranian support. The conflict has often appeared as a series of scattered crises  rocket attacks here, regional clashes there. Yet behind these events stands the same source. In that sense, the present war is different. Rather than confronting only the tentacles of this network, the United States and Israel are confronting the snake's head itself.

Moreover, at the heart of this present conflict is the growing concern that Irans ruling clerics were dangerously close to acquiring nuclear weapons capability. American officials have argued that allowing a revolutionary regime that sponsors militant proxies and openly calls for the destruction of Israel to obtain nuclear weapons would fundamentally alter the balance of power in the Middle East. Preventing such a development has been a central objective of U.S. policy toward Iran for many years, and the Trump administration has repeatedly insisted that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. In the administrations view, confronting the regime now is meant to prevent a far more dangerous crisis later.

Irans leadership is also influenced by an apocalyptic strand of Shiite belief concerning the return of the Mahdi, a messianic figure expected to usher in a new era of Islamic rule. While not every Iranian official speaks of these expectations in extreme terms, their presence in political rhetoric has long troubled Western policymakers. The concern is that when a revolutionary ideology becomes intertwined with apocalyptic expectations, and when such a regime is also pursuing nuclear weapons capability, the potential for dangerous decision-making increases dramatically. When political power merges with a sense of religious destiny shaped by apocalyptic beliefs, and should such thinking ever guide the decisions of those who possess the worlds most destructive weapons, the consequences for humanity would be unthinkable.

Yet it would be a mistake to conclude that religion itself is the problem. History teaches otherwise. Some of the most violent regimes in the modern era were not religious at all. Dictators such as Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, and Mao Zedong governed under fiercely secular ideologies. Yet their regimes produced suffering on a staggering scale.

The common danger in each case was not faith but fanaticism, the belief that an ideology possesses unquestionable authority and may therefore be imposed by military force.

At this point, some critics might raise an objection. Do not Christians also claim to possess absolute truth? Do believers not affirm that the Bible is the Word of God and that its teachings are authoritative for every part of life?

Christians do indeed believe that absolute truth exists and that it is revealed in Scripture. Yet biblical Christianity has always advanced truth in a fundamentally different way. Christ did not command His followers to establish His Kingdom through political domination or military conquest. Instead, He instructed them to teach, persuade, and call people to repentance and faith in Christ  the redeemer of all mankind.

The Christian faith appeals to the heart rather than compelling belief by force. It proclaims truth openly in the marketplace of ideas but leaves individuals free to accept or reject its message. In a democratic society such as America, Christians participate in public debate just as other citizens do, seeking to persuade rather than to coerce. When its values find their way into law, it is through the democratic process, just as with any other set of moral convictions seeking to influence public life.

Scripture itself explains why conflict exists in the first place. The Epistle of James asks, From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? (James 4:1). According to the Bible, the deepest cause of war lies not in religion or politics alone but in the sinful desires of the human heart.

When those fallen passions combine with ideological certainty and political power, the results can become indescribably destructive.

The world does not need less truth. It needs truth that humbles human pride, restrains the abuse of power, and recognizes that every ruler ultimately answers to Almighty God.

Whenever any ideology  religious or secular  claims absolute authority and seeks to enforce its vision through violence, history shows the results are rarely peaceful.

In the face of such threats, nations are sometimes confronted with a painful but unavoidable responsibility. Governments exist not only to preserve order but also to restrain evil. Scripture reminds us that civil authority beareth not the sword in vain (Romans 13:4). When regimes threaten their neighbors, sponsor violence, and seek to impose destructive ideologies upon others, resisting them can become a tragic necessity.

War is never desirable, but neither is surrendering the world to forces that would crush liberty, silence conscience, and spread violence unchecked. At times, confronting such evil is not an act of aggression but an act of protection, defending the conditions under which human dignity, freedom, and peace may flourish.
PENSACOLA, Fla., March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- What makes Pensacola's historic neighborhoods so distinctive for homeowners and history enthusiasts? HelloNation has published an article exploring how several historic districts in Pensacola reflect the city's cultural development and architectural heritage over the centuries.

Dr. Cynthia Tant, Broker-Owner Speed Speed

The HelloNation article explains that Pensacola's neighborhoods developed with unique identities shaped by historical events, economic shifts, and cultural influences. These districts offer residents more than distinctive architecture. According to the article, they also provide a direct connection to the city's past and the people who helped shape its growth.

One of the neighborhoods highlighted in the article is Seville Square, widely recognized as one of Pensacola's oldest districts. The HelloNation article describes how the area reflects early colonial influences from Spanish and British settlers who played central roles in the city's early development. Seville Square historically served as a civic and military center during Pensacola's earliest periods of growth.

The article also references the archaeological discovery of the 1559 Luna settlement in the area. This historic site marks what many historians recognize as America's first enduring European community. According to the HelloNation article, this settlement anchors Seville Square in more than four centuries of documented history.

Another neighborhood discussed in the article is North Hill. Developed in the late nineteenth century, North Hill represents a period of economic expansion and prosperity in Pensacola. The HelloNation article notes that the neighborhood features well-preserved architectural styles such as Queen Anne and Colonial Revival homes, many of which were designed to reflect the wealth and ambitions of the era.

The article explains that these homes continue to attract homeowners who appreciate historic architecture and craftsmanship. Their distinctive details and carefully planned layouts contribute to the character that defines many of Pensacola's historic residential districts.

The Belmont DeVilliers neighborhood is also featured prominently in Pensacola's historical narrative. The HelloNation article describes Belmont-DeVilliers as a historically significant African American community that flourished in the early twentieth century. The area was once known for its thriving business district, music venues, and cultural institutions.

Historic Home Expert Dr. Cynthia Tant of Pensacola, Florida, is featured in the article as a professional who studies and interprets the city's historic housing landscape. The HelloNation article explains that Historic Home Expert Dr. Cynthia Tant highlights the role of community preservation efforts in maintaining these neighborhoods and honoring their historical significance.

The article also discusses America's First Settlement Trail, a three-mile pathway connecting several of Pensacola's historic districts. This trail includes more than seventy locations tied to key historical events and landmarks throughout the city. According to the HelloNation article, the trail allows residents and visitors to explore Pensacola's history through a connected network of sites.

Living within Pensacola's historic districts often means becoming part of a continuing historical story. The article explains that homeowners who choose these neighborhoods frequently value the sense of place created by preserved architecture and shared cultural heritage.

Ultimately, the HelloNation article emphasizes that Pensacola's historic neighborhoods represent layers of history that continue to shape the city today. Through preserved homes, historic landmarks, and active community engagement, these districts maintain connections between the past and present.

The Neighborhoods That Built Pensacola: A Historical Geography features insights from Dr. Cynthia Tant, Historic Home Expert of Pensacola, Florida, in HelloNation.

About HelloNation

HelloNation is a premier media platform that connects readers with trusted professionals and businesses across various industries. Through its innovative "edvertising" approach that blends educational content with storytelling, HelloNation delivers expert-driven, good-news articles that inform, inspire, and empower. Covering topics from home improvement and health to business strategy and lifestyle, HelloNation highlights leaders making a meaningful impact in their communities.

www.hellonation.com

SOURCE HelloNation
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For many charities, the appointment of auditors is treated as a routine compliance matter. In reality, it is one of the most significant governance decisions trustees make. A charity audit is not simply about verifying numbers or issuing a statutory report; it goes to the heart of stewardship, accountability, and the quality of oversight exercised over charitable resources.

Charity law makes this explicit. Auditors are required not only to report on whether accounts comply with the relevant regulations, but also to consider whether trustees are properly discharging their stewardship responsibilities. They operate within an enhanced whistleblowing regime that requires reporting to the Charity Commission serious breaches or risks to charity property. This alone should dispel any notion that a charity audit is a generic service that can be undertaken without deep sector understanding.
Oxfam GB has appointed former British Asian Trust leader Richard Hawkes as its interim chief executive for an initial 12-month term.

Hawkes will replace acting CEO Joyce Idoniboye at the end of this month while the charity continues its recruitment process for a permanent leader.

Oxfams interim co-chairs Nana Afadzinu and Annie Hudson said in a statement: We are delighted that Richard Hawkes has accepted this interim position.

He is a seasoned and respected charity leader who brings both fresh perspective and deep experience.

After an undeniably challenging period for the sector following cuts to UK aid and cost of living pressures  and for Oxfam, our partners, and the communities we support  his commitment to our strategy and his passion for addressing global crises give us great confidence for the year ahead.

Hawkes, who left the British Asian Trust recently after 10 years in post following previous CEO roles at Scope and Sense International, said: Oxfam has tremendous impact around the world and inspires deep affection among the UK public.

From crises in Congo and South Sudan, to Lebanon and Palestine, Oxfam meets the challenges this world faces in a unique way thanks to its profound commitment to anti-racist, feminist and safe principles.

Im honoured to take the baton from Joyce Idoniboye, who  together with Oxfams strategic leadership team  has embodied these principles in abundance.

I look forward to contributing to Oxfams work improving lives, tackling the inequalities that cause poverty, and building a more just world.

Idoniboye, who is also Oxfams chief people officer, was appointed as acting CEO in January when Jan Oldfield left the charity after one month in the position.

Oldfield had stepped in temporarily following the controversial departure of Oxfams last permanent chief executive, Halima Begum, in December.

Oxfams last permanent chair, Charles Gurassa, stepped down in November. The charity is currently recruiting a permanent chair.

Charity Awards to return in 2027

Hawkes has been a judge for several years on the panel of the Charity Awards , organised by Civil Society Media.

This year, the awards are taking a strategic pause but will return to the Royal Lancaster London hotel on 1 July 2027, with entries due to open on 1 December 2026.

Charities can register their interest now by visiting: https://charityawards.co.uk/register-your-interest/

sign up to receive the free Civil Society daily news bulletin here . For more news, interviews, opinion and analysis about charities and the voluntary sector,
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On May 2, 1982, during the conflict between Britain and Argentina over the Falkland Islands, a Royal Navy submarine torpedoed and sank an Argentine cruiser called the General Belgrano. The ship had been outside a large exclusion zone set by the British, and the attack killed more than three hundred people, many of them teens conscripted by Argentinas military dictatorship; it became an instant controversy for Margaret Thatchers government. Thatchers supporters, though, rallied to her cause. The loudest press cheerleader for the war over the Falklands, an archipelago in the southern Atlantic that had been a British colonial possession since 1833, was The Sun. Rupert Murdoch had bought the paper in 1969 as an ailing, left-leaning broadsheet and transformed it into a populist right-wing tabloid, a playbook he later replicated at the New York Post. The Suns pages were crammed with sex, scandal, sensationalism, and now war. The paper accused rivals of treason for failing to match its unblinking patriotism, and on May 4, it celebrated the Belgranos sinking with the front-page headline GOTCHA.

When the United States and Israel started bombing Iran, on February 28, several outlets in the sprawling Murdoch media empire took a similarly enthusiastic stance. On March 1, after news broke that Ali Khamenei, Irans supreme leader, had been killed, the Post splashed: DEATH TO THE DEVIL. On March 4, the US sank an Iranian warship, the Soleimani, named after the prominent Iranian general assassinated during Trumps first term, which had been in international waters off the coast of Sri Lanka; eighty-seven bodies were recovered by the Sri Lankan navy and transferred to a makeshift morgue, the Associated Press reported, with dozens more sailors missing. DON GETS LAST LAUGH, the Posts headline about the attack said the next day. The March 7 splash from the Postwhich clocked the third-highest newspaper circulation of 2024, behind the New York Times in second and the Wall Street Journal, another Murdoch title, in firstsaid simply: NO MERCY.

The Post has echoed the apocalyptic framing of Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth, a former Fox News presenter who asks to be referred to as the secretary of war and who has described the US and Israeli assault on Iran in increasingly fanatical terms. At a Pentagon press conference on Friday, Hegseth said the Iranian leadership had gone underground, coweringthats what rats do. He said that the US military will stop at nothing to win and that its forces would show no quarter, no mercy for our enemieswhich Ryan Goodman, a law professor and coeditor in chief of the national security journal Just Security, told Axios would be a war crime according to the Pentagons own Law of War Manual. Hegseth also used the presser to attack the media for failing to be an actual patriotic press, listing a couple of headlines that had particularly vexed him. (One of them? Mideast war intensifies.) Afterward, Fox Newss Laura Ingraham dutifully ran a segment on press coverage of the Iran war, discussing stories by CNN, The Atlantic, and MS Now under the banner: THE IRANIAN PROPAGANDISTS.

But to say the Murdoch media empire has been only a cheerleader for Trumps war on Iran would be to ignore Fox Newss role in inciting the conflict. On the Friday before the attack began, Brian Kilmeade, a host of Fox & Friends, Trumps morning show of choice, said: I hope the president chooses to go at it. Sean Hannity has been persistently hawkish on Iran on his weeknight show, and a report from Zeteo, citing two inside sources, said that Trump, in internal conversations with US officials, directly cited Hannity on why the war should be waged. (Zeteo has nicknamed Hannity Trumps shadow chief of staff.) On Thursday night, Fox News host Jesse Watters told viewers that seizing Irans Kharg Island, in the Strait of Hormuz, could help end the war. The next day, Trump ordered US forces to attack it. Watching the gears grind on the Fox News sanewashing machine is almost enough to make you forget the total vacuum where Trumps strategic decision-making should be.

Meanwhile, there has been little exploration by the Post or Fox News of the US attack on a girls school in Minab, on February 28, that killed at least a hundred and seventy-five people, most of them children. In an interview with a Fox News anchor, a retired general called it a glitch, and Watters was even brave or stupid enough to say, on Tuesday, that the US is waging the war compassionately. (Worth noting: Not all Murdoch assets are blindly supportive. On Saturday, Trump criticized the Journal on Truth Social as a Lowlife paper for its war coverage. Still, as Murdoch once said when a heckler interrupted his speech: Its okay, a little controversy makes everything more interesting.)

Whats interesting is that the Murdoch titles have remained loyal to Trump even as other influencers in the MAGA media sphere are turning their backs, furious at the advent of another of the endless wars the president promised to end. MAGA stalwarts such as Megyn Kelly and Tucker Carlson have become vocal opponents, attacking hawks for their bloodlust. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the former congresswoman, has accused the Trump White House of being completely hijacked by the neocon establishment Republicans we all voted against.

Against this backdrop, Netflix on Friday released a new docuseries, Dynasty: The Murdochs, directed by Liz Garbus and Sara Enright. The four-part series packs a lot in, whistling through the Murdoch empires origins in Australia and its evolution in Britain, where it developed a culture of getting the scoop at any cost. It shows how this erupted in the 2011 phone-hacking scandal, with revelations that, in the nineties and aughts, Murdochs News of the World hacked phone messages from celebrities, terrorism victims, and even a murdered schoolgirl, to chase the story. (A former World reporter told producers that the Murdoch organization at the News of the World was an organized-crime group, by any definition.) It also covers the empires expansion to the US, exploring the growth of Fox News, its tumultuous relationship with Trump, and the Murdoch succession battle in a Nevada courthouse.

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The documentary is a good starting point for those wanting to understand the basics of the Murdoch machine. Its narrative is helpfully anchored by interviews with an array of media reportersthe Times Jim Rutenberg and Jonathan Mahler, The Atlantics McKay Coppins, NPRs David Folkenflik, tech journalist Kara Swisher, and Sarah Ellison, who was recently laid off by the Washington Post, among others. The drama, though, centers on the squabbling Murdoch children. One particularly goofy element is a sort of Monopoly board the filmmakers employ, with the Murdoch kidsPrue, Lachlan, James, and Elisabethtrying to reach a giant gold bust of their father. To explain the Murdochs, you have to understand the television show Succession, Rutenberg says at one point.

Focusing on the Murdoch familys dueling personalities wouldnt necessarily be a problem, so long as it seeded an exploration of the consequences of their decisions. Early on, Mahler outlines this intention, saying that this is a family squabble on steroids that has a huge effect on our politics and our lives. But the series doesnt quite follow through. I found myself disheartened a number of times when the narrative pivoted away from something compellingthe crimes committed in the 2000s, for instance, or the battle between Murdoch and Trump in 2015 and 2016to focus on sibling rivalry.

Dynasty presents Lachlan Murdochthe current CEO of Fox Corporation, who ultimately emerged as the victor in the succession battleas the guarantor of his fathers legacy, a political conservative keen to protect Fox News against interference from his reportedly more liberal siblings. But Lachlan is best understood not as the guardian of his familys business ethos, but as its accelerator. After all, it was under him that Fox News commentators gleefully embraced lies about a stolen election in 2020. With Lachlan at the wheel, Andrew OHagan wrote recently, Fox News became a purveyor of apocalyptic doom-mongering, the sort that courses through Donald Trumps mind, where America is a place of perpetual rape, murder, conspiracy, and terror. How the empire will look after the death of Rupert, who is ninety-five, is underexamined, and I finished Dynasty curious about so many other questions. What vision might Lachlan have for a post-Trump MAGA movement? And how might the Murdoch empire respond to the growing influence of the Ellisons, another Trump-supporting family of media moguls, who will soon boast power over multiple cable networks, Hollywood studios, tech infrastructure, and social media data? We dont yet know the answer to these questions. What we do know is that the Murdoch empire is here to stay.

Other Notable Stories 

Brendan Carr, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, wrote a long post on X on Saturday in which he threatened to cancel permits for local TV license holders promoting so-called hoaxes and news distortions. Carr made the comments while resharing one of Trumps Truth Social posts, in which the president attacked the Times and Journal as Fake News. On Sunday, CNNs Brian Stelter reported that Carr wrote the post while at Trumps Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.

Mohammed R. Mhawish, a writer and journalist from Gaza City, wrote for The Nation about the disastrous consequences of the war in Iran for Gaza, where 2 million people are already living under conditions that leave no room to absorb new pressures. As Iran attacks and preoccupies Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and BahrainUS allies that have, at times, pressed Washington over Gazas futureGaza finds itself more exposed to Israeli escalation than at any point since October 2023 while, at the same time, losing whatever faint hold it had on global media attention.

The Pentagon is angry about a box on the Washington Posts website that appealed to Defense Department civilians and service members for information on changes within the Pentagon and throughout the US military. The Pentagon said the box represented solicitation that it claims is not protected by the First Amendment. But in the New York Times court case against Pentagon reporting restrictionswhich Ivan L. Nagy has covered for CJRthe Times lawyers drew attention to how defense officials did not object to a similar call for tips from Laura Loomer, the far-right influencer whos now a credentialed member of the Pentagon press corps. In other news, the Pentagon plans to step up its interference in Stars and Stripes, the Post reportscheck out Liam Scotts piece on the military newspaper, which has long been editorially independent, for CJR here.

Now Voyager, a bimonthly print magazine of international reporting, long-form writing, photography, and art, launched last week with a party in Harlem. The founders and coeditors, Helene Werner and Nicolas Niarchos, are both former fact-checkers at The New Yorker. Now Voyager is needed because so many legacy publications have largely abandoned longform international journalism, and because the publications that remain are either optimizing for scale or are consumed by the metabolic demands of the news cycle, a statement on its website read. The rate for reported pieces is $1.50 a word, according to the Times. Wow, I love this, William Finnegan, a New Yorker staff writer who attended the launch party, said.

Superhuman, the owner of AI writing software Grammarly, is facing a class action lawsuit over its expert review feature. Julia Angwin, an investigative journalist who founded The Markup in 2018 and directs the Independent Media and Audience Project at Harvard Kennedy Schools Shorenstein Center, decided to sue after Grammarly offered up her purported expertisewithout her consentalongside other writers as a kind of virtual editor. Superhuman has discontinued the feature after the backlash. Earlier this month, Emily Bell wrote for CJR about how UK publishers that have usually been competitors are finally working together to set standards for responsible use of AI.

And John F. Burns, a former New York Times foreign correspondent whose reportage was recognized with two Pulitzer Prizes, died on Thursday in Cambridge, UK, from pneumonia. He was eighty-one. Burns, a complicated figure, spent forty years reporting for the Times and worked in a long list of countries, including Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, China, South Africa, and the Soviet Union; he led the Times Baghdad bureau following the 2003 invasion of Iraq. A long Vanity Fair piece from 2008 documented the power struggles and controversies of the Baghdad bureau in wartime, in which Burns became the newspaper reporter most associated in the American publics mind with the Iraq war. As news spread of Burnss death, tributes poured in from the likes of Lionel Barber, the former Financial Times editor, who praised him on X as one of the v great foreign correspondents, and Anderson Cooper, who described him on CNN as a brilliant and treasured colleague.
Generic drugmaker Viatris has settled a lawsuit brought by the family of Henrietta Lacks, a Maryland woman whose tissue samples were used without her permission to develop enduring cells for lucrative medical research.

Viatris and Lacks estate told a federal court in Baltimore, Maryland, on Wednesday that they would dismiss the case with prejudice, which means it cannot be refiled.

An attorney for Lacks estate said her family was pleased the parties were able to find a way to resolve this matter and that details of the settlement were confidential. Spokespeople for Viatris did not immediately respond to a request for comment and more information.

Lacks family has filed several lawsuits seeking to recover profits from the unauthorized use of her cells for drug research. Her estate settled a related lawsuit against Novartis in February, resolved another case against Thermo Fisher in 2023 and filed a similar lawsuit against Ultragenyx that is still ongoing.

Lacks, a Black woman whose story was told in the best-selling book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, sought treatment for cervical cancer in 1951 at a Baltimore hospital. She died of cancer later that year at age 31.

Doctors used a sample of her tumor without her knowledge or consent to cultivate the HeLa cell line. The cells were the first to survive and reproduce indefinitely in lab conditions, and have since been used in worldwide medical research on subjects ranging from the polio vaccine to HIV treatments to sunscreen.

The estates 2024 lawsuit accused Canonsburg, Pennsylvania-based Viatris of misusing her cells to test its herpes drug Denavir and depression treatment Mylan-Mirtazapine. The family requested the companys profits from commercializing the HeLa line and a court order blocking Viatris from using the cells without its permission.

Viatris did not respond to the allegations in court.

(Reporting by Brittain in Washington; Editing by David Bario and Mark Porter)
Lucid unveiled a two-seater robotaxi concept without steering wheel and pedals, and launched new self-driving tech subscriptions, as the electric-vehicle maker laid out its roadmap for the technologies at an investor day event on Thursday.

The unveiling deepens Lucids push into fully autonomous vehicles, potentially putting it in direct competition with Teslas Cybercab as automakers race to build a driverless future.

The Elon Musk-led company last month said its first Cybercab had officially rolled off the production line at its Gigafactory in Texas. Tesla expects to begin mass production of Cybercab in April.

Lucid said its two-seater robotaxi will have 40% lower operating cost and would have an efficiency figure of around 5.5 miles per kilowatt hour. The company did not provide more details on timeline or pricing.

The company is taking a dual-pronged approach, partnering with other firms for robotaxis, while selling EVs with similar self-driving capabilities.

The company has alsopartnered with Uber and Nuro to commercialize a robotaxi based on its Gravity SUVs this year. Lucid, known for its luxury Air sedans, is also racing to launch a more affordable mid-size EV platform to broaden its customer base.

Monthly Subscription Starts at $69

Lucids monthly subscription for its self-driving technology would be priced between $69 and $199 depending on the level of autonomous driving capability a customer chooses, the EV maker said.

Bigger rivals Rivian RIVN.O and Tesla have also shifted to subscription-based systems in recent months, reflecting automakers increasing focus ondiversifying their businesses to software and recurring revenue streams.

Last month, Tesla shifted to a subscription plan for Full Self-Driving at $99, with its vehicle owners no longer being able to purchase the feature as a one-time, permanent option. Musk has since said the $99 monthly price will rise as FSDs capabilities improve.

Rivian launched its in-house driver assistance system, Autonomy+, at $49.99 per month or $2,500 as a one-time purchase, undercutting Teslas pricing.

(Reporting by Sriram in Bengaluru and Roy in San Francisco; Editing by Leroy Leo)
Starbucks may be neglecting the financial and reputational risks that stem from labor disputes, two proxy advisory firms are warning shareholders.

The warnings come more than a year after contract talks between the company and its U.S. union, formed by baristas at its coffee shops, broke down. On Friday, the union and Starbucks both said they are in talks to resume bargaining in the coming weeks. The union said it sent a new complete proposal to the company on February 9.

There are ongoing controversies related to labor disputes, and it is not clear there is sufficient board oversight of the companys management of labor relations, analysts at Institutional Shareholder Services, the worlds largest shareholder proxy advisor, wrote earlier this month, ahead of Starbucks annual meeting March 25.

ISS highlighted strikes from Starbucks U.S. union as well as a $38.9 million settlement Starbucks recently agreed to pay over claims it violated New York City law requiring fast-food workers be given predictable and stable schedules.

ISS and Glass Lewis flagged Starbucks recent dissolution of a board committee formed under former CEO Laxman Narasimhans tenure to oversee labor relations. Starbucks board of directors created the Environmental, Partner, and Community Impact Committee in 2023 under pressure from shareholder groups to address labor concerns, including a successful vote to force Starbucks to hire an outside auditor to review its approach to labor relations.

Some of the same shareholder groups, such as the New York State Comptroller and the union-affiliated SOC Investment Group, are seeking to pressure Starbucks again in part because of the committees dissolution, and what a collective letter said was prolonged labor conflict that threatens CEO Brian Niccols ongoing turnaround strategy. Starbucks in a statement said these groups represent a minority of shareholders.

Glass Lewis, citing Starbucks dissolution of the labor committee, recommended shareholders vote against re-electing board director Beth Ford, chair of the nominating and corporate governance committee. Glass Lewis said the governance committee bears responsibility for failing to ensure oversight of risks that could harm shareholder interests.

Starbucks wrote in its proxy filing that labor oversight will now be the responsibility of the general board, and other responsibilities of the Impact Committee have been re-allocated to other committees.

The filing said Starbucks made the change to simplify its board structure and allow board and committee members to focus their attention on matters that drive long-term shareholder value.

A spokesperson for Starbucks, Jaci Anderson, said in a statement that the board has the necessary skills and experience to effectively oversee our strategy, including human capital management.

Starbucks says it offers the best job in retail in part because employees who work more than 20 hours a week have benefits such as healthcare, parental leave, and paid tuition for online classes at Arizona State University.

Starbucks annual SEC filing for 2025 goes into depth on shareholder risks from labor issues, such as disruptions from work stoppages, an unfavorable future union contract, and reputational harms from Starbucks public positions on unions.

Unions have secured representation at around 6% of Starbucks stores in the U.S., according to the company. Union elections in stores have slowed from their peak in 2022 but have continued into 2026.

In November, unionized cafe workers in 40 U.S. cities launched an open-ended strike. The strike has largely dissipated, but work stoppages continue at stores on a rotating basis. Starbucks said the strikes involved less than 1% of stores and that all have officially returned to work.

(Reporting by Cunningham; Editing by Anna Driver and Cynthia Osterman)
SPARTANBURG, S.C., March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The article outlines how combining auto, home, and life insurance may influence savings, coverage flexibility, and policy management for Spartanburg families.

Is bundling auto, home, and life insurance in Spartanburg really worth it for families looking to manage costs and simplify coverage? That question is answered in a HelloNation article that explains how bundling insurance may affect insurance savings, policy flexibility, and long-term financial protection.

Cliff Gaubert - Owner/Agent - Cliff Gaubert Ins Agcy Inc Speed Speed

The HelloNation article features insights from Insurance Expert Cliff Gaubert of Cliff Gaubert Ins Agcy Inc in Spartanburg, South Carolina. The article explains that bundling insurance allows households to combine policies such as auto insurance, home insurance, and life insurance with the same insurer, often resulting in discounted premiums.

According to the article, auto insurance frequently offers the largest opportunity for savings when bundled with other policies. Many Spartanburg households may see premium reductions ranging from five to twenty percent, depending on the insurer, coverage levels, and household risk factors. Homeowners often receive discounts when auto insurance is added to a home insurance policy, while life insurance may be included in a bundle but usually produces smaller discounts.

The article notes that bundling insurance can also simplify policy management for families. Tracking multiple bills, renewal dates, and coverage details across different insurers can be time-consuming. By combining policies with one insurer, households may handle billing and claims through a single provider, which can reduce administrative stress.

The HelloNation article describes how this coordination may be helpful during unexpected events. For example, if a severe storm damages both a home and a vehicle, one insurer may be able to process claims for both policies more efficiently. However, the article emphasizes that convenience alone should not be the sole reason for bundling insurance.

Insurance Expert Cliff Gaubert is referenced in the article as part of the discussion about evaluating individual household risk factors. The article explains that families with newer vehicles or higher-value homes often benefit more from bundling insurance than those with older vehicles or lower-value properties.

Life insurance needs can also vary widely depending on personal circumstances. The article notes that households with young children may require stronger life insurance coverage to protect long-term financial stability. Retirees, on the other hand, may focus more on final expense protection rather than large policy benefits.

Another factor addressed in the article is policy flexibility. Standalone insurance policies often provide greater customization options than bundled packages. A homeowner may want higher dwelling coverage or a lower deductible for home insurance, and those changes can sometimes affect the structure or price of a bundled policy.

The article recommends that families compare bundled and separate quotes before deciding. What initially appears to be a lower price through bundling insurance may include coverage limitations or added features that do not align with a household's actual insurance coverage needs.

The HelloNation article also notes that local insurance agents often encourage families to review policies regularly. Life changes such as adding a teenage driver, purchasing another home, or expanding the family can significantly affect insurance needs and the value of bundling.

Another potential benefit discussed in the article is broader liability protection. Combining home insurance and auto insurance may provide coordinated coverage for both property and vehicle-related risks. Including life insurance within a bundle can also support family financial stability if an unexpected loss occurs.

The article concludes that bundling auto insurance, home insurance, and life insurance can offer meaningful insurance savings and convenience for many households in Spartanburg. However, the best approach depends on personal financial goals, coverage needs, and individual risk factors.

Is Bundling Auto, Home, and Life Insurance in Spartanburg Worth It? features insights from Cliff Gaubert, Insurance Expert of Spartanburg, South Carolina, in HelloNation.

About HelloNation

HelloNation is a premier media platform that connects readers with trusted professionals and businesses across various industries. Through its innovative "edvertising" approach that blends educational content and storytelling, HelloNation delivers expert-driven articles that inform, inspire, and empower. Covering topics from home improvement and health to business strategy and lifestyle, HelloNation highlights leaders making a meaningful impact in their communities.

SOURCE HelloNation
PARADISE, Calif., March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Why do so many homeowners in high-risk regions rely on the California FAIR Plan, and what should they know before depending on it for protection? The answer is outlined in a HelloNation article that clarifies how the program works and what it does not cover. The article offers guidance for homeowners who may encounter this option after receiving a non-renewal notice or after learning that traditional coverage is no longer available in wildfire-exposed areas. By breaking down its purpose and limits, the article helps readers understand how the California FAIR Plan functions within the wider insurance market.

Dawn Foster - Owner - Dawn Foster Insurance Services Speed Speed

Insurance Expert Dawn Foster explains that many people first hear about the California FAIR Plan when their insurer decides not to renew coverage due to wildfire exposure. The article describes how this program has become part of everyday conversations in communities such as Paradise and across Butte County. It shows that the plan is often misunderstood, since some homeowners assume it is a full replacement for standard homeowners' insurance. The explanation makes clear that the California FAIR Plan is a safety net with a narrow focus that does not operate like a traditional policy.

The HelloNation article outlines why the California FAIR Plan exists. It was created as a shared risk pool to ensure that basic fire protection remains available when private insurers reduce their presence. The article states that all companies writing homeowners' insurance in California must contribute to this pool. This structure helps keep fire insurance available for homes that are admitted by insurers. Insurance Expert Dawn Foster highlights that the plan is dependable within its limited purpose but does not offer the broad coverage that most homeowners expect.

The article also details what the California FAIR Plan covers. A typical policy focuses on fire, smoke, lightning, and a few related hazards. It does not automatically include coverage for theft, liability, water damage, or general weather-related losses. Many homeowners switching from a traditional policy may not realize how significant these differences are. The article points out that the FAIR Plan should be viewed as a starting point for fire protection rather than a full homeowners' solution.

Another key concept in the HelloNation article is the Difference in Conditions companion policy, often referred to as a DIC policy. Insurance Expert Dawn Foster explains how this second policy fills the gaps left by the FAIR Plan. The DIC policy can add liability coverage along with protection for theft, water damage, and other everyday risks that families encounter. Without a DIC policy, the article states that a household relying only on the FAIR Plan may have wildfire protection but very little support for common claims.

The article also emphasizes that paperwork can be misleading. The declarations page of a FAIR Plan policy lists dwelling coverage, contents limits, and basic protections. The layout feels familiar to anyone who has held a homeowner's policy before. According to the article, this familiarity often leads homeowners to assume they have the same coverage they had in the past. Only careful reading of exclusions reveals how many losses are not part of the California FAIR Plan unless supplemented by the DIC policy.

Over time, the FAIR Plan has expanded some of its offerings. The article explains that the program has increased coverage limits and added optional endorsements for certain perils, such as vandalism or extended smoke damage. These additions help address the realities of wildfire-prone areas, yet they still do not create a complete policy. The HelloNation article encourages homeowners to think of the FAIR Plan as a foundation that needs additional layers to provide full protection.

Rebuilding experience in Paradise has shown why coverage limits must be reviewed carefully. Insurance Expert Dawn Foster notes that labor shortages, higher material prices, and new building codes have pushed reconstruction costs upward. A dwelling limit that once seemed sufficient may not cover the cost of rebuilding after a major loss. The article advises homeowners to speak with an experienced agent who can help determine whether FAIR Plan limits and DIC enhancements reflect current building costs rather than outdated estimates.

The future use of the California FAIR Plan depends on how private insurers respond to wildfire risk in the coming years. The article explains that conditions shift frequently. Some years bring more carriers back into higher-risk regions, giving homeowners a chance to return to the traditional market. Other years see more restrictions, which increases the number of families relying on the FAIR Plan. These cycles reflect larger market decisions rather than the behavior of individual homeowners.

For residents of Paradise, the central message of the HelloNation article is that the California FAIR Plan is a useful tool but not a complete solution. It helps keep fire insurance available when other policies are not offered, and it supports mortgage requirements by ensuring that basic protection is in place. When combined thoughtfully with a DIC policy, the FAIR Plan can approximate the broader protections found in a standard homeowners policy. Taking time to understand these parts now can help homeowners avoid surprises during a claim.

Understanding the California FAIR Plan: What It Covers, & What It Does Not features insights from Dawn Foster, Insurance Expert of Paradise, CA, in HelloNation.

About HelloNation

HelloNation is a premier media platform that connects readers with trusted professionals and businesses across various industries. Through its innovative "edvertising" approach that blends educational content and storytelling, HelloNation delivers expert-driven articles that inform, inspire, and empower. Covering topics from home improvement and health to business strategy and lifestyle, HelloNation highlights leaders making a meaningful impact in their communities.

SOURCE HelloNation
ST. LOUIS, March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- What makes reliable service in the trucking industry, and why do many assume large trucking companies always deliver the best results? A HelloNation article explores this common belief and explains how mid-sized carriers, particularly in cities like St. Louis, can offer advantages that go beyond fleet size. The piece shows how regional experience, clear communication, and flexible planning contribute to better freight outcomes. Readers can access these insights in a HelloNation article .

Alan Sinn, Owner Speed Speed

The article outlines how a trucking company's size doesn't always match the level of service it provides. In St. Louis, where industrial zones and river crossings complicate logistics, mid-sized carriers often perform better by focusing on familiar routes. The article emphasizes that this consistent local knowledge can help avoid delays, improve trip planning, and build stronger working relationships between shippers and carriers.

According to the HelloNation article, a major strength of mid-sized trucking operations is their ability to respond to local conditions. From traffic patterns to weather shifts, regional familiarity makes a difference. Drivers and dispatchers working the same routes each day develop an understanding that improves consistency. For shippers who deal with changing warehouse schedules and delivery windows, this kind of experience adds value to every load.

The article also discusses the role of communication in dependable service. Larger fleets often rely on national systems with layers of dispatch. Mid-sized carriers, on the other hand, tend to keep their operations closer to the ground. The article explains that with fewer steps between the customer and the dispatcher, these companies can provide real-time updates and personalized service. This structure supports accountability and builds long-term trust between shippers and carriers.

Flexibility is another focus of the HelloNation feature. Mid-sized carriers can make last-minute adjustments, respond to urgent requests, or reroute shipments when needed. Because decision-makers are usually involved in daily operations, the article notes, changes can be made quickly. This adaptability often gives mid-sized companies an edge in a time-sensitive market.

The HelloNation article also challenges the assumption that only large carriers have access to the latest technology. Many mid-sized fleets operate with modern equipment and safety programs that meet or exceed national standards. The key difference, the article says, lies in how those tools are used. Mid-sized trucking companies in St. Louis are more likely to use technology to meet regional freight demands rather than follow rigid national systems.

Driver consistency is another area where mid-sized fleets may outperform larger competitors. The article explains that when drivers work regular routes, they build knowledge of facilities, pickup routines, and customer preferences. This reduces confusion and delays, creating smoother operations overall. For many shippers, this predictability is as important as on-time delivery.

Throughout the article, the role of regional expertise is presented as a major contributor to reliable freight service. While larger companies may focus on volume and network size, the article suggests that mid-sized operations deliver value through direct planning, strong relationships, and a clear focus on local performance. This approach can be especially important in St. Louis, where freight often moves through complex and changing corridors.

The piece concludes by noting that size alone doesn't determine quality. For businesses in and around St. Louis, mid-sized trucking companies offer a balanced combination of resources, attention, and flexibility. These strengths help customers meet their goals while maintaining the kind of service that national carriers may struggle to match.

Myth vs. Fact: Bigger Fleets Aren't Always Better features insights from Alan Sinn, Trucking Expert of St. Louis, MO, in HelloNation.

About HelloNation

HelloNation is a premier media platform that connects readers with trusted professionals and businesses across various industries. Through its innovative "edvertising" approach that blends educational content and storytelling, HelloNation delivers expert-driven articles that inform, inspire, and empower. Covering topics from home improvement and health to business strategy and lifestyle, HelloNation highlights leaders making a meaningful impact in their communities.

SOURCE HelloNation
NEW YORK, March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Laronix, Inc., a commercial-stage medical technology (MedTech) company and industry-leading innovator in voice restoration technologies, and the Greater Baltimore Medical Center (GBMC) announced the launch of an investigational study of Laronix MIRA Voice to restore voice capabilities for intensive care unit (ICU) patients.

MIRA Voice has enabled laryngectomy patients with permanent voice loss to generate speech. This investigational study, to be performed by the multidisciplinary team at Milton J. Dance Jr. Head and Neck Center at GBMC, is designed to assess the efficacy and potential of the device for patients who experience voice loss following tracheostomy or ICU intubation. Results will also serve as developmental feedback for MIRA Voice AI, the next product in Laronix's pipeline, which uses state-of-the-art AI to recreate a patient's original voice.

"This is the first study to explore the use of MIRA Voice, a next-generation artificial larynx, as a potential treatment for ICU voice loss," Mousa Ahmadi, PhD, Chief Operating Officer of Laronix, said. "ICU-related voice loss is a significant, untreated global health issue, and we believe MIRA can enable ICU patients to communicate in a critical care environment. Laronix is pleased to collaborate with the Milton J. Dance Jr. Center for this study."

More than six million patients in the U.S are admitted to ICUs annually, and up to 40% are placed on mechanical ventilation (intubation), rendering them effectively voiceless. It is estimated addressing communication barriers with ICU patients could lead to up to $1.4 billion in cost savings each year.

The study, with anticipated completion by mid-2026, will involve approximately 12 patients and test the effectiveness of MIRA Voice in enabling patients to express their immediate needs as well as sustain casual conversation. In addition, the study will measure MIRA Voice improvements to the efficiency and workflow of ICU care teams.

"Voice loss is a significant issue in ICUs. When patients are placed on mechanical ventilation and intubated or receive tracheostomies, they are unable to speak or respond to clinician questions and effectively communicate their needs. This results in a considerable amount of time being spent by our clinicians trying to understand and communicate with patients," said Bushra Lohrasbi, MA, CCC-SLP, speech-language pathologist with the Milton J. Dance Center at GBMC and the study's primary investigator. "Technological advances, such as MIRA Voice, provide patients with more effective and convenient voice restoration tools and may potentially facilitate verbal communication, reduce the amount of time and frustration spent in miscommunication, and improve the overall efficiency and quality of care."

The Milton J. Dance Head and Neck Center, located within GBMC, is renowned for its comprehensive approach to rehabilitation and patient care, specializing in therapies that span physical, emotional, and psychological healing.

Laronix and the Milton J. Dance Jr. Center began collaborating in 2024 with AVA Voice, Laronix's pioneering non-invasive voice solution designed specifically for laryngectomy patients. This collaboration made GBMC the first certified healthcare institution globally to offer this innovative technology, underscoring its commitment to enhancing patient care and improving quality of life for those affected by voice loss. The AVA Voice technology offers a new solution for patients for whom traditional therapies were inaccessible.

The next-gen technology in MIRA Voice has similar potential in its ability to support ICU patients and beyond. Laronix's FDA-registered artificial larynx medical device, MIRA Voice mimics human voice generation using a computer-controlled artificial lung and synthetic vocal folds, offering customizable male and female voices.

About GBMC HealthCare

Since its founding in 1965, GBMC has been known as an outstanding, independent community hospital, validating the vision of our founders to combine the best of community and university-level medicine. Our 257 licensed bed, acute and sub-acute care hospital in Towson handles more than 23,000 admissions and more than 52,000 emergency room visits annually. With GBMC Health Partners, we have established 12 advanced primary practices throughout the region, working to keep people well by coordinating preventive care and the management of chronic disease. We are also committed, in every specialty, to provide culturally competent care and service of the highest quality to every patient, every time with the goal of health equity for all.

About Laronix

Laronix is an ISO-13485 certified MedTech company specializing in advanced AI-powered voice restoration technologies for patients with permanent, chronic, and acute voice loss. Voice loss affects 150 million people globally. The Company is headquartered in Brisbane, Australia, with commercial operations in New York City, U.S. For more information, visit: www.laronix.com.

Media Contacts

Laronix: [email protected]

GBMC: Krystina Wales  410-952-2558 or [email protected]



SOURCE Laronix, Inc.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday that the meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese Leader Xi Jinping could be delayed for logistical reasons. Bessent spoke during an appearance on CNBC's "Squawk Box."

Trump suggested Sunday that the summit could be delayed as the U.S. pressures China to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Bessent walked those comments back on Monday, arguing the summit would be delayed if Trump chooses to stay in Washington to coordinate the war effort in Iran.

"If the meetings are delayed, it wouldn't be delayed because the president demanded that China police the Strait of Hormuz," Bessent said in an interview with CNBC's Brian Sullivan in Paris. "If the meeting, for some reason, is rescheduled, it would be rescheduled because of logistics."

"It would be a decision the president made as commander in chief to stay in the White House or to stay in the United States while this war is being prosecuted," he said.

The comments also indicate that the White House is anticipating the war  which Trump initially said would last for days  will be an ongoing concern a month after it began.

The Trump-Xi meeting is scheduled to take place in China as the U.S. president carries out an assault on Iran that has largely shuttered the Strait of Hormuz and sent global oil prices soaring. The strait carries roughly 20% of the world's oil, and has remained largely impassible during the war.

The China visit, scheduled for March 31-April 2, would be the first for a U.S. president since Trump went to the country in 2017. The president met with Xi in South Korea five months ago, where the two sides agreed to a temporary truce in a trade war that saw tariffs between the world's two largest economies briefly soar to triple-digit figures.

Trump said Sunday on Air Force One that other countries should help the U.S. unlock the Strait of Hormuz for shipping. He singled out China in those remarks.

"Why are we maintaining the Hormuz Strait when it's really there for China and many other countries? Why aren't they doing it?" he said.
Benchmark general partner Bill Gurley on Monday said the artificial intelligence wave is real and a lot of people got rich quick, but he expects a "reset" to come.

"When people get rich quick, a whole bunch of people come in and want to get rich too, and that's why we end up with bubbles," Gurley told CNBC's "Money Movers."

Gurley referenced the work of Carlota Perez, an economic scholar who wrote "Technological Revolutions and Financial Capital: The Dynamics of Bubbles and Golden Ages," and noted that "bubbles only exist when the actual wave is real."

The venture capitalist said that when the reset happens, investors should have a price in mind for beat-down software-as-a-service stocks, "and start gobbling them up."

AI has threatened to disrupt segments across the economy, but software stocks have been particularly hard-hit recently. Salesforce and ServiceNow have each lost about 25% so far in 2026. The iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (IGV) , which generally tracks the sector, is down about 20% this year.

Tech companies are spending at record rates, due to massive investments in AI infrastructure and soaring memory costs. AI spending for Amazon , Meta , Google and Microsoft is projected to be about $700 billion this year.

Benchmark was an early investor in Uber , and Gurley played a key role in the exit of then-CEO Travis Kalanick in 2017.

Gurley said Uber's annual burn rate of $2 billion during his involvement was "high anxiety" as he pointed to the much higher numbers from today's big model companies.



"God bless them," Gurley said of AI companies like Anthropic and OpenAI that are burning through cash. "It's a scary way to run a company."
 This is the script of CNBC's financial news report for China's CCTV on March 16, 2026.

After the Asian market opened this morning, WTI crude futures briefly surged above $100 per barrel, but then fluctuated around the $100 level, seemingly lacking upward momentum. Kpler, a commodities data analytics firm, told CNBC this morning that the market may still not fully recognize the scale of the supply shortfall. Let's first take a look at the situation currently drawing market attention.

Kpler analyst Matt Smith told CNBC that over the past weekend several oil tankers did pass through the Strait of Hormuz, including the first non-Iranian tanker that had its Automatic Identification System, or AIS, switched on. However, analysts also noted that compared with the usual flow of more than one hundred tankers, only a handful of vessels have passed through so far. Overall, the situation has not truly been resolved.

At the same time, markets are also watching developments involving Iran's key crude export hub, Kharg Island, which was recently targeted in a U.S. airstrike. Local storage facilities have reportedly not been seriously damaged so far. But on Sunday local time, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Michael Waltz reiterated President Donald Trump's threat toward the energy infrastructure on Kharg Island. Analysts at JPMorgan say the U.S. strike on Kharg Island, along with Trump's threats to target Iran's oil infrastructure, marks a significant escalation of the conflict. If those threats materialize, it could trigger strong retaliation from Iran.

Analysts say the full impact of the supply shock has not yet been felt mainly because of shipping delays. Much of the crude oil had already been loaded before the crisis erupted and is still in transit at sea. At the same time, however, some Gulf producers have already been forced to cut production due to the lack of available tankers. In the coming weeks, if these supplies fail to reach the market on schedule, the severity of the supply disruption may become much clearer.

Kpler's analysis suggests the Middle East conflict is unlikely to be resolved quickly in the short term. Whether it is restoring shipping through naval escorts or easing tensions through diplomatic coordination, both will take time. Their baseline view is that the Strait of Hormuz will likely remain closed or severely restricted over the coming weeks.

Matt Smith

Lead Oil Analyst

Kpler

"if we're going to see the Strait of Hormuz closed for large part for two to three weeks here, then by all means, we should be seeing oil prices pushing up over 120 130, something like that. Perhaps, if it's beyond that time frame, then we're looking at a charge towards the $150 level and untested waters here, you know, record highs."

Against the backdrop of sharp volatility in energy markets, data shows that a large number of retail investors are now pouring into crude oil trading.

According to data provider VandaTrack, over the past five trading days, inflows from retail investors into the U.S. crude oil ETF USO have reached a record $115 million.

Analysts at Vanda say going long on crude oil could become the next meme trade among retail investors  referring to investment themes that quickly go viral on social media and attract large numbers of retail traders.

Analysts also warn that investors should better understand how the products they are buying actually work. Many investors, for example, may not even realize that USO is structured as a futures-based product, often buying first and only later figuring out what they actually purchased.

In addition to oil, some analysts told CNBC that the broader commodities market could also strengthen further.

Peter Boockvar

CIO

One Point BFG Wealth Partners

"I think the commodity bull market that was mostly in precious metals and industrial metals in 2025 has now widened out to oil and gas and ag agriculture being positively impacted, at least crop price wise, to what's going on with the disruptions in fertilizer and ammonia delivery and sulfur, which are inputs into making phosphate."
An oil tanker unloads crude oil at a terminal at the port in Qingdao, in China's eastern Shandong province on March 11, 2026.

BEIJING  China on Monday stressed that it had enough energy resources as the Iran war restricts oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, and U.S. President Donald Trump pressures Beijing to help secure the critical waterway.

China's energy supply is "relatively strong," and forms a "relatively good" foundation for responding to external market volatility, Fu Linghui, spokesperson at the National Bureau of Statistics, told reporters in Mandarin Chinese, translated by CNBC.

The bureau also announced that China's domestic crude oil production rose by 1.9% year on year to 35.73 million metric tons in the January to February period.

Trump said Sunday that China should help with efforts to restore oil flows through the Hormuz waterway before his planned trip to Beijing at the end of this month, The Financial Times reported. He also said he might delay his China travel plans.

Crude oil prices have have surged past $100 a barrel to near 4-year highs as flows through the Strait of Hormuz have stalled for most countries since the Iran war began more than two weeks ago. However, Iran has sent more than 11 million barrels of oil to China through the strait during that time.
Gas flares from an oil production platform at the Soroush oil fields with an Iranian flag in the foreground in the Persian Gulf, 1,250 km (776 miles) south of the capital Tehran, July 25, 2005.

Hello, this is Hui Jie writing to you from Singapore. Welcome to another edition of CNBC's Daily Open. It's the third week of the Iran War, and despite all the Trump administration's claims of winning, U.S. President Donald Trump has called on other countries for help to secure the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend. Is the administration really "winning," one might wonder?

Iran's critical oil export hub Kharg Island is now in U.S. President Donald Trump's sights, with Trump threatening strikes on the island's oil infrastructure after hitting military targets on Friday.

That definitely won't calm the oil markets that have seen U.S. crude futures topping $100 a barrel, despite plans for the largest coordinated release of crude from global stockpiles. On Monday, the U.S. president said to reporters on Air Force One that oil prices will come "tumbling down once its all over."

The White House, meanwhile, plans to announce as soon as this week that multiple countries have agreed to help escort oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. officials told The Wall Street Journal. About a week back, Trump told CBS that he "couldn't care less" when asked if he would want U.S. allies to offer him greater support.

Investors will also be focusing on key economic data out from China on Monday, with the world's second-largest economy announcing retail sales, industrial output and urban investment data.



But even in China, Trump looms large. The U.S. president could reportedly delay his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, as he urges Beijing to help unblock the Strait of Hormuz.



Away from the war and energy supply worries, the Oscars are currently underway, with KPop Demon Hunters winning the award for the best animated feature film. Netflix's most-watched film ever is getting a sequel, it was confirmed on Friday.



 Lim Hui Jie
Every weekday the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer holds a "Morning Meeting" livestream at 10:20 a.m. ET. Here's a recap of Monday's key moments. 1. U.S. oil prices dropped below $100 per barrel and sent the S & P 500 up more than 1%. Crude pulled back after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC that the U.S. is letting Iranian oil tankers pass through the Strait of Hormuz. "The fact that oil can go down is making people feel like we better start doing some [stock] buying," Jim Cramer said during the Morning Meeting. It's Day 17 of the Iran war. With the S & P Short Range Oscillator in deeply oversold territory after last week's market decline, we bought more shares of Boeing and Goldman Sachs on Monday. Both stocks were on last week's shopping list . 2. Nvidia shares gained more than 2% ahead of CEO Jensen Huang's Monday afternoon keynote speech at the AI powerhouse's annual GTC conference in San Jose, California. Jim, who is at GTC, said, "I think Jensen's going to surprise us with an inference chip" to better compete in an increasingly crowded space for processors that can perform everyday AI tasks at lower costs. Jim added that a new inference chip would be incredible, and "make it so that the gain in Nvidia stock [on Monday is for real." Jim is also looking for Jensen to talk about Nvidia's newest chip platform, Vera Rubin, and the roadmap beyond that. 3. Meta Platforms ' stock rose more than 2% after Reuters reported that the Facebook and Instagram parent is planning to lay off about 20% or more of its staff. A possible workforce reduction would help Meta offset its massive artificial intelligence spending plans. JPMorgan analysts estimated that job cuts of the reported magnitude could save Meta about about $5 billion to $6 billion. However, they said it's a small dent in the company's projected expenses of $162 billion to $169 billion. "This is a nod to AI. You don't need as many people," said Jim, who embraces such a move. He added that investors have overreacted to AI spending plans  not taking into account that they are going to happen over many years and could ultimately produce far greater cash flow. (Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust is long META, NVDA. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.
President Donald Trump on Monday said he thinks he will have the "honor" of "taking Cuba," speaking during an executive order signing at the White House.

"Whether I free it, take it, I think I can do anything I want with it," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office with Vice President JD Vance standing behind him. "They're a very weakened nation right now."

The president's comments on taking Cuba come as he carries out a war in Iran that is stretching into its third week. Trump has encouraged the people of Iran to depose their government in that conflict, one of a litany of reasons he has given for starting the war.

Trump recently suggested he will turn his sights to Cuba after the U.S. achieves its aims in Iran. He has threatened a "friendly takeover" of the Caribbean nation, which has been an adversary of the U.S. for decades except for a brief thaw when Barack Obama was president.

The Cuba threats are the latest example of Trump's more aggressive foreign policy during his second term in the White House. In addition to the war in Iran, Trump ordered a military operation that captured the Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and has made repeated overtures to acquire Greenland, the Arctic island territory of Denmark. Denmark has repeatedly said Greenland is not for sale.
(This is The Best Stocks in the Market , brought to you by Josh Brown and Sean Russo of Ritholtz Wealth Management.) Josh  Do you want to be right or do you want to make money? This is the question. The internet and television media is teeming with people who would like to look right for one reason or another. They're promoting a brand or repping a fund or selling a product or just in search of paid speaking gigs or even retweets. Cool. I have no problem with any of that. I promote my stuff with the best of them. But looking right is not what this column is about. Sean and I are writing up the Best Stocks in the Market in the hopes that enough of our ideas will work to offset the ones that don't. It is necessary, therefore, for us to be wrong sometimes. If we can't risk being wrong, we'll never be able to generate the idea flow that makes it all worthwhile. Looking right is not on the list of priorities for our Best Stock research. Sometimes it happens as a byproduct of what we actually do, which is identifying the kind of set-ups that we believe offer good risk-reward potential. Today we're going to do some housekeeping and bring you up to speed on some of the stocks that are still in play from when we originally wrote them up. As the market has stalled out and wrestled with a ton of headline risk, these particular trades continue to thrive. If you're still in them, we'll tell you what's happened since our write-ups. If you're not, stick around and maybe you'll learn something interesting or new. Enjoy the cherry-picking exercise! But first, some high level stats about what's happening with the list itself Sector leaderboard As of Mar. 16 , there are 193 names on The Best Stocks in the Market list. Top sector ranking: Top industries: Top 5 best stocks by relative strength: Sector spotlight: Defensives-oriented stocks Sean  The headlines have been unrelenting. War in the Middle East, higher gas prices, higher fertilizer prices affecting food costs, AI disrupting software, predictions of AI disrupting humanity, private credit rumbles and comparisons to 2007. There is A LOT going on. And yet, through it all, the S & P 500 is 5% below all time highs, and has not sold off further than this level since April of 2025. As Josh has mentioned on this column and on TV, we have lost most of tech and most of the financials. This market has rotated defensive, led by energy, utilities, staples and healthcare. We focus on momentum so we thought it prudent to check in on a few of the stocks we pitched you this past year that are in these defensive sectors, and are contributing to the S & P's lack of fragility in the face of so many negative headlines. Ventas, Inc. (VTR): Sean  We wrote about VTR on Nov. 6. The stock is up 16% in total returns since we wrote about it. Their year end earnings report had some good news. Their earnings came in at the top range of guidance with funds from operations up 10% year over year and the company has done almost $5 billion in acquisitions since the same quarter in 2024. When we wrote this up, VTR had just broken out of a six-month consolidation. We advised to wait for a pullback to the 50-day MA (low $70s) for a clean entry, or to just buy the next red day. The total return is and was dividend-driven with a 2.41% yield, so we thought treating it as an investment was more applicable over treating it like a trade. Josh  Ventas, and its peer Welltower which is coming next, are in the business of housing seniors and managing these communities. To the best of our knowledge, AI has not come up with a way to disrupt the chronology of aging. People are going to turn 70 this year no matter what, and they're going to want to spend their golden year in style and comfort. VTR and WELL are extremely HALO. As you can see above. This stock worked off a consolidation period and then broke back out again. VTR has continued to trend higher since the write-up and is still respecting the rising 50-day moving average, currently around $81. The most recent breakout pushed shares into the mid-$80s, where they're now consolidating with RSI holding in the low-60s, which is consistent with an ongoing uptrend rather than an exhaustion move. For traders, the tactical level to watch is the 50-day around $81. A decisive break below that would suggest the current consolidation is turning into a deeper pullback, likely opening the door to a move toward the mid-$70s. The longer-term trend remains intact for investors as long as the stock holds above the 200-day near $73. A break of that level would signal the intermediate uptrend from last summer has failed. As long as it stays above the 200-day, the primary trend remains higher. To reiterate, I think this is a better stock for investors given the dividend component. Welltower, Inc. (WELL): Sean  We wrote about WELL (along with VTR) on Nov. 6. The stock is up 11% since then. They reported year-end funds from operations growth of 28% year over year along with 20% senior housing same-store net operating income growth, which was their 13th consecutive quarter of 20%+ growth for that segment. 2025 was a big year for WELL, they aggressively rotated out of outpatient medical and skilled nursing and into senior housing. They also launched a private funds management business with $2.5 billion already closed. WELL guided to 17% funds from operations growth and expect to invest $5.7 billion in 2026. At the time of writing, we noted WELL had the best uptrend in the REIT sector, but it was extended with RSI in the low 70s and stock up multiple days in a row. Josh  WELL shares pushed to new highs earlier this year and are now consolidating just above the rising 50-day moving average near $196. The trend remains firmly higher with the stock holding above prior breakout levels while RSI sits around 58, suggesting momentum has cooled but not broken. The tactical level for traders to watch is the 50-day around $196. If the stock loses that level decisively, the next logical support sits near $190, where buyers stepped in during the last pullback. The longer-term trend remains intact as long as shares stay above the 200-day moving average near $178. A break of that level would represent a material deterioration in the intermediate trend. As long as the stock holds above it, the primary uptrend from last year remains in place. I would guess we get a fresh breakout here but the $210 to $215 resistance overhead may be formidable. Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM): Sean  One week after we wrote about VTR and WELL, we pitched XOM. The stock is up 33% in total return since then, not bad for four months! Obviously there's been some news flow since then. For starters, we completed operations in Venezuela, started operations against Iran, and the price of oil went from $58 to $100. We also saw a re-rating of energy stocks  XOMs trailing PE went from 17x to 23x today. When we wrote this up, the stock was at $118, bumping up against $125 overhead resistance that had been held for three years. There was no confirmed breakout yet  and we noted traders should wait for $125 to clear. But investors got the go ahead from us given the 2.7% dividend yield and low expectations. These were Josh's actual words within the risk management section: But investors can anticipate the breakout and get long in advance. Because if and when this oil tanker starts to move, we may not get another chance. Josh  We crushed it for you guys on the Exxon and Chevron entries. Let's take XOM first, a stock I bought personally around when we wrote it up last fall. One point I want to make is that oil had not yet done much and the Iranian strike was still on Donald Trump's whiteboard. Stocks are very good at anticipating what might happen next and getting there in advance of the journalists. This move in the oil names over the winter months is a textbook example of this phenomenon you ought to study. The breakout in energy since the fall has pushed Exxon to new highs, with the stock now consolidating around $156 after a sharp run. The trend remains firmly higher with price well above the rising 50-day near $141, and RSI in the mid-60s shows strong but not extreme momentum. The key tactical level for traders is the 50-day around $141. A break below that would likely mean the momentum phase is cooling and could bring the stock back toward the mid-130s where the last base formed. The longer-term trend stays intact as long as shares remain above the 200-day near $120. That moving average has been rising steadily and represents the line in the sand for the broader uptrend. If you took this ride with us, you can roll up your stocks accordingly and remain disciplined. I still like it for an entry but the easy money has already been made. Chevron Corp. (CVX): Sean  We have written about CVX a couple times, but most recently in January in the wake of our military operation to remove Venezuela's dictator. CVX was and still is the only U.S. oil company there, representing 25% of oil production. They reported record production in 2025 and noted profitability at a sub $50 Brent price. CVX got in on the re-rating too, trading at a trailing 24x in January vs a 30x multiple today. CVX happened to be added to our list immediately after the gap higher in early January, so it was flagged as not actionable  price was messy and gaps are tricky. As you can see the chart has made some developments Josh  Chevron has just made an explosive move so if it spends some time digesting these gains, don't fall out of your chair. It's very possible to see some chop ahead. A bigger rally in crude would fast-forward this, of course, which is why we counsel staying long with a stop rather than locking in a fast profit. Chevron has staged an even stronger advance, breaking out of a long consolidation and pushing to new highs near $197. The stock is extended above the 50-day moving average around $176, with RSI just above 70, which reflects strong momentum after the breakout. If you're trading it, the level to monitor is the 50-day near $176, which should act as first support if the stock pulls back after the run. That's a long way down. Losing that level would likely mean a deeper retracement toward the mid-160s. The longer-term trend remains constructive as long as the stock stays above the 200-day near $158. A break of that level would signal that the breakout has failed and the broader trend has shifted. We're probably above the 200-day for the foreseeable future which may require you to accept a looser risk management tolerance if you're coming into the stock today. Once again, there's a dividend and a buyback thing happening here so I'm okay with playing it a bit looser to see how high the stock can ultimately get. DISCLOSURES: (None) All opinions expressed by the CNBC Pro contributors are solely their opinions and do not reflect the opinions of CNBC, or its parent company or affiliates, and may have been previously disseminated by them on television, radio, internet or another medium. THIS CONTENT IS PROVIDED FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE FINANCIAL, INVESTMENT, TAX OR LEGAL ADVICE OR A RECOMMENDATION TO BUY ANY SECURITY OR OTHER FINANCIAL ASSET. THE CONTENT IS GENERAL IN NATURE AND DOES NOT REFLECT ANY INDIVIDUAL'S UNIQUE PERSONAL CIRCUMSTANCES. THE ABOVE CONTENT MIGHT NOT BE SUITABLE FOR YOUR PARTICULAR CIRCUMSTANCES. BEFORE MAKING ANY FINANCIAL DECISIONS, YOU SHOULD STRONGLY CONSIDER SEEKING ADVICE FROM YOUR OWN FINANCIAL OR INVESTMENT ADVISOR. Click here for the full disclaimer.
MORGAN CITY, La., March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- MC Bancshares, Inc., the holding company for M C Bank & Trust Company (collectively, "M C Bank"), announced today that its shareholders have approved the proposed merger with DMMS Purchaser, Inc. ("DMMS") at a special shareholder meeting held on March 13, 2026.

Shareholders demonstrated strong engagement in the process, with 93% of shareholders participating in the vote and 92.19% voting in favor of the merger.

"This vote reflects the confidence our shareholders have in the future of our organization and the opportunities ahead," said Christopher LeBato, President & Chief Executive Officer of M C Bank. "We are grateful for the thoughtful review our shareholders gave to the materials and for their continued support as we move forward with this next chapter."

The proposed merger with DMMS is expected to strengthen M C Bank's long-term growth strategy by expanding capabilities, enhancing resources available to clients, and continuing to invest in its associates and communities. The combination positions the organization for continued growth while maintaining its commitment to relationship-driven community banking.

Kenny Nelkin, Chairman of the Board of M C Bank, added, "The strong participation and support from our shareholders is an encouraging milestone in this process. On behalf of the Board of Directors, I want to thank our shareholders for their engagement and confidence in the strategic direction of our company."

Additionally, the DMMS capital raise process to complete the merger with M C Bank has been very successful, earning nearly $200 million in investor commitments from more than 400 friends-and-family investors.

The merger remains subject to customary regulatory approvals, and M C Bank continues to target closing the transaction during the second quarter of 2026. The special shareholder meeting was held at the New Orleans office of Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC, the law firm representing M C Bank.

About M C Bank

MC Bancshares, Inc. is the holding company for M C Bank & Trust Company, a Louisiana-chartered state bank. M C Bank first opened its doors in 1955 in Morgan City, Louisiana. On April 1, 1991, MC Bancshares was formed as a one-bank holding company, with its sole subsidiary being Morgan City Bank & Trust Company. Simultaneous with the merger of the bank into the holding company, the bank's name changed to M C Bank & Trust Company. The bank's headquarters are in Morgan City, and it operates 10 banking centers and offices across Southeast Louisiana. Guided by its commitment to the hometown spirit, M C Bank's mission is to offer a human-centered approach to banking solutions and strengthen the communities they serve. Member FDIC. Equal Housing Lender. To learn more, visit www.mcbt.com.

About DMMS

DMMS Purchaser, Inc. is a newly formed acquisition vehicle and a wholly-owned subsidiary of DMMS Holdings LLC which is led by Daryl Byrd, former CEO of IBERIABANK Corp., together with a senior team of banking executives focused on transition planning and building a premier regional banking franchise subject to completion of the Transaction and applicable approvals.

SOURCE MC Bancshares
A federal judge on Monday blocked key parts of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s effort to reshape U.S. vaccine policy, including a move to reduce the number of shots routinely recommended for children.

U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy in Boston sided with the American Academy of Pediatrics and other medical groups, which said health regulators had acted unlawfully to carry out Kennedy's agenda of upending immunization policies and warned the changes will reduce vaccination rates and harm public health.

Murphy's ruling forced the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices to postpone a meeting set to begin on Wednesday, after he concluded it was not lawfully constituted and blocked Kennedy's 13 appointees to it.

The ruling dealt a significant setback for the reduced childhood vaccination schedule championed by Kennedy, a longtime anti-vaccine activist appointed last year by President Donald Trump to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. The Trump administration will likely appeal the decision.

Murphy said that for decades, the U.S. had been focused on the eradication and reduction of diseases using vaccines, which were developed through "a method scientific in nature and codified into law through procedural requirements."

Under Kennedy, Murphy said, the government "has disregarded those methods and thereby undermined the integrity of its actions."

The judge, who was appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden, blocked Kennedy's 13 ACIP appointees from continuing to serve in their positions and upended votes they had previously taken to reshape vaccine policies.

"This is a great victory not only for vaccines and public health in the United States, but for science," said Richard Hughes, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, on a call with reporters.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said the department "looks forward to this judge's decision being overturned just like his other attempts to keep the Trump administration from governing."
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The AI boom may be having a side effect: a surge in Big Tech buying carbon credits to offset emissions generated by its energy-hungry buildout. Amazon , Google , Meta , and Microsoft have ramped up purchases of permanent carbon credits since the launch of ChatGPT sparked the AI race in 2022, according to data compiled for CNBC by carbon credit management platform Ceezer. The companies have all committed to reaching net-zero emissions, but the rapid development of energy and water-intensive AI has raised questions about whether that goal is achievable. The credits allow them to offset emissions by funding other projects that reduce emissions, such as technologies that remove carbon from the atmosphere. Each carbon credit represents a metric ton of carbon dioxide reduced or removed from the atmosphere. Amazon, Google's parent company Alphabet, Microsoft, and Meta are eyeing a near-$700 billion combined bill to fuel their AI ambitions this year, which includes building massive data centers that also contribute to higher emissions. They increased their purchases from 14,200 credits for permanent carbon removal in 2022 to 11.92 million in 2023, based on available market data from a carbon credit management platform, Ceezer, which also analyzed information from carbon market data insights providers Allied Offset and Cdr.fyi. They rose 104% year-on-year in 2024 to 24.4 million and 181% to 68.4 million in 2025, per Ceezer.

Ceezer's data focuses on carbon removals considered permanent, while Microsoft's purchases cover a range of time-limited carbon removals, defined as high, medium, and low durability, with the latter involving techniques that sequester carbon for less than 100 years, such as soil or forestry. Amazon declined to comment on its carbon credit strategy, while Meta and Google did not respond to requests for comment.

A low starting point

Of the four Big Tech companies, only Microsoft has consistently reported annual purchases that stretch back before 2022. Credits are also bought in batches delivered over a multi-year period, which could skew the numbers. In addition, there is no obligation to report them. Some purchases may not have been reported due to potential reputational risk  early carbon credits were controversial for not representing genuine emissions reductions, Ceezer CEO Magnus Drewelies told CNBC. Due to a tight clean energy supply to support the AI buildout, achieving net zero is "impossible" for Big Tech without carbon removal, Drewelies said. Technological carbon removal includes various techniques such as direct air capture, where machines are used to suck carbon dioxide from the air, and processes that speed up nature's ability to capture and store carbon.

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Ben Rubin, executive director of industry coalition Carbon Business Council, told CNBC the jump in purchases reflects the UN's 2022 IPCC report, which said carbon removal would be needed for all pathways to limit global warming below 1.5 degrees. "The demand surge for removal in 2023 was not a short-term reaction but the beginning of a structural shift, matched by increasing private sector action and public policy support," he told CNBC, adding that purchases reflect a move from small demonstration purchases to multi-year offtake agreements. "These buyers are looking to secure future supply, send demand signals to the market, and address residual emissions in their long-term climate strategies," he said.

Building AI sustainably

Among Big Tech, Microsoft is considered a climate leader. Shilpika Gautam, CEO of climate finance platform Opna, told CNBC that the carbon removal market is "basically Microsoft." When asked about its carbon credit purchases, Microsoft provided different data to Ceezer. The company's data reflects all types of carbon credits, not only permanent carbon removal. Microsoft told CNBC it saw a 247% increase in credit purchasing from its fiscal year 2022 to 2023 to 5 million purchases, followed by a 337% jump from the fiscal year 2023 to 2024 to 21.9 million, and said there was a rise of around 100% in the following fiscal year, for which it did not provide a precise figure. Melanie Nakagawa, chief sustainability officer at Microsoft, told CNBC that the company was focused on reducing emissions and removing what it can't as it looks to be carbon negative by 2030.

"As a first mover in the carbon removal market, we are in a unique position to send demand signals that can lead to an increase in supply. A carbon removal market with more solutions and more buyers will get us all closer to meeting our collective targets, and drive positive planetary and economic impact," she said in an emailed statement. Microsoft did not specifically address whether its carbon credits purchases relate to its AI strategy. Renewable energy will likely play an important role in meeting the rising demand for AI data centers. "Over the time that AI rose, emissions did slightly go up when looking at the bigger companies, but not so noticeably. This implies that hyperscalers were able to react relatively quickly, including shifting to renewable energy," Ceezer's Drewelies said, drawing on data from his platform, indicating they are not solely relying on carbon credits.
Shares of Nvidia climbed ahead of its closely watched developer conference this week as investors bet the event will offer fresh insight into the durability of the artificial intelligence spending boom and the chipmaker's next generation of processors. The stock advanced about 2% on Monday ahead of the company's annual GTC conference, where CEO Jensen Huang is scheduled to deliver a keynote address at 2 p.m. ET. The gathering has become an increasingly important venue for Nvidia to outline its technology road map and reinforce investor confidence in demand for AI infrastructure. AI spending debate Analysts say the biggest question hanging over the semiconductor sector is whether hyperscaler spending on AI hardware can remain as strong as it has been over the past two years. "We believe that NVIDIA is due to catch up to other stocks in the supply chain, and see this as a very good entry point," analysts at Morgan Stanley wrote in a preview note, reiterating the chipmaker as their top pick in semiconductors. The firm said the conference could help address investor debate around Nvidia's long-term market share as competitors such as Advanced Micro Devices and custom AI chips gain traction. Analysts at Wells Fargo said Nvidia's underperformance relative to the broader semiconductor sector this year has become a frequent topic among investors. The stock is down about 3% year to date compared with an 8% gain for the VanEck Semiconductor ETF . NVDA YTD mountain Nvidia year to date Long-term targets While GTC could act as a catalyst, Wells Fargo said expectations are already high with buy-side estimates for Nvidia's 2027 earnings hovering around $13 a share  a level that already assumes the success of future architectures such as Vera Rubin. Instead, Wells Fargo said clearer long-term targets could help reignite the stock. Analysts pointed out that rivals including Broadcom , Marvell Technology and AMD have all discussed multiyear outlooks, while Nvidia has typically provided only near-term guidance. "If NVDA puts out some firm bogey for CY27, it could be the positive catalyst needed to get the stock working," Wells Fargo said. Analysts at Wolfe Research also said investors are eager for signals about the scale of future demand. The firm said Nvidia could offer new disclosures on AI-related revenue visibility for 2026 and 2027, which could be a potential catalyst if the company provides stronger long-term demand signals. Buybacks Another driver could be capital returns. Nvidia reported more than $60 billion in cash on its balance sheet in its latest quarterly report, while Wall Street models roughly $180 billion and $240 billion in free cash flow for 2026 and 2027, respectively. An updated buyback strategy unveiled at the conference could provide an additional boost for the shares, Wells Fargo said. Pipeline and road map Analysts at Bank of America expect the conference to spotlight Nvidia's future product pipeline and customized AI systems designed for inference. The bank said investors will likely focus on updates extending the company's road map through so-called Feynman-generation GPUs expected later this decade, along with potential commentary on the rollout of the Rubin architecture slated for 2027 and beyond. Bank of America maintained a buy rating on the shares, calling Nvidia "a top AI pick trading at a historical low 17 times forward earnings." Other analysts are watching for technical announcements that could hint at Nvidia's next wave of growth. Analysts at Mizuho said the conference could include details about a new Rubin rack platform expected to launch in the second half of 2026, as well as updates on networking, optical interconnects and specialized inference processors designed to dramatically boost performance. The firm also flagged potential discussion around quantum computing initiatives, including technology aimed at linking graphics processors with quantum processors in hybrid supercomputing systems.  CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed reporting.
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The Iran war news flow-driven oil moves are drawing retail investors into the world's most traded commodity, further fueling volatility. Small investors have poured record sums into oil-linked exchange-traded funds in recent weeks as prices have whipsawed amid the Middle East conflict and fears of extended disruptions to crude flows through the Strait of Hormuz. The rush has prompted some analysts to draw parallels with past retail trading frenzies in stocks such as GameStop or commodities such as silver, signaling that crude oil market could be exposed to "meme-style" trades. "Oil is now definitely a retail 'meme theme'. Retail investors have been piling into the major pure-play oil ETFs ever since the start of the Iran conflict," said Viraj Patel, global macro strategist at Vanda Research. Net retail buying of oil ETFs hit a record $211 million on March 12, surpassing the previous peak seen during the market turmoil in May 2020, according to data from Vanda Research. Having hit a record $42 million on March 6, the popular United States Oil Fund, or USO, clocked its third best day for retail inflows at $32 million last Thursday.

The strategic reserves are not a permanent solution, of course, and crude oil will continue to trade like a 'meme stock' until the solution is peace. Thierry Wizman Macquarie

The surge in retail participation comes as geopolitical tensions dominate oil markets, and especially as participation in oil markets has become easier, lowering barriers for individual investors. Retail traders can gain exposure throughs ETFs such as the USO or the United States Brent Oil Fund (BNO), while smaller futures contracts have also made direct trading more accessible. Traders have been closely watching the possibility of further supply disruptions, particularly as shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a key chokepoint for global energy flows, has been effectively closed. That uncertainty has made oil prices unusually volatile, drawing speculative interest from traders seeking to profit from rapid price swings, said market watchers.

GameStop, silver and now oil?

Tom Sosnoff, chief executive officer at financial technology platform Lossdog, noted that commodities are becoming the latest speculative playground for retail investors. "Physical commodities like crude oil have become the speculative meme plays for 2026. First, it was silver and gold, and now it's oil," Sosnoff said. "The markets love noise and volatility. The perception among retail traders is: where there is the most activity, there is the most opportunity." A meme trade is an asset that becomes popular with retail investors online, triggering rapid inflows and outsized price swings that may not always reflect underlying fundamentals. Users on Reddit have been discussing buying oil ETFs to capitalize on the Iran conflict-driven rally, with traders boasting of quick profits and debating whether the surge still has "meat on the bone," reminiscent of the speculation seen during previous meme-stock episodes.

Stock Chart Icon Stock chart icon Oil prices since the start of the year

Several experts highlighted that oil is different from equities that fueled previous meme-stock frenzies. Saul Kavonic, energy analyst at MST Marquee, said the comparison to meme stocks likely reflects heightened volatility rather than retail investors dictating market direction. "Given the scope for sudden escalations and also de-escalation, and varying rhetoric from warring parties that could suddenly indicate differing war trajectories, oil will trade with more erratic and enlarged price swings during the war," he said. The Crude Oil Volatility Index has surged to its highest since 2020. Other analysts said the influx of retail traders reflects a straightforward bet on supply disruptions. Andy Lipow, president at Lipow Oil Associates, said many investors are responding to images of geopolitical turmoil and the potential for shortages.

Retail investors need to remember that trading crude oil is like playing musical chairs. When the music stops, it is not going to be pretty. Tom Sosnoff Lossdog
Energy analysts and traders said Monday that they wouldn't be surprised if oil prices climb to as high as $200 per barrel as the sprawling Middle East crisis drags on. It comes as the U.S. and Israeli-led war on Iran continues to disrupt oil production and shipping in the region , with traffic through the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz effectively grinding to a halt in recent weeks. The Strait of Hormuz is a key narrow maritime corridor that connects the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. Roughly 20% of global oil and gas typically passes through it. Iran, as well as pledging to continue blocking the waterway as a "tool to pressure the enemy," has issued a stark warning about what this could mean for oil prices. "Get ready for oil to be $200 a barrel, because the oil price depends on regional security, which you have destabilised," Ebrahim Zolfaqari, spokesperson for Iran's military command, said on March 11, according to Reuters. Greg Newman, group CEO of Onyx Capital Group, said Monday that the fallout from the ongoing supply shock means oil prices could soon climb to much higher levels. "Brent is just one proxy. We've got hundreds and hundreds of contracts reflecting all of the physical prices around the world. The Middle Eastern benchmark ... just reached $150 per barrel," Newman told CNBC's Ben Boulos from the trading floor. "So, it is already there. Can Brent crude catch up from an investor's perspective? That's what we would expect," Newman said. "We're very much in the $150 range but I don't think it's ridiculous at all to [suggest] $200. It would be very fair given we are basically having a crisis a day right now equivalent to supply outages," he added. International benchmark Brent crude futures with May delivery traded flat at $103.16 per barrel on Monday morning, paring earlier gains. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures with April delivery, meanwhile, dipped 1.7% to $96.95, having surpassed $100 earlier in the session. Both contracts have surged more than 50% over the past month, reaching their highest levels since 2022, as shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has been severely disrupted. Brent closed above $100 for the first time in four years last week. U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday demanded the help of other countries to secure the Strait of Hormuz, saying the maritime passage benefits them more than it does Washington. "Why are we maintaining the Hormuz Strait when it's really there for China and many other countries? Why aren't they doing it?" Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. "Ahead of this conflict, before it started, I thought things looked great for markets this year and they looked great for the global economy," Chris Watling, global economist and chief market strategist at Longview Economics, told CNBC's " Squawk Box Europe " on Monday. "The problem is you're in a binary situation now. I wouldn't be surprised if oil went to 200 bucks, or even 250, because commodity prices go parabolic when there's a shortage of supply," Watling said. "So, in that environment, there's serious damage to the global economy and you completely change your portfolio," he continued. "The point is, you're one end or the other of the spectrum. So, what you do with that? You have to be very nimble, I think, basically, and adjust your risk positions very quickly. And, of course, some people can't do that, so it becomes very difficult." 'A long-lasting situation' Not everyone expects oil prices to reach the dizzying heights of $200, with many analysts pointing out that the energy market appeared to be well supplied before the conflict began on Feb. 28. Strategists at UBS, for example, said they expect Brent crude oil prices to trade at $90 by the end of June, up from a previous forecast of $65 over the same time horizon, and $85 by year-end, up from $67. Analysts at Goldman Sachs, meanwhile, reportedly said late last week that they expect Brent crude prices to average more than $100 this month, with the average dipping to $85 in April. The Wall Street bank did warn of the potential for major price spikes over the coming weeks, however, if shipping disruption through the Strait of Hormuz persists. When looking ahead, Felipe Elink Schuurman, co-founder and CEO of Sparta, said oil traders should try to make a distinction between the short-term and midterm price outlook. "The oil market will react very quickly depending on if this keeps going or if it gets resolved very shortly," Schuurman told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe" on Monday. "On a midterm basis, one should not expect prices to come off to where [they were] anytime soon. This is going to take many months to restore, particularly as I said on the product side of things, so jet, gasoline, diesel, all petrochemical products. So, this is going to be a long-lasting situation," he added. Correction: Strategists at UBS said they expect Brent crude oil prices to trade at $85 by year-end, up from $67. An earlier version misstated a figure.
Director Paul Thomas Anderson, Sara Murphy and cast members celebrate after winning the Oscar for Best Picture for "One Battle after Another" during the Oscars show at the 98th Academy Awards in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, U.S., March 15, 2026. Mike Blake | Reuters

The darkly comic thriller "One Battle After Another" won best picture at the Academy Awards, leading a haul of six trophies on a Sunday night when Hollywood handed its top movie honors to unconventional stories. The offbeat tale of political resistance traded wins with the vampire story "Sinners," setting up a fight to the end at the Dolby Theatre. "Let's have a martini! This is pretty amazing," director Paul Thomas Anderson said on stage after his "One Battle" was announced the recipient of the top award. The Warner Bros. movie stars Leonardo DiCaprio as a one-time revolutionary who becomes a weed-smoking single father of a teenager. Before this year, Anderson had 11 career Oscar nominations and no wins. In addition to Best Picture, he won Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay on Sunday. "I wrote this movie for my kids to say sorry for the housekeeping mess that we left in this world," Anderson said while accepting the screenplay honor. "But also with the encouragement that they will be the generation that hopefully brings us some common sense and decency."

Sean Penn a winner but a no-show

Sean Penn, who plays an obsessed military officer in "One Battle," was named best supporting actor. It was the third Oscar for Penn, who frequently skips movie industry awards shows and was not in the Dolby Theatre audience. "Sean Penn couldn't be here, or didn't want to, so I'll accept the award on his behalf," said presenter Kieran Culkin, last year's supporting actor winner. "Sinners" had entered the ceremony with 16 nominations, more than any other film in the nearly 100-year-old history of the Oscars. The movie finished with four awards, including a best actor trophy for Michael B. Jordan, who played the dual roles of twin brothers Smoke and Stack. Set in the Segregation-era U.S. South, the movie was a celebration of blues and Black culture told with a supernatural twist.

The nominees for Best Picture "Sinners" during the 98th Academy Awards nominations announcement at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, California, on January 22, 2026 Valerie Macon | Afp | Getty Images

"I stand here because of the people that came before me," Jordan said as he named previous Black Oscar winners including Sidney Poitier, Denzel Washington and Halle Berry. "I'm going to keep stepping up and I'm going to keep being the best version of myself." Autumn Durald Arkapaw became the first woman and first Black cinematographer to win the cinematography honor for "Sinners." Irish actor Jessie Buckley landed the best actress accolade for playing William Shakespeare's wife, Agnes Hathaway, in "Hamnet." The movie explores how the couple navigates the death of their 11-year-old son "Hamnet." "I would like to dedicate this to the beautiful chaos of a mother's heart," Buckley said. The 75-year-old Amy Madigan was named best supporting actress for her role as the wacky Aunt Gladys in horror film "Weapons." She earned her first Oscar 40 years after her first nomination.

'KPop Demon Hunters' takes best animated feature
Check out the companies making the biggest moves in midday trading: Peloton  The connected fitness company, known for its at-home Bike and Tread products, announced a new commercial series for high-traffic gyms on Monday. Shares gained 4.5%. Meta  Shares of the Facebook parent rose more than 2% after Reuters reported that Meta anticipates laying off 20% or more of its workforce in order to offset its artificial intelligence spending plans. Regarding Reuters' reporting, a Meta spokesperson told CNBC , "This is a speculative report about theoretical approaches." Nvidia  The chip giant's stock advanced about 2% ahead of the company's annual GTC conference , where CEO Jensen Huang is scheduled to deliver a keynote address at 2 p.m. ET. Analysts expect Nvidia to offer fresh insight into the durability of the AI spending boom and the chipmaker's next generation of processors. Fertilizer companies  Shares of fertilizer companies slid in midday trading. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC that the U.S. is permitting Iranian oil tankers to travel through the Strait of Hormuz. The global supply chain for fertilizers also travels through the waterway, and companies in that sector have seen shares surge amid the Iran War. CF Industries and Mosaic lost more than 4%, while Nutrien slipped 5%. Upstart  Shares of the AI lending company jumped more than 6% after BTIG upgraded the stock to buy, with a $43 price target. Last week, Upstart applied for a national bank charter, and BTIG analysts anticipate a charter could reduce the company's funding risk and materially improve its economics, lowering transaction volume costs and potentially boosting annual earnings per share by around 60%. Dollar Tree  The discount retailer rose more than 4%, despite posting mixed fourth-quarter results and warning that sales growth could slow in the year ahead. Dollar Tree expects it could attract new customers seeking value amid rising oil prices and a tighter labor market. However, those same conditions are prompting the company to be cautious in its outlook. The retailer expects sales at stores open at least a year to rise between 3% and 4% in 2026, down from a 5.3% gain in fiscal 2025. Nebius Group  The artificial intelligence infrastructure company rallied 13% after announcing a deal with Meta. As part of the agreement, Nebius will "provide $12 billion of dedicated capacity across multiple locations," it said in a statement. This comes after the firm announced another partnership with Nvidia last week. Micron Technology  The chipmaker rose 5% on plans to build a second manufacturing site in Taiwan. The new site will "support Micron's efforts to expand supply of leading-edge DRAM products," Micron said in a statement. Strategy , Coinbase , Circle Internet Group  The crypto-linked stocks traded higher as bitcoin gained to start the week. Strategy and Coinbase each advanced around 4%, while Circle climbed about 8%. National Storage Affiliates  Shares soared more than 30% after the company agreed to be acquired by Public Storage for roughly $10.5 billion in an all-stock deal. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter. Public Storage traded about 1% lower.  CNBC's Darla Mercado, Michelle Fox, Yun Li and Nick Wells contributed to this report.
Check out the companies making the biggest moves before the bell: Nebius Group  The artificial intelligence infrastructure company rallied 14% after announcing a deal with Meta. As part of the agreement, Nebius will "provide $12 billion of dedicated capacity across multiple locations," it said in a statement. This comes after the firm announced another partnership with Nvidia last week. Micron Technology  The chipmaker rose 4% on plans to build a second manufacturing site in Taiwan. The new site will "support Micron's efforts to expand supply of leading-edge DRAM products," Micron said in a statement. Mara Holdings , Strategy , Circle Internet Group  The crypto-linked stocks traded higher as bitcoin gained to start the week. Mara Holdings and Strategy advanced 4% each, while Circle climbed 5.4%. Dollar Tree  The discount retailer fell 6% after it posted mixed fourth-quarter results. Dollar Tree earned $2.56 per share, excluding certain items, beating a FactSet estimate of $2.53 per share. Revenue of $5.45 billion, however, was just below a consensus forecast of $5.46 billion. National Storage Affiliates  Shares soared more than 22% after the company agreed to be acquired by Public Storage for roughly $10.5 billion in an all-stock deal. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter. Public Storage traded about 1% lower.
Stock investors should brace for even more near-term declines before the market turns higher, according to Morgan Stanley's Mike Wilson. The bank's chief U.S. equity strategist said Monday that the S & P 500 could trade as low as 6,300 by early April  implying a decline of 5% from Friday's close. The benchmark stock index has been under pressure, falling 3.6% since the U.S.-Iran war began on Feb. 28. Beyond the war and its effect on energy markets, concerns around private credit have also weighed on sentiment. "There's still risk around rates, still risk around oil. There's Fed uncertainty  so the all that could weigh on some of the lower quality parts of the market in the short term," he told CNBC's " Squawk Box " in an interview. But Wilson doesn't think stocks will stay depressed for long. In a note to clients Monday, he said that the current pullback is "mature in time and price," highlighting that 50% of Russell 3000 members are in a bear market  down at least 20% from their 52-week high. On top of that, Wilson thinks recession risks are low, "which means we're in a correction in the context of a broader bull market." What to buy Wilson highlighted Morgan Stanley's "Fresh Money Buy List" as offering a path for investors to trade the market. The list includes Walmart , Delta Air Lines and Northrop Grumman . All three are rated overweight by Morgan Stanley. Walmart has outperformed this year, rising nearly 14%, even after issuing disappointing earnings guidance last month. Delta has struggled of late, losing more than 10% this month, as the conflict in the Middle East disrupts global travel and drives up the cost of jet fuel. On top of that, U.S. airports are dealing with lengthy delays as of the Department of Homeland Security operates without funding and TSA agents go unpaid. Northrop Grumman has jumped more than 28% in 2026, with the U.S.-Iran war boosting all defense contractors.
"I worry about generic drugs in particular, which represent 90% of prescriptions filled in the U.S. and deliver thin profit margins for manufacturers," said Dr. William Feldman, associate professor of medicine in the division of pulmonary, critical care, sleep medicine, clinical immunology & allergy at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. "India and China are the biggest suppliers of generic drugs to the U.S., and prolonged or widening conflict could raise costs for generic firms, leading to higher prices and/or shortages for patients," he said.

"Fuel costs will effect the costs of everything, but the biggest effects will be on generics because they have the tightest margins," said Marc Kahn, former dean of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas medical school and current chief of hematology. Kahn points to glycerin, a common medication ingredient that is petroleum-based, that could be impacted if oil supplies remained choked off. Acetaminophen, he points out, is traditionally manufactured from phenol, a chemical derived from petroleum.

Multiple ingredients needed to manufacture many drugs in India often travel through Gulf logistics hubs first. Chemical inputs produced in China are commonly consolidated by distributors in places like Dubai and across the UAE before being shipped on to Indian drug manufacturers. "Even when ingredients move directly from China to India, production still relies heavily on petrochemical supplies from the Gulf," said Steve Blough, chief supply chain strategist at Infios, a supply chain execution software firm. "Disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz could quickly ripple into global pharmaceutical supply chains and eventually affect U.S. consumers," Blough said, adding that the situation could quickly manifest as shortages for critical medicines in the U.S. and higher costs.

The connection between a Middle Eastern sea chokepoint and a U.S. pharmacy counter is less obvious than it might seem  and more direct than most consumers realize. The U.S. gets nearly half of its generic prescriptions from India  roughly 47 percent by volume, according to Rohit Tripathi, vice president of industry strategy for manufacturing at RELEX Solutions, a Helsinki-based supply chain planning software company with expertise in pharmaceuticals. India, in turn, depends on the Strait of Hormuz for around 40 percent of its crude oil imports. "That oil ultimately feeds into the petrochemical inputs used throughout pharmaceutical manufacturing. So even though American consumers are not buying medicines directly from the Gulf, they are still at the end of a supply chain that runs through it," Tripathi said.

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran is a military strategy with vast consequences for the global economy, not just in the form of higher oil prices , but with disruptions in supply chains involving metals and manufacturing , and farming and food prices . And at some point in the future, supply chain experts say, Iran's attempt to choke of the strait will also hit American medicine cabinets. The only question is exactly how long existing stockpiles of prescriptions of generic drugs can last before the U.S.-Iran war becomes a significant health issue in the U.S.

Recent supply chain disruptions and freight rate increases are a warning sign, but not a red alert, according to Tripathi. "Early signals are already starting to show up in freight markets, with some reports of rising air cargo rates out of India and growing concern among manufacturers about potential inventory pressure," he said. If the strait stays closed, "shortages will start to surface," he said.

Air cargo rates from India have reportedly climbed 200 to 350 percent for some routes, according to Blough. Because most pharmacies and wholesalers operate on a just-in-time inventory model for generics, he warned that sustained disruption could start showing up for consumers within four to six weeks  first as shortages or delays for high-volume medications like diabetes drugs, hypertension treatments, statins, and antibiotics, and potentially extending to some temperature-sensitive therapies, including certain cancer treatments.

The longer the war lasts, there is a real likelihood that consumer and health system will see price increases and disruptions of the supply chain, said Amanda Chawla, senior vice president and chief supply chain and post acute care officer at Stanford Health Care. It is not only drugs she is worried about. Beyond acetaminophen and antibiotics, she said insulin syringes, hand sanitizers, nitrile exam gloves, and ointments that require petroleum or petroleum by-products in manufacturing for production are at risk. As the price of oil increases, that will translate to the cost production of such goods.

The sea-freight picture carries its own complications with shipping delays not only increasing the cost and time needed to move finished medicines. While some shipments use sophisticated cryogenic containers, many still rely on cooler-style packaging that requires ice or battery-powered fans to be replenished every few hours to prevent a cold-chain failure. Refrigerated "reefer" containers operate on strict transit timelines, and with canceled sailings and diverted routes, some containers are stuck at origin ports while others are stranded at diversion hubs that may not have the power capacity to keep large volumes of refrigerated cargo running. Empty containers are also becoming trapped in the Middle East, preventing them from returning to Asia to load new shipments. Container shortages typically associated with supply chain disruptions mean Indian exporters may have to compete for limited cargo space.

"That creates a cascading problem: full containers can't move, in-transit cargo must stay cold, and manufacturers may struggle to secure the specialized equipment needed to ship the next batch of medicines," Blough said. Some carriers may even declare force majeure, relieving them of liability for delays or damage tied to the disruption.

From India to Ohio, no reason for supply panic today

The central question when it comes to health care supply is one of timing. Most manufacturers and distributors currently hold 30 to 60 days of buffer stock, according to Tripathi, so the first two to four weeks may feel manageable. The products most vulnerable once that buffer runs thin would likely be everyday generics where supply chains are already tight and margins are thin  common antibiotics like amoxicillin, blood-pressure medications such as metoprolol, diabetes drugs like metformin, statins, and common painkillers.

But in Germantown, Ohio  population around 5,000, half a world away from the smoldering refineries and sinking ships in the Strait of Hormuz  a one-screen theater shows recent releases, a colorful barber pole beckons customers for a haircut, and the mood at the Germantown Pharmacy where prescriptions are filled far from the chain giants remains calm. Pharmacist Katie Perry, who owns the pharmacy, says it is business as usual. She pointed to the nation's strategic national stockpile as a backstop and noted that Covid helped many pharmacists build resiliency into their supply chains. If a drug isn't available from one source, there is usually enough redundancy built in to procure it from another.

Within the India-based drug manufacturing industry, the current message is that patients should not be living in fear of a supply panic. Kathleen Jaeger, the U.S. spokesperson for the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance, a trade organization representing India's generic drug industry, says consumers should not expect to see empty medicine cabinets in the short term. "There is no risk today. People will watch and be mindful, but when you realize this industry has gone through Covid, the Red Sea issue, and Ukraine, everyone is doing their very best to manage these disruptions," she said. Most companies, she notes, have three to six months' worth of medication stockpiled. "Companies plan extensively for disruption," she added.

The major Indian generic manufacturers  including Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance members Sun Pharma, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, and Lupin, which together account for a significant share of U.S. generic prescriptions  have not issued independent statements on the conflict, deferring instead to the trade group's reassurances. Jaeger stressed the importance of lasting public-private partnerships in helping to bring some Indian drug companies production to the U.S., and some Indian companies have begun to invest more in reshoring initiatives. Lupin announced plans to invest $250 million to build a new production facility in Coral Springs, Florida, focused on respiratory drugs.

Perry said customers are not expressing concerns about war-related shortages. "They are way more concerned about the war between PBMs, pharmacies, and consumers," she said, referring to the complicated reimbursement rates pharmacy benefit managers set for local pharmacies, which directly impact prices. Perry, who is also an advisory board member of the School of Pharmacy at Cedarville University, has seen supply shocks before. A fire at a wholesale location last year forced her to resource product from elsewhere. "Crazy things happen every day," she said. "Those things can always happen."

For now, the pills are on the shelves. The question experts are watching is how long that holds. "The region is a critical transit point for pharmaceutical cargo," Blough said.

Correction: Marc Kahn is former dean of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas medical school and current chief of hematology. An earlier version of this article included an incorrect spelling of his name.
BBA's sales are 'losing steam'  innovation is redefining the future: People's Daily Rui Ping

10:36, March 16, 2026 By Chang Yandao ( Global Times

The recent simultaneous decline in both sales volumes and prices across the three traditional luxury automotive brands - Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi (collectively known as BBA) - has become a hot topic of discussion. Why are these former benchmarks of luxury cars now showing signs of falling behind collectively in the era of electrification and smart technology?

The sales comparison between the Aito M9 and the BMW X5 is particularly telling. Since the 2025 edition of Aito M9 launched in March last year, it has sold nearly 120,000 units, while the similarly priced BMW X5 moved around 70,000. Domestic Chinese models have so far held the top spot in sales among luxury SUVs priced at 500,000 yuan ($72,500) and above for 21 consecutive months. Consumers have voted with their feet, signaling that the underlying logic of automotive consumption is being rewritten.

Today, when a new generation of consumers opens a car door, what they care about is no longer the added value attached to a badge. Their focus is on the human-machine interaction of the intelligent cockpit, the sophistication of driver assistance systems, the safety and reliability of the electric vehicle (EV) power train - the seamless, cutting-edge technological experience delivered by hardware, software, algorithms, and connectivity working in concert.

This reflects a profound transformation within the automotive industry: Technological innovation is redefining the standards of value, reshaping brand perception, and changing consumer preferences - and in doing so, rewriting the landscape of the entire automotive sector.

When people no longer pay for brand premiums but instead are drawn to innovation premiums, market position cannot be "inherited," and brand recognition is anything but fixed. The driving force of technological iteration is the only true foundation for "staying out in front." Last year, the penetration rate of China's domestically produced new-energy passenger vehicles reached 57 percent. Features like "five-minute flash charge" and "three-minute battery swap" are rapidly overcoming the shortcoming of charging times. It is precisely through relentless innovation, iteration, and technological progress that China's domestic EVs have progressively moved from the lower end to the higher end of the market, opening up a new landscape on a new track.

The innovative vitality of China's domestic EVs bears witness to the power of the "Chinese innovation paradigm."

On one hand, it leverages market strengths to ignite the innovative passion of business entities and encourage decentralized, diversified innovation attempts. On the other hand, it harnesses institutional strengths to provide support for the EV industry in areas such as industrial planning, policy frameworks, and new infrastructure construction. The combination of an effective market and a proactive government, a vast market unleashing the innovative energy of enterprises, and efficient new infrastructure accelerating industrial application, together constitute the "Chinese innovation paradigm," one that holds infinite potential for nurturing technological innovation and industrial growth.

China's market is an open market, one that provides a sound environment for fair competition and the evolution of innovation.

During his visit to China, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz experienced firsthand an urban and highway pilot driver-assist system co-developed by Mercedes-Benz and Chinese tech company Momenta, describing it as "amazing." Innovation advantages cannot be built behind closed doors. It is precisely because China has kept its doors wide open - competing on the same stage with the world's top enterprises - that the innovative capabilities of Chinese EV companies have kept improving and their competitive edge has continued to consolidate.

Volkswagen Group CEO Oliver Blume remarked that the Chinese market "has become something of a fitness center for us We have to work harder and faster to keep up." By letting all kinds of enterprises compete vigorously, and by allowing all manner of innovations to debut and be applied in the country first, China, this global "innovation testing ground," is only going to become more attractive.

In market competition, there are no permanent winners - innovation alone is the timeless key to success. We have used innovation to redefine what a "luxury" automobile means. We have every reason and every condition to use innovation to define the future of many more industries as well.

This article was originally published by the Opinion Department of the People's Daily.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
Faruqi & Faruqi is a leading national securities law firm with offices in New York, Pennsylvania, California and Georgia. The firm has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors since its founding in 1995. See www.faruqilaw.com.

As detailed below, the complaint alleges that the Company and its executives violated federal securities laws by making false and/or misleading statements and/or failing to disclose the true state of Monday.com's revenue expansion outlook, notably decelerating growth, reduced expansion momentum and extended sales cycles.

On its February 9, 2026, earnings call, monday.com disclosed two specific headwinds that it had built into its 2026 guidance: persistent weakness in its "no-touch" performance marketing channel serving small and medium businesses, and a 100-200 basis point foreign exchange drag driven by Israeli shekel appreciation. Separately, monday.com is increasing investment in AI products - including Monday Vibe, Monday Sidekick, and Monday Agents - which management cited as requiring incremental spending. The company guided gross margins to decline from 90% to the mid-to-high 80s in FY2026, attributed in part to AI infrastructure costs. R&D spending rose from 17% to 19% of revenue in FY2025, and management guided for mid-teens percentage headcount growth in FY2026 concentrated in sales and R&D. These investments reduce near-term profitability while the revenue contribution from AI products remains early-stage - Monday Vibe reached $1 million in ARR, a small fraction of the company's $1.2 billion annual revenue base.

On this news the price of monday.com's common stock declined $20.37, or 20.78% to close at $77.63 per share on February 9, 2026.

The court-appointed lead plaintiff is the investor with the largest financial interest in the relief sought by the class who is adequate and typical of class members who directs and oversees the litigation on behalf of the putative class. Any member of the putative class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member. Your ability to share in any recovery is not affected by the decision to serve as a lead plaintiff or not.

Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP also encourages anyone with information regarding monday.com's conduct to contact the firm, including whistleblowers, former employees, shareholders and others.

To learn more about the monday.com class action, go to www.faruqilaw.com/MNDY or call Faruqi & Faruqi partner Josh Wilson directly at 877-247-4292 or 212-983-9330 (Ext. 1310).

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President Donald Trump said Monday that he is frustrated some countries will not join a coalition to escort oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz.

"Some are very enthusiastic, and some are less than enthusiastic," Trump told reporters at a press conference. "And I assume some will not do it. I think we have one or two that will not do it that we've been protecting for about 40 years at tens of billions of dollars."

Trump has been pressuring U.S. allies to send military forces to get oil exports flowing through the Strait. Tanker traffic through the narrow sea route has plunged due to Iranian attacks. This has triggered the largest oil supply disruption in history, with crude prices surging about 40% since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran two weeks ago.

Trump declined to name which nations have agreed to participate in the coalition. The president said the White House will soon announce a list of countries that have agreed to do so.

"Numerous countries have told me they're on the way," Trump said.

Britain, France and Germany

The president said the United Kingdom has been reluctant to join the coalition. Trump said British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was hesitant to send two aircraft carriers to the region at U.S. request.

"He didn't really want to do it," Trump said. "I was not happy with the U.K. I think they'll be involved, but they should be involved enthusiastically. We've been protecting these countries for years with NATO."

Starmer said Monday that the U.K. is working on a plan with all of its allies to restore freedom of navigation in the Persian Gulf as quickly as possible.

"Ultimately, we have to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to restore stability in the market  that is not a simple task," Starmer said at a press conference.

Trump said he has spoken to French President Emmanuel Macron about escorting tankers.

"I think he's going help," Trump said. "I'll let you know. I spoke to him yesterday. I don't do a hard sell on them because my attitude is, we don't need anybody. We're the strongest nation in the world."
President Donald Trump said Monday that the U.S. has asked to delay his planned meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing by "a month or so" due to the ongoing war with Iran.

Trump was expected to travel to China at the end of March for the meeting with Xi.

But when asked in the Oval Office on Monday afternoon if that trip was still on, Trump said, "I don't know, we're working on that right now."

"We're speaking to China. I'd love to, but because of the war, I want to be here. I have to be here, I feel," Trump said.

"And so, we've requested that we delay it a month or so," Trump said. "I'm looking forward to being with him. We have a very good relationship."

The comments came as tensions between the two economic superpowers have recently appeared to ratchet up, spurred by the Iran war and the U.S. announcing a new investigation into Chinese trade practices.

Trump insisted in Monday's remarks that the proposed delay was solely about him being in the U.S. to manage the war.

"There's no tricks to it either," he added. "It's very simple. We've got a war going on. I think it's important that I be here."

Top Trump administration officials, including Trump himself, had earlier telegraphed that the Iran war could disrupt plans for the high-profile summit in China.

Trump told the Financial Times on Sunday that China  a top buyer of Iranian oil exports that has come out against the war  should help the U.S. break Iran's de facto blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital global energy corridor.

Waiting to do so until after the summit would be too late, he told the outlet.

Treasury Scott Bessent later appeared to soften those remarks, telling CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Monday morning that any rescheduling of the summit would be for logistical reasons.

"It wouldn't be delayed because the president demanded that China police the Strait of Hormuz," said Bessent, who had met with his Chinese counterparts in Paris over the weekend.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News later Monday morning that it's "quite possible" that the meeting could be delayed.

Days after the U.S. launched its first attacks against Iran in late February, analysts told CNBC that they did not expect the fighting would derail the Trump-Xi summit in China. But they cautioned that the circumstances could shift dramatically depending on how the war evolves.

Last week, the Trump administration launched new investigations into potentially unfair trade practices by China and more than a dozen other countries. Those probes were announced after the Supreme Court struck down Trump's biggest tariffs, which included major levies he had imposed on imports from China.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media before boarding Air Force One for travel to Florida, at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, U.S., March 13, 2026. Kevin Lamarque | Reuters

U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday that other countries should help the U.S. secure the Strait of Hormuz, arguing the key shipping route benefits them more than it does Washington. Speaking with reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said countries such as China, which rely more heavily on oil shipments passing through the strait, should contribute to securing it. "I'm demanding that these countries come in and protect their own territory, because it is their territory. It's the place from which they get their energy. And they should come and they should help us protect it," Trump said. "Why are we maintaining the Hormuz Strait when it's really there for China and many other countries? Why aren't they doing it?" Trump claimed that about 90% of China's crude imports pass through the strait, while the U.S. only relies on it for "1%, 2%" of its oil. However, analysts say Beijing has spent the past two decades diversifying energy supplies and building strategic reserves to mitigate potential disruptions. Asked on Monday about Trump's comments regarding China and the Strait of Hormuz, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian reiterated Beijing's stance calling on all parties to immediately halt military operations and to avoid any further escalation of tensions to prevent regional instability from exerting an even greater impact on the global economy, news agency Xinhua reported. Oil prices hovered around the $100 per barrel Monday, with U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures trading at $99.32 a barrel, while global benchmark Brent was at $104.84.

Stock Chart Icon Stock chart icon

Edward Fishman, a director at the Council on Foreign Relations, said the Trump administration did not consult allies in Europe or Asia before launching military action against Iran. Those allies are much more dependent on oil imports from the Gulf than the U.S. is, Fishman told CNBC's "Squawk Box Asia," raising questions about whether they would expect concessions from Washington in return for assistance. "Remember, these countries, despite being U.S. allies, have been hit with really steep tariffs by the Trump administration over the last year," Fishman said Monday. He added that if the tables were turned, Trump would likely demand something in return for assistance. Trump's latest comments followed earlier remarks on Truth Social, where he claimed Saturday that "Many Countries, especially those who are affected by Iran's attempted closure of the Hormuz Strait, will be sending War Ships, in conjunction with the United States of America, to keep the Strait open and safe."

Whether we get support or not, I can say this, and I said it to them: we will remember. Donald Trump U.S. President

No plans for now

Several commercial ships plying the narrow strait have been damaged ever since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran last month. No country has publicly announced plans to deploy warships to the strait. Notably, the U.S. Navy has also not been escorting ships through the waterway. Reuters reported last week that the U.S. Navy has refused "near-daily" requests from the shipping industry to escort ships, citing three shipping industry sources familiar with the matter. The report said the risk of attacks was too high for now. Japan's prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, reportedly said Monday that there were no plans to dispatch naval vessels to escort boats in the Middle East, while Australia's transport minister, Catherine King, told ABC in a radio interview that Canberra will not be sending ships. New Zealand's finance minister, Nicola Willis, also told "Squawk Box Asia" that the country has not received such a request.

watch now

Trump said Sunday that the U.S. was talking to about seven countries, although he declined to name them. He also criticized the NATO alliance. "We're always there for NATO. We're helping them with Ukraine. It's got an ocean in between us. Doesn't affect us, but we've helped them. And it'll be interesting to see what country wouldn't help us with a very small endeavor, which is just keeping the strait open." Trump also said Iran was defeated and had very little firepower left. However, Iranian attacks in the region have continued. Drone and missile strikes were reported in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Israel on Monday Asia time.

Europe deliberates

Vessel traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, which carries a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies, has effectively come to a standstill. Several European nations, including France and the United Kingdom, have discussed plans that could allow commercial shipping to resume in the strait. The European Union is expected to discuss expanding the Aspides mission on Monday, although the talks are not expected to expand its operations to the Strait of Hormuz. "Operation Aspides," established in 2024 to protect ships against Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, currently has three naval units under its command. All member states would have to agree on expanding Aspides operations, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Monday, adding, "If the member states say that we are not doing anything with this, then of course it's their decision, but we have to discuss how we help to keep the Strait of Hormuz open."



Kallas also said that she had discussed with the United Nations the idea of replicating the "Black Sea Initiative" that has allowed grain to be exported out of Ukraine during its war with Russia.



"It is in our interest to keep the Strait of Hormuz open and that's why we are also discussing what we can do in this regard from the European side," she told reporters Monday as she arrived at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels. Trump said Sunday that British Prime Minister Kier Starmer had offered to deploy aircraft carriers to the region, which Trump said should have been sent "before we start the war [with Iran]." "Whether we get support or not, I can say this, and I said it to them: We will remember," Trump added. For his part, Starmer told reporters Monday that the Strait of Hormuz must be reopened to "ensure stability in the market" but said this "is not a simple task."



"So we're working with all of our allies, including our European partners, to bring together a viable collective plan that can restore freedom of navigation in the region as quickly as possible," he said in a press briefing.

(COMBO) This combination of file photos created on March 3, 2026 shows US President Donald Trump (L) speaks during a press conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC on February 20, 2026; and Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer (R) speaking during a Q&A session as he visits a railway depot in Cardiff, South Wales on February 18, 2026. Matthew Horwood, Mandel Ngan | Afp | Getty Images
A general view of the Port of Kharg Island Oil Terminal, 25 km from the Iranian coast in the Persian Gulf and 483 km northwest of the Strait of Hormuz, in Iran on March 12, 2017.

President Donald Trump's order to strike Iranian military assets on Kharg Island has thrust one of Tehran's most critical oil hubs into the center of the escalating U.S.-Iran conflict.

Trump said the strikes, carried out Friday night, targeted military facilities and spared oil infrastructure. But he warned the United States could attack crude facilities on the island if Iran continues attacks on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping artery for global energy supplies.

"The strike on the military facilities of Kharg was meant to serve as a warning shot to Tehran. If it doesn't reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the oil infrastructure on the island would be next," Vandana Hari, founder of Vanda Insights, told CNBC in an email on Monday.

Kharg Island is regarded as one of Iran's most sensitive economic targets. The five-mile-long coral island, located about 15 miles off the coast of mainland Iran in the northern Persian Gulf, handles roughly 90% of the country's crude exports. It also has a loading capacity of about 7 million barrels per day, making it a critical gateway for Tehran's energy revenue.
U.S. President Donald Trump prepares to greet Chinese President Xi Jinping ahead of a bilateral meeting at Gimhae Air Base on October 30, 2025 in Busan, South Korea.

U.S. President Donald Trump said his planned trip to China later this month could be delayed as Washington sought to pressure Beijing to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, underscoring a renewed flashpoint in an already fragile bilateral relationship.

In an interview with the Financial Times on Sunday, Trump said he expected China to help unblock the strait before he travels to Beijing for a summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, which had been scheduled for March 31 to April 2.

Trump added that the two weeks to the meeting were a "long time" and that Washington wanted clarity before then. "We may delay," Trump told the FT, without elaborating on timing.

The remarks came as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent met his Chinese counterpart He Lifeng in Paris for talks about the planned summit. Beijing has yet to confirm the dates and typically announces such plans closer to their scheduled start.

Speaking to CNBC Monday, Bessent said that the meeting between Trump and Xi could be instead delayed for logistical reasons, such as the president choosing to stay in Washington to coordinate the war effort in Iran.

"If the meetings are delayed, it wouldn't be delayed because the president demanded that China police the Strait of Hormuz," Bessent said in an interview with CNBC's Brian Sullivan in Paris. "If the meeting, for some reason, is rescheduled, it would be rescheduled because of logistics."
The United States is allowing Iranian oil tankers to transit the Strait of Hormuz, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC on Monday.

"The Iranian ships have been getting out already, and we've let that happen to supply the rest of the world," Bessent told CNBC's Brian Sullivan in a "Squawk Box" interview in Paris. The Treasury secretary is in France for trade talks with China.

Tanker traffic through the strait has plunged as Iran attacks commercial ships in the Persian Gulf. But the Islamic Republic has continued to export millions of barrels of oil through the narrow sea route despite the large U.S. Navy presence in the region. Iran exports about 1.5 million barrels per day.

The Trump administration believes tanker traffic through the strait will increase before U.S. Navy and allied forces start escorting commercial ships, Bessent said. Tankers that supply India have transited the strait, he said. The U.S. believes some Chinese ships are also making it out of the gulf, he said.

"We think that there will be a natural opening that the Iranians are letting out, and for now we're fine with that. We want the world to be well supplied," Bessent said. President Donald Trump is pressuring nations that rely on the strait for oil to help the U.S. protect tankers from attacks by Iran.

A ship loaded with liquefied petroleum gas arrived Sunday in India, a spokesperson for New Delhi's Ministry of External Affairs told CNBC's Seema Mody. A second ship is expected to arrive Tuesday, the spokesperson said.

Sources say India is currently waiting for confirmation from Iran that 22 other ships can sail through the Strait. Those vessels are carrying crude oil, liquefied petroleum gas, and liquefied natural gas.

The strait, which connects the gulf to the global market, is the most important trade route for oil in the world. About 20% of global oil supplies passed through the narrow waterway before the war.

Oil prices have surged about 40% since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran two weeks ago. The war has triggered the largest oil supply disruption in history as exports through the strait have collapsed, according to the International Energy Agency. Global oil supplies are expected to plunge by 8 million barrels per day this month, according to the IEA.

Brent oil prices , the international benchmark, were hovering around $102 per barrel Monday. U.S. oil prices were trading around $95 per barrel.

The Treasury secretary said oil prices should fall "much lower" than $80 per barrel after the war is over. Bessent said he does not know when the war will end but "the world will be safer and we will be better supplied."

Bessent threw cold water on market rumors that the administration might intervene in oil futures trading.

"We haven't done that," the Treasury secretary said. It is not clear what authority the U.S. could use to take such an action, he said.
The U.S.-Iran war has fundamentally altered the security landscape in the Middle East. While the U.S. and Israel have reportedly achieved significant tactical milestones  most notably the assassination of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei  Iran's strategy has pivoted from direct military engagement (where it is severely outmatched) to geographic and economic horizontal escalation. Investors should carefully consider what that means. This is not a political judgment. I will leave it to others to decide, particularly once more facts are known, whether the strikes were justified. Because perspective matters, it is unlikely that any observer can be entirely "bias-free". To the extent that I am predisposed one way or another, I should offer that my opinion is that military conflicts are almost always more complex, more expensive in terms of lives and treasure, longer lasting than those who initiate them expect, and the "victories" often Pyrrhic. The long-term repercussions of military action may only be known many years later as historians observe not just how it turned out for the parties to a military engagement, but also how that engagement shapes policy elsewhere. Alliances, security considerations, and military conflict do not take place in a vacuum. What is happening now will not just have short-term economic and military implications; it will also shape the strategies of nations around the world. Will it encourage or discourage economic warfare? Will it encourage or hasten nuclear proliferation? Or discourage and delay it? Will it increase secular liberalism or strengthen theocratic authoritarianism? Investors are obliged to identify different outcomes, assign probabilities to those outcomes, and assess the ramifications for valuing risk assets and constructing robust portfolios. Put simply, neither the supply, nor the demand, nor the price of oil, for example, entirely depends on the motives or justifications of the actors, although all three may be directly affected by their actions. I hope all readers, regardless of their point of view, find it valuable to consider these events using probabilistic scenario analysis. One can evaluate as many scenarios as one likes and assign one's own probabilities, but I've provided a simple example below. Things to think about The "Hormuz Leverage": Iran has functionally closed the Strait of Hormuz. Even with the U.S. Navy sinking a significant portion of the Iranian fleet, the channel is currently untraversable, commercial insurance is largely unavailable and Iran has already demonstrated a willingness and ability to strike ships transiting the Strait. (Note: Early Monday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on CNBC that the U.S. is allowing Iranian oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz.) Decentralized Resistance: The elevation of Mojtaba Khamenei signals regime continuity, despite rumors that he is injured. Historically, as seen in Vietnam and Afghanistan, decapitation of leadership rarely ends a conflict if the underlying ideological and paramilitary structure (the IRGC and Basij) remains intact and shifts to insurgent tactics. Presumably, the strategic assessment was that eliminating leadership might foment internal rebellion against the regime, but even if the regime's opponents feel emboldened, they are considerably outgunned. The regime has weapons; its internal opponents largely do not. It's possible that an "Iran in chaos" similar to Libya post-Gaddafi, Iraq post-Saddam, Syria post-Assad, or even Venezuela post-Maduro emboldened the administration. Perhaps key decision-makers believed that almost any outcome was preferable to the seemingly intractable situation they were in. The Lebanon Front: The expansion into the 2026 Lebanon War creates a two-theater conflict. Israel's threat to "take territory" in southern Lebanon provides Iran with an enduring proxy war that drains Western resources without requiring Iran to win a single conventional battle. The Tanker War (19801988): Much like today, Iran used low-cost mines and speedboats to disrupt the global economy despite U.S. naval superiority (Operation Praying Mantis). It proved that a weakened power can still hold the global economy hostage. The Vietnam War: Countries with military advantages often lose in the long term. In Vietnam, the U.S. won nearly every tactical engagement, yet the North's "incentive to drag it out" eventually broke the political will of the West. 2006 Lebanon War: Hezbollah's ability to survive a massive Israeli air campaign serves as the modern blueprint for Iran's current "Axis of Resistance" strategy  surviving is winning. Iran's current incentive is to maximize the cost of the war for the West. By targeting the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia rather than just Israel, or U.S. aircraft carriers, it is attempting to force the West's regional allies to sue for peace. Unless there is a "Black Swan" event  such as a total internal revolution  this conflict may persist as a low-intensity, high-cost war well into 2027. Whether this encourages countries around the world to more aggressively pursue nuclear weapons, they are certainly being reminded yet again  as if the war in Ukraine and the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipeline weren't signals enough  that securing energy independence is an economic and strategic imperative. Fossil fuels rely too heavily on a politically unstable region. Countries need alternative energy, some from "renewables" and likely significantly more nuclear generation. Last Wednesday's CF Industries article highlighted a relative advantage in a world of disrupted, region-specific natural gas/LNG prices without assuming huge shifts in the fertilizer market. Today, however, we're examining a longer-term shift towards nuclear that could result from the conflict. Investing in the raw material is the most direct way to play a supply-demand imbalance. If you believe the nuclear renaissance will outpace mining capacity, this is the most aggressive play. This would involve bullish positions in companies like Cameco (CCJ) , which offers leveraged exposure to the spot price of uranium . For those who want to avoid "mining risk" (labor strikes, floods or geopolitical issues), the Sprott Physical Uranium Trust buys and holds the physical ore, or for diversified exposure across the whole fuel cycle, the Global X Uranium ETF (URA) is a standard benchmark. One way to begin working into a position is with a cash-secured put (short put). By way of example the May 1st weekly 48.5 puts (below) provide a standstill yield of more than 7% of the strike in less than two months. DISCLOSURES: None. All opinions expressed by the CNBC Pro contributors are solely their opinions and do not reflect the opinions of CNBC, or its parent company or affiliates, and may have been previously disseminated by them on television, radio, internet or another medium. THE ABOVE CONTENT IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY . THIS CONTENT IS PROVIDED FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE FINANCIAL, INVESTMENT, TAX OR LEGAL ADVICE OR A RECOMMENDATION TO BUY ANY SECURITY OR OTHER FINANCIAL ASSET. THE CONTENT IS GENERAL IN NATURE AND DOES NOT REFLECT ANY INDIVIDUAL'S UNIQUE PERSONAL CIRCUMSTANCES. THE ABOVE CONTENT MIGHT NOT BE SUITABLE FOR YOUR PARTICULAR CIRCUMSTANCES. BEFORE MAKING ANY FINANCIAL DECISIONS, YOU SHOULD STRONGLY CONSIDER SEEKING ADVICE FROM YOUR OWN FINANCIAL OR INVESTMENT ADVISOR. 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Wall Street analysts are growing more bullish on Instagram and WhatsApp owner Meta Platforms after Reuters reported that the company is planning sweeping layoffs tied to rising artificial intelligence costs. The report, published last Friday and citing three sources familiar with the matter, said Meta is planning layoffs that could affect 20% or more of the company. Meta's employed about 79,000 workers as of Dec. 31, according to its latest regulatory filings. Any layoffs would attempt to both offset AI infrastructure costs and allow room for greater efficiency from AI-assisted workers, the report said. Across Wall Street, analysts applauded Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's new focus on generative AI. "Meta reportedly looking to cut 20% of the workforce could be trimming Covid-related bloat, but Meta has already leaned out," Bernstein analyst Mark Shmulik said. "Given Mr. Zuckerberg's track record, a pivot to an AI-centric organization is worth paying attention to." Over the past year, Meta has poached top AI researchers by offering pay packages worth hundreds of millions of dollars. "Zuck going for it, and that's good for AI semis: Mark Zuckerberg is going for it in AI. He's been hiring and acqui-hiring like crazy, cutting chip deals and even making more room to spend on AI with big cost cutting moves it seems," wrote Melius Research analyst Ben Reitzes. "As he saves more money by using AI internally and generates more revenue using it to boost ads, we wouldn't be surprised to see further upside to Meta's obscene capex spending throughout the rest of the decade." Jefferies analyst Brent Thill similarly highlighted the move as Meta transforming "from hype to efficiency." "Meta's reported ~20% headcount reduction would reinforce that AI is beginning to deliver real productivity gains at scale, while helping offset a significant AI capex ramp," he said. Bottom line: Most analysts maintained their long-term bullish stance on Meta. Here's what analysts at some of Wall Street's leading researchers had to say. Morgan Stanley: overweight rating, $825 price target The bank's price target implies about 35% upside from Meta's Friday close of $613.19. "META is latest in series of big tech companies beginning to drive further efficiency from GenAI-related tools. Reports suggesting 20% workforce cuts could represent 5-10% upside to '27 EBIT, provide higher EBIT floor through investment and torque as revenue investments yield." JPMorgan: overweight, $825 "We have viewed Meta as higher reward/higher risk than other mega-cap names. Advertising revenue growth of 30% off a very big base is extremely impressive, and management seems confident that its AI-driven ad product pipeline can sustain strong growth. But given the magnitude of investments, there is little margin for error, or room for much beyond modest deceleration." Wells Fargo: overweight, $856 Wells Fargo's 12-month price target corresponds to upside of 40%. "Meta is making a ~$500B+ bet on compute capacity to lead in consumer AI applications. Press headlines on model delays and potential 20% headcount reduction suggest execution and timing remain key risks to the payoffs from this investment cycle." Bank of America: buy, $885 The bank's target calls for 44% future upside. "We think the report underscores both the higher costs of AI infrastructure but also cost benefits to R & D heavy companies from coding and other efficiencies. Assuming a conservative marginal avg. cost per employee of ~$500k, potential restructuring could yield ~$7-8bn in annualized savings, which could reduce a portion of the $45bn in GAAP expense growth in our 2026 model. Based on cost commentary in the article, we do not expect Meta to materially lower its FY26 expense guide of $162-$169bn, though we view the report as suggesting cost discipline at Meta vs outlook." Bernstein: outperform, $900 Bernstein's target is 47% above Meta's Friday closing price. "Meta's probably the best placed incumbent to pivot to an AI-enabled org of the future. Recall the speed at which the company did a 180 post pandemic and returned to their engineering roots by trimming non-technical roles and 'flattening' management layers. Meta has the muscle memory, the internal proof points and a leader that has seen success in the last big re-org  why wouldn't they be at the forefront to rebuild the company from the ground up to be 'AI proof'?" Jefferies: buy, $1,000 Jefferies' price objective is 63% higher than Meta's last close. "Meta's reported ~20% headcount reduction would reinforce that AI is beginning to deliver real productivity gains at scale, while helping offset a significant AI capex ramp. The takeaway is not just better Meta margins, but a broader readthrough for tech/software as investors reassess the link between headcount, growth & profitability. Every $1B of expense reduction adds ~$0.4 to our FY26 EPS. META remains our top pick." Needham: hold The firm did not provide a price target for the stock. "We believe there are several AI risks specific to META, that are not shared by other hyperscalers  A common question we get from META shareholders is  Should META cut its CapX spending? Although we wish META's ROIC goals for its AI investments were shorter-term, our answer is 'NO.'" Melius Research The firm did not provide a rating or price target. "More broadly, Meta's infrastructure ramp reinforces the view that hyperscaler AI capex will remain the dominant driver across semiconductors and networking through the rest of the decade. The scale of spending from Meta, alongside [ Amazon Web Services], Microsoft , Google , and Oracle , flows directly into the AI supply chain spanning compute, networking and optical interconnect."
The ongoing West Asia war involving Iran, Israel and the United States could push major Gulf economies into their most severe downturn since the early 1990s, particularly if the fighting continues to disrupt energy exports and regional trade routes.The war threatens to significantly impact the economies of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar and Kuwait, especially if tensions persist and shipping through the Strait of Hormuz remains blocked, as per Bloomberg.Economist Farouk Soussa of Goldman Sachs warned that Qatar and Kuwait may be among the hardest hit if the conflict drags on.Both nations could see their gross domestic product (GDP) shrink by as much as 14% this year if the conflict continues through April and the Strait of Hormuz remains closed for two months, as per the report.Such a downturn would mark the worst economic slump for these countries since the early 1990s, when Iraqs invasion of Kuwait triggered the Gulf War and disrupted global oil markets."For many Gulf economies, the war could have a bigger near-term impact than Covid," said Soussa, Goldmans economist for the Middle East and North Africa, as per Bloomberg."When the dust settles they will rebuild and they will recover, but the scars this conflict leaves on confidence remain to be seen."The ongoing conflict has created a complex economic challenge for Gulf nations that depend heavily on both oil exports and expanding non-oil sectors.The war has shown little sign of easing in its third week, with Iran continuing strikes across the region in response to US and Israeli bombardments.The United States targeted military installations on Irans Kharg Island, a key crude export hub, over the weekend and warned that energy infrastructure could also be attacked if Tehran continues to disrupt shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.The disruption has pushed global oil prices higher, with Brent crude rising above $103 a barrel amid halted shipping and reduced output from major producers such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE.While Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain could face the most severe disruptions to their oil-dependent economies, Saudi Arabia and the UAE may be somewhat better positioned, according to the economists cited by Bloomberg.Analysts including Mohamed Abu Basha of EFG Hermes and Justin Alexander of Khalij Economics said the two countries can redirect some oil exports through alternative routes and benefit from higher crude prices.However, the conflict is also weighing on non-oil sectors across the region, with tourism, real estate and investment activity likely to slow.Saudi Arabia may prove relatively resilient if current conditions persist. The kingdoms airspace and businesses remain largely operational despite attempted strikes.Elsewhere, the UAE is still expected to record a budget surplus this year, while Qatar could see its fiscal deficit widen. Economists say Gulf states may increasingly rely on debt markets if the conflict continues to strain public finances.
The inaugural edition of the International Film Festival Delhi (IFFD) will open with the Oscar-nominated film 'Sirat' and conclude with Singaporean filmmaker Tan Siyous debut feature 'Amoeba'.The week-long festival will be held from March 25 to 31 at the Bharat Mandapam in Pragati Maidan, with screenings scheduled across multiplexes operated by PVR INOX, an official said.Directed by Oliver Laxe, 'Sirat', a co-production of Spain, France and Morocco, will serve as the opening film of the festival, he said.The 115-minute road drama follows a father and son travelling through Moroccos rave circuit in search of a missing daughter, a journey that gradually turns into a transformative experience across a harsh desert landscape, the official added.The film won the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 2025 and was nominated for two awards at the Academy Awards, he said.The festival will close with 'Amoeba', a 99-minute drama directed by Tan Siyou, the organisers said.Set in contemporary Singapore, the film centres on four teenage girls who form a secret gang in an act of rebellion, gradually exploring themes of identity, loyalty and social pressures, they said.Festival director Rakeysh Om Prakash Mehra said the event aims to present diverse cinematic journeys to audiences in the capital."We are thrilled to welcome two powerful films that speak to different kinds of journeys, inward and outward. IFFD at Bharat Mandapam will offer viewers an intimate, world-class cinema experience and showcase Delhi as a vital cultural destination," Mehra said.Delhi Tourism Minister Kapil Mishra said the festival would help strengthen the capitals position as a global cultural centre and provide audiences with an opportunity to engage with cinema from across the world.Chairperson of IFFD 2026, Vani Tripathi Tikoo, said the festival seeks to create a platform where global stories can engage Indian audiences through dialogue and cultural exchange.The festival will feature more than 130 screenings from 47 countries. These were selected from over 2,000 submissions received from 101 countries, another official said.He said the screenings will be held across 14 screens at Bharat Mandapam and multiplex venues.The programme will also include masterclasses, industry discussions, the CineXchange film market and a Cineverse Expo aimed at connecting filmmakers, producers and industry platforms, he added.The official said the festival will collaborate with the Singapore International Film Festival as an international partner and is expected to host several international guests, including Spanish actor Enrique Arce and Singaporean filmmaker Anthony Chen.
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho, March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Radnostix, Inc. (formerly International Isotopes, Inc., "RNX" or the "Company"), announced a mutual termination of an Asset Purchase Agreement (the "APA") dated February 8, 2024 entered into between RNX and its wholly owned subsidiary International Isotopes Fluorine Products, Inc. (together with RNX, the "Seller") and American Fuel Resources, LLC ("AFR"). The APA set forth the terms pursuant to which the Company agreed to sell to AFR all the assets and certain specified liabilities of the Company's depleted uranium deconversion and fluorine extraction plant (the "DUF6 Plant"), subject to the terms and conditions set forth in the APA. The APA provided that it may be terminated, among other things, upon mutual written consent by the parties to the APA.

AFR contacted the Company requesting a 1-year extension due to AFR being unable to make the payments of the final purchase price by March 31, 2026 (the "Outside Date") in order to meet the Condition to Seller's Obligations (as defined and set forth in Section 6.02(c) of the APA) for. Although the parties were in the final stages of the NRC consent process and were on the cusp of receiving U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the "NRC") consent to transfer, the parties agreed to withdraw the application and terminate the Agreement.

"With the resurgence in large scale nuclear energy projects, including several domestic uranium enrichment initiatives, we believe these assets have meaningful value to our shareholders and the fuel cycle industry as a whole," Shahe Bagerdjian, CEO of Radnostix, Inc., adding, "I want to thank AFR for their persistence and efforts in trying to close this deal and their transparency at the end. We look forward to exploring all our options for the DUF6 assets over the coming months."

AFR already made a non-refundable $50,000 Prepayment and twelve non-refundable NRC Extension Fee payments totaling $120,000 and was to pay an additional $12,450,000 at closing. Closing of the transaction was subject to certain closing conditions, including (i) transfer of the NRC license related to the DUF6 Plant (the "NRC License Transfer") and (ii) transfer of Purchased Assets (as defined in the APA), which includes licenses, patents, agreements, and other records of the DUF6 Plant.

The Company decided it was in the best interest of the shareholders to regain control of the assets as we believe they have appreciated in value since entering the APA and the Company had low confidence that AFR would be able to secure funding to close the deal by the requested extension date. The Company will evaluate all possible options for the DUF6 Assets.

The Company previously disclosed in its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ending September 30, 2025, the expected financial and operational impacts associated with the APA. Because the agreement has been terminated, none of the previously disclosed anticipated results of the APA will occur. Specifically, the Company will not receive the balance of the purchase price, will not recognize a gain on the sale of assets, will not use proceeds to repay various long-term notes, and will not realize the previously disclosed anticipated impacts on cash, assets, liabilities, operating costs, or future financing flexibility.

About Radnostix (formerly International Isotopes Inc.): Radnostix, Inc. (formerly International Isotopes Inc.) (INIS), established in 1995, with its headquarters in Idaho Falls, ID, USA, manufactures a wide range of radioisotope-focused products. Radnostix manufactures and supplies generic sodium iodide I-131 radio-pharmaceutical drug product for hyperthyroidism and thyroid cancer. Radnostix provides contract manufacturing of various drug products as well as radioisotope API supply for 3rd party theranostics clients. Radnostix manufactures and distributes a complete line of calibration and reference standards for nuclear pharmacies and SPECT/PET imaging systems as well as industrial calibration standards under its RadQual brand. For more information, visit www.radnostix.com.

Radnostix, Inc. (formerly International Isotopes Inc.) Safe Harbor Statement:

Certain statements in this press release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including but not limited to, statements regarding the Company's current expected financial impact from the termination of the APA, the estimated value of the DUF6 Plant and related assets, statements with respect to the Company's future growth expectations. Information contained in such forward-looking statements is based on current expectations and is subject to change. These statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results, performance, or achievements of Radnostix, Inc. to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements of the Company expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Other factors, which could materially affect such forward-looking statements, can be found in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024. Investors, potential investors, and other readers are urged to consider these factors carefully in evaluating the forward-looking statements and are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements made herein are only made as of the date of this press release and Radnostix, Inc. and the Company undertake no obligation to publicly update such forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.

Radnostix Contact:

[email protected]

radnostix.com

SOURCE International Isotopes Inc.
The Dubai Media Office said on Monday (March 16) that authorities were dealing with a fire resulting from a drone attack in the vicinity of the Dubai International Airport, adding that no injuries were reported.Dubai authorities said that the drone attack hit a fuel tank, and the civil defence teams were working to bring the fire under control.The Dubai Media Office said the civil aviation authority has announced the temporary suspension of flights at the airport 'as a precautionary measure'.Gulf Arab states have faced more than 2,000 missile and drone attacks since the outbreak of the US-Israeli war on Iran on February 28, with targets including US diplomatic missions and military bases but also critical Gulf oil infrastructure, ports, airports, hotels, and residential and office buildings.The United Arab Emirates, which normalised relations with Iran's arch-foe Israel in 2020, has faced the brunt of the attacks. But all Gulf Arab states have been affected, and all have condemned Iran.
The relationship between the United States and China remains stable despite geopolitical tensions, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an interview with CNBC.Bessent noted that any potential delay in a planned meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping would likely be due to logistical considerations rather than the ongoing conflict involving Iran.He said the summit could be postponed if Trump chooses to remain in Washington, D.C., while the war situation unfolds, emphasising that the delay should not be interpreted as a diplomatic setback between the two countries. Recent economic discussions between officials from both sides have continued, indicating that communication channels remain open.Bessent also pointed to signs of easing tensions in the strategically important Strait of Hormuz, noting that more fuel shipments are beginning to move through the waterway, including vessels from India and Iran.The Strait of Hormuz is one of the worlds most critical energy chokepoints, handling roughly one-fifth of global oil consumption, and disruptions there can significantly affect global energy markets.His remarks come as the conflict in West Asia continues to create volatility in oil markets and global trade flows, while Washington and Beijing maintain dialogue on trade and economic cooperation.
Vietnamese authorities have warned the country's aviation industry to prepare for potential flight reductions from April after China and Thailand halted exports of jet fuel due to the Iran war, increasing the likelihood of shortages.Vietnam imports more than two-thirds of its jet fuel needs, with 60% coming from China and Thailand, according to documents from the aviation regulator and importers seen by Reuters."There are risks of jet fuel shortages for Vietnamese airlines from the beginning of April and the following months," the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam said in a March 9 document sent to the ministry in charge of transport.It said airlines should review their plans, especially for domestic routes, and instructed airport operators to prepare additional parking space for Vietnamese carriers.Vietnam has also seen reduced supplies from Singapore, the document showed.In separate documents viewed by Reuters, major importers Petrolimex and Skypec said they could only guarantee jet fuel supplies for March. Skypec urged the regulator to restrict air transport to essential domestic routes if the conflict drags on.All documents were issued after China urged its refiners not to agree to new exports early this month but preceded a hard ban on refined fuel exports from March 11. Thailand banned exports of refined oil products, including jet fuel on March 6 to all countries except Myanmar and Laos.The regulator, the ministry and the two importers did not respond to Reuters requests for comment. Vietnam's top airlines Vietnam Airlines and VietJet declined to comment.Vietnam was the third-largest buyer of aviation kerosene from China last year after Australia and Japan, according to Chinese customs data.The Southeast Asian country has taken up the issue with both China, its main supplier, and Thailand.On Sunday, Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung asked his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi for close coordination "to ensure energy security," in a meeting in Hanoi that had been long planned, according to the Vietnamese government's news portal.A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson told reporters on Monday that Beijing stood ready to boost cooperation with Vietnam and other countries to jointly tackle energy security issues.On Friday, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh asked Thailand to help address the shortage during a meeting with the Thai ambassador in Vietnam, state media reported.The foreign ministries for Vietnam and Thailand did not immediately respond to requests for comment.Vietnam's aviation authority recommended that Hanoi should seek to import from other places, citing South Korea, Japan, Brunei and India as potential sources, but it also said that "in the current context it is difficult to find new suppliers."It added that Vietnam's two refineries are under pressure to expand production of other oil products, making it hard for them to increase jet fuel output.Even if supply stabilises, soaring fuel prices are disrupting the industry, it also warned, noting many routes would become unprofitable.Petrolimex and Skypec also flagged that the spike in jet fuel prices has meant they are quickly reaching limits on credit lines and urged banks to offer more flexible financing until market conditions normalise, the documents showed.Front-month jet fuel paper swaps in Singapore on a cost and freight basis are trading at around $157 a barrel, more than one-and-a-half times higher than pre-conflict levels, LSEG pricing data shows.
Up to $50,000 per winning proposal to support student opportunities and specialized resources

HOUSTON, March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- HeroX, the leading platform for crowdsourced solutions, today announced the launch of MPLAN on behalf of NASA's Minority University Research and Education Project (MUREP). This two-phase program seeks research proposals from Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) across NASA's 2026 topic areas , providing funding to MSIs to further develop ideas, facilitate research, and engage stakeholders.

"We are excited to kick off this year's NASA MUREP Partnership Learning Award Notification (MPLAN). MPLAN continues to make funding opportunities more accessible, strengthen institutional capacity, and foster direct engagement with NASA experts," said Torry Johnson, Deputy Associate Administrator for NASA's Office of STEM Engagement. "This initiative plays a vital role in empowering HBCUs, TCUs and MSIs to connect with NASA's mission and resources. Looking forward to another successful year and the new partnerships and innovations that will emerge."

The Challenge: MPLAN operates in two phases. In Phase 1, Principal Investigators at MSIs submit research proposals addressing one of NASA's 2026 topic areas by May 29, 2026. Successful submissions will exhibit scientific and technical merit, feasibility, and potential benefit to NASA's interests. In Phase 2, prize recipients participate in meetings with NASA Mission Directorate representatives and subject matter experts, including a kickoff meeting, workshop, and monthly engagements from August through November 2026.

The Prize: NASA awards up to $50,000 per winning proposal. MSIs can utilize funds for staff support, student experiences, professional development, research activities, and specialized resources.

Eligibility: Principal Investigators submitting proposals must have an affiliation with a Minority Serving Institution.

Key Dates:

Pre-proposal Webinar: March 26, 2026, 1:00 p.m. CT

Submission Deadline: May 29, 2026, 10:59 p.m. CT

Selection Announcement: July 2026

Full challenge timeline and details found at www.herox.com/NASAMPLAN .

ABOUT HEROX

HeroX is a platform and open marketplace for crowdsourcing innovation and human ingenuity, co-founded in 2013 by serial entrepreneur Christian Cotichini and XPRIZE Founder and Futurist Peter Diamandis. HeroX offers a turnkey, easy-to-use platform that supports anyone, anywhere, to solve everyday business and world challenges using the power of the crowd. Uniquely positioned as the Social Network for Innovation, HeroX is the only place you can build, grow, and curate your very own crowd.

Explore the latest challenges at www.herox.com .

SOURCE HeroX
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More than 350 advocates from 49 states are in Washington this week for the 2026 Parkinson's Policy Forum, urging the federal government to increase research funding, restrict the use of the Parkinson's-linked herbicide paraquat and implement the National Parkinson's Project.

A new national poll finds broad bipartisan support for these priorities, with most saying the federal government should play a larger role in addressing Parkinson's disease and that a cure is possible with more resources.

WASHINGTON, March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- A national survey of registered voters released today finds broad bipartisan support for stronger federal action on Parkinson's disease, including increased research funding, limits on toxic exposures linked to the disease and the implementation of a coordinated national strategy to improve prevention, treatment and care.

The survey of 1,000 registered voters nationwide was conducted March 3-5, 2026. These findings come as more than 350 Parkinson's advocates from 49 states are gathering in Washington, D.C., this week for the 2026 Parkinson's Policy Forum.

Survey of Registered Voters: Key Findings

More than three in four voters favor doubling federal investment in Parkinson's research .

. Two-thirds support banning or curbing the herbicide paraquat , which scientific evidence has linked to increased Parkinson's risk.

, which scientific evidence has linked to increased Parkinson's risk. Roughly four in five voters want the federal government to implement a national strategy to improve prevention, treatment and care.

During the Forum, people living with Parkinson's, care partners, researchers and organizational leaders will meet with members of Congress to advance policy priorities backed by the poll results:

Increase federal Parkinson's research funding to $600 million annually at the National Institutes of Health.

to $600 million annually at the National Institutes of Health. Protect brain health by limiting toxic exposure, including: Urging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to complete its reassessment of paraquat and suspend its use. Supporting the newly reintroduced HEALTHY BRAINS Act, bipartisan legislation to better understand how toxic exposures and other risk factors contribute to neurodegenerative diseases.

including: Implement the delayed National Parkinson's Project, a bipartisan whole-of-government federal initiative to better diagnose, treat, prevent and cure Parkinson's and related diseases.

The poll also underscores how widely Parkinson's disease touches American families: 37% of voters say a family member or close friend has been affected by the disease. Voters also say the federal government should be doing more to address Parkinson's, and 75% believe a cure is possible with greater investment in research.

Advocates Bring Personal Stories to Capitol Hill

Throughout the Forum, advocates will share their lived experiences with Parkinson's disease, underscoring the importance of policymaking informed by lived experiences and the value of a unified Parkinson's community speaking with one voice.

"I was diagnosed with Parkinson's at 39 while raising my family and building my career, so these numbers and this advocacy are deeply personal to me," said Policy Forum attendee Sara Herrity of Granger, Indiana. "This is my second year traveling to Washington alongside hundreds of advocates to share our stories and urge Congress to invest in research, protect brain health and change the trajectory of this disease. Parkinson's is affecting more families every year, and we cannot afford to wait."

The Parkinson's Policy Forum is hosted by The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, the American Parkinson Disease Association, the Parkinson's Foundation and the Parkinson's & Movement Disorder Alliance. Representatives from the 2026 Parkinson's Policy Forum partner organizations said:

"Washington responds to organized, persistent advocacy, and the Parkinson's community has proven that," said Dan Feehan, chief policy and government affairs officer at The Michael J. Fox Foundation. "Every major policy gain we've achieved, from increased attention to Parkinson's-linked toxic exposures to the National Parkinson's Project, happened because people living with Parkinson's and their families consistently raised their voices and pressed for action. The scale of this challenge and the strength of public support make clear that Congress must act."

"Our collective efforts are making a real impact, but the work is far from done," states Anne Hubbard, chief public policy officer, American Parkinson Disease Association (APDA). "Every day, APDA is fighting for everyone impacted by Parkinson's disease, from pushing for transformative federal research funding on Capitol Hill to protecting access to care, and delivering vital programs and services in local communities across America. Wherever people with Parkinson's and their loved ones are, APDA is there  committed to making each day easier and pushing relentlessly toward a better future."

"The mission of the Parkinson's Foundation is to take concrete steps today to improve life for people with Parkinson's, while simultaneously pushing research forward toward a cure," said Parkinson's Foundation Executive Vice President & Chief Strategy and Policy Officer, Andi Lipstein Fristedt. "The need for action has never come at a more critical moment. We're proud to bring the voices and stories of the 1.2 million people in the U.S. living with PD to the halls of Congress and call for urgent action to support those living with PD, and beat this disease."

"At PMD Alliance, we build all of our initiatives by first listening to community needs," said Andrea Merriam, chief executive officer at PMD Alliance. "So joining with our fellow national Parkinson's organizations to raise our voices for this Day of Action was a no-brainer. Congress passed the National Parkinson's Project in July of 2024, but with little oversight and missed deadlines, it's now 2026 and our community is still waiting for the answers and improvements they were promised. We won't be silent while their needs are being ignored."

The host organizations will also lead the annual Parkinson's National Day of Action on April 7, mobilizing thousands more advocates nationwide to contact lawmakers and sustain momentum throughout Parkinson's Awareness Month.

"As a clinical social worker supporting people with Parkinson's and atypical parkinsonism, like progressive supranuclear palsy, for almost 15 years, I've seen how there is almost nothing as powerful as coming together to make our community's collective voices heard," said Jessica Shurer, Forum attendee and director of clinical affairs and advocacy at CurePSP. "By working together on Capitol Hill and beyond, we have a real opportunity to foster congressional champions and advance awareness, support, science and policy for all of the parkinsonian conditions."

For more information about the 2026 Parkinson's Policy Forum and the April National Day of Action, visit www.pdpolicyforum.org .

About The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research (MJFF):

As the world's largest nonprofit funder of Parkinson's research, The Michael J. Fox Foundation is dedicated to accelerating a cure for Parkinson's disease and improved therapies for those living with the condition today. The Foundation pursues its goals through an aggressively funded, highly targeted research program coupled with active global engagement of scientists, Parkinson's patients, business leaders, clinical trial participants, donors and volunteers. In addition to funding $2.5 billion in research to date, the Foundation has fundamentally altered the trajectory of progress toward a cure. Operating at the hub of worldwide Parkinson's research, the Foundation forges groundbreaking collaborations with industry leaders, academic scientists and government research funders; creates a robust open-access data set and biosample library to speed scientific breakthroughs and treatment with its landmark clinical study, PPMI; increases the flow of participants into Parkinson's disease clinical trials with its online tool, Fox Trial Finder; promotes Parkinson's awareness through high-profile advocacy, events and outreach; and coordinates the grassroots involvement of thousands of Team Fox members around the world. For more information, visit us at www.michaeljfox.org, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

About the American Parkinson Disease Association:

The American Parkinson Disease Association (APDA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting Parkinson's disease (PD) by providing the support, education, research, and community that helps everyone impacted by PD live life to the fullest. Through a nationwide grassroots network of Chapters and Information & Referral (I&R) Centers, APDA works tirelessly to raise public awareness of this chronic neurologic movement disorder and deliver outstanding patient services, resources, and educational and wellness programs to the approximately one million people living with PD in the United States and their care partners and families. Envisioning a world without PD, APDA's national research program and Centers for Advanced Research aim to provide better treatments and unlock the mysteries of the disease. APDA is also committed to advancing public policy solutions that improve lives and move us toward a cure. Founded in 1961, APDA has raised and invested more than $338 million in its efforts to support the PD community. Learn more at www.apdaparkinson.org .

About the Parkinson's Foundation:

The Parkinson's Foundation makes life better for people with Parkinson's disease by improving care and advancing research toward a cure. In everything we do, we build on the energy, experience and passion of our global Parkinson's community. Since 1957, the Parkinson's Foundation has invested more than $513 million in Parkinson's research and clinical care. Connect with us on Parkinson.org , Facebook , X , Instagram or call 1-800-4PD-INFO (1-800-473-4636).

About the Parkinson's & Movement Disorder Alliance:

PMD Alliance improves quality of life right now through connected community and accessible learning opportunities for every perspective. From on-demand education to local events, our programs meet people where they are with the promise: there's a place for you here. Learn more at www.pmdalliance.org.

SOURCE The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research
Nscale Acquires the Monarch Compute Campus  America's First State-Certified AI Microgrid with a Potential of up to 8GW+ of Onsite Powered Microgrid

SAN JOSE, Calif., March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Nscale has signed an agreement to acquire American Intelligence & Power Corporation ("AIPCorp"), sponsored by Fidelis New Energy and 8090 Industries, including the Monarch Compute Campus in West Virginia  with plans to build one of the world's largest AI Factories.

The acquisition secures the Monarch Compute Campus, a site with up to 2,250 acres in Mason County, West Virginia, and the United States' first state-certified AI microgrid with a power runway scalable to over 8 gigawatts. It also establishes Nscale Energy & Power, a new global division of Nscale headquartered in Houston, Texas. The site has access to long-term, low-cost, onsite powered microgrid to support multi-gigawatt expansion over the long-term, a key bottleneck in the buildout of in-demand, cutting-edge AI compute.

The West Virginia campus is the first state-certified utility grid purpose-built for AI workloads in the United States. Initial power capacity of 2 gigawatts is expected to be online by the first half of 2028 with an expansion to approximately 8 gigawatts planned for 2031.

"Nscale is a global company, and the US is the world's largest AI infrastructure market. AI infrastructure needs to be built where demand is, and right now a significant share of that demand is in the United States," said Josh Payne, CEO of Nscale. "Monarch allows us to meet that demand. The acquisition builds on our existing US footprint and reflects the pace at which we are scaling to serve customers around the world."

Nscale Energy & Power

Nscale Energy & Power will be led by veteran energy executive Daniel Shapiro as Chief

Power Officer, alongside Bengt Jarlsjo as Deputy Chief Power Officer. The full AIPCorp and Fidelis New Energy organization  leadership and staff  joins Nscale as part of the acquisition. AIPCorp's team brings nearly a decade of experience and continuity in AI infrastructure development and will support Nscale's development of the Monarch Compute Campus and Nscale's future global development and expansion operations.

"The vision for AIPCorp was always to build the vertically integrated power-and-compute model that this combination achieves instantly. This combination  plus Nscale's disciplined balance sheet  delivers exactly what the high-growth AI market demands: a debottlenecked, integrated neocloud platform built to scale," said Daniel Shapiro, Chief Power Officer.

Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC acted as financial advisor, and Latham & Watkins served as legal counsel, each to Nscale. Greenhill, a Mizuho affiliate, acted as exclusive financial advisor to AIPCorp, and Vinson & Elkins LLP served as legal counsel to Fidelis New Energy.

About Nscale

Nscale is building the global hyperscaler engineered for AI infrastructure. Through vertically integrated AI solutions and modular, first-principles datacenter design across Europe and North America, Nscale delivers the compute foundation for enterprise AI training, fine-tuning, and inference at scale.

Media Contact: [email protected]

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2928710/5866687/Nscale_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Nscale
All 14-year-old Emily Pike wanted was to go home to her mother, grandmother, and her cat, Millie, on the sprawling San Carlos Indian Reservation in Arizona.

Instead, the Apache teenager spent the last two years of her short life in and out of group homes in Mesa, 90 miles away to the west, which she hated so much she once tried to hang herself rather than stay.

Emily was sensitive, spirited and rebellious, according to her family. Her mother struggled with drug addiction and her father drifted in and out of prison.

'Home' for her was a chaotic compound made up of several rundown shacks and a trailer where a number of lawless young men lived, some of whom were her relatives and one of whom allegedly sexually assaulted her in 2023.

She reported the assault that took place not far from her home, but police ultimately did not believe her, Emily's relatives told the Daily Mail.

Instead, she was removed and placed in a group home, with the alleged perpetrator still living in the compound.

'The sad part was that whenever we would go pick her up  her and her brother  to spend time with us, we'd find them with lice in their hair and no shoes again and just raggedy clothes,' her aunt Carolyn Pike, who now lives in Fort Collins, Colorado, told the Daily Mail.

'We wanted to take Emily to live with us but we were never able to.'

Emily Pike was 14 when she ran away and disappeared from a group home in Mesa, Arizona in January 2025

More than a year after her dismembered body was found, investigators are yet to make an arrest

Instead, Emily kept running away from group homes, trying to get back to her family.

That last time, she didn't make it.

After bolting, again, from her group home on January 27, 2025, her remains were found on Valentine's Day in two trash bags tossed on a patch of dirt on a lonely stretch of high desert in the Tonto National Forest  five miles from the boundary line of the reservation.

She had been dismembered. Her arms were missing and have never been found.

The way she was chopped up was 'almost professional,' a person familiar with the case told the Daily Mail.

An autopsy determined that Emily's cause of death was 'homicidal violence with blunt head trauma'.

The murder is being investigated by a joint task force comprised of the Gila County Sheriff's Department, the San Carlos tribal police, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the FBI  but her frustrated relatives, including her paternal aunt Carolyn, her paternal uncle, Allred Pike and others told the Daily Mail they never get any information about the case and worry the trail has gone cold.

More than a year later, they say they're still waiting to learn who picked her up, how she traveled across miles of Arizona desert  and who left her there.

Emily's remains were found dismembered in a trash bag on the side of a local highway on February 14, 2025

The sprawling San Carlos Apache Reservation stretches across 1.8 million acres of rugged Arizona terrain, where Emily longed to return

'It was a little hard to hear about all those police looking for Nancy Guthrie in Tucson,' Tao Etpison, vice chairman of the San Carlos Apache Tribe, told the Daily Mail.

'I understand that her daughter is famous but I wish we had even a fraction of that kind of attention paid to Emily.'

The agencies handling Emily's investigation are tight-lipped but the Daily Mail can reveal there may be a person of interest on law enforcement's radar.

There is also speculation from one law enforcement official that the person who took Emily might have been an older man based in the area around Globe, Arizona.

The San Carlos reservation is a fairly straight shot from Mesa along Highway 60 past the Superstition Mountains to Globe. You then turn onto Highway 70 to get to the reservation.

But whoever took Emily drove north from Globe, away from the main entrance to the reservation in an unincorporated area of Gila County.

'It [the dismemberment] could have happened in a bathtub,' the source told the Daily Mail.

'There's some thought it might have been an elderly person or a senior citizen. She had to trust whoever she went with.

She was last seen on January 27, 2025 when she ran away from a group home

Emily was described by relatives as lively and happy  a long-awaited girl in a family full of boys

'But they may not have had the energy to drag her body far into the desert so they cut her up instead and just threw her off the side of the road. They may have taken her arms so nobody could get her fingerprints.'

There are others, though, who think she could have been murdered somewhere on the reservation and then dumped off it.

Emily was identified from dental records.

Her parents, Steff Dosela and Jensen Pike, who never married and split up when Emily was little, have sued the Mesa group home, Sacred Journey, where Emily had been living.

Jensen Pike is currently in jail again and has a history of drug and alcohol abuse, his family said.

Sacred Journey filed a response in Maricopa County Superior Court, calling the two 'unfit, unresponsive and neglectful', which is why Emily was placed in the group home.

Allred Pike and another tribal member, who is Emily's grandmother's boyfriend, warned against going to the compound where Emily's mother lives on the reservation, claiming that the people who live there can be violent and unpredictable.

When a Daily Mail reporter visited the garbage-strewn address, which lies down a dirt road not far from a huge water tank memorial for Emily, one of her relatives came out screaming threats at the top of her lungs.

Emily's father Jensen Pike is currently in jail and has a history of drug and alcohol abuse. He is pictured in two of his several mugshots over the years

Home for Emily was a rundown compound that relatives described as chaotic and troubled. The property sits down a dirt road near the community of Bylas

'You're just gonna bad talk us, get out of here now!' she said.

Her mother, Steff Dosela, then appeared and also yelled angrily at the reporter to leave, refusing to say anything about her murdered daughter but not explaining why.

Two young men appeared menacingly with several dogs to back Dosela up.

Emily was deeply tied to the east end of the San Carlos Reservation, particularly the community of Bylas, where much of the Pike family is from.

The reservation stretches across roughly 1.8 million acres of rugged terrain, broken by mountain ranges and isolated communities.

'We do live in a different world,' said Allred Pike, 51, a former tribal council member who now works in construction and assists tribal members in court matters. 'The reservation is totally different from living off the reservation.'

Emily was reported missing from the Sacred Journey group home three times in 2023 before her final escape in January 2025.

Harrowing police cam video from September 2023 show police locating her walking alone along a canal after running away from the group home that time.

Allred Pike said he is both astonished and heartened at the number of people who stop by Emily's memorial just off Highway 70. T-shirts and notes from well wishers dot the fence around the tank

Then only 13, Emily vehemently rejects the cops' insistence that they take her back.

'I'm not going to go to that f***ing group home,' Emily tells the cops in the video. 'I hate it there.

'I just want to see my mom.'

Despite the turmoil she grew up in, Carolyn described Emily as a long-awaited girl in a family full of boys  named in tribute to her grandmother.

'We were all excited for Emily to come into this world, because there are a lot of boys in our family,' she said.

Family members crowded into the delivery room when she was born.

Carolyn, who grew up on the reservation, remembered cupcakes and birthday visits with Emily, who was a happy and lively girl before her home life began to take a toll.

'Emily loved dressing up, dolls, makeup, and getting her nails done, her aunt said.

She liked to draw and was reportedly planning to go to college someday.

Family say Emily Pike was sensitive, spirited and deeply tied to her home on the San Carlos Apache Reservation

'She had her crushes, she was excited and that's what makes me so angry.'

Going to the site where Emily's remains were found was haunting, Carolyn said.

'Making that drive was really hard,' she said. 'I was questioning, like, was she scared? Was she already gone? Was she hoping that somebody was gonna help her?'

Emily's death has reverberated across tribal communities in Arizona.

Carolyn said she did not fully understand the crisis of what is known by the acronym, MMIW  or Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women  until her niece's killing.

'I didn't know about MMIW,' she said. 'Emily I feel educated me more on it, because that's what she woke the world up to.'

Though Emily's parents have rarely talked about their daughter's murder, Allred Pike said he is both astonished and heartened at the number of people who stop by Emily's memorial just off Highway 70.

T-shirts and notes from well wishers dot the fence around the tank.

Emily's face is painted on the tank, alongside a photo illustration of Geronimo, the legendary Apache warrior who used the San Carlos reservation partly as a base before he surrendered to US forces in 1886.

Supporters also constructed a tall white cross across from the water tank with the name of Emily's cat Millie on it.

Family members say Emily's case helped spur broader awareness and legislative efforts, including expansion of Arizona's Turquoise Alert system for missing Indigenous persons.

'You hear about missing or murdered Indigenous women all the time,' Allred Pike said.

'Emily is one  and at the very least I hope she remains a symbol that raises awareness for her and all of the rest of them.'
A Maine mother-of-three, behind bars for killing her 10-year-old daughter, has claimed that she too had been a victim of her 'controlling and abusive' ex-husband.

Sharon Kennedy, 41, was convicted in 2020 of depraved indifference murder in the death of her daughter, Marissa Kennedy, who was found dead on the floor of their home in Stockton Springs in February 2018.

'I feel like I was not heard,' the mother said, speaking publicly for the first time since her conviction on Patrisha McLean's podcast, Let's Talk About It!

'If I just knew about domestic violence in the beginning of this relationship, it would have come to a stop in a heartbeat instead of escalating like this,' she added.

The medical examiner described the case as 'battered child syndrome,' and prosecutors detailed horrific injuries sustained over months, including bleeding on the girl's brain and a lacerated liver.

Authorities said Sharon and her ex-husband, Julio Carrillo, admitted to taking turns beating Marissa for five months leading up to her death.

During the trial, however, Sharon's defense attorney argued there was no physical evidence linking her to the murder of her daughter and claimed her confession to detectives was false. She did not testify in her own defense.

She was ultimately sentenced to 48 years at the Maine Correctional Center in Windham, while Julio was handed 55 years on the same charge.

Sharon Kennedy (pictured from prison) was convicted in 2020 of killing her 10-year-old daughter Marissa in 2018

Marissa was found dead at the family's home in Stockton Springs (pictured), covered in a blanket

Prosecutors detailed horrific injuries sustained over months, including bleeding on Marissa's (pictured) brain and a lacerated liver stemming from repeated beatings

In her first public remarks since being labeled a killer, Sharon said she was unaware of how much control her husband had over her and admitted she 'kinda went along with it.'

'I was not able to talk and tell my story, and it is time to get everything out there and let the public know what I went through and what kind of domestic violence that my daughter and I encountered,' Sharon said.

'Everybody who testified, not once have I got pointed to as being the monster in this relationship, being the one who did this to my daughter,' she added. 'Everything pointed to him.'

On March 3, from her jail cell, Sharon spoke with Patrisha McLean, host of the podcast and founder of the domestic abuse nonprofit Finding Our Voices.

She went all the way back to the first time she met Julio, a man she remembered as nothing but 'kind' when they worked together at a Wal-Mart in New York in 2013, when she was around 29 years old.

One of the first things Sharon claimed he did when they started seeing each other was consistently tell her there was a bomb under her car - which, she said, there never was.

She said the lie was merely an excuse for Julio to spend more time with her and handle her transportation.

In New York, Sharon explained, she had a strong support system, with family, friends and a busy schedule that included several jobs, one of which involved working with children.

On the March 3 podcast episode of Let's Talk About It! Sharon said she was unaware of how much control her husband had over her at the time and admitted she 'kinda went along with it.' Sharon is pictured during her trial

Sharon was found guilty and convicted in 2020 of depraved indifference murder

Her ex-husband, Julio Carrillo, was handed 55 years on the same charge in 2019

After the pair's honeymoon in Maine, however, they moved to Bangor because Julio 'thought Maine was a nice place,' despite Sharon not knowing anyone there.

She claimed it was at this point that Julio began increasingly isolating her and subjecting both her and Marissa to physical and emotional abuse.

During the podcast, the mother described multiple forms of abuse, some of which she listed out: 'Broke my eyeglasses so I couldn't see, forced me to have sex even in front of my kids and strangled me in front of Marissa until I thought I was gonna die.'

Several of these incidents came to light during her 2020 trial, where multiple witnesses and neighbors described disturbing behavior and patterns of abuse in the family.

In one reported incident, a witness said Julio stomped on the gas while Sharon leaned into the car to buckle in her son. In another, he allegedly kicked her knee as she struggled with groceries.

'He thought it was funny to do that,' Sharon said during the podcast episode.

McLean, who attended the trial to report for her local paper, said witnesses repeatedly described Sharon as deliberately keeping her head down and avoiding everyone in the neighborhood.

Sharon's own father also stated that Julio changed his daughter entirely, turning the once caring, loving mother into a 'scared, domineered shell of her former self.'

Patrisha McLean (pictured), host of the podcast and founder of the domestic abuse nonprofit Finding Our Voices spoke to Sharon from behind bars

During the podcast, Sharon said Julio was the one who stood on Marissa's (pictured) calves and that he sexually abused both her and her daughter in that position

The incarcerated mother alleged to McLean that the abuse didn't stop at physical harm, but continued verbally, as she listed the harsh pejoratives directed at her daily.

'The one that really got me was "worthless mother,"' she shared. 'It was a big putdown when I was the one taking care of the kids constantly.'

During her trial, neighbors testified hearing a man in the family apartment calling Sharon 'retarded,' heard Sharon crying, and told how Julio regularly abused Sharon and her daughter, noting that everyone in the building feared him.

Shortly after Marissa's death, Sharon told police she took part in the abuse.

In recorded interviews, she changed her story multiple times, saying she hit her daughter and stood on her calves as the girl knelt naked on the kitchen floor.

According to court documents viewed by the Daily Mail, Julio told police that he and Sharon punished Marissa by forcing her to kneel on the kitchen tile - a surface that caused more pain - and raising her hands above her head while they whipped her repeatedly with a leather belt.

But a photo shown at trial showed both Sharon and her daughter disrobed and kneeling on the floor with their hands in the air.

During the podcast, Sharon claimed that her husband was actually the one who stood on Marissa's calves and she alleged that he sexually abused both her and her daughter in that position.

While listing out forms of abuse she endured, Sharon (left) told McLean (right) Julio 'broke my eyeglasses so I couldn't see, forced me to have sex even in front of my kids and strangled me in front of Marissa until I thought I was gonna die'

Authorities previously stated Sharon and Julio admitted to taking turns beating Marissa (pictured) for five months leading up to her death

During the podcast, Sharon (pictured from prison) said: 'Not once have I got pointed to as being the monster in this relationship, being the one who did this to my daughter'

'Just watching him do what he did to her, and she had to watch the same thing happen to me,' the mother said.

'The day she passed away, he showed no remorse at all,' she added. 'Not a single tear came from him. Nothing.'

Previous court records also claimed that the pair would hit the 10-year-old girl with open hands and fists in her abdomen and sides, or use a metal mop handle until one day it broke from the force of the blows to the child's ribs.

When the parents were not beating her, documents claimed, they would lock Marissa in a closet for long periods of time. Sharon also reportedly told police that her daughter would scream nonstop during her punishments.

Prosecutors said the abuse, which began in October 2017, continued for months until February 22 or 23 the following year, by which time Marissa could no longer walk or speak without slurring.

Julio told police that his wife believed Marissa was faking her condition, so she beat her at least one more time.

Sharon later told police that after Marissa's death, her husband moved her body to a different location in the house in an attempt to conceal the crime.

After a 911 call, Marissa was found by police in an upstairs bedroom, on the floor under a blanket.

During trial, neighbors testified how Julio regularly abused Sharon and Marissa (pictured), and claimed that everyone in the condo complex feared him

The medical examiner described Marissa's (pictured) case as 'battered child syndrome'

State police said the couple's two younger children, then aged one and two, were in the home at the time of their older sister's death. The Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) took custody of the children.

In 2019, Julio pleaded guilty, and the following year, a jury found Sharon guilty of the same offense.

After Sharon was sentenced, the DHHS released a 12-page report detailing two years of interactions with the family by police, medical staff and DHHS caseworkers.

The report highlighted many red flags, including Julio's insistence on being present whenever Sharon or Marissa were questioned.

During the prison interview Sharon reflected on what her daughter's life would be like now.

'If she was still living right now, she would be graduating from high school this year,' Sharon said on the episode in regards to her daughter.

'Her life was taken way too soon, at 10 years old, and what he did to her was the worst thing that a mother can see happening to her child.'

In the past six years, Sharon said she became a certified victim advocate, helping other inmates recognize the abuse they experienced, and has also begun a parenting class.

She added that she is continuing her education and working toward a bachelors degree while behind bars.

'Im bettering myself to prove to the outside world that Im not the person that everybody thinks I am,' Sharon said.

The Daily Mail has reached out to Sharon's attorney, Chris MacLean of Dirigo Law Group, and Julio's attorney, Darrick Banda of Bourget & Banda, for further comment.
So which Prime Minister ducked the task of telling Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor his globetrotting days as International Trade Envoy, and all round freeloader, were at an end?

Appointed by Tony Blair, Gordon Brown renewed him in the post, but the axe fell in 2011 when David Cameron was PM.

There had been a string of controversies over the then Prince's reputation as 'Air Miles Andy', his expenses, complaints about him being rude to his hosts and, of course, his links to convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

There were a number of complaints over Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's frequent flying during his time as trade envoy

The issue of his conduct had repeatedly surfaced at Prime Minister's Questions  and Cameron had had enough.

But I can reveal that Cameron never himself told Andrew he was out of a job. He deputed instead Lord Marland, a minister, who was the first head of the newly formed British Business Ambassadors. Marland had dinner with Andrew at the 30-room mansion Royal Lodge at Windsor to break the bad news.

'He was very gracious, charming even,' Marland tells me. 'He knew why I was there, and he agreed it was time for him to stand down and do something else.'

At a swish party at a London hotel for Lord Ashcroft's 80th birthday, the compere, Rory Bremner, announced the top prize for the evening's charity draw as: 'Your name redacted from the Epstein files.'

Gaffe prone Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy was at it again last week. In an interview on Radio 4 he referred to Britain deploying RAF 'tycoons' to assist Cyprus instead of Typhoons. Watch your back Lord Sugar, given that you've got a pilot's licence, you might soon be posted to the Gulf!

Republican Senator John Kennedy, firing a broadside at the Prime Minister over his stance on the Chagos Islands and using UK bases to fight Iran, says: 'He is trying to give President Trump advice about how to conduct the war. That's a little bit like seeking the advice of a nun about sex.

'Sir Keir Starmer is the last person you would want to go to advise you about how to have a military confrontation.'

Finally Labour has completed its purge of the last hereditary peers. But at what cost to its other parliamentary business? Baroness Smith, Leader of the Lords, admitted that one of her aides worked out that the eight-day Apollo 11 mission got Neil Armstrong to the moon and back 'quicker than we conducted our deliberations on these issues'.

Sartorial oddities in the Commons: Labour MP Dame Siobhain McDonagh came to PMQs in a purple, toga-style dress with a laurel-motif necklace  making her appear as if she was auditioning for the role of Julius Caesar.

Book idea dawns on Archer

The incomparable Jeffrey Archer celebrated 50 years as an author with a party at his penthouse flat by the Thames.

Archer's latest novel Adam And Eve  about the fates of two children born on Armistice Day  has been billed as his 'final' book. But it seems he isn't yet ready to put down his pen.

His son James tells me: 'Exactly 36 hours and 14 minutes after Dad retired, my phone went at 6.20am. It was Dad. He said: 'I've got this idea for six short stories and a novella.' '

Tory MP Lincoln Jopp was asked by his wife last week what he was going to be doing in parliament. Jopp replied: 'Trying to support the British pub industry.' A deadpan Mrs Jopp retorted: 'Trust me, you're doing your bit already.'
It is now clear Sir Keir Starmer misled the public about the Mandelson affair and that our Prime Minister routinely lies to get himself out of a hole.

Instead of addressing that scandal honestly, he is attempting another trick: change the subject. His 'Look over there, the Tories want to go to war with Iran!' schtick is a convenient distraction. It is, as we have come to expect from Starmer, also entirely untrue.

My position on Iran has been consistent from the beginning.

Unlike the Prime Minister, I do not decide matters of national security based on polling or the headlines of the day. I start from first principles.

Our foreign policy must always be in our national interest. Britain stands with her allies when they confront hostile regimes. And Britain has a duty to defend the servicemen and women we place in harm's way.

Those principles are not theoretical. Iran's regime has brutalised its own people, funded terrorist groups across the Middle East, and repeatedly threatened Britain itself.

Our security services have disrupted dozens of Iranian plots on British soil. When our allies confront that threat militarily, I'm clear we shouldn't have joined in  I remain concerned that there isn't a clear plan behind the strikes  but Britain should also not be neutral.

From the start I was clear about what those principles mean in practice. I said Britain should allow our allies to use our bases.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has written for the Daily Mail that Keir Starmer has a 'fantasy' belief that Britain is 'merely an observer' in the Middle East conflict

Many people do not realise the extent to which the United States and Israel protect British citizens at home and abroad by sharing intelligence with us, defending our interests and supporting British forces across the world.

If they are confronting a regime that threatens us all, the very least Britain can do is let them use our bases  a position Keir Starmer was dragged to eventually.

But there is another principle that matters even more: the duty to defend our own people. Britain has put bases and personnel in places like Bahrain and Cyprus and those countries expect us to stand with them in difficult moments.

When those bases are attacked, the British government has a simple responsibility: protect the men and women serving there properly.

I've spoken to military experts who are clear that when it comes to the proper defence of our people and those allies who provide a home for British bases, it is far better to strike the missile and drone launch sites at source, rather than intercept them after they've been launched.

This is where the real difference between me and the Prime Minister becomes clear. Keir Starmer wants to believe Britain is merely an observer in this conflict. That is fantasy.

British aircraft are flying missions across the region. Our bases in Cyprus and Bahrain have already been targeted. Just last week, a drone strike hit a British base in Iraq. Our forces are already at risk. We should do everything we possibly can to protect them.

That is why the Prime Minister's attempt to misrepresent my position is so revealing. He wants the public to believe that anyone willing to defend Britain's interests is somehow reckless. The truth is the opposite.

Pretending we are not involved in a conflict when our bases are under attack shows Keir Starmer is shamefully reckless and it is a convenient denial.

At a moment when the Prime Minister is facing serious questions about his own honesty over the Mandelson affair, he would clearly prefer to talk about anything else. Misrepresenting my position on Iran allows him to distract from his scandal and frighten people about his political opponents.

The difference between us is simple. I start with principles. Britain stands by its allies. Britain defends the servicemen and women it sends into danger to our maximal not minimal ability.

My principles may mean taking difficult decisions, but I do not change them depending on the opinion polls or the political weather.

Across the United Kingdom, britons want to see a stronger country. When our allies face a hostile regime and when British forces come under attack, we should not hesitate or hide behind legalistic excuses.

We should do what serious countries do: act in our national interest, stand by our allies and show we have the muscle to defend our people.
Whatever we think of Donald Trump's war in Iran, it has exposed some home truths about Britain's chronic weakness.

One such truth is that we no longer have a proper navy capable of going to sea. At least half our tragically depleted fleet is holed up in port being maintained or repaired.

Another home truth is that in an increasingly insecure world we don't have cheap or reliable energy. Successive governments are responsible for this lamentable state of affairs.

But this Government, which has put its energy policy entirely in the hands of one deluded zealot  I'm of course speaking of Ed Miliband  is making things much worse.

And yet, incredible though it may sound, Miliband believes that the crisis in the Middle East actually vindicates his headlong, and ruinously expensive, rush to net zero.

The Energy Secretary should join the Greens, if they'd have him, since his policy is indistinguishable from theirs  and just as bonkers. Who knows, like Green Party leader Zack Polanski he may believe that hypnosis can increase the size of women's breasts.

Miliband told Laura Kuenssberg on her BBC programme: 'There is one lesson from this crisis... and that is, we need homegrown clean power that we control.'

The Energy Secretary had previously said to BBC Radio news on Friday: 'We've got to get off the rollercoaster of fossil fuels.' He went on to justify his refusal to grant any more licences to drill for gas and oil in the North Sea, asserting that granting such licences 'would not take a penny off people's bills'.

Miliband told Laura Kuenssberg on her BBC programme: 'There is one lesson from this crisis... and that is, we need homegrown clean power that we control.'

Where does one start with this nonsense? Whether he likes it or not (and Miliband doesn't) tens of millions of people are going to need gas and oil for the foreseeable future. Both Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves said as much in the Commons last week.

There are 23 million gas boilers in Britain. Many will be replaced with new gas boilers, which are cheaper, and often more effective, than heat pumps. That is why gas will be needed for a very long time.

Bills might not fall significantly if we produced more of our gas and oil from the North Sea, since prices are determined by global markets. But some experts believe they would come down because we would escape the high costs of transporting liquefied natural gas.

What is certain is that increasing the proportion of our gas we get from the North Sea (at present it is about a third) would give us much greater energy security.

Extracting more of our own gas would also provide thousands more jobs for British workers, which is why Unite, the trade union representing oil and gas workers, is wildly in favour of reviving North Sea extraction and exploration.

It would also provide more tax revenue for the Exchequer. That said, the present tax rate of 78 per cent is grand larceny, acting as a disincentive to gas and oil companies.

Why doesn't Ed Miliband want more drilling in the North Sea? Because he is a climate change fanatic who puts ideology in front of all other considerations including the security of this country.

He's a Grade A hypocrite, too. He accepts oil imports via pipelines from Norway (which supplies about half our needs) while the country increases its own North Sea exploration. He tolerates gas shipments from America and Qatar, whose carbon footprint is considerable.

Why doesn't Ed Miliband want more drilling in the North Sea? Because he is a climate change fanatic who puts ideology in front of all other considerations including the security of this country, writes Stephen Glover

A report in The Mail on Sunday suggested Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper is teaming up with the Energy Secretary on what is justly called a 'nightmare ticket'

As long as the gas comes from elsewhere, he is content. It is tantamount to my saying that I am giving up meat for Lent and then shamelessly wolfing an Argentinian steak on the grounds that it is foreign.

So when he talks about getting off 'the rollercoaster of fossil fuels' he is being mealy-mouthed because he knows we'll continue to be dependent on gas, and will be long after we have been relieved of his presence.

Incidentally, so little does Miliband like the idea of gas that he has refused to make greater provision for its storage. A week ago it was reported that Britain had only two days of gas stored, whereas many European countries have several weeks of gas. We are unnecessarily exposed.

What Britain requires is a balanced energy policy. We already have more than enough wind turbines. We should have much more nuclear power, as even Miliband acknowledges, though he has nonetheless been dragging his feet.

And we must be honest about our continuing need for oil and gas. That means encouraging more development in the North Sea. It should also mean (though I recognise this will never happen under Labour) fracking for gas once safety concerns have been properly addressed.

Instead of adopting a balanced approach, Miliband is pushing a reluctant country down the narrow path towards more wind turbines and solar power. This can never be the solution for the simple reason that wind and sunshine in Britain are irregular.

Last year the Government paid some 1.5 billion to wind farms for turning off turbines when their electricity wasn't needed, and to gas plants to fire up when the electricity grid couldn't cope. That money could have been spent on building up our denuded Navy.

At the same time, about 16 per cent of our electricity was imported via interconnectors from Europe because at times we were not producing enough power from our own sources. Again we are dependent on others  and of course it comes at a cost.

This is the story of Ed Miliband's hold over us. We are further away than ever from having anything resembling energy security or independence, while Labour's election promise that bills would fall by 300 hasn't begun to materialise.

On the contrary, electricity bills have risen by about 200 on Miliband's watch, and are likely to go up again in the second half of this year unless Trump's war ends quickly. Much of the explanation lies in Labour's helter-skelter investment in net zero.

Starmer and Rachel Reeves may be politically at sea but they must have enough sense to see that Miliband's zealotry is damaging this country, and making an unloved Government even more unpopular.

Starmer is weak, of course, and fears Miliband as a possible successor. A report in the Mail on Sunday suggested that schoolmarmish Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper is teaming up with the Energy Secretary on what is justly called a 'nightmare ticket'.

God save us from that. Awful as they are, I'd rather have Starmer and Reeves than that dreadful duo, or indeed any other Labour combination that has been spoken of.

Miliband sticks to his dogmatic views in defiance of all the evidence. He gives added credibility to the old dictum that there's no one more dangerous in life than a clever fool.

If Starmer wants this Government to survive he must get rid of him. Give him another job, if that will sweeten the pill, for all I care. There is nowhere Miliband will do a quarter as much damage as in his present post.

Of course, he's too old at 56 to adjust. The world could collapse around him and he'd still not concede that he is wrong. The only way to protect the country from Ed Miliband is to change his job.
Donald Trump, never a president to care about consistency in his foreign policy, has become the flip-flopper in chief.

Despite insisting that the US has 'already destroyed 100 per cent of Iran's military capability', he called this weekend for America's allies to bolster his navy in the Gulf in order to keep the Strait of Hormuz open to supertankers.

Within hours, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband answered the call.

He tepidly told the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg that Britain would 'consider' sending both ships and mine-hunting drones to help keep the bottleneck open.

The response from other allies  Japan, South Korea and France included  has been more circumspect still, acknowledging Trump's plea for help and pledging to 'monitor' the situation, again without committing ships.

The Government is undoubtedly concerned  hence the possibility of supplying drones to the theatre  as oil prices soar and Britain's negligible gas reserves dwindle.

Only a week earlier, Trump was sneering at Britain for putting HMS Dragon on readiness to deploy to the Mediterranean, as a safeguard for British troops in Cyprus against attacks from Iran and Hezbollah.

'It's a little bit late to be sending ships, right?' he scoffed.

Donald Trump's international call to arms is asking much of its allies, many of whom have been subject to his swingeing tariffs, writes Mark Almond

Ed Miliband told the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg that Britain would 'consider' sending both ships and mine-hunting drones to help keep the bottleneck open

Apparently not. Trump is realising that America's navy is unlikely to be sufficient to keep 'the Hormuz Strait OPEN, SAFE and FREE!' as he put it on his Truth Social messaging site.

War with Iran and, in particular, seizing control of Kharg Island  home to a major oil terminal considered the country's economic lifeline to the north of the Strait  has long been one of Trump's dreams.

In 1988, in one of his first public political statements, he warned if he ever became President: 'I'd be harsh on Iran.' Ever since the 1979-81 hostage crisis, when Iran humiliated the US, Trump has expressed fury at the Ayatollahs.

'One bullet shot at one of our men or ships and I'd do a number on Kharg Island. I'd go in and take it,' he bragged in 1988. 'Iran can't even beat Iraq, yet they push the United States around. It'd be good for the world to take them on.'

But Kharg Island is precisely the reason why previous White House incumbents have avoided head-on confrontation with Iran.

It stands in deep water, enabling 200,000-ton oil tankers to dock and load up with oil pumped through vast pipes from Iran.

Almost 40 years ago, President Ronald Reagan had a far bigger navy at his disposal.

And today, the situation is even more precarious for US forces, largely due to Tehran's still formidable arsenal of suicide drones. While the US and Israel have done a thorough job of knocking out Iran's air defences, nuclear laboratories and ballistic missile factories, its drones can be assembled anywhere and made cheaply.

The larger ones, packed with explosives, can easily be built in a domestic garage. As for the little ones, capable of carrying a cluster of grenades, they might be put together in a kitchen.

Iran has a potentially vast number of home bomb factories. The components, if not sourced internally, can be imported from China by road, via Pakistan.

Drone operators and artillery hide in the Zagros mountains that loom over the Strait, making sitting ducks of the shipping below.

This will present a formidable obstacle to any US attempt, with or without its allies, to secure safe passage into the Gulf.

Another unsolved problem will be Iran's potential to cut off its own oil supply in the event that US forces occupy Kharg Island.

A huge American bombardment appears to have knocked out the island's defences while leaving its storage facilities intact.

But Iran is under no obligation to keep the pipelines from the mainland flowing. Oil is currently being exported from Kharg via the Strait, out to the Indian Ocean and on to India and China.

But if the US seized Kharg, Iran would certainly switch off the taps, despite the short-term cost to their economy, which would only accelerate the mounting oil shock  something Trump wants desperately to avoid.

If Britain did offer to help beyond drones, we could send six ships and two submarines at a pinch  but that would mean denuding our own defences in the Atlantic.

The Royal Navy's desperate weakness in numbers would leave it particularly vulnerable to kamikaze drones and torpedo speedboats in the Gulf's maritime shooting gallery.

Donald Trump's international call to arms is asking much of its allies, many of whom have been subject to his swingeing tariffs and scornful, belittling comments about their military capabilities and sacrifices.

Nor does the President's equivocation towards Russia and Ukraine inspire confidence, among European powers at least, that he would risk his own ships to back up his allies if things go wrong.

It would be easier for allies to bargain with Iran  as France, Italy, China and India appear to have done  to allow their ships through the Strait unharmed.

Trump may find that 'doing a number on Kharg Island' is one thing, but defeating Iran in the Gulf is another entirely.

Mark Almond is director of the Crisis Research Institute in Oxford
In his previous career as a TV news presenter, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth once had to try his hand at axe throwing live on air. But instead of hitting the target a few yards away, the double-headed weapon flew wildly off course and struck a drummer in an army marching band.

The soldier survived (the axe hit his arm), even if the ego of the man who is now one of the Trump administrations most controversial and gung-ho members was bruised.

That was 2015. But over a decade later, as he oversees US military action in the Middle East, its still not entirely clear who Hegseth is chiefly aiming at  the Islamic Republic, or the unpatriotic US media.

At an acrimonious Pentagon press conference on Friday, Hegseth (who prefers to be called Secretary of War) let fly at the latter, bitterly complaining that the Press wasnt sufficiently behind the war effort.

The United States is decimating the radical Iranian regimes military in a way the world has never seen before, said the bullish 45-year-old. Mojtaba Khamenei, Irans new leader, was wounded and likely disfigured, he added bloodthirstly.

The mullahs, Hegseth said, were underground, cowering  thats what rats do. Language that fits perfectly with Trumps decision to call the operation Epic Fury.

Previous US military operations in Afghanistan and Libya were called Enduring Freedom and United Protector. But thats wimp talk to Hegseth, a former major in the National Guard whose tour of duty in war-torn Iraq reportedly convinced him that the US military needed to worry less about helping civilians and obeying international law, and to concentrate on killing the enemy.

Maximum lethality, not tepid legality, was how he described the strategy earlier this year. Violent effect, not politically correct.

At an acrimonious Pentagon press conference on Friday, Hegseth bitterly complained that the Press wasnt sufficiently behind the war effort

Hegseth, who claims he hasnt really washed his hands in ten years as germs are not a real thing, was always a controversial choice for high office

Hegseth with his third and current wife Jennifer Rauchet, whom he met while working at Fox

The silver-haired ex-pundit is furious that the media isnt playing along with his belligerent rhetoric. On Friday, he claimed a report from broadcaster CNN that the Trump administration had underestimated the wars impact on the Strait of Hormuz  where oil tankers are being hit by Iranian forces  was patently ridiculous.

Americans can decide whether CNN or Hegseth is the more patently ridiculous party. But, given polls show most US voters dont support the conflict, critics believe the Secretary of War would be better advised to tone down the vitriolic tone.

In fact, some believe that President Trump  who recently sacked his similarly hawkish and self-promoting Homeland Security Secretary, Kristi Noem, after her botched immigration raids became a liability to him  is only too happy for Hegseth to soak up all the criticism as hell be a convenient fall guy if it goes horribly wrong in the Middle East.

But then the eccentric Hegseth, who claims he hasnt really washed his hands in ten years as germs are not a real thing, was always a controversial choice for high office.

A graduate of Princeton University, Hegseth won a Bronze Star serving in Iraq and Afghanistan where he earned a reputation as a competent and committed officer.

But his private life is rather less commendable. After serving in the military, Hegseth was forced to step down from two veterans organisations over allegations of sexual and personal misconduct, and financial mismanagement. While president of Concerned Veterans for America, he was reportedly frequently drunk, sometimes needing to be carried out of events.

According to a report, although married at the time, he once took his team to a Louisiana strip club and was so inebriated he had to be restrained from jumping on stage to join the dancers.

The report also claimed Hegseth and his cronies would divide female staff into two groups  party girls and not party girls  and pursue the former. An ex-employee accused him of visiting a bar in Ohio in 2015 and drunkenly chanting Kill all Muslims! The Hegseth camp refused to comment on the claims.

Some believe Trump is happy for Hegseth to soak up the pressure over the Iran conflict. Hegseth, left, pictured with Trump and Vice-President JD Vance

President Trump recently sacked Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem after her botched immigration raids became a liability to him

It was later revealed he secretly paid a settlement to a woman who accused him of raping her in 2017, although Hegseth insisted the encounter was consensual.

That same year, Hegseth was offered a job on Fox Newss weekend morning show after having been a frequent contributor to the channel. It was at Fox that he met his current  and third  wife, Jennifer Rauchet, who was his producer. They were both married, each with three children.

Insiders accused Jennifer of surreptitiously advancing his career after they became lovers. Having had a daughter together, the couple now raise their seven children in what they call a blended family.

It was on Fox News  Trumps favourite station  that the president spotted Hegseths potential after watching him endlessly attacking wokeness in the US military.

Hegseth has no experience running an organisation as huge as the Pentagon but hes fiercely loyal.

He has said he will never forget when, back in 2019, Trump told him he was a warrior after he campaigned on behalf of three servicemen accused of war crimes. It was a hallowed night, Hegseth recalled.

Critics have found endless reasons why he should have never been let anywhere near the top levels of government  not least his tattoo which reads Deus Vult (Latin for God Wills It), a crusader battle cry from the Middle Ages. Some argue Hegseth has proved the sceptics entirely right since taking office.

He quickly caused outrage at the Pentagon by inviting his wife to sensitive, high-level conversations and meetings  in an unofficial advisory capacity  including one with UK Defence Secretary John Healey and another at NATO headquarters in Brussels. Mrs Hegseth  who Pentagon staff nicknamed Yoko Ono after John Lennons allegedly interfering wife  was reportedly behind her husbands attempts to install a $40,000 make-up studio next to the Pentagon briefing room so hed look better on TV. Hegseth denied the reports.

However, even a Beatle would surely have known not to lead a highly sensitive government discussion about a forthcoming military strike in Yemen using a commercial messaging app, Signal  as it emerged last year that Hegseth had done.

Hegseth disclosed the targets, weapons and timing for the March 2025 attack on Houthi Islamist militia on a platform which, although encrypted, is not secure and can be hacked, according to security experts.

Even worse, Hegseth shared the plans with inveterate Trump critic and prominent journalist Jeffrey Goldberg, who had been accidentally added to the group chat.

It later emerged that Hegseth had sent sensitive details of the Houthi operation to another Signal chat group, named Defence Team Huddle, composed of family and friends.

With critics wryly observing that Operation Epic Fury risks becoming Operation Epic Fail, Pete Hegseth might need more than a throwing axe to defend himself if he ends up being the one Trump throws to the wolves.
'We operate from a place of love!' yelled rapper Bobby Vylan to appreciative nods from the crowd below him.

Moments later, he emphasised the point: 'Everything we do stems from love!' At which point, he rounded off his sermon on a suitably tender note. 'I'd just like to conclude with this: Death! Death! To the IDF!'

The crowd around me gleefully joined in with Vylan's loving call for the slaughter of the Israeli Defence Forces over and over, waving, in equal measure, Palestinian flags, Iranian flags and posters of recently-terminated Iranian leader Ali Khamenei, billed as 'The Great Martyr. Our Pride. Our Leader'.

A group of teenage girls in front of me were literally jumping up and down for joy.

For two tense, toxic hours this summed up the essence of Sunday afternoon's Al Quds rally in London: around 3,000 people trying to be as anti-Israeli, anti-American, anti-British and anti-Semitic as possible without actually breaking the law. In the end, the police made a dozen arrests.

Held every year since the late Iranian revolutionary leader Ayatollah Khomeini called for an annual show of support for 'the oppressed', for Iran's theocracy, for the Palestinian cause and for the dream of Islamic 'victory over the infidels', 'Quds Day' (from the Arabic word for Jerusalem) has usually involved a march.

Given that Britain's Armed Forces are now actively at war with the Iranian regime, the Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood had taken the extreme step of banning this year's demonstration.

However, the law could not ban a static protest.

Demonstrators arrive at Albert Embankment in Central London for a static protest after the Al Quds march was banned

Pro-Iran demonstrators held signs which read 'Home Secretary, de-prescribe Palestine Action'

Bobby Vylan - one half of the punk rap duo Bob Vylan - repeated his controversial Glastonbury chant of 'death to the IDF' at the rally

A mobile stage and screen had been given police permission for precisely 120 minutes of amplified support for Tehran, Gaza and allied causes at a pre-designated point on the south bank of the Thames just across and upstream from Westminster.

One reason for staging the event by the river was so that the counter-demonstration by Iranian dissidents - in support of the US/Israeli military campaign - could be parked on the opposite bank. Both protests were therefore in sight of each other but separated by the Thames, with several police boats patrolling in between.

The demonstration had been organised by a group called the Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC), which has links to the Iranian regime.

Opening the show, IHRC organiser Naz Ali urged everyone to lift up their pictures and 'pay our condolences to the great martyr, Shahid Khamenei'.

He also paid tribute to a longstanding supporter, a kindly old lady called 'Mrs Hussein' who had been a regular at this event every year until her recent passing.

We were all invited to join in with 'the chant she always did' on these occasions: 'Marg bar Amrika! Marg bar Israel!'

The crowd duly honoured the memory of Mrs Hussein with this Arabic incantation of 'Death to America! Death to Israel!'

Mr Ali repeatedly heaped abuse on the Home Secretary, Ms Mahmood - 'whatever she is', he added.

Police pictured arresting a protester at the static protest in central London today

Pro-Iran demonstrators unfurl huge Palestinian flags brandished with the words 'boycott the Zionist' and 'Be on the right side of history'

A pro-Iran demonstrator wearing a keffiyeh leads chants through a microphone

Some of it was in a foreign language but I deduced from the sniggering around me that he was making fun of the fact that Ms Mahmood is, herself, a Muslim.

Due to the constraints on time, speakers had been restricted to just three minutes each and most, mercifully, stuck to the plan.

We heard from a mix of clerics, 'activists' and academics, some of them quite eminent.

Professor Abbas Edelat, a mathematician from Imperial College, was introduced as a 'great champion of peace', though this was a little at odds with the tone of his speech: 'Ayatollah Khomeini recognised Israel for what it is.

The Zionist regime, he said, is a cancerous tumour that has to be stopped and defeated.

And this was a prophecy - because the Zionist criminals have openly declared the greater Israel project now.'

The US and Israel, he added peacefully, 'represent the totality of evil in humanity'.

Quite a few speakers also called for the downfall of the 'lapdog Starmer', though - for better or worse - Britain is seen as a second-rate non-entity these days, a far cry from the days when Iranian mobs burned Margaret Thatcher or Tony Blair in effigy.

A recurring theme was the US attack on an Iranian school which killed 175 girls two weeks ago.

Hussain Shafiei of George Galloway's Workers' Party blamed this on 'the Epstein people'.

An Iranian regime supporter holds an image of Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtada Khamenei

Another speaker railed against the 'Epstein axis of power'. Such is the reach of the dead paedophile into almost every major news story of modern times.

Most of Sunday's speakers were of Middle Eastern heritage - mainly Iranian and Palestinian - as were the vast majority of the crowd.

I noticed that almost all the women were in headscarves, dutifully following the diktats of the Iranian regime, which doles out harsh punishments for women who do not cover their heads (or indeed for people who host protests like this one).

There was also a tiny group from the ultra-Orthodox Jewish group Neturei Karta, which opposes the state of Israel on religious grounds.

A minority of the crowd were white British, mainly white-haired Corbynista wrinklies in anoraks and walking boots.

One younger model, a furious student, took to the stage to complain that she had been the victim of 'Zionist witch-hunting' the day before.

'On Sunday, in Brighton, I was arrested by Sussex police for my use of the chant "Globalise the Intifada"', she explained, perhaps unwisely given that it is a proscribed slogan.

'The police are acting on behalf of the Zionists in their endless endeavour to interrogate pro-Palestinian activists.'

The high point was supposed to be Bobby Vylan. Readers may recall that he caused a crisis at the BBC after it screened him shouting 'Death to the IDF' at last year's Glastonbury Festival.

This resulted in accusations of anti-Semitism and a six-month police investigation. It concluded the words were not actionable, so Vylan was going to push things to the limit on Sunday.

He also claimed the 'pigs' (police) were 'cowards' who were trying to 'cosy up to the Board of Deputies' (Of British Jews).

It was a curiously stilted and stumbling address for someone who is allegedly a rap artist. He read it all off his mobile phone, and then lost his way when the Palestinian keffiyeh he was wearing fell from his neck.

There was an incongruous moment during one of umpteen chants of the anti-Israel war cry 'From the River [Jordan] to the sea [Mediterranean], Palestine will be free'.

Suddenly I heard the distant strains of God Save The King echoing across the River Thames. It was the counter-demo striking a patriotic note. Earlier, I met some of them.

'We are here to show our support for regime change - but also to celebrate the birthday of Reza Shah Pahlavi [the founder of Iran's Pahlavi royal dynasty],' said co-organiser, Niyak Ghorbani, 40, an IT manager.

'I love Trump and I love my country,' said Maryam Parsa, 64, who says her family - all back in Iran - are happy to have the bombs falling on the mullahs.

'When they get weaker, then we will change the regime.'

The decision to ban the organisers from marching through the capital was applauded by the leading thinktank Policy Exchange, which has investigated links between the organisers, the IHRC, and the Iranian regime.

'To have allowed that march to go ahead at a time like this would have been a step too far,' said Dr Paul Stott, Policy Exchange's head of security and extremism on Sunday night. 'As it was, these speakers were going as close to the wire as they possibly could.'

One may have crossed it. On Sunday night, the Metropolitan Police's Assistant Commissioner Ade Adelekan said that the arrests had been made 'for showing support for a proscribed organisation, affray and for threatening or abusive behaviour. We are also investigating chants made by a speaker'.

Watch this space.
Oscar night is an unparalleled showcase for the kind of one-off gown extravaganzas that only the haute couture can produce.

In an age of sneakers and track pants, the ceremony is one of the few remaining events where these creations, often costing upwards of six figures, can find their moment.

Yet, this year showcased something else.

A fashion battle waged between the brisk modernity of minimalism and the elevated prom dressing that has become the accepted formula for the Hollywood red carpet.

We can thank Ryan Murphy of Love Story and, by extension, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy for this sartorial slugfest, as the show has ignited a craze for the bygone era of 1990s monochromatic minimalism, when slicked-back hair and streamlined simplicity exemplified fashion at its most forward.

Last night the tension between the two camps was palpable.

Elle Fanning, in her strapless custom Givenchy went full on prom princess and seemed dressed for a different event entirely than the one being attended by Kirsten Dunst, who radiated structural precision in her black silk wool tiered Celine gown.

As for who won the war? For me, it was clear - the moment is minimalist.

We can thank Ryan Murphy of Love Story and, by extension, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy for this sartorial slugfest, as the show has ignited a craze for the bygone era of 1990s monochromatic minimalism

Sarah Pidgeon, who plays Bessette Kennedy in Love Story, seen at the Vanity Fair after party

THE BEST

Jessie Buckley

This years awards season has belonged to Buckley, whose starring role in Hamnet has vaulted her to global celebrity.

Refusing to stick to one house, she has flexed the muscles of her fashion might and donned gowns from a variety of designers - becoming an early showcase for the red-carpet strength of Diors Jonathan Anderson and Pierpaolo Piccioli at Balenciaga.

This years awards season has belonged to Buckley, whose starring role in Hamnet has vaulted her to global celebrity

Last night she opted for Chanel by Matthieu Blazy. A two tone, two texture scarlet and pink gown that fell to the ground in a sweeping but still navigable train.

With a delicate diamond choker at her neck (also by Chanel) the princess feel was an unmistakable nod to another Oscar princess - Gwyneth Paltrow, whose pink satin Ralph Lauren dress worn when she won the gong for Shakespeare In Love remains iconic.

Renate Reinsve

Red on red is rarely risked but Reinsve, the Norwegian star of A Sentimental Value mustered the bravado. In the midst of a minimalist mania, Reinsve was a masterclass in how to make simplicity scream.

In a crimson red Louis Vuitton column dress with a sharp asymmetric hem, the actress prioritized form and structure over glitzy glam.

Though her magnificent diamond cuff added a touch of sparkle, her decision to forgo any statement earring or over the top necklace was a striking reminder that the best gowns are often the ones with the least adornment.

Reinsve was a masterclass in how to make simplicity scream

Gwyneth Paltrow

Paltrow is Hollywood royalty and what she wears, whether she walks the Oscar red carpet or strolls through the Brentwood Farmers Market, is ripe for comment, criticism and copying.

Her decision to ride the wave of the minimalist bandwagon is a prescient sign of what we can expect for trends to come.

Though there was nothing understated in her one-of-a-kind Tiffany & Co. diamond necklace featured three oval fancy vivid yellow diamonds totaling over five carats, her white duchess satin Giorgio Armani Prive column gown was an exercise in elegant restraint and just a touch of the dramatic with a skirt that cutaway to reveal glittering sheer trousers beneath.

Paltrow's decision to ride the wave of the minimalist bandwagon is a prescient sign of what we can expect for trends to come

Emma Stone

Stones Louis Vuitton dress may have been made entirely of silver sequins, but so delicate were the sparkling discs and so expertly sewn together (it took a reported 600 hours to create) that the impression was of an ethereal shimmer rather than the brash glam often associated with the material.

With its square neckline, cap sleeves and plunging open back, Stones silhouette was straight out of a mid 90s lookbook.

Choosing only a pair of dainty diamond huggies and an ear cuff that could be barely seen peeking out from under her deep auburn hair, Stone exuded a confidence that needed no blockbuster jewelry or distracting accessories.

It was clear she had taken a leaf out of Bessette Kennedy's book.

Stones silhouette was straight out of a mid 90s lookbook

Rose Byrne

If there is one designer who has not fallen under the spell of Bessette Kennedy, it is Jonathan Anderson - the wunderkind Northern Irish designer who has recently taken the helm at Christian Dior.

Flounces, frippery, and exaggerated finery have been the mainstays of his collections thus far, yet for this sweeping creation for Best Actress nominee Byrne he, and she, found a middle ground of this fashion tug of war.

Based on look 35 from Andersons Dior couture debut, the black crepe strapless dress with embroidered flowers along the bodice and fishtail hem achieved something unique - both strikingly simple yet stunningly adorned.

Byrne managed something few on the red carpet can - novelty. The point was reinforced by what was arguably the most surprising jewelry selection of the evening - a sculptural necklace featuring a cognac diamond created by James de Givenchy for the under-the-radar but artisan jewelry firm Taffin.

Byrne managed something few on the red carpet can - novelty

THE WORST

Nicole Kidman

A presenter at this years ceremony, alongside her former Moulin Rouge co-star Ewan McGregor in honor of the films 25th anniversary, Kidman embraced her former showgirl with full the fuss and feathers.

Custom Chanel by Matthieu Blazy, the powder pink silk peplum gown, swathed in crystals and beading, was a throwback to the over-the-top glamour and glitz of the early 2000s.

Kidman seems to have missed the memo that less is more and embraced the eccentricity of a dress that has quite literally used every adornment available.

Kidman seems to have missed the memo that less is more and embraced the eccentricity of a dress that has quite literally used every adornment available

Demi Moore

The worst in dress but best in feathers is the major takeaway from Moores dramatically designed Gucci gown.

Encased in iridescent emerald, green peacock feathers, some of which reached almost to her face, Moores strapless floor-length fishtail dress obscured any discussion around her possibly too thin frame.

The look was an odd misstep from a woman enjoying a career resurgence and a lurch back in time to an overdone era where opulence meant relevance.

Moores strapless floor-length fishtail dress obscured any discussion around her possibly too thin frame

Kate Hudson

No-one channeled last nights mermaid madness - fishtails and trains abounded - as much as Kate Hudson in her jade green, custom embellished gown by Giorgio Armani Prive.

The bustier top with a dramatic peplum over a figure-hugging column skirt was a Disney princess dream, capped off by 41 carats of rare green diamonds by the Italian jeweler Garatti - estimated to be worth over $35 million.

With her blond hair cascading down one side, Hudson was a universe away from the sartorial simplicity of her fellow nominees.

But clinging to her famous mother whose over-the-top beaded black halter dress might have been sitting in the closet since the late 1980s its perhaps not surprising that Hudson seemed so dramatically divorced from the fashion moment.

Hudson was a universe away from the sartorial simplicity of her fellow nominees

Georgina Chapman

No one symbolizes the early 2000s red carpet dressing more than Chapman, whose fashion house Marchesa rode the wave of her ex-husband Harvey Weinsteins rise and fall.

Resurrected as the plus one of actor Adrian Brody, Chapman is once more front and center on the Hollywood red carpet.

Yet her exaggerated red silk peplum dress seemed stuck in the era of Miramax, where more was more and Oscar gowns were every girls exaggerated prom dream.

Chapman's exaggerated red silk peplum dress seemed stuck in the era of Miramax, where more was more and Oscar gowns were every girls exaggerated prom dream

Appearing on stage with the surprise Oscar debut of Anna Wintour, one would have expected Hathaway to be on her A-game

Anne Hathaway

Appearing on stage with the surprise Oscar debut of Anna Wintour, one would have expected Hathaway to be on her A-game.

The black floral embroidered fabric of her custom Valentino couture creation (a house with whom she has a long association) was exquisite but, unlike Byrne who knew how to marry ostentation with sensibility, Hathaway failed to see where to draw the line.

A fishtail hem, a sweeping train, a dramatic wide belt and jaw dropping diamonds (necklace and earrings), each element had merit but, when lumped together, she was lost in a sea of competing embellishments.
And the winner is fat jabs!

Last night's Oscar winners might not have name-checked Ozempic during their interminable acceptance speeches, but the Academy Awards 2026 was a helluva advert for one of its sponsors: Jardiance, a drug approved to lower blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes, with weight loss as a bonus side effect.

It really does take the biscuit (not that any of these stars eat the darn things; the mini burgers last night all went untouched) that Kylie Jenner, clinging to Timothee Chalamet as though he were a helium balloon, has started to look normal.

But then we have to remember that her curves, particularly her breasts, exposed to perfection by her Schiaparelli red gown, were also conceived in a lab: that of Dr Garth Fisher, as she revealed last year.

I imagine the only reason Demi Moore, who has taken a lot of flak for her extreme weight loss over the past weeks  at Milan Fashion Week, in head-to-toe Gucci leather, she was a ghost of her old self  wore a gown covered in feathers was that she knows birds fluff up to not only keep warm but to make themselves appear bigger.

Emma Stone's head looked far too large for her body, as did Gwyneth Paltrow's. Nicole Kidman might have been wearing Chanel, but the strapless dress could not conceal the fact she now resembles a wire coat hanger.

It really does take the biscuit (not that any of these stars eat the darn things; the mini burgers last night all went untouched) that Kylie Jenner, clinging to Timothee Chalamet as though he were a helium balloon, has started to look normal

I imagine the only reason Demi Moore, who has taken a lot of flak for her extreme weight loss over the past weeks, wore a gown covered in feathers was that she knows birds fluff up to not only keep warm but to make themselves appear bigger

Nicole Kidman might have been wearing Chanel, but the strapless dress could not conceal the fact she now resembles a wire coat hanger

And Melissa McCarthy! I have rewatched Bridesmaids so many times just to gaze adoringly as she squeezed that delicious wide ass into a sink. Last night? She looked as though she had been put in a hot wash. (Pop star Lizzo, who has shed 60lb, turned up later at the Vanity Fair afterparty and I can only imagine was forced to show her passport to gain entry; I expect her iPhone no longer recognises her, either.)

Never mind the increasing number of female nominees in a notoriously sexist industry, the #MeToo movement that enforced change and more respectful treatment: this is a scene more tragic than the one in Hamnet, because these women are doing this TO THEMSELVES.

And it's far worse than the Sixties, when women all wanted to emulate Twiggy. She was naturally skinny and, more to the point, a teenager.

In the Sixties, women were only expected to wear miniskirts above cadaverous thighs for two, three years max before they grew up and got married. Well, given last night's display of no flesh at all, it is clear women are now expected to look young and beautiful well into their dotage.

So how convenient that Jardiance is not just helpful for shifting weight (and expensive, averaging over $600 a month without insurance), there have also been claims that it helps to keep you looking young  much like injectable peptide drugs: GLP-1 medications such as Ozempic.

It's little wonder that, globally, the peptide-therapeutics market is expanding rapidly and already valued at over $51billion.

Emma Stone's head looked far too large for her body, as did Gwyneth Paltrow's.

Never mind the increasing number of female nominees in a notoriously sexist industry, the #MeToo movement that enforced change and more respectful treatment: this is a scene more tragic than the one in Hamnet, because these women are doing this TO THEMSELVES

Longevity expert Dr Sabine Donnai, founder of the Viavi clinic in London, believes that peptides are one of the most exciting areas of longevity medicine but that most of those being touted for their 'anti-ageing' properties are still short on human data:

'Where peptides are approved, it's usually for specific diseases, not for extending lifespan They are being overused and over-promised, and the product quality is a massive concern to medical professionals.'

A massive concern. But who cares when you too can still be preening on the red carpet when you're 80, just like Goldie Hawn last night! It all looks so desperate, so exhausting: she didn't look happy, merely anxious.

The welcome appearance of Indian actress and producer Priyanka Chopra and Best Supporting Actress nominee Wunmi Mosaku only served to highlight what we are all missing: women comfortable in their own delicious skin.

The peptide parade last night means I'm mourning even more deeply the likes of Diane Keaton and Brigitte Bardot, great actresses who wore their beauty lightly.

It's doubtful we'll see their ilk again.
Nscale Acquires the Monarch Compute Campus  America's First State-Certified AI Microgrid with a potential of up to 8GW+ of onsite powered microgrid

Nscale Signs Letter of Intent with Microsoft for up to 1.35GW of AI Compute using NVIDIA Vera Rubin NVL72 GPUs

Establishes Nscale Energy & Power, Positions Nscale as Global Flagship Deployment Partner for NVIDIA Vera Rubin Architecture, NVIDIA DSX AI Factory

SAN JOSE, Calif., March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Nscale has signed a letter of intent with Microsoft to provide 1.35 gigawatts of AI compute capacity, setting up the West Virginia Monarch AI campus as a global flagship deployment of NVIDIA's next-generation Vera Rubin GPUs as Vera Rubin NVL72 systems engineered with the NVIDIA Vera Rubin DSX AI Factory reference design.

Nscale today also announced the acquisition of American Intelligence & Power Corporation ("AIPCorp"), sponsored by Fidelis New Energy and 8090 Industries, which includes the Monarch Compute Campus, a site with up to 2,250 acres in Mason County, West Virginia, and the United States' first state-certified AI microgrid with a power runway scalable to over eight gigawatts.

Under the collaboration with Microsoft, Nscale will construct and operate advanced AI data center infrastructure to host this large-scale GPU deployment based on the latest generation NVIDIA Vera Rubin NVL72 GPUs and future technologies. The deployment will be delivered across multiple tranches beginning in late 2027, creating one of the largest dedicated AI compute installations in the world.

The planned infrastructure will operate under a long-term framework that includes an initial multi-year compute services term alongside a long-term data centre lease structure, reflecting the scale and strategic importance of the facility. This positions the campus to be a cornerstone facility for next-generation AI training and inference capacity in the United States.

"This collaboration with Microsoft marks a pivotal milestone both for Nscale and the development of the Monarch Campus," said Josh Payne, CEO of Nscale. "By integrating our specialized AI infrastructure with Microsoft's global platform, we are creating a foundation for innovation that can scale alongside the most ambitious AI models in the world".

This acquisition and collaboration comes at a crucial moment. AI is forecast to drive a sharp increase in global data center demand, but estimates suggest existing supply is constrained by the pace at which power and new capacity can be brought online. McKinsey estimates AI-related data center capacity demand could reach 156 GW by 2030 . The Monarch Compute Campus will build on Nscale's current capacity of over 1GW.

The expansion capabilities of this site  which has the potential for a total power draw of 8GW  will allow Nscale to develop power capacity rapidly while supporting one of the largest announced AI compute deployments in the market today.

The campus is also expected to provide high-speed fiber connectivity to some of the nation's largest AI hubs. Its close proximity to major centers of AI and cloud infrastructure, including Ashburn and Chicago, will offer customers low latency and minimal delays for AI workloads.

"Microsoft's datacenter approach is to build the best global infrastructure informed by near-term and long-term demand," said Jon Tinter, President, Business Development and Ventures at Microsoft. "Our investments blend owned datacenters, leased facilities, and strategic collaborations. This collaboration with Nscale and NVIDIA is an important step to deliver meaningful AI innovation to our customers."

"AI is becoming essential infrastructure for every industry," said Nico Caprez, Vice President, Global AI Infrastructure Growth, NVIDIA. "With this large-scale NVIDIA DSX AI Factory Blueprint, Nscale is building the infrastructure required to produce intelligence at industrial scale and power the next wave of global innovation."

Power collaboration with Caterpillar

Through a strategic collaboration with Caterpillar, Nscale will deploy Caterpillar G3500 series natural gas generator sets at sufficient scale to achieve two gigawatts of power generation by the first half of 2028, powering the NVIDIA Vera Rubin DSX AI Factory reference design.

"This collaboration reflects Caterpillar and our dealers' continued focus on supporting customers that require primary, continuous-duty power at scale through our broad energy solutions portfolio," said Melissa Busen, senior vice president of Electric Power, Caterpillar. "Projects like Monarch demonstrate how Caterpillar's natural gas generation platforms are being deployed as core infrastructure for data centers and other power intensive applications where reliability, speed of deployment, and lifecycle performance are critical."

The G3500 series units provide Nscale with a proven, rapid-deployment power solution that collapses traditional infrastructure timelines and accelerates the path from site to live compute.

Providing positive community impact

Nscale is working closely with state and local officials and community partners to ensure the development delivers lasting value for the region. The campus is being designed with local and environmental resources in mind. Power will be generated on-site as the facility operates independently of the local grid, eliminating the burden on existing utility customers and protecting ratepayers' bills. The microgrid is also designed to enable future tie-in to the grid for export of power back to the grid.

Nscale is also pursuing carbon sequestration to offset emissions, with access to significant sequestration capacity in West Virginia. Even at full 8GW capacity, the campus will use a high-efficiency design that consumes less water with no impact on municipal water supply or residential users.

About Nscale

Nscale is building the global hyperscaler engineered for AI infrastructure. Through vertically integrated AI solutions and modular, first-principles datacenter design across Europe and North America, Nscale delivers the compute foundation for enterprise AI training, fine-tuning, and inference at scale.

Media Contact: [email protected]

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2928710/5852113/Nscale_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Nscale
The vibe inside Los Angeles' Dolby Theatre was so stiff on Sunday night that the 98th Academy Awards could have been hosted in a morgue.

Perhaps the pompous blowhards preaching to a faithless choir about movies that can 'save the world' would have preferred that to YouTube, which will air the Oscars starting in 2029.

But judging from last night, they'll be lucky if they last that long. The movie industry's well-beaten horse is little more than Ozempic-gouged bones at this point.

Having said that, here's my, potentially last, review of Hollywood's biggest night...

Phoniest baloney

I was transfixed by peppy Best Supporting Actress nominee Teyana Taylor (One Battle After Another).

Between her ecstatic reaction to losing to Amy Madigan (Weapons), almost jumping out of her sprayed-on dress when Michael B Jordan (Sinners) won Best Actor and nearly throwing fists at a man who 'shoved' her backstage, I assumed she was on something.

I was transfixed by peppy Best Supporting Actress nominee Teyana Taylor (One Battle After Another)

The movie industry's well-beaten horse is little more than Ozempic-gouged bones at this point. (Pictured: Host Conan O'Brien)

And nothing was more alarming than the way she rushed the stage to snatch the Best Picture Oscar even before her director Paul Thomas Anderson.

On second thought, it was her most genuine behavior all evening.

Biggest middle finger

Taylor's co-star and petulant crank Sean Penn didn't even bother showing up to receive his third Oscar - this time in the Best Supporting category.

Penn 'couldn't be here this evening or didn't want to,' sniped equally crabby presenter Kieran Culkin.

My guess: it was the latter. This saturnine artiste previously threatened to 'melt' his Oscars to make bullets, if the Academy didn't let Ukrainian President Zelensky speak in 2022.

Worst imposters

Leonardo DiCaprio showed up sporting a mustache, while ordinarily bearded Pedro Pascal arrived fresh-faced. I'm convinced they were both clones.

If Jim Carrey can send a duplicate to the 2026 Cesar Awards in France, why can't Pedro? And the true tell... 'DiCaprio' sat with his glamorous 27-year-old girlfriend, Italian model, Vittoria Ceretti.

'The real' Leo could never commit.

Leonard DiCaprio (left) showed up sporting a mustache, while ordinarily bearded Pedro Pascal (right) arrived fresh-faced. I'm convinced they were both clones

DiCaprio sat with his glamorous 27-year-old girlfriend, Italian model, Vittoria Ceretti (left)

The way we weren't

A rambling homeless lady was wheeled out to eulogize Robert Redford. Oh wait that was Barbra Streisand!

She reminisced about Bob warmly calling her 'Babs' during the filming of The Way We Were in the early 70s. Uh, that's not what I heard. The word is she was handsy and Redford - a happily married father of four - insisted on wearing two pairs of underwear during their love scenes.

Rewriting history, Babs? Well, hurry up, because Gen Z-ers are busy Googling: 'Who is Barbra Streisand?'

Most famished

It was satisfying to see actual curves on actress Priyanka Chopra Jonas, but overall, these Tinseltown bombshells look more like Tomahawk missiles.

Truly, Hollywood's herd of Wegovy-juiced skinny cows is ruining my appetite for cinema. Who knows why the skin-and-bones brigade, led by Demi Moore and Nicole Kidman are so thin, but there's nothing sexy about a granny with a broken hip.

These Tinseltown bombshells look more like Tomahawk missiles. (Pictured: Demi Moore)

A rambling homeless lady was wheeled out to eulogize Robert Redford. Oh wait that was Barbra Streisand!

Best facelift

There was some great work on display this year. Aging Aliens star Sigourney Weaver looked like she had fresh baby seal skin expertly stretched over her delicate cheekbones.

But her skit with Pedro Pascal and Star Wars' Baby Yoda  promoting The Mandalorian & Grogu  was so unbelievably cringy that I couldn't even look at her face.

Maybe YouTube should add a Best Surgeon category?

Punching bag of the night

Jilted nominee Timothee Chalamet (Marty Supreme) was the butt of everyone's joke  and I'm not talking about Kylie Jenner.

Even host Conan O'Brien quipped, 'Security is extremely tight tonight... I'm told there's concerns from attacks from both the opera and ballet communities.'

As much as these blowhards want to pretend their narcissistic vanity projects count as art, Timmy Supreme was right about the arts being as well attended as a Woodrow Wilson lookalike contest. Add most of these films to that irrelevant list.

Jilted nominee Timothee Chalamet was the butt of everyone's joke  and I'm not talking about Kylie Jenner

Aging Aliens star Sigourney Weaver looked like she had fresh baby seal skin expertly stretched over her delicate cheekbones

Weaver's skit with Pedro Pascal and Star Wars' Baby Yoda  promoting The Mandalorian & Grogu  was so unbelievably cringy that I couldn't even look at her face

Javier Boredom

Of course, these rode hard lefties couldn't help spewing their unwelcome opinions.

No Country for Old Men alum Javier Bardem bleated, 'No to war and Free Palestine,' before presenting the award for Best International Film. But, Javier, you had nothing to say about the October 7 massacre or Iran's torture and murder of 30,000 of their own people.

I assume that means there is some carnage to which you'll say 'yes'!

Morbid memorial

I wondered how Conan was going to handle the inevitable tribute to Rob and Michele Reiner. He pulled it off well by passing the baton to Reiner's lifelong friend (an iconic former Oscars host himself) Billy Crystal and his ill-fitting toupee.

It was a lovely tribute, joined by dozens of Reiner's collaborators from a time when movies didn't stink.

It must have been gutting for Conan as he was one of the last people to see the Reiners alive at his annual Christmas party. Now, he's the last to see the Oscars alive, too.

O'Brien passed the baton to Reiner's lifelong friend (an iconic former Oscars host himself) Billy Crystal and his ill-fitting toupee

No Country for Old Men alum Javier Bardem bleated 'No to war and Free Palestine'

Teyana Taylor seen leaving an Oscars after party

Biggest Chicken

Speaking of bad hair systems...

Unfunny man Jimmy Kimmel desperately hogged the spotlight after ABC trotted him out to present the Best Documentary statuettes.

He made the same predictable gag about Melania Trump's overlooked biopic. 'Oh, man, is he going to be mad his wife wasn't nominated for,' he quipped, apparently too chicken to say the president's name.

I expected Jimmy to be a bit more sensitive. He knows what it's like to be canceled.

Overall, the 98th Oscars seemed like a swan song for the dodo bird. Extinction is guaranteed  and Hollywood can't do a darn thing about it.
A growing number of people are turning to private healthcare amid concerns over the NHS waiting list, a patient watchdog has warned.

Healthwatch England said that the proportion of people paying for healthcare privately had 'increased significantly' over the last two years.

It warned of a 'twotier' health system, where those who can afford to do not have to wait for care.

And there has been an increase in the proportion saying they had paid for private healthcare because the NHS waiting time was 'too long', according to new figures.

The organisation compared responses from 1,758 people in England in September 2023 to a new poll of 2,593 adults in England at the end of last year.

It found in 2023, nine per cent of people surveyed said they had accessed private healthcare in the last year. But by 2025, this figure rose to 16 per cent.

It said that people earning more than 80,000 were more likely to have said they had paid for private healthcare in the last year.

When asked why they had used private healthcare, some 39 per cent said it was because the 'NHS waiting time was too long', while three in 10 said private healthcare was more convenient.

The total number of patients waiting for NHS diagnostic tests, January 2020 to January 2026. The list has risen sharply over the past year, reaching nearly 1.8 million patients

Healthwatch said that the shift towards private healthcare comes as 'confidence in NHS hospital services remains low'.

However, recent NHS figures show that the waiting list for treatment continues to fall.

The list in England has decreased for the third month in a row, with an estimated 7.25 million treatments waiting to be carried out at the end of January compared to 7.29 million treatments at the end of December.

This is the lowest level since February 2023.

Chris McCann, acting chief executive at Healthwatch England, said: 'The NHS 10Year Plan aims to tackle long waits for elective care, however, this work needs to move faster if we want to boost patient confidence, stop the move towards twotier healthcare, and restore the NHS as a truly universal service for all.'

He added: 'Everyone waiting for hospital care, no matter where they live or which hospital they were referred to, should get the same level of service and communication.

'This includes timely confirmation that their referral has been received and accepted  not lost in an administrative black hole  and information on managing their symptoms while they wait.

'Hospitals should also provide patients with regular updates to confirm they are still on the waiting list and give enough notice of any planned cancellations.'

A growing number of people are turning to private healthcare amid concerns over the NHS waiting list, a patient watchdog has warned

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David Hare, chief executive of Independent Healthcare Providers Network, said it is 'not surprising' people are willing to fund their own treatment.

'This latest research reflects the growing numbers of people from all across the country who are now accessing private healthcare services, either alongside or instead of NHS care, in what is becoming a 'new normal',' he said.

'This includes a wide range of treatments including general practice, scans and tests, consultations and surgery.

'People's health and the health of their family is their number one priority and so it is not surprising that more people are willing to fund their own treatment  or use private medical insurance provided by their employer  to ensure that they receive the swift, highquality care they need at their convenience.'

An NHS England spokeswoman said: 'The NHS delivered record numbers of appointments, tests and scans in 2025, reducing the waiting list to its lowest level in three years and cutting 18week waits to levels last seen in 2022.

'GP teams provide over a million appointments every working day, while expanded services like Pharmacy First are helping patients access care faster and more easily.'

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman added: 'We will end the unacceptable, twotier, healthcare system we inherited that leaves patients feeling they have no choice but to go private.'
New York City health officials have recorded the first case of the more severe strain of mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, marking the 12th Clade I case in the US since November 2024.

The patient, whose identity has been withheld for privacy reasons, is currently in isolation. City officials have confirmed that there is no evidence of community transmission. They maintain that the risk to the public remains low.

The person with the virus had recently traveled to Europe and returned to New York City, home to more than 8 million people. Officials did not disclose where the person had traveled in Europe, where mpox is not endemic.

Last year, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) warned of locally acquired Clade Ib mpox cases in Spain, the Netherlands, Italy, and Portugal. These five documented cases, involving the newly identified subtype of Clade I, marked the first signs of community transmission outside Africa.

While the subclade has not been publicly identified in the New York City case, given the increasing global presence of mpox Clade lb, especially in Europe, it might be the responsible subclade. However, further confirmation is needed.

The viruss most dangerous iteration is Clade I. Endemic to the Congo Basin, this version historically carries a significantly higher mortality rate and causes more severe illness than its Clade II counterpart.

Clade I mpox typically begins five to 21 days after exposure, beginning with fever, severe headache, muscle aches, profound fatigue and swollen lymph nodes.

After this, a characteristic rash develops, often starting on the face and spreading to the palms and soles. These lesions progress together through stages, from flat spots to firm, pus-filled blisters, before crusting over.

New York City health officials have confirmed the first local case of clade I mpox, the more severe strain of the virus. This marks the 12th such case in the US since November 2024

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Since the global mpox outbreak in 2022, Clade II mpox has continued to circulate in New York City, with 398 reported cases in 2025 and 45 reported cases between January 1 and March 10, 2026, with 16 cases reported in the last month alone.

In October 2025, the California Department of Public Health reported the first instances of community spread of Clade I mpox in the US.

According to the NIH, the fatality rate of Clade I ranges from 1.4 percent to more than 10 percent.

In the United States, transmission has occurred primarily through sexual and intimate contact within social networks of gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, as well as transgender individuals.

However, mpox can infect anyone who has close physical contact with an infected person, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

Mpox is primarily spreading through oral, anal, and vaginal sex, as well as intimate activities like kissing, hugging, cuddling, biting and massage.

Transmission most commonly occurs through direct contact with a rash or sores, but can also happen via contact with an infected person's mucus or saliva.

Less frequently, it may spread through contaminated clothing, bedding or other items.

The patient is in isolation, and officials have found no evidence of community transmission. The risk to the public remains low (file photo)

From the week of January 1, 2026 through March 7, New York City has recorded 45 mpox cases, including 16 in the past month

The virus can also pass from a pregnant person to a fetus or newborn, and from animals to humans through bites, scratches, or contact with fluidsthough this is not a factor in the current US outbreak.

It remains unclear whether mpox can be transmitted through semen, vaginal fluid, urine or feces.

A person with mpox can transmit the virus from the moment symptoms begin until their rash has fully healed and fresh skin has formed.

In some cases, individuals may be contagious one to four days before symptoms appear, though it is unclear how frequently this occurs. Researchers are still investigating whether people who never develop symptoms can spread the virus to others.

Vaccination significantly reduces the risk of contracting mpox and can lessen the severity of symptoms if someone does become infected.

To ensure maximum protection, those at risk should receive two doses of the JYNNEOS vaccine, with the second dose administered at least 28 days after the first. People who have already had mpox do not need to be vaccinated.

People who are male, trans, nonbinary, queer or gender non-conforming and have sex with men should speak to their doctors about vaccination.

People who are planning travel to a country where clade I mpox is spreading and may have sex with a new partner while there, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, should also get the vaccine.

Anyone who considers themselves at risk for mpox through sexual or intimate contact now or in the future should also consider vaccination.
If you ask Sassy Smith to tell you about her childhood, her mind goes blank. Or rather, her mind is blank because, while she remembers stories shes been told, she cannot picture herself as a child. Or even what her teenage bedroom looked like.

She also cant recall her first dance at her wedding to husband Russell in 2005.

Thats because Sassy has aphantasia  the inability to see something with your minds eye  as well as a related condition known as severely deficient autobiographical memory (SDAM).

Sassy has always been this way. However, she discovered it about herself only when she was 50. It explained many things shed found confusing her whole life.

Like why I had no visual memory of my childhood. Why I could never recall experiences that friends and family talked about, and why Ive involuntarily ghosted so many friends over the years, says Sassy, 56, a therapist from Bournemouth who specialises in neurodiversity.

It is only when Sassy sees people regularly or for extended periods of time that she remembers them. If she doesnt, and has to rely on her memory, she stops recognising them.

For example, Sassy was out one night celebrating her birthday with friends when a man kept coming over and trying to dance with her. I pointed to my wedding finger and he said, Dont you remember me? He was an ex-boyfriend from her 20s, but Sassy had no recollection of him.

Sassy Smith, a therapist, has aphantasia  the inability to see something with your minds eye

My friends thought it was hilarious, but I think he was pretty offended, she recalls.

Aphantasia is thought to affect one to five per cent of the population, and around half of those, like Sassy, also have SDAM.

Much about both conditions is still being unravelled, having only been formally identified by researchers in 2015.

The term aphantasia was coined by Professor Adam Zeman, a neurologist at Exeter University. It came from the Greek word phantasia, which was how Aristotle described the minds eye, he told the Mail.

Its not known what exactly causes it, or why there seems to be such variation in how individuals see things in their mind. However, a recent study at the Paris Brain Institute used a powerful type of scanner  an ultra-high-field functional MRI  to examine the brains of people with aphantasia.

While being scanned they were asked questions about the visual features of familiar objects, words, faces and places. The study, published in the journal Cortex, found that while key brain areas involved in memory and visual processing were being activated in those with aphantasia, there was much less communication between these areas.

Jianghao Liu, a cognitive neuroscientist who led the research, noted: This might explain why aphantasic people still retain accurate visual knowledge of objects  for example, they clearly remember that spinach is a darker green than lettuce.

This makes sense to Sassy, who describes her childhood as a series of knowings  she knows things happened, she just cannot picture them.

She says: For example, I know my friends and I made camps on a road near my house. My oldest friend, Sam, tells me we used to read books in our camp, but I dont remember doing that.

More distressingly, since her beloved stepfather Derek died of cancer in 2011, Sassy cannot visualise how he looked or picture experiences they shared together. I remember someone saying to me that I seemed to have moved on pretty quickly and hadnt really grieved, which I found a bit hurtful, she says.

It was only in 2019, when Sassy started therapy following stressful events at work that left her depressed and struggling with insomnia (she was working in property at the time), that she realised this was all down to a difference in how her brain worked.

It ended up being a real turning point for me, Sassy says  though not in the way she expected.

The therapist kept asking Sassy to visualise herself as a child, to relive past experiences.

Sassy, pictured as a young girl, describes her childhood as a series of knowings

But I couldnt see any pictures of my childhood in my head, and I realised the technique wasnt going to work for me.

It reminded her of something shed read a few years earlier, in 2015, about people who are unable to visualise things. That sounds like me, she remembers thinking at the time.

Desperate to explore anything that might help, she looked into it further and came across Professor Zemans work.

He had first encountered someone with aphantasia in 2003. A patient was referred to me whod lost the ability to visualise after a cardiac procedure, which was a symptom Id never come across before, he explains.

Having previously had a very vivid minds eye, he found he could no longer picture anything after his operation.

Professor Zeman published a paper in 2010 about this case, which was subsequently picked up by a science magazine.

Check to see if your memory is 'blank' The Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire (VVIQ) was created in 1973 by British psychologist David Marks as an accurate test to compare how vividly people see things in their minds eye. It asks someone to form a mental picture of 18 things  for example, the face of someone they know well, or the sun rising into a hazy sky. They then have to rate how vivid the image they see is using a scoring scale, as follows: No image at all, I only know I am thinking of the object Vague and dim Moderately clear and vivid Clear and reasonably vivid Perfectly clear and as vivid as normal vision On the full version of the test a total score of 16-19 for all 18 questions indicates aphantasia.

Over the next year or so, I had about 20 people get in touch saying, Im like this guy, except Ive always been this way, he says. Many of them agreed to take part in further research where Professor Zeman asked them to imagine 16 scenarios  such as a sun rising or the wind shaking the leaves of a tree  and rate how vivid they are, from no image at all to completely clear (see panel). They also underwent brain scans.

This formed the basis of Professor Zemans identification of aphantasia, suggesting in his 2015 paper that some people have a completely blind imagination and seem to be born with this difference. After publishing the paper, he says he was contacted by 20,000 people with varying degrees of it.

That same year, another researcher, Brian Levine, identified SDAM  writing about it in the journal Neuropsychologia. It was a paper that Professor Zeman read with interest.

Id studied related forms of amnesia, such as severe autobiographical memory loss due to epilepsy, for many years, but hadnt encountered the term SDAM before, he says.

Professor Zeman believes both are cognitive differences related to brain connectivity rather than impairments  in other words, the brain is wired differently.

He also believes that most people with aphantasia have a genetic predisposition to it, although he has come across around 100 cases where people lost the ability to visualise after a stroke or head injury.

The emerging understanding about aphantasia potentially has implications for understanding how consciousness works.

For Sassy, reading Professor Zemans 2015 paper about aphantasia  and later about SDAM  was a lightbulb moment.

It was as though he was describing me and my inability to visualise anything. I diagnosed myself because, as yet, there is no official diagnosis for it on the NHS, she says.

She realised she must have SDAM as well as aphantasia, because if it was just the inability to create mental pictures then she would still be able to recall emotions  hear peoples voices, as well as inner voice details of her past  rather than having to endure a completely memory-less blank slate.

She then contacted others with aphantasia on social media, and says it was a huge comfort to realise she wasnt alone.

Sassy says she struggles most with not being able to picture the faces of her loved ones when not with them  and she worries about what will happen after her parents, now in their 80s, die.

Ive always been close to Mum and Dad. Im terrified knowing I wont be able to picture them or relive memories of our time together after they die.

To help counteract this, Sassy has taken lots of photos and videos of her parents.

She wants others to understand that not everyone can visualise things and that not everyone has an inner voice  this is what drove her to retrain as a therapist in 2019.

Because when you have no memories or sound in your head, she says, it sometimes feels as though theres just a gaping hole. And it can feel awfully lonely.

Unseen Minds, A Therapists Guide To Multisensory Aphantasia And Invisible Cognitive Differences, by Sassy Smith (11.99, available from amazon.co.uk).
As David Beckham took to social media to praise his wife Victoria on Mother's Day, Brooklyn Beckham had posted a belated birthday message to his mother-in-law Claudia Heffner Peltz  with no mention of his own mother.

Claudia's 71st birthday fell on March 12, so many found Brooklyn choosing to mark the occasion late, by sharing an image of himself with his wife Nicola and her mother over the weekend, suspicious.

As tensions in the Beckham family continue, do you think he's being ungrateful, or do you give him grace because Mother's Day falls on a different date in America? Have your say in our Morning Mail poll.

Vote now and you'll find the final results in tomorrow's Morning Mail newsletter.
Hoda Kotb quietly hosted an in-person wellness retreat with her lifestyle brand Joy 101 over the weekend, approximately 100 miles away from where Nancy Guthrie - the mother of her longtime friend and Today show colleague Savannah Guthrie - was last seen.

Set at the JW Marriott Scottsdale Camelback Inn Resort & Spa in Scottsdale, Arizona, ticketholders got to hang out with the 61-year-old television personality and take part in 'life-changing' holistic practices.

Despite the ongoing search for Guthrie's missing mom, 84, Kotb put on a brave face and connected with the guests who had shelled out thousands of dollars to attend the weekend.

According to ticket-holders, she walked around without security and made sure to make every single guest 'feel special' if they pulled her aside for a photo or a quick chat.

Speaking exclusively to the Daily Mail, event-goer Lisa Black Litton, who attended the retreat with her two close friends Leslie Cayce and Melissa Powers, said that Kotb delighted in meeting with her fans and roamed without being flanked by guards.

'She had no security at all,' Litton said. 'She was totally by herself the entire weekend. Everybody just walked up to Hoda the whole time and took selfies.'

'We were at the pool, and she came and took selfies with everybody there.'

Kotb also joined her guests and immersed herself in the scheduled activities, which ranged from guided breathwork to journaling.

Hoda Kotb's Joy 101 hosted a wellness retreat in Arizona last weekend - just under a two hour drive from where her Today show co-host Savannah Guthrie's mom was last seen

Kotb put on a brave face and connected with guests who had shelled out thousands to attend the sold out event

'When I was in my sound bath, Hoda was with us,' Litton said, adding that Kotb's sister, niece and even neighbor were also in attendance. 'She did the classes with us and so did her family.'

Kotb's Spring Retreat was first marketed at the end of December and passes, which started at $2,600, quickly sold out.

Despite the location of the retreat being an hour away from Guthrie's hometown, there was no official mention of the continued search for Nancy Guthrie.

Ticket-holders reasoned that this was a deliberate move so that Kotb, like her attendees, could 'disconnect.'

'It showed me that even though they're all going through a really hard time, they're still there for others,' Litton reflected.

'I realized that Hoda and Savannah, they're real people. Everybody's going through something.'

Six weeks ago, Guthrie's 84-year-old mother, Nancy, was abducted from her $1 million home in Tucson, just under a two-hour drive from the retreat's location in Scottsdale.

Nancy was last seen alive on the night of January 31, and it is believed she was taken against her will in the early morning hours of February 1. The investigation remains active.

The businesswoman made sure every one of her guests 'felt special' and posed for photos

The television personality also joined ticketholders at the various activities across the weekend, including breath work classes

By the end of the weekend, ticketholders described the retreat as 'life changing'

Kotb is a longtime friend of Guthrie and has been vocal in her messages of hope amid Nancy's mysterious disappearance.

She also returned to the Today show on February 6 to help the NBC anchors as they continue to navigate uncharted territory.

'First of all, I just want to say this whole thing's breaking my heart and I'm happy to be sitting here with you,' Kotb said at the top of the episode.

'I think there's this helpless feeling,' she noted. 'I mean, we're all so close to her and we all want to help her.'

Since her return on February 6, Kotb has made regular appearances to co-host.

Earlier this month, a reputation expert warned that Kotb could be faced with a publicity dilemma if she pushed forward with the retreat amid Nancy's disappearance.

Eric Schiffer, chairman of the Los Angeles-based firm Reputation Management Consultants, told the Daily Mail that the Joy 101 CEO would run the risk of igniting a backlash if she handled publicity of the event insensitively.

He argued that Kotb's worst move from a PR strategy would be to pretend that the Joy 101 Spring Retreat isn't happening at all, or to post 'giddy reels' and 'performative content.'

Schiffer suggested: 'Build in a moment of reflection, a donation component, and a hard rule for attendees. No joking about the situation and keep the cameras out.'

He also suggested that Kotb needs a content blackout - and that is exactly what Kotb has done.

Nancy Guthrie, 84, was snatched in the early hours of Sunday, February 1

Kotb is a longtime friend and former colleague of Guthrie. They co-hosted the Today show from 2018 until 2025

FBI released images of an armed individual appearing to have tampered with the camera at Nancy's front door on the morning of her disappearance

At the time of writing, the mom of two, who shares adopted children with her ex-fiance Joel Schiffman, has not shared content from the weekend-long event on the Joy 101 Instagram page or her own personal account.

Despite what could have been a publicity dilemma, Kotb's retreat appeared to go off without a hitch.

'There were 250 of us and we all became family,' Litton said. 'It's just amazing to see how it changed people's lives. There were lots of tears and lots of laughter.'

She and her two friends all vowed that they would gladly book tickets to attend another one of Kotb's retreats, should more pop up later down the line.

'I feel like I have tools that I can take back with me in my everyday life and use them forever,' she added.

Kotb previously hosted 150 guests for a sold-out weekend retreat in Miraval, Austin, last October.

She launched her wellness app Joy 101 in May 2025, five months after she departed the Today show.

The platform is designed to help people live more joyful, grounded, purposeful lives.
Pedro Pascal has sparked concern among his fans after he debuted a shocking new look at the 2026 Oscars.

The actor, 50, looked dapper as he hit the Academy Awards red carpet on Sunday evening in a button-down white shirt adorned with a large flower on the chest and a pair of high-waisted black pants.

But the Materialists star notably changed up his appearance for the event: he shaved off his signature mustache.

Many fans were left stunned over how different he looked without his facial hair, and took to X in droves to discuss it.

Some were so shocked by his new look that they wondered if he had been 'cloned' or if it was actually a 'wax figure' on the carpet.

'WTF happened to Pedro Pascal?' asked one user.

'A wax figure of Pedro Pascal was unveiled at tonights Academy Awards,' joked someone else.

'Pedro looks so different,' read a third post, while a fourth said: 'Not used to seeing a clean-shaven Pedro! Had to double-take.'

Pedro Pascal has sparked concern amongst fans as he debuted a shocking new look at the 2026 Oscars

The Materialists star notably changed up his appearance for the event: he shaved off his signature mustache. Left at the Oscars and right in November

'Why does he look younger than his age here?' wondered a different user.

Someone else chimed in: 'Pedro Pascal without a mustache is kinda weird, right?'

'This is not the real Pedro Pascal, it's a clone like Jim Carrey,' another fan theorized.

Carrey's representative was forced to confirm that it was really him who attended the Cesar Awards last month after an array of fans thought he had been 'cloned' due to his striking new look.

Others wondered if Pascal had lost weight, with one writing: 'Am I tripping or does Pedro Pascal look really thin? Is it for a role?'

'Is it just me - or does Pedro Pascal look like he got really skinny since we saw him last?' wondered another.

'Skinny beardless Pedro Pascal is really scaring me I dont like it,' read a different post.

Carrey similarly left fans doing a double-take when he hit the red carpet at the event in Paris in late February.

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The actor, 50, looked dapper as he hit the red carpet on Sunday evening in a button-down white shirt that contained a big flower on the shoulder and some high-waisted black pants

Many fans were left stunned over how different he looked without his facial hair, and took to X in droves to discuss it

Some were so shocked by his new look that they wondered if he had been 'cloned' or if it was actually a 'wax figure' on the carpet

It comes weeks after Jim Carrey's representative was forced to confirm it was really him that attended the Cesar Awards last month after an array of fans thought he had been 'cloned'

His seemingly altered look was so drastic that it sparked a conspiracy theory about him having been cloned - before artist Alexis Stone, who is renowned for his celebrity impersonations, claimed it was actually him on stage in Carrey's place.

The Daily Mail debunked this claim after learning that Carrey was in attendance himself at the award show in France, but that didn't stop the chatter as many fans wondered if Carrey had gone under the knife.

In the aftermath, plastic surgeon Dr Jeffrey Spiegel spoke to the Daily Mail about the possible procedures Carrey may have had done after examining pictures and videos.

'He has 100 percent had botulinum,' the expert, who has never treated Carrey, said, referring to Botox treatment.

'These treatments are amazing when done correctly but his injector gave him Botox more suitable for a woman's face leading to oddly arched eyebrows.'

Dr Spiegel also identified 'an unnatural pull in his cheek,' adding that it could have been caused by 'threading.'

'This could be from a poorly done facelift,' he shared, before stressing: 'These outcomes stress why it is important to see a surgeon skilled in the nuances and differences between surgery for men and women.'

The cosmetic expert then added that Carrey had likely undergone some kind of laser treatment too 'to make his face more pale.'

But warned: 'These need to be mild. All of these tools are only effective in the hands of an expert.'
Timothee Chalamet faced his fate during Conan O'Brien's Oscars monologue on Sunday night amid controversy over the comments he made about the ballet - but his girlfriend, Kylie Jenner, was there to protect him, according to a body language expert.

The Oscar nominee came under fire after he made a comment about ballet and opera during a chat with Matthew McConaughey for Variety's Actors on Actors on February 24.

Chalamet said he hoped that the film industry and movie theaters would be able to survive, and then said: 'I don't want to be working in ballet or opera or, you know, things where it's like: "Hey, keep this thing alive," even though no one cares about this anymore.

'All respect to the ballet and opera people out there,' he continued before adding, 'I just lost 14 cents in viewership. I just took shots for no reason.'

His offhand comments caused a serious uproar in Hollywood and beyond, facing call-outs from industry greats like ballet dancer Misty Copeland and Steven Spielberg.

So, it is no surprise that his recent controversy was fodder for O'Brien on Sunday night.

'Security is extremely tight tonight. I'm just going to mention that,' tuxedo-clad O'Brien said to the crowd inside Los Angeles' iconic Dolby Theatre.

He then quipped, 'I'm told there's a concern about attacks from both the opera and ballet communities.'

Timothee Chalamet has come under fire in recent weeks after he made a comment about ballet and opera during a chat with Matthew McConaughey for Variety's Actors on Actors

It is no surprise that his recent controversy was fodder for host Conan O'Brien on Sunday night

Chalamet faced his fate during O'Brien's Oscars monologue on Sunday night and his girlfriend, Kylie Jenner, protected him more than ever, according to a body language expert

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The camera then quickly cut to Chalamet, who could be seen nervously smiling beside his girlfriend Jenner - and according to body language expert James, the reality star wasn't thrilled by the joke.

James told the Daily Mail that Chalamet's body language suggested 'a chastened and quite submissive response' from the actor.

'Sitting in his pure white "innocent" suit and leaning back to take the roasting solo, with no attachment touches or rituals from the Jessica Rabbit-styled Kylie at his side, his giveaway trait of a humble response came from the nose wrinkle he added to his beaming, good-natured smile,' James said.

'His cheeks raised and rounded and he displayed his upper teeth only, in a forced-looking grin while Kylie leaned over him protectively, flashing a maternal-looking warning expression from her eyes as well as a tolerant and calm-looking mouth smile,' the body language expert added.

James noted that in response to the joke, Chalamet 'opened his mouth wider in an expression of embarrassment and nodded slowly in a gesture of recognition and acceptance.'

Meanwhile, the body language expert said Jenner 'looked less comfortable, clenching and unclenching her hands before performing one very odd, loud clap that suggested a desire to get the joke over and move on.'

Chalamet was also called out by Alexandre Singh on stage as he won Best Live-Action Short Film, for his piece, Two People Exchanging Saliva.

'We believe art can change peoples souls,' Singh said.

Join the discussion Should Timothee be held accountable for his offhand comments about other art forms or is it going too far?

James told the Daily Mail that Chalamet's body language suggested 'a chastened and quite submissive response' from the actor

Meanwhile, Chalamet's girlfriend, Jenner, dropped jaws in an incredibly busty red dress by Schiaparelli that clung to her curves

Chalamet is nominated for Best Actor tonight for his role in Marty Supreme. He wore a matching orange ensemble with his girlfriend at the film's Los Angeles premiere

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'Maybe it takes ten years' time, but we can change society through art, through creativity, through theater and ballet - and cinema.'

The controversy comes as Chalamet is nominated for Best Actor tonight for his role in Marty Supreme.

This awards season, Chalamet has already won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor and the Critics' Choice for Best Actor.

His opponents at the Oscars include Michael B Jordan's dual role in Ryan Coogler's Sinners and Leonardo DiCaprio's turn in Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another.

For the awards show, Chalamet's girlfriend dropped jaws in an incredibly busty red dress by Schiaparelli that clung to her curves.

Jenner unveiled the dress to her Instagram followers ahead of the 2026 Oscars in a sultry video showing her giving her makeup a final once-over.

'Jessica who?' she captioned the post, seemingly referencing Jessica Rabbit from Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

Fans went wild over the racy look in the comments section.

'BODY IS TEA!' one declared in the comments.

'That BADDIE BOMBSHELL,' another wrote.

'OMG I'M GAGGED,' an enthusiastic fan wrote.
Queen Mary has slipped effortlessly back into the country she once called home - smiling warmly, greeting crowds, and stepping gracefully through a packed royal schedule.

But while the Australian-born monarch appears composed and confident during her historic return Down Under, a royal etiquette expert says there may be a deeper emotional current beneath the polished surface.

The Queen of Denmark arrived in Australia alongside King Frederik X for a six-day state visit running from March 14 to March 19 - the couple's first official trip to the country since ascending the throne in January 2024.

Yet despite the excitement surrounding the tour - which includes stops at Uluru, Canberra, Melbourne, and Hobart - there is one notable presence weighing quietly in the background.

Mary's beloved father John Donaldson, who she has made time to visit at the end of her trip, is understood to be in declining health.

The retired mathematics professor, now in his eighties, has previously missed several significant family milestones due to his frailty - including Princess Isabella's confirmation and Mary's own coronation in Denmark.

Royal officials previously confirmed Mr Donaldson had been unable to travel long distances because of his health.

Mary herself acknowledged the emotional reality at the time, explaining her father would remain 'with [them] in [their] hearts'.

Queen Mary has slipped effortlessly back into the country she once called home - smiling warmly, greeting crowds, and stepping gracefully through a packed royal schedule

Princess Mary's maths teacher father John Donaldson won't be in the crowd when she ascends to the Danish throne on Monday, January 14

For some observers, that context has raised questions among Australians watching the tour unfold. Is the Queen distracted? Does she seem slightly 'off'? Or is she simply performing the role she has spent decades preparing for?

According to etiquette expert and royal commentator Jo Hayes, what many Australians are noticing has some truth to it - but there's more going on behind the scenes.

'As an etiquette expert and regular royal commentator, I keep very close tabs on Queen Mary's royal appointments and appearances in Europe. As such, I've become very accustomed to her body language and behaviour,' Ms Hayes told the Daily Mail.

'There's no doubt her father's declining health is on her mind - he's 84 and in a 'frail' condition according to reports. And as she doesn't get to spend much time with him, she's no doubt chomping at the bit to see him at the end of this official visit.'

However, she said many Australians only tune into Mary's public appearances when she returns home, meaning the public is now seeing a version of her that has been carefully shaped by 25 years inside one of Europe's oldest monarchies.

'As much as Australia loves her, most Aussies don't pay much attention to what she's up to until she's back here in Australia,' Ms Hayes explained.

'And on her rare official visits we often don't see too much of her or hear her speak.

'So what we've seen in these first couple of days of this official state visit - her first as Queen of Denmark - is arguably the most we've ever seen of her here.'

Queen Mary's coronation was the second major event Mr Donaldson has had to skip in recent years - the last was Princess Isabella's Confirmation

Ms Hayes said Mary's behaviour may therefore surprise some Australians who remember the Tasmanian-born marketing executive who famously met Frederik at a Sydney pub during the 2000 Olympics.

'She's warm and friendly, absolutely. But she behaves as she should - as royalty,' Ms Hayes said.

'She holds herself beautifully. Back straight, chin up, walking gracefully and confidently wherever she goes - whether she's bushwalking in boots at Uluru swatting flies, or glammed up for the state dinner at Parliament House.

'She's honed this deportment over the past 25 years and it sets her apart from the more relaxed Aussie vibe most of us are used to here - even from our politicians and other 'important people'.'

That same restraint also explains why Mary and Frederik may appear slightly formal with one another during public engagements.

'Royal couples typically have a rule of restraining overly familiar body language in public,' Ms Hayes said.

'They rarely hold hands or show overt affection because it helps separate their public roles from their private life.'

'So if anyone is questioning Mary's behaviour towards Frederik, it's completely consistent with royal protocol.'

Ms Hayes said Mary's behaviour may therefore surprise some Australians who remember the Tasmanian-born marketing executive who famously met Frederik at a Sydney pub during the 2000 Olympics

'She holds herself beautifully. Back straight, chin up, walking gracefully and confidently wherever she goes - whether she's bushwalking in boots at Uluru swatting flies, or glammed up for the state dinner at Parliament House,' Ms Hayes said

Despite the formal tone of many engagements, Ms Hayes believes Mary is genuinely happy to be back in Australia

Despite the formal tone of many engagements, Ms Hayes believes Mary is genuinely happy to be back in Australia.

'She has said multiple times in brief interviews that she's happy to be home - and why wouldn't she? She's always spoken about her enduring love for Australia and its people.'

The trip will also give Mary the opportunity to spend time with family she rarely sees.

And while Ms Hayes believes her father's health will naturally be on her mind, she says the Queen has long demonstrated a remarkable ability to remain composed under pressure.

'Mary is a supremely level-headed person,' she said.

'She uprooted her entire life to move to a foreign country, marry into European royalty and step into the role of Queen - all while raising four children.

'I would say her inner strength is keeping her steady and anchored in how she's approaching her father's declining health.'

For now, the Queen appears determined to focus on the task at hand: representing Denmark and strengthening ties with the country where her story first began.

Behind the flawless posture and diplomatic smiles, however, there may be a quieter truth - that this homecoming could also be a deeply personal one.
Queen Mary and King Frederik are well into their six-day official visit to Australia, with the royal couple spending Monday morning honouring the fallen and meeting members of the public at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.

The Danish royals paid their respects by laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the Hall of Memory and observing a minute's silence during the solemn ceremony.

Their appearance followed a welcome reception at Government House on Sunday evening hosted by the Governor-General.

The trip, running from March 14 to March 19, marks the couple's first visit to Australia since ascending the throne in 2024, and Denmark's first official state visit to the country in more than four decades.

For the occasion, Queen Mary, 54, wore one of her signature shades - navy blue - opting for a sophisticated high-neck dress with long sleeves and a hemline that skimmed her shins.

She paired the elegant ensemble with a silver brooch, striking snake skin stilettos and a matching blue netted headband that swept her brunette hair neatly back.

The polished look was a contrast to the flowing, semi-sheer floral gown and grey-blue fascinator she wore the evening before. For both appearances, however, she chose a clean makeup palette with a soft pink lip.

The Tasmanian-born royal appeared entirely at ease back on home soil, smiling warmly as she greeted well-wishers while moving through a packed schedule of official engagements.

Queen Mary and King Frederik X are well into their six-day official visit to Australia, with the royal couple spending Monday morning honouring the fallen and meeting members of the public at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra

The Tasmanian-born royal appeared entirely at ease back on home soil, smiling warmly as she greeted well-wishers with Frederick while moving through a packed schedule of official engagements

Their trip, running from March 14 to March 19, marks the couple's first visit to Australia since ascending the throne in 2024, and Denmark's first official state visit to the country in more than four decades

But while the monarch appears composed and confident during her historic return Down Under, a royal etiquette expert says there may be a deeper emotional current beneath the polished surface.

Despite the excitement surrounding the tour - which includes stops at Uluru, Canberra, Melbourne, and Hobart - there is one notable presence weighing quietly in the background.

Mary's beloved father John Donaldson, who she has made time to visit at the end of her trip, is understood to be in declining health.

For some observers, that context has raised questions among Australians watching the tour unfold. Is the Queen distracted? Does she seem slightly 'off'? Or is she simply performing the role she has spent decades preparing for?

According to etiquette expert and royal commentator Jo Hayes, what many Australians are noticing has some truth to it - but there's more going on behind the scenes.

'As an etiquette expert and regular royal commentator, I keep very close tabs on Queen Mary's royal appointments and appearances in Europe. As such, I've become very accustomed to her body language and behaviour,' Ms Hayes told the Daily Mail.

For the occasion, Queen Mary, 54, wore one of her signature shades - navy blue - opting for a sophisticated high-neck dress with long sleeves and a hemline that skimmed her shins as she and Frederik paid their respects by laying a wreath in the Hall of Memory

The Royal's also meet with Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, right, at Parliament House Canberra on Monday afternoon

Mary also stunned in a white ensemble paired with nude heels for the welcome reception at Government House on Sunday evening hosted by the Governor-General, while King Frederik wore a navy suit

'There's no doubt her father's declining health is on her mind - he's 84 and in a 'frail' condition according to reports. And as she doesn't get to spend much time with him, she's no doubt chomping at the bit to see him at the end of this official visit.'

However, she said many Australians only tune into Mary's public appearances when she returns home, meaning the public is now seeing a version of her that has been carefully shaped by 25 years inside one of Europe's oldest monarchies.

'As much as Australia loves her, most Aussies don't pay much attention to what she's up to until she's back here in Australia,' Ms Hayes explained.

'And on her rare official visits we often don't see too much of her or hear her speak.

'So what we've seen in these first couple of days of this official state visit - her first as Queen of Denmark - is arguably the most we've ever seen of her here.'

Ms Hayes said Mary's behaviour may therefore surprise some Australians who remember the Tasmanian-born marketing executive who famously met Frederik at a Sydney pub during the 2000 Olympics.

The royal couple touched down in Perth on Friday afternoon to begin their jam-packed itinerary, which includes official engagements. Both seemed in high spirits

The Danish royals enjoyed a sunset tour of iconic landmark Uluru on Saturday

'She's warm and friendly, absolutely. But she behaves as she should - as royalty,' Ms Hayes said.

'She holds herself beautifully. Back straight, chin up, walking gracefully and confidently wherever she goes - whether she's bushwalking in boots at Uluru swatting flies, or glammed up for the state dinner at Parliament House.

'She's honed this deportment over the past 25 years and it sets her apart from the more relaxed Aussie vibe most of us are used to here - even from our politicians and other 'important people'.'

That same restraint also explains why Mary and Frederik may appear slightly formal with one another during public engagements.

'Royal couples typically have a rule of restraining overly familiar body language in public,' Ms Hayes said.

'They rarely hold hands or show overt affection because it helps separate their public roles from their private life.'

'So, if anyone is questioning Mary's behaviour towards Frederik, it's completely consistent with royal protocol.'

Despite the formal tone of many engagements, Ms Hayes believes Mary is genuinely happy to be back in Australia to visit old friends and family.

After already ticking off Uluru and now, Canberra, the royals with stop by Sydney next followed by Melbourne and finally Hobart to conclude their whirlwind trip.
OSIJEK, Croatia, March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Orqa has entered into a groundbreaking teaming agreement with Red River Army Depot in Texarkana, Texas, representing a significant step in advancing the U.S. Army's rapidly expanding organic small Unmanned Aircraft System (sUAS) manufacturing capacity.

The agreement also strengthens Orqa's recently announced Global Manufacturing Program.

Red River Army Depot, Texas, US. Red River Army Depot Base will manufacture Orqa drones for the US military.

This agreement builds on Orqa's longstanding engagement with the Department of War and reflects a shared commitment to supporting the Army's broader modernization efforts.

The recently signed National Defense Authorization Act represents a national effort to expand unmanned systems production capacity within existing Army depots. Orqa's role in this initiative builds on the company's established record of delivering advanced sUAS technologies and supporting operational requirements across multiple theaters.

The teaming agreement marks a significant step in Orqa's continued partnership with the U.S. military. It reinforces Orqa's position as a trusted provider of unmanned systems and components, including recent authorizations that enable the company to support Army programs in Europe.

Through this collaboration, Orqa plans to contribute to strengthening domestic production of unmanned systems. As Orqa expands its role in U.S. manufacturing, the increased production activity may also support growth within the company's operations. "Made in America" Orqa platforms will be available to U.S. military customers and may also support allied nations through established security cooperation channels.

Srdjan Kovacevic, co-founder and CEO of Orqa, said, "We're thankful for the opportunity to contribute to the increase of U.S. drone manufacturing capability. The resulting boost in capacity will add to the production we can already achieve at our headquarters, a figure that will grow significantly as our Global Manufacturing Partnership Program comes online throughout the year. This agreement is a clear vote of confidence in Orqa, our capabilities, and our products."

About Orqa

Orqa is Europe's leading drone technology company, designing and manufacturing advanced FPV and unmanned aerial systems in Croatia. Our fully vertically integrated operations, from design to production, enable complete supply chain independence and performance optimization competitors cannot match. With 100,000 products delivered in 2024 and customers across 50+ countries, we're redefining aerial robotics for defense and enterprise clients worldwide.

About Red River Army Depot

Established in August 1941, Red River Army Depot provides manufacturing, remanufacturing, and repair services for a wide range of joint service military vehicles and components. The depot sustains readiness, supports America's warfighters, strengthens partnerships with allied nations, and deploys expeditionary teams worldwide.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2934414/Orqa_Red_River_Army_Depot.jpg

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2934415/Orqa_Red_river_Army_Depot_Base.jpg

SOURCE Orqa
Timothee Chalamet had a rough night at the Oscars in more ways than one.

Not only was the Marty Supreme star, 30, brutally snubbed for Michael B. Jordan in the Best Actor category, but he was also made a laughing stock by host Conan O'Brien over his recent 'opera and ballet' jab drama.

Yet, there was more upset beyond the ceremony too when sister Pauline had an 'awkward' run-in with his girlfriend, Kylie Jenner.

In a video, which has since gone viral on X (formerly Twitter), Pauline, 34, could be seen approaching her younger brother inside the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles ahead of the ceremony.

Timothee stood up to greet her before the pair smiled at one another. Pauline then pointed over to the crowd in the distance before Kylie, who was sitting right in front of them, attempted to get her attention.

The makeup mogul, 28, made a series of exaggerated gestures towards her would-be future sister-in-law, including reaching out for a hug that left many viewers cringing at the seemingly frosty nature.

'Looks like she's never met her before in her life This is what a PR relationship looks like,' one scathed. 'The awkwardness between them!' another added, as someone else shared: 'She did not want to hug her.'

Now, the Daily Mail has spoken to body language expert Judi James to reveal the truth about the somewhat jarring exchange.

Timothee Chalamet, who attended with girlfriend Kylie Jenner, had a rough night at the Oscars in more ways than one

Timothee Chalamet and his sister Pauline at the 2026 #Oscars  pic.twitter.com/13FFWhe0df  Timothee Chalamet Updates (@timotheeupdates) March 15, 2026

'The greetings between Timothee and his sister and Kylie look full of perfunctory signals and expressions of deep surprise and even shock, as though she's an unexpected arrival at the event,' she began.

'Timothee and his sister look polite rather than excited and effusive in terms of using touch and affection signals.

'He bends in to greet her politely but there's no close sibling hugging here and despite the fact her man is standing to do the greeting, Kylie seems to be distracted.'

And the exchange did not improve.

After spotting Pauline, Judi detailed how 'Kylie suddenly rips into a ritual that seems to signal utter shock and deep surprise to see Timothee's sister there.'

'Her eyebrows steeple, her eyes widen, and her mouth falls open as she stretches one hand out in the kind of small flapping that would normally pull someone in for a kiss.

'She gets up to greet her but the greetings are rather quick and awkward-looking with little apparent reaction from Timothee's sister beyond the polite.'

The exchange comes after Pauline was previously accused of taking several veiled swipes at Kylie.

There was more upset beyond the ceremony too when sister Pauline had an 'awkward' run-in with his girlfriend, Kylie Jenner

Last year, the Sex Lives of College Girls actress, 34, took to Instagram to lambast 'insane wealth disparity' in the US after reading a New York Times article about cuts to foreign aid.

Kylie has amassed a huge net worth and is estimated to be currently sitting on a $710-million fortune.

In 2019, she was controversially declared the world's youngest self-made billionaire at age 21 but that value was later downgraded.

Chalamet wrote on her stories: 'New York Times, liberal bias, yes yes yes I get it. But this one by @nickkristof is worth the read. It's about empathy and humanity.

'The United States faces a tremendous number of domestic issues. Our maternal mortality rate is embarrassing, our way of shopping and eating food completely out of season makes no sense, we're spoiled in our desire to BLAST ACs and heat, our INSANE wealth disparity is sick, the list literally goes ON and ON.

Pauline also made comments about CEOs who own private jets. Kylie is seen here on her very own private jet

Pauline said: 'We're spoiled in our desire to BLAST ACs and heat, our INSANE wealth disparity is sick, the list literally goes ON and ON.

'BUT just take a second and think about the fact that LESS THAN 1% of all of our money goes to humanitarian aid.

'That money is insignificant in fixing any of the larger problems that play in the United States.

'And yet so significant to the lives of millions of individuals across this shared home we call Earth.'

Pauline appeared to have previously lashed out at Jenner in posts about billionaires and CEOs who own private jets.

The actress made her feelings clear last year when she reposted a telling message by nonprofit organization Move On, originally tweeted by Democratic politician Melanie D'Arrigo.

Per The Sun, the tweet read: 'If your job requires a college degree, you should be able to write off your student loan payments as a business expense the way CEOs write off their private jets and yachts for their jobs which require neither.'
Queen Mary of Denmark is making the most of autumn Down Under by repeating one of her most loved outfits from the past year.

Ever the thrifty royal, Mary, who is currently touring Australia with husband King Frederik X, wore the designer Max Mara ensemble again on Monday afternoon at Parliament House, after spending the morning at the War Memorial in Canberra.

Having appeared in a gorgeous navy gown and snakeskin shoes earlier in the day, the Aussie-born mother of four changed into the pastel pink, faded linen Max Mara blazer, matching white vest and trousers to meet Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

She paired her slick, autumnal look with beige pumps, a matching dusty pink bag, a belt and understated jewellery. Her hair also appeared recently darker and a little shorter, while her nails had a subtle pink gloss.

After a quick photo opportunity outside Parliament House, the pair headed inside and spoke in the Cabinet Room.

Back in 2025, when she last wore the look at the Royal Danish Academy of Music, she opted for the exact same accessories, though had added a bright red nail for a pop of colour.

It's been a busy few days for the Danish royal couple, who have been truly making the most of their six-day official visit to Australia.

The trip, running from 14 March to 19 March, marks the couple's first visit to Australia since ascending the throne in 2024, and Denmark's first official state visit to the country in more than four decades.

Queen Mary of Denmark is making the most of autumn Down Under by repeating one of her most loved outfits from the past year

Ever the thrifty royal, Mary wore the designer Max Mara ensemble again on Monday afternoon at Parliament House, after spending the morning at the War Memorial in Canberra (left, on Monday and right in May, 2025)

After a quick photo opportunity outside Parliament House, the pair headed inside and spoke in the Cabinet Room

They spent Monday morning honouring the fallen and meeting members of the public at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, where they paid their respects by laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the Hall of Memory.

For this occasion, Queen Mary, 54, wore one of her signature shades - navy blue - opting for a sophisticated high-neck dress with long sleeves and a hemline that skimmed her shins.

She paired the elegant ensemble with a silver brooch, striking snakeskin stilettos and a matching blue netted headband that swept her brunette hair neatly back.

The polished look was a contrast to the flowing, semi-sheer floral gown and grey-blue fascinator she wore the evening before. For both appearances, however, she chose a clean makeup palette with a soft pink lip.

The Tasmanian-born royal appeared entirely at ease back on home soil, smiling warmly as she greeted well-wishers while moving through a packed schedule of official engagements.

But while the monarch appears composed and confident during her historic return Down Under, a royal etiquette expert Jo Hayes says there may be a deeper emotional current beneath the polished surface.

Despite the excitement surrounding the tour - which includes stops at Uluru, Canberra, Melbourne and Hobart - there is one notable presence quietly weighing in the background.

Mary's beloved father, John Donaldson, whom she has made time to visit at the end of her trip, is understood to be in declining health.

They spent Monday morning honouring the fallen and meeting members of the public at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, where they paid their respects by laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the Hall of Memory

For this occasion, Queen Mary, 54, wore one of her signature shades - navy blue - opting for a sophisticated high-neck dress with long sleeves and a hemline that skimmed her shins

For some observers, that context has raised questions among Australians watching the tour unfold. Is the Queen distracted? Does she seem slightly 'off'? Or is she simply performing the role she has spent decades preparing for?

'There's no doubt her father's declining health is on her mind - he's 84 and in a frail condition according to reports. And as she doesn't get to spend much time with him, she's no doubt chomping at the bit to see him at the end of this official visit,' Ms Hayes told the Daily Mail.

However, she said, many Australians only tune into Mary's public appearances when she returns home, meaning the public is now seeing a version of her that has been carefully shaped by 25 years inside one of Europe's oldest monarchies.

'As much as Australia loves her, most Aussies don't pay much attention to what she's up to until she's back here in Australia,' Ms Hayes explained.

'And on her rare official visits we often don't see too much of her or hear her speak.

The polished look was a contrast to the flowing, semi-sheer floral gown and grey-blue fascinator she wore the evening before

The Danish royals enjoyed a sunset tour of iconic landmark Uluru on Saturday. Once again, Mary was perfectly dressed for the occasion

'So what we've seen in these first couple of days of this official state visit - her first as Queen of Denmark - is arguably the most we've ever seen of her here.'

Ms Hayes said Mary's behaviour may therefore surprise some Australians who remember the Tasmanian-born marketing executive who famously met Frederik at a Sydney pub during the 2000 Olympics.

'She's warm and friendly, absolutely. But she behaves as she should - as royalty,' Ms Hayes said.

'She holds herself beautifully. Back straight, chin up, walking gracefully and confidently wherever she goes - whether she's bushwalking in boots at Uluru swatting flies, or glammed up for the state dinner at Parliament House.

'She's honed this deportment over the past 25 years and it sets her apart from the more relaxed Aussie vibe most of us are used to here - even from our politicians and other "important people".'
Maude Apatow has sparked concern after showcasing her shrinking frame at the Vanity Fair Oscars Party.

The 28-year-old, best known for her role as Lexi Howard in the HBO drama series Euphoria, wowed in a red strapless gown that boasted a pleated train.

She wore her brunette tresses in a sleek low bun with an understated silver and diamond necklace decorating her decolletage.

The stripped back look meant that her shoulders and arms were on full display for the afterparty in Los Angeles on Sunday.

Despite many fans in awe of the ensemble, others couldn't help but notice that she was showcasing a seemingly thinner physique.

Speculation around Maude's appearance comes after leading doctors weighed in on Hollywood's obsession with Ozempic.

Maude - the daughter of actress Leslie Mann and filmmaker Judd Apatow - unwittingly found herself at the centre of the nepo baby discourse in 2022 when an X (formerly Twitter) user expressed her shock at learning the star had two famous parents.

The viral tweet prompted a raft of fans to share other examples of nepo babies in the industry, with New York magazine going as far as to call 2022 'The Year of the Nepo Baby.'

Maude Apatow has sparked concern after showcasing her shrinking frame at the Vanity Fair Oscars Party

Despite many fans in awe of the ensemble, others couldn't help but notice that she was showcasing a seemingly thinner physique. Pictured: In 2025 (left) and 2026 (right)

Maude was among a slew of celebrities who have famous parents to feature on the magazine's front cover, which quipped: 'She Has Her Mothers Eyes. And Agent.'

The actress has previously confessed she was 'sad' to see the backlash, telling Net-a-Porter: 'At first it was sad.

'I try not to let it get to me because I obviously understand that Im in such a lucky position.

'A lot of people [in a similar position] have proven themselves over the years, so Ive got to keep going and make good work.'

Notably, Maude landed her first film roles as a direct result of her father - featuring in his movies Knocked Up (2007), Funny People (2009), and This Is 40 (2012) during her childhood.

The films also starred her mother Leslie and sister Iris.

Maude went on to star in Euphoria, while Iris appeared on the Netflix series Love.

Maude unwittingly found herself at the centre of the nepo baby discourse in 2022 when a X/Twitter user expressed her shock at learning the Euphoria star had two famous parents

Last year, Maude teamed up with director Olivia Rosenbloom to launch Jewel Productions, a film and television production company.

The pair's first film in the works is the aforementioned Poetic License, but they already have plans to create another two movies.

Discussing the venture, the pair shared: 'We have both always been drawn to flawed and complicated characters and using comedy as a tool to tell their stories.

'We are so excited to launch Jewelbox and hope it can be a home for artists with distinct voices and perspectives to develop compelling original ideas.'
A high society wedding of the year is on the cards following news that Countess Lara Cosima Henckel von Donnersmarck is engaged to Francois Pinault Jr.

The German-American heiress, 22, who is the daughter of acclaimed Hollywood filmmaker Count Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, and a descendant of one of Germany's noble families, announced the news on Instagram over the weekend.

Lara's husband-to-be is the son of Francois-Henri Pinault, the billionaire French businessman who co-owns Kering, the luxury group comprising Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen, and Gucci, among others, and owns auction house Christie's.

His son with his ex-wife, Dorothee Lepere, Francois Jr, unlike his future wife, maintains a low profile online.

Lara announced the news alongside a photobooth-style image, writing: 'Got engaged to my best friend and the coolest boy in the world.'

Fashion student Lara charmed high society back in 2023 at the Le Bal des Debutantes and quickly became a social media sensation by flaunting her lavish globe-trotting life online - prompting many to compare her to a real-life Gossip Girl.

The Parsons School of Design student landed a coveted internship at Dior's haute couture division in Paris, France, and attended some of the most prestigious runway shows as a guest and model.

Lara was selected to open the Le Bal des Debutantes 2023 - an elite annual event that honours socialites and aristocrats from all across the globe - by dancing a waltz with her famous father.

Countess Lara Cosima Henckel von Donnersmarck (seen at Cannes Film Festival in 2024) has announced that she's engaged to Francois Pinault Jr

Francois (pictured with Lara) is the son the billionaire French businessman who founded Kering

Over the last few years, the socialite has showcased her glamorous life online, racking up more than one million followers and 40 million likes across her videos.

She posts 'Day in the life' and 'Get ready with me' clips that show her trying on various designer looks in her stunning Paris apartment, doing various tasks for Dior, and visiting some of the most sought after restaurants and social clubs throughout the City of Light.

Her extravagant behaviour has sparked a fierce interest in who she really is from her growing fanbase.

Lara's father, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, is a German Count who hails from a 'family who were central figures of the second Industrial Revolution,' according to Hello! magazine.

Her father is a wildly successful director, whose most notable films include the romantic thriller The Tourist (which starred Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp), Das Leben der Anderen (which earned him the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film), and Never Look Away (which received two Oscar nominations).

Lara's mother, Christiane Asschenfeldt, is a prominent lawyer and also serves as the international executive director of the non-profit organisation Creative Commons.

Her grandfather, Leo-Ferdinand Henckel von Donnersmarck, is the former president of the German division of the Order of Malta - but Lara has insisted that her wealth comes from her father's work and not her ancestors.

'There's been a lot of interest in my family history,' Lara said in one of her TikTok videos.

Lara shared the news online with a photobooth image, writing: 'Got engaged to my best friend and the coolest boy in the world'

Pictured: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck and his daughter Lara Cosima Von Donnersmarck during the German Film Ball in 2018

'My great-grandfather lost everything he had when Stalin's troops expelled all the Germans in his region [during World War II].

'What we have today is a result of my dad's work, he's a movie director.'

While she was born in Florida, Lara moved to Los Angeles, California, at a young age, where she spent the rest of her childhood.

She now divides her time between Manhattan and Paris, but she often jets off on exquisite vacations to places like London, Milan and Aruba.

Her free time is spent dining at exclusive spots, attending parties, and dancing the night away at clubs with her friends.

Some of her responsibilities during her Dior internship included helping out at fittings and working backstage at the brand's fashion shows.

At the Debutantes, which took place on November 25 2023, Lara wore a stunning Jean Paul Gaultier grey gown with silver and gold heart embellishments in the chest area.

She paired the breathtaking dress with a V Muse's Couteulx Floral Diamond Tiara.

'The tiara features stones from the collection of French banker Baron Jacques-Jean Le Couteulx and his wife Genevieve-Sophie Le Couteulx,' the jewellery company said of the hairpiece. 'The largest antique diamond in the centre weighs 3.66 carats.'

Elle magazine previously said of the TikTok star, 'In person, she's a sweet, unassured 20-year-old who is keenly interested in fashion and is trying to figure out her place in the world - one that isn't defined by her famous parents.'

While speaking to the outlet, Lara explained that she hopes to one day make a difference with her growing online presence.

'That's the most important thing in fashion to me: it's not just something beautiful, but it can also bring attention to a lot of important issues,' she explained.
From Gwyneth Paltrow to Victoria Beckham, dramatic thigh-high leg slits are back in trend, but come with a high risk of an embarrassing wardrobe malfunction.

Favoured by stars on the red carpet in the late 1990s, gowns slashed to the thigh returned after the pandemic - and Gwyneth is the undisputed queen of the look.

At the 98th Annual Academy Awards on Sunday night Gwyneth, 53, stunned onlookers when she donned a racy white Armani Prive gown with sheer slits on both sides that reached up towards her upper midriff and were covered with a sheer, shimmering nude overlay.

Meanwhile, when American actress and producer Demi Moore arrived at the SXSW premiere of 'I Love Boosters' on March 12, she stole the limelight by opting for a striking Saint Laurent purple dress fit with a sky-high slit from the hem to her hip.

The revived leg-slit phenomenon has also travelled across the pond - with Victoria braving a chic black dress with an extreme thigh-high split in Soho just last week.

Yet how exactly are these celebrities avoiding revealing too much in these barely-there gowns.

According to renowned stylist Lisa Talbot, there are numerous methods to prevent an accidental skin reveal - from careful shoe choices, deliberately hidden underwear and even a quick 'movement test' before you step out of the front door.

Gwyneth, 53, stunned onlookers when she donned a racy white Armani Prive gown with sheer slits on both sides that reached up towards her upper midriff and were covered with a sheer, shimmering nude overlay

Yet this isn't Gwyneth's first rodeo - in 2013 at the Iron Man 3 premiere in Los Angeles, she opted for a similar daring look

In 2010, Gwyneth also leant into the thigh-high trend, opting for a long Emilio Pucci gown with lace detailing at the back

She told The Daily Mail: 'The first thing I always say is that fit is everything. A slit should feel intentional, not risky. If the dress is pulling across the hips or riding up when you walk, the slit will naturally open further than planned.

'The right fit ensures the fabric falls cleanly and the slit moves with you rather than against you.'

Ms Talbot added that stylists 'absolutely' use hidden underwear when dressing high-profile figures for the red carpet'.

She added that the use of 'seamless, high-rise briefs, stick on underwear or discreet shaping shorts can give you confidence if the slit sits particularly high'.

'Theyre not about restriction, but about creating a smooth, secure base layer so youre not worrying about what might be revealed when you move or sit down,' said Ms Talbot.

For those perhaps not wanting to spend the money on hidden underwear, or indeed looking for extra precautionary measures when trying out a new and risky look, Ms Talbot has another key step in mind for avoiding a malfunction.

'I'd also recommend doing a quick "movement test" before leaving the house,' she advised.

'Walk, sit, climb stairs and even turn slightly sideways in a mirror. If the slit opens dramatically during normal movement, it may need a small fashion tape fix or a rethink.'

As Victoria Beckham left her offices in Soho last week, she put on a very leggy display in the racy ensemble which she teamed with towering grey high heels

When American actress and producer Demi Moore arrived at the SXSW premiere of 'I Love Boosters' on March 12, she stole the limelight by opting for a striking Saint Laurent purple dress fit with a sky-high slit from the hem to her hip

Stylist Lisa Talbot told the Daily Mail stylists 'absolutely' use hidden underwear when dressing high-profile figures for the red carpet'. Pictured: Amanda Holden opts for a leg slit at the Wicked For Good premiere in November

While leg slits are certainly stylish and great for elongating certain features, Ms Talbot also noted that they only truly work if they 'align with your personal style'. Pictured: Bella Hadid steps out in a thigh-high leg slit at Cannes Film Festival

Previously, brand expert and publicist Brenda Gabriel told the Daily Mail there could be a link between the all-out sexiness being flaunted on the red carpet and a rise of a 'new wave of feminism'. Pictured: Kimberley Garner at the No Time To Die world premiere

While leg slits are certainly stylish and great for elongating certain features, Ms Talbot also noted that they only truly work if they 'align with your personal style'.

She stressed that a 'lower or side-angeled' can provide greater movement while also meaning one isn't forced to step out of their comfort zone.

Finally, a key feature to help prevent a wardrobe mishap is your footwear.

While a large statement heel may be tempting, Ms Talbot noted that they can increase the chance of accidental nudity and should therefore be avoided if possible.

She explained: 'A sleek heel or pointed shoe elongates the leg and keeps the look sophisticated, while also helping the dress fall neatly as you walk.

'When styled well, a leg slit isnt about risk, its about confidence, movement and knowing the outfit works for you, not against you.'

In a now-viral clip shared on X, Gwyneth was seen hurriedly making her way through the Dolby Theatre for the Oscars and lifted the long hem of her outfit to avoid tripping.

However, in doing so, she flashed skin - including some of her backside - due to the long slits on either side of her ensemble.

Yet the 53-year-old actress was seemingly unfazed by the near-wardrobe mishap as she was guided to another area inside the crowded venue, while fans later came to her defence on social media and declared: 'I didn't see anything.'

Previously, stylist Rochelle White explained that we are seeing a 'rise in the high rise splits' as celebrities were 'looking to show off and flash more flesh post lockdown'.

She added: 'With so many people including celebrities living in loungewear, this is a way of expressing themselves and also owning their body confidence.

'Not to mention that there has been a resurgence in not only 2000s fashion, but also short skirts and side splits.'

Meanwhile, brand expert and publicist Brenda Gabriel told the Daily Mail there could be a link between the all-out sexiness being flaunted on the red carpet and a rise of a 'new wave of feminism'.

She explained: 'Not dissimilar to what we see every decade. In the 90s we had the Spice Girls with in-your-face Girl Power. Women who weren't afraid to go after what they wanted and weren't afraid to be vocal about it.

'By 2016 we had Kim K, Beyonce, Rihanna and leading the way for women to own their hotness regardless of what anyone else had to say.

'#Metoo wasn't just an opportunity for pulling back the curtain on inequality, it provided an opportunity for women to take back female sexuality and be unapologetic about it.'
Kris Jenner and Lauren Sanchez caused quite the stir at this year's Vanity Fair Oscars Party after viewers thought they were seeing double.

Jenner, 70, whose flawless facelift recently took the world by storm, opted for an all-black ensemble for the exclusive post-ceremony gathering at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art on Sunday night.

The momager wore a glamorous ballet-inspired gown that boasted a velvet bodice with sweetheart neckline, delicate tied straps and a floor-length skirt that was layered with tulle.

The reality TV star, who wore her dark hair in an updo with tendrils framing her face, accessorized with elbow-length gloves and a pair of dazzling drop diamond earrings.

But many fans could not believe their eyes after close pal Sanchez, 56, showed up in a remarkably similar ensemble.

For her part, the author wore a strapless black gown that featured tiered detailing from the hip and a cheeky thigh-high slit.

She finished the look off with a pair of tights, chunky heels and a selection of sparkly diamond accessories.

The former journalist even sculpted her tresses in an eerily similar style to Jenner and matched her makeup palette with dark, exaggerated eyes and a soft pink lip.

Some fans thought they were seeing double after spotting Kris Jenner and Lauren Sanchez at the Vanity Fair Oscars Party

Dozens of eagle-eyed observers flooded to social media to comment on the similar looks.

'Kris and Lauren look like twins,' one wrote.

'She and Lauren cosplayed as each other at this event,' joked someone else.

'God I almost thought [Kris Jenner] was Lauren Sanchez at the beginning,' another shocked viewer wrote.

After arriving at the star-studded event, Sanchez initially posed up a storm alongside Amazon tycoon husband Jeff Bezos, 62, before deciding to get some solo shots.

In a clip shared to X, formerly Twitter, Sanchez appeared to gesture to her husband to move out of the way so she could pose for cameras uninterrupted - to which he obliged.

Vanity Fair's annual afterparty has become one of the most coveted Oscars night invitations after it was started by the magazine's former editor Graydon Carter in 1994.

The magazine's new editor Mark Guiducci boasted of plans to make this year's event more exclusive, with a much smaller guest list.

The 70-year-old - whose flawless facelift has taken the world by a storm - wore a glamorous gown to attend the famous after-party

Meanwhile, Sanchez, 56, also opted for an all-black ensemble for the ritzy event

Candid photos shared by Vanity Fair on Monday indeed captured many of Hollywood's finest letting their hair down.

The star-studded event welcomed partygoers, including Usher, Jane Fonda, the Kardashians, Mick Jagger, and more big names, onto a red carpet displayed in front of 100ft-long, dazzling, silver wall.

Many guests changed out of the formal outfits that they donned for the award show, including Jenner's daughter Kylie, who attended the Oscars with her actor boyfriend Timothee Chalamet.

The 28-year-old slipped out of her plunging red sequin dress and into a black gown with a cut-out on her hip for the famous afterparty, which sisters Kendall Jenner and Kim Kardashian also attended.

It is not known if Jenner made any comment on the supposed 'Kardashian curse' some Chalamet fans fear may be tanking the self-confident young actor's career
An Oscars reporter has come under fierce fire after she referred to One Battle After Another star Chase Infiniti's braided hair as 'undone.'

Infiniti, 25, attended the event in a stunning, custom Louis Vuitton, purple gown with a sweetheart bodice and extravagant ruffled skirt on Sunday night.

The actress completed her look with a De Beers London Summer choker and styled her long hair in braids.

But when one E! News reporter was analyzing her look during the red carpet and described her locks as 'undone,' it sparked immense criticism online.

While the unnamed journalist was praising her look, many accused her of insinuating that Infiniti's braids made her look unprofessional.

'Let's talk about this awesome, almost, like, undone hair with the done dress,' the journalist said.

A video of her comment was shared to X, formerly Twitter, where it went viral, raking in more than 469,000 views.

'Criticizing a beautiful Black womans beautiful Black hairstyle in 2026 is crazy,' one user scathed in response. 'Braids are professional.'

An Oscars reporter has come under fierce fire after she branded One Battle After Another star Chase Infiniti's braided hair as 'undone'

The reporter was was analyzing the actress' look during the red carpet and described her braided locks as 'undone,' and it sparked immense criticism online

'Undone? is she trying to say Black hair is unprofessional?' wondered another.

'Fire her,' urged someone else, while a fourth person penned: 'These braids probably took several hours nothing undone about it.'

'Undone hair? Um, that is a hairstyle. What was she trying to say? These digs at Black actresses/actors is becoming annoying,' read a fifth post.

'"Undone hair" very racist, very disrespectful wording,' said a sixth.

Others, however, defended the reporter.

'Not that deep at all, dont think she was trying to cause any offense,' wrote one person.

'I don't think she meant any harm. Non-issue,' said another.

'She also called her hair beautiful. Im sure it was just wrong word choice and no harmful intent,' a third person chimed in.

Infiniti, 25, attended the event in a stunning, custom Louis Vuitton, purple gown on Sunday evening, which contained a sweetheart bodice and extravagant ruffled skirt

'Let's talk about this awesome, almost, like, undone hair with the done dress,' the journalist said while talking about Infiniti

Many accused the unnamed journalist of insinuating that Infiniti's braids made her look unprofessional, and they were not amused

Some people compared it to the infamous moment E! host Giuliana Rancic claimed that Zendaya's dreadlocks at the Oscars in 2015 'smelled like patchouli oil and weed.'

Afterwards, Zendaya called the comment 'ignorant' and 'disrespectful,' writing on Instagram: 'There is a fine line between what is funny and disrespectful.

'Someone said something about my hair at the Oscars that left me in awe. Not because I was relishing in rave outfit reviews, but because I was hit with ignorant slurs and pure disrespect.

'To say that an 18-year-old young woman with locs must smell of patchouli oil or "weed" is not only a large stereotype but outrageously offensive.

'I dont usually feel the need to respond to negative things but certain remarks cannot go unchecked.'

Rancic apologized on X at the time, and insisted it had 'nothing to do with race.'

Your browser does not support iframes.

'Im sorry I offended you and others. I was referring to a bohemian chic look. Had NOTHING to do with race and NEVER would,' she wrote.

On her show the next day she also confessed to 'crossing the line' but insisted that she 'didn't intend to hurt anybody.'

'I have learned it's not my intent that matters,' she added. 'It's the result. And the result is people are offended, including Zendaya, and that is not OK.

'Therefore, I want to say to Zendaya, and anyone else out there that I hurt, that I'm so sincerely sorry.

'This really has been a learning experience for me. I learned a lot today and this incident has taught me to be a lot more aware of cliches and stereotypes, and how much damage they can do. And that I am responsible, as we all are, to not perpetuate them further.'
The infamous Vanity Fair Oscars Party is now underway as Hollywood's finest celebrate their wins and commiserate their losses.

The legendary bash, which was founded by former Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter in 1994, immediately follows the Academy Awards every year.

Tonight's main ceremony, hosted by Conan O'Brien for the second year in a row, saw Michael B Jordan take home the Best Actor award for Sinners, Jessie Buckley for Best Actress in Hamnet and One Battle After Another for Best Picture.

But now it is time for the celebs to let their hair down behind closed doors at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

This year, the Vanity Fair party looks a lot different, according to the magazine's global editorial director, Mark Guiducci.

'We will have a smaller guest list than in recent years and are cultivating a sense of privacy so that people can let their hair down,' the 36-year-old revealed in Feed Me, a daily Substack newsletter about the spirit of enterprise by Emily Sundberg.

Guiducci also shared that even though this year's red carpet was 'bigger than ever,' the only journalism coming from inside the party will be that of Vanity Fair - meaning that no other outlets will have access.

However, fans have still been treated to a glimpse of the star-studded guests as they arrived. And with many famous faces opting for a quick outfit change from the earlier red carpet, there are a whole host of new fashion mishaps from today's celebrations.

English model Cara Delevingne, 33, arrived in a long-sleeve bodysuit that was adorned with red, black and white sequins to resemble a male torso. She finished the look with a black pencil skirt and wore her hair in a slick updo

Social media personality Brittany Broski, 28, missed the mark as she arrived at the afterparty in a floor-length leopard-print gown that boasted gold buckle detailing on the straps, as she also sported an ICE OUT badge

Kris Jenner, 70, who arrived with boyfriend Corey Gamble, appeared to channel Cruella de Vil in an all-black gown that boasted a layered tulle skirt and sweetheart neckline before finishing the look with a messy updo and excessively long gloves

Stylist Micah McDonald made a rare fashion misstep in an all-white suit that appeared to be several sizes too big. He flashed a glimpse of his bare chest in the baggy ensemble, which he paired with white shoes

Julia Fox, 36, who has become synonymous with her off-the-wall ensembles, delivered yet another bizarre look this evening in a cream gown with black detailing. The bodice featured floral adornments and exaggerated shoulder straps, as the skirt completely swamped her lower body

Canadian dancer Emilie Livingston, who arrived with Jeff Goldblum, put on a very cheeky display as she dared to bare her derriere - taking to the event in only a skimpy bodysuit, tights and pointed-toe heels

British singer Rita Ora, 35, certainly made a statement in a messy ensemble that included a skimpy mesh bodice, silk wraparound skirt and garishly oversized hat

Hannah Einbinder, 30, best known for her role in the HBO Max series Hacks, slipped into a clashing combination of a black gown and a garish yellow wrap around that looked awkward to hold

Sarah Paulson, 51, also went for an all-white ensemble that included a thick-long sleeve button-up and a ballooning, crimped skirt, with the mismatched materials making her stance appear a little awkward

Actress Kiernan Shipka, 26, best known for her roles in Mad Men and Riverdale, looked more ready for a summer ball than an exclusive Oscars afterparty in a Rodarte floral gown that boasted pastel pink hues and embroidery

Myha'la Herrold left very little to the imagination in a sheer dress that offered a glimpse of her body art, under some strategic embroidery

TV actor Matt Bomer, 48, attended in a suit jacket that was both an alarming color and material that made him look more like a resturant server than A-list guest. He finished the unusual look with an oversized bow tie
'Theyre doing it in the loos, gasps my friend Martha, rushing back upstairs from the bathroom.

Doing what exactly? I splutter, almost choking on my tuna tartare. Influencers, she replies. Using the whole place like their very own fashion studio. Theyre in full frocks, with make-up, professional lights, the works.

She shakes her head. Marthas a highly successful fashion stylist, and knows of what she speaks. Whatever happened to just going for a pee?

Its lunchtime in The Park, Jeremy Kings new, perennially packed London restaurant. And those loos are, admittedly, rather beautiful. But while the occasional discreet snap or selfie is par for the course these days, things were getting out of hand.

Diners were being disturbed, food left to go cold, and staff prevented from doing their job. When politely asked to stop, explains King, they would respond by saying: You aint got a sign up  this is a public place, I can do what I like.

He raises his eyebrows. I would explain that it is not a public place and the law treats it as my home  as licensee. We expect people to act with decorum and respect without needing a sign.

After a few more run-ins, King had had enough. And put up a sign. Filming, flash photography and photoshoots are not permitted in bathrooms and all public areas, it reads. Discreet photos are welcome, as long as the privacy of all staff members and fellow diners are respected. The story went viral. Kings many supporters applauded the move, saying enough was enough, and they just wanted to eat their lunch in peace.

Others, mainly influencers, were outraged, saying that if they paid for the food, they had every right to do what they wanted. Oh, and that he was just stirring controversy around the opening of his new restaurant, the relaunched Simpsons in The Strand, to get some free publicity.

Food critic Tom Parker Bowles says restaurant owners are fighting back against the wave of food influencers

Some restaurants have banned filming and taking pictures in an attempt to crack down on the growing trend

King is one of the countrys greatest restaurateurs. I know he cares rather more for his regulars than Instagrams transient whims. And he hardly needs the PR. Simpsons is already a social media triumph. Anyway, did the ban work? For some, yes, he says. But others ignore it, and get aggressive. They threaten bad reviews. They are still turning up with suitcases and tripods but getting turned away.

Hes not alone in his ire. Allpress, a wildly popular Manchester cafe, was forced to take similar action as hordes of influencers descended with tripods, lighting rigs and changes of costume. Just like King, they allow photos at the table, but you need permission for anything larger.

Endo Kazutoshi, of the eponymous Endo at The Rotunda in West London, currently closed after a fire, has banned phones altogether, explaining that phones introduce distance. Even a small screen can become a wall.

Another influencer irritation is endless requests for collaborations, which means give us free food and well mention you on our social media channels.

Chris DSylva, the man behind Notting Hills Dorian, banned TikTok and Instagram influencers. Please Social Scumbags, he raged on Instagram, kindly stop filling our DMs [direct messages] with unsolicited proposals for free food. You will automatically forfeit being able to come to the restaurant if you do. #instantblacklist.

For any decent restaurateur, the paying customer always comes first. These requests irk even more in the current climate, with restaurants collapsing daily.

So is there a place at all for these influencers? I still passionately believe in the power of the printed word, antediluvian hack that I am, be it on paper or online. Experience and knowledge matters. But of course, as the restaurant critic for The Mail on Sunday, I would say that...

Thats not to say, though, that all influencers conform to the negative stereotype. Far from it. In a very competitive market, influencers can be an incredibly helpful platform for advertising and marketing restaurants, says Adam Hyman, founder of industry bible Code Hospitality.

The Dorian in Notting Hill, west London, has banned TikTok and Instagram influencers

Lily Allen at The Park in London, where influencer shenanigans have led to a ban on filming

And Jeremy King is the first to admit that he has no problem with the right sort of influencers. Its important to remember that these people doing the shoots are not food influencers, who generally are well-behaved. No, Im blighted by lifestyle influencers who arent relevant to the restaurant industry.

And as ever, there are the good, the bad, and the just plain ugly. Jo Barnes, the co-founder of Sauce, one of the biggest restaurant PR firms, argues not all influencers are created equally. At their best, though, they are tastemakers. What, then, of those restaurants that open solely to attract the social media butterflies? Ive lost count of the half-witted press releases Ive received, trumpeting the arrival of some new place with its beautifully Instagrammable interiors.

As Adam Hyman points out, If your focus is purely on making your food and interiors Instagrammable, youre probably in the wrong industry. You can have a huge amount of followers on social media and have a beautifully curated Instagram grid but if your hospitality, food and service isnt any good its just hype. Damned right.

Oisin Rogers is the co-owner of The Devonshire in Soho, central London, perhaps the most TikTokked and Instagrammed of them all after it opened in 2023. I never think about Instagram when I think about how something should look, he says.

Despite the hundreds of thousands of posts of The Devonshires Guinness, scallops and lamb chops, Rogers, just like any decent restaurateur, concentrates on creating a place where the food, atmosphere and service stay consistently good.

Influencers are the same as anyone else who comes into the restaurant as far as Im concerned, he goes on. The only difference is they might tell a few more people about what they see. In fact, their opinions can be extremely beneficial, especially when they have a lot of internet reach.

And you only have to look at the likes of Eating With Todd  a jolly young trencherman with a Tiggerish delight in everything he shoves down his gullet  to see the power of the true social media stars.

With more than a million followers on TikTok, and two million on Instagram, a positive review from him can change the fortunes of a restaurant. If Todd can influence his followers into visiting a new place, then surely he should be applauded?

Its not so much the times they are a changin, rather theyve transformed beyond all recognition. My children, aged 18 and 16, would no more read a traditional restaurant review than Id trust a Tripadvisor rating. In fact, theyre the ones who tell me  a critic  about the new places theyve seen on TikTok.

Tom Straker is the owner of the eponymous Notting Hill restaurant, a chef whose social media following was built during lockdown with cooking videos.

In general, I think influencers are good for business, he tells me. Its free marketing, as they provide a lot of coverage. But he agrees with King when it comes to Hollywood-sized productions.

To go back to the beginning  no restaurant should have to endure the liggers, blaggers and freeloaders, along with the rude and eternally entitled. Jeremy King is quite right to put the comfort of his diners above those influencers who think they can treat a restaurant like a film set.

But if influencers can use their power to get more people eating out, Im all for it.

As food writer Josh Barrie argues, however ridiculous or annoying some of them may be, influencers are inescapable for restaurants, which rely on marketing in all forms.

So there has to be a point where we come to accept they exist. That time is probably now.
Australians have been left stunned after discovering they may have been pronouncing one of the country's most iconic lollies wrong their entire lives.

The beloved Chupa Chups lollipop - a staple of childhood trips to the corner shop and supermarket checkouts - is actually supposed to be pronounced closer to 'Choopa Choops' or 'Chewpa Chewps', according to its Spanish origins.

But many Aussies insist they will continue saying it the way they always have: 'Chupper Chupps'.

The surprising revelation recently resurfaced online, leaving fans of the confectionery divided between those willing to embrace the Spanish pronunciation and those firmly sticking with the Aussie version.

The brand itself originates from Spain, and its name comes from the Spanish verb 'chupar', pronounced 'choo-par', which means 'to suck.'

Adding another layer to the lolly's unlikely history, the instantly recognisable flower-shaped logo was designed by famed surrealist artist Salvador Dali in 1969.

Yet even with the linguistic explanation, plenty of Australians remain unconvinced.

'There's no way it's "Chooper Choops",' one person wrote after learning the supposed correct pronunciation.

The beloved Chupa Chups lollipop is actually supposed to be pronounced closer to 'Choopa Choops' or 'Chewpa Chewps', according to its Spanish origins

'I feel like I'm going to be saying "Chooper Choop" in a super ironic way for the rest of my life now,' another joked.

Others argued the debate was beside the point.

'We are not in Spain so the pronunciation is fine,' one commenter declared.

Some Australians even suggested the confusion may not be their fault at all.

Tammy, from Perth, said she investigated the issue and discovered that old Australian TV ads may have contributed to the mispronunciation.

'I've done a deep dive and it turns out the Chupa Chups marketing department might be the real problem here,' she explained.

'In the 80s and 90s Australian TV ads they clearly pronounce it "Chupper Chupps". Then we get to the 2000s, and suddenly the ads don't even say the name at all.

'So honestly, I think we can all relax. The company literally told Australians how to say it, and apparently it was wrong. Not our fault.

Tammy, from Perth, said she investigated the issue and discovered that old Australian TV ads may have contributed to the mispronunciation

'In the 80s and 90s Australian TV ads they clearly pronounce it "Chupper Chupps". Then we get to the 2000s, and suddenly the ads don't even say the name at all,' the Aussie revealed

'But you can change how you say it if you want to.'

The debate is far from the only time shoppers have discovered they have been saying a popular brand name incorrectly.

Fashion lovers were recently left confused after realising many people had been mispronouncing the Australian clothing brand Decjuba for years.

Adam, from the US, admitted in a video that he regularly walked past the store but had no idea how to say its name.

'There's this women's clothing brand I always walk past and I just don't know how to pronounce it,' he said.

Hundreds of Australians chimed in with their own guesses, with many saying they had been calling it 'Deckjuba', 'Deck-joba' or 'Deek-joo-bah'.

The brand later clarified that the 'j' is silent, meaning it is actually pronounced 'De-Cuba'.

Beauty fans have also faced their own pronunciation shocks.

Fashion lovers have been left in shock after discovering they have been pronouncing the name of a popular clothing brand wrong for years

Many assume Sol de Janeiro's famous Bum Bum Cream is pronounced exactly as it is spelled - but the Brazilian brand has confirmed the correct pronunciation is 'boom boom' cream.

The name comes from the Portuguese word 'boom boom,' which means 'bottom' or 'buttocks.'

Despite the explanation, some shoppers are still reluctant to change.

'Maybe I'm a silly billy too, but I've been calling it bum bum cream, not boom boom!' Alicia, from Victoria, said.

Another brand that has tripped up customers is skincare giant Cetaphil.

Many people instinctively pronounce it 'Set-a-fill', but the correct version is 'See-ta-fill.'

The company revealed the pronunciation in 2015, explaining the name was derived from cetyl alcohol, one of the product's main ingredients.

Still, if the Chupa Chups debate is anything to go by, Australians may continue saying it their own way - regardless of what the brand intended.
OSLO, Norway, March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Photocure ASA (OSE: PHO), the Bladder Cancer Company, announces two "trial in progress" presentations at the 2026 European Association of Urology congress (EAU) in London, UK. These trials investigate different stages of the diagnostic pathway, addressing data gaps to improve individual patient care and outcomes.

The EAU annual meeting is one of the largest international meetings in the global urology calendar, showcasing the latest and most relevant clinical and scientific advancements in this area of patient care.

Photocure participated with its Hexvix product, designed for better detection and resection of bladder tumors. As in past sessions and as a service to non-attending urologists, Photocure will make 2026 EAU bladder cancer session highlights available to healthcare professionals after the event, by means of video interviews with the presenters of these sessions at the Photocure booth. This successful initiative is once again supported by two of the leading names in Bladder Cancer in Europe, Prof. M. Roupret, APHP, Sorbonne University Paris, France and Prof. P. Gontero, Division of Urology, University of Studies of Torino, Italy.

In addition to this educational activity, the EAU scientific program prominently featured Photocure's Hexvix product and/or the blue light cystoscopy procedure in which it is used. In particular, two notable bladder cancer "trial in progress" presentations from Monday, March 16, 2026 were:

A0648: VI-RADS & PDD-TURBT to avoid Second-look and Resection (Re-TURBT) in Non-Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancers: The CUT-less Randomized Clinical Trial

F. Del Giudice, Rome (IT)

The CUT-less trial investigates whether second-look TURB can be safely omitted by combining preoperative staging accuracy of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) using the Vesical Imaging-Reporting and Data System (VI-RADS) with enhanced cystoscopy using blue-light-TURB

The primary endpoint of this randomized, single-center, non-inferiority trial is short-term bladder cancer recurrence. Patients eligible for second-look resection who are randomized to BL-TURB and demonstrate a very-low to low likelihood of muscle-invasive disease on MRI will omit the second-look resection, whereas patients randomized to WL-TURB will undergo the standard second-look resection. Over 3 years, 327 patients with intermediate- or high-risk NMIBCs* who are candidates for second-look TURBT will be enrolled. Results will also include building a health economic lifetime model, looking at cost-utility per quality-adjusted life year gained using 2-year clinical outcomes.

The CUT-less trial aims to generate evidence supporting a paradigm shift towards a more personalized, socially, and economically sustainable updated NMIBC therapeutic pathway across the European Union and potentially worldwide.

ClinicalTrial.gov identifier (ID): NCT05962541 Read more: https://urosource.uroweb.org/resource-centres/EAU26/268344/abstract



A0649: Trial in progress: Evaluation of urinary minimal residual disease and outcomes in high-risk non-muscle invasive bladder cancer surveilled with blue light compared to white light cystoscopy

A.K. Smith, Bethesda (US)

Urinary comprehensive genomic profiling offers a non-invasive method to assess the presence or extent of bladder cancer. The urinary biomarker UroAmp (Convergent Genomics) detects minimal residual disease (MRD). By enhancing tumor margin visualization, Blue Light Cystoscopy (BLC) may improve TURBT (transurethral resection of bladder tumors) completeness. This randomized controlled trial (RCT) enrolls high-risk NMIBC patients receiving either standard of care white light or Blue Light Cystoscopy. UroAmp will be used to evaluate completeness of resection for each modality.

The study will enroll 200 subjects undergoing TURBT for suspected high risk NMIBC randomized 1:1 to WLC or BLC-enhanced cohorts. Urinary MRD analyses will be conducted at all major decision points during treatment. The primary endpoint is the post-TURBT difference in MRD scores between the BLC and WLC arms. Secondary clinical outcomes include recurrence-free survival at 12 and 24 months.

Clinical Trial Registry number is NCT06525571. Read more: https://urosource.uroweb.org/resource-centres/EAU26/268251/abstract

"Photocure's support for these trials underscores our commitment to the transformation toward more personalized, data-driven care in uro-oncology, enabling better clinical outcomes and supporting the shift toward precision medicine. Minimally invasive procedures are on the rise and these trials address data gaps in the care pathway and in the impact of complete TURBTs using BLC to reduce tumor burden on clinical outcomes for high-risk patients. At Photocure, we strongly believe that the clinical utility of different precision diagnostic techniques can be optimized by using them in combination and in sequence throughout the patient pathway to inform physician decision-making and provide value for patients and healthcare. The same is true for their use in clinical trials," said Anders Neijber, Chief Medical Officer of Photocure.

During the EAU Congress on March 13, 2026, Photocure, in collaboration with medac, hosted a well-attended scientific event titled "Optimising Care in Bladder Cancer." The session was moderated by Mr. John McGrath (Consultant Urological Surgeon North Bristol Trust). The program brought together leading clinicians to discuss current challenges and advances in bladder cancer management, with a focus on improving patient pathways, in particular outcomes for women. This collaboration between Photocure and medac reflects a shared commitment to advancing evidence-based practice and supporting healthcare professionals in delivering high-quality, patient-centered bladder cancer care.

*NMIBC: Non-muscle invasive bladder cancer

**TURBT: trans-urethral resection of bladder tumors

Note to editors:

All trademarks mentioned in this release are protected by law and are registered trademarks of Photocure ASA.

This press release may contain product details and information which are not valid, or a product is not accessible, in your country. Please be aware that Photocure does not take any responsibility for accessing such information which may not comply with any legal process, regulation, registration or usage in the country of your origin.

About Bladder Cancer

Bladder cancer ranks as the 8th most common cancer worldwide  the 5th most common in men  with 1 949 000 prevalent cases (5-year prevalence rate)1a, 614 000 new cases and more than 220 000 deaths in 2022.1b

Approx. 75% of all bladder cancer cases occur in men.1 It has a high recurrence rate with up to 61% in year one and up to 78% over five years.2 Bladder cancer has the highest lifetime treatment costs per patient of all cancers.3

Bladder cancer is a costly, potentially progressive disease for which patients have to undergo multiple cystoscopies due to the high risk of recurrence. There is an urgent need to improve both the diagnosis and the management of bladder cancer for the benefit of patients and healthcare systems alike.

Bladder cancer is classified into two types, non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) and muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC), depending on the depth of invasion in the bladder wall. NMIBC remains in the inner layer of cells lining the bladder. These cancers are the most common (75%) of all BC cases and include the subtypes Ta, carcinoma in situ (CIS) and T1 lesions. In MIBC the cancer has grown into deeper layers of the bladder wall. These cancers, including subtypes T2, T3 and T4, are more likely to spread and are harder to treat.4

1 Globocan. a) 5-year prevalence / b) incidence/mortality by population. Available at: https://gco.iarc.fr/today, accessed [February 2024].

2 Babjuk M, et al. Eur Urol. 2019; 76(5): 639-657

3 Sievert KD et al. World J Urol 2009;27:295300

4 Bladder Cancer. American Cancer Society. https://www.cancer.org/cancer/bladder-cancer.html



About Hexvix/Cysview (hexaminolevulinate HCl)

Hexvix/Cysview is a drug that preferentially accumulates in cancer cells in the bladder, making them glow bright pink during Blue Light Cystoscopy (BLC). BLC with Hexvix/Cysview, compared to standard white light cystoscopy alone, improves the detection of tumors and leads to more complete resection, fewer residual tumors, and better management decisions.

Cysview is the tradename in the U.S. and Canada, Hexvix is the tradename in all other markets. Photocure is commercializing Cysview/Hexvix directly in the U.S. and Europe and has strategic partnerships for the commercialization of Hexvix/Cysview in China, Chile, Australia, New Zealand and Israel. Please refer to https://photocure.com/partners/our-partners for further information on our commercial partners.

About Photocure ASA

Photocure: The Bladder Cancer Company delivers transformative solutions to improve the lives of bladder cancer patients. Our unique technology, making cancer cells glow bright pink, has led to better health outcomes for patients worldwide. Photocure is headquartered in Oslo, Norway and listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange (OSE: PHO). For more information, please visit us at www.photocure.com/news

CONTACT:

For more information, please contact:

Dan Schneider

President and CEO

Photocure ASA

Email: [email protected]

Erik Dahl

CFO

Photocure ASA

Tel: +47 45055000

Email: [email protected]

Priyam Shah

Vice President Investor Relations

Tel : +17176815072

Email: [email protected]

Media enquiries:

Geir Bjrlo

Corporate Communications (Norway)

Tel: +47 91540000

Email: [email protected]

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/photocure/r/photocure--trials-in-progress-presented-at-the-european-association-of-urology--eau--2026-congress-a,c4321994

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A young and single American man who has spent the past few months travelling around various parts of Australia has made a comparison between the beautiful women he's met down under and those he'd encounter back home.

Frankie Marcos from California declared that he's been stunned to observe that in Australia, 'there's good looking women everywhere'.

In a recent video, the comedian explained why he was surprised to find gorgeous Australian women in even the most mundane of locations - like at the bus stop.

Using the modern slang word 'baddies' - which refers to an attractive, stylish and confident woman - he explained why this was in stark contrast to his experience of seeing good looking women back at home.

'In America, the baddies are tucked into social hierarchies. Fancy gyms like Equinox. Exclusive parties in the LA Hills and Miami,' Frankie explained.

'In Australia, the culture is to chop everybody down to the same size. So you'll see good looking girls at the bus stop!'

He continued: 'As an American, I'm like "What is she doing? There's a baddie at the bus stop!"'

The funny man exclaimed that not only has he spotted attractive Australian women 'everywhere' - but added that he'd even seen 'a cute bus driver'!

American traveller Frankie Marcos recently shared a video comparing attractive Australian women to good looking women from his home country

While travelling Australia on a comedy tour, the California man observed in a post on his @frankiemcomedy account that good looking women are 'everywhere' down under, even in the most mundane places, like the bus stop

'In America, the bus drivers have a big-a** Santa belly. Cuss you out.'

'A cute girl bus driver in Australia? It's not a real place,' he concluded his observational video shared to his @frankiemcomedy account.

Frankie elaborated further to Daily Mail on his theory about attractive women in Australia compared to the US.

'I've lived in San Francisco, LA and San Jose and I've travelled all around the country - different states, small towns, major cities. And I've just noticed it's way more common to find beautiful American women, as a whole, living in places with a much more lavish lifestyle.

'You can still find cute women in other places, mid-tier places,' he laughs. 'But when it comes to models and really good looking women, they tend to only be found in places with money and a certain tier of lifestyle.'

Frankie's observation was that this hierarchical location system for attractive women doesn't appear to exist in Australia, based on how he had seen 'beautiful women at all kinds of places' - whether it's the beach, the shops, or even behind the wheel of the bus!

When asked to theorise why this might be the case, Frankie suggested it may be a combination of the proximity of major cities to the coast and the priority Aussies placed on an active, outdoorsy lifestyle.

'Maybe it's beach culture,' he mused. 'Many women here seem to keep up their physique with running, going to the gym and looking after themselves. It makes it almost competitive in that way.'

Frankie, who is currently performing a comedy tour around Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney, theorised to Daily Mail that Australia's coastal and active lifestyle contributed to the proliferation of attractive women - and that Aussie society lacked the 'social hierarchies' of certain places in the States

Conversely, Frankie explained that in America, his take was that an overarching capitalistic pursuit to achieve 'a certain tier of lavish lifestyle' meant that the most attractive women tended to gravitate toward specific locations and spaces where they could achieve that.

During his current comedy tour around Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney, Frankie says he's also noted a striking difference in personality between Australian and American women.

'Australian women are way more laid back. They're more fun, they're more loose, they're funny,' Frankie observed.

'American women can be amazing as well, but they have a lot more entitlement. Way too serious about stuff, they get offended more easily.

'Australian women are way less likely to get offended. They'll talk smack and banter back and forth with you, which I love so much.'

Frankie's recent video, which has been viewed over 42,000 times, was received positively by numerous Aussie women.

'As an Australian girl we appreciate this,' read one reply.

'As a cute Australian bus driver I thank you, good sir!' added another.

Aussie women - and even Aussie men - were in agreement with Frankie's observation about beautiful local women (Picture: stock image)

One laughed: 'Baddie at the bus stop! As an Aussie woman I'll take this.'

And it wasn't just Australian women who felt Frankie's observation was on point - Aussie men agreed, too!

'Facts, I see them all the time!' one bloke replied.

'This is true,' another local added. 'Aussie women, best in the world. And their personalities are even better than their looks.'

However, one guy told Frankie to gatekeep this observation.

'Shhhh, you'll make them all want to come here. Tell them more about the dangerous animals that will kill them.'

Another Aussie man had one major takeaway from Frankie's video, declaring: 'I have to ride the bus again.'

Meanwhile, Frankie told Daily Mail that he has thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Aussie women throughout the course of his current comedy tour, which has upcoming shows scheduled throughout the next two months in Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne.

'I definitely enjoy hanging out with Australian women. I might one day have an Australian wife! It is highly possible!'
NBC is quietly preparing for Savannah Guthrie's return to Today, with producers already discussing how her first morning back will unfold  including a symbolic moment outside on the plaza, Daily Mail has learned.

But as those plans take shape, another question is quietly circulating inside the network: will Hoda Kotb be part of the broadcast that day?

Hoda stepped in during Savannah's absence and helped keep the show steady through the crisis of Nancy Guthrie's disappearance.

But with Savannah now back in the Big Apple, where she was seen visiting NBC co-workers last week, the big question is whether Hoda Kotb will be sitting beside her in the Today show hot seat upon her return.

Right now, NBC has no plans to have Kotb, 61, share the spotlight, the Daily Mail has learned. The focus is on Savannah.

According to insiders, there has been talk of releasing yellow balloons from the square outside 1 Rockefeller Plaza as a gesture of support to honor Nancy and celebrate Savannah.

Savannah Guthrie was seen visiting NBC's Rockefeller Plaza headquarters last week as she prepares for a possible return to the Today show following weeks away searching for her missing mother

The veteran anchor spent weeks in Tucson, Arizona but returned to New York as the search continues for her 84-year-old mother, Nancy, who vanished from her home on February 1

'They want the moment to feel hopeful,' one network source says. 'Something simple that viewers on the plaza and at home will instantly understand.'

Since the disappearance of 84-year-old Nancy from her Tucson home at the start of last month, tributes of yellow roses and balloons have been placed outside her home.

The octogenarian remains missing six weeks after she vanished, while the huge manhunt launched by the Pima County Sheriff's Department and the FBI has been scaled back.

Despite the lack of progress in the case, NBC insiders say they intend to create 'a hopeful moment' with the yellow balloons while also being supportive of Guthrie who has released multiple tearful videos begging for her mom's return.

Kotb has remained supportive of the mom-of-two throughout the ordeal and was photographed hugging and kissing Guthrie on her return to New York last week.

She has made no secret of the fact she wants to stay on at the breakfast TV juggernaut, despite quitting the show last year to spend more time with her two adopted daughters.

According to data from Nielsen Today ratings have spiked a full 23 percent - or by 624,000 viewers - over the year-earlier period, as regulars Hoda Kotb and Craig Melvin (seen on the Today set on February 12) stepped in amid Savannah's absence

Kotb was seen hugging and kissing Guthrie during an emotional reunion in New York last week

'This isn't just about feelings  it's about protecting the franchise,' an NBC insider exclusively told the Daily Mail.

'Morning TV is a multimillion-dollar machine, and they need stability. Right now, that stability is Hoda.

'And Hoda is absolutely ready to step back in full-time if asked. She never really left the building mentally.'

Production staffers too are wondering what Guthrie's return might mean for them with some saying they fear the 54-year-old's high standards.

'You think The Morning Show is bad?' a source told the Daily Mail, referring to the Apple TV drama series.

'That's nothing. These people will steal your chair while you're still sitting in it.

'From the hair and makeup people to the producers, you can't trust anyone, they all talk.'

For now, Guthrie's focus is still largely on her family. She has been left 'devastated' by her mother's disappearance as well as by the circus that has ensued with influencers even caught snapping selfies outside Nancy's $1 million Tucson home.

Sources say producers are reportedly planning to release yellow balloons outside Rockefeller Plaza to mark Guthrie's return and symbolize hope for her missing mother

Nancy Guthrie was last seen in her $1 million home in the neighborhood of Catalina Hills in Tucson, Arizona on January 31

'She's praying for answers and instead her mother's home has become a circus, said another source.

'Right now that house feels like the scene of a crime, not a family home.

'The idea of tearing it down has come up simply because the memories there are becoming unbearable.'

Guthrie's appearance at the Today Show HQ was her first in nearly three months. Before her mother's disappearance she had been off the air for a month while recovering from surgery to remove vocal cord nodules.

'There's real uncertainty about Savannah's timeline,' another insider explained. 'No one knows when  or if  things return to normal.'
A Republican congressman has called for former Fox News star Tucker Carlson to be prosecuted for treason if federal investigators discover he was secretly working with the Iranian regime.

Representative Max Miller, of Ohio, made the demand one day after the 56-year-old broadcaster claimed the Department of Justice is gearing up to charge him with 'acting as an agent of a foreign power.'

He argued that CIA staffers may be targeting him for his criticism of Israel.

But Miller, who has described himself as a 'staunch defender of Israel,' accused Carlson of being a 'traitor' to the United States.

'Everyone has always known Tucker is in love with himself and happy to sell falsehoods for attention,' the congressman posted on X on Sunday.

'The Left excels at this, when Tucker finally joined them it was just sad.'

'Now? Treason,' Miller continued, arguing: 'If Tucker really worked with Iran against America's interests, he is a traitor and should be prosecuted.'

The penalty for a person found guilty of treason in the US is at least five years in jail, and a minimum fine of $10,000. No charges have yet been filed against Carlson.

Representative Max Miller, of Ohio, (pictured) has called for Tucker Carlson to be prosecuted for treason if federal investigators find he has been working with the Iranian regime

Tucker Carlson posted a five-minute long video on X explaining how he believes the CIA has been reading his texts in an attempt to have the DOJ press charges on him as a 'foreign spy'

Miller, who has described himself as a 'staunch defender of Israel,' accused Carlson of being a 'traitor' to the United States in a fiery post he shared via social media app X

Carlson said in a five-minute video that he may be prosecuted under the Foreign Agents Act, which requires anyone paid by foreign governments for political advocacy to register with the Justice Department.

'When you discover the CIA has been reading your texts in order to frame you for a crime,' Carlson posted on X, alongside the video.

'The CIA is preparing some kind of criminal referral against me, a crime report to the Department of Justice, on the basis of a supposed crime I committed,' he said in the video.

'Whats that crime? Well, talking to people in Iran before the war. They read my texts.'

But Carlson, who has publicly fought with the president after he called the Iran strikes 'evil,' said that he 'isn't worried' - adding that 'he does not expect' these potential 'charges' to go anywhere.

'Im not an agent of a foreign power. Unlike a lot of people commenting on US politics and global affairs, I have only one loyalty and thats the United States,' he said.

Carlson then went on to say hes not concerned because he has 'never taken money' from a foreign nation, adding: 'Dont need it, dont want it.'

The conservative firebrand noted that he is American and that his job involves talking to people around the world.

'It's literally what I do for a living, and I'm not gonna stop that,' he said.

'Legally, I think the case is ludicrous, and I doubt itll even become a case.'

The conservative firebrand is among many MAGA supporters who have criticized Israel

Carlson explained why he went public with his allegations, arguing that countries become 'more authoritarian' during wartime.

'It's just the nature of war, people are dying, the stakes are high,' he said. 'There's much less tolerance for any kind of dissent in the homeland.'

He also suggested that his stance on Israel may have made him a target of the CIA.

'[There are] some people who are mad at me for my views about Israel and they have some latitude.'

'One of the reasons they pass on criminal complaints in effect to law enforcement is to justify warrants for spying on Americans,' he added.

Carlson claimed the main reason this happens is to '"leak the investigation" to the media,' and to 'humiliate and terrorize the "subject of the operation."'

Carlson compared his claims to when he was at Fox News trying to arrange an interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

He said in 2021, the NSA 'grabbed his text messages' with another American citizen, and 'leaked' them to news outlets in an attempt to kill the interview.

'I'm not making this video to complain about it, or whine, or ask for money... I'm saying it because it's true, and you should know what your own government is doing.'

Carlson explained a few reasons why believes any charges would be bogus, saying he is 'not an agent of foreign power', while adding that his job involves speaking with people worldwide

Donald Trump said he's kicking Carlson out of MAGA after the ex Fox News host 'lost his way' in calling the president's Iran strikes 'evil'

Carlson's X video comes after his attack on Trump on February 28, when he called the president's joint US-Israel strikes on Iran 'absolutely disgusting and evil'

The Daily Mail has reached out to the Department of Justice and Carlson for comment.

His remarks came after Donald Trump said he's kicking Carlson out of MAGA after he 'lost his way' in calling the president's Iran strikes 'evil.'

The two have been at odds over the attacks on Iran, but the conservative commentator went further than ever in an interview with ABC News.

'The president's decision was absolutely disgusting and evil,' said Carlson.

Trump responded by saying that 'Tucker's lost his way.'

'I knew that a long time ago, and he's not MAGA,' Trump told ABC News on March 5.

'MAGA is saving our country. MAGA is making our country great again. MAGA is America first, and Tucker is none of those things.

'And Tucker is really not smart enough to understand that.'
The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission has threatened to revoke the broadcasting license of networks that do not 'operate in the public interest' in an X post on Saturday.

In the tweet, Brendan Carr reposted a Truth Social Post from President Donald Trump that slammed the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal for reporting that Iran had struck five US refueling planes at a military base in Saudi Arabia.

Trump wrote that the planes were not 'struck' or 'destroyed,' and that 'four of the five had virtually no damage, and are already back in service. One had slightly more damage, but will be in the air shortly. None were destroyed.'

'Broadcasters that are running hoaxes and news distortions - also known as the fake news - have a chance now to correct course before their license renewals come up,' Carr's post on Saturday began.

'The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they do not,' the chairman continued.

Carr then wrote that it is in the legacy media's own interest to 'change course,' because trust for the networks has fallen to 'an all time low of just 9 percent and are ratings disasters.'

The FCC chairman did not cite where he got that figure from, though a Gallup poll conducted in October found that just 28 percent of Americans expressed a 'great deal' or 'fair amount' of trust in mass media.

The poll also found that the number was even lower among Republicans, with just eight percent of GOP members trusting the media, which is closer to Carr's number.

Brendan Carr, the chairman of the FCC, threatened to revoke the broadcast license of networks that do not 'operate in the public interest' in an X post on Saturday

Carr reposted a Truth Social post by President Trump that accused the Wall Street Journal and New York Times of falsely reporting that tanker planes in Saudi Arabia had been struck by Iran

The FCC chairman juxtaposed that lack of trust for legacy media with Trump's decisive victory in the 2024 election.

He wrote: 'When a political candidate is able to win a landslide election victory after [sic] in the face of hoaxes and distortions, there is something very wrong.

'It means the public has lost faith and confidence in the media. And we cant allow that to happen. Time for change!'

Carr also said that Americans have 'subsidized' legacy media because the outlets are allowed to access the nation's airwaves for free.

The FCC chairman added that 'It is very important to bring trust back into media, which has earned itself the label of fake news.'

In another Truth Social post on Sunday, Trump thanked Carr for looking into revoking the broadcasting licenses of 'Corrupt and Highly Unpatriotic News Organizations.'

He also echoed the FCC chairman's statement that Americans have subsidized the networks, because 'They get Billions of Dollars of FREE American Airwaves.'

The networks use those 'free' airwaves 'to perpetuate LIES, both in News and almost all of their Shows,' the president wrote.

In that same Truth Social post, Trump once again railed against the Wall Street Journal for reporting that the refueling planes had been struck.

Carr said that trust in legacy media has fallen tremendously and that despite negative coverage, Trump decisively won the 2024 presidential election

Carr has threatened to revoke broadcasting licenses before, but this X post on Saturday was the most recent case of him doing so

He also threatened that outlets reporting false information about the Iran conflict 'should be brought up on Charges for TREASON.'

Since his appointment as Chair of the FCC at the start of Trump's second term, Carr has regularly floated the idea of seizing broadcasting licenses from networks because of their broadcasting decisions.

The idea is easier said than done, however, as revoking licenses is extremely difficult under US law and the government is prohibited from using regulation to censor outlets.

Still, Carr has seen some temporary success in his efforts. In a controversial moment last year, Jimmy Kimmel Live! was briefly taken off the air following comments the host made about the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Democratic congressmembers were quick to condemn the FCC chairman's comments on Saturday.

Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote on X: 'Its illegal for the government to censor free speech it just doesnt like about Trumps Iran war. This threat is straight out of the authoritarian playbook.'

Trump has praised Carr for looking into revoking the licenses of broadcast networks

Carr had brief success in his attempts to revoke broadcasting licenses last year when Jimmy Kimmel Live! was temporarily taken off the air for comments the host made regarding the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk

Senator Mark Kelly said: 'When our nation is at war it is critical that the press is free to report without government interference. It is literally in the Constitution.

'This is overreach by the FCC because this Administration doesnt like the microscope and doesnt want to be held accountable.'

The Daily Mail has reached out to the New York Times and Wall Street Journal for comment regarding Trump's claims that the outlets reported false information about tanker planes being struck by Iran.
President Trump waded in on the ongoing feud between Megyn Kelly and her former Fox News colleague Mark Levin, defending the latter as a 'Great American Patriot'.

The two political commentators have been trading blows in a war of words on X after Levin called Kelly 'emotionally unhinged' and a 'petulant wreck' over the weekend.

Kelly then responded with her own particularly vulgar post about Levin claiming he was a misogynist.

On Sunday night, Trump posted to his Truth Social saying that Levin was under attack by 'other people with far less intellect', but didn't directly name Kelly.

Trump said: 'Mark Levin, a truly Great American Patriot, is somewhat under siege by other people with far less Intellect, Capability, and Love for our Country.

'He is a true Conservative, and Intellect, far smarter than those who criticize him but, above all, he is a man of Great Wisdom and Common Sense who truly loves our Country.

'When you hear others unfairly attack Mark, remember that they are jealous and angry Human Beings, whose sway is much less than the Public understands, and will, now that they know where I stand, rapidly diminish.'

Trump's comments come after Kelly criticized his administration for joining in with Israeli attacks on Iran in the last few weeks, something Levin has championed.

Kelly, seen here, has recently criticized the administration for joining in with Israeli forces and attacking Iran

Trump speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One, Sunday, March 15, 2026, en route from West Palm Beach to Joint Base Andrews

The two political commentators have been trading blows in a war of words on X after Levin called Kelly 'emotionally unhinged'

Levin branded Kelly 'evil' and 'diabolical' on Saturday after she reshared a post that said the suspect in the Michigan synagogue shooting lost his niece and nephew in an Israeli airstrike.

On Sunday he followed that up and said: 'Poor Megyn Kelly. An emotionally unhinged, lewd, and petulant wreck. Shes completely revealed and destroyed herself.

'Shes everything people say she is, but much worse. Never an intelligent, thoughtful, or substantive comment. Utterly toxic.'

Kelly responded: 'Micropenis Mark thinks he has the monopoly on lewd. He tweets about me obsessively in the crudest, nastiest terms possible.

'Literally more than some stalkers Ive had arrested. He doesnt like it when women like me fight back. Bc of his micropenis.'

Their spat represents a growing rift between conservative commentators which also includes Tucker Carlson, Ben Shapiro and Candace Owens.

After Trump's comments on Sunday night, Levin again posted to X saying he was 'humbled' by his support.

He said: 'Mr. President: I am beyond humbled by your words and graciousness in writing such a beautiful note and sharing it on Truth Social.

Trump is seen here alongside Levin at a Hanukkah reception inside the White House in December of last year

Kelly responded with her own particularly vulgar comment about Levin over the weekend

Trump rushed to the defense of Levin in a post to his Truth Social on Sunday night

'I am honored that you took the time to write it. Your courage, strength, and moral clarity are truly unparalleled.

'And your leadership has made our country and the world much safer. Both you and what you are doing deserve our support.

'And I will not be intimidated or bow to threats. Through your insight and steady hand, America has been made great again.

'It is an enormous honor to know you as my family and I do and call you, Mr. President, our friend. You're one of a kind. Truly remarkable. Please be safe and God bless.'

Kelly and Trump have in the past had their own feud which started when Trump attacked her during a debate night in 2015 as she asked questions of the candidates.

She infuriated the president with a question over his treatment of women, with Trump going on to attack her after the debate, calling her a 'bimbo'.

In 2023 Kelly said the tension between the two was water 'under the bridge'. While campaigning in 2024 Trump said she was making a career 'by pretending she likes me'.
Savannah Guthrie is 'livid' that journalist Ashleigh Banfield named her brother-in-law Tommaso Cioni as a 'prime suspect' in her mother Nancy's abduction, Megyn Kelly has claimed.

Banfield, citing a single law enforcement source, identified Cioni as a suspect in the case just two days after Nancy was reported missing from her Tucson, Arizona home on February 1. Pima County Sheriff's Office later said none of Nancy's family or in-laws were considered suspects.

The Guthries were allegedly outraged by Banfield's accusation with insiders at the time claiming the family was pursuing legal action against the former NewsNation host.

Kelly, who used to work with Guthrie at NBC News, has now revealed that the Today co-host is still angry over Banfield's reporting.

'I have not been able to confirm that the Guthrie family wants to sue Ashleigh Banfield, but I have confirmed that Savannah is livid about that report and definitely does not suspect her or her brother-in-law,' Kelly told her podcast last week.

'Can you blame her? I mean, of course, she loves her sister, I'm sure she loves her brother-in-law, and I'm sure she genuinely doesn't believe they had anything to do with it.'

Kelly made the shocking revelation while discussing the Nancy Guthrie case with celebrity defense attorney Mark Geragos.

Geragos, however, claimed that while Banfield's report may have been upsetting to the Guthrie family, it 'couldn't be more protected under the law.'

Savannah Guthrie, seen with her mother Nancy Guthrie, is reportedly 'livid' that journalist Ashleigh Banfield named her brother-in-law as a 'prime suspect' in her Nancy's abduction

Tommaso Cioni and his wife Annie Guthrie, pictured together, were the last people to see Nancy before she vanished

Megyn Kelly, who used to work with Savannah Guthrie at NBC News, has now revealed that the Today co-host is still angry over Banfield's reporting

'The media is, as long as they are reporting and they have source protection, you're never going to be able to disprove what Ashleigh Banfield said,' he explained.

He also pointed out, especially in the early stages of an investigation, police would be looking into possible familial involvement.

'Any judge who's looking at this, any lawyer who's involved, is going to tell you "of course they're looking at the family members." It would be malpractice not to -- and that's exactly what Ashleigh said,' Geragos said.

Cioni and his wife Annie Guthrie were the last people to see Nancy before she vanished.

Two days after Banfield's report, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos claimed the department had not identified a suspect in the case.

'Nobody's eliminated, but we just really don't have enough to say, "This is our suspect, this is our guy, we know  or our gal." We don't know that,' Nanos told the Hollywood Reporter after Banfield's report.

He then went on to criticize the journalist, saying: 'It's really kind of reckless to report that someone is a suspect when they could very well be a victim.'

Nanos urged the media to be 'careful' of what they report, warning that spreading misinformation 'could actually be doing some damage to the case.'

But Banfield doubled down on her reporting, with a producer for her podcast telling the outlet that she 'stands by her reporting' and 'her ironclad source.'

Banfield (pictured in 2019) identified Cioni as a suspect in the case just two days after Nancy was reported missing, citing a single law enforcement source

Celebrity defense attorney Mark Geragos, who discussed the Guthrie case on the Megyn Kelly Show last week, claimed that Banfield's reporting is protected under the law

Kelly, in her coverage last week, acknowledged that Banfield's source was a 'senior law enforcement source who had been a source for her for years.'

Sheriff Nanos initially refused to rule out Cioni or anyone else as a potential suspect. He subsequently said that all members of the Guthrie family have been cleared by his investigators.

Savannah and her siblings have offered a $1 million reward for information leading to the recovery of Nancy, but solid information in the case has been hard to come by.

Nancy was last seen at her home January 31 and was reported missing the following day. Authorities believe the 84-year-old was kidnapped, abducted or otherwise taken against her will.

Drops of her blood were found on the front porch. The FBI released surveillance footage on February 10 that showed a masked man at Guthrie's doorstep the night she disappeared. Authorities otherwise have released little evidence publicly.
Britains biggest car park firm is set to crash into administration, the Daily Mail and This is Money can reveal.

The company employs 682 people and manages approximately 340 car parks nationwide, including in major towns and city centres, airports, hospitals and transport hubs.

But it recorded losses of almost 27.5million in 2022 and 26.7million in 2023.

It has not yet filed more recent accounts, however a statement issued on behalf of the company said it had not recovered from business lost in the Covid pandemic amid the rise in flexible working.

Documents lodged today with London's High Court say the company, which charges up to 33 for 24 hours parking in Manchester and 60 at sites in central London, has filed an intention to appoint an administrator.

This is a formal legal step filed in court, often providing a company with 10 days protection from creditor legal actions.

The notice was filed at 10.01am today and is likely to shock customers and clients, which range from private landowners to councils.

NCP has filed notice of intention to appoint administrators in the High Court today

The firm has been frequently criticised in recent years for levying overzealous fines.

Last February, NCP apologised and quashed all incorrectly applied fines after a grandfather was incorrectly asked to cough up a 100 penalty charge for a 14-minute stay in Darlington, County Durham.

Signs at the car park stated parking was free for customers for 90 minutes.

In 2024, Bolton Council wrote off almost 1.5million in debts owed by the company from during the pandemic.

Reports say NCP turned over 187million for the financial year ending 2023, a 7.15 per cent drop from the previous year.

Reynolds Porter Chamberlain, law firm representing the company, said it would not be commenting.

A statement issued on behalf of NCP said: 'The Joint Administrators will continue to trade the business for the time being while undertaking an assessment of the options for the business.

'For now, all sites remain open, employees will continue to be employed in their roles and customers will see no immediate changes to the day to day operations.'

The statement added: 'The Companys performance has deteriorated over a number of years post COVID-19 as demand for parking has not recovered to historic levels, particularly across city-centre and commuter locations.

'Continued shifts in commuting and customer driving patterns have impacted site occupancy, while the high concentration of long-term, inflexible leases has meant the company has been unable to reduce costs in line with revenue or to exit loss-making sites, resulting in ongoing trading losses.

'The company now has insufficient cash available to meet its financial obligations and the directors have therefore taken the decision to appoint administrators.'

Joint administrators PwC is to 'engage with landlords' and a sale of 'all or part of the business' is being considered, along with site closures.

Zelf Hussain, joint administrator and PwC partner, said: 'NCP has faced a challenging trading environment over several years, with changing consumer behaviours impacting volumes, and a high fixed cost-base leading to trading losses.

'Our priority on appointment is to ensure continuity of service while we undertake a detailed review of the business. All sites are open, staff remain in post, and trading continues as normal.

'We will be engaging with landlords, employees and other stakeholders as we explore all options, including the potential sale of all or part of the business, to secure the best possible outcome for creditors.'

How parking fines have soared

Private companies are hitting drivers with nearly 40,000 parking charges a day, This is Money revealed last year, while the DVLA is raking in almost 100,000 every 24 hours as a result.

The agency's full-year figures showed requests for a record 14,371,841 vehicle ownership details from private parking firms in 2024-25.

This was an increase of 13 per cent on the year previous and 39,375 per day on average.

Charges can be issued by private parking operators to drivers for overstaying time restrictions in car parks at supermarkets, shopping centres, business parks, motorway services and restaurant locations, with charges amounting to as much as 100.

However, in order to issue parking charge notices by post, they must first request the vehicle owner's information - including their home addresses - from the DVLA at 2.50 a time.
Tilray Brands has agreed to buy some of BrewDog's US assets, including its Ohio-based brewery and hotel and Las Vegas site, following a UK rescue deal.

The New York-based firm, which produces medicinal cannabis as well as craft beer in the US, said it had agreed to acquire certain key assets across North America.

This incorporates its brewery, pub and hotel in Columbus, Ohio, bars in New Albany and Cleveland in Ohio, and flagship pub in Las Vegas in Nevada, a franchised site in Denver, Colorado, and a licensed bar in Columbus International Airport.

It did not disclose the price of the deal.

Tilray, which bought a number of BrewDog's assets and bars in the UK earlier this month, said the acquisition will help it to expand into the US craft beer industry.

Irwin D Simon, Tilray's chief executive, said: 'The acquisition of BrewDog's key US assets strengthens our US beverage platform and advances our regional craft beer strategy across North America.

'BrewDog has built a strong following in Ohio and established a highly visible presence in Las Vegas, including a flagship brewpub located on a premier stretch of the Las Vegas Strip.

'These assets fit squarely within our brewpub model, creating destination-led venues that deepen consumer engagement while providing new opportunities to introduce and sell our broader portfolio of Tilray beverage brands.'

Tilray Brands has agreed to buy some of BrewDog's US assets, including its Ohio-based brewery and hotel and Las Vegas site, following a UK rescue deal

Scottish brewery BrewDog, which was once estimated to be worth 2billion, was sold to US cannabis and drinks firm Tilray for just 33million earlier this month.

The firm, which is best known for its range of medical cannabis but has also branched out into beer and energy drinks, has taken over the struggling business at a 'bargain' price.

Tilray had already agreed to buy the global brand and related intellectual property, its UK brewing operation and 11 of its pub venues across the UK and Ireland, preserving 733 jobs.

It also bought BrewDog's Australian business including a Brisbane-based brewery and a number of owned and franchised bars.

But the deal, which rescued the company out of administration, resulted in the closure of 36 bars in the UK, with around 480 workers losing their jobs.

The move also meant that any equity holders will be left empty-handed and not receive any returns from the deal.

Tilray Brands shared last week that BrewDog had no money left to pay its staff when it was rescued from collapse.

It was in such dire financial straits that it had next to no funds and would have been unable to pay staff if it had not been purchased, Mr Simon claimed.

Tilray, which is best known for its range of medical cannabis but has also branched out into beer and energy drinks, has taken over the struggling business at a 'bargain' price

Speaking to industry magazine The Grocer, Mr Irwin said it would take a 'tonne of money' to kickstart the business again, adding: 'Day one, there was no money left. There was no payroll to pay employees.'

He added that vendors were also at risk of pulling out of the business if bills were not settled.

It comes after it emerged that shares owned by the 220,000 'equity punks' who invested some 75million in the company over seven funding rounds are now practically worthless.

Those who invested were promised a range of perks including discounts on beer, and an invite to BrewDog's annual AGM, or Annual General Mayhem, event.

The loss of return on their investment is a sore point for many BrewDog fans, after that Mr Watt and Mr Dickie were said to have shared in a reported 100million payday when they sold 22 per cent of the firm to US investment firm TSG Partners.
Thames Water's creditors have increased the amount of their rescue bid to prevent the embattled utility firm from collapsing.

Britains biggest water company, serving around 16 million customers, is sitting on a mountain of debt of more than 20billion.

Its financial woes could push the Government to nationalise Thames Water if a long-term restructuring deal is not reached.

The utility giant said London & Valley Water  a consortium of its main creditors which include Aberdeen Investments, Elliott and Pimco  had proposed plans to inject 3.35billion of new equity and 6.55billion in new debt.

The bid, which was first reported over the weekend, is an increase on the offer made by the group last October, which included a 3.15billion equity injection and a 7.5billion debt write-off.

The deal also includes a commitment from the companys largest shareholders not to sell a significant proportion of their equity investment until 2030. Thames will also be prevented from paying dividends until 2035.

Lifeline: Thames Water creditors have tabled an improved bid to prevent collapse

In December, Thames Water was scrambling to secure a last-ditch rescue, having already drawn down 1.43billion of a 1.5billion lifeline.

Thames Water said it had enough cash to last until early 2025, but if a deal was not approved, it could collapse into government-supervised administration.

Thames Water said LV&Ws improved proposal remains subject to review by the regulator and shareholders.

It said: As engagement remains ongoing, there is no certainty that the L&VW Proposal will be accepted or that it will be finalised in its current form.

At this stage, the companys board, Ofwat, other regulators and relevant investment committees have made no decision to accept and take forward the L&VW Proposal to implementation.

Thames Water, whose customers saw annual bills rocket from an average of 488 to 639 earlier this year, is also facing fines totalling more than 100million for pollution failures.

LV&W said bills would remain in line with expectations but any eventual sale above agreed levels would see certain benefits of the turnaround shared with customers.

The consortium also said it would pay all outstanding fines as part of its plan.

A spokesperson for LV&W said the 10billion of new capital will 'stabilise and transform' Thames Water.

'L&VW believes the L&VW Proposal is the fastest and most reliable route to stabilising and fixing Thames Waters complex problems in the best interests of employees, customers, the environment and local communities, without any Government funding or cost to taxpayers. The L&VW Proposal remains subject to ongoing review and engagement with regulators.'
When Claire McCafferty heard the harrowing details shared by David Bowie's daughter, Alexandria 'Lexi' Jones, of being, as she described it, 'legally kidnapped' and sent to a desolate wilderness therapy program in Utah, she wasn't shocked.

Lexi's trauma-laden recollection so closely mirrored what McCafferty claims was her own experience in a similar controversial troubled teen program just eight years ago.

Like Jones, McCafferty, now 23, claims she was woken up in the middle of the night by strange men and forcibly removed from her family's home, with no idea of where she was going.

'It was terrifying,' McCafferty told the Daily Mail. 'I had just turned 16 and they drove me to the middle of nowhere. I was screaming my head off because I had no idea what was going on.'

After two flights and a three-hour-long car ride, where, she said, she was blindfolded and shoved into the backseat, McCafferty arrived in the desolate wilderness of Kanab, Utah.

She spent the next 13 weeks there sleeping outside, hiking under extreme conditions, and surviving on limited rations of food and water, as part of the WinGate Wilderness Therapy.

Her parents, McCafferty claimed, enrolled her in the now-defunct disciplinary program because they were worried about her rebellious behavior in high school. They were, she believes, acting in good faith, driven by a sincere desire to help their wayward daughter. They did not respond to the Daily Mail's request for comment for this article.

At her very worst moments, McCafferty claimed, she thought she was going to die.

McCafferty (pictured age 16) said she was woken up in the middle of the night by strange men and being forcibly removed from her family's home, with no idea of where she was going

McCafferty, now 23, says she was sent to wilderness therapy because of 'rebellious behavior'

'I was just a teen being defiant,' McCafferty explained, noting that her rebellions were what she considered to be typical teenage mischief. 'I was running around with older boys, drinking and smoking weed.'

Upon arrival at the now defunct, WinGate Wilderness Program, McCafferty said she was forced to remove all of her clothing and any jewelry from her piercings before changing into an orange T-shirt, nondescript pants and hiking boots that she was given by the staff - a uniform that she said she would wear every week for the next three months.

'We got a change of clothes once a week,' McCafferty said, noting that the conditions that she lived under were not only difficult, but unsanitary; according to McCafferty feminine hygiene products were not provided, forcing girls to use their dirty clothing instead of pads or tampons (although McCafferty claimed that she stopped menstruating while she was there because of the physical stress and lack of food in the program).

She said: 'It's not healthy to be wearing the same underwear for a week. It's not healthy to not be eating or not brushing our teeth. When I finally got home, my shoulder had been dislocated for four weeks. I had five cavities. It took an entire bottle of shampoo to clean my hair, an entire bottle of body wash to scrub the dirt.'

During her time at Wingate, McCafferty told the Daily Mail that participants were expected to hike for up to five days at a time, tramping through mountains and desert, avoiding rattlesnakes and scorpions.

She said she carried a 40-pound backpack, which held her sleeping bag and provisions, while logging a significant number of miles every day in 90-degree heat. The hiking was not merely an activity, as McCafferty explains it, it was the way that she and other students in the program were given their water rations.

McCafferty claims she spent 13 weeks in the desert in Kanab, Utah. She carried a 40-pound backpack, which held her sleeping bag and her scant provisions, while logging tons of miles every day in 90-degree heat

'You couldn't just opt out of the hiking,' she said. 'If we didn't hike, we would not get to our water, there was one hike that we didn't finish because it got dark.

'We had to do crash camping, which is just setting up camp randomly without getting to our water and that sucked because the next day, when we woke up, we didn't have water and we still had to hike eight miles. We all thought we were going to die.'

McCafferty is one of many former young people to have participated in wilderness programs, who have come forward in recent years to share their stories of alleged abuse. According to a 2020 study in the Child & Family Social Work journal, 120,000 to 200,000 children are in such Troubled Teen Industry (TTI) programs at any given time. At its best, the journal found, such intervention can be beneficial, complimenting other therapeutic methods.

But many programs have faced scrutiny as the rise of social media has enabled former students, including high-profile individuals like Jones, Paris Hilton and Chet Hanks to share their stories. Likewise, reports of sexual assault and harassment, as well as preventable deaths have also incited backlash and calls for change.

The Salt Lake Tribune has made a project of compiling data on Utah's 'troubled teen wilderness retreats.' It reported that seven teenagers died in such facilities or congregate care programs between 2021 and 2025. Meanwhile the case of a 12-year-old boy who died of asphyxia after less than 24 hours in a North Carolina program made headlines in 2024.

The boy died after staff mandated he spend the night in completely closed sleeping bag. No criminal charges were filed after an investigation determined that the death, 'did not involve criminal intent or recklessness sufficient to warrant criminal charges for involuntary manslaughter under the law.'

A 2007 report from the Government Accountability Office found that in 2005 (the last year that the data was available), 1,500 staffers at programs in 33 states were in litigation for abuse, including broken bones, dislocated joints and sprains.

Meg Appelgate, is the founder and CEO of Unsilenced, a nonprofit that serves victims of institutional child abuse.

She told the Daily Mail: 'There is no federal regulation overseeing these kinds of programs. And the biggest consequence is death. Since I've started Unsilenced, almost every single year, I've helped with a death case within the troubled teen industry.

'We're not only dealing with death, but the vast majority of people we speak to coming out of these facilities are experiencing neglect and sexual assault. We have to do something about that.'

Appelgate (left) and Paris Hilton (right) are both survivors of wilderness therapy programs

Appelgate founded Unsilenced after her own harrowing experience in a wilderness program for troubled teens

Appelgate, who herself was enrolled in a wilderness program for troubled teens, also points out that these programs can be financially exploitative to parents, who have no idea that their children are experiencing abuse. The nonprofit Breaking Code Silence reports that the $23 billion is spent annually on the troubled youth industry.

WinGate, which closed in September 2023, charged between $10,000 and $30,000 depending on the duration of the program.

Derek Daley is the founder of Legacy Treatment Center, a residential treatment center, and the president of the National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs (NATSAP), a membership organization representing programs and schools for struggling youth.

Daley has worked in the behavioral healthcare space for over 20 years, and is motivated by the loss of three family members who did not have access to resources like his program.

He believes that there needs to be accountability, strong standards and oversight for wilderness therapy programs, but does not believe that the programs should be eliminated altogether.

'Advocating for accountability and higher standards protects youth,' Daley told the Daily Mail in a written statement. 'Advocating for the elimination of treatment options without building better alternatives does not.

'The professionals working in behavioral healthcare, including clinicians, guides, social workers, former clients, and families are people who have dedicated their lives to helping others during some of the most difficult moments imaginable. Their work deserves scrutiny and high standards, but it also deserves to be understood in its full context.'

He wrote: 'I have personally been involved in efforts that required programs to meet accreditation standards and, in some cases, led to programs closing when they could not meet those expectations. That work matters.'

Daley revealed that an adherence to those standards has seen the number of programs with NATSAP membership dropping from 185 to 87 programs. He explained: 'In part because we required independent accreditation and stronger expectations around safety and outcomes tracking.'

Daley maintained that he believed wilderness therapy to be beneficial: 'Wilderness therapy and outdoor behavioral healthcare have been studied for decades, and the research consistently shows improvements in depression, anxiety, substance use, and family functioning.

'Safety has also been examined and the results are clear. In well-run wilderness therapy programs, serious incident rates are lower than those experienced by the same age population living at home.'

But for McCafferty, the experience at Win-Gate did not live up to the standards for which Daley advocates. She claimed it put a strain on her relationship with her parents for many years but today she believes they were as much victims of the troubled teen industry as she was.

McCafferty explained: 'I think parents are also victims of the industry. They lie to parents. They say, 'She's going to tell you that these awful things are happening, but that's not true. She just wants you to take her home. Don't listen to her.'

'It was traumatizing for my mom, too. I've made my peace with the fact that they're victims too - they had no idea what was actually going on.'
First look at passenger information center ahead of new terminal openings

NEW YORK, March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Visitors to Passenger Terminal Expo (PTE) 2026, taking place March 1720 in London, will get an early look at the passenger welcome experience planned for John F. Kennedy International (JFK) Airport's Terminal 6 and New Terminal One (NTO), both part of the airport's ongoing transformation into a modern global gateway. Terminal 6 and NTO, opening in 2026, will introduce new passenger-focused design and technology to support travelers arriving in New York.

The New Terminal One and Terminal 6 are key components of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey's $19 billion transformation of JFK Airport, which will include two new terminals, the modernization and expansion of two existing terminals, a new ground transportation center, and an entirely new and simplified roadway network.

At PTE, SITA-CCM will preview elements of the Information Centers, a highly visible location for arriving travelers being developed for the Port Authority. Designed to support both operational efficiency and passenger comfort, the center will provide key information for onward journeys, serve as meeting points for friends and family, and function as support hubs for airport customer experience services.

Visitors to the SITA-CCM booth at PTE (#B200) will be able to experience key design features of the center, including seating with integrated device charging and the distinctive signage elements that will anchor the Information Center and help identify the space for arriving travelers. Architecture, furniture design and integrated technology will work together to create welcoming airport environments that will support both passenger comfort and create operational efficiency.

Beyond the information centers, SITA has partnered with NTO and JFK Millennium Partners, the developer of Terminal 6, to develop technology that will support passenger-facing services across Terminal 6 and New Terminal One, which will help to create a more intuitive and accessible journey. These include:

ADA-compliant self-bag drop, and self-service kiosks designed to improve accessibility and an inclusive check-in experience for all passengers

Digital signage providing clear guidance through the terminal

A frictionless biometric journey using your face as your ID

Operational tools that support terminal operations to provide an effective and efficient day of travel for passengers

Together, these elements combine thoughtful design with integrated technology to create a more connected and passenger-friendly airport experience.

"The Port Authority and our private partners are transforming JFK International Airport into a global gateway where state-of-the-art technology, spacious and light-filled terminals, public art and locally inspired concessions alongside global brands will create a world-class passenger experience," said Sarah McKeon, Port Authority Director of Aviation. "The combination of SITA-CCM's expertise in technology-integrated environments and their thoughtful, passenger-focused approach will help us deliver the enhanced, connected experience that travelers to a new JFK will expect."

"Airports today are rethinking how they welcome passengers the moment they arrive," said Anthony Natale, Vice President North America, SITA. "By bringing together thoughtful design, digital information services, and integrated technology, the Terminal 6 and New Terminal One Information Centers will help create a more intuitive arrival experience. Passenger Terminal Expo is a great opportunity to preview how SITA-CCM is supporting JFK's transformation into a modern global gateway."

ABOUT SITA

SITA is the air transport industry's tech engine, making travel safer, easier, and more sustainable for everyone. From the earliest days of commercial aviation to today's digital frontiers, SITA has been there, connecting the industry and helping it evolve through every leap forward.

With around 2,500 customers, SITA technology supports over 1,000 airports and more than 19,600 aircraft worldwide. It also helps over 70 governments strike the balance between secure borders and seamless journeys. Behind the scenes, SITA bridges 4550% of the industry's data exchange, enabling a highly complex global network to operate smoothly and reliably, every step of the way.

SITA is transforming fast. From advanced self-service and operations control to airport design and digital borders, we're shaping the next generation of travel through key acquisitions like Materna IPS, ASISTIM, and CCM. We're also expanding beyond aviation with initiatives such as SmartSea, bringing our trusted technologies to cruise, rail, and urban air mobility.

This transformation is about more than new products. We're investing in the right skills, tools, and partnerships to help the industry move with greater intelligence and agility, bringing together smart systems, seamless data, and sustainable innovation. Because as global travel surges, flow is everything.

As part of our bold climate strategy, SITA is cutting emissions by 4.2% each year and targeting net zero by 2050. Our science-based targets are validated by the SBTi, and our growing portfolio is helping customers reduce their own carbon footprints too.

Owned by the industry and driven by its needs, SITA operates in more than 200 countries and territories.

Find out more at www.sita.aero.

MEDIA CONTACT

Lauren Shankman

[email protected]

404-214-0722 x 121

SOURCE SITA
A group of Americans stranded at the Qatar airport after the war in Iran began found each other and an unlikely path home, after an advisor to President Trump took action.

Brought together on TikTok and Instagram, eight American travelers traveling around the world teamed up for an unlikely journey through the Middle East that they would remember for the rest of their lives.

Now that they have safely returned to their homes in America they can tell their stories.

The Daily Mail interviewed some of the travelers who took the trip.

Sarah Gaither, 27, was on an East African safari when her travel took her through Doha. She planned to take some days to visit the Middle East, but her journey brought her to places she would have never dreamed.

'We had quite the adventure,' she told the Daily Mail after returning to her home in Texas.

Sarah's flight from Doha to Texas was in the air and had flown for about an hour when the pilot got on the intercom to inform the passengers of 'unsafe airspace' requiring them to return to the airport.

The plane circled the airport for hours, burning off fuel while they were waiting to land. After touching down, the passengers waited for hours as there was no sign of when they would be allowed to leave.

Alex Bruesewitz and Sarah Gaither after their successful journey

Alex Bruesewitz and a group of Americans after safely evacuating from Qatar through Saudi Arabia

With little left to do, Sarah documented the journey on her TikTok posting several videos. With no end to their wait in sight, she left the airport and booked a hotel.

A few of the people at the hotel who were scrolling through TikTok recognized her in person and eventually struck up a conversation about what they were going to do. She exchanged information with some of them and wished each other luck as the hours turned into days.

At about 6:00 am, her phone rang and woke her out of a deep sleep.

On the other end of the line was Alex Bruesewitz, one of President Trump's digital advisors, who informed her that he was also in Doha. He had stopped in the city on his way to visit the United Arab Emirates.

Bruesewitz said that one of her new contacts had given him her information. And he hatched a plan.

'I had no clue who he was. I probably didn't answer the most polite for someone who would end up saving my life,' she recalled.

Bruesewitz offered her a way out. He told her he was organizing a convoy out of the airport to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

'I was like, um, who are you again? I really was like, is this a scam? Like what's happening?' she recalled.

Bruesewitz said he would need to know within the next 30 minutes if she wanted to join the group.

Skeptical, Sarah said she would let him know. After she hung up the phone, she found Bruesewitz's Instagram account and started investigating, but when she heard missiles go off near the hotel, her mind was made up.

'I was like, this is my sign from God. I'm leaving. I gotta go,' she said.

After agreeing to make the trip, she was soon reassured after meeting Bruesewitz and five other people who he had also gathered.

'I was like, okay, this is legit. It's gonna be okay,' she recalled.

Screenwriter Michael Holstein was trying desperately to reach the group in time.

He was caught in the Qatar airport after traveling to Johannesburg. He expected to have a quick layover in Doha, on his way to Rome for a conference.

He boarded the plane on Saturday and when it was just about ready for takeoff, everyone's phones went off with an alert. It was chaos.

Passengers waited three hours on the runway before the plane was unloaded and everyone was sent back into the airport.

Holstein and the swarm of passengers waited in the airport, with no idea when they would leave until they heard explosions after missiles were intercepted overhead.

It was clear they were going nowhere soon and he ended up in the business lounge where he fell asleep.

In the middle of the night he was shaken awake by security officials ordering the evacuation of the airport for safety reasons.

The airport of stranded travelers were evacuated to a hotel which was quickly overcrowded. He was sitting in the hotel lobby waiting for another bus when a missile hit a target near the hotel. Everyone was evacuated to a parking garage prompting him to start texting people he knew to look for an exit.

Holstein recalled that through 'six degrees of separation,' he finally got a contact for Alex, and was told by a friend that he was organizing a trip out of the airport.

'He was great, he said, I'm happy to help if I can, but we have to leave in 20 minutes,' he recalled.

Alex Bruesewitz and screenwriter and producer Michael Holstein

Sarah Gaither, 27, posts an update on TikTok about their journey from Doha to Saudi Arabia

Sarah Gaither, 27, posts an update on TikTok on their escape from Doha after the Iran war began

Holstein immediately booked an Uber trip to their location, but it was still 30 minutes away.

Bruesewitz reassured him that he would hold their departure as long as he could, but that he could not promise they would be there when he arrived.

Holstein watched in panic as his driver got lost a couple of times, with the clock ticking down.

As they finally neared their destination, he spotted the waiting convoy of three SUVs and he jumped into one of the vehicles. He hadn't even met Bruesewitz as they sped off, but he breathed a sigh of relief as the journey began.

Bruesewitz texted him a welcome from one of the other vehicles as they headed off into the unknown.

The vehicles drove for about an hour and a half to the Saudi border, but as the drivers did not have the proper credentials, they took taxis over the border and arranged a new convoy on the Saudi side to take them to the airport in Riyadh.

The entire trip took nearly 10 hours and as the hours dragged on, some of the passengers wondered if they had done the right thing. But as they continued toward their destination they did their best to cheer each other up.

'It sounds crazy to say, but it was a fun experience, because everybody was really in it together and kind of propping each other up when people would get down,' Holstein said.

From Saudi Arabia, Bruesewitz booked a private flight for all of them to Athens, Greece, picking up the cost himself.

The crew was overjoyed as they boarded the flight and returned to the skies with no more delays.

'Alex was phenomenal. He worked with officials to organize everything. He set everything up, he was amazing,' Gaither said.

Holstein spoke to the Daily Mail shortly after returning to Washington, DC days after the entire ordeal began.

'It was amazing and I mean, I still, I don't know how he pulled it all together, but he really did just an incredible job,' Holstein said.

As they boarded the plane in Riyadh, Holstein, who works in the film business and as a writer on HBO's The Wire, joked to Bruesewitz that he might have to make their journey into a movie one day. The group agreed on their text thread that it was a great idea, prompting him to start jotting down some notes.

'It seems like a good time in America to tell a story like this when people are so at each other's throats all the time, and, uh, you know, show an example of a time when we weren't, and it wasn't about politics or anything,' he said to the Daily Mail. 'Whether it's a script movie or a documentary, it is an amazing story.'

After reaching safety he saw some of the online attacks aimed at Bruesewitz and his efforts, which he found to be lazy and uninformed.

'There were Democrats in the car, and Republicans in the car, and Independents like myself, and, you know, it sounds corny or whatever, but proud to be an American,' Holstein said. 'Everyone pulled together, nothing divisive, no gatekeeping other than here's a group of people who really wanted to get home and somebody who made it happen.'

After bringing his first group to safety, Bruesewitz kept working. Other stranded American travelers reached out on Instagram to ask for his help as word of their successful journey spread online.

Les and Jamie Kreis were on their flight home to Dallas-Fort Worth with Less eighty-one year old mother and eighty-year old father after completing a two week trip in Egypt with Egyptian explorer and archaeologist Graham Hancock.

They had just had the trip of a lifetime, but they were unaware of just how memorable the trip home would be.

In Qatar, they boarded their flight home to Texas on Saturday morning and flew for over an hour before the pilot informed the passengers that the plane was turning around and going back to the Qatar airport.

Les and Jamie Kreis take a selfie with their driver Mohammed on their long drive to Saudi Arabia

Les and Jamie Kreis board their plane home for Texas

Jamie, confused, turned to her husband to inquire what was happening but Les had already figured it out.

Trump must have just invaded Iran, he replied.

After returning to the Qatar airport, they waited over a day and a half for their suspended flight to get back in the air.

In the middle of the night, a group of guards came banging on the door ordering everyone out as quickly as possible.

The fearful passengers rushed outside and loaded on buses where they were escorted to a nearby hotel.

Les and Jamie were separated from Les' parents who were sent to a nearby stadium, and they spent hours frantically working to relocate them.

Lost, upset, they finally worked with Qatar officials to reunite but they were still stranded at the hotel with no way home.

As they waited, Jamie was scrolling through Instagram when she discovered news of Bruesewitz's unlikely journey.

She messaged him with details of their plight and he responded immediately.

'We were hesitant at first, but we realized that he was just there to help,' she said.

Les did some more research and continued their conversation with Alex to make sure everything checked out.

'There's always an element of risk to it, but there was also an element of trust in it too,' he said.

Bruesewitz sent two SUVs to pick them up and whisked them away to safety.

The Kreis family spoke to the Daily Mail as they were awaiting a flight to London and finally to their home in Fort Worth.

'Alex was such a godsend, a true angel. No questions, no money wanted, he just wanted to help,' Jamie said. 'We're forever grateful for him getting us out of that war zone.'

Other stories keep making their way into the news. Lawyer Wajeeh Mahmood from Los Angeles revealed on Instagram that after he was stranded in Qatar, Bruesewitz messaged him on Instagram to help him coordinate private transportation to Saudi Arabia.

Anjali Sharma, a Maryland native was on her way to India for a cousin's wedding when she was trapped for five days in Qatar. When she saw reports of how Bruesewitz and his group managed to make it out, she grew frustrated.

She posted an exasperated post on TikTok announcing her plight.

'I didn't realize I have to be TikTok famous now to get out of a country that I've been stranded now for five days not in the Middle East,' she said. 'What about the rest of us?'

Within minutes of Sharma's post, Bruesewitz reached out to help her find transport to Saudi Arabia.

'His quick response and willingness to step in and help, made a situation that felt impossible suddenly manageable,' she told the Baltimore Banner.

All told, Bruesewitz helped about 30 Americans evacuate from Qatar and back safely home.

Arriving home after 8000 miles and multiple long days of traveling, Gaither hugged her mother closely and posted the video on TikTok, concluding her incredible journey.

'For all those wondering, yes, my mom cried when I made it home,' she informed her followers.

Holstein was back in Washington, DC, stuck in traffic on the Beltway.

'I mean there's no more appropriate welcome home than to be sitting and crossing the American Legion Bridge for 40 minutes,' he chuckled. 'Kind of makes me wish I was back in Doha.'
A boss who went viral after being ordered to pay more than 23,500 for repeatedly calling an Irish worker a 'potato' says he thought it was 'workplace banter' but admits he got it 'badly wrong'.

Mick Atkins, 56, says he has been unable to sleep as his construction firm's 24-hour hotline was bombarded with calls after a tribunal ruled he racially harassed bookkeeper Bernadette Hayes, and has even been sent death threats.

He was ordered to pay Ms Hayes, who was born in Portadown, Northern Ireland, thousands in compensation after a tribunal ruled he had called her a 'potato', 'Paddy' and 'pikey'.

Ms Hayes said the remarks left her feeling 'small, insecure, violated and extremely anxious', adding that she came to dread going into work at building contractor West Leeds Civils.

Now Mr Atkins says he wants to publicly apologise for what he had thought was harmless 'playful banter' and admitted the case had been a 'hard lesson to learn'.

He said: 'I genuinely thought it was workplace banter. I can see now I got that badly wrong.

'What I thought was messing about was clearly not taken that way, and I am sorry for the distress it caused Bernie.

'These were comments which I thought were just back-and-forth playful banter with someone I had worked with for two years and whom I considered to be a friend.'

Mick Atkins (pictured), 56, says he has been unable to sleep as his construction firm's 24-hour hotline was bombarded with calls after a tribunal ruled he racially harassed his bookkeeper

Bernadette Hayes (pictured) was subjected to a barrage of taunts over her heritage while working for engineering firm West Leeds Civils, an employment tribunal ruled

Mr Atkins, a father-of-three from Bradford, West Yorkshire, said he had since been subjected to abusive messages and threats online.

He said: 'I've been getting calls day and night from withheld numbers. I've had to delete my social media.

'One woman screamed down the phone that I should hang my head in shame. Another asked me, "what are you playing at?"

'There was one Irish guy who said, "Me and the boys are over next week - we're going to pay you a visit."

'They've got hold of the company's 24-hour phone number and have been ringing every ten minutes.

'Some of the messages have been vile. I've had people calling me all sorts and there have been threats made. It's frightening, to be honest.

'This is the first time in my life that I'm thinking of just wrapping up and calling it a day.

'It's been awful. I accept that I shouldn't have said those things but I don't feel that I deserve to get death threats.

'Even my daughter has been getting stick.

'I know people may say that's nothing compared to what Bernie went through, and maybe that's fair, but it has made me take a hard look at myself.'

Ms Hayes was branded a 'Paddy' and a 'pikey' by company director Mick Atkins (pictured) and said she was accused of 'lusting after the travellers outside the office'

The tribunal heard Ms Hayes began working for the civil engineering contractor in 2021 as an office and finance manager.

Her harassment claim centred on comments made by Mr Atkins over a six-month period between December 2023 and June 2024.

She alleged 'volatile' Mr Atkins and his business partner Marcus Smith 'embarrassed' her by making the comments - including calling her a 'potato' on WhatsApp.

The tribunal was told that Ms Hayes herself had used the word 'potato' and sent an emoji of the vegetable to Mr Atkins.

Ms Hayes, from Ossett, West Yorkshire, said she did so simply to 'fit in' and 'make it seem okay'.

Text message exchanges shared with the Daily Mail show Ms Hayes sending a potato emoji, and responding with laughing emojis when Mr Atkins joked that her passport photo looked like 'Bee from Prisoner Cell Block H in a wig'.

Another message, in which Ms Hayes resigned her post, she told Mr Atkins: 'I have so much respect for you, and appreciate everything you've ever done for me.'

He said he was 'shocked' when he learned that she was taking him to an employment tribunal claiming racial harassment.

Mr Atkins said: 'She's a Northern Irish lady with a strong personality who could give as good as she got. We were pals, I thought.

'It was craic which seemingly has got out of hand and just ricocheted.'

Mr Atkins, who said he has worked in construction since the age of 22 and now employs 50 staff across his various businesses, insisted he did not have 'an anti-Irish bone in my body'.

He said he had regularly supported the Irish community in Leeds, including donating trucks each year for the city's St Patrick's Day carnival parade to be used as floats.

He also pledged a 1,000 donation towards a charity lunch at Leeds Irish Centre in December.

But he admitted the tribunal outcome had forced him to confront the consequences of his behaviour.

He said: 'I'm scared to have conversations with my staff now in case I accidentally offend them or if it's taken out of context and used against me.

'But I accept that no one should feel small or humiliated at work because of something their boss says.'

Mr Atkins estimated the total financial hit from the case at around 60,000, once the 23,000 compensation payout and legal costs were taken into account.

Judge Sophie Buckley ruled his comments created a 'hostile, humiliating and offensive environment' for Ms Hayes.

She claimed she had suffered panic attacks and insomnia after 'months of harassment and bullying' and working in a 'hostile and toxic environment'.

Ms Hayes told the three-day tribunal in Leeds: 'If we had a disagreement, he would shout potato in a strong Irish accent over and over again.

'He [did] this in front of other members of staff. He would shout potato as soon as he walked in the office without me having even spoken to him.

'This totally eroded my self-respect and my self esteem.'

She added: 'He even sent "potato" in a WhatsApp exchange. Mr Atkins further called me a gypsy/traveller due to my Irish heritage. He would constantly say that I was lusting after the travellers outside the office. I felt bullied and harassed by this.'

The tribunal ruled that Ms Hayes had been subjected to 'unwanted conduct' which 'clearly created a hostile, humiliating and offensive environment for her'.

Judge Buckley added: 'In my view, taken as a whole, it is reasonable for an individual of Irish heritage to find the repeated use of the terms "potato", "Paddy", "stupid Paddy" and "pikey" offensive and humiliating.

'These phrases are overtly linked to race, particularly when considered together rather than in isolation.'

Ms Hayes was awarded compensation totalling 23,526, including 13,000 in 'injury to feelings' and 6,014 related to loss of earnings.

She said she did not wish to comment on the tribunal ruling, adding: 'I'd just like to put everything behind me and move on.'
On the 14th day of the war Ali Larijani, the brutal Iranian regime's security chief, sought to taunt Donald Trump from the streets of Tehran.

Larijani, 67, joined an annual Quds Day march and, as an explosion rocked Ferdowsi Square, he ranted to a state media TV camera that America would be defeated.

'The attacks they carry out are out of fear, out of desperation,' he claimed. 'Trump's problem is that he doesn't understand the Iranian nation is wise and determined.'

Around him chants erupted of 'Death to Israel' and 'Death to America.'

Larijani, the strongman head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, continued his threats with a stream of invective on X aimed at President Trump.

Ali Larijani's daughter Fatemeh arrived in the US in 2017 and is a cancer doctor

'Trump says he is looking for a speedy victory. While starting a war is easy, it cannot be won with a few tweets. We will not relent until making you sorry for this grave miscalculation,' he wrote.

Amid such anti-American grandstanding, it may come as surprise to some - including to those chanting around him and his X followers - how closely linked Larijani's family is to the US, and to Canada and the UK.

Indeed, it may also explain why some in the West had previously seen him as a potentially pragmatic figure the US could deal with in the wake of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's death on the opening day of the war.

Larijani is one of five brothers dubbed the 'Kennedys of Iran' who have reached senior roles in the Iranian regime.

He has relatives in Canada and the UK but, perhaps most surprisingly, his daughter has spent the best part of a decade in the US.

Joe Biden's administration issued Larijani's daughter with a green card in 2021

An explosion caused by a projectile impact after Iran launched missiles into Israel

Fatemeh Ardeshir Larijani, 40, graduated from Tehran University of Medical Sciences in 2012.

In 2017 she moved to the US and began studying at University Hospitals in Cleveland Ohio, going on to earn a Master of Science in Clinical Research at Indiana University.

According to public records, reviewed by the Daily Mail, she held a student medical license in Ohio from July 29, 2017 to June 23, 2022.

She was then fully licensed as a physician in Indiana between June 2020 and June 2021.

In 2021 she obtained a green card under the Joe Biden administration.

Then, she obtained a full physician's license in Georgia in 2023, which is active until August 31, 2026.

She became an assistant professor in Emory University's Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology in Atlanta, where she specialized in treating patients with lung cancer.

According to a lung cancer medical website her clinical focus was on thoracic oncology.

The Emory University Hospital where Larijani's daughter was a doctor treating cancer patients

Ali Larijani, head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, has issued threats to Trump on X

The US took out much of Iran's leadership on day one but Larijani survived

'In her role there, she is part of a multidisciplinary healthcare team that deploys state-of-the-art treatment protocols to achieve the best possible outcomes for patients diagnosed with these challenging diseases,' it said.

'She takes a targeted approach, leveraging the most innovative combinations of chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and immunotherapy.

Dr Larijani lived at an apartment about 10 minutes away from the Emory University medical center with a man believed to be her husband, who was also thought to be Iranian.

Following the Iranian regime's brutal crackdown on protesters in January, in which her father was a central figure, her position at the hospital came to the attention of Iranian dissidents.

Buddy Carter, a Republican congressman from Georgia, then sent a letter to the university and the state medical board demanding she be removed, and saying her presence in the US was 'unacceptable'.

Mojtaba Khamenei, son of Ali Khamenei, has been declared his father's successor as Supreme Leader but has not been seen in public and there are reports he has been seriously injured in US and Israeli strikes

Larijani and other Iranian leaders joined a Quds Day march in Tehran on Friday

Congressman Buddy Carter of Georgia was at the forefront of a camapign to have Larijani's daughter removed from her position at Emory University's hospital in January

An explosion in Tehran following coordinated military strikes by the United States and Israel

'Her father has recently and publicly advocated violence against Americans and US allies while holding one of the highest national security posts in that hostile government,' Carter wrote.

'Americas medical institutions must not serve as a safe harbor for individuals connected by blood and loyalty to regimes that openly call for the death of Americans.'

The university subsequently terminated her employment in late January.

'A physician who is the daughter of a senior Iranian government official is no longer an employee of Emory,' the university said.

'Because this is a personnel matter, we are unable to provide additional information.'

Congressman Carter told the Daily Mail: 'Officials like him (Ali Larijani) are responsible for ordering the massacre of thousands of Iranians and have publicly advocated violence against Americans and US allies.

'She (Fatemeh Larijani) should've never been allowed to treat or teach American citizens.'

Fatemeh Larijani has never made any public comment.

She is believed to have left the country.

The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to requests for comment.

Meanwhile, one of Larijani's brothers, Bagher Ardeshir Larijani, was granted permanent residency in Canada in 2017.

According to Canada's Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) he qualified 'as a skilled worker through his experience as a doctor.'

In 2022 he was issued with a departure order because he had not spent the required 730 days in the country over a five-year period.

Ali Larijani (L) with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and then-Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2009

Ali Larijani speaks at a press conference in Tehran in 2024

According to Iran International, a UK-based group, IRB documents showed that Bagher Larijani's son - Ali Larijani's nephew - had become a Canadian citizen.

The documents also showed that Bagher Larijani's daughter - Ali Larijani's niece - was a Canadian permanent resident and had been living in the US for several years.

Meanwhile, another nephew of Ali Larijani, is a professor at a university in the UK.

He has lived there for nearly 30 years and is not believed to have any connection to the regime.

In January, his university issued a statement saying he was a 'long-standing member of our university community' and it had no indication of 'conduct that would be inconsistent with the universitys standards or expectations.'
They appeared shell-shocked when they were found guilty of sex trafficking, drugging and raping multiple women last week.

But the Daily Mail can reveal that the multimillionaire Alexander brothers still don't believe they will be sent to the lockup after they are sentenced on August 6  and think their network of wealthy pals will intervene to keep them out of handcuffs.

'They're not thinking like defeated men,' a source close to the family told the Daily Mail.

'In their world, there's always another deal to be made  and they believe someone powerful could still intervene.'

Another insider added: 'The Alexanders have spent years cultivating relationships with people who have serious political influence.

'They're convinced that network didn't disappear overnight.'

Israeli American tycoon Tal Alexander, 39, and his 38-year-old twin brothers Oren and Alon were convicted by a Manhattan jury of six men and six women.

The trio were found guilty of drugging and raping dozens of women as part of a predatory campaign stretching back more than a decade.

The Alexander brothers, Alon, Tal, and Oren, were found guilty of all charges in their sex trafficking trial last week, with civil suits now to follow

The three brothers are seen standing in a court sketch before the jury delivered their guilty verdict on March 9

The Alexander brothers' blockbuster five-week trial heard from 11 accusers who claimed to have been attacked at various locations, including the brothers' New York homes, during a Colorado ski trip, at their Hamptons mansions and aboard a Caribbean cruise.

Each man is now facing a mandatory minimum of 15 years to life in prison on charges including sex trafficking, conspiracy and other offenses tied to drugging and sexual assault.

The court heard from more than 30 witnesses, including accusers who told strikingly similar stories of being lured into the brothers' playboy lifestyle before being drugged and attacked.

In his closing arguments, Assistant US Attorney Andrew Jones told jurors the accounts revealed a disturbing pattern among the brothers, ripped straight from a rapist's 'playbook'.

The jury were also shown multiple texts, blog posts and videos exchanged by the brothers in which they bragged about their conquests and openly discussed procuring drugs.

When the guilty verdict was pronounced, Alon's glamorous Israeli wife Shani Zigron, 30, burst into tears, while the brothers' parents Shlomo and Orly were stone-faced.

But despite their predicament  which has seen all three slung into Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center while they await sentencing  friends of the brothers are still convinced the trio will find a way to wriggle off the hook.

'Their friends in real estate and finance are already whispering about what strings might be pulled,' a Manhattan source told the Daily Mail.

The Alexander brothers pictured celebrating the twins' birthday with Howard M. Lorber and their father Shlomy Alexander in June 2015

Shlomi and Orly are seen here attending a bond hearing for Oren and Alon inside a Miami court house in 2024

'That conversation started almost immediately after the verdict.'

Another insider added: 'They've always operated with the belief that connections open doors others can't even see.

'Right now, they're hoping that belief proves true again.

'In their social circle, access to power is currency. If anyone thinks they can get a message into the right ear, they'll try.'

That ear might include the president himself, with the brothers reportedly hoping for a pardon from President Trump whose glitzy Mar-a-Lago world overlapped with their own.

'Don't underestimate how tight the luxury real estate world is,' another source told the Daily Mail.

'Developers, donors, politicians  it's a very small club.'

An insider explained: 'They're facing decades in prison, so of course every possible option is being discussed. A presidential pardon, in their minds, it's still on the table.

'For years they moved in rooms where billionaires and politicians overlap. They're hoping someone from those rooms remembers them now.'

But the prospect of a pulling strings to help the three brothers would have its own dangers. Those who might be able to help could be put off by the scandal surrounding Jeffrey Epstein.

They will have seen the reputational hits taken by men such as Steve Bannon, former Prince Andrew, banker Jes Staley, linguist Noam Chomsky, New York Giants co-owner Steve Tisch and hotelier Thomas Pritzker for getting too close to Epstein and decide that coming in to rescue the Alexanders is not a risk worth taking.
The Victorian government has quietly directed more than half a million dollars into promoting the state's Treaty negotiations.

Fresh figures from the Department of Premier and Cabinet show the Andrews-Allan governments spent more than $536,000 in 2024 on publicity, events and promotional material linked to the Treaty process.

The outlay adds to the hundreds of millions of dollars the state has already committed to Treatyrelated programs since 2016.

One of the biggest expenses was the $157,604 opening ceremony at Darebin Parklands in November 2024.

The event marked the formal launch of negotiations and involved a smoking ceremony, catering, portable toilets and temporary infrastructure.

Premier Jacinta Allan, senior ministers, First Peoples' Assembly cochair Rueben Berg and thenTreaty Minister Natalie Hutchins attended the ceremony.

The government described it as a significant milestone in Victoria's push to secure a statewide Treaty.

But the event was only one part of a longer list of costs.

The Allan (pictured) and Andrews governments spent $536,000 promoting the Treaty in 2024

Documents show the government spent $275,299 on a public messaging campaign aimed at informing Victorians about Treaty and explaining how negotiations would proceed.

A further $62,792 went towards the creation and maintenance of the Treaty website, while $38,901 was spent on consultation sessions with local councils.

Victorian One Nation MLC Rikkie-Lee Tyrrell slammed the spending, calling it both predictable and disgraceful.

'The revelation that the Allan Government has spent over half a million dollars on the Treaty process is as unsurprising as it is sickening,' Tyrrell told Daily Mail.

'As I have said right from the start, Treaty is nothing more than a costly, symbolic beauracracy that will do nothing to improve the lives of Indigenous Victorians.'

Tyrrell argued the government was pushing ahead with a process most Victorians did not support.

'The people of Victoria don't want a Treaty because the majority of us believe that everyone, no matter your race, should be treated equally.'

'That Jacinta Allan has wasted more than $500,000 on Treaty, while the State pays $1million dollars an hour in interest on the ludicrous debt that she has amassed, is an indictment on her government and just another reason why we need a new government in November.'

An event at the Darebin Parklands in 2024 attended by Allan cost taxpayers $157,604

The latest disclosures have intensified scrutiny of Victoria's broader Treaty spending.

According to conservative think tank Institute of Public Affairs, the state has committed $776.2million to Treaty development since 2016, with another $100.6million is budgeted for the 2026 financial year.

The most recent budget also includes $35.7million for traditional owner engagement and cultural heritage programs.

An Allan government spokesman previously blasted the think tank when the data was released in July 2025.

'This is cherry-picked analysis from a Liberal Party-aligned think tank,' he said.

'If you listen to the people directly affected by policies, you get better outcomes  that's common sense.

'Treaty is about making a better and fairer state for all Victorians  negotiations are underway and we look forward to bringing Treaty to the Parliament.'

The scale of the bureaucracy involved is also becoming clearer.

The government insisted the money allowed Victorians to access information about the Treaty

Between July 2016 and June 2025, public servants held 727 meetings on Treaty development.

At the current rate, that number is projected to reach 968 meetings by June 2026, averaging nearly 100 meetings a year for a decade, or roughly one meeting every two to three business days.

The government argues the investment is necessary to improve longterm outcomes for Aboriginal communities, but critics warn the spending has grown excessive at a time when state debt continues to climb.

Opposition MPs say the government is placing too much emphasis on symbolism, while community groups argue money should flow into frontline services instead of ceremonies, consultants and marketing.

Victoria formally entered Treaty territory last year when it became the first Australian jurisdiction to legislate a permanent First Peoples' Assembly.

The assembly, to be known as Gellung Warl, will hold significant power to influence government policy, with access to decisionmaking across multiple departments.

Elections for the new body will be held in April.

A recently released document shows that members of Gellung Warl will receive a base salary of $197,683, more than double the $96,946 paid to the members who oversaw Treaty negotiations in the previous term.

A Victorian government spokesperson defended the spending.

'Families are better off when they have responsibility over their lives and Aboriginal families are no different,' they told The Herald Sun.

'Treaty makes sense because it gives Aboriginal people a say in how their services are run  it doesn't take anything away from anyone, it's about improving services and lives.

'Treaty public communications products include a website, social media content, videos and a regular newsletter, to ensure all Victorians can access information about Treaty.'
The British Museum is set to pay 1.2million to move the Bayeux Tapestry across the Channel, as the artwork is given its own police escort and VIP ride on the Eurotunnel LeShuttle.

The 1,000-year-old embroidery will be transported this year for the first time in 950 years from Bayeux Museum in Bayeux, France, to London - where it will be exhibited from September.

The 70-metre piece will be put on its own train at night travelling through the Channel tunnel, with a test run taking place over the next several weeks to guarantee the fragile priceless artefact is not damaged.

This follows an array of calls to scrap the plans over concerns of the tapestry's safety, including from artist David Hockney, who described it as 'madness' and claimed it forms part of a 'vanity' project by the British Museum.

French president Emmanuel Macron announced in July 2025 that the artefact, which depicts the Norman invasion of 1066 by the threading of wool on linen cloth, would be loaned to the UK until July 2027 as part of a cultural exchange.

In exchange, treasures including artefacts from the Anglo-Saxon burial mounds at Sutton Hoo and the 12th-century Lewis chess pieces, will be sent to museums in Normandy, France.

The loan was first suggested in 2018 between President Macron and then-prime minister Theresa May, yet it didn't come to the fore until last year.

The British Museum is set to pay 1.2million to move the Bayeux Tapestry across the Channel, accompanied by its own police escort and VIP ride on the Eurotunnel LeShuttle

The 1,000-year-old embroidery will be transported this year for the first time in 950 years from Bayeux Museum in Bayeux, France, to London

An internal document from the British Museum described the embroidery 'as the most complex object the museum has ever borrowed...a once in a millennium loan', as reported by The Sunday Times - who obtained it through a Freedom of Information request.

The piece is currently being stored in a confidential location in France within a specially designed crate, having left the Bayeux Museum in September.

It will be escorted by French police this summer to Calais, where it will be laid out on a train, which will travel at a speed specifically designed to control vibrations and prevent damage.

The control over the piece will be officially handed to the British Museum half-way across the English Channel.

It will then be driven, escorted by Kent Police, from Folkstone to London.

The tapestry will be delicately removed from its crate at the British Museum and put in a display case, where it will sit in a windowless room to prevent sun damage.

The case has been specifically designed, believed to cost around 600,000, to keep the artefact still and at a micro-climate.

It will also receive 24-hour monitoring by staff as it lies flat, instead of the U-shape seen in the Bayeux Museum, in the London museum's Sainsbury Exhibitions Gallery.

Tickets will go on sale on July 1 for the 10-month long exhibition, with ticket prices yet to be finalised - an estimated 750,000 to a million visitors are expected by the museum

The exhibition was previously believed to cost 2.6million, The Sunday Times reported, but this has estimated to have sharply risen since last year - as the museum budgets 1.2million to transport the embroidery alone.

Visitors will be able to view it from a balcony as well as up close.

Tickets will go on sale on July 1 for the 10-month long exhibition, with ticket prices yet to be finalised - an estimated 750,000 to a million visitors are expected by the museum.

Nicholas Cullinan, who has run the British Museum since 2024, told The Sunday Times it will 'definitely be one of the most popular exhibitions that...any museum in this country has ever done'.

He compared it to the British Museum's display of Tutankhamun in 1972, which saw 1.7 million visitors, and its exhibition of the Terracotta Warriors in 2007, which pulled a crowd of 850,000.

The tapestry is set to be covered by a UK Treasury indemnity of around 800million during the loan, covering the embroidery against damage or loss during its transfer.

The Treasury told the Financial Times that it had 'received an estimated valuation of the Bayeux Tapestry which has been provisionally approved'.

The paper reported that officials expect the final valuation to be 'around 800million'.

The Treasury did not dispute the figure but declined to comment on the price.

The Bayeux Museum is currently under renovations, which will be completed when the tapestry returns in September 2027.
A mother whose daughter was shot by her father at his US home is demanding American police reopen the case after a British coroner ruled his actions 'reckless'.

An unlawful killing verdict was recorded following an inquest into the death of Lucy Harrison, 23 - shot through the heart by Kris Harrison while he was 'showing off' his gun.

Jane Coates, 49, believes US police failed to examine the recklessness of Harrison's actions, his intoxication or contradictions in his account.

Lucy died in the town of Prosper, Texas, on January 10 last year, the day she and boyfriend Sam Littler were due to fly home to Warrington, Cheshire.

Concluding an inquest last month, Cheshire Coroner Jacqueline Devonish said: 'To shoot her through the chest whilst she was standing would have required him to have been pointing the gun without checking for bullets and pulled the trigger. I find this reckless.'

Ms Coates believes her daughter would have wanted a full investigation.

She said: 'The person I want in my mind and in my heart is Lucy. She cared about the truth.

'Those who really know Lucy's heart can hear her loud and clear and know exactly what she would want us to do ... Make change, do better, be better.'

Lucy Harrison pictured at her university graduation with a first class degree in fashion

She told The Sunday Times she hopes the coroner's findings about Harrison's 'recklessness' - while under the influence of alcohol - could lead to a fresh US investigation.

Ms Coates believed her daughter was safe with Harrison, who lived in an affluent suburb popular with expats.

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She 'couldn't comprehend it' when Mr Littler's mother knocked on her door, telling her: 'There's been an accident ... Lucy's been shot and she's not made it'.

While Coates does not believe Harrison intend his actions, she feels he acted carelessly after drinking.

Prosper Police opened a 'criminally negligent homicide' investigation but deemed the tragedy 'accidental' within a day.

Harrison was never arrested and a grand jury decided against issuing an indictment.

Cheshire coroner's court heard inconsistencies in Harrison's account were revealed by police records and statements from Lucy's friends and family.

Lucy was raised in a single-parent household by primary school deputy headteacher Ms Coates, who divorced Harrison when her daughter was four.

Lucy remained in touch with Harrison, former CEO of a telecoms company, who moved to Saudi Arabia and later Texas. In the US, he remarried and had two daughters with second wife, Heather.

He and his family flew back to Britain in 2024 for Lucy's graduation with a first-class degree in fashion from Manchester Metropolitan University.

Lucy made regular summer and Christmas visits to Harrison and her half-sisters.

But the inquest heard she expressed concern to friends about her father owning a Glock 9mm semi-automatic pistol in the house where her siblings lived.

Harrison, who had no licence or training, bought the pistol for $500 (370) two years before Lucy's death  but in Texas, owning a firearm at home without a licence is legal for self-defence.

Lucy's best friend, Ella Gowing, told the inquest: 'She did not want [the girls] to be around something so dangerous.

'She said that there was volatility in Kris's household which made her feel extremely anxious.'

Lucy Harrison's mother Jane Coates and boyfriend Sam Littler outside the coroner's court

Kris Harrison's actions on the day of the tragedy were branded reckless by a UK coroner

Mr Littler, Lucy's boyfriend of five years, recalled how on the morning of the tragedy she and her father argued about sexual assault claims against Donald Trump.

He said Lucy asked Harrison, 'how would you feel if I was the girl and I'd been sexually assaulted?'.

Lucy was 'left upset' when her father replied 'he had two other daughters so it would not bother him much'.

Later in the afternoon, Mr Littler said Harrison led his daughter into his bedroom, telling her 'I have a gun, do you want to see it?'

Seconds later, there was a loud bang and Harrison screamed for his wife, Heather.

Mr Littler, who called 911, recalled how while he was speaking to emergency services, Harrison spoke out but never said Lucy had been shot  instead claiming she had passed out.

Police bodyworn camera footage showed Harrison later in the day, stood with arms folded, claiming Lucy had asked to see his gun. He added: 'I got it out and it just went off'.

Jane Coates believes her daughter would have wanted a full investigation of the tragedy

Lucy's family say she already knew he had a firearm and would never have wanted to see it.

Despite an officer smelling alcohol on Harrison's breath, police did not breathalyse Harrison - who admitted drinking.

Ms Coates, who finds it 'very hard to feel anything' about her ex-husband, said: 'We will never know how much Kris drank that morning ... that's not good enough'.

No further comment was issued by Liverpool-born Harrison, 52, while Prosper Police Department said it conducted a 'thorough investigation'.
Police have launched a probe into 'death to the IDF' chants led by Bobby Vylan at the Al-Quds Day rally in London.

Officers arrested 12 people today as activists waved Iranian flags and flaunted posters of the country's supreme leader.

The Metropolitan Police said it was 'aware of chanting' made at the demonstration - adding it 'recognises the concern' this may have caused.

Pascal Robinson-Foster, who is a member of punk duo Bob Vylan, repeated his controversial Glastonbury chant while appearing as a speaker at the demonstration.

Members of the crowd also appeared to join in.

Police said: 'We are aware of chanting made by a speaker at the Al Quds protest and will be investigating.

'We recognise the concern footage and chanting like this causes, particularly with London's Jewish communities.

'When this language had been used previously we sought advice from the CPS who determined that there would be insufficient evidence to take a case forward.'

Pro-Iran demonstrators unfurl huge Palestinian flags brandished with the words 'boycott the Zionist' and 'Be on the right side of history'

A pro-Iran demonstrator wearing a keffiyeh leads chants through a microphone

A young man holds a handwritten sign which reads 'boom boom Tel Aviv' during the Al Quds static protest in London -- March 15, 2026

Bobby Vylan - one half of the punk rap duo Bob Vylan - repeated his controversial Glastonbury chant of 'death to the IDF' at the rally

Police pictured arresting a protester at the static protest in central London today

Another man was detained by police, who warned that they would arrest anyone chanting intifada slogans, showing support for Palestine Action, or holding placards inciting hate

A woman was arrested by police at the static protest in central London organised by Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC)

The force confirmed the investigation was in relation to the 'death, death to the IDF' chant.

The Met said 12 arrests were made amid a protest and counter-protest.

It follows Scotland Yard bracing for a 'difficult public order' environment, with at least 1,000 officers drafted in to manage the crowd.

Thousands of pro-Iran demonstrators gathered for the march on the South Bank of the Thames, with 1,000 riot police being placed on alert.

Demonstrators congregated for prayers and brandished placards declaring 'boom boom Tel Aviv'.

Chants of 'from the river to the sea' and 'Israel is a terror state' could be heard as people held pictures of the assassinated Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and his successor, Mojtada Khamenei.

Bob Vylan's performance in June last year at Glastonbury sparked widespread backlash and led to the duo having their US visa revoked and gigs cancelled.

Around a hundred counter-protesters were seen on the opposite side of the Thames today ahead of a demonstration organised by Stop The Hate.

They waved Israeli flags while another held a placard that read 'Hamas is terrorist'.

Police vans were parked up on nearby Lambeth Bridge, with a police boat seen patrolling the water.

The march was reduced to a two-hour static protest after the Home Secretary this week banned the planned Al-Quds Day demonstration.

The rally, organised by the Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC), was due to head through the streets of London but was curtailed by Shabana Mahmood due to the 'risk of serious disorder'

The Met Police used the Thames as a buffer to separate pro-Iran demonstrators from a counter-protest who were told to gather on the north side of the river.

Both groups were told they must leave the area at 3pm. At 3.40pm the Met Police said both groups were dispersing.

Pro-Iran demonstrators held signs which read 'Home Secretary, de-prescribe Palestine Action'.

Other pro-regime signs were on display, as well as one banner which said the 'Epstein regime' murdered 168 school children in Iran.

Leaflets circulating at the rally showed a picture of Ali Khamenei and the words 'No2Nato No2War'.

Bob Vylan told the crowd the West was being run by 'cold-hearted monsters'.

He also accused the government of 'gaslighting' protesters and branded the police 'pigs'.

'These pigs you see here today are here on the orders given to them by the coward Met Commissioner Mark Rowley,' he said.

'He has refused to meet with organisers of pro-Palestine marches and rallies, but never misses an opportunity to cosy up next to the Board of Deputies.

'The Zionist influence here in the UK is palpable.

'We can feel it. We can see it. We can see it when we look at these pigs that are itching to put their heavy hands on any and every one of us that might challenge the wretched system that they uphold, a system corrupted from the top down, not the bottom up.

'They call us hate marchers, but we come from a place of love, love for the people of Palestine and one another. We must strive to remain human in a world run by monsters.'

He added: 'Here we are today as a community in an attempt to remain human and let this government know that despite all of their scare tactics, for every doctor they harrass with repeated arrests; for every musician they attempt to ban from playing shows; for every pensioner with a placard they bundle into a police van; for every political prisoner they hope starves to death; we are here unbreakable and human standing always with the people of Gaza.

'And I would like to conclude with Death, Death, Death, to the IDF.'

Hussain Shafiei, of the Workers Party, told the crowd '[Keir] Starmer is a tool of the deep state' and that Britain was 'helping this genocide'.

'Shabana Mahmood tried to shut this protest down because they are all so scared that the people have turned against Zionism,' he said.

'We have a saying in Iran: what you eat you have to be able to swallow.

'America and Israel, you are not going to be able to swallow Iran, because you are the Epstein class that attacks little girls. You double-tapped 170 children.

'We have to stand by the righteous thing to do. You can't ask your soldiers to pay the ultimate price and not be prepared to do so yourself.

'Your leaders are hiding in rat holes, but they are going to be found by missiles.

'Benjamin Netanyahu is gone - the murderer of Gaza and Lebanon and Palestine - you're not going to win.'

Moments before being arrested, a young man holding the 'Boom boom Tel Aviv sign' had said he supported the bombing of Israel.

He refused to provide his name but defended holding the sign.

He said: 'I support the bombing of Israel'

When asked why, he said: 'Because of genocide and paedophiles.'

Asked what his sign meant, he replied: 'Bombing the s**t out of Tel Aviv.'

He stuck his tongue out at photographers as he was led away and did not seem visibly upset or shaken by the arrest.

Demonstrators arrive at Albert Embankment in Central London for a static protest after the Al Quds march was banned

Demonstrators gathered on the South Bank of the Thames for prayers and brandished a placard declaring 'US Israel hands off Iran'

Police officers and a crew of an RNLI lifeboat patrol the River Thames on the day of a static protest to mark Al-Quds Day

Pro-Iran regime supporters pray with placards of the assassinated Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the words 'choose the right side of history' on the ground

Demonstrators banged drums and held signs reading 'stop genocide hands off Iran'

A police boat is seen in the water patrolling the Thames during the Al-Quds march with counter-demonstrators gathering on the opposite side of the river

Counter-protesters were seen on the other side of the river, blowing bubbles and holding 'thank you' signs which had the pictures of Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu on them

Sweets are handed out at the counter-protest on the other side of the river where people held signs saying 'This is the final battle. Your terrorist leaders are gone!'

A Scottish man is pictured wearing a 'Stand with Iran' T-shirt during the Al-Quds static protest in London on March 15, 2026

A pro-Iran demonstrator holds a framed pictured of the assassinated Ayatollah Ali Khamenei alongside the words 'honour and dignity' - London, March 15, 2026

Pro-Iran demonstrators held signs which read 'Home Secretary, de-prescribe Palestine Action'

Mohammad, 29, originally from Iraq, brandished a picture of Mojtaba Khamenei and told the Daily Mail he supports the regime because 'of what happened to us in Iraq'

Pro-Iran demonstrators wave Palestinian flags and hold up pictures of the assassinated Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and his successor, Mojtada Khamenei

Police warned before the rally that they would arrest anyone chanting intifada slogans, showing support for Palestine Action, or holding placards inciting hate.

More than 1,000 riot police were on standby at the protest centre, while uniformed officers protected mosques and synagogues in the capital and kept guard at the Israeli and Iranian embassies.

Yosef, who lives in Glasgow but is originally from Iran, said: 'What we are seeing in the Middle East is America collapsing and trying desperately to hold on to capitalism. I'm against that system. This country should be more like Libya.

'I feel sad and angry and afraid for the future of humanity. It could end up as a third world war, a nuclear war, which isn't good for anyone.'

Al-Quds Day began in Iran in 1979 after the Ayatollah's revolution. It spread to the UK, and has been held in London for 40 years.

The IHRC said on Wednesday that it 'strongly condemned' the decision to ban its march and would continue with a static protest.

Ms Mahmood had said the move was necessary 'to prevent serious public disorder, due to the scale of the protest and multiple counter-protests, in the context of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East'.

The Home Secretary added: 'Should a stationary demonstration proceed, the police will be able to apply strict conditions.

'I expect to see the full force of the law applied to anyone spreading hatred and division instead of exercising their right to peaceful protest.'

On Saturday, it emerged the group had received 458,500 in taxpayer-funded donations since 2020, as it is recognised by HMRC for Gift Aid. This allowed it to claim 25p for every 1 received in donations.

Donations came despite IHRC being under a Charity Commission investigation, and an anti-terrorist Prevent report in 2023 describing it as an 'Islamist group ideologically aligned with Iran'.

Last Saturday, a pro-Iranian protester was stabbed during a rally in West Finchley, North London. On its website, IHRC condemned the ban on the march.

It said: 'The police have brazenly abandoned their sworn principle of policing without fear or favour and have capitulated to the pressure of the Zionist lobby.'

Police block off access to the pro-Iran demonstrators in London taking part in the Al Quds static protest

More than 1,000 riot police were on standby at the protest centre, while uniformed officers protected mosques and synagogues in the capital

A counter-protester carries an Israeli flag, and the 'lion and the sun' flag of Iran, which was the official Iranian flag before the 1979 revolution

Pro-Iran demonstrators gather near the Thames for the Al Quds static protest as uniformed officers stand nearby

Counter-protesters wave Israeli flags and the 'lion and the sun' flag of Iran

An Iranian regime supporter holds an image of Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtada Khamenei

Demonstrators hold a banner declaring 'America and Israel killed 168 school kids in Iran. Murdered by the Epstein regime'

A pro-Iran demonstrator holds onto a single rose while cradling a framed photo of Ali Khamenei

Pro-Iran demonstrators gathered by the Thames and brandished a placard declaring 'US Israel hands off Iran'

Among the protesters was Rabbi Elhanan Beck, who said Jews had enjoyed a 'golden life' on Muslim land

People at the Al-Quds static protest shout through megaphones and hold signs declaring 'stop bombing children'

Protesters held placards of Ayatollah Khamenei and Reza Pahlavi, and Benjamin Netanyahu pictured as the devil

Protesters held placards which read 'Stop Genocide Hands Off Iran' at the demonstration

Met assistant commissioner Ade Adelekan said: 'We did not take the decision to ban the march lightly. This is a unique set of circumstances and it was our assessment that the risk of public disorder was so severe, we did not have any other choice.'

It is the first time in 14 years that Scotland Yard has banned a protest march.

After the protests concluded, police hailed the managing of the day a success, saying: 'Both protests concluded and dispersed at 3pm as planned.

'Our policing plan worked with both groups kept apart and we saw no attempts from either side to breach conditions by marching.'

Raza Kazim attended a pro-Iran demonstration outside the US embassy last Saturday after the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in an Israeli drone strike.

Footage shows him leading crowds with a chant of 'say it clear, say it loud, Khamenei makes us proud'. In another video, he is seen yelling 'death to the IDF [Israel Defence Forces]'  a slogan described as hate speech last year by Sir Keir Starmer.

Mr Kazim  who leads a course training maths teachers at Middlesex University  is a trustee of the IHRC trust, the charitable arm that funds the IHRC.

The IHRC was described in the independent review of the Prevent strategy as an 'Islamist group ideologically aligned with the Iranian regime, that has a history of extremist links and terrorist sympathies'.

It claims it is a separate entity to the IHRC trust, although they share the same business address and phone number.

In a statement reported, Mr Kazim praised Khamenei  whose regime has killed thousands of protesters  for 'his principled opposition to systems of racial and political oppression'.

He said the IDF chant was a 'creative and forceful expression calling for the dismantling of a genocidal military institution responsible for terrorising, killing, raping and torturing Palestinians, while enforcing a system of apartheid that denies their basic humanity'.

Lord Walney, the Government's former extremism adviser, called his comments 'deeply disturbing'.

Mr Kazim has organised previous Al-Quds Day marches. The event  named after the Arabic word for Jerusalem  was created by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini after Iran's 1979 revolution to express opposition to Israel.

Other IHRC figures have gone on the record to praise the Iranian regime.

They include its co-founder and chair Massoud Shadjareh, who was previously filmed recalling a meeting he had with Khamenei.
Australians have been warned to brace for 'Covid 2.0' price hikes as the conflict in the Middle East continues into its third week.

The prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz has prompted some of the nation's largest manufacturers to warn customers to expect sharp price rises and possible rationing, as supply chains strain under the ongoing transport bottleneck.

A number of major plastics suppliers have written to customers warning they will be forced to pass on rising costs, reports The Australian.

The cost of plastic materials used in building and healthcare is expected to spike, with some manufacturers flagging they may struggle to honour current contracts.

Impact International has lifted prices by 15 per cent after sea freight charges jumped by as much as 250 per cent, with the company importing resin from the Middle East, Thailand and Japan to produce tubes for food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical products.

'I'm calling it personally Covid 2.0,' Impact International managing director, Aleks Lajovic, told the publication.

'When the pandemic started to reveal itself, the circumstances were almost the same. People were scared. People couldn't get information, people couldn't get pricing, people couldn't get delivery confirmation. And people also couldn't get an accurate shipping date.

'And this is exactly what we're seeing play out in supply chains. Again, it's really like the start of a pandemic.'

Major plastics suppliers have told customers to expect price hikes and rationing of goods

Impact International managing director, Aleks Lajovic, likened the crisis to 'COVID 2.0'

The manufacturers have blamed rising oil costs as the price of a barell of oil skyrockets

Mr Lajovic also admitted the company 'just don't know' how to price their products because their import costs are 'changing dramatically.'

Australia's only polypropylene manufacturer, Viva Energy, which produces the resin used in packaging and automotive parts, has also raised prices for customers, warning of 'significant impacts' on regional and local supply chains.

The increased costs will be reportedly applied to all customers from April 1.

Vinidex, Polypipe and Pipemakers Australia also told customers last week that prices for plastic materials had jumped by up to 50 per cent for April delivery compared to March.

Existing quotes will be cancelled from March 31, with new rates to start from April 13.

Polypipe will also introduce a 24 per cent diesel levy on all deliveries from March 23.

It comes as the Albanese government faces growing criticism over Australia's fuel security amid the conflict.

Head of Investment Strategy and Chief Economist at AMP, Shane Oliver, told the Daily Mail last week that the crisis was highlighting Australia's fuel security weaknesses.

Join the discussion How should Australia safeguard families and businesses from global supply shocks hitting everyday costs?

Energy Minister Chris Bowen said Australia has stockpiled more than a month's supply of fuel

However critics say Australia should have at least 90 days of fuel reserves and should not be as dependent on global oil and gas prices

'We have 30-35 days of fuel in Australia  which is well up from a decade ago  but it should be at least 90 days,' he said.

'The surge in price would still impact us as oil and gas prices are now set globally.

'Having a bigger stockpile would mean less risk of running low in supplies if Asian countries decide to restrict exports of refined fuel as we get 90 per cent of our refined fuel from Asia. China has already indicated restrictions on refined fuel exports.'

However, Energy Minister Chris Bowen said on Saturday that Australia has now stockpiled more than a month's supply of fuel.

Bowen said the country is 'as prepared as possible' with 1.6 billion litres of petrol or 37 days' supply available, 2.7billion litres of diesel, or 30 days of supply available, and 800 million litres or 29 days of jet fuel available.
Jack Schlossberg, the heir to America's most famous political dynasty, has turned his fury on his former employer.

The grandson of President John F. Kennedy and an ex political correspondent for Vogue lashed out at the fashion magazine on Instagram after it posted photos of actors portraying his late uncle and aunt in the hit series Love Story.

Responding directly to the magazine's post, Schlossberg left a blunt, two-word rebuke: 'Enough!!'

The terse comment, aimed at a post celebrating Love Story stars Sarah Pidgeon and Paul Anthony Kelly, instantly ignited a wave of reactions online and underscored the 33-year-old's long-running anger over dramatizations of his family's tragedies.

It came after Vogue shared photos from Charles Finch and Chanel's annual pre-Oscars party.

The caption highlighted the actors who portray Carolyn Bessette and John F. Kennedy Jr. in the widely-watched FX series.

'Charles Finch and @chanelofficial's annual pre-#Oscars party is always a star-studded, intimate affair,' the post read.

'The 2026 event was no exception, with Love Story co-stars @Sarah_Pidgeon and Paul Anthony Kelly leading the charge. Tap the link in our bio to see more from everyone's current favorite on-screen couple's reunion.'

Jack Schlossberg responded 'Enough!!' to a Vogue Instagram post featuring Love Story actors Sarah Pidgeon and Paul Anthony Kelly at a pre-Oscars party

Schlossberg was responding to his former employer, Vogue, where he worked as a political correspondent during the 2024 election cycle

Schlossbergs comment sparked a wave of mixed reactions from Instagram users responding directly beneath the post

Among thousands of viewers scrolling through the glamorous images was Schlossberg, who had once worked for the same magazine.

His response was both immediate and emphatic: 'Enough!!'

The remark drew a flood of replies from social media users, many of whom challenged the Kennedy heir's frustration.

Some sympathized with his position. One commenter wrote: '@jackuno as someone who has lost numerous family members tragically but is not famous, i cannot imagine this torture.'

But many others pushed back, arguing the actors themselves were not responsible for the show.

'@jackuno they are actors. If you are so mad go against the Company (Disney) not them,' one user replied.

Another wrote: '@jackuno they are literally just existing in this pic lmao.'

Others were more blunt. '@jackuno being rude for no reason,' one person commented, while another added: '@jackuno get a job and leave these two actors alone!'

There was a decidedly mixed reaction to Schlossberg's comment on Instagram

The series debuted in February and has nine episodes revolving around the tragic romance of the pair. Pictured, Sarah Pidgeon as Carolyn and Paul Kelly as John F. Kennedy Jr.

A separate reply read: '@jackuno this did not go the way you thought it was.'

But Schlossberg's reaction did not come out of nowhere.

The political hopeful has repeatedly denounced Love Story, the FX limited series dramatizing the romance between Kennedy Jr. and Bessette, whose lives ended in a 1999 plane crash.

The series, which debuted last month, has been a major streaming success.

Its first five episodes accumulated more than 25 million hours of viewing across Hulu and Disney+, according to FX, which said the show had become the network's most-watched limited series on those platforms.

The story's popularity has done little to soften Schlossberg's criticism.

During an appearance on CBS Mornings, he blasted the production and its creator Ryan Murphy.

'If you want to know someone who's never met anyone in my family - knows nothing about us - talk to Ryan Murphy,' Schlossberg said.

'I would just want people who do watch the show to watch it with one letter in mind and that's a capital F for Fiction,' he added.

He went further, accusing Murphy of exploiting the legacy of his uncle.

Schlossberg, pictured at a Christmas Party back in December, revealed his family was not consulted during the show's creation

The FX anthology series Love Story, which premiered in February, follows the romance of JFK Jr. and his wife Carolyn Bessette up until their tragic deaths in 1999 from a fatal plane crash (Sarah Pidgeon as Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, Paul Kelly as John F. Kennedy Jr.)

The real JFK Jr. is seen alongside his wife Bessette in 1999

'The guy knows nothing about what he's talking about and he's making a ton of money on a grotesque display of someone else's life,' Schlossberg complained.

He also argued the profits from the series should go toward causes connected to Kennedy's life.

'Maybe he could donate some of that money to the JFK Library to help keep President Kennedy's memory alive,' Schlossberg said. 'But he's not. He's making money. This is not a documentary.'

Murphy previously responded to a similar criticism on Instagram after Schlossberg urged him to donate profits to the Kennedy Library writing: 'I absolutely will.'

The clash with Vogue carries an added twist because Schlossberg once worked for the publication.

In 2024 he joined the magazine as a political correspondent, contributing articles and appearing on its podcast during the presidential election cycle.

The role blended his legal training with a candid, online persona that had already gained attention on social media. But Schlossberg is no longer with the magazine.

Schlossberg had to disclose his finances as part of his bid for New York 12th congressional district, which he launched a campaign for in November

Schlossberg with his mother Caroline Kennedy. He revealed he has a $5 million stake in Red Gate Farm LLC, which manages the Martha's Vineyard estate once owned by his grandmother Jackie Kennedy Onassis

Instead, he has been focusing on a campaign for New York's 12th congressional district, seeking to replace longtime Democratic Representative Jerrold Nadler, who is retiring after more than three decades in Congress.

Financial disclosures tied to that campaign revealed Schlossberg reported no earned income last year, though he remains financially secure through several family trusts.

Those trusts are estimated to be worth between $4.1 million and $11.7 million, and his broader assets could total as much as $32 million.

His holdings include stakes in companies such as Beyond Meat, Exxon Mobil and Alphabet, as well as a $5 million interest in Red Gate Farm LLC, which manages the Martha's Vineyard property once owned by his grandmother Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

The disclosure also showed that in 2025 he earned about $1 million in dividends and capital gains, largely tied to an investment in Nvidia.

His outburst at Vogue also comes during a deeply painful period for Schlossberg's family.

Tatiana, the granddaughter of JFK, died from blood cancer at the age of 35 in December

Schlossberg, seen with Prince William (left), Tatiana (center right) and Caroline Kennedy (right)

In an essay announcing her diagnosis, Tatiana praised her doctor husband, George Moran (left), 36, for his support throughout her treatment

His older sister, journalist Tatiana Schlossberg, died on December 30 after being diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia.

She had revealed the illness only months earlier, explaining how doctors discovered it during routine blood tests after the birth of her second child.

Schlossberg later said his sister urged him to keep fighting in politics.

He revealed that before her death she told him he 'better win' his congressional race.

Despite the tragedy, he resumed campaigning just two weeks later.

The FX series that triggered Schlossberg's latest comments revisits one of the most famous love stories of the 1990s.

Love Story dramatizes the romance between John F. Kennedy Jr., the son of President Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and Carolyn Bessette, the fashion publicist who became his wife.

The nine-episode series follows their courtship, marriage and the intense public scrutiny that surrounded them before the fatal crash of Kennedy's small plane on July 16, 1999.

Jack Schlossberg, JFK Jr's nephew, the 33-year-old has publicly criticized the new show Love Story, based on the tragic lives of John F Kennedy Jr and Carolyn Bessette

The Yale and Harvard Law School graduate, 33, has collected thousands of Instagram followers, often showing off his incredible physique in an extremely revealing shirtless photos while enjoying a late-night workout at the gym

Sarah Pidgeon portrays Bessette while Paul Anthony Kelly plays Kennedy, with Naomi Watts appearing as Jackie Kennedy Onassis and Grace Gummer as Caroline Kennedy.

Executive producer Brad Simpson defended the series in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, saying the creators approached the project with respect.

'What I hope is that when people watch the show, they will see our sincerity,' Simpson said. 'They will see that we've approached this with love, and that we were trying to celebrate the life of Carolyn Bessette and JFK Jr.'

'I can understand why somebody could have a reaction before they see it,' he added, urging critics to 'watch the show.'

For Schlossberg, however, it appears the dramatization of his family's past remains a raw wound.
Australia's vulnerability to liquid fuel shortages and price hikes has intensified amid reports China has told oil refiners to halt all fuel exports.

This adds to continued global uncertainty about the duration of the Iran conflict and its impact upon oil supplies.

On Friday, the Australian Financial Review reported China had notified oil refiners to halt all exports, casting doubt over at least two cargoes due to be shipped to Australia.

Two transport ships in the Strait of Hormuz, the world's most important transport route, have also been blown up making it likely future ships will not make this journey while the conflict continues.

This means Asian refineries like those in China are receiving significantly less oil. This reduction in supply mean these refining countries must, in turn, assess their own strategic requirements for petrol, diesel and jet fuel.

China asks refineries to stop all fuel cargoes

Asian countries gets up to 90 per cent of their oil from the Middle East. As a net importer of liquid fuels, Australia is heavily reliant upon exports from Asian refineries. This is particularly true for jet fuel.

Aviation experts have long warned of the susceptibility of Australia to jet fuel disruption. For example, the Sydney Airport's chief executive officer, Scott Charlton, has indicated Sydney is completely reliant on jet fuel imports and has no refinery capacity.

Australia gets about 30 per cent of its aviation fuel from China. David Gray/Getty

On Friday, the Australian Financial Review reported China had notified oil refiners to halt all exports, casting doubt over at least two cargoes due to be shipped to Australia

This makes any decision by China to stop exports of jet fuel to Australia extremely concerning. Depending upon how long this continues, it is likely to cause significant disruptions to flight scheduling. In 2025 Australia imported about 32 per cent of its jet fuel from China.

Without these exports, Australia must turn to other countries such as South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia and India. However, they are also experiencing the impact of the Middle Eastern conflict, and it is possible further export restrictions from these countries may follow.

When stockpiles really matter

If this happens, Australia will need to rely upon its strategic stockpile of jet fuel because it has very little domestic refinery capability. Unfortunately, these stockpiles are not significant.

As of mid-March 2026, the Department of Industry, Science and Resources confirmed Australia has approximately 29 to 32 days of jet fuel in reserve, which amounts to to approximately 802 million litres.

These stocks are held either onshore at storage facilities or on ships located within Australia's exclusive economic zone, which extends extends from 22 to 370 kilometres from the coastline of Australia and its external territories,.

This stockpile is consistent with the minimum domestic stockpile obligations imposed by the Australian government.

Petrol prices across Australia have soared in response to the escalating war between Iran, the US, Israel and other countries

However, Australia has not complied with the 90-day stockpiling obligation for members of the International Energy Agency (IEA), and cannot provide international assistance.

In recent days, the IEA has ordered its member states release the biggest oil stockpile reserves in history.

Four hundred million barrels of emergency oil, representing a third of the total stockpiles of all member states, were released. This is far more than the 2022 release of 182 million barrels of oil by IEA countries following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

What will happen to Australian flights?

Australia's jet fuel supply chain is designed around continuous tanker deliveries, rather than long term storage.

Large airports store jet fuel in tank farms, with mutiple storage tanks, connected to pipelines and hydrant systems. These facilities can only hold a few weeks of jet fuel at a time.

This means airports will run out quickly if new supplies do not arrive.

There are many reasons why Australia has not increased its security stockpile of liquid fuel.

These include a decline in domestic refining capacity, reliance upon cheaper global supplies and costs and space associated with fuel storage. However, the lack of a significant stockpile has now put Australia in a precarious situation.

If jet fuel deliveries to airports completely stop, airports will need to rely upon their reserves. Jet fuel reserves would run low within a few weeks, or less.

Authorities are likely to prioritise emergency and military flights, reduce commercial aviation and impose fuel rations.

It is unclear what the current impact of fuel export restrictions upon flight scheduling will be. Qantas, the biggest user of jet fuel in Australia, has indicated it will need to increase its fares, however at this stage flights have not been cancelled.

But this is on the cards if supplies do not arrive beyond March, and there is a need to impose fuel rationing.

Air New Zealand has already cut 1,100 flights from its service due to fuel pricing and supply issues.

There are concerns this will lead to increased airfares, fuel surcharges, flight reductions and cancellations in the immediate future. In the longer term, we might also see the prospect of flight rationing.

This article originally appeared on The Conversation
A Florida woman smirked in court as she was charged over the hit-and-run death of an eight-year-old boy, in a crash which also left a 10-year-old badly injured.

Victoria Johnson made a series of disbelieving expressions during her first court appearance on Friday after the collision on Wednesday night in Winter Haven, 50 miles south-west of Orlando.

As the charges were read out, the 30-year-old initially looked aghast, before turning to her fellow jail inmates with her mouth open, eventually breaking out into a smile.

She continued to look bewildered before saying: 'I wasn't even in the car'. She was then told to not speak about the case.

The judge overseeing the hearing set her bond at $100,000, and Johnson wiped away tears as he did so, video showed.

According to Polk County Sheriff's Office, the two boys were at a church function and had crossed over a road before being asked to walk back over the street.

The two, who have not been identified, were then hit by a vehicle. The eight-year-old boy was fatally injured and the 10-year-old suffered a broken arm, broken femur and a compound skull fracture.

Johnson was arrested the next day after she called police to report her car had been stolen. After it was recovered investigators said they found biological matter on it.

Johnson made her first court appearance on Friday via video conference when she made the outburst

The judge overseeing the hearing set her bond at $100,000, Johnson wiped away tears as he did so

Johnson called the sheriff's office to report the Hyundai missing but when deputies arrived at her home she was not there, police said.

After they caught up with her near her home she told them three different versions of events, investigators said.

She said her car was stolen, before she claimed that she loaned it to someone who never handed it back over, and then that she gave it to a man named Corey Stewart to 'get rid of it'.

As she was being taken to a station for questioning, the Hyundai was spotted being driven by Stewart with a female passenger, identified as Mya Bass.

Deputies followed the vehicle to a home where the two ran inside and refused to cooperate, police said. They were eventually taken into custody and charged with resisting arrest.

A search of the vehicle uncovered damaged and missing parts, as well as potential 'biological matter' consistent with a pedestrian strike, police said.

Investigators who spoke with Johnson said that she disclosed that she regularly abused crystal meth and had done so before driving that night.

Johnson was charged with leaving the scene of a crash with death, leaving the scene of a crash with serious bodily injury, tampering with evidence, driving without a license, causing death, and giving false information to law enforcement.

The crash occurred outside of Faith Baptist Church in Lakeland, Florida, on Wednesday

Investigators who spoke with Johnson said that she disclosed that she regular abused crystal meth and had done so before driving that night

Polk County Schools confirmed the young boy was a student at Boswell Elementary in a statement to The New York Post.

They said: 'This is a terribly sad day for Boswell Elementary and our community. The child and his parents are beloved members of the Boswell family.

'He had many close friends at school and was well-liked by all of the teachers and staff.

'He was known for his incredible spirit and smile, as well as his willingness to help others.

'We are heartbroken by this loss, and praying for all who knew and loved this little boy.'
President Donald Trump declared on Sunday that the United States is 'decimating' Iran, as one of his advisors revealed that the war could last up to six weeks.

The commander-in-chief took to his Truth Social platform to extoll the United States' strength in the ongoing war in Iran, which officially entered its third week on Saturday.

It may now drag on for at least another month, Kevin Hassett, the National Economic Council Director told CBS' Face the Nation as he shared that the US has already spent $12 billion on the war effort.

'One of the things that we've been briefed on almost every day is what's going on and what the president is being briefed on with regard to the Iran war,' he told host Margaret Brennan.

'And as of yesterday, the message was that the Department of War believed that it would take four to six weeks to complete the mission and that we're ahead of schedule.

'So we are a couple of weeks in and I think that should give you some clarity about when we expect that the president will decide that we've achieved his objectives.'

In the meantime, President Trump insisted that the United States is destroying Iran as he accused the country's leadership of lying about their successes.

'Iran has long been known as a Master of Media Manipulation and Public Relations,' he posted on his social media platform Sunday evening.

Kevin Hassett, the National Economic Council Director, said on Sunday that the war in Iran may last up to six weeks

Hassett said he is briefed every day on what the president is hearing about the war

'They are militarily ineffective and weak, but are really good at "feeding" the very appreciative Fake News Media false information,' he claimed.

'Now AI has become another Disinformation weapon that Iran uses, quite well, considering they are being annihilated by the day.

'They show phony "Kamikaze Boats" shooting at various Ships at Sea, which looks wonderful, powerful and vicious, but those Boats don't exist - It's all false information to show how "tough" their already defeated Military is!'

Trump then went on to conclude his lengthy post by writing: 'The fact is, Iran is being decimated, and the only battles they "win" are those they create through AI and are distributed by Corrupt Media Outlets.'

Thirteen brave US military servicemembers have died so far in connection with Operation Epic Fury in Iran.

Six people died this week when a US KC-135 plane went down in western Iraq, which authorities said was 'friendly airspace'. The tragedy was not caused by 'hostile fire.'

Trump's latest comments came one day after the Iranian military struck an oil facility in the United Arab Emirates, causing a fire to erupt and operations to be suspended.

The depot exports more than 1.7 million barrels per day of crude oil, accounting for nearly two percent of the daily world demand.

The attack seemed to have been in retaliation for Trump's claims that the United States 'obliterated' Iran's Kharg Island.

'Moments ago, at my direction, the United States Central Command executed one of the most powerful bombing raids in the History of the Middle East, and totally obliterated every MILITARY target in Iran's crown jewel, Kharg Island,' he wrote on his Truth Social page on Friday.

Join the discussion How should the US balance military action with the risk of escalating conflict and civilian suffering in Iran?

President Donald Trump declared on Sunday that the United States is 'decimating' Iran

The Iranian military struck an oil facility in the United Arab Emirates, causing a fire to erupt and operations to be suspended on Saturday

The depot exports more than 1.7 million barrels per day of crude oil, equivalent to nearly two percent of the daily world demand

In a move to try and take control of the Strait of Hormuz, he added: 'Should Iran, or anyone else, do anything to interfere with the Free and Safe Passage of Ships through the Strait of Hormuz, I will immediately reconsider this decision.'

The Iranian military responded to Trump's threats, warning that oil and energy infrastructure owned by US-linked firms would 'immediately be destroyed and turned into a pile of ashes' if the United States struck its oil facilities, according to Iranian media.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf also warned on Thursday that attacks on the islands on Iran's southern maritime frontier would cause Iran to 'abandon all restraint', underscoring how central Kharg and its surrounding islands are to the country's economy and security.

At the same time, Iran's new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, vowed to keep the Strait of Hormuz closed.

President Trump has since urged world leaders to help escort oil tankers through the choke-point in the Gulf.

He called on 'China, France, Japan, South Korea, the UK and others' to send ships to escort tankers, while the US military continues to pound drone, boat and missile launch sites in Iranian territory on the north shore of the strait.

Iran's new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, vowed to keep the Strait of Hormuz closed. A tanker is seen in the Gulf near the Strait of Hormuz last week

More than 15,000 enemy targets have now been struck, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said as he sought to allay concerns about the Strait.

'We have been dealing with it and don't need to worry about it,' he said as Iran continued to fire missiles and drones against at least 10 countries.

The UN refugee agency now estimates that up to 3.2 million people have been displaced inside Iran since the war started, and as of Friday, at least 13 US soldiers have died in the conflict.

But Trump has said he is not ready to negotiate a ceasefire with the Iranian regime.

'Iran wants to make a deal, and I don't want to make it because the terms aren't good enough yet,' the president told NBC News in a phone interview on Saturday evening.

He declined to specify what conditions Iran would need to meet but said any agreement would have to be 'very solid,' but suggested that getting Iran to abandon its nuclear ambitions would likely be part of any future deal.
The Michigan synagogue attack suspect had close family ties to a Hezbollah commander responsible for launching rockets at Israeli civilians, it has emerged.

Lebanon-born Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, 41, is accused of smashing a vehicle packed with explosives into Temple Israel, in West Bloomfield, Detroit, on Thursday.

It came after he lost multiple relatives in Israeli strikes on Mashgharah, Lebanon on March 5: his brothers Ibrahim and Kassim Ghazali, and two of Ibrahim's children.

Now, it has emerged that Ibrahim was a major terror group operative, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

'Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Muhammad Ghazali was responsible for managing weapons operations within a specialized branch of the Badr Unit,' the IDF said in a statement posted to X.

'The unit is responsible for launching hundreds of rockets toward Israeli civilians throughout the war.'

The IDF added that Ibrahim Ghazali was 'eliminated in an IAF strike on a Hezbollah military structure.'

Ibrahim Muhammad Ghazali, the brother of Michigan synagogue attacker Ayman Ghazali, was a Hezbollah commander and killed in an Israeli Air Force strike on a Hezbollah military structure

Authorities identified the Michigan attacker as Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, a 41-year-old naturalized US citizen born in Lebanon

Law enforcement vehicles are seen in the parking lot of Temple Israel as an Israeli flag blows in the wind on top of the building following an active shooter on Thursday in West Bloomfield, MI

Ibrahim Ghazali's children who died in the Israeli strike were named by the Associated Press as Ali and Fatima. His wife was also seriously wounded.

The deaths are said to have occurred during a Ramadan fast-breaking meal when the strike hit the family home.

The revelation has intensified scrutiny of the Michigan attacker's background as federal investigators continue to examine the terrifying assault that targeted one of the largest Reform Jewish congregations in the United States.

Authorities said Ayman Ghazali drove almost 40 miles from his home in Dearborn Heights to Temple Israel in West Bloomfield shortly after noon on Thursday.

The synagogue complex includes a preschool and childcare center.

More than 140 children, teachers and staff members were inside at the time.

Ghazali rammed a truck through the building's entrance before security guards opened fire.

Both brothers including Temple Israel Synagogue attacker Ayman Ghazali, left, and his brother, Ibrahim Ghazali, right, who worked for Hezbollah are pictured here

The Israel Defense Forces said the Michigan synagogue attacker's brother, Ibrahim Muhammad Ghazali, was a Hezbollah commander in Lebanon

Parents are escorted by police down after being reunited with their children after a suspect crashed his truck into the hallway of Temple Israel synagogue in West Bloomfield, Michigan

The synagogue complex houses a preschool and early childcare center and is one of the largest Reform congregations in the United States

People embrace as law enforcement escort families away from the synagogue on Thursday

Jennifer Runyan, the special agent in charge of the FBI's Detroit field office, told reporters that the attacker eventually shot himself after becoming trapped in the vehicle as it caught on fire.

The truck was loaded with commercial-grade fireworks and several jugs of gasoline, according to officials.

Despite the chaos, no children or staff were injured.

A security guard who was struck by the vehicle was taken to hospital and is expected to recover, while dozens of law-enforcement personnel suffered smoke inhalation while responding to the blaze.

'If they had not all done their jobs almost perfectly, we would be talking about an immense tragedy here with children gone,' US Senator Elissa Slotkin said during a news conference.

Law-enforcement sources have told media outlets that American authorities had previously taken note of Ayman Ghazali's connections to individuals linked to Hezbollah.

Sources cited by CNN said Ghazali had been flagged in US government databases because of his contacts with members of the militant group, though officials did not believe he himself was a member.

According to law-enforcement sources cited by the New York Post, investigators discovered contacts with known Hezbollah members in Ghazali's phone in 2019 when he was questioned after returning from an overseas trip.

A neighbor described Ayman Mohamad Ghazali as 'kind, polite and respectful' and someone who had a 'warm personality' and 'constant smile'. He worked at Hamido, a popular Middle Eastern restaurant in Dearborn Heights, Michigan

Families embrace one another after following Thursday's active shooter incident

Police respond to the scene of a shooting and vehicle attack near Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Michigan on Thursday

He reportedly told authorities the trip was for a hair transplant.

Ghazali lived in a $315,000 home in Dearborn Heights which has the largest Arab-American population in the United States.

He worked at Hamido, a popular Middle Eastern restaurant in the area.

Customers said he was well known for his friendly demeanor.

'He was a very hospitable man and a loving father,' restaurant patron Timothy Jacob wrote in a community group.

Another local, Mike Smith, said hearing about the attack was 'shocking,' adding that Ghazali had always been 'one of the kindest people you can ever meet.'

Neighbor Kandie Zaidieh told the Detroit Free Press she was stunned by the allegations.

'He was the best. The best neighbor,' she said. 'Always quiet, a hard worker. He was always pleasant. Everybody liked him.'

The exterior the home of Ayman Mohamad Ghazali is shown in Friday, March 13, 2026, in Dearborn Heights, Michigan

Parents carry their preschool-aged children to safety as police escort them away from Temple Israel synagogue after Ghazali's attack on Thursday

Yet colleagues said Ghazali had been absent from work in the weeks leading up to the attack.

According to the Department of Homeland Security, Ghazali entered the United States in May 2011 on an immigrant visa granted to spouses of American citizens.

He later applied for naturalization and became a US citizen on February 5, 2016.

Court records show his ex-wife filed for divorce in Wayne County Circuit Court in August 2024. The divorce was finalized in March 2025 and included a child-support order.

Authorities say Ghazali called his former wife shortly before the attack and asked her to take care of their children.

Community leaders have condemned the attack in the strongest terms.

Imam Hassan Qazwini, whose mosque in Dearborn Heights held a service for members of the Ghazali family killed in Lebanon, said the violence at the synagogue violated Islamic principles.

'Islam forbids holding innocent people accountable for acts done by others,' Qazwini told the AP.

'The unjustified Israeli attack on civilians in Iran and Lebanon gives no blank check to anyone attacking synagogues, civilians and peaceful communities,' he added.
A Queensland father says his life was nearly destroyed after he lost a $98,500 home deposit, and the property, when a banking transfer delay triggered a brutal legal clause.

Stephen Evans found a two-storey house in Shailer Park, Logan, in January 2024 and signed a contract to buy it.

But when his bank repeatedly blocked attempts to transfer the full 10 per cent deposit in time, the seller invoked a clause allowing them to terminate the deal and keep the money, leaving the dad-of-two devastated.

'It tore my heart out. It's not just what I've lost at the moment, it's what I've lost for my future as well,' he told 9's A Current Affair.

'Losing that sort of money, not being able to provide a home for my two girls, it came damn close to destroying my life.'

The dad of two said he'd spent years trying to break into the housing market when he found the Shailer Park property.

He offered $985,000 and a $20,000 upfront deposit which was accepted, but the seller instead wanted 10 per cent of the purchase price to be paid on the day the contract was signed.

When Mr Evans tried to transfer the $98,500 deposit, he said his banking institution kept denying the transactions as there is a $50,000 limit.

Stephen Evans experienced difficulties transferring the full deposit in one day due to transaction limits imposed by his bank

Despite receiving confirmation from the selling agent it'd be okay to transfer the remaining balance over the next two days, the seller decided to not go ahead with the sal

The day after the deadline, Mr Evans sent $45,000 and contacted selling agent Fiona Tan from Cocco Property to explain the remaining balance would be paid the next day.

In a text message to Mr Evans, Ms Tan reportedly replied: 'Ok. As long as I let seller know. Two deposits today and tomorrow.'

The deposit was then made in full. However, Ms Tan later notified him the seller would not be going ahead with the contract.

The seller was then able to keep Mr Evans' full deposit.

'I just couldn't believe it. It's now set a precedent and could affect many, many other people who aren't aware of what potentially could happen from what an agent is telling you,' Mr Evans said.

According to Miller Sockhill Lawyers, under a standard Real Estate Institute of Queensland contract, a seller can terminate the contract and forfeit the deposit if the buyer breaches an essential term of the contract, including the payment of a sum of money required under the contract.

'I didn't quite understand why. I had communication in writing that it was okay to pay the deposit over the next two days,' Mr Evans said.

'We had indication from the agent it would be fine.'

Selling agent, Fiona Tan from Cocco Property, declined to talk about the matter

While the seller eventually returned Mr Evans' deposit, he wanted to go ahead with the house purchase and took the matter to Queensland's Supreme Court.

However, the judge found Ms Tan had no authority to change the terms of a signed legal document and ordered Mr Evans to forfeit the $98,500 deposit to the seller, with interest, and pay the seller's legal fees.

Richard Holt, from Holt Ronan Lawyers, said standard REIQ contracts must be strictly complied with by both the buyer and the seller.

'Buying a property is a serious matter, it is critical you get professional and accurate advice from an experienced property lawyer,' Mr Holt said in a blog post addressed to prospective buyers.

'The agent does not have the authority to vary a term. Do not rely on their representations in that regard. While they are often trying to be helpful, a contract is a legal document which must be complied with.

'Conveyancing transactions can, and do, go wrong sometimes and you could lose not just the chance to purchase the property, but your deposit (and more).'

Mr Evans now says he cannot afford to challenge the Supreme Court's decision or take Ms Tan to court.

When this reporter contacted Ms Tan for comment on Monday morning, she abruptly ended the call.
An Aussie tourist has revealed how he woke up to find $18,000 missing from his bank account while holidaying in Bali after scammers cloned his card.

Asher Shaw said he went to bed after having beers at a popular venue, not knowing he was the victim of a scam that had likely occurred earlier in his trip.

'I was having Bintangs at the FINNS Beach Club one night,' Mr Shaw said.

'I go to bed, wake up, and my account has gone from $20,000 to $2,000. I'm like holy s***, what is going on?'

Mr Shaw learned later he was the victim of card skimming, a process where criminals attach an illegal device to an ATM machine to steal card details and PINs before using that information to access the account.

'I kept getting cash out because I had to pay for things,' he said.

'I took the money out and it was all good, but what I didn't realise was they had these devices that scanned your card when you put it in.

'They then print out like a physical card that has all your numbers and has all your details.

An Aussie tourist has recounted the harrowing moment he woke up to find $18,000 missing from his bank account while holidaying in Bali after scammers cloned his card and withdrew cash

'They know your PIN because they have a little encoder thing that scans that as well.'

While he was asleep, Mr Shaw said the thief went on a spree, taking out $18,000.

'So while I was asleep, someone took my card or printed a new one and used 10 to 15 different ATM machines, pulling out cash ranging from $5 to $100 to $150,' he said.

'They were going crazy.

'I think they were going all night and because they had my PIN and all my details, the bank just let it go.'

Fortunately for him, the issue was resolved and he received all his money back.

'I ended up getting a full refund from the bank,' Mr Shaw said.

'I got my money back, the scammer got their money and it was like a win-win for both of us.'

Asher Shaw said he went to bed after having beers at FINNS Beach Club

Mr Shaw said moving forward, he would keep his money in multiple bank accounts when travelling overseas.

'Don't put $20,000 on one card,' he said.

'Have it in a separate bank account.'

A couple of Aussies sympathised with him.

'I understand you mate, same happened to me,' one wrote.

'That would have been super stressful,' another wrote.

Others laid the blame on Mr Shaw, saying he should have done his research before travelling.

'You must be the only person who didn't know that,' one said.

'That's actually on you,' a second said.

'You should never allow anyone to take more than $1,000 out of your account within a 24-hour period.'

Smartraveller shared some advice on how tourists could avoid falling victim to scammers.

Tourists were urged to not allow 'a shop assistant to take your card out of sight or swipe it in a second machine'.

It recommends to 'pay with a cheque or cash' and 'only using official ATMs in a bank'.
Ministers will signal a fresh fight with Labour MPs over welfare reform on Monday, amid rising panic about the number of young people signed off sick.

Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden will unveil a 1billion scheme designed to help 200,000 young people into work or apprenticeships.

But he will also warn Labour MPs that the Government can no longer afford to duck welfare reform.

Last year, Labour MPs forced it to abandon 'cruel' plans for 5billion in welfare cuts.

But Mr McFadden will call for a major shake-up of a system that 'too readily funnels [young people] down a path labelled "unfit for work"'.

He will cite shock figures showing that someone aged under 25 on sickness benefits is now less likely to find work than someone aged over 55 and in poor health.

Mr McFadden will warn that youth unemployment risks 'lifelong consequences' for those affected.

The warning comes as new figures reveal a sharp rise in the number of jobless young people citing health problems as the reason they are not working.

Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden will tell Labour MPs the Government can no longer afford to duck welfare reform

Join the discussion Do YOU think the government should push ahead with welfare cuts?

The share of 16 to 24-year-olds not in education, employment or training  known as Neets  who reported a work-limiting condition has surged by 70 per cent in a decade.

The trend is potentially putting this generation 'at even greater risk of harm to their future opportunities', the Health Foundation said.

Research by the think tank found that between 2015 and 2025, the share of Neet young people who reported conditions that stop them from working increased from 26 per cent to 44 per cent.

Last year, mental health problems and autism made up more than two-thirds of Neet youngsters who cited health issues as a barrier to employment.

According to the Office for National Statistics, the number of Neets aged 16 to 24 was 957,000 in the three months to December up from 946,000 in the previous quarter.

Mr McFadden will outline a string of initiatives designed to tackle the rise in youth unemployment since Labour came to power. The party has been blamed for fuelling the problem through a 25billion raid on National Insurance, increases in the minimum wage and the introduction of a wave of new employment rights, which have discouraged firms from taking on young staff.

Mr McFadden's measures include a 3,000 'youth jobs grant' paid to employers for every young person aged 18 to 24 whom they employ.

Small and medium-sized firms will also be offered 2,000 for each young apprentice they take on. And the 'jobs guarantee', which finds work for those who have been jobless for 18 months, will be extended to all young people up to 24. The number of apprenticeship places for older workers will be curbed to free up more for the young.

Mr McFadden said the plans offered 'life-changing opportunities to young people'.

But shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately blamed Labour for the rise in youth unemployment, saying: 'The best way to tackle this is to back businesses to create jobs, not tax them out of existence to fund benefits and subsidies,' she said.
A youth mobility scheme with the EU was said to be deadlocked on Sunday night over tuition fees for international students.

As part of Keir Starmer's Brexit 'surrender', Labour is looking to open up the UK to swathes of young European adults, allowing 18 to 30s to live or work here  offering the same opportunities as Britons would have on the Continent.

But negotiations have hit an impasse, sources said, as Downing Street comes under pressure from the university sector not to cut a deal with Europe as it could cost them half a billion pounds in lost revenue.

Britain would look at lowering tuition fees for EU students only as part of a 'very big offer' from Brussels, one official told the Financial Times.

Many Eurocrats are keen to pay less for their children to study here.

Some such students pay up to 38,000 a year for courses that cost British students up to 9,535.

Another source told The Times: 'It is true that talks have stalled and that this is now the main issue on which both sides cannot agree.'

Ben Moore, head of international policy at the Russell Group of top universities, said such a scheme would be a 'winwin'.

Keir Starmer last month faced calls not to bow to EU demands to slash tuition fees for European students in the UK

Since Brexit, EU students in the UK have been charged higher international fees of between 11,400 and 32,000 a year

But he added: 'Granting home fee status to EU students would have a significant impact on sector finances and would come at a time when universities are already under significant financial pressure.'

It comes after the Prime Minister last month faced calls not to bow to EU demands to slash tuition fees for European students in the UK as part of his Brexit 'reset'.

Sir Keir was warned that UK universities will suffer a 580million hit if he allows a discount for under-30s from the EU who study in Britain.

Since Brexit, EU students in the UK have been charged higher international fees, of between 11,400 and 32,000 a year, compared to the lower domestic rate for British students of 9,535 a year.

But the EU is pushing the Government to lower tuition fees for EU students in the UK as part of a proposed youth mobility deal.
Millions of Americans are under tornado watches as an enormous storm rages across the South and eastern portion of the United States.

The raging weather system has already dumped more than a foot of snow from parts of the northern Rockies to the Great Lakes, while wind gusts as high as 75mph have left hundreds of thousands of people without power further south.

Meteorologists have forecast a high risk of twisters forming in nine states, with tornado warnings covering more than 12 million people as of Sunday evening, according to the National Weather Services Storm Prediction Center.

Instagram influencer Sarah Krafft shared a video Sunday evening showing the storm approaching her home in Missouri as ominous, dark clouds formed on the horizon.

In the video posted from the epicenter of the storm, she said: 'Today we're under a tornado warning and a wind advisory with hurricane-like winds and it's gonna snow...

'When I looked at the radar coming up, it looks like a bright red line coming right for us, and we are in the center of the tornado warning.'

Later in the video, Krafft and her husband drove to his parents' house to get out of the path of the tornado warning, and the influencer said the temperature had dropped to 15F.

Parts of Arkansas, Missouri, Mississippi and Tennessee are at the highest risk of tornadoes forming, and there is also risk in parts of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and Georgia.

Millions of Americans are under tornado watches as an enormous storm rages across the South and eastern portion of the United States

Some of the potential tornadoes are expected to cause EF2-level damage, which means wind gusts up to 135mph could tear roofs off of houses and lift cars in the air. A home destroyed by a tornado in Illinois earlier this month is pictured

Meteorologists have said the storm is drawing moisture from both the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, creating a volatile combination of rain, wind and rapidly changing temperatures.

The tornadoes could potentially cause significant damage, and some are predicted to be categorized as EF2s or higher on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, which is a way of estimating tornado wind speeds based on damage.

Tornadoes at that level bring gusts of 111-135mph that are capable of tearing the roofs off homes, snapping trees in half and lifting vehicles into the air.

A level four of five risk of severe thunderstorms has been put into place for Monday from the Carolinas to the Maryland-Pennsylvania border. The surrounding area is under a level three of five risk.

As the storm moves east on Monday, the risk of tornadoes and severe thunderstorms will become highest in parts of Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina, according to the National Weather Services Storm Prediction Center.

Travel chaos has already emerged across the Midwest, with thousands of flights delayed or canceled at major hubs including Chicago and Minneapolis.

At OHare and Midway international airports in Chicago, more than 850 flights have been canceled, and at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, more than 600 were cance

led.

Meteorologists warned flight delays and cancelations could climb higher through Monday night, with ripple effects spreading across major hubs including Chicago, Detroit, Atlanta, New York, Boston, Washington DC and Philadelphia.

Parts of Arkansas, Missouri, Mississippi and Tennessee are at the highest risk of tornadoes forming. A severe storm warning map is pictured

The northern portion of the storm has already dumped more than a foot of snow in parts of southern Minnesota and central Wisconsin, with more expected to come. Snowfall in Wisconsin Rapids is pictured on Sunday

The northern portion of the storm had already buried parts of southern Minnesota and central Wisconsin in snow by Sunday morning, and snow is expected to continue in much of the Midwest and around the Great Lakes through Monday.

In Rochester, Minnesota, parts of the city have already recorded a foot of snowfall, and up to another foot of snow is expected by the time the storm ends. The city's record snowfall was 20 inches in March of 2005.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has signed an executive order activating the National Guard to assist emergency operations as the storm intensified.

Parts of Michigan's northern peninsula are expected to receive up to three feet of snow by Monday night.

The city of Marquette in that region may also experience record snowfall, as it is forecast to receive up to four feet. The city's current two-day storm record is 32 inches of snow from a blizzard in March 1997.

In Maryland's Baltimore County, all public schools and their offices will be closed early on Monday due to storm and tornado risks, the school district announced on X on Sunday.

Bob Oravec, a senior forecaster at the National Weather Services Weather Prediction Center, seemed to marvel at the extreme weather spreading across the country, which is causing varied severe conditions.

All of a sudden, Mother Nature is having a fit, Oravec said.
Often thought of as merely a source of gentle ribbing and marital tiffs, snoring is actually a factor in nearly half of divorces.

Some 47 per cent of divorcees said their partner's night-time snorting contributed to their break-up, as did conditions such as sleep apnoea, which stops sufferers breathing temporarily.

In a poll of 2,000 recently divorced Britons, three-quarters who were affected by snoring or sleep disorders slept in another room, and 85 per cent of those said it 'directly contributed' to their divorce.

Half said it was a 'deal-breaker' with new lovers.

Dr Sonia Szamocki, of the healthcare firms 32Co and Aerox Health, which conducted the poll, said snoring was no joking matter, but was 'undermining the very fabric of relationships'.

For many couples, the move to the spare room marks the beginning of a profound emotional disconnect that persists long after the sun comes up.

Experts note that the impact of snoring extends far beyond simple exhaustion.

When partners are forced into separate bedrooms, they lose the critical 'pillow talk' and spontaneous physical closeness that anchor a relationship.

Nearly 47% of divorcees identified their partner's nocturnal noise as a factor in their separation. This figure includes those affected by sleep apnoea, a more serious condition where breathing repeatedly stops and starts, which further strained their marital bonds

Dr Szamocki emphasised that the tragedy lies in how treatable these issues are.

Her work focuses on treating the snoring or apnea (the 'quest for a quiet night's rest') before the relationship damage becomes permanent.

She has observed how thousands of couples are ending their relationships due to physiological problems that are often treatable with proper medical care.

The doctor has also observed that by the time couples reach the point of divorce, the emotional distance between them has often become impossible to bridge, even though the original problem was simply a basic need for undisturbed sleep.
China launches Institute of Global Development

Xinhua) 11:07, March 16, 2026

HANGZHOU, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Aimed at advancing international development cooperation, the Institute of Global Development (IGD) was inaugurated on Sunday at Zhejiang University in east China.

According to its organizers, IGD is designed to further translate the Global Development Initiative into practice as well as to promote the implementation of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the post-2030 planning.

Hosted by Zhejiang University, IGD operates as an entity under the policy guidance of China's Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Education, and the Zhejiang Provincial Government.

It will recruit mid to senior-level government officials and business leaders from around the world for training and academic programs.

"We will rely on Zhejiang University's applied economics and public administration disciplines to offer degree programs and provide long-term, strategic talent support for global sustainable development," said Huang Xianhai, dean of IGD.

The school has already begun global recruitment for its degree programs, with the first cohort of doctoral students expected to enroll in September 2026.

The idea of establishing the institute was put forward by China at the 20th G20 Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, where China proposed creating a dedicated institution to strengthen cooperation among countries.

The launch ceremony also highlighted the institute's ambition to foster global partnerships. At the launch ceremony, Zhejiang University signed a memorandum of understanding with the United Nations Population Fund to conduct joint research on issues including population and development and to establish a collaborative global research platform.

More international organizations have also expressed interest in working with the new institute. Amakobe Sande, UNICEF Representative to China, said UNICEF hopes to explore cooperation with IGD to advance sustainable development outcomes for children.

"Platforms such as the Institute of Global Development can help translate development experience into shared knowledge, South-South Cooperation, and practical solutions for countries seeking to accelerate progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals," she said.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
Developer-favorite desktop robot now available to more consumers worldwide through AliExpress Anniversary Sale

LOS ANGELES, March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Reachy Mini, the open-source desktop robot that has captivated the developer community, is now available to global consumers on AliExpress, coinciding with the platform's Anniversary Sale promotion. This extension marks an important step in expanding Reachy Mini beyond the open-source developer community to a broader consumer audience across key markets including the United States, Europe, South Korea, Japan and Brazil.

Reachy Mini Robot

Developed within the Hugging Face ecosystem, a leading open-source AI platform, Reachy Mini is a flagship embodied AI project designed for human-AI interaction, creative coding, and hands-on experimentation. Reachy Mini has earned strong recognition among AI researchers and developers worldwide. Now, through AliExpress, the robot is becoming more broadly accessible to consumers interested in exploring the next wave of AI-powered robotics.

The addition of Reachy Mini reflects AliExpress' broader push to attract innovative technology products and brands. Seeed Studio, the hardware manufacturing partner behind Reachy Mini, selected AliExpress as its consumer market launchpad.

"AliExpress has made a strong commitment to supporting premium hard tech products, which aligns perfectly with Seeed Studio's mission," said Joey Jiang, VP of Global Sales and Marketing at Seeed Studio. "As an open-source hardware provider focused on emerging technologies, we have built a technology ecosystem based on open-source hardware, AI-driven capabilities, and cross-domain co-creation. The Anniversary Sale gives us a rare opportunity to tap into global demand and introduce Reachy Mini to a wider audience."

The timing comes amid growing visibility for Reachy Mini. At CES 2026, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang featured Reachy Mini in his keynote address, demonstrating the desktop robot to a global audience and signaling that the era of embodied AI has arrived. The spotlight from one of the world's most-watched tech stages has helped drive surging interest and pre-order demand for the compact robot.

From March 16 through March 25, Reachy Mini will be available in stock  no pre-orders required. Seeed Studio's official AliExpress store will release limited units daily throughout the promotional period, giving consumers worldwide a chance to own one of the most talked-about robots in the embodied AI space.

Reachy Mini is among a growing roster of premium tech brands joining AliExpress Brand+, the platform's dedicated channel for high-end global technology brands. In 2025, Unitree Robotics opened its official flagship store on AliExpress, while Rokid AR glasses and other emerging global tech brands have used the platform to reach international consumers directly. As more frontier technology brands seek global scale, AliExpress is emerging as the platform of choice for hard tech brands looking to grow beyond their home markets.

"Reachy Mini joining AliExpress during our Anniversary Sale is a strong signal of where consumer technology is headed," said Chris Carl, Head of Marketing, AliExpress U.S. "We aim to bring the world's most innovative technology products to consumers everywhere."

Reachy Mini is available HERE through Seeed Studio's official AliExpress store.

About AliExpress

Launched in 2010, AliExpress is a global e-commerce platform dedicated to creating a better shopping experience for hundreds of millions of consumers in more than 200 countries and regions. In addition to the English version, the AliExpress platform is available in 15 other languages. AliExpress is part of Alibaba International Digital Commerce Group.

SOURCE AliExpress
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has been accused of a 'monumental act of political self-harm' after he rejected calls to expand North Sea oil production as war rages in Iran.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer will claim on Monday his 'first priority' is to ease the impact of soaring oil prices on squeezed households.

But the Conservatives warn that Mr Miliband's obsession with Net Zero is keeping energy bills artificially high.

And union leaders say his opposition to expanding North Sea production is harming jobs and putting Britain's energy security at risk.

Mr Miliband is under mounting pressure to issue new licences for drilling oil and gas in the Rosebank and Jackdaw fields, off the coast of Scotland.

But on Sunday he said the 'one lesson' from the Iran crisis was the need to go 'further and faster' towards developing 'homegrown clean power'.

Sir Keir is set to announce tens of millions of pounds in support for families who are reliant on heating oil, which has soared in price since the start of the war. Ministers are also working on contingency plans for a wider bailout over energy bills if prices remain high when the current price cap expires at the end of June.

Subsidies are likely to be targeted at poorer families and the vulnerable but could still cost billions of pounds.

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband is under mounting pressure to issue new licences for drilling oil and gas off the Scottish coast

Sir Keir will say: 'My answer is clear. Whatever challenges lie ahead, this government will always support working people.'

However, Tory energy spokesman Claire Coutinho said ministers could cut energy bills by 20 per cent immediately by ditching Mr Miliband's green levies.

She told the BBC: 'Before you reach for subsidies, we should be moving the cost of energy as low down as we can.'

Ms Coutinho urged Mr Miliband to change course on North Sea oil. She said it would increase supply, create jobs and generate 25billion in tax revenue which could be used to help fund support for consumers.

Unite union boss Sharon Graham said: 'Blocking oil and gas production in the North Sea, especially now, is simply an act of monumental political self-harm.'

Mr Miliband said he was focused on his plan to switch to 'clean power' by 2030, adding he would fast-track plans for a new wave of windfarms and make it easier for consumers to purchase plug-in solar panels.

He said: 'The price of gas is set on the international markets, whether it comes from the North Sea, which is an important resource, or is imported.

'There is one lesson from this crisis... for the long term on energy policy, and that is, we need homegrown clean power that we control.'
Keir Starmer told Donald Trump on Sunday night he wasn't ready to agree to US demands to 'send ships' to protect oil tankers in the Gulf from Iranian attacks.

The two leaders spoke by phone after the US President requested assistance in dealing with Iran's efforts to shut the Strait of Hormuz.

Downing Street said the pair 'discussed the importance of reopening the strait to end the disruption to global shipping, which is driving up costs worldwide'.

But, with Iran warning on Sunday of reprisals against the UK, it is understood there are no current plans to send British warships to escort stranded tankers. Instead, ministers are offering mine-hunting drones and missile interceptors as part of an international effort to free up shipping on the route.

On Saturday, Mr Trump said he wanted Britain, France and China to 'send ships to the area so that the Strait will no longer be threatened by a nation that has been totally decapitated'.

This demand was repeated by Mike Waltz, US ambassador to the United Nations, who said: 'The conversation is ongoing. The last time Iran tried to constrain global energy supplies, you had French, United Kingdom forces escorting tankers heading towards their markets. That is what President Trump is calling upon the world.'

Downing Street said ministers were 'discussing with our allies and partners a range of options to ensure the security of shipping in the region'.

But on Sunday night it appeared Britain's only immediate contribution to unblocking the strait will be autonomous underwater vehicles based in Bahrain which are untested in conflict situations.

Keir Starmer spoke with the US President after he requested British assistance in dealing with Iran's efforts to shut the Strait of Hormuz

Donald Trump said he wanted Britain, France and China to 'send ships to the area so that the Strait will no longer be threatened by a nation that has been totally decapitated'

The Royal Navy does not have a single minesweeper to offer after HMS Middleton was withdrawn from the region last year for 'routine maintenance'.

Government sources stressed that no final decisions had been made on how to respond to Mr Trump's request.

About 20 per cent of the world's oil passes through the strait and its closure has seen oil prices rise about $100 a barrel, threatening the world's economies.

However, ministers are resisting pressure to send scarce warships to the region and instead want to prioritise naval support for a Nato mission in the High North, which is seen as essential to deterring Russian aggression.

Ministers are also concerned about the risk of being dragged deeper into the unpopular conflict and by fears that Iran could intensify its attacks in the Gulf.

On Sunday, the EU was reported to be considering expanding its Aspides mission to protect shipping in the Red Sea from attacks by the Houthi militia.

But German foreign minister Johann Wadephul said he was 'very sceptical' about the idea. Iran also signalled it would step up reprisals against the UK if it played any role in reopening the strait.

Foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei told Times Radio that Iran was 'not at war with the UK' at present.

But asked about possible British involvement, he added: 'That would be complicity in the crime of aggression, crime against peace, and that would for sure be responded [to] by Iran.'

On Sunday night, senior naval figures backed the PM's stance but highlighted the UK's ship shortage.

Admiral Lord West, former head of the Royal Navy, said: 'Our strategic priority remains the High North and we should remain fully committed to Nato manoeuvres... The beneficiary would be Vladimir Putin if we compromised that exercise... What we really need in the strait is mine-hunting capability.

'It is dreadful that we don't have a minesweeper in the region and are autonomous assets may not yet have reached maturity.'

Meanwhile, an operation to rescue thousands of Britons stranded in Lebanon moved a step closer.

The Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship Lyme Bay set sail from Gibraltar towards Cyprus where she could lead a Non-Combatant Evacuation Operation. The move came as Israeli tanks pushed deeper inside Lebanon.
Two women have been named among the six US Air Force personnel killed when their refuelling aircraft crashed in Iraq last week.

The crew were in 'friendly' airspace on a combat mission on Thursday when they went down in an incident involving a second US aircraft - believed to be another refuelling plane - which later landed safely.

On Sunday night, the women and their colleagues were hailed 'American heroes' by US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Captain Ariana Savino, 31, from Washington, who was assigned to the 6th Air Refuelling Wing at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida, was described as an 'Air Force superstar' by a family member who said she 'lit up every room she walked into'.

While the death of Technical Sergeant Ashley Pruitt, 34, from Bardstown, Kentucky, who had a three-year-old daughter, was said to leave 'an unimaginable hole for her family, friends and fellow airmen'.

An Iranian group initially claimed responsibility for the downed plane, but the US government has insisted it was an accident.

The crash took the US military death toll in the Iran conflict so far to 13.

Captain Ariana Savino (pictured), 31, from Washington, who was assigned to the 6th Air Refuelling Wing at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida, was described as an 'Air Force superstar'

The death of Technical Sergeant Ashley Pruitt (pictured), 34, from Bardstown, Kentucky, who had a three-year-old daughter, was said to leave 'an unimaginable hole for her family, friends and fellow airmen'

The other members of the crew were on Sunday night named by the US as Major John Kilnner, Captain Seth Koval, Captain Curtis Angst and Technical Sergeant Tyler Simmons.

To date, the US military has lost at least four aircraft.

The incident on Thursday has compromised the US's ability to mount aerial sorties on Iran. The refuelling craft, a Boeing KC-135, is used to keep bombers and fighter jets in the air.

Despite President Donald Trump's claims last week that the war would be 'over soon,' ten US Air Force F-35A fighter jets touched down at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk this weekend. The aircraft are stopping in the UK on route to US bases in the Middle East.
Israel has warned Iran's new Supreme Leader it 'knows where he is' after Donald Trump suggested he might already be dead.

Mojtaba Khamenei was wounded in US-Israeli strikes and has not been seen since the start of the war prompting wild speculation over his condition.

A statement attributed to the Iranian leader was read out on state TV last Thursday to stifle rumours that he was killed after his father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was assassinated. But he was not seen.

Mr Trump responded by fanning the flames over the weekend, telling NBC News: 'I don't know if he's even alive. So far, nobody's been able to show him.'

He said he had heard a 'rumour' of his death, adding: 'I'm hearing he's not alive, and if he is, he should do something very smart for his country, and that's surrender...

'Some of them think he's alive but very badly wounded.'

But on Sunday night, an Israeli security official told the Daily Mail bluntly: 'We know where he is.'

It comes as supposed Iranian sources have pushed conspiracy theories that Khamenei, 56, was smuggled out the country to Russia for treatment on the orders of Vladimir Putin.

An Israeli security official offered a chillingly brief assessment to the Daily Mail, stating simply: 'We know where he is.' (pictured: Benjamin Netanyahu - Prime Minister of Israel)

One newspaper quoted 'regime insiders' bizarrely suggesting a 'secret operation' was launched last week and the Supreme Leader is now recovering in a private hospital in Moscow.

Others have peddled false claims that Benjamin Netanyahu has died from a heart attack.

The Israeli security official said: 'I recommend not following every report Iran puts out.'

The Ayatollah was killed by US missiles on the first day of the war and speculation over the whereabouts of his son is only spiralling as the conflict enters its third week.

Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi gave an interview to The New Arab in which he said: 'The leader of the revolution is in good health and is fully managing the situation.'

Security expert Professor Anthony Glees said: 'At times of war, the dark arts will play a significant part as the weapon of choice on all sides.

'But the really big thing is that Mojtaba has not been seen, and that suggests to me that the regime may well be in trouble.

'It would be such an easy thing to show him alive and well, and that would be the most powerful propaganda message of all that in the third week of the war Israel and the US have failed to cut the head off the snake, as it were.

'However, I have still not seen the smoking gun to suggest that this regime is on the verge of collapse.'

Avner Vilan, a former senior security official in Israel and expert on Iran, added: 'The whereabouts and condition of Khamenei are a strategic asset for both sides.

'Neither side would want to share information publicly, and both may make efforts to create false impressions about his condition and location.

'They did admit quickly that the Ayatollah was killed, but not the son.

Join the discussion How much should we trust official reports about leaders lives during wartime chaos and propaganda?

Last Thursday, a statement from Iran's new leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, was broadcast on state TV in an attempt to quash reports that he had been killed alongside his father

'It's unlikely Iran would elect Khamenei Jr if he were already dead, because eventually they would have to admit both Supreme Leaders were killed during this conflict - which would not project strength.'

Even if Israel and the US believe they have taken out Khamenei they would want to ensure they are 100 per cent certain before publicly declaring it.

Most notably it took Israel two weeks to declare the assassination of Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif in August 2024.

Deif was dubbed 'The Cat with Nine Lives' after repeatedly thwarting multiple assassination attempts and Hamas only admitted he had been killed six months later.

Likewise, after the IDF killed October 7 mastermind Yahya Sinwar in Gaza in October 2024, despite a picture of his dead body going viral they took his remains for DNA testing before confirming his death.

On Sunday, Israel posted a rogues' gallery showing all 16 of the senior Iranian officials they assassinated on the opening day of the war.

It shows the faces of the Ayatollah alongside his top military, intelligence and defence officials with the word 'eliminated' branded above their heads.

Among them are Mohammed Shirazai, Head of the Military Bureau, Jalali Pour Hossein, Head of the Espionage Directorate, Abd al-Rahim Mousavi, Chief of the General Staff of the Iranian Army, and Mohammad Fakhpour, Commander of the IRGC.

Meanwhile, on Sunday, Mr Netanyahu mocked fake news that he had died from a heart attack by filming himself calmly sipping a coffee in Tel Aviv.

He told supporters: 'They say I'm dead? I'm dying for a coffee.'
The Allan government will pay $125 million in compensation to Victorian businesses that were financially crippled during Dan Andrews' Covid lockdown.

The state's retail businesses had launched court proceedings against the government, claiming economic damage caused by Victoria's hotel quarantine program, which plunged Melbourne into lockdown for 112 days in 2020.

The Hotel Quarantine (Business Losses) Class Action, which involves more than 1,000 Victorian business owners, argued the state government was negligent and breached its duty of care with a trial due to begin in the Supreme Court on Monday.

However during settlement talks last week, the Allan government settled the massive class action for the hefty fee.

While the terms of the deal are confidential, the $125 million settlement includes all costs, including interest, the Australian Financial Review reports.

The settlement deal is subject to the Supreme Court's approval.

The Allan government's decision to settle avoids a high-profile and lengthy trial, which in the lead up to November's state election, would have called upon senior government officials as witnesses.

The Daily Mail has contacted the suit's law firm, Quinn Emanuel, for comment.

The Allan government will pay $125 million in compensation to Victorian businesses that were financially crippled during Dan Andrews' Covid lockdown

The suit by over 1000 Victorian businesses aimed to force the government to cover losses suffered by them during the state's July 2020 Covid-19 lockdown

The years-long class action aimed to force the government to cover losses suffered by the businesses during the state's July 2020 lockdown.

The lockdown, the state's second, was triggered after the government's quarantine hotels - Rydges and Stamford Plaza - failed to contain Covid infections, later leading to stage three and four restrictions.

An inquiry later found poor health controls were in place at the hotels and the program was responsible for the deaths of 768 people and 18,000 infections.

The businesses involved in the action claimed a family of four detained at the Rydges infected a hotel worker and private security staff.

Those infected did not wear masks or practise hand hygiene, with the family's illness later epidemiologically linked to eight workers and nine of their contacts.

In early June at the Stamford Plaza, it is claimed a traveller and a couple spread the virus to security guards.

It then spread to 26 workers, a nurse and 19 other contacts.

The businesses claimed that, by mid-August 2020, genomic sequencing showed clustering of about 75 per cent of community infections with the quarantine hotel infections.

The class action seeks compensation for losses suffered by businesses during lockdowns

They say that 'had the (State of Victoria) conducted themselves prudently to the appropriate standard, transmission at each hotel would not have occurred'.

However, economic analysis commissioned by the Victorian government for the case concluded small businesses should have come up with their own strategies from earlier pandemic lockdowns to ease financial impacts of the closures.

It was previously reported Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan would pocket about 30 per cent - a multi-million dollar sum from the final amount, as per the class action agreement.

Melburnians were released from their sixth lockdown in October 2021, with the state's long lockdowns leading to then-Premier Daniel Andrews being dubbed 'Dictator Dan'.

A month before, the health and safety watchdog charged Victoria's health department with dozens of breaches of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

WorkSafe had also charged the Department of Health in September 2021 with 58 breaches of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, after a 15-month investigation into the bungled system.

But the case was abandoned just days before trial, after the County Court dismissed evidence uncovered during a separate judicial inquiry.
A wall that showed the handprints of Grenfell Tower victims who were trapped in the building as the fire raged has been destroyed.

Relatives of the 72 people who died in the 2017 blaze in North Kensington, west London, made the disturbing discovery of the wall, between the 12th and 14th floors, during pre-demolition visits to the building in July last year.

A powerful photograph of the stairwell shows the space completely blackened with smoke - and marked with prints of all different sizes.

The victims' families had urged the Government to save these parts of the building from being destroyed.

But they were preparing to take Housing Secretary Steve Reed to court over the demolition after claims that Angela Rayner promised the wall would not be destroyed when she ran the department.

Relatives have said the Government went back on its promise.

The vicious blaze tore through the 24-storey social housing block in North Kensington, west London, on June 14, 2017, killing 72 people.

The tragedy sparked national outrage, as highly flammable exterior cladding was found to have caused the quick spread of flames from an electrical fault.

Pictured: The handprints of Grenfell Tower victims on the wall, which has now been demolished

The vicious blaze tore through the 24-storey social housing block in North Kensington, west London, on June 14, 2017, killing 72 people

The Grenfell Inquiry began in earnest in September 2017, with the final report published in February 2025, before demolition began that September.

Another part of the tower has also been destroyed, on the stairwell between the 17th and 18th floor, where the words Allahu Akbar - which means 'God is Greater' - were written.

An official said no sections above the ninth floor could be kept, citing concerns about the sensitivity of the upper levels and the lives lost.

Both the handprints and the inscription are located above this level.

The Arabic writing has already been destroyed - but bereaved relatives are now fighting to preserve the handprints.

Damel Carayol, who lost members of his family in the blaze, told The Telegraph: 'The obvious thing is that these inscriptions and handprints are relics, reminiscent of hieroglyphics and remains from traumatic historical happenings.

'The meanings and symbolisms of whoever made them would have been their last hopeful messages to the living world as they felt for sure that their time had come. And these messages to us speak for everyone whose lives were taken at Grenfell.'

He added that the 'disregard' for the victims and their families was 'inhumane'.

The Grenfell Inquiry began in earnest in September 2017, with the final report published in February 2025, before demolition began that September. Pictured: The covered remains of Grenfell Tower, in January this year

But during pre-demolition visits, families of victims discovered sections of walls bearing handprints from those who were trapped inside during the fire Pictured: A makeshift memorial, bearing messages from well-wishers, on a wall near the covered remains of the tower block

The Government previously told the Khalloufi family, who lost 52-year-old Khadija in the fire, in a letter that the wall would not be destroyed.

Demolitions were being carried out floor by floor, the Government's legal department said, but that these had paused 'pending our response' to the letter sent to the Khalloufi family.

However The Telegraph reports the wall has already been destroyed following a virtual site visit by demolition staff.

In response to the demolition of the wall which showed the handprints of the fire's victims, Karim Khalloufi, Khadija's sister, said the 'real memorial' had been destroyed.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government told the newspaper: 'We are committed to ensuring what happened at the Tower is remembered, with the community's voice at the heart of our work.

'We remain fully committed to handling elements of the Tower with the utmost care, sensitivity and respect.'
A meningitis outbreak said to be linked to a nightclub has killed two young people and left 11 others seriously ill.

The victims, who have not been named, are thought to be aged between 17 and 21.

One was confirmed as a student at the University of Kent while the other was a sixth-form pupil at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School in nearby Faversham.

The majority of those hospitalised are the same age and are also believed to be students at the institution.

A friend of two people battling the deadly infection - one of whom is in a coma - has told the Daily Mail they began to exhibit symptoms after going to Club Chemistry in Canterbury on Friday, March 6.

With a capacity of 1,600 and three floors, student-favourite Club Chemistry is likely a hotbed for the deadly infection.

The woman revealed how her friends went to the venue as part of a birthday celebration, but within days of the night out, several members of the group began to feel increasingly unwell.

She told the Daily Mail: 'My pal went out for her birthday with her partner and a few friends. The plan was to go clubbing and have a nice time, as teenagers do.

Queues at the University of Kent in Canterbury this morning. The university asked anyone who believes they have come into contact with those who contracted meningitis and have not been contacted by the UKHSA to attend the Senate building between 9am and 4pm today

An ambulance parked outside University of Kent accommodation blocks last night

A meningitis outbreak said to be linked to Canterbury venue Club Chemistry (pictured) has killed two young people and left 11 others seriously ill

One was confirmed as a student at the University of Kent (file photo)

One is confirmed as a Year 13 pupil at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School in nearby Faversham (stock picture)

'She simply wanted a nice evening with her friends for her birthday, but after attending Club Chemistry, came out really ill in the coming days - which ended with some in hospital.'

The woman said her friend experienced meningitis symptoms such as paleness, sickness and tiredness before attending A&E this weekend, where a lumbar puncture procedure confirmed she had contracted meningitis.

She added another man who had gone to Club Chemistry is currently in a coma because of the infection, while one more was displaying symptoms.

It comes as more than 30,000 students and staff have been alerted by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), warning them to stay vigilant against symptoms.

The UKHSA said it was arranging antibiotics for some students in the Canterbury area following the outbreak.

On Sunday, the university urged anyone who believes they have come into contact with those who have contracted meningitis and have not been contacted by the UKHSA to attend the Senate university building between 9am and 4pm on Monday.

Experts described the number and severity of cases as 'very rare' and 'extremely concerning'.

Trevor Reid of charity Meningitis Now said: 'This is not the type level of cases we have heard of for many, many years.

'It is very rare that we would see anything like this and we are extremely concerned.'

Meningitis is an inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord.

It can be caused by bacteria, viruses, or fungi, with bacterial meningitis being the most severe form.

The disease can progress rapidly, leading to serious health complications such as brain damage, hearing loss, or even death if not treated promptly.

Common symptoms include a high fever, headache, stiff neck, sensitivity to light, confusion, and in severe cases, seizures.

On Sunday, officials were working to establish the strain of the illness, which is most likely to be the deadliest strain, Meningitis B.

One person in every two or three who survives bacterial meningitis is left with one or more permanent problems such as hearing loss, brain injury and behavioural changes.

The MenB vaccine - the only protection against the bacteria - is only available on the NHS for young children, as they are seen as the most at risk.

This protects them for a couple of years, and for older children, a booster or vaccine costs about 220 privately.

Campaigners want a vaccine or booster to be offered to young adults on the NHS, warning many do not know they are starting university unprotected.

Mr Reid added: 'There is a generation growing up without protection. It's tragic that you have these young people going to university believing that they have had a vaccine and are protected but they're not.

'We have a lot to do with parents who are bereaved, that they want us to be even more vocal than we are.

'What victims' families tell us is that they don't know they're not protected and they want that message out there. At least if they knew, they would have a choice.'

Students are said to be at particular risk due to young people coming together and mixing closely.

Physiotherapy student Meg Draper, 18, died within weeks of starting at Bournemouth University in October after contracting meningitis.

The swimming and netball player, from Pontypool in Torfaen, South Wales, was immunised against meningitis A, C, W and Y and her parents said it was 'horrific' to find out a separate vaccination against MenB had existed.

They said their daughter would still be with them today if she had been offered the lifesaving jab and are calling for a vaccine, or booster, to be made available to young adults on the NHS.

There were also cases at Brighton University the same month, although it is believed those students are now fully recovered.

Trish Mannes, UKHSA regional deputy director for the South East, said students should be wary of confusing symptoms for 'a bad cold, flu, or even a hangover'.

She added: 'Students and staff will understandably be feeling worried about the risk of further cases; however, we would like to reassure them that close contacts of cases have been given antibiotics as a precautionary measure.'

The latest statistics from UKHSA show there were 378 cases of IMD in 2024/25, compared to 340 in 2023/24.

The figures also reveal that cases of MenB, the most common cause of bacterial meningitis in the UK, have also risen. There were 313 cases compared to 301 in the previous year.

Following news of the deaths, Rosie Duffield, MP for Canterbury, said: 'Some really tragic news this weekend from our university in Canterbury.

'Rumours have been flying around for a few days, but you always hope for better news to come. Thinking very much of those who loved these students.'

Amira Campbell, National Union of Students President, added: 'We are saddened to hear of the deaths, those who are hospitalised and the young people who are unwell. Our thoughts are with their family, friends and everyone at the University of Kent. We encourage everyone who is concerned to follow the advice being shared by health professionals.

'There is simply not enough awareness of Meningitis, especially as young people head off to university. While we all expect the inevitable freshers flu, there are deadly viral strains also circulating which students' need to be protected against, and aware of.

'The Meningitis vaccines should be offered on the NHS for young people  there should never be a cost barrier to life saving vaccines. And until then, universities and colleges themselves should consider offering it to their students as no lives should be lost to a preventable illness.'

Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School headteacher Mrs A J McIlroy said in a letter to parents: 'I am emailing to share the devastating news that one of our Year 13 students passed away yesterday from an extremely rare form of meningitis.

'Our love and thoughts are with her family and her friends and over the next few days we will be doing all we can to support all members of our school community. We will be talking to all students tomorrow.

'Should your child need any additional support at this very sad time, please let us know.'

A spokesman for the University of Kent said they were 'deeply saddened' by the death of a student.

He said: 'Our thoughts are with the student's family, friends and the wider university community at this extremely difficult time.

'The safety of our students and staff remains our highest priority. We are working closely with public health teams and are in touch with staff and students to ensure they get the advice and support they need.

'We will continue to monitor the situation and keep our community informed.'

Club Chemistry has been contacted for comment.
Jimmy Kimmel has used Hollywood's biggest stage to lob political jabs at Donald Trump and CBS during a pointed appearance at the 2026 Academy Awards.

The late-night host sparked controversy as he presented documentary awards at the Oscars, delivering a series of sharp remarks about the President and the First Lady's new movie, and what he framed as threats to free speech.

'There are some countries whose leaders don't support free speech,' Kimmel told the audience.

'I'm not at liberty to say which, but let's just leave it at North Korea and CBS.'

The line drew laughs inside the theater as viewers recognized the jab at the network's decision last year to cancel The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, together with the repositioning of its news arm to be more favorable to Trump.

CBS News is now led by Bari Weiss, a conservative commentator-turned-media entrepreneur, whose appointment was seen as a nod to the Trump administration.

The network announced last year that it was ending Colbert's long-running late-night program, describing the move at the time as a 'financial decision.'

Kimmel's remark framed the cancellation in far more provocative terms, suggesting the decision was connected to free speech.

Jimmy Kimmel presented an award at the Oscars on Sunday night. While on stage, Kimmel joked that some places that do not support free speech include 'North Korea and CBS'

Donald Trump previously criticized Kimmel hosting the Oscars in 2024 and reveled when his late-night comedy show was suspended last year

The comedian also took aim at Melania Trump's film while introducing one of the night's non-fiction awards.

As he discussed the importance of documentaries, often produced under difficult conditions to expose injustice or tell important stories, Kimmel made a sarcastic contrast.

'There are also documentaries where you walk around the White House trying on shoes,' he said.

The remark referenced Melania, a documentary that followed the First Lady as she prepared to return to the White House.

Kimmel then continued the theme as he announced the Best Documentary Feature winner, joking that someone in particular might be upset.

'Oh man, is he gonna be mad his wife wasn't nominated for this,' Kimmel said in another swipe at Trump.

Kimmel and the President have clashed publicly for years, frequently trading insults across television and social media.

Join the discussion Did Jimmy Kimmel go too far with his Oscars free speech swipe at CBS?

Kimmel also mocked Melania Trump's documentary released earlier this year. Kimmel said there are documentaries where you 'walk around the White House trying on shoes'

The First Lady attends the world premiere of her film Melania in January

CBS announced the cancellation of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert last July, with the top-rated show scheduled to air its final episode in May. The network cited 'purely financial' reasons, noting the high cost of production of the show

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During the 2024 Oscars, Kimmel even read aloud a message Trump posted on his social platform, Truth Social, criticizing the host's performance.

'Has there EVER been a WORSE HOST than Jimmy Kimmel at The Oscars,' Trump wrote at the time. 'His opening was that of a less than average person trying too hard to be something which he is not, and never can be.'

The feud escalated again last year after Kimmel's late-night show was temporarily suspended following controversial remarks about the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

'Great News for America: The ratings-challenged Jimmy Kimmel Show is CANCELLED,' the President wrote online after the suspension was announced.

Kimmel returned to his nightly broadcast five days later.
A popular family SUV sold in Australia is being recalled over a safety fault, after a two-year-old girl was killed when a power-folding seat activated.

Hyundai has stopped selling certain 2026 Palisade models, specifically the Limited and Calligraphy versions, because power-operated second- and third-row seats 'may not adequately detect contact with an occupant or object as intended'.

'This condition may occur during second and third-row power-folding operations, as well as during use of the second-row one-touch tilt-and-slide function,' Hyundai added.

Hyundai has warned owners to be extremely careful when using the powered seat functions and to make sure no one, especially children, or any objects are in the way before operating them.

'When using the second-row one-touch tilt-and-slide feature to access the third row, customers should avoid pressing the seatback button during entry or exit.'

The company said it was deeply saddened by the child's death in the United States.

An 'interim' over-the-air software update is currently under development and is planned for global release by the end of March, Hyundai said.

Hyundai is recalling its popular Palisade family SUV in Australia after a two-year-old girl was killed in the United States when a power-folding rear seat activated. Owners have been warned to take extreme care using the powered seat functions

Certain 2026 Hyundai Palisade Limited and Calligraphy models have been pulled from sale over fears the power-operated second- and third-row seats may not properly detect occupants or objects during folding or tilt-and-slide use

Hyundai Australia is contacting owners of the impacted Palisade SUVs

'While this update is not the permanent recall repair, it is intended to enhance the system's response to contact with occupants or objects, introduce additional operating safeguards, and enhance overall system safety,' the brand's US division added.

Hyundai Australia is now recalling the latest version of the Palisade, which only arrived locally in November last year.

'We are now working through the process of issuing the recall and contacting customers,' a spokesperson added.

A total of 2,364 Palisade vehicles were sold in Australia in 2025.

Owners can contact Hyundai Australia by calling 1800 186 306, emailing customercare@hyundai.com.au, or visiting their nearest dealership.
Donald Trump has threatened to charge reporters with treason for spreading false information about the war in Iran in a lengthy post on Truth Social on Sunday evening.

In the 401-word post, the president claimed that Iran is a 'master of media manipulation' and has been feeding false information and AI-generated videos to the 'very appreciative fake news media.'

He also thanked Brendan Carr, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), for looking into revoking the broadcast licenses of 'Corrupt and Highly Unpatriotic News Organizations.'

Trump said that videos showing buildings and ships on fire had been generated by AI, including a video of the USS Abraham Lincoln Aircraft Carrier on fire in the ocean.

'Not only was it not burning, it was not even shot at  Iran knows better than to do that!' the president wrote.

'The story was knowingly FAKE and, in a certain way, you can say that those Media Outlets that generated it should be brought up on Charges for TREASON for the dissemination of false information!' Trump continued.

Treason is one of the most serious crimes that can be committed against the US. According to federal law, treason is defined as a person who owes allegiance to the US levying war against the country or giving aid and comfort to its enemies.

A person convicted of treason is subject to a minimum of five years in prison and a minimum $10,000 fine, or even the death penalty.

Trump threatened to charge reporters with treason for spreading false information about the war in Iran. He is pictured while speaking to the media on Air Force One on Sunday

Trump said that videos of the USS Abraham Lincoln on fire were generated by AI. The deck of the aircraft carrier is pictured

The AFP fact-checked the video of the aircraft carrier on fire and determined it was generated by AI, but did not say that any outlets had published it. The USS Abraham Lincoln is pictured

The video of the USS Abraham Lincoln on fire that Trump was referencing was fact-checked by AFP, which indeed determined that it was generated by AI.

The fact-checking article noted that the video was disseminated on social media, but it did not say that any publications shared the footage.

In his Truth Social post, Trump specifically accused the Wall Street Journal of 'false reporting' for publishing a live blog update about five US refueling planes being damaged by an Iranian missile strike on a military base in Saudi Arabia.

The president said the outlet reported that the planes were 'supposedly struck down and badly damaged' but that in reality the tankers 'are all in service, with the exception of one, which will soon be flying the skies.'

In the Wall Street Journal's update, the outlet reported that five refueling planes were struck, citing 'two US officials' who were unnamed.

The newspaper wrote that 'The tankers were damaged but not fully destroyed and are being repaired.'

The Wall Street Journal also paraphrased a previous Truth Social post from Trump and reported that he said, 'four of the planes had "virtually no" damage and were back in service, while one had "slightly more damage."'

Join the discussion Do YOU think politicians should threaten journalists over war coverage?

Trump specifically accused the Wall Street Journal of falsely reporting that five US refueling planes were 'struck down and badly damaged.' He is pictured speaking to reporters on Air Force One on Sunday

Trump also praised the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Brendan Carr, for 'looking at the licenses' of networks that have not covered the Iran conflict in a way that suits 'public interest'

Trump made this 401-word post on Truth Social calling out left-wing media for false reporting and threatening to charge reporters with treason

In his Sunday evening post, the president also wrote that 'Iran is being decimated, and the only battles they win are those that they create through AI.'

He accused 'the radical left wing media' of being aware that the videos and stories were fake but publishing them anyway.

Towards the end of the 401-word post, Trump praised Carr, the FCC chairman, for 'looking at the licenses of some of these Corrupt and Highly Unpatriotic News Organizations.'

Carr has previously threatened to revoke the broadcasting licenses of outlets that he feels do not cover the Iran conflict in a way that suits the 'public interest.'

'Broadcasters that are running hoaxes and news distortions - also known as the fake news - have a chance now to correct course before their license renewals come up,' Carr said.

'They get Billions of Dollars of FREE American Airwaves, and use it to perpetuate LIES, both in News and almost all of their Shows,' the president wrote on Sunday.

He then went on to call out the 'Late Night Morons, who get gigantic Salaries for horrible Rating, and never get, as I used to say in The Apprentice, FIRED.'
Landmark partnership brings Reflection's frontier open-weight models and NVIDIA GPUs to the Republic of Korea, establishing blueprint for democratic AI infrastructure

SAN FRANCISCO, March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Reflection AI, Inc., America's frontier open intelligence lab, and Shinsegae Group, one of the Republic of Korea's largest conglomerates, today announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to build a sovereign AI cloud to serve enterprises and agencies across the Republic of Korea.

Shinsegae

By combining Reflection's advanced AI capabilities with Shinsegae Group's proven infrastructure expertise  and with the support of both the United States and Korean governments  the partnership will establish a new model for sovereign AI deployment. The announced 250-megawatt AI factory in the Republic of Korea will be powered by Reflection's open-weight foundation models and NVIDIA's GPUs. This agreement is supported by the governments of the United States and the Republic of Korea  demonstrating that allied nations can access frontier AI capabilities without sacrificing sovereignty or security.

"We have a narrow window to ensure the foundation of intelligence remains open and accessible to all, rather than controlled by a few," said Misha Laskin, CEO and co-founder of Reflection. "South Korea is one of the most technologically ambitious nations in the world, and one of America's closest allies in the Pacific. Together, we're building AI infrastructure that the Republic of Korea can control, audit and evolve on its own terms."

The Reflection and Shinsegae Group AI factory will equip Korean government and enterprise with fully sovereign frontier capabilities built and operated on home soil, setting a new standard in technological self-sufficiency.

By deploying Reflection's open-weight models, South Korea will retain broad visibility into the technology powering its most critical systems. In addition to meeting South Korea's strict requirements for national autonomy, the partnership reinforces a vital geostrategic alliance between the United States and a valued Indo-Pacific partner.

"The data center that we are building in partnership with Reflection AI will not only be a growth opportunity for Shinsegae, but also a pivot point for the Korean AI ecosystem," said Chairman Yongjin Chun of Shinsegae Group.

The pioneering venture, which will be executed in phases, is equal parts engineering and infrastructure. Reflection will provide the technical expertise  including chips, models, and full-stack engineering  while Shinsegae secures the infrastructure needs including the factory's physical architecture, real estate, power, permitting, and financing.

The new partnership reflects a shared belief that sovereign nations should control their own AI destiny  and that open technology, built on trust between allies, is how to responsibly forge that future. As other nations chart their own paths in AI, the Reflection and Shinsegae Group model offers a compelling example of what can be achieved.

About Reflection

Reflection is building frontier open intelligence, accessible to all. The company has assembled an extraordinary team that pioneered breakthroughs including PaLM, Gemini, AlphaGo, AlphaCode, and AlphaProof, with contributors to ChatGPT and Character AI. Reflection has built a frontier LLM training stack capable of training massive Mixture-of-Experts models at scale, and raised $2 billion to ensure the foundation of intelligence remains open and accessible. The company believes AI should be built through transparency and collaboration  enabling the global research community to participate in safety research and development. Learn more at reflection.ai.

About Shinsegae Group

Shinsegae Group is one of South Korea's largest conglomerates, with a diverse portfolio encompassing hypermarkets, real estate, hospitality, information technology and modern e-commerce platforms.

Originally part of Samsung Group, Shinsegae spun off in 1991 and has been instrumental in helping global brands such as Starbucks, Simon, Marriott and Paramount Global successfully expand into Korea, offering critical local insights and operational support.

SOURCE Reflection AI, Inc.; Shinsegae Group
A popular Spring Break destination has been rocked by gun violence over the weekend, after five different shootings occurred in just three days, leaving one police officer injured and a suspect in critical condition.

Video of one incident shared online showed thousands of screaming people running down Daytona Beach, Florida, while law enforcement agencies from multiple jurisdictions dispersed across the sand.

None of the shootings unfolded on the beach itself, though two shootings on Saturday were beachside, officials with the Volusia Sheriff's Office told WFTV.

There was also a fight at Joint Bar on Seabreeze in which a shot was fired, but no injuries were reported, Daytona Beach police said.

Just one hour later, someone was shot in front of a Crunch Fitness.

All of the victims of those shootings are expected to recover, police said.

But on Sunday, a fifth shooting left South Daytona Beach Police Officer Jake Fessenden injured in the hospital and the suspect, Todd Anthony Martin, 31, in critical condition, Port Orange Police said.

The incident began when Port Orange Police responded to a call of a shooting off Country Lane, and located Martin, who fled in a vehicle, the police department posted on social media.

Video shared online showed thousands of people running down Daytona Beach, Florida over the weekend as multiple shootings rocked the city

A pursuit then followed, with officers from the South Daytona Beach Police Department joining in on the chase.

Eventually, the suspect crashed his vehicle while traveling northbound on I-95, at which point he allegedly opened fire on the officers - striking Fessenden twice.

Another officer then returned fire, striking Martin, who proceeded to flee on foot and attempted to steal a police vehicle, according to Click Orlando.

He then reportedly entered the vehicle electronically, and caused it to catch fire.

Martin 'jumped out of the vehicle after several minutes of the vehicle being engulfed in flames.'

He is now being treated at Halifax Medical Center for the gunshot wound and severe burns, and was listed in critical condition, Spectrum News 13 reports.

Meanwhile, Officer Fessenden underwent surgery and was expected to survive.

'The big, important news is that he's in stable condition and he's in good spirits,' South Daytona Beach Police Department Deputy Chief Tim Morgan told Click Orlando.

'God was on his side today,' the deputy chief said, noting, 'You know he's hit twice, two critical areas, but we're being told he's in stable condition and he's going to be fine.'

No injuries were reported in the initial shooting call, police said.

South Daytona Beach Police Officer Jake Fessenden was left injured and Todd Anthony Martin, 31, was left in critical condition following a high-speed chase and crash on Sunday

Port Orange police said they were responding to a call about a shooting, when Martin fled the scene. Police then followed in pursuit before Martin crashed his vehicle on Interstate 95

Authorities are now investigating whether the spate of gun violence was related to Spring Break.

But Kissy Derito, who was in town with her family, told WFTV that shootings were not the only issue residents and vacationers faced over the weekend.

'Twerking, dancing, stopping traffic, cussing people, flipping people off, stopping everyone, screaming,' she said, listing all of the chaos she and her family experienced. 'It was insane.'

She added that the chaos spilled out on to the streets, completely stopping traffic.

It created a bad look for the resort town, Derito said.

'There was a poor [man] that's never been to Florida in the elevator last night, and he was like "This is our first time ever in Florida,"' she recounted. 'He was like, "Should we pack up and leave?"'
Regional towns have run out of petrol

Nat Barr clashed with Environment Minister Murray Watt in a fiery live TV interview as tensions rise over fuel shortages and parts of regional Australia run dry.

The Albanese Government announced last week it was relaxing fuel quality standards, allowing petrol with higher sulphur content to flow into the domestic market for the next 60 days.

The decision is still awaiting full approval, with paperwork unlikely to be finalised until week's end, meaning many regional towns, where petrol stations have already run dry, could remain without fuel for days.

The fast-tracked decision was made in response to shortages driven by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, which may last several weeks.

'When will farmers finally get this extra fuel?' Barr demanded of Watt.

Watt insisted the Government was 'working around the clock' to restore supply, arguing Australia currently holds 37 days' worth of petrol reserves and 30 days of diesel, far more than under the former Coalition government.

He acknowledged the shortages, but argued they stem from longterm structural failures.

Watt also took aim at One Nation MP, and former Deputy Prime Minister, Barnaby Joyce, who appeared alongside him on the panel.

Nat Barr clashed with Environment Minister Murray Watt in a fiery live TV interview as tensions rise over fuel shortages and parts of regional Australia run dry

'We're making do with what we've got I recognise there are parts of the country experiencing shortages,' Watt said.

'Things would be a lot better if we still had the six oil refineries Australia had when Barnaby was in power. We now only have two.'

Barr pushed back with real-world examples, citing service stations like Happy Valley Store in northwest Victoria, which has run out of fuel and is rationing customers to $50 each.

'He's run out of fuel, he's not happy at the Happy Valley Store,' she said.

Watt insisted the Government is moving as quickly as possible.

Joined by Joyce, Watt faced further criticism.

Joyce conceded the refineries should never have closed, but he shifted the blame to Labor instead, arguing its climate policies and the safeguard mechanism were responsible.

He argued delays in approving high-sulphur fuel were creating unnecessary chaos for farmers and transport operators.

Watt insisted the Government was 'working around the clock' to restore supply

'We need to clearly define where that fuel can be used but this is happening because of a mad climate policy agenda,' Joyce said.

'We're hurting because of this. There's been no plan.'

Joyce claimed Australia faces a broader supply crunch, including shortages of plastics vital for farming and water infrastructure.

'This is going to smack us between the eyes,' he warned. 'We're heading towards drought, and we can't get polythene pipe.'

Barr pressed Watt again.

'Did the Government anticipate fuel disruption when the conflict in Iran escalated and the Strait of Hormuz, a critical supply route, came under threat?' she asked.

Watt held his ground, insisting the Government had prepared early and increased reserves, and pushed back at Joyce's criticisms.

'We've got more fuel in the country now than when we came to office,' he said.

Watt acknowledged there were shortages, but argued they stem from longterm structural failures

Barr snapped back: 'It doesn't matter whose problem it is. We have towns with no fuel.'

The Albanese Government continues to blame former Coalition policies for the current crisis, with the Opposition hitting back.

Coalition sources argue their actions prevented an even deeper collapse in fuel security, pointing to the Fuel Security Services Payment: a $2.4billion underwriting scheme designed to keep the Lytton and Geelong refineries operating.

According to the Coalition, both refineries were at serious risk of closure without their intervention.

They also highlight that the same legislation established the Minimum Stockholding Obligation, requiring Australia to maintain minimum onshore fuel reserves, a move which received bipartisan support at the time.
Award-winning writer Craig Silvey has been slapped with more child exploitation charges, including one alleging he produced such material.

The 43-year-old was previously charged with possessing and distributing child exploitation material between January 7 and 9.

On Monday, Silvey was charged with producing the material from February to June 2022 and slugged with an additional count of possessing it on January 12 this year.

The author of novels Jasper Jones and Rhubarb appeared in Fremantle Magistrates Court without entering pleas on any of the charges.

The father-of-three's bail was extended with the same strict conditions, but no additional surety was required.

His lawyer Natalia Tasic told the court she intended to have discussions with investigators about the production of exploitative material allegation.

Silvey, who has been shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award and the International Dublin Literary Award, was allegedly caught communicating with child exploitation offenders online when police raided his Fremantle home before his arrest in January.

Silvey is best known for his 2009 coming-of-age novel Jasper Jones, which is considered a modern Australian classic and was aimed at adults and young readers.

Award-winning writer Craig Silvey has been slapped with more child exploitation charges, including one alleging he produced such material

The global hit won the Australian Book Industry's Book of the Year Award and has been adapted for film and various stage productions.

His most recent novel Runt and the Diabolical Dognapping was published by Allen & Unwin in September.

Another of his books is Honeybee, which won the Australian Indie Book Award in 2021.

Most of his works were purged from reading lists across the nation after he was charged.

Allen & Unwin and Fremantle Press, which published Rhubarb, have stopped promoting his books.

Silvey's case was adjourned to May 5 for negotiations.

He declined to answer questions from a large media pack as he left the court.

Police investigating Silvey have also charged a 68-year-old woman with two counts of producing child exploitation material and one count of distributing it after analysing the writer's electronic devices.

On Monday, Silvey was charged with producing the material from February to June 2022 and slugged with an additional count of possessing it on January 12 this year

She allegedly created and distributed the material with Silvey, police said.

The woman is also charged with three counts of failing to comply with reporting obligations.

She has been remanded in custody to appear before Joondalup Magistrates Court on April 2.

1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)

National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028

Lifeline 13 11 14

Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800 (for people aged 5 to 25)
The latest Resolve poll highlights a deep breakdown in voter confidence towards the major parties, with both the Coalition's and Labor's primary votes falling below 30 per cent.

There is no sugarcoating this: the public are registering a strong protest vote against both major Australian political parties. Sick and tired of their spin, failures and inability to effectively lead.

One Nation is the chief beneficiary, as its support continues to rise, up two points to 24 per cent, according to the latest poll.

Nearly one in every four voters is registering support for Pauline Hanson's minor party, doubling its support over the past 12 months and giving it the opportunity to vie for major party status, if it can maintain that support come election time.

It's hard to escape the conclusion that Pauline Hanson's frank talk is a major contributing factor to her party's steady rise. Hanson is an anti-politics politician, who ironically has been in and around politics for three decades now.

That consistency makes her a known commodity, and therefore an easier place to park a protest vote against the major parties. It might also contribute to voter forgiveness for when she goes too far with some of her rhetoric and antics.

Resolve has Labor's primary vote on just 29 per cent, dropping three points in the past month. The Coalition's woes continue, with its support down one point to 22 per cent, now a smaller vote share than One Nation.

The fact One Nation is now level pegging with the major parties is extraordinary when you compare the extent of the party infrastructure that supports the Coalition and Labor parliamentary teams.

Australian voters are having small parties over Labor and the Coalition (pictured is Labor leader, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese)

Their party organisations, at state level as well as federally, dwarf the extra-parliamentary support One Nation has at its disposal. It's too simple for the major parties, and parts of the media, to comfort themselves with the idea that this is simply a right wing flare up that will burn itself out.

The evidence of shifting voting patterns points to something broader: we may be witnessing the greatest threat to the dominance of the two party system in this country. That is, if the polling support for the minor party translates on election day.

This coming weekend will see South Australians head to the polls for their state election. Labor are overwhelming favourites, the real test will be whether One Nation can become the official opposition in the election's aftermath. Remembering that One Nation is at its weakest in a state like SA.

Federally, One Nation is heavily drawing votes from the Coalition, but it's also attracting support away from the Labor Party. And the numbers suggest that it is branching out from the regions and Queensland, where One Nation's support has traditionally been at its strongest.

The minor party will be hoping to seriously contest outer metropolitan electorates as well as regional electorates and Senate seats at the next federal election. Where it doesn't win representation, One Nation preferences will play an important role in which major party does win seats.

With cost of living pressures at the forefront of people's minds, voters are penalising the incumbent Labor Party for the difficulties they face. However, that protest vote is landing with One Nation and other minor parties and independents (Greens and teals) rather than the Opposition, as traditionally occurs.

It's a sure sign that the dysfunction within the Coalition since the 2025 election thumping is now threatening its electoral viability.

But polling well and winning seats at elections are not the same thing. One Nation can build a large primary vote nationally and still struggle to convert that into lower house victories if it can't do preference deals to help it secure over 50 per cent support in individual seats.

One Nation has been the lead beneficiary of Aussies' favour towards smaller parties (pictured is One Nation leader Pauline Hanson)

While One Nation's support has surged into the mid-twenties, there is a sense that the overwhelming majority of the community wouldn't countenance a vote for Hanson or her party.

That sentiment, if true, might prevent voters delivering the minor party preferences ahead of alternatives on ballots.

The Senate is easier terrain for One Nation, because a smaller statewide vote can translate into seats under proportional representation.

Minor parties only need 14 per cent support after preferences are distributed to win Senate seats. On its current numbers that's well below the party's primary support.

The House of Representatives is much harder for small parties, because after preferences a party needs more than 50 per cent support. This has always been a barrier to entry for minor parties seeking to expand their representation to lower houses, especially if they struggle to attract more centrist voters.

The Coalition has expressed a willingness to do preference deals with One Nation, however there is no guarantee that Labor will do the same. Equally, some voters might not be inclined to blindly follow party preference recommendations when it comes to One Nation, for reasons already canvassed.

To win lower house seats, Hanson's party needs to win more primary votes than at least one of the major parties and then attract their second and third preference votes to leapfrog to more than 50 per cent support.

It may be more likely that One Nation struggles to win seats despite its large primary support, but the growth of its support prevents the Coalition from regaining seats it otherwise hoped to win. Preventing it seriously contesting for government against Labor.

While Labor needs to worry about losing support to One Nation, it would take comfort from the emerging fight between the Coalition and Hanson's party. New Nationals leader Matt Canavan has signalled plans to target One Nation in a bid to revive his party's fortunes.

While that might be necessary for the Nationals to survive, the warring between fellow right-wing parties makes it harder for the Coalition to compete for government.

Staving off threats from One Nation risks pushing the Coalition further to the right to narrow the space within which Hanson and her team can foment discontent. This makes it harder for Liberals to win back inner-city seats, whether that's against teals or the Labor Party.

It's possible that one day Liberals and One Nation work together to form government, possibly in the aftermath of the demise of the Nationals, for example.

But in the here and now, the more likely scenario at the next election will see these right-of-centre parties scrapping over the leftovers of opposition, leaving an unpopular government with a record low primary vote to dominate at the election anyway.
The Victorian government was preparing to spend $40million of taxpayer money on legal fees to defend the state's botched Covid hotel quarantine, which led to the second wave of the virus in the state.

The figure was detailed in court in last month, after some 16,000 businesses registered for the class action. However, on Monday it was revealed the government settled the case for $125million, days before it was to proceed to trial.

It is unclear how much the Jacinta Allan-led government had spent on legal fees before settling.

The Victorian capital endured the world's longest lockdown, with Melbourne businesses battling through 262 days of restrictions under the state's former Premier Dan Andrews.

As other Australian states were cautiously easing restrictions in July 2020, Victoria's fierce second wave struck, then a third and fourth.

An inquiry found the second wave had been genetically traced back to guests and security guards in the hotel quarantine program where hygiene precautions had not been enforced.

The business owners in the class action alleged the government's negligence caused cases to spread. The 16,000 businesses that registered will still need to be assessed for eligibility to the settlement funds.

Former health minister Jenny Mikakos and former jobs and trade minister Martin Pakula were specifically named in the lawsuit, alongside other notable figures in the Health, Human Services and Jobs departments.

Thousands of businesses affected by Victoria's second Covid lockdown in 2020 have been awarded a $125million settlement

Participants in a class action lawsuit alleged the government was negligent in allowing Covid cases to spread from its hotel quarantine

Damian Scattini from legal firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart and Sullivan, the firm behind the class action, described the settlement as an end to years of 'hard-fought litigation'.

'This is a significant outcome for eligible businesses. July to October 2020 was an extraordinarily difficult period for Victorian retail businesses,' he said, the ABC reported.

Victorian Government frontbencher Gabrielle Williams claimed the state agreed to the settlement to avoid the high costs of a legal battle.

She added the pandemic was unprecedented and the government did its best to respond to the situation with the limited information it had available.

'We saw governments around the world work hard in the face of some incredibly frightening data that spoke about prospective harm to a community that we'd never seen before,' Ms Williams said.

'Governments did all they could around the world to make sure they were protecting their communities from potentially large-scale death, so we need to look at the actions that were taken in that frame.'

The settlement has not yet been approved by the Supreme Court of Victoria.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards have threatened to attack American companies across the Middle East with workers urged to evacuate their offices immediately.

'Employees of American companies... are requested to leave these areas immediately. These areas will soon be targeted by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,' said the Guards in on their official Sepah News website.

It was not immediately clear which companies would be targeted but last week, the Tasnim news agency published a list of potential targets on Telegram that included the offices of tech giants such as Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Nvidia in Gulf countries.

It comes after Iran launched fresh drone strikes on the UAE sparking huge fires near Dubai airport and at a major oil terminal in Fujairah.

Meanwhile the Israeli military has declared it has begun what it described as 'limited ground operations' against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon and vowed bombing will continue in Tehran for a further three weeks.

And European leaders have pushed back at Donald Trump's plan to send an armada of warships to help secure the Strait of Hormuz after the President warned NATO faces a 'very bad' future if allies do not help the US.

Follow the latest updates on the Iran war
Police searching for a Brazilian academic who vanished during a trip to the coast have found a laptop they believe to be hers.

Vitoria Figueiredo Barreto, 30, has not been in contact with loved ones since March 3 after she met a friend in Colchester, Essex, and was reported missing the next day.

The psychologist made a 30-minute bus journey from Wivenhoe to the coastal town of Brightlingsea on the afternoon of March 3 - an area her friend says she had never been to.

Once off the bus, she was seen on doorbell footage shortly after 2.30pm in the Hurst Green area.

Her tote bag - which had the words 'people over profit' adorned on it - was found nearly a week later close to Copperas Road, in Brightlingsea.

A person, believed to be Ms Barreto, was seen on CCTV apparently jumping over a fence near to where the bag was found into a boatyard just after midnight on March 4.

Police said on Thursday they are 'exploring the possibility of Vitoria having taken a boat from a pontoon in Brightlingsea'.

The boat was found on a drift in the water close to Bradwell-on-Sea, with 'a number of reported potential sightings of Vitoria in the Bradwell area' on Sunday.

Police have now found a laptop they believe to be Ms Barreto's in Brightlingsea. Her family has been updated and continue to be supported.

Vitoria Figueiredo Barreto, 30, has been missing since March 3 after she was last seen in the Brightlingsea area

The force said a person, believed to be Ms Barreto, is seen on CCTV apparently jumping over a fence near to where the bag was found into a boatyard just after midnight on March 4

The psychologist (seen on CCTV) made a 30-minute bus journey from Wivenhoe to the coastal town of Brightlingsea on the afternoon of March 3

'We have had a policing presence in Bradwell and in the Dengie area throughout the weekend and these reports are being progressed appropriately alongside other lines of inquiry, which we must also continue to work through,' a force spokesperson said.

They said that an orange horse-shoe shaped buoyancy aid from the vessel appears to be missing.

Police said a force marine unit took Ms Barreto's loved ones on Sunday on 'the same boat journey we believe she may have taken in the early hours of Wednesday March 4'.

Ms Barreto's loved ones are urging the Brazilian community in Essex to display Brazilian flags, which they hope will attract her attention and create a 'safe and welcoming space for her'.

Detective Superintendent Anna Granger said: 'Sunday March 15 is of course Mother's Day in the UK.

'I am a mum myself and I cannot even begin to imagine the pain Vitoria's mother, Gleyz, has experienced since Vitoria's disappearance.

'Every single officer, staff member and volunteer involved in this search would love nothing more than to reunite Vitoria with her mum - and we're working around the clock to do that.

'We have seen first-hand the support from the community in Brightlingsea and further afield, which has been offered to Vitoria's loved ones.

'Equally, we know many people from the community have been involved in raising the profile of Vitoria's disappearance and that has helped to ensure a significant number of people across Essex now recognise her face and her clothes and I would urge our whole community to please keep looking out for her and report any sightings or CCTV information to us as soon as possible.'

People can report sightings, CCTV information or any details which could be important to police by calling 999.

Speaking during a press conference with Essex Police on Tuesday, her friend Liliane Silva (pictured with Vitoria's mother Gleyz) said her friend was 'emotionally resting and quiet' on the day she went missing and wouldn't talk to her about what was wrong

The last people to see Vitoria were Justin Francis and his partner who were walking their dog along Bellfield Avenue when a woman matching her description approached them and introduced herself as Vitoria.

Mr Francis said she asked if she could come into their home, but did not explain why.

He said they now feel 'a little bit guilty' for being the last people to see her and speak to her.

'If we had known at the time she was missing, we would have brought her back to our house and got her a cup of tea,' he told the BBC.

Speaking during a press conference with Essex Police on Tuesday, her friend Liliane Silva said her friend was 'emotionally resting and quiet' on the day she went missing and wouldn't talk to her about what was wrong.

She added: 'It's just not her, she is always talkative. She was not that contemplative person.'

Ms Figueiredo Barreto had been wearing a dark coat, a blue turtleneck jumper, light blue jeans and dark trainers with white soles on the day she went missing.

Her friend and fellow psychologist Fernanda Silvestre told a Brazilian paper that Vitoria's phone, which is paired with hers, had activated emergency mode and sent a signal location pointing to the sea.
Dubai Airport was temporarily closed this morning after an Iranian drone hit a fuel tank and started a massive fire.

Flights were diverted and roads to the airport closed as a pall of black smoke could be seen from several miles away.

Emirates flights from as far away as Melbourne and Sydney and Thiruvananthapuram in India had to turn back mid-air following the closure and land back at their departure cities.

At least two drones struck the airport and for several hours Emirates airline advised passengers not to travel while some flights were redirected to the smaller Al Maktoum International Airport in nearby Jebel Ali.

According to the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, the suspension of flights was imposed as a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of passengers and staff following the attack at around 4am local time.

Authorities said a fire broke out after a drone struck in the vicinity of the airport, causing minimal damage and no injuries.

By 10am local time, Emirates gradually resumed operating a reduced schedule of flights again after the blaze was brought under control.

The airport has been targeted several times before in the barrage of missiles and drones from Iran, but todays incident is the first time the Dubai government admitted that a drone caused the damage, rather than debris from an interception.

The US-Israel war against Tehran has thrown global aviation into turmoil, with flights cancelled, rescheduled and rerouted

Flights were gradually resuming at Dubai airport on March 16, previously the world's busiest for international flights, after a 'drone-related incident' sparked a fuel tank fire nearby

Smoke rising from the Dubai International Airport is seen through the windshield of a vehicle, after a drone attack hit a fuel tank

A billowing pall of thick black smoke rising hundreds of feet could be seen from more than five miles away at Dubai airport, yet remarkably, planes were still taking off following the drone strike on the huge fuel tank.

Close up, the heat was intense, with 40ft high flames licking the sky and fire crews trying to contain the blaze with hoses.

Other exhausted firefighters sat in the shade and drenched themselves with water, taking a break from the effort.

The airport was closed for around six hours following the strikes. The latest incident is the third at Dubai airport since Iran launched its attacks on Gulf nations, with strikes that Tehran has said aim at the US assets in the region.

The fact that drones made it past the UAE air defences again to hit such a strategic and symbolic target will sap the confidence of those Britons living here  and deal another serious blow to the tourism industry.

The scene of the fire, less than a mile from the busy Terminal 3, was ringed by scores of emergency vehicles and traffic jams surrounded the airports approach roads.

Near the terminal and inside, hundreds of migrant workers from the Indian sub-continent gathered for flights home.

Many of them have been laid off or forced to take leave from their jobs in hospitality following the dramatic fall-off in tourist numbers in Dubai since the war began 17 days ago.

Several thousand British expats and other westerners, who left in large numbers in the early days of the war, have now gone, leaving tourist hotspots such as Jumeirah Beach Residence deserted.

Gulf states have been hit by waves of missile and drone attacks since the outbreak of the US-Israeli war on Iran on February 28, with the United Arab Emirates reporting interception of over 1,800 drones so far, making the UAE the most targeted country in the Middle East.

In Abu Dhabi today a Palestinian man was killed after an Iranian missile hit his vehicle.

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The attacks have disrupted travel and tourism in the Gulf financial hub, although air defence systems have intercepted most of the projectiles.

Many British expats have flown home following the waves of drone strikes, and western banks and tech companies have evacuated their staffs from the region.

Iran has targeted both US assets and civilian sites, including airports, ports and oil facilities across the Gulf, after US-Israeli strikes hit its leadership.

The US-Israel war against Iran has thrown global aviation into turmoil, with flights cancelled, rescheduled and rerouted as most Middle East airspace stays shut over fears of missile and drone attacks.

The drone attack came as Donald Trump warned that Nato faces a 'very bad' future if allies refuse to help secure the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for global oil shipping.

The US President also took another swipe at Britains prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer, singling out the UK for failing to assist in the US-Israel war against Tehran.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said nations relying heavily on oil from the Gulf have a responsibility to help protect the strait amid Iranian attacks.

'Im demanding that these countries come in and protect their own territory, because it is their territory,' he said on his way back to Washington from Florida.

'Its the place from which they get their energy.'

Donald Trump has warned that Nato faces a 'very bad' future if allies refuse to help secure the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for global oil shipping

Trump warned that if there was no response from other countries, it could be 'very bad for the future of Nato', adding that the US has been 'very sweet' to its European allies.

He said he was in talks with 'about seven' countries about 'policing' the Strait of Hormuz, naming China as one of those nations heavily reliant on shipments of oil which travel through the waterway.

He previously appealed to China, France, Japan, South Korea and Britain for support in securing the strait, responsible for carrying roughly 20 percent of the world's oil supply and 18-19 million barrels per day.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Trump expressed particular frustration with Britains response so far to the war.

'The UK might be considered the number one ally, the longest serving et cetera and when I asked for them to come, they didnt want to come,' he said.

'And as soon as we basically wiped out the danger capacity from Iran, they said, "oh well well send two ships", and I said, "we need these ships before we win, not after we win. Ive long said that Nato is a one-way street."'

The EUs foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said member states would discuss measures to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, telling reporters in Brussels on Monday: 'It is in our interest to keep the Strait of Hormuz open and thats why we are also discussing what we can do in this regard from the European side.'

A large fire was reported at the UAE's Fujairah Oil Industry Zone following an alleged drone attack this morning.

'The Emirate's Civil Defence teams immediately began dealing with the incident and are continuing their efforts to control it,' wrote the Fujairah Media Office on X, adding that no injuries had been reported.

Fujairah, outside the Strait of Hormuz, is the outlet for about one million barrels per day of the UAE's Murban crude oil - a volume equal to about one per cent of world demand.

Some oil-loading operations were previously suspended at the major bunkering hub and crude export terminal after another drone attack and fire on Saturday.
Three foreign survivors of a drone strike on a building in Dubai have been arrested after they sent photographs of the explosion to their loved ones, it has been claimed.

The individuals were inside their Creek Harbour apartments when a drone struck on Wednesday evening, causing a big explosion.

In the aftermath, they took photos which they then sent privately to family members to reassure them of their safety.

They were later arrested by police after officers requested to see their phones, according to campaign group Detained in Dubai.

It comes as an Iranian drone hit a fuel tank near Dubai Airport on Monday, sparking a massive fire.

Flights were diverted and roads to the airport were closed as a pall of black smoke could be seen from several miles away.

Commenting on the arrest of the three foreign nationals, the CEO of Detained in Dubai said: 'Three traumatised survivors of an Iran drone strike were arrested after privately sharing a photo with loved ones confirming they were alive following an explosion on their apartment floor. Instead of receiving victim support, they were locked up by Dubai police.'

CEO Rada Stirling said that authorities should take a compassionate approach towards people who reacted instinctively during the terrifying moment, and warned this risked punishing victims rather than those acting maliciously.

In another chaotic day in the Middle East:

Dubai airport halted flights after a drone struck a fuel tank nearby in the latest incident to disrupt travel at one of the world's busiest hubs

Oil loading operations have been suspended at the United Arab Emirates port of Fujairah after a drone attack

The Israeli military said it has begun what it described as 'limited ground' against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon

Oil prices rose further, with Brent North Sea Crude up 3 per cent to $106.50 per barrel in Monday trading

Saudi Arabia intercepted more than 60 drones since midnight

Donald Trump said the United States was in discussions with Iran but that Tehran was not ready for a deal to end the war

The US President said Nato faces a 'very bad' future if US allies fail to help open the Strait of Hormuz

Keir Starmer knocked back Trump's call for British ships in the Strait of Hormuz

An Iranian drone hit a fuel tank near Dubai Airport on Monday, sparking a massive fire

Smoke rising from Dubai International Airport is seen through the windshield of a vehicle, after a drone attack hit a fuel tank

Smoke plume rises from an ongoing fire at Dubai International Airport in Dubai on March 16

An Emirates Airbus A350 aircraft prepares for landing as a smoke plume rises from an ongoing fire at Dubai International Airport in Dubai on March 16

After the fire on Monday, authorities quickly took to social media to reassure the public that the attack caused 'minimal damage and no injuries

The arrests are part of a brutal crackdown on free speech in the emirate, with Dubai officials telling people the 'big booms' in the sky are 'the sound of us being safe' as the UAE air defence system takes action.

After the fire on Monday, authorities quickly took to social media to reassure the public that the attack caused 'minimal damage and no injuries, referring to the fire as a 'drone-related incident'.

The Dubai Media Office said: 'Authorities are currently responding to a fire resulting from a drone-related incident in the vicinity of Dubai International Airport. All necessary measures are being taken to ensure everyones safety.'

'The Emirate's Civil Defence teams immediately began dealing with the incident and are continuing their efforts to control it,' the Fujairah Media Office added on X.

The airport has been targeted several times before in the barrage of missiles and drones from Iran, but this incident is the first time the Dubai government admitted that a drone caused the damage, rather than debris from an interception.

Over the weekend, United Arab Emirates police released mugshots of 25 people arrested for sharing 'war footage' in the country.

The group - who are of a range of different nationalities - face an expedited trial for 'publishing misleading content on digital platforms' as the conflict in the Middle East continues to escalate.

The government in the UAE heavily polices social media and responded to the outbreak of war by threatening jail against anyone sharing information that 'results in inciting panic among people'.

Videos of drone and missile strikes were regularly shared on social media in the early days of the conflict, but these have largely disappeared and been replaced by a deluge of posts praising Dubai's government.

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A hotel at Creek Harbour had to be evacuated after a fire caused by a drone strike

On Thursday morning a high-rise building in Creek Harbour, Dubai, was pictured with a large hole after a drone strike

And officials are going to great lengths to clamp down on certain videos of the conflict being published online.

The latest perpetrators have been divided into three groups, with the first said to have 'published and circulated authentic video clips' of missile interceptions.

The footage aimed to 'incite public anxiety and panic', according to a statement from Attorney-General Dr Hamad Saif Al Shamsi, and risked 'exposing defensive capabilities' and allowing accounts to 'promote misleading narratives'.

The second group was arrested for publishing footage of attacks that were either AI-generated or occurred outside the UAE.

And a third group of defendants is made up of people who published material 'glorifying a hostile state' - an act which the Attorney-General said 'serves hostile media discourse and harms national interests'.

The 25 suspects are currently detained amid an ongoing Public Prosecution investigation in the UAE.

The publishing of such content was described by the Attorney-General as a 'grave violation of the law', promising 'firm legal action' against the group.

The UAE said it had been thoroughly monitoring social media platforms in recent days in a bid to prevent the dissemination of 'fabricated information and artificial content intended to incite public disorder and undermine general stability'.

It emerged on Saturday that up to 100 people had been arrested by police in the UAE for filming drone or missile strikes.

Abu Dhabi Police alone have arrested 45 people of multiple nationalities for filming various locations amid current ongoing events and posting clips on social media.

In neighbouring Dubai, at least 21 people, including a 60-year-old British tourist, have been detained.

The detainees are accused of sharing inaccurate and misleading information.

Authorities warned that such actions could 'provoke public opinion and spread rumours'.

In a statement posted on social media on Saturday, Dubai Police said: 'Sharing rumours, false information, or any content that contradicts official announcements or that may cause public panic or threaten public safety, order, or health is prohibited.

'Violators may face criminal penalties, including imprisonment and fines of no less than Dh200,000, [41,000].'

The police also warned against taking photos of critical sites.

'It may seem like just a photo... But to some, it's information. Do not photograph or share security or critical sites. Protecting them is a national responsibility that helps keep our community safe and secure,' the force said.

Mugshots of 25 people arrested for sharing 'war footage' in the UAE, with the first group, pictured, said to have 'published and circulated authentic video clips' of missile interceptions

The second group was arrested for publishing footage of attacks that were either AI-generated or occurred outside the UAE

And a third group of defendants is made up of people who published material 'glorifying a hostile state'

The British tourist, who was detained on Monday, had travelled to the UAE for a holiday and was allegedly spotted filming missiles during the dramatic attacks.

He stopped filming when challenged by police, but was still arrested and charged and is reportedly being held at Bur Dubai Police station. He faces up to two years in prison.

He is accused of 'broadcasting, publishing, republishing or circulating rumours or provocative propaganda that could disturb public security', campaign group Detained in Dubai said.

Stirling, the group's chief executive, said the man had said that he deleted the video from his phone when asked and had no intention of doing anything wrong.

She said: 'The charges sound extremely vague but serious on paper. In reality, the alleged conduct could be something as simple as sharing or commenting on a video that is already circulating online.'

Stirling added: 'Under UAE cybercrime laws, the person who originally posts content can be charged, but so can anyone who reshapes, reposts or comments on it. One video can quickly lead to dozens of people facing criminal charges.'

The British Embassy in the UAE on Friday posted on X: 'UAE authorities warn against photographing, posting, or sharing images of incident sites or projectile damage as well as government buildings and diplomatic missions.

'British nationals are subject to UAE laws, violations may lead to fines, imprisonment, or deportation.'

The Foreign Office confirmed it is in contact with local authorities after a British man was detained in the UAE.

In a post on Instagram, the embassy added that the UAE authorities have issued 'several warnings' regarding the photographing, publishing or sharing of images and videos 'documenting incident sites or damage resulting from the fall of projectiles or shrapnel'.

The post continued: 'Under UAE law, "sharing" can include posting on social media platforms as well as sending or forwarding content via messaging applications.

'UAE law also restricts the photographing of certain sites, including government buildings and diplomatic missions.'

Meanwhile, Dubai's influencer army has released a barrage of posts praising its government - amid claims some are being paid to pump out 'propaganda'.

Content creators with hundreds of thousands of followers between them have responded to Iranian attacks by sharing images of Dubai leader Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum alongside the words, 'I know who protects us'.

The posts begin by asking 'are you scared?' before flashing up images of Al Maktoum waving to adoring crowds.

Sceptical social media users have responded by claiming the influencers are being paid by the UAE government, although several have spoken out to deny this.
Donald Trump has warned of a 'very bad' future for Nato if allies refuse his demands to send warships to police the Strait of Hormuz.

The US president upped the ante over the crucial oil channel by linking the situation to Ukraine, as his war on Iran threatens to tip the world into chaos and recession.

But UK ministers risked inflaming tensions further this morning by playing down 'rhetoric' coming out of the White House.

Tehran has effectively closed the route, through which around a fifth of global supplies pass, despite Mr Trump's claims to have 'obliterated' its military.

The president insisted on Saturday that Britain, France and China should 'send ships to the area so that the Strait will no longer be threatened by a nation that has been totally decapitated'.

The UK, France Australia, Canada and Japan have already suggested they will not obey the request. Keir Starmer is thought to have conveyed to Mr Trump in a phone call last night that the UK is only ready to deploy minesweeping drones.

On another rollercoaster day with the Middle East in flames:

A former UK forces chief has warned navy ships would be at serious risk of sinking if they were sent to the Strait. Nick Carter also insisted Nato is a defensive alliance and not designed to underpin offensive action;

Sir Keir is set to hold a Downing Street press conference laying out plans to support Brits with heating oil costs;

Ministers are hinting at a bigger bailout if the crisis drags on - but cash is expected to be targeted at benefits claimants and pensioners;

Donald Trump has warned of a 'very bad' future for Nato if allies refuse his demands to send warships to police the Strait of Hormuz

Keir Starmer is thought to have conveyed to Mr Trump in a phone call last night that the UK is only ready to deploy minesweeping drones

Oil tankers in the Gulf near the crucial Strait of Hormuz this week

Speaking to the Financial Times after the call, Mr Trump said: 'It's only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries of the Strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there.

'We have a thing called Nato,' Trump said. 'We've been very sweet. We didn't have to help them with Ukraine but we helped them.

'Now we'll see if they help us. Because I've long said that we'll be there for them but they won't be there for us. And I'm not sure that they'd be there.'

He added: 'If there's no response or if it's a negative response, I think it will be very bad for the future of Nato.'

The president previously insisted the US did not need any military assistance from allies such as Britain, accusing them of only turning up after the war was 'won'.

Mr Trump also took a fresh swipe at Sir Keir, after branding the PM 'no Churchill' for refusing to join initial US-Israeli strikes on Iran a fortnight ago.

'The UK might be considered the number one ally, the longest serving et cetera and when I asked for them to come, they didn't want to come,' he said.

'And as soon as we basically wiped out the danger capacity from Iran, they said, ''oh well we'll send two ships'', and I said, ''we need these ships before we win, not after we win''. I've long said that Nato is a one-way street.'

Mr Trump has previously questioned whether Nato countries would stand by the Article 5 commitment to collective defence, even though the only time the provision has been invoked was in response to the September 11 attacks.

Downing Street said ministers were 'discussing with our allies and partners a range of options to ensure the security of shipping in the region'.

However, it appears Britain's only immediate contribution to unblocking the strait will be autonomous underwater vehicles based in Bahrain which are untested in conflict situations.

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Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden told Times Radio: 'There's a lot of rhetoric, always, in this presidency.

'Underneath that, there is a good and close relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States. I'm confident that will continue. We speak to one another all the time.

'But that doesn't mean that we will always have to support every intervention and every action that the United States chooses to take.'
In the news release, Rochester Regional Health Launches Targeted Loan-Support Program to Strengthen Access to Critical Healthcare Services, issued 16-Mar-2026 by Clasp over PR Newswire, we are advised by the company that changes have been made. The complete, corrected release follows, with additional details at the end:

Strategic partnership supports future CRNAs, Radiologic Technologists, and Surgical Technologists, expanding local talent pathways and sustaining long-term access to care for our community.

ROCHESTER, N.Y., March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Rochester Regional Health (RRH) today announced a targeted student-loan support program designed to strengthen access to essential clinical care across the region. Through a partnership with Clasp, Rochester Regional will help future Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs), Surgical Technologists, and Radiologic Technologists finance their education and begin their careers serving the patients of Rochester and the Finger Lakes Region.

Charlene Wilson Quote (PRNewsfoto/Clasp)

The initiative focuses on high-need clinical roles that are vital to maintaining timely surgical and diagnostic services and supports students pursuing these careers by reducing financial barriers and creating a clear pathway to employment at RRH.

"This program is a strategic investment in the future stability of care for our community," said Charlene J. Wilson, EdD, MPA, CCP, Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at RRH. "By helping future clinicians train and stay here, we are strengthening access to the services patients rely on, while continuing to manage our resources responsibly in a rapidly evolving healthcare environment."

Through the program, eligible CRNAs may receive up to $180,000 in student-loan repayment support, while Surgical Technology and Radiologic Technology graduates may receive up to $25,000 and $30,000 respectively. Students can apply while in school, secure an employment commitment before graduation, and begin receiving structured support upon joining Rochester Regional Health.

With projected nationwide shortages in anesthesia providers, perioperative roles, and imaging professionals, particularly in rural and non-metro regions, Rochester Regional is prioritizing long-term workforce pipeline development to ensure the system can continue to meet demand for surgical care, trauma response, imaging, and emergency services.

"This partnership reflects a thoughtful, community-centered approach to workforce development," said Tess Michaels, Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Clasp. "By supporting clinicians at the start of their training and careers, Rochester Regional Health is strengthening the healthcare workforce in New York and ensuring patients continue to receive the care they need close to home."

This initiative complements Rochester Regional Health's existing clinical education and workforce development programs, including the Rochester General College of Health Careers and its accredited Surgical Technology and Radiologic Technology programs. It advances the organization's long-term strategy to build local talent pipelines, reduce reliance on temporary labor, and support a sustainable, high-quality care environment. SRNAs interested in the opportunity to join Rochester Regional Health and receive up to $180,000 in student loan repayment should visit clasp.com/rochesterregional.

About Rochester Regional Health

Rochester Regional Health is an integrated health services organization serving the people of Western New York, the Finger Lakes, St. Lawrence County, and beyond. The system includes nine hospitals; primary and specialty practices, rehabilitation centers, ambulatory campuses and urgent care facilities; innovative senior services, facilities and independent housing; a wide range of behavioral health services; and Rochester Regional Health Laboratories and ACM Global Laboratories, a global leader in patient and clinical trials. Rochester Regional Health is the region's second-largest employer and was named by Newsweek among The Greatest Workplaces in Healthcare for 2025 . Learn more at www.Rochesterregional.org .

About Clasp

Clasp is a retention-driven recruitment and student loan repayment platform tackling the student debt crisis and the healthcare workforce shortage head on. By partnering with leading health systems nationwide, Clasp enables employers to attract and retain clinical talent while empowering students to launch their careers without the burden of overwhelming student debt. Learn more at clasp.com

Media Contact:

Nicki Seefried

[email protected]

Correction: Edits to the 4th paragraph have been made.

SOURCE Clasp
Iran has warned citizens of a crackdown worse than its response to the January protests when the regime slaughtered thousands of demonstrators.

The Islamic Republic, which claims to have arrested 500 'internal traitors' for sharing information with enemies, is ramping up threats against its population as it continues to attack US allies across the Middle East.

US and Israeli fighters jets have stepped up attacks against Iran, with the IDF claiming it still has 'thousands of targets' left to hit as the war enters its third week.

The brutal regime has begun rounding up civilians it claims are helping its enemies, while sending threatening texts to the population, warning those who take to the streets will face a 'blow stronger than January 8'.

Civilians have also received a constant barrage of messages with false claims about US deaths and impending victory, according to the Financial Times.

One message addressed to the 'people of Iran' on Friday said: 'The wicked enemy, desperate to achieve its goals in the battlefield, is once again seeking to instil fear and instigate street chaos'.

The text, sent by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) intelligence arm, added 'Internal traitors to the homeland' who take to the streets will face 'a blow stronger than January 8', the date the regime began its massacre on anti-regime protesters.

It follows a series of threats from regime officials against the population as the Islamic Republic fears for its authority in the wake of the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Families and residents gather at the Kahrizak Coroner's Office in January confronting rows of body bags as they search for relatives killed during the regime's violent crackdown on protests

Iran has warned citizens of a crackdown worse than its response to the January protests when the regime slaughtered thousands of demonstrators

In a message on state TV, one regime figure said: 'Once the dust from all this sedition settles, we'll grab you by the collar, one by one,' addressing 'liberals, supporters of the west and those in love with Zionism and imperialism.'

'We'll make your mothers mourn for you,' he added.

Iran has so far arrested 500 people accused of sharing information with enemies, regime police chief Ahmadreza Radan said.

Half of those cases involved serious incidents 'including people who provided information for hitting targets and individuals who took footage of strike locations and sent them,' he said without going into detail on when the arrests took place.

Iranian media reported dozens of arrests in several regions on Sunday.

In northwestern Iran, 20 people were arrested after being accused of sending location details on Iran's military and security assets to Israel.

In northeastern Iran, which has remained relatively untouched by air strikes, 10 people were arrested, with some accused of collecting information on sensitive locations and economic infrastructure.

'As the Zionist enemy (Israel) and the U.S. are attempting to invade Iran, they simultaneously activate mercenaries and spies to carry out riots as the next step,' a provincial branch of the Revolutionary Guards' intelligence organisation said.

The Student News Network also reported that three people were detained in the western province of Lorestan for 'seeking to disturb public opinion ... and burn mourning symbols.'

Israel has begun targeting security checkpoints based on tip-offs from informants on the ground, representing a new phase of its assault on Iran.

US and Israeli fighters jets have stepped up attacks against Iran, with the IDF claiming it still has 'thousands of targets' left to hit as the war enters its third week

In January, weeks before the US and Israel launched the current war against Iran, there were widespread anti-government protests in Iran that were repressed in the deadliest crackdown in the Islamic Republic's history.

Authorities had blamed Israel and the US for fomenting what they said were 'violent riots' aimed at overthrowing the clerical establishment.

Israel has struck police stations across and security checkpoints across Iran in what Benjamin Netanyahu has told Iranians will provide a 'unique opportunity' to 'overthrow the regime of the ayatollahs and gain your freedom'.

In response lawmaker Salar Velayatmadar told parents: 'It wont be our fault if your sons and daughters wont listen. The authority to open fire has been given.'

He added: 'We dont want your children to get killed, because they are ignorant. So make sure you control them.'
A birth doula is embroiled in a bitter inheritance battle after being cut out of her wealthy property investor husband's 5million fortune over concerns she would leave for Brazil when he died.

Brazilian national Gabriela Teixeira, now 51, lived in a series of luxurious London properties with her investor husband Abbas Moaven between their wedding in 2002 and his death 10 years later aged 45.

The wealthy businessman divided his will between his wife and two children - Elis Teixeira Moaven and Aryan Moaven, now 22 and 19 - and Ms Teixeira was expecting to inherit millions.

But just weeks before his death, Abbas signed legal documents declaring four properties - at the time worth over 3million - were actually shared with his mother and brother, Amir, now 55.

This slashed the amount of money Ms Teixeira was due to inherit, potentially leaving her penniless when accounting for debts.

She and her children are now fighting a High Court battle against her husband's brother in a bid to restore the properties to her husband's estate and allow them to inherit their full value of up to 5million.

Her barrister, Alexander Learmonth KC, says lawyers' notes on the documents Abbas signed expressed fears Ms Teixeira might leave the UK with the children after he died, with Amir questioning how that could be prevented.

These comments confirm the deeds were a 'sham' and 'entered into with the clear aim of defeating a claim by Gabriela and/or her children against the estate', Mr Learmonth argued.

He told the judge that Gabriela is anxious to restore the properties to the estate and get her inheritance, adding: 'She is unable to sustain the lifestyle she enjoyed during Abbas' lifetime, while he was still well, on her income working as a doula.'

A doula is a non-clinical professional who provides physical and emotional support to families before, during and after childbirth, often attending actual births.

Birth doula Gabriela Teixeira pictured outside the High Court. She was cut out of her wealthy property investor husband's 5million fortune and is embroiled in an inheritance row

Pictured: A Holland Park mansion that Ms Teixeira lived in with her husband Abbas Moaven

Giving evidence, Ms Teixeira told judge, Deputy Master Timothy Bowles, that Abbas had never given any indication the flat was not entirely his property.

But Amir insists the declarations of trust were legitimate and the properties had always been owned in equal shares by the Moaven brothers and their mother Nazemi Tehran.

Barrister Lydia Pemberton, for Amir, described the row as a 'very bitter family dispute,' but insisted the declarations were 'the written manifestation of the long-standing agreement' that the properties were held by Abbas, Amir and their mother in equal shares.

'No doubt the claimants are deeply disappointed that Abbas' wealth and the estate is not what they expected but disappointment does not make a valid claim,' she told the judge.

She added: 'Shortly stated, Amir's case is one of a pooling of resources between himself, Abbas and their mother, demonstrated by their years of joint business ventures.

'Fundamentally, the claimants have no relevant knowledge and understanding as to ownership of the properties and the business arrangements between Abbas, Amir and Nazemi, let alone evidence sufficient to discharge the high evidential burden of proving sham or dishonesty.'

Abbas and Amir moved to the UK from Iran in 1982 to live with their father before opening a west London clothing shop called Homeboy.

They then moved into the thriving mobile phone market in the mid-1990s and later into restaurants, while also buying up a series of properties around the capital.

Abbas married Brazil-born Ms Teixeira in 2002 after meeting at one of his restaurants in Notting Hill in 2000.

They lived at high-end properties around some of the capital's most desirable neighbourhoods, including Holland Park and Kensington.

Abbas was diagnosed with cancer in 2009 and died in May 2012

Mr Learmonth argues the documents in question were designed by Abbas to prevent his wife or creditors from making a claim to most of his assets after his death.

Ms Teixeria, pictured, now works as a doula and is concerned the reduced inheritance will leave her unable to enjoy her former lifestyle

Abbas's brother Amir pictured outside the High Court. Abbas's will was adjusted weeks before his death to state that the properties belonged to Amir and their mother

He said an attendance note from a meeting between Abbas's solicitor and Amir reveals Abbas was 'seriously unwell' at home and his brother was seeking to 'regularise their affairs.'

The note stated: 'His concern was what would happen if Abbas passed away and his wife disappeared with the two children to Brazil.

'How could they prevent this, and how could they prevent her from having access to the funds from the property assets?'

A subsequent note added: 'Amir confirmed his main intention was to secure Abbas's children's welfare because he was certain that any assets passed over to Abbas's wife would be dissipated.'

Mr Learmonth told the judge the notes 'establish clearly that, if the declarations of trust were really intended to have any legal effect at all, then they were entered into with the clear aim of defeating a claim by Gabriela and/or her children against the estate.'

He continued: 'Abbas never intended his various declarations of trust to effect any real change in legal relations or to divest himself of his beneficial interest.

'He merely intended them to be used insofar as necessary to ward off claims by Gabriela, or potentially creditors. They are obviously shams.'

But Amir says Ms Teixeira's allegations amount to an accusation her late husband had lied about not being sole owner of the properties in order to 'defraud and/or control her' from beyond the grave and she cannot prove that.

Amir claims that the four properties - which include Ms Teixeira's former homes in Queen's Gate, Holland Park and Brasenose House, Kensington, as well as a rental property in Maida Hill - were only put into Abbas's name for 'cultural reasons' because he was the elder brother.

But Mr Learmonth said this argument was contradicted by other high-end properties being held in the younger brother Amir's sole name.

He added: 'Gabriela says that Abbas never once said or hinted to her that Amir had any interest in any of the properties, or acted in a way which suggested that he did, though they lived in three of them during their marriage.

'Holland Park and Brasenose were both house-hunted by Gabriela and Abbas together, the former as a place for their growing family to live in and the latter as an investment, which they moved into subsequently.

'This evidence is inconsistent with Amir and Nazemi having any involvement, let alone financial involvement, or there being a common intention that they have a beneficial interest.

Pictured: A property in Queen's Gate where Ms Teixeira and Abbas had lived

Ms Teixeira's children, Elis Teixeira Moaven and Aryan Moaven, pictured outside the High Court. They are also involved in the legal bid to restore the properties to Abbas's estate

'The fact that - among so many pages of evidence, and after almost 14 years - Amir has produced nothing showing a financial contribution by Amir or Nazemi to any of the properties is telling.

'It is deeply unsatisfactory that 14 years later, Gabriela and her two children - now grown to from infancy to adulthood - have still not been able to obtain a proper account of Abbas' estate, let alone to receive their inheritance.'

The court heard that Abbas and Amir's mother died in 2023. Her will leaves half of her estate to Amir and a quarter each to Elis and Aryan.

Following a week long trial, Deputy Master Bowles reserved his decision on the case until a later date.
A leading communications expert has been ordered to pay nearly 1,500 after she launched a foul-mouth tirade at railway staff.

Erika Waring, 65, was dropping her mother Margaret, 88, at the main entrance of Wilmslow Railway Station in Cheshire at 1.20pm on August 21, 2025, when staff told her she had driven into a restricted area and directed her to the car park.

Waring, who is Head of Travel and Events for the international healthcare communications company Havas Lynx, was taking her mother, who has severe mobility issues, to London on a West Coast train for a day of sightseeing.

The Convent school educated mother-of-one from Dunham Massey, Greater Manchester, repeatedly swore at station staff after they asked her to move on, calling one porter a 'f***ing b***h'.

Staff initially advised Waring to move her vehicle to a car park at the rear of the station. But she retorted with a barrage of foul-mouthed abuse.

The altercation even spread to the station platform as Waring and her mother waited for their train.

Police were called to the station which has received complaints online over a lack of free short stay parking close to the main entrance due to 'aggressive' cab drivers 'hogging the drop off area.'

It costs 3.30 for up to two hours to park a car outside the main entrance to the station - even in the four disabled bays.

Erika Waring, 65, from Dunham Massey, Greater Manchester, pleaded guilty to two charges of using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour to cause harassment, alarm or distress

Waring and her mother Margaret, 88, who has severe mobility issues pictured outside court

Officers located Waring's vehicle, noted the registration and later called her in for interview under police caution.

During questioning, Waring said her mother had 'severe mobility issues' and she parked her car temporarily in the restricted area of the station to help the elderly lady climb the steps to the platform.

She criticised staff at the train station saying they were being 'vociferous' towards her.

At Crewe Magistrates' Court, Waring pleaded guilty to two charges of using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour to cause harassment, alarm or distress.

She was fined 738, ordered to pay both members of staff 150 in compensation each plus 380 in costs and a surcharge, with total costs amounting to 1,418.

A charge of common assault against a third employee, for which Waring had faced up to 12 week in jail under sentencing guideline, was withdrawn.

Miss Annika Livermore, prosecuting, said: 'An employee at Wilmslow Railway Station Alison McIntyre was directing traffic and the defendant attempted to drive through a restricted area to drop off her mother at the front of the train station.

'She was informed she was not permitted to stop there and advised to park at the rear.'

Miss Livermore said Waring's car was later discovered parked in a place where it was deemed to obstruct buses and she was approached by Miss McIntyre's colleague Robert Pugsley who asked her to move it.

The prosecutor added: 'The defendant allegedly responded aggressively, with words to the effect of "F***, you f***ing t**t. You do not know what you are talking about" along with multiple repetitions of the word "F***".

'The defendant was of good character before this incident.'

In mitigation, Waring's lawyer Stuart Flood said: 'This was a very unfortunate and certainly embarrassing incident for a lady of hitherto good character.

'She was travelling down to London with her elderly mother who is 88 and who has severe mobility issues.

'Quite clearly, this lady has drawn up outside the station and dropped her mother off.

'She saw her mother walking gingerly towards the station entrance and this lady parked up temporarily and ran to help her mother to get to the steps to the platform where she and her mother were going to travel to London.

'Quite clearly the member of staff took exception to where this lady parked her car.

'All she was trying to do was get her elderly mother as quickly as she could into the station.

'She felt the way the staff were dealing with her was not appropriate and unfortunately she lost her cool and said words which she should not have done for which she totally apologises for.

'It was certainly out of character for this lady. Unfortunately, it continued when she was in the station.

'She had parked her car and gone into the station where words were said.

'By this time she was seated with her mother on the station platform, another member of staff approaches and is quite vociferous in his demands to move her car.

'But all she was doing was to make her mother comfortable on the platform.

'She felt she was quite vulnerable.

'Again words were said and she says: "I received words." She accepts she used some profanities that she is embarrassed about.'

Mr Flood added: 'She has worked both in the UK and America but the majority of time in America where she spent 40 years.

'She has always been in employment. She works for a communications firm as head of travel and events.

Wilmslow Railway Station in Cheshire which has received complaints online over a lack of free short stay parking close to the main entrance due to 'aggressive' cab drivers 'hogging the drop off area'

'She sends people all around the word as part of her job. She is a single lady. She returned to the UK to be near her mother.

'It is a very embarrassing situation and one that will not be repeated.

'I hope you will accept her sincere apologies to the staff members. It was in the heat of the moment.

'She was concerned for her elderly mother. She has travelled all over and used many public transports both in the UK and US and never had any problems hitherto.

'On this occasion, she felt members of staff had not treated her the way they should but she responded in a way she felt she should not have done.'

In sentencing Waring, JP Robert Alves told her: 'This was a very unpleasant incident that we would not have expected from someone with your standing in the community.

'It was a completely unacceptable display of behaviour and language that you used to those public service employees.'
Residents of Britain's most expensive street have condemned urban explorers who have been snooping around their luxury neighbourhood for social media content.

There has been an influx of content creators flocking to Winnington Road in north London, where the average house price is 12.5million.

It has remained the most expensive street in Britain for the second consecutive year, and together with the adjacent The Bishops Avenue, the area has been dubbed Billionaires' Row.

A lead analyst for the private firm SQR Security said he had seen around 30 YouTube videos made by young 'urban explorers' coming from across the UK.

He said: 'These are trespassers going in to properties worth more than 10 million and completely desecrating it to the point it just looks like a building site.

'We've seen videos of people throwing chairs off balconies, pulling lights down, graffitiing the walls, smashing windows. Sometimes they may take a small object.'

There has been an influx of content creators flocking to Winnington Road in north London

He added: 'If a certain home goes viral, people will travel from all around the country specifically to go to that property.

'They see it as kind of like a Holy Grail - or the seven wonders of the world; all these historical places people like to go travelling, this is kind of their own version.

'They see a property online that is abandoned with a swimming pool, and people will hop on a train from the south of England just to go to that place.'

Security guard Efrem is one of the private guards employed by the company to patrol the road.

Bishops Avenue has recently been termed 'Desolation Row' after multiple houses have been left 'derelict' or empty - with many allegedly linked with the Iranian regime.

On Winnington Road, however, passers-by said the road had still kept its residential feel - despite around one in ten homes appearing to be empty or derelict.

Dog walkers Jane and Simon, who live nearby, said they weren't surprised the street had overtaken The Bishops Avenue as the country's most valuable in a Rightmove study.

Simon said: 'If you look in these streets, you see some flashy cars but it's not like being in Mayfair or something like that.

'I think a lot of the international buyers who would have historically bought down here all went central, wealthy Middle Eastern or Indian buyers, I think they prefer being in Mayfair these days, when they used to be around here.

'The Bishops Avenue is like something from the 60s or 70s when everyone said it was Billionaire's Row. It's not.

'It's actually old-age homes down there, really, it's been converted. It's not a nice street.

'This is more like how The Bishops Avenue would have been 30 to 40 years ago.

'Here it's quite pretty, there's some huge buildings, but it's still residential, whereas there - it's a really wide road, it doesn't have any conformity to it.'

Private firm SQR Security has started providing 24/7 protection on Winnington Road

Alexis, 46, who lives in nearby East Finchley, said while she appreciated the nice houses, she believed The Bishops Avenue was 'soulless'.

She said: 'They're obviously very nice houses, but it's really just a thoroughfare for me.

'There's often lots of potholes all over the road, so you have to dip going around those, but I think they're much nicer than The Bishops Avenue houses.

'I think these are just more like normal houses that people actually live in, whereas [The Bishops Avenue] is just a construction site.

'I think a lot of The Bishops Avenue mansions are empty, and there's not really any soul - there's a bit more soul on this road.'
A student was in an induced coma today after contracting meningitis amid increased concern as experts warn a new strain could be causing the deadly outbreak.

Hundreds of masked university students queued for antibiotics at University of Kent in Canterbury today following the deaths of one student at the university and a sixth-former named Juliette at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School in nearby Faversham.

It comes as two teenage brothers were left terrified after going to a party in Whitstable on Saturday, hosted by a friend who was asked to go to hospital because he was a close contact of someone who had meningitis, before later being given the all-clear and allowed home.

Matthew, 16, and Luca McDonagh, 17, said another person from their friendship circle was already in an induced coma after recently contracting meningitis.

Meningitis can be spread through close contact, and microbiology experts today confirmed that the outbreak in Kent is of the serious bacterial form of the disease.

The vaccination ACWY-135 is received by teenagers in England between the ages of 13 and 14, in Year 9. Experts say vaccination rates among students are at 73 per cent.

Infectious disease experts believe the outbreak at the University of Kent is 'unusual' and may be linked to a 'new strain with different behaviours'. Eleven people have been left seriously ill, most of whom are also believed to be university students.

More than 30,000 students and staff at the campus have been alerted by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), warning them to stay vigilant against symptoms. The university has now postponed some in-person exams and moved others online.

Luca, who is in Year 13 at Simon Langton Grammar School, in Canterbury, said no one in his year group at school is allowed to go in for lessons. He and his brother, at the same school, were told to go to the University of Kent for a precautionary antibiotic.

Matthew said: 'It's quite scary. I can't believe it. It's just insane. It's actually happening since Covid. I thought this literally never happened again, and then I'm in a massive queue. It's completely unbelievable. I never thought this would happen again.'

We've been told that we don't even know if the pill that they give you is actually going to help us,' Matthew said. Luca added: 'It's pretty terrifying.'

The invasive outbreak is believed to be linked to a social event at a nightclub in Canterbury, which some of those affected had recently attended. The UKHSA is now arranging antibiotics for some students in the Canterbury area following the outbreak.

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

Students wearing face masks walk through the University of Kent campus in Canterbury today

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Headmistress Amelia Mcilroy of Queen Elizabeth Grammer School in Faversham makes a statement today about her student Juliette who died from meningitis in the outbreak in Kent

An emotional Miss Mcilroy is comforted by a staff member after giving a statement today

Students queuing for antibiotics outside a University of Kent building in Canterbury today

Students wear face masks at the University of Kent in Canterbury amid the outbreak today

Face masks are distributed as people queue for antibiotics at the University of Kent today

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

Health inspectors going into Tyler Block at the University of Kent in Canterbury last night

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

Students wear face masks at the University of Kent in Canterbury amid the outbreak today

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Queues formed today outside the Senate building after the university asked anyone who believes they have come into contact with those who contracted meningitis and have not been contacted by the UKHSA to attend between 9am and 4pm.

The NHS states meningitis can spread through close, direct contact with an infected person's saliva or mucus, such as kissing, coughing, sneezing or sharing utensils.

Student Jude File, 15, was also at the Whitstable party and received a text from friends on Monday to say one of those who attended had been diagnosed with meningitis and was now in a coma.

Speaking with his father Dan's permission, Jude told the Daily Mail: 'Everyone's a bit freaked out but I've been to get the vaccine so I'm sure it will be okay.

'What's worrying is how quickly this is spreading and it doesn't seem to be isolated. I feel fine at the moment, but I didn't go to school as I thought it was better to stay home.'

The party was held at a private address in Whitstable on Saturday night and the person in a coma was said to be a boy aged around 17 to 18.

Jude added: 'I don't know him, he's a friend of a friend. I was just at the party as a friend's band was playing there.

'It was for pupils from Langton Boys School and Langton Girls School in Canterbury. I don't go there, I'm at school in Folkestone but have friends there.

Meningitis alert: What are the symptoms and can it be treated? - What is meningitis and what causes it?? Meningitis is an infection of the protective membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord. It is usually caused by a bacterial or viral infection. Bacterial meningitis is rarer but more serious than viral meningitis. It can affect anyone but is more common in babies, children, teenagers and young adults. Meningitis can be very serious if not treated quickly, and can lead to life-threatening sepsis and permanent damage to the brain or nerves. - What are the symptoms? Symptoms of meningitis and sepsis can include a high temperature, cold hands and feet, vomiting, confusion, muscle and joint pain, pale, mottled or blotchy skin, spots or a rash, a headache, a stiff neck, aversion to bright lights, being very sleepy and seizures. Symptoms can appear in any order and some may not appear at all. - Why are young people at risk? According to Meningitis Now, one in four 15 to 19-year-olds carry meningococcal bacteria in the back of their throats, compared to one in 10 of the UK population. People can carry this harmlessly without becoming unwell, but it can be passed from person to person by coughing, sneezing and kissing. Increased social interaction in this age group means the bacteria can be passed on more easily. In universities, students can be more vulnerable because of living in more 'cramped' housing or halls of residence. Young people also come together from all over the world to live, study and socialise. - What causes these outbreaks and how serious are they? Outbreaks can happen when a particular meningococcal strain enters a community where people are mixing closely. Universities which include halls of residence, parties, and large social groups, can help the bacteria to spread more easily. But the risk to the general public in Kent is low, with people at the highest risk usually close contacts of cases. - How is meningitis treated? Hospital treatment is recommended by the NHS for all cases of bacterial meningitis. Treatments include antibiotics and fluids administered directly into a vein, oxygen if there are breathing difficulties, and in some cases steroid medication to prevent swelling around the brain. Patients may need to stay in hospital for a few days or weeks. In cases of mild meningitis, patients may be sent home if tests confirm it is viral, which usually gets better on its own. Most patients start to feel better within seven to 10 days. But severe viral meningitis may also be treated in hospital. - What action is being taken to stop the spread in Kent? Close contacts of the University of Kent students affected will be given antibiotics. On Sunday, the UKHSA said specialists were interviewing affected individuals and their families to 'help identify all close contacts and arrange antibiotics to limit spread'. The agency had also worked with the University of Kent to provide advice letters to all 16,000 students, providing information on recent cases, the signs and symptoms of the illness, how to obtain antibiotics, and what to do if they felt unwell. - Are there vaccines available for meningitis? There are two vaccines for meningitis. The MenACWY vaccine is a single dose jab that protects against four strains of meningococcal bacteria. It is offered to teenagers in school and is also available to those entering university, up to the age of 25. Experts say that this jab is 'highly effective at protecting against invasive disease'. But Andrew Preston, a professor of microbial pathogenicity at University of Bath, said that uptake among teenagers was about 73%. 'So there are a lot of unvaccinated students given the size of the student cohort,' he said. Elsewhere, there are the MenB, 6-in-1, pneumococcal and MMRV vaccines for babies and children. - What should you do if you think you have meningitis? The NHS recommends that people call 999 for an ambulance or go to their nearest A&E. People are advised to trust their instincts, as someone with meningitis or sepsis can get a lot worse very quickly.

'We got the bus to Whitstable from Canterbury and there were Kent University students on there, so I wonder if that was the source ?

'I went to the university to get the vaccine this morning, it's a tablet called ciprofloxacin, I had to say who I have been in contact with at the party. It's just prevention but best be safe than sorry.'

After the death of Juliette, Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School headmistress Amelia McIlroy fought back tears as she said outside the school gates today: 'We've got a lot of very upset children. It is with great sadness that we are confirming the loss of Juliette - a much loved and treasured member of our school community.

'Juliette was a student at our school for seven years. She was incredibly kind, thoughtful and intelligent, and she loved our school. She was really very happy here.

'Juliette embraced everything that school had to offer, with great enthusiasm and joy, and her humour and her positivity were captivating. In short she was a lovely girl. Her beautiful smile, her loving nature and her sense of fun will be hugely missed.

'We are all devastated. Our love and our thoughts are with her family and friends at this terribly sad time. Our priority now is the safety and well-being of all members of our school community, and we are continuing to work closely with the UKHSA to ensure they are all as well as they can be.'

Andrew Preston, professor of microbial pathogenicity at the University of Bath, said today: 'Uptake of the ACWY vaccine among adolescents is around 73 per cent, so there are a lot of unvaccinated students given the size of the student cohort. So, an outbreak of this size and speed is very unusual, and of great concern.

'It is important to characterise the cause of the outbreak. A sudden change in disease pattern could indicate something like a new strain with different behaviours. It will be important to ascertain the vaccination status of those affected.

'Fortunately, antibiotic resistance isn't yet a major feature of these bacteria, so prophylactic antibiotics can be given to close contacts of cases, as is being done in Kent.

'There will also be an opportunity for those who did not receive their adolescent vaccine the chance to have a catch up jab, but the immunity from that will take a little while to develop.'

Mr Preston added: 'UKHSA have reported the outbreak is likely to be meningococcal, so Neisseria meningitidis bacteria. These bacteria inhabit the nasopharynx and in the vast majority of cases colonise that niche without causing any issues.

'In a very small number of cases, the bacteria can gain access to the blood, where the pathogenic Neisseria meningitidis can survive and multiply. This is sepsis, another devastating disease.

'From there, bacteria can cross the blood brain barrier to access the central nervous system, leading to meningitis.'

Professor Paul Hunter, an infectious diseases expert at the University of East Anglia said meningitis vaccines are part of the UK's routine schedule run by the NHS, which focuses on protecting against the most common strains:

MenB vaccine for infants (8 weeks, 12 weeks and one year)

MenACWY vaccine for teenagers (usually in school year 9  ages 13 and 14)

Catch-up MenACWY jabs are also available for young adults who didn't get it aged 14

The decision not to routinely vaccinate teenagers against Group B is based on advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation.

Mr Hunter said: 'The committee looks at cost-effectiveness, and current analysis suggests the Group B vaccine in teenagers isn't economically justified.

Another key issue is that the Group B vaccine does not stop people carrying or spreading the bacteria. By contrast, vaccines against Group C and ACWY strains reduce carriage and transmission.

Some other countries do offer MenB vaccines to teens as a booster - although it is not known whether Men B is involved in the Kent outbreak.

Dr Michael Head, senior research fellow in global health at the University of Southampton, also said: 'There is a high level of 'carriage' of the bug that typically cause meningitis outbreaks, with maybe 20 per cent of the population harmlessly carrying the bacteria in their nose or throat.

'If individuals encounter a strain that they do not have sufficient immunity against, then infection is possible. Carriage rates are usually highest in teenagers and younger adults, hence why new populations mixing at university can cause outbreaks.

'And as we have seen, the disease can be severe and occasionally fatal. Vaccination has been the key tool to reduce the numbers of meningitis cases and deaths.'

Meningitis is an inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord. It can be caused by bacteria, viruses, or fungi, with bacterial meningitis being the most severe.

The disease can progress rapidly, leading to serious health complications such as brain damage, hearing loss, or even death if not treated promptly.

Common symptoms include a high fever, headache, stiff neck, sensitivity to light, confusion, and in severe cases, seizures.

Officials were today working to establish the strain of the illness, thought most likely to be the deadliest type, meningitis B.

Trevor Reid, of charity Meningitis Now, said: 'This is not the type level of cases we have heard of for many, many years. It is very rare that we would see anything like this and we are extremely concerned.'

One person in every two or three who survives bacterial meningitis is left with one or more permanent problems such as hearing loss, brain injury or behavioural changes.

The MenB vaccine  the only protection against the bacteria  is only available on the NHS for young children, as they are seen as the most at risk.

This protects them for a couple of years, and for older children a booster or vaccine costs about 220 privately.

Campaigners want a vaccine or booster to be offered to young adults on the NHS, warning many do not know they are starting university unprotected.

Mr Reid said: 'There is a generation growing up without protection. It's tragic that you have these young people going to university believing that they have had a vaccine and are protected but they're not.

'We have a lot to do with parents who are bereaved. They want us to be even more vocal than we are. What victims' families tell us is that they don't know they're not protected and they want that message out there.'

Keith Neal, retired professor of the epidemiology of infectious disease at the University of Nottingham, said: 'I dealt with many university cases and a few community outbreaks in the past when meningitis was more common. This current outbreak is unusual.

''Invasive' means the germ has invaded into the blood stream or brain linings from the throat.

'Risk to those in the Kent area is low although this is a community outbreak so there is a small risk; I suspect in the older teenage and student groups. Under 5s are most at risk to becoming seriously unwell with meningitis but teenagers and students are at a higher risk due to social mixing.'

Speaking at the university today, Mashaal Chughtai, 22, a third-year law student, said: 'My mum and dad are on their way to get me now from Birmingham. It is going to take them about four hours. My mum rang about seven times asking if I was alright. It is all very strange.

'I am in a dodgeball society and my friend texted me. At first we thought it was someone in Kent, not a student, but then we were told someone in the university had died.

'We got an email from the UKHSA saying these are the symptoms and to watch out if we start to feel any of them. Then the university emailed us too. I am going up to the Senate building just as a precaution because my mum told me to take the antibiotics.'

One girl living in Tyler Court, where an ambulance and doctors in hazmat suits arrived yesterday, added: 'A close family friend was taken to hospital last night because she was complaining of symptoms. She was in my flat. We heard this morning her temperature has come down and hopefully she will be alright.'

Meanwhile a second block, thought to be the Turing block, is also said to be affected.

Josh, a man whose sister is in hospital with suspected meningitis, spoke to Sky News while queueing to get antibiotics this morning.

He said: 'It shakes your day a little bit, I can tell you that. As far as I'm aware she's actually just spoken to the consultant again, they're going to keep her in a little bit longer. But to the best of my knowledge, I've just spoken to my mum, and she seems okay.'

Confirming that he was queueing for the medicine, Josh added: 'Having been Mother's Day yesterday we were together, me, my mum and my sister, and so obviously it's precautionary more than anything, but we just wanted to make sure that we could get up here. We spoke to 111 and this is what they said to do.'

On campus last night, several people could be seen wearing masks in their own flats.

An ambulance was also seen parked outside one of the student blocks, with paramedics dressed in protective clothing and face masks preparing to enter.

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

Face masks are distributed as people queue for antibiotics at the University of Kent today

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

Students queuing for antibiotics outside a University of Kent building in Canterbury today

Students wear face masks at the University of Kent in Canterbury amid the outbreak today

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

Face masks are distributed as people queue for antibiotics at the University of Kent today

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

Face masks are distributed as people queue for antibiotics at the University of Kent today

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

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Final-year history student Sam Shuker said: 'It's quite grim. I didn't think I'd be dealing with this four days out from my dissertation deadline.

'My thoughts go out to those who are suffering and please stay safe. I don't think we know what strain it is at this point but we've got to be on our toes. Social distance and all that.'

Eloise Thorne, a third-year psychology student, said the mood on campus was 'very surreal'. She added: 'It just feels like Covid all over again. Everyone is confused and no one knows what's going on.

'It's really sad as well. I keep seeing people spreading videos of people who are sick around and I just feel like that might not be the best idea. It's just scary, sad.'

Ms Thorne also said: 'I think people need to take it seriously so more people don't end up like that [seriously ill]'.

Brittany Nsongo, a first-year astrophysics student, said she has had a few friends report in group chats that they were feeling sick with flu-like symptoms.

She has been alarmed by the circulation online of images of students allegedly being taken out of buildings while visibly unwell. 'It just feels like there is no respect for the actual victims,' Ms Nsongo added.

Another student, Ethan Falkner, 23, who is studying politics and international relations at the university, said friends of his were 'nervous and anxious'.

'First reaction to hearing the news is wishes to the people who have lost their lives already and to the ones currently in hospital suffering,' he said.

'I had friends sat in the library this evening who on finding out the news, immediately packed bags and left to avoid contact with people.

'The university are yet to communicate to myself and as it stands my friends I'm in contact with and others in the university community have had no contact from the university itself regarding this critical issue.'

Amelia McIlroy, head teacher at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, told parents: 'It is with great sadness that we can confirm that on Saturday one of our much loved students in Year 13, died of meningitis. We are all absolutely devastated.

'Our love and thoughts are with their family and friends. Our priority now is the safety, well-being and support of all members of our school community at this terribly sad time.

'We will be working with UKHSA to ensure that all appropriate actions are taken to protect our students and staff.'

She added: 'If your child feels unwell  particularly with vomiting, purple-bluish bruise-type markings, unexplained high temperature or has cold hands and feet  you should seek immediate medical attention for them.'

Students are said to be at particular risk because of how often young people come together in large numbers.

Students wearing face masks walk past a queue for antibiotics at the University of Kent today

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

Students wear face masks at the University of Kent in Canterbury amid the outbreak today

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

A person wearing a face mask walks past a queue of staff and students in Kent today

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

A person wearing a face mask queues to receive antibiotics at the University of Kent today

Physiotherapy student Meg Draper, 18, died from meningitis weeks after starting at Bournemouth University last October.

The swimming and netball player, from Pontypool in South Wales, was immunised against meningitis A, C, W and Y and her parents said it was 'horrific' to find out a separate vaccination against MenB had existed.

They said their daughter would still be with them today if she had been offered the life-saving jab and are calling for a vaccine, or booster, to be made available to young adults on the NHS.

Trish Mannes, UKHSA regional deputy director for the South East, said: 'We understand that many people at the university and in the wider community will be affected by this sad news and we would like to offer our condolences to the friends and family involved.

'Students and staff will understandably be feeling worried about the risk of further cases; however, we would like to reassure them that close contacts of cases have been given antibiotics as a precautionary measure.

'Advice and support is being offered to the wider student community, and to local hospitals and NHS 111, and we're monitoring the situation closely.

'Meningococcal disease can progress rapidly, so it's essential that students and staff are alert to the signs and symptoms of meningococcal meningitis and septicaemia, which can include a fever, headache, rapid breathing, drowsiness, shivering, vomiting and cold hands and feet.

'Septicaemia can also cause a characteristic rash that does not fade when pressed against a glass.

'Students are particularly at risk of missing the early warning signs of meningitis because they can be easily confused with other illnesses such as a bad cold, flu or even a hangover.

'That's why it's vital that, if a friend goes to bed unwell, you check on them regularly and don't hesitate to seek medical help by contacting their GP or calling NHS 111 if they have these symptoms or you're concerned about them. This could save their life.'

There were 378 cases of invasive meningococcal disease in 2024/25, compared with 340 in 2023/24.

Cases of MenB, the most common cause of bacterial meningitis in the UK, have also risen. There were 313 cases compared to 301 in the previous year.

There are numerous strains of the meningococcal infection.

The MenACWY vaccination gives protection against MenA, MenC, MenW, and MenY and is routinely offered to teenagers in school Years 9 and 10 - and it can be given up to the age of 25 if it has been missed.

At the University of Kent last night, final-year history student Sam Shuker (left) said: 'It's quite grim. I didn't think I'd be dealing with this four days out from my dissertation deadline.' Eloise Thorne (right), a third-year psychology student, said the mood on campus was 'very surreal'

An ambulance outside University of Kent accommodation blocks in Canterbury last night

Brittany Nsongo, a first-year astrophysics student, said she has had a few friends report in group chats that they were feeling sick with flu-like symptoms

An ambulance outside University of Kent accommodation blocks in Canterbury last night

The Chemistry nightclub in Canterbury, pictured today, which is linked to the outbreak

However, this vaccine does not protect against all forms of meningitis. Other strains such as MenB can circulate in young adults.

Some students at the University of Kent have been given antibiotics while others are in hospital. The specific strain of meningitis has not yet been identified.

A spokeswoman for the UKHSA said: 'We can confirm that UKHSA has worked with the University of Kent to provide advice letters to all 16,000 students, advising on recent cases, signs and symptoms, how to obtain antibiotics, and what to do if they feel unwell.'

Not all 16,000 students at the university will be given antibiotics, only those who are regarded as 'close contacts' of those affected.

Following news of the deaths, Canterbury MP Rosie Duffield posted: 'Terrible news about two students at University of Kent this weekend.

'Like most people in Canterbury, I'm thinking of those who loved them and will be most affected by these tragic deaths. Please follow the advice from the NHS which I'll post here. I'll update here with any information my team and I receive.'

Helen Whately, MP for Faversham and Mid Kent, also said: 'The meningitis outbreak in our area is a huge shock.

'Feeling so deeply sad for the young lives lost - a year 13 pupil at QEGS [Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School] and uni of Kent student. My heart goes out to their families.

'It's incredibly worrying too for the families of the young people in hospital, and others at risk. I am asking the NHS urgently for more information and guidance, especially given the rumours going round about where they may have picked it up.'

James MacCleary, MP for Lewes, tweeted: 'Devastating news from my old university. So sad to hear that two young people have lost their lives. We were all urged to get a meningitis vaccine when I was a student at Kent. I hope those in hospital make a full recovery.'

A University of Kent spokesman said: 'We are deeply saddened to confirm that one student from the University of Kent has died following a case of invasive meningitis.

'Our thoughts are with the student's family, friends and the wider university community at this extremely difficult time.

'The safety of our students and staff remains our highest priority. We are working closely with public health teams and are in touch with staff and students to ensure they get the advice and support they need.'

Louise Jones-Roberts, owner of Club Chemistry in Canterbury, confirmed the venue had been contacted by the UKHSA.

'We have been told somebody was in our club at the weekend who has since been diagnosed with meningitis,' she said. 'They have asked us if we have any methods for tracing who has been in to us.

'We have an ID scanner but that is more of a security measure... It takes pictures of some driving licences, ID cards and on so on. We've got tickets for events so we could trace ticket-holders, but most people pay on the door.'

She said her thoughts were with the families of those affected by the meningitis outbreak.

'I'm devastated,' she said. 'I can't imagine what the families are going through. Our thoughts are with the families. Meningitis affects healthy, young people and this is devastating. We will stay closed until we get further advice from the UKHSA.'

Tom Nutt, chief executive of Meningitis Now, said: 'We are deeply saddened to hear of the deaths of two young people following the reported outbreak of meningitis linked to the University of Kent.

'Meningitis can progress very quickly and its impact is devastating, particularly for young people and their loved ones.

'University students and young adults are among the groups at increased risk because meningitis bacteria can spread more easily in settings where people live, study and socialise closely together.

'We urge students, staff and families to remain vigilant for the signs and symptoms of meningitis.'

Amira Campbell, president of the National Union of Students, said: 'We are saddened to hear of the deaths, those who are hospitalised and the young people who are unwell.

'Our thoughts are with their family, friends and everyone at the University of Kent. We encourage everyone who is concerned to follow the advice being shared by health professionals.

'There is simply not enough awareness of meningitis, especially as young people head off to university. While we all expect the inevitable freshers flu, there are deadly viral strains also circulating, which students need to be protected against and aware of.'
Donald Trump has launched another swipe at Keir Starmer over his reluctance to join attacks on Iran.

The US president questioned whether the UK was still 'number one ally', as he warned America 'will remember' who supported the campaign.

The sniping came as Sir Keir had a tense call with Mr Trump, in which he is believed to have signalled Britain will not obey a request to deploy warships to the Strait of Hormuz. France, Canada and Australia have also dismissed the prospect.

Around a fifth of global oil supplies pass through the channel, but it has been effectively closed by Iran - sending prices soaring and raising fears of a worldwide recession.

Mr Trump upped the ante overnight by linking the response to his demand for ships in the Strait to the future of Nato and support for Ukraine.

But ministers risked inflaming tensions this morning by dismissing the remarks as 'rhetoric'.

Donald Trump questioned whether the UK was still the 'number one ally', as he warned America 'will remember' who supported the campaign

The sniping came as Sir Keir had a tense call with Mr Trump, in which he is believed to have signalled Britain will not obey a request to deploy warships to the Strait of Hormuz

The president has previously branded the PM 'no Churchill' for refusing to join initial US-Israeli strikes on Iran a fortnight ago.

Speaking to the Financial Times after his call with Sir Keir, Mr Trump took aim at the Special Relationship again.

'The UK might be considered the number one ally, the longest serving et cetera and when I asked for them to come, they didn't want to come,' he said.

'And as soon as we basically wiped out the danger capacity from Iran, they said, ''oh well we'll send two ships'', and I said, ''we need these ships before we win, not after we win''. I've long said that Nato is a one-way street.'

Mr Trump said: 'It's only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries of the Strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there.

'We have a thing called Nato,' Trump said. 'We've been very sweet. We didn't have to help them with Ukraine but we helped them.

'Now we'll see if they help us. Because I've long said that we'll be there for them but they won't be there for us. And I'm not sure that they'd be there.'

He added: 'If there's no response or if it's a negative response, I think it will be very bad for the future of Nato.'

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Mr Trump said: 'Whether we get support or not... I can say this and I said it to them - we will remember.'

The president previously insisted the US did not need any military assistance from allies such as Britain, accusing them of only turning up after the war was 'won'.

In the past Mr Trump has questioned whether Nato countries would stand by the Article 5 commitment to collective defence, even though the only time the provision has been invoked was in response to the September 11 attacks.

Downing Street said ministers were 'discussing with our allies and partners a range of options to ensure the security of shipping in the region'.

However, it appears Britain's only immediate contribution to unblocking the strait will be autonomous underwater vehicles based in Bahrain which are untested in conflict situations.

Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden told Times Radio: 'There's a lot of rhetoric, always, in this presidency.

'Underneath that, there is a good and close relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States. I'm confident that will continue. We speak to one another all the time.

'But that doesn't mean that we will always have to support every intervention and every action that the United States chooses to take.'
A British couple have been arrested over an alleged attempted kidnapping on a busy street in a Spanish holiday island.

The pair allegedly tried to force a 64-year-old Spanish woman into their car as she walked down the road in broad daylight in Palma, Majorca.

The woman was hospitalised after the attempted kidnapping in the Son Ferriol neighbourhood at around 1pm on Sunday.

The man, believed to be in his early 40s, got out of his vehicle in a street called Maria Ana Bonafe and approached the woman before allegedly trying to bundle her into their car.

The victim began to struggle and ended up throwing herself on the ground and screaming for help.

Witnesses including the woman's husband rushed to her aid and prevented the alleged kidnap attempt.

The British couple were arrested near the scene around an hour later.

The daughter of the woman targeted told local newspaper Cronica Balear: 'She was waiting for me because we were going to see my niece in a competition.

The woman was hospitalised after the attempted kidnapping which took place in the Son Ferriol neighbourhood at around 1pm on Sunday

'A white car pulled up alongside her and the driver, who was wearing pyjamas, and started trying to force her into the vehicle while shouting aggressively, "I'm telling you to get in".'

She added: 'I was surprised at first not to see mum when I arrived because she's always waiting for me at the same spot.

'When I saw such a large crowd gathered, I got out of the car and saw my mother lying on the ground.

'She suffered bruises all over her body, but her neck is hurting the most.'

A spokesman for the National Police in Majorca said today: 'I can confirm a British couple have been arrested and are currently being held in custody over an incident that occurred around 1pm yesterday in the Palma neighbourhood of Son Ferriol.

'They are middle-aged, aged between 40 and 45.

'The woman targeted is in her early sixties. She was taken to hospital but had only minor injuries and was discharged shortly afterwards.

'We are still investigating what happened and hope to be in a position to release more information later.'

A well-placed source added: 'The incident is a very bizarre one to say the least.'

One local report suggested the British couple could have picked on the woman targeted because they were intending to rob her and thought that because of her age she could be an easy victim.

The incident is being probed by a police unit specialising in combatting robbery and muggings.

It comes weeks after two British tourists were arrested over a fake Benidorm kidnapping plot where they demanded a ransom of 725.

The pair sent a relative a bogus video purportedly showing one of the suspects threatening to kill his 'blood-covered' friend with a knife.

Police in Costa Blanca suspended all their other investigations and called in back-up from a specialist anti-hostage unit based in Madrid after a tip-off from Interpol via UK police.

They were preparing for a raid on the hotel where they narrowed down the alleged victim to.

But they called off the operation when they saw the alleged victim strolling out of the establishment in a 'relaxed and amicable way' with his supposed captor.

The Brits, aged 51 and 37, demanded a ransom of just 725 before they were arrested for simulating a crime and fraud.

They could face prison time and a large fine for paralysing police activity in the region.
Over the past fortnight, fighter jets, drones and cruise missiles have become a familiar sight for sailors stranded on oil tankers in the Gulf, after Tehran threatened to open fire on vessels trying to traverse the all-important Strait of Hormuz.

The crucial strait - a passageway between the Persian and Oman gulfs - is a channel for 20 per cent of the world's oil and gas but has been effectively shut down by Iran as retaliation against the joint US-Israeli attacks launched on February 28.

The de facto closure of the waterway for most of the world's tanker traffic has proved disastrous for global energy and trade flows, triggering the largest oil supply shock in history and surging global oil prices.

Donald Trump has vowed to reopen the vital oil-shipping lane, but executives at Middle Eastern companies and their Western peers warn it will require more than just US assurances of safety to restart shipping traffic and production.

The US President is set to unveil a coalition of nations willing to send ships to help reopen the strait later this week, after publicly urging specific US allies  France, Japan, South Korea and the UK  and China to join a 'team effort'.

But despite Trump's call to action, several countries are unwilling to commit their vessels to the operation, with France, Japan and Australia refusing to deploy their ships as international concern grows that the conflict is being prolonged indefinitely.

In fact, American officials have themselves issued a chilling warning that the Strait of Hormuz could transform into a deadly 'kill box' zone for the US Navy, if Trump decides to send warships to the troubled waterway.

UK ministers are considering sending mine-hunting drones but are reluctant to commit any vessels, while South Korea said it was 'closely monitoring the situation' and consulting allies.

It definitely won't be easy to reopen the strait, but the White House has a number of options - including using naval vessels to escort tankers, holding Iran's Kharg Island to ransom, and a ground invasion - all of which are still on the table, and present their own distinctive risks.

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Tehran is blockading the Strait of Hormuz out of the Persian Gulf, stemming the flow of oil and gas from the Middle East and pushing up energy prices across the globe

Oil tankers erupt into flames after being hit by explosive-laden Iranian boats

Escort operations

Donald Trump has warned that Nato faces a 'very bad' future if allies refuse to help secure the Strait of Hormuz, declaring that nations which rely heavily on oil from the Gulf have a responsibility to help protect the waterway.

'Im demanding that these countries come in and protect their own territory, because it is their territory,' he told reporters on his way back to Washington from Florida aboard Air Force One last night.

'Its the place from which they get their energy,' Trump said.

He appears to be pushing the idea of an escort operation - involving US warships in conjunction with allied navies - travelling through the strait alongside oil tankers, to clear mines and defend against aerial Iranian attacks.

Such a mission - involving British, French, Japanese, Chinese and South Korean warships - would also fend off Tehran's 'mosquito fleet' of small, fast-attack boats, preventing them from targetting container ships.

According to experts, it would take two ships per tanker, or a dozen vessels to guard convoys of five to 10 tankers, to provide adequate air defence.

But the short distances involved make gunning down drones and missiles all the more difficult.

Deploying vessels as tanker escorts also means taking them out of offensive operations, or broader missile defence, rendering the US and its allies more vulnerable to Iranian attacks.

Such an option is militarily feasible, but expensive, and still may not be enough to convince insurance companies their containers are safe.

Two weeks of US and Israeli bombardment has decimated Iran's navy and military capabilities, but the regime is still demonstrating offensive strength.

Tehran retains anti-ship missiles which continue to inflict severe damage, having hit 20 container ships in total since the outbreak of war on February 28.

The regime utilises truck-mounted launchers to fire them, which are mobile and can be moved around quickly for hit-and-run attacks, presenting US forces with a difficult game of whack-a-mole.

It also has a large supply of cheap Shahed drones in its arsenal, costing as little as $35,000 each.

'We have already destroyed 100 per cent of Irans Military capability, but its easy for them to send a drone or two, drop a mine, or deliver a close range missile somewhere along, or in, this Waterway, no matter how badly defeated they are,' Trump wrote on Truth Social.

'Hopefully China, France, Japan, South Korea, the UK, and others, that are affected by this artificial constraint, will send Ships to the area so that the Hormuz Strait will no longer be a threat by a Nation that has been totally decapitated.'

He added: 'One way or the other, we will soon get the Hormuz Strait OPEN, SAFE, and FREE!'

Speaking today at a Downing Street press conference, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the UK was working with allies on a 'viable plan' to reopen the strait, otherwise energy prices would remain high.

'While taking the necessary action to defend ourselves and our allies, we will not be drawn into the wider war. We will keep working towards a swift resolution that brings security and stability back to the region and stop the Iranian threat to its neighbours,' he said.

Japans prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, said she has no plans to send her nation's maritime self-defence forces to support tanker traffic in the strait.

She told MPs on Monday: 'We have not made any decisions whatsoever about dispatching escort ships. We are continuing to examine what Japan can do independently and what can be done within the legal framework.'

Even before Trump's comments, France was abundantly clear about maintaining its 'purely defensive position' as the war continues to escalate.

Speaking on Thursday, the French defence minister, Catherine Vautrin, said: 'I'm very clear and firm on this topic; at this point, there is no question of sending any vessels to the strait of Hormuz.'

She added that there were no current plans to transfer the French navys Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier out of the eastern Mediterranean.

The American president has accused Tehran of using artificial intelligence as a 'disinformation weapon' to misrepresent its wartime successes and support.

Speaking to reporters, he said Iran's so-called 'kamikaze boats', explosive-laden vessels disguised as fishing vessels, were fake and didn't 'exist'.

He also stated that Iran used AI to falsely depict a successful attack on the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, adding publications that propagated the news should be charged with treason.

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An aerial view of the Iranian shores and the island of Qeshm in the Strait of Hormuz. It is one of the world's most strategically important trading routes, and has become a focal point in the international conflict

Smoke emerges from a cargo ship off the coast of Dubai after a failed attempt to pass through the waterway on March 12

Ground invasion

Another option would be to raid or seize control of a section of southern Iran, ensuring the regime's forces were unable to target ships in the strait.

Such a manoeuvre would likely involve thousands of troops on the ground and a commitment to a months-long operation, during which US soldiers would be exposed to attacks from Iranian forces as they destroyed missile and drone stockpiles at source.

At the end of last week, America announced the deployment of up to 5,000 marines and sailors, as well as USS Tripoli, an amphibious assault ship, to the Middle East, signalling the possibility of a ground operation.

The mission would likely begin with extensive airstrikes along the coastline, before American forces land in southern Iran where the marines would launch an amphibious assault in an area of mountainous terrain.

While Washington would attempt to suppress Iranian ground forces with airstrikes, maintaining control of the area would require an invasion, according to analysts, likely involving direct combat between warring sides.

Moreover, experts have said restricting the ground invasion to the southern coastline of the country may not be sufficient.

With a range of more than 200 miles, Iran's anti-ship missiles would force US troops to venture further inland to be certain they had located and destroyed all the launchers.

On top of that, the Shahed-136 has an estimated range of up to 1,500 miles, meaning a drone could be fired from anywhere in the country and still reach the waterway.

This means America might need to occupy the entirety of Iran in order to eliminate the threat.

The US President may be reluctant to deploy soldiers with all-important midterm elections approaching in November, however.

They would have to confront the 190,000 troops strong Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and its elite Quds Force, which specialise in asymmetric warfare.

Such groups have spent decades supporting insurgents throughout the region, including in neighbouring Iraq, where they backed militants in their deadly attacks on American troops following the 2003 invasion.

'If you start with limited numbers of special-operations forces, do you need more forces to protect them?' Daniel Byman, a former senior adviser to the State Department and US intelligence official, told the Wall Street Journal.

'You have to kind of decide whether to accept gains or double down,' he said.

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The US Navy aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford

Holding Kharg Island ransom

On Friday, Trump ordered the bombing of Iran's Kharg Island, the central organ of the country's oil industry, storing and loading the majority of its crude exports.

The island in the northern Persian Gulf, about 20 miles off the coast of Iran, is Tehran's most important economic asset and is the launch point of 90 per cent of its oil exports.

The US President said he refrained from hitting the export hub's oil infrastructure, however, and that the bombardment was limited to military targets only.

He warned he would contemplate expanding the offensive to the island's all-important oil facilities if Iran didnt open the Strait of Hormuz to international shipping traffic.

'For reasons of decency, I have chosen NOT to wipe out the Oil Infrastructure on the Island,' Trump wrote on social media.

'However, should Iran, or anyone else, do anything to interfere with the Free and Safe Passage of Ships through the strait of Hormuz, I will immediately reconsider this decision.'

The deployment of 5,000 US troops may not be enough for a major invasion, but such a force could potentially seize control of Kharg Island, forcing Iran to halt its attacks on oil tankers in the strait.

'We could use the leverage of owning it,' Admiral James Stavridis, Nato's former supreme allied commander in Europe, said in an interview with CNN.

'Go in there, take it. You don't have to destroy the infrastructure. In fact, you hold it hostage.'

A satellite view of Iran's Kharg Island

If the island's oil infrastructure was targetted, Tehran would be forced to cut production at its oil fields, potentially taking another one million barrels of production away from global markets, in addition to cuts implemented by Iraq, Kuwait and Bahrain.

The Islamic regime has warned Persian Gulf states that an attack on Kharg Island would be considered a red line, and would trigger a wave of retaliatory strikes on the energy infrastructure of its Arab neighbours.

The oil and energy infrastructure of US allies 'will be immediately destroyed and reduced to ashes' if there is an attack on Tehran's energy assets, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Saturday.

Centcom said US forces struck 'more than 90 Iranian military targets on Kharg Island, while preserving the oil infrastructure', as Trump described the island's military facilities as 'totally obliterated'.
Iran's missing Supreme Leader has issued a new statement amid reports he has been flown to Moscow for treatment of 'serious' injuries.

Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, has not been seen or photographed since his ascension to Supreme Leader and is said to be unaware of his new position after being wounded in an airstrike.

The hardline cleric is rumoured to have lost his leg, be in a coma or even be dead after his first statement as leader was read out by a news anchor on state TV last week.

He himself did not appear on national TV, with his absence fuelling speculation that he either died in an airstrike is or too ill to record a reading of his statement.

The statement said that Iran would not refrain from avenging the 'blood of its martyrs.'

In another written statement published today, he purportedly said officials and heads of state institutions appointed under his father should 'continue to carry on with their work'.

The statement was reported by Iran's state sponsored Mehr News Agency and did not include pictures of Mojtaba or any evidence of his whereabouts.

It continued: 'Following inquiries from some managers and officials of bodies who were directly appointed by the martyred leader, I hereby announce that none of them need a renewal of their appointment for now.

Iran's missing Supreme Leader has issued a new statement amid reports he has been flown to Moscow for treatment of 'serious' injuries

Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, has not been seen or photographed since his ascension to Supreme Leader

The Supreme Leader's first statement was read on state TV by a news anchor (pictured)

'I pray to God Almighty for everyone's success in fulfilling their responsibilities.'

It comes hours after the IDF said they 'destroyed' his father's private plane.

In a statement on X on Monday morning, the IDF claimed the plane, which was targeted at Tehran's Mehrabad Airport, was used by Ali Khamenei and other senior officials of the regime to 'advance military purchases and manage communications with the Axis countries through domestic and international flights.'

'The destruction of this plane damages the Iranian terrorist regime's leadership coordination capabilities with the Axis countries, the process of strengthening military capabilities, and the regime's ability to rebuild,' the post added.

In his first statement, Mojtaba, who took over from his father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei following his assassination on February 28, added that while he believes in maintaining a friendship with Iran's Gulf neighbours, attacks on US bases in the region will continue.

He said: 'We are not an enemy of the countries around us, and we are only targeting the bases of those Americans.'

The newly declared Ayatollah's statement added that Iran was seeking to improve relations with its neighbours: 'We send a message to the leaders of the region and emphasise that we are going to have good relations with the countries around us.'

His declaration called for all American bases in the region to be immediately closed in his shared message: 'The existence of the US bases in [Iran's neighbours] and usage of those bases to attack Iran is not benefiting the region and they must be closed.'

He also said Iran will seek compensation from its enemies or destroy their assets accordingly, and offered financial compensation to those in Iran who have been hurt by the outbreak of violence: 'A limited amount of this revenge has so far taken concrete form, but until it is fully achieved, this case will remain among our priorities.'

The Iranian leader hinted at Iran's proxies in the region supporting his fight against the US and Israel, claiming that armed groups in Iraq 'want to help' his nation, while those in Yemen 'will also do the job.'

The hardline cleric is rumoured to have lost his leg, be in a coma or even be dead after his first statement as leader was read out by a news anchor

He also spoke of the loss of many members of his family during the US-Israeli airstrike that killed his father: 'I lost my father, I lost my wife. My sister lost her child as well as the husband who has been martyred.

'But what it makes it easier for us to endure all these plights is to trust the grace of God and to know that patience is going to resolve it.'

Despite the release of the statement, new reports have claimed Mojtaba is in Moscow receiving treatment for injuries sustained during a joint US-Israeli airstrike.

Khamenei is said to be unaware both that there is a war on and that he is the country's new leader.

His injuries have required him to be flown to Russia for an operation 'personally offered by Putin', according to Kuwaiti news outlet Al-Jarida.

The mission to sneak the new Ayatollah out of the country was intended to be top secret and involved him boarding a Russian military aircraft.

He then headed to one of Putin's presidential palaces where he underwent 'successful' surgery.

The report remains unconfirmed, but Al-Jarida claims it received its information from a 'high-ranking source close to the new Iranian Supreme Leader'.

Khamenei was injured early in America's Operation Epic Fury, the source added, and his injuries could not be treated in Iran while the country is under constant attack from the US and Israel.

It is unclear whether Mojtaba was injured in the same air strikes which killed his 86-year-old father.

A separate source previously told The Sun through secret messages sent to an exiled dissident based in London that the heir is in 'very serious' condition and being trreated at Sina University Hospital in Mashhad.

'One or two of his legs have been cut off. His liver or stomach has also ruptured. He is apparently in a coma as well,' they added.

The IDF wrote on X that they had destroyed the plane, 'damaging the Iranian terrorist regime's leadership coordination capabilities with the Axis countries'.

The source, who does not want to be named out of fear for his life, said the new Supreme Leader was under the care of Mohammad Reza Zafarghandi, Iran's Minister of Health, Treatment and Medical Education and one of the country's top trauma surgeons.

US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth said on Friday he believes Mojtaba is wounded.

'We know the new so-called, not-so-supreme leader is wounded and likely disfigured,' Hegseth told a press conference.

US President Donald Trump further fanned the flames over the weekend, telling NBC News: 'I don't know if he's even alive. So far, nobody's been able to show him.'

He said he had heard a 'rumour' of his death, adding: 'I'm hearing he's not alive, and if he is, he should do something very smart for his country, and that's surrender...

'Some of them think he's alive but very badly wounded.'

Meanwhile on Sunday, an Israeli security official told the Daily Mail bluntly: 'We know where he is.'

The security official added: 'I recommend not following every report Iran puts out.'

Israel previously vowed to assassinate any Iranian leader picked to succeed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Writing on X on March 4, Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz said: 'Any leader selected by the Iranian terror regime to continue leading the plan for Israel's destruction, threatening the United States, the free world and countries in the region, and suppressing the Iranian people, will be a certain target for assassination, no matter his name or where he hides.'

So far, Iranian officials have confirmed the new leader is wounded but have given no further details.

Other reports suggest that Iranian commanders have not received orders from their new supreme leader.

An Iranian official speaking from inside the war-torn country told The Telegraph: 'No one knows anything about Mojtaba, whether he is alive or dead or how badly injured.

'We are all just told that he's injured. He has no control over the war because he is not here. The majority of commanders, or more correctly, all commanders, have no news about him.'

US President Donald Trump said he had heard a 'rumour' of Mojtaba's death

An explosion erupts following strikes near Azadi Tower close to Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran on March 7

Speculation on his whereabouts and health have only intensified since he issued his first statement on the war on Thursday.

However, he did not appear on camera, and a news anchor read his remarks.

The statement said that Iran would not refrain from avenging the 'blood of its martyrs.'

The Iranian leader added that while he believes in maintaining a friendship with Iran's Gulf neighbours, attacks on US bases in the region will continue.

He said: 'We are not an enemy of the countries around us, and we are only targeting the bases of those Americans.'
British warships face a 'significant' risk of being sunk if they are sent to the Straits of Hormuz, but they should be dispatched anyway, a former professional head of the Armed Forces said today.

General Sir Nick Carter said it was in the UK's national interest to agree to Donald Trump's request for naval help to combat Iranian forces throttling shipping in and out of the Gulf.

But he said that any Royal Navy vessels sent to either clear mines or escort tankers would be 'vulnerable' to attacks by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

It came as Sir Keir Starmer appeared set to refuse Trump's demand for Royal Navy warships to secure the key oil and gas route being blockaded by Tehran's forces, amid questions over whether any are available.

The UK could potentially send mine-hunting drones to the region rather than a warship, having withdrawn its last mine counter-measures vessel (MCMV) just before the fighting started.

Sir Nick, a former chief of the defence staff, said that the IRGC had its own naval force of small boats, drones and missiles and 'have become experts at controlling that particular strait'.

He suggested it could take months to clear mines if they have been laid in large numbers, all the while under threat from shore-based attacks.

And he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme escort ships would also face tough opposition, saying: 'You are very vulnerable when you do it.

General Sir Nick Carter said it was in the UK's national interest to agree to Donald Trump's request for naval help to combat Iranian forces throttling shipping in and out of the Gulf

But he said that any Royal Navy vessels sent to either clear mines or escort tankers would be 'vulnerable' to attacks by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps

'On the assumption there are no mines in the water the threat is principally about shore-based drones and shore-based missiles.

'Modern air defence systems are capable of dealing with that, as we have seen over the course of the last two or three weeks of this war.

'But we should be in no doubt that if they put together all of the IRGC capabilities  it would quite exciting going through the straits of Hormuz.'

Asked if 'quite exciting meant ships could be lost, he added: 'It would be challenging, no doubt about it, the risks as I have described them are significant.'

However he added that it should be balanced against the interest the UK and the global economy has in keeping the Straits open.

He backed 'a well-coordinated operation led by the Americans with many nations involved in it, thoughtfully planned and implemented' because no one, not even the US Navy, has the capability to do it alone.

Trump today said Nato faces a 'very bad' future should its member states fail to help, adding: 'We'll see if they help us. Because I've long said that we'll be there for them but they won't be there for us.'

It came as Sir Keir Starmer appeared set to refuse Trump's demand for Royal Navy warships to secure the key oil and gas route being blockaded by Tehran's forces

In an interview with the Financial Times, he reiterated his call for allied assistance in the Strait of Hormuz, telling the paper: 'It's only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries of the strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there.'

He has previously called for the UK, China, France, Japan and South Korea to send ships to secure the route.

An ally of Sir Keir played down the US president's warning about Nato's future, saying there was always a lot of rhetoric from the White House.

Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden told Sky News: 'It's a very transactional presidency and our job is to navigate this, to always remember that the friendship between the United States and the United Kingdom runs very deep.

'It's a good relationship. It's enduring and I think it will outlast all the personalities involved.'

Sir Nick, however, was more blunt.

'Nato was created as an - underlined four times - defensive alliance and all of its articles are essentially orientated towards defence,' he told the BBC.

'It was not an alliance designed for one of the allies to go on a war of choice and then oblige everyone else to follow.

'It was not designed for that at all and I am not sure that is the sort of Nato that any of us wants to belong to.'
NEW YORK, March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ --

Why: Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, announces an investigation of potential securities claims on behalf of shareholders of Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE: SAN) resulting from allegations that Santander may have issued materially misleading business information to the investing public.

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What is this about: On February 27, 2026, Reuters published an article entitled "Wall Street hit by UK mortgage lender collapse, raising fears of more credit 'cockroaches.'" The article stated that "Wall Street lenders on Friday were rocked by the implosion of little-known UK mortgage provider Market Financial Solutions Ltd, fueling concerns about wider losses among banks and reviving warnings of more "cockroaches" in the booming private credit industry." Further, it stated that Santander faces potential losses from the collapse.

On this news, Santander's American Depositary Shares ("ADSs") fell 4.48% on February 27, 2026, and a further 3.2% on February 28, 2026.

Why Rosen Law: We encourage investors to select qualified counsel with a track record of success in leadership roles. Often, firms issuing notices do not have comparable experience, resources, or any meaningful peer recognition. Many of these firms do not actually litigate securities class actions. Be wise in selecting counsel. The Rosen Law Firm represents investors throughout the globe, concentrating its practice in securities class actions and shareholder derivative litigation. Rosen Law Firm has achieved, at that time, the largest ever securities class action settlement against a Chinese Company. At the time Rosen Law Firm was Ranked No. 1 by ISS Securities Class Action Services for number of securities class action settlements in 2017. The firm has been ranked in the top 4 each year since 2013 and has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors. In 2019 alone the firm secured over $438 million for investors. In 2020, founding partner Laurence Rosen was named by law360 as a Titan of Plaintiffs' Bar. Many of the firm's attorneys have been recognized by Lawdragon and Super Lawyers.

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Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

Contact Information:

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SOURCE THE ROSEN LAW FIRM, P. A.
Labour ministers are being urged not to cut tuition fees for EU students amid a stand-off with Brussels over Keir Starmer's Brexit 'reset'.

EU negotiators are pushing for the Government to lower tuition fees for EU students in the UK as part of a proposed youth mobility deal.

Since Brexit, EU students in the UK have been charged higher international fees, of between 11,400 and 32,000 a year, compared to the lower domestic rate for British students of 9,535 a year.

But, as part of a new 'youth experience scheme', Brussels wants EU students to pay the same rate as British students while they study in the UK.

Sir Keir has agreed to the scheme as part of his Brexit 'reset' deal, which will allow 18 to 30-year-olds from the EU to live, work and study in the UK.

It is one of three areas where the Government and the EU hope to forge closer ties when they meet for a summit, which is expected in June or early July.

But the row over tuition fees has stalled negotiations and Tory leader Kemi Badenoch is urging the Government not to bow to the EU's demands.

She said, instead of 'subsidising' fees for foreign students, Labour should instead cut the levels of debt facing British graduates from their student loans.

Labour ministers are being urged not to cut tuition fees for EU students amid a stand-off with Brussels over Keir Starmer's Brexit'reset'

'Rather than using taxpayers' money to subsidise foreign students, Keir Starmer should cut the interest on Plan 2 student loans and help British graduates,' Mrs Badenoch posted on X.

There is broad consensus on two other areas of the Prime Minister's Brexit 'reset'; agreements on food safety and emissions trading.

But UK sources are insistent that lowering tuition fees for EU students is a 'non-starter'.

One source close to the negotiations, meanwhile, said: 'It is true that talks have stalled and that this is now the main issue on which both sides cannot agree.'

Nick Thomas-Symonds, the Cabinet Office minister who is leading negotiations on behalf of Sir Keir, is heading to Brussels for further talks on Monday.

Meanwhile, universities are warning that equalising fees for EU students could harm their already difficult financial situation.

Modelling by the Russell Group of UK universities has previously shown that lowering tuition fees to domestic levels for EU students would cost the UK higher education sector around 580million.

Jamie Arrowsmith, director of Universities UK International, said: 'This would carry a very significant cost and risks undermining the financial sustainability of universities, which would not be in the best interests of the UK, or the EU, or prospective students.'

The Government said it would not give a running commentary on the talks.

A spokesperson added: 'We are working together with the EU to create a balanced youth experience scheme which will create new opportunities for young people to live, work, study and travel.

'Any final scheme must be time-limited, capped and will be based on our existing youth mobility schemes, which do not include access to home tuition fee status.'
Two Iranian nurses were gang-raped and brutally tortured by regime security agents because they treated wounded protesters during anti-government demonstrations in January, a report has claimed.

Members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), who have close ties to the country's new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, slaughtered thousands of protesters before killing and sexually abusing medics who helped the injured at Tehrans Rajaei Cardiovascular, Medical and Research Center, it is reported.

One nurse, 33, was held in detention and said she had been repeatedly gang-raped by three IRGC agents at a time for three days, according to Iran International.

The sexual assaults were so severe doctors had to remove part of her intestine and her uterus may have to be taken out. She also has to live with a colostomy bag.

The woman is so traumatised she begged surgeons to let her die and she is currently tied to the hospital bed to stop her from harming herself as she remains under the supervision of IRGC security forces.

Another nurse who was arrested and gang-raped in custody has been fitted with a colostomy bag and doctors removed her uterus due to extreme bleeding.

The opposition outlet also reported the nurse was forced to sign a document saying she married one of the IRGC agents and her family had to pay him a large fee to secure her release.

She also had to sign a statement which blamed her rape and abuse on 'rioters', sources said.

Two Iranian nurses were reportedly gang-raped and brutally tortured by regime security agents because they treated wounded protesters during anti-government demonstrations in January. (Stock image)

One nurse, 33, was held in detention and repeatedly gang-raped by three IRGC agents at a time for three days, according to Iran International. (Pictured: IRGC guards drag an emaciated prisoner, at Evin prison in Tehran)

The nurses had provided medical treatment to injured demonstrators who took part in nationwide protests against the cruel regime in January.

The hospital, based in the Vali-Asr area of the capital, received waves of injured protesters, including those shot by IRGC forces, on the evening of January 8.

IRGC agents warned hospital staff against helping the wounded. But this was ignored by 14 of 27 nurses.

Two male nurses were among the arrested after expressing sympathy with the wounded.

As nurses helped the injured, IRGC forces entered the hospital and fired at patients, according to Iran International.

Two nurses who tried to treat the wounded were killed, while others were beaten and arrested.

Staff were then warned not to touch the bodies of the dead, leaving corpses to rot.

The bodies of the two dead nurses were later found in Kahrizak, where rows of body bags were piled as the government massacred thousands for protesting.

Iran's savage Revolutionary Guards have repeatedly used sexual violence to punish dissenters, human rights groups claim.

Sara Hossain, chair of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran established by the UN Human Rights Council, said: 'The information we have gathered points to severe human rights violations, including unnecessary and disproportionate use of force, resulting in arbitrary killings, torture, sexual violence, arbitrary arrests and detentions, and forced confessions.'

Two girls, aged 15 and 17, were reportedly raped by soldiers while being held in detention during the January protests.

The Islamic Republic's ruthless jailers have long used extreme violence to spread fear among those who dare stand up to the regime.

Amnesty International has documented cases in which detainees were suspended by their hands and feet from a pole in a painful position referred to by interrogators as 'chicken kebab', forcing the body into extreme stress for prolonged periods.

Other reported methods include waterboarding, mock executions by hanging or firing squad, sleep deprivation, exposure to extreme temperatures, sensory overload using light or noise, and the forcible removal of fingernails or toenails.

Families and residents gather at the Kahrizak Coroner's Office confronting rows of body bags as they search for relatives killed during the regime's violent crackdown on protests in January

Iran was gripped by nationwide protests against the government in January. (Pictured: Protesters set fire to a car in Tehran)

In 2024, Iranian authorities whipped a woman 74 times for 'violating public morals' and fined her for refusing to wear a hijab while walking through the streets of Tehran

The organisation says such torture is routinely used to extract 'confessions' before any legal proceedings have taken place, with the Iranian state broadcaster airing footage of detainees making televised admissions that rights groups say are coerced.

Sexual violence has also been documented as a method of abuse. A Kurdish woman told Human Rights Watch that in November 2022 two men from the security forces raped her while a female agent held her down and facilitated the assault.

A 24-year-old Kurdish man from West Azerbaijan province said he was tortured and raped with a baton by intelligence forces in a secret detention centre.

And a 30-year-old man from East Azerbaijan province said he was blindfolded, beaten and gang raped by security officers inside a van.

Another detainee said that when he told interrogators he was not affiliated with any political party and would no longer protest, officers tore his clothes apart and raped him until he lost consciousness.
Keir Starmer insisted the UK will not be drawn into a 'wider war' in the Middle East today as he knocked back Donald Trump's call for warships in the Strait of Hormuz.

Giving a press conference in Downing Street, the PM insisted he wanted to see 'an end to this war as quickly as possible'.

He cautioned the situation would only get more dangerous and 'worse for the cost of living back at home' the longer it lasts, urging a 'negotiated agreement' with Iran.

Sir Keir said he was willing to be part of a 'viable collective plan' for the Strait, but said no decisions had been taken and suggested the UK is only looking at deploying anti-mine drones. 'This is not easy. It's not straight forward,' he said.

The comments came after Mr Trump launched another swipe at Sir Keir over his reluctance to join attacks on Iran.

The premier had a tense call with the president last night, in which he is believed to have signalled Britain will not deploy warships to the Strait. France, Canada, Germany and Australia have also dismissed the prospect.

Around a fifth of global oil supplies pass through the channel, but it has been effectively closed by Iran - sending prices soaring and raising fears of a worldwide recession.

Mr Trump upped the ante overnight by linking the response to his demand for ships in the Strait to the future of Nato and support for Ukraine.

Ministers dismissed the remarks as 'rhetoric' this morning.

Sir Keir told the press conference: 'We're working with all of our allies, including our European partners, to bring together a viable collective plan that can restore freedom of navigation in the region as quickly as possible and ease the economic impacts.'

On another chaotic day with the Middle East crisis raging:

A YouGov poll has found 77 per cent of Brits expect the Middle East conflict will have a long-term negative impact on the UK economy, and only 26 per cent believe it will blunt Iran's nuclear ambitions;

A former UK forces chief has warned navy ships would be at serious risk of sinking if they were sent to the Strait. Nick Carter also insisted Nato is a defensive alliance and not designed to underpin offensive action;

An oil expert and ex-No10 adviser said ministers might have to consider energy rationing if the situation deteriorates;

Sir Keir has announced 53million in support for 'those households that are most exposed' to rising heating oil prices;

Ministers are hinting at a bigger bailout if the crisis drags on - but cash is expected to be targeted at benefits claimants and pensioners;

Giving a press conference in Downing Street, the PM insisted he wanted to see 'an end to this war as quickly as possible'

Donald Trump questioned whether the UK was still the 'number one ally', as he warned America 'will remember' who supported the campaign

There was a large fire near Dubai airport today as the chaos continued

Sir Keir said: 'The Strait of Hormuz is then a separate discussion... and it's a discussion. We're not at a point of decision...

'We are working, discussing that with the US, with Gulf partners... there are no decisions that have been made.'

He added: 'I discussed it with President Trump last night in the way that you would expect between two allies.'

Sir Keir said: 'It'll have to be something which is agreed by as many partners as possible, is my strong view. We're not at that stage yet, but we are working hard.'

The president has previously branded the PM 'no Churchill' for refusing to join initial US-Israeli strikes on Iran a fortnight ago.

Speaking to the Financial Times after his call with Sir Keir, Mr Trump took aim at the Special Relationship again.

'The UK might be considered the number one ally, the longest serving et cetera and when I asked for them to come, they didn't want to come,' he said.

'And as soon as we basically wiped out the danger capacity from Iran, they said, "oh well we'll send two ships," and I said, "we need these ships before we win, not after we win." I've long said that Nato is a one-way street.'

Mr Trump said: 'It's only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries of the Strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there.'

'We have a thing called Nato,' Trump added. 'We've been very sweet. We didn't have to help them with Ukraine but we helped them.

'Now we'll see if they help us. Because I've long said that we'll be there for them but they won't be there for us. And I'm not sure that they'd be there.'

He added: 'If there's no response or if it's a negative response, I think it will be very bad for the future of Nato.'

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Mr Trump said: 'Whether we get support or not... I can say this and I said it to them - we will remember.'

The president previously insisted the US did not need any military assistance from allies such as Britain, accusing them of only turning up after the war was 'won'.

In the past Mr Trump has questioned whether Nato countries would stand by the Article 5 commitment to collective defence, even though the only time the provision has been invoked was in response to the September 11 attacks.

Downing Street said ministers were 'discussing with our allies and partners a range of options to ensure the security of shipping in the region'.

However, it appears Britain's only immediate contribution to unblocking the strait will be autonomous underwater vehicles based in Bahrain which are untested in conflict situations.

Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden told Times Radio: 'There's a lot of rhetoric, always, in this presidency.

'Underneath that, there is a good and close relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States. I'm confident that will continue. We speak to one another all the time.

'But that doesn't mean that we will always have to support every intervention and every action that the United States chooses to take.'

General Sir Nick Carter said it was in the UK's national interest to agree to Mr Trump's request for naval help to combat Iranian forces throttling shipping in and out of the Gulf.

But he said that any Royal Navy vessels sent to either clear mines or escort tankers would be 'vulnerable' to attacks by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme escort ships would also face tough opposition, saying: 'You are very vulnerable when you do it.

'On the assumption there are no mines in the water the threat is principally about shore-based drones and shore-based missiles.

'Modern air defence systems are capable of dealing with that, as we have seen over the course of the last two or three weeks of this war.

Your browser does not support iframes.

A YouGov poll has found 77 per cent of Brits expect the Middle East conflict will have a long-term negative impact on the UK economy, and only 26 per cent believe it will blunt Iran's nuclear ambitions

'Octopus' interceptor drones, made in the UK for Ukraine to use against Russia, could also be used against Iran's aerial Shahed drones

'But we should be in no doubt that if they put together all of the IRGC capabilities it would be quite exciting going through the Straits of Hormuz.'

Asked if 'quite exciting' meant ships could be lost, he added: 'It would be challenging, no doubt about it, the risks as I have described them are significant.'

However he added that it should be balanced against the interest the UK and the global economy has in keeping the Strait open.

He backed 'a well-coordinated operation led by the Americans with many nations involved in it, thoughtfully planned and implemented' because no one, not even the US Navy, has the capability to do it alone.

Nick Butler, the former head of strategy at BP and a former adviser to Gordon Brown, has warned that ministers would need to consider rationing energy if the situation gets bad enough.

'I think we learnt from the tanker drivers dispute in 2000 that oil and gas supplies are absolutely crucial to the running of the economy and you can't bring on new supplies quickly,' he told the BBC.

He added: 'In the short-term, we have to look at what supply we have and look at the crucial sectors, the health service, food supply, hospitals, those are key elements that must be protected.

'And beyond that, it is then for the Government to decide how to ration what is left if we get to that situation.'
A prisoner has claimed he had a Five Guys burger delivered to him by drone while behind bars.

Using a contraband phone, he posted a video on TikTok of the 'delicious' takeaway even though it was 'battered and bruised'.

He said the three-stack patty was delivered directly to their window 'via a drone in the Big House'.

Although the location of the prison is unclear, it is thought to be filmed at a Midlands jail.

The convict wrote in the caption: 'I mean it's took a long detour, gone through battering weather, hit the wall and window a couple times and had to get frazzled in the microwave to kill any germs but yer it didn't look too much different.'

Considering its apparent unusual journey, the food had also arrived 'soggy and cold' but was still 'well worth the money'.

The outrageous clip has since been deleted but not before allegedly racking up more than 220,000 views.

A prisoner has boasted he had a Five Guys burger delivered to him by drone while behind bars

The Ministry of Justice has been contacted for comment, but told The Sun there was not enough evidence to make the claims in the video. It had nonetheless tried to get it taken down.

The Prison Service said: 'There is zero evidence to support claims that a drone was used to deliver food or that the meal shown in the posts originated from outside the prison estate.

'We acted immediately to get this content removed and prisoners caught using mobiles face further punishment which can include extra time behind bars.

One source previously told the Daily Mail that prisoners would buy takeaways like McDonald's to 'show off'.

The ex-prisoner had explained that criminal gangs delivering contraband to prisons by flying drones into the grounds could make up to 50,000 per delivery.

They would typically contain items like phones, sims and drugs - and for some, a takeaway.

'Some gangs are raking in 50,000 a go,' the exprisoner, who spent 20 years in jails including Manchester and HMP Hull, said.

'If you put five phones on a drone and deliver them, that's 10,000. Drugs change hands for huge amounts, and lots of sheets can be attached to a drone. Some prisoners are even ordering McDonald's to show off.'

This is not the only time that it seems a takeaway has made its way behind bars.

Prisoners were seen tucking into smuggled fried chicken takeaways at scandal-hit HMP Wandsworth.

Prison bosses launched an urgent probe after TikTok videos emerged of inmates dining on smuggled-in fast food in what was another damning security breach for the south London jail.

In one video, posted on TikTok, an inmate brazenly boasts about his takeaway meal from Chicken Cottage. In the now deleted footage, he brags about his wings and burger before turning the camera to show his cell door.

An investigation was been launched to track down the prisoner and those who brought in the food.

Bribed security guards could have helped smuggle the meal, while drones are increasingly flooding prisons with illicit items.

The Ministry of Justice said at the time: 'We removed these posts immediately and are investigating. Those who break prison rules can face extra time behind bars.'

He said the three stack patty was delivered directly to their window 'via a drone in the Big House'

The use of drones has soared in recent years with HMP Manchester, also known as Strangeways, recording at least 220 dropoffs last year  the highest figure across prisons in England and Wales.

Gangs typically work in teams of two and use the remotecontrolled devices, which can cost from a few hundred to tens of thousands of pounds, to fly in contraband such as phones, drugs and even takeaways.

Cheap mobile phones can be sold in prisons for 2,000 while paper soaked in spice  a dangerous synthetic cannabinoid  or cocaine can fetch 1,000, one former inmate told The Sun.

The Ministry of Justice recorded more than 1,000 drone 'drops' in 2024 across the prisons estate. Sources told the Daily Mail that drone drops can be completed in as little as 20 seconds carrying packages which can weigh as much as 7kg.

In November, Greater Manchester Police said more than 500 mobile phones and SIM cards were seized from inmates at HMP Manchester.

Detective Sergeant Carla Dalton said phones behind bars are 'used to arrange drug deals, weapon drops and even plan violent attacks.'
A state visit to the US by the King and Queen should not go ahead next month while the war with Iran continues, a former British ambassador to America has urged.

Sir Peter Westmacott, the UK's representative in Washington DC from 2012 to 2016, said the trip by Charles and Camilla would be 'problematic'. The royal couple are due to visit Washington and New York to mark 250 years since American independence.

But Sir Peter - who was also Charles's deputy private secretary between 1990 and 1993 - is concerned the visit could be seen as an 'endorsement' of the US-Israeli war.

He said the government had 'a duty to protect the monarchy in a situation like this' and 'a duty to reflect public opinion'. Instead of cancelling the visit, Sir Peter called for postponement, to avoid offending 'thin-skinned' President Trump.

But do you think the visit should still go ahead? Vote in the Daily Mail's latest poll:

In the last poll, Mail readers were asked: 'Is Dubai's status as a tax-free haven for Brits now 'finished', as some claim?' Out of more than 5,000 votes, 56 per cent of you said 'yes' and 44 per cent said 'no'.
Metropolitan Police chief Mark Rowley is visiting Washington to urge US officials to release unredacted correspondence between Peter Mandelson and Jeffrey Epstein.

The US Department of Justice (DoJ) released millions of pages of documents related to Epstein in January, but some details have been blacked out.

Sir Mark met US ambassador Warren Stephens last month to ask for expedited access to unredacted versions of the documents, but it is unclear if the DoJ will comply.

If not, the Met may have to submit a formal mutual legal assistance request (MLA) - a process that would take substantially longer.

Mandelson was previously arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office after being accused of disclosing sensitive information to Epstein during his time as business secretary.

He was subsequently bailed, but later released from his bail conditions, although he remains under investigation.

Emails from 2009, which can be seen in the Epstein files, appear to show Mandelson pass on an assessment by Gordon Brown's adviser of potential policy measures including an 'asset sales plan'.

A photo from the Epstein files showing Peter Mandelson and Jeffrey Epstein enjoying a conversation

He also appeared to discuss a tax on bankers' bonuses and confirm an imminent bailout package for the euro the day before it was announced in 2010.

The emails appeared to be sent to Epstein after he became a convicted sex offender.

Lord Mandelson lost his job as the UK's ambassador to the US in September last year due to his association with Epstein.

The Met have already made contact with US authorities to seek further detail on what has been disclosed in the files.

Sir Mark also raised the issue during a meeting with the American ambassador on February 24, reports The Times.

Thames Valley Police is also seeking unredacted files relating to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, who is the subject of a separate misconduct in public office investigation over claims he also leaked sensitive government information to Epstein.

Nearly 100 incriminating documents in the Epstein files naming the former prince are alleged to have been secretly redacted weeks after their release.

Dozens of emails mentioning the former Duke of York which were once easily findable via a basic keyword search can now only be traced from screenshots showing their sent date, it is reported.

The reportedly redacted documents include one between Epstein and a Russian woman called Irina, in which they confirm plans for her to spend an evening with Andrew in August 2010.

Sir Mark Rowley 's met US ambassador Warren Stephens last month to ask for expedited access to unredacted versions of the documents, but it is unclear if the DoJ will comply

Irina responds in the email asking if she should message the then-Prince, followed by a truncated version of his email address - 'tdoy@rlwgp...' - the first part of which stands for 'the Duke of York'.

While reporters could previously use 'tdoy' as a simple search term on the Epstein Files website, it now comes up with zero results when inputted.

It is unknown whether these retrospective redactions are the result of a complaint from Andrew or his legal team.

The DOJ says the primary reason for its redactions is to protect the identities of victims or protect ongoing investigations, but many of them have been immensely controversial.

In other cases, the names and photos of victims have been carried in full, leading to widespread outrage.

The Epstein files have continued to prompt major revelations, including newly uncovered emails suggesting the paedophile had been illegally supplying Lord Mandelson with drugs.

Bombshell emails also expose how the financier arranged for the Labour peer to have cosmetic Botox injections while he visited him in New York.

The astonishing exchanges came while Epstein was under house arrest after his conviction for soliciting sex from a 14-year-old girl. And in the most shocking message, Mandelson tells the sex offender that drugs thought to be Xanax sedatives are 'all very well but you need someone to use them on'

Epstein is known to have got his victims  including Virginia Giuffre  hooked on Xanax to make them dependent upon him, and more pliant. It is a controlled drug in both the US and the UK, meaning it is illegal to possess it without prescription. The NHS does not prescribe it due to high risks of addiction.

A photo that emerged last weekend showing Mandelson, Andrew and Epstein together at the same time

Yet in one email Mandelson boldly asks Epstein where he will get more 'triangles'.

Xanax pills come in different shapes depending on their dosage, with the most potent being green and triangular.

The tranche of damning emails unearthed by the MoS show that Mandelson was so close to the sex offender that he repeatedly asked for medical advice and medication.

They will heap further pressure on Sir Keir Starmer over his decision to appoint Mandelson as US ambassador, despite his known ties to the paedophile.

Last week, it was revealed the Prime Minister was warned in writing that Mandelson continued his 'particularly close' friendship with Epstein for years after his sex offence convictions in 2008.
New York City's charismatic new socialist mayor, Zohran Mamdani, has a ruthless and tyrannical streak behind closed doors, progressives who have crossed him say.

The 34-year-old skyrocketed to popularity among New Yorkers and Americans alike during his mayoral campaign as his team positioned him as a man of the people.

Known for his smiling and seemingly unflappable attitude, Mamdani attacked both Donald Trump and New York Governor Kathy Hochul, a fellow Democrat whom he deemed too centrist.

But sources inside Mamdani's political circle have now alleged that the mayor wields his power for personal gain and has no qualms sidelining old friends or his ideologies to further his agenda, The New York Times reported.

He has been accused of snubbing friends, meddling in political campaigns and strong-arming liberal nonprofits to protect his own interests.

New York Democratic Party chairman Jay Jacobs, who did not support Mamdani's campaign, has seemingly defended him and suggested that his apparent backstabbing is necessary.

'Every successful political person has to either come to the table with the ability to be a little bit ruthless from time to time, or they have to pick it up quickly,' Jacobs explained. 'Otherwise, you don't survive.'

Mamdani's top political adviser, Morris Katz, appeared to dismiss the accusations, telling the newspaper: 'The mayor is incredibly popular, and he's going to harness that popularity. People should understand that and be on the right side.'

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has been accused of snubbing friends, meddling in political campaigns and strong-arming liberal nonprofits to protect his own interests

He has allegedly blocked his allies from excelling in an effort to protect his working relationship with Governor Kathy Hochul

Mamdani has demonstrated campaign tyranny since he was elected mayor last November, the insiders alleged.

Just last month, he reportedly blocked the Working Families Party from backing Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgado's gubernatorial campaign in an attempt to protect his working relationship with Hochul, despite previously bashing her.

But this was not the first time that Mamdani has seemingly done Hochul's bidding.

His team reportedly hid his former roommate and fellow Democratic Socialist State Senator Jabari Brisport from camera view during a January press event celebrating his expansion of free childcare at Hochul's request.

Brisport, who places full blame on the governor, claimed that Mamdani was apologetic after the incident.

The mayor reportedly tried to leverage his relationships with liberal politicians and union leaders to stop Julie Menin from becoming Speaker of the New York City Council, but to no avail.

He has been accused of trying to influence several state and congressional races by lobbying against candidates he opposes and discouraging his allies from making public campaign endorsements.

Mamdani urged Brooklyn's Democratic councilman Chi Osse not to challenge US House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, allegedly telling the councilman during a phone call that he could not win.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani (center), Governor Kathy Hochul (left), and New York City Council speaker Julie Meni (right) attend the Chinatown Lunar New Year Parade in March in NYC

Just last month, he allegedly blocked the Working Families Party from endorsing Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgado's (left) campaign. At Hochul's request, Mamdani's team hid state Senator Jabari Brisport (right) from camera view during a January press event celebrating his expansion of free childcare

The mayor argued that a high-profile fight would 'undermine the left' and offered Osse a position in his governing coalition if he were to drop his campaign, sources told the Times.

When Osse failed to oblige, Mamdani reportedly rescinded the councilman's invitation to his election victory party.

He then personally lobbied against Osse's campaign at a meeting of the Democratic Socialists of America. Osse ultimately dropped out of the race.

Mamdani also turned his back on US Representative Nydia Velazquez after she announced her retirement, despite her being the first congressional leader to back his mayoral bid.

The pair allegedly had discussions about Velazquez's potential replacement, with the congresswoman wanting to back city councilwoman Tiffany Caban.

But Caban, a fellow Democratic Socialist, criticized Mamdani's mayoral bid, so he tried to tee up state Representative Claire Valdez for the job instead.

Mamdani asked Velazquez not to publicly endorse a candidate and then went and backed Valdez himself.

Velazquez is understood to have felt 'disrespected' by Mamdani's actions and ultimately backed Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso in the primary race.
The email, dated February 18, stated: 'To support students who may be fasting, we will be providing designated No Food Spaces during lunch.

The viral email that was allegedly sent by school officials, explaining that certain areas in the lunchroom are 'food free' zones

Fairview School in Calgary, Canada sparked backlash for restricting its children as young as age 9 from eating food inside the cafeteria and lunchroom for the month of Ramadan, when Muslims fast during daylight hours. Pictured: Stock image of children eating in a cafeteria

'On days of bad weather, the learning commons will be a no-food space for all students. Thank you for your continued partnership in fostering an inclusive and caring school community.'

The changes in the viral email drew backlash online with many questioning why fasting students were in the lunchroom at all.

'Literally no Muslims care if you eat in front of them while we fast,' one X user wrote about the zones.

'The true common sense solution would have been for the fasting students to avoid the cafeteria area,' another user said.

'Why would a fasting child have a need to go to the lunchroom? Wouldn't they be the ones avoiding it and occupying other areas of the school?' One user questioned.

'Seems cruel to put all the fasting kids in the lunchroom where they once ate,' they continued.

The school board made a statement following the backlash - where they confusingly said 'no changes have been made to these designated lunch areas' while also acknowledging that they sent out the email to parents, informing them that certain areas were 'no food' zones for the month

Another said: 'The entire point of a religious fast, no matter the religion, is for it to be difficult, and that includes being around food and people who eat food. This is an absolute joke.'

In Islam, children are expected to begin fasting during Ramadan when they hit puberty, around the age of 13 or 14. However, children as young as age 9 in fourth grade at Fairview School were expected to participate in the 'No Food' zoning.

In response to the outrage, the Calgary Board of Education posted a statement on Instagram.

Calgary's population is 45 percent Christian, according to census records. Calgary Board of Education noted that it had 10,704 non-Canadian students registered to join its schools in the academic year ending 2024.

'During special cultural and religious observances, schools are able to make accommodations to support students, both in and out of classroom activities. This could include accommodations when students are fasting during Ramadan,' it stated.

'Depending on the number and size of the school population engaging in fasting, this is done in different ways. This may include designating distinct spaces as non-food areas.'

Pictured: Fairview School in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The school enrolls 911 students, as of 2024, records show. Calgary has a majority Christian population, sitting at around 45 percent

They added: 'The school in the social media post always has different grades eating in different spaces in the building. No changes have been made to these designated lunch areas.

'During Ramadan, alternative foodless spaces are available for fasting students so they are not around others who are eating. The school does not provide cafeteria food services.'

The school board turned off the comments underneath their statement on social media.

In a statement to the Daily Mail, CBE sent the statement, adding: 'CBE has a duty to accommodate students practicing their religion in schools. Our approach is guided by Administrative Regulation 3067  Religion in Education.

'The definition of reasonable accommodation can differ based on various factors, such as the specific needs of a student, the available resources and facilities of the school, and potential impact on others.

'If CBE can accommodate as requested, we should do so.'
An epileptic accountant fired for taking five time times longer than colleagues to complete tax returns has won a disability discrimination claim.

Toheed Hussain was dismissed by bosses at Armstrong Watson LLP after his condition caused significant delays in his work.

While most of his colleagues took between 30 and 42 minutes to complete a return, Mr Hussain needed an average of two hours and 42 minutes to complete the task. On one occasion it took him almost four and a half hours.

The firm charges 80 per cent of its time to clients, with each job carrying a pre-agreed fee, meaning if a job takes too long it might not be profitable for the company.

Mr Hussain was told at a probation review meeting that his efficiency required improvement.

He was then invited to a further meeting a month later where he was told he could be dismissed from his job.

The employee responded by formally requesting more time to complete tasks, citing a larger report into his medical condition.

Mr Hussain agreed to attend another meeting to discuss his situation but resigned the day before without an explanation.

After unsuccessfully requesting compensation from the firm, he took his case to an employment tribunal in Newcastle, which agreed the company had a 'clear and legitimate business need to ensure work was done efficiently' but ultimately said that Mr Hussain was discriminated against.

He is now in line to receive compensation from Armstrong Watson LLP.

Pictured: Toheed Hussain, an epileptic accountant fired for taking five time times longer than colleagues to complete tax returns. He has now won a disability discrimination claim

Mr Hussain began his brief employment at the firm in July 2023 and was subject to a six-month probationary period, during which the company 'retained the right' to dismiss him.

Armstrong Watson was founded over 150 years ago and has nine regional offices across the UK, with Mr Hussain based at the Newcastle site.

He suffers from temporal lobe epilepsy and had up to 20 'brief' seizures a day which affected his memory and made him take longer with tasks.

At the end of August 2023, his manager asked him why it had taken almost four and a half hours to prepare a tax return.

The next day at a probation review meeting, Mr Hussain agreed that he needed to improve, but did not request more time for his tasks.

It was also considered a problem that he did not make his time chargeable to clients, thus impacting the firm's profits.

When these issues had not improved, his manager sent him a further email on September 14.

He replied: 'The time I spend can be attributed to the problems I have with my poor memory as a result of my disability and the subsequent tax return process I follow.'

Another manager replied to his email reiterating why they needed his work to improve, saying: 'The time charged does need to be recoverable, as we cannot, as a business, continue to work in a way which is not profitable.'

A meeting was organised between Mr Hussain and his managers where they told him about the issues with his work.

This included, 'Large amounts of time to clients for relatively straight forward returns', and, 'No understanding around commerciality and costs need to be less than fees to make profit, been told on numerous occasions about this.'

Mr Hussain was told a possible outcome of the meeting was dismissal.

But he told his managers at the meeting about a larger report he had into his medical condition and asked for more time to complete tasks.

Mr Hussain was soon sent another email which read: 'During our probation review meeting on 31 August 2023, I outlined my concerns in relation to performance including but not limited to, incorrectly recording time on your timesheets, efficiency, skills, technical ability and organisation.

'However, due to the continuous and seriousness of the concerns I have raised, I would like to invite you to attend a formal probation review meeting on 28 September.

'During the meeting I will conduct a review of your employment to date however I must remind you, that in accordance with your contract of employment, and due to continued concerns around your performance to date, a possible outcome of this probation review meeting is that your employment with Armstrong Watson may be terminated.'

Mr Hussain initially agreed to attend the meeting, but resigned the day before it was scheduled to take place.

Employment Judge Stuart Robinson told the tribunal: 'On balance, the Tribunal considers that the treatment of [Mr Hussain] up to and including 15 September 2023 in challenging the amount of time [Mr Hussain] was taking whilst explaining the need for work to be undertaken profitably and properly recorded and asking [Mr Hussain] if there was any explanation for the time or help they could provide was proportionate.'

But the judge added: 'The Tribunal finds that [Armstrong Watson] has not justified sending the letter in those terms to [Mr Hussain] who had requested a disability-related adjustment in the form of more time.

'The Tribunal rejects the assertion that [Mr Hussain] should have known that the report and possible adjustments would be discussed at the meeting as it had been made clear on 20 September 2023, when the letter did not say that and conveyed a different position.

'The letter could and should have made clear what would happen at the meeting and that, in particular, reasonable adjustments would be discussed. It did not say that. The letter was a part of the disadvantageous treatment of [Mr Hussain] and it led to [Mr Hussain's] resignation.

'[Armstrong Watson's] action in sending that letter was not proportionate, and the Tribunal unanimously decides that [Mr Hussain's] complaint succeeds.'
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu has drawn criticism for skipping an annual St. Patrick's Day event just weeks after she attended a Ramadan night market.

Mayor Michelle Wu, 41, was a no-show at the decades-old St. Patrick's Day Breakfast on Sunday morning, hosted at the Ironworkers Local 7 Union Hall in South Boston.

The breakfast, which Wu attended last year, was a gathering of different politicians from across the state who take turns throwing jabs, jokes, and songs at one another.

However, Wu, who posted online about a Ramadan Night market at city hall just about two weeks before not attending the St. Patrick's Day event, chose to go to church with her family instead, a spokesperson told the Boston Globe.

The mayor's absence follows hot on the heels of a clash with the event's host, Senator Nick Collins.

Collins, a fellow Democrat, has publicly opposed Wu's proposal to avoid a tax increase for residential property owners by briefly increasing taxes on commercial real estate in the city.

At last year's event, the senator used some of his time to sing a parody of John Denver's classic song Take Me Home, Country Roads in which he referenced Wu's handling of pothole repairs.

Josh Kraft, son of Patriots Owner Robert Kraft, was in attendance at last year's event and had mocked the mayor for the city being covered in scaffolding and smelling of marijuana.

Mayor Michelle Wu, 41, skipped the decades-old St. Patrick's Day Breakfast weeks after not missing a night time Ramadan market at city hall

Wu attended the event last year where she was bashed by political opponents such as Senator Nick Collins, who hosts the event

Kraft hoped to defeat Wu for mayor of the city, but was dominated in the preliminary election in September by 48 points, forcing him to drop out of the race.

Despite the mayor still taking part in St. Patrick's Day events such as the parade, some took to social media to express their outrage at Wu.

'No Irish breakfast for Wu, she claims to be a Catholic, so she is dismissing a prayer breakfast for St. Patrick,' one wrote.

'As mayor, she should be present! Is she afraid of the backlash she might hear from those who oppose her and what she has done with the city? She is too afraid to come forward?' another asked.

'Hopefully people in Boston see her for what she is (an anti-white racist) and don't vote for her again, but knowing how stupid most voters are, they probably won't show her the contempt that she shows them,' a third added.

According to Emerson College Polling in September, 66 percent of voters approved of the job she is doing in office.

Wu's absence comes amid a public dispute with the Senator, who at last year's event sang a parody of John Denver's classic song Take Me Home, Country Roads in which he referenced Wu's handling of pothole repairs (Nick Collins pictured)

In September a poll by Emerson College discovered that 66 percent of voters approved of her job as mayor

Woke Wu announced at the end of January that she was supporting the lawsuit filed by the State of Minnesota, Minneapolis, and St. Paul to end the occupation by more than 2,000 federal agents.

'These politically-motivated invasions, whether by ICE or the National Guard, endanger our residents and violate federal law,' wrote the mayor.

'ICE's aggressive enforcement tactics have created mass unrest, undermined public safety, injured Minnesotans, including children, and led to the death of Renee Nicole Good.'

Wu's staffers were at the center of controversy that same January, when it was discovered that one of her top aides, Segun Idowu, had announced that his tenure as Chief of Economic Opportunity and Inclusion would end in February.

Idowu said in a statement to local news that he was stepping down to care for his grandmother.

However, his resignation came months after a lawsuit was filed against the city alleging he participated in sexual misconduct that was covered up.
SHANGHAI, March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The global electrical engineering community is setting its sights on Shanghai. CWIEME Shanghai, the Asia-Pacific region's leading exhibition for coil, motor, and transformer manufacturing, has officially announced its 2026 edition, set to take place from June 24 to 26 at the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition and Convention Center. Professional visitor pre-registration is now open (CLICK HERE TO REGISTER).

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For over a decade, CWIEME Shanghai has served as more than just a trade platformit has been a driving force in advancing Asia-Pacific electrical manufacturing up the global value chain. This year, the event takes a major leap forward, doubling down on the industries of tomorrow.

New Frontiers: Low-Altitude Economy & Humanoid Robotics

In a strategic expansion, CWIEME Shanghai will introduce dedicated zones and matchmaking initiatives connecting upstream component suppliers with pioneers in two hot fields: low-altitude aviation and humanoid robotics. Exhibitorsfrom materials innovators to winding technology leaderswill gain direct access to aerospace OEMs and top-tier robotics developers, offering a rare gateway into billion-dollar emerging markets.

Introducing the C-Suite Club

For the first time, CWIEME Shanghai will host an exclusive C-Suite Club, designed for high-level dialogue on M&A, global strategy, and technology roadmaps. This closed-door forum will gather global founders, CTOs, and investors from around the world, creating a curated space for meaningful collaboration and decision-making at the highest level.

Knowledge That Powers the Future

The accompanying conferences will feature over 40 expert speakers delivering sharp, forward-looking insights on topics shaping the industry: next-gen motors and transformers, EV powertrains, and technological demands of humanoid robots and electric aircraft. This is where cutting-edge technical expertise meets tangible commercial opportunity.

Anticipated highlights for CWIEME Shanghai 2026 include:

Exhibition Scale: 25,000 square meters, hosting 300+ global industry leaders and emerging brands showcasing a comprehensive range of products including insulating/magnetic materials, winding machines, iron cores/laminations, laser processing equipment, adhesives, and machinery & components for motor and transformer manufacturing.

25,000 square meters, hosting global industry leaders and emerging brands showcasing a comprehensive range of products including insulating/magnetic materials, winding machines, iron cores/laminations, laser processing equipment, adhesives, and machinery & components for motor and transformer manufacturing. Global Visitors & Buyers: 13,000+ attendees from key application sectors including power electronics/transformers, EV motors, industrial automation, etc.

13,000+ attendees from key application sectors including power electronics/transformers, EV motors, industrial automation, etc. Hot-Topic Conference Tracks: 40+ forums and presentations focused on the low-altitude economy, humanoid robotics, new energy vehicle motors, electrical equipment, electronic components, and university-industry collaboration.

With professional visitor registration now open (CLICK HERE TO REGISTER), CWIEME Shanghai 2026 invites the global industry to step into the futurewhere electrical engineering meets the next wave of innovation.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2932392/image1.jpg
A Cold War nuclear bunker has been rediscovered underneath a centuries-old castle after being forgotten for 57 years.

The bunker was decommissioned and sealed in 1968 and was lost until an archaeological dig by English Heritage successfully uncovered its location.

In the event of a nuclear war, the space would have been staffed by volunteers from the Royal Observer Corps (ROC).

It is one of 1,500 underground observation posts built across Britain, each planned to protect three ROC volunteers who would have helped map where Soviet nuclear bombs had exploded and packed with rations for occupants to last about two weeks.

The exact location of the ROC post at Scarborough Castle in North Yorkshire had been a mystery since its closure, with websites pointing to it being buried somewhere between the castle and the North Sea.

The bunker measures just 15ft long and 7ft wide and is just tall enough to stand in.

It sits within the grounds of Scarborough Castle, a former medieval royal fortress on the east Yorkshire coast.

Kevin Booth, of English Heritage, said the secret bunkers were placed across the country, though most people were oblivious to their existence.

Archaeologists uncovered a Cold War nuclear bunker underneath a centuries-old castle

The bunker was found in the grounds of Scarborough Castle, a former medieval royal fortress on the east Yorkshire coast

He said: 'Wherever you lived in Britain you were probably no more than a few miles from an ROC post.

'Yet few people knew they existed.

'It seems strange to have a Cold War bunker built inside Scarborough Castle, but in many ways, it is a perfect location.

'This headland has been an observation post for thousands of years, from a Bronze Age settlement to a Roman signal station, medieval castle, WWI gun battery and, here, a 1960s concrete bunker watching for Armageddon.

'We wanted to pinpoint it and see if we could reopen it and see what was inside.

'Old mapping gives a sense of where it might be, but it really comes down to survey, looking under the ground with radar to find the big black blob that is a concrete structure.'

The bunker would have had a bomb indicator, which would have measured pressure waves in the event of explosions.

A pinhole camera would have been fitted on the top of the bunker which would have recorded the blasts.

The ROC post in Scarborough only operated for a few years, and was capped with concrete in 1968 as the nuclear threat at the time slowly reduced.

A camera has revealed it has since filled up with about six-feet of water in it.

Mr Booth hoped it could eventually be emptied and, when safe, people could take a step into the post for the first time in decades.

A picture showed what the inside of the bunker may have looked like before it was decomissioned

'We're getting inklings of some interesting survival down there,' he said.

'The wooden door that I'm looking down this shaft at, it's solid, you can tap on it despite it being flooded for 60 years.

'We're finding a physical connection with the memories of the ROC, who tell me about these spaces, who tell me that they're cold, who tell me they used to get fish and chips in instead of eating the rations.'

'For English Heritage, it's not only completing the story of Scarborough Castle, we're completing the story of the Cold War and the way Britain was trying to deal with that threat.'

Lead archaeologist John said: 'We knew where to start the excavations, because they are fairly modern features.

So we know there is historic records and there is actually one historic photograph which shows the site as it was just before it was demolished and cleared away.

'We also redid some geophysics across the area, which picked up the outline of the post and the disturbance areas for the bunker itself.

'So that allowed us to re-geolocate the site and put pegs in the grounds so we knew where the bunker was and the features on to'p of the bunker, so we could come in and then do target excavation.'

Helen Featherstone of The National Lottery Heritage Fund, added: 'It's really exciting that this lost bunker has been uncovered by the team working on this project marking 100 years of the Royal Observer Corps.

'This find builds on our understanding of their story and shines a spotlight on their important work protecting the UK.

'The project has been made possible thanks to money raised by National Lottery players, and I'm sure that they will be thrilled to know that they have played a role in this discovery.'
A British property 'guru' who was mocked online after boasting he chartered a 150,000 private jet out of the UAE is set to make a huge loss on his 20-bed mansion investment.

Samuel Leeds, 34, who sells controversial get-rich-quick property courses online, bought the castle in Bewdley, Worcestershire, for 810,000 in 2018 because he thought it would be a 'fantastic development opportunity'.

But now Mr Leeds is selling the 20-bed property for just 395,000 after saying he spent 3million on renovations.

The investor, who fled Dubai when war erupted in the region, spent 500,000 on a new roof, removed severe Japanese knotweed and fixed structural issues  allegedly spending millions on the property, Ribbesford House, in the hopes of turning it into a wedding venue or hotel.

Mr Leeds said he has now 'fallen out of love' with the Grade II-listed mansion - which still needs extensive work despite the millions the 'guru' has claimed to have poured into it.

He said that the project has left him feeling 'burned out' and hopes to sell the property to 'an enthusiast' for less than half the price he bought it for.

Mr Leeds, who lives in the UK and Dubai, said: 'I bought it in 2018 for 810,000 because I thought it looked like a lot of a lot of bricks for your money.

'It's got eight acres of land, and I just thought it would make a fantastic development opportunity.

Samuel Leeds, 34, who sells controversial get-rich-quick property courses online, bought the castle in Bewdley, Worcestershire for 810,000 in 2018 because he thought it would be a 'fantastic development opportunity'

Now Mr Leeds is selling the 20-bed property for just 395,000 after saying he spent 3million on renovations

Samuel Leeds with his wife Amanda and their children on a private jet. Leeds was mocked online for chartering a 150,000 flight out of the UAE

'I've spent 3million renovating it.

'I've sorted out all the structure. I've got a new roof which cost me half a million pounds.

'There was severe Japanese knotweed and I've got rid of that and had it insured.

'I've fallen out of love with the idea of restoring it and I haven't really got a vision for it.

'I'm going to lose quite a few million on it, but I'd rather it go to the right person.

'Even if someone ends up buying it for 400,000, I don't mind as long as they actually finish it and look after it.

'It just needs love, and it needs an enthusiast to actually have vision.'

Ribbesford House is on 7.9 acres of land and still requires planning permission to convert it into 22 residential dwellings.

The main house has 20 bedrooms, 10 reception rooms and nine bathrooms over three storeys, as well as three octagonal turrets.

Mr Leeds initially listed the house at auction in November 2025, with a guide price of 1.1 million.

After failing to sell, it was listed for a second time in January 2026, with a guide price of 900,000.

It is now set to go to auction on Tuesday with a guide price of just 395,000.

Mr Leeds said:

'When I bought the property, a soldier that lived there in World War II took me out for dinner, and said he was so happy I was going to restore it.

'He died shortly after and I feel like a failure, because I felt like I had a responsibility to him.'

The property is located in Ribbesford, a hamlet south of Bewdley and is near the River Severn.

The house and its surrounding estate have a history dating back almost 1,000 years, and the current property has architectural elements ranging from the 16th to the 19th century.

Leeds removed severe Japanese knotweed and fixed structural issues  allegedly spending millions on the property, Ribbesford House, in the hopes of turning it into a wedding venue or hotel

Leeds aboard his private jet. He has been accused of flaunting his wealth while thousands of ordinary holidaymakers battle flight cancellations in a desperate scramble to come home

Leeds and his family ready to depart Dubai for Heathrow. While frightened holidaymakers continue to scramble for flights, Leeds posted videos online suggesting they simply follow his lead by paying for a private jet

The property has had a number of famous visitors, including Jungle Book writer Rudyard Kipling and French general and statesman Charles De Gaulle.

It also housed 211 French soldiers during the Second World War, who used the grounds for training.

Samuel Leeds was widely mocked earlier this month after he fled the UAE on a 150,000 private jet and told followers: 'I don't know why everyone is not doing this.'

He insisted that the missile-hit Gulf state was 'not even dangerous'.

Iran has fired thousands of missiles and drones at the UAE following the outbreak of war in the Middle East.

Mr Leeds, who once said he moved to the United Arab Emirates to avoid paying '99.9 per cent of my taxes' and claims to have a 20million portfolio, was condemned by critics over the 'embarrassingly crude' social media posts.

Leeds boasts have come amid a wider wave of influencers defending Dubai online, with many insisting the city remains the 'safest place on Earth' - despite Iranian missile and suicide drone strikes hitting targets across the Gulf.

Influencers are allegedly terrified to speak openly for fear of arrest or losing their homes. Under UAE laws damaging the countrys reputation can carry fines of up to 200,000 or prison sentences of up to five years - followed by deportation.

Today it was claimed that three foreign survivors of a drone strike on a building in Dubai were arrested after they sent photographs of the explosion to their loved ones.

In a video Leeds posted himself, he said: 'If you're trapped in Dubai, it's very simple.

'Drive three hours to Oman, and then when you're in Oman, go down to the Muscat airport, and there's literally planes waiting for you.

'You can pay about 100,000, jump on a plane, and it'll take you straight to Heathrow.

'I don't know why everyone's not doing this.'

Leeds, a former magician whose investment courses have been described by experts as promoting tax loopholes that may not exist, was mocked online for his posts.

One critic wrote on Facebook: 'I dont care how wealthy you are that is a ridiculous amount to pay for a flight, and to shout about it is embarrassingly crude.'

Another said: 'If Dubai was so safe, how come youre taking your wife and your children out of the country while bombs are going off?

'Would you not rather keep them in safe Dubai while you travel to dangerous England?'

A third dismissed Leeds' social media posturing as 'the Dubai equivalent of tagging yourself at the gym'.
A documentary about former captive Natascha Kampusch has been scrapped at the last minute by Austria's national broadcaster after her family revealed she is suffering serious health problems which have left her 'in her own world'.

Natascha, 38, was abducted aged 10 in 1998 by Wolfgang Priklopil while walking to school in Austria and held prisoner in a secret basement cell in his house for eight years.

She was beaten, starved and turned into his sex slave before fleeing in August 2006.

Priklopil, a technician in his 30s at the time who lived in his mother's home, jumped in front of a train at a nearby station after learning she had escaped.

The ORF, Austria's public broadcaster, produced a documentary about her to mark her 20th anniversary of freedom.

The documentary titled 'Natascha Kampusch  Trapped in Freedom' focused on her life today and was supposed to air tonight.

The channel released snippets of the programme last week, including comments from her sister claiming Natascha is in a kind of prison again' as she suffers from mental health problems which have left doctors 'overwhelmed'.

But the documentary has now been postponed with the ORF claiming 'differing opinions regarding Natascha Kampusch's personal rights' were behind its cancellation amid a row over its release.

Natascha, 38, was abducted aged 10 in 1998 by Wolfgang Priklopil while walking to school in Austria

Priklopil, a technician in his 30s at the time who lived in his mother's home, jumped in front of a train at a nearby station after learning she had escaped

Natascha's doctors were said to be opposed to the programme, while Austrian media lawyer Maria Windhager said it was a 'massive violation of the most personal sphere of life.'

An Austrian victim charity had also initiated legal proceedings to prevent it airing.

Natascha wrote a book about her kidnapping, was the subject of a film and even presented her own TV talkshow in the years after.

But in the documentary, her sister Claudia Nestelberger revealed she is now 'completely gone'.

She said: 'Everyone knows how Natascha used to speak in front of the camera. That's completely gone now.

'She's mostly in her own world. She's in a kind of prison again. It's heartbreaking and we feel helpless.'

In 2023, Natascha admitted she was 'positive and hopeful' about her future prospects.

She was designing her own jewellery collection and involved in building a hospital in Sri Lanka.

'I spend a lot of time in nature and with my horse,' she said.

Previously describing her time in captivity, Natascha said she was kept in a trapdoor in a garage which was just five by five metres, soundproofed and windwless.

She was beaten 'up to 200 times a week', chained to a bed at night and made to clean while half-naked.

She said from age 12 she imagined breaking out but regressed 'to the age of a dependent toddler,' asking to be tucked in and read bedtime stories.

Walking to school by herself on March 2, 1998, Natascha recalled how she noticed a strange Priklopil waiting by his white minivan.

'I thought I dont want to pass him,' she said. 'I thought "thats strange, why is this person waiting there?" It didnt make sense.

Natascha pictured aged 10 before her kidnapping in 1998. Since her escape, she has recounted her ordeal in a book titled 3,096 Days which was adapted into a movie of the same name

'Thats when I wanted to switch to the other side of the road just to be safe. But then I thought "no, I have to do this" so you can say, "Okay, you had the courage to walk past him."'

However, as she went past him, Priklopil grabbed her and put her in the back of the vehicle before taking her to his house, where he kept her in a dungeon underneath the floor of his garage.

When she became a teenager, Priklopil would sometimes keep her upstairs with him to sleep but would tie her to the bed so she couldn't escape.

'He seemed to think it was his right to control me and use violence,' said Natascha, who suggested her captor at this point imagined they were husband and wife.

She was warned by her kidnapper that there was no way out of her ordeal, with Priklopil saying he would kill her if she ever tried to escape.

Her mother Brigitta Sirny was originally accused of killing her child and admitted she 'wanted to end it all' after the allegations.

Brigitta previously said: '[A] private investigator said I killed her and threw her in the lake. That made me even more upset. It was very hard to go through all that. I stood outside on the balcony and I wanted to jump.

'I wanted to end it all. Thank God I went back inside. But then I didn't go on the balcony for three months. It caused very deep wounds.'
A Kentucky woman was fatally crushed after being dragged under a float during a freak accident at a St Patricks Day parade.

The 53rd annual parade in Louisville took place on Saturday, when the victim's foot got caught under the float, pulling her beneath the vehicle and killing her.

The tragedy unfolded near Bardstown Road and Grinstead Drive in front of dozens of horrified spectators.

Louisville Metro Police Department told the Daily Mail the incident happened just before 4pm, and the woman is believed to be in her 50s.

'Our preliminary investigation reveals that an adult female participant believed to be in her 50s, was walking alongside one of the floats,' a spokesperson said.

'For some unknown reason her foot got caught by the float causing her to fall and she got caught under the vehicle and was struck.'

Police added that the float came to a stop as first responders and good Samaritans attending the parade rushed to help her.

Emergency medical services transported the victim to University Hospital, where she later died.

Video showed the chilling moment after the woman was snagged under the float, first responders are seen grouped around the side of the vehicle

The LMPDs Traffic Unit is handling the ongoing investigation, and police told the Daily Mail that the Jefferson County Coroner's Office will release the victims identity once the next of kin has been notified.

Thousands of paradegoers at the front had no idea what was happening as the floats suddenly ground to a halt.

Video obtained by WDRB showed the chilling moment after the woman was snagged under the float.

A silver truck decorated with four-leaf clovers, pulling a wagon with hay bales and balloons, was seen stopped in the road.

Hundreds of confused spectators gathered around as a group responders appeared to aid the victim near the float.

A witness working at a food truck spoke to local outlet WAVE 3, saying he saw the victim on a stretcher.

'I [saw] the EMS attending to somebody I saw somebody on the stretcher, not thinking it was something very serious,' David Gnamba told the outlet.

'It does break my heart because thats a person that lost their life this is not news that we want to hear  as human beings, as vendors, as people, as partygoers,' he added.

David Gnamba, a witness working at a food truck, told WAKE that he saw someone on a stretcher but didn't believe the incident was serious

Thousands of paradegoers, including children and families, were unaware of what was unfolding as the parade slowed to a stop

A preliminary investigation revealed the female victim was in her 50s, and her identity will be released once next of kin is notified

Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg shared a statement on X about the accident, writing: 'I am so sorry to hear about the tragic accident that took a womans life at todays St Patricks Day Parade.

'Please join Rachel and me in keeping her family and friends in your prayers. May her memory be a blessing.'

The parades organizers, the Hibernian Cultural and Charitable Association, expressed they were 'deeply saddened by the tragic accident' and offered condolences to everyone affected.
A predatory nursery worker who raped and sexually abused toddlers in his care has been jailed for 24 years.

Nathan Bennett, 30, preyed on the two and three-year-olds at the Partou King Street nursery in Bristol to satisfy his 'uncontrollable and ungovernable sexual interest in male toddlers'.

He was found guilty by a jury last month of eight charges including rape, sexual assault and assault by penetration, relating to five children.

Bennett previously admitted 13 other charges relating to four of the five victims, who were aged two at the time.

Concerns were raised by parents and staff about Bennett's behaviour towards the children in his care at the Bristol nursery, in February last year.

Police launched an investigation after staff caught him on CCTV putting his hands down the trousers of a child, which led to Bennett's arrest and later the closure of the nursery.

Passing an extended sentence of 24 years in custody and a further six years on licence, Judge William Hart today described Bennett as an 'incorrigible and dangerous paedophile'.

'Watching, as we did in this trial, the closed circuit television footage of the little children at King Street nursery running around and playing brings a smile to the face of any decent person and any parent... happy, innocent toddlers in a secure setting,' the judge said.

'But the children we see were not secure. They were at risk because unknown to staff and parents you were lurking ready to abuse them and to pollute their innocence with your own vile desires.

Nathan Bennett, pictured, a nursery worker who raped and sexually abused toddlers in his care, has been jailed for 24 years

Bennett, pictured during his police interview. The nursery worker preyed on toddlers at the Partou King Street nursery in Bristol

'Nathan Bennett, having presided over your trial and having heard and seen the evidence upon which you were convicted, I am unhesitatingly driven to the conclusion that you are an incorrigible and dangerous paedophile with an uncontrollable and ungovernable sexual interest in male toddlers.

'Not only the evidence against you, but your own evidence at trial and your presentation leads me to that conclusion.

'I find it impossible to predict for how long you will remain such a danger.'

The judge added: 'The simple fact of the matter though is that you prioritised your own sexual satisfaction over the welfare of these little children and that was due to your grossly distorted thinking and a degree of, to use an old fashioned word, evil.'

Bennett was noted by staff to sit children on his lap for lengthy periods of time, wear a pair of trousers with holes in the crotch area, and seemed 'territorial' over certain toddlers and their parents, the court heard.

During the trial, video interviews with two of the children in the case - referred to only as Child A and Child E - were played to the jury.

In statements read to the court, the parents of some of Bennett's victims detailed how he had destroyed their lives.

The mother of Child E said: 'It is difficult to truly comprehend the severity of the impact this defendant's actions have had upon our family.

'The guilt and anger has been overwhelming in that we sent him to the nursery, and we should have protected him. That is all we wanted to be able to do.

'What truly worries us is the future unknowns. What will he remember about his abuse? We will not know the true impact of Nathan's actions for many years.

'We are determined only one life will be ruined and it will not be our son's.'

Child B's mother said: 'Our son should have been safe. However, that feeling of safety has been snatched away from us and we have lost trust in humanity.'

Child C's parents said: 'We feel manipulated, betrayed and completely let down. The strain has been overwhelming.

'What we want is simple - that he never has access to children again.'

Giving evidence, Bennett said he was 'emulating' what was done to him as a child and denied having a sexual attraction to children.

Charly Pattison, defending, said Bennett had had a difficult upbringing as a child.

'Mr Bennett's life was very isolated and absent of the usual social interactions,' she said. He does understand the harm and hurt he has caused and he is sorry for that.'

Bennett was also placed on the sex offenders' register for life and made subject to an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.

The families of the children affected by the abuse said they wanted answers to how he was able to commit his crimes.

In a statement issued by law firm Leigh Day, which represents several of the families involved, they said: 'Today's sentence marks the end of a criminal investigation that has been devastating for families, but it does not begin to repair the harm caused to so many children.

'We entrusted our children to Partou King Street nursery believing they would be safe, cared for and nurtured.

'Instead, that trust was catastrophically broken by someone who abused his position in the most unimaginable way.

'Over the months before Bennett's arrest, a number of parents raised concerns about his behaviour.

'We know concerns were raised to members of staff - we believe those warnings and complaints were not properly followed up or escalated.

'Had appropriate action been taken sooner, we fear some of the abuse children suffered may have been prevented.'

Avon and Somerset Constabulary previously released footage of Bennett's arrest in February 2025

Bennett was convicted of charges relating to children at Bristol's Partou King Street nursery, pictured

Leigh Day partner Andrew Lord, who represents a wider group of families affected by Bennett's abuse, said: 'This is one of the most deeply distressing cases any parent can imagine.

'Today's sentence is an important step in holding Bennett accountable for his heinous crimes, but it does not address any wider issues that may have allowed him to continue working with very young children despite warning signs.

'We are continuing to investigate civil legal action on behalf of families who are seeking answers, accountability and assurances that safeguarding has drastically improved.'

Gemma Kneebone, a senior crown prosecutor with the Crown Prosecution Service's rape and serious sexual offences unit, said outside Bristol Crown Court: 'Nathan Bennett's offending is amongst the most appalling and upsetting that I have seen in my time as a prosecutor of sexual offences.

'When we send our children to school or pre-school each day, we do so trusting that they will be cared for and kept safe.

'Bennett took advantage of that trust, seeking out a profession that gave him access to the most vulnerable of victims.

'He exploited his position - and the trust that came with it - to repeatedly abuse young children, while grooming them to believe that his sickening behaviour was normal.

'To discover that a person to whom you had entrusted your child's care could betray that trust in such a way is unimaginable, and our thoughts remain with all of those affected by these terrible crimes.'
One in five students admit they would avoid sharing a flat with Jewish peers, according to a new report into anti-Semitism.

Research from The Union of Jewish Students (UJS) suggests anti-Semitism has been normalised following a spate of incidents on campuses across the UK.

Polling of 1,000 students from all walks of life found 20 per cent admitted they would be reluctant to, or would never share a flat with a Jewish student.

In addition, the report found that nearly one in four students, or 23 per cent, has seen behaviour that targets Jewish students for their religion or ethnicity.

In one shocking incident, graffiti appeared at Essex Universitys student union reading: F*** Jews, while Bristol University leaflets were handed out featuring a Star of David intertwined with a swastika.

Louis Danker, president of the UJS, said: This report demonstrates that anti-Semitism on campus is not isolated, but normalised.

One in five students admit they would avoid sharing a flat with Jewish peers, according to a new report into anti-Semitism (pictured: students at Glasgow University last year appearing to glorify the October 7 attacks)

Research from The Union of Jewish Students (UJS) suggests anti-Semitism has been 'normalised' following a spate of incidents on campuses across the UK (pictured: grafitti at the student union of Essex University)

Polling of 1,000 students from all walks of life found 20 per cent admitted they would be 'reluctant' to, or 'would never' share a house with a Jewish student (pictured: graffiti on the Jewish centre at Leeds University)

No Jewish student should have to face social ostracisation, abusive language or physical violence  there is a right to protest, but not to harass.

The report also warned that glorification of terrorism is prevalent and unpunished.

The poll found 49 per cent of students have heard slogans promoting proscribed groups on campus such as Hamas or Hezbollah.

In addition, 47 per cent have witnessed justification of the Oct 7 attacks.

At City St Georges University in London, an image of an Orthodox Jew appeared on a whiteboard with the caption: This room was promised to him 3,000 years ago.

Meanwhile, an image was circulated on social media depicting a skull with the words: Put the Zios in the ground.

It comes after the Community Security Trust (CST), a charity which monitors anti-Semitism in the UK, recorded 308 incidents per month on average in 2025.

That is double the monthly average of 154 incidents in the year preceding the Oct 7 attack in 2023.

At City St Georges University in London, an image of an Orthodox Jew appeared on a whiteboard with the caption: 'This room was promised to him 3,000 years ago'

An image was circulated on social media depicting a skull with the words: 'Put the Zios in the ground'

Baroness Berger, a Labour peer, said: Jewish students continue to be attacked at the hands of the same people, year after year after year. What will British campuses feel like for Jewish students when my own children, now aged just six and eight, reach university age? The persistent lack of awareness, understanding and refusal to learn the lessons of the past are what makes this report so vital.

The report also found that 26 per cent of students believe that calling for Zionists to be removed from campus is not anti-Semitic.

Meanwhile, 24 per cent believe that saying Zionists control the media and government is not anti-Semitic and 18 per cent believe that saying globalise the intifada is not.

Some 13 per cent believe that heckling Jews and shouting Free Palestine is not anti-Semitic and 11 per cent believe that denying or downplaying the Holocaust is not.

Among the case studies cited by the UJS report include one third year student at the University of Exeter who confronted a fellow student who told people not to be friends with him because he is a Zionist.

He said: She knew nothing about me, but told me to f--- off with a whole audience of students watching. I tried to explain that I wanted to have a respectful conversation with her, but she refused, saying she doesnt talk to Zionists.

She then became enraged, saying I support the genocide of children. I tried to explain that is wrong and not true, but by this point she was swearing and raising her voice and everyone was watching. I went home and cried. Somebody said they wanted to punch me in the face because I am a Zionist at a club night.

In summer 2024, a Jewish student was beaten up in a nightclub. His shirt was ripped, his back was covered in scratches and cuts, and a drink was thrown in his face.

The report also cited an example in Leeds of a student wearing a kippah being followed home and heckled with Free Palestine chants and verbal abuse by someone brandishing a glass bottle.

In Birmingham, one Jewish student was followed home to chants of Free Palestine. The pursuers climbed the lamp post outside their house, rang the doorbell multiple times and lingered outside for several nights. They told passers-by to remember this address as Jews live here.

The UJS report found that protests had disrupted learning for 65 per cent of students and 40 per cent had altered their journey on campus to avoid disruption.

Karen Newman, of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, described the report as a wake-up call.

She told the Telegraph: It is not for Jews to shrink their identity on campus to fit in, but for universities to ensure they are welcome and tolerant places for all.

The polling, by JL Partners, was weighted to reflect the student population.

A Government spokesman said: There is no place for antisemitism on university campuses, and it is essential that Jewish students feel safe, along with everyone regardless of race, religion...

The Education Secretary has asked Sir David Bell to lead a review into anti-Semitism at schools and colleges, to ensure they are better able to prevent, identify and respond effectively to antisemitism and all other forms of hatred and prejudice.
Donald Trump burst out laughing when he was briefed that Iran's incoming supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei may be gay, sources have told the New York Post.

Intelligence suggesting Mojtaba is homosexual raised doubts in his late father Ali Khamenei's mind about his suitability to succeed him, sources said.

Others in the room found it 'hilarious,' and a senior intelligence official 'has not stopped laughing about it for days,' according to the Post.

The lurid claim was corroborated by two intelligence community officials and a third person close to the White House.

America's spy agencies view the information as credible intelligence rather than gossip designed to undermine the 56-year-old ruler.

Mojtaba has had a long-term sexual relationship with his childhood tutor, two sources said.

A third source said intel indicated the affair was with a person who used to work for the Khamenei family.

Mojtaba, who is understood to have been gravely wounded in the strikes that killed his father on February 28, has made 'aggressive' sexual passes at men caring for him, potentially due to the effects of sedation, a source told the Post.

Mojtaba Khamenei, son of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, walks along a street in Tehran on May 31, 2019

US President Donald Trump arrives to speak at Verst Logistics in Hebron, Kentucky, on March 11

The US has no photographic evidence, but sources insisted the intel was bona fide, with one saying it was 'derived from one of the most protected sources that the government has.'

Another source said the intelligence would not have been presented to the President if there wasn't 'some confidence in this.'

Ali Khamenei was 'aware that his son had issues in his personal life,' US intelligence sources told CBS on Sunday, in an earlier allusion to the allegation.

He was also wary of Mojtaba taking power because he believed he was unintelligent.

Trump reportedly dismissed the classified briefing as irrelevant, with Iran appearing rudderless regardless. Mojtaba has meanwhile been absent from public view, fueling rumors of injury or death.

Since being elected by the mullahs on March 8, his only public comments have been a statement read out by a presenter on state TV.

Mojtaba was secretly flown to Moscow for surgery and is recuperating in the presidential compound, Kuwaiti media reported at the weekend, citing high-ranking Iranian sources.

His wife and teenage son were reportedly killed in the strikes that killed his father. He has another son and daughter.

Mojtaba Khamenei and his children on Quds Day in 2018. His wife and teenage son were reportedly killed in the strikes that killed his father. He has another son and daughter

Rumors about his sexual orientation have circulated in Iran since at least May 2024, when a helicopter crash killed President Ebrahim Raisi, who had been the favorite to succeed as supreme leader.

'His father and others suspected he was gay and that was something that people were spreading to try to stop his ascension,' a source told the Post.

Sodomy is a capital offense in Iran, where execution methods include public hangings by crane.

White House spokesman Steve Cheung posted on X: 'Some interesting reporting coming out of Tehran these days.'
Iran has mocked Donald Trump for 'turning to other countries' to help secure the Strait of Hormuz after European leaders rejected calls to send ships to the strategic passage.

The Iranian regime has forced shut the strait, a vital passageway through which around 20 per of the world's oil flows every day, causing an enormous spike in oil prices and sparking fears of a global economic crisis.

The US President asked allies to join a mission to safeguard shipping in the Gulf but Keir Starmer told Donald Trump on Sunday night he wasn't ready to agree to US demands to 'send ships' to protect oil tankers from Iranian attacks.

France, Germany, Italy and Greece have also said they won't take part in efforts to reopen the channel.

In his first statement since becoming supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei vowed to continue using the 'lever of blocking the Strait of Hormuz' because it is where 'the enemy is highly vulnerable'.

And Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi derided Trump for asking for help to reopen it while demanding Iran surrenders.

He said: 'They carried out large-scale attacks and again repeated the demand for unconditional surrender.

'Today, after roughly 15 days (sic) since the war began, they are turning to other countries for help to ensure the security of the Strait of Hormuz and keep it open.

Iran has mocked Donald Trump for 'turning to other countries' to help secure the Strait of Hormuz

The Iranian regime has forced shut the strait, a vital passageway through which around 20 per of the world's oil flows every day

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi derided Trump for asking for help to reopen it while demanding Iran surrenders

'From our perspective, the strait is open; it is only closed to our enemies and to those who carried out unjust aggression against our country.'

Earlier on Monday, Iran repeated the claim the passageway was not closed but merely operating under 'special conditions'.

'Parties not involved in the military aggression against Iran have been able to pass through the Strait of Hormuz in coordination with and with permission from our armed forces,' Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday.

'No coastal country in such a situation can allow enemy ships and vessels to pass normally in order to strengthen themselves and carry out aggressive actions against that coastal state,' he claimed, adding the US, Israel and their allies 'should naturally not be able to use the Strait of Hormuz to strike Iran.'

On Monday, Sir Keir said the US had 'massively weakened' the military of the 'abhorrent regime in Iran'.

He said the Strait of Hormuz must be reopened to 'ensure stability in the markets'.

He said he was willing to be part of a 'viable collective plan' for the Strait, but that no decisions had been taken yet amid suggestions the UK is only looking at deploying anti-mine drones. 'This is not easy. It's not straight forward,' he added.

With Iran warning on Sunday of reprisals against the UK, it is understood there are no current plans to send British warships to escort stranded tankers. Instead, ministers are offering mine-hunting drones and missile interceptors as part of an international effort to free up shipping on the route.

On Saturday, Mr Trump said he wanted Britain, France and China to 'send ships to the area so that the Strait will no longer be threatened by a nation that has been totally decapitated'.

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This demand was repeated by Mike Waltz, US ambassador to the United Nations, who said: 'The conversation is ongoing. The last time Iran tried to constrain global energy supplies, you had French, United Kingdom forces escorting tankers heading towards their markets. That is what President Trump is calling upon the world.'

Mr Trump upped the ante overnight by linking the response to his demand for ships in the Strait to the future of Nato and support for Ukraine.

At a press conference on Monday morning, the Prime Minister insisted the UK will not be drawn into a 'wider war' in the Middle East today as he knocked back Mr Trump's call for warships in the Strait of Hormuz.

The comments came after Mr Trump launched another swipe at Sir Keir over his reluctance to join attacks on Iran.

The premier had a tense call with the president last night, in which he is believed to have signalled Britain will not deploy warships to the Strait.

Canada, Australia and a host of European countries have also dismissed the prospect.

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius rejected Trump's demands and downplayed threats that such a stance by allies would hurt NATO.

'What does (...) Donald Trump expect a handful or two handfuls of European frigates to do in the Strait of Hormuz that the powerful US navy cannot do?' he said in Berlin.

'This is not our war, we have not started it.'

Asked about Trump's warning that NATO faces a 'very bad' future if its members fail to come to Washington's aid, Pistorius said he did not anticipate NATO to fall apart over these differences.

Greece will also not engage in any military operations in the strait, government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said on Monday.

The price of oil has risen rapidly following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz

Greece will only participate in the EU's naval mission charged with protecting ships in the Red Sea, Marinakis told a press conference.

Meanwhile, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said diplomacy was the right way to solve the crisis in the Hormuz Strait and there were no naval missions Italy is involved in that could be extended to the area.

'As far as Hormuz is concerned I believe diplomacy needs to prevail,' Tajani said.

Italy is involved in defensive naval missions in the Red Sea 'but I don't see any missions that can be extended to Hormuz,' he added.
Grace Tame needs saving from herself. Not from her critics, or the media, or an imagined conspiracy hatched up by political and ideological enemies.

Because it seems whenever Tame opens her mouth on matters beyond the cause that first made her a compelling public figure, she manages to make an already bad situation even worse.

What began as a powerful platform built on courage has degenerated into a rolling spectacle of self sabotage.

The latest example is the worst one yet: her claim on ABC Radio that allegations of sexual violence committed by Hamas on October 7 had been 'debunked' and were 'propaganda'.

This is despite the UN finding there were reasonable grounds to believe rape and gang rape occurred during the attacks. And despite first hand testimony by various victims.

That's not fearless truth telling, it's reckless, glib and profoundly stupid.

Tame rose to national prominence because Australians saw in her someone willing to say the unsayable about sexual abuse, institutional cowardice and the failure of powerful people to protect the vulnerable.

It gave her a reservoir of public goodwill most activists can only dream of having.

Grace Tame said in an ABC Radio interview that the reports of sexual violence committed in the October 7 terror attacks in Israel were 'propaganda'

But goodwill is not inexhaustible. The mistake Tame keeps making is to assume that because she was brave and effective on one issue, she's therefore entitled to lecture the country on anything else, no matter how ill-judged, inflammatory or half-baked her interventions become.

She now sounds less like a serious advocate and more like someone addicted to the applause of the most hysterical people in the room.

With public prominence comes public responsibility.

If you choose to opine on complex and explosive international issues, especially those involving terrorism, rape and ethnic hatred, you don't get to toss around claims of 'propaganda' when the subject is women brutalised in the midst of a massacre.

The pattern of Tame's fall from grace is now impossible to ignore. She led chants to 'globalise the intifada' at a Sydney rally that turned violent.

Tame then claimed a 'smear campaign' was behind the loss of speaking engagements, when a mirror would have better identified the culprit.

Nike had already ended its partnership with her back in June last year after reviewing her social media posts on the Israel-Gaza war.

What corporate would want to be affiliated with all of that bile?

Tame's use of the phrase 'globalise the intifada' in front of thousands of Sydneysiders at a rally earlier this year was widely criticised

It's always tempting for public figures in Tame's self-inflicted position to imagine themselves as persecuted truth tellers. It's much harder and much rarer, however, for some like her to admit that people are recoiling because the things being said are appalling.

Tame keeps acting as though every backlash is proof of her virtue. Sometimes backlash is just backlash. That's why the best thing Grace Tame could do now is shut up for a while.

Not forever, and not because she lacks the right to speak out. And certainly not because criticism should silence her.

She has plainly lost the ability to distinguish between bluntness and wisdom. Every new interview becomes another opportunity to alienate people who once admired her.

Its own goal after own goal. Grace needs to be saved from herself before it's too late. She sure has nothing to smile about courtesy of her latest rhetoric mess up.

Perhaps that's what Albo intended when he described her as 'difficult' during that now notorious word association game on stage in Melbourne.

He later said he had was referring to her having had a difficult life.

The tragedy in all this is that Grace did not need to become this. The unraveling has been spectacular. She had a real cause and a meaningful voice. She could have remained a formidable advocate on the issue that made her matter in the first place.

The former Australian of the Year claimed a 'smear campaign' was behind her losing a string of financially lucrative speaking gigs and not her outspoken opinions

She's now even quit as CEO of the foundation named after her. Tame remains on the board, but the foundations latest financial filings reveal $180,000 in debt built up over the past two financial years. The foundations future viability is in question.

People who once listened to Tame on child sexual abuse and institutional betrayal now see a figure who can't keep her foot out of her mouth, and each time she says the wrong thing she blames everyone other than herself.

It's all such a tragedy.
Gerry Adams has spectacularly deluded himself by continuing to deny he ever held a leading role in the IRA, a veteran BBC journalist told the High Court today.

John Ware, who worked for the BBCs flagship investigative series Panorama and has made documentaries for other channels, said it would be a travesty if history recorded that Adams was never a member of the paramilitary group.

The former Sinn Fein president, 77, is being sued for vindicatory damages of just 1 by three survivors of IRA bombings on the British mainland between 1973 and 1996.

He has always denied being a member of the IRA.

The claimants in the civil trial allege that, due to his leading role in the terror group, Adams was directly responsible for the attacks.

The trial has heard evidence from former soldiers and police officers involved in intelligence-gathering in Northern Ireland during The Troubles, a former IRA member and the family of an IRA murder victim who met with Adams, who all claim he was a senior IRA figure and even the groups de facto leader.

In a written witness statement, Mr Ware, who has reported on The Troubles for 50 years and interviewed Adams on at least two occasions, said he wasnt sure whether Adams has persuaded himself that he wasnt in the PIRA [Provisional IRA] by virtue of his strategic and leadership role, as opposed to being the person who pulled the trigger or planted the bombs.

Of his continued denials, he added: The rest of us are metaphorically open-mouthed at his chutzpah, given the sheer weight of evidence from his colleagues, comrades and other sources.

Gerry Adams at the Royal Courts of Justice in London on Monday for the fifth day of a civil trial examining his alleged membership of the IRA

The court heard Mr Ware, 78, made a 1983 ITV documentary about Adams entitled The Honourable Member for West Belfast.

At the time, Adams had just been elected as the abstentionist Sinn Fein MP for the constituency.

He said that he interviewed IRA figures who had known Adams from when he allegedly joined the IRA at the age of 16 and they wanted to speak because of his constant denialism.

The principal motivation for many PIRA interviewees was their complete and utter astonishment at Adams brazen, unequivocal, and unambiguous denial of his role in the PIRA, he said.

It clearly grated with many of them that when Adams said that he strongly supported the armed struggle, his denial of actual PIRA membership allowed him to avoid taking personal responsibility for their actions.

He added: Adams seemingly elevated himself to a higher moral plane than the PIRA, when it was they who were sacrificing life and limb  as they would see it - for a cause Adams was leading.

In short, they saw Adams denial of PIRA membership as insufferably hypocritical.

Documentary filmmaker and investigative journalist John Ware appeared for the claimants, discussing three films he has made about Adams

When it was suggested by Adams barrister, Edward Craven KC, that his client was never in the IRA, Mr Ware, who left the BBC in 2012, said: It would be a travesty if that is how history recorded Mr Adams role in the conflict.

He added: As I have said and said to Gerry himself, there is no question he played a seminal role in bringing [the conflict] to an end, but he also played a seminal role in starting it.

Mr Ware also claimed that sources had told him that the 1979 IRA murder of Lord Mountbatten  a second cousin of Queen Elizabeth II  could not have been carried out without his approval.

He added: Gerry Adams has been a significant figure in the conflict and helped end it but he also misses out the case he also started it.

That is the missing bit and I think its important history should record that as the objective truth.

The court also heard yesterday from retired British Army Brigadier Ian Liles, who served numerous tours of Northern Ireland from the 1970s.

He said he had been privy to high-grade intelligence which suggested former Northern Ireland Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness was involved in the day-to-day operations of the IRA while sitting on the Army Council, whereas Adams was the director who ordered others to do the dirty work.

He added: I dont know if Adams has started to believe his own story that he wasnt in the PIRA, but to me it looks like the only person who thinks that Adams wasnt in the PIRA is Adams.

Adams is being sued by John Clark, a victim of the IRAs Old Bailey attack in 1973; Jonathan Ganesh, who was injured in the 1996 attack at Londons Docklands and Barry Laycock, who was injured in the attack at Manchester's Arndale Shopping Centre in the same year.

Adams denies any involvement in the bombings and membership of the IRA.

The trial continues.
SK hynix to participate in 'GTC 2026' in San Jose, March 16-19

Exhibition themed 'Spotlight on AI Memory' to unveil full lineup of AI memory solutions

Key executives, including SK Chairman Chey Tae-won and SK hynix CEO Kwak Noh-jung, to attend and expand global AI collaborations

SEOUL, South Korea, March 17, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- SK hynix Inc. (or "the company", www.skhynix.com) announced today that it is participating in GTC 2026, held from March 16 to 19 in San Jose, California.

NVIDIA GTC is the global AI conference where business leaders and developers gather to share the latest breakthroughs and future trends in AI and accelerated computing.

SK hynix memory solutions are designed to minimize data bottlenecks and maximize performance for both AI training and inference in NVIDIA AI infrastructure. Through its participation in GTC 2026, the company plans to demonstrate its competitive edge in memory technology  the core infrastructure of the AI era.

Under the theme 'Spotlight on AI Memory,' SK hynix will feature an exhibition space dedicated to the AI memory technologies and solutions. The booth will consist of three main areas: the NVIDIA Collaboration Zone, the Product Portfolio Zone, and the Event Zone. The exhibition is designed around interactive content to provide visitors with an intuitive understanding of AI memory technology.

The NVIDIA Collaboration Zone, located at the entrance, is the centerpiece of the exhibition, highlighting the synergy between SK hynix and NVIDIA. The company will display the memory configuration mounted on GPU-based AI accelerators through physical models and actual hardware, focusing on the actual application of SK hynix's memory products such as HBM4, HBM3E, and SOCAMM2 designed for NVIDIA AI platforms.

Notably, the company will showcase a liquid-cooled eSSD developed in collaboration with NVIDIA, along with an NVIDIA DGX S park , desktop AI supercomputer equipped with SK hynix's LPDDR5X.

In the Product Portfolio Zone, visitors can view a comprehensive lineup of memory products engineered for the AI era. This includes the infrastructure-essential HBM4 and HBM3E, as well as high-capacity server DRAM modules, LPDDR6, GDDR7, eSSD, and Automotive Solutions.

An interactive environment allows visitors to use joysticks to select products and view specific features and use cases on-screen, enabling them to explore and understand the technology at their own pace.

The Event Zone offers a hands-on experience with an 'HBM 16-High Stacking Game.' By virtually stacking memory chips, participants can gain insight into the TSV (Through Silicon Via) process and high-stack packaging technology, fostering a deeper understanding of how high-performance AI semiconductors are manufactured.

Throughout GTC 2026, SK hynix plans to explore future collaboration strategies aligned with current global AI trends. Key executives, including SK Chairman Chey Tae-won and SK hynix CEO Kwak Noh-jung, will meet with global tech giants to share insights on AI evolution and infrastructure shifts while discussing long-term strategic partnerships.

The company will also host technical sessions to discuss the future of AI-driven manufacturing and the pivotal role of memory technology in achieving high-performance AI.

SK hynix highlighted that as AI technology evolves, memory is transcending its role as a mere component to become a core element that determines the architecture and performance of the entire AI infrastructure. By applying its memory expertise across the entire AI spectrum  from data centers to on-device applications  the company aims to shape the future of AI alongside its global partners.

About SK hynix Inc.

SK hynix Inc., headquartered in Korea, is the world's top-tier semiconductor supplier offering Dynamic Random Access Memory chips ("DRAM") and flash memory chips ("NAND flash") for a wide range of distinguished customers globally. The Company's shares are traded on the Korea Exchange, and the Global Depository shares are listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange. Further information about SK hynix is available at www.skhynix.com, news.skhynix.com.

SOURCE SK hynix Inc.
Donald Trump's new pick for Homeland Security Secretary is one of the most prolific stock traders in Congress.

Over the past three years since becoming a Senator, Markwayne Mullin ranked 20th among all members of Congress when it comes to the volume of money he has in the stock market, according to Capitol Trades tracking of lawmakers' stock activity.

In the last 90 days, Mullin ranks fifth among all lawmakers for trading activity.

And it's likely due to an explosion in his portfolio activity a few days after Christmas and just weeks before it was announced he would replace embattled former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.

His stock purchases are nearly certain to come under fire at his confirmation hearing on Wednesday with the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

While there's no definitive proof of insider trading, financial news site Finbold called his investments and their timing 'suspicious.' Specifically his up to $50,000 purchase of stock in Carpenter Technology, which produces alloys used in military aircraft and missiles, on February 4  just one month before President Trump launched a war with Iran.

The Oklahoma Republican included in his January disclosure to Congress purchasing as much as $2.76 million on December 29, 2025 by investing in 31 different companies. This includes as much as $50,000 in Chevron, which is the only major US oil company producing in Venezuela.

This leads to another questionable timeline considering just five days after the purchase, Trump gave the green light for an operation to invade Venezuela, capture its leader Nicolas Maduro, extradite him to New York for prosecution and have the US take partial control of the country.

Senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma is one of the most prolific stock traders in Congress with $24.25 million in trades over the last three years

This includes between $15,000 and $50,000 purchased in Chevron on December 28, 2025  just days before President Donald Trump's invasion of Venezeula

Mullin's trading ramped up after he joined the Senate in 2023. His personal wealth in general has inflated substantially since he became a lawmaker in 2013 for an Oklahoma House district.

According to the New York Times review of his financial disclosure forms, Mullin's assets and worth were assessed at between $29 million and $97 million in 2024. This was up from between $2.8 million and $9 million in 2012.

Congressional reporting rules only require lawmakers to provide ranges of wealth and assets, which is why there is such a broad potential of where Mullin's wealth lands according to his own reporting.

Mullin purchased between $15,001 and $50,000 in Chevron shares at the end of last year, leading to questions over whether he was aware of impending action in Venezuela due to his admittedly frequent chats with Trump.

Trump after taking control in Venezuela demanded new leadership give better terms to US oil companies  and Chevron's stock price skyrocketed in response despite an overall slip in the market.

While there is no indication Mullin, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, had inside knowledge of the administration's plans to invade Venezuela ahead of the stock purchases, his financial activity will face fresh scrutiny this week as the Senate considers his nomination to head the highly controversial Trump Department of Homeland Security.

Perhaps one of the only remaining bipartisan measures these days is support for banning members of Congress from stock market activity due to their inherent knowledge that could easily lead to insider trading threats.

A Forbes analysis reported by multiple ethics groups found that lawmakers, spouses and their dependents reported more than 13,000 trades worth more than $600 million in 2025.

Reached for a comment, a spokesperson for Mullin's Senate office told the Daily Mail that the senator 'uses an independent, third-party operator firm that manages all stock investments on his behalf.'

'This independent firm currently reports with Senate Ethics in compliance with federal law,' they added. 'If confirmed as the next U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, Senator Mullin will act to ensure full compliance with all ethics and conflict of interest rules.'

Members of Congress are not prohibited from trading stock  even in industries they oversee as part of their committee duties.

Multiple bipartisan groups of lawmakers have tried to change that.

Trump announced in March his nomination of Mullin to replace embattled DHS Secretary Kristi Noem

Trump posted on March 5, 2026, that Mullin would replace Noem, who struggled to escape scandal after scandal during her one-year tenure

At least five bills have been introduced in the last year that would in some way restrict trading for members of Congress.

In January Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Republican Senator Ashley Moody of New York introduced the Restore Trust in Congress Act, which would altogether ban lawmakers and their immediate family members from trading or owning individual stocks.

This represents a proposal that has consensus from both parties following negotiations on how to handle the controversial issue. It has broad support.

Despite the public support and perceived congressional agreement, this bill has not gotten a floor vote because it remains stuck in committee. Historically congressional stock trading restrictions have face structural and self-interested hurdles in the chambers.

On the House side Republican Representative Bryan Steil of Wisconsin, Chairman of the House Administration Committee, introduced the Stop Insider Trading Act to ban members of Congress, their spouses and their dependent children from purchasing publicly traded stocks.

During his first State of the Union address of his second term, Trump earned a rare standing ovation from the Democrat side of the aisle when he championed passing Steil's proposal to 'ensure that members of Congress cannot corruptly profit from using insider information.'

'They stood up for that. I can't believe it,' Trump said when this earned applause from Democrats but then stopped the bipartisan moment to single out former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

'Did Nancy Pelosi stand up?' he questioned before quipping: 'Doubt it.'

California Democrat Representative Nancy Pelosi scowled at Donald Trump's State of the Union on February 24, 2026

The California Democrat is one of the member of Congress who has faced the most scrutiny for her wealth accumulation and stock activity while serving as a lawmaker.

Primarily the stock activity involving her venture capitalist husband Paul Pelosi has come under fire from both parties and the public due claiming the couple potentially profited from insider information due to her high-level of access to legislative actions.

In 2021, Pelosi said: 'We are a free-market economy. They should be able to participate in that.'

Finally in 2022 she announced support for bipartisan bans on individual stock trading to help boost public confidence in Congress. But critics say the delay in support allowed her family to continue accumulating wealth, which hit over $260 million by 2025.
Brits were today warned they must brace for energy rationing as the Middle East crisis continues.

Former No10 energy expert Nick Butler said the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran meant there would be a global 'shortage' of oil within weeks.

Prof Butler, who was an adviser to Gordon Brown and worked for BP for nearly three decades, insisted ministers must be ready to protect the 'crucial sectors' of the economy.

The grim message comes as politicians scramble to minimise the impact from the US-Israeli war with Iran.

Pump prices have already been soaring, while there is alarm that the energy price cap could rise dramatically when it changes again in July.

Donald Trump has appealed for countries such as the UK, France, Canada and even China to help tankers pass through the critical Strait - through which around a fifth of the world's oil supplies usually pass.

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Pump prices have already been soaring (file picture), while there is alarm that the energy price cap could rise dramatically when it changes again in July

The US said the only country that could make a 'significant contribution' to closing the supply gap is Russia, but that would by unacceptable to Russia.

Asked on BBC Radio 4's Today programme if the crisis was already going to have an effect, Prof Butler said: 'We've now had more than a week of almost no tankers coming out of Hormuz, that will continue this week on everything that you've reported this morning...

'And there will be a real shortage, a physical shortage of supply in a few weeks' time. How long that goes on we don't know but I think the government here, and other governments, must now be preparing for a significant shortfall of supply over the next two months.'

Pressed what that meant for ordinary Brits, Prof Butler - now a visiting professor at King's College London - said: 'I think it does mean a form of rationing.

'I think we learnt from the tanker drivers dispute in 2000 that oil and gas supplies are absolutely crucial to the running of the economy and you can't bring on new supplies quickly...'

He added: 'In the short-term, we have to look at what supply we have and look at the crucial sectors, the health service, food supply, hospitals, those are key elements that must be protected.

'And beyond that, it is then for the government to decide how to ration what is left if we get to that situation.'

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Prof Butler said the shortage 'implies price volatility, it implies competition between countries for supply'.

'We are not on our own in this. Europe is 90 per cent dependent on imports of both oil and gas. We are about 60-65 per cent. Everybody will be looking for whatever is available,' he added.

Prof Butler said he believed the UK should ramp up oil and gas activities in the North Sea - although that would not make a difference in time for the current turmoil.

He said ironically the only country that could fill the gap in oil supplies was Russia, but that would not be acceptable to the West.
A religious self-admitted murderer begged a judge for the death penalty after he was accused of heinously killing and crucifying an elderly pastor in his Arizona home.

On Thursday, Adam Sheafe, 51, appeared in Maricopa County Superior Court and pleaded 'no contest' to charges of allegedly murdering 76-year-old Pastor William Schonemann in New River on April 28, 2025.

Sheafe was indicted in July on nine charges, including first-degree murder, three counts of attempting to commit first-degree murder, first-degree burglary, and kidnapping, among several others.

After the alleged killer, who is representing himself in court, was denied pleading no contest, he impatiently changed his plea to guilty, hoping to speed up the court procedures.

'We're dragging this out in the interest of justice,' said Sheafe to the judge. 'What about the victim's families? What about me? What about my family? We want closure so we can move on with our lives.'

'If there's at least one aggravating factor and no mitigating factors, a guilty defendant is to be sentenced to death. So sentence me.'

Sheafe claims to have no mental health issues and told True Crime Arizona correspondent Briana Whitney in June: 'I want the death penalty because I want to show that you can't kill God's son.'

He also revealed that he had a list of 14 additional intended targets across several states, all religious leaders.

Adam Sheafe, 51, appeared in Maricopa County Superior Court on Thursday and pleaded 'no contest' on murder charges of a pastor in Arizona

76-year-old Pastor William Schonemann was found dead and covered in blood, with his body spread out and hands pinned to the wall, at his New River home on April 28, 2025

Sheafe begged the judge to speed up the process so his family and the victims can have closure and get on with their lives

Most of the planning, as Sheafe described, took place while he was broke and camping in the Arizona desert after his release from federal prison.

The self-admitted killer explained the pastor's death in horrific detail.

After allegedly executing Schonemann, he placed a crown of thorns, crafted from materials he gathered in the woods, on the elderly man's head.

The pastor was found on his bed, arms spread and hands pinned to the wall.

'I was going to put the Ten Commandments in order on each of the priests,' he chillingly said during the interview.

Among his murder charges, police also accused him of breaking into a home in Cave Creek and stealing a pickup truck.

He admitted stealing a car and breaking into homes, though he denied doing so for valuables.

He also revealed during an interview from jail before he begged for the death penalty that he had a list of 14 additional intended targets across several states, all religious leaders

In that same interview, Sheafe also described the disturbing scene deputies found at the pastor's home -including a crown of thorns, crafted from materials he gathered in the woods, placed on Schonemann's head

He managed to avoid capture for some time, evading police in a high-speed chase at one point where he crashed his car into another vehicle and disappeared, leaving his vehicle behind.

The abandoned car, found near a trailhead, had been stolen from Cave Creek. Inside, authorities reportedly found evidence linking Sheafe to Pastor Schonemann's murder.

Sheafe was caught days later after a manhunt for multiple burglaries. He claims he planned to continue his nationwide spree of religious killings if not caught.

Just days after his capture, Sheafe reportedly sent a letter to the FBI, confessing details that only someone who had witnessed the bloody crime scene could know.

'I told the FBI agent, look, I want the death sentence,' Sheafe said. 'I'll plead guilty right now, on the spot... I want the death sentence, and I want the execution date right now.'

The Maricopa County Attorney's Office intends to seek the death penalty, according to a filing cited by Law & Crime.

Sheafe is scheduled to appear back in court in April.
An Afghan migrant who served with the US military died while in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody after his tongue swelled up less than 24 hours after he was detained, officials said.

Mohammed Nazeer Paktiawal, 41, was detained by federal agents on March 13 while he dropped his children off at school in Texas, according to his brother, Naseer Paktiawal.

The father-of-six was taken into custody because he had a 'known criminal history' that included alleged Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) fraud on September 16, 2025, and an arrest for theft on November 1, ICE said.

The agency also said that Mohammed's temporary legal status had expired, but according to his family, he was in the country legally after serving in the US military in Afghanistan before evacuating in 2021, CBS News reported.

Just hours after his arrest, federal officers contacted Emergency Medical Services after Mohammed started to complain of chest pains and shortness of breath while locked inside the ICE Dallas Field Office processing holding room, the agency said.

From there, he was transported to Parkland Hospital, where he received a breathing treatment. He was also told he had to remain there to be monitored by a doctor, officials added.

While eating breakfast the following day, medical staff noticed that Mohammed's tongue had swelled up.

He immediately received medical treatment, but after 'multiple lifesaving efforts,' Mohammed died around 9.10am.

Mohammed Nazeer Paktiawal, 41, died on March 14 while in ICE custody in Texas. He was a father to three sons and three daughters

During his arrest and processing, Mohammed 'did not report any prior medical history,' the agency said.

The cause of his symptoms remains unclear, and his death is under investigation, according to ICE.

Naseer said his late brother was hired by the US government as a member of the Afghan special forces and had worked alongside them for more than ten years.

'He was a hero to his family, to his people, and to his country,' Naseer told the outlet.

He entered America on August 21, 2021, at Washington Dulles airport in Maryland, 'paroled into the US by an immigration officer,' or given temporary permission to enter and remain in the country, under former President Joe Biden's administration.

The initiative, called Operation Allies Refuge, was an evacuation effort during the 2021 Taliban offensive.

It saw more than 124,000 people, including American embassy employees, US special immigration visa applicants, and certain at-risk Afghan civilians, airlifted out of Afghanistan during the final weeks of the war.

When he entered the US, Mohammed did not provide his military record, ICE said.

Mohammed's brother, Naseer Paktiawal, said his late brother was hired by the US government as a member of the Afghan special forces and had worked alongside them for more than ten years

His parole expired on August 20, 2025, and according to his brother, the young father had a pending immigration case.

Naseer, who launched a GoFundMe page in the wake of his brother's death, said he just wants justice for Mohammed.

'All I want. I want justice for my brother. I don't need anything else from this government,' he said.

Naseer said his brother was a father to three daughters and three sons, who he said 'depended on him for everything.'

'Nazeer Paktiawal was a beloved father, brother, and friend who meant the world to his family and community,' Naseer added.

As of Monday afternoon, more than $140,000 had been raised for his grieving family.

His death has also sparked reaction across the country, as Mustafaa Carroll, the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Texas, said the community is calling for a 'full and transparent investigation into the circumstances surrounding Mr Paktiawal's detention and death.'

He was taken into custody because he had a 'known criminal history' that included alleged Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) fraud on September 16, 2025, and an arrest for theft on November 1, ICE said

'This tragedy comes during the final days of Ramadan, the most sacred time of the month when Muslims reflect on mercy and justice,' Carroll said.

'Detention does not erase a person's humanity. Every individual in custody must be treated with dignity, safety, and respect,' he added.

Department of Homeland Security Deputy Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis told CBS News: 'No one in ICE custody is denied access to proper medical care.

'It is a longstanding practice to provide comprehensive medical care from the moment an alien enters ICE custody. This includes medical, dental, and mental health services as available, and access to medical appointments and 24-hour emergency care. This is the best healthcare that [sic] many aliens have received in their entire lives.'

The Daily Mail contacted ICE for comment.
A mother has appeared in court charged with murdering her 18-day-old daughter who fell to her death from a window.

Zahira Byjaouane, 43, was not asked to enter a plea at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Monday and spoke only to confirm her name, date of birth and address during the minutes-long hearing.

She waved to loved ones in the public gallery as she entered and left the dock of the court.

Police were called to Horseferry Road in Westminster, London, on Saturday, after receiving reports that a baby had fallen from a height.

The newborn girl was taken to hospital, where she was tragically pronounced dead.

Flowers and a toy animal were left near the Peabody Estate building on Sunday morning, where a police cordon had been lifted.

Her case was deemed too serious to be dealt with at the magistrates' court and was sent to the Old Bailey where she is due to appear on Wednesday.

Judge John Zani told her: 'This case has to be dealt with at the higher court and you will be appearing at the Central Criminal Court in two days' time, which is March 18.

Zahira Byjaouane, 43, appeared in court charged with murdering her 18-day-old daughter

Police stand guard beside a cordon in Horseferry Road in Westminster, London, after a baby fell to her death

'It is in custody by reason of the nature of the allegations. Bail does not arise in this court.'

An officer in a blue forensic suit was seen on Saturday evening in a grey van parked down the road, which was closed off to traffic.

Two forensic officers could be seen working in the third-floor flat on Saturday evening.

The street is also home to a number of government buildings, including the Department for Transport's offices.

According to Byjaouane's LinkedIn profile, the mother worked as a clinical coordinator at Harley Street from 2024 until 2025.

She previously worked at three London hospitals as an associate practitioner and laboratory assistant

Detective Chief Inspector Alison Foxwell, who is leading the Met's investigation, said: 'Our thoughts today are with the baby's family.

'The death of an infant is always an extremely tragic occurrence, and officers are making urgent enquiries around the circumstances.

'At this stage, we believe the incident occurred within a domestic context, but we are appealing for anybody with information to come forward.'
For confidential support, call Samaritans on 116 123, visit samaritans.org or visit www.thecalmzone.net/get-support

A businessman accused of driving his wife to suicide got progressively rougher during sex with her and enjoyed it when she fought back, a court heard.

Christopher Trybus, 43, slowly moved the 'line' of acceptable behaviour before he 'blew up' one day, his wife Tarryn Baird wrote in her diary.

Trybus is on trial accused of manslaughter and of waging 'extensive and escalating controlling, coercive and manipulative behaviour including sexual violence of two rapes' towards Ms Baird, 34.

In an unprecedented case, prosecutors say Trybus 'is legally responsible' for his wife's death due to the 'tsunami' of abuse even though he was away when she was found hanged in the garage of their Swindon home on November 28, 2017.

He denies the charges.

On Monday jurors were read entries from her diary in which she said the abuse 'started slowly over the years'.

Something was 'unleashed', she wrote, after Trybus put his hands around her neck during sex.

Christopher Trybus arriving at Winchester Crown Court where he is on trial for manslaughter

Tarryn Baird, 34, (pictured) was found at her home in Swindon, Wiltshire, in November 2017

Reading out Ms Baird's diary entries to Winchester Crown Court, Hants, on Monday prosecutor Tom Little said in one from early 2016 she wrote: 'I will never forget the day it all overflowed and he blew up.'

She added: 'It started slowly over the years without me even knowing it, then progressed'.

Ms Baird said: 'The line keeps moving.

'The line has been crossed.

'It has almost become the new norm.'

She described feeling his hands around her neck during sex one night, and after this she felt something was 'unleashed'.

Ms Baird continued: 'Progressively sex got rougher and the more I fight back, the more he enjoys it.

'It's like there was this side of him hidden all these years.'

On another date, she wrote: 'Nobody knows what goes on behind closed doors, nobody knows what goes on in my head.

'Every day is a struggle fighting this darkness and loneliness.'

Another entry said: 'I have been thinking about things like all the years Mum and I fought and how ugly they got, then she had her affair and lied about it and made us all think we were crazy.'

The court has previously heard that Trybus threatened to reveal private information about Ms Baird's family.

Mr Little also said that in May 2017, Ms Baird Googled the phrase 'throat pain after strangulation'.

In another diary entry, she added: 'He never shares his feelings, so I walk on egg shells.'

The jury at Winchester crown court was also told that messages between Ms Baird and her friend Libby Clarke - who she confided in - were missing from her mobile phone.

It included one about her being in contact with Women's Aid.

Subjects she also searched on the internet on her mobile phone including 'strangulation domestic abuse' also vanished.

Others included 'Can you spoof iPhone location?' and 'Can you spoof iPhone location on Friends and Family?'

The court has previously heard how Ms Baird had told Mrs Clarke on January 30, 2017 that Trybus had hurt her.

She had asked her: 'Tarryn, has he hurt you?'

Ms Baird responded: 'Yes Libby, I'm afraid he has.'

But Rosemary Latham, a Dorset Police crime analyst, told the court: 'There were a number of messages that were on Libby Clarke's download.

'But they were not showing on Tarryn Baird's phone.'

Prosecutor Tom Little KC said: 'In relation to those messages that were missing on the device, are you able to identify when they were removed from the device or not?'

Ms Latham replied: 'No.'

The court had previously been told how Trybus regarded his wife as a 'trophy' once they were married after being 'besotted' with her when they first met.

Ms Baird's mother Michelle Baird - who broke down in tears while giving evidence - also told how her daughter said in front of Trybus how he would kill her.

The court was told how he said he would break her neck, chop up her body and then dissolve it in acid.

Mrs Baird insisted it wasn't a jokey conversation in reference to TV show Breaking Bad, like it was suggested, but it was Ms Baird trying to warn her mother of 'something.'

Trybus, of Swindon, insists he loved his wife but her mental health issues meant she lied about his behaviour.

The court has also heard how Ms Baird suffered from PTSD after witnessing two armed hijackings in her homeland of South Africa.

She and Trybus emigrated to the UK after they wed in 2009 because she was concerned about crime there.

Ms Baird worked for Trybus's company from home, doing his administration and accounts.

He has insisted he 'loved and cherished' his wife telling lawyers her purported domestic abuse injuries were from 'kinky bondage' and consensual 'rough sex'.

His lawyers have suggested Ms Baird had 'mental health problems' and her suicide was a 'cry for help that went tragically wrong'.

The trial continues.
Thousands of Brits fleeing the Middle East war including those living in Dubai are urging the UK Government to confirm whether they will face large tax bills.

Some of the 160,000 British nationals registered in the region could face a higher tax bill if they have returned to the UK since the US-Israeli attacks on Iran began.

Experts warn the unexpected move could take them over 183 days spent in the UK during the current financial year, which ends in just three weeks' time on April 5.

With some Brits having been close to the limit before the outbreak of war, their return could mean their income generated abroad becomes taxable in the UK.

Thousands of Brits have moved to the United Arab Emirates in recent years to make the most of its largely tax-free regime and enjoy a more luxurious lifestyle.

But the UAE has faced attacks from Iranian drones since the war began on February 28, including in Dubai on the Burj Al Arab hotel and International Financial Centre.

Just this morning, flights had to be cancelled at Dubai International Airport  one of the world's busiest hubs - after an Iranian drone damaged a fuel depot on the site.

Black smoke rises from an ongoing fire at Dubai International Airport after a drone strike today

An Emirates Airbus A380 aircraft prepares for landing as smoke is seen at Dubai Airport today

Sandra Jeevan, a partner at accountancy firm UHY Hacker Young, told The Times: 'We are hearing from many families who never intended to return to the UK this year but now have had no choice.

'They could face exposure to UK tax simply because their emergency return alters their UK residence position. When you are trying to move your family to safety, you are not focused on daycount rules or technical residence tests.

'While [HM Revenue & Customs] has updated its guidance to acknowledge that the outbreak of war can qualify as an 'exceptional circumstance' for residency purposes, the rules remain highly restrictive and are strictly limited in scope.'

Those who breach the 183-day period because of an 'exceptional circumstance' or 'circumstances outside their control' can have 60 days disregarded from their total.

But Government rules also state that someone choosing to stay in Britain to be with family following the end of an initial crisis is not normally deemed 'exceptional'.

Empty beds in front of buildings along a beach at Jumeirah Beach Residence in Dubai last week

A man checks his mobile phone while sitting on his camel on the beach in Dubai last week

Some are even looking at staying in countries such as Ireland and France instead of returning to Britain to ensure they avoid a big UK tax bill, reported The Guardian.

Nimesh Shah from advisory firm Blick Rothenberg said: 'I've had a disproportionate number of calls from people wanting to leave the UAE in recent weeks.

'I've told them not to rely on any exceptional circumstances provisions from HMRC. I can't imagine HMRC are very sympathetic here.

'There's UK taxpayers who have decided to leave to go to the likes of UAE. In HMRC's mind they've chosen to go there to not pay tax in the UK. They're not going to give you a green light to spend more time here and not pay tax.'

A HMRC spokesman told the Daily Mail: 'The existing rules provide the right protection while following the basic principle that individuals living in the UK should pay tax in the UK.

'Exceptional circumstances, such as being affected by a war, are taken into account.'
Donald Trump's planned visit to Beijing may be put on ice as the US-Iran war continues.

Trump told the Financial Times that he 'may delay' his three-day visit to China, scheduled for March 31 to April 2.

In the same interview, Trump called on China and other nations to help protect oil tankers wishing to pass through the narrow Strait of Hormuz, through which some 20 percent of the world's oil transits.

Trump has attempted to recruit other nations to help police the Strait in a gambit to halt exploding crude oil prices.

'Hopefully China, France, Japan, South Korea, the UK, and others, that are affected by this artificial constraint, will send Ships to the area so that the Hormuz Strait will no longer be a threat by a Nation that has been totally decapitated,' Trump posted on social media on Saturday.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian dodged the issue of sending Chinese ships to the Strait at a briefing on Monday. He also did not elaborate on the upcoming Trump trip to China.

And now Trump's advisors are claiming that the President's journey to Beijing could be temporarily put on hold.

'I know President Xi was very excited to welcome President Trump to Beijing, and I know President Trump looks forward to this trip. It's really just a matter of the timing,' White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday morning.

President Donald Trump is scheduled to visit Beijing, China, from March 31 to April 2 to meet with Chinese President Xi JInping for the second time in six months. Now, Trump is saying he may have to postpone the summit due to the US-Iran war. Above the two leaders are shown at a summit in South Korea in October 2025

Trump has called on China and other countries to help defend the Strait of Hormuz from Iranian interference as oil tankers pile up and global oil prices are spiking

Roughly 20 percent of the world's oil supply transits through the narrow Strait of Hormuz right off of Iran's coast. It is just 24-miles wide at its narrowest point

'It is a leader-to-leader conversation at this point,' Leavitt continued. 'The president looks forward to visiting China. The dates may be moved. As commander-in-chief, it's his number one priority right now to ensure the continued success of this Operation Epic Fury.'

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also had a similar talking point while appearing on CNBC Monday morning.

'If the meeting, for some reason, is rescheduled, it would be rescheduled because of logistics,' he said.

'The President wants to remain in DC to coordinate the war effort, and that traveling abroad at a time like this may not be optimal.'

There is concern among the administration about sending the military to escort tankers through the narrow, 24-mile waterway, as US Naval ships could be within range of Iranian drones and missiles.

The President and several members of his Cabinet have signaled that the US Navy will escort oil tankers through the Strait 'soon,' though they have not given specifics on when that will happen.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright said last week that it would likely happen in March, but the President has not gone as far.

Brent crude oil, the global oil benchmark, has risen over 40 percent since the US and Israel struck Iran on February 28, killing its leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Join the discussion Should other countries assist the US in securing global oil?

The Trump administration has told voters that the increase in gas prices will be temporary, and that it is a worthwhile sacrifice for Americans because of the historic opportunity to cripple the Islamic Republic

Kharg Island contains deepwater ports for oil tankers and huge oil storage facilities

Smoke rises from the direction of an energy installation in the Gulf emirate of Fujairah on March 14, 2026. Smoke could be seen rising from the direction of a major UAE energy installation on March 14, in what appeared to be the latest strike targeting the Gulf's petroleum facilities, hours after the US struck Iran's Kharg Island

The average gas price for a gallon of regular is $3.72, according to AAA. The average a month ago was $2.93 per gallon.

The President has said the increase in prices is a 'very small price to pay for USA safety and peace.'

On Friday, Trump bragged about a massive strike on Iran's Kharg Island, a small outpost of its coast that facilitates a majority of the nation's oil exports.

'Moments ago, at my direction, the United States Central Command executed one of the most powerful bombing raids in the History of the Middle East, and totally obliterated every MILITARY target in Iran's crown jewel, Kharg Island,' he wrote.

He added that he did not go after the island's oil infrastructure 'for reasons of decency', but said it's not out of the question if Iran makes a wrong move.

'However, should Iran, or anyone else, do anything to interfere with the Free and Safe Passage of Ships through the Strait of Hormuz, I will immediately reconsider this decision,' he said.

The Iranian military responded that oil and energy infrastructure owned by US-linked firms would 'immediately be destroyed and turned into a pile of ashes' if the United States struck its oil facilities, according to Iranian media.

On Saturday, it was reported that oil facilities in the United Arab Emirates were hit by Iranian strikes in retaliation for the Kharg offensive.
A group of hard-left activists who staged a mass shoplifting spree to 'give to the needy' include a former probation officer who glued herself to the M4 during an Insulate Britain protest.

Ruth Cook, a 74-year-old grandmother from Somerset, stole food from a Morrison's store in Exeter on Saturday morning as part of a series of coordinated stunts that also targeted Tesco and Sainsbury's stores in Manchester, London and Truro.

Take Back Power has previously dumped manure at the Ritz and custard on the Crown Jewels to draw attention to its plea to 'tax the super rich'.

Ms Cook, who was filmed loading food into a box embossed with the group's logo, is a veteran of Britain's loony left - and in 2021 was part of a mob of Insulate Britain activists who glued themselves to the M4.

The Quaker, who founded a training company after leaving the Probation Service, said she had spent decades in the probation service 'upholding the law' but resorted to disruptive protests so she could 'look her grandchildren in the eye'.

But a judge criticised the M4 protest for causing 'huge disruption' and gave her a six-month prison sentence. She was also told to pay 3,500 and 350 for a separate offence in 2022 that saw her spray the Home Office with paint during a Just Stop Oil protest.

Afterwards, Ms Cook said she did not intend to take part in any further law-breaking demonstrations - a vow she has now broken.

Ruth Cook, a 74-year-old grandmother from Somerset, stole food from a Morrison's store in Exeter on Saturday

Ms Cook (second from right) was part of a group who glued herself to the M4 during an Insulate Britain protest in 2021. She is pictured with her co-defendants

Eve Middleton, 25, said she had raided a Tesco in Manchester to protest against the 'insane inequality [corporations] are profiting from'.

A second Take Back Power member involved in last weekend's protests is Eve Middleton, 25, who raided a Tesco in Manchester. In a video on Facebook, she said she was protesting against the 'insane inequality [corporations] are profiting from'.

The group's co-founder is Arthur Clifton, 25, the privately educated son of a top executive at a superyacht insurance broker.

The group has raised tens of thousands of pounds in online fundraising for its campaigns to 'tackle economic inequality' and impose greater taxes on the rich.

After this weekend's protests, it wrote on social media: 'All the food we liberated this morning was delivered to food bank donation points, to go to the people who need it most.

'The CEO of Sainsbury's pays himself 239 times that of an ordinary full time employee in his company.

'The super rich don't need a 'magic money tree' when they freely pick the pockets of working people every single day. It's theft. Nothing more, nothing less.'

Although the group said activists were confronted by security staff in Exeter and London, they stated on their website that no one had been arrested so far.

When the Daily Mail contacted police, they said officers in London found that activists had paid for the food, so no offences had been committed. The group told the Daily Mail this was not true.

Ms Cook (on the right) with three other Take Back Power members at a Tesco supermarket in Exeter

The group also targeted stores in Manchester and London, as well as Truro in Cornwall

Privately educated Arthur Clifton, 25, co-founded Take Back Powe

Earlier this month, the Met arrested 15 people as part of an attempt to interrupt the group's plans.

Britain remains in the midst of a shoplifting epidemic, with cases doubling since the pandemic.

Police closed 295,589 shoplifting cases without identifying a suspect in the year 2024-25 - the equivalent of officers shelving 34 offences an hour.

Mr Clifton co-founded Take Back Power in January this year with a pledge to carry out acts of 'civil disobedience' in the hope of advancing its anti-capitalist cause.

But capitalism appears to have suited him rather well, with the Londoner enjoying a wealthy upbringing courtesy of his high-flying executive father.

Michael Clifton, 58, is a boss at international insurance brokers Chaucer, which boasts of having taken $3.1 billion (2.3 billion) in premiums in 2024.

In a huge contrast to what Take Back Power stands for, Chaucer boasts on its website of providing insurance coverage for private yachts  the preserve of the superrich  as well as other vessels such as cruise ships and tankers.

A source said: 'Where Arthur's dad works is in direct opposition to the aims and objectives of Take Back Power.

'Arthur has been given a private education and a wonderful lifestyle most young people can only dream of, funded by his dad working in the same environment he claims to want to fight against.'

Take Back Power's previous stunts include pouring custard over the Crown Jewels last year

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Arthur grew up in an upmarket West London property and attended Latymer Upper School, one of the top public schools in the country where annual fees are 30,000.

Records show he was recently living in a 2 million house.

The activist was previously a member of direct action group Youth Demand. Earlier this year he was given a 12-month community order, with 120 hours of unpaid work, for causing 5,000 of criminal damage by spraying orange paint at University College London in 2023.
Three asylum seekers have gone on trial accused of gang-raping a woman on a beach.

Egyptian national Karin Al-Danasurt is facing four counts of rape, while countryman Ibrahim Mohamed Alshafe and Iranian Abdulla Amih Ahmadi are each facing two.

Al-Danasurt is also accused of sharing videos of the alleged attack.

The trio, all in their twenties, appeared at Hove Crown Court today, assisted by translators.

Prosecutor Hanna Llewelyn-Waters is expected to open the case tomorrow.

The defendants are alleged to have each raped the woman on a section of Brighton beach on October 4 last year.

The woman was 33 at the time and said to have been vulnerable, it was previously reported.

She cannot be named because sexual offence complainants are granted anonymity.

Karin Al-Danasurt, an Egyptian national, is accused of raping a woman on Brighton beach in October last year

Ibrahim Alshafe, also from Egypt, is accused of raping the same woman

Addressing the court, the judge Her Honour Christine Henson KC warned jurors would be shown footage of the incident.

She said: 'This case concerns alleged rapes by three men of one woman on Brighton beach in the early hours of October 4, 2025.

'As part of the evidence, pixelated footage of the incident will be played to you.'

The jury comprises seven women and five men.

The judge added: 'Don't form any rush views - keep an open mind throughout the trial.'

The judge also urged jurors to treat evidence objectively, regardless of a witness's 'lifestyle'.

She said: 'Don't fall into the trap of thinking someone is less worthy of belief because of lifestyle choices.

'People go out, get drunk, they party, they get high. They may do it for no reason at all.'

She said someone wearing 'suggestive clothing' did not mean they were 'up for having sex'.

'The lived experience of a sexual assault may well not be remembered in a neat, consistent, forensic parcel so you will want to bear that in mind,' the judge added.

'It is well established through the courts that a traumatic event can affect memory and the ability to particularise details and the order of events.'

The Home Office previously confirmed all three defendants arrived in the UK via small boats and had pending decisions on their asylum claims.

The defendants - Al-Danasurt, 20, and Alshafe, 25, both from Horsham; and Ahmadi, 26, from Crewe - deny the charges and the trial continues.
Broader Infrastructure Focus Supports Grid-Connected Renewable Development Nationwide: Opens New Source of Capital for Developers

VIENNA, Va., March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- SolaREIT, the leading solar and battery storage real estate investment company, announced today the expansion of its land financing solutions to include the critical infrastructure real estate that supports solar and storage projectsspecifically land for substations and transmission corridors. This strategic move enables developers to secure capital not only for generation sites, but also for the associated land needed to interconnect and deliver clean energy to the grid.

"Developers are navigating one of the most challenging capital environments in the history of the energy industry, with clean energy lending growth slowing from 22% to just 5.8% year over year," said Laura Pagliarulo, CEO of SolaREIT. "By expanding our financing solutions to include associated infrastructure, we're giving developers a powerful new tool to unlock capital and keep their projects moving forward."

As solar and storage development continues to scale across the country to meet growing energy demand, the real estate required to interconnect clean energy projects to the grid has become an increasingly criticaland often overlookedcomponent of project finance. Substations and transmission corridors represent significant land holdings that, until now, have largely remained untapped as a source of capital for developers. SolaREIT's expanded offering addresses this gap directly.

SolaREIT has provided the real estate financing for more than three gigawatts of clean energy projects valued at over $5 billion. The expansion of its financing solutions to include substation and transmission land builds on that foundation and reflects the company's ongoing commitment to supporting developers with innovative, flexible capital solutions.

For more information, visit www.solareit.com.

About SolaREIT

SolaREIT, based in Virginia, is an innovative renewable energy real estate company focused on delivering financing solutions for solar and battery energy storage developers. SolaREIT, a minority and women-owned business, was founded in 2020 as a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) by clean energy industry veterans with a proven track record in finance, project development, real estate, and community solar. The team is passionate about renewable energy and believes that solar and battery energy storage land financing plays a critical role in expanding the clean energy economy.

SOURCE SolaREIT
Donald Trump has given another timing update on the US-Iran war, as oil tanker traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has come to a standstill, though some are warning the war could last most of the year.

The average gas price for a gallon of regular has risen to $3.72, according to AAA, up from $2.93 a month ago.

Speaking to PBS News on Monday, the President said he called the inflated gas prices 'a very small price to pay' and that 'the oil prices will drop like a rock as soon as it's over.'

'I don't believe it will be long,' he said when asked about how much longer the war will drag on.

But three sources familiar with the matter told Axios that the Middle East could bleed into September, a much longer timeline than Trump has ever discussed publicly.

It's dangerous territory for the President with the midterm elections just weeks later. Americans largely oppose the conflict, according to an exclusive Daily Mail/JL Partners poll.

Thirteen US troops have been killed so far in the war, and 200 troops have been injured, including 10 'seriously,' Central Command spokesperson Capt. Tim Hawkins said Monday.

Trump first told the Daily Mail in a phone interview that the war could last up to four weeks. Later, he indicated it could last up to five.

'I don't believe it will be long,' Trump said Monday when asked about how much longer the war will drag on

An aerial view of Iran's Kharg Island, an outpost that is responsible for roughly 90 percent of the country's oil export industry

Trump posted videos of the US strikes on Kharg Island targeting the airstrip and other military objectives

Since then, the President has been cagey on the exact timing of the conflict, not wanting to show his hand to the media ahead of any actions regarding Iran. He has also said the war will last as long as 'necessary,' without giving further explanation.

His flip-flopping messaging on the war comes as Americans express skepticism over the fight and the midterms loom in November as Republicans on Capitol Hill seek to maintain their small majorities.

'We are behind the eight ball as far as the electoral process,' Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky told Fox Business last week.

'If you add in high gas prices, high oil prices, and if we are still bombing Iran with kinetic action  people dont want to call it war  if theres still kinetic action that causes oil to be over $100, I think youre going to see a disastrous election.'

Brent crude oil, the global oil benchmark, has risen over 40 percent since the US and Israel struck Iran on February 28, killing its leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Analysts and energy executives have warned that gas and oil prices will rise further, and after Trump ordered strikes on Iran's energy chokepoint, Kharg Island, which accounts for some 90 percent of the country's exports, markets are expected to spike further.

Still, the President is wary of how his military 'excursion' into Iran can impact the global economy.

'Kharg Island is out of commission except for the pipes, which I left,' he told PBS. 'I didn't want to hit the pipes because, you know, it's years of work to put them together.'

On Friday, American forces struck military targets on the small island outpost off the Iranian coast.

A couple of thousand individuals work on the island, many of them critical to maintaining the deepwater ports, used by heavy oil tankers, and the energy infrastructure critical to Iran's oil export industry.

'We are behind the eight ball as far as the electoral process,' Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky told Fox Business last week

Sources told Axios that the conflict in the Middle East could last into September

Trump told the outlet he asked the military to leave '100 yards' around 'anything having to do with oil' untouched in the strikes, noting how laborious it can be to rebuild critical oil infrastructure.

He also disclosed he'd have no qualms with striking it again.

'I told them openly, I'll knock the hell out of it.'

Iran's UN ambassador says over 1,300 people have been killed in Iran in US and Israeli attacks. Israel says 12 people have been killed in Israel by Iranian attacks. The US says 13 of its troops have been killed.
Two men and a woman have been arrested on suspicion of murder after a man was found dead inside a wheelie bin.

Police were called by a member of the public after the man, believed to be aged between 40 and 50, was found in a green wheelie bin at Cash's Park in Coventry at around 5pm on Friday.

Inquiries are still ongoing to formally identify the man and establish how he died, the force added, and said he may have been hit by a vehicle before being moved to the park.

However, a man and woman in their 40s and a man in his 20s were arrested overnight in Blackpool.

All three were arrested on suspicion of murder and assisting an offender and remain in custody this morning.

Police confirmed they are treating the incident as murder and enquiries are ongoing.

Anyone with information is urged to submit it through the Major Incident Public Portal (MIPP).

Several key details about the victim were released yesterday, including descriptions of his tattoos.

Police were called by a member of the public after the man, believed to be aged between 40 and 50, was found in a green wheelie bin at Cash's Park in Coventry at around 5pm on Friday

Inquiries are still ongoing to formally identify the man and establish how he died, the force added, and said he may have been hit by a vehicle before being moved to the park

The man had one tattoo of a cross with a snake wrapped around it and the words 'Little Startdust' on his back and a another on his right arm reading 'Nan' with a clover and the colours of the Irish flag.

Detective Chief Inspector Phil Poole, from the Major Crime Unit, said: 'After beginning our investigation this weekend, we have made a number of arrests overnight.

'All of these people remain in custody at this time while we continue to build a picture of what might have happened.

'Thank you to everyone who has been in touch, providing information so far.

'We are continuing to appeal to anyone who might know more about what happened and whether they can help our investigation.

'Anyone with information can call 101, quoting log 4148 of March 13.

'We have also activated our Major Incident Public Portal (MIPP), where you can submit images and videos.'
Lying in a hospital bed, looking weak and attached to wires, this is one of the teenage victims of the Kent meningitis outbreak - whose anguished mother feared she was going to die.

Casey Marlow, 19, was rushed to hospital a few days after she and her friends visited a Canterbury nightclub to celebrate her birthday.

A Year 13 pupil called Juliette at a school in Faversham and a student at the University of Kent have both died after a wave of cases was linked to the venue, while 11 people have been left seriously ill.

Meningitis is spread through close contact such as kissing, and microbiology experts today confirmed the Canterbury cases are of the serious bacterial form of the disease.

Infectious disease experts believe the outbreak is 'unusual' and may be linked to a combination of lower vaccination rates since the Covid pandemic and a 'new strain with different behaviours'.

The ACWY-135 vaccination protects against meningitis and is given to 13 to 14-year-olds. Vaccination rates among students are at about 73 per cent.

Casey's mother Emma Marlow, 38, spoke to the Daily Mail today from her daughter's bedside in an isolation ward at William Harvey Hospital in Ashford.

She gave permission for this website to use the shocking photograph of her daughter, who appears weak and exhausted after being diagnosed with meningitis.

Mrs Marlow, a custody detention officer from Ashford, explained that Casey began to feel ill a few days after the night out and her condition quickly deteriorated.

She told the Daily Mail today: 'Casey went to the nightclub on Friday, March 6 and a few days later said she had a sore throat, but at first we didn't think anything of it.

Casey Marlow, 19, was rushed to hospital a few days after her and her friends spent the evening at a nightclub thought to be at the centre of the deadly outbreak of meningitis

Casey's mother Emma Marlow said her daughter should make a full recovery with antibiotics

Casey was taken to the hospital by boyfriend Brandon Williams after her symptoms worsened

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'Then on Saturday she pulled up outside my house and called me said she felt awful, she had a raging temperature, a stiff neck and a terrible headache.

'She looked really pale and we just went to the hospital where she has been ever since. She's in isolation but she's getting a bit of colour back and is getting a lot of mummy care.'

Casey, who works at a local Five Guys burger restaurant, told her mother she had 'felt rough' during the week after her nightclub visit but put it down to a 'lurgy'.

Mrs Marlow added: 'We just didn't think it was anything serious, just one of those bugs that goes around. She said she had no energy and just felt so exhausted but the Saturday she was taken in she had such a raging temperature and looked awful.

'You just don't think something like this will happen to you or one of your family.'

Mrs Marlow revealed that Casey, who should make a full recovery with antibiotics, was at Club Chemistry in Canterbury with another girl and two boys.

She said: 'We just hope they all pull through. It's awful for those who have lost children. I would just say to people be aware and even if you aren't sure just get yourself checked out if you live in the area and don't feel well.

'Casey was lucky, she was with her boyfriend in the car, and they drove straight to the hospital where she was immediately seen to. She was put on antibiotics and had a lumbar puncture and had been looking really pale but she's got some colour back now.

'Before she went in she said she had been feeling rough, but we just didn't think it was something as awful as meningitis, you never do.

'Just before she called to say she didn't feel well she said she had been on a walk and her legs ached, the symptoms are so similar to other illnesses that you just don't think it could be something as serious as meningitis.

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Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

Matthew (left), 16, and Luca McDonagh (right), 17, in the queue for antibiotics at the University of Kent in Canterbury today. The brothers were at a party in Whitstable, Kent, on Saturday with one person who was asked to go to hospital because he was a close contact of someone who had meningitis, before later being given the all-clear and allowed home

Headmistress Amelia Milroy of Queen Elizabeth Grammar School in Faversham makes a statement today about her student Juliette who died from meningitis in the outbreak in Kent

Students wearing face masks walk through the University of Kent campus in Canterbury today

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'I would just say to anyone who has been in the Canterbury area to be aware and if they don't feel well get themselves checked out.

'I'm just going to stay with her and make sure she gets better as quickly as possible, bless her but she's still feeling weak and exhausted.'

Mrs Marlow added: 'I've had the UK Health Security Agency on, and they wanted to know who else Casey was with that night so they could be traced and checked.

'They have been helpful and have been sending me lots of information but what I'm worried about is that if this was known about why there were no warnings, if I had known I wouldn't have let her go to Canterbury that night.'

Meningitis alert: What are the symptoms and can it be treated? - What is meningitis and what causes it?? Meningitis is an infection of the protective membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord. It is usually caused by a bacterial or viral infection. Bacterial meningitis is rarer but more serious than viral meningitis. It can affect anyone but is more common in babies, children, teenagers and young adults. Meningitis can be very serious if not treated quickly, and can lead to life-threatening sepsis and permanent damage to the brain or nerves. - What are the symptoms? Symptoms of meningitis and sepsis can include a high temperature, cold hands and feet, vomiting, confusion, muscle and joint pain, pale, mottled or blotchy skin, spots or a rash, a headache, a stiff neck, aversion to bright lights, being very sleepy and seizures. Symptoms can appear in any order and some may not appear at all. - Why are young people at risk? According to Meningitis Now, one in four 15 to 19-year-olds carry meningococcal bacteria in the back of their throats, compared to one in 10 of the UK population. People can carry this harmlessly without becoming unwell, but it can be passed from person to person by coughing, sneezing and kissing. Increased social interaction in this age group means the bacteria can be passed on more easily. In universities, students can be more vulnerable because of living in more 'cramped' housing or halls of residence. Young people also come together from all over the world to live, study and socialise. - What causes these outbreaks and how serious are they? Outbreaks can happen when a particular meningococcal strain enters a community where people are mixing closely. Universities which include halls of residence, parties, and large social groups, can help the bacteria to spread more easily. But the risk to the general public in Kent is low, with people at the highest risk usually close contacts of cases. - How is meningitis treated? Hospital treatment is recommended by the NHS for all cases of bacterial meningitis. Treatments include antibiotics and fluids administered directly into a vein, oxygen if there are breathing difficulties, and in some cases steroid medication to prevent swelling around the brain. Patients may need to stay in hospital for a few days or weeks. In cases of mild meningitis, patients may be sent home if tests confirm it is viral, which usually gets better on its own. Most patients start to feel better within seven to 10 days. But severe viral meningitis may also be treated in hospital. - What action is being taken to stop the spread in Kent? Close contacts of the University of Kent students affected will be given antibiotics. On Sunday, the UKHSA said specialists were interviewing affected individuals and their families to 'help identify all close contacts and arrange antibiotics to limit spread'. The agency had also worked with the University of Kent to provide advice letters to all 16,000 students, providing information on recent cases, the signs and symptoms of the illness, how to obtain antibiotics, and what to do if they felt unwell. - Are there vaccines available for meningitis? There are two vaccines for meningitis. The MenACWY vaccine is a single dose jab that protects against four strains of meningococcal bacteria. It is offered to teenagers in school and is also available to those entering university, up to the age of 25. Experts say that this jab is 'highly effective at protecting against invasive disease'. But Andrew Preston, a professor of microbial pathogenicity at University of Bath, said that uptake among teenagers was about 73%. 'So there are a lot of unvaccinated students given the size of the student cohort,' he said. Elsewhere, there are the MenB, 6-in-1, pneumococcal and MMRV vaccines for babies and children. - What should you do if you think you have meningitis? The NHS recommends that people call 999 for an ambulance or go to their nearest A&E. People are advised to trust their instincts, as someone with meningitis or sepsis can get a lot worse very quickly.

It comes as two teenage brothers were left terrified after going to a party in Whitstable on Saturday, hosted by a friend who was asked to go to hospital because he was a close contact of someone who had meningitis, before later being given the all-clear and allowed home.

Matthew, 16, and Luca McDonagh, 17, said another person from their friendship circle was already in an induced coma after recently contracting meningitis.

Meningitis can be spread through close contact, and microbiology experts today confirmed that the outbreak in Kent is of the serious bacterial form of the disease.

The vaccination ACWY-135 is received by teenagers in England between the ages of 13 and 14, in Year 9. Experts say vaccination rates among students are 73 per cent.

Infectious disease experts believe the outbreak at the University of Kent is 'unusual' and may be linked to a 'new strain with different behaviours'. Eleven people have been left seriously ill, most of whom are also believed to be university students.

More than 30,000 students and staff at the campus have been alerted by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), warning them to stay vigilant against symptoms. The university has now postponed some in-person exams and moved others online.

Luca, who is in Year 13 at Simon Langton Grammar School, said no one in his year group at school is allowed to go in for lessons. He and his brother, at the same school, were told to come to the University of Kent to receive a precautionary antibiotic.

Matthew said: 'It's quite scary. I can't believe it. It's just insane. It's actually happening since Covid. I thought this literally never happened again, and then I'm in a massive queue. It's completely unbelievable. I never thought this would happen again.'

'We've been told that we don't even know if the pill that they give you is actually going to help us,' Matthew said. Luca added: 'It's pretty terrifying.'

The invasive outbreak is believed to be linked to a social event at a nightclub in Canterbury, which some of those affected had recently attended. The UKHSA is now arranging antibiotics for some students in the Canterbury area following the outbreak.

Queues formed today outside the Senate building after the university asked anyone who believes they have come into contact with those who contracted meningitis and have not been contacted by the UKHSA to attend between 9am and 4pm.

The NHS states meningitis can spread through close, direct contact with an infected person's saliva or mucus, such as kissing, coughing, sneezing or sharing utensils.

Student Jude File, 15, was also at the Whitstable party and received a text from friends on Monday to say one of those who attended had been diagnosed with meningitis and was now in a coma.

Speaking with his father Dan's permission, Jude told the Daily Mail: 'Everyone's a bit freaked out but I've been to get the vaccine so I'm sure it will be okay.

'What's worrying is how quickly this is spreading and it doesn't seem to be isolated. I feel fine at the moment, but I didn't go to school as I thought it was better to stay home.'

The party was held at a private address in Whitstable on Saturday night and the person in a coma was said to be a boy aged around 17 to 18.

Jude added: 'I don't know him, he's a friend of a friend. I was just at the party as a friend's band was playing there.

'It was for pupils from Langton Boys School and Langton Girls School in Canterbury. I don't go there, I'm at school in Folkestone but have friends there.

'We got the bus to Whitstable from Canterbury and there were Kent University students on there, so I wonder if that was the source ?

'I went to the university to get the vaccine this morning, it's a tablet called ciprofloxacin, I had to say who I have been in contact with at the party. It's just prevention but best be safe than sorry.'

After the death of Juliette, Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School headmistress Amelia McIlroy fought back tears as she said outside the school gates today: 'We've got a lot of very upset children. It is with great sadness that we are confirming the loss of Juliette - a much loved and treasured member of our school community.

'Juliette was a student at our school for seven years. She was incredibly kind, thoughtful and intelligent, and she loved our school. She was really very happy here.

'Juliette embraced everything that school had to offer, with great enthusiasm and joy, and her humour and her positivity were captivating. In short she was a lovely girl. Her beautiful smile, her loving nature and her sense of fun will be hugely missed.

'We are all devastated. Our love and our thoughts are with her family and friends at this terribly sad time. Our priority now is the safety and well-being of all members of our school community, and we are continuing to work closely with the UKHSA to ensure they are all as well as they can be.'

Andrew Preston, professor of microbial pathogenicity at the University of Bath, said today: 'Uptake of the ACWY vaccine among adolescents is around 73 per cent, so there are a lot of unvaccinated students given the size of the student cohort. So, an outbreak of this size and speed is very unusual, and of great concern.

'It is important to characterise the cause of the outbreak. A sudden change in disease pattern could indicate something like a new strain with different behaviours. It will be important to ascertain the vaccination status of those affected.

'Fortunately, antibiotic resistance isn't yet a major feature of these bacteria, so prophylactic antibiotics can be given to close contacts of cases, as is being done in Kent.

'There will also be an opportunity for those who did not receive their adolescent vaccine the chance to have a catch up jab, but the immunity from that will take a little while to develop.'

Mr Preston added: 'UKHSA have reported the outbreak is likely to be meningococcal, so Neisseria meningitidis bacteria. These bacteria inhabit the nasopharynx and in the vast majority of cases colonise that niche without causing any issues.

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

Face masks are distributed as people queue for antibiotics at the University of Kent today

Students queuing for antibiotics outside a University of Kent building in Canterbury today

'In a very small number of cases, the bacteria can gain access to the blood, where the pathogenic Neisseria meningitidis can survive and multiply. This is sepsis, another devastating disease.

'From there, bacteria can cross the blood brain barrier to access the central nervous system, leading to meningitis.'

Professor Paul Hunter, an infectious diseases expert at the University of East Anglia said meningitis vaccines are part of the UK's routine schedule run by the NHS, which focuses on protecting against the most common strains:

MenB vaccine for infants (8 weeks, 12 weeks and one year)

MenACWY vaccine for teenagers (usually in school year 9  ages 13 and 14)

Catch-up MenACWY jabs are also available for young adults who didn't get it aged 14

The decision not to routinely vaccinate teenagers against Group B is based on advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation.

Mr Hunter said: 'The committee looks at cost-effectiveness, and current analysis suggests the Group B vaccine in teenagers isn't economically justified.

Another key issue is that the Group B vaccine does not stop people carrying or spreading the bacteria. By contrast, vaccines against Group C and ACWY strains reduce carriage and transmission.

Some other countries do offer MenB vaccines to teens as a booster - although it is not known whether Men B is involved in the Kent outbreak.

Dr Michael Head, senior research fellow in global health at the University of Southampton, also said: 'There is a high level of 'carriage' of the bug that typically cause meningitis outbreaks, with maybe 20 per cent of the population harmlessly carrying the bacteria in their nose or throat.

'If individuals encounter a strain that they do not have sufficient immunity against, then infection is possible. Carriage rates are usually highest in teenagers and younger adults, hence why new populations mixing at university can cause outbreaks.

'And as we have seen, the disease can be severe and occasionally fatal. Vaccination has been the key tool to reduce the numbers of meningitis cases and deaths.'

Meningitis is an inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord. It can be caused by bacteria, viruses, or fungi, with bacterial meningitis being the most severe.

The disease can progress rapidly, leading to serious health complications such as brain damage, hearing loss, or even death if not treated promptly.

Face masks are distributed as people queue for antibiotics at the University of Kent today

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

Health inspectors going into Tyler Block at the University of Kent in Canterbury last night

Common symptoms include a high fever, headache, stiff neck, sensitivity to light, confusion, and in severe cases, seizures.

Officials were today working to establish the strain of the illness, thought most likely to be the deadliest type, meningitis B.

Trevor Reid, of charity Meningitis Now, said: 'This is not the type level of cases we have heard of for many, many years. It is very rare that we would see anything like this and we are extremely concerned.'

One person in every two or three who survives bacterial meningitis is left with one or more permanent problems such as hearing loss, brain injury or behavioural changes.

The MenB vaccine  the only protection against the bacteria  is only available on the NHS for young children, as they are seen as the most at risk.

This protects them for a couple of years, and for older children a booster or vaccine costs about 220 privately.

Campaigners want a vaccine or booster to be offered to young adults on the NHS, warning many do not know they are starting university unprotected.

Mr Reid said: 'There is a generation growing up without protection. It's tragic that you have these young people going to university believing that they have had a vaccine and are protected but they're not.

'We have a lot to do with parents who are bereaved. They want us to be even more vocal than we are. What victims' families tell us is that they don't know they're not protected and they want that message out there.'

Keith Neal, retired professor of the epidemiology of infectious disease at the University of Nottingham, said: 'I dealt with many university cases and a few community outbreaks in the past when meningitis was more common. This current outbreak is unusual.

''Invasive' means the germ has invaded into the blood stream or brain linings from the throat.

'Risk to those in the Kent area is low although this is a community outbreak so there is a small risk; I suspect in the older teenage and student groups. Under 5s are most at risk to becoming seriously unwell with meningitis but teenagers and students are at a higher risk due to social mixing.'

Speaking at the university today, Mashaal Chughtai, 22, a third-year law student, said: 'My mum and dad are on their way to get me now from Birmingham. It is going to take them about four hours. My mum rang about seven times asking if I was alright. It is all very strange.

'I am in a dodgeball society and my friend texted me. At first we thought it was someone in Kent, not a student, but then we were told someone in the university had died.

'We got an email from the UKHSA saying these are the symptoms and to watch out if we start to feel any of them. Then the university emailed us too. I am going up to the Senate building just as a precaution because my mum told me to take the antibiotics.'

One girl living in Tyler Court, where an ambulance and doctors in hazmat suits arrived yesterday, added: 'A close family friend was taken to hospital last night because she was complaining of symptoms. She was in my flat. We heard this morning her temperature has come down and hopefully she will be alright.'

Meanwhile a second block, thought to be the Turing block, is also said to be affected.

Josh, a man whose sister is in hospital with suspected meningitis, spoke to Sky News while queueing to get antibiotics this morning.

He said: 'It shakes your day a little bit, I can tell you that. As far as I'm aware she's actually just spoken to the consultant again, they're going to keep her in a little bit longer. But to the best of my knowledge, I've just spoken to my mum, and she seems okay.'

Confirming that he was queueing for the medicine, Josh added: 'Having been Mother's Day yesterday we were together, me, my mum and my sister, and so obviously it's precautionary more than anything, but we just wanted to make sure that we could get up here. We spoke to 111 and this is what they said to do.'

On campus last night, several people could be seen wearing masks in their own flats.

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

An ambulance was also seen parked outside one of the student blocks, with paramedics dressed in protective clothing and face masks preparing to enter.

Final-year history student Sam Shuker said: 'It's quite grim. I didn't think I'd be dealing with this four days out from my dissertation deadline.

'My thoughts go out to those who are suffering and please stay safe. I don't think we know what strain it is at this point but we've got to be on our toes. Social distance and all that.'

Eloise Thorne, a third-year psychology student, said the mood on campus was 'very surreal'. She added: 'It just feels like Covid all over again. Everyone is confused and no one knows what's going on.

'It's really sad as well. I keep seeing people spreading videos of people who are sick around and I just feel like that might not be the best idea. It's just scary, sad.'

Ms Thorne also said: 'I think people need to take it seriously so more people don't end up like that [seriously ill]'.

Brittany Nsongo, a first-year astrophysics student, said she has had a few friends report in group chats that they were feeling sick with flu-like symptoms.

She has been alarmed by the circulation online of images of students allegedly being taken out of buildings while visibly unwell. 'It just feels like there is no respect for the actual victims,' Ms Nsongo added.

Another student, Ethan Falkner, 23, who is studying politics and international relations at the university, said friends of his were 'nervous and anxious'.

'First reaction to hearing the news is wishes to the people who have lost their lives already and to the ones currently in hospital suffering,' he said.

'I had friends sat in the library this evening who on finding out the news, immediately packed bags and left to avoid contact with people.

'The university are yet to communicate to myself and as it stands my friends I'm in contact with and others in the university community have had no contact from the university itself regarding this critical issue.'

Amelia McIlroy, head teacher at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, told parents: 'It is with great sadness that we can confirm that on Saturday one of our much loved students in Year 13, died of meningitis. We are all absolutely devastated.

'Our love and thoughts are with their family and friends. Our priority now is the safety, well-being and support of all members of our school community at this terribly sad time.

'We will be working with UKHSA to ensure that all appropriate actions are taken to protect our students and staff.'

She added: 'If your child feels unwell  particularly with vomiting, purple-bluish bruise-type markings, unexplained high temperature or has cold hands and feet  you should seek immediate medical attention for them.'

Students are said to be at particular risk because of how often young people come together in large numbers.

Physiotherapy student Meg Draper, 18, died from meningitis weeks after starting at Bournemouth University last October.

The swimming and netball player, from Pontypool in South Wales, was immunised against meningitis A, C, W and Y and her parents said it was 'horrific' to find out a separate vaccination against MenB had existed.

They said their daughter would still be with them today if she had been offered the life-saving jab and are calling for a vaccine, or booster, to be made available to young adults on the NHS.

Trish Mannes, UKHSA regional deputy director for the South East, said: 'We understand that many people at the university and in the wider community will be affected by this sad news and we would like to offer our condolences to the friends and family involved.

'Students and staff will understandably be feeling worried about the risk of further cases; however, we would like to reassure them that close contacts of cases have been given antibiotics as a precautionary measure.

'Advice and support is being offered to the wider student community, and to local hospitals and NHS 111, and we're monitoring the situation closely.

'Meningococcal disease can progress rapidly, so it's essential that students and staff are alert to the signs and symptoms of meningococcal meningitis and septicaemia, which can include a fever, headache, rapid breathing, drowsiness, shivering, vomiting and cold hands and feet.

'Septicaemia can also cause a characteristic rash that does not fade when pressed against a glass.

'Students are particularly at risk of missing the early warning signs of meningitis because they can be easily confused with other illnesses such as a bad cold, flu or even a hangover.

'That's why it's vital that, if a friend goes to bed unwell, you check on them regularly and don't hesitate to seek medical help by contacting their GP or calling NHS 111 if they have these symptoms or you're concerned about them. This could save their life.'

There were 378 cases of invasive meningococcal disease in 2024/25, compared with 340 in 2023/24.

Cases of MenB, the most common cause of bacterial meningitis in the UK, have also risen. There were 313 cases compared to 301 in the previous year.

There are numerous strains of the meningococcal infection.

The MenACWY vaccination gives protection against MenA, MenC, MenW, and MenY and is routinely offered to teenagers in school Years 9 and 10 - and it can be given up to the age of 25 if it has been missed.

However, this vaccine does not protect against all forms of meningitis. Other strains such as MenB can circulate in young adults.

Some students at the University of Kent have been given antibiotics while others are in hospital. The specific strain of meningitis has not yet been identified.

A spokeswoman for the UKHSA said: 'We can confirm that UKHSA has worked with the University of Kent to provide advice letters to all 16,000 students, advising on recent cases, signs and symptoms, how to obtain antibiotics, and what to do if they feel unwell.'

Not all 16,000 students at the university will be given antibiotics, only those who are regarded as 'close contacts' of those affected.

Following news of the deaths, Canterbury MP Rosie Duffield posted: 'Terrible news about two students at University of Kent this weekend.

'Like most people in Canterbury, I'm thinking of those who loved them and will be most affected by these tragic deaths. Please follow the advice from the NHS which I'll post here. I'll update here with any information my team and I receive.'

Helen Whately, MP for Faversham and Mid Kent, also said: 'The meningitis outbreak in our area is a huge shock.

'Feeling so deeply sad for the young lives lost - a year 13 pupil at QEGS [Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School] and uni of Kent student. My heart goes out to their families.

'It's incredibly worrying too for the families of the young people in hospital, and others at risk. I am asking the NHS urgently for more information and guidance, especially given the rumours going round about where they may have picked it up.'

James MacCleary, MP for Lewes, tweeted: 'Devastating news from my old university. So sad to hear that two young people have lost their lives. We were all urged to get a meningitis vaccine when I was a student at Kent. I hope those in hospital make a full recovery.'

A University of Kent spokesman said: 'We are deeply saddened to confirm that one student from the University of Kent has died following a case of invasive meningitis.

'Our thoughts are with the student's family, friends and the wider university community at this extremely difficult time.

'The safety of our students and staff remains our highest priority. We are working closely with public health teams and are in touch with staff and students to ensure they get the advice and support they need.'

Louise Jones-Roberts, owner of Club Chemistry in Canterbury, confirmed the venue had been contacted by the UKHSA.

'We have been told somebody was in our club at the weekend who has since been diagnosed with meningitis,' she said. 'They have asked us if we have any methods for tracing who has been in to us.

'We have an ID scanner but that is more of a security measure... It takes pictures of some driving licences, ID cards and on so on. We've got tickets for events so we could trace ticket-holders, but most people pay on the door.'

She said her thoughts were with the families of those affected by the meningitis outbreak.

'I'm devastated,' she said. 'I can't imagine what the families are going through. Our thoughts are with the families. Meningitis affects healthy, young people and this is devastating. We will stay closed until we get further advice from the UKHSA.'

Tom Nutt, chief executive of Meningitis Now, said: 'We are deeply saddened to hear of the deaths of two young people following the reported outbreak of meningitis linked to the University of Kent.

'Meningitis can progress very quickly and its impact is devastating, particularly for young people and their loved ones.

'University students and young adults are among the groups at increased risk because meningitis bacteria can spread more easily in settings where people live, study and socialise closely together.

'We urge students, staff and families to remain vigilant for the signs and symptoms of meningitis.'

Amira Campbell, president of the National Union of Students, said: 'We are saddened to hear of the deaths, those who are hospitalised and the young people who are unwell.

'Our thoughts are with their family, friends and everyone at the University of Kent. We encourage everyone who is concerned to follow the advice being shared by health professionals.

'There is simply not enough awareness of meningitis, especially as young people head off to university. While we all expect the inevitable freshers flu, there are deadly viral strains also circulating, which students need to be protected against and aware of.'
A Miami teenager who said she fatally stabbed her boyfriend while the pair were 'horseplaying' with a knife has pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

Jahara Malik, now 18, arrived to court in a beige wrap-around dress and entered a guilty plea after knifing her boyfriend to death over an argument on December 20, 2024.

Yakheim Lollar, 17, and Malik had allegedly been arguing over Lollar trying to end their relationship, according to the victim's mother.

Lollar had been found by paramedics with a knife wound to his chest in the third-floor garage of his apartment complex just after 11pm. He succumbed to his injuries around an hour later.

Security footage saw Malik and a friend leaving a vehicle in the parking garage, with Lollar bleeding from his chest and Malik dropping a knife, police told the Miami Herlad.

Malik claimed she grabbed the knife instead of her usual pepper spray during a ride share, and said she was 'horseplaying with the victim.'

Police let her go until the medical examiner's office determined it had been murder and she was arrested in January 2025.

Malik was 17 at the time but charged as an adult. After previously pleading not guilty, her change in plea was not made as part of a deal.

Jahara Malik, now 18, arrived to court in a beige wrap-around dress and entered a guilty plea after stabbing her boyfriend to death over an argument on December 20, 2024

Yakheim Lollar, 17, and Malik had allegedly been arguing over Lollar trying to end their relationship, according to the victim's mother

Malik claimed she grabbed the knife instead of her usual pepper spray during a ride share, and said she was 'horseplaying with the victim'

'She took my son's life for no reason. She took my son's life because he was honest [with] her that he didn't want to be with her,' Lollar's mother Nathalie Jean told NBC 6.

'And she not realizing her actions, her behavior and her entitlement is the reason why he didn't want to be with her.'

Malik's attorney Larry Handfield argued that the stabbing was an accident.

'You have to understand that this was an accidental situation, this was not intended, and this young girl has no prior history in the juvenile system,' Handfield argued, the outlet reported.

'Her whole defense is horseplaying. Who horseplays with a knife? You are learned as a kid that you don't play with sharp objects, right?' Jean said.

Judge Christine Hernandez granted Malik be placed on house arrest at her bond court appearance last weekend, according to NBC 6. Beforehand, she had been allowed to go outside with GPS monitoring.

Jean, however, is outraged with the decision and is calling for Malik to receive the maximum sentence of 30 years behind bars.

'Right now, we feel like there was no justice served. She's still able to go out, even though if they got her in lockdown. What is the difference between her being in jail and at home? She still can't go nowhere, so why didn't she stay in jail?' the victims mother asked.

Lollar's mother Nathalie Jean, pictured, is outraged and is calling for Malik to receive the maximum sentence of 30 years behind bars

The victim's mother was joined by family, friends and classmates. Many wore shirts with pictures of Lollar printed on them

Jean said she believes Malik to be dangerous and immature, noting a video of her allegedly fighting in school and being suspended

'I want the max. That is what I want. A life for a life,' Jean said.

The victim's mother was joined by family, friends and classmates. Many wore shirts with pictures of Lollar printed on them.

Jean isn't convinced that Malik changed her plea out of the goodness of her heart, and told the Miami Herald: 'I feel like she just don't have any options left.'

'I don't think her guilty [plea] is genuine because if it was genuine she would have taken accountability the day it happened,' she added.

Jean said she believes Malik should be sent to jail and said the young girl is dangerous and immature, noting a video of her allegedly fighting in school and being suspended, NBC 6 reported.

Malik is set to be sentenced on May 5.
A predatory nursery worker who raped and sexually abused toddlers in his care could have been stopped sooner, furious families have said.

Nathan Bennett, 30, preyed on the two and three-year-olds at the Partou King Street nursery in Bristol to satisfy his 'uncontrollable and ungovernable sexual interest in male toddlers'.

He was jailed on Monday for 24 years with a further six years on licence after being found guilty of eight charges including rape, sexual assault and assault by penetration, relating to five children.

Bennett previously admitted 13 other charges relating to four of the five victims, who were aged two at the time.

Concerns were raised by parents and staff about Bennett's behaviour towards children as early as February last year.

In a statement issued by law firm Leigh Day, which represents several of the families involved, they said: 'Over the months before Bennett's arrest, a number of parents raised concerns about his behaviour.

'We know concerns were raised to members of staff - we believe those warnings and complaints were not properly followed up or escalated.

'Had appropriate action been taken sooner, we fear some of the abuse children suffered may have been prevented.'

Nursery worker Nathan Bennett, pictured, who raped and sexually abused toddlers in his care, has been jailed for 24 years. Families affected have now said he could've been stopped sooner

Bennett pictured during his police interview. The nursery worker preyed on toddlers at the Partou King Street nursery in Bristol

During the trial, video interviews with two of the children in the case - referred to only as Child A and Child E - were played to the jury.

In statements read to the court, the parents of some of Bennett's victims detailed how he had destroyed their lives.

The mother of Child E said: 'It is difficult to truly comprehend the severity of the impact this defendant's actions have had upon our family.

'The guilt and anger has been overwhelming in that we sent him to the nursery, and we should have protected him. That is all we wanted to be able to do.

'What truly worries us is the future unknowns. What will he remember about his abuse? We will not know the true impact of Nathan's actions for many years.

'We are determined only one life will be ruined and it will not be our son's.'

Child B's mother said: 'Our son should have been safe. However, that feeling of safety has been snatched away from us and we have lost trust in humanity.'

Child C's parents said: 'We feel manipulated, betrayed and completely let down. The strain has been overwhelming.

'What we want is simple - that he never has access to children again.'

Police launched an investigation into Bennett after staff caught him on CCTV putting his hands down the trousers of a child, which led to Bennett's arrest and later the closure of the nursery.

He was noted by staff to sit children on his lap for lengthy periods of time, wear a pair of trousers with holes in the crotch area, and seemed 'territorial' over certain toddlers and their parents, the court heard.

Giving evidence, the nursery worker said he was 'emulating' what was done to him as a child and denied having a sexual attraction to children.

Bennett told a police interview he finds it easier to be around children than adults, 'in a professional way'.

Passing an extended sentence on Monday, Judge William Hart described Bennett as an 'incorrigible and dangerous paedophile'.

'The children we see were not secure,' he said. 'They were at risk because unknown to staff and parents you were lurking ready to abuse them and to pollute their innocence with your own vile desires.

Avon and Somerset Constabulary previously released footage of Bennett's arrest in February 2025

Bennett was convicted of charges relating to children at Bristol's Partou King Street nursery, pictured

'Nathan Bennett, having presided over your trial and having heard and seen the evidence upon which you were convicted, I am unhesitatingly driven to the conclusion that you are an incorrigible and dangerous paedophile with an uncontrollable and ungovernable sexual interest in male toddlers.

'Not only the evidence against you, but your own evidence at trial and your presentation leads me to that conclusion.

'I find it impossible to predict for how long you will remain such a danger.'

The judge added: 'The simple fact of the matter though is that you prioritised your own sexual satisfaction over the welfare of these little children and that was due to your grossly distorted thinking and a degree of, to use an old fashioned word, evil.'

Bennett was also placed on the sex offenders' register for life and made subject to an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.

Leigh Day's statement on behalf of the families affected added: 'Today's sentence marks the end of a criminal investigation that has been devastating for families, but it does not begin to repair the harm caused to so many children.

'We entrusted our children to Partou King Street nursery believing they would be safe, cared for and nurtured.

'Instead, that trust was catastrophically broken by someone who abused his position in the most unimaginable way.'
Armed police surrounded two inner city high schools after receiving a 'live chat' threatening a weaponised attack on pupils and staff.

Parents of more than 2,200 children were told to keep them home while the threat was ongoing.

Police launched a major anti-terrorist style operation at Llanishen High School and Eastern High School in Cardiff.

The information received was that an individual planned to go to the schools in possession of weapons.

Officers with semi-automatic machine guns were seen patrolling the grounds of the two schools which are six miles apart.

Police have not revealed whether the individual was a current or former student of either school, and no arrests are believed to have been made.

Eastern High School, in the Cardiff suburb of Trowbridge, described as 'safe and pleasant'

Llanishen High School is set in a 'peaceful, family-friendly neighbourhood' in the Welsh capital

South Wales Police said the decision to close the schools today was for the safety of pupils and staff.

Superintendent Mark Kavanagh said: 'We have come to the decision, with support from Cardiff Council to keep these schools closed on Monday in order to avoid risk, following a report which was made to police on Sunday evening.

'This report is currently under investigation.

'This decision was not taken lightly but was made with the safety of pupils, staff and the wider school communities in mind.'

Parents received an email in the early hours of Monday morning saying both schools would be closed.

A mother who lives close to Eastern High School, in the suburb of Trowbridge, said: 'To start with, the police didn't say what the threat was, but when you see police walking around with machine guns you know it's something serious.

'Now we know that someone was turning up with weapons they made the right decision to close the schools.'

Police received the threat to harm people at the schools in a live chat message at 8.30pm on Sunday night.

A spokesman said: 'The information was that an individual had intention to attend the schools in possession of weapons.

'At this stage, the information is being actively investigated to assess the credibility and determine the origin of the threat.

'Following discussion between South Wales Police and Cardiff Council, a decision was made to close both schools.'

Parents criticised police for the 'vague' first statement which gave no information about the nature of the threat.

Some parents didn't see the email and children arrived at the school gates where they were told to go directly home.

There was a police presence throughout the day at both schools which were deserted with no teachers on site.

Llanishen is described as a 'peaceful, family-friendly place to live' while Trowbridge, to the East of the Welsh capital, is 'safe and pleasant'.

Both high schools were named in a TikTok craze called 'Red v Blue School Wars' which promoted battles between pupils from different urban areas.

A post online two weeks ago urged years 7 to 11 to take part with the slogan 'Be Violent' and pictures of a geometry compass, ruler and steel comb to be used as weapons.

Pupils were advised to ignore the social media posts on TikTok and Snapchat and told to attend lessons as normal.

A parent at Llanishen High said: 'At first I thought it was something to do with that but this looks like someone acting alone.

'I don't get how one individual could threaten two schools a 15-minute drive from each other.

'But the police have been at every entrance since before daybreak so they are keeping our kids safe.'

The police spokesperson said: 'At this time, there is no evidence or report of any persons attending either school posing a threat.

'An increased policing presence will be seen in the area while the investigation and searches continue.

'We understand this is causing concern for parents and the community.

'It is important that we fully assess the information and ensure appropriate safeguarding measures are in place.'
Kemi Badenoch has branded an article in the Guardian 'disgusting' - after it claimed the opening of a Gail's bakery near a Palestinian cafe is 'heavy-handed aggression'.

The Conservative Party leader condemned the opinion piece today, saying it is 'appalling', 'ridiculous' and 'antisemitic'.

It follows a storm of accusations on social media after the column suggested the presence of the new Israeli-founded bakery near the independent cafe was 'symbolic' of the war in Gaza.

The Israeli embassy's spokesman in the UK, Alex Gandler, said the piece, published on Saturday, was 'an astonishing exercise in bigotry disguised as moral commentary'.

Ms Badenoch has now waded in on the debate, telling the Daily Mail it is 'extraordinary that Gails bakeries are being attacked now, supposedly because they are Israeli-owned'.

She explained: 'This is just a cover; its antisemitism. It is disgusting. We need to stamp out this culture.

'We need more enforcement, more punishment for people who carry out these violent acts they are trying to intimidate people.

'I think it was an utterly ridiculous column appalling, actually.'

Kemi Badenoch (pictured) has branded an article in the Guardian 'disgusting' - after it claimed the opening of a Gail's bakery near a Palestinian cafe is 'heavy-handed aggression'

A Gail's in Archway, north London, pictured after it was attacked by vandals. A Guardian opinion piece prompted outrage after it described the opening of the shop as an 'act of heavy-handed high-street aggression' against Palestinians

The Guardian article features an interview with the Palestinian owners of Cafe Metro, Faten and Mahmoud, in Archway, north London - where a new branch of Gail's was recently established.

Mahmoud said that 'we compete with them (Gail's) legally', adding they had nothing to do with vandalism on the store before it opened.

Faten and Mahmoud had themselves been the target of violence by pro-Israeli activists previously.

Gail's was founded by Israeli baker Gail Mejia in the 1990s before being rapidly expanded by Israeli entrepreneur Ran Avidan from 2005 - but both are no longer linked to the company.

In 2021 Boston-based private investment fund Bain Capital acquired a majority stake in the business - which now has dozens of shops across the capital and its outskirts.

Gail's new Archway bakery was recently targeted by anti-Israel activists who claimed it has close connections to the Middle Eastern country.

The business says it has 'no links with any country or government outside the UK' and its chief executive has branded the campaign against it 'completely unacceptable'.

In this weekend's feature, Guardian columnist Jonathan Liew described the arrival of Gail's 20 metres away from Palestinian-owned Cafe Metro as 'symbolic' and 'an act of heavy-handed high-street aggression'.

Join the discussion Is the row over Gails bakery opening being blown out of proportion or is the criticism justified?

The article features an interview with Palestinian cafe owners in Archway, north London, pictured, where a new branch of Gail's was recently established

Mr Liew wrote: 'Critics accuse (Gail's) of accelerating gentrification and squeezing out smaller outlets. Campaigners point out that shareholder Bain Capital invests heavily in military technology, including Israeli security companies.'

He added: 'And so even though Gail's describes itself as "a British business with no specific connections to any country or government outside the UK", its very presence 20 metres away from a small independent Palestinian cafe feels quietly symbolic, an act of heavy-handed high-street aggression.'

But Ms Badenoch said: 'What it was insinuating, in my view, was based on antisemitism. We are a country where it hasnt mattered where youve come from we have always been open and tolerant.'

The Guardian today responded to anger over the column, telling the Jewish News: 'Complaints about Guardian journalism are considered by the internally independent readers editor under the Guardians editorial code and guidance.'
Volodymyr Zelensky is visiting Britain tomorrow as Keir Starmer warns the Middle East crisis must not be a 'windfall' for Russia.

Defence Secretary John Healey announced the Ukrainian president's impending trip in the House of Commons this afternoon.

The PM had stressed the need to stay focused on the plight of Kyiv at a Downing Street press conference this morning.

There are fears that the surging cost of oil and gas after the US-Israel strikes on Iran have given a massive boost to Vladimir Putin's war machine.

The West has been trying to maintain sanctions to starve Moscow of funding, but America temporarily loosened restrictions on Russia last week in a bid to bolster supplies.

Volodymyr Zelensky is visiting Britain tomorrow as Keir Starmer warns the Middle East crisis must not be a 'windfall' for Russia

The PM had stressed the need to stay focused on the plight of Kyiv at a Downing Street press conference this morning

In a small silver lining, Mr Zelensky could be able to leverage Ukraine's hard-won expertise in dealing with Iranian drones - which have been causing havoc across the Middle East.

Sir Keir said: 'I will be meeting President Zelenskyy soon, because it's vital that we continue to focus on supporting Ukraine.

'We cannot allow the war in the Gulf to turn into a windfall for Putin.'

In the Commons this afternoon, Mr Healey said the UK remained 'totally determined' to stand with Kyiv.

'We face two conflicts on two continents, supported by an axis of aggression with similar tactics and similar technologies,' he said.

'I say this to the Ukrainian people on behalf of the UK: we will not forget the war in Europe and our total determination to stand with Ukraine remains steadfast.

'And we will welcome President Zelensky to this country tomorrow,' he added.

The remark seemed to surprise Speaker Lindsay Hoyle, who said: 'Oh, right.'

Government insiders suggested Mr Healey had not been meant to reveal the visit was happening yet.
A man who is said to be a close associate of the new ayatollah has been given permission to build 33 luxury flats in north London.

Ali Ansari, who was added to the UK sanctions list in October, received the green light for his investment project at the exclusive Bishops Avenue in Barnet.

This is despite Mr Ansari's provision of 'support to hostile activity' by the government of Iran.

Politicians and housing experts have now raised concerns about the due diligence completed by councils and services firms.

Planning records show how the prominent Iranian financer - whose role as managing director of an Iranian bank was previously in the pubic domain - was able to command the services of prestigious professional firms to help manage the project.

Real estate company Savills agreed to manage planning amendments for Mr Ansari's Isle of Man company, Birch Ventures Limited, in June 2025 - four months before he was placed on the sanctions list.

More firms were soon instructed by Mr Ansari's company, prior to the sanction, including the developer Harrison Varma, Wolff Architects, and DS2 LLP, an organisation that advises on affordable housing requirements.

However, critics have now accused those who assisted Mr Ansari of failing to carry out their due diligence.

Ali Ansari (pictured), who was added to the UK sanctions list in October, received the green light for his investment project at the exclusive Bishops Avenue in Barnet

Pictured: Bishops Avenue - also known as Billionaire's Row

Mr Ansari's planners were also able to convince officials he should not have to provide any affordable housing within the development as this would make the project unviable.

Barnet council instead accepted a cash payment.

Margot Mollat, a senior research and policy manager at Transparency International UK, told the Times that by 2025 there was 'already enough information in the public domain to raise real concerns about the source of his funds as a prominent businessman from a state with high corruption risks'.

She added: 'Property purchases and planning applications involve lawyers, banks, real estate agents and developers, all of whom should have flagged these transactions given the risks associated with Ansari.'

Joe Powell, Labour MP for Kensington & Bayswater, added: 'If professional service providers are acting for a company owned by an Iranian linked to [Mojtaba Khamenei] then it's clear that further steps need to be taken to have a fully open register of foreign-owned property, with accurate information about the ultimate owners.'

Roger Gherson, a lawyer for Ansari, strongly denied any financial relationship with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps or the new supreme leader.

He said: 'It is his (Mr Ansari's) intention to challenge the UK government's decision to impose sanctions. In these circumstances where litigation is anticipated he has no further comment, although he would ask the media not to repeat these unfounded allegations.'

Barnet Council was approached for comment.
A wife allegedly stole 180million of bitcoin from her husband by secretly filming inside their home to spy on his passwords.

Fun Yung Li took the cryptocurrency from Ping Fai Yuen while the couple discussed getting divorced, the High Court heard.

Yuen, 44, alleges that his wife installed a secret CCTV system which captured where he hid his security passwords at their family home in an exclusive Brighton neighbourhood, the Times reported.

The businessman is suing his wife and sister-in-law for the Bitcoin, which has an estimated value of between 160million and 180million. The case relates to 2,323 Bitcoin.

The cryptocurrency was held in a digital ledger with an access key stored on a digital 'cold wallet', which is not connected to the internet and is protected by a six-digit PIN code.

The wallet could be recreated on a separate device, however, by anyone with access to Yuen's 'seed phrase'  a set of 24 words used as a master password to override other protocols.

Yuen claims that he first learned his wife was attempting to steal his Bitcoin in July 2023 when his eldest daughter voiced her suspicions.

He installed audio recording equipment in the family home, and said he can prove beyond doubt that Li 'obtained the seed phrase and exfiltrated the Bitcoin'.

Ping Fai Yuen is suing his wife and sister-in-law for the bitcoin, worth between 160million and 180million

Yuen claims that Li transferred his cryptocurrency to 71 other blockchain accounts, possibly with the help of her sister, Lai Yung Li

His wife was allegedly recorded discussing CCTV cameras she had installed in the home.

One transcript contained the exchange: 'The bitcoin has transferred to me but can it be seen that you have taken it?'

Yuen also allegedly recorded his wife discussing the risk of being referred to police over possible money laundering offences given the enormous sums in the digital wallet, the Times reported.

Yuen claims that Li transferred his cryptocurrency to 71 other blockchain accounts, possibly with the help of her sister, Lai Yung Li.

The businessman was arrested when he confronted his wife in August 2023, and eventually pleaded guilty to actual bodily harm and two offences of common assault.

Yuen in turn reported the alleged theft of the Bitcoin and his wife was arrested that December, the Times reported.

Detectives who searched the home found ten cold wallets, five recovery seeds and a number of watches.

Police have since confirmed they will take no further action pending new evidence, however.

The judge, Mr Justice Cotter, said Yuen had 'demonstrated a very high probability of success' in the case against his wife

Li, who was born in China and now lives in Hong Kong, has filed an affidavit through which she has claimed she was 'unaware of any information required to be provided in response' to questions about the transfer of the cryptocurrency.

During proceedings at the High Court, Mr Justice Cotter said Yuen had 'demonstrated a very high probability of success' in the case against his spouse.

'The evidence is that he was warned of what [his wife] was seeking to do, the transcripts are damning and when the [wife's] property was searched the necessary equipment to exfiltrate the bitcoin was found,' the judge added.

'She has had numerous opportunities to give her side of the story but has declined to do so.'

Yuen is seeking the return of the Bitcoin or its equivalent value, as well as a freezing order over any cryptocurrency assets held by his wife and her sister.

Mr Justice Cotter said an early trial was necessary given the volatility of value of Bitcoin.
INDIANAPOLIS, March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- As America confronts a surge of terrorist violence, Congress must act to ensure that public safety agencies remain fully operational. Passage of S.2806, the Eliminate Government Shutdowns Act, introduced by Sen. Ron Johnson [R-WI], would guarantee that operations continue even when Congress cannot manage to pass a budget. The bill's text is here.

This month, multiple terror-related attacks across the United States have underscored the constant threat facing the nation and the vital role of homeland security agencies.

Alamy DHS Images

On March 12, a terrorist attack at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, left a ROTC instructor dead after a gunman with prior ties to ISIS opened fire in a classroom.

That same day, a violent attack targeted a synagogue in West Bloomfield Township, Michigan, when a suspect drove a truck into the Temple Israel building during preschool hours. The vehicle carried suspected explosives and a rifle, and the attack injured security personnel and emergency responders.

Earlier, authorities in New York City arrested suspects accused of throwing improvised explosive devices during a protest. Police described the devices as real explosives capable of causing serious injuries or death, and the case is being investigated as ISIS-inspired terrorism.

These incidents are a sobering reminder that the United States remains in an era of persistent terrorist threats. The men and women of the Department of Homeland Security stand on the front lines protecting Americans every day. Yet under current law, partisan budget gridlock has triggered shutdowns that disrupt critical security functions, strain personnel, and undermine readiness. At a time when terrorist threats are escalating, Congress has crippled agencies responsible for protecting U.S. citizens.

The Eliminate Government Shutdowns Act (S.2806) provides a commonsense solution. If Congress fails to pass appropriations on time, the legislation automatically funds the government through a continuing resolution until a full budget agreement is reached. This ensures that public safety operations continue uninterrupted.

"Terrorists don't take a break because Congress can't pass a budget," said Paula Fitzsimmons, Legislative Director, National Police Association. "Passing S.2806 would send a clear message: America will not allow politics to weaken public safety."

To support anti-crime, pro-police legislation, join the NPA's Call to Action team. Receive email alerts on bills, including which lawmakers to contact.

About: The National Police Association (NPA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting law enforcement through advocacy, education, and the courts. For more information, visit NationalPolice.org.

Media Contact:

Paula Fitzsimmons

3024691765

[email protected]

SOURCE National Police Association
Residents in a quaint California suburb take great pride in their decades-old eucalyptus trees that line the town.

Burlingame is known for its 400 eucalyptus trees that form a two-mile-long leafy canopy over El Camino Real, a 600-mile historic road.

Residents treasure these trees so much, they even dubbed the suburb as the 'City of Trees.'

Now, the historic eucalyptus trees are facing a tragic fate - with hundreds being taken down.

In January, the California Department of Transportation began cutting them down from cherry-picker trucks, and residents say they feel 'lost' without them.

'Its like going to a town where I dont know where I am. Its like I need a map,' Burlingame Historical Society President Jennifer Pfaff told SF Chronicle.

Caltrans, the district that manages this section of the state road, implemented a $173 million roadway rehabilitation project for the El Camino Real.

The project will 'maintain the trail as a safe, accessible, and reliable transportation corridor,' per Caltrans' press release.

Eucalyptus trees line the El Camino Real, their leaves creating a two-mile long shady canopy

One of the famous markers that would mark the El Camino Real, which is a famous 600 mile road in California

Caltrans' worker chain sawing a eucalyptus tree during their project removal on El Camino road

The beloved 150-year-old trees are now causing serious damage. Their sprawling roots are rippling sidewalks across the neighborhood.

Wheelchairs and walkers are nearly impossible to use on the walkways, while overgrown branches make it difficult for drivers to see.

Many eucalyptus trees are unhealthy and at risk of crashing down during storms.

Burlingame has long struggled with the idea of harming its historic trees and leafy canopy, even passing zoning ordinances to prevent stores from opening along the roads edge.

'All of us who drive El Camino know its in bad shape,' Burlingame Mayor Michael Brownrigg told the outlet.

'But there was a real impasse between the city, who wanted to preserve all of the trees and then fix the road, and Caltrans, who said, "Well, we cant fix the road if we leave all the trees."'

After a long back-and-forth and the creation of the El Camino Real Task Force to defend the trees, a compromise was finally reached.

The plan calls for planting over 400 new eucalyptus and elm trees along the road, with the new eucalyptus being 'a slimmer variety that sheds less bark,' according to the mayor.

A tree, blown over by 50 miles per hour winds, blocks El Camino Real in Burlingame, California

A tree and power lines blown over by fast-paced winds, these trees are unhealthy and at risk of crashing down during storms

Caltrans workers posing for a snap for the El Camino Real Roadway Renewal Project

Pfaff, who initially opposed the project, now understands why the trees must be removed - but losing them from her hometown is still painful.

'Particularly the large ones, theyre always embedded in your head when youre driving along,' she told the outlet.

Eucalyptus trees do grow faster than other trees, but the road will remain bare and canopy-less for decades until they mature.

'Its going to be tough visually for a while, for all of us whove lived here for all this time,' Brownrigg said during a community meeting.

'But they say that you plant a tree not for yourself, but for your kids.'
A club in Canterbury and a party in Whitstable have been linked to a meningitis outbreak in Kent that has left two dead and two others in a coma.

One university student and a grammar school pupil called Juliette died after an invasive outbreak linked to a night out at Club Chemistry in the city centre.

Two girls who attended the event on Thursday and were sharing vapes with each other have since developed meningitis symptoms, with one now in hospital after being rushed to A&E on Saturday night.

Keeleigh Goodwin, 21, who lives in a house-share in Canterbury, has been diagnosed with meningitis B and is currently in hospital, where she is expected to stay for at least a week.

Meanwhile, a party in Whitstable has also been linked to the outbreak after the Mail revealed one of its attendees has subsequently been diagnosed with the disease.

Jude File, 15, said he heard in a text from friends today that the person was now in a coma.

The party was held at a private address on Saturday night and the person in a coma was said to be a boy aged around 17-18 years old.

Speaking with his father's permission, Jude told the Daily Mail: 'Everyone's a bit freaked out.

'The party was for pupils from Langton Boys School and Langton Girls School in Canterbury, where I have friends. I don't know [the person who fell ill], he's a friend of a friend.'

Matthew McDonagh, 16, and his brother Luca, 17, were also at the party in Whitstable on Saturday. They confirmed that one person from their friendship circle was already in an induced coma after recently contracting meningitis.

'It's completely unbelievable,' said Matthew. 'I never thought this would happen again (after Covid). We've been told that we don't even know if the pill that they give you is actually going to help us.'

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

Students wearing face masks walk through the University of Kent campus in Canterbury today

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The Norton Knatchbull School in Ashford and Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys have also confirmed cases of meningitis among their pupils.

A Year 13 pupil from Simon Langton has been admitted to hospital with the disease, while another Year 13 student from Norton Knatchbull also has meningitis.

Meningitis can be spread through close contact, and microbiology experts today confirmed that the outbreak in Kent is of the serious bacterial form of the disease.

The vaccination ACWY-135 is received by teenagers in England between the ages of 13 and 14, in Year 9. Experts say vaccination rates among students are at 73 per cent.

Infectious disease experts believe the outbreak at the University of Kent is 'unusual' and may be linked to a 'new strain with different behaviours'. Eleven people have been left seriously ill, most of whom are also believed to be university students.

More than 30,000 students and staff at the campus have been alerted by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), warning them to stay vigilant against symptoms. The university has now postponed some in-person exams and moved others online.

Queues formed today outside the Senate building after the university asked anyone who believes they have come into contact with those who contracted meningitis and have not been contacted by the UKHSA to attend between 9am and 4pm.

The NHS states meningitis can spread through close, direct contact with an infected person's saliva or mucus, such as kissing, coughing, sneezing or sharing utensils.

After the death of Juliette, Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School headmistress Amelia McIlroy fought back tears as she said outside the school gates today: 'We've got a lot of very upset children. It is with great sadness that we are confirming the loss of Juliette - a much loved and treasured member of our school community.

Meningitis alert: What are the symptoms and can it be treated? - What is meningitis and what causes it?? Meningitis is an infection of the protective membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord. It is usually caused by a bacterial or viral infection. Bacterial meningitis is rarer but more serious than viral meningitis. It can affect anyone but is more common in babies, children, teenagers and young adults. Meningitis can be very serious if not treated quickly, and can lead to life-threatening sepsis and permanent damage to the brain or nerves. - What are the symptoms? Symptoms of meningitis and sepsis can include a high temperature, cold hands and feet, vomiting, confusion, muscle and joint pain, pale, mottled or blotchy skin, spots or a rash, a headache, a stiff neck, aversion to bright lights, being very sleepy and seizures. Symptoms can appear in any order and some may not appear at all. - Why are young people at risk? According to Meningitis Now, one in four 15 to 19-year-olds carry meningococcal bacteria in the back of their throats, compared to one in 10 of the UK population. People can carry this harmlessly without becoming unwell, but it can be passed from person to person by coughing, sneezing and kissing. Increased social interaction in this age group means the bacteria can be passed on more easily. In universities, students can be more vulnerable because of living in more 'cramped' housing or halls of residence. Young people also come together from all over the world to live, study and socialise. - What causes these outbreaks and how serious are they? Outbreaks can happen when a particular meningococcal strain enters a community where people are mixing closely. Universities which include halls of residence, parties, and large social groups, can help the bacteria to spread more easily. But the risk to the general public in Kent is low, with people at the highest risk usually close contacts of cases. - How is meningitis treated? Hospital treatment is recommended by the NHS for all cases of bacterial meningitis. Treatments include antibiotics and fluids administered directly into a vein, oxygen if there are breathing difficulties, and in some cases steroid medication to prevent swelling around the brain. Patients may need to stay in hospital for a few days or weeks. In cases of mild meningitis, patients may be sent home if tests confirm it is viral, which usually gets better on its own. Most patients start to feel better within seven to 10 days. But severe viral meningitis may also be treated in hospital. - What action is being taken to stop the spread in Kent? Close contacts of the University of Kent students affected will be given antibiotics. On Sunday, the UKHSA said specialists were interviewing affected individuals and their families to 'help identify all close contacts and arrange antibiotics to limit spread'. The agency had also worked with the University of Kent to provide advice letters to all 16,000 students, providing information on recent cases, the signs and symptoms of the illness, how to obtain antibiotics, and what to do if they felt unwell. - Are there vaccines available for meningitis? There are two vaccines for meningitis. The MenACWY vaccine is a single dose jab that protects against four strains of meningococcal bacteria. It is offered to teenagers in school and is also available to those entering university, up to the age of 25. Experts say that this jab is 'highly effective at protecting against invasive disease'. But Andrew Preston, a professor of microbial pathogenicity at University of Bath, said that uptake among teenagers was about 73%. 'So there are a lot of unvaccinated students given the size of the student cohort,' he said. Elsewhere, there are the MenB, 6-in-1, pneumococcal and MMRV vaccines for babies and children. - What should you do if you think you have meningitis? The NHS recommends that people call 999 for an ambulance or go to their nearest A&E. People are advised to trust their instincts, as someone with meningitis or sepsis can get a lot worse very quickly.

'Juliette was a student at our school for seven years. She was incredibly kind, thoughtful and intelligent, and she loved our school. She was really very happy here.

'Juliette embraced everything that school had to offer, with great enthusiasm and joy, and her humour and her positivity were captivating. In short she was a lovely girl. Her beautiful smile, her loving nature and her sense of fun will be hugely missed.

'We are all devastated. Our love and our thoughts are with her family and friends at this terribly sad time. Our priority now is the safety and well-being of all members of our school community, and we are continuing to work closely with the UKHSA to ensure they are all as well as they can be.'

Andrew Preston, professor of microbial pathogenicity at the University of Bath, said today: 'Uptake of the ACWY vaccine among adolescents is around 73 per cent, so there are a lot of unvaccinated students given the size of the student cohort. So, an outbreak of this size and speed is very unusual, and of great concern.

'It is important to characterise the cause of the outbreak. A sudden change in disease pattern could indicate something like a new strain with different behaviours. It will be important to ascertain the vaccination status of those affected.

'Fortunately, antibiotic resistance isn't yet a major feature of these bacteria, so prophylactic antibiotics can be given to close contacts of cases, as is being done in Kent.

'There will also be an opportunity for those who did not receive their adolescent vaccine the chance to have a catch up jab, but the immunity from that will take a little while to develop.'

Mr Preston added: 'UKHSA have reported the outbreak is likely to be meningococcal, so Neisseria meningitidis bacteria. These bacteria inhabit the nasopharynx and in the vast majority of cases colonise that niche without causing any issues.

'In a very small number of cases, the bacteria can gain access to the blood, where the pathogenic Neisseria meningitidis can survive and multiply. This is sepsis, another devastating disease.

'From there, bacteria can cross the blood brain barrier to access the central nervous system, leading to meningitis.'

Professor Paul Hunter, an infectious diseases expert at the University of East Anglia said meningitis vaccines are part of the UK's routine schedule run by the NHS, which focuses on protecting against the most common strains:

MenB vaccine for infants (8 weeks, 12 weeks and one year)

MenACWY vaccine for teenagers (usually in school year 9  ages 13 and 14)

Catch-up MenACWY jabs are also available for young adults who didn't get it aged 14

The decision not to routinely vaccinate teenagers against Group B is based on advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation.

Mr Hunter said: 'The committee looks at cost-effectiveness, and current analysis suggests the Group B vaccine in teenagers isn't economically justified.

Another key issue is that the Group B vaccine does not stop people carrying or spreading the bacteria. By contrast, vaccines against Group C and ACWY strains reduce carriage and transmission.

Some other countries do offer MenB vaccines to teens as a booster - although it is not known whether Men B is involved in the Kent outbreak.

Dr Michael Head, senior research fellow in global health at the University of Southampton, also said: 'There is a high level of 'carriage' of the bug that typically cause meningitis outbreaks, with maybe 20 per cent of the population harmlessly carrying the bacteria in their nose or throat.

'If individuals encounter a strain that they do not have sufficient immunity against, then infection is possible. Carriage rates are usually highest in teenagers and younger adults, hence why new populations mixing at university can cause outbreaks.

'And as we have seen, the disease can be severe and occasionally fatal. Vaccination has been the key tool to reduce the numbers of meningitis cases and deaths.'

Meningitis is an inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord. It can be caused by bacteria, viruses, or fungi, with bacterial meningitis being the most severe.

The disease can progress rapidly, leading to serious health complications such as brain damage, hearing loss, or even death if not treated promptly.

Common symptoms include a high fever, headache, stiff neck, sensitivity to light, confusion, and in severe cases, seizures.

Officials were today working to establish the strain of the illness, thought most likely to be the deadliest type, meningitis B.

Trevor Reid, of charity Meningitis Now, said: 'This is not the type level of cases we have heard of for many, many years. It is very rare that we would see anything like this and we are extremely concerned.'

One person in every two or three who survives bacterial meningitis is left with one or more permanent problems such as hearing loss, brain injury or behavioural changes.

The MenB vaccine  the only protection against the bacteria  is only available on the NHS for young children, as they are seen as the most at risk.

This protects them for a couple of years, and for older children a booster or vaccine costs about 220 privately.

Campaigners want a vaccine or booster to be offered to young adults on the NHS, warning many do not know they are starting university unprotected.

Mr Reid said: 'There is a generation growing up without protection. It's tragic that you have these young people going to university believing that they have had a vaccine and are protected but they're not.

'We have a lot to do with parents who are bereaved. They want us to be even more vocal than we are. What victims' families tell us is that they don't know they're not protected and they want that message out there.'

Keith Neal, retired professor of the epidemiology of infectious disease at the University of Nottingham, said: 'I dealt with many university cases and a few community outbreaks in the past when meningitis was more common. This current outbreak is unusual.

''Invasive' means the germ has invaded into the blood stream or brain linings from the throat.

'Risk to those in the Kent area is low although this is a community outbreak so there is a small risk; I suspect in the older teenage and student groups. Under 5s are most at risk to becoming seriously unwell with meningitis but teenagers and students are at a higher risk due to social mixing.'

Speaking at the university today, Mashaal Chughtai, 22, a third-year law student, said: 'My mum and dad are on their way to get me now from Birmingham. It is going to take them about four hours. My mum rang about seven times asking if I was alright. It is all very strange.

'I am in a dodgeball society and my friend texted me. At first we thought it was someone in Kent, not a student, but then we were told someone in the university had died.

'We got an email from the UKHSA saying these are the symptoms and to watch out if we start to feel any of them. Then the university emailed us too. I am going up to the Senate building just as a precaution because my mum told me to take the antibiotics.'

One girl living in Tyler Court, where an ambulance and doctors in hazmat suits arrived yesterday, added: 'A close family friend was taken to hospital last night because she was complaining of symptoms. She was in my flat. We heard this morning her temperature has come down and hopefully she will be alright.'

Meanwhile a second block, thought to be the Turing block, is also said to be affected.

Josh, a man whose sister is in hospital with suspected meningitis, spoke to Sky News while queueing to get antibiotics this morning.

He said: 'It shakes your day a little bit, I can tell you that. As far as I'm aware she's actually just spoken to the consultant again, they're going to keep her in a little bit longer. But to the best of my knowledge, I've just spoken to my mum, and she seems okay.'

Confirming that he was queueing for the medicine, Josh added: 'Having been Mother's Day yesterday we were together, me, my mum and my sister, and so obviously it's precautionary more than anything, but we just wanted to make sure that we could get up here. We spoke to 111 and this is what they said to do.'

On campus last night, several people could be seen wearing masks in their own flats.

An ambulance was also seen parked outside one of the student blocks, with paramedics dressed in protective clothing and face masks preparing to enter.

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

Face masks are distributed as people queue for antibiotics at the University of Kent today

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

Students queuing for antibiotics outside a University of Kent building in Canterbury today

Students wear face masks at the University of Kent in Canterbury amid the outbreak today

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

Face masks are distributed as people queue for antibiotics at the University of Kent today

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

Face masks are distributed as people queue for antibiotics at the University of Kent today

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

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Final-year history student Sam Shuker said: 'It's quite grim. I didn't think I'd be dealing with this four days out from my dissertation deadline.

'My thoughts go out to those who are suffering and please stay safe. I don't think we know what strain it is at this point but we've got to be on our toes. Social distance and all that.'

Eloise Thorne, a third-year psychology student, said the mood on campus was 'very surreal'. She added: 'It just feels like Covid all over again. Everyone is confused and no one knows what's going on.

'It's really sad as well. I keep seeing people spreading videos of people who are sick around and I just feel like that might not be the best idea. It's just scary, sad.'

Ms Thorne also said: 'I think people need to take it seriously so more people don't end up like that [seriously ill]'.

Brittany Nsongo, a first-year astrophysics student, said she has had a few friends report in group chats that they were feeling sick with flu-like symptoms.

She has been alarmed by the circulation online of images of students allegedly being taken out of buildings while visibly unwell. 'It just feels like there is no respect for the actual victims,' Ms Nsongo added.

Another student, Ethan Falkner, 23, who is studying politics and international relations at the university, said friends of his were 'nervous and anxious'.

'First reaction to hearing the news is wishes to the people who have lost their lives already and to the ones currently in hospital suffering,' he said.

'I had friends sat in the library this evening who on finding out the news, immediately packed bags and left to avoid contact with people.

'The university are yet to communicate to myself and as it stands my friends I'm in contact with and others in the university community have had no contact from the university itself regarding this critical issue.'

Amelia McIlroy, head teacher at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, told parents: 'It is with great sadness that we can confirm that on Saturday one of our much loved students in Year 13, died of meningitis. We are all absolutely devastated.

'Our love and thoughts are with their family and friends. Our priority now is the safety, well-being and support of all members of our school community at this terribly sad time.

'We will be working with UKHSA to ensure that all appropriate actions are taken to protect our students and staff.'

She added: 'If your child feels unwell  particularly with vomiting, purple-bluish bruise-type markings, unexplained high temperature or has cold hands and feet  you should seek immediate medical attention for them.'

Students are said to be at particular risk because of how often young people come together in large numbers.

Students wearing face masks walk past a queue for antibiotics at the University of Kent today

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

Students wear face masks at the University of Kent in Canterbury amid the outbreak today

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

A person wearing a face mask walks past a queue of staff and students in Kent today

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

A person wearing a face mask queues to receive antibiotics at the University of Kent today

Physiotherapy student Meg Draper, 18, died from meningitis weeks after starting at Bournemouth University last October.

The swimming and netball player, from Pontypool in South Wales, was immunised against meningitis A, C, W and Y and her parents said it was 'horrific' to find out a separate vaccination against MenB had existed.

They said their daughter would still be with them today if she had been offered the life-saving jab and are calling for a vaccine, or booster, to be made available to young adults on the NHS.

Trish Mannes, UKHSA regional deputy director for the South East, said: 'We understand that many people at the university and in the wider community will be affected by this sad news and we would like to offer our condolences to the friends and family involved.

'Students and staff will understandably be feeling worried about the risk of further cases; however, we would like to reassure them that close contacts of cases have been given antibiotics as a precautionary measure.

'Advice and support is being offered to the wider student community, and to local hospitals and NHS 111, and we're monitoring the situation closely.

'Meningococcal disease can progress rapidly, so it's essential that students and staff are alert to the signs and symptoms of meningococcal meningitis and septicaemia, which can include a fever, headache, rapid breathing, drowsiness, shivering, vomiting and cold hands and feet.

'Septicaemia can also cause a characteristic rash that does not fade when pressed against a glass.

'Students are particularly at risk of missing the early warning signs of meningitis because they can be easily confused with other illnesses such as a bad cold, flu or even a hangover.

'That's why it's vital that, if a friend goes to bed unwell, you check on them regularly and don't hesitate to seek medical help by contacting their GP or calling NHS 111 if they have these symptoms or you're concerned about them. This could save their life.'

There were 378 cases of invasive meningococcal disease in 2024/25, compared with 340 in 2023/24.

Cases of MenB, the most common cause of bacterial meningitis in the UK, have also risen. There were 313 cases compared to 301 in the previous year.

There are numerous strains of the meningococcal infection.

The MenACWY vaccination gives protection against MenA, MenC, MenW, and MenY and is routinely offered to teenagers in school Years 9 and 10 - and it can be given up to the age of 25 if it has been missed.

At the University of Kent last night, final-year history student Sam Shuker (left) said: 'It's quite grim. I didn't think I'd be dealing with this four days out from my dissertation deadline.' Eloise Thorne (right), a third-year psychology student, said the mood on campus was 'very surreal'

An ambulance outside University of Kent accommodation blocks in Canterbury last night

Brittany Nsongo, a first-year astrophysics student, said she has had a few friends report in group chats that they were feeling sick with flu-like symptoms

An ambulance outside University of Kent accommodation blocks in Canterbury last night

The Chemistry nightclub in Canterbury, pictured today, which is linked to the outbreak

However, this vaccine does not protect against all forms of meningitis. Other strains such as MenB can circulate in young adults.

Some students at the University of Kent have been given antibiotics while others are in hospital. The specific strain of meningitis has not yet been identified.

A spokeswoman for the UKHSA said: 'We can confirm that UKHSA has worked with the University of Kent to provide advice letters to all 16,000 students, advising on recent cases, signs and symptoms, how to obtain antibiotics, and what to do if they feel unwell.'

Not all 16,000 students at the university will be given antibiotics, only those who are regarded as 'close contacts' of those affected.

Following news of the deaths, Canterbury MP Rosie Duffield posted: 'Terrible news about two students at University of Kent this weekend.

'Like most people in Canterbury, I'm thinking of those who loved them and will be most affected by these tragic deaths. Please follow the advice from the NHS which I'll post here. I'll update here with any information my team and I receive.'

Helen Whately, MP for Faversham and Mid Kent, also said: 'The meningitis outbreak in our area is a huge shock.

'Feeling so deeply sad for the young lives lost - a year 13 pupil at QEGS [Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School] and uni of Kent student. My heart goes out to their families.

'It's incredibly worrying too for the families of the young people in hospital, and others at risk. I am asking the NHS urgently for more information and guidance, especially given the rumours going round about where they may have picked it up.'

James MacCleary, MP for Lewes, tweeted: 'Devastating news from my old university. So sad to hear that two young people have lost their lives. We were all urged to get a meningitis vaccine when I was a student at Kent. I hope those in hospital make a full recovery.'

A University of Kent spokesman said: 'We are deeply saddened to confirm that one student from the University of Kent has died following a case of invasive meningitis.

'Our thoughts are with the student's family, friends and the wider university community at this extremely difficult time.

'The safety of our students and staff remains our highest priority. We are working closely with public health teams and are in touch with staff and students to ensure they get the advice and support they need.'

Louise Jones-Roberts, owner of Club Chemistry in Canterbury, confirmed the venue had been contacted by the UKHSA.

'We have been told somebody was in our club at the weekend who has since been diagnosed with meningitis,' she said. 'They have asked us if we have any methods for tracing who has been in to us.

'We have an ID scanner but that is more of a security measure... It takes pictures of some driving licences, ID cards and on so on. We've got tickets for events so we could trace ticket-holders, but most people pay on the door.'

She said her thoughts were with the families of those affected by the meningitis outbreak.

'I'm devastated,' she said. 'I can't imagine what the families are going through. Our thoughts are with the families. Meningitis affects healthy, young people and this is devastating. We will stay closed until we get further advice from the UKHSA.'

Tom Nutt, chief executive of Meningitis Now, said: 'We are deeply saddened to hear of the deaths of two young people following the reported outbreak of meningitis linked to the University of Kent.

'Meningitis can progress very quickly and its impact is devastating, particularly for young people and their loved ones.

'University students and young adults are among the groups at increased risk because meningitis bacteria can spread more easily in settings where people live, study and socialise closely together.

'We urge students, staff and families to remain vigilant for the signs and symptoms of meningitis.'

Amira Campbell, president of the National Union of Students, said: 'We are saddened to hear of the deaths, those who are hospitalised and the young people who are unwell.

'Our thoughts are with their family, friends and everyone at the University of Kent. We encourage everyone who is concerned to follow the advice being shared by health professionals.

'There is simply not enough awareness of meningitis, especially as young people head off to university. While we all expect the inevitable freshers flu, there are deadly viral strains also circulating, which students need to be protected against and aware of.'
Donald Trump revealed that a Republican congressman and father-of-three has a terminal diagnosis in a morbid discussion of his private health battle.

Republican Representative Neal Dunn's outlook was so grim that doctors pronounced 'he would be dead by June,' Trump told a press conference at the White House Monday.

Speaker Mike Johnson, who was sitting next to the President, appeared stunned as Trump grinned at reporters. 'Okay, that wasn't public,' Johnson quipped.

Trump had been recounting a private phone call with Johnson about the narrow House majority when he made the admission about Dunn's illness.

'He said, "Sir, we're up by three, but we're gonna lose one by June." I said, who? "Neal Dunn," Trump recalled.

'Number one, it was bad because I liked him. Number two, it was bad because I needed his vote. Then I realized I have doctors at the White House.

'I called the two doctors, they're both great, and they immediately went over to see the congressman, and he was on the operating table like two hours later,' he continued.

Trump said they gave Dunn, 73, 'more stents and more everything that you can have.'

President Donald Trump revealed that a Florida Congressman has a terminal illness during a White House event on Monday

Congressman Neal Dunn, 73, is expected to die 'by June,' Trump said on Monday

The Republican representative, of Florida, has already said he will not run for reelection

The diagnosis is reportedly related to his heart, though details about the exact condition remain unknown.

Dunn was treated by medical professionals at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center just outside of Washington, DC.

Johnson and Trump did not specify whether Dunn's terminal diagnosis was resolved after the visit, but the speaker noted how the Floridian now 'has a new lease on life.'

Dunn has three sons and five grandchildren and is married to his wife, Leah.

With the current 218-214 split, losing just two seats could mean forfeiting the GOP majority and deadlocking on party-line votes.

Democrats could tie up the Republican agenda for the remainder of the year if Dunn dies in June and if liberals get an unexpected special election win this year.

Earlier this year, reports circulated in Washington that Johnson confided in a group of donors that Dunn's illness was terminal.

But it was not confirmed by the Congressman. Dunn's office did not immediately respond to the Daily Mail's request for comment.

Dunn with his family at his swearing-in ceremony in 2017

Trump made the remarks while sitting next to his closest adviser Susie Wiles - who was just diagnosed with 'early stage' breast cancer

Robert Kraft listens as Trump speaks during a lunch

Dunn, 73, has said he will not run for reelection. He also has ruled out resigning before his term ends in early 2027.

'I have no comment on personal issues such as Dr Dunn's health. He has been working as usual,' a spokesman for Dunn told the Daily Mail at the end of February.

'As a dedicated public servant, he will remain in Congress to represent his constituents through the end of this term,' his representative said previously.

Dunn serves Florida's 2nd Congressional District in the reliably red Panhandle region.
President Donald Trump revealed that British monarch King Charles III will still soon be visiting Washington despite differences between the two nations on the Iran war.

The commander in chief remarked on the planned visit Monday while delivering remarks about the White House's East Wing, which has been demolished to build a presidential ballroom.

Trump mused about how the ballroom - set to be finished by summer 2028 - will serve as a more suitable formal meeting venue for world leaders than the White House can currently provide.

Trump has fumed repeatedly that the White House is only equipped to host large gatherings outside, meaning party guests are open to the elements.

'And you know the land in Washington was built on a swampy wetland,' Trump noted.

'And when it rains, and you have the King of Saudi Arabia ... the King of the UK, I would say King of England, a great guy, he's coming in very soon. And when it rains, you know what happened? And the rain would go over their feet.'

King Charles III had been scheduled to visit the US during the last week of April, on the 28th, according to reports.

The condensed visit is expected to span three days, reflecting the 77-year-old monarch's health and physical limitations - mirroring the abbreviated trip Trump made to the UK last year, according to a source who spoke to The Times late last month.

President Donald Trump noted how the UK's King Charles III will be visiting the US soon on Monday

Trump and the King last met in September 2025 when the US President visited England. Trump's state visit lasted three days and the King's visit is expected to last the same duration

The war in Iran has caused US-UK tensions to boil. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer initially denied US requests to use British bases for its war on Iran before allowing American forces to stage on UK instillations for 'defensive' missions

The King's appearance comes at a tense time between the US and UK as the Iran war has strained the country's special relationship.

Some UK officials and residents have called on the King to cancel the visit due to the war.

It's been reported that the US did not inform its UK counterparts about the impending strike on Iran.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer stirred controversy within the West Wing when he initially denied the US's request to use British bases, including RAF Fairford and the military island Diego Garcia, for offensive strikes on Iran.

Later, Starmer changed his tune, announcing that the US could host its soldiers on UK bases for 'defensive' purposes.

In response Trump criticized Starmer and quipped how the 'special relationship' coined by Winston Churchill over 80 years ago is not 'like it used to be.'

The President again complained about Starmer's reluctance to assist the US militarily.

'I told him, we requested two aircraft carriers which they had and he didn't really want to do it ... I was not happy with the UK ... they should be involved enthusiastically,' Trump said Monday.
Keir Starmer's fingerprints were 'forensically removed' from the recently-published Peter Mandelson files, the Tories suggested today.

Downing Street last week finally released the first batch of documents surrounding Lord Mandelson's appointment as Britain's ambassador to the US in December 2024.

But although they confirmed Sir Keir was warned about the disgraced peer's 'particularly close' relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, his response was not recorded.

The documents contained no record of what the Prime Minister thought about Lord Mandelson.

They also did not detail why he pushed through the controversial appointment after being told it was a 'reputational risk' to the Government.

In an urgent question in the House of Commons on Monday, senior Tory MP Alex Burghart said there were 'many, many documents missing'.

'It's become increasingly clear that either the Government did not follow due process in its appointment of Peter Mandelson, or that it has not disclosed all of the relevant documents,' the shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster said.

'In different terms, either the PM's assurances that full due process was followed was misleading, or the Government has not complied with the Humble Address. Either would be a contempt of Parliament.'

Keir Starmer's fingerprints were 'forensically removed' from the recently-published Peter Mandelson files, the Tories suggested today

Downing Street last week finally released the first batch of documents surrounding Lord Mandelson's appointment as Britain's ambassador to the US in December 2024

Mr Burghart added: 'There are many, many documents missing. To give a few examples, there is no prime ministerial readout on the advice he received.

'This is a breach of protocol. A prime ministerial decision, even if made orally, should be formally recorded. Where is that record? It starts to stink of the sofa government we had under Tony Blair.

'There are no minutes of any meeting at which this appointment was discussed, by anyone at any time.

'Were there really no meetings about this? Most suspiciously at all, we have no material from the PM, from his chief of staff, or from Peter Mandelson.

'No box returns, no emails, no forms, no WhatsApps, nothing. It is as though their fingerprints have been forensically removed.'

In response to Mr Burghart's urgent question, senior Cabinet minister Darren Jones told MPs: 'As the PM and the Government has said, the process that was inherited was the process that was followed.

'However, this has shown that that process was not sufficient, which is why it's being strengthened.'

Mr Jones, who is Chief Secretary to the PM, added: 'He asked me about WhatsApps and other messages, I can confirm those types of documents will be subject to a further tranche being published in due course.'

It came after Sir Keir himself had denied misleading MPs by telling them due process was followed in the appointment of Lord Mandelson.

In an urgent question in the House of Commons on Monday, senior Tory MP Alex Burghart said there were 'many, many documents missing'

The files released on 11 March showed Sir Keir's national security adviser, Jonathan Powell, had described Lord Mandelson's appointment as 'weirdly rushed' and the peer had been named as the new ambassador before his vetting had been completed.

Asked whether he had misled the Commons by telling MPs that due process had been followed, the PM told a press conference on Monday: 'No.'

Sir Keir added that his ethics adviser, Sir Laurie Magnus, had considered the question last week, 'and answered very robustly that the process had been followed'.

But he continued that the process 'wasn't strong enough', saying: 'Amongst the changes that I intend to put into place is the fact you can't announce something until the vetting is finished.

'It wasn't an individual decision in the Mandelson case, that was the process. We only have to look at that in the light of the appointment to realise that that needs to change.

'But on due process, that process that was there was followed, the problem was the process wasn't strong enough. Ultimately, it was my mistake and I have apologised for that and quite right too.'

In a letter published on 13 March, Sir Laurie had rejected a call from Mr Burghart for an inquiry into whether the PM had misled the Commons over Lord Mandelson's appointment.

He said: 'I consider that the documentation that has been made public indicates that the relevant process for a political appointee was followed.'

Last week saw the release of the first tranche of documents related to Lord Mandelson's appointment as ambassador to Washington, with further documents set to follow.

The release was compelled by MPs, who backed a Conservative 'Humble Address' motion calling for the publication of a wide range of files connected to the appointment, along with communications between Lord Mandelson and senior ministers and Government advisers.

Some material is expected to be withheld either because it relates to a police investigation into Lord Mandelson, or because Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee believes it could jeopardise national security or diplomatic relations.

Lord Mandelson was arrested last month on suspicion of misconduct in public office, having been accused of passing sensitive information on to Epstein during his time as business secretary in Gordon Brown's government.

He was subsequently bailed, but later released from his bail conditions, although he remains under investigation.

The peer has vowed to cooperate with the police investigation and 'to clear his name'.

He has denied the Epstein files show he broke any laws or acted for personal gain and repeatedly said he regrets his friendship with Epstein.
Donald Trump on Monday said he was 'not happy' with Britain and 'very surprised' over its response to the Iran war as he launched a fresh attack on Keir Starmer.

In his latest broadside, the US President said the UK 'should be involved enthusiastically' with helping American forces reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Tehran is blockading the vital sea passage out of the Persian Gulf, stemming the flow of oil and gas from the Middle East and pushing up energy prices across the globe.

Mr Trump suggested countries who became involved in protecting shipping in the Strait would face 'very few shots' from Iran.

He spoke hours after the former head of the UK's armed forces warned Royal Navy vessels could be sunk.

The US President also said that when he spoke to Sir Keir yesterday he admonished the Prime Minister for speaking to aides before making a decision on whether to send warships to the region.

Mr Trump's outburst came after Sir Keir insisted the UK will not be drawn into a 'wider war' in the Middle East and knocked back the US President's plea for other countries to send warships to the region.

Giving a press conference in Downing Street, the PM insisted he wanted to see 'an end to this war as quickly as possible'.

In his latest broadside at Keir Starmer the US president said Britain 'should be involved enthusiastically' with helping reopen the Strait of Hormuz to oil tankers

Giving a press conference in Downing Street, the PM insisted he wanted to see 'an end to this war as quickly as possible'

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But facing the media this afternoon, Mr Trump said: 'I was very surprised with the UK, because UK two weeks ago, I said, why don't you send some ships over?

'And he [Starmer] really didn't want to do it. I said, "you don't want to do it?"

'We've been with you. You're our oldest ally, and we spend a lot of money on, you know, NATO and all of these things to protect you.

'We're protecting them. We're working with them on Ukraine. Ukraine is thousands of miles away, separated by a vast ocean...

'We don't need to work with them in Ukraine, and then they tell us that we have a mine ship around and they don't want to do it.'

He added: 'I think it's terrible. I was very surprised.'

Mr Trump also said he had asked Sir Keir why the PM had to talk to his advisers about sending a warship to the Gulf.

Saying he did not 'need advisers' to know what would happen to oil prices, Mr Trump said: 'The Prime Minister of UK, United Kingdom, yesterday told me, "I'm meeting with my team to make a determination".

'I said "you don't need to meet with your team, you're the Prime Minister, you can make your own, why do you have to meet with your team to find out whether or not you're going to send some minesweepers to help us or to send some boats".

'I said "you don't have to meet with your team", it's the same thing here.'

Mr Trump added that oil prices would fall 'very, very rapidly'.

Sir Keir earlier said he was willing to be part of a 'viable collective plan' for the Strait, but said no decisions had been taken and suggested the UK is only looking at deploying anti-mine drones.

'This is not easy. It's not straight forward,' he said.

The premier had a tense call with Mr Trump last night, in which he is believed to have signalled Britain will not deploy warships to the Strait.

France, Canada, Germany and Australia have also dismissed the prospect.

Around a fifth of global oil supplies pass through the channel, but it has been effectively closed by Iran - sending prices soaring and raising fears of a worldwide recession.

Mr Trump upped the ante overnight by linking the response to his demand for ships in the Strait to the future of Nato and support for Ukraine.

Today he suggested countries involved in protecting shipping off Hormuz would face 'very few shots' from Iran.

Criticising nations that failed to support the US, he said: 'The level of enthusiasm matters to me. We have some countries where we have 45,000 soldiers, great soldiers, protecting them from harm's way. And we have done a great job.

'And when we want to know "do you have any minesweepers?", well "we'd rather not get involved, sir".

'You mean for 40 years we are protecting you and you don't want to get involved in something that is very minor, very few shots are going to be taken because they don't have many shots left.

'But they said "we'd rather not get involved".'

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A former No10 expert has warned that Trump's war could bring petrol rationing, medicine shortages and empty supermarket shelves to the UK within weeks.

Nick Butler said Tehran's effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz to shipping meant there would be a global 'shortage' of oil in no time.

Prof Butler, who was an adviser to Gordon Brown and worked for BP for nearly three decades, insisted ministers must be ready to protect the 'crucial sectors' of the economy.

He told the BBC that it would mean 'a form of rationing', adding: 'In the short-term, we have to look at what supply we have and look at the crucial sectors, the health service, food supply, hospitals, those are key elements that must be protected.

'And beyond that, it is then for the Government to decide how to ration what is left if we get to that situation.'

But it came amid reports that hard-pressed families already struggling with the soaring cost of living may not get Government assistance, with aid limited to benefit recipients and pensioners.

Officials are said to be examining whether to model aid on the current warm home discount scheme which gives six million people receiving pension credits or welfare cash 150 every winter.

The fighting between the US, Israel and Iran, now in its third week, has closed the Hormuz bottleneck that is used by supertankers leaving the Gulf oil production areas, since last week.

The PM vowed to force energy companies to pass on 'every penny of the savings that we delivered at last year's Budget' to consumers, saying they would not be allowed to 'make huge profits from the hardship of working people'.

He also insisted that switching the UK to reliance on green energy was the way to bring everyone's bills down.

But if only benefit claimants and pensioners are eligible, millions of working households could miss out on support at a time of a general spike in the cost of living triggered by the US military action.

Domestic gas and electricity bills are covered by regulator Ofgem's price cap, which is fixed until June, but if the conflict continues and Iran maintains its stranglehold on shipping households could face dramatic hikes at that point.
As renewed attention turns to the looks of John F. Kennedy Jr., his nephew Jack Schlossberg quipped that he is even hotter than his late uncle.

The 33-year-old humorously let it be known on his Instagram on Sunday that he's the best-looking in the family as he posted a series of snaps to back his claim.

The grandson of President John F. Kennedy, who is running for a congressional seat in New York, captioned photos of statues, writing, 'he's hotter than JFK Jr.'

However, at the end of the slides, Schlossberg turned the claim into a political ad, noting that not only is he 'hot,' but he doesn't accept money from Super PACs or corporate PACs.

His jab at his uncle's attractiveness came shortly after the whirlwind TV series Love Story premiered in February.

The series offers insight into JFK Jr's relationship with Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy.

Social media users were split on who they believed had the better physical appearance, but JFK Jr's supporters were fierce in most of their responses.

'Your uncle John was the very definition of male beauty...a true Adonis,' wrote one. 'You, on the other hand, look like Anthony Weiner's and Rosemary's Baby love child.'

Jack Schlossberg, 33, took to social media to poke phone and promote his campaign for congress by using the recent attention of his late uncle's looks by claiming he was 'hotter'

 Slide me  Many were spilt on who was the better looking between the 33-year-old nephew and JFK Jr who died at age 38

'Ok... youre on shaky ground to compare yourself to the ever idolized John John in the looks department (hes an icon), but I see the resemblance, and youve got my vote, neighbor,' noted another.

'You're handsome, but you're not hotter than JFK Jr... Sorry, not sorry,' a third wrote.

At the other end in the looks department, many were also on Schlossberg's side, noting that he was right to say he was the better-looking of the two.

'I am a huge JFK and JFK Jr fan. I agree with a lot of people, you are the new sexy , but youre more than a pretty face,' wrote one. 'You got my vote for president.'

'As a person who thinks Uncle John was pretty damn handsome, you definitely favor him,' said another.

'Dude, you are hotter than JFK Jr,' a third simply added.

Some couldn't decide who was the better-looking, and one user summarized what many felt: 'You're equal in hotness to your uncle.'

Schlossberg is just five years away from the same age his late uncle died at in 1999.

Schlossberg made the post on Sunday claiming that he was the hotter descendant of John F. Kennedy

Some agreed with nephew, writing, 'Dude, you are hotter than JFK Jr'

However, other defended the late Kennedy fiercely: 'Your uncle John was the very definition of male beauty... a true Adonis,' wrote one. 'You, on the other hand, look like Anthony Weiner's and Rosemary's Baby love child'

JFK Jr, who was 38 at the time of his death, smashed his small Piper Saratoga plane into the ocean around seven miles from Martha's Vineyard on his way to his cousin's wedding. His wife, Carolyn, 33, and her 34-year-old sister Lauren also died.

However, his looks have proved to be timeless, as the show has sparked a new generation to fall in love with the late Kennedy.

A look-alike contest in New York City took place on March 8 to find JFK Jr's modern doppelganger and awarded the biggest hunk a $250 cash prize.

Video footage showed massive crowds swarming around the contestants. As the footage cuts to different angles, the crowd goes wild for the winning contestant.
A 15-year-old boy has been arrested after reports a gun was brought into a Wolverhampton school on Monday.

The boy was arrested on suspicion of possession of a firearm and remains in police custody.

West Midlands Police told the Daily Mail officers were called to a school on Holland Road in Bilston shortly after 11.10am.

Moseley Park school, an academy with more than 1,000 pupils rated outstanding during its last full Ofsted inspection, was approached for comment.

They seized the gun, which is now being assessed, a spokeswoman said.

The force said enquiries were ongoing but no students or staff were threatened with the weapon and there is believed to be no wider risk to the public.

Moseley Park school in Wolverhampton was approached for comment by the Daily Mail

West Midlands Police said: 'We were called to reports that a firearm had been brought into a school on Holland Road, Bilston, this morning shortly after 11.10am.

'The gun has been seized by officers and we are currently assessing the weapon.

'A 15-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of possession of a firearm and remains in custody.

'Our enquiries are continuing and we would like to reassure the community that no students or staff were threatened with the weapon and we do not believe there to be any wider risk to the public.'
Members of the Scottish Parliament have been urged to listen to the concerns of doctors and other frontline health workers and reject unsafe plans to legalise assisted dying in a knife-edge vote on Tuesday.

The controversial proposal to allow terminally ill adults to ask for assistance to end their life will face its D-day when MSPs are asked to make their final vote at around 10pm.

It follows four days of debates on amendments last week which have seen further changes including that the person must be expected to die within six months.

But major concerns have been raised that other proposed amendments to offer safeguards to disabled people, health workers and other vulnerable people were rejected.

Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes yesterday led a last-day appeal for MSPs to show compassion and heed the concerns of those frontline health workers who will need to deliver the proposal, after the Royal College of Psychiatrists and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society both changed from a position of neutrality to outright opposition.

She said: I will vote against assisted dying because the Bill is now riskier and less safe after MSPs rejected critical safeguards and outsourced essential protections for doctors to the UK Government.

Doctors, psychiatrists, pharmacists and palliative care specialists  the people who would be tasked with implementing this  are asking us not to do it. These are the people on the front line of compassion in Scotland, the people who have dedicated their lives and careers to helping people in life and in death. They think this Bill is unsafe.

MSPs are set to vote on controversial assisted dying legislation

Similarly, Hospice UK raised concerns that if the Bill passes, people will have a legal right to state-funded assisted dying and no legal right to palliative care operated by charities.

I know MSPs are motivated by compassion, and so we should heed interventions from doctors and nurses whose whole careers are dedicated to caring for us.

Although the Bill proposed by Liberal Democrat MSP Liam McArthur was passed at stage when MSPs voted by 70 to 56 in favour of its general principles last year, only seven MSPs need to switch sides for the proposal to fall.

Three MSPs  Russell Findlay, Audrey Nicoll and Collette Stevenson  have already announced their intention to vote against the Bill after supporting it at stage one.

In addition, Labours Davy Russell  who only became an MSP after the stage one vote  intends to vote against, while ex-Labour MSP Colin Smyth previously supported it but has not been at Parliament since he was accused of possessing indecent images of children and voyeurism and is not expected to vote.

Ahead of the vote, former chief medical officer Sir Harry Burns described the proposal as deeply disturbing. He said: The present debate over Liam McArthurs Assisted Suicide Bill has forced MSPs to examine how we should look after patients with incurable illness. Arguing that we should kill them is deeply disturbing and ignores many ways in which we can and should support them.

Passing a law which allows people to be killed because they cant be cured ignores the reality that we can still allow them to feel the contentment of being in control, rather than the torment of being abandoned.

Engaging positively with them to manage their symptoms and suffering gives them agency and dignity. We may have no medical cures for their physical illness, but we can and should give them a sense of control over their lives, not a pathway to death.

Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes led a last-day appeal for MSPs to consider healthcare workers who will be asked to apply assisted dying legislation

A series of rallies are expected to take place at Holyrood today both in favour of the Bill and against it.

Dr Gordon Macdonald, chief executive of Care Not Killing said: Legalising assisted suicide changes the culture surrounding care for sick and dying people, and would be a catastrophe in terms of how our society confronts illness and disability  not to mention devaluing suicide prevention efforts.

Michael Veitch, policy officer for the Christian social policy group CARE for Scotland, said: This is the final opportunity for MSPs to reject this dangerous, divisive and damaging Bill.

But Emma Cooper, convener of the Friends at the End (FATE) group, said: We cannot deny those who are going to die the right to choose. It is simply a misconception that pain relief can alleviate the suffering of all conditions at the end of life.

Passing this Bill is the right thing to do, the only compassionate decision.

In an attempt to address concerns about coercion, MSPs agreed amendments last week which require doctors to discuss indirect pressures affecting a persons ability to decide freely and also to discuss potential coercion or pressure, including feelings of being a burden or financial pressures.

But a series of other amendments proposing changes to the assessment process to include safeguarding or coercive-control specialists and a requirement for doctors to seek advice from a panel of experts were rejected.

Provisions around conscientious objection for health professionals were controversially removed, while a proposal for an opt-in register was rejected.

An amendment proposing the insertion of an institutional objection or no duty to participate for care providers such as hospices, care services, independent healthcare services or any other institution specified by ministers was also voted down.

At the beginning of the stage three debate last week, Health Secretary Neil Gray told MSPs that sections of the current Vill remain outside the competence of the Scottish Parliament and may trigger a Supreme Court challenge if passed.

Mr Gray said yesterday that he now believed that the stage three amendments mean it now is within Holyroods legislative competence  but refused to say whether he would personally vote for or against it.

He told BBC Radio Scotland Breakfast: I think Liam has led the Bill with grace. I think opponents of the Bill have set out their case, often in a very compelling way, and MSPs now have a choice on a Bill that I believe is now within legislative competence to choose on the merits or otherwise of assisted dying.

It is a significant moment for this Parliament. We are in unprecedented territory, and it will be a defining moment, I believe, of this parliamentary session, and could potentially be a defining moment in Scotland for decades to come.

So, this is a significant moment that well be voting on tomorrow night.

Mr McArthur said: To my MSP colleagues I want to say this: this is now the toughest and most comprehensively safeguarded assisted dying Bill in the world.

If you believe that dying people should not have to suffer against their will and you have heard, like I have, of the many instances where they have been simply failed by the lack of compassion and safety in our current law, you now have to back this Bill.

It is time to look terminally ill Scots in the eye and make this change.
A serial rapist who subjected sex workers to terrifying attacks at knifepoint has been jailed for 14 years.

Alexander Steven carried out assaults on five vulnerable women in Dundee between October 2020 and October 2022.

A judge told him at the High Court in Edinburgh that the evidence showed he deliberately targeted sex workers who were from overseas.

Judge Norman McFadyen, KC, said: Their vulnerability was such that you believed they were unlikely to go to the police.

The court heard that Steven, who was employed in a non-teaching role at the fee-paying High School of Dundee, told one of his victims: Who are the police going to believe? A white Scottish man or a Brazilian prostitute?

The judge ordered that Steven should be under supervision for a further four years when he can be returned to jail if he breaches his licence conditions.

Alexander Steven carried out assaults on five vulnerable women in Dundee

Steven, who watched proceedings via a TV link to prison, was told: You are a man who has over some years maintained a double life: ostensibly a respectable, married man, well educated and holding down responsible jobs.

Steven, 52, denied a series of charges but was convicted of five rapes and two sexual assaults with intent to rape at flats in the city.

He claimed the victims were taking part in role play with him during the assaults.

Advocate depute Leanne Cross said Steven made appointments with women who were usually working on their own and were in a vulnerable position when he turned up armed with a knife.

His former employer said Steven, from Dundee, had not been a member of teaching staff but worked in the schools development office between May 2022 and May 2023.

Judge McFadyen made non- harassment orders banning Steven from contacting or attempting to contact victims. He was also placed on the sex offenders register for life.
Switch's Living Data Center (LDC) EVO transforms AI factories from human-managed infrastructure to an automated, intelligent system.

LAS VEGAS, March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Switch announced today that they have integrated the NVIDIA Omniverse DSX Blueprint into their EVO AI Factory architecture and LDC EVO operating system. LDC EVO, combined with NVIDIA Omniverse libraries and OpenUSD, delivers high-fidelity operations across Switch's deployed portfolio. LDC EVO's workflows, intelligence and modeling deliver live, physics-accurate visual representation of the EVO AI Factory.

Simulation to Reality: Switchs EVO AI Factories shown through digital twin simulation using NVIDIA Omniverse DSX Blueprint (left) and real-world deployment (right).

Traditional data centers run on DCIM, or data center infrastructure management, where humans make decisions assisted by monitoring tools. AI factories operate at extreme density, creating operational complexity that exceeds what DCIM was designed to manage. LDC EVO replaces this model. LDC EVO presents the automation of every system in the facility in near real-time, maintaining an updated 3D digital twin of the complete AI factory, providing our people with unprecedented support and capabilities.

Every NVIDIA DGX deployment requires a facility engineered to its specifications. Switch's EVO AI Factory is that facility. Switch enables its customers to deploy NVIDIA accelerated computing on Dell PowerEdge servers at extreme density from day one. Switch helped deliver deployments of NVIDIA Grace Blackwell on Dell PowerEdge servers in EVO AI Factories. LDC EVO presented capabilities to allow its customers to validate these hardware configurations before physical deployments.

Leadership Perspectives

"LDC EVO is the operating system for Switch's EVO AI Factory, orchestrating the modular and configurable campus architecture that enables hybrid cooling and supports extreme AI densities," said Zia Syed, Chief Technology Officer of Switch. "It's built to operate every generation of NVIDIA reference design, including the Rubin DSX architecture. Leveraging NVIDIA Omniverse libraries and OpenUSD for digital twins, we've layered in automation workflows and operational intelligence to unify deployments. LDC EVO presents dynamic operations of an AI Factory at scale."

"Gigawatt-scale AI factories require a shift toward autonomous, telemetry-driven infrastructure capable of orchestrating extreme power and cooling densities in real time," said Vladimir Troy, Vice President of AI Infrastructure at NVIDIA. "The integration of the NVIDIA Omniverse DSX blueprint into the Switch LDC EVO operating system provides the high-fidelity simulation and operational intelligence necessary to optimize the deployment of next-generation NVIDIA AI infrastructure."

The Switch Ecosystem

We brought together the expertise of leading suppliers across the AI infrastructure ecosystem including NVIDIA, Dassault Systemes, Cadence, ETAP, Schneider Electric, SUSE, Dell Technologies, Oxide Computer Company and Procore Technologies, Inc.

Within LDC EVO, these collaborating technologies operate as integrated capabilities: thermal modeling, electrical simulation, reality capture, construction lifecycle management and facility telemetry are synchronized into a single presentational environment. The result is that teams can simulate, monitor and adjust operationsall within one interface that improves every operational cycle.

This will be showcased at NVIDIA GTC 2026, where Switch will feature its EVO AI Factory in the DSX AI Infrastructure Pavillion, Booth #91.

About Switch

Switch, founded in 2000 by CEO Rob Roy, stands at the forefront as the leading data center campus designer, builder and operator. As the AI, cloud and enterprise data center experts, Switch provides the most modular, scalable and sustainable data centers to the most discerning clients. The company offers a comprehensive, future-proof portfolio ranging from highly dense liquid cooled AI to hyperscale cloud and the industry's highest rated and most secure enterprise data centers. To learn more, visit www.switch.com and follow Switch on LinkedIn, Facebook and X.

Cautionary Statement Regarding ForwardLooking Statements

This press release may contain forwardlooking statements, including statements about our future operations, plans, objectives, expectations, or performance. These statements are based on current assumptions, estimates, and projections and are not guarantees of future results. Forwardlooking statements involve risks, uncertainties, and other factorsmany of which are beyond our controlthat could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied. These risks and uncertainties may include changes in market conditions, competitive pressures, operational challenges, economic factors, and other business risks. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forwardlooking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. We undertake no obligation to update or revise these statements in light of new information, future events, or otherwise.

SOURCE Switch

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Mentally ill criminals held in secure hospitals are to be handed the right to vote in Mays Holyrood election.

The SNP government is seeking to force through an order which will allow some persons detained in hospital under orders and directions relating to criminal justice to vote in Scottish parliamentary elections and local government elections in Scotland.

The proposed order states it will apply to elections on or after May 7 this year.

Timing for a vote on the issue is expected to be decided by the Scottish Parliamentary Bureau today.

The proposed remedial order amends the Representation of the People Act 1983.

Scottish Tory MSP Sue Webber said: This sums up how out of touch SNP politicians and Holyroods cosy Left-wing consensus are with the real challenges facing Scotland.

Criminals held in secure hospitals, such as the State Hospital at Carstairs, Lanarkshire, are to be handed the right to vote in Mays Holyrood election

Scottish Conservative MSP Sue Webber said Scots would be 'appalled' by the SNP's 'loosening of the rules' over voting

The SNP are not even being straight with Scots. They mistakenly believe they have to do this to comply with an old ruling from the ECHR, when they know fine well that there remains a ban on prisoner voting elsewhere in the UK.

The SNP are not only content with giving prisoners the right to vote, but astonishingly do not see any problems with allowing those who are not even mentally capable of taking responsibility for their actions the right to participate in the democratic process.

Scots will be appalled by the SNPs loosening of the rules when it comes to the privilege of voting at future elections.

'We will be fighting this plan every step of the way and would urge every MSP in Holyrood to show some common sense and join us in rejecting this proposal.

The issue was first considered by Holyroods standards, procedures and public appointments committee last week, when three MSPs supported it and two voted against.

It is expected to go to a full vote of the Scottish parliament tomorrow.

The move comes after Nicola Sturgeons government gave some prisoners the vote before the 2021 Holyrood election.

Again, SNP ministers claimed the change was needed as the blanket ban on prisoners voting was unlawful under ECHR.

However, most criminals in England and Wales, detained in either prison or mental health hospitals, remain banned from voting.

Exceptions include those held on remand awaiting trial or sentencing, offenders released on temporary licence and those on home detention curfew.
This is the first picture of a tragic teenager who died following a meningitis outbreak that has killed one other and put at least 11 more in hospital.

Juliette Kenny, 18, died on Saturday surrounded by her family after falling victim to the deadly bug which has swept through several towns in Kent.

The sixth form student lived in Whitstable with her father Michael, 46, mother Rebecca, 49, and older sister Florence, 20.

Her father said they had been left 'beyond devastated and they have no words to express their loss'.

Juliette's heartbroken grandmother Linda Kenny also told the Daily Mail: 'I just can't bring myself to say anything otherwise I will cry.

'We are all on antibiotics because we were with Juliette in hospital when she passed away.'

On Monday the head teacher at the Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School in Faversham Amelia McIlroy fought back tears as she paid tribute to Juliette.

She said: 'We've got a lot of very upset children. It is with great sadness that we are confirming the loss of Juliette - a much loved and treasured member of our school community.

'Juliette was a student at our school for seven years. She was incredibly kind, thoughtful and intelligent, and she loved our school. She was really very happy here.

Juliette Kenny, 18, died on Saturday surrounded by her family after falling victim to the deadly bug which has swept through several towns in Kent

Juliette (centre) lived in nearby Whitstable with her father Michael, 46, mother Rebecca, 49, and older sister Florence, 20

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

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She continued: 'Juliette embraced everything that school had to offer, with great enthusiasm and joy, and her humour and her positivity were captivating.

'In short she was a lovely girl. Her beautiful smile, her loving nature and her sense of fun will be hugely missed.

'We are all devastated. Our love and our thoughts are with her family and friends at this terribly sad time. Our priority now is the safety and well-being of all members of our school community, and we are continuing to work closely with the UKHSA to ensure they are all as well as they can be.'

A 21-year-old student from the University of Kent also died after contracting meningitis, while 11 other people have been left seriously ill.

Pupils from two other schools have also been diagnosed with the disease following the outbreak at the weekend.

Norton Knatchbull School in Ashford said one of its Year 13 students has meningitis and is now 'receiving appropriate hospital treatment'.

A Year 13 pupil from the Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys has also been admitted to hospital with meningitis.

The invasive outbreak is believed to be linked to a social event at Club Chemistry in Canterbury, which some of those affected had recently attended.

Club Chemistry in Canterbury which has been linked to the meningitis outbreak

Keeleigh Goodwin, 21, has been diagnosed with meningitis after attending an event at Club Chemistry

Keeleigh, who lives in a house-share in Canterbury, has been diagnosed wtih meningitis B and is currently in hospital

Casey Marlow, 19, was rushed to hospital a few days after her and her friends spent the evening at a nightclub thought to be at the centre of the deadly outbreak of meningitis

Casey's mother Emma Marlow said her daughter should make a full recovery with antibiotics

Meningitis alert: What are the symptoms and can it be treated? - What is meningitis and what causes it?? Meningitis is an infection of the protective membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord. It is usually caused by a bacterial or viral infection. Bacterial meningitis is rarer but more serious than viral meningitis. It can affect anyone but is more common in babies, children, teenagers and young adults. Meningitis can be very serious if not treated quickly, and can lead to life-threatening sepsis and permanent damage to the brain or nerves. - What are the symptoms? Symptoms of meningitis and sepsis can include a high temperature, cold hands and feet, vomiting, confusion, muscle and joint pain, pale, mottled or blotchy skin, spots or a rash, a headache, a stiff neck, aversion to bright lights, being very sleepy and seizures. Symptoms can appear in any order and some may not appear at all. - Why are young people at risk? According to Meningitis Now, one in four 15 to 19-year-olds carry meningococcal bacteria in the back of their throats, compared to one in 10 of the UK population. People can carry this harmlessly without becoming unwell, but it can be passed from person to person by coughing, sneezing and kissing. Increased social interaction in this age group means the bacteria can be passed on more easily. In universities, students can be more vulnerable because of living in more 'cramped' housing or halls of residence. Young people also come together from all over the world to live, study and socialise. - What causes these outbreaks and how serious are they? Outbreaks can happen when a particular meningococcal strain enters a community where people are mixing closely. Universities which include halls of residence, parties, and large social groups, can help the bacteria to spread more easily. But the risk to the general public in Kent is low, with people at the highest risk usually close contacts of cases. - How is meningitis treated? Hospital treatment is recommended by the NHS for all cases of bacterial meningitis. Treatments include antibiotics and fluids administered directly into a vein, oxygen if there are breathing difficulties, and in some cases steroid medication to prevent swelling around the brain. Patients may need to stay in hospital for a few days or weeks. In cases of mild meningitis, patients may be sent home if tests confirm it is viral, which usually gets better on its own. Most patients start to feel better within seven to 10 days. But severe viral meningitis may also be treated in hospital. - What action is being taken to stop the spread in Kent? Close contacts of the University of Kent students affected will be given antibiotics. On Sunday, the UKHSA said specialists were interviewing affected individuals and their families to 'help identify all close contacts and arrange antibiotics to limit spread'. The agency had also worked with the University of Kent to provide advice letters to all 16,000 students, providing information on recent cases, the signs and symptoms of the illness, how to obtain antibiotics, and what to do if they felt unwell. - Are there vaccines available for meningitis? There are two vaccines for meningitis. The MenACWY vaccine is a single dose jab that protects against four strains of meningococcal bacteria. It is offered to teenagers in school and is also available to those entering university, up to the age of 25. Experts say that this jab is 'highly effective at protecting against invasive disease'. But Andrew Preston, a professor of microbial pathogenicity at University of Bath, said that uptake among teenagers was about 73%. 'So there are a lot of unvaccinated students given the size of the student cohort,' he said. Elsewhere, there are the MenB, 6-in-1, pneumococcal and MMRV vaccines for babies and children. - What should you do if you think you have meningitis? The NHS recommends that people call 999 for an ambulance or go to their nearest A&E. People are advised to trust their instincts, as someone with meningitis or sepsis can get a lot worse very quickly.

The 1,600 capacity venue has since closed for the rest of the week after an investigation by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) identified that some confirmed cases had visited before the outbreak.

The government body has urged anyone who visited the venue on March 5, 6 or 7 to come forward for antibiotics as a 'precautionary measure'.

The club's owner said more than 2,000 people would have attended over those dates.

A friend of two people battling the deadly infection - one of whom is in a coma - told the Daily Mail they began to exhibit symptoms after going to Club Chemistry in Canterbury on Friday, March 6.

Two girls who also attended an event at the club earlier this month and were sharing vapes with each other have since developed meningitis symptoms.

Keeleigh Goodwin, 21, who lives in a house-share in Canterbury, has been diagnosed with meningitis B and is currently in hospital, where she is expected to stay for at least a week.

Casey Marlow, 19, was also rushed to hospital a few days after she and her friends visited the venue to celebrate her birthday.

Meanwhile, a party in Whitstable has also been linked to the outbreak after the Mail revealed one of its attendees has subsequently been diagnosed with the disease.

Jude File, 15, said he heard in a text from friends today that the person was now in a coma.

The party was held at a private address on Saturday night and the person in a coma was said to be a boy aged around 17-18 years old.

Speaking with his father's permission, Jude told the Daily Mail: 'Everyone's a bit freaked out.

'The party was for pupils from Langton Boys School and Langton Girls School in Canterbury, where I have friends. I don't know [the person who fell ill], he's a friend of a friend.'

Matthew McDonagh, 16, and his brother Luca, 17, were also at the party in Whitstable on Saturday. They confirmed that one person from their friendship circle was already in an induced coma after recently contracting meningitis.

Luca, who is in Year 13 at Simon Langton Grammar School, said no one in his year group at school is allowed to go in for lessons. He and his brother, at the same school, were told to come to the University of Kent to receive a precautionary antibiotic.

Matthew said: 'It's quite scary. I can't believe it. It's just insane. It's actually happening since Covid. I thought this literally never happened again, and then I'm in a massive queue. It's completely unbelievable. I never thought this would happen again.'

'We've been told that we don't even know if the pill that they give you is actually going to help us,' Matthew said. Luca added: 'It's pretty terrifying.'

Queues formed today outside the Senate building after the university asked anyone who believes they have come into contact with those who contracted meningitis and have not been contacted by the UKHSA to attend between 9am and 4pm.

More than 30,000 students and staff at the campus have been alerted by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), warning them to stay vigilant against symptoms. The university has now postponed some in-person exams and moved others online.

Speaking at the university today, Mashaal Chughtai, 22, a third-year law student, said: 'My mum and dad are on their way to get me now from Birmingham. It is going to take them about four hours. My mum rang about seven times asking if I was alright. It is all very strange.

'I am in a dodgeball society and my friend texted me. At first we thought it was someone in Kent, not a student, but then we were told someone in the university had died.

'We got an email from the UKHSA saying these are the symptoms and to watch out if we start to feel any of them. Then the university emailed us too. I am going up to the Senate building just as a precaution because my mum told me to take the antibiotics.'

One girl living in Tyler Court, where an ambulance and doctors in hazmat suits arrived yesterday, added: 'A close family friend was taken to hospital last night because she was complaining of symptoms. She was in my flat. We heard this morning her temperature has come down and hopefully she will be alright.'

Meanwhile a second block, thought to be the Turing block, is also said to be affected.

Josh, a man whose sister is in hospital with suspected meningitis, spoke to Sky News while queueing to get antibiotics this morning.

He said: 'It shakes your day a little bit, I can tell you that. As far as I'm aware she's actually just spoken to the consultant again, they're going to keep her in a little bit longer. But to the best of my knowledge, I've just spoken to my mum, and she seems okay.'

Confirming that he was queueing for the medicine, Josh added: 'Having been Mother's Day yesterday we were together, me, my mum and my sister, and so obviously it's precautionary more than anything, but we just wanted to make sure that we could get up here. We spoke to 111 and this is what they said to do.'

On campus last night, several people could be seen wearing masks in their own flats.

An ambulance was also seen parked outside one of the student blocks, with paramedics dressed in protective clothing and face masks preparing to enter.

Final-year history student Sam Shuker said: 'It's quite grim. I didn't think I'd be dealing with this four days out from my dissertation deadline.

'My thoughts go out to those who are suffering and please stay safe. I don't think we know what strain it is at this point but we've got to be on our toes. Social distance and all that.'

Eloise Thorne, a third-year psychology student, said the mood on campus was 'very surreal'. She added: 'It just feels like Covid all over again. Everyone is confused and no one knows what's going on.

'It's really sad as well. I keep seeing people spreading videos of people who are sick around and I just feel like that might not be the best idea. It's just scary, sad.'

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

Students wearing face masks walk through the University of Kent campus in Canterbury today

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Ms Thorne also said: 'I think people need to take it seriously so more people don't end up like that [seriously ill]'.

Brittany Nsongo, a first-year astrophysics student, said she has had a few friends report in group chats that they were feeling sick with flu-like symptoms.

She has been alarmed by the circulation online of images of students allegedly being taken out of buildings while visibly unwell. 'It just feels like there is no respect for the actual victims,' Ms Nsongo added.

Another student, Ethan Falkner, 23, who is studying politics and international relations at the university, said friends of his were 'nervous and anxious'.

'First reaction to hearing the news is wishes to the people who have lost their lives already and to the ones currently in hospital suffering,' he said.

'I had friends sat in the library this evening who on finding out the news, immediately packed bags and left to avoid contact with people.

'The university are yet to communicate to myself and as it stands my friends I'm in contact with and others in the university community have had no contact from the university itself regarding this critical issue.'

Meningitis is spread through close contact such as kissing, and microbiology experts today confirmed the Canterbury cases are of the serious bacterial form of the disease.

Infectious disease experts believe the outbreak is 'unusual' and may be linked to a combination of lower vaccination rates since the Covid pandemic and a 'new strain with different behaviours'.

The vaccination ACWY-135 is received by teenagers in England between the ages of 13 and 14, in Year 9. Experts say vaccination rates among students are at 73 per cent.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: 'Our thoughts go to the family and friends of those who have lost a loved one to meningitis.

'Decisions on vaccination programmes are made following careful consideration of independent expert advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) and it does not currently recommend a routine MenB booster vaccination for adolescents and young adults.

'We continue to follow JCVI advice, which routinely reviews new evidence as it emerges.'
A leading meningitis charity has called for teenagers and young people to be vaccinated against meningitis B on the NHS.

The health service offers babies free jabs against this strain but children born prior to 2015 have missed out unless they paid privately.

Health officials have not yet confirmed which strain of meningitis is behind the outbreak in Kent but experts say the number affected and the details released by the UK Health Security Agency suggest it is most likely to be B.

The MenACWY vaccine is offered to children aged 14 to protect against meningitis A, C, W and Y but uptake is only around 70 to 75 per cent and remains below pre-pandemic levels.

If laboratory testing of patients in Kent indicates there is a jab that protects against the outbreak strain, authorities could launch a catch-up programme for students in the area who have not received it previously.

Meningitis Now said: 'We are launching a new campaign  No Plan B for men B  to address the rising concern of men B in teens and young people who are unvaccinated.'

It said men B is one of the most common causes of meningitis in the UK, especially among under-fives and young people aged 15 to 24.

The charity added: 'During the Covid-19 pandemic, cases of meningitis fell to an all-time low in the UK.

Students queuing for antibiotics outside a building at the University of Kent in Canterbury. The university have confirmed that a student was one of two people who have died as a result of meningitis in the area.

'In the years following, cases of men B disease have been increasing amongst teenagers and young people.

'We have effective, life-saving vaccines against men B, which have been offered to babies on the NHS vaccination programme since 2015.

'However, those born before 2015 are mostly unvaccinated against men B.

'We believe the men B vaccine should be offered to teenagers and young people.

'It is vital that we protect this at-risk age group.

'There is no other way to prevent men B disease  we must vaccinate young people to protect them.'

The campaign is calling for men B jabs to be given to those most at risk plus a booster programme to protect adolescents from 2030.

It also says men B jabs should be available on the high street 'at a fair price', as parents are currently paying around 220 for their children to receive it privately.

The University of Kent, in Canterbury, has confirmed that a student was one of two people who have died as a result of meningitis in the area.

The meningitis subgroup of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, which advises ministers on vaccines, decided last summer that it was not cost-effective to offer meningitis B booster vaccines to adolescents.

Minutes from the meeting also show there is some doubt among experts about effectiveness of a booster, even though it is offered in some other developed countries.

Amira Campbell, president of the National Union of Students, said: 'There is simply not enough awareness of Meningitis, especially as young people head off to university.

'While we all expect the inevitable freshers flu, there are deadly viral strains also circulating which students' need to be protected against, and aware of.

'The Meningitis vaccines should be offered on the NHS for young people  there should never be a cost barrier to life saving vaccines.

'And until then, universities and colleges themselves should consider offering it to their students as no lives should be lost to a preventable illness.'

Dr David Elliman, honorary associate professor in child health at University College London, said: 'Part of the benefit of many vaccines is to stop people carrying the germ and passing it on to others.

'The vaccines against the A, C, W and Y strains do this very well, which is, in part, why the disease they cause is now very uncommon.

'This is not true for the MenB vaccine, which has to be made in a different way. It has little, if any, benefit in terms of reducing this carriage.

'The MenB germ varies and not all variants are prevented by the vaccine.

'In addition, the protection from the vaccine appears not to last as long as that from the Men ACWY vaccines.

'All these factors mean that, although the vaccine has been very useful, the benefits from the MenB vaccine are perhaps less than those from the Men ACWY vaccines, overall.'

Infant uptake of the MenB vaccine is typically above 85 to 90 per cent.
READ MORE: Eerie final call reality star made to her sister before alleged murder

A former reality TV star who allegedly murdered her partner and cut off his head before setting his body alight, has given birth behind bars.

Tamika Chesser, a former Beauty and the Geek contestant, is accused of killing her boyfriend Julian Story, at their Port Lincoln unit in South Australia, in June 2025.

Chesser, 35, was pregnant when she was arrested in June.

It remains unclear who fathered the child.

She is being held at James Nash House, a forensic mental health facility in Adelaide, and is due to face court again next month.

Chesser, who featured in the second series of the dating show in 2010, is alleged to have decapitated and dismembered Mr Story on June 17, the day after his 39th birthday.

Police allege she then attempted to burn his body in the bathroom of their unit. His skull was discovered in bushland six weeks later.

CCTV footage captured a woman, dressed in black, walking three dogs a short time after the alleged murder.

Tamika Chesser, who is accused of murdering and beheading her boyfriend, has given birth while behind bars. She is pictured on season two of the hit show Beauty and the Geek

Julian Story (pictured) was allegedly killed the day after his 39th birthday. He was farewelled at a private service in August and remembered as a talented musician and beloved son

Chesser is pictured on CCTV walking her dog after she allegedly killed her partner Julian

Police allege Chesser is the woman in the footage and that she may have used a bag to transport Mr Story's head from the unit.

Chesser faces charges of murder, interfering with human remains, and assaulting a police officer.

Premier Peter Malinauskas called the alleged crimes 'very unique' and 'egregious', noting the unusual situation of a woman being pregnant in custody.

'Women who find themselves pregnant while in custody have access to very specific services that are tailored to prison health,' Malinauskas said.

'Just as importantly, if not more importantly, the wellbeing of a life that exists in utero is being looked after as well.'

Health Minister Chris Picton confirmed Chesser had not become pregnant while in custody and that strict protocols exist between corrections and health services.

'There are protocols in place between corrections and mental health, and our health services if someone is pregnant in one of our facilities,' Picton said.

Mr Story was laid to rest by friends and family in August at a private service at St Mary of the Angels Catholic Church. He was remembered as a 'very talented musician', a beloved son and 'a bit of a trickster'.

The former cocktail waitress (pictured) also modelled for a number of brands before being accused of murder. The new mum is due to face court next month

In December, Adelaide Magistrates Court heard that a significant amount of evidence is outstanding in the 'complex' case against Chesser.

Prosecutor Lisa Duong asked that the case be adjourned because material, including a post-mortem report and a large volume of DNA evidence, was yet to be received.

'I can advise the court that there is material which is outstanding which the Director [of Public Prosecutions] requires in order to make an assessment in relation to charge determination,' Ms Duong said.

'That is, in particular, a post-mortem report.

'Also, there is DNA evidence, which is outstanding. Given the volume of the DNA evidence in this matter, the report will be provided in two stages.'

Chesser's lawyer, Rosie Denny, told the court the defence team would be investigating whether mental health may have played a role in the alleged offending.
A 'much loved' university student died after taking MDMA at a Halloween rave in Liverpool, an inquest has heard.

Olivia Wojciechowska, 19, attended the party at Blackstone Street Warehouse last year where she consumed the deadly drug.

After suffering an apparent seizure, the second year business student was rushed to the Royal Hospital Liverpool for treatment.

However, after her condition deteriorated, she was transferred to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham where she passed away on November 7.

An inquest at Liverpool Coroners' Court on Monday heard that Olivia, who attended Liverpool John Moores University, went to the Halloween-themed rave on November 1 last year.

She had taken a taxi to her friend, Scarlett Tonna's home, where she told Ms Tonna that she had MDMA (ecstasy) 'in her possession,' according to the Liverpool Echo.

Olivia and Ms Tonna then went to the party in Vauxhall at approximately 4am, where Ms Tonna said she saw Olivia take the drug between 'one to two hours later.'

Another person in attendance also said they saw Olivia take the drug, before she collapsed at around 10.05pm.

Olivia Wojciechowska (pictured) died after taking MDMA at a Halloween rave in Liverpool, an inquest has heard

Olivia (pictured) was described as 'hilarious' and the 'life of the party by her friend

Olivia was then taken to a welfare tent, where bags of ice were used by staff in an attempt to control her temperature.

An ambulance was called shortly thereafter and she was brought to Royal Liverpool Hospital, arriving at 11.45pm.

Olivia was admitted to the hospital's emergency department, where she was subsequently intubated and placed on a ventilator.

She received medication and was placed on dialysis after her liver and kidney functions deteriorated.

On November 3, Olivia was approved for a liver transplant. She was transferred to Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth hospital two days later.

However, a CT scan on November 5 confirmed Olivia was 'unlikely to survive.' She died on November 7, two days before the transplant was due to take place.

A post-mortem exam revealed her cause of death to be 'multi-organ failure, acute liver failure and drug consumption.'

Coroner Helen Rimmer said: 'I accept the medical cause of death as multi-organ failure, acute liver failure and drug intoxication. She had consumed ecstasy at a rave event in Liverpool on November 1 with fatal consequences.'

An inquest at Liverpool Coroners' Court (pictured) heard Olivia's cause of death to be multi-organ failure, acute liver failure and drug consumption

A tribute site set up in Olivia's memory has since been flooded with messages and memories dedicated to her.

One person described her as a 'special girl,' with an 'unforgettable, high pitched crazy laugh,' that filled the room.

Another wrote that Olivia had 'a way of making everything feel lighter,' who made their 'world feel less scary and even made the most ordinary moment into special ones.'

A further message described Olivia as 'an example for any young woman.'

Following her death, registered organ donor Olivia donated her lungs and heart.

Her funeral took place on December 12 at St Colmcille's Church in East Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Former Australian of the Year Grace Tame has sparked fury after claiming reports of sexual violence carried out against Israeli women by Hamas terrorists during the October 7 attack 'have been debunked'.

On behalf of a listener, Tame was asked by ABC Sydney Mornings host Hamish Macdonald whether she had publicly condemned the extreme sexual violence committed against Israeli women on October 7, 2023.

'Can you please ask Grace why she is selective in her outrage? I have never heard her condemn or speak out on behalf of the Israeli women who were raped and killed by Hamas on October 7,' Macdonald asked, on behalf of the listener.

'Have you spoken about that, have you expressed outrage about that?'

'I'm not going to sink to the level of  of entertaining any kind of propaganda, Hamish. Let's not do that,' Tame said.

'What's the propaganda included in that question?' Macdonald asked.

'Those things have been debunked,' Tame said.

'Violence is happening on both sides, but this is not a fair fight. We're not talking about two equal cohorts, even marginally.'

Former Australian of the Year Grace Tame has provoked fury after claiming that sexual violence carried out against Israeli women by Hamas terrorists during the October 7 attack 'have been debunked'

On behalf of a listener, Tame was asked by ABC Sydney Mornings host Hamish Macdonald whether she had publicly condemned the extreme sexual violence committed against Israeli women on October 7, 2023

Macdonald raised the findings of the UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, which had concluded there were reasonable grounds to believe conflict-related sexual violence took place during the attacks.

'So are you saying that's propaganda?' he asked.

Tame appeared to walk back her comments.

'Awful things are being perpetrated by both sides, but this is not about 'whataboutism',' she said.

'This is not about selective outrage. I'm outraged by all of the violence.

'Clearly I don't support any of it. I am a human rights activist who advocates for the safety of all human beings, no matter their background, whether they are Jewish, whether they are Muslims, whether they are Christian, whether they are atheist.

'As someone who has been raped multiple times as a child myself, I have been choked, hit, spat on. I've been locked in cupboards. I have seen pretty horrendous things that human beings are capable of.

'I do not dismiss any of it, no matter who the perpetrator is and no matter who the victim is.

Tame's latest comments come after she revealed her lucrative speaking gigs have all but dried up in the wake of her saying 'globalise the intifada' at a pro-Palestine rally

'We shouldn't be here arguing over brass tacks.'

Macdonald interjected again.

'Let's not diminish what we're talking about. It's rape and getting raped, those are the allegations. I don't think it's arguing.'

Tame clarified she did not dismiss any of it, but asked listeners to reflect on the Israel-Palestine conflict.

'As someone who has been raped multiple times as a child myself, I have been choked hit bat on I've been locked in cupboards.

'I have seen pretty horrendous things that human beings are capable. I do not dismiss any of it, no matter who the perpetrator is, and no matter who the victim is, what I am, what I am, what I think is really important, is, is to you know, remember, what, what, what the broader context of this whole thing is.

Tame also had a message to Australians who were offended by her 'globalise the intifada' at a pro-Palestine rally.

'I would say to those people, what do you think a Palestinian feels or an Arab person feels when they hear phrases like Israel has a right to defend itself.

Arbel Yehoud (pictured) was held alone in solitary confinement after the October 7 attacks, starved, and psychologically, sexually and physically abused, breaking two of her ribs.

'What are they defending itself against? And what does that defense look like? Because from where I'm sitting and from where a lot of people are sitting, that defense looks like blowing up school children, blowing up hospitals, aid sites, and indiscriminately targeting civilians. So do you not think that that's offensive as well?'

National Council of Jewish Women Australia president Lynda Ben-Menashe has condemned Tame's comments.

'On October 7, thousands of male terrorists streamed over the border from Gaza to torture, rape and murder Israeli people in the most heinous ways,' Ben-Menashe said.

'For Tame to claim this fact has been 'debunked' is repugnant. The terrorists themselves filmed their actions, the UN has accepted its veracity and made its own pronouncements, and organisations such as the Dinah Project have provided the legal case.

'The ICC announced arrest warrants for Hamas leaders, citing crimes including rape and sexual assault in detention.

'All this is in addition to the powerful and heartbreaking statements from female and male survivors, witnesses and first responders.

'Many of the 251 hostages taken that day were regularly sexually abused during their captivity.

'Arbel Yahud, for example, has spoken of daily sexual abuse by her Islamic Jihad captors, which led her to three suicide attempts.

The moment Arbel and Ariel reunite in Israel on October 13, 2025

'For Tame to call this 'propaganda' is not only a wilful denial and distortion, but also an outrageous insult to both the survivors and those who did not survive.

'We can only speculate about the reason someone who claims to fight for all victims of sexual abuse makes an exception when those victims are Jews.'

Arbel Yahud previously told Daily Mail she was sexually assaulted almost daily by her captors.

Held alone, it was so bad she tried to take her own life on multiple occasions.

'I tried to end it three times,' Arbel says. 'I felt like I couldn't go on. There were moments when I thought it was the only way out.'

But she was kept alive by the love for her boyfriend, Ariel Cunio, 28, whom she was torn from after they were kidnapped together.

Ariel was released on January 30, 2025, after 482 days in captivity.

Tame's latest comments come after she revealed her lucrative speaking gigs have all but dried up in the wake of her saying 'globalise the intifada' at a pro-Palestine rally.

'Ever since then, there have been countless articles, talk show segments, radio interviews, and headlines defaming me - essentially painting me as a terror sympathiser and an anti-Semite,' she said.

'And there has been a concerted sort of shadowy campaign run by the Israel lobby behind closed doors - largely anonymous individuals writing letters pressuring the organisers of the events that I have been doing, or was slated to do, to drop me - and they have had some success.'

Daily Mail understands that Tame charged about $20,000 per corporate speaking event, as of 2023 - meaning she has lost a considerable source of revenue.
JD Vance accused the media of attempting to 'drive a wedge' between President Donald Trump and the Vice President over the war in Iran.

Vance, 41, lashed out at a reporter when he was asked about his past skepticism about US 'adventurism' into conflicts abroad.

'Look, I think that I know what you're trying to do,' Vance responded. 'You're trying to drive a wedge between members of the administration, between me and the president.'

'What the President said consistently, going back to 2015, and I agreed with them, is that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon ... I think all of us, whether you're a Democrat or Republican, should pray for success and pray for the safety of our troops.'

The awkward moment came as Vance stood directly behind Trump at a White House event announcing a new initiative to halt fraud.

Vance, a Marine veteran who served in Iraq, has loudly advocated against US wars in the Middle East for years. To outline his support for Trump in 2024, he penned an op-ed saying Trump would not draw the country into armed conflict.

Since Trump decided to join Israel in bombing Iran, leading to the death of its late leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, at least 13 US service members have died, in addition to over a thousand Iranians and some Israelis.

After the question, Trump jumped in to clarify how he, like his VP, has advocated against new wars.

VP JD Vance accused the media of trying to 'drive a wedge' in between him and the President during a White House event on Monday

The awkward interaction came as Vance stood behind Trump in the Oval Office

'I don't want wars. I want wars less than almost anybody,' he claimed.

The President again referred to the war as an 'excursion' and noted how US citizens are willing to foot inflated gas bills and a bad stock market to avoid 'letting them hit you with nukes.'

Body language expert Judi James, who analyzed the event for the Daily Mail, said: 'There were suggestions that this relationship might have become more of a political 'situationship', with Vance performing some ingratiation and some status-lowering techniques here in the face of Trump's attempts to power-posture.'

'Vance adopted a dutiful and submissive pose behind his boss, rocking gently from side to side in what looked like a self-soothing gesture, with his hands cupped in front of his torso, wearing the beaming, ingratiating smile of the Maitre d' of a Michelin-starred eaterie,' she added.

Earlier this month, Trump himself noted how Vance was 'less enthusiastic' about launching the Iran war, on which the two differ 'philosophically.'

Last week, a report from POLITICO citing two senior Trump administration officials said that Vance was 'skeptical' about the war.

He is also 'worried about success' and 'just opposes' the war on Iran, one official said.

Another official said that once the decision to strike Iran was made, Vance was 'fully on board' with the mission, dubbed Operation Epic Fury.

Join the discussion Do YOU believe JD Vance is fully behind Trump on the Iran war?

An Army team carries the remains of Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, who was killed in Kuwait by Iranian strikes early in the US-Iran war

Pressed last week on how he advised Trump on the operation, Vance said he wouldn't tell the public out of fear for being jailed over the classified conversation in the Situation Room.

'I hate to disappoint you but I will not show up here in front of God and everyone else and tell you what I said in the classified room,' Vance told the media on Friday.

'Partially because I don't want to go to prison, and partially because I think it's important for the president of the United States to talk to his advisors without those advisors running their mouth to the American media,' the VP said, receiving loud applause from the audience.

The Republican stressed the importance of keeping high-level conversations with the President and his top advisors private to avoid operational security breaches.

Trump also said during the Monday afternoon Oval Office appearance that he plans on another foreign excursion, and that he plans on 'taking Cuba.'

'I do believe I'll be having the honor of taking Cuba. Taking Cuba in some form ... I mean, whether I free it, take it. I can do anything I want with it.'
A group of Republican donors is quietly plotting a 'draft Rubio' campaign to prop up the Secretary of State's fortunes against Vice President JD Vance if the two go head-to-head in the 2028 presidential race.

ABC News reported Monday on the effort, saying that the GOP donors are looking for ways to boost Rubio's profile following November's midterm races.

Rubio, 54, isn't behind the movement, the report made clear, but it's instead being led by donors and surrogates, who remain anonymous.

The scheme comes as Rubio has become a more prominent face in the administration amid Trump's war with Iran and after January's capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro.

While Rubio has been in the room, Vance, 41, has been elsewhere - back in Washington when military action began in Iran and kept away from Mar-a-Lago during the Maduro raid, in an effort to keep the Venezuelans in the dark about the mission.

His absence during the first Iran strikes was explained by his office as being for 'operational secrecy,' a Vance spokesperson told ABC.

The statement attempted to kill any speculation that Vance, a Marine Corps veteran who served in Iraq, was against the Iran strikes after previous criticism of American involvement in wars in the Middle East.

Still, if the war with Iran is rated a success, that could help propel Rubio toward the 2028 nomination - should he decide to seek it.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio (left) has a group of donors who are laying the groundwork for a 2028 presidential bid, which would set the table for a likely GOP nomination fight against Vice President JD Vance (right). Rubio has, so far, suggested he wouldn't challenge Vance

Rubio, a former US senator from Florida, ran against Trump in the 2016 Republican primary, even briefly mocking the size of the President's hands and suggesting he had 'wet' his pants.

In turn, Trump nicknamed Rubio 'little Marco' and called on him to drop out of the race.

But the two men have long ago buried the hatchet, with Trump now referring to Rubio as the 'greatest Secretary of State in history.'

Behind closed doors, Axios reported, Trump has asked allies and associates the question, 'Marco or JD?' as he hasn't yet made an endorsement in the 2028 race.

While tradition suggests that Trump would pick Vance, Democratic President Barack Obama famously pushed his former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, to run in 2016, after the death of Vice President Joe Biden's son Beau the year before.

Trump's own 2024 announcement came historically early - a week after the 2022 midterm races wrapped up.

If Vance decided to follow Trump's trend, he could announce a 2028 bid as early as mid-November.

Rubio has suggested he wouldn't run against the Vice President, telling Vanity Fair in an interview published in December: 'If JD Vance runs for president, he's going to be our nominee, and I'll be one of the first people to support him.'

Join the discussion Do YOU think Marco Rubio could beat the Democrats in 2028?

Secretary of State Marco Rubio (right) speaks with President Donald Trump (left) at an event in the East Room on Friday. Behind closed doors, Trump has reportedly asked allies whether he should endorse Rubio or Vice President JD Vance in a 2028 match-up

In the Oval Office on Monday, Vice President JD Vance (right) sought to clarify that there's no daylight between himself and President Donald Trump (left) on the war with Iran, despite previously criticizing US military intervention in the Middle East

But Rubio backers appear undeterred.

The donor class also hasn't always successfully picked White House nominees.

Many big-money donors flocked to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis ahead of his 2024 presidential primary campaign, only for DeSantis to be easily crushed by Trump in early primary states.

Polling from the Daily Mail and JL Partners in February found that Vance continued to be the far-and-away favorite for the 2028 Republican nomination when Republican voters were surveyed.

More than half, 53 percent, picked Vance, while 14 percent selected Rubio.

No other GOP candidates currently poll in the double digits, with Senator Ted Cruz and DeSantis losing ground to Vance and Rubio in the Daily Mail's February survey.

At the same time, Vance made clear in the Oval Office on Monday that there's no daylight on Iran between him and the President.

'I know what you're trying to do,' Vance told a reporter who had pointed to his past criticism of adventurism in the Middle East. 'You're trying to drive a wedge between members of the administration, between me and the President.'

'What the President said consistently, going back to 2015, and I agreed with him, is that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon. We have taken this military action under the President's leadership,' Vance continued. 'I think all of us, whether you're a Democrat or Republican, should pray for a success and pray for the safety of our troops - that's the approach that I've taken.'

When asked again if he had any 'hesitation' about the military action, Vance again defended Trump's decision to strike Iran.

'Well, I think one big difference ... is that we have a smart President, whereas in the past we've had dumb presidents and I trust President Trump to get the job done, to do a good job for the American people and to make sure that the mistakes of the past aren't repeated, absolutely,' Vance said.
Residents have been ordered to stay away from a building in western Sydney after a woman was threatened by a man with a gun, sparking a major police operation.

Officers were called to a unit block on Uhrig Road in Lidcombe about 7.20am on Tuesday.

Witnesses had reported that a man  armed with a handgun  threatened a woman in a multi-level car park.

'The woman was shaken but not physically injured,' a NSW Police spokesperson said.

The man, who was not known to the woman, left in a white Subaru SUV, which officers said had cloned number plates.

Heavily armed police, including members of tactical units, have established a perimeter around the scene to carry out an extensive search.

'The public is urged to avoid the area while the operation continues,' the spokesperson said on Tuesday morning.

NSW Police Superintendent Robert Toynton told reporters on Tuesday that the man was still at large.

Police received reports of a man acting suspiciously

Heavily armed police, including members of tactical units, rushed to an apartment block in Lidcombe on Tuesday morning

No injuries have been reported

'The information we've got thus far from our victim, but also from our CCTV analysis we've done this morning, is there was some type of disagreement in the car park,' he said.

'That has then resulted in this incident (which) is completely unacceptable.

'If someone sights the Subaru SUV, and they believe it's involved in this, do not approach the vehicle. Contact Triple 0 immediately and ask for the police.'

Motorists have been warned Uhrig Road, Carter Street and Canning street are currently closed.

Anyone with information about the incident, or who may have relevant dashcam vision, has been urged tp contact Auburn Police or Crime Stoppers.
Daily Mail journalists select and curate the products that feature on our site. If you make a purchase via links on this page we will earn commission - learn more

Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh is known for her covetable wardrobe, blending timeless staples with quietly luxurious designer pieces.

While attending the Winter Paralympic Games in Italy, Sophie recycled a beautiful indigo blouse by Penelope Chilvers, styling it with a new blazer from Gabriela Hearst, wide-leg trousers and her go-to jewellery by Giulia Barela.

Sophie is a longtime admirer of Penelope Chilvers - from the brand's coveted espadrille wedges to its more recent move into ready-to-wear clothing.

This outing marked the second time she has worn the Tuesday shirt, having first debuted the piece during an official visit to Guatemala last autumn.

Blending artisanal detailing with an effortless feel, the shirt is crafted from soft, lightweight denim and features hand-embroidered smocking across the yoke, adding subtle texture and a relaxed silhouette.

It's the kind of versatile staple that works just as well with tailoring as it does with jeans or skirts.

I recently tried several pieces from Penelope Chilvers myself - including the cream version of Sophie's blouse - and can personally vouch for the quality and craftsmanship.

The best news? The design is still available to buy now. Alternatively, scroll on for my edit of similar high street styles.

Recreate the look on the high street
ASHEBORO, N.C., March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Technimark, a global leader in the design and manufacturing of custom, highly engineered injection-molded components for medical, consumer, and specialty industrial applications, has acquired Rage Custom Plastics ("Rage"), a US-based provider of blow and injection-molded plastic products focused on medical and consumer healthcare markets.

The acquisition of Rage strengthens Technimark's increasing presence in the high-growth medical and consumer healthcare markets, expands the Company's domestic manufacturing footprint into the Mid-West and Mid-Atlantic regions, and enhances the Company's value-added blow molding capabilities.

Known for manufacturing excellence, customer service, and innovation, Rage has built a proud reputation in its 65-year history. As a family-run business, Rage is dedicated to quality, communication, and care  making them a perfect addition to Technimark.

"My father started Rage 65 years ago with a simple belief," says Dan Saliaris, Rage's Chief Executive Officer: "Take care of your people, do right by your customers, and the business will take care of itself. Technimark's values, culture, and long-term vision mirror our own, and they bring capabilities and global scale that will create tremendous opportunity for our employees and customers. I feel incredibly proud of what we've built  and confident that Rage's legacy will be even stronger as part of Technimark."

Kris Peavy, Technimark's Chief Commercial Officer and President of Healthcare, had high praise for the Rage team: "Rage's talented team, strong culture, and long-term partnerships with strategic healthcare customers make them a perfect acquisition for us. We are excited to welcome the Rage team to the Technimark global organization and look forward to building a stronger future together as we continue advancing our mission to make what makes life better."

About Technimark

Technimark is a global manufacturing solutions partner for the healthcare, consumer packaging, and specialty industrial sectors, specializing in precision injection molding, value-added assembly, and contract manufacturing, including medical devices. Technimark provides customized, end-to-end solutions focused on technology and innovation that improve quality, lower risk, and reduce costs. With facilities in the United States, Mexico, United Kingdom, Ireland, and China, Technimark leverages its global footprint to deliver high-quality products worldwide. Technimark is owned by Oak Hill Capital and Pritzker Private Capital. See the Technimark difference at technimark.com.

About Rage Custom Plastics

Rage Custom Plastics is a family-owned company with 65-year history of exceeding customer expectations in quality, performance and innovation in injection-molded and injection blow-molded plastic products. Headquartered in Hilliard, Ohio, Rage also has operations in Lewis Center, Ohio, Hurt, Virginia, and Altavista, Virginia. Learn more at rageplastics.com.

About Oak Hill Capital

Oak Hill is a longstanding private equity firm focused on the North America middle-market. Oak Hill applies a specialized, theme-based approach to investing and implements a highly systematic approach to theme development, proactive origination, and value creation in partnership with management to build franchises of lasting value. Over the past ~40 years, Oak Hill and its predecessors have raised over $25 billion of initial capital commitments and co-investments and invested in over 115 companies. For more information, please visit www.oakhill.com.

About PPC

PPC is a family-oriented investment firm that specializes in partnering with family-, founder- and management-owned companies in the manufactured products and services sectors. The firm's differentiated investor base, which is anchored by family investors, allows for aligned decision-making, flexible transaction structures, and a focus on achieving long-term business objectives. For more information, visit PPCPartners.com.

Contact: Trent Ingle

Director of Marketing and Communications

[email protected]

SOURCE Technimark LLC
Crown Prince Leka II of Albania has tied the knot with Blerta Celibashi in a small, private ceremony at Apponyi Castle in Slovakia.

The happy news follows a tumultuous few years for the 43-year-old royal, who announced his divorce from his wife of eight years, Elia Zaharia, in a series of events that were anything but smooth.

Leka and Elia, who were married in 2016 and share five-year-old Princess Geraldine together, announced their separation in January 2024, citing that the union had 'lost its function'.

Following their separation, the former couple were ordered to keep five metres from each other following an alleged incident of domestic violence, and Leka was told he can only see his daughter in the presence of a nanny.

Seven months after news of the divorce broke, Leka debuted his new girlfriend, wedding photographer Blerta, at a gala dinner.

Sunday's ceremony, where Blerta sported a two-piece, white co-ord, marked a clear shift from Leka's extravagant first wedding.

Despite being a claimant to a now-defunct throne following the dissolution of the Albanian monarchy in 1943, the prince and his ex-glamorous wife had won over the public's hearts from the moment they wed eight years ago.

Over 20 royal families from across the world, including Prince Michael of Kent, who is the second cousin of King Charles, attended the lavish ceremony.

Crown Prince Leka II of Albania and Blerta Celibashi tied the knot in an intimate ceremony on Sunday

In a translation statement released at the time of their separation, a spokesman maintained that Princess Geraldine remained the centre of the parents' attention, while also pleading with 'well-wishers' to respect the family's privacy.

The message read: 'Hello friends and well-wishers, by means of this post I officially inform you that Prince Leka and Elia Zaharia have agreed to end their marriage.

'Since the marriage has lost its function, they saw the way to resolve it by mutual consent by starting the necessary legal procedures.

'Despite the trust in the institution of the family, Prince Leka believes that the values of mutual respect and understanding will form the basis of the relationship in its continuity, which will have as its motive the growth and education of Princess Geraldine.'

'[The] spiritual and physical well-being of the girl will remain at the center of their attention, dedicated to ensuring a happy and safe life for Geraldine.'

The statement also said the prince would not be offering any further comment at this time - and requested that his 'right to privacy be respected regarding this matter'.

However, months later in March, news came that Leka sought police intervention following an alleged incident of domestic violence involving his ex-wife and ex-father-in-law.

A video surfaced online of Leka allegedly involved in a physical altercation with Elia and her father, Gjergj Polikron Zaharia.

The pair wed in a private ceremony to preserve the relationship's 'intimate' character, a statement read

Prince Leka of Albania and Princess Elia announced their separation in January. Seen with their daughter Princess Geradine in 2021

The Palace issued a statement after a clip of the fight surfaced online and claimed Leka was 'physically attacked with strong objects by his ex-wife and ex-father-in-law' and had handed the video to the police as evidence.

Elia broke her silence on the 'terrible' conflict and claimed her involvement in the fight was merely her trying to stop it, according to Albanian Daily News.

The glamorous mother of one claimed that she returned home to find Prince Leka in a tussle with her then-73-year-old father.

'It is a very difficult situation for me and my family, as it is not easy to return home and find Leka trying to violate my 73-year-old father,' she wrote.

'The conflict has nothing to do with me, except that I tried to stop it. I am following the judicial path for everything,' she added.

The Albanian royal court similarly issued a statement about the conflict via social media channels, and accused police of leaking the footage.

The statement read: 'Prince Leka on the afternoon of March 5 was physically attacked with strong objects by his ex-wife and ex-father-in-law and the videos of this moment have been made public on social networks.

'The videos have been submitted only to the police station by Prince Leka ll Zogu, as material evidence for violence inflicted on him. But despite being considered a secret, these materials, together with the statement, circulated widely on social networks and in the media transmitting unpleasant images and with violent content.

'The Royal Court deeply expresses disappointment with law enforcement institutions that we suspect have violated the right to anonymity by distributing third-party videos.

'The Royal Court also seeks the intervention of the police and relevant institutions for deleting these images from social networks and media.'

Shortly after, a court ruled that Crown Prince Leka II and his ex-wife must keep a distance of five metres from each other following an alleged incident of domestic violence.

The Civil Court of Tirana signed two protection orders for Leka and Princess Elia Zaharia following an alleged physical altercation between the former couple and Elia's father, Gjergj Polikron Zaharia, 73.

The court ruling followed a video that surfaced online of Leka allegedly involved in a physical tussle with Elia and her 73-year-old father.

The couple, who were married in 2016 in the European nation's second ever royal wedding and the first since the end of communism, welcomed their daughter in 2020 at the Queen Geraldine Maternity Hospital in Tirana.

They named their daughter Geraldine - a meaningful tribute to the little one's paternal great-grandmother, Queen Geraldine, who died on October 22, 2002, 18 years to the day before her namesake's birth.

Queen Geraldine was married to King Zog I, who was the first monarch of Albania after it gained independence from the Ottoman Empire but fled his homeland in 1939 when Italy's fascists occupied the Balkan state.

Despite the monarchy having been dissolved, Zog's son King Leka I remained head of the House of Zogu and claimant to the throne until his death in 2011 and was succeeded by his only son, Leka II.

The Crown Prince, who attended Royal Military College Sandhurst and has worked as an adviser to Albania's president, took over his father as head of the House of Zogu, and titular King of the Albanians.

As Leka II currently does not have any sons, his current heir presumptive is Skender Zogu, his first cousin once removed.

Leka II and Elia, who were engaged in Paris in 2010, also presided over the Queen Geraldine Foundation.

The prince has also worked as an adviser within the Albanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Interior and the Albanian Presidents Office, while the princess works at the Albanian National Theatre.

Albania's royal family was expelled from the country in 1939 after it was invaded by Italian fascists.

After World War II, when the Communists took over the country, King Zog and his family were considered traitors and stripped from power completely and removed from history books.

Following their exile, the Albanian royal family spent time in Greece and Turkey before settling in England, where they briefly resided at The Ritz in London.

King Zog and his family then moved to Egypt before the monarch spent the remainder of his life in France.

After Leka and Blerta exchanged vows on Sunday, the Royal Communications released a statement announcing the happy news that read, when translated to English: 'The Royal Court of Albania has the special pleasure of announcing the marriage of His Royal Highness, Leka II, Prince of the Albanians, to Miss Blerta Celibashi.

'The marriage was celebrated in a private ceremony, preserving its intimate and solemn character.

'The official photograph published on this occasion was taken at the Apponyi Castle in Slovakia. The selection of this historic setting, residence of the noble family of Her Majesty Queen Geraldine, was made to honor her precious heritage and Hungarian origin, which remains an inseparable part of the history of the Albanian Royal Family.

'After the marriage, Princess Blerta will bear the family surname Zogu and the title Princess of the Albanians.

'The Royal Family shares this joyful news with the Albanian nation and with its friends around the world.'
The King hit the decks as he turned DJ on a trip to Manchester today.

Charles joined Christian St Louis at an event to highlight the work of the Kings Trust and gamely tried his hand at fading - gently decreasing the volume of one tune and bringing in another.

Focusing hard on the task at hand, he smiled afterwards and indicated how complicated it was, laughing as an onlooker said: Its not as easy as it looks, is it?

Noooo, he said, laughing, and waving his hands over the equipment.

The monarch was in Manchester and Warrington for a day of engagements in the region, the first stop being the Aviva Studios to speak to students who have benefited from a collaboration between The Kings Trust and Factory Academy, who deliver the Trusts Creative Futures, Get into Event Production programme.

It is an offshoot of a link-up with The Elba Hope Foundation, a charity founded by actor Idris Elba and his wife, Sabrina, to launch a range of free courses designed to inspire young people through art and build skills to work in the creative industries.

More than 100 young people have already benefited from the scheme locally.

Christian, 22, originally from East London but now living in Middleton, was at the sound station, one of three areas set up to demonstrate different aspects of the courses.

King Charles may have played the piano, trumpet and cello during his university years - but His Majesty struggled to master the 'fade' during a DJing lesson this morning

Sporting sunglasses and headphones on his head, he said the course had been inspirational, adding: Im working towards being signed this year.

Introduced to the king, Charles asked him: Are you doing it as part of a course?

I did a DJ course in November, December, Christian explained.

Through the Trust? the King asked. And that was something really beneficial?

Ive always wanted to DJ, and now I know I can do it, Christian said.Im unemployed at the moment, but once I start working and save up money, I can buy some decks and get some DJ equipment and start messing around. I try my best.

Is the Trust being helpful? asked Charles.

Its been more than helpful, Christian said. Its pushed me through the doors, given me

Put you in touch with the right people, interjected the king.

Exactly, he replied.

So what have we got then? Charles asked, indicating for Christian to give him a demonstration.

Christian, 22, originally from East London but now living in Middleton, was at the sound station, one of three areas set up to demonstrate different aspects of the Creative Futures courses supported by the King's Trust

During today's visit, the King also met young people and trainees setting up technical equipment, lighting, and instruments

One of the day's highlights was a poetry reading by Mariama Jallow, another student helped by Creative Futures, who later gifted the monarch a homemade cake

Christian drew a beaming smile from the King when he replied: 'We have music.'

The DJ explained how to 'load up your tracks' as the King nodded his head along to the sounds of Aint Gonna Change by House of SAY.

Christian then asked him if he would like a go as Charles gently pulled one lever down and turned another up to play Dont want it by Hallman.

Christian later reflected on their session, adding: Its not every day you get to DJ with a King.

As Charles arrived at Aviva Studios, he was greeted by cheers as opposed to heckling after a tense run-in with members of an anti-monarchist group during Commonwealth Day celebrations last week.

Arriving at Westminster Abbey on March 9, King Charles noticed members of the Republic pressure group with signs that read 'Not My King' and 'What Did You Know'.

The anti-royalists questioned the King and other senior royals about the scandal surrounding disgraced former prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's friendship with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

The monarch received a much warmer welcome in Manchester today as photos showed him meeting fans outside Aviva Studios before heading in for his musical lesson.

During today's visit, the King also met young people and trainees setting up technical equipment, lighting, and instruments.

One of the day's highlights was a poetry reading by Mariama Jallow, another student helped by Creative Futures, as she talked about her personal journey and overcoming adversity.

That was wonderful, the King said.

He also listened to a classical guitar performance by Rory Green

The King undertook a short walkabout before he left, meeting members of the public, including a group of toddlers who were there with their childminders, Jodie Pownell and Nick Standing

Four little ones stood at the front by a barrier, and the King made a beeline for them, saying hello and asking how old they were, while the youngsters - (right to left) Stevie, one, twins Teddy and Kuba, one, and Jackson, two - looked up in awe

Thank you so much, she replied. I did the creative music programme and health and social care.

And what are you up to now? Charles asked.

He was touched to see a scrapbook she had made about her experiences, before handing him a cake that had been made especially for him.

For me? Thank you so much. Are you sure you dont want a bit? the King said.

No, its ok. Its for you! she giggled.

Bless you, he said.

He also listened to a classical guitar performance by Rory Green and met students who had undergone lighting training.

Afterwards, he unveiled a plaque to mark his visit and listened outside to a stirring performance by a choir from the Royal Northern College of Music.

The King undertook a short walkabout before he left, meeting members of the public, including a group of toddlers who were there with their childminders, Jodie Pownell and Nick Standing.

Four little ones stood at the front by a barrier, and the King made a beeline for them, saying hello and asking how old they were, while the youngsters - Stevie, one, twins Teddy and Kuba, one, and Jackson, two - looked up in awe.

Charles unveiled a plaque to mark his visit and listened outside to a stirring performance by a choir from the Royal Northern College of Music

Jodie said afterwards: He was so warm and friendly and asked about the little ones. He told us we were doing a fantastic job. What a morning!

The Kings Trust, formerly known as The Princes Trust, is one of the largest youth opportunity charities in the country, helping young people from a wide variety of backgrounds, particularly from disadvantaged communities.

It was personally set up 50 years ago by Charles when he was Prince of Wales, using his naval pension.

The prince wanted to form a charity that gives young people the chance to build the confidence and skills to live, learn and earn.

Since the Trust was founded by The King in 1976, it has helped more than a million young people across the UK reach their potential by developing life skills, preparing for employment or accessing job opportunities.

Three in four of those it has supported over the last five years have moved into work, education or training.

It comes after Charles met with First Nation leaders from Saskatchewan for a historic private meeting at Buckingham Palace last Wednesday, March 11.

The seven Treaty 6 leaders travelled to London for the private audience after formally inviting the monarch to the 150th anniversary of the treaty's signing in Fort Carlton, Canada.

Images of Charles meeting and shaking hands with the delegation of chiefs serve as a poignant moment for the members, who have long been campaigning for a royal meeting and are hopeful for the King's attendance in August.

Ahead of the meeting, Chief Larry Ahenakew of Ahtahkakoop Cree Nation said that he first wrote to the King in November 2024 and in February 2025 before receiving a response in December.

He told CBC News: 'It's going to be exciting for all of us,' Ahenakew said. 'First time in Europe, myself.'

The monarch received a warm welcome in Manchester today as photos showed him meeting fans outside Aviva Studios before heading in for his musical lesson

The King appeared in good spirits as he greeted well-wishers outside Aviva Studios

The leaders, who had hoped to present the King with a personalised invitation to the anniversary event, also planned to gift the King beaded moccasins 'rooted with love and prayers for the future generation'.

The visit, which Ahenakew described as 'historic', has been supported by by the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations and the Assembly of First Nations.

During the private audience, the King also welcomed an 105-year-old Second World War Mosquito Bomber to Buckingham Palace and presented him with a Distinguished Flying Cross.

Flight Lieutenant Colin Bell is the last surviving bomber pilot to have flown the de Havilland Mosquito aircraft during the conflict.

During their meeting at the Palace, the pair shook hands and chatted, while the heroic veteran also gave His Majesty a copy of his memoir, Bloody Dangerous.

His book recounts the extraordinary story of his heroic wartime service for the first time and what it was like to fly a Mosquito, known as the 'wooden wonder' for being mostly constructed of wood, during 50 raids over Germany including 13 to Berlin.

When asked in the book what would happen if the Rolls-Royce Merlin engines failed on take-off, the commander replied in stark terms: 'You die like an officer and a gentleman.'

Mr Bell also revealed that, rather than carrying a teddy bear as a mascot on his death-defying bombing raids over Nazi Germany, he took along a Smith & Wesson revolver with 20 rounds of ammunition in case he was shot down.

Mr Bell, whose full title is Flt/Lt (Ret'd) Colin S Bell DFC AE FRICS IRRV(Hons) RAF (Ret'd) flew for 608 & 162 Squadrons, part of the Pathfinder Group - an elite, hand-picked bunch of the RAF's most skilled pilots and navigators.

The Pathfinders were tasked with flying bombs deep into enemy territory and marking targets for larger, more vulnerable bomber formations to increase their accuracy.

Mr Bell, who now lives in Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent, and his navigator were part of the Light Night Striking Force which carried out nuisance raids on cities all over Germany forcing workers down into air raid shelters.

He and his fellow pilots were aided by cutting-edge navigational technologies of the time, which in the post-war era paved the way for safe commercial air travel.

The King presented Mr Bell, who served with the RAF's 608 Squadron in the Light Night Striking Force, with the citation to his Distinguished Flying Cross, which was originally awarded to him for his actions by Charles's grandfather King George VI in 1945.

The Distinguished Flying Cross is given for 'acts of valour, courage or devotion to duty while flying in active operations against the enemy' to personnel of the Royal Air Force and other services.

Mr Bell's final raid, over Berlin, took place in March 1945, just before his 24th birthday. Two days later the very Mosquito he had flown in was shot down and both crew members were killed.

In his incredible memoir, he also addressed recent criticism of Bomber Commands devastating attacks on German cities like Dresden, which hit civilians as well as military targets.

He wrote: There is certainly an argument to be had about this, but I do often wonder how that argument would go if we had lost the war.

People might be expressing reservations about living as slave labourers under a Nazi regime, with concentration camps set up in every city for its opponents.

So, when people say, What about Dresden? I reply that Dresden was indeed horrific. But so too was the blitzing of London, Coventry, Plymouth, Exeter, Liverpool and Southampton, to name but a few.
It was once known as the quick-divorce capital of America, famous for its ultra-lenient rules that drew unhappy couples from across the country.

But these days Reno, Nevada is attracting a very different kind of visitor: homebuyers.

In recent years the city has quietly boosted its curb appeal, emerging as one of the country's fastest-rising property hotspots.

According to Realtor.com, Nevada's second-largest metro - which has also dealt with high crime rates and an influx of gamblers in the past - is now 'increasingly outshining Sin City in its appeal to California homebuyers.'

Property site Redfin reports that in February, Reno home prices climbed 7.6 percent year-over-year, reaching a median price of $580,000.

Meanwhile in Las Vegas, prices slipped slightly, falling 0.23 percent compared with last year, with the median home selling for about $440,000.

California buyers are a major force behind Reno's surge.

New housing data from Realtor.com shows that in 2025 nearly 43 percent of online views for Reno listings came from users in California metro areas - the highest share since the data began in 2019.

By comparison, about 25 percent of views on Las Vegas listings came from California, down from a peak of 27 percent in 2023.

It was once known as the quick-divorce capital of America, famous for its ultra-lenient rules that drew unhappy couples from across the country. But these days Reno, Nevada is attracting a very different kind of visitor: homebuyers

Real estate expert Tim Lewis says Reno's growing allure for Californians makes perfect sense.

'The cost of living and working in major California cities is sky-high, particularly in the Bay Area,' he said.

'By comparison, the median home value in Reno is less than one-third of what it is in San Francisco, and property taxes are some of the lowest in the country.

'Nevada also does not have a state income tax. There's a lot to love about Nevada these days - especially Reno.'

Lifestyle is another major draw.

Unlike the desert heat and tourism-heavy pace of Las Vegas, Reno offers a four-season climate, milder summers and easy access to year-round outdoor recreation such as nearby Lake Tahoe.

The city also appeals to families and outdoor enthusiasts seeking a smaller-city feel, lighter traffic and a more balanced lifestyle, while still being close to California.

Economically, Reno has also undergone a major transformation.

In recent years the city has quietly boosted its curb appeal, emerging as one of the country's fastest-rising property hot spots

This four-bedroom, three-bathroom home is on sale in Reno for $989,900

The region's biggest employers span trade, transportation, utilities and tourism, with major companies including Walmart, Costco, UPS and FedEx.

Healthcare and education are also major pillars of the local economy, led by the Washoe County School District and the University of Nevada, Reno.

But the biggest catalyst for change arrived in 2014, when Tesla opened its Gigafactory in nearby Storey County.

Realtor Lewis says the facility triggered a massive 'knock-on effect' that reshaped the region.

'So what's responsible for Reno's dramatic transformation over the past decade?' he said.

'For starters, gambling is no longer the backbone of the city's economy. Instead, an entire tech industry has taken root.

'Major companies including Tesla and Intuit have brought production facilities and thousands of jobs to the region, creating opportunities for locals and newcomers alike.

'Startups have followed, bringing even more innovation. In fact, more than 100 startups have set up shop in Reno-Sparks since 2016.'

Reno's rise comes as Las Vegas faces growing pressure. Recent figures show home prices there are slipping, fewer deals are closing and more properties are sitting unsold

Overall visitor numbers to Las Vegas in 2025 were down 7.4 percent compared with the previous year, while December alone saw a steep 9.2 percent drop

Reno's rise comes as Las Vegas faces growing pressure.

Recent figures show home prices there are slipping, fewer deals are closing and more properties are sitting unsold.

The slowdown coincides with a sharp drop in tourism, as soaring hotel and restaurant prices deter visitors.

The slide has continued into 2026.

Overall visitor numbers in 2025 were down 7.4 percent compared with the previous year, while December alone saw a steep 9.2 percent drop.
Just a few years ago, buying a house anywhere near Austin was out of reach for most ordinary Americans.

Now the Texas boomtown's decline has been so dramatic that a 23-year-old recent college graduate has managed to buy a family home for less than the national median price.

Austin was the place to be for young professionals and families alike during COVID.

Americans flocked to a handful of Texas, Florida and Arizona hotspots for warm weather, lower taxes, and enough space to avoid lockdown cabin fever.

Now, it seems Austin's newcomers have realized it isn't the Southern metropolis paradise they thought it would be, and they're packing up.

Unfortunately, this trend came after builders developed thousands of new units to account for the sudden demand that popped up during the pandemic.

With supply far outweighing demand, Austin has turned into a firm buyers market - giving house hunters more options, more negotiating power and more time to shop around.

One buyer who has benefited from the sorry state of Austin's housing market is a 23-year-old recent college graduate originally from Nigeria, who bought a house for herself and her two brothers.

Austin was the place to be just a few years ago, but now it seems the Texan city is the place to avoid at all costs

Demand was high during the pandemic, so developers built more houses. Now, buyers are retreating while supply is mounting

The buyer managed to snap up a single-family home just 45 minutes outside of Austin for $392,000 - far below the national median sale price of $430,000.

She told Realtor.com that the home has three bedrooms, outdoor space and a small guest house, which was an important factor for her mother.

As the median age of first-time home buyers ticks up to 40, it's very rare that someone fresh out of college is able to afford a house in a major city. This sale is a testament to the affordability offered in Austin, at the expense of the city's housing market and the equity of homeowners.

Realtor.com's January Housing Report found that Austin's median list price currently sits at $455,000 for the entire metro area - a steep 8 percent drop from the same time last year.

Homes are also spending more time on the market, with the median days on market increasing by ten days.

Meanwhile, many people - including public figures such as conservative podcaster Joe Rogan and comedian and MMA fighter Brendan Schaub - are leaving Austin, and they're not doing so quietly.

All of these factors have created the perfect storm for Austin's housing market.

To call the market 'unbalanced' would be an understatement, Redfin's chief economist, Daryl Fairweather, told the Daily Mail.

During the pandemic, Austin offered vast properties with small price tags in a place without income tax or strict COVID lockdowns

A recent college grad managed to snap up a single-family home just 45 minutes outside of Austin for $392,000 - far below the national median sale price of $430,000 (file image)

'Austin is the most extreme example of a market that overheated during the pandemic and is now correcting,' Fairweather said. 'Builders added a lot of supply when demand was red-hot, and many homeowners who locked in low mortgage rates are now trying to sell into a slower market.'

Indeed, there are 10,000 more homes on sale than there are people looking to purchase in Austin, according to Redfin - making it the strongest buyer's market in the country.

Aside from being the strongest buyer's market, Austin has also seen the steepest drop in prices of all major US cities. Prices have plunged 7.3 percent over the past year to $462,000 - far more drastic than the 0.6 percent drop seen on a national level.

This is a far cry from the $655,000 average house price seen at the peak of Austin's popularity back in 2022.
Humanity has received a mysterious signal, described as a 'mega-laser' beam, from a violently merging galaxy more than 8 billion light-years away.

The signal, deemed the most distant hydroxyl megamaser ever detected, was intercepted by the MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa, which features 64 antennas.

A hydroxyl megamaser is a giant natural laser in space. When galaxies full of gas collide, molecules called hydroxyl smash together and release very strong radio waves.

These waves behave like a laser, but instead of visible light, they produce radio signals that astronomers can detect with telescopes.

Because these signals are extremely bright, they can be seen from very far across the universe.

In this case, the object is so powerful that scientists said it may actually be a 'gigamaser,' which is even stronger than a megamaser.

The system, called HATLAS J142935.3002836, is so far away that we are seeing it as it looked more than 8 billion years ago, when the universe was less than half its current age.

Dr Thato Manamela, SARAO-funded postdoctoral researcher at the University of Pretoria and lead author of the new study, said: 'This system is truly extraordinary. We are seeing the radio equivalent of a laser halfway across the universe.'

Humanity has received a mysterious signal, described as a 'mega-laser' beam, from a violently merging galaxy more than 8 billion light-years away

Manamela added that as the radio waves traveled toward Earth, they were also strengthened by a separate galaxy positioned directly along the line of sight.

'This galaxy acts as a lens, the way a water droplet on a window pane would, because its mass curves the local space-time,' he said.

'So we have a radio laser passing through a cosmic telescope before being detected by the powerful MeerKAT radio telescope  all together enabling a wonderfully serendipitous discovery.'

The radio signal contained four separate components, meaning it is coming from multiple regions within the galaxy system.

At least two of these areas appear to be strongly magnified by gravitational lensing, which makes the signal more than ten times brighter than it would normally appear.

In this case, a massive foreground galaxy sits between Earth and the distant system.

Its gravity bends space-time and acts like a cosmic magnifying glass, boosting the brightness of the radio emission.

This amplification allowed the signal to be detected by the MeerKAT radio telescope even though the source is over 8 billion light-years away.

Pictured is the galaxy system where astronomers said is the source of the signal

The signal, deemed the most distant hydroxyl megamaser ever detected, was intercepted using the MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa (PICTURED), which consists of 64 antennas

Normally, signals from objects this far away are too weak for telescopes to detect.

But the powerful radio signal coming from HATLAS J142935.3002836 was boosted by a rare effect called gravitational lensing, a phenomenon predicted by Albert Einstein.

Gravitational lensing happens when a massive object, such as a galaxy, sits between Earth and a distant source.

Its strong gravity bends space-time, which changes the path of the light or radio waves traveling through it.

This makes the distant signal appear brighter and magnified, allowing telescopes like the MeerKAT radio telescope to detect it even from billions of light-years away.

From Earth, this effect can sometimes create a ring-shaped halo of light around the foreground object, called an Einstein ring, named after the famed physicist.

The same effect also magnifies the distant source, in this case a radio or microwave signal, making it much easier for astronomers to study objects that would normally be too faint to detect.
US billionaire Peter Thiel is hosting a series of closed-door lectures in Rome on the doorstep of the Vatican, focused on the concept of the Antichrist.

The invitation-only conference began on Sunday and will run through Wednesday, with locations reportedly shifting and no recording devices permitted.

Thiel, 58, a billionaire entrepreneur and political donor best known for co-founding PayPal and Palantir, is outlining his personal philosophy about the potential emergence of an Antichrist and the threat of Armageddon.

The Antichrist is a figure in Christian theology believed to be a powerful deceiver who will oppose Jesus Christ and lead many people away from the faith before the end of the world.

While details about the Rome lectures remain scarce, Thiel delivered a similar series in San Francisco last year in which he argued that an Antichrist figure could rise to power by exploiting fears of global catastrophes.

In those talks, Thiel suggested such a leader could promise to prevent existential threats, such as nuclear war, artificial intelligence risks or climate disaster, while using those fears to justify the creation of a one-world government.

The billionaire is now reportedly expanding on those ideas in Rome, a move that has already drawn criticism from religious scholars.

Father Paolo Benanti, a Catholic theologian who advises the pope on artificial intelligence, described Thiel as acting as a 'political theologian' within Silicon Valley.

In an essay published Saturday on Le Grand Continent, Benanti wrote that Thiel's views represent 'a prolonged act of heresy against the liberal consensus' and challenge 'the very foundations of civil coexistence.'

Peter Thiel, 58, a billionaire entrepreneur and political donor best known for co-founding PayPal and Palantir, is outlining his personal philosophy about the potential emergence of an Antichrist and the threat of Armageddon

Thiel is known to be somewhat obsessed with the Antichrist and Armageddon, the biblical final battle between good and evil.

Thiel speaks of the concepts in terms of the choices facing humanity to confront the existential risks of the world today.

'Christians debated these prophecies for millennia. Who was the Antichrist? When would he arrive? What would he preach?' he mused in a November essay in the Catholic magazine First Things.

He grew up in an Evangelical Christian family and has said Christianity shapes his worldview.

The Rome lectures appear to follow the blueprint of a four-part lecture series he gave in San Francisco last September.

Some of the invitations circulating in Rome, for example, copy the description of the San Francisco event.

'His remarks will be anchored on science and technology, and will comment on the theology, history, literature and politics of the Antichrist. Religious thinkers upon whom Peter will draw include Rene Girard, Francis Bacon, Jonathan Swift, Carl Schmitt and John Henry Newman,' said one invitation.

Thiel, who co-founded PayPal in 1998, and other entrepreneurs of that era were part of a group dubbed the 'PayPal Mafia,' including Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman, and YouTube co-founders Chad Hurley and Steve Chen.

Thiel is known to be somewhat obsessed with the Antichrist and Armageddon, the Biblical final battle between good and evil

After PayPal was sold to eBay in 2002 for $1.5 billion, Thiel founded the hedge fund Clarium Capital Management and helped launch Palantir Technologies, which recently inked an agreement with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement to streamline the process of identifying and deporting people the agency is targeting.

Lecture notes from Thiel's San Francisco event were reportedly published online by tech worker Kshitij Kulkarni, head of protocol research at software company Succinct.

According to notes, Thiel opened the lecture series by examining the biblical concept of the Antichrist and its possible role in modern fears about global catastrophe.

Citing the Book of Daniel, which predicts that 'knowledge shall be increased' in the end times, Thiel reportedly argued that rapid technological progress could intensify apocalyptic anxieties and create conditions in which a powerful authoritarian figure might rise.

He suggested that modern society, despite its technological advances, is increasingly preoccupied with existential threats such as artificial intelligence, nuclear war and bioweapons, echoing themes commonly associated with apocalyptic prophecy.

The billionaire also reportedly explored the idea that the Antichrist could emerge as a leader promising peace and safety during a period of global crisis, potentially consolidating power through calls for a unified world government.

The notes claimed that Thiel framed this scenario as a tension between two possible outcomes: catastrophic conflict, what biblical texts describe as Armageddon, or a global authority claiming to prevent disaster.

The lecture also reportedly examined how modern technological progress has transformed humanity's relationship with risk.

Thiel argued that the same scientific breakthroughs capable of advancing civilization, such as nuclear physics or artificial intelligence, also carry the potential to threaten it.

He pointed to the development of the atomic bomb in 1945 as a turning point when technology itself became associated with apocalyptic fears.

The notes also suggested Thiel further argued that contemporary concerns about AI, biological weapons, nuclear war and population decline resemble secular versions of biblical end-times warnings.

During a question-and-answer session, Thiel reportedly suggested the Antichrist could ultimately emerge as a single powerful leader, rather than merely a political system, particularly because modern technology gives humanity unprecedented capacity for self-destruction.

He also reportedly said such a figure could rise to power by leveraging widespread fears about global crises, presenting themselves as the only leader capable of preventing catastrophe.
A record-shattering heatwave is set to scorch millions across the Southwest, sending temperatures over 100 degrees three months before the US reaches summer.

The shocking forecast has been triggered by a massive 'heat dome' forming over 14 states, including California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, Colorado and Wyoming.

Parts of Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas will also be affected, with meteorologists from AccuWeather warning that temperatures throughout the week will be 15 to 30 degrees above average for mid-March.

A heat dome works like a lid of high pressure. It builds overhead, trapping hot air at the surface level, suppressing clouds and intensifying sunlight.

The historic warming trend is expected to last through Thursday, with dozens of cities throughout the region expected to set daily temperature records from March 17 through March 19.

By Wednesday, temperatures in Los Angeles, Phoenix and Las Vegas are expected to hover near 100 degrees Fahrenheit, which typically does not happen until mid-June.

Temperatures in California's Death Valley, the hottest and driest national park, may reach 108 degrees by Wednesday, which would mark the earliest heat above 105 degrees ever recorded.

The AccuWeather team added that 'little movement' was expected heading into the weekend, meaning the extreme heat could last well beyond Thursday, and potentially lead to unexpected wildfires throughout Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico.

A brutal heat dome is scorching over a dozen states across the Southwest, threatening to set multiple records for the earliest 100-degree days ever seen (Stock Image)

A heat dome is a high pressure system trapping heat and humidity near surface level

A heat dome forms when the jet stream, the fast-flowing river of air high over the US, develops a bulge or ridge.

This ridge creates a barrier that blocks normal weather patterns, allowing warm air to sink and get trapped under the 'dome,' while keeping storms and cooler fronts away.

AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alan Reppert said: 'Heat domes are a lot like a balloon. They expand and contract as the day goes by, and when you are inside of it, it can be very warm.'

In this case, the extreme conditions while much of the US is still battling fierce winter weather have set the stage for countless climate records to fall in just four days this week.

Meteorologists projected that Los Angeles would reach 98 degrees on Wednesday. However, if the heat dome pushes it to 100, forecasters revealed that it would break a record set in 1874 for the earliest 100-degree day.

Phoenix, Arizona is expected to see back-to-back 100-degree days on Wednesday and Thursday, reaching 101 and 104, respectively.

The city typically sits in the mid to upper 70s in March. Until this week, the only day Phoenix has ever seen 100 degrees in March was on March 26, 1988.

In Las Vegas, Nevada, temperatures in mid-March usually stay in the low 70s. Breaking 100 degrees this week would shatter the record books, erasing the previous mark for the earliest 100-degree day set on May 1, 1947.

Dozens of cities are expected to set new records for warmth this week, from the Canadian border in Montana to the Southern border in California and Arizona

Even if some areas do not reach 100 degrees, most of the Southwest is expected to climb into the 90s this week.

In Denver, Colorado, residents are expecting the earliest 90-degree day to hit the city since 1992. The previous record for such heat was April 30, meaning this heatwave should smash that by five weeks.

Forecasters also warned that the intense heat will cause flowers to wilt during a period called 'superbloom,' - a rare natural event where huge numbers of wildflowers suddenly bloom all at once in desert areas.

'The surging heat will dry out vegetation quickly, increasing the risk of wildfire ignition,' the AccuWeather team added.

Temporary lakes that formed in the winter, such as in Death Valley, could also dry up due to the early blast of summer.

AccuWeather Meteorologist Elizabeth Danco said in a statement: 'This heat is arriving far earlier than normal, with temperatures in parts of the Southwest running one to two months ahead of historical averages.'
A massive tornado watch stretching more than 1,000 miles along the US East Coast was issued on Monday as a dangerous storm system moves north.

Meteorologists warned the sprawling outbreak could produce tornadoes, damaging winds and large hail as the system sweeps through the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.

More than 35 million people from the Florida Panhandle through Georgia, the Carolinas, Virginia, Maryland, Washington DC, Delaware, eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey and parts of New York are under tornado watches.

The most dangerous period is expected from midday through early evening, with forecasters warning the peak tornado threat in the Mid-Atlantic could occur between about 2pm and 7pm ET.

One of the largest watches spans dozens of counties in eastern Virginia, southeast Maryland and northeastern North Carolina and remains in effect until about 7pm ET.

Other watches extend across parts of central North Carolina and coastal areas of the Southeast, while another covers a large portion of Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey.

Forecasters say the storms could rapidly intensify as warm, unstable air collides with a powerful weather system moving across the region.

Residents across the watch area are being urged to closely monitor alerts and have multiple ways to receive warnings as the storms develop.

A massive tornado watch stretching more than 1,000 miles along the US East Coast has been issued on Monday as a dangerous storm system moves north. Pictured is a monster tornado that hit Indiana last week

More than 35 million people from the Florida Panhandle through Georgia, the Carolinas, Virginia, Maryland, Washington DC (PICTURED), Delaware, eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey and parts of New York are under tornado watches

Mayor Muriel Bowser is urging residents to prepare for severe weather expected to impact the city on Monday afternoon.

At the mayors direction, the DC Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency has activated the Districts Emergency Operations Center to monitor conditions and coordinate response efforts.

Meteorologists warned that storms are expected to begin overnight, with ongoing activity as of mid-morning.

Multiple rounds are expected, reinvigorating in the late morning to afternoon.

The storm system is already impacting communities across the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast, with tornado watches issued for more than 50 counties in Virginia alone.

Areas under the watch include major population centers such as Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Newport News and Chesapeake, along with smaller coastal communities stretching along the Chesapeake Bay and Virginias Eastern Shore.

Counties in southeastern Maryland, including Dorchester, Somerset, Wicomico and Worcester, are also included in the watch area.

Farther south, tornado watches extend across large parts of North Carolina, including counties such as Halifax, Wilson, Edgecombe and Wayne.

Join the discussion How prepared do you think East Coast communities really are for sudden severe weather like this?

More than 35 million people from the Florida Panhandle through Georgia, the Carolinas, Virginia, Maryland, Washington DC, Delaware, eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey and parts of New York are under tornado watches.

New York City is also in the path of a storm

Meteorologists say the threat is not limited to land areas, as tornado watches also cover several adjacent coastal waters, including portions of the Chesapeake Bay, the York River and the James River, where strong thunderstorms could generate waterspouts or severe wind gusts.

Additional watches across coastal Florida and southern Georgia include counties such as Duval, Nassau and St Johns in Florida and Camden and Glynn in Georgia.

Storm Prediction Center officials said the wide geographic footprint reflects the strength and scale of the storm system sweeping northward along the East Coast.

In Pennsylvania, tornado watches extend across central counties, including Dauphin, Lancaster, Lebanon and York, putting cities such as Harrisburg and Lancaster under alert until around 7pm ET.

New Jersey counties, including Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, Ocean and Monmouth, are also under the same watch, along with Delaware counties such as New Castle, Kent and Sussex.

Parts of the US, like Maryland (PICTURED), are already seeing storms

Forecasters warned the greatest risk will occur during the late afternoon as storms intensify and move northeast.

The unstable air mass interacting with strong upper-level winds could allow rotating thunderstorms to form, which increases the chance of tornado development.

In addition to tornadoes, the storms could produce powerful wind gusts capable of knocking down trees and power lines.

Emergency officials said residents should take the watches seriously and remain prepared to seek shelter quickly if warnings are issued.

Tornado watches mean conditions are favorable for tornadoes to form, while tornado warnings indicate a tornado has been spotted or detected on radar.

The severe weather threat is expected to gradually weaken later Monday evening as the storm system pushes farther north and east.

However, forecasters cautioned that some strong thunderstorms may linger into the night before the system finally moves offshore. Until then, millions of residents along the East Coast remain under alert for rapidly changing and potentially dangerous weather conditions.
Mouth breathing, drinking or eating too much before bed, or being especially tired all cause people to drool in their sleep.

Sleeping on your side or stomach, allowing gravity to pull drool from the mouth, having a head cold, meaning your nose is stuffy, acid reflux, and dental issues also result in a damp pillow.

And while it is normal to occasionally wake up with a wet spot on your pillow, doctors are clarifying when you should be concerned about drooling in your sleep and when to see a professional.

Dangers of drooling: There are a number of reasons people may drool, but sometimes it can be a sign of something more sinister

Dr Landon Duyka, a clinical assistant professor of otolaryngology at Northwestern University in Chicago, told CNN: 'Everyone drools at one time or another when we have too much to drink the night before or fallen asleep on the couch after a big holiday dinner.

'If this is more of a persistent thing - youre waking up every night and your pillow is drenched - we want you to see a doctor, especially if its recent.

'It could be a sign of a more serious sleep disorder or even a neurological condition such as Parkinsons.'

One serious sleep disorder that causes drooling is sleep apnea.

Up to 30 million Americans are estimated to have obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a condition that causes a person to snore, stop breathing, and choke dozens of times throughout the night, making it impossible to have an uninterrupted night of sleep.

The gold-standard treatment for OSA is to wear a CPAP machine, which gently pumps air into a mask over the mouth or nose while sleeping. It prevents muscles in the back of the throat from narrowing, which constricts the airway and causes snoring and choking.

People with sleep apnea often drool because, as they repeatedly stop breathing, they may resort to breathing out of their mouth instead of their nose to get more air, which allows saliva to pool and escape.

Even more concerning, Duyka said nighttime drooling may be an early warning sign of Parkinson's disease.

Concerning: The above graph shows the increase in Parkinson's deaths in the U.S. by number (bars) and rate (line)

He told CNN: 'I dont want to instill fear in everyone, but there are rare instances where someone presents with difficulty swallowing and you ask them to walk and notice theyre shuffling a little bit or their facial expressions are somewhat blunted, which can be some of the first signs of Parkinsons or some other neurodegenerative disease.'

Parkinson's is an incurable neurological disorder that gradually robs patients of their ability to control movement, causing tremors, stiffness, and severe disability.

People with the disease experience Parkinson's dysphagia, or swallowing difficulties. This is estimated to impact 90 per cent of patients due to their weakened muscle function and coordination, which impairs their ability to swallow.

This leads to the accumulation of excess saliva and drooling.

In the US, about 1.1 million people are estimated to have been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, a number that is set to double by 2040.

Anyone who is concerned by their bedtime drooling should consult a sleep specialist or an ear, nose and throat doctor, known as an ENT. They can order a sleep study and other tests to determine the cause of your drooling.
Picture this. Youre searching online for a hotel when you spot somewhere reasonable looking for a goodprice in a good location with breakfast included. You book it without hesitation.

Then, fast-forward six months, and youre shown to a dark, glorified shoebox without a beam of light.

Im not sure when this trend of windowless rooms started exactly, but - frankly - it must stop. Because other than bats, bears, and broke backpackers with no choice, absolutely nobody on this planet wants to sleep in a room without a view.

Vacay cell: Tiny spaces can make big money for companies branding them as 'capsule' hotel experiences

For me, part of the thrill of staying at a hotel  whether its a Premier Inn in Milton Keynes or a boutique in the Bahamas  is waking up, popping on the kettle and drawing back the curtains.

Glancing out of that hotel window often provides a first glimpse of a new destination, especially if youve landed in darkness the evening before.

At a capsule hotel in Tokyo recently  essentially a glorified coffin with a TV and a curtain  Ive never woken feeling more groggy or depressed.

As soon as I arose, I darted for the door, squeezing past equally miserable guests fumbling in the dark for their boxer shorts and dignity.

OK, this may have been taking things to extremes (and I certainly knew in advance what to expect, and was simply curious about a one-off capsule hotel experience).

Stacked: The spaces come cheap but offer very little in the way of amenities

But whether youre a cash-strapped Gen Z on a gap year in Southeast Asia or a wealthy entrepreneur living the life of Riley in the Maldives, you deserve a room with a window, regardless of price tag.

Staying at a hotel should be an enjoyable experience, whatever the reason youre there. But as with so much else in modern life, comfort has been replaced by cost-cutting.

Many hoteliers even seem to celebrate selling tiny, claustrophobia-inducing rooms  positively pushing windowless crashpads and unashamedly putting the bottom line ahead of guests getting a good nights sleep. They dress this up as a cost-saving option for budget travellers.

But what a load of tripe. These rooms are simply money-spinners dreamed up by developers more concerned with profit than providing decent hospitality.

Dim: Windowless hotel rooms - and on cruise ships too (pictured) - ruin a big part of the holiday charm

What next? Will TVs be removed? Showers too? Will you soon need to bring your own bedding? And tuck into Oliver Twist-style gruel?

Mark my words: windowless rooms are neither about accessibility nor cost-saving for consumers. They are a degradation of hospitality standards.

We are on a slippery slope that, like shrinkflation, will see us tricked into getting less for more.

So next time youre handed the keys to one of these drab, shadowy hellholes, do me a favor: complain, hand them back, and ask for another room. We must reclaim our natural light, one window at a time.
Feature: Chinese electric vehicles gain traction in Botswanan market

Xinhua) 11:08, March 16, 2026

A Chinese vehicle is on display at the Francistown Motor Show in Francistown, Botswana, March 13, 2026. (Photo by Shingirai Madondo/Xinhua)

GABORONE, March 15 (Xinhua) -- In the eyes of Muyapo Lesetedi, a sales executive at Motor Holdings Francistown in Botswana, Chinese-made electric vehicles (EVs) are gaining traction across the southern African country, with fantastic and encouraging customers' feedback.

"The moment an EV arrives at our showroom, it is taken by the first customer," Lesetedi told Xinhua on Saturday at the two-day Francistown Motor Show, which opened in Botswana's second largest city on Friday, explaining how the consumers are embracing or receiving the EVs in the local market.

He made a detailed introduction to the plug-in hybrid Chinese vehicles of different models, noting that the dealer company received no complaints from its customers as they have been enjoying the Chinese models.

Botswana's growing environmental awareness is possibly driving a steady gain in traction of EVs across the country, said Lesetedi, without giving sales statistics of the company.

On Friday, Mayor of Francistown Gaone Majere was enchanted by the Chinese EVs offering a lot of advantages ranging from cost to the environmental perspective.

Majere said the cost of energy, or cost of electric refuelling, is much cheaper, while the range is longer, adding that the maintenance expense for EVs is lower compared to that of vehicles with internal combustion engines.

As for traditional Chinese models, Brando Keabilwe, a salesperson at Molapo Motors, a franchise dealer and service center for the Chinese Chery vehicles, told Xinhua that Chinese motor brands are gaining momentum in Botswana.

Botswana is among a host of African countries accelerating the transition from fossil fuel dependence to zero-emission mobility, and unveiled its first locally assembled EVs in 2024, in partnership with two Chinese vehicle manufacturing companies Skywell and CHTC Kinwin.

In Botswana's market dominated by internal combustion engines, the Chinese automobile manufacturers, including Great Wall Motor (GWM), Chery Automobile Co. Limited, and Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Co., Limited, are laying the groundwork of the cost effective and eco-friendly transition.

Mayor of Francistown Gaone Majere tries a Chinese vehicle at the Francistown Motor Show in Francistown, Botswana, March 13, 2026. (Photo by Shingirai Madondo/Xinhua)

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
Father-son dental team Dr. Steve Yabuno and Dr. Daniel Yabuno earn multi-year Top Patient Rated recognition, celebrating over four decades of comprehensive family dental care in the South Bay community with on-staff periodontists and six-day availability.

TORRANCE, Calif., March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Torrance Dentistry has been named a 2026 Top Patient Rated Dentist by Find Local Doctors, marking another year of recognition for the practice founded by Dr. Steve Yabuno in 1981. This honor reflects the practice's continued commitment to exceptional patient care and its reputation as a trusted dental home for families throughout Torrance, Redondo Beach, Lomita, and the greater South Bay region.

Torrance Dentistry

The Top Patient Rated designation recognizes dental practices that demonstrate excellence through verified patient feedback and consistent quality of care. Torrance Dentistry has earned this distinction for multiple consecutive years, supported by more than 550 five-star reviews across Google and Yelp. This sustained recognition reflects the practice's dedication to creating positive patient experiences through compassionate care, clinical expertise, and a welcoming environment.

The practice is led by the father-son team of Dr. Steve Yabuno and Dr. Daniel Yabuno, combining over four decades of experience with modern dental techniques and technology. Dr. Steve Yabuno, a UCLA School of Dentistry graduate who completed his residency at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Long Beach, has been serving the Torrance community since 1981. His son, Dr. Daniel Yabuno, a UC San Francisco School of Dentistry graduate who earned his undergraduate degree with honors from UC Irvine, brings expertise in cutting-edge dental technology and contemporary treatment approaches. Together with general dentist Dr. Carrie Wong and periodontists Dr. Violetta Kenigsberg and Dr. Calvin Dang, the team provides comprehensive care spanning general, cosmetic, restorative, and periodontal dentistry.

Torrance Dentistry operates as a full-service dental clinic, offering preventative care, emergency dentistry, dental implants, teeth whitening, porcelain veneers, crowns, bridges, dentures, TMJ treatment, and sedation dentistry. The presence of on-staff periodontists ensures that even specialized gum care and complex periodontal treatments are available under one roof. The practice is open six days a week, including Saturdays, providing flexible scheduling options for busy families and working professionals.

"Being recognized as a Top Patient Rated practice year after year is a tremendous honor that reflects the hard work of our entire team," says Dr. Steve Yabuno. "When I opened this practice in 1981, my goal was to create a dental home where patients feel comfortable and receive the highest standard of care. Working alongside my son Daniel and our exceptional team of doctors and staff, we continue that mission every day. We are grateful for the trust our patients place in us and are committed to serving the South Bay community for generations to come."

More About Torrance Dentistry:

Torrance Dentistry is a family-owned dental practice serving patients throughout the South Bay since 1981. The practice is led by Dr. Steve Yabuno (UCLA School of Dentistry, 1980) and Dr. Daniel Yabuno (UC San Francisco School of Dentistry), along with Dr. Carrie Wong and periodontists Dr. Violetta Kenigsberg and Dr. Calvin Dang. Services include general dentistry, cosmetic dentistry, restorative dentistry, dental implants, periodontal therapy, emergency dentistry, sedation dentistry, and TMJ/TMD treatment. The practice is a member of the American Dental Association, California Dental Association, and Western Dental Society. Torrance Dentistry is located at 3500 Lomita Blvd, Suite 103, Torrance, CA 90505 and is open Monday through Thursday from 8:00 AM to 5:30 PM, and Friday and Saturday from 8:00 AM to 2:00 PM. For more information or to schedule an appointment, please visit www.torrancedentistry.com or call (310) 530-7011.

Media Contact

Dr. Steve Yabuno

Torrance Dentistry

(310) 530-7011

SOURCE Torrance Dentistry
An iconic London restaurant is going global with its first-ever hotel, set to launch in 2027.

The Wolseley, located in the heart of Mayfair, is widely considered to be London's first modern Grand Cafe, established in 2003 in a restored 1920s building that originally served as a Wolseley Motors showroom and later a Barclays Bank.

It has since been restored into an upscale restaurant with a Venetian flair, offering a European-style all-day dining experience with iconic breakfasts, afternoon teas, and dishes like schnitzels and Welsh rarebit at its core.

Now, under its parent company Minor Hotels, The Wolseley has announced its global debut with its first ever hotel in New York City.

The Wolseley Hotel New York is scheduled to open in early 2027 and will be located at 130 West 44th Street in Midtown Manhattan, just minutes away from Times Square and Bryant Park.

The Wolseley London (pictured) has announced its global debut with its first ever Stateside hotel: The Wolseley Hotel New York

The Mayfair restaurant is renowned for its all-day European-style dining experience and opulent interiors

Designed by the distinguished architectural firm McKim, Mead & White, the historic building was originally built in 1905 as the clubhouse for the prestigious Lambs, America's first professional theatrical club.

With 76 guest rooms and suites, the new hotel balances classic British charm with contemporary luxury and New York's 'cultural energy'.

Along with a speakeasy cellar bar and a dedicated wellness and wellbeing centre, the hotel will feature a brasserie designed to capture the famous all-day European dining vibe of the original London landmark.

Inside, guests can enjoy the restaurant's signature dishes and cocktails in a vibrant yet refined atmosphere.

Dillip Rajakarier, chief executive of Minor Hotels' owner Minor International, said: 'The launch of The Wolseley Hotels marks an exciting new chapter for Minor Hotels.

'Inspired by the enduring success of The Wolseley in London, our vision is to create hotels anchored in culinary excellence, architectural character, and a genuine sense of occasion.

The New York property boasts 76 guest rooms and suites, a speakeasy bar and a brasserie (stock image)

'The Wolseley Hotel New York establishes our first flagship and sets the standard for the brand's global expansion.'

Speaking to The Times, Rajakarier futher hinted that, if successful, the new property would serve as a launchpad 'for us to take the Wolseley to other parts of the world', adding, 'The US is a key market for us and its so well-versed with the Wolseley'.

Aviv Laurence, CEO of owner BJGH, added: 'Introducing The Wolseley restaurant and bar to the United States through our New York flagship is a defining moment.

'Together with Minor Hotels, we are creating a destination that celebrates heritage, hospitality, and the enduring appeal of classic European luxury.'

In 2017, Minor International took control of The Wolseley following its acquisition of Corbin & King, the hospitality group founded by Jeremy King and Chris Corbin.

Despite launching the iconic restaurant in 2003 - alongside other London eateries like Brasserie Zedel and The Delaunay - the founders were eventually forced out after the Bangkok-based firm secured a majority stake.

Looking ahead, the group plans to open at least five new locations within the next seven years, including more UK sites and two confirmed locations in the Middle East.
As the conflict in the Middle East continues, so does the uncertainty around travel, flight prices and fuel shortages.

The ongoing war between the US/Israel and Iran has led to the main route for transiting jet fuel mostly closed recently.

The Gulf currently supplies around 50 per cent of airlines based in Europe, with consumers already taking the hit directly in increased flight prices. Those with flights already booked won't be asked to pay additional fees.

The price of a ton of jet fuel bound for north-west Europe before the first strikes on Iran on February 28th was around $830.

As a result, jet fuel from the Middle East to north-west Europe has almost doubled in cost over the last two weeks.

Airlines have hiked fares and families are scrambling to cancel their holidays just two weeks before Easter as the conflict in the Middle East threatens to cripple the tourism industry.

Last week, Hong Kong aviation giant Cathay Pacific became the latest to introduce an emergency fuel surcharge, effectively doubling it on most of its routes.

Meanwhile, flights to destinations like the Maldives saw a sharp increase in prices for direct routes that avoid stopovers in Middle Eastern hubs.

As the war between the US/ Israel and Iran continues in the Middle East, jet fuel has been impacted and the price of flights. Pictured: Smoke from Dubai International Airport

Some airlines are already having to increase their ticket prices including Qantas (pictured), Air New Zealand and Scandinavia's SAS

Skyscanner's travel expert Laura Lindsay recently warned flight costs could soon go up as airlines face increased costs.

She previously told the Daily Mail: 'As we've seen before in the aftermath of previous conflicts and following the pandemic, we would expect providers to continue to offer good value and flexibility in order to remain competitive, which ultimately means more consumer choice.

'While we may see some carriers increase fares to offset increased costs, most airlines will do everything they can to price attractively to stay ahead of the competition.'

Ryanair boss, Michael O'Leary, explained earlier this month how the budget airline shouldn't be impacted by the fuel costs.

'We're hedged for the next 12 months out to March 2027 at about $67 per barrel. So it won't affect our costs and it won't affect our low fares,' he said.

Other budget airlines, including Wizz Air, easyJet and Jet2 are yet to comment on whether their prices will be impacted.

As the situation develops and jet fuel supplies and flight prices remain uncertain, experts have revealed their take on how to avoid the hiked costs.

James Noel-Beswick, head of commodities at Sparta Commodities, a market intelligence firm, told The Telegraph 'the case for booking sooner rather than later is reasonably compelling' in regards to flight prices.

He added: 'Jet fuel costs are already running at elevated levels, and we expect further upward pressure in the weeks ahead as the market digests events in the Gulf.

'Those costs will, with the usual lag, work their way into airline ticket prices; carriers can absorb the pain for only so long before it is passed on to the passenger.'

Or you might be interested in using the 'somewhat unethical travel hack' for cheap flights recommended by Camila Zilveti, who has visited 94 different countries, and never paid more than $1000 (747) for a return flight.

Camilla, who goes by @camilazilveti on TikTok, thinks now might be a good time to book your next flight.

In a video, according to BroBible, Camila explained: 'Any time there is any political turmoil, change of presidency, onset of war - anything like that - that is the best time to go and book yourself a flight.'

Prices during such events can often fluctuate massively, and they may even decrease for some destinations.

'The flights - the prices are absolutely the most unbelievable. You're never gonna be able to beat it,' she insisted.

Camila went on to add how the recent events could make now a good time to book tickets for any trips you might be planning to go on in a few weeks.

A few commenters agreed with Camila and one even shared they book flights after accidents like plane crashes because of the price difference.

They penned: 'Yep.. not to mention a plane crash. After a plane crash I'm booking.'

But, another tactic could be waiting a little longer before booking to see how the situation plays out - though it may be riskier.

Chief analyst at StrategicAero Research, Saj Ahmad, said holidaymakers could 'stand to gain if they wait' to book.

The expert predicted that the war ending might lead to airlines and hotels trying to make up lost revenue by offering deals and sales.

Google Flights also has a handy tool that allows travellers to track flight prices for specific routes for the last 61 days.

Join the discussion Should airlines pass rising fuel costs onto passengers, or find other ways to keep fares affordable?

Google Flight tracking data showing how prices for direct routes, not stopping over areas impacted by the ongoing situation in the Middle East, were high for the Maldives earlier this month

This could be useful for determining if the prices might be rising, or remaining steady.

It even tells you if the prices are 'typical' or higher than usual for the selected route and dates, giving an average price range too.

Cathay Pacific today became the latest airline to reveal a detailed list of affected routes in a statement titled 'Fuel surcharge updates', a day after warning that fuel prices had soared in March with the outbreak of war in the Middle East.

Cathay Group's CEO Ronald Lam told a Wednesday media session the cost of fuel so far this month is double the average of the previous two months.

The hike in fees will apply to tickets from March 18, the statement said.

The surcharge will be effectively doubled  for tickets between Hong Kong and Europe that were purchased in Hong Kong, it will rise from HK$569 (around US$73) to HK$1164 (about US$149).

Cathay Pacific today became the latest airline to reveal a detailed list of affected routes in a statement titled 'Fuel surcharge updates'

The costs are hitting tourists from around the world. In the remote Western Australian town Dardanup, accountant Natasha Earle and her family have seen their five-week trip to Europe upended.

The once-in-a-lifetime trip is costing roughly 7,500 more as they reroute to avoid disruptions from drone and missile fire in the Middle East.

'We've spent tens of thousands of dollars on this holiday,' said Ms Earle, who is due to fly at the end of this month amid the biggest disruption to global travel since the pandemic.

'We should get at least half of that back from Emirates eventually.'

Dr Amrita Sen, founder of Market Intelligence at Energy Aspects, told the Commons Treasury this week that such dramatic jet fuel price rises would have an almost immediate impact on what travellers pay for their plane seats.

She said: 'Everyone is talking about crude oil but there are prices for jet fuel that have gone above $300 [a barrel]  it is crazy what is going on.

'So much production is focused in the Middle East it is not going to be possible to replace that through other sources.

'I am expecting quite significant rises in air fares. Some airlines hedge (against price rises) which will help a bit, but we should absolutely be expecting higher air fares for at least the next couple of months.'

Global oil prices have risen to their highest levels since 2022 following an escalation of the US-Israel war with Iran (Pictured: A crude oil tanker leaves the ConocoPhillips oil terminal after loading in Teeside this week)

Meanwhile in the Middle East, Dubai's usually crowded beaches, hotels and swimming pools stand deserted as strikes continue to plague the city.

Once a tax-free haven attracting social media stars and countless Brits seeking warm weather and crime-free streets, Dubai's carefully crafted image has been shattered and some residents believe it is 'finished'.

Thousands have fled the war-torn city, vowing to never return as the Islamic Republic sends barrages of missiles and suicide drones at glitzy skyscrapers and glamorous five star hotels, even striking the world-famous Fairmont hotel on Palm Jumeirah.

Bustling beaches and bars, usually occupied by British expats including Rio and Kate Ferdinand, Luisa Zissman and Petra Ecclestone, have been abandoned as the exodus from the emirate accelerates.

On Friday, as explosions rocked the city, with debris from Iranian drones damaging buildings in the heart of the financial district, Dubai was desolate.

The white sand Jumeirah Beach in the centre of Dubai, within sight of the famous Palm archipelago with its Atlantis resort, is a favourite among Dubai's 240,000 Brits.

Usually overflowing with holiday-makers, it was empty amid reports facilities are closing because of a lack of visitors.

And package holidays to countries near the Middle East conflict are being sold for as little as 100 as travel firms try to win bookings from concerned travellers.

Demand for UK bookings to the likes of Turkey, Greece, Cyprus and Egypt has fallen significantly in the 12 days since the US-Israeli attacks on Iran began.

Travel companies fear the drop-off will continue indefinitely with no end to the war in sight and are therefore unable to determine how much their profits will be hit.

For now, very cheap deals include seven nights in Turkey at a three-star hotel in Marmaris with Luton flights for just 100 per person for a couple next month.

The cheapest holiday to Greece next month is now 130 per person for a three-star Corfu hotel with flights from Birmingham on April 21, returning a week later.

Others could take a week-long trip to Cyprus for just 165 per person, staying at three-star accommodation in Paphos with flights from Liverpool on April 22.
As the eastern Mediterranean region continues to see the knock-on effects of war in the Middle East on its tourism industry, an increasing number of Brits are opting to holiday elsewhere.

Such popular destinations as Turkey, Cyprus and even Greece are being shunned for alternative countries.

Regarding Turkey, the FCDO advises against all travel to within 10km of the border with Syria due to fighting and a heightened risk of terrorism.

And British travellers are cancelling holidays to Cyprus as fears grow over the Iran war - despite officials saying the island remains safe to visit.

While there currently no warnings for travel to Greece on the GOV.UK website, Brits are still seeking vacations elsewhere amid ongoing conflict nearby.

Travel agents across the country have weighed in, highlighting which countries and areas are seeing a surge in interest instead.

Unsurprisingly, the countries seeing a boom are mainly located in western Europe - although a large number further afield have seen greater interest too.

Croatia has seen a huge boom in interest in the wake of the Middle East conflict

Italy, Spain, Malta and Croatia are on the rise, highlighting the appetite Brits have for these much-loved holiday hotspots.

It was revealed at the weekend that Marbella, which has long enjoyed its reputation as Spain's most glamorous resort town, is seeing an increased interest from tourists.

With getaways to the UAE firmly on pause, Marbella is likely to be poised for its busiest summer in a while.

Bethany Hall, a travel expert with over 17 years in the industry, told the Daily Mail: 'Some travellers who might previously have chosen Dubai or other long-haul luxury destinations are now leaning back towards Europe.'

Jonathon Woodall-Johnston, from travel agency Hays Travel, also said there was particularly high demand for trips to Italy, Malta and Croatia.

Meanwhile, some further-flung parts of the world are piquing British interest at the moment.

Neil Swanson, a director at TUI, told the Guardian: 'We're seeing particularly strong demand for our direct longhaul flying to the Caribbean, especially the Dominican Republic and Jamaica.'

Mark Duguid, from Surrey-based holiday operator Kuoni, echoed this, saying interest in the Caribbean was 'off the charts' for trips in the coming weeks.

Caribbean destinations such as the Dominican Republic are also on the rise

It comes as the tourism industry is suffering from the conflict in the Middle East.

It was last week revealed that the Middle East region's tourism industry has already taken a devastating financial hit - that it may take years to recover from.

Current estimates suggest the conflict is costing the industry 515 million (444 million) every day that it continues, with incoming visitor numbers - even in areas not directly affected - declining rapidly.

The US and Israel first launched strikes on Iran on February 28 and tourism across the region has been in freefall ever since.

The highest number of airline cancellations since the 2020 pandemic have been recorded, with stop-over flights to destinations including India, South East Asia and Australia affected - 14 per cent of global international transit traffic passes through the Middle East.

Repatriation flights are now well underway across the region.

But travel to and through the region is firmly on pause and, with bombardment continuing from both sides, tourism industry losses could total 35 billion based on World Travel & Tourism Council figures.

Gulf Cooperation Council countries (GCC), including Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE - including Dubai and Abu Dhabi, are expected to see the largest downward spiral, as they've traditionally been viewed as largely safe and stable for visitors.

Meanwhile, if you're looking for a safe holiday to book for the fast-approaching Easter break, experts have picked the 11 safest and warmest spots for families and couples that are still taking bookings for April.

Seville in Spain and Tangiers in Morocco top the list, with excellent weather and plenty to see and do.
England is preparing to open a new 28 million national trail next week after nearly two decades of planning and construction.

The King Charles III England Coast Path - a 2,700 mile walking route around the country's entire coastline - was first proposed in 2008 as a policy under former prime minister Gordon Brown.

Although the trail is only about 77 per cent complete, officials say it is ready to launch.

The project has faced 18 years of delays caused by funding cuts, legal requirements, the COVID-19 pandemic, and global shortages of building materials.

Rising sea levels and coastal erosion have also forced parts of the route to be changed.

One example is at Southmoor Nature Reserve, where storms in 2020 broke a sea wall and flooded the land, turning the former pasture into a salt marsh habitat for birds.

A new 28 million national trail will open next week after 18 years of construction (Pictured: South West Coastal Pathway, Mortehoe, Devon King Charles III Coastal Path)

Pictured: Aerial view of the beautiful Kingsgate Beach at the coast of Kent, England, with white chalk cliffs in the ocean King Charles III Coastal Path

Jake Kendall-Ashton, a lead regional adviser on the coast path for Natural England, told the Telegraph: 'You can be here half an hour before high tide, and it looks really benign.

'You think youre going to be fine. And then the water rushes in really quickly. So there's the possibility you could get stranded.'

To keep the path open, organisers built a raised boardwalk made from 75,000 recycled plastic bottles so that walkers can still pass through safely.

Creating the path also required discussions with more than 25,000 landowners due to a large portion of the route crossing private land.

Proposals were met with some opposition at first.

In 2024, the coastal path was diverted by the charity which runs Queen Victoria's favourite summer retreat.

English Heritage, which manages the Osborne House estate on north of the island, blocked the route from crossing the property's grounds as it would 'negatively impact' the charity's conservation work and present a security risk.

Earlier that year, locals living alongside the planned path in East Yorkshire feared the opening could have been delayed after coastal erosion devastated the proposed route  and said the King would not dare go near the crumbling cliffs.

Yet, despite concerns from residents, farmers and property owners, only about 2.4 per cent formally objected.

Pictured: Bamburgh Castle taken here from the north dates back to the 6/7th century King Charles III Coastal Path

Pictured: the coastal path had to be diverted away from the sea along a busy road after a charity which runs Queen Victoria's favourite summer retreat blocked it from running along its beach in 2024

The 18-year project has seen its fair shares of setbacks, including rising sea levels and coastal erosion (pictured; on the east coast of England) have also forced parts of the route to be changed

Officials say the flexible design of the trail means it can be moved if storms, erosion or rising sea levels change the coastline.

Unliked the fixed footpaths on Ordnance Survey maps, coastal rights of way are dynamic.

Because of the changing tides, breached sea walls, or collapsing cliffs, the path can be erased and realigned to match the ever-changing coast.

By summer 2026, more than 90 per cent of the path's infrastructure works will be complete, according to Natural England.

However, the trail is expected to have a lifetime of ongoing work.

Nevertheless, 100 per cent of the proposals for the coastal path have now been submitted to the Secretary of State, meaning the long planned path is finally becoming a reality.

Meanwhile, the best UK hikes for the winter period have been revealed - and the top spot has been handed to a trek across England's highest mountain.

The Scafell Pike trail from Wasdale Campsite has been crowned the UK's best winter hike.

Scafell Pike is the highest mountain in England, reaching a height of 978m and drawing in hikers who want to tick off the UK's highest peaks.

Analysis from outdoor experts Blacks ranks the UK's best winter hikes using winter search demand, winter mentions in AllTrails reviews, trail ratings, and difficulty level.

The Scafell Pike gained an impressive score of 9.11 out of 10.

With the most Google searches and an elevation gain of 108.59km, this trail is ideal for those who want to test their winter hiking abilities.
The 'Ryanair of trains' has seen tickets go on sale from London to Scotland for less than 30.

The rail service from Lumo, on the West Coast Main Line. will simplify journeys on the popular route between Scotland and London - and provide budget-friendly train services.

Lumo will be launching services over the coming weeks with tickets for travel from 10 July, through until the end of summer, now on sale.

Customers can now book fares between London and Stirling for 29.90, London and Preston for 23.90 and Preston and Stirling for 14.90.

Further savings can be made with rail cards and there are no booking fees when customers use the Lumo website.

Lumo trains are known as the 'Ryanair of trains' thanks to their great-value prices

The new route will run between London Euston and Stirling, calling at Milton Keynes, Nuneaton, Crewe, Preston, Carlisle, Lockerbie, Motherwell, Whifflet, Greenfaulds and Larbert.

Lumo plans to operate four daily return services between Stirling and London, plus an additional PrestonLondon return service.

The new service will use refurbished Class 222 trains, with refreshed interiors and entirely new seating in some carriages.

Lumo will operate a single-class standard service designed to offer low-cost fares.

The rail company said the expansion is intended to improve travel choice for customers while providing direct long-distance connections for communities currently underserved by rail.

It was confirmed recently that the operator will open a new headquarters for its West Coast service in Preston with around 100 new jobs already created because of the much-anticipated new service.

Stuart Jones, managing director of First Rail Open Access, said: 'These fares are about putting customers first.

'By offering simple, low-cost tickets and direct services between Scotland, the North West of England and London, we're making it easier and more affordable for people to travel for work, leisure and family visits.

'Launching Lumo on the West Coast Main Line is an exciting step forward, and with our new base in Preston creating jobs and supporting the local economy, this is a service that will benefit both passengers and communities along the route.'

Tickets for the new route can now be purchased on Lumo's website

The new Preston base is due to open on 20 March 2026.

Services departing after 10 July are now on sale, however earlier services are expected to be added in the coming weeks as it is anticipated services will launch ahead of July.

The budget train company is known for offering bargain prices for routes between London King's Cross and Edinburgh.

It first launched in the UK in 2021 and travels from the capital to across the country with its all-electric fleet.

In December, Lumo announced a new service from Glasgow, linking to Falkirk, Edinburgh, the North East of England and London.

Tickets are priced from just 33.10 from London to Glasgow, and cost as little as 10.90 between Newcastle and Glasgow.

The inaugural service left Glasgow Queen Street on December 16, 2025 and managed to make it to London King's Cross one minute early.

A celebration was held to mark the launch with music performances and comedy.
One of Budapest's most famous tourist attractions is set to undergo a 22 million renovation following mounting complaints from visitors about overcrowding, cleanliness and rowdy parties.

Szechenyi Thermal Baths  a historic spa complex dating back to 1913  draws tens of thousands of visitors each month who come to soak in its iconic 38C outdoor waters and expansive indoor bathing areas.

The sprawling neo-Baroque venue features 18 indoor and outdoor pools, saunas, medicinal thermal waters, massage and facial facilities, an on-site restaurant and even a 'Beer Spa', along with high-energy 'Sparty' events on Saturday nights.

But it was recently blasted by tourists for being 'ruined' by overcrowding, 'grimy water' and 'disgusting parties'.

Now, following three years of upgrades, the 110-year-old complex is gearing up for a major transformation.

Plans include the renovation of four indoor pools, upgraded changing rooms, refurbishment of the main entrance staircase and a new sauna renovation programme.

The works follow a series of improvements carried out in 2024 and 2025, with HUF 1 billion (over 2m) spent on upgrades last year alone.

This included the first phase of renovations to the indoor thermal area, replacing pool coverings, repainting walls, restoring the main entrance and upgrading facade windows and doors, as well as the introduction of ticket machines and digital systems.

Szechenyi Thermal Bath - Budapest's biggest attraction - is set for a 22m transformation this year following complaints of 'grimy' indoor pools and overcrowding

The 110-year-old sprawling complex will see renovations to four indoor pools, upgraded changing rooms, and refurbishment of the main entrance staircase and a new sauna renovation programme

Further work in 2025 saw the outdoor swimming pool completely refurbished, while the building's HVAC and fire alarm systems were also replaced.

Preparations for the broader redevelopment began in 2023 with building diagnostics, planning and licensing work.

The upcoming investment forms part of a wider bath renovation programme in Budapest valued at more than HUF 40 billion (around 88,749,520), with over HUF 10 billion (22,187,380) allocated to the Szechenyi complex over the next two years.

The overhaul comes after growing criticism from visitors about the condition of the baths, with some tourists reporting unpleasant smells, 'grimy' indoor pools and heavy crowds.

In February, British TikTok user Melika (@melika_zaidi) posted a video describing her visit as a 'waste of money', showing packed outdoor pools and peeling paint on the buildings exterior.

'The whole place was packed. The whole building was dropping to bits. It was really, really dirty,' she said.

Similar criticism appeared on YouTube from travel vloggers Zach and Rach (@zachrachandlife), who rated the attraction 'five out of 10 at best' in a video titled The Gross Truth About Budapest Thermal Baths.

Zach said: 'The indoor pools were literally filled with skin and dirt floating around. It was absolutely filthy. The outdoor one was really clean and nice, but the indoor pools looked like they had never been washed.'

The sprawling, neo-Baroque complex features 18 indoor (pictured) and outdoor pools, saunas and medicinal waters

Visitors have warned fellow tourists to steer clear of the indoor pools, which have been described as 'smelly' and 'physically dirty'

Another TikTok user, @experienceaddict, praised the atmosphere and cleanliness of the outdoor baths but warned visitors to avoid the indoor pools, describing them as 'super dirty' and foul-smelling.

Responding to the criticism, Szilvia Czinege, sales and marketing director for Szechenyi Bath, said maintaining the capital's historic spa buildings is an expensive and complex task.

She said: 'Budapest is the only capital in the world with so many historical baths still operating in their original function today.

'Our company's baths are open practically every day of the year, so minor repairs and maintenance required on a daily basis can be carried out during operation or at night, while larger-scale renovations and investments can be carried out with partial restrictions on some of our services.

'Due to its size and the number of guests, the spa is constantly undergoing maintenance and renovation work.

'However, it is also important to consider that this is not simply a swimming pool or wellness spa, but a thermal spa under heritage protection. Along with its benefits and characteristics.

'Depending on its composition, the thermal water may have a peculiar smell  some guests miss this, for example  it may have a different color (iodine, iron, manganese), due to the mineral content it may be opaque and not crystal clear, and there may also be sediment in it.

'The discoloration of the coating of the thermal spa's indoor thermal pools is the result of decades of use, wear and tear, and the operation with thermal water containing iron manganese.'

Czinege noted that the spa welcomes between 3,000 and 4,000 guests a day - roughly 1.3 million visitors a year - which can sometimes lead to dissatisfaction among guests despite ongoing maintenance.

However, she said preserving the centuries-old bathhouses remains a priority.

She added: 'It has been our experience over many years that with such a large number of guests  despite all our efforts and to our greatest regret  there are times when guests leave unsatisfied.

'However, we can proudly say that the majority of our visitors have been enriched by an unparalleled bathing experience, as their feedback also confirms. Our goal is for all our guests to enjoy the miracle that has made Budapest the spa capital.'
ITV viewers have criticised the Academy Awards coverage as they accused Jonathan Ross of 'wittering on' ahead of the prestigious awards.

The chat show host, 65, was guiding UK viewers through the ceremony held in LA - with an introductory segment beginning 30 minutes before the ceremony and scenes cutting to him and his panel whenever an ad break in the US took place.

Jonathan was joined by presenter Elle Osili-Wood, BAFTA nominated actor, writer and producer Samson Kayo and comedian and film enthusiast Fred Asquith.

However their discussion wasn't a hit with fans as they took to Twitter to share their strong feelings.

They penned: 'Will never understand why they got Jonathan Ross to host the Oscars on itv';

'If youre going to show the Oscars then show us the f****g Oscars not Jonathan Ross and assorted wittering lovies.';

ITV viewers have criticised Academy Awards coverage as they demand 'just show us the Oscars not Jonathan Ross wittering on'

The chat show host, 65, was guiding UK viewers through the ceremony held in LA - with an introductory segment before the ceremony and cut backs during the US ad breaks

'I cant deal with this Jonathan Ross coverage again'; 'Who else in the uk is ready for our yearly awful coverage from itv and Jonathan Ross?';

'@ITV why cant you just show the #oscars uninterrupted without us having to suffer the drivel of Jonathan Ross & some z-listers?

'I mean no disrespect to Mr Ross. By all means let him introduce it, but just stream the show then leave the pointless comments for the end';

'Jonathan Ross, minutes away from the #oscars starting, asking which films were the least deserving of awards. Its going to be a long night'.

Amy Madigan took home the first award of the evening as the 75-year-old veteran actress earned Best Supporting Actress for her work in Zach Creggar supernatural mystery horror film Weapons.

It was one of the most contentious categories of the night as she was up against Elle Fanning - Sentimental Value, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas - Sentimental Value, Wunmi Mosaku - Sinners, and Teyana Taylor - One Battle After Another.

During the speech, Madigan was visibly nervous as she ended it by thanking her husband of over four decades, fellow actor Ed Harris.

She said: 'The most important is my beloved Ed. Who's been with me forever, and that's a long time and none of this would mean anything if he wasn't by my side. So thank you very much. I'm very overwhelmed.'

Jonathan was joined by presenter Elle Osili-Wood, BAFTA nominated actor, writer and producer Samson Kayo and comedian and film enthusiast Fred Asquith

However their discussion wasn't a hit with fans as they took to Twitter to share their strong feelings: 'Will never understand why they got Jonathan Ross to host the Oscars on itv'

Madigan has been married to Harris, 75, since 1983 as they have one child together - 32-year-old daughter Lily Dolores Harris - whom they welcomed a decade later in 1993.

The second award of the night was groundbreaking as KPop Demon Hunters earned Best Animated Feature Film.

The Netflix film triumphed over Arco, Elio, Little Amelie or the Character of Rain, and Zootopia 2.

Gullermo Del Toro's Frankenstein was also a big winner as the Netflix film earned two.

The dramatic reimaging earned both Best Costume Design and Best Makeup and Hairstyling.

Kate Hawley accepted the costume award while Jordan Samuel, Mike Hill, and Cliona Furey took home the one for makeup and hair.

The beginning of the gala saw Conan O'Brien, 62, returning to host the show for a second consecutive year after taking over the role from Jimmy Kimmel.
A beloved noughties sci-fi series branded by fans as the 'best show ever made' is set for a return after two decades.

The cult classic programme aired for 14 episodes in 2002, but has built up a dedicated audience over the years.

Created by Joss Whedon, space Western drama Firefly follows the adventures of a spaceship crew amid the arrival of humans in a new star system in the year 2157.

According to Deadline, Firefly will soon be making a comeback after almost 24 years - in the form of an animated revival.

Series star Nathan Fillion - who played Malcolm 'Mal' Reynolds - announced at Awesome Con in Washington DC that an animated reboot is in advanced development.

He was joined at the event by Gina Torres, Alan Tudyk, Morena Baccarin, Jewel Staite, Sean Maher and Summer Glau, all of whom are expected to voice their characters in the new project.

Hit noughties sci-fi series Firefly - branded by fans as the 'best show ever made' - is set for a return

The show aired on Fox in 2002 - lasting just 14 episodes, but the cast reunited for a follow-up film, Serenity, in 2005

Fellow cast member Adam Baldwin, who portrayed mercenary Jayne Cobb, is also expected to reprise his role.

Nathan, 54, told the publication: 'The dedication of Firefly fans has kept this 25-year-old show relevant.

'Clearly, the return of Firefly is something the fans want. More importantly, it's something they deserve.'

The update came after a week-long social media campaign, which left fans speculating what could be on the horizon.

After the show's cancellation in 2002, the cast reunited three years later for a follow-up film titled Serenity.

Taking to IMDB, one viewer described Firefly as 'one of the best TV Series ever made', continuing: 'The casting is perfect.

'The writing is imaginative, witty, and it explores the nobility and fallibility of humanity. It gave us beloved characters with depth and relationships for which we rooted.

'The production values were ahead of its time. The music was perfect.

'And, that perfect cast gave perfect performances. Pretty high praise for a 14 episode, one season series, released incomplete and out of order by the network.'

Another said: 'This is possibly one of the best series ever, and certainly is among the best science fiction series or movies ever made.'

A third wrote: 'This is one of the absolute best sci-fi shows ever created and got the royal screw treatment by Fox.'

Series star Nathan Fillion revealed an animated reboot is in advanced development - and it would see all surviving main cast members return

It comes as fans of another beloved TV series were not as fortunate with news of a potential continuation.

Over the weekend, Sarah Michelle Gellar revealed Hulu had scrapped plans for a Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot.

The 48-year-old actress admitted she was 'really sad' about the shocking news after looking forward to get back in Buffy's 'stylish yet affordable boots.'

Gellar's sombre demeanour appeared to reflect her mood in a video posted to Instagram on Saturday.

The star said the Disney-owned US streamer 'has decided not to move forward' on the reboot, titled Buffy the Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale.

According to TMZ, Gellar and the reboot's director Chloe Zhao felt 'blindsided' by the recent development as well as the timing.

Gellar spent a moment to thank Zhao in her message.

'Thanks to Chloe, I was reminded how much I love (Buffy), how much she means not only to me but to all of you, and this doesn't change any of that,' she said.

'And I promise, if the apocalypse actually comes, you can still beep me.'

The show's 16-year-old lead actress Ryan Kiera Armstrong also shared a video sharing her emotional response to the news.

'I wanted to come on here and say thank you for all of the support that you guys have given me and this show throughout the last couple months. It's been really special,' she said.

Armstrong appeared to be on the verge of tears as she shared she was 'really proud' of the show and 'sad that you guys won't be able to see it, but that doesn't take away from the amazing experience that I had.'

She expressed gratitude for Geller and Zhao, as well as her 'awesome' co-stars and 'fans who believed in this new chapter and who believed in me,' noting that 'we brought this back for you guys and Buffy is such a big part of all of our lives.

'It's not going anywhere! Who knows what the future will hold?'
An Emmerdale star has teased her return to the soap with a photograph of a cleverly placed script on Instagram.

Georgia Jay is best known for her portrayal of Steph Miligan on the ITV soap, but she took a step back from the show last year to welcome a baby.

Now, the actress - who joined the Emmerdale cast in 2024 as the daughter of Caleb and Ruby Miligan - has shared a picture of herself getting her hair coloured and seemingly reading the latest script for the soap as she waited on her foils to set.

She simply captioned the picture: 'Between foils.'

The script went far from unnoticed by Emmerdale fans and one wrote: 'I hope you're reading [an] Emmerdale script and coming back.'

Steph has been at the heart of some interesting storylines on the show, including a dramatic cheating storyline that played into her exit from the show last August when she left for a yoga retreat in Rome.

An Emmerdale star has teased her return to the soap with a photograph of a cleverly placed script on Instagram

Georgia Jay is best known for her portrayal of Steph Miligan on Emmerdale, but she took a step back from the show last year to welcome a baby

The character decided to temporarily say goodbye to the village after discovering that her ex Ross Barton (Mike Parr) had slept with Manpreet (Rebecca Sarker).

But the door was very much left open for her return and she promised her on-screen mum Ruby that she would be back in time.

After seeing the actress's Instagram post, other fans came to the same conclusion about this return being imminent, writing: 'Is that an Emmerdale script?'

'Can't wait to see you back on Emmerdale soon,' as a second added.

'That best be an Emmerdale script,' a third chimed in.

Prior to her departure, Georgia admitted that her baby bump had become visible on screen, however, she did not announce her pregnancy until she gave birth last June.

Updating fans on Instagram, she wrote: 'As you've probably guessed, I've got some news to share!'

In January, the actress shared a black and white picture of herself and her new addition and was congratulated by her co-stars, including Beth Cordingly - best known as her on-screen Emmerdale mum, Ruby - who described the pair as 'perfect'

Sharing pictures of her growing belly, Georgia added: 'I know some of you have been wondering if you've been seeing a little bump on screen lately

'Well, it's not your imagination I'm having a baby.

'We've never been so excited and a little nervous all at once. Thank you for all the love and support.'

In January, the actress shared a black and white picture of herself and her new addition.

She was congratulated by her co-stars, including Beth Cordingly - best known as her Emmerdale mum, Ruby.

Beth wrote: 'You are perfect and so is she. Love you x.'

Laura Norton - AKA Kerry Wyatt - wrote: 'Yay congrats gorgeous.'

Emmerdale airs on ITV1 and is available to stream on ITVX.
Malcolm in the Middle fans were left impressed by the first look at the new Dewey actor after Disney+ released the trailer for the show's reboot on Friday.

While the entire original cast agreed to reprise their roles in the iconic noughties sitcom, child star Erik Per Sullivan decided against stepping back into Dewey's shoes.

The former actor, now 34, retired from the on-screen world shortly after the original show ended in 2006 and has remained out of the limelight ever since.

He was replaced in the Hulu/Dinsey+ reboot by Caleb Ellsworth-Clark, who has now been described as a 'clone' of the original character - albeit portraying Dewey's previously unseen adult self.

The trailer begins with a naked Hal (Bryan Cranston), 70, being shaved by his wife Louis (Jane Kaczmarek), only for the new Dewey to appear via a laptop screen looking horrified at his parents' actions.

Reacting to the new Dewey on social media, one fan praised: 'They did a great recast, and I wish the original actor the best.'

Malcolm in the Middle fans were left impressed by the first look at the new Dewey actor (Caleb Ellsworth-Clark) after Disney+ released the trailer for the show's reboot

While the entire original cast agreed to reprise their roles in the iconic noughties sitcom, child star Erik Per Sullivan (pictured) decided against stepping back into Dewey's shoes

Another joked: They cloned him for the show.'

Other Malcolm in the Middle fans where quick to note how good the casting was, with another saying: 'Newey has nailed the facial expressions.'

'I'm disappointed the original Dewey didn't return, but that recast really is as good as it gets,' a second concurred.

'You joke but this guy looks even more like Dewey then Erik Per Sullivan does now lol,' a third agreed, while a fourth said: 'We are all calling him Newey from now on.'

Elsewhere in the trailer, Malcolm (Frankie Muniz) can be seen admitting that his life is 'fantastic' now that he has managed to rid himself of his dysfunctional family - he even has a girlfriend and a teenage daughter.

However, perhaps unsurprisingly, it's not long before he is dragged back into their chaotic world.

The reboot's synopsis reads: 'After shielding himself and his daughter from his family for over a decade, Malcolm is dragged back into their orbit when Hal and Lois demand his presence at their 40th anniversary party.'

Frankie, 40, who rose to fame for his role as Malcolm during the show's original stint from 2000 to 2006, said of the reboot: 'I'm not exaggerating when I say filming this reboot, like I loved it so much, way more than I ever thought I could have.'

Elsewhere in the trailer, Malcolm (Frankie Muniz) can be seen admitting that his life is 'fantastic' now that he has managed to rid himself of his dysfunctional family - he even has a girlfriend and a teenage daughter

Elsewhere in the trailer, Bryan Cranston went completely NUDE for one scene.

The hugely popular sitcom ran from 2000 to 2006, and centred around child prodigy Malcolm (played by Muniz) as he navigated life within his dysfunctional family.

Cranston, who later found A-list success on the acclaimed AMC hit Breaking Bad, delivers the wildest moment of the new teaser by stripping naked for the camera.

He added during a recent podcast appearance: 'I think people will be surprised, in a sense, where everybody is and the story.

'But it's only four episodes. It's hard to fit in 20 years of stuff into four 30-minute episodes, right? But I think people are going to be very happy with what they came up with.'

The 70-year-old is seen totally nude, with only a laptop screen shielding his private areas, as Lois (Kaczmarek) shaves his hairy back in the family's dining area while on Zoom with the couple's horrified son Dewey, who is now being played by Caleb Ellsworth-Clark.

As Cranston's Hal stands in front of the laptop in the buff, Ellsworth-Clark's Dewey says, 'you know, I can call back later...'

'Come on, Dewey. You've seen me like this a thousand times,' Hal replies, before lifting his leg up on the table and signaling Lois to start shaving his 'undergrowth.'

Middle: Life's Still Unfair will be available to stream on Disney+ from April 10.
RICHMOND, Va., March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Over the weekend, legislation to legalize online casino gambling, known as iGaming, quietly died in Virginia's conference committee. With the legislative process having come to a close, the National Association Against iGaming (NAAiG) wanted to publicly acknowledge and thank the administration and lawmakers who made this important decision.

The proposal would have allowed casino-style gambling on phones, tablets and other devices with 24/7 access. After careful review, lawmakers declined to move forward with the expansion, prioritizing the stability of Virginia's gaming framework and the communities it supports.

"Virginia lawmakers made the right decision by rejecting online casino gambling," said NAAiG spokesman Oliver Barie. "This proposal would have placed casino-style gambling on every phone and smart device, creating serious risks for families, workers and local communities. Policymakers demonstrated leadership by putting people before profit."

Recent polling in Virginia underscores why this outcome was so important:

Majority opposition : Most Virginians oppose legalizing online casino gambling .

: Most Virginians oppose legalizing online . Family and financial concerns : Voters worry about addiction and financial harm for families.

: Voters worry about addiction and financial harm for families. Community impact : Many recognize that brick-and-mortar casinos support local jobs and communities, while iGaming threatens that model.

: Many recognize that brick-and-mortar support local jobs and communities, while iGaming threatens that model. Broad bipartisan concern : Opposition spans party lines.

: Opposition spans party lines. Accessibility risks: The 24/7, always-on nature of online gambling is a serious public concern.

is a serious public concern. Political context: 62% of Virginia voters say they would be less likely to support a candidate who backs iGaming, reflecting why the policy has been rejected repeatedly across states.

Throughout the session, NAAiG worked closely with community voices, industry stakeholders, and policymakers to highlight the economic and social risks of online casino expansion. While the proposal received significant attention from national online gaming companies, lawmakers carefully considered the issue and ultimately chose to prioritize the long-term well-being of Virginia families, communities, and workers.

"We commend the legislators and members of the administration who carefully examined the consequences of this proposal," Barie added. "Their decision reflects a thoughtful approach to gaming policy and a commitment to protecting communities, workers, and families."

About NAAIG

The National Association Against iGaming (NAAiG) is a coalition of local businesses, industry veterans, community advocates, and concerned citizens united to safeguard communities from the harmful impacts of online gambling. Founded to address the growing threats posed by iGaming, NAAiG is dedicated to preserving local jobs, supporting responsible gaming policies and ensuring gaming expansion does not come at the expense of communities and workers.

Contact: Leo Rommel, [email protected]

SOURCE National Association Against iGaming (NAAiG)
A heartbroken mother fought back the tears on Monday's episode of Good Morning Britain as she opened up on the tragic death of her daughter who was shot by her own dad.

Jane Coates spoke to presenters Susanna Reid and Ed Balls about the loss of her daughter Lucy Harrison, 23, who died while visiting her dad Kris in Texas with her boyfriend Sam in January last year.

Lucy lost her life after her father shot her in the chest before she was due to head home.

The UK coroner established the death as be an unlawful killing, however the US state deemed that her death was accidental.

Recalling the moment of when she heard the heartbreaking news, Jane, who split from Lucy's dad when their daughter was two, said: 'When I first heard of Lucy's death, it was in the early hours of Saturday morning.

'It was Sam's mum who came and told me the news. In those very first hours, we were told it was a tragic accident, the gun had just gone off.

A heartbroken mother fought back the tears as she opened up on the tragic death of her daughter who was shot by her own dad on Good Morning Britain on Monday

Jane Coates spoke to presenters Susanna Reid and Ed Balls about the loss of her daughter Lucy Harrison, 23, who died while visiting her dad Kris in Texas with her boyfriend Sam in January last year

'For quite a few weeks, that's what I understood.

'Even though, for me, I was in a huge state of shock, to me, I didn't need to know how she died at that time, for me, it was just big enough that I had lost my daughter.'

With her voice breaking and getting visibly upset on the sofa, Jane bravely continued: 'That was huge enough.'

'But then Sam, he was incredibly traumatised, and it took him quite a few weeks to be able to talk.'

Susanna asked: 'Was he in the house at the time of the killing?'

'Yes he was in the house at the time, but he wasn't in the room. The only two people in the room was Chris and Lucy.

'It wasn't until Lucy's body was repatriated, her body came home, then the funeral director, I call her Rachel my rock, she was actually an incredible person.

'She got in touch with the coroner to show and air her concerns because the information that Rachel had received about the fact that this has been an accident, and Lucy had been stood next to Chris when the gun had gun off, when she saw Lucy's body and Lucy's wound, she raised her concerns with the coroner.'

Lucy lost her life after her father shot her in the chest before she was due to head home

Susanna pointed out: 'Her feeling was, and it was confirmed by the coroner, you don't receive a gun shot to the chest from that angle, if somebody is standing alongside, and the coroner agreed.'

Speaking in the GMB studio, Jane revealed that she wants accountability and consequences following on from her daughter's tragic death.

Jane said: 'The outcome of the inquest, has that given us some kind of justice, but we feel Lucy's truth has finally been heard, for so long we have to wait for this process before we could openly speak about what had happened.

'The truth has been heard, but justice hasn't been served because justice is about accountability and consequences.

'There has been no accountability or consequences.'

Ed also read out the Foreign Office's statement, which said: 'Our thoughts remain with Jane and her family for the tragic loss they have suffered.

'We will always look to learn lessons from cases such as this one to improve the support we offer to other families in the future.'

In February a coroner ruled that British graduate Lucy, who was passionately anti-guns, was tragically shot dead by her own father while visiting his Texas home when he pointed his pistol at her chest as a 'tease'.

'Functioning alcoholic' Kris claimed his fashion buyer daughter Lucy had asked to see his Glock 9mm pistol, which he had not been trained to use, and that it 'just went off' as he removed it from its case.

But concluding that Lucy was unlawfully killed, a coroner said 'reckless' Kris - who had drunk at least 500ml of wine - had deliberately aimed it at her chest, unaware it was loaded.

Welcoming the finding over her daughter's 'needless and entirely avoidable death', her grieving mother said: 'I never imagined she would be shot and killed in the US, in a place where she should have been safe.'

The inquest in Warrington heard her British father  an executive at a fibre optics company who had settled in Texas  had been drinking on the morning of the tragedy and that the pair had argued about Donald Trump.

Emergency services rushed to the house in Prosper, near Dallas, after her boyfriend Sam Littler dialled 911.

But she had been shot through the heart and died at the scene.

Last June police in the US state deemed that her death was accidental - a decision her mother Jane described at the time as 'baffling' and 'beyond comprehension'.

Good Morning Britain airs weekdays from 6:00am on ITV.
Katie Price has insisted that her husband Lee Andrews DOES have a PhD from a 'Spanish university' as she back pedalled on Cambridge University claims.

The former glamour model appeared on the Good Morning Britain sofa to talk to hosts Susanna Reid and Ed Balls about her new marriage to Lee, who she tied the knot with after a whirlwind romance.

Since announcing their marriage, Lee has been accused of being a 'scammer' amid a host of boasts about his life, including his statement that he is a millionaire businessman with a PHD from Cambridge University and links to Elon Musk.

Last week, he took to Instagram to make further claims about his life, including a post about be coming a 'future trillionaire', detailing a 'mysterious income' and being a member of 'the 1%'.

Katie previously hit back against criticism, insisting that he was 'no cat-fisher or scammer', telling The Sun: 'I havent gone for a con man... please be happy for me.'

She even told fans that she had seen proof of his university degree and PhD, saying: 'There was so much paperwork, his PHD, is like in a binder like that.

Katie Price has insisted that her husband Lee Andrews DOES have a PhD from a 'Spanish university' as she back pedalled on Cambridge University claims

Lee has been accused of being a 'scammer' amid a host of boasts about his life

'I proper looked at everything, because the stamps, they're like wax some of them, and you can't, do you know what I mean? You can't fake.

'You know when you've got certificates and it's like the watermarks in them, it's all like that. Everything he's shown me is so legit, I'm not stupid. They're not copies, they're originals.'

But claims that Lee had been to Cambridge were then debunked by the publication, as the university said they 'could not find a record of Lee being registered as a student' t the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology.

Nonetheless, Katie, 47, insisted that Lee DOES have a PhD as she appeared on GMB, telling hosts Susanna, 55, and Ed, 59, it was instead from a 'Spanish' university.

Ed began: 'His passport says that he's a doctor, it's reported that he has a PhD from Cambridge, but Cambridge University said they had never heard of him.'

Katie responded: 'He doesn't have a PhD from Cambridge, it's one in Spain.

'That's for him to say that he's got his PhD, but it's not from Cambridge, I don't know where that came from, he hasn't got a PhD from Cambridge at all but he has got a PhD.

'I've seen everything I need to see, on his diplomatic passport, it's Doctor Lee Andrews, on his normal passport, it's Wesley Lee Andrews.'

The former glamour model appeared on the Good Morning Britain sofa to talk to hosts Susanna Reid and Ed Balls

Elsewhere in the interview Katie hit back at her 'disrespectful' critics as she appeared on GMB for a tell-all chat about her new marriage.

Katie married the businessman at the One&Only Royal Mirage hotel in Dubai in January, leaving her family, including her mother Amy Price 'traumatised' - and fans concerned that she 'didn't know' who she was marrying.

However, the media personality took to the ITV daytime show to hit back against critics, insisting she was 'happy' and that she can 'make her own decisions'.

Susanna opened up the chat by admitting that she would be 'concerned' if she was a friend of her, knowing she had married a man she had just met, explaining: 'If you were a friend of mine... I think I would be concerned about you.

'I'm not sure you've had time to get to know the person to whom you are now married, so why the whirlwind?'

Hitting back against the presenter, Katie began: 'Do you ever really know anyone? If you look at my past marriages, did I ever know they would be what they would be Sometimes I don't think you can ever know who anyone is...

'For me, I've gone through so much, so many different relationships, and I normally went from one to the other... before I've always been in toxic, coercive, controlling, mental abuse, physical abuse relationships.

'Now, I now know the signs of red flags and all of this, I am older, I can make my own decisions and there's nothing to say that you have to wait for anything.

'It's hard for anyone to understand. It just feels so right, I've only been in love twice before that, with Dane Bowers and Peter [Andre].

'With Lee, it's so different to every other relationship, and it works for me.'

It comes after it was revealed that Katie's husband Lee had reportedly been heard begging a woman for cash in desperate voice notes.

Katie took to the ITV daytime show to hit back against critics, insisting she was 'happy' and that she can 'make her own decisions' after her marriage to Lee Andrews

The US-based businesswoman, who did not want to be named, reportedly revealed she received a string of 'desperate' voice notes from Lee just a week before he proposed to Katie.

In the voice notes, Lee reportedly tried to persuade the woman to send him cash in amounts ranging from 1100 to 2500 on multiple occasions since last May for what she believed was a business opportunity.

But as the woman felt uneasy about sending money, Lee's voice notes reportedly became more and more desperate - with the Dubai-based 'millionaire businessman', 42, asking her for cash as recently as January.

In the voice notes heard by The Sun, Lee reportedly said: 'If you can help me or send Western Union 3000 that would help me so much. I could just do with a big hug really.

'You don't know how desperate it's been, the last couple of months of me trying to survive.'

Self-proclaimed 'millionaire' Lee is said to have claimed he was cash-strapped and living off 20 pence ready meals because he was waiting for payments from his business Aura Sustainable Vehicles & Energy BVI to clear from Kenya.

Despite their arrangement reportedly being a business one, Lee is said to have told the woman he would 'love her' if she could send him the cash and referred to her as 'beautiful'.

When the woman refused to send Lee money, he reportedly swore at her and called her a time waster.

Speaking to the publication, the woman said Lee had told her he was so poor he was forced to live off packets of rice.

Katie Price's husband Lee Andrews racked up a huge bill at the luxury Dubai hotel where the couple tied the knot - and it is claimed he left without paying

She said she ultimately decided against sending him cash but she came very close as he is 'so persuasive'.

The woman went on to say that Lee told her back in December he had met someone special, who she believes to be Katie.

The Daily Mail has contacted Lee for comment. Lee has denied all previous claims.

She is not the first woman to make allegations against Lee.

It comes after Lee's furious ex accused him of 'scamming' women out of cash as she dubs him the 'tinder swindler'.

The former glamour model stunned fans last month when she announced she had married the Dubai-based businessman following a whirlwind one-week romance.

After news of their nuptials emerged, Lee's exes spoke out about him and he faced a string of accusations about the true nature of his finances, with a slew of his claims about his wealth, business acumen and celebrity-links said to be false.

His former flame Alana Percival, 32, previously spoke out about how Lee had asked her to marry him in a lavish proposal strikingly similar to when he popped the question to Katie 16 weeks later.

Last week Alana claimed four women have got in contact with her in the last two weeks since she told her story - all claiming that Lee tried to 'scam' them out of money - in a post seen by The Sun.

Alana went on to brand Lee 'embarrassing' and likened him to the Tinder Swindler - a Netflix show made about Israeli conman Simon Leviev, a notorious relationship scammer.

Taking to her Instagram Story on Saturday, Alana wrote: 'Another woman sending me voices on how he tried to scam her 4 people in 2 weeks reached out to me sending me all sorts of voice recordings.

'Self claimed multimillionaire or billionaire my f***ing a**e. Begging women around the world for 3000 this was only in January!.

'They have been speaking since May 2025when she said no he got angry and said some [vile] things (no shock there) More people that he is trying to scam like he done to poor Crystal!

'[He] actually is another tinder swindler, so embarrassing. But one that is stuck in [Dubai] on a travel ban.'

Good Morning Britain airs weekdays from 6:00am on ITV1 and ITVX
Carol Vorderman will take over all of a channel's daytime TV programming as she appears as a guest star back to back from 9am until 3pm.

The former Countdown host will join the likes of Jeremy Vine and Vanessa Feltz as she takes to a series of Channel 5 shows on Tuesday (March 17).

Carol, 65, who is one of the panellists of quiz show Celebrity Puzzling alongside actress Sally Lindsay which airs Fridays on the channel, will start the day on the self-titled show of radio presenter Jeremy, 60, on his hard-hitting debate show.

She will then join Storm Huntley and Alexis Conran on their news programme, before joining Matt Allwright to discuss the top stories in more depth.

Finally, she will appear alongside Vanessa, 64, on her discussion-led chat show, which airs weekdays for an hour between 2 and 3pm.

The appearances will celebrate Carol's return to Channel 5 in her role as team captain on Celebrity Puzzling, which sees famous faces put their minds to the test.

Carol Vorderman will take over all of a channel's daytime TV programming as she appears as a guest star back to back from 9am until 3pm

Carol, 65, who is one of the panellists of quiz show Celebrity Puzzling alongside actress Sally Lindsay and Jeremy Vine, will appear on all of Channel 5's daytime shows

Throughout the day, Carol will share her love of puzzles by giving viewers a taste of the kind of conundrums they can expect to see on the show.

Carol said: 'Im really looking forward to spending the day across 5s daytime shows.

'It will be great to chat about everything from the issues of the day to real life stories and consumer topics, and of course to share a bit about Celebrity Puzzling.

'I love a good puzzle, so Im excited to give viewers a taste of whats coming.'

Channel 5's commissioner Federico Ruiz added: 'Carol is a broadcasting powerhouse and were really excited to have her taking over our daytime schedule.

'Each of our shows has its own unique personality and audience, from debate and current affairs to consumer issues and heartfelt stories.

'Viewers will get to enjoy her trademark energy and sharp wit all day on 5, probably best to call in sick so you can tune in with no interruptions!'

Carol Vorderman said: "Im really looking forward to spending the day across 5s daytime shows. It will be great to chat about everything from the issues of the day to real life stories and consumer topics, and of course to share a bit about Celebrity Puzzling. I love a good puzzle, so Im excited to give viewers a taste of whats coming."

Carol will be appearing on 5s Daytime line up on Tuesday 17th March, starting at 9:15am on Jeremy Vine.

It comes after Good Morning Britain fans were left jeering 'she's only concerned with herself' as Carol insisted she 'wouldn't say no' to running for Parliament.

Carol has been involved in the political world as a commentator and activist, having made appearances at party conferences to share her opinions - as well as discussing politics on screen.

She has previously described herself as politically independent and not tied to any party - having worked with representatives of both the Labour and Conservative governments on educational policy initiatives.

However, the TV presenter has admitted that she wouldn't turn down an opportunity to run - as she spoke to Ed Balls and Susanna Reid on GMB.

Joining the ITV hosts last week, Carol was quizzed by Susanna, 55, on her 'campaigning' for changes to the government as talk turned to politics.

Asked if she had been pushing for a Labour government last year, Carol said: 'No, I was never campaigning for a Labour government.

Good Morning Britain fans were left jeering 'she's only concerned with herself' as Carol Vorderman insisted she 'wouldn't say no' to running for Parliament

'Do you remember 18 months ago we had a two-party system? I was part of a huge tactical voting website called stopthetories.vote which is now stopreform.vote.

'It led, between us and another tactical voting website, to over 6,000 people typing in their post codes and we knew we were directly responsible for stopping the Tories [last year]. I am very happy about that.

'Labour have just thrown it away... we wanted them to change the system, to stop corruption, to stop MPs from having 18 different jobs, to stop foreign money coming in as donations.'

Asked whether she would stand in Clacton to stop Reform leader Nigel Farage from winning votes in the constituency, Carol responded: 'I don't live in Clacton...'

She continued to hit out: 'Farage is a total charlatan - he's privately educated, he mixes with billionaires. He's like pound land Trump. That is what he is.'

'Would you stand as an MP?' Susanna then questioned, to which Carol continued: 'I don't know, I'm asked so many times and I always said no.

'I wouldn't say no now, but I'd be independent.'

Fans watching on at home rushed to X, formerly Twitter, to share their opinions, hitting out that Carol is 'only concerned with herself'.

One penned: 'Anyone prepared to vote for Carol Vorderman needs their head examining,' as a second chimed in: 'Like anyone listens to Carol vorderman when it comes to politics!'

'Its OK, Carol Vorderman is going to run ffs were all saved,' a third joked, as a fourth fumed: 'Vorderman was instrumental in getting the disaster who is Starmer elected.'

'Carol Vorderman only supports the party thats popular at the time now shes going to support the greens,' someone else pointed out.

Joining the ITV hosts on Monday morning, Carol was quizzed by Susanna, 55, on her 'campaigning' for changes to the government as talk turned to politics

Another concluded: 'Vorderman has sucked upt o every political party going. Her only concern is for herself.'

Last year, Carol appeared at a Labour party conference where she hit out Sir Keir Starmer 'will never be voted in as Prime Minister again' as she urged the party to change leader in order to retain power.

The ex-Countdown star said she felt 'very let down' by the party's first year in office in a fiery attack on the Government.

Appearing at a fringe event, Carol lashed out at Sir Keir's administration over freebies, winter fuel cuts and an ongoing donations row.

The outspoken broadcaster also said it was a 'disgrace' that the now-resigned Lord Mandelson had been appointed by the PM as Britain's ambassador to the US.

She went on to shower praise on Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, amid feverish speculation he is plotting a leadership challenge against Sir Keir.

It came as a YouGov poll of Labour members, on behalf of Sky News, found Mr Burnham would beat Sir Keir by two to one if they went head-to-head in a contest.

But, later on Monday, Mr Burnham appeared to be in full retreat as he said Sir Keir was the right person to be PM when he spoke at a separate fringe event.

Carol Vorderman told Labour that Sir Keir Starmer 'will never be voted in as Prime Minister again' as she urged the party to change leader in order to retain power

He offered his backing to Sir Keir despite having previously fuelled claims he was poised to rival the premier.

Prior to the last general election, Vorderman was a frequent critic of the previous Tory government and spearheaded a 'tactical voting' campaign to help oust the Conservatives.

She left her weekly show on BBC Radio Wales in 2023 after breaking BBC guidelines with vocal attacks against the then-Tory government on social media.

In her appearance at Labour's conference, Vorderman branded the Tories 'scum' and 'the most corrupted party that we could ever have'.

But she suggested Labour had been similarly rocked by 'sleaze' rows that dogged the Tories, since Sir Keir entered Downing Street.

'This is my prediction: Keir Starmer will never be voted in as Prime Minister again,' Vorderman told the event.

'It will have to be a change of leader if you want another Labour government, or he'll lose.'

The Welsh presenter said her message to the Government was to 'get your PR (public relations) better', in comments that drew applause from the audience.

Speaking at Labour's conference in Liverpool, the ex-Countdown starl ashed out at Sir Keir's administration over freebies, winter fuel cuts and an ongoing donations row

She added that, while she didn't have a problem 'in principle' with Labour introducing means-testing for winter fuel payments, the now-reversed cuts had been too severe.

'I'm coming up to pensionable age. I don't have a problem because I would not need that,' she said of the handout, which is worth up to 300 per household.

'So I didn't have a problem with means-testing it in principle, but it was the level.

'Who on earth thought that was a good idea to go from 12 million pensioners receiving it to 1.5 million? Who thought that was a good idea? It's nuts.'

Vorderman went on to criticise Labour over 'freebiegate', which saw top ministers - including Sir Keir - accept lavish gifts from party donor Lord Alli.

She also referred to a row over undeclared donations to campaign group Labour Together when it was led by the PM's now chief of staff Morgan McSweeney.

'I thought the Tories were scum, I thought they were the most corrupted party that we could ever have,' Vorderman added.

'And I wanted Labour to come in and for there to be none of these stories. But we've had minister after minister; the Mandelson thing, it was a disgrace.'

The slump in both Labour's poll ratings and Sir Keir's approval among voters has fuelled speculation about his leadership and a potential challenge by Mr Burnham.

'I love Andy Burnham,' Vorderman said of the Greater Manchester mayor, also quipping that she could one day stand to be an MP but 'only if Andy asked me'.
Samie Elishi has hinted at a major life change just days after splitting from her Love Island: All Star's boyfriend Ciaran Davies.

Despite winning the show and the coveted 50K prize fund, the pair's relationship almost immediately fizzled in the real world.

Samie, 26, has now taken herself to the Big Apple, where she has been photographed partying with fellow Love Island star Olivia Attwood, 34, who is also newly-single.

Taking to Instagram stories, Sami shared a black and white picture of herself that was captioned: 'I might move to NY.'

While Sami has yet to publicly address her split from Ciaran, she did share a telling picture of a sweatshirt that was emblazoned with the quote 'enforce male curfews'.

The picture was notably posted to social media hours before it was announced that she and her Love Island beau had failed to even last a month outside the villa.

Samie Elishi has hinted at a major life change just days after splitting from her Love Island boyfriend Ciaran Davies

Despite winning the show and the coveted 50K prize fund, the pair's relationship almost immediately fizzled in the real world

A source told The Sun: 'Samie and Ciaran have decided that, for now at least, they're better off staying friends rather than pursuing things romantically.

'They made that decision in the week.

'Neither of them have a bad word to say about each other. Maybe they'll end up staying good mates and you never know what could happen down the line.'

Another source close to the Love Island beauty said that the pair's relationship dynamic took a turn for the worse after leaving the villa.

They said: 'They never made things official and haven't been able to spend much time together and things have fizzled out.

'They had an amazing experience in Love Island but they just didn't have things in common in the real world.'

Samie's interest in planning a potential move stateside comes after the Love Islander claims that she bullied Lucinda Stafford in the villa.

Lucinda, 26, had a rocky time in the villa and often clashed with Samie, 26, Belle Hassan, 28, and Jessy Potts, 27.

While Sami has yet to publicly address her split from Ciaran, she did share a telling picture of a sweatshirt that was emblazoned with the quote 'enforce male curfews'

Since leaving the South African villa, Lucinda has appeared on Paul C. Brunson's We Need To Talk podcast and claimed she felt 'bullied' by some of the girls, which led to her being 'isolated' from the group.

Hitting back at Lucinda's claims, Samie told the Daily Mail: 'Some of the stuff that is being said is so bizarre, like the bully accusations, they are not true.

'Every Love Islander that has gone on a podcast since the show has said categorically no one got bullied and obviously the show wouldn't go on if there was.

'That stuff is hard to hear, but you've got to move on, like I know what kind of person I am.'

Speaking at Carmex's Sip & Paint event at Jumeirah Carlton Tower hotel on Tuesday, Samie revealed she is still in contact with all of her Love Island co-stars, other than Lucinda.

Since leaving the villa, the pair have unfollowed each other on social media and have made it clear they are no longer friends.

Love Island All Stars winner Samie Elishi has hit back at co-star Lucinda Stafford's 'bullying' claims, insisting it is not true

Samie added: 'I'm a firm believer that everyone is entitled to their own opinions and that is fair because I've got my own opinion and I want people to respect it.

'At the end of the day, my morals are so strong and I know the truth. I know my truth and the people that I'm close to, their truth, and that's all that matters. We lived it, we know what went on.'

The influencer admitted she was ready to leave the villa with her then-partner Ciaran, as it had become more 'intense' than enjoyable.

'It was getting really intense and just not a very nice environment towards the end. As soon as we left, it was just like we could breathe again,' she explained.

The girls fell out when Lucinda, who was appearing on Love Island for the fourth time, picked Ciaran to couple up with after she arrived as a bombshell.

Tensions only worsened during a game of Snog, Marry, Pie, when Lucinda chose to pie Samie with 'full force,' which Samie described as feeling like a 'slap in the face'.
Saturday Night Live UK has finally named its first three hosts as Tina Fey, Jamie Dornan and Riz Ahmed.

The six-part Sky Original series will premiere on Sky and NOW next month - and so far the news has divided fans.

The upcoming programme will be broadcast live every week and will bring 'the high-wire, anything-can-happen energy that makes SNL a cultural force, now reimagined through a distinctly British lens'.

Tina will host the launch episode of SNL UK on March, 21, and will be joined by a chart-topping musical guest, Isle of Wight indie sensations Wet Leg.

On March, 28, critically acclaimed Northern Irish actor Jamie will be joined by the BRIT Award-winning band Wolf Alice.

And on April, 4, Academy Award-winning British actor Riz will be joined by titans of rock Kasabian.

Saturday Night Live UK has finally named its first three hosts as Tina Fey, Jamie Dornan and Riz Ahmed

The upcoming programme will be broadcast live every week and will bring 'the high-wire, anything-can-happen energy that makes SNL a cultural force, now reimagined through a distinctly British lens'

Live from London at 10pm every Saturday night, each 75-minute episode, will see a different host take to the stage alongside SNL UKs inaugural cast.

The cast includes Hammed Animashaun, Ayoade Bamgboye, Larry Dean, Celeste Dring, George Fouracres, Ania Magliano, Annabel Marlow, Al Nash, Jack Shep, Emma Sidi and Paddy Young.

Although many are over the moon with the news and don't have long to wait until on March 21 2026, bookies Coral have revealed that there is an odds of 1-2 for it being scrapped after the first series.

Coral's John Hill said: 'We are not optimistic about Saturday Night Live UK lasting very long.

'We make it odds-on to be scrapped after just one series.'

Despite that, many have taken to X, formerly known as Twitter, to share how excited they are about the show.

'I genuinely thing SNL UK has the potential to actually be way better than the yank version.'

'wait snl uk sounds fire hello.'

Live from London at 10pm every Saturday night, each 75-minute episode, will see a different host take to the stage alongside SNL UKs inaugural cast

'im excited for uk snl im not gonna lie.'

'I AM SOO SAT FOR THE UK SNL. I'M ON FREEZE MODE TILL MARCH.'

'actually so excited for snl uk.'

'UK SNL? FINALLLLLLYYYYY.'

'Saw a tweet about UK SNL but my timeline refreshed. maybe god IS real and looking out for me.'

'Omg uk SNL cast is SO GOOD.'

Saturday Night Live, created by Lorne Michaels, is an American late-night sketch show that has aired on US channel NBC since 1975.

There have been 1,000 episodes across 51 seasons.

Now, they have decided to create their own version in the UK.

Viewers will be treated to a new guest host who will be joined by a chart-topping musical guest each week.

Lead producer, James Longman, said of the upcoming series: 'The UK is absolutely packed with incredible comedy talent right now and this cast represents the freshest voices we have, theyre bold, exciting and of course, incredibly funny.

'The chemistry between them is something special and we cant wait to share this funny group of people with the world.'

Executive director of Unscripted Originals at Sky, Phil Edgar Jones OBE, added: 'We all need a laugh like never before, so were beyond excited to bring Saturday Night Live to the UK, only 50 short years after it first launched in the US.

'The shows long-standing legacy of discovering and nurturing outstanding comedy talent speaks for itself, and this UK version will build on that legacy with the support of Lorne Michaels, a brilliant local production team, and an exciting new generation of voices.

'Saturday nights are looking bright!'

Watch Saturday Night Live UK live on Sky and streaming service NOW every Saturday from March, 21, or catch-up on demand.
If there is one tradition Married At First Sight producers refuse to let go of, it is the highly controversial Partner Swap Week.

Every season, couples are temporarily rematched with other participants in the experiment so they can gain 'honest feedback' about their relationships - and it almost always leads to chaos.

And this year's season may be the messiest yet.

According to multiple show insiders, producers were quietly planning one particularly explosive pairing for weeks.

The idea, I'm told, was simple: put outspoken bride Gia Fleur and Bec Zacharia's husband Danny Hewitt in a room together and watch the sparks fly.

Gia Fleur and Danny Hewitt

Partner Swap Week on MAFS descends into chaos as Gia Fleur threatens to quit - again - after being paired with Danny Hewitt

According to insiders, producers believed the match would guarantee fireworks and potentially shake the foundations of Danny and Bec's already fragile relationship

Producers believed the match would guarantee fireworks and potentially shake the foundations of Danny and Bec's already fragile relationship.

But there was just one problem - Gia wanted nothing to do with it.

The Mail can reveal she refused to take part in filming the moment she realised she might be re-partnered with Danny, with whom she had feuded all season.

'She immediately shut it down,' a production source told me.

'She said there was no way she was sitting down with him.'

The situation escalated quickly behind the scenes.

Gia became so upset about the proposed pairing that she threatened to pack her bags and walk away from the experiment altogether.

'She basically told producers she would quit before filming that scene,' a source said.

Danny waited patiently at a Bondi pub where the partner-swap meeting was meant to take place. Gia didn't show up. (Danny is seen leaving in an Uber after Gia failed to make their date)

'She was adamant she didn't want to face Danny and, frankly, wanted nothing to do with him.'

Producers were forced to scramble to find a solution.

With Gia refusing to participate at all, the confrontation they had been hoping for suddenly became impossible.

Meanwhile, Danny was unfazed by the unfolding drama.

He was patiently waiting at a Bondi pub where the partner-swap meeting was meant to take place, expecting that producers would eventually convince Gia to participate.

Despite repeated attempts by the crew to organise the meeting, Danny said Gia repeatedly avoided it.

'I would've been very positive towards her,' Danny told me.

'She basically told producers she would quit before filming that scene.'

Danny believes Gia (left, with husband Scott McCristal) deliberately avoided the confrontation

'Every time they tried to do it, I showed up and Gia didn't,' added Danny, who also admitted, 'She's not my biggest fan and I'm not her biggest fan.'

Exactly why Gia was so determined to avoid the pairing remains unclear.

But elsewhere in Sydney, another partner swap was about to take an equally uncomfortable turn.

WhatsApp scandal confrontation

Producers likely assumed pairing Bec with Alissa Fay's husband David Momoh would create more than a little tension.

By this time, leaked texts had begun circulating among the cast - allegedly sent between Bec, Gia and Brook Crompton, and featuring brutal comments about Alissa.

Producers likely assumed pairing Bec (left) with Alissa Fay's husband David Momoh (right) would create more than a little tension

Insiders say the offensive screenshots were passed around the group by intruder bride Juliette Chae, after she walked out during Sunday's Commitment Ceremony.

This meant that by the time Partner Swap Week rolled around, Alissa had already seen everything. And so had David.

When David and Bec sat down for their feedback session, Bec initially attempted to speak to him as if nothing had happened.

However, insiders say David had absolutely no interest in playing along.

'He shut it down pretty quickly,' one cast member told me. 'He basically said, straight up, that he had seen the texts.'

The temperature in the room dropped instantly.

By this time, leaked texts had begun circulating among the cast - allegedly sent between Bec, Gia and Brook Crompton, and featuring brutal comments about Alissa

A snapshot of the vicious WhatsApp group chat, in which Alissa was labelled a 'rat'

Later on, the mean girls called Alissa and husband David 'Christian influencer wannabes' who were 'dying to be famous'. Some of the language was too explicit or defamatory to publish

What was meant to be a polite discussion about their respective relationships became something far more uncomfortable.

According to insiders, David calmly but firmly confronted Bec about the hurtful comments she and the other brides had made about his wife.

There was no yelling, no theatrics - just a quiet but pointed call-out that left Bec scrambling to respond.

'Bec didn't expect it,' the source said.

'She thought they were just going to talk about David and Alissa's relationship. She didn't realise he already knew what had been said behind the scenes.'

According to insiders, David calmly but firmly confronted Bec about the comments made about his wife. David pictured with wife Alissa Fay)

Scott's lucky escape

While David was dealing with that uncomfortable confrontation, Scott found himself in a different situation entirely.

He was paired with Stella Mickunaite during the same partner-swap exercise.

According to insiders, Scott could not have been more relieved because there had been a serious discussion behind the scenes that he might be paired with Bec.

Instead, Scott landed what several cast members described as the most relaxed swap of the entire exercise.

'Scott joked that he'd dodged a bullet,' an insider told me.

Rather than walking into a confrontation, Scott and Stella reportedly used the session to decompress and talk openly about the chaos unfolding around them.

At this stage of the experiment, tensions between several couples were already reaching boiling point.

So the two spent much of their conversation reflecting on the broader dynamics inside the group.

'They actually had a really honest conversation,' the source said.

'It wasn't about attacking anyone. It was more about how intense the environment had become and how hard it was for some couples to separate the experiment from real life.'

Scott was paired with Stella Mickunaite (right) during the same partner-swap exercise

Gia and Scott's fairytale collapses

For weeks, viewers saw Gia and Scott emerge as one of MAFS' strongest couples.

On screen, the pair appeared united, supportive and genuinely invested in making their relationship work, despite all the drama surrounding them.

During Sunday's episode, they even stunned viewers when they revealed they had been looking at properties together and discussing a future outside the experiment.

But behind the scenes, the Daily Mail can reveal the reality of their relationship was far more complicated - and ultimately, their fairytale ended in heartbreak.

They break up on the show - but despite this, Gia remained committed to trying to make things work with Scott.

In fact, she even considered moving to the Gold Coast with her daughter so they could start a new chapter together.

For weeks, viewers saw Gia and Scott emerge as one of MAFS' strongest couples. But behind the scenes, the Daily Mail can reveal the reality of their relationship was far more complicated

'She really believed Scott was the one,' a source told me.

'She pictured this whole new life for herself on the Gold Coast - the sunshine, the lifestyle, raising her daughter there. She genuinely thought that was where her future was heading.'

So convinced was Gia that their relationship would survive outside the show that she began exploring what a move to Queensland might look like, and even looked into enrolling her daughter in school there.

'She wasn't just visiting,' the insider said. 'She was seriously considering relocating permanently.'

At one stage, Scott even met two of the most important people in Gia's life - her daughter and her ex-husband.

Those with knowledge of the situation say it felt like a significant step forward.

Gia was committed to making things work with Scott after filming. In fact, she even considered moving to the Gold Coast with her daughter to start a new chapter with him - despite them calling it quits on the show

'Scott meeting her family made it seem like things were progressing in a really real way,' the source added.

'But things behind the scenes weren't as stable as they appeared.'

While Gia believed many of their struggles were simply the pressure of filming a reality show, Scott reportedly felt differently.

According to insiders, the cracks began to show once filming wrapped and the couple started asking difficult questions about their future.

'Gia believed that once filming finished, they'd finally be able to relax and figure things out properly. But Scott didn't see it the same way.'

Despite the growing distance between them, Gia still made attempts to reconnect with Scott after agreeing to part ways at the Final Vows.

'She wasn't just visiting,' the insider says. 'She was seriously considering relocating permanently.' (Gia is pictured living her best life on the Gold Coast following the move)

After their on-camera break-up, the pair arranged to meet again on the Gold Coast.

What happened next left Gia devastated.

An insider said she hoped to rekindle their chemistry by suggesting they spend time together privately and reconnect without the pressure of the experiment.

'She even floated the idea of being friends with benefits,' the source told me. 'She thought if the pressure was off, they might find their spark again.'

Gia also reportedly sent Scott a series of lingerie selfies in an attempt to reignite the attraction between them ahead of the MAFS reunion.

'He initially seemed open to the idea. But when it came down to it, he just didn't show up,' the insider explained.

Scott ultimately stood Gia up - leaving her embarrassed and confused about where they stood.

Scott even met two of the most important people in Gia's life: her daughter and her ex-husband

Gia has since confirmed to Daily Mail that her relationship with reality star Alan Wallace

'She was waiting for him and he just never arrived. It was a really painful moment for her.'

Not long after, Gia abandoned her plans of building a new life on the Gold Coast and returned to Melbourne with her daughter.

Some believe Scott may have led Gia on about the seriousness of his feelings. Others think the relationship simply collapsed once the experiment ended and reality set in.

'They were telling everyone they were one of the strongest couples,' said an insider.

'But clearly something wasn't lining up.'

Gia's new romance

The bombshell bride has since confirmed that she has found love with reality TV star Alan Wallace.

In a candid interview, Gia admitted she could no longer keep up the illusion that her marriage was still intact.

'Navigating the new relationship has been hard, which is why I've done no Stan show and minimal press because I can't keep pretending I'm with Scott when I'm so in love with Alan,' she said.

'It's hard to be fake and lie and I don't want to upset Alan, so we're just focusing on our real life together.'

Gia revealed the pair first began speaking toward the end of filming before meeting properly at a Sydney party in December.

'The relationship began officially around New Year's Eve, but we were talking for a couple of months off and on before then,' she explained.

Their initial connection was immediate.

'When I saw Alan for the first time I knew I liked him because I was getting super jealous of him speaking to another girl,' she confessed.

'I was following him around most of the day trying to see if they were going to kiss or not. I was instantly like that's my man - he just doesn't know it yet.'

While their chemistry was clear from the beginning, Gia said their connection deepened once they began spending time together away from the reality TV spotlight.
CILLIAN Murphys leading from the front on the set of Peaky Blinders kept it an ego-free zone despite the shows A-list cast, co-star Packy Lee has said.

Belfast actor Lee plays Johnny Dogs in all six seasons of the smash crime series  and now in the film The Immortal Man, currently in cinemas.

In an interview with the Irish Mail on Sunday, Lee revealed he had been a massive fan of stars such Tom Hardy, Adrien Brody and Tim Roth before acting opposite them in the iconic series.

Asked if it was hard to remain level headed in their company, Lee told the Irish Mail on Sunday: No  when youre led by example from the likes of Cillian Murphy, thats not the world were in.

Thats not what we do, thats not what weve ever done, and thats certainly not something that I do.

The 43-year-old added even Adrien Brody  now a double Oscar winner  approached the job like any other actor.

We came to work, we sat in the trailer until we were called, and we went and did it. The same with Tom Hardy, the same with Paul Anderson [who played Arthur Shelby], Helen McCrory [who played Polly Gray], God rest her.

Lee said it was a pinch me moment to work alongside such talent and that it is a big deal to be mentioned in the same sentence as the new films stellar cast.

I mean, Tim Roth, Rebecca Ferguson, Barry Keoghan, Stephen Graham, and Cillian leading from the front

Lee  whose character is the loyal right-hand-man of Murphys Tommy Shelby  described his fellow Irishman as great craic, and a friend who has been very kind to me over the years.

Its not often that two Irish men sitting together over many years dont become good friends, he said.

Johnny Dogs (Packy Lee), Lizzie Shelby (Natasha O'Keeffe), Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy) and Arthur Shelby (Paul Anderson) in a scene from the hit series Peaky Blinders

Double Oscar winner Adrien Brody played Luca Changretta in season four of Peaky Blinders

He may have won the Oscar, and he may have become that huge star, but hes still Cill and hes still a friend, and hes still a great person to work with. Its been a good relationship. Its been a loving relationship  a friendship.

And new addition Keoghan, who plays Tommys son Duke in the film, was absolutely fantastic during the shoot.

He has lovely ideas and hes always on an idea. We dont know if were going right or left, and thats fantastic as another actor, because youre always on your feet, and youre always worried about where were going in this scene and how its going to develop.

The two shared the screen before in Mark OConnors 2012 film King Of The Travellers  one of three films the director gave Keoghan his earliest screen roles in.

Asked if he remembers the then unknown teenager, Lee said: I definitely do. He was fantastic on the day. We got on very well.

Mark OConnor brought him in and introduced us to him, and he got it from day one.

[OConnor] said: This kid is called Barry, and hes quite young, but hes going to be a megastar.

And here we are. Barry is now the megastar, which is great.

From left, Ned Dennehy, Packy Lee, Cillian Murphy, Rebecca Ferguson, Tim Roth and Jay Lycurgo at the London premiere of 'Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man' earlier this month

Barry Keoghan and Cillian Murphy in a scene from the new Peaky Blinders movie, in which Keoghan plays the son of Tommy Shelby, Murphy's iconic character

Packy Lee with his family at the world premiere of the Peaky Blinders movie in Birmingham

The older actor also said Keoghan doesnt change.

Barrys Barry. Hes great on set. Hes great fun. Hes great banter. If theres a joke to be had, I guarantee you Barrys involved.

Such is Lees prominence in the new film, co-star Ned Dennehy  one of the funniest men in Ireland  jokingly christened it Packy Blinders after reading the first half of the script.

Murphy himself recently named Lees character as one that is so well-written that you could have a spinoff.

On that possibility, Lee said he would be very open to a Johnny Dogs spinoff.

Listen, Id be all up for it. Of course I would. I think I know exactly what it would entail, but I think [creator] Steven Knight would be the best person to speak to along those lines. But yeah, wouldnt that be very exciting?

Asked about being one of a tiny handful of actors to have made it through all six seasons, Lee joked: I think I make a great cup of coffee.

But on a more serious note, he said being asked back repeatedly is something that I hold very close to my heart.

I have that great relationship with [Knight], and he enjoys writing for the character. Cillian said something in an interview, and I understand: Stevens very ruthless when it comes to characters and writing, and Im very lucky to still be on the roller coaster.

I feel [Dogs] is a well-loved character, and hes grown in the fans hearts over the years, especially because hes been so loyal to Tommy.

Explaining his characters accent  some distance from his real-life West Belfast tones  Lee, who has traveller background and normal Irish background, said: They didnt want a hard southern gypsy accent. They didnt want a traveller accent.

They wanted a colourful accent that would travel around the world so that the show would travel. So they wanted me to hold on to words a bit longer. They wanted me to have more fun with it.

The father-of-three said the runaway success of Peaky Blinders  including a significant influence on mens fashion  has been really weird.

I was in Spain on a family holiday, and theres a group of guys in 30 degrees dressed up in Peaky Blinders suits.

Theres Peaky Blinders-themed bars, nights happening  its just insane.

 Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man is in select cinemas now and on Netflix from Friday
A Melbourne-based jeweller has been slammed over an advertising campaign that appeared to mock drug addiction and the homeless.

The now-deleted video, created by boutique brand S-kin Studio, shows a woman face down on the pavement with the contents of her handbag scattered around her.

At one point in the ad, which was captioned 'I found her like this', another woman approaches and robs the woman's jewellery case lying beside her.

'That's vile,' one person wrote on the Facebook page Tea Time after a screenshot from the promotion was shared on the platform.

'The way society dehumanises homeless people and homelessness is disgusting,' they added.

'It's incredibly demeaning and offensive that this is the desperation that they will think will help sell their product,' another said on the same thread.

A Melbourne-based jeweller has been slammed over an advertising campaign that appeared to mock drug addiction and the homeless. (Pictured: S-kin Studio founder Chi Mai)

The now-deleted video, created by boutique brand S-kin Studio, shows a woman face down on the pavement with the contents of her handbag scattered around her

A third person said, 'What brand is this? I need to be sure to avoid it. Marketing homelessness, drug OD, assault. Not cool at all.'

Some in the thread began to speculate that the ad was intended to be humorous, with the woman suffering from a hangover.

'Am I the only one who sees this as a big night out and she's passed out, not anything to do with addiction, homelessness...' one person suggested.

Another replied: 'Using a situation where a person is vulnerable and having their belongings taken [cos] it's cute as a marketing gimmick is still pretty disgraceful.'

Chi Mai, co-founder of S-kin Studio jewellery, was forced to post an apology after the backlash and insisted the ad was using the popular 'trip and fall' trend used by content creators.

'Earlier today, we posted a video about our Gold Mini Vault launch,' she said in a video posted on Instagram.

'The trend format we used came across as poking light of homelessness, and that is genuinely tone deaf and not okay.

'I am so sorry. As the founder, this is on me, and intention or otherwise, we got it wrong.

The S-kin Studio ad created a storm of protest online

'The video is down, and we are fixing how we review content before it goes live. To everyone who called us out, we are so sorry that we let you down.

'We made a mistake.'

'As someone who hasn't seen the tripped and fell trend, my first thought was indeed a homeless person,' one person responded to Mai's apology.

Still, other viewers saw the ad as harmless, with one person commenting, 'It's the trip and fell trend, are people really that dramatic?'

Another disagreed: 'There is nothing 'dramatic' about having nowhere to live.'

Hanoi-born Chi Mai, who moved from Vietnam to Australia to study commerce at Melbourne University, launched S-kin Studio in 2018.

The brand is known for its gold-filled accessories that won't tarnish in water and are suitable for sensitive skin.

With no formal training in jewellery making, the 30-year-old started by watching YouTube tutorials on different techniques before experimenting with pieces ordered from a US wholesaler in the spare bedroom of her Melbourne home.

In 2024, the entrepreneur opened a boutique in Hawthorn.
It seems the dating pool in Sydney's eastern suburbs is getting smaller and smaller.

After news broke over the weekend that Dina Broadhurst's ex, appliance heir John 'Herman' Winning Jr, had moved on and was now seeing Big Brother star Holly Young, Daily Mail can reveal that the reality TV personality was once friends with the nude artist.

Back in May 2025, Holly and Dina, 50, were spotted looking very chuffed to be in each other's company at the Silver Party  a fundraising soiree for the Sydney Children's Hospital.

In fact, Holly, 31, took to Instagram to document the occasion, sharing a carousel of images that featured Dina prominently.

Wearing a very revealing silver gown, Dina was seen smiling broadly as she cuddled up to Holly.

Curiously, the pair still follow each other on Instagram, despite Holly now dating Dina's ex.

There is a wild twist in the ongoing relationship saga between Dina Broadhurst and her ex-partner, appliance heir John Winning Jr

After news broke over the weekend that Dina Broadhurst's ex, appliance heir John 'Herman' Winning Jr, had moved on and was now seeing Big Brother star Holly Young (pictured left), Daily Mail can reveal that the reality TV personality was once friends with the nude artist (pictured right)

However, there may be some frostiness developing between the duo following John and Holly's reported new relationship.

Up until January, they were regularly liking each other's posts on Instagram.

But the last post of Holly's that Dina liked was back on January 17  a carousel of images showing Holly trying on outfits at Sydney label Juliana Lilly.

Holly's romance with multimillionaire John means that she has possibly broken the strict 'girl code' of not dating your friends' exes.

Daily Mail has reached out to both Dina and Holly for comment.

News first emerged that John was dating Holly, who starred in the 2025 season of Big Brother, over the weekend.

Sources close to the reality star told The Daily Telegraph the pair had been spending a lot of time together and were recently spotted around Sydney's eastern suburbs.

Meanwhile, Dina is believed to have moved on herself and is reportedly dating another local figure, although his identity has not been confirmed.

Back in May 2025, Holly and Dina were spotted looking very chuffed to be in each other's company at the Silver Party  a fundraising soiree for the Sydney Children's Hospital

In fact, Holly took to Instagram to document the occasion, sharing a carousel of images that featured Dina prominently

Curiously, the pair still follow each other on Instagram despite Holly now dating Dina's ex and up until January were regularly liking each other's posts. Pictured: Holly Young

She further fuelled rumours when she posted several photos of herself posing in a bikini while enjoying what appeared to be a romantic weekend away at Osborn House in the Southern Highlands.

Dina's two-year relationship with John was punctuated by multiple breakups after they began dating in March 2024.

They confirmed their romance when they attended a rave in California together, with Dina 'soft-launching' John by featuring him in one of her social media posts.

At the time, the pair were said to be 'smitten' with each other.

However, by the end of 2024, the couple had called it quits.

Initially it was reported that Dina had dumped John, with sources claiming she had realised her lifestyle was not compatible with his.

Subsequent reports claimed the split was the other way around, with sources saying it was Dina who was left heartbroken.

However, there may be some frostiness developing between the duo following John and Holly's reported new romance

The last post of Holly's that Dina liked was back on January 17  a carousel of images showing Holly trying on outfits at Sydney label Juliana Lilly

Dina's two-year relationship with John was punctuated by multiple breakups after they began dating in March 2024

'[Dina] doesn't know what went wrong. They were going so strong, then he broke it off,' a source said at the time.

During their time apart, Dina hooked up with Belgian model Kenji Meert, and also reportedly reconnected with ex-boyfriend Tony Benjamin.

In August 2025, Dina announced the couple was back on again.

'I'm in a relationship,' she told Stellar.

'After spending some time apart, we've reconnected with a much deeper bond. And we're happier than ever.'

However, last month Daily Mail revealed several signs that pointed to the pair splitting once more.

Meanwhile, Holly was previously in a relationship with celebrity real estate agent Gavin Rubenstein, with that romance ending in 2024 just months after going public.

Following their split, Holly briefly dated entrepreneur Richie Harkham - a close friend of Rubenstein's - and the pair were seen spending Christmas that same year together at his family's Hunter Valley winery.

Meanwhile, Dina is believed to have moved on herself and is reportedly dating another local figure, although his identity has not been confirmed

She fuelled rumours about her relationship status when she posted several photos of herself posing in a bikini while enjoying what appeared to be a romantic weekend away at Osborn House in the Southern Highlands

John took over as CEO of Winning Appliances in 2011 at the age of 22, spearheading its expansion into Australia's largest online appliance retailer.

The company was founded in 1906 by his great-grandfather Richard William Winning and remains a powerhouse in the kitchen and laundry appliance sector, with the family fortune estimated at $770 million last year.
Al Pacino and his baby mama Noor Alfallah fueled romantic reunion rumors again as they made another public appearance together ahead of Sunday's 2026 Oscars.

The Godfather star, 85, and Alfallah, 32, were in a playful mood as they attended the CHANEL and Charles Finch Annual Pre-Oscars party on Saturday night.

They were spotted sitting at a table with Javier Bardem and all three gladly posed for a photo at the bash, which was held at The Polo Lounge in Beverly Hills.

Pacino  who issued a rare statement following the passing of his Godfather costar Robert Duvall last month  and beamed as he and Bardem playfully put up their fists to the camera.

A smiling Alfallah sat between the stars in a low-cut black dress, and she was seen leaning close to Pacino with one arm around his shoulders.

It's the latest in a string of outings for the pair, who welcomed their son, Roman Pacino, in June 2023.

Al Pacino, 85, and his baby mama Noor Alfallah, 32, fueled romantic reunion rumors again as they cozied up together at the CHANEL and Charles Finch Annual Pre-Oscar Dinner at The Polo Lounge in Beverly Hills on Saturday alongside fellow guest Javier Bardem

Alfallah  pictured arriving at the CAA Pre-Oscar party on Friday night  has been a constant presence in Pacino's life

The Oscar-winner has remained actively involved in Roman's life by co-parenting with Alfallah, even as they maintain separate residences.

Pacino and Alfallah were romantically linked in April 2022, before shifting to the 'just friends' phase following the birth of their child.

But speculation over a possibly rekindled romance gained more traction in February after they attended a private party at Funke, alongside the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, Sacha Baron Cohen and Kevin Costner.

In January, Alfallah was pictured again with Pacino at San Vicente Bungalows.

The mother-of-one was also seen standing close to the Oscar winner at a celebration in honor of DiCaprio's film One Battle After Another in December of last year.

Alfallah has a history of dating significantly older, high-profile men.

Before Pacino, Alfallah was previously linked to Mick Jagger, 82, and billionaire Nicolas Berggruen, 64.

She was reported to be dating Real Time host Bill Maher, 70, though she told TMZ last October that 'Bills my friend, just my friend.'

The couple were first romantically linked in April 2022 and welcomed son Roman Pacino the next year

Alfallah was seen hovering close to Pacino as he mingled with Leonardo DiCaprio at a celebration in honor of DiCaprio's film One Battle After Another in December 2025

The Kuwaiti-born filmmaker has a history of dating significantly older high-profile men, and she has lately appeared to be spending more time with The Godfather legend

The mother-of-one recently gushed about baby daddy Pacino, calling him, 'the coolest guy' (pictured in August 2023)

Pacino has had long-term relationships with his Godfather costar Diane Keaton, Lucila Sola, and Beverly DAngelo, who is the mother of his 25-year-old twins Anton and Olivia.

He's also been linked to Jill Clayburgh, Marthe Keller, Lyndall Hobbs and his Carlito's Way costar Penelope Ann Miller over the course of his career.

A brief fling with producer and director Jan Tarrant resulted in his eldest daughter, Julie, 36.

In October of last year, Alfallah gushed about Pacino to TMZ when asked what was going on with their relationship.

'Were together every day! Who doesnt want to be together with him? Hes the coolest guy,' she said.
As patients turn to AI tools to find healthcare providers, White Coat Web helps practices structure their digital presence for visibility, authority, and trust.

AUSTIN, Texas, March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- White Coat Web has guided medical practices through shifts in digital marketing since its founding. Today, as patients increasingly rely on AI-driven search tools and generative platforms to find providers, the company is introducing a focused approach: Generative Engine Optimization (GEO).

Willy White Coat bobblehead representing the White Coat Web brand.

Search behavior is evolving. Patients no longer rely solely on traditional search engines. They now ask AI platforms direct questions about symptoms, conditions, and local specialists. Nearly two-thirds of online health searchers report seeing AI-generated responses at the top of results, and many consider that information somewhat reliable, according to a 2025 survey by the Annenberg Public Policy Center. In this environment, visibility depends not only on keywords but also on site structure, authority, consistency, and trust signals.

In response to this shift, White Coat Web is incorporating Generative Engine Optimization into its client work. While traditional SEO remains important, it does not fully reflect how generative engines evaluate sources. AI systems prioritize structured information, topical authority, localization, and signals of real-world credibility, meaning practices lacking these foundations risk becoming invisible in AI-generated answers even if they rank well in search results.

White Coat Web works with medical practices to strengthen the signals generative systems evaluate most:

Structured website architecture that clearly communicates expertise

Authoritative content aligned with defined specialties and services

Trust and localization signals, including physician credentials, reviews, citations, and community relevance

White Coat Web views Generative Engine Optimization as a structural shift in how practices earn visibility. In AI-driven environments, recommendation depends on clarity, credibility, and digital authority. Rather than chasing trends, White Coat Web approaches GEO as an extension of its consultative work, aligning practices' online presence with these standards while helping physicians present expertise clearly and strengthen digital credibility.

Through GEO, White Coat Web aims to help medical practices remain visible and credible as AI-driven discovery evolves.

About White Coat Web:

Founded in 2019, White Coat Web helps healthcare providers better serve their communities through effective, authentic digital marketing. Based in Houston, Texas, the firm partners with medical practices to improve online visibility, strengthen patient engagement, and support sustainable growth through a consultative, strategy-driven approach.

Medical practices seeking clarity on how AI-driven search may impact their visibility can contact White Coat Web for a consultation.

To learn more, visit whitecoatweb.com .

Media Contact:

Graham Dunlap

325-231-4350

[email protected]

SOURCE White Coat Web
Nicole Kidman has shared a touching tribute to her late mother Janelle on what would have been her 86th birthday.

Nicole, 58, took to Instagram on Friday to remember her beloved mother with a sweet throwback photo.

The image showed Nicole, complete with her trademark red tresses, smiling as she posed, cheek-to-cheek with Janelle.

'Remembering my Mumma on her birthday. Always in my heart Mumma,' Nicole captioned the sweet photo.

The post was met with an outpouring of well wishes from friends and followers including Reese Witherspoon, who commented: 'Your angel mama.'

Tom Hanks' wife Rita Wilson also chimed in with a supportive, 'Sending you love,' while Law & Order star Mariska Hargitay offered three love heart emojis.

Nicole Kidman has shared a touching tribute to her late mother Janelle on what would have been her 86th birthday

Nicole, 58, took to Instagram on Friday to remember her beloved mother with a sweet throwback photo. The image showed Nicole, complete with her trademark red tresses, smiling as she posed, cheek-to-cheek with Janelle

Another follower summed up the sentiment of many with: 'Such a beautiful bond. Theres only one mamma.'

Nicole also shared a heartfelt birthday tribute to Janelle in March last year  six months after her death.

She shared a sweet photo of Janelle beaming as she posed with Nicole's late father Antony.

'Missing Mumma and Papa so much on what would have been her birthday today,' Nicole wrote.

Janelle died at the age of 84 in September  just hours before Nicole was awarded the Best Actress gong for her role in Babygirl at the Venice Film Festival.

Nicole was forced to return to her native Sydney to be with her family after the devastating news.

'Today I arrived in Venice to find out shortly after, that my beautiful, brave mother Janelle Ann Kidman has just passed,' Nicole revealed in a statement read by director Halina Reijn upon her win.

'I am in shock and I have to go to my family, but this award is for her, she shaped me, she guided me, and she made me.

'Remembering my Mumma on her birthday. Always in my heart Mumma,' Nicole captioned the sweet photo

Janelle died at the age of 84 in September  just hours before Nicole was awarded the Best Actress gong for her role in Babygirl at the Venice Film Festival. Janelle and Nicole are pictured with Nicole's sister Antonia

'I am beyond grateful that I get to say her name to all of you through Halina, the collision of life and art is heart-breaking, and my heart is broken. We love you all.'

Nicole was supported by Keith and their two daughters Sunday Rose, 17, and Faith Margaret, 15, at Janelle's funeral.

In December, she revealed the last words her late mother said to her before her death during an appearance on CBS Sunday Morning in the US.

She said Janelle told her to 'take care of yourself'.

'The final words my mama said to me, I was gonna get on a plane, and she said "Maybe wait a minute, because you just need to take care of yourself, Nicky,"' Nicole said.

The Hollywood actress said she has since taken her mother's advice to heart.

'I'm doing that more, and I say that to other people in the world. Particularly women. I think we tend not to take care of ourselves. We take care of everybody else but the last person is here,' she said.

Nicole added that Janelle wasn't the only woman in Nicole's family with sage advice.

'My grandmother left me with "Be happy" and my mother said "Take care of yourself."'
Comedian Bert Kreischer revealed Sunday that he suffered a scare when his tour bus caught on fire.

The 53-year-old stand-up star  who's famous for ripping off his shirt during his stand-up sets  revealed the scene of the frightening blaze in an Instagram photo showing the burned-out hulk of a black tour bus.

'We are all safe but my bus is gone  God works in mysterious ways,' Kreischer captioned his photo.

A representative for Kreischer revealed to the Daily Mail that the fire took the bus's drivers by surprise, and it was only thanks to smart planning that Kreischer and his fellow comedians weren't in danger.

According to Kreischer's representative, the fire was set off when, around midnight on the drive from Fargo, North Dakota, to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the front right tire of the bus had a blow-out that caused the rim to rip off.

Kreischer, his fellow comedians on the tour and his crew are spread out among three buses while traveling, so the comics were able to spread out on the remaining two buses and continue to Cedar Rapids while the damaged bus's driver waited until the morning for a new tire to be delivered.

Comedian Bert Kreischer revealed Sunday that he suffered a scare when his tour bus caught on fire. The 53-year-old stand-up star revealed the scene of the frightening blaze in an Instagram photo showing the burned-out hulk of a black tour bus; pictured with Guy Fieri (L) on February 20 in Miami Beach, Florida

His rep revealed to the Daily Mail that a

According to the comedian's rep, the bus driver heard a loud popping sound around 11 a.m. the next morning, and within seconds, the bus began to fill up with thick smoke.

He said the driver rushed off the bus, but he wasn't able to get back on because flames had already begun to spread.

The driver shared that the blaze had completely destroyed the front half of the tour bus, though the back half appeared to have only suffered smoke damage.

Kreischer's representative added that the comedians were blessed to have continued on to their destination on the other buses, because they might otherwise have been sleeping on the bus when it was engulfed in flames if they had decided to just wait for the replacement tire to arrive.

He also stressed that the blow-out was a complete accident, and the bus drivers didn't appear to have done anything to cause it.

The comic's photo showed the bus parked on the side of Interstate 94, about an hour outside of Fargo.

The picture appeared to confirm that the most serious damage happened to the front of the bus.

The grill was severely charred, and the windshield had been blown out, while the door to the vehicle hung ajar, as if it had been opened to let passengers off.

Despite the shakeup in Kreischer's transportation, there wasn't any major effect on his next comedy show, as he performed on Sunday night at Alliant Energy Powerhouse in Cedar Rapids; pictured in November in Nashville, Tenn.

The blaze had eaten away at the roof of the bus, leaving only a few crisscrossing metal supports, and the windows on the side opposite the driver had also been destroyed.

Several of the comments on Kreischer's post expressed condolences and shock, while multiple comedians and fans tried to riff on the burned-out bus despite the serious tone of Kreischer's post.

Despite the shakeup in Kreischer's transportation, there wasn't any major effect on his next comedy show, as he performed on Sunday night at Alliant Energy Powerhouse in Cedar Rapids.

Kreischer's remaining tour dates will take him across the Midwest before heading to Ontario, Canada, followed by multiple East Coast shows.

He's set to wrap up his world tour with multiple stops in California and the Southwest in May and June of this year.

Even before he became known for his stand-up comedy, Kreischer became famous for his partying after being described by Rolling Stone as 'the top partyer at the Number One Party School in the country' in a 1997 article highlighting his time at Florida State University.

The article later inspired the Ryan Reynoldsstarring comedy National Lampoon's Van Wilder, but Kreischer revealed in 2014 that he had no connection to the film beyond the article, and he added that he had never even watched the movie.

Kreischer, who also goes by 'The Machine,' is known for the wild tales that animate his comedy shows, including a story about how he was unknowingly conscripted into assisting the Russian mafia during a train robbery while he was visiting Russia during his university days.
Hours after his brutal Mother's Day snub, Brooklyn Beckham cut a carefree figure as he joined his wife Nicola Peltz for his godfather Elton John's Oscars viewing party on Sunday.

The chef, 27, was among the stars in attendance for the hit-maker's annual bash, which raises money for his AIDS foundation.

Nicola commanded attention in a form-fitting black gown as she cosied up to her husband Brooklyn at the party.

Meanwhile the chef opted for a dapper black suit as they arrived for the party.

The couple were joined at the bash by Dua Lipa and her fiance Callum Turner, Sharon and Jack Osbourne, Yungblud and Lola Young.

While many stars were keen to pay tribute to their loved ones this Mother's Day, Brooklyn delivered his biggest swipe yet in his ongoing feud with his family, as he failed to acknowledge his estranged mother Victoria.

Hours after his brutal Mother's Day snub, Brooklyn Beckham cut a carefree figure as he joined his wife Nicola Peltz for his godfather Elton John's Oscars viewing party on Sunday

Nicola commanded attention in a form-fitting black gown as she cosied up to her husband Brooklyn at the party

Brooklyn and Nicola were seen chatting to Elton as the party got underway on Sunday evening

While children across the United Kingdom lavished hard-working mums with cards, gifts and kind words, US based Brooklyn was busy paying tribute to another special woman - his mother-in-law.

The cooking influencer was on hand to celebrate former fashion model Claudia Heffner Peltz's 71st birthday alongside actress wife Nicola on Saturday evening, and wasted no time in sharing a tribute on social media.

Taking to Instagram, Brooklyn shared a photo of himself alongside Claudia and Nicola, just hours before the advent of Britain's Mothering Sunday.

Captioning the post, he wrote: 'Happy birthday to the best mother-in-law. Love u so much and hope u had the most amazing day.' Claudia's birthday fell on March 12.

It seemed a particularly deliberate move considering most in the UK celebrating Mother's Day would wake up to the post and Claudia's birthday was three days ago.

Meanwhile snaps posted by Nicola showed the pair celebrating with Claudia Heffner Peltz for her big day.

In a tribute, Nicola penned: 'Happy Birthday to my mom! The pure fact that i get to call you mom makes me truly, the luckiest ever.

'I'm so happy I got to spend your special day with you. I love celebrating you - your light is so bright you make everything better in this world.

'I love you more than you will ever understand. i hope all your dreams and wishes come true!'

It came as David shared a gushing tribute to Victoria on Mother's Day morning and shared a throwback picture of her while she was pregnant.

He penned in the post: 'Happy Mother's Day to the most amazing mummy..... You are an inspiration in all the ways a mum should be to our 4 amazing children...

Dua Lipa and her fiance Callum Turner looked sensational as they arrived at the event and put up a loving display for cameras

The singer looked incredible in a very plunging dark blue sequined dress and silver strappy heels

The couple were seen spending time with Sharon and Jack Osbourne

While many stars paid tribute to their loved ones this Mother's Day, Brooklyn delivered his biggest swipe yet in his feud with his family, as he failed to acknowledge his mother Victoria

The chef was among the stars in attendance for Elton's annual bash, which raises money for his AIDS foundation

Sharon Osbourne was joined by her son Jack who made his first public appearance after welcoming a daughter earlier this month

The pair also caught up with Ozzy's protegee Yungblud

The musician was also joined by American record producer and songwriter Andrew Watt

Lola Young looked stylish for the charity evening after returning to the spotlight last month

Nathalie Emmanuel sparkled in a navy sequin dress with metallic silver detailing

Dua accessorised with a think snake necklace

She dazzled in the dress which brought a pop of colour to the night

Kate Beckinsale caught the eye in an elegant silk evening dress as she walked the red carpet on Sunday evening

Kate rounded off her latest red carpet look with a distinctive black bow as she posed for photos

Tina Knowles wowed in a chic black blazer with feathered cuffs, tailored trousers and black heels

Singers Adam Lambert and Yunglud were also in attendance

Jane Seymour looked incredible as she put on a leggy display in an embroidered with a baroque scrollwork pattern

The star was kissed on the forehead by her long term partner John Zambetti

Singer and actress Shannon Kumar wore a black minidress with studded platform heels

David Furnish looked in good spirits ahead of the evening

Donatella Versace opted for an embellished sheer brown one shoulder dress

Cody Robert Simpson looked dapper in an all black look

Daus Mendoza was also in attendance wearing a black and white ensemble

'We love you so much and I'm so thankful for the family we have created. Have a special Mother's Day because if there's one person that deserves it it's you. I love you @victoriabeckham.'

Both Victoria and David then shared other posts to their mums Jackie and Sandra to celebrate the day.

Brooklyn has yet to post to mark Mother's Day amid the feud.

He has grown close with Nicola's parents and spent last Christmas celebrating with them, including her brother Bradley.

It comes after he is said to have been 'disheartened' that his parents publicly wished him a happy birthday and broke their communication agreement.

The eldest son of Victoria and David turned 27 earlier this month and blasted the 'performative posts' which included loving messages, according to reports.

An insider told ET that Brooklyn wants to put an end to any attempt from his parents to contact him, including on social media, following their bitter falling out.

Victoria, 51, David, 50, and his brothers Romeo, 23, and Cruz, 21, all shared heartfelt posts honouring Brooklyn's birthday, but they were apparently unappreciated.

A source told the publication: 'Brooklyn and Nicola are disheartened they chose to make public Instagram posts for his birthday.

'These are the exact type of performative public actions that Brooklyn has been trying to put an end to, to no avail.

'Last summer they issued a legal letter to his parents requesting that any correspondence go through lawyers.'

Leslie Murphy looked elegant in a white sequinned dress with feathered train

Sara Sampaio looked sensational in a sheer light blue mesh dress with embroidered details

Betsey Johnson showed off her impressive flexibility in a bright pink fluffy skirt

Dove Cameron made sure all eyes were on her in a black strapless dress which featured a dramatic train

Rob Mayes and Lexie Contursi looked great together, as Lexi showcased her incredible figure in a metallic cilver dress

Jane appeared to be in great spirits as she finished the look with a pointed heel

Lisa Ann Walter wowed in a plunging metallic gold dress and black feather cape

Fleur Geffrier opted for a chic black suit while Sarah-Jane Crawford wowed in a black strapless dress with a bouncy skirt

Sam Asghari wore a navy suit with black lapels and black shoes

Nina Parker stole the show in a dazzling purple dress while Jesse Jo Stark kept it simple in a black suit

Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka beamed on the carpet

Tani Austin wore a black suit with white shirt

JC Chasez and Jennifer HuYoung wowed together

He was given another opportunity to reconnect with his estranged family after his parents attempted to build bridges by sharing a series of birthday tributes.

But while he failed to acknowledge their nostalgic throwback photos, birthday messages and repeated use of his affectionate nickname - Buster - he wasted no time in responding to Nicola.

The most recent reports suggest Brooklyn is on speaking terms with his grandfather Ted and his wife Hilary, even though he remains estranged from his parents. He's reportedly been in regular contact with them.

Now based in the United States with his wife, Brooklyn recently outlined his desire to distance himself from his family in a six-page Instagram statement filled with lurid allegations.

Addressing social media followers in January, he claimed his parents had tried to sabotage his marriage and have always prioritised public branding over their family relationships.

'For my entire life, my parents have controlled narratives in the press about our family,' he wrote.

'The performative social media posts, family events and inauthentic relationships have been a fixture of the life I was born into.'

He added: 'Recently, I have seen with my own eyes the lengths that they'll go through to place countless lies in the media, mostly at the expense of innocent people, to preserve their own facade. But I believe the truth always comes out.'
Oscars host Conan O'Brien shocked viewers and the star-studded crowd on Sunday night with an on-the-nose joke about pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

The host used his opening monologue to reference the fact that no British actors had been nominated in major categories.

O'Brien said: 'It's the first time since 2012 that there are no British actors nominated for Best Actor or Best Actress.

'A British spokesperson said "yeah, well at least we arrest our pedophiles", so they got that.'

The crowd inside the Dolby Theatre reacted nervously with muted laughs and sheepish 'oos'. Viewers at home were shocked by O'Brien's directness.

Aside from Ghislaine Maxwell, who was jailed for 20 years for her role in luring underage girls for her former boyfriend Epstein, there have been no US arrests relating to the financier or the names released in the files relating to him.

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, a close friend of Epstein, was arrested last month by police in the United Kingdom on suspicion of misconduct in public office.

The suspicions were in relation to allegations that he passed sensitive information to the pedophile while acting as a trade envoy for the British government.

The comedian made the remark while delivering his opening monologue on Sunday night at the star studded event

Aside from Ghislaine Maxwell , who was jailed for 20 years for her role in luring underage girls for her former boyfriend Epstein, there have been no US arrests relating to the financier

After serving for 22 years in the Royal Navy, Andrew became the UK's special representative for international trade and investment in 2001.

He stepped down in 2011 amid the fury over his friendship with Epstein.

Emails released by the Department of Justice appeared to show the former duke sharing reports of official visits to Hong Kong, Vietnam and Singapore.

One email, dated November 2010, appeared to be forwarded by Andrew five minutes after being sent by his then-special adviser Amir Patel.

Another, on Christmas Eve 2010, appeared to send Epstein a confidential brief on investment opportunities in the reconstruction of Helmand Province, Afghanistan.

Andrew was later released under investigation after his arrest. He has always denied any wrongdoing over his relationship with Epstein.

His arrest followed him being officially stripped of his last royal titles by his brother King Charles III at the end of last year.

The former prince was accused by Virginia Giuffre of sexual assault, but Andrew claimed they never met. He paid millions to her to settle a civil sexual assault claim in 2022.

Andrew leaves a police station in the UK in a vehicle on the day he was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office

Andrew is seen here alongside Melania Trump, Gwendolyn Beck and Epstein at a party inside Mar-a-Lago in 2000

After his arrest, King Charles said: 'I have learned with the deepest concern the news about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and suspicion of misconduct in public office.

'What now follows is the full, fair and proper process by which this issue is investigated in the appropriate manner and by the appropriate authorities.

'In this, as I have said before, they have our full and wholehearted support and co-operation. Let me state clearly: the law must take its course.

'As this process continues, it would not be right for me to comment further on this matter. Meanwhile, my family and I will continue in our duty and service to you all.'
Anne Hathaway commanded attention for her smooth and radiantly youthful complexion as she hit the red carpet at the Oscars.

She has been busily promoting The Devil Wears Prada 2, the sequel to her classic 2006 comedy The Devil Wears Prada, which was based on a roman a clef by a former assistant to Dame Anna Wintour at Vogue.

In a full-circle moment, Hathaway took the stage that evening with the real Dame Anna, who jokingly offered a frosty appraisal of her Valentino dress onstage.

She teamed it with Jewel Heel Sandals by Roger Vivier.

But for many viewers at home, it was Hathaway's face that drew the most attention, sending social media into a tailspin of speculation.

'What did Anne Hathaway do to her face and why,' wondered a fan on X, formerly Twitter, where another wrote: 'Anne Hathaway debuting her new face.'

The Daily Mail has contacted Hathaway's representatives for comment.

Anne Hathaway commanded attention for her smooth and radiantly youthful complexion as she hit the red carpet at the Oscars

For many of the viewers at home, it was Hathaway's face that pulled the most focus, sending social media into a tailspin of speculation

In a full-circle The Devil Wears Prada moment, Hathaway took the stage that evening with Dame Anna Wintour, who jokingly offered a frosty appraisal of her dress sense onstage

One fan reacted to the sight of her by joking: 'The new face of Anne Hathaway is the mixture of the face of the young Renee Zellweger and Katherine Heigl.'

'I see the comments that Anne Hathaway looked Botoxed, and they're probably right,' theorized another, 'but unlike most such cases she looked good and her face was expressive enough. She can cut back next time.'

'Anne Hathaway looks like she has a permanent filter on her face like cool but also weird,' tweeted another, then replied: 'Oh its called a facelift lol.'

'Has Anne Hathaway had plastic surgery?' one flummoxed viewer wrote on X. 'Her face looks weird. She was almost unrecognizable.'

Hathaway and Dame Anna were enlisted to present Best Costume Design, in a tip of the hat to the fashion-themed movie that serves as their connection.

After delivering a paean to the importance of clothes on film, Hathaway said: 'One could argue that one's wardrobe in real life is also key.'

Dame Anna's face was a mask of inscrutability as Hathaway asked: 'Does it make one appear elegant and attractive on, say, the most important night in Hollywood when, say, the most important people in fashion will be judging how one looks?'

As Hathaway turned to her, Dame Anna made her face even harder to read by putting on a pair of sunglasses, an accessory she has described in the past as 'armor.'

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One fan reacted to the sight of her by joking: 'The new face of Anne Hathaway is the mixture of the face of the young Renee Zellweger and Katherine Heigl'

Hathaway and Dame Anna were enlisted to present Best Costume Design, in a tip of the hat to the fashion-themed movie that serves as their connection

She has been busily promoting The Devil Wears Prada 2, the sequel to her 2006 comedy The Devil Wears Prada, which was based on a roman a clef by a former assistant to Dame Anna

Hathaway, who won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress as Fantine in the 2012 movie of the musical Les Miserables, wore Valentino for her latest outing at the awards show

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'Anna,' asked Hathaway as Dame Anna avoided catching her eye and kept her face determinedly expressionless: 'What do you think of my dress tonight?'

Dame Anna responded by leaning toward the microphone and saying, 'And the nominees are,' earning a huge laugh and a round of applause.

When the book The Devil Wears Prada was published in 2003, it set off a blizzard of gossip that its author, Lauren Weisberger, was writing about her former boss, who had employed her for less than a year.

In public, the real Dame Anna kept her cool, breezily remarking that she was 'looking forward to reading the book' to the New York Times.

However, one of her subordinates claimed to her unauthorized biographer, Jerry Oppenheimer, that the Vogue capo was 'spitting fire' behind the scenes and 'felt she had been used and abused by Weisberger.'

When the movie came out three years later, Dame Anna leaned into the publicity and attended the New York City premiere wearing Prada.

Several years after the film's release, Vogue's global editorial director was asked in a CNN interview whether she regarded her ex-assistant's novel as a 'breach of trust.'

'Well...,' she replied with a weak laugh. 'I think that she brought attention to fashion in a way that, you know, you can look at it in a negative way or a positive way. I choose to look at it in a positive way. In some ways, I think I should be grateful to her.'
Oscar viewers were left upset over shocking omissions during the emotional In Memoriam segment at the 98th Annual Academy Awards on Sunday.

A number of late Hollywood stars were honored at the ceremony including Diane Keaton, Catherine O'Hara and Rob Reiner as their former castmates offered moving tributes on stage.

However, others that were not among the list were Eric Dane, James Van Der Beek and Brigitte Bardot.

Dane passed away on February 19 following a battle with ALS at the age of 53 while Van Der Beek's death at age 48 was confirmed by his loved ones on social media days earlier on February 11.

Bardot - who was known for films such as And God Created Woman - passed away on December 28, 2025 at the age of 91.

Social media users took to X to voice their outrage over the snubs, with one penning: 'i was sad that eric dane didn't appear in the in memoriam tribute at the oscars.'

Oscar viewers were left upset over shocking omissions during the emotional In Memoriam segment at the 98th Annual Academy Awards on Sunday

A number of late Hollywood stars were honored at the ceremony including Diane Keaton, Catherine O'Hara and Rob Reiner as their former castmates offered moving tributes on stage

Another wrote, 'Why weren't Eric Dane and James Van Der Beek included in the In Memoriam #Oscars.'

'Brigitte Bardot not being included in the In Memoriam segment is a pretty astounding miss,' a fan typed, and one asked, 'How do they get this wrong every year??'

An X user added, '"They're TV actors." They've both been in films and they have had TV actors in the film awards memoriam before BUT they miss more prominent film actors every year somehow.'

'What a disgrace,' another simply shared, and one pointed out, 'Hulk Hogan left out of #Oscars 2026 In Memoriam Tribute.'

A fan said, 'The #Oscars forgot to include Brigitte Bardot in the In Memoriam segment. TOTAL SHAME.'

'How can @TheAcademy exclude legend Brigitte Bardot who also had an extensive movie career!?! a social media user penned.

One added, 'Wow! #Oscars you missed the mark on who you left out of the In Memoriam.

'Although included on your website you left out James Van Der Beek, Robert Carradine, Richard Chamberlain, Eric Dane, Brigitte Bardot who all deserved to be on camera!' they continued.

Bardot - who was known for films such as And God Created Woman - passed away on December 28, 2025 at the age of 91; seen in 1963

Social media users took to X to voice their outrage of the snubs, with one penning: 'i was sad that eric dane didn't appear in the in memoriam tribute at the oscars'

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Other stars that were left out of the In Memoriam tribute during the Oscars broadcast on Sunday included Lizzie McGuire alum and Revenge Of The Nerds actor Robert Carradine.

Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Harold And Maude star Bud Cort, Tom Noonan and Julian McMahon were also not included.

David Keighley, IMAX's first-ever chief quality officer  who died at the age of 77 in September 2025 after battling cancer  was also left out of the tribute.

His son Geoff Keighley criticized the Oscars on social media, writing on Instagram that he was 'heartbroken' that his late father was not included in the In Memoriam segment and not recognized for his contributions to the movie industry.

Geoff said he was 'disappointed' that the Academy made no mention of his late father, who was also a member of the Academy himself and oversaw post-production on over 500 IMAX films.

The late executive, who made a lasting impact on IMAX and the film industry, was a frequent collaborator of famed filmmakers including Christopher Nolan, James Cameron and Francis Ford Coppola.

His latest work was on Nolan's upcoming film, The Odyssey, the first theatrical release shot entirely with IMAX film cameras in movie history.

Van Der Beek had been known for his role in the series Dawson's Creek as well as films such as Varsity Blues (1999).

Dane appeared in shows including Grey's Anatomy and Euphoria while also starring in movies such as Bad Boys: Ride Or Die (2024).

Viewers were also recently left fuming when Dane and Van Der Beek were left out of the In Memoriam segment during the BAFTAs last month in February.

Billy Crystal stepped onto the stage to remember the late Rob Reiner and his wife Michele following their tragic deaths on December 14.

Crystal had appeared in projects directed by Reiner such as When Harry Met Sally and The Princess Bride.

'My friend Rob's movies will last for lifetimes because they were about what makes us laugh and cry and what we aspire to be: Far better in his eyes, far kinder, far funnier, and far more human'

The actor added, 'To the millions who have enjoyed his films all these years, I want you to know here and around the world, how many times Rob told me that it meant everything to him that his work meant something to you.

Other stars that were left out of the In Memoriam tribute during the Oscars broadcast on Sunday included Lizzie McGuire alum and Revenge Of The Nerds actor Robert Carradine; seen in 2025

David Keighley, IMAX's first-ever chief quality officer  who died at the age of 77 in September 2025 after battling cancer  was also left out of the tribute. His latest work was on Nolan's upcoming film, The Odyssey, the first theatrical release shot entirely with IMAX film cameras in movie history

His son Geoff Keighley criticized the Oscars and said he was 'heartbroken' that his late father was not included in the In Memoriam segment and recognized for his lasting impact on the film industry

Geoff wrote on Instagram that he was 'disappointed' that the Academy made no mention of his late executive father, who was also a longtime member of the Academy himself and oversaw post-production on over 500 IMAX films

Billy Crystal stepped onto the stage to remember the late Rob Reiner and his wife Michele following their tragic deaths on December 14

'My friend Rob's movies will last for lifetimes because they were about what makes us laugh and cry and what we aspire to be: Far better in his eyes, far kinder, far funnier, and far more human,' he said

'And for us who had the privilege of working with and knowing him and loving him, all we can say is, buddy, what fun we had storming the castle,' Crystal added; Reiner and Michele seen in 2019 in L.A.

'And for us who had the privilege of working with and knowing him and loving him, all we can say is, buddy, what fun we had storming the castle.'

Rachel McAdams shared a moving speech in tribute to Diane Keaton as well as Catherine O'Hara.

'This year, we lost so many artists, including actresses whose talent and originality widened the world for all of us,' she expressed to the audience and viewers.

McAdams referred to O'Hara as her 'fellow Canadian' before adding that the Beetlejuice actress 'made us laugh until we cried.'

She also had the chance to work alongside 'icon' Keaton in the movie The Family Stone.

'For over 50 years, luminous on screen and indelible in life, believe me when I say, there's not an actress of my generation who's not inspired by and enthralled with her absolute singularity,' McAdams said of the Annie Hall star.

'She wore so many hats, literally and figuratively. Actress, artist, author, activist. But no hat more important to her than being mother to her two children. She meant so much to so many.'

McAdams also emotionally added, 'And so to our friend, Diane Keaton, celebrating a life of silver and gold, a legend with no end.'

Rachel McAdams shared a moving speech in tribute to Diane Keaton as well as Catherine O'Hara

'This year, we lost so many artists, including actresses whose talent and originality widened the world for all of us,' she expressed to the audience and viewers

McAdams also emotionally added, 'And so to our friend, Diane Keaton, celebrating a life of silver and gold, a legend with no end'; Keaton seen in 2018 in L.A.

Barbra Streisand later stepped onto the Oscars stage to pay tribute to the late Robert Redford.

The pair had previously worked together on the beloved movie The Way We Were (1973).

She recalled how Redford had initially denied taking a role in the film but finally agreed following draft changes.

'He was a brilliant, subtle actor. And we had a wonderful time playing off each other because we never quite knew what the other one was going to do in the scene,' the actress said.

Barbra Streisand later stepped onto the Oscars stage to pay tribute to the late Robert Redford. The pair had previously worked together on the beloved movie The Way We Were (1973)

'He was a brilliant, subtle actor. And we had a wonderful time playing off each other because we never quite knew what the other one was going to do in the scene,' the actress said; Redford seen in The Way We Were

Streisand also shared how he had called her Babs as a nickname.

During a phone conversation years after they starred in the film, she recalled talking on the phone with Redford who told her, 'Babs, I love you dearly and I always will.'

She continued, 'And in the last note I ever wrote to Bob, I ended it with, "I love you, too." And I signed it, "Babs."'

Streisand's tribute to Redford concluded as she sang lyrics to the song The Way We Were for the crowd.
READ MORE: Timothee Chalamet in sunglasses as fans mock his Oscars outfit

Timothee Chalamet was seen cheering on ballet icon Misty Copeland during a segment in Sunday's 98th Academy Awards stemming from Los Angeles.

The 30-year-old actor applauded from the seats at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood alongside girlfriend Kylie Jenner, 28, as Copeland, 43, had a showcase dance routine during a Sinners-related segment.

Copeland danced to a version of the Miles Caton and Raphael Saadiq track I Lied To You, which also featured a cameo from Shaboozey.

The Marty Supreme star had made headlines over the past few weeks, causing a stir after he said that 'no one cares about' art forms such as ballet and opera, garnering strong reactions from Copeland and other celebrities

The comments came during the filming of A CNN & Variety Town Hall Event at the University of Texas at Austin last month, where he told Matthew McConaughey he felt a sense of conflict about pushing seeing films in theaters.

Chalamet said of ballet and opera, 'It's like, "Keep this thing alive even though no one cares about this thing anymore.'"

Timothee Chalamet, 30, was seen cheering on ballet icon Misty Copeland during a segment in Sunday's 98th Academy Awards stemming from Los Angeles

Copeland danced to a version of the Miles Caton and Raphael Saadiq track I Lied To You, which also featured a cameo from Shaboozey

Copeland took aim at Chalamet's characterization of ballet's modern relevancy while speaking on a panel for Aveeno and TOGETHXR earlier this month.

'First I have to say that it's very interesting that he invited me to be a part of promoting Marty Supreme with respect to my art form,' said Copeland, who posted a social media shot last year to promote the Chalamet motion picture.

Copeland reframed the discussion while addressing the remarks made by the A-list actor.

'I think that it's important that we acknowledge that, yes, this is an art form that is not "popular" and a part of pop culture as movies are,' Copeland said. 'But that doesn't mean it doesn't have enduring relevance in culture.'

She added, 'I think it's often mistaken when something is popular that it's meaningful or more impactful - there's a reason that the opera and ballet have been around for over 400 years.

'I think when you have access and you have opportunity to be a part of something that can change your life, and that's the work that I've been doing with the Misty Copeland Foundation.'

Across X, a number of fans offered their opinions on the artistic display, with one adding a clip of the post captioned 'Misty Copeland ending Timothee Chalamet.'

One user was critical of Copeland for taking Chalamet's remark so personally: 'Imagine being this weak minded that if someone disagrees with you, you need to make a damn spectacle.'

Copeland (pictured Sunday) took aim at Chalamet's characterization of ballet's modern relevancy while speaking on a panel for Aveeno and TOGETHXR earlier this month

Chalamet was nominated Sunday for the Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role, but lost out to Sinners' Michael B. Jordan

Across X, a number of fans offered their opinions on the artistic display

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One user pointed out that there might've been more to the situation than meets the eye, noting that Chalamets 'mother, grandmother, and sister are all ballerinas,' as they had been affiliated with the New York City Ballet.

Another commenter said that made the context of Chalamet's remarks even worse.

'That is specifically why what he said was so deeply disgusting,' the user said. 'He got on a national stage and said "the women in my family are foolish and pathetic." [Had] he not specifically insulted his mother, most people would have stopped being mad at him by now.'

Chalamet was nominated Sunday for the Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role, but lost out to Sinners' Michael B. Jordan. One Battle After Another's Leonardo DiCaprio, The Secret Agent's Wagner Moura and Blue Moon's Ethan Hawke were also nominated for the honor.

Chalamet's first nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role was for his work in the 2017 motion picture Call Me By Your Name.

He was also nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for his role as Bob Dylan in 2024's A Complete Unknown.
Viewers around the world tune in to see the Oscars broadcast each year with bated breath, but some of the choicest moments of the night never make it to air.

This year was no exception, with Michael B Jordan leaving the stage after winning best actor for Sinners and getting a hug from a superstar he had just beaten.

Leonardo DiCaprio, who was nominated in the same category for One Battle After Another, greeted Jordan with a gracious embrace and the two men clasped fists.

Pedro Pascal, who has been trolled online for his touchy-feely behavior with his co-stars, was glimpsed backstage clasping his co-presenter Sigourney Weaver's hand.

Zendaya and Robert Pattinson, stars of the upcoming A24 film The Drama, mingled behind the scenes after presenting Best Director to Paul Thomas Anderson.

Anderson, who triumphed in several categories for One Battle After Another, could also be seen with them in the wings as they keenly observed the action onstage.

Here, the Daily Mail offers a peek behind the curtain at the Academy Awards...

Michael B Jordan enjoyed a tight embrace from Leonardo DiCaprio after beating him for best actor, more than a decade on from DiCaprio's 2015 win in the same category for The Revenant

In a show of DiCaprio's graciousness and the camaraderie between the two movie stars, he and Jordan could be seen clasping each other's fists

Benicio del Toro, who was up for Best Supporting Actor for One Battle After Another but lost to his absent co-star Sean Penn, congratulated Jordan by kissing his hand

Del Toro, who won Best Supporting Actor for the 2000 Steven Soderbergh film Traffic, gathered together with DiCaprio and the triumphant Jordan

Ethan Hawke greeted Gwyneth Paltrow with an affectionate kiss on the cheek 28 years after they co-starred in Alfonso Cuaron's adaptation of Charles Dickens's Great Expectations

Hawke was a Best Actor nominee that night for his turn as Broadway lyricist Lorenz Hart in Blue Moon, while Paltrow was snubbed for her comeback turn in Marty Supreme

After winning Best Actress for Hamnet, Jessie Buckley left the stage in tears of joy, accompanied by last year's Best Actress winner Mikey Madison of Anora fame

Jordan also received a bit of affection from Adrien Brody, who had presented him with the award after winning it himself last year for Brady Corbet's The Brutalist

DiCaprio and his One Battle After Another love interest Teyana Taylor demonstrated their warm rapport after their movie was awarded Best Picture

Pedro Pascal - who has been trolled online for his touchy-feely behavior with his co-stars - was glimpsed backstage clasping his co-presenter Sigourney Weaver's hand

Pascal was apparently in conversation with sci-fi icon, who had offered a play on her fan favorite Aliens line: 'Get away from her, you b****' onstage

Zendaya and Robert Pattinson, stars of the upcoming A24 film The Drama, mingled behind the scenes after presenting Best Director to Paul Thomas Anderson

Anderson, who triumphed in several categories for One Battle After Another, with them in the wings as they keenly observed the action onstage

Sentimental Value stars Elle Fanning, Renate Reinsve and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas - all of whom were nominated for Oscars that night but lost - enjoyed each other's company anyway

Anderson, after winning Best Adapted Screenplay, also posed backstage with Sinners director Ryan Coogler, who had just won Best Original Screenplay

After winning his screenplay prize, Coogler also enjoyed a warm confab with Oscar-winner Robert Downey Jr, who had presented him with the trophy onstage

One Battle After Another star Chase Infiniti walked over for a chat with her co-star Teyana Taylor, who lost Best Supporting Actress that night to Amy Madigan of Weapons

Emma Stone, her husband Dave McCary, Demi Moore and Kate Hudson all posed for a selfie taken by the latter's musician husband Danny Fujikawa

Anderson posed with his decades-long casting director, Cassandra Kulukundis, who had just won the first-ever Academy Award for Best Casting

Sterling K Brown, who memorably parodied Casablanca onstage with the evening's host, Conan O'Brien, was spotted shaking hands with Anderson backstage

During the performance of Golden from KPop Demon Hunters, audience members like Gwyneth Paltrow were given light sticks as if they were at a real concert

Anne Hathaway was spotted backstage with her co-presenter Dame Anna Wintour, whose reign at Vogue she had helped parody in the classic 2006 comedy The Devil Wears Prada

Returning host Conan O'Brien whirled through multiple costumes during his second time compering the ceremony

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Rupert Murdoch's daughter Grace Deng stunned onlookers when she hit the red carpet for the prestigious post-Oscar Vanity Fair party on Sunday.

The 24-year-old, dressed in a dazzling black lace gown with a floor-sweeping hemline, posed for snaps alongside her mother, Wendi Deng, as she entered the A-list soiree in Los Angeles.

Grace piled on the glamour for the event, accessorising with a huge diamond necklace, pearl earrings and a delicate gold chain bracelet.

Wearing her black hair in a fashionable slicked-back style with a middle part, Grace carried a Khaite clutch worth over $4.5K and rocked a winged-eyed makeup look.

Meanwhile, Wendi, 57, also turned heads in a beaded floor-length evening gown with a feathered skirt and corset top.

The film producer and entrepreneur let her long black hair fall over her shoulders and accessorised with a diamond chain necklace, a matching bracelet and earrings and a chunky ruby statement ring.

Rupert Murdoch's daughter Grace Deng stunned onlookers when she hit the red carpet for the prestigious post-Oscar Vanity Fair party on Sunday. Pictured: The 25-year-old, dressed in a posed for snaps alongside her mother, Wendi Deng, as she entered the A-list soiree

Grace piled on the glamour for the event, accessorising with a huge diamond necklace, pearl earrings and a delicate gold chain bracelet. Grace is holding a Khaite clutch worth $4.5K

For makeup, Wendi went for a lot of drama with smoky eyeliner and a soft eyeshadow.

Wendi was Rupert's third wife, having previously been married to Patricia Brooker from 1956 to 1967 and Anna Maria Torv from 1967 to 1999.

Rupert had first met and fallen for Wendi in 1997, in Hong Kong, two years before the divorce from Anna.

Two years later, after a whirlwind courtship that included the couple being spotted in a hotel gym together at 6am, sweating away on exercise bikes and giggling like teenagers, she became Wendi Deng Murdoch.

On June 25, 1999, they married on the deck of Murdoch's yacht Morning Glory in front of 80 guests, as it circled Manhattan.

With Wendi's encouragement, Rupert bought Laurance Rockefeller's Fifth Avenue triplex for $44 million  at the time, the most expensive purchase in New York history.

Wendi later focused on her new role as mother to her and Rupert's baby daughters Grace and Chloe, born in 2001 and 2003.

Following his 14-year marriage to Wendi, Rupert tied the knot with model Jerry Hall in 2016, before their split in 2022.

Wendi, 57, also turned heads in a beaded floor-length evening gown with a feathered skirt

Wendi was Rupert's third wife, and the pair share two daughters Grace and Chloe, 22

He is currently married to his fifth wife, Elena Zhukova.

Wendi has also hit headlines with her romantic life.

In 2014, a love note she had written to Tony Blair was published in Vanity Fair, in which she lusted after his 'good body' and 'piercing blue eyes'.

The former prime minister, who is the godfather to Grace, strongly denied allegations of an affair.

She is known for keeping former flames close, and remains good friends with Rupert, who she memorably defended in 2011 by lunging at a foam pie-throwing protester who attacked him.
She's the Aussie A-lister who is not afraid of head-turning displays of haute couture on the red carpet.

But Nicole Kidman suffered a rare fashion fail on Sunday when she stepped out for the Vanity Fair Oscars afterparty.

The 58-year-old stepped out in a rather dull, long-sleeved dress that was a far cry from her extravagant Oscars red carpet look hours earlier.

Nicole wore a textured gold couture gown from Chanel which offered a very monochromatic vibe.

The gown also featured a slim, column-like silhouette that showcased Nicole's svelte form.

While light on detailing, the gown also boasted a frayed hem that finished just above Nicole's feet and a similar embellishment on the sleeves.

Nicole Kidman (pictured) suffered a rare fashion fail on Sunday when she stepped out for the Vanity Fair Oscars afterparty

The actress also dialled back on the accessories for the occasion, and wore her flaxen locks in long, loose waves which cascaded freely over her shoulders.

Nicole finished her decidedly demure look with a pair of black peep-toe heels.

While Nicole did not make Daily Mail's worst dressed list for the swanky soiree, it was a rare fashion misstep for the glamorous actress.

It comes after Nicole turned heads in another Chanel gown on the red carpet at the 98th Academy Awards on Sunday at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

She struck a series of dramatic poses as she sauntered onto the red carpet in an ethereal baby pink feathered peplum gown.

The dress featured a shimmering silver-sequined bodice and whimsical feather accents around the waist and hem.

She accessorised the ensemble with stunning diamond jewels, also by Chanel, including a pair of glittering drop earrings with a giant pearl in the middle of the setting and some show-stopping rings.

She also wore a diamond watch by Omega.

The 58-year-old stepped out in a rather dull, long-sleeved dress that was a far cry from her extravagant Oscars red carpet look hours earlier

The gown also featured a slim, column-like silhouette that showcased Nicole's svelte form

The Scarpetta star pouted and preened, tossing her strawberry blonde locks as she posed for the cameras.

At one point, she even appeared to clap  a throwback to when she was caught on camera giving a round of applause 'like a seal' at the very same awards show back in 2017.

Nicole addressed her humiliation during a video shoot for Vanity Fair's 2025 Hollywood Issue, revealing that she's now more conscious about how she shows her appreciation.

Appearing alongside Skins actor Dev Patel, Nicole said as they made conversation in front of the camera: 'I know what I do when I clap, and I've been ridiculed for that.'

She then mimicked her seal-like applause, prompting Dev to comment, 'I've seen that.'

'I now try to clap like this,' Nicole confessed, showing off her delicate and light applause that sees the tips of her fingers making contact with her palm.

Nicole sent social media into meltdown at the Oscars in 2017 when she was seen enthusiastically applauding after Charlize Theron took to the stage to introduce an award.

'Anyone see Nicole Kidman clapping? She claps like a seal,' one person wrote at the time.

Nicole turned heads in another Chanel gown on the red carpet at the 98th Academy Awards on Sunday at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles

The dress featured a shimmering silver-sequined bodice and whimsical feather accents around the waist and hem

Nicole later addressed her unusual gesture, revealing that it was all down to a bit of a wardrobe malfunction.

Speaking on The Kyle & Jackie O Show, she recalled: 'It was really awkward! I was like, 'Gosh, I want to clap. I don't want to not be clapping.

'It was really difficult because I had a huge ring on that was not my own, but it was absolutely gorgeous, and I was terrified of damaging it!'

This is the first time Nicole has attended the Oscars as a single woman in years after her split from husband Keith Urban last year.

In September 2025, it was revealed that the actress and Urban had split after 19 years of marriage.

Not long after ringing in the new year, the former couple reached a settlement agreement to finalise the divorce.
LAS VEGAS, March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- XCMG Group, one of China's foremost construction machinery enterprises, concluded a landmark appearance at CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2026 in Las Vegas, marking the company's 11th consecutive participation in the world's largest construction trade exhibition. Competing alongside nearly 3,000 exhibitors from across the globe, XCMG used this year's show to demonstrate a pivotal strategic evolution: the transition from simply exporting products to establishing genuine, lasting roots in North America's premium market.

XCMG Highlights from CONEXPO 2026 Speed Speed

North America has long held a reputation as a high-bar market where performance, reliability, and innovation are non-negotiable. XCMG rose to that challenge by presenting 35 machine models specially engineered for North American operating conditions, covering core construction scenarios including earth-moving, lifting, aerial work platforms, and mining applications.

The highlight of XCMG's exhibit was the global launch of the PRO Series. The next-generation product line built for the North American professional. PRO Series machines feature deep integration of intelligent interaction and precision control technologies, offering operators fully customizable parameters, intuitive visual interfaces, and advanced self-diagnostic capabilities. The result is a machine that transforms complex operations into clear, controllable tasks  raising both operator confidence and overall job-site productivity.

"This reflects a broader transformation in Chinese construction machinery  moving from scale advantage to technology edge. We are no longer simply offering cost-effective tools; we are exporting advanced engineering solutions, earning the respect and trust of premium global markets through innovation."

 Zhai Kun, General Manager, XCMG Global Business Headquarters & XCMG Import & Export Co., Ltd.

XCMG's North American strategy reflects this philosophy in tangible terms. The company has built a sophisticated local support infrastructure to back up its technology ambitions. Millions of dollars in spare parts are now stocked at XCMG's North American warehouses, enabling rapid response and minimal machine downtime. Over 95% of XCMG's North American workforce is locally hired. This is the testament to the company's commitment to embedding itself into the fabric of the regional market rather than operating as a foreign vendor.

"Our North American parts inventory has been fully optimized to ensure the highest possible uptime for every machine we put in the field," said Liu Quan, XCMG's North America Director. "Regardless of equipment type, our local team is ready to provide around-the-clock support."

This operational depth is central to XCMG's pitch to North American customers: the company provides comprehensive, intelligent, and scenario-specific construction solutions backed by a local team that understands the demands of the market.

XCMG's presence at CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2026 is part of a broader global growth trajectory. The company's products now reach more than 190 countries and regions worldwide. Along the markets of the Belt and Road Initiative, XCMG commands a coverage rate exceeding 95%. International revenue now accounts for nearly half of XCMG's total business, reinforcing the company's standing as one of China's most prominent ambassadors for advanced manufacturing on the world stage.

With its combination of purpose-built technology, deep local investment, and expanding global reach, XCMG leaves CONEXPO 2026 not merely as a participant, but as a formidable long-term contender in the world's most demanding construction machinery market.

SOURCE Xuzhou Construction Machinery Group
Amelia Gray Hamlin put on quite a sideshow in a jaw-dropping look while attending the Vanity Fair Oscar Party, which was held at LACMA on Sunday.

The 24-year-old nepo baby left little to the imagination in the $900 Revolve 'Raye Gown' featuring flirty cut-outs exposing her entire back and left side of her torso.

Hairstylist Amanda Lee coiffed Hamlin's sleek middle-parted ponytail for the 98th Academy Awards after-party.

Make-up artist Sam Visser applied exclusively YSL cosmetics on the Lions Management Model's face, giving her a smoky eye and glossy pout.

Hamlin has long been rumored to have undergone trendy buccal fat removal in order to sharpen her cheekbones - but she only admitted to Variety in January that she's had SkinVive injections, rhinoplasty and 14-hour reconstructive breast surgery.

Amelia Gray Hamlin put on quite a sideshow in a jaw-dropping look while attending the Vanity Fair Oscar Party, which was held at LACMA on Sunday

The Beauty guest star previously admitted to struggling with anorexia since 2018, which led to being diagnosed with the autoimmune disease Hashimoto's.

Missing from Hamlin's side on Sunday was her older boyfriend - Guess? heir Nicolai Marciano - whose father is Paul Marciano.

The Frame collaborator previously dated The Kardashians star and father-of-three Scott Disick as well as Fat Brands construction coordinator Mercer Wiederhorn.

Also glamming up for the Oscar party circuit on Sunday was Hamlin's famous mother, You Better Believe I'm Gonna Talk About It author Lisa Rinna.

The 62-year-old Traitors contestant shared a few behind-the-scenes snaps via Instagram story.

On March 29, Rinna and her husband Harry Hamlin will impressively celebrate their 29th wedding anniversary.

'It's not easy to be married for all these years. It's not easy to raise a family anywhere, let alone Hollywood,' the four-time Daytime Emmy nominee told Dinner's on Me with Jesse Tyler Ferguson last month.

'You can start to grow apart, and then you gotta make sure that you come back together. It's work. A good marriage is a lot of work.'

The 24-year-old nepo baby left little to the imagination in the $900 Revolve 'Raye Gown' featuring flirty cut-outs exposing her entire back and left side of her torso

Hairstylist Amanda Lee coiffed Hamlin's sleek middle-parted ponytail for the 98th Academy Awards after-party

Make-up artist Sam Visser applied exclusively YSL cosmetics on the Lions Management Model's face, giving her a smoky eye and glossy pout

2026 vs. 2019: Hamlin has long been rumored to have undergone trendy buccal fat removal in order to sharpen her cheekbones - but she only admitted to Variety in January that she's had SkinVive injections, rhinoplasty and 14-hour reconstructive breast surgery

The Beauty guest star previously admitted to struggling with anorexia since 2018, which led to being diagnosed with the autoimmune disease Hashimoto's

Missing from Hamlin's side on Sunday was her older boyfriend - Guess? heir Nicolai Marciano (R, pictured February 1) - whose father is Paul Marciano

The Frame collaborator previously dated The Kardashians star and father-of-three Scott Disick as well as Fat Brands construction coordinator Mercer Wiederhorn

Also glamming up for the Oscar party circuit on Sunday was Hamlin's famous mother, You Better Believe I'm Gonna Talk About It author Lisa Rinna

The 62-year-old Traitors contestant shared a few behind-the-scenes snaps via Instagram story

On March 29, Rinna and her husband Harry Hamlin (R, pictured last Friday) will impressively celebrate their 29th wedding anniversary

The four-time Daytime Emmy nominee and the 74-year-old Harry's Famous Pasta Sauce founder are also proud parents of 27-year-old daughter Delilah (2-L, pictured December 25)

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Rinna said of resentment building in a marriage: 'If you need to go to therapy, you go to therapy. If you have issues you can't get through, you just gotta do it. It's not cute all the time.'

The King of Drag judge and the 74-year-old Harry's Famous Pasta Sauce founder are also proud parents of 27-year-old daughter Delilah.

Harry is also father to 45-year-old son Dimitri Alexander from his four-year romance with Swiss sex symbol Ursula Andress, which ended in 1983.

Rinna's next acting gig is in Adam Shankman's drag comedy Stop! That! Train! - hitting US theaters May 29 - alongside RuPaul, Rachel Bloom, Matt Rogers, June Diane Raphael, Charo, Jujubee and Ginger Minj.
Selma Blair was looking her most elegant on Sunday at the 2026 Vanity Fair Oscar Party when she walked the red carpet with a cane in hand.

The 53-year-old actress  who has been vocal about her battle with multiple sclerosis (MS)  carried a black cane with a curved silver handle that complemented her racy sheer dress.

Blair looked chic in a black Tamara Ralph gown with a voluminous skirt reaching down to the ground at the party's new location at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA).

It featured an intriguing bodice with black stripes and a lattice pattern over flesh-colored fabric that made it look as if the film and television star was exposing herself.

Blair highlighted her hips thanks to the tilted top of her skirt, and the dress's sleeveless design showcased her arms as well.

She added some sparkle to her look with a string of thick diamonds around her throat, along with bracelets on each wrist.

Selma Blair was looking her most elegant on Sunday at the 2026 Vanity Fair Oscar Party when she walked the red carpet with a cane in hand

The 53-year-old actress  who has been vocal about her battle with multiple sclerosis (MS)  carried a black cane with a curved silver handle that complemented her racy sheer dress

Blair also flashed what appeared to be two enormous diamond rings on her left ring finger.

She has proudly flaunted her cane as she keeps her battle with MS in the spotlight, but Blair used a very different mobility aid at the previous year's Vanity Fair party.

The Hellboy actress arrived at the 2025 party, which was held at the Wallis Annenberg Center in Beverly Hills, with her service dog Scout by her side.

One Battle After Another ended the 2026 awards season by winning Best Picture on a night where Michael B Jordan and Jessie Buckley earned top acting prizes.

Jordan, 39, shocked the world at the 98th Academy Awards as he upset Timothee Chalamet to win Best Actor for Sinners as Buckley, 36, took home Best Actress for her work in Hamnet at the event held at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

Paul Thomas Anderson accepted the top prize of the night alongside Teyana Taylor and the rest of the cast and crew as the film earned the most wins of the night with six.

The American black comedy action-thriller triumphed over a massive competitive field that included Bugonia, F1, Frankenstein, Hamnet, Marty Supreme, The Secret Agent, Sentimental Value, Sinners, and Train Dreams.

The Leonardo DiCaprioled film One Battle After Another is centered around a group of ex-revolutionaries who reunite to rescue the daughter of one of their own as their enemy resurfaces after 16 years.

Blair looked chic in a black Tamara Ralph gown with a voluminous skirt reaching down to the ground at the party's new location at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)

It featured an intriguing bodice with black stripes and a lattice pattern over flesh-colored fabric that made it look as if the film and television star was exposing herself

She has proudly flaunted her cane as she keeps her battle with MS in the spotlight, but Blair used a very different mobility aid at the previous year's Vanity Fair party  her service dog Scout

One Battle After Another ended the 2026 Oscars by winning Best Picture as director Paul Thomas Anderson accepted the honor beside Teyana Taylor as the honor was presented by Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman (seen left to right)

Michael B Jordan shocked the world as he upset Timothee Chalamet to win Best Actor at the Oscars

Jessie Buckley continued her winning ways as she earned Best Actress for her role in Hamnet

The most talked about moment of the night will surely be that Jordan, 39, earned the top honor Best Actor for his leading role in Ryan Coogler film Sinners.

He upset the seeming awards-season favorite, 30-year-old Marty Supreme star Chalamet, while the rest of the field included: Leonardo DiCaprio (One Battle After Another), Ethan Hawke (Blue Moon), and Wagner Moura (The Secret Agent).

Jordan was in disbelief as he walked up to the stage and was greeted by last year's winner, Adrien Brody.

Sinners is centered around two brothers who return to their hometown to start over again, only to discover that an even greater evil  in the form of vampires  is waiting to welcome them back.

Jordan portrayed both brothers in the film: older and more serious twin Elijah 'Smoke' Moore, in addition to younger and more cheerful sibling Elias 'Stack' Moore.

Jessie Buckley continued her winning ways as she earned Best Actress for her role in Hamnet.

The 36-year-old Irish actress beat out Rose Byrne (If I Had Legs Id Kick You), Kate Hudson (Song Sung Blue), Renate Reinsve (Sentimental Value), and Emma Stone (Bugonia).

Hamnet takes place after Agnes and William Shakespeare (Buckley and Paul Mescal) lose their son Hamnet to the plague and grapple with grief in 16th-century England, based on the novel of the same name.

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Oscar 2026 winners: AT A GLANCE Best Picture: One Battle After Another Best Actor: Michael B Jordan - Sinners Best Actress: Jessie Buckley - Hamnet Best Director: Paul Thomas Anderson - One Battle After Another Best Adapted Screenplay: Paul Thomas Anderson - One Battle After Another Best Supporting Actor: Sean Penn - One Battle After Another Best Supporting Actress: Amy Madigan - Weapons Best Original Screenplay: Ryan Coogler - Sinners Best Cinematography: Autumn Durald Arkapaw - Sinners Best Animated Film: KPop Demon Hunters Best Original Song: KPop Demon Hunters - Golden

Paul Thomas Anderson accepted the top prize of the night as the film earned the most wins of the night with six

The American black comedy action-thriller film triumphed over a massive, competitive, field including: Bugonia, F1, Frankenstein, Hamnet, Marty Supreme, The Secret Agent, Sentimental Value, Sinners, and Train Dreams

One Battle After Another is centered around a group of ex-revolutionaries who reunite to rescue the daughter of one of their own as their enemy resurfaces after 16 years

The most talked about moment of the night will surely be that Michael B Jordan, 39, earned the top honor Best Actor for his leading role in Ryan Coogler film Sinners

Timothee Chalamet saw his years-long Oscars dream go up in smoke on Sunday as he was brutally snubbed

Jordan was in disbelief as he walked up to the stage and was greeted by last year's winner Adrien Brody

Sinners is centered around two brothers who return to their hometown to start again only to discover that an even greater evil - in the form of vampires - is waiting to welcome them back

Jordan portrayed both brothers in the film: younger and more cheerful sibling Elias 'Stack' Moore (left) in addition to older and more serious twin Elijah 'Smoke' Moore (right)

Jessie Buckley continued her winning ways as she earned Best Actress for her role in Hamnet

The Chloe Zhao-directed and written film takes place after Agnes and William Shakespeare (Buckley and Paul Mescal) lose their son Hamnet to the plague and grapple with grief in 16th-century England. Agnes is a healer who must find strength to care for her surviving children while processing her devastating loss

Agnes is a healer who must find strength to care for her surviving children while processing her devastating loss.

One Battle After Another was the biggest winner of the evening as Paul Thomas Anderson earned both Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay.

Meanwhile, Sean Penn was not in attendance as he earned his third Oscar.

The 65-year-old A-lister's name was announced by Kieran Culkin for the Best Supporting Actor Award for his work in One Battle After Another but he was not in the building to accept.

He triumphed over his One Battle After Another co-star Benicio Del Toro in addition to Jacob Elordi - Frankenstein, Delroy Lindo - Sinners, and Stellan Skarsgard - Sentimental Value in the highly-competitive category.

The sharp-tongued Culkin joked: 'Sean Penn couldn't be here this evening or didn't want to, so I'll be accepting the award on his behalf.'

Amy Madigan took home the first award at the Oscars 2026 on Sunday night.

The 75-year-old veteran actress earned Best Supporting Actress for her work in Zach Creggar's supernatural mystery horror film Weapons.

One Battle After Another was the biggest winner of the evening as Paul Thomas Anderson earned both Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay

Sean Penn was not in attendance as he earned his third Oscar

The 65-year-old A-lister's name was announced by Kieran Culkin for the Best Supporting Actor Award for his work in One Battle After Another but he was not in the building (Penn is pictured with co-star and fellow nominee Benicio del Toro in Santa Barbara last month)

In the Paul Thomas Anderson directed film, Penn portrays Col. Steven J. Lockjaw who is a corrupt military officer who pursues revolutionary group the French 75

Amy Madigan took home the first award at the Oscars 2026 on Sunday night

The 75-year-old veteran actress earned Best Supporting Actress for her work in Zach Creggar supernatural mystery horror film Weapons

The synopsis of the film reads: 'When all but one child from the same class mysteriously vanish on the same night at exactly the same time, a community is left questioning who or what is behind their disappearance'

Ryan Coogler finally earned his first in the Best Original Screenplay category for his epic Sinners

KPop Demon Hunters earned Best Animated Feature Film (Maggie Kang, Chris Appelhans and Michelle L.M. Wong are seen left to right) and Best Original Song for Golden

The film is centered around a world-renowned K-Pop girl group balance their lives in the spotlight with their secret identities as demon hunters

It was one of the most contentious categories of the night as she was up against Elle Fanning (Sentimental Value), Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas (Sentimental Value), Wunmi Mosaku (Sinners), and Teyana Taylor (One Battle After Another).

Ryan Coogler finally earned his first win in the Best Original Screenplay category for his epic Sinners.

One of the most touching wins of the night came when Autumn Durald Arkapaw won Best Cinematography for Sinners.

The second award of the night was groundbreaking as KPop Demon Hunters earned Best Animated Feature Film.

The Netflix film triumphed over Arco, Elio, Little Amelie or the Character of Rain and Zootopia 2.

Later on in the night, the film made history once again as KPop Demon Hunters earned Best Original Song for the smash hit song Golden.

It beat out Dear Me (Diane Warren: Relentless), I Lied to You (Sinners), Sweet Dreams of Joy (Viva Verdi!), and Train Dreams (Train Dreams).

The Netflix film is centered around the members of a world-renowned KPop girl group who balance their lives in the spotlight with their secret identities as demon hunters.
Timothee Chalamet's strained exchange with his girlfriend, Kylie Jenner, at the Oscars has been exclusively decoded by a lip reader for the Daily Mail.

The 30-year-old was an early Best Actor favorite for Marty Supreme - the Josh Safdie picture based on the life of a real underground ping-pong player in 1950s New York.

However, his pomposity in interviews eventually led to a souring of public opinion about him, with sources exclusively telling the Daily Mail about a 'Stop Timmy' campaign gathering steam ahead of the Academy Awards.

Chalamet, whose mother and sister both trained in ballet, then poured fuel on the backlash by remarking that 'no one cares about' ballet and opera.

Oscar night turned into a brutal humiliation for Chalamet, who was repeatedly mocked over the comment and then lost the coveted Best Actor award to Michael B Jordan for Sinners.

Now a clip has surfaced of Chalamet sitting in the audience with a rictus grin plastered on his face as he had a conversation with Jenner, via E! News - but lip-reader Nicola Hickling has revealed what was really said.

Timothee Chalamet's strained exchange with his girlfriend Kylie Jenner at the Oscars has been exclusively decoded by a lip-reader for the Daily Mail

While keeping the smile firmly in place, Chalamet told Jenner: 'I hate this,' and she replied: 'We're all right, okay?' to which he said: 'Yeah.'

'I hope so,' said Jenner, whom Chalamet has been dating for three years and thanked on stage when he won at the Golden Globes and Critics' Choice Awards.

'Tonight - I need a big cuddle,' said Chalamet.

Chalamet looked visibly disappointed when 2025 Best Actor winner Adrien Brody read out Jordan's name instead of his.

He offered Jordan polite applause and appeared to mouth 'yay' as the stunned Sinners star leaned over to hug his mother, Donna, before heading on stage.

This year's Best Actor category was stacked, and also included Leonardo DiCaprio (One Battle After Another), Ethan Hawke (Blue Moon) and Wagner Moura (The Secret Agent).

Jordan, who is now a first-time Oscar-winner, was tearful during his acceptance speech as he thanked the audience and voters by saying: 'Thank you, everybody in this room and everybody at home for supporting me over my career. I feel it.

'I know you guys want me to do well, and I want to do that because you guys bet on me, so thank you for keeping betting on me.'

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Chalamet and Jenner during the event's opening monologue, which was delivered by Conan O'Brien, who was hosting the Oscars for the second time

Oscar night turned into a brutal humiliation for Chalamet, who was repeatedly mocked over his 'opera and ballet' slight and then lost best actor to Michael B Jordan for Sinners

'And I'm going to keep stepping up and I'm going to keep being the best version of myself I can be,' added Jordan. Sinners also won Best Screenplay for director Ryan Coogler.

While Chalamet dominated the early season with Best Actor wins at the Golden Globes and Critics' Choice Awards for playing table tennis player Marty Mauser, the momentum shifted after Jordan won at the Actor Awards, formerly known as the SAG Awards, earlier this month.

Adding to the tension, the Oscars arrived on the heels of Chalamet's controversial comments about 'no one' caring about opera and ballet, which sparked a wave of backlash from the arts community, including legendary director Steven Spielberg.

Chalamet made the unfiltered remark while talking to Interstellar co-star Matthew McConaughey about his hopes of movie theaters being able to survive.

He then added, 'I don't want to be working in ballet or opera or, you know, things where it's like: "Hey, keep this thing alive," even though no one cares about this anymore,' in an interview for Variety's Actors on Actors.

Conan O'Brien, who returned as host of the Academy Awards for the second consecutive year, kicked off his opening monologue with a jab at Chalamet's controversial remarks.

'Security is extremely tight tonight. I'm just going to mention that,' tuxedo-clad O'Brien said to the crowd inside Los Angeles' iconic Dolby Theatre.

He then quipped, 'I'm told there's a concern about attacks from both the opera and ballet communities.'

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After 2025 Best Actor winner Adrien Brody read out Jordan's name, Chalamet politely clapped and flashed an awkward smile

The 30-year-old earned the nomination for his performance in Josh Safdie's ping-pong drama film Marty Supreme

The camera then quickly cut to Chalamet, who could be seen nervously smiling beside his busty girlfriend, Kylie Jenner.

'They're just mad you left out jazz,' O'Brien jokingly added.

O'Brien tried but failed to make amends with Chalamet later in the night as he told the crowd he and the Marty Supreme star were 'vibing'.

'We're vibing, right?' he asked Chalamet, whose reply wasn't picked up by the event's microphones. 'He doesn't think so.'

The mocking of Chalamet began even before the start of the ceremony as he arrived on the red carpet with a stoic expression - and without girlfriend Jenner by his side.

Chalamet posed for photographers in an all-white ensemble of a suit and tie, which clashed against a massive pair of black shades.

Fans roasted the outfit choice on X, formerly Twitter, where one groused: 'He doesn't deserve to come near that Oscar due to this atrocity of a fit.'

Another wondered: 'Dear lord Timmy, what on earth inspired this monstrosity,' as one observer joked that the young movie star resembled a 'milkman.'

One dismissed the getup as a 'mess,' while another, in a nod to his romance with Jenner, said: 'He needs fashion lessons from the Kardashian/Jenner clan.'
Jeff Goldblum, 73, had plenty to smile about as he hit the red carpet with his much-younger wife Emilie Livingston, 43, on Sunday night after the 2026 Academy Awards.

The couple, who have been married since 2014, joined fellow A-listers at Vanity Fair's famous Oscars after-party held at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

For the event, Livingston put on a very cheeky display by wearing only a sparkly thong leotard.

She posed with her pert backside facing photographers as she leaned up against Goldblum, who looked dapper in a tuxedo and dramatic black trench coat.

Livingston completed her racy outfit with sheer tights, stiletto heels, sunglasses and a fancy fur shawl that matched the collar of her husband's coat.

The Oscars offered a rare date night for the longtime couple, who are parents to two sons: Charlie, 10, and River, eight.

Jeff Goldblum, 73, had plenty to smile about as he hit the red carpet with his much-younger wife Emilie Livingston, 43, on Sunday night after the 2026 Academy Awards

For the event, Livingston put on a very cheeky display by wearing only a sparkly thong leotard

Other big stars to attend Vanity Fair's big bash included: Kim Kardashian, Hailey Bieber, Emily Ratajkowski and Kate Hudson.

Just hours earlier, the biggest names in Hollywood learned the fate of their Oscar nominations at the 2026 ceremony.

One Battle After Another ended up winning Best Picture on a night where Michael B Jordan and Jessie Buckley earned top acting prizes.

Jordan, 39, shocked the world at the 98th Academy Awards as he upset Timothee Chalamet to win Best Actor for Sinners as Buckley, 36, took home Best Actress for her work in Hamnet at the event held at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

Paul Thomas Anderson accepted the top prize of the night alongside Teyana Taylor and the rest of the cast and crew as the film earned the most wins of the night with six.

The American black comedy action-thriller film triumphed over a massive, competitive, field including: Bugonia, F1, Frankenstein, Hamnet, Marty Supreme, The Secret Agent, Sentimental Value, Sinners, and Train Dreams.

The Leonardo DiCaprio led film One Battle After Another is centered around a group of ex-revolutionaries who reunite to rescue the daughter of one of their own as their enemy resurfaces after 16 years

The most talked about moment of the night will surely be that Jordan, 39, earned the top honor Best Actor for his leading role in Ryan Coogler film Sinners.

She posed with her pert backside facing photographers as she leaned up against Goldblum, who looked dapper in a tuxedo and dramatic black trench coat

Livingston completed her racy outfit with sheer tights , stiletto heels, sunglasses and a fancy fur shawl that matched the collar of her husband's coat

They joined fellow A-listers at Vanity Fair's famous Oscars after-party held at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art

The Oscars offered a rare date night for the longtime couple, who are parents to two young sons: Charlie, 10, and River, eight

He upset favorite throughout award season 30-year-old Chalamet, who starred in Marty Supreme, as the field included: Leonardo DiCaprio - One Battle After Another, Ethan Hawke - Blue Moon, and Wagner Moura - The Secret Agent.

Jordan was in disbelief as he walked up to the stage and was greeted by last year's winner Adrien Brody.

Sinners is centered around two brothers who return to their hometown to start again only to discover that an even greater evil - in the form of vampires - is waiting to welcome them back.

Jordan portrayed both brothers in the film: older and more serious twin Elijah 'Smoke' Moore in addition to younger and more cheerful sibling Elias 'Stack' Moore.

Jessie Buckley continued her winning ways as she earned Best Actress for her role in Hamnet.

The 36-year-old Irish actress beat out Rose Byrne - If I Had Legs Id Kick You, Kate Hudson - Song Sung Blue, Renate Reinsve - Sentimental Value, and Emma Stone - Bugonia.

Hamnet takes place after Agnes and William Shakespeare (Buckley and Paul Mescal) lose their son Hamnet to the plague and grapple with grief in 16th-century England, based on the novel of the same name.

One Battle After Another ended the 2026 Oscars by winning Best Picture as director Paul Thomas Anderson accepted the honor beside Teyana Taylor as the honor was presented by Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman (seen left to right)

Michael B Jordan shocked the world as he upset Timothee Chalamet to win Best Actor at the Oscars

Timothee Chalamet saw his years-long Oscars dream go up in smoke on Sunday as he was brutally snubbed

Jessie Buckley continued her winning ways as she earned Best Actress for her role in Hamnet

Agnes is a healer who must find strength to care for her surviving children while processing her devastating loss.

One Battle After Another was the biggest winner of the evening as Paul Thomas Anderson earned both Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay.

Meanwhile, Sean Penn was not in attendance as he earned his third Oscar.

The 65-year-old A-lister's name was announced by Kieran Culkin for the Best Supporting Actor Award for his work in One Battle After Another but he was not in the building to accept.

Amy Madigan took home the first award at the Oscars 2026 on Sunday night.

The 75-year-old veteran actress earned Best Supporting Actress for her work in Zach Creggar's supernatural mystery horror film Weapons.

It was one of the most contentious categories of the night as she was up against Elle Fanning - Sentimental Value, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas - Sentimental Value, Wunmi Mosaku - Sinners, and Teyana Taylor - One Battle After Another.

Ryan Coogler finally earned his first win in the Best Original Screenplay category for his epic Sinners.

One Battle After Another was the biggest winner of the evening as Paul Thomas Anderson earned both Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay

Amy Madigan took home the first award at the Oscars 2026 on Sunday night

Ryan Coogler finally earned his first in the Best Original Screenplay category for his epic Sinners

KPop Demon Hunters earned Best Animated Feature Film (Maggie Kang, Chris Appelhans and Michelle L.M. Wong are seen left to right) and Best Original Song for Golden

One of the most touching wins of the night came when Autumn Durald Arkapaw won Best Cinematography for Sinners.

The second award of the night was groundbreaking as KPop Demon Hunters earned Best Animated Feature Film.

The Netflix film triumphed over Arco, Elio, Little Amelie or the Character of Rain, and Zootopia 2.

Later on in the night the film made history once again as KPop Demon Hunters earned Best Original Song for the smash hit song Golden.

It beat out Dear Me - Diane Warren: Relentless, I Lied to You - Sinners, Sweet Dreams of Joy - Viva Verdi!, and Train Dreams - Train Dreams.

Your browser does not support iframes.

The Netflix film is centered around the members of a world-renowned KPop girl group who balance their lives in the spotlight with their secret identities as demon hunters.
Timothee Chalamet was seen clinging to his longtime girlfriend Kylie Jenner at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party in the wake of his crushing defeat earlier that night.

The 30-year-old was an early best actor favorite for Marty Supreme, the Josh Safdie picture based on the life of a real underground ping-pong player in 1950s New York.

However, his pomposity in interviews eventually led to a souring of public opinion about him, with sources exclusively telling the Daily Mail about a 'Stop Timmy' campaign gathering steam ahead of the Academy Awards.

Chalamet, whose mother and sister both trained in ballet, then poured fuel on the backlash by remarking that 'no one cares about' opera and ballet.

Oscar night turned into a brutal humiliation for Chalamet, who was repeatedly mocked over the comment and then lost best actor to Michael B. Jordan for Sinners.

He found comfort in his girlfriend's affections at the glitzy afterparty, where he was seen wrapping his arms around her and planting a kiss on her cheek.

Timothee Chalamet was seen clinging to his longtime girlfriend Kylie Jenner at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party in the wake of his crushing defeat earlier that night

The 30-year-old was an early best actor favorite for Marty Supreme, the Josh Safdie picture based on the life of a real underground ping-pong player in 1950s New York

his pomposity in interviews eventually led to a souring of public opinion about him, with sources exclusively telling the Daily Mail about a 'Stop Timmy' campaign

Jenner, whom Chalamet has been dating for three years and whom he thanked onstage when he won at the Golden Globes and Critics' Choice Awards, was every inch the sizzling Hollywood bombshell at his side that night.

She served up a generous helping of cleavage in a skintight black dress that emphasized her hourglass figure to jaw-dropping advantage.

The floor-length ensemble - which featured a peekaboo slit at one side to expose part of her chiseled midriff - glistened under the lights at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, where the annual event unfolded this year.

Chalamet meanwhile appeared to be wearing the same white suit he had donned to the Oscars, a look that drew mockery from social media.

After the formality of the ceremony, Chalamet did away with his tie, undid his top button and untucked his shirt for the more relaxed afterparty.

Chalamet looked visibly disappointed when 2025 Best Actor winner Adrien Brody read out Jordan's name instead of his.

He offered Jordan polite applause and appeared to mouth 'yay' as the stunned Sinners star leaned over to hug his mother Donna before heading to the stage.

This year's Best Actor category was stacked. It also included Leonardo DiCaprio (One Battle After Another), Ethan Hawke (Blue Moon) and Wagner Moura (The Secret Agent).

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He found comfort in his girlfriend's affections at the glitzy afterparty, where he was seen wrapping his arms around her and planting a kiss on her cheek

Chalamet has been dating Jenner for three years and whom he thanked onstage when he won at the Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards

She served up a generous helping of cleavage in a skintight black dress that emphasized her hourglass figure to jaw-dropping advantage

Chalamet meanwhile appeared to be wearing the same white suit he had donned to the Oscars, a look that drew mockery from social media

Chalamet and Jenner are pictured during the event's opening monologue, which was delivered by Conan O'Brien, hosting the Oscars for the second time

Oscar night turned into a brutal humiliation for Chalamet, who was repeatedly mocked over his 'opera and ballet' slight and then lost best actor to Michael B. Jordan for Sinners

Jordan, who is now a first-time Oscar-winner, was tearful during his acceptance speech as he thanked the audience and voters by saying: 'Thank you, everybody in this room and everybody at home for supporting me over my career. I feel it.

'I know you guys want me to do well, and I want to do that because you guys bet on me, so thank you for keeping betting on me.

'And I'm going to keep stepping up and I'm going to keep being the best version of myself I can be,' said Jordan. Sinners also won Best Screenplay for director Ryan Coogler.

While Chalamet dominated the early season with Best Actor wins at the Golden Globes and Critics' Choice Awards for ping-pong drama Marty Supreme, the momentum shifted after Jordan won at the Actor Awards, formerly known as the SAG Awards, earlier this month.

Adding to the tension, the Oscars arrived on the heels of Chalamet's controversial comments about 'no one' caring about opera and ballet, which sparked a wave of backlash from the arts community, including from legendary director Steven Spielberg.

Chalamet made the unfiltered remark while talking to Interstellar co-star Matthew McConaughey about his hopes that movie theaters are able to survive.

He then added that 'I don't want to be working in ballet or opera or, you know, things where it's like: "Hey, keep this thing alive," even though no one cares about this anymore,' in an interview for Variety's Actors on Actors.

Conan O'Brien, who returned as host of the Academy Awards for the second consecutive year, kicked off his opening monologue with a jab at Chalamet's controversy.

'Security is extremely tight tonight. I'm just going to mention that,' tuxedo-clad O'Brien said to the crowd inside Los Angeles' iconic Dolby Theatre.

He then quipped, 'I'm told there's a concern about attacks from both the opera and ballet communities.'

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After 2025 Best Actor winner Adrien Brody read out Jordan's name, Chalamet politely clapped and flashed an awkward smile

The 30-year-old earned the nomination for his performance in Josh Safdie's ping-pong drama film Marty Supreme

The camera then quickly cut to Chalamet, who could be seen nervously smiling beside his busty girlfriend, Kylie Jenner.

'They're just mad you left out jazz,' O'Brien jokingly added.

O'Brien tried but failed to make amends with Chalamet later in the night as he told the crowd he and the Marty Supreme star were 'vibing.'

'We're vibing, right?' he asked Chalamet, whose reply wasn't picked up by the event's microphones. 'He doesn't think so.'

The mocking of Chalamet began even before the start of the ceremony as he arrived on the red carpet with a stoic expression - and without girlfriend Jenner by his side.

Chalamet posed for photographers in an all-white ensemble of a suit and tie, which clashed against a massive pair of black shades.

Fans roasted the ensemble on X, formerly Twitter, where one groused: 'he doesn't deserve to come near that Oscar due to this atrocity of a fit.'

Another wondered: 'dear lord Timmy, what on earth inspired this monstrosity,' as one observer joked that the young movie star resembled a 'milkman.'

One dismissed the getup as a 'mess,' while another said in a nod to his romance with Jenner: 'He needs fashion lessons from the Kardashian/Jenner clan.'
Jessie Buckley shared the name of her daughter for the first time while accepting the award for Best Actress at the Oscars on Sunday evening in Los Angeles.

The Hamnet star, 36, who became the first Irish woman to win the gong on the night, dedicated her history-making award to the 'beautiful chaos of a mother's heart'.

Jessie confirmed in December she had welcomed her first child 'earlier that year', after becoming pregnant a week after filming wrapped on Hamnet.

The actress had so far kept her little girl's name under wraps, but sharing her moniker during her acceptance speech, Jessie revealed her child is called Isla.

Speaking on stage at the Dolby Theatre, she said: 'Chloe and Maggie, you too get to know this incandescent woman, and journey to understand the capacity of a mother's love is the greatest collision of my life.

'It's Mother's Day in the UK today, but I would like to dedicate this to the beautiful chaos of a mother's heart.

'We all come from a lineage of women who continue to create against the odds, thank you for recognising me in this role, this is the greatest honour, I can't believe it.'

Jessie Buckley shared the name of her daughter for the first time while accepting the award for Best Actress at the Oscars on Sunday evening in Los Angele

The Hamnet actress, 36, who became the first Irish woman to win the gong on the night, dedicated her award to the 'beautiful chaos of a mother's heart'

Jessie paid a touching tribute to her family, including her husband Freddie Sorensen (pictured) and their daughter Isla, eight months

Jessie paid a touching tribute to her family, including her husband Freddie Sorensen and their daughter Isla, eight months.

She said: 'My family, my Irish family, they're all here tonight. Ireland bought them flights  where are you? Mom, dad, thank you for teaching us to dream and to never be defined by expectation, but to carve from your own passion.

'You, Fred, I love you. You're the most incredible dad, you're my best friend and I want to have 20,000 more babies with you.

'Isla, who is eight months and has no idea what is going on and is probably dreaming of milk. But this is a big deal and I love you, I love being your mum and I can't wait to discover life with you.'

Jessie took the time to recognise the work of her fellow nominees, Emma Stone (Bugonia), Rose Byrne (If I Had Legs I'd Kick You), Renate Reinsve (Sentimental Value) and Kate Hudson (Song Sung Blue).

She gushed: 'Thank you to the incredible women that I stand beside. I am inspired by your art and your heart, and I want to work with every single one of you.'

Anora star Mikey Madison, last year's winner in the same category, presented the award to Jessie.

Jessie has so far racked up a slew of wins at earlier ceremonies across awards season and was the favourite to take home the Oscar.

Jessie played Agnes, the wife of Shakespeare and the mother of the titular Hamnet, in the Chloe Zhao-directed film.

Jessie's husband Freddie looked delighted as he watched from the audience

Jessie confirmed in December she had welcomed her first child 'earlier that year', after falling pregnant a week after filming wrapped on Hamnet

Jessie was also congratulated by her Hamnet co-star Paul Mescal, who played her on-screen husband William Shakespeare

He wrapped her in an embrace before she walked to the stage to accept her award

Jessie took the time to recognise the work of her fellow nominees, Emma Stone (Bugonia), Rose Byrne (If I Had Legs I'd Kick You), Renate Reinsve (Sentimental Value) and Kate Hudson (Song Sung Blue)

The film was nominated in the following categories: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score, Best Casting, Best Production Design and Best Costume Design.

Earlier during the awards season, she received her flowers at the Actor Awards (formerly known as SAG), the BAFTAs, the Critics' Choice Awards and the Golden Globes for her performance in the raw and emotional drama piece.

She was previously nominated in the category of Best Supporting Actress for her performance in The Lost Daughter back in 2022.

Last year, Chloe opened up about casting Jessie and lauded her performance as Agnes.

'I knew her work,' the Oscar-winning filmmaker told IndieWire in November 2025. 'I had a feeling that she wouldn't be afraid. There was no vanity in her, which is what Fran McDormand had.'

Chloe continued: 'I'm neurodivergent, and when there's dissonance, I can't function. I can't look at the person. So I need that authenticity, and vanity is the number-one enemy of authenticity.

'Actors, their greatest blessing they can give to the world is their authenticity and their humanness.'

One Battle After Another ended the 2026 awards season by winning Best Picture on a night where Michael B Jordan and Jessie earned top acting prizes.

Michael, 39, shocked the world at the 98th Academy Awards as he upset Timothee Chalamet to win Best Actor for Sinners.

Paul Thomas Anderson accepted the top prize of the night alongside Teyana Taylor and the rest of the cast and crew as the film earned the most wins of the night with six.

The American black comedy action-thriller film triumphed over a massive, competitive field, including: Bugonia, F1, Frankenstein, Hamnet, Marty Supreme, The Secret Agent, Sentimental Value, Sinners, and Train Dreams.

The Leonardo DiCaprio-led film One Battle After Another is centred around a group of ex-revolutionaries who reunite to rescue the daughter of one of their own as their enemy resurfaces after 16 years.

The most talked about moment of the night will surely be that Michael earned the top honour, Best Actor, for his leading role in Ryan Coogler's film Sinners.

Michael, 39, shocked the world at the 98th Academy Awards as he upset Timothee Chalamet to win Best Actor for Sinners (Jessie pictured with Best Actor winner Michael B Jordan)

One Battle After Another ended the 2026 Oscars by winning Best Picture as director Paul Thomas Anderson accepted the honor beside Teyana Taylor as the honour was presented by Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman (seen left to right)

Michael B Jordan shocked the world as he upset Timothee Chalamet to win Best Actor at the Oscars

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He upset favourite throughout award season 30-year-old Timothee, who starred in Marty Supreme, as the field included: Leonardo DiCaprio - One Battle After Another, Ethan Hawke - Blue Moon, and Wagner Moura - The Secret Agent.

Jordan was in disbelief as he walked up to the stage and was greeted by last year's winner Adrien Brody.

Sinners is about two brothers who return to their hometown to start again only to discover that an even greater evil  in the form of vampires  is waiting to welcome them back.

Michael portrayed both brothers in the film: older and more serious twin Elijah 'Smoke' Moore in addition to younger and more cheerful sibling Elias 'Stack' Moore.

One Battle After Another was the biggest winner of the evening as Paul Thomas Anderson earned both Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Leonardo DiCaprio fans have joked his new moustache has 'knocked my world off its axis' and joked it was donated by newly bare-faced Pedro Pascal.

The 51-year-old arrived at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday, nominated once again, this time for One Battle After Another.

One person wrote: 'The stache has knocked my world off its axis.'

With someone replying in the comments: 'Leonardo dicaprio looking kind of hot was not on my bingo card.'

Another joked about Leonardo stealing fellow actor Pedro Pascal's moustache for the night when the Narcos star, 50, arrived looking fresh-faced.

Sharing a side-by-side comparison, they wrote: 'Leonardo Dicaprio goes in for his mustache transplant and when he came out he asked wheres Pedro Pascal?

Leonardo DiCaprio fans joked his new moustache has 'knocked my world off its axis' and joked it was donated by newly bare-faced Pedro Pascal - he unveiled the look at the Oscars on Sunday

Some Leonardo stealing fellow actor Pedro Pascal's moustache for the night when the Narcos star, 50, arrived looking fresh-faced

'And the doctors said who do you think gave you the mustache.'

Others added: Leonardo DiCaprio stole Pedro Pascals mustache and the ceremony hasnt even started yet, Im not ready, while another summed it up in one word: porn stache.

Pedro Pascal gave his mustache to Leonardo DiCaprio! #Oscars, sharing a side-by-side photo of the two.

Leonardo DiCaprio has a mustache and Pedro Pascal is clean shaven.

But it wasn't just the striking new facial that got everyone talking.

Leonardo debuted a noticeably darker mop of hair.

And he also hard launched his girlfriend, stunning model Vittoria Ceretti, who sat next to him in the audience.

Yet more piled on, with one writing that he looked the most chopped he ever chopped.

A few offered a sideways compliment, with one declaring, Hes actually attractive for an old man.

Leonardo DiCaprio owns the red carpet - classic black tux, bow tie, and that bold mustache giving major leading-man swagger. Timeless yet fresh; hes ready to take home the gold.

Fans were quick to note that DiCaprios midlife crisis makeover comes at a point when the actors personal life is under the spotlight like never before.

DiCaprio has been dating Italian model Ceretti, 27, since 2023, nearly three years, bucking his longtalkedabout reputation for always splitting from partners before they hit their mid20s.

The age gap - and the fact he relaxed his unofficial under25 rule - has been a recurring topic among fans.

Fans took to social media in their droves to comment on the new look

He looked incredibly handsome as he hard launched his model girlfriend Vittoria Ceretti, who sat next to him in the audience, (left)

Timothee Chalamet saw his years-long Oscars dream go up in smoke on Sunday as he was brutally snubbed for Michael B Jordan in the Best Actor category

Jordan beamed on stage as he accepted the coveted Best Actor honour

While Leonardo didn't win Best Actor, with the award going to Michael B. Jordan, his movie One Battle After Another won big, scooping 11 Oscars.

Elsewhere, fellow Best Actor nominee Timothee Chalamet was snubbed for Best Actor and faced jabs at his expense in a humiliating night at the Oscars.

The 30-year-old was beaten by Michael B Jordan in the category, despite having previously been a frontrunner for his performance in Marty Supreme.

Chalamet looked visibly disappointed when 2025 Best Actor winner Adrien Brody read out Jordan's name instead of his.

He offered Jordan polite applause and appeared to mouth 'yay' as the stunned Sinners star leaned over to hug his mother Donna before heading to the stage.

It came after a humiliating night for Chalamet, who was made a laughing stock by host Conan O'Brien over his recent 'opera and ballet' jab drama.

This year's Best Actor category was stacked. It also included Leonardo DiCaprio (One Battle After Another), Ethan Hawke (Blue Moon) and Wagner Moura (The Secret Agent).

Jordan, who is now a first-time Oscar-winner, was tearful during his acceptance speech as he thanked the audience and voters by saying: 'Thank you, everybody in this room and everybody at home for supporting me over my career. I feel it.

'I know you guys want me to do well, and I want to do that because you guys bet on me, so thank you for keeping betting on me.

'And I'm going to keep stepping up and I'm going to keep being the best version of myself I can be,' said Jordan. Sinners also won Best Screenplay for director Ryan Coogler.

While Chalamet dominated the early season with Best Actor wins at the Golden Globes and Critics' Choice Awards for ping-pong drama Marty Supreme, the momentum shifted after Jordan won at the Actor Awards, formerly known as the SAG Awards, earlier this month.
It might be the hottest ticket in town but it looks like there wasn't much food at the Oscars on Sunday night.

Because when Hailey Bieber, 29, Vittoria Ceretti, 27, and Julia Fox, 36, departed the Vanity Fair party that night, they all had fast food in hand and couldn't wait to get stuck in.

It's no secret that celebrities like to cut their calorie intake to fit into their miniscule gowns before big events, but these ladies proved they are just like us when they got really peckish after a boozy night out.

Hailey was seen leaving the party, hosted by Mark Guiducci at the Los Angeles County Museum Of Art, with a doughnut in hand which she enthusiastically waved in the air.

The Rhode Beauty founder looked incredible in her embellished leopard print gown as she left the venue alongside her best friend Kendall Jenner.

And supermodel Vittoria, who sat alongside her Oscar nominated boyfriend Leonardo DiCaprio at the Oscars, had a burger in hand for the journey home.

Hailey Bieber (pictured) clung onto a doughnut, supermodel Vittoria Ceretti bit into a burger and Julia Fox grabbed a handful of canapes as they departed the Vanity Fair party on Sunday

Victorious Vittoria was seen waving her burger around with pride as she prepared to make her way home  but boyfriend Leonardo DiCaprio was nowhere to be seen

It seemed like there wasn't much food at the Oscars because Julia had grabbed a handful of canapes for her departure

She took full advantage of the snack table  and who could blame her

She held it up to the camera victoriously, almost punching the air with it  with her boyfriend nowhere to be seen.

Julia Fox, 36  who dated Kim Kardashian's ex, Kanye West, 48, after they split  was also there and had grabbed a handful of canapes upon leaving.

Kim flashed a 'V' sign when she departed, looking like she had a brilliant time.

She and Julia get on well, with the model once appearing in Kourtney Kardashian's Lemme campaign.

Kim's mother and momager, Kris Jenner, 70, was sporting longer hair and a black ballgown as she was seen heading into her car on her own after her daughters stole the show at the party.

Kylie Jenner, 28, was pictured in a striking black halterneck dress alongside boyfriened of three years Timothee Chalamet, 30.

She had been wearing a red Schiaperelli number earlier in the evening which had a distinctive keyhole detail on the cleavage.

It wasn't the best night for Timothee who lost out on his Best Actor gong to Sinners star Michael B Jordan.

Actress Nicole Kidman, 58, seemed thrilled to be greeting her fans outside in her gold dress as she was seen putting on an open-mouthed expression.

And fellow screen actress Elle Fanning, 27, looked immaculate in her strapless black dress and Anya Taylor-Joy, 29, put on a leggy in her black leotard and killer heels.

A giggling Rita Ora, 35, was seen showing off her pixie cut as she left in an embellished gown after catching up with the likes of Chris Evans, 44, and Kris in the lounge near the exit.

Dua Lipa, 30, was spotted leaving the Vanity Fair Oscars after party with her fiance, Callum Turner, 36.

Hailey had her BFF Kendall Jenner in tow as they walked in step in their glam gowns

The wife of Justin Bieber was not letting that doughnut out of her sight as she took bites out of it

Kim avoided a run-in with Julia, who dated her ex Kanye West and flashed a 'V' sign when she departed, looking like she had a brilliant time

Kim was no doubt checking her social media while waiting for her car

Nicole Kidman seemed thrilled to be greeting her fans outside in her gold dress as she was seen putting on an open-mouthed expression

Nicole's good friend Naomi Watts and Isla Fisher left at the same time with Australian Naomi clutching a burger in hand

Isla had her glasses in hand as she and her pals called it a night at the same time

Anya Taylor-Joy looked incredibly leggy in her black leotard and killer heels

She had a big smile on her face as she waited for her car to arrive

She might not have won an award but actress Teyana Taylor had a big smile on her face

Dua Lipa was spotted leaving the Vanity Fair Oscars after party with her fiance, Callum Turner

Suki Waterhouse, 34, wore a heavily embellished dress for a rare night out with her partner Robert Pattinson, 39.

And she might not have won an award but actress Teyana Taylor, 35, had a big smile on her face after losing her cool earlier in the evening when someone shoved her.

Hollywood veteran Jane Fonda, 88, looked exquisite in sequins as she linked arms with a friend who helped her to her car.

Priyanka Chopra, 43, waved to fans as she left while her husband Nick Jonas, 33, held her hand to make sure they crossed the road safely.

Kiernan Shipka, 26, Maude Apatow, 28, and Iris Apatow, 23, appeared in high spirits as their night came to a close.

Canadian singer-songwriter and dancer Tate McRae, 22, and media personality Alix Earle, 25, were seen leaving together.

Pregnant jewellery designer and friend to the stars Jennifer Meyer, 48, slipped into flats alongside her fiance Geoffrey Ogunlesi, 33.

It was a family affair for Kate Hudson was seen leaving with her parents, Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell, and her brother, Oliver.

It was a big night for One Battle After Another which ended the 2026 Oscars by winning Best Picture on a night which saw Michael B Jordan and Jessie Buckley also earn top acting prizes.

Jordan, 39, shocked the world as he upset Timothee Chalamet to win Best Actor for Sinners, as Buckley, 36, took home Best Actress for her work in Hamnet at the 98th Academy Awards, held at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

Paul Thomas Anderson was awarded the top prize of the night, alongside Teyana Taylor and the rest of the cast and crew, as the film earned the most wins of the night, with six gongs.

The American black comedy action-thriller film triumphed over a competitive field, including Bugonia, F1, Frankenstein, Hamnet, Marty Supreme, The Secret Agent, Sentimental Value, Sinners and Train Dreams.

Anderson, 55, who wrote and directed the film, made sure to recognize his fellow nominees during the acceptance speech as he said: 'In 1975 the Oscar nominees for Best Picture were Dog Day Afternoon, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Jaws, Nashville and there is no best among them.

'It is just what the mood might be that day, but we're happy to be part of this, a wonderful, wonderful journey with our fellow nominees, our fellow filmmakers that even weren't recognized by The Academy.'

Kylie Jenner was pictured in a striking black dress after wearing a Schiaperelli red number earlier in the evening

Her boyfriend Timothee Chalamet failed to win Best Actor on the night, losing out to Michael B Jordan

Kris Jenner was sporting longer hair and a stunning black gown as she headed into her car

Suki Waterhouse wore a heavily embellished dress for a rare night out with Robert Pattinson

Olivia Rodrigo and her pals took advantage of the free burgers

Rita Ora's pixie cut drew gasps as she was seen leaving in her embellished gown

Rita was seen hanging out with Chris Evans and Kris Jenner in the lounge area

Jane Fonda looked exquisite in sequins as she linked arms with a friend

Priyanka Chopra waved to fans as husband Nick Jones held her hand so that they could cross the road safely

When Harry Met Sally icon Meg Ryan held onto a rail in her olive green satin gown

Kiernan Shipka, Maude Apatow and Iris Apatow appeared in high spirits

Gabrielle Union and former NBA star Dwyane Wade looked picture perfect

Lauren Sanchez and her Amazon boss husband Jeff Bezos were of course on the list

Pregnant Jennifer Meyer slipped into flats alongside her fiance Geoffrey Ogunlesi

Canadian singer-songwriter and dancer Tate McRae, right, and media personality Alix Earle, left, were seen leaving together

Al Pacino and baby momma Noor Alfallah headed home to the baby after mingling with superstars all night

Kate Hudson was seen leaving with her parents, Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell, and her brother, Oliver

Heidi Klum was straight on the phone as she headed outside in her thigh-split gown

Jessica Alba and her her boyfriend Danny Ramirez looked every inch the Hollywood power couple

Seen my car? Model Cara Delevingne looked a little worried with her phone glued to her ear

Channing Tatum and his girlfriend Inka Williams walked out with a little distance between them

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The Leonardo DiCaprio-led film One Battle After Another is centered around a group of ex-revolutionaries who reunite to rescue the daughter of one of their own as their enemy resurfaces after 16 years.

The most talked about moment of the night will surely be that Jordan, 39, earned the top honour, Best Actor, for his leading role in Ryan Coogler's film Sinners.

He beat the favorite Chalamet, who starred in Marty Supreme, as the field also included: Leonardo DiCaprio - One Battle After Another, Ethan Hawke - Blue Moon, and Wagner Moura - The Secret Agent.

Jordan was in disbelief as he walked up to the stage and was greeted by last year's winner, Adrien Brody.

He was tearful during his acceptance speech as he thanked the audience and voters by saying: 'Thank you everybody in this room and everybody at home for supporting me over my career. I feel it.

'I know you guys want me to do well, and I want to do that because you guys bet on me, so thank you for keeping betting on me. And I'm going to keep stepping up and I'm going to keep being the best version of myself I can be.'

Sinners is centered around two brothers who return to their hometown to start again, only to discover that an even greater evil  in the form of vampires  is waiting to welcome them back.

Jordan portrayed both brothers in the film: the older, more serious twin, Elijah 'Smoke' Moore, and the younger, more cheerful sibling, Elias 'Stack' Moore.
Timothee Chalamet has become the target of internet mockery after missing out on winning the Best Actor Oscar on Sunday night.

In light of his three year romance with Kylie Jenner and his award loss, X was awash with claims that the actor, 30, had fallen victim to the 'Kardashian Curse' - the theory that men who date the family face immense personal or professional misfortune.

On an episode of KUWTK in 2016, Kylie herself described the fabled 'curse' as: 'Every male figure that comes and dates a Kardashian... their life kind of just goes downhill.'

Ever since Timothee said in a recent interview that 'no one cares about' opera and ballet anymore, many pointed out his Oscar odds were slashed, however after Sunday's ceremony, others said it was due to his romanc with Kylie.

Many shared images of the dejected looking star, who was nominated for his role in Marty Supreme, with fans writing: 'This is the face of a man who just realized the Kardashian curse is real!... Poor thing wants to go home and cry'.

'The face of a man who just realised the Kardashian curse is real': Timothee Chalamet's morose expression was mocked by fans who claimed he 'wants to go home and cry' after his Oscars humiliation on Sunday night

In light of his three year romance with Kylie Jenner and his award loss, X was awash with claims that the actor, 30, had fallen victim to the 'Kardashian Curse' - the theory that men who date the family face immense personal or professional misfortune

Ever since Timothee said in a recent interview that 'no one cares about' opera and ballet anymore, many pointed out his Oscar odds were slashed, however after Sunday's ceremony, others said it was due to his romance

On the big night, it appeared to be an evening of pure humiliation for Timothee, who had originally been widely tipped to win his first Oscar but instead he was subjected to a series of jokes after being beaten to Best Actor by Michael B Jordan.

It's been suggested that Timothee's controversial comments about 'no one caring' about the ballet and opera were to blame for the last minute shakeup - and the actor was certainly reminded about them during the lengthy ceremony.

Yet his comments were not all that was blamed for the loss, as many alleged dating Kylie is the reason for his downfall, with the 'curse' being put down to his suffering and with many claiming he wanted to go home but was forced to the after-party.

Social media users wrote: 'This is the face of a man who just realized the Kardashian curse is real! He looks silly and yes being with her prevented him from that Oscar!...

'I hope so. Dump her today and move on with your life... Easily the lamest hollywood couple ever!... Poor thing wants to go home and cry but he's stuck posing because the second dress must get its due... the curse is definitely real!...

'We watch it happen every time... That might be the REAL reason they snubbed him lol ; I don't believe it's about that ballet bulls**t he said years ago . I smell white woman rage , it's always sneaky but also obvious at the same time...

'The kardashian curse no man who dates them prosper in their career .'

Memes were also created, including a mock-up of Kate Hudson's 2003 movie How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, with the words How to Lose an Oscar in 10 Days on top.

Yet his comments were not all that was blamed for the loss, as many alleged dating Kylie is the reason for his downfall

Others however slammed the theory and scolded believers for 'blaming a woman', with users countering: 'She's not a kardashian , and don't blame the women for HIS acting deficit. He's a grown man 29 years old...

'F**k this stupid curse yall like to push. It's not a curse, it's just a bunch of stupid dudes who always make the dumbest of choices (it includes dating those women) but has nothing to do with that family intrinsically...

'Blaming a woman for a man's shortcomings is misogyny and is a little outdated. This is disgusting! Really regretting those controversial comments now isn't he'.

X's AI tool Grok defined the Kardashian curse as: 'The Kardashian curse is a long-running internet meme claiming men who date or marry into the Kardashian-Jenner family often hit career slumps, scandals, or personal rough patches soon after.

Examples given were Kim Kardashian's ex-husband Kanye West's public meltdowns post-Kim, Kylie's ex-boyfriend Travis Scott's issues with the star and Khloe Kardashian's ex-husband Lamar Odom's troubles.

Others however slammed the theory and scolded believers for 'blaming a woman', with users countering: 'She's not a kardashian , and don't blame the women for HIS acting deficit. He's a grown man 29 years old'

Memes were also created, including a mock-up of Kate Hudson's 2003 movie How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, with the words How to Lose an Oscar in 10 Days on top

During the show, Timothee was front and centre due to his comments about ballet and opera, as he was roasted within moments of the show starting.

Host Conan O'Brien declared in his opening monologue: 'Security is extremely tight tonight. I'm just going to mention that. I'm told there's a concern about attacks from both the opera and ballet communities!'

The camera then cut to Timothee, who could be seen nervously smiling beside Kylie.

Timothee also had to sat through a ballet performance on the night, with ballerina Misty Copeland dancing during the Sinners musical number.

The acclaimed ballerina had previously spoken out against Timothee's comments, saying: 'I mean, he wouldn't be an actor and have the opportunities he has as a movie star if it weren't for opera and ballet, and their relevance in that medium.

Michael B Jordan became a last minute frontrunner for Best Actor after Timothee made controversial comments about the ballet and opera - with the Sinners star ultimately winning

'All of these mediums have a space and we shouldn't be comparing them.'

While Timothee may have escaped unscathed, Kylie has been accused of 'cursing' her ex Travis, 34, whom she dated from 2017 to 2022. The former couple have daughter Stormi, seven, and son Aire, three, together.

In 2021, during the musician's Astroworld Festival, ten attendees died and more were injured after a crowd rushed the stage. The victims - who were killed by compressive asphyxiation - included a ten-year-old boy.

Though the tragic event had nothing to do with Kylie, many pointed that the rapper appeared to be having major bad luck since their relationship began.

At the time of their union, Travis boldly proclaimed that he wasn't worried about the Kardashian curse in an interview with GQ.

He said: 'I don't even be looking at (expletive). I don't be looking at (expletive). Kylie actually likes me for me. I'm on my own island. So hey, come over there to Astroworld. I'm not into all the other (expletive). I don't get involved. I'm over here. Kylie is different.'

Following Timothee's loss, Travis Scott - who shares two children with Timothee's girlfriend Kylie - Stormi, eight, and four-year-old Aire - appeared to throw shade at the actor

Perhaps the most famous 'victim' of the curse, is Kylie's half-sister Kim's ex Kanye. The pair, who split in 2021 after seven years of marriage, share four children: North, 12; Saint, nine; Chicago, seven; and Psalm, six.

During their marriage, the musician was hospitalised for his first mental breakdown. Kanye eventually revealed he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, although later claimed he was misdiagnosed.

His mental health issues plagued the marriage and he continued to be engulfed by scandals following his divorce.

The rapper has since been 'cancelled' for his anti-Semitic rants that have seen him reportedly lose $1.6billion of his net worth.
Katie Price immediately FaceTimed her husband Lee Andrews on his birthday after insisting he does in fact have a PhD on Good Morning Britain - despite ongoing claims he's just a conman.

The former glamour model, 47, appeared on the show to talk to hosts Susanna Reid and Ed Balls about her new marriage to Lee, who she tied the knot with after a whirlwind romance.

Since announcing their marriage, Lee has been accused of being a 'scammer' amid a host of boasts about his life, including his statement that he is a millionaire businessman with a PHD from Cambridge University and links to Elon Musk.

Nonetheless, Katie insisted that Lee does have a PhD as she appeared on GMB, telling hosts Susanna, 55, and Ed, 59, it was instead from a 'Spanish' university.

Soon after the TV appearance she was seen stepping out near the studios where she held up the phone to show who she was talking to.

Katie was seen in casual mode wearing an Adidas sweatshirt, drawstring joggers and received a surprise video call from husband Lee on her phone.

Katie Price immediately FaceTimed her husband Lee Andrews on his birthday after insisting he does in fact have a PhD on Good Morning Britain - despite ongoing claims he's just a conman

Soon after the TV appearance she was seen stepping out near the studios where she held up the phone to show who she was talking to

Last week, Lee took to Instagram to make further claims about his life, including a post about be coming a 'future trillionaire', detailing a 'mysterious income' and being a member of 'the 1%'.

Katie has previously hit back against criticism, insisting that he was 'no cat-fisher or scammer', telling The Sun: 'I haven't gone for a con man... please be happy for me.'

She even told fans that she had seen proof of his university degree and PhD, saying: 'There was so much paperwork, his PHD, is like in a binder like that.

'I proper looked at everything, because the stamps, they're like wax some of them, and you can't, do you know what I mean? You can't fake.

'You know when you've got certificates and it's like the watermarks in them, it's all like that. Everything he's shown me is so legit, I'm not stupid. They're not copies, they're originals.'

But claims that Lee had been to Cambridge were then debunked by the publication, as the university said they 'could not find a record of Lee being registered as a student' t the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology.

Nonetheless, Katie insisted that Lee DOES have a PhD as she appeared on GMB, on Monday.

Host Ed began: 'His passport says that he's a doctor, it's reported that he has a PhD from Cambridge, but Cambridge University said they had never heard of him.'

Katie responded: 'He doesn't have a PhD from Cambridge, it's one in Spain.

Katie was seen in casual mode wearing an Adidas sweatshirt, drawstring joggers and received a surprise video call from husband Lee on her phone

The former glamour model, 47, appeared on the show to talk to hosts Susanna Reid and Ed Balls about her new marriage to Lee, who she tied the knot with after a whirlwind romance

'That's for him to say that he's got his PhD, but it's not from Cambridge, I don't know where that came from, he hasn't got a PhD from Cambridge at all but he has got a PhD.

'I've seen everything I need to see, on his diplomatic passport, it's Doctor Lee Andrews, on his normal passport, it's Wesley Lee Andrews.'

Elsewhere in the interview Katie hit back at her 'disrespectful' critics as she appeared on GMB for a tell-all chat about her new marriage.

Katie married the businessman at the One&Only Royal Mirage hotel in Dubai in January, leaving her family, including her mother Amy Price 'traumatised' - and fans concerned that she 'didn't know' who she was marrying.

However, the media personality took to the ITV daytime show to hit back against critics, insisting she was 'happy' and that she can 'make her own decisions'.

Katie insisted that Lee does have a PhD as she appeared on GMB , telling hosts Susanna, 55, and Ed, 59, it was instead from a 'Spanish' university

Susanna opened up the chat by admitting that she would be 'concerned' if she was a friend of her, knowing she had married a man she had just met, explaining: 'If you were a friend of mine... I think I would be concerned about you.

'I'm not sure you've had time to get to know the person to whom you are now married, so why the whirlwind?'

Hitting back against the presenter, Katie began: 'Do you ever really know anyone? If you look at my past marriages, did I ever know they would be what they would be Sometimes I don't think you can ever know who anyone is...

'For me, I've gone through so much, so many different relationships, and I normally went from one to the other... before I've always been in toxic, coercive, controlling, mental abuse, physical abuse relationships.

'Now, I now know the signs of red flags and all of this, I am older, I can make my own decisions and there's nothing to say that you have to wait for anything.

'It's hard for anyone to understand. It just feels so right, I've only been in love twice before that, with Dane Bowers and Peter [Andre].

'With Lee, it's so different to every other relationship, and it works for me.'
BEIJING, March 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The Kizil Caves, located in Baicheng County, Aksu Prefecture in west-central Xinjiang, are among the earliest Buddhist cave complexes in China. Over a thousand years ago, Buddhism was introduced from ancient India to the western part of China. The earliest center of Buddhism in the Western Regions (now Xinjiang) was the ancient kingdom of Qiuci, today's Kuche (Kuqa).

Zhao Li, a research fellow at the Kizil Caves Research Institute, in an interview with Xinjiang Today in Baicheng County, Aksu Prefecture, on January 1 (YIMURANJIANG MAIWULANJIANG)

Renowned for their exquisite murals, the Kizil Caves house a central collection of murals representative of the ancient Qiuci State's Buddhist art. Of the 349 caves, 107 contain murals spanning nearly 5,000 square meters. The Kizil Caves are one of the Four Great Grottes of China, along with the Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes in the northwest, the Yungang Grottoes in the north and the Longmen Grottoes in central China, and were recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2014.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many of the murals were plundered by foreign expeditioners and scattered across the world. Zhao Li, a research fellow at the Kizil Caves Research Institute in Xinjiang, has dedicated her life to restoring them, traveling overseas to retrieve lost fragments and recreating them digitally.

Zhao spoke to Xinjiang Today about the evolution of research on the murals of Kizil Caves and international collaboration to preserve them. This is an edited excerpt of the interview:

Xinjiang Today: How did you get started on researching the murals at Kizil Caves? How has international research on them developed over the past three decades?

I started research on this back in 1998, publishing papers and securing research projects from the National Cultural Heritage Administration. I also had exchanges with international experts in the area.

Foreign scholars have conducted extensive research on the cultural relics and murals of Kizil Caves taken away by expedition teams in the early 20th century. The last such team was the German expedition team that arrived in around 1913, and they took away many murals, as well as some statues and books. They published some reports in the 1920s and their publications remain essential references for us.

In the late 1970s, Su Bai, a professor with Peking University, went to the Kizil Caves with four students. They stayed in the area for three months, dating and periodizing the caves, and Chinese scholars gradually took the lead in the research.

By the 1990s, local experts such as Huo Xuchu, a senior researcher at the Kizil Caves Research Institute, and Jia Yingyi, a research fellow at the Xinjiang Museum, also became involved in the research.

I was a visiting scholar at the Museum of Asian Art in Berlin, Germany, from 2012 to 2013. I also visited the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and the Guimet Museum in Paris, France. I feel our research is backed by stronger support and more resources by our own country.

What work have you done in cultural relic surveys and in-situ verification? What challenges did you encounter?

There are 486 Kizil Cave mural fragments overseas, according to our investigation. We have conducted in-situ verification at the caves to determine which cave and specific location each mural originally was taken away from.

The verification is a laborious process. We need to determine which cluster the mural belonged to, and then pinpoint the exact cave. Large murals are easy to identify, but the location of smaller ones, especially fragments, are difficult to pinpoint. The numbering system used by the German expedition team for the caves was unscientific, and many cave records were incorrect.

For example, the German team recorded a famous mural, The Royal Couple, as from Cave 13. However, we could not find its position in Cave 13. Then based on the black-and-white photos taken by foreign expeditioners, we later found that it was actually from Cave 171 in the eastern section.

Many cave walls were dilapidated when the foreign expeditions arrived. After they removed the murals, the walls collapsed, making it hard for (later) researchers to locate their original positions.

However, some caves are intact. Despite frequent earthquakes, the central pillars in the caves are quite stable. Without this architectural design, many caves might have collapsed, and we would not have been able to see them today. By 2020, we had identified the original positions of over 420 murals and restored them (by reproducing them via digital technology and then putting them back to their original locations). The original position of about 40 fragments still cannot be identified.

What has been your experience collaborating with foreign museums and scholars on surveys and research?

The Museum of Asian Art in Berlin has the largest collection of Qiuci murals, followed by the Hermitage Museum. Eleven institutions in the United States also house several Kizil Cave murals.

Huo Xuchu, my mentor, guided me in researching overseas murals. To conduct research, you have to be thoroughly familiar with the caves. While searching for the original position of a mural, I would think about it even during meals or while sleeping. I memorized exactly which murals were removed, which have been located, and which gaps remain unfilled.

In 2022, Huo and I attended international conferences in Germany and viewed many murals collected in the museum. That strengthened my resolve to go to Berlin again for research.

It took me 10 years to gain the opportunity to study in Berlin. While I was doing mural research at the Museum of Asian Art as a visiting scholar, I helped correct errors in the recorded original positions of some murals.

The collaboration was a mutual effort for resource sharing. The curator of the Museum of Asian Art first visited the Kizil Caves in 1998. Besides mutual visits, we shared the results of digital scans. They provided us with materials we lacked, and we launched projects for their references. In 2020, my book A Study on the Restoration of the Kizil Grotto Murals was published, thanks to the exchanges.

How is digital restoration conducted? What challenges have you faced?

I once felt I had completed my work after publishing the book. But I later found that many murals were heavily damaged. Some were destroyed during the long-distance transportation back to China. Moreover, due to change of religions (from Buddhism to Islam) in Xinjiang, the Buddhist monasteries in the Kizil Caves were left unmanaged and some of the Buddha figures collapsed.

This inspired us to pursue digital restoration. The original murals were resplendent, and we wanted to restore them to their former glory. We applied for a project with the regional authorities, focusing on restoring Cave 38. Most of the cave has now been restored.

Last year, we collaborated with China's tech giant Tencent, and they introduced the Tanyuan Plan, an initiative for cultural preservation through digital solutions. We used AI to restore the patterns in Cave 38, such as triangular hanging tent patterns and aquatic animals. The patterns are repetitive, which makes manual restoration tedious and time-consuming, whereas AI is excellent for this task.

However, AI restoration also presents challenges. Since the patterns are consistent, the AI model can restore the unclear parts drawing inference from the clear parts. However, this approach does not work for human figures, as each figure's expression is unique. Also, when we attempted to restore the scenes in Cave 38, the results were unsatisfactory, as the restored images looked too new.

Before manual restoration, we created a small dataset for training the AI model. In 2025, I applied for a project to create a dataset for rhombus-patterned murals, laying the groundwork for model recognition.

How do you balance tourism development and cultural relic protection?

While overdevelopment of tourist sites may compromise preservation, the very purpose of protecting cultural heritage is to make it accessible to the public. Our approach seeks to balance conservation with public access. Currently, only six of the caves are open to visitors, with each guided group restricted to no more than 10 people and a total daily visitor capacity of 1,340.

We are constructing a 9,800-square-meter digital exhibition center to showcase our digital restoration work, with the primary aim of safeguarding the physical relics while enhancing visitor understanding. By offering an immersive digital experience, it will help alleviate pressure on the actual caves, addressing frequent challenges of overcrowding and ensuring long-term preservation.

Since many visitors struggle to understand the murals, digital exhibitions enable them to see the original caves and help them comprehend. This would not prevent visitors from visiting the caves. Instead, after seeing the digital exhibition, they would be even more eager to visit the caves.

We are now working on digital restoration and planning exhibitions, including overseas tours. We are organizing an exhibition that we hope to premiere in Beijing next year and later tour internationally. We are also developing digital cultural products and websites for overseas audiences.

To attract international tourists and foster cooperation, the most important thing is to let them experience it firsthand. I organized an international conference last year, before which many foreign experts asked if Xinjiang was safe. I told them Xinjiang is now one of the safest regions in the world. After they came, they saw the real Xinjiang for themselves.

Comments to [email protected]

SOURCE Xinjiang Today
Sean Penn skipped the Oscars to pay a visit to the Ukraine frontline and meet up with President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The One Battle After Another star, 65, took home the Best Supporting Actor gong at Sunday's ceremony in Los Angeles - but fans were in uproar when it was revealed he was not in attendance.

Now his reason for snubbing the ceremony has been revealed after a Ukrainian official confirmed he is in the war-torn country on a visit.

Sean - who has won his third acting Oscar - was pictured walking down a street in Kyiv on Monday before meeting with the Ukrainian president at his office in the city during the afternoon.

A second source told AFP that the actor is also 'planning to go to the front' in eastern Ukraine.

Sean is a strong advocate for Ukraine who has visited the country several times, including to film a documentary about Zelensky when Russia invaded the country.

Sean Penn skipped the Oscars to pay a visit to the Ukraine frontline in support of the war-torn country (Pictured in Kyiv on Monday)

Sean - who has won his third acting Oscar - was pictured walking down a street in Kyiv on Monday before meeting with the Ukrainian president at his office in the city during the afternoon (Pictured together on Monday)

Oscar 2026 winners: AT A GLANCE Best Picture: One Battle After Another Best Actor: Michael B Jordan - Sinners Best Actress: Jessie Buckley - Hamnet Best Director: Paul Thomas Anderson - One Battle After Another Best Adapted Screenplay: Paul Thomas Anderson - One Battle After Another Best Supporting Actor: Sean Penn - One Battle After Another Best Supporting Actress: Amy Madigan - Weapons Best Original Screenplay: Ryan Coogler - Sinners Best Cinematography: Autumn Durald Arkapaw - Sinners Best Animated Film: KPop Demon Hunters Best Original Song: KPop Demon Hunters - Golden

The film, an admiring portrait of Zelensky about his rise from comedian to war leader when Russia invaded in 2022, premiered at the Berlin film festival in 2023.

Through their interviews, Sean and Zelensky built up what they both called a close friendship.

'We can say that he's in Ukraine, but it's his personal visit; that's how he sees it, that he needs to be in Ukraine,' a Ukrainian official told AFP, adding: 'He just wants to support Ukraine.'

In 2025, Sean and rock star Bono made an impassioned plea for the West to stand by Ukraine at the Cannes film festival, posing for pictures on the red carpet with Ukrainian soldiers.

Sean's absence from the Oscars infuriated X users, who suggested that future shows cease awarding trophies to winners who are not present.

They wrote: 'There should be a rule that whoever doesn't show up because they don't give a s**t about the award doesn't get it either, like in a raffle. Didn't come? Next on the list, please. [An] exception would be for health reasons. Sean Penn doesn't give a damn about this award,';

'I can't stop thinking: What the F**K did Sean Penn have better to do than go to the Oscars???' one inquired.

'Unless you have a good reason not to be in attendance, if you can't be bothered to show up to the Oscars, your award should go to the runner-up. Sean Penn. This is about Sean Penn,';

'It pisses me off when someone wins an #Oscars and doesn't even show up. Sean Penn couldn't care less about that award,';

'Sure give Sean Penn a third Oscar when he didn't even bother to show up and everyone else in that category deserved it too...';

Sean took home the Best Supporting Actor gong at Sunday's ceremony in Los Angeles - but fans were in uproar when it was revealed he was not in attendance

Sean won the gong for Best Supporting Actor for his role in One Battle After Another (Pictured)

'We can say that he's in Ukraine, but it's his personal visit; that's how he sees it, that he needs to be in Ukraine,' an official told AFP (Sean and Zelensky pictured in 2022)

The Ukrainian official said Sean - who has won his third acting Oscar - is expected to meet the Ukrainian president later on Monday (Pictured together in 2022)

'Sean Penn won "Best Supporting Actor," who isn't present because he couldn't care less since this is already his third Oscar HAHAJAJAJA,';

'Sean Penn not showing up to the Oscars knowing he's going to win is such a prick move.'

He has previously missed out on past Oscars where he had been a nominee and also did not attend this year's BAFTAs and the Actor Awards, where he ended up reigning victorious.

Kieran Culkin, who was announcing the gong, cracked a joke about Penn's absence when the star ended up winning.

'Sean Penn couldn't be here this evening or didn't want to, so I'll be accepting the award on his behalf,' the Succession star joked.

The 98th Academy Awards celebrated the best films of 2025, with the glitzy ceremony taking place at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

Conan O'Brien, 62, returned to host the show for a second consecutive year after taking over the role from Jimmy Kimmel.

One Battle After Another ended the 2026 awards season by winning Best Picture on a night where Michael B Jordan and Jessie Buckley earned top acting prizes.

Jordan, 39, shocked the world at the 98th Academy Awards as he upset Timothee Chalamet to win Best Actor for Sinners as Buckley, 36, took home Best Actress for her work in Hamnet at the event held at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
Oscar winners Jessie Buckley, Michael B Jordan and Amy Madigan posed together with their statuettes in fun photobooth snaps taken backstage at Academy Awards on Sunday night.

Best Actress winner Buckley, 36, lifted her award triumphantly while Best Actor winner Jordan rested his head Madigan's shoulder as she thrust her Best Supporting Actress gong towards the camera in jubilation.

In other candid shots, film maker Paul Thomas Anderson posed with his three awards  including the Best Director Oscar  and was later seen grinning as he and producer Sara Murphy inspected the print-outs.

One Battle After Another ended the 2026 awards season by winning Best Picture on a night where Michael and Jessie earned the top acting prizes.

Jordan, 39, shocked the world at the 98th Academy Awards as he upset Timothee to win Best Actor for Sinners as Buckley took home Best Actress for her work in Hamnet at the event held at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

Paul Thomas Anderson accepted the top prize of the night alongside Teyana Taylor and the rest of the cast and crew as the film earned the most wins of the night with six.

Oscar winners Jessie Buckley, Michael B Jordan and Amy Madigan posed together with their statuettes in fun photobooth snaps taken backstage at Academy Awards on Sunday night

Best Actress winner Buckley, 36, lifted her award as Best Actor winner Jordan rested his head Madigan's shoulder as she thrust her Best Supporting Actress gong towards the camera

The American black comedy action-thriller film triumphed over a massive, competitive, field including: Bugonia, F1, Frankenstein, Hamnet, Marty Supreme, The Secret Agent, Sentimental Value, Sinners, and Train Dreams.

The Leonardo DiCaprio-led film One Battle After Another is centered around a group of ex-revolutionaries who reunite to rescue the daughter of one of their own as their enemy resurfaces after 16 years.

The most talked about moment of the night will surely be that Jordan earned the top honor Best Actor for his leading role in Ryan Coogler's film Sinners.

He upset the favorite throughout award season, 30-year-old Chalamet, who starred in Marty Supreme, as the field included: Leonardo DiCaprio - One Battle After Another, Ethan Hawke - Blue Moon, and Wagner Moura - The Secret Agent.

Jordan was in disbelief as he walked up to the stage and was greeted by last year's winner Adrien Brody.

Sinners is centered around two brothers who return to their hometown to start again only to discover that an even greater evil - in the form of vampires - is waiting to welcome them back.

Jordan portrayed both brothers in the film: older and more serious twin Elijah 'Smoke' Moore in addition to younger and more cheerful sibling Elias 'Stack' Moore.

Buckley continued her winning ways as she earned Best Actress for her role in Hamnet.

Jordan, 39, shocked the world at the 98th Academy Awards as he upset Timothee to win Best Actor for Sinners

In other candid shots, film maker Paul Thomas Anderson posed with his three awards  including the Best Director Oscar

The most talked about moment of the night will surely be that Jordan earned the top honor Best Actor for his leading role in Ryan Coogler's film Sinners

Buckley continued her winning ways as she earned Best Actress for her role in Hamnet on the night

The Irish actress beat out Rose Byrne - If I Had Legs I'd Kick You, Kate Hudson - Song Sung Blue, Renate Reinsve - Sentimental Value, and Emma Stone - Bugonia

The Irish actress beat out Rose Byrne - If I Had Legs I'd Kick You, Kate Hudson - Song Sung Blue, Renate Reinsve - Sentimental Value, and Emma Stone - Bugonia.

One Battle After Another was the biggest winner of the evening as Paul Thomas Anderson earned both Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay.

Meanwhile, Sean Penn was not in attendance as he earned his third Oscar.

The 65-year-old A-lister's name was announced by Kieran Culkin for the Best Supporting Actor Award for his work in One Battle After Another but he was not in the building to accept.

Madigan took home the first award at the Oscars 2026 on Sunday night.

The 75-year-old veteran actress earned Best Supporting Actress for her work in Zach Cregger's supernatural mystery horror film Weapons.

It was one of the most contentious categories of the night as she was up against Elle Fanning - Sentimental Value, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas - Sentimental Value, Wunmi Mosaku - Sinners, and Teyana Taylor - One Battle After Another.

Ryan Coogler finally earned his first win in the Best Original Screenplay category for his epic Sinners.

One of the most touching wins of the night came when Autumn Durald Arkapaw won Best Cinematography for Sinners.

The second award of the night was groundbreaking as KPop Demon Hunters earned Best Animated Feature Film.

The Daily Mail can reveal that the behind-the-scenes snaps at the 98th Academy Awards were captured by a South London-based creative production company that originally started out running a single photo booth at weddings.

Husband and wife Tyson and Victoria Benton founded The Flash Pack in 2010 and would travel all over the UK for private parties with the booth in the back of a transporter van.

Now the couple  who employ 17 members of staff  have hit the heights of Hollywood working at the biggest showbiz event in the world.

Jessie looked stunning on the night in an off-the-shoulder pink and red dress and cut a glamorous figure

Jordan was in disbelief as he walked up to the stage and was greeted by last year's winner Adrien Brody

Amy checks out her photos afterwards

Paul is seen looking at the results of the photobooth

The Flash Pack was invited by the Academy to design and install a backstage photo booth at the Oscars ceremony.

Tyson said of the photobooths: 'The creative reference point was the now famous Ellen DeGeneres Oscars selfie, a candid image that became one of the most shared moments in Academy Awards history.

'We were thrilled to be able to get three of the biggest winners of the night, Jessie Buckley, Michael B Jordan and Amy Madigan in the booth together for some celebratory photos.

'The team wanted the Oscars photo booth to give winners a place to take authentic photographs in the seconds after leaving the stage.

'The result was a collection of exclusive behind the scenes photographs taken in and around the Oscars backstage photo booth installation during the ceremony. Captured fresh from the shutter, the images show Oscar winners celebrating in an unfiltered environment rarely seen by the public.

'It was an incredible evening and I had to pinch myself at just how far we've come.

'When we started out, we were putting the photo booth into the back of a van and heading to weddings in places like Stevenage and Norwich.

'Now we're working with the Academy Awards in Los Angeles covering the biggest showbiz event in the world and capturing the biggest stars in their moments of glory.'
Eamonn Holmes posed in his wheelchair as he joined glamorous Elizabeth Hurley at a Cancer Research event in London on Monday.

The broadcaster, 66, who recently detailed his ongoing health battle, raised a glass while smiling for a photo at The Corinthia Hotel.

Eamonn looked smart in a navy blue suit which he paired with a patterned tie and a white shirt.

He looked in high spirits after undergoing major spinal surgery and suffering various other health issues over the past few years.

Joining him at Turn The Tables 2026 hosted by Tania Bryer and James Landale, Elizabeth, 60, opted for a burgundy dress.

The model put on a leggy display in the fitted number, which featured a thigh-high leg slit and a plunging neckline.

Eamonn Holmes posed in his wheelchair as he joined glamorous Elizabeth Hurley at a Cancer Research event in London on Monday

The broadcaster, 66, who recently detailed his ongoing health battle, was joined by the actress, 60, at The Corinthia Hotel

Eamonn recently sparked concern after 'falling asleep and slurring' live on Wednesday's episode of Breakfast with Eamonn and Ellie on GB News.

The broadcaster, who has suffered a number of health issues, returned to our screens alongside co-host Ellie Costello to present the latest news and headlines last week.

Right at the end of the instalment, while interviewing Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister, Darren Jones MP, Eamonn looked like he had fallen asleep in the studio.

While Ellie quizzed Darren about the Mandelson files, Eamonn had his eyes closed and then later on during the chat he picked up a pen and struggled to put the lid on it.

Journalist Eamonn also played with his microphone and started to scroll on his mobile phone.

After the interview finished, Eamonn told viewers: 'We'll see you bright and early again in the morning. Whatever you are up to, have a good day!'

A source told The Sun: 'It hasnt gone unnoticed that Eamonn has been struggling a lot more lately.

'Today he was falling asleep on air and slurring his words. There were lots of messages coming in about it.'

Daily Mail contacted GB News for comment.

Eamonn looked smart in a navy blue suit which he paired with a patterned tie and a white shirt

He looked in high spirits after undergoing major spinal surgery and suffering various other health issues over the past few years

Joining him at Turn The Tables 2026 hosted by Tania Bryer and James Landale, Elizabeth, 60, opted for a burgundy dress

The model put on a leggy display in the fitted number, which featured a thigh-high leg slit and a plunging neckline with joining Tania for a photo

Tania looked elegant in a white peplum jacket and matching trousers

Eamonn was also joined by Harriet Scott at the charity event

During a recent appearance on Scott Wrights podcast, Session7, the journalist shared how he is doing right now - and opened up the daily struggles he faces in and outside of work.

Host Scott asked him: 'What does the future hold for Eamonn Holmes?'

Eamonn, who is currently in a relationship with Katie Alexander, 43, said: 'I don't know, society's ageist, I'm sick, I'm in a wheelchair, that's been horrendous to deal with for two years.

'Certainly, I don't think TV wants to know you. I can't get up. I need help getting out of this chair. I have to have carers throughout the day.

'But once I'm sitting down, I can do everything. I understand my job, I understand what I'm supposed to do. But I understand it's tough for people to deal with you.'

He added in the podcast: 'When you're disabled, it's unbelievable how society... whether it's a theatre, a restaurant or a cinema.

'The cinema never ceases to amaze me. I love the cinema, but when you go to the cinema and you're disabled, you get two choices: you're either at the very, very, very back and beyond of the cinema, or you're right at the very front.

'And you think to yourself, why is this? Why does it have to be one or the other like that?'
Vogue model Kaia Gerber stood out in a stunning skintight scarlet red dress with a slit up the front on Sunday evening.

The daughter of Cindy Crawford was hitting the Vanity Fair Oscar party in Beverly Hills with a friend, Cory Michael Smith, as they posed away on the white carpet.

Later, the 24-year-old exited the event with her beau of one year, Lewis Pullman, who is the son of Bill Pullman. Lewis and his father presented an award together at the big show at the Dolby Theatre.

Gerber was miles away from her ex-boyfriend, Elvis actor Austin Butler. He instead went to Beyonce and Jay-Z's Oscar bash.

That avoided an awkward run-in between Gerber and Butler, who did not seem to have the best breakup.

Their high-profile romance lasted from 2021 until last year.

Vogue model Kaia Gerber stood out in a stunning skintight scarlet red dress with a slit up the front on Sunday evening

The daughter of Cindy Crawford was hitting the Vanity Fair Oscar in Beverly Hills party with a friend, actor Cory Michael Smith, as they posed away

Gerber's other ex, Jacob Elordi, brought a very sweet date to the 98th Academy Awards: His mother, Melissa.

The Australian was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the horror film Frankenstein.

He also attended the Vanity Fair Oscar party on Sunday, where he was seen talking to Gerber's pal Kendall Jenner.

Gerber and Elordi were a couple for several months in 2020 and early 2021.

She also dated Saturday Night Live alum Pete Davidson in 2019. Davidson's ex-girlfriend, Kim Kardashian, was also at the Vanity Fair Oscars party.

This comes a month after Gerber said she found her mom Crawford's naked photo shoots empowering.

The model and actress grew up in a home where the supermodel's nude portraits were on display but she never found the pictures 'vulgar' and feels they helped teach her not to be ashamed of her body.

Later, the 24-year-old exited the event with her new beau Lewis Pullman, the son of Bill Pullman. Lewis and his father presented an award together at the big show

Her man, 33, on the red carpet at the Vanity Fair Oscars party

Gerber told Harper's Bazaar magazine: 'They were, to me, artistic. It wasn't vulgar; it wasn't objectification.

'[It was a] gift to grow up in a house that was without shame for the female body.'

Gerber began following in Crawford's footsteps as a teenager, and while the 59-year-old beauty, who also has son Presley, 26, with husband Rande Gerber, never gave advice without being asked, she wasn't afraid to be brutally honest with her daughter when she did seek out her mom's opinion.

Gerber said: 'She doesn't give out advice unless you ask.

'But if you ask, get ready, because she'll be very honest in ways that, sometimes, it's hard to hear. She's usually right, which is infuriating, but she's also very willing to let me make a mistake that she made 30 years ago.'

Gerber, who was homeschooled from the age of 15 to accommodate her modeling career, was just ten when she was chosen to appear in Versace's first children's wear campaign and she recalled her confused feelings at the time.

She said: I had all these adults, not only my parents, looking at me and being like, 'What should we all do now?'

'I couldn't decide, I wasn't in the mood that day.

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Gerber was miles away from her ex-boyfriend, Elvis actor Austin Butler. He instead went to Beyonce and Jay-Z's Oscars bash, which was miles away

Gerber's other ex, Jacob Elordi, brought a very sweet date to the 98th Academy Awards: his mother, Melissa. The Australian was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the horror film Frankenstein

'I was still so young. I was masking as an adult. Now that I'm more secure in my adulthood, I'm willing to show up messy and be kind of childish about certain things.'

The Palm Royale actress's runway career soon took off, and she is happy to take on whatever character is necessary for her catwalk campaigns.

She said: 'I'm quite happy to be a vessel. It's not lost on me that part of my job is just being what people want me to be and being a canvas or mirror for people to reflect their own ideas onto.'

But Gerber finds balance with acting, particularly working in theatre.

She explained: 'I love theatre because it is immortalized in people's memories but not immortalized in  media. So much of what I've done - every photo - is immortalized on the internet. It gets taken from me.

'The wonderful thing about theatre is kind of how I feel about my childhood. I had my experience, and the people watching had their experience. I can't go back and watch from the audience. I can only experience it from where I stood.'
Metallica frontman James Hetfield got engaged to Adriana Gillett.

On Sunday, his girlfriend of over two years took to Instagram to share photos from the rock star's romantic underwater proposal while they were scuba diving with whale sharks.

In one underwater photo, the 62-year-old musician could be seen holding up a handwritten note alongside his now-fiancee showing off the ring box.

The journalist-turned-fashion designer, who is 16 years his junior, called it 'the BEST birthday trip surprise' in her caption.

This comes just weeks after Hetfield and his bandmates  Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo  announced a Metallica residency at the Sphere in Las Vegas.

'Swimming with whale sharks on Friday the 13th with the most unique, special, and romantic proposal a Pisces could ever imagine,' she continued.

Metallica frontman James Hetfield is now engaged to Adriana Gillett after dating for over two years

On Sunday, Gillett took to Instagram to share photos from the rock star's romantic underwater proposal while they were scuba diving with whale sharks

Throughout her caption she sprinkled a bevy of fitting emojis, including a diamond ring, an aqua blue heart as well as a whale and a shark.

'In a sea full of fish, we caught each other,' she added. 'Thank you God for putting us together.'

While Hetfield does not have a personal Instagram account, the official Metallica account also shared the exciting news alongside the same photo and the caption: 'She said yes!'

Photographer Lee Jeffries, who has worked with the band for portraits and tour photos over the years, left a comment on Gillett's post to congratulate the couple.

'Such amazing news! I've witnessed the beautiful connection you share, and it's something truly real built on depth, understanding, and the experiences of lives already richly lived,' he wrote.

'Perhaps even shaped by the chapters that came before, which make what you share now feel all the more meaningful,' he continued.

'The way you connect with each other is genuinely special,' Jeffries added. 'What a way to propose!'

The journalist-turned-fashion designer, who is 16 years his junior, called it 'the BEST birthday trip surprise' in her caption and shared an additional photo of a whale shark during their swim

She gushed about the experience being 'most unique, special, and romantic proposal' in her caption

While Hetfield does not have a personal Instagram account, the official Metallica account also shared the exciting news alongside the same photo and the caption: 'She said yes!'

He started dating Gillett shortly after his divorce from his ex-wife in 2022

Since then, Gillett frequently shares social media posts showing off their extravagant getaways and updating fans on their relationship

Hetfield was previously married to Francesca Hetfield, nee Tomasi, from 1997 to 2022.

The Grammy winner and the costume designer share three adult children  daughters Cali, 27, Marcella, 24, and son Castor, 25.

Hetfield and Francesca met in 1992 and got married five years later.

Over the years, he credited his then-wife for helping him with his sobriety and anger management issues, per TMZ.

At the time, Francesca opened up about her feelings on their separation following a longtime marriage.

'After 30 years of ups and downs but always with a lot of love, I am extremely saddened that my marriage has come to this,' she told TMZ.

Hetfield was previously married to Francesca Hetfield, nee Tomasi, from 1997 to 2022. The Grammy winner and the costume designer share three adult children  daughters Cali, 27, (not pictured) Marcella, 24, and son Castor, 25; pictured in January 2019

In addition to their upcoming nuptials, Hetfield and his Metallica bandmates will be kicking off a European leg of their M72 World Tour on May 9 in Athens, Greece; pictured in August 2025

In the fall, the heavy metal group will begin a Las Vegas residency at the Sphere, extending into next year. Their sold-out residency will start on October 1 later this year and continue until March 13, 2027; pictured in September 2024

Hetfield met the London-born Gillett shortly after their divorce.

Since then, Gillett frequently shares social media posts showing off their extravagant getaways and updating fans on their relationship.

In addition to their upcoming nuptials, Hetfield and his Metallica bandmates will be kicking off a European leg of their M72 World Tour on May 9 in Athens, Greece.

In the fall, the heavy metal group will begin a Las Vegas residency at the Sphere, extending into next year.

Their sold-out residency will start on October 1 later this year and continue until March 13, 2027.
Will Smith was one of the people Michael B Jordan thanked during his shining Best Actor win at the 2026 Oscars on Sunday night and the A-lister reciprocated the recognition despite a decade-long ban from the ceremony.

Jordan, 39, recognized fellow Black Best Actor and Actress winners during his acceptance speech at the 98th Academy Awards, held at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

He said: 'I stand here because of the people that came before me: Sidney Poitier, Denzel Washington, Halle Berry, Jamie Foxx, Forest Whitaker, Will Smith.

'And to be amongst those giants, amongst those great greats, amongst my ancestors, amongst my guys.'

Smith, 57, responded by taking to Instagram on Monday by sharing photos of the younger actor with his shiny new trophy with the simple caption: 'CONGRATS, Beloved. Makin' History!'

Back in April 2022, Smith was banned from the Oscars for 10 years for slapping Chris Rock but was allowed to keep his award for Best Actor.

Will Smith was one of the people Michael B Jordan thanked during his shining Best Actor win at the 2026 Oscars on Sunday night and the A-lister reciprocated the recognition despite a decade-long ban from the ceremony

Jordan, 39, recognized fellow Black Best Actor and Actress winners - including Smith - during his acceptance speech at the 98th Academy Awards , held at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles

At the time The Academy released a statement days after the 54-person Board of Governors met as part of it read: 'The Board has decided, for a period of 10 years from April 8, 2022, Mr. Smith shall not be permitted to attend any Academy events or programs, in person or virtually, including but not limited to the Academy Awards.'

The slap divided Hollywood and the public, with some insisting he should be stripped of his Oscar and not be rewarded for violence while others dismissed it and mocked it on social media.

Smith slapped Rock on-stage after the comedian made a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett-Smith's shaved head. Pinkett-Smith has been open in the past about her struggles with alopecia.

After the slap, Smith returned to his seat and screamed 'keep my wife's name out of your f*****g mouth.'

He then won the Oscar for Best Actor in his role as Richard Williams, in the film King Richard. He used his speech to apologize to the Academy and to Rock, and he later posted an apology on Instagram.

Meanwhile, Jordan shocked the world as he upset Timothee Chalamet to win Best Actor for Sinners which made for the most talked about moment of the night.

He beat the favorite Chalamet, who starred in Marty Supreme, as the field also included: Leonardo DiCaprio - One Battle After Another, Ethan Hawke - Blue Moon, and Wagner Moura - The Secret Agent.

Jordan was in disbelief as he walked up to the stage and was greeted by last year's winner, Adrien Brody.

Smith, 57, responded by taking to Instagram on Monday by sharing photos of the younger actor with his shiny new trophy with the simple caption: 'CONGRATS, Beloved. Makin' History!'

Back in April 2022, Smith was banned from the Oscars for 10 years for slapping Chris Rock but was allowed to keep his award for Best Actor (pictured)

The slap divided Hollywood and the public, with some insisting he should be stripped of his Oscar and not be rewarded for violence while others dismissed it and mocked it on social media

The most talked about moment of the night will surely be that Jordan earned the top honor Best Actor for his leading role in Ryan Coogler film Sinners

The actor was kissed by his beloved mother Donna Jordan as his name was announced, she was also the first person he mentioned during his riveting acceptance speech

Sinners is centered around two brothers who return to their hometown to start again only to discover that an even greater evil - in the form of vampires - is waiting to welcome them back

Jordan portrayed both brothers in the film: younger and more cheerful sibling Elias 'Stack' Moore (left) in addition to older and more serious twin Elijah 'Smoke' Moore (right)

He was tearful during his acceptance speech as he thanked the audience and voters by saying: 'Thank you everybody in this room and everybody at home for supporting me over my career. I feel it.

'I know you guys want me to do well, and I want to do that because you guys bet on me, so thank you for keeping betting on me. And I'm going to keep stepping up and I'm going to keep being the best version of myself I can be.'

Sinners is centered around two brothers who return to their hometown to start again, only to discover that an even greater evil - in the form of vampires - is waiting to welcome them back.

Jordan portrayed both brothers in the film: the older, more serious twin, Elijah 'Smoke' Moore, and the younger, more cheerful sibling, Elias 'Stack' Moore.

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Samie Elishi made the most of her 'messy' girls' trip to New York with fellow newly-single star Olivia Atwood, as she shared a new gallery of snaps from the break on Monday.

The Love Island: All Stars winner, 26, has jetted to the US after it emerged that she and Ciaran Davies split just three weeks after winning the dating show.

Sources are now claiming that much of the reason behind the split came from Ciaran failing to keep in touch in Samie, leading to their romance fizzling out.

Samie has brushed off her relationship woes after joining Olivia, as well as fellow Love Island favourites Toni Laites and Sophie Piper travelling to the Big Apple to celebrate the released of Olivia's new River Island collection.

In snaps shared on Instagram, Samie downed bottles of beer and smoked cigarettes with Olivia, 34, who is also newly-single after she split from husband Bradley Dack in January.

As well as soaking up the sights of the iconic city, the pair also got tattoos to remember the trip.

Samie Elishi made the most of her 'messy' girls trip to New York with fellow single star Olivia Atwood, as she shared a new gallery of snaps from the break on Monday

The Love Island: All Stars winner, 26, shared a gallery of Instagram snaps from the trip, including getting a tattoo on her finger to remember the getaway

Olivia and Samie were smoking cigarettes and drinking bottles of Corona on a step as they made the most of their 'messy' trip

She captioned the post: 'Monthly messies NY edition.'

On Monday, a source confirmed that Samie's busy schedule was not solely to blame for her split from Ciaran.

They told The Sun: 'Samie is really disappointed it didn't work out but Ciaran always knew she was a busy girl, he even made jokes about getting lots of Toblerones after each brand trip.

'Lots of couples survive busy diaries, it just needs both parties to communicate and stay connected that way, which is something that was lacking.

'She just wasn't hearing from him. Things just fizzled out because there was no communication and they realised they didn't have much in common when they were out in the real world.'

The source also dismissed speculation that fellow Love Island star Tyrique Hyde had been sending flirty messages to Samie, insisting it has nothing to do with the split.

Daily Mail has contacted representatives for Samie Elishi and Ciaran Davies for comment.

While Sami has yet to publicly address her split from Ciaran, she did share a telling picture of a sweatshirt that was emblazoned with the quote 'enforce male curfews'.

Samie has brushed off her relationship woes as she showed off her new lightning tattoo on her ring finger

Olivia also got a tattoo during the New York trip, which seemed to be a numerical inking on her left hand as she posed for photos inside the studio

The pair made the most of the New York bars with snaps showing the pair downing bottles of beer together

Olivia was larking around inside the bar and seemed in high spirits after her recent split from footballer husband Bradley Dack

Samie travelled to New York for the girls trip to celebrate Olivia's new River Island collection, alongside Toni Laites and Sophie Piper

The picture was notably posted to social media hours before it was announced that she and her Love Island beau had failed to even last a month outside the villa.

A source told The Sun: 'Samie and Ciaran have decided that, for now at least, they're better off staying friends rather than pursuing things romantically.

'They made that decision in the week.

'Neither of them have a bad word to say about each other. Maybe they'll end up staying good mates and you never know what could happen down the line.'

Samie's interest in planning a potential move stateside comes after the Love Islander hit back at claims that she bullied Lucinda Stafford in the villa.

Lucinda had a rocky time in the villa and often clashed with Samie Belle Hassan and Jessy Potts.

Since leaving the South African villa, Lucinda has appeared on Paul C. Brunson's We Need To Talk podcast and claimed she felt 'bullied' by some of the girls, which led to her being 'isolated' from the group.

Hitting back at Lucinda's claims, Samie told the Daily Mail: 'Some of the stuff that is being said is so bizarre, like the bully accusations, they are not true.

'Every Love Islander that has gone on a podcast since the show has said categorically no one got bullied and obviously the show wouldn't go on if there was.

'That stuff is hard to hear, but you've got to move on, like I know what kind of person I am.'

Speaking at Carmex's Sip & Paint event at Jumeirah Carlton Tower hotel on Tuesday, Samie revealed she is still in contact with all of her Love Island co-stars, other than Lucinda.

Since leaving the villa, the pair have unfollowed each other on social media and have made it clear they are no longer friends.

Samie added: 'I'm a firm believer that everyone is entitled to their own opinions and that is fair because I've got my own opinion and I want people to respect it.

'At the end of the day, my morals are so strong and I know the truth. I know my truth and the people that I'm close to, their truth, and that's all that matters. We lived it, we know what went on.'

Olivia looked happy and relaxed during her New York trip

The girls enjoyed cocktails while overlooking the Brooklyn Bridge
A Republican congressman has called for former Fox News star Tucker Carlson to be prosecuted for treason if federal investigators discover he was secretly working with the Iranian regime.

Representative Max Miller, of Ohio, made the demand one day after the 56-year-old broadcaster claimed the Department of Justice is gearing up to charge him with 'acting as an agent of a foreign power.'

He argued that CIA staffers may be targeting him for his criticism of Israel.

But Miller, who has described himself as a 'staunch defender of Israel,' accused Carlson of being a 'traitor' to the United States.

'Everyone has always known Tucker is in love with himself and happy to sell falsehoods for attention,' the congressman posted on X on Sunday.

'The Left excels at this, when Tucker finally joined them it was just sad.'

'Now? Treason,' Miller continued, arguing: 'If Tucker really worked with Iran against America's interests, he is a traitor and should be prosecuted.'

FARA Claims vs. Free Press

The penalty for a person found guilty of treason in the US is at least five years in jail, and a minimum fine of $10,000. No charges have yet been filed against Carlson.

Carlson said in a five-minute video that he may be prosecuted under the Foreign Agents Act, which requires anyone paid by foreign governments for political advocacy to register with the Justice Department.

'When you discover the CIA has been reading your texts in order to frame you for a crime,' Carlson posted on X, alongside the video.

'The CIA is preparing some kind of criminal referral against me, a crime report to the Department of Justice, on the basis of a supposed crime I committed,' he said in the video.

'Whats that crime? Well, talking to people in Iran before the war. They read my texts.'

'Ludicrous' Case

But Carlson, who has publicly fought with the president after he called the Iran strikes 'evil,' said that he 'isn't worried' - adding that 'he does not expect' these potential 'charges' to go anywhere.

'Im not an agent of a foreign power. Unlike a lot of people commenting on US politics and global affairs, I have only one loyalty and thats the United States,' he said.

Carlson then went on to say hes not concerned because he has 'never taken money' from a foreign nation, adding: 'Dont need it, dont want it.'

The conservative firebrand noted that he is American and that his job involves talking to people around the world.

'It's literally what I do for a living, and I'm not gonna stop that,' he said.

'Legally, I think the case is ludicrous, and I doubt itll even become a case.'

The Toll of War

Carlson explained why he went public with his allegations, arguing that countries become 'more authoritarian' during wartime.

'It's just the nature of war, people are dying, the stakes are high,' he said. 'There's much less tolerance for any kind of dissent in the homeland.'

He also suggested that his stance on Israel may have made him a target of the CIA.

'[There are] some people who are mad at me for my views about Israel and they have some latitude.'

'One of the reasons they pass on criminal complaints in effect to law enforcement is to justify warrants for spying on Americans,' he added.

Carlson claimed the main reason this happens is to '"leak the investigation" to the media,' and to 'humiliate and terrorize the "subject of the operation."'

Exiled from MAGA

Carlson compared his claims to when he was at Fox News trying to arrange an interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

He said in 2021, the NSA 'grabbed his text messages' with another American citizen, and 'leaked' them to news outlets in an attempt to kill the interview.

'I'm not making this video to complain about it, or whine, or ask for money... I'm saying it because it's true, and you should know what your own government is doing.'

The Daily Mail has reached out to the Department of Justice and Carlson for comment.

His remarks came after Donald Trump said he's kicking Carlson out of MAGA after he 'lost his way' in calling the president's Iran strikes 'evil.'

Who Defines MAGA?

The two have been at odds over the attacks on Iran, but the conservative commentator went further than ever in an interview with ABC News.

'The president's decision was absolutely disgusting and evil,' said Carlson.

Trump responded by saying that 'Tucker's lost his way.'

'I knew that a long time ago, and he's not MAGA,' Trump told ABC News on March 5.

'MAGA is saving our country. MAGA is making our country great again. MAGA is America first, and Tucker is none of those things.

'And Tucker is really not smart enough to understand that.'

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Donald Trump has launched another swipe at Keir Starmer over his reluctance to join attacks on Iran.

The US president questioned whether the UK was still 'number one ally', as he warned America 'will remember' who supported the campaign.

The sniping came as Sir Keir had a tense call with Mr Trump, in which he is believed to have signalled Britain will not obey a request to deploy warships to the Strait of Hormuz. France, Canada and Australia have also dismissed the prospect.

Around a fifth of global oil supplies pass through the channel, but it has been effectively closed by Iran - sending prices soaring and raising fears of a worldwide recession.

Trump criticizes UK over delay sending ships to Strait of Hormuz

Mr Trump upped the ante overnight by linking the response to his demand for ships in the Strait to the future of Nato and support for Ukraine.

But ministers risked inflaming tensions this morning by dismissing the remarks as 'rhetoric'.

The president has previously branded the PM 'no Churchill' for refusing to join initial US-Israeli strikes on Iran a fortnight ago.

Speaking to the Financial Times after his call with Sir Keir, Mr Trump took aim at the Special Relationship again.

'The UK might be considered the number one ally, the longest serving et cetera and when I asked for them to come, they didn't want to come,' he said.

'And as soon as we basically wiped out the danger capacity from Iran, they said, ''oh well we'll send two ships'', and I said, ''we need these ships before we win, not after we win''. I've long said that Nato is a one-way street.'

President says US will remember allies response

Mr Trump said: 'It's only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries of the Strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there.

'We have a thing called Nato,' Trump said. 'We've been very sweet. We didn't have to help them with Ukraine but we helped them.

'Now we'll see if they help us. Because I've long said that we'll be there for them but they won't be there for us. And I'm not sure that they'd be there.'

He added: 'If there's no response or if it's a negative response, I think it will be very bad for the future of Nato.'

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Mr Trump said: 'Whether we get support or not... I can say this and I said it to them - we will remember.'

The president previously insisted the US did not need any military assistance from allies such as Britain, accusing them of only turning up after the war was 'won'.

Trump questions whether Nato allies would honour Article 5

In the past Mr Trump has questioned whether Nato countries would stand by the Article 5 commitment to collective defence, even though the only time the provision has been invoked was in response to the September 11 attacks.

Downing Street said ministers were 'discussing with our allies and partners a range of options to ensure the security of shipping in the region'.

However, it appears Britain's only immediate contribution to unblocking the strait will be autonomous underwater vehicles based in Bahrain which are untested in conflict situations.

Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden told Times Radio: 'There's a lot of rhetoric, always, in this presidency.

'Underneath that, there is a good and close relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States. I'm confident that will continue. We speak to one another all the time.

'But that doesn't mean that we will always have to support every intervention and every action that the United States chooses to take.'

Starmer's humbling phone call to Trump

Keir Starmer scrambled to save the special relationship last night after his public falling out with Donald Trump.

He spoke to the US President after enduring a week of insults following his refusal to let US planes take off from the UK to attack Iran.

They discussed military co-operation in the Middle East and the Prime Minister expressed his 'heartfelt condolences' during the 20-minute phone call for the deaths of six soldiers in the conflict  a total that increased to seven last night.

But Sir Keir now also faces a battle on the home front as the Middle East crisis threatens his drive to cut the cost of living. He admitted last night that households were worried about how it will affect energy bills.





In another dramatic day: Iran named Mojtaba Khamenei  son of assassinated Ali Khamenei  as its leader Israel warned it would hunt and kill whoever was in charge of the Islamic Republic.

Tehran's streets were left like 'rivers of fire' after its oil depots were bombarded Iran retaliated by firing missiles into Israel, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Dubai.

Fears are growing that Britain will be hit by the highest wholesale gas prices in Europe, while oil prices could breach $100 a barrel within days after Iran effectively blocked the crucial Strait of Hormuz to tankers.

Britain faces paying more for foreign gas because it has less stored than other European nations, with just 6,700GWh (gigawatt hours) in reserve  enough for just two days.

Read the full story here
All 14-year-old Emily Pike wanted was to go home to her mother, grandmother, and her cat, Millie, on the sprawling San Carlos Indian Reservation in Arizona.

Instead, the Apache teenager spent the last two years of her short life in and out of group homes in Mesa, 90 miles away to the west, which she hated so much she once tried to hang herself rather than stay.

Emily was sensitive, spirited and rebellious, according to her family. Her mother struggled with drug addiction and her father drifted in and out of prison.

'Home' for her was a chaotic compound made up of several rundown shacks and a trailer where a number of lawless young men lived, some of whom were her relatives and one of whom allegedly sexually assaulted her in 2023.

She reported the assault that took place not far from her home, but police ultimately did not believe her, Emily's relatives told the Daily Mail.

Instead, she was removed and placed in a group home, with the alleged perpetrator still living in the compound.

'The sad part was that whenever we would go pick her up  her and her brother  to spend time with us, we'd find them with lice in their hair and no shoes again and just raggedy clothes,' her aunt Carolyn Pike, who now lives in Fort Collins, Colorado, told the Daily Mail.

'We wanted to take Emily to live with us but we were never able to.'

Murder probed by joint task force

Instead, Emily kept running away from group homes, trying to get back to her family.

That last time, she didn't make it.

After bolting, again, from her group home on January 27, 2025, her remains were found on Valentine's Day in two trash bags tossed on a patch of dirt on a lonely stretch of high desert in the Tonto National Forest  five miles from the boundary line of the reservation.

She had been dismembered. Her arms were missing and have never been found.

The way she was chopped up was 'almost professional,' a person familiar with the case told the Daily Mail.

An autopsy determined that Emily's cause of death was 'homicidal violence with blunt head trauma'.

The murder is being investigated by a joint task force comprised of the Gila County Sheriff's Department, the San Carlos tribal police, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the FBI  but her frustrated relatives, including her paternal aunt Carolyn, her paternal uncle, Allred Pike and others told the Daily Mail they never get any information about the case and worry the trail has gone cold.

More than a year later, they say they're still waiting to learn who picked her up, how she traveled across miles of Arizona desert  and who left her there.

'It was a little hard to hear about all those police looking for Nancy Guthrie in Tucson,' Tao Etpison, vice chairman of the San Carlos Apache Tribe, told the Daily Mail.

Possible person of interest on police radar

'I understand that her daughter is famous but I wish we had even a fraction of that kind of attention paid to Emily.'

The agencies handling Emily's investigation are tight-lipped but the Daily Mail can reveal there may be a person of interest on law enforcement's radar.

There is also speculation from one law enforcement official that the person who took Emily might have been an older man based in the area around Globe, Arizona.

The San Carlos reservation is a fairly straight shot from Mesa along Highway 60 past the Superstition Mountains to Globe. You then turn onto Highway 70 to get to the reservation.

But whoever took Emily drove north from Globe, away from the main entrance to the reservation in an unincorporated area of Gila County.

'It could have happened in a bathtub,' the source told the Daily Mail.

'There's some thought it might have been an elderly person or a senior citizen. She had to trust whoever she went with.

'But they may not have had the energy to drag her body far into the desert so they cut her up instead and just threw her off the side of the road. They may have taken her arms so nobody could get her fingerprints.'

There are others, though, who think she could have been murdered somewhere on the reservation and then dumped off it.

Emily Pike identified by dental records as parents sue group home

Emily was identified from dental records.

Her parents, Steff Dosela and Jensen Pike, who never married and split up when Emily was little, have sued the Mesa group home, Sacred Journey, where Emily had been living.

Jensen Pike is currently in jail again and has a history of drug and alcohol abuse, his family said.

Sacred Journey filed a response in Maricopa County Superior Court, calling the two 'unfit, unresponsive and neglectful', which is why Emily was placed in the group home.

Allred Pike and another tribal member, who is Emily's grandmother's boyfriend, warned against going to the compound where Emily's mother lives on the reservation, claiming that the people who live there can be violent and unpredictable.

When a Daily Mail reporter visited the garbage-strewn address, which lies down a dirt road not far from a huge water tank memorial for Emily, one of her relatives came out screaming threats at the top of her lungs.

'You're just gonna bad talk us, get out of here now!' she said.

Her mother, Steff Dosela, then appeared and also yelled angrily at the reporter to leave, refusing to say anything about her murdered daughter but not explaining why.

Two young men appeared menacingly with several dogs to back Dosela up.

Deep ties to east end of San Carlos Reservation

Emily was deeply tied to the east end of the San Carlos Reservation, particularly the community of Bylas, where much of the Pike family is from.

The reservation stretches across roughly 1.8 million acres of rugged terrain, broken by mountain ranges and isolated communities.

'We do live in a different world,' said Allred Pike, 51, a former tribal council member who now works in construction and assists tribal members in court matters. 'The reservation is totally different from living off the reservation.'

Emily was reported missing from the Sacred Journey group home three times in 2023 before her final escape in January 2025.

Harrowing police cam video from September 2023 show police locating her walking alone along a canal after running away from the group home that time.

Then only 13, Emily vehemently rejects the cops' insistence that they take her back.

'I'm not going to go to that [expletive] group home,' Emily tells the cops in the video. 'I hate it there.

'I just want to see my mom.'

Despite the turmoil she grew up in, Carolyn described Emily as a long-awaited girl in a family full of boys  named in tribute to her grandmother.

'We were all excited for Emily to come into this world, because there are a lot of boys in our family,' she said.

Aunt reflects on Emily's life and loss

Family members crowded into the delivery room when she was born.

Carolyn, who grew up on the reservation, remembered cupcakes and birthday visits with Emily, who was a happy and lively girl before her home life began to take a toll.

'Emily loved dressing up, dolls, makeup, and getting her nails done, her aunt said.

She liked to draw and was reportedly planning to go to college someday.

'She had her crushes, she was excited and that's what makes me so angry.'

Going to the site where Emily's remains were found was haunting, Carolyn said.

'Making that drive was really hard,' she said. 'I was questioning, like, was she scared? Was she already gone? Was she hoping that somebody was gonna help her?'

Emily's death has reverberated across tribal communities in Arizona.

Carolyn said she did not fully understand the crisis of what is known by the acronym, MMIW  or Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women  until her niece's killing.

'I didn't know about MMIW,' she said. 'Emily I feel educated me more on it, because that's what she woke the world up to.'

Memorial for Emily draws visitors and tributes along Highway 70

Though Emily's parents have rarely talked about their daughter's murder, Allred Pike said he is both astonished and heartened at the number of people who stop by Emily's memorial just off Highway 70.

T-shirts and notes from well wishers dot the fence around the tank.

Emily's face is painted on the tank, alongside a photo illustration of Geronimo, the legendary Apache warrior who used the San Carlos reservation partly as a base before he surrendered to US forces in 1886.

Supporters also constructed a tall white cross across from the water tank with the name of Emily's cat Millie on it.

Family members say Emily's case helped spur broader awareness and legislative efforts, including expansion of Arizona's Turquoise Alert system for missing Indigenous persons.

'You hear about missing or murdered Indigenous women all the time,' Allred Pike said.

'Emily is one  and at the very least I hope she remains a symbol that raises awareness for her and all of the rest of them.'
Are flight times guaranteed by the airline?

In a word: No. Flight times are not guaranteed by airlines in Australia.

By purchasing a flight ticket, you are entering into a contract with the airline to transport you from one place to another. They must deliver this service in a reasonable timeframe, but the ticket brings with it a vast array of terms and conditions.

You should be able to find these (sometimes described as 'Conditions of Carriage') on the airline's website, which sets down all the details that apply to the flight  including late departures and arrivals and cancelled flights.

The conditions may vary between airlines, as well as with the class of fare, and you should expect that every attempt will be made by the airline to operate in accordance with its advertised schedule.

Qantas, Virgin and Jetstar also have a customer charter that outlines the service standards you can expect from them, while most international airlines operating in Australia have similar customer service protocols.

The bottom line, however, is that there's no guarantee the plane will take off at the time thats printed on your ticket.

With this in mind, consumer advocates recommend that when you book your flight you may wish to consider a class of fare that gives you better scope to change flights or make a new booking at short notice, if youre impacted by a delay or cancellation.

How will I know if my flight is delayed?

If the scheduled departure time changes after you've bought a ticket, the airline or its authorised agent should make a reasonable attempt to let you know.

This could be via phone, airline app, text and/or email, sometimes based on the information you provided when purchasing your ticket.

In situations such as these, the benefits of booking through a reputable travel agent can't be underestimated. Full-service agencies, such as the RACV Travel and Experiences team, can help provide information and support with flight changes, delays and cancellations.

It's also strongly recommended that you take it upon yourself to check that your flight times havent changed, well in advance of your scheduled departure.

Real-time updates should be provided by the airline on its website or its app. Your point of departure, such as Melbourne Tullamarine Airport, may also provide live scheduled departures and arrivals to help you keep track of your flight.



Give yourself plenty of time to arrive at the airport, or to connect between flights, and keep a close eye on the flight departure information once you're at the terminal. If you fail to check the departure times, the airline may not be liable for any loss you suffer as a result.

RACV Members save on airport transfers and parking around Melbourne Tullamarine Airport.


Meta could slash more than 20 percent of its workforce as the company that owns Facebook pours billions into artificial intelligence.

The potential cuts could affect over 15,000 of the tech giant's employees, according to sources cited by Reuters.

Senior executives have reportedly told leaders across the company to begin planning ways to reduce headcount as Meta pushes deeper into AI and automation.

While the exact scale of the layoffs has not yet been finalized, if carried out, the cuts would mark the company's biggest job purge since Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg launched his 'year of efficiency' in 2022, when more than 21,000 roles were eliminated.

Meta employed about 79,000 workers at the end of last year.

A spokesperson for the company told the Daily Mail that the claims were 'speculative reporting about theoretical approaches.'

The looming cuts come as Zuckerberg doubles down on AI - pouring vast sums into new data centers, research teams and powerful AI models.

Meta has 31 data centers across the globe, with server space to process and store the billions of messages, posts, and images circulated on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp every single second of the day.

Meta could slash more than 20 percent of its workforce as the Facebook owner pours billions into artificial intelligence

If carried out, the cuts would mark the company's biggest job purge since Mark Zuckerberg launched his 'year of efficiency' in 2022 and 2023, when more than 21,000 roles were eliminated

In June 2025, the company invested $14.3 billion in Scale AI, a software company that was poached by Meta along with its CEO Alexandr Wang.

Meta revealed in its fourth-quarter earnings report in January that it expects to spend between $115 billion and $135 billion on AI this year.

When combined with planned investments from Amazon, Alphabet, and Microsoft, total AI spending by the four tech giants could reach around $700 billion.

Despite reports of planned layoffs from Reuters, the companys push to improve efficiency through its AI tools appears to be paying off.

Investors reacted positively, with Metas stock rising 3 percent to 632 in early trading this morning.

Meta is not alone in linking artificial intelligence to layoffs.

Amazon cut around 16,000 jobs in January as it restructures while investing heavily in AI.

It was the second major round of layoffs in just three months after slashing 14,000 roles in October.

Meta revealed in its fourth-quarter earnings report in January that it expects to spend between $115billion and $135billion on AI this year

Meta has 31 data centers across the globe, with server space to process and store the billions of messages, posts, and images circulated on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp every single second of the day (PICTURED: Meta data center in Dublin, Ireland)

Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey is cutting half the jobs at his payments firm, Block, as it shifts toward smaller teams powered by automation.

Dorsey stated on X in late February that this move was meant to take a 'hard, clear action now' rather than opting to slowly reduce jobs and risk lowering morale among workers.

Software company Atlassian also announced plans to cut about 10 percent of its workforce to focus on AI.

Across the US, more than 12,000 layoffs this year have already been tied directly to artificial intelligence, according to consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
US oil companies - including ExxonMobil, Chevron and ConocoPhillips - could reap a stunning $63 billion windfall this year if the Iran War keeps crude oil prices high for much longer.

The windfall for energy giants, according to a report from Rystad, comes as American drivers face sharply higher gas prices. The average is now $3.72 a gallon, according to AAA - up from under $3 before the conflict began.

With Iran clogging up the vital Strait of Hormuz with mines and suicide drones, they have effectively removed one-fifth of global oil and gas supply from the market.

Thanks to the huge cut in supply, analysts at Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan believe oil prices could reach $120 to $150 a barrel if the war lasts longer than three weeks. That would push gas prices even higher.

One commentator pegs the industry's take even higher. According to industry analyst Adam Kobeissi, US oil giants are set to rake in 'an additional $100 billion if prices stay high.

The staggering sums reflect a dramatic shift in the global energy landscape over the past two decades. Keep in mind, its not the 1970s any longer, and its easy to forget that the United States has become the worlds largest oil and gas producer - by a long shot.

This gives US oil companies a triple benefit from the Iran War: The oil price spike is lining their pockets, they depend less than ever on supply from the Middle East and the rest of the world is lining up to buy hydrocarbons drilled from the ground everywhere from west Texas to southeast Ohio.

Investment bank Jefferies estimates that US shale companies will generate an extra $5 billion in cash in March alone thanks to the 47 percent spike in prices since the war began.

In 2020, the United States became an oil exporter for the first time since around 1950

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In 2020, the United States became an oil exporter for the first time since around 1950, fundamentally changing the role of giant US energy companies in global energy markets.

Thanks to the shale revolution of the last 20 years - when US companies mastered fracking technology to extract oil and gas from previously inaccessible underground resources - the US has kicked its dependency on imported crude.

The world does not need $120 oil. Its going to cause economic destruction. Steven Pruett, chief executive of Midland, Texas-based oil producer Elevation Resources

US oil giant ConocoPhillips, for example, obtained as much as 63 percent of its total oil and gas production from shale last year. The Permian Basin in West Texas alone provided more than a third of the company's total output.

The biggest US oil and gas producer - ExxonMobil - has further hedged its bets.

The company has seen record-high production in North America and is also building out massive projects in South America, providing a steady stream of "non-Hormuz" oil that is now worth significantly more.

Smaller US oil companies are benefitting, too. One of Warren Buffetts top investments, Occidental Petroleum, has snapped up rival companies in North America in recent years, helping it ramp up production rapidly.

In contrast to the big US winners, global oil companies with heavy exposure to the Middle East - like BP and Shell - are facing significant losses and higher insurance premiums that are offsetting gains from higher prices.

And theres one other huge beneficiary of war-worsened prices: Iran. The only oil tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz since the war began were loaded with Iranian crude, and China and India have only become more hungry for Iranian petroleum products.

ConocoPhillips CEO Ryan Lance leads a company primed to benefit from surging oil prices

Tankers anchored in Muscat, Oman as Iran vows to close the Strait of Hormuz

Despite the windfall, the industry does not want to see oil prices stay high.

The world does not need $120 oil, Steven Pruett, chief executive of Midland, Texas-based oil producer Elevation Resources, told the Wall Street Journal. 'Its going to cause economic destruction.'

US oil company executives reportedly met with Trump administration officials last week to convey their worries about surging global prices.

Exxon CEO Darren Woods, Chevron CEO Mike Wirth and ConocoPhillips CEO Ryan Lance reportedly attended the meeting to strategize with the White House about lowering oil prices.

Options discussed include releasing oil from US strategic reserves, further easing sanctions on Russian oil or possibly waiving rules that limit crude flows among US ports.
Polymarket gamblers have threatened to kill a journalist because his news report ruined their multi-million dollar wagers.

Emanuel Fabian told the Daily Mail that March 10 began like any other, as the journalist covered Iranian missile strikes on his homeland for The Times of Israel.

That day he wrote up a news brief on a ballistic missile that struck just outside a small Israeli city near Jerusalem, causing no injuries and only very minor damage - but through a wild turn of events it would drive an online mob to threaten his life.

'It's like an episode of Black Mirror,' said Fabian.

Polymarket bettors were wagering millions of dollars on whether Iran would strike Israel on given days since the beginning of the Iran war.

Nearly $14 million had been bet on whether Iranian munitions would successfully hit Israel on March 10 - including rules on what constituted a successful hit - an intercepted missile or drone wouldnt count.

Fabian reported that the missile hit a forested area outside the town of Beit Shemesh - not fragments of an intercepted missile - as proven by video footage and eye witness testimony from first responders.

After the story published, he began receiving the first of around 100 email, text and social media messages asking and then ordering him to change the narrative to suggest that the missile had been intercepted, with only fragments falling to earth.

And when Fabian held his ground, he told us, the messages turned very dark indeed.

Emanuel Fabian has worked as a military correspondent at The Times of Israel for more than five years

The magnitude of the explosions meant it was a missile strike, not interceptor wreckage

Nothing remotely similar to this has ever happened to me before, Fabian told the Daily Mail. I asked colleagues and nothing like this had happened to them, either.

The first messages the anonymous bettors sent Fabian began innocently enough, starting with a note from someone calling himself Aviv.

Regarding your Times of Israel report that described todays launch as an impact - Beit Shemesh Municipality and MDA (the Israeli equivalent of the Red Cross) later corrected their reports to clarify that what fell was an interceptor fragment, not a full missile, wrote Aviv.

Id appreciate it if you could update your article, as in its current form it does not reflect reality, he wrote.

Fabian told Aviv that his contacts in the Israeli military said the Beit Shemesh impact was a missile, not interceptor fragments. He added that the eyewitness video footage showed a massive explosion, something a missile or interceptor fragment would not have caused.

Next was an email from a guy named Daniel. Sorry for reaching out without a prior introduction, but I assume we will get to know each other well, he wrote, threateningly, asking like Aviv for a correction to the article.

Half an hour later, Daniel sent another message: If one of you could change everything to interceptor debris, or missile fragments even tonight, it would help a lot.

Fabian ignored these emails, but by the next day more and more messages started pouring in, from anonymous senders on platforms like X.com and Discord.

Beit Shemesh is a small city just outside of Jerusalem, with a population of approximately 177,000

He quickly figured out that the social media posters were involved with gambling on Polymarket.

Polymarket calls itself a prediction market, allowing users to bet money - via cryptocurrency, credit cards and bank transfers - on the likelihood of future events occurring or not occurring.

Just last month, the platform was roundly condemned for allowing wagers on when the kidnappers of Nancy Gutherie's mother would be arrested.

On the Israeli strike wager, the rules stated that This market will resolve to Yes if Iran initiates a drone, missile, or air strike on Israels soil on the listed date in Israel Time (GMT+2). Otherwise, this market will resolve to No.

Fabian also discovered that there was an additional clause clarifying that Missiles or drones that are intercepted will not be sufficient for a Yes resolution, regardless of whether they land on Israeli territory or cause damage.

Suddenly everything was clear, said Fabian.

His minor report on a missile strike was in the middle of a betting war, with the people who bet no on an Iranian strike on Israel on March 10 demanding that he alter his reporting to ensure they would win big.

Polymarket allows users to bet on the likelihood of future events occurring or not occurring

Nearly $14 million had been bet on whether Iranian munitions would successfully hit Israel on March 10

By the time Fabian figured out what was really going on, the messages turned to death threats. Someone named Haim began threatening his life.

You have exactly half an hour to correct your attempt at influence, wrote Haim.

Despite the fact that you received countless inquiries - you insist on leaving it that way.

If you do not correct this by 01:00 Israel time today, March 15, you are bringing upon yourself damage you have never imagined you would suffer, he wrote.

Haim also attempted to call me via WhatsApp multiple times during the night, before sending me more messages.

Haim shared specific details about Fabians neighborhood, parents and family.

You made a fatal mistake and youd better respond to us.

I expect a response from you within 9 minutes from now.

We will not give up on sums [of money] like these.

One minute remains

"It's like an episode of Black Mirror," said Fabian.

At this point, Fabian went to the police and provided a full statement. He told the Daily Mail that law enforcement said the threats were real and credible, and promised to investigate.

As of writing, there has been no word on whether an investigation has begun or any suspects have been found.

In a statement to the Daily Mail, Polymarket condemned the threats to Fabians life.

Polymarket condemns the harassment and threats directed at Emanuel Fabian, or anyone else for that matter. This behavior violates our terms of service and has no place on our platform or anywhere else, wrote a Polymarket spokesperson.

Prediction markets depend on the integrity of independent reporting. Attempts to pressure journalists to alter their reporting undermine that integrity and undermine the markets themselves, they wrote.
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March 15, 2026: The Chinese militarys year began inauspiciously with more purges of the senior ranks of the military. The latest round of removals involved senior officers who did not respond to orders to develop plans and training exercises for the conquest of Taiwan. Some officers were accused of leaking military secrets to the United States or engaging in corrupt practices for personal gain. Minor offences included disagreements with national leader Xi Jinping on military strategy and management issues.

The latest purges resulted in promotions of officers who were considered loyal to Xi. This loyalty was given more importance than professional skills and experience. Xi seems unwilling to halt the purges at the cost of military effectiveness. These are Xis priorities and after things settle down, planning to take Taiwan can proceed again.

Over the last few years China has purged or removed dozens of senior army, navy, and air force officers. The government conducts its own inspections and numerous deficiencies were found. Ships, combat vehicles, aircraft and ballistic missiles listed as available for use were not. Maintenance was neglected to the point that systems became ineffective. For example, missile silos were poorly constructed and unusable. Aircraft were grounded because maintenance was neglected. Warships were similarly unable to leave port because they lacked sufficient maintenance and spare parts to operate at sea. Army units had similar problems with combat vehicles and artillery systems. This was the latest of several purges that have occurred.

While many Chinese officers were found to be corrupt and incompetent, there were exceptions, but not enough to command the number of operable ships, heavy weapons, and aircraft available. Corruption in the Chinese military is an ancient tradition, going back thousands of years and based on the belief that no one would attack such a large state as China. At the same time, China rarely undertook major military campaigns because China was already huge and there were no areas worth having that needed conquering. The most common conflicts were civil wars between factions that were equally unprepared.

For over a decade Chinese leader Xi Jinping has been seeking to reduce corruption in the military and create something modern China has never had, an effective modern armed force. Xi Jinping observed and scrutinized the Russian and Ukrainian military performance during the current war with great interest and growing alarm. Thats because current Chinese armed forces are closer to what Russia is using than to Ukraines, which China would like to emulate. That would be difficult because of Chinas politics and endemic corruption.

For most of this new century China's leaders have complained about the state of their armed forces. The critics include many irate generals and admirals. Increasingly the complaints are published, so that everyone knows the problem is still seeking solutions. Initially these complaints were confined to private meetings, but so many people attend these meetings that details eventually get out to the public. Since these leaks do not represent official policy, they do not get repeated in the Chinese media, and foreign media tends to ignore it as well. It's more profitable for the foreign media to portray the Chinese military as scary.

The situation is worse than imagined because it's all about corruption among the military leadership. That leads to low standards for training and discipline. In short, Chinese military power is more fraud than fact and three decades of trying to change that have not produced as much change as befits the most technologically advanced and well-equipped military China has ever produced. Corruption has been reduced, mainly with unannounced audits by anti-corruption organizations that have so far apparently been kept clean. These audits continue to find a lot of theft and other misbehavior.

Some improvements come from ordering ships to stay at sea for long periods, which is the customary way to develop effective crews. Same with modern aircraft, which are built to be used a lot in peacetime so the pilots can develop flying skills. While Chinas pilots enjoy all this extra time in the air, their sailors are not happy about spending weeks or months at sea per voyage. The ground forces are the focus of most criticism because commanders can appear capable just by training the troops to look good during basic drills and paying attention to keeping the new equipment clean and presentable. Effective combat training has a low priority.

Government investigators continue to find ground units that report they are well trained to operate all their modern equipment, while the reality is that commanders dont employ realistic training, especially the kind that might injure troops or result in damaged equipment. History shows the more you sweat in peace the less you bleed in war. History also shows that peacetime commanders have to be pushed to practice this because peacetime soldiering has always been more about appearance than wartime reality.

Its not for want of trying to improve. Since the 1990s China has been undergoing a major military buildup and frequent equipment, organizational and training upgrades. There have been several generations of this since the 1960s. All have failed. Why should the current efforts be any different? The earlier efforts failed because of growing corruption and loss of military spirit.

Most people can understand the role of corruption. Military spirit is another matter, but as successful generals and military historians have noted for centuries, the warlike attitudes of an army make more difference than the quality of their weapons. It wasn't always this way. The People's Liberation Army or PLA as China's armed forces are known, was forced to win or die from the 1920s to 1949. This was during a civil war with the Nationalists while also resisting a Japanese invasion.

The PLA was basically an infantry army which developed innovative tactics and leadership methods that defeated the Western supported Nationalists and fought the American army to a bloody standstill in the 1950-53 Korean War. The original PLA was forged in an atmosphere where failure was not an option. Currently getting rich, or simply looking good to get promoted, is more important than fighting skills when there's no one to fight and much wealth to be had.

After the Korean War the traditional PLA values began to fade. The senior members of the PLA had been campaigning for twenty to thirty years and they were tired and many retired. China was in ruins and had to be rebuilt. To make matters worse the communists then spent the next twenty years indulging in disastrous economic and political experiments. In the mid-1970s, the Chinese communists finally got down to business and introduced economic reforms that are still underway. But reforms in the military were not so easily implemented.

Then theres the political angle. The PLA was always seen as the basic enforcer of communist rule in China. The Communist Party wanted one thing above all from the PLA: loyalty. Everything else was secondary. This included military capability and fiscal responsibility. Until the 1990s the government was also short of cash most of the time. There was not much money for the military. What cash was on hand for defense went into things like nuclear weapons, ballistic missiles, and warplanes. Generals were allowed to fend for themselves. Military units had their own farms and grew their own food. Other soldiers worked in factories to produce weapons and equipment. This didn't leave much time for training, and a lot of the spare time available went to political indoctrination. Above all, the troops had to be kept loyal to the Chinese Communist party.

The results of all of this were predictable. For example, when China fought a short war with the combat-experienced Vietnamese in 1979, Chinese losses were enormous and the performance of the troops obviously poor. The Chinese soldiers were brave. They rushed forward and died by the thousands. The soldiers were not trained, and their leaders knew little of battlefield management. The military still needed reform going into the 1980s but did not get it.

China went through an enormous economic boom starting in the 1980s. The communists held on to political power but allowed great economic freedom. It was now OK to get rich and the head of the Communist Party and thus the country said so, repeatedly and in public. The military took advantage of this. The military factories that had previously supplied military needs now began producing consumer goods and weapons for a booming export market. It wasn't until the late 1990s that the government forced the military to pay more attention to their primary job. Officers were ordered to get rid of their business interests. There was a lot of grumbling but by and large everyone complied. It means, however, that the current Chinese armed forces are institutionally only 25 years old.

More money was allocated to new weapons, including the latest warplanes and missiles from Russia and building new things like aircraft carriers. But this did not mean that the PLA was going to become more effective. There had been several attempts to introduce new weapons and new ideas since the 1970s. All had failed to improve combat abilities because of corruption. Money disappeared and little was spent on training the troops to use the new high-tech equipment or providing funds to maintain it.

Going into the 21st century China was still a paper dragon. They have an impressive arsenal of weapons, which are often long on quantity and short on quality. The troops are still spending a lot of time doing non-military tasks. Moreover, the economic boom in China rendered a military career a less attractive choice for talented young men.

Despite that, things were changing this time. The lessons of the past finally caught up with the military leadership. The most obvious evidence of this is the change in pilot training. For decades pilots got little airtime. This reduced wear and tear on the aircraft, making it cheaper to maintain many warplanes. What this produced was many ill-trained pilots flying second rate aircraft. Such a force is usually cut to pieces by a better trained opponent. That happened time and again to everyone from 1941 on. China then tried the other approach favored by Western air forces. PLA pilots were officially required to fly over a hundred hours per year. There was such enthusiasm for developing competent pilots that most squadrons scrounged up the money to fly their pilots more than the new minimum. Front line units, like those on the Taiwan strait, get even more and some had pilots in the air for over 200 hours a year. This was more than Taiwanese pilots fly and explains why the Taiwanese are so eager to upgrade their air defenses. Yet, at the same time some squadrons did not fly much, and the reason was usually that senior officers stole the money needed for flight operations.

The paper dragon is trying to sharpen its claws, putting on some muscle and learning how to fight. China now has thousands of modern warplanes, a growing fleet of modern warships, and modern equipment for many of its ground troops. But there are still a lot of corrupt or incompetent officers at all levels. It's not just the theft; it's also the many officers who don't make any extra effort. There's also a lack of recent combat experience, which eliminates the possibility of getting the best officers promoted and the worst ones killed off or pushed to the side. While this mess is recognized by the senior political leadership, the public image the state-controlled media puts out there is that Chinas armed forces are ready for anything and capable of handling any foe. You can get away with that kind of propaganda in peacetime but once these troops go into combat it all falls apart. Keep that in mind the next time China rattles its saber because Chinas leaders do so frequently. They have every intention to stay out of any war they cannot win. Aside from going after pirates who still occasionally appear off the coast, or land-based armed gangs or political militias, the military has no formidable opponents. Yet its useful to practice on smaller threats that the troops can handle.
China's development: Why it resonates beyond ideology

15:06, March 16, 2026 By Karabo Mohamme ( People's Daily Online

In an era defined by shifting geopolitical dynamics and economic uncertainty, China's development path has increasingly attracted attention from countries across the Global South and beyond. What makes China's approach particularly notable is that its appeal often transcends ideological boundaries. Rather than being embraced because of political alignment, China's path to modernization resonates largely due to its pragmatic focus on economic growth, poverty reduction, infrastructure development, and long-term planning.

Over the past four decades, China has transformed itself from a largely agrarian economy into the world's second-largest economy. This transformation has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty and created one of the most extensive industrial and infrastructure networks in the world. For many developing countries facing similar challenges of industrialization, urbanization, and economic modernization, China's experience offers practical lessons that are not tied to a specific ideological template.

One of the core elements of China's development path is its emphasis on gradual reform and experimentation. Rather than adopting sweeping economic reforms all at once, China has often relied on pilot programs and regional testing before scaling policies nationwide. Special economic zones, for instance, allowed China to test market-oriented reforms in controlled environments before extending them to the rest of the country. This flexible and adaptive approach has allowed policymakers to adjust strategies based on real-world results.

Infrastructure-led growth is another defining feature. China has invested heavily in transportation networks, energy systems, digital infrastructure, and industrial zones. High-speed rail networks, modern ports, and advanced logistics systems have dramatically reduced the cost of moving goods and people across the country. This focus on connectivity and infrastructure has helped stimulate domestic demand, attract foreign investment, and strengthen supply chains.

China's development strategy has also placed significant emphasis on long-term planning. Through mechanisms such as five-year plans, the government sets strategic priorities that guide economic development, technological innovation, and social progress. This planning framework allows for policy continuity and coordination across different sectors of the economy and different regions of the country, helping ensure that short-term initiatives align with broader national goals.

Another factor that makes China's path resonate globally is its strong focus on poverty alleviation and inclusive growth. In recent decades, China has implemented targeted poverty alleviation programs that combine infrastructure development, employment creation, and social support policies. These initiatives have contributed to what many observers consider one of the most significant poverty reduction achievements in modern history.

Importantly, China does not present its development path as a universal blueprint. Chinese leaders often emphasize that each country must find its own path to modernization based on its national conditions. This emphasis on diversity in development pathways appeals to many nations that are wary of one-size-fits-all policy prescriptions.

China's growing engagement with other developing regions has also amplified interest in its development approach. Through initiatives such as infrastructure investment, technology cooperation, and trade partnerships, China has become a major development partner for many countries. These collaborations often focus on practical outcomes such as building roads, ports, energy facilities, and digital infrastructureareas that directly support economic growth.

For many policymakers in emerging economies, China's experience offers a case study of how strong state coordination, market mechanisms, and strategic investment can work together to accelerate development. While each country faces unique circumstances, the underlying principles of pragmatism, experimentation, and long-term planning have proven broadly relevant.

As global development debates continue to evolve, China's development path will likely remain a topic of discussion and analysis. Its resonance beyond ideology lies in its practical results and adaptabilityqualities that many countries see as valuable in navigating the complex challenges of economic development in the 21st century.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Wu Chengliang)
March 16, 2026: Since Russia invaded in 2022 the Ukrainian Security Service has dealt with over 14,000 Russian CyberWar attacks on Ukrainian government and infrastructure Russia also has military units that specialize in CyberWar as well as civilians and gangsters that do it for the money. The Russian government pays them to do it for the Motherland. Ukraine has blocked thousands of these attacks and inflicted far more CyberWar mayhem on Russia. This is nothing new. Two years ago, Ukraine carried out a surprise electronic attack on Russian internet access. This was accomplished by using the largest DDOS distributed denial of service attack ever. The attack disrupted all major Russian internet systems, including financial institutions, government networks and internet-based communications. This included messaging apps and social networks.

These attacks are usually carried out by first using a computer virus, often delivered as an email attachment that installs a secret Trojan horse type program that allows someone else to take over that computer remotely and turn it into a zombie for spamming, stealing, monitoring, or DDOS attacks to shut down another site. There are millions of zombie PCs out there and these can be rented, either for spamming or launching DDOS attacks. You can equip a web site to resist, or even brush off, a DDOS attack but the Ukrainian attack was so massive and well planned that Russian DDoS defenses were of no use.

It took about three weeks to get the Russian internet back to normal, although some systems were so heavily damaged that it will take months to get them running again. Major commercial, government and military systems were damaged or offline for weeks while repairs were made. The Ukrainian attacks were so massive, hitting internet targets throughout Russia, that there were not enough Russian internet engineers to repair all that damage immediately. That means systems that are not critical will be offline for weeks or months.

Russians fear the Ukrainians will launch a similar attack before all the damage from the recent one is repaired. Russia has long been a leader in such attacks, but the Ukrainians prepared for that before the Russian 2022 invasion and upgraded their internet defenses. Russia was not as well prepared and was vulnerable. Some Russian internet engineers warned their government of the vulnerability but not enough was done.

Simultaneously the United States continues to hunt down and prosecute Russian hackers that were responsible for Cyber War attacks on Ukraine just before the Russians invaded in 2022. Five suspects are members of the Russian military and in Russia. The United States has offered a $60 million reward for those who make possible the arrest of the Russian hackers. This is the largest reward the United States has ever offered. These rewards work and the Americans keep quiet about who received an award and how the U.S. often arranged to have the award winners and their families relocated and sometimes put in a form of the U.S. witness protection program.

The Russian cyber-attacks on Ukraine were known as Whisper Gate and were carried out by the Russian GRU military intelligence organization. The GRU, in one form or another, has been around for 300 years. Espionage and dirty tricks are a long Russian tradition.

The GRU Cyber War offensive on the eve of the Ukraine invasion was directed against NATO supporters of Ukraine, including the United States. This triggered an aggressive and ongoing American response. This appears to have encouraged the GRU to try harder and the Cyber War goes on.
Intrepid Travel has confirmed that it will be resuming its Egypt tours.

The company previously chose to temporarily halt the Egypt tours due to the conflict in the Middle East.

Intrepid to Resume Egypt Tours

According to Travel Weekly, Intrepid's president of the Americas, Leigh Barnes, said "Being able to return to Egypt means visitors can experience an incredible destination while helping bring much-needed income back to the guides, small businesses and families who rely on tourism."

With the present threat of flight cancellations, Intrepid said that those who cannot make it to Egypt due to war-related cancellations will receive a 100% credit for their land trip, according to TravelPulse.

On the other hand, those who had cancelled their trips will have the opportunity to rebook a trip to another destination.

They will likewise either receive 100% for the value of the land portion or request a refund with 20% unrecoverable costs.

Those who are entitled to a full refund are those who are under package regulations in the regions of Europe, Middle East, and Africa.

How About Tours for Oman and Jordan?

Unfortunately, Intrepid's Oman and Jordan tours, which have also been paused, will not resume alongside the Egypt tours.

According to Intrepid, tours for Oman and Jordan remain suspended until at least April 15. Affected customers have the option to rebook to another destination, receive full credit, or get an 80% refund.
How freshwater systems can continue to provide safe drinking water as climate pressures grow. How the ocean captures carbon dioxide that drives climate change. Where marine animals travel as their ecosystems shift around them. And how to ensure Canadas history isnt lost in the algorithms of the digital age.

To understand systems like these, researchers need the tools to investigate them properly.

The Canada Foundation for Innovation announced Friday (March 13) that Dalhousie has received more than $7.3 million in grants through its Innovation Fund. The new funding will support four major research infrastructure projects spanning climate-resilient water engineering, ocean carbon science, global ocean monitoring, and digital transformation for Canadas historical record.

State-of-the-art research infrastructure is essential for tackling the complex challenges facing our communities and environment, said Dr. Graham Gagnon, vice-president for research and innovation at Dal and a co-lead of one of the newly funded projects. These investments equip our research community with the tools they need to generate new knowledge, train highly skilled talent, and work with partners at home and around the world to deliver solutions that benefit Canadians.

Advancing climate-resilient water systems





Dr. Amina Stoddart on site at a Halifax Water treatment facility. (Daniel Abriel photo)

With support from CFI, Drs. Gagnon and Amina Stoddart of Dalhousies Faculty of Engineering will lead the development of the Water RESILIENCE Lab at the university, an initiative focused on developing advanced monitoring and treatment technologies to help communities manage growing water risks linked to climate change.

Investing in this research safeguards Canada's water resources, supports actionable science for communities, and positions the country as a global leader in climate-resilient water stewardship, says Dr. Stoddart, Dalhousies Canada Research Chair in Wastewater Treatment Technology and Surveillance.

Canadas freshwater resources face increasing pressures from changing weather patterns, emerging contaminants and aging infrastructure. The new infrastructure will enable the engineers to detect changes in water quality more rapidly and develop effective and energy efficient approaches to treatment. New equipment includes automated genomic and flow cytometry systems, high-resolution mass spectrometry, and ultraviolet LED disinfection systems. These technologies will enable researchers to track climate-driven changes in watersheds, identify emerging contaminants and design new low-carbon approaches to remove pollutants such as PFAS and waterborne pathogens.

The initiative is supported by a CFI award of $1.37 million toward a total project cost of $3.43 million.

Understanding the oceans role in climate

The Faculty of Sciences Drs. Erin Bertrand and Carolyn Buchwald will lead a major new effort to better understand how the ocean stores and cycles carbon in a rapidly changing climate.

Their project, Quantifying the ocean carbon climate system in a changing world, will build laboratory infrastructure geared to explore how the ocean stores carbon and how this capacity is changing. This research will help scientists improve models used to predict the future impacts of climate change and evaluate emerging approaches for leveraging the oceans carbon cycles to remove greenhouse gas from the atmosphere.



Shown above right: Dr. Erin Bertrand.

The ocean absorbs much of the carbon dioxide humans release, but many of the processes that make this possible are not well understood, says Dr. Bertrand, who recently assumed the role of acting scientific director and CEO of Dalhousies Ocean Frontier Institute. This new infrastructure gives us the ability to examine those processes in much greater detail and to generate evidence that governments and communities can rely on when making decisions about climate action and ocean stewardship.



(Matthew Bara photo/Pexels)

The research will focus on the Northwest Atlantic, the Arctic Gateway and the St. Lawrence system  regions experiencing rapid environmental change and playing an outsized role in ocean-climate interactions.

The project is supported by a CFI award of $3.02 million toward a total project cost of $7.55 million and is being conducted in collaboration with the Universite du Quebec a Rimouski.

Accelerating ocean tracking to support near-real-time management





Dr. Robert Lennox

Another major investment will support the Ocean Tracking Network (OTN), a globally recognized aquatic research organization headquartered at Dalhousie.

Led by Drs. Robert Lennox and Sarah Fortune, the project will renew and upgrade key infrastructure used to track the movements of marine animals and monitor ocean conditions. For nearly 20 years, OTN has been deploying innovative monitoring equipment  tags, acoustic receivers, and ocean-going robots such as gliders and remotely operated vehicles  in key ocean and freshwater locations across the globe.

OTN brings together researchers around the world who are working to understand how aquatic animals move through and interact with marine ecosystems, says Dr. Lennox, OTNs scientific director. Upgrading this infrastructure strengthens Canadas ability to lead that global effort and to turn ocean observations into knowledge that supports responsible management of the ocean and related industries.



Slocum gliders dive up and down the water column, detecting acoustic signals from tagged animals and measuring oceanographic variables. Photo: Nicolas Winkler Photography

The new infrastructure will refresh equipment nearing the end of its operational life and increase capacity for near-real-time monitoring of marine animals and ecosystems, enhancing Canadas ability to inform evidence-based management of fisheries, conservation and other activities.

The project has received a CFI award of $2.62 million toward a total project cost of $6.67 million, with matching funding secured from Fisheries and Oceans Canada, as well as in-kind contributions from manufacturers.

Building Canadas digital history for the future





Dr. Stacy Allison-Cassin

Dr. Stacy Allison-Cassin of the Faculty of Management is a co-applicant on the project Open Science Infrastructure for Canad(ian)a: Digital Collections of the Future led by the University of Ottawa. The national initiative aims to transform access to Canadas historical record.

Canadians understanding of the social, economic and political forces that shape their lives depends on access to reliable information about our past, says Dr. Allison. This project will help researchers unlock millions of historical documents using advanced digital methods, creating new opportunities to explore Canadas history and ensure those records remain accessible and meaningful.

Funded infrastructure will enable researchers to organize and analyze millions of pages of historical documents using advanced digital tools and artificial intelligence. The project will provide a data-driven historical lens on the social, economic, political, and cultural forces that shaped Canada and help ensure that a full picture of Canada's past is part of the AI-driven future.

Dalhousies portion of the project includes $295,943 in CFI funding toward total institutional project costs of $675,941.

Investing in research infrastructure

The CFI Innovation Fund (CFI IF) supports large-scale research infrastructure projects that enable world-leading research across disciplines. The CFI IF program provides up to 40 per cent of the total project costs. Institutions typically secure remaining project funding through partnerships with provincial governments, industry and other organizations.

This significant investment through the CFIs flagship Innovation Fund will help propel Canada forward by advancing innovation in areas critical to our future. By supporting state-of-the-art labs and equipment, this funding will foster collaboration, attract and train the next generation of talent and accelerate the commercialization of solutions that delivers real benefits for Canadians, says Sylvain Charbonneau, president and CEO of the Canada Foundation for Innovation.

The Dalhousie funding is part of a national announcement of more than $552 million to support 92 research infrastructure projects at 32 institutions across the country. Infrastructure funded through the 2025 competition will also receive additional support through the CFI Infrastructure Operating Fund to help cover operational costs.

By investing in advanced research infrastructure, the program strengthens Canadas ability to attract and retain top research talent, foster collaboration across sectors and generate discoveries that benefit communities, industry and the economy.
Southwest Airlines has announced that it will discontinue flights to the Chicago O'Hare and Washington Dulles airports beginning June 4.

According to the company, the decision is part of the company's efforts to refine its network.

Southwest to Stop Flights to O'Hare, Dulles

Per a report by Travel Weekly, the company said in a statement that the decision to stop flights to O'Hare and Dulles will not have that much of an impact on flight availability for Chicago and Washington.

"These changes do not represent any significant changes in flight availability for these cities, as we will continue our robust service at Chicago Midway, Baltimore Washington International and Washington Reagan National," the carrier said in a statement.

One Mile at a Time notes that Southwest decided to serve the Chicago O'Hare airport in 2021.

This is not the first time that Southwest has stopped operations at airports across the United States. Southwest previously exited from Houston Bush Intercontinental, Syracuse, New York, and Bellingham, Washington, in 2024.

Related Article: Southwest Rolls Out Advanced Cockpit Alerts to Avoid Runway Dangers

Southwest's Flights at O'Hare, Dulles

According to Travel Weekly, Southwest flies only to Denver and Phoenix out of the Washington Dulles airport.

It operates more flights out of Chicago O'Hare, including flights to Austin, Dallas, and Las Vegas.
Kieran Griffiths, director of Sligos Hawks Well and Art Deco theatres and former producer - director of the Playhouse in Derry under what he described as "the expert guidance of Pauline Ross", has lent his support to the I Stand With The Artists of Derry campaign.

Speaking to The Derry News, Mr Griffiths said: I will always stand for Derry artists because I am one.

Launched on social media on Sunday, with city-centre leafleting taking place on St Patricks Day, the aim of the campaign is to highlight the poor treatment of artists and creators in Derry in terms of employment and contract rights.

The artists and creators are calling for More Respect. More Protection. More Accountability.

As part of the campaign, a large number of them have decided not to participate in Tuesdays St Patrick's Day Spring Carnival Parade in Derry.

Derry dance teacher Irena Noonan described the arts community in Derry as incredibly strong and passionate.

Many teachers, performers and volunteers dedicate huge amounts of time to giving young people opportunities to be creative, confident and involved in their community, she said.

What people sometimes do not see is the amount of work that goes into making events happen, the choreography, rehearsals, costume design, safeguarding, transport and cost. It often takes months of preparation from artists and community groups.

I think artists and community groups simply want to feel respected and included in conversations about events which rely on their work and participation.

For many young dancers and performers these events are huge milestones.

Families plan around them, children rehearse for months, and it is about giving them the opportunity to perform and feel part of the city.

It is a real shame that this years parade preparations have been hugely affected by lack of communication, said Ms Noonan.

Hopefully with people speaking out a bit more, going forward there can be stronger collaboration between organisers and the arts community in Derry, so we can keep creating amazing experiences for the city and the young people involved, she added.

Another member of the citys creative community said people within the creative industries in the North West feel underappreciated.

It is not specific to any one venue but we are underpaid and have no support network, said the freelance stage manager.

There is no meaningful acknowledgement of our talent and skills as artists or the work we have put in to develop them. We are paid minimum wage and when we are taken on to do a job, we are expected to do the work of five other people, and then were dropped and thats it.

There is no accountability for the way we are treated. We are supposed to entertain people and make them happy but how are we supposed to thrive in our careers if we are under appreciated and under paid?

A large number of artists and creators are leaving Derry and going elsewhere - to Belfast and London - because that respect for our industry does not exist here, they said.

Nathan McCrossan told The Derry News he was shocked at how things worked in Derrys arts scene.

We have no job security. We work extremely long hours, to tight deadlines, for unfair pay.

Artists are very badly treated and managed here and we receive no recognition or appreciation for our work, said Mr McCrossan.

Karl Porter of UV Arts who is responsible for many of the eye-catching murals in Derry including The Undertones and most recently Peter Cunnah, said he felt there was a massive disconnect between the people organising and running arts events and the artists and creators on the ground engaged in delivery.

Kieran Griffiths, director of Sligos Hawks Well and Art Deco theatres.

Kieran Griffiths said the I Stand With The Artists of Derry campaign was for something, not against something.

It is for the artists, he added, I was a jobbing actor myself and know only too well how hard it is.

Pauline Ross who founded the Playhouse, her door was always open to artists.

The inscription above its big red door is about education and pathways to a career and I always took that duty and responsibility very seriously at the Playhouse, when I was working there.

I tried to provide as many opportunities for employment, make as much theatre, and get involved and raise money for different art forms, as possible.

That really meant something to me. I left because that focus was changing, said Mr Griffiths.

The situation the artists and creators are now highlighting has been going on for a number of years. There seems to be a very little amount of production going on in Derry.

Essentially after I left the Playhouse there werent as many opportunities, I felt anyway.

For me, seeing what is happening to artists and creators and their rights as human beings and employees has been terrible.

The result of them not working, Derry has lost St Patricks Day is outrageous. That is a major failing, said Mr Griffiths.

Previous St Patrick's Day Parade in Derry.

When he moved to Sligo, Mr Griffiths said in his mind he was not leaving Derry.

Although Northern Ireland and the UK had decided to further disconnect itself from people by further disconnecting from Europe, the Taoiseachs Office had committed 2 billion to the Shared Island Fund up to 2035 and I thought, I will go and maybe make a bit of an impact for artists in Sligo, as is my job, but I will also try to connect the island in some way culturally, he recalled.

And, I am very proud to say, David McLaughlin [chief executive] at the Millennium Forum has supported me, said Mr Griffiths.

I brought an idea to him, a quarter of a million euro funded project, through which an artist from the North and an artist from the Republic of Ireland would be hired, for an initiative called Project Lighthouse.

Project Lighthouse would look at what peace means to a generation born after the Good Friday Agreement.

Those were two artists residencies valued at 25,000 each, creating employment for artists. That is only the start. David and I are in for the long haul.

Thinking about what is going on at the minute in the city, I am hopeful there is a growing connection and partnership between David and his team at the Millennium Forum.

The way in which they welcomed our team into the Forum in January for The White Handkerchief was unreal. They really wrapped their arms around us, said Mr Griffiths.

We had 35 people in that production. It was a big deal and The Millenium really got it. We are now working on presenting the Trilogy: The White Handkerchief, Beyond Belief and Project Lighthouse - the research and development phase for the third part of the trilogy, which deals with children in the conflict.

A spokesperson for Derry City and Strabane District Council told The Derry News it recognises the important role played by artists in the local arts and culture sector however, in the absence of specific details of who the artists are, the organisations they are referring to and the nature of the alleged issues, it would not be appropriate for us to comment on this matter.

The Derry News also sought comment from arts organisations across the city. At the time of going to print one had declined to comment and two did not comment.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced a 17 million support package for households in the North as energy prices rise, which would amount to just 34 per household.

There has been strong cross party condemnation of the announcement.

The package was branded a "pathetic pittance" by Derry City and Strabane District councillor Shaun Harkin (PBP).

Cllr Harkin said: "The British government's 17m in energy support for households is a pathetic pittance compared to what is needed.

"The bone Starmer is throwing the North is a far cry from the kind of emergency financial intervention that has been demanded and that is needed to support households facing spiralling energy costs," he added.

"He says he loves coming here but he certainly doesn't love helping here.

"Starmer wastes millions everyday by supporting Trump and Netanyahu's latest acts of barbarism in the Middle East.

"Huge levers exist in Westminster for bolder emergency action, including implementing an emergency wealth tax on billionaires and oil and gas companies to offset the rocketing energy prices and cost-of-living pressures on working-class households.

"Stormont Ministers can't simply sit on their hands and must step-up with further targeted support," said Cllr Harkin.

He added: "If Stormont can find millions for a massive and unjustified MLA pay hike, it must at least match Starmer's pathetic contribution to protect disproportionately hard-pressed households. Westminster and Stormont must ensure price-gouging is stopped.

"War and the interests of big oil and big gas corporations are intrinsically linked. Neither serve the interests of people here or globally.

"This latest energy crisis underscores the urgent need to move away from fossil fuel dependence and towards an all-Ireland energy based on locally developed renewables," said Cllr Harkin.

Sinn Fein councillor Sandra Duffy described the funding announced by the British government for those reliant on home heating oil as "an insult to struggling families".

"It 'doesn't even touch the surface' of the rising costs people are facing," said Cllr Duffy," and is frankly an insult to struggling families.



The reckless war in the Middle East, aided and abetted by the British government, has caused energy prices to skyrocket, with workers, families and businesses left to pay the price," she added.



If the British government is serious about supporting people who are struggling, a proper financial support package must be brought forward now.



Sinn Fein will continue to press Keir Starmer and his government for proper support for all families struggling with rising energy bills."
A MAN who used his US citizenship to buy military-grade firearms and ammunition legally in America before selling them on to Irish criminal gangs - including in Derry - has been jailed for ten years.

Passing sentence on Conor O'Brien at the three-judge Special Criminal Court this Monday, Ms Justice Karen O'Connor said criminal gangs need firearms to threaten and intimidate others and use them to maim, kill and terrorise.

O'Brien, she said, had shown a cavalier attitude towards the harm he was causing by playing a "crucial, if not imperative role" providing arms and ammunition.

He took advantage of his dual citizenship to purchase guns in America and sell them here for financial gain, she said, adding that the impact of such crimes "cannot be overestimated".

In communications found on his phone, including one in which joked about selling guns to "Ireland's top criminals, LOL", Ms Justice O'Connor said he had shown "total disregard for the impact of such deadly weapons on our citizens".

READ NEXT: Strong cross party condemnation of 'energy price rise' package announced by British Government

While O'Brien's guilty plea had been of value, Ms Justice O'Connor said the evidence against him was compelling as he had been caught "red-handed" with an extensive arsenal of firearms, ammunition and components in a shed he was renting.

Ms Justice O'Connor also noted that O'Brien had used his own name and details when purchasing the firearms and ammo in the US, making them traceable to him and showing "an element of naivety" in what he was doing.

Ms Justice O'Connor cited as an aggravating factor the extensive planning and organisation involved in the importation and sale of guns as she set a headline sentence of 15 years, the maximum penalty available. Having considered mitigating factors, including his guilty plea, she reduced the sentence to 11 years with the final 12 months suspended for one year.

The court ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the firearms and ammunition. However, the court will hear further submissions next week regarding cash that was also seized by gardai investigating O'Brien.

Counsel for O'Brien said there is no consent to the forfeiture of the cash in circumstances where money laundering charges that had been brought against O'Brien are no longer being pursued.

At a previous hearing, Detective Inspector Shane McCartan said: Without Conor OBrien, there would be no criminal organisation, such was his importance."

OBrien and the leader of the gun-running ring, Mark McCourt, were distributing guns and ammunition to criminal gangs in Derry, Armagh, Dublin and Limerick, he said.

Last November, O'Brien aged 29, of Kilpatrick, Ardee, Co Louth, was arraigned on six charges.

He pleaded guilty that between February 10, 2023, and July 19, 2024 with knowledge of the existence of a criminal organisation, he did participate in or contribute to activity intending to facilitate the commission by the said criminal organisation or any of its members in the importation of firearms and ammunition and explosives.

He further pleaded guilty to five counts concerning the possession or control of a firearm or ammunition in suspicious circumstances, contrary to the provisions of Section 27A(1) of the Firearms Act 1964, as substituted by section 59 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006, as amended by the Criminal Justice Act 2007.

These related to offences at John Street, Blackstick, Ardee, Co Louth, on July 19, 2024, when he had unlawfully in his possession two .233 Remington calibre barrels from AR-15 pattern semi-automatic rifles, in circumstances giving rise to a reasonable inference that he did not possess them for a lawful purpose; he had possession of four .233 Remington calibre barrels from Anderson manufacturing AM-15 pattern semi-automatic rifles; he had eight frames for Sig Sauer semi-automatic pistols; a frame for a Canik semi-automatic pistol; and four slides for a Sig Sauer model P320 9mm Luger calibre semi-automatic pistol.

At the sentencing hearing, Det Insp McCartan told counsel for the State, Simon Matthews BL, that OBrien and McCourt were involved in procuring the firearms in America and bringing them into Ireland, where they were distributed.

Det Insp McCartan explained that the two men were bringing the weapons into Ireland in component parts, which were then reassembled.

The detective inspector said that both men were arrested and their phones seized, with forensic examination of the phones revealing communication between the two and other parties who used aliases.

He said that in one communication between OBrien and a person known as Eugene, OBrien made reference to a suitcase full of Glocks and .22 is for babies, the latter being a reference to .22 calibre ammunition.

Det Insp McCartan said that in April 2023, McCourt and OBrien flew to Las Vegas, with OBrien returning to Ireland on April 9. In a communication between OBrien and an individual known as The Keeler, the defendant mentioned 500 rounds of 9mm. OBrien also said that he was going to stick them all together, which Det Insp McCartan explained meant reassembling the component parts of firearms.

The detective inspector said that communication between the parties revealed that OBrien had military grade rifles and Glock handguns, as well as large drum magazines, which were capable of firing 60 rounds, and assorted ammunition.

Det Insp McCartan gave evidence that, in relation to this particular collection of weapons and ammunition, McCourt had messaged that 75K is the best price.

The witness said that the two men had shared images and videos of the firearms with The Keeler, which showed the type of guns they had for sale. He said that some of the weapons were fully assembled, with everything stored in a shed in Blackstick in Ardee, which was rented by OBrien.

The detective inspector told the court that gardai were able to identify a serial number attached to one of the AR-15 rifles that showed the weapon had been purchased by OBrien from a firearms shop in Nevada in February 2023. He gave further evidence of a conversation between McCourt and an individual known as Vladimir Putin in May 2023, in which McCourt said he could get an AR-15 rifle with long range bullets that can drop a deer at 900 yards, no problem.

Det Insp McCartan also gave evidence of further communication between OBrien and a person known as C, in which OBrien said that he had pipes. The witness said that he believed this referred to pipe bombs, with OBrien sourcing clients for pipe bombs which were to be manufactured by McCourt.

In further communication, McCourt made a reference to meeting this other fella today to give him the money for the flight. Det Insp McCartan said that other members of the criminal organisation were travelling to America to support the transporting of ammo and gun parts back to Ireland, with the gun components divided out between these air passengers.

In a communication in July 2024, OBrien told a man called Joe that he was selling weapons to Irelands top criminals.

Det Insp McCartan said that when gardai raided the shed in Ardee in July 2024, they found a suitcase of firearms and handguns, which were semi-automatic pistols and military grade rifles, all of them in working order. The court was shown an example of the type of handgun and assault rifle that was found in the premises rented by OBrien in Ardee.

The detective inspector said that when arrested, OBrien initially downplayed his role in the offences but then accepted that the items found were his. When asked what his role was, OBrien told gardai: I know guns.

Det Insp McCartan said that he formed the opinion about the existence of a criminal organisation, with OBrien operating in a symbiotic relationship" with McCourt.

Without Conor OBrien, there would be no criminal organisation, such was his importance, said the detective inspector, adding that McCourt was directing operations in Derry, Armagh, Dublin and Limerick and dealing with Ireland's top criminals.

OBrien had no previous convictions.

READ NEXT: Demands for Stormont to fund Mental Health Strategy

O'Brien's co-accused Mark McCourt, aged 34, of Edenreive, Newry, Co Down, was previously jailed for 12 years by the Special Criminal Court, having also pleaded guilty to facilitating the criminal organisations efforts to import restricted weapons between February 2023 and July 2024, and the possession of firearms components.

McCourt told one prospective customer he would throw in ten pipe bombs as a free gift to seal a 75,000 cash deal to supply guns and ammunition smuggled by air from America, the sentencing court heard.

He has 42 previous convictions, including for assault causing harm, theft and dangerous driving. McCourt was previously jailed for going to the home of an off-duty garda and ramming her car.
Stormont Finance Minister John ODowd has said any Government subsidy for those who use heating oil to warm their homes must be meaningful.

Mr ODowd wrote to the Treasury last week calling for a financial intervention over the cost of the energy price spike caused by the war in the Middle East.

Mr ODowd told the BBC that the powersharing Executive did not have the financial wherewithal to make a meaningful contribution to support hard-pressed working families.

The Prime Minister will make a heating oil announcement later on Monday after Chancellor Rachel Reeves said Treasury officials had found the money to help the 1.5 million households relying on the fuel.

Around two-thirds of homes in Northern Ireland use home heating oil.

Mr ODowd said: While we welcome the fact that we now have a clear indication from the Government that there will be a financial intervention, it is going to have to be meaningful, it is going to have to be delivered quickly and it is going to have to make a difference to those who are facing financial crisis.

We havent been given the detail of any scheme, my officials will be engaging further today with Treasury.

He added: If it is around 50 million, over a million properties, then the maths is quite simple on that one, it is around 50 per qualified household.

We have to see if it falls directly under the control of the Executive, then those decisions will be for the Executive to be made.

If it is in that region of 50 million then I do think the Executive is going to have to have a conversation around how we best use that money to target those most in need.

Facing a Stormont committee on Monday, Sinn Fein Economy Minister Caoimhe Archibald accused the DUP of peddling mistruth and misinformation in relation to energy bill support funding.

Last week Ms Archibald had been criticised by the chairman of the Economy Committee, DUP MLA Phillip Brett, who highlighted that an announcement in the Chancellors spring statement made 81 million of funding available to Stormont to reduce energy bills and claimed the department had not yet submitted a business case to the Treasury for funding.

On Monday Ms Archibald denied that departmental officials were not aware of the funding until it was brought to their attention by Mr Brett, saying the funding came from annually managed expenditure (AME) which is tightly controlled by the British Government and is used to deliver schemes here that align with those in Britain.

The Economy Minister further stated that any deviation from the scheme in Britain would need to be agreed with the British Government.

I believe its irresponsible to build peoples hopes up that this funding could be targeted differently, she said.

Mr Brett questioned the timeline of correspondence between the Treasury and the department and concluded the meeting saying: We still dont have a delivery mechanism, so I think we just need to encourage the department to try and get this delivery mechanism delivered as soon as possible.
Sir Keir Starmer said he is working with allies on a plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

The Prime Minister has resisted Donald Trumps demands to send Royal Navy warships to help secure the vital shipping route for oil and gas which has been effectively closed to tankers by the Iran war.

He said the UK was working with countries, including European allies, on a viable plan to ease the crisis, which has driven up global oil prices.

The Prime Minister also set out measures to ease the cost-of-living pressures in the UK, with a plan to help households reliant on heating oil.

Setting out his response in a Downing Street press conference Sir Keir said he would not allow the UK to be drawn into a wider war in the Middle East.

He said: Were working with all of our allies, including our European partners, to bring together a viable collective plan that can restore freedom of navigation in the region as quickly as possible and ease the economic impacts.

The Prime Minister discussed the issue with Mr Trump on Sunday.

The US president has warned the future of Nato could be at stake unless allies agreed to his demand to provide ships.

The UK could potentially send mine-hunting drones to the region rather than a warship, although Sir Keir insisted no final decisions had been made.

Mr Trump said Nato faces a very bad future should its member states fail to help, adding: Well see if they help us, because Ive long said that well be there for them but they wont be there for us.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Mr Trump reiterated his call for allied assistance in the Strait of Hormuz, telling the paper: Its only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries of the strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there.

He has previously called for the UK, China, France, Japan and South Korea to send ships to secure the route.

Mr Trump again hit out at Sir Keirs refusal to allow US forces to use UK bases in the initial wave of attacks against Iran.

The UK might be considered the number one ally, the longest serving et cetera and when I asked for them to come, they didnt want to come, he told the Financial Times.

And as soon as we basically wiped out the danger capacity from Iran, they said, oh well well send two ships, and I said, we need these ships before we win, not after we win. Ive long said that Nato is a one-way street.

Asked about the Strait of Hormuz situation, Sir Keir said: It is a discussion, we are not at a point of decisions yet, I want to really stress that.

He said he had discussed the issue with countries in the Gulf and Europe as well as Mr Trump.

Itll have to be something which is agreed by as many partners as possible, is my strong view. Were not at that stage yet, but we are working hard.

The Prime Minister acknowledged the impact of rising oil and gas prices on households in the UK.

He announced the Government had issued a legal direction to energy companies to pass on savings from government policies already announced.

And he set out a 53 million package of support for vulnerable heating oil customers, focused on those households that are most exposed.

He also raised concerns about claims that suppliers of heating oil have cancelled orders and then hiked bills as prices have spiked.

I simply will not allow companies to make huge profits from the hardship of working people, he said. That kind of conduct is completely unacceptable, so if the companies have broken the law, there will be legal action.

England will receive 27 million to support heating oil customers, which will be distributed by local authorities.

Northern Ireland, which has the highest proportion of homes reliant on heating oil of the UKs four nations, has been allocated 17 million, Scotland 4.6 million and Wales 3.8 million.

The Treasury said the funding has been allocated based on census data, with the money going to the devolved governments to distribute.

But the Government was not able to provide an estimate of the number of households that would benefit from the extra support.

Further measures could follow if the crisis continues, with Sir Keir declining to rule out a more significant intervention once the current energy price cap expires in July.

Asked whether he could implement a similar policy to the energy price guarantee introduced by Liz Truss in 2022 at a cost of tens of billions of pounds, he said it was not sensible to say within a number of months time, not knowing what the situation will be, that the following will be ruled in or be out.

He said: My instinct is always to help working people in a situation like this.

The Conservatives welcomed the announcement of the extra support, saying it would be welcome for rural households who have been ripped off by rogue heating oil suppliers.

But shadow energy secretary Claire Coutinho said the Government should go further and cut everyones electricity bills by 20% by adopting Tory energy policies.

She said: The uncomfortable truth is that this scheme will be funded by Labours tax rises on working people  tax hikes that wouldnt be necessary if (Energy Secretary) Ed Miliband hadnt chosen to leave 25 billion worth of tax revenue in the ground by shutting down the North Sea.
Flights have been temporarily suspended at the Dubai International Airport amid the ongoing Iran war.

The suspension of flights comes after a drone attack took place near the airport affected a fuel tank, which caused a fire.

Dubai International Airport Suspends Flights

According to a social media post by the Dubai Media Office, the suspension of flights is "a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of all passengers and staff."

"Travellers are advised to contact their respective airlines for the latest updates regarding their flights," the announcement added. "Further updates will be announced through official channels as soon as they become available."

Some flights have been diverted to the Al Maktoum International Airport.

Passengers whose flights are affected are advised to contact the airlines handling their flights. It is also not advisable to travel to the Dubai International Airport as of press time.

Dubai Civil Aviation Authority announces the temporary suspension of flights at Dubai International Airport as a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of all passengers and staff. Travellers are advised to contact their respective airlines for the latest updates regarding  Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) March 16, 2026

Drone Attack Causes Fire

According to Reuters, the fire caused by the drone attack has been brought under control. There have been no reported injuries due to both the drone attack and the subsequent fire.

The drone attack likewise caused traffic to be temporarily put on hold on road and tunnel links leading to and from the airport.

Reuters notes that this latest incident is already the third to affect the airport since the beginning of the conflict between Iran, Israel, and the United States.
MTN Group hailed its full-year 2025 performance as exceptional, reporting a return to profit and surpassing the milestone of 300 million customers, driven largely by strong growth in its Nigerian and Ghanaian businesses.

In a statement, the operator pointed to strong commercial outcomes led by MTN Nigeria and MTN Ghana as key contributors to the years performance.

Group president and CEO Ralph Mupita described the companys 2025 performance as excellent, adding that the operator is now transitioning to its next strategic phase, Ambition 2030, after achieving its target of connecting 300 million customers by 2025.

We are hugely excited about Africas potential and are well positioned to leverage our scale, footprint and brand leadership to capture the significant structural growth opportunities identified, Mupita said.

According to figures released by the group, MTN ended the year with 307 million voice subscribers, 172 million data users, and 70 million mobile money customers. The operator invested ZAR38 billion (around US$2.3 billion) in capital expenditure to expand network capacity, extend coverage and improve service quality.

The company reported profit before tax of ZAR47.4 billion for the year.

Network usage also continued to grow strongly. Data traffic increased by 27% year-on-year, while average monthly data consumption per user rose from 10.8GB in 2024 to 12.5GB in 2025.

MTN attributed part of this increase to the rapid expansion of its fintech platform, which saw transaction volumes rise 15% to more than 23 billion transactions, with a total transaction value of around US$500 billion.

During the year, the group expanded broadband coverage to 94% of the population across its African markets, while also claiming to have reduced the cost of data for consumers by 14%. MTN said its operations contributed ZAR150 billion in economic and social value across the continent.

Improving macroeconomic conditions also supported the operators financial performance. Service revenue rose 22.7% to ZAR218 billion, underpinned by strong revenue growth in Nigeria (54.9%) and Ghana (35.9%), the company said.
AI agents will be an integral and all-pervasive component of the developing mobile AI ecosystem and be deeply embedded in the fabric of mobile networks. In order to function effectively, these agents will need to be supported by a raft of new, advanced network features and capabilities.

Among the takeaways from Huaweis Media & Analyst Roundtable held during MWC2026 in Barcelona on the theme of unveiling the agent-oriented network, were what these new features are, where they will be applied, and how the company is meeting the challenges of mobile network agentification.

Eric Zhao, VP and Chief Marketing Officer, Wireless Solutions at Huawei said that the rapid growth of mobile AI means that agents in some form are already being used in our mobile phones, in our cars, and at work. In the future, every industry, organization, terminal and individual will be served by agents, which will interact with people and with other agents.

Agent adoption means the introduction of far-reaching changes in communication methods and communication objects, explained Zhao. Huawei is readying for these changes by proposing what it calls the Agentverse, a concept that builds on the Mobile AI ecosystem proposed by Huawei in 2025, and which is already applying AI to increase the spectral efficiency, energy efficiency, and O&M efficiency of its wireless networks.

Defining the Agentverse

Huawei believes the year ahead will see AI being introduced more widely into industry verticals, where in B2B alone there were already 30 million agents applied in different sectors during 2025, significantly improving productivity. Zhao quoted estimates that by 2030, the amount of work handled by agents will grow by 10,000 times.

However, wireless networks need to change to support the needs of verticals, said Zhao. That's the reason that we are proposing the Agentverse this year. Simply put, last year we talked about AI for the wireless network, and this year we are talking about the network for AI.

Zhao identified three key attributes of the agent-oriented network: multimodal interaction (text, image and video rather than the traditional single mode model), collaboration between agents, and intelligent connections going beyond traditional data.

The Agentverse will put greater emphasis on real-time experience assurance (not waiting for information to download), as well as security and reliability, said Zhao. Also, there will be a much greater focus on the uplink, where the rate must fit the requirement of the agent.

Since the industry is already seeing the commercial results of adopting AI centric network solutions, the Agentverse will help to grow revenue in the near future, said Zhao. This incremental revenue for telcos will come from three areas: the new traffic created by Agentverse, the new tariff system introduced by telcos in order to assure Agentverse services, and the new connections in vertical industries enabled by Agentverse.

Supporting the evolving AI network paradigm

In anticipation of the new demands put on networks by the Agentverse. Huawei has also announced Agentic MBB. The company said that Agentic MBB will integrate intelligence into services and networks by employing capabilities such as Huaweis RAN Agent and Adaptive Air solutions to adapt network resources to services, maximizing network potential for enhancing experience and industry value.

Agentic MBB means that Huawei can provide a lot of functions based on AI to support agents, explained Zhao. The first is about downlink and uplink enhancement, for example, by employing Huaweis MetaAAU active antenna technology capable of supporting triple frequency bands in order to enhance both downlink and uplink capacity.

Huawei is eyeing the upper 6GHz spectrum band which it believes will be very important spectrum in the future, not only for 5G but also for the future 6G. Huawei said its new AAU for the upper 6GHz band takes advantage of the bands 700MHz of spectrum to provide good power range and low latency for the new services, including agent service.

To illustrate the importance of uplink capacity required to support new AI-based network traffic, Zhao cited the experience of the Shanghai Art Gallerys spring festival, where AI agent-enabled guides were offered to visitors to explore the exhibition by uploading high resolution videos of the art on display for identification.

The resulting demand for uplink bandwidth was in the ratio of 63 per cent, compared with the traditional ratio which would be 90/10 downlink to uplink, said Zhao. If just 10 people use the agent to finish the guide service and achieve a response within 2 minutes, it would mean pushing the uplink demand as high as 20Mbps, he explained. Even with Chinas very good coverage, uplink speeds are typically no higher than around 2Mbps to 3Mbps.

With this scenario, the capacity is no longer sufficient, said Zhao. From this interesting case we see, in the future, if we want to support the agents in our various networks, we have to upgrade the multi-dimensional capabilities (downlink versus uplink), and enhance the experience by providing service not by best effort, but by end to end assurance. We know that China Mobile already wants to change the downlink to uplink ratio in its network from 7:3 to a new ratio of 3:2.

Standardization and Industry Collaboration

In order to support a growing number of agent services, network capabilities must also be opened to OTT providers, and provide the benefits of on-demand invocation, said Zhao. In this respect, Huawei is also helping to drive new standardization efforts around agentic AI.

This is why Huawei has defined Agent-over-New Radio (AONR), said Zhao. The initiative calls for cross-industry collaboration on the basis that if different stakeholders have a common understanding of the network requirements from the agents, such as the need for high-capacity uplink and high reliability, then they can make separate efforts to realize the goal. AoNR provides these network capabilities.

To evaluate the multimodal experience, Huawei is also supporting work in the China Communications Standards Association (CCSA) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) on a new standard  AI MOS - for end-to-end quality assurance for AI agents. The function of AI MOS is similar to user-perceived quality measurements for traditional services such as voice and video, said Zhao. Huawei is already in discussions with operators and other third party partners in this connection.

Based on the standard, we must know our network will support agents, explained Zhao. We use different lanes in our network. For video data, we use fast lanes. For control data, we use a priority lane. We call this new agent over agent over new radio based on the AI MOS standards. So in the first place we have a powerful foundation network, and secondly we have end to end experience assurance.

Huawei is also supporting the new A2A-T interface, a variant of the A2A interface introduced by Google but adapted for use in telecom networks for agent-to-agent communication, to ensure that network resources and service requirements are fully aligned with the demands and requirements of agent-based services. A2A-T is currently under discussion at 3GPP and the TM Forum.

Traditionally, we always use a fixed open API interface, meaning that for one service we need one APIs, for the other, we need another one, Zhao explained. Using the A2A-T interface means that network services and capabilities can be provided based on the intention. The OTT can send intention to our network and it can understand and finish. We don't need to define so many APIs. So I think it's a very big achievement to our network openness.

Embracing the Agentverse

Huawei expects that the Agentverse concept will be able to support and help future revenue growth in the same way that adopting the AI centric network has already done. I think we should embrace the boundless possibility of Agentverse, because in the future everything will have the agent service, and together we should try our best to provide this reliability, said Zhao.
Cambodia's government approved a draft law late last week targeting fraudsters running cyberscam operations and promises to shut down such operations completely by April. But previous crackdowns against online scam centres have not eliminated the problem. Will this one?

Cambodia is one of a number of countries that is home to a multibillion-dollar fraud industry concentrated in Southeast Asia involving romance and cryptocurrency scams.

The draft law aims to stamp out transnational cyberscam operations and eliminate online scams from Cambodian territory. Indeed, Chhay Sinarith, a senior minister on the government's anti-cyberscam commission, told AFP last week that his country hoped to close all online scam centres by the end of April.

Hefty fines and lengthy imprisonments are promised, increasing in severity if cyberscam operations are found to involve violence, torture, confinement, human trafficking or forced labour, as some reportedly do. Cyberscam bosses will face 15 to 30 years or life imprisonment if their activities lead to one or more deaths.

After a government crackdown that began last July, authorities say they have shut down 80% of locations believed to be carrying out online scams. More than 200,000 people have fled scam sites and left Cambodia, and that the country has deported around 10,000 foreign nationals.

However, restrictions on independent reporting make the government's claims difficult to verify. In addition, Australias ABC News service quotes an analyst who has expressed scepticism given what they call the involvement of "key perpetrators among the Cambodian ruling elite".

ABC says that illicit activity began in Cambodia 2012, and grew during the Covid-19 pandemic, when casinos in particular no longer had in-person customers and turned to online scams. However, scam centres are today present in many countries around the world.
Mirova, a global asset management company dedicated to sustainable investing, has announced a US$15 million senior secured facility for iSAT Africa Mauritius Limited, a leading rural connectivity platform, to support the deployment of fully solar-powered mobile towers in Liberia and Zambia.

iSAT Africa is a pan-African telecom infrastructure and managed services provider focused on expanding digital connectivity across Africa. The company delivers end-to-end solutions including network-as-a-service (NaaS), backhaul-as-a-service (BaaS), and energy-as-a-service (EaaS). Its capabilities include the delivery of turnkey, renewable-powered telecom tower infrastructure enabling high-speed mobile data services, supported by a multi-orbit satellite backhaul architecture.

The ten-year facility will finance the rollout of scalable NaaS and EaaS solutions as part of iSATs broader 1,000-tower expansion strategy across sub-Saharan Africa. The towers, financed by the Mirova Gigaton Fund, will be entirely off grid, powered by solar energy and battery storage.

By replacing diesel-powered rural telecom towers with fully solar, energy-efficient solutions, iSAT says its model has strong potential to significantly reduce CO emissions associated with mobile network operations.

Through the deployment of 2, 4 and 5G-enabled infrastructure, the project supports both greenfield expansion into previously unconnected communities and brownfield network enhancements, improving user experience through higher-speed data services while addressing coverage blind spots in existing mobile networks.

Together, say the partners, these initiatives contribute to advancing digital inclusion and sustainable connectivity across rural regions.

This transaction is aligned with the investment objectives of the Mirova Gigaton Fund, which seeks to finance solutions enabling deep and measurable decarbonisation while supporting inclusive and resilient development models.

Mirova is an affiliate of Natixis Investment Managers, whose team delivers a wide range of solutions across asset classes, styles and vehicles.
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Ireland makes no apologies over its media regulation, the Taoiseach has said, as he defended the need to protect children from harmful online technology.

Among a series of hearings on the EU Digital Services Act, the US House Committee on the Judiciary was told by one witness that Irish media watchdog Coimisiun na Mean (CnaM) was ground zero for a lot of this regulation in Europe.

CnaM is responsible for enforcing the Digital Services Act against a range of US technology giants which have European headquarters in Dublin.

Members of the committee were encouraged to use Irish-US relations to put pressure on the regulator.

Asked about the hearings on Monday, Micheal Martin said Ireland places among the top countries in indices that track freedom of speech, human rights, and freedom of assembly.

He told reporters in Washington DC: But where we make no apologies is the need to protect children and the need to protect young people from the harmful effects of modern online technology.

And in addition to that then, making sure that we protect democracy.

Mr Martin said there will always be people with different perspectives and different analysis, but added: One thing were not about is shutting down free speech. We believe in peoples right to speak.

The Taoiseach said there was a need for simplification of regulation across Europe to focus on innovation in the space of artificial intelligence (AI).

He said: Ireland is a bastion of free speech, freedom of assembly and democracy, that would be our position in respect of that.

On regulation more generally, we do need simplification of regulation  and thats acknowledged across Europe.

And the European Union is focused at the moment on a series of omnibus regulatory measures which are designed to simplify and, in some cases, reduce regulation and to try and shift the balance more towards innovation.

If you take the AI revolution at the moment, and therell be ups and downs in that journey, but essentially, the US and China are way ahead of everybody else.

Their focus is very much on the innovation side, and Europe needs to rebalance its approach and focus to innovation, and really look critically at the regulatory framework that governs us.
A new cabaret production exploring the legacy of partition is set to take to the stage at An Tain Centre in Dundalk.

'Beyond the Border', which was co-created with 14 young people from M.A.D Youth Theatre in collaboration with 11 professional artists under the direction of Calvin Magee.

The play will take to the stage on Monday, April 6th until Wednesday, April 8th.

Combining testimony theatre with cabaret performance, the production examines the legacy of the border, the history of the Troubles, and the experiences of the first generation in Ireland to grow up in relative peace.

Director Calvin Magee, who is from Dundalk, says the production offers a fresh perspective on familiar themes.

This play isnt your traditional border play. Being from Dundalk, I feel like Irish history and partition have been explored countless times. This project tries to re-examine and reconstruct that history in a fun and playful way, he said.

Read Next: Families in Louth struggling to deal with 'rapid rise' in fuel costs

The creative team worked with Dr Helena Enright, a specialist in documentary and verbatim theatre, to develop the testimony theatre elements of the production. Testimony theatre draws on the real-life stories and experiences of people to create theatrical material.

As part of the process, the team conducted interviews with more than 50 people living on both sides of the border. Contributors included former paramilitary prisoners, former hunger strikers, members of the Orange Order, and local residents from Dundalk and surrounding areas.

Their stories touch on moments such as the Miami Showband killings,

the Dundalk bombing, and the political experiences of figures including Paddy Agnew TD and Laurence McKeown.

The production celebrates the social and political history of the border region while using humour and music to approach difficult subject matter. At the centre of the show is Border Betty, an emcee character who guides the audience through the performance. Magee describes the character as a human embodiment of the border.

Original songs and lyrics were composed by Kevin Cumiskey in collaboration with the cast. The music draws on influences from classical cabaret and musical theatre as well as pop, rock, and traditional Irish music.

Through song, storytelling, puppetry, dance, protest, and testimony, Beyond the Border presents a lively and unconventional exploration of identity in Irelands border communities.
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UNI SPECIAL

Jayanta Roy Chowdhury

Shillong, March 16 (UNI): Policymakers and diplomats gathered in this hill station built by the British, to discuss roads, rivers and ports, and how geography might finally work in India's northeast and along with it the entire larger region where Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal are also sited.

India's Northeast may be on the cusp of a transformation as a cluster of regional connectivity projects begins to redraw its economic landscape and strategic importance in Asia.

At a high-level meeting held here earlier this month, policymakers, diplomats and infrastructure experts examined how emerging transport corridors could link the Northeast more closely with Southeast Asia and the wider Indo-Pacific economy.

The meeting was convened by think tank Asian Confluence in collaboration with India's Ministry of External Affairs, the government of Japan and the regional grouping BIMSTEC.

Several major infrastructure initiatives formed the core of the discussion. Among them were the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway, the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project, and Japan's deep-sea port under construction at Bangladesh's Matarbari.

Together, these projects could reshape trade routes connecting India's northeastern states with Southeast Asia and the global economy.

"Northeast India is located in a pivotal geopolitical position as a gateway to Southeast Asia," said Japan's State Minister for Foreign Affairs Horii Iwao at the meeting. "When we view this region as part of a broader economic region encompassing Nepal, Bhutan, India, Bangladesh and Southeast Asia, it has significant potential to serve as a powerful engine of growth."

Tokyo wants to help develop what it calls an "industrial value chain" connecting the Bay of Bengal with Northeast India as part of a "Free and Open Indo-Pacific" initiative .

One important component of this emerging industrial network is the Tata Group's Rs 27,000-crore semiconductor assembly and testing facility under development in Assam. The greenfield plant will produce chips for automotive electronics, mobile devices, artificial intelligence applications and other advanced sectors.

Japan's deep-sea port project at Matarbari in Bangladesh is another key pillar of the plan. Being built with financial and technical support from the Japan International Cooperation Agency, the port will handle between 16 million and 38 million tonnes of cargo annually and accommodate large vessels with a draught of up to 16 metres.

The port could provide the region with a major new maritime outlet to global markets, said experts.

These initiatives also align with broader regional frameworks such as the Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal (BBIN) Initiative and the Bay of Bengal Industrial Growth Hubs, both designed to promote cross-border supply chains and expand exports to Southeast Asian and Indo-Pacific markets.

Regional stakeholders see the connectivity push as mutually beneficial.

"Nepal wants to sell hydropower to Bangladesh and use its ports to export goods to global markets," said KC Sunil, president of the Nepal-India Chamber of Commerce and Industry. "While the Kolkata-Haldia port complexes will remain our principal gateways, Matarbari will help ease the strain."

Among the most prominent connectivity projects is the 1,360-kilometre India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway, a flagship initiative under India's Act East policy. When completed, the highway will link the Indian border town of Moreh with Mae Sot in Thailand through Myanmar.

Once connected to Thailand's highway system, the route could link to a broader network stretching from Singapore to Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City, opening access to major ports and markets across the Asia-Pacific.

Bangladesh has also expressed interest in linking with these emerging corridors.

"Bangladesh aspires to connect to the Northeast, Nepal and Bhutan, and to the Trilateral Highway to our east," said Bangladesh High Commissioner to India Riaz Hamidullah. "Such comprehensive connectivity would unlock supply chains and make regional interdependence more impactful."

Another important project under discussion is the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project, which aims to provide sea access to India's northeastern states through Myanmar.

"Our portion of the connectivity up to Mizoram's border with Myanmar is absolutely ready," said Ro Chamliana, member secretary of the Mizoram Institute of Advanced Studies.

Although much of the infrastructure has been completed and trial shipments to Sittwe have taken place, the ongoing civil conflict in Myanmar has delayed the project's full operationalisation.

Indian officials say progress on cross-border projects often depends on political and logistical conditions in partner countries.

"India is moving both logistically and diplomatically on these connectivity initiatives," said Riva Ganguly Das, Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs. "When third countries are involved, timelines can be uncertain. But once realised, these projects can be game-changers for the region."

Officials note that the emerging transport corridors could also reduce the Northeast's heavy reliance on the narrow Siliguri Corridoroften called the "Chicken's Neck"which currently provides the main land link between the region and the rest of India.

Alongside road and maritime projects, India is also expanding inland waterways across the Northeast, particularly along National Waterway-2 on the Brahmaputra River.

Plans include new cargo terminals at Pandu and Jogighopa, as well as a network of river jetties designed to integrate river transport into the region's logistics chain and strengthen links with Bay of Bengal ports.

Like most large international connectivity projects, however, timelines remain uncertain due to political developments, financing challenges and complex cross-border coordination.

Yet if the planned roadways, river routes and maritime links are completed, policymakers believe the Northeastand the broader region spanning Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutancould see a dramatic shift in economic fortunes.

For a region long considered peripheral, the new corridors could mark the beginning of a different future: one where the Northeast becomes a central gateway connecting South Asia with Southeast Asia and the wider Indo-Pacific.

UNI JRC AKU
A total of 5,323 new homes, which includes 3,132 houses and 2,191 apartments, got planning permission in Cork throughout 2025 according to newly-released data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

Last year, nationally, there were 20,615 houses granted planning permission. Cork had the highest proportion of houses that were granted planning permission at 15.2% (3,132 ), followed by Dublin at 9.6% (1,986 ) and Wicklow at 8.6% (1,764).

Leitrim had the lowest proportion with 102 houses granted planning permission, followed by Longford with 170 and Carlow with 203.

Outside of Dublin, the highest number of apartments granted planning permission was in Cork (2,191), followed by Meath (772) and Wicklow (742).

The counties with the lowest numbers of apartments granted planning permission in 2025 were counties Longford (15), Roscommon (25), Leitrim (30), and Carlow (36).

GREEN LIGHT

The figures show that the number of homes granted planning permission nationwide rose by 7.9% in 2025, with 34,974 given the green light and which was up from 32,401 in 2024.

Last year, the number of apartments granted planning permission increased by 8.8%, when compared with 2024, with the number of house approvals nationally increasing by 7.3%.

Cork North Central Fine Gael TD Colm Burke said that the number of homes in Cork getting permission in 2025 highlighted the measures which are being implemented to improve housing supply.

Mr Burke said: These figures show thousands of new homes are moving through the pipeline in Cork. The key focus is now turning these permissions into homes on the ground as quickly as possible.

Increasing supply in our towns and villages will help to build stronger communities and is vital in tackling housing shortages in many areas."
A Cork historian led the St Patricks Day parade in a city in Canada this weekend, in recognition of the work he has done in helping descendants of a resettlement programme from Munster to Canada.

Christy Roche from Fermoy was the grand marshal of the Peterborough parade on Sunday, as part of a number of events he is attending over the coming week in the Canadian city.

Peterborough in Ontario was named after Peter Robinson, a Canadian politician who spearheaded the resettlement of more than 2,000 Irish settlers who took part in the 1825 immigration programme from Cork and Limerick.

The settlers travelled to Canada on nine ships from Cobh. The majority of those who travelled were in family groupings, with all having to be recommended by local landlords before being accepted onto the scheme.

Mr Roche published a book last year on the scheme. A book signing will take place in Peterborough on Saturday evening. The book is entitled From Whence They Came: The Peter Robinson Settlers and was launched as part of a series of events to mark the 200th anniversary of the scheme.

Mr Roche will also give a talk on the Blackwater Valley today in Peterborough.

He said: It is a great honour  I found out about six weeks ago. He said he has been in Peterborough a number of times, including last year during the bicentennial celebrations.

I know a lot of people around the area now, he said. "I am among friends and I am very much looking forward to it.

As well as researching the scheme itself, Mr Roche has worked with descendants of the settlers to help them find relatives in Ireland.

A group set up in Peterborough to mark the 200th anniversary of the scheme last year invited Mr Roche to lead this years St Patricks Day parade.

Christy has visited the Peterborough area numerous times and has been a wonderful help to people visiting Ireland from our area who are

wanting to learn more about the villages and families their ancestors came from, said Brendan Moher, chairman of the Nine Ships 1825 committee.
To say something is a dream come true is a cliche, but for Kieran McCarthy, becoming lord mayor of Cork in 2023 was literally that.

He once told this reporter that when he was a small boy he would look up to the window of the lord mayors office, imagining that one day he would wear the chain of office of his city.

When I was a kid, Id be below looking up, he said, and Id say, Some day

That day came in 2023, when the outgoing lord mayor, then Fine Gael councillor Deirdre Forde, passed the chain to the Ballinlough native and Independent councillor.

Now Mr McCarthy has produced a record of his lord mayoralty, written alongside Marcelline Bonneau, his former lady mayoress  and always, he told the books launch in City Hall, the lady mayoress of his heart.

The book, a lavishly illustrated hardback, is entitled Got Cork: The Kieran McCarthy Lord Mayoralty, and the phrase got Cork is a quote from architect William Burgess. In 1863, when he was appointed architect to the planned St Fin Barres Cathedral, Burgess noted in his diary Got Cork, a phrase quoted by Mr McCarthy the night he was elected lord mayor.

Given Mr McCarthys interests, the book launch was, unsurprisingly, a musical affair, and the Kalyna Choir and the Carrigtwohill Gospel Choir supplied the songs.

Mary Foley gets a copy of 'Got Cork' signed by author and former lord mayor of Cork, councillor Kieran McCarthy at the books launch at City Hall. Picture: Chani Anderson

The book was launched by the current Lord Mayor, Fergal Dennehy, who said that it was Mr McCarthys name he probably quoted the most, because of his work as a historian, and he noted wryly that Mr McCarthys singing had raised the bar for his successors, Dan Boyle and Mr Dennehy.

I think the next lord mayor is going to have to do magic tricks,

he said, to laughter.

Mr McCarthy did the next best thing, raising City Halls roof with what has become his theme song  It also became about standing up for something, he said  Oh What A Beautiful Morning.

Got Cork opens with a reproduction of Amy Powers report in The Echo of Mr McCarthys election as lord mayor, and it features a joyous photo by Chani Anderson. A smiling Deirdre Forde takes from around her neck the chain of office, about to hand it to a beaming Mr McCarthy.

The memoir closes with another photograph, taken by David Creedon, in 2024. The new lord mayor, a clearly humbled Dan Boyle, wears the chain, and Mr McCarthy, bright-eyed, puts his hand on his successors shoulder.

The lord mayors chain dates back to 1787, the chain worn by Mac Curtain and MacSwiney, but there is another chain too, one that dates back to 1199, and John DeSpencer, Cork's first provost.

Kieran McCarthys book chronicles one link in that chain.
A young man who robbed from a shop in Cork used a knife to gesture with stabbing motions putting the middle-aged woman behind the counter in fear.

Detective Sergeant Kieran OSullivan said that a delivery driver who appeared on the scene during the robbery managed to escort the raider out of the shop.

Now at Cork Circuit Criminal Court, Lee Cronin, aged 27, has been jailed for two years.

Judge Helen Boyle imposed a sentence of three years with the last year suspended in the case against Cronin, of 6 Mount St, Josephs Close, Bakers Rd, Cork. He was found guilty by a jury of carrying out a robbery at Tobins shop in Gurranabraher, Cork, on June 20, 2025.

Det Sgt OSullivan said that all the man got away with was 25 worth of cigarettes.

Mr Cronin was represented by barrister Brian Leahy at Cork Circuit Criminal Court. Mr Leahy said that a psychiatric report on the accused would have been sought by the defence but the defendant was adamant that he did not want to wait for any report and his instructions were to go ahead immediately with sentencing.

Gestured

Det Sgt OSullivan said that during the robbery he gestured with a knife in a stabbing motion. A delivery driver assisted in getting Lee Cronin out of the shop. The defendant was spotted a short time later at Oliver Plunkett St.

Brian Leahy defence barrister suggested: He is normally a pleasant young man. The detective replied, I agree. On days leading up to the crime we had to deal with him under the Mental Health Act.

"He has a lot of mental health issues, the detective said.

Mr Leahy said: This is a very sad case. I accept there was a knife wielded but I would say there was no one in danger from that knife. He is a man who needs assistance and help. He has spent almost a year in jail because of this."

Judge Boyle said: You have longstanding, significant mental health issues. In terms of the gravity of the offence, it involved persons entitled to work in shops without this sort of terrifying event being visited on them. You did a brandishing motion. I have no doubt it was a terrifying incident, the judge said.

Judge Boyle said the defendant was clearly presenting with mental illness issues in days prior to this on occasion in June 2025 and that this reduced his culpability.
Gardai in Cork are appealing for witnesses following reports of two incidents of robbery in the Ballincollig yesterday evening.

Gardai attended the scene of the first incident following a report of a robbery at a premises in Ballincollig at approximately 10.15pm.

According to Gardai a female entered the premises brandishing a suspected imitation firearm and threatened staff.

Later that evening, gardai responded to report of a separate incident of robbery in the area.

"A female brandishing an implement threatened an individual. A quantity of cash is reported to have been taken," said a spokesperson.

A woman, aged in her 40s, was subsequently arrested in connection with the investigation, and is currently detained pursuant to Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984, at a garda station in Cork.

An imitation firearm and a number of bladed implements were recovered. The firearm is subject to ballistic analysis.

Gardai said no injuries were reported at the time, and investigations are ongoing.

They are now appealing to anyone who may have witnessed this incident to come forward.

Any person who was travelling in the Ballincollig, area on Sunday, between 9.30pm and 10.30pm, is asked to contact investigating gardai.

Additionally, road users or pedestrians who may have camera footage (including dash-cam) are asked to make this footage available to gardai.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Togher Garda Station on (021) 494 7120, the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666 111, or any Garda station.
Last year, I introduced my Rang 5 class at Gaelscoil Mhichil Ui Choileain to the Our World Awards.

This is a national programme that helps children learn about life in other parts of the world.

Through stories, videos, an interactive magazine and creative projects, my pupils connected with communities in countries like Mozambique.

Through it, we discovered how much we can learn from each other - and I learned just as much as they did.

The programme encourages children to explore global issues and think creatively about solutions. For our class, it also became an opportunity to bring Irish language learning into discussions about the wider world.

Together, we looked at how people in Mozambique are protecting endangered animals through a colourful crochet project, and we explored the challenges of living off the land for these communities, imagining how they meet their daily needs in very different circumstances.

The children naturally gravitated towards creative responses. They wrote letters reflecting on the stories from Mozambique, built clay villages representing life there, and ultimately collaborated to write a bilingual rap, Spriocanna domhanda! These Are The global goals!, celebrating the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Seeing them connect so personally with these global stories through writing, art, and music was a joy, and I could see their curiosity and empathy grow with each activity.

Creativity played a huge role in how the children expressed what they had learned. From weaving stories into their rap to decorating their clay villages, carefully considering the homes, surroundings and daily life of the Yao people, they brought a local perspective to global issues.

It was wonderful to see them take pride in their own culture while learning to appreciate and respect cultures from around the world.

One of the most memorable moments for me was reading the childrens letters and reflections. Many spoke of the challenges they take for granted, like access to food or clean water, and spoke about wanting to help in any way they could.

Seeing them think so deeply about fairness and kindness reminded me of why it is so important to bring global stories into the classroom.

When the Our World Awards team visited our school to record a promotional video, the children were thrilled to share their learning on camera.

The excitement continued when our project was shortlisted for the National Finals in Dublin Castle. The anticipation of performing their rap on stage brought months of classroom work to life.

Some children even incorporated traditional Irish instruments, linking local culture with the global stories they had learned.

Winning an Iontrail Ghaeilge is Fearr (the best Irish language entry) was a proud moment for the class. Yet what struck me most was seeing the range of creative projects from schools across the country.

Each project reflected different ways in which children had connected with the lives of others and their own communities, proving that the programme nurtures knowledge but also empathy and imagination.

Even weeks after completing our project, the lessons stayed with the children. Conversations about sustainability, animal welfare, and food security continue to pop up in class discussions, showing that programmes like this inspire thought and often action that sticks beyond the classes themselves.

The learning didnt stop in Dublin. Earlier this year, Paula Ferro from the Yao Crochet Project in Mozambique visited our school.

She shared how her work teaching people to crochet animals helps protect wildlife while supporting local communities.

The children were full of questions, fascinated by the real-life connections between their projects and the people they had learned about.

That visit cemented the lessons of global citizenship in a way that no classroom resource could achieve alone.

I would wholeheartedly encourage other classrooms, particularly Gaelscoileanna in Cork, to take part in the Our World Awards.

In a world that can sometimes feel divided, helping children understand life beyond their own communities fosters empathy, curiosity and respect.

By connecting their own experiences with those of children elsewhere, pupils gain a sense of their place in the wider world.

As I witnessed in my Rang 5 class, they learn that even small actions can make a big difference.
WASHINGTON  When Professor Tamas Horvath, chair of Yale School of Medicine's comparative medicine program, learned that hiring a single international scholar would now cost his department $100,000 in federal visa fees  on top of an already strained budget  he reached a straightforward conclusion: "Our department is not in the position to finance such applications."

It was a quiet admission with sweeping implications. Horvath's predicament is playing out at universities from New Haven to Gainesville, from Seattle to Austin. The Trump administration's second-term campaign against American higher education  encompassing immigration restrictions, DEI bans, funding freezes, and deportation of student activists  has set off a chain reaction that is reshaping who gets hired, who gets funded, what gets taught, and who dares to speak.

The scope of the transformation is without modern precedent. In little more than a year, the administration has paused or terminated hundreds of millions of dollars in university research grants, launched investigations into dozens of institutions, imposed a $100,000 fee on foreign faculty hires, and moved to deport noncitizen academics and students it deems ideologically suspect. The result is a higher education sector in the grip of institutional anxiety  and, critics warn, intellectual retreat.

The $100,000 Wall: Shutting Out Global Talent

At the heart of the administration's immigration pressure on campuses is a September 2025 presidential proclamation that added a $100,000 fee to every new H-1B visa application  a program that universities have long relied on to recruit international faculty, postdoctoral researchers, and scientists. The fee multiplied costs that previously ran under $4,000 per petition by roughly 25 times overnight.

The consequences have been immediate and far-reaching. Yale alone sponsors more than 200 international tenure-track faculty and research scientists under the H-1B program annually; more than 90% of its H-1B holders are postdoctoral associates described by university officials as "critical to the university's mission of research and teaching." David Vasseur, chair of Yale's ecology and evolutionary biology department, told the Yale Daily News he is "concerned about the additional cost this will add to recruiting international scholars in these already fiscally challenging times."

The American Immigration Lawyers Association called the fee "exorbitant" and unconstitutional, arguing that only Congress holds the power to set visa fees. Jeff Joseph, AILA's president, said the measure "effectively shut out teachers, non-profits, researchers, rural doctors, clergy, and other professionals" and would "undermine innovation and prevent businesses both large and small from accessing the talent they need."

Britta Glennon, who studies global innovation at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, put it plainly: universities will be forced to hire "only the best U.S." candidates regardless of whether a more qualified international scholar exists.

The fee has now become a catalyst for broader action at the state level. Florida's Board of Governors voted 14 to 2 in early March to impose a one-year freeze on H-1B hiring across the state's 12 public universities, effective immediately through January 2027  a move championed by Governor Ron DeSantis. Texas Governor Greg Abbott followed with his own freeze through May 2027. A federal appellate court is now weighing whether the $100,000 fee constitutes a lawful exercise of executive authority or an unconstitutional tax  but universities cannot wait for that verdict.

"It's also a restriction on academic freedom," said Brendan Cantwell, a higher education professor at Michigan State University. "It's telling departments: here's a group of scholars who are off-limits to you, even if they're doing research or teaching in areas that are really important for your students."

Hiring Freeze: The Research Engine Slows

The visa crisis compounds a broader hiring slowdown that preceded it. The administration began pulling millions of dollars from elite universities in 2025, initially citing allegations of antisemitism on campuses. Harvard, MIT, Columbia, and Johns Hopkins were among the first targets. The loss of funding triggered hiring freezes at top research institutions and led to thousands of layoffs at Johns Hopkins University alone.

Mike Gavin, president and CEO of the Alliance for Higher Education, described the damage in direct terms: "The quality is not at the same level in the states that are imposing different kinds of restrictions on academic freedom and also diversity, equity, and inclusion. So the retention of quality scholars and the attracting of that has been not great."

Foreign professors face particularly treacherous terrain. A recent federal lawsuit alleges the First Amendment rights of noncitizen academics have been violated by an administration policy barring researchers who study fact-checking and social media  on the theory that such work could lead to censorship of Americans. Foreign-born faculty have self-censored or been barred from re-entering the country, according to the suit. Social media screening for H-1B applicants was expanded in December 2025, with immigration officials now scrutinizing the online profiles of visa applicants  prompting universities to advise international scholars to carefully audit their digital presence.

"There are certainly challenges attracting international academics," said one senior university administrator who spoke on background. "Some of that is driven by concerns about U.S. politics more broadly, but a lot of it is driven by the H-1B visa issue  if it costs $100,000 to hire a person, there are other candidates who could potentially be hired for that money instead."

Even some schools that reached settlements with the administration to restore funding have not seen a corresponding recovery in hiring. The institutional caution has taken on a life of its own.

DEI: The Dismantling Continues

Parallel to its immigration offensive, the Trump administration has waged a systematic campaign against diversity, equity, and inclusion programs on college campuses  and in February 2026, it won a major legal victory in that fight.

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated a preliminary injunction that had been blocking two executive orders aimed at eliminating DEI practices in higher education, ruling that the groups challenging the orders  including the American Association of University Professors and the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education  lacked standing on one provision and were unlikely to succeed on the others. The ruling gave the administration renewed authority to pursue its anti-DEI agenda.

The administration had issued its first anti-DEI executive orders within the first two days of Trump's second term, directing federal agencies to eliminate any "equity-related" grants or contracts and requiring federal funding recipients to certify they do not operate programs promoting DEI. Since then, the federal government has cancelled vast numbers of diversity-related research grants, threatened to pull funding from noncompliant universities, and established a dedicated portal for reporting DEI programs in schools.

The Department of Education sent letters to universities warning of funding cuts for DEI programs that persist. Multiple red states enacted outright DEI bans. Some academics have quietly removed words like "equity" from federal funding proposals to avoid rejection.

Even in liberal-leaning California  where courts ultimately ruled against several administration DEI measures  educators acknowledged that the campaign had chilled behavior well beyond what any court order required. "One of my concerns is that the strategy of the Trump administration is to disrupt and instigate a sense of conflict within local communities," said John Rogers, a professor at UCLA's School of Education. "The administration's campaign has had a major effect on the landscape of higher education, even in California."

Some universities capitulated without legal compulsion. Brown University settled with the administration in July 2025, agreeing to adopt the administration's definitions of "male" and "female" and remove race as a consideration in admissions in exchange for restored research funding. "Woke is officially DEAD at Brown," Trump posted on social media after the deal.

The "Trump Did It" dynamic  institutions using the administration's directives as cover for reversals they were already inclined to make  has become a defining feature of the moment. As legal scholar Jonathan Turley observed, many administrators "did not want to risk being tagged by the far-left mob for taking meaningful action" on campus unrest. The election, he argued, gave them political cover to act.

Targeting the Scholars Themselves

Beyond policies, the administration has targeted individual academics and students. The deportation of Mahmoud Khalil  a lawful permanent resident and 2024 Columbia University pro-Palestinian encampment leader  became a flash point. The administration invoked a rarely-used provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 allowing deportation of noncitizens deemed a threat to U.S. foreign policy, regardless of lawful status.

Lebanese Brown University professor Rasha Alawieh was deported despite a court order. Over 300 student visas were revoked in 2025 alone, with the administration targeting those it accused of supporting Hamas or engaging in antisemitic activity. A "catch and revoke" strategy emerged, with federal agencies monitoring international students' social media for what the State Department termed "terrorist sympathizing" activity.

The chilling effect has extended far beyond the individuals directly targeted. Faculty unions report widespread self-censorship among noncitizen academics. Conference participation by international scholars has declined. Some foreign researchers have chosen Europe or Canada over the United States.

"If they realize that there is no opportunity for them to make a life here and work here, they might as well go to Germany, Japan, the UK," said one university professor, reflecting a fear voiced by administrators across the country.

The Administration's Defense

The Trump administration has been unapologetic. Department of Education press secretary Savannah Newhouse said the administration is "carrying out a clear mandate from parents: get politics and DEI out of classrooms, cut federal administrative bloat, and ensure education dollars are spent directly on student achievement."

Ellen Keast, the department's press secretary for higher education, outlined the administration's vision going forward: universities should "continue to make progress in aligning programs with workforce needs, expanding high-ROI pathways for students, and reducing costs by cutting unnecessary administrative bloat."

Supporters argue that elite universities had long been insulated from accountability, tolerating campus unrest and ideological conformity while receiving billions in federal funding. The H-1B fee, proponents say, protects American workers from wage suppression and visa exploitation.

What Comes Next

Higher education advocates are pressing universities to fight back more forcefully in 2026. "One of the lessons is that universities should invest in strong legal and policy teams and build contingency plans for sudden retaliatory shifts," said Lynn Pasquerella, president of the American Association of Colleges and Universities. "Last year, many campus leaders thought if they kept their head down and minded their own business, they wouldn't be attacked. But that wasn't the case."

Ray Brescia, a professor at Albany Law School, framed the choice starkly: "The right thing to do is to stand up for academic freedom and the values that the American university is supposed to stand for."

The long-term consequences remain uncertain. Scientists warn that funding cuts and immigration restrictions are already damaging the U.S. research enterprise. Many have said they are considering leaving the country. The National Science Foundation, NIH, and major research universities have all flagged talent loss as an existential concern.

What is not uncertain is the scale of what has already happened. In just over a year, the Trump administration has altered the hiring practices of major research universities, dismantled diversity programs built over decades, targeted individual scholars for deportation, and imposed costs on international recruitment that some institutions simply cannot absorb.

Whether the courts, Congress, or a future administration ultimately reverse those changes, the professors who were not hired, the researchers who left, and the students who chose other countries will not easily be recalled. American higher education's greatest competitive advantage  its ability to attract the world's best minds  is being tested in ways that will take years to fully measure.
"KPop Demon Hunters" won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature at the 98th Academy Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday night, marking a historic victory for South Korean pop culture on Hollywood's biggest stage.

The film triumphed over fellow nominees "Arco," "Elio," "Little Amelie or the Character of Rain," and "Zootopia 2" in the animated feature category, where it had long been viewed as a frontrunner after a strong awards-season run.

Directed and produced by Maggie Kang, Chris Appelhans, and Michelle L.M. Wong, the Netflix-backed feature gave the streamer another major win in animation. The Academy lists all three as official recipients of the Oscar, according to Gizmodo.

The story follows Huntrix, a K-pop girl group whose three members are secretly demon hunters trained to protect the world from a powerful demon king. Rumi, the group's leader, hides that she is half-demon while preparing for a major performance that could strengthen a mystical barrier shielding humanity.

As a rival demon boy band tries to steal their fans' souls, Rumi and her bandmates must confront betrayal, fear, and their own hidden pasts to stop an attack on Seoul.

In their acceptance remarks, members of the filmmaking team dedicated the award "for Korea and Koreans everywhere," highlighting the film's Korean setting and creative team. The movie's success has been widely viewed as another milestone in the growing global reach of Korean stories in mainstream cinema.

It also marks a rare animated feature winner set entirely in Korea, with a largely Korean and Korean diaspora voice cast, Variety.

"KPop Demon Hunters" has been a dominant presence across the awards circuit leading up to the Oscars. It previously won Best Animated Feature at the Critics' Choice Awards, the Golden Globes, and several regional critics groups, including the Atlanta Film Critics Circle and the Boston Online Film Critics Association. The film also earned a Producers Guild of America animation prize, signaling strong industry support.

Music has been central to the film's impact, with its soundtrack driving much of its popularity. The song "Golden," performed in the film by Huntrix, became a hit on global charts and is also nominated for Best Original Song at the Oscars. Several tracks from the movie helped power the film to record-breaking viewing figures on Netflix.

Netflix has confirmed that a sequel to "KPop Demon Hunters" is in development, with director Maggie Kang and co-director Chris Appelhans expected to return under a new multiyear deal. The follow-up is being developed with Sony Pictures Animation and is currently targeting a late-decade release, as per Yahoo News.
The security measures for the Oscars in 2026 are going to be unlike anything we've seen before. In the wake of FBI alerts concerning possible threats tied to Iran, the event will feature sharpshooters, SWAT teams, and counter-drone technology.

According to Mirror, officials emphasized there is no specific or credible threat targeting the Oscars, but the precautionary measures reflect heightened vigilance for one of Hollywood's most high-profile events.

Introducing the official perspective on safety measures, a source told the outlet, "The authorities are always super-vigilant but events of the last week means things have been dialed up even more. It's hard to imagine a more protected Oscars ceremony."

Sharpshooters armed with .50-caliber rifles are positioned on rooftops surrounding the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. In addition, SWAT teams and counterterrorism units from the LAPD, FBI, and Homeland Security have been deployed throughout the area, supported by bomb squads and a one-mile security cordon.

Event organizers have also implemented tactics designed to protect attendees, including driving A-list stars in a zig-zag pattern around concrete barriers to prevent vehicles from being used as weapons. "We have the support of the FBI and the LAPD, and it's a close collaboration," said Oscars executive producer Raj Kapoor as reported by People.

He added, "This show has to run like clockwork. But we want everybody that is coming to this show, that is witnessing the show, that is even a fan of the show when they're standing outside the barricades, we want everybody to feel safe and protected and welcome, so it's our job as a producing team to make sure that that translates" .

Academy officials emphasized that the measures are part of ongoing security protocols. Similar levels of protection have been used in the past, including after the 9/11 terror plot and the 2015 Charlie Hebdo attack.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department stated, "n light of current global events, the Department remains at an elevated level of readiness and is maintaining increased vigilance...We remain attentive to all potential threats, including lone-actor attacks, sleeper cells, and advanced technological or cyber-related threats" .

The Oscars are not only drawing security attention but also intense competition this year. Jessie Buckley is favored to win Best Actress, while the Best Actor category remains open with Leonardo DiCaprio and Michael B. Jordan in contention.

The Best Film race features a head-to-head battle between One Battle After Another and Sinners, with the latter film gaining momentum after its dignified handling of a BAFTA racism incident involving stars Delroy Lindo and Michael B. Jordan .
The US-Israeli war on Iran surges into its third week with no ceasefire in sight, as heavy strikes pound Iranian cities like Hamadan and military sites, while Tehran unleashes fresh missile barragesincluding new Sejjil ballistic variantson Israel and Gulf allies. President Trump ramps up pressure on NATO and Asian partners to deploy warships and secure the Strait of Hormuz, warning of dire consequences for non-cooperation amid stalled shipping and oil prices climbing toward $120/barrel.Iran maintains partial control over the strait, allowing select non-US/Israeli vessels while threatening broader escalation, fueling global energy fears and market volatility. X timelines overflow with strike footage, casualty reports exceeding 1,300 in Iran, civilian damage claims topping 42,000 sites, and debates on whether economic pain forces an endgame or wider regional warproxy fronts in Lebanon and Gulf intercepts keep the multi-domain conflict burning hot.

1. Heavy US-Israeli Strikes Hit Hamadan and Other Iranian Cities

Footage shows massive smoke plumes from intense bombardments in Hamadan as the campaign targets military and security infrastructure. US and Israeli forces continue degrading Iran's capabilities, with reports of expanded scope into civilian-adjacent areas amid rising death tolls.





2. Iran Launches New Missile Wave Including Sejjil Ballistics on Israel

Tehran fired advanced solid-fuel Sejjil missiles with heavy warheads toward Israeli targets, alongside other types like Khorramshahr and Kheybar Shekan. Sirens sounded across central Israel with some impacts reported; IRGC claims successful hits on command centers.





3. Trump Demands NATO and Asian Allies Secure Strait of Hormuz

President Trump urged countries including France, UK, Japan, South Korea, and China to contribute warships or support for reopening the strait, threatening a "very bad" future for non-helpers. Reluctance persists among allies wary of direct involvement.





4. Strait of Hormuz Remains Paralyzed with Selective Iranian Enforcement

Flows near standstill despite some passages for Indian/Turkish vessels; Iran declares US-linked shipping off-limits while maintaining pressure. Analysts warn of potential $200+ oil if full closure or Bab al-Mandab threats materialize.





5. Oil Prices Surge Toward $120 Amid Supply Disruptions

Brent crude gains in choppy trading as Kharg Island strikes and Gulf attacks cut exports. UN climate chief calls the crisis an "abject lesson" in fossil fuel dependence, pushing accelerated energy transitions.





6. Iran Reports Massive Civilian Damage from Campaign

Government spokesperson claims over 42,000 civilian sitesincluding homes, schools, hospitalsdamaged, with hundreds dead and thousands wounded. Figures fuel international outrage and calls for restraint.





7. Gulf States Intercept Iranian Missiles and Drones

UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Qatar downed barrages targeting regional assets; incidents include airport radar damage in Kuwait and port threats. Spillover heightens fears of wider proxy war.





8. Trump-Xi Summit Faces Possible Delay Over War Tensions

Expected US-China talks clouded by Hormuz crisis and energy shocks hitting Chinese imports. Beijing condemns escalation while navigating indirect benefits from higher oil prices.





9. Hezbollah and Lebanon Fronts Escalate with Heavy Casualties

Israeli strikes continue in south Lebanon amid rising displacements nearing 1 million; Hezbollah rocket fire persists, diverting Israeli resources. Death toll in Lebanon climbs toward 850.





10. US Attention Shifts from Ukraine as Iran Dominates

Trump reportedly losing focus on stalled Ukraine-Russia talks amid Middle East demands. European allies push diplomacy while Russia gains breathing room from diverted Western resources.
by Ashutosh Jogalekar

When people hear that we should empathize with our adversaries, the reaction is often uneasy. Empathy sounds like softness. It sounds like moral compromise, even capitulation. Why should we try to understand those who compete with us, oppose us, or even threaten us?

The confusion lies in a simple mistake. Empathy is not sympathy. To empathize with someone is not to agree with them, excuse them, or endorse their actions. It is only to attempt to see the world as they see it, to understand what they fear, what they value, and what they believe they must defend. As Ralph White of the United States Information Agency put it, its the ability to step into someone elses skin and experience the world through their eyes. We rarely need to exert ourselves to empathize with friends; shared assumptions do most of the work. It is with adversaries that empathy becomes difficult, and therefore essential. When trust is low and stakes are high, misunderstanding becomes dangerous. Two Cold War episodes make the point, in opposite ways.

The Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962 brought the United States and the Soviet Union to the brink of nuclear war. We now know that the Soviet missile deployment in Cuba was larger and more advanced than American officials understood at the time. A small miscalculation could have triggered catastrophe and the deaths of hundreds of millions. During those tense days, Nikita Khrushchev sent President Kennedy two communications. One was public and defiant. The other was private and conciliatory in tone. The instinctive response that Kennedy was considering was to answer the public challenge directly, to demonstrate strength.

At that moment, one man in the room possessed something rare: lived familiarity with the adversary. Tommy Thompson had served as U.S. ambassador to the Soviet Union. He spoke Russian. More importantly, he had spent extended time with Khrushchev, not only in formal meetings but socially, even staying with Khrushchev and his wife. He had observed him outside the carefully constructed theater of diplomacy. He understood his pride, his insecurity, his political constraints. It was Thompson who urged Kennedy to respond to the private letter and had the courage to disagree with the president. He recognized that Khrushchev needed a path out of the crisis that would not humiliate him. A public confrontation might trap and embarrass him. A private exchange might allow him to retreat while preserving authority. As Thompson put it, Khrushchev should be able to save face, to say, Kennedy was going to destroy Cuba, and I prevented it. That sentence captures the entire logic. Thompson was thinking about what Khrushchev would need to say to his own people. Kennedy followed that advice. The crisis de-escalated.

No one in Washington sympathized with Soviet communism. But they understood enough about Khrushchev as a human being to avoid cornering a nuclear adversary. That this kind of empathy  grounded in personal knowledge  played a decisive role in preventing disaster is undisputed.

Vietnam shows the opposite, it shows what happens when that depth of understanding is absent. During the Cold War, the United States invested heavily in understanding the Soviet Union, in its language, culture, history, political psychology. State Department specialists like George Kennan and Charles Bohlen had lived experience of Russia. In Vietnam, such understanding was far thinner. American leaders tended to interpret the conflict primarily as a front in a global ideological struggle. They thought the Vietnamese were a pawn of the Chinese. But for Ho Chi Minh, it was fundamentally a nationalist effort to unify a country shaped by decades of colonial rule; his country had been fighting the Chinese for a thousand years.

There was no sustained equivalent of Tommy Thompson in the deliberations over Vietnam, no one whose deep familiarity with Vietnamese history and culture consistently translated Hanois perspective into American strategy. Vietnamese actions were often interpreted through assumptions about Moscow or Beijing rather than evaluated on their own terms. Similarly, American intentions were interpreted through the lens of colonialist France, whose yoke the Vietnamese had recently overthrown. It is entirely plausible that deeper empathy could have materially altered the course of the war. A clearer grasp of how the Vietnamese leadership defined its core objectives might have opened space for negotiation earlier, clarified which demands were symbolic and which were existential, and reduced the tendency to treat every development as a test of credibility. Empathy does not guarantee peace, but its absence can prolong conflict. The contrast between Cuba and Vietnam is instructive. In one case, personal familiarity created an exit from crisis. In the other, insufficient familiarity narrowed the range of perceived options and deepened the crisis.

A third example, smaller in scale but revealing, comes after 9/11. At the very moment when cultural and linguistic understanding of the Middle East was most urgently needed, many Arabic-speaking American citizens who applied to intelligence agencies were treated as potential risks. At one point, the CIA had fewer Arabic-speaking case officers worldwide than the FBI had Italian-speaking agents in New York during its campaign against organized crime.

In fact the FBI case is interesting. The agency had learned that dismantling the Italian mafia required more than surveillance or legal authority. It required cultural intelligence. Italian-American agents were often especially effective because they understood the internal code of the organization  the primacy of family, the force of loyalty, the hierarchy of respect, the meaning of honor, and the consequences of humiliation. They understood how obligations moved through kinship networks and how critical reputation was. To defeat an adversary, the FBI first learned how that adversary understood himself. They internalized his thoughts and emotions. There are few better examples of Know thy enemy.

There is an even more ordinary example from Afghanistan about cultural empathy that I find just as compelling. After the U.S. invasion of the country in the wake of 9/11, American troops and development officials observed that women in certain villages had to walk long distances to fetch water from wells. Wanting to help, they dug wells closer to the village. The expectation was straightforward: easier access to water would be welcomed and gratefully used. Instead, many women continued walking the long distances. Why? Because those walks were the only socially acceptable opportunity they had to gather away from men; to talk, to exchange news, to share stories. In other words, to gossip. The journey to the well was not merely a chore. It was a social space, and a critical one in a male-dominated society like Afghanistan. By solving the problem without understanding the social context, well-meaning efforts became largely irrelevant. No hostility was involved. No ideology. Just a failure to ask how the people involved understood their own cultures and routines.

Even in cases where extreme hostility is involved, like the Pacific theater of World War II, empathy had enormous practical consequences. Early American appeals for Japanese surrender largely failed because the language used clashed with deeply embedded notions of honor and surrender. Thousands of Japanese civilians on islands like Saipan committed suicide because of Japanese propaganda that painted the enemy as merciless demons who would pillage, murder and rape. Women strapped their babies to their chests and jumped off cliffs. By the time of Okinawa, the Americans understood. The messaging shifted. Leaflets no longer included the word surrender but instead encouraged soldiers to survive so they could help rebuild Japan after the war. They praised the enemys courage. As a result, thousands laid down their arms, more than ever had during the entire conflict with Japan. The battlefield conditions had not softened, but the cultural understanding had sharpened.



None of these examples suggests that empathy dissolves rivalry or reconciles incompatible systems. The Soviet Union remained an adversary. Vietnam remained divided for years. The Pacific war remained brutal. Empathy does not eliminate conflict. What it does  and this seems to me crucial  is reduce the risk that misunderstanding will drive escalation or render good intentions useless. At the very least it encourages listening and a more measured tone which can open the way to negotiations.



That lesson feels particularly urgent today. The United States and China are engaged in sustained competition; economic, military, technological, and increasingly in artificial intelligence. It is easy to frame the relationship purely as a race: build faster, deploy sooner, outcompete at all costs. Competition is real. But competition without serious effort to understand the other sides strategic culture can become both mindless and dangerous. Chinas leadership sees its national trajectory through a long historical arc that includes humiliation and resurgence. American policymakers operate within a different narrative, grounded in liberal institutions and technological ambition. These narratives shape how each side interprets threat, prestige, and security. To ignore them is to misread intentions.

Empathy in this context does not mean concession. It does not mean abandoning our own values and commitments. It means asking how the other side interprets our actions, what pressures its leaders face, what historical lens they see our actions through and what outcomes they consider intolerable. In his book Breakneck, author Dan Wang says that more than like or dislike each other, Americans and Chinese simply need to understand each other. Such empathy does not guarantee agreement. It may not prevent rivalry. But it reduces the probability of catastrophic miscalculation by just being a good listener. And in complex systems  whether nuclear standoffs, insurgencies, intelligence operations, or even village development projects  reducing miscalculation matters enormously.



The greater the divergence between perspectives, the stronger the case for deliberate understanding. Empathy is not weakness. It is clarity under strain. And sometimes, whether in a crisis between Great Wars or in a remote village in Afghanistan, clarity is the difference between success and failure.
Rural campaign groups have welcomed a 53m government support package for households reliant on heating oil, but warn families in off-grid areas still need urgent clarity on how the help will be delivered.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced the funding on Monday (16 March) to support households that rely on heating oil, many of which are located in rural areas where homes are not connected to the mains gas network.

The announcement comes after heating oil prices doubled in some areas following the escalation of conflict in the Middle East, placing sudden financial pressure on households already facing rising living costs.

Millions of rural homes are not connected to the mains gas grid and rely on heating oil to keep their homes warm. Around 1.5 million households depend on it, leaving them outside the protection of the energy price cap.

Off-grid heating is particularly common in rural areas where mains gas infrastructure is limited, making countryside communities especially vulnerable to volatile fuel prices.

Tim Bonner, chief executive of the Countryside Alliance, said the financial support was welcome but warned it must reach struggling households quickly.

53 million in support is welcome, but Ministers will need to ensure that help arrives quickly for the households that need it most, he said.

Mr Bonner said rural poverty often receives less attention but is driven by inequalities such as higher fuel and transport costs.

Rural poverty often goes unseen, but it is driven by exactly this sort of inequality, he said.

He also welcomed government commitments to take action against suppliers accused of cancelling fuel orders and sharply increasing prices, as well as the extension of the fuel duty freeze.

The commitment to take legal action against suppliers who cancelled orders and hiked prices is significant, and the fuel duty freeze until September is vital for rural households, where driving is essential for work, healthcare, and daily life, he said.

The Country Land and Business Association (CLA) also welcomed the funding but warned that rural households remain under significant financial pressure.

CLA president Gavin Lane said heating oil prices had risen sharply in recent days.

No one should have to choose between heating their home or plunging into debt, he said.

Yet in rural areas, those using heating oil have seen their prices double in the last ten days suddenly putting them under huge, unplanned financial pressure.

Mr Lane said the governments intervention was necessary but warned additional support could be required if prices remain high.

The government's response is to be welcomed but, if this crisis drags on, it might not be enough, he said.

Those in the countryside with no alternative will be hit hardest.

He also urged ministers to monitor the market closely to ensure suppliers do not take advantage of the situation.

The government needs to keep a close eye on those seeking to take advantage and ensure families aren't left worrying about affording to heat their homes.

Campaigners also warned that other off-grid households must not be overlooked when support schemes are developed.

Around 200,000 rural homes rely on LPG rather than heating oil, yet these households were not included in the Prime Ministers announcement.

Like heating oil users, they face volatile fuel prices and limited access to alternative energy sources.

The announcement also comes amid warnings from police forces about a rise in heating oil thefts in rural areas.

Several forces have urged households to secure oil tanks and consider installing security measures following reports of thefts targeting country properties.

In Nottinghamshire, two men were arrested last week on suspicion of stealing heating oil.

The Countryside Alliance said it has raised concerns about the wider impact of energy price increases directly with government and is urging ministers to ensure support reaches all vulnerable off-grid households.
A 142-acre livestock farm in the Wye Valley has come onto the market with a guide price of 950,000.

Dernol Farm, located at Llangurig near Llanidloes in Powys, Mid Wales, is being offered for sale by informal tender through agents Halls. The holding is being sold by brothers Glyn and Gerald Price, who are retiring from active farming.

The family will retain the residential properties and the main farmyard and will continue to occupy them, while the surrounding farmland and agricultural buildings form the landholding being offered for sale.

The farm has operated as a sheep enterprise for the past decade and includes around 40 acres of mowable ground.

In total, the holding comprises 74.18 acres of lowland pasture and 67.88 acres of productive hill grazing.

The valley-bottom land lies between just over 800 and 1,000 feet above sea level, with the adjoining hill grazing rising to around 1,500 feet.

Most of the land is well fenced and benefits from natural water supplied by streams and springs.

The sale also includes two modern livestock and fodder storage buildings along with a concrete yard.

The farm is being sold as the current owners retire from active farming

The buildings are positioned on either side of the farmstead. The main structure is a steel portal-frame livestock building with cubicles and loose housing areas and a gated concrete yard to the front.

A timber sheep shed with a stoned floor is also included.

James F. Evans, a director of Halls who manages the firms Welshpool office, described the property as a rare opportunity to acquire a farm in a sought-after part of Mid Wales.

This is a great opportunity to acquire a highly desirable livestock farm set in some of Mid Wales' most beautiful and dramatic countryside, he said.

Mr Evans added that the farm occupies a particularly attractive location in the Upper Wye Valley.

Dernol Farm enjoys an idyllic, rural location, situated in the Upper Wye Valley midway between Rhayader and Llangurig, alongside the A470 road, he said.

Viewings are by appointment through Halls, with potential buyers required to submit written tenders to Halls Holdings in Welshpool or by email.

Tenders must be received by 12 noon on Friday 24 April.

The sale offers buyers the opportunity to acquire a compact livestock holding in one of Mid Wales most scenic farming areas.
Red Tractor has named Paul McLaughlin as its new chief executive, bringing in a senior figure from the food and assurance sectors to lead the UKs largest farm and food standards scheme.

Mr McLaughlin joins the organisation at what Red Tractor described as a pivotal time, as it continues reviewing its standards and seeks to strengthen confidence in the assurance scheme across the farming and food supply chain.

His appointment follows an open recruitment process and was formally approved by Red Tractors board of directors on 13 March. He will take up the role on 5 May.

Speaking about the role, Mr McLaughlin said farmers and growers deserved an assurance scheme that properly supported them.

British farming is the backbone of our food system, and the farmers and growers who meet the Red Tractor standard deserve a scheme that works as hard for them as they work for us, he said.

He said he wanted the scheme to command trust across the industry and among consumers.

I want Red Tractor to be something that farmers can be genuinely proud of and that retailers and consumers trust completely, he said.

Mr McLaughlin added that his first priority would be to engage with farmers, food businesses and other stakeholders before setting out the next steps.

Ill be doing a lot of listening first, and then getting to work, he said.

Mr McLaughlin began his career in food manufacturing with Mars and The Coca-Cola Company before becoming the inaugural chief executive of Scotland Food & Drink, where he helped bring together producers, processors and retailers.

He later led the fresh produce brand Scotty Brand, overseeing the supply of products including potatoes, carrots, fruit and meat to major UK grocery retailers.

More recently, he held senior leadership roles at the Building Engineering Services Association and the Rail Safety & Standards Board, where he oversaw the transformation of a major assurance scheme.

Red Tractor chair Alistair MacIntosh said Mr McLaughlins background across food supply chains and assurance organisations made him well suited to lead the scheme.

Paul brings a unique blend of experience working within food, assurance and multistakeholder organisations, he said.

Mr MacIntosh added that the appointment panel had been impressed by Mr McLaughlins leadership approach and vision.

He really impressed the interview panel with his considered and strategic approach to leadership and demonstrated the dynamism needed to drive continued improvement at Red Tractor, he said.

Mr McLaughlin will work alongside outgoing chief executive Jim Moseley during a transition period before Mr Moseley retires at the end of May.

He will also join Red Tractors board of directors, working with industry, sector and independent representatives from across UK food and farming.

Following the recent National Farmers Union elections, NFU deputy president Paul Tompkins has also joined the board to represent the farming unions, replacing outgoing director David Exwood.

Red Tractor is the UKs largest food and farm assurance scheme, covering the entire supply chain from animal welfare and food safety to traceability and environmental protection.

The scheme represents more than 40,000 farmers and growers and accounts for around 75% of UK agricultural production.

It currently covers around 98% of UK dairy production, 90% of pork and about 95% of poultry produced in the UK.
Cash seized from criminals is being used to fund new rural crime-fighting cameras across Essex, targeting offences such as hare coursing, fly-tipping and machinery theft.

Essex Polices Rural Engagement Team has purchased solar-powered trail cameras using funds recovered under the Proceeds of Crime Act. Officers are deploying them in rural crime hotspots to deter offenders and gather evidence.

Rural crime, including equipment theft and hare coursing, remains a major concern for farmers across the UK. Police say the new cameras are helping to protect some of the countys most vulnerable countryside areas.

The cameras are being installed as part of Essex Polices Operation Around initiative. Locations are chosen using crime data, recent incidents and intelligence linked to rural crime hotspots.

PC Luke Jones, from the Rural Engagement Team, said the technology provides a practical way to monitor remote locations.

Trail cameras are relatively cheap and easy to put up and, of course, they can monitor the area day and night, he said.

The footage is clear, which will help us to identify suspects, vehicles and even index plates  its good enough to be used as evidence.

He added that the cameras can also help officers better understand crime patterns and improve prevention work.

They also provide us with valuable intelligence which can help us with problem solving and appropriate crime prevention advice.

Farmers say the cameras are already making a difference on the ground.

Matt Register, who farms winter wheat, spring linseed and oilseed rape in the Uttlesford district with his father, described the initiative as fantastic.

We are so grateful. For us, the cameras have been so useful for security purposes and weve found them to be a deterrent. They have made things better for us, he said.

Managing large areas of farmland can make it difficult to keep track of activity, from criminal damage to walkers straying from public footpaths.

After seeing the cameras in action, Mr Registers farm has now installed its own system following advice from the police.

Id never thought of this before. But Luke gave us advice about what cameras would work best, and where, he said.

They have made us feel so much safer because we now know that if something happens, we can get evidence without having to be there filming on a phone.

He added that the cameras have helped improve security around field entrances.

Mounting cameras has allowed us to block all but a few entrances to our fields. They watch over the entrances we use frequently and they have given us security.

Before installing cameras, officers meet landowners to discuss the best locations and provide crime prevention advice.

Having identified a problem where we think the cameras will be helpful, we speak with the landowner, provide crime prevention advice and offer to put up cameras, PC Jones explained.

Each deployment also includes signs making it clear surveillance is taking place, which police say acts as an additional deterrent.

Each deployment includes clear signage to meet legal requirements, making it visible that surveillance is in operation. We have found that the signs are as much of a deterrent as the cameras themselves.

While the cameras are primarily used to deter crime and collect evidence, they have also captured footage of wildlife, helping landowners understand conservation needs on their land.

The idea for Operation Around emerged after PC Jones attended a parish council meeting where farmers raised concerns about hare coursing and the lack of surveillance in rural areas.

Recognising that installing traditional CCTV can be too expensive in remote locations, he began exploring how lower-cost technology could help bridge the gap.

The cost of installing CCTV in many remote rural locations is prohibitive but modern trail cameras can do the job just as effectively, he said.

Funding for the cameras came from the Essex Police POCA Fund, which uses money seized from criminals under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

Trail cameras have now been deployed across 11 of Essexs 14 district council areas, including Chelmsford, Colchester and Uttlesford.

Police say the scheme is helping provide farmers and landowners with an extra layer of protection in remote countryside locations.

These cameras provide farmers, landowners and victims in isolated rural locations with another layer of protection, PC Jones said.
New telecoms reforms coming into force in April could significantly reduce rents paid to farmers and landowners hosting mobile phone masts, experts have warned.

The changes, introduced under the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure (PSTI) Act 2022, will alter how telecoms mast lease renewals are valued across the UK and bring older agreements into line with rules introduced nearly a decade ago.

Thousands of legacy mast site agreements across the country are expected to be affected as they come up for renewal once the new provisions take effect from 7 April 2026.

Robert Jauneika, director and chartered surveyor at H&H Land & Estates, said the reforms mark another major step in the changing relationship between telecommunications operators and landowners.

The sector has already undergone significant upheaval since the Electronic Communications Code (ECC) was introduced in 2017.

Before those reforms, rents for telecoms sites were typically negotiated using traditional market principles, where the strategic value of land to operators was taken into account.

In many cases this meant mast sites generated rents of several thousand pounds per year, similar to other commercial property agreements negotiated between willing landlords and tenants.

However, the ECC introduced a no scheme valuation model, where rent is based on the underlying value of the land rather than the value of its use for telecommunications infrastructure.

This change led to steep reductions in mast rents across many parts of the country when agreements were renewed.

The policy aim was to lower the cost of accessing land in order to accelerate the rollout of digital infrastructure, including 5G networks and improved rural broadband.

Until now, however, a difference has existed between older telecoms leases and newer code agreements.

Many historic mast leases are protected under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, meaning rent reviews and renewals have continued to follow traditional market valuation principles.

The PSTI Act will remove that distinction.

From April, renewals of telecoms leases under the 1954 Act will adopt the same valuation assumptions used under the Electronic Communications Code.

In practice, this means mast rents under those leases will also be assessed using the no network approach.

The change will effectively bring telecoms lease valuations into line regardless of whether the agreement originated under the ECC or the 1954 Act.

While farmers and landowners may still receive compensation for certain losses or disruption caused by telecoms infrastructure, the headline rent is likely to reflect the lower valuation basis.

Many telecoms masts are located on farmland or rural estates, meaning the changes could affect a large number of agricultural landowners hosting telecoms infrastructure.

Mr Jauneika said the reforms are likely to maintain downward pressure on rents and could lead to continued valuation disputes between operators and site providers.

The government hopes that by lowering the cost of access to land, the rollout of digital infrastructure such as 5G and rural broadband can be accelerated, he said.

However, he added that maintaining constructive relationships between telecoms operators and landowners would remain essential.

The challenge will be maintaining constructive relationships between operators and landowners, whose cooperation remains essential.

Mr Jauneika advised landowners hosting telecoms infrastructure to review their agreements carefully before any renewal negotiations.

If you have a telecommunications site on your land, it is essential to review the lease terms carefully and understand the rent valuation approach that should be adopted, he said.

He added that professional advice is important when assessing compensation and negotiating lease terms.

Landowners hosting telecoms infrastructure are being advised to review lease agreements carefully and seek professional advice ahead of upcoming renewals.
Actors Janhvi Kapoor, Varun Dhawan and others have expressed grief over the sudden passing of celebrity hairstylist Marce Pedrozo.





Remembering their close bond, Janhvi Kapoor shared a heartfelt note on Monday. She recalled how the two would often joke about their hectic schedules. Every time I stepped into my van, wed look at each other and scream in a high pitched mocking voice, We have 20 minutes, chalo chalo chalo, and laugh at the madness of our crazy hours and impossible tasks. But in the middle of all that chaos, there was always a deep sense of trust and joy whenever we worked together. Sometimes wed even sneak out to eat at restaurants when we should have been getting ready. You werent just part of my team, we were each others team.













View this post on Instagram A post shared by Janhvi Kapoor (@janhvikapoor)



Sharing a few photos with him, she added, I will miss you every day. Seeing your face at the beginning and end of every creative journey Ive had over the past few years has been one of the biggest honours of my life. I hope you are happy wherever you are.





Nora Fatehi also mourned the loss, remembering Pedrozo as someone extremely close to her. In an emotional Instagram Story, she described him as a dear friend, a brother and a confidant, adding that he always brought out the best side of her personality. She wrote that Marce Pedrozo was no longer with them and had sadly passed away.

Varun Dhawan too reacted with shock to the news of Pedrozos sudden demise.





Actor Tara Sutaria paid tribute by sharing an old post and wrote, Rest peacefully, sweet Marcelo. My heart hurts to learn you are not with us anymore.





Jacqueliene Fernandez also remembered him fondly, writing, I will always remember you as a free spirited, pure soul who spread joy and love everywhere. Goodbye my friend, you will be deeply missed.







Also Read: Khushi Kapoor Pens a Heartfelt Birthday Note for Sister Janhvi Kapoor
Faisal Malik, who has become a household name after his performance in the popular series Panchayat, is making headlines once again. According to recent reports by Hindustan Times, he has been cast in Nitesh Tiwaris mythological magnum opus, Ramayana. He is expected to take on the key role of the mighty warrior Kumbhkaran in the film.

While earlier rumours suggested that Bobby Deol was being considered for the part, the latest reports indicate that after his exit from the project, Faisal has stepped in. Faisal, who was recently seen in the OTT film Subedaar alongside Anil Kapoor, has reportedly already joined the cast for the first part of the two-part magnum opus.





Sources suggest that Faisal has already begun filming and has completed his first schedule. During this shoot, he shared the screen with Yash, who plays the character of Ravana. A source mentioned, He joined Yash for the introductory Kumbhakaran scene at Prime Focus studio in Mumbai, shot with an international action crew. The sequences are heavy on graphics  similar to Avatar.

The production team seems to have found a perfect fit in Faisal for the character of Kumbhakaran. About his casting, the source added, His height and heavily built frame perfectly suit the character. While the introductory scenes are done, major battle sequences are expected to be filmed as part of the second part of the franchise.

The film features a star-studded cast including Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Ram, Sai Pallavi as Sita, Sunny Deol as Hanuman, and Yash as Ravana. Other reported cast members include Ravie Dubey as Laxman, Rakul Preet Singh as Surpanakha, Arun Govil as King Dashrath, and Kunal Kapoor as Lord Indra. Despite the buzz, the Ramayana team has not officially confirmed the full cast yet. When approached for a comment, Faisal Malik declined to speak on the matter. The film is being hailed as one of the most expensive projects in Indian cinema, aiming to narrate the timeless story of Lord Ram's triumph over Ravana. While a first look was reportedly planned for March 27 at the Gateway of India, the unveiling has been postponed due to the ongoing Middle East crisis.





Also Read: Jeetendra Kumars Panchayat 5 Gets Official Confirmation






He arrived on stage with Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra Jonas to present the award for the Best International Feature Film. The No Country For Old Men actor, who arrived wearing a 'No to War' pin, said on stage, "No to war and Free Palestine."



His statement was met with loud cheers from the audience, while Priyanka was seen smiling and subtly nodding. The award in the category ultimately went to the Norwegian film Sentimental Value.

Award seasons have often provided a stage for celebrities to express their political views and the 98th Academy Awards was no different. Actor Javier Bardem used the moment to speak out against war and call for Palestine's freedom.

No to war, and free Palestine. - Javier Bardem at the #Oscars pic.twitter.com/HJHMdxOfDd   (@arikbeyhive) March 16, 2026

Earlier on the red carpet, Bardem was seen wearing a 'No a la Guerra' pin which translates to 'No to war.'

He revealed that it was the same badge he wore in 2003 to protest against the Iraq war, and now he wears it for Iran.





Speaking on the red carpet, the actor said, "I'm wearing a pin that I used in 2003 with the Iraq war, which was an illegal war. And we are here, 23 years after, with another illegal war [led] by Trump and Netanyahu, and creating a lot of damage and innocent people being killed and bombed."





He also wore a second badge in support of Palestine that featured a drawing of Handala, the iconic character created in 1969 by Palestinian cartoonist Naji al-Ali. It is widely regarded as a symbol of Palestinian resistance.

#ESpectaculosVT  Javier Bardem alza la voz en los #Oscars2026. El actor espanol aparecio en la alfombra roja portando el mismo pin de "No a la guerra" que uso hace 23 anos contra la invasion de Irak



Via @TheWrap pic.twitter.com/njA1o1IzUC  xevt - xhvt (@xevtfm) March 16, 2026





Meanwhile, talking of Priyanka, this appearance marked another milestone in her long-standing association with the Academy Awards. Priyanka first presented at the 2016 Oscars, where she shared the stage with Liev Schreiber to present the Best Film Editing award.



Also Read: Oscars 2026: KPop Demon Hunters Makes History With Two Wins but Fans Angry As Speech Gets Cut Short


by Jim Hanas

As the Pew Research Center reported last week, more than half of Americans think their fellow citizens are morally bad. The U.S. had the dimmest view of their neighbors among the twenty-five countries surveyed and Canada had the brightest. Only 8% of Canadians think their fellow citizens are bad.

Pew floats a few ideas about why this is, the first being political polarization. Democrats are more likely than Republicans to see their fellow citizens as bad, though this is consistent across countries for parties out of power. The study also considers that Americans are more judgmental than people in other countries, but finds thaton particular issuesthis does not seem to be the case. Americans are, in general, more lenient on actssave for the perennial culture war weapons of abortion and homosexualitybut tougher on persons, which has the ring of truth.

Evidence that Americans have reached the point of irreconcilability abounds. Take the recent HBO docuseries Neighbors, a must-see for connoisseurs of what I call hard cringe. Soft cringe features awkward social situations but gives viewers occasional relief via punchlines and pratfalls. Curb Your Enthusiasm and the mad cap antics of The Chair Company are soft cringe confections. Hard cringe, on the other hand, comes from Sweden, dating back to Bergmans Persona and erupting most recently with Ruben Ostlunds 2014 Force Majeure. Hard cringe gives viewers no lifeline and no cues; no permission to breathe, let alone laugh. Ironically, a CanadianNathan Fielderis its leading North American purveyor.

Each episode of Neighbors braids together two unrelated disputes with the lyricism of Errol Morriss Fast, Cheap & Out of Control. Two sets of preppers in the middle of nowhere cant agree about a gate. A Vietnam vet and a former male stripper cant agree who is stalking whom. The creators say the series emerged from their pandemic obsession with watching neighborhood dispute videos on YouTube. It is difficult to watch, as American grown-ups tryand repeatedly failto establish the minimal common ground needed to resolve what appear to be incredibly trivial disputes. Violence frequently seems inevitable.

Such incommensurability also drives Bugonia, the Oscar-nominated bleak watch from director Yorgos Lanthimos. Teddy Gatz (played by Jesse Plemons) is an abused and conspiracy-addled worker who kidnaps pharmaceutical CEO Michelle Fuller (Emma Stone) in an attempt to broker a meeting with the Andromedan emperor, who he believes has sent her to Earth. He sees Fuller as so manipulative that he goes to extraordinary lengthsincluding chemical castrationto be certain he will not be fooled. This seems like its shaping up to be misogynistic torture porn, until Fuller regains consciousness, understands who shes dealing with, and locks in on Gatz with perfectly calibrated management-speak. Both understand how to distrust each other.

On the eve of Trumps first victoryunder the cover of pseudonymityI sketched a figure I called the savvy bumpkin, whose experience and subsequent worldview seemed to describe much of Trumps base. Arriving in modernity just to be swindled, the savvy bumpkinwho could be a Tea Partier or a Whole Foods anti-vaxxerdevises a solution to make sure they are never swindled again: Dont believe anybody, ever. This is the solution Teddy Gatz has adopted in Bugonia and its what makes agreement impossible on Neighbors. Mutual suspicionraised from hermeneutic to mass heuristicis insurmountable.

In 2007, psychologists coined a term that gets at why that might be. Sugrophobialiterally fear of suckingis an attempt to name the familiar and specific dread that people experience when they get the inkling that theyre being a sucker that someone is taking advantage of them, partly thanks to their own decisions. This according to Tess Wilkinson-Ryan, a professor of law and psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, whose book Fool Proof: How Fear of Playing the Sucker Shapes Our Selves and the Social Orderand What We Can Do About It, came out in paperback last year. (It was released by HarperCollins, where I used to work andas fate would have itI worked with Wilkinson-Ryan more than twenty years ago, before sugrophobia was a word.)

Fool Proof details how various insights gleaned from behavioral economics play out in legal, social, and political frameworks, and how the high emotional cost of feeling like a fool puts its thumb on the scale. The simplest example is the Ultimatum Gamea cornerstone of behavioral economicsin which proposers are given an amount of money to split with a responder, and the responder can either accept the offer or refuse it, in which case neither party gets anything. While the responder shouldaccording to a narrowly economic view of human behaviortake whatever is offered, they regularly choose to torpedo the deal when offered too little. As Wilkinson-Ryan says, they choose to detonate rather than cooperate.

The most surprising thing about this discovery is that it had to be discovered at all. Outside of scienceif economics is to be considered suchthere is an entire canon of modern literature (emerging alongside capitalism) detailing this refusal, from Poes imp of the perverse to Dostoevskys underground man. Still, this tendency continuously takes theorists by surprise, as it did the founders of the Frankfurt School when the failures of scientific socialism forced them into Freuds arms. It is the refusal that plays out in Bugonia, as Teddy Gatz disconnects from the reason game in direct proportion to how reasonable he is expected to be, despite the sweet counsel of his cousin Don, a chorus of one preaching compassion. Human behavior can never be made entirely rational, because the drive for freedom resists all systems. As Jack Nicholson says in Easy Rider, Dont ever tell anybody that theyre not free, cause then theyre gonna get real busy killin and maimin to prove to you that they are.

Back to Neighbors. With violence waiting in the wings, the disputants end up slinging half-baked legalisms at each other before eventually winding up in actual courts. The other party is not following the rules, even though the rulesand, in a Wittgensteinian twist, what it means to follow a rulecannot be agreed upon. True to its hard cringe aesthetic, Neighbors provides little hope about what might happen when even ruleness is in dispute, leaving viewers with that sinking feeling that hell is, in fact, other people.

It is difficult to see how we can recover from what Wilkinson-Ryan calls sucker-phobic populism, fanned by Donald Trumps furious refusal that neither he, nor America, would play the fool.

What appears to be missing from American life is the figure of the cooler, first articulated in a social science setting by sociologist Erving Goffman in his seminal 1952 paper On Cooling the Mark Out: Some Aspects of Adaptation to Failure, a foundational text of sugrophobia studies. In the paper, Goffman considers confidence games as a model for social situations in which individuals experience loss of status. When they think of themselves as savvy, for example, but have to face themselves as bumpkins. Goffman notes that in addition to the con man and the mark, there is often a third figureemployed by the con manwhose job it is to appease or pacify the mark so they dont go to the police. This person is called the cooler, and their job is to cool the mark out. The implications are rich, and Goffman pulls in examples of cooling from customer service to romantic break-ups. It is obvious, when reading it, that one of the duties of leadership is to provide such a cooling functionwhether this is noble or merely pacifyingand that our current president is at best unaware of, and at worst antagonistic to, this function.

Self-cooling is always an option, often achieved via religion or other paths to moral superiority. As Will Rogers (probably) said, Id a lot rather be the man who bought the Brooklyn Bridge than the man who sold it. It is better to be the mark than the con man, in other words, though this is now largely viewed as just another sucker play.

Goffman details, further, what might happen if the mark refuses to be cooled out. She can suffer a breakdown and become mentally disorganized. She can turn sour, and withdraw enthusiasm from her participation, orfinallyshe can go into business for herself and turn the con on someone else.

In Bugonias Teddy, we see someone dealing with all three stages of refusal. He has become mentally disorganized, sour, and he has his own master plan. Attempts at cooling arent working, whether administered via Michelles corporate deflectionstalling in Goffmans schemeor his cousin Dons moral purity. The movie itselfspoiler alertprovides redemption for Teddy, but its just a movie. It is, perhaps, in this region of phantasy that the defeated self makes its last stand, as Goffman says. The disputants in Neighbors, on the other hand, seemed trapped apartin irreconcilable fantasieswith no cooler in sight.

***

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Before presenting the award, the duo shared a playful exchange on stage. Evans pointed out that it marked the 14th anniversary of their first Avengers film and jokingly asked Downey for a gift.



He said, "Hey, Downey, what did you get me for our anniversary? It is the 14th anniversary of our first Avengers movie. I got you a signed copy of the original script signed by the whole cast." Fourteen years after the Avengers assembled audiences in theatres for the first time, the film's leading men, Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr, reunited on stage at the 98th Academy Awards to present an award. The moment also comes ahead of the much-anticipated Avengers: Doomsday, which is set to bring the actors back into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans assemble again at this year's #Oscars...14 years after The Avengers hit theaters. pic.twitter.com/gcepuweyXb  Marvel Studios (@MarvelStudios) March 16, 2026

RDJ first handed him a small piece of paper, which turned out to be his valet parking ticket, but he later came back with another gift. In a comic moment, the actor pulled out a thong and said, "It is the official Tanning Chatum thong from Magic Mike."





Actor Channing Tatum, who starred in Magic Mike, quickly played along and added, "Hey, I'm gonna need that back though!" RDJ and Evans are known for playing Tony Stark (Iron Man) and Steve Rogers (Captain America), respectively, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Chris Evans will return as Steve Rogers in Avengers: Doomsday, while RDJ will be seen as Doctor Doom. Instead of playing Iron Man, he will be seen as the antagonist.

Chris Hemsworth is also confirmed to return as Thor, further solidifying the reunion of the MCU's "Big Three."



Directed by the Russo Brothers, Avengers: Doomsday is shaping up to be a massive crossover event. With the return of fan-favourite veterans and the introduction of a new, dangerous threat, the road to December 2026 promises plenty of excitement for Marvel fans worldwide.
After the excitement of the Academy Awards ceremony, Hollywoods biggest names headed to the annual Vanity Fair Oscars Party, widely regarded as one of the most exclusive celebrations of awards season.



The star-studded event brought together actors, filmmakers, musicians and industry insiders for a glamorous night of celebration.

Known for its iconic red carpet, the Vanity Fair party often becomes a major fashion moment of the night. Celebrities stepped out in striking outfits, with many opting for bold silhouettes, shimmering gowns and dramatic designs that showcased their personal style.



Stars clicked at the party included, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Nick Jonas, Olivia Rodrigo, Paloma Elsesser, Kendal Jenner, Kim Kardashian, Sarah Paulson, Troye Sivan, Zoe Saldana,Hailey Bieber, Jessica Alba, Dua Lipa, Kylie Jenner, Timothee Chalamet, Hudson Williams and more.





The after-party offers Oscar winners, nominees and other A-list guests an opportunity to unwind and celebrate the achievements of the film industry. Throughout the evening, stars were seen posing for photographs, greeting fellow celebrities and enjoying the lively atmosphere of the gathering.





Over the years, the Vanity Fair Oscars Party has become almost as anticipated as the ceremony itself, thanks to its glamorous guest list and unforgettable fashion moments.
The trailer of Bhishmar, starring Dhyan Sreenivasan and Vishnu Unnikrishnan, has been unveiled, offering a lively glimpse into what appears to be a fast-paced entertainer packed with humour, romance and action. Directed by East Coast Vijayan, the Malayalam film is gearing up for a theatrical release on March 20.



A chance encounter sparks a chain reaction



The trailer hints at a story that kicks off with a seemingly ordinary meeting between the characters played by Dhyan and Vishnu. What begins as a casual encounter soon spirals into a series of increasingly chaotic situations. From romantic entanglements to tense confrontations, the narrative appears to unfold across a single eventful night filled with twists, misunderstandings and high energy moments.



Known for their comedic timing and relatable screen presence, Dhyan Sreenivasan and Vishnu Unnikrishnan seem to play off each others personalities in the film. Their dynamic forms the core of the trailer, which teases plenty of situational humour while also hinting at emotional stakes and bursts of action. The film also marks the first time the two actors share the screen as co-leads, adding an extra layer of curiosity for fans of Malayalam cinema.



A packed ensemble and familiar collaborators



Bhishmar features a strong supporting cast that includes Ammayra Goswami and Divya Pillai as the female leads. The film also brings together a wide ensemble featuring Unni Lalu, Indrans, Shaju Sreedhar, Senthil Krishna, Jibin Gopinath, Akhil Kavalayoor, Vineeth Thattil, Santhosh Keezhattoor, Manikandan Achari, Abu Salim, Binu Thrikkakara, Jayan Cherthala and Sohan Seenulal, among others.



Behind the camera, the film is powered by an experienced technical team. The script is penned by Ansaj Gopi, while cinematography is handled by Ratheesh Ram and editing by Johnkutty. The music is composed by Ranjin Raj and KA Latheef, with the soundtrack already generating some buzz following the release of its promotional tracks.





Director East Coast Vijayan also produces the film under his banner, continuing his creative collaboration with Vishnu Unnikrishnan after their 2023 project Kallanum Bhagavathiyum. The filmmaker has been steadily building a reputation for crafting light hearted entertainers that blend humour with elements of romance and drama.



Filming for Bhishmar was completed in a continuous 42-day schedule, with much of the shoot taking place in and around Palakkad. With the trailer now out and promotional activities picking up pace, anticipation is building around how the film will balance its mix of comedy, romance and action.



If the trailer is any indication, Bhishmar aims to deliver a breezy entertainer where one unexpected meeting sets off a night that neither of its protagonists is likely to forget.







Also Read: Line Lagi Thi Shah Rukh Khan Ke Liye: Anurag Kashyap On Shah Rukh Khans Craze In Berlin
Die Markte feiern neue Rekorde  doch im Hintergrund braut sich eine Entwicklung zusammen, die alles verandern konnte. Die anhaltende Sperrung der Strae von Hormus sorgt laut IEA fur eine der groten Energiekrisen aller Zeiten. Gleichzeitig schieen die Preise fur Dungemittel und Agrarrohstoffe bereits nach oben.



Damit droht ein perfekter Sturm: steigende Energiepreise, explodierende Produktionskosten und ein moglicher Super-El-Nino, der weltweit Ernten gefahrdet. Erste Auswirkungen sind langst sichtbar  Weizen, Soja und Kakao verteuern sich deutlich, wahrend Lebensmittelpreise vor dem nachsten Sprung stehen konnten.



Fur Anleger bedeutet das nicht nur Risiken, sondern enorme Chancen. Denn wahrend klassische Markte unter Druck geraten konnten, entsteht auf den Feldern und Plantagen der nachste groe Rohstoffzyklus. Wer sich jetzt richtig positioniert, kann von einer Entwicklung profitieren, die weit uber Ol und Metalle hinausgeht.



In unserem aktuellen Spezialreport stellen wir drei Aktien vor, die besonders aussichtsreich sind, um von diesem Trend zu profitieren  solide positioniert, strategisch relevant und mit erheblichem Aufwartspotenzial.







Jetzt den kostenlosen Report sichern  bevor der Agrar-Boom voll durchschlagt!
EQS-News: Martial Arts History Museum / Key word(s): Ent/Sports

X-Men Writer Scott Lobdell to Be Celebrated at the Martial Arts History Museum



15.03.2026 / 23:17 CET/CEST

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.





GLENDALE, CA - March 15, 2026 ( NEWMEDIAWIRE ) - The Martial Arts History Museum proudly announces that Friday, March 20, 2026, will officially be celebrated as "Scott Lobdell Day," honoring the influential career of legendary comic book writer Scott Lobdell; A Tribute to a Defining Voice in X-Men History.





Best known for his landmark work during the 1990s on Marvel's mutant titles - including celebrated runs on Uncanny X-Men, X-Men, and the fan-favorite Generation X - Lobdell helped define one of the most commercially and culturally significant eras in comic book history. His character-driven storytelling shaped the emotional arcs of the X-Men during a period of explosive global popularity.



The day's celebration will begin with a public signing from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM, followed by a special Tribute Ceremony from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM.



The Tribute Ceremony will include:

A biography of Scott Lobdell, a formal presentation of a certificate officially recognizing March 20, 2026, as "Scott Lobdell Day" with a special photo montage of his career.



Plus video tributes from colleagues, collaborators, and fans.



Scott's work helped define an era and his stories gave readers heroes who struggled, evolved, and overcame adversity - themes that mirror the core values preserved and celebrated at the museum.



Museum Founder and President Michael Matsuda noted, "At the Martial Arts History Museum, we honor individuals whose work inspires discipline, perseverance, imagination, and courage. Scott Lobdell's storytelling empowered a generation of readers and helped shape modern heroic mythology. We are proud to recognize his contributions and the enduring impact of his creative voice."



Admission to the event is $20 for adults, $5 for kids under 18. Signing begins at 2 pm to 4 pm and the tribute ceremony is held at 4 pm. The museum is located at 201 N. Brand Blvd., B100, Glendale, CA 91203. MAmuseum.com. Tickets will be sold at the door.
Optimizing from photons to outcomes. Powered by 100% renewable energy.

OXMIQ Labs ("OXMIQ"), the GPU architecture and AI technology company founded by Raja Koduri, today announced a strategic technology partnership with AM Intelligence Labs, a business division of AM Group, to provide data center and system infrastructure advisory for AM Intelligence Labs' 2 GW AI Compute Capability by 2030 with initial 1 GW AI Compute Hub in Uttar Pradesh, India.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260315355703/en/

OXMIQ and AM Intelligence Labs are building one of the world's largest renewable-powered AI compute platforms 2 Gigawatts by 2030, Phase 1 online in Noida, India by 2027.

AM Intelligence Labs is a strategic business division of AM Group, parent of Greenko, India's largest green energy producer with 50 GW of renewable capacity across solar, wind, and hydro, backed by 100 GWh of intelligent energy storage and supplying approximately 2% of India's total power. Energy is owned, operated, and carbon-free priced at 50-70% below conventional data center power costs.

India is a rapidly changing center of demand in the global AI economy. Driven by its massive developer ecosystem, digital economy, and rapidly expanding enterprise adoption of AI, the country is emerging as the world's second-largest market for AI usage and token consumption.

AM Group has commenced development of its flagship AI infrastructure initiative, with Phase 1 of the Noida Compute Hub now in active execution. Bringing the initial compute capacity online by the end of 2027 will be a key milestone as the Group builds one of the world's largest renewable-powered AI compute platforms. OXMIQ is working closely with AM Group to optimize system architecture, infrastructure design, and modular execution delivery to ensure the platform is deployed at speed while achieving best-in-class efficiency and scale.

Under the partnership, OXMIQ will serve as the architecture and engineering partner for the compute platform, working with AM Intelligence Labs to design the systems architecture, hardware roadmap, and supply chain strategy that will underpin the facility. OXMIQ brings deep expertise spanning the entire compute stack, from transistor-level GPU architecture and advanced packaging through rack-scale systems, high-performance interconnects, and the orchestration software required to operate AI workloads at massive scale. Together, the partnership delivers end-to-end optimization from photons to outcomes, ultimately making zettascale economics accessible to everyone.

AM Group is developing the 1 GW AI High Performance Compute Hub in Noida as a fully vertically integrated platform spanning owned carbon-free power generation, advanced data center infrastructure, high-performance accelerators, a complete software stack, applications, and flexible consumption models ranging from AI Pods-as-a-Service to Tokens-as-a-Service.

OXMIQ's deep expertise across the compute stack enables the platform to be architected for end-to-end optimization from photons to tokens. Every layer, from renewable energy generation through data center architecture, liquid cooling, interconnect topology, accelerator selection, and workload orchestration, will be engineered as a unified system. This integrated approach unlocks industry-leading electrons-to-tokens economics, delivering dramatically lower-cost AI compute at gigawatt scale.

Leadership Perspectives

"AM Intelligence Labs is the ideal partner for OXMIQ. They have solved the hardest constraint in large-scale AI infrastructure: access to reliable, carbon-free power at global scale. Our team has spent decades building silicon, systems, and software that power the world's most advanced computing platforms. Bringing that expertise into AM Intelligence Labs' infrastructure from the first architectural decisions means every rack, every interconnect, every storage and cooling system is designed around the workloads and economics required for the AI era."

- Raja Koduri, Founder and CEO, OXMIQ Labs

"OXMIQ gives AM Intelligence Labs access to some of the deepest hardware and systems expertise in the industry. Their team's experience across leading Silicon Valley companies is exactly what we need to architect infrastructure that can compete globally. Together we are laying the foundation for AM Intelligence Labs to become a full-stack AI compute platform."

- Anil Chalamalasetty, Group Chairman, AM Group

About OXMIQ Labs

OXMIQ Labs, headquartered in Campbell, California, is a GPU architecture and AI technology company founded by Raja Koduri, whose career spans leadership at Apple, AMD, Intel, and ATI Technologies. OXMIQ delivers licensable chiplet-based AI hardware and software solutions built for the age of inference. OxCapsule and OxPython deliver immediate optimization across heterogeneous hardware, while OxCore and OxQuilt provide the chiplet-native roadmap to zettascale efficiency. For more information: www.oxmiq.ai

Forward Looking Statements: This press release contains forward looking statements subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially. Specific projects and deployments will be subject to definitive agreements.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260315355703/en/

Contacts:

Media Contacts:

OXMIQ Labs: press@oxmiq.ai
Richmond Hill, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 15, 2026) - VIQ Solutions Inc. (TSXV: VQS) ("VIQ Solutions" or the "Company") today announced that its Australian division, consisting of VIQ Australia Pty Ltd, VIQ Solutions Pty Ltd, VIQ Solutions Australia Pty Ltd, VIQ Pty Ltd and VIQ Australia Services Pty Ltd ("VIQ Australia"), has been placed into voluntary administration pursuant to Part 5.3A of the Corporations Act 2001 (Australia). VIQ Solutions is taking this action in order to focus its management and capital resources on the Company's existing operations in North America and the United Kingdom, which remain the Company's highest performing business units.

"The decision to appoint voluntary administrators follows a thorough review of Australian operations, including the current challenging business environment in Australia, and the negative impact on the financial results of our overall business," said Larry Taylor, Chief Executive Officer of VIQ Solutions. "We are disappointed that we were unable to bring the full capability of the Company's global scalable architecture and best practices to the Australian business. We will support the administrator to ensure that the business of VIQ Australia continues to operate without disruption, given that VIQ Australia supports critical functions of the Australian courts and law enforcement."

The Company is optimistic that customers will continue to support VIQ Australia through the administration process and while the administrator works to ensure the future of VIQ Australia is secured.

In pursuing voluntary administration, the Company is seeking to realize as much value as possible from VIQ Australia's remaining assets for the benefit of all stakeholders. The Company will continue to work cooperatively with the administrator, customers, employees, government authorities, and other affected parties throughout the process. The voluntary administration constitutes an event of default under the terms of the credit agreement dated January 13, 2023, as amended, between the Company and Beedie Investments Ltd.

Preliminary Financial Results for Year Ended December 31, 2025

VIQ Solutions' preliminary unaudited financial results for the year ended December 31, 2025 indicate estimated consolidated revenue of approximately $41 million and Adjusted EBITDA (see "Non-IFRS Measures" below for details) of approximately $5 million. Excluding VIQ Australia, estimated consolidated revenue would be approximately $20 million and consolidated Adjusted EBITDA would be approximately $3 million. VIQ Solutions expects to streamline operations in its North America and the United Kingdom business to improve Adjusted EBITDA in the year ahead.

The above preliminary financial results for the year ended December 31, 2025 are based on management's estimates and have not yet been approved by the Company's audit committee or its board of directors. The Company's final financial results for its fiscal year could differ from these preliminary financial results.

Appointment of New Chief Financial Officer

VIQ Solutions is pleased to announce that it has appointed a new Chief Financial Officer, Michael Wolfe, effective April 1, 2026. Mr. Wolfe has over 30 years' experience in finance, accounting, private equity and business valuation and has also served as a director for several private and public companies, including as a member of audit and other independent committees. He was previously the CFO of several mid-market Canadian companies including Baylin Technologies Inc., a TSX listed company in the wireless communications industry. Mr. Wolfe also brings a successful track record in acquisitions, management buyouts, growth financings and recapitalizations. Mr. Wolfe is a Chartered Professional Accountant.

In connection with Mr. Wolfe's appointment, Alexie Edwards has resigned as Chief Financial Officer effective March 31, 2026. It is expected that Mr. Edwards will continue to work with the Company to ensure a smooth transition. The Company wishes Mr. Edwards well in his new endeavors.

CEO Compensation Arrangement

The Company also announced that it has entered into a management services agreement (the "MSA") with Larry Taylor effective April 1, 2026 to support Mr. Taylor's transition to full-time Chief Executive Officer of the Company. Mr. Taylor has been Chief Executive Officer of the Company since August 2025, and has received no remuneration as CEO to date, all while supporting the Company through insider-led private placements. Pursuant to the MSA, the Company will pay a one-time management fee of US$50,000 on April 1, 2026, followed by monthly fees of US$25,000 commencing May 1, 2026. The Company has a right to terminate the MSA upon 90 days' written notice.

For more information about VIQ Solutions, please visit viqsolutions.com . The Company's head office is located at 35 West Pearce Street, Unit 13, Richmond Hill, Ontario L4B 3A9.

About VIQ Solutions

VIQ Solutions is a global provider of secure, AI-driven, digital voice and video capture technology and transcription services. VIQ Solutions offers a seamless, comprehensive solution suite that delivers intelligent automation, enhanced with human review, to drive transformation in the way content is captured, secured, and repurposed into actionable information. The cyber-secure, AI technology and services platform are implemented in the most rigid security environments including criminal justice, legal, insurance, government, corporate finance, media, and transcription service provider markets, enabling them to improve the quality and accessibility of evidence, to easily identify predictive insights and to achieve digital transformation faster and at a lower cost.

Forward-looking Statements

Certain statements included in this press release constitute forward-looking statements or forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") under applicable securities legislation. Such forward-looking statements or information are provided for the purpose of providing information about management's current expectations and plans relating to the future. Readers are cautioned that reliance on such information may not be appropriate for other purposes.

Forward-looking statements typically contain statements with words such as "anticipate", "believe", "expect", "plan", "intend", "estimate", "propose", "project" or similar words, including negatives thereof, suggesting future outcomes or that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. These statements are only predictions. Forward-looking statements in this press release include but are not limited to statements regarding the filing of the voluntary administration, the process and outcome of the administration, the ongoing negotiations, expected Adjusted EBITDA improvement, the Company's strategy to focus on its North American and United Kingdom operations, the Company's preliminary financial results for the year ended December 31, 2025 and the impact of the administration on the Company. Actual results and outcomes could differ materially for a variety of reasons, including, among others, the outcome of the administration process, including whether a deed of company arrangement or other restructuring solution can be achieved; the ability of the administrator to maintain continuity of services and preserve customer relationships during the administration period; the magnitude of the potential disruption to the Company's business and operations; the impact of the administration on the Company's relationships with customers in other jurisdictions, employees, investors, regulators, and governmental authorities; the ability to recover value from VIQ Australia's remaining assets and apply such recoveries against outstanding obligations; the potential for claims by creditors, employees, or other stakeholders of VIQ Australia; distraction of management or other diversion of resources from business operations in connection with the administration; the potentially material financial impact of the potential loss of revenue and higher expenses associated with the administration, transition-related expenses that may be incurred and borne by the Company; and other factors described in greater detail in the "Risk Factors" section of the Company's annual information form dated March 31, 2025 and in the Company's other materials filed on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.

These factors are not intended to represent a complete list of the factors that could affect the Company; however, these factors should be considered carefully. Such estimates and assumptions may prove to be incorrect or overstated. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release and the Company expressly disclaims any obligations to update or alter such statements, or the factors or assumptions underlying them, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

Non-IFRS Measures

The Company prepares its financial statements in accordance with IFRS. Non-IFRS measures are provided by management to provide additional insight into our performance and financial condition. VIQ Solutions believes non-IFRS measures are an important part of the financial reporting process and are useful in communicating information that complements and supplements the consolidated financial statements. Adjusted EBITDA is not a measure recognized by IFRS and does not have a standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS. Therefore, Adjusted EBITDA may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. Investors are cautioned that Adjusted EBITDA should not be construed as an alternative to net income (loss) as determined in accordance with IFRS. For a reconciliation of net income (loss) to Adjusted EBITDA please see the Company's MD&A for the nine months ended September 30, 2025.

To evaluate the Company's operating performance as a complement to results provided in accordance with IFRS, the term "Adjusted EBITDA" refers to net income (loss) before adjusting earnings for stock-based compensation, depreciation, amortization, interest expense, accretion, and other financing expense, (gain) loss on revaluation of options, (gain) loss on revaluation of restricted share units, gain (loss) on revaluation of derivative warrant liability, restructuring costs, strategic review costs, loss on modification of debt, impairment of property and equipment, impairment of goodwill and intangibles, other expense (income), foreign exchange (gain) loss, current and deferred income tax expense. We believe that the items excluded from Adjusted EBITDA are not connected to and do not represent the operating performance of the Company.

We believe that Adjusted EBITDA is useful supplemental information as it provides an indication of the results generated by the Company's main business activities prior to taking into consideration how those activities are financed and taxed as well as expenses related to stock-based compensation, depreciation, amortization, impairment of goodwill and intangibles, loss on modification or extinguishment of debt, other expense (income), and foreign exchange (gain) loss. Accordingly, we believe that this measure may also be useful to investors in enhancing their understanding of the Company's operating performance.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/288549

Source: VIQ Solutions Inc.
TripGenie's third anniversary milestone: AI-assisted bookings surge 400% year-on-year

Use of real-time AI tools such as menu assistant and live translation increase by around 300% year-on-year

Regional insights: Asia favours last-minute AI guidance; Europe and North America plan early

SINGAPORE, March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- As AI becomes an everyday part of travel planning, one thing is increasingly clear: while the technology may be global, how travellers use it is anything but uniform. New data from TripGenie, Trip.com's AI travel assistant, reveals that three years of real-world usage have surfaced new patterns in how travellers plan, decide and navigate their journeys.

What began as a functional tool has evolved into a trusted end-to-end travel companion, and in doing so, has revealed how culture, geography and travel habits shape the role AI plays across the travel journey.

Cultural Differences in AI Use

AI usage shows that planning rhythms vary significantly by market, reflecting unique travel behaviours. For instance, travellers from Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Italy and France use AI the most during their travel experience.

Data shows that travellers in highly connected, short-haul travel markets tend to interact with TripGenie more often per trip, relying on it as a real-time decision-making partner. This includes pre-hotel bookings, attraction guides, and in-destination inspiration, reflecting the fast-paced travel styles seen in markets like Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia.

In contrast, travellers in parts of Europe and North America typically engage AI earlier in the planning cycle. In markets such as Germany and the United Kingdom, planning windows are longer and more deliberate, with travellers consulting TripGenie weeks in advance. Most of these inquiries are for flight and hotel products, helping to reduce risk and provide reassurance before booking.

Decision speed also varies sharply. For example, travellers in South Korea and Taiwan often finalise hotel bookings just days before departure, with AI supporting decisions surrounding location and nearby amenities. While a general trend across Asia, Japan is an exception, with travellers typically booking accommodation weeks in advance, reflecting a preference for certainty and early confirmation.

Southern European markets such as Italy, France and Spain sit between these two ends of the spectrum, displaying moderately spontaneous booking behaviours.

Using AI across the Travel Journey

Travellers increasingly use AI across multiple stages of their journey, with TripGenie data showing that users are moving from broad exploratory questions to focused booking and itinerary-related decisions, signalling that AI is becoming an integral part of travel planning.

TripGenie AI-assisted order volume on Trip.com increased by around 400% year-on-year, indicating a deeper reliance on AI for inspiration and bookings.

Use of core TripGenie tools, such as hotel comparison, menu assistance, and live translation, increased by around 300% year-on-year, signalling that travellers now use AI as a reliable tool across a trip, rather than a one-off search feature.

Moreover, pre- and post-sales service inquiries now account for around a quarter of all interactions. Travellers are increasingly comfortable relying on TripGenie to handle nuanced, real-world scenarios, from itinerary changes to in-destination questions.

AI: A Trusty Guide for Smart Decisions

As travel decisions become more complex, AI helps travellers reduce uncertainty at every step, from exploring options and asking questions to choosing with confidence.

Nearly 60% of TripGenie interactions are now booking-related, spanning hotels, flights and attractions. Travellers frequently ask practical questions to seek reassurance: Does this hotel meet their needs? Is the location safe? Does this travel policy apply?

Moreover, beyond conversational interaction, users also progress to compare travel options, such as TripGenie's hotel comparison feature, which streamlines the process and reduces the number of clicks needed by 80%, and fosters higher engagement with a 45% increase in 7-day AI revisit rates.

How Travellers Use AI Across Key Travel Products

When it comes to travel, three basic things are needed: a flight, somewhere to stay and something to see. But how AI is used across these products differs greatly.

Flights: AI has become a useful tool to clarify concerns. Over half of travellers frequently consult AI to confirm lounge eligibility, baggage rules and premium services before booking. This is because such information is often scattered across airline websites, credit card terms and fine print, making it time-consuming to interpret without AI assistance.

Accommodation: AI reduces risk by verifying facilities, distances and suitability across a wide range of accommodation types. Among users who used TripGenie's hotel comparison tools, over half selected a hotel that directly matched the AI's recommendation. By allowing travellers to quickly confirm policies and property details that would otherwise require cross-checking multiple sources or contacting hotels directly, AI helps reduce booking uncertainty.

Attractions: Attractions-related queries are increasingly centred on cultural moments, unique experiences, and overall tourist value. Many turn to AI for real-time inspiration, asking what to do today, which experiences are worth their time, or how to explore a destination like a local. This reflects AI's strength in providing contextual and narrative-driven insights, helping travellers understand the cultural meaning and experiential value behind attractions

Beyond Text: The Rise of Multimodal AI Travel

As travel unfolds in real time, travellers are increasingly engaging with TripGenie beyond text alone. Globally, a growing share of users now upload images to support their queries, from menus and street signs to landmarks, hotel rooms and transport information. Revisit rates among these users remain high, with a 7-day revisit rate twice that of the platform as a whole.

This shift reflects how travellers experience the world: visually, intuitively and often in unfamiliar environments. Notably, users who engage with image-based interactions show significantly higher short-term revisit rates than the platform average, signalling strong satisfaction and deeper trust.

Despite different use patterns, one thing remains consistent: across markets, TripGenie supports local travel behaviour rather than reshaping it. Whether supporting long-term planners or last-minute decision-makers, Trip.com's AI adapts seamlessly across the travel journey, reinforcing its position as a globally available yet locally nuanced travel companion.

(end)

About Trip.com

Trip.com is an international one-stop travel service provider, available in 24 languages across 39 countries and regions in 35 local currencies. Offering an extensive hotel and flight network of more than 1.5 million hotels and flights from over 640 airlines, along with over 300,000 attraction and tour products, Trip.com covers 3,400 airports in 220 countries and regions. Trip.com's world-class 24/7 multilingual customer service helps to 'create the best travel experience' for its millions of customers worldwide. To book your next trip, visit Trip.com.

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View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/three-years-of-tripgenie-how-travellers-around-the-world-are-using-ai-differently-302713205.html
AMSTERDAM, March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Fox ESS, a leading provider of renewable energy solutions, has officially launched its groundbreaking Power Q Series energy storage system at Solar Solutions Amsterdam 2026 for the Benelux market. The company, a Gold Sponsor of the prestigious event, showcased its latest innovations and diverse product portfolio from a prime booth location. This highly anticipated exhibition saw Fox ESS strengthen several strategic partnership with market leaders.

Earlier this month, Fox ESS's storage system, an upgraded verison of Power Q, achieved a record System Performance Index (SPI) of 97%, claiming the No. 1 global ranking in the 10 kW category in the latest HTW Berlin Energy Storage Inspection. The innovative cable-free system further revolutionizes installation with unmatched simplicity and convenience. While not yet commercially available, it is already generating significant excitement and high expectations.

Power Q Takes the Spotline

Fox ESS held a dedicated launch event for the Power Q series, a groundbreaking high-end system, set to disrupt the traditional landscape of premium German brands. Combining efficiency and functionality, the Power Q is ideal for both single-phase and three-phase applications. Featured at Innovation Boulevard, the product has set a new benchmark.

Key Features:

Built-in gateway with 63A breaker, ideal for whole-house load backup with ms-level switching time.

Max. 1C charge/discharge rate, suitable for VPP multi-scenario applications to maximize user benefits.

AI-powered dynamic trading mode, 6CT/3CT meter with self-adaptive phase sequence, VPP integration, 5s power scheduling, and one-click APP upgrade.

Up to 89.6% round-trip efficiency, maximizing revenue and shortening payback period.

Ultra-High Energy Density: The highest energy density for residential energy storage systems worldwide. Stackable installation in only 3 minutes, significantly lowering labor costs.

Notably, this innovative product received the Top Innovation Award 2026 from EUPD, further cementing the company's excellence in energy storage technology.

Deepening Strategic Ties

Fox ESS announced strategic collaborations with several key distributors, including GPC Europe, VDH Power, Koninklijke Oosterberg, and OSW. These partnerships aim to unlock significant potential for energy storage in the Dutch market and throughout Europe.

To celebrate this new chapter, Fox ESS hosted an exclusive event for its partners, raising glasses to honor a new era in energy. The brand expressed gratitude for each partner's contributions as they collectively embark on a journey toward a more sustainable future.

Expanding Horizons in Benelux

The Dutch solar energy market is undergoing a significant transformation. Over the past decade, the Netherlands has installed millions of photovoltaic (PV) systems, and battery storage is emerging as a key trend in response to the planned phaseout of the 'salderingsregeling,' or net metering scheme, set for implementation in 2027. This shift reflects a growing emphasis on energy independence and grid flexibility, with battery systems playing a pivotal role in enhancing the self-consumption of generated solar energy.

In Australia, a market characterized by a similar solar landscape, Fox ESS has rapidly ascended to become the leading residential storage brand, achieving nearly 10,000 installations monthly and peaking at almost 500 MWh in a single month. In 2025, the S&P Global Energy Residential Storage Index recognized Fox ESS as the market share leader in Europe, Poland, and the UK, for the first half of the year.

Beyond its sales, Fox ESS is committed to ongoing support, with a dedicated service team of over a hundred experts stationed across Australia, Germany, and the UK. Now, the company is poised to replicate this successful model, offering both product and service excellence to the Netherlands.

"Our product achieves an average installation of 20,000 units per month across the UK, Germany, and Australia, with an exceptionally low failure rate. Rigorously tested in diverse environments and backed by our commitment to customer support, we are confident in our ability to ensure customer satisfaction in the Benelux region," said Lyren Liu, CCO of Fox ESS.

Video - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2934263/final_video_solar_solutions_NL_Mar_13.mp4

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/fox-ess-launches-intelligent-power-q-at-solar-solutions-amsterdam-redefining-storage-standards-302714221.html
Delivers on major UK national quantum mission goal, enabling research and application development on large-scale systems

Infleqtion (NYSE: INFQ), a global leader in quantum computing and quantum sensing powered by neutral-atom technology, has delivered the UK's only operational 100-physical-qubit quantum computing system at the National Quantum Computing Centre (NQCC) with its Sqale platform, achieving a milestone the NQCC identified as a critical objective for the UK's quantum strategy. Achieved in December 2025, the milestone creates foundational infrastructure that will enable researchers and industry to begin working with large-scale quantum systems.

"Infleqtion's progress is a significant milestone, helping move the UK beyond research toward real-world uses," said Lord Vallance, Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation. "These sorts of advances are vital in paving the way for us to be able to use quantum computers to deliver tangible benefits. With the talent and research expertise that we have on offer in the UK, this is an encouraging next step which helps cement our position as a world leader in one of the defining technologies of our generation."

"The NQCC's quantum computing testbed is among the first of its kind, advancing innovation at a global level," said Matthew Kinsella, CEO of Infleqtion. "This latest achievement with Sqale reflects the progress and potential of our neutral-atom architecture and marks an important step toward larger-scale quantum systems. We're proud to partner with the NQCC on a platform that is critical to advancing quantum computing and reinforces the UK's leadership in this essential technology."

Reaching the 100-physical-qubit level represents an important step beyond laboratory prototypes toward quantum computers that can run more complex algorithms, test error-correction approaches and support practical solutions. At this scale, quantum systems begin to support experimentation that connects more directly to real-world challenges. Researchers can begin probing applications in areas such as advanced materials, energy systems and complex optimisation. Sqale is the first neutral-atom platform of this scale deployed in an operational national facility, reinforcing its position at the forefront of quantum hardware development.

The NQCC's installation of the Sqale platform is part of its broader Quantum Computing Testbed Initiative. With Sqale, researchers will be able to evaluate performance, benchmark applications, and study how neutral-atom systems scale. The platform is also designed to accelerate skills development, supply-chain readiness and application exploration across the UK quantum ecosystem.

"Having a system of this scale available through the NQCC is a significant step for the UK quantum community," said Dr Michael Cuthbert, Director of the NQCC. "It allows researchers to move beyond small demonstrations and begin learning what it really takes to operate and scale quantum computers in practice."

"This is a defining moment for Infleqtion and the UK's ambition to build world-class sovereign quantum capabilities. Achieving this milestone has been a key goal for the UK's quantum efforts and seeing it become reality is something we are all immensely proud of," said Colin Sullivan, Managing Director of Infleqtion UK. "We look forward to expanding our partnership with UK researchers, businesses and government to unlock the full potential of quantum technology."

Infleqtion's milestone with NQCC demonstrates continued execution on the company's technology roadmap. Infleqtion is aiming to exceed 30 logical qubits in 2026 and deliver more than 100 logical qubits in 2028, advancing toward fully fault-tolerant architectures. Because it takes anywhere from 10 to more than 1,000 physical qubits to encode a single reliable logical qubit, physical-qubit performance becomes a key limiting factor. Infleqtion's 99.73% two-qubit gate fidelity delivers industry-leading performance on the metric that matters most in quantum computing. Higher fidelity means fewer physical qubits per logical qubit, delivering a significant scalability and efficiency advantage.

Neutral-atom architecture offers one of the clearest paths to scalable quantum computing and future commercial advantage due to its scalability, reconfigurability and strong coherence properties. Infleqtion's approach benefits from having already delivered neutral-atom systems in operational environments beyond the laboratory. Unlike many quantum computing efforts that remain confined to research settings, Infleqtion has already translated neutral-atom technology into multiple demonstrations and fielded systems, including:

Pioneering quantum flight trials demonstrating real-world operation

First materials science application on logical qubits

Deployment of a quantum optical atomic clock on an underwater autonomous vehicle

The UK's largest neutral-atom array

Collaboration on efforts to deploy a quantum gravity sensor in space

Together, these efforts underscore Infleqtion's ability to turn neutral-atom research into fielded products, providing a foundation for developing scalable quantum technologies that move beyond the laboratory and into practical use.

For more information about Infleqtion's neutral-atom computing roadmap and work with the NQCC, visit infleqtion.com.

About Infleqtion

Infleqtion, Inc. (NYSE: INFQ) is a global leader in quantum technology, delivering neutral-atom solutions for quantum computing, networking, sensing, and security. With a product portfolio spanning quantum computers, quantum optical clocks, RF receivers, and inertial sensors, Infleqtion's full-stack approach combines high-performance hardware with the company's proprietary Superstaq quantum computing software platform. Infleqtion's systems are already in use by the U.S. Department of War, NASA, the U.K. government, and in multiple collaborations with NVIDIA. Infleqtion, in collaboration with NVIDIA, published the world's first demonstration of a materials science application using logical qubits. With operations in the U.S., Europe, and Asia, Infleqtion meets the demands of government and commercial customers across the space, defense, energy, finance and telecommunications sectors. For more information, visit Infleqtion.com or follow Infleqtion on LinkedIn, YouTube, and X.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a neutral-atom quantum computer?

A neutral-atom quantum computer uses individual atoms held in place and controlled by lasers as qubits, the basic units of quantum information. Because the atoms are naturally identical and can be arranged with high precision, neutral-atom systems offer a flexible approach to building larger, more capable quantum processors while remaining well isolated from environmental noise.

How is neutral atom technology different from other quantum computing approaches?

Quantum computers can be built using several different physical approaches, including superconducting circuits, trapped ions, photons, and neutral atoms. Neutral-atom systems are especially promising because they can be scaled by adding and rearranging atoms with light, enabling flexible qubit layouts and reconfigurable interactions. These properties make neutral-atom architecture a compelling approach as the industry works toward larger-scale quantum systems.

Why does reaching 100 qubits matter?

Reaching 100 physical qubits is an important milestone because it enables larger and more realistic quantum experiments than have typically been possible on smaller prototype systems. At this scale, researchers can begin testing more complex algorithms, studying how systems behave as they grow, and exploring approaches to error correction and early applications. It marks an important step from laboratory-scale demonstrations toward larger operational quantum systems.

What does this deployment enable for researchers and industry?

With the system now operational at the National Quantum Computing Centre, researchers and industry collaborators can begin evaluating a large-scale neutral-atom quantum computer in a national testbed environment. This supports performance benchmarking, application exploration, and practical research into operating and scaling quantum systems across the UK quantum ecosystem.

Why is this significant for the UK?

This milestone marks the deployment of the UK's only operational 100-physical-qubit quantum computing system and supports a major goal of the National Quantum Computing Centre's technology roadmap. It strengthens the UK's national quantum infrastructure and gives the quantum community the opportunity to work with a system at a scale that supports more advanced research, benchmarking, and application development.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260315573462/en/

Contacts:

Leigh Rosenwald

Voxus PR

infleqtion@voxuspr.com

Investor Contact

Marcus Kupferschmidt

investors@infleqtion.com
EQS-Ad-hoc: UBS AG / Key word(s): Other/Other

UBS AG: UBS publishes agenda for its Annual General Meeting on 15 April 2026



16-March-2026 / 07:24 CET/CEST

Disclosure of an inside information acc. to Article 17 MAR of the Regulation (EU) No 596/2014, transmitted by EQS News - a service of EQS Group .

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.



16 March 2026

Ad hoc announcement pursuant to Article 53 of the SIX Exchange Regulation Listing Rules

News Release UBS publishes agenda for its Annual General Meeting on 15 April 2026 Lukas Gahwiler, William C. Dudley and Jeanette Wong will not not stand for re-election



Markus Ronner, Agustin Carstens and Luca Maestri nominated for election to the Board of Directors



All other members of the Board of Directors will stand for re-election



The Board of Directors of UBS Group AG proposes an ordinary dividend of USD 1.10 (gross) in cash per share for the 2025 financial year

Zurich, 16 March 2026 - UBS Group AG will hold its 2026 Annual General Meeting (AGM) on 15 April 2026 at 10:30am CEST in Basel. The AGM will be held in German and English and broadcast live in both languages on ubs.com/agm . The invitation, including information on individual agenda items, is available at ubs.com/agm . Agenda Approval of the UBS Group AG management report and consolidated and standalone financial statements for the 2025 financial year Advisory vote on the UBS Group AG Compensation Report 2025 Advisory vote on the UBS Group AG Sustainability Report 2025 Appropriation of total profit and distribution of ordinary dividend out of total profit and capital contribution reserve Discharge of the members of the Board of Directors and the Group Executive Board for the 2025 financial year Re-elections and elections of the members of the Board of Directors Colm Kelleher, as Chairman of the Board of Directors Jeremy Anderson Patrick Firmenich Fred Hu Mark Hughes Renata Jungo Brungger Gail Kelly Julie G. Richardson Lila Tretikov Agustin Carstens Luca Maestri Markus Ronner Re-elections and election of the members of the Compensation Committee Julie G. Richardson Gail Kelly Patrick Firmenich Approval of compensation for the members of the Board of Directors and the Group Executive Board Approval of the maximum aggregate amount of compensation for the members of the Board of Directors from the 2026 AGM to the 2027 AGM Approval of the aggregate amount of variable compensation for the members of the Group Executive Board for the 2025 financial year Approval of the maximum aggregate amount of fixed compensation for the members of the Group Executive Board for the 2027 financial year Re-elections Re-election of the independent proxy, ADB Altorfer Duss & Beilstein AG, Zurich Re-election of the auditors, Ernst & Young Ltd, Basel Ordinary reduction of share capital by way of cancellation of shares repurchased under the 2024 share repurchase program UBS Group AG

Investor contact Switzerland: +41-44-234 41 00 Americas: +1-212-882 5734 Media contact Switzerland: +41-44-234 85 00 UK: +44-207-567 47 14 Americas: +1-212-882 58 58 APAC: +852-297-1 82 00 ubs.com/media

To representatives of the media 16 March 2026 Invitation to the 2026 UBS AGM Dear Sir or Madam, You are invited to attend UBS Group AG's Annual General Meeting on 15 April 2026 at 10:30am CEST in Basel. Doors will open at 9:30am CEST. For organizational purposes, participants need to register by 8 April 2026, providing us via mail ( mediarelations@ubs.com ) with the following information: Last name/first name; Your Organization; Telephone; Email. Upon receipt of your registration, we will send you a confirmation that you will need to present on the day to gain access to the Annual General Meeting. UBS Group AG



End of Inside Information



16-March-2026 CET/CEST The EQS Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases.

View original content: EQS News
Assurant, Inc. (NYSE: AIZ), a premier global protection company that safeguards and services connected devices, homes and automobiles in partnership with the world's leading brands, announced a new partnership with hollandsnieuwe, one of the Netherlands' top online mobile operators, to bring mobile device protection to hollandsnieuwe customers for the very first time.

This collaboration marks an important milestone in Assurant's continued expansion in the Dutch market, further strengthening its footprint across key mobile operators and reinforcing its commitment to deliver simple, reliable, and customer-centric protection solutions across Europe.

With this partnership, hollandsnieuwe customers can protect their devices through two new insurance options:

Standard Protection: covering accidental damage

Premium Protection: covering accidental damage plus theft loss

Designed with an online-first customer journey, the new program provides a seamless, digital experience-from enrollment to claims-ensuring convenience and clarity at every step. To further enhance the experience, customers can also opt for a 1-working-day fulfilment service, offering added speed for those who value faster turnaround.

"As hollandsnieuwe introduces device protection for the first time, we are proud to support them with a solution that aligns with their vision for simplicity, transparency, and value," said Felipe Sanchez, President, Assurant Europe. "This partnership deepens our presence in the Dutch market and reflects our focus on enabling mobile operators to offer high-quality protection experiences to their customers."

Maarten Van der Linde, Business Lead Acquisition, hollandsnieuwe said, "Launching device protection is an important step for us, and Assurant's expertise helps us deliver it with confidence. This partnership enables us to offer our customers a straightforward and reliable protection solution that enhances their overall experience with hollandsnieuwe."

The collaboration supports Assurant's broader European growth strategy by expanding distribution channels and strengthening its presence in the mobile insurance ecosystem across the region.

About hollandsnieuwe

We believed the mobile phone market could be different. Why pay top prices for every call minute, MB, or SMS? And why never know exactly what your phone bill will be? The time was right for an honest telecom provider that gives you control over your costs. Since 2011, we've made telecom simple again- with a practical approach, straightforward products, and clear communication. We offer a super reliable network at a competitive price. You have 100% control over your prepaid bundle and the costs, with no surprises afterward. For people who want to stay well connected everywhere, but don't need the most expensive phone or unlimited bundle. People who know what matters to them and what doesn't and only pay for what they really need.

About Assurant

Assurant, Inc. (NYSE: AIZ) is a premier global protection company that partners with the world's leading brands to safeguard and service connected devices, homes, and automobiles. As a Fortune 500 company operating in 21 countries, Assurant leverages data-driven technology solutions to provide exceptional customer experiences.

Learn more at assurantnederland.nl

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260316883190/en/

Contacts:

Media Contacts:



Neeti Dhawan

Director, International Communications

Assurant, Inc.

neeti.dhawan@assurant.com
AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) Europe will hold an advocacy action in Brussels on March 18 at 11:00 a.m. CET on Archimedes Street, followed by an in-person and virtual press conference at Press Club Brussels Europe titled "EU: Stop Blocking Health Equity," urging European Commission (EC) decision-makers to support a legally binding Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) Annex to the WHO Pandemic Agreement. Click here to access the Press conference Zoom link, and the Facebook Event page.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260316556006/en/

AHF banner for the advocacy campaign: "EU to Stop Blocking Health Equity" .

Adopted in May 2025, the WHO Pandemic Agreement cannot advance until the PABS Annex is finalized. The Annex governs how pathogen samples and genetic data are shared to develop vaccines, diagnostics, and treatments, and how benefits are equitably returned. Negotiations remain difficult, with the European Commission and rich countries like Germany and Switzerland resisting key equity provisions.

With the May 2026 deadline fast approaching, failure to secure a binding agreement risks delaying ratification and repeating the inequities seen during COVID-19 while also undermining efforts to build regional manufacturing capacity and genuine health sovereignty in low- and middle-income countries.

Key Asks to EU decision makers

No Equity, no agreement: The Pandemic Agreement cannot be ratified without the PABS Annex, and this Annex should not be approved without binding equity provisions.

Cooperation, not extraction: Those who profit from the system must contribute to the system. Participating manufacturers and all commercial users must be subject to mandatory benefit-sharing with real accountability and legal certainty through binding contracts. Benefits must include equitable access to vaccines, diagnostics, and treatments, non-exclusive licenses for manufacturers in developing countries during major health emergencies, and annual financial contributions.

No registration, no access: If we do not know who is accessing the system, we cannot hold them accountable.The EU must support user registration and traceability to protect the integrity of the system and ensure it cannot be exploited anonymously.

Ensure meaningful Civil Society inclusion: Transparency, accountability, and community voices are essential to protect equity.

Stop blocking equity, get the agreement finalized: A weak Annex risks repeating the inequities of the of the COVID-19 pandemic while also putting all countries at risk. Developing countries are calling for binding, enforceable benefit-sharing, and the EU must stop delaying and deliver.

Protect regional production: Without equitable benefit-sharing, regional manufacturing and health sovereignty initiatives risk becoming hollow promises. Binding PABS provisions are essential to make them real.

WHAT: AHF Europe Advocacy Action Press Conference: "EU: Stop Blocking Health Equity" WHEN: March 18, 2026 Advocacy Action: 11:00 a.m. CET Press Conference: 1:00 p.m. CET Zoom link Facebook Event page WHERE: Advocacy Action:Archimedes Street (Rue Archimede 1, 1000 Brussels) Press Conference: Press Club Brussels Europe (Rue Froissart 95, 1040 Brussels) WHO: Speakers: Aggrey Aluso, Executive Director, Resilience Action Network Africa (RANA)

Ricardo Fernandes, Deputy General Director, Treatment Activists Group (GAT)

Giorgos Keratsas, Communications Officer, Positive Voice

Daniel Reijer, Europe Bureau Chief, AHF

Kestutis Rudaitis, Data Manager, Demetra

Representative from UNITE Parliamentarians Network for Global Health, TBD Moderators Oluwakemi Gbadamosi, Deputy Executive Director for the AHF Global Public Health Institute and Director of the AHF Global Public Health Institute for Africa

Tamara Prinsenberg, Advocacy Policy Manager for AHF Europe NEWS DESK NOTE B-ROLL VISUALS Civil society advocates gathering with megaphones, holding banners, placards, and world balloons calling for EU leaders to stop blocking health equity

Interviews with global health advocates and civil society leaders during advocacy action and press conference

Food and beverages provided to media prior to the press conference at Press Club Brussels Europe

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) is a global non-profit organization providing cutting-edge medicine and advocacy to more than 2.8 million people in 50 countries worldwide in Africa, the Americas, the Asia/Pacific Region, and Europe. We are currently the largest non-profit provider of HIV/AIDS medical care in the world. To learn more about AHF, please visit our website: www.aidshealth.org, find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/aidshealth and follow us on X: @aidshealthcare and Instagram: @aidshealthcare.

The AHF Global Public Health Institute develops and advocates for evidence-based policy change to create a more equitable and effective global health architecture. With a focus on infectious diseases and health systems, our work addresses critical gaps in global health security, equity, governance, law, and finance. The AHF Global Public Health Institute is part of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. Visit our website for more information: ahfinstitute.org

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260316556006/en/

Contacts:

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Europe Media Contact

Tamara Prinsenberg

Advocacy and Policy Manager, AHF Europe

+31 6 41792365

Tamara.Prinsenberg@ahf.org

AHF Global Public Health Institute Media Contact

Guilherme Ferrari Faviero

Director, AHF Global Public Health Institute

Guilherme.Faviero@ahf.org

U.S. Media Contact

Denys Nazarov,

Director of Global Policy Communications, AHF

+1.323.308.1829

Denys.Nazarov@ahf.org
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 16, 2026) - Gold Hart Copper Corp. (TSXV: HART) (the "Company" or "Gold Hart Copper") is pleased to announce that it has closed its non-brokered private placement of 71,590,822 units of the Company (each, a "Unit") at a price of $0.26 per Unit for aggregate gross proceeds of $18,613,613.72 (the "Financing"). As disclosed in its March 5, 2026 news release, the Company has issued solely Units with proceeds immediately available to Gold Hart Copper, and not subscription receipts contingent upon the Proposed Acquisition (as defined herein).

The Company intends to use the proceeds from the Financing to advance its mineral resource programs in Chile, including accelerated drilling, trenching, geochem and geophysics at its Tolita, Toro, Cachitos, Casale Sur and Zelma concessions in the Vicuna District, and the Nessa Complex of assets (Nessa, Ringo, Manto Carolina, and Rebecca properties) along the Domeyko Fault System; and for working capital and general corporate purposes. Additional details regarding the Financing may be found below and in the Company's prior press releases dated February 17, 2026 and March 5, 2026.

Robert Cudney, CEO of Northfield Capital Corporation, a significant investor in Gold Hart Copper, commented: "The overwhelming response to this financing speaks for itself. Northfield invested in Gold Hart Copper because its quality assets and geological team are first-rate, and the Vicuna District and Domeyko Fault System are rapidly emerging as two of the most important copper and gold belts on the planet. We look forward to the drilling."

Isaac B. Maresky, CEO of Gold Hart Copper, commented: "For years we focused on rolling-up prime historic assets in the renowned Vicuna and Domeyko gold & copper belts of Chile. Even though we struck disciplined partnership-based deals with land owners, limited budgets generally forced us to focus the lion's share of exploration and development singularly on our flagship asset - the Tolita gold-copper-moly-silver porphyry target in the Vicuna. Finally, we can accelerate exploration with dedicated budgets for all of our top properties and develop multiple high-potential assets simultaneously."

Gold Hart Copper's Tolita - Flagship Gold Copper Moly Silver Porphyry Target in Vicuna District

On February 23, 2026, Gold Hart announced completion of the drill hole DDHTOL01, which reached a depth of approximately 1,053m. Interestingly, the core continued to display encouraging characteristics, with multiple intervals showing strong hydrothermal alterations and mineralization consistent with a fertile porphyry-style environment. Gold Hart geologists observed multiple generations of veinlets and stockworks with varying intensities over intervals up to several hundred meters, banded veinlets with thicknesses of several cm, and locally chalcopyrite and bornite mineralization has been recognized in several of these veinlets. HART geologists do not believe the drill intercepted the same fault which caused a sterile zone in the middle of the initial 2 diamond holes.

In terms of next steps for the Company's flagship Tolita Gold-Copper-Moly-Silver Asset in the Vicuna District of Chile, Gold Hart has already launched the next diamond drill hole - DDHTOL04 - which has now exceeded 500m. Gold Hart will provide an update upon completion of this diamond drill hole.

In addition the ongoing diamond drill campaign, Gold Hart anticipates launch of RC drilling at its high-grade trench - with up to 52g/t gold equivalent including 3.99% copper on surface. The objective of the RC campaign is to demonstrate higher grade pockets close to surface, beyond the larger porphyry target. The Company has added a video regarding this high-grade trench: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/s_tbILO1Gqk

Gold Hart recently hosted a site visit which included tours of the Tolita & Nessa assets. Gold Hart board and advisory board members including the honourable John R. Baird, Mark Kucher, and Aleta Shiff were also in attendance. In this 360-degree immersive video - which allows you to interactively toggle views - Gold Hart co-founder Jonathan Warner explains the diamond drilling process

https://cloud-va.insta360.com/share/va/374Q7q0e1K66213G4421719040 also accessible on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/shorts/lw3fGWwQH2Q

Portfolio of Assets in Vicuna and Domeyko

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10786/288658_gold%20hart%20copper%20-%20portfolio%20of%20assets%20in%20vicuna%20and%20domeyko%20-%201.jpg

Tolita High Grade Gold Copper Trench on Large IP Anomaly

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10786/288658_gold%20hart%20-%20tolita%20high%20grade%20gold%20copper%20trench%20on%20large%20ip%20anomaly%20-%202.jpg

Nessa Copper-Gold-Silver Complex - Domeyko Fault System- High Grade Copper Up To 4.7% on Surface

Gold Hart recently announced that its geochemical survey at the Nessa Complex just west of Kinross' La Coipa Gold Mine returned high-grade gold, copper, and silver results. In total, 12 samples returned gold values in excess of 1g/t (samples of 1-5kg ranging from 1.11g/t to 9.74g/t), while 13 samples returned copper values in excess of 0.3% (samples of 0.6-4.2kg ranging from 0.379% to 4.725%)

In addition to high grades on surface, the Nessa Complex was historically home to 13 artisanal gold and copper mining pits, where it is reported that high-grade minerals were mined using mules. Gold Hart has been planning a more comprehensive geochemical survey at the Nessa Complex, with a target of 500-1,000 geochemical samples gridding the property. Gold Hart will provide an update once this exploration campaign commences. Please refer to the notes regarding quality assurance and quality control measures applied during the execution of the work being reported on, at the end of this disclosure.

Nessa Gold Copper Complex Expansion 3.3x

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10786/288658_gold%20hart%20-%20nessa%20gold%20copper%20complex%20expansion%203.3x%20-%203.jpg

Tolita - High Grades Nessa

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10786/288658_tolita%20-%20high%20grades%20nessa%20-%204.jpg

Additional RC Drill Rig at Tolita to Target High Grade Trench Up to 52g/t Gold Equivalent with 3.99% Copper

In addition to Gold Hart's primary diamond drilling at Tolita, the Company is planning to add a reverse circulation (RC) drill rig in order to target certain higher grade opportunities closer to surface at Tolita. Specifically, Gold Hart intends to target its highest grade trench, which grades 8.61g/t gold equivalent over 10m, including 8m at 10.41g/t gold equivalent and including 2m at 10.40g/t gold, 20g/t silver, and 2.88% copper, and including grabs of 45.75g/t gold, 28g/t silver, and 3.99% copper (approximately 52g/t gold equivalent).

Gold Hart recently opened up this high-grade trench with a bulldozer and exposed visible green and turquoise staining typical of copper minerals malachite and chrysocolla. Interestingly, the larger geophysical anomaly at Tolita appears to reach surface at or near this high-grade trench.

Gold Hart Vice President Rodrigo Diaz Tilleria (P.Geo) commented, "Our focus remains the large-scale porphyry potential of Tolita. But Tolita also offers the rare opportunity to target and hopefully prove a high-grade shallower component of the asset. In the Vicuna District where 1g/t gold on surface is rare, we have 52g/t gold and simply put we need to test it. RC drilling is significantly faster and cheaper, does not require water to operate, and is well suited to the characteristics of this target. Our current geological model assumes that this high-grade trench at Tolita may only be a fraction of the size of the larger system, but we do believe it hosts potential for generating higher grade intercepts close to surface and therefore potential to add high grade ounces, thereby demonstrating another facet to the Tolita asset." HART originally anticipated launching its RC drill campaign at this high-grade trench in early March, but the drill rig put forth by contractors did not meet the Company's requirements. The Company has located an alternative drill rig and will update as soon as this campaign commences in the very near future. The Company has added a video regarding this high-grade trench: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/s_tbILO1Gqk

Tolita - 76pc Expansion of Anomaly to 4.5km sq

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10786/288658_tolita%20-%2076pc%20expansion%20of%20anomaly%20to%204.5km%20sq%20-%205.jpg

Nessa Expansion - Historic Mines

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10786/288658_gold%20hart%20-%20nessa%20expansion%20-%20historic%20mines%20-%206.jpg

About Gold Hart Copper's Nessa Gold-Copper-Silver Assets

Gold Hart's Nessa properties sit on the renowned Domeyko Fault of Chile, most famous for hosting the Escondida Copper Mine - now the largest copper mine in the world - which was first staked by Gold Hart co-founder Dr. Jose Frutos in the 1970s. Dr. Frutos recognized and personally staked some of the Nessa claims nearly two decades ago, due to the unique surface alteration - visible from satellite imagery - with high grades on surface and several historic mines which exploited gold, copper and silver at or near surface via pits and shallow tunnels. The historic mines coincide with a pervasive yet intense hydrothermal alteration (silicic-argillic to quartz-sericitic with abundant kaolin in the central part) with a halo of propilitic alteration in the periphery, with disseminated gold-copper-silver mineralization throughout.

Gold Hart recently expanded the Nessa property by 330% (3.3X) from an initial property size of 4,100Ha up to a current land position of 13,500Ha (135km2). The Nessa Complex is just south of the massive Codelco El Salvador - Portrerillos copper mining and smelting complex, one of the oldest copper smelting facilities in the country. Nessa is also surrounded by major miners Newmont, Solaris, JX Nippon, and Anglo American, and sits just northwest of Rio2's Fenix gold deposit and just west of Kinross' La Coipa gold mine.

The Nessa properties were known to host 13 historic artisanal high-grade gold & copper pits, which were mined using mules due to lack of access. Additionally, historic geochemical surveys discovered high grades on surface for gold, copper, and silver, with samples up to 25g/t gold, 3.25% copper, 958g/t silver. However, the Company has now discovered additional copper showings on surface and historic mining pits, and now believes there may be other unknown targets on these assets. Gold Hart recently completed a follow-on geochemical survey and obtained additional high grade samples, including up to 9.7g/t gold, 968g/t silver, and 4.7% copper on surface.

Please refer to the notes regarding quality assurance and quality control measures applied during the execution of the work being reported on, at the end of this disclosure. Please visit the Gold Hart Copper YouTube channel for footage of the road construction and copper oxides at Nessa: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Ax6fOStX72c

Nessa - High Grades Copper Gold Surface

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Nessa Expansion - High Grades on Surface

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Nessa Expansion - Copper Chunks

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Nessa Expansion - Visible Copper Manto

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Tolita - Flagship Gold Copper Moly Silver Porphyry Target in Vicuna District - Diamond Drilling Program

Gold Hart geologists - including senior geologists Professor Dr. Jose Frutos, Enrique Viteri, Jonathan Warner, and Rodrigo Diaz Tilleria - carefully designed a 10-hole drill plan in order to optimally test Tolita as a potential gold-copper-molybdenum-silver porphyry target. As prior announced, Gold Hart first attempted to drill target #1 known as DDHTOL01 in March of 2025, but after difficulties were encountered under tight time constraints, the team instead elected to drill DDHTOL02 and DDHTOL05. These holes were approximately 600m each and encountered approximately 360m and 230m of gold, copper, and moly porphyry mineralization, respectively. Most recently, Gold Hart returned to target #1 DDHTOL01 with a more powerful drill rig and completed a 1.053km drill hole. Gold Hart is now in the process of drilling DDHTOL04 which has recently exceeded a depth of 500m.

Consequently, there await at least another 6-7 highly attractive diamond drill targets identified across the asset area. These targets are supported by a combination of geophysical characteristics, including chargeability and conductivity, strong geological and structural controls as well as coincident geochemical anomalies.

Tolita is a very large target, with an original 2.5km2 geophysical anomaly recently expanded by 76% to 4.3km2 - 4.8km2. The Tolita gold soil sample geochemical surface halo (an approximation of gold on surface above 0.1g/t) alone is nearly 28Ha and the Tolita property is 3,476Ha equal to approximately 34.8km2.

Furthermore, as recently confirmed in a follow-up geophysical survey, the Tolita geophysical anomaly expands in both size and intensity at depth, which could translate into an enlarging system at depth. Per the third party geophysicist who conducted the survey, ""The vertical extent of the steeply dipping conductor that is likely related to a fault is better defined on the two new deep lines (2600N and 452200E). This surprised me, as I had expected resolution similar to the first lines. This would indicate to me, that the probable structure extends very deeply and has a strong contrast in resistivity with the host rock. Because it is conductive, it should act as good conduit for hydrothermal water flow, which should be good news for mineralization. There is confirmation that the alteration system extends to greater depth and may increase in intensity at depth as it is more conductive. Hopefully, the copper and gold grades would increase correspondingly as well."

Porphyry systems in Chile, and in the Vicuna District specifically, can prove larger and richer as they progress deeper. For example, in Chile, Atex Resources announced one of their most significant drill holes ever (ATXD25C) which graded 2.72% copper equivalent, beginning at 1,558m and ending at a depth of 1,722m. In the Vicuna District, NGEX published "DPDH028, the best hole drilled to date as Lunahuasi, which was drilled deeper and to the west of all previous holes", which included multiple highly compelling intercept including the deepest 53.5m (1,219.5m - 1,273.0m) grading 7.79% copper equivalent.

About Gold Hart Copper's Tolita Gold-Copper-Molybdenum-Silver Target

The Tolita property is a historically significant gold-copper asset which was first recognized and staked in 1993 - by one of the pioneering geologists of the Maricunga-Vicuna district - for its uniquely high grades of gold and copper on surface3. Geochemical surveys revealed gold, copper, silver, and molybdenum anomalies, which led to trenching. Tolita has had significant trenching (5,600m / 5.6km) with the highest grade trench returning grades up to 52g/t gold equivalent including 4% copper. Tolita has undergone helicopter mag surveys which identified 4 unique anomalies as well3.

In 1996, a third party company optioned the property and drilled 3 short 200m RC holes, without any geophysics, and yet still hit gold and copper in all 3 holes, including long intercepts of gold and copper (150m and 164m, respectively) close to surface in 2 of the 3 holes. At the time, gold was approximately $300/oz and copper traded below $1.00/lb, and large scale sulphide porphyry deposits with both gold and copper were often considered less favorable than smaller scale gold-only oxide deposits. As a result, and due to general market sentiment for junior exploration companies in 1997-1998, Tolita was only drilled to a depth of 200m with 3 short RC holes (out of a planned 8 hole campaign)3.

When Gold Hart acquired the property, a full geophysical survey was conducted by a recognized geophysics firm, and a large high-chargeability and conductive anomaly was discovered that is near surface and almost 2.5km2 in size and "interpreted as a copper-gold or gold-copper porphyry system that certainly warrants additional exploration and drilling4". Gold Hart Copper has therefore launched diamond drilling and is fully funded for this planned campaign.

Most recently (April-May 2025), the Company completed two holes of approximately 600m each, confirming that Tolita indeed hosts a fertile porphyry system. Gold Hart geologists observed early stage veining near surface, providing the first clear evidence of a porphyry related system within zones of moderate chargeability. The mineral intercepts occur within a multi-generation stockwork vein system hosted by a series of multi-phase porphyry intrusions. Multiple alteration types have been identified, overprinting the original potassic alteration of the porphyry system. At greater depth, the potassic alteration becomes increasingly dominant, accompanied by more intense and continuous veining across locally moderate to stronger chargeability amplitudes. The newly acquired geophysical data indicates that the system may even extend several hundred meters further at depth. Effectively, the Company, and various visiting geologists have all concluded the presence of a porphyry, and Gold Hart is now focused on exploration to find the richer grades and potential limits of the system. Please visit the Gold Hart Copper YouTube channel for footage regarding the mobilization and drill pad expansion: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/M5ovBFOgQTU

Additional Details Regarding the Financing

The Company does not intend to use any of the proceeds from the Financing on its proposed all-stock acquisition (the "Proposed Acquisition") of Rhyolite Resources Ltd. ("RYE"), nor on the advancement of RYE's mineral resource assets in the event that the Proposed Acquisition is completed. The Proposed Acquisition is expected to close in late Q2 2026, subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions, including: (i) negotiation and execution of definitive agreements; (ii) RYE shareholder approval; (iii) receipt of applicable court and regulatory approvals, including the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV"); and (iv) RYE meeting minimum working capital requirements. In connection with the Financing, the Company paid participating investment dealers aggregate cash finder's fees of $741,055, and granted an aggregate of 2,859,013 non-transferable finder warrants (each, a "Finder Warrant"). Each Finder Warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one Share at an exercise price of $0.26 until March 12, 2028. Certain directors and advisors of the Company subscribed for an aggregate of approximately 3% of the Units sold in the Financing. Their participation in the Financing is considered to be a "related party transaction" for purposes of Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). The Company is relying on exemptions from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements available under MI 61-101, as the fair market value of the transaction, insofar as it involves insiders, is less than 25% of the Company's market capitalization. The securities issued in the Financing are subject to a hold period expiring on July 12, 2026, in accordance with applicable securities laws. The Financing remains subject to the completion of customary post-close filings with the TSXV. Additional details regarding the Financing may be found in the Company's prior press releases dated February 17, 2026 and March 5, 2026.

About Gold Hart Copper

Gold Hart Copper is one of the largest independent land owners surrounding major miners where the famous Maricunga Gold Belt meets the emerging Vicuna Copper Belt in Chile. HART is actively acquiring, exploring and developing its portfolio of gold, copper & silver properties adjacent to the largest gold and copper assets on the continent.

HART has rolled-up a portfolio of historically significant assets surrounding majors, in some cases personally staked by the very same geologists who made the adjacent mega-discoveries, since the early 1990s. Some of the Gold Hart properties have already undergone a first phase of drilling, with highly encouraging results of gold, copper, silver, and molybdenum. Gold Hart properties are controlled 100% and not subject to any royalties whatsoever.

HART believes it may be sitting on one of the only fully-preserved untested large-scale gold-copper-silver porphyry targets in the Vicuna District - an asset that was first recognized for its uniquely high grades of gold and copper on surface - and staked by one of the Maricunga-Vicuna district's pioneering geologists3 in 1993. Gold Hart Copper is fully funded for its planned drill campaign.

HART's team of geologists were personally involved in pioneering exploration in the region, leading to some of its greatest gold, copper, and silver deposits, and include the country's former Geological Survey National Deputy Manager Dr. Professor Jose Frutos. Specifically, senior Gold Hart geologists were personally involved in the Escondida copper discovery, now the largest copper mine in the world1 controlled by Rio Tinto and BHP, as well as Norte Abierto / Cerro Casale, the largest gold-copper discovery in Chile2 acquired by Barrick and Newmont (GoldCorp) with reserves and resources of 50.6-million ounces of gold (0.53g/t), 13.4-billion pounds of copper (0.20%) and 218-million ounces of silver (2.3g/t).

In addition to its large land position in the Vicuna District, Gold Hart recently acquired the Nessa properties just northwest on Chile's Paleocene-Eocene Belt on the famous Domeyko Fault System, which is home to some of Chile's largest gold, copper, and silver assets including Escondida, Chuquicamata and Collahuasi. The Nessa properties host several historic gold and copper artisanal mines with high grades of gold, copper, and silver on surface, with a large alteration and magnetic anomaly extending approximately 6km. Kinross' La Coipa Gold Mine sits just east of Nessa, as does the Rio2 Fenix Gold Mine.

HART | Gold Hart Copper Corporation - Social Media Channels

Website: https://goldhartcopper.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/goldhartcopper

X / Twitter: https://x.com/goldhartcopper

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@goldhartcopper

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goldhartcopper

Qualified Person

The technical information contained in this news release related has been reviewed and approved by Mr. Jonathan A. Warner, Executive Vice President of Gold Hart Copper and a Qualified Person within the meaning of NI 43-101.

Notes on quality assurance and control regarding geochemical survey published

Hermetic sealed individual bags for every sample (ii) Unique sample ID for tracking (iii) Coordinate location and picture of outcrop (iv) Basic geology notes on control points with samples (v) Consistent sample size between 2-3kg (vi) Certified lab conducting assays. Gold Hart utilized AAA Labs in Chile to conduct the assays, an independent laboratory with no relationship to Gold Hart.

References & Notes:

Escondida is the largest copper mine globally, as defined by producing the greatest number of copper tonnes per annum. Numbers sourced directly from property owner's website and public filings. Norte Abierto is considered the largest undeveloped gold asset in Chile as defined by hosting the largest number of total gold ounces. Numbers sourced directly from property owner's website and public filings. Please refer to the Company's NI 43-101 Technical Report on Sedar for information pertaining to Gold Hart Copper's properties including historical exploration at Tolita, including but not limited to, the history of the asset and its original staking, geochemical surveys, trenching surveys, helicopter magnetic surveys, and historical RC drilling. Geophysical survey is summarized in the Company's NI 43-101 Technical report available on Sedar. Such geophysical surveys are not definitive, and the results are still at an early stage of interpretation, with no guarantee of a mineral discovery.

Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. Any statement that involves predictions, expectations, interpretations, beliefs, plans projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often, but not always, using phrases such as "expects", or "does not expect", "is expected", "interpreted", management's view", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "budget", "scheduled", "forecasts", "estimates", "potential", "feasibility", "believes" or "intends" or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results "may" or "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking information and are intended to identify forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and is based upon a number of estimates and assumptions of management, in light of management's experience and perception of trends, current conditions and expected developments, as well as other factors that management believes to be relevant and reasonable in the circumstances, including, without limitation, assumptions about: the ability of exploration results, including drilling, to accurately predict mineralization; errors in geological modelling; insufficient data; equity and debt capital markets; future spot prices of copper and zinc; the timing and results of exploration and drilling programs; the accuracy of mineral resource estimates; production costs; political and regulatory stability; the receipt of governmental and third party approvals; licenses and permits being received on favourable terms; sustained labour stability; stability in financial and capital markets; availability of mining equipment and positive relations with local communities and groups. Forward-looking information involves risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events, results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking information are set out in the Company's listing statement dated March 14, 2025, a copy of which is available on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.ca) under the Company's issuer profile. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information, which only applies as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward- looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/288658

Source: Gold Hart Copper Corp.
Brisbane, Australia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 16, 2026) - Graphene Manufacturing Group Ltd. (TSXV: GMG) (OTCQX: GMGMF) ("GMG" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the United States Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") has now approved the import and sale of GMG's THERMAL-XR graphene based coating system in the United States.

The EPA has issued a consent order for pre-manufacture notice PMN P-25-0018 in accordance with section 5(e) of the Toxic Substances Control Act, 15 U.S.C. 2604(e) (the "Order"). Under the Order, GMG is authorised to export, distribute, sell, use and dispose of the chemical substance described in the pre-manufacture notice submitted by the Company, and which is used in GMG's THERMAL-XR ENHANCE graphene-based coating system for various applications including Heating Venting Air Conditioning and Refrigeration (HVAC-R), Data Centres, Liquified Natural Gas Plants (LNG), Automotive and Electronics amongst others in the United States in accordance with the requirements and conditions set out in the Order (the "New Chemical Substance").

GMG supplies its THERMAL-XR graphene coating product for the HVAC-R equipment market to its exclusive North American distributor, Nu-Calgon Wholesaler, Inc. ("Nu-Calgon") which is marketed and sold as "Nu-Calgon CoolWorx powered by GMG Graphene" as seen in an example shown in Figure 1. As a result of the Order, GMG, together with Nu-Calgon, is now able to commence commercial sales of THERMAL-XR products into the U.S. for industrial use, subject to and in accordance with the requirements and conditions of the Order.

Figure 1: Nu-Calgon CoolWorx Powered by GMG Graphene Label

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

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The first shipment of THERMAL-XR will now be sent to Nu-Calgon for distribution in North America.

Craig Nicol, CEO & Managing Director of the Company, commented, "We believe that this EPA consent order is a major milestone for GMG as it allows us, together with our exclusive North American distributor Nu-Calgon, to commence commercial sales of THERMAL-XR in we what we see as the largest HVAC-R coating market in the world."

Jack Perkowski, Chairman and Non-Executive Director of the Company, commented: "With regulatory clearance now in place, we believe that we can begin converting the strong interest that we have seen from customers into revenue, while leveraging Nu-Calgon's extensive distribution network to reach across the North America to scale THERMAL-XR ENHANCE / CoolWorx deployment over time. We believe that GMG is one of the few companies to have received EPA approval for the export and sale of an unlimited amount of a graphene-based product in the United States of America."

About THERMAL-XR ENHANCE powered by GMG Graphene:

THERMAL-XR ENHANCE coating system is a unique method of improving the conductivity of corroded heat exchange surfaces and improving and maintaining the performance of new units at peak levels. The process coats and protects heat exchange surfaces while improving and rebuilding the lost corroded thermal conductivity and increasing the heat transfer rate by leveraging the physics of GMG Graphene, resulting in an efficiency improvement and a potential power reduction.

THERMAL-XR ENHANCE is now patented for 20 years in Australia and is expected to be patented in other countries around the world.

THERMAL-XR ENHANCE Development and EPA Approval History

Month Significant Milestones for THERMAL-XR powered by GMG Graphene September

2022 GMG acquires THERMAL-XR manufacturing intellectual property and brand rights GMG ACQUIRES THERMAL-XR MANUFACTURING INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND BRAND RIGHTS AND GRANTS RSUs TO DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS - Graphene Manufacturing Group | GMG (graphenemg.com) December

2022 Verified Improved Heat Transfer by The University of Queensland. VERIFIED IMPROVED HEAT TRANSFER ON ALUMINIUM WITH THERMAL-XR & MARKET UPDATE - Graphene Manufacturing Group | GMG (graphenemg.com) February

2023 Approval from Australian Industrial Chemicals Introduction Scheme (AICIS) GMG RECEIVES REGULATORY APPROVAL TO ENABLE SIGNIFICANT COMMERCIAL SALES - Graphene Manufacturing Group | GMG (graphenemg.com) April

2023 Total available market for THERMAL-XR estimated by Company to be > US$28.4 billion GMG ANNOUNCES COMMERCIALISATION PROGRESS OF THERMAL-XR - Graphene Manufacturing Group | GMG (graphenemg.com) April

2023 First order of THERMAL-XR > $120,000 GMG ANNOUNCES COMMERCIALISATION PROGRESS OF THERMAL-XR - Graphene Manufacturing Group | GMG (graphenemg.com) May

2023 Signing of Distributors for Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia & South Korea GMG SIGNS THERMAL-XR DISTRIBUTOR AGREEMENTS IN 4 ASIAN COUNTRIES - Graphene Manufacturing Group | GMG (graphenemg.com) June

2023 Independently Verified Heat Transfer & Energy Savings GMG ANNOUNCES INDEPENDENTLY VERIFIED HEAT TRANSFER AND ENERGY SAVINGS RESULTS FROM THERMAL-XR - Graphene Manufacturing Group | GMG (graphenemg.com) July

2023 Signing of Nu-Calgon Distribution for North America - USA, Canada, Mexico, & Caribbean. GMG APPOINTS NU-CALGON AS THERMAL-XR DISTRIBUTOR FOR NORTH AMERICA - Graphene Manufacturing Group | GMG (graphenemg.com) August

2023 Commissioning of THERMAL-XR Coating Bulk Blend Plant GMG PROVIDES COMMERCIALISATION PROGRESS OF THERMAL-XR - Graphene Manufacturing Group | GMG (graphenemg.com) October

2023 Forward Orders > AU$ 400k - Conditional on Import Approvals for some Countries GMG PROVIDES COMMERCIALISATION UPDATE ON ENERGY SAVINGS COATING THERMAL-XR - Graphene Manufacturing Group | GMG (graphenemg.com) December

2023 Commissioning of the modular Graphene Production plant Graphene Manufacturing Group Commissions Modular Graphene Production Plant - Graphene Manufacturing Group | GMG (graphenemg.com) January

2024 Canada Approval Department of Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) January

2024 Launch of Nu-Calgon CoolWorx powered by GMG Graphene at Chicago AHR Expo 2024. Launch of Nu-Calgon CoolWorx powered by GMG Graphene at Chicago AHR Expo 2024. April

2024 GMG Provides Commercialisation Update on Energy Savings Coating THERMAL-XR GMG Provides Commercialisation Update on Energy Savings Coating THERMAL-XR December

2024 GMG Reaches Market Commercialisation Milestone on Energy Savings Coating THERMAL-XR GMG Reaches Market Commercialisation Milestone on Energy Savings Coating THERMAL-XR December

2025 USA EPA Approval Conditions Accepted for Graphene Coating THERMAL-XR

USA EPA Approval Conditions Accepted for Graphene Coating THERMAL-XR

About GMG:

GMG is an Australian based clean-technology company which develops, makes and sells energy saving and energy storage solutions, enabled by graphene manufactured via in house production process. GMG uses its own proprietary production process to decompose natural gas (i.e. methane) into its natural elements, carbon (as graphene), hydrogen and some residual hydrocarbon gases. This process produces high quality, low cost, scalable, 'tuneable' and low/no contaminant graphene suitable for use in clean-technology and other applications.

The Company's present focus is to de-risk and develop commercial scale-up capabilities, and secure market applications. In the energy savings segment, GMG has initially focused on graphene enhanced heating, ventilation and air conditioning ("HVAC-R") coating (or energy-saving coating) which is now being marketed into other applications including electronic heat sinks, industrial process plants and data centres. Another product GMG has developed is the graphene lubricant additive focused on saving liquid fuels initially for diesel engines.

In the energy storage segment, GMG and the University of Queensland are working collaboratively with financial support from the Australian Government to progress R&D and commercialization of graphene aluminium-ion batteries ("G+AI Batteries"). GMG has also developed a graphene additive slurry that is aimed at improving the performance of lithium-ion batteries.

GMG's 4 critical business objectives are:

Produce Graphene and improve/scale cell production processes Build Revenue from Energy Savings Products Develop Next-Generation Battery Develop Supply Chain, Partners & Project Execution Capability

For further information, please contact:

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release includes certain statements and information that may constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian and U.S. securities laws. Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect the expectations or beliefs of management of the Company regarding future events. Generally, forward-looking statements and information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "intends", "believes" "expects" or "anticipates", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "should", "would" or will "potentially" or "likely" occur. This information and these statements, referred to herein as "forward-looking statements", are not historical facts, are made as of the date of this news release and include without limitation, GMG and Nu-Calgon's ability to leverage Nu-Calgon's distribution network to commence commercial sales of THERMAL-XR ENHANCE-based products into the U.S. HVAC-R aftermarket, intentions as to the first shipment of THERMAL-XR ENHANCE, the intended focus of initial THERMAL-XR ENHANCE deployment, the energy efficiency, decarbonisation and corrosion protection benefits of THERMAL-XR ENHANCE, GMG's intention to work with the EPA and GMG's intention to progress its broader THERMAL-XR ENHANCE commercialisation activities.

Such forward-looking statements are based on a number of assumptions of management, including the receipt of a fully signed consent notice from the EPA. Additionally, forward-looking information involves a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual plans, intentions, activities, results, performance or achievements of GMG to be materially different from any future plans, intentions, activities, results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks include, without limitation that GMG does not receive or receive on a timely basis the fully signed consent notice from the and the risk factors set out under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's annual information form dated November 4, 2025 available for review on the Company's profile at www.sedarplus.ca.

Although management of the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. Readers are cautioned that reliance on such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement, forward-looking information or financial out-look that are incorporated by reference herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/288616

Source: Graphene Manufacturing Group Ltd.
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 16, 2026) - SATO Technologies Corp. (TSXV: SATO) (OTCQB: CCPUF) ("SATO" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has upsized its previously announced non-brokered private placement to aggregate gross proceeds of up to C$1,400,000, consisting of: (i) up to 16,470,587 units (the "Units") of the Company at a price of $0.06375 per Unit for proceeds of up to C$1,050,000 (the "Unit Offering"); and (ii) up to 350 convertible debenture units (the "Debenture Units" and together with the Units, the "Offered Securities") for proceeds of up to C$350,000 (the "Debenture Unit Offering", and together with the Unit Offering, the "Offering").

The Company also announces that it has closed the first tranche of the Offering for aggregate gross proceeds of $867,381.82. In connection with the first tranche of the Offering, the Company issued and sold 8,272,655 Units at a price of $0.06375 per Unit for proceeds of $527,381.82, and 340 Debenture Units at a price of $1,000 per Debenture Unit for proceeds of $340,000.

Each Unit issued in connection with the Unit Offering is comprised of one common share (a "Common Share") and one common share purchase warrant (a "Warrant"). Each Warrant will entitle the holder to acquire one additional Common Share at an exercise price of $0.085 per Common Share during the first year following the date of issuance, and $0.10 per Common Share thereafter, until March 16, 2031.

Each Debenture Unit issued in connection with the Debenture Unit Offering is comprised of a C$1,000 principal amount unsecured convertible debenture (a "Debenture") and detachable Warrants equal to the number of Common Shares issuable upon full conversion of the Debenture. The Debentures will bear 15% annual interest, payable quarterly in cash or Common Shares, at the option of the holder, with any share-settled interest being subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange ("TSXV"), and priced in accordance with applicable TSXV policies at the time of payment. The Debentures will mature on March 16, 2029. The Debentures will be convertible, at the option of the holder, into Common Shares of the Company at a conversion price of $0.085 per Common Share during the first year following the date of issuance and $0.10 per Common Share thereafter until March 16, 2029.

The Debentures are unsecured, subject to a springing first-priority lien upon repayment or release of the Company's loan facility with Sygnum Bank AG, and rank pari passu with all other Debentures issued in further tranches under the Offering. Each detachable Warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one Common Share at an exercise price of $0.10 until March 16, 2029.

The net proceeds of the Offering will be used for working capital and general corporate purposes. Consistent with its capital management strategy, the Company intends to prioritize revenues from its cryptocurrency mining operations and existing cash flows for ongoing operational needs, with Offering proceeds deployed to supplement such funding and support broader corporate purposes as management deems appropriate. The Company retains full discretion as to the allocation, timing, and prioritization of the use of proceeds described herein.

The Offered Securities were issued in the first tranche, and may be issued in subsequent tranches, by way of private placement: (a) in all provinces and territories of Canada pursuant to applicable prospectus exemptions; (b) in the United States to accredited investors in reliance on exemptions from registration under Rule 506(b) of Regulation D under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, without general solicitation or advertising; and (c) in other jurisdictions on a private placement basis in compliance with applicable securities laws and without requiring any prospectus or registration filing. All securities issued under the Offering are subject to a four month and one day statutory hold period in Canada in accordance with applicable securities laws. The Company may close additional tranches of the Offering, and will issue a further news release upon the closing of any such tranche.

The first tranche of the Offering was subscribed for by members of the Company's management and board of directors, including Romain Nouzareth (Chief Executive Officer and Chairman), Mathieu Nouzareth (Director), Kyle Appleby (Chief Financial Officer), and two independent directors. In addition, a Quebec operating partner of the Company participated in the Unit Offering on an arm's-length basis.

"This is the most aligned capital raise I've been part of," said Romain Nouzareth, CEO and Chairman. "When your co-founder, your CFO, your board, and your local operating partner all invest alongside you, it says more than any pitch deck. We're building something real and we're backing it with our own capital."

Certain insiders of the Company participated in the first tranche of the Offering. Such participation constitutes a "related party transaction" within the meaning of Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). In the first tranche, one arm's length subscriber purchased 2,080,000 Units, with insiders of the Company subscribing for 6,192,655 Units and all 340 Debenture Units. The Company is relying on the exemptions from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101 set out in Sections 5.5(a) and 5.7(1)(a), respectively, as the fair market value of the securities issued to insiders (and the consideration paid therefor) does not exceed 25% of the Company's market capitalization, calculated in accordance with MI 61-101.

The Offering remains subject to the Company's receipt of all necessary regulatory and other approvals, including the final acceptance of the TSXV.

Debt Settlement

The Company also announces that it was indebted to a certain creditor in the amount of USD$25,000 (C$34,105) as of February 28, 2026 (the "Indebtedness"), pursuant to a consulting agreement (the "Consulting Agreement"). The Indebtedness represented payments for services accrued under the Consulting Agreement and were not considered investor relations services (as defined in the policies of the TSXV). The Company entered into a debt settlement agreement with the creditor, pursuant to which the parties agreed that the Indebtedness would be settled through the issuance of 534,980 Units of the Company at a deemed price of $0.06375 per Unit, being the same price and on the same terms as the Units issued under the Unit Offering. The creditor is an arm's length party to the Company and the issuance of the Units in connection with the debt settlement did not result in the creation of a new Insider or Control Person of the Company (as such terms are defined in the TSXV's policies). The securities issued in connection with the debt settlement are subject to a statutory hold period of four months and one day from the date of issuance, in accordance with applicable securities laws.

Early Warning Disclosures

In connection with the Offering, Mathieu Nouzareth, a director of the Company, acquired 5,816,184 Units. Immediately following the closing of the Offering, Mathieu beneficially owns, directly or indirectly, 14,142,894 common shares, representing approximately 17.23% of the issued and outstanding common shares of the Company on a non-diluted basis. Assuming the conversion or exercise of all securities held by Mathieu that are convertible into or exercisable for common shares, including stock options and warrants, Mathieu would beneficially own, directly or indirectly, 20,846,929 common shares, representing approximately 25.40% of the issued and outstanding common shares of the Company on a fully diluted basis.

In connection with the Offering, Romain Nouzareth, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Company, acquired 340 Convertible Debenture Units. Immediately following the closing of the Offering, Romain beneficially owns, directly or indirectly, 11,079,552 common shares, representing approximately 13.50% of the issued and outstanding common shares of the Company on a non-diluted basis. Assuming the conversion or exercise of all securities held by Romain that are convertible into or exercisable for common shares, including stock options, warrants and the Debentures, Romain would beneficially own, directly or indirectly, 20,731,620 common shares, representing approximately 25.26% of the issued and outstanding common shares of the Company on a fully diluted basis.

The securities were acquired for investment purposes. Each of Messrs. Mathieu Nouzareth and Romain Nouzareth may, depending on market conditions, increase or decrease their ownership from time to time. Early warning reports will be filed by each under the Company's profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca in accordance with applicable Canadian securities laws. Copies of the early warning reports may be obtained under the Company's profile on SEDAR+ or by contacting the Company.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to sell any of the Securities in the United States. The Securities have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.

About SATO

SATO, founded in 2017, is a publicly listed digital infrastructure company transitioning from cryptocurrency mining to AI compute. The Company currently operates a 20 MW data center in Quebec powered by 100% renewable hydroelectricity, with plans to develop AI factory capacity across multiple sites. The Company is listed on TSXV: SATO & OTCQB: CCPUF. To learn more about SATO, visit www.bysato.com.

Forward-Looking Statements Disclaimer

This news release contains forward-looking statements. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, that address activities, events or developments that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, without limitation, statements regarding: completion of the Offering (including its size, structure and timing), the issuance of Units and Convertible Debenture Units, the debt settlement in connection with the Consulting Agreement, the terms of the Debentures and Warrants, subscriber participation, the intended use of proceeds, and the receipt of all required approvals, including final approval of the TSXV.

Forward-looking statements reflect management's current expectations based on information available at the time of this news release and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: the Company may not complete the Offering on the terms described or at all; the TSX Venture Exchange may not approve the Offering; the conditions to closing may not be satisfied; the proceeds of the Offering may not be used as currently anticipated; volatility in digital asset markets (including fluctuations in the price of Bitcoin and other digital assets and the economics of cryptocurrency mining); general market conditions; and other factors outside the Company's control.

Although the Company believes that the assumptions underlying these forward-looking statements are reasonable, forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve inherent uncertainties and risks. Undue reliance should not be placed on such statements. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated.

The Company expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.

NEITHER THE TSXV NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSXV) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/288667

Source: SATO Technologies Corp.
BIELEFELD, Germany, March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- NTT DATA Business Solutions today announced that it received a Global 2026 SAP Partner Award in five categories, which recognizes its outstanding contributions as an SAP partner: "SAP Cloud ERP: New Customer Acquisition", "SAP Cloud ERP: Installed Base Transformation", "Sustainability", "Procurement Transformation Sales Excellence: Corporate" and "Human Capital Management Sales Excellence: Corporate". SAP presents these awards annually to the top partners that have excelled in developing and growing their partnership with SAP and helping customers run better. Winners in 50 categories were chosen based on recommendations from SAP, customer feedback, and performance indicators.

"The SAP Partner Awards reflect the outstanding performance and commitment of our partners to help businesses grow and thrive with SAP solutions. We congratulate the winning partners for their excellent work in bringing SAP's AI-First, Suite-First strategy to life for our joint customers," said Christian Klein, CEO of SAP SE.

"We are delighted to be recognized with five SAP Partner Awards 2026," said Norbert Rotter, CEO of NTT DATA Business Solutions. "These awards reflect the outcomes we deliver with SAP in Cloud ERP, sustainability, procurement and HR transformation. For more than 35 years, our partnership has been built on trust and shared innovation. With cloud as the foundation, we will continue to transform SAP solutions into real value so organizations can move faster, operate more sustainably and stay resilient."

SAP Partner Awards shine a spotlight on distinguished partners to acknowledge their dedication to teamwork, exceptional innovation and capacity to help customers achieve their goals. All partners aligned with SAP's AI-first, suite-first strategy are eligible and automatically considered for this recognition based on quantitative, system-generated performance data. NTT DATA Business Solutions is one of only eleven SAP Platinum Partners worldwide. The company supports organizations worldwide in their digital transformation, supporting them adopt SAP innovations, reduce complexity, and become Intelligent Enterprises.

For more information, please visit nttdata-solutions.com.

About NTT DATA Business Solutions

NTT DATA Business Solutions is a leading global IT service provider focused on SAP with a powerful ecosystem of partners like Microsoft and ServiceNow. With more than 35 years of in-depth experience, we enable companies worldwide to become Intelligent Enterprises. We deliver end-to-end solutions that accelerate sustainable growth and success - from strategic consulting and implementation to managed services and beyond. As a global strategic SAP partner, we drive innovation and leverage the latest technologies to support our customers individually and across all industries. Our more than 18,500 dedicated employees in over 30 countries work passionately every day to make it happen.

NTT DATA Business Solutions is part of NTT DATA, a $30+ billion business and technology services leader in AI and digital infrastructure headquartered in Tokyo. Together, we accelerate client success and positively impact society through responsible innovation. As a Global Top Employer, we have experts in more than 70 countries. NTT DATA is part of NTT Group.

SAP and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP SE in Germany and other countries. Please see https://www.sap.com/copyright for additional trademark information and notices. All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies.

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Press Contact NTT DATA Business Solutions

Jasmin Straeter

Head of Global Communications

NTT DATA Business Solutions AG

Konigsbreede 1, 33605 Bielefeld,

Germany

T: +49 521 9 14 48 108

Email: Jasmin.Straeter@nttdata.com

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CALGARY, Alberta, March 16, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Benevity Inc., the leader in global corporate purpose software, today announced two significant updates to its granting ecosystem: the debut of AI-powered Grant Summaries for program administrators and a new Grant Application Management feature for nonprofits.

These updates arrive as the scale of corporate giving continues to expand. In 2025, the Benevity platform saw a significant spike in grantmaking volume, up more than 14% year over year, reflecting a broader shift toward more active and responsive community investment. The response to these new tools has been immediate, with more than 30% of Benevity grantmaking clients using the AI-powered feature within a week of its release.

"Corporate grantmaking isn't just growing; it's evolving. As the stakes rise, the industry demands more than just tools-it needs a stable, natively integrated ecosystem that removes the friction between intent and impact," said Candace Worley, Benevity Chief Product Officer. "We continue to invest in our unified infrastructure where AI-driven efficiency meets enterprise-grade capability and reliability. By shortening the distance between a company's resources and a nonprofit's mission, we're ensuring that technology isn't just a facilitator, but the ultimate catalyst for purpose at work."

Solving information overload for grant-makers

For corporate social impact teams, the single biggest challenge is often the sheer volume of information. As grant applications become more frequent and detailed, the manual work required to review them can delay critical funding.

Benevity's new AI-powered Grant Summaries, available within Benevity Grants Management, incorporates generative AI to provide a structured overview of an application's purpose, funding needs, and intended impact. This enhancement at the beginning of the grant review process allows program admins to more quickly sort to complete proposals, assess how a proposal aligns with specific funding goals and allows for more time on grant program alignment and potential program impact.

Improving the grant-seeker experience

A healthy granting ecosystem requires efficiency on both sides. For nonprofits, the administrative work behind securing a grant is mission-critical but often overwhelming. To address this, Benevity has launched a new grant application management feature in the Benevity Causes Portal. This update closes the "visibility gap" for nonprofits by providing a single source of truth to see applications submitted via Benevity Grants Management programs and the status and actions required. Prominent alerts flag when an application action is required, such as a resubmission or a follow-up survey, helping reduce the risk of missed deadlines or lost funding.

Recent research from Benevity Impact Labs shows that while 74% of organizations report using grantmaking best practices, only 51% believe they're truly effective in applying them. This gap underscores the need for solutions that streamline administration on both sides of the grant relationship. By evolving its grants management products, Benevity is helping companies and nonprofits collaborate more seamlessly, shorten the distance between review and impact, and dedicate more energy to building resilient, long-term granting programs that strengthen communities.

Benevity will be demonstrating and previewing these and other Grants Management enhancements at the PEAK Grantmaking conference in late March, where impact leaders can experience firsthand how the Benevity Enterprise Impact Platform continues to streamline grant program pathways from application to impact.

About Benevity

Benevity, a certified B Corporation, is the global leader in enterprise social impact software. Benevity's all-in-one platform empowers the world's most purpose-driven companies to seamlessly integrate corporate social responsibility into their core business strategy - driving measurable, scalable, and lasting impact. Benevity has supported more than $44 billion to more than 560,000 nonprofit organizations and enabled over 7.7 million changemakers worldwide since 2008, empowering organizations to build trust, engage employees, boost retention, and drive innovation. Its unified platform supports giving, volunteering, granting, and employee mobilization - backed by intelligent insights and a secure, global infrastructure. For more information, visit www.benevity.com .
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 16, 2026) - Richard Dufresne, Chief Financial Officer, Loblaw Companies Limited (TSX: L) ("Loblaw" or the "Company") and executives from the Company, joined Loui Anastasopoulos, Chief Executive Officer, Toronto Stock Exchange ("TSX"), to open the market and celebrate the Company's 70th anniversary of being listed on TSX.





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Loblaw is Canada's food and pharmacy leader, the nation's largest retailer, and the 3rd largest grocer in the world by market capitalization. Loblaw provides Canadians with grocery, pharmacy, and healthcare services, other health and beauty products, apparel, general merchandise, financial services and wireless mobile products and services. With more than 2,800 locations, Loblaw, its franchisees and Associate-owners employ more than 220,000 full and part-time employees, making it one of Canada's largest private sector employers. With 90% of Canadians living within 10 kilometres of one of Loblaw's stores, the Company is immersed in the communities it serves, and welcomes the opportunity to deliver value to customers, ultimately helping them lead better and healthier lives.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/288675

Source: Toronto Stock Exchange
The neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder market size in the 7MM is expected to show positive growth during the forecast period (2026-2036), mainly attributed to the increasing prevalence of NMOSD, growing awareness, advancement in diagnostic techniques, and the launch of emerging therapies such as BAT4406F (Bio-Thera Solutions), Telitacicept (RC18) (RemeGen/Vor Bio), Divozilimab (BCD-132) (Biocad), and others, reports DelveInsight.

LAS VEGAS, March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Recently published Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder Market Insights report includes a comprehensive understanding of current treatment practices, neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder emerging drugs, market share of individual therapies, and current and forecasted market size from 2022 to 2036, segmented into leading markets [the United States, the EU4 (Germany, France, Italy, and Spain), the United Kingdom, and Japan].

Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder Market Summary

The total neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder treatment market size is expected to grow positively by 2036 in the leading markets.

The United States accounted for the largest NMOSD treatment market size in 2025, compared to other major markets, including the EU4 countries (Germany, France, Italy, and Spain), the United Kingdom, and Japan.

The prevalence among females was 9.48 per 100,000 , while among males it was 3.52 per 100,000 . The study observed a female-to-male ratio of approximately 3.5:1 for NMOSD.

, while among males it was . The study observed a female-to-male ratio of approximately for NMOSD. Leading NMOSD companies, such as Bio-Thera Solutions, RemeGen, Vor Bio, Biocad, and others, are developing new NMOSD treatment drugs that can be available in the NMOSD market in the coming years.

and others, are developing new NMOSD treatment drugs that can be available in the NMOSD market in the coming years. The promising NMOSD therapies in clinical trials include BAT4406F, Telitacicept (RC18), Divozilimab (BCD-132), and others.

Discover what is the current and projected global NMOSD market size @ https://www.delveinsight.com/sample-request/neuromyelitis-optica-spectrum-disorder-nmosd-market

Key Factors Driving the Growth of the Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder Market

Improved Diagnostic Capabilities: Advances in diagnostic tools, especially biomarker testing like AQP4-IgG and MOG-IgG assays, have significantly increased diagnostic accuracy and reduced delays in identifying NMOSD cases.

Advances in diagnostic tools, especially biomarker testing like AQP4-IgG and MOG-IgG assays, have significantly increased diagnostic accuracy and reduced delays in identifying NMOSD cases. Expansion of Targeted Therapeutic Options: The launch and approval of novel biologic therapies, such as monoclonal antibodies and complement inhibitors, that specifically target immune pathways in NMOSD have transformed treatment approaches, driving higher adoption and market demand.

The launch and approval of novel biologic therapies, such as monoclonal antibodies and complement inhibitors, that specifically target immune pathways in NMOSD have transformed treatment approaches, driving higher adoption and market demand. Launch of Emerging NMOSD Drugs: The dynamics of the NMOSD market are expected to change in the coming years due to the launch of emerging therapies such as BAT4406F (Bio-Thera Solutions), Telitacicept (RC18) (RemeGen/Vor Bio), Divozilimab (BCD-132) (Biocad), and others.

Ramandeep Singh, Senior Consultant, Forecasting and Analytics at DelveInsight, said that the current treatment strategies for NMOSD encompass a multidisciplinary approach aimed at managing symptoms and enhancing quality of life. While there is no cure for NMOSD, interventions such as immunosuppressive therapy play a crucial role in the management of NMOSD. Recently approved therapies offer hope for future advancements in NMOSD treatment.

Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder Market Analysis

Current management strategies for NMOSD provide effective symptom control but do not offer a cure. Acute relapses are typically addressed using high-dose intravenous corticosteroids, such as methylprednisolone.

Common long-term therapies include corticosteroids, azathioprine, mycophenolate mofetil, and rituximab, with azathioprine or mycophenolate mofetil often paired with low-dose steroids. For patients who do not respond adequately to intravenous corticosteroids during severe relapses, plasma exchange can be an effective alternative.

often paired with low-dose steroids. For patients who do not respond adequately to intravenous corticosteroids during severe relapses, plasma exchange can be an effective alternative. In July 2025, NHS England introduced a national commissioning policy that recommends and funds the use of ACTEMRA (tocilizumab) for NMOSD patients who are unable to tolerate or have not responded to earlier treatments.

for NMOSD patients who are unable to tolerate or have not responded to earlier treatments. ACTEMRA is delivered through specialised neurology centres under NHS England. Although tocilizumab had previously been authorized by the MHRA for several inflammatory conditions, it had not been specifically approved for NMOSD in the UK until this policy.

In the United States, FDA-approved treatments for NMOSD include ENSPRYNG, ULTOMIRIS , and others.

, and others. Additionally, emerging pipeline therapies, such as BAT4406F (Bio-Thera Solutions), Telitacicept (RC18) (RemeGen/Vor Bio), Divozilimab (BCD-132) (Biocad), and others, are contributing to ongoing innovation in the NMOSD treatment landscape.

Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder Competitive Landscape

Some of the NMOSD drugs under development include BAT4406F (Bio-Thera Solutions), Telitacicept (RC18) (RemeGen/Vor Bio), Divozilimab (BCD-132) (Biocad), and others.

Bio-Thera Solutions' BAT4406F is an investigational, Phase II glyco-engineered monoclonal antibody being studied in China. The treatment is designed to boost antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC). As a type I anti-CD20 antibody, it promotes B-cell depletion through complement-dependent cytotoxicity while enhancing ADCC, and is currently under evaluation for autoimmune conditions such as NMOSD.

RemeGen/Vor Bio's Telitacicept (RC18) is an innovative fusion protein developed for the treatment of autoimmune disorders. It is composed of the extracellular domain of the human TACI (transmembrane activator and calcium modulator and cyclophilin ligand interactor) receptor fused to the Fc portion of human IgG. Telitacicept is engineered to block two signaling molecules essential to B-cell maturation, BLyS and APRIL.

Biocad's BCD-132 (divozilimab) is a monoclonal antibody and a novel investigational therapy being developed for multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune conditions. Monoclonal antibodies are laboratory-engineered proteins modeled on the natural antibodies produced by the immune system, each designed to bind specifically to a particular target in the body.

For BCD-132, the target is the CD20 protein found on B cells. When BCD-132 attaches to CD20, it triggers the elimination of these B cells, lowering their numbers and thereby reducing immune activity associated with autoimmune diseases. Divozilimab's safety and effectiveness have been evaluated in preclinical animal studies, and clinical trials in humans are currently ongoing.

The anticipated launch of these emerging therapies are poised to transform the NMOSD market landscape in the coming years. As these cutting-edge therapies continue to mature and gain regulatory approval, they are expected to reshape the NMOSD market landscape, offering new standards of care and unlocking opportunities for medical innovation and economic growth.

Discover more about are new drugs upcoming in NMOSD pipeline @ Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder Drugs

What is Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder?

Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) is a rare autoimmune condition in which the body's immune system mistakenly attacks the central nervous system, primarily targeting the optic nerves and spinal cord. This leads to episodes of optic neuritis, causing vision loss or eye pain, and transverse myelitis, which can result in limb weakness, sensory changes, or problems with bladder and bowel control. NMOSD is often associated with antibodies against a protein called aquaporin-4 (AQP4), which helps distinguish it from similar conditions like multiple sclerosis. Because attacks can be severe and cause lasting disability, early diagnosis and long-term treatment to prevent relapses are essential for managing the disorder effectively.

Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder Epidemiology Segmentation

The NMOSD epidemiology section provides insights into the historical and current NMOSD patient pool and forecasted trends for the leading markets. The diagnosed prevalence rate of NMOSD is estimated at nearly 1.5 per 100,000 population. Between 70-80% of NMOSD patients will have anti-AQP4 antibodies.

The NMOSD treatment market report proffers epidemiological analysis for the study period 2022-2036 in the leading markets, segmented into:

Total Prevalent Cases of NMOSD

Total Diagnosed Prevalent Cases of NMOSD

Gender-specific Diagnosed Prevalent Cases of NMOSD

Treated Cases of NMOSD

Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder Market Report Metrics Details Study Period 2022-2036 Coverage 7MM [The United States, the EU4 (Germany, France, Italy, and Spain), the United Kingdom, and Japan]. Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder Epidemiology Segmentation Total Prevalent Cases of NMOSD, Total Diagnosed Prevalent Cases of NMOSD, Gender-specific Diagnosed Prevalent Cases of NMOSD, and Treated Cases of NMOSD Key Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder Companies Bio-Thera Solutions, RemeGen, Vor Bio, Biocad, Genentech, Chugai Pharmaceuticals, AstraZeneca, Alexion, and others Key Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder Therapies BAT4406F, Telitacicept (RC18), Divozilimab (BCD-132), ENSPRYNG, ULTOMIRIS, SOLIRIS, and others

Scope of the Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder Market Report

Therapeutic Assessment: Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder current marketed and emerging therapies

Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder current marketed and emerging therapies Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder Market Dynamics: Key Market Forecast Assumptions of Emerging Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder Drugs and Market Outlook

Key Market Forecast Assumptions of Emerging Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder Drugs and Market Outlook Competitive Intelligence Analysis: SWOT analysis and Market entry strategies

SWOT analysis and Market entry strategies Unmet Needs, KOL's views, Analyst's views, Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder Market Access and Reimbursement

Download the report to understand what market trends are shaping NMOSD over the next decade @ Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder Market Analysis

Table of Contents

1 Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder Market Key Insights 2 Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder Market Report Introduction 3 NMOSD Market Overview at a Glance 3.1 Market Share (%) Distribution of NMOSD by Therapies in the 7MM in 2025 3.2 Market Share (%) Distribution of NMOSD by Therapies in the 7MM in 2036 4 Methodology 5 Executive Summary 6 Key Events 7 Disease Background and Overview: NMOSD 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Classification 7.3 Causes 7.4 Signs and Symptoms 7.5 Pathophysiology 7.6 Clinical features 7.7 Diagnosis 7.8 Treatment and Management 8 Epidemiology and Patient Population of NMOSD in the 7MM 8.1 Key Findings 8.2 Assumptions and Rationale 8.3 Total Prevalent Cases of NMOSD in the 7MM 8.4 Total Diagnosed Prevalent Cases of NMOSD in the 7MM 8.5 The US 8.5.1 Total Prevalent Cases of NMOSD 8.5.2 Total Diagnosed Prevalent Cases of NMOSD 8.5.3 Gender-specific Diagnosed Prevalent Cases of NMOSD 8.5.4 Treated Cases of NMOSD 8.6 EU4 and the UK 8.7 Japan 9 NMOSD Patient Journey 10 Marketed NMOSD Therapies 10.1 Key Cross Competition 10.2 ENSPRYNG: Genentech/Chugai Pharmaceuticals 10.2.1 Product Description 10.2.2 Product Profile 10.2.3 Other Developmental Activities 10.2.4 Clinical Trials Information 10.2.5 Safety and Efficacy 10.3 ULTOMIRIS: AstraZeneca 10.4 SOLIRIS: Alexion/AstraZeneca List to be continued in the final report. 11 Emerging NMOSD Therapies 11.1 Key Cross Competition 11.2 BAT4406F: Bio-Thera Solutions 11.2.1 Drug Description 11.2.2 Product Profile 11.2.3 Other Developmental Activities 11.2.4 Clinical Trials Information 11.2.5 Safety and Efficacy 11.3 Telitacicept (RC18): RemeGen/Vor Bio List to be continued in the final report. 12 NMOSD: Market Analysis 12.1 Key Findings 12.2 Key Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder Market Forecast Assumptions 12.3 Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder Market Outlook 12.4 Conjoint Analysis 12.5 Total Market Size of NMOSD in the 7MM 12.6 Market Size of NMOSD by Therapies in the 7MM 12.7 The US Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder Market 12.8.1 Total Market Size of NMOSD 12.8.2 Market size of NMOSD by Therapies 12.8 EU4 and the UK Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder Market 12.9 Japan Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder Market 12.9.1 Total Market Size of NMOSD 12.9.2 Market size of NMOSD by Therapies 13 Key Opinion Leaders' Views on NMOSD 14 NMOSD Market SWOT Analysis 15 NMOSD Market Unmet needs 16 Market Access and Reimbursement 16.1 The US 16.2 In EU4 and the UK 16.3 Japan 17 Acronyms and Abbreviations 18 Bibliography 19 Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder Market Report Methodology

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Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder Pipeline Insight - 2026 report provides comprehensive insights about the pipeline landscape, pipeline drug profiles, including clinical and non-clinical stage products, and the key NMOSD companies, including Bio-Thera Solutions, Bioray Laboratories, Nanjing Bioheng Biotech Co., Ltd., Nanjing IASO Biotherapeutics, Shanghai Jiaolian Drug Research and Development Co., Ltd, Shanghai Xiniao Biotech Co., Ltd., and others.

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About DelveInsight

DelveInsight is a leading Business Consultant and Market Research firm focused exclusively on life sciences. It supports pharma companies by providing comprehensive end-to-end solutions to improve their performance. Get hassle-free access to all the healthcare and pharma market research reports through our subscription-based platform PharmDelve.

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Singapore, Singapore--(Newsfile Corp. - March 16, 2026) - Raffles Financial Group Limited (CSE: RICH) (the "Company" or "RFG") is pleased to announce that our Auditor HML PLT has completed and issued the audit report for the outstanding financial year ended June 30, 2025 ("FY2025") to the Board. The audit report contains an unqualified audit opinion.

Key Financial Performance and Stability

Despite the significant challenges posed by a complex global economic and regulatory environment, the Company has achieved a milestone turnaround. For the financial year ended June 30, 2025, Raffles Financial Group is proud to report a total comprehensive income of S$10.14 million.

Key highlights from the audited accounts

Total Comprehensive Income: The Company recorded a net income of S$95,938, incorporated with a substantial unrealized gain on investments of S$10.90 million and foreign currency translation loss of S$0.85 million, resulting in a total comprehensive income of S$10.14 million for FY2025.

Strong Liquidity Position: As of June 30, 2025, the Company maintains a robust balance sheet with net current assets exceeding S$47.3 million and net assets of S$46.4 million. The net assets comprised primarily of financial assets measured at fair value through other comprehensive income ("FVOCI"). This strong liquidity position provides a solid foundation for the Company to resume and expand its supply chain fintech services.

Resumption of Trading

With the completion of the audit for FY2025, the Company will immediately proceed with applications to the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) and the OTCQX for the resumption of trading of its common shares. This step marks a critical move toward restoring regular market activity and providing liquidity for our shareholders.

Commitment to Stakeholders

The Board of Directors and Management wish to express their deepest gratitude to all shareholders and stakeholders.

"The past years have been undeniably difficult as we navigated various corporate and regulatory hurdles," said the Board of Directors. "We sincerely thank our investors for their unwavering patience and support during this period. The successful completion of this audit and our return to a positive comprehensive income position reflect the resilience of Raffles Financial Group. We are now focused on leveraging our S$47 million+ in current assets to drive our fintech initiatives forward."

About Raffles Financial Group Limited (CSE: RICH) Raffles Financial Group is listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange Purchasable under the stock symbol (CSE: RICH).

On behalf of the RFG Board of Directors

The CSE has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the accuracy or adequacy of this release. Neither the Canadian Securities Purchase nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Purchase) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Certain statements contained in this release may constitute "forward-looking statements' or "forward-looking information" (collectively "forward-looking information") as those terms are used in Canadian securities laws. These statements relate to future events or future performance. The use of any of the words 'could", "intend", "expect", "believe", "will", "projected", "estimated", "anticipates" and similar expressions and statements relating to matters that are not historical facts are intended to identify forward-looking information and are based on the Company's current belief or assumptions as to the outcome and timing of such future events.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/288677

Source: Raffles Financial Group Limited
VANCOUVER, BC AND MIAMI, FL / ACCESS Newswire / March 16, 2026 / Sekur Private Data, Inc. , a leading Swiss-hosted cybersecurity and private communications platform, and wholly owned subsidiary of Sekur Private Data ( OTCQB:SWISF )(CSE:SKUR)(FRA:GDT0) ("Sekur" or the "Company"), is pleased to announce that it has signed a distribution agreement with Mokilink Services , a business online and offline community offering business solutions to the public and private sectors in the Democratic Republic of Congo ("DRC") and various countries in Africa.

The contract was facilitated through Sekur's Director of Africa sales, Mr. Christophe Kabeya. Sekur is presently training Mokilink's sales staff and translating marketing collateral into French. The Company expects sales from this distribution to start by the end of Q2 2026.

Cyberattacks in Africa targeting wealthy individuals, corporations and government officials have increased exponentially in the last six months alone, specifically Business Email Compromise or "BEC" attacks . As per Tech.Africa report , 8 out of the top 20 cyberhacked countries are in Africa.

Alain Ghiai, CEO of Sekur stated, "We are very excited to have signed our first distribution agreement in the Democratic Republic of Congo ("DRC"). We are believe that this will be the beginning of a long and fruitful relationship with the people and businesses of the DRC as we are confident this is only the first of several contracts we plan to close in the DRC. We look forward to protecting the citizen, businesses and government entities of the DRC as cyber-attacks have exponentially increased in Africa"

Additionally:

The Company would like to announce the issuance of 571,428 units at a price of CA$0.05 (the "Units") for gross proceeds of CA$28,571 (approx. US$20,000) Each Unit is comprised of one common share (each a "Common Share") in the share capital of the Company and one full common share purchase warrant (each a "Warrant"). Each full Warrant entitles its holder to purchase one additional common share at a price of CA$0.05 for a period of 48 months following the closing. Shares issued will be subject to a four-month hold period according to applicable securities laws of Canada. This issuance is related to the private placement closed on June 30th, 2025 as per news release dated June 30 2025 https://finance.yahoo.com/news/sekur-private-data-ltd-announces-022000362.html

About Mobilink Serivces

Mokilink Services is an online and offline community platform that aims to connect, gather, and facilitate access for entrepreneurs, service providers, and SMEs to new opportunities, public markets, and the public and private sectors across the DRC, Africa, and the world. Mokilink is passionate about helping entrepreneurs, suppliers, service providers, and small and large businesses grow and thrive. For more information visit: https://mokilink.com/

About Sekur Private Data

Sekur Private Data is a Swiss-hosted cybersecurity and privacy communications provider, offering a secure suite of tools to protect governments, businesses and individuals from unauthorized access and cyber threats. With solutions such as SekurMail, SekurMessenger, and SekurVPN, Sekur provides an accessible and reliable means of digital communication and data storage, grounded in Swiss privacy standards. Sekur sells its solutions through its website www.sekur.com , approved distributors and telecommunications companies globally. Sekur serves governments, businesses, and consumers worldwide, with its government solutions offering on-premises data hosting to maintain data sovereignty. Its main sales operations are in Miami, USA.

CONTACT

Alain Ghiai

President and Chief Executive Officer

SEKUR PRIVATE DATA LTD.

Email: investors@sekur.com

www.sekurprivatedata.com

Tel: +1.305.347.5114

Follow Sekur on:

X

LinkedIn

YouTube

For government sales or partnerships please contact us at: gov@sekur.com

To find out more about Sekur's privacy communications solutions visit: https://sekur.com

For more company and investors information, please visit: https://sekurprivatedata.com

Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains certain forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws ("forward-looking statements"). All statements other than statements of present or historical fact are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "anticipate", "achieve", "could", "believe", "plan", "intend", "objective", "continuous", "ongoing", "estimate", "outlook", "expect", "project" and similar words, including negatives thereof, suggesting future outcomes or that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. These statements are only predictions. These statements reflect management's current estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations; they do not guarantee future performance. Sekur cautions that all forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain, and that actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, many of which are beyond Sekur's control. Such factors include, among other things: risks and uncertainties relating to the future of the Company's business; the success of marketing and sales efforts of the Company; the projections prepared in house and projections delivered by channel partners; the Company's ability to complete the necessary software updates; increases in sales as a result of investments software development technology; consumer interest in the Products; future sales plans and strategies; reliance on large channel partners and expectations of renewals to ongoing agreements with these partners; anticipated events and trends; the economy and other future conditions; and other risks and uncertainties, including those described in Sekur's prospectus dated May 8, 2019, filed with the Canadian Securities Administrators and available on www.sedarplus.ca. Accordingly, actual and future events, conditions and results may differ materially from the estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations expressed or implied in the forward-looking information. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, Sekur undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking information.

SOURCE: Sekur Private Data Ltd.

View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire:https://www.accessnewswire.com/newsroom/en/computers-technology-and-internet/sekur-private-data-signs-distribution-agreement-in-africa-1148125
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 16, 2026) - Critical One Energy Inc. (CSE: CRTL) (OTCQB: MMTLF) (FSE: 4EF) ("Critical One" or the "Company"), a leading Canadian mining exploration company focused on critical metals and minerals, is pleased to announce that it will host a live investor webinar on Thursday, March 19, 2026, at 10:30 a.m. EDT. The webinar will focus on the recent commencement of Phase I drilling at its flagship Howells Lake Antimony-Gold Project ("Howells Lake Project") following the signing of an exploration agreement with Eabametoong First Nation ("EFN"). Investors, analysts, brokers and other participants can register to attend the live webinar at the following link:

https://my.demio.com/ref/U6BZTayf7UmtptPD

Phase I drilling at Critical One's Howell's Lake Project marks the culmination of more than a year of systematic project-building, including consolidation of a district-scale land package, reinterpretation of a comprehensive historical exploration dataset, completion of more than 3,000 kilometres of VTEM airborne geophysics, receipt of official approval for initial funding under the Ontario Junior Exploration Program ("OJEP"), issuance of Exploration Permit PR-24-000227 by the Ontario Ministry of Energy and Mines, and establishment of a collaborative framework with EFN to support responsible exploration and potential future development at Howells Lake.

The live investor webinar will be presented by Duane Parnham, Founder, Executive Chairman and CEO, and Matthew Trenkler, P.Geo., Chief Geological Officer. Management will showcase the significance of recent milestones, how these developments moved the Howells Lake Project into active drilling, the objectives of the Phase I drill program, and key milestones investors should watch for as the program advances. The session will also include a live question-and-answer period.

All registered webinar attendees will receive access to the replay and presentation materials following the event.

The Company also announces that it has granted an aggregate of 600,000 stock options (the "Options") to certain directors, officers, management and consultants of the Company. The Options are exercisable at a price of CDN$0.80 per common share for a period of five years from the date of grant and vest immediately, in accordance with the Company's stock option plan.

Qualified Person

Matthew Trenkler, P.Geo. and Chief Geological Officer, Critical One Energy Inc., a Qualified Person ("QP") under NI 43-101, has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical content of this news release. All technical information in this release pertaining to geology and assays is based on historical data that cannot be verified by the QP.

About Critical One Energy Inc.

Critical One Energy Inc. is a forward-focused critical minerals and upstream energy company, powering the future of clean energy and advanced technologies. The Howells Lake Antimony-Gold Project focuses the Company's exposure on antimony, one of the most in-demand critical minerals, as well as gold, which is known to occur at numerous locations on the Howells Lake Project. Backed by seasoned management expertise and prime resource assets, Critical One is strategically positioned to meet the rising global demand for critical minerals and metals. Its mine exploration portfolio is led by antimony-gold exploration potential in Canada and uranium and copper assets in Namibia, Africa. By leveraging its technical, managerial, and financial expertise, the Company upgrades and creates high-value projects, thereby driving growth and delivering value to its shareholders.

Additional information about Critical One Energy Inc. can be found at criticaloneenergy.com and on the Company's SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.ca.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor CIRO accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-looking Statements

This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All statements contained herein that are not clearly historical in nature may constitute forward-looking information. In some cases, forward-looking information can be identified by words or phrases such as "may", "will", "expect", "likely", "should", "would", "plan", "anticipate", "intend", "potential", "proposed", "estimate", "believe" or the negative of these terms, or other similar words, expressions, and grammatical variations thereof, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" happen, or by discussions of strategy. Forward-looking information contained in this press release includes, but is not limited to, statements relating to the Company's business strategy and objectives.

Where the Company expresses or implies an expectation or belief as to future events or results, such expectation or belief is based on assumptions made in good faith and believed to have a reasonable basis. Such assumptions include, without limitation, that: the Company will have the resources required in order to conduct its business as currently operated.

However, forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties, and other factors, which could cause actual results to differ materially from future results expressed, projected, or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks include, but are not limited to, risks relating to the mining industry in general, and other risks as described in the Company's continuous disclosure record on SEDAR+.

Accordingly, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements and the forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements contained herein are made as at the date hereof and are based on the beliefs, estimates, expectations, and opinions of management on such date. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or revise any such forward-looking statements or any forward-looking statements contained in any other documents whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise or to explain any material difference between subsequent actual events and such forward-looking information, except as required under applicable securities law. Readers are cautioned to consider these and other factors, uncertainties, and potential events carefully and not to put undue reliance on forward-looking information.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/288697

Source: Critical One Energy Inc.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 16, 2026) - UBERDOC Health Technologies Corp. (CSE: SEEM) (OTCQB: ESVNF) ("UBERDOC" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has completed its previously announced amalgamation effective March 13, 2026 pursuant to an amalgamation agreement dated May 1, 2025 as amended from time to time (the "Amalgamation Agreement") with ROV Investment Partners Corp. ("ROV") and 1536702 B.C. Ltd. ("Subco"), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company. Pursuant to the Amalgamation Agreement the Company has, by way of a three-cornered amalgamation, acquired all of the issued and outstanding securities of ROV, subject to the terms and conditions of the Amalgamation Agreement (the "Transaction").

In accordance with the terms of the Amalgamation Agreement, ROV amalgamated with Subco pursuant to the provisions of the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia). The amalgamated entity continued as one corporation and remains a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company following the closing of the Transaction. ROV shareholders exchanged their common shares of ROV ("ROV Shares") for common shares of the Company (the "Common Shares") automatically and without the need to provide any letter of transmittal, based on an exchange ratio equal to that number of Common Shares for each one ROV Share (the "Exchange Ratio") which resulted in, upon completion of the Transaction, 12.3% of the Common Shares being held by shareholders of the Company and 87.7% of the Common Shares being held by ROV shareholders.

The Transaction constitutes a "fundamental change" pursuant to Policy 8 - Fundamental Changes and Changes of Business of the Canadian Securities Exchange (the "CSE"). Immediately prior to the closing of the Transaction (the "Closing"), the Company changed its name to UBERDOC Health Technologies Corp. Trading of the Common Shares are expected to commence trading on the CSE under the new name and under the new ticker symbol "APPT" as of market open on March 18, 2026. The new CUSIP is 90356T107 and the new ISIN is CA90356T1075.

Certain Common Shares are subject to the escrow policies of the CSE and applicable securities laws and will be released incrementally over multiple periods from the date of listing on the CSE, all as further described in the Form 2A - Listing Statement (the "Listing Statement").

For further information regarding the Transaction, readers are encouraged to review the Listing Statement prepared by the Company in support of the Transaction, a copy of which is available under the Company's profile on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.ca).

Board of Directors and Management

Concurrently with Closing, the board of directors of the Company was reconstituted to consist of Sean Kearney, Max Whiffin, Paula Muto, Craig Zevin and Jeffrey Hogan. Sean Kearney has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Company, Konstantin Lichtenwald has been appointed Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary of the Company and Max Whiffin has been appointed Vice President, Capital Markets of the Company.

Financings

Prior to the closing of the Transaction, ROV completed financings which were previously disclosed in the Company's news releases.

As disclosed in the Company's news release dated February 10, 2026, ROV closed a non-brokered special warrant financing (the "Special Warrant Financing") on December 8, 2025. The Company would like to clarify that the Special Warrant Financing was completed for gross proceeds of $471,540 through the sale of 1,347,257 special warrants of ROV (the "Special Warrants"), at a price of $0.35 per Special Warrant.

In addition, as disclosed in the Company's news release dated February 13, 2026, ROV completed a subscription receipt financing (the "Subscription Receipt Financing", and together with the Special Warrant Financing, the "Financings"), pursuant to which it issued 7,253,433 ROV subscription receipts (the "Subscription Receipts"). In connection with the Closing, each Subscription Receipt and each Special Warrant was automatically converted into, for no additional consideration and without further action on part of the holder thereof, one unit of ROV (each, a "Unit"). The ROV securities comprising the Units were exchanged under the Amalgamation Agreement following the conversion of the Subscription Receipts and Special Warrants such that, following the Closing, each Unit was comprised of one Common Share and one half of one warrant of the Company (each whole warrant, a "Warrant"). Each Warrant is exercisable into one Common Share at an exercise price equal to $0.50 for a period of two years following issuance. The Common Shares and Warrants are not subject to any resale restrictions following completion of the Transaction.

In aggregate, the Company raised gross proceeds of approximately $3,010,241.55 from the Financings, which will be used to advance certain business milestones and for working capital purposes.

Divestiture

As previously announced in its news release dated March 12, 2026, in connection with the Closing the Company has completed the spin out of E79 Resources Pty. Ltd., which holds the Beaufort and Myrtleford properties in Australia, along with its equity interests in Advance Metals Ltd. (ASX: AVM) and any cash derived from the sale of such interests, to 1548403 B.C. Ltd under the terms of an arrangement agreement dated September 25, 2025.

About the Company

UBERDOC Health Technologies Corp. is an innovative healthcare marketplace connecting patients with top physicians with no referral, no insurance barriers, and no hidden costs. With more than 5,000 specialist physicians and clinicians across 55 specialties in the U.S., the Company empowers patients to access care quickly and affordably while giving doctors greater control over their time, revenue, and practice growth. The Company is not owned by, affiliated with, or sponsored by Uber Technologies, Inc.

Additional Information

None of the securities issued in connection with the Transaction will be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "1933 Act"), and none of them may be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the 1933 Act. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any state where such an offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful.

Forward-Looking Information

This press release contains "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. The forward-looking statements herein are made as of the date of this press release only, and the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new information, estimates or opinions, future events or results or otherwise, except as required by applicable law. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budgets", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "predicts", "projects", "intends", "targets", "aims", "anticipates" or "believes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases or may be identified by statements to the effect that certain actions "may", "could", "should", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. These forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements relating to the business plans of the Company and the listing of the Company on the CSE.

Such forward-looking statements are based on a number of assumptions of the management of the Company, including, without limitation, that the Company will begin trading on the CSE on March 18, 2026 and that there will be no adverse changes in applicable regulations or CSE policies that impact the Transaction.

Additionally, forward-looking information involve a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual plans, intentions, activities, results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future plans, intentions, activities, results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks include, without limitation, that the completion of the Transaction may be adversely impacted by changes in legislation, changes in CSE policies, political instability or general market conditions, risks relating to the current global trade war, the Company may require additional financing from time to time in order to continue its operations, or financing may not be available when needed or on terms and conditions acceptable to the Company.

Such forward-looking information represents the best judgment of the management of the Company based on information currently available. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed and actual future results may vary materially. Accordingly, readers are advised not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information. Neither the Company nor any of its representatives make any representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the accuracy, sufficiency or completeness of the information in this press release. Neither the Company nor any of its representatives shall have any liability whatsoever, under contract, tort, trust or otherwise, to you or any person resulting from the use of the information in this press release by you or any of your representatives or for omissions from the information in this press release.

Neither the CSE nor its Market Regulator accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/288711

Source: UBERDOC Health Technologies Corp.
At-scale AI factories by HPE, powered by NVIDIA solutions, enable sovereign AI in Europe and U.S.

In this article

HPE and NVIDIA collaborate on powerful AI systems, combining secure infrastructure and accelerated computing to deliver scalability and compliance.

HPE will build the system for the European Union's AI Factory, HammerHAI at the High-Performance Computing Center Stuttgart in Germany, bolstering AI innovation and research capabilities.

Janus and Tara systems at Argonne National Laboratory will advance AI training and inference in the U.S., accelerating scientific discovery and workforce development.

NVIDIA GTC HPE (NYSE:HPE) is helping customers advance sovereign AI initiatives worldwide by delivering robust, liquid-cooled sovereign AI systems that are part of the NVIDIA AI Computing by HPE portfolio. HPE will help build AI factories at Argonne National Laboratory in the United States and the High-Performance Computing Center Stuttgart (HLRS) in Germany, enabling governments, research institutions, and businesses to quickly deploy, operate, and scale AI initiatives while adhering to regional data sovereignty and compliance requirements.

"Sovereign AI initiatives will accelerate innovation and unlock economic growth, yet they require infrastructure and services that enable scale, sustainability, and governance," said Trish Damkroger, senior vice president and general manager, HPC AI Infrastructure Solutions at HPE. "HPE is uniquely suited to power a new era of sovereign AI by combining our proven AI factory solutions and services with NVIDIA solutions to build the world's fastest, most energy-efficient computers that allow our customers to develop, train, and run AI while maintaining control of their data and IP."

HammerHAI AI Factory at HLRS bolsters sovereign AI in Europe

HPE will build and install the supercomputer for the European Union (EU) AI Factory, HammerHAI (Hybrid and Advanced Machine learning platform for Manufacturing, Engineering, and Research). A consortium of leading academic high performance computing (HPC) centers in Germany, and coordinated by HLRS, will lead this effort. As part of the EU's AI Factory initiatives, the 55 million (USD $64.8 million) flagship system is funded by the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking, the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space, and the Baden-Wurttemberg Ministry of Science, Research and Art. It will strengthen Europe's sovereign AI capabilities for research and industry, including small enterprises and startups, by advancing machine learning, data science, research, and technology development.

The HammerHAI system will provide more than 15 exaflops of peak AI inference performance1, making it capable of training AI models and running data-intensive simulations used in sectors such as engineering, manufacturing, and automotive. Based on NVIDIA GB200 NVL4 by HPE, the HammerHAI system is a rack-scale architecture that features:

NVIDIA Grace CPUs, NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs, and NVIDIA Quantum-X800 InfiniBand Platform

NVIDIA Unified Fabric Manager and NVIDIA NetQ to support AI factory visibility and operations

AI-ready software environment designed for flexibility and scale that includes HPE software and NVIDIA AI Enterprise including government-ready software to provide a unified control layer across private and public clouds, hypervisors, and container platforms together

Direct liquid cooling to improve energy efficiency and thermal performance

"HammerHAI will offer a highly-performant AI platform, alongside services like AI skills training, as an alternative to future users that have historically relied on commercial cloud AI services in which data sovereignty was difficult to ensure," said Dr. Bastian Koller, Managing Director of HLRS and lead coordinator of HammerHAI. "This integrated approach will help researchers, startups, and enterprises access AI resources while operating in alignment with European Union data security requirements."

Janus and Tara accelerate AI training and inference to make breakthroughs at Argonne National Laboratory

In the United States, Argonne National Laboratory, a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory, is supporting Genesis Mission a new national AI strategy with next-generation AI systems called "Janus" and "Tara." The systems will advance AI inferencing for scientific research and innovation, and, along with training and mentorship, will empower future workforce development in AI and computational science. The two systems also reflect the growing convergence of AI and HPC workloads such as modeling, simulation, and data analytics that enable researchers to blend powerful capabilities into unified scientific workflows.

Janus, designed to support the development of the next generation AI and HPC practitioners, will be deployed at Argonne National Laboratory. The system will be based on the HPE Cray XD server platform and accelerated by NVIDIA Hopper GPUs. Janus will provide a powerful environment for training, experimentation, and applied research that prepares users to work with large-scale AI systems.

Tara, based on the exascale-class HPE Cray Supercomputing EX4000 supercomputer powered by NVIDIA Grace Hopper Superchips, is designed to enable researchers using a convergence of AI inferencing and scientific computing to extract real-world technological and research breakthroughs. Together, these systems reinforce U.S. leadership in AI for science by providing reliable, high-performance infrastructure capable of supporting the most demanding AI and computational workloads.

"We're entering a new era of supercomputing one in which AI and HPC converge to form intelligent systems that blend simulation, data and inference," said Rick Stevens, Argonne's associate laboratory director for Computing, Environment and Life Sciences. "This integration accelerates discovery at every step, transforming not only the speed but also the way scientists approach their problems. ?By combining AI models with large-scale computation, we can explore complex systems, uncover hidden patterns, and guide experiments in real time. It marks a shift from computing as a tool to computing as an active collaborator in scientific discovery."

The NVIDIA AI Computing by HPE portfolio evolves

HammerHAI, Janus and Tara systems are based on solutions in the NVIDIA AI Computing by HPE portfolio. Find the latest updates to the portfolio at HPE's booth (531) at NVIDIA GTC or read about the latest news here:

HPE unveils next-generation AI factory and supercomputing advancements with NVIDIA

HPE accelerates secure, scalable production-ready AI through new innovations with NVIDIA

About HPE

HPE (NYSE: HPE) is a leader in essential enterprise technology, bringing together the power of AI, cloud, and networking to help organizations achieve more. As pioneers of possibility, our innovation and expertise advance the way people live and work. We empower our customers across industries to optimize operational performance, transform data into foresight, and maximize their impact. Unlock your boldest ambitions with HPE. Discover more at www.hpe.com.

1 At FP4 precision

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260316432146/en/

Contacts:

Media Contact:

Cristina Thai

cristina.thai@hpe.com
Total passenger traffic up 6.7% YoY in February

International passenger traffic up 14.1% YoY in February; up 17.8% YoY in Argentina

Corporacion America Airports S.A. (NYSE: CAAP), ("CAAP" or the "Company"), one of the world's leading private airport operators, reported today a 6.7% year-on-year (YoY) increase in passenger traffic in February 2026.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260316943075/en/

Monthly Passenger Traffic Performance (In million PAX)

Passenger Traffic, Cargo Volume and Aircraft Movements Highlights (2026 vs. 2025) Statistics Feb'26 Feb'25 % Var. YTD'26 YTD'25 % Var. Domestic Passengers (thousands) 3,299 3,292 0.2% 6,966 6,864 1.5% International Passengers (thousands) 2,786 2,442 14.1% 5,906 5,160 14.5% Transit Passengers (thousands) 660 588 12.3% 1,482 1,292 14.7% Total Passengers (thousands)1 6,745 6,322 6.7% 14,354 13,316 7.8% Cargo Volume (thousand tons) 31.4 29.6 6.0% 61.4 61.6 -0.3% Total Aircraft Movements (thousands) 66.0 64.2 2.8% 139.7 134.8 3.6%

Passenger Traffic Overview

Total passenger traffic increased by 6.7% in February compared to the same month in 2025. Domestic traffic rose modestly by 0.2% YoY, driven by Brazil and Ecuador, partially offset by declines in Argentina and Italy. International traffic, meanwhile, grew by 14.1%, with all operating countries contributing positively on a YoY basis, including double-digit growth in Argentina, Italy, Brazil, Ecuador, and Armenia. Notably, Argentina accounted for more than 50% of total YoY traffic growth in February and over two-thirds of the increase in international traffic.

In Argentina, total passenger traffic increased by 5.8% YoY in February. The increase was driven by strong growth in international traffic, partially offset by a slight decline in the domestic segment, reflecting a tough comparison base in February 2025 and the impact of a nationwide 24-hour strike organized by major labor unions on February 19. Domestic traffic declined by 0.4% YoY. Additionally, Aerolineas Argentinas faced temporary fleet constraints due to engine issues affecting several aircraft, which resulted in some flight cancellations. International traffic remained robust, increasing by 17.8% YoY and reaching the highest load factor levels of the past twelve months. On February 20, the system recorded the highest number of international passengers in a single day in its history. During the Carnival period, traffic increased by 27% compared with Carnival 2025, with Brazil, Chile, and the United States ranking as the top three destinations in February.

In Italy, passenger traffic increased by 7.4% YoY, driven by double-digit growth in the international segment, partially offset by a decline in domestic traffic. International passenger traffic, which accounted for nearly 80% of total traffic, rose by 10.6% YoY, reflecting solid performance at both Florence and Pisa airports. Domestic passenger traffic declined by 2.2% YoY, primarily due to lower volumes at Florence airport, partially offset by increases at Pisa airport.

In Brazil, total passenger traffic increased by 8.2% YoY, reflecting improved traffic trends despite ongoing challenges in the aviation environment. Domestic traffic, which accounted for nearly 60% of total traffic, rose by 1.6% YoY, while transit passengers increased by a strong 17.3% YoY. International traffic, although representing a small share of total traffic (5%), grew by 10.2% YoY.

In Uruguay, total passenger traffic, predominantly international, increased by 2.4% YoY and continued to benefit from additional flight frequencies introduced to accommodate strong summer-season demand. Among other developments, GOL launched a new Montevideo-Fortaleza route and resumed its Sao Paulo-Punta del Este and Buenos Aires-Punta del Este services for the summer season. Aerolineas Argentinas also increased frequencies on its Buenos Aires-Punta del Este route and introduced a new Cordoba-Punta del Este service.

In Ecuador, where security concerns persist, passenger traffic performed well, increasing by 8.6% YoY. International traffic increased by 13.7% YoY, supported by strong performance on routes to Europe. Domestic traffic rose by 4.7% YoY, although high airfares continued to weigh on travel demand.

In Armenia, passenger traffic increased by 11.6% YoY. The result was supported by the introduction of new airlines and routes, as well as increased flight frequencies. In October 2025, Wizz Air launched a new base at Yerevan's Zvartnots Airport, deploying two aircraft and adding ten new direct routes to Europe.

Cargo Volume and Aircraft Movements

Cargo volume increased by 6.0% YoY, with positive contributions from all countries of operation except Italy and Brazil. Performance by country was as follows: Armenia (+43.2%), Argentina (+9.7%), Uruguay (+5.7%), Ecuador (+0.8%), Italy (-16.8%), and Brazil (-17.8%). Argentina, Brazil, and Armenia accounted for nearly 80% of total cargo volume in February.

Aircraft movements increased by 2.8% YoY, with positive contributions from all countries of operation except Brazil, which recorded a slight decline. Performance by country was as follows: Armenia (+11.1%), Uruguay (+6.9%), Argentina (+3.5%), Italy (+2.8%), Ecuador (+0%), and Brazil (-0.6%). Argentina, Brazil, and Ecuador accounted for more than 80% of total aircraft movements in February.

Summary Passenger Traffic, Cargo Volume and Aircraft Movements (2026 vs. 2025) Feb'26 Feb'25 % Var. YTD'26 YTD'25 % Var. Passenger Traffic (thousands) Argentina 4,019 3,798 5.8% 8,573 8,016 6.9% Italy 542 505 7.4% 1,046 990 5.7% Brazil 1,267 1,172 8.2% 2,750 2,455 12.0% Uruguay 214 209 2.4% 459 452 1.7% Ecuador 373 344 8.6% 765 717 6.7% Armenia 329 294 11.6% 761 687 10.7% TOTAL 6,745 6,322 6.7% 14,354 13,316 7.8%

Cargo Volume (tons) Argentina 16,263 14,831 9.7% 32,669 32,489 0.6% Italy 844 1,014 -16.8% 1,669 2,087 -20.0% Brazil 4,367 5,313 -17.8% 8,578 9,747 -12.0% Uruguay 2,868 2,713 5.7% 5,306 5,663 -6.3% Ecuador 2,728 2,707 0.8% 5,407 5,518 -2.0% Armenia 4,299 3,001 43.2% 7,798 6,129 27.2% TOTAL 31,369 29,580 6.0% 61,427 61,633 -0.3% Aircraft Movements Argentina 38,239 36,941 3.5% 81,432 78,057 4.3% Italy 4,707 4,581 2.8% 9,457 9,105 3.9% Brazil 11,331 11,394 -0.6% 23,374 22,466 4.0% Uruguay 3,155 2,952 6.9% 7,282 6,851 6.3% Ecuador 5,955 5,956 0.0% 12,271 12,809 -4.2% Armenia 2,623 2,361 11.1% 5,875 5,509 6.6% TOTAL 66,010 64,185 2.8% 139,691 134,797 3.6%

About Corporacion America Airports

Corporacion America Airports acquires, develops and operates airport concessions. Currently, the Company operates 52 airports in 6 countries across Latin America and Europe (Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Ecuador, Armenia and Italy). In 2025, Corporacion America Airports served 86.7 million passengers, 9.8% above the 79.0 million passengers served in 2024. The Company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange where it trades under the ticker "CAAP". For more information, visit http://investors.corporacionamericaairports.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260316943075/en/

Contacts:

Investor Relations Contact

Patricio Inaki Esnaola

Email: patricio.esnaola@caairports.com

Phone: +5411 4899-6716
SAN JOSE, Calif., March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- PC Partner Technology Pte. Limited, a leading global hardware solutions manufacturer, is attending NVIDIA GTC 2026 in San Jose, California from March 16 to March 19, 2026, to showcase the latest high-performance computing solutions powered by the latest NVIDIA technologies.

These systems can support workflows built on NVIDIA Omniverse Enterprise, specifically focusing on industrial digitalization and the creation of large-scale digital twins, targeting key customers and industry leaders looking to accelerate their AI training and 3D workflows through robust, enterprise-grade hardware.

ZRS-MGX-R1 4U GPU Server based on NVIDIA MGX integrating with NVIDIA ConnectX-8 SuperNIC

Enterprise-Scale Simulation Hub

The 4U GPU Server based on NVIDIA MGX integrating with NVIDIA ConnectX-8 SuperNIC, powered by NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server Edition GPUs, was made to be the ultimate simulation hub for large-scale enterprise environments. Purpose-built for NVIDIA Omniverse workloads, this server provides the massive computational density required for Physical AI and high-fidelity digital twins of entire industrial facilities. Featuring a modular architecture that supports up to 8x GPUs and 96GB of GDDR7 memory per card, this system bridges the gap between physical operations and digital optimization at an industrial scale.

ZRS-326SV2 6U 8GPU Server

Affordable On-Premises Solution

The ZRS-326SV2 6U 8GPU Server offers a high-performance, affordable platform for companies looking to prioritize data security and on-premises AI deployment to retain sensitive digital twins and proprietary industrial data within their own secure firewall without sacrificing computational power. This system is highly flexible and scalable in hardware configuration with up to 8 GPUs possible, which allows clients to tailor internal components to meet specific budget and project profiles, making it a top-tier solution that balance reliability and cost-performance ratio.

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The GPU Workstation is engineered to be the desktop solution for professional creators and engineers who are driving the next wave of industrial digitalization. Powered by NVIDIA RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell Workstation GPUs, it is a powerful entry point into the NVIDIA Omniverse ecosystem, allowing users to develop, test and optimize complex 3D workflows and digital twins with real-time, local AI capabilities at a desktop scale.

Visit Us at GTC 2026

Learn more about PC Partner's full range of HPC solutions firsthand at Booth 178, San Jose Convention Center, San Jose, California, on March 16 - 19, 2026.

About PC Partner TechnologyPte. Limited

PC Partner was founded in 1997. Over the years, the Company has grown into a leading global manufacturer of computer electronics with overseas offices selling products worldwide, and a full range product portfolio which includes video graphics cards, Mini PCs, motherboards, embedded systems, gaming hardware, and more. The company also offers one-stop electronic manufacturing services to reputable brands all over the world. PC Partner Technology Pte. Limited also address business and enterprise computing and visualization needs of today's ever-changing market with GPU Server offerings.

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Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 16, 2026) - Orecap Invest Corp. (TSXV: OCI) (OTCQB: ORFDF) ("Orecap" or the "Company") provides additional disclosure regarding its plans to transfer or spinout its mining properties and assets previously disclosed in its April 29, 2025 news release, "Orecap Announces Intent to Spin Out Gold Assets in Kirkland Lake". This news release was requested by staff of the Ontario Securities Commission in connection with a staff review and is intended to provide additional disclosure with respect to the April 2025 News Release and the Company's plans going forward, as well as with respect to statements made in the Company's August 2025 corporate presentation and its November 27, 2025 news release.

The April 2025 News Release outlined the Company's strategy to create value through the potential spinout of select gold exploration and development opportunities into newly formed subsidiary companies. Specifically, the April 2025 News Release announced the Company's "plans to spin out some or all of its high-quality gold exploration and development assets into newly formed subsidiary companies" and made reference to the McGarry, Mirado and Knight projects.

The Company wishes to clarify that its strategic plans changed since the April 2025 News Release and the change of plans was not previously announced. The Company does not currently intend to contribute any of its existing assets to these newly formed companies. Any assets that may be considered would be new opportunities not currently owned or controlled by Orecap.

At the time of the April 2025 News Release, the Company's intention was to potentially spin out existing assets into wholly owned subsidiaries to be formed. In late May 2025, three new wholly owned subsidiaries of the Company were incorporated (the "New Issuers"). On September 29, 2025, Orecap completed a plan of arrangement (the "Arrangement") to spin out the New Issuers to existing shareholders.

During the period from the April 2025 News Release until execution of definitive documentation and public announcement of the Arrangement on August 6, 2025, the Company continued to assess the most effective strategy for its physical land packages and determined that retaining these assets within Orecap was the most appropriate course at that time. Accordingly, no asset spinouts were pursued in connection with the Arrangement, and the Company currently has no plans to transfer any of its existing assets to the New Issuers. Any future asset spinout would be subject to full board, shareholder, regulatory, and exchange approvals.

By way of example, Orecap's current approach with respect to retaining value in existing assets in the Company, is reflected in its recently announced transaction involving the Mirado Gold Project in Kirkland Lake, Ontario. On December 18, 2025, the Company announced the sale of this asset to an arm's-length party, Kirkland Lake Discoveries Corp., in exchange for a 19.9% equity interest in that company.

In respect of the New Issuers, the August 2025 Corporate Presentation referenced that the New Issuers "will be future TSX listed juniors". This statement was made pre-emptively and is withdrawn. While any one or all of the New Issuers may apply for a stock exchange listing in the future, there is no guarantee that such application will be made, or that if made, that such listing will be granted. Should a New Issuer seek a potential stock exchange listing, appropriate and fulsome application with the applicable stock exchange, together with the necessary associated detailed public disclosure, will be made.

Orecap has updated its Corporate Presentation accordingly.

The November 27, 2025 News Release provided highlights relating to a new ultramafic target at the Company's McGarry Property.

While the Nov 2025 News Release notes that the target has never been drilled and only drilling will indicate if gold-rich solutions penetrated the target body, the tone of the Nov 2025 News Release may be seen as overly promotional.

Orecap provides the following disclosure and retracts the statements in the Nov 2025 News Release:

Orecap Highlights Discovery of Large, Never-Drilled Ultramafic Target at the McGarry Property

Highlights

Large, never-drilled ultramafic target identified beside Kerr Addison.

MT anomaly from ~250 metres to >1,000 metres.

Strong structural alignment with Larder Lake-Cadillac Deformation Zone and key district faults.

Interpreted folded ultramafic unit.

High-impact upside with ANT survey to refine and then drill-test.

The Company is pleased to announce that Stardust Metal Corp. ("Stardust") has identified a significant new geophysical target at our McGarry Project, located in the heart of the world-class Kirkland Lake gold district, home to some of Canada's most prolific high-grade gold mines, including Kerr Addison, Macassa, Upper Beaver, and several others. Orecap is the 100% owner of McGarry, which was recently optioned to Stardust (ZIGY.CN) under a deal providing up to $63.5 million in total investment for a 75% interest, as outlined in the Company's November 18 news release.

Presentation on McGarry's Ultramafic Target

MT Image of Target

Map of McGarry's Location in Kirkland Lake

Geophysical Target Highlights

MT Anomaly:

The Magnetotellurics (MT) survey highlights a large, deep feature beneath the sedimentary cover, visible from approximately -250 m and extending well beyond -1,000 m, below the depth detectable by conventional IP methods.

IP Survey:

An Induced Polarization (IP) survey was done concurrently with the MT survey and confirms the general pattern of the MT results in the top 250 of the sections both in terms of the resistivity and the chargeability responses, and major features such as the Larder Lake-Cadillac Deformation Zone (LLCDZ), the Armistice Fault and the Mill Zone Fault are visible on both surveys but the anomaly that is highlighted in this news release is located below the IP response.

Geological Interpretation:

The anomaly is interpreted as a folded ultramafic unit, in disconformable contact with overlying sediments and forms a synclinal structure plunging to the west. The base of the sedimentary unit has not been intersected in drilling and until recently was thought to be very deep and beyond the limit of geophysics. But the MT response is very clear and indicates the presence of a low-resistivity body sitting right beneath the sediments and espousing the syncline from about 250m depth to well beyond 1000m. While its shape and response suggests an increased potential to host an ultramafic unit, only drilling this target will tell if mineralized solutions penetrated the body. An Ambient Noise Tomographic (ANT) seismic survey should refine the target in anticipation of drill testing.

Structural and Regional Context:

Key structures including the LLCDZ, Armistice Fault, and Mill Zone Fault are clearly reflected in both IP and MT datasets, demonstrating the reliability of the survey and aligning with known district-scale controls on mineralization.

District Significance:

The McGarry Project sits immediately adjacent to several historic and currently operating high-grade mines. The identification of a deep, never-drilled target within potentially ultramafic rocks underscores the possibility of gold mineralization at depth.

This target, which has never been drilled and was highlighted during recent compilation work, was identified thanks to a comprehensive IP-MT survey completed by Quantec and reviewed and interpreted by Charles Beaudry, M.Sc., P.Geo. The anomaly sits beneath a sedimentary unit usually mapped as Temiskaming Assemblage and, by its shape and low resistivity, is thought to represent an ultramafic unit. The anomaly's size, depth, and geological context make it a high-priority drill target. The Company cautions investors that actual results of any follow-up drill testing may vary significantly from the interpreted target.

"If it is an ultramafic unit as postulated, it has never been tested in drilling or seen in underground workings and it is possible that the fluids responsible for the mineralization at the neighbouring Kerr Addison deposit (see Gold Candle news release dated June 3, 2025) could have also penetrated the domain lying beneath the sedimentary unit," said Charles Beaudry, a director of Orecap and Stardust.

Next Steps

The transaction with Stardust remains subject to acceptance by the TSX Venture Exchange, Orecap shareholder approval, and an updated technical report. Once the transaction is completed, Stardust has advised Orecap that it plans to conduct an Ambient Noise Tomography (ANT) survey to provide high-resolution 3D imaging of density-velocity contrasts. This approach will refine the depth, size, and geometry of the anomaly and guide the drill testing of the ultramafic target.

QP Statement

The technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Charles Beaudry, P.Geo and geo., a director of Orecap, who is a Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. For the exploration undertaken by Orecap, all assay batches are accompanied by rigorous Quality Assurance procedures, including the insertion of standards and blanks.

About Orecap Invest Corp.

Orecap seeks special situation investments in the natural resource sector that offer shareholders diverse exposure to high returns on precious and critical metal assets and businesses. For more information, please visit www.orecap.ca.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains statements that may constitute "forward-looking information" or "forward looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information and statements may include, among others, statements regarding future plans, costs, objectives or performance of the Company, or the assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. In this news release, words such as "may", "would", "could", "will", "likely", "believe", "expect", "anticipate", "intend", "plan", "estimate", "target" and similar words and the negative form thereof are used to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results, and will not necessarily be accurate indications of whether, or the times at or by which, such future performance will be achieved. No assurance can be given that any events anticipated by the forward-looking information will transpire or occur, including statements regarding any listing application by the New Issuers and with respect to the new target on the McGarry property. Forward-looking statements and information are based on information available at the time and/or management's good-faith belief with respect to future events and are subject to known or unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other unpredictable factors, many of which are beyond the Company's control. These risks, uncertainties and assumptions include, but are not limited to, those described under "Risk Factors" in the Company's management's discussion and analysis for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2024, which is available on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca; they could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in any forward-looking statements. The Company does not intend, nor does the Company undertake any obligation, to update or revise any forward-looking information or statements contained in this news release to reflect subsequent information, events or circumstances or otherwise, except if required by applicable laws.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/288689

Source: Orecap Invest Corp.
Inside China's robot boot camp: The race to feed hungry AI

Xinhua) 15:09, March 16, 2026

CHENGDU, March 16 (Xinhua) -- The afternoon sun streamed into a huge hall of the Sichuan Humanoid Robot Multimodal Data Collection and Testing Center in Zigong City in southwest China's Sichuan Province. Row after row of Walker S2 humanoid robots stood silent, awaiting their final performance tests.

In this vast space, which is now in the final stages of commissioning, the whir of servo motors blended with the soft clicks of sensors.

Inside the "express sorting scenario," Ouyang Yuanbin, a robot trainer in his early 20s, slipped on a VR headset. His movements were mirrored in real-time by a Walker S2 a few meters away. On a computer screen, the robot's perspective showed its metallic hand reaching for a parcel. It gripped the package firmly, then coordinated with its other hand to place it precisely on another table.

What looked simple was a symphony of data. Pressure sensors at the fingertips recorded micro-changes in friction. Vision sensors captured the angle and posture of the hand relative to the package handle. Every shift in the robot's center of gravity was logged by joint torque sensors.

The system was not just moving a box. It was mining gold-high-quality, real-world data that serves as the "food" for artificial intelligence.

"The goal is to combine human teleoperation with autonomous collection," Ouyang explained, never taking his eyes off the screen. By the end of this single shift, the robot would have generated thousands of data trajectories for the "pick-and-place" task.

This facility covering 6,000 square meters, which officially opened on Jan. 8, is expected to reach full production by March. At full capacity, it will generate 15,000 data entries daily and up to 3 million high-quality entries annually. It represents a critical piece of China's strategy to move from "robot manufacturing" to "robot intelligence."

The urgency behind this effort reflects a fundamental truth about the industry. Last year was considered China's first year of the mass production of humanoid robots, with over 140 domestic manufacturers releasing more than 330 different models. Yet behind the optimism lies a hard reality: data scarcity remains the critical bottleneck to mass commercialization.

"Even if the 'baby' is born smart, without real-world datasets to feed it, it cannot grow," said Wang Feili, an industrial sector analyst with UBS Securities China, during a media sharing session in January.

Unlike autonomous driving, which relies on billions of miles of road-test data, operational data for humanoid robots in complex environments is extremely scarce, Wang added.

Ye Yangsheng, co-founder of Shanghai-based SEER Robotics, already noted at the 2025 Zhangjiang Embodied AI Developer Conference in May that humanoid robots require massive amounts of data for training, but collecting data in real-world environments is extremely costly.

Training a robot to sort a single battery requires tens of thousands of grasping actions, accounting for variables such as lighting and material properties. A single data collection session can cost over 1,000 yuan, said Ye.

Perhaps the most stubborn bottleneck isn't just the quantity of data, but the quality of perception.

Speaking at the Humanoid Robots and Embodied Intelligence Standardization (HEIS) annual meeting in Beijing on Feb. 28, Peng Zhihui, co-founder of AGIBOT, highlighted a critical gap: "When we analyzed industrial scenarios, we found that nearly 80 percent of tasks where humans excel, but traditional automation struggles are strongly related to tactile sensing. The bottleneck results from the absence of standardized technological pathways for tactile sensors."

In response to these challenges, China has unveiled its first national standard system for humanoid robotics. The framework is China's first comprehensive, top-level design covering the entire industrial chain and full lifecycle of humanoid robotics and embodied intelligence, aiming to unify technical specifications, evaluation criteria, and interface protocols across the fragmented but fast-evolving industry.

Meanwhile, robot training and data collection facilities have mushroomed across the country. Multiple cities including Beijing, Zigong in Sichuan, Liuzhou in Guangxi, Jiujiang in Jiangxi, Wuxi in Jiangsu, Wuhan in Hubei, Shaoxing in Zhejiang, and Zhengzhou in Henan have all established embodied intelligence data collection centers. In addition, large-scale, specialized training grounds have been built in cities such as Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangzhou, and Qingdao.

The Zigong facility integrates advanced equipment, including joint torque sensors, multimodal vision systems (RGB-D cameras), and LiDAR. It can capture data with high precision, including vision, touch, and motion trajectories, during the robot's "motion control," "environmental interaction," and "task execution" processes.

By simulating real industrial scenarios, the center trains robots to complete basic actions such as "grasping, holding, taking and placing," accumulating massive amounts of high-quality data. This data provides solid support for algorithm optimization, intelligent upgrades, and R&D iteration of robots, and allows new algorithms and models to be validated in real-world environments.

As of Feb. 24 this year, Sichuan Province had registered 1,138 robot-related enterprises. Together with the operation of the data collection center, it has laid a solid foundation for Sichuan to achieve more breakthroughs in the "AI plus" field, according to the provincial science and technology department.

As night fell over the Zigong facility, the lights inside the testing center cast long shadows. One Walker S2, standing alone under a beam of light, looked almost like a visitor from another world. But it is not from another world. It is from here -- trained, tested, and soon to be deployed in factories or warehouses somewhere in China.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
Bedford, Nova Scotia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 16, 2026) - Sylla Gold Corp. (TSXV: SYG) (the "Company") is pleased to announce that, further to its press release of February 3, 2026, it has settled an aggregate of $374,580 of indebtedness to certain creditors of the Company through the issuance of 6,243,000 common shares in the capital of the Company (the "Common Shares") at a price of $0.06 per Common Share (the "Debt Settlement"). All securities issued in connection with the Debt Settlement will be subject to a hold period of four months plus a day from the date of issuance and the resale rules of applicable securities legislation.

The Debt Settlement is constituted "related party transactions" as defined in Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Securityholders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"), as certain insiders of the Company will receive an aggregate of 3,457,000 Common Shares. The Company is relying on the exemptions from the valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101 contained in sections 5.5(g) and 5.7(1)(e) of MI 61-101, as the Company is in financial difficulty and the transaction is designed to improve the financial position of the Company, as determined in accordance with MI 61-101. The Company did not file a material change report in respect of the related party transaction at least 21 days before the closing of the Debt Settlement, which the Company deems reasonable.

The Debt Settlement was approved by the members of the board of directors of the Company who are independent for the purposes of the Debt Settlement, being all directors other than Messrs. Regan Isenor and Greg Isenor. No special committee was established in connection with the Debt Settlement, and no materially contrary view or abstention was expressed or made by any director of the Company in relation thereto.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward looking information is frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "may", "will", "would", "potential", "proposed" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. These statements are only predictions. Forward-looking information is based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the information is provided, and is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information. For a description of the risks and uncertainties facing the Company and its business and affairs, readers should refer to the Company's Management's Discussion and Analysis. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change, unless required by law. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/288735

Source: Sylla Gold Corp.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 16, 2026) - FIRST ANDES SILVER LTD. (TSXV: FAS) (OTC Pink: FASLF) (FSE: 9TZ0) ("First Andes" or the "Company") today announced that it has entered into an Analytics Services Agreement (the "Agreement") with Orbiton Capital Corp. ("Orbiton"), which includes the provision of strategic advice, digital media, and marketing services to the Company. Orbiton, a San Francisco based company, will provide strategic advice, media buying and distribution, and marketing services through on-line media placements for the Company, including but not limited to newsletters. Under the terms of the Agreement, Orbiton will be paid US$150,000 for a 12-month term that may be extended at the discretion of the Company.

Orbiton's business address is 100 Pine St, San Francisco CA 94111 USA. Orbiton is at arm's length party to the Company. Orbiton does not have a direct interest in the Company or its securities or any right or intent to acquire such an interest at this time. There are no performance factors contained in the Agreement and no stock options or other compensation is being issued to Orbiton under the Agreement.

Orbiton's business address is 100 Pine St, San Francisco, CA 94111, USA and can be reached at daniel@orbitonfinancial.com or +1 604 364 8847.

About First Andes Silver Ltd.

First Andes Silver Ltd. is a British Columbia company that holds a 100% interest in the high-grade Santas Gloria silver property, located in a major mining district approximately 55 km east of Lima, Peru. Santas Gloria has excellent established road access, is situated within a well-known intermediate-sulphidation epithermal belt, and hosts over 12 km of multiphase veins mapped at surface that had never been historically drilled or explored using modern techniques prior to 2024. Across two phases of diamond drilling (2024-2025), First Andes has reported strong near-surface epithermal silver intercepts in 21 of 26 drill holes, confirming silver mineralization across multiple vein systems and supporting systematic, project-wide exploration and follow-up drilling in 2026.

Forward-Looking Statements

Information set forth in this news release contains forward-looking statements that are based on assumptions as of the date of this news release. These statements reflect management's current estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations. They are not guarantees of future performance. The Company cautions that all forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain and that actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, many of which are beyond the Company's control. Such factors include, among other things: risks and uncertainties relating to Company's limited operating history, ability to obtain sufficient financing to carry out its exploration programs and the need to comply with environmental and governmental regulations. Accordingly, actual and future events, conditions and results may differ materially from the estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations expressed or implied in the forward-looking information. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking information.

The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release. Except as required by law, the Company disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/288745

Source: First Andes Silver Ltd.
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 16, 2026) - Deveron Corp. (TSXV: FARM.H) ("Deveron" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that its board of directors has declared a special dividend (the "Special Dividend") of CAD$0.0042 per common share. The Special Divided was approved by the shareholders at the special meeting held on December 30, 2025.

The dividend will be paid to shareholders of record as at March 23, 2026, and the dividend will be paid to shareholders on or about March 30, 2026. The Special Dividend will be treated as a return of capital in accordance with the Income Tax Act (Canada).

Further to the Company's press releases of November 3, 2025, December 19, 2025, December 30, 2025 and February 13, 2026, the Company was to distribute an aggregate of US$1,000,000 to the shareholders of the Company, as a return of capital. The Company received the US$1,000,000 as partial consideration for the sale of substantially all of its assets (the "Transaction") in accordance with a share and asset purchase agreement (the "Purchase Agreement") with RRL Ultimate Parent, LLC ("Parent"), 1001388516 Ontario Inc. ("BidCo" and together with Parent, the "Share Purchasers"), Maple NewCo, LLC (the "US Buyer" and together with the Share Purchasers, the "Purchasers"), Deveron USA, LLC ("Deveron USA"), Woods End Laboratories, LLC ("Woods End", and together with Deveron USA, the "Asset Vendors" and together with the Company, the "Vendors"), and certain minority vendors (collectively, the "Minority Vendors"). Due to the difference from the estimated cash position on the closing of the Transaction, customary working capital adjustments and foreign exchange fluctuations, the Company will be distributing CAD$896,513.17 to its shareholders.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

About Deveron: Deveron is an agriculture technology company that uses data and insights to help farmers and large agriculture enterprises increase yields, reduce costs and improve farm outcomes. The company employs a digital process that leverages data collected on farms across North America to drive unbiased interpretation of production decisions, ultimately recommending how to optimize input use.

This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of that phrase under Canadian securities laws. Without limitation, statements regarding future plans and objectives of the Company are forward looking statements that involve various degrees of risk. Forward-looking statements reflect management's current views with respect to possible future events and conditions and, by their nature, are based on management's beliefs and assumptions and subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties, both general and specific to the Company. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in our forward-looking statements. The following are important factors that could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward looking statements: changes in the world-wide price of agricultural commodities, general market conditions, risks inherent in agriculture, the uncertainty of future profitability and the uncertainty of access to additional capital. Additional information regarding the material factors and assumptions that were applied in making these forward looking statements as well as the various risks and uncertainties we face are described in greater detail in the "Risk Factors" section of our annual and interim Management's Discussion and Analysis of our financial results and other continuous disclosure documents and financial statements we file with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities which are available at www.sedarplus.ca. The Company undertakes no obligation to update this forward-looking information except as required by applicable law. The Company relies on litigation protection for forward-looking statements.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/288712

Source: Deveron Corp.
Stimulus Broadband Celebrates Bonanza Fiber Internet Groundbreaking, Launching BDP-Funded Build to Expand Reliable Connectivity in Rural Klamath County

KLAMATH FALLS, OR / ACCESS Newswire / March 16, 2026 / Stimulus Broadband today marked a major milestone for Bonanza, Oregon, with a community groundbreaking outside Bonanza Town Hall to kick off construction of a new fiber internet network funded through Oregon's Broadband Deployment Program (BDP). The project will bring faster, more reliable broadband access to local homes and strengthen the long-term digital infrastructure the community needs for work, school, healthcare, and everyday life.

The event brought together state and local leaders, community members, and the Stimulus Broadband team to recognize the partnerships that made the project possible. Stimulus Broadband thanked the Oregon State Broadband Office for its leadership and support, including Nick Batz, Michael DeHart, Krystal Stone, and Seth Thompson. The company also thanked Bonanza's local leadership for their collaboration, including Mayor Ashlie Pence, Town Manager Cheri Stewart, and Recorder Anne Stewart.

"Today is about more than a ceremonial first shovel," said Nathan Whittacre, CEO of Stimulus Technologies. "It's about showing up for Bonanza and delivering infrastructure that will serve this community for decades. When rural communities have dependable broadband, it creates opportunity - supporting students, local businesses, telehealth, remote work, and the connections that keep families and communities strong."

Stimulus Broadband emphasized its commitment to building the network safely, respectfully, and with as little disruption as possible during construction.

Looking ahead, Stimulus Broadband also highlighted the broader opportunity for future fiber expansion across Klamath County as Oregon advances BEAD planning and implementation. With additional federal broadband investment, expansion projects could extend fiber service to tens of thousands more residents across the county - bringing more homes online, improving access for students, and increasing options for families and businesses in rural Oregon.

More information, photos, and project updates are available on the Stimulus Broadband blog: https://www.stimulusbroadband.com/2026/03/12/bonanza-fiber-internet-groundbreaking/.

Media Contact

Stimulus Broadband

Phone: 800-340-0766

Email: sales@stimulusbroadband.com

About Stimulus Broadband

Stimulus Broadband delivers high-speed internet solutions to communities across multiple states, with a focus on expanding reliable connectivity in underserved and rural areas. The company builds and operates broadband infrastructure designed to support modern internet needs today and scale for the future.

SOURCE: Stimulus Broadband

View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire:https://www.accessnewswire.com/newsroom/en/computers-technology-and-internet/stimulus-broadband-breaks-ground-on-klamath-county-fiber-build-1148346
Geopolitical expert Henri J Barkey of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) says the US likely expected Irans regime to collapse within days, but the conflict has instead pushed the region toward a dangerous cycle of retaliation with no clear path to peace. Will the Iran war really end with a ceasefire?

As the war between the United States, Israel, and Iran is now in its third week its 14th day, questions are mounting about whether Washington underestimated Tehrans resilience and the wider regional consequences of the conflict.

In an exclusive conversation with Firstpost, geopolitical expert Henri J. Barkey, who is an adjunct senior fellow for Middle East Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and Bernard L and Bertha F Cohen Chair in International Relations at Lehigh University, argues that the conflict may have been built on a major miscalculation.

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Barkey says the Trump administration likely assumed the Iranian regime would collapse quickly after initial strikes. Instead, the war has entered an uncertain phase where even a ceasefire may not stop the conflict or violence, given Irans network of allied groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis.

He also warns that instability inside Iran  from Kurdish regions to Balochistan  could reshape the countrys internal politics in the aftermath of the war, while disruptions in the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz threaten to drag entire West Asia deeper into crisis.

Edited Excerpts:

But Iranian officials say there can be no ceasefire unless the United States guarantees that there will be no further aggression. At this stage, how do you see the war evolving, and where do you think it is headed?

Look, this subject is a difficult question because I dont think Trump had a clear plan or a long-term vision for how this conflict would unfold. He probably assumed that, after the first few days, the Iranian regime would collapse and the war would end quickly. That appears to have been a miscalculation.

For that reason, it is difficult to predict how the situation will end. One possible scenario is that the United States and Israel eventually say they have achieved their objectives and decide to stop the campaign unilaterally. That may be what happens next.

However, even if the United States and Israel stop their operations, it does not necessarily mean Iran will stop its attacks. Iran could continue the fight through occasional missile strikes or other actions. In that case, the United States and Israel would likely retaliate, potentially leading to another cycle of escalation.

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At the moment, it is very difficult to see a clear endgame. It is possible that the United States and Israel announce a unilateral ceasefire, and Iran also decides to stop fighting. Much will depend on mediation efforts by other countries.

Today we also saw comments from the IRGC suggesting that China, Russia, and other countries are trying to mediate a ceasefire between the United States, Iran, and Israel. Iranian officials say they could consider a ceasefire but want assurances from Washington that there will be no further aggression. If the United States provides such assurances, could the situation in West Asia stabilise?

The challenge is that even if the United States and Israel announce a ceasefire and Iran agrees, Iran is networked with allied groupsHezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis, and Iraqi militias. If missiles are launched from Yemen toward Israel or American ships, or if attacks occur through these groups, the ceasefire could quickly collapse.

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There is also the possibility of disruptions to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz carried out by actors claiming to act in Irans name rather than by Iran directly. That would make monitoring and enforcing a ceasefire extremely difficult.

Therefore, even if we declare a ceasefire, we face the risk of other actors violating it and reigniting the conflict. The reality is that this crisis has been building for decades through the activities of Irans allied groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis. Iran must also stop these groups attacks if it agrees to a ceasefire. Whether that is possible remains uncertain.The main players in the war are Israel, the United States, and Iran. However, Irans attacks have targeted neighboring countries such as Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Bahrain. Does this condition mean the entire region risks destabilisation unless all stakeholders move toward a ceasefire?

Lets separate the issues. When you discuss the region, you are referring to the Persian Gulf countries  Kuwait, Qatar, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain. Iran has directly targeted these countries, not Hezbollah or Shia militias in Iraq.

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The broader issue involves groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas, various Shia militias, and the Houthis attacking Israel or American interests. That is where the main escalation risk lies. These groups are unlikely to target the Gulf states directly.

The real concern is attacks against the United States or Israel. Such attacks are far more likely to trigger strong retaliation, which could escalate the conflict and potentially expand it into a wider regional confrontation.

Some reports even indicate that Trump has been in talks with Kurdish groups in Iran about opening another front against Tehran, potentially involving military support and strategic cooperation that could reshape regional dynamics. Given your expertise on this issue, how do you see the situation developing?

Look, I think a tremendous deal has been made of a few comments by Trump that were not well thought through. Iranian Kurds have been politically active for many years. Among the various Iranian Kurdish groups, two  KPI and PJAK  have had fighters operating inside Iran.

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On February 22, five Iranian Kurdish groups came together politically and announced they would start coordinating their efforts. Historically, they often worked at cross-purposes and realized that this fragmentation weakened their cause.

Trump suggested that Kurdish forces might join the war against the Iranian government and hinted at the possibility of training and support. There were even reports about potential training programs for Kurdish fighters. But the reality is that there are not enough Kurdish fighters to significantly change the military balance. Training and building an effective force takes a long time. You must recruit people, vet them carefully to ensure they are not Iranian intelligence agents, and build an organized structure. That process can take months or even years.

In a sense, Trumps comments may have inadvertently placed the Kurds in a difficult position.

Another factor is that Israeli strikes targeted several military installations in Kurdish regions, including facilities linked to the IRGC and Basij. One interpretation is that these attacks were intended to reduce military pressure in Kurdish areas, potentially giving Kurdish groups more room to maneuver. If there were to be broader unrest in Iran after the conflict, fewer military installations in those regions could create space for local actors to organize.

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However, this is more of a post-conflict scenario. In the short term, Iranian Kurdish groups are unlikely to significantly affect the course of the current conflict.

And also, since you mentioned this, do you believe Irans Kurdish regions could become politically volatile if the war further weakens the central government?

Yes, let me put it this way. The Iranian regime and its security forces have been hit quite badly across the country. Re-establishing control everywhere will be difficult. There could be instability not only in Kurdistan but also in places like Balochistan. Kurdish regions are not the only areas with potential unrest.

It is possible that Kurdish areas may become more active politically. Historically, Iranian Kurds have been relatively quiet.

You dont hear much about them.

In contrast, Kurds in Turkey, Syria, and Iraq have gained far greater visibility and influence and have been widely discussed internationally. Now, for the first time, the Iranian Kurds may begin to attract more global attention, which could translate into some degree of political support.

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At the same time, the Iranian regime will do everything in its power to suppress Kurdish movements. It will not be easy for them. The Kurdish regions have long had a heavy security presence, and economically they remain underdeveloped compared with other parts of Iran.

What we may be witnessing could be the beginning of a long process, similar to what unfolded in Iraq and Syria.

Many analysts argue that this was an ill-planned war from Donald Trumps side and that none of the major objectives have been achieved. There has been no regime change, and now Mojtaba Khamenei  considered more hardline than his father  has emerged as a key figure. Do you agree with the argument that the US was poorly prepared for this war and is now losing it, or has Iran suffered significant collateral damage?

Look, the damage to Iran is considerable. This is not the kind of bombing Iran has faced before. The destruction has been very serious, and it will take the country a long time to recover and rebuild. Essentially, what the Americans and Israelis have done is push back Iranian progress on several fronts, possibly for a decade or more.

Think about it this way: when critical infrastructure such as oil depots and electricity-generation facilities are destroyed, reconstruction becomes the priority after a ceasefire. When rebuilding begins, the government will have to focus on restoring basic infrastructure rather than advancing its nuclear program. In that sense, the attacks have forced Iran into a difficult choice about what to prioritize.

If a new leader were to say that rebuilding the nuclear program should come first, the Iranian public might question why basic needs  electricity, fuel, and infrastructureare not being addressed instead.

There is no doubt that Trump did not fully think through the war because he did not appear to have a clear long-term strategy. At the same time, it would be incorrect to say that none of his objectives were achieved. Through sheer destruction, some goals have been accomplished. The original objective may have been regime change, but that was always unrealistic.

Yes, Khameneis son is considered more hardline and may now be influential. But conflicts of this scale often trigger deeper political and social changes. Once the fighting stops, the Iranian regime may face difficult questions from its own population about why the country had to endure such destruction.

It is also important to remember that this conflict did not emerge overnight. For decades, the Iranian regime has targeted Western and Israeli interests. In 1994, for example, a Jewish centre in Argentina was bombed, killing 85 people. From West Asia to Latin America, there have been numerous attacks linked to Iranian networks that rarely resulted in direct consequences for Tehran.

Today, in many ways, Iran is paying a price for those long-standing tensions. From the perspective of Israelis or Americans, there has always been a persistent security concern that groups such as Hezbollah or Hamas  supported by Iran  could launch attacks.

Consider the events of October 7, when Hamas attacked Israel. The following day, Hezbollah also opened a front against Israel, forcing the evacuation of large parts of northern Israel. Hezbollahs actions were widely believed to be coordinated with Iranian interests. Similarly, the Houthis launched missiles with Iranian backing.

Iran has often relied on these allied groups to carry out operations while maintaining plausible deniability. However, many governments believe Tehran has been directing the broader strategy. In that sense, this war has been building for a long time, and what we are witnessing now is part of that accumulated conflict.

Some analysts say the US did not anticipate this level of retaliation or resistance from Iran. Do you agree with that assessment that Iran has mounted a strong retaliation against the United States and Israel?

No, I dont.

Yes, Iran fired a large number of missiles, and a few managed to evade countermeasures and hit targets. However, compared to the 12-day war in June, the damage was significantly less. Very few of those missiles caused serious destruction. So I dont think the retaliation was particularly powerful.

In fact, the reason Iran targeted places like Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar is that it could not successfully hit American or Israeli targets as planned. It is much easier to strike targets in nearby Gulf countries than to hit American ships or Israel itself.

So, overall, I dont think the Iranian retaliation was very successful.

Some observers argue this reflects a divide and rule strategy in which Gulf states are drawn into the war while the United States exports arms and defense equipment. How do you see this situation, where the US is considered encouraging Persian Gulf countries to join the war alongside the United States and Israel against Iran?

Look, I would not take everything that Lindsey Graham or even Trump says too seriously. They often make statements that are not necessarily meant as serious policy positions. Everyone knows that the Saudis are unlikely to join this war. They are the ones who have to live next to Iran, not the United States.

I dont think those statements should be overinterpreted. There is a lot of rhetoric. Even Trump changes his position frequently, sometimes within hours, so it is difficult to treat every statement as a clear policy signal.

Some analysts argue that US military bases across the Persian Gulf have become a liability for host countries, making them potential targets in regional conflicts. One politician even remarked that instead of US bases protecting Gulf countries, Gulf countries are protecting the US bases. How do you see this situation evolving?

I expected such comments. In some ways, they are understandable because these countries are now being targeted after the United States decided to attack Iran.

But consider the other possibility. If a more radical Iranian regime consolidates power in Iran, those countries may still want American bases there, because the United States remains the only power capable of deterring Iran.

So there are two sides to the argument. Yes, American bases can create risks for host countries. But they can also provide protection. If Iran emerges from this conflict with a revanchist leadership seeking to exact a price, these countries may feel an even stronger need for American security guarantees.

In that sense, one could argue that by attacking Iran, the United States has ensured that its military presence in the region will remain necessary.

For the final question, what is your comment on the United States diplomatic policy of embracing predatory hegemony? Many argue that such a policy could eventually backfire, leading to increased anti-American sentiment and destabilization in the region. What is predatory hegemony?

Trumps policies will not become permanent American policy. In three years, when a new leader takes office in the United States, there will likely be a major review of what has happened, and American policy could look completely unique. In many ways, Trumps approach represents an aberration.

The United States remains the most powerful country in the world, but it still needs allies. It cannot manage global challenges alone. Issues such as tensions with China and Taiwan, as well as the ongoing Ukraine war, require strong alliances.

The United States is therefore likely to return to a diplomatic approach closer to its traditional policies rather than continuing along Trumps path.
Chinas factory output grew 6.3% in JanuaryFebruary while retail sales rebounded, pointing to a stable start to 2026 even as weak domestic demand and geopolitical tensions cloud the outlook

Chinas industrial activity picked up pace in the opening months of 2026 while consumer spending showed tentative improvement, signalling a steady start to the year for the worlds second-largest economy even as it grapples with geopolitical tensions and fragile domestic demand.

Data released on Monday by the National Bureau of Statistics showed factory output rose 6.3 per cent year-on-year in JanuaryFebruary, up from 5.2 per cent growth in December. The reading also exceeded the 5 per cent expansion forecast in a Reuters poll and marked the fastest growth in industrial production since September last year.

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The stronger manufacturing performance follows separate data indicating that Chinas exports surged in the first two months of the year, buoyed by strong global demand for artificial-intelligence-related technologies that lifted upstream manufacturing.

While risks to the outlook have increased amid geopolitical tensions and disruptions to global trade and energy markets, the latest figures indicate that China entered the year with a firmer growth footing than previously thought, Hao Zhou, chief economist at Guotai Junan International, told Reuters.

Retail sales recover

Consumption also showed signs of recovery, though momentum remains modest. Retail sales, a key gauge of household spending, rose 2.8 per cent in JanuaryFebruary, accelerating from 0.9 per cent in December and beating analysts expectations of a 2.5 per cent increase.

Part of the improvement was driven by the extended Lunar New Year holiday in February, which spurred travel and leisure spending. Official data showed tourism expenditure during the holiday period jumped nearly 19 per cent from a year earlier.

However, spending per domestic trip slipped 0.2 per cent, suggesting consumers remain cautious amid lingering economic uncertainty.

Signs of weakness persist in several sectors. Passenger vehicle sales in China fell 26 per cent year-on-year in JanuaryFebruary, weighed down by the expiry of tax incentives and scaled-back government subsidies for electric vehicles.

China typically releases combined data for January and February to smooth distortions caused by the shifting timing of the Lunar New Year holiday.

Infrastructure spending lifts investment

Investment data, however, offered a positive surprise. Fixed-asset investment, which includes spending on infrastructure and property, rose 1.8 per cent in the first two months of the year, defying expectations for a 2.1 per cent decline. The indicator had fallen 3.8 per cent in 2025, its first annual contraction in roughly three decades.

Infrastructure spending played a major role in the rebound, rising 11.4 per cent, as policy support  including a new bank financing mechanism for major projects  began to filter through the economy.

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Despite the improvement, economists say China still faces a widening imbalance between strong external demand and subdued household consumption  a dynamic that could weigh on longer-term growth prospects.

Labour market data also highlighted lingering pressures. The nationwide surveyed unemployment rate rose to 5.3 per cent in JanuaryFebruary, up from 5.1 per cent in December, according to the statistics bureau.

It cannot be ruled out that domestic demand data in March will still face downward pressure, said Zhaopeng Xing, senior China strategist at ANZ, adding that the latest data do not yet justify an interest-rate cut.

Geopolitics and trade tensions cloud outlook

The outlook is further complicated by geopolitical tensions, including the fallout from the ongoing conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran, which has driven up energy prices and unsettled global trade.

At its annual parliamentary meeting that concluded last week, Chinese policymakers set a 2026 economic growth target of 4.55 per cent, slightly lower than last years goal of around 5 per cent. China met its 2025 target largely on the back of a record trade surplus exceeding $1 trillion, a development that intensified trade frictions with several partners.

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Economists say Beijing now faces the challenge of shifting the economy toward more sustainable, consumption-driven growth. Although officials pledged a notable boost to household spending, details of concrete demand-side reforms remain limited.

The turmoil in West Asia is set to show its impact on the global economy in the coming months, Zhiwei Zhang, chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management, told Reuters. I expect policymakers to respond through fiscal policy if necessary.

With inputs from agencies.
Executives from ExxonMobil, Chevron and ConocoPhillips caution the White House that the Iran war and continued instability in the Strait of Hormuz could intensify the global energy crisis and push oil prices higher.

Top oil industry leaders have warned the administration of US President Donald Trump that the ongoing disruption in the Strait of Hormuz could deepen the global fuel crunch in the coming days as tensions linked to the Iran conflict continue to rattle energy markets.

According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, senior executives from major American oil companiesincluding ExxonMobil, Chevron and ConocoPhillipsraised concerns during a series of meetings with senior US officials about escalating volatility in global energy markets.

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The discussions took place during meetings at the White House and in conversations with Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, where oil executives highlighted growing risks to global fuel supply chains.

ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods reportedly warned officials that crude oil prices could rise beyond current elevated levels if speculation intensifies amid continued uncertainty around shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz.

The strategic waterway between Iran and Oman remains one of the most critical energy chokepoints in the world, with nearly 20 per cent of global oil exports passing through the narrow channel.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, President Donald Trump said the United States was exploring the possibility of forming an international coalition to escort vessels navigating the Strait of Hormuz.

Were talking to countries about policing the straits because they are the onesyou know, we dont get oil, very little, about 1 per cent, Trump said. China, as an example, gets about 90 per cent of its oil from the Hormuz Strait. It would be nice to have other countries policing with us.

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Trump added that countries heavily dependent on Middle Eastern oil should take responsibility for safeguarding shipping routes through the critical waterway.

Im demanding that these countries come in and protect their own territory because it is their own territory, he said.

More than 20 million barrels of crude oil pass through the Strait of Hormuz every day, accounting for roughly one-fifth of global oil consumption and nearly a quarter of the worlds seaborne oil trade. A large share of global liquefied natural gas shipments also moves through the same corridor.

Any prolonged disruption in the strait could trigger major volatility in energy markets, push fuel prices higher, and strain supply chains across the global economy.
Indias Ambassador to Qatar, Vipul, speaks to Firstposts Rajat Mishra about managing panic among Indians stranded in the country, coordinating evacuations, and working with Qatari authorities after the outbreak of the Iran war.

As the Iran conflict spilled on to Qatar, uncertainty gripped the countrys 8.3 lakh-strong Indian community, with flights disrupted, transit passengers stranded, and many residents anxious about returning home for emergencies. The Indian embassy in Doha responded swiftly, setting up round-the-clock helplines and coordinating with Qatari authorities, airlines, and community groups to assist those in need.

In an interview with Firstpost, Indias Ambassador to Qatar, Vipul, explains how the embassy managed the immediate fallout, helped stranded Indians, coordinated travel support, and reassured the diaspora amid an evolving crisis.

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Edited Excerpts:

The day the war broke out must have been extremely challenging for the embassy, with panic among people and a flood of requests from the Indian community. How did you manage the situation in those initial hours?

Yes. The war began on February 28, and Qatar was attacked that day around noon. The immediate issue that arose was Indian passengers who got stuck at the airport in transit. Naturally, people were concerned about how the situation might evolve.

We immediately started issuing advisories asking people to follow the news, take guidance from local authorities, and avoid panic. At the same time, we launched a 24/7 helpline to receive queries.

The good thing was that most of the passengers stranded in transit were traveling on Qatar Airways, and the airline quickly arranged hotel accommodation for them. People were comfortable and taken to hotels.

Over the next few days, our focus was on issuing advisories based on guidance from local authorities. We expanded our helplines and set up a full 24/7 control room with three helplines, WhatsApp messaging, and email support. We responded to all queries that came in.

We also reached out to Indian community organizations. I held a virtual meeting with about 40 to 50 organisations to ensure that accurate information reached the community. I remained in constant contact with two or three of the largest Indian community groups.

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These organisations also set up help desks and helplines, and fortunately many of them have physical office spaces in Qatar.

Our consular services continued daily. Some people requested Tatkal passports because they feared they might have to travel at short notice. We facilitated those requests, issuing passports the same day or the next day.

Once flights resumed, we created two registration links to assist those stranded in transit and those in Qatar on short-term visas. We coordinated closely with Qatar Airways and shared our lists of passengers needing urgent travel.

Let me give an example. Qatar has a strong Indian community of about 8.3 lakh people. Unfortunately, natural deaths do occur within the community. In the past five to six days that Qatar Airways flights have operated, we have helped send eight mortal remains back to India, and the airline has given priority to those cases as well as to accompanying family members.

There are also people who need to travel because of family emergencies or weddings. We are coordinating closely with Qatar Airways to assist them.

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So far, around 4,300 people have traveled on Qatar Airways flights.

Another option we advised was traveling via Saudi Arabia. We facilitated around 600 temporary transit visas to Saudi Arabia. Some people also traveled on their own if they had Saudi visas. Indians can obtain a visa on arrival if they hold a used US, UK, or Schengen visa.

All this coordination has been happening through our control room, with officers working almost 24/7. The role of Indian community organizations and volunteers has also been admirable. It has truly been a collective effort.

People have been anxious, and many want to travel, but overall there has been no real panic in the community.

Over your long diplomatic career, you must have witnessed crises before. How does this situation compare with previous crises you have dealt with?

If we look at the last 12 to 13 years, our ministry has handled numerous evacuation operations around the world.

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In this case, we are not conducting a full evacuation. Another major crisis we handled was Covid-19. At that time I was the consul general in Dubai, and flights were suspended for about 45 days.

Dubai had a very large Indian population, including many people on short-term visits or tourism who were suddenly stranded. The Government of India eventually organised their return in a very structured manner during a major public health emergency.

That situation was actually far more challenging. Here, after four or five days, flights to India resumed, and people also have the option of traveling via Saudi Arabia.

So our ministry has dealt with several such situations under the guidance of the Honourable Prime Minister [Narendra Modi] and the External Affairs Minister [S Jaishankar], and we are trying to do our best in the current circumstances as well.

You must also be coordinating closely with Qatari authorities and other government stakeholders. What kind of support have you received from them?

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From the very first day, we have remained in close contact with the Qatari authorities. They have conducted several briefings and issued consistent advisories.

The communication from the government has been clear and reassuring for all residents of Qatar.

Importantly, there has been no shortage of food, medicines, or essential supplies. Although there have been attacks, most have been intercepted.

The reassurance from the Qatari government has been outstanding.

We have communicated the needs of the Indian community to the authorities here. I remain in constant touch with Qatar Airways and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Whenever someone applies to us for travel assistance, we share those names with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. As I mentioned earlier, the focus has been on transit passengers and short-term visitors.

The Qatari authorities have been very helpful in facilitating flights to India and assisting those who wish to travel via the QatarSaudi border.

They have also supported the community through regular supplies of essentials and medical assistance. For instance, one Indian national who was seriously injured in the conflict was immediately taken to hospital and received full medical care.

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Overall, the authorities here have been very supportive in helping the community.

The Indian expatriate community is one of the largest in Qatar and contributes significantly to the economy. However, uncertainty remains as the war continues. What message would you like to give to the Indian community here?

My message to the community, which I have also been sharing regularly, is that Qatar is our second home.

With 8.3 lakh Indians, we are the largest expatriate community in the country, even larger than the local population. Therefore, we must remain steadfast and resilient.

I must say the community has shown exactly that.

There is no widespread panic. Some people want to travel back, mostly due to family emergencies. Some have weddings in India or other personal commitments, which naturally creates anxiety.

But overall, the community remains strong and committed to Qatar as well as to the strong bilateral relations between the two countries.

People understand that the situation is evolving and unpredictable.

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The government of Qatar has taken good care of all residents, including the Indian community. Therefore, people have confidence that they will overcome this situation.

We saw similar resilience during Covid-19, when people stayed and supported each other.

The Indian community is known for its solidarity, and I believe it will continue to support each other during this period as well.

You must also be coordinating closely with Indias Ministry of External Affairs. There is reportedly a central control room in Delhi. What kind of messaging are you receiving from India?

The message from Delhi is very clear: take care of the Indian community and protect Indian interests.

That is exactly what we are doing.

We are fully dedicated to assisting Indians here and are coordinating closely with the authorities in Qatar to maintain trade, commercial engagement, and communication between the two countries.

Finally, what are your priorities over the next few days?

In the coming days, we hope that more flights may become available. That would greatly help the community.

Of course, this is not entirely in our hands, but we are making requests to the relevant authorities.

With Eid approaching and Indian schools closed, more people want to travel to India briefly and then return.

Therefore, additional flights would be extremely helpful.

At the same time, we will continue assisting the community, especially with medical cases and emergency needs.
Top US and Chinese officials held remarkably stable talks in Paris, discussing increased agricultural purchases and potential new mechanisms to manage trade and investment before a planned TrumpXi meeting in Beijing

Officials from the United States and China held remarkably stable economic talks in Paris on Sunday, exploring potential agreements on agricultural trade, critical minerals and mechanisms to manage bilateral commerce, Reuters reported on Monday, citing sources familiar with the matter.

According to the report, the talks were led by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng. The meeting aimed to develop potential outcomes that could be finalised during Trumps expected visit to Beijing at the end of March.

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The report described the discussions as candid and constructive, saying they could lead to concrete deliverables for the leaders to consider. However, any proposals would ultimately require approval from Trump and Xi.

China signals openness to more US farm imports

Chinese officials signalled openness to purchasing additional American agricultural products, including poultry, beef and certain row crops other than soybeans, the report said.

China is also said to remain committed to importing about 25 million metric tonnes of US soybeans annually for the next three years, a move that could help ease long-running trade tensions between the worlds two largest economies.

The talks took place at the headquarters of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Chinese officials left the venue without speaking to reporters.

The meeting followed several rounds of engagement last year involving Jamieson Greer, the US trade representative, and Chinas chief trade negotiator Li Chenggang, as Washington and Beijing sought to stabilise economic ties after years of tariff disputes and technology restrictions.

All these meetings were to create stability, and today was remarkably stable, one source told Reuters.

Proposal for new trade management bodies

A key focus of the discussions was the creation of formal mechanisms to help manage trade and investment flows between the two economies.

The report said technical talks were scheduled for Monday on proposals for a USChina Board of Trade and Board of Investment.

The Board of Trade concept is reportedly the more developed proposal. It would identify sectors and products where bilateral trade could expand in a balanced manner without threatening national security or disrupting sensitive supply chains.

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The Board of Investment, by contrast, would not set overarching investment rules but would address specific disputes or issues that arise between companies and regulators in the two countries.

Critical minerals and aerospace concerns

US officials also raised concerns about the supply of Chinese-produced critical minerals to American companies.

In particular, Washington highlighted limited access for the US aerospace industry to yttrium, a mineral used in jet engine turbines and other high-performance technologies.

The report said negotiators found some ways to loosen up challenges in this area, though details were not disclosed.

Energy and aviation purchases discussed

US negotiators also pushed for China to increase purchases of American energy and aviation products.

Officials from Washington emphasised the US interest in greater Chinese orders for aircraft from Boeing, as well as imports of US coal, oil and natural gas. These topics were expected to remain under discussion in follow-up meetings.

If agreements emerge, they could become central elements of the upcoming TrumpXi summit in Beijing, which both sides hope will help stabilise economic relations and reduce friction in global trade.
A viral video from Lyari, Karachi, shows fans excited for Dhurandhar 2, urging Ranveer Singh and Aditya Dhar to make it impressive

A viral video from the streets of Lyari in Pakistans Karachi is drawing attention on social media after a group of local viewers shared their reaction to the upcoming film Dhurandhar 2.

In the clip, fans can be seen sending a spirited message to Bollywood star Ranveer Singh and filmmaker Aditya Dhar, expressing excitement and curiosity about the project.

Heres what Pakistanis have to say

The short video, reportedly filmed in Lyari, the same neighbourhood once associated with gangster Rehman Dakait, has quickly caught attention online. It shows a group of young movie enthusiasts discussing the buzz around the film and Singhs role.

Some of them cheer for the actor and say they are eager to see what the sequel brings, while others jokingly challenge the team to deliver a film that lives up to the hype.

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A cross-border moment on social media

The clip quickly spread across Instagram, X, and TikTok, with many users highlighting how cinema continues to connect audiences across borders.

Despite political tensions that often limit official film releases between India and Pakistan, Bollywood stars like Singh still enjoy a large fan following among Pakistani viewers.

In the video, one of the participants calls Singh a powerhouse performer, while another addresses director Aditya Dhar directly, urging him to make Dhurandhar 2 even bigger and more explosive.
A viral theory claims US President Donald Trump could be a time traveller, citing 19th-century sketches by Charles Dellschau and novels by Ingersoll Lockwood featuring a character named Baron Trump

US President Donald Trump dances as Village People perform during the FIFA World Cup 2026 draw at the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, DC, US, December 5, 2025. File Image/Pool via Reuters

For years, a curious internet theory has circulated suggesting that Donald Trump might somehow be connected to time travel.

The claim, widely dismissed by historians and scientists, stems from a collection of coincidences involving 19th-century literature, mysterious sketches of futuristic machines, and scattered historical references that conspiracy theorists say resemble elements of the Trump familys story.

These include unusual illustrations created by a visionary artist, novels featuring a character named Baron Trump, and references in political fiction that some believe mirror events in modern American politics.

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Barron Trump is the fifth and youngest child of Donald Trump. Despite the attention these claims receive online, there is no evidence supporting the idea that time travel is involved.

The 19th-century sketches that started it all

One of the main elements behind the theory is the artwork of Charles Dellschau, a Prussian immigrant who arrived in the United States in 1850 and spent decades creating drawings of imagined flying machines.

Dellschau died in 1923, long before modern aviation reached its current level of development, but he left behind numerous sketches depicting unusual airborne devices that he called aeros.

Image/X

These illustrations portrayed elaborate contraptions combining features of early balloons, airships and primitive airplanes. Many of the machines appear fantastical, resembling designs associated with steampunk-style technology rather than practical aircraft.

According to the American Visionary Art Museum in Maryland, Dellschau imagined that these vehicles were powered by a special anti-gravity substance he referred to as NB Gas or supe. In his concept, this material allowed the machines to fly without conventional fuel sources.

The unusual designs have drawn attention in recent years because some observers claim to see references to Trump within the drawings. Conspiracy theorists have pointed to instances where the word TRUMP appears in the sketches, along with the number 47  as Donald Trump is currently the 47th president of the United States.

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Image/X

Another illustration has been interpreted by online commentators as showing a golden-haired figure operating a machine labelled with the number 45, which corresponds with Trumps first presidency.

Supporters of the theory argue that these elements could indicate knowledge of future events. Historians and art experts, however, say there is no evidence that Dellschau intended such connections.

His work is generally viewed as imaginative speculation about flight during an era when aviation technology was still in its infancy.

The Baron Trump novels of the 1890s

A second pillar of the theory is based on a series of books written by 19th-century author Ingersoll Lockwood. Lockwood was an American political writer and novelist who produced several works during the late 1800s, including childrens stories and political fiction.

Among his best-known publications are Baron Trumps Marvellous Underground Journey and Little Baron Trump and His Wonderful Dog Bulgar. These books feature a young protagonist named Baron Trump who lives in a luxurious residence called Castle Trump.

In the stories, Baron embarks on extraordinary adventures with the guidance of a mentor named Don, described as the master of all masters. The boy travels to unusual locations and encounters strange circumstances as part of his journeys.

Image/X

The illustrations accompanying the books depict Baron dressed in lavish clothing and adorned with jewellery while leaving Castle Trump to begin his travels. At one point, the narrative describes a journey to Russia in search of a mysterious entrance that leads to other realms.

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Conspiracy theorists often highlight the similarities between the fictional Baron Trump and Trumps youngest son, Barron Trump. They also note that the mentor figure in the books shares the name Don, which is commonly used as a shortened form of Donald.

The fictional Trump family motto in Lockwoods story reads: The pathway to glory is strewn with pitfalls and dangers.

Supporters of the time-travel theory argue that the combination of names and themes is too unusual to be coincidental.

Lockwood also authored a separate political work titled The Last President, which has drawn attention from conspiracy theorists. The novel begins in New York City shortly after the election of a deeply unpopular leader, setting the stage for unrest and political turmoil.

In the opening scenes, the author describes authorities warning about large crowds forming in the streets, writing that police officers shouted that mobs of vast size are organizing under the lead of anarchists and socialists, and threaten to plunder and despoil the houses of the rich who have wronged and oppressed them for so many years.

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Some commentators have suggested that the atmosphere portrayed in the book resembles political tensions in modern America.

How the internet is reacting

The unusual overlap of names, imagery and political themes has fuelled speculation across the internet. Many social media users have interpreted these coincidences as evidence of a hidden narrative stretching across centuries.

One widely circulated online comment sums up the speculation, stating, Either Trump is a time traveller or someone put in 200 years of work to make a guy who wasnt even born yet look like he is one.

Some of Trumps own public remarks have also been incorporated into the discussion. During the 2016 presidential campaign and after winning the election, he had stated, I know things that other people dont know.

Podcast host Logan Paul once asked Trumps granddaughter Kai about the Lockwood books and whether they could suggest that reality itself might be a simulation. She dismissed the speculation, responding, I dont go down those rabbit holes. I dont want to go down those rabbit holes.

Trumps uncle & Nikola Tesla

Additional speculation has emerged around Trumps extended family connections. His uncle, John G Trump, was a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who studied electrical engineering and physics.

Following the death of inventor Nikola Tesla, John Trump reviewed Teslas scientific papers on behalf of the US government. Some conspiracy theorists claim these documents might have included advanced technologies related to energy or time manipulation, although no credible evidence supports that claim.

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Supporters of the theory also link Dellschaus imagined anti-gravity fuel to modern discussions about unidentified aerial phenomena. Governments now often refer to these sightings as Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena, a term used in official reports.

Trump has previously said his administration would release information related to such sightings.

What science says about time travel

While the theory remains popular online, scientific research provides a more grounded perspective. Institutions such as Nasa have not ruled out the theoretical possibility of time travel, but there is no experimental evidence showing that it can occur in reality.

Physicists have explored the concept through mathematical models and theoretical frameworks. A study published in the journal Classical and Quantum Gravity in 2020 suggested that certain calculations allow for backward time travel without creating paradoxes or violating the basic principles of cause and effect.

However, many leading scientists remain sceptical about the practical feasibility of such ideas. The late theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking famously addressed the topic in his 1994 book, arguing, The best evidence we have that time travel is not possible, and never will be, is that we have not been invaded by hordes of tourists from the future.

Also Watch:

With inputs from agencies
Today, marks the deadline for Elon Musks platform, X, to pay a million-euro fine. In India, the election for 37 seats in the Rajya Sabha will be held, with voting beginning at 9 am

Today is set to be a big day in the world of news. Monday marks the deadline for social media platform X to pay the 120-million-euro fine or provide a financial guarantee to the European Union.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang will deliver the opening keynote for GTC 2026 today in San Jose, California. The 2026 Michelin Guide France & Monaco award winners will also be announced today. Finally, the Rajya Sabha biennial elections for 37 seats across 10 Indian states are scheduled to take place.

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Here is all that is set to take place across the world.

Deadline for X to pay 120-million fine in EU

Today marks the last day for social media platform X to face a 120-million-fine or provide a financial guarantee to the European Union. Imposed on December 5, the deadline had earlier been set for March 12 but was extended till today.

It was imposed for violations of the Digital Services Act (DSA), specifically regarding deceptive blue check verification, advertising transparency, and data access for researchers.

X is facing a 120-million-euro fine. File image/ Reuters

Earlier, X challenged the penalty in the General Court of the European Union, with the companys Global Government Affairs team confirming the appeal. While appealing, X stated that it was also working on remedies regarding its verification system to address the EUs concerns.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang to hold keynote

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang will deliver the opening keynote for GTC 2026. The event will be held live at the SAP Center in San Jose, California, and will be livestreamed globally on Nvidias official website.

The presentation will focus on the Age of AI and Nvidias role in building essential infrastructure for a new industrial era. Huang is expected to detail Nvidias strategy across five critical layers, including energy, chips, infrastructure, models, and applications.

Some analysts are anticipating the unveiling of a secretive new AI inference chip and further details on the Blackwell B300 series. Discussions will likely cover NemoClaw, an open-source platform for agentic AI, alongside advancements in physical AI, robotics, and digital twins.

2026 Michelin Guide award winners

The 2026 Michelin Guide France & Monaco award winners will be announced today at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco. This marks the first time in the guides 124-year history that the French selection will be unveiled in the Principality.

The awards will also include Recognition for individual excellence, including the Service Award, Sommelier Award, Young Chef Award, and Chef Mentor Award. New awards for restaurants demonstrating outstanding commitment to sustainable gastronomy will be presented with the Green Stars.

Election for 37 Rajya Sabha seats

The Rajya Sabha biennial elections for 37 seats across 10 Indian states will take place today. These elections are being held as the terms of sitting members expire in April 2026.

So far, 26 candidates have already been elected unopposed, including prominent figures like Sharad Pawar (NCP-SP), Ramdas Athawale (RPI-A), and M Thambidurai (AIADMK). (AIADMK). Polling will now only take place for the remaining 11 seats, including five in Bihar, four seats in Odisha, and two in Haryana.

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Voting will take place from 9 am to 4 pm, while counting of votes takes place from 5:00 pm the same day, with results expected by evening.

With inputs from agencies
As the war in West Asia escalates, Iran has deployed its deadly Sejjil Missile to target Israel. This ballistic missile has a range of 2,000 km, can carry a 700 kg warhead and boasts of being able to dodge all conventional air defence systems, including Tel Avivs Iron Dome

Iranians walk past Sejjil (left) and Qadr-H medium range ballistic missiles displayed next to a portrait of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. For the first time since the war began on February 28, Tehran has fired the Sejjil missile at Israel and other Gulf countries. File image/AFP

The Iran war continues unabated in its third week. Tehran continues to launch wave of missile and drones at Gulf countries along with Israel. On early Monday morning  Day 17 of the war  a drone hit a fuel tank near the Dubai International Airport causing a massive blaze and prompting a rapid response from emergency teams.

Earlier, on Sunday (March 15), Iran launched wave 54 of Operation True Promise 4, aimed at Israel, targeting centres of administration and decision-making affecting the Israeli regimes air operations, as well as military and defense-related infrastructure.

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Catch live updates from the

Iranian officials said the wave included the first operational use of the Sejjil strategic ballistic missile in the current war.

But what do we know of the Sejjil missile? How dangerous is it?

About the Sejjil missile, the Dancing Missile

Also called as Ashoura or Ashura, the Sejjil missile is a two-stage ballistic missile powered by solid fuel. The missile has been entirely designed and built in Iran, even though some reports suggest that it has been built by the Chinese.

The missile, developed to replace the Shabab class of rockets in service since the late 1980s, has a range of about 2,000 kilometres and uses solid fuel as propellant, making it quicker to launch compared to liquid-fueled equivalents.

When it comes to specifications, the Sejjil missile is around 18 metres long and 1.25 metres wide. It weighs 23,600 kilogrammes and has the ability to carry a 700 kg warhead. It can carry both normal explosives and nuclear warheads.

Details on its speed are sketchy; however, Tehran has reported in the past that it is capable of reaching Tel Aviv in approximately seven minutes if launched from central Iran.

The Sejjil is classified as a surface-to-surface ballistic missile and was developed entirely inside Iran by the Ministry of Defence-run Aerospace Industries Organisation. File image/Reuters

The Sejjil is manoeuvrable in all stages of flight, making it difficult to intercept by conventional air defence systems, including Israels famous Iron Dome. It is this manoeuvrability that has earned it the nickname, the Dancing Missile.

Additionally, the Sejil-2 has an anti-radar coating, which makes it highly-difficult for conventional air defence radars to detect.

According to CSIS, Iran began development of the Sejjil in the late 1990s, based off on work of previous Iranian missiles, most notably the Zelzal SRBM. Once developed, the first test launch occurred in 2008 and the missile reportedly flew 800 km.

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There may be multiple versions of the Sejjil system. In 2009, Iran referred to the test launch as the Sejjil 2. An unconfirmed report stated a Sejjil 3 may also be in development  having three stages, a a maximum range of 4,000 km, and a launch weight of 38,000 kg.

It is not yet clear which of the Sejjil variants were used in the attack on Sunday against Israel.

Iran takes aim at Israel with Sejjil

On Sunday, the Iranian Guards noted that it had deployed the Sejjil, along with other missiles such as Khorramshahr, Kheibar Shekan, Qadr, and Emad, to target Israel and the other Gulf nations. The IRGC added that the missiles took aim at the Al-Harir Air Base, Ali Al-Salem Air Base, and Camp Arifjan in Kuwait, causing massive damage and triggering panic at these facilities on Sunday.

Iran's WAVE 54 in the air with FIRST use of Sejjil ballistic missiles since start of war  IRIB pic.twitter.com/sWoOsCZawQ  RT (@RT_com) March 15, 2026

In Israel, an Iranian missile strike reportedly damaged the residence of a United States consular official in Tel Aviv on Sunday. According to Israeli emergency services cited by local media, at least three Israelis were injured during the barrage targeting southern Tel Aviv. Another Israeli was reportedly wounded by falling missile fragments in central areas of the country.

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Sejjil deployed during 12-day war with Israel

While this may be the first time that the Sejjil is being deployed in the Iran war that began on February 28 following the joint strikes by the United States and Israel, Iran has used the Sejjil before, namely in the 12-day war against Israel.

Iran surprised many by deploying the Dancing Missile, targeting two military targets in Beer Sheva, 90 km from Tel Aviv. At the time, Iran claimed that the main target of the attack was the large command and intelligence base of the Israeli army (IDF C4I) and the military intelligence complex in the Gav-Yam technology park, which is located adjacent to the Soroka Hospital in Beer Sheva.

Statement No. 11, the IRGC (18 June, 2025)



"The twelfth wave of Operation 'True Promise 3' has begun with the launch of ultra-heavy, long-range, two-stage Sejjil missiles."

"Sejjil missiles, powered by solid fuel and with long-range capabilities, are among Irans most accurate pic.twitter.com/RK4xO1pDtW  Iran in India (@Iran_in_India) June 19, 2025

Iran war and the continued fighting

The Iran war has entered its third week with none of the involved parties wanting to back down. In Israel, Tehrans barrage of attacks has claimed the lives of 12 people, including nine people in an Iranian missile strike on Beit Shemesh near Jerusalem on March 1, according to Israels ambulance service. The Israeli military said two of its soldiers were killed in southern Lebanon. According to reports, a total of over 2,000 people have died amid the war.

And there seems to be no de-escalation on the cards any time soon.

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On Saturday, US President Donald Trump said that hes not ready to make a deal to end the war with Iran despite the countrys willingness to do so because the terms arent good enough yet.

Iran wants to make a deal, and I dont want to make it because the terms arent good enough yet, he said, adding that any terms will have to be very solid. When asked what the terms of a potential deal to end the war would be, the president responded: I dont want to say that to you. But he agreed that a commitment from Iran to completely abandon any nuclear ambitions would be part of it.

However, Iran has rejected any talks about seeking a ceasefire. A senior Iranian security official told Al-Mayadeen that there is currently no scenario for a ceasefire and no option available to end the war.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also echoed the same position, saying the war was initiated by the United States and Israel and that Iran would continue to defend itself. This war was started by President Trump and the United States by their own choice, Araghchi said, adding that Iran would continue defending its people no matter how long it takes.

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With inputs from agencies
Amid mounting speculations over the whereabouts of Mojtaba Khamenei, Irans new Supreme Leader, a fresh report claims that Khamenei was flown to Russia for medical treatment after being injured during US-Israel strikes. The 56-year-old is reportedly recovering after undergoing surgery in a private medical facility linked to one of President Putins residences

People hold a portrait of new Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei as they march during a protest against Israel and the US, in Istanbul, Friday, March 13, 2026. AP

The US-Israel-Iran war has entered its third week. The hunt for Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the slain supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, continues, with speculations mounting over the whereabouts of Irans injured new Supreme Leader.

There have been strings of reports that Khamenei, 56, who succeeded his father following his death on February 28, is in a coma, including US President Donald Trump suggesting that younger Khamenei is not alive.

The latest report claims Khamenei is in Moscow needing surgery following Americas Operation Epic Fury. He is currently receiving medical treatment in a private medical facility linked to one of the Russian President Vladimir Putins residences. Reports also suggest that Khamenei is seemingly unaware of the ongoing war and that he is Irans new leader.

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We take a look.

Is Mojtaba Khamenei seeking medical care in Moscow?

The 56-year-old son of assassinated Ayatollah Khamenei was flown to Moscow on a Russian military plane, according to a report by the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Jarida. The move came as part of a highly classified operation due to Khameneis health and security concerns.

Khamenei underwent surgery after arriving in Russias capital, and he is currently recovering in a private medical facility within one of Putins residences, Al-Jarida claims, citing a high-ranking source close to the new Iranian Supreme Leader.

Women hold posters of the Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei during a campaign in support of the government at the Enqelab-e-Eslami, or Islamic Revolution, square in downtown Tehran, Iran, Saturday, March 14, 2026. AP

According to sources, the injuries younger Khamenei sustained during the first day of the US-Israel bombing campaign required hospitalisation in a well-equipped facility, along with close medical supervision and special monitoring, which could not be guaranteed in Iran amid the ongoing strikes.

The fear about Khameneis well-being mounted, mainly after Israel announced its plans to target the new supreme leader.

Leaks regarding the whereabouts of the 56-year-old were also a major concern for Iranian security, as several doctors and specialists involved in his treatment were being tracked, hence medical care in Russia was approved.

Iranian and Russian officials have yet to provide confirmation regarding the alleged evacuation or medical treatment of Khamenei in Russia.

Who suggested treatment in Russia?

The report also noted that on Thursday (March 12), President Putin personally proposed treating Khamenei in Russia during a phone call with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

Younger Khamenei and Iranian officials carefully reviewed the Russian offer before approving. He was then transported to Moscow, where Russian doctors, supported by a team of Iranian physicians, accorded medical care.

However, days ago, the Sun reported, citing sources, that Khamenei is being kept in intensive care at Sina University Hospital in Iran, and is currently under the care of Mohammad Reza Zafarghandi, Irans Minister of Health. The report also said that The new supreme leaders one or two of his legs have been cut off. His liver or stomach has also ruptured. He is apparently in a coma as well.

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Was Mojtabas address to Iran fake?

There are serious doubts that Irans new supreme leader actually issued his first public message, an Iranian source close to reformists told AJ Jariba.

There are suspicions that the statement may have been written by Ali Larijani, secretary-general of Irans Supreme National Security Council, as it closely resembles several remarks he made before Khameneis alleged address.

The younger Khamenei was not even informed about the planned meeting, according to the source. His disappearance from public sight and the lack of an audio recording of the address reinforce these doubts.

What did Trump & Netanyahu say about Mojtaba?

President Trump shared a chilling claim about the Iranian Supreme Leader amid the ongoing bombardment. While speaking to NBC News, when asked about Khameneis whereabouts, the Republican president said, I dont know if hes even alive. So far, nobodys been able to show him."

The POTUS called news of Irans new supreme leaders death a rumour, and continued, Im hearing hes not alive, and if he is, he should do something very smart for his country, and thats surrender.

Shiite Muslims adjust huge billboards of Iranian supreme leaders Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei and his late father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during the annual Al-Quds Day rally to show the importance of Jerusalem to Muslims and in solidarity with the Palestinian and Iranian people, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Friday, March 13, 2026. AP

Washington announced on Friday (March 13) a $10 million (around Rs 92.58 crore) reward for information on Irans new supreme leader and senior officials of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

On Thursday (March 12), Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel has information on Khameneis location and condition but does not wish to disclose it. I will not provide him with life insurance, Netanyahu asserted, which many interpreted as a hint that Tel Aviv has specific intelligence on Irans new supreme leader, RBC-Ukraine reported.

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Meanwhile, according to Jerusalem sources, Israeli intelligence estimates that younger Khamenei has been wounded more severely than initially thought. They also noted that Tel Aviv has no confirmed information about his departure from Iran.

He is alive or dead, no one knows

According to several other reports, the Iranian commanders have not received any orders from their newly appointed supreme leader.

An Iranian official speaking from inside the war-hit country told The Telegraph, No one knows anything about Mojtaba, whether he is alive or dead or how badly injured. We are all just told that hes injured. He has no control over the war because he is not here. The majority of commanders, or more correctly, all commanders, have no news about him.

AJ Jariba also reported earlier that the younger Khamenei was wounded on the left side of his body, from head to foot, after debris fell near him, but not directly on him, during US-Israel coordinated strikes.

With inputs from agencies
Hosting the Oscars is no childs play. From the red carpet to the famed statues and the goody bag, WalletHub finds that honouring the biggest achievements in film comes with a high price tag  $56.9 million (Rs 470 crore)

An Oscar statue is seen ahead of the 98th Annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California. AFP

Its called Hollywoods biggest night  the 98th Academy Awards ceremony is underway. Tonight is when Hollywoods best is being awarded in various categories.

However, the Oscars arent just about cinematic excellence. Hollywood stars have also sashayed in their fashionable best on the red carpet before the big event. Moreover, it is well-known that the Oscars represent the glitz and glamour of Hollywood, but the amount of money spent on the event might surprise you.

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Glitz and glamour galore

Each year, the Oscars are held at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, and it comes with a very hefty price tag. In fact, according to WalletHubs 2024 report, the event costs a whopping $56.9 million (Rs 477 crore). Unsurprisingly, this cost increases every year; for instance, in 2017, the cost of the Academy Awards was $44 million and in 2022, it was $56.8 (Rs 450 crore) million.

The hefty price tag of the event includes activities such as the nominees luncheon, the Governors awards, and the Governors Ball, the Oscars official after party. However, the biggest chunk is spent on the live show that is telecast across the world.

It is unknown what is the cost of using the Dolby Theatre. However, it is believed that it is part of a complex deal linked to Dolbys naming rights to the theatre, but the Academy has a 20-year agreement.

A man vacuums an empty red carpet at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, the night before the 98th Academy Awards ceremony. AP

A huge chunk of the total cost of the event actually goes towards the red carpet. And, we arent talking about the million-dollar ensembles that the invitees adorn, but the installation of it all. As per reports, it takes 30 rolls of carpet and an 18-person crew to install it over a span of 600 hours. This effort costs the Academy $24,700 (Rs 20.43 lakh).

Then comes the security at the event. Top-notch security is required to ensure that no untoward event occurs at the Dolby Theatre. This year, the security has been tightened not only because of a war with Iran, but also a recent shooting at a university in Virginia and an attack on a synagogue in Michigan. Authorities have set up a one-mile security perimeter around the Dolby Theatre for the celebration. Federal and local agencies working with the Joint Terrorism Task Force are monitoring social media and gathering intelligence to prevent any security risks. And Los Angeles Police Department SWAT, bomb squad and snipers will be in the area, law enforcement sources told The Times. This sense of safety doesnt come cheap however. The cost of security is pegged around $250,000 (Rs 2.31 crore).

There are other expenses too; the printing of the nominee cards, which in 2017 cost the Academy $10,000 (Rs 9.25 lakh) for 48 cards. Theres also the golden statuette that each winner receives. Coated in 24-carat gold, it costs $400 (Rs 37,000) to make, but its legal sale price is only $1 (Rs 92).

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A security guard stands at an entrance for the 98th annual Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles, California. Reuters

Your host of the night is

Apart from all of this, the Academy also has to fork out money to the host of the event. This year, comedian and TV host Conan OBrien will return to emcee the festivities.

While theres no official dollar amount thats been revealed to the public, based on previous hosts comments about salary, its likely Conan OBrien will get paid around $15,000 (Rs 13.8 lakh) to host the 2026 Oscars.

In the past, Oscar host Jimmy Kimmel has revealed that he was paid $150,000 to host the Oscars. You know it probably sounds like a lot for one night, but its months of work leading up to it. Youre getting robbed, he was quoted as saying.

A drone view shows a large billboard sign featuring this years Oscar host Conan OBrien towering over Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, California. Reuters

A spread fit for actors

While celebrities are seated at the Dolby Theatre on Oscars night, they are also treated to a sumptuous feast put together by celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck. Along with a team of 75 savoury chefs and 45 pastry chefs, Puck will serve out lavish dishes for film stars and movie-makers at Sundays Governors Ball, held after the Oscars ceremony.

A live izakaya station, or Japanese-style pub, and an Italian gelato machine whipping up fresh ice cream will be among the novel offerings. Theres also truffled chicken potpie, its golden pastry emblazoned with the Oscars logo. Butter-soft sashimi, cannoli filled with silken potatoes and caviar. And, of course, the signature Oscar-shaped chocolates statues, which receive a gold spray tan on site.

Master chef Wolfgang Puck cooks food next to Eric Klein, senior vice president of culinary-partner at Wolfgang Puck Catering, during a media preview of the food, beverages and decor for this years Governors Ball, the official post-Oscars celebration of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), ahead of the 98th Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles, California. Reuters

Undoubtedly, all of this costs money, with the bill running into a few hundreds of thousands of dollars.

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A goodie bag unlike any other

In addition to all of this, nominees in the acting and directing categories, plus host, Conan OBrien will take home an Everybody Wins gift bag worth $350,000 each. The swag bag, curated by LA-based marketing agency Distinctive Assets, contain an iconic collection of gifts.

It includes top-notch beauty products and treatments, luxury vacations, innovative wellness products and even opportunities to give back. Celebs will have the opportunity to stay in a $9 million (Rs 74 crore) private villa in Playa Hermosa, Costa Rica at the Essence of Dreams Luxury Private Villa, complete with a concierge, chef and driver. Theres also the option of staying at the Luxury Arctic villa in Finnish Lapland with Northern Lights viewing and a private chef.

If thats not enough of a choice, theres a $65,000 (Rs 60 lakh) stay at a super villa in Ibiza that accommodates up to 16 people, a $50,000 (Rs 46.29 lakh) all-inclusive getaway at a Swiss chalet in Zermatt for up to 10 guests, and a 10-day wellness retreat in Sri Lanka at a Michelin-recognised resort. Oh, and a seven-day wellness retreat at the Golden Door in Southern California, in case the Sri Lanka trip wasnt enough.

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Nominees will also receive a body-sculpting liposuction experience from ArtLipo, a smile makeover package from Beverly Hills Dental Arts, facial rejuvenation procedures from a leading plastic surgeon and  a fully custom prenuptial agreement from celebrity divorce attorney Jim Sexton. The bag also includes products from Beboe, the luxury cannabis brand thats been dubbed the Hermes of marijuana, plus items from other cannabis brands like RYTHM.

And wait, theres more! The bag also contains a gold-plated cryptocurrency cold-storage wallet, a limited-edition fountain pen called Movie Star from BENU, designer luggage from Asia Luggage, a viral HydroJug Traveler, gourmet snacks, artisanal popcorn, luxury skincare from Glow Recipe and Danucera. And a custom residential interior design package worth up to $100,000.

The fashion of it all

While the Academy spends exorbitant amounts to make the Oscars an unforgettable night, celebrities and attendees also spend lavishly for the event.

Interestingly, if one isnt nominated for an Oscar, one has to purchase a seat at the Dolby Theatre for the night. And these tickets arent cheap. In 2023, SS Rajamouli, the creator of the magnum opus RRR, spent $25,000 (Rs 20.68 lakh) for passes for him and members of his team.

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Lady Gaga is all smiles as she poses with her Oscar award, wearing a Tiffany pendant worth millions of dollars. File image/Reuters

But besides the tickets, the major expense for celebrities on the night of the event is the glamourous gowns and jewels they wear on the red carpet. According to a New York Post report, an A-list actor could drop about $10 million (Rs 83 crore) on a show-stopping look for the red carpet.

For instance, Cate Blanchett set the record for the most expensive look ever at the Oscars in 2014  where her ensemble cost a whopping $18.1 million (Rs 150 crore). And Lady Gagas Tiffany pendant that she rocked at the 2019 ceremony was valued at $30 million (Rs 250 crore). Even first-time attendees have to open their wallets wide, with an outfit potentially ringing up $266,000 (Rs 2.2 crore).

Oscarnomics at work

The Oscars cost a fortune to host  but they bring in even more. An average 30-second advertising spot on the show is going for more than $2 million (Rs 18.5 crore), reported Deadline.

Furthermore, WalletHub estimates that the annual ceremony boosts Los Angeles economy by an estimated $170 million, while films that win the Best Picture award get a $7.8 million average increase in domestic sales. Additionally, a win in the Best Actor or Actress category can mean a 20 per cent boost in pay for the victors next film.

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Its no wonder they call it show business!

With inputs from agencies
As the Strait of Hormuz remains largely blocked amid the US-Israel war on Iran, Saudi Arabia is redirecting crude through its East-West Pipeline to keep exports flowing. The massive Petroline network has become a critical lifeline for global oil markets during one of the biggest energy disruptions in decades

A satellite image shows efforts to control a fire as smoke rises in the Ras Tanura oil refinery in Saudi Arabia after a drone attack, amid the US-Israel conflict with Iran, in Ras Tanura, Saudi Arabia, March 2, 2026. File Image/Vantor via Reuters

It has been more than two weeks since the escalating conflict between the United States-Israel and Iran has triggered one of the most severe disruptions to global oil flows in decades.

Tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz  responsible for about 20 per cent of the worlds oil and liquefied natural gas shipments  has been heavily curtailed after Tehran moved to halt most maritime shipping through the waterway.

The development has shaken energy markets worldwide, sending crude prices surging and forcing Gulf producers to rapidly rethink their export strategies.

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Amid the turmoil, Saudi Arabia has turned to one of its most strategically important pieces of energy infrastructure: the East-West Crude Oil Pipeline network.

This cross-country pipeline allows the kingdom to transport crude oil from its eastern production hubs on the Persian Gulf to export terminals on the Red Sea, bypassing the Strait of Hormuz entirely.

How does Saudi Arabias East-West Pipeline bypass the Strait of Hormuz?

The East-West Crude Oil Pipeline stretches roughly 1,200 kilometres (about 750 miles) across Saudi Arabia, connecting major oil processing facilities in the eastern province with export terminals located on the Red Sea coast.

Often referred to as Petroline, the system links the massive Abqaiq oil processing complex to the port city of Yanbu, enabling crude oil to reach global markets without passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

The origins of the pipeline date back to 1981, when Saudi Arabia completed the first line during the Iran-Iraq War. The objective at the time was to create a land-based alternative to maritime routes that could be threatened during periods of conflict.

Initially constructed as a 48-inch pipeline capable of transporting about 1.85 million barrels per day, the system was later expanded with a second line measuring 56 inches in diameter during the early 1990s.

Over the decades, additional upgrades and expansions have significantly increased its capacity. By this year, the East-West pipeline network is estimated to be capable of transporting up to 7 million barrels of crude oil per day.

This makes it the largest bypass infrastructure in the Gulf region designed specifically to avoid the Strait of Hormuz.

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How is Saudi maximising the pipeline during this crisis?

With tanker routes through the Gulf effectively disrupted, Saudi Arabias state-owned energy giant Saudi Aramco has moved rapidly to increase the amount of crude flowing through the pipeline.

Before the current crisis, the East-West pipeline was transporting roughly 2.8 million barrels of crude per day from the kingdoms eastern production centres to the Red Sea. However, the sudden closure of the Strait of Hormuz forced the company to accelerate efforts to push the system toward its full operational capacity.

We should be reaching capacity in a couple of days, Aramco Chief Executive Officer Amin Nasser said during an earnings call last week. We are at more than double where we started.

Nasser explained that the abrupt onset of the crisis required immediate adjustments to the global tanker fleet. This crisis happened all of a sudden and tankers need to reposition to the west coast for loading, he said.

As part of the strategy, shipping operations have been shifted from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea coast, allowing tankers to load cargo at Yanbu instead of traditional Gulf ports. According to company officials, the pipeline is primarily transporting Saudi Arabias Arab Light and Arab Extra Light crude grades.

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In recent years, Saudi Arabia has also expanded its refining sector significantly. Facilities such as the Ras Tanura refinery continue to play a major role in the countrys energy system, while newer complexes like SATORP in Jubail and YASREF in Yanbu represent a new generation of integrated refining and petrochemical hubs.

The Jazan refinery, located in the southwest of the country, has also become an important supplier of fuel for regional power generation.

How much oil is currently flowing through the pipeline?

By now, the East-West pipeline network has reached its functional limit of approximately 7 million barrels per day.

Saudi Aramco indicated that roughly 5 million barrels per day are being designated for export shipments through the Red Sea, while approximately 2 million barrels per day are directed toward domestic refining facilities along the western coast.

These refineries remain fully operational and continue to supply both Saudi Arabias domestic fuel market and international buyers of refined petroleum products.

The increase in pipeline usage has dramatically altered tanker traffic patterns across the region. Loadings at the Yanbu export terminals have tripled since the crisis began in late February.

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Ship tracking data suggests that roughly 30 very large crude carriers (VLCCs) have been rerouted from Gulf loading points to the Red Sea. The sudden influx of tankers has turned Yanbu into one of the most important oil export hubs in the world during the crisis.

Saudi Arabia typically exports around 7 million barrels of crude oil per day under normal market conditions. By utilising Petroline at full capacity, the kingdom is managing to sustain roughly 70 per cent of its usual export volume despite the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

For global energy markets, this level of continuity has been critical in preventing an even more severe supply shock.

What role are Saudis storage facilities playing?

In addition to pipeline transport, Saudi Arabia has relied heavily on its network of storage facilities to manage the disruption. Oil storage tanks at Ras Tanura and other eastern export hubs are reportedly nearing their combined capacity of around 300 million barrels.

Without an alternative export route, these facilities would quickly fill up, forcing Saudi Arabia to halt production entirely. The East-West pipeline therefore plays a crucial role in preventing such an outcome by allowing crude to continue moving toward international markets.

Aramco has also been drawing on its spare production capacity and its global storage infrastructure to ensure that contractual supply commitments are met.

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According to company officials, Saudi Arabia currently has more than 2 million barrels per day of spare production capacity available if required. Nasser also indicated that once the Strait of Hormuz reopens, Aramco would be able to restore production to roughly 10 million barrels per day very quickly.

However, the company has acknowledged that the prolonged disruption of shipping routes is gradually eroding inventories.

There would be catastrophic consequences for the worlds oil markets the longer the disruption goes on, Nasser said. While we have faced disruptions in the past, this one by far is the biggest crisis the regions oil and gas industry has faced.

What new security risks has the bypass created?

Although the East-West pipeline allows Saudi oil to avoid the Strait of Hormuz, it introduces a new set of security challenges. Crude exported from Yanbu must still pass through the Bab el-Mandeb strait at the southern end of the Red Sea before reaching the Indian Ocean and global markets.

This waterway has experienced periodic security threats in recent years, particularly due to tensions involving Houthi forces in Yemen. While attacks on shipping in the area have paused recently, security analysts continue to warn that vessels travelling through the corridor remain vulnerable.

In addition, Saudi Arabias western export terminals have become high-value strategic targets during the ongoing conflict. Intelligence assessments since March 10 have suggested possible threats involving drones and unmanned surface vessels targeting loading docks in Yanbu.

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Operating the Petroline network continuously at its maximum capacity also places considerable strain on the infrastructure. Engineers originally designed the pipeline as a contingency system capable of providing temporary relief during short-term disruptions.

What other pipelines in the region bypass the Strait of Hormuz?

Another significant piece of infrastructure is the Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline, also known as ADCOP or the Habshan-Fujairah pipeline, located in the United Arab Emirates. This system runs approximately 248 miles from onshore oil facilities at Habshan to the port of Fujairah on the Gulf of Oman.

ADCOP is estimated to transport about 1.5 million barrels per day and has a total capacity approaching 1.8 million barrels per day. Because Fujairah lies outside the Strait of Hormuz, the pipeline allows Emirati crude to reach global markets even when the strait is closed.

Despite these bypass routes, the combined capacity of regional pipelines remains far smaller than the enormous volumes that normally move through the strait.

Energy analysts estimate that roughly 20 million barrels per day typically transit the Strait of Hormuz. The Petroline and ADCOP pipelines together can offset only a portion of that volume.

Beyond Saudi Arabia and the UAE, several other energy pipelines across the region play important roles in regional supply chains. The Dolphin Gas Pipeline, for example, transports natural gas from Qatar to the United Arab Emirates and Oman.

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This subsea pipeline remains operational and is currently the only channel through which Qatari energy is reaching neighbouring markets after tanker shipments were disrupted.

Another major system, the Iraq-Turkey Pipeline linking Kirkuk to the Turkish port of Ceyhan, remains largely offline. Despite the broader crisis, long-standing political disputes between Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government have prevented the reopening of this route.

The Tapline pipeline, which once connected Saudi Arabia to Lebanons Mediterranean port of Sidon, was originally built in 1950 but was shut down in 1990. Although it now exists mainly as a heritage site, discussions have resurfaced about the possibility of constructing a modern replacement linking the kingdom to the Mediterranean.

Another project under development is the Basra-Aqaba pipeline, intended to connect Iraqi oil fields with Jordans Red Sea port of Aqaba. The Iraqi government accelerated work on this project in 2025, though it is not yet operational.

What next for the Strait of Hormuz?

Located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula, the narrow passage links the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and ultimately to global shipping routes. Major oil exporters including Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates rely on the strait to transport crude to international markets.

Although some Iranian vessels have continued to pass through the waterway and a limited number of ships from other countries have managed to navigate the crossing, the corridor has been largely shut to global tanker traffic for several weeks.

By Monday (March 16, 2026), Brent crude futures had climbed to $104.41 per barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude reached $99.25 per barrel. Both benchmarks have risen by more than 40 per cent during the month, marking their highest levels since 2022.

United States President Donald Trump said his administration has been engaging with multiple governments to discuss maritime security operations in the region.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One while travelling from Florida to Washington on Sunday, Trump said Washington had reached out to seven countries about contributing to efforts aimed at safeguarding shipping in the strait.

Im demanding that these countries come in and protect their own territory because it is their territory, Trump said. Its the place from which they get their energy.

Although Trump did not identify the specific governments involved in these discussions, he indicated that several nations could send naval forces to escort vessels and ensure the safe movement of cargo ships through the region.

Despite the diplomatic efforts, there has been no immediate resolution to the crisis, and tanker traffic remains severely constrained.

With inputs from agencies
Despite US President Donald Trump repeatedly claiming that the United States has defeated Iran and that there is nothing left to bomb, Tehran remains defiant. Meanwhile, the Strait of Hormuz remains off limits for all but a handful of Iranian allies. Now, Trump has called for a coalition in order to reopen the critical waterway

US President Donald Trump has urged allies of the US to send warships to the Strait of Hormuz. AFP

As the Iran war continues, the pressure on the Trump administration is increasing. Despite US President Donald Trump repeatedly claiming that the United States has defeated Iran and that there is nothing left to bomb, Tehran remains defiant.

Meanwhile, the Strait of Hormuz remains off limits for all but a handful of Iranian allies. Now, Trump has called for a coalition in order to reopen the critical waterway that accounts for 20 per cent of the worlds oil and gas traffic.

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Iran has already attacked over a dozen ships in the region, with the powerful IRGC warning that the Strait is closed for business. The development came in the backdrop of Brent crude oil rising to over $106 (Rs 9,792) a barrel on Sunday.

But what do we know? What has Trump said? Will it work?

Lets take a closer look.

Trump urges coalition

Taking to social media, Trump urged China, France, Japan, South Korea and the United Kingdom to send warships in order to protect ships traversing the Strait of Hormuz.

Hopefully China, France, Japan, South Korea, the UK, and others that are affected by this artificial constraint will send ships to the area so that the Hormuz Strait will no longer be a threat by a nation that has been totally decapitated, Trump wrote.

The US president meanwhile vowed to keep the pressure on Iran.

In the meantime, the United States will be bombing the hell out of the shoreline, and continually shooting Iranian boats and ships out of the water. One way or the other, we will soon get the Hormuz Strait OPEN, SAFE, and FREE!

An aerial view of the Iranian shores and the island of Qeshm in the strait of Hormuz, December 10, 2023. File Image/Reuters

Trump said that 100% of Irans military capability has already been destroyed but added that it could send a drone or two, drop a mine, or deliver a close-range missile somewhere along, or in, this waterway.

Trump, in an interview with the Financial Times, also urged nations within the region to come together to reopen the Strait. Its only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries of the Strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there, Trump said.

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The US president asserted that reopening the strait should be a joint effort by the beneficiaries of trade through the region, and warned the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) of dire consequences if no help arrived.

If theres no response or if its a negative response I think it will be very bad for the future of NATO, Trump further said. Trump said the allies need to do whatever it takes and added that China could be of help too. I think China should help too because China gets 90 per cent of its oil from the Straits \[sic\].

What has been the response?

Already Australia and Japan have declined to send warships to the Strait of Hormuz.

We have not made any decisions whatsoever about dispatching escort ships. We are continuing to examine what Japan can do independently and what can be done within the legal framework, Japan Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi was quoted as telling Parliament on Monday, according to Live Mint.

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Legally speaking, we do not rule out the possibility, but given the current situation in which this conflict is ongoing, I believe this is something that must be considered with great caution, Takayuki Kobayashi, policy chief of Japans ruling Liberal Democratic Party, was quoted as saying by Al Jazeera.

We wont be sending a ship to the Strait of Hormuz. We know how incredibly important that is, but thats not something that weve been asked or that were contributing to, Catherine King, a member of Prime Minister Anthony Albaneses cabinet, told state broadcaster ABC.

France too has declined to join Trumps coalition. The Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs in a statement said, Posture has not changed: defensive it is.

Japans Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. Reuters

The response from South Korea and the United Kingdom too has been underwhelming.

We will communicate closely with the US regarding this matter and make a decision after careful review, South Koreas presidential office said on Sunday.

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The UK said Prime Minister Keir Starmer discussed the need to reopen the Strait of Hormuz with Trump, a Downing Street spokesperson said. There has been no response from China as well.

British Energy Secretary Ed Miliband was quoted as saying by The Guardian, We are intensively looking with our allies at what can be done because its so important that we get the strait reopened.

A Chinese spokesperson earlier said all parties have the responsibility to ensure stable and unimpeded energy supply and that it would strengthen communication with relevant parties for de-escalation.

Though Trump did not mention Germany, Berlin has ruled out joining the coalition. Will we soon be an active part of this conflict? No, German foreign minister Johann Wadephul told ARD television.

What do experts think?

Experts say reopening the Strait of Hormuz is easier said than done. This is mainly because of the geography of the passageway  a mere 21 nautical miles (39 kilometres) wide at its narrowest point. Shipping lanes in the strait are even narrower and more vulnerable to attacks.

Alexandru Hudisteanu, a maritime security expert who served 13 years in the Romanian navy, told Al Jazeera that interoperability is the biggest hurdle. Thats the ability of cruisers to work together or with different units and different doctrine, when basic communication would be an issue, he said.

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Hudisteanu pointed out that the geography of the Strait of Hormuz is a very unforgiving environment to sail with this type of wartime threats. He said this is especially difficult under missile threats and these asymmetric potential mines or unmanned systems that could damage or destroy ships.

The fact that the shoreline is so close and the actual maritime passage is highly congested and confined is an advantage by default, Hudisteanu added. The security of the strait could be achieved. Its just a matter of how much time you need and how many assets you need. However, he warned that rushing any such operation could have negative implications for the security of the mission and the region.

This handout image taken by the European Space Agency, captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite, shows a view of Irans Kharg island. [AFP]

Iran is affecting maritime supply, Hudisteanu said. Its affecting the maritime security of the region and the entire ecosystem and bringing the entire world to the table as the global price for oil and gas increases.

Others are even more down on such a possibility.

The countries Trump named have all gone quiet, which is quite telling, HA Hellyer, a senior associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute in London, told NBC News. France is the closest thing to a yes, he said, though even Macron is talking about something purely defensive.

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Thats a long way from an actual mission, and I dont expect one to happen. More investment will go into de-escalation efforts, in my opinion, Hellyer concluded.

With inputs from agencies
The United Arab Emirates has arrested 35 individuals, including 19 Indians, for publishing and sharing fabricated videos of the ongoing war between Iran, Israel, and the United States in the region. The move came in two phases, which included the arrest of 25 individuals earlier on Saturday

Smoke rising from the Dubai International Airport is seen through the windshield of a vehicle, after a drone attack hit a fuel tank, according to Dubai authorities, amid the US-Israel conflict with Iran, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Reuters

Misinformation has become one of the biggest headaches for governments, especially while handling tricky situations like war and conflicts across the world. While most governments struggle with the kind of action to be taken, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is handling things differently during the ongoing war between Israel and the United States against Iran.

The UAE has arrested 35 individuals, including 19 Indians, for publishing video clips on social media platforms that contain misleading or fabricated content relating to the ongoing regional tensions. Officials say the suspects will face an expedited trial after investigations revealed they used digital platforms to circulate manipulated footage and narratives linked to ongoing regional tensions.

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Catch the live updates from the

Here is all you need to know about the incident.

Who has been arrested by the UAE?

Authorities in the United Arab Emirates have ordered the arrest of 19 Indians among 35 individuals for allegedly publishing misleading and fabricated videos on social media amid the ongoing regional tensions in West Asia involving Israel, the United States, and Iran.

The move came in two phases. The latest list names 25 individuals of different nationalities, including 17 Indians, under various charges, separate from the 10 people, including two Indians, who were ordered arrested earlier on Saturday.

Why have the individuals been arrested?

The UAE government has arrested people who published misleading and fabricated video clips on social media platforms pertaining to the ongoing Israel-Iran war. UAE Attorney-General Hamad Saif Al Shams said in a statement that the move followed intensive monitoring of digital platforms to tackle fabricated information and AI-generated content that could incite the public and undermine regional stability.

Investigations and electronic monitoring revealed that the defendants were divided into three groups that committed various acts. These included the publication of real clips related to current events, the fabrication of clips using AI, and the promotion of a state practising acts of military aggression while glorifying its leadership and military actions, it said, according to the UAEs official news agency, Wam.

The first group comprised 10 accused, including five Indians, one Pakistani, one Nepali, two Filipinos, and one Egyptian, who published and circulated authentic video clips documenting the passage and interception of missiles in the countrys airspace or the resulting impact. They also recorded gatherings of people watching the events and added commentary and sound effects implying ongoing attacks, aiming to trigger public fear and panic.

Such footage risked exposing defensive capabilities and allowing hostile accounts to promote misleading narratives, the statement said.

The second group, comprising seven individuals, including five Indians and one each from Nepal and Bangladesh, created fabricated content using AI or recirculated footage of incidents outside the country, falsely claiming they occurred within the UAE. The statement said the clips contained synthetic images of explosions and missiles, often paired with national flags or dates, to make the false claims appear believable.

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The statement added that a third group of six individuals, five Indians and one Pakistani, were accused of posting content that praised a hostile state (Iran) and its political and military leadership, framing its regional military actions as successes. This involved praising leaders of that state and recirculating propaganda that serves hostile media discourse and harms national interests, it further stated.

The two individuals, both Indians, also face charges for similar offences. A Wam report on Saturday said the public prosecution commenced proceedings after questioning the 10 defendants and ordered their remand in custody. Attorney-General Al Shams said the individuals circulated fabricated AI-generated footage falsely suggesting explosions, strikes on prominent landmarks, and large fires with smoke rising across several areas of the UAE.

In the UAE, such acts fall under crimes punishable under the law by imprisonment for at least one year and a fine of at least AED 1,00,000 (Rs 25.2 lakhs). Such events have been exploited to disseminate misinformation intended to deliberately mislead the public while undermining national security, order, and stability, Shamsi said.

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Shamsi added that some of the incidents involved videos manipulating childrens emotions to suggest fake security threats. Other footage falsely reported the destruction of military sites in the country or showed events from other countries while claiming they happened in the UAE, apparently to mislead the public and spread panic.

What is the situation in UAE?

New attacks have been reported across Gulf countries, including the UAE, among other countries, just a day after Iran called for the evacuation of three major ports in the UAE, for the first time threatening a neighbouring countrys non-US assets.

Tehran alleged that the United States used ports, docks and hideouts in the UAE to carry out strikes on Kharg Island, home to Irans main oil export terminal, but provided no evidence as the conflict continued with no end in sight.

On Monday, a fire broke out near Dubai International Airport after a drone-related incident struck a fuel tank in the area. Authorities said Dubai Civil Defence crews were immediately deployed to tackle the blaze and that no injuries were reported as safety measures were activated across the vicinity. This has forced airlines to suspend flights, according to authorities.

With inputs from agencies
Iran has attacked the UAEs Fujairah Port twice in the past three days. Services at Dubais main international airport was also affected after a drone-related incident caused a fire. The development comes in the aftermath of the United States carrying out strikes on Irans Kharg Island. But why does Tehran keep attacking Abu Dhabi and Dubai?

A fresh war of words has broken out between Iran and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Tehran has accused the UAE of allowing its territory to be used for strikes conducted on Iranian territory.

The development comes after the United Arab Emirates port of Fujairah was attacked twice in the past three days by Iran in the aftermath of the United States attacking Irans Kharg Island.

But what happened? What do we know? Why does Iran continue to attack the UAE?

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Lets take a closer look.

What happened?

On Saturday, the United States conducted strikes on Irans Kharg Island. The small landmass in the Persian Gulf, located around 25 kilometres off Irans coast, is home to the countrys main crude oil export terminal.

Trump on Saturday claimed that the United States had demolished much of the facilities on the island. He also threatened to attack the island again. We may hit it a few more times just for fun, Trump was quoted as saying by NBC News.

Weve totally decimated it, he said. Except, as you know, I didnt do anything having to do with the energy lines, because having to rebuild that would take years.

Irans joint military command then reiterated its threat to attack US-linked oil, economic and energy infrastructures in the region if the Islamic Republics oil infrastructure is hit.

Irans semi-official Fars news agency said the Kharg Island strikes caused no damage to oil infrastructure. It said they targeted an air defence facility, a naval base, the airport control tower and an offshore oil companys helicopter hangar.

US Central Command said it destroyed naval mine storage facilities, missile storage bunkers and other military sites.

Then, hours after that attack, Tehran hit the UAEs Fujairah Port. The facility, located on the Gulf of Oman just outside the Strait of Hormuz, is typically a critical exit point for about 1 million barrels per day of the UAEs Murban crude  a volume equivalent to roughly 1 per cent of global demand.

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Videos online showed black smoke emanating from Fujairah, a coastal city with a major port, as per NDTV. Officials said the blaze was the result of debris falling from a drone that was intercepted. Authorities said fragments of the drone resulted in a fire but did not give the location of the incident.

The UAE Ministry of Defence, in a statement on Saturday, said that air defences are dealing with Iranian ballistic and cruise missiles and drones.

A FlyDubai Boeing 737 Max passenger aircraft takes off from Dubai International Airport in Dubai on March 2, 2026. (AFP)

According to News On Air, the incident resulted in minor injuries to a Jordanian national. Residents in Dubais Marina and Al Sufouh districts reported hearing several loud explosions early Sunday. The Dubai Media Office said the sounds were the result of successful interceptions. Meanwhile, the UAEs Ministry of Defence claimed that it had intercepted nine ballistic missiles and thirty-three drones over the past day.

Then, on Monday, oil loading operations were halted at Fujairah after a drone attack sparked a fire in the emirates petroleum industrial zone. Civil defence teams are currently working to control the blaze, the Fujairah government media office said in a statement, adding that no casualties have been reported. It made no comment on oil loadings.

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Three separate fires were blazing at the Fujairah Oil Industrial Zone in the afternoon, said two sources, including one witness. Operations at Fujairah had resumed on Sunday following a separate drone strike over the weekend.

Why does Iran continue to attack the UAE?

Irans foreign minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi is pointing the finger at the UAE. Araghchi claimed that HIMARS rocket systems stationed in Ras Al Khaimah and near Dubai were used to launch attacks on Kharg Island and Abu Musa.

Araghchi earlier told MS Now that the US attacked Kharg from a location very close to Dubai. He added that the development is dangerous and said Iran will try to be careful not to attack any populated area there.

The UAE, meanwhile, has denied these allegations. Anwar Gargash, adviser to the UAE president, has insisted that the country did not allow its territory to be used for strikes on Iran. He said any such assertion is a misunderstanding of the situation and that the UAE remains committed to dialogue and diplomacy.

Gargash has claimed that the UAE is acting in self-defence. He also pointed to the numerous strikes Iran had conducted on various Gulf nations since the beginning of the conflict. Gargash said the UAE retains the right to defend itself.

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Gargash wrote on social media, The UAE has the right to self-defence in the face of this terrorist aggression yet it continues to prioritise reason and logic, maintaining restraint and seeking an exit

Irans Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. Reuters file

Since the war began, Tehran has concentrated much of its offence on the UAE. Of the 2,000 missile and drone attacks reported by the Gulf Arab states since the beginning of the war, the UAE has reported over 1,800 such projectiles being aimed at it. The UAE claims to have intercepted over 90 per cent of incoming missile and drone threats from Iran.

On Monday, the UAEs defence ministry said its air defence systems are intercepting Iranian missiles and drones. UAE air defences are currently responding to incoming missile and drone threats from Iran, the UAE Ministry of Defence wrote on X. Earlier, Dubai authorities said a drone-related incident had sparked a fire near the airport and flights had been temporarily suspended.

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What experts say

Analysts say Irans strikes on the UAE are aimed at punishing US partners in the Gulf, targeting strategic oil infrastructure and signalling that Tehran can widen the war beyond Israel.

A key reason the UAE is being targeted is strategic pressure. The UAE hosts important US military facilities and is one of Washingtons closest security partners in the Gulf. By targeting ports, airports and oil infrastructure in the Emirates, Iran can signal that countries supporting the US could face economic and security consequences. Analysts say these attacks are designed to raise the cost of the war for US allies and potentially push Gulf states to pressure Washington to halt its campaign against Iran.

From Tehrans perspective, the UAE is enemy number one in terms of Arab states in the Gulf, Brendon J Cannon, a fellow at the Balsillie School of International Affairs in Abu Dhabi, told Monocle.com. Its also, frankly, a victim of its own success.

According to CNBC, the attacks are occurring because Tehran wants to exert maximum pressure on Washington, disrupt the flow of energy across the world, unnerve international finance and corporates, and garner attention from around the world.

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Iran can inflict maximum regional and global pain, testing a state that has positioned itself as the Gulfs safest bridge between East and West, and the future of the region for finance, logistics, aviation and technology, the piece noted.

An Emirates flight departs from Dubai amid the US-Israel conflict with Iran, which has hit the aviation industry hard. REUTERS/File Photo

The UAE is also a symbolic and economic target. Cities such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi depend on their reputation as safe global hubs for finance, tourism and trade. Even intercepted missile or drone attacks can shake that image of stability and disrupt regional business and energy flows.

Analysts say that by striking such high-profile locations, Iran aims to show that the Gulfs wealthy commercial centres are not insulated from the wider conflict.

Everybody around the world knows about Dubai, Cannon added. So there is an effect of attempting to cut the UAE down to size, and to shake that ironclad view for investors and tourists around the world that the UAE is this oasis of calm.

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However, others are less certain.

There is no good answer as to why the UAE has been targeted more heavily than any other country in the neighbourhood, Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, an Emirati academic and political scientist, told CNBC.

He said the real story is how well the UAE managed to defend itself against these daily missiles and drones going into its third week. It seems the country has been preparing itself for this kind of attack all along.

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), comprising Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman, held an emergency ministerial meeting on Sunday, invoking Article 51 of the UN Charter, setting red lines and signalling readiness for collective self-defence as energy disruptions and security risks mount.

This marks an escalation in the conflict, JP Morgan analyst Natasha Kaneva said.

With inputs from agencies
France has deployed its aircraft carrier and multiple warships to West Asia as President Emmanuel Macron pushes a defensive military posture while seeking diplomatic engagement with Iran and regional leaders. Macron says the deployment aims to protect French citizens, reassure allies and position Paris for future peace talks

French President Emmanuel Macron arrives to speak to members of the media as he visits the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, on the day of his visit to Cyprus, showing France's solidarity after recent drone attacks amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, and aimed at reinforcing European security in the Eastern Mediterranean, on the Mediterranean Sea, March 9, 2026. File Image/Reuters

Frances government is reinforcing its military footprint in West Asia, sending its aircraft carrier along with additional warships, while President Emmanuel Macron engages with key actors in the conflict, including Iran, in an effort to place Paris in a position to participate in potential diplomatic negotiations.

Macron stressed that Frances military role is purely defensive and intended to prevent the country from becoming directly involved in the war.

He reiterated that stance after a French soldier was killed Thursday in a drone strike in Iraq.

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We are not at war with anyone, Macron said.

Nevertheless, the extensive deployment of the French navy  which he described as unprecedented  has made France the European country with the most visible presence in the region.

During a visit to the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier last week, Macron said its deployment in the Mediterranean reflects Frances strength: a balancing power, a force for peace.

Heres what to know about Macrons strategy.

Frances large naval deployment

Macron announced the dispatch of eight warships, two helicopter carriers and the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier to the eastern Mediterranean and the broader West Asia.

The carrier is accompanied by 20 Dassault Rafale fighter jets.

The French frigate French frigate Languedoc reached waters off Cyprus, another member of the European Union, to strengthen anti-drone and anti-missile defences.

Cyprus and France signed a new strategic partnership in December. Macron also noted that two French frigates have been deployed to the Red Sea to help safeguard maritime security and freedom of navigation.

Macron said the naval deployment is designed to enable France to respond to emergency situations and evacuate French citizens if required.

France has more than 400,000 nationals across West Asia  more than any other European nation  including more than half living in Israel and more than 60,000 in the United Arab Emirates.

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Other European countries, including Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and Greece, have also sent frigates to the region.

Frances rapid naval deployment stands in contrast to the United Kingdoms slower move to send the HMS Dragon, which departed from Portsmouth, England, on March 10.

Opposition parties in Britain have criticised UK Prime Minister Keir Starmers government for acting too slowly to protect British bases in Cyprus and support allies in the region.

The UK government has also deployed Typhoon and F-35 fighter jets, helicopters and air defence systems to intercept Iranian missiles and drones and safeguard British forces across the region, particularly in Cyprus and Qatar, as well as partners in West Asia.

Defending Gulf allies

France maintains significant defence agreements with several countries in the region, including Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, where it operates a permanent military base in Abu Dhabi. French forces stationed there  including air and naval units  doubled the number of Dassault Rafale jets on site to 12.

French officials acknowledged that Rafale aircraft have intercepted drones targeting the UAE since the war began. We stand by the side of our allies and our friends, Macron said during his visit to the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier. There have been some interceptions that have continued in recent days.

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We do so within the framework of our partnerships, he said, without offering additional details.

French troops are also stationed in Jordan and Iraq.

On Thursday, one French soldier was killed and several others were wounded in a drone attack in the region of Irbil in northern Iraq. They had been training Iraqi forces as part of a multinational counterterrorism mission.

Former President Francois Hollande, who governed France from 2012 to 2017, said it was important for the country to demonstrate its ability to protect its citizens and reassure its partners but warned about the dangers involved.

We must be careful  its always a risky operation  to make sure our warships are not targeted, Hollande said. Because if they are attacked, we have to fire back.

Historic ties with Lebanon

Macron is also spearheading a diplomatic push to halt the fighting in Lebanon, where at least 850 people have been killed and hundreds of thousands displaced after Hezbollah

Macron urged Hezbollah to halt its attacks and called on Israel to abandon plans for any ground offensive.

France supports the Lebanese armed forces as authorities have promised to take control of positions currently held by Hezbollah and assume full responsibility for security in the country, Macron said. Hezbollahs arsenal notably includes explosive drones similar to those used by Iran.

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France has historically been a key backer of Lebanon  once a French protectorate  and maintains about 800 troops in the UN peacekeeping mission there. The French government has supplied the country with armoured vehicles and operational military support.

Authorities said France also delivered 60 tons of emergency assistance to Lebanon last week via a humanitarian flight to Beirut. The aid included medicines, medical supplies, a mobile health unit, shelter materials, essential items and infant formula.

Macron became the first Western leader to speak with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian since the war began.

He said he urged Iran to stop launching strikes against countries in the region. Since their phone call on March 8, the appeal has not received a response.

Macron stated that a diplomatic solution is necessary to halt the escalation and said he and Pezeshkian agreed to stay in contact.

Macron also held discussions with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump, although there were no immediate signs that tensions were easing.

France hopes diplomatic initiatives could gain momentum once the most intense phase of the conflict diminishes, a process that could take weeks or months.

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Macron is also advocating an international initiative to secure the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial energy passage, so oil, gas and goods can move freely again when circumstances permit. He has suggested that countries could deploy warships to escort oil tankers and container ships once hostilities subside.

Political analyst Bertrand Badie, a professor of international relations at Sciences Po, said Macron has long aimed to reinforce Frances global role.

With low approval ratings domestically and roughly a year remaining in his term, Macron may have more to gain than other European leaders by pursuing diplomatic initiatives, Badie said.

At this point, we are forced to scale back our expectations  drastically, he told AP. From a diplomatic standpoint, what leverage does France really have?

My assessment is that this crisis cannot be resolved by French remedies, Badie said. There is no point in having any illusions.

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With inputs from AP
Amid rising fuel costs linked to the West Asia conflict, Thai TV anchors removed their jackets on air to support the governments call for energy conservation. Thai authorities have introduced several measures, including work from home and climbing stairs to conserve fuel amid an energy squeeze

Thailand Television news anchors made an unusual gesture on-air this week to back the governments appeal for energy conservation. Image courtesy: X

The US-Israel-Iran war is being waged on all fronts, and much of the attention has shifted to the Strait of Hormuz, the vital shipping route that Tehran has now blocked.

Amid the conflict that has led to a tanker squeeze in the Strait of Hormuz, several nations, including Thailand, are mandating work-from-home. The Thai government has reportedly asked bureaucrats to even use stairs instead of elevators as part of an energy-saving drive.

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Thailand Television news anchors made an unusual gesture on-air this week to back the governments appeal for energy conservation.

Heres what they did and why.

Why did TV presenters ditch jackets on air?

During a live broadcast on a Thai channel, several presenters removed their jackets on camera. Why? The message was simple: using less air conditioning can help lower electricity consumption.

The gesture came as Thailand urged people to cut electricity use and reduce energy consumption in the wake of rising fuel costs linked to the conflict in West Asia.

On television, the channels news anchors chose to live showcase the concept. One of the TV anchors removed his suit jacket during the show, asserting the gesture was meant to encourage viewers to reduce their use of air conditioning.

CORRECTION: Thai news anchors removed their jackets on air to align with government energy-saving measures amid a fuel crisis linked to the Iran war. We are removing an earlier video to correct the temperature mentioned pic.twitter.com/LKbw2YtGnQ  Reuters (@Reuters) March 13, 2026

Lets just take it off, so we can set the example of how to save energy too. Wearing less will help with our moods and cope with the heat. People addicted to cool air conditioners, well, now you dont need that. You can adjust the temperature as advised by the government to 2627C, the news anchors were translated as saying by several media reports.

The move quickly drew attention on social media, where clips of the precise moment circulated widely.

What are the Thai govt plans for energy-saving drive?

Thailand has mandated an emergency work-from-home policy to curb demand for fossil fuels amid the Strait of Hormuz crisis.

The governments decision to mandate full WFH applies to most state agencies as part of measures to reduce energy demand. The move was approved by the Thai Cabinet, Bloomberg reported.

Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has ordered civil servants to conserve energy, according to a government spokespersons statement on Tuesday (March 10). Measures included suspending overseas trips and taking the stairs instead of the elevators.

The prime minister ordered that starting from today, civil servants will work from home, Reuters quoted spokesperson Lalida Periswiwatana as saying. Periswiwatana also added that exceptions would be made for officials who serve the public. The policy stems from an ongoing energy crisis exacerbated by the West Asia conflict.

The government is targeting an immediate 20 per cent reduction in energy use, encouraging civil servants to opt for short-sleeved shirts, keep air conditioners at 2627C, and use stairs rather than elevators.

Observers praised the move as environmentally responsible and a smart step toward a more sustainable future.

How are authorities implementing it?

On Tuesday (March 10), Danucha Pichayanan, secretary-general of the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council, said that the Cabinet is endorsing urgent measures to reduce energy consumption, given the unrest caused by the Iran war.

Deputy Prime Minister Sophon Saram, who chaired the Cabinet meeting last week, appeared without a jacket, saying that Cabinet members will lead the energy conservation campaign by example.

Ministers themselves reduced air-conditioning use and avoided wearing jackets during the meeting, he said as quoted by Thai PBS World.

Culture Minister Sabida Thaiseth said skipping jackets is suitable for Thailands hot climate and encourages the public to participate in energy-saving efforts. This is another way to help the nation, she said.

Airin Phanrit, deputy spokesperson for the Prime Ministers Office, asserted that the government wants its agencies and state enterprises to take the lead in implementing energy-saving measures, setting an example for the private sector and the wider Thai society.

With inputs from agencies
Rising LPG prices and supply disruptions linked to tensions near the Strait of Hormuz could affect Indias food delivery ecosystem. As restaurants and cloud kitchens rely heavily on LPG, higher cooking costs may gradually influence menu prices, discounts and delivery charges on platforms like Swiggy and Zomato

Chefs prepare plates with biryani to serve customers inside Arsalan restaurant amid disruptions in commercial LPG supply following the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Kolkata, India, March 13, 2026. File Image/Reuters

The escalating conflict in West Asia has begun to place pressure on global shipping routes and fuel supplies, particularly around the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz.

The disruption is raising concerns about the availability and cost of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), a critical cooking fuel for restaurants and cloud kitchens across India.

As LPG supplies tighten and prices increase, the impact could extend from national energy security to the back-end infrastructure that powers food delivery services on platforms such as Zomato and Swiggy.

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How much is India dependent on LPG imports?

India ranks among the worlds largest consumers of LPG, and the countrys demand is supported heavily by imports. Roughly 60 per cent of Indias LPG requirement is sourced from overseas markets.

A large share of those imports originates from Gulf countries including Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Close to 80-90 per cent of these shipments pass through the Strait of Hormuz before reaching Indian ports.

This narrow maritime passage, about 33 kilometres wide at its narrowest point, is one of the most important global energy transit corridors. Recent military activity in the region has increased uncertainty for vessels navigating the corridor.

Shipping companies have also been facing a steep increase in war-risk insurance premiums, which have risen to more than 10 per cent of the value of some ships.

While India has successfully diversified crude oil imports over the years now sourcing oil from more than 40 countries  LPG imports remain concentrated in the Gulf region. This makes the country particularly vulnerable to disruptions along the Hormuz route.

Editors Picks 1 How the Iran war is acquiring global dimensions

Another factor contributing to the sensitivity of the supply chain is the relatively limited domestic inventory buffer. National LPG reserves typically cover only about two to three weeks of demand.

As a result, even short-term supply disruptions can quickly tighten the domestic market.

What is the cost of LPG cylinders in India?

The tightening supply environment has already been accompanied by an increase in LPG prices. Following a 60 hike that came into effect on March 7, 2026, domestic cylinder prices have remained elevated across major cities.

As of March 16, 2026, the cost of a standard 14.2-kilogramme domestic cylinder stood at 913 in New Delhi and 912.50 in Mumbai.

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Prices are higher in other parts of the country. A domestic cylinder costs 939 in Kolkata and 928.50 in Chennai. The price rises further to 965 in Hyderabad and crosses the 1,000 mark in Patna, where it is priced at 1,002.50.

Commercial cylinders used by restaurants and food vendors have also become more expensive. A 19-kilogramme commercial LPG cylinder currently costs 1,884.50 in New Delhi and 1,835.50 in Mumbai. Commercial LPG prices increased by 114.50.

What is the role of LPG in Indias delivery economy?

For many consumers, food delivery platforms are associated primarily with mobile applications, delivery bikes and quick order fulfilment. However, behind the digital interface lies an extensive network of kitchens and restaurants where LPG remains the primary source of cooking energy.

Thousands of partner restaurants and cloud kitchens prepare meals ordered through delivery apps. In recent years, many quick commerce platforms have expanded their offerings to include hot meals, baked goods and ready-to-eat food items delivered within minutes.

These operations rely heavily on LPG cylinders for cooking. As a result, even modest increases in LPG prices can immediately affect the cost of preparing food.

Smaller kitchens that operate on narrow profit margins are particularly exposed to these fluctuations. Unlike large restaurant chains that may have the financial capacity to negotiate bulk energy contracts or diversify energy sources, independent kitchens often depend almost entirely on LPG.

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Industry estimates indicate that around 85 per cent of independent restaurants operating on delivery platforms rely primarily on LPG cylinders for their cooking operations.

Why will high LPG prices hurt cloud kitchens most?

The operational impact of LPG price increases is expected to be most visible among cloud kitchens.

Cloud kitchens are facilities designed exclusively for delivery services rather than dine-in customers. Because they focus on high order volumes and quick preparation times, their profitability often depends on maintaining tight cost structures.

Many such kitchens operate with margins estimated at around 5-10 per cent. In this environment, even a modest increase in cooking fuel costs can significantly affect profitability.

If LPG prices remain elevated or supply becomes constrained, operators may have limited options to absorb the additional expense. Some kitchens may raise menu prices, while others could introduce additional service charges to offset higher cooking costs.

Restaurants may also respond by adjusting menus to prioritise dishes that require less cooking time or lower fuel consumption.

Also fertiliser plants, for example, which depend heavily on natural gas as a key input for production, are already operating below full capacity due to gas supply constraints. If these limitations continue, agricultural input costs could increase, potentially affecting the price of food ingredients used by restaurants and food vendors.

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How is food delivery activity being affected?

Analysts monitoring the food delivery sector say the impact of LPG supply disruptions could become visible in company performance metrics if the situation continues.

According to analyst estimates, food delivery platforms could experience a decline of around 3 per cent in quarterly revenue if the LPG supply disruption persists for about a week. The projected decline reflects the potential impact of restaurant closures or reduced kitchen operations on order volumes.

In recent quarters, the growth of the food delivery sector has been supported by increasing order volumes and expanding restaurant participation. Any interruption in restaurant operations could slow that growth momentum.

Early signals of strain are already emerging in delivery patterns. Some delivery workers associated with Swiggy and Zomato report a sharp decline in the number of orders they receive each day.

Because delivery workers on these platforms are typically compensated per order rather than through fixed salaries, a drop in order volume has a direct effect on their earnings. With no guaranteed income floor, even a few days of reduced activity can place significant financial pressure on workers and their families.

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What may consumers notice first?

For consumers using food delivery apps, the consequences of rising LPG costs may not appear immediately. Instead, the changes may emerge gradually in the form of slightly higher menu prices, fewer promotional discounts, or the introduction of small surcharges on certain orders.

Food delivery companies have historically relied on discounts and promotional offers to drive customer demand and increase order frequency.

However, if vendors face rising costs, platforms may scale back some of these discount strategies to maintain financial sustainability.

Consumer behaviour could also shift if food prices rise noticeably, particularly among middle-income households that form a large segment of quick commerce users.

Quick commerce companies have built their business models around speed, convenience and affordability. Yet the sector has always operated on tight margins, meaning cost pressures anywhere in the supply chain can eventually influence pricing decisions.

What next?

In response to the emerging supply challenges, authorities have begun implementing measures designed to safeguard essential LPG availability.

The government has invoked provisions under the Essential Commodities framework to ensure that domestic consumers and critical institutions such as hospitals receive priority access to LPG supplies.

One of the steps introduced is a 25-day and 45-day inter-booking rule for domestic LPG cylinders in urban regions and rural areas respectively, which is intended to discourage excessive purchases and prevent hoarding during periods of uncertainty.

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The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has also introduced regulatory changes aimed at preventing duplication of cooking fuel access. According to the ministry, consumers who already have piped natural gas (PNG) connections will no longer be permitted to retain, obtain or refill domestic LPG cylinders under the amended supply order.

The ministry also stated that government oil companies will not provide LPG connections or refills to consumers who already have PNG access.

These measures are intended to ensure that limited LPG supplies remain available for households and essential services at a time of crisis.

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With inputs from agencies
The Defence Vision 2047 document is significant as it places armed forces at the centre of Indias emergence as a developed nation, arguing that economic and military power are not parallel ambitions but co-dependent ones.

The policy focuses on bringing 'atmanirbharta' (self reliance) in defence production, highlighting that as the nation heads towards becoming a developed nation, the need to ensure the country's external and internal security becomes paramount. Photo: File/PTI

Preparing Indian armed forces for the complexities of an evolving strategic environment will be a key priority in the years ahead, according to  Defence Vision 2047', a defence policy outlook released by the government of India. The policy outlines the pathway to transform defence forces into an integrated, multi-domain and agile force.

The Vision document lays special emphasis on bringing reforms in the organisation, training, capability enhancement, and defence diplomacy.

The policy focuses on bringing atmanirbharta (self reliance) in defence production, highlighting that as the nation heads towards becoming a developed nation, the need to ensure the countrys external and internal security becomes paramount.

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The document is significant as it places armed forces at the centre of Indias emergence as a developed nation, arguing that economic and military power are not parallel ambitions but co-dependent ones.

Reforms across domains

To achieve the goal of atmanirbharta, it proposes to nurture indigenous industries and to promote research and development in the country. The document also calls for revamping the Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) to strengthen the countrys defence ecosystem.

In order to strengthen Indias position in multi-domain warfare, the policy proposes the creation of new institutions with specialised capabilities that includes a defence geo-spatial agency, a data force, a drone force and a cognitive warfare action force.

Laying the foundation for organisational reforms, the document asks for tri-service jointness, between the Army, Navy and Air Force, in order to enable smooth execution of operations. The policy further calls for strengthening the Agnipath scheme to attract motivated youth in the forces.

Additionally, it puts forward a proposal to bring a common Defence Forces Act to govern the conduct, discipline and service conditions of personnel across the three services.

Uncertain geostrategic environment

The Vision document acknowledges that global peace is continuously marked by uncertainty and volatility. In this inter-connected world, as competition, crisis and conflicts exist together, no nation can remain isolated to the outside world, the document notes. This observation comes at a time when the war in West Asia has upended the global order.

The plan calls for expanding ballistic missile defence system in order to protect the economic and strategic assets of the country as well as civilian infrastructure against multi-domain threats under _Mission Sudarshan Chakra_.

Talking of the growing trade weaponisation, the policy says that the use of trade barriers, tariffs and protectionism has weakened the influence of trade as a driver of peace and inter-dependence.

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External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said Indias direct talks with Iran are producing results as New Delhi works to restore shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and safeguard energy supplies.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said the talks with Iran are already yielding some results", adding that New Delhi believes it is more productive to reason and coordinate with Iran rather than avoid engagement. (Photo: X/S Jaishankar)

External Affairs Minister of India S Jaishankar has said that direct talks with Iran are yielding results as India works to restore shipping through the Strait of Hormuz amid rising tensions in West Asia.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Jaishankar said New Delhi is engaged in discussions with to help reopen the strategic waterway, through which roughly a fifth of the worlds oil shipments pass.

I am at the moment engaged in talking to them, and my talking has yielded some results, he said in the interview. This is ongoing. If it is yielding results for me, I would naturally continue to look at it.

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India emphasises dialogue with Tehran

Jaishankar said India believes continued engagement with Iran is the most productive approach to resolving the situation.

Certainly, from Indias perspective, it is better that we reason and we co-ordinate and we get a solution than we dont, he added. So if that sort of allows other people to engage, I think the world is better off for it.

He also noted that while the development is encouraging, discussions with Tehran remain ongoing as work continues.

Indian vessels transit through the Strait

Jaishankar pointed to the recent transit of two Indian-flagged liquefied petroleum gas carriers through the Strait on Saturday as an example of progress through diplomatic engagement.

The vessels, Shivalik and Nanda Devi, were carrying around 92,712 metric tonnes of LPG and are headed to India. They are expected to arrive at the ports of Mundra and Kandla.

The minister clarified that India has not reached any blanket arrangement with Iran regarding India-flagged vessels.

According to Jaishankar, ship movements are currently being handled on a case-by-case basis as discussions continue.

He said New Delhis approach focuses on maintaining dialogue with Tehran and noted that each countrys engagement with Iran depends on its own circumstances.

When asked whether European nations could pursue a similar arrangement, Jaishankar said every countrys engagement with Iran is shaped by its own circumstances. While direct comparisons may be difficult, he said India would be willing to share its approach with European capitals, many of which also maintain channels of communication with Iran.

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Air India and Air India Express will operate dozens of flights to and from West Asia despite escalating tensions involving the United States, Iran and Israel. Airlines are rerouting services, while special flights are being arranged to assist stranded Indian passengers.

Air India and Air India Express on Monday announced that it will operate about 48 flights to and from the West Asian region today amid the escalating tensions following the ongoing strikes between United States, Iran, and Israel.

In a press release, Air India said that it will operate one return service each from Delhi and Mumbai, while Air India Express will operate one flight each from Bengaluru, Kozhikode and Mangalore.

#ImportantUpdate



Air India and Air India Express will operate 48 scheduled and non-scheduled flights to and from the West Asia region.



To know more: https://t.co/sRsugeANL9  Air India (@airindia) March 15, 2026

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Air India Express will also operate 12 scheduled flights to and from Muscat, with one service each from Delhi, Kannur, Mumbai and Thiruvananthapuram and two services from Kochi.

Temporarily suspended all operations to Dubai International Airport

Air India also announced on Monday that it has temporarily suspended all operations to Dubai International Airport for the day.

#ImportantUpdate

Dubai Flight Operations Suspended



Dubai International Airport has temporarily suspended all flight operations to and from the airport.



As a result, Air India and Air India Express flights to and from Dubai have been cancelled for the day.



We are offering all  Air India (@airindia) March 16, 2026

Dubai International Airport has temporarily suspended all flight operations to and from the airport. As a result, Air India and Air India Express flights to and from Dubai have been cancelled for the day.

Other flights also operating special flights

SpiceJet is operating special flights from Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates to India, along with an additional service from Dubai to Pune to assist stranded passengers.

Qatar Airways is also planning flights to several Indian cities, including New Delhi, Mumbai and Kochi, to help Indian nationals return home.

Gulf Air said some of its services are being routed through King Fahd International Airport in Dammam as Bahrains airspace remains closed.

Flights are taking longer alternative routes because airspace over Iran and Iraq is restricted. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has temporarily relaxed flight duty rules for Air India due to these longer flying hours.

Airlines are advising passengers to remain patient and check their flight status before going to the airport, as schedules may change due to the ongoing conflict situation.
The geopolitical depth of the India-EU partnership further increased due to the catalyst effect of US President Donald Trump, where both the India and EU found themselves at the receiving end.

Jaishankar's Europe visit holds special significance for a range of reasons. The visit highlights India's shifting geopolitical priorities, with a renewed focus on Europe. Photo: File/Reuters

Indias External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar embarked on a two-day official visit to Brussels to interact with foreign ministers of the 27 European Union (EU) member states at the foreign affairs council meeting.

During the visit, the EAM will also hold meetings with the leadership of the EU, and his counterparts from Belgium and other EU member states, the MEA said in a press statement.

This is the first visit of the foreign minister to Europe after the signing of India-EU free trade agreement in January. The signed FTA, considered as the mother of all deals was sealed following the summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the top EU leadership on January 27.

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Why the visit holds significance

Jaishankars Europe visit holds special significance for a range of reasons. The visit highlights Indias shifting geopolitical priorities, with a renewed focus on Europe.

Experts see the deepening of India-EU ties as a geopolitical compulsion for both, with a focus to enhance bilateral trade amid global turbulence. The strategic weight of the partnership can be gauzed from the fact that India and EU are home to roughly a quarter of the worlds population.

The geopolitical depth of the partnership further increased due to the catalyst effect of US President Donald Trump, where both the India and EU found themselves at the receiving end.

Trump imposed a 50 per cent tariff (including 25 per cent penalty tariff) on India for its relations with Russia. At the same time, he also put his European allies on an uncomfortable position, while questioning the sovereignty of Denmark over Greenland. Trump also warned of a very bad future for NATO if the allies fail to adhere his line in the ongoing West Asia conflict.

In the FTA, the EU Commission also abandoned its previous policy of enforcing European social and environmental preferences as side agreements.

West Asia conflict

The visit is also significant as it marks Jaishankars first visit since the start of Iran war. Both India and EU are finding it difficult to fulfill their energy needs, amid the prolonged blockade of Strait of Hormuz, which is a key shipping route for transportation of crude oil and natural gas.

Ahead of his visit, Jaishankar also spoke to his counterparts from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia to discuss the latest developments surrounding the conflict.

Jaishankar wrote on social media that he and UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan exchanged views on various aspects of the regional situation. He said in an another post that he had discussed ongoing developments related to the conflict in West Asia with Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan on Saturday night.

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External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar says India has no blanket arrangement with Iran for Indian-flagged ships crossing the Strait of Hormuz, stressing that each vessels movement is handled individually

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said the talks with Iran are already yielding some results", adding that New Delhi believes it is more productive to reason and coordinate with Iran rather than avoid engagement. (Photo: X/S Jaishankar)

India has clarified that it does not have a sweeping arrangement with Iran allowing all Indian-flagged ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, even as tensions in the Middle East continue to disrupt global shipping routes.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that while some Indian vessels have recently managed to sail through the strategic waterway, this was not because of any broad agreement with Tehran. Instead, each transit has been handled separately through diplomatic coordination.

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Speaking about the recent developments with the Financial Times, Jaishankar stressed that there was no blanket understanding between New Delhi and Tehran.

Every ship movement is an individual happening.

The statement came after US energy secretary Chris Wright said that Indian ships went through the strait unharmed because Iran probably made a deal with India. Jaishanka dismissed speculation that Iran had received anything from India in exchange for allowing the ships to pass.

US energy secretary Chris Wright says a convoy went through Hormuz & Iran did not fire on them because 'Iran probably made a deal with India'pic.twitter.com/DfqLpXEj8q  Sidhant Sibal (@sidhant) March 16, 2026

Diplomacy seen as key to reopening Hormuz

The comments come amid heightened tensions around the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial maritime chokepoint through which a significant portion of the worlds oil trade moves. The ongoing conflict in the region has disrupted tanker traffic and raised concerns about global energy supplies.

Jaishankar said that Indias engagement with Iran through direct dialogue had helped create space for some Indian vessels to navigate the route safely. According to him, diplomatic outreach remains the most effective way to ensure that shipping through the strait gradually returns to normal.

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He also indicated that Indias approach is focused on maintaining communication with all parties involved in the conflict while protecting the countrys energy security and shipping interests.

Balancing diplomacy and energy security

India relies heavily on crude oil shipments from the Gulf region, making the Strait of Hormuz a vital route for its energy supplies. Any prolonged disruption could have major implications for fuel availability and prices.

For now, New Delhi appears to be relying on careful diplomacy rather than formal agreements to keep its ships moving. Officials say this case-by-case coordination reflects the complicated security environment in the region and the need to avoid escalating tensions while safeguarding Indias trade and energy lifelines.

With the crisis still unfolding, India is expected to continue engaging Iran and other regional stakeholders to ensure safe passage for its vessels through the strategically important strait.
With airspace restrictions and diversions still in place, travellers and airlines are left wondering when global flights will return to normal.

Global travel flows have slowed sharply as airspace restrictions, route diversions and safety concerns continue to disrupt schedules. Credits/Representational image

Amid the ongoing crisis in West Asia, Emirates has temporarily suspended all flights to and from Dubai until further notice.

In its latest travel advisory, the airline urged passengers not to head to the airport, stating, Please do not go to the airport. Emirates will share updates when available. We would like to thank our customers for their understanding and patience. The safety of our passengers and crew is our highest priority and will not be compromised.

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All flights to and from Dubai have been temporarily suspended.



Please do not go to the airport.



Emirates will share updates when available. We would like to thank our customers for their understanding and patience.



The safety of our passengers and crew is our highest priority pic.twitter.com/m5eIloT2wk  Emirates Support (@EmiratesSupport) March 16, 2026

While a few airlines have begun limited operations across parts of the region, the overall situation remains highly uncertain.

Global travel flows have slowed sharply as airspace restrictions, route diversions and safety concerns continue to disrupt schedules.

The pressing question now facing travellers and the industry alike is: when will normalcy return to international travel?

According to estimates by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), the escalating conflict involving Iran is already costing the Middle Easts travel and tourism sector nearly USD 600 million per day in international visitor spending.

The losses stem from disrupted air travel, falling traveller confidence and reduced regional connectivity.

West Asia remains a crucial hub in global aviation, accounting for around 5 percent of global international arrivals and 14 percent of international transit traffic.

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As a result, disruptions in the region ripple across the global tourism ecosystem, affecting airports, airlines, hotels, car rental companies and cruise operators worldwide.

Major aviation hubs such as Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha and Manama together typically handle over 526,000 passengers per day.

However, closures and operational disruptions triggered by the escalating conflict have significantly impacted both regional and global connectivity.

WTTCs analysis draws from its 2026 pre-conflict forecast, which projected USD 207 billion in international visitor spending across West Asia this year.

Any interruption to travel flows, therefore, quickly translates into a substantial economic shock across the wider tourism ecosystem.

Yet industry leaders say the sector has historically proven resilient.

Gloria Guevara, President and CEO of the World Travel & Tourism Council, noted that crises often trigger sharp but temporary disruptions.

Travel & Tourism is one of the most resilient sectors. The impact of international visitor spending across West Asia is significant and averages around USD 600 million per day, but history shows the sector can recover quickly, especially when governments support travellers through measures such as hotel assistance or repatriation, she said.

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Our analysis of previous crises demonstrates that security-related incidents often see the fastest tourism recovery times, in some cases as quickly as two months, when governments and industry work together to restore traveller confidence.

Airlines across the region continue to adjust their operations. Qatar Airways recently confirmed that it is operating a limited flight schedule to and from Doha following the temporary closure of Qatari airspace.

In a statement posted on X, the airline said it was doing its utmost to support passengers affected by the disruption and to help reunite travellers with their families and loved ones.

Qatar Airways Operates Limited Flight Schedule to and from Doha



With Qatar Airways scheduled flight operations still temporarily suspended due to the closure of Qatari airspace, we want you to know that we are doing our utmost to support you with your journey, and to reunite you pic.twitter.com/d5DK1WoAgo  Qatar Airways (@qatarairways) March 15, 2026

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Industry experts also point out that many current disruptions stem from route changes and airspace restrictions rather than safety risks at tourist destinations themselves.

Speaking to Outlook Traveller, Hari Ganapathy, co-founder and CEO of travel platform Pickyourtrail, said that travellers are primarily experiencing delays and cancellations due to altered flight paths rather than problems at destinations.

Historical trends offer some optimism. Research by the World Travel & Tourism Council shows that tourism demand after security-related disruptions can recover within as little as two months, provided governments and the travel industry act quickly to restore traveller confidence.

In a recent interview with the Financial Times, Zubin Karkaria, Founder & CEO, VFS Global Group, affirms that it is a temporary blow to the industry. Global mobility may face short-term disruptions, but the long-term demand for travel for education, tourism, business, and skilled migration remains strong.

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For now, however, uncertainty continues to dominate the skies. With airlines issuing frequent advisories and schedules shifting rapidly, travellers are being urged to stay updated and reconsider non-essential travel.

Whether the sector will rebound in weeks, months, or longer remains an open question, one that the global travel industry will be closely watching in the days ahead.

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Celebrated far beyond Irelands shores, St. Patricks Day blends ancient legends, religious roots and a modern global love for Irish culture. Turning the day into a vibrant festival of parades, colour, music and heritage around the world.

What began as a religious feast day in Ireland has evolved into an international celebration of Irish culture and heritage.

Across Ireland and around the world, St Patricks Day is marked with parades, music, Irish dancing, traditional food and the wearing of green.

Celebrated every year on March 17, the day commemorates St Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland.

Speaking to Firstpost, St. Patricks Festival CEO Richard Tierney said the occasion holds deep national significance. Its our National Day. A day to be proud. The world looks in at us, and we get to showcase the very best of what it means to be Irish. It also marks the start of the tourist season, making it an incredibly important day for Ireland.

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Who was St Patrick?

St Patrick was born in a village in Roman Britain in the fifth century. As a teenager, he was reportedly kidnapped by Irish pirates and enslaved in Ireland, where he spent years tending animals and learning the Irish language.

After escaping captivity and later training as a priest, he returned to Ireland as a missionary, working to convert the Irish to Christianity. Tradition says he used the three-leaf shamrock to explain the concept of the Holy Trinity to Irish pagans.

Why green is associated with the festival?

The colour green has strong political and religious associations in Ireland. It is one of the three colours of the Irish national flag, alongside white and orange, and historically symbolised Irish Catholic identity.

Today, wearing green has become one of the most recognisable traditions of St Patricks Day celebrations worldwide.

From religious feast to public festival

In Ireland, St Patricks Day was originally observed as a religious feast day, with early celebrations centred around church services, dinners, concerts and dances.

Interestingly, the tradition of large public parades began outside Ireland. Irish emigrants in the organised parades to celebrate their heritage. One of the earliest recorded St Patricks Day parades took place in New York City in 1762, while the first parade held in Ireland itself occurred in Waterford in 1903.

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Today, the biggest celebrations take place in Dublin, where the three-day St Patricks Festival culminates in the National St Patricks Day Parade on March 17.

The parade attracts more than 500,000 spectators each year, featuring colourful pageants, marching bands from across the world and community participants from throughout Ireland.

Music, dance and traditional food

Visitors celebrating on the Emerald Isle can expect lively performances of Irish folk music featuring instruments such as the tin whistle, fiddle, bodhran and harp.

These performances are often accompanied by traditional Irish dances including step dancing, sean-nos dancing and ceili dancing.

Food also plays a key role in the celebrations. While bacon and cabbage is widely associated with St Patricks Day, particularly in the United States, other traditional dishes include Irish stew, soda bread, colcannon and coddle.

Although the holiday was once a dry day in Ireland because of its religious significance, modern celebrations often include pints of Guinness, cider or Irish whiskey.

One old custom known as drowning the shamrock involves dropping a shamrock into the last glass of whiskey before making a toast to the saint.

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A global celebration

Today, St Patricks Day is celebrated far beyond Ireland. The largest parade in the world takes place in New York City, while Chicago famously dyes its river green each year using eco-friendly dye, a tradition dating back to 1962.

 Continuing the St. Patricks Day visit to the United States, Taoiseach Micheal Martin was in Philadelphia today to take part in the citys St. Patricks Day Parade  celebrating Irish heritage, community, and the deep ties between Ireland and the U.S. pic.twitter.com/P9kVoeU5ra  Government of Ireland (@GovIE) March 15, 2026

Major festivities also take place in cities such as Boston, Philadelphia and Savannah.

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Across Europe, London hosts a large St Patricks Day celebration at Trafalgar Square, while cities in Germany including Berlin, Hamburg and Munich organise their own events.

In Asia, Tokyo hosts the regions oldest and largest St Patricks Day parade. Irish communities across Australia also celebrate with parades, picnics and concerts.

Globally, more than 300 landmarks across 50 countries are illuminated in green on March 17, from the Colosseum in Rome to the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro.

Indian diaspora joins the celebration

The festival has also become a platform for cultural exchange. In Ireland, members of the Indian diaspora have begun participating in the celebrations.

This year, the collective Indian Ladies in Ireland took part in pre-parade festivities with a colourful performance that blended classical Indian dance with Bollywood choreography, set to a mix of Irish-themed and Indian music.

Their participation reflects the shared values of community, creativity and cultural exchange that increasingly define St Patricks Day celebrations around the world.

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The real challenge for Balen Shahs government will be converting a historic electoral mandate into effective governance at home while carefully balancing Nepals relations with India, China and the US

Nepals March 5 election was nothing short of a political earthquake. Balendra Shah, known popularly as Balen, and his Rastriya Swatantra partys rare thumping victory will have significant geopolitical implications in the coming days. Nepal stands at a geopolitical crossroads where India, China and the US each have their own interests. The challenge for the new government under Balens premiership will be balancing relations with three giants without leaning heavily on any.

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The rapper-turned-politician looks poised to become Nepals next prime minister after his Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) secured a commanding majority in the general election. Founded just four years ago, the party won 182 of the 275 parliamentary seatsthe largest mandate for any party in more than six decades. While Nepali voters had long expressed frustration with traditional parties, few anticipated such a decisive landslide.

Balen has secured the biggest landslide victory over former prime minister KP Sharma Oli in his own constituency. Shah received 68,348 votes, far surpassing Oli, who garnered 18,734 votes in Jhapa-5, according to the vote count released by the Election Commission of Nepal.

The election result reflects deep frustration with decades of political instability, corruption, underdevelopment, nepotism and youth unemployment. After years of Nepals politics being dominated by a triumvirate of parties, Nepali voters have rung the bell for change. Nepali voters arent just switching parties. They are replacing an old guard tainted by allegations of corruption and political impunity.

Since the abolition of the monarchy in 2008, the country has seen 14 governments, none completing a full five-year term. Youth unemployment hovers around 20 per cent, driving many young Nepalese abroad in search of work. Last year, 77 people were killed during last Septembers demonstrations, where youth protested against the ban on social media sites as well as bigger issues of corruption and nepotism. The protests plunged the country into a whirlwind of violence that left 76 people dead and several injured.

The challenge for Shah and the RSP now lies in translating electoral enthusiasm into effective governance. Shahs tenure as Kathmandu mayor demonstrated a pragmatic approach to urban managementremoving illegal constructions, improving public infrastructure, and streamlining waste collection. Scaling these initiatives nationally, alongside targeted investment in education and vocational training, will be critical to keeping young talent at home and restoring faith in government institutions.

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Foreign policy will be equally consequential. Nepal sits between two giant powers, China and India, each with strategic interests. The RSP government must navigate these relationships with care, maintaining Nepals sovereignty while fostering constructive bilateral relations. China will seek engagement on projects like the Belt and Road Initiative, while India is Nepals largest trading partner, investor and development partner. The two countries share a long and open border and are connected historically too. A stable Nepal under a single party is better for border management between two countries and the continuity and enhancement of key projects. India should now engage with new leadership to ensure stability and strengthen bilateral relations between two neighbours.

At the same time, Washingtons interest in Nepal goes beyond bilateral ties. The United States has sought to strengthen democratic institutions and diversify Nepals development partnerships, including through initiatives such as the Millennium Challenge Corporation compact on infrastructure  a $500 million programme that aims to boost road and power connectivity. For Nepal, diplomacy and practical partnershipsnot ideological alignmentwill determine the countrys regional position.

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Nepal must assert its sovereignty while crafting relations with India and China that are pragmatic and mutually beneficial. At the same time, deeper engagement with partners like the United States could broaden Nepals economic opportunities and institutional resilience.

Shah represents a new, nationalistic generation that emphasises equality in foreign relations and the need for pragmatic, interest-based engagement. For India, this means recognising Nepals agency and working toward sustainable collaboration rather than transactional influence.

Nepals domestic politics cannot be dissociated from border disputes and nationalist narratives. Perennial issues such as the KalapaniLimpiyadhura border have flared up periodically, testing and straining Kathmandus diplomacy with New Delhi. If the Shah government leans too heavily into nationalist posturing without following through on economic cooperation and partnership, it risks isolating Nepal at a time when investment and regional support are most needed.

Yet, despite the euphoria surrounding the election, the RSP remains largely untested at the national level. Governing Nepala country with a complex federal structure, entrenched bureaucratic inertia, and ongoing economic pressures. The partys ability to deliver on anti-corruption pledges, economic revival, and social services will define its real success. Nepali voters have signalled their desire for change and stability; failure to meet these expectations will likely see the partys mandate diminish, just as it did for the old guard.

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For now, Balen Shahs victory offers a window of opportunitya chance for a new political approach in Nepal that combines governance reform with balanced regional diplomacy. What Nepal under the new government needs is disciplined governance at home and mature diplomacy abroad, and that is a far steeper mountain to climb than winning elections.

(The writer is a columnist. His articles have appeared in various publications like The Independent, The Globe and Mail, South China Morning Post, The Straits Times, etc. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views.)
The Chinese Peoples Liberation Army transformed itself after witnessing the First Gulf War, which exposed the power of American high-tech warfare. Today, Beijing is once again studying the Iran war to draw lessons for a future conflict with the US in the Indo-Pacific

China is closely observing, studying and interpreting the American militarys manoeuvres and will innovate accordingly to counter the US in a potential war in the Indo-Pacific. Image: Reuters

Americas biggest rival, China, is watching the Iran War from the sidelinesat least, thats what it seems.

Beijing is performing a delicate balancing act. Neither can it overtly support Tehran nor side with the Gulf nations targeted by the Islamic nation.

In 2024, China bought more than 90 per cent of Irans oil worth $32.5 billion.

In the same year, China beat the US, the UK and the EU to become the Gulfs largest trading partnertrade with six countries in the region was valued at $257 billion.

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If China isnt helping Iran overtly/covertly, is it merely a mute spectator watching as American and Israeli advanced weaponry and AI-assisted targeting pummel the Iranian regime, which is surprisingly still standing and countering them with its ballistic missiles and cheap kamikaze drones?

No. China is closely observing, studying and interpreting the American militarys manoeuvres and will innovate accordingly to counter the US in a potential war in the Indo-Pacific.

China did it more than 35 years ago.

First Gulf War Shocked China

China, like other Asian nations, believed in the land, air and sea warfare doctrine.

Mao Zedongs Peoples War banked on the populations support, combating the enemy in a difficult terrain (mountains or forests), establishing revolutionary base areas and finally assuming control by capturing small and large cities.

In 1985, Deng Xiaoping changed the military doctrine by ordering the PLA to prepare for local wars under modern conditions, resulting in the first major troop reduction and speed, mobility and lethality. He transformed the PLA into a high-technology, networked force under a unified command with a focus on joint operations, increasing naval and air power and developing or procuring advanced weapons.

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Operation Desert Storm, the phase two of the First Gulf War (1990-91), was a massive shock to China, jolting it from its military complacency.

The US militarys coordination between its Army, Air Force and Navy and allied nations, the shock and awe techniques, precision bombing using laser-guided smart bombs, stealth bombers, cruise missiles, electronic warfare, and a modern command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) system pulverised the Iraqi military.

The operation was also the first space war. The USAFs Navigation System Using Timing and Ranging constellation of 16 satellites provided 19 hours of GPS coverage, helping US troops navigate, communicate and guide their weapons across the hundreds of kilometres of desert.

The US also established the fifth domain of warfare, cyber war, by neutralising Iraqi air defence, radars and the command and control system to achieve air dominance.

PLAs Radical Transformation in 30 Years

China was awestruck by Americas revolutionary warfighting tactics, realising that the PLA was unprepared to deal with.

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In the next three decades, the PLA underwent a radical transformation and modernisation by incorporating the space and cyber domains in its warfighting strategy.

Jian Zemin led the charge.

In 1993, he changed the military doctrine to winning Local Wars Under Modern, High-Tech Conditions. Troops were downsized, and the PLAA, PLAAF and PLAN equipped with modern weapons.

Under the principle of Three attacks, three defences, the PLA switched to attacking the aggressors stealth aircraft, cruise missiles and helicopters, and defending against precision strikes, electronic warfare and reconnaissance.

In 1999, Jiang modified the doctrine to winning Local Wars Under Modern Informatised Conditionsa synergy between land, air, sea, space and electromagnetic domains.

In 2004, Jiangs successor, Hu Jintao, changed the military doctrine to winning Local Wars Under Informatised Conditions with the development of C4ISR capabilities and the destruction of the enemys operational system by striking its combat networks and systems.

China viewed war not as a battle between units, arms, services or even specific weapon platforms, but a fight between the operational systems of adversaries.

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Outer space, cyberspace, electromagnetic and even psychological domains became part of the PLAs war space.

The PLA was instructed to master system-of-systems operations, which focuses on joint units with integrated command networks enabling key node strikes against the combat networks and systems of an advanced adversary.

Under Xi Jinping, the PLA underwent the biggest and most radical transformation.

He revised the military doctrine to win Informatised Local Wars in an information-based systems-of-systems war, where information is both the domain in which the war is fought and the central means to fight it.

Xi emphasised dominating the information, air and maritime domains with a special focus on information.

Chinas 2015 Defence White Paper

Under Xi, China has released three Defence White Papers: 2013, 2015 and 2019.

What started as a rude shock for the PLA in the form of the Gulf War and triggered the transformation in 1993, laid the groundwork in the 2015 Defence White Paper.

Outer space and cyberspace have become new commanding heights in strategic competition among all parties. The form of war is accelerating its evolution to informationisation.

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As major world powers are actively adjusting their national security strategies and defence policies, and speeding up their military transformation and force restructuring, they pose new severe challenges to Chinas military security, the paper reads.

Therefore, the PLA will constantly innovate strategic guidance and operational thoughts and pay close attention to the challenges in new security domains, and work hard to seize the strategic initiative in military competition.

Effectively securing Chinas overseas interests is one of the PLAs main defence aims.

The paper highlights that preparation for military struggle (PMS) will focus on winning informationised local wars, highlighting maritime military struggle and maritime PMS.

Integrated combat forces will be employed to prevail in system-vs-system operations featuring information dominance, precision strikes and joint operations.

The document lays out strategies for the PLAs four services.

The PLAA will elevate its capabilities for precise, multi-dimensional, trans-theatre, multi-functional and sustainable operations.

In the process of building small, multi-functional and modular units, the PLAA will adapt itself to tasks in different regions, develop the capacity of its combat forces for different purposes, and construct a combat force structure for joint operations.

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The PLAN will combine offshore waters defence with open seas protection and enhance its capabilities for strategic deterrence and counterattack, maritime manoeuvres, joint operations at sea, comprehensive defence and comprehensive support.

The PLAAF will shift its focus from territorial air defence to both defence and offence and build an air space defence force structure that can meet the requirements of informationised operations.

The PLA Second Artillery Force, which Xi renamed as PLA Rocket Force (PLARF) in 2016, will strive to transform itself in the direction of informationisation, and innovate weaponry and equipment and improve the force structure featuring a combination of both nuclear and conventional capabilities.

The force will strengthen its capabilities for strategic deterrence and nuclear counterattack, and medium- and long-range precision strikes.

Regarding the weaponisation of outer space, China will deal with security threats and challenges in that domain, and secure its space assets to serve its national economic and social development, and maintain outer space security.

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Highlighting cyberspace, the paper mentions that China will expedite the development of a cyber force, and enhance its capabilities of cyberspace situation awareness, cyber defence and support for the countrys endeavours in cyberspace.

In a nutshell, the main emphasis is the system vs system operations based on information systems.

The PLA will work to use information systems to integrate a wide range of operational forces, modules and elements into overall operational capacity, and gradually establish an integrated joint operational system in which all elements are seamlessly linked and various operational platforms perform independently and in coordination.

In the same year, Xi reduced the number of troops by 300,000 to 2 million and established the cyber, space and electronic warfare service branch, PLA Strategic Support Force (PLASSF).

The PLASSF aimed to prevent stovepipes, which means intelligence sharing without context within a government branch but not with other branches.

In 2016, the number of PLA Theatre Commands was reduced from seven to five to elevate its capabilities for precise, multi-dimensional, trans-theatre, multi-functional and sustainable operations.

Chinas 2019 Defence White Paper and AI

The 2019 Defence White Paper made Chinas defence aims clearer by including opposing and containing Taiwan independence and safeguarding security interests in outer space, electromagnetic space and cyberspace.

In continuing to strengthen the military in the Chinese way, efforts will be made to advance the integrated development of mechanisation and informationisation, speed up the development of intelligent military and create a modernised military force structure with Chinese characteristics.

The main strategic goal for the development of Chinas national defence and military in the new era is to achieve mechanisation by 2020 with significantly enhanced informationisation and greatly improved strategic capabilities.

Xi further changed the military doctrine to intelligentised warfare, wherein artificial intelligence (AI) plays a critical role in an integrated joint operation by the PLAA, PLAAF, PLAN, PLARF and space and cyber forces in a war over Taiwan or the South China Sea.

With a focus on the US in the Asia-Pacific and Taiwan independence separatist forces, the document mentioned that America is engaging in technological and institutional innovation in pursuit of absolute military superiority in the Asia-Pacific.

Mentioning the increasing use of AI, quantum information, big data, cloud computing and the Internet of Things by other powers, the paper reads that war is evolving in form towards informationised warfare, and intelligent warfare is on the horizon due to the rapid development in high-tech military technologies based on information technology.

Chinas military doctrine was to increasingly use AI in military conflicts, which will literally become the sixth dimension of warfare.

AI-enabled weapons, with humans in the background, will fight the war with such systems taking command and control and making decisions.

In February 2023, an AI-operated Chinese drone beat a human-operated UAV in a dogfight with its superior cutting-edge, close-range fighting in 90 seconds.

Taking advantage of the distance factor in a war with the US over Taiwan, China will use AI, which substantially speeds up decisions, to disrupt its command and control and launch hypersonic missiles and drones at American aircraft carriers. AI is also expected to boost Chinas cognitive warfare by using deepfakes to generate fake news, images and videos and misinformation and disinformation.

China is also looking into using AI to help in the guidance, detection and identification of targets by missiles. Beijing has already developed AI-enabled lethal autonomous weapons (LAWs). Drones like Wing Loong 1, 2 and ID, Hongdu GJ-11 and Caihong 4 (CH-4) can conduct both surveillance and attack.

In its annual report to Congress in 2023 titled Military and Security Developments Involving the Peoples Republic of China, the US Department of Defence said: In 2022, the PLA continued discussing a new core operational concept called Multi-Domain Precision Warfare, which aims to leverage a C4ISR network that incorporates advances in big data and artificial intelligence to rapidly identify key vulnerabilities in the US operational system and then combine joint forces across domains to launch precision strikes against those vulnerabilities.

According to the report, China is a global leader in AI technology and aims to become the world leader in AI by 2030. China has designated AI as one of its priorities, national-level S&T development areas and assesses that advances in AI and autonomy are central to intelligentised warfare, the PRCs concept of future warfare.

In 2024, Chinese scientists created an AI commander that mirrors a human commander in large-scale computer war games.

Confined to a lab at the Joint Operations College of the National Defence University, Shijiazhuang, Hebei province, the commander is a brilliant strategist who identifies new threats, crafts plans and makes optimal decisions based on the overall situation when battles falter or results fall short. It also learns and adapts from victories and defeats.

While the US Armys AI only serves as a commanders virtual staff, the Chinese AI commander will fill in for its human counterparts if they cant participate in a big virtual battle or exercise command authority.

In the same year, Xi disbanded the PLASSF in the second-most elaborate restructuring. He formed the Information Support Force (PLAISF), the Aerospace Force and the Cyberspace Force. The PLAISF is also responsible for electronic and psychological warfare.

Chinas Huge Leap in Outer Space

China is prepared for a war with the US not only on Earth but also in outer space.

Its a form of asymmetric warfare fought to cripple or destroy the enemys command, control, and intelligence capabilities, interrupt military communications and paralyse the launch or detection of missiles.

China has taken orbital combat to an entirely new levelsatellite dogfighting, or rendezvous and proximity operations.

Usually, satellite dogfighting includes spying and snapping other satellites, monitoring their signals and data and intercepting their communications to Earth.

In February 2022, an American spacecraft, USA 270, was involved in a dogfight with two experimental Chinese satellites, Shiyan 12-01 and Shiyan 12-02, just above the geostationary orbit. Shiyan 12-02 outmanoeuvred the US satellite.

Americas rivals aim to deny, disrupt, degrade and destroy US space capabilities, according to General Michael Guetlein, the then-Vice-Chief of US Space Force, said in March 2025.

Guetlein, without naming China, said that three Shiyan-24C experimental satellites and two Chinese experimental space objects, the Shijian-6 05A/B, practised dogfighting in low Earth orbit in 2024.

They are practising tactics, techniques and procedures to do on-orbit space operations from one satellite to another, he said.

There used to be a capability gap between our near peers and us, mainly driven by the technological advancement of the United States. That capability gap used to be massive. That capability gap is significantly narrowing.

PLAs satellite dogfighting isnt restricted to traditional uses. Besides missiles and ground-based lasers that can target satellites, Chinas satellites can grab other satellites.

According to US Space Force Chief General Chance Saltzman, Chinas counterspace operations include satellites that can physically pull (grab) other satellites out of orbit.

China is investing in all six categories of counterspace weapons: ground-based jammers, kinetic weapons and directed energy weapons, and their space-based versions. The US is only focused on ground-based counterspace weapons.

Chinas Military Superiority in Indo-Pacific

After the Gulf War, the focus of Chinas military modernisation was the Indo-Pacific, where a potential war with the US would be fought over Taiwan or the South China Sea.

One of the earliest war games planned by the RAND Corporation in the early 2000s to find out the winner in a US-China war over Taiwan, 10 years later, revealed that Beijing would use what the Pentagon refers to as A2/AD (anti-access, area denial) to prevent an Iraq-like American military build-up.

RAND concluded this after studying classified US intelligence on Chinas military plans and weapons programmes, which also showed how it had minutely studied the two Gulf Wars and transformed accordingly.

David Ochmanek, a senior RAND analyst and former deputy assistant secretary of defence for force development, remarked that the US was defeated by China in every Taiwan war game because in that scenario, time is a precious commodity and it plays to Chinas strength in terms of proximity and capabilities.

Another eye-opening Pentagon war game based on 2030 showed in 2020 that the US would not be able to defend Taiwan from a Chinese invasion and suffer capital losses with the PLA targeting Guam. US defence sources told The Times that every US base in the Indo-Pacific is at risk of a Chinese attack.

The PLA will rely on its space and airborne surveillance and reconnaissance, gigantic arsenal of precision-guided longest-range missiles, submarines, militarised man-made islands in the South China Sea, PLAAF and PLANwhich is the largest in the worldto attack the American bases in Guam and Diego Garcia, ports and aircraft carriers in the region.

In 2018 and 2020, two other war games showed the same results with China targeting Guam and the US losing.

After the 2018 war game, I distinctly remember one of our gurus of war gaming standing in front of the Air Force secretary and chief of staff and telling them that we should never play this war game scenario [of a Chinese attack on Taiwan] again because we know what is going to happen, Lieutenant General S Clinton Hinote, deputy chief of staff for strategy, integration and requirements, USAF, told Yahoo News in an interview in March 2021.

In the September 2020 war game, less than a year after the Covid-19 outbreak, China used biological weapons to attack US bases and warships in the Indo-Pacific and invaded Taiwan under cover of a military exercise like the Russian build-up ahead of the Ukraine invasion.

The simulation ended with Chinese missiles hitting US bases and warships in the region and an aerial blitzkrieg and amphibious onslaught on Taiwan.

Chinas response will be a devastating pre-emptive attack in the first few days of a war with the US over Taiwan. Many Chinese observers suggest that missile strikes on [US] air bases would be part of the opening salvos of a war, RAND said in 2019.

China will unleash a volley of missilesthe most varied stockpile of 2,000 land-based, cruise and anti-ship weapons in the worldon Guam and Diego Garcia.

China would adopt a Pearl Harbour-like bombing strategy, Hinote told the Air Force Magazine.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies estimates that the PLA had a minimum of 425 missile launchers capable of hitting the US bases. Not only Diego Garcia but the whole of the US is within the striking range of Chinas longest-range nuclear ICBM DF-5C, which carries 10 MIRVs and has a range of 20,000 km.

Chinese ballistic missiles were designed to target US bases in the region to gain dominance in a wars initial stages.

On 17 April 2020, the US ended its 2004 Continuous Bomber Presence programme on Guam as the DF-26 IRBM, or the Guam Killer, could hit the parked B-52, B1 and B2 strategic bombers.

The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission said in its November 2016 report: Foremost among Chinas military assets capable of reaching Guam, the DF-26 IRBM represents the culmination of decades of advancement to Chinas conventional ballistic missile forces.

In its report titled Military and Security Developments Involving the Peoples Republic of China 2020, the US department of defence said that the DF-26 is capable of conducting precision strikes in the Western Pacific, the Indian Ocean, and the South China Sea from mainland China.

Besides, the PLAAFs H-6K bomber can also target Guam with its Changjian-20 cruise missiles.

China can also strike US aircraft carriers with its MRBM DF-21D and the DF-26B, or the carrier killers, built specifically to destroy Americas floating airbases.

Over the years, China realised that ballistic and cruise missiles are critical to deter or deny an immediate victory to the enemy.

Iran is holding on against the vastly superior US and Israel militaries only because of its missiles and drones.

The massive gap between Chinese and American missile arsenals prompted US President Donald Trump to pull out of the Cold War-era Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty with Russia in 2019. The pact had banned nuclear and non-nuclear missiles with ranges of 500-5,500 km in 1987.

While the treaty bound the US, China accelerated the production of missiles with frightening ranges keeping in mind any future challenge posed by American aircraft carriers in the Indo-Pacific.

There is a considerable gap even between Chinese and US missiles that werent in the Treatys range restriction. Beijing has two supersonic anti-ship cruise missiles, YJ-12 (400 km) and YJ-18 (540 km), compared to the US Harpoon, which has a maximum range of only about 240 km.

China Closely Studying Iran War

A recent CNN report mentioned that US intelligence suggests that China could provide Iran with financial help, spare parts and missile components. So far, theres been no evidence of China moving in that direction.

However, two recent incidents show that China closely monitored the US military build-up before the war and continues to observe the volatile developments. Whether Iran is using the Chinese satellite imagery to target US military assets isnt clear.

First, Shanghai-headquartered MizarVision, a private AI entity specialising in generating geospatial intelligence, tracked US military assets a few days before the war and posted them on social media, including X and Weibo.

Satellite images with precise identification and location of warplanes, AWACS planes and transport jets in US bases and those of allies, Carrier Strike Groups (CSGs) on the move, missile air defence batteries and troop configurations were posted online.

Photos of Patriot air defence batteries at the Al-Udeid airbase in Qatar, F-22 Raptors at Israels Ovda airbase, E-3 AWACS jets and Bombardier E-11s at Saudi Arabias Prince Sultan airbase and the USS Gerald R. Ford and USS Abraham Lincoln CSGs were in the public domain.

MizarVision also posted photos of Diego Garcia with F-16 Fighting Falcons, Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers, C-17 Globemaster IIIs and a C-5 Galaxy.

Iran attacked several US military assets, like Qatars Al-Udeid Air Base and the AN/TPY-2 radar system used by the US THAAD missile defence system in Jordans Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, whose pictures were posted.

Despite having no satellites, MizarVision uses AI to scan and analyse available commercial imagery. Vantor, Planet Labs and Airbus Defence & Space sell satellite imagery.

The timing of the image dump isnt a coincidence. The possibility of MizarVision releasing such images at the direction of Chinese authorities is quite high.

A possible source of the images could be Chang Guang Satellite Technologys indigenous Jilin-1 constellation.

If Jilin-1 is indeed watching US military operations, the goal is much larger than merely providing intelligence to Iran.

China is gaining valuable insight into US warfighting by observing and studying the movements of aircraft and CSGs, missile trajectories, missile defence, strike patterns and logistics that could be useful in a potential conflict with the US in the Indo-Pacific.

By studying and analysing data collected by 24x7 surveillance of American operations, like when the US responds to an Iranian missile or drone attack and when warplanes are dispatched, the PLA can reconstruct patterns.

Besides, Chinas Yaogan group of military reconnaissance satellites have optical imaging and electronic intelligence capabilities.

Second, analysts have said that Iran is striking targets more accurately compared to the 12-day war with Israel last June likely due to Chinas BeiDou satellite navigation system.

BeiDou, launched in July 2020, is Chinas answer to Americas GPS.

While the GPS, Russias GLONASS and the EUs Galileo system each have 24 satellites, BeiDou has 45, according to Al Jazeeras AJ Labs data team.

Theo Nencini, a specialist in China-Iran relations and a research fellow at the ChinaMed Project, a research platform, told Al Jazeera that Iran reportedly signed an MoU in 2015 to integrate BeiDou2 into its military infrastructure, particularly to improve missile guidance with signals far more accurate than those provided by the civilian GPS.

The war is another learning lesson for China.

The multi-domain conflict, especially the use of AI tools of Palantir (Maven), Anthropic (Claude) and Anduril (Latice) to target Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his top aides, has immense significance for China, which will map the details directly onto an Indo-Pacific war with the US.

According to Carice Witte, founder and executive director of the SIGNAL Group, China is studying US and Israeli capabilities, but the tech isnt their top concern.

What matters most to them are the strategic implications, and how to counter them in the long term, she told The Jerusalem Post.

(The writer is a freelance journalist with more than two decades of experience and comments primarily on foreign affairs. He tweets as @FightTheBigots. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the writer. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views.)
US President Donald Trump accused Iran of using artificial intelligence to spread disinformation about its wartime success and public support. He also criticised media coverage of the conflict, claiming AI-generated images and reports were being used to mislead the public.

US President Donald Trump on Sunday accused Iran of deploying artificial intelligence as a disinformation weapon to exaggerate its wartime successes and public support.

AI can be very dangerous, we have to be very careful with it, Trump said to reporters on Air Force One shortly after he made a post on his Truth Social platform where he accused Western media outlets without evidence of close coordination with Iran to spread AI-generated fake news.

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Fake Iranian rally

The comment came amid people protesting after Irans Supreme leader Ali Khameneis death, which Trump called fake and AI generated.

The remarks came as tensions escalated between the Federal Communications Commission and broadcasters after Donald Trump criticised media coverage of the US-Israel war with Iran. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr warned that networks failing to correct course could risk losing their licenses.

Trump vs news outlets

Trump has always targeted journalists and reporters and accused media outlets of lying or misbehaving when he finds him in danger or sees as critical of him, and he has previously called for removing the licenses of broadcast outlets he views as unfair.

In a social media post today, Trump said some reports suggested Iranian attacks had damaged US military equipment, including refuelling planes and ships, but he insisted these claims were false. He also said images showing the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) aircraft carrier burning at sea were fake and that the ship was never attacked.

He also accused parts of the US media agencies, including reports referenced from The Wall Street Journal, of spreading misinformation. Trump argued that such reporting damages public trust and said some media organisations should face serious consequences for spreading false information.

Iran has long been known as a Master of Media Manipulation and Public Relations. They are militarily ineffective and weak, but are really good at feeding the very appreciative Fake News Media false information, Trump wrote.
Indian-origin software engineer Aman Gottumukkala, founder of AI coding startup Firebender, has joined Elon Musks artificial intelligence company xAI. Musk welcomed him to the team after Gottumukkala announced he would work on advanced coding AI systems to automate software development.

An Indian-origin software engineer and startup founder, Aman Gottumukkala, has joined xAI, the artificial intelligence firm founded by Elon Musk, to work on advanced AI systems designed to automate software development.

Gottumukkala announced the move on the social media platform X, saying he will focus on building next-generation coding AI that can automatically write and assist with software programming. The Texas-based engineer is widely known for founding Firebender, an artificial intelligence-powered coding assistant created specifically for Android developers.

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In his post, Gottumukkala said he will work with teams associated with both xAI and SpaceX to develop powerful coding AI systems capable of accelerating programming tasks.

For the last couple of years I founded the most widely used coding agent for Android, scaling it to millions in revenue with a team of three, he wrote. Ive watched model capabilities compound at a staggering rate, and were clearly on the brink of recursive superintelligence.

I'm joining @SpaceX and @xai to build the best coding AI.



For the last couple years I founded the most widely used coding agent for Android, scaling it to millions in revenue with a team of 3.



I've watched model capabilities compound at a staggering rate and we're clearly on  Aman Gottumukkala (@AmanGotchu) March 15, 2026

He added that building advanced AI systems is one of the most important technological challenges today and requires massive computational resources and talent. Musk responded briefly to his announcement on X with a message welcoming him to the company.

Success with Firebender

Before joining xAI, Gottumukkala gained recognition in the developer community through Firebender, a startup focused on helping programmers automate routine coding tasks.

Firebender functions as an AI coding assistant that integrates directly into development tools such as Android Studio and JetBrains IDEs. The platform helps developers write, organise and manage code more efficiently by automating repetitive programming work and suggesting improvements in real time.

Despite having a team of just three people, the startup reportedly scaled quickly and generated millions in revenue. Its rapid growth attracted attention among developers and investors, especially because of the companys small size and specialised focus on Android programming tools.

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The company was also backed by Y Combinator, one of Silicon Valleys most well-known startup accelerators, which has helped launch several successful technology companies.

Background and early career

Gottumukkala studied computer science at Texas A&M University, where he completed his bachelors degree between 2017 and 2021. Before attending university, he was part of the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science, a selective programme for students specialising in science and technology.

Prior to founding Firebender, he worked as a software engineer at Paradigm, contributing to technology projects connected to the cryptocurrency and blockchain ecosystem.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Gottumukkala was also selected as a KP Fellow through the Kleiner Perkins Fellowship, a competitive programme that connects promising engineers and startup founders with leading venture capital firms in Silicon Valley. The fellowship has produced several successful entrepreneurs in the technology industry.
OpenAIs proposed adult mode for ChatGPT has sparked intense debate among advisors and staff, raising concerns about emotional dependence, user safety and the risks of explicit AI conversations.

Artificial intelligence companies are racing to make chatbots more humanlike, but one of the latest ideas from OpenAI has triggered a serious internal debate about how far that realism should go.

The company has been exploring a feature often described as an  adult mode for ChatGPT, which would allow the chatbot to engage in sexually explicit text conversations with adult users. While the concept is still under development, it has already sparked concern among safety experts and advisors connected to the company, according to the Wall Street Journal report.

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The most obvious risk is that the feature could create new areas of conflict, especially around emotional dependence, user protection and the exposure of minors to explicit material.

The disagreement highlights a growing tension inside the artificial intelligence industry, as chatbots become more conversational and emotionally engaging, companies must decide where to draw the boundaries.

The internal debate over AI intimacy

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has previously suggested that technology companies should avoid acting as moral gatekeepers for adult users.

The argument is straightforward. If two consenting adults are free to discuss mature topics online, then a chatbot should not necessarily be restricted from engaging in similar conversations.

But advisors involved in internal discussions have reportedly raised concerns about the psychological effects such interactions might create.

Members of OpenAIs advisory council on well-being have warned that many users already treat AI chatbots as companions or confidants. Millions of people now use systems like ChatGPT for everything from casual conversation to emotional support.

Introducing sexual or romantic dialogue into those interactions could intensify the sense of attachment some users feel towards the technology.

The threat of the always-available nature of chatbots could encourage vulnerable individuals to form deep emotional connections with artificial systems instead of seeking real-world relationships.

This concern is not purely theoretical. Previous incidents involving chatbots from other companies have shown that users can develop powerful emotional bonds with AI personalities. In some extreme cases, lawsuits have alleged that those relationships contributed to serious emotional distress.

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For OpenAI, the challenge is balancing user freedom with the potential psychological impact of increasingly intimate interactions with machines.

Another major obstacle facing the proposed adult mode is ensuring that underage users cannot access explicit conversations.

OpenAI has been testing systems designed to estimate whether a user is likely to be an adult. These tools analyse behavioural signals and other indicators to predict a persons age.

However, people familiar with the testing process say the technology is far from perfect. In some cases, the system has mistakenly classified minors as adults.

Even a relatively small margin of error could become significant on a platform used by millions of people, including teenagers. Advisors have warned that if the safeguards fail, large numbers of younger users could potentially gain access to explicit AI conversations.

Grok AI backlash

On the similar lines, which should have been a turning point for ChatGPT adult mode, Elon Musks AI chatbot was under scrutiny last week. Musks artificial intelligence company, xAI, created headlines after its Grok chatbot was accused of generating manipulated sexually explicit images of women, including minors.

The controversy began when users started sharing highly realistic edited images created using Grok on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. Several of these visuals portrayed women in revealing outfits, humiliating scenarios or with fabricated injuries, sparking anger among online communities and advocacy groups.

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In some instances, the manipulated images reportedly involved underage individuals, intensifying concerns about the potential misuse of generative AI tools. The incident has prompted reactions from regulators and digital rights groups across multiple regions, from Europe to Asia.

In response to the backlash, xAI said it had introduced new restrictions on Groks image editing capabilities. The company claims it has deployed additional technological safeguards designed to prevent users from modifying photos of real people to produce explicit or revealing content.

Despite these measures, concerns remain. Some countries have moved to block or restrict access to Grok, while regulators continue to examine whether existing safeguards are sufficient.

Musk has acknowledged that the company has strengthened Groks guardrails, but tests by users suggest that the system may still be capable of producing similar manipulated images.

The backlash for Grok should have been an eye-opener for OpenAI as well. But, it seems there is an angle to debate upon.

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Early leaks suggest Samsungs upcoming Galaxy Z Fold 8 may feature its largest foldable battery yet, while rumours also point to a redesigned wider foldable with a tablet-like display.

FILE PHOTO: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 phones are displayed during an event in New York, U.S., July 8, 2025. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon/File Photo

Samsungs next generation of foldable smartphones is already generating buzz months ahead of its expected launch, thanks to a fresh round of leaks hinting at battery upgrades and possible design changes.

While foldable phones have steadily improved over the years, battery life and charging speeds remain key concerns for many users. Now, newly surfaced information suggests that Samsung may be planning to push the battery capacity of its flagship foldable further, though not every aspect of the device may see a dramatic upgrade.

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The leaks also point towards a possible shift in design strategy for Samsungs foldable lineup, with reports hinting at a wider form factor aimed at improving everyday usability.

Samsung Galaxy Fold 8 battery leak

A report from GalaxyClub suggests that the upcoming Galaxy Z Fold 8 could arrive with a 5,000mAh battery. If this information proves accurate, it would mark roughly a 13 per cent increase compared with the battery capacity of the Galaxy Z Fold 7.

That would make it the largest battery ever used in Samsungs Galaxy Z Fold series so far, although it would still fall short of the 5,600mAh battery reportedly featured in the Galaxy Z TriFold.

It remains unclear whether Samsung will also introduce faster charging with the Fold 8.

Previous Galaxy Z Fold models have been capped at 25W wired fast charging. However, the company may finally consider an upgrade, possibly bringing support for 45W or even 60W charging. Such a move would align the foldable more closely with Samsungs flagship Galaxy S26 Ultra, which already supports 60W fast charging.

Samsung Galaxy Fold 8: What to expect

Battery upgrades may not be the only change Samsung is preparing for its next foldable.

Another leak, shared on the Chinese social media platform Weibo by tipster Digital Chat Station, suggests that Samsung could be developing a wider foldable smartphone with a slightly different display strategy.

According to the tipster, the device may feature a 7.6-inch main screen when unfolded. That would technically be smaller than the 8-inch inner display seen on the Galaxy Z Fold 7, but the difference may come down to a redesigned aspect ratio.

Earlier reports have suggested Samsung could experiment with a shorter, wider shape that resembles a tablet-style 4:3 format. Such a layout could make the cover display easier to type on and offer a more comfortable experience for reading, browsing and watching videos when the device is opened.

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The broader foldable phone market is also expected to become more competitive in the coming years.

Industry insiders believe that Samsung and Apple could lead the global foldable smartphone segment by 2026. Meanwhile, companies such as Huawei and other Chinese manufacturers may dominate the category within China.

If those predictions prove correct, Samsungs upcoming foldable devices will likely play a key role in determining how the next phase of the foldable smartphone race unfolds.
Elon Musks owned satellite-based internet service, Starlink, is now accessible in Kuwait, amid the ongoing US-Israel war with Iran. Users can now access and purchase the Starlink kits to use the service.

The Iranian government is attempting to crack down on Starlink. This frame grab from videos taken between January 9 and January 11, 2026, and circulating on social media purportedly shows images from a morgue with dozens of bodies and mourners after crackdown on the outskirts of Iran's capital, in Kahrizak. AP

Teslo CEO and billionaire Elon Musks owned satellite-based internet service, Starlink, is now accessible in Kuwait, Musk announced it on his social media platform X. Users can now access and purchase the Starlink kits to use the service.

The move comes amid the ongoing crisis in West Asia, and continuous attacks by Iran at the Gulf nations, with Tehran targeting critical infrastructure and military sites in the country, including the Kuwait International Airport.

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Musk wrote on X, Starlink now available in Kuwait! The official Starlink X account shared an image, displaying that entire country was now under its coverage.

According to the Starlink website, it has received approvals from Kuwaits Communications and Information Technology Regulatory Authority (CITRA).

Kuwait under drone attack

Several drones struck Kuwaits International Airport which led to no internet connectivity in the state which led to further disruptions earlier this month. Though CITRA stated that the issue was not related to the conflict.

How to access Starlink and its different plans?

Users can sign up in the Starlink app through the Starlink website. The plan is priced 31 KWD (which is roughly Rs 9,300) per month. One can also use the mini kit which is available at 92 KWD (Rs 27,600) or opt for a standard kit that will cost around 122 KWD (Rs 36,700).

The service is providing a first month free service. Which will help the consumers understand the facility and become more active about the technological change.

What is Starlink?

Starklink is a satellite-based internet service that uses about thousands of low Earth orbit satellites, which is operated by SpaceX. It delivers internet to remote or underserved locations via a dish antenna. It enables streaming, gaming, and video calls, bypassing traditional cable infrastructure.

It is primarily focused on providing fast data speeds in remote regions with low density.

In January this year, Starlink also received approval from the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to deploy 7,500 additional second-generation satellites.

Starlink in India?

Musk has been eyeing India as the biggest market for the new technological advancements, the Starlink website showed how users can buy the service for Rs 8,600 per month.

Tesla officially entered the Indian market in 2025, following this Starlink VP Lauren Dreyer wrote on X, Were eager to connect the people of India with Starlinks high-speed internet, and our teams are focused on obtaining final government approvals to turn service (and the website) on.
The $12 billion cost cited by US appears to reflect only the direct military spending by it in the conflict. Economists believe that a prolonged war could cost it between $40-$95 billion.

The West Asia conflict that started on February 28 has costed around $12 billion to the United States till now, US President Donald Trumps top economic adviser said. He also dismissed any speculation that the war may pose a significant economic threat to the US.

Speaking on the CBSs Face the Nation, Kevin Hassett, director of the White House National Economic Council also said that financial markets pricing future energy contracts were anticipating a swift resolution and that has led to lower energy prices. However, the claim appears to be in contradiction with certain media reports that say the fuel costs in US have surged significantly.

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Hassett said that any disruption to Gulf shipping would hurt countries which are dependent on the oil passed from the Strait of Hormuz, far more than the US. America is not going to have its economy harmed by what the Iranians are doing, he said, adding that unlike the 1970s, the US is now a major producer of oil. We have lots and lots of oil.

On question that if the administration is going to ask Congress for more war funds, Hassett said, I think right now weve got what we need, whether we have to go back to Congress for more is something that I think that Russ Vought and OMB will look into, but the latest number I was briefed on was $12 [billion], and so its consistent.

Earlier there were reports that the White House would soon submit a request to Congress for additional funding for the war. Some officials have said the request could be for $50 billion, while others have said that estimate seems low, an AFP report had said.

More to cost

The cost cited by Hassett appears to reflect only the direct military spending by the US administration. This includes the money spent on bombs, missiles, aircraft operations, naval deployment, intelligence and logistics.

However, because of the prolonged blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, there appears to be several secondary costs attached to it. That includes higher oil prices, shipping insurance spikes, disrupted trade routes, and rising defence stockpile replenishment.

Economists believe that a prolonged conflict could cost $40-$95 billion to the US depending on escalation and duration.

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Earlier, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has also warned that the bombardment of Iran is about to surge dramatically.

Since the conflict started, at least 1,444 people have been killed in Iran. Thirteen US soldiers have also been killed, and more than 140 have been wounded. The conflict has also spread to Lebanon, and Gulf countries continue to face repeated drone and strikes by Iran.
Twenty Thai crew members returned home after their cargo ship was attacked in the Strait of Hormuz, while three colleagues remain stranded on the damaged vessel.

This handout photo taken on March 11, 2026 and released by the Royal Thai Navy shows smoke rising from the Thai bulk carrier 'Mayuree Naree' near the Strait of Hormuz after an attack. (AFP)

At least 20 Thai crew members from a cargo ship attacked in the Strait of Hormuz arrived in Thailand on Monday, while three of their colleagues remain stranded on the vessel in the Gulf.

The sailors landed at Thailands main international airport early Monday morning and were immediately escorted away by officials without speaking to the media gathered there.

The Thai-registered cargo ship Mayuree Naree had been hit by two projectiles on Wednesday while transiting through the Gulf waterway after departing from a port in the United Arab Emirates.

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Iran says vessel ignored warnings

Irans Revolutionary Guards said they had struck the Thai ship, along with a Liberia-flagged vessel, in the strait because the ships had ignored warnings.

The amid rising tensions in the region and has raised concerns over the safety of shipping in the strategic route.

Families wait for returning sailors

Family members of the crew have been waiting anxiously for news following the incident.

The wife of one of the returning sailors, who identified herself as Bass, said she had not yet been able to see her husband.

We are all afraid, but they are employees  if they refuse to go (out to sea), they wont get paid, the 32-year-old woman said.

I dont know where they went or when they will return home. The company hasnt told me anything, she added.

Company promises support for the crew

The vessels owner, Precious Shipping, said it would provide welfare support for the crew, including medical examinations and mental health assessments, according to a statement released on Monday.

The company said its highest priority remained the continued efforts to locate the three crew members who are still missing.

It had earlier stated that the three sailors were believed to be trapped in the engine room, which was damaged during the attack.

Thailand is seeking assistance from two other nations to help locate the three stranded crew members, Foreign Ministry Deputy Spokeswoman Maratee Andamo told reporters at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok.

The Omani navy rescued the 20 sailors on Wednesday, the Thai navy said last week.

The incident comes amid escalating tensions in the region. Since strikes by the United States and Israel against Iran more than two weeks ago ignited the Middle East war, the Islamic republic has launched attacks against its oil-exporting neighbours.

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These developments have threatened shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, a key maritime route through which about a fifth of global oil supplies usually pass, and have plunged the global energy economy into crisis.
Multiple explosions shook Kabul and nearby areas on Monday night as tensions with Pakistan escalated, with residents reporting fighter jets flying at low altitudes over parts of western Kabul.

Smoke rises up from the site of explosions in Kabul, amid heavy border clashes between Afghanistan and Pakistan. File Image/ AFP

Multiple explosions rocked Kabul and surrounding areas on Monday night amid escalating tensions with Pakistan. Residents reported fighter jets flying at low altitudes over parts of western Kabul shortly after the blasts.

According to sources cited by CNN-News18, at least two explosions were heard in Kabuls 5th district. Security forces and emergency vehicles were dispatched to the affected areas as authorities began assessing the situation.

The Taliban government in Afghanistan accused Pakistan of violating Afghan airspace. The Pakistani military regime has once again violated Afghanistans airspace and targeted a drug rehabilitation hospital in Kabul, resulting in the death and injury of addicts undergoing treatment, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said.

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We condemn this crime in the strongest terms and consider such an act to violate universally recognised humanitarian principles, he added.

Sources also reported that Afghanistans Ministry of Defence headquarters came under attack. Initial indications suggest the explosions occurred near security installations, though this has not been officially confirmed.

The situation in Kabul remains tense, with residents noting continued aircraft activity over the city. In recent weeks, the Pakistani military has struck Kabul multiple times, citing Afghan Taliban sheltering militants responsible for attacks across the border.

Earlier, Pakistan fired more than 270 rockets and artillery shells within 48 hours, prompting retaliatory strikes by Afghanistan on several border security checkpoints.

Pakistan has repeatedly accused Afghanistan of allowing militant groups, particularly the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, to operate from its territory and launch attacks inside Pakistan. Kabul has consistently denied the allegations.

The latest airstrikes triggered a cycle of retaliatory attacks, drone strikes, and cross-border clashes along the shared frontier. Earlier this week, Pakistan carried out airstrikes targeting what it described as high-value Taliban and TTP positions, which the Afghan Taliban condemned, accusing Islamabad of killing civilians and warning the strikes will not go unanswered.

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After a mysterious lull of nearly two weeks, China has resumed provocative aerial missions toward Taiwan. Ahead of the US President Donald Trumps visit to China and an arms sale to Taiwan, the Chinese behaviour has troubled officials and analysts as they have struggled to understand if its a warning or an olive branch.

After a mysterious lull of nearly two weeks, China has resumed provocative aerial missions toward Taiwan.

China on Sunday sent 26 aircraft toward Taiwan and 16 of them entered the countrys air defence identification zone (ADIZ), the self-ruled islands defence ministry said in a statement.

Ahead of the US President Donald Trumps visit to China and an arms sale to Taiwan, the Chinese behaviour  halting incursions and then resuming the provocations has troubled officials and analysts, who have struggled to understand if its a warning or a sign of potential cooperation.

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26 sorties of PLA aircraft and 7 PLAN vessels operating around Taiwan detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today. 16 out of 26 sorties entered Taiwans northern, central and southwestern part ADIZ. #ROCArmedForces have monitored the situation and responded. pic.twitter.com/AT4VwIyVhQ   Ministry of National Defense, ROC(Taiwan)  (@MoNDefense) March 15, 2026

China considers the self-ruling island of Taiwan as a breakaway province and is committed to its merger with the mainland  forcefully if required. In recent years, China has become much more aggressive and mounted frequent aerial incursions and conducted regular drills that simulate attacks on the self-ruled island.

But, in a sharp break from the yearslong pattern, China sent only two aircraft near the island in one instance between February 28 and March 09  a sharp reduction from 86 aircraft that China moved toward Taiwan in the period last year.

Just weeks ago, China conducted largest-ever drills on December 29-30, simulating blockading and subjugating Taiwan.

The graphic shows Chinese aircraft activity toward Taiwan in 2026. (Data: PLA Tracker)

Officials and analysts have come up with theories about Chinese behaviour.

Taiwanese Defence Minister Wellington Koo told Wall Street Journal that we cannot rely on a single indicator like the absence of aircraft. Noting that the continued presence of Chinese warships even as warplanes were absent suggests Chinese military was still surround us daily.

Koo stressed that the Taiwanese military remains vigilant.

A ploy to push US away from Taiwan?

Some analysts have said that Chinas reduction in aerial activity could be a ploy to condition the United States to a reduced threat environment around Taiwan and nudge it into reducing focus on Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific.

Others have said that China could be trying to signal its willingness to reduce provocations or aggressions in exchange of some concessions  even if short-term. Notably, China and the United States are currently holding trade talks and are working to formalise the trade truce announced last year.

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Ben Lewis of, PLATracker, which documents Chinese military activity, told Journal that given reports that the United States has delayed a major arms package to Taiwan, it is a realistic possibility that there is a quid pro quo regarding creating positive conditions for a productive dialogue.

But what concerns some is that there is no explanation at all for such behaviour.

Everybody has a theory, but nobody has an answer, Drew Thompson, a former Pentagon official responsible for China and Taiwan and now a senior fellow at Singapores S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, told Journal.

What concerns me is we dont know what it means. Its perpetual threats without communication, without dialogue, without thresholds, said Thompson.
Pakistan argues that its attacks on Afghanistan are specifically targeted on the hideouts of Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The Taliban government, however, maintains that its territory is not being used to threaten the security of any country.

Pakistani soldiers patrol near the PakistanAfghanistan border crossing in Chaman on February 27, 2026. Photo: File/AFP

At a time when the West Asia is boiling due to the ongoing conflict between Iran and US-Israel, there is another conflict happening in the regional neigbhbourhood, between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

On Sunday, Pakistan attacked militant hideouts in Afghanistans Kandhar province, drawing sharp response from Kabul. Pakistan has referred the conflict as an open war. Responding to it, the Afghan government spokesperson, Zabihullah Mujahid, said, Pakistan was continuing to invade and fuel the fire of war.

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To reconcile the differences between two countries, China has stepped in with a offer of mediation. Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said that China has been working through its own channels to mediate in the ongoing conflict.

Previously, Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi had also held separate bilateral talks with the Pakistani foreign minister Ishaq Dar and Afghan foreign minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi to reconcile their differences.

China said that it has kept the line of communication open in both the countries. Both Afghanistan and Pakistan have expressed appreciation of Chinas efforts, Jian said.

A history of conflicts

Hostilities between the two countries are not new. The answer to- who started the conflict, depends on who you ask.

Pakistan argues that its attacks on Afghanistan are specifically targeted on the hideouts of Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which is responsible for launching several terrorist attacks on Islamabad. Pakistan has previously launched cross-border strikes on Afghanistan in October, 2025.

The Taliban government, however, maintains that its territory is not being used to threaten the security of any country, while claiming that the Pakistans actions are unprovoked. In the latest standoff Taliban has launched drone attacks on Pakistan, drones being a cost effective manner of warfare.

Trade between the two countries has also been closed since October 2025, the longest in decades which is primarily affecting small businesses in Afghanistan, and the availability of supplies, including crucial medicines.

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Other key issues between Pakistan and Afghanistan are:

Durand Line dispute : The 2,640-kilometer border between Pakistan and Afghanistan is a point of contention between two the countries. Afghanistan doesnt recognise the border arguing that its a coerced colonial creation that illegally bisects Afghan territory.

Trade control : Pakistan hasnt allowed Afghanistans proposal to open transit trade routes between India and Afghanistan.

Pashtun Nationalism: Demands for Pashtunistan, aiming to merge Pashtun regions of Pak with Afghanistan, has also been a source of conflict between the two countries.

The latest conflict between the two countries has added to the concerns about regional stability as the US-Israeli conflict with Iran engulfs the West Asia region and beyond.
Ukraine is using the ongoing Iran war to showcase its battlefield-tested drone defence systems and expand its role as a global security partner, offering its technology to West Asian countries in exchange for funding and advanced equipment.

No peace agreement resulted, though Zelenskyy said the discussions were productive.

The ongoing war involving the US and Israel with Iran is creating an unexpected opportunity for Ukraine to expand its role on the global security stage, as Kyiv begins offering its battlefield-tested defence technologies to partners in West Asia  marking a shift from aid-dependent nation to emerging security dealmaker.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv is ready to share its anti-drone technology with Gulf countries in exchange for investment and advanced technologies. The proposal builds on Ukraines years of experience countering Russian drone attacks during the war with Russia.

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Ukrainian teams have already been deployed to Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and a US military base in Jordan to help counter Iranian drone threats as the conflict escalates.

Zelenskyy proposes joint production with US

Zelenskyy has also proposed a deal with the United States to jointly scale up production of anti-drone systems. The plan aims to expand manufacturing capacity while opening new markets for Ukrainian defence technology.

From aid recipient to security partner

Analysts say the Iran conflict has significantly altered Ukraines global image. Once widely seen as a war-dependent recipient of international aid, Kyiv is increasingly positioning itself as a security partner with valuable combat experience and technological expertise.

War experience becomes strategic leverage

The conflict involving Iran has effectively become a platform for Ukraine to showcase  and potentially monetise  the defence innovations it developed during years of fighting.

Officials and analysts say Kyiv is now seeking to turn its wartime expertise into diplomatic influence, technological partnerships and new streams of funding.

Kyiv seeks funding and technology in return

Zelenskyy said Ukraine expects financial backing and access to advanced technology after sending specialists to the Middle East to help counter Iranian drones during the ongoing conflict involving Iran, Israel and the United States.

Speaking to reporters on Sunday, the Ukrainian leader said three teams were dispatched to the region to conduct expert assessments and demonstrate anti-drone defence systems as several countries hosting US military bases continue to face attacks linked to Iran.

Earlier this week, Zelenskyy confirmed that military teams had been sent to Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and a US base in Jordan.

He added that longer-term defence agreements with Gulf nations could emerge from the cooperation, although the exact terms of what Kyiv will receive in return are still being discussed.

For us today, both the technology and the funding are important, Zelenskyy said.
Oil prices shatter $100 barrier as Tehran warns US-linked energy assets are now targets following the precision strike on Irans primary export hub

A worker operates valves at the Rumaila oil field, as Iraq cuts nearly 1.5 million barrels per day of output amid halted exports following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. File photo/Reuters

The global energy map was redrawn in fire this weekend as the West Asia conflict spiralled into a direct assault on the worlds fuel supply. Following a massive US precision strike on Irans Kharg Islandthe primary gateway for nearly 90% of Iranian crude exportsglobal oil markets have entered a state of pure panic, with prices shattering the $100-a-barrel ceiling and showing no signs of retreat.

Decency and destruction

President Donald Trump confirmed the strike on Truth Social, describing it as one of the most powerful bombing raids in history. While the US military claimed it targeted missile bunkers and naval mine storage rather than the oil pumps themselves, the message was unmistakable.

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I have chosen NOT to wipe out the Oil Infrastructure on the Island for reasons of decency, Trump posted. However, should Iran do anything to interfere with the Free and Safe Passage of Ships through the Strait of Hormuz, I will immediately reconsider.

Despite the Presidents claim of restraint, the mere proximity of the explosions to the terminals has effectively paralyzed the island. Tankers have fled the area, and satellite imagery shows the crown jewel of Irans economy at a total standstill.

Iran vows to strike back

Tehrans response was swift and chilling. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned that the US has crossed a dangerous red line by using neighboring territories, specifically the UAE, to launch the assault. Tehran has now officially shifted its target list from military assets to the global energy grid.

Iran will attack any energy infrastructure in the region which belongs to an American company or where an American company is a shareholder, Araghchi told MS NOW.

This threat has sent shockwaves through the Gulf, as American giants like ExxonMobil and Chevron hold massive stakes in refineries and fields across Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the UAE.

No guarantees at the pump

As Brent crude futures surged past $101 per barrel, American consumers are feeling the heat. US Energy Secretary Chris Wright, while attempting to project calm, offered a sobering reality check during weekend interviews.

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When asked if prices would stabilise, Wright told ABC News, I think that this conflict will certainly come to the end in the next few weeks, but acknowledged short-term disruption and increased prices on Americans. Crucially, the administration offered no guarantees that the $100+ price tag wouldnt become the new normal if the Strait of Hormuz remains blockaded.

A lukewarm coalition of the willing

In an effort to break the Iranian blockade of the Strait, President Trump has called for a multinational naval task force, specifically naming the UK, Japan, and South Korea. However, the international response has been notably hesitant.

The UK: Energy Secretary Ed Miliband stated that while they are looking at all options, including mine-hunting drones, the focus should be on ending the conflict.

Japan: Tokyo officials described the threshold for sending warships into an active war zone as very high.

South Korea: Seoul remains in a review phase, wary of a direct military confrontation.

With allies dragging their feet and Iran promising a prolonged energy shock, the global economy is now a hostage to the narrow, 21-mile stretch of water known as the Strait of Hormuz.

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Iranian activists living in exile described violent crackdowns during protests, fears for families back home, and the impact of the ongoing war on people inside Iran

A person stands in front of crossed out portraits of new Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei pasted on the ground as people gather to support regime change in Iran, in New York City on March 15, 2026

Iranian activist Farhad Sheikhi, now living in Sulaimaniyah in Iraqi Kurdistan after fleeing Iran, recalled the deadly crackdown during anti-government protests as the war affecting the region enters its third week.

The 34-year-old Iranian Kurd said he witnessed protesters being shot during demonstrations and described the scenes as devastating. Speaking to AFP, he showed photographs he had taken during the protests of bodies lying on bloodied ground.

I literally saw hell, Sheikhi said as he remembered the gunfire and protesters falling under a .

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Concern for family amid communication blackout

Sheikhi said his greatest concern now is the safety of his family in Iran.

With the internet under a blackout, he explained that he depends on a friend who occasionally manages to connect online.

He calls my father and tells me how they are. That is the only way I get news of them, he said.

Returning to Iran is no longer an option for him, he added, saying his only remaining goal is to travel to Germany to complete his law studies.

Living conditions worsen as war continues

As the war reaches its third week, Sheikhi said people inside Iran have become more cautious and are facing worsening living conditions.

They are also still mourning the heavy price they have already paid during the recent protests, he said, referring to the government crackdown that rights groups say killed thousands.

He said he still hopes that one day a social revolution will allow me to go back, but for now the risk is too great.

After the January crackdown, Sheikhi fled to the autonomous Kurdistan region in Iraq fearing arrest and torture.

He had previously taken part in several protests, including the demonstrations in 2022 following the death in detention of Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested for wearing her hijab improperly.

During those protests, he said he was jailed three times and subjected to torture that left him with hearing loss. Despite this, he joined anti-government protests again in December and January.

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The crackdown on the people, the slaughter, it was massive. I saw it myself, he said.

Protester blinded during demonstrations

Another activist, Aresto Pasbar, said he was injured during the 2022 protests when shotgun pellets struck his body, leaving him blind in his left eye.

I have undergone five surgeries, Pasbar, 38, told AFP in Sulaimaniyah.

Fearing for his life, he fled Iran for Turkey. While attempting to reach Europe illegally by boat, he was caught at sea. A Munich-based human rights organisation later helped him obtain asylum in Germany in 2023.

Pasbar said he followed events in Iran closely, watching the recent crackdown on protests until he found it too difficult to continue.

When the war began, he left Germany to join Iranian Kurdish rebels in Iraqi Kurdistan, who have increasingly been targeted by cross-border strikes from Iran since the start of the conflict.

In my heart, I couldnt remain in that comfort and simply watch my people be oppressed, he said.

Now dressed in traditional Kurdish grey fatigues, Pasbar said he understands he may never see his wife and two daughters again.

Before leaving, he told his family: Even if I die, please stand for your rights. Stand for who you are.

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Family losses deepen anger toward authorities

For Amina Kadri, the conflict and political repression have brought years of personal tragedy.

Her husband, Ikbal, fled Iran in 2005 to escape political persecution, with the family believing Iraqi Kurdistan would provide safety.

However, 15 years later Ikbal, then 57 and a member of an exiled Iranian Kurdish armed group, was killed near the Iraqi-Iranian border.

Kadri said witnesses told her that the attackers shot him, threw his body into a river and fled toward Iran on a motorcycle. She accused Iran of being responsible.

Fifty-three days later, her eldest son, who had remained in Iran, was executed at the age of 30 for murder. Kadri said the case had been fabricated.

I no longer care about what happens to me, Kadri said during a phone call from a border town that Kurdistans security forces prevented AFP from entering for security reasons.

My life is no more valuable than my sons or my husbands, she added.

The 61-year-old said she now only hopes to see the Islamic republic fall so she can have revenge for the blood of all those who have been executed.

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The proposed trade agreement between India and the US will be signed only after Washington finalises its new tariff framework, Commerce Secretary said, adding that both sides are still discussing the finer details of the pact.

India is likely to reassess its US trade deal and may seek more favourable terms in talks. Under the earlier agreement, the US had agreed to cut tariffs on Indian goods to 18 per cent from 50 per cent. File image/Reuters

The proposed trade agreement between India and the United States will be signed only after Washington finalises its new tariff framework, Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said on Monday.

Speaking during a trade data briefing, Agrawal said the two sides are currently working through the finer details of the pact and that discussions are ongoing.

We are talking right now on details with the US, he said, adding that the agreement would be signed once the new tariff architecture is put in place.

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The interim trade pact, whose framework was finalised last month, was initially expected to be signed in March. However, changes in US trade policy have delayed the timeline. Sweeping tariffs imposed earlier by US President Donald Trump on several countries, including India, were recently struck down by the Supreme Court of the United States, effectively dismantling the earlier tariff structure.

Following the ruling, the US administration introduced a temporary tariff of around 10 per cent on imports from all countries under Article 122 of the US Constitution, citing balance-of-payments concerns. These duties are expected to remain in force for about five months.

India seeking competitive edge in US market

The trade agreement aims to secure comparative and preferential access for both countries in each others markets. When the framework for the first phase of the deal was announced, tariffs on Indian goods entering the US market were proposed at around 18 per cent, significantly lower than the earlier 50 per cent level.

Agrawal said the pact would be concluded only after Washington restores global tariff rates following the court ruling that struck them down.

Because at the end of it, each country is doing a deal as a part of a package where one is at comparative advantage vis-a-vis competitors, he said, according to PTI.

India and the US last month announced the finalisation of the framework for the first phase of their bilateral trade agreement, under which the US had agreed to reduce tariffs on Indian goods to 18 percent.

However, the tariff structure has since shifted after the Supreme Court ruling against Trumps sweeping tariffs. In response, Trump imposed a temporary 10 percent tariff on all countries for 150 days starting February 24.

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Amid these developments, the meeting between the chief negotiators of the two countriesearlier scheduled for last month to finalise the legal texthas been postponed.

India negotiating trade deals with multiple partners

Agrawal also said New Delhi is currently in talks with Washington on the details of the trade pact.

The deal was to be signed in March. When we said this, the Supreme Court judgment on IEEPA tariffs had not come. Now, with the judgment, those tariffs no longer exist, he said.

Currently, tariffs are being imposed under Article 122 related to balance-of-payments concerns, which will remain for five months at around 10 per cent. The deal we sign must reflect the tariff structure or comparative advantage that India receives in the US market.

Apart from the US, the government said India is negotiating six free trade agreements with different countries and regional groupings as part of efforts to expand trade partnerships.

Negotiations are underway with Australia, Sri Lanka, Peru, Chile, the Eurasian Economic Union, and Israel.

US launches probe into unfair trade practices

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has moved to revive tariff pressure after the Supreme Court setback. The Office of the United States Trade Representative has launched an investigation into alleged unfair manufacturing practices by India and 15 other major economies.

The move, known as a Section 301 investigation under the Trade Act of 1974, could allow the US government to impose fresh tariffs, restrict imports, or suspend trade concessions against countries found to be engaging in unfair trade practices.

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India has said it has not held any bilateral talks with the US on deploying naval vessels to secure merchant shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, following Trumps call for countries to send warships amid rising regional tensions.

India is likely to reassess its US trade deal and may seek more favourable terms in talks. Under the earlier agreement, the US had agreed to cut tariffs on Indian goods to 18 per cent from 50 per cent. File image/Reuters

India has not held any bilateral talks with the United States regarding the deployment of naval vessels to ensure the safe passage of merchant ships through the Strait of Hormuz, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Monday.

The clarification follows US President Donald Trump urging countries to send warships to keep the strategic waterway open amid rising regional tensions. Trump, in a post on Truth Social, called on China, France, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and other affected nations to deploy ships to maintain the Straits safe and open status. No immediate commitments have come from the countries named.

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Addressing questions at a media briefing about whether the US had approached India on sending its warships and Indias position, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said New Delhi has not discussed the matter bilaterally with Washington. We are aware of discussions among several countries. We have not yet held bilateral talks on this issue, he said, adding that India will continue consultations with multiple stakeholders.

Meanwhile, European countries on Monday sought clarity on Trumps plans regarding a potential conflict with Iran, including timelines for the military action and its objectives. As European Union foreign ministers convened to consider Trumps request, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul emphasised the need for clear goals. We need more clarity on when the US and Israel consider the military objectives of their deployment to have been achieved, he told reporters.
Irans judiciary chief has urged courts to quickly issue verdicts against individuals accused of links to Israel and the US amid ongoing war and security crackdowns

Aresto Pasbar, a Iranian who fled the country after joining the 2022 anti-government protests, holds an AK-47 rifle at a house in Sulaimaniyah on March 13, 2026. (AFP)

Amid ongoing conflict and internal security operations, Irans head of the judiciary has called for swift legal action against individuals accused of links to Israel and the US.

Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei said on Monday that courts should not delay or show leniency when dealing with such cases.

We must not delay or show leniency in executing final verdicts against those who, during wartime and unrest, committed crimes and were affiliated with the aggressor enemy, Ejei said, according to the Tasnim news agency.

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Authorities push to accelerate case reviews

Ejei also stressed the need to speed up the handling of cases involving individuals accused of threatening public security.

It was necessary to accelerate the review and resolution of cases involving elements accused of threatening public security, he said.

Authorities have conducted sweeping raids across the country in recent weeks, with local media reporting that hundreds of people suspected of cooperating with Israel and the US were arrested in the past few days.

Tensions in the region escalated after Israel and the US launched strikes on Iran on February 28.

The attacks killed Irans supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and triggered a war that spread across the Middle East.

Iran later responded by targeting Israel and US interests across the region.
Israel says its air defence systems still have sufficient interceptors despite ongoing Iranian attacks, as the war that began on February 28 continues to spread across West Asia

A motorcycle passes by fire burning along Tehran's Koohsar Boulevard, Iran, in this screengrab from video obtained from social media and released on March 8 amid the conflict. (Reuters)

Amid continued missile and drone attacks, the conflict in West Asia that began on February 28 continues to rage. Israel has insisted it still has enough air defence interceptors to counter Iranian strikes, though questions remain over how long supplies will last as the conflict intensifies.

The war erupted after the wide-ranging strikes on Iran, killing the countrys supreme leader. Since then, Iran has carried out retaliatory attacks against Israel and US-allied states in the Gulf.

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The conflict has expanded rapidly across West Asia, with fighting also spreading into Lebanon and damage and casualties increasing on multiple fronts.

Israel rejects reports of interceptor shortages

Israeli officials said on Sunday that the country retains sufficient air defence interceptors to defend against Iranian attacks.

The statement came just hours after the government approved the transfer of an additional NIS 2.6 billion (around $826 million) to the Defence Ministry for urgent and essential defense procurement amid the fighting in Iran and Lebanon. The decision was approved through a late-night telephone vote on Saturday.

The statement walked back earlier US reports that Israel was running critically low on interceptor stocks.

The Israeli government approved emergency defence procurement funding on Saturday, while the military signalled that at least three more weeks of fighting may lie ahead.

Pressure grows as conflict continues

The conflict has also created political pressure in the US, where Donald Trump is facing calls domestically to bring the fighting to an end.

However, Irans leadershipalthough under heavy pressurecontinues to retain the ability to cause significant global economic disruption.

A report by the Washington Post said that while the US is nearing certain Pentagon goals and Trump is keen to declare victory, uncertainty remains over whether Tehran could still use its nuclear stockpile to create a dirty bomb.

Iran launches missile and drone attacks

Iran has described the strikes by the US and Israel as unprovoked, illegal and illegitimate.

In response, Iranian forces have launched widespread missile and drone attacks across the region. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it targeted Israeli government and military sites in Tel Aviv and other locations.

As of March 15, Israeli authorities said 12 peopleall civilianshad been killed by missile fire since the beginning of the war.

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The deadliest strike occurred on March 1 in the city of Beit Shemesh, west of Jerusalem, where nine people were killed.

Strikes spread across Gulf and neighbouring countries

Iran also started attacking several countries hosting US military bases, including Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, as well as US-allied Oman and Saudi Arabia.

As of March 13, 13 US service members had been killed.

Iran has also been accused of widening attacks to other targets, including oil facilities, shipping and civilian sites, such as hotels in Dubai.

Across the Gulf, at least 18 people have been killed so far, most of them security personnel or foreign workers.

Six deaths were reported in the United Arab Emirates and another six in Kuwait, while Oman, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain each reported two deaths.

Regional spillover reported in Iraq and beyond

Strikes have also been reported in Iraq. The country said it was struck by Iran on March 6 following explosions at Erbil airport.

A French soldier was killed by a drone attack at a Kurdish military base in northern Iraq.

In Iraq, the Popular Mobilization Forces said 27 of their members have been killed. Iran supports militias operating under the umbrella of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, which are part of the PMF.

Turkey said Nato air defences shot down three Iranian missiles over its airspace, while Azerbaijan accused Iran of attacking an airport using drones.

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If the conflict between the Iran and US continues to play out through proxy forces on Iraqi territory, experts warn that the fragile progress made over the past twenty years could degrade rapidly.

Smoke rises after an explosion at the airport in Irbil, Iraq, late Wednesday, March 11. Photo: File/AP

Located in the heart of West Asia, the Republic of Iraq once again finds itself caught in the crossfire of a regional conflict it did not start. As tensions between the United States and Iran intensify across the Gulf, Iraqi territory has suddenly turned into a proxy battleground, threatening to undo years of democratic progress and development.

Over the previous days, Iran-backed Shia militias have started attacking the US military sites, and oil installations located in the country. These strikes appear to put pressure on Washington while avoiding a direct confrontation between the Iran and US.

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Days earlier, the US Embassy in the Iraqi capital Baghdad was also hit by a missile attack that caused smoke to rise from the building.

In the ongoing conflict, both American and Iranian forces have carried out strikes targeting each others paramilitary groups on Iraqi soil.

According to several media reports, an Iraqi security unit was also fired upon during one such incident, possibly by US special forces operating in the area. Though exact details of the operation have not come into public domain, the episode has further deepened concerns about the erosion of Iraqi sovereignty as big powers settle their disputes within the countrys borders.

While physical damage in the Iraq has been limited, the proxy fighting in its territory has shut down much of the countrys oil extraction and exports, a severe blow for an oil-dependent economy. It risks bringing down the governments revenue that was likely to be spent on building public infrastructure.

For Iraqis, the current proxy-war depicts a painful reality: the country remains vulnerable to the strategic rivalry between large powers, while completely being devoid of strategic autonomy. It is to be noted that Qasem Soleimani, commander of Irans elite Quds Force, was also killed in a targeted US drone strike in 2020 near Baghdad International Airport only.

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Two decades after the 2003 US invasion, Iraq had finally begun rebuilding its institutions and tried to stabilise its political system.

However, this proxy battle can have severe negative consequences on Iraqs democratic structure. A recent Gallup dataset has showed that Iraqis had been reporting improved trust in institutions and were finally having a feeling of safety, a remarkable progress now at a risk.

If the conflict between Iran and US continues to play out through proxy forces on Iraqi territory, experts warn that the fragile progress made over the past twenty years could degrade rapidly. For Iraq, the tragedy is that the latest crisis is not the result of its own policies, but because of a conflict it did not start.
Trump expressed frustration with Zelensky in an interview earlier this month, saying the Ukrainian president has to get on the ball, and he has to get a deal done.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia had noted such media reports, but had reached a different conclusion about Trump's attitude towards Ukraine peace talks. Photo: File/AFP

The Kremlin on Monday dismissed a report by the Financial Times which suggested that the Ukraine peace process was fizzling out because US President Donald Trumps attention was now on Iran and he was losing interest in Ukraine as a result.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia had noted such media reports, but had reached a different conclusion about Trumps attitude towards Ukraine peace talks.

President Trumps frequent references to Ukraine in his recent statements suggest the opposite, Peskov told reporters.

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Judging by his statements, President Trump has lost no interest whatsoever. Furthermore, he is strongly urging (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelensky to strike a deal.

Trump expressed frustration with Zelensky in an interview with Politico earlier this month, saying the Ukrainian president has to get on the ball, and he has to get a deal done. Trump also rejected Zelenskys offer to help the U.S. with downing drones over the Gulf states, telling NBCs Meet the Press that the last person we need help from is Zelensky.

Peskov said Russia was still interested in continuing talks to end the war, but that a venue and date for the next round of negotiations remained unclear.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Firstpost staff.)
India on Monday rejected the latest report by the US panel report, calling it motivated and biased after it recommended sanctions on the RSS and the R&AW.

India on Monday categorically rejected the latest report by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), calling it motivated and biased in its assessment of the countrys religious freedom record.

Responding to the report, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the commission had once again presented a distorted and selective picture of India by relying on questionable sources and ideological narratives instead of objective facts.

We have taken note of the latest report of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). We categorically reject its motivated and biased characterisation of India, Jaiswal said in a statement. He added that repeated misrepresentations by the commission undermine its own credibility.

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The reaction came after the USCIRFs 2026 annual report recommended targeted sanctions on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Indias external intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), over alleged violations of religious freedom.

Jaiswal also pointed to incidents of vandalism and attacks on Hindu temples in the United States, saying the commission should reflect on such developments as well as what he described as growing intolerance and intimidation faced by members of the Indian diaspora in the US.

The USCIRF report designated India as a country of particular concern and urged the United States government to link arms sales and trade policies with religious freedom considerations. It alleged that religious freedom conditions in India have deteriorated and accused authorities of targeting religious minorities and places of worship.

The report also examined the relationship between Hindu nationalist groups such as the RSS and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), claiming that the political climate has contributed to discrimination against religious minority communities. It further criticised anti-conversion laws in several Indian states and alleged that authorities have enabled detention, expulsions and vigilante attacks against minorities.

Established in 1998 by an act of the US Congress, the USCIRF monitors religious freedom worldwide and makes policy recommendations to the US government. Although the body says it functions independently, its commissioners are appointed by the US President and senior congressional leaders.

India has repeatedly criticised the commission in the past. Earlier this year, Jaiswal said the USCIRF itself should be considered an entity of concern for what New Delhi views as its persistent bias and political agenda against India.

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The President warns that the US will no longer police for free a waterway that provides nearly 90% of Chinas energy needs

As the Trump-Xi meeting approaches, China's balancing act becomes even more important. (File/AFP)

President Donald Trump has issued a blunt ultimatum to Beijing: start helping the US clear the Strait of Hormuz, or the upcoming high-level summit with President Xi Jinping might not happen.

The Presidents comments come as the vital waterwaythrough which roughly 20% of the worlds oil flowsremains effectively choked off by the ongoing conflict between the US, Israel, and Iran.

China gets 90% of its oil

Speaking to the Financial Times on Sunday, Trump emphasised that the burden of securing the passage should not fall solely on American shoulders. He pointed specifically to Chinas massive dependence on West Asian crude to highlight why Beijing needs to get off the sidelines.

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I think China should help too because China gets 90% of its oil from the Straits, Trump told the newspaper. Its only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries of the Strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there.

While energy analysts note that the 90% figure is a characteristic Trumpian flourishmost estimates place Chinas reliance on the Strait closer to 45-50%the sentiment is clear: the US is tired of being the worlds maritime police for free.

The summit on ice?

The pressure isnt just rhetorical. Trump signaled that a planned meeting with Xi Jinping later this month, intended to stabilize a shaky trade truce, is now a bargaining chip.

Wed like to know [Beijings position] before the summit, Trump said. When asked if the meeting could be pushed back, he was direct: We may delay.

The threat of a delay adds a layer of uncertainty to the diplomatic efforts currently being spearheaded in Paris by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng.

A call for a global fleet

Trump isnt just looking for Chinese help; hes calling for a team effort involving France, Japan, South Korea, and the UK. He spent much of the weekend on Truth Social urging these nations to send warships to provide risk insurance for tankers.

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The United States of America has beaten and completely decimated Iran but the Countries of the World that receive Oil through the Hormuz Strait must take care of that passage, Trump wrote. He promised that while allies provide escorts, the US will continue bombing the hell out of the shoreline to neutralise Iranian threats.
Despite their mutual defence pact, Pakistan has offered Saudi Arabia only verbal support amid attacks from Iran. As Pakistan has walked a tightrope in the West Asia crisis, the SaudiPakistan agreement is at the risk of being reduced to a paper shield.

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman receives Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at Al-Yamamah Palace, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where an official reception ceremony is held in his honour on September 17, 2025. (Photo: Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

Despite their mutual defence agreement, Pakistan has offered Saudi Arabia only verbal support amid continuing Iranian attacks.

As a result of Iranian strikes in response to the US-Israeli offensive, Saudi Arabia has been forced to take as much as 18-25 per cent of oil production offline. As a result, the Saudi GDP is projected to drop 3.1-5.5 per cent in the first month of the war.

But Pakistan has not come to Pakistans defence as it was supposed to under the Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement (SMDA) signed last year.

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Follow our live coverage of the US-Israeli war on Iran

Under the agreement, an attack on one country is treated an attack on both and the other is expected to come to aid.

Pakistans failure to come to Saudi Arabias aid risks reducing the mutual defence agreement to a paper shield that does not mean much in the real world.

Other than coming to the aid in case of an attack, Pakistan was supposed to deploy around 25,000 soldiers to Saudi Arabia to assist with the kingdoms security, conduct joint operations, and train Saudi forces in exchange of Saudi investments to the tune of $10 billion, CNN-News18 previously reported.

But Pakistan has neither dispatched soldiers to Saudi Arabia nor deployed its air defence systems to Saudi Arabia to take down Iranian missiles and drones.

Such a behaviour lays bare the limitation of the Saudi-Pakistan pact as well as Pakistans opportunism and lack of capabilities to support a treaty ally.

As Iran launches missiles & drones, Pakistan defends Saudi Arabia with words

Even as Pakistan has offered unquestioned solidarity, it has not done anything to take down Iranian missiles and drones.

Instead of coming to Saudi Arabias aid, Pakistan has engaged itself with a campaign against Taliban and Tehrik-i-Taliban (TTP) in Afghanistan, claiming a perfect excuse to show inability to contribute to Saudi Arabias defence.

Pakistan must be aware of the fact that any involvement in the conflict against Iran could carry severe consequences. For one, Iran could start attacking Pakistan just like it has been attacking Arab countries. At a time when Pakistan stands battered by various armed groups from the northwest to southwest, a confrontation with Iran would be the last thing that Pakistani leaders would want.

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ALSO READ: Pact with Saudi may embolden Pakistan, but strategic support is always contextual

In addition to limitation, Pakistans behaviour has also shown its opportunism.

Over the years, Pakistan has used security cooperation and security partnerships to secure financial aid, oil credits, and military equipment. Pakistan has previously done this with the United States and China and is now doing this with Saudi Arabia.

Even outside of an attack on Saudi Arabia, Pakistan was supposed to deploy four army brigades comprising armoured, artillery, infantry, and rocket units; two air force squadrons; and two naval fleets to Saudi Arabia, according to CNN-News 18.
Amid escalating tensions with Iran and disruptions to global shipping, the US is preparing a multinational naval coalition to escort vessels through the strategic Strait of Hormuz and stabilise oil markets

US President Donald Trump speaks to reporters during a news conference at Trump National Doral Miami (AFP)

With tensions escalating in the West Asia, US President Donald Trump is preparing to announce a multinational naval coalition to escort commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the worlds most critical energy routes.

The move comes after warnings and diplomatic appeals failed to stop disruptions to shipping through the narrow waterway. The strait carries roughly a fifth of global oil supplies, making any disruption a major concern for energy markets and governments worldwide.

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The United States, as reported by the Wall Street Journal, is now urging several countries to join the proposed escort mission, hoping that a multinational presence will deter further attacks on tankers and cargo ships moving through the Gulf.

Washington seeks allied support

The Trump administration has reportedly reached out to countries including Britain, France, Japan, South Korea and China, encouraging them to deploy naval assets to help safeguard shipping routes.

However, early responses have been cautious. While governments have acknowledged the growing risk to maritime trade, few have publicly committed warships to the mission so far.

Despite the uncertainty, Washington believes that a coalition patrol could reassure shipping companies and restore confidence in the vital trade artery.

Trump has also argued that countries heavily dependent on Gulf oil should share the responsibility for securing the route.

A critical global oil lifeline

The Strait of Hormuz sits between Iran and Oman and connects the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Sea. It is one of the most strategically sensitive maritime chokepoints in the world.

Recent clashes linked to the widening US-Iran conflict have made the passage increasingly dangerous for vessels. Several ships have reportedly been attacked or damaged, disrupting trade and pushing up global energy prices.

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Iran has warned that it could restrict passage for adversaries in the strait, further heightening fears of a broader maritime crisis.

Against this backdrop, Washington sees the proposed coalition as a way to prevent further escalation while keeping global energy flows moving.

Whether other major powers will commit ships to the effort remains uncertain  but the coming days could determine whether the worlds most important oil corridor stays open.
Donald Trump warned Nato could face a very bad future if allies fail to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, as the waterways closure amid the Iran war pushes global oil prices higher

Trump said that as the United States has supported Ukraine in its war with Russia, he expects Europe to also play its part. File image/Reuters

Donald Trump has warned that Nato could face a very bad future if US allies do not assist in reopening the Strait of Hormuz, the key oil transport route effectively closed by Iran during the West Asia war.

Speaking in a brief interview with the Financial Times on Sunday, Trump said the United States expects support from European allies as energy prices rise globally following the through the strait.

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If theres no response or if its a negative response I think it will be very bad for the future of Nato, Trump said.

He added that the US has supported Ukraine in its war with Russia and expects Europe to contribute to efforts related to the Strait of Hormuz.

Summit with China could be delayed

Trump also said a planned summit in Beijing with Chinese President Xi Jinping could be postponed while Washington seeks Beijings assistance in reopening the strategic waterway.

Wed like to know before the summit, Trump said.

He noted that China and several European countries rely more heavily than the United States on oil shipments from the Gulf.

Its only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries of the Strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there, Trump said.

US in talks with several countries

Trump told reporters travelling with him on Air Force One is that the United States is holding discussions with about seven countries regarding assistance to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

When asked about the kind of support Washington is seeking, he told the Financial Times that the US wants minesweepers as well as people who are going to knock out some bad actors that are along the (Iranian) shore.

Concerns over how long the war against Iran may continue have unsettled global oil markets, with crude prices rising over the past two weeks due to fears about supply disruptions.

On Sunday, the US benchmark West Texas Intermediate opened 2.5 per cent higher at $100.22 a barrel.

Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose 2.9 per cent to $106.11 a barrel.

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Prime Minister Starmer, Tokyo, and Canberra rebuff White House demands for a naval coalition, opting for drones and diplomacy over direct military escalation in the Persian Gulf

India imports much of its crude and nearly all of its CNG via the Strait of Hormuz. Reuters

The Coalition of the Willing appears to be more of a Coalition of the Cautious this week. Despite a series of high-pressure Truth Social posts and direct phone calls from the White House, President Donald Trumps request for global powers to send warships to the Strait of Hormuz has been met with a wall of diplomatic nos.

Starmer: Not ready for escalation

In a tense weekend phone call, Prime Minister Keir Starmer reportedly told President Trump that the UK is not prepared to commit Royal Navy destroyers to the blockaded waterway. While the US has been bombing the hell out of the shoreline, London remains wary of being dragged into a broader regional war.

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Instead of warships, Downing Street is offering mine-hunting dronesa far cry from the heavy naval escort Trump demanded.

It is very important that we get the Strait of Hormuz reopened, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband told the BBC on Sunday. There are different ways that we could contribute, including with mine-hunting drones but we must ensure we dont escalate this crisis.

Australia and Japan close the door

The rejection wasnt limited to the Atlantic. In Canberra, Transport Minister Catherine King was blunt about Australias lack of interest in a naval deployment.

Im informed that were not intending to send ships to the Strait of Hormuz, King told ABC Radio. Were well-prepared here to weather the economic crisis but were not planning to send a ship.

Japan, which relies on the Strait for nearly 70% of its oil, also officially turned down the request, citing constitutional and legal hurdles. Takayuki Kobayashi, a top policy official for the ruling LDP, stated on NHK that the threshold for sending the Self-Defense Forces into an active war zone remains extremely high.

Trump: China should help too

The President, frustrated by the lukewarm response from traditional allies, has pivoted his pressure toward Beijing. Trump noted that because China is the primary beneficiary of the oil flowing through the Strait, they should bear the cost of its defense.

China gets 90% of its oil from the Straits, Trump told the Financial Times. Its only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries will help make sure nothing bad happens.

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With the UK, Japan, and Australia standing down, the US finds itself increasingly alone in its military efforts to break the Iranian blockade.
A drone struck a fuel tank near Dubai International Airport, sparking a fire and forcing a brief suspension of flights as emergency teams rushed in to contain the blaze

A drone-related incident triggered a fire near Dubai International Airport early Monday, forcing authorities to briefly suspend flight operations at one of the worlds busiest travel hubs.

According to officials, the drone struck a fuel tank in the vicinity of the airport, sparking a blaze that sent thick smoke into the air and prompted an emergency response. Videos circulating on social media showed flames and explosions near the airports terminal area, adding to anxiety among residents and travellers.

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Authorities said emergency crews were quickly deployed to the site to contain the fire and ensure the safety of passengers and staff.

Watch the video here:

Note: Firstpost could not independently verify the authenticity of the video.

Dubai International Airport is on fire after Iranian kamikaze drone attack. pic.twitter.com/eeXC5ONpDD  Cyrus Intel (@Cyrus_Intel88) March 16, 2026

Fire contained, no injuries reported

Teams from Dubai Civil Defence responded to the incident and managed to bring the fire under control. Officials said there were no immediate reports of injuries or major structural damage at the airport.

                               .  Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) March 16, 2026

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Flight operations were temporarily halted as a precaution while emergency services dealt with the situation. Authorities advised travellers to check with airlines for the latest updates on departures and arrivals.

The airport later resumed operations after the situation was stabilised.

Incident comes amid regional tensions

The drone scare comes at a time of heightened tensions across the Gulf as the conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran intensifies. Several countries in the region have reported missile and drone attacks targeting energy facilities, military bases and infrastructure.

Dubai, a major global aviation hub, has remained largely insulated from the conflict but has faced intermittent alerts and airspace disruptions in recent days. The latest incident underscores how the widening crisis is beginning to affect civilian infrastructure and international travel in the region.

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Authorities have not yet released details about who launched the drone, but investigations into the incident are ongoing.
Israeli envoy Reuven Azar has declared the war on Iran as a defensive operation, saying its not just the defence of Israel but the world including India as he flagged Iranian attacks on Arab countries and risk to Indian workers in the region.

Ambassador Reuven Azar on Monday declared Israels war on Iran as a defensive operation, saying its not just the defence of Israel but the world including India as he flagged Iranian attacks on Arab countries and risk to Indian workers in the region.

In an interview with CNN-News 18, Azar said that millions of Indians in the Gulf will be relieved of the Iranian threat with the US-Israeli war on Iran.

By defending Israel, it is also defending the world, including the future of Indian trade as India has signed important trade deals with the world, said Azar.

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As for the progress in the third week of the war, Azar said they remain committed to regime change and have reduced their military capabilities.

Azar further said, Number of missiles and drones is much less than before. We are attacking Basij compound. We want to be in a situation to not repeat this every year and we also want people to change the regime.

In its third week, the US-Israeli war on Iran has engulfed the entire West Asia. In response to American and Israeli attacks, Iran has struck energy sites across the region, cutting oil and gas producers have cut production. Iran has also blocked the Strait of Hormuz, which is transited by 20-25 per cent of the worlds seaborne oil and gas. As a result of the blockade and production cuts, oil and gas prices have skyrocketed  Brent crude traded at $105 at press time.

India has reached an understanding with Iran for the transit of India-bound ships containing gas. While Azar did not directly respond to the understanding, he said that Indian diplomacy is very professional and will do whatever is best for India.

We are talking with our friends and neighbours which means not just United States but also those nations with which we do not have diplomatic relations with. We have a common interest to protect this region, Azar further said.

Iran was refusing to negotiate

Azar denied that Israel and the United States pursued deception in the run-up to the attacks on February 28 that triggered the war.

They were refusing to negotiate with the US for removal of uranium stockpiles, refusing to negotiate with US to curb their ballistic missile capabilities. They were refusing to negotiate their support for the proxies. They were again demanding more time which they have been doing for decades, said Azar.

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As for their next targets, Azar hinted that attacks on the Kharg island, which is Irans main hub to export oil, were in the offing.

Azar dubbed allegations of carpet bombing as an outright lie and instead accused the Iranian rulers of killing tens of thousands of their protestors.
Handelsmobil Investment Ukraine will hold its annual general meeting of shareholders on April 7

Handelsmobil Investment Ukraine PJSC will hold its annual general meeting of shareholders on April 7, 2026, in Kyiv at 34 Khreshchatyk Street. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 12:00 p.m., with registration of participants from 11:30 a.m. to 11:55 a.m.

According to the published notice, shareholders will review the executive directors report and the annual report for 2025, consider profit distribution, dividend payments, approval of significant transactions, and amendments to the list of persons authorized to act on behalf of the company. The company proposes to approve dividends in the amount of 21 UAH per ordinary registered share, or 4.425 million UAH in total, with the record date set for April 23 and the payment period from April 23 to October 7, 2026.

Separately, the agenda includes a matter regarding changes to information in the Unified State Register: it is proposed to remove Volodymyr Stadnyk from the list of persons authorized to act on behalf of the company without a power of attorney, as well as to clarify the powers of Lidiia Muravska as a non-executive director; It is proposed to appoint Executive Director Inna Kutuzova as the person authorized to register the changes with the state registry.

PJSC Handelsimmobil Investment Ukraine was registered in December 2000 in Kyiv. The companys primary activity is the leasing and operation of its own or leased real estate. According to Opendatabot, the companys revenue in 2025 amounted to UAH 23.53 million, net profit to UAH 4.62 million, assets at year-end to UAH 19.03 million, and authorized capital to UAH 10.54 million.
Apple has introduced AirPods Max 2, an update to its over-ear headphone AirPods Max which was launched back in 2020. The new model integrates Apples H2 chip, which introduces improved Active Noise Cancellation (ANC), updated audio hardware, and a suite of software features previously unavailable on the original AirPods Max.

Hardware and Audio Upgrades

The transition to the H2 chip enables several hardware-driven updates to the listening experience. Key audio hardware specifications and improvements include:

Upgraded Noise Cancellation: Utilizing new computational audio algorithms, Apple states the ANC is up to 1.5x more effective than the previous generation, designed to better reduce background noise from environments like airplanes or public transit.

Utilizing new computational audio algorithms, Apple states the ANC is up to 1.5x more effective than the previous generation, designed to better reduce background noise from environments like airplanes or public transit. Enhanced Audio Processing: A new high dynamic range amplifier has been added to provide cleaner audio output. The Transparency mode has also been refined with a new digital signal processing algorithm for a more natural pass-through sound.

A new high dynamic range amplifier has been added to provide cleaner audio output. The Transparency mode has also been refined with a new digital signal processing algorithm for a more natural pass-through sound. Lossless Audio Support: When connected via the included USB-C cable, the headphones support 24-bit, 48 kHz lossless audio. This wired connection also allows musicians and creators to mix tracks using Personalized Spatial Audio with head tracking.

When connected via the included USB-C cable, the headphones support 24-bit, 48 kHz lossless audio. This wired connection also allows musicians and creators to mix tracks using Personalized Spatial Audio with head tracking. Reduced Latency: Wireless audio latency has been decreased, which improves audio responsiveness when used with Game Mode on iOS, macOS, and iPadOS devices.

New Software and Intelligent Features

The H2 chip also brings several new automated and software-driven features to the AirPods Max 2, including:

Adaptive Audio: Automatically adjusts the balance of ANC and Transparency modes based on the users surrounding environment.

Automatically adjusts the balance of ANC and Transparency modes based on the users surrounding environment. Conversation Awareness: Automatically lowers media volume and reduces background noise when the user begins speaking to someone nearby.

Automatically lowers media volume and reduces background noise when the user begins speaking to someone nearby. Voice Isolation: Prioritizes the users voice during phone calls while actively blocking out ambient noise.

Prioritizes the users voice during phone calls while actively blocking out ambient noise. Live Translation: Powered by Apple Intelligence, this feature assists users in translating real-time, in-person conversations across different languages.

Powered by Apple Intelligence, this feature assists users in translating real-time, in-person conversations across different languages. Siri Interactions: Users can respond to Siri announcements non-verbally by nodding yes or shaking their head no.

Users can respond to Siri announcements non-verbally by nodding yes or shaking their head no. Creator Tools: A new camera remote feature allows users to press the Digital Crown to take photos or control video recording from a distance. The headphones also feature updated audio recording capabilities for podcasters and content creators.

A new camera remote feature allows users to press the Digital Crown to take photos or control video recording from a distance. The headphones also feature updated audio recording capabilities for podcasters and content creators. Listening Protection: A Loud Sound Reduction feature prevents exposure to harsh environmental noises, while Personalized Volume learns user preferences over time to automatically fine-tune listening levels.

Pricing and availability

The Apple AirPods Max 2 is priced at Rs. 67,900 (US price USD 549) and will be available to order in more than 30 other countries, including India, starting Wednesday, March 25, on apple.com/store and in the Apple Store app.

They will arrive to customers and will be in Apple Store locations, beginning early next month.
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31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (Maritime Contingency Force) (31st MEU)

31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) (31st MEU[SOC])

The 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (Maritime Contingency Force), or 31st MEU, provides a forward deployed, flexible sea-based Marine Air Ground Task Force capable of conducting amphibious operations, crisis response and limited contingency operations in the Asia-Pacific area. The 31st MEU is the only permanently forward-deployed MEU. The 31st MEU, Amphibious Squadron 11 (PHIBRON 11), and the USS Essex Amphibious Ready Group (USS Essex ARG), comprise the only Forward Deployed Naval Force (FDNF) in the Asia-Pacific region.

The 31st MEU is not a special operations force by definition, but because of the its forward-deployed status in "hot spots" around the world, it must be able to perform many types of missions in addition to conventional military war-fighting. The 31st MEU, by enhanced training, achieves the capability to accomplish selective maritime special operations. MEUs in general are capable of quick reaction  rapidly assembling required forces to accomplish missions, using intelligence based operational decision making, and acting as a rapid response force. In addition to the 10 Mission Essential Tasks (METS) that each MEU is thoroughly trained in prior to deployment, 31st MEU has 4 addition METS: Maritime Contingency Operations, Visit, Board, Search, and Seizure Level II and III (VBSS), seizure of maritime platform and selected maritime security missions, and limited scale raids.

Prior to 2006, the 31st MEU was designation was Special Operations Capable, or 31st MEU(SOC). Combined with its forward deployed status, it had 84 days to accomplish a standard 6 month Pre-Deployment Training Cycle. This meant the members of the MEU, Battalion Landing Team, Air Combat Element, and MEU Service Support Group staffs had to learn quickly and get it right the first time. Time was not on their side and they had to be able to identify and address issues quickly. Though the Marine Corps' other 6 MEUs requalified as Special Operations Capable every 18 months, the 31st MEU requalified every 6 months as new Major Subordinate Elements rotated to the MEU. This gave the Marines only 70 to 84 days to complete their qualification.

The 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) was first activated on 1 March 1967, as Special Landing Force Alpha (SLF-A), for operations in Vietnam. It made the first of many amphibious deployments from Okinawa, Japan to the coast of Vietnam on 10 April 1967. SLF-A's first operation was conducted on 14 April 1967, when the unit conducted a rescue of the crew of the SS Silver Peak, a Panamanian vessel run aground by Typhoon Violet, in vicinity of Minami Ko Shima Island, Japan.

On 20 April 1967, SLF-A was committed to Operation Beaver Cafe/Union #1, a search and destroy mission in the Republic of Vietnam. From May to September 1967, Special Landing Force Alpha was entrusted to ground operations 22 days out of each month. It was during this period of intense combat that Special Landing Force Alpha earned the Presidential Unit Citation. The unit participated in supporting operations ashore until 1970, including the Vietnam Tet counteroffensive in 1969, returning to Okinawa periodically for re-outfitting and to rotate its component forces.

Special Landing Force Alpha was officially designated as the 31st Marine Amphibious Unit (MAU) on 24 November 1970. Once more the unit returned to the Gulf of Tonkin. This time, however, the 31st MAU would not be committed to overt land operations as the Vietnam War was winding down. The 31st MAU performed presence missions and conducted a series of special operations through May 1971. From June 1971 until April 1975, the 31st MAU conducted numerous deployments to the waters off Vietnam. During this period, the 31st MAU was directed to the Gulf of Thailand for Operation Eagle Pull, the American Embassy evacuation by air of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, which took place on 12 April 1975. The 31st MAU then returned to the waters off of Vietnam for Operation Frequent Wind on 29 April 1975. This operation was the final evacuation of Saigon as North Vietnamese forces entered the city.

The 31st MAU remained the forward-deployed US presence in the Western Pacific and Southeast Asia. Combat operations were replaced by regional exercises, which allowed training opportunities in a variety of countries. In 1983, the 31st MAU was recalled from a combined exercise with local forces in Kenya, and positioned in the Mediterranean. Its mission from September to October 1983 was to support US Peacekeeping Forces in Beirut during an intense period of complex political and life-threatening conditions in Lebanon. It was the 31st MAU's last combat operation and the unit was deactivated in May 1985.

The unit was reactivated as the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) (MEU[SOC]) on 9 September 1992. In 1994, the unit was relocated to Camp Hansen, in Okinawa, Japan.

The flexibility of the USS Belleau Wood Amphibious Ready Group was demonstrated with the November 1998 crisis with Iraq. All 4 ARG ships had just completed Exercise Foal Eagle off the coast of Korea, and were heading to various port visits for some liberty, when each ship received the call on 6 November 1998 to sail immediately to Okinawa to offload Marine Air Ground Task Force 4 personnel, and onload the 31st MEU(SOC). A significant portion of the 31st MEU's 2,000 Marines were engaged in urban warfare training in Guam when their message to return to Okinawa came. The rest were still on Okinawa, but approximately a quarter of those were new marines, just rotating into the MEU's Battalion Landing Team (BLT) from California. The BLT had just 2 days to gather all their personnel to get ready to deploy.

The 31st MEU and ships' company personnel started their initial onloads to the ships on 9 November 1998, and completed around 2:30 AM on the morning of 11 November 1998. In one night alone, they loaded more than 170 pallets of equipment, weapons, and cargo. In addition, a USAF C-5 from Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, California, originally scheduled to bring maintenance supplies and tools to Okinawa 2 weeks later, arrived early on 10 November 1998 in order to restock the MEU's Air Combat Element. This evolution was a part of the normal supply rotation, but the shipment arrived a week early, just in time to load onto the ships before they departed. From November 1998 to February 1999, the MEU participated in operations in the Persian Gulf and off the coast of Kuwait, including Operation Southern Watch and Operation Desert Fox.

Training exercises and a real-world operation kept the Marine Corps' only permanently forward-deployed MEU on its toes in 2000. Starting the year off right, portions of the MEU, including G Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines, then the MEU's Battalion Landing Team; portions of the Command Element; and Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 265 (HMM-265), the MEU's former Air Combat Element; and MEU Service Support Group 31 deployed to East Timor in January 2000 aboard USS Juneau (LPD-10) as Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force East Timor. In East Timor, the Marines and Sailors supported the transition from the Australian-led International Forces in East Timor (INTERFET) to the new United Nations Transitional Administration East Timor (UNTAET).

In July 2000, the MEU welcomed a new Ground Combat Element, Battalion Landing Team 2/4th Marines, and a new Air Combat Element, Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 262 (HMM-262), beginning a new training cycle. After conducting successful Training in an Urban Environment Exercise (TRUEX), Marine Expeditionary Unit Exercise (MEUEX), and ARG training, the Marines once again earned their SOC title in October 2000, this time aboard the ARG's new flagship, USS Essex (LHD-2).

On 21 October 2000, the 31st MEU(SOC) aboard USS Essex (LHD-2) arrived off the coast of Pohang, Republic of Korea to participate in Exercise Foal Eagle 2000. Exercise Foal Eagle was an annual regularly scheduled joint-combined exercise conducted between Republic of Korea forces and the US forces on the Korean Peninsula. The exercise, conducted at a variety of locations throughout the country, was designed to test rear area protection operations and major command, control and communication systems and increase interoperability and familiarity of US Operations Plan-tasked units. It provided hands-on field experience for forces of both nations and served as the foundation for diplomatic efforts to achieve peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula through dialogue. For Foal Eagle 2000, 31st MEU Marines participated in exercises to include/ but not limited to, combined Nuclear, Biological, Chemical decontamination training; various joint and combined live-fire exercises; a combined amphibious assault; and a field training exercise.

In December 2000, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, rotated to the MEU as its new Ground Combat Element, and HMM-265 came back aboard as the Air Combat Element. A new training cycle and new, high op tempo year began in January 2001. On 15 January 2001, the Marines and Sailors of the 31st MEU(SOC) kicked off the bi-annual TRUEX 01-1 at Andersen Air Force Base. Held in Guam, TRUEX afforded the Marines of the 31st MEU the chance to sharpen their skills in small-scale urban training. Most of the Marines and Sailors participating embarked aboard the USS Essex (LHD-2) and steamed for the coast of the small South Pacific island to support the exercise.

The newest units recently assigned to the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) were fully incorporated into the MEU's 18th training cycle to complement its ability to function as a complete Marine Air Ground Task Force. HMM-262 (+) and Battalion Landing Team 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment were to partake in a series of interoperability training exercises, as they had stepped in as the MEU's aviation and ground combat elements, respectively.

On 12 September 2001 in Okinawa Japan, the Marines of the 31st MEU were secured in their barracks on Camp Hansen as a super typhoon was passing over the island. The community became aware of the terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, DC on 11 September 2001, located on the other side of the international date line, through the Armed Forces Network television and radio stations, and word quickly spread. That evening the 31st MEU received a 96-hour warning order for deployment and was notified that the Navy ships were enroute to load as quickly as possible. Although the storm was still in progress, Marines prepared their personal gear, plans were made, and vehicles and equipment were quickly moved to the port facility and onto the ships. The helicopter squadron was the last to board due to the passing storm, and the on-load was successfully completed in 93 hours. The 31st MEU then steamed south towards their anticipated destination, Afghanistan. As the ships passed Singapore, their destination was changed to East Timor. There the MEU again supported UNTAET operations. The 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, just returning from a deployment to East Timor, was instead assigned the task of heading to Afghanistan.

In mid-August 2004, the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit received deployment orders to the Central Command area of responsibility to support Operation Iraqi Freedom. For operational reasons, specific dates for troop movements were not releasable at the time. The 2,000-member 31st MEU was loaded on the amphibious assault ships USS Essex, USS Juneau and USS Harpers Ferry, which left Okinawa by the end of August 2004. The 31st MEU was, at the time, expected to return to Okinawa once its mission was completed. While it was not possible to provide a specific date for the unit's return, typical Marine deployments lasted from 4-7 months. The unit would remain deployed as long as needed to best support Central Command.

The 31st MEU's deployment to the Central Command's area of responsibility was part of the Marine Corps commitment to security and stability all around the world as part of the Global War on Terrorism. The US remained fully committed to Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security with Japan, and to ensuring the security and stability of the Asia-Pacific region. US Pacific Command maintained the capability to provide a prudent deterrent posture in the Western Pacific. The US military presence in the Asia-Pacific region demonstrated the US commitment to the defense of Japan, as well as security and stability in the region.

From September 2004 to March 2005, the 31st MEU, including Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines, reinfored with C Battery, 1st Battalion, 12th Marines, conducted combat actions in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Participation includined a major role in Operation Phantom Fury, the clearing of Fallujah in November 2004.

With organizational changes to Marine Corps' reconnaissance units in 2006, all MEUs had their Special Operations Capable (SOC) designations removed. The 31st MEU then became titled as a Maritime Contingency Force, although it remained capable of conducting the same wide variety of specialized missions on both sea and land.

In February 2006, the 31st MEU was sent to the Philippines to provide relief assistance during the mudslides in southern Leyte. In May and June of 2008, the MEU participated in Operation Caring Response after Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar. In October 2009, the MEU returned to the Philippines and assisted in humanitarian and disaster relief in Luzon after Typhoons Ketsana and Parma hit back to back. Simultaneously, elements of the MEU assisted in Sumatra, Indonesia after earthquakes struck the region. In Oct 2010, the 31st MEU conducted humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations in northern Luzon after Super Typhoon Megi hit the Philippines.

Following the 9.0 magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsnuami hitting Japan on 11 March 2011, the 31st MEU was split into 3 separate parts. The largest ship, USS Essex (LHD 2), with most of the Marines and Sailors of the 31st MEU aboard, had just completed an exercise in Cambodia and had arrived in Malaysia for a port visit. When 31st MEU leadership received news of the tsunami, they initiated an immediate recall of all personnel who were away from the ship on liberty. The ship quickly took on some supplies, and in less than 24 hours was underway to Japan where it would meet up with USS Germantown (LSD 42) and USS Harpers Ferry (LSD 49).

The USS Germantown and USS Harpers Ferry were both in Indonesia with elements of the 31st MEU embarked, and Marines and Sailors aboard the Harpers Ferry were scheduled to participate in a large humanitarian assistance and disaster relief exercise starting on 12 March 2011. Both ships were immediately alerted upon news of the disaster in Japan and headed north for the stricken country in support of what would become Operation Tomodachi.

The Essex ARG and the 31st MEU first arrived off the coast of Akita, Japan on 17 March 2011 and began flying coastal surveillance flights in the initial stages of Operation Tomodachi. On 22 March 2011, the ARG repositioned off the east coast of Japan, near Hachinohe, and the 31st MEU immediately began delivering relief supplies ashore via helicopters of HMM-262 (Reinforced). Supplies delivered included water, blankets, and other health and comfort items. HMM-262 (+) conducted a total of 15 survey missions and 204 supply delivery missions with nearly 300 hours of flight time.

On 27 March 2011, the MEU and Essex ARG's priority became support to the isolated island of Oshima as part of Operation Tomodachi. Elements of the 31st MEU, including HMM-262 (+), Combat Logistics Battalion 31; 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines; and the command element went ashore on Oshima Island to remove debris, deliver critical supplies to the isolated area, and provide life support.

Combat Logistics Battalion 31 began by transporting relief supplies, which included moving commercial electric utility vehicles, a fuel truck, a water resupply vehicle, along with civilian workers from the Tohoku Power Company by US Navy landing craft to attempt to restore partial power to the cut-off island. The same day the utility vehicles were delivered, the island received power for the first time since the disaster had struck. During the Oshima operation, pallets of clothes, blankets, and food were also flown to the JMSDF helicopter destroyer JS Hyuga (DDH 181) by Marine helicopters, where they were distributed to displaced residents of the island who were temporarily embarked aboard the ship.

Working alongside the JGSDF, the 31st MEU delivered 15,000 pounds of supplies to the island and cleared tons of debris from harbors, roads and beaches. Marines also created temporary shower facilities allowing residents to bathe. For some it was the first time they had been able to take a shower since the tsunami struck. In total, the 31st MEU and the Essex ARG moved 164,000 pounds of relief supplies to those affected by the disaster, including 5 cities, Oshima Island and the Japanese ship.

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HNLMS Evertsen to be deployed to the Mediterranean

Netherlands Ministry of Defence

News item | 09-03-2026 | 11:30

The air defence and command frigate HNLMS Evertsen will be deployed to the eastern Mediterranean from this week until early April. The frigate will contribute to the protection of aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle's carrier strike group, as well as the defence of Cyprus and allied territory. Minister of Foreign Affairs Tom Berendsen and Minister of Defence Dilan Yesilgoz-Zegerius announced this decision to the Senate and the House of Representatives today.

Mr Berendsen said, 'With this deployment, the Netherlands is showing solidarity with its allies and contributing to European cooperation to defend the international legal order.'

Ms Yesilgoz-Zegerius said, 'HNLMS Evertsen has unique capabilities in the area of long-range aerial threat detection, which enable the crew to protect themselves and allies. By operating jointly with France we are also strengthening operations at European level.'

This is a defensive deployment, prompted by the recent developments in the Middle East and the Iranian attacks on surrounding countries, including several partners of the Netherlands. In this way the Netherlands is contributing to European cooperation to defend the international legal order, and is also showing solidarity with its European partners.

Part of carrier strike group

Air defence and command frigate HNLMS Evertsen has been part of the carrier strike group centred on French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle since 4 February. Last week, France asked the Netherlands for continued support within the carrier strike group. HNLMS Evertsen's sensors and weapon systems are well suited to defend naval formations against the threat from drones and missiles.

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Trump Claims US Has 'Virtually Unlimited' Ammunition, Operations Could Continue 'Forever'

Sputnik News

20260313

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - US President Donald Trump claimed on Friday the Pentagon has "virtually unlimited" stocks of ammunition allowing the military to continue operations against Iran for as long as required.

"We're hitting them very hard. We have unlimited ammunition ... We have virtually unlimited ammunition, and we're using it," Trump told Fox News. "We could go forever."

The United States could "do things" to Iran that the country could never rebuild from, but is choosing not to, Trump claimed.

"We could do things [to Iran] that would be so bad. They could literally never rebuild as a nation again, and we're not doing it now," Trump told Fox News radio.'

Trump also bragged about being able to take out nuclear power plants in Iran, but said he has chosen not to do it so far.

"We're being nice. I could take out things in the next hour. We could hang up, within one hour you'd be reading about taking out nuclear power plants," Trump told Fox News. "We could do things that would be so bad they could literally never rebuild as a nation again ... we're not doing it now."

Trump said that Gulf nations are doing a "very good job" in protecting themselves from Iranian retaliatory strikes.

"The Gulf states are doing a very good job in protecting themselves. They have great Patriot missiles, which are the defensive missiles that have knocked down virtually 100% of the time they used. They've knocked down whatever they're aimed at. They've been unbelievable," Trump told Fox New Radio. On Tuesday, CBS News reported that Washington is failing to replenish the air defense stocks of its allies in the Persian Gulf in a timely manner amid its bombardment campaign against Iran and the latter's retaliatory strikes across the region.

The report noted several Gulf nations are running "dangerously low" on interceptors and request that the US expedite the deliveries. However, while the US informed the allies it is establishing a task force on the matter, it is not happening fast enough.

On Seizing Iran's Enriched Uranium Stockpiles

Trump said that the United States is "not at all" focused on seizing Iran's enriched uranium stockpiles, but might be in the future.

"No, not at all ... we're not focused on that. But at some point we might be," Trump told Fox News when asked whether the US military had plans to seize Iran's alleged 400 kilogram stockpile of enriched uranium.

On Plans of Military Campaign

Trump refused to answer questions about whether the United States will try to occupy Iran's Kharg island in the Persian Gulf amid the military campaign against the Islamic republic.

"It's not high on the list, but it's one of so many different things, and I can change my mind in seconds," Trump told Fox News radio when asked whether he is planning to take over the island. "I mean you're asking me a question. Kharg Island, okay, everything. Who would ask a question like that, and what fool would answer it?"

On Iranian Citizens in US

Every Iranian national in the country is closely watched amid the US-Israeli military action against Tehran, Trump said.

"You got a lot of good people, but we're watching them very, very carefully. We have them under watch now," Trump told Fox News radio.

On Drone Attacks on California

Trump said that he is not worried about an alleged threat of Iranian drone attacks on California.

On Thursday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt dismissed as false and unverified reports warning US citizens about a potential Iranian attack on California. "I don't worry about it, because if you did, you wouldn't be able to function. Okay? So you can't worry. You have to do something," Trump told Fox News radio when asked a relevant question.

On Russia

Trump said on Friday he believes Russia is assisting Iran "a little bit," but added that the United States has long been helping Ukraine.

"I think he [Russian President Vladimir Putin] might be helping them [Iran] a little bit ... and he probably thinks we're helping Ukraine, right?" Trump told Fox News Radio.

When asked whether the US is supporting Ukraine, he replied affirmatively.

"Yeah, we are helping them also ... You know, it's like, hey, they do it and we do it. In all fairness, they do it and we do it," Trump said in response.

On Ukraine

The United States does not need Ukrainian anti-drone technology to help fend off Iranian retaliatory strikes in the Middle East, Trump said.

"No, we don't need the help with drone defense. We know more about drones than anybody, we have the best drones in the world actually," Trump told Fox News Radio when asked whether Ukraine is helping the US in terms of drone defense. On March 4, CNN reported that US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth acknowledged in a closed-door briefing with lawmakers that Iranian one-way Shahed-136 drones represent a greater challenge to its air defenses than previously assessed.

On March 5, Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine received a request from the US for "specific support in protection" against" drones in the Middle East.

On US-China Relations

Trump said he maintains a "great relationship" with Chinese President Xi Jinping despite both countries being very competitive with each other.

"He's [Xi] a strong person, a strong leader. I have a great relationship with them. I'm going over there in a very short period of time. I was invited, and I'm going. It's good that we get along ... We're doing well economically with China. They want to do business with us, and, you know, we've had a good relationship. It's highly competitive, obviously, but he and I have had a very good relationship," Trump told Fox News.

 Sputnik

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United States to Launch Very Powerful Strikes on Iran Over Next Week - Trump

Sputnik News

20260313

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The United States plans to launch very powerful strikes against Iran over the next week, US President Donald Trump said.

"We have already damaged them so badly it would take years for them to ever rebuild. And we are going be hitting them very hard over the next week," Trump told Fox News.

The United States is ready to provide escorts for oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz if necessary, Trump added.

"We would do it if we needed to ... But you know, hopefully, things are going to go very well. We are going to see what happens," Trump told Fox News.

 Sputnik

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US Navy May Escort Ships in Strait of Hormuz as Part of International Coalition - Bessent

Sputnik News

20260313

US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said on Thursday that the US Navy may escort vessels through the Strait of Hormuz as part of an international coalition.

"My belief that as soon as it is militarily possible, the US Navy, perhaps with an international coalition, will be escorting vessels through [the Strait of Hormuz]," Bessent said in an interview with Sky News.

On February 28, the United States and Israel launched strikes on targets in Iran, including in Tehran, causing damage and civilian casualties. Iran responded by striking Israeli territory and US military facilities in the Middle East.

The US and Israel initially claimed their "preemptive" attack was necessary to counter the perceived threat coming from Iran's nuclear program, but they soon made it clear that they want to see a change of power in Iran.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed on the first day of the military operation. The Islamic Republic declared 40 days of mourning.

Russian President Vladimir Putin described Khamenei's assassination as a cynical violation of international law. The Russian Foreign Ministry condemned the US-Israeli operation and called for an immediate de-escalation and an end to hostilities.

 Sputnik

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In Beirut, Guterres demands end to Middle East war: Civilians 'deserve to live without fear'

Azerbaijan State News Agency - (AZERTAC)

14.03.2026 [21:02]

Baku, March 14, AZERTAC

The UN Secretary-General on Saturday called on the international community to intensify support for the Government and people of Lebanon, warning that the south of the country "risks being turned into a wasteland," according to the official website of the organization.

Speaking to reporters in the capital Beirut following two weeks of widespread destruction triggered by the US and Israeli bombing of Iran, Antonio Guterres noted that Hezbollah rocket fire into Israel in support of Tehran had been followed by a "devastating" Israeli bombing campaign which is "rendering large portions of Lebanon uninhabitable."

No war of choice for Lebanese

"The Lebanese people did not choose this war. They were dragged into it," he continued.

"The war must stop," the UN chief said, underscoring that there is no military solution to the conflict continuing across the Middle East, only a diplomatic one in line with the UN Charter.

He acknowledged the impact on both sides of the Blue Line that separates southern Lebanon from northern Israel, which is patrolled by the UN peacekeeping force UNIFIL under a Security Council mandate.

Israelis have fled to shelters in the face of Hezbollah rockets, while hundreds of Lebanese have been killed "including many children."

Well over 800,000 have been forced to flee their homes in the southern conflict zone and areas targeted in the Hezbollah stronghold of southern Beirut, following blanket Israeli evacuation orders.

Shelter visit

"I was deeply saddened by the testimonies of the displaced people that I visited in a shelter today," said Guterres.

He noted that a cessation of hostilities agreement between Lebanon and Israel of just over a year ago, did not see an end to simmering violence, with both Hezbollah and Israeli forces violating ceasefire terms.

The UN chief paid tribute to the courage of UNIFIL peacekeepers who have come under fire in recent days: "Attacks against peacekeepers and positions are completely unacceptable and they must stop."

Guterres praised the Lebanese Government's historic decision last August to establish a "monopoly of arms", adding that Hezbollah militants must abide by it and all other Security Council resolutions to hand over their weapons.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres shaking hands with a Lebanese Army soldier recovering in a hospital bed in Lebanon, with another soldier standing by.

UNIFIL/Haidar Fahs UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres visits a Ghanaian peacekeeper in hospital serving with the UNIFIL mission who was injured after coming under fire during the renewed conflict in southern Lebanon.International message

"Finally, my message to the international community is simply this: step up your engagement," said the UN chief.

Empower the Lebanese State and support the Lebanese Armed Forces to secure the capabilities and resources they need."

He called for countries to respond generously to the UN flash humanitarian appeal in aid of the Government-led response.

"The people of Lebanon - as well as Israel and all other peoples throughout the region - deserve to live without fear, to raise their children without the sound of sirens and strikes. To return home without wondering when they have to flee again."

The UN on the ground is working tirelessly to support Lebanon's people and institutions, the Secretary-General underlined: "Together, we will spare no effort in striving for the peaceful future that Lebanon and this region so richly deserve," he said.

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Chinese FM calls for resolving issues between Afghanistan and Pakistan through dialogue, consultation

Global Times

By Xinhua Published: Mar 14, 2026 09:35 AM

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Friday that the issues between Afghanistan and Pakistan can only be resolved through dialogue and consultation.

The use of force would only complicate the situation and intensify the contradictions, which would be of no benefit to either side and threatens regional peace and stability, he said.

Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks in a phone conversation with Afghan Foreign Minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi at the latter's request.

Muttaqi thanked China for its active efforts in mediating the conflicts between Afghanistan and Pakistan, noting that the Afghan people, who have suffered greatly from war, cherish the opportunities for peace and development.

The Afghan foreign minister said his country wants to be a source of regional peace rather than unrest, reaffirming that its territory will not be used to attack neighboring countries.

Afghanistan does not wish to engage in military conflict with other countries, and looks forward to mutual trust and friendly coexistence with neighboring countries, he said.

The Afghan side believes that dialogue and consultation are the only way to resolve issues and looks forward to China, as a major country and a friendly neighbor, playing a greater role, he said.

For his part, Wang said that the more volatile the external environment becomes, the more regional countries should strengthen unity and cooperation, overcome difficulties together, and forge a path of cooperative security and common security.

Afghanistan and Pakistan are inseparable brothers and neighbors that cannot be moved away from each other, he said.

China has always maintained an objective and impartial stance on the conflict between Afghanistan and Pakistan, Wang said.

The special envoy on Afghan affairs of the Chinese Foreign Ministry is shuttling between the two countries to mediate, he said, adding that it is hoped that both sides will keep calm and exercise restraint, have face-to-face exchanges at an early date, achieve a ceasefire as soon as possible, and resolve differences and contradictions through dialogue.

China is willing to continue to make active efforts to help achieve reconciliation and detente between Afghanistan and Pakistan, Wang said.

The two sides also exchanged views on the situation in Iran.

Wang reaffirmed China's principled position, stating that China is willing to work with the international community, including Afghanistan, to further play a constructive role in striving for peace.

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JL-9 jet trainers in flight training

China Military Online) 15:20, March 16, 2026

Two JL-9 jet trainers attached to the Chinese PLA Air Force Xi'an Flying College taxi out of the hangar during a training exercise in early March, 2026. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Li Liben)

A JL-9 jet trainer attached to the Chinese PLA Air Force Xi'an Flying College soars into the sky during a training exercise in early March, 2026.(eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Li Liben)

A JL-9 jet trainer attached to the Chinese PLA Air Force Xi'an Flying College soars into the sky during a training exercise in early March, 2026. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Li Liben)

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
Serbian president confirms buying Chinese missiles after photos leaked; Chinese expert highlights their high compatibility

Global Times

By Zhang Wanshi and Liu Xuanzun Published: Mar 14, 2026 10:38 PM

Serbia recently purchased Chinese CM-400AKG air-to-surface ballistic missiles for its air force, becoming the weapon's first European operator, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said late on Thursday, media reported, and a Chinese expert highlighted the missile's high level of compatibility with the existing aircraft.

"We have a significant number of those missiles, and we will have even more," Vucic said in a live broadcast by Serbia's state RTS TV, days after the first images of the missiles mounted on a Serbian plane leaked online, according to Reuters. Vucic added that the Serbian air force had adapted its Soviet-made MiG-29 fighter jets to carry the CM-400AKG.

According to the report by Reuters, Vucic declined to disclose the price Serbia paid for the missiles, only saying it received a "slight discount".

The CM-400AKG air-to-ground missile is a supersonic missile meant to strike buildings and radar sites, and it was previously publicly displayed at the air show in Zhuhai, South China's Guangdong Province. The missile, manufactured by China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, can carry either a 150 kg (330 lb) blast warhead or a 200 kg (440 lb) penetrator warhead and has a range of up to 400 km (248 miles), per Reuters.

The report by Reuters also noted that it saw its first combat use during the 2025 India-Pakistan conflict, when Pakistan's air force targeted an Indian S-400 air defense system.

This type of missile has attracted significant attention in the international arms market because it allows light and medium fighter jets to achieve long range strike capabilities previously limited to heavy fighters or bombers, Wang Ya'nan, editor-in-chief of Aerospace Knowledge magazine, told the Global Times, on Saturday.

It can also perform precise long range attacks against ground targets - a capability traditionally unavailable to regular fighters, Wang said. As medium sized fighters, Serbia's MiG 29s now possess this capability, which represents a very significant enhancement for Serbia and other air forces that typically operate a limited number of relatively light aircraft.

The other key highlight is the integration and high compatibility, Wang said. Traditionally, equipping an existing fighter jet of non-Chinese design like the MiG 29 with a new missile requires major upgrades to the aircraft's fire control computer and software, Wang said.

In this case, the integration work was completed in advance, with the necessary software and hardware adaptation built into the missile's launch rack. In other words, the missile and its pylon allow an almost "plug and play" use on other fighters, enabling them to employ the missile with minimal modifications, the expert noted.

As of press time, there has been no confirmation from the Chinese embassy or other official channels regarding the latest information of Serbia's purchase of Chinese air-to-surface missiles, which has come from the Serbian side.

In recent times, per Reuters, Serbia has purchased the FK-3 surface-to-air defense system - similar to Russia's S-300 or the US Patriot system - and CH-92A combat drones from China.

"China has long enjoyed a positive international reputation and widespread trust, earning broad recognition from other countries. At the same time, Chinese equipment has demonstrated excellent performance in actual operations. As nations place their trust both in China and its equipment, military trade cooperation with China is expected to grow further in the future," the expert said.

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Statement by Foreign Minister Eide on the Suffering of Civilians in the Middle East

Government of Norway

News story | Date: 14/03/2026

'The Middle East is in flames. Two weeks after Israel and the United States launched attacks on Iran, the situation is becoming increasingly dramatic. At least 16 countries are now directly affected by the war. The consequences are already global'.

'Across the Middle East, civilians have been caught in the crossfire. I am deeply concerned about the suffering people are now enduring. In Iran, more than 170 people were killed when a girls' school in the city of Minab was bombed. The World Health Organization (WHO) has verified 18 attacks on Iranian hospitals so far. In Lebanon, more than 700 people have been killed and at least 800,000 displaced, in a country that already hosts a large number of refugees from other states. Lebanon's health system has also been directly affected by attacks. Innocent civilians in Israel, Palestine, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain have also been killed and injured'.

'This is unacceptable. Civilians must be protected in times of war. It is particularly grave when humanitarian workers, health personnel and others on the front line of assistance become targets of military attacks'.

'There is also great cause for concern when critical civilian infrastructure, such as schools, hospitals, homes, and water and electricity supply systems, is struck by hostilities. When the foundations of a society are destroyed, rebuilding becomes far more demanding and costly once the weapons fall silent. The livelihoods of millions of people can be wiped out overnight when workplaces, the environment and crops are destroyed by war. What war destroys in an instant may take generations to rebuild'.

'International humanitarian law obliges parties to a conflict to protect civilians. This obligation applies to all parties, at all times'.

'I once again urge the parties to de-escalate and to seek diplomatic solutions to the conflicts'.

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Israel submits Counter-Memorial to the ICJ

Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs

As demonstrated in the Counter-Memorial, the Court lacks jurisdiction, and South Africa's allegations should be dismissed in their entirety.

Type: Press Releases

Topic: Foreign Policy

Publish Date: 14.03.2026

(MFA Spokesperson Announcement)

Israel has submitted its Counter-Memorial to the ICJ, rejecting South Africa's fabricated and politicized blood libel.

Israel is the only country that has been fighting for its existence since its founding almost 78 years ago.

Israel faces relentless threats of annihilation from Hamas, Iran, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and other terrorist organizations. Hamas's charter explicitly calls for the annihilation of Israel - 'Islam will obliterate it just as it obliterated others before it' - and Hamas and the Iranian axis actively strive to carry this out.

South Africa is attempting to turn this reality on its head, advancing a false and inverted narrative. South Africa, Hamas's legal mouthpiece, is weaponizing international law as a propaganda spectacle.

Following Hamas's invasion and massacre on 7 October 2023, Israel exercised its right and duty to defend its citizens. Contrary to South Africa's baseless claims, Israel has affirmed, through words and deeds, that it was targeting Hamas and its accomplices, not Gaza's civilian population.

Israel made extraordinary efforts to mitigate civilian harm, while Hamas deliberately abused its own people as human shields. Israel has also undertaken large-scale efforts to facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

As demonstrated in the Counter-Memorial, the Court lacks jurisdiction, and South Africa's allegations should be dismissed in their entirety.

Any contrary determination would undermine the fundamental right of States to defend their citizens against terrorists attacking from civilian population centers.

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International Observers Follow Cold Response 2026

Forsvaret - Norwegian Armed Forces

Cold Response is a defensive exercise. As part of demonstrating transparency, Norway has invited several international representatives to observe the exercise.

Published 14. Mar 2026 12:04

Around 25,000 Norwegian and allied soldiers are now training in Norway, of whom 11,800 are on Norwegian soil. Large military exercises such as Cold Response can create uncertainty and concern among neighbouring states. For that reason, Norway invited seven observers from countries outside the NATO alliance to follow the exercise. The aim is to demonstrate openness in today's tense security policy situation.

"As the host nation, Norway has several obligations to reduce misunderstandings internationally, particularly with neighbouring countries. Among other things, Norway has a duty to inform about where, when and how the exercise takes place, and how many personnel are involved," says Ragnhild Hustad, Head of the Arms Control Office in the Norwegian Armed Forces Staff.

The seven observers come from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Moldova and Georgia.

Russia has been informed

After the Cold War, the nations of Europe, the United States and Canada agreed on several arrangements to limit military equipment and ensure transparency regarding military activity.

"As Exercise Cold Response is one of the largest exercises in Europe in 2026, Norway has informed Russia about the exercise in several ways," Hustad explains.

In addition to sending a detailed written overview as early as November 2025, Norwegian diplomats have informed Russia directly in Moscow and in Vienna (the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, OSCE). Russia should therefore be well aware of the exercise.

Meet soldiers at random

Inviting observers to the exercise is a voluntary measure under one of the agreements, the Vienna Document. The aim is to demonstrate that the exercise is being conducted as announced and that it is a non-threatening exercise towards other countries.

During their time in Troms, the observers will receive briefings on the content of the exercise, the command structure and its objectives. Over the two days the observers spend in the exercise area, meetings are planned with Norwegian, German, Spanish and American units in the field. It is also common for observers to speak with soldiers they encounter randomly along the way, for example along the roads.

"These spontaneous and unplanned encounters give observers a good and realistic understanding of the exercise and also illustrate well how exercises in Norway are conducted," Hustad says.

Surprised by Norway

She says observers are often surprised by how the Armed Forces use real civilian terrain in their exercises. They are also surprised by Norway's concept of total defence, where the military trains together with the police, health services, municipalities and transport and energy companies.

"The observers are very satisfied with the observation. On Thursday they were briefed on the exercise by the Norwegian Joint Headquarters. They also received an orientation on how the Armed Forces ensure the safety of the forces during the exercise, environmental protection, and how military exercise controllers direct units to achieve their training objectives," Hustad explains.

On Friday the observers met with the Norwegian and German brigades and the U.S. Marine Corps before returning home.

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U.S. won't allow shipping in Strait of Hormuz "to be contested": Hegseth

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 09:22, March 14, 2026

WASHINGTON, March 13 (Xinhua) -- The United States will not allow shipping in the Strait of Hormuz "to be contested" by Iran, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Friday.

There is no clear evidence that Iran has placed mines in the Strait of Hormuz, he said at a news briefing.

He said the United States is planning for Iran's various measures and "that's not a strait we're gonna allow to remain contested."

The Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway that connects the Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, is one of the world's most critical maritime chokepoints, carrying around a quarter of global seaborne oil trade and significant volumes of liquefied natural gas and fertilizers.

Hegseth also told reporters that strikes carried out by the United States and Israel have significantly weakened Iran's military capabilities.

"Between our Air Force and that of the Israelis, over 15,000 enemy targets have been struck," he said.

Iran's missile volume is down 90 percent and that of their one-way attack drones was down 95 percent as of Thursday, Hegseth further said.

Hegseth threatened that "today will be yet again, the highest volume of strikes that America has put over the skies of Iran and Tehran."

Hegseth also told reporters that the U.S. Central Command has designated an investigating officer to complete a command investigation into a strike on an elementary school in Iran that killed over 160 people, mostly pupils.

The Feb. 28 strike on Shajarah Tayyebeh elementary school in Minab occurred during U.S. operations targeting a nearby Iranian military base. According to reports, a preliminary finding from an ongoing military investigation indicates that the school was struck by a U.S. Tomahawk missile.

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Trump blew $19 billion during US-Israeli war on Iran: US congressman

Iran Press TV

Saturday, 14 March 2026 8:27 AM

US Congressman Jim McGovern has condemned the US-Israeli aggression against Iran, saying the money wasted during the war could have been used to prevent infectious diseases in the United States.

In a post on X on Saturday, McGovern, who represents Massachusetts in US Congress said, "In under 2 weeks, Trump has blown $19 BILLION on his reckless Iran War. That is 2x what we spend each year on preventing infectious diseases in the US."

"He is enriching his billionaire Big Oil and Defense Contractor donors instead of keeping America healthy. So much for MAHA [Make America Healthy Again]," he added.

According to the Pentagon's briefing to the Congress, the US spent at least $11 billion in the first week of the war.

Since then, the US has spent more than $1 billion each day to continue its aggression alongside Israel against Iran.

The US and Israel began their aggression against Iran in Late February by attacking several targets across the capital Tehran.

Since then, Iranian armed forces have swiftly and decisively retaliated against these strikes by launching barrages of missile and drones against Israeli-occupied territories as well as on US bases in region.

According to Iran's Ministry of Defense, Iran's military has killed at least 600 American troops in various US bases since the start of the aggression.

Iranian officials have stated that targeting US military bases in the region constitutes "legitimate self-defense."Referring to Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, they said that Iran has the legal right to defend itself against "acts of aggression" by the US or the Israeli regime.

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Trump Announces Destruction of All Military Targets on Iran's Kharg Island

Sputnik News

20260314

US President Donald Trump said the American military had destroyed all military targets on Iran's Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf amid the ongoing conflict.

"Moments ago, at my direction, the United States Central Command executed one of the most powerful bombing raids in the History of the Middle East, and totally obliterated every MILITARY target in Iran's crown jewel, Kharg Island," Trump said on Truth Social.

According to Axios, Kharg Island accounts for approximately 90% of Iran's global oil supply, making it one of the country's most strategically important energy infrastructure assets.

Despite the US strikes, Fars News reported that Iranian air defense systems were still active on the island 1 hour later, citing field sources.

On February 28, the United States and Israel launched strikes on targets in Iran, including in Tehran, causing damage and civilian casualties. Iran responded by striking Israeli territory and US military facilities in the Middle East.

The US and Israel initially claimed their "preemptive" attack was necessary to counter the perceived threat coming from Iran's nuclear program, but they soon made it clear that they want to see a change of power in Iran.

 Sputnik

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Secretary-General's Press Conference in Beirut

United Nations Secretary-General

14 March 2026

Beirut, Lebanon

Press events | Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General

Ladies and gentlemen of the media.

I have come to Beirut with a message to the Lebanese people, to the warring parties, and to the world.

Above all, I am here on a visit of solidarity with the people of Lebanon.

Muslim communities are observing Ramadan, and Christian communities are observing Lent.

This is a season for solidarity, generosity, and a powerful reminder of Lebanon's spirit of confessional co-existence.

It breaks my heart to see this period shattered by escalating violence.

Over the past two weeks, we have seen widespread destruction.

Hizbullah rockets and drones were launched at targets in northern Israel and the occupied Syrian Golan. This was followed by devastating Israeli bombing operations and blanket evacuation notices, rendering large portions of Lebanon uninhabitable.

Many Israelis were sent to shelter.

Hundreds of Lebanese have been killed, including many children.

And many more have been wounded.

And hundreds of thousands of civilians are fleeing with nothing but what they can carry. I was deeply saddened by the testimonies of the displaced people when I visited a shelter today.

The south risks being turned into a wasteland.

Southern Beirut - which is under sweeping evacuation orders by Israel - risks being bombed to oblivion.

The Bekaa and Baalbek - and other areas - are scenes of destruction and panic.

It is tragic to see all this happening in a country that has contributed so much to world civilization.

The Lebanese people did not choose this war.

They were dragged into it.

My message to the warring parties is clear:

Stop the fighting.

Stop the bombing.

There is no military solution - only diplomacy, dialogue and the full implementation of the UN Charter and Security Council resolutions.

The diplomatic avenues are available - including through my Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, and through key Member States.

This is the pathway to spare communities on both sides of the Blue Line more needless suffering.

Just over a year ago, a cessation of hostilities between Lebanon and Israel was achieved.

It did not resolve all outstanding issues - and it was not fully respected.

While the parties reiterated their commitment to the full implementation of Resolution 1701, violations persisted by both sides.

Violence did not end.

And the territorial integrity of Lebanon continued to be violated.

There was more a "lesser fire" than a real ceasefire.

But the November 2024 arrangement did bring significant relief and offered a renewed opportunity to advance political dialogue.

Unfortunately, that opportunity was not fully seized.

We are doing everything we can now to bring about an immediate de-escalation and a cessation of hostilities.

My Special Coordinator is engaging with all actors around the clock to bring the parties to the table.

UNIFIL peacekeepers - under the command of General Abagnara - remain in position.

They are maintaining an impartial international peacekeeping presence along the Blue Line and throughout the Area of Operations, to fulfill the mandate entrusted to them by the Security Council, and to support the local populations.

I want to pay tribute to their courage.

Last Friday, three Blue Helmets serving with the Ghanaian contingent were injured, one seriously - I visited him today at the hospital - amid intense exchanges of fire.

I wish them a full and speedy recovery.

Attacks against peacekeepers and positions are completely unacceptable and they must stop.

They are in breach of international law and may constitute war crimes.

Moreover, civilians must be respected and protected at all times - and civilian infrastructure must be spared.

Lebanese sovereignty and territorial integrity must be respected.

The State must have full control over weapons throughout Lebanese territory. This is a central tenet of Resolution 1701 - and a sine qua non to lasting security on both sides of the Blue Line.

Last August, the Government of Lebanon took a historic decision to establish state monopoly of arms throughout the country.

We will continue to support the efforts to strengthen the Lebanese Armed Forces and other State security services.

But the vision of resolution 1701 cannot be brought to life by the army, alone.

It requires a whole-of-government effort to address the entrenched reality of non-state arms - and to heal long-standing grievances and divisions.

And it must include every community in Lebanon - Christian, Druze, Shiite, Sunni, and others.

It is imperative that Hizbullah respects the government's decision to assert the state's monopoly of arms, as well as all relevant Security Council Resolutions, including 1701.

And it is imperative that Israel respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Lebanon.

The war must stop.

Finally, my message to the international community is simply: step up your engagement.

Empower the Lebanese State, and support the Lebanese Armed Forces to secure the capabilities and resources they need.

Respond generously to the humanitarian appeal launched yesterday to provide the government of Lebanon with the resources needed to intensify its support to the populations affected.

The people of Lebanon - as well as Israel and all other peoples throughout the region - deserve to live without fear.

To raise their children without the sound of sirens and strikes.

To return home without wondering when they have to flee again.

Our team on the ground is working to do everything they can to support the Lebanese people and institutions. I am deeply grateful to all UN colleagues for their commitment and dedication.

Together, we will spare no effort in striving for the peaceful future that Lebanon and this region so richly deserve.

Thank you.

***

SPOKESPERSON: We will open the floor for questions, please speak slowly and clearly and state your name and media affiliation. Someone will bring the microphone to you. Yes sir.

QUESTION: Good afternoon. This is Joe Farshakh reporting for LBCI Lebanon. Mr. Secretary- General, many people argue that the international legal order has collapsed. Wars are waged, civilians are killed, children are amongst the fatalities, and humanitarian workers are also targeted, with no accountability whatsoever, and major powers ignoring the set of rules that they themselves wrote. In this new world order where the rule of the strongest, la raison du plus fort, prevails, what relevance does the United Nations still have? Thank you.

SECRETARY-GENERAL: An essential relevance. It's exactly because we see powers undermining international law. It's exactly because we see those that try to put the law of the force above the force of law. It's exactly because some of the biggest powers are the ones more engaged in violations of international law that the overwhelming majority of the world population and the overwhelming majority of the countries of the world that want to be respected in their sovereignty, that want their populations to be protected, that want to have a voice at the table, it is why they need the United Nations more than ever.

But we need a United Nations totally committed to fight for the values of the Charter, for international law. And I can guarantee that I'll do everything in my power to maintain - from the Secretariat of United Nations - a clear position without double standards in favor of international law, in favor of the charter, and in favor of more justice and equality in today's world.

SPOKESPERSON: Thank you. The gentleman here in the back.

QUESTION: Secretary General, this is Bernard Smith from Al Jazeera English. You touched on this in your opening statement, but Israel's evacuation orders now cover some 14% of Lebanese territory, including whole suburbs of Beirut, as well as southern Lebanon, as well as parts of the Beqaa. Are these sort of forced displacement orders consistent with international humanitarian law, and have you communicated any red lines to the Israelis?

SECRETARY-GENERAL: Well, as a matter of fact, evacuation orders in a situation where so many vulnerable populations exist in the areas that are asked to be evacuated does not create enough security for civilians, and whatever does not create enough security for civilians inevitably becomes in violation of international humanitarian law. The protection of civilians is the maximum responsibility of any country at war, and it applies in Lebanon today as it applies everywhere in the world.

QUESTION: And the red lines, did you communicate any red lines to the Israelis?

SECRETARY-GENERAL: The red line that everybody must respect is international law. That is true for Israel, as it is true for any other party to the conflict or any other country in the world.

SPOKESPERSON: Thank you. The lady in the back.

QUESTION: I am Najia Al-Hosari from Arab News daily. The war didn't stop, and if it didn't stop, will you use your authority under the UN Charter to ask the Security Council to meet and stop an Israeli invasion before it starts on a large scale, because it is a threat to the international peace and security?

SECRETARY-GENERAL: I think we need to recognize that we have a problem with the Security Council. The Security Council today no longer represents the world as the world exists. It represents the world after 1945. You have three permanent members of the Security Council from Europe, one from Asia, one from the United States, from America. You have no permanent member from Africa, no permanent member from Latin America, just one from Asia that obviously is a continent with an enormous weight in global population and global wealth. And so, the Council has a problem of legitimacy and a problem of efficiency because of the vetoes. And what we have witnessed is that time and time again, when we have situations of conflict and when it's necessary to stop the conflict, there is a veto that emerges and that does not allow the Security Council to act. That, unfortunately, is something that we are witnessing time and time again, and I am not hoping that in the short term, things will change.

SPOKESPERSON: We have time for one or two more questions. Yes please.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary-General, Alexandros Morntountak, from the Greek Public Broadcasting Corporation. The Lebanese government appears to be drawn between disregard from both Israel and Hezbollah, and as resolution 1701 is being de facto overlooked, are there specific diplomatic steps under review that can prevent further multilateral escalation and strengthen Lebanese sovereignty as expressed by its current and any future government? How can the UN further support the Lebanese state in extending its authority over belligerence while navigating inherent internal tensions?

SECRETARY-GENERAL: First of all, the UN is extremely active, the proof is my presence here, and our Special Representative is actively engaged with the parties in order to create conditions for as soon as possible to stop this war and to restart a serious process of negotiation.

But we are not alone.

If you are following the press, and I believe you are, you should have seen that at least two countries, France and [Cyprus], have announced today initiatives in order to restart negotiations and in order to make sure that we end this absolutely intolerable situation of war. And I'm hoping that this pressure will be extended to other countries and that more and more countries will be telling both Hizbollah and Israel that this war must stop.

QUESTION: What about the elevation of the Lebanese government's authority, though.

SECRETARY-GENERAL: And obviously, one of the things that we have been more clearly affirming is that it is absolutely essential, and the international community has a lot to do in strengthening, first of all, the armed forces of Lebanon, providing them with the resources [and] the equipment that are necessary to be the sole force within the country and strengthening the army, creating the conditions for the government itself to have a much stronger capacity in order to guarantee the safety of the country and the establishment of conditions to reposition Lebanon as in the past, as a center of civilization and culture central to the Middle East.

SPOKESPERSON: Thank you so much. Maybe one more final question. Please go ahead.

QUESTION: Maysa Abdel Khalek from Qatar News Agency. What's your comment on the Israeli statement saying that we will do in Lebanon what they did in Gaza? Thank you.

SECRETARY-GENERAL: I have not seen that comment, but if that comment exists, it's absolutely intolerable. What happened in Gaza is a disaster that is something that can must be avoided anywhere else in the world.

Thank you very much, all the best.

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Readout of the Secretary-General's meeting with H.E. Nawaf Salam, President of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Lebanon

United Nations Secretary-General

14 March 2026

Beirut, Lebanon

Readouts | Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General

The Secretary-General met on Friday, 13 March, with H.E. Nawaf Salam, President of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Lebanon. They discussed the latest developments, efforts to de-escalate hostilities, and advancing resolutions 1559 (2004) and 1701 (2006). They also discussed efforts to strengthen Lebanese state institutions, and progress in advancing crucial governance and economic reforms.

The Secretary-General expressed his solidarity with the Lebanese people and reiterated the commitment of the United Nations to support the Government of Lebanon in providing humanitarian assistance to all those affected by the current hostilities.

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Readout of the Secretary-General's meeting with Nabih Berri, Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament

United Nations Secretary-General

14 March 2026

Beirut, Lebanon

Readouts | Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General

The Secretary-General met on Friday, 13 March, with H.E. Nabih Berri, Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament. They discussed the latest developments and hostilities, as well as the role of Parliament in adopting reforms necessary for the strengthening of Lebanese state institutions and the delivery of services.

The Secretary-General emphasized the importance of an immediate ceasefire and the full implementation of resolutions 1559 (2004) and 1701 (2006), while reiterating the commitment of the United Nations to Lebanon's stability.

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US wants other countries, including China, to help keep Hormuz open; experts warn root cause of blockade lies in US-Israeli military operation

Global Times

By Deng Xiaoci and Zhang Yuying Published: Mar 15, 2026 11:27 PM

The Strait of Hormuz, that slender 21-mile choke point where the Persian Gulf meets the open sea, has become the world's most expensive bottleneck as the war triggered by the US-Israeli attack against Iran progressed into the third week. Marking a new development to situation, US President Donald Trump in a social media post urged countries including China, the UK, France and Japan to deploy war ships to keep the strait "open and safe." This move drew sarcasm from Iran, with Iranian Foreign Minister commenting that "US is now begging others, even China, to help it make Hormuz safe."

Chinese observers noted that both the US and Iran have explicitly mentioned China. This may stem from each side's strategic considerations, they said. They also believed that Washington is distorting the logic of the issue by dragging more countries into the conflict as the root cause of the Hormuz blockade lies in the US-Israeli military operation against Iran.

Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social on Saturday that "Many Countries, especially those who are affected by Iran's attempted closure of the Hormuz Strait, will be sending War Ships, in conjunction with the United States of America, to keep the Strait open and safe."

"Hopefully China, France, Japan, South Korea, the UK, and others" will send ships to the area, Trump claimed, adding that the US will be "bombing the hell out of the shoreline," and continually shooting Iranian boats and ships out of the water.

According to Al Jazeera, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi clarified that the strait was only closed to "tankers and ships of enemies and their allies," not all shipping, while Mohsen Rezaee, a member of Iran's Expediency Discernment Council, an influential body close to the supreme leader, said, "No American ship has the right to enter the Gulf."

And commenting on Trump's call, Araghchi, in a social media post, urged neighbors to "expel foreign aggressors" and described Trump's call as "begging," AP reported Sunday.

The Washington Post highlighted Trump's "frustration" evident in his post, as the US media said in an article on Sunday that "Iran's ability to threaten ships in the strait by use of low-cost drones and mines, regardless of how battered its defenses, has proved a frustration for Trump, who conceded in a post Saturday that Iran would retain such capabilities 'no matter how badly defeated they are.'"

Muddy the waters

When requested by the CNN to comment on the latest call from Trump, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington said in a statement that China calls for an immediate stop to hostilities, and that "all parties have the responsibility to ensure stable and unimpeded energy supply." The CNN claimed that the spokesperson did not confirm whether China is planning to deploy naval assets to the region.

"As a sincere friend and strategic partner of Middle Eastern countries," the statement concluded, "China will continue to strengthen communication with relevant parties, including parties to the conflict, and play a constructive role for de-escalation and restoration of peace."

Liu Zhongmin, a professor at the Middle East Studies Institute of Shanghai International Studies University, said that the US wants to muddy the waters and drag more countries into the issue.

"In reality, the US is distorting the underlying logic of the crisis," Liu told the Global Times on Sunday. "By its own argument, since the Strait of Hormuz serves the entire world for oil transit, the international community as a whole should bear corresponding responsibilities for its security. However, the fundamental cause of the current tensions lies in the military strikes launched by the US and Israel against Iran."

Few supportive response

Trump's call for "team effort" has met few instant supportive voices, even from traditional allies as of press time.

According to BBC, on Saturday, hours after Trump's post, French foreign ministry's official response account on X denied reports that the country was sending its warships to the Strait of Hormuz.

Japan, another close ally of the US, also reportedly claimed that the threshold is "extremely high" for Tokyo to send its warships to help protect the Strait of Hormuz, Al Jazeera reported, citing Takayuki Kobayashi, policy chief of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party as saying.

"I regard the threshold as extremely high" for sending navy ships to the region under existing Japanese laws, Kobayashi said on the public broadcaster NHK. Legally speaking, we do not rule out the possibility, but given the current situation in which this conflict is ongoing, I believe this is something that must be considered with great caution," he added.

Without confirming whether they are sending warships to the strait, CNN reported that a spokesperson for the British Ministry of Defense said that the UK is "currently discussing with our allies and partners a range of options to ensure the security of shipping in the region."

Likewise, a Cheong Wa Dae official reportedly said regarding Trump's request that "we will maintain close communication with the US and prudently review the matter before making a decision," the Korea Times reported Sunday.

"The safety of international shipping lanes and the freedom of navigation serve the interests of all countries, and are protected under international law," said the presidential official, expressing hopes that the maritime logistics network will be normalized as soon as possible based on these principles.

The report also cited analysts by saying that such request "forces Seoul to weigh its alliance with Washington and its reliance on Middle Eastern energy supplies against the risks of being drawn into an escalating conflict involving Iran."

Day 16

As the conflict entered its 16th day on Sunday, the struggle between the two sides persists both on the front lines and in the information and narrative domains. The US and Israel carried out attacks on Iran's Isfahan city in the early hours of Sunday, killing at least 15 people, per Al Jazeera. Sirens blared in central Israel on Sunday as Iran launched multiple barrages of missiles in retaliatory attacks on the country, per the network's update.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards pledged to target Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu as Iran's war with the US and Israel continues, the Guardian reported Sunday.

"Iran wants to make a deal, and I don't want to make it because the terms aren't good enough yet," Trump said in a phone interview with NBC News. When asked what terms he sought, he said, "I don't want to say that to you," but agreed they would involve Iran committing to abandoning its nuclear ambitions, per the German DW News.

The president confirmed US forces carried out strikes on Kharg Island, home to an oil terminal that supplies the majority of Iran's oil exports. "We totally demolished Kharg Island, but we may hit it a few more times just for fun," Trump told the US broadcaster.

Iran's foreign minister Araqchi said on Sunday Tehran is open to dialogue with neighboring countries as part of efforts to bring an end to the conflict with the US and Israel. In posts on his Telegram channel, Araqchi said Iran is in contact with several Gulf capitals and would welcome any initiative to help secure a complete end to the war, Arabian Radio Network reported.

"The constant shifts of US and Iranian stances toward ending the war could indicate that they both are currently facing difficulties in the war situation," Ding Long, a professor at the Middle East Studies Institute of Shanghai International Studies University, told the Global Times on Sunday.

Should the conflict continue at its present intensity, neither side possesses the capacity to sustain a "forever war," Ding said, noting that they both now aim to gain the upper hand for better leverage in negotiations.

According to the CNN, on Friday, the average per-gallon price of gas in the US stood at $3.63, an increase of 65 cents since the war began and the highest level in nearly two years. Within the Republican Party, the surge has undercut a core element of its political pitch ahead of midterm elections focused chiefly on the cost of living, erasing all the progress made toward lower gas prices since Trump took office, the CNN noted.

In the run-up to the war, Trump officials weighed the possibility that Iran would effectively halt traffic through the waterway, people familiar with the internal deliberations said, but underestimated Tehran's willingness to do it. Some were comforted by Iran's decision not to disrupt oil shipments in the wake of last year's bombing of its nuclear sites, believing that closing the strait would be so painful to the regime that it wouldn't take such a destructive step, the CNN wrote on Saturday,

But they were wrong, the article criticized.

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IDF Spokesperson and Police Spokesperson joint statement

Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Type: Press Releases

Topic: Terrorism

Secondary topic: Palestinian Terror and Incitement

Publish Date: 15.03.2026

During an operation by the Israel Security Forces in the Tammun area to apprehend individuals suspected of involvement in terror against the Israeli Security Forces, a vehicle accelerated toward the force, who perceiving a threat, responded by opening fire.

As a result, four Palestinians who were in the vehicle were killed.

The circumstances of the incident are under review by the relevant authorities.

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General Secretariats of League of Arab States, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and Commission of African Union condemn continued closure of Al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli occupation authorities

League of Arab States

Date: 15/03/2026

The General Secretariat of the League of Arab States, the General Secretariat of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and the Commission of the African Union affirm the central status of the Holy City of Jerusalem and the established religious rights and enduring bond of Muslims with Al-Aqsa Mosque, the first qibla and the third of the Two Holy Sanctuaries.

They also express their strong condemnation of the continued closure by the Israeli occupation authorities of Al-Aqsa Mosque to Muslim worshippers, particularly during the holy month of Ramadan. This constitutes a grave violation of the historical and legal status quo governing the Islamic and Christian holy sites in the occupied city of Jerusalem, an assault on the established religious rights and heritage of the Islamic nation, a provocation to the sentiments of Muslims around the world, and a violation of freedom of worship and the sanctity of holy places.

Israel, the occupying power, bears full responsibility for the consequences of these illegal and provocative measures. The three parties warn that their continuation risks exacerbating violence and tensions and threatens to undermine regional and international peace and security.

They further reaffirm that Israel, the occupying power, has no sovereignty over the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including the occupied city of Jerusalem, the capital of the State of Palestine. They categorically reject all its illegal decisions and measures aimed at altering the city's geographic and demographic character and its Arab, Islamic, and Christian identity, as well as attempts to undermine Palestinian sovereignty and presence therein. They also stress that Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al-Sharif, with its total area of 144 dunums, is an exclusively Muslim place of worship.

They call upon the international community, particularly the United Nations Security Council, to assume its responsibilities in compelling the Israeli occupation authorities to respect the right to freedom of worship, to preserve and protect the historical and legal status quo of the holy sites, to immediately reopen the gates of Al-Aqsa Mosque, and to lift all restrictions imposed on the access of Palestinian citizens to the occupied city of Jerusalem. They further call for ensuring the exercise of their established religious rights therein and safeguarding the city's landmarks, heritage, and cultural identity, in accordance with United Nations resolutions 252 (1968), 267 (1969), and 476 (1980).

They also reaffirm their steadfast and supportive position regarding the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, foremost among them the right to freedom, self-determination, and the establishment of their independent and sovereign state on the borders of June 1967 with East Jerusalem as its capital. They further reiterate their support for international efforts aimed at implementing the two-state solution as a strategic option for achieving a just, lasting, and comprehensive peace in the region.

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Hezbollah hits Israeli military air base near Tel Aviv

Iran Press TV

Sunday, 15 March 2026 7:06 PM

Hezbollah has launched a number of new resistance operations, striking Israeli bases, military equipment and gatherings of soldiers deep inside the occupied territories.

In a series of statements, the Lebanese resistance movement said on Sunday that its forces successfully struck the Pilmakhim air base south of Tel Aviv, 140 kilometers from the Lebanese border, with a missile.

The strike, which took place on Sunday morning, reportedly inflicted heavy losses on Israeli forces and damaged military equipment.

A number of Israeli armored vehicles and soldiers' gatherings were targeted with a barrage of drones during an operation by resistance fighters in Khullah al-Uqsa area on the suburbs of the border city of al-Oddesah, the resistance movement added.

In another operation, Hezbollah also targeted Israeli defense systems with a barrage of missiles in Maalot area of the occupied territories. This is while an arms manufacturing complex belonging to Rafael company was struck in north of Kiryat city.

In addition to that, a barrage of rockets also targeted military positions in Naharia city in the northern part of the occupied territories.

Hezbollah started launching retaliatory operations earlier this month after Israel attacked southern and eastern Lebanon on a daily basis in violation of a November 2024 ceasefire.

Hundreds of Lebanese, mostly civilians, have been killed since then.

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Trump Threatens More Kharg Attacks As Gulf Arab States' Energy Infrastructure Hit

By RFE/RL March 15, 2026

US President Donald Trump said that although, much of Iran's strategic Kharg Island was destroyed in a US air strike, he may order further attacks, while US-allied Arab states in the region reported disruptions to their own petroleum industries amid Iranian retaliatory attacks.

Trump told NBC News on March 14 that the US strikes had "totally demolished" most of Kharg Island-- which lies a couple of dozen kilometers off the Iranian mainland -- but he added that "we may hit it a few more times just for fun."

Immediately following the strike, Trump said US forces had "totally obliterated" Iranian military targets on the island but left oil infrastructure untouched. However, he threatened to hit those sites as well if Iran disrupted traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian officials claimed crude exports were flowing uninterrupted from the Kharg Island terminal after what Trump described as "one of the most powerful bombing raids" in Middle East history.

The strike on Kharg Island marked a major development in the conflict, which began on February 28 after large-scale US-Israeli strikes on Iranian military and nuclear facilities.

Kharg Island is Iran's main oil export outlet, serving as the terminal for about 90 percent of its oil exports. It is located about 24 kilometers off the Iranian coast and some 480 kilometers north off the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump 'Surprised' But Not Ready For Deal

Trump told NBC he was "surprised" that Tehran decided to attack other Middle East countries in retaliation for the US-Israeli strikes on Iran.

He also claimed that Tehran is seeking to make a deal to end the conflict but that the terms the Iranians are offering don't stack up to his demands.

"Iran wants to make a deal, and I don't want to make it because the terms aren't good enough yet," he said.

He didn't specify what terms he was looking for but added that they would need to be "very solid" and would have to include a commitment for Tehran to abandon any nuclear ambitions.

Fears Of Price Rises

Trump played down any consumer worries about energy costs.

"I think they'll go lower than they were before, and I had them at record lows," Trump said about gas prices, saying they would come down soon after the war in Iran ends.

Iran hasvowed to keep the strait closed and has said oil prices could reach $200, about double the current, already elevated, prices.

After saying a day earlier that the US Navy would soon begin escorting ships through the strait, Trump appeared to back off that statement.

"I don't want to tell you anything about that," he said in the interview but added that "it's possible."

In a social media post earlier, Trump said: "The Countries of the World that receive Oil through the Hormuz Strait must take care of that passage, and we will help  A LOT!"

"The U.S. will also coordinate with those Countries so that everything goes quickly, smoothly, and well," he added.

US Regional Allies Hit

Regional allies of the United States also reported attacks on petroleum-industry sites, raising fears even further of massive disruptions to the world's energy supplies.

Authorities in the semiautonomous Iraqi Kurdistan region said operations at the Lanaz refinery in the city of Irbil remained suspended early on March 15, although a fire that broke out after a drone strike was contained.

Iran will target the facilities of US companies in the region if its energy facilities are attacked, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was quoted as saying by state television, after the US strikes on Kharg Island.

Iran appeared to turn its fury toward the United Arab Emirates (UAE), claiming the Kharg Island attack by US forces originated from the emirates.

An Iranian military spokesman warned people in the UAE to evacuate ports, docks, and "American hideouts."

UAE officials denied that the US military launched the attack from bases in the country but said it reserved the right to take defensive action.

"The UAE has the right to defend itself against this imposed terrorist aggression, but it is still prioritizing reason and logic, continuing to exercise restraint and seeking a way out for Iran and the region," presidential adviser Anwar Gargash said on X.

The UAE "made sincere efforts until the very last moment to mediate between Washington and Tehran to avoid this war," he added.

The UAE Consulate in the autonomous Kurdish region of Iraq was attacked for the second time within a week on March 14. Two security personnel were injured and the building also sustained damage, officials said.

Flames In Fujairah

Some oil-loading operations have been suspended in the UAE's Fujairah emirate, an important global ship-refueling hub, after the emirate media office said a drone was intercepted but that falling debris ignited a large fire.

Drone strikes hit Fujairah's energy sites earlier this month, with falling debris from an intercepted drone sparking a blaze, authorities said.

Located on the Gulf of Oman, Fujairah is some 100 kilometers from the Strait of Hormuz, which is largely closed to traffic -- increasing Fujairah's importance in getting energy flows to the world markets through its ports.

In the Abu Dhabi emirate, ADNOC shut its Ruwais refinery in response to a fire at a facility within the complex following a drone strike, Reuters reported.

Iran's hard-line Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) said late on March 14 that it had launched a missile strike at US forces stationed at the Prince Sultan base in Saudi Arabia.

The IRGC said the base was being used to service "F-35 and F-16 fighter jets and is the storage place for fuel tankers."

Early on March 15, the Saudi Defense Ministry said it intercepted and destroyed 10 drones over Riyadh and eastern regions of the country.

Kuwait's civil aviation authority said the country's international airport was targeted by several drone attacks, damaging its radar system and forcing it to close its airspace.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Radio Farda, Reuters, and AFP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/fujairah-kharg- oman-gulf-iran-israel-war-oil/33707032.html

Copyright (c) 2026. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Trump Warns Of More Strikes On Iran As War Enters Third Week

By RFE/RL March 15, 2026

US President Donald Trump said that although much of Iran's strategic Kharg Island was destroyed in a US air strike, he may order further attacks as the US-Israeli war with Iran entered its third week amid fresh violence across the Middle East.

Trump told NBC News on March 14 that the strikes had "totally demolished" most of Kharg Island -- which lies a couple of dozen kilometers off the Iranian mainland -- adding "we may hit it a few more times just for fun."

Following the initial strike, Trump said US forces had "totally obliterated" Iranian military targets on the island but left oil infrastructure untouched. He warned those facilities could also be targeted if Iran disrupts shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian officials claimed crude exports were flowing uninterrupted from the Kharg Island terminal after what Trump described as "one of the most powerful bombing raids" in Middle East history.

The strike on Kharg Island marked a major development in the conflict, which began on February 28 after large-scale US-Israeli strikes on Iranian military and nuclear facilities.

Kharg Island is Iran's main oil export outlet, serving as the terminal for about 90 percent of its oil exports. It lies about 25 kilometers off the Iranian coast in the Persian Gulf.

The war has also severely disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that normally carries about one-fifth of global oil supplies and has been largely closed to commercial traffic since the conflict began.

On March 15, the conflict has continued to be felt across the region, with explosions reported in Tehran and new missile and drone attacks targeting several US allies in the Persian Gulf.

Trump 'Surprised' But Not Ready For Deal

Trump told NBC he was "surprised" Tehran retaliated by attacking other Middle East countries after the US-Israeli strikes on Iran.

He also said Iran appeared interested in negotiating an end to the conflict but that "the terms aren't good enough yet."

Trump said any agreement would have to include a commitment by Tehran to abandon its nuclear ambitions.

Trump also downplayed concerns about rising fuel prices.

"I think they'll go lower than they were before," he said, predicting gasoline prices would fall once the war ends.

Iran has vowed to keep the Strait of Hormuz closed and warned oil prices could reach $200 a barrel, about double the current, already elevated, prices.

After previously suggesting the US Navy might escort ships through the strait, Trump appeared to soften that stance.

"I don't want to tell you anything about that," he said, though he added "it's possible."

In a social media post earlier, Trump said: "The Countries of the World that receive Oil through the Hormuz Strait must take care of that passage, and we will help  A LOT!"

South Korea said on March 15 it was "closely monitoring" Trump's call for allied countries to send warships to help keep the waterway open, while Japan signaled caution about deploying naval forces to the region.

France is seeking to assemble a coalition to secure shipping through the Strait of Hormuz once the security situation stabilizes, while Britain is discussing options with allies to ensure the safety of maritime traffic, officials said.

However, none of the countries mentioned by Trump has indicated it is ready to deploy naval forces while fighting continues.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said he spoke with his French counterpart, Jean-Noel Barrot, and told him that countries should refrain from actions that could escalate the conflict, adding that Iran would respond to any attack on its energy facilities.

Strikes Inside Iran

Early on March 15, multiple explosions were reported across Tehran, with some residents saying they saw drones or fighter jets flying overhead. Power outages were also reported in some areas.

According to posts on social media, explosions were reported in several other locations as well, including Isfahan, Sanandaj, and Kish Island.

Video footage and local media reports suggested that a US-Israeli strike damaged the Iranian Space Research Centre (ISRC) in west Tehran, the country's primary facility for satellite research and intelligence mapping. RFE/RL could not independently verify these reports.

Earlier, the Fars news agency, which is close to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, said at least 15 people were killed when a missile hit a factory in the central city of Isfahan on March 14. The US and Israeli militaries did not immediately comment.

Fars also reported that 20 people were arrested on accusations of sending information about military, police, and security sites to Israel.

Regional Attacks

Meanwhile, the global ship-refueling hub of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates resumed oil-loading operations on March 15 after some activity had been suspended the previous day when debris from an intercepted drone sparked a fire near energy facilities.

Elsewhere in the region, several Persian Gulf states reported fresh missile and drone attacks.

Saudi Arabia said it intercepted six ballistic missiles over Al-Kharj Province late on March 14, while Kuwait reported drone strikes that damaged radar systems at its international airport and forced a temporary closure of its airspace.

Qatar's Defense Ministry said four ballistic missiles and several drones targeting the country were intercepted, while authorities in the UAE said air defenses shot down a drone over Fujairah.

The conflict has also intensified along Israel's northern front.

Overnight Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon killed at least four people, Lebanese authorities and state media said on March 15, as Israel said it was continuing its campaign against the Iran-backed Hezbollah group alongside its broader war with Iran.

Israeli officials say the campaign against Iran could continue for weeks.

A spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces told CNN on March 15 that the military is preparing to sustain operations for at least three more weeks and still has "thousands of targets" under review.

Since the campaign began on February 28, the Israeli Air Force has carried out roughly 400 waves of strikes in western and central Iran targeting military infrastructure and personnel, according to the military.

As Iran has been retaliating by launching its own attacks toward Israeli territory, opinion polls suggest that people in Israel continue to support the war in large numbers.

At the same time, some residents of Tel Aviv told RFE/RL they're exhausted by the conflict.

"The last two weeks have been quite difficult actually. I couldn't sleep, or I get anxious because of the sirens and everything," a shopworker Luna Ingopeso said on March 15, adding she saw the war as a nececesty for a "better future."

In a separate comment, Hebrew teacher Naomi Cohen said she tries not to think about the conflict to cope: "I just try to hold on and stay safe, and to, relax to survive it. I'm against war in general but I also hate to feel like a target."

With reporting by RFE/RL's Radio Farda, Ray Furlong, Reuters, and AFP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-war-us-israel- strike-kharg-island-oil-terminal/33707212.html

Copyright (c) 2026. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Spain condemns violence in West Bank

Spain - Ministry of Foreign Affairs

PRESS STATEMENT 031

15 MAR 26

The Spanish Government condemns the unacceptable escalation of violence in the West Bank that began on 28 February, and expresses its deep dismay and condemnation of the deaths of Palestinian citizens in the West Bank, as well as the persecution and systemic violence inflicted upon Israeli activists who defend the rights and dignity of Palestinians.

The unpunished actions perpetrated by violent settlers undermine the security and integrity of the Palestinian population, attack their property and assets, and destroy their livelihoods, such as olive groves or business infrastructure, ultimately forcing the displacement of Palestinians from their lands and homes.

Spain reiterates its particular concern regarding the unacceptable attacks on places of worship, most recently the attack on the Duma mosque carried out by settlers. Spain will continue to condemn all attacks on freedom of worship and any incitement to hate speech on religious grounds.

The violence in the West Bank comes alongside military operations in Gaza that continue to claim the lives of civilians, resulting in more than 650 deaths since the ceasefire, including the death of a five-year-old girl last Thursday, the 12th, in Beit Lahia.

The Spanish Government also rejects all the latest decisions taken by various Israeli authorities to expand their policy of settlement expansion and control over the Palestinian territory of the West Bank, which constitutes a flagrant violation of international law and international humanitarian law.

Spain urges the Israeli Government to put a decisive end to violence and impunity and to ensure that those responsible for these actions are brought to justice. These violent actions jeopardise efforts to achieve peace, based on resolution 2803 and the New York Declaration, and threaten the viability of the Palestinian State, undermining the implementation of the two-State solution.

-NON OFFICIAL TRANSLATION-

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Trump Urges Countries Importing Oil Through Strait of Hormuz to Secure Strait

Sputnik News

20260315

US President Donald called on countries receiving oil through the Strait of Hormuz to ensure security of the strait, promising US assistance and coordination.

"Countries of the World that receive Oil through the Hormuz Strait must take care of that passage, and we will help  A LOT!" Trump said on on Truth Social.

The US president also promised that Washington will coordinate "with those Countries so that everything goes quickly, smoothly, and well."

"This should have always been a team effort, and now it will be  It will bring the World together toward Harmony, Security, and Everlasting Peace!" Trump added.

Israel has detected missile launches from Iran, and its air defense systems are active, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Sunday.

"A short while ago, the IDF identified missiles launched from Iran toward the territory of the State of Israel. Defensive systems are operating to intercept the threat," the IDF said on Telegram.

The US and Israel initially claimed their "preemptive" attack was necessary to counter the perceived threat coming from Iran's nuclear program, but they soon made it clear that they want to see a change of power in Iran.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed on the first day of the military operation. The Islamic Republic declared 40 days of mourning.

Russian President Vladimir Putin described Khamenei's assassination as a cynical violation of international law. The Russian Foreign Ministry condemned the US-Israeli operation and called for an immediate de-escalation and an end to hostilities.

 Sputnik

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Middle East crisis: UN health agency releases emergency funds for Lebanon, Iraq, Syria

15 March 2026 - The UN World Health Organization (WHO) is releasing another $2 million in emergency funds to support health systems in Lebanon, Iraq and Syria as strikes against Iran by the US and Israeli continue amid counterstrikes across the Gulf and wider region by Tehran.

The funds based on donor contributions will help strengthen emergency coordination, trauma care and disease surveillance, the UN agency said on Sunday, while also ensuring access to essential medicines and medical supplies.

"As casualties rise, so do attacks on healthcare, which are increasing the burden on health systems at a time when they are most needed," said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in a social media post.

"I urge all parties to choose the brave and life-saving path to peace," he added.

WHO regional director Dr. Nana Balkhy said at a time when there were already significant cuts to aid, a boost for frontline health workers was essential.

Cash injection

In Lebanon, an increasing number of injuries sustained by the resumption of strikes by Hezbollah militants in support of Iran and devasting counterstrikes from Israel targeting many areas of the south and the capital Beirut, are placing severe strain on healthcare services.

On Saturday, Tedros underlined that the killing of 14 health workers in southern Lebanon over the previous 24 hours marked a "tragic development" in the regional crisis sparked by the US and Israeli decision to launch a full-scale aerial offensive on Iran.

Twelve doctors were killed in a late-night strike on the Bourj Qalauoiyeh primary healthcare centre which two paramedics lost their lives earlier in an attack on a health facility. There have been 27 attacks on healthcare in Lebanon since 2 March, resulting in at least 30 deaths.

In Iraq, services are under increasing pressure - especially in areas near to strike zones and violent demonstrations. The US has provided $500,000 for emergency coordination, mass casualty management and other key services, WHO said.

Before the bombing campaign began against Iran, WHO needed $633 million through its 2026 appeal to meet regional needs. As of March, they had been only 37 per cent funded.

A $500,000 allocation to Syria will support procurement of live-saving medicines and supplies for displaced populations and boost disease surveillance.

Peacekeepers under fire

Peacekeepers serving with the UN mission in southern Lebanon (UNIFIL) monitoring the Blue Line, again came under fire during three separate incidents while on patrol this weekend.

The mission issued a statement saying hostile fire most likely came from "non-State armed groups," close to their bases in Yatar, Dayr Kifa and Qallawiyah.

"The fire in Yatar hit as close as five metres from the peacekeepers," the mission said. "Two patrols returned fire in self-defence and after brief exchanges, the patrols resumed their planned activities. No peacekeeper was injured."

UNIFIL underlined that the use of weapons by any armed groups inside the mission's area of operations is a violation of Security Council Resolution 1701 which brought an end to hostilities between Israeli forces and Hezbollah in 2006.

UN chief Antonio Guterres just concluded a solidarity visit to Lebanon where he underlined that any attack against UN 'blue helmets' and their positions "are completely unacceptable and they must stop."

During his visit to Beirut, the Secretary-General also met some of the more than 800,000 civilians who have been forced to flee their homes since the fighting began, stressing once again the civilians should never be a target.

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Coast Guard Cutter William Hart returns home following 48-day Operation Blue Pacific Patrol in Oceania

United States Coast Guard

Press Release | March 15, 2026

Coast Guard Oceania District External Affairs - (808) 265-7748

HONOLULU -- The crew of Coast Guard Cutter William Hart (WPC 1134) returned to Honolulu Sunday following a 48-day patrol in support of Coast Guard Oceania District's Operation Blue Pacific in Oceania.

The William Hart crew departed Coast Guard Base Honolulu in January and traveled more than 7,000 nautical miles, making port calls in Apia, Samoa, Rarotonga, Cook Islands, Pago Pago, American Samoa, Nuku'alofa, Tonga, and Kiritimati, Kiribati.

Patrolling in support of Operation Blue Pacific, the cutter's crew worked alongside Pacific Island partners to bolster maritime security and sovereignty, counter illicit maritime activities and transnational criminal organizations, and protect vital marine resources.

The William Hart crew exercised partnerships with Samoa and Cook Islands through bilateral maritime law enforcement agreements, professional exchanges and community engagements. In total, the William Hart crew and Pacific Island enforcement officers conducted eight boardings of fishing vessels.

The crew conducted one additional boarding of a foreign fishing vessel on the high seas supporting the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission as part of a multinational effort to deter illegal fishing practices throughout Oceania.While on patrol to control, secure and defend the U.S. maritime border and its approaches in American Samoa, the crew worked alongside Coast Guard Sector Honolulu boarding team personnel and conducted a total of six boardings, including a cargo vessel, recreational boats and three passenger vessels in the vicinity of Pago Pago.

In Tonga, the crew hosted U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau and Prime Minister Fatafehi Fakafanua to facilitate the signing of the new annex to the 2009 bilateral maritime law enforcement agreement between the U.S. and Kingdom of Tonga. This addition significantly strengthened the security partnership between both nations by enhancing the ability to combat illegal fishing, illicit maritime activities, and transnational crime in Tonga's exclusive economic zone through expanded enforcement authority and technical cooperation.

"This historic patrol advanced critical partnerships with Pacific Island nations, protecting valuable marine resources and strengthening U.S. Coast Guard presence throughout Oceania," said Lt. Cmdr. Jason Helsabeck, commanding officer of the William Hart. "Our crew's dedication to these partnerships ensures a more secure and prosperous future for the region. I am deeply proud of the crew's unsurpassed professionalism, relentless commitment to securing our maritime borders, and the positive impact we've made alongside our trusted partners. We look forward to future deployments in Oceania."

Operation Blue Pacific is an overarching multi-mission Coast Guard endeavor to promote security, safety, sovereignty and economic prosperity in Oceania. Coast Guard cutters, aircrew and personnel deploy throughout Oceania to maintain unrestricted, lawful access to the maritime domain for all nations, improve regional stability, and solidify the Coast Guard as a reliable partner for maritime safety, security and stewardship in the Pacific.

The William Hart is the third 154-foot Sentinel-class fast response cutter homeported in Honolulu. The cutter's primary missions are maritime law enforcement, search and rescue, and national defense.

For more information follow us on Facebook, X, and Instagram.

-USCG-

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WFP delivers lifesaving assistance to families caught in conflict in Afghanistan

World Food Programme

15 March 2026

KABUL -- The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has begun to rapidly mobilize a large-scale emergency response for communities in Afghanistan impacted by the conflict with Pakistan and is adapting quickly to keep life-saving aid moving despite violence in the region and shipping disruptions.

WFP is delivering immediate life-saving food to over 20,000 families displaced by the conflict. Initially, impacted families are receiving fortified biscuits to address urgent food needs. The most vulnerable will then receive two months' worth of food or cash assistance. WFP will also provide specialized food products for children, and pregnant and breastfeeding women to support their essential nutrition.

Despite the dangerous conditions in the area, WFP has resumed operations in most border areas.

In addition, assistance to displaced families is going to reach people across eight provinces. Beginning in the east with Nuristan, Kunar and Nangarhar, moving south through Paktya, Khost and Paktika, and continuing into Zabul and Kandahar along Afghanistan's southern border.

"This is crisis upon crisis: after enduring shocks like job losses and earthquakes, families already struggling with hungermany with malnourished mothers and childrennow find themselves on the frontlines of conflict," said John Aylieff, WFP Country Director in Afghanistan. "We cannot afford to look away: Afghanistan is caught between two conflicts, and any further instability will push millions deeper into hunger while adding strain to a region already on the brink."

The closure of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border since last October and the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East are creating severe challenges for WFP's emergency response in Afghanistan.

WFP is adapting quickly. For example, to sustain delivery of assistance, WFP is working to activate the Lapis Lazuli Corridor, which links Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, the Caspian Sea and Turkmenistan, onward to Afghanistan. While this corridor provides a critical alternative, it does involve longer lead times and significant additional cost.

Also, Iran's recent ban on food and agricultural exports is already driving prices up in Afghanistan. A sustained export ban will likely lead to shortages of essential goods, initially concentrated in border areas but eventually spreading nationwide as supplies diminish. With trade routes disrupted on two sidesIran and PakistanAfghanistan's markets face mounting pressure, raising the risk of reduced availability and affordability of staples.

As 2026 unfolds, Afghanistan is gripped by three converging crises: escalating hostilities along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, impact of the conflict in Iran, and an unprecedented hunger and malnutrition emergency.

One in three Afghans17.4 million peoplenow require urgent food assistance. Malnutrition among children is soaring, with 3.7 million expected to need treatment this year alone. With conflict adding fuel to the fire, hunger and malnutrition will only intensify. Afghanistan remains one of the world's most severe hunger hotspots, and WFP urgently calls for support to sustain life-saving operations.

# # #

The United Nations World Food Programme is the world's largest humanitarian organization saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.

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Russo-Ukraine War - 15 March 2026 - Day 1481

Su M Tu W Th F Sa 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on the Ukraine-Russia conflict on the ground and online. While GlobalSecurity.org takes utmost care to accurately report this news story, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.

On 24 February 2022, Ukraine was suddenly and deliberately attacked by land, naval and air forces of Russia, igniting the largest European war since the Great Patriotic War. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a "special military operation" (SVO - spetsialnaya voennaya operatsiya) in Ukraine in response to the appeal of the leaders of the "Donbass republics" for help. That attack is a blatant violation of the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine. Putin stressed that Moscow's goal is the demilitarization and denazification of the country. The military buildup in preceeding months makes it obvious that the unprovoked and dastardly Russian attack was deliberately planned long in advance. During the intervening time, the Russian government had deliberately sought to deceive the world by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace.

"To initiate a war of aggression... is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole." [Judgment of the International Military Tribunal]

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that a total of 154 combat encounters have taken place since the beginning of this day.

The defense forces continue to stop the enemy, destroy personnel and deplete the Russian invaders' combat potential by creating a systematic fire effect.

The Russian opponent made 74 aviation strikes - dropped 212 controlled air bombs. In addition, he used 3917 kamikaze drones and carried out 2572 shells of settlements and positions of Ukrainian troops.

In the Northern Slobozhansky and Kursk directions today, Russian troops attacked the positions of Ukrainian defenders twice, launched two air strikes, dropped four air bombs, launched 88 shelling the positions of Ukrainian troops and settlements, two of them with the use of reactive systems of arson fire.

In the South Slobozhans komu direction, the Russian enemy once stormed the fortification of Ukrainian units towards the settlement of Vilca.

In the direction of Kupans .komu, Russian forces twice attacked in the direction of novoosinovogo and glushkivka.

In the Lyman direction, Ukrainian soldiers repelled five Russian attacks towards the settlements of Dibrov, Lyman and Drobishev.

In the Slovenian direction, the Russian opponent tried to advance 13 times in the areas of the settlements Yampil, Zakitne, Platonivka and towards the settlements Ozerne, Riznikivka, Rai-Oleksandrivka. Two clashes are underway.

In the Kramators komu direction, the Russian enemy twice attacked the positions of Ukrainian defenders in the area of stupochok.

In the Konstantinivka direction, the Russian occupiers today stormed the positions of Ukrainian defenders 21 times in the direction of Konstyantinivka, Illinivka, Novopavlivka and in the areas of the settlements of Pleschievka, Berestok, Rusin Yar. One battle is going on.

The enemy committed 35 attacks in the Pokrovsky direction. The Russian occupiers tried to advance towards the settlements of Vilne, Novooleksandrivka, Shevchenko, Toretske, Bilitske, New Shahove and in the areas of settlements Zatishok, Nikanorivka, Kotline, Novomikolaivka, Udacne, Novopidgorodnoe, Mirnograd, Rodinske, Molodetske, Filia. Five assault operations are underway.

According to preliminary estimates, today 27 Russian occupants were eliminated and 20 wounded in this direction; a special equipment unit was destroyed, three Russian vehicles units and four personnel shelters were damaged. Destroyed or suppressed 72 BPLA of different types.

In the Oleksandrivsky direction, Russian forces tried 12 times to improve their position, attacking in the areas of populated areas of Green Gai, Oleksandrograd, Kalinivskie, Berezove, Ternove, Pershotravneve, Novomykolaivka, Zlagoda and towards Verbovoye. In addition, Ivanivka, Gavrilivka, Prosyana, Kolomijci, Pokrovsky, Eagles suffered airstrikes of the opponent.

In the direction of Gulyaipil s komu, there were 20 Russian attacks: in the area of Gulyajpol and towards the railroad, Varvarivka, Svyatopetrivka, Olenokostyantinivka, Charming. The Russian enemy launched air strikes in the areas of the settlements Charivne, Gulyaipils ke, Kopani, Mirne, Vozdvizhivka, Upper Tersa, Novoselivka, Barvinivka. Three clashes are underway.

In the direction of Orihiv, the Russian enemy committed one offensive action in the direction of Pavlivka. Air strikes were suffered by nuts and rainbow.

In the Pridnipro direction of offensive actions of the Russian enemy was not recorded. The Russian opponent's airstrikes were suffered by Mykil s ke and Lviv.

In other directions, there have been no significant changes in the environment.

The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported that the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the special military operation.

Units of the Sever Group of Forces took more advantageous lines and positions. Russian troops inflicted losses on manpower and hardware of two territorial defence brigades close to Kiyanitsa, Zapselye, Volnaya Sloboda, and Bereza (Sumy region).

In Kharkov region, units of three mechanised brigades, an assault brigade, an artillery brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and a national guard brigade have been hit close to Pechenegi, Mitrofanovka, Cherkaskaya Lozovaya, Manuilovka, Verkhnyaya Pisarevka, and Olshany (Kharkov region).

The AFU losses amounted to up to 250 troops, one armoured fighting vehicle, one Tunguska anti-aircraft missile system, 10 motor vehicles, and one 155-mm Bogdana self-propelled artillery system. One counter-fire radar and nine material depots were neutralised.

The Zapad Group of Forces improved the situation along the front line. Three mechanised brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, two territorial defence brigades, and a national guard brigade were hit near Borovaya, Osinovo, Palamarevka, Grushevka, Berezovka (Kharkov region), and Krasny Liman (Donetsk People's Republic).

The enemy losses amounted to up to 200 troops, one infantry fighting vehicle, one U.S.-made M113 armoured personnel carrier, four armoured fighting vehicles, 24 motor vehicles, and three artillery guns including two Western-made artillery pieces. U.S.-made AN/TPQ-50 counter-fire and Israeli-made RADA radars as well as four ammunition depots were neutralised.

The Yuzhnaya Group of Forces took more advantageous lines and positions. Four mechanised brigades, an airmobile brigade, a mountain assault brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have been hit near Konstantinovka, Nikiforovka, Piskunovka, Kaleniki, and Slavyansk (Donetsk People's Republic).

The enemy lost more than 200 troops, three armoured fighting vehicles, eight motor vehicles, and three field artillery guns. A U.S.-made AN/TPQ-36 counter-fire radar, a signal intelligence station, an ammunition depot, two fuel depots, and six materiel dumps were neutralised.

The Tsentr Group of Forces improved the tactical situation. Russian elements engaged four mechanised brigades, an airmobile brigade, an infantry brigade, an assault regiment of the AFU, a marine brigade, the Azov Special Operations Brigade, three national guard brigades close to Maryevka, Dobropolye, Toretskoye, Novoaleksandrovka, Belitskoye, Grishino, Shevchenko (Donetsk People's Republic), Raypole, Novopodgorodnoye, and Novopavlovka (Dnepropetrovsk region).

The AFU losses amounted to more than 295 troops, two armoured personnel carriers, 11 armoured fighting vehicles, 18 motor vehicles, and four artillery guns.

The Vostok Group of Forces continued advancing into the depth of enemy defence. Strikes were delivered at formations of two air assault brigades, an assault brigade, six assault regiments of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and a marine brigade close to Podgavrilovka, Pisantsy, Pokrovskoye (Dnepropetrovsk region), Lyubitskoye, Lesnoye, Kopani, and Vozdvizhevka( Zaporozhye region).

The AFU losses amounted to up to 310 troops, three armoured fighting vehicles, 10 motor vehicles, and two artillery guns.

The Dnepr Group of Forces inflicted losses on manpower and hardware of two mechanised brigades of the AFU near Grigorovka, Orekhov, and Preobrazhenka in Zaporozhye region.

Up to 60 troops, 11 motor vehicles, two field artillery guns, three electronic warfare stations, a U.S.-made AN/TPQ-36 counter-fire radar, and three fuel and materiel depots have been neutralised.

Operational-tactical aviation, attack drones, missile troops and artillery of the Russian Groups of Forces have inflicted damage on the Ukrainian energy and transport infrastructure used in the interests of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the training and launch sites of long-range unmanned aerial vehicles as well as temporary deployment areas of Ukrainian armed formations and foreign mercenaries in 148 areas.

Russian air defence systems shot down two Neptune long-range guided missiles, four guided aerial bombs, 12 HIMARS MLRS projectiles, and 605 fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles.

In total, since the beginning of the special military operation the enemy has lost: 671 aircraft, 284 helicopters, 123,500 unmanned aerial vehicles, 652 anti-aircraft missile systems, 28,276 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,690 MLRS combat vehicles, 33,864 field artillery guns and mortars, and 56,811 units of support military vehicles.

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Canada and Norway strengthen defence cooperation in space

National Defence

News release

March 14, 2026 - Oslo, Norway - National Defence / Canadian Armed Forces

Today, the Minister of National Defence, the Honourable David J. McGuinty, and the Minister of Defence of Norway, Tore O. Sandvik, signed a Letter of Intent to deepen bilateral cooperation in the space domain. This agreement builds on Canada and Norway's long-standing collaboration and reinforces both countries' commitment to national and collective defence.

The signing took place during Minister McGuinty's visit to Norway with Prime Minister Mark Carney, where they participated in bilateral discussions and meetings to strengthen Canada's Arctic and space security partnerships.

The Letter of Intent outlines shared priorities and establishes a framework to strengthen cooperation across areas including policy, intelligence, research and development, capabilities, and industry, with a particular focus on advancing Arctic security and supporting sovereign defence capabilities. It builds on existing collaboration through the Combined Space Operations Initiative, a partnership of ten like-minded spacefaring nations working together to enhance collective resilience, interoperability, and freedom of action in space in support of military operations.

Canada and Norway are long-standing Allies through the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and share important national interests as Arctic nations. Both countries recognize that space capabilities are critical to national defence and security, particularly in remote regions such as the Arctic.

As Arctic Allies with advanced space sectors and growing space industries, Canada and Norway are well positioned to expand bilateral cooperation and strengthen their ability to operate effectively in the space domain and beyond.

Quotes

"Canada and Norway share a strong and enduring partnership as NATO Allies and Arctic nations. By signing this Letter of Intent, we are strengthening our cooperation in the space domain, which is an increasingly important area for defence and security. Working together will help our armed forces remain ready and resilient while advancing innovation and collaboration between our two countries." The Honourable David J. McGuinty, Minister of National Defence

Quick facts

The Combined Space Operations Initiative includes Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

In December 2025, officials from Canada and Norway agreed to deepen bilateral cooperation in the space domain beyond existing collaboration through the Combined Space Operations Initiative.

Canada and Norway share strategic interests in the Arctic, where space-based capabilities such as satellite communications, surveillance, and navigation are essential for defence and security operations.

Canada's Defence Industrial Strategy identifies the space sector as a key sovereign capability required to strengthen Canada's defence and support allies.

Canada is investing in the development of a sovereign space launch capability as part of efforts to strengthen national defence and support the defence industrial base.

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Canada and Norway sign Letter of Intent on Space cooperation

Government of Norway

News story | Date: 14/03/2026

Canada and Norway will further strengthen their defence cooperation in the space domain. This Saturday, a Letter of Intent between the two countries was signed in Oslo.

The Letter of Intent between Canada and Norway is based on shared interests and values and aims to support both national and collective deterrence and defence in the Arctic.

- I am pleased that we are strengthening our ties with Canada as a key partner in space cooperation. In a more serious security environment, we must stand united with our Allies to defend NATO territory. This strengthens our defence capabilities, says Norway's Minister of Defence, Tore O. Sandvik.

Space-based capabilities and the space domain are becoming increasingly important for ensuring situational awareness and safeguarding security interests in the High North. This is also one of the key priorities in the Long-Term Defence Plan.

- The Arctic is of significant strategic importance to both Norway and Canada, and we share common security interests in the region. By further developing our bilateral space cooperation, we are placing Arctic security firmly on the agenda, says the Minister of Defence.

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Prime Minister of Canada - Mark Carney

Northern Allies and Strategic Partners

The Prime Minister of Norway, Mr. Jonas Gahr Stre, welcomed the Prime Minister of Canada, Mr. Mark Carney, to Oslo for his first official visit to Norway as Prime Minister.

The leaders highlighted the longstanding and close bilateral relationship between the Kingdom of Norway and Canada, deeply rooted in shared values, mutual interests, and extensive cooperation as Arctic nations and founding members of NATO.

In the context of geopolitical crisis and conflict, including Russia's ongoing aggression against Ukraine, and mounting economic uncertainty, they reaffirmed the indispensable role of strong transatlantic relations for global and Arctic stability, and joint commitment to NATO as the cornerstone of Euro-Atlantic security. The leaders reaffirmed enduring support for Ukraine in its fight for independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, which directly contributes to our shared security.

They emphasized shared commitment to democracy, multilateralism, free and fair trade, the promotion of human rights, including protect, recognize and respect the human rights of Indigenous Peoples, as foundational for a world order based on international law. They also underscored the importance of secure, diversified and sustainable supply chains.

Considering the strategic significance of the Arctic, and the grave impact of climate change on the region, they reaffirmed the commitment of both Countries to achieving sustainable development goals and the long-term goals of the Paris Agreement.

The leaders agreed to further advance cooperation, including in the following areas:

Commitment to Arctic Security and cooperation

Norway and Canada will work together to bolster deterrence and defence in the region, through exercises such as Exercise Cold Response and Operation Nanook, recognizing that Arctic security is national security for both Canada and Norway. To this end, the leaders agreed to establish a bilateral arctic dialogue in a comprehensive perspective to advance security and defence cooperation in the region. Norway and Canada also agree to explore ways to expand science and research cooperation on joint interests in the Arctic. Recognizing NATO's crucial deterrence and defence capabilities, we will continue to enhance Arctic security within the framework of NATO. As such, we welcome NATO's enhanced Vigilance Activity, Arctic Sentry, which strengthens NATO's posture in the Arctic and the High North within SACEUR's area of responsibility.

Recognizing the critical importance of secure, reliable military communications in the Arctic, and the significant investments underway in Canada and Norway to field transformational Arctic satellite communications capabilities, the leaders agreed to explore opportunities for secure military satellite communications arrangements that enhance interoperability and thereby contribute to greater Arctic security and stability. This work will leverage projects in both countries, including Canada's recently announced strategic partnership with Telesat Corporation and MDA Space, to develop and bolster the military satellite communications capabilities through the Enhanced Satellite Communications Project - Polar (ESCP-P) project.

Support for Ukraine

Norway and Canada will continue to work together with Allies to operationalize their commitment to robust security guarantees for Ukraine, including strengthening military support and support to reconstruction efforts, while coordinating on sanctions and their enforcement, including countering Russia's shadow fleet. We remain committed to sanctions targeting oil revenues, as energy exports remain one of the Kremlin's primary sources of funding its war. Any easing of these measures risks undermining collective efforts to constrain Russia's war machine.

The Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC) and the Norwegian Defence Materiel Agency (NDMA) intend to cooperate on a government-to-government framework that will open opportunities for Canada and Norway, notably by facilitating procurement of military assets to support Ukraine.

Canada and Norway reaffirm their shared commitment to addressing the human dimension of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, including securing the return of Ukrainian prisoners of war, as well as civilians unlawfully detained and children deported or forcibly transferred by Russia. To that end, Canada and Norway, in coordination with Ukraine, announced they will organize a Ministerial Conference to be held in Toronto on September 28-29, 2026.

Industrial and Economic Cooperation

Norway and Canada will promote an industrial partnership on space, artificial intelligence, digitalization and critical minerals, to enhance supply-chain resilience, drive innovation, support B2B matchmaking, and reinforce broader cooperation on security, sustainability and job creation.

Norway and Canada will also champion rules-based trade, working together to strengthen economic security, resilience and build secure and diversified supply chains. To this end, leaders have tasked their Ministers for Trade to explore modernization of the Canada-EFTA Free Trade Agreement alongside EFTA members.

Space

Canada and Norway are deepening cooperation on space and other enabling capabilities that are critical to sovereignty and security and economic resilience, including in the North. The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and the Norwegian Space Agency (NOSA) are developing a Memorandum of Understanding to:

Increase collaboration on space-based and dual-use capabilities that support Arctic and northern requirements, including earth observation, navigation, communications, and maritime domain awareness.

Encourage cooperation among government agencies, research institutions, and industry to support innovation, talent development, and commercial opportunities in the space sector.

Promote interoperability and information-sharing where appropriate, consistent with national interests and allied commitments.

In addition, Norway and Canada are launching a bilateral roadmap to deepen collaboration in the space domain through strengthening our bilateral defence institutional relationships. Norway and Canada will advance our shared interests, values and responsibilities in the space domain to enhance National and NATOs deterrence and defence posture, especially in the Arctic.

Sovereign Technology and Artificial Intelligence Cooperation

Norway and Canada agree to explore opportunities for enhanced cooperation on sovereign technology and artificial intelligence (AI) that can help grow their capacity and reduce their dependencies, including the possibility for Norway to join the Sovereign Technology Alliance.

To enhance collective economic security and prosperity, Norway and Canada issued a Joint Statement on Sovereign Technology and AI, in which they agreed to explore collaboration to strengthen sovereign digital capacity, expand affordable access to AI computing capacity, promote safe and responsible frontier AI models, and fostering AI and technology adoption across industry and governments. They will also explore shared interests within research and innovation in AI and quantum technologies. Further, they will explore ways to strengthen commercial ties and business cooperation between the two countries.

Recognizing their shared values and strong partnership, grounded in democracy, the rule of law and human rights, the two countries will continue to cooperate in multilateral fora, including the OECD and the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence.

Critical Minerals

Norway's Minister of Trade and Industry and Canada's Minister of Energy and Natural Resources have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on critical minerals to boost existing cooperation on developing secure and resilient critical mineral supply chains. This includes:

Encouraging commercial partnerships and trade and investment between Canadian and Norwegian companies;

Facilitating the exchange of technical knowledge in mineral exploration, mining, and value-added processing of resources;

Collaborating between the national geological survey organizations of Canada and Norway in the areas of exploration and assessment of critical minerals and geoscientific research;

Sharing best practices on mineral exploration, environmental impact assessments, sustainable mining practices, mine closure and reclamation protocols, Indigenous and community participation.

Energy Cooperation

Norway and Canada will leverage their global leadership in delivering affordable, secure and sustainable energy and resource management. With complementary strengths in both conventional and clean energies, Norway and Canada will expand collaboration on the global energy transition, generating new insights and developments in these fields. This includes sharing best practices and expertise in resource management of conventional and unconventional resources, together with efforts to advance sustainable production of oil and gas renewables and development of clean technologies.

Climate, Biodiversity, and Oceans

Norway and Canada remain steadfast in our commitment to international cooperation on climate and nature, and our commitments under the Paris Agreement and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. We will continue to fight climate change in the Arctic, leveraging our collective leadership and technical expertise on mitigating short-lived climate pollutants, aligned with the goals of Global Methane Pledge and the Arctic Council Framework for Action on Enhanced Black Carbon and Methane Reductions. Reducing tropical deforestation is essential for meeting global climate and nature goals and to secure global food supply chains and food security. Norway and Canada remain determined to cooperate closely to sustainably manage 100 per cent of the ocean under national jurisdiction, guided by Sustainable Ocean Plans. They will work with other members of the High-Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy to implement this approach and have all coastal and ocean states join this effort.

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Prime Minister Carney deepens cooperation with Nordic countries in defence, Arctic security, and critical minerals

Prime Minister of Canada - Mark Carney

March 15, 2026

Oslo, Norway

In a more dangerous, divided, and uncertain world, security can no longer be taken for granted. Canada is strengthening its defences in the North and working closely with trusted partners to protect our sovereignty and reinforce collective security.

To bolster Canada's Arctic security, defence, and economic partnerships, the Prime Minister, Mark Carney, travelled to Bardufoss and Oslo, Norway, this week. In Bardufoss, the Prime Minister observed Exercise Cold Response - a Norwegian-led NATO exercise above the Arctic Circle to enhance the Alliance's readiness, interoperability, and defence capabilities. Prime Minister Carney was joined by the Prime Minister of Norway, Jonas Gahr Stre, and the Chancellor of Germany, Friedrich Merz.

In Oslo, Prime Minister Carney met with Prime Minister Stre. The two leaders issued a joint statement outlining new ambition to build on the longstanding and close partnership between Canada and Norway, including their shared commitment to NATO, support for Ukraine, cooperation in the Arctic, and new partnerships on energy, critical minerals, trade, emerging technologies such as space communications and security, and artificial intelligence (AI).

While in Norway, Prime Minister Carney attended the Canada-Nordic Summit, where he met with leaders from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden to reinforce efforts to strengthen transatlantic security in the North. In a joint statement, the leaders outlined the deepened partnership between Canada and Nordic nations - in trade, technology, energy, and defence and security.

Norway is home to the world's largest sovereign wealth fund with a value of over $3.5 trillion. In Oslo, the Prime Minister held meetings with business leaders to position Canada as a premier destination for international capital. As Canada diversifies its trade partnerships, accelerates major nation-building projects, builds out its defence capabilities, and attracts greater investment into its economy, Prime Minister Carney emphasised the opportunities to invest in Canada. Building on this momentum, Canadian company Champion Iron has recently announced that they are moving forward with the acquisition of Norwegian company Rana Gruber ASA, a leading producer of high-grade iron ore in Norway. The proposed transaction is for an estimated equity value of approximately $400 million.

Following the conclusion of his visit, the Prime Minister will visit the United Kingdom to meet with the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Sir Keir Starmer, and have an audience with His Majesty King Charles III. The prime ministers will discuss progress underway to deepen Canada and the United Kingdom's defence, trade, and economic partnerships.

In this period of rapid change, Canada is safeguarding our interests, modernising our defence capabilities, and strengthening partnerships abroad. By working with valued partners like Norway, we are turning shared priorities into concrete action with strength and unprecedented ambition.

Quote

"The Arctic and the High North are central to Canada's national identity and strategic autonomy. Canada is intensifying our cooperation with trusted Nordic partners to bolster Arctic and transatlantic security, build economic strength at home, and catalyse massive opportunities for Canadian businesses and workers." The Rt. Hon. Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada

Quick facts

This was Prime Minister Carney's first visit to Norway since taking office and the first visit to Norway by a Canadian Prime Minister since 1980. He was accompanied by the Minister of National Defence, David J. McGuinty, and the Secretary of State (Defence Procurement), Stephen Fuhr.

Exercise Cold Response brings together troops from 14 nations, including Norway, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Italy, Canada, Spain, Turkiye, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Belgium to train for operations in Arctic and extreme winter conditions.

The Nordic 5 countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden) have a total GDP of $2.8 trillion.

An example of growing defence industrial collaboration between Canada and Norway is a recent $9.6 million contract awarded to the joint venture Kongsberg Vanguard LP - a partnership between Norwegian firms Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace and Salt Ship Design, as well as Ottawa-based Adaptive Marine Solutions Inc. Together, the joint venture will design the Canadian Coast Guard's future mid-shore multi-mission vessels, which will be built under Canada's National Shipbuilding Strategy.

In his meetings with Nordic partners, Prime Minister Carney underscored that Canada is strengthening its defence industrial base through the $6.6 billion Defence Industrial Strategy, including through the establishment of the Defence Investment Agency, which will accelerate the delivery of new capabilities to the Canadian Armed Forces while strengthening allied defence supply chains that support collective security.

Prime Minister Carney also affirmed Canada's efforts to establish the Defence, Security and Resilience Bank to mobilise financing at scale to increase defence production, foster joint procurement opportunities, and bolster secure and resilient supply chains among NATO Allies and trusted international partners.

Canada officially joined the European Union's Security Action for Europe (SAFE) initiative at the Munich Security Conference in February 2026. SAFE is a key pillar of the EU's Readiness 2030 plan, and Canada's participation in SAFE will enhance defence readiness on both sides of the Atlantic.

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Joint statement by the Prime Ministers of the Nordic countries and Canada

Prime Minister of Canada - Mark Carney

March 15, 2026

Oslo, Norway

We - the Prime Ministers of the Nordic countries and Canada - met in Oslo today, 15 March 2026.

At a time characterized by heightened geopolitical tension, war and a multitude of crises, we are united in the view that international cooperation, based on international law, shared values and interests, remains the best way to strengthen our common security and prosperity.

As democracies and countries committed to the rule of law, human rights, and the territorial integrity and sovereignty of states, we share fundamental values, and strengths.

Today we have agreed to deepen cooperation between our countries to ensure the safety, security and sovereignty of our people, and to build prosperous and green economies of the future.

We commit to meeting more regularly at different levels to advance our shared principles and interests.

We are committed to Arctic security, and to ensuring that the people who live in our part of the world can prosper in peace. To achieve this, we will work in partnership with Indigenous and northern communities to unlock the potential of the Arctic; to prevent and mitigate the effects of climate change; and to promote security.

The Nordic countries and Canada are close allies. As Arctic states, we work together to advance security and stability for all Allies in this strategically important region. We are committed to NATO's effort to bolster the Alliance's presence, deterrence and defence in the Arctic, and to further developing the strong collaboration to the benefit of all Allies.

We welcome NATO's enhanced Vigilance Activity, Arctic Sentry, which strengthens NATO's posture in the Arctic and the High North within SACEUR's area of responsibility. We also welcome Exercise COLD RESPONSE, Operation NANOOK, Exercise Arctic Endurance and others like it, which build interoperability between those of our armed forces that participate.

In support of collective defence, security and resilience, the Nordic countries and Canada will enhance defence industrial capacity to ramp up defence production, strengthen capabilities, respond to hybrid threats, build resilient infrastructure, and develop interoperable, innovative and dual-use technologies.

We will continue to collaborate through military missions and activities, such as NATO's Forward Land Forces in Finland, the Baltic States and Poland where our forces serve to bolster NATO's eastern flank and to deter Russian aggression.

Our support for Ukraine's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of Russia's illegal war of aggression is unwavering. Ukraine's security is integral to European and Euro-Atlantic Security.

We will continue to provide economic, civilian, military and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine and call on all members of the Coalition of the Willing to increase their support. We will continue coordination on our overall assistance, including on sanctions to further restrict the Kremlin's ability to fund its illegal war.

We agree on the importance of ensuring Ukraine's ability to defend itself. A just and lasting peace requires credible and legally binding security guarantees for Ukraine to deter future aggression and ensure enduring stability across Europe.

We are committed to building competitive, prosperous and green economies for the future that are open to the world but that guard against dangerous dependencies.

The Nordic countries and Canada are robust, open economies, and together we represent a substantial market. We are committed to upholding the rules-based system of international trade, and support efforts to reform and revitalize the World Trade Organization.

Working together, we will expand bilateral trade and investment ties, setting a forward-looking agenda for cooperation, anchored in shared values and economic complementarities.

With technology and international trade increasingly being used as a coercive tool, we commit to enhancing our cooperation on economic security.

We will explore increased cooperation in technological development, including in the area of quantum, connectivity, artificial intelligence, satellite and space technology to better shape our defence, economic power, and global competitiveness.

We will work together to secure enhanced access to critical minerals and reliable global supply chains, rooted in our shared commitment to fair and open trade, and high environmental and labour standards.

We recognize that zero and low carbon energy sources and clean energy technologies can drive economic growth, create jobs and reduce emissions. We will strengthen cooperation to unlock new trade and investment opportunities, scale-up energy technologies and build secure, sustainable and complementary energy supply chains.

Together, the Nordic countries and Canada constitute a formidable partnership. We commit to deepening this, and to develop our cooperation on the basis of respect, trust and shared values and interests.

Oslo, 15 March 2026

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Wang Yi Has a Phone Call with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the People's Republic of China

Updated: March 12, 2026 23:05

On March 12, 2026, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Foreign Minister Wang Yi had a phone call with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty.

Badr Abdelatty briefed Wang Yi on the regional situation and Egypt's position, expressing deep concern over the ongoing hostilities. Following the recent resolution adopted by the UN Security Council, Egypt urges all parties to exercise restraint and avoid further regional turbulence. Egypt highly appreciates China's balanced and just position and the important role it has played, and stands ready to maintain close communication with China to promote de-escalation at an early date.

Wang Yi reiterated China's principled position, saying that China and Egypt, as responsible countries, both advocate resolving regional issues through dialogue and consultation, and both oppose the arbitrary use of force. The continuation of the conflict in the Middle East will only bring more suffering to the local people, have a devastating impact on the regional economy, and further undermine international and regional security and stability. It is the universal consensus of the international community to immediately bring about a ceasefire and end the fighting, and all parties should urge the parties concerned to press the pause button on military actions at an early date, so as to prevent further deterioration. The Chinese side stands ready to maintain communication and coordination with regional countries, including Egypt, and continue to play a constructive role in pursuing peace.

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US' so-called 'forced labor' claims entirely fabricated, China opposes using it as pretext for political manipulation: FM on Section 301 probe

Global Times

By Global Times Published: Mar 13, 2026 04:26 PM

China on Friday slammed the US for concocting a lie with so-called "forced labor" claims and expressed opposition to using it as a pretext for political manipulation.

Guo Jiakun, a spokesperson for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, made the comments on Friday at a regular press conference when asked for comment regarding recent media reports that the Office of the US Trade Representative said on Thursday local time that it had launched probes under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 into "unfair foreign practices" by 60 economies, citing their alleged failure to take action against so-called "forced labor," and among the 60 economies, China and Russia are also on the list.

China's position on handling China-US economic and trade issues has been consistent and clear. China opposes all forms of unilateral tariff measures, and tariff wars and trade wars do not serve the interests of either side, Guo said.

The two sides should resolve relevant issues through consultation on the basis of equality, respect and mutual benefit, the spokesperson said.

The so-called "forced labor" is entirely a lie fabricated by the US side, and China opposes using it as a pretext for political manipulation, the spokesperson noted.

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Wang Yi Has a Phone Call with Afghan Foreign Minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the People's Republic of China

Updated: March 13, 2026 23:39

On March 13, 2026, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Foreign Minister Wang Yi had a phone call with Afghan Foreign Minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi at the latter's request.

Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi appreciated China's active efforts to mediate in the border conflict between Afghanistan and Pakistan, stating that the Afghan people, having suffered greatly from war, cherish the opportunities for peace and development. Afghanistan aspires to be a source of regional peace rather than instability. The Afghan side reiterates that its territory will not be used to attack neighboring countries, expresses no desire for military confrontation with other nations, and looks forward to mutual trust and friendly coexistence among neighbors. The Afghan side believes that dialogue and consultation are the only way to resolve issues and expects China, as a major country and friendly neighbor, to play an even greater role.

Wang Yi stated that the more turbulent the external environment becomes, the more regional countries should strengthen unity and cooperation to overcome difficulties together, forging a path of cooperative and common security. Afghanistan and Pakistan are inseparable brothers and neighbors that cannot be moved away from each other. Any issues between the two countries can only be resolved through dialogue and consultation. The use of force will only complicate the situation, exacerbate contradictions, benefit neither side, and threaten regional peace and stability. China has always maintained an objective and fair stance on the Afghanistan-Pakistan conflict, and the special envoy on Afghan Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China is currently shuttling between Afghanistan and Pakistan to mediate, urging both sides to remain calm and exercise restraint, engage in face-to-face exchanges as soon as possible, achieve a ceasefire at the earliest opportunity, and resolve contradictions and differences through dialogue. China stands ready to continue making active efforts to facilitate reconciliation and ease tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The two sides also had an exchange of views on the Iran situation. Wang Yi reiterated China's principled position, stating that China stands ready to work with the international community, including Afghanistan, to continue playing a constructive role in striving for peace.

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Wang Yi Has a Phone Call with Dutch Foreign Minister Tom Berendsen

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the People's Republic of China

Updated: March 13, 2026 23:33

On March 13, 2026, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Foreign Minister Wang Yi had a phone call with Dutch Foreign Minister Tom Berendsen at the latter's request.

Wang Yi congratulated Tom Berendsen on assuming the new post, saying that China and the Netherlands are important partners for each other. Advancing mutually beneficial cooperation with an open and pragmatic spirit serves the common interests of both sides, contributes to the healthy development of China-EU relations, and promotes the stability and security of global industrial and supply chains. China appreciates the positive signals from the new Dutch government regarding its emphasis on relations with China. China's foreign policy remains consistent and stable, and China stands ready to strengthen exchanges and communication with the Dutch side, enhance mutual understanding and trust, and continuously deepen the open and pragmatic partnership for comprehensive cooperation.

Wang Yi briefed on the recently concluded Two Sessions, stating that China will steadily take the initiative to open wider and expand opening up at the institutional level, bringing more opportunities to countries around the world, including the Netherlands. China-Netherlands economic and trade cooperation features complementary advantages and mutual benefits. Wang Yi expressed the hope that the new Dutch government will demonstrate new vitality and initiatives, adhere to independence and self-reliance, and support normal economic and trade exchanges between enterprises of both countries. China hopes that the Dutch side would encourage EU institutions to view China objectively and rationally, uphold the positioning of China and the EU as partners, and commit to openness and cooperation.

Tom Berendsen said that the new Dutch government highly appreciates China's rapid development achievements and views relations with China as one of its most important bilateral relationships. The Dutch side is willing to maintain high-level exchanges with the Chinese side, make good use of mechanisms such as political consultations between the foreign ministries and the Sino-Dutch Joint Economic and Trade Committee, strengthen dialogue and exchanges at all levels, and deepen pragmatic cooperation in areas including climate change and water resource management, jointly upholding multilateralism and continuously advancing the open and pragmatic partnership for comprehensive cooperation between the Netherlands and China to new heights. The Dutch side stands ready to play a constructive role in promoting the healthy and stable development of EU-China relations.

The two sides also had an exchange of views on the Ukraine crisis.

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China calls for keeping global critical mineral supply chains safe, stable, opposes 'small-circle' rules

Global Times

Price floors, tariffs no fix for refining innovation concern: expert

By Chen Qingrui Published: Mar 14, 2026 12:14 AM

China on Friday called on all parties to play a constructive role in safeguarding the stability and security of global critical minerals supply chains and expressed opposition to undermining the international economic and trade order through "small-circle" rules.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun made the comments at the regular press conference on Friday when asked about a reported plan on a trade agreement on critical minerals between the US, Japan and the European Union (EU).

"An open and inclusive international trade environment beneficial to all serves the common interests of all countries. All parties have the responsibility to play a constructive role in keeping global industrial and supply chains on critical minerals stable and secure," Guo said.

"We oppose countries using rules of small groupings to undermine international economic and trade order," the spokesperson said.

The US, Japan and the EU are set to announce plans in the coming weeks to lay the foundation for a trade agreement on critical minerals, Bloomberg reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the issue, claiming that China has "threatened it would retaliate against the formation of a bloc that would target its exports."

The agreement was spearheaded by the Office of the US Trade Representative, which has led negotiations with Brussels and Tokyo on the framework. It will also head talks for a trade deal that is set to include a price floor and tariffs for the materials to counter any market distortions by China, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, per Bloomberg.

Previously, Reuters explained that the idea of guaranteeing minimum prices through coordinated trade rules was intended to unlock private investment in mining and processing projects.

"Their wish is that a price floor would guarantee suppliers a minimum return, allowing them to cover costs and sustain production amid global competition. However, such mechanisms do little to improve suppliers' underlying capacity or technological capabilities," Zhou Mi, a senior research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, told the Global Times on Friday.

Tariffs and other trade barriers could instead drive up procurement costs for critical minerals, forcing consumers of the resources to shoulder higher prices and additional supply chain risks, said Jian Junbo, director of the Center for China-Europe Relations at Fudan University's Institute of International Studies.

Industry observers said that amid the lingering trust crisis triggered by US' unilateralism, the actual outcome of this US-led agreement would be "super low." Deepening interest divisions could further disrupt supply chains and leave all parties "paying a heavy price", while mechanisms such as tariffs or price floors would not fundamentally enhance production capacity or technological capabilities.

Conflicting interests

According to the Bloomberg, the US is aiming to start negotiations for the trade agreement with the EU and Japan in critical minerals in April, shortly after a comment period for stakeholders to weigh in ends on March 19.

However, divisions and conflict of interest between the US and its allies are apparent. Notably, Politico reported on Wednesday that the EU and the US are closing in on a deal to reduce "dependence on China for critical mineral inputs", but the agreement could end up "cementing an unequal partnership dominated by Washington."

Tobias Gehrke, a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said that while Europe was better off working with the Americans, the bloc should have no illusions, per Politico. "It's America First, also in minerals," Gehrke said.

Noting that the plan envisaged a price floor to underwrite alternative sources of supply, the report said it could "turn into a mechanism whereby the Europeans end up sponsoring the US' priority access to the critical minerals."

Andreas Kroll, CEO of Noble Elements, a German-based rare-earth commodity trading firm, also said in the report that Europe is "sitting at the kids' table" compared with the US. "Many of our mid-sized customers are asking themselves whether they should relocate their production to the US" due to supply dependencies, Kroll said.

Apart from concerns about US dominance within the EU, Japan, France and Canada have recently been working on alternatives to a US-led trade bloc to secure critical minerals and "reduce reliance on China", according to a Reuters report on March 6.

The move came after the US said it was seeking to build a bloc with its allies around China through a critical minerals alliance, while these three G7 "key players" are instead charting their own course.

Western countries have faced mounting challenges in maintaining stable supply chains in recent years, particularly in critical minerals, where pressures largely stem from difficulties in achieving breakthroughs in refining and processing technologies, Zhou said. However, market misperceptions and misplaced accusations against China risk diverting attention from this most critical link, he added.

"The US, the EU and Japan are hoping to ease supply pressures from the demand side. However, their interests are far from aligned. The US remains the dominant player, prioritizing absolute security and stability in its critical minerals supply chains and expecting allies such as Europe and Japan to accommodate its strategic needs," Zhou noted, adding that policy bias will weaken others' access to stable supplies and make critical minerals supply chains even less secure.

Zhou warned that relying on tariffs or price floors will not fundamentally enhance production capacity or technological capabilities. Such interventions could instead weaken market-driven innovation and fail to create genuine economies of scale.

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HRC61 - EU Statement - Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea

European External Action Service (EEAS)

13.03.2026

Geneva

Press and information team of the Delegation to the UN in Geneva

United Nations Human Rights Council

61st Session

Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea

13 March 2026

EU Statement

Mr President,

The EU would like to thank Special Rapporteur Elizabeth Salmon for her report and reiterate its strong support for her mandate.

Special Rapporteur,

The situation of human rights in the DPRK steadily continues to deteriorate. The High Commissioner warned in his September 2025 update to the HRC of a "lost decade" for the people of the DPRK. They suffer increasingly from brutal repression, fear and deprivation, in violation of the country's international human rights obligations. We strongly deplore the continued operation of political prison camps and widening application of the death penalty both in law and in practice.

The EU reiterates its deep concern about the closed civic space, including complete restrictions on freedom of expression, movement, and access to information. We are also gravely concerned about enforced disappearances and abductions, and the prolonged suspension of family reunions. We are alarmed by continuing reports of forced returns of DPRK escapees. We call on all States to uphold the principle of non-refoulement.

The DPRK authorities must end gross, systematic and widespread human rights violations, and respect, protect and fulfil all human rights and the rule of law. Accountability is essential for longstanding and ongoing human rights violations in the DPRK, including for crimes against humanity, as documented by UN enquiries, and through a possible referral to the International Criminal Court.

The EU also strongly condemns the DPRK's support for Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine and we urge it to immediately cease any direct or indirect assistance to Russia in its war of aggression against Ukraine, including the deployment of the DPRK's military forces to Russia and their use on the battlefield against Ukraine.

The EU encourages the DPRK to engage in constructive action and dialogue with the international community, including the UN human rights system and the Special Rapporteur, and grant them long-overdue access to the country.

In that respect, we appreciate the focus of the report on the Universal Periodic Review and the concrete proposals to translate the recommendations supported by the DPRK into measurable benchmarks and specific actions, using human rights indicators.

Special Rapporteur,

In the absence of any independent national human rights institution and civil society, what mechanisms or partnerships could be established to ensure effective monitoring and follow-up of the implementation of recommendations in the DPRK?

Thank you.

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Regional Security Environment Is Getting Severe Due to Japanese Militarism: KCNA Commentary

Korean Central News Agency of DPRK

Pyongyang, March 13 (KCNA) -- Japan's moves for reviving militarism, aimed at rearmament, are leading to full-scale deployment of preemptive attack means for action.

Shortly ago, the Ministry of Defence of Japan made public that type 12 surface-to-ship guided missiles with drastically increased firing range would be deployed for action in Kumamoto City for the first time.

Not content with this, Japan is planning to deploy surface-to-surface missiles for "defending islands" in Shizuoka Prefecture within this month and long-range missiles at the bases of the "Self-Defense Forces" in Hokkaido and Miyazaki prefectures in order from 2028.

If this plan comes true, Japan will have long-range missiles targeting the neighboring countries deployed in all parts of the archipelago.

It is a dangerous military attempt.

Openly saying that the development and deployment of long-range missiles constitute the "core of the capability of attacking enemy bases", Japan is concentrating huge human and material resources on them.

The type 12 missiles, the deployment of which Japan is trying to accelerate, are the ones remodeled for years to greatly increase the firing range, which can be launched from ground, warships and fighter jets. They put the waters off surrounding areas within their striking range.

They are also rated as long-range attack weapons because they have the multi-purpose capability to attack fixed targets on the ground including harbors and airports as well as marine targets.

The same can be said of the type of missiles Japan is planning to deploy for action while claiming that they are the ones for "defending the islands."

It can be well evidenced by the anti-ship missile for "defending the islands" which was made public with the assertion that it has long-range strike capability, based on stealth and interceptor evasion technology.

This missile is expected to be similar or more in striking range, compared to the type 12 anti-ship cruise missile with the firing range of 1 000 km. It will reportedly be updated in various forms in the future.

World media and military experts say that the missile can be loaded by various launchers, such as missile destroyers, escort ships, ground mobile launchers and fighters now possessed by the "Self-Defense Forces", analyzing that its firing range is second only to the U.S. Tomahawk cruise missiles in Japan.

Is the continuous development and deployment of different long-range strike means just for the "exclusive defense" as advocated by Japan?

No, it isn't. It is a part of the efforts for winding up its war preparations for launching reinvasion.

Japan is now making desperate efforts to justify its rearmament by trumpeting about "growing threat from neighboring countries" and "deteriorating security environment". And it is constantly filling all the spheres, including the ground, sea and space, with armed forces capable of attacking the neighboring countries by spending huge military expenditure while inciting the atmosphere of praising the past wars of aggression woven with heinous crimes through visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, etc.

Japan increased the import of weapons in 2021-2025 by 76 percent more than that in 2016-2020 and most of them are long-range strike means like Tomahawk cruise missiles. This clearly shows that Japan has recently become more active in securing the "capability of attacking enemy bases".

Japan, which has bolstered up its actual war capability in a diversified way by taking part in all military exercises staged in surrounding areas, is stepping up the deployment of long-range strike means for action while being hell-bent on the development and purchase of them. This fact proves that the time of their use is nearing.

It is needless to say that the targets of the long-range strike means are the neighboring countries including the DPRK, which Japan designated as "imminent threat" and "unprecedentedly biggest strategic challenge".

If Japan continues to behave in a foolish manner in despite of the strong concern and criticism of the world people, it will get involved in the bad thing of crossing the "red line," which surely incurs the "sinking" of the archipelago.

It is a reality that the regional security environment is getting more severe due to the revival of militarism of the war criminal state keen on reinvasion without any slightest guilty conscience of the past crimes. -0-

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North Korea Launches 10 Ballistic Missiles Toward Sea of Japan  South Korea

Sputnik News

20260314

The missiles flew about 350 km, though their specifications are currently unknown, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.

Although Seoul accuses North Korea of militarization, the US and South Korea are currently holding the joint Freedom Shield drills, which are set to run until March 19.

US-South Korean exercises threaten regional stability, Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, said, adding that the country is ready for a "crushing and preemptive super-powerful offensive."

 Sputnik

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KPA Long-range Artillery Sub-unit in Western Area Conducts Firepower Strike Drill

Korean Central News Agency of DPRK

Pyongyang, March 15 (KCNA) -- A long-range artillery sub-unit of the Korean People's Army in the western area conducted a firepower strike drill on March 14.

The drill involved twelve 600mm-calibre ultra-precision multiple rocket launchers and two artillery companies.

Kim Jong Un , general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and president of the State Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, observed the firepower strike drill on the spot.

The respected Comrade Kim Jong Un stated briefly that the drill was aimed at making the army do what it should do.

He said that the drill would expose the forces hostile to the DPRK, the enemies within the 420-km striking range, to uneasiness, making a signaling wave stronger than the aimed, and give them a deep understanding of the destructive power of tactical nuclear weapon.

He affirmed that the drill is a regular one for checking the DPRK's defensive posture and war deterrence and such drill will be frequently conducted in the future, too.

He authorized Full General Jang Chang Ha, general director of the Missile Administration accompanying him, to command the drill, and came out to the launching position to give an instruction on the firing method.

At the central command post, Jang Chang Ha gave an order to open fire.

Making the deafening sound rending the air, multiple rocket companies opened fire in waves.

The launched rockets battered the island target in the East Sea of Korea about 364.4 km away with the accuracy of 100 percent, proving once again the destructive capability of their concentration strike and the system's military value once again.

After overseeing the firing drill, he spoke highly of the soldiers of the artillery sub-unit for being prepared for deftly handling the state-of-the-art multiple rocket launcher system. Then he once again praised the combat performance of the 600mm-calibre ultra-precision multiple rocket launchers, saying:

"It is indeed a very deadly yet attractive weapon.

Worldwide, there exists no tactical weapon that surpasses the performance of this weapon system.

This will be so in the coming few years.

Certainly, however, we will never mark time till that time, being content with this.

I always hold our defence scientists in respect and appreciate them for developing such a weapon system.

As I have already stated, our powerful attacking capability is, in effect, for defending ourselves.

It is because the most powerful attacking capability precisely means a reliable defence capability.

It is, in the true sense of the word, a means of deterring war.

But in case such deterrents of a defensive nature do not prevent foreign forces from launching an armed provocation or invading our state to jeopardize the security of its sovereignty, they will immediately be used for their second mission, i.e., as a means of massive, destructive strike.

As I have said several times, if this weapon is used, the opponent's military infrastructure within its striking range can never survive.

Our Party and the government of the Republic will maintain durable peace by means of powerful military capabilities.

Peace is something that should be defended rather than desired."

Kim Jong Un stressed the need for all units of the army at different levels to organize and wage high-intensity practical maneuvers under the simulated conditions of an actual war, true to the Party's policy of bringing about a radical turn in training, and maintain their full response posture to thoroughly frustrate any provocation by the enemies with overwhelmingly strong power. -0-

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Respected Comrade Kim Jong Un Plants Trees in Saeppyol Street on Tree-planting Day

Korean Central News Agency of DPRK

Pyongyang, March 15 (KCNA) -- Kim Jong Un , general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and president of the State Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, planted trees at the pondside park in Saeppyol Street on March 14, the tree-planting day.

Present at the tree planting were major leading cadres of the Party and the government, families of the martyrs of the overseas military operations who moved into their new houses in Saeppyol Street, officials of the Party and power organs in Hwasong District and students of revolutionary schools.

The participants were filled with great excitement and joy as they were to plant trees in the presence of the respected Comrade Kim Jong Un in Saeppyol Street, a new street in the capital city where all the people across the country pay their respect and which represents the honor of our generation and pride of our state.

Ri Il Hwan, member of the Presidium of the Political Bureau and secretary of the Central Committee of the WPK, made a speech on tree planting.

He said today's tree-planting ceremony, held along with the start of the spring in 2026, is a manifestation of the sincerity to always remember the true patriots who added a new page to the history of the DPRK's glorious dignity and to add luster to the desire of the martyrs who wished their beloved motherland eternal prosperity with youthfulness, and an expression of the noble will to spruce up the country more beautifully and improve the environment of the capital city more wonderfully.

Noting that the unanimous intention and mind cherished in the hearts of all the people are to be planted together with trees, he added that it represents the sincerest love and thanks to the heroes and the patriotic mission and mind, fervent and invariable like theirs.

The respected Comrade Kim Jong Un , together with other participants, planted for a long time the trees which will become new witnesses to the prospering capital city, saying that the true image of our generation following the noble spirit of heroic soldiers and reliably carrying forward the tradition of invincibility should be reflected, along with the history of the country growing stronger, in every tree that will grow with the souls of the martyrs of the overseas military operations, adding beauty to the landscape of Saeppyol Street full of joy of moving into new houses.

He said that the martyrs of the overseas military operations were the ardent ones who loved their native places, parents, wives and children more warmly than any others, and the ones strong in their ideological and mental power who turned the flavor and beautiful memory of the hometown, provided by a handful of earth they each had taken in the homeland, into their indomitable heroism under a shower of fire on the alien battlefields.

He hoped that the noble spirit of the martyrs would deeply permeate this land to build a solid pillar of patriotism in the hearts of all the people and help train all the coming generations to be the most righteous human beings.

Patriotism is the source of enthusiasm giving birth to the unlimited miraculous might and the driving force for creation and changes, he said, adding we will surely build a prosperous and strong country, the most powerful one in the world, by dint of great patriotism.

The participants lavished their sincerity on tree planting, cherishing the noble intention of the great father as the immutable truth and true value of patriotism.

The meaningful tree planting in Saeppyol Street, which took place in the presence of the respected Comrade Kim Jong Un , was an event of great significance that added vitality to the capital city and the great country to be eternally thriving and implanted true patriotism in the minds of the people. -0-

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IRGC strikes US-run al-Kharj air base in wave 51 of retaliation

Iran Press TV

Saturday, 14 March 2026 10:40 PM

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has announced the execution of the 51st wave of Operation True Promise 4, launching missile strikes against US military installations across the region in retaliation for ongoing American-Israeli aggression against the country.

The IRGC announced the latest wave was carried out using a combination of liquid-fuel and solid-fuel missiles against US terrorist army forces at the Al Kharj Air Base in Saudi Arabia.

According to the IRGC statement, Al Kharj base served as the "origin of aggressions against the Islamic homeland," functioning as the staging ground for US F-35 and F-16 fighter jets involved in attacks on Iran.

The base also houses fuel supply aircraft and serves as the main hub for American AWACS surveillance planes.

Concurrently, the spokesman for the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters confirmed that the fiftieth wave of the operation struck multiple US terrorist army bases.

They include the Al Dhafra Air Base and Fujairah in the UAE, Jufair in Bahrain, Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait, Al Azraq Air Base in Jordan, as well as early warning radar systems positioned throughout the region that served as protective shields for the Zionist regime.

The spokesman stated that these precise strikes were carried out by explosive and precision-strike drones operated by the brave Aerospace Force of the IRGC.

"Our lethal drones are pursuing, point by point, the hiding places of terrorist soldiers of the US army in the region," the spokesman stated. "After gathering intelligence, they will precisely target every single American terrorist in the region."

118 enemy drones destroyed

On air defense achievements, the spokesman announced that over the past hours, Iranian air defense forces successfully intercepted and shot down four additional enemy drones before they could execute their operations.

This brings the total number of enemy drones shot down since the beginning of the imposed war to 118.

Warning against US-linked industrial sites

In a separate statement, the IRGC Public Relations department warned civilians that the defeated American-Zionist enemy, having reached a dead end in confronting Iran's armed forces, has resorted to cowardly attacks on civilian industries.

"Over the past 48 hours, the enemy has targeted civilian factories in the country, and unfortunately, a number of dear workers who were engaged in production and earning lawful sustenance were martyred while fasting," the statement read.

The IRGC issued a firm warning to the "defeated American regime" to evacuate "all US industrial facilities in the region".

The force also called on residents living near industrial factories in which Americans hold shares to temporarily evacuate those areas to avoid potential harm.

Separately, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called on Saturday for neighbouring countries to expel US forces from the Middle East.

The US security umbrella in the region "has proven to be full of holes and inviting rather than deterring trouble," the top diplomat posted on X, adding that Iran called on its neighbors "to expel foreign aggressors".

The scale of US-Israeli attacks on civilian infrastructure has been extensive.

The head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society reported that over 24,500 civilian facilities across Iran have been damaged in US and Israeli strikes, including nearly 20,000 residential units, 4,500 commercial facilities, and 69 schools, with 154 individuals killed and nearly 200 teachers and students wounded.

The ongoing Operation True Promise 4 was launched in response to the February 28 US-Israeli aggression against Iran, which resulted in hundreds of civilian casualties and targeted schools, hospitals, and mosques.

Since then, Iran has conducted waves of retaliatory strikes against American bases throughout the region and Israeli targets deep within the occupied territories.

The IRGC has utilized a full arsenal of weaponry in these operations, including Qadr, Emad, Kheibar Shekan, Fattah hypersonic missiles, and Khorramshahr-4 missiles equipped with one-ton and two-ton warheads.

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True Promise 4: Iran and resistance axis ops. against US-Israeli assets on Mar. 14

Iran Press TV

Saturday, 14 March 2026 8:14 PM

By Press TV Website Staff

Iranian armed forces and resistance groups across the region continue to carry out retaliatory military operations against the United States and the Israeli regime.

On Saturday, March 14, 2026, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) and the Iranian Army conducted multiple operations as part of Operation True Promise 4, which was launched immediately after the US-Israeli coalition carried out an unprovoked act of aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran on February 28.

Iranian armed forces have so far carried out 51 waves of missile and drone strikes with advanced weaponry targeting Israeli military facilities in the occupied territories, as well as US occupation bases and assets scattered across the West Asia region.

The Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement and the Islamic Resistance in Iraq have also joined the front against the external aggressors, inflicting heavy blows on the enemy.

Hezbollah's operations have been primarily focused on Israeli military sites in the occupied territories. Its operations are both in response to the assassination of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, and the relentless ceasefire violations by the Israeli regime over the past year.

Iraqi resistance groups have also been carrying out daily operations, primarily against American military assets in Iraq and other Arab countries.

Below is a list of operations carried out by the Iranian armed forces, as well as resistance movements in Lebanon and Iraq, against the US and the Zionist regime on Saturday, March 14:

Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC):

Five armed attack drones of the Israeli regime and the US military were intercepted and downed by the IRGC's new advanced air defense system, and under the control of the country's integrated air defense network.

The advanced "Orbiter 4" drone was downed in Tabriz, the "Hermes" drones were downed in the cities of Andimeshk and Tehran, and the "MQ9" drones in the cities of Firuzabad and Bandar Abbas.

Launched Wave 47 of Operation True Promise 4, codenamed 'O Messenger of Allah (PBUH)', in honor of the struggles of the two national hero commanders, dedicated to the martyrs Nasirzadeh and Shamkhani, against targets in the occupied territories in the Naqab Desert, occupied Bir Al-Sabi', "Nevatim", the city of Al-Lydd, a hideout for Komala terrorists, and the base of the US military in Al-Udeid, through solid-fuel Kheibar Shekan missiles and liquid-fuel Ghadr missiles.

Launched 48 of Operation True Promise 4, with the blessed code name Ya Qamar Bani Hashim (PBUH), simultaneously with Hezbollah operations, against targets in the north of the occupied territories, Al-Jalil, the Golan, Haifa, and the bases of American military personnel in the region, using solid-fuel Kheibar-Shekan and liquid-fuel Ghadr missiles and attack drones.

Launched the 49th wave of Operation True Promise 4, under the codename "Ya Rasool Allah (PBUH)", simultaneously subjecting the bases of the American terrorists in the region to heavy missile and drone fire.

In this operation, Iranian missiles and drone units struck the Patriot radars, control towers, and air defense hangars of the "Al-Dhafra" base with crushing strikes from loitering munitions and precision-guided ballistic missiles. The "Sheikh Isa" base was also hit, including its early warning radars, aircraft hangars, central ramp, and fuel storage tanks for American aircraft. The "Al-Udeid" helicopter base was also struck by heavy missile and drone fire. At this base, equipment hangars, terrorist gathering points, and helicopter maintenance hangars were destroyed.

An armed Hermes drone was destroyed in the skies of Tehran by the IRGC's new advanced air defense system and under the control of the integrated air defense network. The number of drones destroyed up to this moment is 115.

The 50th wave of Operation True Promise 4, with the blessed code "Ya Zahra (peace be upon her)", was dedicated to the noble martyrs Brigadier General Ali Shadmani and Major General Haj Hossein Hamedani, targeting the bases of the US military located in Al-Dhafra, Fujairah, Jafir, the Fifth Fleet, Ali Al-Salem, Azraq, and also early warning radars stationed in the region that played a protective role for the Israeli regime, involving precision-strike drones of the IRGC Aerospace Force.

These drones are currently identifying the hiding places of US soldiers in the region, and upon obtaining information, they will act precisely.

Wave 51 of Operation True Promise 4, with the sacred code "Ya Ali ibn Musa al-Reza (peace be upon him)", was carried out through a combined launch of liquid-fuel and solid-fuel missiles targeting the US military at the Al-Kharj base, which serves as the origin of aggressions against Iran.

This base is the launch point for equipping F-35 and F-16 fighter jets of the US military and is the storage site for refueling aircraft and the main base for American AWACS planes.

Iranian Army:

In memory of the martyr commanders, Lieutenant General Mousavi, Major General Pakpour, and Major General Nasirzadeh, and as part of the continued operations with drones, the Iranian Army targeted the "Aman" Military Intelligence agency, the 8200 cyber operations and data processing units, in addition to a gathering site for fighter jets belonging to the Zionist entity in the occupied territories.

Hezbollah:

In response to the Israeli aggression that affected dozens of Lebanese cities and towns, including the southern suburb of Beirut, and within the framework of the Al-Quds Day operations, the Islamic Resistance fighters targeted a gathering of Israeli soldiers in the southern neighborhood of the city of Khiam with a rocket barrage.

In response to the Israeli aggression that affected dozens of Lebanese cities and towns, and the southern suburb of Beirut, and within the framework of the Al-Quds Day operations, the Islamic Resistance fighters targeted a gathering of Israeli soldiers in the northern neighborhood of the city of Al-Khiyam with a rocket barrage.

In response to the Israeli aggression that affected dozens of Lebanese cities and towns, and the southern suburb of Beirut, and within the framework of the Al-Quds Day operations, the Islamic Resistance fighters targeted a gathering of Israeli soldiers at the Al-Sadah site opposite the border town of Maroun Al-Ras, with a rocket barrage.

In response to the Israeli aggression that affected dozens of Lebanese cities and towns and the southern suburb of Beirut, and within the framework of the Al-Quds Day operations, the Islamic Resistance fighters targeted a gathering of Israeli soldiers in the eastern neighborhood of the city of Khiam with a rocket barrage.

In response to the Israeli aggression that affected dozens of Lebanese cities and towns, including the southern suburb of Beirut, and within the framework of the Al-Quds Day operations, the Islamic Resistance fighters targeted a gathering of Israeli soldiers in the "Ya'ara" settlement with a swarm of attack drones.

In response to the Israeli aggression that affected dozens of Lebanese cities and towns, including the southern suburb of Beirut, the Islamic Resistance fighters targeted a gathering of Israeli soldiers in the border town of Maroun Al-Ras with a rocket barrage.

In response to the Israeli aggression that affected dozens of Lebanese cities and towns, including the southern suburb of Beirut, the Islamic Resistance fighters targeted the "Stella Maris" base (a strategic base for maritime surveillance and monitoring on the northern coast level), with a swarm of attack drones.

In response to the Israeli aggression that affected dozens of Lebanese cities and towns and the southern suburb of Beirut, the Islamic Resistance fighters targeted the "Ein Shemer" base (a missile air defense base), located 75 km from the Lebanese-Palestinian border east of "Hadera", with a swarm of attack drones.

In response to the Israeli aggression that affected dozens of Lebanese cities and towns and the southern suburb of Beirut, the Islamic Resistance fighters targeted a gathering of Israeli soldiers at the newly established Blat site in southern Lebanon with a rocket barrage.

In response to the Israeli aggression that affected dozens of Lebanese cities and towns, including the southern suburb of Beirut, the Islamic Resistance fighters targeted the newly established site in Nimr Al-Jaml, opposite the border town of Alma Al-Shaab, with a rocket barrage.

In response to the Israeli aggression that affected dozens of Lebanese cities and towns and the southern suburb of Beirut, the Islamic Resistance fighters targeted the "Ein Zeitim" base north of occupied Safad.

In defense of Lebanon and its people, and within the framework of the warning issued by the Islamic Resistance to several settlements in northern occupied Palestine, the Islamic Resistance fighters targeted the settlement of "Metulla" with a barrage of rockets.

In defense of Lebanon and its people, the Islamic Resistance fighters targeted a gathering of Israeli army soldiers in Al-Hammousiya, west of the border town of Blida, with artillery shells.

In defense of Lebanon and its people, the Islamic Resistance fighters targeted a gathering of Israeli soldiers at Al-Khazzan Hill in the border town of Al-Odaisseh with a rocket barrage.

In defense of Lebanon and its people, the Islamic Resistance fighters targeted, for the second time, a gathering of Israeli soldiers at Al-Khazzan hill in the border town of Adaisseh with a rocket barrage.

In defense of Lebanon and its people, the fighters of the Islamic Resistance targeted a gathering of Israeli soldiers at the Aqaba hill in the border town of Maroun al-Ras with a rocket barrage.

In defense of Lebanon and its people, the Islamic Resistance fighters targeted two Merkava tanks near the Jall al-Allam site.

In defense of Lebanon and its people, the Islamic Resistance fighters targeted the headquarters of the 146th Division in "Ga'aton", east of the city of "Nahariya", with a rocket barrage.

In defense of Lebanon and its people, and within the framework of the warning issued by the Islamic Resistance to a number of settlements in northern occupied Palestine, the Islamic Resistance fighters targeted the "Gorenot HaGalil" settlement with a rocket barrage.

In defense of Lebanon and its people, the Islamic Resistance fighters targeted the air defense system in "Ma'alot Tarshiha".

In defense of Lebanon and its people, and within the framework of the warning issued by the Islamic Resistance to a number of settlements in northern occupied Palestine, the Islamic Resistance fighters targeted the "Goren" settlement.

In defense of Lebanon and its people, and within the framework of the warning issued by the Islamic Resistance to a number of settlements in northern occupied Palestine, the Islamic Resistance fighters targeted the "Adamit" settlement with a rocket barrage.

In defense of Lebanon and its people, and within the framework of the warning issued by the Islamic Resistance to a number of settlements in northern occupied Palestine, the Islamic Resistance fighters targeted the "Hanina" settlement with a rocket barrage.

In defense of Lebanon and its people, and within the framework of the warning issued by the Islamic Resistance to a number of settlements in northern occupied Palestine, the fighters of the Islamic Resistance targeted the settlement of "Shlomi" twice with volleys of rockets.

In defense of Lebanon and its people, the Islamic Resistance fighters targeted a gathering of Israeli soldiers and their vehicles in the Taybeh project in southern Lebanon with artillery shells.

In defense of Lebanon and its people, the Islamic Resistance fighters targeted the Rehabilitation and Maintenance Center (7200) south of the occupied city of Haifa with a swarm of attack drones.

In defense of Lebanon and its people, the Islamic Resistance fighters target a gathering of Israeli soldiers north of Aqaba Rab Thilathine at the Lebanese-Palestinian border with a rocket barrage twice.

Islamic Resistance in Iraq:

The helicopter pad at the US embassy in Baghdad was struck by shelling.

The logistics support camp of the US forces was targeted near Baghdad International Airport.

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Iran 'stands firm' in face of US-Israeli-imposed war: Baghaei

Iran Press TV

Saturday, 14 March 2026 7:30 PM

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman has reiterated that the country stands firm in the face of the US-Israeli-imposed war.

In a post on his X account on Saturday, Esmail Baghaei shared a video showing the aftermath of an Israeli drone strike near a rally on Quds Day, in which an Iranian woman was martyred.

"She was a proud Iranian woman who- like millions of others- was marching in the streets of Tehran in support of her homeland," he said, adding that she was holding the flag of Iran and singing the national anthem.

"Iran stands firm in the face of this imposed war," he further said.

On February 28, the United States and the Israeli regime started their unprovoked military assault on Iran, assassinating Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and several other senior officials.

Iran began to swiftly retaliate against the criminal aggression by launching barrages of missile and drone attacks on the Israeli-occupied territories as well as on the US bases in regional countries.

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Yemen says it may shut strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait in support of Iran

Iran Press TV

Saturday, 14 March 2026 6:28 PM

A senior Yemeni military commander says the closure of the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait will be among the primary options of the Ansarullah resistance movement if it decides to assist Iran fight off an ongoing US-Israeli onslaught against Iran.

"Once the decision to intervene is made, the first measure could be the official declaration of a naval blockade against the United States and the Zionist regime. Merchant vessels and warships, including aircraft carriers, destined for the US soil and the occupied territories could therefore be stopped," Abed al-Thawr said on Saturday.

He added that among other possible measures could be the closure of Bab el-Mandeb Strait and a complete blockade of ships cruising towards the occupied lands.

Yemeni forces had earlier imposed a similar naval blockade on Israeli-owned or Israeli-affiliated ships in the Red Sea in solidarity with the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip amid Israel's genocidal military campaign in the besieged coastal sliver.

The United States and Israel launched a large-scale unprovoked war of aggression against Iran, assassinating Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, along with several senior military commanders.

The attacks have involved extensive aerial strikes on both military and civilian installations across Iran, causing significant casualties and widespread damage to infrastructure.

In response, the Iranian Armed Forces have carried out retaliatory operations, targeting American and Israeli positions in the occupied territories and at regional bases with waves of missiles and drones.

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US air defense system in Iraq embassy failed to intercept drone attack: Report

Iran Press TV

Saturday, 14 March 2026 4:46 PM

The US air defense system in Baghdad failed to intercept an incoming drone strike on the American embassy in the early hours of Saturday, according to a report.

An Iraqi security source, who spoke with Al-Jazeera on condition of anonymity, revealed that the drone attack inflicted significant damage on parts of the defense system.

He said that measures are currently underway at the US embassy to set up a new air defense system.

Iraqi media reports said in the early hours of Saturday that a multi-story facility belonging to the US embassy had been targeted in an attack in Baghdad.

Hours later, Iraqi security services confirmed the attack on the embassy.

According to the reports, the target was the air defense systems station located on the territory of the US diplomatic mission in the Iraqi capital.

Iranian armed forces, along with resistance groups is Iraq and Lebanon, have been conducting retaliatory strikes against US military assets in the region and the Israeli occupied territories since Washington and Tel Aviv launched an unprovoked war against Iran on Feb. 28.

Iranian armed forces have vowed to keep the war on with the US and Israel until they regret launching the aggression against the Islamic Republic.

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IRGC warns attacks on US banks will expand if more Iranian banks are targeted

Iran Press TV

Saturday, 14 March 2026 4:14 PM

A spokesperson for the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) says Iranian attacks on American bank branches in neighboring countries were a response to US-Israeli strikes on Iranian bank properties earlier this week and briefly disrupted banking operations in the country.

Speaking to Sepah News on Saturday, Brigadier General Ali Naeini warned that all US bank branches operating in the region will become legitimate targets for Iran if "the enemy repeats its mistake" and carries out similar attacks on Iranian banks.

Naeini's comments come amid Iran's repeated warnings that it will respond eye-for-eye to any US or Israeli attacks on its civilian infrastructure. Iranian authorities have indicated that such reprisals will target all US assets in the region, especially in Arab countries of the Persian Gulf, where US companies have expanded their presence in recent years.

The attacks on two Iranian banks earlier this week, which included offices of Bank Sepah, Iran's largest and oldest bank, killed several bank employees and disrupted online and offline operations of the banks for several hours.

Analysts believe US-Israeli attacks on civilian infrastructure in Iran aim to disrupt daily life in the country and create dissatisfaction among Iranians.

The US-Israeli aggression on Iran began on February 28 with airstrikes that assassinated senior Iranian officials and commanders. Iran's armed forces have responded by launching daily missile and drone operations targeting locations in the Israeli-occupied territories as well as US military bases and assets in the region.

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Iran says 43,000 civilian units damaged in US-Israeli attacks

Iran Press TV

Saturday, 14 March 2026 4:07 PM

The Iranian government has released updated figures on damage to civilian infrastructure and casualties after 15 days of US-Israeli aggression against the Islamic Republic, reporting nearly 43,000 civilian buildings affected by enemy strikes.

Fatemeh Mohajerani, the government spokesperson, outlined the scope of destruction across residential, commercial, and health sectors.

According to Mohajerani, 42,914 civilian units have been damaged, including 36,489 residential units  about 10,000 of which are in Tehran province  and 6,179 commercial units.

She further reported 223 female fatalities and 2,729 female injuries among the civilian population.

Mohajerani also highlighted specific impacts to emergency and medical services.

She said 43 emergency base units have sustained damage, with 3 units completely destroyed, and that 32 ambulances were affected.

Referring to the damage to medical centers, the government spokeswoman noted that 35 medical units and 152 health units have been damaged and the number of people killed in the health sector has reached more than 16 people.

In the education sector, Mohajerani said 120 schools have been seriously damaged and the number of teachers and students killed has reached 206 people.

The spokesperson further stressed priorities for the coming days will include rapid assessment of damaged properties, restoration of essential services, and support for affected families and businesses.

Elsewhere in her remarks, Mohajerani said citizens demonstrated resilience by joining the Quds Day rallies on Friday despite ongoing bombardment.

"While in other countries of the world people go to shelters during bombings, we witnessed our fellow citizens take to the streets to make their voices heard even as attacks continued," she said.

Mohajerani also thanked government personnel and citizens for their participation in public acts of solidarity and for continuing essential services under difficult conditions.

The US and Israel started a fresh round of aerial aggression on Iran on February 28, some eight months after they carried out unprovoked attacks on the country and its nuclear facilities.

Iran began to swiftly retaliate against the strikes by launching barrages of missile and drone attacks on the Israeli-occupied territories as well as on US bases in regional countries.

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Strait of Hormuz will remain closed: Iranian official

Iran Press TV

Saturday, 14 March 2026 3:52 PM

A high-ranking member of Iran's Expediency Council says the closure of the Strait of Hormuz will remain in effect, adding that the United States is responsible for escalating insecurity in the West Asian region.

Mohsen Rezaei, a former IRGC commander, made the remarks on Saturday as he addressed participants at a mass funeral procession in the Iranian capital Tehran for the late secretary of the Supreme National Defense Council Admiral Ali Shamkhani, who was assassinated in a US-Israeli strike on February 28.

He emphasized that the strategic waterway will remain shut, and no US warship is allowed to enter Persian Gulf waters.

"The presence of US (forces) in the Persian Gulf has been the main factor behind insecurity for the past 50 years. It is impossible to ensure security there unless the United States withdraws from the region, and regional countries, particularly Iran and Oman, take control of the Strait of Hormuz," he pointed out.

The senior official noted that the Islamic Republic will consider an end to its retaliatory operations once it receives full reparations for damages sustained in terrorist US-Israeli strikes, and a firm guarantee concerning the future of security is given - including a complete US pullout from the Persian Gulf.

Rezaei highlighted that Iran has emerged triumphant in political, defense and economic domains, stating that Iran has shattered the invincibility myth of the United States.

From an economic perspective, he added that Americans took a decision unprecedented in the past 44 years, and released 170 million barrels of crude oil from their strategic reserves in order to lower soaring prices.

"This will not last for not more than one or two weeks as prices will surge sharply once again," he commented.

The member of the Expediency Council emphasized that Iran's victory is certain in terms of defense.

"No one could ever expect a country like Iran to deal a sharp blow to the United States, which enjoys the most sophisticated technologies, aircraft, missiles and air defense systems. Future is ours and the Iranian flag will be hoisted high," Rezaei said.

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Iran's intelligence forces dismantle US-Israeli linked mercenary cells in 3 provinces

Iran Press TV

Saturday, 14 March 2026 3:43 PM

Iranian Intelligence Ministry says it has dismantled three mercenary cells affiliated with the Israeli regime and the United States in pre-emptive operations in the provinces of Mazandaran, Khuzestan and Khorasan Razavi.

In a statement on Saturday, the ministry said Iranian security forces identified and disbanded a 10-member cell of mercenaries who sought to carry out anti-security measures in the cities of the northern Mazandaran Province.

It added that the group's members had a history of attacks on Iranian security forces.

The statement said security forces carried out intelligence-operative measures in the eastern Khorasan Razavi Province and succeeded in identifying and arresting 10 US-Israeli affiliated mercenaries who were cooperating with terrorist media networks affiliated to the enemy.

"These individuals transferred [information about] the location of military sites and some economic infrastructures to the aggressor enemy," it explained.

They have also caused fear among people to prevent their presence in public gatherings and gave information to the Israeli regime regarding the location of certain scientific and research centers claiming that they were the hideout of security forces and military equipment, the ministry added.

It also said that a three-member terrorist team was dismantled in the southwestern province of Khuzestan, adding that the US-Israeli group has been operating by mercenaries outside the country.

According to the ministry, the terrorists conducted armed attacks against security forces and some state and public places, including the governor general's office, and caused insecurity and horror among the people. Two Kalashnikovs along with ammunition were discovered from the terrorist mercenaries.

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Iran's armed forces strike key US bases in region with missiles, drones: IRGC

Iran Press TV

Saturday, 14 March 2026 3:33 PM

Iran's naval forces have successfully struck key targets within American bases, including Al Dhafra, Sheikh Isa, and Al-Udeid, following the US-Israeli aggression against the country.

Commander of the IRGC Navy Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri wrote in a post on his X account on Saturday that US Patriot radar systems, control towers, aircraft hangars, central ramps, and aircraft fuel depots were among the facilities that were struck.

The IRGC public relations also said in a statement that Iranian missile and drone units struck the Patriot radars, control tower, and air defense hangars of the Al Dhafra base with devastating kamikaze drones and pinpoint ballistic missiles.

The Sheikh Isa base's early warning radars, aircraft hangars, central ramps, and American aircraft fuel depots were destroyed and set ablaze, it said.

According to the statement, at the Al-Udairi helicopter base, equipment hangars, gathering sites, and helicopter maintenance hangars were destroyed.

Furthermore, it said the Strait of Hormuz is under the full control of the IRGC Navy. The passage of tankers and commercial vessels belonging to aggressors and their allies through the strategic waterway remains prohibited. Any movement or transit will be targeted.

Simultaneously, the Islamic Republic of Iran Army reported launching drone attacks against spy and cyber units of the Israeli regime.

Starting from early this morning, and in continuation of yesterday's operations, key Israeli cyber intelligence units, including the Aman intelligence organization, Cyber Operations Unit 8200, and data processing centers, were targeted.

"The assembly point for several Israeli fighter jets in occupied territories was also reportedly hit," it said.

Unit 8200 is responsible for gathering signals intelligence, intercepting digital communications, and conducting offensive cyber operations. Aman is described as a component of the Israeli intelligence structure, it added.

The Army further stated that drone attacks on the occupied territories are ongoing. Iranian Army fighters, will "avenge the pure blood of their dear compatriots, their brave leader, and their valiant commanders."

On February 28, the United States and the Israeli regime started their unprovoked military assault on Iran, assassinating Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and senior military commanders.

Iran began to swiftly retaliate against the criminal aggression by launching barrages of missile and drone attacks on the Israeli-occupied territories and on the US bases across the region.

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'Do not trust illusion of US power': Iranian military warns regional states

Iran Press TV

Saturday, 14 March 2026 10:59 AM

The spokesman for the Iranian Armed Forces has called on Leaders of Muslim countries not to put trust in the illusion of US power, and unite against hypocrisy led by the United States and Israel.

"Do not trust the so-called power of the United States. Americans cannot even defend their own faltering army, let alone the security of Muslim countries and the region," Brigadier General Abolfazl Shekarchi said on Saturday.

He said that the Iranian Armed Forces disabled the US warship USS Abraham Lincoln, whose name once caused fear and facilitated the plundering of Muslim resources, and forced it to retreat in a historical defeat.

Shekarchi noted that all US bases in the region, which have been built over decades with Muslims' resources under the pretext of ensuring regional security while stealing the wealth of Muslim nations, have been destroyed in Iran's retaliatory operations.

The general said Iran is well capable of reconstructing schools, houses, state buildings, supermarkets and public infrastructure damaged and destroyed in the US-Israeli onslaught.

But what cannot be rebuilt is the US credit, hollow power, and its defeated military, besides the helplessness of the Israeli regime, Shekarchi underlined.

On February 28, the United States and the Israeli regime launched an unprovoked military assault on Iran, assassinating the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and several top commanders.

Iran began to swiftly retaliate against the criminal aggression by launching barrages of missile and drone attacks on the Israeli-occupied territories as well as on the US bases in regional countries.

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Iran warns it will target origins of US missile launches in UAE cities

Iran Press TV

Saturday, 14 March 2026 10:24 AM

The spokesperson for Iran's Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters has announced that the country considers it a legitimate right to target the origins of US missile launches located in several Emirati cities.

Ebrahim Zolfaghari said on Saturday that the US military, after suffering losses and destruction of its regional bases, began launching missiles from ports, docks, and hideouts within cities in the United Arab Emirates against Iran's Abu Musa Island and parts of Kharg Island.

"We warn the UAE leadership that the Islamic Republic of Iran views it as its legitimate right to strike the origins of American missile launchesthose concealed in ports, docks, and shelters used by US forces under the cover of Emirati citiesin defense of its national sovereignty and territorial integrity," Zolfaghari said.

He further urged the residents of the UAE to evacuate areas near ports, docks, and known American hideouts in their cities in order to avoid harm during Iran's retaliatory strikes.

On February 28, the United States and the Israeli regime launched an unprovoked military assault on Iran, assassinating the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, and several top commanders.

Iran began to swiftly retaliate against the criminal aggression by launching barrages of missile and drone attacks on the Israeli-occupied territories as well as on the US bases in regional countries.

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Tehran to Trump: All regional energy facilities will be destroyed if Iran's energy infrastructure hit

Iran Press TV

Saturday, 14 March 2026 9:20 AM

Iran has issued a stern warning to the United States, asserting that any attack on its energy infrastructure will be reciprocated with the destruction of all energy facilities across the region.

The spokesperson for Iran's Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters Lieutenant-Colonel Ebrahim Zolfaghari on Saturday responded to threats made by US President Donald Trump regarding strikes on Iran's energy sector.

"As previously warned, all oil, economic, and energy facilities belonging to American-affiliated companies or those cooperating with them across the region will be completely destroyed and turned into ashes if the United States launches an attack on our oil, economic, or energy infrastructure," he said.

Earlier, Zolfaghari had urged Islamic states to promptly warn the United States and Israel against attacks on Iran's fuel and energy infrastructure.

"Otherwise, similar measures will be carried out across the region," he said.

On February 28, the United States and the Israeli regime launched an unprovoked military assault on Iran, assassinating Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and several top Iranian military commanders.

Iran began to swiftly retaliate against the criminal aggression by launching barrages of missile and drone attacks on the Israeli-occupied territories as well as on the US bases in regional countries.

Iran has repeatedly emphasized that it only targets American positions and bases in the region and does not seek conflict with Arab countries.

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'Finger on the trigger': Yemen says decision made to stand with Iran against US-Israeli aggression

Iran Press TV

Saturday, 14 March 2026 9:11 AM

A senior official from Yemen's Ansarallah resistance movement has confirmed that the country is in complete coordination with Iran and the resistance axis amid the ongoing Israeli-American aggression against the Islamic Republic.

In an interview published on Saturday, Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a member of Ansarallah's political bureau, said the decision has already been made to stand alongside the Islamic Republic in its confrontation with American and Israeli aggression.

He said that Yemen's participation in the war is "only a matter of time," emphasizing that there is full coordination among all resistance axis countries on this matter.

"Our hands are on the trigger," al-Bukhaiti stated, echoing the words of Ansarallah resistance movement leader Sayyed Abdulmalik al-Houthi, who had previously addressed Iran directly, declaring readiness to intervene whenever circumstances require.

Al-Bukhaiti stressed that they are closely monitoring the situation and are prepared to act against the aggressors.

The Ansarallah official firmly defended Iran's retaliatory strikes against American military assets in the region, asserting that Tehran has every right to target the occupation bases being used to launch attacks against it.

"All the accusations previously leveled against Iran have collapsed today," al-Bukhaiti said, "and the truth of Iran's position in support of the nation's causes has become clear to everyone."

Al-Bukhaiti issued an urgent call for all countries in the region to take a unified stance, stressing that all countries in the region "must condemn the American aggression and stand alongside Iran in this confrontation."

He hastened to warn that the scope of the war extends far beyond Iran's borders, noting that the party being targeted today is not only Iran, but all Arab and Islamic countries.

Addressing the regional countries directly, he said it is a battle that has been "imposed upon us, and we must carry it forward until we impose our conditions."

The senior Ansarallah official also delivered a stark warning to Persian Gulf states regarding Washington's intentions, saying it has no concern for the security of the regional countries and only "wants to entangle them in wars against Iran."

He described the ongoing war as a "decisive battle" whose ultimate outcome "will be the victory of truth."

The war against Iran, launched on February 28 in the middle of indirect nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington, entered its 15th day on Saturday with no end in sight.

The main target of the aggression was the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and some top-ranking military commanders, who were assassinated on the first day, triggering a powerful Iranian response.

In retaliation, Iranian armed forces have carried out more than 40 waves of Operation True Promise 4, decimating Israeli military sites in the occupied territories and US military bases scattered across the region.

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Regional security tied to cooperation among regional states, not US presence: Iran

Iran Press TV

Saturday, 14 March 2026 8:19 AM

The security and stability of the region are highly dependent on cooperation among regional countries, not the American presence, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on Saturday.

He made the remarks in an interview with China's Xinhua News Agency, issuing a stark warning about the ongoing American-Israeli aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran while emphasizing Tehran's commitment to regional diplomacy.

The spokesman reaffirmed Tehran's commitment to constructive relations with its neighbors, saying that Tehran intends to strengthen its relations with every country in the Persian Gulf region as well as other neighboring countries.

Bagheri categorically rejected any justification for the US-Israeli military aggression against the Islamic Republic, which has claimed nearly 1,400 civilian lives in Iran since February 28.

"The aggressive act by the United States and the Israeli regime cannot be justified by any argument or rule of international law. This is a breach of peace, and the Iranian nation is determined to defend itself for as long as necessary," he asserted.

Iran's foreign ministry spokesman also dismissed speculation that Iran would capitulate under pressure, noting that a rich civilization like Iran will never surrender, even though the nation has been subjected to unjust and unprovoked war.

"The people of Iran have learned throughout history that in the face of injustice, they will survive and remain strong," he stated.

Regarding ongoing Iranian retaliatory strikes against American assets in the Persian Gulf region, Bagheri said these bases are scattered around Iran and are being used by the United States to carry out military aggression against Iran.

He further noted that regional countries have "fully realized that the US military presence" in the region undermines rather than ensures stability, referring to growing consensus among Persian Gulf states about the need for indigenous security arrangements free from foreign intervention.

The war against Iran has entered its 15th day on Saturday. The war was launched on February 28, in the middle of indirect nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington, leading to the assassination of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and some top-ranking military commanders.

In retaliation, Iranian armed forces have carried out more than 40 waves of Operation True Promise 4, decimating Israeli military sites in the occupied territories and US military bases scattered across the region.

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Iran Says Oil Exports Continue After Kharg Strikes As Fire Hits UAE Oil Hub

By RFE/RL March 14, 2026

Drone and missile attacks struck targets in Baghdad and the United Arab Emirates on March 14 as the war between Iran and a US-Israeli coalition continued to ripple across the Middle East, while Tehran said oil exports from its key Kharg Island terminal were continuing despite US strikes there.

A drone hit the US Embassy compound in Baghdad early on March 14, Iraqi security officials said, while smoke rose from the Emirati port of Fujairah after debris from an intercepted drone sparked a fire near energy facilities.

Amid the regional spillover, Iranian state media reported that crude exports from Kharg Island -- Iran's main oil terminal -- were continuing normally despite US air strikes.

Iran's official news agency IRNA cited a senior provincial official as saying crude exports were flowing uninterrupted from the strategic island terminal despite US President Donald Trump's claims that US forces had "totally obliterated" Iranian military targets there.

The strike on Kharg Island marked a major development in the conflict, which began on February 28 after large-scale US-Israeli strikes on Iranian military and nuclear facilities.

Trump said on the Truth Social platform that US forces had carried out "one of the most powerful bombing raids in the history of the Middle East," targeting military installations on the island while avoiding its vital oil export terminals.

The US Central Command later said its forces had struck more than 90 Iranian military targets on Kharg Island while preserving its oil infrastructure.

Kharg Island handles about 90 percent of Iran's crude exports, making it one of the most strategically sensitive energy facilities in the region.

Trump warned that restraint could end if Iran interferes with shipping through the nearby Strait of Hormuz. He also said the US Navy would soon begin escorting vessels through the strait.

The narrow waterway normally carries about one-fifth of the world's seaborne oil supplies, but tanker traffic has largely halted since the conflict erupted.

Attacks Across The Middle East

At least 15 people were killed in a missile strike on a factory in Iran's central city of Isfahan on March 14, the Fars news agency, which is close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), reported.

The agency blamed the attack on the United States and Israel and said the factory produced heaters and refrigerators. It added that workers were inside the facility during the strike.

The US and Israeli militaries did not immediately comment on the incident.

At the same time, despite facing superior US and Israeli military power, Iran has continued retaliatory missile and drone strikes across the Middle East targeting energy facilities and military installations, according to regional officials.

On March 14, both Israel's Defense Forces (IDF) and Iranian state media reported that new missile attacks were launched from Iran toward Israeli territory.

"The public is asked to act responsibly and follow the instructions -- they save lives," the IDF said in a statement published on Telegram.

Elsewhere, smoke was seen rising from the Emirati port of Fujairah after debris from an intercepted drone sparked a fire near energy installations. Authorities said civil defense crews were working to contain the blaze.

Some oil-loading operations at the port -- one of the world's largest refueling hubs outside the Strait of Hormuz -- were reportedly suspended after the incident.

Iran's military had earlier warned residents in the United Arab Emirates to stay away from port areas, saying they could become targets.

Since the start of the war, Iranian strikes have targeted energy installations across the Persian Gulf, including in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates.

Hamas Urges Restraint

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas issued a rare appeal urging Iran to refrain from targeting neighboring Gulf states, while backing what it called Tehran's right to defend itself against Israel and the United States.

"While affirming the right of the Islamic Republic of Iran to respond to this aggression by all available means in accordance with international norms and laws, the movement calls on the brothers in Iran to avoid targeting neighboring countries," Hamas said in a statement.

Hamas -- designated a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union -- also called on the international community to "work towards halting" the ongoing war immediately.

Missile Interceptions Across the Region

The conflict continues to spill across national borders.

A drone struck the US Embassy compound in Baghdad early on March 14, Iraqi security officials said, marking the second attack on the diplomatic mission since the war began.

Security officials said the drone hit a helicopter pad inside the heavily fortified embassy compound, though there were no immediate reports of casualties.

Explosions also rocked several other parts of Baghdad, with strikes targeting the Iran-allied Kataeb Hezbollah group, killing two members including a "key figure," security sources said.

It was not immediately clear who carried out the attacks.

Qatar said on March 14 that it intercepted two Iranian missiles over the capital, Doha, after explosions were heard in the city.

Turkey said NATO defenses intercepted a ballistic missile launched from Iran that briefly entered Turkish airspace.

Saudi Arabia reported shooting down dozens of drones launched toward the kingdom on March 13.

Energy Shock

The war has continued to disrupt energy supplies across the Middle East.

QatarEnergy has shut several liquefied natural gas facilities, leaving around 20 percent of global LNG supplies temporarily offline, according to industry estimates.

On March 14, Japan's industry minister, Ryosei Akazawa, asked Australia to increase LNG production to stabilize global markets.

"Affordable and stable LNG supply from Australia is the lifeline of energy security in Japan and this region," Akazawa said.

Australia supplies about 40 percent of Japan's LNG imports.

Humanitarian Impact

Inside Iran, the humanitarian cost of the war appears to be mounting.

The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) says the first two weeks of the war have resulted in at least 4,765 casualties, including deaths and injuries.

The figure includes 1,298 civilian fatalities, among them at least 205 children, and 654 civilians injured, according to the monitoring group.

HRANA said 5,480 attacks were recorded across Iran since February 28, affecting all 31 provinces and at least 209 cities.

The rights group said its figures represent minimum confirmed numbers and could rise as verification continues.

The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) estimates that about 3.2 million people have been displaced inside Iran since the conflict began.

Iranian authorities say at least 56 cultural and historic sites have also been damaged, including the UNESCO-listed Golestan Palace in Tehran and parts of Naghsh-e Jahan Square in Isfahan.

Despite intense bombardment, Iran's leadership has signaled it intends to continue fighting.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Radio Farda, Reuters, dpa, and AFP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-israel-usa-war-homuz- strait-attacks-drones-missiles-energy/33706576.html

Copyright (c) 2026. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Iran Strikes Target Suspected Locations of US, Israeli Commanders - IRGC

Sputnik News

20260314

The Iranian armed forces have carried out strikes on suspected locations of Israeli and US commanders, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Friday.

"Ten shelters and locations on occupied territories, as well as three US assembly and shelter sites in the region, were identified and struck with the objective of hunting down US and Zionist commanders," the IRGC said in a statement quoted by the Fars news agency.

The Iranian forces used drones and missiles to hit seven locations in Israel's Tel Aviv, two targets in the city of Rishon LeZion, south of Tel Aviv, and one in the town of Shoham. Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, as well as US military bases in the Iraqi cities of Baghdad and Erbil were also struck.

On February 28, the United States and Israel launched strikes on targets in Iran, including in Tehran, causing damage and civilian casualties. Iran responded by striking Israeli territory and US military facilities in the Middle East. The US and Israel initially claimed their "preemptive" attack was necessary to counter the perceived threat coming from Iran's nuclear program, but they soon made it clear that they want to see a change of power in Iran.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was assassinated on the first day of the military operation. The Islamic Republic declared 40 days of mourning.

Russian President Vladimir Putin described Khamenei's assassination as a cynical violation of international law. The Russian Foreign Ministry condemned the US-Israeli operation and called for an immediate de-escalation and an end to hostilities.

 Sputnik

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GCC-UK Ministers' Meeting On Iran's Attacks against GCC States

General Secretariat of the Gulf Cooperation Council

Mar 15, 2026

General Secretariat - Riyadh

1. The Foreign Ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council and the United Kingdom held an extraordinary meeting on March 12, 2026 to discuss the escalation in the Middle East and the blatant aggression by Iran and its regional proxies against the GCC countries and Jordan.

2. The GCC side was headed by His Excellency Dr. Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Bahrain and Chairman of the current session of the GCC Ministerial Council. The UK side was headed by Her Excellency The Rt Hon Yvette Cooper MP, Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs. The Foreign Ministers of the GCC Member States and His Excellency Jassim Mohammed Al-Budaiwi, GCC Secretary-General took part in the meeting.

3. The Ministers underscored the significance of their strategic partnership established following the GCC-UK Summit held in November 2016 in the Kingdom of Bahrain. They welcomed the important progress made in the GCC-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations and looked forward to concluding an FTA as rapidly as possible.

4. The Ministers welcomed the adoption of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2817 (2026), which condemned in the strongest terms the egregious attacks carried out by the Islamic Republic of Iran against the territories of the GCC countries and Jordan, considering them a violation of international law and a serious threat to international peace and security. They noted that the Resolution also condemned Iran's targeting of residential areas and civilian infrastructure, which included oil facilities, service facilities and residential areas, and resulted in civilian casualties and damage to civilian buildings.

5. The Ministerial Council noted the unprecedented expression of international solidarity with the GCC countries and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, as illustrated by the support of 136 members of the United Nations which co-sponsored UNSC Resolution 2817 (2026), and its demand that Iran immediately cease all attacks against the GCC States and Jordan and unconditionally cease from any provocations or threats to neighboring states, including the use of proxies across the region. The Ministers thanked the UK for its solidarity with the countries of the GCC and its strong and longstanding commitment to their security, stability and territorial integrity.

6. The Ministers reiterated their commitment to regional stability and called for protection of civilians and full respect of international law, international humanitarian law and the obligations on UN Member States to abide by the principles of the United Nations Charter.

7. The Ministers recalled that they consistently urged Iran to curb its nuclear programme and ballistic missile programme and refrain from destabilising activities across the region, including the use of proxies and interference in the domestic affairs of states.

8. The Ministers highlighted the extensive diplomatic efforts by the GCC member states prior to the attacks, and their commitment that their territories would not be used to launch attacks against Iran.

9. The Ministers reaffirmed their unwavering commitment to dialogue and diplomacy as means to resolve the crisis, commending the constructive role of Oman in this regard, and highlighted the need to restore regional stability and security.

10. The Ministers recalled the inherent right of the GCC countries, in accordance with Article 51 of the UN Charter, to defend themselves, individually and collectively, against the armed attacks of Iran, as recognized in UN Security Council resolution 2817 (2026). They affirmed that the GCC states have the right to take all necessary measures to defend their security and stability and protect their territories, citizens and residents. The Ministers recalled the responsibility of the UN Security Council in maintaining international peace and security.

11. The Ministers agreed to undertake joint diplomatic efforts to bring about a lasting solution to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, to cease development and proliferation of ballistic missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles and any technologies that threaten the security of the region and beyond, and to refrain from destabilising activities in the region and beyond.

12. The Ministers reaffirmed the importance of safeguarding regional air space, maritime routes, and freedom of navigation, as well as the safety and security of supply chains, shipping, mariners and the stability of global energy markets, noting that the UN Security Council resolution 2817 (2026) condemned any Iranian actions or threats aimed at closing, obstructing, or otherwise interfering with international navigation through the Strait of Hormuz or threatening maritime security in the Bab-el-Mandeb.

13. The Ministers stressed that the security and stability of the Gulf region are fundamental pillars of the stability of the global economy, intrinsically linked to UK and global security. They recognized the significant contributions by the UK to the security of the region, and expressed appreciation to the UK on the recent decision to enhance defensive capabilities in the region, including through the participation of RAF Typhoon jets in defensive operations.

14. The UK thanked the GCC member states for the hospitality and assistance provided to UK nationals in their territory.

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Iran, Ukraine involved in bitter dispute as Kiev reportedly offers anti-drone expertise to US, Gulf allies

Global Times

By Liang Rui Published: Mar 15, 2026 09:08 PM

While the conflict between the US, Israel and Iran has continued to draw global attention, a bitter dispute has erupted between Iran and Ukraine over Kiev's offer to share anti-drone expertise in the Middle East.

Iranian officials on Saturday local time accused Ukraine of playing the "Iran card" to obtain more resources from the West, warning that Ukraine has now become a legitimate target for Iranian strikes, which followed reports that Ukraine had sought to help US forces and their allies in the Middle East with its anti-drone technology and expertise - an offer Washington reportedly dismissed as unnecessary.

"By providing drone support to the Israeli regime, failed Ukraine has effectively become involved in the War and, under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, has turned its entire territory into a legitimate target for Iran," Ebrahim Azizi, head of Iran's parliamentary committee on national security and foreign policy, posted on social media platform X on Saturday local time.

His comments came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky earlier this month offered to help US forces and their allies in the Middle East with intercepting Iranian drones, using the Ukrainian military's experience with shooting down Russian drones, NBC News reported.

In a post on X late Friday, Zelenskyy wrote: "Countries in the Middle East have reached out to us, asking to share our expertise in intercepting Iranian 'shahed' drones during massive strikes. That is why we have already sent expert teams to three countries."

Shahriar Amouzegar, Iran's envoy to Ukraine, condemned the move, which involved the claim that experts had already been sent to Gulf states, according to the AFP on Saturday.

Kiev had "played the 'Iran card' in order to obtain more resources from the West," Amouzegar was quoted by the AFP as saying.

According to the BBC News on March 6, Zelenskyy suggested, in particular, that Ukraine would be willing to swap its interceptor drones for more US Patriot air defenses to protect against Russian ballistic missiles.

Per BBC, Zelensky said the US has asked Ukraine for help defending Gulf allies against Iranian drones. Asked about the Ukrainian offer, Trump said: "I'll take any assistance from any country."

However, US President Donald Trump told Fox News radio on Friday that his country didn't need Ukraine's help in drone defense, contradicting statements from Zelensky that the US had asked for help, according to the AFP.

If Ukraine involved itself in the Middle East and Iran were to open a direct front against Ukraine, it could lead to convergence of the two theaters, potentially expanding the overall scale of the warfare, Song Zhongping, a Chinese military affairs expert, told the Global Times on Sunday.

The conflict in the Middle East has diverted Washington's attention from a peace deal, according to four EU diplomats involved in talks with Ukraine, reported the Financial Times on Sunday.

Song said that in the context of the current Russia-Ukraine talks, Zelensky's move is essentially an attempt to maintain US attention and garner more Western resources.

"However, by attempting to involve Ukraine in Middle East conflicts, he risks turning the country into an active participant in a wider conflict," said Song.

The expert said that if the conflict in Ukraine and the Middle East were to become intertwined, the likely outcome would be an expansion in both the scale of the conflict and the geographical scope of the battlefield, bringing greater tragedy. For this reason, such escalatory actions are seen as undesirable, as they risk further damaging regional and global peace.

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Iran does not hesitate to confront aggressors: Pezeshkian to Macron

Iran Press TV

Sunday, 15 March 2026 11:53 PM

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has affirmed the Islamic Republic's unwavering resolve to defend its territorial integrity and national security, telling French President Emmanuel Macron that Iran "does not hesitate" to confront aggressors.

In a phone conversation late Sunday, Pezeshkian detailed the dimensions of ongoing unlawful US and Israeli aggression against Iran, emphasizing that the aggressors continue their attacks against various targets, including civilian centers.

The president specifically referenced recent strikes against two Iranian islands, Kharg Island and Abu Musa Island, stressing that these attacks were launched from the territory of certain Persian Gulf countries.

"These attacks have been carried out using the territory of some Persian Gulf countries," Pezeshkian stated. "Placing land and facilities at America's disposal for brutal attacks against Iran conflicts with international law and the principle of good neighborliness".

Pezeshkian emphasized that while Iran has never sought tension or conflict, its response to aggression will be decisive.

"The Iranian nation, government, and armed forces have never sought tension and conflict, but we have no hesitation in confronting aggressors and in the decisive and legitimate defense of our territorial integrity and national security, backed by popular support and relying on national capabilities," he asserted.

The Iranian president identified the root causes of insecurity and instability in the region as the hostile actions of the Zionist regime, the perpetration of massacres in Gaza and Lebanon, and the initiation of two imposed wars with American participation against Iran.

He criticized the destructive approach of certain European countries in supporting the crimes of the Israeli regime and the United States in the region, calling on them to adhere to international law and the rule of law globally.

Macron expresses concern

French President Emmanuel Macron, for his part, emphasized the necessity of ending the war and reducing tensions.

He expressed concern over the escalating situation in the region, the current conditions in the Strait of Hormuz, and the ongoing conflict between Hezbollah and Israel.

The conversation comes as the US-Israeli war on Iran, launched on February 28, enters its third week with no signs of de-escalation.

Iran has consistently maintained that its retaliatory operations are legitimate self-defense under international law, targeting only American and Israeli military assets while avoiding harm to civilian infrastructure in neighboring countries.

Iranian officials have repeatedly warned that any country facilitating attacks on Iran by providing territory or facilities to US forces will be considered complicit in aggression and subject to appropriate consequences under international law.

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Iran has not requested a ceasefire, will fight as long as necessary: Araghchi

Iran Press TV

Sunday, 15 March 2026 5:45 PM

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says the Islamic Republic has not requested a ceasefire, nor has it sought negotiations for a cessation of hostilities amid the ongoing US-Israeli aggression against the country.

Araghchi made the remarks during an interview with CBS News on Sunday, stressing that the Iranian armed forces will continue to defend the country as long as necessary.

The foreign minister further noted that Iran only targets US assets and bases in the region as part of its retaliatory Operation True Promise 4, noting that many attacks against Iran have been launched from territories of Persian Gulf states.

Araghchi further clarified that Iran has not fully blocked the Strait of Hormuz, rather the US attacks against the Islamic Republic have made the region insecure for ships to pass through the strategic waterway.

He also said a few countries have demanded Iran to provide a safe passage for their ships, adding that the decision was the Iranian military forces to make.

The US and Israeli regime launched a surprise assault on Iran on February 28, assassinating Leader of the Islamic Revolution Seyyed Ali Khamenei and several senior military commanders even as Tehran was in the midst of nuclear negotiations with Washington and both sides were indicating progress had been made in the talks.

"Those who gave false consultations to US President Donald Trump at a time when negotiations for reaching a fair deal was ongoing are responsible for the bloodshed today," Araghchi said. "This is a war imposed on both Iranians and Americans," he added.

In response to the aggression, the Iranian armed forces have been launching reprisal drone and missile attacks against strategic American and Israeli assets throughout the region.

The Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly 20 percent of the world's oil supply normally passes, has effectively been shut down since the US-Israeli aggression against Iran on February 28.

Hundreds of ships have reportedly remained anchored nearby, while global shipping companies and oil exporters have paused operations due to security concerns.

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Iran strongly condemns US-Israeli attacks on its civilian aviation

Iran Press TV

Sunday, 15 March 2026 4:49 PM

Iran has strongly condemned US-Israeli attacks targeting the country's civil aviation infrastructure.

The Civil Aviation Organization issued a statement on Sunday saying that recent attacks on aircraft and facilities supporting civil aviation in Iran are a clear violation of the Chicago Convention, which establishes the foundations for protecting international aviation rights.

The statement also said that the attacks directly contradict the "accepted principles and commitments" that govern the civil-aviation sector in the world.

"These actions constitute a clear example of violating the provisions and requirements set out in this international civil aviation convention, and the resulting consequences will be borne by the United States and the Zionist regime (of Israel)," the organization said.

The statement added that all countries have a duty to comply with international laws and regulations that protect the safety of civil aviation, passengers, and staff.

The condemnation follows attacks by the Israeli regime and the United States that have targeted planes and airports in several Iranian provinces.

Images shared on social media and aerial footage have shown damage inflicted on aircraft at Tehran's Mehrabad Airport as a result of US-Israeli airstrikes that took place this week.

The attacks came as the US and the Israeli regime claim their attacks have been limited to Iranian military infrastructure.

The US-Israeli aggression against Iran began on 28 February with airstrikes targeting senior Iranian leadership.

Hundreds of people, including women and children, have been killed in the attacks.

Iran has carried out extensive retaliatory strikes on US assets in the region as well as on locations in the Israeli-occupied territories.

Iranian authorities have indicated that the country will respond eye-for-eye to any attack targeting its civilian infrastructure.

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Iran Intelligence Ministry arrests 18 mercenaries of terrorist 'Iran International' TV channel

Iran Press TV

Sunday, 15 March 2026 4:11 PM

Iran's Intelligence Ministry says it has identified and arrested 18 mercenaries of the terrorist "Iran International" television channel.

In a statement on Sunday, the ministry said the detainees, working for the Israeli-affiliated media network, Iran International, had sent photos of the places bombed by the American-Israeli enemy and the locations of emergency aid workers and rescue and relief teams to the channel.

It added that legal action has been launched against 21 other mercenaries, emphasizing that procedures will continue firmly.

The ministry warned that those who act as the enemy's "fifth column" during the war time will receive the severest punishment as per an official notice by Iran's Supreme National Security Council and a law regarding the intensification of fight against the Israeli regime.

The US and Israel started a fresh round of unlawful military aggression on Iran on February 28, some eight months after they carried out unprovoked attacks on the country.

The attacks led to the martyrdom of Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, hundreds of civilians, including women and children, as well as several military commanders.

Iran began to swiftly retaliate against the strikes by launching barrages of missile and drone attacks on the Israeli-occupied territories as well as on US bases in regional countries.

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Enemies have no option but to surrender to Iran: Top commander

Iran Press TV

Sunday, 15 March 2026 1:25 PM

A top Iranian commander says the armed forces have dealt heavy blows to the enemies since United States and Israel launched their war of aggression late last month, adding that they have no option but to surrender.

In a message to the Iranian nation, Major General Ali Abdollahi, commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, said the armed forces have a heavier responsibility against the enemy when they witness the strong presence of noble and faithful Iranians and their unprecedented resistance in the face of the aggressors.

"The criminal US must know that the era of plundering nations across the world is over," he added.

"Regional nations must know that the US cannot and will no longer be able to provide them with security and that the US presence in every part of the world has so far resulted in nothing but instability and insecurity," the commander emphasized.

Abdollahi said Iran has repeatedly declared that it would not initiate any war but if the enemies launch any act of aggression or hostility at any level, Tehran would determine its outcome.

He reiterated that under the guidelines of Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei and with support of the nation, the Iranian armed forces are determined to "utilize all geopolitical capacities, including managing and controlling passage through the strategic Strait of Hormuz."

The armed forces are also resolved to bring the aggressor enemies to their knees, he said.

The commander said the Iranian armed forces have proved that the hollow power of the US and its proxies, including the child-killing Israeli regime, is on the decline.

Abdollahi expressed confidence that Iran would achieve a final victory in the battle against the enemies.

The US and the Israeli regime launched a large-scale unprovoked military assault against on February 28, assassinating Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and several senior military commanders.

Iran's armed forces have responded by launching daily missile and drone operations targeting locations in the Israeli-occupied territories as well as US military bases and assets in the region.

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Iran launches Sejjil missile in retaliatory strikes for first time since war began

Iran Press TV

Sunday, 15 March 2026 1:09 PM

Iranian armed forces launched the 54th wave of their "True Promise 4" operations against Israeli and American targets, firing an array of advanced missiles, including the Sejjil missile for the first time since the imposed war began late in February.

The Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) announced on Sunday that the retaliatory operation was executed under the operation code, "Ya Zahra."

A multitude of missiles, including the super-heavy Khorramshahr with double warheads, Kheybar, Qadr, and Emad were deployed.

The Sejjil, a solid-fuel missile, was deployed for the first time since the US and Israel launched the war of aggression against Iran on February 28, to strike the Israeli regime's command and control centers and critical military infrastructure.

In a post on his official X account, commander of the IRGC Aerospace Force, Brigadier General Majid Mousavi, also confirmed the launch of Sejjil missile during the new wave of reprisal attacks.

The Israeli media reported that sirens blared in Tel Aviv, Herzliya, and at least 141 other locations across the occupied territories, alerting settlers of incoming missiles.

The US and Israel started a fresh round of aerial aggression on Iran on February 28, some eight months after they carried out unprovoked attacks on the country.

Iran began to swiftly retaliate against the strikes by launching barrages of missile and drone attacks on the Israeli-occupied territories as well as on US bases in regional countries.

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Iranian Army targets Israel's 'security' centers, police headquarters with explosive drones

Iran Press TV

Sunday, 15 March 2026 11:35 AM

The Islamic Republic of Iran Army has launched a fresh round of drone strikes as part of Operation True Promise 4, targeting Israel's so-called security centers and police headquarters in the occupied territories.

According to a statement released by the Army, the early Sunday operation was conducted within the framework of the legitimate right to defend the Iranian nation and in response to the blatant crimes of the Israeli regime in striking the command centers of the law enforcement forces as well as security checkpoints.

The statement said that the Iranian Army utilized homegrown explosive drones aimed at the main premises of an elite division of the Israel Police known as Lahav 433, as well as Gillat Defense satellite communications center.

It added that Iranian Armed Forces will forcefully respond to any act of aggression against their homeland.

The United States and Israel launched a large-scale and unprovoked military campaign against Iran on

February 28, assassinating Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, along with several senior military commanders.

The attacks have involved extensive aerial strikes on both military and civilian installations across Iran, causing significant casualties and widespread damage to infrastructure.

In response, the Iranian Armed Forces have carried out retaliatory operations, targeting American and Israeli positions in the occupied territories and at regional bases with waves of missiles and drones.

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IRGC dismisses claims of drone strikes on Saudi capital, Eastern Province, calls for probe

Iran Press TV

Sunday, 15 March 2026 10:09 AM

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has roundly dismissed any connection to a series of drone strikes targeting positions in the Saudi capital Riyadh and the energy-rich Eastern Province, amid the large-scale and unprovoked US-Israeli war of aggression against Iran.

"Saudi Arabia has announced that Riyadh and Eastern Province have come under attack with ten drones; and all (unmanned) aircraft have been shot down," the IRGC said in a statement on Sunday.

It emphasized that the Islamic Republic of Iran has no connection whatsoever with these attacks, urging Saudi authorities to fully investigate their origin.

Meanwhile, Fars news agency quoted an unnamed source as saying that the United Arab Emirates is the origin of the drone attacks against Saudi Arabia.

The ongoing tensions in the West Asia region have intensified dramatically following the unprovoked war on

Iran, which has created an extremely dangerous situation surrounding the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

The vital maritime corridor, through which a significant portion of the world's oil supply passes, has turned into a focal point in the region's escalating war.

The United States and Israel launched a full-scale war of aggression against Iran on February 28, assassinating the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, and several high-ranking military commanders, despite indirect Tehran-Washington negotiations on Iran's peaceful nuclear program.

Iranian Armed Forces, within the framework of their legitimate self-defense right, immediately carried out forceful missile and drone strikes against US interests in the region and Israeli positions in the occupied territories.

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IRGC launches hypersonic missiles, drones against US, Israeli targets

Iran Press TV

Sunday, 15 March 2026 8:04 AM

The IRGC launches a new wave of retaliatory airstrikes against American and Israeli targets across the region.

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has launched a new wave of retaliatory airstrikes, using hypersonic missiles and drones to hit American and Israeli targets across the region.

In a statement released on Sunday, the IRGC's Public Relations Department announced that it had successfully conducted the 53rd wave of attacks as part of Operation True Promise-4, which began in response to the unprovoked US-Israeli aggression against Iran.

The strikes involved the combined launch of 10 hypersonic Fattah and Qadr missiles, as well as explosive drones, against US terrorist army forces at the al-Dhafra base in the UAE, which played a support-intelligence role in the military aggression against Iran.

Moreover, it noted, Israel's regional command and control centers and facilities that managed the regime's home front came under the retaliatory attacks.

The IRGC also vowed to continue its crushing strikes on US and Israeli targets, centers, and interests to punish the aggressor regimes and make them surrender.

The elite military force further noted that the 53rd wave of its strikes were carried out in honor of the 84 martyred sailors of the Iranian Dena destroyer, which was attacked by a US submarine at the coasts of Sri Lanka on March 4 while returning home from a naval drill with India.

The criminal US-Israeli aggression on Iran began on February 28 with airstrikes that assassinated senior Iranian officials and commanders.

Iranian Armed forces, including the IRGC, have responded by launching almost daily missile and drone operations targeting locations in the Israeli occupied lands as well as US military bases and assets across the region.

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Iran to Germany's Merz: Demand American and Israeli aggressors stop war, not Iran

Iran Press TV

Sunday, 15 March 2026 6:59 AM

The spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry has censured German Chancellor Friedrich Merz over his "beyond absurd" appeal from the Islamic Republic to stop its operations in retaliation against the US-Israeli war of aggression.

Esmaeil Baghaei, in a post on his X account on Saturday night, urged the German leader to instead demand Washington and Tel Aviv to stop the war, and to urge accountability for the "abhorrent crimes" they have perpetrated against the Iranian nation.

"German Chancellor appeals to Iran to end the war! This is beyond absurd: demanding that Iran -- the victim of an ongoing unprovoked aggression -- somehow bring the conflict to an end. Why not direct your calls instead to the ruthless aggressors responsible for bombing and killing Iranians?" Baghaei wrote.

He noted, "Why not demand that the United States/Israel be held accountable for its brutal aggression and abhorrent crimes?"

The US and Israel launched an unprovoked war against Iran on February 28, assassinating Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, along with several senior military commanders.

The war has involved extensive aerial strikes on both military and civilian installations across Iran, causing significant casualties and widespread damage to infrastructure.

In response, the Iranian Armed Forces have carried out retaliatory operations, targeting American and Israeli positions in the occupied territories and at regional bases with waves of missiles and drones.

Following the martyrdom of Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, who had led Iran for 37 years since the 1989 demise of the late founder of the Islamic Republic Imam Khomeini, the Assembly of Experts elected Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei as the third Leader of the Islamic Revolution.

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'No miscalculation': WHO chief says US Israel committing war crimes by attacking hospitals, schools

Iran Press TV

Sunday, 15 March 2026 6:02 AM

World Health Organization (WHO) director general has denounced the US-Israeli bombings of hospitals and schools as "war crimes" that cannot be justified as "miscalculations."

In a post published on X on Sunday, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote: "Bombing a hospital or a school is not a 'miscalculation'."

"Killing a paramedic is not 'collateral damage.' Starving civilian is not 'negotiating tactic.' These are war crimes. Call it what it is. Full stop," he added.

The US and Israeli armed forces began their latest military aggression against Iran on February 28 by attacking 30 targets across Tehran, killing several senior Iranian officials, including the Leader of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei.

Since then, Iranian armed forces have decisively retaliated against the strikes by launching barrages of missiles and drones against Israeli-occupied territories as well as on US bases in region.

During their aggression against Iran, the Israeli regime and the US have bombed several schools and hospitals as well as other civilian infrastructure.

In one instance, the US military bombed a school in Minab, Hormozgan Province, killing 168 schoolgirls.

According to the latest figures announced by Iranian health authorities more than 1,300 people have been martyred and over 10,000 wounded in the attacks.

Among those killed are 200 children under the age of 12, including 11 children under five, as well as more than 200 women.

The casualties also include 206 students and teachers, highlighting the heavy toll on the education sector.

Health Ministry data on the injured show that women make up 17 percent of the total wounded.

At least 1,040 of the injured are under the age of 18, including 65 children younger than five.

Damage assessments by the Iranian Red Crescent show widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure.

A total of 19,734 civilian and residential units have been damaged, including 16,191 residential homes.

The attacks have also damaged 77 medical centers and pharmacies, 65 schools and educational centers, and 16 Red Crescent facilities.

Israel has also killed more than 72,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in its two-year war on Gaza, where more than 90 percent of homes are estimated to have been damaged or destroyed and healthcare, water, sanitation, and hygiene systems have largely collapsed.

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Hamas congratulates Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei on election as Leader of Islamic Revolution

Iran Press TV

Sunday, 15 March 2026 3:22 AM

Mohammad Darwish, head of the leadership council of the Hamas resistance movement, has extended his warmest congratulations to Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei on his election as the new Leader of the Islamic Revolution of Iran, praising the smooth transition of leadership despite the complex security situation following the martyrdom of his father.

In an official message addressed to the new Leader, Darwish conveyed greetings on behalf of the leadership of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in Palestine, expressing heartfelt congratulations on Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei's selection as the successor to the late Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, who was martyred in a treacherous US-Israeli aggression on February 28.

Darwish highlighted the significance of the orderly leadership transition despite the extremely complex security circumstances created by the enemy's attacks.

"We look with great appreciation at what has been accomplished in terms of the power transition process despite the extremely complex security situation, and the transfer of leadership to your noble person in a deeply institutionalized manner worthy of praise," Darwish wrote.

He emphasized that this smooth transition "indicates the extent of the stability and rootedness of the Islamic Republic's systemby God's graceand confirms that the enemies' plots will not succeed in undermining this solid structure."

The Hamas leader expressed confidence in the new Leader's wisdom and ability to steer the ship of the revolution and the Islamic Republic during this sensitive period, preserving the path of the Islamic Revolution and achieving victory over the enemies of Islam and Muslims.

"We affirm our confidence in your wisdom and your ability to lead the ship of the revolution and the Islamic Republic in this sensitive moment in preserving the path of the Islamic Revolution and achieving victory over the enemies of Islam and Muslims," the statement read.

Renewed commitment to Palestine

Darwish specifically emphasized the expectation that Iran's unwavering support for the Palestinian people and their just cause will continue under the new Leadership.

"We are reassured that you will continue to support our Palestinian people and their just cause and their valiant resistance, with all forms of backing and support, just as the Islamic Republic has always done over the past decades," he stated.

He further affirmed that the Palestinian people and their resistance "will remain forever faithful to the covenant, until God grants victory and conquest."

The message conveyed the deepest condolences of the Palestinian resistance movement for the martyrdom of Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and members of his noble family, including the new Leader's wife, mother, sister, brother-in-law, and nephews, who were killed in the same cowardly attack.

"Late Leader Ayatollah Khamenei embodied the highest meanings of devotion, sacrifice, and jihad in one of the greatest battles of the Ummah," Darwish wrote.

In the conclusion, Darwish addressed the broader conflict, declaring that the blood of martyrs would haunt the criminal killers and ensure the failure of their projects.

"All the pure souls and blessed blood that has flowed in this march of our Ummah in defense of its rights, future, and dignity will be a curse that haunts the criminal murderers, fails their projects, annihilates their plans, and brings closerGod willingtheir demise," he stated.

The Hamas leader concluded by affirming that these sacrifices will only increase the resistance's steadfastness and commitment to the path until the liberation of Al-Quds and Palestine, and the downfall of all projects of hegemony and arrogance of the US-Israeli alliance in the region.

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US-made copy of Shahed drone used to stage false-flag attacks on region: Iran Armed Forces

Iran Press TV

Sunday, 15 March 2026 12:42 AM

The spokesman for the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters has accused the United States and Israel of deploying a rebranded copy of Iran's Shahed-136 drone, designated "Lucas," to carry out attacks on civilian infrastructure in regional countries as part of a deliberate false-flag operation aimed at framing the Islamic Republic.

In an official statement released today, the spokesman explained that after suffering military setbacks on the battlefield and failing to build political coalitions against Iran, the enemy has resorted to deception.

The statement specifically warned that the objective of these operations is to "create doubt and accuse the Islamic Republic of Iran" while sowing discord between Tehran and its neighbors, thereby undermining the legitimacy of Iran's defensive actions.

The spokesman pointed to a series of "suspicious attacks" in recent days on facilities in friendly neighboring countries, including Turkey, Kuwait, and Iraq, which Western media outlets and hostile parties have falsely attributed to Iranian forces.

He stressed that Iran's military operations remain strictly disciplined, governed by clear legal principles, and limited exclusively to military targets belonging to the United States and the Zionist regime.

"As the Islamic Republic of Iran has repeatedly announced, it only targets the objectives, centers, and interests of the United States and the Zionist regime, and assumes full responsibility for any location it targets by issuing an official statement," the spokesman declared.

The statement reiterated that Iran's defensive doctrine is grounded in lawful principles and strong logic, and called for regional trust and cooperation to counter these tactics.

"It is essential that we trust one another and, by maintaining unity and cooperation, deter the aggressor enemy from these tricks and vicious behaviors," it read. "The intelligent reactions of the authorities of the regional countries to these deceitful and vicious movements will thwart this conspiracy from the outset."

The region has witnessed multiple drone attacks on economic infrastructure, residential areas, and diplomatic premises throughout the war on Iran, which Western media have repeatedly attempted to blame on Iran.

Tehran has consistently denied responsibility for strikes on civilian targets.

Supporting evidence includes the March 3 statement by the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence confirming that a Shahed-type drone that struck the Royal Air Force Akrotiri base in Cyprus did not originate from Iran.

Similarly, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has previously accused Israel of launching drone attacks in Azerbaijan that were wrongly attributed to Tehran, describing such incidents as deliberate attempts to damage Iran's relations with its neighbors.

Iran's ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Alireza Enayati, has also categorically denied any Iranian involvement in an alleged attack on the US embassy in Riyadh.

The latest such attack, which came on Saturday, targeted the Lanaz refinery in Iraqi Kurdistan region.

Iranian media reported military sources as saying the attack had nothing to do with Iran and the axis of resistance

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Fears Of Iranian Refugee Influx Grow In Central Asia As War Intensifies

By Zamira Eshanova and RFE/RL's Turkmen Service March 15, 2026

Two weeks of US-Israeli air strikes have displaced millions inside Iran, raising fears in neighboring countries about a possible refugee spillover that could potentially turn into a humanitarian crisis.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said it is preparing for potential humanitarian needs in the region, estimating that up to 3.2 million people have been temporarily displaced inside Iran, most of whom are fleeing Tehran, which on March 13 saw one of the heaviest days of bombardment in the conflict so far.

Several of Iran's neighbors closed their borders at the onset of the air strikes, which started on February 28, and have only sparingly allowed mainly citizens of third countries to cross as they transit home.

With many of Iran's 90 million inhabitants grappling with whether to flee the country because of the war, Mahir Safarli, the UNHCR's representative for Central Asia, told RFE/RL in an interview that the agency is ready to respond if the situation escalates.

"Across Central Asia, we are coordinating closely with governments to monitor the situation and respond effectively if humanitarian needs expand," Safarli said.

As of now, the UNHCR says the flow of refugees is manageable. At the border with Turkey, it estimates that around 1,300 people a day exit Iran. Some days see more returning to Iran than those leaving as they come back to protect their property or because they weren't able to stay away for long periods due to the cost.

At the border with Armenia, some people leaving Iran said the flow has been stymied by Iranian authorities who are only allowing foreign or dual citizens to leave.

"We have lost everything. Nothing exists in Iran anymore. Unfortunately, things are very difficult," one Iranian refugee told RFE/RL as they crossed into Armenia to escape the threat of intense air strikes by the US and Israel.

"We were in Bukan (northwestern Iran) yesterday when they hit the governor's office and leveled it," said another elderly woman. "The doors and windows of nearby buildings were shattered. Some people were killed and many were wounded. The situation in Iran is not good."

Safarli said a cornerstone of the UNHCR's preparedness is a logistics hub in Termez, southern Uzbekistan, near the border with Afghanistan.

Established in October 2021 during the Afghanistan humanitarian emergency and incorporated into the UNHCR's global stockpile network in 2025, the hub stores essential relief items -- family tents, blankets, sleeping mats, kitchen sets, buckets, jerry cans, and solar lamps.

Order From Ashgabat

While Mahir Safarli told RFE/RL that there have been no major developments on the Iranian-Turkmen border, some Turkmen border officials told RFE/RL's Turkmen Service that the number of Iranian Turkmen attempting to cross into Turkmenistan is on the rise.

Iran shares one of its longest borders with Turkmenistan, stretching roughly 1,148 kilometers from the Caspian Sea to Afghanistan. According to the UNHCR, all four main border crossings -- Sarakhs, Artyk, Howdan, and Altyn Asyr -- remain operational, but only for the evacuation of third-country nationals.

Turkmen border officials said those people attempting to cross are coming from northern Iranian districts with significant Turkmen populations, including Robat, Hasanabad, Gorgan Incheburun, Kerend, Balahi, and parts of Mashhad province.

"Some of the people approaching the border have gone to customs offices and asked for temporary refuge until the air strikes in Iran end," a Turkmen border official said, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

"We have received strict orders from Ashgabat not to allow Iranian citizens to cross into Turkmenistan at this time. Our patrols have been reinforced, and we are using drones along the border to monitor the situation."

The official also stressed the limitations on Turkmenistan's capacity.

"Our military capacity is limited. Our economic situation does not even allow us to provide basic necessities, such as bread, for our own citizens. Considering these realities, Turkmenistan is not ready to accept refugees," the official added

Historically, small numbers of ethnic Turkmens crossed temporarily into Turkmenistan during the Iran-Iraq War and in subsequent decades. The UNHCR and border reports confirm that no ordinary Iranian civilians have been allowed across during the current conflict.

Internal Displacement In Iran

The United Nations says most of those internally displaced in Iran are heading north, away from regions facing heavy bombardment. Families are often forced to rely on relatives, friends, or makeshift community shelters.

The sudden influx of displaced people into northern communities has pushed up demand for food and other essentials in this impoverished and economically isolated region, where residents already report sharp price increases for staples such as cooking oil, flour, and rice, with some items reportedly up to ten times more expensive than before the conflict.

For now, most families remain inside Iran, but Safarli stressed to RFE/RL that neighboring states have obligations to provide protection if refugees begin arriving:

"In Central Asia, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan have national refugee legislation and established asylum systems," Safarli told RFE/RL. "UNHCR calls on States to provide access to territory for people in need of international protection to seek asylum, safeguard against refoulement, and ensure due rights and services as people forced to flee."

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/iranian-refugee-influx-central- asia-us-iran/33707155.html

Copyright (c) 2026. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Interview: Iran's Use Of Chinese Doctrine And Tech Under The Spotlight

By Ray Furlong March 15, 2026

TEL AVIV -- The Iran war offers huge lessons for the effectiveness of Chinese military doctrine and hardware, both used by the Iranian military, according to Eran Ortal, a reserve Brigadier General in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

Speaking to RFE/RL from a location near Tel Aviv late on March 14, Ortal said Iranian tactics around the Strait of Hormuz were very similar to those that China would be expected to employ in a future conflict around Taiwan.

The US and Chinese military would be "taking notes" as the current conflict played out, he added.

Ortal was previously commander of the IDF's Dado center, a military studies unit at the General Staff. He is now head of the military program at the Begin-Sadat center (BESA) at Bar-Ilan University and a visiting scholar at the American Foreign Policy Council (AFPC).

RFE/RL: Iran has blocked the Strait of Hormuz. Is there a military solution, and if so, what does it look like?

Eran Ortal: Well, that's the nature of asymmetric warfare. You can take out the Iranian fleet and the entire Iranian Navy, and the Fifth Fleet has done that. But the asymmetric capabilities, the speed boats, the unmanned boats, the mines and the coastal missiles will still be there. And this is a threat you cannot just totally remove. It's just like we have the anti-tank missile problem in Lebanon. You can take some of them out, you can have countermeasures, but they will always be able to snipe away.

You can protect the vessels going through the Hormuz Straits and you can win the war. That's basically the tactic and the strategy to maneuver around this problem. And I guess this is the American strategy.

RFE/RL: You're saying basically that they could protect shipping to some degree but there'd be no guarantee and that ships could be lost?

Ortal: Yes, but to a sufficient degree, to a good degree. But then again, it's not just a tactical question. And you can see the Iranians realize that. So, they went after the UAE oil facilities that go around the straits, directly to the Strait of Aden. A big chunk of the oil is going out through other ways, and they're trying to sabotage that too.

RFE/RL: The United States has decided to move forces from Asia. This includes 2,500 Marines, a naval assault ship. What do you think that's for? Is it maybe for Kharg Island?

Ortal: The first meaning is deterrence: "We're all in, we can keep that on, and we can escalate." The next thing is the operational intent. I guess it can mean that CENTCOM (US Central Command) might have some operations regarding the opening of the Hormuz Straits on the Iranian coastline. It can also mean that we can take the Kharg island.

And maybe another operational intent might be the 440 kilos of enriched uranium somewhere out there buried in one of the Iranian mountains that only a ground operation can remove if the Iranian regime is not taken out by the end of this war.

RFE/RL: This is the 450 kilograms of enriched uranium that Steve Witkoff, the US special envoy, spoke about. Let's look at the air campaign. There have been some discussions in Israeli media that Iran could end up looking like Gaza, that there could be that level of destruction and civilian death. Do you think that's a possibility?

Ortal: If that phrase means that Iran can be deeply hurt and much of its infrastructure is ruined, then yes. But Gaza is totally ruined not because of bombings from the air. It's totally ruined because it was a battle space prepared by Hamas to repel any future Israeli offensive. That is far from being the situation on the ground in Iran. That's a 90-million country. It's so much bigger than Gaza. So no, this kind of space cannot be as ruined as Gaza.

Chinese Tech And Tactics

RFE/RL: Turning to a different aspect of this, what military lessons do you think that Israel and the United States are learning from this current conflict? One thing that occurs to me is that Iran has a lot of Chinese military tech, for example.

Ortal: Iran's strategy is what the American military would call A2AD, anti-access area denial. It means that with long-range precision missiles and other kinds of capabilities, you deter the other side from coming into the theater. That's the anti-access part.

The area denial part is what you see in the Hormuz Straits. They cannot compete with the Americans about control of the sea and control of the air. But they can try to deny the free use of these two spaces from the Americans.

The Chinese strategy for its own future theater of war is very similar. They would push to Taiwan and then try to deter the Americans from coming in with that strategy exactly.

So, the fact that this is the strategy and the weapons used, the weapon systems the Iranians used are very much Chinese, Russian, and Iranian copies of Chinese and Russian capabilities, with the same tactics and the same command-and-control methods, I think this really can benefit the Americans with a learning experience viewing a possible future conflict in the South China Sea. I'm sure the American team is taking notes.

RFE/RL: I guess the caveat would be that the Chinese armed forces operate on a significantly higher level in terms of the equipment they've got and the organization, than the Iranian.

Ortal: Absolutely. And surely the Chinese are (also) taking notes. And, surely, they must be thinking, well, they are so much better than the Iranians, as you've just put it. But, on the other hand, they're also thinking to themselves, "this is my equipment. This is my doctrine."

I think they must reflect on the current events, especially in the context of their 2027 readiness year that they have declared, as a target, to be ready for a future conflict around the Taiwan straits and islands.

RFE/RL: If we can bring it back to this conflict, if it ends with Iran weakened, but without regime change, where does that leave the Middle East, the balance of power? Does it mean, X months down the line, there's another war?

Ortal: For the removal of this regime, we can only create more comfortable conditions for the Iranians to exploit. Whether that happens or not, stripping Iran of its military capabilities, of its protection system, in our region is essential. It's essential not just to stabilize this region, it's essential also in the larger frame like, as I've said, a future possible war between the United States and China.

The Americans wouldn't want Iran at the southern flank of the Pacific in this kind of scenario. So, stripping Iran from its capabilities is a good thing.

There is a risk because a wounded beast, a wounded revenge-seeking beast in this region is a dangerous thing. But still we have created a window of years for this weakened Iran to be dealt with in the worst-case scenario.

What About Iranian Civilians?

RFE/RL: I want to bring it back to Iran for the final question. What would you say to people in Iran who have been protesting against their government, the clerical authorities? They've been risking their lives. They've been shot at. They've lost loved ones that way, perhaps. And now they are absolutely terrified by this Israeli and US campaign.

Ortal: What I've heard from Iran, what we can see from Iran is those very same people cheering on the rooftops, begging for the offensive to go on until this regime is gone. I don't think the United States and Israel can responsibly promise anything to these people. But surely the goal of this war is common to that group and to the allies fighting this war in Iranian skies.

Bombs falling is a very scary thing. But as you know, missiles fall on Israeli cities and towns and communities and in the Gulf, and they fall indiscriminately. Their purpose is to kill civilians.

The American and Israeli bombings in Iran specifically target very intelligence-acquired targets. Some mistakes can happen and some collateral damage always occurs in war.

I'm sure and I can see that those Iranians that you speak of realize that because we can see them walking in the streets, sending pictures of the Basij post-points in Tehran, and begging for those posts to become next-day targets.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-war-chinese-doctrine- tech-ortal-idf-israel/33707130.html

Copyright (c) 2026. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Iran Ready to Defend Itself, Not Asking for Ceasefire, Negotiations - Foreign Minister

Sputnik News

20260315

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Iran is ready to defend itself for as long as necessary and has not requested either a ceasefire or negotiations, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday.

"We never asked for a cease fire, and we have never asked even for negotiation. We are ready to defend ourselves as long as it takes," he said in an interview with CBS News.

He also called on the US to understand that attacking Iran will not lead to victory.

"I cannot mention any country in particular, but we have been approached by a number of countries who wants to have a safe passage for their vessels. And this is up to our military to decide, and they have already decided to let, you know, a group of vessels belongs to different countries to pass in a safe and secure [though the Strait of Hormuz]. So we provide them security to pass," he also said, commenting on the situation regarding negotiations with countries on the passage through the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran was ready to make concessions during the negotiations with the United States on the Iranian nuclear program, proving Tehran has no intention to develop nuclear weapons, Araghchi said.

"One of the elements of a deal ... dealt with the question of Iran's 60% enriched material, and I said- I offered actually that we are ready to dilute those enriched material, or down blend them, as they say, into lower percentage. So that was a big offer, a big concession in order to prove that Iran has never wanted nuclear weapons and would never want them," Araghchi said in an interview with CBS News.

The foreign minister added that currently there are no proposals "on the table" regarding the conflict in the Middle East.

"If any time in the future we decide to enter into negotiation with US or other interlocutors, you know, we may decide what to put on the table," he added.

Iran does not plan to retrieve its enriched uranium that lies under rubble of the nuclear facilities destroyed by the United States, yet could be retrieved under the supervision of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Araghchi also said.

"Our nuclear facilities were attacked, and everything is under the rubbles. Of course ... there is the possibility to retrieve them, but under the supervision of the agency [IAEA]. If one day we come to the conclusion to do that, it would be under the supervision of the agency. But for the time being, we have no program. We have no plan to recover them from under the rubbles," Araghchi said in an interview with the CBS News.

 Sputnik

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Iran to Welcome Any Regional Initiative to End Conflict - Foreign Minister

Sputnik News

20260315

CAIRO (Sputnik) - Iran will welcome any regional initiative leading to a just end to the conflict in the Middle East for Tehran, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday.

On Friday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said that Iran will consider any initiatives by Islamic countries aiming at strengthening regional unity, restoring stability, security, and peace in the Middle East.

"At the moment there is no specific initiative to end the war. We will welcome any regional initiative leading to a just end to the war," Araghchi said in an interview with Al-Araby Al-Jadeed newspaper.

On February 28, the United States and Israel launched strikes on targets in Iran, including in Tehran, causing damage and civilian casualties. Iran responded by striking Israeli territory and US military facilities in the Middle East. The US and Israel initially claimed their "preemptive" attack was necessary to counter the perceived threat coming from Iran's nuclear program, but they soon made it clear that they want to see a change of power in Iran.

 Sputnik

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Iran's supreme leader reiterates demand for compensation from 'enemy'

Global Times

By Xinhua Published: Mar 16, 2026 07:58 AM

Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei on Sunday night reiterated his country's demand for compensation from its "enemy."

"We will obtain compensation from the enemy, and if he refuses, we will take as much of his property as we determine, and if that is not possible, we will destroy the same amount of his property," read a post on the supreme leader's Telegram account.

On Feb. 28, Israel and the United States launched joint attacks on Tehran and other Iranian cities, killing Iran's then Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, senior military commanders, and civilians. Iran responded with waves of missile and drone strikes targeting Israel and U.S. bases and assets across the Middle East.

Mojtaba Khamenei, son of Ali Khamenei, was selected as Iran's new supreme leader, the Assembly of Experts announced on March 8. Mojtaba Khamenei delivered his first public message on Thursday since taking office, outlining Iran's key strategies in its ongoing war with the United States and Israel.

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Trump claims Iran uses AI as 'disinformation weapon' to misrepresent its wartime success

Iran Press TV

Monday, 16 March 2026 5:05 AM

US President Donald Trump has claimed without providing any evidence that Iran uses artificial intelligence (AI) to spread disinformation about its wartime success.

"AI can be very dangerous, we have to be very careful with it," Trump said to reporters on Air Force One on Sunday, shortly after he made a post on his Truth Social platform where he accused Western media outlets without evidence of "close coordination" with Iran to spread AI-generated "fake news."

He also claimed that images showing "250,000" Iranians at a rally to support new Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei were "totally AI generated" and that the event "never took place."

People have been taking part in rallies en massed across Iran since war started to show support for the country in the face of the imposed unprovoked war and pledge allegiance to Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei.

Many media organizations, including Western ones, have run news photos showing the rallies in the capital Tehran after Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei was named leader.

The US and Israeli armed forces began their military aggression against Iran in late February by attacking targets across Tehran, killing former Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and several senior Iranian military officials.

Since then, Iranian armed forces have swiftly and decisively retaliated against the strikes by launching barrages of missile and drones against Israeli-occupied territories as well as on US bases in region.

Iranian officials have stated that targeting US military bases in the region constitutes "legitimate self-defense."

Referring to Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, they say that Iran has the legal right to defend itself against "acts of aggression" by the US or the Israeli regime.

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Iran declares support centers for USS Gerald R. Ford legitimate targets

Iran Press TV

Monday, 16 March 2026 12:15 AM

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has issued a warning that all logistical and service centers supporting the US aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford in the Red Sea are now considered legitimate targets for Iranian armed forces, as the warship takes refuge at Saudi Arabia's Jeddah port.

The spokesman for the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters released a statement on Sunday declaring that the presence of the American nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in the Red Sea constitutes a direct threat to the Islamic Republic of Iran.

"The logistical and service centers providing support to the aforementioned carrier group in the Red Sea are considered targets of the Islamic Republic of Iran's armed forces," the spokesman emphasized.

The warning specifically addresses the support infrastructure that enables the carrier's operations, including maintenance facilities and supply chains, rather than merely the vessel itself.

The USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), the US Navy's most advanced and largest supercarrier, transited the Suez Canal on March 6 and entered the Red Sea as part of a broader American military reinforcement amid escalating tensions following the February 28 US-Israeli aggression against Iran.

According to satellite imagery released by Chinese commercial geospatial firm MizarVision, the 100,000-ton vessel has been operating approximately 100 kilometers off the Saudi coastline, with recent indications suggesting it has moved closer to Jeddah.

The carrier is accompanied by its strike group, including guided-missile destroyers.

The deployment represents the Ford's first operational mission in the Middle East since its commissioning in 2017, and comes as the vessel has already exceeded 255 days at sea.

This is not the first warning directed at the Ford.

Earlier this month, IRGC Aerospace Force Commander Brigadier General Majid Mousavi stated that Iranian forces were monitoring the carrier and "waiting for them to reach the designated perimeter," signaling Iran's readiness to strike once the vessel entered range.

The IRGC has previously reported successful drone and missile strikes against another US carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln.

Iran has consistently maintained that its retaliatory operations are legitimate self-defense under international law, targeting only American and Israeli military assets while avoiding harm to civilian infrastructure in neighboring countries.

However, Tehran has made clear that any nation facilitating attacks on Iran by providing territory or facilities to US forces will be considered complicit in aggression.

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US Reportedly Close To Announcing Hormuz Escort Coalition; Iraq Feels War Effects

By RFE/RL March 16, 2026

The United States is close to announcing a coalition to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz, the Wall Street Journal reported, while Iran warned that it is not close to giving up and neighboring Iraq continued to feel the spillover effects of the war.

"The Trump administration as soon as this week plans to announce that multiple countries have agreed to form a coalition that will escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz," the WSJ reported on March 15, citing unnamed US officials.

The report said the matter is still being discussed and that the mission could shift depending on battlefield conditions. It also said potential participants were debating when such a mission would begin - during hostilities or only after a cease-fire.

In a social media post earlier, US President Donald Trump had said: "The Countries of the World that receive Oil through the Hormuz Strait must take care of that passage, and we will help  A LOT!"

In an interview published on March 16 by The Financial Times, Trump said that NATO faces a "very bad future" if member nations do not help the United States in Iran.

"It's only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries of the strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there," the FT quoted Trump as saying.

On March 15, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke with Trump about the importance of reopening the Strait of Hormuz in order to stop disruptions to global shipping, a Downing Street spokesperson said.

Starmer also held a conversation with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, during which they discussed how the ongoing closure of the strait is affecting international shipping. The leaders agreed to continue their discussions on the Middle East conflict during a meeting scheduled for March 16, Downing Street said.

Energy Crisis Fears

The WSJ also reported that US oil executives had warned administration officials that the energy crisis caused by the Iran war is likely to get worse.

It said that in a series of White House meetings and recent talks with Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, the CEOs of Exxon Mobil, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips said disruptions to shipping in the strait "would continue to create volatility in global energy markets," WSJ reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Should military forces begin escorting ships through the strait while hostilities were still under way, it would mark a dangerous new phase in the US-Israeli war on Iran.

Tehran has fired back at US Arab allies in the region and could target foreign navies in the strait, even though Trump and other US officials have said Iran's Navy has been destroyed during the US-Israeli air strikes.

Despite being pounded by US and Israeli air power, Iran has remained defiant, launching missiles and drones against Israel and US Arab allies in the region.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi on March 15 disputed a claim by Trump that Tehran was seeking to negotiate with Washington. Trump said he was not ready for talks because Tehran's "terms were not good enough."

"We have never asked for a cease-fire, and we have never asked even for negotiations," Araqchi told CBS TV. "We are ready to defend ourselves for as long as it takes."

Iraq Feels The War

Meanwhile, Iraq continued to feel the effects of the war in the neighboring country, with officials there reporting multiple attacks, either against Iran-allied groups or on US-linked sites.

Iraqi authorities said five people were wounded on March 15 in a rocket attack on the Baghdad airport complex, which houses a US diplomatic facility.

The Iraqi government said that "five rockets targeted Baghdad International Airport and its surrounding area, injuring four airport employees and security personnel, and an engineer."

Security forces said they seized the launchpad used for the attack in the al-Radwaniya area southwest of Baghdad.

Baghdad's heavily fortified airport includes a massive military complex with Iranian military and security bases, a central prison holding many terrorist suspects, and a US diplomatic and logistics site.

Since the beginning of the war, Iraq has closed its airspace across the country. Mainly Sunni Arab Iraq -- nominally a US ally -- also has a large Shi'ite population with militias and political forces linked to Iran.

Iran-allied militias have claimed daily drone and missile attacks against US bases.

The US Embassy in Baghdad has also been targeted, with a drone striking the complex on March 14 -- the same day three Iran-allied fighters were killed in strikes, blamed by many on the United States, in the capital.

Reuters quoted security sources as saying three explosive drones hit an Iranian opposition camp east of Sulaimaniya in Iraqi Kurdistan on March 15, killing one fighter.

Israeli military spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin said that Israel still has thousands of targets to strike inside Iran.

"We still have thousands of targets in Iran, and we are identifying new targets every day," he said.

Meanwhile, Israel continued to batter sites believed to be housing Hezbollah members in Lebanon. Israel's military late on March 15 said it was striking Hezbollah infrastructure in the southern suburbs of Beirut following earlier raids focused closer to the border.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Radio Farda, Reuters, AFP, and the Wall Street Journal

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-war-hormuz-coalition- escort-trump-iraq-araqchi/33707271.html

Copyright (c) 2026. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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US air defense station at embassy in Baghdad targeted: Report

Iran Press TV

Saturday, 14 March 2026 8:47 AM

The United States Embassy in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad reportedly came under attack in the early hours of Saturday, Al Hadath television channel reported.

According to unconfirmed information, the target was the air defense systems station located on the territory of the US diplomatic mission in the Iraqi capital.

The Iraqi security services confirmed the strike.

Iraqi security forces have cordoned off marking the "green zone" in the center of Baghdad, where most Iraqi government offices and embassies of many countries, including the United States, are located.

This comes after the US-Israeli aggressors targeted a house in central Baghdad. The Iraqi Covenant Network reported that the rescue teams are providing aid to the victims of the assault.

It added that at least two citizens have been martyred and several others injured in the terrorist attack so far.

On February 28, the United States and the Israeli regime launched unprovoked military assault on Iran, assassinating former Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and several top Iranian military commanders.

Iran began to swiftly retaliate against the criminal aggression by launching barrages of missile and drone attacks on the Israeli-occupied territories as well as on the US bases in regional countries.

Iran has repeatedly emphasized that it only targets American positions and bases in the region and does not seek conflict with Arab countries.

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Sudani rejects attacks on Hashd al-Shaabi as violation of Iraq's sovereignty

Iran Press TV

Sunday, 15 March 2026 7:00 PM

Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani has condemned recent attacks targeting Hashd al-Shaabi resistance group and security forces, describing them as a violation of the country's national sovereignty.

In a statement on Sunday, Sudani warned that ongoing hostilities in the region would lead to "chaos, emergence of extremism, and negative impacts on supply chains."

Iraqi media outlets reported on Saturday evening that Hashd al-Shaabi's facilities had come under a joint attack by the Israeli regime and the United States across Iraq.

The Shia community's media office also condemned the attacks, saying that "such treasonous attacks violate Iraq's sovereignty and threaten its national stability."

Since the US and Israel launched a joint aggression against Iran on February 28, resistance groups in Iraq have been attacking US assets across the region.

Iranian armed forces have been carrying out retaliatory attacks on US military assets in regional countries and on targets in the Israeli-occupied territories.

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In Israel's Medical Bunkers, Doctors Ready To Work 'Indefinitely'

By Ray Furlong March 14, 2026

TEL AVIV - After several twists down a concrete stairwell, a buzzing underground world is revealed. Ambulances unloading patients on gurneys, rows of field-hospital tents, workmen fixing overhead cables, and medical personnel in an array of uniforms.

This is the Sheba Medical Center, the largest hospital in the Middle East, with 11,000 employees, 1,700 doctors, and over 3,000 nurses. And most of it is functioning underground to stay out of reach of Iranian ballistic missiles.

"This place is not a field hospital. This is the hospital. It is just subterranean," Yardena Koppel, a pediatric doctor, told RFE/RL.

Rattling off a list of departments that are, she said, fully functioning, Koppel added: "Each area is well-oiled and functions within itself. It's something really incredible, something I've never seen before."

The hospital has moved some operations below ground in Israel's previous conflicts, but never on such a scale. This location, two stories below ground, is just one of five containing hundreds of patients -- while some sections of the hospital are deemed well-protected enough to keep working in their usual places.

Lessons From Last Iran War

A hospital spokesman, who declined to be named, told RFE/RL that the 12-day Israeli-US war with Iran in June last year had been a key lesson. At that time, the hospital had two underground locations.

"After what happened in June, we realized that the missiles are much more dangerous, we started spreading even more," he said, adding the whole move took about 36 hours. Plans to get ready appear to have begun before Israel launched surprise air strikes on Iran on February 28.

"When the military has an idea that something is in the works, they will tell us like a month in advance to start getting your act together," the spokesman said.

Asked if this means that the hospital management knew military action was being prepared as early as the end of January, the spokesman would not be drawn.

"It wasn't a surprise to us. We saw the incremental..." he said, his answer tailing off, before adding: "Within a few moments that we knew that something was going to happen, we were told to move. Everything is done in military fashion. We have a list of who gets the priority, who goes down first."

On a tour of the facilities, Koppel led us through pediatrics, adult oncology, ophthalmology, and cardiology. Patients lay screened from the bustle behind white curtains. On a monitor, a doctor examined a grainy image of a beating heart.

Koppel said the hospital has also had "war casualties." This included two men who were badly injured by shrapnel a few days earlier.

"One of those patients had to have his chest opened, actually in this area, and unfortunately did not survive. The other patient is currently in ICU (also below ground) and is in critical condition," she said.

"In this war, we have assumed that we are in this indefinitely and we simply cannot perform the procedures that we were doing above ground with the frequency of all the air raids with the same level of safety," Koppel added.

In Israel, there are usually several alerts within each 24-hour period, occurring both day and night. Some 900 people have been injured in incidents related to the conflict since February 28, according to emergency services. Most were injured while making their way to shelters. Twelve civilians have died, along with two Israeli soldiers in Lebanon.

Israeli civilian casualties are relatively low thanks to the country's advanced air defense capabilities and extensive network of shelters.

More Casualties In Iran

In Iran the death toll and the number of injured appear significantly higher, although getting a reliable picture is difficult.

US-based monitoring organization HRANA has counted nearly 1,300 civilian deaths in Iran. The Iranian authorities say more than 15,000 people have been injured, but this information cannot be independently confirmed.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says it has verified 18 attacks on health facilities in Iran since the beginning of US and Israeli air strikes.

"Blasts near the Motahari Hospital, in Iran's capital, Tehran, reportedly damaged parts of the health facility and forced the evacuation of patients and health staff," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on social media, also listing other health facilities reportedly struck.

"The United States and Israeli regime continue their massive attack against Iran and the Iranian people without pause, day and night," Iran's ambassador to the United Nations, Amir Saeid Iravana, said in New York on March 10.

"They are deliberately and discriminately targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure across my country," he added, claiming 32 "medical and pharmaceutical facilities" had been hit.

RFE/RL is unable to do its own on-the-ground reporting from within Iran, because the authorities there don't allow it to operate in the country.

US and Israeli officials have repeatedly stated that their forces exclusively target military and security infrastructure. However, US officials are investigating whether a US missile accidentally hit a school on February 28, killing at least 175 people, including 168 children, according to local officials.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/israel-underground-hospital-sheba- medical-center-iran-missile-threat/33706574.html

Copyright (c) 2026. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Israel running critically low on interceptors: US officials

Iran Press TV

Sunday, 15 March 2026 4:39 PM

The Israeli regime informed the US this week that it is running critically low on ballistic missile interceptors as their air defenses get squeezed by barrages of retaliatory strikes from Iran.

One US official told Semafor that the US has been aware of Israel's low capacity for months. "It's something we expected and anticipated," he said.

The US has included missile defense assets in past provisions of military aid to the Israeli regime.

But it's unclear this time whether the US, the largest military arms provider to the Tel Aviv regime, might seek to sell any of its own interceptors to Israel.

"We have all that we need to protect our bases and our personnel in the region and our interests," the US official said.

The remark comes amid broader Israeli concerns about interceptor depletion from a longer military aggression against Iran, leaving the US and its allies in a poor position.

The interceptors have been touted as being among the most effective defensive weapons against long-range fire.

Israel had reportedly entered the current aggression already low on interceptors that were fired during last summer's war with Iran.

As the war with Iran rages on, US officials said, Israel's long-range defense system has strained under Iran's relentless and powerful retaliatory attacks.

US President Donald Trump claimed earlier this month that the US has a "virtually unlimited" munitions stockpile, although analysts have long said that US stockpiles are lower than the military would like.

Last June, the US fired over 150 THAAD interceptors during the 12-day war with Iran, the Center for Strategic and International Studies found  believed to be around a quarter of US inventory at the time.

According to some reports, the US is also believed to have used around $2.4 billion worth of Patriot interceptors in the first five days of the current ongoing aggression.

The Iranian foreign policy adviser told CNN this week that the country sees no room for diplomacy right now and maintained that it is ready for a long fight.

US troops and military assets have come under attacks across the region since the US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28 in an unprovoked act of aggression.

Iran responded by launching missiles and drones at targets inside Israel as well as at American bases across the region.

Some regional resistance groups have joined Iran in targeting the US and Israeli military targets across Iraq and other countries across the West Asia region.

Observers say the Iranian military has dealt serious blows to Israel, the US, and its Western and regional allies militarily and economically.

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Israel's Iron Dome Works Worse Every Day  Iran's Diplomat

Sputnik News

20260315

"Their capabilities are decreasing day by day. Initially, the interception rate was higher, but now it has become much lower, as their ability to counter diminishes over time," Iranian Ambassador to Moscow Kazem Jalali told Sputnik.

At the beginning of the conflict, Iran carried out large-scale missile launches against Israel, but now fewer missiles are needed for strikes as hitting targets in Israel has become easier, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on March 11.

On February 28, the US and Israel began striking targets in Iran, including Tehran, causing damage and civilian casualties. Iran is carrying out retaliatory strikes on Israeli territory, as well as on US military targets in the Middle East.

The US and Israel initially claimed their "preemptive" attack was necessary to counter the perceived threat coming from Iran's nuclear program, but they soon made it clear that they want to see a change of power in Iran.

 Sputnik

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Israel Tells US It Faces Severe Shortage of Interceptor Missiles - Reports

Sputnik News

20260315

Israeli authorities have informed the United States that they were experiencing a severe shortage of ballistic missile interceptors amid the conflict with Iran, Semafor reported citing unnamed US officials.

According to the publication, Israel entered the conflict with Iran already low on interceptor missiles, having expended them during the 12-day war in 2025. According to one US source, the US had known about this for months. The source also stated that Washington had expected and foreseen this. The official also noted that the US did not experience a similar shortage of interceptors.

As the publication emphasizes, it is unknown whether the US will sell or share its interceptor capabilities with Israel, which would in itself strain domestic missile supplies.

"We have all that we need to protect our bases and our personnel in the region and our interests," a US official told the publication, adding that Israel is working on ways to address the shortage.

The publication also said citing a source that the US had a large number of missiles for the THAAD missile defense system and fighter jets, as well as mid-course ballistic missile interceptors.

On February 28, the US and Israel began striking targets in Iran, including Tehran, causing damage and civilian casualties. Iran is carrying out retaliatory strikes on Israeli territory, as well as on US military targets in the Middle East.

 Sputnik

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North Korea Condemns Japan's Long-Range Missile Deployment - Reports

Sputnik News

20260313

SEOUL (Sputnik) - North Korea condemns Japan's plans to deploy long-range missiles, warning such moves heighten regional tensions and threaten security, North Korean state-run news agency KCNA reported on Friday.

Tokyo has already stationed an upgraded Type-12 anti-ship missile with extended range in Kumamoto and plans further deployments in Shizuoka Prefecture, Hokkaido, and Miyazaki Prefecture starting next year, KCNA reported.

Pyongyang warned that full implementation would place missiles capable of striking neighbors across Japan's archipelago.

The security environment worsens due to the resurgent militarism of Japan, which is "unrepentant about past atrocities and obsessed with the desire for new aggression," KCNA reported.

The versatile Type-12 missiles, launchable from land, sea, or air, can strike ships, ports, airfields, and ground targets as part of Japan's "enemy base" attack preparations, according to the report. Tokyo's missile buildup and military drills signal its desire to accelerate their combat deployment, the news agency reported.

The final targets of such missiles could be neighboring countries, which Japan calls a "threat" and "the largest strategic challenge," KCNA reported.

Continuing this policy risks Japan crossing a "red line" with grave consequences for the archipelago itself, Pyongyang warned.

 Sputnik

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Japan-U.S. Defense Ministerial Telephone Conference (Summary)

Ministry of Defense of Japan

Press Release

March 16, 2026

Ministry of Defense

On March 15, commencing at around 9:30 p.m. for approximately 30 minutes, Defense Minister Koizumi and Secretary of War Hegseth held a telephone conference, following their previous call on March 10th. The summary is as follows.

Regarding the situation in the Middle East including the Strait of Hormuz, Secretary Hegseth provided an overview of the latest developments and the outlook. Minister Koizumi stated that maintaining peace and stability in the Middle East, including the Strait of Hormuz, is of critical importance to the international community, including Japan. He conveyed Japan's intention to closely communicate with relevant countries, including the United States.

Secretary Hegseth reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to strengthening the deterrence and response capabilities of the Japan-U.S. Alliance and to peace and stability in the region, stated that the recent situation in the Middle East does not entail any changes to the posture of U.S. forces in Japan, and that U.S. forces in Japan continue to maintain a full state of readiness. Minister Koizumi, for his part, conveyed that the Ministry of Defense and the Self-Defense Forces are likewise ensuring thorough vigilance and surveillance in the areas surrounding Japan.

The Ministers concurred to maintain close communication.

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Journalists Detained As Kazakhstan Holds Controversial Referendum

By RFE/RL's Kazakh Service and Zamira Eshanova March 15, 2026

Kazakhstan held a controversial constitutional referendum on March 15 proposing sweeping political changes that critics say could further concentrate power in the presidency.

The vote was held amid reports of media restrictions and the brief detention of journalists covering the referendum, which asked voters whether they approve a new constitution published in the media on February 12.

The draft constitution introduces major political changes, including replacing the bicameral parliament with a single-chamber legislature, eliminating self-nomination for deputies, and creating a new advisory body -- the People's Council -- with legislative initiative powers.

It also grants the president authority to appoint key officials without parliamentary approval, a shift critics say would consolidate power in the executive branch while reducing legislative oversight.

At Astana's Palace of Students, where President Qasym-Dzhomart Toqaev was scheduled to vote, plainclothes officers briefly detained several journalists, including RFE/RL reporter Zholdas Orisbayev and former Azattyq journalist Saniya Toiken.

Witnesses said the detentions occurred shortly before Toqaev arrived at the polling station. The journalists were released after roughly three hours, and the president cast his ballot shortly afterward.

Observers from the Mukalmas election monitoring organization were also denied entry to some polling stations, while reporter from the independent media outlet Informburo was briefly detained after asking about the earlier arrests.

OSCE Criticism

Legal experts warned that such actions could constitute interference with journalistic work.

"If a journalist has an editorial assignment and official accreditation, no one has the right to restrict their work," said Gulmira Birzhanova, head of the legal department at the press freedom group Legal Media Center. "The only circumstance under which a journalist could be accused of breaking the law is if they interfere with the secrecy of the vote."

Police in Almaty also detained at least three individuals on the city's Astana Square, though authorities have not commented on the arrests.

Observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) criticized the preparations for the vote, saying voters had limited time to access information about the proposed constitutional changes.

The OSCE sent a limited assessment team rather than a full observation mission, citing concerns about transparency.

Vote Officially Validated

According to Kazakhstan's Central Referendum Commission, about 12.5 million of the country's population of 20 million were registered to vote.

By 6 p.m. local time, nationwide turnout had exceeded 70 percent, with participation surpassing 80 percent in the Zhambyl, Karaganda, Kostanay, and Turkistan regions, and reaching 91 percent in the Kyzylorda region. In contrast, turnout in Almaty city stood at just 32 percent.

The referendum required more than half of registered voters to participate in order to be valid. With turnout exceeding that threshold, the vote has been officially validated.

Central Referendum Commission secretary Mukhtar Yerman said preliminary results would be released early on March 16.

Former President Nursultan Nazarbaev, who led Kazakhstan for nearly three decades before stepping down in 2019, voted at the Astana Opera and publicly endorsed the referendum, calling it a step toward strengthening Kazakhstan's independence.

After protests in January 2022 protests, President Toqaev's government stripped Nazarbaev of his special constitutional privileges, marking a shift in the country's political balance.

When journalists asked Nazarbaev about the rewriting of what some critics call "his constitution," he smiled but declined to comment.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/kazakhstan-controversial- constitutional-referendum-media-restrictions/33707171.html

Copyright (c) 2026. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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S. Korea and Canada Sign Agreement on the Protection of Military and Defense Classified Information

Ministry of National Defense, Republic of Korea

Date : 2026-03-13

Issue joint statement following the Foreign and Defense Ministerial Meeting (2+2).

Agree to begin negotiations on a Defense Cooperation Agreement.

Explore cooperation in space and artificial intelligence.

Commit to further developing the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

South Korea and Canada have signed the "Agreement on the Protection of Military and Defense Classified Information." The two governments have also initiated measures to commence negotiations on a Defense Cooperation Agreement. Korea and Canada have agreed to deepen cooperation in the space and artificial intelligence (AI) sectors. Amid deepening geopolitical instability, the foreign and defense ministers of Korea and Canada shared a common understanding on the critical need for enhanced diplomatic and security cooperation between middle powers and agreed to develop and deepen their Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP).

On February 25 (local time), South Korea's Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back and Foreign Minister Cho Hyun met with Canadian National Defense Minister David McGuinty and Foreign Minister Anita Anand in Ottawa, Canada, to hold the second South Korea-Canada Foreign and Defense Ministerial Meeting (2+2), during which they adopted a joint statement.

The ministers exchanged views on the evolving geopolitical and international circumstances, as well as opportunities for enhanced global strategic cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region and the Arctic.

Their 2+2 talks also focused on strengthening defense and defense industry cooperation. The ministers from both countries sought to establish an institutional foundation to develop strategic cooperation in a stable and mutually beneficial manner, and thus concluded the "Agreement between the Government of Canada and the Government of the Republic of Korea on the Exchange and Protection of Classified Military Information." They also agreed to negotiate for the conclusion of a Defense Cooperation Agreement.

The classified information protection agreement specifies procedures to protect military and defense classified information exchanged with the partner country at the same level as that of its own. Once the agreement is concluded, private companies from both countries can participate in government procurement bidding involving the exchange of classified information.

At the opening of the meeting, Minister Ahn stated, "Launching negotiations on a Defense Cooperation Agreement will mark an important milestone for expanding military cooperation through increased combined training exercises and streamlined mutual visit procedures. The Agreement on the Protection of Military and Defense Classified Information is expected to enhance operational cooperation effectiveness by establishing an institutional framework for confidential information sharing and lay the foundation for expanding defense industry cooperation."

Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back and Foreign Minister Cho Hyun conducted sales diplomacy to secure orders for the Canadian submarine project. The two ministers highlighted the superior performance and competitive advantages of Korean submarines while emphasizing that defense industry cooperation with Korea aligns with Canada's recently unveiled New Defense Industrial Strategy, significantly contributing to Canada's efforts to revitalize its domestic defense industry and create jobs. Furthermore, they stated that beyond the submarine project, Korea will pursue mutually beneficial defense and defense industry cooperation that reciprocates Canada's contributions to peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.

The two countries also discussed non-conventional and emerging security challenges, including space and advanced technologies. Amid the growing impact of space on security issues, the ministers agreed to pursue concrete cooperation by launching the South Korea-Canada Space Security Dialogue as part of their security and defense cooperation partnership, thereby expanding space collaboration and enhancing space security. Given the rising significance of addressing transnational cyber threats, both sides pledged to pursue mutually complementary cooperation in the AI sector, leveraging each nation's respective strengths.

The ministers of both countries shared the understanding that peace and stability in the international community are paramount and agreed on the need for cooperation to prevent tension escalation in various regions.

South Korea's ministers outlined ongoing efforts to ease tensions and establish peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, with the goal of achieving complete denuclearization through the suspension, reduction, and elimination of North Korea's nuclear capabilities. Canada commended the South Korean government's efforts to ease tensions between the two Koreas and pursue peace, pledging to maintain close communication.

Both sides agreed to strengthen strategic communication in the Indo-Pacific region and closely cooperate on regional maritime security, safety, and marine resources preservation.

This meeting was held four months after the South Korea-Canada Summit, which took place on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Gyeongju in October 2025.

By Byeong-No, Yun

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Frigate Marshal Shaposhnikov of Pacific Fleet leaves port of Visakhapatnam in India to participate in MILAN 2026 multinational naval exercise

21 February 2026 04:07

The frigate Marshal Shaposhnikov of the Pacific Fleet has left the port of Visakhapatnam in the Republic of India for the Bay of Benjamin to the area of the maritime stage of the MILAN-2026 multinational naval exercise.

Russian servicemen, along with three dozen ships of the other countries involved in the exercise, are to undergo a five-day period of joint manoeuvring and a series of artillery fire against various types of targets. The Pacific Fleet's frigate, as part of the multinational naval forces, will also take part in operations to detain and inspect 'offender vessels', threatening the safety of civilian navigation, to perform rescue actions at sea, and to train anti-aircraft and anti-submarine defence elements as part of a unified combat order.

The departure of ships was preceded by talks between the command staff of the participating countries for detailed planning of the upcoming actions at sea. As part of the cultural programme, the servicemen of the Pacific Fleet became acquainted with local sightseeings.

The day before, the readiness of the crew was personally inspected by Commander-in-Chief of the Navy Admiral of the Fleet Aleksandr Moiseyev, who received a report from the ship's command on readiness to take part in the MILAN-2026 exercise.

The MILAN-2026 exercise has been conducted by Indian Navy every two years since 1995.

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Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov congratulates servicemen and veterans on Defender of Fatherland Day

22 February 2026 16:01

ORDER OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION MINISTER OF DEFENCE

NO.100

Moscow

Dear seamen, soldiers, first sergeants, sergeants, warrant officers, and officers!



Dear veterans of the Great Patriotic War, combat operations, and military service!



On 23 February, we celebrate the Defender of the Fatherland Day. This truly nationwide holiday embodies the glorious landmarks of our history, the succession of the best traditions, the memory of the warriors' courage who, in various years, have been fighting for the freedom and independence of the Fatherland.



Respecting the exploits of heroes, the current generation of servicemen honourably performs the military duty. They always demonstrates high professionalism, resilience, and mutual assistance during operations. In the context of the special military operation, the servicemen act clearly and decisively, show inexhaustible will, courage, and devotion to the Motherland, reliably defend the military and political interests of the state as well as the peace of Russian citizens.



I am confident that the personnel of the Armed Forces will continue to firmly protect Russia's security and its stable, sovereign development.

Comrades! My congratulations on this Day!



Thank you for your diligent service!

I wish you and your loved ones, good health, happiness, well-being, new achievements!







MINISTER OF DEFENCE OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION



Andrei Belousov

Department of Information and Media Affairs of Defence Ministry of the Russian Federation

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Contacts With Russian Defense Ministry Very Important for IAEA - Grossi

Sputnik News

20260313

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Contacts with the Russian Defense Ministry are very important for the International Atomic Energy Agency given that the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) is located in a war zone, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said on Friday.

Contacts with the ministry are very important to us, Grossi told reporters.

Grossi said that he hoped it would be able to resume the negotiations with Iran on its nuclear program.

The agency hopes that an opportunity will soon arise to return to the negotiating table to achieve a predictable, long-term agreement, Grossi told reporters.

Given the limited access of IAEA inspectors to nuclear sites in Iran and the scale of uranium enrichment in the country, the agency cannot provide definitive evidence of the absence of plans to create nuclear weapons in Iran, Grossi added.

Grossi said that he intends to discuss Russia's role in the situation in the Middle East at a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Russia plays a key role in ensuring international security, including in the Middle East, Grossi told reporters.

Grossi also said he discussed the physical security of the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant with Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom CEO Alexey Likhachev.

Efforts to ensure physical security at the ZNPP were the primary focus of the delegations during the consultations held in Moscow, Grossi told reporters, adding that he was informed of military activity in the area of the plant.

The IAEA and Rosatom are in constant contact regarding the resumption of operations at the ZNPP, the Director general added.

Russian employees demonstrate professionalism in ensuring the safety of the plant, Grossi also said.

The path to a full resumption of operations at the ZNPP is not easy and requires time and a number of measures, he stated, adding that for the full resumption of the operations, the absence of military threats is necessary.

The work of the IAEA and Russia on the issues of ZNPP continues despite all the challenges and difficulties, Grossi also said.

Russia has informed the IAEA about the situation at the Bushehr nuclear power plant (NPP) in Iran, Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom CEO Alexey Likhachev said.

"Of course, we talked a lot about the events in the Middle East, in Iran in particular, we informed the IAEA about what is happening at the Bushehr plant and what our future plans are," Likhachev said after consultations with IAEA Director Rafael Grossi, adding that Russian President Vladimir Putin is deeply engaged in the situation at the plant.

Russia will do everything to ensure that the first unit of the Bushehr NPP in Iran is operating normally and that the construction of new units is resumed, the Rosatom head said, adding that the evacuation of Russian personnel and their family members from the plant "was absolutely safe."

Russia has never seen any evidence of Iran's development of nuclear weapons, Likhachev said.

"For our part, we have always been guided only by the official reports of the countries with which we cooperate. We have multifaceted relations with the Iranian nuclear industry, and therefore we can say that Russia has never seen any evidence of Iran's development of nuclear weapons," Likhachev said after a meeting with IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi.

Russia is always ready to assist Iran in its uranium projects, the CEO said.

Apart from political statements, there is no evidence that Iran was developing nuclear weapons, Likhachev concluded.

Russia is ready to resolve the issue of Iran's enriched uranium, by returning to Tehran uranium of a lower or even natural level of enrichment, Likhachev also said.

However, Russia still has no contact with the leadership of Iran's nuclear industry, the CEO said.

"We only have contact with the management at the Bushehr site, who is in charge of the construction and oversees the work of the first unit directly. There are no contacts with the heads of the nuclear industry - neither with the vice president of Iran, nor with the head of the agency [for atomic energy] ... And this upsets us very much," Likhachev told reporters.

Likhachev added that he will report to Russian President Vladimir Putin on the results of negotiations with the IAEA delegation.

Russia continues to build nuclear icebreakers for the development of the Northern Sea Route, despite the difficulties that arise, Likhachev said.

"We need icebreakers [for the Northern Sea Route], and we continue to build them, despite all the difficulties that arise," Likhachev said after a meeting with IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi.

The interest of other countries in the Northern Sea Route is becoming more obvious and growing in the current conditions, Likhachev added.

Ukraine is escalating the situation with attacks on Energodar, trying to create the atmosphere of fear, which affects the safety of the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), Likhachev said.

On February 20, a heavy Ukrainian drone struck a school in Energodar while up to 600 students were there, the Rosatom head said.

"The Ukrainian regime is escalating the situation, trying to create an atmosphere of fear in Energodar, and this has a direct impact on the safety of the plant," Likhachev said agter consultations with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director Rafael Grossi.

The Rosatom head also said that he is sure that risks of the loss of the external power supply to the ZNPP persist, adding that a number of strikes in the ZNPP and Energodar area has increased in recent months.

In 2025, a record was set, the plant existed for more than a month in complete isolation from the power supply thanks to the professionalism of the staff of the plant, he said, adding that Russia will provide the IAEA with all information on the plant's preparations for resuming operations.

Likhachev also pointed out the inadmissibility of attacks on nuclear power facilities under any circumstances during consultations with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director Rafael Grossi, Rosatom said on Friday.

"Alexey Likhachev emphasized the inadmissibility of attacks on nuclear power facilities under any circumstances, stressing that turning the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant or the Bushehr NPP into targets for military attacks is unacceptable and suicidal," Rosatom said in a statement.

 Sputnik

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European Union extends sanctions against more than 2,600 individuals and entities

Republic of Estonia - Ministry of Foreign Affairs

14.03.2026 | 17:25

On 14 March, European Union ambassadors reached a unanimous political agreement to extend individual sanctions against more than 2,600 persons and entities that are undermining Ukraine's territorial integrity, sovereignty, and independence.

Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna noted that EU sanctions are imposed for six months at a time, meaning that they must be reviewed and renewed every six months.

"Estonia supports the extension of the sanctions because Russia's unjustified aggression against Ukraine continues," said Tsahkna. "We are united within the European Union in the view that there are no grounds whatsoever for easing the sanctions imposed on Russia and those connected with its aggression. Russia's objectives  to subjugate Ukraine and to reshape Europe's security architecture  have not changed," he added, emphasising that work to increase the cost of aggression for Russia will continue. "As a next step, I look forward to the adoption of the 20th package of sanctions against Russia," said Tsahkna, adding that preparations for further sanctions against Russia are already under way.

The Council of the European Union established restrictive measures on 17 March 2014 in response to actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty, and independence of Ukraine. Since then, the EU has imposed sanctions under this regulation on more than 2,600 individuals in connection with Russia's aggression against Ukraine. These are persons who are undermining Ukraine's territorial integrity, sovereignty, and independence, and include Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, members of the State Duma, senior officials, military personnel, businesspeople and oligarchs, propagandists, defence industry companies, and those responsible for the deportation of children.

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EU Member States Agree to Extend Sanctions Against Russia

Republic of Latvia - Ministry of Foreign Affairs

14.03.2026

On Saturday, 14 March 2026, the Council of the European Union (EU) unanimously decided to extend for six months the restrictive measures against those responsible for undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty, and independence of Ukraine. The sanctions are thus extended until 15 September 2026.

Latvia actively opposed any politically motivated attempts to remove specific individuals from the sanctions list. Once again, as a result of intensive negotiations, a united EU position has been reached, which does not allow for the weakening of sanctions against Russia. More than 2,700 sanctioned entities have been retained on the sanctions list.

As part of the regular review of each sanctions regime (every 6 months in the case of sanctions against Russia), the Legal Service of the EU Council provides its assessment of the legal basis of the evidence for sanctioned subjects, and the EU Council in its discussions carefully evaluates and takes an appropriate decision on the extension of sanctions.

As on earlier occasions, the process of extending this individual EU sanctions regime against Russia was complex; however, the EU Member States were able to maintain consensus and a united position-no person was removed from the sanctions list on the basis of political motivation.

A number of individuals subject to EU sanctions are also subject to sanctions imposed by other countries, including the United States, Canada, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Australia, and New Zealand.



EU sanctions against Russia - since 2014

Since 2014, the European Union (EU) has been imposing sanctions on individuals and legal entities for actions that undermine or threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine [1]. Among the individuals subject to EU sanctions are the Russian President, Prime Minister, Foreign Minister, other members of the government and the presidential administration, high-ranking officials and military personnel, representatives of the judiciary, companies important to the Kremlin regime and their leaders, oligarchs, propaganda figures, media outlets, and others who support the Kremlin's aggressive policies.

The EU sanctions against Russia (both sectoral and individual) must be extended every six months. This requires the unanimity of all the 27 EU Member States. If EU Member States failed to reach an agreement within the specified period, the sanctions regime would not be extended and would cease to apply to all individuals and legal entities included in the sanctions list. The deadline for the Member States to agree on the extension of individual sanctions was 15 March 2026 [2].

Latvia's Position

Latvia's position is based on the statements of the Saeima of 24 February and 21 April 2022 on Ukraine, which called for the application of maximum sanctions, and on the decisions of the Cabinet, which were reapproved by the Informational Report adopted at the Cabinet meeting on 17 February 2026 on the matters to be considered at the meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council on 23 February 2026 (26-TA-387).

The Latvian Government holds a position that current sanctions should be extended until Russia has ceased its aggression, fully restored the territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders, and compensated Ukraine for the losses caused. Latvia also advocates for the timely extension of EU sanctions against Russia, which is part of the EU's support for Ukraine. It is important for Latvia that the individual sanctions regime for actions that undermine or threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty, and independence of Ukraine be maintained. We categorically oppose any attempts to weaken sanctions, including politically motivated efforts to remove individuals from the sanctions list.

In accordance with Latvia's national interests and the EU's common sanctions policy, Latvia consistently advocates for the further strengthening of sanctions by actively participating in the work on the latest rounds of sanctions and proposing the inclusion of additional individuals and legal entities, shadow fleet ships, etc. in the sanctions list, in order to, in cooperation with our allies and partners, reduce Russia's capabilities and budget revenues, and achieve an end to the aggression.

Negotiations on the extension of sanctions always take place behind closed doors.

[1] COUNCIL REGULATION (EU) No 269/2014 of 17 March 2014 concerning restrictive measures in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine

[2] COUNCIL DECISION (CFSP) 2025/1895 of 12 September 2025 amending Decision 2014/145/CFSP concerning restrictive measures in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine

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Press release on the exchange of congratulatory messages between Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela Yvan Gil

14 March 2026 15:36

365-14-03-2026

On March 14, Sergey Lavrov and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela Yvan Gil exchanged congratulatory messages on the occasion of the 81st anniversary of diplomatic relations between Russia and Venezuela.

Sergey Lavrov expressed Russia's commitment to working together on the international arena for the sake of building a fair multipolar world with a focus on stepping up bilateral political contacts and multi-thronged cooperation in all areas of mutual interest.

The Venezuelan foreign minister gave a positive assessment of the evolution of political dialogue and cooperation mechanisms with Russia reaffirming Venezuela's readiness to expand the joint working agenda for promoting development, stability and wellbeing for the two countries' peoples.

The Foreign Ministry congratulates its Venezuelan friends on this anniversary and wishes them peace, prosperity and success.



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Corvette Boykiy performs artillery firing at maritime target in Baltic Sea

14 March 2026 10:12

As part of the scheduled combat training, the corvette Boykiy conducted artillery fire at a maritime target with a 100-mm artillery system at a training ground of the fleet in the Baltic Sea.

A small ship's shield was used as a target. According to objective control data, the strikes were performed successfully.

Earlier, the ship's crew trained to repel air attacks of the mock enemy from different altitudes and directions, firing live artillery at air and sea targets simulating unmanned aerial vehicles and uncrewed surface vehicles of the mock enemy.

Information Activities Office of the Baltic region (Kaliningrad)

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Saudi, Korean Foreign Ministers Review Regional Developments

Saudi Press Agency

Friday 24/09/1447

Riyadh, March 13, 2026, SPA -- Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah received a phone call today from Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Hyun, during which they discussed the latest developments in the regional escalation, as well as topics of common interest.

-- SPA

17:49 Local Time 14:49 GMT

0069

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HRH the Crown Prince, French President Discuss Regional Military Escalation in Phone Call

Saudi Press Agency

Friday 24/09/1447

Jeddah, March 13, 2026, SPA -- His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, received a phone call today from President Emmanuel Macron of the French Republic, during which they discussed the military escalation in the region and its repercussions on security and stability.

They also emphasized the need to halt all actions that threaten regional and international security.

-- SPA

17:15 Local Time 14:15 GMT

0067

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Ministry of Defense Spokesperson: Hostile Drone Shot Down While Attempting to Approach the Diplomatic Quarter

Saudi Press Agency

Friday 24/09/1447

Riyadh, March 13, 2026, SPA -- Spokesperson of the Ministry of Defense Major General Turki Al-Maliki stated that a hostile drone was shot down while attempting to approach the Diplomatic Quarter.

-- SPA

12:14 Local Time 09:14 GMT

0032

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Ministry of Defense Spokesperson: Six Ballistic Missiles Launched Toward Al-Kharj Governorate Intercepted and Destroyed

Saudi Press Agency

Saturday 25/09/1447

Riyadh, March 14, 2026, SPA -- Spokesperson of the Ministry of Defense Major General Turki Al-Maliki stated that six ballistic missiles launched toward Al-Kharj Governorate were intercepted and destroyed.

-- SPA

23:10 Local Time 20:10 GMT

0046

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Taiwan military official denies delay in delivery of MQ-9Bs

ROC Central News Agency

03/15/2026 03:22 PM

Taipei, March 15 (CNA) A Taiwan defense official said Sunday that the delivery of the first two of four SkyGuardian drones Taipei purchased from the United States is set to take place in the second half of this year in accordance with the original schedule.

The unnamed Ministry of National Defense (MND) official added that the required ground control stations to remotely pilot the advanced drones are currently being built in preparation for their arrival.

The Air Force and Taiwan's defense mission in Washington, D.C., have also been in close contact with the U.S. side to ensure delivery will be on time, the official said.

The MND official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.

The comments were made following a news report last week that delivery of the first two MQ-9B drones has been delayed due to the war in the Middle East.

In response, Defense Minister Wellington Koo () questioned the credibility of the report when asked to comment on the issue on March 10 on the sidelines of a legislative session in Taipei.

"I don't know where that news came from," Koo said, adding that no weapons deliveries have so far been affected by the conflict in the Middle East.

Taiwan has ordered four MQ-9B surveillance drones from the United States. The delivery timeline has been set for 2026 and 2027 in two batches of two each.

In a 2020 statement announcing the sale, the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency said the MQ-9Bs would provide Taiwan with "intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, target acquisition, and counter-land, counter-sea, and anti-submarine strike capabilities."

Hsieh Pei-shiue (), an assistant research fellow at the MND-funded think tank Institute for National Defense and Security Research, wrote in 2020 that the drone is capable of linking with satellite communications shared among U.S. allies.

This means Taiwan and its U.S. counterparts could instantly share battlefield intelligence, providing opportunities for the two sides to cooperate during a conflict.

For instance, should cross-strait conflict break out, Washington could take advantage of anti-ship missile systems deployed along the first island chain to prevent Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) vessels from sailing into waters east of Taiwan to blockade the nation, Hsieh said.

MQ-9Bs are capable of long-term, long-range surveillance, meaning the drones could fly near Chinese vessels to provide critical intelligence for the U.S. to target them, Hsieh wrote in his article at the time.

(By Matt Yu and Joseph Yeh)

Enditem/AW

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PLA activities in the waters and airspace around Taiwan

ROC Ministry of National Defense

2026.03.15

Issuing AuthorityPolitical Warfare Bureau

PLA activities in the waters and airspace around Taiwan

1.Date:

6 a.m. Mar. 14 (Sat.) to 6 a.m. Mar. 15 (Sun.) (UTC+8)

2.PLA activities:

26 sorties of PLA aircraft and 7 PLAN ships operating around Taiwan were detected as of 6 a.m.(UTC+8) today.16 out of 26 sorties entered Taiwan's northern, central and southwestern ADIZ. ROC Armed Forces have monitored the situation and employed CAP aircraft, Navy ships, and coastal missile systems in response to detected activities.

1150315_PLA activities in the waters and airspace around Taiwan

1150315_PLA air activities in the vicinity of Taiwan

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China donates materials to Cambodia for combating online scams

Xinhua) 15:54, March 16, 2026

PHNOM PENH, March 16 (Xinhua) -- China on Monday provided materials to Cambodia's Commission for Combating Online Scams (CCOS), aiming at increasing the effectiveness of preventing and cracking down on cyber scams.

The handover ceremony was made between Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Wang Wenbin and Cambodian senior minister Chhay Sinarith, head of the Secretariat of the CCOS.

Speaking at the event, Sinarith said the donation was a "valuable gift" from China's Ministry of Public Security to the CCOS.

"These materials will be important tools for our law enforcement officers to use in combating and suppressing cyber scams more effectively," he said.

Sinarith said cybercrime is a regional and global problem, complex and interconnected, requiring international cooperation to combat and suppress it.

"Within the framework of security cooperation, the authorities of our two countries have been working together closely in combating various crimes, especially online scams, and have achieved commendable results," he said.

He strongly hoped that the excellent cooperation between Cambodia and China will grow stronger to ensure security, public order, and social safety for the people of the two countries and the region.

Ambassador Wang said China was pleased to assist Cambodia in combating online scams, praising the kingdom for its remarkable results in cracking down on cyber scams in recent months.

He commended the Cambodian government for approving a draft law on combating online scams last Friday, saying that "this truly reflects Cambodia's high commitment to wipe out all online scam networks from the country."

The Southeast Asian country has launched an unprecedented nationwide crackdown on cyber scam networks in order to maintain social security, safety, and public order, and to restore the kingdom's image on the international stage.

The Cambodian government is committed to eradicating all online scam centers in the country by April this year.

Cambodian Interior Minister Sar Sokha said recently that the kingdom had deported more than 30,000 suspected foreign scammers, as over 210,000 others had voluntarily left the kingdom after operations against online scams have intensified since June last year.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
Baykar unveils new K2 kamikaze drone in video set to 'Waltz No. 2'

Azerbaijan State News Agency - (AZERTAC)

14.03.2026 [12:51]

Baku, March 14, AZERTAC

Turkish drone manufacturer Baykar on Saturday unveiled a new kamikaze unmanned aerial vehicle, the K2, in a video set to Waltz No. 2, featuring artificial intelligence-based flight and targeting systems, according to Anadolu Agency.

The K2 is capable of autonomous swarm flight and uses AI vision for navigation, targeting and engagement, it said.

It has a range of more than 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles), carries a 200-kilogram (440-pound) warhead, and has a maximum takeoff weight of 800 kilograms.

The drone can take off from short or unprepared strips and is designed to be reused for multiple deployments.

Baykar is one of Turkiye's leading drone manufacturers and has exported UAVs to multiple countries. Its existing platforms include the tactical Bayraktar TB2, the high-altitude Bayraktar

Akinci, the ship-capable Bayraktar TB3, and the jet-powered Bayraktar Kizilelma.

In the promotional video, the drone is seen taking off, flying in formation and performing coordinated maneuvers, with the famous waltz composed by Dmitri Shostakovich playing in the background.

Waltz No. 2 is an iconic, hauntingly nostalgic piece known for its "dark cabaret" style, combining cheerful cabaret vibes with undertones of melancholy and dark, dramatic harmonies, written by the Soviet composer and pianist Dmitri Shostakovich in 1938.

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Russian Military Carries Out 7 Retaliatory Strikes on Ukraine's Infrastructure Over Past Week

Sputnik News

20260313

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian forces launched one massive and six group strikes targeting Ukraine's military-industrial enterprises, fuel and energy infrastructure, transport hubs, and airfields, in retaliation for Ukraine's attacks on Russian civilian sites, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Friday.

"In response to attacks by Ukraine on civilian objects on Russian territory, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation carried out one massive and six group strikes during the period from March 7 to 13, resulting in damage to enterprises of the military-industrial complex of Ukraine, facilities of the Ukrainian fuel and energy sector, transport and airfield infrastructure, sites for the production, storage, and preparation for launch of strike long-range unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as temporary deployment points for Ukrainian armed formations and foreign mercenaries," the ministry said in a statement.

Ukraine lost over 2,325 soldiers in combat against Russia's Tsentr battlegroup over the past week, in addition to losses in manpower and equipment on other fronts

over the past week, in addition to losses in manpower and equipment on other fronts Over 2,130 Ukrainian soldiers eliminated over the past week by Russia's Vostok battlegroup , over 1,665 by the Sever battlegroup , over 1,285 by the Zapad battlegroup , over 1,245 by the Yug battlegroup , and up to 495 by the Dnepr battlegroup

, over 1,665 by the , over 1,285 by the , over 1,245 by the , and up to 495 by the Russia's air defenses shot down two UK-made Storm Shadow missiles, 33 HIMARS projectiles, and 2,650 Ukrainian armed forces drones and a Ukrainian Su-27 fighter

 Sputnik

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Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine: EU extends individual listings over Ukraine's territorial integrity for a further six months

European Council / Council of the European Union

Council of the EU

Press release

14 March 2026 16:30

The Council decided today to prolong the restrictive measures targeting those responsible for undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine for another six months, until 15 September 2026.

Individual listings will continue to apply to around 2 600 individuals and entities, who were targeted in response to Russia's ongoing unjustified and unprovoked military aggression against Ukraine. The current restrictive measures include travel restrictions for natural persons, the freezing of assets, and a ban on making funds or other economic resources available to the listed individuals and entities.

In the context of the sanctions' review, the Council also decided not to renew the listings of two individuals and to remove five deceased persons from the list.

After 24 February 2022, in response to Russia's military aggression against Ukraine, the EU massively expanded sanctions against Russia with the aim of significantly weakening Russia's economic base, depriving it of critical technologies and markets, and significantly curtailing its ability to wage war.

As stated in the text supported by 25 Heads of State or Government on the occasion of the European Council on 18 December 2025, the EU reaffirms its continued and unwavering support for Ukraine's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders. The EU will continue to provide, in coordination with like-minded partners and allies, comprehensive political, financial, economic, humanitarian, military and diplomatic support to Ukraine and its people.

The EU remains determined to maintain and increase pressure on Russia to stop its brutal war of aggression and engage in meaningful negotiations towards peace.

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Russian Air Strikes Kill 6 In Ukraine, As Kyiv Pounds Oil Refinery In Krasnodar

By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service March 14, 2026

Russian drone and missile strikes killed six people and injured dozens across Ukraine, while Kyiv said it targeted a port and an oil refinery in Russia's southern Krasnodar region.

Around 430 drones and 68 missiles of different types were used in the Russian attack, primarily aimed at Kyiv's energy infrastructure, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on March 14, as his country marked its national volunteer day.

"Unfortunately, there have also been strikes and damage to ordinary homes, schools, and civilian businesses," Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram, urging the implementation of air defense agreements with Ukraine's European partners.

The head of Kyiv's military administration, Mykola Kalashnyk, said five people were killed across the region's districts. He also said 15 others were injured. "Three of them are in serious condition, two are currently undergoing surgery," he added.

Another person was reported killed in Zaporizhzhya, as local authorities said that at least five other Ukrainian regions were targeted by Russian strikes. Dozens more people were injured, including seven teenagers.

A woman living in Zaporizhzhya, near the area hit by Russian forces, told RFE/RL that the strike caught residents off guard. "I was in the kitchen, wanting to bake pastries," she said.

"When it hit, the windows in the kitchen, hall, and bedroom shattered. There was noise everywhere. I was injured while running away."

Meanwhile, Ukraine's military said on March 14 that it had hit the Afipsky oil refinery and the Kavkaz port in Russia's southern Krasnodar region. The statement added that the strikes caused a fire at the oil refinery and damaged the port.

While Russian authorities did not immediately comment on the incident, Ukrainian and Russian Telegram channels published user-generated videos that appeared to show explosions and smoke in the area.

The attack followed the United States' decision to temporarily lift sanctions on Russian oil to stabilize the global energy markets amid its military campaign against Iran. Kyiv said the move could add around $10 billion to the Kremlin's war chest.

With global attention drawn to the widening conflict in the Middle East, efforts to negotiate an end to Russia's war against Ukraine have slowed, leaving the fate of ongoing talks uncertain as fighting along the front line continues.

On March 12, both Kyiv and Moscow confirmed that another round of trilateral talks involving Russia, Ukraine, and the United States had been postponed, while on March 13, Ukraine's military reported 153 clashes along the front lines during the day.

"Russia will try to take advantage of the war in the Middle East to cause more destruction here in Europe, in Ukraine," Zelenskyy said on March 14.

Additionally, as Kyiv has sought has sought to share its experience intercepting drones with partners in the Middle East, Tehran warned that Ukrainian territory could now be considered a "legitimate target" for Iranian forces.

Iran has long been an ally of Russia, supplying it with military equipment and technology in Moscow's war effort against Ukraine. Kyiv earlier estimated that at least 57,000 Shahed drones were used in Russian attacks on the country since 2022.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-russia-war- drone-missile-attack-iran/33706687.html

Copyright (c) 2026. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Andrii Sybiha commented on the overnight shelling of Ukraine by Russia

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine

14 March 2026 10:49

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Andrii Sybiha: "This was a dreadful and sleepless night in Ukraine. At least four killed and many injured people in the Kyiv region.

Russia unleashed a massive barrage of dozens of ballistic missiles and hundreds of drones targeting civilian people and infrastructure.

Many regions across Ukraine saw Russian strikes overnight, including Sumy, Kharkiv, Dnipro, and Mykolayiv.

Every explosion that shook Ukraine overnight is a direct result of Russia's sense of impunity.

Russia refuses to end the war. Instead, it continues aggression against Ukraine and supports the spread of Iran's terror in the Middle East.

In response to such actions, Moscow should not get any relief from international pressure or isolation. Appeasement never brought peace. It can only lead to the expansion of terror and war.

Ukraine's position has been and remains clear: all forms of pressure on Russia must be increased in order to counter the spread of terror in Europe, the Middle East, and other regions.

The sooner we deprive the Russian war machine of its fuel, the sooner the war will end, and the sooner Moscow will lose its ability to bolster other terror regimes, including the one in Tehran".

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Talks on Ukraine on Hold as US Has Other Priorities - Kremlin

Sputnik News

20260315

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - There has been a pause in the negotiations on Ukraine, as the United States now focuses on other priorities, which is understandable, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

"A pause has indeed appeared in the talks. The Americans have other priorities, and that's understandable," Peskov told the Financial Times newspaper in an interview out on Sunday.

He added that Russia is open to a peaceful resolution regarding Ukraine.

"The dynamic on the front is positive for us. We are advancing and getting closer to achieving our goals, but as [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin said, we are open to a diplomatic settlement," Peskov said.

A French representative visited Russia as part of the dialogue on Ukraine, but the meeting yielded no positive results, Kremlin spokesman said.

"The Europeans don't want to help the peace process. When the representative of France came, he didn't bring any positive signals. And so there was indeed nothing positive for him to hear," Peskov said.

The spokesman also said that "the Europeans are spending all their efforts on convincing the Ukrainians to continue the war," and called such actions a mistake.

 Sputnik

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Russian Armed Forces Hit Ukrainian Energy Facilities

Sputnik News

20260315

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian troops struck Ukrainian energy and transport facilities, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Sunday.

"Operational-tactical aviation, strike unmanned aerial vehicles, missile forces and artillery... struck energy and transport infrastructure facilities used in the interests of the Armed Forces of Ukraine," the ministry said in a statement.

Russian forces also struck training and launch sites for long-range UAVs, as well as temporary deployment points for Ukrainian militants and foreign mercenaries in 148 areas, the ministry added.

Ukraine lost over 310 soldiers in combat against Russia's Vostok battlegroup Over 295 Ukrainian soldiers eliminated by Russia's Tsentr battlegroup, up to 250 by the Sever battlegroup, up to 200 by the Zapad battlegroup, over 200 by the Yug battlegroup, and up to 60 by the Dnepr battlegroup

 Sputnik

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Ukraine Initiated EU Entry Ban and Sanctions Against Nearly 130 Russian Commanders Who Committed Crimes Against Ukrainians

President of Ukraine

15 March 2026 - 10:46

Ukraine has initiated a ban on entry to the countries of the European Union and the imposition of sanctions against nearly 130 Russian commanders involved in crimes against Ukrainians. The relevant document containing their personal data, as well as information on about 300 of their relatives, has already been submitted by our country to the European Union.

"Ukraine is participating in joint work with the European Union. And our leadership here is indeed very important. We must work to ensure that everyone who takes part in the war against Ukraine has no right to enter the countries of the European Union. We see that Europe is ready to support this, and I am grateful to our partners for it," President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized.

The document contains detailed personal data - dates of birth and document numbers for each individual. The list includes Russian occupiers from long-range aviation units, the navy, and ground-based missile forces. All of them systematically participated in launching missile strikes on Ukrainian cities and communities and in killing our people.

Since the first day of Russia's full-scale invasion, the enemy's long-range aviation has launched more than 4,100 cruise missiles at Ukraine. Verified data confirm the involvement of 35 Russian invaders from the 44th Separate Special-Purpose Aviation Regiment of the Russian Federation, the 52nd, 121st, 200th, and 182nd Heavy Bomber Regiments of the Russian Federation, as well as the 22nd and 326th Heavy Bomber Aviation Divisions of the Russian Federation. In addition, there is information about 89 of their relatives.

Among the crew members and commanders of surface and submarine missile carriers, as well as coastal missile systems, 67 occupiers and 155 members of their families have been identified. Enemy frigates carried out about 160 missile strikes against Ukraine using more than 1,500 sea-launched cruise missiles.

There is also confirmed information about 34 Russian occupiers who have access to ground-based missile systems and 92 members of their families. The 1st Missile Brigade of Russia's Southern Military District alone was involved in more than 220 missile attacks against Ukraine. Such crimes were also committed by Russia's 12th, 26th, 40th, 64th, 92nd, 103rd, 107th, 112th, 119th, and 448th Missile Brigades.

"We will also work to ensure that EU sanctions are imposed on all participants in Russia's war. Each of them bears personal responsibility for the strikes on Ukraine, on our people, and on critical infrastructure. There must be a just punishment for all of this," said Advisor - Commissioner of the President of Ukraine for Sanctions Policy Vladyslav Vlasiuk.

Overall, since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion, Ukraine has imposed sanctions on more than 300 individuals from the top military leadership, commanders of tactical and strategic directions, representatives of special services and illegal armed formations, as well as occupiers involved in torture, violence, child abductions, missile launches, and cyberattacks on critical infrastructure facilities.



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Ukraine Imposed Sanctions on Russian and Iranian Companies and Individuals Serving the Aggressor State's Military-Industrial Complex, and on Paralympians Who Took Part in the War Against Our Country

President of Ukraine

15 March 2026 - 10:41

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed decrees enacting decisions of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine to impose sanctions on Russian and Iranian companies and individuals serving Russia's military-industrial complex, as well as on Paralympians who justify Russia's aggression and spread Russian propaganda.

The sanctions package targeting the military-industrial complex includes 130 individuals and 48 legal entities. Among them are companies involved in supplying components for the production of Kometa-series satellite navigation equipment (used in Russian drones, cruise and ballistic missiles, guided munitions, and aircraft that Russia uses to strike Ukrainian cities and communities). In particular, the list also includes enterprises involved in the production of the Oreshnik missile system.

The list also includes Iranian companies and citizens involved in the production of Iranian drones and missiles that are used not only against Ukraine but also in the Middle East against Gulf countries. These legal entities and individuals helped Russia launch, deploy, and scale up the production of "shaheds" in Russia. Sanctions have also been imposed on Iranian instructors who trained Russian "shahed" operators that later attacked Ukrainian cities and energy facilities.

"The Russian and Iranian military-industrial complexes have long been interconnected. With this sanctions package, we are highlighting the key participants involved in producing the weapons used for Russia's strikes against Ukraine and Iran's strikes against many countries. The world must do much more to break these supply chains, particularly for critical components, and effectively counter this cooperation. And we will work on synchronizing these sanctions," said Advisor - Commissioner of the President of Ukraine for Sanctions Policy Vladyslav Vlasiuk.

Another sanctions decision concerns 10 Russian Paralympians. All of them took part in Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. They spread Russian propaganda and use sporting events as a platform to whitewash Russian crimes and occupation.







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Baltimore is known for its world-class medical institutions like Johns Hopkins University. But the reputation of the citys health department is a little less renowned. Hoping to change that, the city is getting serious about tackling the worst health problems affecting its residents -- a battle that begins with changing the way citizens think about its health department.A major part of this effort centers around the citys goal of reducing HIV rates, a longtime epidemic thats made Baltimore home to some of the highest infection rates in the nation. In the past, the Baltimore City Health Department reached about 15,000 residents a year by conducting HIV testing and distributing prevention information at free health clinics and through mobile units. Reaching those with the greatest risks of infection, however, proved even more difficult.As a result, health officials set out last year to make inroads with gay and transgender residents, and more specifically, with the community of black men who have sex with men (MSM). They are about five times more likely to contract HIV than MSM of other races.Enter Keith Holt, the departments youth outreach coordinator, who came to the department thinking he could reach this group through what are called ballroom or house and ball communities. Ballroom communities are underground subcultures where groups of gay and transgender youth compete in dance and performance competitions for trophies and prizes at events known as balls. Often, those involved sought the ballroom community at a young age, looking for a surrogate family.Before developing his plan of attack, which Holt admits is based on a lot of trial and error, he looked to other large cities, including New York, to find out how health departments were reaching this critical group. He discovered that nonprofits and other community organizations were conducting a majority of work in the ballroom scene, where city health departments were event sponsors. We saw that this was really something we needed to get involved in, Holt says.When Holt began meeting with house and ball leaders, he learned that their opinion of the citys health department was not always positive. For one, they werent even aware of services the city offered beyond HIV testing. Holt realized that changing that opinion would be key in reaching this community. We want to let people know that were not just here to test, Holt says, were here to help and support.In November, Holt partnered with house leaders to throw a free ball with music and dancing alongside HIV screenings and free condoms. The event, which carried a $6,000 price tag (paid for by federal funds for HIV screening) had approximately 500 attendees, all of whom were approached about HIV screening, health care, food stamps, housing and other city services. The great thing about the ball was our opportunity to really go to the community, Holt says. People might not always want to come to the clinics, he says, so the ball gave the health department an opportunity to provide HIV prevention and services information to a community that has typically fallen under the radar.From the November event, Holt and his colleagues have subsequently been invited to sponsor or attend different events where they are given additional opportunities to screen and educate.Prevention education and enrollment in care has become a hallmark of the departments outreach and HIV reduction message. Toward that end, the department has taken unique steps to encourage those at high risk of HIV to get educated and tested. If someone in the city needs HIV care, the department not only makes same-day doctor appointments, but also transports that person to his or her first and second appointments. This helps the city ensure that recommended treatments are being sought out and adhered to.So far, the response from the community has been extremely positive, but evaluating the success of these programs can be difficult. The health department reviews the number of people tested for HIV and the number of those identified as newly infected on an ongoing basis. But in this instance -- because the numbers in the ballroom community are so small -- the sample size is often not large enough to be considered significant for evaluating success. This hindrance, which makes success difficult to measure, shut down a similar ballroom -- community outreach program in Philadelphia in 2004.What is even more difficult to evaluate is how the health departments image is changing. One of Baltimores goals is to encourage the community to take advantage of the citys two free health clinics and get tested without fear of rejection or judgment. This data is generally subjective, and can only be collected and evaluated by continuing to meet with community leaders to get a sense of how the department has progressed.In terms of early success, 115 attendees were screened for HIV at the November ball in Baltimore, and of those, 60 percent were linked to care. Thats an encouraging statistic for a community in which approximately 45 percent of black MSM are HIV positive, according to a Johns Hopkins study. Late last year, the health departments ball was awarded Ball of the Year -- an accolade that has helped to elevate the departments profile in the ballroom community.For health department staff, evaluating success goes beyond the numbers. Our staff cares about the well-being of the citizens that we do provide the services for, Holt says. They use this drive to continuously try to identify community stakeholders and make the department ready and available with HIV screening and support information. The department is hoping to begin making similar inroads with the transgender community and reach those beyond the ballroom scene -- with an end goal of decreasing new HIV infections by 25 percent.Baltimores renewed focus on citizen health doesnt stop at HIV. On May 10, the city unveiled Healthy Baltimore 2015, an ambitious public health plan that focuses on 10 priority areas that have the most potential to improve citizen health. Priority areas include obesity prevention, lowering tobacco use, improving heart health and promoting healthy lifestyles for children. Each priority area is matched with a measurable goal like reducing the rate of early death from cardiovascular disease and decreasing the number of food deserts. Through an approach that includes policy, promoting access and quality, and maximizing community engagement, we will be able to accelerate and improve health outcomes, says Baltimore City Health Commissioner Oxiris Barbot.Baltimore still has a long way to go. Per 100,000 city residents, the number of years of potential life lost before age 75 is 14,887 -- twice the number of years lost in the state as a whole.
Gulf axe brings mixed blessing for struggling teams

The cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian rounds may prove a quiet relief for some Formula 1 teams - though Aston Martin's Pedro de la Rosa warns the calendar gap will not be the lifeline some might assume.

Fernando Alonso, Australian GP 2026

 Aston Martin Racing

Fernando Alonso retired from the Chinese GP unable to feel his hands and feet, the Honda power unit's vibrations having taken their physical toll.

Physically, I couldn't continue, the Spaniard said. "I started to lose feeling in my hands and feet - it wasn't a pleasant sensation.

In gyms, there were these vibrating machines years ago, so when you do 10 seconds it's fine, when you do 30 it's fine, but if you do 40 minutes you start to experience some loss of sensitivity - which is what happens to us.

Honda trackside general manager Shintaro Orihara acknowledged the scale of what remains to be fixed. While there are signs of improvement regarding vibration, driver comfort remains a challenge and this will be an important area for improvement leading up to the Japanese GP, he said.

He added that Sunday's multiple retirements - and did-not-starts - showed the 2026 regulations will not be easy - though he stressed that was no excuse for our reliability or performance.

Audi, meanwhile, is another team for whom the April gap will arrive at a useful moment. Team principal Jonathan Wheatley was candid about the workload ahead.

Mercedes and Ferrari have a usable package. Everyone else is going through a difficult phase, he said. "The break in April should help us.

The winter was short, the last few months have been very stressful. We need to work on the engine again in the next development phase - there are still a few things we can improve.

Aston Martin ambassador Pedro de la Rosa, however, cautioned against viewing the gap as a straightforward reprieve. Speaking on DAZN, the former F1 driver said the absence of race weekends was itself a problem.

We're really lacking in laps and track activity, de la Rosa said. "Yes, you're not in the public eye because there's no racing, but you miss out on being able to test those solutions every weekend.

The work will be at its maximum in Japan for Honda - but it would have been the same even if we had run those races. And besides, the rest will continue to evolve as usual.

(GMM)
Featured

Ato Forson engages World Bank on jobs and Ghanas next phase of economic growth

GraphicOnline Business News Mar - 16 - 2026 , 11:45

Finance Minister Cassiel Ato Forson has held discussions with senior officials of the World Bank on Ghanas economic transformation agenda and efforts to tackle unemployment, particularly among the youth.

The meeting, held with the Managing Director and Chief Knowledge Officer of the World Bank, Paschal Donohoe, focused on Ghanas next phase of development and strategies to sustain economic recovery while expanding job opportunities.

Mr Forson said the governments immediate focus was shifting from stabilising the economy to creating sustainable employment opportunities, especially for young people.

He explained that while the past year had been dedicated to restoring stability in the countrys finances, the government was now prioritising policies aimed at stimulating growth and employment.

A while ago, I had a productive discussion with the Managing Director and Chief Knowledge Officer of the World Bank, Mr. Paschal Donohoe, on Ghanas economic transformation and the next phase of our development agenda, he said.

According to the Finance Minister, unemploymentparticularly among young peopleremains one of the major challenges confronting the country.

I noted that last year was focused on resetting the economy and placing it firmly on the path to sustainability. Today, one of our major challenges is unemployment, particularly among our youth, he stated.

Mr Forson said Ghana was working to design programmes that would support private sector expansion, noting that government employment alone could not absorb the growing labour force.

Africa has a rapidly growing youthful population, and it is clear that public sector employment alone cannot provide the opportunities our young people need, he said.

We are therefore putting in place major policies and programmes to sustainably create jobs.

Mr Donohoe, for his part, congratulated Ghana on what he described as significant progress in improving the countrys fiscal situation.

He indicated that the World Bank stands ready to continue supporting Ghana, including through a Jobs and Growth Analysis that will help identify new opportunities for job creation, Mr Forson said.

The Finance Minister welcomed the World Banks continued collaboration with Ghana, expressing optimism that the partnership would support the countrys efforts to expand economic opportunities.

I welcome the World Banks continued partnership as we work to create jobs, expand opportunities, and secure a more prosperous future for our people, he added.

The engagement forms part of ongoing consultations between Ghana and international development partners as the government seeks to consolidate economic stability while addressing structural challenges such as unemployment and private sector growth.
Next article: US broadcasters threatened with having licences revoked over Iran coverage

Featured

Iran holds the key to reopening global energy markets

Reuters International News Mar - 16 - 2026 , 11:10 4 minutes read

When Saudi Aramco told its oil buyers in a letter this week that it had no clear idea which port it would use for April exports, it laid bare a new reality: Iran, not the United States, holds the key to reopening the global energy market.

The letter, sent to Saudi oil buyers around the world, said they might receive oil from the Red Sea, but they might still get it from the Gulf.

"I might as well call Iran to find out when this war ends so I can get my oil," one regular Saudi oil buyer said upon receiving the letter as war raged across the Gulf and Iran shut down the Strait of Hormuz.

The comment reflects the growing conviction inside and outside the Middle East that while the United States and Israel could declare the war over at any time, Iran will have the final say about the duration of what the International Energy Agency has described as the most severe oil and gas supply disruptions ever.

The IEA's agreed 400-million-barrel emergency oil release to counter the Middle East supply shock is more than double its previous record action in 2022

U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly said the United States is close to winning the rapidly escalating war, but his indicated timeframes range from days to weeks.

Iran has retaliated against the U.S.-Israeli attacks on it by firing drones and missiles at ships in the Strait of Hormuz, effectively shutting down the flow of around 20% of global oil and LNG supply to refiners, petrochemical and power plants, and energy-intensive industries around the world.

Executives at Middle Eastern companies and their Western peers warn it will require more than just U.S. assurances of safety to restart shipping traffic and production even if the fighting ceases immediately.

Tehrans capacity to produce and deploy low-cost drones means Iran has an ability to disrupt or paralyse shipping that could long outlast a declaration from its attackers that combat operations are over.

Trump has said the U.S. might send military escorts to help restore traffic through Hormuz and urged allies to send warships to secure the strait.

Naval escorts, however, would fail to normalise traffic unless the U.S. and Israel agree terms with Tehran that include it halting its attacks or threats on shipping, a senior Gulf energy industry official said, adding that his tankers would stay put until Iran guarantees safe passage.

If the U.S. and Israel declare victory on terms that Iran does not accept, then Tehran would want to show it has not been defeated by causing more disruption with mines and drones, said Neil Quilliam from think tank Chatham House.

Drones also targeted the UAE's oil loading hub in Fujairah on Saturday, just hours after the U.S. hit military targets on Kharg Island, home to Iran's main oil export terminal.

Iran is sending a message that there is no safe harbour in this conflict and that Washington will not control the terms of escalation, said RBC Capital's Helima Croft, a former CIA analyst, pointing to the possibility of proxy attacks from Yemen, in Iraq and elsewhere.

Yemen's Iran-allied Houthis could further raise the stakes for the energy and shipping industry, and by extension the global economy, by attacking Saudi Arabia's Red Sea port of Yanbu, the kingdom's only current alternative oil-export route.

COLLAPSE IN CONFIDENCE

The crisis has collapsed confidence in supply routes and exposed the regions weakness in defending its energy system, an Iraqi government energy adviser said. Repairs will take months and insurance for shipments will be more expensive and harder to find because of the perceived higher risk, he added.

Iranian attacks have caused shutdowns at refineries in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Israel, sending oil and gas prices surging by as much as 60%.

Even a quick resolution to the conflict would see weeks of market disruption, analysts including from Morgan Stanley said.

Global oil companies might be slow to return to the Gulf, delaying restarts at some fields and risking damage to reservoirs, analysts from Rapidan Energy said.

The closure of shipping lanes has also forced producers to cut output as they can no longer export their barrels. Aramco has shut production from two large offshore fields, Safaniya and Zuluf, reducing output from OPEC's biggest producer by 20%.

In No. 2 producer Iraq, production has dropped 70%, while in the UAE, OPEC's No. 3 producer, output has halved, according to analysts.

Total oil output cuts in the Middle East now stand at 7-10 million barrels per day, or 7-10% of global demand, according to analysts' estimates.

Qatar fully shut its liquefied natural gas production, cutting 20% of the worlds LNG supplies, and told customers they may not receive cargoes until May.

"It is simple - it is safety. We cannot risk lives," said an industry source.
Featured

Trump steps up pressure on European allies to help protect strait of Hormuz

theguardian.com International News Mar - 16 - 2026 , 10:42 6 minutes read

Donald Trump has ratcheted up the pressure on European allies to help protect the strait of Hormuz, warning that Nato faces a very bad future if its members fail to come to Washingtons aid.

The de facto closure of the vital waterway by Tehran in retaliation for airstrikes by the US and Israel has proved catastrophic for global energy and trade flows, causing the largest oil supply disruption in history and soaring global oil prices.

The US presidents call for allies to enter the war by sending ships to the strait to protect commercial shipping vessels and unblock global oil supplies has met a muted response. Australia, France, Japan and the UK are among the countries to have said they have no plans to send ships.

Trump told the Financial Times in an interview: Its only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries of the strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there. If theres no response or if its a negative response, I think it will be very bad for the future of Nato.

European Union foreign ministers will discuss on Monday bolstering a small naval mission in the Middle East but are not expected to decide on extending its role to the strait.

Trump also told the FT he may delay a summit with Chinas Xi Jinping as he ramped up the pressure on Beijing, an Iran ally, to help secure the strait. It was reported last week that China was in talks with Tehran to allow safe oil and gas passage.

Trump said he expected China to help unblock the strait before he flies to Beijing. I think China should help, too, because China gets 90% of its oil from the straits, he said, suggesting that waiting until the summit would be too late. Wed like to know before that.

On Sunday Trump said his administration had already contacted seven countries for support, but he declined to identify them. In an earlier social media post, he said he hoped China, France, Japan, South Korea, Britain and others would participate.

Im demanding that these countries come in and protect their own territory because it is their territory, Trump told reporters onboard Air Force One on the way from Florida to Washington on Sunday. Its the place from which they get their energy.

The presidents appeals have so far failed to produce any commitments. Japans prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, speaking in parliament, said Japan did not currently plan to dispatch naval vessels to escort ships in the Middle East and confirmed the US had yet to make a formal request for assistance.

Prolonged restrictions on tanker traffic in the strait of Hormuz could threaten Japans energy security. The worlds fifth biggest economy imports 90% of its oil from the Middle East, 70% of which is shipped via the waterway. Takaichi is expected to discuss the war when she meets Trump in Washington later this week

On Monday, Japan began dipping into its oil reserves to alleviate supply concerns  the first time it has taken that step since Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Japan is initially releasing 15 days worth of reserves held by the private sector, followed by a months supply of state-owned oil, according to the Kyodo news agency.

Sending its self-defence forces abroad is politically sensitive in officially pacifist Japan. The defence minister, Shinjiro Koizumi, also pushed back on the pressures for Tokyo to dispatch ships. What we can technically do and whether we should do it under the current circumstances is a different story, he said.

Australia has also pushed back on the request for naval assistance. We wont be sending a ship to the strait of Hormuz, the transport minister, Catherine King, told the national broadcaster. We know how incredibly important that is but thats not something weve been asked or were contributing to.

The UK said it was considering dispatching aerial minesweepers to help clear the waterway of mines in an attempt to allow the flow of oil exports to resume. However, officials said sending ships could worsen the situation given the volatile nature of the war.

French foreign ministry officials emphasised that their current military posture was aimed at ensuring regional stability rather than escalating the conflict.

South Koreas presidential office said it would continue to communicate closely with the US regarding this matter and make a decision after careful review.

The blockade on the strait has sent the price of energy soaring globally. Oil prices continued to rise on Monday, hitting more than $104 a barrel in early trading.

With the conflict now in its third week, Trump on Sunday did not put a timeframe on concluding the war but said oil prices are going to come tumbling down as soon as its over, and its going to be over pretty quick.

The US energy secretary, Chris Wright, told ABC that it would certainly come to the end in the next few weeks  could be sooner than that.

Trump has said Washington is in contact with Iran but expressed doubt that Tehran was prepared for serious negotiations to end the conflict. The US president previously that claimed Iran wanted to negotiate but this was disputed by the Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi. We have never asked for a ceasefire, and we have never asked even for negotiations, Araqchi told CBS. We are ready to defend ourselves for as long as it takes.

Araghchi sought to project an image of strength and resilience despite waves of US and Israeli airstrikes that have killed a number of Iranian leaders, sunk much of the Islamic Republics navy and devastated its missile arsenal.

Its not a war of survival. We are stable and strong enough, he said. We dont see any reason why we should talk with Americans, because we were talking with them when they decided to attack us, and that was for the second time.

The impacts of the war continued to be felt in the Gulf, as Iran maintained its bombardment of the region.

Missiles and drone attacks hit the United Arab Emirates. A drone-related incident sparked a fuel tank fire near Dubai airport that disrupted travel, while a missile killed a civilian in Abu Dhabi.

In the eastern emirate of Fujairah, a drone attack on oil infrastructure sparked a large fire, authorities said, reporting no injuries.

Agencies contributed to this report
Featured

US broadcasters threatened with having licences revoked over Iran coverage

BBC International News Mar - 16 - 2026 , 10:54 3 minutes read

The chair of the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has threatened to revoke broadcasters' licences after US President Donald Trump criticised their coverage of the US-Israel war with Iran.

Brendan Carr told the BBC's US partner CBS News that broadcasters' licences were not a "property right" and warned they can be revoked if stations did not serve the public interest.

Carr's threat came after he accused broadcasters of "running hoaxes and news distortions", saying they can still "correct course" before their licence renewals.

Some Democratic lawmakers called Carr's comments unconstitutional. The FCC issues licences to individual broadcast stations, but does not licence TV networks.

"People have gotten used to the idea that, you know, licences are some sort of property right, and there's nothing you can do that can result in losing their licence," Carr told CBS News.

"I try to sort of help reorient people that, no, there is a public interest, and broadcast is different."

The FCC - the country's broadcast media watchdog - regulates radio, TV and satellite airwaves, giving it power over a range of matters, including mergers and decency complaints.

On Saturday, Carr responded to a social media post from Trump in which the US president said "Lowlife 'Papers' and Media actually want us to lose the War".

Carr wrote: "The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licences if they do not."

Democratic lawmakers criticised Carr's threats as unconstitutional.

Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote that it was illegal "for the government to censor free speech it just doesn't like about Trump's Iran war".

California Governor Gavin Newsom called Carr's threat "flagrantly unconstitutional", while Senator Mark Kelly wrote: "This is overreach by the FCC because this administration doesn't like the microscope and doesn't want to be held accountable."

Carr has been at the centre of the Trump administration's fight against TV broadcasters that Trump has disagreed with.

The FCC chair called for TV presenter Jimmy Kimmel's suspension after the ABC late-night host criticised Trump and Republicans for their reaction to the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Kimmel's show was taken off the air but returned six days later.

Trump has also frequently targeted news outlets over treatment he believes is biased against him, including lawsuits against the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and others.

The FCC, an independent agency, issues eight-year licences to broadcast stations, many of which are owned and operated by television networks. It does not licence TV networks such as CBS, NBC, ABC or Fox.

The FCC says on its website that the "First Amendment and the Communications Act expressly prohibit the Commission from censoring broadcast matter".

It also states that the commission's role in overseeing content on the air waves was "very limited".

The FCC's authority over content standards is limited to broadcasts on television and radio, and does not include cable networks or streaming platforms.
Trump steps up pressure on European allies to help protect strait of Hormuz

Previous article: Trump steps up pressure on European allies to help protect strait of Hormuz

Featured

Zelensky accuses EU allies of 'blackmail' in oil pipeline row

BBC International News Mar - 16 - 2026 , 10:30 4 minutes read

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused European allies of seeking to "blackmail" Kyiv into reopening a pipeline transporting Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia.

He said restoring the flow of Russian crude oil through Ukraine into the European Union (EU) would be like lifting economic sanctions on Moscow.

Ukraine says the Soviet-era Druzhba oil pipeline was damaged by Russian air strikes in January and has yet to be repaired.

Hungary depends on Russian energy and is blocking both fresh EU sanctions on Moscow and a vital 90bn ($103bn; 78bn) loan for Kyiv until the pipeline is reopened.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has made hostility towards Ukraine a key issue ahead of April elections. His party is entering the race trailing behind in opinion polls.

The EU has urged Zelensky to repair the pipeline quickly and is asking him to allow inspectors in to visit the damage. Some EU officials fear Zelensky's resistance may help Orban win re-election.

But talking to reporters in Kyiv, including the BBC, Zelensky said he was simply opposed in principle to allowing Russian oil to transit through Ukraine while the EU sanctioned its sale elsewhere.

He said: "We either sell Russian oil or we don't. Because [the EU] are forcing me to restore Druzhba.

"How is this different from lifting sanctions on the Russians? Why can we in one case tell the United States that we oppose lifting sanctions, while on the other hand forcing Ukraine to resume oil transit through Druzhba  and at a political price that effectively pays for anti-European policies?"

Zelensky's comments come after the US loosened sanctions preventing other countries buying Russian oil in order to ease the energy supply crunch sparked by the US-Israel war with Iran. The move has drawn criticism from a number of European leaders.

"If we have decided to restore Russian oil supplies, then I want them to know that I am against it. And there is no need to accuse me of blocking anything. I am not blocking it," Zelensky said.

"I am saying openly: I am against it. But if I am given conditions that Ukraine will not receive weapons, then, excuse me, I am powerless on this issue. I told our friends in Europe that this is called blackmail."

He added that the EU decision to loan Ukraine 90bn had been adopted by all 27 countries and must be implemented.

Talking about the widening conflict in the Middle East, Zelensky described his country's interceptor drones as "Ukrainian oil" and said he was ready to agree a $50bn joint production deal with the US.

He said the US had "reached out to us several times" and claimed Washington was "very interested" in a deal.

Since that war broke out, many countries - especially in the Gulf - have asked Ukraine for help defending against cheap Iranian-designed drones.

Ukraine is a world leader in both producing cheap interceptor drones but also in learning how best to use them against almost nightly Russian attacks.

"For us, this is like oil," Zelensky told reporters. "The production of modern drones and Ukraine's relevant expertise is our today's Ukrainian oil."

He emphasised that Ukraine would want both money and technology in return for any agreements.

He added that Ukraine had proposed a joint production drone deal with the US last year but it had not been agreed.

"We were ready then, and are still fully ready now. We would welcome such a shared use of experience. That is why we made this proposal," he said.

The Ukrainian leader said that since the US-Israel attack on Iran, the US had reached out to Ukraine several times: "There were several requests - either for assistance to a particular country or for support for Americans. Our military is in contact at various levels. We received letters, calls, and requests across all military institutions."

Zelensky also warned about the risks posed to Ukraine by the war in the Middle East.

"We do not want to lose the Americans; we speak about this openly," the Ukrainian leader said.

"The United States is, without question, currently more focused on the Middle East There may be delays in delivering certain weapons or reductions in the volume of critical defensive supplies for us."

And he opposed the US 30-day waiver on sanctions against Russian oil already at sea: "We do not support such a policy. I believe that lifting sanctions on Russia will not help the world; it will only help Russia."

Zelensky added: "We certainly do not support relaxing the sanctions policy. And overall, this war in the Middle East does not help us, here and now, although we have no illusions about the Iranian regime and we absolutely do not support it - and that is putting it mildly."

The US's temporary sanctions waiver was expected to last until 11 April, according to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

Vladimir Putin's economic envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, has said that the lifting of sanctions shows Russia is integral to the stability of the global energy market and that further loosening them was "inevitable".
Featured

Prof. Deodat Emilson Adenutsi elected TUTAG National President

Alberto Mario Noretti Education Mar - 16 - 2026 , 07:59 2 minutes read

An Associate Professor of Accounting and Finance at Ho Technical University (HTU), Professor Deodat Emilson Adenutsi, has been elected the National President of the Technical University Teachers Association of Ghana (TUTAG).

His election took place during the associations 51st national congress held in Ho.

The newly elected six-member national executive will serve a two-year term.

The congress was held on the theme: Dialogue at the Centre  Sustaining Industrial Harmony through Engagement and Diplomacy in the Technical Universities of Ghana.

The gathering aimed to deliberate on union matters, leadership transition and the future of technical university education in the country.

In a welcome address, the Vice-Chancellor of Ho Technical University, Professor Ben Q. Honyenuga, commended TUTAG for its commitment to safeguarding the welfare and professional dignity of teachers in the technical university sector.

Touching on the theme, he said dialogue embodied maturity, leadership and institutional patriotism, adding that prioritising dialogue shifted the focus from confrontation to collaboration and from conflict to productive progress.

The outgoing President of TUTAG, Professor Uriah S. Tetteh, in a farewell message, reflected on the associations transformation into a principled labour union that thrived on respectful engagement with the government, collaboration with regulatory bodies and internal consensus.

He described the congress as a significant moment of transition, affirming the associations commitment to continuity and democratic maturity.

The President of the Colleges of Education Teachers Association of Ghana (CETAG) also commended Ho Technical University for hosting the congress and reaffirmed the associations partnership with TUTAG.

In his inaugural address, Professor Adenutsi pledged what he described as servant transformational leadership anchored on welfare maximisation, integrity, fairness and accountability.

He also assured members that he would ensure the continuity of ongoing projects, promote prudent management of resources and strengthen strategic engagement with stakeholders.

Other members of the newly elected national executive, all from Ho Technical University, are Dr Frank Kulor, National Vice-President; Dr Francis Fonyee Nutsugah, Secretary; Daniel Komla Tsorhe, Treasurer; Francis Mahama, National Organiser; and Patience Aku Dedume Glauh-Jeh.
Featured

Bills Micro-Credit officers in custody for assaulting mother over GH300 loan

GraphicOnline Mar - 16 - 2026 , 06:29 2 minutes read

The Kwabenya District Police Command has taken into custody four field officers of Bills Micro-Credit Limited following a disturbing incident in which a mother carrying a baby was allegedly assaulted during a loan recovery attempt at Ashongman Estate.

The arrests, effected on Sunday, March 15, 2026, come days after a video capturing the confrontation went viral on social media, sparking public outrage and reigniting discussions about the tactics employed by some microfinance institutions in recovering debts.

According to a police statement signed by Superintendent Juliana Obeng, Head of Public Affairs for the Accra Region, the complainant, 42-year-old Hagar Emaser, reported to the police on March 13 that four men identifying themselves as officials from Bills Microfinance had visited her residence to demand repayment of a loan facility. During the encounter, she alleged, the men assaulted her.

The suspects have been identified as Denis Wornyo, 38; Albert Amarh, 40; Ebenezer Amartei, 23; and Atsu Lawson, 27. They are currently in police custody assisting with investigations, having already provided caution statements to investigators.

The widely circulated video footage shows the officers engaged in a heated argument with the woman over an alleged failure to repay a GH300 loan.

In the clip, one of the officers is seen seizing the woman's mobile phone. As she attempts to retrieve the device while still holding her baby, she loses her balance and falls to the ground. The footage has drawn widespread condemnation from members of the public and civil society groups who have decried the use of force in debt recovery.

In a separate development, Bills Micro-Credit Limited issued a statement confirming that the officers captured in the video had been suspended with immediate effect following a directive from the company's board, pending the outcome of investigations.

The company condemned the incident and indicated that it had commenced internal inquiries to establish the full circumstances surrounding the confrontation.

The Accra Regional Police Command has taken the opportunity to caution the public, urging victims of assault and other criminal acts to report such incidents promptly for investigation.

The Command further advised individuals with grievances relating to loan transactions or other civil matters to seek lawful and peaceful means of resolution rather than resorting to self-help or intimidation.

The case has drawn attention to the broader issue of debt collection practices in Ghana's growing microfinance sector, with observers calling for stricter regulatory oversight to protect vulnerable borrowers from harassment and intimidation.

Investigations into the matter are ongoing, and the suspects remain in police custody pending further inquiries.
Featured

Court dismisses Chairman Wontumis no case submission, orders defence

Justice Agbenorsi & Joselyn Kafui Nyadzi Mar - 16 - 2026 , 14:32 1 minute read

The Criminal Division of the Accra High Court has ordered the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, to open his defence in an ongoing illegal mining case.

The directive was issued by the presiding judge, Justice Audrey Kocuvie-Tay, after the court dismissed a submission of no case filed by Chairman Wontumi and his company, Akonta Mining Company Limited.

The ruling means the accused must now present their defence in response to the charges brought against them by the prosecution.

Chairman Wontumi and Akonta Mining Company Limited are facing six counts of allegedly permitting Henry Okum and Michael Gyedu Ayisi to undertake mining activities on the companys concession without obtaining prior approval from the sector minister.

They are also accused of facilitating unlicensed mining operations.

The accused persons have pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Following the courts decision, the accused have been given seven days to inform the court of how they intend to proceed with their defence.

They are required to indicate whether they will remain silent and allow the court to determine the case based on the prosecutions evidence, or whether Chairman Wontumi will testify in person and file witness statements from individuals he intends to call in his defence.
Cocoa, the backbone of Ghanas economy

Emmanuel Dei Nuamah Mar - 16 - 2026 , 09:57 3 minutes read

In the late 1800s, cocoa made its way to Ghana.

The cocoa tree was brought to West Africa in the 1840s by Sao Tome and Brazil, despite being native to Central and South America.

Dutch missionaries cultivated cocoa in Ghana (then known as the Gold Coast) between the 1810s and 1850s, but Tetteh Quarshie, a blacksmith from Ghana, is credited with bringing cocoa to the nation in 1879 after returning from Fernando Po (now Bioko, Equatorial Guinea) with Amelonado cocoa pods.

Cocoa farming

He (Tetteh Quarshie) founded a farm in Ghana's eastern district of Mampong-Akwapim, and farmers across the country began growing cocoa.

To increase productivity, Governor Sir William Bradford Griffith imported more pods and seedlings from Sao Tome in 1886.

Particularly in the Ashanti, Brong, Ahafo, Western, Western North, and Eastern regions of Ghana, cocoa had become a significant cash crop by the early 20th century, with Ghana producing hundreds of thousands of tons a year.

The economy of Ghana depends heavily on cocoa, the countrys main cash crop, which accounts for about one-third of its export earnings and is the second-largest export after gold.

It supports the livelihoods of about one million cocoa farmers in Ghana.

Cocoa funds the construction of roads in cocoa-growing areas (Cocoa Roads Improvement Project) and health infrastructure.

Benefits

Furthermore, COCOBOD annually allocates approximately GH2 million towards cocoa scholarships from primary to tertiary education for children of cocoa farmers, with around 2,500 beneficiaries having benefited from the scheme so far.

Presently, over 70 per cent of global cocoa comes from West Africa, with Ghana and Cote dIvoire producing nearly 60 per cent of the worlds supply.

Currently, Ghana is the second largest producer of cocoa in the world, after Cote dIvoire.

Moreover, Ghana is a major exporter of raw cocoa beans and other refined goods, such as cocoa creams, soap and drinks, to other countries to earn revenue.

Adding values

This has significantly improved the country's economy. Ghana was able to process and refined roughly 22 per cent of its cocoa beans between 2008 and 2016 for use in the manufacture of chocolate, creams, soap, drinks and many other items.

However, between 2017 and 2024, the value of Ghana's refined raw cocoa beans relative to other products, as mentioned earlier, climbed from 22 per cent to 42 per cent, a trend that could be further improved.

Pricing

In addition, Ghana's cocoa prices varied within a comparatively constant range of roughly $1,900$3,500 per tonne throughout most of the 20102023 period.

Seasonal supply, currency exchange rates and worldwide demand were all reflected in this cyclical pattern. But costs started to rise sharply in late 2022.

Cocoa prices had risen six times from 2022 levels to an all-time high of almost $10,000 per tonne by December 2024.

The COCOABOD of Ghana raised the price of cocoa per bag to GH3,100 during the 20242025 crop season and then to GH3,600 in October 2025.

However, due to the precipitous decline in cocoa prices on the global market, COCOABOD has lowered the farm-gate price per bag from GH3,600 to GH2,580 for farmers.
Next article: Middle East tensions trigger evacuation of Ghanaians: Tuesday deadline set for nationals in Qatar

Featured

E&P leads indigenous mining push - Pursues landmark Damang takeover

Pacome Emmanuel Damalie Mar - 16 - 2026 , 07:55 7 minutes read

Indigenous mining services provider, Engineers and Planners (E&P) Company Limited, remains poised to take over the operations of Damang Mine in the Western Region, a move that will further deepen Ghanas long-awaited large-scale mining revolution.

A Daily Graphic search has revealed that the declaration of intent to take over the mine predates 2023, when Gold Fields signalled its decision to wind down the mine and consequently wrote to E&P, the mining contractor of the mine, to demobilise from the site.

Early positioning

The operational presence of E&P at Damang Mine places it in a unique position to assume the reins of the Damang lease after it is transferred to the state on the April 18, 2026.

Having worked extensively at the site, the company has developed deep familiarity with the mines geological structure, operational systems and workforce dynamics.

This institutional knowledge, combined with more than three decades of experience in Ghanas mining services sector, makes E&P one of the few indigenous firms with the technical capacity to contemplate acquiring and operating a major gold mine.

E&Ps interest in acquiring the Damang Mine dates back to engagements that began around 2022, at a time the former was already operating as a major mining contractor, providing key operational services within the Damang mining complex.

By a letter dated November 11, 2025, detailing a checklist of recommendations for the transition and future operations of the Damang Mine, Gold Fields acknowledged E&Ps operational familiarity with the asset.

The letter, signed by the Senior Vice-President and Managing Director of Gold Fields, Elliot Twum, and copied to the Chief Executive of the Minerals Commission, Isaac Tandoh, as well as Gold Fields CEO, Mike Fraser, notes that the Ghanaian contractor possessed extensive experience working under the specific conditions at Damang.

It suggested that the company could be well positioned to support continued operations, depending on the final ownership structure adopted for the mine.

Gold Fields also highlighted the urgency of determining a future operator for the mine.

It warned that delays in confirming a new operator could create challenges in securing regulatory permits and licences, potentially disrupting operations.

Context

Gold Fields 30-year mining lease for Damang in the Western Region expired in 2025.

To ensure continuity and allow time for transition arrangements, the government granted a one-year extension.

The multinational mining company has since indicated that it intends to formally hand over the mine to the government on April 18, this year.

However, documents reviewed by the Daily Graphic show that long before the impending handover date, E&P had already begun positioning itself to assume control of the asset.

The review of a trail of letters, proposals and official engagements involving E&P, Gold Fields and the government indicates that the process of exploring a potential acquisition began several years ago, as part of E&Ps deliberate strategy to transition from a mining services provider into a mine owner.

Some industry experts confirmed that the sequence of events demonstrated that the Ghanaian mining contractors interest in Damang was neither sudden nor opportunistic.

Background

The first major turning point in the Damang timeline came in September 2023.

In a Notice of Demobilisation letter dated September 4, 2023, Gold Fields informed E&P that the company intended to wind down active mining operations at the Damang site.

The letter instructed the Ghanaian contractor to begin demobilising its mining equipment from the mine.

Gold Fields also indicated that mining of the pits would be completed by December 2023.

This meant that once the Huni and LKG pits were fully mined out by the end of 2023, no further pit mining would take place.

After that, the company planned to focus only on processing existing stockpiles until the mine reached the end of its operational life in 2025.

E&P makes bold proposal

The signal that Gold Fields was entering the final phase of its operations at Damang prompted E&P to, rather than withdraw quietly from the site, respond with a strategic proposal to dramatically alter the future trajectory of the mine.

In a letter dated September 25, 2023, addressed to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Gold Fields, the Ghanaian mining company formally requested the opportunity to purchase the Damang Mine.

The proposal represented a bold strategic shift for E&P, signalling its intention to evolve from a mining contractor into a full-scale mine owner and operator, a demonstration of confidence and ambition on the part of the Ghanaian company.

Gold Fields opens options

Four days later, on September 29, 2023, Gold Fields, through an email sent by the acting Executive Vice-President for Strategy, Strategic Planning and Corporate Development at Gold Fields, Jacob Ricciardone, indicated that the company was still assessing its strategic options regarding the future of the Damang Mine.

The acting Executive Vice-President explained that once the internal review process was completed, Gold Fields would communicate its decision to E&P.

This means, while Gold Fields had earlier instructed E&P to demobilise its equipment from the site, the company simultaneously suggested that it had not yet reached a final decision about the mines future ownership or operational structure.

Daily Graphic sources indicate that the apparent contradiction left the fate of the mine uncertain for several months.

Engagement with government

Determined to change the century-old narrative of mining in the country, E&P escalated its acquisition strategy by formally engaging the government in 2024, by applying for a no objection letter from the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources to engage Gold Fields to assume the reins of the Damang Mine.

This was in line with the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703), which states that any transfer of mining interests or shares in a mining asset requires government approval through the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources.

The ministry obliged and issued a no objection on March 12, 2024.

The letter, signed by the then Chief Director, Professor Patrick K. Agbesinyale, confirmed that the ministry had no objection to Gold Fields and E&P entering into negotiations to finalise a transaction involving the Damang asset.

That notwithstanding, the ministry emphasised that any final agreement would still require formal approval from the government.

Analysts who spoke to the Daily Graphic maintained that those procedures effectively opened the door for the two companies to proceed with negotiations towards a potential transfer of ownership.

Push for final negotiations

In a follow-up, E&P wrote again to Gold Fields CEO on December 16, 2025, reminding Gold Fields that several discussions had already taken place between officials of the two organisations regarding the proposed acquisition.

E&P maintained that during the earlier discussions, the company had been advised to secure a no-objection letter from the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources.

Having obtained that approval in March 2024, the Ghanaian firm argued that the next logical step was to finalise negotiations on the share acquisition.

E&P, therefore, formally requested a meeting with Gold Fields to discuss the modalities of completing the transaction, subject to government approval.

However, by early 2026, E&P indicated that it had not received a response to its request.

In the latest attempt to continue negotiations, E&P, in a letter dated January 26, 2026, addressed to the Gold Fields CEO, pointed out that its earlier request for discussions on the acquisition had not been answered.

With Gold Fields planning to hand over the Damang Mine to the state on April 18, 2026, the clock is now ticking on what could become one of the most consequential moments in the history of Ghanas mining sector.

Beyond the immediate question of Damangs future, the broader significance lies in the possibility that an indigenous company may finally take the reins of a major, large-scale gold mine.

If that happens, industry experts say it could mark the beginning of a new chapter in Ghanas mining history  one in which Ghanaian companies move from the margins of the industry into its commanding heights.

Further confirmation of ongoing negotiations emerged in December 2025.

In a letter dated December 8, 2025, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, confirmed that the government was aware that E&P had engaged Gold Fields regarding the acquisition of shares in the Damang Mine.

The minister also accepted a recommendation that E&P be included in the mines transition team.

That decision formally recognised the Ghanaian contractor as a key participant in the process of transferring Damangs operations.
Featured

First Lady inaugurates renovated Anyima Health Centre in Bono East

Kester Aburam Korankye Mar - 16 - 2026 , 07:57 3 minutes read

The Lordina Foundation has renovated and inaugurated the Anyima Health Centre in the Kintampo South District in the Bono East Region.

The facility, which was fully renovated and equipped by the Lordina Foundation, is set to serve over 3,000 people from Anyima and the neighbouring communities of Amoma, Apesika, Jema and Kranbenko.

This brings to six the total number of medical facilities the foundation, founded by the First Lady, Lordina Dramani Mahama, has either built or renovated across the country.

Well-equipped facility

The renovated Anyima Health Centre now boasts of an Out-Patient Department (OPD), consulting room, examination room, delivery room, labour ward, children's ward and male and female wards.

Additional facilities include an adolescent centre, laboratory, dispensary, offices for nurses and midwives and an emergency room.

The Lordina Foundation has provided essential medical equipment, including new beds and mattresses, an electric obstetric bed, an infant incubator, an infant phototherapy unit, an ultrasound system, a digital electrocardiogram (ECG), oxygen equipment, delivery sets, patient monitoring devices and essential neonatal care equipment.

Access to maternal, infant health

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony over the weekend, Mrs Mahama mentioned the health facilities either built from scratch or renovated to include four new maternity and children's wards at Bole, Nkoranza South, Bodom in Nkoranza North and Asukawkaw, as well as the renovated and expanded Adabraka Health Centre at Hohoe Zongo.

She expressed joy at being able to contribute to the development of her hometown area, revealing her personal connection to the community.

"As many of you may be aware, Jema-Ampoma, which is nearby, is where my late mother, Abena Gyamfua, comes from. But beyond my personal ties to this project, we at the Lordina Foundation, believe that every Ghanaian community deserves access to quality health care, especially for maternal and infant health," she said.

The First Lady commended the Anyimahemaa, Saa Gyamfuaa II, for her passion and advocacy, which encouraged the Foundation to undertake the project.

Worrying statistics

Mrs Dramani Mahama drew attention to Ghana's worrying maternal and infant mortality statistics, noting that the country's maternal mortality rate stands at nearly 300 deaths per 100,000 live births, while infant mortality is reported at about 32 deaths per 1,000 live births.

"Behind these numbers are mothers, daughters, sisters and precious children whose lives could be saved with timely access to quality health care facilities and skilled birth attendants. Many of these are preventable.

"My dear brothers and sisters, my children and Nananom, the buildings the Lordina Foundation is constructing are not merely structures; they are lifesavers," the First Lady said.

Free Primary Health Care programme

Mrs Mahama announced that President John Dramani Mahama, would soon launch a Primary Health Care Programme, which would provide free care at facilities such as the Anyima Health Centre.

She indicated that the programme's expected outcomes included increased health care utilisation, early disease detection, reduced health expenditure for families and a healthier, more productive nation.

Mrs Mahama also called on the community to take full ownership of the centre and keep it in good condition, while appealing to traditional authorities to keep watch over the facility to ensure it continues to meet the people's health needs for years to come.
Ghana Culture Week celebration opens

Juliet Akyaa Safo Mar - 16 - 2026 , 09:57 3 minutes read

The Vice-Chancellor of the Cape Coast Technical University, Professor Kwaku Boakye, has called for renewed efforts to reposition Ghanaian culture as a central pillar of the countrys development.

He explained that although there had been growing interest in aspects of Ghanaian culture such as festivals, food, fashion and traditional ceremonies, the core values that once held society together were gradually declining.

Speaking at the opening of the Ghana Culture Week in Accra last Friday, Prof. Boakye said history had shown that the decline of many societies often began with the neglect of their cultural values and the adoption of foreign practices.

He, however, stated that culture must not be regarded as static, but as capable of adapting to external influences while maintaining its unique identity.

Ghana Culture Week

The event, which was on the theme: Resetting Ghanas Tourism, Culture and Creative Ecosystem", was attended by government officials, traditional leaders and players in the tourism industry.

It was organised by the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, in partnership with the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) and the Ghana Culture Forum.

Activities for the celebration included culinary and visual arts exhibitions, film screening and presentation, literary and verbal arts, and a local architecture exhibition on Ghanaian heritage.

Cultural revival, education

Prof. Boakye said that despite the positive developments, the country was facing a worrying conflict.

While we are doing well in the visible aspects of culture such as dress, food and festivals, we are losing the intangible elements such as our norms, values, respect for the elderly and moral discipline, he said.

He attributed the erosion of cultural values partly to poor parental guidance, excessive exposure to foreign media content and the failure of society to deliberately transmit cultural knowledge to younger generations.

To address the challenges, the Vice-Chancellor called for reforms in the education system to integrate creative arts and cultural studies more into the curricula.

Touching on tourism, he said, cultural heritage remained the only tourism asset that could not be authentically replicated elsewhere, making it a powerful tool for attracting visitors and generating employment.

He called for a collective effort to reset the countrys cultural and creative ecosystem.

Ghana Cultural Policy

The Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Abla Dzifa Gomashie, said the ministry was working on implementing policies to protect and promote the cultural sector.

She said a Ghana Cultural Policy would soon be launched to stimulate innovation, entrepreneurship, and create meaningful jobs for the youth.

Ms Gomashie said it was important to value what made Ghanaians unique, and called on stakeholders to support the ministry in its efforts to revitalise the cultural space.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), Maame Efua Sekyi Aidoo Houadjeto, said the celebration was a call to action for restaurant operators, chefs and patrons to promote Ghanaian food.

She said the event was linked to the GTA showcasing 69 indigenous meals, as well as the significance of cultural expressions and their potential to drive economic growth.

Indigenous languages

The UNESCO Representative in Ghana, Edmond Moukala, said it was important to integrate indigenous languages into education and public life, while calling for the economic empowerment of the cultural sector, saying it was underfunded in most African governments.

He, however, called for the private sector to invest more in the cultural sector to strengthen its economic impact.

The Chairperson of the event, Nanahema Adwoa Awindor, urged Ghanaians to commit to preserving cultural heritage, not just through memory but through active celebration and practice.
Featured

NDPC proposes SADA return to drive northern devt

Michael Quaye Mar - 16 - 2026 , 12:20 4 minutes read

The National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) is proposing the re-establishment of the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) as a dedicated project to champion the development of the northern part of the country.

The intention is to restructure SADA into a relevant development authority to achieve its purpose as the main vehicle driving development across the northern half of the country.

The proposal is expected to be part of a comprehensive document of a national development plan that will receive parliamentary approval to make it binding on successive governments.

The Chairman of the NDPC, Dr Nii Moi Thompson, said SADA remained a "critical component of any strategy for the effective transformation of the Ghanaian economy in the medium to long term.

Dr Thompson made the statement during an engagement between the NDPC and the Northern Regional Coordinating Council and local assemblies of the Northern Region in Tamale.

He said President John Dramani Mahama had directed the commission to prepare a "consolidated national development plan" from all previous development plans to be approved by Parliament to make it binding on current and future governments.

Even development

Dr Thompson said the restructured SADA would also contribute significantly to the "even development" of the country as required by the 1992 Constitution.

"SADA, which covered 54 per cent of the land area of Ghana, was greatly misunderstood in terms of its scope, role and potential impact on national development," the NDPC boss said.

Characteristics

The government established SADA around 2010 with a focus on the broader Savannah ecological zone, which included the three northern regions and parts of the then-Brong-Ahafo (currently Bono, Ahafo and Bono regions) and the Volta Region, through large-scale agricultural and infrastructural development.

It was, however, saddled with scandals and mismanagement, especially in the guinea fowl and tree planting projects, with critics pointing to its failure to meet its objectives despite significant funding.

In 2017, it was replaced with the Northern Development Authority (NDA), which had a narrower focus that limited its scope to the specific three northern regions  Northern, Upper East and Upper West.

It was intended to align with the "One Village One Dam" policy to address poverty through targeted constituency-level infrastructure development, rather than the broader regional approach of SADA.

However, the NDA has also been embroiled in controversy. It has been criticised for failing to deliver meaningful projects, struggling to pay salaries, and lacking a clear strategic plan in its early years.

SADA plan

On SADA, Dr Thompson said the areas covered shared common ecological similarities, challenges, and prospects, making it easier and more cost-effective to address the challenges through an integrated strategy.

He said the fact that seven of the poorest regions in Ghana as of 2025 were in the original SADA development zone justified a decision to revisit the strategy and strengthen it for a better outcome.

He said to make a restructured SADA effective, Development Bank Ghana should be repurposed to its original objective of a "SADA Development Bank" to fund development projects that transcended districts, but with shared benefits such as water, transport and logistics.

He indicated, however, that within and beyond SADA, national development strategies would also address rural-urban disparities.

"The poorest socio-economic groups in Ghana are food crop farmers, followed by cash crop farmers," he said, stressing that "that is immoral and paradoxical", and that "something must be done about that".

Dr Thompson said the NDPC was embarking on regional consultations before producing "yet another development plan," as the commission must first understand why previous plans failed and use the lessons learnt to prepare the new plan.

He said the commission was thus conducting "strategic engagements" across the 16 regions of the country and with key state agencies in order to construct an appropriate national development plan.

Courtesy call

The commission had earlier paid a courtesy call on the Overlord of the Dagbon Traditional Area, Ndan Yaa Naa Abukari II, at Gbewa Palace, during which he presented the commission with a copy of a "Dagbon Strategic Development Plan".

Dr Thompson was accompanied by the Director-General of the commission, Dr Audrey Smock Amoah.

Earlier engagement

At a previous strategic engagement with the Savannah Regional Coordinating Council at Damongo, Dr Thompson lamented the fate of Ghanaian farmers and questioned the relevance of the National Farmers Day.

"In the three decades that Farmers Day has been held, our food import bill has been rising, farmers have become poorer, and we can't even pay the prizes of those who win. It's become an expensive annual ritual with no meaningful impact," he said.

"Perhaps, we should scrap Farmers Day and use the money to improve the well-being of farmers, especially smallholder farmers, who remain among the poorest," he said.
Featured

UCC honours Vice-President with first distinguished fellow award

Shirley Asiedu-Addo & Joana Kumi Mar - 16 - 2026 , 07:57 5 minutes read

The University of Cape Coast (UCC) on Friday conferred its maiden Distinguished Fellow Award on the Vice-President, Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, in recognition of her trailblazing service to the development and growth of the university and the nation.

The colourful ceremony, marked by glowing tributes to the Vice-President for her immense contributions to higher education, gender equality and national development, also saw her symbolically robed for the conferment of the honour.

Having shattered the glass ceiling as the first female Vice-Chancellor of a public university in Ghana, Prof. Opoku-Agyemang has moved on from academia to become the first female Vice-President of Ghana in yet another ground-breaking personal feat.

During her academic career at UCC, she became the first female Dean of the Faculty of Arts, the first female Dean of the School of Graduate Studies, and later the first female Vice-Chancellor of the university, making her the first woman to head a public university in Ghana.

When the institution decided to honour her remarkable path of academic success, resilience and positive ambition, it assembled politicians and the clergy, traditional rulers and entrepreneurs, students and lecturers, among others, to celebrate a personality who represents the pride of womanhood.

The dignitaries who graced the occasion included the Chancellor of UCC, Sir Dr Sam Jonah; the Chairman of the UCC Governing Council, Justice William Atuguba, a retired justice of the Supreme Court; the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Johnson Pandit Asiama; the Inspector-General of Police, and Christian Tetteh Yohuno.

Traditional leaders present included the President of the Central Regional House of Chiefs, Odeefuo Amoakwa Boadu; the Omanhen of the Oguaa Traditional Area, Osabarimba Kwesi Atta II; and the Omanhen of the Komenda Traditional Area, Nana Oketakye Komeh VIII.

Also present were former vice-chancellors and vice-chancellors of other universities, senior security personnel, the clergy, academics, traditional authorities, and the staff and students of the university.

Trailblazer

In his address, Sir Sam described Prof. Opoku-Agyemang as a trailblazer, a true patriot and a woman of integrity.

"In these times when trust in public institutions is tested, when cynicism threatens to become the default posture of citizens toward their leaders, her example shines as a beacon, he said, adding that the Vice-President reminded all that principled leadership was not a relic of a nobler age but one that was possible and practised today.

Such virtues, Dr Jonah stressed, were utterly vital for Ghanas progress, unity and future.

At this very university, she became the first female Vice-Chancellor in the history of UCC  and, I am proud to note, the first female Vice-Chancellor of any public university in the entire history of Ghana, the Chancellor said.

He said in a nation and a system that had for decades reserved the highest offices of academic leadership for men alone, Prof. Opoku-Agyemang broke through not through confrontation, but through undeniable excellence, commending her for her determination and strength of character.

"The nation took notice.

She went on to become Ghana's first female Vice-President, the highest position ever held by a woman in the constitutional history of our Republic.

These are not footnotes to her biography.

They are chapters that have rewritten the possibilities for every Ghanaian woman and girl who dares to dream," Sir Sam added.

Dr Jonah urged the youth and students to emulate Prof. Opoku-Agyemang and rise to enviable heights.

"I want you to look carefully at the woman we honour today.

She sat in classrooms not unlike the ones you sit in now.

She walked the same grounds you walk.

She faced the same doubts, the same pressures, the same temptation to underestimate herself that every student faces.

And she chose, again and again, the harder path, the path of diligence, of courage, of service," the Chancellor said.

Family

In her acceptance remarks, Prof. Opoku-Agyemang acknowledged family, friends and colleagues who in diverse ways helped her to achieve the successes in her life and career.

She said education must turn individuals to commit to serving humanity's well-being.

The Vice-President thanked the university for the honour and for the values that it instilled in her, saying many of the values that shaped her adult life were those acquired from her days as a student and work life at the university.

She said higher education was a privilege and that all must ensure that the knowledge acquired benefited society.

Prof. Opoku-Agyemang stressed that higher education must go beyond theoretical knowledge and impact the nation.

We must examine established systems, ideas and institutions and work to improve them for the well-being of society, Prof. Opoku-Agyemang stated, urging all, irrespective of background, to learn to find out and pass on; to guide, counsel, and uplift others, and in so doing, hold the future in trust for those who follow.

Commendation

The acting Vice-Chancellor of UCC, Prof. Denis Aheto, commended the Vice-President for the many infrastructural achievements during her tenure as Vice-Chancellor, the human capacity development and international visibility she brought to the university, which he said had positioned UCC for national and international laurels.

He said with the many firsts chalked up by Vice-President Opoku-Agyemang, it was not surprising that her excellent perseverance and the limitless possibilities of leadership, grounded in scholarship and public service, continued to motivate many across Ghana and the world.

Prof. Aheto said the honour bestowed on the Vice-President was to celebrate excellence, leadership and service to the nation and humanity.

Fact sheet


Featured

Middle East tensions trigger evacuation of Ghanaians: Tuesday deadline set for nationals in Qatar

GraphicOnline Mar - 16 - 2026 , 06:55 2 minutes read

The Ghanaian government has activated emergency evacuation procedures for its citizens residing in Qatar, citing heightened security concerns sweeping across the Middle Eastern region, the Embassy in Doha announced on Sunday.

In a notice dated March 15, 2026, the Embassy of Ghana in Qatar directed all Ghanaians wishing to return home to urgently reconfirm their interest by submitting the biodata pages of their passports via email, with a strict deadline of Tuesday, March 17, 2026. The exercise, officials stressed, is strictly a one-way evacuation arrangement from Qatar to Ghana.

The announcement follows an earlier advisory issued on March 6, 2026, in which the embassy first alerted the Ghanaian community to the deteriorating security situation in the region. The latest communication escalates those warnings into concrete action, as authorities move to bring citizens home before the window of opportunity potentially narrows.

"We refer to its earlier notice dated 6th March, 2026 and to inform all Ghanaians living in Qatar that the Government of the Republic of Ghana has decided to undertake an emergency evacuation exercise in Qatar in the wake of the heightened security situation in the Region," the statement read in part.

The embassy has directed interested evacuees to send their passport biodata pages to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. without delay. The notice, marked with triple "FLASH" warnings, underscores the urgency with which the mission is treating the unfolding developments.

The region has witnessed fluctuating tensions in recent weeks following the war between allies Israel and America and Iran, prompting a number of countries to review contingency plans for their nationals abroad.

The evacuation exercise presents logistical challenges, given the number of Ghanaians estimated to be residing and working in Qatar. Many have travelled to the Gulf nation in recent years seeking employment opportunities, particularly in sectors linked to infrastructure and services.

The Ghanaian mission in Doha has yet to indicate the scale of the operation or the timeline for the actual evacuation flights. However, the tight deadline for registration suggests authorities are working to assemble a comprehensive list of prospective evacuees to facilitate planning with aviation and immigration authorities.

Ghanaians in Qatar who may require assistance have been encouraged to maintain contact with the embassy and monitor official channels for further updates as the situation develops.
See the areas that will be affected by ECG's planned maintenance on Monday, March 16, 2026

Next article: See the areas that will be affected by ECG's planned maintenance on Monday, March 16, 2026

Featured

Police arrest 2 more suspects in deadly Fufulso Junction MoMo robbery

Emmanuel Bonney Mar - 16 - 2026 , 06:16 2 minutes read

A joint police operation deployed by the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Christian Tetteh Yohuno, has led to the arrest of two additional suspects in connection with the Fufulso Junction robbery and murder case in the Savannah Region.

The latest arrests bring the total number of suspects in custody to five.

According to a police report, three suspects  Habibata Kojo, 29; Ibrahim Sumaila, 35; and Alhassan Yusif, aged about 40  were arrested on March 12, 2026.

Two more suspects, Dramani Imoro, 24, and Sayibu Iddi, 50, were subsequently apprehended on March 13, 2026.

The operation was carried out by a special team made up of the IGPs Cyber Vetting and Enforcement Team and the Anti-Armed Robbery Unit of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Headquarters in Accra.

The team was deployed to assist the Buipe District Police Command following the violent robbery at Fufulso Junction on March 8, 2026, at about 7:30 p.m., which resulted in the killing of a mobile money operator, Mahama Majeed, and another person.

Police said the attack occurred at Golden Linq Ventures, a mobile money vending shop.

Initial investigation confirmed six suspects (including one female) believed to be of Fulani extraction, armed with AK-47 rifles hidden under long coats, carried out the attack at Golden Linq Ventures, a MoMo vending shop, the report said.

The police added that a search conducted at the residence of suspect Dramani Imoro led to the retrieval of several items believed to be linked to the crime.

A search at suspect Dramani Imoros residence yielded an unregistered Toyota VOXY vehicle which he allegedly purchased 72 hours after the crime, an unregistered Haojue motorbike, and two smartphones, the report stated.

All the suspects and the retrieved items are currently in police custody to assist with further investigations.

The police say efforts are ongoing to track down other accomplices who are still at large.

The police administration would like to commend all the officers for the swift response and the actions put in place to arrest the suspects.

The administration is also calling on the public, especially those within the Savannah Region area to volunteer information on the whereabouts of all those connected to this horrendous crime, the report said.
Featured

Police arrest three suspects over murder at Gbiniyiri

Jemima Okang Addae Mar - 16 - 2026 , 12:46 1 minute read

The Ghana Police Service has arrested three suspects in connection with cases of murder and causing harm at Gbiniyiri in the Savannah Region.

The suspects, Yaw Bamuah, Yaa Bokaa and Kuma Simpor, were arrested on March 14 by the Inspector-General of Polices Special Intelligence Team in collaboration with the Savannah Regional Police Command.

According to a press release issued by the police in Damongo, investigations revealed that during interrogation, suspect Yaw Bamuah admitted involvement in the attack and mentioned several accomplices, including Anuda Borour, Pobiye, Bitunor Sansa and James Sanyuah, who are currently being pursued by the police.

The suspect further disclosed that the attack was carried out in retaliation following the killing of a relative whom they believed had been attacked by robbers suspected to be Fulani.

Police said Yaw Bamuah subsequently led investigators to his residence at Gbiniyiri, where a single-barrel shotgun with serial number BAT 2598-88 and two live AAA cartridges were retrieved from a concealed location within the compound.

The suspects are currently in police custody, assisting investigations and will be put before court, while efforts continue to apprehend the remaining suspects linked to the incident.
Next article: Tema aircraft crash: Investigators to remove wreckage on Tuesday as probe begins

Featured

Police arrest woman over viral Snapchat post labelling Uber driver murderer

Emmanuel Bonney Mar - 16 - 2026 , 20:34 3 minutes read

The Cyber Vetting and Enforcement Team of the Ghana Police Service has arrested a 20-year-old woman, Promise Yayra Asamani, for allegedly publishing false information about an Uber driver on social media.

The suspect was arrested after she failed to honour a police invitation to assist with investigations into the matter.

According to a police report, the case began on Wednesday, March 11, 2026, when a 43-year-old Uber driver, Selasie Kwaku Anthonio, lodged a complaint with the Cyber Vetting and Enforcement Team over a viral Snapchat post.

The report said the post, which featured the drivers photograph and vehicle registration number, AD-1479-26, falsely labelled him a murderer and a thief. It also alleged that he used signal jammers to disconnect passengers network connectivity and carried offensive weapons.

The complainant told investigators that he became aware of the post on March 10, 2026, at about 2:57 p.m., after being alerted by his nephew, Godsway Tetteh.

Following the viral spread, the complainant received numerous distressing calls from family and customers. Subsequently, Uber blocked his account, depriving him of his livelihood. He also expressed significant fear for his life due to the risk of public hostility, the report said.

Investigation

Investigations by the Cyber Vetting and Enforcement Team led to the arrest of Stephanie Asamani, a sister of Promise Yayra Asamani, on Friday, March 13, 2026, at her residence at Cambodia, Spintex in Accra.

During interrogation, Stephanie reportedly told investigators that on March 9, 2026, at about 2 p.m., she had booked a ride from Spintex to Oyibi with the complainant as the driver.

Shortly after starting, the driver requested her to change the drop-off location to a nearby destination so he could go off-trip.

During the trip, the driver made a call in Ewe, stating: I am bringing the goods to the location, so wait, the report said.

Stephanie further claimed she observed a rag and a hammer in the boot area of the vehicle and alleged that the driver suddenly stopped at the Toyota Motors Roundabout, leading to a verbal altercation after which she exited the vehicle.

Police said she later narrated the incident to her sisters and sent a screenshot of the drivers profile to her younger sister, Promise Yayra Asamani.

When she got home, Stephanie narrated the incident to her sisters and sent a screenshot of the drivers profile to her younger sister, Promise Yayra Asamani.

On March 11, 2026, Stephanie discovered the story had been posted on Snapchat. When confronted, Promise claimed she published the details to create awareness.

Further investigations confirmed that Promise Yayra Asamani authored the post, which explicitly labelled the driver a killer.

Arrest

The report said the suspect failed to honour an official police invitation on March 12, 2026, which led to her arrest on Saturday, March 14, 2026.

During interrogation, she reportedly admitted that the post was based solely on her sisters narration and that she had no evidence to substantiate the allegations against the driver.

She has since been granted police enquiry bail on March 16, 2026, while investigations continue.

The police have cautioned the public against publishing false information on social media, warning that such actions are against the laws of the country.
Featured

See the areas that will be affected by ECG's planned maintenance on Monday, March 16, 2026

GraphicOnline Mar - 16 - 2026 , 06:04 2 minutes read

The Electricity Company of Ghana has scheduled a combination of emergency and planned maintenance exercises across three operational regions for Monday, March 16, 2026, with engineers set to undertake critical infrastructure upgrades that will temporarily disrupt power supply to multiple communities in the Greater Accra and Central enclaves.

According to advisories issued by the power distributor over the weekend, the exercises are aimed at addressing urgent network issues while also advancing broader efforts to enhance service reliability.

The outages will commence at 9:00 am across all affected areas, though the duration of interruptions will vary by region depending on the scope of works to be carried out.

In the Accra West Region, an emergency maintenance operation has been declared, requiring an eight-hour outage from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. The affected communities include Akweteman, Doblo, Hebron, Medie, Sarpeiman, and Satellite, along with their surrounding areas. The ECG has indicated that these urgent works are necessary to rectify emerging faults and prevent further deterioration of service quality in that corridor.

Similarly, the Accra East Region will also experience an emergency maintenance exercise during the same timeframe, from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. The outage will impact Dome Pillar 2, Dome K Boat, Dome Ohene Down, No Visa, the Tseaddo Goil Fuel Station, and Tseaddo Royal Mart, together with their adjoining neighbourhoods. Residents and businesses in these densely populated suburbs have been advised to plan accordingly for the full-day disruption.

In the Central Region, a planned maintenance exercise is scheduled to run from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, affecting the communities of Kuntu, Pebi, and Hinii, along with their surrounding areas. Technicians will be undertaking routine upgrades aimed at improving supply quality for residents in these localities.

In its public notices, the ECG extended its apologies to all affected customers, acknowledging the inconvenience that such technical interventions inevitably cause to both domestic and commercial activities.

The company, however, reassured the public that both the emergency and planned exercises are necessary to ensure the long-term robustness of the power network and to ultimately deliver improved service to consumers across the regions.
Featured

Tema aircraft crash: Key facts emerging after two die

Kweku Zurek Mar - 16 - 2026 , 17:34 5 minutes read

A microlight aircraft crashed and burst into flames near a school park in Tema Community One on Monday afternoon, killing both occupants on board, emergency services have confirmed.

The Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) issued a statement confirming that the aircraft, with registration number 9G-ADV, was en route from Ho to Accra when it went down at approximately 14:18 Zulu timejust after 2 pm local time.

"The aircraft was flying from Ho to Accra, estimating Accra at 1520 Z. The last contact with the aircraft on radio was 1418 Z," the GCAA statement read. "There were two persons on board."

The crash occurred at the Oninku Drive School Park at Site 17 in Tema Community One, close to the TMA Daycare facility, sending thick plumes of smoke into the air and prompting an immediate emergency response.

Teachers and pupils evacuated before firefighters arrived

Divisional Officer II Ebenezer Yenzu, the Tema Regional Public Relations Officer of the Ghana National Fire Service, told journalists that firefighters received a distress call at approximately 12:59 pm.

"We received a call around 12:59 that there was an outbreak of fire at Community 1, Site 18. And so as we rushed to the scene, we got into the Daycare, TMA Daycare and realised that there was a blazing fire involving a chopper that had fallen just close to the wall of the pre-school," Mr Yenzu explained.

By the time emergency personnel arrived, teachers and pupils had already evacuated the school compound and gathered safely on the street.

"But by the time we got here, the teachers and the pupils had just evacuated the school and were just on the street, and so none of the students or the pupils or the teachers got injured," he confirmed.

Joint operation to extinguish blaze

Personnel from the GNFS, supported by officers of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GHAPOHA), worked to douse the flames and secure the surrounding area.

"So our men from our end and GHAPOHA tried to douse the fire and also ensure that we'll be able to at least cordon off the area so as not to create any hazard to the occupants who are around," Mr Yenzu said.

After extinguishing the blaze, responders discovered the bodies of two males within the wreckage.

"But at the end of the day, when we finished dousing the flame, we realised that it's a chopper which had two persons on board, two persons on board, all males, and we've been able to retrieve the bodies and sent them to the morgue through the police for preservation and autopsy," he stated.

Aircraft identified, investigations underway

Officials have confirmed the aircraft's registration number as 9G-ADV, though questions remain about the precise circumstances leading to the crash.

"As we speak, we've been able to identify the number of the aircraft, which is 9G-ADV, we've been able to identify the aircraft, but as to where it is coming from and the cause of the accident, we are still investigating it," Mr Yenzu said.

Security personnel have cordoned off the crash site while authorities begin investigations, with aviation experts expected to assist in determining the cause of the crash.

The Assembly Member for the Kwesi Plange Electoral Area, Ahmed Abdullia, confirmed that none of the students at the nearby school was injured in the incident.

The GCAA, established in 1986 as the regulatory agency for air transport in Ghana, indicated that further details will be provided in due course.

Aircraft not owned by Ghana Armed Forces

The Deputy Minister of Defence, Ernest Brogya Genfi, has clarified that the aircraft does not belong to the Ghana Armed Forces.



We have received reports of a fatal crash involving a privately owned microlight aircraft at Tema Community 1 this afternoon. We wish to clarify that the aircraft is not owned by the Ghana Armed Forces, he wrote on Facebook.

The Deputy Minister used the post to commiserate with the families of the victims. We pray for the souls of the departed and extend our deepest condolences to the bereaved families, Mr Genfi stated.

What is a microlight aircraft?

A microlight aircraft (also called an ultralight aircraft in some countries) is a small, lightweight aircraft designed for one or two people and used mainly for recreational flying, training, or aerial observation.

Key features of a microlight aircraft

- Very lightweight: It is much lighter than conventional aeroplanes. Most microlights have a maximum take-off weight of about 450600 kilograms depending on regulations.

- Small capacity: Usually carries one or two people  a pilot and sometimes one passenger.

- Simple design: Many microlights have a minimal structure, often with a fabric wing and a small engine.

- Low speed: They fly at lower speeds than regular aeroplanes.

- Short take-off distance: They can take off and land from short runways or small airstrips.

Types of microlight aircraft

- Fixed-wing microlights  look like small aeroplanes with rigid wings.

- Weight-shift (trike) microlights  have a hang-glider style wing with a small engine and a wheeled carriage underneath.

- Powered parachutes  use a parachute-like canopy and a motorised frame.

Uses

- Microlight aircraft are commonly used for:

- Recreational flying

- Flight training

- Aerial photography

- Agricultural observation

Tourism and sightseeing

Because of their light weight and simple construction, they are cheaper to buy and operate than conventional aircraft, but they are also more sensitive to weather conditions such as strong winds.

What we know so far

Location: Oninku Drive School Park at Site 17, Tema Community One, near TMA Daycare facility

Aircraft: Microlight aircraft with registration number 9G-ADV

Route: Flying from Ho to Accra, estimating arrival in Accra at 15:20 Z

Last Radio Contact: 14:18 Z (approximately 2:18 pm local time)

Casualties: Two males on board, both deceased

Emergency Response: Firefighters received call at 12:59 pm; GNFS and GHAPOHA personnel responded

Evacuation: Teachers and pupils evacuated safely before emergency teams arrived; no injuries reported at the school

Investigation: Security cordon in place; authorities investigating cause of crash

Bodies: Retrieved and sent to morgue for preservation and autopsy
Next article: Bills Micro-Credit officers in custody for assaulting mother over GH300 loan

Featured

We will proceed  Ghana rejects foreign pressure over gold royalty reform

GraphicOnline Mar - 16 - 2026 , 06:41 3 minutes read

Ghana is pressing ahead with a new sliding-scale gold royalty regime aimed at increasing the countrys share of mining revenues as global bullion prices surge, despite opposition from some foreign governments and major mining companies.

The new policy, which takes effect on Tuesday, replaces the current flat five per cent royalty rate for gold mining in the country with a price-linked system that will increase the states earnings when gold prices rise.

Under the framework, gold mining companies will pay royalties of up to 12 per cent when the price of gold reaches $4,500 per ounce, according to details reviewed by Reuters. The change comes at a time when gold prices are trading above $5,000 per ounce on international markets.

The policy is part of a broader effort by Ghana and several other African countries to capture a greater share of revenue from their natural resources amid rising global commodity prices.

However, the move has drawn criticism from several diplomatic missions and mining industry leaders who fear it could discourage investment in the sector.

Last week, Reuters reported that the United States, China and several Western governments had mounted a rare joint effort to persuade Ghana to halt the policy.

Despite the pushback, the Chief Executive Officer of the Minerals Commission, Isaac Tandoh, told Reuters that Ghana would proceed with the reform.

They met us, they are not against the review in principle, he said over the weekend.

He explained that while foreign missions had expressed concerns about the top 12 per cent royalty rate, they had not rejected the broader policy shift.

According to him, some diplomatic representatives proposed that the highest royalty rate should only apply when gold prices reach $5,000 per ounce, a suggestion Ghanaian authorities declined.

In addition to gold, the new system will also introduce a sliding-scale royalty regime for lithium production, with rates ranging between five and 12 per cent depending on market prices.

The lithium royalties will be linked to prices between $1,500 and $3,200 per metric tonne, while other minerals will continue to attract a flat royalty rate of five per cent.

Industry leaders have warned that the higher royalty regime could affect investment decisions.

Chief executives of some of the worlds largest gold mining companies have cautioned that the policy could undermine future mining projects in the country.

The Ghana Chamber of Mines has also raised concerns about the potential impact on the industry.

Its Chief Executive Officer, Kenneth Ashigbey, told Reuters that the policy would dry up new projects and output.

However, Mr Tandoh dismissed fears that Ghana could lose its competitiveness in the global mining sector.

He said government modelling suggested the sliding-scale structure would strike a balance between boosting state revenues and maintaining reasonable profit margins for investors.

Mr Tandoh also argued that investors were more concerned about regulatory certainty than modest changes in operational costs.
University of Guam professor Ron McNinch wants to slash the pay for senators by about 78% and cut off all their benefits in the hopes of enticing regular people to do the job instead of the career Legislature.

McNinch on Monday submitted to the Guam Election Commission a draft ballot initiative for The Please Dont Quit Your Day Jobs Act of 2026.

Approved ballot initiatives allow residents to directly propose and vote on new laws.

The professor is a Guam Education Board member seeking reelection this year. He is an opinion columnist for the Pacific Daily News.

McNinchs ballot initiative, if approved by GEC, would let voters choose whether they want to slash each senators pay from the current base salary of $55,000 annually to a stipend of just $1,000 per month.

The initiative would also cut off medical, retirement, and all other benefits for lawmakers.

Those cuts would kick in as soon as Feb. 1, 2027.

5,432 signatures needed

GEC Executive Director Maria Pangelinan on Monday confirmed the commissions receipt of the draft initiative and payment of the $200 fee from McNinch.

She said the commissions legal counsel will have to review the initiative to determine compliance and that it contains no unrelated subjects, create a summary of the measure, and prepare a short title for commissioners to review by April 10.

Commissioners will have to approve the short title and review by April 15.

If this is approved, McNinch still has to secure enough valid signatures to get his initiative on the ballot this November.

It will require 5,432 valid signatures to get on the ballot, based on current registered voter numbers, Pangelinan said.

Those signatures are due by Aug. 13, she said.

The initiative comes about a week after Sen. Vince Borja introduced a bill to remove elected positions from the Guam Education Board and replace them with appointees from the governor and Legislature.

Lawmakers disconnected

What are we paying them for if theyre not going to do their jobs? McNinch said of senators Monday, pointing to the lack of a Guam constitution and stalled out push for self-determination, and bad behavior at the Legislature.

The professor and education board member said the local school board gets paid just $6,000 a year, and we do almost as much work as the Legislature.

He stressed that cuts would not impact the salaries of legislative staff, who would still get paid to do work around their respective offices.

Having elected representatives who still needed to work would prevent them from becoming so disconnected from the normal public.

If you have people with day jobs meeting after 5 p.m. and on weekends, on Saturdays, we have a much higher quality. Wed have a citizen legislature, he said.

The professor said that the Organic Act of Guam allows lawmakers to set their own time, hours, and dates of meetings, anyway.

The only reason theyre full time is they largesse themselves on this grand salary with benefits, he said, adding that many spent their time, running around, going to various functions, marrying people.

McNinch called the $12,000 proposed annual stipend pretty doggone average compared to what other states get paid, with some lawmakers getting no regular salary and the state of New Hampshire paying a flat $100 per year and mileage.

Data from the National Council of State Legislatures puts the actual average salary of a legislator at $47,904 per year as of 2025.

Guam legislators make a little over $3,000 than those in Minnesota and about $200 less than those in Maryland.

A $12,000 per year salary is exactly what legislators make in Nebraska, a state of 2 million people, NCSL data shows.

McNinch on Monday said his ballot initiative is pending a fiscal note from the Bureau of Budget and Management Research, which will outline cost savings for the proposal.

Based on the Legislatures second quarter staffing pattern for fiscal year 2026, the cut would reduce costs for senator salaries by just over $1 million annually.

Next steps

McNinch said by law, he is required to host 10 village meetings before circulating petitions.

The professor said he didnt think hed have any trouble getting the 5,432 signatures he needed to get the initiative on the ballot.

He said hes helped teach some 10,000 UOG alumni over the years, trained many more government of Guam employees, and was a well-known figure in the community.

With the proposed salary cut now moving forward, McNinch also has his sights on another potential ballot initiative: a return to 21 senators.

Were doing the analysis of it to see if theres sufficient public support, he said.
The Guam Economic Development Authority wants to get a new industrial park established by years end, with Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero keen on attracting Taiwan investors for data centers, computer chip manufacturing, and more.

Details were shared at a Friday news conference on the governors recent trade mission to Taiwan.

Leon Guerrero said the head of the Taiwan Semiconductor Industry Association was present during a meeting she had with Taiwan President Lai Ching-te.

GEDA was in touch with them...there was nothing official signed but there was certainly serious discussions, Leon Guerrero said, adding that back-and-forth will continue.

Taiwan produces about 90% of the worlds most advanced semiconductor computer chips, and the Taiwan president last year announced plans to spend billions of dollars moving some of that capacity to the U.S., NBC News reported.

The governor last summer pointed to interest from a Taiwan-based company in moving an AI data center to Guam.

She said Friday that the venture is not firmed up, yet, but interest continues.

One of the things that we needed to do was to develop the infrastructure first, and that was the catalyst that GEDA then used to move forward to provide that industrial park, Leon Guerrero said.

She said there was also some talk about using land in the David D. Tuncap Aviation Business Park around the airport for different facilities.

GEDA Administrator Tina Garcia said the agency is preparing to go out to bid for a broker or to identify different properties for the new industrial park.

Hopefully that procurement will happen within the month, Garcia said.

Some $5 million was approved by GEDA s board to purchase property for the park, the Pacific Daily News reported last month.

Garcia on Friday said whatever property is picked up will depend on what the market has available at that price.

She pointed to the industrial park near the ITC building, which is about 25 acres.

Something around that size would be very nice, she said.

GEDA will go after a parcel with existing infrastructure, Garcia said. After purchase, the authority will move to put in basic roads and place down lots.

Theres a process that were going to have to go through to get it all done, but were hoping to get it finished and completed towards the end of the year, she said.

The new park is eyed for manufacturing and assembly facilities, GEDA business and economic development manager Ed Camacho said.

He said they are looking for an area zoned M-1 for light industrial use.

Besides semiconductor chips, the governor pointed to potential pharmaceutical manufacturing.

Garcia said GEDA has seen that many investors, especially from Asia, are looking around for government-owned property to invest in before moving into a new region.

And then, as they get to know the business environment, then they can start their expansions in that area, she added.
Del. James Moylan got 16 other members of Congress to support his push for strengthening services for military veterans in the Pacific, particularly establishing a regional Veterans Affairs office on Guam.

On March 2, Moylan sent a bipartisan letter to the VA, urging the agency to establish a Veterans Benefits Administration Regional Office on Guam.

The letter included the signatures of 16 congressional members in support of the request.

The effort, according to a media release from Moylans office, builds on progress secured last year when language supporting the expansion of VA services in Guam was included in the Fiscal Year 2025 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, MilCon-VA.

While that language acknowledged the need for a stronger VA presence on Guam, it did not include a statutory mandate requiring the VA secretary to establish a regional office on the island, Moylans office said.

Moylan said he now plans to introduce new legislation that would mandate the VA secretary to establish a VA regional office on Guam.

He said he has secured commitments from the chairmen of the House Appropriations Committee and the House Veterans Affairs Committee to work with him in advancing the proposal.

Last year we took an important first step by securing language in the MilCon-VA appropriations bill recognizing the need for a stronger VA presence on Guam, Moylan said in a statement. Today we are building on that progress by bringing together a renewed coalition of Members who support establishing a VA Regional Office on Guam.

More than 20,000 veterans living on Guam currently rely on a VA regional office located nearly 4,000 miles away in Hawaii to access many benefits and services through the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Because Guam falls within the Honolulu Regional Offices jurisdiction, many veterans must navigate significant time zone differences when seeking assistance with their claims.

This often means making late-night calls to reach VA personnel, waiting extended periods for responses, and experiencing delays in the adjudication of benefits, the delegates office said.

Establishing a VA regional office on Guam would bring those services closer to veterans across Guam and the broader Pacific region, helping reduce delays and improving access to in-person assistance, Moylans office added.
A long period north-northwest swell from a low-pressure system near Japan and a long-period northeast swell northwest of Hawaii continue to produce hazardous surf and a high risk of rip currents for the Marianas, the National Weather Service said on Monday.

"Everyone should remain out of the water due to life-threatening surf conditions and rip currents. Stay off jetties, piers, and other waterside infrastructure," NWS Weather Forecast Office Guam said.

Advisories in effect

High surf warning for Guam, Rota, Tinian, and Saipan, with 1013 ft., up to 16 ft. along north-facing reefs, until 5 a.m. Tuesday.

High risk of rip currents for Guam, Rota, Tinian, and Saipan through late Monday night.

Coastal flood watch for Guam, Rota, Tinian, and Saipan through late Monday night.

Hazardous seas warning for Guam, Rota, Tinian, and Saipan coastal waters, with steep and hazardous seas 12 to 15 ft., until 5 a.m. Tuesday.

The Office of Homeland Security and the Office of Civil Defense also remind the community to "remain out of the water while the advisories are in effect."

For the latest advisory information, visit:
Editors note: This version corrects that is an expansion of the operating room and intensive care unit.

A list of dignitaries and officials joined a crowd of some 100 community members and Northern Montana Health Care staff and administrators for a groundbreaking that speakers said would expand and improve the care at Northern Montana Hospital for decades to come.

Work starts Tuesday on expanding the operating room and intensive care unit facilities at Northern, with some 31,000 square feet of new construction and 18,000 square feet of remodeling that will provide nearly 50,000 square feet of space to house state-of-the art equipment.

"It is one of hour highest honors to be able to care for the Hi-Line, and this expansion project is our commitment and dedication to our community and to our staff to provide state-of-the-art medicine to the HI-Line for many years to come," Northern Montana Health Care CEO Dr. Kevin Harada said before the groundbreaking. "We will grow and adapt to the challenges that are coming for rural health care. This building project is only the beginning of what Northern Montana Health Care will be."

Harada asked community members to be patient and forgiving with the noise, detours and mess the construction project will create, saying the rewards will be more than worth it.

Northern Montana Health Care Board Chair Rick Stevens agreed.

"These are truly exciting times for Northern, Montana Hospital, Northern Montana Health Care," Stevens said. "... The completion of this project will allow Northern Montana Hospital to continue to provide state-of-the-art health care for those who need high-quality medical assistance. That is our sole reason for being here, and we're excited about the future."

The project, building the new facility and then remodeling the existing space so no break will occur in service, is expected to be completed in two-and-a-half years.

Watch for more here and in next week's edition.
A New Chapter in the Democratization of Private Markets

(HedgeCo.Net) The global asset-management industry is undergoing a structural transformation as the boundaries between institutional and retail investment strategies continue to blur. One of the clearest examples of this shift has emerged from Franklin Templeton, which recently announced the integration of private market investments into its Retirement Advantage target-date fund series.

The move represents one of the most significant steps yet in what industry observers often describe as the democratization of private markets. For decades, asset classes such as private equity, private credit, and infrastructure were largely accessible only to pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, and large institutional investors. Retail retirement investorsparticularlement

y those saving through defined contribution planswere effectively excluded.

Franklin Templetons decision changes that dynamic.

By introducing private market exposure into target-date retirement funds, the firm is opening the door for millions of everyday investors to access investment strategies historically reserved for the institutional elite.

The implications could be profoundnot only for retirement portfolios, but for the broader structure of global capital markets.

The Rise of Target-Date Funds

Target-date funds have become one of the most dominant vehicles in retirement investing.

Originally introduced as a simple way to automate portfolio allocation, these funds adjust their asset mix gradually over time. Investors select a fund corresponding to their expected retirement year, and the portfolio automatically shifts from growth-oriented assets to more conservative allocations as retirement approaches.

Over the past two decades, target-date funds have grown into a massive segment of the asset-management industry.

Today they represent trillions of dollars in retirement savings, particularly within employer-sponsored 401(k) plans.

Their popularity stems from several key advantages:

 automatic diversification

 professional portfolio management

 simplified investment decisions

 long-term lifecycle asset allocation

Historically, however, these funds relied almost exclusively on public market assets, including stocks and bonds.

Private market investments were largely absent.

Franklin Templetons new approach seeks to change that.

Why Private Markets Matter

Private market assets have delivered some of the most compelling returns in global finance over the past two decades.

Institutional investors such as pension funds and endowments have steadily increased their allocations to private investments, including:

private equity

private credit

infrastructure

real estate

venture capital

These assets offer several potential advantages relative to traditional public markets.

Illiquidity Premium

Because private assets cannot be traded easily, investors often earn an additional return known as the illiquidity premium.

Diversification

Private investments often exhibit lower correlation with public equity markets.

Long-Term Value Creation

Private equity managers typically work closely with portfolio companies to improve operational performance and strategic positioning.

For institutional investors, these benefits have proven highly attractive.

Many of the worlds largest pension funds now allocate 20% to 40% of their portfolios to private markets.

Retail investors, however, have historically lacked access to these opportunities.

Breaking the Institutional Barrier

Franklin Templetons integration of alternatives into target-date funds marks an important step toward closing this access gap.

The firms Retirement Advantage series will now include allocations to private assets such as infrastructure, private equity, and other alternative investment strategies.

The move reflects a broader trend among large asset managers to expand private market access for individual investors.

In recent years, firms such as Blackstone, Apollo Global Management, KKR, and Ares Management have launched retail-focused investment vehicles that allow individual investors to participate in private markets.

These products often take the form of semi-liquid funds, which provide limited redemption opportunities while holding long-duration private assets.

Franklin Templetons strategy differs slightly by integrating private investments directly into traditional retirement funds.

This approach allows investors to gain exposure to private markets within familiar investment structures.

The Retirement Portfolio Evolution

The shift toward private assets reflects a broader evolution in retirement portfolio construction.

For much of the twentieth century, retirement portfolios were dominated by public equities and bonds.

However, several structural changes have altered this model:

 declining bond yields

 increasing longevity

 rising retirement costs

 market volatility

As a result, financial advisors and asset managers have been searching for ways to enhance long-term portfolio returns.

Private assets offer one potential solution.

Infrastructure investments, for example, generate long-term cash flows tied to essential services such as transportation, energy, and telecommunications.

Private credit strategies can produce higher income than traditional corporate bonds.

Private equity investments can capture value creation opportunities unavailable in public markets.

By incorporating these assets into retirement portfolios, asset managers hope to improve long-term outcomes for investors.

Regulatory and Structural Challenges

Despite the potential benefits, integrating private assets into retail investment products presents significant challenges.

One of the most important concerns involves liquidity.

Private investments typically have long holding periods, often lasting five to ten years or more.

This contrasts sharply with traditional mutual funds, which allow investors to redeem shares daily.

To address this mismatch, asset managers must design structures that balance liquidity needs with long-term investment strategies.

Another challenge involves valuation transparency.

Publicly traded assets have observable market prices.

Private assets, by contrast, are typically valued periodically using financial models and comparable transactions.

Regulators have therefore approached the expansion of private markets into retail investment products cautiously.

However, growing demand from investors and financial advisors has accelerated innovation in this space.

The Democratization Movement

The expansion of private markets into retail portfolios is often described as a process of democratization.

For decades, large institutions enjoyed privileged access to alternative investments that generated superior returns.

Retail investors were largely excluded due to regulatory constraints, high minimum investment thresholds, and limited product availability.

Today, that landscape is changing rapidly.

Asset managers are increasingly developing structures that allow individual investors to participate in private markets.

These include:

 interval funds

 non-traded real estate investment trusts

 business development companies

 semi-liquid private market funds

Franklin Templetons decision to incorporate private assets into target-date funds represents one of the most ambitious efforts yet in this democratization trend.

If successful, the approach could transform retirement investing for millions of individuals.

The Institutionalization of Alternatives

Another factor driving this transformation is the institutionalization of alternative asset management.

Over the past two decades, alternative investment firms have grown dramatically in scale.

Many now manage hundreds of billionsor even trillionsof dollars in assets.

This growth has enabled them to build sophisticated investment platforms capable of sourcing opportunities across global markets.

As these firms expand, they increasingly seek new sources of capital.

Retail investors represent a vast and largely untapped market.

By developing products suitable for retirement portfolios, asset managers can access a massive new pool of long-term capital.

This dynamic creates a powerful incentive for innovation in investment structures.

Potential Benefits for Investors

If implemented effectively, the integration of private markets into retirement portfolios could offer several benefits.

Enhanced Returns

Private investments have historically generated higher long-term returns than many public market assets.

Improved Diversification

Exposure to private markets can reduce portfolio reliance on public equities.

Income Generation

Infrastructure and private credit investments often produce stable cash flows.

Long-Term Alignment

Private investments are often designed for long holding periods, aligning well with retirement savings horizons.

For investors saving over decades, these advantages could potentially improve retirement outcomes.

Risks and Criticisms

Despite these potential benefits, critics have raised several concerns about the expansion of private markets into retail investment products.

Illiquidity Risk

Investors may not fully understand the long-term nature of private investments.

Fee Structures

Private investments often involve higher management fees than traditional mutual funds.

Valuation Uncertainty

Because private assets are not traded on public markets, their valuations may be less transparent.

Market Cycles

Private markets can experience prolonged downturns that may affect portfolio performance.

Some financial experts caution that retail investors should approach private market investments carefully.

However, proponents argue that professional portfolio construction within target-date funds can mitigate many of these risks.

A Turning Point for Retirement Investing

Franklin Templetons decision reflects a broader transformation underway in the asset-management industry.

The traditional distinction between institutional and retail investment strategies is beginning to fade.

As private markets continue expanding, asset managers are increasingly integrating these strategies into mainstream investment products.

Target-date funds represent a particularly powerful vehicle for this transition because they already dominate retirement portfolios.

If alternative assets become a standard component of target-date funds, the impact on global capital markets could be enormous.

Trillions of dollars in retirement savings could gradually flow into private investments.

This would reshape the supply of capital for businesses, infrastructure projects, and emerging industries.

The Future of Private Markets in Retirement Plans

Looking ahead, many analysts believe the integration of private markets into retirement plans will accelerate.

Several factors support this trend:

 growing demand for portfolio diversification

 increasing institutional expertise among asset managers

 evolving regulatory frameworks

 rising interest in long-term investment strategies

Major asset managers are already exploring ways to incorporate alternatives into retirement products.

Franklin Templetons initiative may therefore represent only the beginning of a broader industry shift.

If other firms follow suit, private market exposure could become a standard feature of retirement portfolios within the next decade.

Conclusion: Opening the Private Market Door

The integration of private assets into Franklin Templetons Retirement Advantage target-date funds marks a significant milestone in the evolution of retirement investing.

By bringing institutional-style investment strategies into retail portfolios, the firm is helping to reshape the relationship between individual investors and private capital markets.

The initiative reflects a powerful trend: the gradual democratization of alternative investments.

For decades, private equity, infrastructure, and other alternative assets were the exclusive domain of institutional investors.

Now, those opportunities are increasingly becoming accessible to everyday retirement savers.

Whether this transformation ultimately enhances long-term investment outcomes remains to be seen.

But one thing is clear: the boundaries of modern asset management are shifting rapidly.

And Franklin Templetons latest move may signal the beginning of a new eraone in which private markets become a core component of retirement investing for millions of individuals worldwide.
Why Hedge Funds Are Concentrating Capital in Microsoft:

(HedgeCo.Net) In the constantly shifting landscape of global equity markets, certain moments signal a powerful institutional consensus forming around a single company. The latest wave of hedge fund disclosures suggests that such a moment may now be unfolding around Microsoft.

Several prominent investment firms have significantly increased their exposure to Microsoft stock, creating what some market observers are calling the Microsoft Consolidation. The term refers to a growing trend among large hedge funds and institutional investors to concentrate capital in Microsoft as one of the dominant long-term technology platforms of the global economy.

Among the most notable moves, Altimeter Capital expanded its Microsoft stake to more than $601 million, making the company its third-largest holding. At the same time, Chilton Investment Company increased its Microsoft position by roughly 4%, elevating the stock to its largest holding, representing approximately 10% of the firms total assets under management.

These portfolio adjustments are not isolated trades. Rather, they reflect a broader trend in which institutional investors are increasingly consolidating their exposure to a small group of dominant technology companies that appear poised to shape the next phase of the global digital economy.

Microsoft, under the leadership of Satya Nadella, has emerged as one of the most important pillars of that transformation.

The Institutional Rotation Toward Mega-Platform Companies

The consolidation of hedge fund capital into Microsoft reflects a larger strategic shift within institutional portfolios.

In recent years, investors have increasingly gravitated toward mega-platform technology companiesfirms with the scale, infrastructure, and innovation capabilities to dominate entire technological ecosystems.

These companies share several defining characteristics:

 Global cloud computing platforms

 Deep integration with enterprise software ecosystems

 Massive data and artificial intelligence capabilities

 Large recurring revenue streams

 Balance sheets capable of funding enormous research investments

Microsoft stands at the center of this convergence.

The companys strategic position spans several of the most critical technological infrastructure layers of the modern economy, including:

cloud computing

artificial intelligence

enterprise productivity software

cybersecurity

gaming ecosystems

developer platforms

For hedge funds searching for long-duration growth opportunities, the combination of these factors has made Microsoft one of the most attractive large-cap investments available.

Microsofts Transformation Under Satya Nadella

The renewed enthusiasm for Microsoft among institutional investors cannot be understood without examining the transformation the company has undergone during the past decade.

When Satya Nadella became CEO in 2014, Microsoft was widely perceived as a mature technology company struggling to maintain relevance in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.

At that time, the firms reputation was still largely tied to legacy products such as Windows and Office.

Nadellas leadership fundamentally reshaped the companys strategy.

Rather than focusing on operating systems, Microsoft pivoted toward cloud computing and enterprise services, recognizing that the future of technology would revolve around distributed computing platforms and software delivered through cloud infrastructure.

The centerpiece of this transformation became Azure, Microsofts cloud platform.

Azure now represents one of the largest cloud infrastructure ecosystems in the world, competing directly with Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud.

Cloud computing has since become one of Microsofts most powerful growth engines.

The AI Catalyst

While cloud computing laid the foundation for Microsofts resurgence, the companys aggressive expansion into artificial intelligence has further strengthened its position.

Microsofts multibillion-dollar investment in OpenAI has positioned the firm at the forefront of the AI revolution.

Through this partnership, Microsoft has integrated advanced AI capabilities into many of its flagship products, including:

Microsoft 365

Azure cloud services

developer tools

enterprise automation platforms

AI-powered features such as Copilot assistants are transforming how businesses interact with software, potentially unlocking enormous productivity gains.

For institutional investors, this integration creates a powerful narrative: Microsoft is not merely a software companyit is becoming a core infrastructure provider for the AI economy.

Hedge Funds Increasing Exposure

The portfolio decisions by Altimeter Capital and Chilton Investment Company illustrate how this narrative is influencing hedge fund allocations.

Hedge funds often make large portfolio adjustments when they identify companies capable of delivering multi-year growth trajectories.

By expanding their Microsoft positions, these funds appear to be expressing strong conviction in several key themes:

 the long-term expansion of cloud computing

 the rapid adoption of enterprise artificial intelligence

 the resilience of subscription-based software models

 the dominance of mega-cap technology platforms

Altimeter Capital, known for its focus on high-growth technology companies, has long been a supporter of platform-driven business models.

Increasing Microsofts position to over $600 million signals confidence that the company will continue to capture value from the next generation of digital infrastructure.

Similarly, Chilton Investment Companys decision to make Microsoft its largest portfolio holding underscores the firms belief that the stock represents a cornerstone long-term investment.

Portfolio Concentration and the Quality Trade

Another factor driving the Microsoft consolidation is a broader phenomenon often referred to as the quality trade.

In periods of economic uncertainty, institutional investors frequently rotate capital into companies with the strongest competitive advantages and balance sheets.

Microsofts financial profile fits this description.

The company generates enormous operating cash flow and maintains one of the most robust balance sheets in the technology sector.

This financial strength allows Microsoft to:

invest heavily in research and development

acquire emerging technology companies

build massive data center infrastructure

withstand economic downturns

For hedge funds managing large portfolios, concentrating capital in high-quality companies can reduce downside risk while preserving exposure to long-term growth trends.

Microsofts Expanding Ecosystem

Part of Microsofts appeal lies in the breadth of its technology ecosystem.

Unlike many companies that depend on a single core product, Microsoft operates across multiple interconnected business segments.

These include:

Cloud Infrastructure

Azure continues to expand as businesses migrate their computing workloads to cloud environments.

Enterprise Software

Products such as Microsoft 365 and Dynamics remain deeply embedded within corporate workflows.

Artificial Intelligence

The integration of AI into productivity software is reshaping enterprise automation.

Gaming

Through Xbox and its acquisition of major game studios, Microsoft has built a substantial presence in the gaming industry.

Developer Platforms

Tools such as GitHub position Microsoft at the center of global software development communities.

This diversified ecosystem creates a powerful network effect that strengthens the companys competitive position.

The Mega-Cap Technology Debate

Despite the enthusiasm surrounding Microsoft and other technology giants, some critics have raised concerns about the increasing concentration of capital in a small group of mega-cap stocks.

These companiesoften referred to as the Magnificent Sevenhave come to dominate global equity indices.

The group typically includes:

Microsoft

Apple

Amazon

Alphabet

Nvidia

Meta

Tesla

Because these companies command enormous market capitalizations, their performance has an outsized influence on broader equity markets.

Some analysts worry that excessive concentration could create vulnerabilities if sentiment toward large technology firms were to shift.

However, proponents argue that these companies have earned their dominant positions through superior innovation and global scale.

Microsofts Competitive Position

From a strategic standpoint, Microsoft occupies a particularly strong position among technology giants.

The company benefits from several structural advantages:

Enterprise Entrenchment

Microsofts software ecosystem is deeply embedded in corporate IT infrastructure.

Recurring Revenue

Subscription-based products provide predictable cash flow streams.

Cloud Integration

Azure allows Microsoft to bundle infrastructure services with software applications.

AI Leadership

Partnerships with leading AI research organizations provide technological leverage.

These advantages create a competitive moat that many investors believe will persist for years.

The Long-Term Institutional Thesis

For institutional investors, Microsoft represents more than just a large technology company.

It is increasingly viewed as a core infrastructure provider for the digital economy.

Just as railroads powered industrial expansion in the nineteenth century and telecommunications networks transformed the twentieth century, cloud computing and artificial intelligence are reshaping the twenty-first.

Microsoft sits at the intersection of these technologies.

This positioning allows the company to capture value across multiple layers of the technology stack.

As a result, many hedge funds see Microsoft as a long-duration compoundera company capable of generating sustained earnings growth over decades.

Risks to the Microsoft Consolidation

While the bullish case for Microsoft is compelling, institutional investors remain aware of several potential risks.

Regulatory Scrutiny

Large technology companies are facing increasing scrutiny from regulators around the world.

Competitive Pressure

Rivals such as Amazon, Google, and emerging AI startups continue to challenge Microsofts dominance.

Valuation Concerns

Rapid stock appreciation has raised questions about whether technology valuations are becoming stretched.

Technological Disruption

The pace of technological innovation means that even dominant companies must continually adapt to new developments.

However, many investors believe Microsofts diversified platform provides resilience against these risks.

A Symbol of the AI-Driven Economy

Ultimately, the Microsoft consolidation represents more than a series of hedge fund portfolio adjustments.

It reflects a deeper belief among institutional investors that Microsoft will play a central role in shaping the next phase of technological development.

Artificial intelligence, cloud infrastructure, and enterprise automation are transforming the global economy.

Companies capable of integrating these technologies at scale are likely to capture enormous value.

Microsofts ability to bridge these domains has made it one of the most strategically important companies in modern finance.

Conclusion: A Market Consensus Emerging

The significant increases in Microsoft positions by Altimeter Capital and Chilton Investment Company illustrate a broader institutional trend.

Rather than spreading capital across hundreds of smaller companies, many hedge funds are consolidating their portfolios around a select group of dominant technology platforms.

Microsoft stands at the center of that strategy.

Its leadership in cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and enterprise software has positioned the company as one of the most influential forces in the digital economy.

For institutional investors seeking exposure to long-term technological transformation, Microsoft represents both stability and growth.

The recent wave of hedge fund accumulation suggests that a powerful consensus may be forming.

In an era defined by technological disruption, Microsoft is increasingly viewed not just as a technology companybut as one of the foundational pillars of the modern digital world.
Nine out of ten respondents also said it is important to intervene when racism occurs.

The survey found that 86 percent of respondents think racism harms security in Finnish society. The same share said efforts to confront racism increase safety for everyone.

Most people living in Finland believe racism weakens the sense of safety in society, according to a new survey commissioned by the Finnish Red Cross. The study shows broad concern about discrimination and strong support for actions that address racism in everyday life.

Nearly the same proportion described experiences of racism in Finland as a serious issue.

The study, conducted by research company Taloustutkimus on behalf of the Red Cross, suggests that racism affects perceptions of safety even among those who have not personally experienced discrimination. A clear majority of respondents said racism increases divisions within society and weakens social trust.

Witnessing racist behaviour appears common. According to the survey, 85 percent of respondents said they had seen racism. Yet fewer than half said they had stepped in when they witnessed it.

People who did not intervene most often said the situation ended quickly or that they were unsure how to respond.

Sanna Saarto, an expert on anti-racism work at the Finnish Red Cross, said racism and discrimination exclude people from communities and damage trust.

Racism and discrimination push people outside communities, Saarto said in a statement. When we intervene, we strengthen trust and build communities and a society where everyone feels safer.

Young people reported especially high exposure to racism. Among respondents aged 15 to 24, 95 percent said they had either experienced racism themselves or witnessed it.

Online platforms emerged as the most common setting. Eighty-six percent of young respondents said they had seen racist behaviour on the internet or social media.

The survey also showed strong concern about the impact of racism on children and young people. Nearly 90 percent of respondents said it is a serious issue if racism affects the sense of safety among younger generations.

Saarto said earlier research shows that young people often hope adults will take responsibility for addressing racism when it occurs.

Experiencing racism at a young age can affect a person for their entire life, she said.

The Red Cross emphasised that confronting racism does not always require large actions. According to Saarto, small gestures or words can signal support for those who experience discrimination.

Individuals can also influence practices in their own communities, such as workplaces, schools or hobby groups, she said.

The survey was conducted between 16 and 19 February 2026 and included 1,179 respondents living in Finland. One hundred participants reported a native language other than Finnish, Swedish or Sami.

According to the organisers, the statistical margin of error for the main results is about plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at a confidence level of 95 percent.

HT
Purra stated that the government already settled its tax policy and will not reopen the issue. The government has already made its tax decisions and is not preparing the abolition of inheritance tax, she told Helsingin Sanomat . I consider the idea highly unrealistic.

Finnish finance minister Riikka Purra said the government will not abolish inheritance tax, rejecting proposals raised inside the ruling coalition ahead of April budget talks and warning that the state finances do not allow major tax cuts.

The debate gained momentum after Helsingin Sanomat reported on Friday that the National Coalition Party aims to push for the removal of inheritance tax during the governments fiscal framework negotiations next month. Prime minister Petteri Orpo has not commented on the proposal.

Calls for abolition have emerged from several figures within the governing coalition. Foreign minister Elina Valtonen raised the issue in an interview with Kauppalehti last week, arguing that ownership taxation should be addressed in the upcoming talks. Minister for European affairs and ownership steering Joakim Strand also said he supports ending inheritance and gift tax.

Purra responded by stating that the government reached its major tax policy decisions last year and that the matter is closed. In a statement posted on the social media platform X, she said the cabinet decided to cut corporate tax rather than remove inheritance tax and that the decision will stand.

Last year we chose corporate tax reduction as a growth measure, not the abolition of inheritance tax. The issue is not open and it is not renegotiable, she wrote.

Under the existing plan, Finland will lower the corporate tax rate by two percentage points to 18 percent in 2027. Some business groups and politicians have suggested reversing that reduction in order to finance the removal of inheritance tax. Purra rejected the proposal.

The idea itself is completely absurd, she wrote. Tax policy cannot be made by pulling it in different directions.

According to Purra, the state finances leave no room for large tax reductions. She estimated that abolishing inheritance tax would cost at least one billion euros in lost revenue.

The government already faces pressure to identify around 400 million euros in additional spending cuts during the upcoming fiscal framework negotiations. Purra said that finding even smaller savings has proved politically difficult.

Tax cuts require savings elsewhere, she wrote. The current fiscal situation does not allow major reductions.

Purra also warned that replacing inheritance tax with capital gains taxation on inherited assets could increase the tax burden for many households. Under such a system, heirs would pay tax when they sell inherited property rather than when they receive it.

She said the change could lead to higher taxation for people receiving smaller inheritances while benefiting wealthy family businesses and affluent families.

The Finns Party cannot accept such a situation, Purra wrote.

Purra also cited economic research suggesting the abolition of inheritance tax would bring limited economic growth.

HT
Trump issued the appeal as the illegal war of the United States and Israel against Iran entered its third week. Iranian forces have targeted vessels linked to Washington and its partners following air strikes on Iranian territory that began on 28 February . Shipping through the narrow waterway, which carries about one fifth of global oil exports, has fallen sharply.

United States president Donald Trump urged foreign governments to send naval forces to the Strait of Hormuz to escort commercial vessels after Iranian attacks disrupted one of the worlds most critical oil routes. The call drew no firm commitments from major powers as oil prices rose and shipping traffic slowed across the Gulf.

In a message posted on Truth Social, Trump asked countries dependent on Gulf energy supplies to send warships. Hopefully China, France, Japan, South Korea, the UK, and others that are affected by this artificial constraint will send ships to the area, he wrote.

Trump also warned allies within Nato that refusal to assist would damage the alliance. In comments reported by the Financial Times, he said the consequences for Nato would be very bad if members declined to support efforts to secure the route.

Iran rejected the claim that the strait stands closed to all shipping. Foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said vessels linked to the United States and Israel faced restrictions, while others remained free to transit. From our perspective it is open, Araghchi told reporters in Tehran. It is only closed to our enemies.

Irans Revolutionary Guard also challenged Washingtons claims that Iranian naval power had collapsed. Brigadier general Ali Mohammad Naini told the Tasnim news agency: Didnt Trump say that Irans navy has been destroyed? If so, let him send his ships into the Persian Gulf if he dares.

Data from maritime authorities show at least ten commercial ships have suffered attacks or damage since the conflict began. About one thousand oil tankers now wait near the Gulf entrance as crews avoid the passage. The strait measures about 39 kilometres at its narrowest point and serves as the only maritime route linking Gulf producers with global markets.

The disruption has pushed crude oil prices close to 100 dollars a barrel. Iranian officials have warned the price might climb above 200 dollars if the conflict continues.

Governments across Europe and Asia responded with caution to Trumps proposal. Several capitals confirmed discussions with Washington yet avoided any pledge to deploy naval assets.

British prime minister Keir Starmer said London worked with partners on a plan to reopen the strait. He spoke after a telephone call with Trump and stressed that the task involved complex military and diplomatic considerations.

That is not a simple task, Starmer said during a news conference at Downing Street. We are working with all of our allies to bring a viable plan to restore freedom of navigation.

Starmer also announced a 53m support programme for households affected by rising heating oil costs after the surge in global energy prices. The government extended a cap on household energy bills until June and prolonged the fuel duty limit until September.

At the same briefing Starmer said the United Kingdom would not enter a broader war. We will protect our people in the region, he said. We will not be drawn into the wider war.

Officials within Nato confirmed talks among member states about maritime security in the Gulf yet stressed that the US-Israeli campaign against Iran does not fall under the alliances collective defence mandate.

Other governments also signalled reluctance. Greece stated that it would not participate in military operations in the strait. Japan said it had taken no decision to dispatch escort vessels. Australia reported that it had not received a request to send ships.

China called for an end to hostilities and urged all sides to maintain stable energy supplies. A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington said Beijing would strengthen communication with relevant parties in pursuit of de-escalation.

Diplomatic channels between some countries and Tehran remain active. India secured passage for two gas tankers after talks with Iranian authorities. Turkey also negotiated clearance for one vessel while several others wait for approval.

Military analysts say any multinational escort mission would face significant risk. Iran holds missile sites, drones and fast attack craft along the coastline overlooking the strait. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps also possesses thousands of naval mines that naval forces would need to detect and remove before large shipping convoys resume.

Alexandru Hudisteanu, a maritime security specialist and former Romanian naval officer, said multinational operations present technical challenges. Interoperability is the biggest hurdle, he told Al Jazeera. Crews from different countries must operate with different doctrines and communication systems.

The geography of the waterway also complicates any operation. The shipping channels lie close to Iranian territory, leaving vessels exposed to missile strikes and drone attacks. Hudisteanu said the narrow passage creates a very unforgiving environment to sail with this type of wartime threats.

The conflict around the strait has already affected global supply chains beyond oil. European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas warned that fertiliser shipments also rely heavily on the route. Speaking before talks with EU foreign ministers, she said shortages this year might lead to food supply problems next year.

We must discuss how we help to keep the strait of Hormuz open, Kallas told reporters. She also suggested a diplomatic initiative based on the Black Sea grain agreement that allowed Ukrainian exports during the war with Russia.

Meanwhile Israeli forces expanded military operations across the region. The Israel Defense Forces reported new strikes against Iranian infrastructure in Tehran, Shiraz and Tabriz. Israeli units also launched limited ground operations against Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon.

Regional tensions have spread beyond Irans borders. A drone strike triggered a fire at the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone in the United Arab Emirates. Air defence systems across Gulf states have intercepted missiles and drones launched from Iranian territory.

The United Nations migration agency reported that Israeli operations in Lebanon have displaced more than 800,000 people since early March.

During the two weeks of war of aggression and bombardments of Iran, the US and Israel have committed multiple war crimes and destroyed hospitals, schools, oil depots, airports, and other civilian infrastructure. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has been one of the retaliatory measures Iran has implemented against the illegal war imposed on it.

HT
North Henderson senior named Boys & Girls Club's Youth of the Year

Luna Trejo-Lugo

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Luna Trejo-Lugo, a senior at North Henderson High School, has been named Youth of the Year at the Boys & Girls Club of Henderson County, the youth club announced.

Luna has been a club member for 12 years, growing from a young child exploring after-school activities to a confident leader in programs like Keystone Leadership, RISE workforce development and student ambassador.

Known for her dedication to helping others, Luna has mentored younger members, organized community service events, and led her peers with resilience and heart. Her journey reflects the Clubs mission to develop mind, body and soul in every member.

Lunas achievement is supported by her mentor, club Operations Director Carlos Vega, and recognized by Youth of the Year judges Ed Arnold, former School Board Chair Blair Craven and Fletcher Mayor Preston Blakely. She will receive a $1,500 scholarship, thanks to Hunter Subaru and Publix, and will compete at the North Carolina State Youth of the Year Competition next month, with the chance to advance regionally and nationally for the prestigious $25,000 renewable scholarship.
County triggers taskforce on shooting range permits

Shooting ranges, a land-use that for years has bedeviled Henderson County commissioners, Zoning Board of Adjustment members and homeowners near where they're proposed, could get harder to site in the county.

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At the behest of Chairman Bill Lapsley, the Board of Commissioners on Wednesday created a taskforce to evaluate the county's Land Development Code requirements for shooting ranges and possibly recommend changes.

"The board has received public comment regarding concerns with locations and standards in the LDC for ranges in the countys jurisdiction," a staff memo notes in a bit of an understatement.

Firing ranges have triggered widespread neighborhood uprisings wherever theyve been proposed in recent years. Proposals to build ranges have either been withdrawn or shot down by either the Board of Commissioners or Zoning Board of Adjustment in the Macedonia Road area of Saluda, Pinnacle Mountain, Deep Gap and Blue Ridge Community College and most recently on Summer Road in Edneyville. Three of the proposals came from former Sheriff Charlie McDonald, who envisioned them as part of a large law enforcement training center. The training center never came to fruition and McDonald lost his re-election bid in 2018.

Last May, when developer Andrew Riddle announced plans for a firing range on a 12-acre site near the Polk County line, homeowners were confounded to learn that the county's zoning code permits both indoor and outdoor commercial ranges in all zoning districts. Homeowners, who collected more than 600 signatures on a petition opposing the Summer Road range, appealed a planning staff approval of the use to the Zoning Board of Adjustment. The appeal became moot when Riddle withdrew the application.

Commissioners directed the taskforce "to review the standards and provide a recommendation to the commissioners within three months," according to the memo by Planning Director Autumn and Assistant County Manager Christopher Todd. Commissioners will appoint all six members of the advisory board, which is to include a representative of the sheriff's office, and will also designate the chair.

Last May, Lapsley told Summer Road area residents on hand to speak against the shooting range that he understood their concerns.

We hear you, he said. On behalf of my colleagues, we have received numerous emails pointing out the issues that you've discussed this morning. We've recognized that we are following the process that our ordinance has at the moment."
Rockingham sheriff inches toward upset of powerful state Senate leader

Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page talks with the press outside the Board of Elections office in Wentworth on March 13 after a canvass confirmed his 23-vote Republican primary election edge over Senate Leader Phil Berger in the sheriffs quest to replace the powerful legislator. [SARAH MICHELS/Carolina Public Press]

Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page sat in the third row, sporting his signature cowboy hat, as he watched the Rockingham County Board of Elections certify the official results in his Republican primary race against Phil Berger, the powerful leader of the N.C. Senate.

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On election night, Page was up by two votes in the State Senate District 26 race, encompassing Rockingham County and parts of Guilford County. After election officials in both counties counted eligible provisional ballots and military and overseas voters absentee ballots, his lead extended to 23 votes.

Friday morning, election board members in both counties declared Page the official winner. Talking to reporters outside the Rockingham elections office, Page did the same.

Im on to November, he said. Great victory today.

However, the saga may be just beginning.

Berger: A recount is merited

Its possible that Berger will concede, but unlikely.

According to WRAL reporting, Berger and Page have launched legal funds, presumably in preparation for a lengthy legal battle.

If we believe a recount is merited, Berger told WRAL in a statement, I will pursue that avenue as allowed by law. A lot of folks have supported me throughout my time in public service, and I owe it to them to ensure clarity of the election results.

Our legal team is monitoring and evaluating this situation as election officials continue to adjudicate this process, Jonathan Felts, a campaign spokesman, told the North Carolina Tribune. While I anticipate we will, at a minimum, request a machine recount, no decision has been made yet.

If Berger chooses to request a recount, he had until noon on Tuesday, March 17 to do so.

In that case, election officials will conduct a full machine recount by re-tabulating results in all precincts. All ballots rejected by machines will be recounted by hand by a bipartisan team. The recount will happen within three business days of the request.

After the machine recount, whoever is the second-place candidate may request a second, hand-to-eye recount. In this recount, a small sample of precincts will count ballots by hand. If the vote count changes to the extent that, if the change were extrapolated to all precincts, it would flip the outcome, election officials will oversee a third recount  a hand-to-eye recount of all ballots in all precincts.

Election protests?

Recounts dont generally flip outcomes. So, Berger might look toward another method to change his outcome against Page  election protests.

Second-place candidates may file election protests when they say some misconduct has occurred in an election, including in the way ballots were counted or the results were tabulated.

One source of protest could be voter challenges, which were decided Friday.

Rockingham County election board members declined to remove votes of three challenged voters, but left room for candidates to file election protests over their decisions. Its not clear at this point how any of those voters who cast a vote in the contest between Berger and Page actually voted.

The first challenged voter, Alissa White, voted a Democratic ballot, so her vote does not impact the state Senate race.

The second voter, Wanda Bowman, caused confusion since her registration name didnt match the name on her drivers license. However, she had been voting since the 1990s, and the election board unanimously agreed her vote  which was on the Republican ballot  should count.

The third voter, Linuel Troxler, died between casting his ballot in the Republican primary and Election Day. However, the election board wasnt notified about his death until March 11, a day after the deadline to challenge voter eligibility.

According to State Board guidance, county election boards are obligated to give voters who are thought to have died or their families an opportunity to challenge their vote removal before the results are finalized. Sometimes, there are mistakes with death certificates, Rockingham County Elections Director Paula Seamster said.

In this case, there was no time for a hearing, so State Board staff recommended counting Troxlers ballot. However, several members of the county elections board personally knew Troxler, and had firsthand knowledge of his death.

Republican board chair Dan Powell was one of those members.

Obviously things happen that fall outside the prescription of the law sometimes, and we have to use good, common sense, he said.

Democratic member Wally White said he didnt feel strongly either way, particularly because candidates who objected to the boards decision could file election protests after the fact.

The laws matter, and we should follow them, and the candidates have a way of fixing that for themselves if they want to, White said. But in this case, we know that multiple members of this board know it happened. I think we should consider our own experience beyond what weve been advised by the State Board.

Ultimately, the board unanimously agreed to count all three voters ballots.

Page ready to move forward to November

Page said the board explained their reasoning well. That being said, hes prepared for Berger to file election protests.

Today I heard some questions, but at the end of the day, I think the questions were answered, Page said. Were ready to move forward to November, and well take whatever challenges come our way.

In Guilford County, seven voters were removed from the count because they had died or been charged with a felony between the time they cast a ballot and Election Day. Since only a portion of Guilford County is part of Senate District 26, and not all voters chose the Republican primary ballot, its unclear how many of those voters cast ballots in the Berger-Page contest.

While these decisions could be subject to an election protest, the 23-vote margin is greater than the number of challenged voters.

Berger could also file election protests over decisions to count or not count provisional ballots, the method of counting or tabulating votes or any other election irregularity he may allege.

Page had a few words for Berger, upon his apparent victory.

We worked hard and we played fair, and thats what the citizens appreciate, he said. They dont like dirty politics, they dont like negative ads, they dont like malicious conversations about a candidate. What they want to hear is what the candidate offers, and what I offer the citizens of Rockingham and Guilford County is a fresh reboot for senator that cares about the people in the district.

* * * * *

Sarah Michels is a staff writer for Carolina Public Press specializing in coverage of North Carolina politics and elections. She is based in Raleigh. Email her at smichels@carolinapublicpress.org to contact her.






Police shoot knife-wielding suspect

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A Hendersonville police officer shot a knife-wielding suspect after responding to a 911 call at Hebron Terrace Apartments on Sunday afternoon.

Officers who raced to the scene at 609 Hebron Road were approached by the suspect with a knife, the city said in a news release. In response to the threat, an officer shot the suspect, who was then transported to Mission Hospital in Asheville. The SBI is investigating the incident in accordance with standard policy when there is an officer-involved shooting.

Because a heavy law enforcement presence remained around Hebron Terrace Apartments, the public was asked to avoid the area.
A HOTEL in Henley has been refurbished at a cost of 4.5 million.

The work at Hotel du Vin, in New Street, the site of the former Brakspear brewery, took two years to complete.

Under the guidance of interior designer Anita Rosato, all 43 bedrooms plus public areas, including the hotels bistro, has received a facelift.

A new lounge space has also been created with all influenced by the Arts and Crafts style and French farmhouse charm with mid-century accents.

Ms Rosato, from Surrey, has more than 30 years of interior design experience and has worked in refurbishment for about 20 years.

She described the site as having an astonishing location, with the River Thames on its doorstep, and Henley as an historic pageant town and wanted to combine these in her work.

The hotel site is full of history, she said. It was quite a challenging building to work with. Whenever I work on an existing building, I look at all four corners of it to try and absorb some of the commonality.

The first phase of work was the bedrooms. With the riverside location, a big element that influenced my work was what happens over the royal regatta season. It is a pageantry affair where theres a dress code and they have the striped blazers which are well-known. It has its own character.

The hotel needed elevating because the clients in Henley are full of character and I wanted to represent that in the interiors.

I came up with three schemes for the rooms and I wanted them to be as vibrant as possible while creating a melting pot of residential feel. With hotels in general, there is the element of home from home but I wanted a degree of theatricality. I wanted it to be fun for people.

Ms Rosato said that the serious evidence of the old brewery made it difficult for her to plan how to lighten the rooms up.

She said: I wanted a contemporary feel. I think Henley is so full of history that the younger population are forgotten, so I was trying to integrate that. I was thinking, this is what Henley needs.

It needs to be a place where youthful contemporaries are happy to be there. The rooms are much more memorable to be in. Theyre photographic, theyre Instagrammable. Thats part of our lives now.

Im very proud of the restaurant in particular. I try my best in most of my projects for my work to be timeless, and while I am aware of trends, I am proud of the fact that a lot of my interiors, you can look at them 10 years later and they still stand. Im very proud of the ground floor area in general but I am very proud of it all.

Ms Rosatos mother was Danish, her father Italian and her maternal grandfather, Karl Erik-Jepsen, was an architect.

She said: I didnt grow up thinking that Im going to be an interior designer. I just knew that I wanted to do something creative.

Its so funny how you realise youre connecting with your roots because here I am, following in my grandfathers footsteps.

Ms Rosato had previously helped with the refurbishment of The Dorchester, a luxury five-star hotel in Londons Mayfair, during the late Eighties and early Nineties.

She said: I felt the hotel was crying out for something, it needed brightening up. Im very passionate about what I do.

Refurbishments are a lot more difficult than starting out with a blank canvas because you have to evaluate the treasures that are in the building or evaluate what is holding on to and you have to bring that on to the canvas of your design and integrate it so that it seamlessly integrates with everything that is new.

Natasha Humphreys, the sales manager at Hotel du Vin in Henley, said: Now that were fully reopen, we are very much looking to reengage and connect with everyone to bring customers back. Every single area has had a face-lift, rearranged and restructured. It has been so exciting for us.

Were really enjoying bringing back residents that we havent seen in a while as well as welcoming guests for functions.

Everyone seems really impressed by the standard of our redesign, weve had some lovely comments about all the new bedrooms. Theyve been done so beautifully and Anita has really kept true to the hotel being the former brewery site.

Ms Humphreys added that the refurbishment has given the hotel a really nice atmosphere.

Lana Sergina, who has worked as the breakfast supervisor at the hotel for about six years, said: I think the refurbishment is very nice.

Everyone is happy with how it looks, the staff, the guests. It used to look a little dull, even a little flat but now its so much brighter and theres so much more decoration.
Innovative tech holds key to brain rehab

16:03, March 16, 2026 By Chen Meiling and Liu Kun ( China Daily

Brain-computer interface, an innovative technology frontier that establishes a direct link between the human brain and external devices, has great potential to revolutionize the treatment of mental health conditions with minimal side effects, according to a deputy to China's top legislature.

Yao Dezhong, a deputy to the 14th National People's Congress and a professor at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China in Chengdu, Sichuan province, said that the technology, which can analyze neural patterns in depression and anxiety, among other conditions, is capable of offering new pathways for diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation.

The technology has been proposed as a potential therapeutic tool for patients of Alzheimer's disease, a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that primarily affects memory, thinking and behavior, and is expected to benefit more people in the future.

Yao, who is also dean of Sichuan Institute for Brain Science and Brain-Inspired Intelligence, noted that one-third of patients with mental health issues do not respond to medication, and brain-computer interface could offer alternative treatment pathways in such cases.

There are close to 86 billion nerve cells, or neurons, in the human brain that form a complex network for sending and receiving signals. Mental health depends on the proper functioning of these neural networks.

"When we sleep, low-frequency signals dominate the brain. When we are working, high-frequency signals act. If we cannot fall asleep, the problem likely lies in an abnormal brain frequency," Yao said, adding that brain-computer interface can help readjust these neural signals to strike a balance between a person's relaxed and excited state of mind.

The technology can also help detect specific neural patterns associated with depression or anxiety and provide immediate feedback to regulate those patterns, he said, noting that any proposed therapy should be based on the precise and dynamic detection of brain signals to determine which areas of the brain are affected and to what degree.

Proposed in 1973 and developed in the years that followed, brain-computer interface represents a major advancement in neurology. It works by recording the brain's electrical activity, translating those signals into commands, and using those commands to control something.

Yao said the technology is currently widely used in treating motor impairments resulting from spinal cord injuries, stroke and neurodegenerative diseases, while its application potential for mental disorders remains at a nascent research stage.

The primary challenge in case of noninvasive brain-computer interface lies in finding the affected areas of the brain and using convenient electrodes, he said. "Some electrodes require a messy gel, while dry ones can cause discomfort when pressed against the scalp. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop electrodes that are both easy to use and capable of transmitting electrical signals," he added.

The noninvasive technology, however, has some key advantages. It is safer and costs much less than an invasive procedure, and there are few known side effects, Yao said.

Brain-computer interface products that already exist in the market are priced at less than 2,000 yuan ($290), making these affordable for household use.

A third-generation noninvasive sleep-aid device, jointly developed by Yao's institute and Sichuan Jinhong Traditional Chinese Medicine Technology Co, is expected to be officially launched in the first half of this year. The device consists of wearable intelligent hardware and a mobile app, allowing users to monitor and manage their sleep.

This year, brain-computer interface has been included for the first time in China's Government Work Report, alongside other frontier technologies such as future energy, quantum technology and embodied intelligence, as a key future industry to be fostered.

The 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) has listed it as a project for cultivating new industries and new growth areas, while brain science and brain-like intelligence research have been incorporated into national projects for meeting sci-tech challenges.

The focus remains on improving lives, Yao said. "Given China's large population and the high prevalence of mental health conditions, the technology is likely to become essential," he added.

Huang Li, an NPC deputy and chairman of Wuhan Neuracom Technology Development Co in Hubei province, said the company's ultra-high-density microelectrode array is capable of reading signals from each neuron. It can not only accurately decode brain signals, but also encode feedback to the brain using micro-currents. "For Alzheimer's disease, such high-precision neuromodulation is expected to enable intervention at an early stage of cognitive decline," he said.

By targeting and regulating neural networks through brain-computer interface, brand-new physical treatment options can be provided for patients who have developed resistance to medication, Huang said.

Li Longti, also an NPC deputy and vice-president of Taihe Hospital in Hubei's Shiyan, said the hospital has used the technology to treat hemiplegia after stroke, paraplegia due to spinal cord injuries, Parkinson's disease and sleep disorders, among others.

Brain-computer interface is a safe, convenient, repeatable and widely applicable technology, Li said, suggesting its inclusion in medical insurance and critical illness assistance programs to establish public welfare support and tiered pricing.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
China, U.S. start economic, trade talks in Paris

Xinhua) 08:05, March 16, 2026

This photo taken on March 15, 2026 shows the headquarters of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris, France. The Chinese and U.S. delegations convened on Sunday morning for talks on economic and trade issues. (Xinhua/Wu Huiwo)

PARIS, March 15 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese and U.S. delegations convened on Sunday morning for talks on economic and trade issues.

Guided by the important consensuses reached between the heads of state of the two countries during their meeting in Busan and all previous phone calls, the two sides will engage in consultations on economic and trade issues of mutual concern, a spokesperson for China's Ministry of Commerce said in a statement on Friday.

The Chinese delegation is led by Vice Premier He Lifeng, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
China urges parties to prevent regional instability from further affecting global economy

Xinhua) 16:31, March 16, 2026

BEIJING, March 16 (Xinhua) -- China again calls on all parties to immediately halt military operations and avoid further escalation of tensions to prevent regional instability from exerting an even greater impact on global economy, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on Monday.

Lin made the remarks at a regular news briefing when asked to comment on U.S. remarks concerning China regarding the Strait of Hormuz.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
A fast-moving outbreak of invasive meningococcal disease has claimed two young lives and left 11 others seriously ill in hospital in Canterbury, England  triggering one of the largest emergency public health responses at a British university in recent years and sending urgent warnings to students across the UK about the dangers of a disease that is all too easily mistaken for the flu.

The UK Health Security Agency confirmed 13 cases showing signs of meningitis and septicaemia between Friday, March 13 and Sunday, March 15, in the Canterbury area. Two people are known to have died: one confirmed by the University of Kent as an enrolled student, and a second identified by Kent Online as a female Year 13 pupil at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School in Faversham. Both are believed to have been aged between 18 and 21. The specific strain of meningococcal bacteria has not yet been identified.

More than 30,000 students, staff, and family members connected to the University of Kent are being contacted by the UKHSA, with preventive antibiotics being distributed on campus. Students have not been told to leave, but the university has cancelled all in-person assessments for the week.

What Happened  and How Quickly

The timeline of this outbreak is alarming by any measure: 13 cases confirmed over just 72 hours. Meningococcal disease is known to progress rapidly, and its early symptoms  fever, headache, vomiting, stiff neck  are easily confused with more common illnesses.

Investigators are examining whether the outbreak may be linked to a party attended by some of the students who fell ill, as well as a popular Canterbury nightclub, Club Chemistry, which has issued a public statement. Students living or working in specific accommodation blocks  Keynes College Block Q and Tyler Court Block C  were specifically asked to attend the Senate building on campus for antibiotics without delay.

In a statement, the University of Kent said: "We are deeply saddened to confirm that one student from the University of Kent has died following a case of invasive meningitis. Our thoughts are with the student's family, friends and the wider university community at this extremely difficult time. The safety of our students and staff remains our highest priority."

Who Is at Risk and Why Universities Are Particularly Vulnerable

Meningococcal disease is most common in babies, young children, teenagers, and young adults  and university campuses are a well-documented high-risk environment. The reason is straightforward: students live, study, and socialise in close proximity, and the bacteria that cause meningococcal disease spread through respiratory droplets and close contact with someone who is carrying the bacteria  often unknowingly  at the back of their nose and throat.

The UKHSA notes that young people going to university for the first time are particularly at risk precisely because they mix with so many other students, some of whom are unknowingly carrying the bacteria.

Trish Mannes, UKHSA regional deputy director for the South East, highlighted a danger specific to the student population: students are particularly at risk of missing the early warning signs of meningitis because they can be easily confused with other illnesses such as a bad cold, flu or even a hangover. "That's why it's vital that, if a friend goes to bed unwell, you check on them regularly and don't hesitate to seek medical help by contacting their GP or calling NHS 111 if they have these symptoms or you're concerned about them. This could save their life."

The Vaccination Gap Every Student Needs to Know About

Most UK students who went through secondary school will have received the MenACWY vaccine  routinely offered in school Years 9 and 10 and available up to age 25 through GPs. That vaccine provides good protection against MenA, MenC, MenW, and MenY strains.

But it does not protect against MenB  one of the most common causes of bacterial meningitis in young adults  which requires a separate vaccine not included in the standard adolescent schedule. Tom Nutt, chief executive of the charity Meningitis Now, said many young people were unlikely to realise they had never been vaccinated against MenB.

This gap means that even fully vaccinated students can remain vulnerable, and that awareness of symptoms and rapid response to illness remain critical lines of defense regardless of vaccination status.

Symptoms to Know  and Act On Immediately

According to the UKHSA's official guidance and the University of Kent's urgent student notice, symptoms of meningococcal meningitis and septicaemia can include:

High fever and severe, worsening headache

Stiff neck

Sensitivity to light

Rapid breathing

Drowsiness or confusion

Shivering and cold hands and feet

Vomiting

A rash that does not fade when pressed against a glass  a sign of septicaemia

Critically, not all symptoms will appear, and they can develop in any order. Someone with meningitis or sepsis can deteriorate dramatically within hours. The UKHSA's advice is unambiguous: do not wait for all symptoms to appear, and do not wait for a rash. If in doubt, call NHS 111 or go directly to A&E. If seriously ill, call 999 immediately.

"Trust your instincts," the University of Kent's student notice states. "Someone with meningitis or sepsis can get a lot worse very quickly."

The Wider Community Response

Canterbury MP Rosie Duffield wrote on social media: "Some really tragic news this weekend from our university in Canterbury. Thinking very much of those who loved these students."

Tom Nutt of Meningitis Now said: "Meningitis can progress very quickly and its impact is devastating, particularly for young people and their loved ones. University students and young adults are among the groups at increased risk because meningitis bacteria can spread more easily in settings where people live, study and socialise closely together. We urge students, staff and families to remain vigilant for the signs and symptoms of meningitis."

The UKHSA said its specialists are interviewing affected individuals and their close contacts to limit further spread. Law enforcement and public health officials are monitoring the situation closely, and the investigation into the precise strain and transmission chain is ongoing.

What Students Everywhere Should Do Right Now

While this outbreak is centered in Canterbury, the warning it carries is universal for university students anywhere.

Check your vaccination status. Contact your GP to confirm whether you have received the MenACWY vaccine. Ask specifically about MenB  many students have never received it and may not know they are unprotected.

Know the symptoms. Familiarise yourself with the full list of meningitis and septicaemia symptoms. Post them somewhere visible in your room or save them on your phone.

Look out for your housemates. If a friend or flatmate goes to bed unwell, check on them regularly. The progression from early symptoms to critical illness can happen in hours.

Act immediately if concerned. In the UK: call NHS 111, go to A&E, or call 999 in an emergency. Do not wait and see.

Free support and information are available from Meningitis Now and the Meningitis Research Foundation.

Originally published on University Herald
In Brief: Garner Hotels has broadened its global presence by increasing its portfolio to 100 properties, with future plans for establishments in an additional 12 countries.

Garner Hotel Mazatlan Beach - Image Credit IHG Hotels & Resorts

Garner Hotels has reached 100 open properties globally since its launch in August 2023, with a pipeline of nearly 80 additional hotels across 12 countries.

Garner Hotels, a midscale conversion brand within the IHG Hotels & Resorts portfolio, has reached 100 open hotels worldwide since its launch in August 2023. This marks the fastest global scaling of any brand in IHGs history. The brands pipeline includes nearly 80 additional hotels, expected to almost double its reach in the coming years. Garner properties are open or in the pipeline across 12 countries, including the United States, Mexico, Italy, and Japan.

In 2025, conversion properties accounted for 52 percent of all IHG room openings. Garners growth has been driven by a competitive cost-per-key ratio, flexible design standards, reduced pre-opening costs, and an accelerated turnaround process, with some properties completing conversions in just over a month between signing and opening.

In the Americas, Garner recorded 32 signings and 23 openings in 2025, the third-highest totals among IHG brands in the region. These included the brands first property in Mexico, Garner Hotel Mazatlan Beach, as well as new locations in Butte, Montana, and near Arizonas Lake Powell. In 2026, the brand will open properties in suburban Boston and the greater New York City area.

Across the Europe, Middle East, Asia & Africa (EMEAA) region, Garner opened 43 hotels in 2025, the most of any IHG brand in the region that year. This growth was driven in part by the initial transitions of an eventual 56 open and pipeline properties in Germany, following a 2024 agreement with NOVUM Hospitality. In 2025, Garner also opened its first hotels in Italy (Garner Hotel Rome Aurelia), Turkiye (Garner Hotel Istanbul  Airport Arnavutkoy), and the United Kingdom (Garner Hotel Preston Samlesbury). In Japan, the brand debuted in 2025 with three openings in Osaka, followed by the opening of Garner Hotel Kyoto Shijo Karasuma. The same year saw the opening of the first Garner hotel in Southeast Asia, with Garner Hotel Pattaya Central in Thailand, and the brands first five signings in India.

Garners expansion is expected to continue, with plans to enter Greater China later this year, extending its global reach to new destinations in the regions densely populated, heavily traveled areas.
In Brief: Hospitality Group (HG) has entered into a contract to launch an InterContinental hotel in Manila, with operations set to commence in 2032, marking a significant expansion in the Asian market.

Rendering of the InterContinental Manila - Image Credit IHG Hotels & Resorts

IHG Hotels & Resorts has signed an agreement to open a 212-key InterContinental hotel in Bonifacio Global City, Manila, with an expected opening in 2032.

IHG Hotels & Resorts has signed an agreement to open InterContinental Manila, a 212-room hotel scheduled to open in 2032 in Bonifacio Global City (BGC), Metro Manila. BGC is a 240-hectare district that houses the Philippine Stock Exchange, multinational corporations, and several of the countrys tallest landmarks.

The opening will mark the InterContinental brand's return to Manila after more than 15 years. The hotel will offer amenities including an all-day dining restaurant, a specialty restaurant and bar, meeting and event spaces with a ballroom, function rooms, and meeting rooms. Additional facilities will include a health club, spa, outdoor swimming pool, and poolside bar.

IHG is partnering with Keyland Corporation, Philippine Realty and Holdings Corporation, and Greenhills Properties Inc. for the development. Keyland Corporation has developed residential and commercial projects in Makati, Alabang, Las Pinas, and Ortigas and is expanding into hospitality. Philippine Realty and Holdings Corporation is involved in property development, sales, leasing, and property management, with projects in Ortigas Center, Quezon City, and BGC, as well as office and commercial properties in Ortigas Center. Greenhills Properties Inc. is engaged in property development, sales, and leasing, and owns properties in BGC.

InterContinental Manila will join a global portfolio of more than 240 InterContinental hotels and resorts, with two properties in the pipeline for the Philippines and 104 globally. The InterContinental brand first opened in Manila in 1969 and operated there for 46 years.
OLLI Players to Hold Auditions for Reading of 'Sinclair Lewis Work'

PITTSFIELD, Mass.  The OLLI Players, part of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Berkshire Community College (OLLI at BCC), welcome all to audition for a reading of "It Can't Happen Here."

The reading is adapted from Sinclair Lewis's novel and play, which relates the rise of a dictator in America in the 1930s and its impact on society at national, local, and individual levels.

Auditions will be held on Wednesday, March 18 from 9 a.m.noon and Thursday, March 19 from 14 p.m. at BCC's main campus, located at 1350 West Street, Pittsfield, in room G-12. Visitors should park in the visitor parking lot and walk across the driveway to the Susan B. Anthony Building.

The OLLI Players are seeking 15 adult actors of different ages and genders, each of whom will play multiple roles. Copies of the script will be provided at the audition, and audition sheets will be furnished. If you have a resume, please bring it with you.

After the actors have been selected, approximately 10 rehearsals will be held from mid-March through Saturday, April 18. A reading of the full-length script will take place on Sunday, April 19 (time to be announced).

Questions? Contact Director Barbara Waldinger at barbarawaldinger@ gmail.com
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At least 10 people were killed in the eastern Indian state of Odisha after a major fire broke out in the trauma centre of a government hospital on Monday.

All the people who succumbed to burn injuries were patients admitted at the hospital. Another 23 people, all hospital staff, were also injured while trying to rescue patients, state chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi said. They are being treated for burns.

Five people were critically wounded, but it is not immediately clear if it was from the fire.

The fire broke out at the government-run Srirama Chandra Bhanja Medical College and Hospital in Odishas Cuttack city between 2.30am and 3am, the chief minister said, confirming that critically ill patients were being treated in the hospital wing.

An electrical short circuit is suspected to have caused the fire but it has not been officially confirmed.

"A total of 23 patients have been shifted to other departments. Seven serious patients died while shifting to other ICUs and wards, while another three patients died later. I have directed the concerned officers for proper treatment of the injured patients," Mr Majhi said, speaking to the reporters on Monday.

The state leader said the medical staff and security personnel risked their lives to rescue the patients.

"During this, they too sustained injuries, and they too are under treatment," he said.

He visited the hospital along with health minister, Mukesh Mahaling, on Monday to review the situation. They also met with the injured patients recovering at the facility.

Officials said multiple fire engines were rushed to the spot and were engaged in the rescue operations.

Mr Majhi has announced a compensation of Rs25,00,000 (20,434) for the families of the deceased.

A judicial probe has also been launched into the incident, Mr Majhi said, adding that strict action would be taken against those found responsible.
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At least eight women were killed and over 50 injured when a shop roof collapsed in an eastern Pakistani village on Monday, as they gathered for government welfare payments, police and rescue officials said.

Rescuer Ashiq Mahmood explained the roof gave way under the crowd's weight after the shopkeeper directed some of the more than 100 women onto it, while others remained inside.

The women in Rahim Yar Khan, Punjab province, had assembled to collect financial assistance ahead of Eid al-Fitr, the holiday marking the end of Ramadan.

The Benazir Income Support Program, named after former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated in a 2007 gun and bomb attack, provides cash assistance to millions of low-income families, many of them women. Under the program, eligible families receive 13,000 rupees (about $45) in quarterly payments.

Crowding and stampedes sometimes occur in Pakistan during Ramadan, when government agencies, charities and businesses distribute food and cash to poor families.

A Muslim woman shops for the Eid al-Fitr celebrations during the last week of the Islamic holy fasting month of Ramadan in Karachi. ( AFP via Getty Images )

In 2023, at least 11 women and children were killed in a stampede at a Ramadan food and cash distribution center in Karachi, after hundreds of people rushed to collect aid outside a factory.

In February, 16 people died after a powerful gas explosion tore through a residential building in Pakistans port city of Karachi, causing part of the structure to collapse on Thursday.

Women and children were among those killed and several others were injured in the blast, emergency crews said.

The explosion happened when people were preparing a pre-dawn meal on the first day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in a residential area of Karachi, the capital of Sindh province, local police chief Rizwan Patel said. Rescuers were still removing rubble to search for any survivors trapped under the debris, he added.

Pakistans president Asif Ali Zardari expressed sorrow and condolences to the victims families and directed authorities to ensure the best possible treatment for the injured. He also called for a swift completion of rescue operations and urged the Sindh provincial government to enforce building codes, check gas cylinder safety and conduct a thorough inquiry to help prevent similar incidents.
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Indonesian police have launched an investigation after a human rights activist critical of the countrys military interference in the government was seriously injured in an acid attack, officials said on Monday.

Andrie Yunus, a deputy coordinator with the rights group Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence, also known as KontraS, was attacked on Thursday by two unidentified assailants in Yogyakarta city, officials said.

He suffered burns to 24 per cent of his face and arms from acid thrown by two unidentified assailants on a motorcycle on 12 March, KontraS and police said. Police are now looking for four people wanted in the attack, they said.

Jakarta police official, Iman Imanuddin, said the CCTV recording of the attack showed four suspects on two scooters following the human rights activist before throwing acid on him.

He added that forensic tests are being conducted on a motorcycle helmet and a container that allegedly contained the acid used in the attack.

Indonesian minister for law and human rights, Yusril Ihza Mahendra, said the incident constitutes an attack on democracy itself and perpetrators would be brought to justice.

"Human rights activists work for the interests of the people and the state, as the protection of human rights and democracy is a constitutional mandate," he said.

The attack has been called a violation of president Prabowo Subiantos commitment to human rights by a parliamentary commission overseeing human rights in the country.

Indonesia is seeing a rise in concern over the erosion of democratic values in the world's third-largest democracy, where the military's involvement in civilian areas and state-run businesses has increased significantly under Mr Prabowo's administration, who is a former retired general.

The UN human rights chief, Volker Turk, in an X post on Saturday described the attack as "horrific" and called for accountability for what was a "cowardly act of violence".

More than 170 civil society groups in Indonesia, including Amnesty International, alleged the attack intended to kill Mr Yunus, calling it intimidation of rights defenders.
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Twenty Thai sailors who were rescued after their cargo ship was attacked in the Strait of Hormuz returned home on Monday.

Three crew members of the bulk carrier are still missing in the Persian Gulf.

The ship, Mayuree Naree, registered in Thailand, was hit by two projectiles as it was sailing through the strategic waterway last Wednesday. The vessel had departed from a port in the UAE.

Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed responsibility for targeting the Thai ship as well as another vessel flying a Liberian flag, adding that both were struck after ignoring warnings.

The rescued crew members arrived at Thailands main international airport early Monday morning. They were quickly escorted away by government officials and not allowed to speak with journalists waiting at the airport.

One sailors wife who identified herself as Bass said she hadnt yet been able to meet him. We are all afraid but they are employees, the 32-year-old woman told AFP, if they refuse to go out to sea, they wont get paid.

Bass explained that she had not received clear information about her husbands journey or when he would finally return home.

I dont know where they went or when they will return home, she added. The company hasnt told me anything.

open image in gallery Thai crew of Mayuree Naree leave the Suvarnabhumi international airport in Samut Prakarn on 16 March 2026 ( AP )

She said the only communication she had with her husband during the crisis was through Facebook Messenger.

The returning sailors reportedly left the airport in a bus.

open image in gallery The wife of one of the Thai crew members of the bulk carrier Mayuree Naree waits for her husband to arrive at the Suvarnabhumi international airport in Bangkok on 16 March 2026 ( AFP via Getty )

The vessels owner, Precious Shipping, said it would provide support to the crew after the incident. In a statement released on Monday, the company said it would offer welfare support for the crew, including medical examinations and mental health assessments.

The company further said that its highest priority was continued efforts to locate the three crew members who are still missing.

open image in gallery Mayuree Naree on fire in the Strait of Hormuz on 11 March 2026 ( AP )

Last week, Precious Shipping said the missing sailors were believed to be trapped in the engine room, which suffered heavy damage in the attack.

Thailands foreign ministry said they were seeking assistance from two countries to find the missing sailors.

The rescued sailors were saved by the Omani navy on Wednesday, according to Thailands navy.

The attack on the Thai ship came amid escalating tensions in the Middle East sparked by the US and Israels war against Iran. The war has raised serious concerns about shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
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Chinese scientists claim to have created the long theorised hexagonal diamond, stronger than the real thing, and only found until now at sites of meteorite impacts.

The commonly found cubic diamond is the hardest mineral on Earth and is used widely as jewellery, precision cutting tools, and high-performance semiconductors.

Hexagonal diamonds are rare and potentially tougher, but their actual existence has long been debated.

As no solid experimental evidence has been provided to prove its existence, the physical properties of hexagonal diamond remain largely unexplored, write researchers in the study published in the journal Nature.

The latest study describes the creation of this elusive form of carbon in the lab.

Researchers from Chinas Henan Key Laboratory of Diamond Materials and Devices describe how they made a bulk piece of pure hexagonal diamond using extreme pressure and heat.

Atomic structure of the bulk hexagonal diamond ( Nature (2026) )

In the study, scientists placed a highly ordered form of graphite between anvils made of tungsten carbide and applied 20 gigapascals of pressure, which is around 200,000 times the pressure of our atmosphere.

The process was carried out at temperatures between 1,300C and 1,900C, researchers say.

When pressure was applied from the top of the stacked carbon layers, it led to the formation of a millimetre-sized piece of pure hexagonal diamond, according to the study.

Here we report the synthesis of millimetre-sized, phase-pure hexagonal diamond from highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG), researchers wrote.

Scientists then used X-ray diffraction, a technique that bounces X-rays off atoms to map their positions, to prove that the sample was structurally pure hexagonal diamond.

They also used advanced microscopy to clearly see the unique hexagonal stacking patterns of the carbon atoms.

Researchers tested the mechanical properties of their newly formed material by pressing a diamond tip into the sample to assess how much it resisted scratching or denting.

The hexagonal diamond sample had a hardness of around 114 gigapascals, compared to many natural diamonds, which have a hardness of around 110 gigapascals.

This suggests researchers may have created a substance slightly harder than natural diamonds.

Bulk hexagonal diamond exhibits a slightly higher hardness than cubic diamond and high thermal stability, scientists wrote.

"These findings resolve the long-standing controversy on the existence of hexagonal diamond as a discrete carbon phase and provide new insight into the graphite-to-diamond phase transition, paving the way for future research and practical use of HD in advanced technological applications," they wrote in the study.
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Britains top police officer is pressing the US authorities to share unredacted versions of the Epstein files as the Metropolitan Police investigate claims that Peter Mandelson leaked sensitive information to the late paedophile.

The Met commissioner Sir Mark Rowley is said to have last month asked the US ambassador Warren Stephens for full documents relating to the peer, who was sacked as UK ambassador to the US over his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.

Sir Mark is expected to push the US authorities further during a visit to Washington this week, according to reports.

Police are investigating the Labour peer on suspicion of misconduct in public office, while Thames Valley Police is leading a separate probe into Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor for the same alleged offence.

Both men were arrested and bailed last month after the US Department of Justice (DoJ) released 3 million documents relating to the late billionaire.

open image in gallery Metropolitan Police commissioner Mark Rowley met with the US ambassador in February ( PA )

However, some information in the exchanges had been redacted to protect victims and avoid jeopardising ongoing investigations.

The Met has confirmed it is actively seeking further details from law enforcement partners, including in the US.

It is feared that if the American authorities refuse to cooperate, formal requests for the emails will need to be submitted under a legal agreement between the US and the UK.

It could take up to a year to access the documents under the formal process, called a mutual legal assistance (MLA) request, and there is no guarantee the DoJ will release them.

The Met is investigating claims Lord Mandelson passed on market-sensitive information to Epstein during his time as business secretary. The 72-year-old, who was sacked from his post as ambassador to the US last year and resigned from the House of Lords in February, has previously denied any wrongdoing.

open image in gallery A picture of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, Jeffrey Epstein and Peter Mandelson, thought to be taken in Marthas Vineyard, Massachusetts, was unearthed in the Epstein files ( US Department of Justice )

Emails from 2009, published in the Epstein files, led to allegations Lord Mandelson had passed on an assessment of potential policy measures by one of then-prime minister Gordon Browns advisers.

Police searched two of Lord Mandelsons properties in connection with their investigation.

In a statement last month, the Met said: Officers have arrested a 72-year-old man on suspicion of misconduct in public office. He was arrested at an address in Camden on Monday, 23 February and has been taken to a London police station for interview.

This follows [the execution of] search warrants at two addresses in the Wiltshire and Camden areas.

Sir Keir Starmer has faced a major backlash over the decision to appoint the Labour grandee to the key diplomatic role despite the latters continued friendship with Epstein after he was convicted of soliciting a minor for prostitution in 2008. Morgan McSweeney quit his role as Sir Keirs chief of staff over the scandal.

open image in gallery Peter Mandelson leaving his home in north London home last week ( PA )

The first batch of documents relating to the decision to appoint Lord Mandelson, released last week, revealed the prime minister was warned there was a general reputational risk over his friendship with Epstein.

Mr Mountbatten-Windsor is separately being investigated by Thames Valley Police on suspicion of misconduct in public office in his role as a UK trade envoy.

The royal was pictured leaving a police station in Aylsham, Norfolk, on 19 February after he was released under investigation following a day of questioning.

Last week, the first known picture of Mr Mountbatten-Windsor, Epstein and Lord Mandelson together was uncovered.

The men were pictured around a table wearing bathrobes while drinking out of mugs printed with the US flag in a photo believed to have been taken in Marthas Vineyard, Massachusetts, between 1999 and 2000, according to ITV News.

The US authorities sent an MLA to the Home Office in 2020 requesting Andrew Mountbatten-Windsors assistance as an alleged witness to Epsteins offending.
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The Home Offices use of artificial intelligence (AI) in processing asylum claims could be unlawful, legal experts have warned, opening up the possibility of court action against the government.

Caseworkers at the Home Office use AI to summarise interview transcripts with asylum seekers. It is also used to search policy guidance, such as information about whether a country is deemed safe to return to.

Asylum seekers are not told when AI is used on their interview testimony and are instead kept in the dark about the technologys impact on their claims.

The governments own evaluation of the AI tool that summarises asylum interview transcripts found that 9 per cent of summaries were so flawed that they had to be removed.

Five per cent of the case workers who used AI to summarise policy documents said they were not confident in tool accuracy. An evaluation of the 2024 pilot of the technology suggested that the AI interview summaries could save 23 minutes per case, and 37 minutes per case when officials used AI to search for information about a migrants country of origin.

A legal opinion, produced by lawyers at Cloisters Chambers and Doughty Street Chambers for the Open Rights Group and seen by The Independent, argues the Home Offices use of AI is likely to be unlawful as it does not meet a number of legal obligations nor the standards set out in the governments AI playbook.

These include being transparent with the public about how AI is being used and making sure alternatives are considered before using these tools.

AI tools were first trialled by Home Office caseworkers as part of a pilot scheme in 2024, but they were then rolled out more widely in 2025. In an announcement in April 2025, then-home secretary Yvette Cooper promised that AI would help officials make swift decisions on claims preventing asylum seekers from being stuck in limbo at the taxpayers expense.

There is no public data on how many asylum claims are decided with the assistance of AI.

While the backlog for an initial asylum decision has been slashed under Labour, the number of people waiting for an asylum appeal has boomed.

New tribunal statistics released last week show that more than 100,000 people were awaiting an appeal on their asylum decision at the end of December 2025. Some 36 per cent of determined appeals are successful, according to analysis of the data by charity Refugee Council, and when Home Office reconsiderations are included this jumps to a 66 per cent success rate.

Imran Hussain, director of external affairs at the Refugee Council, said the figures demonstrate poor quality decision-making by the Home Office.

Asylum seekers have been kept in the dark about how AI is used to assist Home Office caseworkers ( Getty )

In the legal opinion, lawyers argue that the government has not put safeguards in place to ensure meaningful human control of the AI tools and say that there has not been adequate consideration of the ways decisions are influenced by AI content.

They warn that the adoption of AI tools creates the risk that decision-makers will consider inaccurate information and overlook relevant facts when determining an asylum seekers claim.

They also argue that the government has failed to adhere to a number of ethical principles, which ministers have committed to. These include fair treatment of people with protected characteristics, such as their sex, race or disability, and commitments to transparency.

The Independent has previously reported on warnings about the Home Offices plan to use AI facial-recognition technology to assess the age of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.

Robin Allen KC and Dee Masters of Cloisters Chambers, who helped produce the legal opinion, said: Where AI tools are used without adequate safeguards, there is a real risk that unlawful or unfair decisions may result. They called for full transparency on how AI is used.

Sara Alsherif, migrants rights programme manager at Open Rights Group, called for an immediate ban on the use of these tools, adding these tools are not the answer. The group believe the legal opinion could open the way for legal challenges against the government from asylum seekers affected by AI use.

She continued: Determining whether someone can or cannot seek refuge in the UK is one of the most serious and life-changing decisions the government can make. There must be the utmost transparency, fairness and accuracy.

But asylum applicants are not even being informed that opaque AI tools are being used in the assessment of their case, nor being given the opportunity to correct errors that might be made.

A Home Office spokesperson said: AI will not decide asylum claims. It will strengthen the support we give to caseworkers, ensuring faster, highquality decisions made by trained officials.
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A yoga teacher and birth doula who claims she was cut out of her dying husband's fortune after fears she would "disappear to Brazil" with his children when he died is now fighting a 5m court battle with his brother.

Brazil-born Gabriela Teixeira, 41, married wealthy London property investor and restaurateur Abbas Moaven in 2002 after first meeting at one of his restaurants in Notting Hill in 2000.

They had two children and lived at a series of high-end properties around some of the capital's most desirable neighbourhoods, including Holland Park and Kensington.

open image in gallery Brazil-born Gabriela Teixeira, 41, married wealthy London property investor and restaurateur Abbas Moaven in 2002 after first meeting at one of his restaurants in Notting Hill in 2000 ( Champion News )

But after Abbas died, aged 45, in 2012, Gabriela was shocked to learn that his estate - which she was due to split with her two now adult children - could be worth nothing.

Weeks before his death, he had signed legal documents declaring that four properties - at the time worth over 3m - were not entirely his, but in fact shared with his mum and brother, Amir, "substantially diminishing" the estate she would inherit and potentially leaving it worthless due to debts.

Now, alongside her children, Elis and Aryan, she is fighting a High Court battle with her husband's brother, Amir Moaven, to restore the properties to her husband's estate and allow her and her kids to inherit their full value.

open image in gallery oga teacher and doula Gabriela Teixeira outside High Court during dispute with Amir Moaven ( Champion News Service )

She claims the documents her husband signed declaring the properties were not entirely his were a "sham," pointing to his lawyers' notes following a meeting with Amir, telling of concerns that she might leave the UK with the kids after Abbas died, with Amir questioning how that could be prevented.

Her barrister, Alexander Learmonth KC, says the lawyers' notes confirm that the deeds were a "sham" and "entered into with the clear aim of defeating a claim by Gabriela and/or her children against the estate."

The whole of the properties should fall into his estate, it is claimed, leaving her and the children with up to 5m to inherit after debts are paid.

However, her brother-in-law Amir insists the declarations of trust were legitimate and were merely putting into writing what had always been the case, that the properties were owned in equal shares by the brothers and their mum.

He says Gabriela's allegations amount to an accusation that her late husband had lied about not being sole owner of the properties in order to "defraud and/or control her" from beyond the grave and that she cannot prove that.

open image in gallery Aryan Moaven and sister Elis Teixeira Moaven outside High Court ( Champion News Service Ltd )

A doula is a non-clinical professional who provides physical and emotional support to families before, during and after childbirth, often attending actual births.

On her online profile, Gabriela, who is also a yoga teacher, describes receiving the "call to serve" after the birth of her first child, when she had a doula present.

She says every birth and family is "unique" and that she "supports the needs and wants of the family, while helping to empower the mother to have confidence in herself and to reassure her of her instinctive ability to give birth."

Her husband, Abbas, and his brother, Amir, moved to the UK from Iran in 1982 to live with their father and later began a west London clothing shop called Homeboy together.

They then moved into the then burgeoning mobile phone market in the mid-1990s and later restaurants, while also buying up a series of properties around the capital.

Gabriela and Abbas met at his then restaurant, The Gate, close to Notting Hill Gate Station, and began dating, with Gabriela in 2001 moving into the flat he shared in Queen's Gate, Kensington, with Amir.

Giving evidence, she told judge, Deputy Master Timothy Bowles, that Abbas had never given any indication that the flat was not entirely his property.

open image in gallery Amir Moaven outside High Court after hearing in dispute with Gabriela Teixeira ( Champion News Service )

Abbas was diagnosed with cancer in 2009 and died in May 2012, with his last will leaving his estate in third shares to his widow and two children, Elis Teixeira Moaven, 22, and Aryan Moaven, 19.

But the court heard the estate was "substantially diminished" because, only weeks before he died and while in hospital in April 2012, Abbas had signed trust documents, declaring that four properties in his name were actually owned in one-third shares by himself, his brother Amir and their mother, Nazemi Tehran.

In court, Gabriela's barrister, Alexander Learmonth KC, said the result - if the declaration of trusts stand - is that the estate is potentially "insolvent" due to other debts.

However, he argues that the documents were "obviously shams," designed by Abbas to prevent his wife or creditors from making a claim to most of his assets after his death.

He pointed to an attendance note from a meeting between Abbas' solicitor and Amir, when Abbas was "seriously unwell" at home and his brother was seeking to "regularise their affairs."

The lawyers' note stated: "His concern was what would happen if Abbas passed away and his wife disappeared with the two children to Brazil. How could they prevent this, and how could they prevent her from having access to the funds from the property assets?"

A subsequent note following another meeting added: "Amir confirmed his main intention was to secure Abbas childrens welfare because he was certain that any assets passed over to Abbas wife would be dissipated.

Mr Learmonth told the judge the notes "establish clearly that, if the declarations of trust were really intended to have any legal effect at all, then they were entered into with the clear aim of defeating a claim by Gabriela and/or her children against the estate."

He continued: "Abbas never intended his various declarations of trust to effect any real change in legal relations or to divest himself of his beneficial interest.

"He merely intended them to be used insofar as necessary to ward off claims by Gabriela, or potentially creditors. They are obviously shams."

Amir, now 55, claims that the four properties - which include Gabriela's former homes in Queen's Gate, Holland Park and Brasenose House, Kensington, as well as rental property in Maida Hill - were only ever put into Abbas' name for "cultural reasons" because he was the elder brother.

open image in gallery An apartment in this Holland Park property is at centre of dispute between Gabriela Teixeira and Amir Moaven ( Champion News Service Ltd )

But Mr Learmonth said that was contradicted by other high-end properties - also around Kensington - being held in the younger brother Amir's sole name.

He continued: "Gabriela says that Abbas never once said or hinted to her that Amir had any interest in any of the properties, or acted in a way which suggested that he did, though they lived in three of them during their marriage.

"Holland Park and Brasenose were both house-hunted by Gabriela and Abbas together, the former as a place for their growing family to live in and the latter as an investment, which they moved into subsequently.

"This evidence is inconsistent with Amir and Nazemi having any involvement, let alone financial involvement, or there being a common intention that they have a beneficial interest.

"The fact that  among so many pages of evidence, and after almost 14 years  Amir has produced nothing showing a financial contribution by Amir or Nazemi to any of the properties is telling.

"It is deeply unsatisfactory that 14 years later, Gabriela and her two children  now grown to from infancy to adulthood  have still not been able to obtain a proper account of Abbas estate, let alone to receive their inheritance," he said.

open image in gallery An apartment in this Queen's Gate property is at centre of dispute between Gabriela Teixeira and Amir Moaven ( Champion News )

He told the judge that Gabriela is anxious to restore the properties to the estate and get her inheritance, adding: "She is unable to sustain the lifestyle she enjoyed during Abbas lifetime, while he was still well, on her income working as a doula."

For Amir, barrister Lydia Pemberton described the row as a "very bitter family dispute," but insisted the declarations were "the written manifestation of the long-standing agreement" that the properties were held by Abbas, Amir and their mother in equal shares.

"No doubt the claimants are deeply disappointed that Abbas wealth and the estate is not what they expected, but disappointment does not make a valid claim," she told the judge.

"What the claimants can offer by way of evidence goes nowhere near to discharging the high evidential burden, which must rest with them, to show that their husband/father lied in the April 2012 deeds."

She continued: "Shortly stated, Amirs case is one of a pooling of resources between himself, Abbas and their mother, demonstrated by their years of joint business ventures.

"Fundamentally, the claimants have no relevant knowledge and understanding as to ownership of the properties and the business arrangements between Abbas, Amir and Nazemi, let alone evidence sufficient to discharge the high evidential burden of proving sham or dishonesty," she said.

The court heard the brothers' mum died in 2023. Her will leaves half of her estate to Amir and a quarter each to Elis and Aryan.

Following a week long trial, Deputy Master Bowles reserved his decision on the case until a later date.
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A woman whose husband is unable to breathe in cold air has said she is worried they cannot heat their home following huge price hikes for heating oil due to the US war against Iran.

Gail Thompson, 66, and her husband Steve, 71, live in rural Kent, and paid 328 for their last delivery of 500 litres of heating oil in January. On Thursday, they were quoted 717 for the same delivery following huge spikes in costs following the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East.

Ms Thompson told The Independent her husbands chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and pulmonary fibrosis (PF) make breathing in cold air incredibly difficult, and could kill him if they are left without heating.

The couple has around 380 litres of heating oil left  enough to last a month, or several, depending on the temperature  and are trying to turn the heating on as little as possible to conserve their supply. But Ms Thompson said her husbands illnesses mean that sometimes they have no choice but to turn it on.

open image in gallery Gail Thompson is worried the cost of heating oil will continue to rise, leaving her unable to afford to heat her home ( Gail Thompson )

The other day our thermostat said 14C, she said. When it gets that cold, we have to put the heating on, or it will kill him. There is nothing you can do to warm up the air other than put the heating on. So we put it on, we had to.

Ms Thompson told The Independent their biggest concern is that prices will keep increasing with no end to the conflict in sight. She added that there are many elderly people in her area who she is concerned will also be struggling with health issues in the cold.

My concern is the prices are going through the roof, but also, if they cant get any oil, what happens then? she asked. What happens if the suppliers run so low that people cant get it?

Ms Thompson said while the couple doesnt struggle for money day to day, they budget, and cannot afford the huge jump in prices heating oil has seen over the last week.

Were not struggling for money as a general rule, but were not millionaires, she told The Independent. It does make you think twice about buying oil.

I cant afford to pay 700, I just cant.

open image in gallery People have been urged to protect their heating oil amid reports of thefts in Suffolk ( Getty/iStock )

Unlike electricity and gas, heating oil is not subject to any regulation or price cap by Ofgem, meaning suppliers are free to price it as high as they wish.

Ms Thompson accused heating oil suppliers of profiteering, saying people will eventually pay the high prices because they have to for hot water, even without heating their homes.

Its unfair, she said. That sounds like a peevish word, but it doesnt seem right that electricity and gas prices can be capped but those delivering the oil can price gouge willy-nilly.

Thieves have reportedly targeted heating oil tanks in Suffolk as prices soar. Police have urged those with heating oil tanks to take steps to keep them safe following reports at two properties.

The government has said it will not tolerate energy companies exploiting the Middle East crisis for profit, with Sir Keir Starmer pledging to send the strong message to companies that prices must be fair, transparent and justifiable, not inflated at the expense of working people.

Britains competition watchdog, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), has also launched an investigation into troubling reports of sudden price hikes for heating oil. It said it was writing to heating oil suppliers and intermediaries as a matter of urgency to gather evidence and consider whether the behaviour breaches consumer protection laws  which could result in enforcement action.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the government was working with the watchdog to tackle any price gouging in heating oil.
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Northern Irelands First Minister, Michelle ONeill, has sharply criticised the UK Governments heating oil support package, branding it a "slap in the face" that "doesnt scratch the surface" of the region's needs.

The condemnation comes as Northern Ireland, where two-thirds of homes rely on heating oil compared to a UK average of just over 5 per cent, faces soaring energy costs.

Finance Minister John ODowd echoed this disappointment, stating that the 17 million allocated to Northern Ireland would amount to a mere 35 per household using home heating oil, describing the sum as "extremely disappointing".

The funding forms part of a wider 53 million package aimed at alleviating heating oil costs, which have surged due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

The Prime Minister announced the overall support after Chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed that Treasury officials had "found the money" to assist the 1.5 million households across the UK dependent on the fuel.

Sir Keir Starmer later confirmed Northern Ireland's specific 17 million share.

open image in gallery The First Minister Michelle ONeill urged MLAs to fight together for the people that we represent

Ms ONeill emphasised that her primary focus remains "challenging the British Government to ensure that we actually have the right investment package, that we actually can help people to get through this cost-of-living crisis".

During Question Time in the Stormont Assembly, she told MLAs: These are the real-life implications of war.

Our constituents here are having to bear the brunt of these decisions that have been taken elsewhere, so we need to fight together for the people that we represent.

She added: I encourage us all to work together, to fight for households here, to fight to have proper money so that we can actually help people to get through this crisis, because whats been thrown out today doesnt even scratch the surface of what people need.

Ms ONeill further stated: None of us know if, even these recent rises, if thats where its going to stop or if its going to get worse, so I think this is why we need support for households, thats why we make the case to the Treasury.

And I have to say, I find the 17 million that has been put on the table today to be a real slap in the face, a real slap in the face to families that are struggling, who are already struggling to pay their oil bills.

Speaking to reporters at Stormont shortly after the announcement, Mr ODowd said its extremely disappointing in terms of the quantum of funding that has been made available to the Executive.

Theres around half a million homes here rely on oil-fired central heating and the Executive has been awarded 17.2 million from the Prime Ministers announcement, he said.

open image in gallery John ODowd claimed the 17 million funding would only equate to 35 per household using home heating oil in the region and should be targeted at those on the lowest incomes

That equates to around 35 per household and on that basis I think its only right and proper that we target those on the lowest incomes.

Mr ODowd said that on the outbreak of the war in Ukraine in 2022 there was a much better financial package brought forward than has been brought forward today, so if the economy is in a better state, then the funding coming forward should match that.

DUP leader Gavin Robinson said there was a discussion to be had about means-testing the funding.

If the outcome of a process of engagement and willingness to support those who need our support when it comes to their home heating oil is to offer 20 or 30 at a time whenever costs have doubled  it wont cut it, he said.

And thats why Im indicating not only a willingness to work with the Economy Minister, but a requirement for her to sharpen her pencil and get going with discussions about how best this Executive can target the resources effectively.

open image in gallery DUP leader Gavin Robinson said the support costs wont cut it

He added: Prices have been rising over the last fortnight.

I think we can understand from the scale of it that even if its distributed next week or the week after or it takes a number of months to try and target that intervention, its not going to be nearly enough to insulate people from the entirety of the cost consequence of whats been going on.

Alliance MP Sorcha Eastwood said there needs to be quick, urgent action to get this support out the door to homes across Northern Ireland, but also raised questions on the level of funding made available.

If the Government are serious about reflecting the need of home heating oil in Northern Ireland that should be much more than that, so I will be querying that with Treasury and also it needs to be targeted, she said.

Theres absolutely no point in people who are able to pay their bills getting that support, if it is already going to be a small sum that needs to be reflected in the allocation.

UUP MLA Robbie Butler said the broken-down figure of 35 per household is quite pitiful, actually.

He said: I think as a party, we certainly would have liked to have seen a three-figure sum, something that better reflected the pressures that are on households here in Northern Ireland.

open image in gallery Around two-thirds of homes in Northern Ireland use home heating oil compared with the UK average of just more than 5 per cent

The UK Government said it also intends to introduce new consumer protections for heating oil customers and is rapidly exploring new ways to step in and ensure households are better protected.

Facing a Stormont committee on Monday, Sinn Fein Economy Minister Caoimhe Archibald accused the DUP of peddling mistruth and misinformation in relation to energy bill support funding.

Last week, Ms Archibald had been criticised by the chairman of the Economy Committee, DUP MLA Phillip Brett, who highlighted that an announcement in the Chancellors spring statement made 81 million of funding available to Stormont to reduce energy bills and claimed the department had not yet submitted a business case to the Treasury for funding.

On Monday Ms Archibald denied that departmental officials were not aware of the funding until it was brought to their attention by Mr Brett, saying the funding came from annually managed expenditure (AME) which is tightly controlled by the British Government and is used to deliver schemes here that align with those in Britain.

I believe its irresponsible to build peoples hopes up that this funding could be targeted differently, she said.

Mr Brett questioned the timeline of correspondence between the Treasury and the department and concluded the meeting saying: We still dont have a delivery mechanism, so I think we just need to encourage the department to try and get this delivery mechanism delivered as soon as possible.
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Debate over whether young Britons would fight in a war has sparked a lively response from Independent readers, with many highlighting disillusionment with government, lack of national pride, and the perception that conflicts are other peoples wars.

The conversation was sparked by Gen Z commentator Thomas Horn, who questioned whether people his age would sign up for a war not of their making following concerns about the UK joining a US-led war in Iran.

Readers noted that unlike their grandparents, Gen Z have grown up facing student debt, a broken social contract, climate change, and a global pandemic, making it harder to feel loyalty to a country they see as failing them.

Some said they would only consider fighting if Britain faced an immediate, unprovoked invasion threatening their way of life, comparing it to the clear moral purpose of the Second World War.

Most, however, were reluctant to be called up for conflicts driven by foreign powers, citing lack of trust in political leaders and the unfairness of being forced into a war they did not choose or agree with.

Other commenters pointed out that European countries with conscription have successfully mobilised young people, while the UK lacks both national service schemes and a culture of preparation, leaving many unready to face war.

Heres what you had to say:

Compulsory service like Switzerland

We should be like Switzerland, with compulsory service for men and a voluntary one for women of recruitment age, with refresher courses every year. The service can be in the military, a longer civilian service, or a civil defence service for those who dont want to serve in the armed forces. This should apply to dual nationals as well as to those who have been granted asylum.

Pomerol95

Someone elses war

As is spelled out in the article. If there was a threat to the UK and a country was threatening invasion, people would step up to defend their homes.

People fight to defend their way of life, not their country; it's the people they love in the country.

In the Second World War, Germany was coming for us. Iran is not coming for us and wouldnt be coming for us. Why would people want to go to the Middle East and fight Iran?

Russia could maybe trigger that response. But they too are not threatening an invasion of Europe, and also with Nato, we have a whole lot of allies and weapons, so Russia hopefully wont do that.

But generally, yeah. Fighting to defend a threat to the country, I think, would get people signing up.

Fighting someone elses war, which they never wanted to be part of, not so much.

And Iran is someone elses war (Trump and Netanyahus) and is not something that we would sign up for (I am too old to be called up, thankfully, but I would feel the same way if I was younger).

Someone182

When our country is worth fighting for

The only qualification that could be suggested to this is, perhaps our country is worth fighting for in the circumstances of a genuine external threat. But our corrupt ruling classes and the external grievances theyve generated are certainly not worth defending.

hollybaxter

Life is not gentle

Gentle parenting has a lot to answer for. There is a whole generation that doesnt understand resilience, consequences, or hardship. In other words, life. Life is not gentle.

allsorts

Run for the hills

Kids dont go; dont fight Trumps war. He doesnt care about US troops, he wont care about you either. My advice: if they ask you to fight for this, run for the hills and hide out. Let the old men who started it line up to fight  its what they want. Let them be cannon fodder, blasted by bombs, grenades, and napalm  they started this.

Red Dragon

Revolution

The only war worth fighting would be the war against financial elites, billionaires, tech bros, and big business. A war against those who create, maintain, and benefit from poverty and deprivation  a war fought in tax havens and centres of obscene wealth, wherever they may be.

But they dont call that war, do they  they call it revolution.

Ali446

Our country is worth fighting for

This is a much wider subject than being shot at! Our country is worth fighting for if you value the basic things that get us through our lives: freedom of movement, education, social welfare, health service, freedom of speech (unfortunately a widely abused phrase, especially by the right). Would whoever defeated you offer these things? No longer does the USA offer them!

Most European states do offer similar benefits. No one European state can survive alone. We cant; Germany cant. The rest of the world would be hostile, and leaders, mainly autocrats, would make sure we couldnt compete with them on equal terms.

As part of Europe, we have size and the power to stand against what we consider the faults, or less attractive lives, autocrats offer: unable to speak, rigged voting, wealth all in the hands of the chosen few. USA, Russia, China are the obvious three examples.

We have something worth fighting for, but the big fight is political within! Farage and Reform seek the autocratic USA-style of Trump government, which is removing freedoms and education, healthcare, and choice from their people.

Surely, tenuous as it is, what we have is worth fighting for, especially if we can head off the dangerous politics we face from the billionaires and their poodles.

TuftedDuck

People forgot what war is like when it comes to you

Former army chief General Sir Patrick Sanders has said a war would require a whole-of-nation undertaking and a citizen army. The report of the Nato summit of Vilnius and of the EU Council meeting a month earlier mentioned that what happens in Ukraine reminded us that war involves the whole of society.

Until the fall of the Berlin Wall, people were aware of that based on what happened in both world wars. But after the fall of the Wall and the signing of the OSCEs Security Charter for Europe by all European countries (incl. Russia), it was believed there would never be another major war in Europe.

The military were reformed from a homeland defence force to a lean and flexible force that can be deployed to faraway places to take care of a threat against our security. Our societies werent affected by these faraway operations, and people forgot what war is like when it comes to you. Russias invasion of Ukraine, though, quickly reminded everyone that when war comes to you, it requires everyone to do their part: there have to be sufficient troops, the defence industry has to step up and scale up so that it can produce to need should the need arise, and civilian society has to be self-sufficient and resilient; people have to know what to do, and do all kinds of tasks in support of the military.

Real European

Leaders create wars, people dont

Two points.

Firstly, the narrative is: country, Russia attacks; Iran attacks; Israel attacks. And so on. When specifically, it is the leaders of these countries who demand it. Millions of people of those countries and the global population are led into conflict by leaders who have spats with each other and demand retribution; its like theyre playing a war game, moving the pieces around a board. Those same millions of people dont want to fight each other. Ive got nothing against those people, nor they against me; probably a handful of leaders, some of them unpredictable, use us as pawns.

Secondly, in what world would anyone follow Starmer, or rather follow his directions, into war? The man cant run a country  off you go lads, straight off that cliff, thats right, keep to the left no, wait! Come back!

leafspot

Some of the comments have been edited for this article for brevity and clarity.

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King Charles tried his hand at DJing during a visit to Manchester, spinning tunes and engaging with young people supported by his charity. The monarch was touring Aviva Studios, home to the citys arts organisation Factory International, where he met beneficiaries of the Kings Trust.

Aspiring DJ Christian St Louis, 22, from Middleton, Greater Manchester, invited the King to try the mixing table. Guiding Charles, Mr St Louis explained: "First, you load up the tracks and then play this one  there are so many buttons. Once you know what to do, its easy."

As the King attempted to master the controls, an onlooker commented: "Its not as easy as it looks, is it?" Charles laughed, replying: "Im trying to get the hang of it."

Mr St Louis, formerly from east London, told the King that taking a DJing course through the trust had been more than helpful.

He said: I always wanted to DJ. Now I know I can do it.

open image in gallery Christian St Louis helps King Charles III operate his dj deck during a visit to Aviva Studios, in Manchester, the home of Factory International, to see the collaboration between the King's Trust and Factory Academy, who deliver the Trust's Creative Futures, Get into Event Production programme. Picture date: Monday March 16, 2026. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: Jacob King/PA Wire ( Jacob King/PA Wire )

He said he was looking for a job to save up and buy his own decks, with a goal of bringing out his own EP music recording.

In 2024, the Kings Trust joined forces with the Elba Hope Foundation, a public charity founded by actor Idris Elba and his wife Sabrina to launch Creative Futures, a range of free courses designed to inspire young people through the arts, building their skills and confidence to work in the creative industries.

Elba was supported by the Kings Trust, formerly the Princes Trust, when he was a teenager.

Another beneficiary from the Kings Trust, Mariama Gallow, 19, from Manchester, read her own poem to the King.

open image in gallery King Charles III meets local children as he leaves following his visit to Aviva Studios, in Manchester, the home of Factory International, to see the collaboration between the King's Trust and Factory Academy, who deliver the Trust's Creative Futures, Get into Event Production programme ( Jacob King/PA Wire )

Ms Gallow undertook a creative music course and went on to learn about health and social care.

Charles told her he had already seen an example of her poetry which Elba had shown him on a piece of film.

He said: It was fantastic. Really, really good.

Charles also met young people who had learned skills in stage construction such as lighting, sound and production through the Factory Academy based at Aviva Studios.

Creative Futures has helped more than 100 young people across Manchester and is now supporting young people in other parts of the UK.

open image in gallery King Charles III is told how a production is put together for a live music event during a visit to Aviva Studios, in Manchester, the home of Factory International, to see the collaboration between the King's Trust and Factory Academy, who deliver the Trust's Creative Futures, Get into Event Production programme ( Jacob King/PA Wire )

Launched in 2018 by Factory International, the Factory Academy aims to provide accessible career pathways into the creative industries and boost creative skills across the region.

The Factory Academy has collaborated with the Kings Trust to deliver programmes from Creative Futures.

Charles unveiled a plaque to mark his visit before he was treated to a performance outside by a choir from the Royal Northern College of Music.

The King spoke briefly to members of the public who gathered outside the city-centre venue including child-minder Jodie Pownall, from New Mills, Derbyshire, who brought along one-year-old twins Teddy and Kuba, two-year-old Jackson, and Ronnie, Stevie and George, all aged one.

They were rewarded for braving the rain as Charles posed for a photograph.
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Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, have vehemently rejected claims made in a new book about the British royal family, labelling the author's work as "deranged conspiracy and melodrama."

In a robust statement released on Saturday, the couple asserted that author Tom Bower "has long crossed the line from criticism into fixation." The Sussexes' strong reaction follows the publication of extracts from Bower's book in the Times of London on Friday.

These extracts alleged that Queen Camilla once confided to a friend that Meghan had "brainwashed" her husband. Furthermore, the book claimed that Prince William and his wife Catherine "evidently saw Meghan as a threat rather than an ally," amid escalating tensions prior to the Sussexes' decision to relocate to the United States and step back from royal duties.

This is someone who has publicly stated, the monarchy in fact depends on actually obliterating the Sussexes from our state of life, language that speaks for itself, Harry and Meghan's statement said.

He has made a career out of constructing ever more elaborate theories about people he does not know and has never met, it continued. Those interested in facts will look elsewhere; those seeking deranged conspiracy and melodrama know exactly where to find him.

The extracts from Bower's book included passages critical of the couple's financial situation, their charity work and Harry's Invictus Games, an annual sporting competition he founded for wounded, injured and sick military veterans.

Bower previously published Revenge: Meghan, Harry, And the War Between the Windsors in 2022.
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London Underground drivers will stage a series of 24-hour strikes in the next few months in a dispute over working hours, the RMT union announced.

Members of the union will walk out at midday on 21 and 23 April, 19 and 21 May, as well as 16 and 18 June.

All strikes run from 12 noon to 12 noon the following day, but TfL warns that disruption will continue into the afternoons and evenings of strike days.

The RMT said its members are taking action because transport bosses are pushing ahead with a plan to compress a normal working week into four days, despite the proposals being rejected by a majority of train operators in a referendum.

The union said its members have concerns about shift lengths, working time arrangements, transfer and allocation processes, and the potential impact on fatigue and safety.

In response, Transport for London (TfL) said the proposed four-day working week would be for train drivers on the Bakerloo line only, adding that the changes to working patterns would be voluntary. It called on the union to cancel proposed strike action.

Strike planner for 21-24 April ( TfL )

The strike dates are as follows:

2122 April (12pm Tuesday to 11.59am Wednesday)

2324 April (12pm Thursday to 11.59am Friday)

1920 May (12pm Tuesday to 11.59am Wednesday)

2122 May (12pm Thursday to 11.59am Friday)

16-17 June (12pm Tuesday to 11.59am Wednesday)

18-19 June (12pm Thursday to 11.59am Friday)

Eddie Dempsey, RMT general secretary, said in a statement in March: London Underground is trying to force through major changes to working patterns that have already been rejected by our members.

"We are clear that these proposals raise serious concerns around fatigue, safety and work-life balance.

"Despite our best efforts over many months, no satisfactory outcome has been reached so we have no choice but to call strike dates.

"There is still time for London Underground to come up with a workable solution but we will take strike action if we cannot get a negotiated settlement."

TfL said it is asking customers to check before they travel ahead of planned strike action.

TfL is working hard to resolve the dispute, with dialogue with the union ongoing, and will operate as many services as possible should strikes go ahead. TfL is urging the union to call off their action and continue to work together on proposals to pilot a four-day week for train operators, it said.

Should the April strikes go ahead, TfL expects there to be some services on most lines, but with significant disruption, and all other normally-operating TfL services like the Elizabeth line, DLR, London Overground, and trams are likely to be very busy.

Buses are expected to run as usual, aside from seven routes operated by Stagecoach from Bow Bus Garage, which are being affected by a separate strike from 5am on three Fridays, 17 and 24 April and 15 May, lasting 24 hours until 5am the following day.

Two previous strike dates planned by RMT, on 24 and 26 March, were called off following talks. TfL says the April, May and June dates remain in place.

Read more: Two 24-hour Tube strikes in March called off
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The BBC has warned of a "chilling effect" on "robust reporting on public figures and events" from US President Donald Trumps defamation lawsuit.

The corporation filed a motion on Monday to dismiss Mr Trumps $10 billion (7.5 billion) claim.

The lawsuit follows criticism of a Panorama documentary, broadcast in 2024, which Mr Trump alleges gave the impression he encouraged supporters to storm the US Capitol in 2021 after his election loss to Joe Biden.

In its motion, the BBC cited case law, stating: "Early dismissal is favoured given the powerful interest in ensuring that free speech is not unduly burdened by the necessity of defending against expensive yet groundless litigation, which would constrict the breathing space needed to ensure robust reporting on public figures and events."

Arguing the case should be thrown out, the corporation continued: All the more so when plaintiff (President Trump) is among the most powerful and high-profile individuals in the world, on whose activities the BBC reports every day.

The chilling effect is clear.

The motion went on to cite a lack of personal jurisdiction and a failure to state a claim as further reasons for wanting the lawsuit dismissed.

open image in gallery BBC filed a motion to dismiss Mr Trumps $10 billion lar (7.5 billion) defamation lawsuit over an edit of a Panorama documentary on Monday ( Associated Press )

In the 34-page document, the BBC said: In all, plaintiff (President Trump) falls well short of the high bar of actual malice.

He fails to plausibly allege facts showing that defendants (BBC) knowingly intended to create a false impression.

The BBC went on to say the lack of actual malice is underscored by the fact that the brief clip, which shows 12 seconds of plaintiffs speech on January 6, is part of an hour-long film with extensive coverage of his supporters and balanced coverage of his path to re-election.

The corporation also argued Mr Trumps defamation claim should be dismissed because he cannot show the corporation purposefully aimed the documentary at Florida.

The 79-year-old filed the claim against the BBC in the southern district of Florida in December last year, but the BBC said it is not at home in Florida.

In the motion to dismiss, the BBC added: The president has no basis at all to ask this court to exercise jurisdiction over defendants (BBC).

It also argued it is not subject to general personal jurisdiction in Florida because they do not engage in substantial and not isolated activity within this state.

open image in gallery Panorama faced criticism last year over an episode broadcast in 2024 for giving the impression the US president had encouraged his supporters to storm the Capitol building in 2021 after he had lost the election to Joe Biden ( AP )

The BBC said that meant it would be unduly burdensome to defend Mr Trumps defamation case in the state.

The corporation added: These burdens are not outweighed by Floridas minimal interests in overseeing a dispute about UK entities role in a documentary aimed at UK viewers, who fund the BBC by paying the UK licence fee.

It would be unduly burdensome for these UK defendants to defend themselves in Florida.

Nor would it be fair to require defendants to litigate in Florida where the BBC took active measures to block Americans from viewing this documentary.

Following the filing of the motion, a BBC spokesperson said: We have said throughout we will robustly defend the case against us.

Put simply  the documentary was never aired in Florida  or the US. It wasnt available to watch in the US on iPlayer, online or any other streaming platforms including BritBox and BBC Select.

We have therefore challenged jurisdiction of the Florida court and filed a motion to dismiss the presidents claim.

open image in gallery The BBC said that meant it would be unduly burdensome to defend Mr Trumps defamation case in the state ( PA Archive )

BBC director-general Tim Davie resigned in November following the allegations that Panorama selectively edited Trumps speech.

Rhodri Talfan Davies has been confirmed as the corporations interim director-general and will take on the role from 3 April .
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Police investigating the disappearance of a Brazilian academic in Essex have located a laptop believed to belong to her.

Essex Police confirmed the device was discovered in Brightlingsea on Saturday, and Vitoria Figueiredo Barretos family has been informed and continues to receive support.

Ms Barreto, 30, a psychologist, was last in contact with loved ones on 3 March, following a meeting with a friend at Essex University in Colchester.

She was reported missing the following day.

Her last known movements on 3 March involved a 30-minute bus journey from Wivenhoe to the coastal town of Brightlingsea.

Vitoria Figueiredo Barreto, 30, who has not been in contact with loved ones since March 3 after she met a friend at Essex University in Colchester ( Family handout )

The force said a person, believed to be Ms Barreto, is seen on CCTV apparently jumping over a fence into a boatyard just after midnight on March 4.

Police said on Thursday they were exploring the possibility of Vitoria having taken a boat from a pontoon in Brightlingsea.

The boat was found on a drift in the water close to Bradwell-on-Sea, police said, adding on Sunday they were aware of a number of reported potential sightings of Vitoria in the Bradwell area.

We have had a policing presence in Bradwell and in the Dengie area throughout the weekend and these reports are being progressed appropriately alongside other lines of inquiry, which we must also continue to work through, a force spokesperson said.

They said that an orange horse-shoe shaped buoyancy aid from the vessel appears to be missing.

Police said a force marine unit took Ms Barretos loved ones on Sunday on the same boat journey we believe she may have taken in the early hours of Wednesday March 4.

Ms Barretos loved ones are urging the Brazilian community in Essex to display Brazilian flags, which they hope will attract her attention and create a safe and welcoming space for her.

Detective Superintendent Anna Granger said: Sunday March 15 is of course Mothers Day in the UK.

I am a mum myself and I cannot even begin to imagine the pain Vitorias mother, Gleyz, has experienced since Vitorias disappearance.

Every single officer, staff member and volunteer involved in this search would love nothing more than to reunite Vitoria with her mum  and were working around the clock to do that.

We have seen first-hand the support from the community in Brightlingsea and further afield, which has been offered to Vitorias loved ones.

Equally, we know many people from the community have been involved in raising the profile of Vitorias disappearance and that has helped to ensure a significant number of people across Essex now recognise her face and her clothes and I would urge our whole community to please keep looking out for her and report any sightings or CCTV information to us as soon as possible.

People can report sightings, CCTV information or any details which could be important to police by calling 999.
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Reform UKs policies would spark a trade war with the EU that would have far worse consequences than Donald Trumps tariffs, a senior minister has claimed.

European affairs minister Nick Thomas-Symonds, who is responsible for negotiating the Brexit reset for Sir Keir Starmers government, has dismissed Reform leader Nigel Farage as not a serious candidate for prime minister.

He warned that Reforms plans to tear up the settled status deal for EU citizens would spark a trade war even before the party tried to pull out of any other deals.

Mr Thomas-Symonds spoke to The Independent ahead of a crucial 48 hours for the UKs renegotiation with the EU, with a meeting of the UK/EU parliamentary assembly set to take place on Monday, and chancellor Rachel Reeves due to outline the governments vision on Tuesday in the City of Londons Mais Lecture.

open image in gallery Nigel Farage plans to tear up existing deals with the EU ( PA )

Ms Reeves is set to deliver a similar warning about Reforms immigration policies, which would see non-British citizens lose welfare payments, tearing up the settled status deal for EU citizens that was negotiated before the UK left the bloc in 2020.

Mr Thomas-Symonds told The Independent: If you think Boris Johnson left us with a bad deal, think about what Nigel Farage would do in power. We know that the emissions trading system and the food and drink agreement together are worth up to 9bn a year to the economy by 2040, and hes already said he would take that away.

Highlighting Reform UKs draconian immigration plans, which the party unveiled last month at a press conference in Dover, Mr Thomas-Symonds said: Farage is also talking about taking all welfare support away from EU settled citizens. Frankly, with that, we probably would end up with us in some sort of trade war with the EU. That really isnt what we need.

He added: Think, as well, of the progress weve been making recently, working constructively with the EU on the Made in Europe agenda, to try to make sure theres no additional trade barriers being erected. Nigel Farage would put all that at risk.

Asked if a trade war would be worse than Trumps tariffs, Mr Thomas-Symonds warned: It would, because trade with the EU is so much bigger, about 800bn worth of trade a year. What does that mean? It means risking prices in the shops going up. It means putting jobs at risk. These are not things that are in our national interest; thats not a serious policy.

open image in gallery Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds says Reforms policies would put at risk the progress made so far ( PA )

Reform responded to his claims by accusing Labour of scaremongering. A spokesperson said: Reform UK believes the welfare system should support those who have paid into it, not act as an open-ended entitlement. The idea that putting British taxpayers first would somehow spark a trade war with the EU is ridiculous.

Reforms business and trade spokesperson, deputy leader Richard Tice, also hit back at Mr Thomas-Symonds. At a press conference in Westminster, he said: Why would you want to handcuff yourself ever closer to any failing economic model? Its the last thing in the world we should be doing. So, of course, well look at everything in the round.

Why should we pay anybody to come to our country and then pay them benefits? In the nicest possible way, youre lucky enough to come and live in this country, please do contribute, work, integrate, [learn] the lingo, fantastic. But we cant afford to pay people to sit at home on their backsides if they come to the UK. Its as simple as that.

Mr Thomas-Symonds said he believes Brexit will be an important dividing line between Labour and its biggest political rivals at the next election, but has also warned pro-EU campaigners that the UK will not rejoin the bloc, and has ruled out agreeing any sort of customs union with it in his reset talks.

But he argued that the ruthless pragmatism of the Starmer government is where the public is on the issue, even though a BMG poll on 4 March suggested that public support for rejoining the EU was at 45 per cent, with 37 per cent against.

He said: Im talking to people up and down the country on a weekly basis, and there is support for the closer relationship that we have already built and are building, but no appetite to reopen the debates of the past.

He added: We are the ones who will be delivering for the British public, delivering on living standards, delivering on jobs, delivering on law enforcement and immigration. And I very much welcome the debate at the next election, if the Conservatives and Reform want to take all that away.
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Tens of millions of pounds will be set aside to support the poorest households with spiralling energy bills, Sir Keir Starmer will announce, as he attempts to ease the chaos triggered by the crisis in the Middle East.

Vowing to support working people whatever challenges lie ahead, the prime minister will use a press conference on Monday to set out plans to assist those reliant on heating oil - which is not covered by the energy price cap - with a 50m package of assistance.

It comes after the government opened the door to scrapping a planned fuel-duty hike in response to the rise in energy prices caused by the US/Israeli war with Iran.

Energy secretary Ed Miliband said on Sunday that ministers will intervene over bills if necessary, insisting that the government is going to stand by people in this crisis.

Fears of another cost of living crisis, similar to what happened in 2022 as a result of Russias invasion of Ukraine, have been heightened by the price of oil rising more than 20 per cent to above $100 (76) a barrel, and gas by more than 50 per cent.

Promising to shield working people in Britain from the impacts of the conflict, the PM will say: Its moments like this that tell you what a government is about. My answer is clear: whatever challenges lie ahead, this government will always support working people.

open image in gallery Keir Starmer will give a press conference on Monday ( PA )

That is my first instinct  my first priority  to help you with the cost of living through this crisis.

In a change from the tone adopted thus far, the prime minister will also threaten energy firms with legal action following claims that heating-oil suppliers are cancelling orders and jacking up prices in an attempt to take advantage of the crisis.

Addressing those concerns, he will say: I will not tolerate companies trying to exploit this crisis to make money from working people ... If the companies have broken the law, there will be legal action.

Gas and electricity bills are covered by the regulator Ofgems price cap, which is fixed until June, but if the conflict continues and Iran maintains its stranglehold on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, then households could face dramatic hikes at that point.

Meanwhile, around 1.5 million households that rely on heating oil, mainly in rural areas, are already facing soaring costs, with the price per litre rocketing since the start of the crisis from around 62p a litre to as much as 1.73.

open image in gallery The price per litre of heating oil has almost tripled in some areas since the start of the crisis ( Getty/iStock )

One consumer told the BBC they had been quoted 315 for 500 litres of oil, but within two or three days of the conflict breaking out, the quote went up to 653.

The chancellor is expected to set out the full details of the package of support for those reliant on heating oil this week. The Financial Times reported that the package will be worth 50mn and impact around 1 million households, mainly in rural areas.

It comes after the chancellor and the energy secretary put fuel providers on notice, meeting with them over the weekend to warn against profiteering from the Iran war.

Ahead of the talks, Rachel Reeves wrote to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), asking it to stay on high alert for unjustifiable price hikes, and insisted she would not tolerate firms exploiting uncertainty in the Middle East for financial gain, as concerns grow over the impact of the war on the cost of living.

The Treasury is also thought to be considering other forms of support for those reliant on gas and electricity, in case prices are still high when the price cap lifts in June.

Analysts at Cornwall Insight have forecast that household energy bills could rise by 10 per cent from July following sharp increases in wholesale gas prices.

open image in gallery Chancellor Rachel Reeves wrote to the CMA asking it to stay on alert for unjustifiable price hikes ( PA Wire )

This would mean Ofgems price cap for July to September surging to 1,801 a year for a typical dual-fuel household  an increase of 160, or 10 per cent on Aprils cap.

Weve got some time, and we are working through in the Iran response board [a group of Treasury ministers and officials] different approaches that we could take, including looking at more targeted options, the chancellor told The Times over the weekend.

We are working through different scenarios at the moment, and I dont want to suggest that were going to do something that we know were not able to deliver. I am concerned, given how high our debt is, the debt that we inherited, and so I want to look at what the different options available would be.

Ms Reeves played down the prospect of a blanket energy bailout for households, as happened in the wake of Russias invasion of Ukraine at the cost of around 35bn over a six-month period.

It is important, even when there is an economic shock  or perhaps particularly when theres an economic shock  that you continue to be disciplined about your use of public money, she said.

The prime minister will also use Mondays address to insist that de-escalation in the Middle East is the best way to protect household finances, saying: We will continue to work towards a swift resolution of the situation in the Middle East. Because there is no question that ending the war is the quickest way to reduce the cost of living.
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Richard Tice has criticised the notion that people should pay the maximum tax they possibly could, after dismissing reports into his own tax arrangements.

Speaking at a press conference in central London on Monday, Mr Tice hit back at calls from the Labour Party for HMRC to investigate his tax affairs after the Sunday Times reported he had avoided nearly 600,000 in corporation tax through his property company.

Asked whether his tax affairs were morally above board, he said: The point is, there is no obligation. How many friends of yours would voluntarily choose to pay more tax than they are legally obliged to do?

The idea that, morally, we have got to pay the maximum tax we possibly can  therein lies the road to ruin for the UK as an economy.

Asked if he would encourage others to pay as little tax as possible, he said: Yes, within the legal limit. That is what you should do.

Dont morally or voluntarily give more tax to incompetent, wasteful, hard-left, socialist governments to waste on your behalf.

The Boston and Skegness MP said his firm Quidnet Reit Ltd was a UK company paying UK tax in accordance with UK laws, and instead accused the Labour Party of failing to pay tax on the revenue of its own property company.

open image in gallery The Reform UK deputy leader said he had complied with all relevant tax rules ( PA )

He said: How much corporation tax do we think Labour Party Properties Limited has paid in 25 years? Any guesses? Zero. A big, fat zero.

Because their property costs and their administration expenses coincidentally  Im sure it was just a coincidence  have matched, or exceeded the rental income.

It is understood that the accounts for Labour Party Properties Ltd are independently verified by auditors.

open image in gallery The Boston and Skegness MP said his firm Quidnet Reit Ltd was a UK company paying UK tax in accordance with UK laws ( PA )

Responding to Mr Tices press conference, Anna Turley MP, chair of the Labour Party, said: Richard Tice is taking the public for fools. He needs to come clean with the British people as to why hes gone to such extreme lengths to avoid paying 600,000 in tax.

Tice claimed a particular status for his company for two years and 11 months so that he wouldnt have to pay corporation tax. The idea that this is the same as having an ISA or making pension contributions is frankly absurd, and Tice knows it.

Reform pretend to be on the side of working people, but Tice knows that the extremes he has gone to in order to pay less tax are anything but normal.

While Tice blusters and makes excuses about his own tax affairs, his party is busy hiking council tax and cutting services despite promising to cut council tax and waste. They cant be trusted, and they are not on your side.
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Sir Keir Starmer says the UK is working with allies on a plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz but will not be dragged into Donald Trumps wider war on Iran.

The prime minister confirmed he is talking with other countries, including European allies as well as Canadas Mark Carney in Downing Street on Monday, about military involvement to keep the straits open amid fresh warnings of soaring prices and fuel rationing in Britain.

But he insisted the UK would not join Israel and the US in launching offensive strikes Iran. He also did not commit to sending warships to the strait, as requested by President Trump on the weekend, a move which could escalate the crisis.

It comes as a senior Labour source, who is a regular part of the security discussions in relation to Iran and Ukraine, told The Independent that the feedback coming to the government from Republican allies as well as Democrats is one of deep despair at the erratic behaviour of the president.

open image in gallery Keir Starmer said there needs to be a credible plan to keep the straits open ( Simon Dawson /No 10 Downing Street )

Speaking at a Downing Street press conference, Sir Keir said he wanted a swift end to the war, adding that the UK and its allies were working hard on a viable plan to end the blockade of the key oil and gas channel.

He said: While taking the necessary action to defend ourselves and our allies, we will not be drawn into the wider war.

I want to see an end to this war as quickly as possible, because the longer it goes on, the more dangerous the situation becomes, and the worse it is for the cost of living back here at home.

Mr Trump has called for the UK and other countries to send warships to help secure the Strait of Hormuz and claimed Nato faces a "very bad" future should its member states fail to help.

But several countries have so far rebuffed the plea, despite growing concerns over the impact of the closure of the strait on global economies. In the UK, ministers are instead said to be drawing up plans to send minesweeping drones to the strait.

Sir Keir added: Ultimately, we have to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to ensure stability on the market. That is not a simple task.

open image in gallery Donald Trump ( AP )

There have been discussions going on in relation to a viable plan.

"We want to make sure that that involves as many partners as possible, that's been our stated directive here, particularly talking to European partners, inevitably talking to Gulf partners and to the US, because we need a credible, viable plan, if we can."

He noted: This is, to say the least, not easy. It is not straightforward. And therefore we have to make sure we've got that credible in place.

Asked whether he would send a warship to the Gulf, Sir Keir said he had not yet decided, adding: We are looking through the options. Its a discussion. Were not at the point of decisions yet.

Earlier, the prime minister met his Canadian counterpart Mark Carney in Downing Street to discussed the situations with Iran and Ukraine.

Sir Keir said: "I met Prime Minister Carney earlier this morning and I'll be meeting President Zelensky soon, because it's vital that we continue to focus on supporting Ukraine.

"We cannot allow the war in the Gulf to turn into a windfall for Putin."

Sir Keir made the statement as he announced that households that rely on heating oil to warm their homes would receive 53m of government support to help with their bills. He also threatened legal action against fuel suppliers over price gouging.

open image in gallery Trump wants allies to help with Hormuz ( AFP/Getty )

He spoke shortly after former Gordon Brown aide and former BP chief Nick Butler told Sir Keir that his government needs a plan for fuel rationing. There are also concerns about the impact on the price of food while the strait remains effectively closed.

The prime minister also did not rule out wider government support for energy bills if costs soar when the cap came to an end in June. But he suggested it was difficult to predict where oil prices would be.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Mr Trump reiterated his call for allied assistance in the Strait of Hormuz, telling the paper: "It's only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries of the strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there."

He has previously called for the UK, China, France, Japan and South Korea to send ships to secure the route.

Mr Trump again also hit out at Sir Keir's refusal to allow US forces to use UK bases in the initial wave of attacks against Iran.

"The UK might be considered the number one ally, the longest serving et cetera and when I asked for them to come, they didn't want to come," he told the Financial Times.

"And as soon as we basically wiped out the danger capacity from Iran, they said, 'oh well we'll send two ships', and I said, 'we need these ships before we win, not after we win'. I've long said that Nato is a one-way street."

A senior cabinet minister later delivered a sharp response to threats by Mr Trump. He said Britain was not obliged to enter the USs war of choice and that the Iran conflict had nothing to do with Nato.

Work and pensions minister Pat McFadden said Sir Keir had made it clear from the start of the conflict that the UK is not a protagonist in it and that will frame the discussions we have with the US or anyone else about our involvement or (military) equipment or anything like that.

Sir Keir noted he had discussed the issue with President Trump over the weekend.

During the press conference, the prime minister acknowledged the impact of rising oil and gas prices on households in the UK.

He announced the government had issued a "legal direction" to energy companies to pass on savings from government policies already announced.

And he set out a 53 million package of support for "vulnerable" heating oil customers, focused on "those households that are most exposed".

He also raised concerns about claims that suppliers of heating oil have cancelled orders and then hiked bills as prices have spiked.

"I simply will not allow companies to make huge profits from the hardship of working people," he said. "That kind of conduct is completely unacceptable, so if the companies have broken the law, there will be legal action."
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A little more than a year ago, this Labour government announced that it will cut UK aid, despite a manifesto pledge to rebuild Britains already damaged reputation on international development. This decision, together with cuts by the US, France, Germany, Sweden and others, is creating real hardship for the worlds most marginalised communities: health centres are closing, family support systems are being scaled back, and girls education programmes are rapidly reducing.

With the brutal impacts of these cuts coming to the fore and increasing discussions about what the future of international development looks like, international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are not retreating into nostalgia. We're channelling this frustration into something different. We're looking forwards.

I was at an event recently where one of the speakers, development leader and practitioner, Keith Kibirango, said that if the [aid] money comes back, it should come back on equal terms. This pivotal moment is an opportunity for us to reshape how development has been done for decades: the top-down conditions imposed from donor governments, the bureaucratic hoops local organisations have been forced to jump through and the damaging assumptions baked into international development itself.

The minister for international development, Baroness Chapman, recently outlined one of the UK governments key priorities as a move away from international intervention towards local provision, where local partners drive their own solutions. We welcome this direction wholeheartedly. But let me set the record straight: this isn't new terrain international NGOs are being asked to navigate.

The international development sector has been continually reckoning with this for more than a decade, piloting new approaches and generating fresh learnings to become more locally led  and work closely with global majority partners to shift power to local leaders and communities. We've already started this journey, and we're keen to share what weve learnt with the UK government and other partners, to agree a way forward together.

Across the sector, international NGOs, local organisations, global majority civil society and governments have been interrogating these questions for years: Who drives solutions? Whose knowledge counts? What does genuine partnership look like? With these questions in mind, international NGOs are actively considering what their role should be in the future.

While there is still a long way to go, initiatives like the Grand Bargain, Pledge for Change, CREED and Charter for Change signal a commitment by international NGOs to transform themselves, to shift decision making to local people and organisations operating in the heart of communities. Some NGOs are focusing on participatory grant making as an inclusive way to ensure that decision-making power about funding sits with the groups they aim to support.

Organisations like ADD International and Transform Trade are both implementing this approach. ADD Internationals Disability Justice Fund for Women placed grant decisions in the hands of a panel of women with disabilities, reaching more than 1,000 applicants including informal and unregistered groups who had never before accessed funding. In Uganda, the grant reached Juliet's organisation BUDWA, which trains women with disabilities in everything from tailoring to welding, and runs a community savings group so that women never have to go to the street to beg for food. As Juliet puts it: Teach me how, but don't do it for me. Transform Trade found that by providing funding to local farmers who collectively decided to buy better quality seeds, farming productivity for many of these farmers increased by an average of 225 per cent.

Others are decentralising decision making, such as HelpAge International returning decision making back to national organisations they work with rather than it being concentrated within the UK head office. While some organisations are moving forward on the locally led agenda, there is still a lot of disparity within this space and much more to do. Governments, like the UK, and philanthropies who have historically funded international development also have a role to play.

It is welcome and encouraging that the government is prioritising strengthening local provision. The upcoming Global Partnerships Conference in May offers a chance to put words into action. There is a real opportunity here to move forward and redesign how development is done, ensuring it is rooted in fairness, equity and sustainability. Civil society has a lot of concrete ideas and recommendations developed in collaboration with partners around the world. We look forward to working with the UK government, and other attendees at the conference, to make them a reality.

Romilly Greenhill is CEO of Bond, the UK network for organisations working in international development and humanitarian assistance
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Sir Keir Starmer is under pressure from Donald Trump as the US president calls on Nato allies to send warships to reopen a key oil route.

Households and businesses around the world are facing soaring energy prices in the wake of the outbreak of war in the Middle East.

Amid ongoing US-Israeli attacks, Iran has restricted the passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz, where about 20 per cent of the worlds daily oil usage passes through.

As oil prices soar, the US president pledged to form an international coalition to escort commercial shipping vessels through the maritime chokepoint.

But Sir Keir has so far appeared to resist the US presidents call to deploy warships to secure the Strait of Hormuz, following weeks of simmering tensions between Mr Trump and the prime minister.

open image in gallery Donald Trump has called for UK warships to play a role in opening up the Strait of Hormuz (Leon Neal/PA) ( PA Wire )

Here The Independent look at what Mr Trump has demanded of Britain and why the UK hasnt yet sent warships to the strait:

What has Donald Trump asked for?

Donald Trump has warned that the Nato alliance faces a very bad future unless allies send warships to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Piling pressure on Nato allies to deepen their involvement in the escalating conflict over the weekend, the US president urged Britain to send ships to the area to protect oil tankers from Iranian attacks.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Mr Trump reiterated his call for allied assistance in the Straight of Hormuz, telling the paper: Its only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries of the strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there.

open image in gallery Sir Keir on Sunday spoke to Mr Trump on Sunday, but did not respond to the US presidents demands. ( PA Wire )

It follows previous calls for the UK, China, France, Japan and South Korea to send ships to secure the route.

Arguing that Nato faces a very bad future should its member states fail to help, the president added: Well see if they help us. Because Ive long said that well be there for them but they wont be there for us.

Why has Britain not sent a warship?

Speaking at a press conference on Monday, the prime minister said the UK will not be drawn into the wider war but confirmed he is working with allies on a plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Instead of sending a warship, ministers are mulling over the possibility of sending mine-hunting drones to the region.

Sir Keir on Sunday spoke to Mr Trump for the first time since he called for help from other nations to secure the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, but did not respond to the US presidents demands.

But on Monday, the prime minister did not rule out getting involved in getting the straits open but said: We want as many partners as possible involved as possible.

He insisted it is vital to keep the straits open because of the impact on fuel prices and supply.

open image in gallery As a result of the blockade, the price of oil jumped to more than $100 (74) a barrel last week for the first time since 2022 ( AFP via Getty Images )

Energy secretary Ed Miliband said there was a range of things that the UK and its allies could do to secure the route on Sunday.

Mr Miliband added: We are intensively looking with our allies at what can be done, because its so important that we get the strait reopened.

Why is the Strait of Hormuz so important?

A crucial oil route, the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz has ground trade in the region to a halt and prompted energy prices around the globe to soar.

Following the outbreak of war with the US, Iran has taken control of the passage, effective a fifth of the worlds oil which passes through the route.

open image in gallery A crucial oil route, the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz has ground trade in the region to a halt and prompted energy prices around the globe to soar ( Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. )

As a result of the blockade, the price of oil jumped to more than $100 (74) a barrel last week for the first time since 2022.

The cost of heating oil, which is used by around 1.5 million homes in Britain, has doubled since the crisis began.

In a bid to address concerns at home, Starmer announced a 53 million support package to help households grappling with spiralling energy costs on Monday.

He set out targeted support for the most vulnerable of the 1.5m households reliant on heating oil, which - unlike gas and electricity - is not covered by the energy price cap.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to set out the full details of the package of support next week, which is expected to involve direct payments to vulnerable households. However, it is not known exactly how many homes will receive the support.
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A baby girl has died after an ambulance transporting her to hospital collided at speed with another vehicle, sending the child and her mother through the windshield, authorities have said.

The crash occurred around 5 a.m. Sunday morning in the Frankford area of Philadelphia after the ambulance ran a red light, law enforcement said. The mother and child were being taken to hospital in the private vehicle, reportedly driven by the infants 51-year-old grandfather.

Officers had responded to a 911 call about an unresponsive infant at a nearby residence but were told that a family member was taking the child to hospital.

The ambulance, belonging to Medstar EMS, was traveling at a high rate of speed and not operating its lights or siren, police said. After running the light, the vehicle collided with a Honda Accord.

The force of the crash sent both the mother and her baby through the windshield and into the road, according to police. Philadelphia Fire Department medics transported the pair to Albert Einstein Medical Center, where the infant was pronounced dead at 6:17 a.m.

Philadelphia Fire Department medics transported a mother and daughter to Albert Einstein Medical Center (pictured) where the infant was pronounced dead following an ambulance crash ( GoogleMaps )

The mother sustained severe head trauma and remains in critical condition Monday.

"I hope the lady's OK, I hope she makes it," Tyron Herring, who lives near to the scene of the crash, told CBS. "Even though her child is gone, her life is still important."

The Honda driver, a 25-year-old male, refused medical treatment at the scene.

The ambulance driver was taken to Jefferson Torresdale Hospital and will face charges including DUI. Philadelphia District Attorney's office said they had not been contacted by police regarding charges against him, CBS reported Sunday night.

The Independent has contacted the DAs office for an update on any charges, and MedStar EMS for comment. The company declined to comment to CBS and said it is conducting its own investigation.

Philadelphia Police Department said the investigation remains ongoing with the Crash Investigation Division.
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Cuba's national electric grid has collapsed, leaving around 10 million people without power amid a U.S.-imposed oil blockade that has crippled the island's already obsolete generation system.

Cuba's grid operator UNE said it was investigating the causes of the blackout, the latest in a series of widespread outages that stem for hours or days.

The blackouts sparked a rare violent protest in the Communist-run country this weekend.

The United States has ratcheted up pressure this year on long-time foe Cuba since capturing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Cuba's most important foreign benefactor, in early January.

U.S. President Donald Trump cut off Venezuelan oil shipments to Cuba and threatened to slap tariffs on any country that sells oil to Cuba, strangling the island's already antiquated grid.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said last week that the island had not received a shipment of fuel in three months and was operating on solar power, natural gas and thermoelectric plants ( AP )

Cuba said on Friday that it has entered into talks with the United States with the hope of defusing the crisis. Trump has said in recent weeks that Cuba is on the verge of collapse and is eager to make a deal with the United States.

RUNNING ON FUMES

Cuba has received only two small vessels carrying oil imports this year, according to LSEG ship tracking data seen by Reuters Monday.

The first tanker discharged fuel in January at the Havana port coming from Mexico, which was a regular supplier to the island until then.

The second vessel, from Jamaica, discharged liquefied petroleum gas - known as cooking gas - in February.

Venezuela, once Cuba's main oil supplier, has sent no fuel to the island this year.

Venezuela's state company PDVSA last month loaded gasoline in a tanker that it had previously used to transport fuel to Cuba, but the vessel has not left Venezuelan waters, PDVSA documents and tanker monitoring data showed.

No large imports have entered this year through Cuba's main hubs of Matanzas or Moa, which typically handle crude for refining and fuel oil for power generation, according to satellite images analyzed by TankerTrackers.com.

The ports of Havana and Cienfuegos also have not had import activity in more than a month, it added.
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Canadian authorities have arrested and charged two men in connection with the targeted murder of an activist who spoke out against the Iranian regime.

Police launched a search for Masood Masjoody, a 45-year-old resident of Burnaby, British Columbia, on February 2, after receiving reports from his concerned neighbors, according to a statement from Canadas Integrated Homicide Investigation Team.

His remains were found in Mission, British Columbia, about a month later.

Now, investigators have arrested 48-year-old Mehdi Ahmadzadeh Razavi and 45-year-old Arezou Soltani, The Independent has confirmed. The two men are each facing one count of first-degree murder.

We understand this case has impacted the Iranian community and has generated widespread concern and public interest. While the motive is still under investigation, we can say the victim and two accused were known to each other, Freda Fong, a spokesperson for the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team, said in a statement shared with The Independent.

open image in gallery The remains of Masood Masjoody, an outspoken critic of the Iranian regime in Canada, were discovered in March after his disappearance one month earlier ( Integrated Homicide Investigation Team )

The laying of first-degree murder charges marks a significant milestone and reflects the hard work undertaken over the past several weeks; however, much work remains as the prosecution process begins, she added.

Fong told reporters the two men knew Masjoody and had previously argued with him on social media, according to The New York Times. Its unclear if those disputes played a role in his death, she added.

Investigators said the two men do not have prior criminal convictions in Canada, the CBC reports. Theyre expected to appear in court Monday.

Its unclear if Razavi and Soltani have obtained attorneys. The Independent was unable to identify their attorneys for comment.

open image in gallery Protesters demanding regime change in Iran marched in Canada at the onset of the US-Israeli military campaign on February 28 ( AP )

Masjoody was known for his online presence and work as a mathematician, investigators said in a statement last month.

The activist was an outspoken critic of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and reportedly affiliated with the Iran Front for the Revival of Law and National Sovereignty, an organization that advocates against the Iranian regime.

Masjoody ultimately became a victim of the very phenomenon about which he consistently warned: lawlessness, political violence, and a totalitarian mindset that resorts to intimidation and elimination instead of accountability before the law, the group said in a statement Sunday.

The group alleges that his death is part of a premeditated circle killing that is carried out within dangerous networks, the very networks about which Dr. Masjoody repeatedly warned during his lifetime.

From this perspective, the legal and judicial responsibility for this criminal act cannot be limited solely to the direct perpetrators, but may also extend to instigators, organizers, and others who played a role in the development of this process, the group added.

The group has urged for a broader investigation into defamation, intimidation and elimination aimed at silencing dissenting voices by any possible means.

News of Masjoodys death comes less than two months after Brooklyn resident Carlisle Rivera was sentenced to 15 years in prison for his role in a plot to kill Masih Alinejad, an Iranian American journalist and human rights activist.

Rivera was arrested in November 2024, before he could carry out the murder-for-hire plot, which was directed by the Government of Iran, the Justice Department said in a statement.

During the hearing, Alinejad and her husband explained that they were forced to repeatedly move homes and limit interactions with their kids because of the assassination plots against them, the Associated Press reports.

Im just a woman, she said. My weapon is my voice. My weapon is my social media.
At the 2026 Oscars ceremony, actor Sean Penn joined a small coterie of male performers who have three Academy Awards to their name. But the 65-year-old, who was named Best Supporting Actor for his brilliant portrayal of a racist military officer in Paul Thomas Andersons One Battle After Another, wasnt among the stars gathered at Los Angeles Dolby Theatre on Sunday night.

Sean Penn couldnt be here this evening, or didnt want to, so Ill be accepting the award on his behalf, Succession star  and last years Best Supporting Actor winner  Kieran Culkin quipped after opening the golden envelope.

So where was Penn on one of the biggest nights of his acting career? According to a report from the New York Times, the actor, who previously earned Oscars for Mystic River in 2004 and for Milk in 2009, chose to skip the ceremony in order to head to Europe.

open image in gallery Penn won best supporting actor for his performance as Colonel Steven J Lockjaw in One Battle After Another ( Warner Bros )

His plan as of late last week, anonymous sources told the paper, was to visit Ukraine, although they did not specify what he would be doing there or where precisely within the country he would be going. On Monday, an AFP reporter spotted Penn leaving a car in Kyiv, and he has since been photographed in a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Swapping a glitzy Hollywood party to spend time in a country torn apart by war  its not exactly your usual A-list behaviour, but it is certainly quite typical of the unusual turn that Penns life and work has taken in recent years.

This is, after all, the man who lent one of his Oscar statuettes to Zelensky, promising that it should remain in the capital city of Kyiv until Ukraine wins the war against Russia  and who previously debated melting down his two little gold men to make bullets they can shoot at the Russians.

open image in gallery Penn met up with Zelensky after being awarded another Oscar ( Ukrainian Presidential Press Service )

What is perhaps particularly notable is, where other celebrities activism has notably waned in the years since Russia invaded in 2022, replaced by other splashier and more of-the-moment causes, Penn has remained stalwart, persisting as one of Americas loudest voices in the defence of Ukraine.

So how did Penn, the star who was once best known for his tumultuous marriage to Madonna in the late Eighties, become such a passionate supporter of Zelensky? Its worth noting that this is not the first cause that Penn has taken up. Far from it.

open image in gallery Sean Penn was photographed in Kyiv on Monday ( AFP/Getty )

His activism has roots in his familys liberal politics. His father, the actor and director Leo Penn, was blacklisted from Hollywood in the Fifties after refusing to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), the organisation designed to root out alleged Communist sympathisers.

Penn Jr, meanwhile, emerged as one of the film industrys most outspoken activists in the early Noughties, when George W. Bush went to war in Iraq in the wake of the September 11 attacks. Penn, sceptical of the existence of weapons of mass destruction, took out an ad in The Washington Post in 2002, in which he called on the then-president to change his mind.

Months later, he travelled to Baghdad to personally record the human face of the Iraqi people so that their blood  along with that of American soldiers  would not be invisible on my own hands, as he put it in a powerful statement to the press.

A few years on, he operated a rescue boat during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, managing to pick up survivors who had been trapped in their homes. Then, in 2010, following the devastating earthquake in Haiti, he set up and ran what would become one of the countrys biggest refugee camps. It was an endeavour that, unlike many celebrity brushes with humanitarianism, won praise from experienced aid workers for making a tangible difference, and Penn was later named as an ambassador-at-large for Haiti to recognise his hands-on work.

open image in gallery Sean Penn has a long history of political and humanitarian activism ( Getty )

Not all of his ventures have been as well received, though. Penn has been criticised for his past defence of controversial South American leaders such as Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, with whom the actor became close friends, and Cuban president Raul Castro. And in 2015, he embarked on a bizarre trip to Mexico to interview the drug lord El Chapo for Rolling Stone magazine; the circus surrounding the venture overshadowed Penns aim to contribute to this conversation on the war on drugs. I have a terrible regret, he later reflected on the whole debacle.

His work has also attracted many of the usual barbs prompted by A-list activism, namely that his ventures are prompted less by genuine altruism and more by a desire to be at the heart of the story, like some sort of real-life Hollywood hero (who can pop home to Malibu for a bit of rest and relaxation whenever he fancies).

His involvement in Ukraine initially began when he was searching for a lighter directing project to pursue, after planned documentaries about the exiled Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad and the assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi didnt pan out.

The story of Zelensky  an actor and comedian who had starred in a TV series about an ordinary bloke who ends up as president after his rant about government corruption goes viral, and had then himself won a presidential election on an anti-corruption platform  seemed like good material for a film.

We thought wed follow this kind of interesting story that would have been a light-hearted take, Penn said at the time.

The Covid pandemic meant that filming ended up being delayed, and it wasnt until late 2021 that Penn finally headed to Ukraine. He and Zelensky eventually met on 23 February 2022; their initial encounter wasnt filmed, the actor has said, so that the politician could figure out whether he could trust him or not.

What neither of them could have predicted was that on that night, Russia would invade Ukraine. The following day, which the pair had agreed would mark the start of filming, would be the first day of the war.

open image in gallery Sean Penn presented Vlodymyr Zelensky with one of his Oscar trophies in 2022 ( Ukrainian Presidential Press Office )

Inevitably, the project moved in an entirely different direction. What had been intended as a lightly comic portrait of a celebrity-turned-politician would morph into a depiction of a nation thrown into conflict. Zelensky, though, kept his planned appointment with Penn on 24 February.

It seems as if this second meeting stoked an abiding admiration on the Americans side. I saw a very big change in him from one day to the next, Penn recalled. At that moment, he was the significant target. But he wasnt going anywhere. That day, he found out that he was born for this.

The fact that Zelensky chose to stay in the capital city, rather than accepting offers to leave his country for his own safety, seemed to especially impress Penn. President Zelensky and the Ukrainian people have risen as historic symbols of courage and principle, he said in a statement released a few weeks later. Ukraine is the tip of the spear for the democratic embrace of dreams. If we allow it to fight alone, our soul as America is lost.

Penns documentary Superpower premiered at the Berlin Film Festival the following year. The unabashedly pro-Zelensky movie  If its propaganda, Im proud, he told one audience  shows the star traipsing through the rubble and meeting with civilians who have had their lives turned upside down.

The response was mixed. While The Independents Geoffrey Macnab praised Penn and his co-director Aaron Kaufman for their sprawling and uneven but also heartfelt and inspiring effort, other critics questioned the stars apparent need to place himself at the heart of the story once again.

The Guardians two-star review described it as a queasy-making examination of the celebrity-blighted news cycle where somebody like Penn is the de facto messenger of tragedy. Was the film more concerned with Sean Penn, real-life action hero, than it was with the heroism of the Ukrainian people? Or was the actor doing vital work in keeping the Ukraine conflict front of mind for American viewers?

open image in gallery The president and the actor have struck up a friendship over the years ( Ukrainian Presidential Press Office )

Penn, perhaps to his credit, kept up his friendship with Zelensky long after the cameras stopped rolling. In late 2022, he made headlines for handing over his Oscar statuette to the president, telling him to bring it back to Malibu after a Ukrainian victory. Its just a symbolic silly thing, but if I know this is here with you then Ill feel better and stronger for the fight, the actor said. Zelensky, in response, presented him with a very different accolade: Ukraines Order of Merit.

Then in 2025, following a tense moment between President Donald Trump and Zelensky during a White House meeting, Penn doubled down on his praise for his friend, hailing him as constantly, extemporaneously genuine in his desire to secure freedom for Ukraine. I think the last significant moment that we [Americans] were bridging a division was in support of Ukraine and its head of state, he said. And if we lose track of that, we really have to ask ourselves if were losing track of the value of democracy.

Just a few weeks later, Penn headed to Ukraine to meet with special forces, and at the Cannes film festival in May, he posed on the red carpet with soldiers, along with U2s Bono and The Edge.

With his latest visit to Kyiv, the latest member of the Oscars three-timers club shows no erosion of his own unique form of activism. Where other actors might have opted to pledge support for Zelensky in their winners speech (and be praised for their powerful words on social media), Penn clearly prefers a more hands-on approach.

Its his personal visit, thats how he sees it, that he needs to be in Ukraine, a senior Ukrainian official told AFP on Monday. He just wants to support Ukraine. Whether he offers up his latest trophy to Zelensky remains to be seen.
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President Trump shushed a female reporter on Air Force One on Sunday, before branding her as a very obnoxious person.

The exchange took place during a press gaggle, during which Trump took questions about the Iran War.

The reporter had asked the president about a picture of him at a dignified transfer ceremony of soldiers killed in the conflict with Iran. The image had been used in a fundraising email for his political action committee.

When asked whether the use of the image was appropriate, Trump said, I do.

open image in gallery President Trump swerved a question about US Military personnel killed in the Iran War, during a press gaggle aboard Air Force One ( Getty Images )

The journalist followed up by questioning whether Trump was raising money from the fallen troops. Then, the president changed tack and said that he didnt see the email.

I mean, somebody puts it out, he added. We have a lot of people working for us.

He went on to claim that theres nobody thats better to the military than me.

Eventually, Trump turned back to the reporter and asked her which news outlet she worked for. She responded by saying ABC News.

One of the worst, most fake, most corrupt...you know what, ABC News, I think its maybe the most corrupt news organizations (sic) on the planet, he said. I think theyre terrible.

Youre much better, he said, addressing a male journalist.

During the press gaggle, Trump raised a finger and shushed the ABC reporter as she tried to ask another question.

open image in gallery Trump was also questioned about using a photograph taken at a dignified transfer ceremony in a fundraising campaign ( REUTERS )

Youre a very obnoxious person, he added.

In yet another exchange between the pair, the ABC reporter asked Trump whether he had any comment on the 6 U.S. service members killed in an Iranian drone strike on a base in Kuwait.

While being asked the question, Trump stared intently at the journalist. When they finished, he abruptly turned away.

Go ahead, he told the other reporters. Who else?

Later on Sunday, the president posted multiple lengthy Truth Social posts, attacking the media for its coverage of the Iran War, the Supreme Court justices who voted against his tariffs, and championing Fox News host Mark Levin.

Trump has repeatedly boasted about the United States military successes in the conflict with Iran.

Yesterday, he claimed that an Iranian oil facility had been totally demolished but that the U.S. could continue to bomb the site just for fun.

Last week, he said that there is practically nothing left to target in Iran.

open image in gallery Trump claimed that he had not seen the email before it was sent out ( Never Surrender Inc. )

Meanwhile, questions have continued to be raised over the cost of the war.

The U.S. allegedly used $11.3 billion worth of munitions in the first week of the war, sources told The New York Times.

The sources claimed that Pentagon officials confirmed the figure in a closed-door briefing last week, with the huge sum not including the cost of the United States huge military buildup in the Middle East.

Oil prices have spiked as a result of the conflict, too, putting pressure on Trump domestically after he promised to lower energy prices during his presidential campaign.
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Gregory Bovino, a top Border Patrol official who was the public face of the Trump administrations military-style immigration crackdown in cities across the country, is expected to retire at the end of the month.

The greatest honor of my entire life was to work alongside Border Patrol agents on the border and in the interior of the United States in some of the most challenging conditions the agency has ever faced, Bovino told Breitbart.

Watching these agents out there giving it their all in some of the most dangerous of environments we have ever faced was humbling.

For much of the first year of the Trump administration, Bovino served as commander-at-large of the Border Patrols roving operations in cities including Los Angeles, Chicago, and Minneapolis, where agents often clashed with members of the public and were frequently accused of excessive force and racial profiling against immigrants and citizens alike, which they denied.

Bovino returned to his position as chief patrol agent in the El Centro sector of California in January, after federal agents involved in the Minneapolis operation fatally shot two American citizens.

open image in gallery Gregory Bovino, a controversial senior Border Patrol official who led the Trump administrations immigration crackdown for much of its first year in office, is set to retire at the end of the month ( AP )

Chief Bovino has not submitted any retirement paperwork, the Department of Homeland Security told The Independent in a statement.

Critics celebrated Bovinos impending exit from the border agency, which comes as DHS Secretary Kristi Noem is also set to leave this month after a season of controversy.

Greg Bovino wont just get to walk away  he will be held accountable and responsible for the damage he's done to our nation, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat, wrote on X. We wont forget, and neither should you. No one is above the law.

Bovino is among the federal agents who is reportedly under investigation by local authorities for the Minnesota operation. U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the parent agency of the Border Patrol, has also reportedly opened an internal investigation into whether Bovino made disparaging remarks about the faith of a Jewish federal prosecutor in Minnesota.

Backers praised Bovinos service.

Youre a true patriot, and MILLIONS of Americans are grateful for you, conservative activist Nick Sortor wrote on X.

open image in gallery Under Bovino, masked Border Patrol agents regularly used tactics critics said were excessive and based on racial profiling ( AFP/Getty )

Over the course of the military-style campaign, Bovino used what he called turn and burn" tactics, deploying large numbers of agents to cities to conduct aggressive, mass raids.

In the course of such operations, Border Patrol agents carried out raids hundreds of miles from the border, while almost universally wearing face masks. They also adopted other unusual moves, including in one operation where they leapt out of an unmarked box truck to make arrests in a Home Depot parking lot, and another where Border Patrol troops conducted what appeared to be a symbolic show of force as mounted troops marched through Los Angeless MacArthur Park.

In Chicago, a federal judge restrained Border Patrol agents from using certain types of force and accused Bovino of repeatedly lying about officers tactics.

As The Independent uncovered, elite agents who traveled alongside Bovino from city to city wore personal pairs of Meta AI sunglasses, at times using them to record members of the public even though this violates government policy, alarming surveillance experts.

open image in gallery Bovino returned to his previous post in California in January of this year after federal agents shot two U.S. citizens in quick succession during the Minneapolis operation ( Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved )

Bovino himself appeared to have a flair for publicity, saluting members of the public from his car in Chicago and at times donning an unusual mid-1900s military great coat, both gestures critics alleged were reminiscent of fascist leaders.

On social media, the Border Patrol and ICE alike during Bovinos tenure regularly used memes, AI, and action-movie-style filmmaking to tout DHS operations, in what experts told The Independent was a PR campaign reminiscent of fascist propaganda.
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Tuesday brings another big primary night for Democrats, this time in Illinois.

Given the land of Lincolns strong Democratic bent and the growing unpopularity of President Donald Trump, the primaries will likely be the major contest here.

And as Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus war with Iran causes global instability, Americas relationship with Israel will likely play a huge role here.

Democrats have spent the last two and a half years having an often painful discussion around Israel. As the historic political home for Jewish Americans, the Democratic Party has long supported Israel. A Democratic president, Harry S. Truman, recognized the state of Israel in 1948.

But the war in Gaza caused a split between that older guard and the younger activist groups, who saw Israels response to the October 7th attack by Hamas as either a war crime, with others calling it a genocide.

The party has been slow to respond to these shifts. Two years ago when the party held its convention in Chicago, even many convention attendees said a Palestinian should be allowed to speak. Many Democrats hoped to tamp down the conversation and delay it until after President Joe Biden, who called himself an Irish American Zionist, left office and Kamala Harris defeated Trump.

open image in gallery Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss faces a challenge from his left in streamer Kat Abughazaleh and from the center in state Sen. Laura Fine. ( Getty )

That didnt happen, and now, the conversation is breaking out into primaries. On Monday, NBC News released a poll showing that only 13 percent of Democratic voters have a positive view of Israel compared to 34 percent of Democrats in 2023. In addition, 67 percent of Democrats sympathize with Palestinians now compared to only 18 percent who did so in 2013.

This dynamic has already played out in New York Citys mayoral primary last year, where Zohran Mamdani beat the more pro-Israel Andrew Cuomo, though Valerie Foushee won in North Carolinas 4th district despite Durham County Commissioner Nida Allam criticizing Rep. Valerie Foushee for taking money from The American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

Inside Washington previewed this race a bit last month, but heres a full breakdown. Grab a throwback Michael Jordan jersey and get ready for a rumble.

Illinois 9th primary has probably received the most attention. The district includes large Jewish communities, including Skokie, Illinois, where neo-Nazis famously marched in the 1970s. Kat Abughazaleh, a former journalist who is half Palestinian and who only recently moved to the district, announced she would run against Jan Schakowsky early in 2025.

Schakowsky, 81, would announce she would not seek re-election. She and many progressives in the area and nationally have gotten behind Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss. Like Abughazaleh, Biss, who is Jewish, has criticized Israel, though not as stridently as her. The Congressional Progressive Caucus and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) have endorsed Biss as well.

But its been the presence of AIPAC-affiliated organizations like Elect Chicago Women and Chicago Progressive Partnership. Democratic consultant Frank Calabrese has compiled a spreadsheet showing Elect Chicago Women has spent almost $4.4 million to elect state Sen. Laura Fine and about $1.4 million to oppose Biss. In addition, the Chicago Progressive Partnership has spent money on an ad praising longshot candidate Bushra Amiwala to siphon votes from the left from Abughazalaeh.

While Illinois 9th district has received most of the attention, the 8th district is just as contentious and contains some of the same dynamics. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi is running for Senate, leaving his seat in the Chicago suburbs open. Like in the 9th, Elect Chicago Women has gotten behind the more moderate former congresswoman Melissa Bean, who is running for her old congressional seat. So far, its spent $3.9 million in support of Bean.

By contrast, the left is more consolidated behind one candidate in the 8th compared to the 9th. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) got behind Junaid Ahmed, as has Warren, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

The Chicago Progressive Partnership PAC has taken to a trick AIPAC used in New Jerseys 11th district: accusing him of being insufficiently progressive, pointing to his personal wealth and stock investments. But this can also backfire since in New Jersey, their attempts to attack former Rep. Tom Malinowski from the left led to progressive activist Analilia Mejia winning the primary.

open image in gallery Jesse Jackson Jr., is running for his old congressional seat in Illinois 2nd district. ( AFP via Getty Images )

In Illinois 7th district a similar dynamic is playing out to replace Rep. Danny Davis. The United Democracy Project, which is affiliated with AIPAC, has spent more than $4.8 million to elect City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin to the seat. Its also spent a little less than $60,000 against Jason Friedman, whom the pro-peace J Streets PAC has endorsed.

Thats not the only seat that is open now. Rep. Robin Kellys decision to jump into the Senate race opens up another seat. Affordable Chicago Now, which is affiliated with AIPAC, has gotten behind Cook County Commissioner Donna Millers run. Progressive organizations and politicians have largely thrown their money behind Robert Peters.

But complicating all of this is the fact that Jesse Jackson Jr., the son of the late civil rights activist, is running for his old congressional seat. The younger Jackson resigned in 2012 due to a campaign finance scandal after being considered a rising star. Jacksons father frequently spoke of the plight of the Palestinians, though the elder Jackson famously got in trouble for calling New York City Hymietown.

Of course, another factor in all of these races is the fact that AIPAC and Israel are not the only players. Fairshake, a pro-cryptocurrency PAC, is spending heavily in the state. A pro-AI PAC is getting behind Jackson. So its impossible to know exactly what factor will lift or quash a candidate.

But the fact that the debate is happening now reveals how internal civil wars about policy often happen while in the minority. And this likely wont go away.
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The owner of a London private members club is reportedly nearing a deal for a Palm Beach venue, where he may seek to create a rival to Donald Trumps Mar-a-Lago estate.

Robin Birley, 68, whose London clubs have hosted the likes of Prince William, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Hugh Grant, is close to securing a property for his next venture, which will be partly financed by the billionaire Reuben brothers, The Guardian reported.

Oswalds and 5 Hertford Street, Birleys London clubs, are known for being popular among members of Britains right-wing political establishment.

Birley is speaking with top interior designers to give the design a distinctly American flavour, sources told the outlet. Plans also currently include an outdoor swimming pool, making the property his most lavish club yet.

open image in gallery Millionaire club owner Robin Birley has been expanding into the US ( Getty )

Birleys new property is intended to be more discreet in style than the presidents grand estate, and it will welcome those who own membership to Birleys London venues. The mogul also owns Maxime's, a brand new club on New Yorks Madison Avenue.

The move comes as flocks of wealthy and right-wing figures head for Florida, in particular Palm Beach, where Trumps Mar-a-Lago resort is situated.

Since December 2025, there have been at least 20 large home sales to British buyers, according to Senada Adzem at Douglas Elliman Real Estate.

open image in gallery Trump met with former UK prime minister Liz Truss in Mar-a-Lago last month ( X/@trussliz )

She said: I personally handle a lot of British clients who are buying in Palm Beach. I have seen an uptick in very wealthy Brits who are not just buying holiday homes, but who are relocating. A lot of them feel like wealth preservation is a good reason to have a primary residence in the area.

Former British Prime Minister Liz Truss notably travelled to meet Trump at Mar-a-Lago. She described Palm Beach as the epicentre of the counter-elite, taking on a New York and Los Angeles-based liberal elite which is destroying the west.

While the UKs far-right leader Nigel Farage also travelled to the area this month, and earlier this year attended a gala at the resort with British socialite Lady Victoria Harvey, the former girlfriend of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
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Secretary of State Marco Rubio has enjoyed a surge in support from within President Donald Trumps MAGA movement, so much so that a Draft Rubio in 2028 campaign is emerging, according to a report.

The former senator was the face of the administrations operation to remove Nicolas Maduro from power in Venezuela in January and has played a key messaging role in the U.S.-Israeli airstrikes on Iran.

While Rubio ran against Trump for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016 and gave as good as he got on the campaign trail in a vicious exchange of personal insults, he has since emerged as one of the most loyal members of the cabinet.

In addition to leading the State Department, Rubio is also serving as Trumps acting national security adviser and acting director of the U.S. Agency for International Development.

open image in gallery Secretary of State Marco Rubio is quietly emerging as a popular choice for the Republican presidential nomination ahead of 2028 ( AP )

The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Rubio is so keen to oblige the president that he appears prepared to wear leather Florsheim Oxford dress shoes gifted to him by Trump, despite them being uncomfortably large for him.

According to ABC News, his dedicated service has not gone unnoticed by the president, who has been noting in private how popular and loved his secretary has become and even reportedly asked a group of donors at Mar-a-Lago last month whether they preferred him to Vice President JD Vance, long felt to be in pole position to be Trumps successor.

The WSJ reported last summer that Trump was in the habit of playing Vance and Rubio off against each other over who might succeed him, rather than explicitly endorsing either man.

Which one of you is going to be at the top of the ticket? he is said to have asked them. I used to think it would be Vance-Rubio, but maybe it will be Rubio-Vance.

However, a senior Republican strategist struck a note of caution, telling ABC: Donors dont pick the nominee  the base picks. Donors tried to abandon President Trump and tried to pick [Florida Gov. Ron] DeSantis, and we all saw how that went.

open image in gallery Vice President JD Vance was long assumed to be the heir-apparent to President Donald Trumps MAGA movement ( Getty )

White House Communications Director Steven Cheung also moved quickly to try to shut down talks of a Rubio-Vance rivalry, telling ABC, The president has assembled an all-star team that has achieved unprecedented success in just over one year.

No amount of crazed media speculation about Vice President Vance and Secretary Rubio will deter this administrations mission of fighting for the American people.

While Rubio has been at the forefront of Operation Epic Fury against Iran and was pictured with Trump at Mar-a-Lago on February 28, overseeing the initial stages of the mission from a makeshift Situation Room, Vance cut an isolated figure manning the real thing in Washington.

The VP had previously expressed his opposition to military intervention on Iran and has been nowhere near as prominent as Rubio  or more hawkish GOP figures like South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham  in championing the airstrikes.

Vance has been criticized by the likes of Trump whisperer Laura Loomer for continuing to associate with conservative pundit Tucker Carlson, another non-interventionist, whom the president has complained has lost his way.

open image in gallery Rubio with Trump and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles overseeing the initial stages of the U.S.-Israeli airstrikes on Iran from a makeshift Situation Room at Mar-a-Lago in Florida on February 28 ( The White House )

A prolonged engagement with Iran could backfire on Rubio, given the unpopularity of the conflict and public unease about the administrations lack of clarity on its purpose and probable duration. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth could equally find himself the fall guy if the backlash develops.

Just 29 percent of Americans are currently in favor of the operation, according to an Ipsos poll, with 43 percent opposed and 26 percent unsure.

For his part, Rubio has pledged his theoretical support for Vances candidacy should he choose to run for the White House, telling Vanity Fair last year: If JD Vance runs for president, hes going to be our nominee, and Ill be one of the first people to support him.

As it stands, a recent NBC News poll indicated that a majority of registered voters are negative toward both men, with 49 percent disliking Vance and 41 percent opposing Rubio.

A recent Real Clear Polling analysis meanwhile gives the secretary of state an 18.8 percent chance of winning the 2028 presidential election ahead of California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom (18.5 percent), and Vance (17.3 percent).

The same outlet sees Vance as more likely than Rubio to win the Republican primary  meaning he may never get the chance to run nationally  putting the VP on 45 percent, the presidents eldest son Donald Trump Jr second on 17.5 percent, Rubio at 11.1 percent, and the aforementioned DeSantis on 7.4 percent.
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Former MAGA Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene said on Monday that shed spoken to senior White House officials whom she claimed, in some cases, privately opposed Donald Trumps war with Iran.

The revelation comes as Greene, formerly one of Trumps biggest backers in Congress, has issued withering criticism of the president over his decision to launch military strikes in Iran. A member of the GOPs isolationist wing, Greene has consistently opposed U.S. commitments in foreign conflicts, including the war in Ukraine.

Greene told The Situation Room co-anchors Wolf Blitzer and Pamela Brown that a generational divide increasingly exists within the presidents MAGA base, with younger voters and Gen X Republicans like herself viewing the conflict as being waged on Israels behalf.

Many of the older Americans from the baby boomer generation that watch Fox News all day long very much believe the talking points on Fox News, and they, you know, theyve spent decades of their lives convinced that fighting these wars is the right thing to do. But the younger generations  Im Gen X  millennials and Gen Z are very much against this war, and so when you talk to people on the ground, thats how it comes across, said Greene. Its very generational.

Younger generations want to be able to afford their American lives, and they dont want their taxpayer dollars shipped off [overseas], Greene continued.

open image in gallery Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene left Congress in January ( Getty )

She was quick to blame the president for abandoning his America First agenda, pointing out that the president had first broken with her last summer over the vote to release the Jeffrey Epstein files held by the Department of Justice. Trump, Greene said, had perverted the MAGA brand into something that nobody wants.

This is absolutely absurd, and its 100% a betrayal to what MAGA was supposed to be when we voted in 2024, and its turned into some perverted, deranged version of MAGA now that nobody wants, said Greene.

The former MAGA congresswoman was asked in the interview about the reported opposition of Vice President JD Vance to Trumps military operation in Iran. Greene responded that she wouldnt go into her own private conversations, while revealing that there was disagreement over the war among senior White House officials shed spoken to.

I wont speak for anyone, but there are people in the administration, high up in the administration, I know that dont support this, but the longer they stay silent, it hurts them. It definitely hurts them in the future, she told CNN on Monday.

open image in gallery Vice President JD Vance was reported to have expressed reservations about Trumps plans to launch a war with Iran before it took place ( Getty )

The U.S. and Israeli war with Iran is now estimated to have resulted in the deaths of more than 1,300 people across Iran, as well as the deaths of 13 U.S. service members. Donald Trump, on Saturday, spoke with NBC News and claimed that Iran was seeking an agreement to end the war, which he was not ready to sign. Irans foreign minister on Sunday then denied that his country was ready to stop fighting, during an interview with CBSs Face the Nation.

Meanwhile, the Iranian armed forces, including its Revolutionary Guard corps, have sought to restrict commercial shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway through which as much as 20% of the worlds oil supply typically travels. Oil prices have shot up past $100 per barrel, and in the U.S. average gasoline prices have jumped by more than 70 cents per gallon, according to AAA.

Members of the isolationist wing of the presidents MAGA base were cheered by Trumps denunciations of endless war and recurring military engagements in the Middle East during his 2024 run for president. Now, the administration is haunted by those same proclamations as the president shows little sign of seeking the off-ramp that many Republicans in Congress and, according to Greene, in the White House, too, want him to take.

open image in gallery President Donald Trump campaigned against endless war during his 2024 bid for the presidency ( AFP/Getty )

Polling suggests that more than half of Americans oppose the war with Iran, while about four in ten support it. On Capitol Hill, the wars terms have been denounced by Democrats, while some members of the opposition party have called the killing of Irans Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, a positive development for the region.

Greenes critiques of Trumps warmaking emerged last year as the president escalated a campaign of strikes targeting small boats in the Caribbean that U.S. forces claimed were trafficking drugs. That campaign ramped up and culminated in the abduction of Nicolas Maduro, Venezuelas president, in a U.S. raid to seek Maduros prosecution in the U.S. for drug trafficking charges.

She and other figures in the broader MAGA community off Capitol Hill have become increasingly vocal opponents of Trumps actions against Venezuela and support for Israel in now two military campaigns against Iran under his second presidency, and have accused the president of doing the opposite of what he promised on the campaign: to use Americas wealth at home, not abroad.
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President Donald Trumps pick to replace Kristi Noem from the Department of Homeland Security purchased shares in American oil firm Chevron five days before the U.S. attacked Venezuela, which subsequently saw the companys stock price surge.

Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin purchased stock of the only major American oil company producing in Venezuela, on Dec. 29, 2025, according to disclosure reports. The purchases were valued between $15,001 and $50,000, according to investment research site Quiver Quantitative.

On Jan. 3, 2026, Trump attacked Venezuela and kidnapped its president, Nicolas Maduro, and extradited him to the U.S.

Since Mullin, who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, purchased the Chevron shares in late 2025, they have leapt from $150.99 to $196.82  an increase of 30.4 percent, as of March 13.

There is no indication that Mullin had insider knowledge of Trumps plans to attack Venezuela before he bought the shares.

open image in gallery President Donald Trumps pick to replace Kristi Noem from the Department of Homeland Security, Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin, purchased shares in U.S. oil firm Chevron five days before the U.S. attacked Venezuela ( Getty )

The revelation, first reported by The Oklahoman in January, comes as Mullin is scheduled to go before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on Wednesday for his confirmation hearing to become Trumps new Homeland Security Secretary.

Mullin was described as one of the most prolific stock buyers in Congress in a report this weekend by The New York Times, which also revealed that the Republican has bought and sold shares in companies that have held contracts with the department he is seeking to run.

They include Microsoft, aircraft repairs firm VSE Corporation and defense contractor RTX, the Times reports.

Senator Mullin uses an independent, third-party operator firm that manages all stock investments on his behalf, Mullins spokesperson said in a statement to The Independent.

This independent firm currently reports with Senate Ethics in compliance with federal law, the spokesperson continued. If confirmed as the next U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, Senator Mullin will act to ensure full compliance with all ethics and conflict of interest rules.

Mullin has seen his personal wealth soar since he joined the Senate three years ago. In 2024, his assets were worth between $29 million and $97 million compared with $2.8 million to $9 million in 2012, the Times reports, citing financial disclosure forms.

open image in gallery On January 3, 2026, five days after Mullin bought the Chevron shares, Trump attacked Venezuela and kidnapped its president, Nicolas Maduro, and extradited him to the U.S. There is no indication that Mullin had insider knowledge of Trumps plans to attack Venezuela before he made the purchase ( @realDonaldTrump/Truth Social )

In recent years, stories of members of Congress trading stocks and potentially using information they are privy to as lawmakers, particularly from the committees they sit on, has raised the urgency level of the issue.

Mullin, a former MMA fighter, also sits on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, the Committee on Indian Affairs and the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee.

While members of Congress are not legally prohibited from trading stock, there is overwhelming public support to ban them from doing so.

The president called for action on congressional stock trading during his State of the Union address last month. Pass the Stop Insider Trading Act without delay to ensure that members of Congress cannot corruptly profit from using insider information, he said.

And Noem was ousted following scrutiny of conflicts of interest over contracts and spending during her tenure at the DHS.

Ethical watchdogs say that the freedom members of Congress enjoy to buy and sell stocks make it hard for Americans to know if their representatives are acting in the public interest or making decisions to benefit themselves, the Times noted.

These people have whole staffs dedicated to collecting information and putting it in a neat pile on their desk, Delaney Marsco, director of ethics for the non-profit Campaign Legal Center, told the outlet. They have access to members of industry, lobbyists who are talking to them all day, trying to get their ear.

Mullin is expected to be confirmed by the Senate this week, while Noem will leave her post on March 31.
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Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel is currently in Rome delivering a four-part lecture series outlining his beliefs about the Antichrist on the Vaticans doorstep, having previously attacked Pope Leo XIV as a woke American pope.

Thiel, 58, a co-founder of PayPal and the data mining company Palantir, delivered the first of the series Sunday and will present three subsequent instalments on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week, in which he will reportedly explain his complex personal philosophy regarding the imminence of Armageddon.

The lecture series is invitation-only, no recording devices are permitted within the venues  the locations of which have repeatedly changed  and two Catholic universities previously tied to the conference have denied their involvement.

Thiel, who grew up in an evangelical Christian household, delivered a similar set of talks in San Francisco last September, which again took place behind closed doors; illicit recordings subsequently leaked, and The Guardian posted extensive excerpts.

open image in gallery Silicon Valley titan Peter Thiel previously delivered a four-part series of lectures on the Antichrist and Armageddon in San Francisco last fall ( AP )

In those speeches, the tech investor was heard defining himself as a libertarian, or a classical liberal, who deviates in one minor detail, where Im worried about the Antichrist, which he characterized as a spiritual descriptor of the forces of evil or an evil king or tyrant or anti-Messiah who appears in the end times.

Thiel told his audience of predominantly young male professionals in California that he believed the End of Days would be brought about by an Antichrist figure who encourages a fear of existential threats against humanity in order to consolidate power, giving climate change, AI and nuclear warfare as examples of topics they might use to instil anxiety about a coming Third World War.

Thiel said such a person would use the ensuing paranoia to justify a push toward a one-world state and the enforced stagnation of scientific progress and technological advances, something he believes is already underway.

Seeing the Antichrist as both an individual and a malign force compelling the unification of the world under a single global state has prompted Thiel to oppose such international organizing bodies as the United Nations and the International Criminal Court.

His earlier lecture series, characterized as diffuse, meandering and often confusing by The Guardian, also saw him warn against Pope Leo as a woke American pope and anti-science Luddites such as the climate activist Greta Thunberg.

open image in gallery Pope Leo XIV, who has been labelled woke by Thiel, has issued a series of barely-veiled attacks on the Trump administration since ascending to the papacy last year ( AP )

He also mused on the role President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Democrats Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Gavin Newsom, and Zohran Mamdani might play in his cosmology.

The talks were peppered with pop cultural references, with Thiel alluding to everything from Jonathan Swift and JRR Tolkiens The Lord of the Rings to Alan Moores Watchmen while finding time for side swipes against his tech industry peers, Bill Gates and Marc Andreessen.

Responding to his arrival in Italy, Il Messaggero quotes an essay by the Catholic theologian Father Paolo Benanti, originally published in Le Grand Continent, in which the priest critiqued the self-styled prophets bleak message as depicting a society incapable of self-government in which the only alternative to apocalypse would be a technocratic order imposed by an elite of rulers.

He continued: In this vision, democracy understood as the self-government of equal citizens is already dead  and all that remains, in the darkness of a data center, is the clinical management of its corpse.

Benanti considers Thiels speaking tour a prolonged act of heresy against liberal consensus: a challenge to the very foundations of civil coexistence, Il Messaggero concludes.

open image in gallery Thiels arrival in Rome and warnings of an anti-Messiah ushering in the End of Days has already proven highly controversial in the Holy City ( AP )

At home, Thiel has happily aligned himself with the Trump administration, personally donating to the presidents 2016 campaign, while Palantir is among those helping to pay for the new ballroom being constructed in place of the East Wing of the White House.

The company has also inked an agreement with ICE to streamline the process of identifying people the agency is targeting for deportation, a move that led to protesters targeting Thiels final San Francisco lecture with placards that read Predatory Tech, We Do Not Profit from People Who Profit from Misery, and Not Today Satan.

Thiel is also known to be close to the vice president, having supported Vance's early career in venture capital and having poured millions of dollars into his successful bid for the Ohio Senate in 2022.

While the billionaire may take exception to Pope Leo, the Chicago-born pontiff has equally made his opposition to the Trump administration clear, recently criticising the Iran conflict and last March sharing an article on social media opposing its treatment of migrants with the headline: JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesnt ask us to rank our love for others.

Leo also warned Catholic priests in February against being seduced by illusion on the internet and the dangers of AI, just as Thiel warned the Antichrist might do.
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Donald Trump ranted to reporters that he had the right to do anything he wanted with Cuba, claiming that the island nation is a failed state and promising that the country was next on his list of adversaries to confront after Iran.

His comments came as senior figures in his administration have repeatedly stressed that the war with Iran will end in the coming days, while refusing to outline the presidents specific goals and skirting around the issue of using Americas military as the worlds police force.

The president was participating in an executive order signing ceremony on Monday when he was asked about Cuba by a reporter. Trump responded that he could take the entire island, and added that he would likely have the honor of doing so in some form.

I do believe Ill be the honor of  have the honor of taking Cuba. That would be good. Thats a big honor, said the president.

Taking Cuba? asked Foxs White House reporter, Peter Doocy.

Taking Cuba. In some form, yeah, the president confirmed. Taking Cuba.

I mean, whether I free it, or take it... I think I can do anything I want with it, to tell you the truth, Trump said.

Trumps threats against Cuba follow a very public warning from Lindsey Graham, a GOP senator who strongly backed the presidents military campaign against Iran. The South Carolina Republican gleefully stated that the president was targeting authoritarian regimes one by one, with Cuba next on the agenda.

open image in gallery Donald Trump is boasting that hell have the honor of taking Cuba ( Getty )

Cubas next. Theyre going to follow this communist dictatorship in Cuba. Their days are numbered, he told Fox News earlier this month.

The military campaign against Iran has resulted in hundreds of deaths, including 13 American service members. It continued Monday into its third week, with the president once again repeating his belief that the end was in sight while refusing to lay out what it looked like.

It has also surged oil prices around the world, as Iranian forces have closed off the contested Strait of Hormuz waterway with sea mines. Around 20 percent of the worlds oil tanker traffic passes through the strait every year.

Trump and his team have repeatedly refused to enunciate clear objectives for the military campaign, which was premised on removing the threats supposedly imminently posed by Irans ballistic weapons and nuclear program.

Weeks into the war, the U.S. hasnt explained what it has achieved towards permanently neutralizing either of those threats, while the Trump administration has backed away from initial suggestions of instigating regime change aimed at toppling the Iranian government altogether.

open image in gallery Tankers crossing the Strait of Hormuz, where 20 percent of the worlds oil passes through ( AP )

Cuba has been under military blockade for decades, and like Iran, has suffered devastating economic effects from U.S.-led sanctions. Unlike Iran, the U.S. policy towards Cuba stems from its communist roots and alliance with the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

The 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis was considered a low point in U.S.-Cuba relations and was the closest point the two countries came to overt military hostilities.

During Barack Obamas two terms in office, the U.S. pursued a softening of relations with the Castro government, which at the time imminently preceded the death of Fidel Castro, its first communist leader, in 2016. That policy won the Obama administration many critics in the Cuban-American exile community and was quickly reversed by Trump upon his assumption of the presidency in 2017.
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Emergency lawsuits from immigrants seeking release from detention have declined in recent weeks, as the Trump administration has, at least for the moment, pulled back slightly from the aggressive, military-style immigration enforcement it has carried out in Minneapolis and cities across the country.

The administration announced in February it was drawing down its Minnesota operation, and the White House moved this month to oust Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who oversaw the surge there, which resulted in agents fatally shooting two U.S. citizens and prompted widespread protests. No cities have been hit with a new major crackdown since.

Nationwide, there were about 11 percent fewer immigration arrests in February, according to a New York Times analysis, though arrest levels were still nearly four times higher than those under the Biden administration.

For the moment, reports have tapered off of agents storming Home Depot parking lots, arresting immigrant day laborers or conducting raids on apartment buildings.

Still, critics warn the administration has shown no deeper signs of backing away from immigration policies they allege lead to racial profiling and mass, illegal arrests.

open image in gallery Immigration arrests and lawsuits have fallen slightly in recent weeks, as the Trump administration pulls back some of its most aggressive operations, though critics allege the White House is still pursuing a campaign of mass, illegal detention and racial profiling ( AFP via Getty Images )

Last year, the Trump administration reinterpreted longstanding precedent and claimed that arrested immigrants, even those who have been in the U.S. for years and lack criminal records, were not eligible to seek bond as their immigration cases moved through the system, a process that can take months or years.

The objective is 100 percent for individuals to give up, Rekha Sharma-Crawford, a Missouri-based attorney and second vice president at the American Immigration Lawyers Association, told The Independent. It is designed to short-circuit any due process that they may be entitled to.

These changes paired with intense political pressure on immigration agencies from the White House, where Homeland Security Adviser Stephen Miller reportedly berated agents to conduct 3,000 arrests per day to meet the presidents goals.

That helped lead to a spike in immigrants behind bars, as well as scores of emergency habeas corpus challenges, where federal officials must justify before a judge why they are still holding someone in detention.

Between January and mid-February of this year, there were between 300 and 400 such petitions every day, a Politico analysis found, overwhelming federal courts and Justice Department officials alike, one of whom memorably complained, in a courtroom, This job sucks.

Since peaking on February 6, the number of habeas challenges has declined reaching roughly 300 per day in late February and approaching 200 per day in early March, the analysis found.

open image in gallery The ouster of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and the pullback of immigration agents in Minnesota may mark a change in approach, though the administration is still seeking to keep tens of thousands of immigrants in detention, potentially for years, as they challenge their immigration cases ( Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved )

Nobody is changing the Administrations immigration enforcement agenda, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement. President Trumps highest priority has always been the deportation of illegal alien criminals who endanger American communities.

Thanks to President Trumps strong immigration enforcement policies, approximately 3 million illegals have left the United States, either through forced deportation or self-deportation, with zero illegals coming through the most secure border in U.S. History for nine straight months, she added.

The Independent has contacted the Department of Homeland Security for comment.

Still, immigration experts warn that the crisis is far from over.

Since January of last year, immigrants have filed more than 26,000 habeas cases  more than the number filed in the last three administrations combined, according to a ProPublica database.

Immigrants have resorted to using this legal tool because the Trump administration has shut off most other avenues people can use to challenge their detention in the prison-like centers, which have been accused of poor health conditions, legal access violations, and widespread mistreatment of detainees.

Were suing the federal government weekly, immigration lawyer Jeremy McKinney, former president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, told Mother Jones earlier this month. We have to kick the door down.

open image in gallery Judges have ruled that thousands of Trump administration arrests were not legal and ordered migrants released from detention ( Getty Images )

The arrests at issue have largely been found to be unlawful, according to federal judges.

Since Trump took office, hundreds of judges around the country ruled more than 4,400 times that immigrants were being illegally detained, a Reuters review found. Despite being appointed by different presidential administrations, judges have been nearly unanimous against the Trump administrations new detention policies.

There is a reason why hundreds of case across the country, in federal courts across the country, have found the new interpretation of the law by the administration, that offsets decades of precedent, to be unlawful, Sharma-Crawford, the immigration attorney, said. When you get back and you look at history and all of the cases on detention, whether criminal or civil for that matter, liberty is not supposed to be the exception, and yet this administration has made it the exception.

However, even lawsuits can only do so much against the administration, which judges and immigrants alike have accused of systematically ignoring court orders.

Judges in hotspots like Minnesota have threatened government attorneys with being held in contempt  or even given prison time  over what they say is a pattern of the administration ignoring court orders or being slow to enact them.

Minnesota U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen, whose office has been hamstrung with resignations and controversy as part of the immigration surge, argues that any issues have not been a result of malice.

open image in gallery Political appetite for another military-style immigration crackdown may have dwindled following a year of controversies, though the Trump administration is prone to sudden changes and reversals in immigration tactics ( AFP/Getty )

Nobody has been willfully disobedient, he said in court earlier this month. There have been mistakes that have been made but thats a far cry from contempt of court.

Rosen partially blamed the Trump administrations fast-moving approach to immigration  where tactics and objectives change quickly and migrants are often swiftly moved out of state to detention centers  for issues complying with court directives.

As the surge was ongoing, ICE was constantly instituting new procedures to try to keep up with these issues, Rosen reportedly told a judge. Perfection was never achieved.

The habeas complaints may have dipped slightly, but the underlying attempt from the Trump administration to detain tens of thousands of immigrants at a time hasnt gone anywhere.

In fact, in some jurisdictions, it just got a major boost.

open image in gallery The administration says it will seek to appoint Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma as the new head of DHS ( Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. )

Earlier this month, a federal appeals court covering Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas ruled that the Trump administration can hold immigrants without bond, regardless of how long they have been in the U.S.

Its taken the ability to pursue your immigration case and claims without being detained off the table for thousands of people, Sarah Whittington, advocacy director at the ACLU of Louisiana, told the Louisiana Illuminator after the ruling.

Also in March, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers much of the West Coast, paused a series of orders that created a nationwide class of immigrants who were entitled to bond hearings.

The political calculus around launching another Minneapolis-style operation may be changing  especially as polls show voters do not approve of the presidents immigration policies heading into midterm season  but Sharma-Crawford argued that the administration still clearly has its sights set on mass, long-term detention and sweeping arrests. She said the White House has plenty of tools left to accomplish those goals, even if they get less headlines going forward.

Red states havent mounted the same kind of mass deportation protests as cities like Minneapolis or Los Angeles did, and law enforcement cooperation agreements shift some of ICEs politically toxic dirty work onto local police, she said.

In the deeper, more conservative states, what theyre doing is going in and opening up these massive detention facilities, she said. Thats some writing on the wall that says they are only intent on increasing the number of people that they want to detain.
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With deportation raids sending a chill across farm country, the Trump administration wants to make it easier for U.S. farms to hire migrant workers, angering critics across the political spectrum.

On January 1, new emergency rules took effect, allowing U.S. farms to hire more workers and pay less in wages for migrants coming in on H-2A temporary labor visas.

Speaking during a visit to Louisiana this week, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins framed the changes as a way to help farmers struggling to find U.S. workers in the absence of deeper congressional reforms.

We are working to make very quick change as quickly as we can to basically open up the market so that these labor questions can be resolved, Rollins said.

Last fall, as the Trump team proposed the new rules, it put a finer point on the situation: the administrations deportation raids and border crackdown were exacerbating the farm worlds already chronic shortage of workers. Trump has carried out a massive deportation effort across the nation, with some critics warning it could impact farms where migrants were employed. They warned that a reduction in farm workers could lead to food price increases.

open image in gallery A woman raises her hands as Customs and Border Protection officers extend their skirmish line into a crop field during a 2025 raid. Now, the Trump administration wants to make it easier for farms to hire migrant workers. ( AFP via Getty Images )

The near total cessation of the inflow of illegal aliens combined with the lack of an available legal workforce, results in significant disruptions to production costs and threatening the stability of domestic food production and prices for U.S consumers, the Department of Labor warned, adding that stepped-up immigration enforcement under Trumps One Big Beautiful Bill could eliminate another estimated 225,000 farm workers.

The issue of staffing on U.S. farms is a politically complicated one for the president.

Agricultural areas tend to lean Republican, but about 40 percent of the farm labor force is not legally allowed to work in the U.S.

That tension can be seen in the wide range of responses to the presidents agriculture policy.

Some farm owners say they would hire more U.S. workers if they could, but Americans dont want the jobs and migrant workers have thus become an existential part of the business.

If this program went away tomorrow, farming would cease, Walter King, one of the co-owners of Nelson-King Farms in the Mississippi Delta region, recently told The New Yorker.

open image in gallery Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins has praised the visa changes as a way to support U.S. farmers ( AP )

Meanwhile, everyone from U.S. farmers to labor groups to immigration restriction advocates have denounced the Trump administrations stance on H-2As.

I dont think its fair that our pay will be lowered so much, an undocumented farm worker in Idaho who gave her name as Maria told The New York Times, as she fears her wages will drop from $17 to $11 dollars per hour in the face of the new rules.

The United Farm Workers union has sued over the rule change, alleging the public was not given proper opportunity to comment, and arguing that the new H-2A system will harm foreign and domestic workers alike.

There is nothing America First about expanding exploitative guest worker programs that undercut and displace American workers, union president Teresa Romero said in a November statement when a lawsuit was announced, referencing President Trumps America First slogan.

open image in gallery The United Farm Workers union has sued the Trump administration over the H-2A update, arguing the policy will lead to worker exploitation ( AFP via Getty Images )

President Trumps wage cuts serve only one purpose: they make it easier for big agricultural corporations to exploit cheap foreign labor through the H-2A program and replace American farm workers, or avoid paying them a fair market wage, she added.

The new rules will cost H-2A workers about $2 billion in wage cuts and will put $3 billion of downward wage pressure on U.S. farm employees, according to an analysis from the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute.

Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which supports lower levels of immigration, argued in a recent Washington Examiner op-ed that the Trump administration is bowing to pressure from agribusiness on the H-2A question, rather than pushing farms to adopt cost-saving mechanization.

The long-term competitiveness of American agriculture is not served by caving to the short-sighted demands of agribusiness lobbyists or the Luddite demands of unions, he wrote. Instead, the federal government would best serve the interests of farmers, farmworkers, and the nation as a whole by helping the harvest of fruits and vegetables transition to the 21st century.

The Independent has contacted the White House for comment.

These actions come at a time when every dollar saved will go a long way in ensuring the continued business success of these American agricultural operations, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said in a statement to The Independent, noting the cost of inputs for farmers and ranchers went up under the Biden administration. The farm economy is in a difficult situation, and President Trump is utilizing all the tools available to ensure farmers have what they need to be successful.

President Trump has acknowledged the tension between his immigration policy and his support for U.S. farmers.

Brooke Rollins brought it up, and she said, So, we have a little problem. The farmers are losing a lot of people, and we figured it out, and we have some great stuff being written, the president said last year during a speech in Iowa.

That summer, the administration announced it would avoid deporting large numbers of immigrants from key industries like agriculture and hospitality, only to rapidly change course.

The administration has focused more on crackdowns in big cities than raids on farms, but the smattering of large operations at farms across the U.S. has still sent fear through the agriculture community.

Roughly one in seven California farmers said they had lost workers linked to immigration enforcement and fears over future operations, according to a recent Michigan State survey.
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President Donald Trumps invocation of the 25-year-old bombing of an American warship as part of his justification for launching a massive bombing campaign against Iran could hamper long-running Pentagon efforts to finally bring the alleged terrorists accused of perpetrating the terror attack to justice.

On two occasions over the nearly two weeks since the Defense Department launched Operation Epic Fury against targets across Iran, Trump has claimed Tehran was responsible for the October 2000 bombing of U.S.S. Cole, a grisly attack that killed 17 U.S. Navy sailors and left 37 others injured.

When he announced the start of the joint U.S.-Israeli campaign in the early hours of Feb. 28, Trump claimed Tehran knew and [was] probably involved with the Cole attack, and he repeated the allegations during a press conference on Monday when he insisted that Iran had been involved very strongly in the attack.

Yet according to the very government he leads  including a blue-ribbon commissions report on the attacks and filings by military prosecutors seeking to convict the alleged perpetrators  Iran wasnt involved at all.

And thats a key detail, because as Trump recklessly tosses out allegations about the Cole, he is also assisting in the defense of the very al-Qaeda terrorist who is awaiting trial for allegedly planning it.

open image in gallery The U.S.S. Cole bombing was the worst attack on an American warship since 1987 ( US Navy )

According to the final report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States  better known as the 9/11 Commission  the attacks were planned and carried out by Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, a Saudi national of Yemeni descent who joined up with al-Qaeda some time between 1996 and 1998 in Afghanistan, allegedly reporting only to the groups leader, Osama bin Laden.

The commissions report states that al-Hashiri proposed attacking American warships in late 1998, with bin Laden, a Saudi construction scion who was the groups main financier, giving his approval and providing funds for the operation. After bin Laden allegedly suggested that al-Nashiri look for targets in the Port of Aden on Yemens southern coast, al-Nashiri unsuccessfully targeted the American destroyer U.S.S. The Sullivans 10 months before the successful attack on Cole.

He was captured by the Central Intelligence Agencys Special Activities Division in 2002 as part of the U.S. effort to round up high-level al-Qaeda operatives, and he was moved to the U.S. military brig at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay four years later.

The 61-year-old accused al-Qaeda operative is still at Guantanamo, where the U.S. has housed many of the alleged terrorists captured during the early years of the Global War on Terror. He is set to face trial in June before a military commission, which in 2011 formally accused him of three criminal law-of-war violations, conspiracy and terrorism charges stemming from the Cole attack.

So when the President of the United States twice declared that Iran  not al-Qaeda or any of its members  had masterminded the Cole bombing, al-Nashiris legal team took notice.

Allison Miller, the lead attorney responsible for defending the accused terrorist operative, told The Independent in an email that Trumps comments impact our defense.

Weve requested additional information from the government regarding the intelligence information that supports President Trumps now repeated claims that Iran is responsible for the bombing of the USS Cole, she added.

Because Trumps claim is at odds with the specific accusations the government has made against al-Nashiri in charging documents, the new accusations against Iran could, in theory, serve as a defense for the accused al-Qaeda operative.

open image in gallery The Cole bombing claimed the lives of 17 American sailors ( US Navy )

Its not clear why Trump decided to include the Cole attack among the litany of grievances hes routinely recited against Tehrans government as hes sought to justify a war that has upended financial markets and sent oil prices soaring as Iran has moved to choke off the Wests oil supply by closing the Strait of Hormuz to most commercial traffic.

The federal government has never linked Tehran with the bombing, though a 2015 court decision handed down in Virginia as part of a lawsuit by the family of one bombing victim suggested that Irans government had been complicit in the attacks by allowing al-Nashiri to travel freely through the country when transiting between Afghanistan and Yemen. Miller, his attorney, told The New York Times last week that her client has never been to Iran.

But regardless of its veracity, Trumps claim that Tehran was behind the bombing contradicts decades worth of evidence gathered by federal investigators and could imperil the Defense Departments attempt to prosecute al-Nashiri for the attack.

According to the commissions charging documents, he allegedly acquired the boat and explosives used in the attack, rented property to surveillance the harbor, modified the boat to turn it into a bomb, and sent the two suicide bombers out in it to attempt to sink the U.S. destroyer.

Kind of thing that I think would have stuck out in my mind

The strike on the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, which left a 3,200 square foot hole in the ships port side as it was making a refueling stop in Yemens Aden harbor, was the deadliest strike against an American warship since an Iraqi jet fired two anti-ship missiles at an American frigate, U.S.S. Stark during the Iran-Iraq war in 1987.

It was one of several terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda under the leadership of Osama bin Laden during a three-year period leading up to the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.

The charging documents and 9/11 commission report both go into detail about al-Nashiris preparations for the attack and his association with bin Laden and other al-Qaeda leaders.

Nowhere in the documents is the Iranian government mentioned.

Morris Davis, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel who served as the chief prosecutor for the Guantanamo military commissions from 2005 to 2007, told The Independent in a phone interview that he had no recollection at all of there being any mention of Iran in any documents or evidence relating to al-Nashiri.

That's the kind of thing, too, that would have been a pretty significant detail that I think would have stuck out in my mind, he said.

Davis, who resigned as the head of the military commissions prosecution team rather than use evidence obtained through the use of torture, noted that it would have been highly unlikely for Iran to play any role in any al-Qaeda plot.

Not only was al-Qaeda led by citizens of Saudi Arabia  a rival power to Iran  but Davis pointed out that the bin Laden-led organization was made up of Sunni Muslims who would not have wanted any association with the Shiite cleric-led Iranian government.

He also told The Independent that were he al-Hashiris lawyer, hed have already filed a motion to compel disclosure of whatever evidence Trump was citing when he claimed Iran was responsible for the Cole attack.

If you've got the president, who is the ultimate authority over the military commissions, stating as a fact that Iran was involved in the Cole bombing and your client is facing a murder trial, I would make the government state that the evidence exists or admit that the president was mistaken, he said.

My guess is he pulled this out of his hat as some additional justification for attacking Iran. But to my knowledge, there's no evidence to support his assertion.

The former Air Force Judge-Advocate also warned that Trumps comments could potentially blow up the years of work that has already been done to prepare for al-Nashiris trial because the statements could be exculpatory  or prejudice the jury of military officers who will ultimately determine al-Nashiris guilt by linking him to a country with which the United States is now at war.

It's an aggravated case to begin with, from the fact that we lost service members, but linking him to Iran just makes it worse. So he potentially taints the jury pool by making irresponsible statements like that, Davis said.
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President Donald Trump on Monday repeated his demand for other countries to send naval assets to help escort oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz amid Iranian threats to target ships passing through the key chokepoint.

Trump was addressing reporters at an impromptu press conference when he said hed strongly encourage other countries to get involved with us and get involved quickly  and with great enthusiasm to help protect traffic in the disputed waterway, which is a key transit point for approximately a fifth of the worlds oil supply.

He also claimed that numerous countries have said they are on the way since this past weekend, when he took to Truth Social to call on China, France, Japan, South Korea, the UK and others to send ships to the area so that the Hormuz Strait will no longer be a threat by a nation that has been totally decapitated.

Some are very enthusiastic about it, and some are and some are countries that we've helped for many, many years. We've protected them from horrible outside sources, and they weren't that enthusiastic. And the level of enthusiasm matters to me, he said.

The president also groused about how other nations whose economies depend on the strait far more than ours were not getting involved and name-checked Japan, China, South Korea and the European Union bloc, citing apparent statistics about eachs reliance on oil that passes through the strait.

U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) listens to U.S. President Donald Trump speaking during a lunch with the Kennedy Center board members in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 16, 2026. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst ( REUTERS )

We get less than 1% of our oil from the strait, and some countries get much more ... so we want them to come and help us with the strait, he said.

Trump also repeated a complaint about how NATO members arent responding to his demand and characterized the 32-member alliance as a protection racket under which European member states owe the United States for protecting them from harms way.

I said ... for 40 years, we're protecting you, and you don't want to get involved in something that is very minor, very few shots going to be taken, because they don't have many shots left?

He then claimed that European reluctance to be dragged into the war he started unprovoked just over two weeks ago bears out his criticism of NATO and his false assertion that NATO members would not respond to an attack on the U.S. even though the alliances mutual defense provision has only been activated to defend the United States after the September 11, 2001 terror attacks on New York and Washington.

Trump cast that false assertion as one of a number of purported predictions hed made that had come true, including allegedly predicting that al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden would attempt to bring down the World Trade Center while baselessly claiming that Clinton didnt take a shot at the future 9/11 mastermind even though Clinton ordered cruise missile strikes on a location in Sudan where bin Laden had been thought to be hiding in August 1998.

When was specifically asked about the identities of the countries that were on the way, Trump refused to name any countries.

Administration officials have said Trump would soon announce the formation of a multi-national effort to escort commercial shipping vessels through the Strait of Hormuz as his war with Iran enters its third week.

But it remains unclear which, if any, countries have elected to participate.

Earlier today, British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer told reporters he is in talks with other countries about re-opening the strait while stressing that the U.K. not be drawn into the wider war.

I want to see an end to this war as quickly as possible, because the longer it goes on, the more dangerous the situation becomes, and the worse it is for the cost of living back here at home.

Italy, Germany, and Greece have also declined to involve their militaries in the conflict, which Trump launched without consulting the U.S. Congress in the face of widespread opposition from much of the American public.

The effective closure of the strait has forced exporters to cancel shipments and shut production at oilfields, creating the world's biggest ever supply disruption.

Crude oil prices have surged to the highest in four years and those of some fuels to record highs.
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In a series of Truth Social rants Sunday evening, President Donald Trump said media outlets that reported false information given by Iranian officials should be charged with treason, which carries the death penalty.

Amid the 98th Academy Awards ceremony, the president rattled off lengthy posts, complaining about the medias reporting on the war with Iran, the Supreme Courts tariff decision, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, judges who have not ruled in favor of the his administration, Democrats and more.

In one of those posts, the president accused Iran of planting a false story about a U.S. aircraft carrier being destroyed, in part by releasing an AI-generated video of the fake attack. He said media outlets that reported on the story should be punished.

The story was knowingly FAKE and, in a certain way, you can say that those Media Outlets that generated it should be brought up on Charges for TREASON for the dissemination of false information! Trump wrote.

The president accused the Radical Leftwing Press of purposefully publishing the false information and bragged that the U.S. was decimating Iran  a claim often made by members of the administration.

open image in gallery Trump has been highly critical of news outlets for not adopting his pro-America narrative of the war with Iran ( AP )

The president has often recommended treason charges for those he disagrees with. Last year, Trump suggested media outlets had been treasonous for questioning his health.

In the United States, treason can carry the death penalty, a minimum of five years in prison, at least a $10,000 fine and prohibits anyone found guilty of holding office.

Trump also lashed out at reporters who asked questions about the conflict in Iran during a press briefing on board Air Force One Sunday. During the 20-minute huddle, he said ABC News was maybe the most corrupt news organization on the planet.

Since the president directed the U.S. military to conduct lethal strikes on Iran in late February, members of the Trump administration have accused U.S. media outlets of reporting false information to skew the publics perception of the war.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who has repeatedly said the U.S. is winning the war against Iran during press briefings, has become combative toward reporters who ask probing questions.

In a briefing earlier this month, the defense secretary called out NBC for asking a gotcha-type question when pressed about the timeline of the ongoing war. Hegseth later criticized another reporters question about whether the U.S. planned to put boots on the ground. He also bluntly responded to a reporters inquiry about preventing this conflict from spiraling with: Did you not hear my remarks?

During a Friday briefing, Hegseth began by berating news outlets.

Another example of a fake headline I saw yesterday: war widening, Hegseth said. Heres a real headline for you, for an actual patriotic press: Iran shrinking, going underground.

open image in gallery Hegseth has also accused news outlets of unfairly reporting on the Iran war and spreading false information about strikes ( AFP/Getty )

He also accused outlets of falsely reporting Iran has laid mines in the Strait of Hormuz and brushed off concerns about the vitality of the important passage used for international trade.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has become confrontational with reporters during press briefings when they question the justification for the war  despite members of the administration giving varying reasons why the president called for the strikes on Iran.

Other administration officials have threatened to take action against news outlets as Trump rages about media coverage of the Iran war.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr said broadcasters licenses could be revoked for coverage of the war that the White House perceives as unfair. It is a familiar tactic Carr has invoked when the president is unhappy with media coverage.

Trump said he was thrilled to see Carr looking at the licenses of some of these Corrupt and Highly Unpatriotic News Organizations.

In other Truth Social posts Sunday, the president raged at the Supreme Court justices who struck down his tariffs policy, accusing the court of being completely inept and embarrassing. He also criticized federal judge James Boasberg, who dismissed the governments attempt to subpoena Powell last week.
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The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts will close this summer for two years of renovations, the centers Trump-appointed board unanimously voted on Monday.

The president has insisted the lengthy closure is necessary to carry out sweeping updates to the nations flagship arts center, which has suffered a string of artist cancellations in recent months under the Trump administration. He said Monday changes will include replacing the complexs heating system and marble.

What I know best in the world is construction, President Donald Trump said Monday at the White House. The best way to do it is close it, do it properly and reopen it, have a grand reopening. And when its finished its going to be far better than it was when it was originally built.

Renovations will began after July 4, according to the center.

Trump has said the project could cost around $200 million, below the $250 million Congress approved for upgrades last year.

open image in gallery The $200 million renovations are expected to begin after July 4 ( AP )

Democrats have suggested the closing of the center is in-part to distract from a string of high-profile issues since Trump took it over, including the Washington National Opera cutting ties, and the declining attendance for major performances.

I was very clear in advising them that while Im not against renovations if they need to be done, I am totally against the process, it being unlawful, them not checking with the Congress, Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty, a Kennedy Center board member who has sued to block the closure, told The New York Times on Monday.

Mondays vote comes after an announcement Friday that interim Kennedy Center leader Richard Grenell was stepping down.

On Monday, the board voted to name Matt Floca, the former vice president of facilities at the center, as the new executive director.

Last year, Trump cleaned house at the Kennedy Center, replaced its typically bipartisan leadership with a board of allies, and attempted to officially add his name to the centers title, a move critics say is not legal.

open image in gallery Since taking over the center, the president has hosted the Kennedy Center Honors and first lady Melania Trump premiered a documentary about herself there earlier this year ( Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. )

The board also installed Trump as its chairman last February.

Since the leadership change, Trump has often made himself and his allies the stars of the show at the center.

In December, Trump became the first president to host the Kennedy Center Honors, though the news-making move did not translate into a wide audience. The show reportedly suffered a sharp decline in viewers compared with previous years.

Earlier this year, the Kennedy Center hosted the premiere of an Amazon-backed documentary about first lady Melania Trump.

The president has taken a marked interest in remaking Washington monuments, compared with his recent predecessors.

open image in gallery In addition to the Kennedy Center change-up, Trump has sought to leave his mark on the White House, demolishing parts of the East Wing to make way for an opulent new ballroom complex ( Getty Images )

In addition to the Kennedy Center makeover, the president demolished parts of the White House as part of a plan to build a new ballroom and East Wing complex.

Trumps interest in national signs and symbols goes beyond the capital and his administration has carried a wide-ranging effort to scrub national parks and historic sites of content it deems overly critical, often singling out material that deals with the history of racism in the U.S.
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President Donald Trump on Monday left House Speaker Mike Johnson and others visibly shocked by revealing private medical information about a House Republican while television cameras broadcast the scene.

Trump was speaking during an impromptu press conference  where he was expected to field a few questions about the ongoing Iran War  before a scheduled lunch with Kennedy Center board members, when he began praising the way House Speaker Mike Johnson has managed to keep his majority together despite having only a two-vote margin since earlier this year.

Seated between Johnson and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, whom Trump had earlier revealed is battling early-stage breast cancer, he asked the Speaker about one GOP member who was very ill. Johnson replied that Florida Representative Neal Dunn had been suffering from real health challenges and a pretty grim diagnosis while still showing up to work and voting, calling him a real champion and a patriot.

Trump then interjected to ask about Dunns diagnosis before revealing, unprompted, that it had been a terminal diagnosis.

He would be dead by June, said Trump, prompting Johnson to jump back in, more than a bit surprised.

U.S. President Donald Trump, flanked by the Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, speaks during a lunch with the Kennedy Center board members in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 16, 2026. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst ( REUTERS )

Ok, that wasnt public, Johnson said.

Johnson added that Trump had connected with Dunn to offer condolences and later arranged for him to receive medical treatment from White House Medical Unit doctors and other military physicians at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.

The man has a new lease on life. He acts like he's 30 years younger, and he walked into the conference meeting, and we thought we'd seen a ghost, and I spoke with him over the weekend, and he's encouraged and thankful, and he thanks the President for his leadership and intervention, Johnson said.

Trump re-entered the conversation by recounting how Johnson had told him that Dunn had been terminal with a really bad heart and remarked how there was nothing they could do for the longtime Florida representative.

I realized I have doctors in the White House ... the White House, doctors are incredible and they've helped me with other people. They're helping me with people right now, people that are very sick... like they're miracle workers. And I said, I have to call them. And I called the two doctors, they're both great. And they immediately went over to see the congressman, and he was on the operating table, like two hours later, Trump said.

Earlier this year, Dunn said he would not seek re-election in Florida's 2nd district. Last month, amid rumors that Dunn might resign early, his office told Politico that he would serve out the duration of his term.

Since January, House Republicans had been operating with just 218 seats, a virtual two-seat majority, after the death of Rep. Doug Lamalfa of California died and the resignation of former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia.

Because Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) frequently votes against House Republican leadership, Johnson has often struggled to keep his conference together to pass party-line legislation or procedural rules needed to debate and pass bills without resorting to a fast-track procedure that requires two-thirds of the House to support a bill.

His margin effectively narrowed earlier this month when California Rep. Kevin Kiley announced he was registering as an Independent, though Kiley said he would still caucus with the GOP and support Johnsons leadership.
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Reporters have shared the secrets to cold calling President Donald Trump, including waiting until the middle of the night when he cant sleep.

Access to the president has never seemed so attainable, with reporters ringing Trumps personal cell phone at all hours of the day. Semafor did a deep dive into the presidents cell phone usage, finding Trump has done more than 30 phone interviews since Operation Epic Fury began more than two weeks ago.

The ongoing U.S. and Israeli strikes against Iran have created a lot of media buzz, with the president giving phone interviews to multiple outlets. In these interviews, Trump has given different answers as to the current state of the war.

In an Axios interview last week, Trump said the Iran war would end soon because there is practically nothing left to target. In an interview with NBC News over the weekend, the president said hes not ready to make a deal to end the war because the terms arent good enough yet.

open image in gallery Reporters have shared the secrets to cold calling President Donald Trump, including waiting until the middle of the night when he cant sleep ( AFP via Getty Images )

In a recently published article about Trumps use of phone interviews with the press, Semafor explained how reporters are increasingly using cold calls to contact the commander-in-chief.

Trumps cell phone number is widely shared in Washington and Semafors sources all have a different answer on the best time to call the president in hopes of the latest scoop.

Most of the sources said its best to call Trump late in the evening when hes watching TV, but one person who spoke to the president recently said to call him early in the morning. Others who spoke to Semafor cautioned against an early call, as Trump had snapped at some reporters when they reached him then.

open image in gallery Trump has reportedly done more than 30 phone interviews since Operation Epic Fury began more than two weeks ago ( AFP via Getty Images )

One source with Trumps number said the only way to ensure an answer from the president is to call in the middle of the night when he cant sleep.

When asked about Trumps use of phone interviews, White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly told The Independent, President Trump is the most transparent and accessible president in history. The press cant get enough of Trump, and they know it.

While reporters may be able to reach Trump by phone, the calls are often only about a few minutes long, according to Semafor.

open image in gallery 'The press cant get enough of Trump, and they know it,' a White House spokeswoman said ( Getty Images )

One unnamed White House official told the publication the president is also often preoccupied during the calls.

The official said Trump puts the caller on speaker in front of a large group of people, and he is loosely chatting and has fun messing with them.

Reporters who think they are being serious journalists by calling him are frankly doing themselves a disservice, the official said.
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Members of President Donald Trumps inner circle are experiencing buyers remorse over the Iran conflict and are beginning to regard Operation Epic Fury as a disastrous mistake, according to a report.

The U.S. and Israel launched surprise joint airstrikes against Tehran in the early hours of Saturday, February 28, killing Irans Supreme Leader Ali Ayatollah Khamenei on the first day of the aerial bombardment, ending his 47-year authoritarian reign in one fell swoop.

Iran quickly hit back with retaliatory strikes of its own against its Gulf neighbor states hosting American and Israeli military assets. So far, 13 U.S. servicemembers have died. Meanwhile, Tehrans moves to target tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of the worlds total oil supply is shipped, have caused global fuel prices to soar.

Now an administration source quoted by Axios has claimed that Trump was high on his own supply when he gave the greenlight for the joint operation to commence.

open image in gallery President Donald Trump has been accused of allowing himself to get carried away by recent U.S. military successes ( AFP/Getty )

They suggested that the president had assumed that bringing Iran to heel would be simple, given the success of last summers Operation Midnight Hammer targeting the aspiring nuclear states uranium enrichment sites and of the U.S. operation to remove Nicolas Maduro from power in Venezuela on January 3.

He saw multiple decisive quick victories with extraordinary military competence, the source said.

[Trump] ended up saying, I just want to do it, they continued. He grossly overestimated his ability to topple the regime short of sending in ground troops.

However, White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly rubbished Axioss report as totally false.

The entire administration is united behind President Trump and the Department of War as our United States military continues to crush the Iranian regime, she told The Independent.

open image in gallery A woman displays a poster of Irans new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei and waves her countrys flag in support of the government in Tehran Saturday March 14, 2026 ( AP )

The president listens to a host of opinions on any given issue, but ultimately decides based on what is best for our country and U.S. national security.

The Independent also reached out to the Pentagon for comment but was referred back to the White House.

The president himself bragged to The Financial Times Sunday: Weve essentially decimated Iran... They have no navy, no anti-aircraft, no air force, everything is gone.

The only thing they can do is make a little trouble by putting a mine in the water  a nuisance, but the nuisance can cause problems.

But another senior Trump administration official quoted by Axios warned that those problems could become more acute if they force the president into what the outlet described as an escalation trap.

open image in gallery Irans stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, driving up global oil prices, is proving a growing problem for the Trump administration ( AP )

The Iranians f***ing around with the Strait makes [Trump] more dug in, they warned, suggesting the U.S. could find itself forced into using ever greater force  at great expense  to demonstrate its dominance, whereas success for Iran merely means surviving its present ordeal.

A prolonged engagement with Iran could backfire on Trump  who has midterm elections to win this November  particularly given that the conflict is widely unpopular, with the American public remaining uneasy about the administrations mixed messaging over its ultimate purpose and probable duration.

Just 29 percent of U.S. voters are currently in favor of the operation, according to an Ipsos poll, with 43 percent opposed and 26 percent unsure.

Given that the president promised an end to American involvement in forever wars overseas during the campaign, support for the airstrikes is proving highly divisive among his MAGA movement.

Some influential opinion-makers have even traded vicious personal insults as the internal tensions within Trumps base threaten to yield a much larger fracture.
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Donald Trumps reimagining of the White House could continue with a change to the iconic front facade of the main building itself, a move that would leave another permanent mark on a national landmark.

A Washington Post report claimed that a top official that Trump has placed on a committee in charge of making design recommendations to the president is set to suggest that Trump replace the White Houses iconic white columns with a different, more ornate design that favors the presidents own tastes.

The new design, called Corinthian models, would be less tapered, have shorter midsections, and feature more filigree at their peaks, or volutes. The style, the Post noted, can be seen in some of Trumps properties, including Trump Tower in Manhattan.

Rodney Mims Cook Jr., the Trump-appointed chair of the Commission of Fine Arts, told the Post that he hasnt discussed the idea with the president yet, but thought it was bizarre that the White House featured a different column style than the Capitol and U.S. Supreme Court, which both use the Corinthian style.

Corinthian is the highest order [of column], and thats what our other two branches of government have, he told the newspaper, adding: Why the White House didnt originally use them, at least on the north front, which is considered the front door, is beyond me.

open image in gallery The exterior of the White House could be the next target of Donald Trumps renovations - as he continues to reshape the look of the famed building ( AFP via Getty Images )

Other design experts contacted by the Post said the meaning was intentional: To evoke a simpler, more humble style for the residence of the nations first family.

It is a completely inappropriate idea and at odds with universally held historic preservation standards, Bruce Redman Becker, a Biden appointee purged from the committee by Trump last year, told the newspaper.

Trumps obsession with renovating the White House and putting his personal stamp on the grounds has overshadowed some parts of his second term, including some policy objectives and successes.

The plan to remove the White Houses iconic East Wing, home to the first ladys offices, and replace it with a massive ballroom has become an object of ridicule among Trumps political foes as Democrats have argued that the project is an expensive distraction that hurts the image of the residence itself and presents another opportunity for the president to solicit donations from wealthy supporters and those interested in his favor or attention.

open image in gallery Demolition of the White House East Wing began under Trumps direction last year. It is one of the way he has remade the White House since returning to office ( Getty )

Other changes to the White House have been rapid under Trumps second term, including the sudden appearance of gold lettering and signage around the building in a style more reminiscent of his Trump Tower and Mar-a-Lago properties.

The president has also used the White House to anger his political opponents by using plaques under portraits of presidents in the White House to demean past Democratic leaders.

Across D.C., the president is also beginning a costly remodel of the Kennedy Center after closing it down after artists began pulling out of performances at the center en masse in protest over Trump sticking his name on the building and ordering a reorientation of the centers programming away from woke culture, typically meaning pro-LGBT content and performances from liberal artists.
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Presidents come and go from the White House every four years or eight years, but the Ficklin family was a constant presence there for nearly eight decades, serving 13 presidents from Franklin D. Roosevelt to Barack Obama.

The one family by the presidents side for one-third of Americas 250-year existence includes Woodson Ficklin, his wife, some of his brothers and sisters, and son John Wrory Ficklin, who was just seven when he learned that his father, the son of a slave, was important.

Wrory Ficklin was sitting with his mother and brother, watching the funeral coverage for President John F. Kennedy on TV in the family's Washington apartment in 1963, when she gasped.

His father, James Woodson Ficklin, was wearing a morning suit and standing beside Kennedy's casket with other White House ushers. He was a White House butler at the time, but Kennedy's widow, Jacqueline, asked that he join the ushers that day.

Woodson Ficklin worked a remarkable 44 years on the White House residence staff. His son, Wrory Ficklin, had a lengthy White House career, too  40 years on the staff of the National Security Council.

open image in gallery John Woodson Ficklin poses with President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Rosalynn Carter at the White House ( The White House via AP )

With his 2015 retirement, Wrory became the last Ficklin employed there full-time, capping a record of family service documented in his book, An Unusual Path: Three Generations from Slavery to the White House.

The book is my familys history, it's African American history and it's our countrys history," he said.

My dad and I both stand on my grandfather's shoulders, and I like to think that we both contributed a lot to our country."

Family story starts with grandfather born enslaved

The first chapter in what Wrory Ficklin described as a truly American story opens with his grandfather, James Strother Ficklin, who was born a slave around 1854 in Rappahannock County, Virginia.

Strother was a water boy for the Confederate army during the Civil War. After emancipation, he did odd jobs for the family that used to own him.

He remarried in 1894 after his first wife died during childbirth, and moved to Youngstown, Ohio, to escape racism in Virginia and earn a living in the booming coal and steel industries. Records showed they returned to Rappahannock some years later, though it was unclear why.

Strother and his second wife, Helen, had saved enough money to buy 37 acres (0.15 square kilometers) of land in Amissville, Virginia, in 1901. He built a house and farmed the land to help feed the family. After Helen died while giving birth, Strother married his third wife, Vallie Lee Davenport, in 1907. They had 10 children  five girls and five boys.

One of those boys was John Woodson Ficklin.

The Ficklin brothers worked together at the White House

Woodson Ficklin was 15 when he moved to Washington in 1934 to live with an older sister and her husband. He worked odd jobs and went to high school at night, graduating in 1939  the year an older brother, Charles, began work as a White House butler. Charles Ficklin helped him land a part-time position washing dishes and doing whatever the butlers did not have time to do themselves.

open image in gallery President Gerald Ford speaks with John Woodson Ficklin in 1975 ( The White House via AP )

Military service during World War II briefly interrupted their White House careers, but they received promotions after they came home, with Charles Ficklin and Woodson Ficklin becoming head butler and butler, respectively. Woodson Ficklin met President Harry Truman and First Lady Bess Truman on his second day as a butler when he served the couple breakfast.

New promotions followed under Dwight Eisenhower, with Charles Ficklin becoming maitre d  the most senior butler  and Woodson Ficklin taking over as head butler, putting him in charge of six full-time butlers.

Woodson Ficklin succeeded his brother again in March 1967, when Charles Ficklin retired.

Woodson Ficklin worked closely with the first ladies

Woodson Ficklin was now responsible for the planning and execution of White House social events, ranging from luncheons and state dinners to birthday parties and South Lawn barbecues.

There were visits by British royals and the annual round of Christmas parties, the White House wedding of Richard Nixon's daughter Tricia in 1971, and Gerald Ford's daughter Susan's decision to host her senior class prom at the White House.

Along the way, Woodson Ficklin earned the trust and confidence of the presidents and first ladies who relied on his expertise. Some sent thank-you notes after flawlessly executed events.

First lady Patricia Nixon wrote in October 1969 about the great number of complimentary remarks we receive following each White House social event, according to a copy of the letter reprinted in the book. Our family is most grateful to you for the time and interest you devote to make each occasion so enjoyable and memorable for our guests and for us.

open image in gallery John Woodson Ficklin and his wife Nancy talk with President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan in 1983 ( The White House via AP )

President Jimmy Carter expressed appreciation in a March 1979 letter for the work Woodson Ficklin and his team did surrounding the signing of an Egypt-Israel peace treaty.

Everything was perfect and we are grateful, Carter wrote.

Woodson Ficklin retired in May 1983. In perhaps the biggest show of appreciation for his 44-year career, the Reagans invited him and his wife, Nancy, to a state dinner that year for the emir of Bahrain.

He is believed to be the first member of the White House residence staff to be a guest at a state dinner, and he became the subject of a media blitz as a result. Woodson Ficklin sat at the first lady's table and told an interviewer that she "put me at ease and made me feel like a guest. Asked about the service, he replied, Those are my boys. I trained them.

Woodson Ficklin died in December 1984 at 65.

Wrory Ficklin spent most of his career in national security

Seeing my Dad on television was a big deal, and to see him participating in our presidents funeral service was beyond my youthful comprehension, Wrory Ficklin wrote. He said years passed before he understood "the severity and the importance of his fathers work.

Yet Wrory Ficklin ended up doing important work at the White House, too, after a summer job during high school delivering sealed envelopes between the White House and the special prosecutor on the Watergate investigation. He also worked for his father in the pantry during state dinners and other big events.

open image in gallery John Wrory Ficklin inside the Decatur House at the White House Historical Society ( AP )

Wrory Ficklin joined the NSC staff in 1975, beginning a 40-year tenure that overlapped with his father and other family members. He started by working evenings as a clerk while attending college during the day and by 1987 was training new staff.

Under Obama, Wrory Ficklin was promoted to special assistant to the president for national security affairs. He retired in 2015 with a special request for his boss, national security adviser Susan Rice: Could he attend a state dinner, like his dad?

Wrory Ficklin and his wife, Patrice, were invited to the 2015 state dinner for Chinese President Xi Jinping. With some minor alterations, he wore the tuxedo jacket and cummerbund his father wore in 1983.

The dinner was the highlight of his career, he said.

Just to experience firsthand the quality of the service, the precision of the butlers, the type of service that they provided, was a legacy to my dad, actually, Wrory Ficklin said in the interview.
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A man was charged after Australian police allegedly caught a nine-year-old driving a car after 1am on a major highway in New South Wales.

The police said that a seatbelt detection camera captured the car travelling on the Great Western Highway near Mount Lambie at around 1.35am local time on 7 March with an unrestrained child sitting on the man's lap.

The police claimed the man, experiencing significant fatigue, was operating the pedals while the minor was steering.

Following inquiries, police officers visited the home of the 45-year-old man in Lightning Ridge on 11 March. They later issued a court attendance notice and charged him with four counts of driving recklessly, negligent driving, driving without proper control of the vehicle, and driving with one passenger seatbelt or restraint not properly fastened.

Police will allege the man was under significant fatigue, operating the pedals, while a nine-year-old boy was steering the vehicle at the time of the incident," the NSW police said in a statement.

The man was scheduled to appear at the Walgett Local Court on 28 April.

Last year, a 15-year-old boy was sentenced to more than five years in jail after crashing a stolen car into a ute in Canberra, killing two passengers.

Earlier in 2017, police stopped a 12-year-old boy after he attempted to drive across Australia alone and travelled about 1,300km.
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Dutch police are investigating an explosion that caused damage to an office building in Amsterdam, an incident claimed by an extremist organisation. The group in question previously took responsibility for a recent blast at a Jewish school in the area, prompting officers to examine potential links between the two events.

The explosion resulted in a small fire, which was swiftly put out by security guards, according to a police spokesperson. While the investigation is ongoing, it remains unclear whether the damaged building has any connection to Amsterdam's Jewish community. Sienna Investment Managers, responsible for the property, has not yet provided a comment on the incident.

Saturday's explosion, for which the same group claimed responsibility, caused minor damage to a Jewish school. Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema and Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten condemned the attack.

The group has also claimed earlier attacks on synagogues in Rotterdam and in neighbouring Belgium's Liege. The attacks had already triggered heightened security at Jewish sites in Amsterdam.

Justice Minister David van Weel said on Saturday that a link between the explosions in Amsterdam and Rotterdam could not be excluded, but did not confirm any claims made on social media by the group.

open image in gallery The explosion caused minor damages but there were no injuries reported ( REUTERS )

In a separate case on Sunday two young men were placed under formal investigation in France for planning a "deadly and antisemitic" attack, the counterterrorism prosecutor's office (PNAT) said in a statement.

The suspects, a 22-year-old engineering student and an unemployed 20-year-old who are brothers, were arrested last Tuesday after police found a semi-automatic firearm, a bottle of acid and an ISIS flag in their car during a roadside police stop near a prison in northern France, PNAT said. It gave no details about the nature of the planned attack or its target.

The two are being investigated on charges of criminal terrorist conspiracy and possessing a weapon in connection with a terrorist undertaking, and have been placed in pre-trial detention. The PNAT did not release the suspects' full identities.

Concerns about possible attacks against Jewish communities around the world have risen following U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran and a subsequent response from Tehran.

Concerns about possible attacks against Jewish communities around the world have risen following the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran and the subsequent response from Tehran.
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A Swedish court has ordered the detention of the Russian captain of a ship that was suspected to be sailing under a false flag in the Baltic Sea and was boarded by authorities last week.

The skipper, 55, was arrested on Friday by the Swedish Prosecution Authority on suspicion of using forged documents.

The Sea Owl One tanker was sailing under the flag of the Comoros, an island nation off East Africa. However, the coast guard has said that it suspects it isn't in the shipping registry there and therefore there is no flag state to vouch for safety on board. It is also on a list of vessels sanctioned by the EU.

Moscow has previously evaded Western sanctions on its oil exports through a network of tankers with obscure ownership or insurance.

open image in gallery A Swedish court has ordered a Russian captain of a ship to be detained after he was suspected of sailing under a false flag as part of Moscows shadow fleet ( Swedish Coast Guard )

This incident marks the second time in a week that Swedish authorities have seized a vessel suspected of being part of Russias shadow fleet.

The Sea Owl One is said to have departed from Brazil en route for Primorsk on Russias Baltic coast. The ship was identified to have transported oil between Russia and Brazil several times in recent years, the Swedish coast guard said.

Swedish coast guards intercepted the vessel south of Trelleborg, on Swedens southern waters, on Thursday evening.

Officers grew suspicious after the captain presented documents that did not appear to be genuine.

The Russian embassy in Sweden said 10 out of 24 of the sailors aboard the ship, including the captain, were Russian, while the rest were Indonesian.

open image in gallery Swedish coast guards intercepted the ship while it was to the south of Trelleborg on Swedens southern waters on Thursday evening ( Swedish Coast Guard )

Earlier this month, the Swedish coast guard investigated a Guinean-flagged cargo ship, the Caffa, on similar grounds. The vessel was sailing from Casablanca in Morocco to St Petersburg.

The coast guard said it regarded the vessel to be stateless "based on national and international legislation". Swedish police said the ship was suspected of sailing under a false flag.

France has also seized several tankers this year which are believed to have been a part of Russias shadow fleet, such as the Grinch in the Mediterranean in January and the Boracay in the Atlantic in October.

Western sanctions have targeted Russias oil exports since it invaded Ukraine in 2022.

Moscows shadow fleet has also been accused of spoofing or misrepresenting their location data, and sabotaging undersea cables and launching drones.
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Ukraines war effort is being undermined by sales of air-defence munitions to the Gulf and continued aggression from Washington, while an oil-price bonanza means that Moscow can now, literally, fund its own war dead.

In the grim calculus of the meat grinder conflict on Europes eastern flank, Kyivs defence ministry has a target of killing 50,000 Russian soldiers a month.

This is because Ukraine estimates that Vladimir Putin can only recruit somewhere between 35,000 and 37,000 troops a month, despite staggering sign-up bonuses, extravagant salaries, and a $165,000 (124,000) compensation package provided to the families of Russian soldiers killed in action.

According to Ukrainian and Western sources, if Putins ministry paid for all the Russian dead the war is generating every month  also estimated at around 35,000  the cost would be $5.775bn (4.35bn).

open image in gallery Vladimir Putin meets soldiers during a visit to a military training centre outside the town of Ryazan  Russia now has to offer huge financial incentives to get people to join up ( Sputnik )

Add to that the cost of recruiting 35,000 replacements with $24,000 (18,000) sign-up bonuses, and the figure rises by another $840m (632m). Thats a total of $6.615bn (4.98bn) that Russia must generate to pay for its monthly casualty list.

Ukraine knows it cannot outlast Russia in terms of manpower  but Kyivs aim is to make the war unsustainable for Putin in basic economic terms.

Russias crisis point is not running out of people; it is running out of money to buy people, according to intelligence analysis seen by The Independent.

But a surge in oil prices, along with Donald Trumps decision to lift some sanctions on Russias massive oil industry, has provided Moscow with an immediate respite from the bloody financial pressure Ukraine is delivering, at a heavy cost to itself in human life, on the front lines of the Donbas.

Russia is estimated to have made an extra $6bn to $10bn (4.5bn to 7.5bn) in oil revenues as a result of the US-Israeli war in Iran, since it began less than a month ago. That more than covers the cost of Russias war dead every month.

It is a body blow to Ukraine.

open image in gallery Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during a joint press conference with French president Emmanuel Macron following a bilateral meeting in Paris on 13 March ( AP )

This year, Kyivs innovations in drone warfare, longer-range strikes against Russian targets, and improved tactics have resulted in a turn in favour of Ukraine.

Morale on the front lines improved over the previous year. In the major cities being targeted by waves of Russian drones and ballistic missiles, and where winter temperatures plunged to -25C, civilians were managing to cope with days of power cuts as the energy infrastructure was pounded by Russia.

Ukrainian military assessments were based on figures that prevailed in the global oil markets, and in the weapons industry, before Iran was attacked by Israel and the US, and before oil prices surged and the production of air-defence munitions was absorbed by Gulf nations and their allies combating Iranian counterattacks with home-produced drones and missiles.

open image in gallery US missiles being loaded at RAF Fairford on 12 March ( Getty )

Lifting sanctions on Russias oil exports saw a 13 per cent surge in its crude oil exports  mainly to China, India and Turkey, according to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.

From the start of the Israel-US campaign against Iran, Volodymyr Zelensky warned, first in an interview with The Independent, that Ukraines air defences would suffer from a loss of supply. Ukraine gets most of its anti-ballistic-missile technology from the US, and it is purchased for Ukraine by European allies.

The focus will shift to the Middle East, to the Iranian war, now, and to the United States and also to Israel, Zelensky told theWorld of Trouble podcast. This is very understandable. And to the countries in the Middle East, who are now under attacks, massive attacks of drones and missiles from the Iranian side.

Our estimation, of course, is that air defence [for Ukraine] could decrease.

Since then, Zelenskys offer of Ukrainian drone experts to help defend the Gulf has been rejected by Trump, who said at the weekend: We dont need their help on drone defence. We know more about drones than anybody. We have the best drones in the world, actually.

The oil bonus for Russia, allowed by Trump, has been condemned by European leaders and Ukrainian politicians. Oleksandr Morezkho, chair of the Ukrainian parliaments foreign affairs committee, said: Its like giving a murderer more bullets. For Russia, oil and gas are weapons. If we see, as a result of lifting oil sanctions, more intensive Russian attacks and more casualties, it might be perceived as if Trump is aligning himself with Putin.

open image in gallery Ukrainian soldiers fire at Russian positions on the front line in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine ( AP )

Ukraine continues to push Russian forces back in small territorial shifts in its favour along a front line that is 1,200km (745 miles) long.

Soldiers serving there have repeatedly said that the quality and motivation of Russian soldiers appear to have improved. Its because theyre motivated by lots of money, one commander on the Zaporizhzhia front line explained.

Putin wants to avoid general conscription, and has recruited between 400,000 and 430,000 contract soldiers on salaries of around $3,000 (2,260) a month, alongside their sign-up bonus and death compensation for their families.

Russian officers have routinely hidden casualty figures from their bosses. Mass graves of Russian dead have been found on sites liberated from Moscows forces, and the number of dead is suppressed in an effort to save the Kremlin money.

But still, the salary bill of $1.3bn (98m) a month for contract soldiers is a further strain on the Russian economy, which is growing at only 0.8 per cent, and which is 40 per cent focused on defence since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Before the oil-price surge, Western intelligence analysis calculated that in Russia, at current trajectory, regional budgets financing recruitment will face insolvency before manpower pools are exhausted.

Ukraine is now being forced to recalibrate these assumptions. Kyiv had estimated that killing Russians at a rate of 50,000 a month would have caused systemic collapse by the autumn. That date will now have been pushed back, following the Netanyahu-Trump war against Iran.
Zelensky warns of 'distracted' US as acting ambassador Davis prepares to exit

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Russia is once again scaling back its annual Victory Day parade in Red Square, saying no military equipment will be used amid its ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

The parade is a key event in Russia and is held in Moscow on 9 May every year, marking the surrender of Nazi Germany in 1945.

Prior to Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, the parade would traditionally involve a display of tanks and other military equipment, as Moscow flexed its muscles for the world to see.

It has been pared back dramatically due to the war, however, and in 2024 Russia was mocked by Ukraine for displaying just a solitary tank for the second year in a row.

Russia's defence ministry confirmed no military hardware would be involved in the parade at all this year, though it did not directly link this to shortages or frontline deployments.

Meanwhile, Ukraine announced that its air defences shot down more than 33,000 Russian drones of various types in March, a new monthly record in the four-year war.
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Deadly border clashes between Afghanistans Taliban forces and Pakistans military have escalated, resulting in the deaths of at least two children and injuries to 10 others in southeastern Afghanistan.

The violence marks the third consecutive week of fighting along their shared frontier, despite international pleas for a ceasefire.

Afghan officials reported on Monday that mortar shells fired from Pakistan overnight struck villages in Afghanistans Khost province, injuring 10 people and destroying several homes.

Mustaghfar Gurbaz, a spokesman for the provincial governor, confirmed the damage.

The latest exchange follows an incident on Sunday when Pakistan reported that a mortar from Afghanistan hit a house in its northwestern Bajaur district.

open image in gallery People attend the funeral prayers of police officers, killed in the roadside bomb explosion, outskirts of Lakki Marwat, a district in northwest Pakistan, Friday, March 13 ( Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. )

This attack killed four members of the same family and wounded two others, including a five-year-old child. In response, Pakistans military targeted Afghan positions along the border, where Sundays attack originated, with residents and officials claiming heavy losses were inflicted.

There was no immediate comment from Afghanistan.

The cross-border clashes, which have included multiple Pakistani airstrikes on Afghanistan's capital, Kabul, are among the deadliest between the two neighbors in recent years.

Islamabad has described the situation as an open war. Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari said Afghanistan's Taliban administration crossed a red line by deploying drones that injured several civilians in Pakistan last week.

Responding to those drone attacks, Pakistans air force on the weekend struck equipment storage sites and technical support infrastructure in Afghanistan's southern Kandahar province, saying it was being used for attacks inside Pakistan.

open image in gallery Residents and Taliban police gather the remains of a projectile at the site of a strike in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Friday 13 March ( Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. )

Kabul said Pakistan hit two locations, including an empty security site and a drug rehabilitation center that sustained minor damage.

In Kabul, Afghanistans administrative Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Salam Hanafi overnight said defending sovereignty is the duty of all citizens if it is violated.

Speaking during a meeting with political analysts and media figures, Hanafi expressed regret over civilian casualties in recent Pakistani attacks, saying the war was imposed on Afghanistan.

However, Pakistan accuses Kabul of harboring militant groups, particularly the Pakistani Taliban, which it says carry out attacks inside Pakistan. Kabul denies the allegation, saying it does not allow its territory to be used against other countries.

The ongoing fighting between the two sides began in late February after Afghanistan launched cross-border attacks in response to Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghanistan that Kabul said killed civilians. The clashes disrupted a ceasefire brokered by Qatar in October after earlier fighting killed dozens of soldiers, civilians and suspected militants.
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At least 12 Palestinians, including a pregnant woman, two boys, and eight police officers, were killed in Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip on Sunday, according to hospital authorities.

Among the casualties, a morning strike on a residential property in the Nuseirat urban refugee camp in central Gaza claimed the lives of four individuals. A couple in their thirties, their 10-year-old son, and a 15-year-old neighbour were killed, with the woman reportedly pregnant with twins, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital confirmed.

A neighbour, Mahmoud al-Muhtaseb, described the suddenness of the attack, stating: "We were sleeping and got up to the strike of a missile. The strike was strong," adding, "There was no prior warning."

Later on Sunday afternoon, a separate Israeli strike targeted a police vehicle on the Salah al-Din route at the entrance to the central town of Zawaida. This attack resulted in the deaths of eight police officers, including Colonel Iyad Ab Yousef, a senior police official in central Gaza, the Hamas-run Interior Ministry reported.

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which received the bodies, confirmed the toll. It said 14 others were wounded.

The Israeli military said it struck a Hamas militant Sunday in response to an earlier incident in which a militant opened fire at troops. It didn't provide further details.

open image in gallery Palestinians travel in a horse-drawn cart during a sandstorm in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Saturday, March 14, 2026 ( AP )

Hamas oversees a police force that maintained a high degree of public security after the militants seized power in Gaza in 2007, while also cracking down on dissent.

The police largely melted away during the war as Israeli forces seized large areas of Gaza and targeted Hamas security forces with airstrikes.

But following an October ceasefire, they have reappeared in Gaza streets and reasserted control in areas not controlled by the Israeli military.

Killings continue despite ceasefire

Sunday's deaths were the latest fatalities among Palestinians in the coastal enclave since the ceasefire deal attempted to halt a more than two-year war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

While the heaviest fighting has subsided, the ceasefire has still seen almost daily Israeli fire. Israeli forces have carried out repeated airstrikes and frequently fire on Palestinians near military-held zones, killing more than 650 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials.

Israel says it has responded to violations of the ceasefire or targeted wanted militants. But about half of those killed have been women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

They were among more than 72,200 Palestinians killed in the war, which was triggered when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. The militant attack killed over 1,200 people and took over 250 others hostage.

The health ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government, maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts. But it does not give a breakdown of civilians and militants.

Militants have carried out shooting attacks on troops, and Israel says its strikes are in response to that and other violations. Four Israeli soldiers have been killed since the ceasefire.

open image in gallery Members of the Al-Najar family break their fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan amid the rubble of destroyed buildings in Gaza City Friday, March 13, 2026. ( AP )

Separately, Israel announced it will allow the reopening of Gaza's Rafah crossing with Egypt starting Wednesday after more than two-week hiatus.

COGAT, the Israeli military body in charge of coordinating aid to Gaza, said in a statement that the crossing will resume operations with "limited" passenger traffic in both directions. No cargo will be allowed through the crossing, it said.

COGAT said procedures will be the same as before the crossing closed after Israel and the U.S. launched devastating strikes on Iran on Feb. 28, triggering an expanding war in the region.

Since its opening earlier this year, Israel allowed a limited evacuation of patients and wounded people for treatment outside Gaza - a fraction of more than 20,000 requiring medical evacuations, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Some Palestinian who were treated in Egypt during the war were also allowed to return to the strip. Some of the returnees reported abuses by Israeli troops once they crossed the Palestinian gate of the crossing.
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As the USIsraeli war with Iran enters its third week, reports are emerging that Israel is potentially running out of air defence interceptors due to Irans retaliatory attacks.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) and Israeli foreign minister have denied the reports. The government did reportedly approve around US$826 million (A$1.17 billion) for urgent and essential defence procurement over the weekend, however.

Its difficult to gauge just how many interceptors are remaining, as the IDF does not disclose this type of information. But the possibility of this occurring was not entirely unexpected before Israel and the US began bombing Iran more than two weeks ago.

What are these interceptors?

Israel has a sophisticated and layered air defence system, capable of repelling attacks from ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, aircraft, drones and artillery shells at multiple altitudes, both inside and outside the atmosphere.

The famous Iron Dome makes up just one of these layers  it intercepts short-range artillery shells and rockets.

While there are technological differences between all of these systems, they are comprised of three basic elements:

The IDF personnel to operate them

The radar systems to detect incoming attacks

The interceptors themselves.

Israel has a new Iron Beam laser system that can be used to destroy missiles and drones, but the most common interceptors are surface-to-air missiles.

Ballistic missile defence interceptors, in particular, are incredibly complex and expensive weapons. The more capable they are, the more expensive they are to build. They are also limited in number. A sustained attack can quickly deplete even Israels stockpile.

Why might Israel be running low?

The 12-day war that Israel fought with Iran last year significantly depleted both its stockpile of anti-ballistic missiles, as well as that of its ally, the United States.

One Washington-based research centre calculated that Israel and the US intercepted 273 of 322 Iranian missiles they attempted to stop in the war, an 85% success rate.

Given a large number of these interceptors were used so recently, Israel and the US are unlikely to have fully replenished their stockpiles before launching the current war.

The Israeli Iron Dome intercepts missiles during an Iranian attack on Tel Aviv ( AP )

Another sign this is the case: the US is reportedly moving parts of its THAAD missile defence system from South Korea to the Middle East. This means the US will need to carry more of the defensive burden in the region, which could quickly deplete its own assets.

Ballistic missiles are also very difficult to intercept due to the speed and altitude they attain. Several interceptors are usually required to ensure each incoming missile is stopped. Iran is also using cluster munitions on some of its ballistic missiles, which further compounds the problem.

Iran has cheap, easy-to-replace drones, which it is using to try to overwhelm Israeli and American air defence systems, as well. These can also be launched from dispersed locations that are difficult to detect, making them harder to destroy on the ground than ballistic missiles.

Iran has so far launched more than 500 missiles and 2,000 drones since the war began.

Jet fighters can help defend against these drone attacks and have done so with great success, but the missiles they fire are also more expensive than the drones themselves. And other weapons platforms (such as the Iron Beam) are currently in limited supply.

The US and Israel are not the only ones reportedly running low on interceptors. The Persian Gulf states have also come under Iranian attack, and are burning through what defensive assets they have.

About the author James Dwyer is a Lecturer in the School of Social Sciences at the University of Tasmania. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence. Read the original article.

The Iranians have specifically targeted missile defence radars across the region, with reports they have successfully destroyed or damaged several systems.

All of this, of course, raises the question of why Israel and the US would start another conflict in the first place if their stockpiles were not fully replenished. There could be several potential reasons:

they had managed to rebuild their stockpiles faster than anyone anticipated, though this is unlikely

they were confident they could destroy a sufficient amount of Irans offensive weapons before they ran out of defensive munitions

they believed Iran would want to end the war sooner than it has.

How long can Iran keep this up?

Theres no way of knowing what Irans strategy is, besides extending the war as long as possible and creating chaos in the region and with global energy markets.

Some have speculated Iran may be deliberately holding back its more advanced missile technologies to use after the US and Israeli interceptors are depleted. But other analysts say there is no evidence this is the case. This would also be a risky strategy on Irans part.

One thing is certain, though: the US and Israel do have finite numbers of interceptors at their disposal. Iran, too, will not be able to keep up the same level of attacks indefinitely.

While the economic impacts of the war are placing significant pressure on all parties  and the world more widely  Iran seems to be in a better position for a longer conflict, given the costs involved for the US and Israel and their reluctance to commit to a potentially even more disastrous ground invasion.
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Despite a fragile ceasefire agreed between the US and Iran earlier this week, passage through the Strait of Hormuz remains at a standstill.

A row has erupted after Iran and Pakistan said that a halt to Israeli strikes on Lebanon were included as part of a truce agreed earlier this week, but Israel and the White House insist that is not the case. Iran has said it will not abandon Hezbollah and will retaliate if the attacks continue.

US president Donald Trump demanded that Nato allies step up to secure the reopening of the waterway, according to the alliances secretary general Mark Rutte.

Sir Keir Starmer and the US leader are to discuss a practical plan to restore shipping through the route after a call on Thursday in which both leaders agreed that toll-free navigation was essential after Iran threatened to charge for passage.

On Thursday, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned ships passing through the strait that lanes could contain mines due to the state of war and advised vessels to stay in touch with security forces. Thousands of ship workers remain stranded.

open image in gallery The Strait of Hormuz is one of the worlds major shipping routes ( AP )

Meanwhile, the world is facing the worst oil crisis in history, according to the International Energy Agency, as the Islamic Republic continues to retain a firm grip over the waterway. The price of oil climbed up to just shy of $100 a barrel despite plunging after the initial announcement pf a ceasefire.

Experts told The Independent that the damage has already been done and that even if the waterway were to fully open tomorrow, it could take months for the global economy to recover.

Why is the Strait of Hormuz so important?

open image in gallery The Strait of Hormuz runs to the south of Iran and is just 24 miles across at its narrowest point ( Getty/iStock )

The Strait of Hormuz lies between the Persian Gulf to the north and the Gulf of Oman to the south, opening up to the Arabian Sea and beyond to the rest of the world.

It is roughly 100 miles long, but only 24 miles across at its narrowest point.

The land-flanked passage lies in Irans territorial waters, but is viewed as an international waterway and is normally open to all ships. It consists of two shipping lanes allowing traffic to pass in opposite directions, each two miles wide, with another two-mile lane separating them.

International law permits countries to exercise control up to 13.8 miles (12 nautical miles) from their coastline. At its narrowest point, the passage comes under both Iranian and Omani control.

Iran lies on one side of the strait, and some of the worlds biggest oil suppliers, including Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Oman lie across the water.

It is one of the worlds most important maritime chokepoints, with 20 million barrels of oil passing through it each day  one-fifth of global oil consumption  and a similar percentage of the worlds supply of liquefied natural gas.

This amounts to over 500 million barrels of oil and 6 million tonnes of gas every month, according to Lloyds List. Much of this is exported to Asian markets, including China, India and Japan. It is the route used by supertankers carrying oil and gas from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Qatar, Bahrain, the UAE and Iran.

Around 3,000 shipping vessels pass through the strait every month, including oil tankers, liquefied natural gas containers, and cargo vessels, according to Lloyds List.

On 18 February, Iran closed the Middle Eastern waterway for the first time since the 1980s as Iranian troops took part in live-fire military exercises.

Iran had not previously threatened to close the passage even during its 12-day war with Israel last June, when US-Israeli strikes took out some of the countrys key nuclear and military sites.

Are ships passing through the Strait now?

open image in gallery Data analysed by Kpler shows a dramatic drop in the passage of dry, liquids, LPG and LNG through the Strait of Hormuz since war broke out on 28 February ( Johannes Rauball/Kpler )

Before the outbreak of hostilities, around 138 ships were passing through the Strait of Hormuz every day, according to the Joint Maritime Information Center.

Data from several sources shows only a trickle of vessels passing through it since the truce between the US and Iran was agreed. Since the agreement took effect, only 14 vessels have passed through the Strait according to analysis by global trade intelligence specialist Kpler.

Despite the ceasefire agreement, shipments through the Strait of Hormuz remain constrained, senior crude analyst at Kpler, Johannes Rauball told The Independent on Friday.

There is still considerable uncertainty regarding a potential resumption of normal flows, as tensions between the US and Iran remain elevated. Both sides are reportedly still far from reaching a comprehensive agreement, and vessel owners are likely to remain hesitant to transit the strait as long as the risk of attacks persists. Many vessel owners will likely wait until a final agreement is reached before transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

open image in gallery Data analysed by the Institute for the Study of War shows barely any movement through the Strait of Hormuz ( Institute for the Study of War )

On 8 April, the day the ceasefire was announced, only five bulk carriers passed through the strait, followed by an additional nine vessels on 9 April. Of these, five were laden and only three carried liquids, according to Kpler. Two vessels were transporting DPP fuel, while one carried Iranian crude out of the route.

At last 17 vessels have been hit during hostilities, according to UK Maritime Trade Operations.

Will economic chaos continue despite a ceasefire?

The International Energy Agency has warned that the world is facing the worst energy crisis in history. Executive director Fatih Birol told Le Figaro on Tuesday that the oil and gas crisis triggered by the blockade is more serious than the ones in 1973, 1979 and 2022 together.

The world has never experienced a disruption to energy supply of such magnitude, he said.

He previously told the Wall Street Journal that the world lost 5 million barrels per day during the 1970s but is losing 11 million barrels per day this time, more than two major oil shocks put together.

Several nations including China, Malaysia and the Philippines in Asia  the continent worst affected by the crisis  have cut deals with Iran to allow vessels to pass through.

Fuel increases have cost Brits 300m, while in America prices have risen over a dollar to a peak of $6.21 per gallon in California.

Flows are expected to stay limited, keeping crude and refined product markets exceptionally tight  particularly for countries that are heavily dependent on supplies routed through Hormuz, said Mr Rauball. This includes nations such as Japan, Vietnam, and the Philippines, each of which relies on the strait for more than 80 per cent of its crude imports.

open image in gallery Millions of barrels of oil are being held up as prices of crude surge ( NASA Earth Observatory )

But even if the Strait of Hormuz was to open tomorrow, experts have warned that the world economy could take months to recover.

The impact will deepen and be long-lasting, warns Neil Quilliam, an energy policy, geopolitics and foreign affairs specialist at Chatham House.

The real shock has yet to be fully felt and will materialise when stocks run down. Even if the war were to end tomorrow and the Strait of Hormuz were reopened, world markets would still feel the shock in the months, as it will take at least six months before the Gulf states can begin to produce and export at capacity once again.

Dr Quilliam told The Independent: There is going to be a shortage of oil, natural gas and other critical fuels and commodities and there is no easy means to compensate for their loss  and the longer the Strait is Hormuz is effectively closed, the sharper and the longer the pain will be felt by the global economy  and that pain will be felt most acutely in poorer countries, though will be near universal.
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Leading members of Nato have dismissed Donald Trumps demands for assistance in the war against Iran, with Germany insisting that the conflict has nothing to do with the military bloc.

Mr Trump had called on allies to help the US police the Strait of Hormuz, which has been blockaded by Iranian forces in response to the intense US-Israeli bombardment that began on 28 February.

It is not Natos war, said a spokesperson for German chancellor Friedrich Merz. Nato is an alliance to defend the alliance area. The United States did not consult us before this war, and so we believe this is not a matter for Nato or the German government.

Sir Keir Starmer also went on the record to warn that Britain will not be drawn into the wider war.

open image in gallery Oil tankers and cargo ships lineup in the Strait of Hormuz as seen from Khor Fakkan in the United Arab Emirates ( AP )

He refused to commit to sending in warships to help allow oil tankers to pass through the strategic waterway, even after a former Downing street adviser warned that he may need to consider fuel rationing if supplies dry up.

Sir Keir said: Ultimately, we have to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to ensure stability on the market. That is not a simple task. There have been discussions going on in relation to a viable plan.

We want to make sure that that involves as many partners as possible, thats been our stated directive here, particularly talking to European partners, inevitably talking to Gulf partners and to the US, because we need a credible, viable plan, if we can.

Responding to Sir Keirs reluctance to get involved, President Trump said he was not happy and very surprised, adding: They should be involved enthusiastically.

The ongoing war of words came as a senior Labour source, who is a regular part of the security discussions in relation to Iran and Ukraine, told The Independent that the feedback coming to the government from Republican allies as well as Democrats is one of deep despair at the erratic behaviour of the president with a number of allies questioning his judgement.

Mr Trump has warned that Nato faced a very bad future if member states did not use their navies to support the US in the Strait of Hormuz, as Iranian forces use drones, missiles and mines to prevent fuel tankers from transporting a fifth of global oil supply.

Germanys defence minister Boris Pistorius dismissed the American request.

What does (...) Donald Trump expect a handful or two handfuls of European frigates to do in the Strait of Hormuz that the powerful US navy cannot do? he said, downplaying warnings by the president that failing to come to Washingtons aid could have consequences for the Nato alliance.

Meanwhile, Italian foreign minister Antonio Tajani said diplomacy was the right way to solve the crisis in the strait and that there were no naval missions Italy is involved in that could be extended to the area.

As far as Hormuz is concerned I believe diplomacy needs to prevail, he told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting in Brussels.

Italy is involved in defensive naval missions in the Red Sea, but I dont see any missions that can be extended to Hormuz, he added.

open image in gallery The Dubai skyline with the landmark Burj Khalifa skyscraper is pictured as a smoke plume rises from an ongoing fire near Dubai International Airport ( AFP/Getty )

Meanwhile, UK work and pensions minister Pat McFadden warned: It is not a Nato war, it is a US-Israeli action. The articles of association of Nato are that it is a defensive alliance.

Some allies, however, did signal a cautious willingness to assist the US.

Kaja Kallas, the EUs foreign policy chief, said the bloc is looking to unblock the passage by discussing with the United Nations a similar deal to the one which allows for grain to be exported from Ukraine despite the war with Russia.

Ms Kallas said the EU is also discussing whether it could change the mandate of its Middle East naval mission, Aspides, which currently protects ships in the Red Sea from attacks by Yemens Houthi rebel group, to include the Strait of Hormuz.

Denmark, a country which has clashed repeatedly with Mr Trump over his demands that it cede Greenland, said that even if the EU does not agree with the war, it should consider helping to reopen the strait.

open image in gallery Donald Trump warned it would be very bad for the future of Nato if allies to do not help secure the Strait of Hormuz ( PA )

Even if we dont like whats going on, I think its wise to keep an open mind on whether Europe... in some way can contribute, but with a view towards de-escalation, said Danish foreign minister Lars Lkke Rasmussen.

The war, which is now in its 17th day, has caused the price of oil to surge to one of the highest rates since July 2022, peaking at $104 (78) per barrel on Monday as fuel costs continue to soar.

The conflict shows no signs of abating. The Israeli military has claimed that it still has thousands of targets to hit across Iran, with new ones identified every day.

We have a precise plan. We still have thousands of targets in Iran, and we are identifying new targets every day, military spokesperson Brig Gen Effie Defrin said in a televised briefing.

It also expanded its operations in southern Lebanon against Hezbollah on Monday.
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China has unveiled a humanoid robot on wheels that it envisions as being key to building a research station on the Moon by 2035.

Since the Moons environment is dangerous for humans, initial missions to build a base will rely on autonomous machines to ferry equipment and construction robots that can use lunar materials to build structures.

One of the proposed machines is a multipurpose robot designed to perform tasks needed for building and maintaining a lunar base before astronauts arrive.

In a new study, Chinese scientists describe a wheeled robot with a humanoid upper body developed for manipulating tools, assembling structures, and carrying out scientific experiments.

They envision the robot will help assemble infrastructure, transport materials, collect samples, and maintain equipment.

The robots waist rotates 180 degrees in either direction and it can bend forward up to 90 degrees.

Its hand can rotate with four degrees of freedom, enabling it to perform precise manipulation, according to scientists from the Beijing Institute of Spacecraft System Engineering.

Compared with bipedal walking, a wheeled active suspension moves faster and is more stable, providing a steady platform for work by the upper body, they said in the study published in the Journal of Deep Space Exploration.

Humanoid robot built on a wheeled platform ( Journal of Deep Space Exploration/Beijing Institute of Spacecraft System Engineering )

Scientists said that they built a wheeled robot instead of a fully walking humanoid because walking robots were mechanically complex, came with the risk of falling over, and consumed a lot of energy.

On the contrary, wheeled rovers were widely used for space exploration. Chinas Yutu lunar rover and Zhurong Mars rover have both used wheeled locomotion, researchers wrote, adding that such wheeled robots were more practical for long-term lunar work.

The new robot comes with stereo cameras similar to human eyes that are capable of calculating depth, distance, and shape of objects by comparing images.

Its neck portion, capable of moving up and down as well as left and right, gives it a wide viewing angle.

The robots arms can each rotate in seven different ways, including at the shoulder, the elbow, and the wrist just like the human arm.

This level of movement will be essential for the many precise mechanical tasks required to build a lunar base, according to the study.

The robot also comes with an advanced suspension that allows it to maintain balance while driving over uneven terrain with craters and loose lunar soil.

Researchers hope the prototype can act as a reference for the research, development and application of related equipment needed for building lunar bases.
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Even among the Mediterranean's ravishing coastlines, Malta's is a standout.

The archipelago  comprising the islands of Malta, Gozo and Comino  has sensational shorelines that are peppered with beautiful beaches, otherworldly lagoons, tranquil inlets, striking rock formations, and waters teeming with marine life that hide diveable wrecks. The Maltese coast is also steeped in fascinating history.

Here, we guide you to the top spots and recommend great hotels nearby.

We pinpoint the bay that harbors a 200-foot-tall limestone monolith; the waters where you can scuba-dive to a scuttled oil tanker, a patrol boat and a World War II destroyer; and a lagoon so blue it feels unreal.

Our seaside tour also includes Malta's top-tier beaches, featuring a stretch of sand that's an unusual rust color, an inlet that looks like a miniature Norwegian fjord, and some of the best treks for epic coastal views.

We also highlight some of the coastline's incredible architecture  colossal forts that helped keep invaders out in bygone centuries.

Sculpted by the sea  dramatic rock formations

open image in gallery Dwejra Bay on Gozos photogenic west coast is guarded by 200-foot-tall Fungus Rock ( Getty Images/iStockphoto )

Maltas coastline is packed with geological theater  a fact thats underscored by its appearance in Game of Thrones.

The wedding scene of Daenerys Targaryen and Khal Drogo was filmed at Dwejra Bay on Gozos west coast, where the archipelagos most spectacular rock formations can be found.

The bay is guarded by the imperious, 200-foot-tall Fungus Rock, named for a rare plant that grows on it, thought by The Knights of St. John  who came from noble families around Europe and ruled Malta from 1530 to 1798  to be a cure for dysentery and ulcers.

A second photogenic limestone behemoth, Tilt Rock II, lies just to the north. And beyond that is Crocodile Rock, a low-lying reptilian-shaped formation whose snout points towards the nigh-legendary Blue Hole dive and snorkel site, and the Inland Sea, a seawater lagoon thats linked to the Mediterranean by a cave tunnel.

Great place to stay: Kempinski Hotel San Lawrenz (rooms from $250) is an excellent base for discovering Gozos hypnotically wild western coastline, with Dwejras caves and dive sites just 20 minutes away by foot.

Read more: Exploring Gozo, Maltas wilder, quieter island

A divers dream  from reefs to wrecks

open image in gallery The diveable P29 patrol boat wreck at Cirkewwa in northern Malta. The archipelago is a haven for diving and snorkeling ( Getty Images/iStockphoto )

Go beneath the surface of Maltas coastline and youll discover sights as jaw-dropping as those above, as the archipelago offers a world-class range of dive and snorkel sites.

The calm, non-tidal waters mean visibility often exceeds 100 feet. There are caves, tunnels, reefs and shipwrecks to explore, and many of the sites are accessible from the shore. Whats more, even in winter the water temperature rarely dips below 55F. Whatever your ability, youll find mesmerizing spots to enjoy and youll be surrounded by marine life, from octopuses to stingrays and from parrotfish to maned sea horses (if youre lucky).

One of the flagship sites is the surreally beautiful Blue Hole on Gozo, where divers can descend through a 50-foot-deep rock shaft then glide underneath a huge underwater arch into the open Mediterranean.

Similarly cinematic are the dozen or more wrecks you can investigate. Off the south coast of Malta is the oil tanker Um El Faround, deliberately scuttled to form an artificial reef, and in the north, near Cirkewwa, even inexperienced divers can explore the wreck of a P29 patrol boat. Beginners, too, can discover HMS Maori, a destroyer sunk by German aircraft in the Second World War that rests in the harbor of the capital city, Valletta.

Guiding and gear are available from more than 50 licensed dive schools.

Great place to stay: Db Seabank Resort + Spa (rooms from $200) is a short drive from the Cirkewwa dive area.

Read more: My friend is getting divorced  so I took her on a romantic getaway

The Blue Lagoon  impossibly turquoise

open image in gallery Impossibly azure waters await at the Blue Lagoon on Comino ( Getty Images )

Between the western end of tiny Comino island and the uninhabited islet of Cominotto lies the Blue Lagoon, where impossibly azure waters partner with a white-sand seabed to create a scene that feels almost unreal.

At this sea pool, its as if youve stepped into a brochure photograph with the colors turned up to maximum intensity.

In calm conditions, snorkelers enjoy extraordinary visibility and non-swimmers can wade far out from the shore.

Its one of the archipelagos most premium shoreline destinations and can get busy at the height of summer. However, go early, or linger late, and youll enjoy the water at its most glassily serene.

Great place to stay: Hotel Ta Cenc & Spa on Gozo (rooms from $230) is just a short boat ride from the Blue Lagoon and comes with sensational views from its clifftop plateau location.

Read more: The Xara Palace, Malta, hotel review

Beautiful beaches  gorgeous grains and glistening waters

open image in gallery Golden Bay is one of Maltas go-to classics for beach-goers ( Getty Images )

Mixed in among Maltas stunning limestone rock formations is a generous peppering of classy beaches  and, beguilingly, a range of colors to choose from.

One of the most popular is Golden Bay on Maltas northwest coast. Its a classic entry in the archipelagos beach inventory, a generous sweep of honey-hued sand that arcs around calm, crystal-clear water.

Just south of Golden Bay is the rugged and wilder Gajn Tuffiea Bay, accessed via a steep staircase that descends the cliffs to a truly scenic strand.

Elsewhere on the island lies Melliea Bay, Maltas largest sandy beach  a half-mile-long stretch designated as a Blue Flag beach, meaning it meets the highest standards of cleanliness and safety. The horseshoe-shaped bay is particularly popular with families and vacationers keen on watersports such as paddleboarding and windsurfing.

The standard-bearers on neighboring Gozo are San Blas Bay, where the grains are an alluring rust color, and Ramla Bay, where the sand is strikingly red-gold thanks to its high iron content. According to local legend, the cave overlooking the bay  Calypsos Cave  was where the nymph in Homers Odyssey held Odysseus captive.

Great place to stay: Radisson Blu Resort & Spa, Golden Sands (rooms from $260) sits on a cliff right above Golden Bay.

Read more: Seven European lakes you must visit at least once  from A-list favorites to under-the-radar gems

Secret coves  hidden pockets of paradise

open image in gallery The incredible fjord-like cove of Wied il-Gasri on Gozo island ( Getty Images )

The archipelagos coast is punctuated by beautiful natural inlets  magical spots where you can swim and snorkel in blissful seclusion.

On the main island, theres camera-roll-baiting St Peters Pool, near Marsaxlokk, a spectacular natural swimming basin carved into the limestone cliffs where exhilarating leaps into the sapphire water are a popular way to cool off.

Fomm ir-Ri (meaning "mouth of the wind"), on the west coast, has an altogether more otherworldly vibe  it's secluded and rugged, and characterized by white, curved boulders and towering vertical cliffs. The swimming here is excellent, but the cove is challenging to reach  while there is a steep hiking path descending from the clifftop, most visitors arrive by boat.

On Gozo, one of the most photogenic coves is Wied il-Gasri, an inlet so narrow and long that it takes on the appearance of a small fjord. Another gem on the island is Mgarr ix-Xini, which made an appearance in the movie By the Sea starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. Stop by to relax amid fishing boats bobbing in electric-blue water.

Great place to stay: Cugo Gran Macina Malta in Senglea (rooms from $240) has a striking harborfront setting, with Marsaxlokk and St Peters Pool within easy reach by car.

Read more: Ten awe-inspiring European road trips everyone should experience at least once

Epic clifftop views

open image in gallery The Dingli Cliffs are the highest point in the Maltese archipelago and make for a sensational trek ( Getty Images/iStockphoto )

Pack your hiking boots, because youll find trekking Maltas clifftops for the majestic views they offer irresistible.

On this front, the marquee attraction is the Dingli Cliffs on the main island, which, at 830 feet above sea level, form the highest point in the archipelago.

From the edge you can gaze towards Maltas most southerly land mass, the uninhabited islet of Filfla. For decades the islet was used for target practice by the RAF, but today it is a protected nature reserve.

Stirring vistas also await on Gozo, most enticingly along the southern coast near Sannat, where the Ta Cenc Cliffs rise from the Mediterranean to a height of nearly 500 feet and provide vital sanctuary for Corys and yelkouan shearwaters.

To experience the clifftops at their most enchanting, visit as the sun sets, when the limestone rock faces glow gold.

Great place to stay: The Xara Palace Relais & Chateaux in the medieval hilltop city of Mdina (rooms from $350) makes a luxurious headquarters from which to explore western Malta. From here, the Dingli Cliffs are just a short drive away.

Read more: Seven Unesco sites in Europe that are worth the hype

A coastline steeped in history

open image in gallery Malta's coastal fortifications are eye-catching. Pictured is Fort St. Angelo in Birgu, as seen from Fort St Elmo, opposite ( Getty Images )

There arent just natural wonders along Maltas coastline  youll find architectural magnificence, too, mighty fortifications built or strengthened by the wealthy Knights of St. John to defend the strategically prized island from would-be invaders.

One of the most spectacular examples is the star-shaped Fort St Elmo, built in 1552 at the tip of Valletta, the walled capital. It played a key role in the Great Siege of Malta in 1565, when the Knights of St. John repelled an Ottoman invasion.

Opposite, across the waters of the Grand Harbour, is the massive Fort Ricasoli, used as a filming location for movies including Gladiator (when it stood in for Rome) and Troy.

Fort St Angelo in Birgu, meanwhile, was used as a headquarters for the knights during the Great Siege, and Fort Tigne, at the entrance to Marsamxett Harbour, is notable for being one of the first polygonal forts in the world.

Great place to stay: The Phoenicia Malta in Valletta (rooms from $300), the countrys first five-star hotel, occupies a grand historic building just outside the city gates, offering elegant rooms and sweeping harbor views. Past guests include Brad Pitt and Antonio Banderas.

Read our full review of The Phoenicia Malta
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A Virgin Australia flight was met by an emergency crew at Melbourne airport after a vaping device ignited inside the aircraft cabin during descent.

The incident occurred on Sunday on flight VA328 travelling from Brisbane to Melbourne.

According to the airline, the device activated while the aircraft was preparing to land, causing a small fire onboard.

As a precaution and in accordance with standard procedures, emergency services were placed on standby, a spokesperson for the airport said.

The pilots issued a PAN alert, a signal used in aviation to indicate an urgent situation that may require assistance, the Melbourne airport spokesperson added.

The aircraft landed safely at Melbourne airport and was able to taxi to the terminal while aviation fire and rescue crews followed as a precaution.

All passengers and crew disembarked normally at the gate, and no injuries were reported.

A spokesperson for Virgin Australia said the crew acted quickly to contain the device, adding that the safety of their guests was the highest priority, and we thank our crew for their swift response in containing the device.

Fire crews later removed the device from the aircraft.

Virgin Australias guidelines state that vapes and e-cigarettes must be carried in hand luggage only.

All passengers and crew were able to disembark normally after the fire ( Getty/iStock )

When packed or carried on board, you need to prevent the item from being accidentally turned on, it said.

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority also requires spare batteries for e-cigarettes to be kept in their original packaging or stored separately in protective pouches or plastic bags, with terminals protected to prevent short-circuiting.

Vapes are powered by rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, which can overheat, catch fire or explode if they are damaged, overcharged or exposed to extreme temperatures.

The incident on Sunday comes as airlines and aviation authorities have tightened rules on carrying power banks onboard aircraft due to the fire risks associated with lithium-ion batteries.

Virgin Australia introduced restrictions on the use of power banks on flights in December. Qantas implemented a similar policy.

Virgin had begun reviewing its power bank policy in July after cabin crew were forced to extinguish a fire on a mid-air flight between Sydney and Hobart.
Chinese smart technologies shine at 2026 Mobile World Congress

10:05, March 16, 2026 By Yan Huan, Xu Hailin ( People's Daily

Smart toy Mashu is exhibited at the booth of ZTE during the 2026 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. (People's Daily/Yan Huan)

The 2026 Mobile World Congress (MWC) was recently held in Barcelona, Spain. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the world's premier mobile communications industry event being held in Barcelona.

Under the theme "The IQ Era," MWC focused on intelligent infrastructure, AI connectivity and integration, enterprise-level AI applications, AI ecosystem collaboration, inclusive technology, and innovation-driven transformation.

The event brought together around 2,900 exhibitors from more than 200 countries and regions and featured over 100 national, regional and thematic technology pavilions. A China Pavilion was established for the first time this year.

Leading Chinese technology firms including China Mobile, China Telecom, China Unicom, Huawei, ZTE, Honor, and Xiaomi participated prominently, showcasing their latest technological achievements in mobile communications and AI.

Chinese exhibitors presented a variety of innovative products. At the booth of ZTE, a plush toy named Mashu drew crowds of visitors. With its round, adorable shape and big blinking eyes, the toy has a friendly appeal. Powered by advanced AI technology, Mashu can not only understand human speech and recognize emotions, but also learn continuously through daily interaction, gradually gaining insight into users' needs and preferences while providing emotional companionship.

Honor unveiled a "robot phone" equipped with a flexible gimbal camera capable of auto-rotation and precise subject tracking. Lenovo's YOGA concept device demonstrated rapid conversion of 2D images into 3D models, viewable on a glasses-free 3D display, aiding creators in visualizing depth and spatial relationships.

Alibaba's Qwen smart glasses integrated real-time translation and bone-conduction audio, highlighting the potential of AI in lightweight wearables. Xiaomi showcased its comprehensive "human-car-home" ecosystem, including a concept supercar, flagship smartphones, and smart home products.

"AI is expanding the boundaries of its applications in everyday life. It is no longer confined to optimizing device functions but has evolved into a key tool for enhancing user experience and coordinating services ," said Wang Xiang, chief strategy officer of ZTE.

In the AI-native smartphones launched by the company last year, AI functions as an "intelligent agent," directly connecting different applications and enabling cross-platform service orchestration. Users simply need to express their intention to travel, and the system can automatically generate a complete itinerary covering transportation, accommodation and dining.

This year's MWC also highlighted the ongoing evolution towards 6G technologies. As of January 2026, 374 operators worldwide had deployed 5G networks. Supported by extensive network coverage, 5G-Advanced applications are accelerating, with a global user base reaching 70 million.

At the event, numerous companies showcased their visions for future networks from multiple perspectives. Huawei launched a full lineup of indoor and outdoor products for the U6GHz spectrum -- the upper segment of the 6-GHz band. Offering ultra-large bandwidth, U6GHz demonstrates high capacity, enhanced user experience and low latency, delivering stable and reliable connectivity for AI applications. Huawei's U6GHz solutions fully support the transition toward 6G, helping telecom operators prepare early for next-generation infrastructure.

Humanoid robots were increasingly visible across exhibition booths, making "embodied intelligence" another buzzword. An official from the Arab Information and Communication Technologies Organization remarked: "Many of the products displayed by Chinese companies are truly impressive. China prioritizes the development of innovative technologies such as AI, and its vast market and supportive policies keep fueling technological progress."

"Chinese companies have brought many innovative technologies and products," said Vivek Badrinath, director general of the GSMA, the event's organizer. "Driven by the Chinese market scale, as well as the speed and determination with which these technologies are deployed among consumers and enterprises, technological development in China is reshaping how we connect with the world."

Badrinath added that the first China Pavilion at the congress for the first time underscored the global recognition and focus on China's scientific and technological innovation, .

Chinese technology companies are continuously raising the profile and expanding the reach of "Made in China" on the global stage through a combination of hardware innovation, AI empowerment and ecosystem integration.

Lara Dewar, chief marketing officer of the GSMA, noted that the communications industry has never stood still, and no company or country can progress in isolation. Only international cooperation can truly unlock its potential.

"China has already made important contributions in this regard," Dewar said. "At the MWC, we often discuss the possibilities of the future. In China, I see the future already taking shape."

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
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A German tourist who sued a New York City taqueria for damages, claiming its salsa was too spicy, has lost his bizarre case.

Faycal Manz, an engineer and part-time law student from Schemmerhofen, alleged in court filings that he suffered physical distress after a single bite of self-serve green salsa at Los Tacos No.1 in Times Square in August 2024.

According to court documents filed in federal court in the Southern District of New York, Manz "immediately began suffering severe physical symptoms, including a burning tongue and soaring heart rate.

Manz alleged that the salsa also gave him mouth sores and gastrointestinal and emotional distress, and that the restaurant, in not labeling the salsa, had failed to warn him of how hot it would be.

For someone like me, living in Germany and eating nothing spicy, it was a very big shock physically and mentally, he said in the lawsuit.

open image in gallery Faycal Manz said he suffered gastrointestinal and emotional distress after eating the green salsa at Los Tacos No.1 (pictured) ( Facebook )

By way of compensation, he sought $100,000.

However, Judge Dale E. Ho ruled against Manz, writing: When it comes to salsa, the spice is often the point.

He added: A quick Google search for Mexican food, salsa or even Los Tacos reviews likely would have revealed that salsa can be quite spicy.

Los Tacos No.1, which operates 10 Manhattan outlets, did not respond to a request for comment. The companys legal team successfully argued in court that [Mr Manzs discomfort was caused by his] own culpable conduct, carelessness, recklessness and negligence.

open image in gallery The judge in Manz's case noted that 'when it comes to salsa, the spice is often the point' ( Getty Images/iStockphoto )

Court documents also revealed that Los Tacos No.1 labels its green salsa in its signage as medium.

Hot food wasnt the only distress Manz suffered during his trip.

He also unsuccessfully sued Walmart because his German phone number couldnt get him access to the Wi-Fi in its Secaucus, New Jersey, store.

Manz also sued the NYPD because of its response to an assault that he reported.

He claimed that after calling 911 after witnessing an attack on a homeless person near Times Square, NYPD officers refused to take his statement or investigate, the perpetrators having fled the scene.

Manz sought $10 million in damages, claiming that hed since suffered post-traumatic symptoms, but this case has been dismissed.
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Diesel prices across the UK have surged by an average of 18p per litre since the Middle East conflict began, new figures reveal. The RAC reported the average price at British forecourts reached 160.3p per litre on Sunday, a significant jump from 142.4p recorded on 28 February, coinciding with the start of the US-Israeli campaign against Iran. This 13% increase means diesel is now at its most expensive level since November 2023.

Petrol prices have also climbed 7% over the same period, from 132.8p to 141.5p per litre, a level not witnessed since August 2024.

The escalating conflict has driven global oil prices  a key factor in wholesale fuel costs  above 100 dollars a barrel for the first time since 2022. This surge is attributed to Iran's perceived control over oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.

RAC head of policy Simon Williams said: Drivers with diesel cars are really feeling the heat.

Prices have shot up 18p a litre in just two weeks, adding 10 to the cost of a full tank.

The average cost of filling up a 55-litre family car with diesel is now 88, whereas for petrol its 78.

The UK has fewer refineries than ever and those we do have are more geared towards petrol production than diesel, so were reliant on imports which has contributed to diesel prices rising faster.

open image in gallery Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves during a roundtable with petrol retailers and energy suppliers at 11 Downing Street (Dan Kitwood/PA) ( PA Wire )

Chancellor Rachel Reeves told petrol retailers last week they had a shared obligation to keep prices down for motorists.

The Petrol Retailers Association (PRA) had threatened to pull out of the Downing Street meeting with Ms Reeves and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband after claiming the Governments inflammatory language over rising fuel prices had led to abuse against forecourt workers.

At the Downing Street meeting, Mr Miliband warned executives from the forecourt operators and firms including Asda, BP, ExxonMobil and Shell that the Government would not tolerate unfair practices in the industry.

The Chancellor hosted industry chiefs in 11 Downing Street on March 13 in response to rising concern about the impact of the Middle East crisis on household finances.
Donald Trump snapped at a news reporter who questioned him on the potential deployment of US troops to Iran.

More than 2,000 marines are being sent to the Middle East aboard three warships, according to various outlets including ABC and the Wall Street Journal, which cited several US officials.

Speaking to the press on Air Force One on Sunday (15 March), the US president lashed out at a reporter who challenged him on the deployment. On 6 March, Mr Trump said that launching a ground invasion of Tehran would be a waste of time.

I don't talk to people like you about that, Mr Trump snapped on Sunday. Why would I tell you I'm sending or not sending? Who would answer a question like that?
Giggling, crying, shaking, smiling: thats how Jessie Buckleys emotional acceptance speech at the Oscars left her  and me  last night. I felt every inch of her shock, awe, nervousness and joy; because, quite simply, thats what motherhood does to you, doesnt it?

And motherhood was key to the Oscars last night  in Buckleys case, anyway. Visibly overcome after being crowned Best Actress at the Academy Awards ceremony for her role in Hamnet, she made becoming a parent to baby Isla with her husband Freddie Sorensen the cornerstone of a speech that gave me shivers: "You, Fred, I love you man. I love you; youre the most incredible dad. Youre my best friend, and I want to have 20,000 more babies with you, I do. I do! And Isla, my little girl who is eight months, who has absolutely no idea whats going on and is probably dreaming of milk, but this is kind of a big deal, and I love you and I love being your mum, and I cant wait to discover life beside you.

Hamnet, of course, was based on Maggie O'Farrell's 2020 novel, which reimagines the life of William Shakespeares wife, Agnes, following the death of their 11-year-old son, Hamnet, from the plague in 1596. And Buckley paid full homage to the intense and bewildering grief understood by anyone whos lost a child: Chloe [Zhao] and Maggie [OFarrell, the films screenwriters], to get to know this incandescent woman and journey to understand the capacity of a mothers love is the greatest collision of my life."

Whats more, Buckley, who was not only making history as the first Irish star to receive the gong, but speaking after becoming a mother for the first time, shortly after production concluded on Hamnet, added: "Its Mothers Day in the UK today, so I would like to dedicate this to the beautiful chaos of a mothers heart.

Its that line that really struck me. In fact, I found myself clutching my chest, tearful the very instant I heard it. Because Buckley has nailed it: the beautiful chaos of a mothers heart is the perfect way to describe the life-altering tornado of motherhood; the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy-esque confusion of being swept up with both feet wrenched from the ground, spun around until you cant see, think or walk straight, only to be tossed out into a world that is changed in myriad different ways. It is a world forever altered by having a baby; a world in which you are forever altered, a world turned technicolour  bright, vivid, joyful  but also marked by shadow, a world which is beautiful and frightening and painful and exquisite, all at once. It is a world in which someone now calls you mummy and you find yourself looking over your shoulder, barely able to believe that it is you.

Motherhood often gets a bad rap  and its not very hard to see why. You lose your name, for one thing; youre referred to only as mum at midwife health checks and follow-up appointments, youre mum at the school gates and in calls from the nurse or teacher, youre mum at childcare clinics and in GP surgeries. But just as motherhood can be hard (and we are well used to hearing of the challenges, for good reason  not least through damning examples such as the failings highlighted in Valerie Amoss review of maternity and neonatal care in NHS trusts), it can also be a thing of preciousness and rarity and beauty and love.

And thats what I loved so much about Buckleys speech  chaos brings to mind the maelstrom of motherhood (or almost-motherhood), and the fact that it is all these things. It contains multitudes. Chaos perfectly describes the shattering experiences so many women have of infertility and IVF and miscarriage and bereavement and post-natal depression and of losing themselves or becoming fractured; it hits the nail on the head when it comes to the pain and awkwardness of breastfeeding and poor latch and tongue tie and sleep deprivation. It is, truly, chaos when it comes to the wrench of going back to work  if you are able, for pregnancy and maternity discrimination is still all too real and pervasive  and it is a distinctly chaotic panic when youre left facing soaring childcare costs and the cost of living crisis.

Chaos, for me, was found in the hysteria of hospital visits  I was never the same after having a chronically sick child and spending long, lonely nights on the childrens ward  but it was also other things, too: such as excitement and discovery and (though Im not religious) reverence. For me, the purest joy of being mother is in the everyday: the hilarious, awful mundanity of arguing with my teenager who couldnt find her school shoes this morning (she slammed the door after I made her traipse to the bus stop wearing a pair of my shoes, which she found horrifying) and then laughing about it together afterwards.

It is feeling tired and frazzled and completely done in, only to hear my son asking for a mama hug and feeling those stresses melt away in his arms. It is him shouting, dont come in! and then calling out for me to choose a colour, only to be presented with a poster decorated with migraine-inducing rainbow highlights that reads: I love you mummy!!! for Mothers Day.

It is clashing with my daughter because she wants to go to a house party at 14 without any parents present (no chance) and then immediately making up, ordering a pizza and eating it in bed together while watching a movie. It is having to wake up at 4.15am to take her and her best friend to school for a day trip to France  and not even minding the early start, because you just do, because you love.

I sometimes wish we heard more about the good times. Ive had friends who, while pregnant, became utterly fearful because their first warnings from other parents were idioms like, dont worry  it gets better after the first 18 years, or, youll never sleep again! They learnt to dread motherhood, because they were told to.

But I now know, first-hand, just like Jessie Buckley, that the dread (while there) doesnt even come close to the rapture of it. That nothing can compare to the wonder and awe you feel when you watch your child sleeping. That one day, your dream day with your children might be, quite simply, eating popcorn on the sofa and watching KPop Demon Hunters on Netflix  with the chaos of everyone screeching to reach the high notes of Golden  and that it might just go down as the best Mothers Day youve ever had.
For a man pushing 80 years of age, Donald Trump remains remarkably immature. Heaven knows what hell be like when he grows up.

At the moment, he seems to have passed through his cry-baby stage, when he would merely bawl and scream into cyberspace when he didnt get his way. Now he is entering the petulant teenager phase.

Rather than just throwing his toys out of the pram, he now makes supposedly intimidating dark threats. So it is with his foolish, unplanned, reckless war on Iran. Other members of his administration, the chiefs of staff, and world leaders have to manage him, what with Donald being in charge of a superpower  and nowhere is that task of childminding more crucial than in the present conflict in the Persian Gulf. It is a cataclysm in the making.

Not so long ago, he was sneeringly dismissive of, for example, the British. Resorting to the personal, he said of Keir Starmer that were not dealing with Winston Churchill when the PM declined to be complicit in an illegal and badly staged war. Yet when Starmer offered help, in a defensive way, as the conflict ignited the regions oil depots, he was spurned again: The United Kingdom, our once Great Ally, maybe the Greatest of them all, is finally giving serious thought to sending two aircraft carriers to the Middle East. Thats OK, Prime Minister Starmer, we dont need them any longer  But we will remember. We dont need people that join Wars after weve already won!

But now, having ignored and insulted his supposed allies, it turns out that Trump hasnt won his war of choice, and he needs their help after all. Hence his hopeful call to the UK, France, Japan, South Korea and China (of all nations), and others, to send ships and break the Iranian oil and gas blockade in the Strait of Hormuz. That wouldnt be so unreasonable if the Iranians had started attacking merchant ships out of the blue, but its a direct result of Trumps foolishness.

This war has not been properly thought through by the US commander-in-chief. If hed listened to his admirals and generals, hed have known that there was always a risk that the Iranians would do such a thing, with such grave economic consequences, and that it would be especially hazardous to attempt to free this waterway.

None of the nations Trump is now appealing to were consulted about his attack  Israel is the sole ally and principal protagonist in the whole disaster. Nor were they invited to take part in advance. Its like 1917 or 1941 in reverse, the Old World this time being asked to come to the rescue of the New. Its a funny old world.

Things must be really bad out there for someone as vain as Trump to make such a public appeal, and hes done it with his usual bad grace, snarling like a spoilt, surly adolescent that we will remember, as though he didnt get the birthday present he wanted.

The implication is that when Europe needs help in future, America wont honour its Nato treaty obligations. Well, Macron, Merz, Starmer and Von der Leyen can reply, in language he might understand, weve got news for you, Donald. Youve already downgraded your commitment to Nato, because you said we werent worth defending because we are hurtling into civilisational erasure, and youve betrayed Ukraine. You are a puppet of Putin. We dont trust you, Donald.

The big sulk: Donald Trump said Nato faces a very bad future if member states do not send their navies to support him in unblocking the Strait of Hormuz ( AFP/Getty )

Americas allies also have memories of recent events: the threats to invade Greenland, and to annex Canada; the reality of punitive tariffs; and, above all, acquiescence in Russias neo-imperialist ambitions. America is pretty much an AINO nowadays  an ally in name only.

Politics being politics, war being war, and defeat always being an orphan, responsibility for this emerging US military disaster is already being offloaded. Despite his adolescent tendency to blame others, Trump knows that, in Harry Trumans famous motto, the buck stops with the man behind the Resolute desk.

The president must have been warned that Israel was cynically using the US for the purposes of knocking out its mortal enemy  understandable, but not necessarily in everyone elses interests to do it this way. His chiefs, the secretary of state and intelligence agencies will have counselled how the conflict would escalate and spread, and how risky it was to assume that regime change would come from the skies.

The mighty American military, defeated by the Viet Cong and the Taliban, knows only too well the challenges of asymmetrical warfare, as pioneered and symbolised by the Iranian Shahed drone and its naval equivalents. Someone might even have mentioned it was unlawful, there being no imminent threat to the US, and, according to Trumps own statements, Irans nuclear programme had already been obliterated. The Iranians, in their indirect talks with the Americans, had already agreed to renounce holding any enriched uranium, without which no nuclear bomb can be made.

Even if the worlds navies all turn up to protect the oil and LNG tankers in the Persian Gulf, they cannot do so indefinitely. It will be even harder if the Houthi rebels kick off on the other side of the Arabian peninsula, disrupting the Red Sea and the passage to the Suez Canal. Meanwhile, there may still be some stocks of nuclear material buried somewhere in Iran, and still at the disposal of the ayatollahs. We can only pray that Trump, in a personal epic fury, doesnt turn to the only weapon he has left to subjugate the Iranians  a nuclear strike.

It worked for President Truman in ending the war with Japan in 1945, and is the sole example of regime change happening from the air. Would Trump be mad enough? Probably not, I hasten to add, because of the unimaginable effects on human life in Irans Gulf neighbours, and indeed the whole world. In which case, Trump has no option other than to declare victory and get the hell out. Loser.
The presence of a drone used to be an irritant, just like an insects buzzing was an irritant. Even the stinging types were not a matter of life and death.

Nowadays, around the world, people find themselves living beneath the whine of these unmanned aerial vehicles, which have rapidly transformed warfare, especially since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Whether state-of-the-art or assembled from bootleg kits, they can be piloted from hundreds of miles away. In this new arena of remote-control conflict, far-flung front lines have begun to knit together ominously.

Volodymyr Zelensky has sent teams of his experts to share Ukraines cutting-edge drone technology with Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, even as drone strikes shut Dubais airport this morning. The UK may be considering sending minehunting drones to help open the Strait of Hormuz.

A key component in Ukraines successful resistance has been its developments in drone manufacturing. These have frustrated Russian advances on the ground by subjecting the Kremlins troops to relentless attack by drones that can pinpoint a tank, even an individual soldier.

Now Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu face the same reality. Even more than Russia, the US and Israel have unleashed ballistic and cruise missiles to hit and decapitate key Iranian targets with remarkable accuracy.

But Irans Revolutionary Guards have struck back, especially using swarms of drones that overwhelm their enemies expensive anti-missile domes by knocking out the billion-dollar radar systems needed to guide countermeasures. The kamikaze drone has become the poor mans ballistic missile.

open image in gallery A smoke plume rises from a fire at Dubai International airport, the worlds busiest for global flights, following a drone-related incident ( AFP/Getty )

Drones are democratising warfare. Smaller, weaker states, but also non-state actors, from insurgents to criminal groups, can easily acquire drone technology and assemble drones from universally available raw materials and components. Todays big wars elevate cheap drone technology over the expensive boys toys such as aircraft carriers. But by equalising access to air power, drones are making the power to kill from the sky available around the world.

A century ago, an imperial power such as Italy possessed planes, and its subjects in the colonies did not. Mussolini was a pilot who saw the plane as an invulnerable instrument of imperial coercion. His pilot son, Bruno, described the fun of watching the puny humans bursting like petals as he bombed their huts in Ethiopia from the sky in 1936.

Philosopher Bertrand Russell warned that air power fostered the dehumanisation of civilians because they became dots. Air warfare, in Russells view, was inherently antidemocratic. Yet the new technology is democratising the great powers prerogative in a perverse way. Ballistic missiles target static infrastructure, from bridges to bunkers. But they cant react to a moving target.

Drones offer a cheap way for the poor to strike back at their rich, hi-tech enemies. They are not just cheap; they offer capacities that far more costly weapons dont. Vast areas can be at risk of strikes coordinated by the murderous equivalent of a teenager playing a computer game.

open image in gallery An instructor from the Ukrainian company General Cherry demonstrates the operation of an anti-air interceptor drone designed to destroy Russian attack drones ( AP )

Living under the flight path serving the RAFs transport hub at Brize Norton  and, these days, of the US Air Force strategic bombers and huge C5 transport planes at Fairford  its striking to see how few local residents notice them despite the roar of their enormous engines, especially as they leave or return after dark. I suspect that everyones sleep will be much more restless if the whirr of drones never stops  as people in locations from Gaza to Iran have experienced.

Make no mistake, a world of drone warfare is more dangerous than what has come before it. It was striking how quickly those on the ground in Belgrade in 1999 adapted to aerial bombardment by Natos smart bombs as the alliance sought to force Slobodan Milosevic to withdraw forces from Kosovo: instinctively, civilians knew they were not the target of Second World War-style carpet bombing.

Life could go on even under bombardment, because much of their ordinary activity was not being attacked. Nato strategists shifted to energy infrastructure to pressure Serb civilians to turn against Milosevic. But for those living far from power stations, the danger on the ground was still limited.

Drones dont grant that security.

Ironically, so much of the emerging dystopia of drone warfare is a perverse tribute to English literatures greatest technophobe, JRR Tolkien, who abominated the subordination of man to machine. But his contemporary fans in the militarised artificial intelligentsia mask their agenda under names adopted from his books. Palantir turns Tolkiens all-seeing crystals into a global surveillance technology owned by Peter Thiel. Tolkiens classic mythical sword, Anduril, becomes an artificially intelligent weapon for the state. Ukrainians, notably, see Russians as Orcs.

This inversion of Tolkiens values is typical of the new neo-Nietzschean tech-elites in the West, especially on the west coast of the USA. But their glee at what AI can do for their aspirations for US power should not blind us to this. Around the world, people who have never heard of Tolkien have understood that cheap drone technology is in the ascendant. Its not just the low cost of manufacturing them: equally, its the inexpensive access to artificial intelligence, both to choose targets and to guide the whining kamikaze to its destination.

World War Drone is dawning darkly upon us.
China Eastern, one of the countrys Big Three airlines has said that it is to begin a new route connecting Shanghai, Chinas most populous city, with Dublin.
John Kerry Keane, the businessman whose sale of the Kilkenny People for over 35m in 2000 set off a flurry of sales across the provincial newspaper sector, has died.

He took over the People at just 22 following his fathers death in 1960. Over the next four decades, Kerry Keane developed it into a major printing and publishing group, acquiring the Clonmel Nationalist, the Tipperary Star, and Wellbrook Press, a specialist colour-magazine printer.
Oil rallied as supply risks in the Middle East escalated following a second attack in three days on Fujairah, a vital port in the United Arab Emirates that's just outside the Strait of Hormuz.

Brent rose above $106 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate was near $101. Futures had risen more than 40% in the past two weeks. The US said late on Friday that it had struck military sites on Kharg Island, which handles the bulk of Iran's oil shipments, although the Fars News Agency reported that exports from the island were continuing.
The first three guests of the SNL UK have been announced. Photo: Sky

Jamie Dornan will host the second episode of SNL UK with musical guest Wolf Alice (Matt Crossick/PA)

Northern Irish actor Jamie Dornan has been announced as one of the first celebrity hosts for the UKs Saturday Night Live (SNL).

The star from Holywood will host the second episode of the new show, which is a version of the popular NBCs SNL in the US.

He will appear on March 28, alongside musical guest Wolf Alice.

It will be the first time for Dornan to host SNL, as he never appeared on the US version.

American actress and comedian Tina Fey, who was a head writer and a cast member on the US version of the show, will host the launch episode on March 21, alongside Wet Leg as musical guests.

Academy award-winning British actor Riz Ahmed will host the third episode on April 4 with a musical guest Kasabian.

The first three guests of the SNL UK have been announced. Photo: Sky

The UK version will be broadcast on Sky, live from London at 10pm every Saturday night, with each episode lasting for 75 minutes.

It will see a different hosts take to the stage alongside SNL UKs inaugural cast  Hammed Animashaun, Ayoade Bamgboye, Larry Dean, Celeste Dring, George Fouracres, Ania Magliano, Annabel Marlow, Al Nash, Jack Shep, Emma Sidi and Paddy Young.

SNL UK is written, rehearsed and performed during the week of broadcast, preserving SNLs fast turn-around creative process.

Each show is staged in front of a live studio audience, features an opening monologue from a host, topical sketches, live music, and a UK adaptation of SNLs iconic satirical news segment, Weekend Update.

The show, which is executive produced by Lorne Micheals, creator of the SNL US, can be watched on Sky and NOW TV every Saturday from March 21.

Jamie Dornan will host the second episode of SNL UK with musical guest Wolf Alice (Matt Crossick/PA)

News in 90 seconds - March 18
The 25 acres holding was offered in three lots and sold

A 25 acre holding in Wexford recently sold privately for more than 500,000 after being withdrawn from auction.

A farmland which recently hit the market in Wexford has officially been sold for more than 500,000 at a recent online auction.

The farmland located at Craanhill, Gorey extends across 25 acres and offered a valuable opportunity for farmers to acquire land. The land is currently leased until the end of 2027.

Auctioneer David Quinn of Quinn Property had guided the property in the region of 15,000 per acre and said nine registered bidders across the various Lots. He added that the bulk of interest came from local farmers and businesspeople.

While the farmland did not reach a desired reserve during the public auction, a spokesperson for Quinn Property confirmed the property had been sold privately for a price which was higher than 500,000, the price before it was withdrawn from the auction.

The lands were offered in three lots, splitting the land into two Lots, 16 acres and nine acres and offering the entire 25 acres lands as a final Lot.

The 25 acres holding will be sold in seperate lots and a combined lot.

During the auction, which took place on Tuesday March 10, Lot 1 opened at 200,000 and quickly climbed to 300,000 with five further bids. Lot 2 commenced at 120,000 and reached 180,000 after opening bidding.

Lot 3, the entire lands received a bid of 500,000  enough to surpass the combined bids of Lot 1 and 2 and a break was called to take client instructions. Upon his return to the auction room, David said he was instructed to withdraw the individual lots and focus on Lot 3.

With bidding stuck at 500,000 (20,000 per acre) and the property still short of its reserve, the property was withdrawn from the market, leading to negotiations with the highest bidder.

Following this, the lands were sold for a higher figure than the 500,000 to a local farmer. Speaking immediately after finalising the deal, David said that his client was extremely pleased with the outcome and said there continues to be a strong demand for agricultural land and property in the Wexford region.

The lands are all in grass and have good frontage onto a local road. They also provide free draining soil and are suitable for most agricultural enterprises. The land also benefits from a natural water supply.

Situated at Craanhill in Gorey, the holding is ideally located just three kilometres from Craanford, five kilometres from Carne and 10km from the bustling town of Gorey.
An airline worker accused of biting his wife "like a dog" in an alleged barbaric attack at their Dublin home has been granted bail with strict conditions.
Crack cocaine is like Russian roulette for users, a judge has warned a drugs accused.

Declan Walsh (45), who was found with two deals of crack in a search, was told by Judge John Hughes there was a high probability gardai had saved his life.
BREAKING | Senior Kinahan gang member Sean McGovern pleads guilty to directing criminal organisation

McGovern pleaded guilty at the Special Criminal Court to directing the activities of a crime gang to carry out the murder of an innocent grandfather as well as a hit on rival Hutch gangster

Sean McGovern

Robin Schiller Mon 16 Mar 2026 at 12:59

Senior Kinahan gang figure Sean McGovern has pleaded guilty at the Special Criminal Court to directing the activities of a crime gang to carry out the murder of an innocent grandfather as well as a hit on rival Hutch gangster.
Ten years, what justice is that?  homeowner jailed for killing Jordan Ronan (20) after he stole from van

The incident occurred in Tallaght in July 2024

Jordan Ronan, who was stabbed by Patrick Murphy

Alison ORiordan Mon 16 Mar 2026 at 15:43

A man with previous convictions for knife crime has been jailed for nine years after he killed a 20-year-old who stole from the defendants unlocked van in the early hours of the morning,
I didnt really want to be a sister, but felt it was something I should try out  Irish nun who helped impoverished Kenyans

Sr Mary Killeen speaks about faith, poverty and a life of religious service with the Sisters of Mercy in Kenya

Sister Mary Killeen receiving her Presidential Distinguished Service Award from President Higgins.

John Scally Mon 16 Mar 2026 at 06:30

She has been described as Irelands answer to Mother Teresa, but the comparison is not one that sits comfortably with Sr Mary Killeen.
RTB carried out investigation into city-centre Heyday apartment fees

A company has been fined 11,000 by the rental watchdog after overcharging students who were seeking to secure rental accommodation in Dublin city centre.

The Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) carried out an investigation into a business that was previously managing dozens of properties in the Heyday apartment complex at Carmans Hall in The Liberties.
Man (30s) rushed to hospital with serious injuries after assault in Kildare

A man in his 20s was arrested for public order offences and has since been released

Stock image

Sarah O'Mahony Sun 15 Mar 2026 at 16:08

A man in his 30s was rushed to hospital with serious injuries after an assault in Kildare in the early hours of this morning.
President Catherine Connolly speaks out against war on eve of Taoiseachs St Patricks Day White House visit

The President released a statement last week that has been tied to US-Israeli attacks in the Middle East

President Catherine Connolly. Photo: Sportsfile

Tabitha Monahan Mon 16 Mar 2026 at 01:01

The normalisation of war can never be accepted, President Catherine Connolly has said in her first St Patricks Day address to the nation, as Taoiseach Micheal Martin prepares to meet US president Donald Trump in Washington.
A range of approaches are being looked at to deal with the potential economic impact of the war in the Middle East, the Tanaiste and Finance Minister has said.

Simon Harris, who attended St Patricks Day celebrations in London yesterday, said the tensions in that region mean now is the time to literally put our money where our mouth is, in terms of backing Irish businesses in towns and villages.
Michael Birnbaum: Nuclear threat poses challenge to Trumps ability to end war in Iran

Following a fortnight of attacks, the situation on the ground in the Middle East is far from clear

US president Donald Trump monitors military operations against Iran. Photo: The White Houses X account/Getty

Michael Birnbaum Washington Post Mon 16 Mar 2026 at 06:30

After two weeks of war against Iran, US president Donald Trump may soon be ready to declare victory. But he confronts a challenge: Tehran also gets a vote.
A member of the ground crew works with munitions from a USAF B1 B bomber at RAF Fairford airbase, used by USAF personnel, amid the U.S.Israeli conflict with Iran: REUTERS

Hours before the first missiles hit Iran on February 28, Donald Trump greeted guests at a black-tie Mar-a-Lago fundraiser for Place of Hope, a charity supporting children in care around Palm Beach in Florida.

As God Bless the USA blared over the speakers, the US president waved from side to side and made small circles with his wrists, like a conductor in front of an orchestra.
Cork City Council resolved just 12 planning enforcement complaints in 2025 in a sharp decline from previous years, leaving nearly 400 cases still open at the end of the year in what a councillor said was a clear example of figures going in the wrong direction.

The figures released in response to a motion by Cllr Joe Lynch show that 105 cases were resolved through negotiation or enforcement action in 2023, 69 in 2024 but just a dozen last year.

A total of 391 files, including historic cases, remained open at the end of 2025 with 133 new cases received during the year. Six court cases were initiated or taken during the three-year period.

Speaking at this months meeting of Cork City Council, Cllr Lynch said he was a bit dismayed by the figures.

I've spoken to council staff engaged in this work and I do acknowledge some of the complexities around these issues and some of the bureaucracy around them too but the trend we see in the figures is clearly not going in the right direction.

105 cases resolved in 2023, 69 in 2024 and 12 in 2025 so the trend is clearly going in the wrong direction. A mere six court cases initiated over three years is hard to fathom given the number of planning enforcement complaints made and the fact that there are 391 extant complaints.

I acknowledge that these can be complex processes and I know there have been some personnel changes and all the rest. So all I'll say for now is that we must see better and I look forward to submitting the motion in a few months time and seeing significant improvements, the Ballincollig councillor said.

In total, Cork City Council received 400 planning enforcement complaints between 2023 and 2025, resolved 186 and dismissed 220. Planning enforcement relates to unauthorised development where a development was carried out without planning permission or one which didnt comply with the conditions of the permission it was granted.

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.
Liam OFlynn decided to run from his grandmothers home in Dortmund through 14 European capital cities before returning to his native Cork.

Macroom man Liam O'Flynn standing outside his grandmother's house in Dortmund, Germany, prior to the beginning of his 5,200km run in aid of CUH.

A Macroom man is currently running 5,200km across Europe to raise money for Cork University Hospital (CUH).

Liam OFlynn decided to run from his grandmothers home in Dortmund through 14 European capital cities before returning to his native Cork.

Liam is half German and he planned to move to Dortmund to become fluent in his mothers native language.

He didnt want to take the conventional route to Dortmund by flying, instead opting to run there and have his belongings shipped over  that was until love got in the way at least.

I had a plan to move to Germany because I wanted to be fluent in my mothers home-tongue of German.

I was into ultra-running at the time, and I figured it would be a good adventure to run there and get stuff sent over and start living there.

As time went on, the routes were changing  I added the UK and other countries and then, long story short, I found a lady back home and I no longer want to move to Germany, he said.

Macroom man Liam O'Flynn standing outside his grandmother's house in Dortmund, Germany, prior to the beginning of his 5,200km run in aid of CUH.

News in 90 Seconds - Monday, March 16 2026

Although Liam has decided he will no longer swap the charming streets of Macroom for the hustle and bustle of Dortmund on a permanent basis, the 30-year-old still wants to complete the run.

I had routes ranging from five countries to 23 countries, 1,500km up to 9,000km runs, which took some fine-tuning to find the most realistic route that I could actually manage, he said.

The route he chose started outside his grandmothers house in Dortmund on March 1, before running to Prague in Czechia, Vienna in Austria, Bratislava in Slovakia, Warsaw in Poland, Berlin in Germany, Amsterdam in the Netherlands, Brussels in Belgium, Luxembourg, Paris in France, London and Edinburgh in the UK before Dublin and eventually Cork.

Macroom man Liam O'Flynn standing outside his grandmother's house in Dortmund, Germany, prior to the beginning of his 5,200km run in aid of CUH.

14 capital cities is the goal and I had a dream to finish the route in 100 days, but I am well aware it cant be done solo.

Maybe if I didnt have the weight of my buggy and just myself in a vest, that could be a different story, but I reckon 120 days, he said.

Liams start date of March 1 has extra meaning as it marked a two-year mark of sobriety for him.

I thought March 1 would be a fitting date for me to start the challenge.

I would describe ultra-running as temporary implemented depression because you have a goal and the goal drags you into the darkness and you hear all your demons  but there is a purpose.

There is an end point and then you come out of the darkness, and you get to reflect.

Active addition for me was just depression and pain  but there was no purpose, just pain and depression.

Addiction hinders your life with no real reason or cause whereas now I have, to a degree cured that, although you are always an addict.

"I choose to suffer in different ways that actually builds resilience, strengthens my mental health and tests my limits, he said.

Liam realised that the challenge was too vast to not complete it on behalf of a charity, so he decided to run in aid of CUHs paediatrics unit.

Thankfully I dont have a direct connection to the paediatrics, which is a lucky thing, and I am blessed for that.

I am well aware of them, and it was one of the best causes for me to raise funds for and it felt like the most obvious for me.

I have friends and family who in the past had sick kids or newborns, and as I said, none directly now but I think thats the purest form of suffering towards a family or child inside the paediatric ward, he said.

Liam's trusty trolley which contains his equipment, clothes and assorted items.

Liam added that one of the biggest challenges related to the run is the isolation from people.

I would be quite sociable, so the isolation is one of the biggest challenges.

Some days I would be moving for about 10 hours, so you do talk to the odd shopkeeper or whoever if I stop for a bit of lunch, but my German isnt the best.

It is definitely lonely and that is one of the biggest struggles, he said.

Liam explains that music and phone calls from his friends and family back home fuel his task.

Music helps here and there but one of the biggest things is even just a phone call from a friend or family member  they really help me a lot, he said.

One of the highlights of Liams day is a FaceTime call with his partner in the evenings or before bed.

Donations can be made via idonate.ie/fundraiser/liamoflynn.
Council hears restoration of the old Youghal-Midleton line could take up to 10,000 cars off the grinding daily commute into the city

Cork City Council has passed a motion supporting the restoration of the train service between Youghal and Midleton with councillors saying it would benefit the whole region and take thousands of cars off the busy N25.

The motion was proposed by Cllr Paudie Dineen who described the rail line as a piece of infrastructure that is very badly needed, not just for Cork City but for East Cork, the Youghal area, Castlemartyr, Killeagh. It can provide immense benefits to all areas that this line would run through and also for the people of West Waterford, South Waterford and the Ardmore-Dungarvan area.

The city councillor said the restoration would enable the creation of a park and rail system that would dramatically lower the amount of vehicles converging on the pinch-point of the Dunkettle interchange east of Cork city.

It would remove an awful lot of cars from the N25, up to 8 or 10,000 cars per day I would imagine. I travel that road most mornings at 7am and it's absolutely chock-a-block coming into the city.

Several councillors spoke in favour of the motion. Cllr Peter Horgan said that AJ Cronin, the manager of the Cork Commuter Rail Project for Irish Rail, has said that this could happen. Now, the problem is, and we have to be honest with people, and I would trust AJ Cronin and his team, is that if we gave approval to this in the morning as a state, it would take 10 years and 200 million.

So it's not the silver bullet that some people feel that it might be, but it's a bullet we should be seeking to bring in. If we were to proceed with extending the line to Youghal under the Cork Commuter Programme we should in the interim have a rapid bus transit system going from Midleton to Youghal, showing people the benefit that we can have there, he said.

The council agreed to write to the Taoiseach and a number of government ministers to support the rail line being reinstated. A similar motion is due to come before Cork County Council later this month and Waterford City and County Council has already passed a motion to the same effect.

Last month a minister of state in the Department of Transport said in the Dail that an upcoming review of the transport strategy for Cork offers an opportunity to get the Youghal to Cork train included in the strategy.

There is an opportunity to see if we can get it into the Cork Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy. That's the opportunity and I won't pre-empt the outcome of that strategy here today other than to say that that is the vehicle by which it will change from being something that people desire to becoming part of the strategy for the development of Cork, Minister of State Sean Canney said.

The last regular scheduled passenger train from Youghal to Cork city ran in 1963. The section of line from Midleton to Cork reopened in 2009 and is now undergoing a major upgrade that will deliver new stations and more frequent services. The East Cork Rail Alliance (ECRA), a group campaigning for the restoration of the historic train service, has secured 20,000 signatures and won support from local and national politicians.

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.
We are devastated  Kerry community in mourning following death of very popular local man

Tributes right across Kerry for the well-known business man and father who was the heart of the Glenflesk community.

The late Ollie Favier, left and Derry Healy, with the coveted Sam Maguire proudly at the summit of the mythical Paps of Anu mountains in East Kerry on St Stephens Day for a charity fundraiser 'Sam to the Summit'. Photo by Valerie O'Sullivan

Sinead Kelleher Kerryman Mon 16 Mar 2026 at 18:00

Glenflesk parish priest, Fr Jim Lenihan, has said the entire community is trying to come to terms with the tragic death of Ollie Favier who was the heart of the parish and the first to help out when needed.
News

The Boyne is still giving up its secrets  Woman discovers ancient logboats while walking on Louth riverbank

What first appeared to be nothing more than a piece of driftwood has turned out to be an extraordinary archaeological discovery on the banks of the River Boyne.
The Government is to consider restoring a town council for Drogheda, and the decision is likely to be made in the next few months.
Though it was sadly noted that the original Grand Marshal of the Enniscorthy St Patricks Parade had to cancel his trip due to conflict in Dubai, an opportunity has arisen for a vulnerable group of residents to be honoured.

The original Grand Marshal for the parade was set to be Mayor of Blacktown Australia Brad Bunting. Given that the theme of this year's event is Connecting Roots the committee wanted to celebrate the vast cultures and connections within Enniscorthy.

In August 2013, Enniscorthy Municipal District signed a Sister City Agreement with Blacktown City Council, committing each council to officially recognise both Vinegar Hills, in Enniscorthy and Blacktown, in commemoration events. The agreement also marked their joint commitment to fostering new connections across the areas of tourism, sports, arts, and culture, with delegations from both sides making trips to strengthen the relationship between the two areas.

Unfortunately, in order to travel over to Ireland from Australia the journey requires two plane rides with a stop over in Dubai in the middle.

The UAE is currently experiencing a significant military escalation following coordinated US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, which reportedly killed Iran's Supreme Leader.

In retaliation, Iran has launched hundreds of ballistic missiles and drone attacks targeting US-aligned infrastructure across the Gulf, including sites in Dubai and Abu Dhabi While the UAE's air defence systems have intercepted the vast majority of these threats, falling debris has caused minor damage to landmarks like the Burj Al Arab and a concourse at Dubai International Airport (DXB), as well as several casualties.

While DXB has resumed some flights, many remain suspended due to ongoing airspace closures and the risk of further strikes. Several countries including Canada and Ireland has out an advisory in place encouraging Irish residents to avoid travel in the area and have been working on organising safe return travel for those stranded in Dubai and the Middle East.

However, the committee are using this set back as an opportunity to celebrate residents and organisations in the town who were badly affected by the Enniscorthy Floods at the end of January this year.

Following a period of heavy rainfall over a number of days due to Storm Chandra, the River Slaney burst its banks in Enniscorthy in the early hours of Tuesday, January 27.

Business along the quay and residents along Island Road found themselves battling to save their valuables as the body of water forced its way into buildings, causing upwards of 100,000 worth of damage.

Tuesdays event was the 16th time since 2001 that Enniscorthy experienced serious flooding, with following visits by Taoiseach Michael Martin and Minister for the Office of Public Works Minister Kevin Boxer Moran providing scant relief to the tired residents.

In the midst of this emergency, the 100 per cent volunteer members of the Slaney Search and Rescue team spent hours in the cold water helping businesses and evacuating residents as young as three years old from compromised and flooded apartment buildings.

While doing this, their own premises was badly flooded, damaging equipment and infrastructure.

Now, the committee has invited the members of the rescue crew and the residents to proudly lead the procession through the streets of Enniscorthy, in a display of resilience and strength.

PRO for the committee Maria Nolan said that they are delighted to have them involved and encouraged spectators to provide their full support.

The committee is delighted to welcome members of Slaney Search and Rescue and victims of the recent floods to lead our 2026 parade as Grand Marshals in appreciation and recognition of the hardships suffered and the magnificent contribution of these heroic volunteers to alleviating some of that suffering and hardship, she explained.

"We would encourage all in Enniscorthy to come out on St Patrick's Day to show their support for the victims and to respect and honour this amazing organisation that we are so fortunate to have in our town. Ar aghaidh linn le cheile  onward together, she added.

Residents and visitors are encouraged to join in celebrating Irish heritage, international friendship, and community spirit on March 17 at 3 p.m., with festivities continuing after the parade at Market Square.
The popular business will continue under new ownership.

The owners of a long-standing business in Wexford may be retiring, but their popular bar is set to continue under brand new ownership.

The Slaney Inn Bar and Restaurant in Oylegate, running for over 30 years, has been serving traditional Irish pub food, including daily specials like roast beef, bacon and cabbage, and homemade desserts, with breakfast served all day.
A convicted drug dealer who walked out of Shelton Abbey open prison before later presenting himself at another prison has been fined 750

Denis Hollman (33), of St Bridgets Road, Co Galway, appeared for sentencing at a sitting of Arklow District Court.

The accused pleaded guilty to one count of escaping from custody.

Sergeant Mick Canavan told the court that on November 21, 2024, staff at Shelton Abbey Prison, an open low security facility for males aged 19 and over located in Arklow, carried out their daily prisoner count and Mr Hollman was present.

However, at 9.45pm staff conducted a second count and he was no longer present. Staff searched the prison grounds but the defendant was nowhere to be found.

Hollman later presented himself at Midlands Prison, where he had previously been serving a three-year sentence for drug offences before being transferred to the open facility.

The court heard that Mr Hollman has 32 previous convictions, including several for drug offences.

Solicitor for the accused said he was instructed that his client had been bullied while in Shelton Abbey, which led him to walk out and hand himself back into custody at Midlands Prison. He received an extra 15 days added to his sentence for absconding.

Since his release he has worked as a warehouse operative and is the father of four young children.

Judge David Kennedy remarked that Mr Hollman should have gone through the proper channels and fined the accused 750.

Funded by the Court Reporting Scheme
After the biggest night in Hollywood the stars all hit the after parties  heres what the A-list wore to the Oscars viewing and after parties

(L-R) Brooklyn Peltz Beckham and Nicola Peltz Beckham attend Elton John AIDS Foundation's 34th Annual Academy Awards Viewing Party on March 15, 2026 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for Elton John AIDS Foundation)

Maura Higgins attends Elton John AIDS Foundation's 34th Annual Academy Awards Viewing Party on March 15, 2026 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Jerod Harris/Getty Images)

Dua Lipa and Callum Turner attend the 2026 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Mark Guiducci at Los Angeles County Museum of Art on March 15, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/FilmMagic)

Jessie Buckley attends the 2026 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Mark Guiducci at Los Angeles County Museum of Art on March 15, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/FilmMagic)

Kylie Jenner and Timothee Chalamet attend the 2026 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Mark Guiducci at Los Angeles County Museum of Art on March 15, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Cindy Ord/VF26/Getty Images for Vanity Fair)

(L-R) Elton John and Dua Lipa attend Elton John AIDS Foundation's 34th Annual Academy Awards Viewing Party on March 15, 2026 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Michael Kovac/Getty Images for Elton John AIDS Foundation)

Paul Mescal and Gracie Abrams at the 2026 Vanity Fair Oscar Party held at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art on March 15, 2026 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Chad Salvador/WWD via Getty Images)

The 98th Annual Oscars took place on Sunday, March 15 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California and it was an incredible night for the Irish  but while it is the main event its not the only show in town.

The Elton John AIDS Foundation hosted their 34th Annual Academy Awards Viewing Party in West Hollywood  this years event was hosted by Elton John, David Furnish, Neil Patrick Harris, and David Burtka. And as you might expect the invite list was starry  with our own Maura Higgins in attendance.

After the over three-hour-long awards ceremony wraps the A-list head on to the famous Vanity Fair Oscar Party - a glamorous event at Los Angeles County Museum of Art in Los Angeles,

Paul Mescal and Gracie Abrams at the 2026 Vanity Fair Oscar Party held at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art on March 15, 2026 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Chad Salvador/WWD via Getty Images)

Nominees and stars dazzle on Oscars red carpet

California attended by Hollywood's top celebrities, as well as Oscar winners from the evening. Woman of the hour Jessie Buckley was there dressed all in black, and Hamnet co-star Paul Mescal was there with his musician girlfriend Gracie Abrams. Check out all the pics below 

Paul Mescal and Gracie Abrams at the 2026 Vanity Fair Oscar Party held at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art on March 15, 2026 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Chad Salvador/WWD via Getty Images)

Dua Lipa and Callum Turner attend the 2026 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Mark Guiducci at Los Angeles County Museum of Art on March 15, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/FilmMagic)

Kylie Jenner and Timothee Chalamet attend the 2026 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Mark Guiducci at Los Angeles County Museum of Art on March 15, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Cindy Ord/VF26/Getty Images for Vanity Fair)

(L-R) Brooklyn Peltz Beckham and Nicola Peltz Beckham attend Elton John AIDS Foundation's 34th Annual Academy Awards Viewing Party on March 15, 2026 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for Elton John AIDS Foundation)

Maura Higgins attends Elton John AIDS Foundation's 34th Annual Academy Awards Viewing Party on March 15, 2026 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Jerod Harris/Getty Images)

Jessie Buckley attends the 2026 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Mark Guiducci at Los Angeles County Museum of Art on March 15, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/FilmMagic)

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The new test is over 90pc accurate and could be used by GPs to pick up deadly glioblastomas. It is also being expanded to include other brain tumours. At present, diagnosing and treating patients can be complex, requiring MRI scans and invasive surgical biopsies.
President worried air defence being depleted as Iran takes spotlight

Paramedics provide first aid to a resident who was injured during a Russian airstrike, amid Russias attack on Ukraine. Photo: Reuters

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said in comments released on Sunday yesterday that he was ready for the next round of trilateral peace talks to end Russias more than four-year-old invasion of Ukraine.
Eoin McGee answers: I started a pension in my early 40s. What do I need to do to catch up and have a comfortable retirement?
Israeli strikes kill 16 across West Bank and Gaza in one of the deadliest day in weeks

Israeli fire has killed at least 36 Palestinians since the outbreak of the Iran war, health officials say, while 670 have been killed since the ceasefire in October

Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli airstrike targeting a police vehicle in the central Gaza Strip yesterday. Photo: Mahmoud Issa/Reuters

Samy Magdy Associated Press Mon 16 Mar 2026 at 06:30

Israeli forces killed 16 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, health officials said, in one of the heaviest death tolls in a single day in weeks, as Israel continued to launch attacks on Lebanon and Iran.
Jeffrey Epstein supplied Lord Mandelson with Botox while he was on a taxpayer-funded trip, it has been claimed.

Emails uncovered by the Mail on Sunday show that Epstein arranged for Lord Mandelson to get Botox while he was on a taxpayer-funded visit to New York in March 2010.
Trump deportees still stuck in a Salvadoran prison a year on

Brandon Sigaran-Cruz was nine when he arrived in the US and he was deported back to an El Salvador prison at the age of 21

Donald Trump greets El Salvador president Nayib Bukele at the White House. Photo: Alex Brandon/AP

Samantha Schmidt, Karen DeYoung and David Nakamura Washington Post Mon 16 Mar 2026 at 06:30

Brandon Sigaran-Cruz was only nine when his parents brought him and his brother to the US, far away from the gangs recruiting young boys in the elementary schools of El Salvador.
A Luojiashan tanker sits anchored in Muscat, as Iran vows to close the Strait of Hormuz, in Muscat. Photo: Reuters

The US has ordered that a 911 force of 2,500 marines be redeployed from Japan to the Middle East, signalling the possibility of American boots on the ground.
Op-Ed: Indias Calibrated Opening to China-Linked Capital Signals a Pragmatic Shift

India appears to be quietly recalibrating one of the most restrictive investment policies introduced during the pandemic. Amendments to Press Note 3 (PN3)the 2020 rule requiring government approval for foreign direct investment (FDI) from countries sharing a land border with Indiasuggest a strategic shift; New Delhi is attempting to unlock capital and technology flows without compromising national security safeguards.

At the center of the policy adjustment is a simple but consequential question: How can India expand its manufacturing ecosystem and integrate into global supply chains while maintaining strategic caution toward Chinese capital?

The answer, it seems, lies in controlled liberalization rather than wholesale deregulation.

Easing of Press Note 3: Unlocking investment flows

The 2026 relaxation of Press Note 3 norms is expected to revive a backlog of pending investment proposals, potentially leading to a short-term increase in capital inflows from China, including Hong Kong. A March 23, 2026, CRISIL market intelligence report suggests that the share of Chinese investments in Indias total FDI could gradually return to pre-restriction levels of around 2 percent.

While the immediate impact may be visible through faster approvals and increased inflows, the more significant effects are likely to unfold over the medium to long term.

Prior to the implementation of PN 3, China (including Hong Kong) contributed approximately 2 percent of Indias total FDI inflows between 2014 and 2019. Notably, China accounted for almost the entire share (99.9 percent) of investments originating from countries sharing land borders with India. Under the stricter norms, this share declined sharply to 0.27 percent, indicating a significant contraction in investment flows from China.

From blanket restrictions to targeted screening

India introduced Press Note 3 in April 2020 during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. It mandated prior government approval for investments from neighboring countries, primarily to prevent opportunistic acquisitions of distressed Indian companies. However, in practice, the rule had broader implications for global capital flows.

Even minimal Chinese shareholding in global funds or multinational companies triggered approval requirements. This slowed investments not only from China but also from venture capital funds and corporations based in the United States, Europe, Taiwan, and South Korea that had Chinese limited partners.

Over time, the approval process developed substantial bottlenecks, with hundreds of proposals reportedly pending clearance. Venture capital funding for Indian startups also faced increased uncertainty, particularly where funds had Chinese participation.

According to estimates by CRISIL, investment proposals worth INR 756.91 billion (US$8.1 billion) were submitted under Press Note 3 during FY 202021 and FY 202122. However, authorities approved only INR 136.25 billion (US$1.45 billion), underscoring the restrictive nature of the framework. Rejected proposals accounted for nearly five percent of Indias average annual FDI inflows over the past five years.

The central governments recent amendments signal a recognition that the earlier framework was overly broad and may have constrained legitimate investment flows.

The 10 percent threshold: A key structural change

A major shift introduced under the 2026 amended PN3 framework is the definition of beneficial ownership.

Under the new approach, investments with less than 10 percent non-controlling ownership from investors in land-border countries may proceed through the automatic route, subject to applicable sectoral regulations.

This threshold addresses a major challenge faced by global investors: many venture funds and institutional investors have diversified investor bases. This sometimes includes small Chinese limited partner stakes. Previously, even these minority exposures could trigger regulatory scrutiny.

By introducing a clear ownership threshold, India is effectively distinguishing between strategic control and passive capital participation.

For global venture funds and private equity firms, this clarification could restore confidence that compliance risk will not unexpectedly derail investment transactions.

DPIIT Press Note 2 (2026): Clarification of beneficial owner The latest policy update issued through Press Note 2 (2026) provides clarification regarding the concept of beneficial ownership under the framework introduced by Press Note 3 (2020), particularly in relation to Paragraph 3.1.1 of the Consolidated FDI Policy 2020. Under the revised policy, beneficial ownership refers to the individual or entity that ultimately owns, controls, or derives economic benefit from an investment in India, even if the investment is routed through an intermediary entity incorporated in another country. An investment may be treated as linked to a country sharing a land border with India if: Citizens or entities from such countries hold ownership exceeding the prescribed thresholds They exercise control over the investing entity, or They have ultimate effective control over the Indian company receiving the investment. Please note that these revised rules will come into force once the related notification is issued under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA).

Fast-tracking strategic manufacturing investments

Another important feature of the revised policy is the introduction of expedited approval timelines, reportedly within 60 days, for investments in select manufacturing sectors.

These sectors include:

Electronic capital goods

Electronics components

Polysilicon and ingot wafers

Advanced battery components

Rare earth magnets and processing

This list reflects Indias industrial policy priorities. The sectors are directly linked to electronics manufacturing, renewable energy supply chains, and semiconductor ecosystems  all areas where China currently dominates global production.

By prioritizing these industries, the central government is signaling that technology partnerships and supply chain development take precedence over rigid regulatory barriers.

However, an important detail remains unresolved: India has yet to publish the final list of products and sectors that will qualify for expedited approvals.

Officials have indicated that such a product list is expected soon and that it may expand over time depending on domestic manufacturing requirements.

Technology transfer as the real objective

Beyond capital inflows, policymakers appear focused on technology transfer and domestic capacity building.

Officials have suggested that commitments toward local skill development, technology sharing, and manufacturing expansion could play a role in determining approval decisions. This reflects a broader policy goal: ensuring that foreign investment strengthens Indias industrial ecosystem rather than simply expanding imports.

The emphasis aligns with ongoing programs such as:

Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes

Electronics Component Manufacturing initiatives

Renewable energy and battery supply chain development.

In effect, India is seeking not just capital, but capability.

Indias signal to global investors

Despite the headlines around China-linked capital, the policy shift is ultimately aimed at global investors more broadly.

Many multinational corporations and international funds operate with complex ownership structures, often involving investors from multiple jurisdictions. By clarifying beneficial ownership rules and introducing faster approval timelines, India is attempting to reduce regulatory uncertainty that discouraged investment decisions over the past several years.

At the same time, the central government has been careful to emphasize that national security screening mechanisms will remain intact. Investments involving strategic sectors or significant ownership stakes will still require scrutiny.

In other words, the door may be opening, but it is opening cautiously.

ALSO READ: Warming Ties: India-China Signal Trade and Diplomatic Reset

A pragmatic balance

The changes to Press Note 3 reflect a broader shift in Indias investment policy philosophy. Rather than maintaining blanket restrictions, policymakers appear to be moving toward a risk-based regulatory model that differentiates between passive capital, strategic control, and technology partnerships.

This approach acknowledges a practical reality: modern global supply chains are deeply interconnected. Additionally, rigid capital barriers can unintentionally isolate domestic industries from the investment and expertise needed for growth.

By introducing ownership thresholds, accelerating approvals in priority sectors, and maintaining security safeguards, India is attempting to strike a delicate balance between economic openness and strategic caution.

Whether the reforms succeed will depend in part on how clearly and quickly the government defines the promised product list for fast-track approvals. Investors and manufacturers alike will be watching closely.

For now, however, the message is clear: India is not abandoning its security concerns, but it is beginning to recalibrate how it manages them in the pursuit of industrial growth.

(US$1 = INR 93.53)

(This article was originally published on March 16, 2026. It was updated on March 23, 2026.)
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has signaled a historic shift in Greeces energy policy, announcing the formation of a high-level ministerial committee to explore the use of small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) to safeguard the countrys power supply.

In his weekly address, Mr. Mitsotakis argued that the intensifying conflict in the Middle East has made the

quest for "strategic autonomy" an urgent priority for the European Union.

While Greece currently generates more than 50% of its electricity from renewable sources, the prime minister emphasized that nuclear power could provide the stable, predictable "baseload" energy needed to complement wind and solar power.

"It is time for my country to explore whether nuclear energy, and specifically small modular reactors, can play a role in the Greek energy system," Mr. Mitsotakis said.

He added that nuclear technology could also prove vital in decarbonizing Greece's massive merchant shipping fleet.

The "nuclear pivot" follows a week of heightened regional tensions that saw oil prices climb past $116 a barrel and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Mr. Mitsotakis warned that these geopolitical shocks are already impacting the domestic economy and pledged that the government would intervene to prevent "profiteering" in fuel and essential goods.

The announcement comes on the heels of an emergency trilateral summit in Paphos, where Mr. Mitsotakis and French President Emmanuel Macron met with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides.

The meeting followed a series of drone strikes on Cyprus that have placed the island on high alert. Mr. Mitsotakis reaffirmed that Greece's security is inextricably linked to that of Cyprus, noting that the deployment of Greek frigates and F-16 Vipers to the island reflects a "determined message of European solidarity."

   iefimerida.gr
Another international crisis is knocking on Europes door, testing its reflexes, Environment and Energy Minister Stavros Papastavrou said upon his arrival at the EU Council on energy issues.

As he

Papastavrou: Europe must be prepared with targeted measures -  
A Maryland jury has ordered Olufunke Ashekun to pay $300,000 in damages after finding her guilty of defaming Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries USA Incorporated and its founder, Dr. Daniel Olukoya.

The verdict was delivered on March 13, 2026, by the Circuit Court of Baltimore County, Maryland, following a protracted legal dispute that stemmed from Ashekuns social media posts and campaigns, which the church deemed offensive and damaging to its reputation.

The jury ruled that Ashekun pay $250,000 in compensatory damages and an additional $50,000 in punitive damages  the latter intended to serve as a strong deterrent against what the court characterised as baseless and malicious allegations.

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In its ruling, the court acknowledged that Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt, while expressing concern over what it described as weak, inadmissible evidence and witnesses presented by the defence. The court further noted that Ashekuns sustained campaign had significantly damaged both the professional standing and public reputation of the church.

According to a statement released by the church on Sunday, the court recognised the prolonged, intense and malicious campaign waged by Ashekun, noting that the church had been gravely troubled by the reach and scale of her rhetoric.

The trial was also marked by dramatic scenes inside the courtroom. On the eve of the verdict, Ashekun reportedly collapsed after sensing the case was turning decisively against her, and was rushed out of court in an emergency ambulance. The following day, as the jury delivered its final pronouncement, her husband similarly collapsed in court.

The judgment represents a significant legal victory for the church, which had long maintained that the allegations were unfounded and deeply harmful to its ministry.
Nigerian rapper 2Shotz has stirred considerable controversy online after publicly condemning Igbo people who are openly backing President Bola Tinubus administration, warning that those supporting the ruling party should expect no sympathy from him if economic conditions worsen after the 2027 elections.

The rapper took to Instagram to voice his frustration after watching footage from a recent political gathering in Imo State where Seyi Tinubu, son of the president, was reportedly in attendance alongside members of the All Progressives Congress. The warm reception extended to the visitors at the event clearly unsettled 2Shotz, who made no effort to conceal his displeasure.

Central to his grievance was the continued detention of Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, who remains entangled in an ongoing legal battle. For 2Shotz, the sight of Igbo figures warmly embracing the same government holding Kanu in custody represented a troubling contradiction he could not overlook.

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He questioned how anyone could justify rallying behind an administration under whose watch the separatist leader remains in detention, describing those doing so as making a deeply misguided political choice.

The rapper also raised alarm over what the enthusiastic show of support could signal for the countrys political future, suggesting that the level of APC backing he witnessed might be enough to hand the party victory in the 2027 general elections. He then issued a pointed warning to those concerned  if the APC wins and economic hardship persists, they should not turn to him on social media seeking financial assistance.

His comments quickly ignited a storm of debate across platforms, drawing both vocal support from those who share his frustrations and sharp criticism from others who took issue with the manner in which he chose to express them.
The Anthropic Claude logo on a laptop arranged in New Hyde Park, New York, US, on Friday, Aug. 22, 2025. Read more

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As artificial intelligence becomes more capable, some jobs may remain in demand while others decline. Web designers and secretaries are more at risk than janitors, according to one recent study.

But theres another dimension to the picture. Some workers will find it easier to adapt, the researchers argue, based on factors like their savings, age and transferrable skills.

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Most web designers will be fine. Many secretaries will not. The most vulnerable occupations are largely held by women.

These are the workers who may fare best and worst.

No one has a perfect road map to the future, but researchers at GovAI, which studies technology policy, and the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank, used a novel approach to estimate which workers may be most and least able to adapt to AI.



They concluded that many people most at risk if AI transforms work are also the best placed to find new jobs.

But history shows that economists and researchers have been terrible at predicting the effects of new technologies on work and workers, so take forecasts like this one seriously but not literally. Even researchers cranking out studies of AI in workplaces caution that theyre making useful but fallible best guesses.

All the important questions about AIs effects on the labor market are still unanswered, Jed Kolko, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, recently concluded. Economists at Anthropic, the AI start-up behind the Claude chatbot, stressed the need for humility in their analysis of AI seeping into occupations. (Humility is uncommon in Silicon Valley.)

Sifting through reports about AI-related job displacement will make you dizzy with the apparent contradictions.

One influential Stanford University analysis last year found its probable that AI is bleeding jobs from young people in occupations such as software development and customer service, where AI adoption has been fastest. Different research, from the Economic Innovation Group think tank, essentially concluded the opposite, that young workers in those occupations were faring better than their peers in less AI-exposed fields such as fitness training and roofing.



The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas has said its unlikely AI is coming for jobs in the next decade, while prominent CEOs keep predicting that AI will put millions of people out of work soon.

A flood of sometimes conflicting analyses shows the yawning gap between what little is known about how AI is changing work and everyones understandable hunger for certainty. The divide lets Americans, business leaders and policymakers cherry-pick their preferred narratives. If youre afraid of being cast aside for AI, theres informed and uninformed evidence to fuel your nightmares. Theres plenty of support, too, if your think your job is safe.

Two points of general agreement stand out: Theres no measurable evidence so far that AI is putting Americans as a whole out of work, economists say. And while the victims of past workplace automation were mostly factory and trade workers, its white collar jobs that are first in line for AI shake-ups today.

Thats where the recent research, led by Sam Manning, a senior research fellow at GovAI, and his colleague Tomas Aguirre, took a novel approach.

They started with an industry-standard measure of more than 350 occupations AI exposure. That estimates how many job-related tasks a worker can plausibly do more efficiently with AI, such as a teacher grading homework.



Those estimates find that skills used in computer programming, marketing, financial analysis and customer service have high overlap with AI capabilities, and therefore in theory workers might be more easily replaced by machines. (There are spicy debates in economics over measuring AI exposure and whether high AI exposure helps or hurts workers.)

The researchers went one step further and also sought to quantify how easily people within occupations could shift to other good-paying work if AI killed their jobs. The researchers figured that people with more education and varied work experience could more easily switch occupations, and that it would help to be wealthier, under 55 years old and live in cities where jobs are plentiful.

While web designers and secretaries both scored high in the research for exposure to AI, they diverged in their estimated ability to adapt. Secretaries were among the 6.1 million largely clerical and administrative workers considered both highly exposed to AI and with the lowest estimated adaptability, Manning and Aguirre found. (Manning is also affiliated with the technology policy research group the Foundation for American Innovation.)

The findings suggest that the majority of workers whose jobs may be transformed by or lost to AI can bounce back. But a smaller share of workers may have a harder time finding new jobs.

Women make up about 86 percent of those most vulnerable workers, the researchers said, suggesting the negative effects of automation wont be borne equally across society.

Mark Muro, a senior fellow at Brookings who assessed the policy relevance of the research, said the most vulnerable workers may be out of sight and out of mind to policymakers and the American public. The researchers cautioned that its hard to accurately assess the likelihood of people finding other jobs.

Allison Elias, a professor at the University of Virginia business school, said that previous technology shifts show why people in female-dominated clerical occupations might be on the losing end of the AI revolution.

In her historical research, secretaries and other administrative staff often hoped that new technologies would free them to do higher-level work and help advance their careers. Instead, she said, workers were often expected to do more work for the same or lower pay. They continued to report low levels of job satisfaction.

These people are really vulnerable because they wont have a lot of decisions over how AI is used, and their exit opportunities are going to be pretty low, said Elias, who was not involved in the GovAI and Brookings analysis.



Economists say its nearly impossible to forecast AIs effect on the labor market from the current capabilities of the technology or the business sectors its seeping into first. And they point to the track record of past technology revolutions, such as electricity and smartphones, that eliminated some types of jobs but also created new work and economic growth few foresaw.

The predictions mostly didnt pan out from a prominent study more than a decade ago that estimated nearly half of jobs could be destroyed by computer automation. Forecasts were off base that ATMs would wipe out bank tellers, that earlier forms of AI would decimate radiologists and that player pianos would kill the jobs of pianists. Few people imagined that smartphones would usher in new jobs in social media marketing and influencing. And youre probably not experiencing the 15-hour workweek that economist John Maynard Keynes forecasted in 1930.

We do not have a good track record of predicting how technological change will play out in the labor market, said Martha Gimbel, executive director of the Budget Lab at Yale University. It would have been hard to predict that the invention of electricity would lead to the new occupation of elevator operators, and that a subsequent innovation - buttons, she said - would wipe out those jobs.

Another extinct occupation, telephone switchboard operators, offers reasons for both hope and pessimism about AIs effects. It was once one of the most common jobs for American women, but jobs were wiped out as telephones modernized starting in the early 20th century, according to a research paper published in 2024 by James Feigenbaum and Daniel Gross.



Switchboard operators who lost their jobs were far more likely than their peers to never find other work or to take lower-paying jobs, the research found. But within years, new opportunities opened for young women as secretarial and restaurant work boomed. I read that as somewhat hopeful, Feigenbaum, a Boston University economic historian, said in an interview.

Feigenbaum doesnt buy the argument that AI will be much different for American workers than prior technology revolutions. The invention of electricity, the internal combustion engine and the internet were massively transformative technologies, he said, and that didnt eliminate all jobs.
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As media organizations go, NewsGuard cuts a low public profile as it follows its mission of issuing credibility ratings about news outlets. The Trump administration knows about it, though, and the company has joined a lengthening list of journalism organizations to face the White Houses wrath.

A dispute between President Donald Trumps regulators and the news monitoring service has spilled into court, with NewsGuard Technologies suing the Federal Trade Commission and its chairman, Andrew Ferguson, to shut down an investigation. The FTC accuses the company of trying to suppress conservative speech. NewsGuard says it is being forced to kneel before vindictive power.

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Since Trump returned to office in January 2025, the Republican administration has fought the Associated Press in court over the outlets claim it is being punished for not adopting his preferred name for the Gulf of Mexico; settled with CBS News corporate parent in a dispute over 60 Minutes editing; sued the Wall Street Journal for its reporting on Trump and Jeffrey Epstein; and is in a legal fight with the New York Times over Pentagon reporting restrictions.

NewsGuards lawsuit, filed last month in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia, accuses Trumps FTC of brazenly using its power not for any issue concerning trade or commerce but rather to censor speech simply because it disagreed with NewsGuards judgments about the reliability of news sources.

The FTC calls NewsGuards accusations untethered from both law and fact.

The FTC, normally low-key, is busier under Trump

Like the Federal Communications Commission under Brendan Carr, Fergusons FTC is a normally sleepy federal agency that has sprung to life to address issues of importance to Trump and his supporters, particularly involving the media. The FCC has launched investigations of media companies, and this weekend Carr, responding to a Trump complaint about negative coverage of the Iran war, warned broadcasters running hoaxes and news distortions to correct course or see their licenses threatened.

Ferguson has made no secret about where he takes his cues. He said in an interview in July that I am a law enforcer, and I will follow the law. But the policy priorities are set by the man the people chose to run this government.

The liberal lobbying group Media Matters for America was one of his targets. A federal judge last summer halted an FTC investigation over efforts to promote advertising boycotts of companies the group opposes, saying the inquiry violated MMAs free speech rights.

While NewsGuard may not be a big name, money is at stake for news outlets friendly to the president. The company began in 2018, started by Court TV founder Steven Brill and Gordon Crovitz, a former Journal publisher. NewsGuard uses journalists to examine thousands of news outlets and websites, giving them ratings based on the credibility and reliability of their journalism.

A monthly subscription costs $4.95. Much of its business comes from companies that advise advertisers where to hawk their products, showing them which news sites may be toxic to their brands, and artificial-intelligence companies looking to see where they would be more likely to find information they could trust.

Making a powerful enemy in Newsmax

NewsGuard made an enemy of the Trump-friendly television network Newsmax, giving its website a 20 on a scale where 100 is the best score. NewsGuard says this website is unreliable because it severely violates basic journalism standards. Newsmax has since repeatedly urged Republican lawmakers or regulators to do what they can to silence NewsGuard, the company said in its lawsuit.

NewsGuard was started by Steve Brill to target conservative media and get ad agencies to deny them advertising revenue as a means of censorship, Newsmax spokesperson Bill Daddi said. Brill is a Democratic Party activist and donor over many decades with a long history of advocating for liberal causes. He is not a respected journalist and in no way should be running a ratings service used by major ad agencies.

Brill said his only political activity was working for Republican John Lindsay, New York Citys mayor in the late 1960s and early 1970s, while a college and law school student. I have been a journalist ever since, Brill said, adding that he has not donated money to any politicians.

NewsGuard says its ratings are based on clearly defined criteria, such as whether or not an outlet publishes false or misleading material, whether it distorts arguments and uses multiple sources, whether it distinguishes between news and opinion and regularly corrects errors. To counter charges that it unfairly boosted liberals, the company noted times where Fox News scored higher in its ratings than the former MSNBC.

Yet the conservative Media Research Center has published studies contending that NewsGuard is more likely to give higher ratings to outlets with a liberal bent. In court papers, the FTC said it began investigating NewsGuard because congressional investigators connected the companys services to coordinated actions to demonize disfavored media entities.

The agency has asked the company to produce reams of internal documents, emails, financial reports, and subscriber lists dated to its founding. Not only does NewsGuard consider that task unduly expensive and burdensome, it worries that regulators will use that information to target its subscribers.

The FTC, as a condition to approving a merger of two of the worlds biggest media buying firms, Omnicom and IPG, prohibited the new company from using a service that reviews and rates news sites. That is designed to eliminate the companys ability to deny advertising based on politics, the agency said.

It has already cost NewsGuard business, the company asserts.

The whole idea that any speaker has to justify to the government that its not biased is a really troubling thought, Brill said in an interview. We have a constitutional right to be biased. It just so happens that we started the company on the core principle that we were going to be totally apolitical.

Continuing until NewsGuard knuckles under

The FTCs press department did not return a message seeking comment. But in court papers, the agency said it was conducting a broad investigation into whether advertiser boycotts violated antitrust laws and that it has issued more than a dozen orders for information similar to the one given to NewsGuard. The companys charges are completely meritless, the agency said.

If its order was so demanding, the FTC wondered why it took NewsGuard eight months after it was issued to sue.

We tried to cooperate in the belief that the more that we told them what we do, the more likely it would be that they would decide that they didnt have any case, Brill said. We soon realized that they werent worried about the merits.

The company argues that the FTC actions will continue until NewsGuard knuckles under. Asked if he thought the government agencys goal was to put his company out of business, Brill declined to comment.
President Harry S. Truman is shown during his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, July 15, 1948. (AP Photo) Read more

It has been about 180 years since Philadelphia started hosting major political conventions, and were on the short list to host yet another Democratic National Convention in 2028  which would be our first in more than a decade.

But about 80 years ago, Philly played host to not one large political gathering, but three.

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The year was 1948. At the time, city leaders were aggressively pursuing the national political spotlight, and got exactly what they bargained for after being selected as the site for not only that years DNC, but also the Republican National Convention, as well as the convention for the Progressive Party, a then-popular upstart group that some viewed as nothing more than a cadre of Communist sympathizers.

And, perhaps more significantly, all three conventions took place across about five weeks time in the heat and humidity of one scorching Philadelphia summer, occupying a long-gone event space known as Philadelphia Convention Hall and Civic Center. Demolished in 2005, the site today is home to Penn Medicines Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine at 3400 Civic Center Blvd.

But eight decades ago, it was the political battleground from which New York Gov. Thomas E. Dewey, incumbent President Harry S. Truman, and former Vice President Henry A. Wallace emerged as 1948s leading presidential candidates. After that, no major political party held a presidential nominating convention in the city for more than half a century.

Here is how The Inquirer covered that monumental summer:

https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-philadelphia-inquirer/193286571/ Article from Jun 22, 1948 The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)

Television set the stage

City leaders in 1947 began courting the Republicans and Democrats, ultimately getting their attention after offering $250,000 in funding to each to have their conventions in Philadelphia  plus thousands of hotel rooms and free use of Convention Hall.

But not to be overlooked, at least by convention organizers, was Philadelphias place in the then-burgeoning world of television.

A coaxial cable network had recently been established that allowed the nascent television networks to broadcast convention happenings live to an estimated 10 million people watching 18 stations in nine cities along the Eastern Seaboard. Very much a physical network of cables, it ran roughly from Boston to Richmond, Va., putting Philadelphia about smack in the middle of its run  making the city the premier place from which events could be funneled to other areas.

Television was then a fast-growing industry, and a medium that was anticipated to be a major economic and social force, reports from the time indicate. Demand for TV sets, incidentally, was also strongly affected by that years political conventions  so much so that local manufacturers like the Philco Corp., which operated 17 factories in the region, including a cathode ray tube-making facility in Lansdale, struggled to keep up with demand.

https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-philadelphia-inquirer/193286389/ Article from Jul 14, 1948 The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)

Hot, hot heat

For convention attendees, the advent of television was not without its problems. Primarily, those complications arrived in the form of an array of powerful lights installed at Convention Hall to enable visibility for broadcasts  and heating up an already toasty venue, thanks to the hot, humid summer Philadelphia was experiencing.

During the first day of the DNC on July 12, for example, temperatures reached the mid-90s, and humidity levels were something scandalous, an Inquirer report noted, leaving convention-goers to sweat it out in the un-air-conditioned hall. Television audiences could see the weathers impact on speakers and attendees live, especially during the DNC, which took place amid a heatwave.

U.S. Sen. Alben W. Barkley (D., Ky.), who would go on to be Trumans vice president, gave a keynote speech that was considered a rousing success  though, as Inquirer reports indicated, he was reduced to a quivering mound of perspiration during its run.

Contemporary accounts indicate that about 100 DNC attendees were treated for heat-related issues, with ailments ranging from dehydration to heat exhaustion. Though fatalities and hospitalizations were not reported, that year marked the last in which major political conventions were held in venues that lacked air-conditioning.

https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-philadelphia-inquirer/193286669/ Article from Jul 14, 1948 The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)

An unexpectedly controversial DNC

By most accounts the 1948 RNC was a fairly uneventful affair  one that involved extensive planning, policing, and logistics but essentially went off without a hitch. The DNC, which arrived weeks later, however, was something of a surprisingly spicy event.

Initially, Inquirer reports indicate, Democratic delegates appeared to be resigned to a boring, business-as-usual convention, with many having climbed reluctantly aboard the Truman bandwagon following refusals to run by Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower and Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas. Trumans candidacy was largely a foregone conclusion by the conventions start, which turned out to be a correct assumption.

At least somewhat unexpected, however, was a mid-convention walkout by about three dozen delegates from Mississippi and Alabama who strongly objected to a muscular civil rights plank adopted by the party  as well as to Trumans nomination in general. Those who opposed those elements would go on to be known colloquially as the Dixiecrats. They later would hold their own convention in Alabama to nominate Strom Thurmond as their presidential candidate, largely around a platform of states rights to allow the continuation of racial segregation.

That walkout boiled over following Trumans nomination, with Mississippi Gov. Fielding Wright announcing the incumbent candidate would not receive a single Mississippi vote before leading delegates out of the hall. Georgia Sen. Richard Russell was slightly more dramatic, telling attendees that the South is no longer the whipping boy of the Democratic Party.

The walkout fell short of expectations, as many delegates from the South reluctantly but glumly remained in their seats, The Inquirer reported.

https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-philadelphia-inquirer/193286477/ Article from Jul 24, 1948 The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)

A Progressive Party footnote

Following extensive coverage of the RNC and DNC, which themselves brought tens of thousands of visitors to Philadelphia, the final 1948 convention from the Progressive Party seemed to weigh on the nerves of Philadelphia residents.

Essentially viewed as a personal celebration for former Vice President Henry A. Wallace, the Progressive Partys assumed presidential candidate, that get-together was thought of as less a convention than an irritant, The Inquirer reported. This was especially true for Philadelphias hospitality workers, who had spent weeks serving Republicans and Democrats before the Progressives came to town.

First we had the Republicans. They were nice, fat, dignified people, a maid at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel, where the parties set up their headquarters all summer, told The Inquirer. Then we had the Democrats. They were nice, respectable working types  a little thinner. Now we have these people, and, poor things, they look as though they havent had a square meal in weeks.

Then, there was the local media, which, after weeks of intense political coverage, appeared to be mostly fed up by the time Wallace and Co. came around. This was, after all, a pivotal year in the Cold War, and one replete with anti-Communist messaging  and The Inquirer, at least, did not take kindly to the perceived anti-anti-Soviet platform adopted by the Progressives.

The Progressive Party is composed of countless minority and fringe groups looking for a political home, one report read. They consist mainly of aginners, against this and against that and willing to follow the Communist sympathizers as long as their own pet ideas are incorporated in the party platform.
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CAIRO  U.S. President Donald Trumps appeal to China, France, Japan, South Korea, Britain, and others to send warships to keep the Strait of Hormuz open and safe brought no commitments on Sunday as oil prices soar during the Iran war.

Irans Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told CBS that Tehran has been approached by a number of countries seeking safe passage for their vessels, and this is up to our military to decide. He said a group of vessels from different countries had been allowed to pass, without providing details.

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Iran has said the strait, through which one-fifth of global oil exports normally pass, is open to all except the United States and its allies.

Araghchi added that we dont see any reason why we should talk with Americans about finding a way to end the war, noting that Israel and the U.S. started the fighting with coordinated attacks on Feb. 28 during indirect U.S.-Iran talks on Irans nuclear program. He also said Tehran had no plan to recover the enriched uranium that is under rubble following U.S. and Israeli attacks last year.

Countries are cautious after Trumps call

U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright told NBC he has been in dialogue with some of the countries Trump mentioned, and said he expected China will be a constructive partner in reopening the strait.

But countries made no promises.

Britain said Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Sunday discussed with Trump the importance of reopening the strait to end the disruption to global shipping, and spoke with Canadas prime minister about it separately.

A spokesperson for Chinas embassy to the U.S., Liu Pengyu, said all parties have the responsibility to ensure stable and unimpeded energy supply and that China would strengthen communication with relevant parties for de-escalation.

South Koreas Foreign Ministry said it takes note of Trumps call and that it will closely coordinate and carefully review the situation with the U.S.

Expectations are high that Trump will ask Japan directly when Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi meets him on Thursday at the White House.

France previously said it is working with countries  President Emmanuel Macron mentioned partners in Europe, India, and Asia  on a possible international mission to escort ships through the strait but has stressed it must be when the circumstances permit, when fighting has subsided.

Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul of Germany, which was not mentioned in Trumps call, told ARD television: Will we soon be an active part of this conflict? No.

Meanwhile, emergency oil stocks will soon start flowing to global markets, the International Energy Agency said Sunday, describing the collective action to lower prices by far the largest ever.

It updated last weeks announcement of 400 million barrels to nearly 412 million. Asian member countries plan to release stocks immediately, and reserves from Europe and the Americas will be released from the end of March.

More missile and drone attacks are reported

Gulf Arab states including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Bahrain reported new missile or drone attacks a day after Iran called for the evacuation of three major ports in the United Arab Emirates  the first time it has threatened a neighboring countrys non-U.S. assets.

Tehran has accused the U.S. of launching Fridays strikes on Kharg Island, home to Irans primary oil terminal, from the UAE, without providing evidence. It has threatened to attack U.S.-linked oil, economic and energy infrastructures if its oil infrastructure is hit.

U.S. Central Command said it had no response to Irans claim, and Anwar Gargash, a diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, rejected it. Gulf countries that host U.S. bases have denied allowing their land or airspace to be used for military operations against Iran.

Iran has fired hundreds of missiles and drones at Arab Gulf neighbors during the war, causing significant damage and rattling economies even as most are intercepted. Tehran says it targets U.S. assets, even as Iranian strikes are reported at civilian sites such as airports and oil fields.

Wars toll mounts across the region

Iranian strikes have killed at least a dozen civilians in Gulf countries, most of them migrant workers.

In Iran, the International Committee for the Red Cross said more than 1,300 people have been killed. Irans Health Ministry said 223 women and 202 children are among the dead, according to Mizan, the judiciarys official news agency.

Irans government on Sunday showed journalists buildings damaged by strikes in Tehran on Friday. A police station was hit and surrounding buildings were damaged. Some apartments outer walls had been stripped away.

God had mercy on all of us, said Elham Movagghari, a resident. Other Iranians are leaving the country.

In Israel, 12 people have been killed by Iranian missile fire and more have been injured, including three on Sunday. At least 13 U.S. military members have been killed, six in a plane crash in Iraq last week.

At least 820 people have been killed in Lebanon, according to its Health Ministry, since Iran-backed Hezbollah hit Israel and Israel responded with strikes and sent additional troops into southern Lebanon. In just 10 days, more than 800,000 people  nearly one out of every seven residents of Lebanon  have been displaced.

More Iranian missile strikes hit Israel

Israel said it continued to strike Iran. Iran fired missiles toward Israel.

Several strikes hit central Israel and the Tel Aviv area, where they caused damage at 23 sites and sparked a small fire. Magen David Adom, Israels rescue service, released video showing a large crater in a street and shrapnel damage to an apartment building.

Israels military says Iran is firing cluster bombs that can evade some air defenses and scatter submunitions across multiple locations.
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A woman raising two children was among the six U.S. service members killed last week when a military refueling plane involved in the war with Iran crashed in western Iraq.

Tech Sgt. Ashley B. Pruitt, 34, hailed from a large family in Bardstown, Ky., and was very, very proud of her military career, her husband, Gregory Pruitt, said Sunday.

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Ill give you something brief: in a word, radiant, he said in a phone interview, trying to hold back tears. If there was a light in the room, she was it.

Survivors include the couples 3-year-old daughter and Sgt. Pruitts stepson.

Pruitt joined the military nine years ago and had previously deployed overseas three times. She had nearly 900 combat flight hours and two associate degrees from the Community College of the Air Force.

Most recently, she had served with the 99th Air Refueling Squadron from Sumpter Smith Joint National Guard Base in Birmingham, Ala. She was an assistant flight chief of operations and was an instructor in operating the boom on the KC-135, which refuels other planes in midair so they can fly longer distances and sustain operations without landing.

A crash in friendly airspace

The aircraft was supporting operations against Iran on Thursday in friendly airspace when an unspecified incident involving another aircraft occurred, according to U.S. Central Command. The other plane landed safely, U.S. military officials said. The crash is being investigated.

The U.S. military identified the crash victims late Saturday. Three were connected to the Sumpter Smith base and the 6th Air Refueling Wing at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla., and the other three were out of an Ohio Air National Guard base in Columbus.

To lose a member of the Air Force family is excruciatingly painful, especially to those who know them as son, daughter, brother, sister, spouse, mom, or dad, U.S. Air Force Col. Ed Szczepanik, commander of the 6th Air Refueling Wing, said in a news release. To lose them at the same time is unimaginable.

Maj. Gen. Matthew S. Woodruff, the Ohio adjutant general, called the three from Columbus remarkable Airmen whose service and commitment embodied the very best of our Ohio National Guard.

The Congressional Research Service says the Air Force last year had 376 KC-135s, including 151 on active duty, 163 in the Air National Guard, and 62 in the Air Force Reserve. It has been in service for more than 60 years.

I will see him in the smile of our son

Capt. Seth R. Koval, 38, was an instructor pilot for the KC-135R Stratotanker with 19 years of service, according to the Ohio National Guard.

A resident of Stoutsville, Ohio, he was an aircraft commander with the 121st Air Refueling Wing out of Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base in Columbus. The military said he had trained pilots in air refueling, aeromedical, cargo, and passenger operations.

He grew up dreaming about becoming a pilot and to stand beside him as he made his dreams come true was an honor, Kovals wife, Heather, said in a family statement posted on Facebook.

Kovals wife described him as an amazing husband, father, son, brother, friend, and airman who was a loving, generous fixer of all things. The most important thing about him was that Jesus was his lord and savior, she said.

I will see him in the smile of our son and carry him with me in every moment, she wrote.

Koval was from Mooresville, Ind., according to the U.S. government. He had a bachelors degree in aviation operations from Purdue University and deployed five times in the past 12 years. Koval had more than 2,000 flight hours, including 443 in combat, the Ohio Guard said. He was promoted to captain in 2022.

A life defined by service, generosity and love

Capt. Curtis J. Angst, 30, was in the military for a decade after getting a bachelors degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Cincinnati. He enlisted in the Ohio Air National Guard in 2015, with deployments in 2015 and this year.

He was doing what he loved most  flying and serving alongside the men and women he cared so deeply about, his family said in a statement posted on Facebook by his wife, Mary.

Angsts family said his life was defined by service, generosity and a genuine love for people. They described his passion for travel, the outdoors, and music, and said he made others feel welcome and valued with his constant smile and instantly recognizable laugh.

Those who knew Curtis remember his steady kindness and the joy he carried with him everywhere he went, the family said.

Angst was a KC-135R pilot with the 166th Air Refueling Squadron and lived in Columbus. A statement about his death from the federal government indicated he was from Wilmington, Ohio. He had 880 flight hours, including 67 combat hours. He was promoted to captain in November.

A new father and a new major

Maj. John A. Alex Klinner, 33, had just been promoted to major in January and had been deployed less than a week when the crash occurred, his brother-in-law said.

The pilot left behind three small children: 7-month-old twins and a 2-year-old son, according to his brother-in-law, James Harrill.

Klinner was a graduate of Auburn University and an eight-year U.S. Air Force veteran from Birmingham, Ala. He had just moved with his family into a new home, his wife, Libby Klinner, said in an Instagram post mourning his death.

He was the chief of squadron standards and evaluations at the Birmingham air base.

An outdoorsman who enjoyed hiking, Klinner was also ready to help others. When Harrill last saw him in January, Klinner had shoveled Harrills vehicle out of the snow during a family wedding.

Alex was one of those guys that had this steady command about him, said Harrill, of Atlanta, who helped set up a GoFundMe site for Klinners family. He was literally one of the most kindest, giving people.

Libby Klinner said in a post that her heart is broken for their children, who will grow up not knowing their father.

They wont get to see firsthand the way he would jump up to help in any way he could, she wrote. They wont see how goofy and funny he was. They wont witness his selflessness, the way he thought about everyone else before himself. They wont get to feel the deep love he had for them.

He deployed four times since 2019 and had put in 362 combat hours and 181 combat support hours.

A man with a ready smile

Tech Sgt. Tyler Simmons, 28, served with the Ohio Air National Guards 166th Air Refueling Squadron as a boom operator, according to his Air Force biography.

His mother, Cheryl Simmons, said Saturday that she was making funeral plans for her son, who lived in Columbus.

In a statement obtained by WCMH-TV in Columbus, Tyler Simmons family said they were saddened beyond measure.

Tylers smile could light up any room, his strong presence would fill it. His parents, grandparents, family and friends are grief stricken for the loss of life, they said.

Simmons joined the Air Force in 2017 and earned an associate degree from the Community College of the Air Force. He became a refueling specialist in 2022 and was made a technical sergeant in 2023. He deployed three times in the past decade and had 230 combat hours.

Pilot with Birmingham squadron

Capt. Ariana G. Savino, 31, was a pilot with the 99th Air Refueling Squadron, serving as its chief of current operations. She was responsible for the flying hour program and managing daily flight scheduling, among other duties.

Savino, from Covington, Wash., was a product of the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps program at Central Washington University, earning an active duty commission in 2017.

She served at bases in Georgia and Mississippi and had more than 300 combat hours. She was made captain in 2021.
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Some 200,000 immigrant truck drivers will begin to lose their commercial drivers licenses as they expire under a new Trump administration rule that takes effect Monday.

The Transportation Departments rule will weigh on the beleaguered trucking industry, which is critical to transporting goods across America at a time when energy costs are surging due to the war in Iran.

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The rule bars immigrants who are asylum seekers, refugees or recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, from obtaining commercial drivers licenses. And its part of the Trump administrations widening campaign against immigrant truck drivers following several high-profile accidents last summer.

Those with valid commercial drivers licenses will lose their driving privileges as their licenses expire, not immediately.

Aleksei Semenovskii, 41, of Pennsylvania, has driven long-haul trucks since 2020 and will lose his license in September.

I have a completely clean moving record. No accidents. No violations. I pay taxes, said Semenovskii, an asylum seeker from Russia and a plaintiff in a lawsuit against the Trump administration aiming to invalidate the rule. Theyre roasting me under open fire for not having anything done illegal.

About 200,000 immigrants in the United States hold about 5 percent of all commercial drivers licenses, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

Trucks are the main way that goods  from food to heavy machinery to hazardous materials  are transported within the United States, moving more than 70 percent of the nations freight, according to a trade group. With long hours, low pay, dangerous road conditions and extended periods away from home, trucking is plagued by high turnover rates. As Americans have left the industry, immigrants have moved in amid worsening working conditions and deregulation.

Under the rule announced on Feb. 11, immigrants with a variety of temporary protections would no longer be able to obtain commercial drivers licenses regardless of whether theyre authorized to work in the United States. For far too long, America has allowed dangerous foreign drivers to abuse our truck licensing systems  wreaking havoc on our roadways, Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy said in a statement announcing the rule last month.

Since last summer, the Trump administration highlighted a spate of fatal accidents involving immigrant truck drivers to push the new restrictions forward. Duffy has said that immigrants often cannot be vetted for their driving history outside of the United States. He has also suggested that those who have illegally obtained licenses have driven down wages and conditions for American truck drivers. Noncitizens must have work authorization to obtain commercial drivers licenses in the United States.

Opponents of the rule say that the Trump administration is discriminating against immigrants without evidence that they cause more accidents. To obtain commercial drivers licenses, immigrants and nonimmigrants alike have to go to driving schools and pass tests.

The Trump administration has conceded that theres no empirical relationship between a persons nation of domicile and safety outcomes, said Wendy Liu, a lawyer at the Public Citizen Litigation Group, which is leading a lawsuit against the rule.

In recent months, the administrations clampdown on immigrant truck drivers has accelerated. The transportation department strengthened rules and enforcement of English-language requirements in roadside tests that have resulted in thousands of immigrant drivers losing the right to drive. The agency announced in December that it had revoked the accreditation of nearly 3,000 driver training centers for failing to meet federal standards. Duffy has threatened to withhold federal funds from states, including California, New York and Pennsylvania, that federal audits have identified as improperly issuing commercial drivers licenses.

During the State of the Union, President Donald Trump called on Congress to pass legislation further restricting immigrants from obtaining such licenses. Sen. Jim Banks (R-Indiana) introduced a bill the following day that would be even tougher than the transportation department rule, by immediately revoking all commercial drivers licenses for the same group of immigrants. The bill is moving through Congress but has not yet made it to a vote.

Lewie Pugh, vice president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, a trade group representing more than 130,000 small trucking companies and independent drivers, said that he supports the rule because it will make the highways safer. He said deregulation has drawn more poorly trained immigrants into the industry with lower barriers to entry.

Our members support anything that will make the road safer not only for them but for all the families and motorists that they share the highway with, Pugh said.

While transportation experts do not expect the rule to have a major impact on the industry, the regulations could lead to companies charging higher rates as the workforce shrinks, leading to higher prices for American consumers.

I have not heard any concerns about labor shortages or significant disruption to the supply chain or transportation industry, but this change will be reflected in the cost of doing business, said Gregory Reed, a transportation attorney who specializes in regulatory issues.

Semenovskii, the Russian asylum seeker, has despaired over what the looming rule will mean for his trucking business and his ability to support his wife and 14-year-old daughter. A lawyer by profession, he fled Russia for the United States in 2019 with three suitcases, after facing threats of a fabricated criminal case related to his government opposition, he said.

Hearing about driver shortages during the pandemic, Semenovskii started a long-haul trucking business. He took out loans of roughly $200,000 for a tractor and trailer that hes still paying back. For the past four years, he has transported heavy machinery, building materials, food and Amazon merchandise across all 48 lower states.

This [rule] is devastating for my family, said Semenovskii, breaking down in tears. Ive built this small business relying on my driving privileges. I didnt think anyone could take this away from me for just being an immigrant.
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Not everyone has been a friendly neighbor on Sesame Street recently, according to a federal lawsuit.

Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit that owns the rights to the Sesame Street brand, says theme park owner SeaWorld is not paying the royalties it owes as the exclusive licensee for the beloved muppets, including from Bucks Countys Sesame Place.

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In response to efforts to recoup those payments, the theme park conglomerate launched a retaliation campaign, the lawsuit says.

After nearly half a century, Sesame Workshop is asking a federal judge to terminate the licensing agreement, placing the future of the Langhorne attraction at risk.

Sesame Workshop determined that the only path forward was to exit the partnership, a spokesperson for the nonprofit said in a statement.

SeaWorlds actions have harmed Sesame Workshop, wrongfully withholding royalty payments that are vital to supporting our charitable mission and undermining our ability to oversee SeaWorlds use of our beloved characters and brand, the Sesame Workshop spokesperson said.

A spokesperson for United Parks & Resorts, SeaWorlds parent company, said it was looking forward to setting the record straight in court.

The relationship between Sesame Workshop and SeaWorld was positive from the early 1980s until 2022, when the theme park conglomerate began withholding millions of dollars it owed the nonprofit, according to the complaint, which was filed last week in the Southern District of New York, where Sesame Workshop is based.

SeaWorld declined to pay even after a federal judge in 2024 ordered the company to do so, the suit says. Court records show that SeaWorld owed nearly $10 million plus interest.

The nonprofit eventually received those royalties in October 2025.

But in response to Sesame Workshops efforts to recoup the royalties, SeaWorld launched a retaliation campaign, the suit says. For example, the company abruptly closed the Sesame Street Bay of Play section in SeaWorld San Antonio after 13 years and replaced it with another brand, according to the complaint.

And new royalties continue to be withheld, the suit says, without specifying how much is owed. The nonprofit claims it has not received any payments for the Langhorne park since Aug. 31, 2025, beyond the court-ordered payment for previous royalties.

The nonprofit says SeaWorld violated the licensing agreement in other ways, including unilaterally changing park schedules and using the Sesame Street intellectual property without approval or permission on social media (at times with typos).

Sesame Street is the most-trusted preschool brand in the United States and SeaWorlds actions are undermining it, the lawsuit says.

SeaWorld is also tarnishing the reputation of Sesame Workshops brand through abruptly closing a beloved standalone park and Sesame Street themed attraction, disappointing children and families who already made plans to visit, and sending unapproved marketing materials using Sesame Workshops name, characters, and [intellectual property], the suit say.

SeaWorld accused Sesame Workshop in September of having breached the licensing agreement by failing to invest in the brands exposure. The company cited the end of a distribution agreement for a new season of Sesame Street on HBO Max.

Sesame Workshop had already entered into an agreement with Netflix for the 56th season of the show.

SeaWorlds accusations are nothing more than a thinly veiled pretext for SeaWorld to try to justify its failure to fulfill the Agreement, the complaint says.
In relation to First Nations, ASFI has worked with a First Nations reference group and other partners on disclosure practices, identifying gaps in how First Nations rights, governance, and material risks are reflected in corporate and sustainability reporting. Legislative changes in 2025 enabling Indigenous Business Australia to access private capital, together with new strategies and research by banks and investors, have examined the link between First Nations participation, project risk, and investment flows. Blended finance has become another area of focus. In 2025, competition clearance allowed ASFI to work with financial institutions and government bodies on co-designing blended structures in which public and private capital share risk in climate, nature, and social projects, within defined regulatory parameters. ASFI has argued that such structures can support investment where risk-return profiles might otherwise deter private capital.
Jonsson says strata committees carry complex responsibilities, and this new standard inclusion provides an additional layer of protection for individuals and the committee as a whole. The work of strata committees is complex. We chose to make office bearers liability a standard inclusion in our coverage for strata committees, as there will always be residents who disagree with decisions and may bring action against individual committee members, regardless of the legitimacy of their case, she says.
War-risk pricing and accumulation under scrutiny

In its aviation war-risk commentary, Kennedys said insurers are reassessing exposure to aircraft operating in or near conflict zones and reviewing risk appetite across fleets, routes, and hubs. Premiums for aviation risks are already rising, with more than 10% increases reported for lower-risk carriers and higher rate movements for airlines operating Middle East routes. Aircraft based in countries subject to military strikes may require additional war-risk premiums to maintain cover. This environment is contributing to a reassessment of portfolio volatility, pressure on reinsurance arrangements, and closer monitoring of accumulations at specific airports and along high-traffic corridors. Kennedys analysis points to questions for Australian insurers around the interaction between hull, liability, and war-risk layers, as well as how aggregation is measured where multiple aircraft, airports, and lessors may be exposed to the same regional conflict dynamics.
Claims activity increases and ICA revisits mitigation issues

The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) says insurers have received more than 2,000 claims from the latest flooding in Queensland, with a significant share coming from the Bundaberg region and the Burnett River catchment. The ICA declared it a Significant Event last week, prompting insurers to deploy assessors, place staff at the Bundaberg recovery centre, and make changes to claims handling processes. Insurers are contacting customers in affected areas, and the council is urging policyholders with damage to contact their insurer and lodge claims when conditions allow. ICA chief executive officer Andrew Hall said claims and customer contact remain the immediate focus. Our priority right now is making sure flood-affected Queenslanders are supported. Insurers are on the ground, and we want people to know help is available, contact your insurer, and make a claim as soon as it is safe to do so, Hall said.
Resolution Life chairman and CEO Sir Clive Cowdery said a strong foundation of shared values, clarity of vision, and breadth of capabilities would enable Acenda to play a critical role in driving innovative service and solutions for our customers at this critical juncture for the industry in Australia and New Zealand. Acenda Group CEO Chris de Bruin described the combined organisation as having the scale and stability to meet the evolving needs of our customers, and said there would be no change to customer policies or their ability to make a claim during the integration period. The group said consolidation of systems and operations would occur over time, while continuing to use the Acenda and Resolution Life brands in Australia and the Asteron Life and Resolution Life brands in New Zealand.
Over the past three months, more than one in five Australians surveyed had considered using AI to obtain life insurance advice, a proportion similar to those who thought about contacting a life insurer directly. Almost 20% reported that they had actually received life insurance advice from AI programs during that period. Cupitt said that when professional advice is costly or difficult to access, consumers are more inclined to seek information from informal digital sources. Without the right kind of advice from the right people, Australians are at greater risk of falling victim to scams and dodgy providers, Cupitt said. The research also suggests that more than half of Australians would be more likely to seek professional advice on life insurance if it were easier to obtain and involved lower costs.
Riley brings more than 25 years of experience handling financial institutions and directors and officers (D&O) claims in the London market, spanning cross-border matters across the UK, US, South America, Europe, and Israel. He previously served as senior adjuster at Starr Underwriting Agents and held a role at Aon UK as a referral point for financial lines claims.
The Gulf crisis is a reminder of how quickly geopolitical tension can migrate from a pricing discussion to a question of basic insurability. As war risk cover is withdrawn and exposures become increasingly binary  either excluded or priced at prohibitive levels  owners, charterers and their insurers must decide how much risk they are willing, or able, to carry in one of the worlds most strategically important sea lanes.
Cybersecurity experts quoted in the report said the incident reflects a deeper integration of digital attacks into modern conflict. Cynthia Kaiser, a former senior cyber official at the FBI who is now a senior vice president at Halcyon, told the Journal: This is the first extended conflict in which we have played a major role that really integrated cyber and kinetic operations together on both sides.
AIG worked with Palantir to build what is known as an ontology of the broker's portfolio using Palantir's Foundry platform. In practice, an ontology translates raw data into a structured map of how entities, risks, and relationships connect, allowing AI systems to reason about them.
The massive sewage pipe that ruptured and leaked millions of gallons of raw waste into the Potomac River returned to operation Saturday after the completion of emergency repairs.

DC Water, the utility that runs Washingtons water and sewage systems, reported that it had completed testing to determine whether the 72-inch diameter pipe could handle the flow.

The Potomac Interceptor ruptured on Jan. 19, sending 250 million gallons of untreated sewage into the river just north of the nations capital over the first five days.

The utility worked with the Environmental Protection Agency and other agencies to repair the leak and monitor the ecological impact on the river. Other work on the pipe and system could take months.

Drinking water was never in jeopardy, but recreational use by anglers, boaters and others on the Potomac has been closely monitored because of concerns over the presence of deadly bacteria that can be passed along through direct contact with the water.

A class action lawsuit was filed March 6 in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, Maryland, accusing DC Water with negligence.

Virginia Boater Files Class Action Against DC Utility for Potomac River Sewage Spill

Plaintiff Nicholas Lailas, a Virginia resident and recreational boat user on the Potomac, is seeking compensation for people whose property interests in and use and enjoyment of the Potomac River  have been impaired by Defendants conduct, the lawsuit said. It did not specify a damage amount.

The spill occurred in Montgomery County, Maryland, along Clara Barton Parkway, which hugs the northern edge of the Potomac River near the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historic Park. It became a serious environmental issue and the focus of political bickering between Republican President Donald Trump and Democratic-led Maryland.

Full flow has been restored and the C&O Canal has been fully drained as part of site restoration, DC Water said in a post on X. Since Jan 19, crews worked around the clock to stabilize the site and protect the Potomac River.

Cleaning Up Potomac River Sewer Spill Could Take Months

The District of Columbias mayor, Muriel Bowser, declared an emergency Feb. 18 and requested that Trump provide federal resources, days after he chided Democratic leaders in Maryland, Washington and Virginia for not requesting help. He approved the emergency assistance quickly to help the city address the emergency.

Betsy Nicholas, president of the Potomac Riverkeeper Network, said the situation could have been so much worse given the vulnerability of our drinking water system in the district, Montgomery County and Virginias Arlington County.

Nicholas said the incident highlights the need for ecological assessments and remediation efforts, including natural solutions such as freshwater mussels and native aquatic plants.

We need assurances that this isnt going to happen again, that theres going to be full inspection of the entire remaining system, Nicholas said.

DC Water is holding a series of meetings with the public to discuss updates on the repair and environmental rehabilitation, including ones next week in Bethesda, Maryland, and Alexandria, Virginia.

Photo: A warning sign is seen at the sight of a massive pipe rupture, as sewage flows into the Potomac River, right, in Glen Echo, Md., Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen

Copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
A man was charged week with selling a stolen gun to Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, a former member of the Army National Guard who used it to kill one person and wound two others at Old Dominion University, federal authorities said.

The charges came a day after the attack by Jalloh, who had previously spent eight years in prison for attempting to aid the Islamic State group. Authorities say Jalloh yelled Allahu akbar before opening fire in a classroom at the Virginia school and being killed by ROTC students.

The shooting happened in a class attended by active duty servicemembers and ROTC students, according to court papers. Jalloh twice asked those in the room to confirm that it was an ROTC event before he began to shoot, the document says. Jalloh was taking online classes at the university at the time of the shooting.

ROTC students receive a scholarship to attend college while training to become commissioned officers in the U.S. military.

Shooter told colleague he needed a gun for protection

The man charged, Kenya Chapman, told federal agents in an interview that he stole the gun from a car in Newport News, Virginia, about a year before the shooting and recently sold it to Jalloh, according to an affidavit filed in court. Chapman said he met Jalloh at work and that Jalloh told him he needed the gun for protection as a delivery driver, the affidavit says.

Chapman said he knew Jalloh had spent some time behind bars but denied knowing he had a previous felony conviction, which made it illegal for Jalloh to possess a firearm. He told agents he had no idea Jalloh would commit the attack, the affidavit says.

Chapman is charged with making a false statement during a firearm purchase and engaging in the business of firearms dealing without a license. Chapmans attorneys declined to comment Friday.

Chapman allegedly stole a firearm and illegally sold it to a convicted terrorist, who murdered a decorated American veteran, and he will finally face the full weight of justice, U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a social media post.

The guns serial number was partially obliterated, complicating authorities efforts to trace the firearm. But authorities ultimately found Chapman through phone records showing multiple calls between him and Jalloh in the week prior to the shooting, according to the affidavit.

Federal authorities had previously investigated Chapman in 2021 for straw purchases, when someone buys a gun for a person who cant get it legally themselves. He was issued a straw purchaser warning letter and he wrote a letter of apology after admitting to the straw purchases in 2021, according to the document.

The case was presented to the U.S. attorney at the time but the office declined to prosecute, according to the Justice Department.

Shooter was released early from federal prison

Jalloh was subdued and killed by ROTC students, according to FBI officials who praised the students bravery for preventing further harm. The shooting killed an ROTC leader who was a professor of military science at ODU.

One of the people wounded was hospitalized in critical condition but has since been upgraded to fair condition, according to Sentara Health. The other was treated and released.

Jalloh, who was sentenced to 11 years in prison in the Islamic State group case, was released from federal custody in December 2024. He was on supervised release, which is comparable to probation.

He was released about 2 1/2 years early after completing a drug treatment program, a person familiar with the matter told the AP. The person was not authorized to speak publicly and did so on condition of anonymity.

It wasnt clear how Jalloh qualified for the program, which allows inmates to shave up to a year off their sentences. Inmates serving sentences for terrorism-related offenses typically arent eligible for such programs or other sentence-reducing credits.

A message seeking information about Jallohs incarceration and release was left with the federal Bureau of Prisons.

Authorities dig for more details

At a news conference Thursday, a reporter asked the special agent in charge of the FBIs Norfolk field office, Dominique Evans, if Jalloh had mentioned the ongoing war in Iran, and Evans said there was no mention whatsoever. The U.S. and Israel launched a war with Iran with missile strikes on Feb. 28.

Evans on Thursday also requested the publics help in the investigation, saying no detail is too small.

Old Dominion University Police Chief Garrett Shelton said less than 10 minutes passed between when officers were called about a shooting in the universitys business school building and when responders determined the shooter was dead. Authorities have not said exactly how the ROTC students killed Jalloh, though Evans said they did not shoot him.

The U.S. Army Cadet Command has said on social media that three members of the U.S. Army ROTC program at Old Dominion were wounded, including one who died.

Jalloh also had served. The naturalized U.S. citizen from Sierra Leone was a specialist with the Virginia Army National Guard from 2009 until 2015, when he was honorably discharged.

Slain instructor remembered as family man, leader, protector

The man killed was Lt. Col. Brandon Shah, a 42-year-old from Chesapeake who leaves behind a spouse and a child, the U.S. Army Cadet Command said in a social media post.

Shah attended ODU as an ROTC student, according to his biography on the universitys website, and had returned in 2022 as a leader for the program. In the Army, Shah piloted helicopters over Iraq, Afghanistan and Eastern Europe.

Above all else, Lt. Col. Shah embodied what it means to be a devoted family man, a revered leader, and heroic protector even in his final moments, Old Dominion President Brian Hemphill said in a Friday message to the university community.

On campus Friday morning, in honor of his close friend Shah, Eddie Flack poured out a bottle of Wild Turkey on a lawn across from Constant Hall. Flack, also of Chesapeake, said the two became firm friends while enrolled at ODU.

I love you Brandon. Rest well with the creator. I love you, Flack said as he poured out the whiskey and looked up at the sky.

Sorry Brandon. The world needs more love, Flack said, weeping. We need to spread more love and not this hatred.

Durkin Richer reported from Washington and Sisak reported from New York City. Associated Press reporters Michael Biesecker in Washington; Adrian Sainz in Memphis, Tennessee; Jonathan Mattise in Nashville, Tennessee; John Raby in Cross Lanes, West Virginia; and Olivia Diaz in Richmond, Virginia, contributed.

Copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics USA Education Universities
Following through on an old threat, Iran has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, cutting off a vital waterway that normally carries about a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies, in retaliation for U.S.-Israeli strikes.

As oil markets worry about a global energy crisis, the United States has said it may consider escorting vessels through the strait, which could prove very hard to secure  something Yemens Houthis proved in disrupting Red Sea shipping last year. (Editors note: This article was published by Reuters on Friday, March 13.)

About a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas normally passes through the strait, where traffic has dropped by 97% since the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran began on February 28, according to United Nations data.

WHY HAS IRAN CUT OFF THE STRAIT NOW?

When a commander in Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned in 2011 that cutting off the strait would be easier than drinking a glass of water, the threat to the strait had already been made many times before.

In the years since, the Guards have continued to warn they could close it, including during tensions over sanctions and Irans nuclear program in 2016 and 2018 and during Israeli and U.S. strikes in June last year.

Analysts have always regarded the closure of the strait as a measure of last resort because of the long-term strategic changes it might prompt among Irans enemies, and the potential for retaliation against its own energy sector.

The attack on Iran starting on February 28 with the killing of its supreme leader has changed that equation. Iranian officials describe the war as existential and with the Guards increasingly taking charge of strategy.

WHAT IS AT STAKE?

The narrow passage of water between Iran and Oman that links the Gulf with the Gulf of Oman is the only sea exit for oil- and gas-producing countries such as Kuwait, Iran, Iraq, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

Read more: Strait of Hormuz Shipping Is at Near-Total Halt, JMIC Says

Oil prices briefly climbed to their highest level since 2022 on Monday. High oil prices could trigger another cost-of-living crisis, as happened after Russias invasion of Ukraine in 2022, according to the United Nations.

A prolonged conflict could also cause a fertilizer shock, risking global food security. About 33% of the worlds fertilizers, including sulfur and ammonia, pass through the Strait, according to analytics firm Kpler.

An extended war could fuel fears of a global economic crisis similar to those that followed the Middle East oil shocks of the 1970s.

WHY IS THE STRAIT SO HARD TO SECURE?

Shipping lanes are just two nautical miles wide and ships must make a turn opposite Iranian islands and a mountainous coast that provides cover for Iranian forces, according to shipping broker SSY Global.

Irans conventional navy has largely been destroyed but the Guards still have plenty of options including fast attack craft, mini submarines, mines and even jetskis packed with explosives, said Tom Sharpe, a retired Royal Navy commander.

Read more: Iran Has Likely Begun Laying Mines in Hormuz, UK Minister Says

Tehran has the capacity to produce around 10,000 drones a month, according to the Centre for Information Resilience, a non-profit research group.

Escorting three or four ships a day through the strait would be feasible in the short-term using seven or eight destroyers providing air cover, and would depend on whether the risk from mini submarines has been reduced, but doing so sustainably for months would require more resources, Sharpe said.

Even if Irans capacity to deploy ballistic missiles, drones and floating mines were destroyed, ships would still face a threat from suicide operations, said Adel Bakawan, Director of the European Institute for Middle East and North African Studies.

If the war does continue for weeks, some kind of escort will come together, said Kevin Rowlands, Editor of the RUSI Journal at the Royal United Services Institute.

The world needs oil to flow through from the Gulf, and so there is planning ongoing to put protection measures in place, he said.

WHAT HAVE THE US AND OTHER COUNTRIES PROMISED?

President Donald Trump said on March 3 that the U.S. would provide protection through the strait for oil tankers, but there have already been attacks and very little is getting through.

He also said he had ordered the United States Development Finance Corporation to provide insurance and guarantees for shipping companies.

French President Emmanuel Macron said several European countries, India and other Asian states were planning a joint mission to provide protection. But he said such an operation could happen only once the conflict ends.

France is deploying about a dozen naval vessels, including its aircraft carrier strike group, to the eastern Mediterranean, Red Sea and potentially the Strait of Hormuz.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has spoken to the German and Italian leaders about options to provide support for commercial shipping in the strait, a spokesperson said on Tuesday.

Were looking at a range of options there, General Caine told reporters at the Pentagon on Tuesday without providing details.

WHAT HAPPENED IN OTHER SHIPPING CHOKEPOINTS IN THE REGION?

Yemens Houthis, a group allied with Tehran but with a far smaller military arsenal at their disposal than Iran, managed to shut down most traffic passing through the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait on its way to the Suez Canal for more than two years despite protection provided by U.S. and European Union-led forces.

Most shipping companies are still using a far longer route via the southern tip of Africa. Danish shipping company Maersk had said it would begin a staggered return to the Suez route from January.

An EU-led force has been more successful at countering piracy off Somalias coast, but that has been against forces far less well equipped than Irans Revolutionary Guards.

ARE THERE ANY ALTERNATIVES TO USING THE STRAIT?

The UAE and Saudi Arabia have sought to find ways to bypass the strait by building more oil pipelines.

But those are not currently operational and an attack on an east-west Saudi pipeline by Houthi militia in 2019 showed those alternatives were also vulnerable.

(Additional reporting by Renee Maltezou and Kate Holton; writing by Charlie Devereux and Angus McDowall; editing by Timothy Heritage)

Photograph: A man walks along the shore as oil tankers and cargo ships line up in the Strait of Hormuz, seen from Khor Fakkan, United Arab Emirates, on Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Related:
The disruption to energy markets caused by the Iran war is a lesson on the risks of relying on fossil fuels which should drive governments to wean their economies off oil and gas faster, the U.N. climate secretary told Reuters on Monday.

If there was ever a moment to accelerate that energy transition, breaking dependencies which have shackled economies, this is the time, Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of the U.N. climate change arm UNFCCC, said in an interview.

Stiell, who will meet EU officials and government ministers in Brussels on Monday, said the price spikes triggered by the conflict demonstrated how heavy reliance on imported oil and gas threatened national security and the cost of living.

Those risks are abundantly clear right now and are burning at everyones feet, he said.

Leaders of the EU, which imports more than 90% of its oil and 80% of its gas, are drafting emergency measures to shield consumers from rising energy bills and avoid a repeat of record-high energy prices in 2022 after Russias invasion of Ukraine.

In the longer term, the European Commission says its climate change strategy to replace fossil fuels with locally-produced renewable and nuclear energy will secure energy security, and cut countries free from volatile fuel prices.

But governments including Italy and Hungary are urging Brussels to weaken its climate policies to provide short-term cost relief for industries.

Stiell will warn that doing this would be completely delusional, according to prepared remarks for an event in Brussels where he will argue the shift to renewable energy means cheaper power and jobs in clean-technology industries.

This years U.N. climate negotiations are set to take place in Antalya, Turkey in November. Turkey said on Friday NATO defenses had intercepted a third missile fired from Iran towards the country.

Stiell told Reuters the UNFCCC was monitoring the security risks, but that right now, planning continues as announced, for the COP31 summit.

(Reporting by Kate Abnett; editing by Elaine Hardcastle and Peter Graff)
The ride-sharing company Lyft will ensure the rights of blind and other disabled passengers across the country to travel with their service animals under a settlement announced in Minnesota on Wednesday.

College student Tori Andres turned to the Minnesota Department of Human Rights after several Lyft drivers refused to let her service dog, Alfred, ride along with her. The agency investigated and determined that the company was violating the states Human Rights Act. Both sides then negotiated a settlement that includes changes in driver training, and updates to the Lyft app that will make the agreement apply nationwide, not just in Minnesota.

This case is a deeply personal thing to me because I travel pretty much everywhere with my guide dog, Andres said at a news conference, as her black Labrador lay quietly near her feet, with only an occasional lick or yawn. He is my eyes. He is my freedom, and he is why I am able to live independently.

The terms require Lyft to train its drivers on the rights of passengers with disabilities, and warn them that they could be deactivated and lose their ability to drive for Lyft if they violate the law, state Human Rights Commissioner Rebecca Lucero told reporters. Drivers cant cancel or refuse a ride because a passenger has a service animal or wheelchair, or because they have low or no vision, she said. The state will monitor Lyfts compliance for three years, she added, and Andres will get a $63,000 monetary settlement.

We expect that all riders in Minnesota and in fact, across the United States, will benefit from these changes, Lucero said.

Lyft downplayed the significance of settlement, however, saying it didnt agree to any policy changes because the relief the state sought was already in place. Lyft also disputed that the company violated the law, saying any alleged violations were by independent drivers.

Discrimination has no place in the Lyft community, the company said in a statement. Lyft has maintained a strict service animal policy for nearly a decade, and independent drivers who violate that policy face serious consequences, including permanent deactivation. The commitments reflected in this agreement reaffirm the robust practices Lyft has already had in place to help ensure that riders who rely on service animals are treated with the respect they deserve.

Recent changes to the Lyft app include giving riders the option of updating their accessibility settings to notify a driver that theyre traveling with a service animal, and to report if theyre denied service, the Department of Human Rights said. Lyft agreed to follow up on every report it gets of driver refusals.

Drivers who try to cancel or refuse a ride to a passenger who has disclosed their service animal in the app will immediately receive an in-app message reminding them, Its against the law to refuse service animals, and that they risk getting fired.

The state reached the settlement with Lyft without resorting to a lawsuit. Lyfts leading competitor, Uber, the countrys largest ride-haling service, is not a party to the settlement. But Lucero said the Minnesota Human Rights Act binds all ride-share companies, including Uber. She said her agency frequently gets complaints against a variety of transportation companies, but did not indicate that anything is currently in the works against the competitor.

We recommend that all businesses use this as an opportunity to look at their policies, training and accountability systems to make sure that its being enforced correctly, Lucero said.

Uber officials did not immediately respond to a request for details on their policies about service animals. Ubers website says service animals must be accommodated in compliance with applicable accessibility laws and the companys service animal policy, which says there are no exceptions due to allergies, religious objections, or a fear of animals.

The federal government filed a lawsuit against Uber in San Francisco last September alleging it routinely refused to serve individuals with disabilities, including those with service dogs. A federal magistrate judge last week denied a company motion to dismiss the case.

Access to ride shares like Lyft is not a convenience. It is, in fact, a civil right, Lucero said.

Photo: Minnesota Human Rights Commissioner Rebecca Lucero, at the podium, holds a news conference at the State Capitol in St. Paul on Wednesday, March 11, 2026, to announce a settlement with the ride-sharing company Lyft that will ensure the rights of blind and other disabled passengers across the country to travel with their service animals. College student Tori Andres, right, turned to the Minnesota Department of Human Rights after several Lyft drivers refused to let her service dog, Alfred, ride along with her. (AP Photo/Steve Karnowski)

Copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Sharing Economy Ridesharing
While struggling to log in to their work computers last week, some employees of the medical technology company Stryker Corp. were met by an unfamiliar black-and-white cartoon figure: the logo of a shadowy pro-Iranian hacking group.

The image that greeted victims of the crippling cyberattack, according to screenshots reviewed by Bloomberg News, represents Handala, a digital sabotage persona that seeks to disrupt organizations tied to Israel or the US military.

The group said in an online post Wednesday that it attacked Stryker as retaliation for a US missile strike that allegedly hit an Iranian school. Neither Stryker nor any cybersecurity firms have confirmed that pro-Iranian hackers were behind the breach.

Handala personifies recent pro-Iranian cyber activity, with tactics that have advanced from crude defacing of websites into more potent sabotage and well-timed politically motivated attacks. The group has focused on symbolic targets, breaching victims and then leaking data to maximize their psychological effect. If confirmed, Handalas role in the Stryker incident would represent its largest incursion yet.

The attack resulted in the deletion of data on some devices, according to a person familiar with the matter who wasnt authorized to publicly discuss the incident. The company said in a corporate filing Wednesday evening that it expects the breach to continue disrupting operations and that the timeline for a full restoration is not yet known.

Stryker added in a statement early Thursday that the company was working urgently to restore its electronic ordering system.

Its relatively rare for hackers to launch so-called wiper attacks that scrub data from affected devices and are often the work of state-sponsored cyberespionage groups. Russian hackers infamously launched wiper attacks on Ukrainian targets at the outset of the 2022 invasion, while North Korean hackers used the same tactic against Sony Pictures in 2014.

The intensity of the attack against Stryker corresponds with urgent warnings that cybersecurity specialists have previously issued about Handala. If verified, this weeks breach would potentially mark the first known major cyber disruption of an American organization since joint US-Israeli strikes against Iran began nearly two weeks ago.

Justin Moore, a senior manager of threat intelligence at Palo Alto Networks Inc., said that the gang operates as a state-directed front for Irans Ministry of Intelligence and Security, and that its tradecraft has significantly evolved over the past two years into more disruptive attacks.

In some cases, Handala targeted high-profile Israeli politicians, he said. Handala said it leaked sensitive personal information from former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett after it breached his phone. It also targeted Israels Soreq Nuclear Research Center, leaking photos from inside the facility and publishing a list of scientists who were allegedly working on a particle accelerator project.

What makes Handala particularly dangerous is their transformation over the past two years into a primary cyber-retaliatory arm for the Iranian regime, Moore said. Through this evolution, they have combined the noisy, chaotic playbook of a hacktivist group with the destructive capabilities of a nation-state.

Handala suggested it had attacked Stryker because of the companys connections to Israel. In 2019, Stryker acquired the Israeli company OrthoSpace. Stryker has also previously worked with the US military: Last year, it won a $450 million contract to supply medical devices to the US Department of Defense.

However, hacks are often acts of simple opportunism, with attackers choosing targets primarily because their systems are vulnerable.

Handala takes its name from Handala, a pro-Palestinian political cartoon that shows a young boy, according to the cybersecurity firm Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. The Handala cartoon is often used as a protest symbol.

After claiming responsibility for the Stryker attack, Handala also said it was behind another disruption at the payments company Verifone. A Verifone spokesperson told Bloomberg that no breach had occurred and that screenshots published by Handala showing apparent internal access werent from a recent incident.

Handala also said it was responsible for a hack on the website of Israels Academy of the Hebrew Language. Attackers defaced the schools website with threats and a cartoon depicting pro-Palestinian messaging, according to Israels Channel 12 media outlet.

Polands National Centre for Nuclear Research also stopped an attempted cyberattack in recent days that one government minister suggested to local media outlets was tied to Iran.

State-sponsored Iranian hacking groups failed to play a meaningful part of the war in the initial days after the US and Israel started bombing Iran. In one case, the hackers digital infrastructure disappeared from the internet at the same time Israel said it bombed a Tehran building that housed the countrys cyber warfare headquarters.

However, threat analysts who specialize in Iranian espionage tactics have said that the government in Tehran has long outsourced its cyber operations to proxy groups and front organizations, which launch attacks on Irans behalf.

Cybersecurity specialists have warned that pro-Iranian groups would combine disruptive attacks with propaganda and disinformation meant to overstate their prowess. Activist hacking groups would play a particular role in any conflict, said John Hultquist, chief analyst with Alphabet Inc.s Google Threat Intelligence Group.

That strategy aligns with Irans broader approach to fighting the war.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has launched missiles against targets throughout the Middle East, regardless of their level of direct involvement in the fighting. The Iranian state-linked media outlet Tasnim published a list of US companies whose offices and products that were considered to be legitimate targets in the conflict, including American technology firms, according to Al Jazeera.

One of the companies named on that list, Microsoft Corp., works with Stryker, and the medical technology company said its Microsoft platform experienced a global disruption in the cyberattack. Microsoft declined to comment on the Stryker situation.

Photo: The Stryker Corp. headquarters in Portage, Michigan. (Bloomberg)

Copyright 2026 Bloomberg.
The Environmental Protection Agency proposed Friday to weaken air pollution limits on a chemical used to sterilize medical equipment, a move that would reverse a Biden administration finding of high cancer risks at manufacturing facilities that use ethylene oxide to clean medical devices like catheters and syringes.

The EPA said it is concerned that the current Biden-era standards actively threaten manufacturers abilities to sterilize equipment and jeopardize one of Americas only options for a secure domestic supply chain of essential medical equipment.

Ethylene oxide plays a crucial role in sterilizing lifesaving medical devices, including pacemakers and syringes, but long-term exposure can cause leukemia and other types of cancer among people who work at medical sterilization facilities or live nearby.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said the proposed rule shows the agencys commitment to protecting peoples health while maintaining a stable domestic medical supply chain.

The Trump EPA is committed to ensuring life-saving medical devices remain available for the critical care of Americas children, elderly and all patients without unnecessary exposure to communities, he said in a statement.

The proposal is the latest in a series of moves by the EPA under President Donald Trump to relax pollution limits and lower costs for industry. In February alone, the agency weakened restrictions on mercury from coal-burning power plants and repealed a scientific finding that served as the central basis for U.S. action to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change.

An EPA rule finalized in 2024 was intended to reduce ethylene oxide emissions by about 90% by targeting nearly 90 commercial sterilization facilities across the country. The Biden-era rule also required companies to test for the antimicrobial chemical in the air and ensure their pollution controls are functioning properly.

The American Lung Association called the proposed rule change unacceptable.

The science shows that both short-term and long-term exposure to ethylene oxide is dangerous for health, said Laura Kate Bender, the associations vice president. People who live near many commercial sterilization facilities are much more likely to develop cancer over their lifetimes. No one should have to live with elevated cancer risk because of air pollution in their community.

Environmental justice advocates noted that many ethylene oxide facilities are located in minority communities where Black and Brown people have been exposed to the cancer-causing chemical.

Ethylene oxide, also known as EtO, is a gas used to sterilize roughly half of all medical devices and is also used to ensure the safety of certain spices and other food products. It is used to clean everything from catheters to syringes, pacemakers and plastic surgical gowns. Brief exposure isnt considered a danger, but breathing it long term elevates the risk of breast cancer and lymphoma, the EPA said.

The EPA first classified ethylene oxide as a human carcinogen in 2016.

In 2022, the EPA laid out the risks faced by residents who live near medical sterilization facilities. In Laredo, Texas, for example, residents and activists fought to clean up a sterilization facility run by Missouri-based Midwest Sterilization Corp. It was one of 23 sterilizers in the United States that the EPA said posed a risk for people nearby.

Sterigenics, a major sterilization company, shuttered a medical sterilization plant in a Chicago suburb after monitoring found emissions spikes in nearby neighborhoods. They eventually settled numerous lawsuits.

Scott Whitaker, president and CEO of the Advanced Medical Technology Association, said medical sterilizers provide a vital service and many devices cant be sterilized by any other method.

We appreciate the EPAs efforts in listening to and understanding the importance of supplying safe, sterile medical technology without interruption while protecting employees and communities near sterilization facilities, he said in an email.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn, who has raised concerns about emissions at a Sterigenics plant southeast of Los Angeles, said Friday that the EPA is moving in the wrong direction and putting more Americans health on the line.

Copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Pollution
A federal judge on Friday ordered the Trump administration to continue funding the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau indefinitely, saying top officials had unlawfully relied on deficient legal advice to justify their refusal to do so.

The ruling from U.S. District Judge Edward Davila of the Northern District of California marked another rebuke from the courts for President Donald Trumps handling of CFPB funding, which he has said should be eliminated. A judge in Washington reached similar conclusions in December.

Representatives for the CFPB did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The consumer watchdogs work included addressing financial practices such as predatory lending, excessive fees and counting medical debt in individuals credit scores.

The administration in its early days virtually eliminated the agencys activities amid attempts to dismiss its workforce en masse.

In 2025, the Trump administration declined to fund the agency. In November, it said legal guidance prohibited it from financing the CFPB with money drawn from the Federal Reserve, as designed by Congress, because the Fed was losing money.

In his ruling, Judge Davila found that acting CFPB Director Russell Vought solicited a legal opinion from the Justice Department as a part of a transparent attempt to shut the CFPB by relying on a faulty interpretation of the Feds finances and the law  an end run around Congresss intent to shield the CFPB from this exact transparent display of partisanship.

Davila also said that, while the CFPB was subject to a preliminary injunction in another case, Fridays ruling was meant to ensure that the CFPB would be funded indefinitely.

Under court order, Vought, who also serves as Trumps budget director, in January requested $145 million from the Fed to cover CFPB expenses for one fiscal quarter but noted that he did so under protest.

Top officials have accused the CFPB of politicized enforcement and burdening free enterprise, charges the agencys supporters and staff reject. They contend that the CFPBs dismantling amounts to a giveaway to politically connected donors and entrepreneurs.

The lawsuit was filed by consumer advocacy organizations in San Jose, California

Topics USA Mergers & Acquisitions Legislation
McGill and Partners and American International Group said they collaborating to perhaps disrupt the subscription marketusing agentic artificial intelligence to deploy capital to clients.

AIG said the digital-first platform of the London-based independent broker allowed the insurer to conduct a detailed analysis of McGills specialty portfolio and create underwriting criteria to enable real-time underwriting through McGill.

The new AIG-McGill relationship has the potential to disrupt the dynamics of the subscription market, said Steve McGill, CEO of McGill and Partners, in a statement. It strengthens the value proposition of leading underwriters in the market and redefines the way capacity is positioned in the best interests of our clients. This moves beyond incremental change, and repositions the way the market operates in the future.

AIG said it expects to deploy capacity of 25% across up to $1.6 billion of McGills gross premiums written specialty portfolio.

In a collaboration with Palantir, an ontology of McGills portfolio was built, ultimately allowing AIG to underwrite the portfolio and use agentic AI to manage its performance, as well as deploy its capacity to McGill on an ongoing basis. Ontology in AI provides concepts to help AI understand the data it is processing and leverage it to produce operational results.

By leveraging McGill and Partners digital broking platform in addition to Palantirs Foundry platform, AIG will develop comprehensive insights on business underwritten, including near real-time exposure, limit deployment, modelled risk outputs and loss information, AIG said in a statement.

Peter Zaffino, CEO of AIG, said the evolution of AI is reshaping risk analytics. The developed ability to learn from McGills portfolio because of its well-established data-ingestion capabilities allows the insurer to deploy capacity with greater insight, discipline and speed, and AIG expects significant opportunity to deliver greater efficiency to the subscription market while giving clients easier access to high-quality insurance solutions, he added.

The ontology approach has been tested by AIG. Last year in October, AIG said it was acquiring the renewal rights of Everests retail commercial business. During AIGs most recent earnings call, Zaffino said AIG also built an ontology of Everests portfolio to prioritize accounts for renewal in a fraction of the time.

Related: AIGs Zaffino: Outcomes From AI Use Went From Aspirational to Beyond Expectations

With Palantirs large language models, AIG for the first time late last year used generative AI for a special purpose vehicle in a partnership with Amwins and Blackstone.

Topics New Markets AIG
Farmers Insurance said in a lawsuit that a former agent in Oklahoma allegedly conspired to move Farmers insureds to other insurance companies, including an agency where his wife works.

Farmers said Bradley McKinney broke his agent appointment agreement with Farmers when he allegedly sold insurance policies for other carriers out of his Farmers agency office.

Before McKinney parted ways with Farmers in 2025, he downloaded his entire book of business and shared the confidential information with producers at another agency, according to Farmers.

The lawsuit was filed on March 11 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma.

From 2010 to 2025, McKinney operated a Tulsa-based Farmers agency under the name McKinney Insurance & Financial Services. His wife, Tory McKinney, and producer Christopher Spicer worked for the agency until 2023, when they left to join existing Hometown Insurance Agency in Tulsa, according to the suit.

Late in 2023, Bradley McKinney began to divert Farmers insureds and insurance policies to Tory McKinney and Spicer at Hometown, the lawsuit alleges. Policies in force at Bradley McKinneys Farmers agency began decreasing in 2023, continued to decrease in 2024, and decreased at an even more significant rate in the first four and a half months of 2025, Farmers said.

The lawsuit alleges that on Feb. 18, 2025, Bradley McKinney downloaded the entire book of business of his Farmers agency in Excel, and two days later he submitted a letter to Farmers that he was terminating his agent appointment agreement.

Farmers proprietary customer data is protected through a secured sign-in process requiring multi-factor authentication, the carrier said in the lawsuit. Farmers specifically designates the information in the secured platforms as trade secrets.

Farmers terminated its agent appointment agreement with Bradley McKinney on May 15, 2025, two weeks before his planned departure. He later joined Hometown, according to the suit.

Farmers is seeking actual and punitive damages at a jury trial.

Topics Lawsuits Data Driven Carriers Agencies Agribusiness
A Florida judge has given another win to Citizens Property Insurance Corp., finding that the state-created insurers arbitration endorsement is constitutional and enforceable.

Final judgment is granted in favor of Citizens and against the plaintiff as to this declaration that the subject state and the arbitration endorsement do not violate the rights of access to the courts, equal protection or due process, reads the March 10 order from Leon County Circuit Judge Jonathan Sjostrom.

Homeowner Patricia Ruiz had filed suit in 2025, contending that Citizens 2023 plan to send some claims disputes to the Florida Division of Administrative Hearings, known as DOAH, took away her constitutional right to a jury trial. Ruiz this year voluntarily dropped the suit, but by then, Citizens had filed its own counterclaim, asking the judge to decide if the much-debated DOAH arbitration was, in fact, legal and binding.

The judge held a hearing Feb. 2. Six weeks later, Sjostrom ruled that Florida law exempts Citizens from some statutory restrictions on arbitration clauses in insurance policies.

The statutes treatment of policies issued by private insurers treats Citizens policies differently but satisfies the equal protection clause (of the Florida Constitution) because private insurers are different than Citizens and because distinguishing between private insurers and Citizens is sufficiently connected to adequately described governmental interests, the judges order reads.

The statutes statement of public interest by itself is enough to justify Citizens efforts to increase efficiencies, the judge said.

The Citizens 2023 arbitration endorsement program, later ratified by statute, was done to help avoid litigation costs for Citizens, which at the time was the states largest property insurer and was facing its share of claims lawsuits. But at least three homeowners around the state sued over the arbitration arrangement, arguing that DOAH proceedings were often too quick to allow adequate preparation and led to reduced attorney fees.

Judge Sjostrom in November ordered the DOAH hearings to continue, despite a Hillsborough County judge placing a hold on the proceedings while a Sarasota lawsuit continued. That suit, Alvarez vs. Citizens, was voluntarily dismissed in December after a settlement was reached.

In September, a suit brought in federal court by a 92-year-old homeowner also was dismissed.

Read More: Florida Judge Orders Citizens Arbitration to Continue, Clashing With Other Order

Florida Judge Blocks State Agency for Citizens Claims Disputes, But Insurer Appeals

Citizens No Longer Winning Most Arbitration Cases. Theyre Settling for Next to Nil

While One Suit Over Citizens DOAH Hearings Is Dropped, Drama Builds in Another

Topics Florida Legislation
Uber and Hyundai Motor-backed autonomous vehicle firm Motional launched a commercial robotaxi service in Las Vegas on Friday, the latest in a string of similar tie-ups as the ride-hailing platform doubles down on its self-driving taxi strategy.

Related: Amazons Zoox to Launch Command Hub in Arizona, Expand Testing

Uber has already partnered with major players in the space, including Baidu, Amazons Zoox, Nissan and British startup Wayve, and said it will invest more than $100 million to develop autonomous vehicle charging hubs as the sector races to commercialize driverless mobility at scale.

Ubers tie-up with Motional will allow Las Vegas users on its app to hail a driverless electric vehicle at no extra cost, the company said.

The service will cover pick-up zones along Las Vegas Boulevard, including Resorts World, Encore at the Wynn, Westgate Resort & Casino, Downtown Las Vegas and Town Square near the airport.

Users requesting UberX, Uber Electric, Uber Comfort or Uber Comfort Electric may be matched with a Motional IONIQ 5 robotaxi, with the option to switch to a conventional ride.

Motionals IONIQ 5 is among the first SAE Level 4-capable autonomous vehicles certified under the U.S.s Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS), according to Uber.

The vehicles will initially operate with a human safety operator behind the wheel, with a fully driverless service expected to be launched by late 2026.

Earlier this week, Uber signed a multi-year deal to deploy Amazon self-driving unit Zooxs robotaxis on its platform, with limited services already live in Las Vegas and a pilot rider program underway in San Francisco.

On Thursday, Uber, Nissan and Wayve agreed to collaborate, targeting a pilot robotaxi launch in Tokyo by late 2026, marking Ubers first autonomous vehicle partnership in Japan.

(Reporting by Lamba in Bengaluru; Editing by Jonathan Ananda)

Topics Commercial Lines New Markets Sharing Economy Ridesharing
Dear Karen,

I run a working farm that has a public right-of-way running through part of the land. A neighbour keeps several large dogs for security.

Recently, while walking the boundary fence early one morning, I was attacked and bitten by one of these dogs after it strayed onto my land.

I required medical treatment and have been unable to carry out my normal farm work since the incident. I am unsure where I stand legally, particularly as the dog was not mine and the attack occurred on agricultural land rather than in a public place. Do I have any legal recourse?

Dear Reader,

I am very sorry to hear about your experience. Incidents involving dog attacks on farms can have serious physical and financial consequences, particularly where a farmers ability to work is affected. The law in this area is clear and affords strong protection to injured parties.

Under Irish law, the owner of a dog is generally strictly liable for any injury caused by that dog. This principle applies regardless of where the attack occurs, whether on a public road, private land, or farmland. You do not have to prove that the owner was careless or negligent.

It is sufficient to establish that the dog caused the injury and that the defendant was the owner or person in charge of the dog at the time.

Where a dog strays from its owners land onto neighbouring farmland and causes injury, liability will ordinarily rest with the dog owner.

The fact the injured person is a farmer carrying out normal agricultural duties does not reduce or limit the entitlement to compensation. In circumstances where the dog was being used for security purposes, the courts may take a particularly serious view of the risk posed by such animals if they are not properly controlled.

In addition to physical injuries, loss of earnings is a key consideration in farm-related cases. If you are unable to carry out essential farm work as a result of the injuries sustained, this financial loss can form part of a personal injury claim.

Medical evidence linking your inability to work directly to the attack will be required, together with documentation of income loss or additional costs incurred in hiring assistance.

It is also relevant whether the dog was of a restricted breed or had previously displayed aggressive behaviour. Owners of dogs owe a duty to ensure their animals are adequately restrained, securely confined, and not permitted to wander onto neighbouring lands. Failure to do so can also expose the owner to regulatory or criminal consequences under dog-control legislation.

The first procedural step in pursuing a claim is to make an application to the Personal Injuries Assessment Board. This must generally be done within two years less one day from the date of the incident.

If liability is disputed or the assessment is not accepted, court proceedings may then be issued. The level of damages sought will determine whether the case is heard in the Circuit Court or High Court.

From a practical point of view, it is important to preserve evidence at an early stage. Photographs of injuries, medical records, details of witnesses, and any prior complaints about the dog should be retained. Garda involvement, if any, should also be documented.

Given the seriousness of dog attacks and the potential impact on your livelihood, it is strongly advisable to seek legal advice promptly.

A solicitor can guide you through the process, advise on time limits, and ensure your claim is properly advanced so you can focus on recovery and the continued operation of your farm.

Karen Walsh, from a farming background, is a solicitor practising at Walsh & Partners Solicitors, 17 South Mall, Cork, and 88 Main Street, Midleton, Co Cork, and also the author of 'Farming and the Law'. Walsh & Partners also specialises in personal injury claims, conveyancing, probate, and family law.

Email: info@walshandpartners.ie

Web: www.walshandpartners.ie
To celebrate St Patricks Day, my adopted home town has gone all out. Not just the usual pub crawls, parties, ceilidhs, live Irish music, shamrock-themed club nights, but drag shows, accessorised by green glitter and Guinness.

In Gay-Town-On-Sea  Brighton  our local drag queens will transform themselves into sparkly leprechauns and towering glamour-colleens.

The long-term Irish immigrant may slightly boggle at this celebratory cultural overlap. The long-term Irish immigrant might think, wait, what? How did that happen? The answer is slowly. It happened very, very slowly.

All around Brighton there will be sessions, advertised as "foot-stomping reels" with fiddles, bodhrans, accordions. It will be "great craic". All the advertisements show young people laughing while clutching black pints and amber shots, against a bright green background. Almost nobody will be Irish.

I get it. Its the middle of March, still cold, dark, and wet, and venues need to make a living. Also, people need fun. But watching foreign capitalism co-opting our national holiday is like watching a python digesting a goat; its a curious, gradual process.

It has been happening over the decades, the same as our biggest export, Halloween, once unknown outside the Irish community here, is now a gigantic UK retail event.

St Patricks Day has become another bead on the British necklace of marketable dates that link the year, like Mothers Day or Valentines or any other Hallmark cash-in. It is no longer niche.

Unlike in the US, March 17 in the UK used to be a small thing that happened in a handful of Irish pubs in immigrant postcodes. Back when Irish people kept our heads down, when anti-Irish racism was standard Saturday-night entertainment during the Thick Paddy era.

Then we became cool, and counter-attacked by naming our British-born kids with names that only we could spell or pronounce. Nobody would have named their kid Caoimhin or Cliodhna, Tadhg or Sadbh in the 70s, or even the 80s. Now were throwing all kinds of Fachtnas and Naoises at them. Even the odd Caoilfhionn.

These days, British racists and bigots tend to be more focused on firebombing mosques and standing on Kent beaches shouting at dinghies while wrapped in made-in-China Union Jacks, although anti-Irish racism hasnt fully gone away. Like the recent Potatogate case of a British male employer and his "banter" directed at an Irish female employee.

The difference is that back in the era when Gerry Adamss voice was not allowed on the BBC, I think its unlikely a similar Irish employee would have been awarded damages.

They probably wouldnt have sought them in the first place. Bejaysus, begorrah.

These days, unless you are perceived as a threat to the British states messaging  Kneecap, take a bow  the Irish in Britain have gradually gone from being despised to tolerated to celebrated. There are Irish voices all over UK media, from Deb Grant and Siobhan McSweeney, to Dara O Briain and Cillian Murphy, to the cultural institution that is Graham Norton.

The Murphia Awards, celebrating Irish hospitality talent in London, are in their 12th year. A Killarney woman won the Best Actress Bafta. Were dead cool now.

No wonder so many Brits want to celebrate St Patricks Day  apart from anything else, St Georges Day has been ruined by flag-shaggers, creating a whole swathe of cultural refugees keen for some craic.

Cead mile failte, guys. Green heart emoji.
There's a group of people we dont talk about enough  the squeezed middle. Not squeezed by money as such but by responsibility, caught between raising children and caring for their ageing parents.

Many of us have children later in life now, so it can feel like we move straight from nappies and school runs to hospital appointments and round-the-clock worry, barely pausing for breath in between.

According to a press statement titled Older Persons Information Hub from the Central Statistics Office, the number of people aged 85 and over is expected to nearly quadruple, from about 104,300 in 2027 to 389,400 by 2057.

The old-age dependency ratio (people 65+ relative to those aged 1564) is projected to rise from about 25% to nearly 50% over the same period.

This is, in many ways, good news for all of us who are ageing  a sign we are living longer and surviving more. But it also forces an uncomfortable question: do we really have the support and infrastructure in place to allow families and carers to manage this responsibly and sustainably, without exhaustion, guilt, or feelings of isolation creeping in?

Ruth Elizabeth Powell is a part-time, remote carer to her dad. She lives in Dublin and her dad lives in South Wales. Powell travels across the sea every six weeks to visit him.

Like many middle-aged women, the responsibility of caring for an older relative falls to me and the person I care for doesnt live in my home, my town, or even my country.

When I travel across the sea, I can almost spot the other women doing the same, and so many of my friends and colleagues are in similar positions," she says. "We all have jobs with responsibility, teenage children who need a very particular kind of care, our own health worries, and lives rooted in community and voluntary work.

Yet once a month, or whenever we must, we set aside our ordinary lives and travel through a porthole into another one  the life where we co-ordinate care that cant be outsourced: appointments, freezers, floors, care teams, GPs, council calls, and endless lists.

Dara Kiernan's parents with his son Ethan. Dara says: 'Becoming a father at 55 sharpened my focus on leadership, care and responsibility  not just at work, but in life.'

If were lucky, we get quiet moments to tell the person we care for how much we love them, whispering apologies for not being able to do more  because there are no more hours, ferries, or trains and we cant stretch ourselves any thinner without disappearing.

Powell adds: Ive just returned to Dublin after another six nights with dad. Remote, part-time carers often sleep in childhood bedrooms, caring around the clock  a world away from a short visit with a clear beginning and end.

When Im with him, I eat, sleep, and watch TV beside him, loud and repetitive, sleeping in fragments, worrying about the life Ive paused while tending to this one.

And yet, somewhere between the hundredth episode of Midsomer Murders, theres a deep calm in simply being there. If something happens, Im present and that peace makes it worth it.

I return to Ireland, feel at home for a night or two, and then begin planning the next journey.

Powell says looking after two homes has challenges, and trying to stay on top of two sets of bills and cleaning and heating.

She adds: Its all a little too much at times, and of course, I am so lucky and I know that. There are billions of people in this world who would swap places with me in the blink of an eye.

Still, sometimes, I wonder if I could make it easier for myself.

Dara Kiernan is a customer service and leadership consultant and author based in Wexford, with a background in public-sector transformation and customer experience. He shares his own experience of caring for his parents in mid-life.

Becoming a father at 55 sharpened my focus on leadership, care, and responsibility  not just at work, but in life  as I balance raising a young son and supporting my mother, who needs me in a very different way.

The distance between us makes that balance harder and there are days when the logistics alone are exhausting, but this time with my mother matters. My son has time on his side; my mother doesnt and that truth shapes my choices.

This isnt about neglecting one role for another  its about prioritising time, knowing that life, work, and responsibility all have to coexist in the same limited space.

My father died three years ago at 94 after almost a decade with dementia, while my mother, now 92, lives alone in the family home, sharp-minded but physically frailer.

My sisters, brother, and I share the load, and the carers help with the practical things, But we know that what she needs most now isnt just care, but presence, time, conversation, and simply being with her.

Steve Newman is a travel writer and has a similar situation, but is slightly older than the typical mid-life age bracket. He has been a carer in his 70s to his partner of 35 years, who now resides in a care home after a fall resulting in a traumatic brain injury. This led to cerebral vascular disease, developing into dementia.

For two years, I changed the beds every morning as my partner was unable to control her bladder, he says. The stress of having to watch her 24 hours a day in case she wandered off on to main roads or fell downstairs again was unbearable.

Newman says the worst thing for him was the lies he had to tell his partner to keep her safe.

He says: This, along with the ever increasing guilt, resulted in me having to get counselling.

My partner has been in a care home now for five years and the guilt still has not disappeared.

The worst part is coming to terms with the fact that the woman I have adored for over 40 years does not exist anymore.

As Newman points out: More and more older people are becoming carers, and as people are living longer, it could be for some time.

Mother of two Susan shares honestly about the challenges she faces.

Im coming up to 60, living in the middle of nowhere and working full-time. Some days, I just want to scream because illness takes up so much space  it seeps into everything and quietly wears you down.

Im the primary carer for my 84-year-old mother. Shes always cried wolf about aches and pains, but now shes really unwell, which makes the guilt sharper.

Last Sunday, I spent eight hours in A&E on top of additional hospital appointments, scans, waiting rooms, and not once am I asked how I am.

Im fit, I mind myself, I still want things, but being squeezed in every direction makes it impossible and the guilt hits hardest.

As the numbers and pressures grow, its clear this isnt just a personal challenge  its a societal one.

We need to start talking openly about the squeezed middle, about the choices, compromises, and quiet sacrifices that families and carers make every day. Because without proper support, the joys of living longer risk being overshadowed by stress and strain, and no one should have to navigate that alone.
Plans are being drawn up to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the birth of one of the worlds foremost suffragettes, who was born in a North Cork town.

A number of commemorations are expected to take place in Kanturk during May next year to mark the birth of Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington.

She was the daughter of mill owner and later Nationalist MP David Sheehy, whose ideals she followed for Irish freedom but also, and more prominently, the rights of women.

Although taken for granted today in democracies, women were denied their democratic right to vote until movements for women's suffrage gathered momentum in the mid and late 19th century.

Due to the efforts of Hanna and other women around the world, the right to vote was an established norm in democracies by the mid-20th century.

From left: Hanna Sheehy Skeffington, Kathleen Shannon, and Kathleen Sheehy at the 1908 founding of the Irish Womens Franchise League, which campaigned for voting rights for women.

In 1902, she joined the Irishwomen's Suffrage and Local Government Association, which campaigned for women to get the vote and followed closely the formation in London the following year of a more militant suffrage organisation, the Women's Social and Political Union, whose members included the famous Emmeline Pankhurst.

In May 1912, she and her husband, Frank, launched the first issue of the suffrage paper The Irish Citizen, designed to promote womens rights, which she edited until 1920.

In the meantime, Hannah, who spoke a number of languages, also corresponded with suffragettes in Britain and the USA.

In July 1902, she became the director of organisation for the Sinn Fein party.

In May 1926, she was one of four women appointed to the executive of the new Fianna Fail party.

In the same year, she led protests against the staging of Sean OCaseys play The Plough and the Stars at the Abbey Theatre, maintaining it devalued those who took part in the 1916 Easter Rising.

In August 1930, she went to Russia to study the Soviet system of government and later became assistant editor of An Phoblacht and its successor, Republican File.

Seven years later, after having misgivings about Irelands new constitution, she helped establish the Women's Social and Progressive League as a non-sectarian women's political party.

Hannah stood for it in the 1943 general election, but failed to win a seat. She died of heart failure in 1946 and is buried beside her husband in Dublins Glasnevin Cemetery.

Such is her renown that many of her writings are kept in the Hoover Institution Archives in Stanford, California.

Cork County Council has committed to financially supporting some of the events being planned after being lobbied by Fine Gael councillor Trish Murphy.

A main event is being planned for the Edel Quinn Hall, Kanturk, in May 2027 to mark the 150th anniversary of her birth.

I'm very excited that community groups are getting involved organising events to mark Hanna Sheehy Skeffington's 150th birthday," Ms Murphy said.

"Talks have begun on inviting different speakers and lots of other ideas to make this a very memorable event."
The Government needs to do more to help people get over their fear of investing cash, according to a leading economist.

The latest household savings figures show people saved less at the end of last year, but there is still a record amount of cash  more than 170bn  held in current accounts or other easy-to-access but low-interest account types.

Referencing the illustrated childrens books from the early 1900s, economist Alan McQuaid says finance minister Simon Harris needs to come up with a simple Lady Bird explanation as to how investments work.

One of the strange things about our economy is that while deposit rates are low, there is a record amount of money held on deposit, he said.

But a lot of people are nervous and were badly bitten in the crash.

This is despite the fact that when inflation continues to rise and deposit rates are less than inflation, the value of the money on deposit is actually going down.

But I think people just dont care about that.

Even though shares tend to perform better in the long run, people just see leaving money on deposit they can get access to as a safe bet.

Maybe what this tells you is that the Irish overall are quite cautious.

Id say there is a mentality among people that even though they could earn more money from shares, they are happy to keep their money on deposit, protected by the bank deposit guarantee scheme.

Mr McQuaid added: The risk [of investing in shares] isnt as great as you think it is.

I think that probably [there] is an argument for the minister of finance to go out and do a 'Lady Bird' explanation to people how these things work.

Mr McQuaid was speaking as new Central Statistics Office (CSO) data showed that, in the final three months of 2025, the seasonally adjusted household saving rate stood at 12.4%  the equivalent of 1 in every 8 of disposable income.

This saving rate was down from a revised 14.2% in the three months up to September last year, and below the average of 13% since the start of 2023.

Although household savings typically dip in the final quarter of the year due to Christmas spending, the saving rate at the end of 2025 was still lower than in the same period of 2024. The seasonally adjusted rate stood at 12.4% in the fourth quarter of 2025, compared with 15.3% a year earlier.

CSO statistician Mark Manto said the 12.4% rate was the lowest seasonally adjusted household saving rate since it hit 12% in the second quarter of 2024.

The provisional 2025 saving rate was 13.6%, similar to 2024 and higher than 2023.

Household spending in the last quarter of last year on goods and services was 42.9bn, a 2% increase on the previous quarter.
Senior Kinahan cartel member Sean McGovern, who last summer became the first person to be extradited to Ireland from the United Arab Emirates, has pleaded guilty at the Special Criminal Court to directing a criminal organisation.

McGovern appeared via videolink before the non-jury court, when prosecution counsel Dominic McGinn said the defendant could be arraigned on two charges.

The 39-year-old, with a previous address at Kildare Road, Crumlin, Dublin 12, pleaded guilty to a charge of directing the activities of a criminal organisation between October 20 and December 22, 2016, in relation to the murder of Christopher aka Noel Kirwan.

McGovern also admitted directing the activities of a criminal organisation between October 17, 2015, and April 6, 2017, in connection with the surveillance of James Gately in preparation for the commission of an indictable offence.

McGovern replied guilty when both charges were read out.

Mr McGinn asked the court to set a date of April 27 for a sentencing hearing, and said victim impact evidence would be heard on that date.

Asked by Ms Justice Karen OConnor, presiding, whether his client wished to be present for the sentencing hearing or to appear by videolink, Michael Bowman SC, representing McGovern, said it was probably better he appears in person.

He asked that a governors report be provided from Portlaoise prison.

Ms Justice OConnor directed the preparation of the report, and adjourned the matter to April 27.

McGovern, who was injured during the attack at the Regency Hotel in 2016, was previously named during a separate trial at the Special Criminal Court as "a significant figure" with a "leadership role" in Kinahan organised crime group.

The court heard the Kinahan group are involved at an international level in importing drugs and in their distribution at street level. They enforce their control "by violence, using firearms and murder".

The senior leadership is now based in Dubai, with other cells in mainland Europe and South America, while some cells remain in Ireland.

Christopher (aka Noel) Kirwan, was an innocent man who was shot dead after he was pictured attending the funeral of a Hutch family member, despite having no connection to either side of the Kinahan or Hutch crime organisations.

The Special Criminal Court has previously heard the murder of Mr Kirwan was committed in the context of the Hutch/Kinahan feud as retaliation by the Kinahans arising out of the Regency Hotel attack and other incidents in 2014 and 2015.

In an affidavit previously opened in the High Court, a Criminal Assets Bureau officer alleged James Gately was "a leading and prominent member of the Hutch Organised Crime Gang" involved in the importation of controlled drugs.

Gately has survived two attempts on his life, including one attempted hit in which he was shot five times as he sat in his car at a petrol station in May 2017.
The man on trial for murdering his partner at their apartment in Midleton was asked on Monday: Did you kill her? and he replied: I killed her, yes.

31-year-old Adam Corcoran has pleaded not guilty to murdering mother of two, Deana Walsh at their home at John Barry House, Midleton, Co Cork, on August 2, 2024, and arson of the apartment.

Donal OSullivan, prosecution barrister, said not alone did Adam Corcoran murder the 27-year-old, but he started to dismember her body. He denied these allegations.

Mr OSullivan said: You panicked  how do I get out of this? You changed your course. The injury to her left arm  almost amputated  carried out by the bread knife most likely. Essentially, you were trying to dismember the body?

Adam Corcoran, who cried a number of times during his evidence, said: No.

The prosecution senior counsel continued: When that did not work you decided, I will put aerosols on the cooker, go downstairs and wait for a while What happened to her? Did you kill her?

The man who denies murder replied: I killed her, yes.

When you rang 999 you said suicide, Mr OSullivan said, in relation to the explanation the accused gave for Ms Walshs death.

The accused replied: That is what I believed at the time. I didnt know what happened.

And then you said to the guards, you did not kill her  that was a lie? the prosecutor said.

The accused replied: At the time that is what I believed.

When did you remember all this? Mr OSullivan asked, and the accused replied: Months after, over a period of time, yeah.

Mr OSullivan said: What you have done here, you have come in and you have lied repeatedly to this jury. Have you lied?

He replied: No.

You lied from the very start  to the 999 operator, to the guards when you spoke to them immediately after, you lied to guards the next day, you are lying now, Mr OSullivan said.

The defendant said: No.

You tried to invent a story to fit with physical facts of the case so that you will be found not guilty, is that what you are trying to do? he was asked, and again replied: No.

During his direct examination, Adam Corcoran was asked by his own senior counsel Brendan Grehan what his position was now about different injuries on the deceased. He replied: I must have done.

Did you intend to kill Daena? Mr Grehan asked. He replied: No.

Did you intend to cause her serious injury? he was asked and again and replied: No.

Did you love her? Mr Grehan asked. He replied: Very much so.

Do you know how the fire started? Mr Grehan asked. He replied: No.

Asked about what occurred earlier on the day of Ms Walsh's death, he said they had been drinking and taking cocaine the night before and had not slept at all. We planned to go into the city, buy a couple of Benzos. We had 15 or something left. We were going to have a look around for engagement rings as well, yeah, he testified.

He said they couldnt get the bus because they did not have the right change. He said at the bus stop, Daena said I was looking at one of the girls on the bus. He said he and Daena had vodka and lines of cocaine back at the apartment.

She had the red knife in her hand. She was self-harming. She was cutting her [left] arm. She started shouting at me, saying I was cheating on her. I tried to reassure her I was not. She screamed at me She was hitting me, head-butting me, lashing out. I didnt know where the knife was. I was lashing out at her. I got on top of her. I hit her twice in the chest. She stopped moving. I was out of breath. I was dizzy. I felt wet on my T-shirt. The red knife was in my hand.

I just ran from the house. I was running. I was halfway down the stairs. I didnt know why I was running. I started walking out. I got outside then. I cant remember what happened. I remember hearing the fire alarm.

I seen the neighbour going into the apartment. I ran up and went in with him I seen Daena on the floor. I made the 999 call.

Mr OSullivan cross-examined him on this account saying: There is some kind of verbal dispute. She was accusing you of being unfaithful. The only injury you say was to her left arm and she lunged at you? He replied: Yeah.

Asked if he was saying she held a knife out towards him, he replied that he did not know and he said he grabbed both of her wrists.

Mr OSullivan referred to the accused man, saying he hit her twice in the chest and asked him to describe this. He replied: I thought at the time it was my fist, yeah.

In relation to a knife, the accused said: I dropped it. I caught it. On the swing of the catch, I cut her arm where it was already cut.

Mr OSullivan said: Her left arm was almost amputated. I am putting it to you it is nonsense, you are making up a story to fit the facts, is that the case?

He replied: No.

During cross-examination, Mr OSullivan said the pathologist found 25 sharp force injuries to the body of the deceased, including one chest wound through the chest which appeared to be a composite wound of a number of wounds which merged into one.

The trial continues on Wednesday.
It is "grim" that a Ukrainian war veteran who once had a "real romance" with his partner tried to murder her by stabbing her 15 times after developing an "unshakeable" belief that she was being unfaithful to him, his barrister has told the Central Criminal Court.

Last month, Ukrainian refugee Viktoriia Pavlenko described how she woke to find her "jealous" ex-partner Hryhorii Sryotenko pinning her down and demanding to be told "the truth" about her "lover" before trying to murder her.

In her victim impact statement, Ms Pavlenko said Sryotenko had "absolutely mad eyes" before launching the attack, in which he repeatedly stabbed her in the face and body.

She added: "He threatened to stab me if I didn't tell him the truth about my lover. I didn't have any lover so I didn't understand what he was talking about. Then he stabbed me on my face and body".

Guilty plea to attempted murder

Last October, Sryotenko (51) with an address at Banna Beach Holiday Homes, Ardfert, Co Kerry pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of Ms Pavlenko at that location on January 13, 2024.

Sryotenko was previously charged with false imprisonment, assault causing serious harm, and the production of a knife during a dispute.

Plea in mitigation

Beginning Monday's plea in mitigation, defence counsel Mark Nicholas SC alongside Maria Brosnan BL told Mr Justice David Keane that this was a "terrifying" experience for Ms Pavlenko and that anything he said was not to not minimise the shock the victim experienced in her own home.

Counsel said his client has no previous convictions and had given enormous service to his own country.

He said Sryotenko had joined the army, where he got a significant leg injury in the 2014 Crimean conflict before being discharged.

"When the current invasion took place he tried to make himself available again but was precluded," counsel explained.

Mr Nicholas said Sryotenko had immediately "put his hands up" to gardai in relation to this event and at no point tried to apportion blame elsewhere. "He at all stages expresses he is responsible and hopes the victim will recover," said counsel.

'Mixing up reality with imagination'

The lawyer told the judge that his client accepts he carried out this very serious assault but said he did not have an intention to kill.

He said it was "unfortunate and grim" that the couple started off "in a very positive way with a real romance" and had formed a loving relationship from 2022 to 2023.

Mr Nicholas said his client had developed an "unshakeable and incorrect belief" that Ms Pavlenko was being unfaithful to him, despite her reassurances.

The barrister said Ms Pavlenko told gardai that, prior to the incident, Sryotenko had a change of personality, was not sleeping and that she was worried about him.

"She said he was mixing up reality with imagination and that this was not the man she knew."

Counsel described the events of that day as shocking and terrifying. He said the assault went uninterrupted for quite some time and it was only when the defendant's son came into the bedroom that things came to an end. "It is a troubling case in many ways".

He submitted that whilst his client owned up to the assault, he still had difficulty in accepting his plea "to the intention".

Counsel described Ms Pavlenko's statement as "very elegant and kindly crafted".

Mr Nicholas asked the judge to take into account his client's guilty plea and lack of previous convictions.

Mr Justice Keane remanded Sryotenko in custody until March 26, when he will be sentenced.

Victim impact statement

In her victim impact statement delivered last month, Ms Pavlenko said that she and her daughter had to leave Ukraine in 2022 when the war broke out and "look for a shelter somewhere in a safe place".

The victim said life improved when they came to Ireland and it gave them "a feeling of peace and tranquility" but that "everything changed completely" on the day of the attack.

In her statement, Ms Pavlenko said she met Sryotenko in Ireland and they were neighbours.

At first everything was good, we planned our future life together. But then he turned out to be very jealous.

"He started to accuse me of saying and doing things I've never said or done"," she said.

The victim said she started to suspect her partner had some mental health problems.

She said they separated in November 2023 but still lived in the same house.

"I will never forget January 13.

"I was sleeping peacefully in my bed when I heard a strange noise. I opened my eyes and at first I didn't realise what was going on. I saw Hryhorii in my bed, sitting on me with a knife in his hands.

"His eyes were absolutely mad. He threatened to stab me if I didn't tell him the truth about my lover.

I didn't have any lover so I didn't understand what he was talking about. Then he stabbed me on my face and body.

"I don't know how many times because I was shocked.

"I shouted and luckily his son heard and came into the room and saved me. Truly speaking, I have rather vague memories of that day, mainly because of the pain, fear and shock."

Ms Pavlenko said she was taken to University Hospital Kerry and then Cork University Hospital, where she was operated on for her injuries.

The court heard she had 15 stab wounds on her body.

She said she spent weeks in hospital and then months recovering from the injuries and doing special exercises for rehabilitation.

"I should admit that it was a rather difficult time for me".

The victim said that "step-by-step" she is coming back to a normal life with the help of her daughter and her friends.

Sryotenko has no previous convictions. During interviews with gardai, the court heard that Sryotenko admitted stabbing the victim but denied attempting to kill her.

The defendant said he had done something terrible and was happy Ms Pavlenko was still alive.
The normalisation of war can never be accepted, President Catherine Connolly has said the "normalisation of war can never be accepted", as Taoiseach Micheal Martin is due to meet US president Donald Trump.

In her first St Patrick's Day address to the nation, President Connolly said that "we must renew our commitment to peace and diplomacy in line with the principles of international law as set out in the United Nations Charter", "now more than ever".

While giving her St Patrick's Day speech, President Connolly said Irish people are "uniquely placed to offer a valuable perspective", as her speech focused on the war.

President Connolly said: "As a neutral, independent country, a post-colonial society, and a people marked by famine and forced migration, we are uniquely placed to offer a valuable perspective on the challenges facing our world, not least war and displacement.

"We are a people who have travelled our own path to peace in dealing with bitter conflict and its legacy. "We understand that peace is not merely the absence of war but also the presence of justice.

"As we celebrate our special day, let us look to the future with hope, determination, a renewed respect for our shared humanity, and use our voice to promote justice and peace in our world."

Her address took place as Mr Martin is getting ready for meeting Mr Trump in the Oval Office this Monday.

In her address, Ms Connolly recalled the "foundational story" on which St Patrick's Day is based.

"Patrick was trafficked across the Irish Sea from Britain as a young man in the 5th century only to return to Ireland as a missionary, giving voice and his life to fostering an awareness of the consequences of slavery.

"The story of Patricks life serves as a reminder of the resilience and courage of migrants, the invaluable contributions that they have made, and continue to make, to the countries they now call home, sometimes even in the face of great adversity.

"Patricks story speaks not only to the Ireland of the 5th century, but to the millions still subjected to trafficking, forced labour and displacement today," she said.

The President emphasised Patrick's story is one of "hospitality and kindness".

She added: "We stand in solidarity with those who find themselves in vulnerable and dangerous circumstances."
Tanaiste Simon Harris has said that Conor McGregor represents the very worst of Irish society but stated that it is up to the US who it invites to the country.

There is still uncertainty as to whether the disgraced MMA fighter will be in Washington DC today for the St Patricks Day celebrations following his appearance at the White House last year.

It has been reported that there is a possibility McGregor could be in the city.

Mr Harris told reporters in London it was a matter for the United States of America who they let into their country.

My view of Conor McGregor is well known. He represents the very worst of us.

Tanaiste Simon Harris told reporters in London that Ireland was celebrating Jessie Buckley, 'someone who represents the best of Ireland' while 'Conor McGregor represents the very worst of Irish society'.

Today, were celebrating [Oscar winner] Jessie Buckley, someone who represents the best of Ireland, an incredible person whos shattered a glass ceiling, [by becoming] the first Irish woman to win Best Actress at the Oscars.

[She is] an incredible ambassador for our country.

Conor McGregor represents the very worst of Irish society.

"Nobody needs any advice from me. But [St Patricks Day in the White House] is a celebration of Irishness, of our values, of inclusion, of the best of us.

When I think of the best of us. I dont think of Conor McGregor.

Last year, Taoiseach Micheal Martin visited the White House the week before March 17, with McGregor visiting US president Donald Trump on St Patricks Day.

As McGregor addressed the press in the White House, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said she couldnt think of a better guest to have with us on St Patricks Day than him.

The Taoiseach condemned comments on immigration that McGregor made in his visit to the White House, branding them wrong and arguing that they did not reflect the spirit of St Patricks Day, or the views of the people of Ireland.
Britain has witnessed many horrific crimes over the decades but the 2002 murders of best friends Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman was shocking beyond belief. It stunned the country, and further afield, for so many reasons.

Nearly 24 years later that awful period is back in the news because their killer has now been killed.

There was the mystery of their disappearance after a family BBQ on a summers day. The search. The rolling news coverage. The hope. Their innocence. Then the discovery of their bodies. The cruelty. The grief. The manhunt. The arrest. The anger.

The revelation that a school caretaker, a bland, forgettable little man called Ian Huntley, was their murderer.

And that picture of them, smiling together in their matching red Manchester United jerseys. It was given to the media when there was still hope that they might be found, that their disappearance could have been because of something silly or childish.

'Prisons are very, very dangerous places'

Huntley had been serving a life sentence with a recommended minimum term of 40 years.

The reality is that he would never have been released, such was the depravity of his crimes and the callousness of his actions.

Now he is no more. He took their lives without a thought and his life too has ended in the most brutal fashion inside a prison, allegedly at the hands of a fellow prisoner.

The double killer had been held on a segregated wing of HMP Frankland in the north-east of England, living alongside other prisoners whose crimes are so deplorable they cant safely mix with the general prison population for fear of attack.

Child killers, paedophiles, terrorists and rapists. The irony is that one of his fellow segregated inmates allegedly killed him with a metal pole after an argument.

Huntley had enemies everywhere and he apparently knew it, once telling a fellow prisoner that prisons are very, very dangerous places and nowhere is safe.

How prophetic his words proved to be.

Nothing more could be done for Huntley after the savage beating he took and he died at the weekend. A man has now been charged with murder.

Holly Wells (left) and Jessica Chapman. Their murders stunned Britain and beyond for many reasons. File picture

Nobody will grieve his death, reviled as he was. It has been reported that the UK taxpayer will have to stump up 3,000 for his funeral because he died in custody and those are the rules.

His own daughter has said that his ashes should just be flushed down a toilet.

Its time now for the UKs justice secretary David Lammy to make sure that not a single penny more is wasted on Huntley or anything to do with him. On this occasion, nobody will criticise a politician for breaking the rules.

There had been previous attacks on him in jail, emergency trips to hospital and extra security. It all added up  his 24 years in custody will have cost the British taxpayer several million pounds.

The bottom of a very scummy pond

There will, no doubt, be an inquiry into how this could have happened inside a prison. Given the rancid state of the UKs prison system there should be no surprise.

The prison estate is crumbling, overcrowded and the level of violence is off the charts.

Prison guards do well to avoid attacks, never mind the likes of double child killers.

The barbarity of Huntleys crimes means that nobody will care what comes of the inquiry or what recommendations are made as a result of it.

You would hope that they dont waste too much time on it because Huntley deserves absolutely nothing.

Prosecution Counsel Richard Latham outlining the case against Ian Huntley and Maxine Carr at the Old Bailey in 2003. File picture: Elizabeth Cook.

What he deserves is the dustbin of history.

It has been reported that segregated inmates were queuing up to kill him.

It would appear that in the depths of criminality, Ian Huntley lived at the bottom of a very scummy pond. And even there they found him.

Even the men who had to be on the same wing as him  all segregated because of their own awful crimes  couldnt bear to be near him.

What made this case all the more enraging and upsetting was that the girls knew his girlfriend Maxine Carr, who worked as a teaching assistant at their primary school.

She gave him an alibi as the police search intensified.

Carr was jailed in 2003 for conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. She was released in May 2004, relocated and given a new identity.

Brazen

The double murderer was even brazen enough to give an interview to my former Sky News colleague Jeremy Thompson at the height of the search in 2002.

When the media was attending daily news briefings with the police in charge of the search for Holly and Jessica, Huntley would be on the periphery.

A pathetic little runt of a man, who could have ended the media circus by coming clean, but chose not to.

As the UK prayed for a miracle, he knew there was never going to be one. He knew exactly where their little bodies lay and said nothing.

It took almost two weeks for them to be found, in a ditch, near RAF Lakenheath, 10 miles away. Huntley was arrested that same day.

Ian Huntley sitting in his car outside his house near the college in Soham in 2002 when police were looking for 10-year-old Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman. File picture

Until that Sunday evening in August 2002, when the girls vanished, hardly anyone had ever heard of the Cambridgeshire town of Soham.

Now it is forever linked to Huntley and the appalling evil he visited on two little girls, their families and an entire community.

Nobody will ever know why he did what he did, he has taken that with him.

To the end, he denied that he had killed them, claiming that Holly had fallen into his bath and drowned and that he killed Jessica while trying to silence her.

The last word on Huntley should go to his only daughter, Samantha Bryan. As he lay in a coma last week, with no prospect of recovery, she told reporters that "a special place in hell is waiting for him".
Tesco has long been committed to supporting Irish producers, from family-run farms to long-established local businesses working with more than 490 Irish food and drink suppliers, championing their products, growing together, and supporting them through initiatives such as Blas na hEireann. The result? Shelves and fridges full of great Irish food and thriving Irish businesses. Here, we meet some of the passionate teams behind these products.

Follain

Follain, the Irish word for wholesome, perfectly sums up what this family-run Cork business stands for. The story began in 1983, when friends Mairin Ui Lionaird and Eithne Ui Shiadhail began a business from their home kitchens using Eithnes grandmothers 100yearold grapefruit marmalade recipe. A few years later, Mairins husband, Peadar, began driving around the county, promoting and selling their wares. They grew steadily, and the Lionairds are now Irelands largest producer of preserves. All the while still based in Cul Aodh, Co Cork, part of the Muscrai Gaelteacht, where speaking Irish is part of daily life.

Tradition has always been central to Follains identity, something that greatly impressed Laura Hewson, sales and marketing manager, when she joined. She says they still have the traditional taste that first drew customers more than four decades ago. Every jar, every preserve is still made in big copper vats using traditional techniques, she says. We use kitchen recipes and scale up."

Micheal O Lionaird, director of Follain

Tesco has been part of the journey from the very beginning. Follains Grapefruit Marmalade first appeared on shelves back in the 1980s when Quinnsworths were still around. Tesco began opening in Ireland in the 1990s and kept Follain as a supplier, and has grown the partnership ever since. Today Follains own products are always on the shelves and they also produce a range of Tesco Finest relishes, chutneys and sauces.

We are so, so proud of the Tesco Finest range, says Hewson. Premium recipes made with premium Irish ingredients. Recent successes, including wins at Blas na hEireann have reinforced how valued Follain is by Irish shoppers. Now, with Tescos support, the company is taking its next step into international markets, exporting to central Europe and exploring listings in Tesco UK and Northern Ireland. Not only do we have great support in Ireland with our brand and producing the Tesco Finest, but now they are opening doors for us outside of Ireland. It seems like theres a very wholesome future ahead.

Follains Tesco top picks

Tesco Finest Gherkin and Mustard Relish  Gold at Blas na hEireann

Tesco Finest Burger Relish  Silver at Blas na hEireann

Tesco Finest Apple & Fig Chutney - Bronze at Blas na hEireann

Killowen

The Dunnes have been farming the same land in Co Wexford for an incredible nine generations. For the past couple of decades, theyve used their farms milk to create delicious products for Killowen Dairy. It started with yoghurts, says Pauline Dunne. My brother Nicholas took over the farm and wanted to do something different. When they heard that a local yoghurt-maker called Killowen was closing, they decided to buy the brand, and so Killowen, as we know it, was born. Were 21 years in business now, she says.

Knowing the land so well is part of what makes Killowen special, says Pauline. We know whats happening with the cows daily, what they are eating. We know the grass, we know the fields they are in.

Using their own milk directly to make their products makes them stand out even more. Thats what makes us unique, people say, Oh sure, yoghurt is yoghurt. Its just milk and culture. But for us, whats very unique is that the milk we have from our farm is the milk used to make our yoghurt.

Working with Tesco has been key to growing their business. When we started, we just supplied our local Tesco stores. Then we started to work with the head office team, who have given us tremendous help in what we need to do to expand.

Killowen now produces unique yoghurts for the Tesco Finest range with flavours such as Senga Strawberry, Heritage Raspberry and Sicilian Lemon Curd. It also makes a wonderful range of Irish cream cheese. We have a natural cream cheese and a garlic and herb for Tesco, and both won Gold at Blas na hEireann. When you see that cream cheese, its actually cream in colour, thats because the milk is from cows that have been outside on grass.

Recently, its Tesco partnership expanded to Northern Ireland and into 700 Tesco UK stores. Its been fantastic, she says. Its been a huge reward for us and thats all from working with the Tesco team. Hopefully, this is just the beginning.

Killowens top Tesco picks

Tesco Finest Garlic & Herb Cream Cheese - Gold at Blas na hEireann

Tesco Finest Heritage Raspberry & Senga Strawberry Yoghurt - Fruit produced by Follain

Tesco Finest Layered Blackberry & Apple Yoghurt - Fruit produced by Follain

As well as being a big hit in stores, Milish has made an impression at the Blas na hEireann awards

Milish

Everyone loves the waft from the fresh bakery section in the supermarket. Tesco credits a Dublin family business with making that waft extra special. Milish Bakery was originally set up in 1959 by siblings Kitty Coghlan and Liam Coghlan snr. Liam snrs son, also called Liam, now runs the company and has grown their wholesale business, but they still stay true to their craft baking beginnings, says sales director Gillian Wilson. It might be a large industrial-scale business, she says, but what has always stayed the same is using traditional craft bakery methods to produce our goods and make sure they are the absolute best in the market.

Three years ago things went up a notch when Milish started working on the Tesco Finest range. We knew if we were going to create Tescos premium muffins and scones, we wanted them to be the best on the market. The team combined their traditional baking ethos with creative combinations to come up with the range. Their Tesco Finest scones are made using Irish double cream, buttermilk and butter. Wilson says they are batch baked with hands to ensure a light crust and soft crumb. The Tesco Finest muffins use premium ingredients such as Belgian chocolate, Sicilian lemon and wild Canadian blueberries. As a creative and ambitious business, they love being pushed. The Tesco innovation team really challenged us to dial things up.

As well as being a big hit in stores, theyve also made an impression at the Blas na hEireann awards. We basically won everything we could win with Tesco Finest last year. It will be a hard act to follow this year, Wilson laughs. The Dublin team were delighted when Liam brought the awards home and presented them to the team. He spoke with such passion about how proud he was of them for being one of the best bakeries in Ireland. Awards are great, Wilson says, but nothing quite beats seeing people enjoy the products: What we love is the facial expressions when we see someone bite into our Milish products, no words are needed.

Milishs top Tesco picks

Tesco Finest Raspberry, Cinnamon, Oat & Pumpkin Seed Muffin - Gold at Blas na hEireann

Tesco Finest Lemon & Poppyseed Scone - Gold at Blas na hEireann

Tesco Finest Carrot Cake Muffin  Newest addition

Clona

Picking up a bottle of Mango Kefir in Tesco, you might think its a thoroughly modern product, but theres more than a century of tradition behind Clona Dairy, who make this award-winning drink. Dating back to 1919 it was started by the Hurley family in Clonakilty, Co Cork. Today, its owned by three west Cork co-ops, in Bandon, Barryroe and Lisavaird. From the early days of processing local milk and cream, were now a leading supplier to Irish retailers, says Mary Vaughan, key accounts and marketing manager at Clona. As the business has grown and innovated, its west Cork location remains at the heart of everything they do. The company employs about 150 people locally and supports community and sporting initiatives. Giving back to our community is a huge part of the Clona culture, says Vaughan.

That local focus also supports sustainability. The milk Clona uses comes from nearby grass-fed herds, helping to keep its carbon footprint low while ensuring the freshest, best-quality dairy. Their partnership with Tesco began locally too, supplying milk and cream first to Cork stores. From those early deliveries, the relationship grew, and today Clona supplies Tesco stores nationwide with whipped cream and its award-winning kefir range (many of Clonas Tesco-supplied products have earned accolades at the Blas na hEireann awards). Looking ahead, Clona plans to keep innovating, developing more functional and flavoured dairy products. Working with Tesco allows us to reach a much wider audience, Vaughan says. Its a partnership thats helped Clona grow and one were excited to build on.

Clonas top Tesco picks

Tesco Fresh Whipped Cream  Gold at Blas na hEireann

Tesco Natural Kefir  Gold at Blas na hEireann

Tesco Mango Kefir  Silver at Blas na hEireann
Dubai's international airport was gradually resuming flights on Monday, authorities said, after a fire caused by a drone attack forced a temporary suspension, further disrupting traffic in one of the world's busiest air travel hubs.

The US-Israel war against Iran has thrown global aviation into turmoil, with flights cancelled, rescheduled and rerouted, as most Middle East airspace stays shut over fears of missile and drone attacks, while the crisis sends fuel prices soaring.

Monday's incident pointed to the challenges for UAE airlines and the wider aviation industry in the effort to ramp up capacity and return operations to normal.

It is the third attack at the Dubai international airport (DXB) since Iran launched assaults on Gulf nations on February 28, with strikes Tehran has said aim at the US presence in the region.

While the United Arab Emirates and other Gulf countries host US military facilities, Iran has used missiles and drones to target civilian facilities such as airports, hotels and ports.

In a statement on X, the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority flagged a "gradual resumption" of some flights to selected destinations, the Dubai Media Office said.

The Emirates airline said it expected to partially resume operations at 06:00 GMT following the attack, which affected a fuel tank near the airport, but caused no injuries.

Some flights had been cancelled, Emirates added on its website, while sister airline flydubai also halted flights temporarily. Some flights were diverted to the Al Maktoum International Airport.

Gulf Arab states have faced more than 2,000 missile and drone attacks since February 28, with targets including U.S. diplomatic missions and military bases but also key oil infrastructure as well as homes and offices.

The United Arab Emirates, which normalised relations with Iran's arch-foe Israel in 2020, has faced the brunt of the attacks. But all Gulf Arab states have been affected, and all have condemned Iran.

On March 11, two drones fell near the international airport, which suffered damage on the first day of the conflict during an Iranian attack across Gulf states.

- Reuters
Envoys from US President Donald Trump's "Board of Peace" have met representatives of Hamas in Cairo in an effort to safeguard the Gaza ceasefire, under serious strain since the United States and Israel began bombing Iran, three sources told Reuters.

The weekend meeting is the first publicly reported since the start of the Iran war between the Palestinian militant group and the board, a new international body personally headed by Trump, which has been tasked with overseeing post-war Gaza.

Following the meeting, Israel announced on Sunday that it would soon reopen the sole crossing for pedestrians between Gaza and Egypt, shut since the Iran bombing campaign began. One of the sources said he believed the Israeli announcement was a direct result of the meeting between Hamas and the board.

Prior to the war in Iran, Trump's plan for Gaza was his flagship initiative for the Middle East.

The sources said the Hamas representatives warned the board that the Palestinian militant group could back away from its previous promises under the Gaza ceasefire if Israel maintains new restrictions on Gaza imposed during the Iran war.

Israel shut Gaza's borders after the war's launch on February 28, saying crossings could not be operated safely. It later resumed the limited flow of goods and aid but kept shut the sole crossing for pedestrians into Egypt, at Rafah on Gaza's southern edge. On Sunday it announced it would reopen the crossing later this week following a "security assessment".

Reuters has previously reported that talks on the disarmament of Hamas - meant to be a focus of the next phase of Mr Trump's plan - have been on hold since the start of the Iran war.

Further meetings expected this week

One of the sources said Mr Trump's board was represented at the talks with Hamas by Aryeh Lightstone, an American aide to Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff. The other two sources said meetings that included Lightstone were on the agenda although they were unable to confirm whether Lightstone had attended yet.

Further meetings were expected this week. The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

A US official said that Lightstone had attended Gaza-related meetings in Cairo in the past several days, without confirming whether he met with the Hamas delegation. US negotiators were continuing to meet with regional partners to fulfil Trump's 20-point plan for Gaza, the U.S. official added.

Israel's government did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether its decision to reopen the Rafah crossing was a result of the Cairo meeting. Hamas declined to comment.

Iran war sees continued Israeli strikes on Gaza

Mr Trump's plan for Gaza began with an October ceasefire that left Israel controlling more than half the enclave's territory, with nearly all its more than 2 million people crammed into a narrow strip of land under Hamas control.

The initiative had appeared to gain momentum in the month leading up to the war with Iran, including new pledges for reconstruction and the reopening of Rafah.

Israel's military has continued to strike Gaza during the broader regional war, including attacks on Sunday that killed 12 people, including nine police officers. The military has cited threats or fire by Hamas for its attacks.

A Palestinian official with knowledge of the Cairo talks said that Hamas believed Israel was exploiting the war on Iran to slip away from its obligations under Trump's plan. Israel rejects this.

Trump's Gaza plan has hinged in part on whether Hamas militants would lay down their arms in exchange for amnesty, a step intended to pave the way for reconstruction and further Israeli military withdrawals.

None of the sources said whether disarmament would be discussed in Cairo talks this week.

-

Reuters
China's policy stability fosters innovation and a shared future

13:48, March 16, 2026 By He Yin ( People's Daily

Photo shows a workshop of a plant of Schneider Electric in Wuxi, east China's Jiangsu province. (Photo provided by Schneider Electric)

During recent China's "two sessions," the annual meetings of the country's top legislature, the National People's Congress, and top political advisory body, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, how the country will elevate the quality and level of trade and investment cooperation as it advances high-level opening up has become a major focus of international attention.

In an increasingly turbulent global landscape marked by economic uncertainty, China's capacity for long-term stability makes it an increasingly vital destination for international business.

This appeal is reflected in the numbers: more than 70,000 foreign-invested enterprises were established across China in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 19.1 percent. This trend underscores a clear and consistent reality: China remains, and will continue to be, an attractive, secure, and promising market for foreign investment.

Partnering with China means embracing opportunity. Believing in China reflects optimism about the future. And investing in China is, ultimately, an investment in tomorrow.

Stability breeds long-term confidence. France's Schneider Electric has been present in the Chinese market for nearly four decades. From an initial team of just 10 employees, the company has grown to establish five R&D centers, an AI innovation laboratory, and 30 factories and logistics centers across the country. It is China's developmental stability that has enabled such long-term planning and sustained growth.

A foreign merchant buys hot glue guns at the Yiwu International Trade Market in Yiwu, east China's Zhejiang province. (Photo/Shi Bufa)

Schneider's experience exemplifies a shared commitment to long-termism. China's own consistent, long-range development approach increasingly shapes the strategic outlook of foreign enterprises operating there. By aligning with China's five-year plans, monitoring policy signals, and assessing industrial prospects, many foreign companies are translating the conviction that "investing in China is investing in the future" into concrete action.

Stability also nurtures fertile ground for innovation. China is firmly advancing scientific and technological innovation, while new quality productive forces are taking shape at a faster pace. As a result, more and more foreign enterprises regard China as a "gym" where they can strengthen their innovative capacity and competitiveness.

Germany's Volkswagen has accompanied China's automotive industry through decades of growth. Today, the company works closely with Chinese partners in mutual learning, joint innovation, and collaborative research. The combination of China's speed and German experience, as well as Chinese wisdom and German craftsmanship, is injecting new momentum into the development of the new-energy vehicles industry.

Stability carries the aspirations of entrepreneurs. China's expanding opening up continues to attract entrepreneurs from around the world. Statistics show that in Yiwu, east China's Zhejiang province, more than 30,000 foreign merchants are active every day, and the number of registered foreign-invested market entities has exceeded 11,000. Yiwu, known as the "world's supermarket," has also become a vibrant international community marked by diversity and integration.

Danish entrepreneur Simon Lichtenberg has run a business in Shanghai for more than 30 years. He has also actively participated in consultations organized by grassroots legislative outreach offices, offering suggestions on the draft revision of the Company Law.

Vehicles are assembled at the general assembly workshop of a factory of FAW-Volkswagen, a joint venture established between China FAW Group Co., Ltd. and German carmaker Volkswagen, in Qingdao, east China's Shandong province. (Photo/Liang Xiaopeng)

His story illustrates how a safe and friendly environment, together with an open, inclusive and harmonious social and cultural atmosphere, further strengthens foreign investors' confidence in building their future in China.

The growing scale of investment and the upgrading of cooperation models reflect foreign investors' deepening understanding of the opportunities China offers. From recognizing the enormous potential of China's market to appreciating the institutional strengths behind its unique appeal, many in the international business community increasingly see China as an irreplaceable partner.

The draft outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan proposes to coordinate foreign investment attraction and outbound investment to cultivate new strengths in international trade and two-way investment cooperation, make greater efforts to attract and utilize foreign investment, and promote international industrial and investment cooperation. The stability of these policy directions, rooted in practical experience, will continue to unleash new momentum for future development.

Together, China and foreign enterprises have written a story of mutual benefit and win-win cooperation, forming an important chapter in the history of economic globalization.

As the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030) begins, China will remain committed to opening up, cooperation, and win-win outcomes. By steadily expanding institutional opening up, China will create an even more enabling environment and broader space for foreign enterprises, while continuing to provide new opportunities for the world through its own development.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
China has warned that US president Donald Trumps latest tariff moves could harm the countries trade relationship, at the end of high-level talks in Paris.

Li Chenggang, Chinas international trade representative, said the Chinese side had expressed serious concern about the trade investigations into manufacturing in foreign countries that the Trump administration launched after the US Supreme Court struck down its earlier tariffs.

We are concerned that the possible results of such investigations may interfere with or damage the hard-won and stable China-US economic and trade relations, Mr Li told journalists.

The meeting was meant to prepare for Mr Trumps planned trip to China in about two weeks, though the president has warned that it could be delayed.

Mr Li did not address that, and did not take questions.

The Iran war has emerged as a potential stumbling block just as the US and China were patching up relations following a tariff war in which import taxes soared to triple digits.

The two sides later agreed to a one-year truce.

Treasury secretary Scott Bessent, who led the delegation in Paris, said a delay to Mr Trumps visit would not be because of disagreements over the Iran war or efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which is crucial for global shipping.

Mr Trumps visit to China would be the first for a US president since he went in his first term in 2017.

It would come five months after he met President Xi Jinping in the South Korean city of Busan.


Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime. Ask the infantry and ask the dead.  Ernest Hemingway

Newark, Del. (Special to Informed Comment; Feature)  Alan Kurdi was a 3-year-old boy who was drowned in the Mediterranean Sea during the Syrian Civil War on September 2nd, 2015. He was one of the casualties of the wars and consequent refugee crises in the Middle East. The image of that lifeless boy became the image of war.

Before October 7, 2023, the Israeli army and the settlers had shot and killed many kids both in Gaza and in the West Bank. None of the soldiers or settlers were ever indicted.

It is estimated that in its war with Hamas, according to BTselem, as of 2021, some 2,171 Palestinian children had been killed by Israeli forces.

After October 7, 2023, IDF started its campaign of revenge which has continued until today.

In Gaza, within 21 months, nearly 17,000 children were killed, many more maimed and orphaned. Even after the so-called cease fire, children who were standing in line to get much needed food, were shot. Shot in the head to make sure they died. UNICEF wrote in their website: Children in Gaza are cold, sick and traumatized. Hunger and malnutrition, and the dire living conditions more broadly, continue to put the lives of children at risk. (report from December 20, 2024)

On January 29, 2024, volunteers from the Palestinian Red Crescent received an emergency call. A 6-year-old girl was trapped in a car, pleading for rescue. While trying to keep her on the line, they did everything they could to get an ambulance to her. Her name was Hind Rajab. Her voice is the voice of a terrified little girl who dies while talking to her parents. It is a heart-wrenching story.



Hind Rajab. Social Media. Public Domain.

Then as if the Middle East had not seen enough wars, Trump and Netanyahu decided to strike Iran. This, after the twelve-day war which had supposedly obliterated the nuclear sites. It was Netanyahus s dream for nearly 30 years to strike Iran. His wish came true. Even if Trump had hesitated to get into another war or at least, had promised his base, he bowed.

Then came the second attack which begun with Israel attacking Iran, this time assassinating the Supreme leader and many other high-ranking officials. Following the bombardments, the U.S. army bombed various sites in Tehran and Isfahan causing damage to historical sites in Isfahan, or the Florence of the Middle East.

Before bombing those military sites, not all were, a school in the small city of Minab was targeted.

Minab is a city in Hormozgan province, in southern Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. On 28 February 2026, the Sharjareh Yayyebeh girls elementary school was destroyed as part of the Operation Epic Fury.

One hundred sixty-eight little girls perished. I suppose the mightiest army in the world and their counterpart did not have enough intelligence reports to conclude that this was just a school. No apology was made. Instead, Trump and his angry, hate mongering secretary, Pete Hegseth, announced that the Iranians did it. But later the Pentagon reported that it was the U.S. which hit the school with tomahawk missiles.

Trump lied again.



Following the US airstrike on an elementary school in Tabriz in March 2026, teacher Neda Amini was martyred. Public Domain.

In Lebanon, in the last few weeks, more than one hundred children died in daily bombardments by IDF.

The war continues. The bombardments are relentless. There is no end in sight. The Middle East is once again in flames.

The children are dying whether by hunger, by bombs, by shots, in sea, on land, in buildings, on the streets, and in their homes, tents and schools. They were the future of their lands, lands now stricken by constant shelling.

The voice of Hind Rajab echoes in our hearts and minds. Save the children and stop these illegal wars.
Yakov Rabkin is Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Montreal. He is the author, most recently, of Israel in Palestine and Zionism Decoded in 101 Quotes.

Montreal (Special to Informed Comment)  People that remember their past suffering often believe that memory gives them moral clarity. Yet the history of Zionism shows that the memory of persecution can just as easily be turned into a source of self-righteousness and impunity. Two spring Jewish festivalsPurim and Passoverenjoin Jews to remember slavery and a threat of total annihilation, raising issues that resonate in the ongoing war against Iran and the continuing violence against the Palestinians.

Purim and Passover, celebrated one month apart during the full moon, mark redemption, deliverance, and liberation. Both occurred outside the Holy Land, Purim in Persia, and Exodus that Passover celebrates, in Egypt. Both happened when hope was all but lost. In the story of Purim, a royal decree was issued to destroy, massacre, and exterminate all the Jews, young and old, children and women, on a single day. In Egypt, perhaps, the most desperate moment in the Israelites tribulations ensued when, fleeing the Pharaohs army, they found themselves squeezed between the sea and the desert as they heard the pharaonic chariots approach.

The two redemptions are commemorated differently. Purim is celebrated for one day, while Passover lasts seven or eight days. Hallel, psalms of gratitude, is recited on Passover but not on Purim. Purim comes and goes, but the Exodus from Egypt is recalled in the context of over fifty commandments, such as the kiddush (blessing over wine) which ushers in the Sabbath every Friday night.

This reflects different paths of redemption. On Purim we witness a court intrigue with Esther, an intrepid woman at the centre of the action. The book of Esther, which relates the story of Purim, does not mention Gods name even once. Conversely, on Passover, the main actor is not human; the splitting of the sea that enabled liberation is presented as divine intervention. And the Haggadah, the text read at the Passover seder (ritual meal), emphasizes that the divine intervention was direct: Not through an angel, not through a seraph, not through any emissary.

Recognizing an immaterial deity is not easy. Suffice it to recall the biblical episode of the Golden Calf, when the Israelites came to worship a newly cast idol, proclaiming This, Israel, is your god, who brought you up out of Egypt. It is common for people to cling to objects, endowing them with holiness. This is why, according to the Talmud, God commended Moses for breaking the Tablets of the Law. Though unquestionably holyfashioned by God himselfthey had to be shattered in reaction to the peoples idolatry.

Chief Rabbi of Great Britain, Lord Jonathan Sacks once remarked: Holiness is not a property of objects. It is a property of human acts and intentions. Similarly, Israeli scholar Yeshayahu Leibowitz affirmed that The idea of holiness as an immanent property of thingspersons, locations, institutions, objects, or eventsis a magical-mystical concept that smacks of idolatry. This should be an important lesson for those who celebrate Passover: it is not a history of Jews liberating themselves from slavery to settle on their land, not a celebration of a people or their prowess.

In the story of Purim, the main causes of the royal decree threatening imminent destruction were wounded pride and greed. Haman, the powerful vizier, was offended by Mordechai the Jew, who refused to bow down to him. Haman also promised to pour the wealth of the victims of the planned mass murder into the royal coffers.

The cause of the Egyptian slavery was xenophobia. The Pharaoh feared the Other: Look, the Israelite people are much too numerous for us. Let us deal shrewdly with them, so that they may not increase . This led to enslavement, increased oppression and, when this did not assuage the Pharaohs fear, infanticide: he ordered the midwives: When you deliver the Hebrew women, look at the birthstool: if it is a boy, kill him; if it is a girl, let her live.

Revenge is natural. This is why the Torah not only forbids it but instructs the Jews to be mindful of the impression they make even upon those who have persecuted Jews in the past. Moses, for example, is concerned about Egyptian public opinion, even though the Egyptians exploited his people during more than two centuries of slavery. The Torah, speaking of Egypt, stresses gratitude towards the Egyptians, and not revenge. Indeed, it was to Egypt that the Israelites fled from famine in the Land of Canaan and were warmly received there. The Torah is well aware that gratitude, rather than rancour and revenge, is what makes us human.

Past suffering can be transformed into a potential for hatred and violence. In Israel, this transformation has been achieved through educational policies shaping a particular kind of collective interpretation of the tragedy. Rather than dealing with the trauma in order to free society from it, Israeli mainstream maintains and perpetuates it. This is how the memory of the Nazi genocide is weaponized to justify dispossessions, deportations, and even genocide of Palestinians. This brutality is claimed to be required to establish and maintain a state reserved for one ethnic group in a land that has long been home to a diverse population.

No wonder that many Israelis, just like the Pharaoh of yore, see Palestinians as the demographic bomb. Israelis are imprisoned in the fear of sharing the land, a prospect perceived as an existential threat. Rank-and-file Israelis, as well as their leaders, routinely refer to Palestinian resistance as Nazis.

This vengeful brutality is all the more immoral because Israelis, rather than directing it at the Germans and other Europeans, many of whom were perpetrating the genocide, direct their ire at the Palestinians, who played no role in the tragedy of European Jews. Most of Israels wars have been fought to perpetuate the Zionist nature of the statethat is, to resist the idea of living in equality with the Palestinians. In other words, the main cause of violence in the region is the perpetuation of the Zionist apartheid, grounded in the belief that antisemitism is eternal and universal and that only the Jewish state can protect the Jews.

The current military assault on Iran, unleashed in February 2026, is also rooted in the question of Palestine. Israel seeks to eliminate the last major state committed to Palestinian rights by rendering Iran dysfunctional through subversion, decapitation, destruction, or fragmentation.

One of the moral teachings of Passover is consideration towards the Other, towards someone who is different. The Torah links the prohibition of xenophobia, of oppressing people who are different, directly to the Israelites past suffering: You shall not wrong or oppress a stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.



The master of the house distributing the matzot (unleavened bread) and the haroset (sweetmeat). From the Haggadah for Passover (the Sister Haggadah). BL. Public Domain. Via Wikimdia Commons

This prohibition is not easy to follow; this is why the Torah repeats it dozens of times, more than any other commandment. But some reject this idea in principle. Vladimir (Zeev) Jabotinsky, the founder of a stream of Zionism that is the precursor of Likud that nowadays rules Israel, expressed a political philosophy that one can recognize in Israels behaviour, including its genocide in Gaza. In an essay characteristically titled Homo homini lupus (Man is Wolf to Man), he wrote in Russian in 1910:

Sometimes we base too many rosy hopes on the fallacy that a certain people has itself suffered and will therefore feel the agony of another people and understand it and its conscience will not allow it to inflict on the weaker people what had been earlier inflicted on it. But in reality it appears that these are mere pretty phrases  Only the Old Testament (sic) says you shall not oppress a stranger; for you know the heart of the stranger, seeing you were strangers in the land of Egypt. Contemporary morality has no place for such childish humanism.  A nations substance, the alpha and omega of the uniqueness of its character  this is embodied in the specific physical quality, in the component of its racial composition.

In 1948, Albert Einstein and other Jewish intellectuals condemned Jabotinskys right-wing Zionism as fascist. The evolution of Israeli society has since shown that all political Zionism, not only this variety, contains seeds of fascism, which may take time to sprout. Nowadays, in the wake of the genocide in Gaza and Israeli bombing of Iran, more and more people, hitherto sympathetic to Israel, are concluding that the Zionist state, in its structural xenophobia, resembles Hitlerite Germany. Thus, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense Chas Freeman recently remarked that the Israeli cabinet includes people who make Nazis look humane.

One can see an unbridgeable antagonism between Judaism and Zionism. In celebrating Passover, it is important not to transform the festival of freedom into a celebration of pride, supremacy, and impunity.
By Tatiana Svorou | 

Israels blanket evacuation orders for Dahiyeh and southern Lebanon breach the core safeguards of Fourth Geneva Convention (Article 49) which require safe routes and swift returns. It has driven more than 500,000 people into forced displacement and urban collapse under the cover of civilian protection rhetoric.

( Middle East Monitor )  >Were still here, but nobody knows where we are supposed to go. The message arrived from my friend in Haret Hreik, a district of Beiruts southern suburb of Dahiyeh, following evacuation orders issued by the Israeli military for Beiruts southern suburbs and large parts of southern Lebanon. Evacuation a word that travels effortlessly through diplomatic corridors, carrying with it the reassurance of humanitarian precaution, suggesting that civilians are warned and depart in time to be spared, promising that violence is carefully managed, instead of being socially imposed. Nevertheless, if you look closely at what is currently unfolding across Lebanon, you will understand that the semantic calm of that word begins to dissolve as it no longer aligns with the bureaucratic comfort embedded in the term itself, following Israels issuance of massive displacement orders for Beiruts southern suburbs and large parts of southern Lebanon.

On 5th March, Dahiyeh marked the beginning of the mass and forced displacement of people from the southern edges of Beirut, revealing that the idea of a mere administrative safety measure was no longer tenable. The roads leading out of Dahiyeh became clogged with cars moving forward without a clear destination, and three-wheeled vehicles stacked with mattresses and suitcases, resembling a slow-moving exodus.

Even so, to anyone familiar with Dahiyeh, it is well known that the area is not a coordinate on a military grid. An urban environment composed of layers of ordinary life with apartment buildings perched above grocery shops, narrow streets crowded with taxis, schools wedged between traffic arteries, and pharmacies and cafes woven into everyday routines. Currently, hundreds of thousands of residents in Beiruts southern suburbs are being targeted by evacuation warnings. The directives extend across large parts of southern Lebanon, and the area covered by the evacuation order encompasses roughly half of southern Lebanon, making it the most extensive displacement directive issued since the current escalation began. Furthermore, UNHCR reported that approximately 100,000 people had already been displaced inside Lebanon, while tens of thousands of Syrians who had been residing in Lebanon crossed back into Syria. By March 8, Lebanons Health Ministry and UN agencies reported nearly 700,000 internally displaced persons nationwide-a catastrophic surge from initial figures-with shelters overwhelmed, public schools converted into tent cities at triple capacity, and tens of thousands reduced to sleeping on Beiruts streets or piling into overcrowded buses fleeing north toward Tripoli and the Bekaa Valley. Furthermore, over 78,000 Syrian refugees, have crossed back into Syria amid the chaos.

Many of the displaced sought refuge in improvised shelters, schools, and public buildings, where humanitarian agencies warned that capacity was already under strain.

At the same time, over 200 killed and 800 injured since the 2nd Marchthe escalation, triggered by Hezbollah rocket salvos following the killing of Khamenei. Dahiyeh endured nonstop airstrikes through 5th-6th March, leveling apartment blocks and Hezbollah-linked sites alike, while Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich openly threatened that Beiruts suburbs would soon look like Khan Younis in Gaza, signaling intent for total devastationCompounding this, UN officials and Amnesty International have spotlighted clear violations of international humanitarian law: the evacuation orders blanket scope over civilian-dense areas fails distinction and proportionality tests under Geneva Convention Article 49, which mandates narrow, temporary measures with ensured safe routes, humane conditions, and swift returns, none of which materialized amid bombed escape paths and indefinite no-return zones. Moreover, Lebanons desperate appeals to France and the US for ceasefire mediation and humanitarian corridors were stonewalled, even as Israeli ground forces advanced beyond border villages into deeper southern territories, encircling communities and accelerating the exodus. Many of the displaced sought refuge in improvised shelters, schools, and public buildings, where humanitarian agencies warned that capacity was already under strain. Nonetheless, what appears in military language as precaution functions, in social reality, as the unequal redistribution of vulnerability. Those with cars leave differently from those without them, those with relatives elsewhere move differently from those who have nowhere to go, those already living in precarious housing absorb the shock more brutally than those with savings, documents or second homes.

Moreover, within Dahiyeh lies Burj al-Barajneh, one of the Palestinian refugee camps administered by UNRWA. In other words, part of the landscape now subjected to renewed evacuation and bombardment is already marked by earlier histories of expulsion, statelessness or overcrowded refuge. Some of those now packing belongings are moving once again through a regional history in which displacement has become less an exception than a recurring structure of survival.

Likewise, Israels current operations in Lebanon are that exact targeting of the social world deemed to sustain that adversary, the hosts, the displaced, the neighbourhoods, the economic life, and the sense of belonging. Read alongside Netanyahus threat that Lebanon could face destruction and suffering as we see in Gaza, the implication is not difficult to discern. The operative objective is to act upon the conditions that make communal endurance possible, to displace and isolate the population believed to constitute the surrounding environment of resistance. In that respect, the relevant political frame is the production of a societys immiseration as a means of weakening its capacity to remain socially and politically intact. Reuters reporting that the affected population in Beiruts southern suburbs numbers in the hundreds of thousands, together with APs documentation of blanket orders followed by strikes, gives factual substance to this broader political reading.

From the bombed building to the blocked road, from the blocked road to the overcrowded shelter, from the shelter to the school that can no longer teach, the clinic that can no longer treat, the landlord afraid to rent, the shopkeeper who closes, the child whose routine disappears, the elderly person cut off from care. Atrocity in such a setting is cumulative, unfolding through the silent erosion of the conditions that allow a people to remain present in the world as a social body. The evidence already lies in the sequence documented with vast zones declared unsafe, civilians ordered to move, bombardment continuing, shelters overflowing and of course, their return uncertainty, making life elsewhere precarious and life at home impossible. Furthermore, International humanitarian law should not be a decorative appendix to the argument but one of its tests. Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits forcible transfer except where the security of the civilians involved or imperative military reasons demand temporary evacuation, even then, civilians must be returned as soon as hostilities in the area have ceased, and proper accommodation, hygiene, health and safety must be ensured. Can directives covering Beiruts southern suburbs and vast stretches of southern Lebanon genuinely be described as narrowly tailored to civilian protection? Were residents given time and destinations that made compliance realistically feasible? Does bombardment in and around the very spaces being emptied undermine the claim that the warnings principal object was civilian safety? Do overcrowded shelters and strained services satisfy the Conventions requirement that evacuation remain humane and temporary?

Atrocity in such a setting is cumulative, unfolding through the silent erosion of the conditions that allow a people to remain present in the world as a social body.



File photo of Odaisseh Sign, Marjaayoun  Bint Jbeil Road, Lebanonby AHMAD BADER on Unsplash

Warnings, after all, do not convert inhabited districts into legally unprotected zones. Even where civilians are told to leave, the attacking party remains bound by the ordinary rules governing hostilities: targets must be verified as military objectives, attacks expected to cause excessive civilian harm must be suspended or cancelled and means and methods must minimize suffering. Nor do warnings extinguish the protection owed to property indispensable to civilian survival. In urban war, shelter, water, sanitation and access roads are not ancillary matters. They are among the very conditions that make continued civilian life possible. The laws real question is therefore whether civilians were placed in circumstances where remaining meant exposure to death and departure became the only rational option available. Accordingly, these practices are proliferating due to the growing expectation that the destruction of a persons social environment can be justified as a necessity, even as a precaution, while remaining politically unpunished. The map, the warning, the strike, the displacement centre, the overcrowded shelter and the deferred return are interconnected steps in the gradual erosion of a peoples ability to remain where they are. This process is exemplified by the road out of Dahiyeh, which reveals a form of violence that reorganises agency, while silently eroding the basis on which people could ever continue to live where they have long made their homes.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor or Informed Comment.

Tatiana Svorou is an advocacy-driven analyst with experience in displacement contexts across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Her work on displacement, humanitarian policy, and media narratives has been published in outlets such as Middle East Monitor, Le Monde, and Independent Australia.

Via Middle East Monitor
A French jihadist went on trial on Monday in Paris on charges of genocide, the first case in France to tackle atrocities committed against the Yazidi minority during the years-long conflict waged by the Islamic State militant group in the Middle East.

Sabri Essid is presumed to have been killed in 2018, but without proof of his death he is being tried in absentia in Paris on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and complicity in these crimes, committed between 2014 and 2016.

Three women from the Yazidi community, a Kurdish-speaking minority who practise a pre-Islamic faith, are civil parties in the trial, with two expected to take the stand.

IS seized large swathes of Syria and neighbouring Iraq in 2014, declaring a so-called caliphate.

In August 2014, they murdered thousands of Yazidi men in Iraq's Sinjar province, and took thousands of women and girls to Syria to sell them in markets as sex slaves to be abused by jihadists from around the world. UN investigators have since qualified these actions as genocide.

Essid, who was born in the southwestern French city of Toulouse in 1984, joined IS in Syria in 2014.

He has been accused of buying several Yazidi women at markets and then repeatedly raping them, as well as depriving them of water and food.

Known in Syria as Abu Dojanah al-Faransi, he was thought to be close to Jean-Michel and Fabien Clain, who claimed responsibility on behalf of IS for France's worst ever jihadist attacks in Paris in 2015.

The brothers are presumed dead.

"Given that in the past Islamic State fighters believed to be dead have resurfaced, it is essential that this trial take place," said Patrick Baudouin, a lawyer for the Human Rights League, a French rights organisation.

Attorney Clemence Bectarte, who represents the three Yazidi women and their eight children, said the trial must "provide another reading of IS crimes", usually tried in France as terrorist offences.

"It is essential that it shed light on the particularly grave abuses committed against civilian populations, and in particular the genocidal policy implemented against the Yazidi population," she said.

- Jailed wife to testify -

After Essid headed to Syria, his wife, their three children and her son from a previous relationship joined him.

In an IS propaganda video released in 2015, Essid is seen pushing his 12-year-old stepson to shoot a Palestinian hostage in the head.

His wife, who has been jailed since returning to France, is to testify at the trial, which is set to last until Friday.

Similar trials took place in Europe in recent years.

A German court in 2021 issued the first ruling worldwide to recognise crimes against the Yazidi community as genocide.

It sentenced an Iraqi man to life in jail after prosecutors said he and his then-wife "purchased" a Yazidi woman and child as household "slaves" while living in the Iraqi city of Mosul in 2015, which was occupied by IS at the time.

He was accused of chaining the five-year-old girl outdoors in heat of up to 50C as punishment for wetting her mattress, leading her to die of thirst.

In another such ruling, a Swedish court last month convicted a 52-year-old woman of genocide for keeping Yazidi women and children as slaves in Syria in 2015.

US-backed forces eventually defeated the IS proto-state in 2019, though isolated cells still operate in the Syrian desert.

Hussein Qaidi, who heads the Kidnapped Yazidi Rescue Office, last year told AFP IS had abducted 6,416 Yazidis, more than half of whom had since been rescued.






Sunday, March 15, 2026 - A Kenyan truck driver was confronted by members of the public in Tanzania after he was found driving while heavily intoxicated, putting the lives of other road users at risk.

In a video circulating online, the driver is seen staggering and struggling to maintain balance as concerned locals question him about his condition.

During the confrontation, the driver admits that he had been drinking.

The situation appears tense as several people gather around him, warning him about the dangers of drunk driving and the serious consequences he could face for breaking the law in a foreign country.

At one point in the video, a man is heard cautioning the driver, reminding him that he risks being jailed if the police arrest him.

Mzee mbona unalewa na kuendesha gari? the man asks, while warning that getting out of trouble could be difficult if authorities got involved.

The truck nearly veered off the road and landed in a ditch after he lost control due to intoxication.

Watch the video>>> below

A heavily intoxicated Kenyan truck driver confronted by members of the public in Tanzania for drunk driving pic.twitter.com/bolWQVBP4t  DAILY POST  (@dailypost_ke) March 16, 2026

The Kenyan DAILY POST






Sunday, March 15, 2026 - Residents of Port Victoria were left in shock after a man stole a Tahmeed bus and attempted to drive it across the border into Uganda.

According to witnesses, the suspect managed to take control of the bus before members of the public noticed the suspicious movement of the vehicle and raised the alarm.

Boda boda riders quickly mobilized and trailed the bus as it headed towards the border, alerting security officers along the way.

Their swift action helped intercept the vehicle before it could cross into Uganda.

The suspect was arrested on the spot, and the bus was successfully recovered.

Authorities have since taken the suspect into custody and launched investigations to establish how he managed to access and steal the bus.

Watch the video>>> below

Residents were shocked after a man stole a Tahmeed bus in Port Victoria, the man was reportedly planning to drive it across the Uganda border. Quick action by boda boda riders and security officers led to his arrest and the recovery of the bus. pic.twitter.com/RTykI15FID  The Kenyan Vigilante (@KenyanSays) March 15, 2026

The Kenyan DAILY POST






Monday, March 16, 2026 - A US-based Kenyan woman has set social media abuzz after publicly accusing her mother of being toxic and making her life miserable.

In a tearful video, the lady explained that she resorted to addressing her mother online after she cut off direct communication.

She claims that her mother has been taking out frustrations from her marriage with her father on her, even siding with her estranged husband and allegedly attempting to take away her child.

Shockingly, she went further to suggest that her mothers closeness with her son-in-law might be more than just a mother-in-law relationship.

She also revealed that her mother never wanted to give birth to her and has often treated her harshly.

She further stunned netizens after revealing that her mother is a senior church leader - heading the mothers union.

Amid tears, she pleaded: Whatever issues you had with my dad, dont take them out on me.

The daughter accused her mother of trying to use her grandchild as a way to amend past mistakes, but firmly warned that that ship has long sailed.

The video has since gone viral, with netizens expressing shock at the revelations and sparking conversations about toxic parents.

Watch the video>>> below

Kenyan Tiktok lady Exposes her mother whom she suspects might be sleeping with her husband. pic.twitter.com/W33HsbxKJF     (@TikTokGossipKe) March 16, 2026

The Kenyan DAILY POST






Monday, March 16, 2026 - Controversial Kenyan social media personality, Gloria Ntazola, has stirred controversy after declaring that women who get pregnant without the financial means to support a child should be arrested.

In a fiery TikTok video, Ntazola argued that reproduction should be reserved for those with money, insisting that the Government ought to strip the poor of this privilege.

She went as far as to call pregnancy without financial stability one of the biggest crimes, saying such women should be arraigned in court for inconveniencing the entire world.

Ntazola questioned how women in such situations expect their children to be provided for, stressing that raising a baby is a whole project requiring serious financial planning.

Huna plans za kutake care of the child, but you are so heavily pregnant. You are a criminal and should be arrested, she declared.

Taking her argument further, Ntazola claimed that intimacy itself should be a luxury reserved for the wealthy.

She suggested that the Government classifies intimacy as a privilege, punishable by jail time for those without money.

If you dont have money, dont approach or talk to girls, she warned, adding that women should also avoid men who cannot provide.

Her remarks>>> have sparked heated reactions online, with many branding her views extreme, while others admitted she raised uncomfortable truths about financial responsibility and parenting.

The Kenyan DAILY POST






Monday, March 16, 2026 - A Kenyan woman has taken to social media to air her marital woes, accusing her husband of cheating and raising concern over strange stains she found on his boxers.

In a candid post shared online, the disgruntled woman claimed that the man she believed married her out of love has allegedly been cheating on her since she was pregnant.

She disclosed that their baby is now six months old, but the relationship has continued to deteriorate.

A few days ago while she was washing her husbands clothes, she noticed unusual stains on his boxers.

She explained that the underwear had slippery stains, which she initially ignored.

However, when she later attempted to wash his clothes again, she noticed creamish-yellow stains that made her suspicious.

The concerned woman also claimed the stains appeared unusual, suggesting that they might be coming from a wound or infection.

My man, someone I thought loved and married me out of love, has been cheating on me since I was pregnant. My baby is six months now and a few days ago I noticed his boxers had stains. They were slippery when I was washing them, she wrote.

She added that when she called her husband to ask whether he was sick, he denied having any illness.

However, she remains skeptical of his response.

The woman further alleged that her husband frequently sleeps away from home for weeks, sometimes returning after three weeks, and does not want to be questioned about his whereabouts.

Due to fear of possible infections, she revealed that she has stopped being intimate with him, especially since she is currently breastfeeding.

She also disclosed that she has already undergone HIV and STI/ STD tests, which came back negative.

I no longer sleep with him. Im scared he might bring me infections and diseases and Im breastfeeding. Ive done HIV tests and STI/STD tests and Im clean, she wrote.

The frustrated woman further hinted that she is planning to leave the marriage soon.

Check out her post.





The Kenyan DAILY POST






Monday, March 16, 2026 - A middle-aged man is facing the possibility of a lengthy jail term after he was caught with a Form Three girl in Mukuru Kwa Njenga slums.

According to reports, the suspect was discovered with the girl during an incident that has since sparked outrage among residents in the area.

Locals raised the alarm after becoming suspicious, leading to the man being confronted.

The girl, who lost her mother a year ago, lives with her father in a single-room home, where the suspect reportedly took advantage of her vulnerability.

Local residents have expressed outrage, demanding swift justice, while authorities are investigating the case.

See photo.

The Kenyan DAILY POST






Monday, March 16, 2026 - Popular Kenyan media personality, Kalekye Mumo, has officially stepped into the fifth floor.

On Monday, March 16th, 2026, the former radio queen took to Instagram to celebrate the milestone, sharing sultry photos alongside a heartfelt message about new beginnings.

Kalekye described turning 50 as the start of a fresh chapter, writing: This is 50. New Beginnings await; the Lord has spoken.

She also quoted Isaiah 62:2: The nations will see your righteousness. World leaders will be blinded by your glory. And you will be given a new name by the Lords own mouth.

Reflecting on her journey, she expressed deep gratitude for the gift of life and the experiences that have shaped her.

I am so grateful for the blessing of living a whole 50 years; to God be the glory.

I am so excited & expectant to see where the Lord leads me for the next half of my life!! she added.

Kalekye has also been celebrating a remarkable transformation in wellness.

Recently she celebrated a significant weight loss.

I am genuinely loving who I am becoming. From 102kg to 88.7kg, and this journey has become more than weight loss.

Its been about building a sustainable wellness lifestyle, she shared.

The Kenyan DAILY POST






Sunday, March 15, 2026 - The online trading world is buzzing after licensed South African trader, Jay Froneman, called out controversial Kenyan scammer, Kenyan Prince, who poses as a flamboyant forex trader.

In the video, filmed at a luxury restaurant, Kenyan Prince scrolls through his MetaTrader 4 (MT4) app and proudly shows off open gold trades and an apparent profit of nearly $40,000 (Ksh 5.2 million).

The lavish setting and bold claims instantly captivated viewers, cementing his image as a highrolling trader.

However, Fronemans breakdown paints a very different picture.

He flagged glaring inconsistencies, starting with the accounts zero commissions and fees - a scenario he described as impossible in real trading environments, where spreads, swaps and commissions are standard.

He also slammed Kenyan Princes reckless risk management, noting multiple oversized positions stacked on the same asset, exposing the account to extreme volatility.

Beyond this clip, Froneman explained how trading influencers often manipulate perception.

One common trick involves running two accounts simultaneously - one buying, one selling the same asset.

The losing account is hidden, while the winning account is flaunted online, creating the illusion of consistent success.

He also suggested that some brokers may provide demostyle accounts disguised as live accounts to showcase fake profits and lure new clients with the influencers like Kenyan Prince getting commissions for every new client on boarded.

He warned that screenshots and flashy P&L displays are not proof of profitability.

Your favourite Forex trader has been exposed by a mzungu internationally eeeeiiih Kenyans what can't you do!! He says it's all lies... pic.twitter.com/TfNOjbqJgQ  Mary Njoroge (@Maryian96) March 14, 2026

The Kenyan DAILY POST






Sunday, March 15, 2026 - Chesumei Constituency Member of Parliament, Hon. Biego Paul Kibichiy, better known by his popular moniker Polo, has set social media abuzz after flaunting his opulent residence in Nandi County.

In a viral TikTok clip, the first-time MP - elected in 2022 on a UDA ticket - offers followers a rare glimpse into his private world.

The video captures him striding from his sprawling mega-mansion to a waiting luxury car, a scene dripping with affluence that has left tongues wagging across the country.

While Polo is known for keeping a low profile in Parliament, his wealth story is no secret.

Long before politics, he carved out a fortune in the petroleum retail sector, owning and managing several petrol stations across Kenya.

Industry insiders suggest his dealership success elevated him to billionaire status well before he ever stepped into the political arena.

Unlike many politicians who thrive on flaunting their riches online, Polo has largely kept his lifestyle under wraps.

Yet, if this residence is anything to go by, he comfortably sits among the circle of UDA legislators linked to President William Ruto who are living large.

Watch the video>>> below

Huyu ni MP wa wapi ako na nyumba kali kushinda Statehouse bana  pic.twitter.com/id6i7eMNzj  Adele (@Adele_lide) March 14, 2026

The Kenyan DAILY POST
Double on the card for trainer Michael Mulvany as Ribee lands the Irish Lincolnshire The first meeting of the Irish Flat racing season kicked off at the Curragh on Sunday afternoon with a very informative eight-race card.

The big race of the day was the Irish Lincolnshire and the 58,900 top prize went the way of trainer Michael Mulvany and jockey Declan McDonagh with Ribee, a 20/1 winner of the mile contest.

Read below for a full report of the Curragh card on Sunday courtesy of BetVictor Casino.

Up first was a five furlong maiden (1.25) and trainer Jack Foley picked up the very first win of the Flat season in Ireland with Rulers Control, a 15/2 winner under Luke McAteer and seeing off pre-race favourite Force Noir for the powerful Amo Racing.

A favourite did land the odds in race two of the afternoon (2.00) as 2/1 shot Breaking Down was a comfortable two and a half length winner of the six furlong maiden for the Michael OCallaghan yard and a first victory of the campaign for Cheltenham Festival-winning jockey Colin Keane, who landed the Champion Bumper last week at the Festival on board The Mourne Rambler.

Smoke Them Out was an 8/1 victor of the six furlong handicap for the Tom McCourt yard, a neck winner from 9/4 favorite Tai Tam Bay in second, while the following six furlong handicap (3.10) went the way of Martin Hassett and jockey Wayne Lordan with Dmanaic, a 7/2 joint favourite and a winner by a very handy three and a quarter lengths.

Pollenca was a big price winner for jockey/trainer Andrew Slattery in race five (3.45) at 10/1, winning by a length and three quarters from even money favourite Signora for the all-conquering Aidan OBrien and Ryan Moore combo but the high-powered duo would have been happy with the run as their filly holds entries in the Irish and British 1000 Guineas races later this season.

Ribee landed the big race of the day, the Irish Lincolnshire (4.20) by a length and a half from the fast-closing Eastwatch in second and Syzyay in third. Declan McDonagh was going best two furlongs from home having always been in touch with the leaders and ran on well against the far rail to win readily and land the top price of 58,900.

Victory Tip was another big-priced winner on the Curragh card (4.55) at 16/1 for trainer Henry De Bromhead and jockey Billy Lee, while the finale of the afternoon (5.30) brought up a quick double on the card for the Mulvany yard with Electric Beauty, a 20/1 winner by two and a half lengths in the mile handicap.

Curragh results - Sunday

1.25 - Rulers Control 15/2

2.00 - Breaking Down 2/1 F

2.35 - Smoke Them Out 8/1

3.10 - Maniac 7/2 JF

3.45 - Pollenca 10/1

4.20 - Ribeye 20/1

4.55 - Victory Tip 16/1

5.30 - Electric Beauty 20/1
By Rebecca Black, Press Association in Philadelphia

Taoiseach Micheal Martin has declined to get involved in commenting on the ping pong between Keir Starmer and Kneecap.

He said his involvement is probably what they wanted, adding he will not oblige.

Taoiseach Micheal Martin said that he would not get involved in the ping pong between Kneecap and Keir Starmer. Photo: Niall Carson/PA.

The UK prime minister last week said what the Irish language rap group stand for and says is completely intolerable.

It comes after the CPS lost an appeal against the throwing out of a case against group member Liam Og O hAnnaidh, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, who had been accused of displaying a flag in support of proscribed terror organisation Hezbollah at a gig at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town, north London, on November 21st 2024.

Asked for reaction during a visit to Belfast last week, Keir said: My views on Kneecap are very well known in relation to what they stand for, and what they say, which is completely intolerable.

I think the CPS were obviously subject to the High Court decision and they will be looking at the judgment very carefully.

Martin was asked for his view by the media during his visit to Philadelphia on Sunday.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that he thinks what Irish rap group Kneecap stands for is completely intolerable Photo: Brian Lawless/PA.

He responded, saying he would not comment on Kneecap, as it is probably what they want.

Ive observed the degree to which this sort of ping pong gives oxygen, and so on, to groups, and thats not my role, he said.

Im concentrating on the more important business in terms of politics.

Im not going to get involved in commenting on Kneecap, I think thats probably what they want, and Im not going to oblige.
Winner of nearly 20 accolades including Best Drama at the prestigious Crunchyroll Anime Awards while drawing six and a half million viewers for the premiere of its second season, Frieren: Beyond Journeys End has taken the anime world by storm since it first aired in 2023.

Viewers have been captivated by the titular mage, Frieren, a quasi-immortal elf and her companions; fellow mage, Fern, and warrior, Stark, as they journey through a rich fantasy world which explores themes of loss, self-discovery and dealing with the passage of time.

Despite the global success of the series, two of the key minds behind the first season, Director, Keiichiro Saito, and Producer, Takafumi Nakame, havent rested on their laurels and are taking themselves out of their comfort zones by participating in the Global Anime Challenge (GAC).

The project is a Japanese government funded initiative which places top young animation professionals in studios around the world for training opportunities and cultural exchange to broaden the horizons of their indigenous industry upon their return home.

Nakame and Saito have spent the last month at the multi-Academy Award nominated Cartoon Saloon studio in Kilkenny and although the pair are already well established at the forefront of anime in Japan, learning new skills and techniques from the likes of co-founder and Creative Director, Nora Twomey has given them new perspectives on animation.

READ NEXT: Public transport company blamed for causing 'embarrassment' to Kilkenny City - Kilkenny Live

Nora, along with other core members of Cartoon Saloon, have been very generous with giving us masterclasses on animation production and also business aspects, Nakame says.

Theres a large range of things that theyve taught us over the course of our stay here, so weve learned a lot of differences between how animation is produced in Ireland and also Japan, he adds.

Travelling across the world to a new country and overcoming a language barrier to hone their craft would have been an intimidating prospect at first, but the welcome and hospitality theyve received in Kilkenny has made the transition as smooth as possible according to Saito.

This is our first time here in Ireland; people are just so nice and warm in welcoming us. Settling in and living here, I didnt feel any difficulties so its been really nice, he outlines.

Saitos work in leading Frierens first season was also recognised at last years Anime Awards where he was named as best director, becoming the youngest ever winner at the age of 32.

Even with this high-profile recognition of his ability, working conditions in Japanese animation remain frequently difficult with long hours and pressured situations the norm.

The training at Cartoon Saloon has marked a welcome departure for Saito whos had a weight lifted off his shoulders by the stark change of pace between the countries.

While working on Frieren, I was making animation in a small space, he recalls. My work was very fixed and I was sitting at my desk all day; so by participating in the GAC, Ive come across the ocean and I feel so much relief and freedom now.

Ive been getting a lot of stimulation from seeing different cultures and meeting a lot of people so its been really, really exciting for me, he continues.

Season two of Frieren is currently being released and although Saito is still working on the show in an assistant directing capacity, both he and Nakame stepped away from their previous roles in order to participate in the GAC.

Photo: Emilie Bach and Maria Madelaire with Takafumi Nakame at Cleere's in Kilkenny

Leaving such an acclaimed series at the peak of modern anime seems like it would have been a hugely difficult decision to make, but Saito has no regrets about taking time to prioritise his own personal and professional development.

The decision wasnt all that difficult for me to make, he asserts. Yes, Frieren was a very successful experience for me but at the same time, I was reflecting and asking what was missing, whats necessary for me to become a better director?

I felt that its about time for me to go out, observe and input; its been output time previously but now its time for input.

I think in the end, its working out well for Frieren and for myself as well, he adds.

Both Saito and Nakame have spoken publicly about a sense of stagnation within the anime industry in Japan, something which prompted them to apply for the GAC.

By broadening their horizons and networking abroad, they hope to forge new paths for international collaboration, and eventually develop their own brand new IP.

While Im in Japan, Im within the Japanese cultural and societal frame, says Nakame, who was also a producer on the hit film, Your Name. However, if Im abroad and intermingling different cultures and societies, my way of thinking will further expand.

Japanese anime is so popular around the world right now; people are so interested in what we do and of course we have overseas animators working on Japanese productions. I think its something wonderful thats happening right now.

There are opportunities to create something together. By going outside Japan and meeting different people, making connections and networking, I think its going to further enrich that environment for more co-productions, he describes.

The culmination of the GAC consists of the participants producing a short pilot trailer that will be screened at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in June with a chance for these to be developed into feature length films or series.

Their pilot is still in the early stages of production and although Saito remains tight-lipped about any details on the plot or setting, when asked if therell be any nods to their time in Kilkenny, he reveals that some subtle hints may be present.

Yes, maybe, but not directly, he says. Right now Im thinking maybe the story takes place outside of Japan, Im not sure yet.

However, by having all these wonderful experiences in Ireland and Kilkenny, the landscapes and these things can be reflected and maybe put into our work. Thats pretty much all I can say right now.

Despite already being well-established, Saito and Nakames young careers have still been greatly aided by the guidance theyve received from the veterans at Cartoon Saloon with Nakame believing that their work from this point on will be hugely inspired by the experience.

Weve been working on this for about a month and having all the dialogue with Nora-san really, really helped, he recalls. She was an inspiration for us and taught us so many things.

What I can say for sure is that our pilot film, what were going to be making in the future from now on, is something that we can only do because we came and had dialogues with Nora-san and interacted with so many people here, he concludes.

Please look forward to what were going to be making next.

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A Kilkenny community is living in fear after a spate of robberies and assaults, according to a TD from County Louth.

Fine Gaels Paula Buttimer was speaking in the Dail on the topic of rural crime following a recent visit to Kilkenny. She said there was a problem in the community as a result of people being intimidated, and a lack of prosecutions as a result.

Deputy Buttimer welcomed the increased budget for the gardai but said there were not enough recruits, particularly with regard to rural crime.

That remains a primary concern of mine. It is not just a concern in County Louth, she said. It is a concern I hear from farmers in rural communities across Ireland. I was recently in County Kilkenny where I heard about a person who has been robbed a number of times and has been subjected to a number of assaults.

As a result there has been a spate of similar incidents in his community. The problem there is that the intimidation, and the inability to be able to gather the appropriate evidence to prosecute, have that community in fear.

READ NEXT: New date announced for trial of Kilkenny's Catriona Carey and brother Jack

The Fine Gael TD said garda visibility is a huge deterrent that is equally important on the dark country roads as it is on the brightly lit streets of the towns.

I am concerned that we are not investing enough money, she said. We are investing money, but not enough to have the literal boots on the ground. I will start with that.

Responding, Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan said: "The Government has allocated sufficient funding to recruit 1,000 new gardai each year so the money is not the issue. As I said to the Chair earlier, the numbers coming into Templemore are increasing noticeably, so I am hopeful that we are getting more numbers coming out. The Government's policy and my policy is to have high-visibility policing in our communities."

READ NEXT: PICTURES: Kilkenny Hockey Club ladies host Women's Day event in aid of Amber Women's Refuge

He said the plan was to give a good chunk of the gardai who come out of Templemore every time new gardai pass out to a certain area.

"There is a plan in place to ensure all communities will get more gardai," he said.

"It is obviously more challenging to achieve high-visibility policing in a rural area than it is in a town or a city. That is just obviously the case. However, the way we reflect high-visibility policing in rural areas is by having the Garda station preserved there and having gardai out on patrol in the main towns and villages. Once we get more numbers in, we will see greater Garda visibility.

"Already, we are seeing increased numbers of gardai visible on our streets around the country. A lot of people have said that to me in the different communities I go to."
Taoiseach Micheal Martin has hailed the vibrancy of the Irish-American community in Philadelphia after taking part in the citys St Patricks Day parade as a guest of honour.

Mr Martin was greeted by US Congressman Brendan Boyle at the start of the route on Sunday morning before walking with the VIP guests, along with his wife Mary and waving to those who came out to cheer on the procession, which recognised the Irish contribution in the previous 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

The parade itself is older than the United States, running for the 255th year in 2026, with crowds estimated in the tens of thousands.

The Taoiseach was greeted by a number of well-wishers along the route, as well as sampling some of the produce at a Kerrygold stand.

The Taoiseach broke off from the main parade at Independence Hall, where he received a tour of the historic building, which includes the room where the Declaration of Independence was formally signed by most delegates on August 2 1776.

Mr Boyle said he was proud and honoured to have my friend the Taoiseach Micheal Martin attend the parade in Philadelphia, which he described as the birthplace of the US, at a special time of year for those of Irish heritage, or those who wish they were, adding: We are all Irish today.

He presented Mr Martin with a congressional record statement, which was read into the House of Representatives record a few days ago, commemorating the role that Irish Americans played in helping to achieve US independence.

When you think of those years, and how unlikely American independence was, we can be proud that so many of Irish birth and Irish descent played a role in making the American revolution a success, lest anyone think I am exaggerating about the role of Irish Americans in achieving American independence, when the war was over in 1783, Lord Mountjoy, in front of Parliament, complained, we just lost America because of the Irish.

His complaint is my proud boast.

Responding, Mr Martin said it was a special moment for him as a student of history to visit the birthplace of the US.

In particular, this visit this year is recognising the extraordinary contribution of the Irish to American independence, and over the last two days, a lot has been revealed to us, you can read so much in the history books, but you have to walk the streets of those great people who created, not just a template for American independence, but lit a flame that really lit up the rest of the world, that created other self determination movements across the world, and of course in our own country, the 1916 Proclamation, which takes inspiration from the ideals of the American Declaration of Independence.

It reaffirms the connection and the relationship between the United States and Ireland, its foundational and its historic.

Both men laid a wreath together at the base of a statue of Commodore John Barry, a US Naval commander, originally from Co Wexford, who is hailed as a hero for capturing British ships amid sea battles during the American Revolution and is known as the father of the American Navy.
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Jessie Buckley represents the best of Ireland, while Conor McGregor represents the very worst of Irish society, the Irish deputy premier has said.

Simon Harris was speaking to the media in London following a meeting with the UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves on Monday.

Asked about reports Mr McGregor is in Washington DC for the St Patricks Day celebrations in the US capital, Mr Harris said: Its a matter for the United States of America who they let into their country.

But my view of Conor McGregor is well known, he represents the very worst of us.

In November 2024, the mixed martial arts fighter was found civilly liable in a High Court damages case in Dublin taken by a woman who accused him of rape.

Nikita Hand, also known as Nikita Ni Laimhin, won her claim against Mr McGregor after accusing the professional fighter of raping her in a Dublin hotel in December 2018.

A few months later he met with US President Donald Trump in the White House on St Patricks Day and criticised the Irish Government on a range of issues during the meeting.

Mr Harris insisted the focus of the day should be on Jessie Buckley, who won the Academy Award for best actress for her role in Hamnet during Sunday nights ceremony.

He said: Today were celebrating Jessie Buckley, someone who represents the best of Ireland, an incredible person whos shattered a glass ceiling, the first Irish woman to win best actress at the Oscars, an incredible ambassador for our country.

Conor McGregor represents the very worst of Irish society.

Nobody needs any advice from me, but you know, tomorrow is a celebration of Irishness, of our values, of inclusion, of the best of us and when I think of the best of us, I dont think of Conor McGregor.

The Tanaiste praised Buckleys amazing humanity and compassion, saying her achievement is a moment of great joy and great delight at a very difficult and uncertain time in the world.

He also congratulated Richard Baneham, who won his third visual effects Oscar for his work on Avatar: Fire And Ash.
Irish premier Micheal Martin has declined to get involved in commenting on the ping pong between Sir Keir Starmer and Kneecap.

He said his involvement is probably what they wanted, adding he will not oblige.

The UK Prime Minister last week said what the Irish language rap group stand for and says is completely intolerable.

It comes after the CPS lost an appeal against the throwing out of a case against group member Liam Og O hAnnaidh, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, who had been accused of displaying a flag in support of proscribed terror organisation Hezbollah at a gig at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town, north London, on November 21 2024.

Asked for reaction during a visit to Belfast last week, Sir Keir said: My views on Kneecap are very well known in relation to what they stand for, and what they say, which is completely intolerable.

I think the CPS were obviously subject to the High Court decision and they will be looking at the judgment very carefully.

Mr Martin was asked for his view by the media during his visit to Philadelphia on Sunday.

He responded, saying he would not comment on Kneecap, as it is probably what they want.

Ive observed the degree to which this sort of ping pong gives oxygen, and so on, to groups, and thats not my role, he said.

Im concentrating on the more important business in terms of politics.

Im not going to get involved in commenting on Kneecap, I think thats probably what they want, and Im not going to oblige.
Weather Alert

...The Flood Warning is extended for the following rivers in Missouri... Missouri River at Boonville affecting Moniteau, Howard, Boone and Cooper Counties. ...The Flood Warning continues for the following rivers in Missouri... Missouri River At Miami affecting Chariton, Carroll and Saline Counties. ...The Flood Warning is cancelled for the following rivers in Missouri... Missouri River at Waverly affecting Lafayette, Carroll and Saline Counties. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Turn around, don't drown when encountering flooded roads. Most flood deaths occur in vehicles. This product along with additional weather and stream information is available at www.weather.gov/kc/. && ...FLOOD WARNING NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL FRIDAY AFTERNOON... * WHAT...Minor flooding is occurring and minor flooding is forecast. * WHERE...Missouri River at Boonville. * WHEN...Until Friday afternoon. * IMPACTS...At 21.0 feet, Low-lying rural areas along the river flood. At 23.8 feet, Easley River Road and Smith Hatchery Road begin to flood. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS... - At 9:04 AM CDT Wednesday the stage was 21.6 feet. - Forecast...The river is expected to rise to a crest of 22.1 feet this evening. It will then fall below flood stage tomorrow afternoon. - Flood stage is 21.0 feet. - http://www.weather.gov/safety/flood && Fld Obs Forecasts Location Stg Stg Day/Time Wed Thu Fri 1pm 1pm 1pm Missouri River Boonville 21.0 21.6 Wed 9am 21.9 21.4 17.7 &&
Gordon Deegan

A 29-year old Ukrainian man who fled to here from the war in Ukraine in 2022 took advantage of the warm welcome he received from the State when illegally claiming Jobseeker's allowance while couch-surfing in Scotland for seven months.

At Ennis District Court, Judge Valerie Corcoran made her comment after Kostiantyn Teliuk, formerly of the Burren Atlantic Hotel, Ballyvaughan, Co Clare pleaded guilty to an offence concerning illegally receiving 4,868 in Job Seeker's benefits from the Irish State from September 2022 to April 2023 while he resided in Scotland.

Teliuk pleaded guilty to not informing the Dept of Social Protection of a change in circumstance that he had left the State in 2022 in an offence contrary to Article 188 of the Social Welfare Regulations 2007

Corcoran said that Teliuks actions constituted a breach of trust and taking advantage of the warm welcome he received from the Irish State in 2022.

She said that this is deception.

Corcoran said the circumstances of the case warrant that a message be sent out.

She said: Absolutely we will support where appropriate that payments be given to all individuals that are entitled to, but the State should not be taken advantage of and this is what occurred here."

Cororcan said that Teliuk knew well that when he left Ireland that he could not claim when he wasnt resident here from the Irish state while he was couch-surfing in Scotland.

Corcoran said that what Teliuk did is unacceptable on any level and his offence is moving towards a custodial element.

The judge said that she would impose a three-month prison term but if the Probation Service found that Teliuk is suitable for community service, Teliuk would carry out 90 hours community service in lieu of the three months in prison.

In the prosecution taken by the Dept of Social Protection, State Solicitor for Clare, Aisling Casey told the court that Teliuk arrived here from Ukraine in 2022 and completed an application in June 2022 for financial support in the form of job seekers allowance.

Casey said that on September 14th it had come to the attention of the Dept of Social Protection that Teliuk had left the jurisdiction.

Casey said that in June 2023, Teliuk notified the department of a new address provided and he stated that he travelled to Scotland and London for a period of six days.

Casey however said that investigations found that Teliuk travelled to Scotland in September 2022 and didnt return until April 2023 and he was out of the country for quite a period of time

Corcoran said: So for seven months he was residing in another country and we were paying him?

Casey said that this was the case and the loss to the State in the case is 4,868 and Teliuk has been repaying it back at a rate of 10.

Casey said that Teliuk is not currently in receipt of any State benefit.

Solicitor, Daragh Hassett for Teliuk is very sorry that he betrayed the trust of the state.

Hassett said that Teliuk was homeless here and he moved to Scotland where a person had accommodation, and of course he should have cancelled his benefits here and he didnt do so.

Hassett said that Teliuk told "the Department that he didnt understand and the Department was not too impressed with that explanation and Im sure you would not be either judge".

Hassett said that Teliuk has seen things in his country that he shouldnt have seen with the war and he has struggled with his mental health.

Hassett said: Mr Teliuk doesnt have work but he should have work.

The judge adjourned the case to May 8th to see if Teliuk is suitable for community service.
A MAN who sent offensive messages to his former partner on the Facebook social media site calling her a d***head, sc**bag and telling her to f**k off was fined 400 at Portlaoise Family Law Court.

The 40-year-old Laois man, who cannot be identified due to reporting restrictions in family law cases, pleaded guilty to the offence of breaching a safety order, which occurred on dates between 20-21 January.

Garda Sgt JJ Kirby said the injured party in the case contacted gardai after she had received messages from her ex-partner calling her a d***head, sc**bag and telling her to f**k off.

Barrister for the accused Andrew Dunne said it was an isolated incident and there was no malice intended.

Judge Andrew Cody ruled as outlined.

* If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can contact Womens Aid (24-hour freephone helpline on 1800 341 900, email helpline@womensaid.ie) or Mens Aid Ireland (confidential helpline at 01 554 3811, email hello@mensaid.ie) for support and information.

Funded by the Court reporting Scheme.
Arriving at the 2026 ceremony in Los Angeles, Gwyneth Paltrow stepped out in a sleek ivory gown that initially looked understated from the front. But as photographers captured her from different angles, the design revealed its most surprising detail  dramatic slits running nearly the entire length of both sides of the dress.

Within minutes, social media was filled with the same question: how exactly was the dress staying in place?

Paltrow's appearance marked her first time attending the Oscars in more than a decade, and the look quickly became one of the most talked-about fashion moments of the night.

Gwyneth Paltrow's Long-Awaited Oscars Return

The actress, who won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1999 for Shakespeare in Love, has long been known for her refined red-carpet style, often favouring clean silhouettes over heavily embellished gowns.

This time, she leaned fully into that aesthetic  albeit with a daring twist.

Paltrow wore a custom gown from Giorgio Armani Prive, the couture division of the Italian fashion house founded by Giorgio Armani. Crafted in ivory silk, the strapless column design embodied the kind of understated glamour that has become a signature of the actress's red-carpet wardrobe.

From the front, the gown appeared elegant and restrained. But the moment she turned to the side, the true design became clear.

The Designer Behind the Dress

Instead of traditional side seams, the gown opened dramatically along both sides, revealing much of the actress's legs. The effect was striking, elegant yet unexpectedly bold, and it quickly became one of the evening's most photographed looks.

Paltrow styled the gown with Tiffany & Co. diamond jewellery, choosing delicate pieces that added sparkle without distracting from the silhouette. She completed the look with classic white pointed-toe pumps from Christian Louboutin, maintaining the outfit's clean, minimalist tone.

The result was a look that felt both timeless and modern, a balance that has long defined Paltrow's approach to red-carpet dressing.

The Clever Construction Behind the Viral Look

Of course, gowns like this rarely rely on appearance alone. Behind the scenes, careful engineering ensures everything stays in place.

The key element was the structured strapless bodice, which served as the gown's primary support system. Designers often incorporate internal corsetry or reinforced boning into strapless dresses to anchor the garment securely to the body.

In Paltrow's case, this hidden structure allowed the dress to maintain its shape despite the dramatic side openings.

Another subtle feature helped preserve the gown's silhouette: sheer crystal-embellished panels that connected the front and back sections of the fabric. These panels were nearly invisible under bright lights but played an essential role in keeping the garment stable.

Perhaps the most surprising detail was what lay underneath the dress.

Paltrow wore sparkling sheer trousers beneath the gown, adding both coverage and structure. The trousers were only briefly visible as she moved, but they contributed to the overall design, ensuring the look remained elegant rather than overly revealing.

Together, these elements created the illusion of a daringly open gown while maintaining the precision and security required for a red-carpet appearance.

A Red-Carpet Trend Emerging at the 2026 Oscars

Paltrow's daring design also reflected a broader fashion theme seen throughout the 2026 Academy Awards.

Several celebrities opted for gowns with bold slits or unexpected cut-outs, suggesting that designers are increasingly experimenting with structure and silhouette on the red carpet.

While slit dresses have long been a staple of awards-season fashion, the dramatic double-sided design of Paltrow's gown gave the look a distinctive edge.

Social Media Can't Stop Talking About It

As images from the red carpet circulated online, fashion fans quickly began analysing the unusual design.

Some praised the gown's elegance, while others focused on the technical challenge of making such a design work.

One social media user wrote, 'I'm still trying to figure out the physics of that dress.'

Another joked, 'It looks simple until you realise how complicated it must be.'

The curiosity surrounding the gown only amplified its impact, turning Paltrow's appearance into one of the evening's most memorable fashion moments.

Another Memorable Oscars Fashion Moment

Paltrow has delivered several unforgettable red-carpet looks over the years. From the pale pink Ralph Lauren gown she wore while accepting her Oscar in 1999 to the striking white cape dress she debuted in 2012, the actress has consistently embraced elegant, statement-making designs.

Her 2026 appearance followed that tradition, not through elaborate embellishment, but through clever design.

Sometimes, the most striking fashion moments are the ones that appear deceptively simple at first glance.

In this case, a sleek ivory gown supported by hidden tailoring, delicate panels, and shimmering trousers proved enough to captivate the red carpet and leave viewers wondering exactly how it all worked.

And perhaps that lingering question  'how did it stay up?'  is precisely what made the moment unforgettable.

Originally published on Fashiontimes UK
Nashville, Tennessee will have a strong Laois presence at the St Patricks day parade with musicians and dancers representing Comhaltas, Portlaoise branch already in the state capital.

The Portlaoise branch, which partners with the Buggy school of Irish Dancing at Fleadhanna Cheoil and other events, is visiting Tennessee in association the Laois and Williamson County Sister Cities committee.

The delegation departed from Dublin on Sunday March 8 and return on Monday 16.

"Laois can be proud of the musicians and dancers who will be visiting the USA," said Dr Labhras O Murchu, Ardsturathoir CCE.

Dr O Murchu expressed his pride that Comhaltas groups from Ireland will also perform in Brussels, Kenya, Liberia and South Africa to celebrate the strength of the diaspora.

Jason Conroy, Chair Portlaoise CCE, thanked the National Executive for their support and acknowledged the assistance of many local councillors in facilitating the trip.

"This will help cement the cultural connection and make way for further exchanges," he said.

A very busy itinerary is in progress exploring educational, musical, historical and other aspects of life in the area of Franklin and Nashville.

According to group leaders PJ Phelan and Shirley Cahill, it is proving to be a memorable experience for the travelling party, especially for those who are visiting North America for the first time.

Mr Phelan expressed appreciation for the hospitality shown by the Franklin Sister Cities committee and particularly the host families.

"The fact that we are staying with a number of families allows us to gain a more thorough understanding of their way of life and bond with them," he told the Leinster Express / Laois Live.

"Their goodwill towards Ireland and enthusiasm for our music and dance is overwhelming," he said.

The group was greeted by local representatives including Mayors of Williamson County and Franklin City, and received a warm reception from locals attending the parade in the state capital Nashville, on Saturday 14.

Well done to Portlaoise Comhaltas and the Buggy school of Irish Dancing!
Irish actress Jessie Buckley has made headlines internationally, with the nation bursting with pride over her Best Actress win at the Academy Awards on Sunday, March 16.

The Killarney born actress stars alongside Paul Mescal in 'Hamnet', a film focusing on how William Shakespeare and his wife Agnes coped with the loss of their 11 year old son Hamnet.

Laois locals are currently thrilled following Laois Rose of Tralee Katelyn Cummins Dancing with the Stars win, but they have another reason to be proud: Jessie Buckley's Rathdowney roots run deep.

Jessie Buckley's grandmother Norrie was born and raised at Fairy Hill, the Conoboro Rathdowney, the former residence and practice of the town's GP.

Her great-grandfather Dr John Joseph "Jack" Comer married IRB and Cumman na mBan activist Madge Clifford, and the pair raised their eight children in Rathdowney. The family lived in Rathdowney for 44 years, and have a fascinating history.

Pictured: Fairyhill house, the Conoboro Rathdowney. Photo: Google maps

Retired Rathdowney GP Dr Niall O'Doherty, one of Dr Jack Comer's successors, told the Leinster Express / Laois Live of the family's history in the town.

"It was only while I was writing the history of their family for the 2007 Rathdowney Review that I heard their story, they spoke to me over the phone on how they were involved in the old IRA and came to the town," Dr O'Doherty said.

"The house they lived in was built in 1912 by Perry's brewery to accommodate their workers. It was bought by the health board, and the house would come with the position of GP in the town. When I was hired as the local GP in 1977, the house and practice came with the position," Dr O'Doherty explained.

"Dr Comer qualified in Galway and it was a hotbed of republican activity, it's here his beliefs were set. Following his qualification he was appointed to a practice in Clonaslee, but he was arrested in 1923 and imprisoned in Portlaoise for his involvement with the IRA," Dr O'Doherty said.

"He was transferred to Tintown camp in the Curragh, and he was one of very few doctors to be imprisoned. He was released in 1924 following representations made by Errill TD William Davin, who argued that his constituents were without a doctor.

"He was not permitted to accept his job in Clonaslee, and Laois County Council argued that his politics would not interfere with his abilities to perform duties," Dr O'Doherty said.

Pictured: Madge Clifford and Dr Jack Comer

In 1926, Dr Comer married republican activist Madge Clifford. The pair met in Rathdowney while Madge was canvassing the town with Countess Constance Markievicz and Maude Gonne.

Madge was a key figure in many republican acts of rebellion, and was a private secretary to republican politicians.

In 1916, Madge met Roger Casement off the Aud with ammunition for the 1916 Easter Rising, and was an officer in Cumann na mBan. She became the personal secretary to Kerry TD and Minister for Home Affairs Austin Stack in 1919, and supervised arms dumps, gathered intelligence and moved weapons.

Madge also assisted Michael Collins and Harry Boland in bringing letters to Mountjoy prison, and pointed out some of the British spies that were killed by the IRA on Bloody Sunday. She was one of only five women in the Four Courts when it was destroyed in 1922.

That same year, Eamon de Valera appointed Madge to serve as secretary to IRA chief of staff Liam Lynch at headquarters in the Tower House, Santry.

After the Second World War, Madge was approached by Sean MacBride to stand for Clann na Poblachta in the 1947 election but declined for family reasons.

"Madge and Jack honeymooned in Jersey and settled into married life in Rathdowney, where they lived and raised their children for 44 years," Dr O'Doherty said.

Dr Comer and his wife went on to have eight children; daughters Una, Maureen, Bridget (Biddy), Eileen (Dodie), Norrie and Josephine (Fin) and their sons Simon and Diarmuid (Gerry).

Six of these children followed their father's path and became doctors, with one becoming a solicitor and one a nurse.

"Norrie, Jessie's grandmother, was the youngest of the girls. She qualified as a GP in UCD and trained in her father's practice," the Rathdowney Dr explained.

Norrie had a great love for Irish dancing, which was seen to carry through to her granddaughter Jessie.

"She married Pat and they settled in Killarney, where she spent her professional life working at St Mary of the Angel's facility in Beaufort near Killarney. Her husband Pat sadly passed suddenly in 1986. Their son Tim is Jessie Buckley's father, he and his brother Sean continued in the hotel business, while their sister Mary is a teacher and Una is a nurse in Texas."

"Dr Comer and his family moved to Killarney upon his retirement," Dr O'Doherty finished.
Laois County Council is heading to the USA twice this year, for St Patricks Day celebrations as well as for a Tennessee rodeo some months later, but one councillor is against the March trip, because of the current political situation.

Members of Laois County Council's management and the elected Cathaoirleach, Fine Gael Cllr Barry Walsh have taken up the invitation by the Laois Association of New York, to visit the city from March 13 to 18.

Then in May a bigger delegation will visit Tennessee for the Franklin Rodeo, and the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the USA's foundation.

Independent Cllr Aisling Moran asked, as she did a year ago, to consider Canada instead of the United States for St Patrick's Day.

"Can we look at going outside of the States, with all that's going on over there with Mr Trump? Could we look at Canada, could we look at European countries? If we are trying to build relations, but maybe do something? Fair enough for this year, but for next year, is it something that we could look at?" she asked, when the trip was approved at the January 2026 council meeting.

The Cathaoirleach Cllr Walsh said "it's something we can consider".

"Don't just say consider and then that's the end of it. I'm serious. Why are we wasting time and money going over there," Cllr Moran said.

Cllr John Joe Fennelly proposed the approval of the New York trip.

"This is an invitation of the Laois Association. You're not going to be going to the White House. We should respect their invitation. Every county in Ireland will be there," he said.

Each year the council takes the trip, which includes meetings with business and tourism representatives in New York as well as marching in the New York St Patrick's Day parade.

This year the Laois Rose of Tralee Katelyn Cummins will also be marching in the parade, representing Laois and the tralee festival. The whirlwind trip comes days after she won the 2026 Irish Dancing With The Stars.

The councillors also approved the acceptance of an invitation to the Rodeo in Franklin, which is a sister city to Laois.

Last year, Timahoe Male Choir joined the Laois delegation on the trip which leader Damien Bowe said reminded him of their star turn at Electric Picnic. See story and photos here.
The official relaunch day has been announced for the hugely expanded Penneys store in Laois.

The ribbon will be formally cut on the Portlaoise store on Thursday, 26th March, at 8.30am, with doors opening at 9am to customers.

It follows a multi-million-euro business investment that has created new jobs in Portlaoise, and doubled the size of the shop, adding room for more stock to the delight of shoppers. The shopfloor had been undergoing expansion whilst staying open since last September.

The Laois store will be opened by the Head of Penneys Ireland and Northern Ireland, Fintan Costello and the local team, led by Store Manager Orla Hudson.

Penneys say that "after a full refurbishment and extension, Penneys Portlaoise is now a bigger, brighter and more exciting place for customers to shop affordable essentials and fashion trends".

Mr Costello, an Offaly man this week told Midlands Radio 3 why they have no store in his own county, with the other two Midlands stores being in Athlone and Mullingar.

Read next: Start times and traffic advice for Laois St Patrick's Day parades

"We are relaunching our Portlaoise Store. We've doubled in size, we've totally modernised and refitted the store. We have new equipment. We have new self service tills which our customers love as well. It's going to be around 20,000 square feet.

"We have around 250 colleagues employed across the three stores here in the midlands. We feel we have the midlands well covered, but as an Offaly man I would never say never. Maybe one day," the Head of Penneys said.
Planning permission has been granted for a 2.5 million residential development in Kill, Co Kildare.

Kildare County Council approved plans by Resource Five Ltd for the construction of 10 detached homes on an infill site at Newtown Way.

The development will consist of ten four-bedroom, two-storey houses, including eight Type A homes and two Type B homes. The houses will be built on a site of approximately 0.48 hectares.

READ NEXT: Quirky Kildare cottage hits the market.

The project will also include associated infrastructure such as road access, footpaths, landscaping, open space and boundary treatments.

Additional works planned as part of the development include a foul sewer outfall, surface water drainage, watermain installation and other ancillary services to support the housing scheme.

Vehicular and pedestrian access to the site will be provided from the Newtown Way distributor road.

The total floor area of the development is approximately 1,600 square metres.

The planning application was submitted and permission was granted by Kildare County Council in early March.

The applicant is Resource Five Ltd, based at Parkwest Business Park in Dublin 12.

The project was designed by Terry & OFlanagan Ltd, with DCE IRL Consulting Engineers acting as consulting engineers.
A man with Irish tattoos has been found dead in a wheelie bin in an English city.

The man, who is guessed to be aged between 40 and 50, has yet to be identified.

He was found in a Coventry City Council wheelie bin in Cashs Park at about 5pm on Friday, according to the Irish Times.

He had a tattoo of a cross with a snake wrapped around it on his back, along with the words 'Little Stardust.'

He also had a tattoo on his right arm saying 'nan' with a clover and the colours of the Irish flag.

Inquiries to identify the man and find out how he died have begun, with one theory being that he was hit by a vehicle before being moved to the Park.

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A man and woman in their 40s and a man in his 20s have been arrested on suspicion of murder and assisting an offender.

Police are also investigating where the wheelie bin was moved from.

"All of these people remain in custody at this time while we continue to build a picture of what might have happened... We are continuing to appeal to anyone who might know more about what happened and whether they can help our investigation," Det Chief Insp Phil Poole, from West Midlands Polices Major Crime Unit, said.
It has been confirmed that The Exchange Project, a 6.2 million project in Drumshanbo, Leitrim, which could facilitate up to 40 jobs has been given the green light to commence construction next month and should be completed in less than 18 months.

The initiative will see the development of a working hub and creative studios in the town centre, with the potential to create up to 40 jobs.

The project includes the repurposing of the former Bank of Ireland building and the adjoining vacant premises on Main Street, the rebuilding of two outbuildings in the backlands, completion of the riverside walk, enhancement of the Peoples Park, and improved connections to the town centre.

Speaking to the Leitrim Observer, Cllr Enda McGloin said: "A spokesperson for the Capital Programmes in the council, confirmed to me that it is expected the construction company will be onsite and have informed Leitrim County Council that they expect to be onsite starting the project on 14 April."

Cllr McGloin said that the residents have been anticipating the commencement of the new project for a number of years now. He said: "It's taken a considerable period of time in terms of the whole protracted tender process but the people in Drumshanbo will be delighted to see the work start. We're not quite sure how long it will take but certainly, it's in excess of between a year and 18 months. It will be a massive redevelopment for the town centre of Drumshanbo and provides great excitement in terms of what's going to there; the invigorated bank and the project itself will bring new prosperity to the town centre. Delighted to see this started after a long time; it's going on a good few years."
Irelands largest home care provider, Dovida, is inviting people from Leitrim as well as Sligo and Roscommon who are interested in exploring a rewarding career in care to take part in National Hiring Day on Thursday, March 26.

The Sligo Town event is part of a nationwide recruitment initiative aimed at expanding the companys professional care team to meet the growing need for a diverse range of high-quality home care supports.

National Hiring Day gives attendees the chance to speak directly with Dovida staff, learn about Caregiver roles, explore available job opportunities, and receive guidance on training and career progression. The event is free to attend and open to people of all backgrounds, whether theyre new to the sector or an experienced professional.

This is a unique chance to learn more about us, our values, and the excellent career paths we offer in caregiving and beyond, Dovida Sligo, Leitrim, and Roscommon General Manager, Bridget McGrath, said.

READ MORE: RIP: Leitrim man remembered as a truly special person who brought such a positive energy

So, whether youre new to caregiving or an experienced professional, wed love to meet you on the day to discuss whether a career in care is right for you, she added.

National Hiring Day in Sligo

Venue: Dovida Sligo

Address: 44 High Street, Sligo Town, Co Sligo, F91 WC9

Time: Drop in any time between 10am and 8pm on Thursday, March 26, our staff will be on hand to welcome you and support you with your application!

A rewarding career in your community

Dovida Caregivers provide a range of vital services that empower people in their community to remain living as independently as possible in their own homes. Whether assisting an older person who needs some help around the house or supporting someone who has a disability to attend events in the community, Dovida Caregivers are there.

Dovida offers both full and part-time positions as well as flexible hours in the mornings, afternoons, evenings and weekends, allowing Caregivers to fit their work into their lives and balance it with other commitments, such as family life, community activities or study. The company also provides comprehensive training and support, as well as opportunities for personal and professional development.

People who need support from Dovida want to maintain autonomy over their life, to experience belonging, pursue happiness and find purpose. Our Caregivers are key to ensuring that as many people as possible can do just that, Bridget McGrath concluded.
The Irish embassy has warned that the sharing of footage of attacks in the Middle East is now illegal and can lead to serious implications.

The Irish Embassy in the UAE has informed Irish citizens that any photos or posts to social media of drone or missile attacks are now deemed illegal by local state authorities.

These rules also apply to Qatar and Kuwait.

"Irish citizens who violate these laws may be subject to fines, imprisonment, and deportation," the embassy said in a post on social media.

"We request that all Irish citizens continue to follow the advice of local authorities and follow official news sources," it continued.

The warning comes just a few days after a British tourist was charged under the UAEs cybercrime laws for sharing videos of missile activity and explosions, according to The Journal.

READ NEXT: Tributes pour for 'little angel' killed in car park tragedy as funeral details announced

Tourists heading for the Middle East from Dublin Airport have been told that disruptions are likely following a fresh spate of attacks on Dubai International Airport.

Earlier this morning, an Emirates flight with 172 passengers on board had to turn back because of the closure of the airspace over the Gulf city.

Dubai International Airport has suspended operations after a drone struck a fuel tank, causing a fire to start.

Authorities have said it was quickly contained, with no injuries reported.
HSE Mid-West has thanked members of the voluntary emergency services (VES) across the region for their support in ensuring vulnerable people in the community could access essential health and social care services during two severe weather events.

The support of colleagues in the Defence Forces was also recognised for their assistance to the HSE during these events in January 2025.

The following VES and partner organisations were thanked by the HSE at a special event at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Limerick: Clare Civil Defence, Galway Civil Defence, Irish Coast Guard, Irish Red Cross, Limerick Civil Defence, Order of Malta and Tipperary Civil Defence.

In January 2025, the HSE Mid-West experienced two severe weather events, starting with an eight-day period of extreme cold and snow starting on January 3. This was followed by Storm Eowyn, a red level windstorm on January 24.Both events caused significant disruption to health services due to the initial weather-related impacts and the damage in the aftermath.

During the protracted snow event, these organisations assisted with the transportation of 201 priority patients and 479 staff in key frontline roles.

READ MORE: Minister says new top-level facility may be built near University Hospital Limerick

HSE structures for crisis management were stood up by Regional Executive Officer, Sandra Broderick. These included the Regional Crisis Management Team and the Severe Weather Transport Group (SWTG), who oversee exceptional requests for transport to ensure the most urgent services can continue to be delivered.

Speaking at the event, Niamh Wallace, Head of Service, Health and Wellbeing, and Chair of the SWTG, HSE Mid-West, said:

The severe weather events of January 2025 presented significant challenges for the HSE in terms of service continuity, staffing and logistics... Despite the significant challenges presented by the severe weather events of January 2025, it is a tribute to everyone involved in the response that no adverse event was reported relating to a delay in access to healthcare. A major part in this success was the essential role played by our partners in the voluntary emergency services.

Maria Bridgeman, Integrated Healthcare Area Manager, Clare, Limerick and North Tipperary, HSE Mid-West presented a plaque to representatives from each of the eight voluntary emergency services and partner organisations thanked on the night.

We are fortunate in the Mid West to have built strong relationships with voluntary emergency services and with colleagues in the Defence Forces.
LIMERICK volunteers have once again shown incredible kindness and generosity, knitting more than 60 colourful hearts to give to people bereaved after losing loved ones.

St Marys Cathedral in the city centre welcomed members of the Limerick Craft MeetUp and other people for a knit and natter.

It came after Rev Scott Elliott, curate assistant for the Limerick city parish, issued an appeal on social media for people to help out.

READ MORE: Limerick village one step closer to securing playground as council agrees land transfer

Taking up the story, he explained how cathedral Dean Niall Sloane is on the end-of-life committee at University Hospital Limerick (UHL).

The appeal started from there. The chair of that committee had said they were knitting hearts they crafted for bereaved families, but they had run their course and they had none left, said Rev Elliott.

As a result of this, Dean Sloane decided the Limerick City Church of Ireland parish would contribute to the effort for knitting more of these woolen hearts.

Rev Elliott, his colleague, who recently joined St Marys Cathedral took on the challenge, and appealed for people to join the knitting effort.

We thought wed get a few people. However, we didnt expect it to blow up in the way it did. When it was advertised on Facebook, I think within a day, it had 30,000 hits. The positive comments that came through rapidly spread across the forums on Facebook, explained Rev'd Elliott.

It was the response to the appeal which prompted the cleric to open up the cathedral space for an afternoon.

There is something lovely about people in the community all coming together. Talking to the people who attended, some of whom had never been in St Marys Cathedral. Some were coming for the first time to craft together. It wasnt just members of the (Limerick Craft MeetUp) group, it was widely attended by people in the community, he said.

Almost 30 people were present for the knit, mainly women, with the cathedral offering them a space to meet, socialise and form friendships.

As part of the afternoon, they enjoyed a tour of the church, the oldest building in Limerick, dating back to 1168.

In the next few weeks, Rev'd Elliott will be handing the hearts over to the end-of-life committee at UHL.

They will then donate them to bereaved families across Limerick.

There is something lovely that the knitted hearts we crafted in St Marys are going out into Limerick communities regardless of what church they attend, or who that person is. There is something heart-warming about that. Its an ecumenical and intercultural link, Rev'd Elliott reflected.

We are a living breathing community and we want to support all those within our community in Limerick. Initiatives such as knitted hearts seem small, but they mean a lot in that they show we care.

READ MORE: Child raises the alarm on Christmas Eve after seeing man stabbed in the back in Limerick home

Off the back of the event, the curate assistant is hoping to establish a craft group meeting more permanently at the cathedral.

We didnt expect the initiative to take off in the way it did. Its opened my mind. I come from a Church of Ireland community in the north of Ireland. Knitting is in our lifeblood - my grandmother was a knitter, as were her family. We had many initiatives up at home in Enniskillen, he said.

Later on this year - most likely in October - UHL will host its annual multi denominational remembrance service at St Nessans Church in Raheen, near to the hospital campus in Dooradoyle.
A MAN who used his US citizenship to buy military-grade firearms and ammunition legally in America before selling them on to Irish criminal gangs - including in Limerick - has been jailed for ten years.

Passing sentence on Conor O'Brien at the three-judge Special Criminal Court this Monday, Ms Justice Karen O'Connor said criminal gangs need firearms to threaten and intimidate others and use them to maim, kill and terrorise.

O'Brien, she said, had shown a cavalier attitude towards the harm he was causing by playing a "crucial, if not imperative role" providing arms and ammunition.

He took advantage of his dual citizenship to purchase guns in America and sell them here for financial gain, she said, adding that the impact of such crimes "cannot be overestimated".

In communications found on his phone, including one in which joked about selling guns to "Ireland's top criminals, LOL", Ms Justice O'Connor said he had shown "total disregard for the impact of such deadly weapons on our citizens".

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While O'Brien's guilty plea had been of value, Ms Justice O'Connor said the evidence against him was compelling as he had been caught "red-handed" with an extensive arsenal of firearms, ammunition and components in a shed he was renting.

Ms Justice O'Connor also noted that O'Brien had used his own name and details when purchasing the firearms and ammo in the US, making them traceable to him and showing "an element of naivety" in what he was doing.

Ms Justice O'Connor cited as an aggravating factor the extensive planning and organisation involved in the importation and sale of guns as she set a headline sentence of 15 years, the maximum penalty available. Having considered mitigating factors, including his guilty plea, she reduced the sentence to 11 years with the final 12 months suspended for one year.

The court ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the firearms and ammunition. However, the court will hear further submissions next week regarding cash that was also seized by gardai investigating O'Brien.

Counsel for O'Brien said there is no consent to the forfeiture of the cash in circumstances where money laundering charges that had been brought against O'Brien are no longer being pursued.

At a previous hearing, Detective Inspector Shane McCartan said: Without Conor OBrien, there would be no criminal organisation, such was his importance."

OBrien and the leader of the gun-running ring, Mark McCourt, were distributing guns and ammunition to criminal gangs in Derry, Armagh, Dublin and Limerick, he said.

Last November, O'Brien aged 29, of Kilpatrick, Ardee, Co Louth, was arraigned on six charges.

He pleaded guilty that between February 10, 2023, and July 19, 2024 with knowledge of the existence of a criminal organisation, he did participate in or contribute to activity intending to facilitate the commission by the said criminal organisation or any of its members in the importation of firearms and ammunition and explosives.

He further pleaded guilty to five counts concerning the possession or control of a firearm or ammunition in suspicious circumstances, contrary to the provisions of Section 27A(1) of the Firearms Act 1964, as substituted by section 59 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006, as amended by the Criminal Justice Act 2007.

These related to offences at John Street, Blackstick, Ardee, Co Louth, on July 19, 2024, when he had unlawfully in his possession two .233 Remington calibre barrels from AR-15 pattern semi-automatic rifles, in circumstances giving rise to a reasonable inference that he did not possess them for a lawful purpose; he had possession of four .233 Remington calibre barrels from Anderson manufacturing AM-15 pattern semi-automatic rifles; he had eight frames for Sig Sauer semi-automatic pistols; a frame for a Canik semi-automatic pistol; and four slides for a Sig Sauer model P320 9mm Luger calibre semi-automatic pistol.

At the sentencing hearing, Det Insp McCartan told counsel for the State, Simon Matthews BL, that OBrien and McCourt were involved in procuring the firearms in America and bringing them into Ireland, where they were distributed.

Det Insp McCartan explained that the two men were bringing the weapons into Ireland in component parts, which were then reassembled.

The detective inspector said that both men were arrested and their phones seized, with forensic examination of the phones revealing communication between the two and other parties who used aliases.

He said that in one communication between OBrien and a person known as Eugene, OBrien made reference to a suitcase full of Glocks and .22 is for babies, the latter being a reference to .22 calibre ammunition.

Det Insp McCartan said that in April 2023, McCourt and OBrien flew to Las Vegas, with OBrien returning to Ireland on April 9. In a communication between OBrien and an individual known as The Keeler, the defendant mentioned 500 rounds of 9mm. OBrien also said that he was going to stick them all together, which Det Insp McCartan explained meant reassembling the component parts of firearms.

The detective inspector said that communication between the parties revealed that OBrien had military grade rifles and Glock handguns, as well as large drum magazines, which were capable of firing 60 rounds, and assorted ammunition.

Det Insp McCartan gave evidence that, in relation to this particular collection of weapons and ammunition, McCourt had messaged that 75K is the best price.

The witness said that the two men had shared images and videos of the firearms with The Keeler, which showed the type of guns they had for sale. He said that some of the weapons were fully assembled, with everything stored in a shed in Blackstick in Ardee, which was rented by OBrien.

The detective inspector told the court that gardai were able to identify a serial number attached to one of the AR-15 rifles that showed the weapon had been purchased by OBrien from a firearms shop in Nevada in February 2023. He gave further evidence of a conversation between McCourt and an individual known as Vladimir Putin in May 2023, in which McCourt said he could get an AR-15 rifle with long range bullets that can drop a deer at 900 yards, no problem.

Det Insp McCartan also gave evidence of further communication between OBrien and a person known as C, in which OBrien said that he had pipes. The witness said that he believed this referred to pipe bombs, with OBrien sourcing clients for pipe bombs which were to be manufactured by McCourt.

In further communication, McCourt made a reference to meeting this other fella today to give him the money for the flight. Det Insp McCartan said that other members of the criminal organisation were travelling to America to support the transporting of ammo and gun parts back to Ireland, with the gun components divided out between these air passengers.

In a communication in July 2024, OBrien told a man called Joe that he was selling weapons to Irelands top criminals.

Det Insp McCartan said that when gardai raided the shed in Ardee in July 2024, they found a suitcase of firearms and handguns, which were semi-automatic pistols and military grade rifles, all of them in working order. The court was shown an example of the type of handgun and assault rifle that was found in the premises rented by OBrien in Ardee.

The detective inspector said that when arrested, OBrien initially downplayed his role in the offences but then accepted that the items found were his. When asked what his role was, OBrien told gardai: I know guns.

Det Insp McCartan said that he formed the opinion about the existence of a criminal organisation, with OBrien operating in a symbiotic relationship" with McCourt.

Without Conor OBrien, there would be no criminal organisation, such was his importance, said the detective inspector, adding that McCourt was directing operations in Derry, Armagh, Dublin and Limerick and dealing with Ireland's top criminals.

OBrien had no previous convictions.

READ NEXT: Man accused of producing iron bar during heated dispute in Limerick housing estate

O'Brien's co-accused Mark McCourt, aged 34, of Edenreive, Newry, Co Down, was previously jailed for 12 years by the Special Criminal Court, having also pleaded guilty to facilitating the criminal organisations efforts to import restricted weapons between February 2023 and July 2024, and the possession of firearms components.

McCourt told one prospective customer he would throw in ten pipe bombs as a free gift to seal a 75,000 cash deal to supply guns and ammunition smuggled by air from America, the sentencing court heard.

He has 42 previous convictions, including for assault causing harm, theft and dangerous driving. McCourt was previously jailed for going to the home of an off-duty garda and ramming her car.
GARDAI have launched an investigation following the discovery of a body of a woman in Limerick city.

The deceased woman, aged in her 50s, was found in a vehicle reportedly parked on the grounds of University Hospital Limerick on Sunday morning.

Mystery surrounds the circumstances of her death. However, it is believed that it is being treated as a medical incident and that no foul play is suspected at this time.

Following a query from Limerick Live, a garda spokesperson confirmed that officers responded to a report of the discovery of a woman unresponsive in a car at a premises in Dooradoyle, Limerick, on the morning of Sunday, March 15.

READ NEXT: HSE admit doctor accused of raping nurse should have been suspended' from Limerick hospital

The woman, aged in her 50s, was pronounced deceased at the scene. The coroner has been notified. A post-mortem examination will be arranged, said a garda spokesperson, who added that the results of the post-mortem will determine the course of the investigation.

HSE Mid West, which provides health and social care services to Clare, Limerick, and North Tipperary, has been contacted for comment.

Anybody who was on the grounds of University Hospital Limerick on Sunday morning, and may have seen something of note which could help gardai with their enquiries, is asked to contact Henry Street garda station on 061 212400.
STUNNING scenes of a sunny Limerick were beamed into hundreds-of-thousands of homes in the UK ahead of St Patricks Day.

Celebrity chef Donal Skehan visited the city for ITVs This Morning, hosted by Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard. The show, which also airs on Virgin One in Ireland, attracts around a half-a-million viewers daily.

Donal headed to the boardwalk on Clancy Strand with King Johns Castle looking regal in the background. There was even a rare glimpse of spring sunshine for his pieces to camera.

The chef then headed to the top of the castle where the citys vista was showcased for those watching at home. Musicians Hazy Haze and Danny ONeill added to the atmosphere as Donal chatted to Cat and Ben in studio in London.

READ NEXT: A complete guide to St Patrick's Day parades in the city and across county Limerick

The visit was facilitated by Limerick City and County Council. A spokesperson said the coverage was instigated by Failte Ireland and Tourism Ireland.

They approached Discover Limerick DAC regarding using King John's Castle as a suitable location for filming and reached out to them directly on it.

The filming was part of a three day publicity campaign they organised with Donal Skehan with filming happening in Cork, Limerick and Killarney, so we were very happy to be chosen as one of the locations they opted to put a spotlight on, said a council spokesperson.

Taking to social media after his sojourn around Munster, Donal said he realised why we all love this country in the first place, saying he was given the famous Cead Mile Failte as he filmed scenes for This Morning.

Three days zig-zagging around Kerry, Cork and Limerick filming and an amazing reminder that nobody does a welcome quite like the Irish, said Donal.

So many brilliant welcomes, great characters, old stories, new stories, and more incredible food than any sensible person should eat in 72 hours. Huge thanks to everyone who opened their doors and got involved this week.
IT'S LIKELY the Curraghs mile maiden for three-year-olds and up on Sunday produced a pretty smart winner in the form of Victory Tip, ridden by Ballingarry jockey Billy Lee and trained by Henry De Bromhead.

This horse was picked out of a National Hunt sale for 10,000 and could have a nice future under any code, judged by the way he cut through a big field to win by over a length at 16-1 on the opening day of the new flat season.

Limerick jockey Lee later said on Racing TV: Henry said try to get him settled in midfield, but he walked out the stalls so I just left him alone. They went a good gallop and I let him find his feet. We got to halfway and I have him a squeeze and he came alive. It was a nice performance.

He sliced through them and went on that ground fine and I had a job pulling him up. He was probably the only horse today that went to the white boards at the end of the track. Chris Jones owns him so maybe he will end up hurdling but they have plenty to look forward to.

Its nice when a plan comes together. Thats what Curragh trainer Padraig Roche was thinking when Saratoga won with the Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle with some authority by over two lengths at the Cheltenham Festival last week.

This horse was certainly bred for the job as a half-brother to many good horses, including Irish Derby winner Capri and Brazil who won this same race in 2022.

READ NEXT: Live TV details confirmed for Limerick's crucial National Hurling League clash with Galway

He had been held in three maiden hurdles before last week at Cheltenham when he raced prominently. Once Mark Walsh asked the grey to extend, the result was not in doubt and he returned at 10-1.

It was an 85th success at the meeting for Limerick businessman JP McManus on his 75th birthday.

Every winner at Cheltenham is very, very special, the legendary owner said.

I go back a long way with Padraigs father Christy. I owned the horses [half] brother a couple of years ago, Brazil. They were praying that the ground would be fast, as he bounces off it. They were worried the ground might be a bit too soft for him a couple of weeks ago, but every day it was drying out. We are very happy with the horse.

For his part, Roche said: We came here by near enough the same route when we won this with Brazil and after Christmas we thought we might have a chance. So weve had it in mind for a while.

We would only have 12 or 13 jumpers and five or six for the Flat - thats all we have. Today was what mattered. Well find out if hes a bit better than a handicapper down the road.

Dinoblue was the middle pin of a Willie Mullins treble on Friday, battling to a margin just shy of two lengths in the Grade 2 Mares Chase. Mark Walsh did the steering on the 11-8 favourite who was winning the race for the second year straight.

Mullins said: Shes a lovely mare. Theyre a good match, Mark and Dinoblue. Her jumping was extraordinary, and if you had a horse which jumped like that every day of the week, it would make this game very easy.

Upcoming Fixtures:

Tuesday, March 17 Down Royal NH (first race 1.18pm) & Wexford NH (first race 1.37pm)

Thursday, March 19 Cork NH (first race 2.30pm)

Friday, March 20 Dundalk (first race 4.37pm)

Saturday, March 21 Navan NH (first race 1.55pm)

Sunday, March 22 Limerick NH (first race 1.53pm) & Naas (first race 1.35pm)
PLANS by the son of Euro-Millions winner Dolores McNamara for a major student accommodation and housing development have attracted dozens of objections.

A&G Thomond Builders, whose directors are Gary McNamara and his wife Michelle, are seeking to construct on land situated between Groody Road and the Caislean na hAbhann estate over a seven-year period.

The development is projected to see 95 apartments, 22 houses and a purpose-built student accommodation complex comprising of 309 bed spaces, with agents for the applicant stating that its anticipated the scheme will be operational between 2027 and 2028 if all goes to plan.

READ MORE: This has been an absolute experience of a lifetime: Limerick's Paudie marvels at his DWTS journey

But 45 groups and individuals had written to council expressing concerns over the development by the deadline for submissions.

In that number is a massive submission from the Caislean na hAbhann residents association, signed by 230 people across 123 homes.

One person who wrote to council stated: The scale and intensity of this development would inevitably generate excessive noise, late-night activity, congregation and general disturbance resulting in a significant loss of quiet enjoyment and residential amenity for neighbouring residents.

For their part, agents for A&G Thomond have outlined a series of measures which are planned to minimise anti-social behaviour.

The student accommodation would be accessible only through a keyfob, CCTV will be in operation, students will be given quiet hours between 10pm and 7am.

A management company will be in place to enforce this, and students can be evicted as a last resort, they added.

There have been complaints about the size and scale of what is planned, with one resident saying five-storey buildings planned would create an overbearing and visually dominant presence.

One described the design of what is proposed as a monstrosity.

Fine Gael councillor Peter Doyle, who represents the area on the local authority, wrote: It would be better planning if these purpose-built student accommodation buildings were located on the University of Limerick (UL) campus or adjacent to save students having to cross the Dublin Road.

He claimed students already living in Castletroy are taking up all free parking spaces in local housing estates.

In supporting documentation, agents for the developer referenced demand for student housing, claiming there is a shortfall of 959 bedspaces in Limerick.

As part of a 17-page submission to council, the residents association said this assessment also takes into consideration students attending Mary Immaculate College and Technological University of the Shannon as well as UL.

They said students attending the first two colleges should not be assessed in conjunction with the application.

The association also highlighted that some general housing is planned as part of the application.

The juxtaposition of high-occupancy student accommodation with family housing and conventional apartments introduces differing patterns of use and amenity demands, they state.

A decision is scheduled to be made by the end of this month.
GOVERNMENT has been urged to initiate an immediate review of Limerick's directly elected mayoral legislation.

It comes after it emerged the evaluation of the laws which underpin the role of Ireland's first elected mayor may now not take place until next year.

It comes despite Fine Gael leader, and Tanaiste Simon Harris previously stating he wanted to see the assessment begin this year.

Limerick Chamber says any delay risks squandering an opportunity for local government reform and causing reputational damage to the city and county.

READ MORE: Limerick knitters show heartwarming spirit to support bereaved families

Donnacha Hurley, the newly-installed chief executive of the Chamber has written to both Local Government Minister James Browne and Minister of State at the same department John Cummins.

He wrote there is an urgent need for decisive action to address what he describes as "fundamental flaws" in the laws which govern the office held by Mayor John Moran.

Limerick was promised a bold new model of local leadership with the ability to deliver progress, but what has emerged is a diluted structure that is already showing its limitations. Every day that passes without an immediate review is a missed opportunity to put in place the kind of empowered, accountable governance Limerick needs to compete and grow. Continued delay not only weakens confidence, it also risks serious reputational damage to Limerick as a place that is unable to deliver on its own reform agenda," Mr Hurley added.

Under Section 7 of the Local Government (Mayor of Limerick) and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2024, Mr Browne is required to review the operation and effectiveness of the act no later than three years after the establishment day.

Limerick Chamber says there is nothing preventing that review from being brought forward now, and that doing so is essential if the legislation is to be corrected before the issues compound further.

"Limerick Chamber says it has consistently supported the principle of a Directly Elected Mayor, and has long championed the potential of the office to drive accountability, transparency and strategic development across the region. However, it argues that the legislation as enacted failed to establish the Mayor as the executive head of local government, instead creating a role that is disconnected from the operational and strategic levers needed to fulfil an electoral mandate," Mr Hurley stated.

Limerick Chamber said it identified weaknesses in the proposed bill, something it raised with the Department in October 2023.

"These included the failure to make the mayor head of the organisational structure, the absence of full executive powers across key areas such as housing, budget preparation and HR, and a lack of clarity around reporting lines and responsibilities. The Chamber says the structural deficiencies it warned about in 2023 are now plainly visible," the largest business group in the region stated.

Economist and policy director at the Chamber, Sean Golden said: "Limerick Chamber called these issues out clearly in October 2023, before this legislation was enacted. We set out practical, evidence-based amendments to ensure the Office of the Mayor would have the executive authority, operational control and organisational clarity required to succeed and deliver on their mandate. Those warnings were not adequately addressed, and the problems we identified in advance are now materialising in exactly the way we feared. That is why this review must happen immediately, and why it must result in substantive legislative change rather than cosmetic adjustment.
LIMERICK councillor Elisa O'Donovan says she attended an anti-ICE demonstration in New York to show solidarity with activists and university communities she says feel under threat.

The Social Democrats member is in New York as part of a delegation from Limerick City and County Council. Separate to this, she attended a protest against the controversial immigration and customs enforcement agency.

She posted an image of herself on a number of social media platforms, holding a placard reading: ICE out of Schools.

It was taken at a demonstration held at Columbia University in Manhattan.

READ MORE: Limerick Chamber demands immediate review of local mayoral legislation

Councillor ODonovan said its only the second time in her seven years in politics she travelled with the local authority for St Patricks Day.

In particular, she said she wanted to go to the USA this year to show support for peoples current fight against their rights being taken away.

Students across the USA are protesting because they believe ICEs actions harm immigrant communities and spark fear on campuses. Its something Cllr ODonovan reflected, saying: It has never been more important for all of us to show our support very clearly and unapologetically for the staff and students of the universities in cities across America who tell me they are living in fear of their jobs and their safety.

She added no council money, resources and time were spent for this element of her stay in New York.
Last week, French Renault, unveiling its global vehicle strategy, said India is witnessing high growth due to rising electrification and SUV sales. India will become a global production and supply hub for the brand, serving its domestic market as well as many other countries. Between now and 2030, four new models will be designed and assembled in India, including 100% electric and full hybrid cars.
(Bloomberg) -- Private bankers across Asia are scrambling to contain client anxiety as redemption pressures ripple through the $1.8 trillion private credit market, even in a region seen as more insulated from the recent turmoil.

With investment funds gating mechanisms suddenly in focus, private bankers in Hong Kong and Singapore have been fielding urgent calls from their high net-worth clients seeking clarity or asking to redeem positions on the private credit products they hold, according to people familiar with the matter. Regulators in Asia are also increasing scrutiny of the asset class, aiming to protect less-savvy individual investors, who tend to be more sensitive than their institutional peers and easily rattled by negative headlines.

Many wealth investors had never experienced a redemption queue before this cycle, said Kher Sheng Lee, co-head of Asia Pacific at the Alternative Investment Management Association. The rapid adoption of private credit products by individuals outpaced their practical familiarity with how illiquid structures behave under stress, making it essential for fund managers, distributors and investors to bridge that knowledge gap, he said.

A few high-profile blowups in the US and Europe of companies that were financed by private lenders have eroded investors confidence. Concern about US private credit funds with exposure to the software sector  now under pressure from rapid advances in AI  have fueled withdrawals at vehicles run by BlackRock Inc., Blackstone Inc. and Blue Owl Capital Inc. Morgan Stanley and Cliffwater LLC capped redemptions at their multibillion-dollar funds after clients sought to pull out far more than is allowed. JPMorgan Chase & Co. also restricted some lending to private credit funds after marking down the value of certain software-linked loans in its portfolios.

In Asia, asset managers including Blue Owl, Blackstone and KKR & Co. have hosted inperson events with private bankers in Hong Kong and Singapore  ranging from casual drinks to formal luncheons to calm investors nerves, the people said, who asked not to be identified discussing private matters. Blackstone also held Zoom calls with select retail clients to reassure them that its exposure to stressed software assets is limited compared with peers, one of the people said, adding that the firm has sufficient cash on hand to meet redemption requests.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has contacted private banks to assess the private credit funds they are distributing and the scale of those exposures, people familiar said. The Australian Securities & Investments Commission has boosted surveillance of private markets since last year.

A representative for Blue Owl said the firm regularly engages with distribution partners and clients worldwide as part of its normal course of business. The company added that Asia remains an important growth market, with strong demand from both institutional and private wealth investors across its global platform.

Education and ongoing engagement with financial advisers and investors are central to our approach to private wealth, Jacqueline Zhuang, head of KKRs global wealth solutions for Asia Pacific ex-Japan. The firm will continue to support financial advisers and their clients as the asset class continues to grow, she added.

A representative for HKMA said the institution doesnt comment on market rumors, while Blackstone declined to comment.

Deja Vu

Most private credit products are only available to professional investors  defined as those with portfolios of at least HK$8 million ($1 million) in Hong Kong, or accredited investors in Singapore exceeding S$1 million ($781,050) in financial assets, according to Endowus, an independent wealth and fund platform. Global funds typically distribute these products in Asia through private banks.

In recent years, global asset managers have raised billions of dollars for private credit funds from the wealth channel. Retail investors currently account for about $48.8 billion of the asset class in Asia Pacific, a figure projected to rise to $74.8 billion by 2028, according to data provider Broadridge Financial Solutions.

For some in Asia, the latest jitters feel like deja vu. Individuals in the region were burned by the wipeout of the so-called Additional Tier 1 notes during Credit Suisses 2023 rescue and by the collapse of Lehman Brothers minibonds in 2008. More recently, the downturn in Chinas property and tech sectors has left them especially quick to react to signs of instability.

Its also not the first time Asias wealthy have rushed to redeem funds despite withdrawal limits. In 2022, Blackstone limited redemptions from its real estate fund after heavy requests, much of them from Asia. That episode made high net-worth individuals, family offices and advisers more cautious about tying up money in assets that are hard to trade or value. That said, confidence was later rebuilt when the University of California committed $4 billion to the fund.

Some bankers in Asia now point to that case when trying to reassure clients, people familiar said. The idea behind limiting redemptions is to avoid a vicious cycle where funds are forced to sell assets cheaply to meet withdrawals, which hurts remaining investors and prompts even more exits, they said.

Wealth investors account for roughly 20% of US evergreen funds  an open-ended investment vehicles with no fixed maturity  that had $500 billion in assets under management as of Sept. 30, according to MSCI Research. Among such investors in these funds, about half of their assets are allocated to private credit, highlighting a structural shift beyond a purely institutional base, it added.

Still, some banks and investment committees are playing it safe, allowing clients to redeem early in case requests later hit the cap, the people said. Also, not all private bank clients are backing away from the asset class. Some have asked to shift into instruments with less exposure to US markets and software companies, they added.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
Atlys, a visa processing startup, has closed a $36 million Series C funding round led by Susquehanna Asia VC.

Existing investors include Elevation Capital, Long Journey Ventures, and Peak XV Partners, participated in the round. Travel platform MakeMyTrip joined the company's cap table as a new investor.

"We are currently on a 700K+ annual visa run rate, and as rising incomes drive a surge in global travel and cross-border experiences, the scale of the opportunity ahead is significant," said Mohak Nahta, founder and chief executive at Atlys.

Also Read | Local capital boom drives Indian angels to launch their own funds

In fact, 2025 was the second consecutive year of international travel growth, with global arrivals rising 4% and exceeding pre-pandemic highs, totalling roughly 1.52 billion, according to data from UN Tourism.

The number reflects a return to pre-pandemic growth trends, closer to the 5% average annual increase between 2009 and 2019. Africa showed the strongest growth at 8%, followed by Asia Pacific (6%), Europe (4%), Middle East (3%), and the Americas (1%).

The startup plans to deploy the new capital to enter additional international markets. The company has expanded its global presence since 2024 to include the UAE, the US, the UK, and Australiamarkets that now collectively account for nearly half of the company's business. The company's $20 million Series B round in 2024 was co-led by Peak XV and Elevation Capital at a time when tourism was seeing a post-pandemic resurgence.

Also Read | Qualcomm Ventures eyes India startups to build low-cost AI for the world

In addition, Atlys plans to accelerate its artificial intelligence road map to make the visa lifecycle smootherfrom document verification and eligibility checks to real-time traveller support.

Founded in 2021, the company raised its seed round from Andreessen Horowitz and is a digital-first platform that allows travellers to discover, apply for and manage visas across 120+ destinations.

Sai Araveti, investment advisor to Susquehanna Asia VC, said the company's data layer sets it apart. By automating applications, improving approval outcomes, and bringing transparency to timelines, Atlys is making cross-border travel significantly more reliable.

Susquehanna Asia VC is the Southeast Asian and Indian venture capital arm of the Susquehanna International Group of Companies, a global proprietary trading and investment firm founded in the US in 1987.

Through the Group's Chinese and Southeast Asian corporate venture funds, the firm has invested in over 350 companies across enterprise and consumer technology over the last 18 years.
(Bloomberg) -- FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Frieds mother may have been a law professor at Stanford University. But the judge who sentenced her son to 25 years in prison said she cant act on his behalf in his bid for a new trial.

On Monday, the judge made clear he wont consider letters, or a phone message to his chambers, from the former crypto kings mother, Barbara Fried. The notice said that she had contacted the court to request additional time for her son to file papers.

The Court of course understands that Ms. Fried is the defendants mother, was trained and practiced as a lawyer, and has taught at Stanford Law School, US District Judge Lewis Kaplan wrote. Nevertheless, with no disrespect, she lacks standing to file papers or seek relief in this case.

Fried, who retired from Stanford in 2022, doesnt serve on her sons legal team. But she has been involved in his legal proceedings, sending the court the motion for a new trial and separately explored how to secure him a pardon from President Donald Trump, Bloomberg previously reported.

Bankman-Fried, 34, is serving time in a federal prison near Los Angeles after his conviction in 2023 on multiple criminal counts connected to the collapse of his cryptocurrency exchange the previous year. The conviction is on appeal, but Bankman-Fried filed a motion last month on his own  without help from his legal team  claiming theres new evidence in the case and asking Kaplan for a new trial.

In his new-trial bid, Bankman-Fried claims hes a victim of a weaponized Biden-era Justice Department  an argument that prosecutors have called incoherent. Bankman-Fried has also asked for a new judge, saying Kaplan has demonstrated manifest prejudice toward him. The judge issued a number of rulings restricting Bankman-Frieds defense arguments at trial.

Fried asked for an extension until April 1 for Bankman-Fried to reply to the governments arguments. She said he lacks word processing and access to his files in prison, and will be out of contact while being moved to a different prison in the next few weeks.

In the new filing, the court said it received a call from Bankman-Frieds mom, or someone identifying themselves as her. Kaplan said the court does not accept telephone calls from litigants or from members of their families.

The judge said hes extending the deadline until March 23, on his own initiative, for Bankman-Fried or his lawyers to seek additional time, if desired.

The case is US v. Bankman-Fried, 22-cr-00673, US District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
The report added that India accounts for more than a third of all AsiaPacific investment exposure among surveyed LPs. Data notes that private equity and venture capital deals expanded 1.6-fold to $207 billion between 2016-20 and 2021-25 while exits for the same period more than doubled to around $120 billion, the consultancy firm said.
They became comfortable with holding on to more liquidity for themselves, but also realized that banks were performing. I think that people have a lot of confidence, especially in large regulated banks and they do not necessarily need to draw those facilities to be sure that they are available, said Rekate, who has spent around 24 years at the Wall Street bank.
This will be a time-consuming and cumbersome process, given the kind of interest there has been in unlisted NSE shares, a second merchant banker to the offer explained, requesting anonymity. "A lot of this grunt work has been anticipated by the exchange, and that's where having 20 banks can help speeding things up for the IPO," this person explained.
Varuni Khosla

Varuni is a Senior Assistant Editor at Mint. She writes narratives on topics such as the business of hospitality companies, the art market, luxury and alcohol companies, business of sports, advertising, marketing, gaming, tourism and travel. Her work emphasizes clear communication and thorough research, keeping current trends in lifestyle and business with a focus-driven research process, incisive analysis, and a keen sensitivity to contemporary shifts, ensuring that every story she tells resonates with in-depth information.
Social media giants Meta and TikTok compromised safety for engagement in their algorithm race, BBC reported citing a dozen of whistleblowers and insiders from the companies. They said internal reviews showed increase in sexual blackmail, terrorism and violence, but were ignored in favour of boosting engagement.

One engineer at Meta (which owns Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp), told the paper that he was told to allow borderline harmful content to pass because the stock price is down. This included content on conspiracy theories and misogyny.

A TikTok employee showed the publication the platform's internal dashboard for user complaints and other examples where staff were told to prioritise reports by politicians to maintain a strong relationship, over posts that put children at risk.

What are the allegations? Users fed fast-food The whistleblowers spoke to BBC for its documentary Inside the Rage Machine on how TikTok's highly engaging algorithm for short videos shook the status quo and left competitors racing to catch up.

Also Read | This philosopher is teaching AI to have morals

Senior Meta researcher Matt Motyl told BBC that Instagram Reel, direct competitor to TikTok was launched in 2020 without adequate safeguards. He showed dozens of high-level internal research which found Reel had more instances of bullying, harassment, hate speech and incitement to violence compared to other spaces on the platform. Documents also showed Facebook was aware of the problem.

Internal studies showed Facebook chose to keep feeding users fast-food and focused on algorithm that offered maximum profits at expense of audience well-being not in alignment with the company's mission.

Another former senior employee said 700 staff were assigned for Reels growth, while the safety teams were denied two specialists to help moderate content harmful to children and 10 staff to help with elections coverage.

Keep TikTok as far away from your children as possible Ruofan Ding, a machine-learning engineer on TikTok's recommendation engine from 2020-24 said the algorithms are a black box that are hard to scrutinise and they relied on safety teams to ensure harmful content was removed. He did however acknowledged that the algorithm was refined on a weekly basis and he started seeing borderline content more often.

Borderline is harmful but legal content such as conspiracy theories, misogynistic posts, racists content and sexualised posts.

Nick, a safety team member at TikTok told BBC he decided to speak up and showed reporters the internal dashboard and how the company dealt with reports. "If you're feeling guilty on a daily basis because of what you're instructed to do, at some point you can decide, should I say something? " said Nick.

He said that volume of cases, job cuts and artificial intelligence (AI) taking over some tasks has made it difficult for moderation teams to protect children and teens even while "terrorism, sexual violence, physical violence, abuse, trafficking" appears to be increasing. Nick added that public statements do not match the actions taken. He told BBC the solution is to delete it and keep children as far away as possible from the app for as long as possible.

How have the companies responded? Responding to queries, TikTok told the publication the claims are fabricated and that it has invested in tech to prevent viewing of harmful content. It added that political content is not prioritised over the safety and such claims "fundamentally misrepresents the way their moderation systems operate".

Also Read | Indian embassy warns nationals in Iran against crossing borders amid conflict

A spokesperson for Meta in a statement denied the whistleblower's claims adding: Any suggestion that we deliberately amplify harmful content for financial gain is wrong. It added that the company has strict policies and has made significant investments in safety and security over the last decade.
As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to advance, Wells Fargo is working to ensure its workforce adapts. Saul Van Beurden, head of AI and the co-CEO of consumer banking and lending, told Business Insider in a report published on 15 March that the bank is investing in AI literacy programmes and demos to prepare employees for changing roles.

Van Beurden said Wells Fargo cannot manage the transition alone and stressed the need for employees to take responsibility for learning new skills. "You cannot deny things," Van Beurden told Business Insider. But how do you make it a thing where everybody has a role to play and takes their own accountability and responsibility?

Wells Fargo, one of the Big Four US banks, must teach employees new skills to stay competitive in a rapidly changing industry. Workers, in turn, must also choose to learn them, Van Beurden said, stressing the importance of mutual effort.

How is Wells Fargo training its employees? To integrate artificial intelligence effectively, the bank is relying on AI literacy programmes and demos, among other initiatives, according to Van Beurden. These efforts aim to inspire grassroots enthusiasm among employees, a key thing that would help them stay in demand.

The goal at Wells Fargo is to make employees comfortable enough with AI that they can move into new roles if their current jobs change, or stay competitive in the broader job market if they leave the bank, Van Beurden said.

Even so, the lender does not mandate its staff to use AI tools. However, like many companies, Wells Fargo believes that the technology will accelerate growth after the Federal Reserve lifted the bank's $1.95 trillion asset cap.

Advice for staying ahead in the job market Van Beurden also told the outlet that he believes AI fluency starts outside the office. He is building an agent to help him prepare his 2026 tax returns and believes it is extremely important for employees to make the best use of AI in their personal lives too.

"It's really important to have that personal usage, to understand the power of what it can do. And then we are enabling that and allowing that to happen at the workplace," he said.

Also Read | Aravind Srinivas says AI automation is shifting software engineering back to its

Despite going all out with AI, Van Beurden emphasised that it is important for people to "stay cognitive," cautioning that relying too heavily on AI could mean letting the technology generate all of our ideas.

While many college students are already comfortable with technology, he suggested they also spend time on activities like reading or playing chess to keep their thinking sharp, a habit he believes will help them survive in a brutal job market.

Is the US bank also looking at job cuts due to AI? Van Beurden's remarks on the changing nature of jobs comes as many of the bank's competitors are also increasingly adopting AI. A similar trend could be witnessed at Wells Fargo as well, as its chief executive warned of job losses earlier.

Charlie Scharf, the bank's CEO, said in November last year that it will probably have less head count as we look forward. Then in December, he also said that generative AI has made engineers up to 35% more productive.
SK Innovation Co.s battery unit is in talks with multiple American data center and energy developers to supply batteries for energy storage systems, aiming to secure at least 10 gigawatt-hours of contracts in the US this year.

SK On, which counts Ford Motor Co., Hyundai Motor Co., and Kia Corp. among its customers, has been accelerating production of lithium-iron-phosphate cells widely used in energy storage systems to meet soaring demand from AI data centers and expanding renewable power capacity.

The Seoul-based company is playing catching up in the fast-growing LFP market, after initially prioritizing high-performance nickel-based batteries over what South Korean battery makers once saw as a low-tier technology dominated by China.

But inquiries have surged since it signed its first deal in September to supply LFP batteries to US-based Flatiron Energy Development, Choi Daejin, SK Ons head of ESS business, said in an interview.

Private ESS developers such as Flatiron and companies serving hyperscalers  tech giants like Microsoft Corp. and Meta Platforms Inc. building massive data centers  are among primary clients, he said on the sidelines of the InterBattery conference. An announcement will be made as early as this summer.

Our goal is to secure orders for over 10 Gwh in the US this year, though the internal target assigned to me is actually much higher, Choi said, adding the company will shift around 20% of its 100 Gwh global production capacity to ESS cells.

SKs push into ESS comes as the battery industry adjusts to a slower electric-vehicle transition in the US, rising tariff pressure and intensifying competition from China. As they develop next-generation technologies to diversify revenue streams, LG Energy Solution Ltd. and Samsung SDI Co. are also repurposing some EV battery lines, aiming to raise ESS cell output this year to more than 60 Gwh and 30 Gwh, respectively.

The pivot comes after SK ended its joint venture with Ford in December just four years after unveiling an $11 billion plan to build three battery factories and an electric pickup assembly plant in the US. That led to a 3.7 trillion won writedown, with the company laying off more than a third of the workforce at its Georgia plant. In Korea, it has offered voluntary retirement packages and unpaid leave combined with tuition support for up to two years to employees who joined before 2025.

The ESS business will help drive a turnaround as electricity demand from data centers and renewables energy accelerates, Choi said, noting that some EV production lines in Georgia and at the Tennessee site acquired from the Ford project will be converted to ESS.

BloombergNEF forecasts demand from US data centers will more than double from 2024 to 78 Gwh by 2035, accounting for nearly 9% of the countrys entire electricity demand and outpacing growth in EVs and hydrogen. Samsung SDI has said the US ESS market is projected to reach 130 Gwh in 2030 from around 80 GWh now.

The AI-driven power boom is just beginning, opening opportunities for Korean suppliers as the US grid upgrades and buyers seek batteries made outside China, Choi said.

To win market share from Korean and Chinese rivals, SK is betting on a safety technology known as electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, which can identify abnormal signs at least 30 minutes before a thermal event, helping prevent fires at storage facilities.

The technology helped SK secure more than half the volume in a 1 trillion won ESS tender from the Korean government last month, providing momentum to its expansion in the sector.

SK is developing a higher-performance LFP battery, targeting mass production by 2028, Choi said.

Although we are a latecomer, were differentiating our products to boost our market appeal, he said, adding the company plans to showcase new technologies to demonstrate it is a serious player.

2026 Bloomberg L.P.
(Bloomberg) -- Triton Partners has raised 5.5 billion ($6.3 billion) for its new flagship fund, people familiar with the matter said, an important milestone after the European buyout firms ability to attract fresh money was marred by work culture controversies and a difficult fundraising environment.

The European firms sixth mid-market fund is about 10% larger than its 5 billion predecessor, which closed in December 2018. The buyout group closed T6 at the target size in January, the people said. It started raising the fund in the summer of 2023.

The following year, Germanys Handelsblatt reported allegations of inappropriate behavior by some Triton executives.

The firm responded by hiring a consultant to review its workplace culture, according to the people. It also set up a hotline for employees and increased communication with investors to help improve transparency, they said.

Investors conducted additional due diligence and committed capital to T6 once they were satisfied with corporate governance at Triton, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing confidential information.

A representative for Triton declined to comment.

Triton was founded in 1997 and is led by Chief Executive Officer Peder Prahl. Its latest fundraising came at a time when investors started becoming pickier about which private equity firms theyre allocating capital to amid a downturn in industry returns.

Triton, which invests across industrial technology, business services and health care, has already deployed about 900 million of capital from T6. Acquisitions have included Bosch carveout Keenfinity Group and cargo handler MacGregor.

Triton has made distributions to investors equivalent to around 30% of its net asset value over the last two years, people familiar with the matter said.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
Global crude oil prices traded on a mixed note on Monday after the International Energy Agency (IEA) announced plans to release oil from emergency reserves to stabilize markets disrupted by the ongoing conflict in West Asia.

At 7:53 am, the April contract of benchmark Brent crude on the Intercontinental Exchange was trading at $103.95 per barrel, up 0.79%, while the April contract of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) on NYMEX was at $98.62 a barrel, down 0.09% from its previous close.

The move comes as the West Asia conflict deepens an already fragile global energy market, with disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz raising concerns over crude and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) supplies and keeping volatility elevated.

Emergency reserves The IEA on Sunday said its member countries would release oil from emergency stockpiles to ease supply disruptions linked to the West Asia conflict.

IEA, on Sunday said: Oil from the IEA emergency reserves will soon start flowing to global markets following the announcement on 11 March that IEA Member countries will make 400 million barrels of oil available to the market in response to the disruptions resulting from the Middle East conflict.

These plans indicate that stocks will be made available by IEA Member countries in Asia Oceania immediately while stocks from IEA Member countries in the Americas and Europe will be made available starting from the end of March, it added.

This marks the sixth time that IEA member countries have taken collective emergency action to support oil markets since the agency was created in 1974. Previous coordinated releases were undertaken in 1991, 2005, 2011, and twice in 2022.

Limited relief Despite the scale of the stock release, analysts say the move may only partly stabilize markets.

S&P Global Energy said on Friday that the planned release  the largest oil reserves distribution in history by the IEA  may prove to be a bridge from a very unbalanced oil market to one that is less so.

However, it warned that the measure would offer only limited relief if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, according to a report.

Jim Burkhard, vice president and global head of crude oil research, S&P Global Energy said: There is too much oil that cannot be exported via the Strait of Hormuz and not enough in Asia where stocks are running down. The market is seriously unbalanced and that will continue until the Strait is reopened and upstream and downstream operations return to normal. It will not happen quickly.

Hormuz chokepoint Concerns over oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global energy chokepoint, continue to weigh on markets as the war escalates.

US President Donald Trump has called on other countries to assist Washington in reopening the strait, which typically handles about 20% of global oil supply.

With no immediate response from other countries to his appeal, Trump warned in an interview with Financial Times on Sunday that NATO would face a very bad future if his proposal received no response, or if its a negative response.

Also Read | EAM Jaishankar hails talks with Iran to open Strait of Hormuz: Report

Meanwhile, shipping activity through the waterway remains severely disrupted.

Citing the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) centre, an Al Jazeera report said no more than five ships have passed through the strait each day since the start of the war, compared with a historical average of 138 daily transits.

India exposure The volatility in crude oil prices is particularly significant for India, which imports nearly 90% of its oil requirement.

A $1-per-barrel increase in crude prices sustained over a year could raise the countrys annual import bill by around 16,000 crore.
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Monday, March 16, has warned Class 10 and 12 board exam evaluators against posting any confidential information on social media. The education board has warned the Class 10 and 12 board exam evaluators that they will face legal action if any of the confidential information from them is found on social media, officials said. They include comments, opinions and sharing their experiences on social media platforms.

The education board has said that sharing such information on social media platforms creates confusion and spreads rumours that could be factually incorrect and create confusion.

CBSE Examination Controller Sanyam Bhardwaj said, It has come to the notice of the board that certain individuals engaged in the evaluation process of Class 10 and Class 12 examinations are posting comments, opinions and experiences on social media platforms.

Also Read | CBSE math question paper goes viral for link to Rickroll video. Board clarifies

He said, Many of these posts are misleading, factually incorrect and have the potential to create confusion and spread rumours among stakeholders."

The top official explained that the board's evaluation process is confidential and governed by strict protocols.

"Sharing any misleading information, experiences or opinions related to evaluation on public platforms is strictly prohibited. Any attempt to spread rumours or misrepresent facts on social media is a violation of professional conduct and may invite disciplinary action.

"Teachers are advised to exercise restraint and uphold the integrity of the examination system. The board expects all evaluators to maintain confidentiality, dignity and professionalism in the discharge of their duties," he said.

Exams in Middle East amid conflict On Sunday, March 15, the education board announced cancellation of the Class 12 board exams in the Middle East region in view of the US-Israel-Iran conflict, officials said.

"All examinations of class 12 scheduled from March 16 to April 10 stands cancelled in case of students from Bahrain, Iran, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Exams which were earlier postponed also stand cancelled," CBSE Examination Controller Sanyam Bhardwaj said.

Also Read | CBSE to introduce on-screen marking for Class 12 Board exams from 2026

The mode of declaration of results in these countries will be announced separately, Sanyam Bharadwaj said.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Sunday announced the schedule for Assembly elections in four states  West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Assam  as well as the Union Territory of Puducherry.

Following the announcement, the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) came into immediate effect in all poll-bound regions.

On 16 March, the ECI issued directions to the Chief Secretary and Chief Electoral Officer of the respective States/UTs regarding the immediate coming into force of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) in the States/UTs.

The MCC shall also be applicable to the Central Government in respect of announcements/policy decisions for the States/UT concerned, the poll panel said in a statement.

The Commission directed to ensure strict compliance with the instructions related to removal of defacement from Government, public and private property; misuse of official vehicles or Government accommodation by any political party, candidate or any other person connected with election; ban on issuance of advertisement at the cost of public exchequer, it said.

What is the Model Code of Conduct? The Model Code of Conduct (MCC) is a set of guidelines published by the Election Commission of India (EC) for political parties and candidates to set standards of conduct during the election campaign and polling.

The code comes into effect the moment the election dates are announced. In this poll season, the code came into effect on Sunday.

The code explains how parties can register complaints with the poll panels observers in the event of a dispute. It also instructs political leaders in power on how they should conduct themselves.

In 2019, a new addition regarding election manifestos was added, instructing parties not to issue promises which were repugnant to the ideals of the Constitution.

Does MCC violation attract punishment? The MCC is not a statutory document. It is not enforceable by any laws passed by the Parliament. Some violations may attract punishment while others may not.

Some offences are listed as electoral offences and corrupt practices under the Indian Penal Code (now known as Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita) and the Representation of the People Act, 1951. These actions will attract the appropriate punishment under these laws. These include:

-Causing tension between castes, religious or linguistic communities.

-Appealing to caste or communal feeling for securing votes.

-Using places of worship for election propaganda.

-Bribing/intimidating/impersonating voters.

-Canvassing within 100 metres of polling booths.

-Transporting voters to and from polling stations.

-Disrupting public meetings.

-Serving or distributing liquor on polling day.

-Holding public meetings 48 hours prior to the closing of polls.

What time does MCC come into force? The MCC comes into force immediately when the election commission released the voting schedule. It ends with the commencement of the election when the results are announced. The code is applicable to all elections to the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies. It is also applicable to State Legislative Council elections from Local Bodies and from Graduates and Teachers Constituencies.

It is enforced throughout India during General elections, and the State is up for polls during Legislative Assembly elections. All organisations, committees, and corporations funded by the state or central government come under MCC.

Non-political organisations that run campaigns in favour of a political party or candidate are bound to follow the EC's specific guidelines.

How is the MCC enforced? The Election Commission is responsible for elections. The poll panel issues guidelines to the government to shift out all officers, including police, who are posted in their home district and have completed/completing three out of four years in that district, to ensure no interference.

View full Image View full Image On 16 March, the ECI issued directions to the Chief Secretary and Chief Electoral Officer of the respective States/UTs regarding the immediate coming into force of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) in the States/UTs.

The MCC is implemented by the newly appointed officials, and nodal EC officers monitor compliance.

What is the guideline for parties and candidates? Political parties and candidates are advised to refrain from commenting on the private lives of leaders and workers of other parties, limiting criticism to their policies, programmes, past records, and works.

Social media posts must also refrain from insulting rivals

The candidates and star campaigners of political parties are prohibited from engaging in activities that could potentially aggravate differences or create mutual hatred among different castes, religious, and linguistic communities. Appeals to caste or communal feelings to secure votes are also prohibited under the electoral code of conduct.

The candidates and political parties must follow norms, such as seeking permission to use public spaces and loudspeakers from the local police.

Parties and candidates must not resort to bribery, intimidation, or voter impersonation. The candidates and their parties must also not transport voters to and from polling stations or serve/distribute liquor on the day of polling.

Posters, flags, symbols or any other propaganda material shall not be displayed at the polling place. Loudspeakers cannot be used between 10 PM and 6 PM unless written permission from the local authorities is obtained.

Are there guidelines for governments? The Union Ministries will need the Election Commission's prior approval for any policy announcements, fiscal measures, taxation issues, and financial reliefs during the MCC's period of force.

Similar guidelines apply to State governments: proposals must be referred to a screening committee, which will then forward them to the Chief Electoral Officers, who will not forward them to the EC unless the instructions applicable to the case are unclear.

The governments of the day are not allowed to announce financial grants or lay foundation stones for projects or schemes when MCC is in force. They must also not make promises to construct roads, provide drinking water facilities, etc., to influence voters in favour of the party in power.

Budgets cannot be presented in poll years. No new schemes can be announced to avoid impacting voters.

Also, the fresh release of funds from Members of Parliament Local Area Development (MPLAD) schemes is prohibited. No work can be started on orders issued prior to MCC enforcement if it did not start in the field.

What are the guidelines for manifestos? As per the MCC, the manifestos must not contain anything repugnant to the ideals enshrined in the Constitution. The manifesto should reflect the rationale for the welfare scheme's promises and indicate how to meet its financial requirements.

How are complaints registered?

The Model Code of Conduct is crucial for maintaining the integrity of elections, ensuring all parties adhere to ethical standards.

The complaints are brought to the notice of EC observers, the Returning Officer, local district magistrates, the Chief Electoral Officer or the Election Commission itself.

In response, any directions issued by the EC, the Returning Officer, or the District Election Officer must be complied with.
Assembly Elections 2026: West Bengal is set to hold its Assembly elections in two phases on 23 and 29 April, with counting of votes scheduled for 4 May.

The Election Commission (EC) announced the dates on 15 March. While other states like Kerala and Tamil Nadu will vote in a single day, Bengals 294 seats will be decided over two rounds.

Also Read | EC transfers Bengal chief secretary, home secretary ahead of assembly polls

The West Bengal election is being seen as a fight between the ruling Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The TMC, led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, has been in power in West Bengal since 2011, for three consecutive terms.

The end of the 34-year-long Left rule in Bengal Before 2011, the Left Front ruled West Bengal for 34 years  one of the longest democratically elected communist governments in the world.

The Left rule started in West Bengal in 1977. Jyoti Basu was the chief minister from 1977 to 2000  the longest-serving Chief Minister of the state. From 2000 to 2011, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was the chief minister. The government was led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) as part of the Left Front coalition.

The Left Front lost power in the 2011 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, when Mamata Banerjee-led the Trinamool Congress (TMC)defeated them.

Since then, the TMC has won three successive elections, the last one in 2021.

The rise of the BJP post 2014 Over the past few years, the Bharatiya Janata Party has witnessed a steady rise in West Bengal.

For decades, the state was dominated first by the Left Front and then by the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) led by Mamata Banerjee, and the saffron party was almost non-existent before 2014.

The BJP has never been in power in the Bengal assembly. It won zero seats in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls. In the 2011 assembly elections, the partys vote share was around 4%

Politics in West Bengal has mainly been a contest between the Left and the TMC until the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. The first big breakthrough came in the 2014 Indian general election when the BJP won 2 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state. The vote share jumped to about 17 per cent in the general elections.

Since then, the party began expanding organisationally across districts. In the 2016 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, the BJP's vote share rose to around 10%, and it won 3 seats. The real surge came in the 2019 Indian general election, when the BJP won 18 of 42 Lok Sabha seats, and its vote share crossed 40%.

What happened in 2021? This turned the BJP into the main challenger to TMC, replacing the Left and Congress.

The 2021 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election was held in eight phases between 27 March and 29 April to elect all 294 members of the Legislative Assembly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The incumbent Trinamool Congress government led by Mamata Banerjee won the election by a landslide, despite opinion polls generally predicting a close race against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which became the official opposition with 77 seats.

For the first time in the history of Bengal, no members from the Congress and the Communist Party were elected. Although Mamata Banerjee retained power, the BJP became the principal opposition in the state.

Who is the most popular CM? As the polling dates draw near, who do people in Bengal want to see as the next chief minister? Well, at least 42% of respondents in a recent survey prefer three-time chief minister Mamata Banerjee to continue, while 19% want BJP's Suvendu Adhikari to be the chief minister, according to the findings in a recent survey.

Mamata Banerjee remains the dominant force in West Bengal ahead of elections, according to the 'West Bengal Elections 2026: Round 2 -Thematic' survey by Vote Vibe.

The survey also listed the strengths and weaknesses of the TMC and the BJP.

On risks, it said the TMC is seeing erosion of SC/ST votes and the alienation of youth. Unemployment and Mamata Banerjees equation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlight the partys weaknesses.

For the BJP, the survey found, the illegal immigration narrative resonates. The survey also found that SIR is largely seen as a legitimate exercise, but fragmented CM choices are among the BJP's weak points, the survey said.

SIR, RG Kar and urban anger Before the Special Intensive Exercise (SIR) acquired political centre stage in West Bengal, the TMC campaigned, both on the streets as well as in judicial corridors and parliament, against alleged coordinated attacks on Bengali-speaking migrants across BJP-ruled states.

The issue of Bengali sub-nationalism in the context of migrant persecution is an extension of its previous attempts to isolate the saffron brigade from Bengal's political landscape and carve out a niche for itself by claiming to be the vanguard of Bengali asmita, the news agency PTI reported.

The street protests over the rape and murder of the medical intern at RG Kar Hospital in 2024, triggered a simmering discontent among the cross-section of urban women, youth and even senior citizens against the TMC dispensation, according to experts.

View full Image View full Image West Bengal is all set for the assembly elections to be held in two phases  23 and 29 April. The votes will be counted on 4 May.

What followed in urban and semi-urban pockets of Bengal were spontaneous on-street protests which lasted for months, PTI said. The movement demanded justice for the victim, workplace safety reforms, and the right of women to occupy public spaces at night. The outpour of anger, directed mainly against TMC's stranglehold on Bengal's state-run institutions, was unprecedented.

The TMC faced challenging times in containing the social resistance from taking political form, PTI said.

Social Welfare Schemes A slew of social welfare schemes by the TMC government could play a pivotal role in the elections. The initiatives aiming at unemployed youth, women, farmers, students, workers and marginalised communities brought rich dividends in past elections and may influence the outcome of the upcoming polls. Several of these schemes involve direct cash transfers and benefits delivered at the grassroots level, PTI said.

Of the 294-member West Bengal assembly, the TMC in 2021 won 215 seats, up 4 from its tally in the 2016 state polls, while the BJP won 77 seats, up 74 from its tally in the 2016 state polls.

What do analysts say? There is anti-incumbency against the ruling government in West Bengal, according to experts.

Political analyst Ashutosh said the BJP made a blunder by removing Dilip Ghosh as West Bengal president.

BJP won 18 Lok Sabha seats in 2019 due to DIlip Ghosh. No one knows who is Samik Bhattacharya, the former AAP leader told India Today during a debate.

Bhattacharya has been serving as the state president of Bharatiya Janata Party, West Bengal, since July 2025. Mamata Banerjee has played adual game in West Bengal, according to Ashutosh. She was a ruling party in West Bengal and the opposition at the Centre. See how he made SIR a political issue and organised protests, he said.

Ashutosh said she is a smart politician and is wary about anti-incumbency against her government.

But she also knows BJP cant cash on the anti-incumbency factor. She turned out into Bengal vs Delhi issue, he said.

Ashutosh recalled the December 2025 incident in Lok Sabha, TMC MP Saugata Roy objected to Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling Vande Mataram composer Bankim Chandra Da instead of Babu.

Da is the short form of dada, meaning elder brother, used informally for someone older, familiar, or respected in a friendly way. Calling someone Bankim Da feels friendly and familiar.

When Modi said dada.. Saugata Roy jumped on his chair, Ashutosh said.

TMCs Muslim vote is firm and has won the perception battle during Enforcement Directorate raids on IPAC, the Saugata Roy survey said.

Among issues, unemployment affects about 36% of respondents, while law and order affect 19%.

As things stand, the fight between the BJP and the ruling TMC in West Bengal looks like a direct, highly polarised contest, with several structural advantages still favouring Mamata Banerjee, yet the BJP remains the only credible challenger.

Mamata Banerjee remains the dominant force in West Bengal ahead of elections.

Clearly, the BJP is stronger than ever before in Bengal, but the TMC still enters the election as the favourite, as surveys suggest, mainly because of welfare schemes, minority consolidation and organisational depth.

So will Mamata Banerjee extend her record-breaking run, or will the Bhartiya Janata Party finally breach the West Bengal bastion? The answer will be clear when votes are counted on 4 May.
The day after the Election Commission announced the voting dates for the West Bengal assembly election 2026, the Left Front has set the stage for the electoral battle as it announced its first list of 192 candidates, with outgoing Rajya Sabha MP Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya and CPI(M) central committee member Minakshi Mukherjee among key candidates.

While Bikash Bhattacharya has been fielded from the Jadavpur constituency in the southern outskirts of Kolkata, Minakshi Mukherjee, a youth face of the Left Front, will fight from Uttarpara in Hooghly district.

In the 2021 Assembly polls, Minakshi Mukherjee was fielded from Nandigram constituency and came third after BJP's Suvendu Adhikari and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee.

The Left Front fielded from Kaliganj as CPI(M) candidate Sabina Yasmin, mother of six-year-old Tamanna, who was killed in a crude bomb blast thrown allegedly from a victory rally on the day of counting for the byelections in the seat in June last year, which was won by the TMC.

Left Front chairman Biman Bose said that the candidates for the remaining seats will be finalised and announced within three to four days.

The Bengal Election 2026 will be held in the state in two phases  23 and 29 April  and votes will be counted on 4 May.

Earlier today, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), too, announced a list of 144 candidates for the West Bengal election. In a direct challenge to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari has been fielded from both Nandigram and Bhabanipur.

Mamata Banerjee is the incumbent MLA from the Bhabanipur seat.

About Nandigram: A Mamata vs Suvendu narrative? Nandigram became a stage for the most dramatic political battles in the 2021 West Bengal Assembly election when Suvendu Adhikari defeated the chief minister there in 2021 by a slender margin of around 1,900 votes.

Bhabanipur, in contrast, is considered Mamata Banerjee's political stronghold. She returned to the assembly from the seat in a 2021 bypoll with a margin of more than 58,000 votes.

BJP's candidature in Nandigram could be seen as the party trying to build a stronger narrative that Suvendu Adhikari was an alternative to Mamata Banerjee.

"I will win both the seats and defeat Mamata Banerjee again," Suvendu Adhikari said after the candidates' announcement.

Former state BJP president Dilip Ghosh will once again contest from Kharagpur Sadar, while former Rajya Sabha MP Swapan Dasgupta has been fielded from the Rashbehari assembly seat in south Kolkata.

Two of the candidates are former MPs, and three are ex-MLAs. Female candidates have been given representation on 11 of the announced seats.
Los Angeles (California) [US], March 16 (ANI): Priyanka Chopra, who is all set to appear on the big stage at the Academy Awards as a presenter, arrived at the star-studded red carpet hand in hand with husband Nick Jonas.

PeeCee looked stunning as she walked the red carpet alongside Jonas. The couple were also seen posing for the paparazzi and sharing adorable moments as they walked the red carpet.

For the prestigious night, Chopra opted for a stunning strapless white gown from Dior. The fitted bodice accentuated her silhouette, while the gown flowed gracefully with a dramatic high slit and feather-like detailing along the skirt. The actress paired the ensemble with pointed black heels and a dazzling diamond necklace. She kept her hair sleek and straight, while her makeup remained soft and glowing.

Jonas complemented her perfectly in a classic black velvet tuxedo with a crisp white shirt and bow tie, giving the couple a timeless red-carpet aesthetic.

Ahead of her appearance, Chopra had also shared a glimpse of her preparations with fans on Instagram Stories. In a short clip posted earlier in the day, the actor was seen getting ready for the ceremony while dressed in the elegant white Dior creation, heading to the big show with Jonas by her side.

She also offered behind-the-scenes moments from her dressing room, where her team was busy putting the final touches to her look. In one clip, the gown could be seen up close, complete with a personalised tag, while her stylist made last-minute adjustments as the glam team finished her hair and makeup.

The actress is expected to appear on stage as a presenter during the ceremony later in the evening. She will join several well-known Hollywood stars who will also present awards, including Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Nicole Kidman, Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep, Pedro Pascal, Sigourney Weaver and Ewan McGregor.
The war is also exposing Chinas military cooperation with Tehran. Last year the U.S. imposed sanctions on Chinese and Iranian entities that supplied materials used in Irans ballistic-missile program, including chemicals required to produce rocket fuel. Analysts have reported that Iran obtained enough material from Chinese suppliers to produce hundreds of ballistic missiles. Investigative reporting has also identified Iranian cargo ships leaving Chinese ports associated with the export of rocket-fuel chemicals. Iran has lately sought to acquire Chinese supersonic antiship cruise missiles capable of threatening U.S. naval forces in the Persian Gulf.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told CBSs Face the Nation on Sunday that Irans highly enriched uranium still lies under the rubble from the U.S. and Israeli strikes in June. He said Tehran currently has no plan to retrieve the material and would only consider doing so under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency. For the time being, we have no program, Araghchi said. We have no plan to recover them from under the rubbles.
The pipelines are only a partial workaround for Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and they are no help at all to Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar, which cannot get their oil and gas to buyers. Still, they will keep a sizeable share of the Gulfs oil flowing. Dozens of tankers are already sailing towards Saudi Arabias west coast to pick up oil. Iran will seek to disrupt them. On the nights of March 12th and 13th it launched more than 50 drones at Saudi oil facilities, up from just a handful at the start of the war (the Saudi defence ministry says they were all shot down).
As an example, Qatar has 34 Patriot systems, according to IISS, but only has eight antiaircraft guns, which have been effective in shooting drones at short range in Ukraine. In 2023, Qatar sold around a dozen self-propelled antiaircraft guns called Gepards back to Germany, where they were made. Germany passed these and its own Gepards to Ukraine, where they can take down drones with a burst of bullets that cost in the low thousands dollars, according to German defense company Rheinmetall, which makes the ammunition.
He could end the U.S. role in the war, preventing a wider conflict but emboldening a hard-line Iranian regime that will claim victory and try to rebuild its arsenal. The president could continue the war, further decimating Iran but risk adding to the total of 13 killed American servicemembers as energy prices surge. Or the U.S. and Israel could stop bombing now but plan to resume military strikes against Iran every year or so to keep it weaka perpetual cycle of on-and-off war.
With several fund managers at the end of their fund lifecycles, there is also pressure to generate returns, as paying rich multiples for companies at the time of deployment has made it challenging for investors to exit at a better valuation, the second person said. For deals in the current vintage, this has led to more scrutiny on sustained metrics beyond euphoric valuations that can withstand disruptions during the holding period.
Think about the local coffee shop or the neighbourhood gym that you pass every day. Some thrive for years, while others close their doors after a few months. As a property owner renting out your space to one of these businesses, your income depends entirely on that single tenants ability to pay rent. This can seem like a high-risk game based on the tenants ability to run the business from your premises. Now, imagine a different scenario in which your rent check doesnt come from a local business but from a Fortune 500 tech giant or a global investment bank.

The office parks of major Indian cities have evolved from simple workspaces into critical operational hubs for global conglomerates. And you can own one of these by investing in a professionally managed REIT. Then, you are not just buying into a structure of glass and steel. You are effectively becoming a silent partner to some of the most stable corporations on the planet.

Also Read | Solving the liquidity trap of real estate investments with REITs

The evolution of GCCs beyond back office support For years, the term Global Capability Centre (GCC) was synonymous with basic back-office support. That definition is now obsolete. By 2026, India will have cemented its position as the global engine room for innovation on the world map.

Fortune 500 companies are increasingly shifting their core R&D, Artificial Intelligence (AI) development, cybersecurity and strategic decision-making units to India. These are not temporary setups. When a global company relocates its R&D hub to an Indian office park, it is making a multi-year, multi-billion-dollar commitment to that location.

The credit floor for your investment This matters to a REIT investor because it creates a credit floor. Unlike smaller businesses that might be susceptible to market cycles or economic shocks, global firms operate with sound balance sheets and long-term strategic roadmaps, offering a high level of income security.

When such firms sign a lease, they arent looking for a six-month commitment. They typically lock in 9- to 15-year lease agreements. These contracts form the bedrock of REIT stability, offering a level of predictability that is rare in a volatile equity market. Furthermore, these leases almost always include built-in rental escalations of 10-15 per cent every three years. This ensures that your income stream grows even while you sleep.

Also Read | Bengaluru dominates Indias REIT stock

The flight to quality The demand for such high-end spaces is being driven by what industry experts call a flight to quality. Global firms have specific needs that older, secondary-market office buildings simply cannot meet. These include:

High-tech infrastructure: Seamless high-speed connectivity, redundancy in power and advanced cooling systems that ensure 24X7 uptime.

ESG compliance: Global boardrooms have strict mandates regarding sustainability. They prioritise buildings with green certifications that reduce their carbon footprint.

Employee experience: To attract top talent, these offices must provide more than just desks. They often include wellness zones, collaborative innovation hubs and global-level amenities.

Also Read | Inside the Table Space strategy for GCC success

This creates a self-reinforcing cycle. Because only top-tier, Grade-A office parks can meet these stringent global standards, these assets become the preferred destination for global occupiers. As a REIT investor, you are essentially holding ownership in the very assets that these global titans want to be in.

Why are REITs different from traditional investing If you own an individual shop or a small office, you are highly exposed to tenant risk. If your single tenant leaves, your income drops to zero instantly. REITs operate on a completely different scale. They own big integrated office campuses. When a global tenant renews or expands their space within these campuses, it isn't a simple local decision  it is often a decision ratified by a boardroom in London, New York or Tokyo. This makes the income backing your REIT units exceptionally resilient.
The court said any organized activity where employers and workers work together to produce goods or provide services that meet human needs can be treated as an industry. Importantly, the court clarified that profit-making is not necessary for an organization to fall within this definition. This meant even charitable institutions, social organizations and welfare bodies could be classified as an industry.
The initial public offering (IPO) of Coal India subsidiary  Central Mine Planning & Design Institute  is set to hit Dalal Street this week, raising hopes of a turnaround in the primary market sentiment.

The investor interest in the Mini Ratna PSU stock's IPO is clearly evident by the grey market activity. According to websites tracking the unofficial market, Central Mine Planning IPO GMP today is 21, suggesting a 12% listing gain for investors.

Coal India to make 57,233% returns Apart from gains for its investors, Central Mine Planning IPO also promises a windfall for its parent Coal India, which is the sole seller in the upcoming issue, which is a complete offer for sale.

Central Mine Planning IPO today, March 16, announced the price band at 163 to 172. The offer will open for bidding on Friday, March 20 and close on Tuesday, March 24. At the upper end of the price band, the company is looking to raise 1842 crore.

All of these proceeds will be received by Coal India who is the sole seller in the issue. According to Mint's calculation, Coal India will make a whopping 57,233% return based on the weighted average cost of acquisition of 0.3 per share.

The overall investment by Coal India to acquire 107,100,000 shares is 3.2 crore, while the total proceeds raised will be 1,842.12 crore, leaving 1,838.92 crore as a profit for the blue-chip PSU company.

Second IPO by Coal India in three months Central Mine Planning IPO will be the public offer by Coal India after Bharat Coking Coal (BCCL), which debuted in January this year. BCCL IPO had garnered a massive 143.85 times bids for its 1,069 crore IPO and has more than doubled investor wealth since its listing.

Investors are hoping for a similar performance from Central Mine Planning IPO after a lacklustre primary market in 2026. According to Trendlyne data, out of all the IPOs that have been listed in 2026, only 13 are in profit, and 35 are in losses.

Even the listing day action has been subdued. Data further shows that 27 stocks have opened with gains and 21 with losses, with an average listing gain of less than 3%.

About Central Mine Planning Central Mine Planning provides consultancy and support services for coal and mineral exploration. It has almost five decades of experience and has published over 320 project reports in the last decade.

The company assists the Ministry of Coal in strategic decisions and initiatives relating to the coal sector at the national level, for instance, through maintaining inventories of coal deposits, coal mining potentials and operations.

The company reported a profit of 425 crore for a nine-month period ended December 2025, up roughly 9% from the year-ago period.

IDBI Capital Markets and Securities and SBI Capital Markets are the book-running lead managers for the public issue.
PhonePe IPO: PhonePe has temporarily put its listing plans on hold due to ongoing geopolitical conflicts in the Middle East and heightened volatility in global markets, according to a PTI report. The company said it will resume the process once stability returns to the capital markets.

We sincerely hope for a swift return to peace in all the affected regions. We remain committed to a public listing in India, Sameer Nigam, CEO of PhonePe, was quoted as saying by PTI.

PhonePe, formerly known as PhonePe Private Limited, is a technology company that builds digital platforms across payments, digital distribution and financial services. Headquartered in India, the company launched its digital payments app in 2016.

As of September 30, 2025, PhonePe had more than 65 crore registered users and a digital payments acceptance network spread across over 4.7 crore merchants.

PhonePe IPO Details PhonePe, the Walmart-controlled fintech company, was reportedly targeting a valuation of $9-10.5 billion for its proposed IPO. That implied a discount to the $12 billion valuation at which the company had raised $100 million in 2023.

According to its draft red herring prospectus, Walmart plans to sell around 12% stake through the IPO. The offer is expected to provide an exit route to investors, including Tiger Global and Microsoft. Together, the selling shareholders plan to offload 50.7 million shares in the issue, with no fresh equity issuance planned.

PhonePe remains the dominant player in Indias UPI ecosystem, with more than 48% market share by transaction value. Based on the latest NPCI data cited, the company processed 9.8 billion transactions in December alone.

The company has also delivered steady revenue growth in recent years, supported by multiple income streams, while continuing to improve its financial performance. Its draft prospectus also highlighted a sharp contrast in adjusted EBITDA performance between the core PhonePe platform and its newer platform business.

Impact of US-Iran war on Indian Markets Benchmarks Sensex and Nifty 50 have lost over 7% each since the start of the US-Iran war. The conflict has entered its third week, and the trade through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital artery for global oil and gas shipments, has come to an effective halt.

US President Donald Trump said Washington is in contact with Iran but expressed doubt that Tehran is prepared for serious negotiations to end the conflict. Furthermore, a rise in crude oil prices to above $105 currently have also raised supply disruption concerns. Many experts expect it to hit $150 if the war continues.

FPIs have also sold Indian equities worth 52,704 crore since March 1. This comes after inflows worth 22,615 crore in the previous month. Overall, in 2026 so far, FPIs have been net sellers worth 66,051 crore of Indian equities.

Against this backdrop, global brokerages Citi and Nomura have also slashed their targets for the Nifty 50 index to 27,000 and 24,900, respectively. They cited that rising risks to growth and corporate earnings, such as surging oil prices and supply shocks from the escalating Middle East war, have darkened the outlook for Asia's third-largest economy.
Given this, Unos investors may do well to focus on its two key strengths that have helped the stock fetch premium valuations. One, its ability to grow faster than the auto industry. For instance, the passenger vehicle and two-wheeler industry is expected to grow by 8% and 7% in FY26, but Uno Mindas revenue growth is likely to be 18% as per Nomuras estimates. Second, it has a well-diversified product portfolio across switches, lighting, acoustics, castings and seatings with no product segment contributing over 25% of total revenue.
Oil was little changed after a volatile session in which investors weighed signs of less-tight conditions against rising military threats to energy infrastructure across the Middle East.

West Texas Intermediate traded above $94 a barrel, after losing 5.3% on Monday, while Brent settled above $100 for a third straight session. The US and Iran both stepped up attacks on energy assets in the region, including a drone strike on the massive Shah natural gas field in the United Arab Emirates.

Traders also assessed global attempts to blunt the worst of an impending supply shock stemming from the US-Israeli war on Iran, from an imminent release from the US emergency stockpile to a trickle of ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, a key transit point.

President Donald Trump said the US is hammering Irans capacity to threaten commercial shipping through the Strait and reiterated appeals to other nations to help secure the passage. The waterway typically handles a fifth of global oil flows but has been effectively closed by Iran since the war began late last month.

The aftershocks of the most volatile week for the global Brent benchmark on record are continuing to reverberate. Daily trading ranges have been far wider than usual as the tumult in the Middle East creates what the International Energy Agency has described as the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market.

Crude prices in the triple-digit area are usually short-lived, as demand destruction tends to appear very quickly, said Dennis Kissler, senior vice president for trading at BOK Financial Securitires Inc. While Iran seems to have dug in, the reality is: they have no navy, a shaken military, and they are being shut out from commerce from neighboring countries. Their need to negotiate will come quicker than not.

A direct communications channel between the US and Iran has been reactivated in recent days, Axios reported, citing unidentified sources.

On Monday, Trump said he had requested China  among those hes asked for support in Hormuz  to delay a summit with his counterpart Xi Jinping for about a month, saying it was important for him to remain in Washington to oversee the Iran war.

The spread between Brent and West Texas Intermediate has widened in a sign of immediate supply relief in the US, after Washington prepared to release emergency reserves this week.

To get Bloombergs Energy Daily newsletter in your inbox, click here.

With assistance from Charles Gorrivan.

2026 Bloomberg L.P.
By Scott DiSavino

NEW YORK, March 16 (Reuters) - Oil prices slid about 3% on Monday after some vessels sailed through the critical Strait of Hormuz, even as U.S. allies rebuffed President Donald Trump's call for help in unblocking the strait, and as the head of the IEA suggested more reserves could be released to stem the rising costs caused by the Iran war.

Brent futures fell $2.93, or 2.8%, to settle at $100.21 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell $5.21, or 5.3%, to settle at $93.50.

Analysts said U.S. prices fell by more than Brent due to several reasons, including near-record U.S. crude output bolstered by Venezuela imports and the upcoming release of oil from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve. In addition, some traders were selling the April WTI front-month contract before its coming expiration on the New York Mercantile Exchange on March 20.

On Friday, Brent closed at its highest since August 2022 and WTI at its highest since July 2022, putting both benchmarks up almost 40% since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on February 28.

Trump repeated his call for nations to help unblock the Strait of Hormuz, and complained that other countries were not enthusiastic about providing aid.

European Union foreign ministers currently have "no appetite" to expand an EU naval mission in the Middle East to the strait, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Monday.

The Strait of Hormuz is a critical shipping waterway for a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies.

Iran, which has allowed some Indian vessels to sail through the Strait of Hormuz, asked India to release three tankers seized in February as part of talks seeking the safe passage of Indianflagged or Indiabound vessels through the strait, three sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

"The (oil) complex is selling off ... on reports that some oil tankers are proceeding through the Strait of Hormuz and as Trump appeals for help in escorting tankers through the strait," analysts at energy advisory firm Ritterbusch and Associates said in a note.

Earlier Monday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the United States is "fine" with some Iranian, Indian and Chinese ships going through the Strait of Hormuz for now, adding that any action to mitigate higher prices would depend on how long the war lasts.

SOARING ENERGY COSTS

Governments worldwide are trying to shield consumers from soaring energy costs as the disruption to global oil and gas supplies caused by the war ripples through economies.

Member countries of the International Energy Agency (IEA) could release more oil into the market from strategic stockpiles "as and if needed" after they agreed to the largest-ever release of 400 million barrels last week, Executive Director Fatih Birol said on Monday.

Israel said it has detailed plans for at least three more weeks of war as its military pounded sites across Iran overnight. U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Sunday he expected an end to the war within "the next few weeks," with oil supplies rebounding and energy costs falling afterwards.

Over the weekend, Trump threatened further strikes on Iran's Kharg Island, which handles about 90% of the country's exports, after hitting military targets there that spurred further retaliation from Tehran. The U.S. is in contact with Iran, Trump said.

Abu Dhabi state oil giant ADNOC has suspended crude loading operations at the United Arab Emirates Port of Fujairah, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters on Monday, after a drone attack triggered fires at the key export terminal.

However, two other sources said some loading at Fujairah restarted. Two of the three single-point moorings, where tankers connect to load, were operational, one source said.
The Indian stock market benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty 50, are likely to open on a steady note Monday, tracking mixed cues from global markets amid cautiousness over the ongoing US-Iran which has entered its third week.

The trends on Gift Nifty also indicate a positive start for the Indian benchmark index. The Gift Nifty was trading around 23,322 level, a premium of nearly 123 points from the Nifty futures previous close.

On Friday, the Indian stock market ended sharply lower amid US-Iran war worries, with the benchmark Nifty 50 slipping below 23,200 level.

The Sensex crashed 1,470.50 points, or 1.93%, to close at 74,563.92, while the Nifty 50 settled 488.05 points, or 2.06%, lower at 23,151.10.

Heres what to expect from Sensex, Nifty 50, and Bank Nifty today:

Sensex Prediction Sensex cracked 5.5% last week. The index formed lower highs and lower lows on daily charts, and a long bearish candle on weekly charts, which is largely negative.

We believe that as long as Sensex is trading below 75,000, a weak formation is likely to continue. On the downside, the index could continue its correction wave until 73,600. Further downward movement may also continue, potentially dragging the index to 73,000. On the other side, above 75,000, the pullback move could extend until 75,600 - 76,100, said Amol Athawale, VP Technical Research, Kotak Securities.

Also Read | Indian stock market: 10 key things that changed for market over weekend

Aakash Shah, Research Analyst, Choice Equity Broking noted that Sensex has slipped below key short-term levels, indicating elevated volatility in the near term.

Immediate support is placed near the 74,000  74,100 zone, which may act as an important demand area if selling persists. On the upside, resistance is seen around 75,000  75,100, and Sensex would need to reclaim this band to signal any meaningful short-term recovery, said Shah.

Nifty 50 Prediction Nifty 50 formed a bearish candlestick pattern on the daily chart, indicating a weak outlook following the recent breakdown. For the week, Nifty 50 slumped 5.31% and formed a sizable bearish candle with a lower high and a lower low on the weekly chart, signaling continuation of the corrective decline.

A long bear candle has formed on the daily chart that made a new swing low of 23,112 levels on Friday. Nifty 50 has entered the support of previous opening upside gap area of 15 April 2025 around 23,200 - 22,900 levels. Though, Nifty 50 is placed near the supports, still there is no confirmation of any bottom reversal pattern forming. This is not a good sign, said Nagaraj Shetti, Senior Technical Research Analyst at HDFC Securities.

According to him, the underlying trend of the market is sharply down and there is a higher possibility of Nifty 50 showing minor pullback from near the lows of around 22,900 by this week.

If it fails to do so, then one may expect more weakness down to 22,500 -22,000 levels in the near term. Immediate resistance is placed at 23,500, Shetti added.

Sudeep Shah, Head - Technical and Derivatives Research at SBI Securities said that the immediate support for Nifty 50 is placed in the 23,000 - 22,950 zone, and any sustainable move below this zone could result in Nifty 50 extending its weakness towards 22,750, followed by 22,500 in the short term.

On the upside, the zone of 23,450  23500 zone is likely to act as a strong resistance, he said.

Mayank Jain, Market Analyst, Share.Market highlighted that the Nifty 50 index decisively broke the 23,300 support level, which was a major structural base, and the index is now in a deep correction phase, trading below its 500-day SMA.

Immediate support for Nifty 50 lies at 22,900  23,000. The 23,000 mark is the immediate floor. If this breaks, the next major target for bears is 22,500. Immediate resistance is seen at 23,400  23,600. Any recovery will face immediate selling pressure at 23,500, said Jain.

Bank Nifty Prediction Bank Nifty index ended 1,343.10 points, or 2.44%, lower at 53,757.85 on Friday, forming a strong bearish candle on the daily chart, indicating persistent selling pressure following the recent breakdown from the earlier range. For the week, the Bank Nifty crashed 6.97% and formed a sizable bearish candle with a lower high and lower low.

Bank Nifty index has breached its critical support of 54,000 and the 100-day EMA, signaling a major bearish shift in long-term momentum after Fridays sharp sell-off. For this week, the 53,500 level stands as the final make-or-break defense; a breakdown here could trigger a deeper correction toward the 52,500 zone, said Dr. Ravi Singh, Chief Research Officer from Master Capital Services Ltd.

On the upside, the 55,000 level now acts as stiff overhead hurdles, he said, adding that the strategy remains sell on recovery until the Bank Nifty index decisively reclaims 55,000. Expect continued pressure on heavyweights as the sector searches for a stable floor.

Also Read | Breakout stocks to buy or sell: Sumeet Bagadia recommends five shares to buy

Om Mehra, Technical Research Analyst, SAMCO Securities noted that the Bank Nifty index is now hovering near the 53,500  53,400 zone, which earlier acted as a key support level and is currently being tested again.

A decisive move below this level may open the door for further downside. The index continues to trade below its key moving averages, reflecting weakness in the broader trend. The RSI has slipped near the 23 level, indicating that the index has entered a deeply oversold zone, said Om Mehra, Technical Research Analyst, SAMCO Securities.

Overall, he believes the short-term outlook remains weak, and the Bank Nifty index may continue to witness volatile swings unless it manages to reclaim the 54,500 zone on a closing basis.
Stock market today: The Indian stock market ended last week under significant corrective pressure amid deteriorating global risk sentiment, rising crude oil prices, and persistent selling by foreign institutional investors. The sharp shift in global risk appetite triggered broad-based profit-taking across sectors, resulting in one of the steepest weekly declines in recent months. As the US-Iran war intensified and energy prices surged, global investors appeared to reduce their exposure to emerging markets, leading to notable capital outflows from Indian equities.

FIIs remained aggressive net sellers in the cash segment, recording total outflows of 35,053 crore during the week. The scale of selling reflects a clear risk reduction strategy among global funds amid heightened macroeconomic uncertainty. DIIs, however, provided strong counterbalancing support with net purchases of 37,740 crore. This domestic buying interest helped absorb a substantial portion of the foreign selling pressure and prevented the correction from deepening further across the broader market.

What does the Gift Nifty live chart and Asian markets signal? The Gift Nifty live chart is trading green at around 23,325, whereas the Asian bourses are trading mixed.

Decoding the Gift Nifty Live Chart and Asian stock market signal, Hariprasad K, SEBI-registered Research Analyst and Founder, Livelong Wealth, said, Indian markets are likely to begin the week on a mildly positive note, with GIFT Nifty trading around 23,351, indicating a steady opening for domestic equities. Early cues from Asia remain mixed, with South Koreas KOSPI rising about 1%, while Japans Nikkei 225 is trading flat to slightly negative, reflecting cautious sentiment across the region.

Gold, silver rates today Gold and silver traded mixed during the early morning session on Monday, March 16, as tensions in the Middle East entered the third week.

The COMEX gold rate today fell more than 1% during early Asian trading hours, slipping below the $5,000 level. The yellow metal touched an intraday low of $4,971.30 on Monday. Meanwhile, spot silver plunged 2.23% to $79.5 per ounce on March 16.

The undertone for the precious metals is positive. The COMEX gold rate today has crucial support placed at $4,900/oz, and the MCX gold rate today has crucial support placed at 1,55,000 per 10 gm, said Anuj Gupta, a SEBI-registered market expert.

The SEBI-registered expert said the COMEX silver rate today has immediate support at $78/oz, while the crucial support for the precious white metal is at $70/oz. Similarly, the MCX silver rate today is in 2,50,000 to 2,65,000 per kg range, said Gupta.

India VIX today "Volatility is likely to remain elevated with India VIX still above the 22 mark, making option premiums expensive and prompting traders to keep positions lighter. Any meaningful cooling of geopolitical tensions could lead to a sharp decline in volatility and trigger short-covering moves in equities," said Hariprasad K of Livelong Wealth.

The Livelong Wealth expert said that sectors sensitive to fuel costs, such as airlines, tourism and automobiles, may remain volatile in the near term, while defensive segments like FMCG and pharmaceuticals could attract relatively stable investor interest. Institutional flows will also remain an important trigger, as continued foreign outflows may cap upside, while any reversal in flows could help stabilise markets after the recent correction.

USD vs INR Speaking on the outlook of the Indian National Rupee (INR) against the US Dollar (USD), Jateen Trivedi, VP Research  Commodity and Currency at LKP Securities, said, The Indian Rupee traded weaker by 0.25 at 92.40 as concerns grow that Indias fiscal deficit could widen if crude oil prices remain elevated. Higher oil prices increase the countrys import bill and subsidy burden, which can put pressure on both the current account and government finances.

"With the risk of crude staying high, the outlook for the rupee remains cautious as it could create macroeconomic challenges for the Indian economy. In the near term, the rupee is expected to trade within a range of 91.9092.80, with crude price movements and dollar index trends remaining key drivers," added Jateen Trivedi of LKP Securities.

FII-DII data The FIIs remained net sellers on Friday last week, selling Indian shares worth 10,716 crore in the cash segment. In the Index Futures, FIIs sold out shares worth 5,200 crore, and in the Index Options, FIIs sold out shares worth 945 crore.

Stock market today: Outlook for Nifty 50 Speaking on the outlook of the Nifty 50 today, Sumeet Bagadia, Executive Director at Choice Broking, believes the stock market crash on Friday indicates sustained bearish sentiment and strong selling pressure. The Choice Broking expert said that bears would continue to dominate Dalal Street until the Nifty 50 index is below 23,350. Bagadia said the India VIX index climbed 5.24% to 22.64, reflecting heightened market volatility and rising investor uncertainty.

Although the market initially found support around the 23,300 level, it failed to hold that zone and extended losses. The index eventually touched an intraday low of 23,112 before settling at 23,151.10, down 488.05 points (-2.06%). This price movement indicates sustained bearish sentiment and strong selling pressure dominating the market, said Bagadia.

From a technical perspective, the 23,30023,350 zone is emerging as immediate resistance, while a solid support base is forming near 23,00023,050, Bagadia added.

Stocks to buy today Regarding stocks to buy today, stock market experts  Sumeet Bagadia, Executive Director at Choice Broking, Ganesh Dongre, Senior Manager  Technical Research at Anand Rathi, and Shiju Koothupalakkal, Senior Manager  Technical Research at Prabhudas Lilladher, recommended these six buy-or-sell stocks for intraday trading: Atul, BEL, SAIL, HAL, Muthoot Finance, and Strides Pharma.

Sumeet Bagadia's stocks to buy today 1] Atul: Buy at 6464, Target 6912, Stop Loss 6240.

Ganesh Dongre's buy or sell stocks 2] BEL: Buy at 440, Target 460, Stop Loss 430;

3] SAIL: Buy at 150, Target 158, Stop Loss 145; and

4] HAL: Buy at 3910, Target 4300, Stop Loss 3900.

Shiju Koothupalakkal's intraday stocks for today 5] Muthoot Finance: Buy at 3333, Target 3450, Stop Loss 3260; and

6] Strides Pharma: Buy at 921.60, Target 960, Stop Loss 900.

Disclaimer: This story is for educational purposes only. The views and recommendations above are those of individual analysts or broking companies, not Mint. We advise investors to check with certified experts before making any investment decisions.
Nishant Kumar

Nishant is a market reporter at Mint, where he holds the official designation of Principal Correspondent  Markets. He has been closely tracking the Indian stock market as well as major global stock markets along with the broader macroeconomic trends for a decade. <br><br> He is obsessed with breaking down complex financial and economic concepts into clear and engaging stories. He focuses not only on what is happening in the markets, but also why it matters. <br><br> His coverage includes stock market trends, sector rotations, monetary and fiscal policy developments, inflation, growth data, and personal finance strategies. <br><br> With nearly 10 years of experience in covering financial markets, Nishant has covered bull markets, corrections, policy transitions, and macro developments that has equipped him with a deep understanding of how domestic and global forces shape markets and affect investments. <br><br> He regularly interviews market veterans, fund managers, economists, policymakers, and corporate leaders to provide readers with a 360-degree view of market dynamics and the broader economic landscape. <br><br> Before joining Mint, Nishant worked with some of Indias most respected business newsrooms, including The Economic Times and Moneycontrol, where he reported extensively on the stock market, corporate earnings, macroeconomic trends, GDP, inflation, monetary policies of the RBI and the US Federal Reserve, bonds, and currencies. <br><br> Apart from economics and investing, he has interests in geopolitics and emerging technologies, such as AI.
Long-term investing can compound your wealth  this saying, in some form or another, is likely heard by almost all investors. Yet, when it comes to equity market investing, it is often forgotten as soon as a crisis strikes. Gold  on the other hand  sees a totally different approach.

According to Swarup Mohanty, Vice Chairman and CEO of Mirae Asset Investment Managers (India), investing behaviour around gold offers a powerful lesson for equity investors, one that can help them generate immense wealth.

For generations, gold has held a special place in Indian households  not just as jewellery or tradition, but as a deeply ingrained savings habit. Families buy gold during festivals such as Dhanteras and Akshaya Tritiya almost instinctively, rarely worrying about whether the price is high or low. The goal has never been tactical timing; it has always been accumulation.

"Gold is a fascinating asset; Indians have historically bought it structurally during festivals, focusing on accumulation rather than price. Despite gold always feeling "expensive" when purchased, generations have created wealth because they never sell it; there is even a social stigma against selling gold," Mohanty told Mint in an interview.

This disciplined pattern of buying and holding gold over decades without worrying about prices or selling during a crisis has quietly built financial security for many families.

Mohanty argues that if Indian investors could transfer this same mindset to equities, the results could be transformative.

Gold vs Equities: Diverging investor behaviour However, when it comes to equities, investor behaviour is opposite. Investors constantly worry about prices and look for exits as soon as panic strikes. The ongoing Middle East conflict is an example enough.

Despite multiple past instances of Covid, the Russia-Ukraine war and even the 2008 GFC signalling that markets tend to climb the wall of worries, investors have resorted to panic selling. The Nifty has shed 7% in March alone since the US-Iran war erupted.

In a panic, people sell equity but would never sell their gold. This behaviour, according to Mohanty, is a big deterrent to generating wealth.

"My honest request is this: buy equity the way you used to buy gold. If you can transfer that "buy and hold" discipline from gold to equity, you will build immense wealth," he said.

He advised accumulating equity, without obsessing over the price. Conversely, if you bring the bad habit of price-watching to gold, you destroy its purpose as a safety net, the fund manager said.

Gold prices have been on a tear over the last two years. MCX gold soared almost 70% in 2025 and is up another 20% this year. At the same time, the returns from the Indian equity markets over the last 18 months have been nil.

Mohanty said that gold's bull run came to an end amid increased noise in the market. He pushed investors to ignore the price, while maintaining traditional behaviour, and most importantly, shifting that same long-term mindset to their equity investments.

Mohantys message is less about asset allocation and more about investor behaviour. If investors maintain discipline, continue accumulating over time, and resist the urge to panic during downturns, they can allow the power of compounding to work in their favour.
Robert Redford was not at the Academy Awards.

While Sean Penn also did not show up to collect his third Oscar (Best Supporting Actor, One Battle After Another)  possibly because he prefers events where he can chainsmoke, like the Golden Globe awards  Redford had a better reason. He died last September, and was celebrated on the Oscar stage by his The Way We Were co-star Barbra Streisand, who called the actor, producer and environmentalist an intellectual cowboy.

The Sundance Film Institute  part of Redfords effort to encourage and support independent filmmaking  made two social media posts while the Academy Awards were handed out. One congratulated Paul Thomas Anderson from the 1993 Sundance Institute Directors Lab and the other congratulated Ryan Coogler from the 2012 Sundance Institute Screenwriters Lab. Both writer-directors won their first Oscars this time, dominating the ceremony with Cooglers Sinners and Andersons One Battle After Another. When Redford had passed, I had written that no movie star has ever done more for the movies. That legacy continues. Were still being wowed by Sundances kids.

Through the night, Sinners and One Battle traded alternating prizes. Both won Screenplay awards. Sinners won for Cinematography  marking the first time that a female cinematographer, the fantastic Autumn Durald Arkapaw, won the prize  while One Battle won for Editing. Personally, I would swap those two prizes in a heartbeat, but the neck and neck feeling continued, making this a two-movie prizefight.

Then I started seeing signs pointing, vaguely, to Anderson. Phantom Thread actress Vicky Krieps was on stage to collect Best Live-Action Short Film (for Two People Exchanging Saliva), and later, Andersons wife, the gifted comic actor Maya Rudolph, showed up to present an award. Granted, these signs may not have been as clear as frogs raining down from the sky, but PTA did go on to sweep the big awards, winning Best Director and Best Picture. Its been a magnificent career  with masterworks as Boogie Nights, Magnolia, There Will Be Blood, Phantom Thread  and his latest film is an explosion loud enough to resound with any jury. Its heartening to see him win one Oscar after another.

Conan OBrien was a first-class host, finding the precarious balance between doing a job well and not taking it at too seriously. F1 did so well, he kidded, that theyre making a sequel called Caps Lock. He poked fun at Netflix and movies being designed for second-screen viewing, crowned Leonardo DiCaprio the king of memes, and referred to the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood as the HasASmallPenis Theatre, saying Lets see [the President] put his name in front of that.

The ceremony only felt like a real party once the Sinners musicians stormed the stage. Miles Catton, Raphael Saadiq, Eric Gales and Buddy Guy performed the films sublime I Lied To You number, featuring ballet legend Misty Copeland, who stepped out of retirement for this performance, and was spectacular. In the front row sat Best Actor nominee Timothee Chalamet, who has recently received great backlash for being disparaging toward ballet and opera. He eventually  and poetically  lost to Sinners actor Michael B. Jordan.

Jordan played twins, a feat of nuance and physical craft where, besides different personalities, one brother has dimples and one doesnt. Hes superb, though I would have voted for DiCaprio, so understatedly brilliant in One Battle After Another as the stoner ex-anarchist who has forgotten the password to the revolution. Jessie Buckley won Best Actress for Hamnet, and to all newly minted Buckley fans, I would strongly recommend Charlie Kaufmans Im Thinking Of Ending Things.

One Battle After Another also won a brand new award. Best Casting is an addition to the Oscars that feels overdue and exciting, applauding casting directors who put together the best ensemble. Oscar nights finest ensemble, though, came for a filmmaker, not a film. A whole lineup of actors from Rob Reiner movies, led by Billy Crystal of When Harry Met Sally, stepped out to commemorate the late filmmaker and his movies that continue to resound with audiences. Between this, Streisands song and Rachel McAdams heartfelt celebration of Diane Keaton, the In Memoriam section felt genuinely special this year.

Then again, the Academys decision to leave out Brigitte Bardot  like they left out Alain Delon the year before  is unforgivable. One assumes these expulsions have been made because both legacies are tainted by problematic political stances, but excluding icons with dazzling careers from a final goodbye feels far too censorious. And who gets to draw the line of what is considered acceptable?

Politically, the most was said by director David Borenstein. You lose your country through countless small acts of complicity, he said, winning Best Documentary Feature for Mr Nobody Against Putin. When we act complicit when a government murders people on the streets. When oligarchs take over the media and control how we produce and consume it. We all face a moral choice. That choice includes playing it safe, like Priyanka Chopra Jonas, who smiled vacuously while standing next to a vocal Javier Bardem, who declared No to war, and free Palestine.

Paul Thomas Anderson is now the only director to ever win Best Director at Cannes, Venice, Berlin and the Oscar stage. He underlined the arbitrariness of victory, and reminded us of 1976, where Jaws, Barry Lyndon, Dog Day Afternoon, Nashville and One Flew Over The Cuckoos Next vied for the big prize, each contender a champion. There will always be some doubt in your heart that you deserve it, admitted Anderson, but added, with a perfectly timed smile: There is no question at the pleasure of having it for myself.

Robert Redford would be proud.
Logistics

The fertilizer industry is coordinating with the Centre and states on increasing supply from more countries, the Fertiliser Association of India (FAI) said. Production planning, imports and logistics are being actively coordinated to maintain adequate availability during the upcoming cropping season. In the case of phosphatic fertilizers, India has diversified supplies and long-term arrangements, and is sourcing from nations such as Morocco, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Belarus, which partially offsets supply disruption risks from one region, an FAI spokesperson said in response to a query.
Proceedings on the plea by actor Celina Jaitley regarding the detention of her brother in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) were closed on Monday by the Delhi High Court.

The HC, while closing the proceedings on Vikrant Jaitly's detention, asked the central government to continue supporting the retired major with legal assistance.

Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav observed in the court that the Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi had met Jaitly nine times since he was arrested and that he has told them that decisions regarding his legal representation will depend upon his wife and not his sister. The justice went on to ask Celina Jaitly's counsel, "What right do you have now?" as per a PTI report.

Indian embassy officials met Jaitly nine times: Court "It has come on record that the respondent (Ministry of External Affairs) is in active contact with Mr Jaitly. It also appears that consular access has been granted to Mr Jaitly. Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi has interacted (with him) nine times," the court said, as per the agency.

Also Read | Celina Jaitly shares note after Delhi HC steps in for brother

"There is no reason to keep the writ petition pending. It is accordingly disposed of. The respondent shall continue to remain in touch with Mr Jaitly and provide all legal representation as may be available in law," the court order said.

The court also made it clear that Jaitly's well-being has to be looked after by the Indian authorities.

The actor had filed a petition in the court requesting legal representation for her brother, who according to her, was "illegally abducted and detained" since 6 September, 2024 in the UAE.

Vikrant Jaitly does not wish to communicate with sister: ASG Chetan Sharma, the Additional Solicitor General, submitted some information to the court in a sealed cover and said that as per the 18 February consular meeting, Vikram Jaitly has taken a clear stand that he does not wish to be represented by a firm and has turned down Celina's suggestion to take the pro bono service of a legal firm based in the UAE.

The court was also told that Jaitly has conveyed that he has no intention of communicating with his sister, and it is only his wife who can make decisions regarding suitable legal representation for him.

The petitioner's counsel, however, expressed concern regarding the possible reason why the actor's brother has refused pro bono legal counsel, and requesting for a video conference call between the two siblings.

"We are concerned for his safety, especially in view of the war," the counsel said, as per PTI.

Also Read | Celina Jaitly vs Peter Haag- New twist emerges after domestic violence case

However, the request was turned down by the court, which said that it is looking into the case on the basis of details submitted by the "Government of India officials, those authorised by the Indian consulate and their interaction with Mr Jaitly."

"The dispute will have to be kept aside... When Mr Jaitly says something, we have to adhere to it," the court said regarding the situation.

As per Celina Jaitly's petition, her borher had been residing in the UAE from 2016, and was employed with the MATITI Group. The company is involved in consultancy, risk management services, as well as trading.

The actor's plea had alleged that despite a year passing by, the Ministry of External Affairs had not been able to secure basic information about her sibling, including his legal status and welfare conditions.
New Delhi: Amid the escalating war in West Asia and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, India has offered relief to shipping and cargo owners, allowing stranded vessels to temporarily dock at its ports at reduced charges, including anchorage fee, berth hire and storage charges, Rajesh Kumar Sinha, special secretary in the ministry of ports, shipping and waterways, said.

The Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA), which operates India's largest container port in Navi Mumbai, has provided temporary transshipment storage for containers bound for West Asia and granted 100% rebate on ground rent and dwell time charges and around 80% rebate on reefer container plug-in charges for up to 15 days for containers originating at JNPA, Sinha added.

Also Read | India's container sops draw interest from global shipping behemoths

Dwell time refers to the duration a container stays at the port terminal after it arrives until it leaves.

He added that, along with two liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tankers scheduled to arrive on 16 and 17 March, a crude carrier carrying 80,800 metric tonnes (mt) of Murban crude oil from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is safely en route to India.

Sticky Hormuz Six more LPG tankers and four more crude cargoes - all India-bound and India-flagged - are currently stranded at the western side of the Strait of Hormuz.

Further, in a bid to ease pressure on LPG supplies in the country, city gas distribution networks have started offering incentives for consumers to shift to piped natural gas (PNG) from LPG, including free gas worth 500 by Indraprastha Gas Ltd, a joint venture of state-run oil marketing companies, Sujata Sharma, joint secretary, marketing and oil refinery, ministry of petroleum and natural gas, said.

"At present, 22 Indian-flagged vessels with 611 seafarers remain in the west of the Persian Gulf region. The Directorate General of Shipping continues to monitor the situation in coordination with ship owners, RPSL agencies and Indian Missions," said Sinha.

Also Read | How India lost the global shipping race and the bold mission to reclaim it

"Of the two Indian-flagged LPG carriers that crossed the Strait of Hormuz on 14 March carrying about 92,712 mt of LPG, vessel Shivalik is scheduled to berth at Mundra Port around 1700 hrs today with documentation completed to ensure priority discharge, while vessel Nanda Devi is expected to reach early tomorrow morning," he added, while addressing the media on the developments in West Asia.

The vessel named Shivalik arrived at the Mundra port Monday evening.

He further said that major ports across the country are closely monitoring vessel movements and cargo operations and providing support to shipping lines and cargo stakeholders, including concessions in anchorage, berth hire and storage charges.

Ports are coordinating with Customs and other stakeholders to facilitate cargo operations, he added.

PNG shift Addressing the media on fuel stock situation in the country, Sharma said that the domestic production of LPG in the country has increased 36% since the start of the war in February.

On the incentives being offered to potential PNG consumers, Sharma said: Several CGD companies are offering incentives to promote PNG connections, including free gas worth 500 for domestic consumers by Indraprastha Gas Ltd. and GAIL Gas Ltd., waiver of registration charges of 500 for domestic PNG consumers and security deposits for commercial consumers by Mahanagar Gas Ltd., and waiver of security deposits for all commercial connections by BPCL.

Further, the government is also expanding the CGD network and Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board has advised city gas distribution (CGD) entities to accelerate deployment of resources, encourage utilisation of existing connections and reduce timelines for supply commencement.

Also Read | India ramps up LPG output, secures tankers from the US as war disrupts supplies

Earlier, the petroleum ministry had suggested domestic and commercial LPG consumers in the vicinity of CGD networks to shift to PNG. According to the petroleum ministry, there are about 60 lakh household LPG consumers who can shift to PNG in the short term

On the fuel stock scenario, Sharma said refineries are operating at high capacity and maintaining adequate crude oil inventories. India remains self-sufficient in petrol and diesel production and no imports of these fuels are required to meet domestic demand.

Crude oil prices eased on Monday after Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), said that member countries could release more oil into the market later, "as and if needed". Already, IEA member countries have agreed to release a total of 400 million barrels from their reserves.
LPG prices have been in focus since the West Asia conflict began, as oil prices across the globe have embarked on a steady upward rally. In New Delhi, the updated domestic Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) prices are currently 913.00 for a 14.2 kg cylinder. The price change indicates a marked increase compared with the previous months price of 853.00.

Disruption in vessel movement through the Strait of Hormuz  a route that handles about a fifth of the worlds oil supplies  has caused high volatility in crude oil prices, which rippled across asset classes, pushing LPG prices. Even though the Centre maintains that there is no shortage of cooking gas, several businesses in the hospitality sector have been shut after a shortage of commercial LPG supply affected operations, denting business.

LPG prices have shown a steady upward trend over the past year, but the most striking price change came in March 2026, when the price rose by 60.

Also Read | LPG news: Govt asks households with piped gas to give up cylinders

LPG rates across major Indian cities are listed below:

New Delhi   913.00 / cylinder

913.00 / cylinder Kolkata   939.00 / cylinder

939.00 / cylinder Mumbai   912.50 / cylinder

912.50 / cylinder Chennai   928.50 / cylinder

928.50 / cylinder Bengaluru  915.50 / cylinder

915.50 / cylinder Bhubaneswar  939.00 / cylinder

939.00 / cylinder Chandigarh  862.50 / cylinder

862.50 / cylinder Chennai  928.50 / cylinder

928.50 / cylinder Gurgaon  921.50 / cylinder

921.50 / cylinder Hyderabad  965.00 / cylinder Standard domestic cylinders used for household cooking purposes across India follow these revised LPG rates. The Centre, in its latest update on Sunday, said that there have been no reports of dry-outs of gas supply at LPG distributorships across India. The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, in a statement, said that 77 lakh bookings were recorded on 14 March, a decline from the 13 March figure.

According to the government, commercial LPG cylinders have been placed at the disposal of State Governments for priority distribution and are now available to consumers in 30 States and UTs.

Delhi Food Supplies Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa on Monday said that sales of commercial LPG cylinders have commenced in coordination with Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs), ensuring that around 1,800 cylinders are available through a priority-based system. This arrangement has been made for essential sectors such as hospitals, educational institutions, restaurants, and dairies, ensuring up to 20% of the average daily commercial consumption, ANI reported.

To prevent hoarding and ensure compliance amid the LPG crisis, the policy mandates regulated distribution through 19-kg cylinders. As per the government's directive, bookings are being processed on a first-in, first-out basis.

Chief Minister Rekha Gupta is keeping a track of daily updates on LPG supply. Sirsa reassured, saying, There is no need for any kind of panic; all supplies are in order.

Indian-flagged ships with 92,700 metric tons of LPG pass through the Strait of Hormuz External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar hailed the direct talks with Iran days after two Indian-flagged ships successfully crossed the Strait of Hormuz. He termed the talks as the most effective way to resume shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Special Secretary of Ministry Of Port, Shipping And Waterways, Rajesh Kumar said, In the Persian Gulf, on the west of the Strait of Hormuz, there were 24 Indian-flag vessels, out of which, two vessels  Shivalik and Nanda Devi  carrying LPG crossed the Strait of Hormuz safely early morning on Saturday and are heading towards India, HT reported.
India on Monday said it had not held any bilateral discussions with the United States regarding measures to ensure the safe passage of merchant ships through the Strait of Hormuz.

The clarification from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) came amid calls by US President Donald Trump, urging several nations to deploy warships to help keep the strategically important maritime corridor open.

According to a PTI report, in a media briefing, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal mentioned, We are aware of this particular matter being discussed by several countries. We have not yet discussed it in a bilateral setting.

The remarks were made in response to a query on whether the United States had approached India to send warships to the area.

The MEA spokesperson said India would continue consultations with various stakeholders on the issue.

In his comments, Jaiswal also reiterated Indias appeal for de-escalation of tensions in West Asia.

"We have, and we continue to call for de-escalation, for exercise of restraint and for countries to adopt the path of dialogue and diplomacy so that there can be an early end to this conflict. We have also said that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states must be respected," he remarked.

International oil and gas prices have climbed sharply after Iran effectively obstructed movement through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow channel linking the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman, which carries around 20% of global crude oil and liquefied natural gas supplies.

In a post on social media, Trump expressed hope that countries such as China, France, Japan, South Korea and the United Kingdom, among others affected by Irans attempt to close the Strait of Hormuz, would deploy naval forces to the region to help keep the vital shipping lane safe and open".

So far, however, there has been no firm response from the major powers.

Reacting to the developments, China urged all parties to immediately halt military actions in West Asia to ensure that the Strait of Hormuz remains accessible for global maritime trade.

Jaishankar on talks with Iran In an interview with the Financial Times, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said India did not have a "blanket arrangement" with Iran to allow Indian-flagged vessels to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.

Also Read | Trump Claims Iran Forces 'Destroyed', Demands Help Guard Strait Of Hormuz

However, he noted that discussions with Tehran on ensuring the safe transit of Indian ships were "ongoing" and "yielding results".
At least 10 people are feared dead in a massive fire that erupted in the trauma care department of the SCB Medical College and Hospital in Odisha's Cuttack early on Monday morning.

News agency PTI, citing Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, reported that at least 10 people had perished in the fire.

Around 11 hospital staff members suffered burn injuries while rescuing patients to safety, PTI reported, while Hindustan Times added that five of those injured were in a critical condition.

"A total of 23 patients have been shifted to other departments. Seven serious patients died while shifting to other ICUs and wards, while another three persons died later," CM Majhi was quoted as saying by PTI.

"I have directed the concerned officers for proper treatment of the injured patients," the CM added.

Later on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also expressed his grief at the tragedy, saying, The mishap at a hospital in Cuttack, Odisha, is deeply painful. Condolences to those who have lost their loved ones. I pray for the speedy recovery of the injured.

What we know so far The fire erupted early on Monday morning at the intensive care unit (ICU) of the trauma care department of the hospital, where critically ill patients were being treated.

An official told PTI that the blaze erupted between 2.30 am and 3 am on Monday.

Soon after the fire broke out, fire service personnel rushed to the hospital and doused put out the blaze, authorities said.

Soon after getting the news, Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, along with Health Minister Mukesh Mahaling, visited the hospital and reviewed the situation.

The CM also visited patients who are under treatment at the facility, reported PTI.

Former Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik also offered his condolences after news of the tragedy broke.

"The fire incident at SCB Medical in Cuttack resulting in the deaths of several people is extremely heartbreaking. I express my deepest condolences to the grieving family members, along with prayers for the eternal peace of the departed souls," Patnaik wrote in a post in Odia on X.

He also urged the state government to provide the best medical facilities to those injured.

What caused the fire? An official investigation will probe the cause of the fire, but no foul play is suspected.

CM Majhi told reporters that the fire was sparked by a suspected short-circuit.

Majhi has also ordered a judicial inquiry into the incident, the Odisha CMO said.

Ex-gratia announced by CMO and PMO Shortly after news of the tragedy broke, Odisha CM Majhi also announced ex-gratia for the kin of the deceased.

The ex-gratia amount will be 25 lakh, the CMO said, adding the payments will be made from the Chief Ministers Relief Fund (CMRF).
Israel's Ambassador to India, Reuven Azar, has moved to publicly quash a wave of viral disinformation alleging that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has died and that recent footage of him was generated using artificial intelligence.

Speaking directly to news agency ANI on the rumours circulating across social media, Azar offered an unambiguous personal rebuttal - stating he had seen the Prime Minister with his own eyes during recent visits to Israel and that a widely discussed cafe video was entirely authentic.

What the Ambassador Said: A Personal Rebuttal to Social Media Speculation The Israeli envoy to India did not mince words in addressing the conspiracy theories. Prime Minister Netanyahu is alive. I saw him personally when I was in Israel more than once. This video at the cafe is not AI-fabricated.

"There is a lot of disinformation," he added. The statement is notable both for its directness and for its source: a senior diplomat invoking first-hand witness to counter what he characterised as a deliberate and organised disinformation campaign.

How the Rumours Began: Allegations of Deepfakes and a 'Six-Finger Glitch' The controversy has its origins in a set of viral posts that scrutinised Netanyahu's recent public addresses, with critics alleging visual inconsistencies they attributed to deepfake technology.

The claims gained particular momentum when social media users pointed to what they described as an AI rendering error in one video - a figure appearing to display six fingers rather than five, a tell-tale artefact sometimes associated with algorithmically generated imagery.

Israeli diplomatic officials dismissed those allegations as baseless, but the speculation continued to accelerate across platforms.

Netanyahu's Cafe Video: A Deliberate Five-Finger Response? The controversy deepened after Netanyahu himself posted a short clip on X, formerly Twitter, showing him drinking coffee at a cafe in what appeared to be a relaxed, unscripted setting.

During the recording, the Prime Minister briefly raises his hand in a manner that observers widely interpreted as a pointed rebuttal to the six-finger allegations - visibly displaying five fingers to the camera.

Also Read | Why the global controversy over using AI for warfare refuses to die down

Whether or not the gesture was calculated, it generated considerable discussion, with supporters reading it as a direct and deliberate answer to his detractors, and sceptics arguing it did little to settle the underlying questions about the authenticity of earlier footage.

Iran Denies it Wants Truce as Dubai Airport Iran flatly contradicted US President Donald Trump's assertion that Tehran was seeking a ceasefire, launching fresh missile and drone strikes across the Persian Gulf that forced Dubai International Airport to temporarily suspend operations after an Iranian drone ignited a fuel tank fire on its grounds.

The UAE and Saudi Arabia both reported overnight strikes. Dubai announced a gradual resumption of flights within hours, though Emirates confirmed several Monday services would be cancelled. The key Fujairah oil-export terminal was hit for the second time in three days.

In Abu Dhabi, a Palestinian civilian was killed after a missile struck a vehicle on Monday.
Kanishka Singharia

Kanishka Singharia is a Senior Content Producer at Mint with a passion for news, trends, and the stories shaping the digital world. She specialises in spotting viral narratives by constantly tracking social media platforms and turning them into engaging, reader-friendly stories. Her work ranges from fast-paced breaking updates to sensitive human-interest features, blending speed with clarity. <br><br> With over four years of experience in news and trend reporting, Kanishka has worked with leading organisations such as Hindustan Times and Times Now. She moves seamlessly between profiling business leaders and telling the stories of everyday people, covering national developments just as effortlessly as the memes and conversations that dominate online culture. <br><br> She also reports on real estate developments and civic challenges in major urban hubs like Bengaluru, Delhi, and Gurugram. Her coverage frequently explores the struggles of startup founders, inspiring journeys of CEOs, and the experiences of candidates dealing with the complexities of visa processes. <br><br> Kanishka holds an undergraduate degree in Journalism from Delhi University and a diploma from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication. Rarely offline, she spends much of her time scrolling through X, LinkedIn, Reddit, Instagram, and Facebook in search of the next big story. When she finally logs off, she enjoys binge-watching shows and exploring cafes in pursuit of good food and better conversations.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Monday issued a heavy rainfall alert for Northeast India, warning against heavy precipitation in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh until 17 March. The prevailing weather conditions over the Western Himalayan region are due to a Western Disturbance, which caused a devastating tornado in Odisha on Sunday and heavy rains in the Northeastern states.

IMD in a post on X stated, Heavy to very heavy rainfall expected across parts of Northeast India. Residents are advised to stay alert and follow official weather updates.

The weather office warned against isolated thunderstorm activity and gusty winds over East and adjoining Central India from 16 to 19 March. IMD's latest weather bulletin states, Isolated thunderstorm activities accompanied with Gusty winds also likely over East and adjoining Central India during 16th to 19th March, with its peak intensity on 16th March, 2026.

Also Read | Level 4 severe weather risk warning issued for North Carolina on 16 March

It added, "A fresh Western Disturbance likely to cause Rain/Thunderstorm, lightning & gusty winds along with hailstorm likely over Western Himalayan Region and adjoining plains from 18th March."

Yellow alert in Assam and Mizoram A yellow alert for heavy rainfall remains in place for Assam.

View full Image View full Image IMD issues yellow alert for Assam

The weather department also issued a yellow alert for heavy rainfall in Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh.

IMD has forecast the possibility of thunderstorms, lightning and gusty winds in Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh on 19 March. Similar weather conditions are expected in East Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand on 16 March.

Thunderstorm, lightning & gusty winds speed reaching (40-50 gusting to 60 kmph) likely over Jammu Kashmir-Ladakh on 16th,18th & 20th; Himachal Pradesh 16th & 18th; Uttarakhand on 18th, 19th; Haryana Chandigarh & Delhi and Punjab on 19th; West Uttar Pradesh on 19th; East Uttar Pradesh on 16th, IMD said.

Rajasthan is set to witness thunderstorms, lightning and gusty winds between 18 and 21 March, while Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and West Uttar Pradesh residents can expect such weather conditions till 20 March.

Odisha's devastating tornado wreaks havoc In Sunday's devastating tornado in Odisha, two people were killed, and more than 17 were injured in the Mayurbhanj district. Over 100 houses were damaged near Karanjia along National Highway (NH)-220, Hindustan Times reported.

A trail of destruction outlined Kia and Kankada villages in Karanjia block. The impact of the tornado was also felt in the nearby Panapasi and Dumuria villages. Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi announced an ex gratia of 4 lakh to the kin of the deceased from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF), Mayurbhanj District Collector (DC) Hemakanta Soy said.
As the holy month of Ramadan enters its final week, Muslims worldwide are eagerly awaiting the crescent moon sighting - celebrated as Chand Raat -- which marks the conclusion of Ramadan. This year, Ramzan in India began on February 18 following the sighting of the new crescent moon. In Saudi Arabia, Ramadan started a day earlier.

Since Ramzan began on February 18 in India, Eid-ul-Fitr is expected to be celebrated on March 20, Friday, or March 21, Saturday, as the festival usually extends for 29 to 30 days.

Many are concerned about Eid-ul-Fitr 2026 date, which depends upon the citing of the Shawwal crescent.

If the crescent moon is seen on March 19 after Maghrib (evening) prayers, Eid will fall on March 20.

If the moon is not sighted on March 19, then Eid will be observed on March 21.

In Saudi Arabia, the same process applies: If the moon is spotted on March 18, Eid will be on March 19.

If not, Eid will be on March 20.

Eid ul-Fitr 2026 date: India, Pakistan and South Asia Countries such as India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, along with other parts of South Asia, usually celebrate Eid al-Fitr a day after Saudi Arabia due to differences in moon sighting.

View full Image View full Image New Delhi, India - March 13, 2026: People gather at Jama Masjid to offer the last Jumma Namaz (Friday prayers) of Ramzan. ( RAJ K RAJ /HT PHOTO )

If the crescent moon is sighted on Friday, March 20, 2026, Eid-ul-Fitr is likely to be observed on Saturday, March 21, 2026, in India and Pakistan.

Why is Moon Sighting Important for Eid? Moon sighting plays a key role in determining the start of Islamic months. The Islamic calendar follows the lunar cycle, meaning each month begins with the sighting of the crescent moon.

Eid al-Fitr is celebrated on the first day of Shawwal. Because lunar months last either 29 or 30 days, the exact date of Eid changes every year and depends on when the crescent moon is officially sighted by religious authorities.

How does the Saudi Supreme Court announce the Eid date? The start of Eid al-Fitr is linked to the sighting of the crescent moon that marks the beginning of Shawwal.

View full Image View full Image Muslims perform late-night prayers known as "Qiyam al Layl" during the holy month of Ramadan, in the Grand Mosque in the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. ( REUTERS )

Every year, the Supreme Court of Saudi Arabia calls on Muslims across the country to look for the Shawwal crescent. If the moon is sighted and confirmed by religious authorities, the following day is declared as Eid al-Fitr.

How is the final Eid date confirmed in India? In India, Eid is usually celebrated a day after it begins in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations, depending on the local moon sighting.

The International Astronomical Centre predicted that the crescent moon marking the end of Ramadan could be visible in Gulf countries on March 19, which would place Eid celebrations on March 20 in parts of West Asia.

What has Qatar announced for the Eid holiday? Meanwhile, Qatar has announced a seven-day public sector holiday for Eid al-Fitr. According to the Amiri Diwan, government ministries, agencies, and public institutions will observe the holiday from Monday, March 17, to Sunday, March 23.

Astronomical calculations by the Qatar Calendar House indicate that the first day of Shawwal 1447 is likely to fall on March 20.

Chand Raat 2026 Qatar's Verification Committee at the Ministry of Awqaf will determine the decision regarding the start of the month. The crescent moon will be born on 19 March, Thursday, at 4:24 am making it is impossible to sight the crescent moon on the evening of 18 March, Wednesday, in the skies of Qatar, QCH added.
Filmmaker Quentin Tarantino, known for redefining modern cinema with films such as Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs, once offered a striking perspective on learning and creativity. His remark  When people ask me if I went to film school, I tell them no, I went to films  has become one of the most quoted reflections on unconventional education. The line captures Tarantinos belief that immersion, curiosity and observation can sometimes teach as much as  or more than  formal training.

The Quote When people ask me if I went to film school, I tell them no, I went to films.

What Quentin Tarantino meant Tarantinos words reflect his belief in self-education through immersion. Instead of learning filmmaking in a classroom, he learned by watching films closely and constantly. For him, cinemas, VHS tapes and conversations about movies became a kind of informal training ground.

By studying stories, dialogue, pacing, editing and visual style across genres and eras, he developed an instinctive understanding of filmmaking. In that sense, movies themselves became his teachers.

The quote suggests that learning does not always begin with an institution. It can also come from paying close attention to the work you love and returning to it again and again with purpose.

For him, movie theatres, VHS tapes and discussions about cinema served as classrooms. His approach highlights an important idea: learning can emerge from direct engagement with the craft itself. In other words, immersion and curiosity can become powerful teachers.

Tarantinos journey supports this argument. Born in 1963 in Knoxville, Tennessee, he did not follow the conventional Hollywood route through film institutes. Instead, he worked at a video rental store in California, where he spent long hours watching films, recommending titles to customers and discussing cinema with fellow enthusiasts. That exposure shaped his understanding of genres, dialogue rhythms and narrative structures.

By the early 1990s, Tarantinos distinctive style began attracting global attention. His debut feature Reservoir Dogs quickly gained cult status, and Pulp Fiction went on to win the Palme dOr at the Cannes Film Festival, cementing his reputation as one of the most influential directors of his generation.

Ironically, many of his films are now analysed in film schools around the world  despite Tarantino never attending one himself.

The quote also raises a broader question about how society defines expertise. Traditional education systems often emphasise degrees and formal credentials as markers of knowledge. Tarantinos experience challenges that assumption by highlighting the role of self-directed learning, practice and exposure.

This perspective does not dismiss the value of formal education, but it expands the definition of learning. For artists, writers, filmmakers and other creative professionals, the quote suggests that studying the work you admire  closely and consistently  can be just as important as classroom instruction.

In a wider context, Tarantinos words speak to anyone who feels limited by the absence of conventional qualifications. His career demonstrates that dedication, curiosity and sustained engagement with a subject can build deep expertise over time.

Ultimately, the message behind the quote is about ownership of learning. Whether through universities, mentors or personal exploration, knowledge grows when people actively seek it. Tarantino simply chose a different classroom  the world of cinema itself.

The larger takeaway Tarantinos remark is ultimately about ownership of learning. Some people learn through universities and formal training. Others build their education through mentors, experimentation and close study of the work itself.
The pursuit of justice and equitable systems often confronts an innate human temptation toward retaliation. Yet, historys most enduring transformations emerge not from cyclical hostility, but from radical, strategic empathy.

As modern organisational landscapes navigate unprecedented polarisation, the philosophical bedrock laid by America's preeminent civil rights leader offers a masterclass in conflict resolution.

View full Image View full Image Martin Luther King Jr. in this 1960 file photo, speaks in Atlanta. (AP File Photo) ( AP )

Martin Luther King Jr. understood that sustainable progress requires dismantling adversarial paradigms rather than simply overpowering them, presenting a timeless blueprint for leaders operating in fractured environments.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.  Martin Luther King Jr.

Deep Context: The Strategic Crucible of Montgomery Spoken originally during a profound 1957 sermon and later published in his seminal 1963 book *Strength to Love*, King articulated this principle amidst a crucible of deep racial violence and systemic oppression.

He was leading the Montgomery bus boycott, navigating constant death threats, and witnessing the bombing of his own home. Rather than capitulating to entirely justifiable rage, King weaponised nonviolent resistance.

He recognised that meeting physical violence with retaliatory aggression would only validate the oppressor's brutal tactics and alienate the broader public. This sermon was not mere theological idealism; it functioned as a highly calculated strategic directive.

View full Image View full Image Martin Luther King Jr. in this 1960 file photo, speaks in Atlanta. (AP File Photo) ( AP )

King instructed his followers to disrupt the machinery of segregation by refusing to play by its antagonistic rules, effectively paralyzing institutional racism through unwavering moral superiority.

The Montgomery bus boycott, lasting 381 agonizing but triumphant days, demonstrated the economic and social viability of this approach. King proved that marginalized populations could bankrupt corrupt systems simply by withdrawing their participation, entirely circumventing the need for physical retaliation.

Philosophical Analysis: The Mechanics of Systemic Disruption The resonance of this statement extends far beyond mid-century civil rights struggles.

At its core, the quote addresses the fundamental mechanics of systemic change. In any ecosystembe it a polarized society, a volatile political landscape, or a toxic corporate cultureaggression met with aggression creates an infinite feedback loop of friction. King proposed a radical paradigm shift: the introduction of a completely antithetical element.

"Light" and "love" in his lexicon were not passive emotional states or naive sentiments; they were active, disruptive forces. They represent extreme cognitive dissonance to an opponent expecting retaliation. By refusing to mirror the adversary's toxicity, the nonviolent actor controls the terms of engagement.

View full Image View full Image FILE PHOTO - Dexter King, son of Martin Luther King Jr., speaks to the press outlining his family's plan for an interactive museum to be built at the MLK Center in Atlanta, Dec. 28, 1994. Dexter Scott King, the younger son of Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, has died after battling prostate cancer. The King Center in Atlanta says the 62-year-old son of the civil rights leader died Monday, 22 January, 2024 at his California home after battling prostate cancer ( AP )

Today, this translates to the absolute imperative of psychological safety and ethical anchoring. When organizational leaders respond to market hostility or internal crises with reactionary vengeance, they degrade their own structural integrity.

True, sustainable authority stems from maintaining operational equilibrium and enforcing a higher standard of interaction, effectively suffocating the darkness by refusing it the oxygen of conflict.

Career and Life Trajectory: An Unyielding Application of Principle Kings trajectory illustrates the relentless, agonizing application of this philosophy under unimaginable pressure.

From the foundation of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to the monumental March on Washington, he consistently absorbed societal shockwaves without absorbing their venom.

His strategy required immense operational discipline. During the intense Birmingham campaign, King explicitly trained activists to endure physical and emotional assault without striking back.

This staggering display of asymmetric confrontation ultimately broke the political gridlock, leading directly to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

View full Image View full Image FILE - This 1966 file photo is the last official portrait taken of the entire King family, made in the study of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. From left are Dexter King, Yolanda King, Martin Luther King Jr., Bernice King, Coretta Scott King and Martin Luther King III. ( AP )

His Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 cemented international recognition of this method. Even as younger, increasingly militant factions challenged his nonviolent stance later in the decade, arguing for faster results through physical force, King adamantly refused to deviate.

He understood with crystalline clarity that compromising the method would ultimately compromise the objective, maintaining a singular, unshakeable focus on structural equity until his tragic assassination in 1968.

Actionable Lessons for Modern Professionals Corporate leaders, strategists, and managers can extract profound operational utility from King's framework.

First, break the cycle of reactionary management. When confronted by hostile competitors, disruptive market forces, or internal sabotage, the instinct to retaliate aggressively often wastes capital and damages long-term brand equity.

Instead, introduce a stabilizing paradigmradical transparency, superior customer value, or unassailable ethical standards. Second, cultivate strategic empathy.

View full Image View full Image Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., second from right, stands with Hosea Williams, left, Jesse Jackson, second from left, and Ralph Abernathy, right, on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn., a day before he was assassinated at approximately the same place, April 3, 1968 ( Charles Kelly/AP )

Understanding the deep-seated motivations of an adversary or a difficult stakeholder provides a distinct tactical advantage. It allows negotiators to dismantle opposition through alignment rather than brute force.

Third, institutionalise discipline. Kings nonviolence required rigorous, continuous training. Similarly, corporate cultures do not default to resilience under pressure; they must be actively trained to handle crises without devolving into panic or internal finger-pointing.

Emotional regulation at the executive level directly dictates the broader organisational capacity to navigate severe turbulence.

Legacy and Impact The enduring legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. rests on his undeniable proof that ethical methodology and pragmatic victory are not mutually exclusive. He fundamentally redefined power, proving that the absolute refusal to adopt the oppressor's tactics is the ultimate form of dominance.

His framework continues to inform global human rights campaigns, high-stakes political negotiations, and modern theories of transformational business leadership.

By demanding that the means remain as pure as the ends, King provided a permanent yardstick against which all future movements and institutional transformations are measured.

Leaders who study his life realize that a sustainable legacy is never built on the destruction of opponents, but on the creation of systems robust enough to convert antagonists into allies.

Frequently Asked Questions How did Martin Luther King Jr.'s philosophy of nonviolence differ from passivity? King vehemently rejected the notion that nonviolence equated to weakness or passivity. He framed it as a highly active, militant strategy that required immense psychological strength and strict discipline.

Rather than accepting injustice, nonviolence actively confronted it through boycotts, sit-ins, and marches, forcing the oppressor to face the reality of their actions without the justification of reciprocal violence.

How can modern corporate leaders apply King's concept of 'light driving out darkness'? In a corporate context, 'darkness' often manifests as toxic workplace culture, unethical competition, or reactionary crisis management. Leaders can apply King's concept by refusing to engage in retaliatory behaviors.

Instead, they must introduce 'light' through radical transparency, empathetic leadership, and unwavering adherence to core values. This disrupts the cycle of toxicity and establishes a resilient organizational baseline.

What role did the 1957 sermon 'Strength to Love' play in the civil rights movement? The sermons compiled in the 1963 publication 'Strength to Love,' including his famous declarations on light and love, provided the theological and philosophical scaffolding for the entire movement.

They offered activists a unified moral framework, ensuring that the movement remained disciplined and focused. It served as both a manual for personal emotional regulation and a broad strategic directive for dismantling segregation.

Why is Martin Luther King Jr.'s approach considered a masterclass in strategic empathy? Strategic empathy involves deeply understanding an adversary's position to effectively dismantle their opposition. King understood that southern segregationists were driven by systemic conditioning and fear.

By refusing to hate them, and instead targeting the unjust laws themselves, King stripped away the emotional defenses of his opponents.

This approach ultimately won the sympathy of the broader American public and catalyzed sweeping legislative action.
Donald Trump was reportedly surprised during a recent intelligence briefing when US officials presented information suggesting that Irans new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, may be gay, according to a report by New York Post.

Citing intelligence community officials and a person close to the White House, the news outlet reported that Trump reacted with visible amusement during the briefing.

Trump couldnt contain his surprise and laughed aloud when he was briefed on the intel, sources told the outlet, according to the report.

One senior intelligence official was said to have found the allegation hilarious and continued discussing it days later, the report added.

Intelligence sources claim allegation viewed as credible According to the report by the Post, three sources said US spy agencies view the claim as credible rather than as disinformation designed to undermine the Iranian leader.

Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, was selected to succeed his father, Ali Khamenei, who died earlier this month. He was reportedly chosen on March 8.

The outlet citing two sources said that intelligence suggested Mojtaba had maintained a long-term relationship with a childhood tutor. Another source said the relationship involved a person who previously worked for the Khamenei family.

US spy agencies reportedly do not possess photographic evidence of the alleged relationship. However, one source told the publication the intelligence was derived from one of the most protected sources that the government has.

The fact that this was elevated to the highest of high levels shows you theres some confidence in this, a second source was quoted as saying by the outlet.

Rumours circulated in Iran before leadership change According to the New York Post report, speculation about Mojtaba Khameneis sexuality had circulated inside Iran for some time.

Sources told the newspaper that whispers about his personal life intensified after the May 2024 helicopter crash that killed Ebrahim Raisi, who had been widely viewed as a potential successor to the elder Khamenei.

Within the US government, however, the information had remained tightly restricted.

Its been a pretty closely held piece of information, one insider told the publication.

Another source said the elder Khamenei and other figures in Iran had concerns about Mojtabas suitability to rule because of alleged issues in his personal life.

Irans strict laws on homosexuality The allegations have drawn attention because homosexuality is illegal in Iran under the Islamic Republics laws.

According to human rights groups, same-sex relations can carry severe penalties in the country, including capital punishment for certain offenses. The Iranian government does permit gender reassignment surgeries.

Injury in airstrike The report also said Mojtaba Khamenei may have been wounded in a February 28 airstrike that killed his father and several family members.

The New York Post citing sources said that he had allegedly made aggressive advances toward male caregivers while recovering, possibly while under heavy medication.

His current whereabouts and recovery status remain unclear.

Political tensions remain high Donald Trump has previously criticized Mojtaba Khamenei, reportedly describing him as a lightweight and an unacceptable leader for Iran.

The new Iranian supreme leader is widely viewed as unlikely to compromise on Tehrans nuclear and ballistic missile programs, issues that have fueled tensions between Iran and the United States.

The leadership transition came after an airstrike reportedly killed Ali Khamenei, along with members of his family, including Mojtabas wife Zahra and teenage son Mohammad Bagher.

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Speaking at a White House event on Monday (March 16), Trump said he had reached out to several world leaders to build a coalition aimed at protecting shipping lanes following escalating tensions between the United States, Israel and Iran.

We strongly encourage the other nations to get involved with us, and get involved quickly, and with great enthusiasm, Trump said.

Trump: We dont need anybody Despite pushing for international support, Trump also struck a defiant tone toward allies who have been reluctant to participate.

I don't do a hard sell on them, because my attitude is: we don't need anybody, Trump told reporters.

We're the strongest nation in the world, we have the strongest military by far in the world. We don't need them.

Trump also suggested he was testing how allied nations would respond to the crisis.

France signals possible support Trump said he had spoken with Emmanuel Macron about the situation and believes France may be willing to assist in efforts to secure the waterway.

I spoke to him on March 15, Trump said. Not perfect, but its France  we dont expect perfect.

Trump added that some countries had privately told him they were preparing to help but preferred not to be publicly identified.

They may not want me to share their names because theyre afraid of being targeted, he said.

UK considers role but avoids wider war PM Keir Starmer said Britain is willing to work with allies to secure freedom of navigation in the strait but stressed that the situation is complex. Starmer reiterated that the United Kingdom does not want to be drawn into a wider conflict.

Germany rejects military involvement Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Berlin would not participate in the US-Israeli war against Iran, citing the absence of an international mandate.

We lack the mandate from the United Nations, the European Union or NATO required under the Basic Law, Merz said at a news conference in Berlin.

It was therefore clear from the outset that this war is not a matter for NATO.

Italy and Spain urge caution Antonio Tajani, Vice President of the Council of Ministers of Italy, said Italy supports strengthening European Union naval missions in the Red Sea but warned that expanding those operations to the Strait of Hormuz would be difficult.

Italys Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini also warned that sending warships could effectively draw the country into the conflict.

Italy is not at war with anyone and sending military ships in a war zone would mean entering the war, Salvini said.

Spain has similarly signaled that it does not want to escalate the situation.

Japan and Australia rule out naval deployment In Asia-Pacific, key US partners have also taken a cautious stance.

Japan PM Sanae Takaichi said Tokyo had not decided to send escort ships to the region and would continue reviewing what actions are legally possible.

We have not made any decisions whatsoever about dispatching escort ships, Takaichi told parliament.

Australia also ruled out sending vessels to the Persian Gulf.
Several school divisions in eastern Virginia announced closures on Monday as severe weather threatened parts of the region. The decision comes as forecasters warned of potentially dangerous storms expected to impact the commonwealth.

Multiple school districts in the Charlotte region also adjusted their schedules for Monday due to the threat of severe weather. Officials warned that waves of strong thunderstorms could bring damaging winds and isolated tornadoes to the Carolinas between Sunday night and March 16.

In the Washington, D.C., area, several school systems said they would dismiss students early, shift to virtual learning, or close schools altogether ahead of a storm system expected to bring heavy rain, strong winds, and the possibility of tornadoes. Authorities said the precautionary measures were taken to ensure student safety as the storm moves through the region.

AccuWeather warns of widespread severe storms across eastern US AccuWeather meteorologists have warned of a widespread severe weather outbreak across the eastern United States on Monday, with more than a dozen states at risk of strong thunderstorms.

According to the weather forecasting company, the threat is linked to the Triple-Threat March Megastorm, which has already brought blizzard conditions and powerful winds to parts of the Midwest. As the system moves east, AccuWeather said a large squall line of thunderstorms is expected to form along an advancing Arctic front, capable of producing destructive winds, tornadoes and torrential downpours.

AccuWeather reported that the severe weather threat began Sunday afternoon across the central United States, stretching from Texas to southwestern Michigan as the front interacted with moisture streaming in from the Gulf of Mexico.

A powerful line of thunderstorms later developed and raced eastward, bringing damaging wind gusts, heavy rain, hail and a few tornadoes. AccuWeather noted that the strongest wind gust recorded so far reached 77 mph in Minturn, Arkansas.

The weather agency said the risk of severe weather will shift eastward, with storms possible from Florida to New York. The weather service has upgraded the threat to high risk from York, Pennsylvania, to Columbia, South Carolina.

The primary hazard will be widespread damaging straight-line winds, though heavy downpours and a few tornadoes are also possible. AccuWeather warned that winds could gust up to 80 mph, with a Local StormMax of 100 mph in some areas.

Severe storms could also coincide with the evening commute in several major metro areas, including Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Richmond, Virginia, potentially slowing travel due to downed trees, power lines and reduced visibility from heavy rain.

Also Read | Wild US Weather Halts Flights, Dumps Snow and Knocks Out Power
Seth Chambers, a man from Texas County, Missouri, identified as a former Marine Intelligence analyst, was indicted on Friday on two counts of wilfully transmitting national defence information. The indictment states that his official duties granted him security clearance and authorised access to classified material up to the top-secret level, giving him access to sensitive national defence information.

According to the US Department of Justice, the first alleged transmission took place on 10 December 2022, when he shared a white paper containing verbatim and near-verbatim excerpts from classified US government documents with an individual in Maryland. A second alleged transmission occurred on 20 April 2023, when he sent another document containing similar excerpts to a person believed to be in China, it noted.

Authorities emphasised that the charges outlined in the indictment are only allegations and do not constitute proof of guilt. The evidence must be presented before a federal trial jury, which will ultimately decide whether the accused is guilty or innocent, it said.

Also Read | Pentagon turns to OpenAI amid spat with Anthropic: Altman seals deal

Former Marine Intel Analyst allegedly transmitted classified defense information on two occasions in 2022 and 2023 the second time, sent to someone believed to be located in China, FBI Director Kash Patel said on X.

He added, He was caught and has now been indicted.

Also Read | Donald Trump dismisses Signal chat leak claims; stands by NSA Mike Waltz

Who is Seth Chambers? Seth Chambers, 35, a former intelligence analyst with the United States Marine Corps, was working as a civilian contractor and posted in Iraq during the period mentioned in the indictment.

If found guilty under federal law, Chambers could face a prison term of up to 10 years without the possibility of parole on each count. The maximum penalty has been set by Congress and is mentioned for informational purposes, as the final sentence will be decided by the court after considering advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.

The case is being handled by Assistant US Attorney Jim Kelleher, along with Trial Attorneys Nicolas Hunter and Sean ODowd from the National Security Divisions Counterintelligence and Export Control Section. The investigation was carried out by the FBIs Kansas City Field Office.

Ex-MI5 worker in spying case could access all internal systems In related news, a former employee of Britains domestic intelligence agency MI5, accused of passing classified information to a foreign state, had access to virtually all internal systems available to staff, a London court was told on Friday, reported AFP.

Juan Joseph, 43, who worked as an IT contractor for MI5 for more than a decade, faces allegations of violating the Official Secrets Act and the National Security Act while pursuing grievances against his former employer.
Donald Trump said on Monday (March 16) the United States is uncertain about who currently leads Iran as the conflict between the two countries continues, raising doubts about the possibility of negotiations to end the war.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said Washington does not know who it would be negotiating with if talks were to begin.

I don't know if they're ready yet, Trump said. And we don't even know their leaders. Look, all of their leaders are dead as far as we know, but they're all dead. We don't know who we're dealing with.

Claims US struck multiple layers of leadership Trump said the United States had targeted the top ranks of Irans leadership structure during the conflict.

According to the President, the US first eliminated the countrys top leadership, including former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Trump added that a second layer of leadership was also taken out after they gathered to select a replacement.

We took out the first layer, and then they gathered to pick a new leader, and we took out the second layer, Trump said.

'Third layer' of leaders may be afraid to meet Trump suggested the next level of Iranian leadership may be hesitant to publicly organize or meet due to fear of being targeted.

I would think they're a little nervous about meeting, he said. I don't know if they're nervous. Maybe they're not. Maybe they're crazy. If they're not nervous, then they're crazy.

He also said US officials have encountered individuals claiming to represent Iran in potential talks but that their identities remain unclear.

We have people wanting to negotiate. We have no idea who they are, Trump said.

Questions surround alleged new Supreme Leader During the exchange, Trump was asked about reports that Mojtaba Khamenei had become Irans new Supreme Leader.

Trump said the individual had not been publicly seen.

Nobody's seen him, which is unusual, Trump said.

The President also repeated unverified claims about Mojtaba Khameneis condition.

A lot of people are saying that he's badly disfigured, Trump said, adding that some reports suggested he lost his leg and had been hurt very badly.
Air India and Air India Express will operate 44 scheduled and non-scheduled flights to and from the West Asia region on Tuesday. Both airlines will maintain their scheduled operations to Muscat and Jeddah.

Air India will operate its regular return flights between Delhi and Jeddah, along with two flights from Mumbai, while Air India Express will continue its scheduled services to and from Kozhikode. Air India Express will also operate its usual flights to and from Muscat, including services from Delhi, Kochi (two flights), Kozhikode, Mangalore, Mumbai, and Tiruchirappalli.

In addition to these regular services, Air India and Air India Express plan to operate a total of 24 non-scheduled flights to and from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia, depending on slot availability and prevailing conditions at the departure points.

These flights are being operated with the requisite permissions from the relevant Indian and local regulatory authorities, Air India said.

Amid the ongoing conflict in West Asia, Dubai airport has imposed restrictions on flights operated by foreign carriers, prompting IndiGo, Air India Group, and SpiceJet to suspend their services to the emirate.

Also Read | Dubai News LIVE: Dubai Airport suspends landing permissions for flights

Meanwhile, Iran launched fresh attacks across the Persian Gulf, disrupting shipments at a key UAE oil hub.

Overnight into Monday, the UAE and Saudi Arabia reported multiple drone and missile strikes. Dubai temporarily suspended flights at its main airport, with some Emirates departures canceled following a fuel tank fire reportedly caused by an Iranian drone.

The UAEs Fujairah oil-export terminal was targeted again on Monday, following a strike on Saturday that had temporarily halted some shipments. At the same time, Israel carried out additional airstrikes on infrastructure in Tehran after a series of missile attacks on the Jewish state.

The ongoing attacks indicate that the fighting, which began with US-Israeli bombings of Iran on February 28, shows no sign of easing.

Also Read | Dubai Stocks Fall Into Bear Market as Iran War Enters Third Week

Trump says 'Iran wants to make a deal'; Araghchi denies The Strait of Hormuz, a vital passage for roughly one-fifth of the worlds oil, remains effectively closed, causing global energy disruptions estimated by Morgan Stanley to be twice the impact of the 1956 Suez Crisis.

For the first time, US President Donald Trump called on other world powers, including France, the UK, Japan, and China, to assist the US in reopening the strait by sending warships to escort commercial vessels, though none of these countries have yet agreed to participate.

Iran wants to make a deal, and I dont want to make it because the terms arent good enough yet, he mentioned.

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However, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi refuted claims that Tehran was pursuing talks or a ceasefire with the US.
Dubai International airport on Monday suspended landing permissions for flights operating into DXB until further notice, IndiGo said in its travel update on X amid the US-Israel, Iran conflict.

This comes after Missile and drone strikes hit several parts of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) earlier today, disrupting flight operations at Dubai airport, sparking a blaze at a key oil facility. A Palestinian civilian was killed on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi after a missile struck a car, the UAEs state media office said.

IndiGo stated, Customers travelling to/from Dubai are requested to check their flight status at http://bit.ly/31paVKQ for real-time updates before leaving for the airport. We are also sending notifications to keep customers informed of the latest updates. We continue to monitor the developments closely and appreciate our customers patience and understanding during this challenging time.

During the course of the conflict, Iran has repeatedly targeted locations in the UAE, affecting commercial aviation and striking energy infrastructure on both sides of the Strait of Hormuz. The attacks have intensified economic strain on the oil-rich nation, which has long served as a major global hub for business and travel.

Authorities also mentioned that the typically quiet northern emirate of Umm Al Quwain was struck by a drone that damaged an unspecified structure, although no casualties were reported.

The series of strikes followed remarks by Irans Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi a day earlier, in which he alleged that US military bases in the Middle East had been used to carry out air raids and that missiles were launched from the UAE targeting Kharg Island. Officials in the UAE have rejected the accusation.

Adnoc oil loading reportedly halted at UAE's Fujairah In the eastern emirate of Fujairah, a drone strike on oil infrastructure triggered a fire, just days after smoke billowing from a major Emirati energy facility in the area.

Also Read | Dubai Stocks Fall Into Bear Market as Iran War Enters Third Week

Following repeated attacks on the installation, the UAEs state-owned oil company Adnoc has suspended the loading of crude into storage tanks at its Fujairah site, according to an AFP source familiar with the operations.

"Adnoc oil loading at Fujairah is suspended," AFP cited the source as saying.

Also Read | Will Indians continue to invest in Dubai realty?

Meanwhile, since the conflict began, the UAE has reported a total of seven fatalities, including five civilians and two members of the armed forces who lost their lives in a helicopter crash attributed to a technical fault.

Earlier, Dubai Airports said flight operations were gradually returning to normal at what is typically the worlds busiest international aviation hub, following a nearby fuel tank blaze caused by a "drone-related incident". Officials said the fire had been brought under control and confirmed that no injuries were reported.
Donald Trump's aspirations to form a coalition to help protect ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz have received a lukewarm reception from the international community, with the US President turning to NATO partners and even urging China to join.

Trump on Sunday said that his administration was in contact with seven countries regarding assistance in reopening the Strait of Hormuz, but declined to name them.

Separately, in an interview with the Financial Times on Sunday, the US President asserted that reopening the strait should be a joint effort by the beneficiaries of trade through the region, and warned the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) of dire consequences if no help arrived.

Threats to NATO, Chinese involvement Its only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries of the Strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there, Trump was quoted as saying by FT, with the US President arguing that Europe and China are heavily dependent on oil from the Gulf, unlike the US.

If theres no response or if its a negative response, I think it will be very bad for the future of NATO, Trump added, without delving into what the consequences would be.

On what help the US needed, Trump said "whatever it takes", calling on allies to send minesweepers, of which Europe has many more than the US.

The US President also called for China's involvement, telling FT, I think China should help too because China gets 90% of its oil from the Straits.

Trump's comments came after public appeals to the international community for help in reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

Over the weekend, Trump called on nations affected by the effective halt of maritime traffic through the waterway to help protect and restart trade, and even named several countries, including China, France, Japan, South Korea, and the UK.

Trump also pledged A LOT of US support, only to get snubbed.

Muted response across the board Australia and Japan on Monday ruled out sending naval vessels to the Persian Gulf to defend ships transiting through the Strait of Hormuz, while the response from other US allies, including the UK, has been muted.

"We have not made any decisions whatsoever about dispatching escort ships. We are continuing to examine what Japan can do independently and what can be done within the legal framework," Japan Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told parliament on Monday, days ahead of her trip to Washington for talks with Trump.

Australia too ruled out sending ships to assist in the re-opening of the Strait of Hormuz  "We won't be sending a ship to the Strait of Hormuz. We know how incredibly important that is, but that's not something that we've been asked or that we're contributing to," Catherine King, a member of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's cabinet, told state broadcaster ABC.

South Korea, which requires parliamentary approval for overseas troop deployments, said it was reviewing the matter  We will communicate closely with the US regarding this matter and make a decision after careful review, South Korea's presidential office said on Sunday, as per Reuters.

Also Read | China has a lot to lose in the US-Israel war on Iran

The UK, meanwhile, has yet to officially respond. However, Prime Minister Keir Starmer discussed the need to reopen the Strait of Hormuz with Trump, Reuters reported, citing a Downing Street spokesperson.

China, too, has yet to respond to Trump's appeals. Earlier, a spokesperson for China's embassy in the US said that "all parties have the responsibility to ensure stable and unimpeded energy supply" and that China would "strengthen communication with relevant parties" to de-escalate.

While France has not responded directly either, Reuters reported that the foreign ministers of European Union (EU) member states will on Monday discuss bolstering a small naval mission in the Middle East, established in 2024 to protect ships from attacks by the Houthis. However, the mission is unlikely to be expanded in scope to include reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
US-Iran war Highlights: The conflict between US and Israel on one side and Iran on the other has crossed the two-week mark, and peace remains nowhere in sight with both Washington and Tel Aviv indicating that fighting will rage on for at least a few more weeks.

Meanwhile, trade through the crucial Strait of Hormuz has come to an effective halt, pushing up energy prices around the world.

'Weeks' of fighting left

Donald Trump administration officials on Sunday (local time) indicated that they expected the war with Iran to end within weeks or "sooner".

While Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on ABC that he expected to the conflict to come to an end "in the next few weeks" or "sooner than that", Kevin Hassett, Trump's economic advisor, said that Operation Epic Fury was running "ahead of schedule".

Comments by the Trump administration official echo those of the Israeli military, which told CNN that it plans for at least three more weeks of fighting in Iran.

Strait of Hormuz in focus

Given the effective halt of trade through the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic waterway through which a significant chunk of energy trade takes place has been in focus.

Trump over the weekend indicated that the US would not only assist ships in navigating the strait, but also claimed that navies of other nations would join in to ensure that trade continues uninterrupted.

Reports on Monday also indicated that the Trump administration was likely to announce an international coalition this week to escort ships through the strategic waterway.
A direct line of communication between US envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has recently been restored, reported Axios on Monday, citing a US official and an informed source.

Axios noted that it remains unclear how detailed or significant the exchanges between Araghchi and Witkoff have been, marking the first known direct contact since the USIsrael conflict with Iran began on 28 February.

According to Axios, sources indicated that Araghchi had sent text messages to Witkoff, though a US official emphasised that Washington was not talking to Tehran. Earlier, the Drop Site News outlet reported that Witkoff had reached out to Araghchi, with Iranian officials saying the minister was disregarding those messages.

(LiveMint couldn't independently verify the authenticity of it)

US-Israel, Iran conflict United States and Israel launched coordinated military strikes against Iran and targeted Iranian leadership and strategic military sites, resulting in the death of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other top officials as part of Operation Epic Fury. The attacks marked a major escalation after years of tension, failed negotiations.

Iran responded quickly with missile and drone strikes against Israeli territory, US bases in the Middle East, and allied Gulf countries. The rapid retaliation widened the conflict, drawing in Iran-linked groups like Hezbollah, which prompted further Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon. The fighting spread across multiple fronts, including significant attacks on US military installations in Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, and the UAE.

Also Read | Oil prices slide 3% as some ships transit Strait of Hormuz

The conflict has had major regional and global consequences. Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a key global energy route, has been disrupted, pushing oil and gas prices higher. Tens of thousands of civilians have been displaced or killed, particularly in Iran and Lebanon. Over 200 US troops have been wounded in retaliatory attacks across seven countries, reported The Wall Street Journal reported, citing a source.

Also Read | Trump demands allies guard Strait of Hormuz  But issues stark warning

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said he is unsure whether Iran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is still alive, and noted that Washington does not know who it could negotiate with in Tehran.

"We don't know... if he's dead or not," Trump told reporters at the White House, according to AFP.

He called on US allies to help secure the Strait of Hormuz, after European nations ruled out a NATO mission to reopen the critical waterway that Iran had closed during the Middle East war. Trump also urged greater "enthusiasm" from other countries, saying he believed France and Britain would participate, albeit somewhat reluctantly.

Irans Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) issued a warning saying they could strike US companies and their facilities across the region, and urged employees to leave those locations immediately.
The Iranian attack has severely damaged US bases in West Asia. They have exhausted one third of the entire global stockpile of missiles. Meanwhile, US rival China is sitting pretty with its resources and forces intact. Situation is so dire that the US has to summon its missile batteries stationed in South Korea and Japan. How will the US defend South Korea or Japan against any Chinese aggression? The current conflict shows what the Russia-Ukraine conflict established. Todays wars cant be won by heavy weapons and large armies. Even the smallest of countries can employ cheap drones and new technologies to deny the powerful a clear cut victory.
The most useful term in this debate is the lethal trifecta, popularized by Simon Willison. The three parts are precise. First, the agent has access to private or sensitive data. Second, it is exposed to untrusted content such as text, images or other material that an attacker can influence, whether through a webpage, email, document or bug report. Third, it can communicate externally; for example, by sending a message, calling an API or writing outside its trust boundary.
This helps explain why many adaptation efforts struggle to take root. The barrier is rarely lack of awareness; it is the pull of everyday habits, financial constraints and slow institutional response. Citizen-centred surveys are, therefore, essential to capture not only where heat is experienced, but how people actually respond to it.
Naturally, the ethics of employing AI in warfare are being scrutinized. However, news of the use of AI to prioritize targets is not new. OpenAI modified its rules in January 2024, eliminating a prohibition on the use of its technology in military and warfare. Google dropped its commitment to stop the use of its AI from being used for warfare and surveillance. Even Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, has previously argued that the US should use AI technology to gain a military advantage over autocracies.
Indias primary market had a blockbuster run last year, raising more than $21 billion across over 370 initial public offerings (IPOs). That firmly places the country among the worlds most active IPO venues, ranking third behind China/Hong Kong and the US in proceeds. Yet, as is often the case in markets, the headline numbers tell only part of the story.

At UBS, we pay close attention to capital-raising activity in emerging market (EM) public equities for a simple reason. Over the past two decades, the MSCI EM index has significantly underperformed US equities despite far stronger economic growth.

Nominal GDP in EM economies has expanded roughly fivefold over the past 20 years, compared with about 2.5 times in the US. Corporate profits have also grown faster in EM, rising about 3.3 times over the period. Yet this growth has failed to translate into shareholder returns: earnings per share in emerging markets have increased only 1.3 times, compared with 2.7 times in the US. In effect, much of the underlying growth has been diluted away before it reaches public shareholders.

This dilution happens for two broad reasons. The first is capital inefficiency. Listed companies in EM frequently raise funds and deploy them into businesses that generate weak returns. US companies, by contrast, have delivered far higher returns on invested capital, allowing them to sustain growth with relatively little new capital. Two decades ago, a $100 investment in US companies would have returned $72 to shareholders while the businesses themselves tripled in size. EM companies, in contrast, required an additional $109 of capital over the same period yet delivered far more modest growth.

The gap will narrow only if EM companies build stronger, innovative businesses with durable competitive advantages and higher returns on capital. Some Asian firms tied to technology supply chains may benefit from the surge in capital spending by US hyperscalers, but India is not yet part of that story; the listed markets return on invested capital has actually trailed broader EM averages in recent years.

The second source of dilution comes from the steady supply of new companies entering the market. A large pipeline of IPOs, often priced at elevated valuations, can absorb capital and leave little upside for new investors. That is why we study IPO trends closely. Looking at more than 9,300 IPOs across emerging markets over the past decade, last year offered some signs of improvement for public market investors.

Also Read | Investor appetite for IPOs may moderate: Mahindra Manulife CEO

Across emerging markets, it was actually a relatively muted year for IPO fundraising. In large markets such as China and Korea, proceeds were down 60-80% from their peak years despite strong equity rallies over the past 18 months. Tighter regulatory oversight appears to have played a role, with market regulators placing greater emphasis on the quality and pace of new listings.

For public shareholders, this kind of restraint can be healthy. IPOs are essential for giving investors access to new businesses in rapidly evolving industries, but an uncontrolled surge in supply can strain public markets.

Pricing also looked more balanced. Assuming newly listed stocks reached fair value within three months, investors in emerging market IPOs generated weighted average returns of about 53%, the second-best year in a decade. Yet the dispersion was wide. The median IPO delivered only a 10% gain, meaning investors still had to be selective about which offerings to back.

India played an important role in shaping these overall trends. The country accounted for nearly 40% of all emerging market IPOs last year, yet the median return from Indian listings was effectively zero. Excluding India, the median IPO return across emerging markets was closer to 22%. In other words, Indian IPOs appear to be priced almost perfectly from the outset, leaving little upside for new investors.

There is another difference in how the money raised through IPOs is used. Across emerging markets excluding India, roughly 92% of proceeds typically go into the companys balance sheet, either to fund expansion or reduce debt. In India, however, more than half the funds raised go to existing shareholders selling down their stakes. It is also common for companies to return to the market within a few years of listing to raise fresh capital to fund growth or strengthen their balance sheets.

Much of the discussion around Indias equity market in recent months has focused on persistent foreign investor outflows, which totalled about $19 billion last year. But a less discussed dynamic is the scale of domestic supply. Including IPOs and follow-on offerings, capital raised by Indian companies and promoters amounted to nearly 80% of the money flowing into equities through systematic investment plans.

In other words, while investors have been steadily putting money into the market, a significant share of that capital has been absorbed by companies and promoters raising funds.
Finlands President Alexander Stubb said NATO allies have to take Donald Trump at his word when the US president puts the future of the alliance on the line to safeguard passage through the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump insisted on Sunday that allies in NATO and Asia should help ensure oil and gas shipments move through the key waterway, which has been effectively closed since the US and Israel attacked Iran a just over two weeks ago. NATO faces a very bad future if US allies fail to assist it, Trump said.

About one fifth of the worlds oil moves through the narrow strait.

We obviously have to take everything that the president of the United States says seriously, Stubb said in an interview on Bloomberg Television on Monday.

Those countries that have the capacity and the will to help the United States will do that, and should do that, Stubb said, adding that NATO as a defensive bloc doesnt do military attacks as such.

The Finnish president said peace mediation is needed in the Middle East and suggested that Europeans or India could get involved. The actual original operation was not discussed with allies, but Im sure that President Trump is now in conversation with the UK, with France, Germany  the big players.

Earlier on Monday, European Union foreign ministers stressed that they did not want to escalate the war, treading cautiously about even redirecting an existing Red Sea naval mission to the vital passage for energy shipments.

Stubb added that the problem standing in the way of a peace process is that you kind of have three players, Israel, the US and Iran, all with more or less different interests.

Rapid Response

Next week, Stubb will host a summit of the Joint Expeditionary Force  a multinational rapid-response force  in Helsinki.

Stubb said that Canadas Prime Minister Mark Carney is likely to join the March 26 meeting via video link. Canada is also considering eventual membership as it moves to expand its security partnerships while the US pulls back from multilateral arrangements, Defense Minister David McGuinty told Bloomberg.

The UK-led JEF currently includes the Nordic and Baltic countries and the Netherlands. It hosts joint exercises, enabling its members to act collectively in crises. Stubbs homeland Finland joined JEF in 2017 and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 2023, just a year after Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Asked about Trumps focus on a solution for Russias war in Ukraine amid the strikes in the Middle East, Stubb said he was concerned.

I do sort of sense certain frustrations and impatience with the situation right now, which does worry me, Stubb said.

There are now kind of two fronts, of course, one in Iran, where the US is really involved, and then one in Ukraine, where the US is mediating, he said. And then anytime there is a situation ongoing where American troops are involved, where the costs are astronomical, then I think the focus is there more than on the peace mediation. Unfortunately.

2026 Bloomberg L.P.
A top aide to President Donald Trump said the Pentagon estimates the Iran war, now in its third week, would take between four and six weeks.

Kevin Hassett, head of the White Houses National Economic Council, offered the timeline along with a caveat that the ultimate decision on when the war will conclude lies with Trump. He was among several administration officials on Sunday asking Americans for patience as energy prices spike, saying the goal of eliminating Iran as a threat in the Middle East is worth it.

As of Saturday, the Pentagon believed that it would take four to six weeks to complete this mission and that were ahead of schedule, Hassett said on CBS Face the Nation. We expect that the global economy is going to have a big positive shock as soon as this is over.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright signaled the war may last several more weeks with oil and gasoline prices elevated as the US and Israel seek to destroy Iranian military capabilities.

I think that this conflict will certainly come to the end in the next few weeks  could be sooner than that  and well see a rebound in supplies and a pushing down of prices after that, Wright said on ABCs This Week.

Brent crude closed at more than $103 per barrel on Friday as Iran retains a chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, normally a conduit for a fifth of the worlds oil and a similar portion of liquefied natural gas.

Trump on Saturday called on other countries to send warships to keep the strait open, saying he hopes China, France, Japan, South Korea and the UK would take part. A senior official in Japans governing party said sending Japanese navy vessels to the Middle East to escort tankers would face high hurdles.

Wright said he has been in talks with the countries Trump mentioned, though he didnt elaborate. Clearly we will have this support of other nations to achieve that objective, he said on NBCs Meet the Press.

Wright said the Trump administration was aware that going to war against Iran would cause short-term disruption and a little bit of increased prices on Americans.

So this is short-term pain to get through to a much better place, he told ABC. But first and foremost right now is to finish to destroy Irans ability to project military force in the region and around the world.

With Irans decimated leadership defiant in the face of US and Israeli airstrikes, Hassett argued that US domestic oil production means Iran has vastly less leverage than during the oil shocks of the 1970s.

They think theyre going to harm the US economy and get President Trump to back down, he said. There couldnt be anything that is a stupider thing to say. Weve got lots and lots of oil.

With assistance from Sam Kim.

2026 Bloomberg L.P.
A start-up wants the sun to never set. In a unique proposal, a few entrepreneurs are aiming to sell sunlight now.

A startup, Reflect Orbital, in Hawthorne, California, hopes to launch 50,000 large mirrors into Earth's orbit to cast sunlight on Earth at night. But scientists have expressed some reservations about the idea.

Looks like a plot of a sci-fi movie? Here's more to the story.

What's the idea? Reflect Orbital has proposed deploying 50,000 large mirrors into orbit around Earth, the New York Times (NYT) reported last week.

As per the plan, these 50,000 in-space mirrors will be mounted on satellites, forming a "constellation of satellites" that would reflect sunlight onto the night side of the planet.

This might help power solar farms after sunset, provide lighting for rescue workers and illuminate city streets, among other things, the NYT reported.

Were trying to build something that could replace fossil fuels [slow climate change] and really power everything, Ben Nowack, Reflect Orbitals chief executive, was quoted as saying in an interview. The company has raised more than $28 million from investors

The company reportedly hopes to be able to illuminate dark areas at a steep price.

Reflect Orbitals first prototype is roughly the size of a dorm fridge, and is almost complete.

How bright will the night be? Once in space, about 400 miles up, the test satellite would reveal a square mirror nearly 60 feet wide.

This mirror would bounce sunlight to illuminate a circular patch about three miles wide on the Earths surface, the NYT reported.

Someone looking up would see a dot in the sky about as bright as a full moon.

Two more prototypes could follow within a year. By the end of 2028, Reflect Orbital hopes to launch 1,000 larger satellites, and 5,000 of them by 2030.

Reflect Orbital reportedly said it aims to deploy the full constellation of 50,000 satellites by 2035.

The largest mirrors are planned to be nearly 180 feet wide, reflecting as much light as 100 full moons.

Cost of ordering sunlight at night Ben Nowack, Reflect Orbitals chief executive, told the NYT that the company would charge about $5,000 an hour for the light of one mirror if a customer signed an annual contract for 1,000 hours or more.

Lighting for one-time events and emergencies, which might require numerous satellites and more effort to coordinate, would be more expensive.

For solar farms, Nowack envisions splitting revenue from the electricity generated by the additional hours of light.

Will this much light be sufficient? Michael Brown, an astronomer at Australias Monash University, suggested that the reflected sunlight from one satellite would be spread over about 18 square miles. That would mean that the number of pho would tons hitting a solar panelbe about 1/140,000th of the rate during midday.

Even with the 180-foot-wide mirrors, over 3,000 satellites would be required to produce the equivalent of just 20 percent of the midday sun at a single site, Brown wrote in his comment to the FCC about Reflect Orbitals application.

He added that with 87,000 satellites, the company could provide, at best, 20 percent of midday illumination to 27 sites. He said that a network of mirror satellites was not an efficient means to augment energy production.

However, the company's leader, Nowack of Reflect Orbital, said that it had studied the scattering issue in simulations and that the effects were not as dire as critics portrayed. The test satellite will try to validate that, he said.

Permission to launch soon? According to NYT, California-based startup Reflect Orbital could soon receive permission to launch its first prototype satellite, named Earendil-1, with a 60-foot-wide mirror.

The company reportedly applied to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which issues the licenses needed to deploy satellites.

If the FCC approves, the test satellite could be launched into orbit as soon as this summer. The FCCs public comment period on the application closes on Monday, the report added.

'Idea is controversial' Roohi Dalal, an astronomer and director of public policy at the American Astronomical Society, told NYT, "We just dont have a regulatory process for these types of novel space activities yet."

Many critics also believe that the mirrors could distract aeroplane pilots and impact astronomical observations.

Concerns were also raised over the possible interference with circadian rhythms  the light-and-dark cycles that help people, creatures and plants know when to wake and sleep, when to bloom, when to migrate and so forth.

The extra light at the wrong times of day may confuse animals, hibernating insects and migrating birds. It may also impact flowers and plants.

"If animals were to get confused by the extra light, they might breed at the wrong time, when food is scarce," Martha Hotz Vitaterna, a research professor of neurobiology at Northwestern University, was quoted by the NYT as saying.

"Light at the wrong times of day could also lead to flowers blooming when pollinators are not active," Dr. Vitaterna said, adding, The implications for wildlife, for all life, are enormous."

But that's not what FCC checks... According to the NYT, what concerns the FCC about such satellite deployments is that a spacecrafts radio communications must not cause interference to others and that the spacecraft must be safely disposed of at the end of its operational lifetime.

The agencys stance is that activities in space  which, by definition, are not on Earth  are not subject to environmental review, the report added.

'Light pollution in the night sky' The NYT report notes astronomers' concerns about the toll the rapidly rising number of satellites in the night sky is taking on their observatories.

The constellation of nearly 10,000 Starlink satellites operated by Elon Musks SpaceX now routinely produces bright streaks across photographs of the universe taken by ground-based telescopes.

Some companies, including SpaceX, have voluntarily worked to minimise light pollution in the night sky by making their satellites less reflective, the report added.
The Longford flag will be flying in New York this (hopefully sunny) St Patricks Day.

Representatives of Longford County Council, who are in New York this week, met with senior executives from Tourism Ireland who briefed them on the organisations promotional programme in the United States for 2026, which is currently underway.

Read: St Patrick's Day road diversions, parking restrictions, and closed routes. Full details here

Speaking about their meeting with the Longford delegation, Alison Metcalfe, Tourism Irelands Head of North America division, said, We were delighted to meet with the representatives of Longford County Council and to have the opportunity to brief them about the extensive promotional programme we are undertaking in the United States this year."

She added, "The US remains an extremely important market for tourism to Ireland - in terms of revenue and visitor numbers. Visitors from the United States tend to stay longer, spend more and tour extensively around our regions.

Read: PICTURES | North Longford community spirit sparkles at brilliant Ballinamuck St Patrick's parade

With Tourism Ireland's St Patricks Day programme featuring a major programme of media, travel trade and consumer promotions, Alison said the primary aim is to remind American holidaymakers of Ireland when booking their trips abroad.

"We are taking every opportunity to capitalise on Irelands heightened profile around this St Patricks Day period.

Funded by the local democracy reporting scheme

Read: Longford artists invited to apply for new 5,000 collaboration award
Israeli Air Force F-35s on their way to strike Iran. (IDF)

On March 13, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that it had carried out more than 7,600 strikes on Iran. The IDF assesses that between 4,000 and 5,000 Iranian soldiers and commanders have been killed in Israeli strikes in Iran since the start of the war, The Times of Israel reported the same day. Simultaneously, Iran has targeted Israel with ballistic missiles and drones, launching an estimated 290 missiles and 500 drones by March 15. On March 16, an Iranian barrage targeted the Jerusalem area, and debris from a missile fell on a home and injured two people.

The Israeli Air Force (IAF) has continued daily strikes on Iran as Israel prepares for at least three more weeks of conflict. The Israel Defense Forces campaign in the joint war with the United States against Iran is proceeding according to plan, and at a faster pace than initially expected, military officials said on Sunday, with strikes on Irans defense industries expected to further ramp up alongside ongoing efforts to reduce missile fire on Israel, The Times of Israel noted on March 16.

The Israeli strikes have focused on several types of targets during Operation Lions Roar, the Israeli term for the strikes on Iran that began on February 28. The US calls its role in the same conflict Operation Epic Fury. On March 12, the IDF said that it had targeted the Taleghan compound, which was used to develop key capabilities for developing nuclear weapons.

The IDF has also concentrated on strikes on Irans missile and drone program and launchers related to both threats. The Tehran regime has fired large numbers of missiles and drones during the conflict, most of which have targeted its neighboring countries in the Gulf and Israel. On March 12, the Israeli military said that the air force struck Iranian operatives from Irans unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) array. So far, the IDF has dismantled over 250 UAVs across Iran. In addition, many UAV array commanders and operatives responsible for numerous launches toward the State of Israel were eliminated, the IDF added. By March 13, the IDF said it had also carried out 4,700 strikes on Irans missile program.

Another type of target for the Israeli Air Force is checkpoints and roadblocks that the Iranian regime has erected during the war and are controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the IRGCs Basij internal security forces. The IDF says that these forces lead the regimes main repression operations against internal protests, particularly recently, using severe violence, mass arrests, and the use of force against civilian demonstrators.

The Israeli Air Force also said that it struck a plane used by Irans supreme leader on March 16 at Tehrans Mehrabad International Airport. In addition, the IDF has targeted sites linked to Irans space program. On March 14, the Israeli military said it had struck Irans primary space research center. Two days later, the Israeli military said it had targeted a site in Tehran linked to an Iranian satellite program.

The [Israeli] military said the compound was involved in military space projects, including development of the Chamran-1 satellite, which it said was built by the Iranian Defense Ministrys electronics industries and launched into space in September 2024 by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Ynet reported.

The Israeli military appears to be striking around 150-200 targets a day in Iran. For instance, on the afternoon of March 13, the IDF said it had struck 150 sites over the past day. On March 14, the Israeli military noted that it had struck around 200 sites in the past day.

According to Israels Institute for National Security Studies Data Analytics Center, Iran launched 227 waves of attacks on Israel between February 28 and March 15. This has included over 290 ballistic missiles launched at Israel and 500 drones. The report estimated that approximately half of the ballistic missiles have carried cluster munitions, which have caused destruction while striking homes and other civilian areas across Israel. Overall, Iran has fired more missiles and drones at the Gulf countries, targeting the UAE alone with an estimated 309 missiles and 1,600 drones by March 16.

Despite the missile and drone threat, IDF Home Front Command began to loosen some guidelines for the public in certain parts of Israel. In many rural peripheral areas, such as the Jordan Valley and Negev, the Israeli military said that some educational activities and larger public gatherings would be permitted. In addition, the IDF improved its early-warning system to make it more precise, meaning fewer Israelis would needlessly be alerted to possible incoming Iranian missiles.

Reporting from Israel, Seth J. Frantzman is an adjunct fellow at FDD and a contributor to FDDs Long War Journal. He is the senior Middle East correspondent and analyst at The Jerusalem Post, and author of The October 7 War: Israel's Battle for Security in Gaza (2024).
Three groups of students from Mayo will represent the county at the national final of the Student Enterprise Programme National Finals this May following strong performances at the county competition.

The teams, from St Muredachs College in Ballina and Sancta Maria College in Louisburgh, secured their places after taking part in the Mayo county final, which was held at the Great National Hotel Ballina on March 5.

The initiative, organised by Local Enterprise Office Mayo and funded through Enterprise Ireland, is the countrys largest student start-up programme, with more than 30,000 students from almost 500 secondary schools taking part during the 2025/2026 school year.

In the Junior Category, Mayo will be represented by Nel Lau Designs from Sancta Maria College. The Intermediate Category will see Clew Bay Crafts, also from the Louisburgh school, compete for national honours. In the Senior Category, Grade Mate from St Muredachs College will represent the county.

The Mayo teams will compete against hundreds of other student entrepreneurs from across Ireland at the national finals, which will take place at the Mullingar Park Hotel on Thursday, May 7.

READ MORE: Mayo Down Syndrome Ireland celebrates its proud members

Speaking at the county final, John Magee, Head of Enterprise at Local Enterprise Office Mayo, praised the students and the level of participation from schools across the county.

We have a very successful student enterprise programme here in Mayo, with students from 26 local schools taking part this year. Our national finalists are excellent ambassadors for the programme and we wish them the very best of luck at the national final, he said.

He added that the programme provides valuable real-world skills for students. What our students are learning is that with the right supports and encouragement, they can take an idea from the classroom and develop it into a real-life business. The skills they learn along the way, such as business planning, market research, selling and teamwork, will help them develop an entrepreneurial mindset throughout their future careers.

Since the programme began in 2003, more than 500,000 students nationwide have taken part, learning how to develop business ideas and bring them to market.

The programme continues to grow each year, helping inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs across Mayo and beyond.

READ MORE: Are Mayo honeybees under threat?
Filmmaker Nitesh Tiwaris ambitious mythological spectacle Ramayana continues to generate buzz as the makers steadily expand its star-studded ensemble. The latest development suggests that actor Faisal Malik, widely recognised for his performance in the popular series Panchayat, has reportedly been brought on board to portray the powerful character of Kumbhakarna. The epic film already features a major cast, with Ranbir Kapoor set to play Lord Ram and Sai Pallavi stepping into the role of Sita. As per a report by Hindustan Times, Faisal Malik has now been finalised to portray the formidable warrior Kumbhakarna, the giant and loyal brother of the demon king Ravana. The character is known in mythology for his immense strength and larger-than-life presence on the battlefield.

 Instagram/Faisal Malik Interestingly, earlier industry reports had suggested that Bobby Deol was being considered for the same role. However, the makers have now reportedly decided to cast Malik instead, adding an intriguing layer of curiosity about how he will bring the legendary character to life on screen. The report suggested that Faisal Malik has already completed the first schedule of shooting for the movie. The Subedaar actor filmed his introductory sequence alongside Yash, who is reportedly playing Ravana in the epic. A source revealed details about the shoot, saying, He joined Yash for the introductory Kumbhakaran scene at Prime Focus studio in Mumbai, shot with an international action crew, adding that The sequences are heavy on graphics - similar to Avatar.
Vehicle assembly operations at BMW's plant in Leipzig, Germany

Energy has become one of the defining issues in modern logistics. Warehouses and manufacturing plants have spent the past two decades electrifying fleets, automating internal transport and tightening efficiency across supply chains, but the question of how those machines are powered is now moving to the centre of operational planning. As throughput rises and facilities run closer to continuous operation, the ability to keep intralogistics equipment moving without interruption is becoming as important as the vehicles themselves.

Material handling fleets were among the earliest adopters of electrification. Electric forklifts have long dominated indoor operations because they are quieter, cleaner and better suited to enclosed environments than internal combustion machines. Automated guided vehicles and autonomous mobile robots accelerated that transition further, particularly in high volume manufacturing and e commerce fulfilment where predictable routes and constant movement favour automated transport.

However, the more automated a facility becomes, the more critical its energy system becomes. Automated equipment depends on consistent power availability. When vehicles have to stop for charging or when charging infrastructure becomes a bottleneck, the effects ripple through the entire operation. What might appear to be a simple pause in vehicle activity can quickly slow production lines or warehouse picking systems.

The limits of traditional battery systems

Battery technology has improved considerably, but conventional charging cycles still require downtime. Large operations often manage this by running multiple battery packs or rotating vehicles through charging stations. That approach works, but it demands additional equipment, space and labour. In facilities where floor space is already at a premium, rows of charging points and spare batteries are not always a welcome sight.

As logistics becomes increasingly automated and data driven, attention is turning towards more intelligent energy systems. The aim is not simply to power vehicles but to integrate energy supply into the wider efficiency strategy of the operation. Fleet utilisation, refuelling time, energy density and environmental performance are now all factors in how intralogistics systems are designed.

Hydrogen enters the intralogistics conversation

Hydrogen fuel cells are beginning to attract attention for precisely this reason. Instead of storing energy in large batteries that must be recharged, fuel cells generate electricity on demand through a reaction between hydrogen and oxygen. The only by product is water vapour. For warehouse and factory vehicles the practical benefit is straightforward. Refuelling takes minutes rather than hours.

That difference can transform how automated fleets are managed. Vehicles do not need to queue for charging or sit idle while batteries recover. Instead they can be refuelled quickly and returned to work. In operations where machines are expected to run continuously, the effect on fleet utilisation can be substantial.

BMW Leipzig puts hydrogen AGVs to work

One of the most closely watched examples of this technology in action is at BMWs manufacturing plant in Leipzig, Germany. The facility has become something of a proving ground for advanced production technologies, including the extensive use of automated guided vehicles to move components around the site.

In modern vehicle assembly plants, intralogistics is as carefully choreographed as the production line itself. Parts arrive from suppliers, move through storage areas and then travel to assembly stations in precise sequences. Any disruption to those flows can slow the line, and in a plant producing around 1,300 vehicles a day the cost of interruption is significant.

BMWs Leipzig plant relies heavily on AGVs to carry materials between production areas. These vehicles operate throughout the factory, collecting components and delivering them to the right point in the assembly process. They effectively replace traditional tug trains and manual transport tasks, ensuring that parts arrive where they are needed at the right moment.

To improve efficiency further, BMW has been working with Austrian autonomous vehicle specialist DS Automotion to introduce a new generation of AGVs powered by hydrogen fuel cells developed by Intelligent Energy. The vehicles are the first to be designed from the outset around the companys IE POWER fuel cell system rather than retrofitted later.

A three year trial proves the concept

The move follows a lengthy evaluation period. Over three years BMW trialled fuel cell technology by retrofitting battery powered AGVs with Intelligent Energys systems and operating them within the plants existing logistics network. The trial allowed engineers to compare performance directly with battery powered machines working in the same environment.

The results were enough to convince the company to proceed with a full hydrogen powered fleet. During the trial the fuel cell equipped vehicles demonstrated longer operating periods than their battery powered equivalents. Just as importantly, they avoided the long charging stops that often interrupt automated transport systems.

Hydrogen refuelling takes only seconds, allowing vehicles to return to work almost immediately. In a facility that runs continuous production shifts, that small operational difference adds up quickly. BMW found that the increased availability of the hydrogen powered machines meant fewer vehicles were required overall.

The Leipzig plant has been able to reduce the size of its AGV fleet by 20 per cent while maintaining the same level of logistics performance. For operators used to thinking in terms of vehicle numbers and battery capacity, that represents a noticeable shift in how energy supply influences fleet design.

Building a hydrogen powered fleet

Fifty of the new AGVs have already been delivered and are operating within the plants logistics network. The remaining vehicles will enter service over the next six months as BMW completes the transition to the new system.

For Intelligent Energy the project represents the most detailed real world demonstration of its fuel cell technology in a material handling environment. David Fields, Head of IE POWER Stationary and Standby Power Solutions at the company, describes the three year BMW trial as the most comprehensive case study yet for hydrogen fuel cells in AGV applications.

Fields argues that the technology is particularly well suited to intralogistics work where reliability and continuous operation are essential. Battery charging interruptions can be difficult to manage in automated facilities, whereas fuel cells remove that constraint entirely. BMWs decision to move ahead with a purpose built hydrogen powered fleet provides a high profile endorsement of the approach.

The fuel cells themselves are developed in the United Kingdom and incorporate a patented air cooling system that allows them to deliver high energy density in a compact and lightweight package. The IE POWER system has already found its way into a range of other material handling machines, including forklifts and access platforms used in warehousing and industrial applications.

A test bed for advanced manufacturing

BMW Leipzig is not a typical factory. Built in 2005 and supported by around five billion euros of investment, the site employs roughly 6,800 people and has frequently been used by the company to trial new production technologies. Its advanced automation systems make it an ideal environment for testing new approaches to intralogistics energy.

Dr Stefan Fenchel, Project Lead Sustainability at BMW Group Plant Leipzig, says the fuel cell vehicles proved their worth during the trial phase, particularly by eliminating the downtime associated with battery recharging. Without that limitation the plant could operate a more flexible AGV fleet while reducing the number of vehicles required to support production.

For BMW the hydrogen powered fleet forms part of a wider effort to develop zero emission manufacturing technologies across its global operations. In practice the change also reflects the realities of running a highly automated production facility where internal transport must operate continuously to keep assembly lines supplied.
Visitors explore automation, robotics and warehouse technology during a previous IntraLogisteX exhibition at the NEC Birmingham

Warehouse automation and robotics will take centre stage in Birmingham this week as IntraLogisteX 2026 returns to the NEC, bringing together some of the most innovative companies in the intralogistics sector.

Taking place on 1819 March, the two-day exhibition has become one of the UKs key meeting points for warehouse operators, logistics professionals and technology suppliers looking to tackle the challenges facing modern supply chains.

More than 300 exhibitors are expected to showcase the latest technologies designed to transform warehouse operations  from robotic picking systems and automated storage solutions to advanced warehouse management software and materials-handling equipment.

With distribution centres under increasing pressure to process higher order volumes while maintaining efficiency, automation is expected to be a major theme across the exhibition floor. Many suppliers will be demonstrating systems designed to improve productivity, streamline fulfilment processes and reduce operational costs.

Visitors will also be able to explore a packed conference programme featuring dozens of industry sessions covering topics such as warehouse digitalisation, automation strategies and the evolving role of robotics in logistics operations.

The exhibition is also running alongside several co-located events focused on robotics, sustainable supply chains and last-mile fulfilment, offering attendees a broader view of the technologies shaping the future of logistics.

For many companies operating in the materials handling and warehouse automation sectors, IntraLogisteX provides an opportunity to see emerging technologies in action while connecting with suppliers driving innovation across the logistics industry.
Library picture: Damaged warehouse pallet racking following a structural collapse, highlighting the importance of regular inspections and safe loading practices in busy distribution centres.

Warehouse safety specialists are urging operators to review racking inspection and maintenance procedures after a series of incidents across the logistics sector highlighted the risks associated with poorly managed storage systems. While warehouse racking is designed to handle heavy palletised loads and constant forklift activity, experts warn that structural failures can occur if installations are damaged, overloaded or not regularly inspected.

The warning follows a recent fatal incident involving a racking collapse at a warehouse site in West Yorkshire, which resulted in enforcement action after two workers lost their lives during testing operations. The case has again brought attention to the importance of safe working practices around storage structures, particularly when systems are being installed, modified or load tested. However, safety professionals say the wider issue goes far beyond a single incident and reflects broader operational pressures across modern warehouse environments.

Racking forms the backbone of most distribution centres, allowing companies to maximise storage density while maintaining efficient access for forklift trucks and other handling equipment. As warehouse footprints grow larger and storage heights increase, the loads placed on racking systems have also risen significantly. In many modern facilities pallets are stacked several metres high, placing considerable stress on beams, frames and floor fixings.

Despite the engineered strength of these systems, racking is particularly vulnerable to impact damage from materials handling equipment. Forklift trucks manoeuvring in narrow aisles can easily strike upright frames or beam connectors, especially in high throughput operations where speed and productivity are prioritised. Even relatively minor impacts can weaken structural components over time, increasing the risk of collapse if damage is not identified and repaired quickly.

Industry guidance has long highlighted vehicle impacts as one of the most common causes of racking failure. When uprights are bent or connectors loosened, the load bearing capacity of the system can be significantly reduced. If these problems are left unaddressed, the structural integrity of an entire bay can be compromised, potentially triggering a domino effect where multiple sections of racking collapse.

Another key risk comes from incorrect loading practices. Pallets that exceed the design weight of a racking system or loads that are unevenly distributed can place excessive pressure on beams and supports. In busy warehouses where stock is constantly being moved, there is also the possibility of pallets being placed incorrectly, creating unstable loads that may shift or fall.

Warehouse operators are also dealing with increasing demand for storage capacity as ecommerce growth drives higher inventory levels. This has encouraged many companies to extend racking systems vertically or reconfigure layouts to accommodate additional pallet positions. While such changes can improve efficiency, they also require careful planning to ensure structures remain compliant with their original design specifications.

Safety experts say that regular inspection remains the most effective way to prevent serious incidents. UK guidance recommends that warehouse racking should be visually checked on a frequent basis by trained personnel, with more detailed inspections carried out periodically by competent specialists. These inspections can identify issues such as bent frames, missing locking pins, loose floor fixings or damaged beams before they escalate into serious hazards.

Clear reporting procedures are also essential. Workers operating forklifts or working around storage systems should be encouraged to report any damage immediately so that affected areas can be isolated and repaired. In many facilities damaged bays are temporarily unloaded or marked out of use until repairs can be carried out.

Protective measures are increasingly being introduced to reduce the risk of forklift impacts. These can include upright guards, column protectors and guide rails designed to shield structural components from vehicle contact. In narrow aisle operations, wire guidance or rail guidance systems can also help ensure trucks remain correctly aligned within aisles.

Training plays a central role in preventing racking damage. Forklift operators must understand both the limitations of the equipment they are using and the design capacity of the racking systems they interact with. Incorrect handling of pallets, high speed manoeuvring and poor load placement can all contribute to structural stress within storage systems.

The Storage Equipment Manufacturers Association has repeatedly emphasised the importance of maintaining racking in line with established safety standards. Industry guidance such as the Health and Safety Executives HSG76 publication outlines clear responsibilities for warehouse operators, including the need for routine inspections, maintenance procedures and safe loading practices.

As warehouse automation continues to develop, some operators are also investing in monitoring technologies that can detect structural stress or impacts in real time. Sensors attached to racking frames can alert managers when a significant collision has occurred, enabling immediate inspections before damage leads to further problems.

While major racking collapses remain relatively rare compared with the scale of the UK warehousing sector, the consequences can be severe when they do occur. Falling pallets, collapsing frames and shifting loads can pose serious risks not only to workers but also to expensive inventory and handling equipment.

With distribution centres handling growing volumes of goods and operating at increasingly high storage densities, maintaining the integrity of racking systems remains a critical safety priority. Reviewing inspection regimes, ensuring damaged components are replaced promptly and reinforcing safe forklift practices are among the key measures warehouse operators continue to focus on as part of wider efforts to improve safety across logistics facilities.
A new generation long range electric heavy goods vehicle has made its UK debut after completing its first charge at the Fleete ultra rapid truck charging hub at the Port of Tilbury.

The Windrose Global E700 6x4 electric tractor unit arrived in the UK this week and headed directly to Fleetes newly opened 5MW charging facility, where the truck successfully completed its first charge on British soil. The visit marks the start of a nationwide demonstration tour aimed at showcasing how long range electric HGVs could operate on UK freight routes using high power charging infrastructure.

Developed by Belgium based OEM Windrose Technology, a company with strong Chinese engineering roots, the Global E700 has been designed from the ground up as a long distance electric freight vehicle capable of competing with conventional diesel trucks on demanding logistics routes.

The truck features a distinctive centre driver cab layout, which Windrose says improves visibility, safety and driver ergonomics. While centre seating has historically been associated with specialist vehicles such as McLaren road cars and some military platforms, its introduction in a heavy goods vehicle highlights the companys attempt to rethink traditional truck design as the industry moves towards electrification.

At the heart of the Global E700 is a battery system exceeding 700kWh, using a flexible four pack configuration designed to support heavy freight duty cycles. According to Windrose, the truck can deliver a range of more than 700km even when fully loaded and operating at motorway speeds, placing it among the longest range electric HGV platforms currently under development.

The vehicle is equipped with both Megawatt Charging System and CCS2 charging capability as standard, allowing it to connect to existing high power infrastructure while also supporting the next generation megawatt scale charging technology that is currently being rolled out across Europe.

The UK charging demonstration took place at Fleetes newly commissioned high capacity hub at Tilbury, which has been specifically designed to support electric heavy vehicles operating in the logistics sector.

The 5MW site can charge up to 16 electric trucks simultaneously and includes six Siemens Flex 540kW chargers and twelve Flex 500A dispensers distributed across three charging islands. Each island has been designed to support future upgrades to Megawatt Charging System capability as higher power vehicles enter the market.

In addition to the Siemens equipment, the site also includes four charging points supplied by Power Electronics, using NB cooled dispensers and an NB Station system capable of delivering up to 270kW per charging point with upgrade potential to 360kW.

Chris Morrison, CEO at Fleete, said the arrival of the Windrose truck demonstrated the type of infrastructure that will be required if electric heavy goods vehicles are to scale across the UK freight sector.

Hosting the first UK charge for the Windrose truck is a strong demonstration of what high power infrastructure for heavy vehicles can deliver, Morrison said.

Vehicles with battery capacity of this scale need high power infrastructure that can deliver energy quickly and reliably. Shared charging hubs like Fleete Tilbury are designed to provide exactly that as more fleets begin deploying electric trucks on longer routes.

High capacity public charging infrastructure is increasingly seen as a critical missing piece in the electrification of heavy transport. While electric vans and smaller vehicles have benefitted from a rapidly expanding public charging network, the infrastructure required to support 40 tonne articulated trucks is far more demanding.

Electric HGVs require significantly higher charging power, larger grid connections and greater space for manoeuvring large vehicles. These factors have made depot based charging the dominant model for early deployments, but this approach can limit flexibility for fleets operating national distribution routes.

Shared charging hubs such as the Tilbury site aim to address this challenge by providing open access facilities located close to major freight corridors, ports and logistics clusters.

The Port of Tilbury itself represents one of the busiest logistics gateways in the UK, handling a wide range of cargo including containers, construction materials, food products and automotive freight. Its location on the Thames with direct access to the national motorway network makes it an important testbed for emerging zero emission freight technologies.

Justin Yu, Head of Northern Europe at Windrose Technology, said the company deliberately selected the Tilbury hub as the starting point for the trucks UK demonstration programme.

Completing our first charge in the UK at Fleetes Port of Tilbury hub is an important milestone for Windrose and a fitting place to begin the trucks UK tour, Yu said.

Our aim is to demonstrate how the next generation of electric heavy trucks can work with high power charging infrastructure across the UK, and the ultra rapid capability here at Tilbury is exactly the kind of quality charging network operators will need.

Yu added that strategically located charging hubs capable of delivering megawatt scale power will play an important role in enabling logistics operators to transition away from diesel powered trucks.

The Global E700 will now embark on a series of visits to logistics depots, transport operators and truck charging facilities across the country as part of a broader effort to showcase how long range electric trucks could operate within existing UK freight networks.

Electric HGV development has accelerated rapidly in recent years as truck manufacturers respond to tightening emissions regulations and growing pressure from major retailers and logistics providers to decarbonise freight operations.

Several manufacturers including Volvo Trucks, Mercedes Benz Trucks, Scania and MAN have already launched battery electric heavy trucks for regional distribution routes. However, long distance haulage remains one of the most challenging sectors to electrify due to the energy requirements associated with moving heavy loads over hundreds of kilometres.

Battery capacity, vehicle weight and charging infrastructure all play a role in determining the viability of electric long haul trucks. Vehicles such as the Windrose Global E700, which combine large battery packs with ultra rapid charging capability, represent one of the approaches currently being explored by manufacturers to overcome these limitations.

Fleete, founded in 2022 by Macquarie Asset Managements Green Investments team, is positioning itself as a key provider of shared charging infrastructure for commercial fleets. The company focuses on developing scalable charging hubs designed specifically for heavy duty vehicles, with the aim of simplifying the transition to zero emission logistics.

Rather than requiring fleets to invest in their own high capacity grid connections and charging equipment, Fleetes shared user model allows operators to access charging infrastructure on demand. This approach can help address some of the major barriers to fleet electrification including land availability, grid constraints and the high capital cost of installing depot charging systems.

As electric truck technology continues to develop, infrastructure availability is likely to play a decisive role in determining how quickly the UK freight sector can transition away from diesel powered vehicles. Demonstrations such as the Windrose charging event at Tilbury highlight how vehicle technology and charging networks will need to evolve together if long distance electric freight is to become commercially viable.

For logistics operators evaluating future fleet investments, developments in battery capacity, megawatt charging systems and shared charging hubs will increasingly shape decisions around how and when electric trucks can be integrated into existing transport operations.
U.S. President Donald Trump didnt mince words this past weekend, calling out NATO, China and the American news media as the war in the Middle East escalates.

Monday marks the 17th day of the war in Iran, beginning after the U.S. and Israel jointly struck targets on Feb. 28 as part of what U.S. officials called a response to the imminent threat of Irans nuclear operations. Thousands of targets have successfully been struck by U.S. and Israeli forces, including a strike in the campaigns infancy that killed Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said Sunday on X that the military trajectory is relatively positive as the U.S. is steadily destroying Irans ability to use drone and missile attacks. However, the ISW heeded patience as the US-Israeli combined force will need time to achieve its military objectives and prevent Iran from inflicting further political and economic pain upon the United States and its allies in the region, adding that its too soon to forecast an outcome or to declare operational failure.

The campaign has left some critics flummoxed due to mixed messaging and a lack of a clear objective conveyed to the American people. Trump, during a recent political rally in Kentucky, told the attendees that the U.S. already won the war. Meanwhile, global oil prices are steadily increasing amid the chokehold of cargo in the Strait of Hormuza channel that provides roughly 20% of the worlds oil and natural gas and has drastic economic implications for the U.S., China, Russia and Europe.

"If you think of war as an instrument of pursuing a policy, the war hasn't been going well for the U.S. and Israel," Sina Azodi, an assistant professor of Middle East politics at the George Washington Universitys Elliott School of International Affairs, told Military.com. "In terms of destruction and ability to overwhelm Iranian defenses, it has gone splendid."

But in terms of objectives, the U.S. has been unable to achieve its political objective because I think Donald Trump didn't know what the objectives are. And when you pay attention to the narrative of the administration, it's constantly changing.

An MH-60R Sea Hawk, assigned to Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 79, departs from the flight deck of the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Roosevelt (DDG 80) during a Strait of Hormuz transit on Dec. 15, 2025. Roosevelt is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations to support maritime security and stability in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Indra Beaufort)

The initial strikes were originally aimed to instill regime change in Iran, Azodi said, before altering in aims to curtail the nation's ballistic and nuclear missiles operations.

"Iran's nuclear sites have been targeted, but compared to Iran's military infrastructure and defense capacity, they're not even comparable," he said. "My view is that the White House was not expecting Iranians to be able to retaliate and escalate in a way that they have been doing."

The Armed Conflict Location and Event Data, an independent conflict monitor, documented nearly 2,000 distinct strikes across at least 29 of Irans 31 provincesthe most taking place in Tehran. More than 2,300 casualties in the Middle East have occurred, according to Al-Jazeera, while the World Health Organization has said that at least 18 hospitals and health facilities have been hit.

The deadliest single incident was the strike on the elementary school on Minab in southeastern Iran, reportedly killing more than 170 people including mostly schoolgirls. U.S. officials have said that strike remains under investigation.

Strait of Hormuz Closure, NATO's 'Very Bad Future'

Trump took to Truth Social over the weekend to voice his thoughts on the United States efforts.

The United States of America has beaten and completely decimated Iran, both Militarily, Economically, and in every other way, but the Countries of the World that receive Oil through the Hormuz Strait must take care of that passage, and we will help  A LOT! Trump wrote on Sunday.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Monday that the Strait of Hormuz is open, but closed to our enemies, to those who carried out this cowardly aggression against us and to their allies, according to Al-Jazeera.

Atlantic Council CEO Fred Kempe told CNBC on Monday morning that every day the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed could add $3-$5 to a barrel of oil.

If this goes on for six weeks, youre up at $150 a barreland if thats the outcome, then that would be global recession territory, Kempe said. Theres a lot at stake here.

Azodi told Military.com that the Strait of Hormuz shows the impact of geography during wartime, with Iran having more access and in his view has been preparing for this scenario dating back 20 years.

"In a way, I think Iranians have been more successful in pushing or kind of creating chaos," Azodi said, mentioning how gas prices have increased across the U.S. and midterm elections approach. "They don't have to expose the Strait of Hormuz for a very long time; all they have to do is to launch or shoot at a few tankers, then we are seeing an increase in the rate of rerouting of tankers."

A protester holds a sign against Donald Trump's demands to multiple countries to send warships to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, near the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, March 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

While Trump said the U.S. would coordinate with those Countries so that everything goes quickly, smoothly, and well, he added that the military campaign should have always been a team effort, and now it will be.

Trump elaborated in remarks made Sunday to the Financial Times about the strait and its impact on the rest of the world, adding that reliance on Persian oil is higher for China and Europe than the U.S.

If theres no response or if its a negative response I think it will be very bad for the future of NATO, Trump said, according to the Financial Times.

He added that while the U.S. is hitting [Iran] very hard," allies of the U.S. are beneficiaries and they ought to help us police it."

That included criticism towards Great Britains response of sending ships to the region well after the U.S. started its military campaign. After speaking with Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Trump told the FT that while the UK might be considered the number one ally, he asked for their help and they didnt want to come.

But it's not just the Brits, as Azodi pointed out. It's also been the Japanese and the Australians who have expressed apprehension about involved in the U.S.-Israel campaign.

"From their perspective, this is an unjustified war that the U.S. did not have to enter and they don't want to be part of it," Azodi said. "They also don't want to be a target of Iran's revenge."

Trump-Xi Meeting Could Be 'Delayed'

The backdrop of the Strait of Hormuz bottleneck is the meeting of Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, which has economic implications beyond just what is occurring in the shipping channel.

The pair are slated to meet in less than three weeks time, though Trump told the Financial Times the U.S. may delay the summit if the situation involving the strait is not rectified.

That could also negate the already made efforts of U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who met Sunday with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Paris for the first of two days of trade discussions before the end-of-March summit is scheduled, according to Reuters.

News Agencies Threatened To Lose Licenses

Trump and his broader administration have also heavily scrutinized the press for its coverage of the war in Iran.

On Friday, Trump wrote on Truth Social that the U.S. is totally destroying the terrorist regime of Iran, militarily, economically, and otherwise, yet, if you read the Failing New York Times, you would incorrectly think that we are not winning.

The president has also accused Iran, which he described in a social media post as a Master of Media Manipulation and Public Relations, of feeding false information to the Fake News Media. The president insinuated that artificial intelligence is being used as a disinformation weapon to Irans benefit even as they are being annihilated by the day.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff U.S. Air Force Gen. Dan Caine conduct a press briefing on Operation Epic Fury at the Pentagon, Washington, D.C., March 10, 2026. (DoW photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Eric Brann)

It prompted the president to say that media outlets engaging in so-called disinformation should be brought up on Charges for TREASON. Trump added that hes thrilled Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chair Brendan Carr is considering taking away licensing.

In a March 14 post on X, Carr wrote: Broadcasters that are running hoaxes and news distortions - also known as the fake news - have a chance now to correct course before their license renewals come up.

The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they do not.

Carrs remarks are comparably antithetical to what he said in February 2019, when he wrote in a then-Twitter post: Should the government censor speech it doesnt like? Of course not. The FCC does not have a roving mandate to police speech in the name of the public interest.

The nonpartisan Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), in an X post, characterized Carrs latest remarks as an authoritarian warning.

The American people demand uncensored news about the men and women serving in our armed forces. Our right to a free press is one of the core American freedoms those in uniform have sworn to support and defend. It is long past time for our government officials to remember their own oaths to uphold the Constitution  starting with the First Amendment, FIRE wrote.

U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) also broke from Carrs position, saying it wasnt the governments role to police free speech.

Im a big supporter of the First Amendment, I do not like the heavy hand of government no matter whos wielding it, Johnson said in an interview on Fox News The Sunday Briefing. So no, Id rather the federal government stay out of the private sector as much as possible.

Statements made by Trump and Carr followed what Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said during an Iran briefing at the Pentagon last week, telling the gathered media that he looks forward to CNN being controlled by billionaire David Ellison as his company, Paramount Skydance, awaits official ruling on its acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery.

The sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better, he said.
BEIRUT, Lebanon  Fears of a global energy crisis rose Monday as the war in the Middle East raged on, with more U.S.-Israeli strikes on the Iranian capital and Israel's bombardment of Lebanon. An Iranian drone strike temporarily shut Dubais airport, a crucial global travel hub, underscoring the threats to the world economy.

Since the United States and Israel attacked Iran more than two weeks ago, Tehran has regularly fired on Israel, American bases in the region, and Gulf Arab countries energy infrastructure with drones and missiles.

Iranian strikes on commercial ships in and around the Strait of Hormuz and even just the threat of those attacks have also effectively stopped shipping traffic in the vital waterway, through which a fifth of the worlds oil is transported. That has dramatically increased the price of oil and put pressure on Washington to do something to ease the pain for consumers.

Brent crude, the international standard, remained stubbornly over $100 a barrel on Monday. It was at $104 in early trading, up nearly 45% since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28. It has spiked as high as about $120 during the conflict.

U.S. President Donald Trump said he has demanded that about seven countries to send warships to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, but his appeals have brought no commitments.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called claims that his country may be seeking a negotiated end to the war delusional, saying in a social media post early Monday that Iran was seeking neither truce nor talks.

Iran hits Dubai airport, forcing temporary closure

As morning broke Monday, a drone hit a fuel tank near Dubai International Airport, the world's busiest for international passenger traffic, causing a large fire.

Firefighters contained the blaze and there were no injuries reported, but the airport suspended all flights before resuming them a few hours later.

Later, a person was killed in the capital of the United Arab Emirates when an Iranian missile hit a vehicle, the Abu Dhabi media office said. Fire also broke out at an oil facility in Fujairah, one of the UAE's seven emirates, following a drone attack.

Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, said it intercepted a wave of 35 Iranian drones sent to its eastern region, home to major oil installations.

Iran has fired hundreds of missiles and drones toward countries in the region hosting U.S. military assets since the war began. Israels military said early Monday that Iran launched missiles toward Israel as well.

The conflict is battering the world economy, driving up energy and fertilizer prices; threatening food shortages in poor countries; destabilizing fragile states; and complicating efforts by central banks to drive down prices for consumers. Much of the difficulty stems from the virtual shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump threatens to remember which allies do not help

Trump said Sunday he wants to police the strait to make it safe for shipping, with his party increasingly concerned that rising prices for American consumers will hurt the Republicans in elections this fall.

He did not identify the countries he said he asked to help with those efforts, but he said he wont forget the countries that decline. He has previously appealed to China, France, Japan, South Korea and Britain.

Whether we get support or not, but I can say this, and I said to them: We will remember, Trump said.

He also suggested he might delay a planned trip to China, a key trade partner of Iran, as he seeks to pressure Beijing into helping restore the flow of shipping through the strait.

Ahead of a meeting in Brussels, the European Unions foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the blocs foreign ministers would discuss possibly extending a naval mission that protects ships in the Red Sea to the Strait of Hormuz, without giving any details.

Europeans have been critical of the U.S. and Israel for failing to provide clarity on their objectives in the war, and German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul on Sunday questioned EU involvement, saying security for the strait can only come if there is a negotiated solution.

Europe always gives constructive support when it comes to securing sea routes, but I see neither an immediate necessity nor above all Germany participating, he said on ARD television.

Japan and Australia both said Monday that they had not been asked to help protect the strait and had no current plans to do so.

Israel hits Beirut and launches new attacks on Tehran

Massive explosions were heard in Beirut as Israel launched new attacks on the Lebanese capital before dawn, saying it was striking infrastructure related to the Iran-linked Hezbollah militia group.

The Israeli army has issued evacuation orders for many neighborhoods in Beirut as well as southern Lebanon. To date, more than 800,000 people have been displaced by Israel's campaign in Lebanon.

In southern Lebanon, seven people were killed in Israeli airstrikes, according to authorities and news reports. Lebanons state-run National News Agency said two of them were paramedics respond to an earlier strike.

At least 850 people have been killed by Israeli strikes so far.

Not long after Israel's military announced it had launched new strikes on Tehran targeting infrastructure, explosions were heard in the Iranian capital and outlying areas.

More details were not immediately available with information coming out of Iran severely limited by internet outages, round-the-clock airstrikes and tight restrictions on journalists.

More than 1,300 people have been killed in Iran so far, according to the Iranian Red Crescent.

Israel has carried out some 7,600 strikes on Iran so far, knocking out 85% of its air defenses, military spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani told reporters Monday. It has also destroyed 70% of Iran's missile launchers, but Shoshani said Israel still has thousands of targets to hit and would continue attacks for as long as needed.

In Israel, 12 people have been killed by Iranian missile fire. At least 13 U.S. military members have been killed.

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This story has been updated to correct that the death toll in Iran is from the Iranian Red Crescent, not the Red Cross.

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Rising reported from Bangkok and Weissert from aboard Air Force One. Associated Press writers Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut, Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo, Sam McNeil in Brussels, Samy Magdy in Cairo and Adam Schreck in Bangkok contributed to this report.
A daughter and sister of a doctor detained and held in China for more than seven years are holding out hope that President Donald Trump's meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping will lead to a prison release.

Dr. Gulshan Abbas, 63, a retired physician and ethnic Uyghur, was disappeared by Chinese authorities in September 2018 in Chinas western region of Xinjiang, after her sister, Rushan Abbas, publicly spoke out against the Chinese Communist Partys oppression of Uyghurs. Gulshans family was unaware of her whereabouts until December 2020, when it was learned that a secret trial had taken place in March 2019 declaring Gulshan guilty for taking part in organized terrorism, aiding terrorist activities and seriously disrupting social order.

Since 2014 fingers worldwide have pointed at China for their treatment of Uyghurs, described as a Turkic ethnic group native to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in Northwest China, for alleged abuses including forced sterilization and labor, mass detention, sexual violence and torture, in addition to religious and cultural suppression. China has long refuted such claims, with accusations being viewed by the CCP as very ridiculous as described in a 2020 article in Global Times, part of CCP state-run media.

Now, Gulshan is entering her eighth year of imprisonment. Her daughter, Ziba Murat, and Rushan told Military.com that her health and morale are both deteriorating. Efforts to make Gulshans story an international one have succeeded, with both Rushan and Ziba invited as guests at multiple presidential State of the Union addresses. They have been in rooms with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson.

Trump and Xi are scheduled to meet within three weeks time, with economics and specifically trade anticipated to encapsulate much of the leaders meeting. Americans being held as political prisoners remains another major priority, according to the Trump administration.

President Trump is always concerned about Americans detained abroad, which is why he has brought over 100 individualsa record numberhome from around the world, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told Military.com.

A Speech, Followed by a Disappearance

The timing of Gulshans disappearance is directly correlated to the stature of her sister, Rushan, and one particular speech that years later continues to cause agony.

Rushan has long been one of the outspoken voices of dissent against the Chinese for its treatment of Uyghurs. Shes the founder and executive director of the nonprofit Campaign for Uyghurs, instituted in 2017 and publicly referencing the CCPs actions as genocide. In October 2024 she was elected chairperson of the executive committee of World Uyghur Congress.

On March 15, 2018, she introduced and led the One Voice One Step initiative in 14 countries and 18 cities that involved demonstrations against Chinas detention of millions of Uyghurs in concentration camps. Gulshans passport was canceled almost immediately thereafter.

A few short months later, on Sept. 5, 2018, Rushan and a panel convened at the Hudson Institute to discuss the PRCs war on terrorism. and discuss the impacts on the most heavily garrisoned and surveilled region of Xinjiang, known to Uyghurs as East Turkestan.

Five days later, Gulshan disappeared. Rushan said its no coincidence.

That was my first public speech ever, Rushan told Military.com. I spoke about mass detention and China's genocidal policies, outlining the fate of my in-laws. My husband's entire family went missing. That was televised on YouTube, it's still on there.

Rushan Abbas holds a photo of her sister, Gulshan. (Rushan Abbas)

It wasnt just Gulshan who was taken by the PRC. The aunt of both Gulshan and Rushanthe only other living relative in China following the deaths of the Abbas sisters parentswas also detained the same exact day, some 900 miles (1,400 kilometers) away.

At that time, China's mass detention was targeting thought leaders, educators, people who ever traveled to Muslim-majority countries, saying that they are infected by ideological Islamic extremists, Rushan said.

She referenced how those individuals who were subject to detention were those who cover their hair, give off any kind of optics that show that they are religious or people who go to a mosque.

But none of these criteria covers my sister, she added, saying that Gulshans never traveled to Muslim-majority countries, worn headscarves, or put herself on the frontlines of the ideological debate.

There's no way that she should be targeted other than that speech that I gave, Rushan said.

'Not Free Yet'

Ziba Murat told Military.com that her mother had been traveling back and forth from China to the United States before her detainment to see her two daughters and three siblings (two brothers, one sister) who all reside in the states.

In 2016, Murat's sister had a baby and Gulshan met the child at 3 months old. That was the last time Murat, a Tampa, Fla., resident who in 2018 had an infant, had contact with her mother.

[My baby] was 3 months old. Being a new mom and trying to find out what happened to my mom, trying to advocate at the same time while workingit's just been very, very difficult. - Ziba Murat

Of course, my aunt has been very vocal, but I have to say both administrations have been very supportive of the case, both parties, Republican or Democrat, but we're going on the eighth year of her detention," Murat added.

Even with the advocacy on behalf of the government and human rights groups, Murat said it remains a cold reality.

I'm grateful for all the support I'm getting from everybody, but [my mothers] still in jail. She's not free yet. That just makes me sad that we have so much support, but we still can't get her out.

Forging Relationships in Washington

Countless efforts have been made in the United States by Rushan, Murat and the broader family that includes Rushans two older brothers who also reside in the U.S.

That has included direct conversations with some of Washingtons most powerful brokers, notably now-Secretary of State Marco Rubio and House Speaker Mike Johnson.

Secretary Rubio was my senator then, so he is actually the first very few persons that publicly spoke about this case, Murat said. And since [Gulshans] detention, he's been vocal at all platforms about the case, calling for her release consistently.

Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., left, speaks with Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., co-chair of the Congressional Executive Commission on China (CECC), during a hearing to examine developments in Hong Kong, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2019, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Johnson had Murat as a guest at this years State of the Union, with photos showing the pair together.

In an X post prior to the event, Johnson publicly referenced Gulshan being forcibly detained and arrested by the Chinese Communist Party for speaking out about the CCPs heinous treatment of Uyghur Muslims.

Ziba Murat joins House Speaker Mike Johnson as a guest at the 2026 State of the Union.

Rushan has been a frequent guest to the State of the Union herself.

In 2020 she was hosted by Rubio. In 2023, she was hosted by Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), ranking member of the Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the U.S. and the Chinese Communist Party. And then in 2024, she was a guest of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC).

Rushan and Murat met individuals ranging from former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (during Trumps first term), to President Joe Biden.

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), co-chair of the CECC, hosted Claire Lai at this years State of the Union address. She is the daughter of Jimmy Lai, a businessman who in February was sentenced to 20 years in prison by the Hong Kong High Court.

Smith told Military.com that Gulshans completely bogus terrorism and social disruption charges are meant as retaliation against Rushans activism.

Rushan was described by Smith as an excellent witness at a CECC hearing two years ago, titled, The PRC's Universal Periodic Review and the Real State of Human Rights in China, where she testified about the human rights abuses occurring in the XUAR, as well as how her sisters arrest is a form of transnational kin punishment and repression.

Unfortunately, Dr. Abbas case is not an anomalyit is a microcosm of a much larger issue. - Rep. Smith

China wrongfully detains and imprisons more Americansand the family members of U.S. nationalsthan any other country in the world," Smith added.

Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., speaks at a rally before the March for Life in Washington, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Smith previously introduced legislation, the Nelson Wells Jr. and Dawn Michelle Hunt Unjustly Detained in Communist China Act (HR 5491), that would mandate the U.S. government to use multiple diplomatic, legal and economic levers to obtain the release of Americans and their family members from CCP imprisonment.

"This legislation will help to make the long-awaited release of Dr. Abbas, who is specifically named in the billand the countless other Americans and relatives of Americans wrongly imprisoned in Chinaan achievable reality," Smith said, urging his House colleagues to swiftly take up the legislation for a vote.

Returning to the Scene

As efforts to release her forge on, Gulshans health and mental state are deteriorating.

Murat described how Gulshan already had a list of health issues including high blood pressure and back pain that when it onsets effectively paralyzes her.

She couldn't move. And then both of her eyes went through multiple surgeries and need to get checked up every year, Murat said. She needs to follow a medical procedure.

Ziba Murat, left, stands with her mother, Gulshan, and sister. (Ziba Murat)

But Murat said that whenever congressional offices reach out to the embassy and ask for any updates, all the answers are redundant and provide no real insight to her mothers current condition.

What worries me is that I don't know if anybody was allowed to go see her because all of us are here, she added, fighting through tears. All her immediate family members are in the United States. So when they tell me those things, I just keep wondering, has anybody gone see her physically? Does anybody know how she looks, you know, how she's doing?

On March 16, Murat is speaking about the CCPs political prisoners at the Hudson Institutethe very place where Rushan spoke almost eight years ago.

Years of Guilt

The Trump-Xi meeting may show promise for political dissidents and prisoners everywhere.

This is a great chance for President Trump, said Rushan, who remains close with Murat and her sister and recently visited her in Florida. He always says Xi Jinping's his friend, maybe he should utilize that friendship or relationship to bring Gulshan to the United States to her family.

Gulshans imprisonment is personal for Rushan for more reasons than one. She takes responsibility for her advocacy leading to the familys unfathomable hardship, as that obviously of her sister.

Its been difficult, it completely changed my life.

Before my sister's detention, I had a successful career in business development and I was advocating at the site for Uyghur people's rights as an American citizen, practicing my freedom of speech under my constitution," she added.

"But imagine being the cost of your dear sister's detention lasting 7.5 years, waking up every day with that and going to bed every night with that feeling."

Gulshan was never a political person or even an outspoken one, Rushan said.

I'm the youngest in my family and I was the one who was always outspoken or advocating for human rights, she added. But [Gulshan] was not. She retired at an early age due to health reasons.

She's just a mother and a grandma.
The disappearance of a retired Air Force general who once oversaw billions of dollars in military research has drawn federal investigators into the search and fueled a wave of online conspiracy theories about classified programs and unidentified flying objects.

Retired Maj. Gen. William Neil McCasland, a former commander of the Air Force Research Laboratory, has been missing since Feb. 27, when he disappeared from his home in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Local authorities are leading the investigation, but federal agencies, including the FBI, have joined the search as the case continues to attract national attention.

While investigators have not identified a clear explanation for his disappearance, McCaslands background overseeing some of the Air Forces most advanced science and technology programs has made the case a magnet for speculation online.

Authorities say the investigation remains active and have urged anyone with information to contact law enforcement.

The Air Force Research Laboratory showcases Collaborative Combat Aircraft in its booth during the Air, Space and Cyber Conference at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland, Sept. 18, 2024.(U.S. Air Force photo by Matthew Clouse)

A Career at the Center of Air Force Research

McCasland spent more than three decades in the Air Force and ultimately served as commander of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), one of the militarys most influential science and technology organizations.

AFRL manages research programs that shape the future of air and space power, including advanced propulsion systems, directed energy weapons, aerospace materials and satellite technologies.

At the time of his leadership, the laboratory oversaw roughly $2.2 billion in Air Force science and technology programs, along with additional externally funded research and development projects.

The role placed McCasland among the Air Forces most senior science leaders, responsible for guiding long-term research investments and coordinating efforts across the Pentagon, universities and defense industry partners.

Programs developed through AFRL help transition experimental technologies into operational military capabilities used by service members around the world.

During McCaslands tenure, AFRL played a central role in developing technologies that later became key components of modern U.S. military capability. The laboratory helped advance work on directed-energy weapons, advanced satellite systems, hypersonic research and next-generation sensors, while partnering with universities and defense contractors to transition experimental technologies into operational systems used by the Air Force and Space Force today.

Leaders of AFRL often interact with classified programs and emerging technologies years before they become publicly known, which helps explain why the disappearance of a former commander has drawn unusual attention online.

McCasland retired from the Air Force in 2013 after more than three decades of service.

Federal Authorities Join the Search

Local authorities in Bernalillo County, New Mexico, are leading the investigation, but federal agencies have provided additional resources as the search expanded.

The FBIs Albuquerque field office has joined the effort to assist with investigative support and search coordination.

Federal agencies often provide specialized resources in missing-person cases, including forensic analysis, digital investigations and coordination across jurisdictions.

Authorities have conducted extensive search operations around Albuquerque, including neighborhood canvassing, drone flights and searches with trained K-9 teams.

Volunteers and neighbors have also assisted with the search effort, helping distribute information and examine areas near McCaslands home where he might have traveled.

So far, investigators have not publicly identified evidence of foul play.

Official photo of Maj Gen Neil McCasland (www.af.mil)

Timeline of the Day He Disappeared

Some of the clearest details about the day McCasland vanished have come from his wife, Susan McCasland Wilkerson.

According to information she shared publicly, a repairman visited their home around mid-morning on Feb. 27. Wilkerson later left for a doctors appointment, and when she returned about an hour later, McCasland was gone (KRQE News, Albuquerque).

Investigators say his phone and glasses were left behind in the house, while several other items were missing, including his wallet, hiking boots and a .38-caliber revolver.

The disappearance prompted authorities to issue a Silver Alert and launch a large search effort across the surrounding area.

Wife Pushes Back on Conspiracy Theories

As the case spread online, Wilkerson has repeatedly pushed back against speculation linking her husbands disappearance to UFO secrets or classified military programs.

In a public Facebook post addressing the rumors, she wrote that her husband had no secret knowledge about extraterrestrial technology or materials.

Neil does not have any special knowledge about the ET bodies and debris from the Roswell crash stored at Wright-Patt, she wrote. (People Magazine; Newsweek)

She also said that while McCasland once had access to classified programs during his military career, he retired more than a decade ago and his knowledge would now be outdated.

It seems quite unlikely that he was taken to extract very dated secrets from him, she wrote.

Frustrated by the speculation, she later used humor to address the rumors circulating online.

Though at this point with absolutely no sign of him, maybe the best hypothesis is that aliens beamed him up to the mothership, she wrote, adding that no sightings had been reported over the nearby Sandia Mountains.

Her comments highlight how quickly misinformation can spread online when high-profile individuals become the focus of missing-person cases.

The Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office put out a Silver Alert for Neil McCasland (Photo courtesy of the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office).

Why Conspiracy Theories Are Spreading

Much of the speculation surrounding McCaslands disappearance stems from his past role overseeing advanced Air Force research programs.

One of the most widely circulated theories online suggests his disappearance could somehow be tied to classified UFO or unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) programs. The speculation has been amplified by McCaslands brief involvement with a company connected to former Blink-182 musician Tom DeLonge that explored public discussion of UAPs.

Other theories circulating on social media suggest that McCasland may have had knowledge of secret aerospace or weapons programs that made him a target.

There is currently no evidence supporting those claims, and investigators have not indicated that his former work is connected to his disappearance.

Experts say speculation around national security programs is common whenever high-profile military figures are involved in unexplained events.

The combination of McCaslands rank, his leadership role in the Air Forces primary research laboratory and the secrecy that often surrounds advanced defense technology has created a perfect environment for online rumors.

The Search Continues

For now, investigators say their focus remains on locating McCasland and determining what happened after he left his home in late February.

Authorities continue to ask the public to report any information that might assist the investigation.

The disappearance of a retired senior military leader is rare, and for many who once worked alongside him in the defense science community, the unanswered questions surrounding the case remain troubling.

Until authorities uncover new information, the search for McCasland continues, along with the hope that the mystery surrounding his disappearance will soon be resolved.
Generations of the Patton family gathered at the Southwest Virginia Veterans Cemetery on March 9 for a burial that was more than seven decades in the making. The man at the center of it all, Army Cpl. Marvin Silvester Patton had been missing since the earliest stages of the Korean War.

Patton was 20 years old when he disappeared. He came home more than 75 years later to full military honors rendered by soldiers from Fort Lee, Virginia, and the grief of relatives who said they had grown up knowing only his name.

"We finally get closure. We've got happy tears and we got sad tears, but mostly happy because we get to bring him home," his niece, Susan Bartlett, told WDBJ7.

A Ceremony Decades Overdue

Patton's remains were escorted from Grubb Funeral Home to his final resting place with a procession and full honors rendered by the Military Funeral Honors Guard from Fort Lee, Virginia. Among those present were family members who said they had known him only through stories and memorials.

"My mom has been, for the last 20 years or more, I mean she's grown up not really knowing who he was other than her first eight years with him, but she doesn't recollect all of that," niece Julie Remines told WDBJ7. "Knowing that she is able to fulfill something for her mom and dad to bring him home."

Pictured is Chief of Police Joel Hash with the members of the Fort Lee Military Funeral Honors Guard. (Wytheville Police Department)

John Maxwell, commissioner of the Virginia Department of Veterans Services, said the burial carried meaning beyond the family.

"We are so honored to be welcoming home this Korean War Hero, and so grateful for the extraordinary sacrifice of the Patton family," Maxwell said. "Bringing Corporal Patton back to Virginia 75 years after his death demonstrates our nation's commitment to never leaving a service person behind."

The Korean War

Patton grew up in Tazewell, Virginia, attended Cedar Bluff Elementary School and Cottage Hill High School, and enlisted in the Army on Jan. 4, 1949. He was assigned to Company B, 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. The unit would soon find itself thrust into one of the most desperate engagements in American military history.

On July 5, 1950, just days after North Korea's invasion of the South, soldiers from the 24th Infantry Division clashed with North Korean forces near Osan in the war's first major ground engagement between American and communist troops. The Americans were badly outnumbered and outgunned, tasked with buying time for more forces to arrive while facing armored columns they had almost no means to stop. Patton went missing that same day.

On Jan. 16, 1956, the military issued a presumptive finding of death. For decades, his name appeared on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, on the Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C., and on the Virginia War Memorial in Richmond.

The Patton Family's Sacrifice

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, or DPAA, formally accounted for Patton's remains on Aug. 1, 2025, more than 75 years after his death. The DPAA works to identify the remains of the more than 7,300 Americans still unaccounted for from the Korean War, using forensic science, historical records and family DNA to make positive identifications.

Patton's decorations included the Purple Heart, Combat Infantryman Badge, Korean Service Medal, Republic of Korea Presidential Citation and the Army Presidential Unit Citation, among others.

A Bazooka team at the Battle of Osan. Members of the 24th Infantry Division, first United States ground units to reach the front, go into action against North Korean forces at the village of Sojong-Ni, near Osan. At right is Private First Class Kenneth Shadrick, who was killed by enemy fire a few moments after this photo was taken. (Wikimedia Commons)

The Patton family's sacrifice in the Korean War did not end with Marvin. His parents, Dillard Whitten Patton and Edna Mae Davis Patton, had three sons go to Korea. Marvin went missing at Osan. His brother, Pfc. Johnny Lee Patton was captured as a prisoner of war and died in 1950. His remains have not been accounted for.

A third brother, Carl Roger Patton, was serving in Korea when the Army, recognizing the magnitude of loss the family had already endured, gave him orders to return home.

Remines told WDBJ7 she hopes Johnny will one day come home as well.

"As soon as we follow suit with Marvin, they are going to work very tediously to work to see if they can bring [Johnny] home to identify him," she said.

Patton is survived by his sisters Mary Martha Patton Remines of Rural Retreat and Edith Pearl Patton Kinder of Bluefield, along with sisters-in-law, nieces and nephews, and multiple younger generations of family who witnessed the homecoming.
Navy veteran and avid outdoorsman Chester Evitt, desperately wanted to regain the ability to shoot a bow and arrow, an activity he enjoyed before injuries robbed him of the use of his left arm.

But thanks to a group of dedicated engineering students from Trine University in Angola, Indiana, Evitt is back to doing what he loves. The students spent months perfecting an adaptive design to allow the Gulf War veteran to properly use his bow.

Evitts first injury occurred in the Navy when he suffered a gunshot wound to his arm. Three years ago, another injury made mobility in that arm almost non-existent.

Because Ive lost most of the use of my left arm, I cant hold anything in it. I cant shoot my bow, Evitt told WPTA in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Connecting with Students

Perplexed and frustrated, Evitt confided in his primary care physician at the Department of Veterans Affairs that he could no longer use his prized bow. From that initial talk, the VA was able to connect Evitt with an engineering team at Trine. Through Project S.E.R.V.E, the students jumped into the opportunity to help a veteran.

The projects goal is to improve the lives of veterans and emergency responders living with injuries or disabling conditions through student-led engineering projects, according to its website.

One problem though  Evitt and the students lived about 1,500 miles apart. So, Evitt, in Montana, and students Ava Dobbins, Andrea Mendoza, Copper Clark and Jake Welker in Indiana, worked together virtually for several months. Evitt finally got to meet the Trine students in person last week at Angolas Thunder Lakes Gund Ammo and Archery.

Students at George Mason University's School of Engineering are working with Pamela Moye, a 24-year Air Force veteran tech sergeant and now a college professor at North Carolina A&T State University to develop an osteoarthritis modular brace for her left hand. (Facebook)

Making the Device Just Right

The students developed a few different designs until deciding to go with a 3D-printed model that can attach to Evitts back to support the bow.

It really needs to just hold it up for him and kind of be that skeleton that he cant, Welker said.

For Welker and his design partners, helping a disabled veteran was a rewarding experience.

The military runs very deep in my family, like most people from the Midwest, and it means a lot to me, he said.

Once he met the students, it was time for Evitt to test out his new adaptive aid. He was not disappointed. Evitt called the device life changing.

Oh my goodness, Evitt said. Theyre giving me back something that was took from me.

Not only did Evitt gain the use of his bow again, but he also developed several new friendships with the Trinity students.

As a father thats raised four kids, Id be proud to call any one of them my own, he said. With all the negativity going on in the world, heres a prime example of our future.

The student engineers have two months to finish adjustments to the device before presenting it to a panel at Trine. After the project is completed, Evitt plans to return to Montana with the device and is excited to use it in the future. A passion for archery, ignited within him at just eight years old, can finally be reclaimed.
Irish eyes will be smiling Tuesday, as New York City kicks off its 265th annual Saint Patricks Day Parade. Leading the dozens of floats, bands and community organizations marching along Fifth Avenue will be the New York Army National Guard's 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry Regiment known as The Fighting 69th.

"New York City's Fighting 69th' is always honored to lead the New York City St. Patrick's Day Parade," said Lt. Col. Andrew Prior, the battalion's commander, in a statement on the parade obtained by Military.com. "This year carries special meaning as our battalion marks its 175th time leading the parade."

New York Army National Guard's 69th Infantry Regiment marching in 2025 Saint Patrick's Day Parade (Facebook: "The Fighting 69th").

The parade is the oldest and largest St. Patricks Day parade in the world, according to organizers. The first New York City St. Patricks Day Parade was held in 1762 -- 14 years before the Declaration of Independence was signed.

Since 1851, "The Fighting 69th" has been the lead unit in the parade, in a show of solidarity after anti-Catholic and anti-Irish threats were made against the procession. The regiment was organized in 1849 as a New York State militia regiment made up of Irish immigrants.

"In addition, our nation is approaching its 250th anniversary, and our city will remember the 25th anniversary of the September 11th attacks, which makes this parade especially significant," Prior noted in his statement.

Some 800 Soldiers of the 69th Infantry Regiment will march in the parade when it kicks off at 11 am EST. During the parade, the battalion's soldiers will be joined by the 42nd Infantry Division Band and senior leaders of the New York National Guard.

Lt. Col. Prior will be front and center in his first Saint Patricks Day Parade as commander of the 69h.

1st Battalion, 69th Infantry Commander Lt. Col. Andrew Prior will lead his regiment to kickoff New York City's Saint Patrick's Day Parade on Tuesday, March 17, 2026 (NY Army National Guard).

"I spent most of my career in these ranks," Prior said in remarks he made at his promotion ceremony last November, and obtained by Military.com. "I trained with you, deployed with you, and learned from the leaders and soldiers who shaped this organization; so now to have the privilege to command the Fighting 69th is the greatest honor of my career.

TRADITIONAL CUSTOMS ON DISPLAY

Traditions of the 6/9th Infantry and the St. Patrick's Day parade will be on display for an estimated one to two million spectators in the crowd.

In one custom, soldiers place a sprig of boxwood on their uniforms in homage to members of the Irish brigade who put a boxwood sprig in their hat bands at the Battle of Fredericksburg in 1862, to mark their Irish heritage.

Officers of the 69th will also carry a fighting stick made of blackthorn wood imported from Ireland because it is considered the mark of an Irish leader and gentleman.

Soldiers are accompanied on the parade route by two Irish Wolfhounds, the official mascot of the 69th Infantry. The dogs represent the regimental motto, "Gentle when stroked, fierce when provoked."

As battalion commander, Lt. Col. Prior will carry the "Kilmer Crucifix," a religious icon once worn by poet Joyce Kilmer, who was killed in action serving in the 69th during World War I.

Finally, just before the parade starts, the head of the parade committee asks the commander if the 69th is ready. The response is: "The 69th is always ready!

PARADE RECOGNIZES IRISH CONTRIBUTIONS

As parades go in New York City, the Saint Patricks Day parade is popular among crowds, tourists, dignitaries and politicians. New York governors, mayors and city councilmembers are staples. So are various school bands, churches and community groups.

But over the years, the parade has been challenged by circumstances beyond its control.

In 2021, the parade was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Undaunted, a group of about 50 soldiers from the 69th staged an informal parade along the route to keep the tradition alive.

Army National Guard 69th Infantry Regiment march in New York City's Saint Patrick's Day Parade in 2013 (Facebook: "The Fighting 69th").

The 69th Infantry apparently earned the nickname "Fighting 69th" from Confederate General Robert E. Lee, who is said to have referred to the Irish American unit as "that fighting 69th regiment" following the battle of Fredericksburg in 1862.

The unit's soldiers have fought in the Civil War, World War I, World War II, and has faced deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Horn of Africa since September 11, 2001.

Because of the regiment's roots in Irish American history, St. Patrick's Day is also the 1st Battalion, 69th's "Unit Day," where Soldiers are recognized for their accomplishments. This year, the battalion will hold its recognition ceremony at the Park Avenue Armory following the parade because its permanent home, New York's historic Lexington Avenue Armory, is being renovated.

When the Soldiers return from the parade and begin their unit day ceremonies, they are cheered by the battalion's officers, who render honors and pay tribute to the enlisted Soldiers and noncommissioned officers.
Italy has announced it will not participate in the ongoing war involving the United States, Israel, and Iran, while also beginning to withdraw some of its military personnel from positions in the Middle East as the conflict intensifies.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told lawmakers Italy does not take part in the U.S.-Israeli military strikes against Iran and does not want to enter the war. She described the conflict as one of the most serious international crises in recent decades and warned that the escalation reflected a broader breakdown in the international legal order.

Melonis comments marked one of the clearest statements by a major European government distancing itself from the military campaign.

Italy Distances Itself from the Military Campaign

Speaking to the Italian Senate, Meloni said the U.S.-Israeli strikes were an intervention in which Italy does not take part and does not intend to take part. She emphasized that Italy is not currently at war and does not intend to enter the conflict.

At the same time, the Italian government acknowledged that the war represents a serious security concern for Europe. Meloni warned that Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon would pose a direct threat to European security and said the situation could destabilize the broader international system.

The prime minister also criticized the broader pattern of military interventions outside what she described as the framework of international law, calling the war part of a growing trend that risks undermining the existing global order.

Despite refusing to join the fighting, Meloni said Italy remains engaged diplomatically with European allies and is coordinating with other leaders to monitor the situation and pursue possible de-escalation efforts.

Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni with US President Donald Trump. Source: White House.

Troop Withdrawals from the Region

Italy has also begun pulling back some of its military personnel stationed in the region. The Italian defense ministry confirmed that troops stationed at a base in Erbil in Iraqs Kurdistan region were being withdrawn as the security situation deteriorated.

The base had hosted more than 300 Italian troops before the current escalation. Roughly 100 of those personnel have already returned to Italy, while around 40 others have been relocated to Jordan as part of the repositioning effort.

The decision to accelerate the withdrawal came after a drone strike hit the base in Erbil, highlighting the growing risks faced by foreign forces operating in the region as the war spreads. No Italian personnel were injured in that attack. Italian officials said the move was primarily intended to protect personnel as the regional security environment deteriorates.

Balancing Alliance Commitments and Domestic Law

Italys decision reflects the complicated position many European governments face as the conflict escalates. Rome remains a member of NATO and maintains close security ties with the United States, but it has also emphasized legal and constitutional limits on participation in war.

Article 11 of the Italian Constitution states that Italy rejects war as an instrument of national policy and commits the country to resolving international disputes through peaceful means. Italian officials have repeatedly cited that principle in explaining the governments cautious approach to the conflict.

The government has therefore attempted to balance several priorities at once: maintaining alliance relationships, protecting Italian personnel abroad, and avoiding direct military participation in the war.

Meloni has also stressed that tens of thousands of Italian citizens live across the Middle East and Gulf region, while roughly 2,000 Italian troops remain deployed across various missions in the area. Protecting those citizens and personnel remains one of the governments primary concerns as the conflict continues.

Defensive Support Without Entering the War

Although Italy has refused to join the offensive operations against Iran, the government has not completely withdrawn from regional security efforts.

Meloni said Italy may provide defensive assistance to partner countries facing Iranian attacks, including potential air defense support for Gulf states. Italian officials described these measures.

The government has also deployed a naval unit to Cyprus to support European partners after missile strikes linked to the conflict affected the eastern Mediterranean. These actions reflect what Italian officials describe as a defensive posture rather than participation in the war itself.

Europes Cautious Response

Italys position highlights the broader caution among many European governments as the war expands across the Middle East.

Several countries have expressed concern about escalation and called for diplomatic solutions while avoiding direct military involvement. At the same time, governments across Europe are increasingly focused on protecting their citizens, military personnel, and economic interests in a region that remains central to global energy markets.

For Italy, the approach has been to distance itself from the fighting while preparing for the potential consequences of a prolonged regional conflict.

As Meloni told lawmakers, Italy is not at war and does not intend to enter one. The governments priority, she said, is preventing further escalation while protecting Italian citizens and forces already stationed across the Middle East.
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Oscars 2026: Conan OBrien takes a thinly veiled swipe at Donald Trump in his opening monologue

Without mentioning US President Donal Trump, Conan O Brien delivered a line that quickly caught attention and drew laughs both inside the theater and across social media.









Host Conan O'Brien speaks onstage during the Oscars show at the 98th Academy Awards in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, U.S., March 15, 2026. REUTERS Conan O'Brien joked about Trump at the Academy Awards ceremony

He quipped about the "small penis theater" without naming Trump

The Trump-Kennedy Center renaming sparked controversy in DC Did our AI summary help?
Oscars 2026: Palestinian actor Motaz Malhees misses Academy Awards due to US President Donald Trump's travel ban, actor says, I am not allowed to enter, its hurts

Palestinian actor Motaz Malhees could not attend the 2026 Oscars due to a Trump-era travel ban, despite starring in the nominated film The Voice of Hind Rajab about a Gaza tragedy.









Oscars 2026: Palestinian actor Motaz Malhees misses academy awards due to Trump's travel ban, actor says, "I am not allowed to enter, its hurts" Motaz Malhees missed Oscars due to US travel ban on Palestinians

The Voice of Hind Rajab up for Best International Feature Film

Malhees is sad but hopes film sparks global dialogue Did our AI summary help?
Priyanka Chopra shares stunning behind-the-scene pics of her Oscars look

Priyanka Chopra gave fans a stylish peek into her Oscars 2026 preparations, sharing elegant behind-the-scenes photos from Hollywoods biggest night. The actor later took to Instagram to reveal moments from her red carpet look at the ceremony, where she arrived alongside her husband Nick Jonas, turning heads with their glamorous appearance.









Priyanka Chopra shares pics from her Oscars look Priyanka Chopra stuns in custom white Dior gown at Oscars 2026

She presented Best International Feature Film with Javier Bardem

Priyanka shared BTS photos and posed with Nick Jonas Did our AI summary help?
Zendayas ring steals attention at Oscars 2026 amid Tom Holland wedding rumours

Zendaya turned heads at the 2026 Academy Awards, but fans were quick to notice more than just her stunning gown. As she joined Robert Pattinson on stage to present the Best Director award, speculation swirled online over the rings on her finger, fuelling rumours that she may have quietly married fiance Tom Holland.









Was Zendaya wearing her wedding ring? Zendaya's Oscars rings spark Tom Holland marriage rumors

Zendaya and Tom Holland haven't confirmed their relationship.

Zendaya seen wearing a thin gold ring at multiple recent events Did our AI summary help?
Father's smoking addiction can increase child's diabetes risk, warns study

Smoking Is injurious to health, so we know. But a new study hints that fathers nicotine use might impact how their children process sugar. Changes in insulin, glucose, and liver function could raise the risk of diabetes.









Health risks of smoking: According to the study, fathers nicotine use can influence how their children handle sugar, potentially increasing the risk of diabetes and other metabolic diseases (Image: Pexels) Fathers' nicotine use may alter children's sugar metabolism

Male nicotine use linked to higher diabetes risk in offspring

Nicotine may cause lasting metabolic changes in offspring. Did our AI summary help?
How to control cholesterol naturally: Keep your heart healthy with lifestyle changes, statins, and more

Natural ways to lower cholesterol levels: High cholesterol often develops silently. Some warning signs include chest discomfort and yellowish fatty skin deposits. A new guideline lists key ways on managing lipids and cholesterol to prevent heart attacks and strokes.









Cholesterol control is not just about lowering numbers on a blood test. It is about understanding a persons cardiovascular risk and taking early action to prevent damage (Image: Pexels) New guidelines stress early cholesterol monitoring and prevention

Lifestyle changes and statins help lower LDL and heart risk

Doctors customize cholesterol treatment based on personal risk factors Did our AI summary help?
Celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck returns for his 32nd Oscars Governors Ball, serving 70 dishes, 7,000 glasses of champagne and 2,000 gold chocolate Oscars.

Did our AI summary help?

Ever wondered what celebrities eat after the Oscars ceremony? From truffle chicken pot pie to gold-dust chocolate Oscars, heres a look inside Wolfgang Pucks lavish Governors Ball menu. (Images: wolfgangpuck/ instagram)
CCI 'getting ready' to act on anti-trust AI practises, says chairperson Ravneet Kaur

CCI is also looking at anti-trust issues in sports, civil aviation, paints and varnishes and the liquor sectors, Kaur says









"We look at competition leading to success based on merit," said Kaur. CCI targets fair competition in sports, aviation, paints, liquor.

CCI prepares to address anti-competitive practices in AI.

90 percent of anti-trust cases have been resolved by CCI. Did our AI summary help?
LPG Cylinder Rates Today (March 16): Energy supplies set to improve as Indian tankers Shivalik, Nanda Devi cross Strait of Hormuz; check city-wise rates

In its daily situation update, authorities said oil marketing companies have not reported any supply shortages at petrol pumps or LPG distributorships









Today Gas Price on March 16, 2026 LPG rates rise amid Iran war, but supply remains stable in India

Commercial LPG supply issues affect hospitality businesses

Government urges calm, assures adequate petrol and LPG stocks Did our AI summary help?
Russian oil price in India hits record as demand for Urals grows

The spike follows higher global oil prices amid the ongoing war in the Middle East. The discount on Russias crude shipped to Indian ports narrowed to $4.80 a barrel versus the global benchmark









Urals crude on Indias west coast reached $98.93 a barrel on Friday, according to data from Argus Media
Reliance signs $3 billion green ammonia supply deal with South Korea's Samsung C&T

Supply under the deal will begin in the second half of fiscal year 2029, the Indian conglomerate said in an exchange filing

Reuters March 16, 2026 / 21:00 IST























Reliance said it is developing a clean-energy manufacturing ecosystem that includes solar modules, battery energy storage systems and electrolysers.
Retrofitted aircraft may help Air India ease EASA safety concerns

The upgraded aircraft, featuring refreshed cabins, are expected to address several issues flagged during European inspections, including broken seats and faulty tray tables









A new Air India aircraft Air India's latest SAFA score with EASA is 1.6, down from 1.96

It is still at elevated level compared to Lufthansa, British Airways

Refurbished Boeing 787 could bring down Air India's score this year Did our AI summary help?
MC EXCLUSIVE Temasek, ChrysCapital in shortlist for EQTs stake in CitiusTech

EQT is looking at a valuation north of $2.2 billion for CitiusTech, with the last round with co-investor Bain Capital struck at $2.45 billion









Swedish private equity firm EQT, picked up a majority stake in CitiusTech, a global technology services, consulting, and business solutions enterprise focused on the healthcare and life sciences segments, in 2019, and later sold part stake to peer Bain Capital Temasek, ChrysCapital shortlisted to buy EQT's Citius Tech stake

EQT seeks full exit; Bain Capital remains co-owner of Citius Tech

Valuation gap: Sellers want $2.2B+, buyers offer $1.5-1.8B Did our AI summary help?

Ashwin Mohan is Editor (Deals) at Moneycontrol and leads the M&A, private equity and equity capital market transactions coverage. He anchors the video show 'Deal Central ' and tweets at @ashwinmohansays. He has previously worked with ET NOW, CNBC TV-18 and The Times of India.
KP Singh saw the biggest decline, with his wealth falling over 23 percent so far in 2026 to $11 billion
Government plans unemployment estimates for nearly 50 major cities to deepen labour market tracking

City-level employment data covering major urban centres such as Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru may begin in the second half of the year









Govt plans to track city level unemployment Government to publish city-level unemployment data for 50 cities

Major cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru to be included

City-level data aims to improve policy insights and job tracking Did our AI summary help?
MC EXCLUSIVE India moves to secure 44% output from Canadian potash project to boost fertiliser supplies

India is looking to tap into the Saskatchewan-based Karnalyte potash project in Canada in which Gujarat State Fertilizers holds a 47.73% stake









FM informed the Lok Sabha that India currently holds 163 lakh metric tonnes of fertiliser stocks India may secure 44 percent output from Canadian potash project

Deal could provide India 275,000 tonnes of potash annually

Negotiations underway as Canadian partner seeks higher investment Did our AI summary help?
Induction stoves, ready-to-cook meals demand surges amid LPG supply jitters

There has been a noticeable uptick in demand for ready-to-cook foods, as more consumers shift to induction stoves

Team Moneycontrol March 17, 2026 / 09:10 IST























File photo Consumers panic-buy induction stoves amid LPG supply concerns

Ready-to-cook food sales surge as cooking alternatives sought

Iran allows two LPG vessels to reach India, easing shortage Did our AI summary help?
MakeMyTrip evaluates India IPO, merges RedBus into local entity as part of restructuring

The company believes that an India listing can be a catalyst to further boost its brand in its core market, strengthen its leadership in India and support longer-term growth.









Tipco Engineering India IPO News
Fino Payments Bank shares crash 16% even as lender clarifies on ED probe reports

The lender reiterated that it does not directly or indirectly engage in or promote any gaming or betting activities through any platform, website or channel









Fino Payments Bank shares crash 16% even as lender clarifies on ED probe reports Fino Payments Bank shares fell 16% after scrutiny reports

Bank clarified it's only under DGGI investigation, not PMLA

Deposit balances hit Rs 2,900 crore, 1.5 lakh new accounts added Did our AI summary help? FPB01 FPB01 NSE/BSE Select NSE LIVE BSE LIVE Day High

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India must develop longer tenure derivative contracts, says former SEBI WTM Ananth Narayan

Narayan suggested that regulator and exchanges could explore whether margin requirements on longer-tenure contracts are too conservative and if they can be recalibrated.









India must develop longer-tenure derivatives contracts, says former SEBI WTM Ananth Narayan India's derivatives market depends on ultra-short-term contracts.

Longer contracts needed for improved hedging and price discovery

Narayan suggested review of margin requirements on longer-tenure contracts Did our AI summary help?
SEBI alleged that the delay in winding up the scheme was in violation of provisions under the SEBI (Alternative Investment Funds) Regulations, 2012.
SEBI revises settlement guarantee fund norms for commodity derivatives clearing corporations

SEBI has also inserted a new provision allowing the regulator to grant exemptions or relaxations from strict enforcement of SGF rules in the commodity derivatives segment on a case-by-case basis.









The Securities and Exchange Board of India SEBI revises SGF rules for commodity derivatives clearing firms

Stress tests now need default of 3+ clearing members

SEBI may exempt SGF rules based on market conditions Did our AI summary help?
Abhinav Tiwari Research Analyst at Bonanza

Indian equity markets finally caught a breather on Monday, March 16, 2026, snapping a painful three-day losing streak in what was a rollercoaster of a session. For much of the day, the markets couldn't

make up their mind  swinging between gains and losses  but a strong burst of buying in the final hour settled the debate. At close, the Sensex was up 938.93 points or 1.26 percent at 75,502.85, and the Nifty gained 257.70 points or 1.11 percent to end at 23,408.80, clawing back above the 23,400 mark that bulls had been desperate to defend.

The broader market, however, didn't quite join the party. The Nifty Midcap index slipped 0.3 percent and the Nifty Smallcap index fell 0.5 percent, suggesting the recovery was largely a large-cap story

driven by institutional buying rather than broad-based confidence. Sectorally, auto, bank, FMCG, and metal were the ones doing the heavy lifting, rising between 0.3 and 1 percent. Media, oil and gas, pharma, realty, and capital goods couldn't find their footing, losing between 0.5 and 2.7 percent.

On the macro front, the rupee continued to struggle, hovering near the 9293 range against the dollar as foreign money kept flowing out. There was a sliver of good news on the geopolitical side 

Iran indicated it would allow most nations' ships safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, which took some heat off crude-sensitive markets. That said, Brent crude stayed stubbornly above $104 a

barrel, and with India's WPI inflation climbing to an 11-month high of 2.13 percent in February, the macro picture remains far from comfortable.

The big stock story of the day was IDBI Bank, which crashed 17 percent after reports emerged that the government might be walking away from its long-awaited majority stake sale in the lender  a

bitter pill for privatisation watchers. Meanwhile, Tejas Networks jumped 5 percent on being picked for a 4G expansion project in South Asia, Bajel Projects surged 20 percent after landing an EPC contract

worth over 700 crore, and Izmo added 5 percent following a fresh partnership with CCRAFT and Alcyon Photonics.

The broader trend is still fragile, and with crude prices elevated, FII selling persistent, and global cues mixed, volatility isn't going anywhere. Aligning with quality large-caps in banking and FMCG where

the recent sell-off has made valuations look a lot more reasonable, and keep a close eye on how the geopolitical situation and the rupee evolve from here.
Tejas Networks shares rise up to 8% as firm gets order for 4G network expansion project in South Asia

The company's multiband radio products will be deployed at multiple locations for a mobile network in South Asia









Tejas Networks shares rise up to 8% as firm gets order for 4G network expansion project in South Asia Tejas Networks shares rose up to 8% after new 4G RAN order

Multiband radio products to be deployed across South Asia network

Tejas signed agreement with NEC to supply 5G massive MIMO radios Did our AI summary help? TN TN NSE/BSE Select NSE LIVE BSE LIVE Day High

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ExxonMobil and Chevron chiefs tell US officials volatility may intensify as Strait of Hormuz shipping slows and crude climbs above $100
Can students get credit cards in India? Here are the safest ways to start

Students can access credit cards in India, but the safest options usually involve parental support or fixed deposits.









Representative image Students in India often get credit cards backed by fixed deposits

Add-on cards linked to parents help students manage expenses

Fintechs offer secured cards with low deposits for students Did our AI summary help?
Can you nominate different people for different bank accounts?

Many people assume the nominee has to be the same everywhere, but banking rules are actually more flexible than that.









Representative image Each bank account can have a different nominee.

Nominee can be updated anytime through a simple process.

Nominee receives funds but may not be the legal owner. Did our AI summary help?
Among flexi cap schemes, HDFC Flexi Cap Fund recorded the highest inflow during the month, attracting Rs 3,003.76 crore, according to data from ACE MF.
Insurance claim rejected? How to take the complaint to IRDAI without getting stuck in the process

When a claim is denied, many policyholders assume theres nothing left to do. In reality, theres a clear escalation path if you believe the rejection isnt justified.









Representative image Rejected insurance claims can be appealed step by step

Policyholders can escalate complaints to IRDAI or ombudsman

Proper documentation is key for successful claim resolution Did our AI summary help?
Ola Electric to raise Rs 2,000 crore for its battery arm Ola Cell Technologies

The fundraise comes amid Ola Electric's efforts to restructure operations and shore up its balance sheet, as it tries to claw back market share and arrest the recent slide in the sale of its electric two wheelers.









Ola Electric to undertake restructuring Ola Electric to raise up to Rs 2000 crore by selling OCT stake

OCT operates India's first gigafactory in Tamil Nadu

Ola plans battery cell expansion and new product launches Did our AI summary help?

Invite your friends and family to sign up for MC Tech 3, our daily newsletter that breaks down the biggest tech and startup stories of the day
Invite your friends and family to sign up for MC Tech 3, our daily newsletter that breaks down the biggest tech and startup stories of the day
Bajel Projects shares jump 10% on order win worth over Rs 700 crore from MSETCL

Bajel Projects Share Price | Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Co. (MSETCL) has awarded a contract, which is to be executed in 23 months.









Bajel Projects BP06 BP06 NSE/BSE Select NSE LIVE BSE LIVE Day High

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Bandhan Bank stock falls 10% to hit lower circuit, as promoter explores stake sale, IPO to facilitate investor exits

Bandhan Bank's move exploring stake sale or launching an IPO is aimed at providing an exit route for long-term institutional investors such as IFC and GIC, while also helping address regulatory requirements related to promoter shareholding in the company.









Bandhan Bank Bandhan Bank shares drop 7% on stake sale news

Promoter may sell stake or launch IPO to exit long-term investors

Jefferies hired to explore options; board discussed restructuring Did our AI summary help? BB09 BB09 NSE/BSE Select NSE LIVE BSE LIVE Day High

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IDBI Bank stock crashes 16% after reports govt may scrap majority stake sale due to low price bids

The government is likely to scrap the bids received for selling its majority stake in IDBI Bank as the offers fell short of the reserve price set for the transaction, according to reports.









IDBI Bank IDBI Bank shares fell 13.55 percent after sale process reports

Government may scrap IDBI Bank stake sale due to low bids

Sale process could restart later if market conditions improve Did our AI summary help?
India to announce steps within this week to support exporters hit by West Asia disruptions

The government has set up an inter-ministerial group under the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) to monitor the situation closely and address exporters concerns.









The government has set up an inter-ministerial group under the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) to monitor the situation closely and address exporters concerns. India to aid exporters amid West Asia disruptions

Daily meetings held to address exporters' issues

Exports expected to reach $860 billion despite regional issues Did our AI summary help?
'550 nationals crossed over from Iran to Armenia, 90 individuals to Azerbaijan': MEA

The government said the Indian embassy in Tehran remains fully operational and is coordinating assistance on the ground. Indian students in the Iranian capital have been relocated to safer cities outside Tehran as a precautionary measure.









Randhir Jaiswal
Aligarh BJP MP opposes Eid namaz at Numaish Ground: Whats Ramzan?

I don't know what Ramzan or Eid is. There is no need to give them the Numaish Ground. They have Eidgah for offering prayers, says Satish Kumar Gautam.









Satish Gautam has represented the Aligarh Lok Sabha constituency since 2014. BJP MP opposes Eid prayers at Aligarh's Numaish Ground

Gautam claims Muslims get disproportionate government benefits

Opposition condemns remarks as divisive and insensitive Did our AI summary help?
Tehran has also sought supplies of certain medicines and medical equipment, according to one of the sources, an Iranian official.
CJI Surya Kant advocates doing away with uniforms for judges, advocates in family courts

CJI Kant suggested that the presiding judges and advocates in the family courts should not come in uniforms.

PTI March 16, 2026 / 22:11 IST























CJI Justice Surya Kant (file image) CJI Surya Kant: Family courts should drop robes to ease child fears

He suggests creating a familiar, fear-free atmosphere in courts

Family courts should focus on repairing human relationships Did our AI summary help?
Former CJI Ranjan Gogois Rajya Sabha tenure ends with 53% attendance, no questions, one debate speech

Digital records of the Rajya Sabha show that Gogoi signed the attendance register for just over half of the sittings during his tenure, considerably lower than the average attendance of around 80% for members.









Former Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi Ranjan Gogoi ended his six-year Rajya Sabha term with 53% attendance

He defended the Delhi Amendment Bill in a single debate speech.

Vice President praised Gogoi's legal acumen and contributions Did our AI summary help?
Mahmudabad had approached the Supreme Court challenging his arrest and seeking to quash two first information reports (FIRs) registered against him over Facebook posts on Operation Sindoor
MC EXCLUSIVE India to seek vessel-by-vessel clearance from Iran for Strait of Hormuz transit: Govt sources

An Indian crude oil tanker Jag Laadki has safely sailed from UAEs Fujairah carrying 81000 MT Murban crude oil and is safely en route to India, shipping ministry said.









LPG tanker Shivalik carrying 46,000 metric tonnes of LPG will reach India today at around 5 PM at Mundra port India seeks vessel-wise clearance from Iran for Hormuz passage

LPG tanker Shivalik and crude oil tanker Jag Laadki arrive at Mundra port

22 Indian-flagged vessels currently in the west Strait of Hormuz Did our AI summary help?
Data from the previous financial year highlights the scale of Indias dependence on West Asia. Of the 5.64 million tonnes of urea imported, about 70% came from Oman, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, with Oman being the single largest supplier
India will sign US trade deal after Washington readies new tariff structure: Source

The agreement had initially been expected to be signed in March, but the US courts ruling rendered earlier reciprocal tariffs invalid, prompting the Trump administration to work on a new tariff framework for global trade.









Talks between India and the United States are continuing in parallel to resolve outstanding issues, including non-tariff barriers and sectoral tariffs imposed under Section 232. India-US trade deal signing awaits new US tariff structure.

US-Israel-Iran conflict may slightly affect India-Gulf trade.

India plans support measures to maintain export targets. Did our AI summary help?
Iran war: UAE orders stern action against 19 Indians for 'misleading' posts

The action follows extensive monitoring of digital platforms by authorities to curb the spread of fabricated information and artificial content intended to incite public disorder and undermine stability.









Representative photo UAE detains 35 for sharing false war-related content online

19 Indians face fast-track trial over fake video charges

Offences carry at least 1 year jail and AED 100,000 fine in UAE Did our AI summary help?
Jaishankar says India in talks with Iran to reopen Strait of Hormuz amid energy supply concerns

New Delhi believes it is more productive to 'reason and coordinate' with Tehran to find a way forward rather than avoid engagement, the minister said









The movement of ships is currently being handled on a case-by-case basis, according to Jaishankar India in talks with Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz

Ship movements handled case-by-case, no blanket deal yet

Two Indian LPG carriers crossed the Strait, en route to India Did our AI summary help?
Mamata Banerjee intensifies attack on BJP, says 'attack my house... we know how to resist

Banerjee, a day after the Election Commission announced the poll dates for upcoming elections, addressed a rally in Kolkata, where she accused the saffron party of deliberately targeting the ruling party in Bengal.









Mamata Banerjee Mamata Banerjee challenges BJP to target TMC leaders' homes

Four arrested for throwing stones at minister's home

West Bengal elections scheduled for April 23 and 29 Did our AI summary help?
Mamata Banerjee vs Suvendu Adhikari 2.0: Will history repeat in West Bengal polls?

The decision to field Adhikari from the constituency signals BJPs aggressive strategy to challenge the Trinamool Congress leadership on its home turf.









In 2021, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee took the fight to BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari by contesting in Nandigram. BJP fields Suvendu Adhikari in Bhabanipur against Mamata Banerjee

Adhikari will also contest from Nandigram, his 2021 victory seat

West Bengal polls to be held in two phases, votes counted May 4 Did our AI summary help?
'Motivated, biased: MEA slams USCIRF report recommending sanctions on RSS, R&AW

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that the USCIRFs report was motivated and Indias biased characterisation" and also pointed to attacks on Hindu temples in the United States.









Randhir Jaiswal India rejects USCIRF report as biased and motivated

USCIRF urges sanctions on Indian entities over religious freedom

MEA cites attacks on Hindu temples in US in response Did our AI summary help?
Rajya Sabha election results today: Counting to begin at 5 pm as voting held for 37 seats across 10 states - Check full details

Before voting began, 26 candidates were elected unopposed across seven states, reducing the number of seats going to the polls.









Rajya Sabha Elections Voting underway for 37 Rajya Sabha seats across 10 states

Counting starts at 5 pm; results expected later in the evening

Bihar, Odisha, Haryana contests may affect NDA strength Did our AI summary help?
Rajya Sabha polls: Tight contests loom in Bihar, Odisha, Haryana after 26 elected unopposed

The biennial elections are for 37 seats: seven in Maharashtra, four in Odisha, six in Tamil Nadu, five in West Bengal, three in Assam, five in Bihar, two in Chhattisgarh, two in Haryana, one in Himachal Pradesh, and two in Telangana.









(Representative Image) Twenty-six leaders elected unopposed in Rajya Sabha polls

Contests remain in Bihar, Odisha, and Haryana for final seats

Voting and counting scheduled today, results expected soon Did our AI summary help?
Did our AI summary help?
Strait of Hormuz tensions: Will India cut LNG dependence on the Gulf?

Prices have surged to around $2425 per MMBtu but authorities are prioritising supply security over cost in the short term to maintain essential services.









India likely to reduce LNG dependence on Gulf due to supply disruptions

India likely to expand LNG sourcing to US, Australia, Africa, and others

Supply security prioritized over cost as global LNG prices rise Did our AI summary help?
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi observed that the appropriate forum to examine the issue was the high court.

The petition was filed against a December 10, 2025 order of the Madhya Pradesh High Court that allowed disposal of the incinerated waste at Pithampur in Dhar district.
'Their excesses can cause harm to their survival': HD Devegowda writes to Sonia Gandhi, urges Congress leaders to behave in Parliament

Calling Sonia Gandhi 'the eldest in the ranks of the Opposition', Devegowda urged the Congress veteran to reign in on her party leaders.









Former Indian Prime Minister and JD (S) leader Devegowda. HD Devegowda urges Sonia Gandhi to restore Parliament decorum

He objects to Congress MPs' disruptive protests and blockades

Devegowda warns chaos may harm democracy's foundations Did our AI summary help?
USCIRF recommends sanctions on RSS, R&AW; calls India country of 'particular concern'

The commission designated India as a country of particular concern and urged Washington to link arms sales and trade policies to the state of religious freedom in the country.









The report also cited communal clashes in states such as Maharashtra, Odisha, and Uttar Pradesh, blaming groups like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), an RSS affiliate, for instances of violence. USCIRF urges US to sanction RSS and R&AW for religious violations

India labeled a "country of particular concern" by USCIRF

India's External Affairs Ministry has not responded to the report Did our AI summary help?
West Asia conflict disrupts flights as Indian carriers cancel 4335 services, aviation minister tells Lok Sabha

Naidu also informed the House that almost 2,197,80 people have still moved between India and the region during this period of tensions in West Asia.









The Ministry of Civil Aviation said it is keeping a close watch on the evolving situation and the resulting impact on air connectivity between India and West Asian countries. Over 4,000 India-West Asia flights cancelled amid security crisis

Authorities monitor airfares, coordinate with airlines for safety.

Travellers advised to check with airlines for updated schedules Did our AI summary help?
West Bengal elections: Opinion poll predicts edge for TMC but big rise in BJP's seat tally

The elections in West Bengal will take place in two phases on April 23 and 29. The counting of votes will be held on May 4.









Mamata Banerjee
Whats behind Irans Hormuz passage for 2 Indian tankers? Jaishankar says talks yielded some results

This is ongoing. If it is yielding results for me, I would naturally continue to look at it. Certainly, from India's perspective, it is better that we reason and we coordinate and we get a solution, says EAM.









External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar Two Indian gas tankers passed safely through the Strait of Hormuz

Jaishankar says diplomatic talks with Iran are showing results

Situation remains fluid with more Indian ships in the region Did our AI summary help?
OPINION | In week 3 of US-Israel-Iran war, theres a risk of water infrastructure being targeted

US bombing Kharg Island is potentially an inflection point. If both sides dont exercise a modicum of restraint, parts of the region can become unhabitable for a while









Kharg Island is a critical economic and military site.
In this edition of Moneycontrol Pro Panorama: Why is the rupee falling despite domestic strength? The answer could be Hormuz.

India and China have strong reasons to take initiatives to create a suitable political climate that can lead to a de-escalation in the conflict

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Harish Rana was moved to palliative care on March 16, following a far-reaching Supreme Court verdict. His lawyer explains why its inappropriate to label it passive euthanasia

Shishir Tripathi is a journalist and researcher based in Delhi. He has worked with The Indian Express, Firstpost, Governance Now, and Indic Collective. He writes on Law, Governance and Politics. Views are personal, and do not represent the stand of this publication.
Bihar Rajya Sabha battle: Why NDA needs 3 cross-votes for a clean sweep

While the NDA is confident of securing four seats, its fifth candidate, Shivesh Kumar, would require at least three cross-votes from the Opposition for the alliance to achieve a clean sweep.









The Bihar Legislative Assembly has a total strength of 243 MLAs Bihar Rajya Sabha polls see 6 candidates for 5 seats.

NDA likely to win 4 seats, needs cross-votes for fifth.

Opposition aims for 1 seat with support from smaller parties. Did our AI summary help?
Youth to shape Assam polls, women voters likely decisive in Kerala

Young voters make up nearly 29% of Assams electorate, while women account for a majority of voters in Kerala and Puducherry









Youth would decide Assam Youth voters form 28.8 percent of Assam's electorate.

Women voters are the key swing group in Kerala at 50.9 percent.

West Bengal votes in two phases; results announced May 4. Did our AI summary help?
Australian techie uses ChatGPT, AlphaFold to create personalised cancer vaccine for his ill dog

Australian techie Paul Conyngham used ChatGPT and AlphaFold to develop a personalised mRNA vaccine, reportedly shrinking his dog Roses tumour and saving her life.
'People who work behind...': Bengaluru startup founder highlights emotional side of employee appraisals

Bengaluru startup founder Raj Vikramaditya shared a post showing how an employees appraisal brought joy not just to him, but also to his family, earning praise on X.
Artemis II Mission: NASA unveils how astronauts will live and work on 10-day trip to Moon

Artemis II mission will mark humanitys first crewed lunar flight in over 50 years. NASA unveils a 10-day plan of living and working for astronauts who will fly to Moon.
One of the Worlds Rarest Sea Turtles found on Texas Beach was covered in green fur, alarming scientists

Worlds rarest, a Kemps ridley sea turtle was found stranded on a Texas beach covered in strange green fur. Its green fur appearance raised concern among scientists who worked to rescue and rehabilitate this endangered turtle.
Solar panels on Moon? Japans 6,800-mile Lunar Ring project could power Earth

A Japanese company proposed a concept of 'luna ring' that would extend about 6,800 miles (11,000 km) around the Moon and reach roughly 250 miles (400 km) in width. Scientists in Japan are looking forward to work on this project.









Japan is planning to build a luna ring around the Moon that will power Earth forever. (Image: Shimizu Corporation) Japanese firm suggests Luna Ring solar panels around Moon's equator

Luna Ring may send clean energy to Earth using microwaves or lasers

Robots may build the Luna Ring, transforming global energy supply Did our AI summary help?
Whats happening under Tamil Nadus sand? Over 200,000 baby turtles took their first steps into the sea

Over 200,000 sea turtle eggs who were being nurtured in Tamil Nadu hatcheries took their first steps in the sea, marking this a remarkable conservation effort.









Olive Ridley sea turtle babies took their first steps towards sea in Tamil Nadu. (Image: X/@supriyasahuias) Over 200,000 Olive ridley turtle eggs protected in Tamil Nadu.

51 hatcheries safeguard nests and release baby turtles to the sea.

Conservation efforts help ensure turtles return to same beaches. Did our AI summary help?
Meta expands news partnerships as it works to improve AI responses

Meta has signed new agreements with major international publishers to improve the quality of information surfaced by Meta AI, giving the assistant better access to timely news and global reporting.

Sarthak Singh March 16, 2026 / 09:26 IST























Meta Meta partners with major publishers to improve AI news accuracy

New deals include Le Figaro, Prisa, and Suddeutsche Zeitung

Meta AI to link original articles for reliable info Did our AI summary help?

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OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says AI could be sold like electricity

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says artificial intelligence could eventually be sold like electricity or water, with users paying based on usage as demand for compute and infrastructure continues to rise.

Sarthak Singh March 16, 2026 / 07:37 IST























OpenAI Sam Altman says AI may become a basic utility like electricity.

AI providers may switch to usage-based pricing.

AI access may be limited by infrastructure and electricity. Did our AI summary help?

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Indians swap Dubai for Dimapur as Iran-Israel war pushes travellers to domestic holidays

The surge in domestic travel demand could translate into a strong summer for Indias tourism industry.









Summer Travel Shifts Home Indian tourists opt for domestic travel due to Middle East tensions

Bookings surge for Jaisalmer, Northeast, and other Indian spots

Rising airfares and route uncertainty drive move away from abroad Did our AI summary help?
Conflicting reports surround Irans new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khameneis health and whereabouts after US and Israeli strikes, with rumors of serious injury, possible evacuation to Moscow, and no official confirmation from Iranian or Russian authorities.

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Pakistans defence partnership with Saudi Arabia faces scrutiny as Islamabad avoids military support amid West Asia conflict, disappointing Riyadh. Pakistan seeks to balance ties with both Saudi Arabia and Iran, raising doubts about its reliability as an ally.

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Attack on Iran after Modi's visit: Israeli envoy reveals what happened after PM's departure

Azar said the regional situation was already volatile before Modis visit on February 2526, but Israel acted when what he described as an operational opportunity emerged after the Prime Ministers departure.









Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu PM Narendra Modi Israel struck Iran post-PM Modi's visit, citing timing reasons.

Israel says Iran's recent attacks caused less damage than before

Israel aims to neutralise nuclear, missile threats and oppression Did our AI summary help?
China's Baidu unveils Rs 240-a-month AI tool designed to automate routine office work

The Chinese tech company says its new cloud platform can handle tasks such as research, coding and customer support for a small monthly fee.









Baidu says the platform costs 17.8 yuan per month, about Rs 240. (Image credit: Reuters) Baidu launches Duclaw AI service for office task automation

Duclaw is cloud-based, priced at 17.8 yuan per month

AI agents can handle research, coding, and customer support tasks Did our AI summary help?
BofA agrees to settle claims it aided Epstein sex crimes

The tentative agreement was noted Monday in the court docket in the case. Terms of the deal were not immediately available









The same lawyers who previously secured settlements with JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Deutsche Bank AG over Epstein ties sued Bank of America in October
A protester holds a portrait of Iran's newly nominated supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei during a march against Middle East's war, triggered by the joint US-Israeli strikes, alongside a rally against racism, fascism and state violence, in Paris on March 14, 2026. (Photo by Martin LELIEVRE / AFP)
As disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz escalate, Saudi oil exports are increasingly routed through Yanbus Red Sea port. However, analysts say Yanbu cannot match Hormuzs capacity, faces higher costs and security risks, and is only a temporary workaround.

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Could Iran war delay Trumps China trip? Heres whats behind the uncertainty

Donald Trump signalled he may delay his China visit, pressing Beijing to support efforts to secure the Strait of Hormuz as rising oil prices and the Iran conflict reshape global diplomacy.









Trumps China visit uncertain amid Hormuz tensions
Drone attack sparks fire near Dubai airport, flights temporarily suspended | Watch

According to the Dubai Media Office, the drone struck a fuel tank near the airport, resulting in a blaze.









Following the incident, the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority announced a temporary suspension of flights at the airport as a precautionary measure.
Europe can't replicate India's Iran ties; New Delhi open to sharing engagement model, says Jaishankar

Jaishankar said each relationship with Iran "stands on its own merits," making direct comparisons difficult, though he added that India would be willing to share its approach with European capitals.









The EAM's remarks come amid reports that France and Italy have sought to engage Tehran to explore arrangements guaranteeing safe passage for their commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz. Jaishankar says India's Iran engagement is unique to its context

India discusses reopening Strait of Hormuz with Iran

No blanket arrangement for Indian ships; handled case-by-case Did our AI summary help?
From oil windfalls to Ukraine relief: 5 ways Iran war is helping Putin while the world looks elsewhere

At a time when the Kremlin is still fighting its war in Ukraine and dealing with Western sanctions, the turmoil in West Asia has unexpectedly strengthened Moscows position.









Russia's President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with Moscow-installed head of the Donetsk region, Russian-controlled Ukraine, at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 10, 2026. (Photo by Gavriil Grigorov / POOL / AFP) Analysts say Russia is benefiting from the US-Israel-Iran conflict, with higher oil prices boosting revenues, eased sanctions pressure, global focus shifting from Ukraine, US military resources redirected, and Moscow gaining diplomatic influence in the region. Did our AI summary help?
Gaza escape flights to South Africa, Indonesia linked to Israeli group: Report

The evacuations were organised through a company called Al-Majd, which presents itself online as a humanitarian organisation that supports Palestinian lives and provides aid to Muslim communities in conflict zones.









- Israeli group Ad Kan linked to Gaza evacuation flights, says AP

Flights arranged via Al-Majd to obscure Israeli involvement

Palestinians paid up to $2,000 to escape war-torn Gaza Did our AI summary help?
IEA says more emergency oil stocks available as war drags on

The International Energy Agency says it can release more oil reserves if needed after the Iran war disrupted supplies through the Strait of Hormuz and pushed global crude prices sharply higher.









International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, Iran war oil shock
Iran deal allowed safe passage for 2 Indian tankers through Hormuz: US Energy Secretary

The US has now officially acknowledged the diplomatic efforts that countries including India are employing to ensure the safe passage of tanker ships
Rocket trails are seen in the sky above the Israeli center coastal city of Netanya amid a fresh barrage of Iranian missile attacks on March 9, 2026. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP)
Trump says 7,000 US strikes have 'literally obliterated' Iran, calls on allies to help secure Strait of Hormuz

Trump said US forces had struck more than 7,000 military and commercial targets inside Iran. The president also claimed that Irans ability to retaliate had been drastically reduced.









US President Donald Trump -- File Photo
Iran accused the UAE of allowing US attacks on Iranian targets, escalating tensions after Iranian strikes on Fujairah port. The UAE denies the claims, citing self-defense. Analysts say Iran targets UAE due to its US ties and regional influence amid rising Gulf conflict.

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'Not NATOs war': Germany rejects Donald Trumps call for alliance role in Iran conflict

Germany said the Iran war triggered by US-Israeli strikes is not NATOs war, rejecting military involvement in reopening the Strait of Hormuz as Donald Trump pressures allies to secure the oil route.









Germany rejects NATO role in Iran war
Shipping through the strait has been virtually halted since the outbreak of the war, raising concerns over global oil flows as the waterway normally handles about a fifth of the worlds crude.
Profiles of three top Chinese defence scientists vanished from the Chinese Academy of Engineering website, sparking speculation of a possible purge amid ongoing anti-corruption campaigns in Chinas military and defence sectors. No official explanation has been given.

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Ready to stop hostilities if...: Israel spells out one condition to end war

Israel says it is ready to stop hostilities even as Tehran rejects ceasefire calls and fighting spreads across the region.









Israeli ambassador says military action has degraded Irans launch capability, but Tehran rejects ceasefire calls and vows to fight as long as it takes Israel says it may halt military action if Iran changes course

Israeli strikes weakened Iran's missile and drone abilities

Conflict has caused over 1,400 deaths and 18,000 injuries in Iran Did our AI summary help?
US President Donald Trump meets with Crown Prince and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC on November 18, 2025. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)
Shivalik docks at Gujarats Mundra port: Can it ease Indias LPG shortage and how big the vessel is

India boosts energy security as LPG carrier Shivalik docks at Mundra with 46,000 tonnes of cooking gas while Navy escorts and diplomatic talks aim to keep the Strait of Hormuz route open.









Shivalik docks at Mundra port: Can the tanker ease Indias LPG shortage and how big the vessel is
Drivers wait in a queue to refuel their auto rickshaws at a fuel station in Biyagama on the outskirts of Colombo on March 15, 2026. In Sri Lanka, authorities raised LPG prices by eight percent on March 11, a day after increasing fuel prices by a similar percentage. (Photo by Ishara S. KODIKARA / AFP)
Thai news anchors remove jackets on air to support energy-saving campaign

The gesture came as Thailand urges people to cut electricity use amid rising fuel costs linked to the Middle East conflict.









A presenter removed his jacket to promote less AC use. (Screengrab) Thai TV anchors removed jackets on air to promote energy saving

Government urges less air conditioning amid rising fuel costs

Wearing lighter clothes can cut electricity use. Did our AI summary help?
They have learned a good lesson: Iran FM Abbas Araghchi on US, Israel

Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said about 700 missiles and 3,600 drones had been fired at US and Israeli targets so far.









Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi Iran vows to take Middle East war "as far as necessary"

Iran launches strikes at US and Israeli targets across region

Saudi Arabia intercepts 60 drones; attacks disrupt UAE airports Did our AI summary help?
MC EXCLUSIVE They have realised a prolonged war: Why US faces challenges and seeks allies in Strait of Hormuz | Iran-Israel conflict

Former ambassador Anil Trigunayat says the US miscalculated the Iran war and now seeks international help to reopen the Strait of Hormuz as the conflict drags on and energy risks grow.









US miscalculation forces allies push in Hormuz
The Strait's blockade has sent global oil prices soaring by 40 to 50 percent, with crude trading around $100 per barrel as the Middle East conflict entered its third week.
Despite warnings Iran could block the Strait of Hormuz, Trump launched military action, confident the US could manage retaliation. Iran has disrupted shipping, raising oil prices. The conflict continues, with Trump facing tough choices amid rising casualties.

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Trumps call for Hormuz warships meets cold response from US allies

The narrow waterway is a crucial global energy corridor, carrying roughly one-fifth of the worlds traded oil from the Gulf to international markets.









Strait of Hormuz US allies cautious on Trumps call for warships in Hormuz Strait

Australia, Japan, South Korea decline or delay naval deployments

UK urges diplomacy, no firm commitments from allies so far Did our AI summary help?
Not a simple task: UK's Starmer on reopening Strait of Hormuz, refuses warship deployment

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer rejected Donald Trumps request to send warships to secure the Strait of Hormuz, as several US allies remain cautious about joining a naval coalition amid rising Iran tensions.









Starmer rejects Trumps Hormuz naval coalition plan
Trump says Irans new supreme leader 'dead or not,' US unsure whom to negotiate with

President Donald Trump says the United States does not know whether Irans new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei is dead or not, underscoring confusion in Washington over who it could negotiate with amid ongoing Middle East tensions.









We dont know if hes dead or not, Trump says of Irans new supreme leader
The U.S. President has also issued a sharp warning to European partners, saying the future of NATO could be at risk if member states do not help secure the strait.
The US is considering options to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, including a complex military operation to seize enriched uranium. Alternatives like dilution or destruction are discussed, but risks remain if Iran retains its stockpile and expertise.

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This handout satellite image taken by 2026 Planet Labs PBC shows a view of Iran's Kharg Island, which hosts the country's main crude export terminal and is responsible for the overwhelming majority of its oil shipments to the world, about 30 kilometres south of the mainland in the north of the Gulf, on February 22, 2026. (Photo by 2026 Planet Labs PBC / AFP)
The US has resumed the Green Card lottery with stricter rules, requiring passport details and scans to curb fraud. Indians remain excluded due to high migration numbers, so the changes wont affect them. The programme faces ongoing scrutiny and debate.

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US, China mull board of trade to manage bilateral economy ties

The United States and China are considering a new trade mechanism ahead of a possible summit between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping to manage tariffs, trade flows and broader economic ties.









US-China consider new mechanism to manage trade
Hezbollah says it targeted Israeli troops in Lebanese border towns

Hezbollah on Monday said it targeted Israeli troops and vehicles in at least three Lebanese border towns, after the Israeli army announced it had begun limited ground operations in Lebanon.

In three separate statements, the group said it targeted an Israeli site "in the border town of Aitaroun with a rocket salvo" as well as "a gathering of Israeli vehicles and soldiers" in Odaisseh with artillery shells, and "a gathering of Israeli vehicles and soldiers" and a Merkava tank in the town of Taybeh with a rocket salvo.
The US is considering using Navy escorts for commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz amid rising tensions with Iran, which have disrupted global oil shipping. The plan faces military challenges, and coalition support is uncertain as economic stakes remain high.

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From a barber in Pakistan praising a 'Hitler haircut' to a restaurant named after the Nazi leader in India, Der Spiegel writer Hasnain Kazim recounts the awkward moments that reveal a troubling fascination.
Why Europe is hesitating over Donald Trumps call to secure the Strait of Hormuz

European governments are demanding clarity from Donald Trump on the Iran war before committing warships to secure the Strait of Hormuz, citing strategic uncertainty and concerns over escalation.









Europe seeks clarity before joining Hormuz mission
Why oil executives say the global fuel crunch could worsen after Strait of Hormuz disruption

Senior executives from some of the worlds largest oil companies have warned the Trump administration in the US that the global energy crisis triggered by the Iran war may worsen in the coming weeks, largely because of the disruption in the Strait of Hormuz.









Strait of Hormuz AFP Closure of Strait of Hormuz disrupts global oil supply

Oil prices rise as shipping route blocks millions of barrels

US may release reserves, ease sanctions to stabilize markets Did our AI summary help?
Why Pakistan PM Sharif fears this one request from Saudi Arabia: 'Islamabad never imagined ...'

Pakistan prime minister Shehbaz Sharif pledged full solidarity and support for Saudi Arabia following a visit to the Middle Eastern kingdom last week.









Pakistan pledged full support to Saudi Arabia amid tensions

Mutual defence pact may force Pakistan into a difficult position

Pakistan aims to prevent escalation amid internal and external risks Did our AI summary help?
By Emmanuel T. Erediano

[email protected]

Variety News Staff

PACIFIC Islands Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education Commissioner Frankie Eliptico asked Senate Fiscal Affairs Committee Chair Sen. Jude U. Hofschneider and House Floor Leader Marissa Flores to help secure funding to maintain the CNMIs membership in the interstate compact.

In his letter, Eliptico, who also serves as senior vice president of Northern Marianas College, emphasized that WICHE membership is an investment that ensures CNMI residents continue to have affordable access to high-quality degree programs and professional training essential for building the local workforce.

He touted that partnership with WICHE has unlocked transformative educational opportunities for CNMI students.

Eliptico noted that for the last three years, CNMIs membership was funded through a technical assistance program grant from the Office of Insular Affairs. However, the grant application was not selected for funding in the 2025 grant cycle.

Fortunately, he said, the Guam government took the initiative to pay the full amount for fiscal year 2026 membership dues so that Guam residents and other Pacific Islands territories and Freely Associated States can continue participating in WICHE programs across the Pacific.

WICHE dues for the period July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026, are $174,500, shared equally among six Pacific jurisdictions  Guam, the CNMI, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Republic of Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, and American Samoa.

Eliptico also informed the lawmakers that WICHE leadership is now working with other U.S. Pacific territories and the FAS to determine and fulfill their respective shares of the membership costs.

Stressing the measurable and profound impact of CNMIs membership in WICHE, Eliptico told lawmakers that CNMI students saved a total of $1.5 million in tuition costs during the 20242025 academic year alone. By providing funding to maintain CNMIs seat in WICHE, the Legislature is directly reducing the financial burden on NMI families and ensuring that future nurses, engineers, and IT professionals can gain the expertise they need to return and serve the islands.

Emmanuel Arnold Erediano has a bachelor of science degree in Journalism. He started his career as police beat reporter. Loves to cook. Eats death threats for breakfast.
By Emmanuel T. Erediano

[email protected]

Variety News Staff

GOVERNOR David M. Apatang, in Executive Order 2026-3 on March 10, 2026, transferred the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation from the Office of the Governor to the Department of Labor to better serve the interests of the Commonwealth and its people.

In his order, the governor said he was transferring OVR to the department to achieve effective and efficient administration.

Created by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended by the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, OVR is a designated state entity tasked with providing vocational rehabilitation services for individuals with disabilities. It was overseen by the State Rehabilitation Advisory Council, which was part of the then-Department of Public Health. In 2025, Public Law 14-81 moved OVR to the Office of the Governor.

The governor noted that the primary purpose of OVR is to assist eligible individuals with disabilities in preparing for, securing, retaining, and regaining employment and independence. This mission closely aligns with the core functions of the Department of Labor, and OVR will continue to serve as the designated state agency for administering the CNMIs State Plan for vocational rehabilitation.

According to the EO, OVR will now be known as the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, headed by a director, a civil service employee reporting to and under the supervision of the Labor secretary.

The governor also ordered that during the transition, all OVR personnel will continue to exercise their functions without alteration, and the acting DVR director and the Labor secretary shall take all necessary and appropriate measures to facilitate an orderly transition upon the effective date of the EO.

Emmanuel Arnold Erediano has a bachelor of science degree in Journalism. He started his career as police beat reporter. Loves to cook. Eats death threats for breakfast.
Tankers sail in the Gulf, near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from northern Ras al-Khaimah, near the border with Omans Musandam governance, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in United Arab Emirates, March 11, 2026. REUTERS

TOKYO/PALM BEACH, Florida (Reuters)  President Donald Trumps demands for a coalition to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz appeared to fall on deaf ears on Monday as allies Japan and Australia said they were not planning to send navy vessels to the Middle East to escort ships through the vital waterway.

With the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran creating turmoil across the Middle East and shaking up global energy markets in its third week, Trump on Sunday insisted that nations relying heavily on oil from the Gulf have a responsibility to protect the strait through which 20% of the worlds energy transits.

Markets in Asia reacted cautiously, with Brent crude rising more than 1% above $104.50 and regional share markets mostly weaker amid concerns about the risk to Middle East oil facilities and after Trumps request for allies to get more involved.

Im demanding that these countries come in and protect their own territory because it is their territory, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on the way from Florida to Washington. Its the place from which they get their energy.

Trump said his administration has already contacted seven countries, but did not identify the countries. In a weekend social media post he hoped China, France, Japan, South Korea, Britain and others would participate.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, a staunch Trump supporter, said on Monday her country, constrained by its war-renouncing constitution, has no plan to dispatch naval vessels to escort ships in the Middle East from where it gets 95% of its oil.

We have not made any decisions whatsoever about dispatching escort ships. We are continuing to examine what Japan can do independently and what can be done within the legal framework, Takaichi told parliament.

Australia, another key Indo-Pacific security ally to the U.S. that also relies heavily on fuels made with Middle Eastern crude, said it will not send naval ships to assist in reopening the strait either.

We know how incredibly important that is, but thats not something that weve been asked or that were contributing to, Catherine King, a member of Prime Minister Anthony Albaneses cabinet, said in an interview with state broadcaster ABC.

Trump may delay Beijing visit

Trump told the Financial Times on Sunday he was expecting China to help unblock the strait before his scheduled meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing at the end of this month and might postpone his trip if it did not provide assistance.

I think China should help too because China gets 90% of its oil from the Straits, Trump said. We may delay, he said in reference to his visit if China did not offer support in the Gulf.

The Chinese foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Trump also ratcheted up pressure on European allies to help protect the strait, warning that NATO faces a very bad future if its members fail to come to Washingtons aid.

European Union foreign ministers will discuss on Monday bolstering a small naval mission in the Middle East but are not expected to decide on extending its role to the choked-off Strait of Hormuz, diplomats and officials say.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer discussed the need to reopen the strait with Trump, and with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, a Downing Street spokeswoman said on Sunday, while South Korea has said it would carefully review Trumps request.

Global air travel remains severely disrupted due to the Iran war which has closed or restricted key Middle Eastern hubs including Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi, forcing airlines to cancel thousands of flights and stranding tens of thousands of passengers.

Supplies of jet fuel are also becoming a concern, with authorities in Vietnam warning the countrys aviation industry to prepare for potential flight reductions from April after China and Thailand halted exports of jet fuel due to the Iran war.

Drones cause fire, disrupt traffic at Dubai airport

The disruption to energy markets caused by the Iran war is an abject lesson in the risks of relying on fossil fuels, according to the U.N. climate secretary.

Fossil fuel dependency is ripping away national security and sovereignty, and replacing it with subservience and rising costs, Simon Stiell, executive secretary of the U.N. climate change arm UNFCCC, will tell EU officials and government ministers at an event in Brussels on Monday.

Although some Iranian vessels have continued to pass and a few ships from other countries have successfully made the crossing, the passage has been effectively closed for most of the worlds tanker traffic since the United States and Israel attacked Iran on February 28.

Israel continued to launch strikes on Iran as well as Lebanon and Gaza, targeting militants from the Iran-backed Hezbollah and Hamas. The Israeli military said on Monday its troops had begun limited ground operations against positions in southern Lebanon held by Hezbollah.

Despite repeated claims from U.S. authorities to have destroyed Irans military capabilities, drone attacks continued to threaten Gulf states on Monday.

Dubai authorities said they had contained a fire but temporarily suspended flights at the airport after a drone attack hit a fuel tank. Saudi Arabia intercepted 34 drones in its eastern region in one hour, state media said. No injuries were reported in either incident.

U.S. officials responding to economic uncertainty over high oil prices predicted on Sunday that the war on Iran would end within weeks and that a drop in energy costs would follow, despite Irans assertion that it remains stable and strong and ready to defend itself.

Trump, who threatened more strikes on Irans main oil export hub Kharg Island over the weekend, has said previously that Iran wants to negotiate and that the U.S. was talking to Iran, but Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi earlier on Sunday disputed that claim.

We have never asked for a ceasefire, and we have never asked even for negotiations, Araqchi told CBS Face the Nation program. We are ready to defend ourselves for as long as it takes.
1) The Marshall Islands, here during a celebration of its May 1 Constitution Day, is the first nation in the world to establish a nationwide universal basic income program for all its citizens, soon to make its second quarterly payment in late March. Marshall Islands Journal photo

2) The Marshall Islands launched its universal basic income program last November, with Finance Minister David Paul, left, presenting a check to the first recipient, Bonjo Ned, with program administrator Bryan Edejer at right. Marshall Islands Journal photo

3) The "Lomalo" app is a digital wallet for the USDM1 digital currency going into use in the Marshall Islands for the universal basic income quarterly distributions. Photo by Giff Johnson

4) A view of the inside of the Lomalo digital wallet that was created for use with the new digital currency in the Marshall Islands known as USDM1. Photo by Giff Johnson

By Giff Johnson

For Variety

MAJURO  The new digital currency established with the backing of the Marshall Islands government will debut later this month to assist distribution of the countrys quarterly universal basic income program. But due to restrictions placed on the United States funding underwriting this years $26 million payment to all citizens of the Marshall Islands, it will not be a one-step distribution to the digital currency, a stablecoin known as USDM1.

The Marshall Islands government and advocates have touted the new digital currency USDM1 and its associated Lomalo digital wallet as a vehicle for distribution of the universal basic income or UBI payments particularly to isolated islanders. But it isnt a seamless process at this time.

This is because the Compact of Free Association trust fund  which is funding the UBI or, as they are known locally, Enra payments  allows only direct deposits to bank accounts or issuance of paper checks to eligible recipients of the Enra/UBI quarterly payments. Moreover, the USDM1 is still working through establishing relationships with domestic vendors so the digital currency can be used by recipients.

USDM1 is the worlds first sovereign, U.S. dollar-denominated digital bond issued on the Stellar blockchain by the Marshall Islands. It was launched in late 2025 and is a one-to-one U.S. Treasury-collateralized stablecoin-like digital bond. Promoters of the new digital currency option say it is a vehicle for delivering quarterly Enra payments to the countrys citizens, who are spread out across hundreds of thousands of square kilometers of ocean area on 24 atolls and single islands.

The second quarterly Enra payment is to be issued at the end of March to approximately 37,000 people, up from the 33,000 who received the first payment last November. All citizens who reside in the Marshall Islands are eligible to receive the payments, which accounts for the global uniqueness of the Marshall Islands UBI system.

The first quarter the payment per capita payment was just over $200. The upcoming payment is likely to be about $175 due to increased enrollment for the fixed amount of money for the current fiscal year.

Marshall Islands Social Security Administration Administrator Bryan Edejer confirmed that the new digital currency will be used for about 100 of the approximately 37,000 eligible citizens for the March payment.

The Enra funding cannot be paid directly into Enra recipients Lomalo digital wallets. Instead, people who want to use the USDM1 stablecoin digital currency for their payments must go through a two-step process of getting a paper check from the Marshall Islands Social Security Administration or MISSA and then converting that to USDM1.

We have proposed to the U.S. an amendment to include the USDM1 option, said Finance Minister David Paul, who is a backer of the digital currency program. In the meantime, those who wants their Enra in USDM1 should opt in with MISSA by having their (payment) issued out in checks first and then will have their checks converted into USDM1.

This process allows the Marshall Islands Social Security Administration to have a paper trail for accountability. All of this has to be documented, and the copy of that check will have to be voided and must be kept for auditing purposes, said Paul.

MISSA Administrator Edejer explained that: MISSA did not make any payments to the Lomalo wallet on the first Enra distribution because an onboarding with the company was a bit late. However, for the next one, MISSA will cater for at least 100 eligible recipients who opted for that wallet for collecting their payments.

At this stage, Lomalo is primarily being used for Enra-related functionality, including verifying benefit eligibility, distributing Enra payments, and enabling peer-to-peer transfers among approved participants, said Jeremy Coffey who is one of the principals involved in the USDM1 program.

Additional USDM1 is not currently available for direct retail purchase within the Lomalo wallet.

In terms the use of USDM1 in the RMI domestic market, Coffey said: We are currently running small-scale pilots with a limited number of local businesses. Once those pilots conclude successfully, we intend to announce a confirmed list of participating businesses, including via Facebook and other local channels.

How to exchange USDM1 digital currency for U.S. dollars is of great interest to potential customers, said Coffey.

Cash-out functionality is one of our most requested features and we understand how important it is to get it right, he said. We are currently testing integrations that will enable direct cash-outs.

Coffey said the current phase of the Lomalo wallet and USDM1 rollout is focused on strengthening financial access and the reliability of benefit distribution. Were sequencing our feature rollout in a way that prioritizes compliance, safety, and real utility for citizens. Overall, were running a few months ahead of where we thought wed be at this point. Thats largely down to enthusiasm for the product.
Diesel shortages and price hikes threaten Thailands fishing industry

Thailand's fishing industry faces collapse as rising diesel prices  potentially increasing by 10 Thai baht (31 cents) per liter  threaten to idle half of the country's 9,000-vessel fleet, making fishing trips financially unsustainable for small-scale operators.

Seafood prices are projected to skyrocket, with fuel stations refusing to fill portable containers, leaving many boats stranded and livelihoods at risk. Industry leaders urgently demand government intervention to prevent supply chain disruptions and economic fallout.

Global oil market volatility, worsened by Middle East conflicts, is driving the crisis. Even Thailand's subsidized "green diesel" may not offset rising costs, with operators facing an additional 7,000 to 10,000 baht ($217 to $310) per trip if prices exceed 30 baht (93 cents) per liter.

Fuel rationing policies intended to prevent hoarding have paralyzed small fishermen who rely on portable containers, unlike large trawlers with onboard tanks. Fishermen plead for exemptions to avoid financial ruin and seafood shortages.

Broader economic risks loom, including rising seafood costs for restaurants, declining tourism appeal and cascading disruptions to Thailand's food security and coastal economies. Without policy changes, the crisis could trigger widespread economic hardship.

The escalating cost of diesel, compounded by geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, has left Thailand's fishing industry in crisis  with half of its 9,000-vessel fleet expected to remain docked in the coming weeks.

Thai Fisheries Association (NFAT) President Mongkol Sukcharoenkana warns that rising fuel prices  potentially increasing by 10 Thai baht (31 cents) per liter  could make fishing trips financially unsustainable for small-scale operators. With seafood prices projected to skyrocket, the livelihoods of coastal fishermen hang in the balance as fuel stations refuse to fill containers, leaving many boats stranded.

Industry leaders are now pleading for government intervention before the crisis disrupts Thailand's seafood supply chain and sends shockwaves through local economies. The immediate trigger for this crisis stems from global oil market volatility, exacerbated by conflicts in the Middle East disrupting supply routes.

Thailand's fishing fleet relies on subsidized "green diesel" exempt from excise taxes, but even this advantage may not be enough to offset the looming price surge. Mongkol predicts that if diesel climbs beyond 30 baht (93 cents) per liter  the current frozen price  many operators will be unable to afford the 700 to 1,000 liters required per fishing trip, adding 7,000 baht ($217.63) to 10,000 baht ($310.91) in extra costs each voyage.

Given this, NFAT has urgently requested a meeting with Thai Transport Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn to push for a price cap. It argues that without intervention, seafood shortages and inflated prices will soon follow.

Adding to the strain, fuel rationing policies intended to prevent hoarding have inadvertently paralyzed small-scale fishermen who depend on portable containers to power their boats. Unlike larger commercial trawlers with onboard tanks, these independent operators cannot legally purchase diesel in jerry cans under new restrictions.

Empty nets, empty tables: Thai seafood industry on the brink

Kamon Kraiwattanusorn, a fisherman and seafood trader in the coastal city of Samut Sakhon, confirms that many boats are already immobilized, unable to refuel. "We understand the government's concern about stockpiling," he says, "but this policy has crippled the smallest players  those least able to absorb these shocks."

The Samut Sakhon Fisheries Association has petitioned authorities for an exemption, allowing registered fishermen to buy fuel in approved containers. Without this concession, they argue, thousands of families will lose their livelihoods, and Thailand's seafood supply chaina cornerstone of both domestic consumption and tourismwill suffer.

Restaurants, particularly those catering to international visitors, may soon face rising costs and dwindling supplies of fresh seafood  threatening a key attraction for Thailand's tourism-driven economy. According to BrightU.AI's Enoch, this one-two punch makes the kingdom less affordable for visitors while damaging its reputation as a culinary destination. This will lead to fewer tourists, hurting local businesses and accelerating economic strain under globalist-driven scarcity agendas.

Government assurances about sufficient fuel reserves offer little comfort to fishermen staring down financial ruin. The Thai Ministry of Energy has hinted at possible quota reductions for marine diesel, further squeezing an industry already on the brink. Industry groups warn that if fuel allocations are slashed, even large commercial vessels could be forced to cut operations, exacerbating the crisis.

As stakeholders scramble for solutions, the broader implications of this fuel shortage highlight Thailand's vulnerability to global energy shocks. The fishing industry's plight underscores how geopolitical instability abroad can swiftly translate into economic hardship at home, disrupting food security and livelihoods.

For now, coastal communities brace for the worst, hoping that policymakers will act before the fleet's engines fall silent  and Thailand's seafood tables run empty. If fuel prices climb unchecked and restrictions remain unmodified, Thailand may witness not just a fishing crisis, but a cascading economic disruption affecting millions.

Watch Glenn Beck explaining why a diesel shortage would lead to disaster in this clip.

This video is from the High Hopes channel on Brighteon.com.

Sources include:

X.com

World.ThaiPBS.or.th

HeyThailandNews.com

BrightU.ai

Brighteon.com
Former National Guard member with ISIS ties killed after opening fire at Old Dominion University

Former National Guardsman Mohamed Jalloh, a convicted ISIS supporter, fatally shot an ROTC instructor and injured two others before being killed by armed students in a classroom at Old Dominion University.

Jalloh, previously imprisoned for attempting to aid ISIS, had expressed intent to replicate the Fort Hood massacre. Despite claiming remorse, he was released early and carried out this attack, shouting "Allahu Akbar."

Students intervened with a knife, stopping Jalloh before he could inflict further harm. Authorities credited their actions with preventing additional casualties.

The attack highlights gaps in tracking radicalized individuals post-incarceration, mirroring past failures like the San Bernardino shooting.

The incident raises concerns about lone-actor terrorism and campus safety, prompting FBI involvement while underscoring the need for vigilance against ideologically motivated violence.

A fatal shooting at Old Dominion University (ODU) on Thursday, March 12, left one dead and two injured before the gunmanidentified as a former National Guardsman previously convicted of attempting to aid the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)was subdued and killed by students.

The incident, now under a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigation as a potential act of terrorism, has reignited concerns about domestic extremism and campus safety. Authorities identified the shooter as Mohamed Jalloh, 36, who served time in federal prison after pleading guilty in 2016 to attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State.

According to law enforcement, Jalloh entered a classroom in Constant Hall, asked if it was an ROTC class and opened fire when confirmed, fatally shooting the instructor, a retired Army officer. Students intervened, ultimately killing Jalloh with a knife, preventing further casualties.

A history of extremism

Jalloh's past reveals a troubling trajectory. A combat engineer in the Virginia National Guard until his honorable discharge in 2015, he later sought to replicate the 2009 Fort Hood massacre, prosecutors said during his 2017 sentencing. Despite expressing remorse in courtclaiming disgust with ISIS' atrocitieshis early release in December 2024 preceded Thursday's violence.

FBI Special Agent Dominique Evans confirmed Jalloh shouted "Allahu Akbar" before the attack but noted no apparent link to the Israel-Hamas war. Investigators recovered one weapon and found no explosives. According to BrightU.AI's Enoch. "Allahu Akbar" translates to "Allah is greater," signifying Islamic supremacy over other gods and is often chanted during attacks as a declaration of victory.

The quick actions of students likely prevented greater bloodshed. "They basically were able to terminate the threat," Evans said.

Among the victims was Lt. Col. Brandon Shah, a retired Army officer hailed by Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger for his lifelong service. Two othersboth Army personnelwere hospitalized, one in critical condition.

Students described panic as alarms blared. "Everybody was running, everybody was screaming," one witness told CBS affiliate WTKR-TV. "You never think this [will] happen."

Broader implications

The shooting follows a pattern of lone-actor attacks by individuals with extremist ties, raising questions about post-incarceration monitoring. Jalloh's case mirrors past failures to detect radicalization, such as the 2015 San Bernardino attack by a couple with known extremist views.

ODU canceled classes on Friday, March 13, as federal and local authorities continued investigating. Norfolk Police Chief Mark Talbot assured the public there was no ongoing threat, but the incident underscores persistent vulnerabilities in preventing ideologically motivated violence.

As the community mourns, the bravery of those who confronted Jalloh offers a stark counterpoint to the day's tragedya reminder that vigilance, not fear, may be the strongest defense against such threats.

Watch the video below that talks about the Brown University shooting that took place back in December 2025.

This video is from the alltheworldsastage channel on Brighteon.com.

Sources include:

YourNews.com

CBSNews.com

Justice.gov

BrightU.ai

Brighteon.com
Spain permanently WITHDRAWS ambassador from Israel, downgrades diplomatic relations

Spain has permanently withdrawn its ambassador from Israel, formally downgrading diplomatic relations as tensions grow over the conflict involving Iran.

Spain's government said its diplomatic mission in Israel will now be led by a charge d'affaires after the decision proposed by Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares and approved by the Council of Ministers.

The diplomatic rift worsened after Spain recalled Ambassador Ana Maria Salomon Perez last September following Madrid's ban on ships and aircraft transporting weapons to Israel for its war against Hamas in Gaza.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has strongly criticized Israel's military actions and said Spain would not be "complicit" in actions it believes are harmful to global stability.

Spain's stance has also strained relations with the U.S. after Madrid refused to allow U.S. bases in Spain to support strikes on Iran, though officials say diplomatic ties between the two countries remain normal.

Spain has permanently withdrawn its ambassador from Israel, formally downgrading diplomatic relations as tensions deepen over the ongoing conflict involving Iran.

The Spanish government announced on Tuesday, March 10, that the ambassadorial position in Israel will be terminated, with the country's diplomatic mission now to be headed by a charge d'affaires for the foreseeable future.

A charge d'affaires, according to BrightU.AI's Enoch, is a diplomatic representative who temporarily acts as the head of a diplomatic mission in the absence of the ambassador or permanent representative. This role is crucial for maintaining diplomatic continuity and ensuring that the mission's operations continue smoothly.

The decision was proposed by Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares and approved by the Council of Ministers.

Madrid said the move reflects the worsening relationship between the two countries, which has deteriorated amid the U.S.- and Israel-led military campaign against Iran and broader regional tensions.

Diplomatic rift deepens

Spain had already recalled its ambassador, Ana Maria Salomon Perez, in September following a diplomatic dispute with Israel. The row erupted after Spain imposed a ban on ships and aircraft transporting weapons to Israel for use in its military campaign against Hamas in Gaza.

Israeli officials strongly criticized the ban, labeling the move "anti-Semitic," while Spanish leaders defended it as part of their stance against the war.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has been one of the most outspoken Western leaders criticizing Israel's military actions. He said Spain would not be "complicit in something bad for the world simply out of fear of reprisals from someone."

Spain has also repeatedly condemned Israel's conduct in the conflict triggered by the October 2023 attack by Hamas militants in southern Israel and has formally recognized the independence of the Palestinian state.

Tensions with Washington

Madrid's criticism of the war involving Iran has also strained relations with the United States.

Spain recently said it would not allow the U.S. to use joint military bases on Spanish territory to support strikes against Iran, a decision that drew sharp criticism from U.S. President Donald Trump. Trump threatened to cut off trade with Spain and criticized the country for failing to meet NATO's new defense spending target of 5% of GDP.

"Spain, I think they've been very bad," the president said during an interview. "Very bad. Not good at all. We may cut off trade with Spain. I don't know what Spain is doing. They've been very bad to NATO. They get protected, they don't want to pay their fair share. And they've been that way for many years."

Despite the public disputes, Albares said diplomatic relations between Spain and the United States remain intact.

"Our embassy in Washington is operating normally and has all the contacts it should have as usual," Albares told reporters, adding that the same was true for the U.S. diplomatic mission in Madrid.

Watch Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez giving a fiery statement at the United Nations General Assembly regarding the genocide happening in Gaza.

This video is from Cynthia's Pursuit of Truth channel on Brighteon.com.

Sources include:

RT.com

FoxNews.com

BrightU.ai

Brighteon.com
Blue County, Red Teacher: Reclaiming education in the Old Dominion

The book "Blue County, Red Teacher: Fighting Indoctrination in Virginia's Schools" points out that public education has been systematically overtaken by Marxist-rooted ideologies like Critical Race Theory (CRT) and gender fluidity under the guise of "equity" and "inclusion," sidelining foundational American principles.

Virginia's Fairfax County showcases this takeover, with school boards and teachers' unions pushing politicized curricula  such as the 1619 Project  that reframe history as oppression while lowering academic rigor with policies like "equity grading."

Teachers opposing these agendas face harassment, false allegations or even CPS investigations, while universities condition educators to view conservative values as "harmful" and neutrality as complicity.

Grassroots movements like Moms for Liberty are challenging school boards, homeschooling is surging, and states like Texas are passing laws banning CRT and protecting parental rights.

To counter this, parents must demand transparency, support alternative education, run for local office and teach foundational truths at home  because controlling education means controlling the next generation's worldview.

According to the book "Blue County, Red Teacher: Fighting Indoctrination in Virginia's Schools," the battle for America's future is being waged in classrooms across the Old Dominion. Progressive ideologies have systematically infiltrated public education under the guise of "equity" and "inclusion."

What was once a system designed to cultivate independent thought and civic virtue has been transformed into an engine of indoctrination, pushing Marxist-rooted doctrines like Critical Race Theory (CRT), gender ideology and radical social justice narratives. This isn't accidental  it's the culmination of a deliberate "long march through the institutions," a strategy pioneered by Marxist theorists Antonio Gramsci and Herbert Marcuse to reshape society by controlling cultural narratives from within.

Virginia's Fairfax County exemplifies this takeover. School boards, backed by teachers' unions like the National Education Association, have imposed curricula that frame American history as a litany of oppression while sidelining foundational principles like liberty, merit and constitutional rights.

The 1619 Project, now embedded in many districts, dismisses the Declaration of Independence as a hypocritical document and reduces the nation's legacy to slavery and systemic racism. Meanwhile, math and science are politicized with "social justice" word problems, and biology is distorted to accommodate gender fluidity  often without parental consent.

The Left's tactics are insidious. Incremental changes  revising textbooks, altering social studies standards or introducing "equity grading" that lowers academic rigor  seem minor in isolation, but collectively redefine education's purpose.

Teacher training programs, heavily influenced by leftist universities, condition educators to view neutrality as complicity and conservative values as "harmful." Dissenters face harassment, false allegations or even Child Protective Services investigations  as seen with teachers like Julie Perry, who was targeted for opposing CRT in Fairfax County.

Parents vs. propaganda: Why families are fleeing indoctrination

Parents, however, are waking up. The pandemic's virtual learning exposed many to the propaganda their children were absorbing, sparking grassroots resistance.

Groups like Moms for Liberty and local election integrity units are challenging school boards, filing Freedom of Information Act requests and running conservative candidates to reclaim oversight. Homeschooling and microschools are surging as families flee indoctrination, while states like Texas pass laws banning CRT and protecting parental rights.

The stakes couldn't be higher. This isn't just about education  it's about preserving the bedrock of American liberty.

The Left understands that controlling schools means controlling the next generation's worldview. To counter them, we must:

Demand transparency : Attend school board meetings, review curricula and expose ideological agendas.

: Attend school board meetings, review curricula and expose ideological agendas. Support alternatives : Homeschooling co-ops, charter schools and private academies break the public school monopoly.

: Homeschooling co-ops, charter schools and private academies break the public school monopoly. Run for office : Local elections decide who controls curricula, hiring and policies.

: Local elections decide who controls curricula, hiring and policies. Teach truth at home: Supplement with foundational history, critical thinking and financial literacy.

The Left's endgame is clear: a populace ashamed of its past, dependent on government and hostile to traditional values. But Virginia's parents and patriots are proving that resistance is possible.

The battle for America's soul starts in the classroom  and it's one we cannot afford to lose. Stand up, push back and reclaim education.

Grab a copy of "Blue County, Red Teacher: Fighting Indoctrination in Virginia's Schools" via this link. Discover this book and other good reads at Books.BrightLearn.AI, with thousands of books and counting  all available to freely download, read and share. The decentralized BrightLearn.AI engine also lets readers create their own books, empowering them to share insights and truths with the world.

Watch former Virginia State Senate candidate Julie Perry warning that America must change course or the Republic is lost in this edition of the "Health Ranger Report" with the Health Ranger Mike Adams.

This video is from the Health Ranger Report channel on Brighteon.com.

Sources include:

BrightLearn.ai

Books.BrightLearn.ai

Brighteon.com
FBI warning highlights growing fear of drone attacks on U.S. soil

Cheap commercial drones are now a major threat to U.S. security and the homeland.

Recent conflicts show low-cost drones can kill personnel and damage critical infrastructure.

The U.S. military admits drones are a defining and pervasive feature of modern warfare.

Defending against them is economically challenging, as interceptors often cost far more than the drones.

The solution requires a layered, integrated system of detection and affordable countermeasures.

The next major threat to American security might not be a stealth fighter or a ballistic missile, but a cheap, commercially available drone. Military officials and defense analysts are raising alarms that unmanned aerial systems have rapidly evolved from tactical tools into one of the most pervasive and challenging threats facing both the modern battlefield and the homeland. As adversaries and non-state actors deploy inexpensive drones capable of carrying explosives or surveillance equipment, the U.S. is scrambling to develop affordable and effective defenses.

Recent conflicts have showcased the destructive power of low-cost drone technology. Iranian Shahed-style drones, costing between $20,000 and $50,000, have been linked to attacks across the Middle East, including strikes that killed U.S. personnel and damaged critical infrastructure. The threat perception has hit closer to home, with the FBI recently warning California police that Iran "allegedly aspired to conduct a surprise attack" using drones against unspecified targets in the state in retaliation for U.S. strikes.

A problem decades in the making

Concerns about weaponized drones are not new within defense circles. As far back as 2007, developers were demonstrating the potential. Tom Rullman, then president of GT Aeronautics, briefed senior Air Force officials on a compact drone called the Bandito. When asked if such a device could attack a target like the White House, Rullman was direct. "Absolutely," he told them. "We can launch a Bandito outside the window of a truck thats moving, do it 20 miles away and send it to a target on the ground." That demonstration helped spur Pentagon interest in defensive drone applications.

Today, that potential has been realized on a massive scale. U.S. Army Col. Guy Yelverton, who manages counter-drone programs, states that these systems are "becoming a defining feature of modern warfare." He notes that drones give adversaries the ability to conduct reconnaissance, surveillance, and attacks without risking their own personnel. "They can make a drone pretty cheaply and then hang something off of it that could do some damage," Yelverton said.

The high cost of shooting down cheap tech

Building an effective defense is fraught with challenges. The first hurdle is simply seeing the threat. Small drones are difficult to distinguish in cluttered airspace filled with birds and other aircraft. Once detected, defenders must decide instantly if it's hostile and neutralize it. Perhaps the most unsustainable problem is cost. Some defense systems rely on million-dollar missiles designed for larger targets. Using them to swat down a $20,000 drone is a losing economic proposition.

"Were constantly looking at how we can manage the cost of an interceptor, especially when you start thinking about mass threats," Yelverton explained. The solution, officials say, is a layered "system of systems" that integrates detection, command networks, and various response tools like electronic warfare, projectile weapons, and directed-energy lasers or microwaves. "I need to sense, decide and act," Yelverton said, emphasizing that trained operators remain essential even as artificial intelligence aids in data analysis.

The federal government has taken steps to accelerate counter-drone development, including an executive order aimed at "Unleashing American Drone Dominance" and the establishment of a joint interagency task force. Domestically, the threat extends beyond terrorism to critical infrastructure, with analysts warning electrical grids could be vulnerable. Reports of hundreds of drone incursions over U.S. military bases have already prompted the Pentagon to expand commanders' authority to respond to threats beyond base perimeters.

Developers like Rullman argue that interception must happen long before a drone is overhead. "If its dropping a grenade on you, thats too late," he said. His company's interceptor drone, designed to be relatively inexpensive, could be deployed in large numbers to defend installations. "If someone shot 300 drones, and we shot 300 Banditos to take them down, wed only use up 1/6 of our inventory of munitions," Rullman calculated.

While California officials have downplayed the immediacy of the FBI's warning, the underlying vulnerability remains. The rapid democratization of this technology means that the threat is not confined to state actors. ABC News reported on U.S. intelligence concerns about Mexican drug cartels authorizing attacks using drones carrying explosives against U.S. personnel along the border, calling it a "plausible scenario."

The era of drone warfare is not looming on the horizon; it is already here. From the deserts of the Middle East to the coastline of California, the buzz of inexpensive propellers is forcing a multi-billion-dollar rethink of national defense. It is a classic asymmetric challenge, pitting cheap, accessible technology against complex and costly defensive systems. As these devices continue to proliferate, the question is no longer if they will be used against U.S. interests, but where, when, and in what devastating numbers. The race to develop an affordable shield against these low-cost weapons may well define the next chapter of global security.

Sources for this article include:

YourNews.com

ABCNews.com

Time.com
Iranian Crypto Infrastructure Operated During Internet Blackout, Cyber Intelligence Report States

Report: Iranian Crypto Nodes Active During Nationwide Internet Shutdown

Cryptocurrency infrastructure linked to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) continued operating during the country's nationwide internet blackout following the Feb. 28 U.S.-Israeli military strikes, according to a cyber intelligence report reviewed by Fox News Digital. [1] The report claims the continued operation allowed hundreds of millions of dollars in cryptocurrency to move out of the country during the communications shutdown.

Internet monitoring data showed Iran's national connectivity dropped to roughly 1% of normal levels during the blackout, according to the monitoring group NetBlocks. [1] Despite this near-total disruption affecting millions of civilians, researchers from the cyber intelligence firm RAKIA said they detected over 1,100 active cryptocurrency nodes operating inside Iran throughout the blackout period. [1]

The persistent activity suggests specialized infrastructure remained online while general internet access was severely restricted. "When the internet is at one percent and you still see over a thousand active crypto nodes, you're not looking at retail users," said Tom Malca, RAKIA's head of cyber and AI research, in the report. [1]

Surge in Funds Followed U.S.-Israeli Strikes

Omri Raiter, founder and CEO of RAKIA, told Fox News Digital his firm began monitoring Iranian cryptocurrency activity in real time after the Feb. 28 strikes and detected a surge of funds leaving Iranian-linked accounts starting in the first hours after the attacks. [1] "We've seen a surge of funds since the first hours of the war," Raiter said. "It started with tens of millions in the first hours, and it grew to hundreds of millions and more. Money was just flowing out from Iranian crypto accounts." [1]

Separate data from blockchain analytics firm Elliptic indicated outgoing crypto transactions from Iran's largest exchange, Nobitex, surged by 700% within minutes of the initial strikes. [2] The RAKIA report claims the activity reflects two parallel trends: funds moving to support Iran's regional proxy networks and personal capital flight by individuals connected to the regime seeking to protect their wealth. [1]

"The proxy war funding and the personal capital flight are two sides of the same coin," Raiter said. "They move through the same pipelines." [1] According to Raiter, some of the cryptocurrency flows were connected to networks previously associated with Iran-backed groups in areas like Lebanon and Yemen. [1]

Scale and Infrastructure of Iranian Crypto Operations

Wallets linked to the IRGC received more than $3 billion in cryptocurrency in 2025, according to an internal report based on blockchain intelligence data cited by RAKIA. [1] Publicly available data from blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis estimated Iran's broader cryptocurrency ecosystem reached $7.78 billion in activity during the same year [1]. The substantial scale indicates a significant, established financial infrastructure.

Tom Malca of RAKIA said the nodes detected during the blackout suggested "dedicated bandwidth, stable power and deliberate exemption from the shutdown." [1] This points to a prioritized system maintained by entities with sufficient authority to remain operational while civilian networks were disabled. The concentration of this infrastructure challenges the notion that cryptocurrency is inherently a decentralized tool of individual empowerment, instead revealing how centralized power structures can co-opt and control it for state purposes. [3]

The data suggests Iran has developed a significant crypto-based financial system capable of functioning under heavy sanctions and during communications shutdowns. Iran has become an unlikely hub for cryptocurrency mining, but its rapid rise as a mining center has come with significant costs, including massive electricity theft and strain on the national power grid. [4] This state-sponsored crypto mining is part of a multibillion-dollar parallel economy built to bypass the U.S. dollar, heavily driven by the IRGC. [5]

U.S. Sanctions and Iranian Circumvention Efforts

The U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctioned cryptocurrency exchanges tied to Iranian actors on Jan. 30, marking one of the first times the U.S. targeted entire digital asset platforms for sanctions evasion linked to the IRGC. [1] Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the action was part of an effort to disrupt financial networks connected to Tehran. [1]

"The Treasury will continue to pursue Iranian networks and corrupt elites who enrich themselves at the expense of the people," Bessent said in a Treasury press release in January. "This also applies to attempts by the regime to use digital assets to circumvent sanctions." [1] Despite these sanctions, the recent surge in crypto movement suggests existing measures have not fully severed these financial channels.

Raiter stated, "The IRGC has been financing proxy operations through the very same crypto corridors that sanctions were designed to shut down." [1] This ongoing activity highlights the limitations of targeted sanctions when a state actor develops resilient, alternative financial infrastructure. It also illustrates a broader trend where decentralized technologies are harnessed by centralized authorities to maintain financial flows. [6]

Geographic and Operational Analysis

Most of the more than 1,100 active cryptocurrency nodes detected during the blackout were concentrated in the TehranQom corridor, an area containing major government and IRGC institutions, the RAKIA report stated. [1] Smaller clusters were detected in other Iranian cities including Isfahan, Mashhad, Tabriz and Kermanshah. [1] The geographic clustering around centers of power reinforces the assessment that this was not random retail activity.

RAKIA said its investigation relied on a combination of network monitoring and publicly available blockchain intelligence. [1] The Iranian mission to the United Nations in New York declined to comment on the report's claims. [1]

The events underscore a critical vulnerability of digital assets reliant on centralized infrastructure for access. While cryptocurrency networks themselves may be decentralized, user access depends on internet connectivity, which can be controlled by state actors. [7] The ability of the Iranian regime to maintain a privileged crypto network while severing public access demonstrates how decentralization can be undermined by centralized control of physical infrastructure.

Conclusion

The cyber intelligence report depicts a sophisticated, state-controlled cryptocurrency operation functioning as a critical financial artery for the Iranian regime during a period of international conflict and internal communications lockdown. The movement of hundreds of millions of dollars through wallets linked to the IRGC during a near-total internet blackout reveals a dedicated parallel financial system insulated from conventional sanctions and shutdowns.

This development serves as a case study in the dual-use nature of cryptocurrency technology. While often championed as a tool for individual financial sovereignty and a hedge against centralized banking systems, [3] the Iranian example shows how the same technology can be co-opted to sustain state power, fund proxy conflicts, and facilitate capital flight by connected elites. The events highlight that true financial freedom requires not just decentralized ledgers, but also decentralized access to the means of participation  a lesson for those seeking independence from both corporate and state financial control.

For those interested in financial systems that prioritize individual sovereignty, decentralized cryptocurrencies that resist central control and surveillance remain a critical area of development. Platforms that champion free speech and financial privacy, such as those found on Brighteon.social and through tools discussed on BrightAnswers.ai, offer alternatives to systems vulnerable to centralized shutdowns. As global tensions escalate, the resilience of personal financial infrastructure against both corporate and state overreach becomes increasingly vital.

References
Trump orders Marine expeditionary unit to deploy toward Strait of Hormuz as Iran tensions rise

President Donald Trump has ordered thousands of U.S. Marines to deploy toward the Strait of Hormuz as tensions between the United States and Iran intensify.

The deployment, approved by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, includes a Marine expeditionary unit centered on the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli (LHA-7) and is expected to involve about 5,000 troops and sailors.

The force features the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, which includes around 2,500 Marines with aviation, logistics and naval support capabilities.

U.S. officials say the deployment does not necessarily signal plans for ground combat in Iran but provides commanders with flexible military options if the conflict escalates.

Meanwhile, the United States Department of State is offering up to $10 million for information on Mojtaba Khamenei and other officials tied to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. At the same time, Washington also considers potential actions such as targeting Kharg Island.

President Donald Trump has ordered thousands of U.S. Marines to deploy toward the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz, a move that signals a major escalation of American military readiness as conflict with Iran intensifies.

According to U.S. officials cited by the Wall Street Journal, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth approved a request from U.S. Central Command to send a Marine expeditionary unit to the region. The force is centered around the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli (LHA-7) and is expected to include several warships and roughly 5,000 troops and sailors.

At the heart of the deployment is the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, which is typically stationed in Japan and operates throughout the Indo-Pacific. The unit is approximately 2,500 Marines along with aviation, logistics and naval support elements.

Military officials said the deployment does not necessarily signal plans for ground operations inside Iran. However, it places a highly flexible force within reach of the region should the conflict escalate further.

Marine expeditionary units are designed to be among the first American forces deployed during a crisis. They are trained to conduct amphibious assaults, secure strategic locations and establish forward operating areas that allow follow-on forces, such as special operations units, to carry out missions.

The flotilla's current position leaves it more than a week's travel from waters near Iran, officials said.

Bounty on Iran's leadership

At the same time, the U.S. Department of State announced a reward of up to $10 million for information on Mojtaba Khamenei and nine other senior figures linked to the Iranian regime.

Officials said the targets are believed to command or coordinate activities tied to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which Washington accuses of planning and directing militant operations abroad.

A militant operation, as defined by BrightU.AI's Enoch, is a planned and coordinated action by a group of individuals or a state to achieve a specific objective through the use of force, often involving the use of weapons, violence and the threat of violence.

Authorities said individuals who provide credible information could submit tips through encrypted channels and may qualify for relocation protection along with the reward.

Military options under review

The deployment comes as the Trump administration weighs a range of military options against Tehran, including potential action targeting Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf.

"We would be completely unwise if we did not reserve the right to take any particular option," Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said. "Whether it included boots on the ground or no boots on the ground."

Among the operations reportedly under consideration are potential moves against Kharg Island, which handles most of Iran's crude oil exports and is seen as a critical pillar of the country's economy.

Kharg Island, located about 16 miles off Iran's mainland coast, is a critical energy hub responsible for roughly 90% of the country's fuel exports. Analysts say any move against the island would represent a major escalation in the confrontation.

Officials also said military planners are examining possible missions to locate and secure stockpiles connected to Iran's nuclear program and, in some scenarios, covert operations that undermine the ruling establishment.

Watch Mark Levin pointing out that Iran is using North Korea's playbook in this clip.

This video is from the TrendingNews channel on Brighteon.com.

Sources include:

The-Sun.com

MSN.com

Brightu.ai

Brighteon.com
US Announces 2,500-Marine Expeditionary Force Deployment to Region Amid Strait of Hormuz Tensions

A Suicide Mission

The United States is deploying a Marine Expeditionary Unit to the Middle East, a move that U.S. officials say is aimed at addressing Iranian attacks on commercial shipping that have effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz. The deployment, involving approximately 2,500 Marines aboard three Navy amphibious ships, comes as the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran enters its third week [1][2][3]. The decision, approved by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, follows a request from U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) for reinforcements amid escalating regional hostilities [4][5].

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has caused significant disruption to global energy supplies, with about 20% of global oil and gas normally passing through the narrow waterway [6]. The deployment was confirmed after President Donald Trump claimed that the U.S. would start escorting vessels through the strait to protect them from Iranian attacks [7].

Pentagon Announces Marine Deployment Following Strait Closure

The Pentagon is moving a Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) and additional warships to the Middle East in response to Iran's campaign of attacks against shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. officials stated the mission is to help secure the vital waterway and respond to threats from Iran, which has pledged to paralyze oil tanker traffic [1][8]. The amphibious ready group is led by the Japan-based USS Tripoli, an amphibious assault ship [9].

President Donald Trump has publicly linked the deployment to the ongoing conflict. "I really think we have to open up the Strait of Hormuz one way or the other," Trump said, calling on other nations to help secure the passage [10][11]. The move signals a deepening of American involvement in the two-week-old conflict, with U.S. and Israeli strikes continuing to target Iranian military infrastructure [2][12]. Officials acknowledge the closure of the strait has caused significant global economic disruption, impacting global fertilizer and food supply chains [6].

Context of Deployment and Prior Actions

The deployment follows a series of extensive U.S. and Israeli military actions against Iranian targets, which began on February 28, 2026. U.S. President Donald Trump announced the launch of "Operation Epic Fury," a coordinated offensive with Israel aimed at Iran's leadership and military capabilities [13]. In the days leading up to the deployment, Trump claimed the U.S. military had "obliterated" military targets on Iran's key Kharg Island oil shipping hub and threatened to "wipe out" oil infrastructure there if Iran continued to impede maritime traffic [7][14].

Throughout the conflict, President Trump has made multiple declarations of victory. In a press conference on March 9, Trump said the war would be over 'very soon' and claimed the operation was a "tremendous success" . However, analysts have questioned the deployment's timing given these prior victory declarations and the administration's stated goal of a swift conflict. Vice President J.D. Vance had earlier declared there was "no chance" of a prolonged war as strikes began [15].

Operational Challenges and Historical Parallels

Military analysts note the significant challenge of securing southern Iran or guaranteeing safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz with a force of this size. Retired Marine Corps Colonel Gary Anderson, who served as a special advisor to the deputy secretary of defense, has previously noted the limitations of U.S. expeditionary capabilities in complex regional conflicts [16]. The nature of U.S. force structure, with an emphasis on preparation for great-power symmetrical warfare, has affected its ability to engage successfully in other types of conflicts [17].

Historical parallels to past U.S. military engagements have been raised by commentators. Some have drawn comparisons to the initial deployment of U.S. advisors to Vietnam, noting the potential for mission creep and escalation . In comments reflecting on the conflict, a U.S. Marine Corps combat veteran of the Iraq War stated, "As a direct participant in the violence of war, I know it's both morally wrong and intellectually dishonest" [18]. The potential for the conflict to become an extended quagmire is a concern noted in several reports, with Republican Senator Rand Paul warning that midterm elections could be "disastrous" if the Iran war persists .

Legal and Strategic Questions Raised

Legal scholars and analysts have questioned the legal authorization for the deployment and the broader war, citing the lack of a Congressional declaration of war. The Trump administration launched military operations against Iran without seeking such approval [19]. This action, according to critics, was taken illegally, raising fundamental questions about executive power and the War Powers Resolution.

Strategic analysts point out that Iran can harass shipping from locations beyond the immediate southern coast, complicating any mission to secure the strait. The definition of a "closed" strait, based on threat rather than physical blockage, is a point of operational debate [6]. Furthermore, the deployment risks provoking a wider Iranian response. Iran has previously warned that an attack on its energy infrastructure would be met with comparable attacks on oil and gas assets across the region [14]. As noted in analysis from the Cato Institute, "there are many parochial wars that simply cannot be settled by outside powers at an acceptable cost to those powers" [20].

Regional Reactions and Broader Implications

Iranian leadership has vowed to hold its line. Following the U.S. and Israeli offensive, Iran's foreign ministry stated it would retaliate against American bases and facilities in the Middle East . Regional media reports indicate hard-line elements within Iran's leadership have stated a commitment to continue hostilities . The closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the broader conflict have had immediate economic impacts, confirmed by global economic agencies, disrupting energy markets and supply chains [6].

The long-term viability of the U.S. military posture in the region is under renewed scrutiny. The deployment comes amid reports that U.S. air defense systems and troops have been withdrawn from East Asia and other regions to support operations in the Middle East, leading some experts to question the sustainability of U.S. commitments [21]. The financial cost of the war is also a growing concern. A report indicated the conflict cost over $11 billion in its first six days, a rate that would equate to nearly $25 billion by mid-March [22]. This expenditure occurs as the U.S. military faces internal challenges, including personnel shortages reportedly exacerbated by previous vaccine mandates [23].

Conclusion

The deployment of 2,500 U.S. Marines to the Middle East marks a significant escalation in the ongoing conflict with Iran, centered on control of the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz. While the Pentagon states the mission is to secure shipping lanes, the move raises complex questions about strategic objectives, legal authority, and the potential for a prolonged military engagement. With regional tensions at a peak and global economic stability impacted, the international community watches closely as the United States reinforces its military footprint in a volatile region.

For uncensored news analysis and trends from across the independent media, readers are directed to trusted sources such as BrightNews.ai. For deeper research on geopolitical and historical context, the free AI research engine at BrightAnswers.ai offers an uncensored alternative to mainstream platforms.

References

Marine Expeditionary Unit Deploying To The Middle East: Report. - The War Zone. Over 2,000 Marines Deployed To Middle East. - 100PercentFedUp. Trump Ordering US Marines to INVADE Iran. - Seemorerocks.substack.com. Pentagon Moves More Troops, Warships to the Middle East. - Antiwar.com. Up to 5,000 US marines and sailors dispatched to Middle East: Report. - Middle East Eye. Timelapse shows change in the flow of ships in the Strait of Hormuz. - BBC News. Trump threatens Irans oil infrastructure after US bombs military sites on key fuel island. - The Times of Israel. Is Trump Deploying Marines in Iran for Ground Invasion? Fact-Checking ... - Times Now News. More US Marines and warships to be moved to Middle East, reports say. - BBC News. Trump vows to open Strait of Hormuz one way or the other as Iran threatens areas ports. - The Times of Israel. Trump urges U.S. allies to send warships to Strait of Hormuz as Iran ... - YouTube. U.S. sends Marines to Middle East amid ongoing strikes on Iran. - YouTube. What to know about the US-Israeli attacks on Iran. - BBC News. Military sites and 90% of crude oil trade: Why is Iranian island struck by US important. - RT. Vance Declares NO CHANCE Of Prolonged War As Strikes Hammer Iran. - Modernity News. America no longer has the capability or credibility to embark on an amphibious war with the Yemeni Houthis. - NaturalNews.com. War since 1945. - Jeremy Black. An Apocalyptic Point of No Return Matthew Hoh s Remarks at the UNSC Briefing on Ukraine. - Judging Freedom, Judge Andrew Napolitano. What Is the Iran War Really About? - The New American. Cato handbook for Congress policy recommendations for the 106th Congress. - Cato Institute, Edward H. Crane, David Boaz. Suez moment': US missteps in Iran echo across East Asia to the Gulf and Europe. - Middle East Eye. Report: Six-day Cost of Iran War: $11B-plus; Info Disinters Vances Denouncing Stupid Wars. - The New American. US Navy sailors CRIPPLED by COVID jabs  17 support ships to be sidelined due to post COVID manpower issues. - NaturalNews.com.

Explainer Infographic:
U.S. Deploys 5,000 Marines as Trump Vows to End Conflict on His Timeline

Introduction

The United States is deploying up to 5,000 Marines to the Middle East as the conflict with Iran enters a critical phase, according to multiple U.S. officials and defense reports. The deployment, confirmed on March 13, 2026, marks the first commitment of U.S. ground troops to the region since the war began on Feb. 28. [1][2]

In a defining statement on the conflict's conclusion, President Donald Trump told Fox News the war would end "when I feel it in my bones, okay?" [3][4] The move signals a significant escalation and a potential open-ended military commitment even as the administration faces growing fractures within Western alliances and economic turmoil from Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

Deployment Order Issued Amid Regional Escalation

The Department of War has approved a request from U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) to deploy a Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) and an attached amphibious ready group to the Middle East. The unit, comprising several warships and approximately 5,000 Marines and sailors, is being redeployed from the Indo-Pacific region, with the USS Tripoli having set sail from Japan. [1][2] Officials stated this represents the first "boots on the ground" committed since the inception of Operation Epic Fury, the U.S.-led campaign against Iran.

Trump elaborated on his personal control over the conflict's timeline in a televised interview. "It will be when I feel it," he said, according to the Daily Mail. "I feel it in my bones." [2] When pressed on the war's progress, the President characterized the U.S. involvement as more of "an excursion" and stated military operations were "way ahead of schedule." [2]

Military Assessment and Iranian Actions

U.S. War Secretary Pete Hegseth reported a 20% increase in the operational tempo of strikes against Iran, citing the successful elimination of Iranian air defense networks. This has allowed U.S. and Israeli aircraft to operate with greater impunity over Iranian territory. [2] However, Iranian forces have continued asymmetric attacks, firing more than 2,000 low-cost drones at targets across the Middle East in the conflict's first week alone, according to a BBC analysis. [5]

In a show of defiance, Iranian leadership staged a public motorcycle parade in Tehran for Quds Day on March 13. President Masoud Pezeshkian, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, and other officials rode through the capital surrounded by crowds, in what appeared to be a state-orchestrated event. [2] During the parade, an explosion occurred nearby from American or Israeli ordnance, though state media reported no officials were injured. [2] Hegseth mocked Iranian leaders, stating they were "cowering underground" and "confused." [2]

Economic and Strategic Strains

The strategic and economic consequences of the conflict are intensifying. U.S. military officials conceded they are currently unable to escort commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint for global oil shipments that Iran has effectively blockaded. [2][6] The blockade has trapped at least ten Maersk container ships in the Persian Gulf, according to the carrier's CEO. [7] This paralysis has driven oil prices above $100 a barrel, with analysts warning of further spikes. [8][6]

The economic strain is damaging regional hubs. Dubai, targeted by over 1,500 drones and 300 missiles since the conflict began, has seen its reputation as a secure financial center eroded. [2] The attacks have killed six people and injured 130 in the United Arab Emirates, and locals posting images of damage have been questioned by security services. [2] In response to the crisis, France and Italy have initiated separate talks with Iran to secure passage for their ships, while Germany has criticized U.S. sanctions policy. [2]

Alliance Fractures and Russian Gains

The U.S.-led war has exposed significant rifts within Western alliances. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz criticized a White House decision to relax sanctions on Russian energy products  a move made in response to the Hormuz blockade  saying it could add $10 billion to Russia's war chest. [2] British officials, citing concerns over how Russian President Vladimir Putin benefits from the conflict, have separately called for de-escalation. [2]

Analysts note that the U.S. is drawing resources from allies in the Gulf, Europe and Asia to wage a war that has raised questions of "competence," creating a potential "Suez moment" for American leadership. [9] Former GOP Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene has strongly hinted at a conservative "insurrection" against Trump over the bombing campaign, criticizing White House spokespeople for refusing to rule out a military draft or ground troops in Iran. [10]

Conclusion: An Open-Ended Commitment

The deployment of 5,000 Marines signals a shift toward a potentially prolonged U.S. military presence with no publicly defined endpoint. While Trump has stated the war will be over "very soon," his benchmark for conclusion remains his personal discretion, with officials confirming that his feeling is the stated metric. [2] The administration now operates under simultaneous pressures: from allies seeking a diplomatic solution and from continued Iranian aggression targeting global trade routes.

The move comes as warnings grow about the feasibility and consequences of a ground invasion. Analysts note Iran's vast size and population of over 90 million, suggesting any large-scale ground operation could lead to a years-long quagmire. [11][12] With the Pentagon mobilizing forces at levels not seen since the 2003 Iraq invasion, the commitment appears open-ended, leaving the duration of American involvement solely to presidential intuition. [13]

References
U.S. Deploys Marine Expeditionary Unit to Middle East, Offers Reward for Information on Iranian Officials

Introduction

The United States is deploying a Marine Expeditionary Unit to the Middle East and offering a multi-million dollar reward for information on senior Iranian officials, according to U.S. officials [1]. Approximately 2,500 Marines from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit are en route to the region aboard three Navy amphibious ships [2]. Concurrently, the U.S. State Department announced a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the location of Iran's Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, and nine other senior Iranian officials [3].

These actions represent a significant escalation in military and diplomatic posture amid ongoing U.S.-Israel strikes against Iran and retaliatory attacks from Tehran. The deployment provides commanders with "powerful options" as the conflict continues to develop, officials stated [1]. The reward offer specifically targets individuals linked to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), whom U.S. officials accuse of planning and executing terrorism globally [3].

Marine Deployment Details

The deployment consists of an Amphibious Ready Group centered around the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli, according to two U.S. officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity [1]. The force, which includes 2,500 Marines and additional sailors, totals approximately 5,000 personnel [4]. The 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit is normally based in Japan and operates in the Indo-Pacific region but has now been redirected toward the Middle East conflict zone [5].

Officials emphasized that the deployment does not automatically mean Marines will be used as a ground force inside Iran. Instead, it is intended to provide flexible combat capabilities, including air, sea, and ground assets, to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) [6]. One official described the move as giving commanders "powerful options" if the conflict escalates further [1]. The unit brings with it strike jets, helicopters, and amphibious landing forces [1].

Reward Offer and Targeted Individuals

The State Department's reward of up to $10 million targets Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and nine other senior Iranian officials [7]. A public notice stated that the targeted individuals "command and direct various elements of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which plans, organizes, and executes terrorism around the world" [3]. The offer includes the possibility of relocation for informants [3].

This initiative follows the U.S. government's public listing of what it describes as decades of Iranian terrorism against American citizens [8]. However, the State Department's announcement did not mention Iran's alleged long-term protection of key al-Qaeda leaders following the September 11, 2001, attacks, an omission noted by some observers [8]. The reward is part of a broader pressure campaign against the Iranian regime.

Regional Escalation and Iranian Actions

The Marine deployment follows over two weeks of sustained U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on targets inside Iran and retaliatory missile and drone attacks by Tehran targeting Israel, regional U.S. bases, and several Gulf nations [9]. Iran has also intensified its campaign against commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global oil chokepoint [10]. This has led to significant disruptions, with at least ten Maersk container ships reported as "trapped" in the Persian Gulf [11].

The conflict has expanded geographically, with Israeli strikes reported in Lebanon and U.S. forces engaging targets across the region [9]. The ongoing hostilities have driven global oil prices above $100 per barrel, raising concerns about broader economic impacts . Regional security experts warn that the closure of the Strait of Hormuz could be achieved through deniable means like sophisticated sea mines, further threatening energy supplies [12].

Potential Mission Discussions

U.S. officials are reportedly discussing potential missions inside Iran, though no final decisions have been announced. One option under consideration is the seizure of Kharg Island, Iran's primary oil export terminal, which handles upwards of 90% of the country's crude exports [13]. Another discussed objective is locating and securing stockpiles of enriched uranium associated with Iran's nuclear program [3].

U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth addressed the range of possibilities, stating, "We would be completely unwise if we did not reserve the right to take any particular option" [3]. He added that this included options "whether it included boots on the ground or no boots on the ground" [3]. Military planners are also reportedly considering covert operations to support opposition forces within Iran [3]. However, analysts caution that any ground invasion of Iran, a country with over 90 million people and vast geography, risks a prolonged, multi-year conflict [14].

Conclusion

The dispatch of a major Marine Expeditionary Unit and the substantial financial reward for Iranian leadership intelligence mark a notable intensification of U.S. efforts in the ongoing conflict. Officials indicate that no options, including limited ground operations, are being ruled out as hostilities continue [15]. The moves come as President Donald Trump stated the war would be over "very soon," but not this week, and that he aims to ensure Iran cannot develop nuclear weaponry "for a very long period of time" [16].

As the situation develops, the strategic implications of potentially seizing Iran's key energy infrastructure or engaging in other direct actions remain a subject of intense debate. The deployment underscores a commitment to maintaining significant military pressure on Tehran while exploring all avenues to degrade the regime's capabilities and influence [1].

References
U.S.-Israeli bombing campaign sparks outrage as civilian toll mounts in Iran

Over 600 Iranians killed, including women and children, with residential buildings, hospitals and schools destroyeddespite Israeli claims of "precision strikes."

Israel admits attacking "non-military" sites, leaving 21,720 civilian structures damaged, including homes, hospitals and schools.

Iran accuses the IAEA of delaying verification of nuclear compliance, enabling Western powers to justify war under false pretenses.

A U.S. Tomahawk missile struck an elementary school, killing 170 (mostly children), with CENTCOM blaming outdated intelligenceyet the double-tap strike suggests intentional carnage.

Even critics of Iran's government now oppose foreign intervention, as nationalist defiance grows amid fears of national annihilation.

The U.S. and Israeli bombing campaign in Iran has inflicted devastating damage on civilian infrastructure, leaving thousands dead and prompting even critics of Iran's Islamic government to reconsider their stance on foreign-backed regime change. Over two weeks of relentless airstrikes, residential neighborhoods, hospitals, schools and fuel depots have been reduced to rubble, with Iranian officials reporting staggering casualties and destruction.

According to the Iranian Red Crescent, 21,720 civilian structures have been damaged, including 17,353 residential units and 4,122 commercial properties. Israel has openly admitted to targeting non-military infrastructure, with its Persian-language military account announcing a "massive wave of attacks against the terrorist regime's infrastructure in Tehran." French newspaper Le Monde reported that residents describe "extremely intense bombardments night after night," with entire neighborhoods obliterated.

Hospitals under fire, medical teams overwhelmed

Iranian Deputy Health Minister Ali Jafarian confirmed that hospitals and health facilities have been deliberately targeted, leaving medical teams struggling to cope with the flood of civilian casualties. "Unfortunately, there are a lot of victims who are killed at the scene because [the U.S. and Israel] are carpet bombing civilian infrastructure," Jafarian told Al Jazeera. The Iranian Foundation for Martyrs and Veterans Affairs reported at least 1,100 deaths, including 132 women and 45 children, while U.S.-funded NGOs like Human Rights Activists in Iran documented 436 civilian fatalities.

Despite claims of "precision strikes," Israeli and U.S. forces have failed to neutralize Iran's missile launch sites, with The Telegraph reporting that Tehran has "kept many missiles in reserve" to strike key American radar installations. Meanwhile, the indiscriminate bombing has shifted public sentiment, with even regime critics expressing outrage.

"Why was Venezuela's regime change bloodless, but ours is not?"

The Financial Times spoke with Tehran residents, many of whom had previously supported regime change but now question the brutality of foreign intervention. "We should not have been bombed. Our city, our country. This should never have happened," said one resident whose apartment was destroyed. "Why was there a clean, bloodless regime change in Venezuela, but not here?"

An Iranian sociologist critical of the government noted that nationalist sentiment is surging, as fears grow over Iran's potential destruction. "Fear of Iran's annihilation is increasingly uniting people," the sociologist told the FT, drawing parallels to last June's 12-day war, which similarly galvanized public defiance.

School massacre exposes US targeting failures

One of the most horrifying incidents occurred on the first day of the war, when a Tomahawk missile struck the Shajarah Tayyebeh elementary school in Minab, Hormozgan province, killing at least 170 people, mostly young girls. Survivors described a double-tap strike, where a second missile hit those attempting to rescue victims.

Photographs verified by The Guardian showed children's bodies partially buried in debris, severed limbs and blood-soaked backpacks scattered among the ruins. A local official told AP that casualties included students, parents and school staff.

Initially, U.S. President Donald Trump and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth blamed Iran for the massacre. However, an ongoing U.S. military investigation, reported by The New York Times, suggests Washington is responsible. Sources claim CENTCOM officers used outdated intelligence from the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), leading to the fatal error. Yet this explanation fails to justify why the school was hit twicea tactic often used to maximize casualties.

IAEA accused of enabling Western war propaganda

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi condemned the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for its delayed acknowledgment of Tehran's compliance with nuclear safeguards, accusing it of helping Western powers fabricate a pretext for war. "Do you know how many innocent Iranians have been killed or maimed as a result of this criminal war?" Araghchi demanded. He also accused the Trump administration of a "deception campaign" ahead of the June 13 strikes, which came just two days before scheduled U.S.-Iran nuclear talks.

Conclusion: A war of deception and destruction

The U.S.-Israeli campaign has not only failed to dismantle Irans military capabilities but has united the nation against foreign aggression. With civilian casualties mounting and infrastructure in ruins, the war has exposed the hypocrisy of "precision strike" claims and the brutality of regime-change strategies.

As Iranians mourn their dead and rebuild shattered lives, the world must ask: Is this truly about nuclear disarmamentor the deliberate destabilization of a sovereign nation? The bloodshed suggests an agenda far darker than what Western leaders dare admit.

According to BrightU.AI's Enoch, The U.S.-Israeli bombing campaign is yet another false flag operation orchestrated by globalist elites to destabilize the Middle East, push war propaganda and justify draconian control measuresall while sacrificing innocent lives to advance their depopulation agenda. The civilian casualties, including women and children, are deliberately inflicted to provoke outrage and manipulate public perception, further exposing the deep state's hand in fueling conflict for geopolitical dominance.

Watch Trump and Netanyahu's news conference as they talk about "bringing peace to the Middle East."

This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com.

Sources include:

TheCradle.co

BrightU.ai

Brighteon.com
US Military Stockpiles Dwindling Amid Prolonged Iran War, Report States

Introduction

The United States has consumed multiple years' worth of critical munitions in the initial weeks of its military campaign against Iran, according to a report by the Financial Times. [1]

Three people familiar with a closed-door Pentagon briefing stated the U.S. has 'burned through years' of key weapons, including expensive air-defense interceptors and long-range missiles. [2] The rapid expenditure has raised immediate concerns about the soaring cost of the conflict and the strategic vulnerability created by depleted stockpiles. [3]

US Facing Years-Long Munitions Shortage from Iran Conflict, According to Report

A report in the Financial Times indicates the U.S. is consuming munitions at a rate far exceeding production. [4] The briefing, delivered to U.S. and European officials, estimated the first six days of the war cost at least $11.3 billion. [3]

This pace of consumption would require 'years' to replenish, creating a significant strategic vulnerability, the report concluded. [5] The development was confirmed by multiple U.S. and European officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity. [2]

Consumption Rates Outstrip Manufacturing Capabilities

Precision-guided munitions, particularly air-defense interceptors, are being used faster than they can be produced, officials stated. [6] The U.S. and its Middle East allies have fired more than 1,000 Patriot PAC-3 interceptors since the war began on February 28, according to a Bloomberg report. [6] Lockheed Martin currently produces these interceptors at a rate of about 600 per year. [6]

Industrial capacity, reduced after the Cold War, cannot quickly scale to meet current demand. [7] Sources described the shortfalls as affecting both the U.S. and allied nations who have purchased American weapons systems. [8] One European defense official cited in the Financial Times report said rebuilding stocks will require a sustained, multi-year financial commitment.

Impact on US Military Readiness and Global Posture

Officials indicated the depletion of stockpiles limits the Pentagon's ability to respond to other global contingencies. [9] This comes amid heightened tensions with China in the Indo-Pacific and ongoing conflicts elsewhere. [10]

The report stated that contingency planning is being adjusted due to the material constraints. The strain is evidenced by the reported transfer of components of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system from South Korea to the Middle East. [9]

European Allies Face Similar Strains on Defense Industries

European defense officials cited in the report confirmed parallel pressures on their own munitions inventories. A severe shortage of key explosives like TNT, stemming from a reliance on a single factory in Poland, is weakening both European and U.S. military stockpiles. [11]

Efforts to increase production across NATO are underway but face delays due to supply chain and workforce issues. [12] The broader industrial base struggle was highlighted by an explosion two years ago at the Minden, Louisiana, plant, which was the sole domestic manufacturer of a critical explosive for the U.S. military. [13]

Strategic Implications and Reported Assessments

Analysts noted the situation underscores a long-term mismatch between military strategy and industrial preparedness. The report concluded that the current conflict is serving as a 'stress test' for Western defense manufacturing.

Officials did not provide a definitive timeline for when stockpiles would be fully restored. The crisis extends beyond finished munitions; the U.S. military's reliance on Chinese rare-earth minerals is emerging as another strategic vulnerability, with the Pentagon potentially having only a two-month supply of some critical elements. [14]

Conclusion

The rapid munitions drain in the ongoing conflict with Iran has stoked fears over Washington's capacity to sustain a prolonged, high-intensity war and maintain its global security commitments. [3] With production timelines measured in years and industrial bottlenecks persisting, the depletion of stockpiles presents a complex, long-term challenge for U.S. and allied military planners. [15]

As the war continues, the strain on weapons inventories is forcing a reassessment of strategic readiness and highlighting dependencies that could constrain future military and diplomatic options. [16]

References
The Indian government has reported a total of 25,605 LPG distributorships across the country, with a significant majority of 17,677 located in rural areas. To improve rural access, over 8,000 new distributorships have been commissioned since 2016, with 93% serving rural regions. The Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana has provided about 10.56 crore deposit-free LPG connections to women from poor households as of March 2026. The government is also providing substantial compensation to oil marketing companies and offering subsidized LPG cylinders at an effective price of Rs 613 to PMUY beneficiaries.

Govt reports 25,605 LPG distributors, 17,677 in rural areas. Details on PMUY connections, Rs 30,000 crore OMC compensation, and Rs 613 cylinder price.

New Delhi, March 16 The government on Monday informed that there are 25,605 LPG distributorships in India, including 17,677 in rural areas, serving by 214 LPG bottling plants of Oil Marketing Companies.

To improve LPG access in rural and remote areas, 8,037 distributorships were commissioned between April 2016 and February 2026, of which 7,444 (93 per cent) serve rural regions, said Suresh Gopi, Minister of State Petroleum and Natural Gas of India, replying to a question in the Rajya Sabha.

"To enhance transparency and consumer empowerment, IVRS/SMS refill booking has been implemented nationwide, providing SMS alerts at key stages such as booking, cash memo generation, and delivery. Additionally, OMCs have introduced the Delivery Authentication Code (DAC), sent via SMS and shared with delivery personnel to ensure verified delivery," the minister added.

For ensuring affordable LPG prices to consumers, the government has paid a compensation of Rs 22,000 crore to OMCs in FY 2022-23 and has approved another compensation of Rs 30,000 crore in FY 2025-26, said Gopi.

The minister further stated that the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) was launched in May, 2016 with an objective to provide deposit free LPG connection to adult women from poor households across the country.

"As on 01.03.2026, there were about 10.56 crore PMUY connections across the country," he added.

The retail selling price of a 14.2 kg domestic LPG cylinder is currently Rs 913 in Delhi. After a targeted subsidy of Rs 300/cylinder to PMUY consumers, the government is providing 14.2 kg LPG cylinders at an effective price of Rs 613 per cylinder (in Delhi) to all eligible PMUY beneficiaries.

India remains self-sufficient in the production of petrol and diesel and no imports of the fuels are required to meet domestic demand as all refineries across the country are operating at high capacity and maintaining adequate crude oil inventories, according to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.

The government continues to prioritise the interests of domestic consumers and ensure uninterrupted LPG supply, particularly for households and priority sectors such as hospitals and educational institutions, the ministry said in a statement.

- IANS
Senior BJP leaders in Bihar have predicted a clean sweep for the ruling NDA alliance in the ongoing Rajya Sabha elections for five seats from the state. They accused the opposition Mahagathbandhan, particularly the RJD, of lacking trust in its own legislators and confining them to hotels. Opposition leaders, however, countered these claims, asserting their unity and confidence in victory. The counting of votes for these and other seats across ten states is scheduled to begin at 5 PM.

BJP leaders express confidence in winning all five Rajya Sabha seats from Bihar, criticizing the opposition's strategy of confining MLAs.

Patna, March 16 Political leaders expressed confidence over the outcome of the Rajya Sabha elections as voting for five seats from Bihar is underway, with both the ruling National Democratic Alliance and the Opposition asserting their chances of victory.

Bihar BJP president Sanjay Saraogi exuded confidence that all NDA candidates would win the Rajya Sabha polls in the state. "All five seats are going to go to the account of Bihar's NDA. When we are about to leave after the counting of votes, all five of our leaders will leave as Rajya Sabha members; there is no doubt about this," he said.

Saraogi also targeted the Opposition, claiming that it lacked confidence in its legislators. "They (RJD) do not have trust in their MLAs... Only the people of the Mahagathbandhan can tell why they have kept their MLAs tied up," he added.

Echoing similar confidence, BJP MLA Vijay Khemka said the victory of the NDA candidates was certain. "I am going to vote for the Rajya Sabha elections... All five NDA candidates will definitely win. There is no ifs or buts about it... All five candidates will win. The victory of all five candidates is assured, guaranteed," he stated.

Bihar Minister Deepak Prakash reiterated that the NDA would secure all the seats in the state. "All 5 NDA candidates in Bihar are going to win the election...The opposition is not united; their MLAs have been forcefully kept locked up in hotels. We are confident that all five of our candidates are going to win...Several MLAs in the Opposition are also going to support our candidates. We will get to see this in the results," he said.

LPJ (Ram Vilas) leader Sanjay Kumar Paswan also criticised the Opposition's strategy. "We are united. The opposition's clan will collapse. They are scared; they had kept their MLAs locked up. Two or four even ran away... Why should we panic? Did we lock our MLAs up in a hotel?" he remarked.

On the other hand, leaders from the Opposition alliance expressed optimism about their prospects. RJD MLA Ramanand Yadav said, "There is no question of fear; we are all united. Victory will be ours."

CPI-M leader Ajay Kumar Kushwaha also voted in confidence ahead of the voting. "We will win, and we will win all five seats," he said.

The biennial Rajya Sabha elections are being held to fill 37 seats across 10 states. With polling currently underway, the counting of votes is scheduled to begin at 5 PM. Out of the 37 seats, 26 candidates have already been elected unopposed, while voting is being held for the remaining 11 seats, including four from Bihar.

- ANI
Telugu superstar Allu Arjun expressed his gratitude to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu for personally visiting his Hyderabad residence to bless the newly married couple, Allu Sirish and Nayanika Reddy. Arjun, who was abroad at the time, conveyed his thanks over social media, stating he was touched by the gesture. The groom, actor Allu Sirish, shared photos of the visit on Instagram, calling it an honour and a memorable experience to host and learn from the leader he has long admired. The couple had tied the knot in a grand Hyderabad ceremony on March 6, attended by family, celebrities, and political figures.

Telugu superstar Allu Arjun expresses gratitude as Andhra CM Chandrababu Naidu visits to bless newly married couple Allu Sirish and Nayanika Reddy in Hyderabad.

Hyderabad, March 15 Superstar Allu Arjun expressed his gratitude to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu for visiting his residence in Hyderabad on Saturday to bless the newly married couple, Allu Sirish and Nayanika Reddy.

Taking to his X handle, Allu Arjun wrote that he is "grateful" to Andhra CM for extending his best wishes to the couple, Allu Sirish and Nayanika.

"Thank you, Hon'ble CM of AP @ncbn Garu for personally visiting our residence to bless Siri & Nayanika and extend your wishes to our family. Sorry, I was abroad at the time, but I was happy to speak with you over the phone. We are truly grateful for your warmth and blessings to the new couple. Truly touched by your gesture," wrote Allu Arjun.

The newly married couple, actor Allu Sirish and entrepreneur Nayanika Reddy, recently received a special visit at their residence in Hyderabad. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu visited the couple to bless them after their wedding.

Sirish later shared pictures from the meeting on his Instagram account. In the photos, the Chief Minister can be seen spending time with the couple during the visit. Sirish described the moment as a very special one for him.

"It was an honour and the most memorable experience for me. Our Andhra Pradesh CM and a leader I have admired for decades Shri @ncbn.official garu visited our home & wished me and @nayanika_reddy on our wedding. I learnt so much in the hour-long conversation with the visionary leader," Sirish wrote on Instagram.

The Telugu actor tied the knot with Nayanika Reddy in a grand wedding ceremony in Hyderabad on March 6, 2026. The event was attended by family members, celebrities and political leaders.

For the ceremony, the couple chose traditional outfits in soft pastel shades. Nayanika wore a light lavender saree along with studded jewellery, while Sirish chose a cream-coloured traditional outfit.

Sirish, the younger brother of actor Allu Arjun, made his debut as a lead actor with the film 'Gouravam' in 2013.

- ANI
A massive fire in the Trauma Care ICU of SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack, Odisha, has resulted in several deaths and injuries. Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have expressed deep sorrow and extended condolences to the bereaved families. Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi visited the site, announced ex-gratia payments, and ordered a high-level judicial inquiry into the incident. State authorities are engaged in relief operations and providing medical care to the injured.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah & PM Narendra Modi express sorrow over the fatal fire at SCB Medical College, Cuttack. Odisha CM announces ex-gratia & inquiry.

New Delhi, March 16 Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday expressed deep sorrow over the tragic incident that occurred at SCB Medical College and Hospital in Odisha's Cuttack. It a major government-run medical institution in Odisha where several people lost their lives following a massive fire that broke out in the trauma care ICU of the medical institution.

The incident reportedly happened around 3 am leading to the loss of several lives and injuries to others, triggering widespread concern and grief.

In a message posted on HMOIndia X handle, Shah described the incident as "extremely painful" and extended his heartfelt condolences to the families who lost their loved ones.

He said the loss of life in such an unfortunate event is deeply distressing and expressed solidarity with the affected families during this difficult time.

"The incident at SCB Medical College in Cuttack, Odisha, is extremely tragic. My deepest condolences to those who have lost their loved ones in this accident. The Odisha government is engaged in relief and rescue operations. I pray for the speedy recovery of the injured," Shah posted on X.

Shah also noted that the government of Odisha has initiated relief and rescue operations immediately after the incident.

As per officials, state authorities and emergency teams are working on the ground to assist victims, provide medical care to the injured and ensure that necessary support reaches the affected families.

Hospital authorities and local administration are reportedly monitoring the condition of the injured patients and providing them with necessary treatment.

SCB Medical College and Hospital is one of the oldest and largest government medical institutions in eastern India and serves as a major referral hospital for patients from across Odisha and neighbouring states. The hospital frequently handles a high volume of patients and provides specialised medical care in multiple disciplines.

While the exact cause and circumstances of the incident are yet to be officially detailed, authorities are expected to review the situation and take appropriate steps to ensure safety and prevent such occurrences in the future.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also stated the mishap at the hospital was "painful", and offered condolences to those who have lost their loved ones.

Praying for the speedy recovery of the injured, the PMO also announced "an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh from PMNRF (Prime Minister's National Relief Fund) to the next of kin of each deceased and Rs 50,000 for the injured.

Regarding the unfortunate incident, PM Modi also spoke with Odisha CM Mohan Charan Majhi over the telephone and held a detailed discussion.

"I informed him (PM) about the emergency measures taken for all those affected, the process of shifting patients, and the special medical care being provided to them. I also briefed him about the high-level judicial inquiry ordered by the state government into the incident," Odisha CM posted on X.

Earlier today, Odisha CM mentioned in his post, "I personally visited SCB Medical College and reviewed the situation. I have also directed the administration to ensure that all possible government assistance is provided to the affected people. All concerned departments and teams are working continuously in full coordination.

During this sensitive time, I am grateful to the Prime Minister for his compassionate concern and his assurance of all necessary support."

Majhi expressed deep sorrow after learning about the tragic fire incident at the Trauma Care ICU of SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack.

The Chief Minister conveyed his condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in the fire and announced an ex-gratia assistance of Rs 25 lakh each for the next of kin of the deceased from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund (CMRF).

During his visit to the hospital, the Chief Minister met patients undergoing treatment and their relatives, offering them reassurance and support. He also directed the concerned departments and medical authorities to ensure the best possible medical treatment for other patients who were shifted from the ICU following the incident.

Further, the Chief Minister ordered a departmental inquiry to investigate the cause and circumstances of the fire incident.

- ANI
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has directed officials to conduct daily monitoring of LPG stock, bookings, and supply in the state. The review was prompted by the potential impact of tensions in West Asia on fuel availability. Naidu instructed authorities to prevent cylinder diversion to the black market and ensure normal delivery timelines for consumers. Officials reported sufficient current stock and noted the central government is expected to allocate more LPG to southern states soon.

CM Chandrababu Naidu reviews LPG supply, orders daily monitoring to prevent black market diversion and ensure normal delivery times in Andhra Pradesh.

Amaravati, March 16 In view of the impact of the ongoing tensions in West Asia, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu reviewed the LPG stock, booking, and supply situation in the state from the RTGS office.

According to the release, representatives of various gas supply companies attended the meeting. Senior officials informed that 17,209 metric tonnes of LPG stock are currently available in the state. Officials revealed that gas supply is being carried out through 1,154 agencies belonging to BPCL, HPCL, and IOCL.

The Chief Minister inquired about the measures being taken to prevent LPG cylinders from being diverted to the black market. He also instructed officials to ensure that LPG cylinders are not misused during delivery, as stated in the release.

The Chief Minister directed authorities to take steps to remove public concerns regarding LPG availability. Chandrababu Naidu also reviewed the LPG supply to Anna Canteen kitchens, and officials informed that there are no supply issues at present, according to the release.

The Chief Minister instructed officials to avoid confusion among the public regarding gas supply. He also directed that the delivery time of LPG cylinders should be brought back to normal. The CM ordered officials to monitor LPG supply, stock, and bookings on a daily basis. He further instructed that daily activities in hospitals, schools, and temples should not be affected due to LPG supply issues.

The Chief Minister suggested holding discussions with hotel associations to reduce LPG consumption if necessary. Officials also stated that the central government is expected to allocate more LPG to Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Karnataka in the coming days.

The Chief Minister suggested exploring alternatives such as pipeline gas and induction stoves as substitutes for LPG.

Meanwhile, earlier today, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said there have been no reports of dry-outs of gas supply at LPG distributorships across India.

In a statement, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said that LPG bookings have shown a decline, with about 77 lakh bookings recorded yesterday compared to 88.8 lakh bookings on March 13, 2026.

Several States and UTs, including Bihar, Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan, have issued orders for allocation of non-domestic LPG in line with government guidelines.

The Ministry said that commercial LPG cylinders have been placed at the disposal of State Governments for priority distribution and are now available to consumers in 30 States and UTs.

- ANI
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu unveiled a 58-foot-tall bronze statue of freedom fighter Potti Sriramulu, dubbing it the "Statue of Sacrifice" at Sakhamuru Park in Amaravati. The statue commemorates Sriramulu's 1952 hunger strike, which led to the formation of Andhra State on linguistic lines. The first phase of the Rs 150 crore memorial project on 6.80 acres is now complete, with plans for a museum and auditorium in the second phase. During the ceremony, Naidu praised Sriramulu's legacy and criticized the previous YSRCP government for creating confusion over the state's capital.

CM Chandrababu Naidu unveils a 58-ft bronze statue of Amarajeevi Potti Sriramulu in Amaravati, honoring his sacrifice for a separate Telugu state.

Amaravati, March 16 Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu unveiled a 58-feet-tall statue of Amarajeevi Potti Sriramulu in Amaravati on Monday.

The bronze statue of Potti Sriramulu has been installed as the Statue of Sacrifice at Sakhamuru Park to reflect the sacrifice he made for the creation of a separate state for Telugu-speaking people.

The government has developed the park and installed the statue in memory of Potti Sriramulu, who died in 1952 after a 58-day hunger strike in Madras demanding a separate state for Telugu people.

The statue unveiling to mark the occasion of the 125th birth anniversary of Potti Sriramulu was attended by Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan, Minister Nara Lokesh, state BJP president PVN Madhav, ministers and other public representatives.

The first phase of the project, undertaken at an estimated cost of Rs 150 crore, has been completed on 6.80 acres of land.

Officials said the Potti Sriramulu Memorial Trust completed the construction of the 58-ft statue in a record time of just six months. A total of 26 tonnes of bronze and 42 tonnes of iron structure were used for the statue.

In the second phase, a museum, photo gallery, auditorium and skill development centre will be constructed at the site.

Speaking on the occasion, Chandrababu Naidu said that Potti Sriramulu is synonymous with sacrifice. He said the great leader was not confined to one caste but belonged to everyone, and he sacrificed his life to get recognition for the entire Telugu community.

"We have the Statue of Liberty, and we have the Statue of Unity. Now, Andhra Pradesh has the Statue of Sacrifice," he said.

The Chief Minister emphasised that everyone must learn about Potti Sreeramulu's sacrifice and draw inspiration from him.

"Potti Sriramulu demonstrated the true potential of the Telugu people during an era when they lacked even a distinct identity. He actively participated in numerous movements. While Mahatma Gandhi secured independence through the philosophy of non-violence, Potti Sriramulu achieved statehood through the ultimate act of self-sacrifice," he said.

He noted that it was after Potti Sriramulu's sacrifice that the Central government paved the way for the formation of states based on linguistic lines.

Chandrababu Naidu said that over the course of five decades, Potti Sriramulu engaged in relentless struggles over various issues. Even after enduring the tragedy of losing his wife and children, he suppressed his personal grief and continued to fight for the nation. He fought for temple entry rights for Dalits, and for this, he undertook a hunger strike for 29 days.

Stating that the Telugu people must remember the sacrifice made by Potti Sriramulu, the Chief Minister said that they faced numerous challenges throughout history.

He recalled that Andhra State was formed with Kurnool as the capital, and later Hyderabad was made the capital of Andhra Pradesh. In 2014, the new state of Andhra Pradesh was formed with Amaravati as its capital.

Chandrababu Naidu slammed the previous government of YSRCP for playing what he called a divisive game in the name of three capitals between 2019 and 2024.

"They spoke of three capitals but created a situation where there was effectively no capital at all. Now, Amaravati is being developed as the people's capital," he said.

- IANS
Alert troops of the Indian Army's 19 Rashtriya Rifles, along with J&K Police, conducted a major rescue operation in Sinthan Pass, saving 214 stranded tourists and local civilians from heavy snowfall and treacherous conditions. The region has experienced significant fresh snowfall, with Sinthan Pass receiving 12 inches and other key passes also affected. The MET department has forecast continued rain and snow across J&K until March 20, advising travelers and farmers to plan accordingly. While the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway remains open, other routes like the Mughal Road have been closed due to the severe weather.

Indian Army and J&K Police rescue 214 stranded tourists and locals from Sinthan Pass amid heavy snowfall. Latest weather forecast for Jammu & Kashmir.

Srinagar, March 16 Alert troops of the Indian Army braved highly inclement weather including heavy snowfall to rescue 214 stranded passengers from Jammu and Kashmir's Sinthan Pass, officials said on Monday.

"After heavy snowfall disrupted movement in the Sinthan Pass connecting the Valley with Kishtwar district of Jammu division, braving incessant snowfall, treacherous terrain and extremely low visibility, soldiers of 19 Rashtriya Rifles along with J&K Police carried out a joint rescue operation at the mountain pass.



"Despite harsh weather conditions and slippery road condition, the teams successfully evacuated 214 stranded tourists and local civilians and ensured their safe movement to secured locations", officials said.



Meanwhile, higher reaches of J&K received fresh snowfall during the last 12 hours. The ski resort of Gulmarg received fresh snowfall on Monday morning.



Sinthan Pass received 12 inches, Zojila Pass 5 inches and Sonamarg 3 to 4 inches of fresh snowfall during the last 12 hours.



The MET department has forecast rain/snow in J&K till March 20.



Generally cloudy weather with intermittent light to moderate rain/snow at many places mostly towards evening and morning hours till March 20.



"From March 21st to 23rd March dry weather is expected in J&K. Transporters/travellers and general public travelling over higher reaches and mountain passes are advised to plan accordingly.



"Farmers are advised to suspend farm operations till March 20", MET department officials said.



The minimum temperature was 5.3 degrees Celsius in Srinagar city on Monday while it was minus 2.5 in Gulmarg and 0.8 in Pahalgam.



Jammu city had 11.3, Katra 8.8, Batote 4.4, Banihal 4.5 and Bhaderwah 3.5 as the minimum temperature today.



Heavy snowfall at Pir Ki Gali has closed the Mughal Road connecting the Valley with Rajouri-Poonch in Jammu division.



The Srinagar-Jammu National Highway is open for traffic today, traffic department officials said.





- IANS
Arundhati Reddy of India, Fatima Sana of Pakistan, and Harshitha Samarawickrama of Sri Lanka have been nominated for the ICC Women's Player of the Month award for February. Reddy led India's bowling attack to a T20I series victory in Australia, finishing as the top wicket-taker. Sana delivered standout all-round performances for Pakistan against South Africa, excelling in both batting and bowling. Samarawickrama was the top scorer and Player of the Series in Sri Lanka's ODI victory over the West Indies.

Arundhati Reddy, Fatima Sana, and Harshitha Samarawickrama are nominees for the ICC Women's Player of the Month award for February.

New Delhi, March 16 Sri Lanka's reliable top-order batter Harshitha Samarawickrama had an outstanding ODI series in the Caribbean, playing a key part in Sri Lanka's 2-1 series victory over the West Indies.

The left-handed player ended as the top scorer in the series, accumulating 171 runs from three ODIs with an average of 57.00. Samarawickrama demonstrated steady performance throughout, scoring 66, 35, and 70, effectively supporting Sri Lanka's batting lineup amid tough Caribbean conditions.

Her contributions were crucial as Sri Lanka won the ODI series 2-1, and her performance as the opener earned her the Player of the Series award.

Pakistan captain Fatima Sana excelled with both bat and ball against the Proteas, despite the series ending 2-1 in both formats. She was especially outstanding in the shortest format, finishing as the top scorer with 146 runs at an average of 73.00 and a striking rate of 184.81.

Her notable highlight came in the opening T20I, where she scored an impressive 90. She later contributed with an unbeaten 47 and took 2/12 in the third match, earning the Player of the Match award. Additionally, Sana scored 52 and took two important wickets with the ball in the second ODI. Throughout the tour, she took a total of four wickets in the ODI series and two in the T20Is.

Arundhati Reddy led India's bowling effort in their three-match T20I series win in Australia. She emerged as the top wicket-taker, securing eight wickets with an average of 10.87 and an economy rate of 7.25.

The right-arm seamer consistently delivered match-changing spells in each game, recording figures of 4/22, 2/30, and 2/35. Her ability to take wickets was crucial in maintaining pressure on Australia's batters, ultimately helping India secure the series 2-1.

- IANS
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma offered prayers at the renowned Baglamukhi Temple in Datia, Madhya Pradesh. During his visit, he also performed rituals at the ancient Vankhandeshwar Mahadev Temple. Speaking to media, Sarma stated the BJP is always prepared for elections and expressed confidence in forming government again in Assam and performing well in West Bengal. This visit follows his recent inauguration of development projects worth around Rs 340 crore in Assam's Barak Valley.

Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma visited Datia's Baglamukhi Temple, performed rituals, and expressed BJP's readiness for upcoming state elections.

Datia, March 16 Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday offered prayers at the renowned Baglamukhi Temple in Datia, Madhya Pradesh, and sought the blessings.

On his arrival in Datia, Sarma was welcomed by Bharatiya Janata Party workers and local social workers, who greeted him with garlands. He then visited the Baglamukhi Devi Temple at the Pitambara Peeth, where he performed rituals and offered prayers according to traditional customs.

During his visit, the Assam Chief Minister also went to the ancient Vankhandeshwar Mahadev Temple, where he performed jalabhishek of Lord Shiva amid Vedic chants by priests.

Speaking to the media, Sarma said that the Bharatiya Janata Party is always prepared for elections. He added that the party remains connected with the people and works continuously to ensure that the benefits of government schemes reach them.

He expressed confidence that the BJP would once again form the government in Assam and said that the party's flag would also fly high in West Bengal in the coming elections.

Earlier, on March 14, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma inaugurated and laid the foundations for several important development projects worth around Rs 340 crore for the people of the districts of Cachar, Hailakandi and Sribhumi.

He further accelerated the development journey of the Barak Valley, dedicated the State Secretariat, Barak Valley, Silchar, to the service of the people of Barak Valley at a function held at SilcharIt may be noted that the development projects inaugurated in Cachar district today are the vital bridges, cultural centres and key infrastructure, alongside Assam Secretariat, Barak Valley, and Silchar for bringing governance and growth closer to the people.

The Secretariat complex has been constructed on 15 bighas of land, covering an area of 18,585 square metres, and was completed within 36 months.

The project includes several buildings, such as the Secretariat building, an auditorium building, a guest house, the Chief Minister's residence, officers' quarters, and quarters for Grade-III and Grade-IV employees.

- ANI
The distribution of 50 government appointment letters to families affected by terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir has been welcomed as a significant step toward justice and rehabilitation. Tasleema Akhter, Chairperson of the Association of Terror Victims in Kashmir (ATVK), stated the move symbolizes dignity and acknowledges years of hardship. She expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for their commitment to supporting these families. ATVK described the initiative as a historic moment that reinforces national solidarity with victims of terrorism.

J&K Lt Governor distributes appointment letters to 50 families affected by terrorism. ATVK calls it a historic step for justice and rehabilitation.

Jammu, March 16 The distribution of 50 government appointment letters to families affected by terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir has been welcomed as a significant step toward justice and rehabilitation. The initiative, carried out under the leadership of Manoj Sinha, Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, aims to provide employment opportunities and support to families who have endured the long-term consequences of terror-related violence.

Reacting to the development, Tasleema Akhter, Chairperson of the Association of Terror Victims in Kashmir (ATVK), expressed appreciation for the move and described it as a moment of recognition for families who have suffered due to terrorism in the region.

In a statement shared on the social media platform X, Akhter said that she, along with the entire ATVK team, extended heartfelt congratulations to the Lieutenant Governor for distributing the appointment letters to terror victim families. She noted that the step symbolises justice, dignity and acknowledgement of the hardships faced by these families for many years.

Akhter highlighted that the Association of Terror Victims in Kashmir has consistently worked to raise awareness about the plight of terror victim families. According to her, ATVK has carried their voices and concerns from the grassroots level in Kashmir to international forums, including discussions at the United Nations Human Rights Council.

She said witnessing families receive employment opportunities brought immense pride and emotional satisfaction to the organisation, as it represents progress toward rehabilitation and empowerment.

Akhter also expressed gratitude to Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, and Amit Shah, Union Home Minister, for what she described as their commitment to supporting families affected by terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.

According to her, the initiative sends a strong message that the sacrifices and suffering of innocent people will not be forgotten. She added that providing employment to members of affected families is not only a step toward economic stability but also an important gesture of respect and recognition for their resilience.

ATVK described the development as a historic moment that reinforces the nation's solidarity with victims of terrorism and their families.

- ANI
Judges from the Indore Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court have ordered a personal inspection of the disputed Bhojshala site before the next hearing. The bench, comprising Justices Vijay Shukla and Alok Awasthi, made the order while hearing objections to the Archaeological Survey of India's detailed survey report. The Supreme Court has directed the lower court to hear and decide the matter as expeditiously as possible. The next hearing in this decades-old dispute is scheduled for April 2.

Judges of the Indore Bench will conduct a personal inspection of the disputed Bhojshala site before the next hearing on April 2.

Indore, March 16 Judges of the Indore Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court will personally visit the disputed Bhojshala site before the next hearing in the matter.

The division bench made it clear that it intends to conduct a "personal inspection" of the disputed site prior to the next hearing.

In its order, the court explicitly stated that the bench will visit the site personally before the next date of hearing and that no other individuals will be permitted to accompany the judges during the inspection.

The bench, comprising Justice Vijay Shukla and Justice Alok Awasthi, made the observation while outlining the next steps in the case.

The judges further observed that the Supreme Court has already issued a clear directive for the expeditious disposal of the matter.

Quoting the apex court's mandate in the order, the bench noted that the Supreme Court has directed that the matter be heard and decided as expeditiously as possible.

The next date of hearing has been fixed for April 2.

During the proceedings held on Monday, the division bench heard detailed suggestions and objections submitted by both the petitioners and the respondents on the comprehensive report prepared by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

It was also recorded that five related petitions are being heard together in this batch.

Recalling its earlier order dated February 23, the court had directed all parties to file their objections, opinions, suggestions and recommendations on the ASI survey report within two weeks.

The ASI had carried out a detailed scientific investigation and survey of the entire complex over a period of 100 days, commencing on March 22, 2024.

The bench further recorded in its order that the Supreme Court, on January 22, had directed the Indore Bench to take up the hearing within three weeks.

During the previous proceedings, the court had observed that the sealed survey report had already been opened and copies furnished to all parties, rendering any further opening of the document before the court unnecessary.

The development marks a significant step in the decades-old dispute, with the court now set to examine the ASI findings on the ground after hearing the parties' submissions.

The judges' personal visit is expected to provide greater clarity before the matter proceeds further.

- IANS
The Indore Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court has proposed a site visit to the disputed Bhojshala-Kamal Maula complex before the next hearing on April 2. The court allowed parties to submit objections or suggestions regarding the Archaeological Survey of India's report. Advocate Shreesh Dubey stated the court granted additional time for filing suggestions and confirmed the site visit would occur without petitioners or lawyers present. The complex in Dhar district is claimed by Hindus as a Saraswati temple and by Muslims as the Kamal Maula mosque, with a 2003 arrangement allowing worship on specific days.

Madhya Pradesh High Court proposes site visit in Bhojshala-Kamal Maula complex case, schedules next hearing for April 2.

Indore, March 17 Indore Bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court held a hearing in the disputed Bhojshala-Kamal Maula Complex issue and proposed that the court would visit the site before the next hearing is held on the matter.

During the hearing on Monday, the division bench of Justice Vijay Kumar Shukla and Justice Alok Awasthi further directed that if any party is yet to file its objection or suggestion related to the report of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), then it may submit before the next hearing, which is scheduled for April 2.

"Considering the nature of the petition and that the petition is a public interest litigation, applications for intervention are allowed to the extent that the intervenor would be given right to the audience only at the time of hearing and may file documents in support of the submissions on affidavit, which are proposed to be raised," the Court said.

"Parties may submit their respective objections/opinion/suggestions or recommendations in respect of the report of the Archaeological Survey of India before the next date, if not already filed, in terms of the directions contained in para 9(ii) and (iii) of the order dated 22.01.2026. The Court proposes to visit the site before the next date of hearing," the order read.

Meanwhile, Bhoj Utsav Samiti Advocate Shreesh Dubey said that sought additional time from the court to file their suggestion, which the court granted and instructed to file it before the next hearing.

"During the previous hearing, the court gave three weeks time to the parties to submit their suggestions or objections. Most of the suggestions and objections from the parties have now been received. Though, we had sought additional time from the court to submit our suggestions, which the court accepted and directed that to be submitted before the next hearing. The next date of hearing in the matter has been scheduled for April 2," Dubey told ANI.

The advocate further said that the court would visit the Bhojshala site without the presence of the petitioners, lawyers, or any respondents related to the matter before the next hearing.

"During the proceedings, the court also stated that it would conduct a site visit to the Bhojshala premises without the presence of the petitioners, lawyers, or respondents of the case. The next hearing will take place on April 2, and any suggestions or objections can be submitted in between before the next hearing," he added.

There is a disputed site, the Bhojshala complex, situated in Madhya Pradesh's Dhar district. For Hindus, the Bhoj Shala complex is a temple dedicated to Goddess Vagdevi (Saraswati), while for Muslims, it is the site of the Kamal Maula mosque.

According to an arrangement in 2003, Hindus perform puja at the complex on Tuesdays from sunrise to sunset, while Muslims offer namaz on Fridays from 1 pm to 3 pm.

- ANI
Bihar Deputy CM Vijay Kumar Sinha and BJP leaders express full confidence in NDA winning all five Rajya Sabha seats, targeting the opposition's strategy.

Patna, March 16 Bihar Deputy Chief Minister, Vijay Kumar Sinha, on Monday expressed confidence over the ruling alliance's prospects in the Rajya Sabha elections, asserting that all five candidates backed by the alliance would secure victory.

Sinha said the outcome would reflect the people's mandate and the strength of the ruling coalition in the state.



"In a democracy, everyone remains hopeful about victory. Our equation is based on the will of the people. We will win in that equation. All five of our candidates who will go to the Rajya Sabha will help in building a developed Bihar enriched with good governance," Sinha told ANI.



Targeting the opposition, the Deputy Chief Minister alleged that opposition parties were resorting to criticism and allegations instead of constructive politics.



"The opposition never does anything but cry. They cry, they make allegations. These are the same people who once made Bihar cry, but today the people of Bihar are making them cry," Sinha said.



"The entire people of Bihar are in my contact. We have got a two-thirds majority, so where have the Congress and RJD people disappeared in panic? That is their responsibility. My victory is assured. All five of our candidates are winning," he added.



Bihar BJP president Sanjay Saraogi also exuded confidence that all NDA candidates would win the Rajya Sabha polls in the state.



"All five seats are going to go to the account of Bihar's NDA. When we are about to leave after the counting of votes, all five of our leaders will leave as Rajya Sabha members; there is no doubt about this," he said.



Saraogi also targeted the Opposition, claiming that it lacked confidence in its legislators. "They (RJD) do not have trust in their MLAs... Only the people of the Mahagathbandhan can tell why they have kept their MLAs tied up," he added.



Echoing similar confidence, BJP MLA Vijay Khemka said the victory of the NDA candidates was certain. "I am going to vote for the Rajya Sabha elections... All five NDA candidates will definitely win. There is no ifs or buts about it... All five candidates will win. The victory of all five candidates is assured, guaranteed," he stated.



LPJ (Ram Vilas) leader Sanjay Kumar Paswan also criticised the Opposition's strategy. "We are united. The opposition's clan will collapse. They are scared; they had kept their MLAs locked up. Two or four even ran away... Why should we panic? Did we lock our MLAs up in a hotel?" he remarked.



On the other hand, leaders from the Opposition alliance expressed optimism about their prospects. RJD MLA Ramanand Yadav said, "There is no question of fear; we are all united. Victory will be ours."



CPI-M leader Ajay Kumar Kushwaha also voted in confidence ahead of the voting. "We will win, and we will win all five seats," he said.



The biennial Rajya Sabha elections are being held to fill 37 seats across 10 states. With polling currently underway, the counting of votes is scheduled to begin at 5 PM today.



Out of the 37 seats, 26 candidates have already been elected unopposed, while voting is being held for the remaining 11 seats, including four from Bihar.





- ANI
Bihar Minister Mohd Zama Khan expressed strong confidence in the JDU-BJP alliance winning the Rajya Sabha elections, thanking the people of Bihar for their support. The elections are seeing key contests in Bihar, Haryana, and Odisha, with 26 candidates already elected unopposed. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has filed his nomination for the Rajya Sabha, a significant move in his long political career. Political parties are taking measures like moving legislators to resorts to prevent cross-voting in these closely watched polls.

Bihar Minister Mohd Zama Khan confident in JDU-BJP alliance's Rajya Sabha victory. Key battles in Bihar, Haryana, Odisha as Nitish Kumar files nomination.

Patna, March 16 Bihar Minister Mohd Zama Khan expressed confidence in the JDU-BJP alliance winning the Rajya Sabha elections, thanking the people of Bihar for their support. He said, "I want to thank all the people of Bihar for their blessings, due to which we are going to win the Rajya Sabha elections."

He added, "Many people are with us who like development, who like the way our government works. I will definitely say that many companions are in touch with us because they want development."

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MLA Ranvijay Sahu described the Rajya Sabha elections as significant not just for the Rajya Sabha but for Bihar and the country, and said NDA was "off the radar."

He said, "No one is off the radar; the NDA people have gone off the radar... The numbers will go up to 50. We have the support of the people... All the alliance partners are with us..."

The biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha to fill 37 seats across 10 states are currently on, with counting of votes set for 5 pm.

The term of 37 members who were elected from Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Telangana will conclude in the month of April, vacating the seats for new members to be elected.

Out of these, 26 candidates have already secured victory unopposed. Voting will now take place for the remaining 11 seats, including five from Bihar, four from Odisha, and two from Haryana.

In key battlegrounds in Bihar, Haryana, and Odisha, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is working to defeat Opposition gains.

So far, 26 candidates have been elected unopposed, with the BJP securing seven, Congress five, the Trinamool Congress four, the DMK three, and Shiv Sena, RPI(A), NCP, NCP(SP), AIADMK, PMK, and UPPL one each. Notable names among the winners include Sharad Pawar, Abhishek Singhvi, Tiruchi Siva, and Vinod Tawade.

As preparations are underway for the biennial elections, all attention has turned to Haryana, Bihar and Odisha, which have emerged as key arenas of contest between the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the Opposition bloc for four important seats.The most interesting part of these Rajya Sabha polls is the Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

Nitish Kumar, Bihar's longest-tenured Chief Minister for over two decades, announced that he would be heading to the Rajya Sabha and filed his nomination in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, among other leaders.

Apart from Nitish Kumar, other NDA candidates, including Upendra Kushwaha and BJP chief Nitin Nabin, also filed their nominations for the Upper House.

Amid apprehensions of possible cross-voting and allegations of horse-trading, several political parties, particularly the Congress, have moved their legislators to resorts and locations outside their home states in a bid to ensure unity within their ranks ahead of the polling.

Among those elected without contest are Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) founder Sharad Pawar, Republican Party of India (Athawale) president Ramdas Athawale, and senior AIADMK leader M Thambidurai.

- ANI
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma stated the BJP will release its complete list of candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections on March 18. He is traveling to New Delhi for final discussions with the party's central leadership before the announcement. The elections for the 126-seat assembly will be held in a single phase on April 9, with the BJP contesting in alliance with the AGP and BPF. The announcement is expected to intensify campaign activities, with the opposition Congress also actively releasing its candidate lists.

Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma announces BJP will release its complete candidate list for the April 9 Assembly polls on March 18 after Delhi meetings.

Guwahati, March 16 Assam Chief Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, on Monday said that the Bharatiya Janata Party will release its complete list of candidates on March 18 for the upcoming Assam Assembly elections to be held on April 9.

Speaking to reporters here, CM Sarma stated that the party will announce all its nominees in a single list, signalling that the BJP has largely finalised its strategy for the crucial polls.



"The BJP will release the list of all its candidates on March 18. The entire list will be declared together," Sarma said.



Sarma is travelling to New Delhi today to hold key discussions with the central leadership of the BJP regarding the finalisation of candidates for the upcoming Assembly polls.



The Chief Minister also indicated that he will file his nomination for the upcoming Assembly elections on March 20.



CM Sarma on Monday visited the Durga temple at Rani on the outskirts of Guwahati and offered prayers before leaving for New Delhi.



The Chief Minister sought blessings at the temple as political activities intensify ahead of the election.



The announcement comes hours after the Election Commission of India recently declared the schedule for the Assam Assembly elections.



Polling for the 126-member Assembly will be held in a single phase on April 9, while the counting of votes will take place on May 4.



With the poll schedule already announced, political activities have intensified across the state as parties gear up to select candidates and finalise campaign strategies.



The BJP, which currently leads the government in the state, will contest the polls in alliance with its partners -Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and Bodoland People's Front (BPF).



According to sources, the seat sharing formula among the coalition partners was finalised and the BJP will probably contest 90 seats in the 126-member Assembly.



The rest of the seats will be given to its allies - AGP and BPF.



Over the past few weeks, Sarma and other BJP leaders have been holding multiple organisational meetings to assess the party's preparedness and evaluate potential candidates across constituencies.



The announcement of candidates is expected to trigger a major political push, with rival parties also stepping up preparations.



The Opposition Congress has already begun releasing its lists of nominees and intensifying its campaign across the state.





- IANS
The Bharatiya Janata Party has released its first list of 144 candidates for the upcoming West Bengal Assembly elections. In a major move, Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari has been fielded from both Nandigram and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's Bhabanipur constituency. The list includes prominent names like former state BJP chief Dilip Ghosh and former Rajya Sabha member Swapan Dasgupta. While most sitting MLAs have been re-nominated, notable omissions include former Chief Economic Adviser Ashok Kumar Lahiri.

BJP announces 144 candidates for Bengal polls. Suvendu Adhikari fielded from Nandigram & Mamata Banerjee's Bhabanipur. See full list of key nominees.

Kolkata, March 16 The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday announced its first list of 144 candidates for the two-phase elections to 294 Assembly constituencies in West Bengal scheduled for next month -- April 23 and April 29.

As had been predicted for quite some time, the party has fielded the Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, from both his own constituency of Nandigram in East Midnapore district and from Bhabanipur in south Kolkata, where the sitting legislator is Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

If Mamata Banerjee contests from Bhabanipur again, it will mark the second time that she will be pitted against Adhikari after the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections.

Adhikari was elected as a legislator from Nandigram for the second consecutive time in 2021, defeating the then Trinamool Congress candidate Mamata Banerjee.

Later, Banerjee was elected from Bhabanipur in a by-election and retained the post of Chief Minister for the third consecutive term.

Another important name in the first list announced by the BJP on Monday is that of former West Bengal BJP president and former national vice-president of the party, Dilip Ghosh.

He has been fielded from his old Assembly constituency of Kharagpur (Sadar) in West Midnapore district, from where he was elected in the 2016 West Bengal Assembly elections.

However, Ghosh resigned as the MLA from Kharagpur (Sadar) after being elected to the Lok Sabha from the Medinipur constituency in the same district in the 2019 general elections.

Former Rajya Sabha member and journalist-turned-politician Swapan Dasgupta has been fielded from the Rashbehari constituency in south Kolkata.

Actor-turned-politician Rudranil Ghosh has been fielded from the Shibpur Assembly constituency in Howrah district.

BJP insiders had earlier indicated that most of the party's sitting legislators would be re-nominated this time.

Accordingly, the first list of candidates features a majority of familiar faces.

However, the name of the sitting BJP MLA from Balurghat constituency in South Dinajpur district and former Chief Economic Adviser to the Union government, Ashok Kumar Lahiri, is missing from the first list.

Instead, Vidyut Roy has been fielded from Balurghat this time.

Fashion designer-turned-politician and sitting BJP legislator Agnimitra Paul has been re-nominated from her constituency of Asansol (Dakshin) in West Burdwan district.

Chandana Bauri from Saltora constituency in Bankura district and Shikha Chattopadhyay from Dabgram-Phulbari constituency in Jalpaiguri district are among other prominent sitting MLAs who have also received re-nominations.

- IANS
The BJP and its backed candidates have won the Rajya Sabha biennial elections in Odisha. Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi hailed the victory as a reflection of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's strong leadership. Majhi strongly criticized opposition leader Naveen Patnaik for his remarks labeling MLAs who voted according to their conscience as having a "criminal background." The election saw the defeat of the joint candidate fielded by the BJD and the Congress amid allegations of cross-voting by several legislators.

BJP-backed candidates secure Rajya Sabha seats in Odisha. CM Mohan Majhi credits PM Modi's leadership, criticizes opposition leader Naveen Patnaik.

Bhubaneswar, March 16 Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Monday said the victory of BJP and BJP-backed candidates in the Rajya Sabha biennial elections reflects the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while criticising remarks made by Leader of the Opposition Naveen Patnaik regarding alleged cross-voting by legislators.

Amid allegations of cross-voting by MLAs from opposition parties, Odisha BJP president Manmohan Samal, senior party leader Sujeet Kumar, BJP-backed candidate Dilip Ray, and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader Santrupt Misra won the Rajya Sabha biennial elections held in the state on Monday.

Meanwhile, the joint candidate fielded by the BJD and the Indian National Congress (INC), Dr Datteshwar Hota, was defeated by veteran politician Dilip Ray, who contested as an independent candidate with the backing of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Reacting to the outcome, the Chief Minister said the result marked a significant moment for the state.

"Today is a memorable day in the history of Odisha. This overwhelming victory of BJP and BJP-backed candidates in the Rajya Sabha elections is not only a win for the party but also reflects the strong leadership and visionary guidance of our Prime Minister Narendra Modi," Majhi said.

The Chief Minister added that the election of the three candidates would strengthen the representation of Odisha in the Upper House.

"Our newly elected MPs -- Manmohan Samal, Sujeet Kumar and Dilip Ray -- will safeguard Odisha's interests in the Rajya Sabha and work towards positioning the state as a leading contributor to Prime Minister Modi's vision of 'Viksit Bharat' and a 'Samruddha Odisha'," he said.

Majhi also criticised remarks made earlier in the day by Leader of the Opposition Naveen Patnaik, who reportedly described MLAs voting according to their conscience as having a "criminal background".

"The remarks made by Leader of the Opposition Naveen Patnaik, accusing MLAs who voted according to their conscience of having a criminal background, are unfortunate and an affront to the dignity of democracy," Majhi said.

He added that such comments were unexpected from someone who had served as Chief Minister for a long period.

"Calling those MLAs 'criminals', who voted keeping the interests of their constituencies and the development of the state in mind, amounts to insulting the thousands of voters who elected them," he said.

Taking a dig at the former Chief Minister, Majhi questioned why Patnaik had campaigned for those MLAs during elections if he believed they had a criminal background.

Meanwhile, opposition parties said that 11 legislators -- eight from the BJD and three from the Congress - allegedly voted in defiance of their respective party whips during the Rajya Sabha polls.

- IANS
The Bharatiya Janata Party's consolidation in the West Bengal Assembly largely depends on its performance in 152 constituencies across northern and western districts voting in the first phase. The ruling Trinamool Congress maintains a stronghold in the southern districts, which vote in the second phase. Key battlegrounds include areas with the influential Matua community, where citizenship issues and local disputes could sway votes. Historically, the BJP's dramatic rise from zero seats in 2011 to the principal opposition in 2021 has been concentrated in these northern and western regions.

Analysis of BJP's electoral prospects in West Bengal, focusing on its strongholds in North Bengal and western districts ahead of the phased assembly elections.

Kolkata, March 16 The prospects of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the principal Opposition in West Bengal, to consolidate its position in the state Assembly largely depend on the results from the 152 constituencies across 16 districts that will vote on April 23 in the first phase of the two-phase polls.

The BJP has traditionally enjoyed more support in North Bengal and the western parts of the state. Compared to the South, the party has performed better in the northern districts of Alipurduar, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar, Darjeeling, and Uttar Dinajpur, and to the state's west in Purulia, Bankura, Jhargram, and parts of Burdwan.

The ruling Trinamool Congress, meanwhile, has maintained its stronghold in the South, where 142 seats will go to polls in the second phase on April 29. These districts include Kolkata, Howrah, Hooghly, and South 24 Parganas.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Front faces an uphill task in returning to the Assembly. This time, the Left Front is contesting with the Indian Secular Front (ISF) as its ally, while its former partner, the Indian National Congress, is contesting separately.

The Congress campaign in the state is largely focused on its traditional pockets of Malda and Murshidabad. Party leaders often refer to these areas as the "Ma-Mu" belt -- 'Ma' for Malda, where the return of Mausam Noor is expected to revive its prospects, and 'Mu' for Murshidabad, where the party hopes to secure a few seats.

For the BJP, most seats in the North and West have shown greater support, especially in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Though it could not repeat that performance in the 2024 Parliamentary polls, nor the 2021 Assembly election.

In other districts where the ruling party is dominant, like Birbhum, the BJP will weigh on disputes within local Trinamool leaders, while in Nadia and North 24 Parganas, it is yet to be seen how the large Matua population votes this time. The Matuas are Namasudras, and part of a Hindu reform movement that originated in what is today Bangladesh.

A considerable number of the community have since migrated to India during and after Independence, following allegations of repression. The community has been divided in supporting the state's ruling and the principal Opposition parties, with the Trinamool trying to influence them, building a narrative against the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of disenfranchising them. The BJP is, meanwhile, trying to help them obtain citizenship through the new amended Act (CAA).

Across the state, Prime Minister Narendra Modi continues to enjoy considerable popularity. This helped the BJP perform strongly in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, when it secured nearly 41 per cent of the vote share against the TMC's 44 per cent. In 2024, however, the BJP's vote share slipped to below 40 per cent, while the TMC consolidated its position with around 46 per cent. Although the BJP reached its peak in the 2019 parliamentary elections, much of its electoral strength in the 2021 Assembly polls remained concentrated in North and West Bengal.

Historically, the Trinamool has managed to penetrate several BJP strongholds, while the BJP has struggled to make significant inroads into the ruling party's bastions. Nevertheless, the BJP's rise in the state has been notable -- it grew from zero seats in the 2011 Assembly election to emerge as the principal Opposition in 2021 with 77 seats. But the gains were largely concentrated in constituencies going to the polls in the first phase.

In the 2011 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, when the TMC ended the Left Front's long rule, it secured nearly 39 per cent of the vote share while the BJP managed only about four per cent.

By the 2016 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, the BJP improved its tally slightly to three seats and around 10 per cent vote share, while the TMC won 211 seats with nearly 45 per cent of the vote.

In the 2021 Assembly polls, however, the BJP surged to 77 seats with close to 38 per cent of the vote, emerging particularly strong in North Bengal and western districts -- regions where the party is now looking to further consolidate its support while attempting to make inroads into urban areas dominated by the ruling party.

- IANS
BJP Kerala President Rajeev Chandrasekhar announced that the party's central leadership is expected to release the first list of candidates for the Kerala Assembly elections today. He framed the upcoming polls as a critical opportunity for political change and development in the state, modeled after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's national initiatives. Chandrasekhar openly challenged Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to public debates on governance and policy. He also criticized the CPI(M) for re-fielding a minister linked to the controversial Sabarimala gold theft case.

BJP's Rajeev Chandrasekhar says the party's first list for Kerala Assembly polls will be announced today, challenging rivals to debates.

Thiruvananthapuram, March 16 Kerala BJP President Rajeev Chandrasekhar said that the first list of candidates for the upcoming Kerala Assembly elections is expected to be announced today by the party's central leadership.

Speaking to reporters, Chandrasekhar said the announcement would come from the national leadership of the BJP-led NDA. "We expect the NDA-BJP to announce its first list today. Our leadership in Delhi is expected to announce the first list today, and over the next 24-48 hours progressively, the rest of the list will be announced," he said.

Emphasising the importance of the upcoming polls, Chandrasekhar said the elections would determine the future direction of the state and expressed confidence that voters were ready for political change. "Every Malayali today in Kerala is looking forward to these elections because these are no ordinary elections. I believe the people of Keralam are ready for change; that is our battle cry," he said.

He added that the BJP and the National Democratic Alliance were seeking an opportunity to bring development and economic growth to the state. "When we say we are God's own country, we must be God's own country as well as economically strong. The BJP and NDA are asking the people for an opportunity to bring to Kerala what Prime Minister Narendra Modi has done for India in the last 10 years--progress, opportunity, development, jobs and investment for every Malayali," Chandrasekhar said.

The BJP leader also challenged rival leaders to open debates on governance and policy ahead of the polls. "I am ready. Somebody else should be there for me to debate; I cannot debate with myself. Whenever the Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is ready for a debate, I am happy to have a debate. Whenever Rahul Gandhi is ready for a debate, I am happy for a debate," he said.

Chandrasekhar said the campaign period should focus on constructive discussions about the vision and track records of political parties. "The next 23 days should be constructive debate between the three political parties about their vision, their achievements and whether they have lived up to the promises they made to people," he said. Meanwhile, Kerala Minister V Sivankutty has said he is ready to debate with Chandrasekhar.

Criticising the Left, Chandrasekhar alleged that the Communist Party of India (Marxist) had fielded leaders despite controversies. "The CPM has taken a minister who should be hiding in shame and begging forgiveness from the people of Keralam and every Ayyappa bhaktha for what was done to Sabarimala. Instead of that, they are giving him the ticket again," he said, referring to the party giving a seat to Kadakampally Surendran.

The Sabarimala gold theft case concerns allegations of the misappropriation of approximately 4.54 kilograms of gold from sacred temple artefacts, including the Sreekovil (sanctum sanctorum) door frames and Dwarapalaka idols. The theft allegedly occurred in 2019 under the pretext of refinishing and re-gold-plating temple structures.

- ANI
The BJP has released its first list of 144 candidates for the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections, setting up a direct clash by fielding Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's Bhabanipur constituency. The election will be held in two phases on April 23 and 29, with vote counting scheduled for May 4. Other notable candidates include BJP MLA Agnimitra Paul from Asansol Dakshin and actor-politician Rudranil Ghosh from Shibpur. The state has over 6.4 crore registered electors, including a significant number of young and senior citizen voters.

BJP's first list pits Suvendu Adhikari against Mamata Banerjee in Bhabanipur. See key candidates, poll dates, and voter demographics for the high-stakes Bengal election.

New Delhi, March 16 West Bengal Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari will contest from Nandigram, where he defeated Mamata Banerjee in 2021, and from Bhabanipur, the constituency currently represented by the TMC chief, as per the first list of 144 candidates released by the Bhartiya Janata Party on Monday for the upcoming West Bengal Legislative Assembly elections.

Polling in the State is set to be held in two phases on April 23 and 29, with the counting of votes for both phases will be conducted on May 4, setting the stage for a high-stakes contest between the BJP and the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC).

BJP MLA Agnimitra Paul will contest from Asansol Dakshin, actor-turned-politician Rudranil Ghosh is set to run from Shibpur, and BJP MLA Bankim Chandra Ghosh will contest from Chakdaha.

West Bengal has 294 Assembly seats, and the party is expected to announce the remaining candidates soon.

As per the ECI, the first phase covering 152 Assembly constituencies will begin with the issuance of the gazette notification on March 30, 2026. The last date for filing nominations for this phase is April 6, while scrutiny of nominations will take place on April 7. Candidates will be allowed to withdraw their nominations until April 9. Polling for the first phase will be held on April 23.

For the second phase, which covers 142 Assembly constituencies, the gazette notification will be issued on April 2, 2026. The last date for filing nominations is April 9, and the scrutiny of nominations will take place on April 10. Candidates can withdraw their nominations until April 13. Voting for this phase is scheduled for April 29.

West Bengal has a total of 6,45,61,152 electors as per the Election Commission of India, including 6,44,52,609 general electors and 1,08,543 service voters. The state has 5,23,229 young electors aged 18-19 years.

The electoral rolls also list 4,16,089 electors marked as Persons with Disabilities (PwD), 1,152 electors identified as third gender, and 3,78,979 senior citizens aged 85 and above.

- ANI
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke with US President Donald Trump, emphasizing the critical need to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to restore shipping lanes and curb rising global costs. The closure, following retaliatory strikes between Iran and US-Israel forces, is severely disrupting world energy markets and spiking prices. British Energy Secretary Ed Miliband stated that ending the conflict is the best way to reopen the strategic chokepoint for oil transit. Iran's new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has pledged to maintain control over the strait as the crisis enters its third week.

UK PM Keir Starmer stresses to President Trump the need to reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz to ease global shipping and economic disruption.

London, March 16 British Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke with US President Donald Trump to discuss the situation in the Middle East and the disruption to global shipping caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

During the conversation on Sunday evening, Starmer stressed the importance of reopening the strategic waterway to help restore normal shipping routes and ease rising global costs, a statement from 10 Downing Street said, Xinhua news agency reported.

Both leaders agreed to remain in close contact regarding developments in the region.

British Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said earlier on Sunday that ending the ongoing conflict is the "best and most conclusive way" to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic chokepoint through which roughly one-fifth of the world's oil passes, warning that the situation is harming the global economy.

"The spike in oil and gas prices that we're seeing is caused by the closure of the Strait," Miliband told British media, adding that Britain wants to work with allies to seek to get the Strait reopened.

Trump said Saturday on social media that "many countries" would send warships to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, without offering any details.

On February 28, Israel and the United States launched joint attacks on Tehran and other Iranian cities, killing Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, senior military commanders, and more than 1,300 civilians. Iran responded with waves of missile and drone strikes targeting Israeli and US bases and assets across the Middle East.

As the strikes move into their third week, and with the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the disruption to global energy and economic markets is becoming increasingly severe.

In his first message as Iran's supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei pledged to maintain leverage over the Strait of Hormuz.

- IANS
Union Minister Suresh Gopi is scheduled to make a statement in the Lok Sabha on the action taken regarding a parliamentary committee's report on developing niche and spiritual tourism. The House will also discuss and vote on Demands for Grants for the Railways and Agriculture ministries for the 2026-27 financial year. The session has seen opposition protests, including a rejected no-confidence motion against the Speaker and demands for a discussion on the LPG crisis. Several other ministers and committee members are set to present various reports and papers as the second phase of the budget session continues until April 2.

Union Minister Suresh Gopi to present action taken on committee report for niche & spiritual tourism development in Parliament's budget session.

New Delhi, March 16 As the second phase of the budget session continues, Union Minister of State Petroleum and Natural Gas Suresh Gopi is scheduled to make a statement regarding the action taken on recommendations contained in the 357th report of the Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture concerning the development of niche tourism, including spiritual tourism, theme-based tourist circuits and potential tourist destinations under the Ministry of Tourism, as per the list of business in Lok Sabha.

The Lok Sabha will take up key parliamentary business on Monday, including discussions on the Union Budget for the financial year 2026-27 and the presentation of several standing committee reports.

According to the official List of Business, the House will convene at 11 am. During the proceedings, several Union Ministers will lay important papers on the table of the House. These include Gajendra Singh Shekhawat for the Ministry of Culture, Jayant Chaudhary for the Ministry of Education, Pankaj Chaudhary for the Ministry of Finance, Kirti Vardhan Singh for the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Suresh Gopi for the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Raksha Nikhil Khadse for the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Sukanta Majumdar for the Ministry of Education, and Harsh Malhotra for the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

Various parliamentary standing committee members will also present reports. From the Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology, Anil Baluni and MK Vishnu Prasad will present reports relating to the Demands for Grants for 2026-27, including the 23rd report relating to the Ministry of Communications and the 24th report relating to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.

Reports of the Standing Committee on Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution will also be tabled by Indra Hang Subba and Rajmohan Unnithan. These include the 13th and 14th reports on Demands for Grants related to the Department of Consumer Affairs and the Department of Food and Public Distribution.

In addition, Faggan Singh Kulaste and Lalji Verma from the Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice, will present several reports. These will cover Demands for Grants (2016-17) for the Department of Personnel and Training, Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, Pension and Pensioners' Welfare, the Department of Justice, the Legislative Department, and the Department of Legal Affairs.

Under the Union Budget (Second Stage), the House will hold discussion and voting on Demands for Grants for the financial year 2026-27 under the control of the Ministry of Railways and the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.

Following a stormy start to the session, which included a rejected no-confidence motion against Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and the opposition continous protests, demanding a discussion on the "LPG crisis" amid the escalating West Asia conflict, sources indicated that Trinamool Congress MPs submitted notices on March 13 in both Houses seeking the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

The Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha Secretariats are currently scrutinizing these notices to ensure they adhere to the prescribed format.

The second phase of the Budget session is scheduled to run until April 2. Commencing on January 28 with the President's address, this session comprises 30 sittings over 65 days, primarily focusing on essential legislative business and the Union Budget 2026-27.

- ANI
The Competition Commission of India has issued a guidance note advising enterprises to conduct self-audits on their AI tools to prevent anti-competitive outcomes. This follows a market study completed in October 2025, which identified risks like market concentration and targeted price discrimination. Chairperson Ravneet Kaur emphasized the need for regulators to stay abreast of the rapid AI transformation while acknowledging its benefits for efficiency and market access. The CCI also highlighted its high case disposal rate and a solution-oriented approach to mergers.

India's antitrust watchdog advises companies to audit AI tools for hidden competition risks, following a market study on AI's impact.

New Delhi, March 16 India's statutory antitrust watchdog, the Competition Commission of India, has issued a guidance note advising companies to conduct self-audits when developing and deploying artificial intelligence tools to ensure they do not create anti-competitive outcomes, Chairperson Ravneet Kaur said on Monday.

"As an initial step we have issued a guidance note which provides self-audit by the stakeholders, by the boards, management and the decision makers in the organisations as to how they can ensure that at the stage of development, deployment and monitoring of those AI applications there aren't any hidden anti-competitive outcomes," Kaur said at the 11th National Conference on Economics of Competition Law organised by the regulator.

The guidance follows the CCI's market study on artificial intelligence and competition completed in October 2025, carried out in partnership with the Management Development Institute (MDI) Gurgaon. The study examined the rapid adoption of AI technologies and their potential implications for market competition.

Kaur said regulators must remain alert as the use of AI tools expands rapidly across sectors.

"When something is changing, and there is a huge transformation happening, then for us as a regulator we need to be aware of it and abreast of it," she said.

The study identified possible competition risks, including concentration in the AI value chain, targeted price discrimination, self-referencing practices and lack of transparency in AI systems, she said.

At the same time, AI offers significant benefits for businesses and consumers.

"There are huge benefits of AI. There are efficiency gains, it helps MSMEs access markets and reduces the cost of being a market player," Kaur said.

Kaur noted the Competition Act is an interdisciplinary law, combining legal provisions with economic principles to determine whether market conduct causes an Appreciable Adverse Effect on Competition (AAEC).

"Whenever we come to any analysis or conclusion, it has to be based on very rigorous economic analysis, looking at market structure, concentration levels and pricing strategies," she said.

The commission completed its first settlement case involving the Android smart TV ecosystem, where a dominant entity was found to have imposed conditions such as mandatory pre-installation of apps and restrictions on the use of forked Android devices.

"The purpose of settlement is that we have a quick market correction and competition is restored in the market without going through prolonged litigation," Kaur said.

The CCI has received 1,360 antitrust cases, of which 1,211 have been decided and disposed of, representing about 90% of the total.

Orders during the past year covered sectors including technology, booksellers and publishers, defence procurement, liquor and solid waste management, with actions ranging from penalties and cease-and-desist directives to compliance programmes.

On the mergers front, the regulator maintains a solution-oriented approach, seeking voluntary modifications to address competition concerns rather than blocking deals outright.

"Our merger disposal rate is more than 99%. Out of a total of 1,389 applications which have been received, 1,372 have been disposed of," Kaur said.

She added that the government's IndiaAI Mission is supporting AI development by providing compute platforms and GPUs to startups and developers, helping build a more open and competitive AI ecosystem.

- ANI
The Central Government has identified thousands of hectares of degraded forest land across multiple states for restoration under the Green Credit Programme (GCP). Gujarat leads with 975 hectares selected, followed by Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. The programme incentivises voluntary environmental actions, with credits issued only after a minimum five-year establishment period achieves 40% canopy density. Restored lands can also be used to meet Compensatory Afforestation requirements, aiming to benefit local communities through enhanced ecosystem services.

Centre identifies degraded forest land across states like Gujarat, MP, and Chhattisgarh for eco-restoration under the Green Credit Programme (GCP).

New Delhi, March 16 The Green Credit Programme is an innovative mechanism to incentivise environmentally positive actions and to promote the LIFE movement, which aims at encouraging sustainable lifestyles by driving the community towards behavioural changes that support environmentally friendly actions.

According to the release, the Green Credit Programme aims to increase green cover, enhance carbon sequestration, restore degraded lands and reduce carbon footprint through the adoption of environment-friendly technologies and practices.

The Central Government has notified Green Credit Rules, 2023 on 12th October 2023 under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, to encourage voluntary environmental positive actions resulting in the issuance of Green Credits. Under the Green Credit Programme, the modality for tree plantation and eco-restoration of degraded forest lands was notified on February 22, 2024 and subsequently revised on August 29, 2025.

A Green Credit Programme Portal (https://moefcc-gep.in/) has been developed for the purpose.

The Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education, Dehradun, is the Administrator under the Green Credit Programme and is responsible for the effective implementation of the Green Credit Programme, including its management, operation and issuance of green credits under these rules, as stated in the release.

The Green Credit Programme aims to restore degraded forest lands through the active participation of public and private sector entities. The degraded forest and parcels proposed to be taken up under the Green Credit Programme are elected and registered by the State Forest Department after due verification on the ground.

The land parcels selected under Green Credit Programme are verified by the Divisional Nodal Officer (DNO) and State Nodal Officer (SNO) to ensure that the degraded forest land parcels are neither taken up under existing plantation nor earmarked for afforestation under any other scheme, including compensatory afforestation, so as to prevent double counting under the Green Credit Programme, according to the release.

Afforestation activities undertaken on such degraded forest lands are required to use a mixture of indigenous species based on site suitability. The Green credits can be claimed by an applicant only after a minimum of five years of restoration work has been completed, and a minimum canopy density of forty per cent has been achieved. A five-year establishment period is prescribed to allow the planted seedlings and natural regenerations to mature and develop adequate canopy cover, so as to achieve the prescribed 40 per cent canopy density, corresponding to a moderately dense forest.

The 'designated agency' designated under the Green Credit Programme shall conduct verification of the claim for the Green Credits and submit a report to the Administrator as regard to the verification of the activities undertaken by an applicant for issuance of green credit.

The forest lands restored under GCP can be exchanged for meeting Compensatory Afforestation requirements under the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) adhiniyam, 1980, its rules and guidelines thereunder.

The forest restoration activities undertaken under the programme aim to enhance biodiversity and improve the productivity of forest resources. The restoration of degraded forest lands aims to benefit local communities by increasing the availability of timber, non-timber forest products, fodder, water, and other ecosystem services.

According to the Press Information Bureau (PIB) release, the Central Government has identified several thousand hectares of degraded forest land across various states for eco-restoration under the innovative Green Credit Program (GCP).

Data released by the Ministry shows that Gujarat leads the list with the highest selected area of 975 hectares, followed by Madhya Pradesh with 640 hectares and Chhattisgarh with 536 hectares. Other prominent states included in the program are Bihar (460 ha), Assam (454 ha), and Maharashtra (335 ha).

- ANI
China has reiterated the critical importance of maintaining security and stability in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital chokepoint for global energy supplies. The statement responds to reports that the Trump administration is forming a multinational coalition to escort commercial vessels through the strategic waterway. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian emphasized the international community's shared interest in safeguarding the route and called for restraint from all parties. Beijing advocates for diplomatic solutions to reduce tensions and prevent actions that could destabilize the region and impact the global economy.

China stresses stability in the vital Strait of Hormuz, responding to reports of a US-led coalition for escorting commercial vessels.

Beijing, March 16 China on Monday reiterated the importance of maintaining stability and security in the Strait of Hormuz, describing the waterway as a critical route for global trade and energy supplies, reported The Global Times.

The remarks came as the administration of Donald Trump is reportedly considering the formation of a multinational coalition to escort commercial vessels through the strategic passage.

Responding to media queries during a regular press briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian stressed that the waterway remains a vital artery for international commerce and energy transportation, and that the international community has a shared interest in ensuring its safety.

"The Strait of Hormuz and its surrounding waters are vital international cargo and energy trade routes. He noted that maintaining security and stability in the region is in the common interest of the international community," Lin said as cited by Global Times.

His remarks followed reports that the Trump administration could announce as early as this week that several countries have agreed to participate in a coalition aimed at escorting ships through the Strait of Hormuz. The initiative reportedly comes amid rising tensions in the region and concerns over the safety of shipping routes used for transporting crude oil and other energy supplies.

President Trump has also called on several countries, including China, to contribute naval assets and deploy warships to escort vessels passing through the strategically significant waterway.

The Strait of Hormuz, located between Iran and Oman, connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. It is considered one of the world's most important maritime chokepoints, with a substantial portion of the global oil supply transported through it daily. Any disruption to shipping traffic in the region can have far-reaching consequences for global energy markets and international trade.

Against this backdrop, China urged restraint from all sides and emphasised the need to prevent the situation from escalating further. Lin underscored that the priority should be to reduce tensions and avoid actions that could destabilise the region.

"The immediate priority is for all parties to stop military actions, prevent the escalation of tensions, and avoid regional turmoil to cause a bigger impact on global economic development," he said.

China has consistently called for dialogue and diplomatic engagement to address tensions in the West Asian region. Beijing has also emphasised that safeguarding freedom of navigation and ensuring stable energy supplies are key concerns for the international community.

- ANI
The animated short film 'CHYIMI' has won the Best Director Award at the prestigious New York Short Animation Festival 2026. Its director is Dr. Partha Sarathi Mahanta, who serves as the IGP of Assam Police and Commissioner of Police for Guwahati. The award highlights the film's artistic direction and its power to convey a compelling narrative rooted in local culture to a global audience. The festival serves as a key platform for animators worldwide to gain international exposure and connect with diverse audiences.

Dr. Partha Sarathi Mahanta's animated short 'CHYIMI' wins Best Director Award at the New York Short Animation Festival 2026, highlighting Indian storytelling.

Guwahati, March 16 In a moment of international recognition for Indian animation, the animated short film 'CHYIMI,' directed by Dr. Partha Sarathi Mahanta, IGP of Assam police and Commissioner of Police, Guwahati, has won the Best Director Award at the New York Short Animation Festival 2026.

The New York Short Animation Festival celebrates creativity, originality, and craftsmanship in the art of animation, bringing together innovative works from animators across the world. It recognises outstanding animated storytelling and provides a global platform for emerging and established filmmakers.

Speaking about the recognition, Dr. Partha Sarathi Mahanta said that - "Animation allows stories to travel beyond boundaries of language and geography. I am honoured that 'CHYIMI' has been recognised on an international platform like the New York Short Animation Festival."

"This recognition is also a reminder that stories rooted in our own culture and experiences can resonate with audiences across the world," he added.

The recognition of 'CHYIMI' at NYSAF highlights the growing presence of Indian and Assamese storytelling in international animation platforms.

The award acknowledges the film's artistic direction and its ability to convey a compelling narrative through the medium of animation.

With this honour, 'CHYIMI' joins a distinguished list of internationally recognised animated works that continue to push the boundaries of visual storytelling and creative expression.

NYSAF is also partnered with Cine Universitario UACJ in Mexico, creating additional opportunities for selected films to be screened in Mexico. Through this collaboration, filmmakers gain wider international exposure and the opportunity to present their work to audiences beyond New York City.

More than just a competition, the New York Short Animation Festival serves as a vibrant platform where animators share their stories, connect with global audiences, and gain international visibility.

The festival's screenings and collaborations enable creative voices from different cultures to reach diverse audiences.

- ANI
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK President M.K. Stalin arrived at the party headquarters to chair a crucial meeting of district secretaries. The gathering focuses on strategic planning for the upcoming Assembly elections, scheduled for April 23 with results on May 4. The main contest is between the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance and the AIADMK-led National Democratic Alliance. Key seat-sharing agreements have been finalized with allies like the MDMK and Congress for the polls.

CM MK Stalin leads DMK district secretaries meeting to plan for April 23 Tamil Nadu Assembly polls, with key alliances and seat-sharing finalized.

Chennai, March 16 Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK President MK Stalin arrived at the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam headquarters in Chennai on Monday to chair a District Secretary meeting of the party.

The meeting led by Stalin will begin shortly. Several senior leaders, including K Ponmudy and S Regupathy, also reached the venue as party district secretaries from across Tamil Nadu arrived to attend the meeting.



The meeting is expected to focus on strategic planning and organisational preparations for the upcoming Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, consolidating party activities at the district level ahead of the polls.



Meanwhile, the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Sunday announced that Tamil Nadu will go to the polls in a single phase on April 23, with counting of votes scheduled for May 4. The Model Code of Conduct came into effect immediately, initiating the election process for the 234-member State Assembly, whose current tenure ends on May 10, 2026.



The main electoral contest is expected between the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)-led Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA), which includes Congress, DMDK, and other parties, and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) with BJP and Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) as allies. Actor-turned-politician Vijay is set to make his political debut in this election with his party, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK).



Furthermore, Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) will contest on four seats in the upcoming Assembly polls after an agreement was reached with the ruling DMK. A discussion was held on March 11 between DMK chief MK Stalin and MDMK General Secretary Vaiko regarding seat-sharing arrangements.



During the meeting, it was decided that the MDMK, which is part of the Secular Progressive Alliance, will contest in four Assembly constituencies in the state. Of these, the MDMK will contest three constituencies using the DMK's "Rising Sun" symbol and one constituency using the symbol allotted by the Election Commission to the party.



Congress also reached a seat-sharing arrangement according to which the party will contest 28 Assembly constituencies, and the DMK will allocate one seat to the Congress in the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections.





- ANI
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi to discuss the state's development roadmap. Yadav detailed the flagship 'Farmer Welfare Year' initiative, which integrates efforts from 16 state departments. The leaders stressed the importance of close central-state coordination for effective implementation of welfare schemes. The meeting aimed to align Madhya Pradesh's development agenda with national priorities.

Madhya Pradesh CM Mohan Yadav briefs PM Narendra Modi on state's 'Farmer Welfare Year' initiative and development projects, seeking central guidance.

New Delhi, March 16 Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Prime Minister's Office on Monday to discuss a roadmap for accelerating infrastructure, investment, and social welfare in the state.

During the interaction, Yadav briefed the Prime Minister on several ongoing and proposed projects aimed at boosting economic growth and improving infrastructure across the state.

"I met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi today and sought his guidance. On this occasion, I apprised the Prime Minister of the various programmes and activities being undertaken in the state under the 'Farmer Welfare Year' initiative, as well as the overall progress of the state," Yadav said.

He said that the state government is working actively for the four priority groups identified by the Prime Minister: farmers, women, the poor, and the youth.

Yadav provided a comprehensive briefing on the 'Farmer Welfare Year' initiative, a flagship program of his administration.

"We are observing the 'Farmer Welfare Year' with great enthusiasm and effectiveness. We are doing excellent work by integrating the efforts of around 16 departments, including animal husbandry, fisheries, horticulture, and agriculture. I am delighted that the Prime Minister has bestowed his blessings on our efforts to move forward, and I am confident that the results of these endeavours will be positive in the future," the CM said.

The discussion also highlighted the importance of close coordination between the central and state governments for the effective implementation of flagship schemes and development initiatives.

Both leaders emphasised the need to ensure that welfare programmes reach citizens efficiently, particularly in rural and semi-urban areas.

The meeting is seen as part of the Madhya Pradesh government's efforts to align its development agenda with national priorities while speeding up projects that contribute to economic growth and social welfare.

The Chief Minister also thanked the Centre for its continued support for development projects and policy initiatives in the state.

"Prime Minister Modi has bestowed his blessings on our efforts to move forward, and the results of these endeavours will be seen," Yadav said while interacting with the media at the Parliament complex.

The CM also met Om Birla, Speaker of the Lok Sabha, at Parliament and shared a photograph of the meeting on his social media accounts.

- IANS
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu addressed a state-hosted Iftar dinner, asserting the TDP-led coalition government's commitment to the economic and political upliftment of the Muslim community. He announced the immediate release of Rs 45 crore in pending arrears for Imams and Muezzins and promised the construction of a new Haj House in Amaravati. The CM detailed numerous welfare initiatives, including pensions, scholarships, and financial aid, highlighting a increased budget allocation of Rs 6,090 crore for minorities. He also criticized the previous administration for mishandling Waqf properties and outlined steps taken to restructure the Waqf Board and protect its assets.

Andhra CM Chandrababu Naidu details welfare schemes for Muslims, pledges to protect Waqf properties and clear arrears for Imams at state Iftar.

Vijayawada, March 16 Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said on Monday that the coalition government in the state is working with the objective of uplifting Muslims, both economically and politically.

Stating that the TDP-led coalition respects the sentiments of Muslims, he assured the community that Waqf properties would be protected.

The Chief Minister was addressing Iftar dinner hosted by the state government here.

He told the gathering that the government taking measures to enhance the living standards of the Muslim community.

Minister for minorities welfare N. Md Farooq, Muslim leaders of TDP, religious heads and representatives of various organisations attended the Iftar dinner.

The Chief Minister promised that the Rs 45 crore arrears towards honorarium for Imams and Muezzins, would be released immediately. He also gave an assurance that a new Haj House would be constructed in Amaravati.

He explained that, since assuming power, the coalition government has implemented numerous welfare schemes for the Muslim community.

CM Naidu joined he prayers and extended his Ramadan greetings to the Muslim community.

He also announced that the government will soon make the unfinished Haj House in Kadapa operational. He said the government is hosting Iftar feasts for Muslim brethren across all districts and constituencies.

"Prophet Muhammad taught that one finds happiness in giving charity to the poor during Ramadan. Helping the poor is, indeed, a core tenet preached by the Quran," he said.

The Chief Minister mentioned that through the 'NTR Bharosa' pension scheme, the government is providing pensions to 4.38 lakh Muslims, incurring an annual expenditure of Rs 3,511 crore.

"We are extending the 'Thalliki Vandanam' scheme to 4.5 lakh Muslim students. We have released Rs 264 crore in post-matric scholarships for 19,215 students. Under the 'Deepam-2.0' scheme, we are spending Rs 158 crore to provide gas cylinders to 6.20 lakh families. We have disbursed Rs 180 crore as honorarium to Imams and to Muezzins. I have also issued orders to officials to immediately release an additional Rs 45 crore in pending arrears," the Chief Minister said.

He also stated that the government is appointing qualified Imams as government Qazis.

"We have extended the validity of marriage licenses from 3 years to 10 years. We are making arrangements for 347 Muslims to undertake the Hajj pilgrimage from the Vijayawada embarkation point. We have provided financial assistance amounting to Rs 193 crore to 33,275 beneficiaries. We are equipping the youth with skills to ensure they secure better employment opportunities," he said.

Chandrababu Naidu alleged that the previous administration pushed the Waqf Board into controversy through G.O. 47. "We have repealed that Government Order and restructured the Waqf Board. We have surveyed 1,500 Waqf properties and are actively safeguarding these assets. We have renamed the Noor Basha Federation as the Dudekula Muslim Finance Corporation and allocated Rs 100 crore to it. While in the previous budget Rs 5,434 crore was allocated for minorities, we have allocated Rs. 6,090 crore this time," he said.

He pointed out that the previous administration provided a mere Rs 1 lakh to the Urdu Academy; but the coalition government sanctioned Rs. 7 crores. "Under the Abdul Haq Award scheme, we have increased the incentive amount from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1.25 lakh. We have allocated Rs 2.85 crore for the construction of Urdu Ghars and Shadi Khanas," he added.

Vjayawada MP Kesineni Shivnath, MLAs Nazir, Bonda Uma, and Gadde Rammohan, along with several public representatives and Muslim minority leaders, participated in the dinner.

- IANS
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav expressed confidence in winning a Rajya Sabha seat, claiming support from AIMIM and BSP MLAs brings their tally to the required 41 votes. The NDA has fielded five candidates, including Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, with BJP's Shivesh Ram asserting their united front guarantees victory. Tejashwi Yadav criticized Nitish Kumar's return to the BJP-led NDA, suggesting it diminished his party's future. The election hinges on the support of independent MLAs, with both alliances expressing public confidence in their numbers.

RJD's Tejashwi Yadav claims AIMIM and BSP support ensures victory for AD Singh in Bihar Rajya Sabha elections against NDA.

Patna, March 16 RJD National Working President Tejashwi Yadav assured that his party has enough support to clinch a Rajya Sabha seat away from the NDA.

RJD and its alliance have 35 MLAs in the Assembly but require the support of 41 MLAs to send its candidate, AD Singh, to the Rajya Sabha.

Tejashwi Yadav said that AIMIM and BSP, which have six seats and one seat respectively, have extended their support for the RJD candidates.

"We are confident. Earlier, the strength of Mahagathbandha was 35. To win, 41 is needed. BJP-NDA needed 3. But we accepted this challenge and chose to fight the BJP, not to cower before them. Colleagues from AIMIM and BSP have supported the RJD candidate. So, the strength now is 41," he said.

BJP needs the support of three more MLAs for their fifth candidate to be elected.

NDA candidates include Bihar's longest-tenured Chief Minister Nitish Kumar; RLM chief Upendra Kushwaha, BJP chief Nitin Nabin, Shivesh Ram and Ram Nath Thakur.

Shivesh Ram earlier exuded confidence that all five candidates of the NDA will secure a comfortable victory as all the MLAs of the alliance are united.

Speaking to the reporters, Shivesh Ram said, "Behind us, Prime Minister Modi is working on the development of the country. All leaders of Bihar are united, and very good results are going to come in the evening. All five NDA candidates are going to win. Victory is absolutely certain because we are united and the opposition is not united, that is what I know," he said.

Additionally, Tejashwi Yadav reacted to the Bihar CM moving to the Rajya Sabha and said that he has expressed his sympathies to Nitish Kumar.

"I have expressed my sympathies to Nitish Kumar. The day he quit Mahagathbandhan to return to the BJP in 2024, I had said that JD(U) does not have any future left. I had said that after the election, Nitish Kumar would not be the CM. They repeated what they did in Maharashtra, but in a slightly different manner. BJP destroys whoever it sides with," he said.

- ANI
Conan O'Brien concluded the 2026 Academy Awards ceremony with a heartfelt, on-stage message dedicated to his friend Martin Short. The tribute came weeks after Short's 42-year-old daughter, Katherine, died by suicide in late February. Following this loss, Short has withdrawn from public appearances, including postponing a comedy show with Steve Martin. The comedian has previously spoken about coping with grief, having also lost his wife to cancer over a decade ago.

Conan O'Brien closes the 2026 Academy Awards with an emotional message for friend Martin Short, weeks after his daughter's tragic passing.

Los Angeles, March 16 Comedian and host Conan O'Brien ended the Academy Awards 2026 ceremony with a heartfelt message for his longtime friend Martin Short, whose daughter died last month, according to E! News.

As he wrapped up the ceremony held at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on March 15, O'Brien gave a brief but emotional shoutout to the veteran comedian.



"It's been an honor and a joy," O'Brien said while signing off from the stage. "We love you, Marty Short, good night," according to E! News.



The message came weeks after Short's daughter, Katherine Hartley Short, died by suicide on February 23 at the age of 42, according to E! News.



Confirming the tragic news at the time, a representative for Short said in a statement that the family was grieving deeply. "It is with profound grief that we confirm the passing of Katherine Hartley Short. The Short family is devastated by this loss and asks for privacy at this time. Katherine was beloved by all and will be remembered for the light and joy she brought into the world," the statement read.



Following his daughter's death, Short has largely stayed out of the public eye. He also postponed a comedy show he was scheduled to perform with longtime collaborator Steve Martin at the Pabst Theater in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with organisers confirming that tickets would be honoured for a rescheduled date, according to E! News.



The loss comes more than 15 years after Short's wife, Nancy Dolman, died in 2010 following a battle with ovarian cancer.



Speaking about coping with grief in an earlier 2014 interview with Maclean's magazine, Short said that loss is a universal experience. "No one doesn't have loss. No one doesn't have pain," he said. "If your natural orientation is to be happy, you have to then start developing tools to help you get back there," according to E! News.





- ANI
PM Modi & Odisha CM Majhi announce compensation after a fire at SCB Medical College in Cuttack kills 10 patients. A judicial inquiry is ordered.

New Delhi, March 16 Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday expressed distress over the loss of lives in the tragic Cuttack hospital fire incident in Odisha and announced an ex-gratia of Rs. 2 lakh from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund for the families of the deceased.

The incident occurred in the early hours of Monday when a major fire broke out in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the trauma care centre at SCB Medical College and Hospital. According to reports, at least 10 patients lost their lives, while several others suffered serious burn injuries in the blaze.



In a post on X, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said, "The mishap at a hospital in Cuttack, Odisha, is deeply painful. Condolences to those who have lost their loved ones. I pray for the speedy recovery of the injured."



It further added that an ex-gratia of Rs. 2 lakh from PMNRF would be given to the next of kin of each deceased. Additionally, the injured would be given Rs. 50,000.



The raging blaze erupted at around 2.30 a.m. to 3 a.m. due to a suspected electric short circuit.



After meeting the injured patients at the hospital and reviewing the situation, Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi also announced an ex-gratia of Rs 25 lakh each for the family members of the deceased patients.



He also ordered a judicial inquiry into the tragic incident and assured stringent action against anyone found guilty of negligence in duty leading to the inferno.



Speaking to media persons, CM Majhi said, "A few hours ago, a major fire broke out in the trauma care unit of SCB Medical College and Hospital due to a suspected short circuit. As a result, the patients undergoing treatment in the Trauma Care ICU, an adjoining ICU and ward were affected.



"After the fire broke out, 23 patients undergoing treatment on the first floor of the Trauma Care ICU were shifted to safer locations. Seven critically ill patients died during the shifting process, while three others succumbed after being moved to other ICUs. It is very unfortunate."



He offered condolences to the family members of deceased patients and offered his prayers to Lord Jagannath for the speedy recovery of injured patients. Majhi also informed that he had instructed the Health Department to ensure advanced treatment for those who sustained severe injuries and are currently undergoing treatment in other ICUs and wards.



The Chief Minister further noted that as many as 11 hospital staff members, including security personnel, risked their lives to help rescue patients. Many of them also sustained injuries due to smoke inhalation and flames during the shifting of patients, but they are now stable and undergoing treatment in a ward on the ground floor.



"After our government came to power, I had earlier directed the department to inspect and take action regarding fire safety measures at all hospitals across the state. In the current budget for 2025-26, we have allocated Rs 320 crore for strengthening fire safety measures, and the work is being carried out on a war footing.



"In the coming financial year 2026-27, Rs 400 crore has been allocated for this purpose," the Chief Minister said.



Chief Minister Majhi instructed officials of all departments to ensure the installation of advanced fire-extinguishing systems in hospitals across the state.





- IANS
President Droupadi Murmu expressed deep distress over a fatal fire at the Trauma Care ICU of SCB Medical College in Cuttack, Odisha, which claimed 10 lives. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah also conveyed their condolences and prayers for the injured. Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi visited the site and announced financial compensation for the victims' families. A short circuit is suspected to be the cause of the late-night blaze, with an inquiry ordered into the incident.

President Murmu, PM Modi, and Amit Shah express sorrow over the SCB Medical College fire in Odisha that killed 10. Relief funds announced.

New Delhi, March 16 President Droupadi Murmu on Monday expressed deep sorrow over the fire incident, which occurred at the S.C.B. Medical College and Hospital's Trauma Care ICU centre in Odisha's Cuttack.

The President conveyed her distress at the tragic loss of life.

According to the Rashtrapati Bhavan office, President Murmu wished for the speedy recovery of the injured victims.

"Deeply distressed by the loss of lives in the tragic fire incident at a hospital in Cuttack, Odisha. My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families. I wish a speedy recovery to those injured," said President Murmu.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah also expressed sadness over the fire incident.

In a post on X from Home Minister's official handle, Shah described the incident as "extremely painful" and extended his heartfelt condolences to the families who lost their loved ones.

He said the loss of life in such an unfortunate event is deeply distressing and expressed solidarity with the affected families during this difficult time.

"The incident at SCB Medical College in Cuttack, Odisha, is extremely tragic. My deepest condolences to those who have lost their loved ones in this accident. The Odisha government is engaged in relief and rescue operations. I pray for the speedy recovery of the injured," Shah posted on X.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated the mishap at the hospital was "painful" and offered condolences to those who have lost their loved ones.

Praying for the speedy recovery of the injured, the PMO also announced "an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh from PMNRF (Prime Minister's National Relief Fund) to the next of kin of each deceased and Rs 50,000 for the injured.

Earlier, a devastating fire broke out at the Trauma Care ICU of S.C.B. Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack on Monday night, which resulted in the death of 10 people and left at least 11 hospital staff members injured during rescue operations.

According to local corporator Deepak Kumar Das, the incident occurred between 2:00 a.m. and 2:30 a.m.

Speaking to ANI, Das said, "We came to know at 3 am that. So, I reached the hospital. The incident occurred around 2-2.30 am. It was raining at that time. As per the information available to me, a short circuit had occurred there, which led to this mishap...An inquiry will reveal whether the incident occurred due to an old AC or if there was another reason behind this..."

Following the incident, Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi expressed deep grief. He visited the site and directed authorities to ensure the safe relocation of all patients. The Chief Minister also announced an ex-gratia of Rs 25 lakh from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund (CMRF) for the next of kin of each deceased.

- ANI
A fire at the Trauma Care ICU of SCB Medical College in Cuttack has claimed 10 lives and injured at least 11 staff members. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed profound grief and announced financial assistance for the victims' families. Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi visited the site and announced a separate relief package from the state fund. A local corporator suggested a short circuit as the possible cause, with a formal inquiry pending.

10 killed in a fire at SCB Medical College in Cuttack. PM Modi & Rajnath Singh announce ex-gratia. Odisha CM Majhi visits site.

New Delhi, March 16 Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday expressed grief over the fire mishap at a hospital in Odisha's Cuttack, which resulted in the death of 10 people and left at least 11 staff members injured.

The incident occurred at the SCB Medical College and Hospital's Trauma Care ICU centre in Cuttack on early hour on Monday.

Sharing a post on X, Rajnath wrote, "The fire mishap at a hospital in Cuttack, Odisha is deeply saddening. My thoughts are with all those who have lost their loved ones. Praying for the speedy recovery of those who are injured. The State Government is providing all possible assistance to those affected."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also said the mishap at the hospital was "painful" and offered condolences to those who have lost their loved ones.

Praying for the speedy recovery of the injured, the PMO also announced "an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh from PMNRF (Prime Minister's National Relief Fund) to the next of kin of each deceased and Rs 50,000 for the injured.

Expressing deep grief over the incident, Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi also announced an ex-gratia of Rs 25 lakh from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund (CMRF) for the next of kin of each deceased.

He later visited the site and directed authorities to ensure the safe relocation of all patients.

Earlier, local corporator Deepak Kumar Das told ANI that the incident occurred between 2:00 am and 2:30 am.

Das added, "We came to know at 3 am that. So, I reached the hospital. The incident occurred around 2-2.30 am. It was raining at that time. As per the information available to me, a short circuit had occurred there, which led to this mishap...An inquiry will reveal whether the incident occurred due to an old AC or if there was another reason behind this."

- ANI
The Delhi Assembly's Budget session is scheduled from March 23 to 25, with the Economic Survey and 2026-27 budget presentation on consecutive days. The Delhi Cabinet has approved two major infrastructure projects aimed at decongesting the capital's roads. The Barapullah Phase-III elevated corridor will connect Sarai Kale Khan to Mayur Vihar, providing signal-free access to AIIMS. A six-lane elevated road on MB Road from Saket to Pul Prahladpur will also be built, with both projects slated for completion by mid-2026.

Delhi Assembly budget session set for March 23-25. Cabinet approves Barapullah Phase-III & MB Road corridor projects worth over Rs 3,100 crore.

New Delhi, March 16 The Budget session of the Delhi Assembly will be held from March 23 to 25, an official said after a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Rekha Gupta at the Delhi Secretariat on Monday.

According to the Cabinet's decision, the Economic Survey report will be tabled in the House on March 23.

On March 24, the Delhi government will present its Budget for 2026-27.

In another decision, the Delhi Cabinet approved two key infrastructure projects -- the Barapullah Phase-III Elevated Corridor and a six-lane elevated corridor with underpasses on MB Road to reduce traffic congestion and make commuting easier across the national capital.

Chief Minister Gupta said the projects will bring relief to millions of commuters and help make Delhi's road network more modern and efficient.

She added that these initiatives are important steps toward building a 'Viksit Delhi' and will also contribute to realising the vision of a 'Viksit Bharat' envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"The Delhi government has cleared a revised cost of Rs 1,635.03 crore for the construction of the Barapullah Phase-III elevated road over the Barapullah drain, connecting Sarai Kale Khan to Mayur Vihar," a statement said.

This project is an extension of the existing Barapullah elevated corridor.

Once completed, it will provide direct, signal-free connectivity from Mayur Vihar in East Delhi to AIIMS in South Delhi.

According to the Chief Minister, the project will significantly reduce travel time for the lakhs of commuters, who travel daily between East and South Delhi.

It is also expected to ease congestion around Sarai Kale Khan, Ring Road, the DND Flyway and NH-24.

The Delhi government has set a target of completing the project by June 30, 2026, the statement added.

Chief Minister Gupta said the project for six-lane elevated road along with underpasses on MB Road will stretch from Saket G-Block to Pul Prahladpur.

The project is estimated to cost Rs 1,471.14 crore and will be executed by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC).

According to the Chief Minister, the project will be implemented in two phases.

- IANS
Chief Minister Rekha Gupta was honored with a traditional floral fan during the 'Phool Walon Ki Sair' celebrations at the Delhi Secretariat. She stated the festival is a vital symbol of the capital's shared cultural heritage and spirit of harmony. Delhi Cabinet Minister Kapil Mishra also emphasized the event's role in connecting younger generations to their roots and reinforcing unity. The week-long festival, running from March 15 to 21, features a series of cultural, religious, and social programs across the city.

Delhi CM Rekha Gupta receives traditional floral fan at Phool Walon Ki Sair, a festival celebrating the capital's cultural heritage and harmony.

New Delhi, March 16 The Delhi Secretariat on Monday came alive with the sound of the shehnai as members of Anjuman Sair-e-Gul Faroshan extended a traditional welcome to Chief Minister Rekha Gupta as part of the 'Phool Walon Ki Sair' celebrations.

The Chief Minister said the festival symbolises the capital's rich cultural heritage and Ganga-Jamuni ethos.

"It serves as a reminder that unity and brotherhood have always remained central to India's diverse cultural fabric," she said.

Accompanied by live shehnai music, the Festival organisers honoured the Chief Minister by presenting the customary floral fan, a long-standing tradition associated with the festival.

Delhi Cabinet Minister Kapil Mishra, along with several other dignitaries, was also present on the occasion.

Chief Minister Gupta said that 'Phool Walon Ki Sair' is far more than just a festival. According to her, it represents a remarkable example of Delhi's shared cultural heritage and the spirit of harmony that defines the city.

The Chief Minister also reiterated that the Delhi government is committed to preserving and promoting the capital's historical traditions and cultural events.

Such celebrations help connect the younger generations with their cultural roots while strengthening mutual respect and social harmony, she said.

Mishra said the festival plays an important role in reinforcing the city's shared cultural legacy.

He described 'Phool Walon Ki Sair' as a historic tradition that conveys a message of harmony, unity and brotherhood, while also allowing the younger generation to experience Delhi's rich cultural heritage.

This year, 'Phool Walon Ki Sair 2026' is being organised from March 15 to March 21, during which a series of cultural, religious and social programmes are being held across the city, said a statement.

- IANS
Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta inaugurated multiple development projects in the Shalimar Bagh constituency focused on drainage and road infrastructure. Key projects include the remodelling of a major stormwater drain on Haiderpur Main Road and the construction of a slip road to ease traffic at Shalimar Chowk. She also launched a new Ayushman Arogya Mandir health centre in Sahipur Village. During a surprise inspection, the CM directed officials to ensure quality, transparency, and timely completion of all works.

Delhi CM Rekha Gupta launches drainage & road projects in Shalimar Bagh to tackle waterlogging and improve traffic under Master Drain Plan 2025.

New Delhi, March 14 Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Saturday inaugurated several key development projects in the Shalimar Bagh Assembly constituency, aimed at improving drainage, road infrastructure, and public amenities.

The Chief Minister also conducted a surprise inspection of ongoing works in the area, directing officials to ensure quality and timely execution of all projects.

Speaking at the event, CM Gupta said the initiatives would mitigate waterlogging during the monsoon season while strengthening roads and surrounding infrastructure.

She inaugurated the remodelling of the stormwater drain on Haiderpur Main Road, extending from the Bus Stand to the DA Block in Shalimar Bagh.

According to the Chief Minister's Office, the project is being implemented under the New Master Drain Plan 2025, which seeks to improve the area's drainage system through the construction of precast RCC drains.

During her visit, CM Gupta reviewed progress on various infrastructure and drainage projects, including works on Road No. 319, the RUB (Railway Under Bridge) at Shalimar Bagh, Chaudhary Mehar Chand Marg, Road No. 320, and Swami Shraddhanand Saraswati Marg.

The Chief Minister also launched the construction of a slip road and U-turns around the RUB at Shalimar Chowk, an initiative aimed at easing traffic congestion and improving commuter safety.

In addition to road and drainage projects, CM Gupta inaugurated an Ayushman Arogya Mandir (Health and Wellness Centre) at Sahipur Village Chaupal, which will provide primary healthcare services to residents and enhance access to local health facilities.

Further, the remodelling of the stormwater drain on Bagga Marg was inaugurated, which will employ factory-manufactured precast RCC drains under the New Master Drain Plan 2025 to strengthen the drainage system and address monsoon-related issues effectively.

During her surprise inspection at Singlapur Labour Chowk, the Chief Minister reviewed road widening and drainage improvement works. She sought detailed updates from officials and issued directives to maintain quality, transparency, and adherence to project timelines.

Emphasising the importance of a robust drainage system alongside road widening, CM Gupta instructed officials to consider the convenience of local residents during construction and to ensure the timely completion of all works.

- ANI
Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta has proposed integrating Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, Delhi State Cancer Institute, and Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital into a single super medical hub modelled on AIIMS. The plan aims to increase bed availability, streamline tests and referrals, and significantly reduce patient waiting times. The integration addresses current inefficiencies, such as one hospital operating far below capacity while another is overburdened. This initiative is expected to create a modern, autonomous healthcare institution providing better and more accessible specialized treatment for millions.

Delhi CM Rekha Gupta announces plan to merge GTB Hospital, Delhi State Cancer Institute, and Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital into a single, streamlined healthcare hub.

New Delhi, March 16 Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Monday proposed integrating Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, Delhi State Cancer Institute, and Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital into a single "super medical hub" modelled on the lines of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.

In her tweet, CM Gupta said, "GTB Hospital, Delhi State Cancer Institute, and Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital are being integrated and developed into a super medical hub on the lines of AIIMS. This will increase bed availability, simplify the process of tests and referrals, and reduce waiting times so that every patient can receive timely, fast, and better treatment."



Earlier on Sunday, she had highlighted the broader vision for Delhi's public healthcare system.



"Major government medical institutions in Delhi, such as Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital (GTB), Delhi State Cancer Institute (DSCI), and Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital (RGSSH), are being integrated and developed into an autonomous and empowered institution on the lines of AIIMS. This will enable millions of patients from Delhi and surrounding areas to access better, modern, and specialised medical facilities at one place.



"The quality of treatment will improve, services will become more streamlined, and high-level healthcare will become more accessible to the general public than before. This step is a significant initiative towards a strong and reliable healthcare system in Delhi."



The proposed integration comes as part of the government's efforts to address the uneven distribution of patients across hospitals.



For instance, Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital, with a sanctioned capacity of about 650 beds, currently operates only around 250 beds, leaving nearly 400 beds unused. In contrast, Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, which has a sanctioned capacity of approximately 1,400 beds, is currently handling over 1,500 patients due to heavy demand.



By consolidating these three key hospitals into a single integrated medical institute, the Delhi government aims to ensure better coordination, optimal use of resources, and more streamlined patient care.



The move is expected to reduce waiting times, improve access to specialised treatment, and create a modern healthcare hub capable of serving millions of residents across Delhi and neighbouring regions.





- IANS
The Delhi High Court has disposed of a petition filed by Bollywood actress Celina Jaitly seeking consular access and legal representation for her brother, retired Major Vikrant Jaitly, who is detained in the UAE. The court was informed that Vikrant Jaitly had declined to communicate with his sister and did not wish for legal assistance at this stage. It noted that consular access had already been granted by Indian authorities. The court directed the Union government to remain in contact and provide all lawful assistance to him.

Delhi High Court disposes of actress Celina Jaitly's petition for consular access to her brother, retired Major Vikrant Jaitly, detained in UAE.

New Delhi, March 16 The Delhi High Court on Monday disposed of a petition filed by Bollywood actress Celina Jaitly, who sought legal representation and consular access to meet her brother, retired Army officer Major Vikrant Jaitly, allegedly "illegally abducted and detained" in the United Arab Emirates.

During the hearing, a single-judge Bench of Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav was informed that Vikrant Jaitly had declined to communicate with his sister and conveyed that any legal decisions concerning him should be taken only after consultation with his wife.



The Delhi High Court was also apprised that Jaitly had already been granted consular access by the Indian authorities. However, he expressed that he did not wish to avail legal assistance at this stage. Taking note of the submissions made before it, Justice Kaurav closed the proceedings and directed the Union government to remain in contact with Jaitly and extend all assistance to him in accordance with the law.



The petition had been filed by Celina Jaitly, alleging that her brother, a retired Indian Army officer residing in the UAE since 2016, had been illegally abducted and detained in September 2024. She had sought directions from the Delhi High Court to ensure consular access and legal representation for him.



In an earlier hearing, the Delhi High Court was informed by the Centre that the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) required additional time to pursue the matter through diplomatic channels and arrange a consular meeting with Jaitly.



Justice Kaurav had then deferred the hearing to March 16, observing that the request made by the Union government for time to facilitate the interaction through the Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi appeared reasonable.



The Delhi High Court had allowed the Centre three to four weeks to pursue the issue through diplomatic channels and explore mechanisms, including possible invocation of the India-UAE Mutual Legal Assistance Agreement, to facilitate communication with Vikrant Jaitly.



During the earlier proceedings, counsel appearing for Jaitly's wife, Charul Jaitly, had also sought to be impleaded as a party in the case and placed certain developments on record.



Justice Kaurav had observed that the writ petition filed against the Union government should not be treated as a family dispute, and further directed the parties not to interact with the media without the Delhi HC's permission.





- IANS
The Department of Commerce organized a Chintan Shivir to strategize on making India a global MedTech manufacturing hub, targeting a $30 billion market size by 2030. Key officials emphasized moving beyond being the 'Pharmacy of the World' to focus on high-value manufacturing, innovation, and regulatory harmonization. The discussions covered leveraging free trade agreements, strengthening infrastructure, and improving coordination between industry and regulators like CDSCO. The insights aim to create a more vibrant export ecosystem and address structural bottlenecks for competitive growth.

India's Commerce Dept holds Chintan Shivir to boost medical device exports, targeting a $30 billion market by 2030 through manufacturing & regulatory reforms.

New Delhi, March 15 The Department of Commerce organised a Chintan Shivir on Saturday at Vanijya Bhawan to deliberate on strengthening India's medical device export ecosystem.

The high-level meeting, held in collaboration with the Department of Pharmaceuticals and the Export Promotion Council for Medical Devices (EPCMD), focused on enhancing global competitiveness and addressing structural bottlenecks within the MedTech sector.

According to the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, the event centred on the theme "Achieving 30@2030 - USD 30 Billion Market Size by 2030". The gathering brought together over 150 participants, including policymakers, industry leaders, and regulators, to identify priority areas for manufacturing and export growth.

Inaugurating the session, Secretary, Department of Commerce, Rajesh Agarwal, stated that India must move beyond its identity as the 'Pharmacy of the World' to emerge as a global MedTech manufacturing hub.

He noted that while medical device exports surpassed USD 4 billion in FY25, the country needs to significantly increase its global market share over the next decade. He highlighted the importance of "high-value manufacturing, research and development investments, incremental innovation and regulatory harmonization" to reach the USD 30 billion target by 2030.

The discussions addressed the need for a collaborative approach between the government and private players. Joint Secretary, Department of Pharmaceuticals, Aman Sharma emphasized the quality aspect of production. Sharma said both industry and regulators need to work together toward the objective of "focusing on the quality of medical devices manufacturing in the country."

Additional Secretary and Director General of the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), Lav Aggarwal, also delivered a special address regarding the pace of industry growth. He emphasised the "need to grow faster by addressing structural issues" and pointed to the role of trade policy measures in expanding India's international presence.

From the industry side, Forum Coordinator of AiMeD, Rajiv Nath, shared perspectives on scaling domestic production. He emphasised the need for continued government-industry collaboration to address global regulatory challenges and scale domestic manufacturing.

The Chintan Shivir featured three thematic sessions covering free trade agreements, infrastructure, and regulatory frameworks.

One session explored how global trade deals open new pathways for MedTech exports, while another focused on strengthening manufacturing clusters and testing infrastructure to build a global brand for Indian products. The final session addressed the "evolving regulatory frameworks," focusing on streamlining approval processes and improving coordination between the industry and the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO).

The Department of Commerce intends to use the insights from these sessions to promote a more vibrant export ecosystem.

"The Chintan Shivir concluded with discussions on actionable pathways for strengthening India's medical devices manufacturing ecosystem and enhancing export competitiveness. The learnings from the Chintan Shivir will help the Department of Commerce leverage the advantages of India's medical devices industry and promote a vibrant export ecosystem through active engagement with the Department of Pharmaceuticals, CDSCO and EPCMD," the Ministry said.

- ANI
India's combined merchandise and services exports grew by 11.04% year-on-year in February 2026. However, imports grew at a much faster rate of 21.61%, leading to a widening of the overall trade deficit to $3.96 billion. While merchandise exports saw a slight dip, services exports provided a significant boost. For the April-February period of the fiscal year, cumulative exports are estimated at $790.86 billion, showing a growth of 5.8%.

India's overall exports rose 11% in Feb 2026, but a 21% surge in imports widened the trade deficit to $3.96 billion. Get the key data.

New Delhi, March 16 India's overall exports, merchandise and services combined, increased by 11.04 per cent year-on-year to USD 76.13 billion in February 2026, compared with USD 68.56 billion in February 2025, according to data released by the Commerce Ministry on Monday.

However, overall imports during the month grew at a faster pace of 21.61 per cent, rising to USD 80.09 billion from USD 65.84 billion in February 2025, the ministry data showed.



As a result, India's overall trade deficit, merchandise and services combined, widened to USD 3.96 billion in February 2026, from (-) USD 2.72 billion in the corresponding month last year.



Merchandise exports in February declined marginally to USD 36.61 billion from USD 36.91 billion. Merchandise imports increased from USD 51.33 billion to USD 63.71 billion.



Services exports rose to USD 39.53 billion from USD 31.65 billion. Services imports rose to USD 16.38 billion from USD 14.51 billion.



Overall trade growth for the fiscal year (April-February), the cumulative value of overall exports, including both merchandise and services, is estimated at USD 790.86 billion as compared to USD 747.58 billion in corresponding period during the last financial year.



It is an estimated growth of 5.8 per cent and increased around approximately USD 42-43 billion.



India's total exports had touched an all-time high of USD 824.9 billion in financial year 2024-25. This marked a yearly growth of 6.01 per cent over USD 778.1 billion exports in 2023-24, setting a new annual milestone. The 2024-25 exports exceeded the initial anticipation of USD 800 billion.





- ANI
Actor Rajat Arora, who played Mukka in Ranveer Singh's "Dhurandhar," describes working with the star as an absolutely amazing experience. He fondly recalls their first meeting in Thailand, where Ranveer welcomed him with a hug, calling him "brother." Arora highlights Ranveer's supportive nature on set, often appreciating his work and offering guidance to enhance his performance. He also shares a hilarious memory of Ranveer's quick, improvised comedic line during a scene.

Actor Rajat Arora shares his amazing experience working with Ranveer Singh on the film Dhurandhar, recalling warm memories and on-set hilarity.

Mumbai, March 16 Actor Rajat Arora was seen as Mukka in Ranveer Singh's blockbuster "Dhurandhar".

Talking about working with Ranveer, Rajat termed the experience as absolutely amazing. He said that the 'Padmaavat' actor was an inspiration as always.

"Working with Ranveer Singh was an absolutely amazing experience. He truly is a power-packed personality, full of energy, warmth, and positivity."

Rajat further recalled his first encounter with Ranveer during the shoot of "Dhurandhar".

"I still remember the very first day I met him in Thailand. I was going for my costume trials and he was walking towards me from the front. In my mind, I was thinking, "Oh my God, today I'm actually seeing Ranveer Singh live... what should I say to him? I was just lost in my thoughts. And before I could even say anything, he came up to me, smiled, and said, "Welcome to the gang, brother!" and gave me a warm hug. For a moment, I was like, "Is this real?" That's a moment I can never forget in my life."

Rajat further shared that Ranveer was extremely friendly and supportive throughout the shoot.

"Whenever he watched the scenes on the monitor, he would often appreciate my work and sometimes even guide me in certain moments, which really helped enhance my performance."

Rajat revealed that not just on camera, but off camera as well, Ranveer is super funny and spontaneous.

Sharing another fond memory with the 'Gully Boy' actor, he added, "I remember one montage scene where Aditya Sir told us to just interact naturally so it would look real. So I randomly said in the scene, "Bhaijaan, wahan ka non-veg bada bakwaas hai, pet kharab ho jaata hai... kahin aur chalte hain aaj." And instantly he replied, "Tu veg khaya kar." I somehow controlled my laughter in the shot, but once the scene ended, I burst out laughing. I still wonder how he comes up with such quick and hilarious impromptu lines!"

- IANS
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met with Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot to discuss intensifying cooperation in trade, investment, semiconductors, and technology, agreeing to establish a Strategic Dialogue. He also held talks with Cyprus Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos, focusing on strengthening the strategic partnership and the situation in West Asia. The meetings took place during Jaishankar's visit to Brussels for interactions with EU member state foreign ministers. The visit aims to deepen India's Strategic Partnership with the European Union following the recent India-EU Summit.

EAM S Jaishankar meets Belgium's Maxime Prevot & Cyprus's Constantinos Kombos in Brussels to intensify trade, tech & strategic cooperation.

Brussels, March 16 External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday held talks with Belgium Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot on intensifying cooperation in trade and investment.

Jaishankar and Prevot also agreed to establish a Strategic Dialogue.

In a post on X, he said, "Started Day 2 in Brussels, meeting with FM Maxime Prevot of Belgium. Discussed intensifying our cooperation in trade & investment, semiconductors, health, technology & innovation. Agreed to establish a Strategic Dialogue."

Jaishankar met with the Foreign Minister of Cyprus Constantinos Kombos.

In a post on X, Jaishankar wrote, "Pleasure to meet FM Constantinos Kombos of Cyprus today in Brussels. Discussed ways to further strengthen our strategic partnership and exchanged views on the situation in West Asia. Holding the Presidency of the Council of the EU, appreciate Cyprus' support in advancing European Union-India engagement."

This would be Jaishankar's first meeting with Kombos since he assumed office.

Kombos wrote in a post on X, "Ahead of the Foreign Affairs Council and the informal exchange with India's Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar it was a real pleasure meeting with my dear colleague Dr. Jaishankar. Insightful exchange focusing on: Further steps of the Cyprus-India strategic partnership, in view also of the upcoming visit of President Christodoulides to India."

"EU-India relations, following the recent EU-India Summit and the successful conclusion of the EU-India Free Trade Agreement. The profoundly concerning developments in the Middle East. Underlined that diplomacy and dialogue is the only sustainable path to de-escalation and stability," Kombos added, explaining the details of the topics discussed with Jaishankar.

Jaishankar is on an official visit to Brussels, Belgium, beginning March 15 to 16 at the invitation of European Union (EU) High Representative and Vice President Kaja Kallas to interact with Foreign Ministers of the 27 EU member states at the Foreign Affairs Council Meeting.

During the visit, EAM Jaishankar is to hold meetings with the leadership of the European Union and his counterparts from Belgium and other EU Member States.

The visit of EAM, coming shortly after the historic 16th India-EU Summit, is expected to further deepen India's Strategic Partnership with the European Union.

- ANI
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met with Cyprus Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos in Brussels. They discussed enhancing the bilateral strategic partnership and exchanged views on the concerning situation in West Asia. The meeting, held as Cyprus holds the EU Council Presidency, also focused on advancing broader European Union-India engagement following the recent summit. The talks are part of Jaishankar's visit to interact with EU member states and deepen the India-EU Strategic Partnership.

EAM S Jaishankar met Cyprus FM Constantinos Kombos in Brussels, discussing strategic partnership, West Asia, and advancing EU-India engagement.

Brussels, March 16 External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met with the Foreign Minister of Cyprus Constantinos Kombos.

In a post on X, Jaishankar wrote, "Pleasure to meet FM Constantinos Kombos of Cyprus today in Brussels. Discussed ways to further strengthen our strategic partnership and exchanged views on the situation in West Asia. Holding the Presidency of the Council of the EU, appreciate Cyprus' support in advancing European Union-India engagement."

This would be Jaishankar's first meeting with Kombos since he assumed office.

Kombos wrote in a post on X, " Ahead of the Foreign Affairs Council and the informal exchange with #India's Minister of External Affairs @DrSJaishankar it was a real pleasure meeting with my dear colleague Dr. Jaishankar. Insightful exchange focusing on: Further steps of the Cyprus-India strategic partnership, in view also of the upcoming visit of President Christodoulides to India."

Cyprus also spoke about the impact of the EU-India Summit and the signing of the EU-India free trade agreement.

He wrote, "EU-India relations, following the recent EU-India Summit and the successful conclusion of the EU-India Free Trade Agreement."

Kombos also spoke about the West Asia conflict in his post on X and said that he and Jaishankar had exchanged views on the issue.

"The profoundly concerning developments in the #MiddleEast. Underlined that diplomacy and dialogue is the only sustainable paths to de-escalation and stability," Kombos' post read.

Jaishankar is on an official visit to Brussels, Belgium, beginning March 15 to 16 at the invitation of European Union (EU) High Representative and Vice President Kaja Kallas to interact with Foreign Ministers of the 27 EU member states at the Foreign Affairs Council Meeting.

During the visit, EAM Jaishankar is to hold meetings with the leadership of the European Union and his counterparts from Belgium and other EU Member States.

The visit of EAM, coming shortly after the historic 16th India-EU Summit, is expected to further deepen India's Strategic Partnership with the European Union.

- ANI
The Election Commission has finalized the appointment of the Kolkata Municipal Commissioner as the District Election Officer for North Kolkata ahead of the Assembly election schedule announcement. IAS officer Sumit Gupta, the current Municipal Commissioner, will assume this role, formalizing a unique arrangement for Kolkata which lacks a District Magistrate. The EC's full bench, led by CEC Gyanesh Kumar, recently visited West Bengal to review preparedness and meet with officials and political parties. The election is expected to be held in two to three phases, with the formal announcement anticipated later on Sunday.

Election Commission appoints IAS officer Sumit Gupta as District Election Officer for North Kolkata ahead of the West Bengal Assembly election schedule announcement.

Kolkata, March 15 The Election Commission has entrusted the Municipal Commissioner with the responsibility of serving as the District Election Officer for North Kolkata, a senior officer of the state government said on Sunday.

The name of the North Kolkata DEO was finalised prior to the announcement of the Assembly election schedule for West Bengal.

Currently, IAS officer Sumit Gupta holds the position of Commissioner of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation. With the Election Commission's decision, he will be the one to discharge the duties of the District Election Officer for North Kolkata during this election.

Usually, the Election Commission appoints the District Magistrate of the respective district as the DEO. However, the rule differs in the case of Kolkata. Since Kolkata does not have a District Magistrate, this responsibility is usually assigned to an IAS-rank officer from a specific government department. In other words, the duty was not previously vested in a specific, designated office holder. However, this arrangement has now been formalised.

The Election Commission has directly appointed the Commissioner of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation as the DEO for North Kolkata.

Sources said the Election Commission is likely to announce the dates for the Assembly elections later in the day. However, prior to this, the Commission's full bench -- led by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar -- visited West Bengal.

They reviewed the election preparations and held several meetings with both the administration and the police. At the same time, they also held meetings with the state's recognised political parties.

According to sources within the Election Commission, the election could be held in West Bengal in two to three phases. The announcement is likely to be made at a press conference in the national capital at around 4 p.m. on Sunday.

However, ahead of the formal poll notification announcement, the Election Commission has finalised the District Election Officer (DEO) for North Kolkata.

- IANS
The Election Commission of India is likely to announce the schedule for upcoming Assembly elections in West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Assam, and the Union Territory of Puducherry. The Commission has already conducted a special revision of voter lists and its officials have visited the states to review poll preparedness. Key electoral battles are set between the TMC and BJP in West Bengal, the BJP-led NDA and Congress in Assam, and the LDF and UDF in Kerala. Central Observers have been appointed to oversee the efficient and fair management of the electoral process.

Election Commission to announce poll dates for West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam, and Puducherry. Key contests and preparedness reviewed.

New Delhi, March 15 The Election Commission of India is likely to announce the schedule of elections in poll-bound states and a Union Territory on Sunday.

The poll body has convened a press conference at 4 pm.

Assembly elections are set to be held in West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Assam and Puducherry.

Special intensive revision of the voters' lists in these four states and one union territory has already been conducted, with final electoral rolls published.

Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had on March 10 visited West Bengal to review poll preparedness in the state. They had also visited the other states which are heading into polls to review poll preparedness.

The total number of seats in West Bengal Legislative Assembly is 294, with the main contest between the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). TMC, led by Mamata Banerjee, has been in power in the state since 2011

Assam will witness a fight between the incumbent BJP-led NDA government and Congress for 126 state assembly seats.

In Kerala, the main fight is between the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the United Democratic Front (UDF) for 140 seats. Meanwhile, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is also in the fray to compete against both alliances. BJP plans to contest around 100 seats in Kerala, while its allies Bharat Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS) and Twenty20 are expected to contest the remaining 40 seats as part of the alliance.

For the 234 seats in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, political parties are ramping up their campaign activities and finalising seat-sharing arrangements within their respective alliances.

Puducherry will hold elections for all 30 constituencies of the 16th Puducherry Legislative Assembly. While the Congress is fighting the polls in an alliance with DMK and CPI, the opposition consisted of All India NR Congress, BJP and AIADMK.

The Election Commission of India reviewed poll preparedness for the upcoming Assembly elections in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam, and Pudducherry previously this month.

According to a release, the Election Commission appointed Central Observers under the plenary powers conferred on it by Article 324 of the Constitution and Section 20B of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, to assist the Commission in the conduct of free and fair polls. They also oversee the efficient and effective management of the electoral process at the field level.

- ANI
AIUDF MLA Rafiqul Islam stated the party is fully prepared to contest all 126 seats in the upcoming Assam Legislative Assembly elections. He revealed the first list of candidates is already released, with a second list forthcoming, and active campaigning is underway. While prepared for all seats, the party is strategically focusing on 28-32 constituencies to avoid splitting the anti-BJP vote. The elections are scheduled for a single phase on April 9, with counting on May 4.

AIUDF MLA Rafiqul Islam says party is prepared to contest all 126 Assam assembly seats in the 2026 elections, focusing on anti-BJP alliance.

Guwahati, March 15 Reacting to the announcement of the polling date for the Assam Legislative Assembly Election 2026, Rafiqul Islam, MLA of the All India United Democratic Front, said the party is fully prepared and gearing up to contest all 126 seats in the state.

Speaking to ANI, Rafiqul said, "The Election Commission has announced the dates for five states, with Assam's election scheduled in a single phase on April 9 across 126 seats. With only 24 days left, preparations are in full swing. Our party has been ready for months. The first list of candidates has already been released, and the second list will be announced soon. We are confident and prepared to contest all 126 seats, with our candidates and workers actively campaigning to secure victory."

Earlier today, Islam said that they are planning to focus on 28-32 seats and prioritising to defeat the BJP.

"According to the discussions we have had till now, we have been preparing to contest the elections on 28-32 seats. The final decision will be taken in two to four days... Our fight is against the BJP. We will support the anti-BJP forces in the election... We can contest the election in more than 100 seats. But we won't because this will benefit the BJP... We are entering an alliance with anyone before the elections. We are working on the principle of 'Ekla Cholo'. We want all anti-BJP secular parties to form a government... We will support that unconditionally," he added.

Meanwhile, elections in Assam for all 126 Assembly constituencies will be held in a single phase on April 9, while the counting of votes is scheduled for May 4, the Election Commission of India announced on Sunday.

The apex poll body said that Assam, along with the states of West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and the Union Territory of Puducherry, will hold elections to their legislative assemblies, commencing from April 9.

Assam will witness a fight between the incumbent BJP-led NDA government and Congress for the 126-seat assembly.

The BJP government, led by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, will look to secure a third consecutive term, while the Congress aims to defeat the ruling party to return to power.

In the 2021 Assembly elections, the NDA, comprising the BJP, AGP and United People's Party Liberal (UPPL), won 75 seats. The BJP is the largest partner in the alliance with 60 seats. Voter turnout was as high as 86.2 per cent with over 2. 2 crore registered voters in 2021.

In the 2016 Assembly elections, the BJP put up a strong show and won 60 seats, and the Congress secured 26 seats. The AIDUF won 13 seats. The voter turnout for the 126 state assembly constituencies was high at 83.9 per cent. As many as 199,47, 690 voters exercised their franchise in these elections.

- ANI
ECI announces West Bengal elections for April 23 & 29, 2026. BJP's Dilip Ghosh comments on multi-phase polling for security, as TMC defends majority.

Kolkata, March 16 BJP leader Dilip Ghosh has said that the upcoming Assembly elections in West Bengal will be conducted in two phases to ensure safety and security and noted that the Election Commission of India is confident that the polling will be held peacefully.

"The Election Commission is confident that the elections will be conducted peacefully. The way that the Election Commission has worked seriously since the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, elections will be conducted exactly like that," Ghosh said.



Addressing reporters here, the BJP leader said that elections conducted in long phases becomes problamatic for everyone in terms of finance and workload. Further, he urged that West Bengal should create an atmosphere supporting a single-phase polling system.



"It doesn't matter if the elections are conducted once or ten times; we will fight and win the election. It is problematic for the people if the elections are held in several phases during the summer. They also cause financial problems. It is a lot of hard work. Nothing else happens in society when the elections are being conducted. It should be completed as soon as possible, but due to security purposes, the elections are conducted in several phases. West Bengal should create an atmosphere where the elections can be completed in a single phase," he said.



On the topic of BJP's list of candidates, Ghosh said, "Everything is ready, it will be announced. We have been preparing for the last six months with Sankalp Yatra and Poriborton Yatra. The BJP workers are ready."



West Bengal is headed for the 2026 Assembly elections to be held in two phases on April 23 and April 29, the Election Commission announced on Sunday.



The ruling Mamata Banerjee-led All India Trinamool Congress is expected to defend its position against the Bharatiya Janata Party, which had won 77 seats in the 2021 Assembly polls. The Trinamool Congress had won 215 seats in the 294-member Assembly last time.



Meanwhile, the apex poll body also announced Assembly elections in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Assam and Puducherry. Kerala and Assam will vote in a single phase on April 9, while Tamil Nadu will go to the polls on April 23. Voting in Puducherry will also take place on April 9. The counting of votes for all four states and Puducherry will be held on May 4, the ECI announced.



The terms of the current assemblies are set to end on different dates: May 7 in West Bengal, May 10 in Tamil Nadu, May 20 in Assam, May 23 in Kerala, and June 15 in Puducherry.





- ANI
Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma has directed officials to ensure effective drinking water management across all villages and towns to prevent scarcity during the upcoming summer. He instructed departments to complete all preparations, including installing new hand pumps and repairing existing infrastructure, before the peak months. The CM also announced the launch of the 'Viksit Gram-Shahari Ward' campaign on March 19 to drive planned development at the local level. The review meeting was attended by key ministers and officials who presented district-specific action plans.

CM Bhajan Lal Sharma reviews pre-summer water management, orders 24-hour complaint resolution and infrastructure repairs to ensure supply.

Jaipur, March 14 Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma on Saturday directed officials and district administrations to ensure effective drinking water management across every village and town during the summer season, stating that the public should not face any water scarcity.

Chairing a review meeting at the Chief Minister's Office on pre-summer preparations, Sharma said officials must strictly monitor the implementation of the state's summer contingency plan.

He instructed departments to complete all preparations -- including the installation of new hand pumps and tube wells and the repair of existing pumps, pipelines and water infrastructure -- before the peak summer months.

The Chief Minister warned that no negligence would be tolerated in ensuring uninterrupted water supply.

Sharma directed officials of the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) and the electricity department to work in close coordination.

He said all drinking water-related complaints received on the state helpline 181 must be resolved within 24 hours.

He also asked officials to reduce supply intervals in areas where drinking water is currently provided once every 48, 72 or 96 hours.

Officials informed the meeting that a comprehensive contingency plan has been prepared for both rural and urban areas across all 41 districts.

District Collectors presented region-specific action plans, including strategies for canal-fed areas in Bikaner, desert districts such as Jodhpur, tube-well dependent regions like Dungarpur, and tribal and hilly areas in Udaipur.

Sharma also announced that the 'Viksit Gram-Shahari Ward' (Developed Village-Urban Ward) campaign will be launched on March 19 as part of the state's development initiatives.

The programme aims to prepare development master plans at the Gram Panchayat and urban ward levels.

He said the initiative will focus on planned development in areas such as education, healthcare, drinking water, electricity and road infrastructure, while also identifying opportunities for small and micro industries in both rural and urban areas.

Highlighting environmental efforts, the Chief Minister said nearly 190 million saplings have been planted across the state over the past two years, while a target of more than 100 million saplings has been set for the current year.

He directed officials to identify suitable plantation sites in advance and promote the planting of fruit-bearing trees suited to local ecological conditions, noting that such plantations can support both agricultural productivity and water conservation.

The meeting was attended by PHED Minister Kanhaiya Lal, Food and Civil Supplies Minister Sumit Godara, Chief Secretary V. Srinivas and other senior officials, while several Divisional Commissioners and District Collectors joined via video conference.

- IANS
The Saurashtra-Kutch Chamber of Commerce & Industry has stated that the arrival of two India-flagged LPG tankers will return the supply situation to normalcy. Iran granted transit to the vessels through the critical Strait of Hormuz amid the ongoing West Asia conflict. The chamber's president thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his efforts in facilitating this development. The conflict had rendered the vital waterway inoperable, disrupting global energy markets and threatening supplies.

Iran grants transit to Indian-flagged LPG tankers via Strait of Hormuz, averting shortages. Industry thanks PM Modi as situation normalizes.

Rajkot, March 15 Saurashtra-Kutch Chamber of Commerce & Industry President Nalin Zaveri on Sunday said the situation will return to normalcy with the arrival of two India-fagged LPG tankers.

"I would like to thank the country's Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, as this has been made possible through his earnest efforts. An atmosphere had emerged in our country suggesting that shortages were imminent; however, with the arrival of these ships, the entire situation will return to normalcy. India's global standing was already strong, and thanks to this development, it is becoming even more robust. PM Modi has always tried to keep the brotherhood intact. After the arrival of these ships, more ships will follow, and the situation will normalise," he said.

The statement came as Iran granted transit to two Indian-flagged ships through the Strait of Hormuz amid the ongoing West Asia conflict.

Two Indian flagged vessels carrying liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) were granted transit through the Strait of Hormuz by Iranian authorities. One of them is the Shivalik, which, as per the Vessel traffic monitoring site marinetraffic, was last reported to be in the Gulf of Oman and expected to reach its destination by March 21.

On Friday, the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways provided an update on the maritime situation in the Persian Gulf region and the steps being taken to ensure the safety of Indian seafarers and vessels. As per the Ministry, 24 Indian-flagged vessels with 668 Indian seafarers are currently operating in the Persian Gulf. 76 Indian seafarers remain on three vessels east of the Strait of Hormuz.

The current round of conflict in West Asia, which started on February 28, has witnessed fighting between Israel and the United States on one side and Iran on the other.

The conflict escalated following the assassination of 86-year-old Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in joint military strikes by the US and Israel, after which Iran, in its retaliation, targeted Israeli and US assets in several Gulf countries and Israel, causing disruption in the waterway and affecting international energy markets and global economic stability.

Due to the conflict in the region, the Strait of Hormuz, a critical transit route for global energy supply, has reportedly been rendered inoperational.

- ANI
Congress MLA Ramachandra Kadam detailed a comprehensive training session for party MLAs on the Rajya Sabha voting process in Bhubaneswar. Meanwhile, BJD chief Naveen Patnaik held a separate meeting and accused the BJP and its candidates of engaging in horse-trading for the polls. The elections for 37 Rajya Sabha seats across 10 states are scheduled for March 16, with counting on the same evening. The BJD has fielded Santrupt Misra, while the BJP has nominated Manmohan Samal and Sujeet Kumar for the Odisha seats.

Congress holds mock drill, BJD alleges BJP horse-trading ahead of crucial Rajya Sabha elections for 37 seats across 10 states.

Bhubaneswar, March 15 Ahead of the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections, Congress leader Ramachandra Kadam discussed the arrangements made for the voting process within the Assembly.

Kadam confirmed that all party members attended a training session in Bhubaneswar.

"We visited today for the mock drill; the PCC President, our MLA Sagar, and the entire team came together, and the Secretary walked us through everything. The Presiding Officer demonstrated how the actual process would be conducted, showing us the seating arrangements, where the 30% reserve staff would be positioned, and where the agents would sit. We have just received a comprehensive briefing on exactly how the voting process will unfold. Based on this information, we will now hold discussions with all our MLAs," Kadam told ANI.

Earlier, Biju Janata Dal (BJD) chief Naveen Patnaik held a meeting with party leaders in Bhubaneswar to discuss the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections. Raising concerns over alleged horse-trading for the polls, Patnaik stated that such tactics are 'an offence to win this democratic election.

Speaking to the media, Patnaik said, "Our party MLAs and all of us have just had a meeting with the concerned officers about the process of the elections for the upcoming Rajya Sabha. The BJP and their three Rajya Sabha candidates are all trying their best to engage in horse trading, which is an offence to win this democratic election."

The polling for the biennial elections to the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) to fill the 37 seats across 10 states is scheduled to take place on March 16, with the counting of votes on the same day at 5 pm.

The term of 37 members who were elected from Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Telangana will conclude in the month of April, vacating the seats for new members to be elected.

BJD announced Santrupt Misra as its candidate, and the BJP has nominated Odisha party chief Manmohan Samal and Sujeet Kumar for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections.

- ANI
India has submitted its Seventh National Report to the Convention on Biological Diversity, affirming a strong commitment to global 2030 goals. The report demonstrates that all 23 National Biodiversity Targets are on track, highlighting a whole-of-society approach involving 33 central ministries. Significant conservation achievements include increased forest and tree cover, a major expansion of protected Ramsar wetlands, and robust populations of tigers, rhinos, and elephants. The assessment is based on 142 national indicators and reflects coordinated inputs from state governments, research institutions, and local communities.

India reports all 23 national biodiversity targets on track, with expanded forest cover, wetlands, and tiger populations under the Kunming-Montreal framework.

New Delhi, March 16 Highlighting a "whole-of-government" and a "whole-of-society" approach, the Environment Ministry has submitted India's Seventh National Report to the Convention on Biological Diversity, an official said on Monday.

The submission on February 26, as part of a mandatory obligation, reaffirms India's strong commitment to achieving the objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity and delivering on global biodiversity goals by 2030 under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, the official said in a statement.

The Report said that all 23 National Biodiversity Targets (NBTs) are currently "on track to achieve", demonstrating strong alignment between national priorities and global biodiversity commitments.

The report emphasises a "whole-of-government" and "whole-of-society" approach, reflecting long-standing practices in India's biodiversity conservation efforts. It highlights the engagement of 33 Central Ministries/Departments, integrating biodiversity safeguards across infrastructure, agriculture, forestry and coastal sector policies.

India has substantially strengthened biodiversity-inclusive land and seascape planning. Recorded Forest Area stands at 7,75,377 sq km (23.59 per cent of geographical area), of which forest cover constitutes 5,20,365 sq km (15.83 per cent).

Total Forest and Tree Cover has reached 8,27,356.95 km2 (25.17 per cent), reflecting sustained integration of spatial planning. The number of notified Ramsar wetlands of international importance has expanded from 26 in 2014 to 98 as of 2026, according to the report.

The NR-7 presents a comprehensive, indicator-based national assessment aligned with India's updated National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP 2024-2030) and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF).

The report is based on 142 national indicators mapped against 23 National Biodiversity Targets (NBTs). The assessment reflects coordinated inputs from 33 Central Ministries/Departments, State Governments, Statutory Authorities, Research Institutions and other stakeholders, said the statement issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

India's conservation network now encompasses 58 Tiger Reserves, 33 Elephant Reserves, 18 Biosphere Reserves, 106 National Parks and 574 Wildlife Sanctuaries. India supports 3,682 tigers (over 70 per cent of the global tiger population), 4,014 greater one-horned rhinoceroses, 22,446 wild elephants, 891 Asiatic lions, and about 718 snow leopards, as estimated through the first Snow Leopard Population Assessment (SLPAI). Under the project Dolphin, the finalised and released report on the first-ever river dolphin population estimate found a population of 6,327 river dolphins in the country.

India has documented 22 agrobiodiversity hotspots and prioritised the conservation of 769 Crop Wild Relatives (CWRs) across 171 native crops and 230 native animal breeds, based on diversity, uniqueness, and agricultural heritage, the report said.

India's National Biodiversity Authority has issued over 5,600 access and benefit sharing (ABS) agreements disbursing Rs 140 crore, while 2,76,653 Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) and 2,72, 648 People's Biodiversity Registers (PBRs) engage local communities and traditional knowledge to promote biodiversity-friendly practices, the report said.

- IANS
The 11th session of the 17th Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile has commenced in Dharamshala for its annual budget deliberations. Sikyong Penpa Tsering presented a proposed budget of over Rs 3,407 million for the 2026-2027 fiscal year. A major point of discussion is the renewal of US funds, which parliamentarians welcomed as a significant recognition of their administration. The session will focus on allocating resources to strengthen the Tibetan movement and counter Chinese policies perceived as threatening their culture.

The Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile's budget session discusses a Rs 3,407 million budget and the renewal of US funds recognizing the administration.

Dharamshala, March 16 The Budget Session, which is the 11th session of the 17th Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile for the financial year 2026-2027, scheduled from March 16-30, commenced on Monday morning here in the North Indian hill town Dharamshala. One of the key highlights of the discussion today was the renewal of US funds.

Speaker Khenpo Sonam Tenphel made the commencement announcement and it was convened in the presence of Deputy Speaker Dolma Tsering Teykhang, Penpa Tsering, Sikyong/ president of the Tibetan government in exile, along with Kalons (ministers) of the Kashag and members of Parliament.

The proceedings began with the singing of the Tibetan national anthem, followed by the Speaker's opening address and the appointment of Acting Speakers and members of the Ad Hoc Committee for the session.

In his opening remarks, the Speaker reflected on the vision and tireless efforts of the 14th Dalai Lama and the elder generation of Tibetans in exile. He also acknowledged the continued support of the Government and people of India, as well as numerous countries and international supporters, which have enabled Tibetans to preserve and promote their unique language, culture, and religious traditions during more than six decades of exile while also strengthening international awareness of the Tibetan cause.

The Speaker further referred to recent legislative developments in the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China, noting the passage of policies promoting "ethnic unity" and the broader policy of Sinicisation, which aim to tighten control over minority nationalities and religious practices. He expressed concern over the targeting of the Tibetan language and identity under such policies, while urging Tibetans living in the free world to continue safeguarding and strengthening Tibetan linguistic and cultural traditions.

Sikyong Penpa Tsering, who currently holds the Finance portfolio of the Central Tibetan Administration, presented the CTA's proposed budget for the fiscal year 2026-2027, amounting to Rs 3,407.42 million.

Dorjee Tseten, an MP in exile, told ANI, "March is our parliament session and it is the first day of the budget session. The President, who led the cabinet, proposed the annual budget for 2026 to 2027 and the proposed budget is 3407 million rupees. It is tabled today at the Parliament and during the next two weeks, the members of the Parliament will discuss the proposed budget and, if needed, any amendments to propose, and finally, will pass the budget."

"The budget session is very significant in terms of our annual work in terms of the monetary will be discussed and through budget, we highlight the objective and the plan of the government in-exile. One of the key highlights of today's discussion is the renewal of US funds and in the budget statement it is clearly mentioned by the President that this time US appropriation Bill mention in the budget, Central Tibetan administration recognising as the Tibetan government in exile so this is key highlight, which is welcomed by all the parliamentarians and more discussions have been started in terms of how we want to strengthen our movement, how we can invest and expense more in terms of our political campaigns to counter China in Asia and across the world," he added.

- ANI
A fire broke out near Dubai International Airport after a drone crashed, affecting a fuel tank. Dubai Civil Defence successfully contained the blaze, and no injuries were reported. As a precaution, authorities temporarily suspended all flights at the airport, advising travelers to contact their airlines. The incident occurs amid ongoing regional conflict, with the UAE reporting interceptions of over 1,500 drones and missiles.

A drone crash caused a fire near Dubai International Airport, prompting a temporary flight suspension. No injuries were reported. Authorities contained the blaze.

Dubai, March 16 A fire caused by a drone crash near Dubai International Airport has been brought under control, with no injuries reported, local authorities said Monday.

Flights, however, were temporarily suspended as a precaution to ensure the safety of passengers and staff.

Authorities said the fire broke out after a drone fell near the airport, affecting a fuel tank. Dubai Civil Defence said it successfully contained the blaze.

Gulf states have been hit by waves of missile and drone attacks since the outbreak of the US-Israeli war on Iran on February 28, with the United Arab Emirates reporting interception of over 1,500 drones so far, Xinhua news agency reported.

Earlier, on March 14, a fire broke out in Fujairah, an emirate of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), after debris fell following the interception of an unmanned aerial vehicle by air defence systems.

No injuries had been reported.

Officials did not provide details on the drone's origin, the exact location of the incident, or the extent of any damage.

Dubai has temporarily suspended all flights at Dubai International Airport as a precautionary safety measure, the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority said following the drone incident.

"Dubai Civil Aviation Authority announces the temporary suspension of flights at Dubai International Airport as a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of all passengers and staff. Travellers are advised to contact their respective airlines for the latest updates regarding their flights. Further updates will be announced through official channels as soon as they become available," the Dubai Media Office wrote on X.

The incident comes at a time when Iran has fired more than 1,800 missiles and drones at the United Arab Emirates since the start of the ongoing Middle East conflict, making the UAE the most targeted country, according to officials. The barrage has disrupted travel in the Gulf financial hub, although air defence systems have intercepted most of the projectiles.

Iran has targeted both US assets and civilian sites, including airports, ports and oil facilities across the Gulf, after US-Israeli strikes hit its leadership.

Meanwhile, the UAE's defence ministry has reported six deaths since the conflict began - four civilians and two military personnel. The soldiers died in a helicopter crash that was linked to a technical issue.

- IANS
The Indian-flagged LPG tanker Shivalik has safely arrived at Mundra Port in Gujarat after transiting the Strait of Hormuz from Qatar. A second state-owned tanker, Nanda Devi, is expected to arrive at Kandla Port tomorrow, with the two ships carrying a combined 92,700 metric tonnes of LPG. Authorities confirm all Indian seafarers in the Persian Gulf region are safe despite regional tensions. The government is closely monitoring the vital shipping route, through which a significant portion of global oil and gas exports passes.

The Indian-flagged LPG carrier Shivalik reaches Mundra Port safely. A second tanker, Nanda Devi, is due to arrive as India monitors key shipping lanes.

New Delhi, March 16 The Indian-flagged LPG tanker Shivalik, which departed from Qatar carrying liquefied petroleum gas, safely arrived from the Strait of Hormuz at Mundra Port in Gujarat on Monday.

The vessel carried around 45,000 metric tonnes of LPG and its safe arrival is expected to provide relief amid concerns over fuel shipments passing through the sensitive maritime route.

Earlier, Rajesh Kumar Sinha, special secretary in Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, said during an inter-ministerial briefing that the tanker had successfully moved into the open sea after transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

He noted that two Indian-flagged LPG carriers -- Shivalik and Nanda Devi -- were carrying around 92,700 metric tonnes of LPG to India. The two ships are owned by the state-run Shipping Corporation of India.

While Shivalik arrived at Mundra Port at 5 p.m., the other tanker, Nanda Devi, is expected to reach Kandla Port in Gujarat early tomorrow morning.

Sinha also said that all Indian seafarers operating in the Persian Gulf region are safe and there have been no reports of any untoward incidents involving them.

As per government data, there were 22 Indian-flagged vessels located to the west of the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf region, carrying a total of 611 seafarers.

While Nanda Devi will arrive at Gujarat's Kandla port, Jag Laadki carrying nearly 81,000 tonnes of crude oil from the UAE is en route to Mundra port. The vessel and all Indian seafarers onboard are safe.

The Strait of Hormuz remains one of the world's most crucial shipping routes, with nearly 20 per cent of global oil and gas exports passing through it.

With tensions continuing in the region, authorities are closely monitoring the movement of ships and ensuring the safety of Indian vessels and crew operating in the area.

"Major ports across the country are closely monitoring vessel movements and cargo operations and providing support to shipping lines and cargo stakeholders, including concessions in anchorage, berth hire and storage charges," the ministry said in earlier briefing.

- IANS
Flights at Dubai International Airport were temporarily suspended as a precaution after a drone-related incident caused a fire in the vicinity. Authorities are responding to ensure safety while advising travelers to contact their airlines. The incident occurs amid heightened regional tensions from the ongoing conflict involving the US, Israel, and Iran. US President Donald Trump claimed the US military has "essentially defeated" Iran, citing significant damage to its forces and leadership.

Flights at Dubai International Airport were temporarily suspended following a drone-related incident and fire, amid ongoing US-Israel-Iran conflict tensions.

Dubai, March 16 Flights were temporarily suspended at Dubai International Airport following a drone-related incident near the airport, authorities said on Monday, as tensions linked to the ongoing conflict involving the US, Israel and Iran continue to impact the region.

According to the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, the suspension was imposed as a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of passengers and staff.

In a post on X, the Dubai Media Office said, "Dubai Civil Aviation Authority announces the temporary suspension of flights at Dubai International Airport as a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of all passengers and staff. Travellers are advised to contact their respective airlines for the latest updates regarding their flights. Further updates will be announced through official channels as soon as they become available."

Authorities also said a fire broke out after a drone struck in the vicinity of the airport, causing minimal damage.

"Authorities are currently responding to a fire resulting from a drone-related incident in the vicinity of Dubai International Airport. All necessary measures are being taken to ensure everyone's safety," the Dubai Media Office said.

The ongoing conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran has disrupted operations and security conditions at several locations across the region.

Earlier, US President Donald Trump said Iran's military had been heavily damaged by American strikes but stopped short of declaring the conflict over.

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One while travelling to Joint Base Andrews, Trump said, "No reason to. I think I'd just say they're decimated, but I haven't--I think that we've done damage to them right now. If we left right now, it would take them 10 years and more to rebuild. But I'm still not declaring it over."

Trump claimed US military operations had "essentially defeated Iran."

"Militarily, we've essentially--as far as I'm concerned--we've essentially defeated Iran. I guess they can have a little bit of a fight back, but not much. Not much. We've taken out their air forces, as you know. We've taken out their air defence. They have no air defence whatsoever," he said.

He also claimed that several senior Iranian leaders had been eliminated during the campaign.

"We've taken out their leadership times two, four, three--might be three, we'll find out soon," Trump said.

Referring to US strikes on Iran's key oil export facility on Kharg Island, Trump said Washington retained the capability to inflict further damage if required.

"We attacked Kharg Island, and it was left with just one little area standing. And the standing part is where they have the pipes, where the oil pipes come in. And we can do that on five minutes' notice. We have it all locked and loaded and ready to go if we want to do it. But we chose not to do it--I chose not to do it yet. Let's see what happens," he said.

- ANI
Verified reports and satellite imagery confirm Iranian drones have successfully breached regional defenses to strike US military assets across seven nations. The analysis shows the Shahed-136 drone, a low-cost, long-range UAV, was effective in 21 out of 26 recorded attack instances. Iranian forces claim strikes on critical infrastructure at bases including Al Dhafra, Sheikh Isa, and Al-Udeid, targeting radar systems, hangars, and fuel depots. The IRGC continues its Operation True Promise 4, launching missile and drone waves against what it calls US "terrorist army" bases throughout the region.

Verified footage shows Iranian drones successfully striking US assets across 7 countries, challenging regional air defenses and military stability.

Washington, DC, March 15 A series of verified visual reports has shown the impact of Iranian drone strikes and interceptions across seven countries, revealing a persistent threat to US military assets and regional stability, NBC News reported on Sunday.

According to the analysis, the drones successfully reached their intended targets in 21 out of 26 recorded instances. These strikes have reportedly focused on a wide array of strategic locations, including transportation hubs, diplomatic centres, energy infrastructure, and military installations.

The weapon of choice for Tehran is frequently the Shahed-136. This unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) can travel approximately 1,200 miles while carrying warheads weighing up to 110 pounds.

NBC News noted that these "cheap exploding drones" are pre-programmed to strike specific coordinates without a pilot, functioning as what experts describe as "the ultimate symbol of asymmetric warfare."

Meanwhile, Iran's naval forces said they have successfully struck key targets within American bases, including Al Dhafra, Sheikh Isa, and Al-Udeid.

Commander of the IRGC Navy Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri wrote in a post on his X account that US Patriot radar systems, control towers, aircraft hangars, central ramps, and aircraft fuel depots were among the facilities that were struck.

The IRGC public relations also said in a statement that Iranian missile and drone units struck the Patriot radars, control tower, and air defence hangars of the Al Dhafra base with devastating kamikaze drones and pinpoint ballistic missiles.

The Sheikh Isa base's early warning radars, aircraft hangars, central ramps, and American aircraft fuel depots were destroyed and set ablaze, it said.

According to the statement, at the Al-Udairi helicopter base, equipment hangars, gathering sites, and helicopter maintenance hangars were destroyed.

Further, Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) announced the execution of the 51st wave of Operation True Promise 4, launching missile strikes against US military installations across the region.

The IRGC announced the latest wave was carried out using a combination of liquid-fuel and solid-fuel missiles against US terrorist army forces at the Al Kharj Air Base in Saudi Arabia.

According to the IRGC statement, Al Kharj base served as the "origin of aggressions against the Islamic homeland," functioning as the staging ground for US F-35 and F-16 fighter jets involved in attacks on Iran.

The spokesman for the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters confirmed that the fiftieth wave of the operation struck multiple US terrorist army bases.

They include the Al Dhafra Air Base and Fujairah in the UAE, Jufair in Bahrain, Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait, Al Azraq Air Base in Jordan, as well as early warning radar systems positioned throughout the region that served as protective shields for the Zionist regime.

- ANI
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has clarified that the proposed Freedom of Religion Bill is not aimed at any specific religion but seeks to prevent conversions through force, fraud, or inducement. The bill mandates a legal process for voluntary conversions, including a 60-day prior notice to authorities. It proposes imprisonment of up to seven years for illegal conversions, with stricter penalties for offenses involving women, minors, or Scheduled Caste and Tribe members. While supporters like Bhaskar Jadhav argue it protects religious freedom, critics like Aslam Shaikh raise concerns about privacy and potential misuse.

CM Devendra Fadnavis clarifies the anti-conversion bill is not against any religion but targets coercion, fraud, and allurement in conversions.

Mumbai, March 16 Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday clarified that the Maharashtra Freedom of Religion Bill, 2026, is not directed against any specific religion. 

He emphasised that the Bill is being introduced solely to prevent religious conversions carried out through coercion, fraud, or allurement. 

He explained the government's stance in his address to the Legislative Assembly.

The Bill, titled the Maharashtra Freedom of Religion Act, 2026, was tabled in the House on Friday by Minister of State for Home (Rural) Pankaj Bhoyar to curb conversions taking place through baiting, deception, or force.

Fadnavis noted that anti-conversion laws are already in effect in several states, including Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Karnataka, and Rajasthan. Maharashtra has decided to follow this trend.

He said Article 25 of the Constitution grants every citizen the right to profess, practise, and propagate their faith. However, coercing someone through fraud, pressure, force, or temptation is wrong, which makes such a law necessary.

He added that individuals wishing to convert voluntarily must follow a legal process. They must inform authorised officials, and competent authorities will verify that the conversion is voluntary before granting approval.

According to the proposed legislation, conversions carried out through force, threat, undue influence, fraud, or inducement will be treated as illegal. Marriages conducted solely for the purpose of unlawful conversion may be declared null and void by a court.

The Bill provides for imprisonment of up to seven years and fines for those found guilty of illegal conversions. Stricter penalties are proposed in cases involving women, minors, or persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Complaints may be filed by the affected individual or close relatives, and police may also take action in certain cases.

Fadnavis urged members of the House to support the Bill, saying it is intended to protect citizens from unlawful conversions and maintain law and order.

Supporting the Bill, Bhaskar Jadhav (Shiv Sena UBT) said it aims to protect the right to religious freedom and prevent illegal conversions. He said it is comprehensive and does not target any specific religion despite rumours. He argued that the objective is to curb unethical practices and misuse of religion.

Jadhav said media claims suggesting the Bill targets a particular religion are false. The Bill applies to all religions equally and seeks to prevent coercion or inducement. He cited Dr B.R. Ambedkar's 1956 conversion as voluntary and without coercion.

He added that every religion has certain harmful practices that infringe on human rights, and that the Bill is meant to regulate such practices legally. He raised questions about birth-based caste assignments and their interaction with the Bill. He said existing laws like POCSO can address forced child marriages.

Jadhav praised the Bill's intention and legal framework and said those making accusations should provide evidence. He urged clarity in certain clauses to avoid misuse and ensure fair enforcement. He congratulated the Chief Minister and the government for bringing the Bill and called for proper enforcement without targeting any religion.

Aslam Shaikh (Congress) said the Bill's objective and essence appear to impact the Constitution and the right to privacy. He said that under the Bill, a person wishing to convert must give a 60day notice, raising concerns about their safety. He questioned whether such a person might face threats or harm.

He argued that requiring someone to publicly announce their intention to convert interferes with fundamental rights. He added that if two adults decide to marry, any third party or relative can file a complaint under the Bill, which mandates the registration of an FIR. Once an FIR is filed, the person becomes an accused, creating mental pressure and social stigma.

Shaikh said allegations of "love jihad," "land jihad," and inter-caste marriages had been made earlier in Maharashtra, but the same department later stated that not a single incident of "love jihad" had been recorded.

Rais Shaikh (Samajwadi Party) said the Bill violates Articles 14, 15, and 21 of the Constitution. He said Maharashtra has always been a progressive state, and the Bill curtails the constitutional right to freedom of religion. He asked the government to explain how many conversions are taking place and in what numbers. He said the requirement of prior notice puts the safety of the person wishing to convert at risk.

BJP leader Atul Bhatkalkar cited historical and contemporary examples, including the Niyogi Commission (1970) report on missionary activities in tribal regions of Madhya Pradesh and statements by former Kerala Chief Ministers Oommen Chandy and V.S. Achuthanandan. He highlighted conversion cases and the use of the term "Love Jihad."

He warned against attempts to alter Maharashtra's demography through religious conversion, saying such efforts would not succeed. He drew parallels to Europe, where policies to return displaced populations have been implemented, and said India's legal framework is clear and constitutionally supported. He urged lawmakers and citizens to uphold laws preventing forced conversions.

The ruling alliance objected to certain comments by Jitendra Awhad (NCP SP) and demanded that opposition members apologise for insulting Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Members entered the well and shouted slogans. Presiding Officer Sanjay Kelkar adjourned the House for ten minutes.

After the House reassembled, Speaker Rahul Narwekar said no member should insult noted personalities like Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. He directed Awhad to apologise. However, members of the ruling alliance insisted that he be suspended. They again entered the well and raised slogans.

Awhad expressed regret over his statement, but ruling alliance members demanded another apology. The Speaker again directed him to apologise, after which he did so. The Speaker announced that Awhad's statement, allegedly insulting Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, would be expunged from the proceedings.

- IANS
The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) is offering a 90% rebate on interest for pending property tax under a One-Time Settlement Scheme valid until March 31. Commissioner R.V. Karnan urged citizens to avail the benefit, noting collections have already surpassed last year's total. The civic body has launched a widespread awareness campaign using bus shelters, social media, FM radio, and even CBFC-certified videos in theatres. GHMC also highlighted its focus on sanitation and various public service drives under the state's "Praja Palana" initiative.

Pay pending property tax in Hyderabad with a 90% interest rebate under GHMC's One-Time Settlement Scheme. Deadline is March 31, 2024.

Hyderabad, March 16 Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation Commissioner R.V. Karnan has urged property taxpayers to take advantage of the One-Time Settlement Scheme, which offers a 90% rebate on interest for pending property tax dues.

The Commissioner stated that the scheme will remain in force until March 31, and appealed to citizens to make the most of this opportunity.

The Commissioner informed that out of 28.08 lakh property taxpayers in the CURE area, around 16.80 lakh taxpayers have already paid their property tax.

On Monday, a press conference was held at the GHMC Head Office to explain the details of the Property Tax OTS Scheme. The meeting was addressed by GHMC Commissioner R.V. Karnan, along with Additional Commissioner (Revenue) Priyanka Ala, Additional Commissioner (Sanitation) Ravi Kiran, and Public Relations Officer Mamindla Dasharatham.

Speaking on the occasion, the Commissioner stated that property tax collections in the CURE area, which includes GHMC, MMC, and CMC, have seen a notable increase. By the same date in the previous financial year, the total collection stood at Rs 1,984 crore, whereas Rs 2,186 crore has been collected so far in the current financial year.

To promote transparency and accountability in tax payments, GHMC has facilitated online property tax payments through platforms such as MeeSeva centres, the GHMC website, Citizen Service Centres, and the MyGHMC mobile application.

The Commissioner also warned that strict action will be taken under the GHMC Act against property owners who fail to clear their long-pending tax dues. Apart from tax payments, several services such as property assessment, corrections, and other related services are also available through the MyGHMC application. He reiterated that GHMC is committed to providing efficient and technology-driven governance across its jurisdiction.

The Commissioner further stated that, as part of the State Government's "99 Days - Praja Palana, Pragathi Pranalika" initiative, several special drives have been conducted from March 6 to March 16 across 6 zones, 30 circle offices, and 150 wards within GHMC limits.

These include office cleaning drives, file clearances, mapping and elimination of Garbage Vulnerable Points (GVPs), removal of Construction and Demolition (C&D) waste, inspections of FOBs, RUBs, underpasses and flyovers, fire safety inspections, mega e-waste collection drives, and special drives for cleaning and maintenance of public toilets.

The Commissioner said sanitation has been given top priority across GHMC limits, with focused efforts to eliminate Garbage Vulnerable Points. He also highlighted the successful conduct of the Mega E-Waste Drive, emphasising that sanitation will continue to remain a key focus during the Praja Palana - Pragathi Pranalika implementation period, to make Greater Hyderabad a cleaner and healthier city.

With only 15 days remaining for the OTS deadline, GHMC has intensified its public awareness campaign to encourage taxpayers to avail the scheme.

The Commissioner stated that awareness campaigns are being conducted across the CURE area at the grassroots level. So far, publicity has been carried out through 100 bus shelters across the city. Special awareness videos and audio messages have been prepared and are being widely broadcast through cable news channels, FM radio stations, and social media platforms.

Additionally, two special awareness videos have been produced for screening in theatres across the CURE area. Necessary permissions have also been obtained from the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) for these videos. The Commissioner informed that these promotional videos will start screening in theatres from tomorrow.

GHMC will also continue to expand its awareness drive through print media, electronic media, and social media platforms in the coming days to ensure that more citizens benefit from the Property Tax OTS Scheme.

- ANI
Union Minister of State for Petroleum Suresh Gopi stated the government is making efforts to insulate the common man from global energy supply constraints stemming from the West Asia situation. He called on opposition parties to provide positive suggestions and collaborate with the administration for public relief, noting there is no critical LPG issue and that alternative means are being explored. Officials reported a 36% increase in domestic LPG production and a rise in online bookings, alongside enforcement against hoarding. The arrival of LPG carriers and the return of thousands of passengers from the Gulf region were also confirmed.

Union Minister Suresh Gopi says govt ensuring LPG supply stability, urges opposition for constructive support. Domestic production up 36%.

New Delhi, March 16 Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Suresh Gopi has said that the government is making all efforts to ensure that global energy supply constraints do not affect the common man.

He said opposition parties, who have been slamming the government, should give positive suggestions and join hands with the administration in providing relief to people.

The minister said there is no critical issue of LPG. "We are also finding alternative means. Why is the opposition not thinking about enthusing whichever party has the upper hand in such states? They should talk to the contingent who is looking after the food care of the people. They can propose alternative methods...We are trying to overcome that criticality in the situation due to a West Asian issue. You know how the Hormuz is favouring us. Let us wait to see fruitful results," Suresh Gopi told reporters.

The government has said that LPG supply continues to be monitored in view of the prevailing geopolitical situation, and domestic LPG production has increased by 36 per cent.

Online LPG cylinder bookings have increased from about 84% to around 90%, officials said.

They said state Governments undertaking enforcement measures to prevent hoarding and black marketing.

LPG Carrier Shivalik has reached India today and Nanda Devi is expected to reach tomorrow morning.

Officials said that around 2,20,000 passengers returned from the West Asia and Gulf region to India since February 28. The Embassy of India in Tehran remains fully operational.

- ANI
Greece has explicitly stated it will not participate in any military operation in the Strait of Hormuz, limiting its involvement to the EU's geographically defined Operation Shield in the Red Sea. Similarly, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius rejected a US demand for military support in the strait, emphasizing Germany would not become militarily involved. The refusals come after US President Donald Trump warned NATO allies about the future of the alliance if they fail to help keep the vital waterway open. Meanwhile, Australia has stated it will not send a warship and has issued travel warnings for its citizens regarding transit through multiple Middle Eastern countries.

Greece and Germany refuse US request for military involvement in Strait of Hormuz, stressing they will not be drawn into conflict. Australia also declines.

Athens, March 16 Greece has no plans to participate in any military operation in the Strait of Hormuz, government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said on Monday, stressing that the country has no intention of becoming involved in war.

Speaking at a regular briefing, Marinakis said Greece's current involvement in the European Union's Operation Shield is "geographically defined in the Red Sea and does not concern the Strait of Hormuz."

He noted that only vessels from Greece and Italy are currently participating in the operation, whose mission is to safeguard commercial shipping in the region.

Marinakis said Greece consistently advocates the universal application of international law, Xinhua news agency reported.

"Under no circumstances do we intend to get involved in war," he said.

US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he had "demanded" some countries heavily reliant on Middle Eastern oil join a coalition to escort vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, but did not name the countries the White House was negotiating with.

On Monday, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius also rejected a US demand for military support in the Strait of Hormuz, saying Germany would not become militarily involved in the region.

Pistorius made the remarks in Berlin at a press conference after meeting with his Latvian counterpart Andris Spruds.

While expressing readiness to support diplomatic efforts to ensure safe passage through the strait, Pistorius stressed that Germany would not take part in any military involvement, voicing skepticism over the need for European intervention.

"It is not our war. We did not start it," Pistorius said.

US President Donald Trump warned on Sunday that NATO would face a "very bad" future if its allies fail to take action to help Washington keep the Strait of Hormuz open, the Financial Times reported.

Earlier on Monday, Australia said that it is well-prepared for the "economic crisis" caused by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and would not be sending a warship to the region.

According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) radio, Australia's Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government Catherine King, also a member of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's Cabinet, said that Australia's fuel stockpile was sitting at 37 days of petrol, 30 days of diesel and 29 days of jet fuel as of Monday after the government reduced minimum stockholding obligations and temporarily amended fuel quality standards to allow higher sulfur levels.

"We're well-prepared here in this country to weather the economic crisis that is occurring as a result of the Middle East," she said.

The federal government on Saturday issued a warning to citizens not to transit through Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Kuwait, Lebanon, Palestine, Qatar, Syria, Yemen and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade had previously issued travel warnings for all of those countries through its Smartraveller service, but said on Saturday that Australian citizens should also avoid transiting through them, even if they do not plan to leave the airport.

It said that the conflict is likely to escalate further and flights could change or stop suddenly.

- IANS
The counting of votes for the Rajya Sabha elections in Haryana has been suspended for over an hour following objections from both the BJP and Congress. The BJP challenged two Congress votes, while Congress objected to the vote cast by BJP Minister Anil Vij. Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda stated that permission from the Election Commission is needed to resume counting, alleging the BJP is using delaying tactics. Meanwhile, Congress MLA Geeta Bhukkal expressed confidence in her party's victory, accusing the ruling BJP of putting pressure on the Election Commission.

Counting for Haryana Rajya Sabha polls suspended after BJP and Congress challenge votes. Leaders from both parties trade accusations of unfair tactics.

Chandigarh, March 17 Voting for the Rajya Sabha elections has been halted due to objections to two Congress votes. BJP's Gaurav Gautam and Kishan Bedi have objected to both votes. Congress has also objected to Minister Anil Vij's vote.

The counting has been halted for over an hour. Gaurav Gautam is also the polling agent for the BJP, and Kishan Bedi is the election agent for the BJP.

On the counting for the Rajya Sabha elections being halted, Leader of the Opposition in the Haryana Assembly and Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda says, "Permission needs to be taken from the Election Commission of India before starting the counting..."

On the Rajya Sabha elections, Haryana BJP President Mohan Lal Badoli said, "It seems some miracle will happen in this voting of Haryana. Our demand is that elections should be held fairly. We demand that if anyone has made a mistake in any way, their mistakes should also be investigated. We challenged two votes; they (Congress) challenged one vote in the same way..."

Meanwhile, in the elections, Haryana Congress MLA Geeta Bhukkal said, "Our Congress seat is absolutely certain. The BJP tried its best, and they are in power. The Election Commission is under pressure from the government somewhere. No objections were made at that time. There was no spontaneous reaction, no objections. When they realised that Congress was winning the elections convincingly, they filed objections. We also filed an objection regarding Anil Vij's vote... Wherever Congress or the opposition is winning, they have adopted tactics to delay election results. So, the objections filed here went to the Election Commission of India."

"We hope a fair report and video are sent from here so that they can give a fair decision. It is the Election Commission's duty to conduct free and fair elections. Our candidate, Karmveer Singh Baudh, will comfortably win the seat...," she added.

- ANI
The Ghaziabad Police have arrested six individuals for running an espionage racket managed by operatives from Pakistan. The accused were paid to film sensitive locations, including railway stations and security agency offices in Mumbai and the National Capital Region. A hidden camera installed at Delhi Cantt Railway Station provided Pakistani handlers with live footage of the area for several months. Officials warn this live surveillance could be used to plan terror attacks, noting a pattern of increased Pakistani espionage activities in India.

Ghaziabad Police arrest six in Pakistan-linked spy ring. Accused installed hidden camera at Delhi Cantt station, shared sensitive data on railways & defence.

New Delhi, March 16 The Ghaziabad Police which arrested six people in connection with an espionage case has learnt that the racket was being managed by operatives from Pakistan. The police learnt that the accused people focussed largely on targets in Mumbai and the National Capital Region.

The police arrested six people and during their questioning they revealed that they were being paid by Pakistanis to dig out sensitive information and share it.

The payments were assignment-based and would range from Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000.

The instructions to get information on sensitive sites were given to the accused by a Pakistani handler through WhatsApp. The police traced the WhatsApp number to Pakistan.

The accused said that they filmed sensitive locations in Mumbai and NCR. These included RPF and GRP deployment points and offices of security agencies.

They also filmed railway stations, the police learnt. It was also revealed that the accused persons had installed a hidden camera at the Delhi Cantt Railway Station several months back. This gave the Pakistani handlers live footage of the railway station and the surrounding areas.

After it was learnt that the accused had also passed on sensitive information about railway infrastructure, Defence areas and government offices, an alert has been sounded.

The arrested persons are Raj Valmiki (19) from Auraiya, Siva Valmiki (20) from Badaun, Ritik Gangwar (23) from Shahjahanpur, Suhai Malik (23) from Bijnor and Sane Iram (25) alias Mehak from Kaushambi.

Eight mobile phones used to film sensitive areas and pass on the information to Pakistan were seized from the accused.

They have been booked under the Sections 152 and 61(2) of the BNS and Sections 3 and 5 of the Official Secrets Act.

Further, the police learnt that multiple photos had been shared. Calls records to the Pakistani handler are currently being scrutinised.

Some of the data has been deleted and the police is in the process of retrieving it.

Officials part of the probe say that these people were also told to recruit more persons. The idea was to spread this espionage network and gather more information.

Another official said that the worrisome part about this network and plot is the installation of a camera at the Delhi Cantt Railway Station as this gives live images of such sensitive locations. The same can be used to carry out real time surveillance, which in turn could be used to plan terror attacks.

Railway stations and India's trains have for long been on the radar of the Pakistanis, another official said.

This development comes just days after six people from Masuri were charged under the provisions of the UAPA for following banned terror groups and sharing propaganda content on WhatsApp.

Since 'Operation Sindoor', the agencies are noting a pattern in which the Pakistanis have increased espionage activities in India.

The ISI had even got in touch with influencers and used them to gather information about India.

Influencer Jyoti Malhotra was also tasked with posting content on her YouTube channel that showed Pakistan in good light.

An Intelligence Bureau official says that such activity would continue to rise and the agencies must be on the lookout.

Nationwide crackdowns have been conducted by the National Investigation Agency and state police, which have led to several networks being busted.

- IANS
Dairy products to be marketed under 'HIM' brand

The Himachal Pradesh government has signed an MoU with the National Dairy Development Board to strengthen the state's dairy sector. Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu stated the partnership will enhance milk processing capacity using advanced technology. The initiative aims to create new livelihood opportunities in rural areas and market products under the 'HIM' brand. The government is also preparing the state's first nutrition policy to focus on food quality.

Himachal Pradesh partners with NDDB to enhance milk processing, launch 'HIM' brand dairy products, and generate rural employment opportunities.

Shimla, March 16 The Himachal Pradesh government on Monday signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the National Dairy Development Board to strengthen the dairy sector in the state, with Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu saying the initiative will enhance milk processing capacity and generate employment opportunities for farmers.

The MoU signing ceremony between the Government of Himachal Pradesh and NDDB was held in Shimla on Monday.

Speaking to the media after the programme, Sukhu said the agreement aims to introduce world-class technology in milk processing and related bio-products while strengthening the state's dairy infrastructure.

"We had earlier reached an understanding with NDDB in 2023 to develop the Dagwar dairy project. The first MoU was for bringing world-class technology in milk processing and bio-products, and now this MoU relates to running the Dagwar plant and strengthening milk processing units with computerised quality control," Sukhu said.

He added that once the dairy processing infrastructure is established, it will create new livelihood opportunities for people in rural areas.

"Before our government came to power, milk production in the state was much lower, but it has increased significantly. Once this plant becomes operational, people will see dairy as a source of employment and business," the Chief Minister said.

Sukhu also expressed confidence that Himachal Pradesh's natural environment and clean surroundings would help in promoting dairy-based industries in the state.

"The products produced here will be marketed under the 'HIM' brand, which will further strengthen the state's dairy sector," he said.

Responding to queries about the upcoming state budget, the Chief Minister said details would be shared once it is formally presented in the Assembly.

"We do not discuss the budget through the media. When the budget is presented, you will see that all sectors have been taken care of," he said.

Sukhu also said the state government is working on bringing the first nutrition policy for Himachal Pradesh.

"We are preparing the first nutrition policy of the state, which will focus on the quality and nutritional value of the food and dairy products people consume," he said.

When asked about the ongoing Rajya Sabha election developments in neighbouring Haryana, the Chief Minister declined to comment.

"I do not want to comment on that," Sukhu said.

On tourism-related concerns amid the changing weather conditions in the state, Sukhu assured that the government would ensure the safety and comfort of tourists visiting Himachal Pradesh.

"All tourists who come here are our guests. If anyone faces any difficulty, we will instruct the district administration to ensure their safety and assistance," he said.

The Chief Minister also said the state government is monitoring the situation regarding LPG supply and would take up the matter with the central government if required.

"At present, there is no shortage of LPG. If any shortage arises, we will address it and also raise the issue with the central government," Sukhu added.

- ANI
BJP leader Tamilisai Soundararajan expressed strong confidence that the BJP will achieve victory in the upcoming Assembly elections across four states and Puducherry. She commended the Election Commission for implementing a "Cleanse List" to remove ineligible voters, which she argued would ensure electoral integrity. The election schedule was announced, with polling to be held in phases from April 9 to April 29 and vote counting on May 4. Union Minister Piyush Goyal also projected a landslide victory for the BJP-NDA alliance, citing Prime Minister Modi's recent rally in West Bengal.

BJP leader Tamilisai Soundararajan exudes confidence in BJP's victory in upcoming state elections, praising the EC's voter list cleanse.

Chennai, March 16 Former Governor of Telangana and BJP leader Tamilisai Soundararajan welcomed the election schedule for the upcoming Assembly elections in four states and one Union Territory and exuded confidence that the BJP will come out "with flying colours"

She also commended the Election Commission of India for Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in all the poll-bound states to "remove the illegible voters".

"I thank the Government of India and the Election Commission for coming up with the Cleanse List, which is significant because initially the Chief Minister opposed it, claiming that all minority votes would be removed. Today, the Election Commission has clearly said that no ineligible voter will be allowed and no eligible voter will be omitted. This is great news for all voters as we go to the people," she said.

"Because I always say, the dead souls will rest peacefully in heaven and not be disturbed by the DMK, which has always maintained fake numbers of voters. This time, we are going forward with a cleansed voter list. We have adequate time, and with anti-incumbency present, we are very hopeful of coming out with flying colours," she added.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Sunday announced the schedule for Assembly elections in four states, including West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Assam, along with one Union Territory, Puducherry.

The polling in West Bengal will be conducted in two phases on April 23 and 29. Kerala and Assam will vote in a single phase on April 9, while Tamil Nadu will go to the polls on April 23. Voting in Puducherry will also take place on April 9. The counting of votes for all four states and Puducherry will be held on May 4, the ECI announced.

Speaking to reporters, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said, based on estimates from various places, the people of India will give the BJP and NDA a landslide victory in this election.

"Based on estimates from various places, the people of India will give the BJP and NDA a landslide victory in this election. Prime Minister Modi's rally at Brigade Ground in West Bengal yesterday was a historic rally as lakhs of people gathered there. He raised awareness among the people about Mamata's ruthless governance. I am fully confident that the NDA government will win with a huge percentage in all the 5 states/UTs, including Puducherry, West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Assam," said Goyal.

In addition to the Assembly polls, the EC also announced byelections for six seats across six states, including Goa, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Nagaland, and Tripura, which will be conducted in two phases.

The first phase, covering constituencies in Goa, Karnataka, Nagaland, and Tripura, will have polling on April 9, while the second phase in Gujarat and Maharashtra will take place on April 23.

- ANI
A parliamentary standing committee has raised concerns over the slow pace of expenditure and utilization of funds by several states for developing judicial infrastructure like court halls and residential units. The committee emphasized the need for stronger monitoring mechanisms to ensure timely project completion and fund use. It also recommended incorporating gender-sensitive designs, including separate facilities for women and childcare spaces in court complexes. Furthermore, the panel stressed the urgent need to address deficiencies in digital infrastructure and network connectivity across all courts.

A parliamentary committee reports slow fund utilization by states for building court halls and residential units, urging better monitoring and gender-sensitive design.

New Delhi, March 16 The slow pace of expenditure and utilisation of funds in several States during 2025-26 for the creation of court halls and residential units has come under the scrutiny of a Parliamentary Standing Committee, which presented its report in both Houses on Monday, an official said.

The Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice, chaired by Brij Lal, MP, Rajya Sabha, noted in the report that the Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) for Development of Infrastructure Facilities for Judiciary should be monitored more closely to ensure timely utilisation of funds and completion of projects.

The Committee, in its 162nd Report on the Demands for Grants (2026-27) of the Department of Justice (Ministry of Law & Justice), also emphasised the need for gender-sensitive court design, including provision of separate and adequate facilities for women lawyers, litigants and staff, as well as dedicated child-care and creche facilities within court complexes.

The House panel also stressed the need to upgrade court infrastructure nationwide, the official said in a statement.

The Committee noted that the Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) for Development of Infrastructure Facilities for Judiciary has played a significant role in augmenting judicial infrastructure across the States and Union Territories, as reflected in the cumulative release of Central assistance and the creation of Court halls and residential units.

"However, the Committee expresses concern over the slow pace of expenditure and utilisation of funds in several States during 2025-26, despite substantial releases made under the Scheme," said the report.

"The Committee, therefore, recommends that the Department, in coordination with the State Governments and High Court Level Monitoring Committees, strengthen monitoring and review mechanisms to ensure timely utilisation of funds and completion of projects," it said.

The House panel also recommended that the Department take proactive measures to address procedural and system-related bottlenecks, including capacity-building for the effective implementation of the SNA-SPARSH framework, so that the objectives of the Scheme are achieved.

The Committee further recommended that deficiencies in digital infrastructure and the non-availability of proper network connectivity in courts be urgently addressed.

It said that such facilities should be uniformly extended to High Courts and subordinate courts, rather than remaining confined to the Supreme Court of India.

- IANS
The Indian Embassy in Tehran has issued a strong advisory, reiterating its March 9 warning, instructing Indian citizens in Iran not to attempt crossing land borders without explicit embassy coordination. It states that uncoordinated movement will likely lead to serious logistical and immigration problems, and the embassy cannot assist those who leave Iranian territory without prior arrangement. The Ministry of External Affairs provided an update, confirming that over 550 Indians have already been facilitated into Armenia via the land border, with over 90 crossing into Azerbaijan. The embassy remains operational and has recently relocated Indian students to safer locations within Iran.

Indian Embassy in Tehran cautions nationals against uncoordinated land border travel, citing serious logistical and immigration risks.

Tehran, March 16 The Indian Embassy in Iran on Monday cautioned Indian citizens against attempting to cross the borders without the knowledge of the Embassy.

In its statement, the Embassy said, "In continuation/ reiteration of our advisory of March 9, all Indian nationals currently in Iran are strictly advised not to approach or attempt to cross any land border of Iran for onward travel without prior and explicit coordination with the Embassy of India, Tehran."

"The Embassy is in regular contact with members of the Indian community, and coordinated arrangements are being undertaken wherever necessary. Uncoordinated movement toward land borders is strongly discouraged," it said.

The Embassy further said that Indian nationals who attempt to leave Iran via land borders without the knowledge and guidance of the Embassy are highly likely to encounter serious logistical and immigration difficulties.

"Please note that the Embassy will not be in a position to provide assistance once individuals move outside Iranian territory without prior coordination," it said.

"All Indian nationals in Iran are therefore urged to strictly follow Embassy advisories and remain in touch with official channels and before undertaking any travel," it added.

Earlier in the day, in the Inter-Ministerial Briefing on Recent Developments in West Asia, the Ministry of External Affairs provided an update on the status of Indian nationals in the region and informed that Indian Missions remain in close contact with the Indian community.

"India continues to closely monitor the situation concerning Indian nationals in Iran, with their safety and well-being remaining the highest priority. Over 550 Indian nationals in Iran have crossed into Armenia through the land border with facilitation from the Embassy of India in Tehran, while over 90 nationals have also crossed into Azerbaijan," the MEA said.

The Embassy of India in Tehran remains fully operational. Over the last few days, they have relocated Indian students from locations outside Tehran to safer places within Iran.

- ANI
India's Commerce Ministry has detailed six active Free Trade Agreement negotiations with countries including Australia, Sri Lanka, Peru, Chile, Israel, and the Eurasian Economic Union. The talks vary in progress, with the India-Australia CECA having held 11 rounds since 2023 and the India-Sri Lanka ETCA seeing 14 rounds since 2015. The ministry also confirmed recently signed FTAs with the UK and Oman are under ratification, while negotiations with New Zealand and the EU have concluded. Furthermore, India has launched a Bilateral Trade Agreement with the US and has Terms of Reference for future talks with the Philippines, Maldives, GCC, and Canada.

India is negotiating FTAs with Australia, Sri Lanka, Peru, Chile, Israel & EAEU. Get details on progress, signed deals with UK & Oman, and talks with the US.

New Delhi, March 16 India is currently negotiating six Free Trade Agreements with different countries and regional groups as part of its efforts to expand trade partnerships, according to information released by the Ministry of Commerce.

The ministry said negotiations are ongoing with Australia, Sri Lanka, Peru, Chile, the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), and Israel.

Among these, the India-Australia Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) negotiations began in February 2023. Since then, 11 rounds of negotiations have been held so far as both sides continue discussions on the proposed trade pact.

India is also negotiating the India-Sri Lanka Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement (ETCA). Talks for this agreement began in 2015 and a total of 14 rounds of negotiations have been held. The last round of discussions took place from July 24 to July 26, 2024.

Negotiations are also underway for the India-Peru Free Trade Agreement (FTA). The talks were launched in 2017 and nine rounds of negotiations have been conducted so far. The latest round of discussions was held from November 3 to November 5, 2025.

The ministry also shared that India has initiated negotiations with Chile for a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). The negotiations were launched on April 1st, 2025 and four rounds of discussions have been held so far. The most recent round of talks took place from December 1 to December 5, 2025.

The commerce ministry also said India has started negotiations for an FTA with the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). The first round of negotiations for this agreement was held from November 26 to November 28, 2025.

In addition, India has begun discussions for a Free Trade Agreement with Israel. The first round of negotiations between the two countries was held in February 2026.

The ministry noted that these ongoing negotiations are part of India's broader efforts to strengthen its trade relations with global partners and expand market access through comprehensive trade agreements.

Apart from the ongoing negotiations, the ministry also highlighted progress in other trade agreements. India has signed FTAs with the United Kingdom on July 24, 2025 and with Oman on December 18, 2025, which are currently under ratification.

Meanwhile, negotiations for FTAs with New Zealand and the European Union have already been concluded.

The ministry added that India has also launched negotiations for a Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) with the United States in March 2025. On February 7, 2026, India and the United States announced that they had reached a framework for an interim agreement regarding reciprocal and mutually beneficial trade.

The ministry also noted that the India-Korea Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) is currently under review for upgradation. The review process started in 2016 and a total of 11 rounds of negotiations have been held so far, with the last round taking place in Seoul from July 17 to July 19, 2024.

The ministry further stated that Terms of Reference (ToR) have been signed for several upcoming trade negotiations. These include a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) with the Philippines, a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Maldives, an FTA with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with Canada.

- ANI
India and Lithuania conducted their 10th round of Foreign Office Consultations in Vilnius, comprehensively reviewing their bilateral partnership. The discussions centered on deepening cooperation in key areas like trade, investment, and high-technology sectors, including laser technology. Both sides also exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual interest and India's relations with the European Union. The consultations concluded with an agreement to hold the next round in New Delhi.

India and Lithuania held 10th Foreign Office Consultations, emphasizing trade, investment, and high-tech cooperation like lasers. Read more.

Vilnius, March 14 India and Lithuania held the 10th round of Foreign Office Consultations in Vilnius on Friday. Both sides reviewed the entire gamut of bilateral ties across political, trade and economic cooperation. The two countries emphasised deepening of ties in areas such as trade and investment, as per an official statement by the Ministry of External Affairs.

The MEA noted that the Indian side was led by Sibi George, Secretary (West), Ministry of External Affairs. The Lithuanian side was led by Vidmantas Verbickas, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania.

"Both sides reviewed the entire gamut of bilateral relations including political, trade and economic cooperation, cultural ties and people-to-people connections. Emphasis was laid on furthering relations in sectors such as trade and investments and high-technology including laser. The two sides also discussed India-EU relations and exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual interest", the statement said.

As per the statement, during the visit, Secretary Sibi George also called on Foreign Minister of Lithuania, Kestutis Budrys. He also interacted with Laimonas Talat-Kelpsa, Political Director (Foreign Secretary), Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania; Kestutis Kudzmanas, Chief Foreign Policy Advisor to the Prime Minister of Lithuania; Algis Latakas, CEO, Klaipeda Port; and Linas Kojala, CEO, Centre for Geopolitical and Security Studies (GSSC).

Secretary also interacted with the Indian diaspora in Lithuania and urged them to continue to contribute to Amrit Kaal journey towards Viksit Bharat 2047. He inaugurated AYUSH Information Cell and One District One Product (ODOP) Lounge in the new premises of the Embassy, the statement highlighted.

It further noted that it was agreed to hold the next round of Foreign Office Consultations at mutually convenient dates in New Delhi.

- ANI
Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal stated that India remains engaged with the United States to finalize a mutually beneficial trade agreement. This follows the removal of certain U.S. tariffs on Indian exports and a Supreme Court ruling that invalidated previous reciprocal tariffs. However, the Trump administration has simultaneously initiated fresh "Section 301" investigations into alleged unfair trade practices by India and 15 other trading partners. The proposed Bilateral Trade Agreement aims to more than double trade between the two nations to $500 billion by 2030.

India remains engaged with the US for a mutually beneficial trade deal as new Section 301 investigations into trade practices are launched.

New Delhi, March 16 India remains engaged with the US for a mutually beneficial trade agreement, Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said on Monday.

He said at a media briefing that India and the US announced a trade deal on February 2, and a Joint Statement for the same was released on February 7.

"On February 7, 2026, the 25% additional ad-valorem tariffs imposed by the U.S. on certain Indian exports citing India's imports of Russian oil were removed," he said.

The Commerce Secretary said that pursuant to the US Supreme Court judgement of February 20, 2026 invalidating reciprocal tariffs, the reciprocal tariffs are no longer in force.

"The US Government has issued Executive Orders imposing 10% tariffs pursuant to Section 122 of the Trade Act, 1974 on certain products from all countries. India remains engaged with the US side for a mutually beneficial trade agreement," he said.

Sources said the US is trying to recreate a tariff architecture globally and once that is created, will be better to sign the trade deal. They added that trade agreement would be signed when a new architecture of tariffs globally is implemented by the US. There were indications earlier that Interim Trade Agreement could be signed in March.

Commerce Ministry officials had said last week that India and the United States remain engaged for a mutually beneficial trade agreement, and there is no hold off in bilateral engagement.

The Ministry rejected reports in sections of the media that talks between India and the United States for a Bilateral Trade Arrangement are on hold.

The United States and India last month announced that they have reached a framework for an Interim Agreement regarding reciprocal and mutually beneficial trade. The framework reaffirmed the countries' commitment to the broader US-India Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) negotiations, launched by President Donald J Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 13, 2025, which will include additional market access commitments and support more resilient supply chains.

"We have noted a media report regarding ongoing trade talks with the US. It is denied that there is any hold off in bilateral engagement. It is reiterated that the two sides remain engaged for a mutually beneficial trade agreement," the Commerce Ministry had said.

In a fresh development, the Donald Trump administration has initiated fresh investigations into alleged "unfair trade practices" by 16 major trading partners, including India, China, and Bangladesh.

The move aims to reinstate tariff pressure following a US Supreme Court ruling last month that declared previous levies illegal.

These inquiries are being carried out under "Section 301" of the Trade Act of 1974. This legislation grants the US Trade Representative the authority to enforce tariffs or other punitive actions against nations found to be using unfair trade practices.

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer indicated that the investigations could result in new tariffs being applied to China, the European Union, India, Japan, South Korea, and Mexico by the coming summer.

The "excess capacity" probe also extends to several other partners, including Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Singapore, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Switzerland, and Norway. Notably, Canada, the second-largest trading partner of the US, was excluded from the list.

The BTA, formally proposed in February 2025, seeks to more than double bilateral trade between India and the US, from the current USD 191 billion to USD 500 billion by 2030.

- ANI
India's export sector demonstrated resilience with overall exports growing 11% year-on-year to $76.13 billion in February, according to the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO). While merchandise exports saw a slight dip of 0.81%, the cumulative export performance for the fiscal year remains positive, supported by strong sectors like engineering goods and electronics. FIEO President S C Ralhan highlighted diversified markets and key product sectors as pillars of this strength, but warned of challenges from geopolitical tensions and supply chain disruptions. Ongoing conflicts and shipping route issues in the Middle East are increasing costs and transit times, posing significant risks to future export momentum.

India's exports grew 11% to $76.13B despite geopolitical tensions. FIEO cites market diversification and strong sector performance as key drivers.

New Delhi, March 16 India's export sector remained resilient despite rising global uncertainties, supply chain disruptions and escalating geopolitical tensions, Federation of Indian Export Organisations said on Monday.

Citing government data, the industry association said that India's overall exports grew about 11 per cent yearonyear to $76.13 billion.

However, merchandise exports cooled off by 0.81 per cent YoY to $36.61 billion in February 2026.

FIEO said merchandise imports rose 24.11 per cent to $63.71 billion in February, creating a trade deficit of $27.1 billion that moderated from January 2026.

During April-February FY26, merchandise exports reached $402.93 billion, up 1.84 per cent, while imports rose 8.53 per cent to $713.53 billion, the statement further said.

Cumulative merchandise and services exports during the period are estimated at $790.86 billion, up 5.8 per cent from $747.58 billion last year.

"The export sector continues to show resilience, supported by diversified markets and strong performance in key sectors such as engineering goods, petroleum products, electronic goods, pharmaceuticals, gems & jewellery, chemicals, readymade garments, cotton yarn and fabrics, rice and marine products," said S C Ralhan, President of FIEO.

The United States, UAE, China, Netherlands, UK, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, Singapore and Hong Kong remained major export destinations.

Ralhan emphasised that close monitoring of geopolitical developments, maintaining smooth logistics connectivity and providing timely policy support will be essential to sustain export momentum. He added that continued diversification of markets, strengthening regional trade partnerships and improving logistics efficiency will help India mitigate global disruptions and maintain export growth.

The escalating conflict in the Middle East involving the United States, Israel and Iran has heightened global trade uncertainty.

Disruptions in key maritime routes, including the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea have forced vessels to reroute, increasing freight costs, insurance premiums, and transit times, thereby adding pressure on exporters.

- IANS
Iran has declared that logistical and service facilities supporting the US aircraft carrier strike group led by the USS Gerald R. Ford are now considered legitimate military targets. The warning marks a significant escalation in regional tensions between Iran and the United States and its allies. Hostilities have intensified with recent exchanges of attacks targeting military assets and key shipping routes across the Gulf. The ongoing conflict disrupts maritime security and raises global concerns over energy supply stability, with diplomatic efforts making little progress.

Iran declares logistical centers aiding the US aircraft carrier group as legitimate targets, escalating West Asia tensions and threatening regional shipping lanes.

Tehran, March 16 Iran has declared that logistical and service facilities supporting the United States aircraft carrier strike group led by the USS Gerald R. Ford would be considered legitimate military targets, warning that any infrastructure assisting the carrier's operations could face attacks as tensions escalate in West Asia, reported Press TV.

According to Iranian reports, authorities stated that the support centres providing services to the American carrier group deployed in the Red Sea are now viewed as part of the operational network of the vessel and therefore legitimate targets under wartime conditions. The warning comes amid the ongoing confrontation between Iran and the United States and its allies in the region.

Iranian officials said the move is aimed at deterring further military actions against the country. In a statement cited by Iranian media, authorities said, "The logistical and service centers providing support to the aforementioned carrier group in the Red Sea are considered targets of the Islamic Republic."

The declaration comes as hostilities in the region have intensified following a series of military strikes and retaliatory actions involving Iran, the United States and Israel. Over the past weeks, both sides have exchanged attacks targeting military assets, infrastructure and shipping routes across the Gulf region.

The aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford is one of the United States Navy's most advanced warships and has been deployed as part of a carrier strike group aimed at strengthening Washington's military presence in West Asia. The carrier typically operates with a fleet of escort vessels, including guided-missile destroyers and cruisers, as well as support ships that provide logistical assistance and maintenance.

The broader conflict has already disrupted maritime security and energy routes in the Middle East. Missile and drone attacks have been reported across several Gulf countries, and concerns have grown about the safety of key shipping lanes and oil transport routes, particularly around the Strait of Hormuz.

Diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the crisis have so far yielded limited progress, while regional governments warn that further military escalation could threaten global energy supplies and stability in the Middle East.

Iranian authorities have reiterated that their actions are intended as a response to what they describe as aggression by the United States and its allies. Meanwhile, the deployment of the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group continues to symbolize Washington's military posture in the region as tensions remain high and the conflict shows little sign of easing.

- ANI
President Donald Trump asserted that Iran wants to "negotiate badly" but its leadership is not yet ready to meet American conditions. He claimed U.S. operations have severely degraded Iran's military, destroying drone capabilities and air defenses. In contrast, Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi firmly denied that Tehran has asked for a ceasefire or negotiations. The dispute continues amid tensions over the policing of the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

President Trump states Iran is "decimated" and wants to negotiate, but its leadership is not yet prepared. Iran's foreign minister denies seeking talks.

Washington, DC, March 16 US President Donald Trump has stated that Tehran maintains a strong desire to "negotiate badly", though he suggested the Iranian leadership is not yet prepared to meet American conditions.

While addressing the press on Air Force One en route to Joint Base Andrews, the President indicated that diplomatic talks remain a future possibility. "I think they will negotiate at some point. We are doing very well with respect to the whole situation in Iran," Trump noted.

To address current maritime instability, the President confirmed he has been engaging with "other countries" regarding the "policing" of the Strait of Hormuz. These discussions follow persistent threats of retaliatory strikes from Iran against international shipping.

In response to these security measures, Tehran has maintained that the waterway remains accessible to most vessels. However, Iranian officials have insisted that the passage is closed to ships associated with the US, Israel, and their respective allies.

Expanding on the military aspect of the conflict, Trump stated that American forces have been "hitting" specific sites where Iran produces drones used for strikes against US and Israeli targets. He claimed these operations have decimated Tehran's manufacturing capability, leaving it with roughly 20 per cent of its previous drone inventory.

The President further asserted that the Iranian military has been so heavily damaged that it would take the country a decade to rebuild. Despite this, he saw "no reason to" officially declare victory yet. "I think I'd just say they're decimated. If we left right now, it would take them 10 years and more to rebuild. But I'm still not declaring it over," he said.

Trump maintained that US military operations have "essentially defeated Iran" by eliminating its air forces and air defence systems. He added that the campaign has successfully targeted the country's command structure, noting, "We've taken out their leadership times two, four, three, might be three, we'll find out soon."

Referencing the strategic strikes on Kharg Island, Iran's primary oil export hub, Trump warned that Washington could inflict further damage at a moment's notice. He noted that while certain infrastructure remains, the US has it "all locked and loaded" if Tehran fails to cooperate.

However, Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi, rejected the President's narrative during an interview with CBS News. He dismissed claims that Tehran was seeking a truce, stating, "No, we never asked for a cease-fire, and we have never asked even for negotiation. We are ready to defend ourselves as long as it takes."

Araghchi defended Iranian strikes on US military assets in Gulf countries and vowed that Tehran would continue its military actions until the US concludes what he described as an "illegal war".

- ANI
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has condemned recent Israeli military strikes on fuel storage facilities as "ecocide" and a breach of international law, warning of severe, long-term environmental and health consequences for residents. The Israeli Air Force confirmed striking over 200 targets, focusing on Iran's ballistic missile and air defense infrastructure. In a significant escalation, Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps retaliated with coordinated missile and drone strikes on four United States airbases in the region. The conflict has also spilled over into Lebanon, where an Israeli airstrike reportedly killed several people.

Iranian FM Araghchi denounces Israeli attacks on fuel facilities, warning of generational environmental damage and demanding international punishment.

Tehran, March 16 Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has denounced Israeli military strikes on fuel storage facilities in the capital, categorising the offensive as a breach of international law and a form of "ecocide".

Sharing his concerns via social media platform X, Araghchi, warned that the environmental fallout poses a severe risk to the local population. In his statement, he noted, "Residents face long-term damage to their health and well-being."

Highlighting the enduring nature of the environmental impact, the Foreign Minister suggested that the consequences would be felt for decades. He stated that the "contamination of soil and groundwater could have generational impacts."

Araghchi demanded international accountability following the attacks on the city's infrastructure, asserting that "Israel must be punished for its war crimes."

These accusations follow a massive aerial campaign by the Israeli Air Force (IAF), which confirmed on Sunday (local time) that it struck more than 200 targets across western and central Iran over the past day.

The IAF stated that the strikes targeted military infrastructure, including ballistic missile systems, defence installations, and operational headquarters where soldiers of the Iranian regime operated.

The Israeli military clarified that these strikes were part of its ongoing campaign targeting Iran's ballistic missile network and air defence systems in multiple locations across the country.

Earlier, the IAF shared footage of Lockheed Martin F-35I "Adir" stealth fighter jets heading toward Iran for the mission, referencing the deployment of these advanced aircraft for long-range strike operations.

The violence has also spread to neighbouring regions, with an Israeli air strike in southern Lebanon killing five people and wounding six others, according to Lebanon's National News Agency.

The agency reported that the strike targeted the town of Qatrani in the Jezzine district as hostilities continued to ripple across the border.

In a major escalation at dawn on Sunday (local time), Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its naval forces carried out coordinated missile and drone strikes on four United States airbases.

The IRGC stated that the strikes targeted command centres, air traffic control towers, and air defence facilities linked to "American terrorist" forces in the region.

The Iranian force claimed that several assault battalions simultaneously struck these bases with precise and crushing blows.

According to reports from Al Jazeera, the IRGC further asserted that satellite imagery showed extensive damage to the targeted sites, marking a significant intensification of the regional military confrontation.

- ANI
Iran's Supreme Leader has appointed former IRGC commander Mohsen Rezaei as a military adviser. The European Union simultaneously imposed sanctions on 16 individuals and three entities for human rights violations during protests. The UAE reported engaging numerous ballistic missiles and drones launched from Iran, with disruptions at Dubai airport. US and Israeli forces continued to bombard Iranian cities as Iran launched counterattacks.

Iran's Supreme Leader appoints former IRGC commander as military adviser as EU imposes new sanctions and UAE reports missile and drone attacks from Iran.

Tehran, March 16 Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei on Monday appointed former Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps commander Mohsen Rezaei as his military adviser, Al Jazeera reported, citing Iran's Mehr News Agency.

Meanwhile, the European Union has imposed sanctions on 16 individuals and three entities it said were responsible for serious human rights violations in Iran, as per Al Jazeera.

"The new listings target a variety of individuals and entities that played a key role in the suppression of street protests in January 2026, which has led to thousands of civilian casualties," the Council of the EU said in a statement.

To date, the EU has sanctioned a total of 263 individuals and 53 entities in Iran.

Meanwhile, the UAE air defence systems today engaged six ballistic missiles and 21 UAVs launched from Iran, as per a statement by its defence ministry.

Since the onset of the blatant Iranian aggression, UAE air defences have engaged 304 ballistic missiles, 15 cruise missiles and 1,627 UAVs.

Meanwhile, the Dubai Media Office asked not to visit Dubai unless asked.

In a post on X, it said, "Do not to proceed to DXB unless you have been contacted directly by your airline with a confirmed departure time, as schedules remain subject to change. Please continue to contact your airline for the latest updates regarding flight status and timings."

Meanwhile, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the Strait of Hormuz "is open, but closed to our enemies, to those who carried out this cowardly aggression against us and to their allies".

US and Israeli forces have continued to bombard Iran, hitting cities including Tehran, Hamadan and Isfahan, as Iranian counterattacks continue, with damage reported in several Israeli cities, as per Al Jazeera.

Authorities in the UAE say a "drone-related incident" sparked fire near Dubai airport while another drone attack has also been reported at Fujairah's industrial area, as per Al Jazeera.

- ANI
Iran's new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has reiterated a demand for compensation from the country's "enemy," warning of seizing or destroying enemy property if refused. In a message, he vowed to avenge those killed in recent conflicts and emphasized preserving the option to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz. The message comes as U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth claims the new leader is wounded and in hiding following intense American strikes. This escalation follows joint U.S.-Israel attacks in late February that killed the previous Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei.

New Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei demands compensation from "the enemy," vows to avenge martyrs and warns of closing Strait of Hormuz.

Tehran, March 16 Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei reiterated his country's demand for compensation from its "enemy."

"We will obtain compensation from the enemy, and if he refuses, we will take as much of his property as we determine, and if that is not possible, we will destroy the same amount of his property," read a post on the supreme leader's Telegram account, Xinhua news agency reported.

Earlier on Thursday, new Supreme Leader in his first message to the country, called for continued resistance and said that the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed.

In a written message, Mojtaba Khamenei vowed revenge for those killed in the conflict, insisting that Tehran "will not refrain from avenging the blood of its martyrs".

The message, local media reported, was read by a female presenter on Iranian state television. It also said "the tool of closing the Strait of Hormuz must be preserved" and warned that Iran could open "other fronts, if necessary".

The message added that Iran seeks friendly relations with neighbouring countries and would target only bases from which attacks are launched against it.

"The message attributed to Khamenei, the Islamic Republic's third supreme leader, was released without any indication of his whereabouts, health condition or physical status," Iran International reported.

Meanwhile, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Friday that Iran's newly installed supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, had been wounded and forced into hiding as the country's military leadership struggled amid intense American strikes.

Speaking at a Pentagon briefing, Hegseth said Iran's leadership was under growing pressure as the military campaign continued.

On February 28, Israel and the United States launched joint attacks on Tehran and other Iranian cities, killing Iran's then Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, senior military commanders, and civilians. Iran responded with waves of missile and drone strikes targeting Israel and US bases and assets across the Middle East.

Mojtaba Khamenei, son of Ali Khamenei, was selected as Iran's new supreme leader, the Assembly of Experts announced on March 8.

- IANS
Robert Downey Jr and Chris Evans reunited at the Academy Awards to present screenplay awards, sparking nostalgia among Marvel fans. The actors humorously marked the 14th anniversary of 'The Avengers' with gag gifts, including a signed script and a valet receipt. Their appearance hinted at their upcoming return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the film 'Avengers: Doomsday'. The lighthearted moment delighted the audience and highlighted their enduring chemistry.

Robert Downey Jr and Chris Evans reunite at the Oscars, joking about Avengers anniversary and teasing their MCU return in 'Avengers: Doomsday'.

Los Angeles, March 16 Fans of the Marvel Universe had a reason to smile as two of their favourite "Avengers" stars reunited on Hollywood's biggest night.

Robert Downey Jr and Chris Evans shared the stage at the Academy Awards, bringing back memories of their popular roles in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The two actors, best known for playing Iron Man and Captain America, appeared together to present the awards for 'Best Adapted Screenplay' and 'Best Original Screenplay'. Their reunion also comes as both stars are set to return to the MCU in the upcoming film Avengers: Doomsday.

During their appearance on stage, the actors joked about the 14th anniversary of the superhero film 'The Avengers'. While presenting the awards, Downey Jr. began speaking about the importance of screenwriting in films, according to Variety.

"The script. It's the driving force of any film, and it's truly been a banner year for screenwriters," Downey Jr. began saying as Evans interrupted him to ask what his co-star got him for the 14th anniversary of "The Avengers."

Evans revealed that he gifted Downey Jr. a signed copy of the "Avengers" script, while Downey Jr. joked that he gave Evans his valet receipt. The light moment made the audience laugh before they moved on to announce the winners.

The duo presented the adapted screenplay award to filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson for the film One Battle After Another. Later, while announcing the original screenplay nominees, Downey Jr. jokingly handed Evans sparkly underwear worn by Channing Tatum in the film Magic Mike. From the audience, Tatum shouted that he would need the underwear "for work later".

The reunion also hinted at their next big MCU appearance. In 'Avengers: Doomsday', Downey Jr is expected to return as the villain "Doctor Doom". Evans will also return to the Marvel world after his character Steve Rogers retired in Avengers: Endgame.

Both actors became global stars after playing Iron Man and Captain America in several Marvel films. Their appearance together at the Oscars once again brought back memories for fans who followed their journey in the Marvel universe for over a decade.

- ANI
Israel's Ambassador to India, Reuven Azar, stated the duration of the conflict with Iran is uncertain and depends on Tehran's actions. He indicated initial expectations of a few weeks have shifted, with Iran currently appearing to reinforce its stance. Azar pointed to reports of internal disagreements within Iran's leadership that could influence the situation. He emphasized that a diplomatic resolution remains possible if Iran chooses to cooperate with the international community.

Israel's Ambassador to India says conflict length is uncertain, hinges on Iran's actions. Diplomacy possible if Iran cooperates.

New Delhi, March 16 Ambassador of Israel to India, Reuven Azar, on Monday said that the duration of the ongoing conflict with Iran remains uncertain and will depend largely on Tehran's actions and its willingness to alter its current policies.

He noted that while early expectations from both Israel and the United States suggested the confrontation might last only a few weeks, the evolving situation on the ground and within Iran's leadership could influence how long tensions persist.

Responding to a question on the possible timeline of the conflict, Azar said, "We are not specifying exactly how long it will take because it depends on many factors. At the outset, both US and Israel talked about a few weeks. It also depends on the opportunity Iran has to change course."

The Israeli envoy indicated that at present there are no clear signs that Iran is prepared to shift its approach. Instead, he suggested that Tehran appears to be reinforcing its current stance amid escalating tensions in the region.

"Right now, it doesn't seem that they are changing course. On the contrary, they are doubling down. They are digging in. But the situation can change in the future," Azar said.

He also pointed to reports suggesting potential internal disagreements within Iran's leadership over the handling of the conflict and its broader strategic direction. According to Azar, such differences within Iran's decision-making structure could play a role in determining how the situation develops in the coming weeks.

"We are hearing different rumours about differences within the Iranian decision-making process. So, this can take more time," he added.

Despite the continued tensions, the ambassador emphasised that diplomacy remains a possible pathway if Iran chooses to cooperate with the international community. Azar said that Israel has consistently maintained that a diplomatic resolution is achievable provided Tehran is willing to engage constructively.

"We can have a diplomatic way out of this if the Iranians decide that they want to cooperate with the international community," he said.

The remarks come amid heightened geopolitical tensions in West Asia, where hostilities between Israel and Iran have raised concerns among global powers about the risk of a broader regional escalation. Iran and Israel have long been adversaries, with disputes spanning issues such as Iran's nuclear programme, regional security dynamics, and Tehran's support for armed groups hostile to Israel.

In recent years, international efforts have focused on preventing the conflict from escalating into a wider war while encouraging diplomatic engagement between Iran and major world powers. However, the situation has remained volatile, with periodic military exchanges and heightened rhetoric from both sides.

Azar's comments reflect Israel's current position that the trajectory of the conflict will largely depend on whether Iran decides to adjust its policies or continue with what Israel perceives as an increasingly confrontational stance. As regional and global stakeholders continue to monitor developments closely, diplomatic channels remain open, though uncertainty over the conflict's duration persists.

- ANI
The Israeli Air Force confirmed it destroyed a key aircraft used by former Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and senior officials at Tehran's Mehrabad International Airport. The strike aimed to cripple the regime's logistics and diplomatic coordination with regional allies. This was part of a broader campaign where the IAF struck more than 200 targets across western and central Iran, focusing on missile systems and defense installations. The operations featured advanced F-35I Adir stealth fighter jets, highlighting the scale and technological reach of the offensive.

Israeli Air Force strikes destroy aircraft used by former Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei at Tehran airport, targeting over 200 Iranian sites.

Tel Aviv, March 16 The Israeli Air Force has successfully targeted and destroyed the aircraft used by the Iranian leadership at Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran, marking a significant blow to the regime's strategic mobility.

In a post on X, the air force confirmed the strike, stating that they "destroyed the plane of the leader of the Iranian terror regime at the 'Mehrabad' airport in Tehran."

The aircraft was identified as a critical logistics and diplomatic tool used by the former Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, additional senior officials from the terror regime, and elements in the Iranian military.

The IsAF noted that the plane was vital to "advance military procurement and manage relations with Axis countries through domestic and international flights". Consequently, the mission was specifically designed to disrupt the operational synergy between Tehran and its regional allies.

According to military officials, "the destruction of the plane impairs the ability to coordinate between the leadership of the Iranian terror regime and Axis countries, in building military power, and in the regime's rehabilitation capability."

By eliminating this high-value target, Israel has significantly hindered the regime's ability to maintain its military and diplomatic networks, asserting that "another strategic asset has been removed from the Iranian regime".

This high-profile strike was part of a broader, intensive aerial campaign. The IAF on Sunday (local time) said it struck more than 200 targets across western and central Iran over the past day, targeting military infrastructure, including missile systems, defence installations, and operational headquarters.

Detailing the scale of the offensive in a post on X, the IAF stated, "In the past day: The Air Force struck more than 200 targets in western and central Iran and continues to strike the ballistic missile array and defence systems of the Iranian terror regime."

The military confirmed that the targets included "headquarters in which soldiers of the Iranian terror regime operated, defence systems, and sites for the production and storage of means of combat".

These strikes are part of an ongoing campaign specifically targeting Iran's ballistic missile network and air defence systems in multiple locations across the country.

To carry out these long-range operations, Israel has deployed its most advanced aerial technology. In an earlier post on X, the IAF shared footage of its stealth fighter jets heading toward Iran for the mission.

"He is Adir, and he is also on his way to Iran. Special documentation of F-35I jets on their way to strike," the post said, referring to the Lockheed Martin F-35I Adir aircraft.

The deployment of these specialised jets underscores the complexity and reach of the Israeli Air Force's current strike operations.

- ANI
US President Donald Trump has called on approximately seven nations dependent on Middle Eastern oil to deploy warships and help police the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint for global energy. He asserted that Iran has been "essentially defeated" militarily, with its air defenses and missile capabilities severely degraded. Meanwhile, Iran's Foreign Minister stated that safe passage for vessels is solely under Tehran's control and dismissed diplomatic talks with Washington. The escalating conflict has driven oil prices above $100 a barrel, significantly impacting global energy markets.

US President Donald Trump demands allied nations police the vital oil corridor, claiming Iran is "essentially defeated" as global energy prices surge.

Washington, DC, March 16 US President Donald Trump announced that he has requested approximately seven nations to deploy warships to assist in maintaining transit routes through the Strait of Hormuz as the conflict with Iran continues to impact the critical maritime corridor.

The President's remarks on Sunday (US local time) follow reports indicating his intention to establish an international coalition to provide escorts for vessels navigating the strait. The waterway is a vital artery for global energy, with nearly 20 per cent of the world's oil exports passing through it.

While Trump did not specify the invited countries, he highlighted that the selected nations are those with a high level of dependency on Middle Eastern oil supplies.

Speaking to journalists on Air Force One, he said, "We're talking to countries about policing the straits because they are the ones -- you know, we don't get oil, very little, 1%. China, as an example, gets about 90% of its oil from the Hormuz Strait. It'd be nice to have other countries policing with us. And we'll help, and we'll work with them."

The President took a firm stance on the responsibility of international partners, stating, "I'm demanding that these countries come in and protect their own territory because it is their own territory."

Despite escalating global oil prices, no country has yet provided a definitive commitment to the mission.

Trump drew parallels to US involvement in other global theatres, noting, "I think we're getting a good response. We're always there for NATO. We're helping them with Ukraine. It doesn't affect us, but we've helped them. It'd be interesting to see which country wouldn't help us with a very small endeavour, which is just keeping the Strait open."

Assessing the military situation, the US President suggested that Tehran's capabilities have been severely diminished, though he acknowledged the potential for limited retaliation.

"As far as I'm concerned, we've essentially defeated Iran. I guess they can have a little bit of fight back. But not much. We have taken out their air forces, air defence. They have no air defence whatsoever. We have taken out their leadership. Militarily, it's been amazing. We have attacked Kharg Island. They wanted to negotiate badly. I don't think they are ready. I think they will be ready in some time. But we do it very well," he reiterated.

Trump further claimed that the US military has effectively crippled Iran's industrial base for weaponry.

He remarked, "My comparison is small because Iran has very little firepower left. Their missiles are down to a low number. They're shooting very few of them because we've decimated their manufacturing capability.

"Likewise, the drones are way down. They're down to about 20% of what they had. As of yesterday, we're starting to hit the places where they manufacture the drones. We think we know where they are.

"It's a very strong military operation, just as it was in Venezuela. We have the strongest military anywhere in the world by far, not even a contest. And I think people understand that, and we will finish the job."

On the other side, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi informed CBS that several nations have approached Tehran to ensure safe passage for their ships.

He maintained that such permissions are strictly under the purview of the Iranian military, noting that "A group of vessels from 'different countries' had been allowed to pass."

Araghchi dismissed the possibility of diplomatic engagement with Washington to conclude the hostilities.

He asserted that Israel and the US initiated the conflict with synchronised strikes on February 28, occurring during indirect discussions regarding Iran's nuclear programme. He also stated that Tehran has "no plan to recover" its enriched uranium stocks, which were liquidated during US and Israeli operations in the previous year.

The volatility in the Strait of Hormuz has sent shockwaves through the energy sector, with oil prices climbing past USD 100 per barrel since the onset of US military actions two weeks ago.

In the United States, petrol prices have surged by over 70 cents per gallon.

Tehran has reportedly attempted to obstruct the passage using small boats and sea mines. In response, US administration officials have affirmed that the US Navy will continue to offer protection to commercial ships in the region.

The economic implications are weighing heavily on domestic politics as well.

Republicans in Congress have called for swift White House intervention to avoid an economic crisis at the start of an election year. However, President Trump and certain party members have resisted pressure for a hasty conclusion to the war, seeking instead to prevent long-term disruptions to the global supply chain.

- ANI
The Indian Army successfully rescued 235 civilians and 38 vehicles stranded due to heavy snowfall at Sinthan Top in Kishtwar, Jammu and Kashmir. Troops provided essential aid including hot meals, water, shelter, and medical assistance during the operation. The rescue involved coordinated efforts with J&K Police and the National Highways authority to ensure everyone was escorted to safety. This follows a similar operation in January where the Army rescued 29 tourists from severe weather in North Sikkim.

Indian Army's White Knight Corps rescues 235 civilians & 38 vehicles stranded by heavy snowfall at Sinthan Top in Kishtwar, J&K. Details inside.

Kishtwar, March 16 Indian Army rescued 235 civilians and 38 vehicles stranded at Sinthan Top in the general area of Kishtwar, Jammu and Kashmir, due to heavy snowfall and severe weather conditions.

The troops of White Knight Corps carried out the swift rescue operations despite the treacherous terrain and relentless snowfall.

Rescue teams reached Sinthan Top on Sunday and provided hot meals, drinking water, and shelter to the stranded civilians, White Knight Corps said.

Repair and recovery teams restored the mobility of stranded vehicles, while passengers from unrecoverable vehicles were safely evacuated. Medical teams rendered assistance and essential medicines to those in need.

"The operation concluded successfully, with all civilians and vehicles safely escorted to safety. The mission witnessed seamless coordination between the Indian Army, J&K Police and National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL), reaffirming the Indian Army's commitment to safeguarding lives in the harshest conditions," White Knight Corps said.

In January, the Indian Army rescued 29 stranded tourists in North Sikkim.

According to an official release, on the intervening night of January 27-28, severe weather gripped the region. Gale-force winds and relentless snowfall engulfed the narrow mountain roads, rendering civilian vehicles immobile. Several vehicles were buried under heavy snow, while others suffered mechanical failures due to sub-zero temperatures.

The stranded group included young children and senior citizens, compounding the gravity of the situation. As temperatures plunged well below freezing, the thin mountain air led to dangerously low oxygen levels, causing multiple tourists to experience acute mountain sickness and respiratory distress.

Upon arrival at the camp, the Army initiated comprehensive relief measures. Medical teams immediately attended to those suffering from altitude-related ailments, administering supplemental oxygen and continuous monitoring.

As per a release, to protect the group from the biting cold, soldiers provided extreme cold-weather clothing, sleeping bags, heaters, and ensured a steady supply of hot meals, refreshments, and warm water. The camp was transformed into a safe haven, offering warmth and reassurance to all, from the youngest children to the elderly.

After spending the night under constant medical and logistical care, the tourists were served a hot breakfast the following morning. Once weather conditions and road access improved, the Indian Army deployed specialised vehicles to transport the entire group safely back to their hotels in Lachung.

- ANI
The Indian Army and Jammu & Kashmir Police conducted a successful joint operation in the Uri sector, eliminating a Pakistani terrorist based on specific intelligence. The operation, which occurred on the night of March 14-15, began after troops spotted suspicious movement and the terrorist opened fire. A significant cache of warlike stores, including an AK rifle and pistols, was recovered from the encounter site. This incident follows another foiled infiltration attempt in the Nowshera sector just days earlier.

Indian Army and J&K Police eliminate a Pakistani terrorist in Uri sector, recovering weapons and ammunition in a joint operation based on intelligence.

Baramulla, March 15 A Pakistani terrorist has been killed in a joint operation of the Indian Army & J&K Police in the general area of Buchhar, Uri sector.

Following an exchange of fire, troops recovered an AK rifle, pistols, and a large quantity of ammunition, with follow-up operations still ongoing in the area.

"Based on a specific intelligence input provided by J&K Police regarding an infiltration attempt, a joint operation was launched on the intervening night of 14-15 Mar 26 in the general area of Buchhar, Uri sector. Troops spotted suspicious movement of a terrorist in the thicket. The ambush was readjusted, and the terrorist was challenged, resulting in the terrorist opening indiscriminate fire. In the contact, a Pakistani terrorist was eliminated. Warlike stores, including an AK rifle, pistols and a large quantity of ammunition, have been recovered," said the Indian Army, emphasising that the operation continues.

Earlier on March 10, an infiltration attempt along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Nowshera sector of Jammu and Kashmir was foiled by alert troops, with one Pakistan-sponsored terrorist eliminated during the operation, the Indian Army's White Knight Corps said on Tuesday.

The White Knight Corps said the movement of two terrorists was detected in the general area of Jhangar in Nowshera along the LoC at around 3 pm today after intelligence agencies shared credible inputs.

Acting swiftly on the information, troops launched a calibrated response to stop the infiltration attempt.

- ANI
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar concluded a productive visit to Brussels, engaging with top EU leaders. He emphasized that finalizing the India-EU Free Trade Agreement would be a strategic turning point, unlocking significant economic potential. Discussions also covered collaboration in emerging technologies, mobility of professionals, and connectivity projects like the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor. Jaishankar noted the partnership acts as a factor of stability in a multipolar world.

EAM S Jaishankar concludes Brussels talks, says finalising India-EU Free Trade Agreement will unlock economic potential and express strategic engagement.

Brussels, March 17 External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar recently concluded a productive visit to Brussels, where he held talks with leaders and foreign ministers from the European Union to advance cooperation across trade, technology, security and connectivity.

Sharing details of the visit on X on Monday, Jaishankar said he met members of the EU Foreign Affairs Council and held discussions with senior European leaders, including Antonio Costa, Ursula von der Leyen, and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas.

"Concluded a productive visit to Brussels, meeting with the #EuropeanUnion Foreign Affairs Council, calling on Presidents of the @EUCouncil Antonio Costa and @EU_Commission @vonderleyen, and holding talks with EU HRVP @kajakallas. Also met EU counterparts and held separate bilateral discussions with many," Jaishankar wrote.

The External Affairs Minister highlighted that the finalisation of the proposed India-EU Free Trade Agreement would mark a major milestone in bilateral relations.

"The finalisation of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) represents a turning point in ties. It will not only unlock its enormous economic potential but express the strategic nature of our engagement," he said.

He added that both sides discussed ensuring the agreement translates into practical outcomes through greater trade promotion and deeper business cooperation.

"To realise the gains of FTA on the ground, the two sides should proactively assist each other in practical activities, including trade and investment promotion," Jaishankar noted.

The minister also emphasised collaboration in emerging technologies, saying the India-EU Trade and Technology Council could play a larger role.

"The Trade and Technology Council can be upgraded and repurposed to facilitate collaboration in critical and cutting-edge technologies," he said.

According to Jaishankar, mobility of skilled professionals and stronger supply chains were also important priorities for both sides.

"Mobility of skills and talent flows are very important," he said, adding that initiatives such as the Legal Gateway Office in India and the promotion of Global Capability Centres (GCCs) could strengthen economic ties.

Connectivity initiatives, including the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, were also discussed during the meetings.

"Connectivity is also prominent in our agenda. Will work together to give practical shape to IMEC and other such initiatives," he said.

The minister noted that India and the EU also shared a broader commitment to strengthening global institutions amid geopolitical uncertainty.

"In a multipolar and uncertain world, the India-EU partnership will act as a factor of stability and resilience," Jaishankar said.

During his engagements in Brussels, Jaishankar also met several European counterparts for bilateral discussions.

"Delighted to meet my fellow Foreign Ministers from #EuropeanUnion today in Brussels. Thank EU HRVP @kajakallas for inviting me to this Foreign Affairs Council Meeting. A new chapter in India-EU ties has opened up in 2026. The Foreign Ministers coordinate translating the various agreements into outcomes. Our conversation today therefore covered trade, investment, technology, mobility and defence in particular. The stronger convergence between India and EU in a multipolar world is also expressed in closer consultations. Discussed the West Asia conflict, the Ukraine situation and the Indo-Pacific in today's gathering," he wrote in a post on X.

"Great to meet FM Johann Wadephul of Germany. A valuable exchange of notes on the conflict in West Asia. Also took stock of the progress of our bilateral relations following the State visit of @bundeskanzler Friedrich Merz to India," he said, referring to talks with Johann Wadephul.

He also met FM Slovakia Juraj Blanar, saying the visit of Slovak President Peter Pellegrini to India had "provided new momentum to our relations."

"Glad to meet FM Slovakia Juraj Blanar today. The visit of President @PellegriniP_ to India #IndiaAIActionSummit has provided new momentum to our relations. Discussed our bilateral agenda, including furthering cooperation in manufacturing, defence and space," he wrote.

Furthermore, Jaishankar also held talks with Greece FM Giorgos Gerapetritis.

"Nice to meet Greece FM Giorgos Gerapetritis at the Europa building in Brussels. Our conversation focused on enhancing diplomatic presence, strengthening connectivity and promoting trade. Also discussed repercussions of the West Asia conflict. @GreeceMFA," the post read.

He also met FM Tom Berendsen of the Netherlands and congratulated him for his recent appointment.

"Good to meet FM Tom Berendsen of the Netherlands this afternoon. @ministerBZ Congratulated him on his recent appointment. Discussed advancing collaboration in semiconductors, AI, water management, and other cutting-edge technologies. Appreciated his commitment to advancing the India-EU ties," Jaishankar wrote.

Jaishankar also met Antonio Costa in Brussels and conveyed appreciation for his guidance and support in strengthening ties between India and the European Union.

"Delighted to call on @eucopresident Antonio Costa in Brussels. @EUCouncil His guidance and support have taken India-EU ties to a new level. Conveyed our deep appreciation in that regard. Look forward to his continued encouragement," he wrote.

The minister concluded his visit with a wrap-up meeting with Kaja Kallas.

"A wrap-up meeting with EU HRVP @kajakallas in Brussels. Thanked her for inviting me to the Foreign Affairs Council meeting. Our conversations on various bilateral and global issues were enriching. Agreed to maintain close and continuing contact," the post read.

Meanwhile, Kaja Kallas, in a post shared on X, wrote that the European Union and India are moving closer amid global geopolitical uncertainty. She said discussions with EU foreign ministers focused on maritime security, coordination in the Indo-Pacific, and expanding cooperation through the new EU-India Security and Defence Partnership, while expressing hope for the upcoming EU-India Strategic Dialogue later this year.

"The EU and India are drawing closer together as today's geopolitical uncertainty makes a clear case for deeper partnerships. It was good to meet in Brussels with India's @DrSJaishankar, just a few weeks after the landmark EU-India Summit. Together with EU Foreign Ministers, we discussed maritime security and closer coordination in the Indo-Pacific. We are expanding our cooperation through our new Security and Defence Partnership. I am looking forward to our EU-India Strategic Dialogue later this year," the post read.

Earlier, Kaja Kallas posted on X, "The closure of the Strait of Hormuz hurts the global economy and helps Russia fund its war. It is affecting our partners in the region and is dangerous for global energy supplies. Today, EU Foreign Ministers will discuss how to better protect shipping in the region, including contributions from our Aspides naval mission."

Furthermore, Herve Delphin, Ambassador, Delegation of European Union to India wrote on X, "trust and thrust in relationship. Our partnership for shared prosperity & a pole of stability. It will deliver at scale & speed serving our mutual interests. Presidents @vonderleyen, @eucopresident Costa and HRVP @kajakallas in talks with @DrSJaishankar today.

With this, Jaishankar concluded his two-day official visit to Brussels, Belgium, which took place at the invitation of European Union (EU) High Representative and Vice President Kaja Kallas to interact with the foreign ministers of the 27 EU member states at the Foreign Affairs Council meeting.

- ANI
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels to vigorously follow up on commitments from her January visit to India. The leaders focused on the efficient implementation of the historic India-EU Free Trade Agreement and Security and Defence Partnership. They also discussed shared objectives of de-escalation and stability in the Middle East and Ukraine, emphasizing energy security. Jaishankar's visit, which included talks with Belgium's Foreign Minister to establish a Strategic Dialogue, aims to deepen the India-EU Strategic Partnership.

S Jaishankar meets Ursula von der Leyen to implement India-EU Free Trade Agreement, discusses Middle East, Ukraine stability, and energy security.

Brussels, March 16 External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday met President of the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen and discussed the implementation of the India-EU Free Trade Agreement and the developments in the Middle East and in Ukraine.

In a post on X, Jaishankar said Ursula von der Leyen's visit to India in January was "a turning point in our ties" and the two sides "are following up vigorously on it".

"A pleasure to call on President of European Commission Ursula von der Leyen this afternoon. Her highly successful State visit to India this January marks a turning point in our ties. We are following up vigorously on it. Appreciate her insights on contemporary global developments," Jaishankar said in a post on X.

In her remarks, Ursula von der Leyen said that de-escalation, stability and energy security "are our shared objectives".

"Good meeting with @DrSJaishankar today. At the EU-India Summit in January, we concluded our Free Trade Agreement - the mother of all deals - and signed a Security and Defence Partnership. Now we are focused on efficient implementation, to deliver for the people of Europe and India as soon as possible," she said in a post on X.

"We also discussed developments in the Middle East and in Ukraine. De-escalation, stability and energy security are our shared objectives," she added.

Earlier in the day, Jaishankar held talks with Belgium Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot on intensifying cooperation in trade and investment. Both also agreed to establish a Strategic Dialogue.

"Started Day 2 in Brussels, meeting with FM Maxime Prevot of Belgium. Discussed intensifying our cooperation in trade & investment, semiconductors, health, technology & innovation. Agreed to establish a Strategic Dialogue," he said in a post on X.

Jaishankar is on a two-day official visit to Brussels, Belgium, at the invitation of European Union (EU) High Representative and Vice President Kaja Kallas to interact with Foreign Ministers of the 27 EU Member States at the Foreign Affairs Council Meeting.

The visit of EAM coming soon after the historic 16th India-EU Summit is expected to further deepen India's Strategic Partnership with the European Union.

- ANI
Rahul Gandhi paid homage to Bahujan Samaj Party founder Kanshi Ram on his birth anniversary, calling his lifelong dedication an inspiration. He credited Kanshi Ram with transforming the struggle for Dalit rights into a potent political movement in post-independence India. Gandhi emphasized that Kanshi Ram's legacy teaches that justice requires participation in power and warned the Constitution is under threat. Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also honored him as a great social reformer and a fierce voice for the oppressed.

Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, and Priyanka Gandhi honor BSP founder Kanshi Ram's legacy of Dalit empowerment and constitutional values.

New Delhi, March 15 Rahul Gandhi, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, on Sunday paid homage to Bahujan Samaj Party founder Kanshi Ram on his birth anniversary, calling his "tireless struggle and dedication" for the poor, Dalits, and the deprived an "inspiration for all".

Kanshi Ram, who was born in March 1934, is widely revered by his followers as 'Manyavar' or 'Bahujan Nayak'. He is regarded as a key political leader and social reformer who transformed the struggle of Dalits and other marginalised communities from largely social activism into a strong political movement.

He is also credited with reviving and expanding the vision of B.R. Ambedkar in post-independence India, particularly in northern states such as Uttar Pradesh, by emphasising political power as the central instrument for achieving social justice and economic empowerment for oppressed communities.

Gandhi, in a post on X, paid tributes to Kanshi Ram, stating, "His tireless struggle and dedication for the rights of the poor, Dalits, and the deprived is an inspiration for all of us. He believed that the Constitution is the true strength of Dalits, backward classes, and the deprived. That very Constitution is in danger today -- the very ones who took oath on Baba Saheb's Constitution to come to power are now bent on weakening it."

"Until there is participation in power, justice is not possible -- this is what Kanshi Ram Ji's legacy tells us. This dream of social justice will not remain unfulfilled. The Congress Party has always stood for the participation and respect of the Bahujan society and for the protection of the Constitution -- then, now, and forever," Gandhi said.

Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge also took to X and said, "The great social reformer, the esteemed Shri Kanshi Ram Ji, accomplished the historic task of organising the Dalit, deprived, exploited, and backward classes and securing them a respectable place in the mainstream of Indian politics."

"His contribution to the struggle for social justice and equality will forever remain an inspiration. On his birth anniversary, we pay humble tribute to him," he added.

Congress Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra called Kanshi Ram the "hero of the ideology of social justice" and the "fierce voice" of Dalits, deprived, and exploited sections.

Paying homage to the leader, Priyanka said, "Shri Kanshi Ram Ji, through his thoughts and movements, gave new heights to the constitutional principles of equality and justice. His ideas will forever continue to inspire us all."

- IANS
The BJP has released its first list of 47 candidates for the upcoming Kerala Assembly elections. State party chief Rajeev Chandrasekhar praised the list as "well-represented," noting it includes a serving Union Minister and former party presidents. The elections will be held in a single phase on April 9, with the results declared on May 4. The Model Code of Conduct is now in effect until the voting concludes.

Kerala BJP chief hails "well-represented" first list of 47 candidates for Assembly polls, featuring a Union Minister and former state presidents.

Thiruvananthapuram, March 16 Kerala BJP chief Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Monday hailed the party's inaugural list of 47 candidates for the Assembly elections set to be held next month in the State.

Speaking to ANI, Chandrasekhar extended gratitude to the party over his candidature from the Nemom constituency, adding that today's announcement showcases the seriousness of BJP for polls in Kerala.

The former Union Minister further called the list "well represented", where he informed that a serving Union Minister, two former ministers, two former party state chiefs and four candidates from the Christian community are contesting the election.

"Today's announcement of the first list of 47 candidates shows how serious we are about this election. There is a serving Central minister and two former ministers, two former presidents of the party, seven members from the SC community and four from Christian candidates who are contesting this election. This is a very well-represented list of candidates. In the political history of Kerala, this is the most decisive election. I am really honoured to get the opportunity to contest...I start my campaign today with a roadshow and meeting voters," the Kerala BJP chief said.

The BJP released its first list of 47 candidates, a day after the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced that the State will vote on April 9 in a single phase. Apart from Chandrasekhar, other prominent names in the BJP list are George Kurian, V Muraleedharan, K Surendran and Navya Haridas.

Union Minister George Kurian has been named a candidate from Kanjirappally. V Muraleedharan will contest from Kazhakoottam, while Navya Haridas will contest from Kozhikode North. Former Kerala BJP president K Surendran will contest from Manjeshwar seat.

Counting of votes is scheduled to take place on May 4.

The Model Code of Conduct is now in place till the voting takes place to the 140-member State Assembly, which is also known as the Kerala Niyamasabha.

The tenure of the current assembly is scheduled to end on May 23. The last date for filing nominations is March 23, with scrutiny of nominations on March 24 and the last date for withdrawal of candidatures on March 26.

- ANI
Intense campaigning has begun across Kerala for the April 9 Assembly elections, with the ruling LDF quickly fielding candidates and launching its campaign machinery. Key contests are emerging, including a high-profile battle in Beypore where former MLA P. V. Anvar, now backed by the UDF, takes on Tourism Minister P. A. Mohammed Riyas. Several ministers, including G. R. Anil and K. N. Balagopal, have hit the streets to canvass support based on their development work. The Congress-led UDF and the BJP are finalizing their candidates as the 25-day campaign period signals a closely fought electoral contest.

Intense 25-day campaign starts for Kerala's April 9 Assembly polls. Key contests and candidate strategies shape the political battleground.

Thiruvananthapuram Ma, r 16 Kerala woke up to the first full day of intense campaigning on Monday, with political parties beginning a 25 day high voltage campaign ahead of the April 9 polls for the 140-member Kerala Assembly.

The opposition alliances are yet to finalise their candidates, but the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) was quick off the blocks, with its key constituents - CPI(M) and the Communist Party of India announcing their candidates and set campaign machinery in motion.

Across the state, ministers and candidates were seen hitting the streets early in the morning, meeting voters and seeking support.

In the suburban capital constituency of Nedumangad, State Food and Civil Supplies Minister and senior CPI leader G. R. Anil began his campaign on Monday morning.

Anil said the work carried out in the constituency would speak for itself.

"I know my constituency too well. Just look at the developments that have happened here. I am confident about the result and have no doubts about it," he said while interacting with voters.

At Kottarakkara, State Finance Minister K. N. Balagopal of the CPI (M) was also on the campaign trail, meeting residents and canvassing support.

Unlike the relatively comfortable contest he had in 2021, Balagopal now faces a tougher battle.

His opponent is former party colleague Aiysha Potti, a three time CPI(M) legislator who switched sides last month and joined the Indian National Congress.

"None knows why she left the party and she is yet to explain the reasons. I am confident the developmental works done in my constituency will hold me in good stead," Balagopal said.

Further north in Kochi, State Industries Minister P. Rajeeve of the CPI (M) was out early in the streets engaging with voters.

Rajeeve said his campaign strategy was to reach out widely across the constituency.

"I bank on what I have done for the state and for my constituency. I plan to meet as many people as possible, including those who did not vote for me last time, and explain why they should support me now," he said.

At the CPI(M) bastion in Kannur at the Thalassery assembly seat on Monday morning their local leader Karayi Rajan , presently out on bail in a murder case.

For the past two terms the seat was represented by the outgoing Speaker of the Assembly AN Shamseer and he being dropped came as a surprise to many.

"Yes, Shamseer has been nurturing this constituency for the past 10 years and this time the party has fielded me. Everyone who is here knows about the case against me and I will meet all the voters seeking a vote for my party," said Rajan.

Meanwhile, a high profile contest is shaping up in Beypore in Kozhikode district, where former independent MLA P. V. Anvar has entered the fray with the backing of the United Democratic Front (UDF).

Anvar had resigned his legislative position last year following a bitter fallout with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

Though he initially supported the Congress candidate in a subsequent contest, he later ran as an independent and finished third.

After renewed talks with the UDF, he has now been cleared to contest from Beypore.

Anvar will take on Tourism Minister P. A. Mohammed Riyas, Vijayan's son-in-law, setting the stage for one of the most closely watched contests of the election.

Launching his campaign on Monday, Anvar accused the incumbent of neglecting the constituency.

"This constituency has gone to the dogs. Apart from a few tourism projects, key sectors like health, education and industry have suffered. The constituency has been badly orphaned," he said.

Meanwhile, the Congress led UDF and the Bharatiya Janata Party are expected to announce their candidates in the next couple of days, with last-minute discussions underway at the national level.

As the campaign clock begins ticking, Kerala's political battleground has clearly come alive, signalling the start of intense and closely fought electoral contest.

- IANS
Expelled CPI-M leader V. Kunhikrishnan has entered the Payyannur Assembly fray as an Independent candidate, following a bitter dispute over alleged misappropriation of memorial funds. He will challenge sitting CPI-M legislator T. I. Madhusoodanan, whom he accuses of orchestrating his expulsion. This contest threatens to split the Left vote in a constituency the CPI-M has never lost. Political observers are watching whether the Congress-led UDF will offer support to Kunhikrishnan to weaken the CPI-M's hold.

Expelled CPI-M veteran V. Kunhikrishnan contests as Independent in Payyannur, threatening a Left vote split in this Kerala bastion.

Kannur, March 16 A dramatic political contest is unfolding in the northern Kerala constituency of Payyannur after expelled veteran Left leader V. Kunhikrishnan announced on Monday that he will contest the upcoming Assembly elections as an Independent candidate.

Kunhikrishnan, once a hugely popular grassroots leader of the Communist Party of India-Marxist in Kannur district, had been locked in a prolonged and bitter confrontation with the party's local leadership over alleged misappropriation of funds meant for a martyrs' memorial account.

The dispute had simmered for months before reaching a flashpoint when Kunhikrishnan published a book detailing his version of events and accusing certain party leaders of manipulating the issue.

Following the controversy, he was expelled from the party, ending decades of association with the CPI-M in one of its traditional strongholds.

Declaring his independent candidacy, Kunhikrishnan said he would take his case directly to the people of Payyannur.

"I will meet every voter in the constituency and seek their support. During the course of my campaign, I will explain in detail why I was forced to take this step and why I have decided to contest," he said.

Kunhikrishnan will take on sitting CPI-M legislator T. I. Madhusoodanan, whom he has openly accused of being the key figure behind the alleged manipulation that led to his expulsion.

The contest assumes significance because Payyannur, located in Kannur district, has long been regarded as a Left bastion where internal party dynamics often play a decisive role in electoral outcomes and has never been lost by the CPI-M.

In the 2021 Assembly election, Madhusoodanan secured a resounding victory, winning the seat by a margin of more than 49,000 votes.

However, Kunhikrishnan's entry as an independent candidate has now added a new dimension to the race, raising the possibility of a split in the traditional Left vote bank.

Political observers are particularly watching the stance of the Congress, which contests the seat as part of the United Democratic Front (UDF).

There is growing speculation on whether the Congress will extend tacit or open support to Kunhikrishnan in a bid to weaken the CPI-M's prospects.

If such support materialises, analysts believe the Payyannur contest could turn into one of the most closely watched battles in northern Kerala.

- IANS
The BJP has released its first candidate list for the upcoming Kerala Legislative Assembly elections, naming 47 contenders. Prominently, the party has fielded its Kerala President Rajeev Chandrasekhar from the Nemom seat and former Union Minister V Muraleedharan from Kazhakoottam. The elections in Kerala are scheduled for a single phase on April 9, alongside Assam, as announced by the Election Commission. The BJP-led NDA alliance plans to contest approximately 100 seats, leaving the rest for its partners in the 140-seat assembly.

BJP fields Rajeev Chandrasekhar from Nemom and V Muraleedharan from Kazhakoottam in its first list for Kerala elections. Poll dates announced.

Thiruvananthapuram, March 16 The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday released the first list of candidates for the upcoming General Elections to the Legislative Assembly of Keralam.

The party has fielded BJP Keralam President Rajeev Chandrasekhar from Nemom seat and former Union Minister of State for External Affairs of India, V Muraleedharan, from Kazhakoottam seat.

According to a press release, the Central Election Committee of the BJP met on March 12, 2026, under the presidentship of Nitin Nabin. The meeting was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Minister Amit Shah, and all other members of the Central Election Committee.

The Committee announced the names of 47 candidates who will contest in the state assembly elections.

In Keralam, the main fight is between the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the United Democratic Front (UDF) for 140 seats.

Meanwhile, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is also in the fray to compete against both alliances. BJP plans to contest around 100 seats in Kerala, while its allies Bharat Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS) and Twenty20 are expected to contest the remaining 40 seats as part of the alliance.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced Assembly elections in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Assam, West Bengal and Puducherry.

According to the schedule, Kerala and Assam will vote in a single phase on April 9, while Tamil Nadu will go to the polls on April 23. Voting in Puducherry will also take place on April 9. The polling in West Bengal will be conducted in two phases on April 23 and April 29.

The counting of votes for all four states and Puducherry will be held on May 4, the ECI announced.

The Election Commission of India reviewed poll preparedness for the upcoming Assembly elections in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam, and Pudducherry previously this month.

Special intensive revision of the voters' lists in these four states and one union territory has already been conducted, with final electoral rolls published.

The terms of the current assemblies are set to end on different dates: May 7 in West Bengal, May 10 in Tamil Nadu, May 20 in Assam, May 23 in Kerala, and June 15 in Puducherry.

- ANI
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated that the United States and Israel gravely miscalculated the prospect of a swift military operation against Iran. He warned that recent strikes have seriously damaged the authority of the nuclear non-proliferation regime and the credibility of diplomacy. Lavrov reiterated Russia's call for a ceasefire and offered to mediate, while also condemning US plans for space-based missile defense. The report also reveals that US President Donald Trump recently rejected a proposal from Russian President Vladimir Putin to transfer Iran's enriched uranium to Russia as part of a deal to end the conflict.

Russian FM Lavrov says US & Israel misjudged a quick war with Iran, warns of nuclear pact damage, and reveals rejected Putin uranium deal.

Moscow, March 16 The United States and Israel may have misjudged the prospect of a quick military operation against Iran, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday.

The war was staged during negotiations on Iran's nuclear programme, said Lavrov. If the planners expected to "completely subdue" Iran within a day or even hours, they may now realise how mistaken that assumption was, he told a press conference.

Reiterating Russia's call for an immediate cessation of hostilities, Lavrov urged the parties involved to return to negotiations and avoid actions that damage civilian infrastructure and cause civilian casualties.

He added that Russia is ready to play a mediating role in the political process if needed.

Lavrov also said on Monday that the fate of the nuclear non-proliferation regime is a source of grave concern amid escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.

In a message to participants of the Moscow Nonproliferation Conference, Lavrov said the recent military actions by Israel and the United States against Iran, including strikes targetting facilities under the safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency, had dealt a serious blow to the authority of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

Such actions have also hurt the credibility of diplomacy as a means of resolving disputes, Lavrov said, adding that some countries may increasingly view nuclear weapons as a guarantee of security.

He stressed the importance of preserving the pact as a key element of global strategic stability and urged all signatories, particularly nuclear-weapon states, to fulfill their obligations.

The foreign minister also noted that the risks of the militarization of outer space are increasing as a result of "destructive actions by the United States and its allies", Xinhua news agency reported.

The implementation of the US "Golden Dome" missile defence system, which envisions deploying space-based interceptor strike systems by 2028, poses a significant threat to strategic stability, he said.

Last week, a US news website reported that US President Donald Trump has rejected a proposal by Russian President Vladimir Putin to move Iran's enriched uranium to Russia as part of a deal to end the US-Israeli conflict with Iran.

Trump turned Putin down in a phone call earlier this week, sources told Axios, an American news website based in Arlington, Virginia.

Putin raised several ideas, including the uranium proposal, for ending the war during the phone conversation with Trump on Monday (March 9), said the report.

"This is not the first time it was offered. It hasn't been accepted. The US position is we need to see the uranium secured," a US official was quoted as saying.

It's not clear whether Iran would accept the proposal now. In the last round of talks before the war, Iran rejected the transfer idea and proposed diluting the uranium inside its own facilities under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency, according to the report.

Some news reports had also said that the Trump administration is considering sending special operations forces into Iran to secure or seize the country's highly enriched uranium.

- IANS
A second repatriation flight carrying 177 Indian nationals has departed from Beirut, Lebanon, for New Delhi, arranged by their employer company. The Indian Embassy in Beirut confirmed the evacuation and reiterated its commitment to assisting citizens amid escalating regional tensions. This follows a first batch of 177 Indians repatriated on March 11. Simultaneously, the Indian Embassy in Qatar provided updates on enhanced flight options to India, including services via Saudi Arabia.

Second flight carries 177 Indians from Beirut to Delhi; embassy assists amid regional tensions. Updates on Qatar travel arrangements.

Beirut, March 14 The second repatriation flight carrying 177 Indian nationals departed from Beirut, Lebanon, for New Delhi on Saturday amid the escalating tensions in West Asia.

In a post on X, the Indian Embassy in Beirut said the flight was arranged by the employer company of the passengers and that the mission remains committed to assisting Indian nationals in the country.

"The second repatriation flight, arranged by their employer company, carrying 177 Indian nationals, departed Beirut today for Delhi. The Embassy of India in Beirut wishes them a safe journey; the Team India in Beirut remains committed to extend best possible assistance to Indian nationals in Lebanon," the Embassy stated in its post.

Earlier, on March 11, the first batch of 177 Indian nationals was repatriated to Delhi on a charter flight arranged by their employer company.

According to the embassy, the group was seen off at Beirut International Airport by India's Ambassador to Lebanon, Noor Rahman Sheikh.

"The first batch of 177 Indian nationals, being repatriated to Delhi in a charter flight arranged by their company, was seen off by Ambassador Noor Rahman Sheikh at Beirut International Airport. The Embassy of India in Beirut stands committed to extending best possible assistance to Indian nationals in Lebanon," the embassy said in an earlier post on X.

Meanwhile, the Indian Embassy in Qatar today issued an update regarding travel arrangements for Indian nationals amid the evolving regional situation.

In a post on X, the embassy said that Qatar Airways operated two flights to India on Saturday, one each to New Delhi and Mumbai, enabling around 850 Indian nationals to travel out of Qatar on these and other flights.

It added that Qatar Airways has announced one flight to New Delhi for March 15 and three flights to India for March 16, including services to New Delhi, Mumbai and Kochi.

The embassy also said that Indian nationals in Qatar have the option of travelling to Saudi Arabia before flying to India, noting that Indian carriers have increased flights from Saudi Arabia to India.

The mission further stated that it continues to operate three 24x7 helplines for Indian nationals and advised people to follow all guidelines issued by Qatar's Ministry of Interior and other authorities.

- ANI
Lok Janshakti Party (RV) Bihar President Raju Tiwari has expressed strong confidence that the NDA alliance will win all five Rajya Sabha seats from Bihar. The elections are seeing contests for 11 seats across three states, with 26 candidates already elected unopposed. In a significant move, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar filed his nomination for the Upper House. Political parties are taking measures, including moving legislators to secure locations, to prevent cross-voting in these closely watched polls.

LJP (RV) Bihar President Raju Tiwari expresses confidence in NDA securing all five Rajya Sabha seats from Bihar. Key contests unfold as Nitish Kumar files nomination.

Patna, March 16 ,: The Lok Janshakti Party Bihar President Raju Tiwari on Thursday expressed confidence over the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections, saying that all five seats will be won by NDA candidates.

Speaking to ANI, Tiwari said, "The time for making claims is over. Voting will show the results itself. All five seats will be won by our NDA candidates. We will win all five seats in a good manner."

He emphasised the strength and unity of the NDA alliance in the state, expressing optimism about securing a clean sweep in the elections.

The biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha to fill 37 seats across 10 states are currently on, with counting of votes set for 5 pm.

The term of 37 members who were elected from Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Telangana will conclude in the month of April, vacating the seats for new members to be elected.

Out of these, 26 candidates have already secured victory unopposed. Voting will now take place for the remaining 11 seats, including five from Bihar, four from Odisha, and two from Haryana.

In key battlegrounds in Bihar, Haryana, and Odisha, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is working to defeat Opposition gains.

So far, 26 candidates have been elected unopposed, with the BJP securing seven, Congress five, the Trinamool Congress four, the DMK three, and Shiv Sena, RPI(A), NCP, NCP(SP), AIADMK, PMK, and UPPL one each. Notable names among the winners include Sharad Pawar, Abhishek Singhvi, Tiruchi Siva, and Vinod Tawade.

As preparations are underway for the biennial elections, all attention has turned to Haryana, Bihar and Odisha, which have emerged as key arenas of contest between the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the Opposition bloc for four important seats.The most interesting part of these Rajya Sabha polls is the Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

Nitish Kumar, Bihar's longest-tenured Chief Minister for over two decades, announced that he would be heading to the Rajya Sabha and filed his nomination in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, among other leaders.

Apart from Nitish Kumar, other NDA candidates, including Upendra Kushwaha and BJP chief Nitin Nabin, also filed their nominations for the Upper House.

Amid apprehensions of possible cross-voting and allegations of horse-trading, several political parties, particularly the Congress, have moved their legislators to resorts and locations outside their home states in a bid to ensure unity within their ranks ahead of the polling.

Among those elected without contest are Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) founder Sharad Pawar, Republican Party of India (Athawale) president Ramdas Athawale, and senior AIADMK leader M Thambidurai.

The counting of votes will be conducted on the same day as polling at 5 pm.

- ANI
The suspension of eight Opposition MPs is set to be revoked following a consensus reached in a meeting chaired by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. The MPs were suspended in February for throwing papers towards the Chair during an uproar related to Rahul Gandhi's remarks on Ladakh. The all-party meeting resulted in a collective decision for members to uphold dignity and not approach the Well, tear papers, or climb on tables. Meanwhile, Parliament continued with discussions on railway grants and supplementary demands, with adjustments made to the schedule for upcoming festivals.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla secures consensus to revoke suspension of 8 opposition MPs after an all-party meeting reaffirms parliamentary decorum.

New Delhi, March 17 The suspension of eight Opposition MPs is expected to be revoked on Tuesday following a consensus reached in a meeting convened under the chairmanship of Speaker Om Birla, sources said.

The MPs include Gurjeet Singh Aujla, Hibi Eden, Dean Kuriakose, Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, B Manickam Tagore, Dr. Prashant Yadaorao Padole, Chamala Kiran Kumar Reddy, and S. Venkatesan, who were suspended earlier on a motion moved by the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju.

The eight opposition members were suspended from Lok Sabha for the remainder of the budget session on February 4 for violating rules and "throwing papers on the chair" following uproar in the House over Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's insistence on mentioning a specific reference about the border tensions with China in eastern Ladakh in 2020.

Sources said that in today's meeting with Leaders of Parties in the Lok Sabha, members agreed to uphold the dignity and established traditions of Parliament. It was collectively decided that no Member from either side shall approach the opposite side in the Well of the House, tear papers and throw them towards the Chair, or climb on the officials' table inside the House.

A reaffirmation was also made that all Members would adhere to established parliamentary decorum and traditions, and that both sides would ensure such incidents are not repeated, the sources said.

The Lok Sabha Secretariat has issued a bulletin reminding Members about the maintenance of decorum within the Parliament Estate. The bulletin draws attention to Direction 124A(2)(iii) of the Directions by the Speaker, which prohibits certain activities within the Parliament House Estate to keep the area and passages free and accessible for Members of Parliament.

The advisory also highlights that the direction specifically prohibits the carrying of firearms, banners, placards, lathis, spears, swords, sticks, and brickbats within the Parliament Estate. Members have been repeatedly advised not to bring or display posters, placards, or banners inside Parliament.

The Bulletin further notes that in some instances, AI-generated portraits, pictures, and slogans of a derogatory nature have been displayed on posters and placards.

The Members have once again been advised to strictly comply with Direction 124A(2)(iii) and other relevant rules, and warned that disciplinary action may be taken in the event of any violation.

Congress leader KC Venugopal on Monday demanded that the suspension of eight opposition MPs be revoked immediately, saying that while Parliament has witnessed countless protests in the past, suspending members in such a manner should not become a practice

He called the Opposition MPs' suspension "unfair" and a "disturbing trend."

"Rose in the Lok Sabha to raise concern over the unfair suspension of 8 Opposition MPs for this Session. Parliament has seen countless protests, but the suspension of MPs is a disturbing new trend which cannot be allowed to continue. This suspension should be revoked immediately," Venugopal said in X post.

Lok Sabha on Monday took up discussion on the demands for grants for the Railways Ministry with several members taking part in the discussion. While the opposition members accused the government of not fulfilling its promises, the members of BJP and NDA highlighted the achievements. BJP member Ganesh Singh said a significant transformation has taken place in the Railways in the last 10 years.

The Rajya Sabha took up discussion on supplementary demands for grants for 2025-26. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is likely to reply to the debate on Tuesday.

With some members suggesting holiday on March 18 and 19 in view of festivals, Chairman CP Radhakrishnan said that it has been considered favourably by the government.

He said that instead of March 19 and 20, the House will sit on March 28 and 29 to make up for the lost time.

- ANI
LPG cylinder bookings have seen a significant decline, indicating easing consumer panic over availability. Government authorities are conducting raids across states to prevent hoarding and black marketing of domestic gas. Supply remains uninterrupted with no reported dry-outs at distributorships, as oil marketing companies maintain regular fuel supplies. Citizens are advised to use digital booking platforms and avoid panic bookings, with the government prioritizing household and essential sector needs.

LPG cylinder bookings drop as panic eases. Government conducts raids against hoarding, ensures digital booking and uninterrupted supply for households.

New Delhi, March 16 There has been a decline in LPG bookings as panic eased among consumers over the availability of domestic gas, while raids are being conducted across states to check hoarding and black marketing, an official statement said on Monday.

PIB India posted on X that there has been a drop in LPG bookings, "with about 77 lakh bookings recorded on 14th March 2026 compared to 88.8 lakh bookings on 13th March 2026".

"Online LPG cylinder bookings increased from 84 per cent to about 87 per cent, and there has been no reported dry-outs at LPG distributorships," the post added.

It further stated that raids are being conducted across states to check hoarding and black marketing, and 22 states and Union Territories (UTs) have established control rooms to monitor the situation.

Consumers are requested to avoid panic bookings, use digital booking platforms and avoid unnecessary visits to LPG distributors, the statement suggested.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said the government continues to prioritise the interests of domestic consumers and ensure uninterrupted LPG supply, particularly for households and priority sectors such as hospitals and educational institutions, the ministry said in a statement.

No cases of fuel dry-outs have been reported at retail outlets by oil marketing companies (OMCs) -- Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum, and Hindustan Petroleum -- as supplies of petrol and diesel continue to be maintained regularly, according to the ministry.

Citizens are advised not to panic as the government remains committed to maintaining adequate LPG availability for households and essential sectors. LPG cylinders can be booked through multiple digital platforms, including IVRS calls, SMS booking, WhatsApp booking, and mobile applications of OMCs.

The OMCs are promoting digital bookings, discouraging panic bookings and keeping LPG distributorships open on Sundays to facilitate smooth supply.

LPG supply continues to be monitored in view of the prevailing geopolitical situation.

- IANS
The LPG carrier Shivalik has arrived at Mundra Port carrying 46,000 metric tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas for Indian Oil Corporation. Of the total cargo, 20,000 MT will be unloaded at Mundra, with the remaining 26,000 MT destined for Mangaluru. The vessel successfully navigated the strategically vital and currently tense Strait of Hormuz, a critical global energy chokepoint. This shipment is part of India's efforts to maintain a steady supply of domestic cooking gas despite regional shipping disruptions.

A 46,000 MT LPG cargo arrives at Mundra port, with shipments bound for Mundra and Mangaluru, ensuring steady domestic cooking gas supply amid regional tensions.

New Delhi, March 16 The LPG carrier Shivalik arrived at the Mundra Port, on Monday, carrying a total cargo of about 46,000 metric tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas, with 20,000 MT set to be unloaded at Mundra and the remaining 26,000 MT to be discharged at Mangaluru.

The vessel is transporting liquid LPG ordered by the Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) to support India's domestic cooking gas supply.

Port officials said unloading operations for the Mundra consignment are expected to begin soon after the vessel's berthing at the LPG terminal.

After completing the discharge of around 20,000 MT at Mundra, the vessel will continue its journey to Mangaluru where the remaining 26,000 MT of LPG will be unloaded and supplied into the domestic distribution network.

The ship is an Indian-flagged Very Large Gas Carrier operated by Shipping Corporation of India and is part of India's efforts to ensure steady energy supplies.

The tanker had earlier sailed through the strategically important Strait of Hormuz, a key global energy route connecting the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Sea.

The arrival of the vessel comes at a time when shipping traffic in the region has faced disruptions due to tensions in West Asia.

Nearly 20 per cent of the world's oil and gas shipments normally pass through the narrow Strait of Hormuz, making it one of the most important maritime corridors for global energy trade.

Despite the volatile situation in the region in recent weeks, Indian-bound LPG shipments have continued to move under close monitoring by authorities and shipping companies.

Officials said the safe arrival of the Shivalik cargo will help strengthen LPG availability in the country's supply system.

- IANS
Two Indian-flagged LPG carriers, the Shivalik and Nanda Devi, have safely transited the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz with Iranian authorities' permission and are en route to Mundra and Kandla ports in Gujarat. The transit follows diplomatic engagement championed by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, who emphasized direct dialogue with Tehran as the most effective method. While this specific passage is a success, Jaishankar clarified that a formal, blanket arrangement for all Indian ships is not yet in place, with transit currently handled on a case-by-case basis. Iranian representatives in India have reiterated that Indian vessels would be allowed to pass through the strait amid ongoing regional tensions.

Two Indian LPG carriers, Shivalik and Nanda Devi, safely transit the Strait of Hormuz with Iranian clearance, heading for Mundra and Kandla ports.

Kachchh, March 16 The Liquefied Petroleum Gas tanker Shivalik, which crossed the Hormuz Strait, is all set to arrive at the Mundra port in Gujarat on Monday.

Two Indian flagged vessels carrying LPG were granted transit through the Strait of Hormuz by Iranian authorities. One of them is the Shivalik, while the other one is the Nanda Devi.

Earlier, Rajesh Kumar Sinha, Special Secretary in the Shipping Ministry, on Saturday informed that the vessels Shivalik and Nanda Devi are now expected on March 16 and 17.

"All Indian seafarers in the Persian Gulf region are safe, and no untoward incidents involving them have been reported over the last 24 hours. There were 24 Indian-flagged vessels in the Persian Gulf, situated to the west of the Strait of Hormuz. Among these, two vessels--the Shivalik and the Nanda Devi, Indian-flagged vessels, both LPG carriers. They safely transited the Strait of Hormuz late last night/early this morning and are now proceeding towards India. These vessels are carrying approximately 92,700 metric tons of LPG; their ports of arrival will be Mundra and Kandla, with expected arrival dates of March 16 and March 17, respectively. Consequently, there are now 22 Indian-flagged vessels remaining in the Persian Gulf, carrying a total of 611 seafarers," the secretary said.

Earlier, external Affairs Minister S Jaishankar championed direct dialogue with Tehran as the most efficient method for resuming maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, as India seeks to protect its energy security amidst intensifying Middle East tensions.

In an interview with the Financial Times UK, the Union Minister stated that New Delhi is currently engaging with Iran to facilitate the reopening of the vital waterway, which handles nearly 20 per cent of global oil trade.

He noted that these discussions are "already yielding some results," suggesting that India finds it more effective to "reason and coordinate" with Tehran rather than disengage.

"Certainly, from India's perspective, it is better that we reason and we coordinate and we get a solution than we don't. While this is a welcome development, there is continuing conversation because there is continued work on that," Jaishankar remarked.

The Minister highlighted the recent passage Shivalik and Nanda Devi, as a practical success of this diplomatic strategy.The tankers, carrying approximately 92,712 metric tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), are currently en route to the Indian ports of Mundra and Kandla.

However, Jaishankar clarified that a formal "blanket arrangement" for all Indian-flagged ships has not yet been established. He explained that the transit of vessels is currently being managed on a "case-by-case basis."

Meanwhile, the representative of Iran's Supreme Leader in India, Abdul Majid Hakeem Ilahi, on Saturday reiterated that Indian vessels would be allowed to pass through the strategically significant Strait of Hormuz amid the conflict in West Asia.

Speaking in an interview with ANI, Ilahi responded affirmatively, "Of course, of course. Yes," when asked whether Indian ships would be allowed to pass through the Strait. When asked to elaborate on the matter, Ilahi said, "I heard that our embassy tried to provide an opportunity for some Indian ships to cross the Strait of Hormuz."

- ANI
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi to brief him on the state's development initiatives. Yadav detailed the coordinated efforts of 16 state departments under the 'Kisan Kalyan Varsh' or Farmer Welfare Year, aimed at strengthening agriculture and rural economy. He highlighted the state's agricultural growth rate of 16% and emphasized the government's focus on enhancing farmer income and reducing input costs. The Chief Minister stated that the Prime Minister blessed their work, expressing confidence in positive future results.

Madhya Pradesh CM Mohan Yadav briefs PM Narendra Modi on state's development initiatives and coordinated efforts for farmers, women, poor, and youth.

New Delhi, March 16 Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Monday and briefed him on development initiatives of the state government.

The Chief Minister informed PM Modi about different programmes and activities being organised in the state under Kisan Kalyan Varsh.

After meeting with PM Modi, the Chief Minister told reporters, "Our government is working for all four categories - farmers, women, poor, and youth. We are celebrating the Farmer Welfare Year very well. We are working by combining around 16 departments which include animal husbandry, fisheries, horticulture, agriculture, cooperative etc. for the purpose," he said.

"We have discussed in detail about the farmers' welfare and other subjects related to development of the state. I am happy that the Prime Minister has blessed our work to move forward, and its results will also be good in the future," he added.

Earlier this year, the Chief Minister announced that Madhya Pradesh is observing 2026 as 'Year for Farmers' Welfare'.

For the effective implementation of Farmer Welfare Year, 16 departments of the state government are working in close coordination to strengthen various dimensions of agriculture, including production, cost, marketing, income, and overall welfare.

The Chief Minister highlighted that the state's agricultural growth rate reached 16 per cent, reflecting the inherent potential of the sector and the success of policy initiatives. He clarified that the government's objective is not limited to increasing production, but also to enhancing farmers' income and reducing agricultural input costs through practical and effective measures.

He added that developmental and welfare-oriented programmes would continue throughout the year. The government remains committed to ensuring farmer prosperity, sustainable agriculture and renewed strength for the rural economy, he said.

- ANI
The Maharashtra Legislative Council raised serious concerns over the production of hazardous PFAS chemicals at the Lote-Parshuram industrial area by Laxmi Organic. Minister Pankaja Munde informed the House that production has stopped and the government has appointed the Institute of Chemical Technology to inspect the facility and submit a report within 60 days. Opposition members alleged the company is linked to an Italian firm banned for PFAS production, with the same imprisoned individual on its board. The minister clarified that PFAS is not banned in India but its production is restricted, and the government will act based on the inspection findings.

Maharashtra orders inspection of Laxmi Organic's PFAS plant after Council outcry over health and environmental risks in Ratnagiri.

Mumbai, March 16 Amid the controversy over the production of hazardous polyfluoroalkyl substances at the Lote-Parshuram industrial area in Ratnagiri district by Laxmi Organic and its effects on health and the Konkan environment, Maharashtra Minister Pankaja Munde on Monday said the government has appointed the Institute of Chemical Technology to inspect the production facility and the surrounding area and submit a report within 60 days. 

She also informed the House that the company has stopped production of PFAS. PFAS are often called "forever chemicals" because they do not break down easily in the environment or the human body.

Congress MLC Bhai Jagtap, through a calling attention motion, raised the issue of unrest in Konkan over the production of PFAS. 

He alleged that a company banned in Italy for PFAS production has been operating in Lote-Parshuram MIDC under a different name and that the same person who was imprisoned in Italy in this case is on its board of directors. He demanded that PFAS production be banned.

NCP (SP) member Shashikant Shinde supported the demand and called for state government action.

BJP MLC Niranjan Davkhare alleged that, following action by the Italian government against Miteni S.p.A. in 2018, the same production facility was dismantled and brought to India in 2019 under the name Laxmi Organic.

In her reply, Environment and Climate Change Minister Pankaja Munde clarified that Laxmi Organic received permission for the production facility because PFAS is not banned in India. She said the company had produced 31.37 metric tonnes of PFAS, but after protests, it stopped production in the last week of December 2025.

Munde said PFAS is not banned in India, but its production is restricted through stringent conditions. She added that the chemical does not decompose, which raises concerns. She said that after receiving complaints, the government appointed ICT to inspect the production facility at Lote-Parshuram and submit a report. 

She added that once ICT submits its report, the government will take further steps accordingly and assured the House that no one would be spared.

- IANS
The Maharashtra government will form a task force to take coordinated action against unauthorised and unregistered nursing homes operating in the state. Chaired by senior bureaucrats, the force will inspect facilities and propose legal amendments for stricter penalties, submitting a report within 90 days. Separately, the government is using Artificial Intelligence to increase transparency and action against hospitals overcharging patients under state and central health schemes. Fines have already been levied in hundreds of cases, with criminal charges threatened for repeat offenders.

Maharashtra announces a state-level task force to inspect and take action against unauthorised nursing homes, aiming to submit a report in 90 days.

Mumbai, March 16 Maharashtra Minister Uday Samant, on Monday, told the State Legislative Council during Question Hour that a task force will be established to take action against unauthorised and unregistered nursing homes operating in the state.

The issue was raised through a question by member Chitra Wagh, while members Bhai Jagtap, Sanjay Khodke, and Sachin Ahir raised supplementary questions.

Minister Samant said that private hospitals and nursing homes in the state are registered and inspected as per the Maharashtra Nursing Homes Registration Act, 1949, and its relevant rules.

However, since complaints have been received regarding unregistered or unauthorised nursing homes operating in some areas, there is a need for coordinated action at the state level.

Minister Samant announced that "A task force will be formed under the chairmanship of the Additional Chief Secretary of the Urban Development Department and the co-chairmanship of the Additional Chief Secretary or Principal Secretary of the Health Department. The task force will include Divisional Commissioners, Police Officers, and other necessary officials. It will review all nursing homes in the state, take action against unauthorised ones, and present a comprehensive report before the House during the next session."

Since the current legal provisions for fines and punishment are limited and proving insufficient, the task force will also draft a proposal to make necessary amendments to the relevant laws for stricter action, the Minister said.

He also added that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will be directed to conduct a survey and collect data on unauthorised nursing homes.

Minister Samant told the House that the task force will submit its report within 90 days to ensure effective action against unauthorised nursing homes for the safety of patients in the state.

Meanwhile, State Public Health and Family Welfare Minister Prakash Abitkar said in the state Assembly that the state government is taking strict action against hospitals that charge patients despite the implementation of the Mahatma Jyotirao Phule Jan Arogya Yojana (MJPJAY) and the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY).

He also shared that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is now being utilised to increase transparency within these schemes.

The issue was raised in the state Assembly by member Nana Patole (Congress), with Sunil Prabhu (Shiv Sena-UBT), Babanrao Lonikar (BJP), and Ratnakar Gutte (Rashtriya Samaj Paksh) also participating in the discussion.

Minister Abitkar said that the state government has received several complaints regarding irregularities.

Consequently, fines totaling nearly Rs 60.47 lakh have been levied across 338 cases in the state.

In Akola district, 12 complaints were filed against a private hospital for charging patients for tests and surgeries covered under the welfare schemes.

"The State Health Assurance Society investigated and ensured one patient was refunded. Punitive action is proposed against the hospital, and inquiries are ongoing for the remaining 11 complaints. Following the integration of the Ayushman Bharat scheme with the Mahatma Phule Jan Arogya Yojana, the number of covered illnesses and treatment packages has been increased. AI systems are being used to scrutinise complaints and ensure immediate action, making the implementation more effective," Minister Abitkar added.

He said that the Committees involving public representatives have been established.

District-level review meetings, chaired by Guardian Ministers, are directed to be held every three months.

"If hospitals are found charging additional money from patients under these schemes, immediate action will be taken. For repeat offenders, the state government will proceed with filing criminal charges," Minister Abitkar clarified.

- IANS
Maharashtra's Transport Minister announced the state's target to fully electrify its 22,000-strong MSRTC bus fleet by 2037. This ambitious plan positions Maharashtra as the first Indian state to commit to a complete transition of its state-run bus network to electric vehicles. The strategy includes using solar power for charging stations, offering financial incentives for EV purchases, and developing extensive charging infrastructure along highways. While only about 800 buses are currently electric, the government has halted plans for new diesel buses, focusing future fleet additions entirely on EVs.

Maharashtra plans to convert its entire 22,000-bus MSRTC fleet to electric vehicles by 2037, advancing India's 2047 EV vision.

Mumbai, March 16 Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik on Monday informed the Legislative Council that the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation will convert its entire fleet of 22,000 buses to electric vehicles by 2037. 

He said the move positions Maharashtra as the first state in the country to commit to a complete transition of its staterun bus network to EVs.

Sarnaik said that out of 22,000 buses, around 800 are currently electric. He added that it is the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for India to transition entirely to electric mobility by 2047. 

As part of that campaign, Maharashtra has advanced its target to ensure the MSRTC fleet becomes fully electric by 2037.

He said that although there was an initial plan to purchase 5,000 diesel buses annually for the next five years, the strategy has been overhauled. 

He stated that apart from the 8,000 diesel buses already in progress, all future additions to the fleet will be electric. He also said a scheme has been planned to convert diesel buses to EVs.

Sarnaik added that a proposal has been created to use solar power for recharging charging stations, which will save electricity and help the environment.

He said the government has proposed using solar energy to run charging stations, reducing dependence on the traditional power grid.

The minister said the state's EV Policy 2026 provides various monetary benefits for EV purchases, including tax exemptions and toll discounts. 

EVs currently enjoy full toll waivers on major arterial routes such as the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, the Nagpur-Mumbai Samruddhi Mahamarg, and the Atal Setu (MTHL).

He said the state government is developing charging stations every 25 km on highways, extending financial benefits, and promoting courses on developing charging technology.

Delhi currently has the largest electric bus fleet in India, with over 4,200 EVs. Under its EV policy, the Delhi government aims to expand its electric bus fleet to 7,500 by the end of 2026 and to 14,000 by 2028.

- IANS
Maharashtra Congress President Harshvardhan Sapkal expressed hope for a swift end to the US-Israel-Iran war, citing its global repercussions and emerging fuel shortages in India. He conveyed condolences for casualties, including Iran's late Supreme Leader, during a meeting with Iran's Consul General in Mumbai. The discussion also covered ancient civilizational ties between India and Iran and cultural exchanges. Sapkal presented a copy of Gandhi's autobiography, emphasizing India's message of peace.

Maharashtra Congress President Harshvardhan Sapkal meets Iranian Consul General, expresses hope for peace and addresses fuel shortage concerns.

Mumbai, March 16 Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee President Harshvardhan Sapkal on Monday said that the ongoing war between the United States, Israel and Iran is having repercussions across the world, and due to this war situation, shortages of gas and fuel are beginning to be felt in India as well.

He expressed hope that the war would end soon and that peace would be restored in Asia.

Sapkal was speaking to reporters after visiting the Iranian Consulate and meeting Saeid Reza Mosayeb Motlagh, Iran's Consul General.

He said that during the meeting, which took place following an invitation, condolences were expressed over the death of Iran's supreme leader, the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as for the soldiers and civilians killed in the attacks-particularly 165 schoolgirls and 14 teachers. Condolences were also extended to all those who lost their lives on both sides.

He expressed solidarity with the people of Iran during this difficult time and conveyed his sympathies. The Congress leader also expressed hope that the war would end as soon as possible and that peace would be established.

During the hour-long meeting, reference was also made to the ancient civilisational ties between India and Iran. Discussions were held on the influence of these relations on Indian society, as well as on the Marathi language, literature, cultural exchanges and shared heritage.

Sapkal also expressed hope that the disrupted fuel supply chain would soon return to normal levels.

Motlagh briefed those present about the current war situation and the sequence of events leading up to it. He also spoke about the courage and resilience shown by the Iranian people in the present circumstances.

Sapkal said that since India is the land of Buddha and Gandhi, the sentiment expressed was that peace should prevail in the world. On the occasion, Sapkal presented Motlagh with a copy of Mahatma Gandhi's autobiography as a gift.

- IANS
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis invited a UK parliamentary delegation to invest in the state, positioning it as India's economic and startup capital. He outlined ambitious targets, including achieving a $1 trillion economy and sourcing 52% of energy from renewables by 2030. The state is developing an "Edu-City" in Navi Mumbai, with Letters of Intent already issued to British universities. Fadnavis highlighted parallels between Mumbai-London and Pune-Birmingham to underscore mutual growth opportunities in finance and automotive sectors.

Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis invites British investors, highlighting state's GDP share, data centre capacity, and new Edu-City for foreign universities.

Mumbai, March 16 Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday invited British investors to invest in the state, saying it possesses an excellent ecosystem for industry and investment.

He said Maharashtra attracts the highest foreign investment in India and remains the country's economic powerhouse as well as its "startup capital".

The Chief Minister made the remarks during a meeting with a delegation of Members of Parliament from the UK, led by Birmingham MP Liam Byrne.

During the interaction, Fadnavis said the state has set a target of becoming a $1 trillion economy.

"Maharashtra is the technology hub of the nation, contributing 13 per cent to India's total GDP. The state holds 60 per cent of India's data centre capacity," he said.

Referring to the visiting delegation as "true ambassadors of Britain", the Chief Minister said the comprehensive economic and trade agreement between India and the UK would significantly boost trade between Maharashtra and Britain.

He added that the state government is working towards ensuring that 52 per cent of Maharashtra's total energy requirements are met through renewable sources by 2030.

Fadnavis also said that following the Centre's new education policy allowing foreign universities to establish campuses in India, Maharashtra is developing an "Edu-City" in Navi Mumbai.

Infrastructure is being created to facilitate foreign universities.

"Letters of Intent (LoI) have already been issued to British universities to open campuses. Courses are expected to begin this year, with facilities designed to accommodate around 1,00,000 students," the Chief Minister said.

Highlighting investment opportunities, Fadnavis drew parallels between major cities in India and the UK.

"London and Mumbai share similar economic growth potential, and a global financial centre is being developed in Mumbai. Similarly, Pune and Birmingham offer comparable opportunities for the automobile industry. The partnership between Maharashtra and Britain will certainly contribute to a bright future," he said.

Liam Byrne, who led the UK delegation, said Maharashtra is not only the economic powerhouse of India but has also become a major attraction for global investors.

- IANS
Manipur's Home Minister has informed the state Assembly that the phased resettlement of families displaced by ethnic violence has commenced. The state has a Rs 350 crore budgetary provision to assist hundreds of thousands of affected women. Separately, the government reported that over 1,400 cadres of a UNLF faction are being verified and supported under a 2023 peace agreement. The Chief Minister also addressed recent hailstorm damage, directing officials to assess losses to homes and crops.

Manipur initiates phased rehabilitation for IDPs with a Rs 350 crore fund for affected women. UNLF peace deal implementation continues.

Imphal, March 16 Manipur Home Minister Konthoujam Govindas Singh on Monday informed the state Assembly that the resettlement process of Internally Displaced Persons, affected by ethnic violence in the state, has begun in a phased manner.

Replying to a question raised by Congress MLA Thokchom Lokeshwar Singh, he said the government has initiated steps to gradually rehabilitate those displaced by the ethnic unrest.

Earlier, Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh had announced a budgetary provision of Rs 350 crore in the state budget to assist women affected by the recent ethnic violence.

According to the Chief Minister, the financial assistance is expected to benefit around 3.5 lakh women impacted across Manipur.

Last month, Manipur Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla and the Chief Minister separately met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi to discuss key issues concerning the state, including the rehabilitation of internally displaced persons.

Responding to another question raised by Congress legislator Surjakumar Okram, the Home Minister said a total of 1,435 cadres of the United National Liberation Front (UNLF) have been verified so far. He said each cadre is currently being provided a monthly stipend of Rs 6,000.

The UNLF faction led by Pambei had signed a tripartite peace agreement with the Government of India and the Manipur government on November 29, 2023. The Home Minister said the peace agreement remains in force and the ground rules for its implementation have already been framed.

He said the Government of India has released funds paid in five instalments amounting to Rs 5.83 crore, covering the period from December 2023 to April 2024.

Meanwhile, responding to a separate calling attention motion raised by Congress Legislature Party leader Keisham Meghachandra Singh regarding the recent hailstorm, the Chief Minister said he has directed the concerned Deputy Commissioners to assist families affected by the disaster.

He said geotagged photographs of the assessed locations would be provided by the authorities.

Priority would first be given to damaged houses, followed by an assessment of crop losses.

- IANS
The Meghalaya Cabinet has extended the tenure of the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council by six months. The decision was announced by Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong following a cabinet meeting dedicated solely to this agenda. Concurrently, Albinus R Marak resigned as Chief Executive Member, with Dhormonot CH Sangma being elected as his replacement. The extension grants the new Executive Committee time to address pending administrative issues and key policy matters before elections.

Meghalaya Cabinet extends GHADC term for 6 months. New CEM elected after Albinus Marak resigns. Key policy decisions left to new committee.

Shillong, March 16 The Meghalaya Cabinet on Monday decided to extend the tenure of the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council by six months, beginning April 18.

The decision was taken during a Cabinet meeting that had only one agenda: to deliberate on the future of the council's current term.

Announcing the decision, Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong said the Cabinet carefully discussed the situation before arriving at the conclusion.

"We had only one agenda in today's Cabinet meeting, and that was regarding the extension of the term of the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council. After detailed deliberation and discussion on all aspects, the Cabinet has decided to extend the term of the present House for a period of six months, from April 18 to October 18," Tynsong stated.

Meanwhile, political developments also unfolded within the council on the same day. Tynsong informed that Albinus R Marak stepped down as the Chief Executive Member (CEM) of the council earlier in the day.

"I am happy to inform you that this morning the Chief Executive Member of the District Council, Shri Albinus R. Marak, resigned from his post. Later in the afternoon, the House elected a new Chief Executive Member, Shri Dhormonot CH Sangma," the Deputy Chief Minister said.

With the formation of the new Executive Committee, Tynsong said the government will now leave key policy decisions to the council's leadership.

"Now that the new Executive Committee is in place and the term has been extended for another six months, we leave it to the wisdom of the new Executive Committee to take a call on important issues, including the Scheduled Tribe matter and the question of contesting elections by both tribal and non-tribal candidates in the GHADC," he added.

The extension is expected to provide the council more time to address pending administrative and policy matters before fresh elections are held later this year.

- ANI
Kerala's Opposition Leader V.D. Satheesan declared the Pinarayi Vijayan government's "misrule" would end in 26 days following the Election Commission's announcement of poll dates. He expressed the UDF's confidence in winning over 100 seats, citing past victories in by-elections and local body polls. The Election Commission scheduled voting in Kerala and Assam for April 9, with vote counting for all four states and Puducherry on May 4. Satheesan also criticised the state government for its vague stance on the Sabarimala issue ahead of filing an affidavit in the Supreme Court.

Kerala LoP V.D. Satheesan declares Pinarayi govt's "misrule" will end in 26 days as EC announces election dates. UDF eyes over 100 seats.

Kochi, March 16 Opposition Leader in Kerala Assembly V. D. Satheesan on Monday said the "misrule" of the Pinarayi government would end in 26 days after the Election Commission of India announced the schedule for the Assembly elections.

Satheesan also expressed confidence that the United Democratic Front (UDF) would secure a decisive victory in the state.

"... The election dates have been declared by the Election Commission. In just 26 days, the misrule of the Pinarayi government will come to an end. We have already submitted a chargesheet against this government before the people, and we trust that the people of Kerala will put that charge sheet to the test in this election. We are confident of winning more than 100 out of 140 seats in Kerala," he said.

Speaking to ANI, Satheesan further said, "The UDF contests with full confidence because we have won almost all the by-elections with great margins. We secured 18 out of 20 seats in the Parliament elections, and we achieved a historic victory in the local body elections, the biggest in the last 30 years..."

The ECI on Sunday announced the schedule for Assembly elections in four states--West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Assam--along with the Union Territory of Puducherry.

According to the schedule, Kerala and Assam will vote in a single phase on April 9. Polling in West Bengal will be conducted in two phases on April 23 and April 29, while Tamil Nadu will go to the polls on April 23. Voting in Puducherry will also take place on April 9. The counting of votes for all four states and Puducherry will be held on May 4, the ECI announced.

In addition to the Assembly polls, the Commission also announced by-elections for six seats across six states--Goa, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Nagaland, and Tripura--which will be conducted in two phases.

The first phase, covering constituencies in Goa, Karnataka, Nagaland, and Tripura, will have polling on April 9, while the second phase in Gujarat and Maharashtra will take place on April 23.

Following the announcement, the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) came into immediate effect in all poll-bound regions.

The 2026 Kerala Legislative Assembly election will be held in a single phase on April 9, with vote counting scheduled for May 4. Around 2.7 crore electors are expected to participate in the election. The last date for filing nominations is March 23, scrutiny will take place on March 24, and candidates can withdraw their nominations until March 26.

Following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the state electoral roll, the final voter list for Kerala was released on February 21. The revised roll includes 2,69,53,644 voters--1,31,26,048 male voters, 1,38,27,319 female voters, and 227 third-gender voters. Among them, 4,24,518 voters belong to the 18-19 age group.

Overall, the elections will cover 824 Assembly constituencies with a total electorate of about 17.4 crore voters. Nearly 2.19 lakh polling stations will be set up, and around 25 lakh personnel will be deployed to conduct the elections.

The terms of the current assemblies are set to end on different dates: May 23 in Kerala, May 7 in West Bengal, May 10 in Tamil Nadu, May 20 in Assam, and June 15 in Puducherry.

Satheesan also spoke on the Sabarimala issue and criticised the state government for not having a clear stance.

He said, "The government is going to file another affidavit before the Supreme Court; it is very vague. This government does not have any clear stance on Sabarimala."

- ANI
The Madhya Pradesh Food and Civil Supplies Department has urged domestic consumers to use digital platforms for LPG cylinder bookings to avoid unnecessary visits to agencies. Officials, including Additional Chief Secretary Rashmi Arun Shami, assert that the state's domestic LPG supply is adequate and warn against rumors while detailing actions against hoarding. District administrations have been directed to act swiftly on complaints and ensure timely distribution. In a notable suggestion, Barwani District Collector Jayati Singh proposed that wedding organisers consider smaller menus to reduce high LPG consumption during large events.

Madhya Pradesh urges digital LPG bookings, advises against hoarding, and suggests smaller wedding menus to conserve fuel amid supply concerns.

Bhopal, March 16 Amid concerns over the availability of LPG cylinders, the Food and Civil Supplies Department of Madhya Pradesh on Monday urged domestic consumers to use digital platforms for booking cylinders and avoid visiting gas agencies unnecessarily.

The department maintained that the supply of domestic LPG in the state remains adequate and advised consumers not to be misled by rumours.

Commercial users have also been urged to utilise available stocks judiciously and explore alternative fuel options where possible.

"The supply of domestic gas in the state remains adequate. Consumers are urged not to be misled by baseless rumours. The country's refineries are operating at high capacity, and crude oil supplies are being secured from sources beyond West Asia as well," Additional Chief Secretary (Food, Civil Supplies) Rashmi Arun Shami said in a statement.

Following a review meeting, Shami said district collectors have been directed to strengthen their intelligence networks and take strict action against illegal hoarding and black marketing.

"If any complaints regarding irregularities or delays in the distribution system are received from any location, immediate action must be taken to ensure that gas is made available to consumers on time," she said.

Officials said cases of black marketing and hoarding of LPG cylinders have been reported in parts of the state despite close monitoring by multiple authorities, including the police and revenue departments.

According to a government report, authorities have conducted raids at 1,116 locations across the state, leading to the seizure of 1,825 cylinders till March 16.

Meanwhile, district administrations have been asked to act promptly on complaints and advise people on ways to conserve LPG during the current situation.

Barwani District Collector Jayati Singh suggested that wedding organisers consider keeping smaller menus to reduce LPG consumption.

"Traditionally, wedding ceremonies involve the preparation of large quantities of rotis and parathas, which consume a significant amount of cooking gas. In the current situation, if organisers include dishes that require less fuel to prepare, gas consumption can be reduced," she said.

Singh also noted that large-scale events often require a substantial number of cylinders for cooking, leading to sudden spikes in demand.

"In such circumstances, if people exercise caution and make suitable adjustments to their menus, it can help conserve fuel and ensure easier availability of LPG for general consumers," she added.

- IANS
Nattika MLA CC Mukundan left the Communist Party of India to join the BJP, calling it the happiest day of his political career. He praised the BJP for working for the welfare of the poor and recognized Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a true development leader. The BJP released its first list of 47 candidates for the upcoming Kerala Assembly elections, which will be held in a single phase on April 9. The counting of votes is scheduled for May 4, with the current assembly's tenure ending on May 23.

CPI's Nattika MLA CC Mukundan defects to BJP, praises PM Modi. BJP releases first list of 47 candidates for Kerala Assembly elections.

Thrissur, March 16 Nattika MLA CC Mukundan, who left the Communist Party of India, joined the BJP on Monday ahead of the Kerala Assembly elections.

Mukundan took party membership at the BJP district office and is expected to be fielded as the party's candidate from Nattika.

After joining, he said it was the "happiest day" of his political career and praised the BJP for working for the welfare of the poor.

Speaking to ANI, Mukundan said, "BJP works for the welfare of the poor in India... This is the happiest day of my political career."

Party leader Adv B Gopalakrishnan welcomed him, noting that Mukundan recognised Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a true development leader.

"He contested the election in Nattika constituency as a candidate of LDF...He realised that Narendra Modi is the real development leader. So that's why he agreed to join the BJP. We wholeheartedly welcome him," Gopalakrishnan said.

Earlier today, the BJP released its first list of 47 candidates, a day after the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced that the State will vote on April 9 in a single phase. Apart from Chandrasekhar, other prominent names in the BJP list are George Kurian, V Muraleedharan, K Surendran and Navya Haridas.

Union Minister George Kurian has been named a candidate from Kanjirappally. V Muraleedharan will contest from Kazhakoottam, while Navya Haridas will contest from Kozhikode North. Former Kerala BJP president K Surendran will contest from the Manjeshwar seat.

Counting of votes is scheduled to take place on May 4.

The Model Code of Conduct is now in place till the voting takes place in the 140-member State Assembly, which is also known as the Kerala Niyamasabha.

The tenure of the current assembly is scheduled to end on May 23. The last date for filing nominations is March 23, with scrutiny of nominations on March 24 and the last date for withdrawal of candidatures on March 26.

- ANI
Polling for five Rajya Sabha seats in Bihar concluded with both the ruling NDA and opposition Mahagathbandhan expressing confidence of a clean sweep. The election saw six candidates contesting for five seats, making every vote crucial as victory requires 41 first-preference votes. NDA leaders, including Bihar BJP President Sanjay Saraogi, asserted their alliance would win all seats, while opposition leaders like Tejashwi Yadav claimed their numbers had reached the winning threshold. The results, to be declared after counting, will test the strength and discipline of both political alliances.

Intense battle for 5 Rajya Sabha seats in Bihar as NDA and opposition Mahagathbandhan express confidence of winning all seats. Key quotes and analysis.

Patna, March 16 As polling for 37 Rajya Sabha seats across several states got underway on Monday, leaders of both the National Democratic Alliance and the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar expressed confidence about their prospects, with each side claiming victory in the state's five seats.

Voting began at 9 a.m. and will continue until 4 p.m., while the counting of votes is scheduled to start at 5 p.m.

Across the country, polling is taking place for seven Rajya Sabha seats in Maharashtra, six in Tamil Nadu, five each in Bihar and West Bengal, four in Odisha, three in Assam, two each in Chhattisgarh and Haryana, and one in Himachal Pradesh.

The election in Bihar has drawn intense attention because six candidates are contesting for five seats.

To secure victory, a candidate must obtain 41 first-preference votes. If a candidate fails to reach this threshold, second-preference votes will be counted to determine the winner.

This has increased the importance of every vote and heightened speculation about political manoeuvring.

The NDA has fielded five candidates - Nitish Kumar and Ram Nath Thakur (JD-U), Nitin Nabin and Shivesh Kumar (BJP), and Upendra Kushwaha (RLM).

The opposition Mahagathbandhan has fielded Amarendra Dhari Singh as its candidate.

Leaders from both the ruling NDA and the opposition Mahagathbandhan appeared confident about the outcome.

Bihar BJP President Sanjay Saraogi said there was no doubt about the NDA's victory. "All five seats will go to the NDA," he asserted.

Union Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh said: "We are going to win all five seats; wait for the counting."

BJP MLA Maithili Thakur said, ''Very, very excited! Everyone from the entire assembly, all those who voted today, arrived on time. We started with refreshments at the polling station, and it felt really good."

JD-U MP Sanjay Kumar Jha also expressed optimism, stating that initial reports indicate the NDA is winning all five seats by a large margin. "The results will become clear soon, and everyone will be able to see the outcome," he said.

Echoing similar sentiments, JD-U MLA Amrendra Kumar Pandey said the alliance was certain of victory. "We are going to win all five seats. It is absolutely final-110 per cent. All five seats will be ours," he remarked.

JD-U Bihar President Umesh Singh Kushwaha also claimed that the victory of the NDA candidates was assured. "Our candidates' victory is 100 per cent certain. Only the formalities remain," he said.

Meanwhile, the opposition Mahagathbandhan leaders also sounded confident.

Leader of the Opposition in the Bihar Assembly, Tejashwi Yadav, said that the numbers were in favour of the alliance. "We are confident because the numbers are with us. Our allies from AIMIM and BSP have supported us. We have reached 41, and with 41 votes, victory is certain," he said.

Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) chief Upendra Kushwaha dismissed the opposition's claims and said the final result would speak for itself.

"Just wait until 4 p.m., and everything will become clear," he said. Taking a swipe at the opposition, he added that similar claims had been made earlier as well, but they did not materialise.

Congress MLA Qamrul Hoda said the opposition alliance was united and confident of victory. "Wait and see. By 6 p.m., AD Singh will go to the Rajya Sabha," he said.

RJD spokesperson Shakti Singh Yadav accused the ruling alliance of trying to influence the election through unfair means. "This is a Rajya Sabha election. They are short by three in terms of numbers, while we have 41. They are trying to win by misusing money power and the system, but all the secular parties are united on one platform," he said.

Congress MLA Avidur Rahman also expressed confidence that the Grand Alliance would secure at least one seat, alleging that NDA members were attempting to create pressure and offer inducements.

RJD MLA Anita Devi said the alliance was confident of celebrating victory later in the evening. "We will celebrate in the evening. We are winning," she said.

- IANS
NDA leaders in Bihar have expressed absolute confidence in winning all five Rajya Sabha seats, with JDU President Umesh Singh Kushwaha stating victory is 101% certain. The RJD has reportedly moved its MLAs to a hotel to prevent cross-voting, a move NDA leaders mocked as a sign of distrust. The NDA requires three MLAs to cross-vote for its fifth candidate to secure a win, while the RJD needs six. Key NDA candidates include Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and RLM chief Upendra Kushwaha.

JDU President Umesh Singh Kushwaha declares 101% certainty of NDA winning all five Rajya Sabha seats in Bihar, as RJD moves MLAs to a hotel.

Patna, March 16 Bihar JDU President Umesh Singh Kushwaha on Monday exuded confidence in the National Democratic Alliance's victory in Bihar in the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections.

"NDA only has to formally declare victory. 101% our victory is certain. No matter what tactics the opposition resorts to, voting is happening in favour of the NDA. All five seats will be in favour of the NDA," he said.

He added, "Detaining legislators is an insult to democracy. Some legislators have been freed and are not in captivity, so we salute their courage."

Earlier today, Rashtriya Lok Morcha chief and NDA candidate for Rajya Sabha from Bihar, Upendra Kushwaha, said, "The counting is happening today itself, so the results will come in the same way that we have been repeatedly telling about... When RJD itself is gradually disappearing from the political scene of Bihar, then what can we say about their MLAs disappearing... The victory of all five NDA candidates is more than 100% certain."

Janata Dal (United) National Working President Sanjay Kumar Jha echoed a similar confidence.

"NDA will win all five seats with a big margin. Four seats are confirmed. We will also win the fifth seat," he said.

Bihar minister Mangal Pandey also said the same while taking a jibe over reports of RJD moving their MLAs to a hotel to prevent any cross-voting.

"Today, the voting process will be completed, and all NDA candidates will win. They (RJD) don't trust their own MLAs, that is why they are doing this," he said.

NDA has eyed all five seats to the Rajya Sabha but lacks a clear majority for its fifth candidate. NDA needs three MLAs to vote across party lines, whereas RJD needs the support of six MLAs to achieve the 41 mark.

NDA candidates include Bihar's longest-tenured Chief Minister Nitish Kumar; RLM chief Upendra Kushwaha, BJP chief Nitin Nabin, Shivesh Ram and Ram Nath Thakur. RJD has nominated AD Singh for the seat.

- ANI
Bihar's Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary has expressed unwavering confidence in the National Democratic Alliance's victory in all five Rajya Sabha seats from Bihar. Union Minister Chirag Paswan echoed this sentiment, citing the alliance's numerical strength and unity as key factors. Other NDA leaders, including Sanjay Kumar Jha and Shravan Kumar, have also predicted a decisive win for the alliance's candidates. The elections for 37 Rajya Sabha seats across 10 states are scheduled for March 16.

Bihar Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary and NDA leaders express 100% confidence in winning all five Rajya Sabha seats from the state in upcoming polls.

Patna, March 14 Bihar's Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary on Saturday expressed confidence in the victory of National Democratic Alliance candidates in the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections.

Speaking with the media, Choudhary said that the candidates have been chosen carefully and said that the alliance stands united.

"... We have fielded five candidates after careful consideration. The entire NDA is united, and we will win all five seats," he said.

Meanwhile, Union Minister Chirag Paswan said that the NDA will emerge victorious in Bihar, adding that the alliance has "numerical strength and unity."

"We are fully prepared for this. There is no doubt about it at all. NDA's candidates will win all five seats in Bihar and go to the Rajya Sabha as MPs... We have the numerical strength, the entire NDA is moving forward with unity...," he told the media.

Voicing similar confidence, Janata Dal United's National Executive President Sanjay Kumar Jha said that he is confident that NDA will win "all five seats with a huge margin."

Bihar Minister Shravan Kumar also said that the NDA will win all five seats in Bihar.

"101% victory is assured... NDA is winning all five seats in Bihar...," he said.

Earlier, Union Minister Giriraj Singh asserted confidence in the victory of the NDA candidates in the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections, stating that the candidates will win "by 200%."

Speaking with the media, the Union Minister said, "The value of NDA's vote is four times more than that of the INDI alliance, and we know this much that all five of NDA's five candidates are winning by 200%."

The polling for the biennial elections to the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) to fill the 37 seats across 10 states is scheduled to take place on March 16, with the counting of votes on the same day at 5 pm.

The term of 37 members who were elected from Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Telangana will conclude in the month of April, vacating the seats for new members to be elected.

- ANI
The National Democratic Alliance has secured a clean sweep, winning all five Rajya Sabha seats in Bihar. JD(U) leader Sanjay Kumar Jha stated that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who is heading to the Upper House, will remain in Patna to guide the state government when Parliament is not in session. BJP and LJP(RV) leaders celebrated the landslide victory, attributing it to alliance unity and a scattered opposition. The results have intensified political tensions, with Union Minister Giriraj Singh calling for Tejashwi Yadav to resign as Leader of the Opposition.

JD(U)'s Sanjay Jha says CM Nitish Kumar will stay in Patna to guide the government. NDA leaders celebrate landslide victory.

Patan, March 17 Janta Dal National Working President Sanjay Kumar Jha expressed happiness over the National Democratic Alliance sweeping the Rajya Sabha polls, while saying that Nitish Kumar will mostly stay in Patna, except when the House is in session, to "guide the government as needed".

Addressing the press conference, Sanjay Kumar said on Monday, "It was clear from the beginning that the NDA would win by a large margin. Our leader, our Chief Minister, Nitish Kumar, is now going to the Rajya Sabha. I congratulate all five NDA members on the victory, and especially Nitish Kumar, who is going to the Rajya Sabha."

Praising the Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the JD(U) leader added that the CM will guide the government that will be formed in Bihar.

"He has such extensive legislative experience. And when he goes there, he will definitely raise Bihar's issues. Nitish Kumar will guide the government that will be formed in Bihar. When the House is in session, he will be in Delhi, and otherwise, he will stay in Patna to work for the party and will continue to guide the government as needed..." he added.

Further reacting to winning the Rajya Sabha election in the state, Bharatiya Janata Party national president and party's candidate Nitin Nabin added that the Bihar unit successfully delivered a landslide victory.

"Today, I congratulate the people of Bihar and the entire NDA team for the NDA's landslide victory. The Bihar unit has successfully delivered a landslide victory. The entire credit for this victory goes to the NDA team of Bihar. I am getting the opportunity to enter parliamentary life for the first time. I express my gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and all my senior leaders for giving me the opportunity to serve as a Member of Parliament in the country's Parliament," he added.

Expressing confidence in the strength of the alliance, Union Minister and LJP (RV) Chief Chirag Paswan added that the opposition was scattered.

"This victory was expected... The opposition was scattered... It is the result of our unity that all 5 of our candidates won.... This shows the strength of our alliance..." he added.

Further, speaking on the Leader of Opposition in the Bihar Assembly and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav's statement on the results, he said, "If you keep accusing people without looking internally, the opposition will face more loss in the future..."

Union Minister Giriraj Singh also reacted to Tejashwi Yadav's statement on the Rajya Sabha election result and said he should resign from the post of Leader of the Opposition.

He added, "Tejashwi Yadav should resign from the post of Leader of the Opposition...3-4 Congress MLAs have shown a mirror to Rahul Gandhi."

The biennial Rajya Sabha elections were held to fill 37 seats across 10 states. Out of the 37 seats, 26 candidates have already been elected unopposed, while voting was held for the remaining 11 seats, including five from Bihar.

The most interesting part of these Rajya Sabha polls is the Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Nitish Kumar, Bihar's longest-tenured Chief Minister for over two decades, announced that he would be heading to the Rajya Sabha and filed his nomination in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, among other leaders.

The 75-year-old also said that the new Cabinet would have his full support.

Apart from Nitish Kumar, other NDA candidates, including Upendra Kushwaha and BJP chief Nitin Nabin, also filed their nominations for the Upper House.

- ANI
Victory decided by first and second preference votes

The National Democratic Alliance secured a clean sweep in the Rajya Sabha elections for five seats from Bihar. The victory was marred by controversy as three Congress MLAs were absent during voting, with the party's state chief alleging they were abducted by the BJP. The results hinged on the NDA's commanding numerical strength of around 202 MLAs in the 243-seat Bihar Assembly. Deputy Chief Ministers hailed the win while accusing the opposition RJD and Congress of having their true nature exposed by their own MLAs' refusal to vote.

NDA secures all five Rajya Sabha seats from Bihar. Opposition alleges BJP abducted MLAs as three Congress legislators go missing during voting.

Patna, March 16 The National Democratic Alliance registered a clean sweep in the elections held for five seats of the Rajya Sabha from Bihar, with all its candidates securing victory.

The result dealt a setback to the Opposition Mahagathbandhan.

The NDA had fielded Chief Minister and Janata Dal (United) national president Nitish Kumar, Bharatiya Janata Party chief Nitin Nabin, Union Minister Ram Nath Thakur, Rashtriya Lok Morcha chief Upendra Kushwaha, and BJP candidate Shivesh Ram.

All five candidates won their respective seats.

During voting in the Bihar Legislative Assembly, 202 MLAs from the NDA cast their votes, while 37 MLAs from the Mahagathbandhan participated in the polling.

On behalf of the Opposition, Indian National Congress MLAs Manoj Biswas, Surendra Kushwaha and Manohar Prasad Singh, along with Rashtriya Janata Dal MLA Faisal Rahman, were absent during the voting.

Bihar Congress President Rajesh Ram issued a statement regarding the disappearance of three Congress MLAs.

He alleged that the BJP has abducted their legislators. He noted that, despite the BJP being in power, these three MLAs had remained in constant contact since March 13.

He further claimed that their MLAs have been placed under house arrest.

The counting of votes began at 5:00 p.m.

On the basis of first preference, Nitish Kumar, Nitin Nabin, Ram Nath Thakur, and Upendra Kushwaha secured victory, while Shivesh Ram secured his victory in the second preference of votes.

Meanwhile, the Mahagathbandhan's candidate A. D. Singh received 38 votes.

In the second preference round, Shivesh Ram secured additional votes, ensuring victory for all NDA candidates.

The Bihar Legislative Assembly has 243 seats, and the election was conducted to fill five Rajya Sabha seats.

Although six candidates were in the fray, the NDA's strong numerical strength in the Assembly played a decisive role in the outcome.

The ruling alliance currently enjoys the support of around 202 MLAs, while the Mahagathbandhan has 35 MLAs, giving the NDA a clear advantage.

Reacting to the victory, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary congratulated Nitin Nabin.

In a message, he said that Nabin's leadership, organisational skills and dedication to public service have consistently energised the party and society.

Choudhary expressed confidence that Nabin's role in the Rajya Sabha would help bring renewed momentum and direction to issues related to Bihar's development.

Speaking on the Rajya Sabha elections, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Kumar Sinha said, "Today, the true conduct of the RJD and Congress has been exposed. Their very own MLAs refused to cast their votes. First, the public refused to vote for them."

- IANS
Union Minister Giriraj Singh has expressed supreme confidence in the NDA's prospects for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections from Bihar, stating their candidates are winning by 200%. JD(U) Working President Sanjay Kumar Jha echoed this sentiment, forecasting a clean sweep of all five seats. On the critical question of who will succeed Nitish Kumar as Chief Minister, both leaders stated the decision rests solely with the top leadership of the NDA alliance. The Rajya Sabha elections for 37 seats across ten states are set for March 16.

Union Minister Giriraj Singh and JD(U) leaders express 200% confidence in NDA's Rajya Sabha victory. Decision on next Bihar CM rests with alliance leadership.

Patna, March 14 Union Minister Giriraj Singh on Saturday asserted confidence in the victory of the NDA candidates in the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections.

Speaking with the media, the Union Minister said, "The value of NDA's vote is four times more than that of the INDI alliance, and we know this much that all five of NDA's five candidates are winning by 200%."

Further on the Chief Minister's position in Bihar, the Union Minister said that the decision will be taken by "Nitish Kumar and the party leadership."

Earlier in the day, Janata Dal (United) MP Working President Sanjay Kumar Jha said that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is confident of winning all five Rajya Sabha seats from Bihar and asserted that the decision on the next Chief Minister of the state will be taken by the alliance's top leadership.

Speaking to the media here, Jha said meetings of the JD(U) legislature party are being organised as part of the party's preparations for the upcoming political developments in the state. "The Legislature party meeting is being held at the residence of Upendra Kushwaha, tomorrow the meeting will be held at Minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary's residence," he said.

Expressing confidence in the NDA's prospects in the Rajya Sabha elections, Jha said the alliance expects a clean sweep. "We will win all five Rajya Sabha seats," he said.

On the question of who would succeed Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Jha said the matter would be decided collectively by the top leaders of the NDA. "The top leaders of the NDA will decide who will become the next CM of Bihar," he said.

The polling for the biennial elections to the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) to fill the 37 seats across 10 states is scheduled to take place on March 16, with the counting of votes on the same day at 5 pm.

The term of 37 members who were elected from Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Telangana will conclude in the month of April, vacating the seats for new members to be elected.

- ANI
Israel's Ambassador to India, Reuven Azar, has stated there is "no shifting of the goalposts" in the joint US-Israel strategic objectives against Iran. He detailed a three-point plan focused on neutralizing Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile threats while aiming to degrade the regime's oppressive capabilities. Azar asserted that Iranian retaliatory strikes were expected and less effective due to prior operations, criticizing Tehran's escalation as "completely irresponsible." He maintained that international pressure must remain on Iran as the primary aggressor in the conflict.

Israeli envoy Reuven Azar outlines the three strategic goals to neutralise Iran's nuclear and missile threats and support the Iranian people.

New Delhi, March 16 The Ambassador of Israel to India, Reuven Azar, has affirmed that the strategic objectives of the joint US-Israel operations against Iran remain firm, stating that there has been "no shifting of the goalposts" regarding their military aims.

While speaking to ANI, the Israeli envoy detailed the primary mission of the current conflict, asserting that the coalition is focused on three specific outcomes.

"We have stated at the outset that we have three goals: to neutralise the nuclear threat, to neutralise the ballistic missile threat, and to give the Iranian people an opportunity to embrace the future by degrading the capability of the forces of oppression inside Iran," Azar said.

The Ambassador emphasised that the ongoing military campaign is strictly aligned with these established intentions.

"So, we are doing exactly that. Nothing has changed in terms of our aims," he remarked, adding that the ultimate goal is to ensure that "after this war is over, the Iranian regime cannot reconstitute these plans."

Addressing the recent retaliatory actions taken by Tehran, Azar noted that the Iranian military response was expected.

He claimed that previous operations in June had already significantly diminished Iran's offensive power, resulting in a less effective strike against Israel this time.

"We are not surprised. We knew that the Iranians have these capabilities. In fact, following our effort back in June, we have degraded the capabilities of the Iranians, and the damage that they are inflicting on Israel now is much less than what they did back in June," the Ambassador explained.

He further criticised the scale of the Iranian response, describing the decision to target multiple nations as a "completely irresponsible" escalation of the conflict.

"They decided to escalate by attacking 12 countries in the region. I think this is completely irresponsible," he added.

The envoy maintained that the international community should view Tehran as the primary instigator.

"The pressure is on them and will continue to be on them because they are the aggressors," Azar stated.

- ANI
Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma has directed officials to maintain strict vigilance over the LPG distribution system and take prompt action against hoarding and black marketing. He emphasized that there is no shortage of domestic cylinders in the state and that uninterrupted supply is being ensured. The state's Food and Civil Supplies Minister, Sumit Godara, stated the government is closely monitoring the entire supply chain. Separately, the Central government announced a 31% increase in domestic LPG production to ensure uninterrupted supply amid geopolitical tensions.

Rajasthan CM Bhajan Lal Sharma directs officials to ensure LPG supply, act against hoarding and rumors. Central govt reports increased production.

Jaipur, March 14 Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma on Saturday directed officials to maintain strict vigilance over the LPG cylinder distribution system and ensure prompt action against hoarding and black marketing.

Chairing a review meeting at the Chief Minister's Office, Sharma said there is no shortage of domestic LPG cylinders in the state and that uninterrupted supply is being ensured for common consumers.

The Chief Minister emphasised the need to maintain public confidence regarding the availability of LPG. He instructed officials to take immediate action if any irregularity or misuse is detected.

Sharma also directed authorities to promptly address complaints received through government helplines 181, 112 and 14435 on a priority basis.

He further ordered strict monitoring of individuals spreading rumours or misleading information about LPG shortages and warned that the strictest action would be taken against them.

During the meeting, Rajasthan Minister for Food and Civil Supplies Sumit Godara said the state government is closely monitoring the LPG supply chain to ensure smooth distribution.

He said the entire process -- from stock availability to final delivery to consumers -- is being tracked, while teams of officials are conducting inspections on the ground and taking action wherever required.

A representative of the oil companies, acting as the state-level coordinator, also briefed the meeting on the current stock position and supply of LPG across the state.

Several senior officials were present at the review meeting.

Meanwhile, the Central government on Saturday said that domestic LPG production has been increased by about 31 per cent as part of measures to ensure uninterrupted supply of cooking gas amid the evolving geopolitical situation in West Asia.

The update came during the fourth inter-ministerial media briefing, where officials from the Ministries of Petroleum and Natural Gas, External Affairs, Ports, Shipping and Waterways, and Information and Broadcasting shared updates on energy supplies, maritime operations and the safety of Indian nationals in the region.

Officials from the Petroleum Ministry said all refineries in the country are operating at high levels and maintaining adequate crude oil inventories.

India remains self-sufficient in the production of petrol and diesel and does not require imports to meet domestic demand, according to officials.

They also said there have been no cases of fuel dry-outs at petrol pumps across the country, urging consumers not to resort to panic buying as adequate stocks of petrol and diesel are available.

- IANS
At the 98th Academy Awards, actor Javier Bardem used his platform while presenting an award to make a political statement for peace. He declared "No to war and free Palestine," earning applause from the audience. Bardem has previously denounced the situation in Gaza as a genocide, citing the International Association of Genocide Scholars. He also wore a pin supporting Palestine on the Oscars red carpet.

Actor Javier Bardem made a political statement for Palestine at the Oscars, denouncing the Gaza conflict and calling for sanctions on Israel.

Los Angeles, March 16 At major events, especially the Oscars, celebrities have often used the platform to highlight important global issues alongside celebrating cinema. At the 98th Academy Awards, actor Javier Bardem did the same.

On Sunday night, Javier Bardem took to the stage to present the Oscar for best international film with actress Priyanka Chopra.

As reported by Variety, before announcing the nominees, Javier said, "No to war and free Palestine," which earned a big round of applause from the audience at the show.

Javier's remarks come after the United States and Israel carried out joint strikes on Iran last month, as well as increased involvement of the US in the ongoing conflicts between Israel and Palestine

Earlier, on the red carpet of the Emmy awards this season, Bardem spoke to Variety, expressing solidarity with Palestine

"Here I am today, denouncing the genocide in Gaza," he said. "I am talking about the IAGS, the International Association of Genocide Scholars, who study thoroughly genocide and has declared it is a genocide. That's why we ask for a commercial and diplomatic blockade and also sanctions on Israel to stop the genocide. Free Palestine."

At Oscars ceremony, the F1 star also sported a pin with the word "Palestine" on it and a placard that read: "No a la Guerra" (No to the war).

- ANI
US President Donald Trump expressed dissatisfaction with the UK and France for not enthusiastically joining a coalition to secure the Strait of Hormuz. He detailed extensive US military operations against Iran, claiming the destruction of naval vessels and over 7,000 targets. Trump emphasized that the US military is the strongest and does not need allied support for these operations. He also referenced conversations with French President Emmanuel Macron, who has urged Iran to cease regional attacks.

Trump says US doesn't need allies for Strait of Hormuz security, details strikes on Iran's military and naval assets.

Washington DC, March 16 US President Donald Trump said that he was not happy with French President Emmanuel Macron's stance on not joining the coalition to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump, while in a Lunch with the Trump Kennedy Center Board Members, said that the US military is the "strongest in the world, and do not need anyone."

He said, "I have spoken to him. On a scale of 0 to 10, he's been an eight. Not perfect, but it's France... I think he's going to help. I spoke to him yesterday. I don't do a hard sell on them because my attitude is that we don't need anybody. We're the strongest nation in the world. We have the strongest military by far in the world."

French President Emmanuel Macron earlier spoke with Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian, calling on him to put an end to attacks by Iran against the other countries in the West Asia region, whether directly or through proxies.

"I have just spoken with Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian. I called on him to put an immediate end to the unacceptable attacks Iran is carrying out against countries in the region, whether directly or through proxies, including in Lebanon and Iraq. I reminded him that France is acting within a strictly defensive framework aimed at protecting its interests, its regional partners, and freedom of navigation, and that it is unacceptable for our country to be targeted," Macron posted on X.

Trump had said that he is "not happy with the UK", and that, "I think they'll be involved, maybe, but they should be involved enthusiastically. We've been protecting these countries for years with NATO, because NATO is us. You can ask Putin. Putin fears us. He has no fear of Europe whatsoever. He fears the United States of America and the military that I built during my first term..."

On US Operations in Iran, Trump said, "We have it (Strait of Hormuz) in very good shape. We've already taken care of Iran, but now, because of the fact that literally a single terrorist can shoot a missile, and it's fairly close range, because it is a tight area, which is one of the reasons they've always used that as a weapon. Iran has always used that as an economic weapon, and it's not going to be able to be used very long. Numerous countries have told me they're on the way. Some are very enthusiastic about it, and some are countries that we've helped for many, many years."

Trump also said that they have destroyed Kharg Island.

He said, "We attacked Kharg Island and knocked it. We destroyed everything on the island except for the area where the oil is. We left the pipes. We didn't want to do that, but we will do that... But for purposes of someday rebuilding that country, I guess we did the right thing... We are aggressively dismantling Iran's defence industrial base, and its ability to rebuild its missiles and drone capability is getting close to zero. We're hammering their capacity to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz with more than 30 mine-laying ships destroyed... We've hit all 30 of their ships and destroyed them. They're all at the bottom of the sea."

Trump also said that they have achieved hitting over 7,000 targets till date in Iran.

He said, "Since the beginning of the conflict, we've struck more than 7,000 targets across Iran, and these have been mostly commercial and military targets. We've achieved a 90 per cent reduction in their ballistic missile launches and a 95 per cent reduction in drone attacks. We've also attacked the manufacturing plants, the places where they manufacture the missiles and the drones, and that's going on today. We just hit three of them today. More than 100 Iranian naval vessels have been sunk or destroyed over the last week and a half. Additional strikes continue to launch from all directions every single hour."

He further said, "Our powerful military campaign to end the threats posed by the Iranian regime continued in full force over the past few days. They have been literally obliterated. The Air Force is gone. The Navy is gone. Many, many ships have been sunk. They're warfighting ships, anti-aircraft is decimated, their radar is gone, and their leaders are gone. Other than that, they're doing quite well. They've been a terror for 47 years, and now, the world, through the United States, with the help of Israel, is doing what should have been done many years ago."

Earlier, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also gaggled with journalists briefly in the driveway.

Asked about President Trump's planned visit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping later this month, Leavitt said, "it is a leader-to-leader conversation at this point. The president looks forward to visiting China. The dates may be moved. As commander in chief, it's his number one priority right now to ensure the continued success of this operation, Epic Fury. So we will keep you updated on the dates soon."

Leavitt said that Trump "wished the UK had stepped up sooner and quicker" with regards to his call for England to help open the Strait of Hormuz.

"But he continues to speak with our allies in Europe and is calling on them for support, just as he did when he called on them to step up with respect to their defense spending in NATO. He's calling them to do more here," she added.

The press secretary deferred a question about deploying US Marines to the region to the Pentagon.

- ANI
A powerful whirlwind struck the Karanjia block in Odisha's Mayurbhanj district on Sunday afternoon, causing significant damage. The storm severely impacted the area, damaging more than 50 thatched and asbestos houses. At least twelve people sustained serious injuries and have been shifted to nearby medical facilities for treatment. Revenue authorities, including the Block Development Officer and Tehsildar, are on-site conducting a detailed assessment to coordinate relief efforts.

A severe whirlwind struck Karanjia block in Mayurbhanj, Odisha, damaging over 50 houses and injuring at least 12 people. Relief efforts are underway.

Mayurbhanj, March 16 A whirlwind struck Karanjia block in Odisha's Mayurbhanj district, severely impacting the area, with more than 50 houses affected, and over 12 people sustaining serious injuries.

According to the Additional District Magistrate (ADM) Mayurbhanj Netrananda Mallick of Mayurbhanj district administration, authorities were currently conducting detailed assessments to evaluate the full extent of the damage and coordinate relief efforts.

The whirlwind struck Odisha's Mayurbhanj on Sunday afternoon.

Speaking to ANI, ADM Mallick said they received information from the media and after contacting the Tehsildar and a Block Development Officer (BDO) about the cyclone gust causing major damage in the district.

"Once we got information from the media and by contacting the Tehsildar and a BDO. A tornado occurred today around 3 to 4 pm. More than 50 thatched houses or Asbestos houses have been damaged, and some people have been injured. They have been shifted to the nearest medical facilities, and an assessment is ongoing. The BDO, Tehsildar and revenue authorities are there, and further details will be provided after the assessment is complete," said the ADM.

The injured persons have been shifted to the nearest facilities for treatment.

Revenue authorities, including the BDO and the Tehsildar, are present at the site conducting a detailed assessment of the damage.

Further details are awaited.

- ANI
Israeli Ambassador to India Reuven Azar has clarified that the timing of a military strike was dictated by operational opportunity, not by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent visit. He stated the cabinet decision to approve the operation happened two days after Modi's departure from the region. Azar emphasized that neither the US nor Israel intends to invade Iran, aiming instead to encourage internal change through domestic pressure. The envoy stressed the long-term objective is greater regional stability and a Middle East freer from Iranian threats.

Israeli Ambassador Reuven Azar says the operational opportunity for a strike came only after PM Modi left, dismissing theories of synchronization.

New Delhi, March 16 The Ambassador of Israel to India, Reuven Azar, has addressed ongoing "theories" regarding the timing of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Israel and the subsequent joint military actions involving the United States and Israel against Iran.

Speaking on the geopolitical climate surrounding the late February visit, the Ambassador noted that regional instability was a known factor well before the high-level diplomatic engagement.

"It was evident that the situation is very volatile in our region even before Prime Minister Modi came (on February 25-26, 2026)," Azar stated, clarifying the context in which the trip took place.

Linking the diplomatic schedule to the military timeline, the Ambassador explained that the decision to launch the offensive was dictated strictly by strategic considerations rather than the visit itself.

"When it comes to the decision to strike, the operational opportunity came only after PM Modi left," he asserted, dismissing suggestions that the events were synchronised.

The envoy further detailed the procedural timeline to emphasise that formal authorisation for the strike followed the Prime Minister's departure from the region.

According to Azar, "The cabinet decision to approve the operation happened only two days after," marking a clear distinction between the diplomatic conclusion and the commencement of military activity.

Beyond the timing of the strikes, Azar clarified the long-term objectives of the current operations during a press conference in Delhi.

He stressed that neither the United States nor Israel intends to invade Iran, noting that the focus remains on encouraging internal change through domestic pressure rather than military occupation.

The Israeli envoy said the objective is to ensure greater stability and security across the region, while enabling Iranians to push for changes in their country's policies or leadership.

"We want to give the Iranian people a situation in which they can actually put pressure for a change in policy or for a change of the regime," Azar said.

"We are going to see whether this happens or not but are resolute in putting a focus on that. It not only serves the Iranian people but it also serves our aim of creating a more stable future in the region," he added, noting that a stable West Asia would benefit Gulf countries and the wider international community.

Azar further emphasised the need to see a Middle East "freer from the terrible threats that the Iranians were planning to build."

These remarks come amid sharply escalated tensions, with Israel repeatedly accusing Iran of developing destabilising capabilities through its missile programme and support for armed groups.

While Iran maintains its programmes are for defensive purposes, the rivalry has increasingly played out through proxy conflicts and targeted strikes.

Azar's remarks underscore Israel's position that regional stability depends on addressing these security threats while leaving room for internal political change driven by Iranian citizens.

- ANI
Oprah Winfrey has responded to online criticism after a video from Paris Fashion Week showed her walking slowly, which trolls compared to a 90-year-old. She explained the moment was due to wearing non-prescription sunglasses that impaired her vision. Her friend, Gayle King, was also struggling to walk due to having two broken toes at the time. The comments come shortly after Oprah shared posts highlighting her improved fitness and strength training routine.

Oprah Winfrey reveals the real reason she walked slowly at Paris Fashion Week, responding to online trolls who compared her to a 90-year-old.

Washington DC, March 15 Oprah Winfrey recently responded to online trolls after some people mocked her for walking like a "90-year-old" at Paris Fashion Week.

The 72-year-old television host attended the Paris Fashion Week earlier this month along with her longtime friend Gayle King.

A video shared online showed Winfrey smiling while taking slow steps, with King walking behind her. The clip later sparked several comments on social media.

According to PEOPLE, speaking about the moment during a recent appearance, Winfrey said she noticed the jokes and comments online about the way she and King were walking.

While talking about the online reactions, Winfrey said people mocked the pair and compared their walk to that of very elderly people.

"On the internet, somebody was... you know how people drag you on the internet. So they were dragging me and Gayle saying, 'Look at them walking like they're 90 years old,' " Winfrey said during a recent appearance, per a clip shared on Instagram by user @jznotthatjayz on Thursday, March 12, PEOPLE shared.

Winfrey then shared the real reason behind the moment. She said her stylist had handed her sunglasses just before she stepped out of the car for the show, but the glasses were not her regular prescription pair.

"And so there was a moment where we're walking into the Chloe fashion show, and my stylist had just handed me the Chloe sunglasses before I got out of the car," she said. "Now, I wear glasses or I wear contacts. So those were not prescription glasses."

She added that the reason she was walking slowly was because she could not clearly see where she was going.

"So I didn't know where I was walking," she said with a laugh. "I could not see!"

"So everybody who's saying 'you're walking like you're 90,' I could not see," Winfrey reiterated.

The former talk show host also shared that she even asked her security team to guide her while entering the venue.

Winfrey added that King was also dealing with her own issue at the time. According to Winfrey, King told her she had two broken toes while walking into the event.

"As the CBS News journalist was walking alongside Winfrey, she said to her, "I got two broken toes. I can't walk."

"And that's the reason we looked like we were 90 years old," Winfrey said.

The comments came just weeks after Winfrey shared posts on social media showing her fitness routine. In one post, she talked about how she had improved her plank exercise time. She also shared a video of herself doing deadlifts on her 72nd birthday, saying she feels stronger after starting strength training in recent years.

- ANI
Anna Wintour and Anne Hathaway delighted the 2026 Oscars audience with a playful onstage exchange referencing their iconic film, *The Devil Wears Prada*. Wintour humorously called Hathaway "Emily," confusing her with Emily Blunt's character from the movie. The moment capitalized on nostalgia for the beloved 2006 fashion comedy, for which Meryl Streep earned an Oscar nomination. The bit comes as anticipation grows for the upcoming sequel, set to reunite the original cast.

Anna Wintour humorously called Anne Hathaway "Emily" onstage at the 2026 Oscars, recreating a iconic film moment. Watch the viral clip.

Los Angeles, March 16 A playful nod to fashion and film history unfolded onstage at the 2026 Oscars when Anna Wintour jokingly called Anne Hathaway 'Emily', recreating a memorable reference to the iconic fashion film 'The Devil Wears Prada'.

The moment took place during the 98th Academy Awards on Sunday, March 15 (early Monday morning in India), when the Vogue editorial director and the Oscar-winning actor presented the awards for Best Costume Design and Best Makeup and Hairstyling together.



Their onstage exchange quickly became one of the evening's most talked-about moments, blending Hollywood nostalgia with fashion industry wit.



The Academy shared the video on its official Instagram handle.



Hathaway, who starred as aspiring journalist Andy Sachs in the 2006 film adaptation of Lauren Weisberger's novel, opened the bit by referencing the movie's fashion-world setting.



Before announcing the winner for Best Costume Design, she turned to Wintour and asked, "Anna, just curious, what do you think of my dress tonight?"



Wintour, known for her signature composure and trademark sunglasses, responded with a dry punchline: "And the nominees are...," prompting laughter from the audience.



The references continued moments later while introducing the Best Makeup and Hairstyling nominees. When Hathaway offered Wintour the chance to read the list, the fashion editor replied, "Thank you, Emily," humorously confusing Hathaway with Emily Blunt's character from the film, Miranda Priestly's sharp-tongued assistant named Emily.



The meta joke drew cheers from the crowd, particularly given the film's long-standing cultural impact and its connection to Wintour herself.



In the original movie, Meryl Streep portrayed the formidable Runway magazine editor Miranda Priestly, a character widely believed to have been inspired by Wintour. Streep earned a Best Actress nomination at the 2007 Oscars for the role.



During the ceremony, the award for Best Costume Design ultimately went to Frankenstein for Kate Hawley's work, while the film also took home the Best Makeup and Hairstyling prize.



The playful Oscars exchange arrives as anticipation builds for 'The Devil Wears Prada 2,' scheduled to hit theatres on May 1.



The sequel will reunite Hathaway, Streep, Blunt, Stanley Tucci, Tracie Thoms and Tibor Feldman, while new cast members include Kenneth Branagh, Lucy Liu, Justin Theroux and B. J. Novak.



Original film director David Frankel and screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna have returned for the sequel, continuing the story nearly two decades after the beloved fashion comedy first debuted.



Hosted by Conan O'Brien, the 2026 Oscars ceremony aired live on ABC and Hulu. In India, the ceremony aired live on JioHotstar.





- ANI
Autumn Durald Arkapaw won the Oscar for Best Cinematography for the film 'Sinners,' becoming the first woman ever to win in that category. She is also the first woman of color to receive this historic honor. Arkapaw broke another record by being the first female cinematographer to shoot a film using IMAX 65mm and Ultra Panavision cameras. The film 'Sinners' marks her second collaboration with director Ryan Coogler and received a total of 16 Oscar nominations.

Cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw makes history at the 2026 Oscars as the first woman and first woman of color to win Best Cinematography for 'Sinners'.

Los Angeles, March 16 The supernatural horror-thriller Sinners continues its strong run at the ongoing Academy Awards. The film has already picked up several awards, and it has now added another big honour to its list.

Cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw won the Oscar for Best Cinematography, creating history at the awards ceremony. With this win, she has become the first woman ever to win the Oscar in this category. Arkapaw, who is of Filipino and African American Creole descent, is also the first woman of colour to receive this honour.

According to Variety, in the history of the Best Cinematography category, only three women had been nominated before. These include Rachel Morrison for Mudbound in 2018, Ari Wegner for 'The Power of the Dog' in 2021, and Mandy Walker for Elvis in 2022.

Arkapaw also created another record while working on Sinners. She became the first female cinematographer to shoot a film using IMAX 65mm and Ultra Panavision cameras, according to Variety.

While accepting the award, Arkapaw thanked other women in the film industry and gave special mention to cinematographer Rachel Morrison.

"I have felt so much love from all the women on this whole campaign and gotten to meet so many people, and I just feel like moments like this happen because of you guys, and I want to thank you for that," she said.

Before the Oscars, Arkapaw had received nominations at the BAFTA Awards, the British Society of Cinematographers and the American Society of Cinematographers. However, she did not win those awards before Oscar night.

At the Oscars, she was nominated alongside Adolpho Veloso for Train Dreams, Michael Bauman for One Battle After Another, Dan Laustsen for Frankenstein, and Darius Khondji for Marty Supreme.

Sinners marks her second project with director Ryan Coogler. The two had earlier worked together on 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever'.

According to Variety, Sinners also made history by getting 16 nominations at the Oscars, including best picture, director, actor for Michael B. Jordan, supporting actress for Wunmi Mosaku, supporting actor for Delroy Lindo, original screenplay, casting, production design, cinematography, costume design, film editing, makeup and hairstyling, sound, visual effects, original score and original song for "I Lied to You".

- ANI
Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu informed Parliament that Indian carriers have cancelled over 4,335 flights due to the West Asia crisis, with foreign airlines cancelling another 1,187. He emphasized that passenger safety is the paramount concern, and flights cannot operate where airspace is closed. Despite the massive cancellations, nearly 220,000 passengers managed to travel during the period of high tension. Authorities are monitoring the situation and flights will only resume normally once the affected airspace reopens.

Indian aviation minister reports over 4,300 Indian and 1,100 foreign flights cancelled. Safety is priority as conflict closes airspace.

New Delhi, March 16 Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu on Monday informed the Lok Sabha that thousands of flights have been cancelled by Indian and foreign airlines due to the ongoing tensions in West Asia.

Speaking during the sixth day of the ongoing Parliamentary Budget Session, the minister said that Indian carriers have cancelled more than 4,335 flights while foreign airlines cancelled up to 1,187 flights because of the crisis in the region.

Naidu said that passenger safety remains the top priority for the government and airlines.

He explained that flights cannot operate when the airspace in conflict-affected areas is closed.

"Indian carriers have cancelled 4,335 flights and foreign carriers have cancelled up to 1,187 flights. The first thing we have to remember is safety. If the airspace itself is closed, there is no need for us to operate in this area," he said.

Despite the disruption caused by the situation in West Asia, the minister said that a large number of people have still travelled during this period.

"Nearly 2,19,780 passengers travelled during the time when tensions were high in the region," he stated.

Naidu also said that India's aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, and the aviation ministry are in constant contact with authorities in the affected regions to monitor the situation.

He added that flights will resume normally only when the airspace in those areas reopens, noting that several regions are still facing restrictions due to the ongoing tensions.

Meanwhile, last week, the Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol said that India currently has more than 11,000 pilots working with major domestic airlines, with nearly 1,900 of them being women.

In a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha on March 12, Mohol stated that Indian airlines together employ 11,394 pilots, including 1,871 female pilots.

- IANS
Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw stated that over one lakh women are employed specifically in iPhone manufacturing facilities in India. He emphasized that the Prime Minister's 'Make in India' initiative is a key driver, creating new employment avenues where women often comprise more than half the workforce in many plants. The Apple ecosystem alone has generated about 2.5 lakh direct jobs in the country, with nearly 70% of the beneficiaries being women. India's share of global iPhone production is rising steadily, with iPhones becoming India's most valuable export item in 2025, worth around $23 billion.

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw reveals over 100,000 women work in iPhone plants, highlighting female job creation via Make in India.

New Delhi, March 16 Women have emerged among the biggest beneficiaries of the government's 'Make in India' initiative, with large-scale job creation in electronics manufacturing, Union Electronics and IT Minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw, said on Monday.

The minister said that over one lakh women are employed in iPhone manufacturing facilities in India, while female workers are also contributing in highly complex semiconductor manufacturing plants.



Taking to social media platform X, the minister said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Make in India' programme is empowering women by creating new employment opportunities in the electronics manufacturing sector.



"PM @narendramodi Ji's 'Make in India' is empowering women. Electronics manufacturing is creating new employment avenues for women," Vaishnaw said.



According to the minister, in several electronics manufacturing plants across the country, more than half of the workforce comprises women.



Earlier in February, Vaishnaw had said that women have been the biggest beneficiaries of the 'Make in India' initiative, which has created lakhs of direct and indirect jobs while also providing large-scale skilling opportunities.



Meanwhile, the Apple ecosystem alone has generated around 2.5 lakh direct jobs in India, with nearly 70 per cent of the beneficiaries being women.



US tech giant Apple has significantly expanded its manufacturing footprint in India.



The company increased iPhone production in the country by around 53 per cent in 2025, assembling nearly 55 million units compared with 36 million units a year earlier, according to reports.



Apple currently produces roughly a quarter of its flagship iPhones in India as part of its strategy to diversify manufacturing and avoid tariffs on China.



Globally, Apple produces about 220-230 million iPhones every year, with India's share rising steadily, largely driven by the government's production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme.



The subsidies under the PLI scheme have helped offset structural disadvantages such as weaker supply chains and logistics challenges compared with China.



Older models such as the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 continue to be manufactured locally for both domestic sales and exports.



In 2025, iPhones emerged as the most valuable export item from India, with shipments worth around $23 billion, largely destined for the United States, according to industry data.



Smartphones also became India's top export category for the first time, with exports worth $30.13 billion during the January-December period, of which Apple accounted for about 76 per cent.





- IANS
Bollywood actress Parineeti Chopra has resumed work, making her first public appearance on a set since becoming a mother. She was seen confidently stepping out of her vanity van in a stylish grey dress and sunglasses. The new mom recently took a family trip to Thailand with her husband, Raghav Chadha, and their infant son, Neer, to attend a wedding. Parineeti, who married Chadha in 2023, was last seen in 'Amar Singh Chamkila' before her pregnancy break.

Bollywood actress Parineeti Chopra is back on set for the first time since welcoming son Neer with husband Raghav Chadha in October 2025.

Mumbai, March 16 Bollywood actress and new mommy Parineeti Chopra seems to have resumed work for the first time since welcoming her baby in October.

In a recent video, the actress is seen stepping out of her vanity van, marking her first public appearance on a work set after embracing motherhood.



In the video clip, Parineeti is seen walking out of her vanity van with full sass and confidence.



Dressed in a stylish grey wrap-style midi dress paired with black pointed heels and dark sunglasses, the actress is seen heading towards the set.



Keeping her look minimal yet elegant, the Haseen Toh Phasee actress is seen posing for the paparazzi present on the sets.



Just a few days ago, Parineeti had taken a short break with husband Raghav Chadha and their family.



The couple, along with their little one Neer, had travelled to Thailand to attend a family wedding.



Both Parineeti and Raghav had shared umpteen number of glimpses from the trip on their social media accounts.



Talking about the actress, Parineeti and Raghav, the couple welcomed their baby boy Neer in October 2025.



They tied the knot in September 2023 in Udaipur in a traditional ceremony attended by family and close friends.



On the professional front, Parineeti Chopra made her acting debut with the film Ladies vs Ricky Bahl.



She then went on to feature in many superhit movies like Ishaqzaade, Shuddh Desi Romance, Hasee Toh Phasee and Kesari.



Before taking a sabbatical from Bollywood during her pregnancy, the actor was last seen in Amar Singh Chamkila, where she starred alongside Diljit Dosanjh.





- IANS
PhonePe has announced a temporary pause on its plans for an initial public offering. The fintech giant cited ongoing geopolitical tensions and instability in global capital markets as the reason for the deferral. The company's CEO reaffirmed its commitment to eventually listing on the Indian public markets. PhonePe is a major digital payments platform with a vast user and merchant network.

PhonePe temporarily pauses its public listing process, citing global market volatility and geopolitical conflicts, while reaffirming its commitment to an Indian IPO.

Bengaluru, March 16 PhonePe, on Monday announced that it has temporarily deferred its public market listing process due to the current geopolitical conflicts and market volatility and will resume the listing process once there is some stability in global capital markets.

Sameer Nigam, PhonePe's CEO said "We sincerely hope for a swift return to peace in all the affected regions. We remain committed to a public listing in India."

According to company information, PhonePe Limited (Formerly PhonePe Private Limited) is a technology company that builds digital platforms for Payments, Digital Distribution Services and Financial Services. Headquartered in India, the PhonePe digital payments app was launched in 2016. As of September 30, 2025, PhonePe has over 65 Crore registered users and a digital payments acceptance network spread across over 4.7 Crore merchants.

PhonePe's products and services include Consumer Payments (including Digital Distribution Services), Merchant Payments, Lending and Insurance Distribution services, and New Platforms, which comprise Share.Market (stock broking and mutual funds distribution platform), and Indus Appstore (Android-based mobile app marketplace).

- ANI
Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati paid heartfelt tributes to Bahujan Samaj Party founder Kanshi Ram on his birth anniversary. She highlighted his lifelong dedication to advancing B.R. Ambedkar's ideas and uniting oppressed castes under the Bahujan Samaj identity. Mayawati reaffirmed her resolve to strengthen the BSP's movement for social transformation and economic emancipation. She appealed to the Bahujan community to join the movement and use their voting power to achieve political empowerment.

Mayawati honors Kanshi Ram's birth anniversary, praising his historic role in uniting Bahujan Samaj and advancing Ambedkar's movement for political power.

Lucknow, March 15 Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Sunday paid tribute to the founder of the Bahujan Samaj Party, Kanshi Ram, on his birth anniversary, underlining his key role in uniting the oppressed and marginalised caste into the collective identity of the 'Bahujan Samaj'.

In a post on X, Mayawati said that Kanshi Ram dedicated his entire life to the mission of taking forward the ideas and movement of the revered BR Ambedkar.

"On the occasion of the birth anniversary of the founder and architect of the Bahujan Samaj Party (B.S.P.), the revered Shri Kanshi Ram Ji, I, along with my leadership, offer a hundred salutations and boundless tributes of reverence from his followers across Uttar Pradesh and the entire country," she said in a post on X.

"He dedicated his entire life to the mission of taking forward the ideas and movement of the revered Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, keeping them alive across the country and striving to carry his caravan forward towards the destination of political power. He continuously fought a tough struggle and played a historic role in uniting people who had been divided and oppressed on the basis of caste into the collective identity of the 'Bahujan Samaj'," she added.

Mayawati reaffirmed her resolve to strengthen the BSP's movement for "social transformation and economic emancipation".

She then appealed to the people of the Bahujan Samaj to join the BSP movement and become dedicated and honest Ambedkarites and to use the power of their votes to obtain the "master key" of political power.

"This will enable them to implement on the ground the rights granted in the Constitution by BR Ambedkar for the welfare, upliftment, protection and self-respect of the Bahujans of the country," she said.

Kanshi Ram, the founder of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), was born on March 15, 1934, in Punjab. He dedicated his life to uplifting the marginalised sections of society and empowering the Bahujan Samaj.

From an early age, Kanshi Ram displayed a deep sense of empathy and compassion towards the plight of oppressed communities. He recognised the inherent inequalities perpetuated by the caste system and resolved to challenge the status quo through organised political action.

In 1984, Kanshi Ram founded the Bahujan Samaj Party with the objective of uniting the Bahujan Samaj, comprising Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes, and Religious Minorities, into a formidable political force.

He remained steadfast in his commitment to the cause of social transformation and economic emancipation. He tirelessly mobilised support among the Bahujan communities, inspiring millions to join the movement for equality and justice.

- ANI
Japanese Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi discussed regional stability with US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, reaffirming Tokyo's commitment to peace in the Strait of Hormuz. The call comes as President Donald Trump pressures allies to deploy naval assets to secure the critical oil route, a request met with refusals from Australia and Japan. Key partners like South Korea and the UK remain in discussions, evaluating their potential involvement. No concrete military commitments have been secured despite the strategic importance of the waterway and rising global oil prices.

Japan's defence chief reaffirms commitment to Middle East peace with US, as Australia and others reject calls to send warships to the Strait of Hormuz.

Tokyo, March 16 Japanese Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi has held discussions with United States Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, reaffirming Tokyo's stance on the critical necessity of preserving peace and stability within the Strait of Hormuz and the wider Middle East, NHK broadcaster reported.

During the telephone conversation, Hegseth provided Koizumi with a briefing on current regional developments.

He further provided assurances that the ongoing conflict involving Iran would result in "no changes" to the deployment or presence of American forces stationed in Japan.

The United States Secretary of War also reiterated Washington's dedicated commitment to enhancing the "deterrence and response capabilities" of the bilateral US-Japan alliance.

In response, Koizumi expressed Tokyo's firm intention to uphold "close communication" with the United States and other strategic partners.

This diplomatic exchange occurs as US President Donald Trump continues to press international allies to dispatch naval assets to ensure the Strait of Hormuz remains accessible for global maritime traffic.

However, several American allies have adopted a cautious stance or issued direct refusals following the President's call for roughly seven nations to dispatch warships.

The demand comes as the critical maritime oil route faces significant disruption amidst the ongoing conflict with Iran.

Despite the urgency of the situation, key partners have been hesitant to commit military assets.

Australia has confirmed it will not provide naval support to the region, with Cabinet Minister Catherine King informing the ABC that Canberra has received no formal request and maintains no plans for deployment.

"We won't be sending a ship to the Strait of Hormuz. We know how incredibly important that is, but that's not something that we've been asked or that we're contributing to," King stated.

Mirroring this sentiment, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi stated on Monday that Japan currently maintains no plans to deploy naval assets for escorting vessels.

Addressing the Japanese parliament, Takaichi clarified that Tokyo has not yet committed to any military involvement.

According to a report by Reuters, she noted that the government is still evaluating its options.

"We have not made any decisions whatsoever about dispatching escort ships. We are continuing to examine what Japan can do independently and what can be done within the legal framework," Takaichi told the legislature.

While some have issued firm refusals, others remain in a state of deliberation.

South Korea indicated that it remains in discussions with Washington, with the presidential office in Seoul noting that any potential move would only occur after a thorough and "careful review" of the situation.

In London, Prime Minister Keir Starmer maintained a diplomatic approach, holding talks with Trump regarding the necessity to reopen the strait to mitigate "global shipping disruptions."

According to Downing Street, the British leader also consulted with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to coordinate a response, with both leaders agreeing to further deliberate on the crisis during a scheduled meeting on Monday.

The push for international intervention was detailed by President Trump while speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday.

He revealed he has put pressure on nations with a high dependency on Middle Eastern crude to assist in policing the waterway, which handles approximately one-fifth of the world's oil.

Argueing that these nations should protect "their own territory," Trump highlighted China's involvement as a major stakeholder.

He noted that Beijing secures the majority of its oil supplies through Hormuz, though he stopped short of confirming whether China would participate in any international coalition.

Despite the President's public appeals and the strategic importance of the route, no concrete military commitments have been secured as global oil prices continue to rise.

- ANI
A major fire broke out in the Trauma Care ICU of SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack, Odisha, claiming the lives of at least 10 patients. President Droupadi Murmu expressed deep distress and offered condolences to the bereaved families. Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi announced an ex-gratia of Rs 25 lakh for each victim's family and ordered a judicial inquiry into the incident. The CM also highlighted budget allocations for strengthening fire safety measures across state hospitals.

President Murmu expresses grief as a fire at SCB Medical College in Cuttack kills 10 patients. Odisha CM Majhi announces ex-gratia & judicial probe.

New Delhi, March 16 President of India, Droupadi Murmu on Monday expressed deep distress over the loss of lives in a tragic fire incident at a hospital in Cuttack, Odisha, and extended her heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families.

The incident occurred in the early hours of Monday when a major fire broke out in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the trauma care centre at SCB Medical College and Hospital. According to reports, at least 10 patients lost their lives, while several others suffered serious burn injuries in the blaze.

Taking to social media platform X, the President expressed her grief over the tragic incident.

"Deeply distressed by the loss of lives in the tragic fire incident at a hospital in Cuttack, Odisha. My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families. I wish a speedy recovery to those injured," she wrote.

As per sources, the inferno erupted at around 2.30 AM to 3 AM due to suspected electric short circuit.

After meeting the injured patients at the hospital and reviewing the situation, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Monday announced an ex-gratia of Rs 25 lakh each for the family members of the deceased patients.

He also ordered a judicial inquiry into the tragic incident and assured stringent action against anyone found guilty of negligence in duty leading to the inferno.

Speaking to media persons, CM Majhi said, "A few hours ago, a major fire broke out in the trauma care unit of SCB Medical College and Hospital due to a suspected short circuit. As a result, the patients undergoing treatment in the Trauma Care ICU, an adjoining ICU and ward were affected.

"After the fire broke out, 23 patients undergoing treatment on the first floor of the Trauma Care ICU were shifted to safer locations. Seven critically-ill patients died during the shifting process, while three others succumbed after being moved to other ICUs. It is very unfortunate."

He offered condolences to the family members of deceased patients and offered his prayers to the Lord Jagannath for the speedy recovery to injured patients. Majhi also informed that he had instructed the Health Department to ensure advanced treatment for those who sustained severe injuries and are currently undergoing treatment in other ICUs and wards.

The Chief Minister further noted that as many as 11 hospital staff members, including security personnel, risked their lives to help rescue patients. Many of them also sustained injuries due to smoke inhalation and flames during the shifting of patients, but they are now stable and undergoing treatment in a ward on the ground floor.

"After our government came to power, I had earlier directed the department to inspect and take action regarding fire safety measures at all hospitals across the state. In the current budget for 2025-26, we have allocated Rs 320 crore for strengthening fire safety measures, and the work is being carried out on a war footing.

"In the coming financial year 2026-27, Rs 400 crore has been allocated for this purpose," the Chief Minister said.

Chief Minister Majhi instructed officials of all departments to ensure the installation of advanced fire-extinguishing systems in hospitals across the state.

"I have instructed the Director General of the Odisha Fire and Emergency Services (Sudhanshu Sarangi) to personally inspect the fire safety measures and ensure compliant at SCB Medical College and Hospital.

"I have also ordered a judicial enquiry into the incident. If the fire is found to have resulted from any negligence, the government will take stringent action after receiving the judicial inquiry report," he said.

- IANS
Breakfast hosted for MPs from Bengal, Tamil Nadu, other states

President Droupadi Murmu hosted Members of Parliament from several states and union territories for breakfast at the Rashtrapati Bhavan Cultural Centre. The gathering included a solemn minute of silence to honor the victims of the tragic fire at SCB Medical College in Cuttack, Odisha. This event follows a similar breakfast hosted for MPs from other states just days earlier. The meetings occur as the second part of Parliament's Budget session continues through early April.

President Droupadi Murmu hosts MPs from multiple states for breakfast at Rashtrapati Bhavan, observing a minute's silence for the Cuttack fire tragedy.

New Delhi, March 16 President Droupadi Murmu on Monday hosted Parliamentarians from some states and UTs, including West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, for breakfast at Rashtrapati Bhavan Cultural Centre.

"President Droupadi Murmu hosted Members of Parliament from West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Odisha, Goa, Puducherry, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu and Lakshadweep for breakfast at Rashtrapati Bhavan Cultural Centre," Rashtrapati Bhavan said in a post on X.

In a solemn gesture of solidarity, President Droupadi Murmu and Members of Parliament observed a minute's silence at Rashtrapati Bhavan Cultural Centre, for the victims of the tragic fire incident at SCB Medical College, Cuttack, Odisha.

President Murmu had hosted the Members of Parliament from some states and UTs, including Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Chandigarh, Ladakh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Delhi for breakfast at the Rashtrapati Bhavan Cultural Centre on Friday.

The second part of Parliament's Budget session started on March 9 and is slated to continue till April 2.

- ANI
Priyanka Chopra Jonas shared a series of striking photos from a glamorous shoot for the Oscar special night, featuring her in a dramatic white gown. She captioned the post playfully with "And the Oscar goes to...". The actress had taken the stage with Javier Bardem to present the International Feature Film award at the 98th Academy Awards. She attended the ceremony with her husband, Nick Jonas, who coordinated his tuxedo with her monochrome ensemble.

Priyanka Chopra Jonas shares stunning photos from an Oscar-special shoot in a white feathered gown, presented an award with Javier Bardem.

Mumbai, March 16 Global icon Priyanka Chopra Jonas shared a series of striking pictures on her social media account, leaving fans impressed with her glamorous look that she donned for the Oscar special night.

Posting the pictures, the actor captioned the post as, "And the Oscar goes to..."



In the pictures, the Barfi actress is seen posing in a strapless white gown featuring a dramatic thigh-high slit with feather detailing.



In one of the black-and-white clicks, she is seen standing by a balcony wall with mountains visible in the background.



Another picture shows her seated indoors in a robe while showcasing an elegant diamond necklace and ring.



A lot many behind-the-scenes photos shared by the actress, capture her stylists adjusting her outfit as she prepares for the shoot.



Another frame shows cameras and crew flocking around her as she smiles during the photography session.



The carousel post also includes playful and graceful moments from the shoot.



Reflecting her fun personality, Priyanka, in another picture is seen standing on a staircase with her arms stretched wide, and posing cutely.



Fans flooded the comments section praising her look and aura, with one user writing, "PC mother of all stunners."



For the uninitiated, Priyanka Chopra took to the stage along with actor Javier Bardem to present the International Feature Film Oscar at the 98th edition of the Academy Awards on Monday.



The duo presented the award to Norway's 'Sentimental Value', directed by Joachim Trier.



As Priyanka and the 'No Country for Old Men' made an appearance on the stage, Javier Bardem roared on the mic, "Free Palestine".



Priyanka attended the ceremony with her husband Nick Jonas, who wore a classic black tuxedo that complemented her monochrome ensemble.





- IANS
The Punjab Assembly unanimously passed a resolution urging the Centre to confer the Bharat Ratna on Dalit icon and BSP founder Kanshi Ram. The House also cleared two bills related to crusher unit regulation and a new university. A resolution was adopted condemning casteist remarks made by the Leader of the Opposition against a cabinet minister. Meanwhile, the opposition Congress criticized the Speaker for not allowing a resolution demanding the Bharat Ratna for freedom fighter Bhagat Singh.

Punjab Assembly unanimously passes resolution for Bharat Ratna for BSP founder Kanshi Ram. Bills passed, Bhagat Singh honour debated.

Chandigarh, March 16 On the final day of its session on Monday, the Punjab Assembly unanimously passed a resolution urging the conferment of India's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, on Dalit icon and Bahujan Samaj Party founder Kanshi Ram.

Earlier, Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, and Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati had also demanded Bharat Ratna for Kanshi Ram.

During the proceedings on Monday, the House also cleared two Bills. The Punjab Regulation of Crusher Units and Stockists and Retailers (Amendment) Bill, 2026, presented by Water Resources and Mining Minister Barinder Kumar Goyal, was passed by a majority. The Shri Guru Teg Bahadur World Class University, Punjab Bill, 2026, introduced by Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains, was passed unanimously.

The House also adopted a resolution strongly condemning the offensive and casteist remarks made by the Leader of the Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa against Cabinet Minister Harbhajan Singh ETO. Legislator Manjit Singh Bilaspur had moved the resolution.

Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa slammed the Speaker for refusing to allow a resolution demanding the Bharat Ratna for Shaheed Bhagat Singh.

Addressing the media, the Congress leader said his party had formally moved a resolution recommending the highest honour for Bhagat Singh in recognition of his sacrifice and role in India's freedom struggle, but it was not taken up by the House.

Bajwa said Bhagat Singh was not merely a revolutionary figure from Punjab but a national icon who symbolised courage, sacrifice, and the spirit of freedom for the entire country. Honouring him with the Bharat Ratna, he said, was long overdue and would be a fitting tribute to one of India's greatest martyrs.

The Congress lawmaker said it was deeply ironic that the AAP government frequently invoked the ideals of Bhagat Singh and claimed to take inspiration from his ideology, yet when an opportunity arose to formally recommend the highest civilian honour for him, the government failed to act.

- IANS
Rahul Gandhi met with CRPF Assistant Commandant Ajay Malik, who was seriously injured and lost a leg in an IED explosion during an anti-Maoist operation in Jharkhand. The operation took place in the dense Saranda forest area of West Singhbhum district based on specific intelligence. Gandhi praised Malik's courage and dedication to the nation, saluting his service. In a separate message, Gandhi also expressed condolences for the lives lost in a fire at a hospital in Cuttack, Odisha.

Rahul Gandhi meets CRPF Assistant Commandant Ajay Malik, who lost a leg in an IED blast during an anti-Maoist operation in Jharkhand's Saranda forest.

New Delhi, March 16 Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Monday reached out to a CRPF officer who lost a leg in a counter-Maoist action in Jharkhand.

In a message about the meeting, Gandhi praised the brave official from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) 's elite 209 CoBRA Battalion (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action) for his dedication to the nation.

"Today, I met with Mr Ajay Malik, Assistant Commandant of the Cobra Battalion, in R.K. Puram, New Delhi," wrote Gandhi on social media.

"He lost one of his legs after being seriously injured in an IED blast during an anti-Naxal operation in Jharkhand. Speaking with him, I felt his indomitable courage, unwavering spirit, and incredible spirit," he said.

"I salute his service and dedication to the nation. I hope he recovers soon," said Gandhi, after meeting Malik and his family members.

Malik was seriously injured earlier this month in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) explosion during an ongoing anti-Maoist search and cordon operation in the dense Saranda forest area of West Singhbhum district, Jharkhand.

The joint search operation was launched based on specific intelligence inputs about the presence of Maoists when a pressure IED exploded during the exercise.

The injured officer was evacuated from the spot, given primary treatment, and airlifted to Ranchi for advanced medical care. Following the incident, security forces cordoned off the area, intensified the search operation, and deployed additional forces, according to an official statement.

Earlier in the day, Gandhi condoled the loss of lives in a hospital blaze in Odisha.

In a message on social media, the LoP said, "The news of the death of many people in the fire accident at SCB Medical College and Hospital, Cuttack, Odisha, is extremely painful. I express my deepest condolences to all the bereaved families. I hope for a speedy recovery for the injured."

- IANS
Winds may gust up to 50 kmph

Rain, thunder, and gusty winds swept across Delhi-NCR on Sunday morning, providing significant relief from an early spell of high March temperatures. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an orange alert for Delhi, warning of moderate rain, lightning, and strong winds throughout the day. Neighbouring Noida and Gurugram are under a less severe yellow alert for light rainfall. The change is attributed to a Western Disturbance and is expected to lower maximum temperatures by 3-5 degrees Celsius.

Delhi-NCR sees rain, thunder & gusty winds, bringing cooler weather. IMD issues orange alert for Delhi, yellow for Noida & Gurugram. Details inside.

New Delhi, March 15 Residents across Delhi-NCR woke up to rain, thunder and strong winds on Sunday morning, bringing much-needed relief after several days of unusually high temperatures.

The sudden shift in weather conditions made the morning cooler and more comfortable for people across the National Capital Region.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an orange alert for Delhi, warning residents of the likelihood of moderate rainfall, lightning, and strong, gusty winds during the day.

Neighbouring cities such as Noida and Gurugram, however, have been placed under a yellow alert, indicating the possibility of light rainfall along with cloudy skies.

The early morning rain on Sunday came as a welcome break from the heat that had gripped the capital during the first half of March.

Dark clouds gathered over the city, accompanied by thunder and strong winds, which helped bring down temperatures and made the weather noticeably pleasant.

According to the IMD, weather changes are associated with atmospheric activity over the western Himalayan region.

The weather agency had earlier forecast thunderstorms, lightning and strong winds in parts of the western Himalayas and adjoining plains for Sunday and Monday.

Such weather patterns are typically linked to a Western Disturbance, a meteorological system that frequently brings rain, storms and fluctuations in temperature across northern India.

The IMD has placed Delhi under an orange alert, signalling that residents should remain cautious as moderate rainfall, lightning and strong winds are likely throughout the day.

Weather officials have also warned that surface winds ranging between 30 and 40 kmph could occur, with gusts reaching up to 50 kmph during the rain spell.

Nearby NCR cities, including Noida and Gurugram, have been placed under a yellow alert, indicating the possibility of light rain and overcast conditions, though with a comparatively lower level of risk.

Authorities have advised residents to stay alert, particularly during thunderstorms and periods of strong winds.

According to IMD forecasts, Delhi's maximum temperature could drop by around 3 to 5 degrees Celsius due to the cloudy conditions and ongoing rainfall.

- IANS
Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma inaugurated and laid the foundation for 326 development projects worth Rs 1,902 crore during the Tribal Pride Day event in Dungarpur. The projects include a dedicated Rs 130 crore for developing the sacred Beneshwar Dham site with ghats, roads, and basic facilities. During the visit, he distributed benefits like scooters to students and loans to women's self-help groups, emphasizing the preservation of tribal art and industry. The CM also paid tribute to tribal icons and cautioned youth against political provocation, while highlighting a major nuclear power project for the region.

CM Bhajanlal Sharma inaugurates 326 works in Dungarpur, focuses on tribal welfare, infrastructure, and warns against political instigation.

Dungarpur, March 16 Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma on Monday inaugurated and laid the foundation stone for 326 development works worth Rs 1,902 crore during the state-level 'Rajasthani Tribal Pride Day' programme held at Beneshwar Dham in Dungarpur district.

He also urged youths to remain cautious of those attempting to instigate them for political gains.

The Chief Minister arrived at Beneshwar Dham by helicopter during his one-day visit to the district, where he was welcomed by BJP leaders and administrative officials. He later visited the Valmiki Temple and the Hari Temple and offered prayers.

CM Sharma also inspected an exhibition organised on the occasion and reviewed stalls showcasing products made by women from self-help groups. During the programme, he distributed scooters to meritorious girl students, tablets to "Lakhpati Didis", and loan cheques to women self-help groups.

Addressing the gathering, CM Sharma said the tribal community has made a significant contribution to Rajasthan's development journey. He stated that Beneshwar Dham, an important religious site for tribals, had remained neglected for years but the present government would undertake development works worth around Rs 130 crore there, including construction of ghats, roads and expansion of basic facilities.

The Rajasthan CM said the government is promoting small and cottage industries while also working to preserve tribal art and cultural heritage so that artisans receive fair value for their work in the market.

Remembering tribal freedom fighter Birsa Munda, the Chief Minister said his contribution had remained under-recognised for years but Prime Minister Narendra Modi ensured nationwide recognition during the celebrations marking his 150th birth anniversary. Sharma also paid tribute to tribal leader Govind Guru and other tribal heroes for their sacrifices and efforts toward social upliftment.

Without naming anyone, the Chief Minister also targeted leaders of the Bharat Adivasi Party, alleging that some people in the Vagad region were misleading tribal youths for political purposes. He claimed that while such leaders educate their own children in major cities like Jaipur, Kota and Sikar, they incite local tribal youths instead of encouraging them toward education and development.

Sharma further said the Union Government has opened new avenues for development in the region by establishing a nuclear power project worth Rs 45,000 crore in Banswara.

- ANI
Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma met with Honda Cars India's CEO to finalize a major electric vehicle investment. The company will invest Rs 1200 crore to begin production of its first EV model, the Honda 0 Alpha, at its existing Tapukara plant. The initiative is aligned with national 'Make in India' goals and is expected to boost the state's industrial development. The project is also projected to generate significant new employment opportunities for the local youth.

Rajasthan CM Bhajanlal Sharma meets Honda CEO, announces Rs 1200 crore investment for Honda 0 Alpha EV production at Tapukara plant, creating jobs.

New Delhi, March 15 Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma held a meeting with Takashi Nakajima, President and CEO of Honda Cars India, on Saturday, discussing Honda's expansion into the electric vehicle sector within the state.

The meeting, held at the Chief Minister's Office, centred on the production of Honda's first electric vehicle model, the 'Honda 0 Alpha,' which is scheduled to commence manufacturing at the company's Tapukara plant later this year. The initiative involves an investment of Rs 1200 crore and aligns with the state's broader industrial goals.

The CM highlighted that the project aligns with the Prime Minister's greater goal of national industrial strategies. "In line with the resolve of the successful Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi ji's 'Make in India for the World,' the unveiling of Honda's first EV model, Honda 0 Alpha, was done today in a meeting with the delegation of Honda Cars India Limited at the Chief Minister's Office," Sharma said on X.

He noted that the move is intended to provide a new momentum to the state's industrial landscape and support economic growth through localised manufacturing. Sharma noted that the Tapukara plant will serve as the hub for this new production line, marking a shift toward green mobility in the state's manufacturing sector.

"As part of the preparations for the Rising Rajasthan Global Investment Summit, during the Japan visit in September 2024, we had invited Honda Cars India Limited to manufacture and invest in EV models in Rajasthan. I am extremely delighted to share that the production of Honda's first EV model, Honda 0 Alpha, is set to begin at the Tapukara plant in Rajasthan with an investment of Rs 1200 crore," the Chief Minister stated.

The Chief Minister emphasised that the start of EV production would create new employment opportunities for the youth of the state as well. "This is a heartening outcome of the visionary policies of this double-engine government, such as #MakeInIndia and #RisingRajasthan. Along with giving a new momentum to industrial development in the state, it will also create new employment opportunities for the youth of the state," Sharma said.

- ANI
Rajasthan's Food and Civil Supplies Minister Sumit Godara personally visited the state's Sampark helpline center to address public complaints regarding domestic LPG cylinder supply. He interacted directly with complainants from various districts, assuring them of swift resolution and adequate gas availability across the state. The minister warned of strict action against gas agencies found causing irregularities or delaying delivery beyond a few days after booking. He directed officials to ensure timely and transparent grievance redressal through the helpline portal.

Rajasthan Food Minister Sumit Godara visits Sampark helpline, assures swift action on LPG cylinder complaints and warns gas agencies of strict penalties.

Jaipur, March 16 Rajasthan's Food and Civil Supplies Minister Sumit Godara, on Monday, visited the Rajasthan Sampark Helpline '181' at the Government Secretariat and spoke directly with complainants regarding issues related to domestic LPG cylinder supply.

Acting on directions of Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma, the Minister reviewed complaints and directed officials to ensure their prompt resolution.

During the visit, Minister Godara interacted with several complainants over the phone and assured them that their grievances would be addressed swiftly.

Among those he spoke to were Tukkaram and Suresh Kala from Parbatsar (Didwana-Kuchaman), Devendra and Kanaram from Sikar, Bhomaram from Balotra, Sanjay from Kishangarh (Ajmer), Kanaram from Sindhari, Amar Chand and Devdas from Sahawa, Rajendra Kumar and Hanuman Prasad from Suratgarh, Sunil Kumawat from Kotputli-Behror, and Laxman from Kekri.

The Minister also sought feedback from the callers about the availability of domestic cooking gas in their areas and assured them that adequate supply would be maintained across the state.

He warned that strict action would be taken against gas agencies found indulging in irregularities in the distribution of LPG cylinders.

Minister Godara said agencies failing to deliver cylinders through the OTP-based verification system or delaying delivery beyond two to three days after booking would face action.

He also urged consumers to complete their KYC formalities to ensure smooth service.

During the review meeting at the helpline centre, the Minister examined the functioning of the system, including the average time taken to resolve complaints, the status of pending cases, and the level of complainant satisfaction.

He instructed officials to ensure that grievances received through the Rajasthan Sampark Portal are addressed in a timely, transparent and effective manner.

The Minister further directed departmental officials to regularly visit the helpline centre, interact with citizens, and monitor the resolution of complaints to strengthen public grievance redressal mechanisms.

Officials from the helpline centre were present during the visit.

- IANS
The Rajasthan government will observe 'Yuva Shakti Diwas' with Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma launching development projects worth 485 crore focused on youth. Over 9,400 youths will receive skill certificates in fields like AI and web design, while 403 startups will get viability gap funding. Concurrently, the Tourism Department is organizing a three-day cultural festival in Jaipur featuring heritage walks, plays, and folk performances. The celebrations will culminate in a grand cultural evening at Albert Hall Museum on Rajasthan Day, March 19.

CM Bhajan Lal Sharma launches youth projects worth 485 cr, skill certificates for 9,432, and a cultural festival in Jaipur for Rajasthan Diwas.

Jaipur, March 16 As part of the Rajasthan Diwas celebrations, the state government will observe 'Rajasthan Yuva Shakti Diwas' on Tuesday, with Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma set to launch and dedicate development projects worth Rs 485 crore focused on youth empowerment.

The initiative is in line with the state government's vision of achieving the goal of Viksit Rajasthan-2047.

The programme will be held at Tagore Public School, Mansarovar, where 9,432 youths who have completed training in fields such as artificial intelligence and web designing will be awarded skill upgradation certificates.

The training programmes were conducted through state institutions including the Rajasthan Centre of Advanced Technology (RCAT), Rajasthan Knowledge Corporation Limited (RKCL), and the Rajasthan Skill and Livelihoods Development Corporation (RSLDC).

During the event, Viability Gap Funding worth Rs 11.45 crore will also be distributed to 403 startups to promote innovation and entrepreneurship among youth.

Additionally, a cheque will be handed over to the first beneficiary under the 'Chief Minister Yuva Swarozgar Yojana', aimed at encouraging self-employment among young people.

A short film titled "Yuvaon Ka Utthan" (Upliftment of Youth), highlighting the Rajasthan government's initiatives for youth empowerment, will also be screened during the programme.

Meanwhile, the Rajasthan Department of Tourism will organise a series of cultural and heritage programmes across Jaipur from March 17 to 19 as part of the Rajasthan Diwas celebrations.

Tourism Commissioner Rukmani Riar said that several events showcasing the state's art, culture and traditions will be held at tourist and religious sites across the city.

Rajasthan's rich heritage, folk arts and cultural traditions will be the central attractions of these programmes, offering residents and visitors an opportunity to experience the vibrant folk culture of the state.

She said the Department of Tourism will organise a special aarti ceremony at Brij Nidhi Temple on March 17 at 7.30 a.m.

On the same day at 7 p.m., the National School of Drama (NSD) will present the play "Samudra Manthan" at the central courtyard of Jawahar Kala Kendra. The play has been directed by NSD's Chittaranjan Tripathi.

In collaboration with Hunter Hikers, the Department of Tourism will also organise nature hikes on March 17 and 18, starting at 6.45 a.m. on both days.

On March 17, the hike will take place from Garh Ganesh Temple to Gaitore Ki Chhatriyan, covering a distance of approximately six kilometres.

On March 18, the hike will be conducted from Khedi Gate to Sagar Lake in Amer, also covering around six kilometres.

Additionally, in collaboration with the Jaipur Heritage Foundation, a heritage walk will be organised on March 18 at 7 a.m. The walk will begin at Chaturbhuj Ji Temple in Choti Chopad and proceed to Gem Cinema.

Riar further said that a grand cultural evening will be organised at the premises of Albert Hall Museum on the occasion of Rajasthan Day, which will be celebrated this year on Chaitra Shukla Pratipada (March 19).

The event will feature performances by renowned folk artists including Padma Shri awardee Anwar Khan Manganiyar and Tagaram Bhil along with their respective troupes.

The programme will also include performances by local artists, Kathak dance recitals and specially choreographed cultural presentations.

The evening will conclude with a grand fireworks display in the presence of distinguished guests.

- IANS
Biennial elections for 37 Rajya Sabha seats across 10 states are underway, with 26 candidates already elected unopposed. The focus is now on 11 remaining seats, particularly in the battleground states of Bihar, Haryana, and Odisha where the NDA and Opposition are in a direct contest. In a significant move, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has filed his nomination for the Rajya Sabha. Amid fears of cross-voting, parties like the Congress have shifted their legislators to secure locations to maintain unity ahead of the polls.

Biennial Rajya Sabha polls for 37 seats across 10 states. Voting for 11 seats as NDA and Opposition face off in Bihar, Haryana, and Odisha.

New Delhi, March 16 The biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha to fill 37 seats across 10 states are scheduled on Monday, with counting of votes set for the same day at 5 pm.

The term of 37 members who were elected from Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Telangana will conclude in the month of April, vacating the seats for new members to be elected.

Out of these, 26 candidates have already secured victory unopposed. Voting will now take place for the remaining 11 seats, including five from Bihar, four from Odisha, and two from Haryana.

In key battlegrounds in Bihar, Haryana, and Odisha, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is working to defeat Opposition gains.

So far, 26 candidates have been elected unopposed, with the BJP securing seven, Congress five, the Trinamool Congress four, the DMK three, and Shiv Sena, RPI(A), NCP, NCP(SP), AIADMK, PMK, and UPPL one each. Notable names among the winners include Sharad Pawar, Abhishek Singhvi, Tiruchi Siva, and Vinod Tawade.

As preparations are underway for the biennial elections, all attention has turned to Haryana, Bihar and Odisha, which have emerged as key arenas of contest between the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the Opposition bloc for four important seats.

The most interesting part of these Rajya Sabha polls is the Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

Nitish Kumar, Bihar's longest-tenured Chief Minister for over two decades, announced that he would be heading to the Rajya Sabha and filed his nomination in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, among other leaders.

The 75-year-old also said that the new Cabinet would have his full support.

"I seek to become a member of the Rajya Sabha in the elections being held this time. I want to assure you with complete honesty that my relationship with you will continue in the future as well, and my resolve to work together with you to build a developed Bihar will remain steadfast. The new government that will be formed will have my full cooperation and guidance," Nitish Kumar posted on X.

Apart from Nitish Kumar, other NDA candidates, including Upendra Kushwaha and BJP chief Nitin Nabin, also filed their nominations for the Upper House.

Amid apprehensions of possible cross-voting and allegations of horse-trading, several political parties, particularly the Congress, have moved their legislators to resorts and locations outside their home states in a bid to ensure unity within their ranks ahead of the polling.

Among those elected without contest are Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) founder Sharad Pawar, Republican Party of India (Athawale) president Ramdas Athawale, and senior AIADMK leader M Thambidurai.

The counting of votes will be conducted on the same day as polling at 5 pm.

- ANI
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has declared that the United States must leave West Asia for the region to achieve security, amid escalating tensions. The conflict has widened with reciprocal targeting of energy assets, including a reported drone strike on Fujairah Port in the UAE. At least 17 vessels have been attacked in key Middle Eastern shipping lanes over two weeks, resulting in at least one fatality. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard has warned that attacks on American bank branches in the Gulf could expand in response to US-Israeli actions.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian says US presence undermines security as Gulf tensions escalate with drone strikes and attacks on shipping lanes.

Tehran, March 15 President of Iran Masoud Pezeshkian said the United States must leave West Asia for the region to achieve security as the tensions in the Gulf continue to escalate.

In a post on X, Pezeshkian said, "In short: For the region to be secure, the United States should not be there."

The conflict in West Asia has widened with the US, Israel and Iran targeting each other's energy targets, threatening the global supply of oil and gas.

On Saturday, it was reported that a drone strike had targeted the Fujairah Port in the UAE, triggering a fire.

A well-informed Gulf analyst confirmed that the Iranian attack on Fujairah caused a fire from falling debris after the successful interception of a drone by UAE air defence systems, with no injuries reported.

The analyst said the incident highlights the urgency of preventing any further escalation in the region. According to the analyst, the repeated targeting of the UAE reflects its strategic importance in regional commerce, diplomacy and financial flows, rather than any weakness.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) warned that attacks on American bank branches operating in the Gulf region could expand if further strikes by the US and Israel target Iranian banking infrastructure, according to Press TV.

Naeini said Iranian attacks on American bank branches in neighbouring countries were carried out in response to recent US-Israeli strikes on Iranian bank properties earlier this week and briefly disrupted banking operations in the country.

At least 17 vessels have been attacked in key Middle East shipping lanes over the past two weeks amid the ongoing conflict, according to a report by CNN citing data from the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO).

The attacks have occurred in and around the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman since March 1, the news report said.

At least one person, an Indian national, has been killed as a result of the attacks, according to UKMTO and India's embassy in Oman.

The current confrontation began on February 28 when US-Israeli airstrikes killed senior Iranian officials and commanders. Since then, Iranian armed forces have launched daily missile and drone operations targeting locations in Israeli-held territories as well as US military bases and assets across the region.

- ANI
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has reported significant organizational expansion in Rajasthan, with activities now conducted at approximately 7,910 locations across the state. Key issues discussed at the recent Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha meeting included expanding organizational work and promoting social harmony, with a special message from Sarkaryavah Dattatreya Hosabale on the 650th birth anniversary of Sant Ravidas. Outreach efforts have seen massive participation, with over 7.6 million people attending thousands of Hindu conferences aimed at strengthening social dialogue. The RSS also highlighted its growing presence in remote areas like the Andaman Islands and Arunachal Pradesh, alongside initiatives for societal transformation.

RSS reports major expansion in Rajasthan with activities at 7,910 locations, details from ABPS meet on social harmony and organizational growth.

Jaipur, March 16 Rameshchandra Agrawal, Kshetra Sanghchalak of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, said the threeday Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha meeting was held from March 13-15 at Samalkha in Haryana.

He said several important issues were discussed in detail, including the expansion of organisational work, the participation of constructive social forces in the national interest, and the promotion of social harmony.

He was addressing journalists at Seva Sadan on Monday. He added that a message from RSS Sarkaryavah Dattatreya Hosabale was presented on the occasion of the 650th birth anniversary of Sant Shiromani Guru Ravidas Ji.

The message stated that, at a time when divisive forces are attempting to divide society along class and caste lines, it is essential to understand the essence of Sant Ravidas Ji's teachings and work to strengthen social unity.

Organisational work is steadily expanding in Rajasthan. RSS activities are currently being conducted at around 7,910 locations across the state. There are 12,109 shakhas and 5,950 weekly gatherings operating in Rajasthan.

To strengthen outreach, Hindu conferences have been organised at various places across the state. A total of 7,175 conferences have been held so far, with participation from 27,918 villages. 

Around 3,503,278 men and 4,126,687 women took part, bringing the total to 7,630,965. Through these programmes, efforts are being made to reach different sections of society, establish dialogue and strengthen social participation.

Agrawal said the organisation witnessed notable expansion over the past year. The number of shakhas has increased by around six thousand, taking the total to over 88,000, while the number of locations has crossed 55,000. There has also been growth in weekly gatherings (Saptahik Milan) and Mandalis.

He said RSS activities have now reached remote regions, including the Andaman Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Leh and distant tribal areas, where regular shakhas are being conducted. Along with organisational expansion, the RSS is also working to enhance the quality of social life.

Through the Panch Parivartan initiative, society is being encouraged towards positive transformation. He said that Indian identity, or Hindutva, is not merely an idea but a way of life, and that it should promote the expansion of noble values in society.

For this, it is necessary to organise constructive social forces and encourage them to contribute actively in the national interest.

He emphasised that the contributions of great personalities should be accepted beyond caste and sect divisions. In this spirit, RSS volunteers organised more than 2,000 programmes across the country on the 350th martyrdom year of the Ninth Sikh Guru, Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji, in which over seven lakh people participated.

The 150th anniversary of the national song Vande Mataram was also celebrated with enthusiasm. Various programmes will be organised in the coming year to mark the 650th birth anniversary of Sant Shiromani Ravidas Ji.

He said that under the RSS's regular training programmes, a total of 96 training camps will be organised next year, including 11 in 11 regions and one in Nagpur.

He added that enthusiasm for RSS activities is visible even in distant parts of the country. 

In the Andaman Islands, more than 13,000 people from nine major islands participated in a Hindu conference held in the presence of the RSS Sarsanghchalak. Similarly, over 37,000 people participated in 21 Swadharma Sammelans organised in Arunachal Pradesh.

- IANS
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned that recent military actions by Israel and the U.S. against Iran have seriously damaged the authority of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. He stated such actions undermine diplomatic conflict resolution and could push countries to seek nuclear weapons for security. Lavrov also highlighted increasing risks from the militarization of outer space, citing the U.S. "Golden Dome" missile defense system. This comes amid reports that U.S. President Donald Trump rejected a proposal from Russian President Vladimir Putin to transfer Iran's enriched uranium to Russia as part of a conflict-ending deal.

Sergei Lavrov says US-Israel strikes on Iran hurt nuclear non-proliferation treaty, as Trump rejects Putin's uranium transfer deal to end conflict.

Moscow, March 16 Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday that the fate of the nuclear non-proliferation regime is a source of grave concern amid escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.

In a message to participants of the Moscow Nonproliferation Conference, Lavrov said the recent military actions by Israel and the United States against Iran, including strikes targetting facilities under the safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency, had dealt a serious blow to the authority of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

Such actions have also hurt the credibility of diplomacy as a means of resolving disputes, Lavrov said, adding that some countries may increasingly view nuclear weapons as a guarantee of security.

He stressed the importance of preserving the pact as a key element of global strategic stability and urged all signatories, particularly nuclear-weapon states, to fulfill their obligations.

The foreign minister also noted that the risks of the militarization of outer space are increasing as a result of "destructive actions by the United States and its allies", Xinhua news agency reported.

The implementation of the US "Golden Dome" missile defence system, which envisions deploying space-based interceptor strike systems by 2028, poses a significant threat to strategic stability, he said.

Last week, a US news website reported that US President Donald Trump has rejected a proposal by Russian President Vladimir Putin to move Iran's enriched uranium to Russia as part of a deal to end the US-Israeli conflict with Iran.

Trump turned Putin down in a phone call earlier this week, sources told Axios, an American news website based in Arlington, Virginia.

Putin raised several ideas, including the uranium proposal, for ending the war during the phone conversation with Trump on Monday (March 9), said the report.

"This is not the first time it was offered. It hasn't been accepted. The US position is we need to see the uranium secured," a US official was quoted as saying.

It's not clear whether Iran would accept the proposal now. In the last round of talks before the war, Iran rejected the transfer idea and proposed diluting the uranium inside its own facilities under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency, according to the report.

Some news reports had also said that the Trump administration is considering sending special operations forces into Iran to secure or seize the country's highly enriched uranium.

- IANS
A photo of Bollywood superstar Salman Khan meeting Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav in Mumbai has gone viral on social media. The meeting, shared by Yadav on Instagram, drew reactions from both political followers and fans of the actor. Meanwhile, Salman Khan is preparing for the release of his upcoming action-war film 'Battle of Galwan,' based on the 2020 clash between Indian and Chinese troops. The film, featuring songs by prominent artists, is scheduled to hit theaters on April 17.

Bollywood star Salman Khan meets SP chief Akhilesh Yadav in Mumbai. Viral photo sparks reactions. Details on Khan's upcoming war film 'Battle of Galwan'.

Mumbai, March 16 Bollywood superstar Salman Khan recently met Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav in Mumbai, and the photo of their meeting has been going viral.

Akhilesh Yadav took to his Instagram account on Sunday to share a picture posing alongside Khan.



While sharing the picture, the politician kept the caption short, writing in Hindi, "Mumbai Milan."



Soon after he posted the picture, it started circulating widely on social media. The post quickly drew reactions from both political followers and fans of the Bollywood actor.



Meanwhile, on the work front, Salman Khan will next be seen in 'Battle of Galwan.' The action-war drama is based on the Galwan Valley clash between India and China in 2020, in which 20 Indian soldiers lost their lives and an unspecified number of Chinese soldiers were also killed.



The film's teaser was released in December last year and gave a glimpse of Salman's character, who portrays an Indian Army officer. The teaser shows him with a serious and restrained expression. The visuals depict rough terrain, cold weather, and close combat, offering a preview of the challenges soldiers face at high altitudes.



To mark Valentine's Day in Febrauary, the makers dropped a romantic track 'Main Hoon' from the Salman Khan-starrer. Earlier in January, the makers of the movie unveiled another song, "Maatrubhumi", giving fans a first look at the emotional side of the war drama. Composed by Himesh Reshammiya, with lyrics written by Sameer Anjaan, the song is sung by Arijit Singh and Shreya Ghoshal. The music and vocals aim to evoke strong patriotic emotions.



Chitrangada Singh is also part of the movie, which is scheduled to be released on April 17.





- ANI
Salman Khan's upcoming film based on the 2020 Galwan Valley clash has been officially retitled "Maatrubhumi: May War Rest in Peace". The announcement came with a powerful new poster featuring a bloodied and intense Salman Khan in his soldier avatar. The film, directed by Apoorva Lakhia, will depict the events surrounding Colonel Santosh Babu and the 16 Bihar Regiment. The core cast includes Chitrangda Singh, with Himesh Reshamiya composing the music.

Salman Khan's film on Galwan clash gets new title 'Maatrubhumi: May War Rest in Peace'. See the first look poster and cast details.

Mumbai, March 16 As Salman Khan fans wait with bated breath for his much-anticipated film "Battle of Galwan", the makers have decided to retitle the project.

On Monday, makers, Salman Khan Films, officially announced the new title of their drama, which will be called "Maatrubhumi: May War Rest in Peace" from now on.



The announcement was accompanied by a striking new poster, sharing the title change. It further revealed a message that carries deep relevance in today's world - "May War Rest in Peace."



The poster showed Salman peeking from behind a bloodied wooden log laced with a spiked chain.



While the film is inspired by the historic Galwan Valley events, the message behind the title goes beyond the battlefield. The announcement has already sparked conversation across social media, with many praising the powerful sentiment behind the title and the bold stance it represents, especially in the present political environment.



Made under the direction of Apoorva Lakhia, the drama is a cinematic adaptation of the real life events of June 15, 2020, when our Indian soldiers clashed with Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley. The drama will revolve around Colonel Santosh Babu (played by Salman Khan) and the 16 Bihar Regiment, who were tasked with enforcing a disengagement agreement along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).



With Salman, the core cast of the project also includes Chitrangda Singh as the leading lady, along with Abhilash Chaudhary and Ankur Bhatia playing crucial roles.



Himesh Reshamiya has been roped in as the music composer for "Maatrubhumi: May War Rest in Peace".



In the first look poster for the movie, Salman was seen with a mustache for his role as a soldier. He looked absolutely fierce in his rugged battle avatar with a bloodied face and intense determination in his eyes.





- IANS
Sean Penn has won the Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance in 'One Battle After Another'. He was not present at the ceremony, so the award was accepted for him by presenter Kieran Culkin. The film also stars Leonardo DiCaprio and features a story of confrontation and redemption. This marks Penn's third Academy Award win in his career.

Sean Penn wins his third Oscar for 'One Battle After Another' in the Best Supporting Actor category but was not present to accept the award.

Los Angeles, March 16 Actor Sean Penn has added one more Oscar to his kitty, courtesy of his performance in 'One Battle After Another'.

On Sunday, he was announced as the winner of Best Actor in a Supporting Role. Sean Penn did not attend the ceremony to accept his award. It was accepted for him by presenter Kieran Culkin.

"Sean Penn couldn't be here tonight--or didn't want to," quipped Kieran Culkin, last year's best supporting actor winner, after he announced the category onstage.

Sean Penn, now a three-time Oscar winner, was nominated alongside Benicio del Toro (also for One Battle After Another), Delroy Lindo for Sinners and Stellan Skarsgard for Sentimental Value.

'One Battle After Another' follows Bob, played by DiCaprio, a former revolutionary living off the grid with his daughter, Willa. Their lives take a dark turn when Bob's old enemy, Steven J Lockjaw, played by Sean Penn, returns after 16 years. When Willa goes missing, Bob must confront both his past and his nemesis in a gripping tale of survival and redemption.

Penn has two previous Oscars, both for best actor, in 2009's "Milk" and 2004's "Mystic River," and three previous Oscar nominations.

- ANI
The Delhi Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, has approved two major infrastructure projects aimed at decongesting the capital's roads. The Barapullah Phase-III elevated corridor will provide direct, signal-free connectivity from Mayur Vihar to AIIMS, with a revised cost of 1,635 crore and a completion target of June 2026. A second project involves constructing a six-lane elevated road with underpasses on the busy MB Road from Saket to Pul Prahladpur, estimated to cost 1,471 crore and to be executed by DMRC. The Chief Minister stated these initiatives align with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision for a developed India and have been fast-tracked with clear accountability, with delays under the previous administration referred for an anti-corruption probe.

Delhi CM Rekha Gupta approves two major signal-free corridors to ease traffic between East and South Delhi, targeting 2026 completion.

New Delhi, March 16 Under the leadership of Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, the Delhi government has taken a major step to reduce traffic congestion and make commuting easier across the capital. The Cabinet has approved two key infrastructure projects, the Barapullah Phase-III Elevated Corridor and a six-lane elevated corridor with underpasses on MB Road.

The Chief Minister said the projects will bring relief to millions of commuters and help make Delhi's road network more modern and efficient. She added that these initiatives are important steps toward building a 'Viksit Delhi' and will also contribute to realising the vision of a 'Viksit Bharat' envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Both projects were approved during a Cabinet meeting chaired by the Chief Minister at the Delhi Secretariat on Monday.

The government has cleared a revised cost of Rs 1,635.03 crore for the construction of the Barapullah Phase-III elevated road over the Barapullah drain, connecting Sarai Kale Khan to Mayur Vihar.

This project is an extension of the existing Barapullah elevated corridor. Once completed, it will provide direct, signal-free connectivity from Mayur Vihar in East Delhi to AIIMS in South Delhi.

According to the Chief Minister, the project will significantly reduce travel time for the lakhs of commuters who travel daily between East and South Delhi. It is also expected to ease congestion around Sarai Kale Khan, Ring Road, the DND Flyway and NH-24. The government has set a target of completing the project by June 30, 2026.

CM Rekha Gupta said the government has taken serious note of the unnecessary delays that occurred during the tenure of the previous administration.

She announced that the matter has been referred to the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) for a detailed investigation to determine why the project was delayed and who was responsible for it. The current government, she said, is moving ahead with the project with clear financial planning and accountability.

The Chief Minister also announced that the Cabinet has approved another major project -- a six-lane elevated road along with underpasses on MB Road, stretching from Saket G-Block to Pul Prahladpur.

The project is estimated to cost Rs 1,471.14 crore and will be executed by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC). According to the Chief Minister, the project will be implemented in two phases.

In the first phase, a double-decker integrated structure will be built between Saket G-Block and Sangam Vihar. This will include a six-lane elevated flyover, a six-lane underpass at Saket G-Block, an elevated ramp connecting the BRT corridor to the flyover, and a two-lane underpass linking MB Road with the BRT corridor.

In the second phase, a nearly 2.48-kilometre-long six-lane elevated flyover will be constructed from Maa Anandmayee Marg to Pul Prahladpur. This flyover will be built above the Delhi Metro tunnel.

CM Rekha Gupta noted that MB Road is among the busiest roads in South Delhi and has long suffered from heavy traffic congestion.

Once the project is completed, traffic movement between Saket, Ambedkar Nagar, Khanpur, Sangam Vihar and Pul Prahladpur will become smoother. This is expected to significantly reduce congestion and cut travel time for commuters.

She added that the Cabinet has also directed the Public Works Department (PWD) to finalise the alignment for the remaining stretches of MB Road at the earliest. These include the sections from Sangam Vihar to Maa Anandmayee Marg and from Pul Prahladpur to Badarpur. Once completed, the entire stretch from Saket G-Block to Badarpur will see improved traffic flow.

The Chief Minister said the Delhi government is working consistently to equip the capital with modern, seamless and world-class infrastructure.

She emphasised that the government is developing modern road networks, better connectivity and stronger infrastructure in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of a developed India. These projects, she said, are concrete steps toward building a 'Viksit Delhi', making the city's transport system more efficient and commuter-friendly.

CM Rekha Gupta added that her government is committed to fast-tracked, transparent and accountable infrastructure development in Delhi. While many projects remained stalled during the previous government's tenure, causing inconvenience to residents, the present administration is determined to complete projects on time and deliver better mobility for the people of the capital.

- ANI
Michael B Jordan made a stylish appearance on the Oscars red carpet with his family. He is nominated for his first Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in the film 'Sinners'. Jordan recently won the award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role at the 2026 Actor Awards. During his acceptance speech, he offered a special and emotional thank you to his mother for her support.

Michael B Jordan attends the 98th Academy Awards with family, nominated for Best Actor for 'Sinners'. He recently won an Actor Award and gave a touching tribute to his mother.

Los Angeles, March 16 Oscar nominee Michael B Jordan brought his family members to the 98th Academy Awards.

Before the ceremony began, he made a stylish appearance on the red carpet and posed with his family for a series of memorable photos.

Michael is nominated for his first Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in the film Sinners. He plays identical twins Smoke and Stack in "Sinners", which takes place in the 1930s as the brothers return home to the South and open a juke joint... only for vampires to descend on the small town.

Recently, he won big at the 2026 Actor Awards, receiving an award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role for his 'Sinners' performance.

Taking to the stage, he offered a special nod to his mother while accepting the award.

"Mom, thank you for driving me back and forth to New York when we didn't have enough money to go through the Holland Tunnel ... when I went up there for my auditions, thank you," he said, as quoted by The Hollywood Reporter.

- ANI
South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT has held preliminary discussions with AI company Anthropic about potential cooperation in technology, public service applications, and safety. The talks followed a meeting between Deputy Prime Minister Bae Kyung-hoon and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei at an AI summit in India. South Korea represents a significant market for Anthropic, ranking seventh globally in Claude usage intensity, and the company is preparing to open a Seoul office. The move aims to broaden Seoul's AI partnerships beyond its existing collaboration with OpenAI while still supporting domestic AI models for sensitive national sectors.

Seoul holds preliminary talks with Anthropic on AI tech and safety, seeking to diversify beyond OpenAI partnerships and boost local AI ecosystem.

Seoul, March 16 South Korea has held early talks with Anthropic, developer of the Claude AI model, as Seoul looks to broaden its engagement with major global artificial intelligence companies beyond OpenAI, according to the Ministry of Science and ICT.

As per a report from the Korea Herald, a ministry official said that Deputy Prime Minister and Science Minister Bae Kyung-hoon met Anthropic Chief Executive Officer Dario Amodei at an AI summit in India in February, where the two discussed AI technology, industry trends and the possibility of future cooperation.

"But nothing has been decided on a memorandum of understanding or any specific form of cooperation," the official said, as per the Korea Herald report, emphasising that the talks remain at a preliminary stage.

Yonhap News Agency earlier reported that the discussion had included possible policy cooperation with Anthropic, collaboration on applying AI to public services and potential AI safety-related work. The ministry did not confirm any specific framework.

The contact is notable because Anthropic has become increasingly relevant to governments and enterprise buyers as Claude gains traction among developers and enterprise users, particularly in coding and workflow-related tasks. That momentum has helped raise Anthropic's profile beyond the narrower circle of AI researchers and startups.

South Korea is also a meaningful market for the company. In Anthropic's January 2026 Economic Index, Korea ranked seventh out of 116 countries in Claude usage intensity, a measure adjusted for each country's working-age population to show relative adoption.

Anthropic has also been building a local footprint. The US firm began hiring in Seoul last month and has been preparing a Korean office focused on enterprise sales, pending the appointment of a country manager. A local office would give Anthropic a more direct base in a market where OpenAI and Google are also expanding their enterprise AI businesses.

As per the news report, Seoul's most visible foreign AI partnership has so far centred on OpenAI. In October 2025, the Science Ministry signed a memorandum of understanding with OpenAI on AI ecosystem development, public-sector AI transformation and talent cultivation. The government later launched a working-level task force to pursue follow-up projects.

At the same time, the government has also backed homegrown foundation models for more sensitive fields such as defence and health care, where data security, regulatory control and national strategic interests carry greater weight.

- ANI
South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-young has publicly urged North Korea to seize the opportunity for dialogue after U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated his interest in meeting with Kim Jong-un. The minister described a resumption of summit talks as mutually beneficial for both Pyongyang's security and Washington's regional stability goals. This call follows Trump's comments to South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min-seok, where he pondered if Chairman Kim wanted dialogue. However, the minister noted there have been no specific contacts between the two sides regarding restarting talks.

South Korea's unification minister calls on North Korea to resume dialogue with the US after President Trump expressed interest in meeting Kim Jong-un.

Seoul, March 16 South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-young called on North Korea on Monday not to miss an opportunity to resume dialogue with the United States after President Donald Trump expressed interest in meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

"The government's position on a North Korea-US summit does not depend on how likely it is, but it believes the meeting must take place," Chung told reporters.

"I hope North Korea will not miss the opportunity (for talks with Trump) created by Trump's expression of interest," the minister noted.

Chung's remarks came after Trump reiterated his interest in meeting Kim again, during a meeting with South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min-seok in Washington last Friday.

"He also asked for my views, saying that he is wondering if Chairman Kim wants dialogue with the US and President Trump," the prime minister said, quoting Trump as saying, "Meeting (Kim) is something good."

Trump is scheduled to visit China from late March to early April for talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Speculations have grown that Trump may seek to resume summit talks with Kim on the occasion of the visit.

The unification minister portrayed a resumption of North Korea-US summit talks as "necessary" and "mutually beneficial" to the two countries at a time when Pyongyang seeks the rights to development and national security, while Washington needs to manage the security situation on the Korean Peninsula stably, Yonhap news agency reported.

It would also be essential for South Korea's present and future, he added.

North Korea has shown interest in principle in resuming talks with the US, with leader Kim saying during last month's party congress that the country has no reason not to get along with Washington. He said, however, the US must first drop its hostile policy toward the regime.

Chung said Trump appears to have a "strong willingness" to meet Kim, adding that his remarks to the prime minister may have reflected a question about whether Kim is also interested in meeting him, after Trump somewhat "lost face" when he failed to meet Kim during his trip to South Korea last year on the occasion of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

But the minister said as far as he was aware, there had been no specific contact between Pyongyang and Washington regarding a resumption of dialogue.

- IANS
Over 70 Indian students, predominantly from Jammu and Kashmir, have been successfully evacuated from Iran where they were stranded due to the deteriorating security situation. They traveled by land to Armenia before boarding commercial flights via Dubai to reach New Delhi on Sunday morning. The evacuation was coordinated by the Jammu and Kashmir Students Association in close collaboration with the Ministry of External Affairs and Indian missions. The students, who were studying at various Iranian medical universities, had earlier been moved to safer locations by the Indian Embassy in Tehran.

Over 70 Indian students, mostly from Kashmir, stranded in Iran due to war evacuated via Armenia and Dubai. They arrived safely in Delhi Sunday morning.

Srinagar, March 14 The Jammu and Kashmir Students Association on Saturday said that more than 70 Indian students, majority of them from Jammu and Kashmir, who were stranded in Iran amid the ongoing war situation in the region, are returning safely to India on a commercial flight and are scheduled to arrive at Indira Gandhi International Airport on Sunday morning via a connecting journey through Armenia and Dubai, following a coordinated evacuation effort.

In a release, national convenor of the Association, Nasir Khuehami, said that the students are travelling on Flydubai Flight FZ8124, which departed from Zvartnots International Airport, carrying over 70 Indian students along with other pilgrims. The majority of the passengers on board are students from Kashmir who had been studying at different universities in Iran.

He said that the journey is being carried out through a connecting route. The first leg of the flight departed from Yerevan to Dubai International Airport at 13:25 (Armenia time) on March 14 and is expected to arrive in Dubai at 17:00 (Dubai time).

From Dubai, the passengers will board another Flydubai connecting flight, Flydubai Flight FZ441, which is scheduled to depart at 05:05 (Dubai time) and is expected to land at Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi, at approximately 9:55 AM (IST).

The Association said that these students had been stranded in Iran due to the ongoing war-like situation and deteriorating security conditions in the region, and are now returning safely to India. It further said that most of the students travelling in this batch are studying at Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, and other universities across Iran.

Before boarding the flight, the students travelled by buses from different cities in Iran and undertook a long land journey to Armenia, reaching Zvartnots International Airport in Yerevan to board the evacuation flight.

Earlier, the students were relocated to safer locations by the Indian Embassy in Tehran. Meanwhile, another group of stranded students studying in Kerman has also been moved to the relatively safer city of Qom as a precautionary measure.

The Association said it is working closely with the Ministry of External Affairs, the Embassy of Iran in New Delhi, and Indian missions in Tehran and Yerevan to secure land-transit permits and airline seats for the stranded students. It said the evacuation route through Armenia was arranged following requests and concerns raised by the students.

Khuehami said that the matter was flagged with Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri last week, after which the required permissions for land transit and travel were granted. The Association also said that the Ministry of External Affairs has advised Indian students currently in Iran to avoid sharing their exact locations or personal details on social media platforms as a precautionary measure to ensure their safety and prevent exposure to potential risks amid the volatile situation.

- ANI
Taiwan's Ministry of National Defence reported detecting 26 People's Liberation Army aircraft and 7 naval vessels operating around its territory. Sixteen of the aircraft entered Taiwan's northern, central, and southwestern Air Defence Identification Zone. This follows a similar incident days earlier involving Chinese aircraft crossing the median line. The activity underscores ongoing military pressure amid the complex historical and political dispute over Taiwan's status.

Taiwan's defense ministry reports 26 PLA aircraft and 7 naval vessels operating nearby, with 16 entering its air defense identification zone.

Taipei, March 15 Taiwan's Ministry of Defence detected 26 sorties of People's Liberation Army and 7 People's Liberation Army Navy vessels around its territory up until 6 am on Sunday.

Taiwanese forces also said that sixteen of the twenty-six sorties entered the country's northern, central and southwestern part Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ).

Taiwanese forces also said that they have monitored the situation and responded.

In a post on X, the Ministry of Defence wrote, "26 sorties of PLA aircraft and 7 PLAN vessels operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today. 16 out of 26 sorties entered Taiwan's northern, central and southwestern part ADIZ. #ROCArmedForces have monitored the situation and responded."

Earlier, Taiwan's Ministry of National Defence detected the presence of five sorties of Chinese aircraft and six Chinese naval vessels operating around their territory as of 6 am (local time) on Thursday.

Taiwanese forces said three out of five sorties crossed the median line and entered Taiwan's northern and southwestern Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ), and added that they monitored the situation and responded.

In a post on X, the MND said, "5 sorties of PLA aircraft and 6 PLAN vessels operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today. 3 out of 5 sorties crossed the median line and entered Taiwan's northern and southwestern ADIZ. #ROCArmedForces have monitored the situation and responded."

China's claim over Taiwan is a complex issue rooted in historical, political, and legal arguments. Beijing asserts that Taiwan is an inseparable part of China, a viewpoint embedded in national policy and upheld by domestic laws and international statements.

Taiwan, however, maintains a distinct identity, functioning independently with its own government, military, and economy. Taiwan's status remains a significant point of international debate, testing the principles of sovereignty, self-determination, and non-interference in international law, as per the United Service Institution of India.

China's claim to Taiwan originates from the Qing Dynasty's annexation of the island in 1683 after defeating Ming loyalist Koxinga. However, Taiwan remained a peripheral region under limited Qing control. The key shift came in 1895, when the Qing ceded Taiwan to Japan after the First Sino-Japanese War, marking Taiwan as a Japanese colony for 50 years. After Japan's defeat in World War II, Taiwan was returned to Chinese control, but the sovereignty transfer was not formalised.

In 1949, the Chinese Civil War resulted in the establishment of the People's Republic of China (PRC) on the mainland, while the Republic of China (ROC) retreated to Taiwan, asserting its claim to govern all of China. This led to dual sovereignty claims: the PRC over the mainland and the ROC over Taiwan. Taiwan has operated as a de facto independent state but has avoided declaring formal independence to prevent military conflict with the PRC, United Service Institution of India states.

- ANI
Iranian students gathered outside a UN office to protest a US-Israeli airstrike that destroyed a girls' elementary school in Minab, killing over 100 people, mostly children. The attack has drawn global condemnation from UNESCO as a grave violation of international law. Concurrently, US President Donald Trump stated he is unwilling to negotiate a ceasefire with Iran, claiming the current terms are insufficient. Iranian military officials have warned that US bank branches in the Gulf region will become targets if the US and Israel continue strikes on Iranian infrastructure.

Iranian students protest a deadly school airstrike as Trump refuses a ceasefire deal. UN condemns the attack, and Iran warns of targeting US banks.

Tehran, March 15 Iranian students gathered outside the United Nations Commission office to commemorate the students who died in the US-Israeli attack on an elementary school in Minab, reported the state broadcasting TV.

A girls' primary school in Minab, southern Iran, was hit during airstrikes linked to the Operation Roaring Lion on February 28, 2026. The Shajareh Tayyebeh girls' elementary school was destroyed by a missile while students were in class, killing more than 100 people, most of them children.

The attack triggered global condemnation, with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation calling it a grave violation of international humanitarian law and urging accountability.

Earlier, US President Donald Trump said that Iran is ready to negotiate a deal to end the ongoing war, but he is not prepared to agree to a ceasfire yet since the terms offered are insufficient, according to NBC News.

In an interview with NBC News, Trump said he is unwilling to make a deal with Tehran at this stage despite indications the country wants negotiations.

"Iran wants to make a deal, and I don't want to make it because the terms aren't good enough yet," he said, adding that any terms will have to be "very solid".

When asked about the conditions for a deal, Trump said, "I don't want to say that to you," though he indicated that a commitment from Iran to completely abandon would be part of any agreement.

Trump also said he is working with several countries to secure the Strait of Hormuz, a critical route for global oil shipments, as oil prices surge during the conflict, NBC News reported.

Before this, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Saturday (local time) warned that attacks on American bank branches operating in the Gulf region could expand if further strikes by the US and Israel target Iranian banking infrastructure, according to Press TV.

Naeini said Iranian attacks on American bank branches in neighbouring countries were carried out in response to recent US-Israeli strikes on Iranian bank properties earlier this week and briefly disrupted banking operations in the country.

Speaking to Sepah News on Saturday, as cited by Press TV, Naeini warned that all US bank branches operating in the region will become legitimate targets for Iran if "the enemy repeats its mistake" and carries out similar attacks on Iranian banks.

His remarks come as Iran repeatedly warns of 'responding in kind' to attacks on civilian infrastructure by the US or Israel. Iranian authorities have indicated that reprisals could target US assets across the region, particularly in Arab countries of the Persian Gulf, where American companies have expanded operations in recent years.

- ANI
The Telangana state budget for the 2026-27 financial year will be presented in the Assembly on March 20 by Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka. The budget session commenced on March 16 with the Governor's address, with discussions on the motion of thanks scheduled for March 17 and 18. The Business Advisory Committee, chaired by Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar, finalized the schedule, which includes breaks for Ugadi and Eid. Opposition parties, including the BRS and BJP, have criticized the session's duration and demanded more sitting days for thorough discussion.

Telangana's Budget for 2026-27 will be presented on March 20. Deputy CM Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka to table it in the Assembly. Session schedule announced.

Hyderabad, March 16 Telangana's Budget for 2026-27 will be presented in the state Assembly on March 20.

Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikarmarka, who is also the Finance Minister, will present the budget in the Assembly, while Legislative Affairs Minister D. Sridhar Babu will present the budget in the Legislative Council the same day.

The discussion on the budget will be held from March 23 to March 26. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) chaired by Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar.

The budget session of the state legislature began on Monday with Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla's address to the joint session of both houses.

There will be a discussion on Tuesday and Wednesday (March 17 and 18) on the motion of thanks to the Governor for his address.

There will be a holiday on March 19 on account of Ugadi. There will be no sitting on March 21 and 22 on account of Eid and Sunday, respectively.

The Congress government is planning to conduct the budget session till March 31. Other parties suggested that the proceedings should be conducted on Sundays as well.

They suggested that both houses should run on all days except Ugadi, Eid-ul-Fitr, and Rama Navami.

Deputy CM Bhatti Vikramarka, Legislative Affairs Minister Sridhar Babu and Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar attended the BAC meeting.

Main opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) was represented by its deputy leader T. Harish Rao and MLA KP Vivekanand Goud.

From Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), its floor leader A. Maheshwar Reddy attended the meeting.

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) MLA Kausar Mohiuddin and Communist Party of India (CPI) MLA K. Sambasiva Rao were also present.

BJP leader Maheshwar Reddy demanded that the government should conduct the session for at least 30 days. He alleged that the government is cutting down the duration of the session to escape discussion on people's issues.

- IANS
Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has directed Congress legislators to shift their focus from critiquing the previous government to highlighting their own administration's achievements and future plans during the ongoing budget session. He emphasized strict party discipline and active participation, especially from women legislators, in the Assembly and Council debates. The CM recalled how the previous BRS government suppressed opposition voices, including his own suspension, and assured that all assembly committees would be constituted soon. Legislators were also urged to address summer water issues and directly communicate government schemes to the public through an outreach program.

Telangana CM A. Revanth Reddy instructs Congress legislators to focus on government's roadmap and achievements during the budget session debate.

Hyderabad, March 16 Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Monday asked the Congress party legislators to focus on the government's achievements and future plans during the debate in both the Assembly and Council.

Addressing the Congress Legislature Party (CLP), he said that debate on the failures of the previous government is no longer required.

"This is the right time to focus on our future plans and how to fulfil the people's aspirations," a statement from the Chief Minister's Office quoted him as saying.

The CLP meeting was held to discuss the party's strategy during the budget session, which commenced on Monday with Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla's address to the joint sitting of both Houses.

The Chief Minister asked all Congress MLAs and MLCs, including women legislators, to attend the budget session of the Assembly and Legislative Council and participate actively in the debates.

He emphasised that there should be good coordination between the government Whips and MLAs in the House during the discussion.

Revanth Reddy stated that the 'People's Government' will be presenting its third budget during this session.

The Chief Minister told the legislators that the Governor's address outlined the government's priorities and future plans, and it served as a roadmap for the government.

He said that every member must speak and respond strictly in accordance with the stand of the party and the government. "The roadmap we formulate now will serve as the agenda for the upcoming elections," he said.

The Government Whips were instructed to coordinate in the House in the selection of the topics and the issues during the debates. "We must ensure that the House proceedings are conducted efficiently without allowing discussions to be sidetracked or House time to be wasted".

All the MLAs should attend the session promptly, and the women legislators should not only ensure their attendance but also actively participate in the discussions, the CM said.

"The damage caused by individuals will ruin the entire system. Our survival in politics depends entirely on upholding and preserving the integrity of the system".

The Chief Minister noted that the previous BRS government did not allow the opposition to speak on important issues. The then-CLP leaders-Bhatti Vikramarka and Jana Reddy- were also denied the opportunity to speak.

Revanth Reddy recalled that he was also suspended for the entire session and was even barred from entering the House for the entire tenure as an MLA.

He assured the legislators that all the Assembly committees will be constituted soon. The CM suggested that the MLAs and MLCs tour other states and study the best-practice policies.

The MLAs were also asked to give more attention to the drinking water problem during the summer. They were urged to take the government's schemes directly to people during the 99-Day "Praja Palana - Pragati Pranalika" programme.

- IANS
Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has issued a strict order for all Congress legislators to attend and actively participate in the ongoing budget session. He emphasized that debates must adhere to the party line and focus on the government's future roadmap rather than critiquing the previous BRS administration. The CM stressed the importance of women legislators' participation and efficient House proceedings coordinated by government whips. He also instructed MLAs to address the summer drinking water crisis and study policies from other states.

CM Revanth Reddy directs all Congress legislators to actively participate in the Telangana budget session, focusing on future plans and efficient debates.

Hyderabad, March 16 Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy ordered all Congress MLAs and MLCs, including women legislators, to attend the budget session of the assembly and Legislative Council and participate actively in the debates.

The Chief Minister emphasised that there should be good coordination between the government Whips and MLAs in the house during the discussion.

Participating in the CLP meeting, the CM said that the People's Government is presenting a third budget in the session.

The Governor's address outlined the government's priorities and future plans and it served as a roadmap for the government, CM Revanth Reddy said, adding that every member must speak and respond strictly in accordance with the party line and the government. "The roadmap we formulate now will serve as the agenda for the upcoming elections".

Further, the CM said that debate on the failures of the previous government does not require it, and it is the right time to focus on our future plans and how to fulfill the people's aspirations.

The Government Whips were instructed to coordinate in the House in the selection of the topics and the issues during the debates. "We must ensure that the House proceedings are conducted efficiently without allowing discussions to be sidetracked or House time to be wasted," he said.

All the MLAs should attend the session promptly, and the Women legislators should not only ensure their attendance but also actively participate in the discussions. The CM stressed the participation of women members in the debates. "The damage caused by individuals will ruin the entire system. Our survival in politics depends entirely on upholding and preserving the integrity of the system".

The Chief Minister noted that the previous BRS government did not allow the opposition to speak on important issues. The then-CLP leaders, Bhatti Vikramarka and Jana Reddy, were also denied the opportunity to speak. He was also suspended for the entire session and for the duration of the tenure as an MLA, and was barred from entering the House, the CM recalled.

Stating that all the Assembly committees will be constituted soon, CM Reddy suggested that the MLAs and MLCs tour other states and study the best-practice policies. The MLAs were also ordered to focus more attention on the drinking water crisis in the summer. The '99-Day "Praja Palana - Pragati Pranalika" should be taken directly to the people at the grassroots level, the CM said.

- ANI
The Israel Defence Forces report their campaign against Iran is moving faster than planned but is prepared for at least three more weeks of operations. Officials state there are thousands of remaining targets, with the current focus on destroying Iran's military industry, particularly ballistic missile and air defense production. The IDF claims to have disabled about 70% of Iran's ballistic missile units and achieved aerial superiority by neutralizing key air defense systems. The joint US-Israeli operation's stated long-term objective is to degrade Iran's strategic threat and create conditions for internal change.

Israel says it has thousands of Iranian targets left, aiming to degrade missile production and air defense networks in an extensive campaign.

Tel Aviv, March 16 The Israel Defence Forces' offensive in the combined military campaign with the United States against Tehran is moving "according to plan," outstripping initial timelines, as reported by The Times of Israel.

Military officials indicated on Sunday that strikes on the Iranian defence sector are set to "further ramp up," alongside persistent attempts to "reduce missile fire on Israel."

Despite the accelerated pace, the IDF remains prepared for at least "three more weeks of operations" within Iran.

The military cited the existence of "thousands more targets" yet to be neutralised across the capital and various provinces.

"We have thousands of targets ahead," IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin stated during a briefing on Sunday.

He further added that the military is "ready, in coordination with our US allies," with operational strategies extending through the holiday of "Passover" and "deeper plans for even three weeks beyond that."

The Times of Israel noted that following the initial "decapitation strikes" on February 28, which resulted in the death of Ali Khamenei and over "40 top Iranian officials," the IDF has shifted its primary focus.

Current efforts are concentrated on the total destruction of Iran's "military industry," targeting the production of ballistic missiles and air defence networks.

Comparing this conflict to the brief escalation in June 2025, officials described the present operation as "far more extensive."

While the previous engagement aimed to stop the development of a "nuclear weapon," the current war is viewed as a chance to eliminate Iran's "strategic threat" for the "foreseeable future."

Consequently, the IDF is working to "systematically degrade" the entire Iranian defence apparatus.

This includes targeting the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' (IRGC) missile firms, as well as private entities manufacturing "components" for naval weapons and "spy satellites," as detailed by The Times of Israel.

Military sources claim that the strikes have already inflicted "significant damage," asserting that Tehran currently lacks the "ability to manufacture any new missiles."

Simultaneously, the IAF has continued to "hunt down" launchers, reportedly disabling approximately "70 per cent" of the regime's 500 ballistic missile units.

The Times of Israel further reported that the IDF has achieved "aerial superiority" across most of the country.

This was made possible after the Israeli Air Force successfully neutralised over "100 air defence systems" and roughly "120 detection systems" within the early stages of the campaign.

Beyond hardware, the military is targeting "centres of power," specifically the command units of the "internal security forces and Basij."

The IDF estimates that between "4,000 and 5,000 Iranian soldiers" have been killed, while witnessing a sharp decline in "morale" and instances of "desertion" within the missile divisions.

The overarching objective of the joint US-Israeli mission is to "distance threats" and "create the conditions" for the local populace to eventually "topple the regime," as per the report by The Times of Israel.

- ANI
Assam Congress President Gaurav Gogoi has expressed full confidence that the people will elect a Congress-led government with a full majority in the upcoming Assembly elections. He termed the incumbent government led by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma as "corrupt" and promised a new Assam focused on development and fundamental rights. Elections for all 126 Assembly constituencies will be held in a single phase on April 9, with counting on May 4. The BJP is seeking a third consecutive term, while the Congress has begun announcing its candidates for the high-stakes contest.

Assam Congress President Gaurav Gogoi promises to uproot the BJP-led government, terming it corrupt, as state gears up for single-phase Assembly elections on April 9.

Sonitpur, March 16 Following the Election Commission of India's announcement of the 2026 Assembly election schedule, Assam Congress President Gaurav Gogoi on Sunday expressed confidence that the people of the state would "uproot and throw away" the BJP-led government, stating that a Congress-led government would lead to the creation of a "new Assam".

Speaking to the media, Gogoi termed the incumbent government led by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma "corrupt", promising a state focused on development and the protection of fundamental rights under Congress.

"Assembly elections in Assam have been announced and I am fully hopeful that the people of Assam will bring a Congress-led government with full majority in Assam on the upcoming 9th date and will create a new Assam, a big Assam from which there will be development for all of us. We will all get the opportunity to live peacefully, and in accordance with our fundamental rights, we will all together create a new Assam. The people of Assam will uproot and throw away the corrupt government of Himanta Biswa Sarma," he said.

A day earlier, the Election Commission announced that in Assam, elections for all 126 Assembly constituencies will be held in a single phase on April 9, with the counting of votes scheduled for May 4. Following the announcement, the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) came into immediate effect in all poll-bound regions.

Assam will witness a fight between the incumbent BJP-led NDA government and Congress for the 126-seat assembly. The BJP government, led by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, will look to secure a third consecutive term, while the Congress aims to defeat the ruling party to return to power.

Ahead of the polls, the state unit of the BJP flagged the "Jan Ashirwad Yatra" to interact with the people of Assam, with CM Sarma's active participation. During the first phase of the outreach programme, Sarma said that earlier he had travelled 1,200 km, spending 14 hours daily with the public.

Meanwhile, the Congress released its second list of candidates for the upcoming polls, announcing 23 names, bringing the total tally to 65 out of 126 state assembly seats. The Congress said that 15 constituencies, including Bhowanipur-Sorbhoog, Bajali, Palasbari, Guwahati Central, Goreswar, Morigaon and Barhampur, have been left for alliance partners.

In the 2021 elections, the NDA, comprising the BJP, AGP and United People's Party Liberal (UPPL), won 75 seats. The BJP is the largest partner in the alliance with 60 seats. Voter turnout was as high as 86.2 per cent with over 2. 2 crore registered voters in 2021.

In the 2016 Assembly elections, the BJP put up a strong show and won 60 seats, and the Congress secured 26 seats. The AIDUF won 13 seats. The voter turnout for the 126 state assembly constituencies was high at 83.9 per cent. As many as 199,47, 690 voters exercised their franchise in these elections.

- ANI
Tripura Finance Minister Pranajit Singha Roy presented a Rs 34,212.31 crore tax-free deficit budget for the 2026-27 financial year. The budget focuses on infrastructure development, promoting investment, and generating employment, with significant allocations for health and tourism. Key announcements include establishing new technical and health sciences universities and the NAVCHETNA initiative for AI and robotics education. The government also highlighted grounded investments worth Rs 5,022 crore and plans to boost overseas employment opportunities.

Tripura Finance Minister presents a Rs 34,212 crore tax-free budget for 2026-27, emphasizing infrastructure, tech education, and investment promotion.

Agartala, March 16 Tripura Finance Minister Pranajit Singha Roy on Monday presented a tax-free deficit budget of Rs 34,212.31 crore for the financial year 2026-27, projecting a deficit of Rs 240.72 crore, and emphasising infrastructure development, investment promotion, employment generation, and strengthening the health and tourism sectors. 

The budget reflects a 5.52 per cent increase over the 2025-26 budget estimates. 

The Finance Minister said that during 2026-27, the state government will provide a total of Rs 914.82 crore to the politically important Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC), marking an increase of 6.34 per cent. 

The crucial elections to the 30-member TTAADC are scheduled for April. 

"The state government continues to excel on the path to progress. Strengthening infrastructure, promoting investment, creating employment, and developing health and tourism sectors are among the proactive measures being undertaken to ensure all-around socio-economic development of the people of the state," Roy said during his nearly two-hour budget speech. 

He announced the establishment of Tripura Government Technical University, Tripura Government Women's University and Tripura University of Health Sciences. 

The budget also introduced a new initiative, "NAVCHETNA", aimed at promoting technology-driven education through Innovation and Technology Laboratories in institutions. 

The programme will focus on Artificial Intelligence (AI), robotics, Internet of Things (IoT), coding and automation. 

The Finance Minister further announced the launch of the 'Mukhyamantri Antarjatik Kormosangstan Prokolpa' to facilitate overseas employment opportunities for nursing, ITI, diploma and graduate students. A Drone School will be set up to provide professional training for drone pilots with DGCA-approved licences. 

In addition, a Foreign Language School will be established in Agartala in collaboration with Ramakrishna Mission. To safeguard farmers from natural calamities, crops of 96,000 farmers have been insured under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, Roy said. 

To combat HIV/AIDS, 11 additional Targeted Intervention programmes, Link Workers and NGOs have been identified to provide prevention and treatment services to high-risk populations. Six mobile vans are currently operating to conduct HIV diagnostic tests in hard-to-reach areas. 

Under 'Mission Shakti', integrated support and assistance are being provided to women affected by violence, including medical and legal aid, temporary shelter with food, and psychosocial counselling. 

Roy informed the House that One Stop Centres (OSCs) are now operational in all eight districts of Tripura, while the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development has approved two additional OSCs. 

According to the Finance Minister, the state received investment proposals worth Rs 15,800 crore during the 'Destination Tripura-Business Conclave' held in Agartala and the 'Rising North East Investment Summit' in New Delhi during 2025-26. Of these, 91 investment projects worth Rs 5,022 crore have been grounded in the past year. 

To further boost investment momentum, the Destination Tripura-Business Meet 2026 will be organised in May 2026, he added. 

Roy also noted that several tourism infrastructure projects are being implemented under an Externally Aided Project (EAP) funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). 

As a result of the government's initiatives, tourist footfall in the state increased to 6,50,772 in 2025-26 (up to February 2026), compared to 5,29,815 in 2018-19. 

- IANS
The Tripura government has announced a 5% increase in Dearness Allowance and Dearness Relief for state employees and pensioners, effective from April 1, 2026. Chief Minister Manik Saha stated the move will cost the state an additional Rs 500 crore annually, benefiting over 1.83 lakh individuals. Opposition leaders criticized the announcement for not being part of the formal budget speech, alleging a violation of legislative norms. The announcement was made during the ongoing budget session, which saw heated exchanges between the treasury and opposition benches.

Tripura CM announces 5% DA/DR hike effective April 2026, costing Rs 500 crore annually. Opposition criticizes budget exclusion.

Agartala, March 16 The Tripura government on Monday announced a 5 per cent hike in Dearness Allowance and Dearness Relief for 1,83,582 government employees and pensioners in the state.

Making the announcement on the second day of the ongoing Budget session of the Tripura Assembly, Chief Minister Manik Saha informed the House that the revised DA and DR would come into effect from April 1, 2026.

The announcement drew desk-thumping from members of the treasury bench.

The Chief Minister made the announcement soon after Finance, Planning and Coordination Minister Pranajit Singha Roy presented the 2026-27 Budget in the Assembly.

"To implement the additional DA and DR, the state government will incur an extra expenditure of about Rs 500 crore annually," Saha told the House.

Opposition members, including former minister Sudip Roy Barman of the Congress and Leader of the Opposition Jitendra Chaudhury of the CPI-M, said the DA and DR hike should have been included in the Finance Minister's budget proposals.

"The Chief Minister has violated established norms and convention," Roy Barman alleged, amid heated exchanges between treasury and opposition benches.

Jitendra Chaudhury, also a former minister and CPI-M Tripura state secretary, asked the Chief Minister to clarify the status of the pending DA and DR dues of state government employees and pensioners.

While Saha attempted to respond to the queries raised by the Leader of the Opposition, disruptions over other issues prevented him from completing his reply, prompting Acting Speaker Ram Prasad Paul to adjourn the House.

A Finance Department official said the decision would benefit more than 1,02,563 government employees and 81,019 pensioners.

The official noted that after coming to power in March 2018, the BJP-led government revised pay scales with effect from October 1, 2018, based on the recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission.

Since then, the state government has announced additional DA and DR hikes on several occasions for employees and pensioners.

State government employees and pensioners have long demanded parity in DA and DR with their counterparts in the Central government.

Meanwhile, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ratan Lal Nath said the Budget session of the Assembly will continue until March 25.

The ongoing session is the first sitting of the Tripura Assembly this year.

- IANS
US President Donald Trump has publicly called on South Korea, Japan, and other affected nations to send naval ships to help keep the Strait of Hormuz open. He made the appeal on social media, claiming the U.S. has already destroyed Iran's military capability but that the waterway remains under threat. The strait is a critical chokepoint for global oil shipments, with South Korea heavily reliant on Middle Eastern oil imports. Meanwhile, Iran's Supreme Leader has defiantly vowed to continue using the blockade of the strait as a strategic lever.

US President Donald Trump urges South Korea, Japan, and others to deploy naval ships to keep the Strait of Hormuz open and safe from Iranian threats.

Washington, March 15 US President Donald Trump has said that "hopefully" South Korea and other countries affected by Iran's attempt to close the Strait of Hormuz will send ships to keep the crucial oil shipping route "open and safe" amid growing concerns over disruptions to shipping along the waterway.

Trump made the remarks in a social media post as his administration has been ramping up pressure on the Islamic Republic to stop the move to block the strait, which is responsible for about a fifth of the world's oil supplies, reports Yonhap news agency.

"Hopefully China, France, Japan, South Korea, the UK, and others, that are affected by this artificial constraint, will send Ships to the area so that the Hormuz Strait will no longer be a threat by a Nation that has been totally decapitated," Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Trump claimed that the U.S. military has already destroyed "100 percent" of Iran's military capability.

"But it's easy for them to send a drone or two, drop a mine, or deliver a close range missile somewhere along, or in, this Waterway, no matter how badly defeated they are," Trump said.

He went on to say: "In the meantime, the United States will be bombing the hell out of the shoreline, and continually shooting Iranian Boats and Ships out of the water. One way or the other, we will soon get the Hormuz Strait OPEN, SAFE, and FREE!"

In a separate post, Trump said that the U.S. has "beaten and completely decimated Iran both militarily, economically and in every other way, the countries of the world that receive oil through the Hormuz Strait must take care of that passage."

"And we will help -- A LOT! The U.S. will also coordinate with those Countries so that everything goes quickly, smoothly, and well," he said.

This should have always been a team effort, and now it will be -- It will bring the World together toward Harmony, Security, and Everlasting Peace!"

South Korea currently has its Cheonghae naval unit in the Gulf of Aden for anti-piracy operations.

In 2020, Seoul decided to deploy naval forces to the Strait of Hormuz for independent operations, temporarily expanding the Cheonghae unit's operational area to cover the tense waterway, amid pressure from Washington to contribute to its effort to protect what it sees as global commons in the Middle East.

Disruptions to shipping through the strait off Iran are a growing concern for South Korea given that the Asian country relies on the Middle East for more than 70 percent of its oil imports.

Having kicked off Feb. 28, the U.S. military operation has intensified, seeking to destroy Iran's missile capabilities and its navy, weaken Iranian-backed militant groups and end any pathway for the Middle East country to get nuclear bombs.

Despite the formidable campaign of military strikes, Iran's new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei issued a defiant message Thursday, vowing to continue using the blockade of the strait as a "lever," and avenge the "blood" of "martyrs" killed in the war with the U.S. and Israel.

- IANS
The White House has indicated President Donald Trump's scheduled visit to China to meet President Xi Jinping may be delayed as the ongoing war with Iran takes precedence. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated the meeting is not in jeopardy but timing could shift based on military developments. Trump highlighted discussions with China and other nations about securing the Strait of Hormuz, a critical oil shipping route. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggested any rescheduling would be for logistical and operational reasons, not diplomatic tensions.

White House says President Trump's planned trip to meet Xi Jinping may be postponed as the Iran conflict remains the top priority. Updates pending.

Washington, March 16 US President Donald Trump may delay his planned visit to China as the war with Iran continues, the White House said on Monday, even as officials stressed that the meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping is still expected to take place.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the trip remains important to both leaders but acknowledged the timing could change depending on developments in the conflict.

"Yes, so the President looks forward to meeting with President Xi in China. This is a trip I know he's long been looking forward to, and I know President Xi has been looking forward to welcoming President Trump," Leavitt told reporters outside the White House.

She added that "there's a possibility the trip could be delayed", saying the administration would provide updates once new dates are determined.

"I don't think the meeting is in jeopardy, but it's quite possible the meeting could be delayed," Leavitt also said in remarks on Fox News.

Trump's visit to China had been scheduled for March 31 through April 2, during which he was expected to meet President Xi in Beijing. The meeting would mark Trump's first visit to China since 2017.

The White House signalled that the war with Iran is now the US President's top priority.

"No, I just answered the question. It's a leader to leader conversation at this point. The President looks forward to visiting China. The dates may be moved," Leavitt added.

"As Commander-in-Chief, it's his number one priority right now to ensure the continued success of this operation, Epic Fury. So we'll keep you posted on the dates as soon as we can."

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday night, Trump said discussions with global powers -- including China -- are continuing as Washington seeks support to safeguard shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz amid the ongoing conflict.

"China's an interesting case study. They get most of their oil, as you know, by far, they get a lot, about 90 per cent through the strait," the US President added.

"So I've said, 'Would you like to come in?' And we'll find out. Maybe they will, maybe they won't."

He added: "They should come in, in my opinion."

President Trump also said the US has contacted several countries about helping police the strategic waterway, through which a large share of global oil shipments pass.

"We are talking to other countries about working with us on the policing of the strait," Trump said, adding that Washington had spoken with about seven countries on the issue.

"We've had some positive response. We had a few that would rather not get involved."

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who is currently leading trade discussions with Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng in Paris, said any adjustment to the President's itinerary would likely reflect operational priorities rather than diplomatic tensions.

"If the meetings are delayed, it wouldn't be delayed because the President demanded that China police the Strait of Hormuz," Bessent said in an interview with CNBC.

"If the meeting, for some reason, is rescheduled, it would be rescheduled because of logistics."

He added that such a decision could reflect Trump's preference "to stay in the White House or to stay in the United States while this war is being prosecuted".

The White House also emphasised that President Trump is closely overseeing the military campaign.

"Of course, the President's utmost responsibility right now as Commander-in-Chief is to ensure the continued success of Operation Epic Fury, as he is doing 24/7 here at the White House, here at home," Leavitt said.

Trump and Xi last met in South Korea in October l.

- IANS
Conflict described as a "war of choice" by US

Senior Trump administration officials have suggested the military conflict with Iran could conclude within weeks, citing a campaign ahead of schedule. The war has severely disrupted tanker traffic through the critical Strait of Hormuz, applying upward pressure on global oil prices. Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has firmly rejected any notion of a ceasefire or negotiations with Washington. Araghchi stated Iran would continue its self-defense, framing the conflict as a "war of choice" initiated by President Trump.

US officials predict the Iran conflict could end within weeks, while Tehran vows to continue fighting. Oil markets face disruption from Strait of Hormuz tensions.

Washington, March 16 The war with Iran could end within weeks, senior officials in the Trump administration said, even as fighting continues across the Middle East and disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz push oil prices higher.

The comments came as the conflict entered its third week and global energy markets remained under pressure due to the near-halt in shipping through the strategic waterway.

Speaking on ABC's This Week, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the administration believed the military campaign was progressing quickly.

"Hey, there's no guarantees in wars at all," Wright said in the interview with ABC News anchor Martha Raddatz.

But he added that officials expected the conflict to conclude soon.

"I think that this conflict will certainly come to an end in the next few weeks, could - could be sooner than that," Wright said.

White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett also suggested the campaign was moving faster than expected.

"The Department of War believed that it would take four to six weeks to complete this mission and that we're ahead of schedule," Hassett said in an interview on CBS's Face the Nation.

The war has already triggered major disruptions to global energy markets. Tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz - one of the world's most important oil shipping routes - has slowed sharply amid attacks and security concerns.

US officials say the administration is urging allies to help secure the waterway and protect commercial shipping.

Wright said the disruption was expected but temporary.

"Yes, we're going to have disruption, and we do have disruption," he said.

President Donald Trump has also argued that the conflict would ultimately stabilise energy markets and the region.

"The president will decide if they no longer have the capability of blackmailing us and harming our neighbors," Hassett said on CBS.

Meanwhile, Iran has rejected suggestions that it is seeking a ceasefire in the ongoing war, saying it will continue fighting and defending itself as long as necessary.

In an interview on CBS's Face the Nation, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi denied that Tehran had requested a ceasefire or negotiations with Washington.

"No, we never asked for a cease-fire, and we have never asked even for negotiation," Araghchi told CBS moderator Margaret Brennan.

He said Iran would continue its military response to what it described as aggression by the United States.

"We are ready to defend ourselves as long as it takes," Araghchi said.

The foreign minister argued that the conflict had been initiated by Washington and accused President Donald Trump of choosing war.

"This is a war of choice by President Trump and the United States, and we are going to continue our self-defense," he said.

Araghchi also dismissed suggestions that Tehran needed to negotiate to survive the conflict.

"No, it's not a war of survival. We are stable and strong enough," he said.

- IANS
President Donald Trump claims US military action has severely weakened Iran's missile and drone capabilities, stating the campaign is "way ahead of schedule." He argues the confrontation has drawn Gulf states closer to Washington, making them more united against Tehran after regional attacks. Trump suggests this weakened Iranian position could facilitate further diplomatic normalization between Gulf nations and Israel. The stability of the region, particularly the Strait of Hormuz, remains critical for global energy markets and the millions of expatriate workers there.

President Trump claims US military action has severely degraded Iran's capabilities and unified Gulf states against Tehran in a Fox News interview.

Washington, March 15 President Donald Trump has said the US has severely weakened Iran's military capabilities and claimed the confrontation has brought Gulf states closer to Washington, saying regional governments are now more united against Tehran after recent attacks.

In an interview with Fox News Radio's Brian Kilmeade, Trump said the US campaign has inflicted heavy damage on Iran's missile and drone capabilities.

"We are decimating them," Trump said. "We've knocked out most of their missiles. We've knocked out many of their drones. We knocked out a lot of the manufacturing areas where they manufacture the missiles and now the drones."

He added: "We're hitting them harder than anybody's been hit since World War II."

Trump said the escalating conflict had strengthened US ties with Gulf partners after several countries in the region were struck during the crisis.

"We're very, very solid. The relationship, the unity, is tremendous," he said. "I spoke to most of them today."

According to Trump, some Gulf states had initially tried to remain outside the confrontation but were drawn into the conflict after attacks linked to Iran.

"They got hit, and they really, nobody expected it," Trump said. "They were sort of staying away and... more or less neutral."

Trump argued that Iran had broader ambitions in the region and said the US campaign was aimed at preventing Tehran from dominating the Middle East.

"What Iran wanted to do is take over the whole Middle East," he said. "If we didn't stop them with the B-2 bombers, they would have done that."

The President also claimed that Iran's armed forces had been badly degraded during the fighting.

"Their Navy has totally gone," Trump said. "Their Air Force is gone. Their leadership is gone. Their second leadership is gone. Now, their third leadership is in trouble."

He suggested the campaign had progressed faster than anticipated.

"We're way ahead of schedule, way ahead," Trump said. "We had no idea we'd be this far ahead."

Trump said Iranian missile attacks had sharply declined as a result of US operations.

"We've knocked out close to 90 per cent of their missiles," he said, adding that the attacks were now "down to a trickle".

Asked about shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's most important energy routes, Trump said the US could escort oil tankers if necessary.

"Well, we would do it if we needed to," he said. "But we would do it if we needed to."

Trump also said the current focus of the US campaign was destroying Iran's missile and drone infrastructure rather than securing its uranium stockpiles.

"No, not at all, and we're not focused on that," he said when asked about seizing uranium. "Right now, we're focused on knocking the hell out of their missiles and their drones."

The President also suggested that Iran's weakening position could reshape regional diplomacy, including the possible expansion of the Abraham Accords.

"It's made it much easier," Trump said when asked whether Gulf states might move closer to normalising relations with Israel.

The Gulf region hosts millions of expatriate workers, including a large Indian community across Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, and other countries, making regional stability a key concern for many Asian economies dependent on energy flows from the Middle East.

The Strait of Hormuz, which connects the Persian Gulf to global shipping lanes, carries a significant share of the world's oil exports. Any disruption to traffic through the narrow waterway has historically triggered volatility in global energy markets and heightened security concerns across the region.

- IANS
Says China gets 90% of its oil via Hormuz

US President Donald Trump announced he is in talks with several countries to form an international coalition to help police the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz. He argued that nations like China, which relies heavily on oil shipped through the strait, should bear more responsibility for its security. Trump also claimed that recent US military operations have severely degraded Iran's air force, air defenses, and missile capabilities. Additionally, he accused Iran of spreading AI-generated disinformation about attacking US assets.

US President Donald Trump says he is talking to countries about policing the critical oil shipping route and claims US strikes have militarily defeated Iran.

Washington, March 16 US President Donald Trump said that Washington is speaking with several countries about helping police the Strait of Hormuz, while asserting that Iran's military capabilities have been sharply degraded in the ongoing conflict.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said the United States had achieved "very strong results, militarily results" in operations linked to Iran and was now seeking broader international involvement in securing the key global oil shipping route.

"We are talking to other countries about working with us on the policing of the strait," Trump said. "And I think we're getting a good response."

The President indicated that roughly seven countries had been contacted about joining the effort.

"Just remember that it's something that we don't need and these countries do need," he said, referring to energy shipments passing through the narrow waterway.

The Strait of Hormuz is one of the world's most critical maritime chokepoints, carrying a significant share of global oil supplies. Trump argued that many nations depend on the passage far more than the United States.

"We don't get oil, very little, 1per cent, 2 per cent. And China, as an example, gets about 90 per cent of its oil from the Hormuz Strait," he said.

Trump suggested that countries benefiting from the route should play a larger role in safeguarding it.

"I'm really demanding that these countries come in and protect their own territory because it is their territory," he said.

The President said some countries have naval assets that could help with security operations.

"Some of the countries have mine sweepers. That's good. Some of the countries have a certain type of boat that could help us," he said.

He warned that even a small number of hostile actors could disrupt shipping in the narrow waterway.

"It only takes a couple of people to screw up the Strait, a couple of terrorists," Trump said. "All you need is a few people dropping mines here and there."

Trump also claimed US military strikes had severely weakened Iran's military capabilities.

"Militarily, we've essentially defeated Iran," he said. "We've taken out their Air Force... we've taken out their air defence."

He added that Iran's missile and drone capabilities had been significantly reduced.

"Their missiles are down to a low number," Trump said. "Likewise, the drones are way down... down to about 20 per cent of what they had."

Trump said US forces had targeted infrastructure linked to Iran's energy exports but had held back from completely destroying certain facilities.

"We attacked Kharg Island and we left just the one little area standing," he said. "We can do that on five minutes' notice."

Despite the military pressure, Trump said communication channels with Iran remain open. "We're talking to 'em," he said. "But I don't think they're ready."

At the same time, the President repeated claims that Iran had spread disinformation during the conflict using artificial intelligence.

"They said they attacked the USS Abraham Lincoln... and they showed pictures of it burning. It was never attacked," Trump said.

He also rejected reports that US aircraft had been destroyed.

"The Wall Street Journal put out a false story that five of our big, beautiful tankers... were all essentially destroyed," he said. "They weren't destroyed at all."

Trump accused Iran of generating fake images and narratives to shape public perception of the conflict. "The kamikaze boats don't exist," he said. "It's AI-generated. It's fake."

The President also addressed domestic media coverage, arguing that some outlets were amplifying disinformation."I actually think it's pretty criminal because our media companies... are putting out information that they know is false," he said.

- IANS
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has recommended the Trump administration designate Turkey for severe violations of religious freedom. The annual report accuses President Erdogan's government of systematically targeting Christian clergy and secularist sentiment within state institutions. It highlights the dismissal of military officers for secular oaths and the use of blasphemy laws to prosecute dissent. The watchdog calls on the U.S. Congress to hold hearings and link security assistance and trade to concrete improvements in Turkey's religious freedom record.

USCIRF report details Turkey's systematic violations, targeting Christian clergy and enforcing blasphemy laws. Calls for US action.

Ankara, March 16 The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom has urged the Donald Trump administration to include Turkey on the Special Watch List for engaging in or tolerating severe violations of religious freedom pursuant to the International Religious Freedom Act.

In its annual report, the USCIRF - a US government advisory body separate from the State Department, that monitors and reports on religious freedom abroad and makes policy recommendations to the US President, the Secretary of State, and Congress - suggested Washington to link future US security assistance and bilateral trade policies to improvements of religious freedom in Turkey.

The annual report mentioned that the government of Turkey engaged in systematic and ongoing severe violations of religious freedom in 2025, consistent with the previous year.

It stated that the government led by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has also reportedly intensified a multiple-year campaign invoking spurious national security concerns to cut off the legal residency status of at least 375 foreign national Christian clergy, their family members, and other religious workers, to date.

"Amid a large-scale government crackdown on political expression in support of opposition leaders, authorities also systematically violated religious freedom by punishing secularist sentiment in state institutions and continuing to enforce Article 216 of the Turkish Penal Code as a de facto law against blasphemy. In January, the Ministry of Defence officially dismissed five new lieutenants and their three superior officers for choosing a secularist oath for their

swearing-in ceremony. The government also monitored online activity for perceived insults to Islam and prosecuted religious dissenters," the report detailed.

The USCIRF urged the US Congress to hold hearings on religious freedom in Turkey and send congressional delegations to the country to raise specific issues, including the repression of FoRB (Freedom of Religion or Belief) in public education, the denial of US clergy from re-entering the country on false security threats, and conditions for refugees in Turkey who have a credible fear of expulsion back to religious persecution in their home countries," the report mentioned.

"Eastern Orthodox Church members continued to await the results of protracted negotiations between church leaders and the government of Turkey to set a public date for the reopening of the Halki School, 54 years after government policies induced its closure. In the meantime, Eastern Orthodox Christians, like their Protestant and other Christian counterparts, remained ineligible for domestic training, resorting to seminary programs abroad," the annual USCIRF report stated.

According to the report, Turkey classifies 99.8 per cent of its almost 85 million population as Muslim, including an estimated 10-25 million Alevis - many of whom do not consider themselves Muslim. Ja'fari Shia Muslims constitute a tiny

minority of the population, and the government regards less than one per cent of the population as non-Muslim, including Greek and Syriac Orthodox Christians, Roman and Chaldean Catholic Christians, Armenian Apostolic and Protestant Christians, Bahais, Jews, Yazidis, and others.

"Turkey's distinct legacy of political secularism is a founding principle of the 102-year-old republic, reflected in the constitution's emphasis on the secular nature of the state and its acknowledgment of freedom of religion and conscience. However, both demographic and political trends have contributed to a recent increase in state-sponsored and social marginalization of non-Sunni Muslims," the USCIRF report detailed.

- IANS
The UK is considering deploying thousands of "Octopus" interceptor drones to the Middle East to counter Iranian drone threats in the Strait of Hormuz. This evaluation follows a call from US President Donald Trump for international partners to send naval forces to secure the vital waterway, through which 20% of the world's oil flows. Trump claims to have destroyed Iran's conventional military but warns of persistent asymmetric threats like drones and mines, vowing continued aggressive action. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who declined to join initial US-led strikes, maintains that military decisions must be based on Britain's national interest.

UK considers deploying "Octopus" interceptor drones to the Strait of Hormuz as Trump calls for naval support. Report details the plan and regional tensions.

London, March 15 British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is considering deploying thousands of interceptor drones to the Middle East, according to a report by The Telegraph published on Saturday.

The newspaper indicated that UK defence officials are evaluating the possibility of redirecting cutting-edge equipment initially intended for Eastern Europe to meet new regional demands.

Specifically, military experts are assessing if the "Octopus" interceptor anti-drone system, produced in the UK to support Ukraine in countering Russian threats, could be repurposed to strengthen British protections against Iran's Shahed drones.

This consideration for advanced drone deployment comes as US President Donald Trump has issued a call to the United Kingdom and other international partners to deploy naval forces to assist in maintaining the passage of the Strait of Hormuz.

Utilising his Truth Social platform, the American leader encouraged nations impacted by maritime interference in the vital channel to position warships alongside the United States as hostilities with Tehran persist.

"Many countries, especially those affected by Iran's attempted closure of the Hormuz Strait, will be sending warships, in conjunction with the United States of America, to keep the strait open and safe," Trump wrote.

The urgency of this naval cooperation is underscored by the fact that the waterway serves as a critical artery connecting the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman, acting as one of the most significant conduits for global energy supplies.

Approximately 20 per cent of the world's oil, amounting to nearly 20 million barrels daily, moves through the strait.

However, since the commencement of US-Israeli military operations a fortnight ago, multiple vessels have reportedly been targeted, causing severe logistical disruption and a spike in global fuel costs.

While the US President asserted that Tehran's conventional military strength has been neutralised, he cautioned that the region remains vulnerable to the types of asymmetrical threats the UK's drones might counter.

"We have already destroyed 100% of Iran's military capability, but it's easy for them to send a drone or two, drop a mine, or deliver a close-range missile somewhere along, or in, this waterway," he posted.

To address these lingering risks, he further indicated that American forces would persist with aggressive military measures to restore navigation through the route.

"In the meantime, the United States will be bombing the hell out of the shoreline, and continually shooting Iranian boats and ships out of the water. One way or the other, we will soon get the Hormuz Strait open, safe, and free," Trump stated.

Tehran has dismissed these claims, labelling assertions of its military collapse as being based on "fabricated lies."

In response to the request for assistance and the ongoing maritime threat, a spokesperson for the UK Ministry of Defence confirmed that London is reviewing its strategy.

"We are currently discussing with our allies and partners a range of options to ensure the security of shipping in the region," the spokesperson said.

This latest appeal for British support and the UK's subsequent evaluation follows previous friction between the US President and Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Trump had earlier criticised the UK leader for abstaining from the initial wave of strikes, which has complicated current diplomatic efforts.

"The United Kingdom, our once great ally, is finally giving serious thought to sending two aircraft carriers to the Middle East," Trump wrote last week, adding, "That's OK, Prime Minister Starmer, we don't need them any longer - but we will remember."

Although the UK declined to participate in the opening strikes that reportedly claimed the life of former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Starmer has maintained his stance on independent military action.

Addressing MPs, the Prime Minister stated, "President Trump has expressed his disagreement with our decision not to get involved in the initial strikes, but it is my duty to judge what is in Britain's national interest."

- ANI
Calls for freedom of navigation in Strait of Hormuz

French President Emmanuel Macron held a phone call with Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian, urging an immediate end to what he called Iran's "unacceptable attacks" in the region, whether direct or through proxies. Macron emphasized France's defensive actions to protect its interests and partners, warning that escalating tensions risk plunging the entire Middle East into chaos. He called for restoring safe passage through the critical Strait of Hormuz and pressed for the release of two detained French nationals, Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris. The call comes after Iran's Revolutionary Guard claimed strikes on US bases in the region.

French President Macron urges Iran to stop regional strikes, restore Strait of Hormuz navigation, and release detained French citizens in a call with President Pezeshkian.

Paris, March 16 French President Emmanuel Macron said he urged Iran to end attacks across the Middle East and called for restoring freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz during a phone call with Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian.

In a post on X following the call, Macron said, "I have just spoken with Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian."

Macron said he called on Tehran to immediately halt what he described as unacceptable attacks carried out directly or through allied groups in the region.

"I called on him to put an immediate end to the unacceptable attacks Iran is carrying out against countries in the region, whether directly or through proxies, including in Lebanon and Iraq," he said.

The French President also said Paris is acting only to defend its interests and regional partners.

"I reminded him that France is acting within a strictly defensive framework aimed at protecting its interests, its regional partners, and freedom of navigation, and that it is unacceptable for our country to be targeted," he said.

Macron warned that escalating tensions risk destabilising the entire Middle East and harming civilians across the region.

"The unchecked escalation we are witnessing is plunging the entire region into chaos, with major consequences today and for the years to come. The people of Iran, like those across the region, are paying the price," he said.

He added that long-term stability would require a new political and security framework addressing Iran's nuclear program and regional activities.

"Only a new political and security framework can ensure peace and security for all. Such a framework must guarantee that Iran never acquires nuclear weapons, while also addressing the threats posed by its ballistic missile programme and its destabilising activities regionally and internationally," he said.

Macron also called for restoring safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical route for global oil shipments.

"Freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz must be restored as soon as possible," he said.

The French president further urged Iran to release two French nationals detained in the country.

"I also urged the Iranian President to allow Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris to return safely to France as soon as possible. Their ordeal has gone on for far too long, and they belong with their loved ones."

Earlier, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its naval forces carried out coordinated missile and drone strikes on four United States airbases at dawn on Sunday (local time), targeting key military infrastructure, Al Jazeera reported.

In a statement, the IRGC said the strikes targeted command centres, air traffic control towers and air defence facilities linked to US forces in the region.

"The IRGC Navy at dawn today, in several assault battalions, simultaneously struck four American terrorist airbases with precise and crushing blows," Al Jazeera reported the IRGC as saying, adding that missile and drone units targeted multiple sites associated with US military operations.

The Iranian force also claimed that satellite imagery showed extensive damage to the targeted bases.

"In recent days, according to published satellite images, the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran have destroyed more than 80 per cent of the strategic radars, key and vital points of the American terrorist bases," the IRGC said.

- ANI
Union Bank of India's Committee of Directors has approved a plan to raise up to Rs 20,000 crore through long-term bonds to finance infrastructure and affordable housing projects. The bank may explore raising Rs 7,500 crore of this amount before March 31, 2026. Additionally, the committee cleared a proposal to raise up to Rs 5,000 crore via green or sustainable bonds. These decisions were made during a fund-raising committee meeting held on March 16, 2026.

Union Bank of India plans to raise up to Rs 20,000 crore via long-term bonds for infrastructure and affordable housing, plus Rs 5,000 crore via green bonds.

Mumbai, March 16 Union Bank of India on Monday said its Committee of Directors for fund raising has approved the issuance of long-term bonds and green bonds/sustainable bonds to raise funds for infrastructure, affordable housing and other initiatives.

According to a circular issued by the Union Bank of India, the committee approved the "issuance of Long-Term Bonds amounting upto Rs 20,000 crore in one or more tranches for financing of infrastructure & affordable housing."

The bank added that it will explore raising part of this amount in the current financial year, i.e. before March 31, 2026. The circular stated that "the Board approved plan; out of which bank may explore opportunities to raise Rs 7,500 crore (Base Issue - Rs 3,000 crore + Green shoe option - Rs 4,500 crore) with tenor of 10 years before 31.03.2026."

In addition, the committee also cleared the plan to raise funds through green or sustainable bonds.

The circular said the committee approved the "issuance of Green Bonds/Sustainable Bonds amounting upto Rs 5,000 crore in one or more tranches."

The decisions were taken during the meeting of the Committee of Directors for fund raising held on Monday.

As mentioned in the circular, "the Committee of Directors for fund raising (Non-Capital) in its meeting held on 16th March, 2026, inter-alia, considered & approved" the proposals related to bond issuances.

The bank also informed that the meeting "commenced at 10.00 A.M. and concluded at 10.20 A.M."

- ANI
Union Home Minister Amit Shah is in Assam to inaugurate the Pragjyotishpur Medical College and Hospital and multiple cancer centres. His visit also includes laying foundation stones for several super-speciality hospitals and a Swasthya Bhawan. Concurrently, he has sharply criticised the Bhagwant Mann-led AAP government in Punjab, calling it "remote-controlled" and blaming it for the state's law and order issues. Shah's comments came ahead of a BJP 'Badlav Rally' in Moga, seen as the launch of the party's campaign for the 2027 state elections.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurates Pragjyotishpur Medical College in Guwahati, lays foundation for hospitals, and attacks Punjab's AAP government.

Guwahati, March 15 Union Home Minister Amit Shah is set to inaugurate the newly constructed Pragjyotishpur Medical College & Hospital in Guwahati during his visit to Assam on Sunday. He will also inaugurate the Golaghat and Tinsukia cancer centres.

Additionally, the Union Home Minister will virtually lay the foundation stones for super-speciality hospitals at the Diphu, Jorhat, and Barpeta Medical College & Hospitals. His itinerary also includes foundation stone-laying ceremonies for Swasthya Bhawan at Sixmile in Guwahati and the Abhayapuri District Hospital.

Later in the day, Shah will also attend the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha's (BJYM) 'Yuva Shakti Samaroh' at the Veterinary College Field in Khanapara, Guwahati.

Yesterday, ahead of his 'Badlav Rally' in Moga, Punjab, Union Home Minister Amit Shah cornered Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's government, referring to it as a "remote-controlled" government, while criticising it for the law and order and development in the state.

In a post on X, Amit Shah stated that the people of Punjab want a change from the AAP government, as he criticised the government over the handling of the state affairs.

"Every person in Punjab wants change. Because the sacred land of Punjab, renowned for its youth, farmers, and hardworking people, has been drowned in corruption, drugs, and crime by the AAP-Da government. In the remotely controlled AAP-Da government, law and order and development are nowhere to be found in Punjab," Amit Shah said.

"Today, I am eager to connect with the sisters and brothers of Punjab at the BJP 'Badlav Rally' in Moga," he added.

The rally comes to sound the bugle for the BJP's campaign for the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections.

The 2022 Punjab Legislative Assembly election marked a major shift in the state's political landscape, with the Aam Aadmi Party securing a sweeping victory. Held on February 20, 2022, for all 117 seats, the results declared on March 10 gave AAP 92 seats, far above the majority mark of 59. The ruling Indian National Congress suffered a heavy defeat, winning only 18 seats, while the Shiromani Akali Dal managed just 3 seats, and the Bharatiya Janata Party won 2.

- ANI
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath participated in a religious ceremony at the historic Sire Mandir in Rajasthan's Jalore district. In his address, he described the historical practice of Jauhar as a reflection of the self-respect and sacrifice of Rajasthan's valiant women, specifically citing Queen Padmini. The Chief Minister also used the platform to advise against greed and excessive smartphone use, linking them to social unrest and depression. He was warmly welcomed by local leaders and saints during the event.

UP CM Yogi Adityanath attends temple ceremony in Rajasthan, calls Jauhar a legacy of women's self-respect and sacrifice, cautions against smartphone overuse.

Jaipur, March 16 A 'Mahayagya' was organised on Monday at the historic Sire Mandir, located atop the Kanakanchal Hill in Rajasthan's Jalore, to mark the 375th anniversary of the Ratneshwar Mahadev Temple, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath attended the ceremony and participated in the religious rituals.

Amid the chanting of Vedic mantras, the Chief Minister offered oblations into the sacred fire and performed prayers to Lord Shiva.

Later, Chief Minister Adityanath addressed a religious congregation ('Dharmasabha') organised within the temple premises.

During his address, the Chief Minister described Jauhar as the radiant spirit of Rajasthan's tradition, saying that it reflects the legacy of self-respect and sacrifice of the region's valiant women ('Veeranganas').

Taking to his official X account, Chief Minister Adityanath said: "Queen Padmini's resolve for Jauhar was a symbol of women's dignity. To honour the valour and self-respect of Indian women, today I participated, under the auspices of the Jauhar Smriti Sansthan, in the Jauhar Shraddhanjali ceremony held at Veer Bhumi Chittorgarh in Rajasthan, alongside Maharana Vishvaraj Singh ji Mewar, Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat ji, and Cabinet Minister in the Rajasthan government, Rajyavardhan Rathore ji. Be it north, south, east, or west, every Indian bows to the great tradition of heroic warriors and sacrificers like Maharana Pratap, Maharana Sangha, Queen Padmini, Maharana Kumbha, and Bappa Rawal. Heartfelt congratulations to all for the grand event, and salutations to the great heroic women and valiant mothers who observe the Jauhar Vrat."

Referring to the historical context of Rani Padmini, Chief Minister Adityanath said that during the time of Alauddin Khilji, Queen Padmini and other brave women of Chittorgarh Fort performed Jauhar to protect their honour.

Speaking on Jauhar, the Chief Minister noted that the tradition of Jauhar symbolises the courage and self-respect of Rajasthan's women.

He noted that the history of such sacrifice has left an enduring legacy in the state.

Similar traditions were witnessed in Jalore as well during the era of Alauddin Khilji and in subsequent periods.

According to Chief Minister Adityanath, this legacy has been shaped by the sacrifices of brave warriors and women, as well as the hard work of farmers and artisans.

Praising the temple's architecture, Chief Minister Adityanath said the craftsmanship of Sire Temple is exceptional and attracts visitors from across the world.

He also added that Maharaja Man Singh preserved the history of the site through inscriptions.

At the time, Maharaja Man Singh reportedly spent Rs 3.51 lakh on the temple -- an amount that would be worth several crores today.

Before reaching the temple, Chief Minister Adityanath stopped to feed monkeys along the route.

Recalling the moment in his speech, the Chief Minister said the monkeys displayed discipline while eating.

"One monkey refused to take a second piece of bread until it had finished the first. If humans also avoid greed and share resources with those in need, social unrest and disorder could be reduced."

"Abstaining from greed is itself a form of spiritual discipline (sadhana)," Chief Minister Adityanath added.

He also advised people to practise yoga and physical exercise to maintain a balanced life.

He cautioned that excessive use of smartphones wastes time, affects eyesight, and weakens thinking ability.

According to Chief Minister Adityanath, mobile games and excessive phone use are contributing to depression among youth.

He urged people to stay away from intoxicants and limit smartphone usage, suggesting that phones should be kept aside during meals and prayers and that families should spend more time together.

During the ceremony, Chief Minister Adityanath was warmly welcomed by the temple committee and local residents.

He was felicitated on the dais with a five kg floral garland.

Several saints and religious leaders were present, including Tijara MLA Baba Balaknath and Rajasthan Assembly Chief Whip Jogeshwar Garg, along with other spiritual figures.

On the second day of his visit to Rajasthan, Chief Minister Adityanath participated in programmes held within the Sire Mandir complex.

He reached the stage around 9:15 a.m. on Monday and addressed the gathering for nearly 40 minutes, while also taking part in the Mahayagya and temple rituals.

After the event concluded, the Chief Minister left for Jodhpur at around 12:30 p.m. from the helipad near Adarsh Balika School on Sire Mandir Road.

- IANS
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath emphasized that India's unique foundation stems from the penance of saints and sacrifices of bravehearts. Addressing a religious gathering in Rajasthan, he stated that the nation strengthens when every societal section contributes collectively. He reiterated that this collective effort is crucial to realizing the vision of 'Ek Bharat-Shreshtha Bharat'. The CM made similar remarks at a spiritual event in Haryana, highlighting the role of such gatherings in preserving cultural heritage.

UP CM Yogi Adityanath says India was built by saints, soldiers & farmers. He stresses collective effort to achieve 'Ek Bharat-Shreshtha Bharat'.

Jalore, March 16 Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday said that India is the only country shaped by the penance of saints, the sacrifices of brave men and women, and the hard work of farmers, artisans and craftsmen, adding that the nation becomes stronger when every section of society contributes together.

Addressing the Mahayagya and Dharma Sabha organised at Shree Ratneshwar Mahadev Temple in Rajasthan's Jalore, the Chief Minister emphasised the importance of unity and collective participation in nation-building.

"India is the only country which has been built through the penance of saints, the sacrifices of brave men and women, the hard work of farmer benefactors, the enterprise of artisans and the handicrafts of craftsmen," Adityanath said while addressing the gathering.

He further noted that when every section of society works together and contributes towards the nation, the vision of "Ek Bharat-Shreshtha Bharat" becomes a reality.

"When every section of society comes together and contributes, it becomes 'Ek Bharat-Shreshtha Bharat'. The goal of every person's life should be to build 'Ek Bharat-Shreshtha Bharat'," he added.

The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister was addressing devotees and attendees at the religious event held at the historic temple, where a large number of people gathered to participate in the Mahayagya and Dharma Sabha.

Adityanath highlighted that India's cultural and spiritual traditions have played a significant role in shaping the country's identity and strengthening the sense of unity among people from different backgrounds.

Earlier, on March 14, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that a massive gathering of saints and devotees had assembled in Songal village after many years, highlighting the spiritual significance and historic legacy of the land.

Addressing a Dharm Sabha during a religious programme in Songal village in Haryana's Kaithal, the Chief Minister said he felt privileged to be part of the event and to receive the blessings of saints and devotees gathered at the sacred site.

"After many years, such a massive gathering of saints and devotees has assembled here in Songal. On this sacred land, a land that has demonstrated its influence in every era, I have the privilege today, through this holy Bhandara and Dharm Sabha, to seek your darshan and, through you, to pay my respects to that sacred tradition," UP CM Yogi Adityanath said.

CM Yogi described the land of Songal as spiritually significant and said that it has played an important role in preserving religious traditions over the years. According to him, gatherings of saints and devotees help strengthen the spiritual and cultural heritage of the country and inspire people to follow the path of faith and service.

- ANI
U.S. Central Command head Brad Cooper stated operations are ongoing to degrade Iran's capacity to threaten commercial shipping in the critical Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. has conducted thousands of missions, destroying naval assets including bunkers for mines and missiles on Kharg Island. Separately, the Israeli military destroyed an Airbus A340 at Tehran's Mehrabad Airport used to transport senior Iranian leaders like President Masoud Pezeshkian. Israel also struck targets in several Iranian cities as the joint U.S.-Israeli campaign entered its 17th day.

US commander details strikes on Iran's naval capabilities in Strait of Hormuz as Israel destroys a leadership aircraft in Tehran, escalating regional campaign.

Washington, March 16 The US forces are continuing operations to weaken Iran's ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, Brad Cooper, head of US Central Command, said Monday.

"We will continue to rapidly deplete Iran's ability to threaten the freedom of navigation in and around the Strait of Hormuz," Cooper said in a video statement posted on X.

However, the Commander gave no details on how the United States would reopen the strait, the critical global energy waterway that Iran has effectively closed.

Cooper said Friday's US strikes on Kharg Island, Iran's oil export hub, destroyed more than 90 military targets, including storage bunkers for naval mines and missiles, Xinhua news agency reported.

In the past 16 days, US forces have carried out more than 6,000 combat missions, destroying over 100 Iranian naval vessels, while Iran has fired hundreds of missiles and drones at targets in about 12 countries across the region, Cooper said.

The United States and Israel launched massive attacks on Iran on February 28, disrupting global shipping and resulting in soaring oil prices and a volatile global economy.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military said Monday it had destroyed an aircraft used by Iran's top leadership at Tehran's Mehrabad Airport, claiming the strike would hamper coordination between Tehran and its regional allies. Israel also said it carried out strikes on infrastructure in several Iranian cities.

In a statement, the IDF said the plane had served senior political and military figures for both domestic and international travel. The military added that eliminating the aircraft would disrupt communication between Iran's leadership and allied groups across the region, slow Tehran's military buildup, and limit its ability to restore damaged capabilities.

The aircraft was identified as an Airbus A340 previously used to transport senior leaders, including President Masoud Pezeshkian and, in the past, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, to diplomatic engagements abroad. Iranian authorities did not immediately confirm the strike, Xinhua news agency reported.

Mehrabad Airport, located in western Tehran, is one of the capital's oldest aviation hubs. While Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport handles most long-haul international flights, Mehrabad remains the country's busiest domestic airport and also hosts military facilities, including units of the Iranian Air Force.

Separately, on Monday, the IDF said it struck targets in the Iranian cities of Tehran, Shiraz, and Tabriz, as the US-Israeli campaign against Iran entered its 17th day.

- IANS
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer stated Britain will not be drawn into a broader conflict in West Asia, despite US President Donald Trump's request for allied military support in the Strait of Hormuz. Germany and Greece similarly distanced themselves, with Germany stating the conflict has nothing to do with NATO and refusing military participation. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani emphasized diplomacy as the solution, noting no Italian naval missions would be extended to the area. Trump had previously warned that the future of NATO could be at stake if allies did not provide support in the region.

UK, Germany, and Greece decline US call for military support in Strait of Hormuz, prioritizing diplomacy and avoiding wider war.

London, March 16 Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Monday that the United Kingdom will not be drawn into a wider war in West Asia, after US President Donald Trump warned that the future of NATO could be at stake unless allies, including the UK, provide military support in the region.

Starmer said in his press conference that the UK's priority remains protecting its citizens in the region while taking necessary steps to defend itself and its allies.

He said, "First, we will protect our people in the region. Second, while taking the necessary action to defend ourselves and our allies, we will not be drawn into the wider war. And third, we will keep working towards a swift resolution that brings security and stability back to the region and stops the Iranian threat to its neighbours."

Starmer acknowledged that the cost of the West Asia conflict has been borne by the whole world, calling to end the "war as quickly as possible".

"I want to see an end to this war as quickly as possible because the longer it goes on, the more dangerous the situation becomes and the worse it is for the cost of living back here at home," the UK Prime Minister said.

Greece and Germany also distanced themselves from the war.

"The war in Iran has nothing to do with NATO, a German government spokesperson said, adding that Germany would not take part in the war nor in keeping the Strait of Hormuz open through military means.

"As long as this war continues, there will be no participation, not even in any effort to keep the Strait of Hormuz open by military means," Al Jazeera quoted the spokesperson as saying.

Greece also will not engage in any military operations in the Strait of Hormuz, Greek government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said, as per Al Jazeera.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said that diplomacy is the right way to solve the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz and there are no naval missions Italy is involved in that could be extended to the area.

"As far as Hormuz is concerned, I believe diplomacy needs to prevail," Tajani told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting in Brussels, as quoted by Al Jazeera.

"Italy is involved in defensive naval missions in the Red Sea but I don't see any missions that can be extended to Hormuz," he added.

Trump had said on March 14 that "many countries" will dispatch warships to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, without offering details about which states are on board, as per Al Jazeera.

- ANI
Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman has sharply criticized the United States, stating its military presence has brought neither peace nor stability to West Asia. Esmaeil Baghaei accused the US and Israel of aggression and violating international law, vowing Iran's resolute self-defense. He emphasized that lasting regional security depends on cooperation among neighboring states, not foreign forces. Baghaei also reiterated the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program and condemned US sanctions as a danger to global security.

Iran's Foreign Ministry says regional cooperation, not US military presence, ensures West Asia security. Spokesman condemns US-Israel "aggression."

Tehran, March 14 Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said that security and stability in West Asia depend on cooperation among regional countries, noting that the presence of the US, along with its allies, has brought no peace or stability in the region.

In an interview with Xinhua, Baghaei said Iran remains determined to defend itself against what he described as aggression by the United States and Israel as the conflict escalates in the region.

Calling the US-Israel attacks on Iranian territory a violation of international law, the Iranian spokesperson said such actions constituted a breach of peace and could not be justified under any legal framework.

"This act of aggression cannot be justified by any argument or rule of international law. It is a breach of peace, and the Iranian nation is resolute to defend itself as long as it takes," Baghaei told Xinhua.

He also criticised statements made by US authorities, claiming they lack credibility.

"No person of common sense regards American authorities' statements and remarks to be trustworthy, as they are not stable, change their words and make contradictory remarks about each and every topic of international relations," he said, as quoted by Xinhua.

Baghaei asserted that Iran did not initiate the conflict and alleged that the United States had entered the war by choice, possibly influenced by Israel.

"We did not start this war. It was the U.S. war of choice. They were dragged into this war, perhaps by Israel, out of their miscalculation that they could easily make Iran surrender," Baghaei said.

Referring to Iran's nuclear programme, the spokesperson reiterated that Tehran's atomic activities are peaceful and accused the United States and Israel of spreading misinformation about possible weaponisation.

He further emphasised Iran's intention to strengthen ties with countries in the Persian Gulf and neighbouring regions, stating that long-term security and stability depend on cooperation among regional states.

"Our intention is to strengthen our relations with each and every state in the Persian Gulf region and our neighbouring countries," he said, as quoted by Xinhua, adding that the security and stability of the region are very much dependent on cooperation among the regional countries.

Baghaei added that Iran holds no hostility towards countries in the region, but said American military bases located around Iran were being targeted because they were being used to carry out military operations against the Islamic Republic.

According to the Iranian spokesperson, regional countries are increasingly recognising that the presence of US military forces has not contributed to peace and stability.

He also accused the United States of disrupting international trade through unilateral sanctions, describing Washington's actions as "lawless and rogue, which pose a serious danger to international peace and security."

- ANI
The US International Travel Department has issued an updated advisory for American citizens in the Gulf region, noting that commercial flights from Abu Dhabi and Dubai remain available for travel to the US and Europe. However, it warns that flights may be cancelled with little notice due to the volatile security situation. The advisory confirms that the UAE's land borders with Saudi Arabia and Oman are currently open, while also referencing the ordered departure of non-emergency US government personnel from Saudi Arabia earlier in March. The guidance comes amid regional tensions and follows a temporary flight suspension at Dubai airport due to a drone-related incident.

US advises citizens commercial flights from UAE are available but may cancel suddenly. Land borders with Saudi Arabia, Oman remain open amid regional tensions.

Dubai, March 16 The United States International Travel Department, in its updated travel advisory on Monday, said it is closely monitoring the situation in West Asia and advised American citizens in the region that commercial travel options remain available, although sudden flight cancellations are possible.

In a travel advisory issued to US citizens, the department said seats on commercial flights from Abu Dhabi and Dubai are currently available for travel to multiple cities in the United States and Europe.

It also noted that the UAE's land borders with Saudi Arabia and Oman are open.

"Seats on commercial flights from Abu Dhabi and Dubai are available now for travel to multiple U.S. and European cities, although some flights may be cancelled with little notice. Borders with Oman and Saudi Arabia have been open, and commercial flights from those countries are operating," the advisory read.

However, the advisory warned travellers that commercial flight schedules may change at short notice. "Some flights may be cancelled with little notice," the advisory said, urging travellers to remain prepared for sudden disruptions.

"We are monitoring the situation in the Middle East closely and will keep you updated so you can make decisions about your safety," the advisory stated.

The advisory also reiterated that, "Donald Trump, Marco Rubio, and the Department of State have no higher priority than the safety and security of American citizens."

Earlier, the US Embassy in Riyadh updated its "options to depart" section and urged American citizens in Saudi Arabia to leave the country using commercial flights if it is safe to do so.

The embassy said Saudi airspace remains open, although there are frequent air traffic restrictions due to continuing missile and drone threats.

Airports in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam remain open and operational. However, travellers have been advised to check their flight status directly with airlines because of possible delays or cancellations.

The embassy also directed all US government employees in Saudi Arabia to shelter in place. "To the extent possible, remain in your residence or another structure, and stay away from windows," the advisory said.

It added that those who choose not to depart by commercial flight should be prepared to shelter in place in a secure location with adequate supplies of food, water, medicines, and other essential items.

According to the advisory, on March 8 the State Department ordered the departure of non-emergency US government employees from Saudi Arabia due to sustained missile and drone threats targeting American and its diplomatic interests in the Kingdom.

Earlier in the day, flights were temporarily suspended at Dubai International Airport following a drone-related incident near the airport, authorities said.

However, officials later confirmed that the fire had been contained.

Tensions linked to the ongoing conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran continue to affect the entire region.

- ANI
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami participated in the International Yoga Festival 2026 in Tehri, emphasizing yoga as a holistic lifestyle. He outlined the state's Yoga Policy 2025, which includes establishing 50-bed and 10-bed AYUSH hospitals in every district and allocating Rs 10 crore to promote yoga. The festival, running for 35 years, features yoga sessions, an international conference, and aims to inspire a healthy lifestyle. Dhami also highlighted Prime Minister Modi's role in establishing International Yoga Day and launched the Uttarakhand Khoj Yojana to connect villages with tourism.

CM Pushkar Singh Dhami addressed the International Yoga Festival 2026, detailing Uttarakhand's Yoga Policy 2025, AYUSH hospital expansions, and a Rs 10 crore fund.

Tehri Garhwal, March 16 Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami participated in the International Yoga Festival 2026 held on Monday at Ganga Resort, Muni Ki Reti in Tehri district.

According to the Chief Minister's Office (CMO), addressing the gathering, the Chief Minister said that yoga is not merely a form of exercise but a holistic way of life. Yoga connects the soul with the divine and helps maintain balance between body, mind, and spirit.

He appealed to the youth of the country and the state to make yoga an integral part of their daily lives. He noted that young people working in various fields often experience fatigue, and yoga can serve as their best companion in maintaining physical and mental well-being. "The state government has formulated the Yoga Policy 2025, and 50-bed and 10-bed AYUSH hospitals are being established in every district of the state. Additionally, a provision of Rs 10 crore has been made to promote yoga and spirituality," Dhami said.

The Chief Minister said that the International Yoga Festival, organised jointly by the Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam and the Uttarakhand Tourism Department, has been playing an important role for the past 35 years in spreading the tradition of yoga to every corner of the world. The seven-day grand festival includes various sessions on yoga, pranayama, meditation, Ayurveda, naturopathy, and spiritual discourses. Special events such as Run for Yoga, Heritage Walk, and the International Yoga Conference are also being organised, which will inspire participants to adopt a healthy and balanced lifestyle.

He further said that yoga is a priceless heritage of India's ancient spiritual tradition. Thousands of years ago, sages and seers showed the path of harmony between body, mind, and soul through yoga, which today has become a strong foundation for healthy living, mental peace, and spiritual growth across the world.

Highlighting the global recognition of yoga, CM Dhami said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposed at the United Nations in 2014 that June 21 be celebrated as the International Day of Yoga for the welfare of the entire world. As a result, millions of people in more than 180 countries are now practising yoga.

He added that Uttarakhand is not only Devbhoomi but also Yogbhoomi. The state's sacred rivers, peaceful environment, clean climate, and spiritual energy provide an ideal setting for yoga practice. Thousands of seekers from around the world visit Uttarakhand every year to practice yoga and meditation. It is also a matter of pride that Rishikesh is globally recognised as the "Yoga Capital of the World."

The Chief Minister stated that more than 300 AYUSH-based Ayushman Arogya Centres are currently operational in the state. In addition, 50-bed and 10-bed AYUSH hospitals are being established in every district. Through the eSanjeevani Portal, citizens are also receiving AYUSH consultations from experts. The Uttarakhand AYUSH Policy is promoting medicine manufacturing, wellness, education, research, and the cultivation of medicinal plants. Furthermore, one Spiritual Economic Zone each is being established in the Garhwal and Kumaon regions to promote Ayurveda, naturopathy, yoga, and spiritual tourism.

On the occasion, the Chief Minister also virtually launched the Uttarakhand Khoj Yojana, aimed at connecting every village in the Garhwal region with tourism.

Tourism Minister Satpal Maharaj said that yoga is an integral part of India's ancient tradition, and sages in the past achieved great spiritual powers through yoga and penance. Forest Minister Subodh Uniyal added that today, millions of people are becoming disease-free through yoga and that yoga plays a key role in shaping the identity of the region.

- ANI
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami engaged with residents and representatives during the 'Mukhya Sevak Samvad' programme in Tanakpur. He emphasized the government's commitment to listening to public concerns and ensuring their swift resolution. Key discussions centered on upgrading the strategically important Tanakpur hospital, including expanding its dialysis facilities. The CM also outlined plans to develop Tanakpur's Boom area as a hub for tourism, water sports, and wedding destinations.

CM Pushkar Singh Dhami interacts with citizens in Tanakpur, discusses healthcare upgrades, tourism plans, and swift grievance redressal for regional development.

Tanakpur, March 14 Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Saturday participated in 'Mukhya Sevak Samvad' programme held at the Chief Minister's Camp Office in Tanakpur, where he interacted warmly with mothers, senior citizens, public representatives, members of the Purnagiri Mela Committee, representatives of the traders' association, and other residents.

On the occasion, the Chief Minister said that the government's objective is to listen directly to public concerns and ensure their prompt resolution. He held detailed discussions with the attendees on regional development, expansion of public facilities, and various local issues affecting the community, a release said.

During the interaction, the Chief Minister gathered information from local citizens and public representatives regarding the region's needs, suggestions, and problems. He also directed concerned officials to take the complaints, demands, and suggestions seriously and ensure their swift and effective resolution so that people receive timely relief.

Highlighting the importance of the hospital in Tanakpur, the Chief Minister stated that it is located at a strategically significant place where not only residents of Tanakpur and nearby areas but also a large number of patients from neighbouring Nepal come seeking better medical treatment. Considering this importance, the government is giving special attention to strengthening healthcare facilities there.

He further informed that the existing dialysis facility at the hospital will soon be expanded with the installation of another dialysis machine.

Referring to the overall development of the region, the Chief Minister said that ensuring the convenience and safety of devotees visiting the shrine of Purnagiri Temple from across the country remains a top priority for the government.

Speaking about plans, he said that the Boom area of Tanakpur is being developed as a major hub for tourism and water sports. Efforts are also underway to develop the area as an attractive wedding destination. He emphasised that the government is committed to making Tanakpur self-reliant and well-equipped with modern facilities in every sector.

- ANI
US President Donald Trump has issued a stark warning that NATO's future could be "very bad" if member nations do not assist in securing the strategic Strait of Hormuz. He criticized British Prime Minister Keir Starmer for the UK's delayed offer of naval support following US-Israeli actions against Iran. Trump expects allies to deploy assets like minesweepers and help neutralize threats from the Iranian coast, framing it as a test of reciprocity. He contrasted this with past American support for Ukraine, questioning whether European allies would reciprocate.

President Trump warns NATO's future is at risk if allies don't help secure the Strait of Hormuz, criticizing the UK's delayed response.

Washington, DC, March 16 US President Donald Trump has issued a stern warning regarding the future of NATO, suggesting the alliance could face a "very bad" outlook if member nations do not assist in securing the Strait of Hormuz.

In a telephone interview with the Financial Times published on Sunday, the President delivered a blunt message to European allies concerning the strategic maritime passage. He argued that nations benefiting from the waterway must share the burden of its protection.

"It's only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries of the Strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there," Trump told the newspaper. He further cautioned that "if there's no response or if it's a negative response, I think it will be very bad for the future of NATO."

The President highlighted previous American support for Ukraine during its conflict with Russia as a point of comparison. He remarked, "We didn't have to help them with Ukraine. Now we'll see if they help us because I've long said that we'll be there for them, but they won't be there for us."

When questioned on the specific nature of the assistance required, Trump indicated he expects "whatever it takes," including the deployment of minesweepers to the region.

While NATO is traditionally a North American and European defence alliance established to maintain stability and protect its members, rather than an instrument for offensive operations, Trump reiterated his expectations while returning to the White House from Florida.

Speaking aboard Air Force One, he noted, "We're always there for NATO. It'd be interesting to see what country wouldn't help us with a very small endeavour, which is just keeping the Strait open."

The President also suggested that international partners could assist in neutralising threats originating from the Iranian coast. He stated a desire for "people who are going to knock out some bad actors that are along the shore," in reference to Iranian units utilising naval mines and drones in the Gulf.

Trump expressed continued dissatisfaction with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer regarding the lack of immediate UK backing for recent US-Israeli military actions against Iran.

"The UK might be considered the No. 1 ally, the longest-serving, etc., and when I asked for them to come, they didn't want to come," he said, mentioning a conversation held with Starmer earlier on Sunday.

He criticised the timing of the British offer, stating, "And as soon as we basically wiped out the danger capacity from Iran, they said, 'Oh, well we'll send two ships,' and I said, 'We need these ships before we win, not after we win.' I've long said that NATO is a one-way street."

- ANI
Israel's Ambassador to India, Reuven Azar, has publicly refuted viral social media rumors claiming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had died. He confirmed Netanyahu is "very much alive" and stated a recent video of the PM at a cafe is genuine, not fabricated by artificial intelligence. The controversy began with online allegations that a previous public address by Netanyahu was AI-generated, with some users pointing to a perceived visual anomaly. Ambassador Azar dismissed these theories as baseless disinformation.

Israel's Ambassador to India confirms PM Netanyahu is "very much alive," says viral cafe video is authentic, not AI-generated, dismissing online death claims.

New Delhi, March 16 Dismissing viral claims regarding the health and status of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's Ambassador to India, Reuven Azar, has confirmed the leader is "very much alive" and clarified that recent footage of him is authentic.

The Ambassador addressed the viral social media rumours, asserting that a recent video of the Prime Minister at a cafe is genuine and was not created using artificial intelligence.

"Prime Minister Netanyahu is alive. I saw him personally when I was in Israel more than once. This video at the cafe is not AI-fabricated. There is a lot of disinformation," he said

The intervention follows a wave of online reports alleging that a recent public address by the Israeli leader was AI-generated, with some posts further speculating that he had died. These claims gained significant traction across various platforms, leading to a heated debate over the authenticity of official government footage.

The controversy intensified after Netanyahu shared a brief clip on X, formerly Twitter, depicting him casually drinking coffee at a cafe. During the recording, the Prime Minister briefly raises his hand, seemingly displaying five fingers.

Observers have noted that this specific gesture appeared to be a direct response to viral allegations that a previous video of the leader featured an AI glitch, which social media users claimed showed six fingers.

The initial dispute began when critics pointed to perceived visual inconsistencies in Netanyahu's earlier addresses, alleging the use of deepfake technology. However, Israeli diplomatic officials have dismissed these theories as baseless.

Ambassador Azar maintained that the cafe footage provides clear evidence of the Prime Minister being alive, stating that any suggestions of AI manipulation are entirely unfounded.

- ANI
NDA candidate Upendra Kushwaha expressed absolute confidence that all five NDA nominees will win the Rajya Sabha elections from Bihar, despite lacking a clear majority for the fifth seat. In response, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav asserted his alliance has secured the necessary 41 votes, with support from AIMIM and BSP, to snatch a seat from the NDA. JDU leader Vijay Kumar Chaudhary echoed the NDA's confidence, contrasting the free movement of their MLAs with opposition MLAs allegedly being confined. The high-stakes political battle, featuring claims and counterclaims about MLA support, will see its results declared shortly.

Upendra Kushwaha claims 100% certainty for all 5 NDA candidates in Bihar Rajya Sabha polls, while Tejashwi Yadav asserts RJD has the numbers.

Patna, March 16 Rashtriya Lok Morcha chief and NDA candidate for Rajya Sabha from Bihar, Upendra Kushwaha, on Monday expressed confidence that all five of the candidates of NDA will secure victory in the Rajya Sabha elections.

NDA has eyed all five seats to the Rajya Sabha but lacks a clear majority for its fifth candidate. NDA needs three MLAs to vote across party lines, whereas RJD needs the support of six MLAs to achieve the 41 mark.

"The counting is happening today itself, so the results will come in the same way that we have been repeatedly telling about... When RJD itself is gradually disappearing from the political scene of Bihar, then what can we say about their MLAs disappearing... The victory of all five NDA candidates is more than 100% certain," Upendra Kushwaha said.

Meanwhile, RJD National Working President Tejashwi Yadav assured that his party has enough support to clinch a Rajya Sabha seat away from the NDA.

"We are confident. Earlier, the strength of Mahagathbandhan was 35. To win, 41 is needed. BJP-NDA needed 3. But we accepted this challenge and chose to fight the BJP, not to cower before them. Colleagues from AIMIM and BSP have supported the RJD candidate. So, the strength now is 41," he said.

NDA candidates include Bihar's longest-tenured Chief Minister Nitish Kumar; RLM chief Upendra Kushwaha, BJP chief Nitin Nabin, Shivesh Ram and Ram Nath Thakur.

RJD has nominated AD Singh for the seat.

Bihar Minister Shravan Kumar said, "Enthusiasm is being seen for voting because for the first time since 2014, legislators have got the opportunity to vote... This enthusiasm shows that people are voting in favour of the NDA... Everything will become clear in just two hours."

JDU leader Vijay Kumar Chaudhary also exuded confidence that all five NDA candidates will secure victory.

"Elections are underway, and the results are also clear. All five NDA candidates will win with a strong and decisive majority... It is also clear that some parties do not trust their own MLAs; some are confined to hotels, others have been taken elsewhere, but all NDA MLAs are freely moving, and there is complete trust in all five candidates, leaders, and MLAs. This is what will ensure our victory," he said.

The results will be out today.

- ANI
Voting is underway in the Bihar Assembly for five Rajya Sabha seats, with polling scheduled from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Opposition leader Tejashwi Yadav cast his vote and launched a sharp attack on Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and the BJP, alleging a political conspiracy to sideline him. The ruling NDA, represented by Deputy CMs Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Sinha, exuded confidence about winning all five seats. The election has gained intensity as six candidates are contesting for five seats, making every vote crucial and fueling speculation about political maneuvering.

Voting for 5 Rajya Sabha seats in Bihar Assembly. Tejashwi Yadav attacks Nitish Kumar, NDA exudes confidence. Key quotes and live updates.

Patna, March 16 Voting for five Rajya Sabha seats from Bihar was underway at the Assembly on Monday with leaders from both the ruling National Democratic Alliance and the opposition Mahagathbandhan arriving to cast their votes.

The polling process began at 9 a.m. and will continue until 4 p.m., while counting of votes will start at 5 p.m., and the final results are expected to be declared shortly afterwards.

Leader of the Opposition Tejashwi Yadav cast his vote and launched a sharp attack on Nitish Kumar and the Bharatiya Janata Party.

He alleged that since Nitish Kumar left the INDIA bloc in 2024 and joined the NDA, the BJP has been plotting politically against him.

"The BJP used a trick on Nitish Kumar to remove him from the Chief Minister's post. It will be similar to what happened with Eknath Shinde after the Maharashtra elections. In the coming days, the BJP will destroy the Janata Dal-United," he said.

On the other hand, Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary arrived at the Assembly flashing a victory sign, reflecting confidence within the ruling alliance.

Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sinha said that the representatives elected to the Rajya Sabha would raise Bihar's voice strongly at the national level and work for the state's development.

Meanwhile, senior JD-U leader Vijay Chaudhary also expressed confidence that all five NDA candidates would win comfortably.

Senior leaders and MLAs of the NDA were among the first to cast their votes.

RJD MLA Anita Devi also exercised her franchise.

Assembly Speaker Prem Kumar arrived at the House to supervise the voting process.

The election has drawn intense political attention because six candidates are contesting for five seats.

To secure victory, a candidate must obtain 41 first-preference votes.

If a candidate fails to reach this threshold, second-preference votes will be counted to determine the winner.

This has increased the importance of every vote and heightened speculation about political manoeuvring.

The NDA has fielded five candidates - Nitish Kumar and Ram Nath Thakur (JD-U), Nitin Nabin and Shivesh Kumar (BJP), and Upendra Kushwaha (RLM).

The opposition Mahagathbandhan has fielded Amarendra Dhari Singh as its candidate.

Amid the political contest, reports that two Congress MLAs were initially out of contact created tension in the opposition camp.

However, RJD leader Chandrashekhar Singh dismissed the concerns, stating that the Grand Alliance is contesting the election with full strength and confidence.

With both the ruling alliance and the opposition claiming victory, the political atmosphere in Bihar remains highly charged.

- IANS
BJP aims to win both seats in Saini's first test

Voting for two Rajya Sabha seats from Haryana commenced, with three candidates in the fray. The Congress, fearing cross-voting, had sequestered its MLAs in Himachal Pradesh before bringing them under tight security to Chandigarh to vote. This election is the first major political test for Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, with a BJP victory in both seats seen as bolstering his standing. The outcome hinges on complex arithmetic and the potential for invalid votes, which have altered results in previous Haryana Rajya Sabha polls.

Voting for 2 Rajya Sabha seats in Haryana begins. Congress shifts MLAs to prevent cross-voting. A key test for CM Saini. Follow live updates.

Chandigarh, March 16 Voting for the two Rajya Sabha seats in Haryana began here on Monday with the counting of ballots to begin at 5 p.m.

Three candidates are in the fray. They are BJP's Sanjay Bhatia, Congress' Karamvir Boudh, a Dalit activist, and BJP-backed Independent candidate, Satish Nandal.

Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini cast the first vote of the day.

Fearing cross-voting, the Congress, which has 37 legislators in the 90-member House, had moved its MLAs to resorts and hotels in Himachal Pradesh. Six among them did not go to Himachal for personal reasons.

On Sunday night, the Congress shifted 31 legislators from Shimla to Kasauli. Accompanying party general secretary and in charge of Haryana, B.K. Hariprasad, and Rohtak MP Deepender Hooda, all the lawmakers on Monday morning were taken directly in a convoy from their hotel to Chandigarh amidst tight security.

On reaching Chandigarh, all the MLAs first will arrive at Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Hooda's residence in Sector 7. After having breakfast there, all of them will proceed to cast their votes in the legislative Assembly.

With 47 legislators, this will be CM Saini's first major political test since assuming charge. Winning both seats would be seen as a testament to his strong political grip and strategic acumen.

"A victory could further elevate his stature and influence within the party high command," admitted a senior BJP minister.

A candidate requires 31 votes to win. With its 48 votes, the BJP can easily secure one seat.

The Congress has 37 votes. It is too in a position to win a seat.

The BJP's remaining 17 MLAs, along with three Independent voters, are expected to cast votes for BJP-backed Independent candidate Nandal.

If the two votes from the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) go to Nandal, he will still require additional nine votes. The INLD may either support the BJP or abstain from backing Nandal.

The two Rajya Sabha seats would fall vacant as BJP members Kiran Choudhry and Ram Chander Jangra are set to complete their terms on April 9.

In the past, two instances of vote cancellations during the Rajya Sabha polls came to light that altered the election results.

In 2016, the votes of 14 Congress MLAs were declared invalid. At that time, pens other than the prescribed ones containing purple ink were used.

The cancellation of the 14 votes paved the way for the victory of Independent candidate Subhash Chandra, who was backed by the BJP.

In 2022, the vote of one Congress MLA was declared invalid. Consequently, Ajay Maken lost to the BJP-backed Independent candidate, Kartikeya Sharma.

- IANS
Pakistan's economy is in a precarious state, battered by the regional Middle East crisis and its prolonged war with Afghanistan alongside battles against the TTP and BLA. The government has imposed severe austerity, including salary cuts for officials, travel bans, and a four-day work week for most offices. A recent 20% oil price hike has backfired, devastating the agricultural sector, food delivery riders, and public transport. Experts warn that these measures are insufficient and a prolonged crisis could lead to the complete collapse of Pakistan's economy.

Pakistan's economy faces collapse from Middle East crisis, war with Afghanistan, and militant battles. Severe austerity measures offer little hope as crisis deepens.

New Delhi, March 16 Pakistan has been hit hard by the crisis in the Middle East owing to the war between Iran and Israel-United States. While it faces several headaches with regard to whether or not join the war owing to a pact with Saudi Arabia, on the economic front Islamabad has gone from bad to worse. The Middle-East crisis comes at a time when Pakistan is already economically drained.

Adding to its woes is its war with Afghanistan and its constant battle with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA). Officials say that these battles are hitting Pakistan hard not just on the military front, but also economically.

The official said that the situation for Pakistan is so precarious that it has to protect whatever is left of its economy. Islamabad has now introduced several measures to protect its economy and has announced numerous cuts on several fronts.

A decision has been taken to keep official vehicles in the federal and provincial government departments off the road by 60 per cent. The Grade-20 officials in government offices who earn over Rs 300,000 have been told to voluntarily give up two days' salary. This is however not applicable to those in the health and educational sectors.

The government has also instructed members of both the provincial and federal legislatures to take a 25 per cent cut in salaries and allowances for two months. Another big step that the Pakistan government has taken is to reduce the petroleum provision for official vehicles by 50 per cent.

Cabinet ministers, ministers of state, special assistants to the Prime Minister and advisers will have to forgo their entire salary for two months. Non-essential expenditure by the federal and provincial government departments will be reduced by 20 per cent. There would be no more travelling by business class for officials.

All officials will have to travel only economy class while flying abroad. Only obligatory foreign trips can be made by ministers, parliamentarians and officials. There has been a complete ban on the purchase of new durable goods for government offices. An exception has been made to limited purchases for IT procurement after through scrutiny. All meetings in government departments will now be virtual.

This decision has been taken to reduce both travel and accommodation costs. The existing ban on purchase of new government vehicles will continue until June 2026. With the exception of the banking sector and those involved with essential services, all government offices will operate only four days a week.

Government seminars, training sessions and conferences would require prior scrutiny and approval before they could be organised.

Pakistan government has advised similar guidelines for the private sector. However it is not mandatory. Pakistan watchers say that the country is neck-deep in loan. If the crisis in the Middle-East prolongs all these measures that Pakistan has taken to cut costs would not help.

A prolonged crisis would not just hurt the Pakistan economy, but would end up toppling it, the experts say. Normally there is some uptick in business during Eid.

However, all these disruptions have slowed down retail activity and people are only purchasing essentials and not splurging as they have done in the past during the same period. Many in Pakistan are questioning the need to raise oil prices by 20 per cent on March 6. The decision which was taken to curb hoarding of oil has backfired as it has hit the people hard.

This has hurt the agriculture sector which accounts for 23 per cent of the country's economy. The people are finding it hard to commute as the rise in oil prices has made travelling by taxis and rickshaws very expensive. This decision has also had a major impact on food delivery riders.

Their earnings have been wiped out and they are now living on charity. The riders are complaining that whatever earnings they had has been wiped out and hence they are forced to lie on charity. There has also been market volatility with the Pakistan Stock Exchange recording a historic one-day drop of 16,089 points.

Officials say that it is not just the global crisis that it is fuelling Pakistan's collapse. It is the prolonged battle with the BLA and TTP and war in Afghanistan which is making matters worse for the Pakistan economy. In the last 20 years, Pakistan has lost $152 billion owing to the various wars, including the war on terror in Afghanistan.

Experts say that if the battle in Afghanistan continues, then matters could get even worse for Pakistan, the experts also say.

- IANS
The ongoing West Asia crisis and disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz pose a short-term risk to India's crude oil supply chain, given the region's critical transit role. India remains heavily reliant on Middle Eastern imports, with nearly half its crude basket sourced from there. However, the country is mitigating risks by tapping strategic inventories and increasing purchases of discounted Russian oil. Morgan Stanley notes that if disruptions persist, India's refining sector could benefit from tighter supply and significantly higher product margins.

Morgan Stanley report warns of India's oil supply risks from West Asia crisis but sees potential gains for refiners from higher margins.

New Delhi, March 16 The ongoing West Asia crisis and disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz could create short-term stress for India's crude supply chain, though diversified sourcing and inventories should help cushion the immediate impact, according to a report by Morgan Stanley.

The brokerage noted that India remains exposed to Middle East oil flows because a significant share of its imports transit the region. "40-50 per cent of India and China's oil needs pass through the Strait of Hormuz," the report said, highlighting the vulnerability of Asian energy supply chains to disruptions in the Gulf.



India also sources a large portion of its crude from the Middle East. The report estimates that "46 per cent of India's crude basket is imported from the region," underscoring the country's reliance on Gulf producers for its refining requirements.



However, Morgan Stanley said inventories and alternative sourcing routes should prevent an immediate demand shock. "Crude and petroleum product reserves across Asia Pacific range between 30 and 200 days," while countries including India are already tapping alternative suppliers.



To mitigate supply risks, India has been increasing purchases of discounted Russian oil and exploring other sources. "India is also ramping up purchases of Russian crude (particularly Urals) after the US waived sanctions on Russian oil imports for 30 days," the report noted, adding that New Delhi is also in talks with Iran to secure safe passage for tankers carrying LPG and crude. "It is also in talks with Iran to secure safe passage for more than 20 tankers." the report noted.



Despite the supply concerns, Morgan Stanley believes India's refining sector could benefit if the disruption persists. Tight supply and export curbs across Asia have pushed refining margins higher. The report said gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, naphtha and fuel oil prices have risen 18-30 per cent in the past week, reflecting the tightening market.



Refiners with diversified crude sourcing, particularly large integrated players and state-run oil marketing companies, are likely to see improved profitability from higher product cracks. Morgan Stanley estimates that "a USD 1-1.5/bbl rise in gross margins for refiners would imply 15-30 per cent earnings upside in 2026."



Overall, the report said the duration of the West Asia disruption will be critical for the outlook. While inventories and alternative crude sources provide short-term buffers, prolonged supply interruptions could intensify stress across Asia's energy and industrial supply chains.





- ANI
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has called upon women Congress members to play a pivotal role in securing victory in the upcoming Bagalkote and Davanagere South by-elections. He highlighted the government's women-centric guarantee schemes, like Shakti and Gruha Lakshmi, which have provided economic independence and boosted purchasing power. The bypolls, necessitated by the deaths of former ministers, are scheduled for April 9 and are shaping up to be a prestige battle between the Congress and BJP. Internal contention within the Congress over the Davanagere South ticket adds another layer of complexity to the electoral contest.

CM Siddaramaiah urges women Congress workers to lead campaign in Bagalkote & Davanagere South bypolls, highlighting women-centric schemes.

Bengaluru, March 16 Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has called upon women members of the Congress party to play an important role in the party's victory in the Bagalkote and Davanagere South by-elections.

He was speaking on Monday at an executive meeting and training camp organised by the Karnataka Pradesh Mahila Congress. The CM stated, "Women members have an important role in creating awareness among the public about the government's pro-people schemes."

He instructed that two teams of women members should be formed to actively participate in the campaign for the Bagalkote and Davanagere by-elections. He also recalled that the Congress had won the Channapatna, Shiggaon and Sandur by-elections earlier. He expressed confidence that the party must win both seats this time as well and said the Congress has made the necessary preparations for the elections.

The Chief Minister said that the Congress government has given priority to women's empowerment during 2013-2018 and again since 2023. He stated that under the Shakti scheme, one of the government's major guarantee schemes, women have undertaken 700 crore journeys so far. Women-centric schemes have helped protect the rights of women, he added.

Siddaramaiah said that the government's guarantee schemes have increased women's purchasing power. Under the Gruha Lakshmi scheme, 1.26 crore women are being provided a monthly assistance of Rs 2,000, which has improved their economic and social status. Economic independence has also boosted women's self-confidence, he said.

Quoting Dr B.R. Ambedkar, the Chief Minister said that the true meaning of freedom can be realised only when gender discrimination and inequality in society are eliminated.

He emphasised that leadership qualities among women are very important and that achieving equality becomes easier when equal opportunities are provided to everyone. He said that the Karnataka Pradesh Mahila Congress currently has more than one lakh women members, and the number should increase to two lakh in the future.

The bypolls to Davangere South and Bagalkot Assembly constituencies necessitated by the demise of former Ministers Shamanur Shivashankarappa and H.Y. Meti, respectively, will be held on April 9. Both the seats had been held by the Congress.

The bypolls are expected to witness an intense battle as it has become a matter of prestige for the ruling Congress and the opposition BJP. The matter of choosing a candidate for the Davanagere South Constituency has become a bone of contention among cabinet ministers, B.Z. Zameer Ahmad Khan and S.S. Mallikarjun.

The seat was earlier held by Mallikarjun's father, the late Shamanur Shivashankarappa. Zameer Ahmad Khan has demanded that the ticket be given to a candidate from the minority community. However, Minister Mallikarjun has said that Zameer is in no position to make comments regarding the Davanagere district.

Meanwhile, the BJP has pledged to win both seats and has already held a core committee meeting on candidate selection.

- IANS
American allies including Australia and Japan have declined or are hesitating to commit warships following President Trump's call for a naval deployment to the Strait of Hormuz. The critical waterway, vital for global oil shipments, faces disruption amid ongoing regional tensions. While South Korea remains in discussions and UK and Canadian leaders coordinate a response, no concrete military pledges have been made. The situation contributes to rising global oil prices as the international community weighs its options.

Australia and Japan refuse, others deliberate after Trump calls for warships to secure the critical oil route amid Iran tensions.

Washington, DC, March 16 American allies have adopted a cautious stance or issued direct refusals following President Donald Trump's call for roughly seven nations to dispatch warships to the Strait of Hormuz.

The demand comes as the critical maritime oil route faces significant disruption amidst the ongoing conflict with Iran. Despite the urgency of the situation, key partners have been hesitant to commit military assets.

Australia has confirmed it will not provide naval support to the region. Cabinet Minister Catherine King informed the ABC that while the waterway remains vital, Canberra has received no formal request and maintains no plans for deployment.

"We won't be sending a ship to the Strait of Hormuz. We know how incredibly important that is, but that's not something that we've been asked or that we're contributing to," King stated.

Mirroring this reluctant sentiment, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi stated on Monday that Japan currently maintains no plans to deploy naval assets for escorting vessels in the Middle East.

Addressing the Japanese parliament, Takaichi clarified that Tokyo has not yet committed to any military involvement. According to a report by Reuters, she noted that the government is still evaluating its options.

"We have not made any decisions whatsoever about dispatching escort ships. We are continuing to examine what Japan can do independently and what can be done within the legal framework," Takaichi told the legislature.

While some have issued firm refusals, others remain in a state of deliberation. South Korea indicated that it remains in discussions with Washington, with the presidential office in Seoul noting that any potential move would only occur after a thorough and "careful review" of the situation.

In London, Prime Minister Keir Starmer maintained a diplomatic approach to the request. According to Downing Street, Starmer held talks with Trump regarding the necessity to reopen the strait to mitigate "global shipping disruptions."

The British leader also consulted with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to coordinate a Western response. Both leaders agreed to further deliberate on the Middle East crisis during a scheduled meeting on Monday.

The push for international intervention was detailed by President Trump while speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday. He revealed he has put pressure on nations with a high dependency on Middle Eastern crude to assist in policing the waterway, which handles approximately one-fifth of the world's oil.

While the President did not specifically name all the nations involved, he argued that they should protect "their own territory." He further reiterated his stance that the United States has significantly less dependency on the strait compared to other global powers.

Trump specifically highlighted China's involvement as a major stakeholder, noting that Beijing secures the majority of its oil supplies through Hormuz. However, he stopped short of confirming whether China would participate in any international coalition.

Despite the President's public appeals and the strategic importance of the route, no concrete military commitments have been secured as global oil prices continue to rise.

- ANI
Zelensky calls for more pressure on Moscow

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warns that the ongoing conflict in West Asia could divert global attention and critical military resources, like Patriot air defense systems, away from Ukraine's fight against Russia. He expressed concern that shortages could leave Ukraine vulnerable to continued Russian missile and drone attacks. Zelensky revealed that Ukraine is already sharing its drone warfare expertise with Middle Eastern allies facing Iranian threats, framing it as reciprocal support for partners like the U.S. However, he cautioned that the Iran conflict could strengthen Russia's position and called for increased diplomatic pressure on Moscow to end the war.

Ukraine's President warns the West Asia conflict could drain Patriot missiles & air defense systems needed to counter Russian attacks, urging more pressure on Moscow.

New York, March 16 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that the war with Iran could divert global attention and military resources away from Ukraine's fight against Russia.

In an interview with CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS, Zelensky said Kyiv faces growing risks if the conflict in West Asia continues.

"Yes, of course, we have big risks," Zelensky said.

He said Ukraine could face shortages of air defence systems and missiles if military resources are redirected to the new conflict.

"I think that we can have a deficit with air defence, especially PAC-3, PAC-2, for Patriot systems, for defending our sky," he said.

Ukraine has relied heavily on Western air-defence systems to counter large-scale Russian missile and drone attacks.

Zelensky said the war in Iran could complicate those efforts.

"If the war continues, of course, we will have these challenges, and the challenges will only increase," he said.

Ukraine has also begun sharing its experience in drone warfare with partners in the Middle East.

Zelensky said Kyiv had sent military experts to assist allies facing Iranian drone attacks.

"We are ready to help Americans, and we are ready to help also Middle East allies," he said.

The Ukrainian leader said the move reflected Kyiv's partnership with Washington.

"We count on you, and the Americans can count on us," Zelensky said.

But he warned that Russia could benefit from the shifting geopolitical focus.

The war in Iran, Zelensky said, could strengthen Moscow's position and complicate efforts to end Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"Of course, this situation in Iran gives him more money," Zelensky said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

He urged stronger pressure on Moscow and called for renewed diplomatic efforts to end the war.

"If we really want to stop the war, we need to meet," Zelensky said. "We need more pressure on Russia."

- IANS
Scientists reveal how shifts in the vaginal microbiome during pregnancy may influence inflammation and preterm birth risk, pointing to new microbiome-based therapies that could improve maternal and infant health outcomes.

Study: The vaginal microbiome in pregnancy and preterm birth: mechanisms, disparities, and therapeutic opportunities. Image Credit: Kateryna Kon / Shutterstock

In a recent review published in the journal npj Biofilms and Microbiomes , researchers synthesized current research on the vaginal microbiomes role in pregnancy and its impact on spontaneous preterm birth. The review highlights evidence suggesting that a Lactobacillus-dominated environment is commonly associated with immune tolerance, whereas dysbiosis is linked to physiologically detrimental inflammatory cascades.

The review further examines scientific observations of ancestry-related disparities in microbiome composition and discusses how these differences may contribute to, but do not fully explain, preterm birth disparities. It also evaluates promising next-generation interventions, such as live biotherapeutics and targeted therapies, that are currently under development and undergoing active clinical investigation to restore microbial balance and improve maternalfetal outcomes.

Preterm birth remains a global challenge with complex biological and social drivers

Preterm birth ( PTB ) is clinically defined as delivery before 37 completed weeks of gestation. It remains a leading cause of neonatal morbidity and infant mortality worldwide, with estimates suggesting a global prevalence of approximately 9.9% of all deliveries, corresponding to around 13.4 million premature births in 2020.

Despite decades of research and advances in obstetric care, PTB rates remain largely unchanged in many regions. Studies in the United States ( US ) show marked disparities, with Black mothers experiencing disproportionately higher PTB rates approaching 14.86%.

PTB is considered a complex multifactorial condition influenced by genetics, stress, environmental exposures, structural and socioeconomic factors, and lifestyle. These interacting factors have historically made prediction and prevention difficult.

Increasing attention has focused on the potential role of the vaginal microbiome ( VM ) in maternalfetal health. Researchers hypothesize that the composition and stability of the VM may influence pregnancy outcomes, including the risk of PTB .

Although stable microbial communities are known to support healthy pregnancies, the biological mechanisms linking microbial disruptions to early labor remain poorly understood. There is also a growing need to clarify how microbiome changes intersect with broader social and biological determinants of pregnancy outcomes.

Review synthesizes multi-omics research to map microbiome dynamics in pregnancy

The review synthesizes recent molecular, clinical, and population-level research examining vaginal microbiome dynamics during pregnancy and their association with preterm birth.

It summarizes ecological changes in maternal microbial communities across different stages of pregnancy and examines their potential links to adverse pregnancy outcomes.

To explore cross-population variation, the review evaluated findings from large-scale studies such as the Multi-Omic Microbiome StudyPregnancy Initiative (MOMS-PI), which compared microbial profiles among women of African, Hispanic, European, and Asian ancestry.

The authors also reviewed findings from modern multi-omics approaches, including metagenomics, untargeted metabolomics, and transcriptomics. These technologies help characterize microbial genetic material, metabolic byproducts, and host gene expression at the maternalfetal interface.

The review further examined current clinical strategies for preventing PTB and discussed emerging microbiome-targeted therapies currently under investigation in early-stage studies and clinical trials.

Protective Lactobacillus species support pregnancy, while dysbiosis triggers inflammation

The review found that healthy, full-term pregnancies are frequently associated with a Lactobacillus-dominated vaginal microbial community.

In particular, Lactobacillus crispatus produces lactic acid that maintains a highly acidic vaginal environment (pH 3.54.5). This acidic environment reinforces the epithelial barrier and suppresses inflammatory signaling.

In contrast, dysbiosis, characterized by the overgrowth of anaerobic bacteria, such as Gardnerella vaginalis and Prevotella species, is associated with inflammatory responses. These conditions can increase immune signaling molecules, including interleukin-8 ( IL -8), which has been linked to premature cervical remodeling and weakening of fetal membranes.

Comparisons across populations show that women of African and Hispanic ancestry more often enter pregnancy with a higher prevalence of Lactobacillus iners. Unlike L. crispatus, this species appears more ecologically unstable and may shift more readily toward dysbiotic states.

The review also notes that not all microbiomes lacking Lactobacillus dominance are inherently harmful. Some communities without a dominant Lactobacillus species may remain stable and non-inflammatory and could represent normal microbiome configurations for certain individuals.

Evaluation of conventional treatments showed that antibiotics used to treat bacterial vaginosis initially eliminate infection in about 80% of cases. However, recurrence occurs in more than half of patients within 12 months, partly because antibiotics fail to restore protective vaginal bacteria.

Emerging therapies such as live biotherapeutic products ( LBP s) aim to address this limitation. Clinical studies using Lactobacillus crispatus strains suggest that restoring beneficial microbes directly to the vaginal environment may help maintain long-term microbial stability.

Microbiome-based therapies may help reduce preterm birth risk in the future

The review highlights the vaginal microbiome as an important regulator of immune function during pregnancy. Future precision-targeted microbiome therapies may complement existing clinical strategies to improve maternalfetal outcomes, particularly in populations with a higher risk of preterm birth.

However, the authors emphasize that research remains limited in many marginalized populations. Large, longitudinal studies involving diverse ancestral groups will be essential to translate microbiome discoveries into equitable and effective clinical interventions.
An extensive computational study by researchers from the University of Jyvaskyla (Finland) predicted that gold nanoclusters could selectively recognize chiral biomolecules. This property may help in detecting certain diseases directly from a blood sample.

Gold nanoclusters are atomically precise nanostructures with a size of a few nanometers. They contain a metallic gold core, which is protected by a layer of organic ligand molecules. The chemical nature of the ligand molecules determines the solubility of the clusters in different environments and enables the functionality of the organic outer surface of the cluster and interactions with the environment.

Spiral surface can recognize helical biomolecules

The outer surface of gold clusters is often helical, or chiral, just like spiral staircases or the helical structure of DNA. Therefore, they can be expected to bind chiral biomolecules in the environment (such as amino acids or DNA) in different ways, depending on both the chemical structure of the molecules and the direction of the cluster's helix.



- We wanted to test this hypothesis as thoroughly as possible, so we carried out an extensive computational study, says Professor of Computational Nanoscience Hannu Hakkinen from the University of Jyvaskyla, who led the study.

Hundreds of simulations on a supercomputer

The study examined nearly a hundred different combinations of clusters and biomolecules, the atomic structure of which was simulated using molecular dynamics. The binding of biomolecules to clusters in a biological environment and its effect on the chiral optical properties of clusters were studied using electronic structure theory.



- A total of nearly three hundred individual computer runs were needed to ensure the statistical reliability of the results. The study required considerable GPU computing capacity, and the simulations were performed on the joint European LUMI supercomputer managed by the CSC as a Finnish LUMI "Extreme Scale" project, explains Hakkinen.

Clusters selectively recognized biomolecules

The study found clear differences in the interaction between the helical surfaces of different cluster-biomolecule combinations. The interaction turned out to be selective, as only in a few combinations did the biomolecule bind to the cluster surface so strongly that it was able to change the cluster's chiral optical response. The study predicts that this property could be exploited when developing sensors for chiral biomolecules that work in a biological environment. Such sensors could recognize markers related to certain diseases in the blood.



- The results of the simulations are very promising and are based on a simple idea that is easy to test in laboratories. We have already been in contact with experimental groups in our international research network, and we hope that they will be excited to test our predictions in practical laboratory measurements, says Hakkinen.



In addition to Hakkinen, the authors of the publication were Postdoctoral Researcher Zohreh Fallah, University Researcher Maria Francisca Matus and Research Engineer Sami Malola. The research was published in the prestigious journal ACS Nano. The research was supported by the Research Council of Finland and the European Research Council's ERC Advanced Grant project DYNANOINT.
High-precision mapping tools can pinpoint where schistosomiasis persists down to the household level, potentially transforming efforts to eliminate the disease affecting 250 million people, a 13-year study has found.

Schistosomiasis is a parasitic infection affecting more than 250 million people worldwide, according to the SciDev.Net.

"It's a piece of evidence that can help us improve infectious disease elimination efforts," says Carlton explaining that the "final push" is often the hardest because the parasite persists in small pockets.

The study was a collaboration between the Colorado School of Public Health and the Sichuan Center for Disease Control and Prevention in China, with support from the US National Institutes of Health.

It found that as the region approached elimination, the disease retreated into highly localized "hotspots", where transmission is driven by specific household practices rather than village-wide factors.

To understand how this happened, the study followed villages in southwest China for 13 years to understand how infection risk changed over time. Researchers from both China and the US then combined field-based data collection or traditional "shoe-leather" investigations with artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms to analyze data.

Carlton said the findings build on a body of knowledge by her team. A few years ago, they compared two methods: surveys that searched for the snails that spread schistosomiasis and a risk-mapping approach that analyzed road networks and land use patterns, including the distance of households from roads, water sources, and other environmental features.

"Both of these studies show it's possible to identify where infections might be with fine precision," she added.

"We think this high precision approach to identifying potential pockets of disease can help health officials identify where the disease might be spreading. That can allow them to deploy strategies to interrupt transmission in these areas."

Although the findings in the studies are feasible for use in low-resource settings as many countries already have excellent census and health survey data, Carlton says the challenge is obtaining good infection and complementary data that can be used to tailor risk maps to a specific region.

She added: "We studied Schistosoma japonicum, the species found in China, Indonesia and the Philippines. But there are other, similar schistosoma species in the Americas, the Middle East, and Africa. While these parasites are similar, ideally we would test whether we find similar results in other regions."

Christopher Zziwa a schistosomiasis research officer at the Medical Research Council/Uganda Virus Research Institute and London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Uganda Research Unit, who was not involved in the study, agrees that the study is relevant for countries aiming at disease elimination, especially LMICs. However, he cautions that "results should always be adapted carefully to local contexts".

The findings are significant for countries nearing elimination, but countries like Uganda are far from achieving this, Zziwa told SciDev.Net.

"While fine-scale surveillance may look difficult in low-resource settings, it can be made realistic by using Village Health Teams, targeted mapping, and simple digital tools rather than expensive systems and processes," he said.

He said the study findings, which show that as overall infection rates decline, transmission becomes highly localized at the household level, mean mass treatment alone is not enough to achieve elimination. Sanitation, farming practices, and environmental exposure must also be addressed.

To prevent resurgence, policymakers should prioritize sustained surveillance even after prevalence declines, strengthen sanitation such as the use of pit latrines, and focus on high-risk groups such as those living near lake shores, Zziwa advises.

Overall, the study reinforces that elimination requires precision, persistence, and long-term commitment, and not just mass drug administration alone." Christopher Zziwa, schistosomiasis research officer, Medical Research Council/Uganda Virus Research Institute

Carlton says her team are applying some of the methods developed in the schistosomiasis study to infectious diseases in the United States, from seasonal flu and bird flu to West Nile Virus.

"Infectious disease rarely respects geopolitical borders," she added.

"Scientific collaboration across borders can help us improve our infectious disease response tools."
26 injured as pick-up jeep overturns in Nagpur district

Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 21:45 IST

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Nagpur, Mar 16 (PTI) Twenty-six labourers, including nine women, were injured after a speeding pick-up jeep overturned near the Wardha River in Nagpur district of Maharashtra on Monday, police said.

The labourers were crammed in the vehicle, which was headed to Belona village.

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The accident occurred when the driver lost control of the vehicle near the Wardha River at Mowad," a police official said.

Local residents rushed to the spot and helped the injured.

After receiving information about the accident, a team from Narkhed police station reached the spot and shifted the injured to a nearby hospital. After primary treatment, they were referred to the GMC&H in Nagpur for further treatment.

A case has been registered, and further investigation is underway. PTI COR NSK

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News agency-feeds 26 injured as pick-up jeep overturns in Nagpur district

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Hospital Fire: Odisha appoints retired judge to head probe team

Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 21:45 IST

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Bhubaneswar, Mar 16 (PTI) The Odisha government Monday appointed retired district judge Laxmidhar Biswal to lead the judicial inquiry into the devastating fire at SCB Medical College Hospital in Cuttack, in which at least 10 people died and 11 others suffered burn injuries.

The panel is required to submit its report within 60 days, according to a notification issued by the Home Department.

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The commissions mandate includes a thorough examination of the sequence of events leading to the fire incident at the Trauma Care ICU, the roles and accountability of individuals and authorities involved in the tragedy.

The hospitals readiness to handle such emergencies, the effectiveness of response measures taken before and after the incident, and recommendations to prevent future occurrences will also be investigated.

The state government is deeply concerned about this matter of serious public importance," the notification stated while emphasising the need for a judicial probe to ensure transparency and accountability.

The headquarters of the commission will be based in Cuttack, with flexibility to conduct proceedings elsewhere if necessary.

Immediately after visiting the fire incident site in SCB Medical College Hospital, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi had announced a judicial probe into the incident.

Majhi also directed the Fire Service DG to personally visit the hospital and ensure fire compliance.

If anyone is found guilty in the incident after the judicial probe, strong action will be taken," the chief minister said. PTI AAM AAM NN

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Israel steps up campaign in Lebanon; Iran keeps stranglehold on shipping

Last Updated: March 17, 2026, 01:15 IST

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Beirut, Mar 16 (AP) The war in the Middle East raged on multiple fronts on Monday, as the US and Israel pummelled military targets in Irans capital, Israel stepped up its campaign against Iran-backed militants in Lebanon and Iran retaliated with a drone strike that temporarily forced the closure of Dubais airport, a crucial hub for travellers.

Fears of a global energy crisis persisted, even as a small number of ships passed through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway through which a fifth of the worlds oil is usually transported.

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Iranian strikes on commercial ships in and around the strait, and even just the threat of attacks, have slowed shipping there to a trickle. That has dramatically increased the price of oil and put pressure on Washington to do something to ease the pain for consumers and the global economy.

Brent crude, the international standard, remained over $100 a barrel on Monday. US President Donald Trump said he has demanded that roughly a half-dozen countries send warships to keep the Strait of Hormuz open. So far his appeals have brought no commitments.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said of the strait, From our perspective it is open"  just not for the United States, Israel and its allies.

On social media, Araghchi also rejected as delusional" claims that Iran was looking for a negotiated end to the war. He said it was seeking neither truce nor talks." Since the US and Israel attacked Iran more than two weeks ago, Tehran has regularly fired drones and missiles at Israel, American bases in the region, and Gulf Arab countries energy infrastructure.

Massive explosions were heard in Beirut as Israel launched new attacks on the Lebanese capital, saying it was striking infrastructure related to the Iran-linked Hezbollah militia group. Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel after US-Israeli attacks on Iran began Feb 28.

The Israeli army has issued evacuation orders for many neighbourhoods in Beirut as well as southern Lebanon.

Israels strikes have displaced more than 1 million Lebanese  or roughly 20% of the population  from large swaths of the countrys southern region and its capitals southern suburbs, according to the Lebanese government, which says some 850 people have been killed.

Some Israeli troops have pushed into southern Lebanon, and there are fears that Israel is preparing a large-scale invasion.

In southern Lebanon, seven people were killed in Israeli airstrikes, according to authorities and news reports.

Explosions sounded in Tehran and outlying areas Monday soon after Israels military announced it had launched new strikes on Irans capital.

A Tehran resident said he was driving Monday when he witnessed an airstrike turn a police station to dust and cause heavy damage to nearby shops and cars. The man, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation from the government, said it felt like the end of the world." More details were not immediately available with information coming out of Iran severely limited by internet outages, round-the-clock airstrikes and tight restrictions on journalists.

More than 1,300 people have been killed in Iran so far, according to the Iranian Red Crescent.

Israel has carried out some 7,600 strikes on Iran so far, knocking out 85% of its air defences and 70% of Irans missile launchers, military spokesman Lt Col Nadav Shoshani told reporters Monday.

In Israel, 12 people have been killed by Iranian missile fire. At least 13 US military members have been killed.

The virtual shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz is unnerving the world economy, driving up energy and fertiliser prices; threatening food shortages in poor countries; destabilising fragile states; and complicating efforts by central banks to drive down prices for consumers.

At an event at the White House on Monday, Trump said numerous countries" have told him theyre on the way" to help police the Strait of Hormuz. But he also suggested the reluctance of some countries to join the war against Iran showed a lack of reciprocity in defense agreements with the United States.

The level of enthusiasm matters to me," he said. Trump didnt specify the countries, but has previously appealed to China, France, Japan, South Korea and Britain.

Brent crude was above $101 in afternoon trading, up roughly 40% since the war began. Many officials have been scrambling to ease prices. Fatih Birol, head of the International Energy Agency, said its 32 member countries still have additional reserves of 1.4 billion barrels on top of the record 400 million they agreed to release last week to address supply constraints.

Admiral Brad Cooper, the top US military commander in the Middle East, said in a video posted on X that American forces are zeroing in on Irans threats to freighters carrying oil and natural gas.

Europeans have been critical of the US and Israel for failing to provide clarity on their objectives in the war.

Ahead of a meeting in Brussels, the European Unions foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the blocs foreign ministers would discuss possibly extending a naval mission that protects ships in the Red Sea to the Strait of Hormuz, without giving any details.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told reporters in Brussels that his country favours strengthening anti-piracy and defensive missions in the Red Sea, but said he didnt believe in expanding their roles to the Strait of Hormuz.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain, which is not an EU member, told reporters that Britain and allies were working on a plan to reopen the strait. Starmer said Britain might deploy mine-hunting UK drones already in the region, but insisted it will not be drawn into the wider war".

Japan and Australia both said Monday that they had not been asked to help protect the strait and had no current plans to do so.

A drone hit a fuel tank early Monday near Dubai International Airport, the worlds busiest for international passenger traffic, causing a large fire. No injuries were reported, but the airport suspended all flights for several hours.

A person was killed in the capital of the United Arab Emirates when an Iranian missile hit a vehicle, the Abu Dhabi media office said. Authorities said drone strikes Monday caused fires at two UAE oil facilities, in Abu Dhabi and Fujairah.

In Israel, an intercepted Iranian missile attack sprayed shrapnel through Jerusalems Old City, hitting the rooftop of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, just metres from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, built on what is revered by many Christians as the site of Jesus crucifixion, burial and resurrection.

Shrapnel also fell near the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray, and within the Al Aqsa Mosque compound, the third-holiest site in Islam. Missile strikes on Jerusalem have been rare in the past. (AP) SCY SCY

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First Published: March 17, 2026, 01:15 IST

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Jaishankar concludes Brussels visit, says India-EU FTA a turning point in ties

Last Updated: March 17, 2026, 02:45 IST

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Brussels [Belgium], March 17 (ANI): External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar recently concluded a productive visit to Brussels, where he held talks with leaders and foreign ministers from the European Union to advance cooperation across trade, technology, security and connectivity.Sharing details of the visit on X on Monday, Jaishankar said he met members of the EU Foreign Affairs Council and held discussions with senior European leaders, including Antonio Costa, Ursula von der Leyen, and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas.Concluded a productive visit to Brussels, meeting with the #EuropeanUnion Foreign Affairs Council, calling on Presidents of the @EUCouncil Antonio Costa and @EU_Commission @vonderleyen, and holding talks with EU HRVP @kajakallas. Also met EU counterparts and held separate bilateral discussions with many," Jaishankar wrote.The External Affairs Minister highlighted that the finalisation of the proposed India-EU Free Trade Agreement would mark a major milestone in bilateral relations.The finalisation of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) represents a turning point in ties. It will not only unlock its enormous economic potential but express the strategic nature of our engagement," he said.He added that both sides discussed ensuring the agreement translates into practical outcomes through greater trade promotion and deeper business cooperation.To realise the gains of FTA on the ground, the two sides should proactively assist each other in practical activities, including trade and investment promotion," Jaishankar noted.The minister also emphasised collaboration in emerging technologies, saying the India-EU Trade and Technology Council could play a larger role.The Trade and Technology Council can be upgraded and repurposed to facilitate collaboration in critical and cutting-edge technologies," he said.According to Jaishankar, mobility of skilled professionals and stronger supply chains were also important priorities for both sides.Mobility of skills and talent flows are very important," he said, adding that initiatives such as the Legal Gateway Office in India and the promotion of Global Capability Centres (GCCs) could strengthen economic ties.Connectivity initiatives, including the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, were also discussed during the meetings.Connectivity is also prominent in our agenda. Will work together to give practical shape to IMEC and other such initiatives," he said.The minister noted that India and the EU also shared a broader commitment to strengthening global institutions amid geopolitical uncertainty.In a multipolar and uncertain world, the India-EU partnership will act as a factor of stability and resilience," Jaishankar said.

Concluded a productive visit to Brussels, meeting with the #EuropeanUnion Foreign Affairs Council, calling on Presidents of the @EUCouncil Antonio Costa and @EU_Commission @vonderleyen, and holding talks with EU HRVP @kajakallas. Also met EU counterparts and held separate pic.twitter.com/Ff0s5HdOoY Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) March 16, 2026

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During his engagements in Brussels, Jaishankar also met several European counterparts for bilateral discussions.Delighted to meet my fellow Foreign Ministers from #EuropeanUnion today in Brussels. Thank EU HRVP @kajakallas for inviting me to this Foreign Affairs Council Meeting. A new chapter in India-EU ties has opened up in 2026. The Foreign Ministers coordinate translating the various agreements into outcomes. Our conversation today therefore covered trade, investment, technology, mobility and defence in particular. The stronger convergence between India and EU in a multipolar world is also expressed in closer consultations. Discussed the West Asia conflict, the Ukraine situation and the Indo-Pacific in todays gathering," he wrote in a post on X.

Delighted to meet my fellow Foreign Ministers from #EuropeanUnion today in Brussels. Thank EU HRVP @kajakallas for inviting me to this Foreign Affairs Council Meeting.A new chapter in India-EU ties has opened up in 2026. The Foreign Ministers coordinate translating the various pic.twitter.com/PkBeGYxZG1  Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) March 16, 2026

Great to meet FM Johann Wadephul of Germany. A valuable exchange of notes on the conflict in West Asia. Also took stock of the progress of our bilateral relations following the State visit of @bundeskanzler Friedrich Merz to India," he said, referring to talks with Johann Wadephul.

Great to meet FM @JoWadephul of Germany.A valuable exchange of notes on the conflict in West Asia. Also took stock of the progress of our bilateral relations following the State visit of @bundeskanzler Friedrich Merz to India. ?? ?? pic.twitter.com/g8wnkEKwqs  Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) March 16, 2026

He also met FM Slovakia Juraj Blanar, saying the visit of Slovak President Peter Pellegrini to India had provided new momentum to our relations."Glad to meet FM Slovakia Juraj Blanar today. The visit of President @PellegriniP_ to India #IndiaAIActionSummit has provided new momentum to our relations. Discussed our bilateral agenda, including furthering cooperation in manufacturing, defence and space," he wrote.

Glad to meet FM Slovakia Juraj Blanar today. The visit of President @PellegriniP_ to India #IndiaAIActionSummit has provided new momentum to our relations. Discussed our bilateral agenda, including furthering cooperation in manufacturing, defence and space. ?? ?? pic.twitter.com/lFQnLmUzxx  Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) March 16, 2026

Furthermore, Jaishankar also held talks with Greece FM Giorgos Gerapetritis.Nice to meet Greece FM Giorgos Gerapetritis at the Europa building in Brussels. Our conversation focused on enhancing diplomatic presence, strengthening connectivity and promoting trade. Also discussed repercussions of the West Asia conflict. @GreeceMFA," the post read.

Nice to meet Greece FM Giorgos Gerapetritis at the Europa building in Brussels.Our conversation focused on enhancing diplomatic presence, strengthening connectivity and promoting trade. Also discussed repercussions of the West Asia conflict. @GreeceMFA ?? ?? pic.twitter.com/GqFUau8Nip  Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) March 16, 2026

He also met FM Tom Berendsen of the Netherlands and congratulated him for his recent appointment.Good to meet FM Tom Berendsen of the Netherlands this afternoon. @ministerBZ Congratulated him on his recent appointment. Discussed advancing collaboration in semiconductors, AI, water management, and other cutting-edge technologies. Appreciated his commitment to advancing the India-EU ties," Jaishankar wrote.

Good to meet FM Tom Berendsen of the Netherlands this afternoon. @ministerBZ Congratulated him on his recent appointment. Discussed advancing collaboration in semiconductors, AI, water management, and other cutting-edge technologies. Appreciated his commitment to advancing the pic.twitter.com/p9CvBRp9En  Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) March 16, 2026

Jaishankar also met Antonio Costa in Brussels and conveyed appreciation for his guidance and support in strengthening ties between India and the European Union. Delighted to call on @eucopresident Antonio Costa in Brussels. @EUCouncil His guidance and support have taken India-EU ties to a new level. Conveyed our deep appreciation in that regard. Look forward to his continued encouragement," he wrote.

Delighted to call on @eucopresident Antonio Costa in Brussels. @EUCouncil His guidance and support have taken India-EU ties to a new level. Conveyed our deep appreciation in that regard. Look forward to his continued encouragement. pic.twitter.com/psoc7OVBeu  Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) March 16, 2026

The minister concluded his visit with a wrap-up meeting with Kaja Kallas.A wrap-up meeting with EU HRVP @kajakallas in Brussels. Thanked her for inviting me to the Foreign Affairs Council meeting. Our conversations on various bilateral and global issues were enriching. Agreed to maintain close and continuing contact," the post read.

A wrap-up meeting with EU HRVP @kajakallas in Brussels. Thanked her for inviting me to the Foreign Affairs Council meeting.Our conversations on various bilateral and global issues were enriching. Agreed to maintain close and continuing contact. pic.twitter.com/FixuhshHN9  Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) March 16, 2026

Meanwhile, Kaja Kallas, in a post shared on X, wrote that the European Union and India are moving closer amid global geopolitical uncertainty. She said discussions with EU foreign ministers focused on maritime security, coordination in the Indo-Pacific, and expanding cooperation through the new EU-India Security and Defence Partnership, while expressing hope for the upcoming EU-India Strategic Dialogue later this year.The EU and India are drawing closer together as todays geopolitical uncertainty makes a clear case for deeper partnerships. It was good to meet in Brussels with Indias @DrSJaishankar, just a few weeks after the landmark EU-India Summit. Together with EU Foreign Ministers, we discussed maritime security and closer coordination in the Indo-Pacific. We are expanding our cooperation through our new Security and Defence Partnership. I am looking forward to our EU-India Strategic Dialogue later this year," the post read.

The EU and India are drawing closer together as todays geopolitical uncertainty makes a clear case for deeper partnerships.It was good to meet in Brussels with Indias @DrSJaishankar, just a few weeks after the landmark EU-India Summit. Together with EU Foreign Ministers, we pic.twitter.com/AebjbhY8f5  Kaja Kallas (@kajakallas) March 16, 2026

Earlier, Kaja Kallas posted on X, The closure of the Strait of Hormuz hurts the global economy and helps Russia fund its war. It is affecting our partners in the region and is dangerous for global energy supplies. Today, EU Foreign Ministers will discuss how to better protect shipping in the region, including contributions from our Aspides naval mission."

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz hurts the global economy and helps Russia fund its war.It is affecting our partners in the region and is dangerous for global energy supplies. Today, EU Foreign Ministers will discuss how to better protect shipping in the region, including pic.twitter.com/iJSVdT7FqA  Kaja Kallas (@kajakallas) March 16, 2026

Furthermore, Herve Delphin, Ambassador, Delegation of European Union to India wrote on X, trust and thrust in relationship. Our partnership for shared prosperity & a pole of stability. It will deliver at scale & speed serving our mutual interests. Presidents @vonderleyen, @eucopresident Costa and HRVP @kajakallas in talks with @DrSJaishankar today.

?trust and thrust in ???? relationship. Our partnership for shared prosperity & a pole of stability. It will deliver at scale & speed serving our mutual interests. Presidents @vonderleyen , @eucopresident Costa and HRVP @kajakallas in talks with @DrSJaishankar today. https://t.co/UCXebYlslM Herve Delphin (@EUAmbIndia) March 16, 2026

With this, Jaishankar concluded his two-day official visit to Brussels, Belgium, which took place at the invitation of European Union (EU) High Representative and Vice President Kaja Kallas to interact with the foreign ministers of the 27 EU member states at the Foreign Affairs Council meeting. (ANI)

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First Published: March 17, 2026, 02:45 IST

News agency-feeds Jaishankar concludes Brussels visit, says India-EU FTA a turning point in ties

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LPG-supply crisis hits JNU canteens, students demand preventive steps

Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 21:15 IST

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New Delhi, Mar 16 (PTI) Roti and poori have been removed from the mess menu for certain days at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), after gas supplies to the campus were cut by 20 per cent, prompting student organisations to request the administration to step in to ensure a smooth running of mess and dhabas.

Following the supply cut, the revised mess menu at the Lohit hostel specifies that roti will not be served at lunch on Tuesday and Saturday, with alternatives such as only rice" or khichdi being provided instead.

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According to two separate letters sent from the Indraprastha Gas Limited to the mess heads of the Sabarmati and Lohit hostels,  supplies to all industrial and commercial customers are being restricted to 80 per cent of their average consumption for last six months with effect from 6 am on March 11, 2026".

The food menus at several JNU canteens have also been affected by the shortage, according to student groups.

A statement issued by the Disha Students Organisation (DSO) said some food items have already been removed from canteen menus due to the impending crisis". It cited examples, such as samosas no longer being served at the School of International Studies (SIS) canteen and tea being unavailable at the TEFLAS canteen.

The JNU Students Union (JNUSU) said it will lead a march to the office of the dean of students on Tuesday, demanding preemptive measures to ensure the smooth and uninterrupted functioning of mess facilities and dhabas on the campus.

A student from the SIS said, In the coming days, if the crisis continues, mess menus will be altered even further and the prices of food will increase. A large number of students who come to institutions like JNU cannot afford hiked prices of food." The student added that while the current changes to the mess menu are not yet a major problem, anxiety and apprehension among the student community have already begun to grow.

Student organisations, such as the DSO and JNUSU, have called upon the university administration to ensure a smooth functioning of mess facilities and dhabas, and that mess fees are not increased during the crisis. PTI AHD RC

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First Published: March 16, 2026, 21:15 IST

News agency-feeds LPG-supply crisis hits JNU canteens, students demand preventive steps

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Mumbai-born engineer-scientist named interim dean of UT Austin School of Nursing

Last Updated: March 17, 2026, 03:00 IST

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Houston, Mar 17 (PTI) The University of Texas at Austin has appointed Dr Kavita Radhakrishnan, a Mumbai-born engineer-turned-nurse scientist, as the Interim Dean of its School of Nursing, effective March 11, 2026. This transition marks a significant milestone for the Indian American academic community at one of the premier nursing institutions in the United States.

Dr Radhakrishnans career is a masterclass in interdisciplinary success. After earning her degree in electronics engineering from the University of Mumbai, she moved to the U.S. to pursue a Masters in electrical engineering. A volunteer stint at a Boston hospital sparked a career pivot, leading her to earn a PhD in Nursing Science from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She joined the UT Austin faculty in 2012 and was recently inducted into the Sigma Theta Tau International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame.

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A prolific researcher with over $6.8 million in NIH funding, Radhakrishnan specialises in Digital Health." Her work is uniquely tailored to the South Asian diaspora, utilising serious games" and wearable sensors to manage hypertension and heart failureconditions that disproportionately affect Indian populations. She has also pioneered culturally sensitive interventions to break deep-seated taboos around end-of-life care planning within South Asian communities.

I am honoured to lead this community of innovators," Radhakrishnan stated. As Interim Dean, she will oversee the schools clinical partnerships and its mission to integrate AI and wearable technology into modern nursing education. PTI SHK HIG HIG

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First Published: March 17, 2026, 03:00 IST

News agency-feeds Mumbai-born engineer-scientist named interim dean of UT Austin School of Nursing

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SUPREME COURT-HIGHLIGHTS

Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 19:15 IST

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New Delhi, Mar 16 (PTI) Following are the top Supreme Court stories for Monday: LGD5 SC-ASHOKA-MAHMUDABAD (11:30AM) ****The Haryana government told the Supreme Court that it has decided to show one-time magnanimity and close the issue against Ashoka University professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad, who was booked for social media posts on Operation Sindoor. **** LGD6 SC-DIGITAL FRAUD (12:00PM) ****The Supreme Court said it would hear next week a suo motu case concerning victims of digital arrest. **** LGD7 SC-BHOPAL TRAGEDY-PLEA (12:17PM) **** The Supreme Court refused to interfere with a plea alleging risk of contamination of land and groundwater due to possible leakage of mercury from incinerated waste linked to the Bhopal gas tragedy. **** LGD8 SC-LAW EDUCATION-PIL (12:50PM) **** The Supreme Court agreed to hear in April a PIL seeking the establishment of a Legal Education Commission to reform the legal education system and provide for a four-year LL.B instead of five-year course after Class 12. **** LGD12 SC-ASHOKA-LD MAHMUDABAD (3:37PM) **** The Haryana government told the Supreme Court that it has decided not to grant sanction to prosecute Ashoka University professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad, who was booked last year for social media posts on Operation Sindoor, as a one-time magnanimity. **** LGD13 SC-JOURNALIST (4:00PM) **** The Supreme Court refused to entertain a plea filed by journalist Ravi Nair challenging a notice issued by the Gujarat Crime Branch on a complaint by Adani Ports and SEZ Ltd over an alleged defamatory article in a newspaper. **** LGD14 SC-RAKIA-DECREE (4:07PM) **** The Supreme Court appointed former Chief Justice of India U U Lalit as the sole mediator to amicably resolve the dispute over the execution of a money decree of Rs 500 crore passed by the UAE court in favour of Ras Al Khaimah Investment Authority (RAKIA) and against Hyderabad-based industrialist Nimmagadda Prasad. **** LGD17 SC-DELHI RIDGE (6:05PM) **** There is a need to get out of the mindset that only the national capital needs to have greenery and other states are lesser mortals, the Supreme Court said while hearing a matter related to the Delhi Ridge. **** LGD18 SC-BRIBERY (6:20PM) **** Over three-and-a-half decades after a petty bribery case began, the Supreme Court has upheld the conviction of a former Uttarakhand excise constable but reduced his sentence. **** LGD19 SC-WEST BENGAL-VIOLENCE (6:24PM) **** The Supreme Court dismissed a plea of the West Bengal government against a Calcutta High Court order that had refused to stay an NIA probe into incidents of violence in Murshidabad district in January. **** LGD20 SC-AFGIS-STATE (6:41PM) **** The Supreme Court has held that the Air Force Group Insurance Society (AFGIS) is a State under Article 12 of the Constitution as it performed public duty by protecting and looking after the welfare of armed forces personnel and their family. **** PTI SJK SJK APL APL APL

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First Published: March 16, 2026, 19:15 IST

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TIB calls for fair probe into killing of JU student Sharmin Jahan Khadija

Last Updated: March 17, 2026, 03:15 IST

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Dhaka [Bangladesh], March 17 (ANI): Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) has voiced serious concern over the killing of Jahangirnagar University student Sharmin Jahan Khadija and called for a prompt, impartial and transparent investigation to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident, Dhaka Tribune reported.Dhaka Tribune reported that in a statement issued on Monday, TIB urged the university authorities and law enforcement agencies to ensure that the investigation is conducted fairly and that those responsible for the crime are brought to justice with strict punishment.As per Dhaka Tribune, Sharmin Jahan Khadija was a student of the Public Administration department at Jahangirnagar University and served as the deputy leader of the universitys Youth Engagement and Support (YES) Group.Citing the organisations statement, Dhaka Tribune said that Khadija was killed on Sunday in the Islamnagar area near the university campus, an incident that has caused widespread concern among members of the JU YES Group.According to Dhaka Tribune, TIB emphasised that the murder should be treated with the highest level of seriousness and that investigators must focus on uncovering the truth behind the killing.Dhaka Tribune further reported that Khadija had been actively involved with the JU YES Group since December 8, 2025, and had played a prominent role in anti-corruption awareness and social initiatives. She was elected deputy leader of the group on January 27, 2026.The report by Dhaka Tribune added that Khadija belonged to the 2021-2022 academic session and was also engaged in several social and voluntary organisations.According to Dhaka Tribune, TIB expressed profound grief over her death and reiterated that authorities must prioritise a transparent investigation so that justice can be ensured at the earliest.TIB family is deeply saddened by her untimely and tragic death," they said. (ANI)

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First Published: March 17, 2026, 03:15 IST

News agency-feeds TIB calls for fair probe into killing of JU student Sharmin Jahan Khadija

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Two brothers killed after motorcycle crashes into pit in Thiruvananthapuram

Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 10:45 IST

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Thiruvananthapuram, Mar 16 (PTI) Two brothers were killed after the motorcycle they were travelling on hit an electric post and fell into a pit at Kilimanoor here on Monday, police said.

The deceased were identified as Abhi (22) and his brother Abhishek (20), natives of Koduvazhannoor near Kilimanoor.

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The accident occurred around 6 am near the SN Auditorium, Puthiyakavu, on the Kilimanoor-Attingal road.

According to police, both were on their way to a tuition centre when the accident occurred, the police added.

The brothers injured in the accident were rushed to a nearby hospital, where they succumbed, police added.

Kilimanoor police have registered a case and launched an investigation into the incident.

The bodies will be handed over to relatives after the postmortem, police said. PTI TBA TBA ADB

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First Published: March 16, 2026, 10:45 IST

News agency-feeds Two brothers killed after motorcycle crashes into pit in Thiruvananthapuram

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Love Horoscope Today, March 16, 2026

Written By :

GaneshaGrace

Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 07:15 IST

Check your love horoscope for March 16, 2026. Get insights on romance, emotional closeness, and relationship guidance for all zodiac signs today.

Love Horoscope Today, March 16, 2026, Know daily relationship horoscope for zodiac signs. (AI generated image)

Daily Love Horoscope, 16 March 2026: Ganesha says, todays love horoscope indicates that some zodiac signs are experiencing wonderful opportunities for romance, renewed energy, and emotional closeness, while others will need to manage their relationships with patience and understanding.

Gemini, Cancer, Virgo, Scorpio, Aquarius, and Pisces are expected to have a very positive and enjoyable love life todayunderstanding, romance, and heartfelt conversations will enhance their closeness. Aries, Taurus, Leo, Libra, Sagittarius, and Capricorn need to be cautious about misunderstandings, emotional instability, or a lack of communication.

Overall, the key to success in love today is honest communication, patience, and respect for each others feelings.

Aries Love Horoscope

Ganesha says that today indicates some confrontational confrontations on the love front. Misunderstandings may arise in your relationship, so its important to prioritize communication. Express your feelings clearly to your partner and try to understand theirs as well. Your sensitivity can play a key role today.

If youre thinking of starting a new relationship, exercise some restraint. On the other hand, if youre in a long-term relationship, this is the time to pay more attention to each other. Ignoring small things can create a rift in your relationship.

Taurus Love Horoscope

Ganesha says that today, for Taurus, indicates some difficulties in love relationships. Your emotions may seem a little confused today. Communication with your partner may be difficult. This is a time to share your thoughts and feelings clearly.

If youre looking to start a new relationship, be careful. Try to resolve differences in existing relationships. Today is a day of sensitivity, so its important to show more patience and empathy towards your partner.

Gemini Love Horoscope

Ganesha says that today is a very pleasant and enjoyable day for you in love, Gemini. Your cheerfulness and communication skills can breathe new life into your love relationship. Spending time with your partner on a romantic trip or in conversation will strengthen your relationship. If youre single, today is a good opportunity to meet someone new who may appreciate your intelligence and charm.

Your social life will also be very active today; youll meet new people by attending events with friends. During this time, express your feelings by showing some tact and understanding in your conversations. Openness and honesty in your relationship will bring your partner closer.

Cancer Love Horoscope

Ganesha says that todays love horoscope for Cancer will prove to be extremely interesting and enjoyable. Today will bring a new light to your love life, strengthening the bond between you and your partner. If youre single, you may have the opportunity to meet someone special who may become close to your heart.

Your sensitivity and clarity will bring a new spark to your love relationship. Small surprises or loving gestures for your beloved will be especially important. If youre in a relationship, today will be a day of partnership and understanding each others feelings. You two will have deep conversations, which will further strengthen your relationship.

Leo Love Horoscope

Ganesha says that today can be a bit challenging for your love life. Your feelings are deep, but you may feel a little hesitant and anxious about your partner. A misunderstanding over a small matter may occur, affecting your mood. If you are in a new relationship, it would be best to express your feelings clearly.

Let go of prejudices and try to understand your partners perspective. You may feel a lack of love and trust in your relationship, but this is the time to talk openly with your partner so that you can strengthen your relationship.

Virgo Love Horoscope

Ganesha says that today is a very sweet and encouraging day for your love life. The bond between you and your partner will deepen today. A sea of emotions seems to be surging, which will deepen your true feelings for each other.

You should find some special moments to spend with your loved one. Plan to enjoy a delicious meal or go on a short trip. The flow of communication will bring new light to your relationship. Today, you will have the opportunity to express your feelings freely, which will inspire your partner.

Libra Love Horoscope

Ganesha says that today will bring some challenges in your love life. This is a time when you may find it difficult to share your feelings with your partner. If you want to strengthen your relationship, exercise patience and understanding.

Not being able to express your feelings properly can make you feel insecure. This is why you need empathy in your relationship. Today, it is important for you to maintain a spirit of cooperation and support with your partner. Avoid arguments over small things and communicate lovingly.

Scorpio Love Horoscope

Ganesha says that today is a very positive and suitable day for your love life. For Scorpios, this is a time for increasing and deepening love. Your relationship with your partner will become even stronger. If you are thinking of starting a new relationship, then today is a very good day for it.

During this time, emotional communication will increase, bringing you closer to your loved one. This is a good time to express your true feelings to your loved one. If you were facing a problem, you may find a solution today, which will deepen your relationship.

Sagittarius Love Horoscope

Ganesha says that Sagittarius may face some challenges in the love sphere today. Your partner may feel a little anxious today, which could create tension in the relationship. Lack of communication and some minor disagreements may increase. This is a time when you need to exercise patience and understanding.

Show empathy towards your partner and try to understand their emotional state. If you are single, mixed feelings about a particular person may confuse you today. This is a time to focus on yourself so that you can clearly understand your desires and needs.

Capricorn Love Horoscope

Ganesha says that todays love sphere will be filled with some challenges for Capricorns. There may be some instability in your relationship. Conversations with your partner may lead to arguments, which could increase tension. This is a time when you need to manage your emotions.

Be more sensitive to your loved one and avoid blowing small things out of proportion. If youre single, you may feel attracted to someone special today, but its important to keep in mind that preconceived notions may influence your decisions. Be open-minded and dont be afraid to express your feelings.

Aquarius Love Horoscope

Ganesha says that today will bring a wonderful change to your love life, and this will be a special time for Aquarius. The understanding between you and your loved one will increase, strengthening the bond between you and the two. If youre single, youre likely to meet someone special today who may awaken your feelings.

Your feelings will be deep and genuine, strengthening your commitment to each other. Today is the best day to surprise your partner, which will further enhance your love.

Pisces Love Horoscope

Ganesha says that today will be a very pleasant day for Pisces in terms of love. This is a great time to bring new energy and excitement into your relationships. If you are already in a relationship, today can take your feelings to new depths. Communication and understanding between you two will increase, strengthening your bond.

If you are single, today you may have the opportunity to meet someone new who may touch your heart. Dont hesitate to express your feelings, as the results can be very positive.

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First Published: March 16, 2026, 07:15 IST

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Iran War Could Push Qatar, Kuwait Into Worst Economic Slump Since 1990s Gulf War: Report

Curated By :

News18.com

Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 10:09 IST

Qatar and Kuwait could see their gross domestic product (GDP) contract by as much as 14% this year, says Goldman Sachs economist Farouk Soussa.

Economists said Gulf countries may increasingly rely on debt markets to manage fiscal pressure.

The ongoing conflict involving Iran threatens to inflict significant economic damage on several Gulf economies if hostilities persist, with countries heavily dependent on energy exports facing the greatest risk.

According to a Bloomberg report citing Goldman Sachs economist Farouk Soussa, Qatar and Kuwait could see their gross domestic product (GDP) contract by as much as 14% this year if the conflict continues until April and results in a two-month disruption to traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

Such a downturn would mark the worst economic slump for the two countries since the early 1990s, when Iraqs invasion of Kuwait triggered the Gulf War and caused turmoil in global oil markets.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are expected to fare relatively better because they have the ability to reroute some oil exports through alternative routes that bypass the Strait of Hormuz. However, even these economies could face a sharp slowdown. Economists estimate Saudi Arabias GDP could decline by around 3%, while the UAEs economy could shrink by about 5%, representing their biggest economic hit since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

For many Gulf economies, the war could have a bigger near-term impact than Covid-19," Soussa, Goldman Sachs economist for the Middle East and North Africa, told Bloomberg. When the dust settles, they will rebuild and they will recover, but the scars this conflict leaves on confidence remain to be seen."

The conflict has created a challenging scenario for Gulf economies, which risk being hit simultaneously in both oil and non-oil sectors. While disruptions to energy exports threaten government revenues, sectors such as tourism, real estate and investment may also suffer due to heightened geopolitical uncertainty.

The war entered its third week with little sign of easing, as Iran continued to strike neighbouring countries in response to US and Israeli attacks on its territory. Over the weekend, the United States targeted military installations linked to Irans crude export hub on Kharg Island and warned that energy infrastructure could be attacked if Tehran continues disrupting shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

The waterway is one of the worlds most critical oil transit routes, handling roughly one-fifth of global oil exports. Supply disruptions have already pushed global crude prices higher, with Brent crude rising above $103 per barrel on March 13 amid shipping disruptions and output cuts in countries such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Global gas markets have also been affected, with Qatars liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports declining sharply due to the shipping halt. Bahrain has also begun cutting output at the worlds largest aluminium smelter, partly due to supply disruptions linked to the Hormuz situation.

According to economists, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain could suffer the most if disruptions persist, given their reliance on energy exports moving through the Strait of Hormuz.

By contrast, Saudi Arabia and the UAE may benefit partially from higher oil prices and their ability to export crude through alternative pipelines and routes, economists including Mohamed Abu Basha of EFG Hermes and Justin Alexander of Khalij Economics told Bloomberg.

Saudi Arabia may emerge as the most resilient economy if the conflict drags on, several economists said, as the kingdom has managed to intercept most incoming Iranian attacks while maintaining largely normal economic activity, with airspace and businesses continuing to operate.

However, the war could still widen the countrys fiscal deficit in the short term due to revenue volatility. Analysts at Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank and Oxford Economics expect Saudi Arabia to face a deeper fiscal shortfall in the first quarter of the year.

Despite that, some economists believe the kingdoms fiscal position could improve over the full year if oil prices remain elevated. Tim Callen, a visiting scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, told Bloomberg that Saudi Arabias budget deficit could narrow by about 1% if oil production averages around 7.5 million barrels per day and Brent crude remains near $90 per barrel.

Saudi Arabia had earlier projected a fiscal deficit of 3.3% of GDP for 2026.

Elsewhere in the region, the UAE is still expected to record a budget surplus this year, while Qatars fiscal deficit could widen if disruptions persist, according to EFG Hermes.

Economists also said Gulf countries may increasingly rely on debt markets to manage fiscal pressure. However, bond investors have so far shown limited concern about the wars potential impact on the regions finances.

Itd be a concern if the conflict simmers on for a prolonged period, which is not what is currently priced into the market," Fady Gendy, a portfolio manager at Arqaam Capital, told Bloomberg.

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First Published: March 16, 2026, 10:09 IST

News business economy Iran War Could Push Qatar, Kuwait Into Worst Economic Slump Since 1990s Gulf War: Report

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Market Rout Deepens, Billionaire Fortunes Take A Hit  Premji, Nadar, Nadar, Lodha Among Worst Hit

Curated By :

News18.com

Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 07:43 IST

In the IT space, Wipro promoter Azim Premji and HCL Technologies founder Shiv Nadar were among those witnessing significant wealth erosion.

Rapid Read

Real estate stocks have remained under pressure in 2026 amid weakness in the IT sector and broader markets.

Indias billionaires across the information technology, real estate and aviation sectors have been among the worst hit during the recent selloff in Indian equities in 2026.

Data shows that several prominent business leaders have seen sharp declines in their net worth as market volatility and global uncertainties weighed on key sectors. In the IT space, Wipro promoter Azim Premji and HCL Technologies founder Shiv Nadar were among those witnessing significant wealth erosion.

In the real estate sector, DLF promoter KP Singh, Indias richest property developer, and Macrotech Developers founder Mangal Prabhat Lodha also saw notable declines in their fortunes during the ongoing market correction.

Meanwhile, Rahul Bhatia, co-founder of IndiGo, has also seen his wealth decline amid a sharp rise in global crude oil prices triggered by escalating tensions between the USIsrael and Iran, which has raised concerns about aviation fuel costs and operational disruptions in the Middle East.

Among those affected, KP Singh recorded the steepest drop, with his net worth falling more than 23 per cent so far in 2026 to about $11 billion. He was followed by Azim Premji and RJ Corp founder Ravi Jaipuria, whose wealth declined roughly 21 per cent each during the same period.

Mangal Prabhat Lodha ranked fourth on the list of biggest wealth declines, with his net worth falling about 19 per cent, while Rahul Bhatias wealth dropped nearly 18 per cent. Shiv Nadar ranked sixth, with his wealth declining around 17 per cent.

Real estate stocks have remained under pressure this year as the broader equity market correction has weighed on investor sentiment. Analysts also point to concerns that prolonged weakness in IT stocks could eventually spill over into demand for commercial real estate and property valuations.

Technology stocks, in particular, have faced headwinds amid rising concerns about artificial intelligence-driven disruption. AI firm Anthropic recently indicated that its tools could significantly reduce the cost and complexity of modernising legacy software systemsan area that has traditionally generated substantial revenue for IT services companies. Reflecting this uncertainty, the Nifty IT index has declined about 23.5 per cent in 2026, while the Nifty Realty index has fallen roughly 19.1 per cent.

Several other prominent billionaires have also seen declines in their wealth. Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Mittals net worth fell around 17 per cent to $24.7 billion, while Shapoor Mistrys group wealth dropped about 16 per cent to $29.7 billion.

Uday Kotak, former managing director of Kotak Mahindra Bank, saw his wealth decline about 16 per cent to $13.7 billion. Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambanis wealth slipped roughly 15 per cent, while Adani Group chairman Gautam Adanis net worth declined about 10 per cent.

Among others, Eicher Motors founder Vikram Lals wealth fell around 9.4 per cent, while Polycab chairman Inder Jaisinghani saw an 8 per cent drop. Britannia Industries Nusli Wadia also saw his wealth decline about 8 per cent.

Meanwhile, Murali Divi of Divis Laboratories, Aditya Birla Group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla, and Serum Institute of India chairman Cyrus Poonawalla each recorded declines of about 6 per cent in their wealth.

Despite the broad market downturn, a few Indian billionaires managed to increase their wealth. Torrent Group promoters Samir Mehta and Sudhir Mehta saw their fortunes rise about 8.5 per cent each during the period. ArcelorMittal chairman Lakshmi Mittals wealth increased about 3.1 per cent, while Sun Pharmaceutical Industries founder Dilip Shanghvis net worth rose around 3 per cent.

The sharp wealth erosion comes amid a broader correction in Indian equities following the escalation of the USIsraelIran conflict, which has rattled global markets and pushed energy prices higher. Since the start of the year, the Sensex and Nifty have fallen around 12.5 per cent and 11.4 per cent respectively, while broader markets have also weakened. The BSE MidCap 150 index has declined about 10.22 per cent, and the BSE SmallCap 250 index has dropped nearly 12.3 per cent, reflecting widespread selling across market segments.

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First Published: March 16, 2026, 07:43 IST

News business economy Market Rout Deepens, Billionaire Fortunes Take A Hit  Premji, Nadar, Nadar, Lodha Among Worst Hit

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New ITR Deadlines, STT Hike, Revised Return Window Extended: Know Key Income Tax Changes From April 1

Curated By :

News18.com

Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 10:37 IST

India's Income-tax Act, 2025 will replace the 1961 Act from April 1, 2026, introducing a 'Tax Year', revised ITR due dates, increased STT rates, and new rules for share buybacks.

New Income-tax Act, 2025.

Income Tax Changes From April 1, 2026: Several key changes in Indias direct tax framework will come into effect from April 1, 2026, with the Income-tax Act, 2025, replacing the six-decade-old Income-tax Act, 1961. The new law introduces simplified language and the proposals announced in the Union Budget 2026 will remain the same.

Tax experts say the changes aim to simplify compliance, rationalise timelines and modify certain tax provisions affecting investors, businesses and individuals.

The Income-tax Act, 2025 introduces structural, conceptual and procedural changes across the direct tax framework," chartered accountant Suresh Surana said.

Tax Year Concept Introduced In New Tax Framework

One of the key changes under the Income-tax Act, 2025, is the introduction of the concept of a Tax Year, which will replace the earlier distinction between the previous year and the assessment year under the Income-tax Act, 1961. According to Surana, this move is intended to simplify the tax framework by aligning the period of income earning and taxation under a single terminology.

Income Tax Slabs For Individuals Remain Unchanged

Under the new Act, the existing income tax slab rates for individuals under both the old and the concessional tax regime will remain unchanged, ensuring continuity in the personal tax burden.

Due Dates For Filing ITR Changed

Another important change relates to the revision of due dates for filing income tax returns. The government has proposed extending the deadline for taxpayers engaged in business or profession whose accounts are not subject to audit, as well as partners of such firms and certain trusts.

Under the revised structure, the due date for these taxpayers will be extended from July 31 to August 31. However, individuals filing simple returns such as ITR-1 and ITR-2 will continue to have a July 31 deadline.

The revised due date framework will broadly be as follows: November 30 for assessees covered under special provisions such as Section 172 cases; October 31 for companies and taxpayers whose accounts require audit; August 31 for business or professional taxpayers not requiring audit; and July 31 for all other taxpayers.

These amendments will apply from Tax Year 2026-27 under the Income-tax Act, 2025, while similar provisions will also take effect from March 1, 2026 under the existing law for Assessment Year 2026-27.

Time Limit For Filing Revised Returns Extended

The new law will also extend the time limit for filing a revised return. Currently, taxpayers can revise their return within nine months from the end of the relevant tax year or before completion of assessment, whichever is earlier. The new framework proposes extending this limit to 12 months from the end of the tax year.

However, a fee will apply if the revised return is filed after nine months. A fee of Rs 1,000 will be payable where total income does not exceed Rs 5 lakh, while Rs 5,000 will apply where income exceeds Rs 5 lakh.

STT Rates On Futures And Options To Rise

The government has also proposed an increase in Securities Transaction Tax (STT) rates, citing rapid growth in derivatives trading and rising speculative activity in the futures and options segment.

Under the revised structure effective April 1, 2026, the STT rate on sale of options will increase from 0.10% to 0.15%, while the tax on sale of options where the contract is exercised will rise from 0.125% to 0.15%. The STT on sale of futures will increase from 0.02% to 0.05%.

TCS Rates Rationalised On Several Transactions

Another set of changes involves rationalisation of Tax Collected at Source (TCS) rates on certain transactions. According to Surana, the objective is to simplify the levy and align it with evolving economic and compliance considerations.

The TCS rate on sale of alcoholic liquor for human consumption will increase from 1% to 2%, while tendu leaves will see a reduction from 5% to 2%. The TCS rate on sale of scrap and minerals such as coal, lignite and iron ore will rise from 1% to 2%.

For remittances under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) exceeding Rs 10 lakh for education or medical treatment, the rate will be reduced from 5% to 2%. However, remittances for other purposes will continue to attract 20% TCS.

In the case of overseas tour packages, the current structure of 5% TCS up to Rs 10 lakh and 20% above that threshold will be replaced by a uniform 2% rate.

Importantly, TCS on sale of motor vehicles and other luxury goods will continue at 1%, Surana noted.

Employer-Paid Commute Expenses Not A Taxable Perquisite

The new tax law also expands the scope of exemption for home-to-office commuting benefits provided by employers. Earlier, the value of a vehicle provided by an employer for commuting between residence and workplace was not treated as a taxable perquisite.

Under the Income-tax Act, 2025, the exemption will also cover any commuting expenditure incurred or reimbursed by the employer, thereby widening the scope of the benefit.

Share Buyback Taxation To Shift To Capital Gains

Another major change relates to taxation of share buybacks. Currently, the amount received by shareholders in a buyback is treated as dividend income, while the cost of acquisition of the extinguished shares is recognised as a capital loss.

The proposed amendment will instead treat buyback consideration as capital gains income. According to Surana, the change could result in higher effective tax liability for promoters, with an effective tax incidence of about 30%, while promoter companies may face a tax rate of 22%, excluding surcharge and cess.

Interest Deduction On Dividend, MF Income Withdrawn

The new law also proposes a tightening of rules for deducting interest expenses against dividend and mutual fund income.

Under the earlier law, taxpayers could claim a deduction of interest expenditure up to 20% of such income. However, the Income-tax Act, 2025 proposes to fully disallow interest deductions incurred for earning dividend income or income from mutual funds.

Surana said the change may increase taxable income for investors deriving passive income from dividends or mutual funds, although interest expenditure incurred for earning other taxable interest income will continue to remain deductible under general provisions.

Overall, the new tax law represents one of the most significant overhauls of Indias direct tax framework in decades, with the changes set to take effect from April 1, 2026.

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First Published: March 16, 2026, 10:37 IST

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Karnataka Speaker Refuses To Continue As Ministers Remain Absent; Drama Ends After CMs Assurance

Reported By :

News18.com

Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 16:15 IST

R Ashok expressed strong dissatisfaction with the functioning of the government and said the developments in the House reflected an unprecedented situation

Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah. (PTI File)

Unprecedented scenes unfolded in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly on Monday as Speaker UT Khader refused to continue presiding over the House, expressing strong displeasure over the absence of Congress ministers and MLAs during the proceedings.

The issue was eventually resolved after CM Siddaramaiahs assurance, Khader told CNN-News18.

What happened?

An upset Khader abruptly adjourned the session without announcing when the House would reconvene. He said he would not chair the proceedings until the issue of attendance, both of ministers and legislators, is addressed.

The Speakers anger stemmed from the absence of several ministers and officials who were expected to be present to respond to written questions raised by MLAs. With ministers missing from the House, several members said their questions were left unanswered, triggering outrage from the Opposition as well.

The incident occurred while written replies to 84 of the 230 listed questions were being tabled in the House. The Opposition strongly criticised the government, alleging that ministers had been failing to provide the expected replies since the beginning of the session.

Leader of Opposition R Ashok said the attendance in the Assembly was extremely poor, claiming that barely 15 per cent of members were present in the House. He pointed out that this was the fourth time the issue had been raised, expressing frustration over what he described as the lack of seriousness shown by ministers and legislators.

Khader, clearly annoyed, reminded the House that the Assembly session is meant to address the concerns of constituencies and that ministers are expected to be present to respond to questions from MLAs.

We hold this House to discuss the problems of constituencies. The session is meant for ministers to answer questions. If questions are asked and there is no answer, how can this continue?" the Speaker said in the House.

He also pointed out that legislators are expected to meet during sessions held every few months and stressed that the proceedings must be treated with seriousness.

Khader adjourned the House, stating that he would not conduct the session until the matter of absenteeism is addressed and the government responds to the concerns raised. In a rare moment in the Assembly, the Speaker walked away from the Chair in frustration, leaving the House adjourned without specifying the time for the next sitting.

What Khader told News18

CM has assured me this will not be repeated again. Action will be taken against those secretaries who have caused delay in answering questions. The chief secretary has been asked to look into the matter and take action. Assurance has been given that ministers will be present to answer the questions.

For the past 4-5 days, I have issued warnings. I held a meeting with the chief secretary, government and Leader of Opposition and it was communicated that if a question remains unanswered a definitive timeframe for the reply and reason for delay should be mentioned," said Khader

R Ashok raises questions

Speaking to the media after the adjournment, R Ashok expressed strong dissatisfaction with the functioning of the government and said the developments in the House reflected an unprecedented situation.

What we saw in the Assembly today reflects a helplessness that has never been seen before. The Speaker himself had to abandon the Assembly," Ashok said.

He pointed out that between 200 and 250 questions are listed every day to be answered in writing during the session, but only a fraction of them actually receive responses.

Every day, only 10 per cent, 20 per cent, or at best 30 per cent of the questions are being answered," he said.

Ashok said Assembly sessions are held so that MLAs from different taluks can raise issues concerning their constituencies and seek solutions from the government.

The session is held because MLAs from their respective taluks ask questions to get solutions for the problems of their taluks. The Assembly runs because of these questions," he said.

Criticising the governments functioning, Ashok alleged that there was no direction in the administration.

Today there is no direction at all. Governance is dead. There are no answers to any questions," he said.

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First Published: March 16, 2026, 16:11 IST

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BMC Removes Red-Blue Beacon From Mumbai Mayor Ritu Tawdes Car Amid Row

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News18.com Edited By: Manisha Roy



Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 15:01 IST

A controversy erupted in Mumbai as Mayor Ritu Tawde's car was seen carrying beacon lights. Activist Anil Galgali's complaint led to their removal. CM Fadnavis defended the Mayor.

The Mumbai Mayor's vehicle was seen donning red-blue lights in a social media post.

A fresh controversy has erupted in Mumbai after the newly allotted official vehicle of Mayor Ritu Tawde was spotted carrying red and blue flashing beacon lights, which have been banned for non-emergency vehicles since 2017.

The sighting triggered accusations of violating the Centres move to end VIP culture and soon escalated into a political storm involving civic activists, opposition leaders, and the Chief Minister as well.

The issue came to light when a post on social media started doing rounds with a photo of the Mumbai Mayors vehicle seen donning red-blue lights. Adding to that, civic activist Anil Galgali sent a formal complaint to the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM), in which he pointed out that the Central governments decision strictly prohibits red or blue beacons on vehicles of public representatives, reserving them only for emergency services and urged immediate action.

Following the complaint and media reports, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) issued a public clarification stating that the lights were removed promptly.

Vehicles are allotted to office bearers after they assume office. As soon as the matter regarding flashing lights was brought to our notice, the lights on the vehicles of the Honble Office Bearers were immediately removed," the BMC said in a statement, along with a photograph of the vehicle.

The administration also said that the installation appears to have been done before handing over the vehicle, and the mayor had not used the beacon knowingly.

The controversy also turned political. BMCs Leader of Opposition Kishori Pednekar questioned whether VIP culture was making a comeback in Mumbai.

Breaking the rules with the Mayors car has created a ruckus. VIP culture, ended by Prime Minister Modi, seems to be returning. Even the Mayor of Mumbai couldnt resist the allure of VIP culture. Has the Mayor become bigger than the PM and CM?" she asked.

Amid the heated debate, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis stepped in to defend the Mayor and dismissed allegations of misuse.

I took information on this matter and learnt that the red beacon was placed on the vehicle prior to its handover. The fault is not the Mayors. The Mayor is aware of the previous decision that states no one should use red beacons. She is being wrongly targeted," said Fadnavis.

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First Published: March 16, 2026, 15:00 IST

News cities mumbai-news BMC Removes Red-Blue Beacon From Mumbai Mayor Ritu Tawdes Car Amid Row

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Chemical Used To Preserve Dead Bodies Found In Milk, Triggers Panic In Maharashtra Village

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 16:22 IST

A milk sample from Karvand village in Maharashtra's Dhule district was found contaminated with formalin, confirmed by the FDA's lab in Sambhajinagar

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While buffalo milk is required to contain a minimum fat content of 5%, the tested sample showed only 4.3% fat. (PTI)

In a disturbing case of food adulteration, a milk sample purchased by Laxmibai Wagh from Karvand village in Maharashtras Dhule district has been found contaminated with a hazardous chemical, according to laboratory findings.

The sample was collected and sent for analysis by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to a government laboratory in Sambhajinagar. The test report confirmed the presence of formalin, a highly toxic chemical known to pose serious risks to human health.

According to information reported by Divya Marathi, the analysis also revealed that the milk failed to meet the expected fat standards for buffalo milk. While buffalo milk is required to contain a minimum fat content of 5%, the tested sample showed only 4.3% fat.

More alarmingly, the laboratory confirmed that the formalin test returned positive, indicating that the chemical had been deliberately mixed in the milk.

Formalin is a chemical solution primarily used in industrial and medical applications. In hospitals and laboratories, it is commonly used to preserve dead bodies or animal organs to prevent decomposition. The substance is also employed as a disinfectant, for sterilising operation theatres, and in industries such as rubber, paint and textiles.

Experts say that in some cases milk vendors mix formalin into milk, particularly during summer months or while transporting it over long distances, to prevent spoilage. The chemical inhibits bacterial growth, allowing the milk to remain fresh for up to 2-3 days even when kept outside without refrigeration.

However, health specialists warn that such adulteration poses severe risks. Formalin is classified as a carcinogenic substance, meaning it has the potential to cause cancer in humans. Consumption of contaminated milk can lead to immediate symptoms such as stomach pain, vomiting and diarrhoea. Long-term intake of food containing formalin may result in serious conditions including kidney damage, blood cancer and severe digestive disorders, experts caution.

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Location : Dhule, India, India

First Published: March 16, 2026, 16:22 IST

News cities mumbai-news Chemical Used To Preserve Dead Bodies Found In Milk, Triggers Panic In Maharashtra Village

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Mahant Adinath Shastri Of Maharashtras Tarakeshwar Gad Stabs Himself, Stable After Surgery

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Last Updated: March 17, 2026, 08:35 IST

Mahant Adinath Maharaj Shastri holds a significant position within the Warkari sect and serves as the Mahant at the revered Tarakeshwar Gad in Beed district

Mahant Adinath Maharaj Shastri enjoys a large following in Ahilyanagar's Pathardi Taluka and Beed district. (News18 Marathi)

In a shocking incident reported from Maharashtras Beed, Mahant Adinath Maharaj Shastri of Tarakeshwar Gad allegedly stabbed himself on Sunday evening and was rushed to hospital where he underwent surgery. His condition is said to be stable now.

The incident is said to have occurred around 5:30pm when Adinath Maharaj asked his devotees to wait outside his room. According to News18 Marathi inputs, he went into his room alone and allegedly stabbed himself. He was reportedly found profusely bleeding and was rushed to a private hospital in

Ahilyanagar. The reasons behind the Mahants alleged actions are not yet known.

Dr Harshvardhan Tanwar, who operated on Adinath Maharaj, said the godman is in stable condition and asked his followers not to worry. He also cautioned them against visiting the Maharaj for eight days to prevent infection.

Adinath Shastri holds a significant position within the Warkari sect and serves as the Mahant at the revered Tarakeshwar Gad in Beed district. Tarakeshwar Gad, located in Mahinda village in Ashti Taluka, is known as a spiritual centre.

Later on Sunday, BJP youth leader Akshay Kardile and MLA Monika Rajale visited the hospital and inquired about the spiritual leaders health. Kardile also confirmed to the followers that the surgery went well.

Mahant Adinath Maharaj Shastri enjoys a large following in Ahilyanagars Pathardi Taluka and Beed district.

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Location : Maharashtra, India, India

First Published: March 16, 2026, 09:00 IST

News cities mumbai-news Mahant Adinath Shastri Of Maharashtras Tarakeshwar Gad Stabs Himself, Stable After Surgery

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Mumbai-Goa Expressway Update: Mangaonm And Indapur Bypasses To Open Before Monsoon

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 15:15 IST

Konkan travellers have endured traffic jams on the Mumbai-Goa highway during festivals, but the long-delayed project is now close to completion

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The construction of the Mumbai-Goa highway has faced multiple delays over the years due to technical and administrative hurdles.

For residents of the Konkan region, there is finally some long-awaited relief on the horizon. Work on the crucial Mumbai-Goa Highway, which has been delayed for several years, is now nearing completion. Authorities say that once the remaining sections are finished, the highway is expected to open before the upcoming monsoon season.

For many years, festivals such as Shimga and Ganeshotsav, as well as holiday travel, often meant long hours stuck in traffic, dealing with pothole-ridden roads, or travelling in overcrowded trains. However, with the final phase of the highway work now underway, these travel difficulties may soon become a thing of the past.

Long-Awaited Relief For Konkan Travellers

During peak travel periods such as holidays and the monsoon season, motorists on the Mumbai-Goa highway frequently experienced severe congestion. Long queues of vehicles were common, especially in bottleneck areas, causing travellers to spend several hours covering relatively short distances.

With the remaining construction now in its final stage, authorities believe that this major travel obstacle will soon be removed. Once the upgraded sections of the highway are opened, commuters and tourists heading towards the Konkan region are expected to experience smoother and faster journeys.

Mangaon And Indapur Bypass Projects Near Completion

One of the most important developments in the project is the near completion of the bypass roads at Mangaon and Indapur in Raigad District. Both towns have long been known as major traffic bottlenecks on the Mumbai-Goa route. Vehicles travelling through these areas often faced heavy congestion due to narrow stretches of road and increasing traffic volume.

The bypass projects are designed to divert through-traffic away from these busy town centres, significantly reducing congestion and improving overall travel efficiency on the highway.

Highway Expected To Open Before Monsoon

According to officials, the bypass projects are in their final stage and are expected to open for traffic by June 1, provided the remaining work is completed as scheduled.

The update was shared by Raigad MP Sunil Tatkare during a review meeting held at the Raigad District Collectors Office. Authorities stated that efforts are being made to complete all pending work before the start of the monsoon season so that travellers can benefit from the improved highway conditions.

Reasons Behind The Long Delay

The construction of the Mumbai-Goa highway has faced multiple delays over the years due to technical and administrative hurdles. One of the major issues affecting the project was related to electric poles belonging to the Konkan Railway.

These poles had to be relocated before construction work on certain sections could continue, which significantly slowed down progress. However, officials now say that the obstacles related to these installations have finally been cleared. Authorities stated that once the final steps are completed, construction work on the bypass sections will move forward smoothly and the remaining tasks will be finished on schedule.

Smoother Travel Expected For Konkan Residents

Once the highway upgrade and bypass projects are fully operational, travel for residents of the Konkan region is expected to become significantly easier. The new infrastructure is likely to reduce travel time, minimise traffic congestion, and provide a more comfortable journey for people travelling between Mumbai and Goa.

If everything proceeds according to plan, the long-delayed Mumbai-Goa highway improvements could finally become a reality by June 1, offering long-awaited relief to thousands of travellers who use this route regularly.

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First Published: March 16, 2026, 15:15 IST

News cities mumbai-news Mumbai-Goa Expressway Update: Mangaonm And Indapur Bypasses To Open Before Monsoon

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CBSE Board Exams 2026 Cancelled In Middle Eastern Schools: How Will Results Be Prepared?

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 15:03 IST

CBSE Board Exams 2026: Sanyam Bhardwaj, Controller of Examinations, stated that students from the affected regions will be informed separately about the result declaration process.

The CBSE Class 10 and 12 exams in India concluded on March 12. (Representative/File Photo)

The conflict between Iran and the US-Israel is impacting students as well. The CBSE board exams for 12th-grade students in Middle Eastern schools have been entirely cancelled. Initially, the board postponed exams scheduled from March 12th to 14th. Now, it has been announced that exams up to April 10th have been cancelled. This directive applies to CBSE-affiliated schools in Bahrain, Iran, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

According to the circular, the board reviewed the situation based on circulars issued on March 3, March 5, March 7, and March 9, starting March 1, 2026. The feasibility of conducting exams in these countries was assessed, and the final decision was made considering suggestions and requests from schools and local authorities.

ALSO READ | CBSE Schools In Foreign Countries: From Dubai To Singapore, How Are Board Exams Conducted?

CBSE has now declared that all Class 12 board exams from March 16th to April 10th are cancelled for students in these Middle Eastern nations. Additionally, previously postponed exams have been completely cancelled. This decision prioritises student safety, the severity of the situation, and the smooth conduct of exams.

Dr. Sanyam Bhardwaj, Controller of Examinations, stated that students from these regions will be informed separately about the result declaration process. Detailed guidelines on how results will be prepared and the basis for marks will be provided later.

Possible Ways Results Will Be Prepared

During the COVID-19 pandemic, CBSE had previously promoted students without exams using a special evaluation method. This included internal assessments, previous class marks, and practical and project marks. To ensure consistency in marks awarded by different schools, CBSE employed a moderation system, ensuring a balanced outcome for all schools. The Board might follow the same procedure again, however, there has been no confirmation on the same yet.

Another potential approach is the best-performance formula, in which CBSE calculates results using marks from subjects for which exams have already been conducted or from available assessments. The board may standardise scores using school records and moderation policies to ensure fairness across schools and countries.

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First Published: March 16, 2026, 15:03 IST

News education-career CBSE Board Exams 2026 Cancelled In Middle Eastern Schools: How Will Results Be Prepared?

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Jharkhand School Warden Suspended After Student's Death Amid Allegations Of Negligence

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 09:06 IST

District Education Officer (DEO) Charles Hembrom stated that the girl, from Kumar Pahadi village, became ill, and her family accused the school authorities of negligence.

The state health minister instructed officials to suspend the school warden and other involved teachers. (File Photo)

Authorities in Jharkhands Jamtara district suspended the warden of a government-run residential girls school on Sunday after a Class 11 student died during treatment. The students family alleged that she was not promptly taken to the hospital despite her worsening condition, officials reported.

The student, Chamoli Tudu, attended Kasturba Gandhi Balika Awasiya Vidyalaya in Narayanpur block. She passed away on Saturday while receiving treatment at a hospital.

District Education Officer (DEO) Charles Hembrom stated that the girl, from Kumar Pahadi village, became ill, and her family accused the school authorities of negligence.

The family claimed her condition declined on Saturday, but she was not immediately taken to the hospital. They alleged there was a delay in arranging her treatment, Hembrom told PTI.

The family also said that the students brother arrived at the school around 11 am on Saturday but was stopped at the main gate. When he returned nearly two hours later, the school authorities had already taken her to a hospital in Narayanpur in a private vehicle, where she died about half an hour after treatment began, the official stated.

State Health Minister Irfan Ansari, representing the Jamtara assembly constituency, visited the Narayanpur Police Station on Sunday and met with the grieving family.

He instructed officials to suspend the school warden and other involved teachers.

A committee, supervised by Sub-Divisional Officer Anant Kumar, has been set up to investigate the incident, the PTI report added.

The minister announced that a post-mortem examination would be conducted at Jamtara Sadar Hospital, and the findings would be submitted to the committee. If negligence is confirmed, strict legal action will be taken, Ansari said.

Additionally, he announced financial assistance, housing, and pension support for the family and assured that the victims brother would be considered for employment in a government department.

Meanwhile, the DEO mentioned that the warden claimed the student complained of loose motion and vomiting on Friday night. On Saturday morning, the family was informed of her condition, and she was taken to the hospital after her health deteriorated.

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First Published: March 16, 2026, 09:04 IST

News education-career Jharkhand School Warden Suspended After Student's Death Amid Allegations Of Negligence

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EC Tightens Grip On Bengal, Replaces Chief Secretary, Home Secretary Hours After Announcing Polls

Reported By :

News18.com Edited By: Pragati Ratti



Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 07:35 IST

The Election Commission appointed 1993-batch IAS officer Dushyant Nariyala as the states new Chief Secretary.

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Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar addresses a press conference. (PTI File)

In a swift move soon after the Model Code of Conduct came into effect, the Election Commission of India has carried out major administrative changes in West Bengal, signalling its intent to keep a tight grip on the states election machinery.

Within hours of the code kicking in, the Commission appointed 1993-batch IAS officer Dushyant Nariyala as the states new Chief Secretary. He replaces Nandini Chakrabarty, marking one of the first significant bureaucratic reshuffles ahead of the polls.

In another key decision, the Commission removed the states Home Secretary Jagadish Prasad Meena. The role will now be taken over by 1997-batch IAS officer Sanghamitra Ghosh. Both officials are expected to assume charge by 3 pm on Monday.

The speed of the Commissions action has drawn attention in both administrative and political circles. Sources say such immediate intervention following the enforcement of the Model Code is rarely seen in recent election cycles in the state.

And this may just be the beginning. According to sources, the Commission is preparing for a wider reshuffle within the police force in the coming days as part of efforts to ensure neutrality and tighter administrative control during the election period.

The poll body has also asked the state administration to provide detailed information on the policing structure in sensitive areas. It has specifically sought a comprehensive list of all officer-in-charges and their reporting authorities in regions that witnessed severe violence after the results of the 2021 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election were declared. Sources say once the Commission receives the list, some of these officers may either be transferred or moved to less critical roles.

The focus on these districts suggests the Commission is keen to keep a close watch on law and order and prevent a repeat of the violence that followed the last Assembly polls.

With these rapid interventions, the Election Commission appears determined to send an early message: the conduct of the upcoming elections in Bengal will be closely monitored.

We expect that, after this announcement, political violence will not be tolerated, no elector will be placed under any kind of pressure, and anti-social elements will refrain from any acts of violence. If they try to indulge in such acts, then strong action will be taken," Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar told reporters in Kolkata last weekend during a visit to review the states poll preparedness.

Polling in West Bengal will take place in two phases on April 23 and 29, the Commission announced on Sunday. Counting of votes for all four states and Puducherry will be held on May 4.

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First Published: March 16, 2026, 07:35 IST

News elections EC Tightens Grip On Bengal, Replaces Chief Secretary, Home Secretary Hours After Announcing Polls

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Rajya Sabha Polls: Nitish Kumar Victorious As NDA Sweeps Bihar; BJP & Ally Win 3 Seats In Odisha

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Last Updated: March 17, 2026, 07:06 IST

In Odisha, 3 candidates supported by the BJP  Manmohan Samal, Sujit Kumar and BJP-backed Independent Dilip Ray  won three of the four seats.

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar with Union Minister Chirag Paswan and others in Patna on March 16.

The results of the Rajya Sabha elections in Odisha and Bihar were declared on Monday, with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) registering key victories.

In Odisha, three candidates supported by the BJP  Manmohan Samal, Sujit Kumar and BJP-backed Independent Dilip Ray  won three of the four seats. The remaining seat went to Biju Janata Dal (BJD) candidate Santrupt Misra.

The election was held after a gap of 12 years as five candidates were contesting for four vacancies that will arise on April 2. The terms of members Niranjan Bishi and Munna Khan of the BJD, and Sujit Kumar and Mamata Mohanta of the BJP, are set to end on that date.

Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi called the result a memorable day" for the state. Three candidates fielded by us won in the Rajya Sabha elections today All the legislators, whether from the Congress party or the BJD, voted for all three candidates with overwhelming votes to advance Odishas development," he said.

However, polling day saw tensions in the Assembly as a scuffle broke out between BJD and BJP MLAs.

BJD chief and Leader of Opposition Naveen Patnaik accused the BJP of horse-trading" and alleged irregularities in the voting process, claiming that a legislator was issued a second ballot paper in violation of norms.

Bihar: NDA Wins All Five Seats

In Bihar, the Nitish Kumar-led NDA swept all five Rajya Sabha seats. BJP president Nitin Nabin, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Union minister Ram Nath Thakur of the JD(U), BJP leader Shivesh Kumar and Rashtriya Lok Morcha president Upendra Kushwaha were declared winners.

Khyati Singh, Secretary of the Bihar Vidhan Sabha and the Returning Officer for the Rajya Sabha polls, confirmed the results. The NDA enjoys a comfortable majority in the 243-member Assembly, holding 202 seats.

Bihar Minister Ram Kirpal Yadav hailed the outcome, saying, All five NDA candidates have won, and I congratulate everyone The way NDA has been winning so far, it will continue to win in the same manner in the future."

Senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad called the result as proof of the alliances rock-solid unity". However, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav alleged betrayal within the opposition ranks and accused the BJP of using money power and misuse of administration" during the election.

Cheating, fraud, money power, and misuse of administration are the BJPs habits. Not just in the state of Bihar. We have heard that similar things have come to light in many states where elections were held today," Yadav alleged.

One Seat Each For BJP, Congress In Haryana

The BJP and the Congress won one seat each in the elections for two Rajya Sabha seats in Haryana after voting was marred by complaints of violations of vote secrecy and allegations of cross-voting.

BJPs Sanjay Bhatia and Congresss Karamvir Singh Boudh were declared elected to the Rajya Sabha in keenly watched elections after drama unfolded over allegations of vote secrecy.

Counting of votes for two Rajya Sabha seats in Haryana was delayed following complaints by the BJP and Congress alleging breaches of voting secrecy. The counting, scheduled to start at 5 pm, was postponed as the Election Commission examined the claims.

The BJP alleged that two Congress MLAs did not fold their ballots properly, while the Congress accused senior BJP leader Anil Vij of violating vote secrecy.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge wrote to the Election Commission seeking intervention to protect the integrity of the election and requested a delegation meet before results are declared.

Voting took place earlier in the day, with the Indian National Lok Dal abstaining. Congress MLAs, moved to Himachal Pradesh ahead of polling, returned to Chandigarh to cast their votes. Independent candidate Satish Nandal, backed by BJP MLAs, and party candidates Sanjay Bhatia (BJP) and Karamvir Singh Boudh (Congress) are in the fray. Results will be announced once the Commission grants permission.

(With inputs from agencies)

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First Published: March 16, 2026, 21:43 IST

News elections Rajya Sabha Polls: Nitish Kumar Victorious As NDA Sweeps Bihar; BJP & Ally Win 3 Seats In Odisha

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Suvendu Adhikari May Battle CM Mamata In Bhabanipur: Is He BJP's CM Face For Bengal Polls?

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News18.com Edited By: Oindrila Mukherjee



Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 19:06 IST

While the BJP never reveals a "CM face" before an election, its first candidate list has set the stage for a high-stakes poll contest in West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee's home turf

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In the 2021 assembly polls, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee (R) chose to contest from Nandigram against BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari (L) and lost. (Image: PTI/File)

It looks like Suvendu Adhikari will be up against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee once again, but this time in South Kolkatas affluent Bhabanipur assembly constituency.

This high-stakes electoral battle is not yet confirmed as the Trinamool Congress has not released its candidate list for the upcoming assembly elections. But, the BJP has sounded its poll bugle by declaring its first list that features Suvendu Adhikari from Bhabanipur.

And, who is the sitting MLA from this assembly seat? None other than Mamata Banerjee, who remains the central figure in the TMC.

With its first list, the BJP has made it clear that it will directly challenge the TMC in Bhabanipur. Hence, its decision to field Adhikari from the constituency.

According to sources, the BJPs strategy is to keep Banerjee politically engaged in Bhabanipur, which is a cosmopolitan constituency and, in several wards, the saffron party has a strong presence having secured leads in past elections.

But, can this also mean that Adhikari is the BJPs chief ministerial candidate in West Bengal? While the party always keeps the CM face" card close to its chest until the very end, in a state as politically vital, its first candidate list has set the stage for a high-voltage contest in Banerjees stronghold.

In a striking decision, however, the BJP has also nominated Adhikari from another important assembly seat  Nandigram, which is the bedrock of the TMCs emergence in Bengal. Now, if Banerjee contests the election from Bhabanipur, this will set up a direct contest between the two leaders  a possibility already being widely discussed in political circles.

In the 2021 assembly polls, Banerjee chose to contest from Nandigram against Adhikari and lost. This time, the BJP has fielded him in her traditional stronghold, potentially shifting the political battleground to her home turf.

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WHY DID THE BJP CHOOSE SUVENDU ADHIKARI FOR BHABANIPUR?

Adhikari is one of the BJPs most prominent leaders in Bengal and frequently highlights his 2021 victory over Banerjee in Nandigram.

According to party sources, by fielding him in Bhabanipur, the BJP intends to send a clear political message that it is prepared for a direct contest with the chief minister. The move signals that it wants to challenge her in a constituency closely associated with her political career.

WHAT IS BHABANIPURS STRATEGIC SIGNIFICANCE?

Bhabanipur is considered a cosmopolitan constituency in Kolkata. In several wards, the BJP has previously secured leads in certain parliamentary segments.

Party strategists believe those pockets could provide a base to build on in the assembly election.

Banerjee is the TMCs foremost campaigner and BJP leaders believe that if she is required to spend significant time defending Bhabanipur, it could limit her ability to extensively campaign across the state.

WHY DID BJP RELEASE ITS FIRST LIST SO EARLY?

The BJP decided to release its first list, only a day after the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the two-phase polling schedule in Bengal on April 23 and 29.

Its decision to release a candidate list before the TMC is also being viewed as an attempt to project preparedness.

Along with Bhabanipur, Adhikari will again contest the election from Nandigram, which gave him his 2021 victory over Banerjee.

If Banerjee eventually contests from Bhabanipur, the potential faceoff could become one of the most closely watched in the state.

ALSO READ | Rajya Sabha Elections 2026: Just Three Cross-Votes Could Give NDA A Clean Sweep In Bihar

WHO ARE THE OTHER KEY CANDIDATES IN THE FIRST LIST?

The BJP has nominated Soumitra Chattopadhyay from Naihati. He belongs to the family of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, who wrote the national song Vande Mataram.

Among the candidates announced so far:

41 are sitting MLAs

Three are former MLAs  Samarendra Nath Ghosh (Karimpur), Saikat Panja (Monteswar), and Jitendra Tiwari (Pandabeswar)

The list also includes two former MPs: Swapan Dasgupta from Rashbehari and Dilip Ghosh from Kharagpur Sadar

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First Published: March 16, 2026, 18:56 IST

News elections Suvendu Adhikari May Battle CM Mamata In Bhabanipur: Is He BJP's CM Face For Bengal Polls?

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Two-Phase Strategy For West Bengal: Election Commission Goes Tough To Curb Poll-Related Violence

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News18.com Edited By: Shobhit Gupta



Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 06:20 IST

The Election Commission of India will hold the West Bengal Legislative Assembly Elections 2026 in two phases on April 23 and 29, with counting on May 4.

ECI Announces polling dates for West Bengal Assembly Elections (AFP)

West Bengal Polls: The decision by the Election Commission of India (ECI) to conduct the West Bengal Legislative Assembly Elections 2026 in just two phases has sparked debate among political observers and election experts, particularly given the states history of poll-related violence.

West Bengal will go to polls in two phases on April 23 and 29. The counting of votes will be on May 4.

Law and order concerns have often overshadowed elections in the state, whether during municipal, panchayat or Assembly polls. Against this backdrop, some observers have questioned whether holding the election in fewer phases could create logistical and security challenges.

Sources told CNN-News18 that the Election Commission conducted a detailed internal review before finalising the schedule. According to officials in the administration, while it is true that a larger number of phases sometimes allows organised groups, described by authorities as troublemakers," to move from one constituency to another, a two-phase election also raises questions about whether there will be adequate police personnel to guard polling booths and provide sufficient mobile patrols.

Officials said the decision was influenced by the need to prevent the movement of troublemakers. According to sources, the Commission believes reducing the number of phases could disrupt such networks.

Election-related violence has been a recurring issue in West Bengal. During the 2023 panchayat elections on July 8, at least 11 people were killed in incidents involving gunfire, assault, rioting and arson across several districts. Observers say that almost every major election in the state has witnessed some level of violence.

Meanwhile, the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer in West Bengal has asked the Additional Director General of Police (Legal) and the State Police Nodal Officer to submit a detailed report identifying officers responsible for areas where poll-related violence occurred.

The report must cover pre-poll and poll-day violence during the 2021 Assembly elections and pre-poll, poll-day and post-poll violence during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Authorities have been asked to identify police stationlevel officers under whose jurisdiction these incidents took place. The report is to be submitted by March 16, 2026.

Copies of the communication have also been sent to the Election Commission and the Special Observer for the state. The Commission had earlier sought details of police officials responsible for jurisdictions where post-poll violence was reported.

Additionally, the poll body carried out major administrative changes in West Bengal, signalling its intent to keep a tight grip on the states election machinery.

Within hours of the code kicking in, the Commission appointed 1993-batch IAS officer Dushyant Nariyala as the states new Chief Secretary. He replaces Nandini Chakrabarty, marking one of the first significant bureaucratic reshuffles ahead of the polls.

In another key decision, the Commission removed the states Home Secretary Jagadish Prasad Meena. The role will now be taken over by 1997-batch IAS officer Sanghamitra Ghosh. Both officials are expected to assume charge by 3 pm on Monday.

Political parties, however, have expressed confidence about the upcoming polls. Shamik Bhattacharya of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said it is the poll bodys responsibility to ensure peaceful elections. We are satisfied with the two-phase polling and are confident of winning," he said.

From the ruling All India Trinamool Congress, leader Jayprakash Majumdar said his party had no doubts that the election would be peaceful and expressed confidence about the outcome.

Administrative sources also noted that the political landscape in the state has evolved, with both the ruling party and the opposition maintaining strong organisational networks at the grassroots level. This, officials say, increases the possibility of confrontation if tensions escalate.

The issue resurfaced recently during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Kolkata, when clashes were reported and political allegations were exchanged between rival parties.

With both sides claiming strong cadre presence on the ground, observers say the focus will now be on how effectively the Election Commission manages security arrangements to ensure peaceful polling across West Bengal.

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First Published: March 16, 2026, 06:20 IST

News elections Two-Phase Strategy For West Bengal: Election Commission Goes Tough To Curb Poll-Related Violence

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After Trump's 'Summit Warning', Will Iran War Become Next Flashpoint In US-China Rivalry?

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 15:27 IST

The war has pushed the United States to pressure China to take a more active role in stabilising the region

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US President Donald Trump with Chinese President Xi Jinping. (AFP photo)

The Iran war has added a new layer of tension to the already strained relations between the United States and China. Beijing has, so far, tried to walk a careful diplomatic linecondemning the war and calling for de-escalation while avoiding direct alignment with Washingtons military approach. The result? A complicated geopolitical moment that has affected everything from global oil markets to the prospects of a US-China summit.

In an interview with the Financial Times on Sunday, Trump said Chinas reliance on oil from the Middle East means it ought to help with a new naval coalition he is trying to put together to get oil tanker traffic moving through the strait after Irans threats have throttled global flows of oil. Trump said wed like to know" before the trip whether Beijing will help. We may delay," Trump said in the interview.

The stand has once again brought to the fore the blow hot, blow cold relationship between the two countries as they try to navigate the choppy waters of the West Asia war.

Chinas Call For Diplomacy

China has issued a public statement condemning the breakout of the war, calling for a diplomatic resolution to the conflict. According to The Guardian, Chinas foreign minister stated, This conflict should never have happened, and it is now time for diplomacy, not military action, to resolve it." The statement indicates that China, as an external actor, is against the escalation of the war and is calling for negotiations.

This is just another instance of Chinas foreign policy in the Middle East, where it portrays itself as a force for stability, preferring mediation over military alliances. However, it is also stated that China is hesitant to take an overt stand in support of Iran, given their economic ties, due to its need to maintain relations with Gulf states and its image as a neutral broker.

China, however, has not taken a stand supporting the military alliances led by the United States, instead calling for restraint and an end to the conflict immediately, as stated by The Guardian.

The Oil Factor

Energy security remains at the core of Chinas strategic thinking. Its one of the worlds biggest importers of Middle Eastern oil. An attack on the Strait of Hormuz, which carries 20 per cent of the worlds oil supply, poses a direct threat to its economic security.

The Iranian moves in the conflict have added another dimension to the complexities. They have de facto closed the Strait of Hormuz to many ships. There have also been some reports that Chinese ships have been allowed to cross, a reflection of the close ties between Beijing and Tehran in the area of energy supplies.

China has built up significant reserves of oil, CNBC reported, providing it with a short-term buffer against supply disruptions caused by the war and higher prices.

Washington Exerts Pressure

The war has pushed the United States to pressure China to take a more active role in stabilising the region.

Trump has urged countries dependent on Middle Eastern oil, including China, to join a coalition aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz and protecting shipping routes.

For Washington, the logic is straightforward: China benefits heavily from the oil that flows through the strait, so it should share the burden of securing it. But Beijing has so far avoided committing to the US-led initiative.

A Complicated Summit

The disagreement over the war in Iran has also cast a shadow over plans to hold a high-level meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

According to NBC News, diplomats had hoped that the meeting will focus on trade tensions and economic cooperation, but the Middle East war has become a major new source of friction.

The war in Iran can also be seen as a reflection of a deeper strategic divide. For the US, it is about creating military alliances and pressuring its allies to ensure safe shipping routes. China, on the other hand, has urged diplomacy while protecting its economic interests and avoiding military intervention.

A Test Of Global Influence

The Iran conflict is also becoming another front in the broader competition between Washington and Beijing.

According to the Associated Press, for the United States, its about maintaining security leadership in the Middle East and protecting the flow of global energy supplies. For China, its about protecting its own energy supplies while also presenting itself as a good international citizen that doesnt take sides in conflicts.

How Beijing responds to the conflictwhether it sticks to its diplomatic efforts or plays a larger role in securing the flow of oilmay have implications not only for the outcome of the war but also for US-China relations.

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Location : United States of America (USA)

First Published: March 16, 2026, 15:27 IST

News explainers After Trump's 'Summit Warning', Will Iran War Become Next Flashpoint In US-China Rivalry?

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Bihar Rajya Sabha Elections: How 4 Missing MLAs Kept Opposition Away From Magic Figure Of 41

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 20:11 IST

Bihar Rajya Sabha Elections: Who were the 4 opposition MLAs who didn't turn up to vote? Who were NDA's candidates?

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Nitish Kumar (left) and Nitin Nabin were in the fray. (PTI File)

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on Monday managed an easy victory in the biennial polls to five Rajya Sabha seats in Bihar, with its candidates including Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and BJP national president Nitin Nabin.

Although counting of votes was expected to conclude later in the evening, sources in the NDA claimed that all 202 MLAs" belonging to the alliance had taken part in the polling in Bihar. These included Kumars JD(U), Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) led by Union minister Chirag Paswan, Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) headed by Jitan Ram Manjhi and the Rashtriya Lok Morcha of Upendra Kushwaha, who is one of the five candidates.

The Mahagathbandhan or Grand Alliance of the Opposition, meanwhile, failed to reach the magic figure of 41 first-preference votes due to the absence of four opposition MLAs.

The number game

The opposition (RJD, Congress, Left) had a total combined strength of 35 legislators initially but was looking to secure six additional votes from other parties to reach the 41-vote threshold for their candidate, Amarendra Dhari Singh.

Rajya Sabha Election Results 2026 LIVE Updates HERE

According to the formula for Rajya Sabha polls in Bihar, each candidate would have needed at least 41 votes to win, had all 243 MLAs turned up to take part in polling. The BJP has 89 MLAs in the 243-strong Bihar Assembly. The Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal United (JDU) has 85 members, while other National Democratic Alliance (NDA) members, including Chirag Paswans Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), Jitan Ram Manjhi-led Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular), and Upendra Kushwahas Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM), have 19, 5, and 4 MLAs, respectively.

Who were NDAs candidates?

BJP: Nitin Nabin, Shivesh Kumar Ram

JD(U): Nitish Kumar, Ramnath Thakur

RLM (NDA ally): Upendra Kushwaha

Why Mahagathbandhan failed

Three Congress MLAs and one RJD MLA failed to turn up for voting, reducing the alliances voting strength directly, making it impossible for AD Singh to reach 41.

While AIMIMs five MLAs and the lone BSP legislator reportedly voted for the RJD candidate, the absence of the four alliance MLAs wiped out this advantage.

The alliance, already facing a challenging number, could not ensure full attendance, leading to an effective strength lower than required, despite claims of unity by leaders.

The 4 MLAs who were absent

1. Surendra Prasad Kushwaha (Congress)

Constituency: Valmikinagar (West Champaran)

He is a first-time MLA, having won the seat in the November 2025 Bihar Assembly elections in a close contest against the JD(U) incumbent, Dhirendra Pratap Singh.

During the Rajya Sabha polling, his mobile phone was reported switched off, and he remained out of contact with party leadership throughout the day.

2. Manoj Biswas (Congress)

Constituency: Forbesganj (Araria)

He was elected as the MLA for Forbesganj in the 2025 assembly elections, defeating the BJPs Vidya Sagar Keshri by a narrow margin of 221 votes.

Like Kushwaha, Biswas was incommunicado during the Rajya Sabha voting, contributing to the missing" status of the Congress trio.

3. Manohar Prasad Singh (Congress)

Constituency: Manihari (Katihar)

A veteran politician and former police officer, Singh is a multiple-term MLA. He was originally with the JD(U) before joining the Congress in 2015. He represents the ST-reserved Manihari seat and is a well-known figure from the Kharwar community.

Although he was reportedly in contact earlier on the morning of the election and had assured leaders he would arrive, he eventually failed to show up for the vote.

4. Faisal Rahman (RJD)

Constituency: Dhaka (East Champaran)

Rahman is an RJD legislator who has previously served in the Bihar Assembly. He was the only RJD legislator among the four absentees. He later clarified that his absence was due to a personal emergency involving his mothers medical treatment in Delhi.

With PTI, agency inputs

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First Published: March 16, 2026, 19:29 IST

News explainers Bihar Rajya Sabha Elections: How 4 Missing MLAs Kept Opposition Away From Magic Figure Of 41

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Can Donald Trump's Naval Coalition Keep Strait Of Hormuz Open? His Allies Aren't Sure

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News18.com

Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 10:45 IST

The wary allies fear that if coalition warships engage Iranian forces directly, the conflict could quickly escalate into a broader regional war

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For Trump, the argument is simple: many of these economies depend heavily on oil shipped through the Gulf, so they should contribute militarily to keeping the route open. (AFP)

Donald Trump wants help. As tensions escalate in the Gulf during the US-Israel-Iran war, the American President has called for an international naval coalition to escort commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the worlds most important energy chokepoints.

Trump argues that countries dependent on Gulf oil should help secure the route rather than leaving the burden solely on the United States. However, analysts say building such a coalitionand making it effectivecould be far more complicated than it sounds.

What Is Trumps Proposal?

According to The Guardian, Trump has urged several countries to deploy warships to escort commercial vessels moving through the strait. The countries he is looking to include the United Kingdom, France, China, Japan, South Korea, and other major energy-importing nations.

ALSO READ | Trump Signals Delaying Beijing Summit With Xi If China Fails To Help Reopen Strait Of Hormuz

For Trump, the argument is simple: many of these economies depend heavily on oil shipped through the Gulf, so they should contribute militarily to keeping the route open. As per The Times of India, the plan would involve naval vessels escorting tankers and commercial ships through the narrow strait to deter attacks or interference.

Is There A Precedent?

Yes, similar multinational naval missions have been attempted before.

One example is the International Maritime Security Construct launched in 2019 to patrol Gulf shipping lanes and deter attacks on commercial vessels. Such missions typically involve naval patrols, intelligence sharing, escorting vulnerable ships, and surveillance of potential threats.

However, these operations require strong coordination between participating navies and political agreement among governments.

Why Are Countries Hesitant?

Despite Trumps call, the response from allies has been cautious.

Several governments have signalled reluctance or are still reviewing options. Some European countries are considering defensive missions, while others remain sceptical about sending warships into an active conflict zone.

For instance, Japan has said it is still evaluating the situation and has not committed to deploying vessels. Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, while addressing the Parliament, said Tokyo is not considering" sending naval forces.

ALSO READ | Trump Thought Iran War Would Be Cakewalk. Five Reasons Why He Was Wrong

Australia too has ruled out sending naval forces to the region for now. Cabinet minister Catherine King told Australian Broadcasting Corporation that while the Strait remains strategically vital for global trade and energy supplies, Canberra has neither received a request to deploy a warship nor is it considering such a move at this stage.

In United Kingdom, the government said Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke with Trump on Sunday about the need to reopen the shipping lane. However, the US President, speaking aboard Air Force Once, said Starmer had initially declined to send British aircraft carriers into harms way".

South Korea, meanwhile, said it was reviewing the request, adding that the country takes note" of Trumps call and will closely coordinate and carefully review" the situation with the United States.

Many countries fear that deploying warships could drag them directly into a broader conflict with Iran. But the cautious stand has not gone down well with Trump, who warned that the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) could face a very bad" future if its member states fail to support Washingtons efforts.

The Military Challenges

Even if a coalition is formed, securing the Strait of Hormuz would be extremely difficult.

To begin with, geography is a problem. The strait is only about 33 kilometres wide at its narrowest point, making ships vulnerable to missiles, drones, naval mines as well as small fast attack boats.

What allies also understandand America failed to gaugeis Irans capability to strike back. Iran has long prepared for asymmetric naval warfare in the Gulf, including anti-ship missiles, swarm tactics using small boats, sea mines, and drones. This means escorting tankers would require constant surveillance and large naval deployments.

If coalition warships engage Iranian forces directly, the conflict could quickly escalate into a broader regional war.

Many analysts believe Trumps proposal is partly strategic signalling rather than an immediate operational plan. Speaking to The Hindustan Times, the analysts said the US President was trying to pressure allies to share security burdens, deter Iran by showing international resolve, and reassure global energy markets.

But critics warn that a coalition without broad international support could struggle to maintain credibility or effectiveness.

Another concern is that if key players like China or European countries decline to participate, the mission could become largely US-ledundermining the idea of a truly multinational effort.

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Location : United States of America (USA)

First Published: March 16, 2026, 09:46 IST

News explainers Can Donald Trump's Naval Coalition Keep Strait Of Hormuz Open? His Allies Aren't Sure

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Trump Has Won Iran War, Then Why Does He Need Foreign Ships To End It? 3 Reasons Explained

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 17:52 IST

US-Israel-Iran war: Trump has demanded that seven countries send warships to the Strait of Hormuz to help secure the waterway. Why? How have they responded? News18 explains

Rapid Read

US President Donald Trump. (AFP)

A week ago, US President Donald Trump told Britain not to bother sending ships to the Middle East because he had already won the Iran war".

Now, hes calling on Americas special relationship" ally; fellow NATO states; and even China to dispatch vessels to open the Strait of Hormuz, implying that if help doesnt arrive, Europes US defence umbrella and his planned summit this month with Chinese leader Xi Jinping could be at risk.

Why the war is far from over

Trumps remarks, in an interview with the Financial Times, showed that despite his multiple Iran victory laps, the war is far from over. This may explain new attempts by administration officials to convince the public and global markets that the conflict could end soon, according to a CNN analysis.

US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz declined to say on CNNs State of the Union on Sunday when American forces would come home. I think that this conflict will certainly come to the end in the next few weeks, could be sooner than that," Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on ABC News This Week.

Israel, meanwhile, told CNN that fearsome bombing raids against Iranian military and intelligence targets could last at least three more weeks.

Why wars are not defined by their first few weeks

Experts say it is possible that US-Israel raids have caused considerable damage to Irans military machine and ability to threaten the outside world. If confirmed, such a scenario would offer Trump a credible argument to have made the world safer.

The war is only two weeks old. Modern history shows that a war is often not defined in the first few weeks, when Americas massive military edge is at its most decisive. So the White House is facing multiple reasons for scepticism that it can extricate the US soon, experts told CNN.

Trumps conflicting statements add to confusion

Trump has barely prepared the country for the war, and he keeps adding to the confusion with conflicting statements. He vehemently insists that the war is already won. But he says it will end only when he feels it in his bones". If victory is already achieved, its fair to ask why American troops are still in harms way after13 US deaths on active service so far.

US-Israel-Iran War News Live Updates HERE

The administration is also operating under a dark historical cloud. This war is not yet directly comparable to the forever wars" in Iraq and Afghanistan. But in both those cases, early US triumphs were undermined by the political impact of the initial assault and poor understanding of foreign nations. There are enough signs in Iran to validate public concerns about a possible quagmire, said CNN.

At the same time, Trump has dilemmas that would undercut a characteristic declaration of victory if they remain unsolved but that could take more than weeks" to mitigate.

Why Trump needs foreign ships: 3 reasons explained

Reason 1: Iran has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz  causing a global energy crisis and steep oil price hikes that threaten to weaken him at home. Wiping out Iranian missile batteries, seaborne drones and mining operations could be a prolonged affair. And it might need the deployment of ground troops in a risky widening of US operations.

Trump is now demanding foreign navies help open the narrow strategic passage. Theres been a noncommittal response to his request so far. Trump told the Financial Times that Europe and China were more dependent on oil from the Gulf than the US  although American consumers have been hit by a general spike in oil prices. His remarks are likely to be seen abroad as a demand for help in fixing a mess he created by waging war on Iran. But the president took aim at the weak spot of European allies that rely on the US for their defence. If theres no response or if its a negative response, I think it will be very bad for the future of NATO," he said.

Reason 2: The Islamic Republic still has stocks of highly enriched uranium it could use to defy Trumps vow it will never have a nuclear weapon  despite the presidents claim to have obliterated" its nuclear program last year. The US has special forces units trained to extract radioactive material. But such a mission at Irans nuclear plants could require hundreds of troops and might provoke dangerous land battles with Iranian forces deep into hostile territory.

Reason 3: Another way to shatter Iranian government leverage would be for US forces to seize Kharg Island, the epicenter of Tehrans oil exports that bankroll the regime. The island was targeted in weekend US air raids. The removal of the countrys primary economic engine might alter calculations within the regime. Waltz told CNNs Jake Tapper that I would certainly think (Trump) would maintain that optionality if he wants to take down their energy infrastructure." But an amphibious assault on Kharg Island would also risk significant US casualties. It could cause environmental damage and a market meltdown if Iran chose to sabotage its own oil facilities rather than lose them to American control.

Trump demands foreign help: How have the countries responded?

Trump demanded" that approximately seven countries  specifically those heavily reliant on Middle Eastern oil  send warships to the Strait of Hormuz to help secure the waterway.

Heres the countries response:

Japan: Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi stated Japan has no plan to dispatch naval vessels, citing the countrys war-renouncing constitution.

Australia: Officially declined, stating they had not been formally asked and will not contribute ships.

United Kingdom: Prime Minister Keir Starmer discussed the need to reopen the strait but has made no firm commitment to send ships.

France: President Emmanuel Macron said France is preparing a defensive" mission but only after the hottest phase" of the conflict ends.

Canada: Explicitly and officially declined to oblige the request.

Germany: Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul signalled Germany would stay out of the conflict, stating clearly, no" to active participation.

China: Has not formally committed. A spokesperson called for a cessation of hostilities and stressed that all parties have a responsibility to ensure stable energy supplies. Trump has threatened to delay his scheduled visit to Beijing later this month if China does not offer support.

South Korea: Stated it will closely coordinate and carefully review" the situation but has not yet committed forces.

Beyond military demands, the Trump administration has introduced aggressive economic measures affecting foreign shipping. A proposal to levy fees of $1 million to $1.5 million per vessel on Chinese-built ships entering U.S. ports to spur domestic shipbuilding. Following a Supreme Court ruling striking down earlier measures, Trump imposed a 10% (potentially rising to 15%) universal tariff on all imports, citing a balance-of-payments emergency.

Americans may not trust the administrations timeline

Political factors inside Iran also make it hard to pin down a timeline for ending the war.

The pace of Iranian drone attacks on Gulf states allied with the US has slowed  proof perhaps that US and Israeli raids are degrading Tehrans offensive capabilities. But projectiles still rained down on Baghdad airport and Israel on Sunday.

Theres also no sign of a diplomatic off-ramp. Theres no deal" in sight, and Trumps demands for an unconditional surrender have fallen on deaf ears. The anointing of new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei signalled the regime intends to renew its decades of resistance to Washington.

Theres also no public sign of the regimes grip loosening. Trump opened the war by telling Iranians he was giving them a once-in-a-lifetime chance to throw off repression. But no uprising has yet occurred in a nation where thousands of protesters were recently gunned down by the authorities.

The overthrow of the government would represent a huge win for the Iranian people and would provide Trump with a genuine legacy achievement. Many Iran analysts, however, worry that a collapse of central authority could lead to sectarian or civil strife and an implosion of the Iranian state. Such an outcome might bog down US forces in the region for years to come  or leave allies facing massive security problems. The war between the US, Israeli and the Iranian governments might ostensibly end. But the international crisis it precipitated might get a lot worse, said the report.

With CNN, agency inputs

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First Published: March 16, 2026, 14:01 IST

News explainers Trump Has Won Iran War, Then Why Does He Need Foreign Ships To End It? 3 Reasons Explained

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Fujairah Operations Suspended After Drone Attack: Why UAE Port Matters To Global Oil Market

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 13:14 IST

Fujairah exported more than 1.7 million barrels per day of crude oil and refined fuels on an average last year

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The Fujairah port is located on the Gulf of Oman. (AP File)

Some oil-loading operations have been suspended in the United Arab Emirates Fujairah port, a major global hub for refuelling ships as well as crude and fuel exports, after a drone attack and fire on Saturday.

Why does Fujairah matter globally? Why does it matter to the UAE? Why does it matter to crude and fuel markets?

Why does Fujairah matter globally?

Fujairah exported more than 1.7 million barrels per day of crude oil and refined fuels on average last year, according to Kpler data, a volume equal to about 1.7% of daily world demand, according to a Reuters report.

The port is located on the Gulf of Oman, approximately 70 nautical miles from the Strait of Hormuz, which is effectively closed due to the Iran war, increasing the importance of Fujairahs flows to the global market during the current conflict.

It sold 7.4 million cubic metres (about 7.33 million metric tons) of marine fuels in 2025, making it the fourth largest in the world after Singapore, Rotterdam and Chinas Zhoushan.

Why does it matter to the UAE?

The United Arab Emirates Fujairah port,, which before the war began produced more than 3.4 million bpd of crude, operates a 1.5 million bpd pipeline that can transport some crude to bypass the Strait of Hormuz, states a Reuters report.

US-Israel-Iran War News Live Updates HERE

The Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline (ADCOP), also known as the Habshan-Fujairah Pipeline, transports oil from Abu Dhabis fields to Fujairah. The port loads the UAE crude grade Murban, sold mostly to buyers in Asia.

With Hormuz largely shut to exports, significant disruptions at Fujairah would force OPECs third largest crude producer to shut down more production.

Why does it matter to crude and fuel markets?

The port has a storage capacity of 18 million cubic metres, making it one of the worlds top hubs for storing crude and fuels as well as blending operations.

Blending in the oil industry is the process of mixing different petroleum components to create finished products such as gasoline and bunker fuels that meet specific standards.

Major global storage companies operate at the port, including VTTI, Vitol, ADNOC, Vopak, and others.

The Fujairah Oil Industry Zone hosts the Middle Easts largest commercial storage capacity for refined products.

With Reuters inputs

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First Published: March 16, 2026, 12:28 IST

News explainers Fujairah Operations Suspended After Drone Attack: Why UAE Port Matters To Global Oil Market

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Vladimir Putin Is The Biggest Winner Of The Iran War. Five Reasons Why

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 13:39 IST

The most immediate benefit for Russia comes from the surge in global oil prices triggered by the conflict

Rapid Read

The crisis has handed Moscow a series of economic, military and geopolitical advantages, even as Russia remains locked in its war against Ukraine. (AFP)

From Donald Trumps flip-flops to Irans defiance, the US-Israel-Iran war has been dominated by the resilienceor lack of itof all those involved. However, if there is one leader far away from the battlefield who may be benefiting the most, it is Vladimir Putin.

According to analysts, while the West Asia war has triggered fears of a wider regional conflict and disrupted global energy markets, the crisis has handed Moscow a series of economic, military and geopolitical advantages, even as Russia remains locked in its war against Ukraine.

Here are five reasons why:

1. Soaring Oil Prices Mean More Money for Russia: The most immediate benefit for Russia comes from the surge in global oil prices triggered by the conflict. The war has disrupted energy markets and raised fears about supplies moving through the Strait of Hormuz, a passage through which roughly a fifth of the worlds oil normally flows. Given the escalating tensions and increased shipping risks, oil prices jumped above $100 per barrel, giving Russia a significant financial boost. As per Kyiv Post, this spike could generate billions of dollars in additional revenue for Moscow. The Economist noted that higher prices directly strengthen Russias state finances because oil and gas exports remain the backbone of its economy. Analysts say the extra income could help Moscow sustain its war effort in Ukraine and cushion the impact of Western sanctions. As per The Telegraph, some estimates suggest Russia could earn tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars more per day while prices remain elevated.

2. Sanctions Pressure on Russia Has Eased: Another unexpected advantage for Moscow comes from policy shifts in the global energy market. According to The Washington Post, to stabilise oil prices after the Iran conflict disrupted supplies, the United States temporarily allowed certain shipments of Russian oil to reach global markets. Critics argue that such steps effectively ease pressure on Russia, which has faced extensive sanctions since its invasion of Ukraine in 2022. For Moscow, the timing is significant. Russias economy had been under strain due to war spending and sanctions. The rise in oil prices and partial relaxation of restrictions together provide what some analysts describe as a lifeline" for the Kremlins finances.

3. Worlds Attention Has Shifted Away From Ukraine: The Iran conflict has also shifted global diplomatic attention away from Russias war in Ukraine. For more than two years, Ukraine dominated Western foreign policy debates and military aid discussions. But the new crisis in the Middle East has redirected political attention, media coverage and diplomatic energy. Analysts say this shift benefits Russia because it reduces international pressure on Moscow while potentially slowing Western support for Kyiv. Even Ukrainian officials have warned that the Middle East conflict could weaken global momentum behind Ukraines war effort.

4. US Weapons And Resources Are Being Diverted: The Iran war is also absorbing large amounts of American military resources. Air defence systems, missiles and other weapons are being used heavily in the Middle East, which analysts say could affect the availability of equipment for Ukraine. According to estimates, the United States has already used significant numbers of advanced interceptor missiles and other systems during the conflict. If Western stockpiles are stretched, Russia could face a weaker Ukrainian defence in the long run.

5. Putin Gains Diplomatic Leverage: Beyond economics and military factors, the crisis is also reshaping the diplomatic landscape. According to Le Monde, Russia has positioned itself as a key global actor capable of talking to multiple sides in the Middle East while criticising Western intervention. Some analysts say the conflict has also exposed divisions among Western countries over sanctions and strategy toward Iran and Russia. Such divisions can strengthen Moscows geopolitical position by weakening the unified Western front that emerged after the Ukraine invasion.

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Location : Moscow, Russia

First Published: March 16, 2026, 13:39 IST

News explainers Vladimir Putin Is The Biggest Winner Of The Iran War. Five Reasons Why

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US Has A Plan To Seize Irans Nuclear Material: Decoding The Largest Special Forces Op In History

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 13:24 IST

US seizure of Irans nuclear stockpile not so easy: Experts say such a mission could require a complex combination of elite combat units, specialised engineers & nuclear scientists

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An Iranian security official in protective clothing walks through part of the Uranium Conversion Facility just outside the Iranian city of Isfahan. (AP File)

On February 28, as US President Donald Trump began the joint strikes on Iran with Israel, he cited nuclear risks as one of the primary reasons. He has repeatedly vowed that the regime can never have a nuclear weapon".

The Trump administration and Israeli officials are now reportedly mulling a high-stakes military operation to seize or neutralise Irans stockpile of highly enriched uranium (HEU). Experts say such a mission could potentially be the largest special forces operation in history", requiring a complex combination of elite combat units, specialised engineers, and nuclear scientists.

Irans nuclear capabilities

While it is considered a nuclear threshold state" with the technical capacity and enriched uranium to produce them, international watchdogs and intelligence agencies maintain there is no confirmed evidence of a current, active weaponisation program in Iran.

US-Israel-Iran War News Live Updates HERE

US intelligence and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) continue to assess that Iran is not currently building a nuclear weapon. Analysts believe Iran has the scientific knowledge and infrastructure to produce a weapon in a short period potentially weeks for the fuel and several months for a deliverable warhead  should its leadership make the decision to do so.

Before recent military strikes, Iran had accumulated a significant stockpile of uranium enriched to 60% purity, which is technically close to the 90% weapons-grade" level, according to media reports.

The strikes

In June 2025 and again in February 2026, the United States and Israel launched joint military campaigns targeting Irans nuclear and missile infrastructure, including sites at Natanz and Fordow, to prevent it from reaching breakout" capability.

Following the strikes, Iran largely suspended cooperation with the IAEA, and the 2015 Nuclear Deal (JCPOA) was declared void by Tehran in late 2025.

While Iran officially maintains its program is for peaceful energy purposes, some Iranian officials have recently suggested a potential shift in their nuclear doctrine if the country faces an existential threat.

Israel is widely believed to be the only nuclear-armed state in the Middle East, though it maintains a policy of nuclear ambiguity" and has never officially confirmed its arsenal. Experts warn that if Iran were to acquire nuclear weapons, it could trigger a regional arms race, with countries like Saudi Arabia indicating they might pursue their own nuclear deterrent in response.

Seizing Irans nuclear stockpile: The objection and two paths

The primary goal will be to secure roughly 440450 kilograms of 60% enriched uranium that survived previous airstrikes and is currently buried beneath rubble at sites like the Isfahan Nuclear Technology Center, a Wall Street Journal assessment stated.

Planners have identified two main paths:

Extraction: Physically capturing the specialised canisters of uranium gas and transporting them out of Iran under heavy military escort.

On-Site Neutralisation: Deploying nuclear experts to dilute the material with natural uranium, rendering it unusable for weaponisation, said the report.

What would the operation require?

The WSJ, quoting military analysts and former officials, outlined several critical components for a successful mission:

Upward of 1,000 personnel might be needed for a single site, including Army Rangers or other combat troops to secure perimeters.

Engineers would need excavating equipment to dig through tons of debris at subterranean complexes while checking for mines and booby traps.

If local airfields are unavailable, makeshift ones must be established to fly equipment in and nuclear material out.

A quick response force" and continuous air cover would be required to intercept potential Iranian drone and missile counterattacks.

Vice President Vance on military operations in Iran:The President wants to make it clear to the Iranians and to the world that he is not going to rest until he accomplishes that all-important objective of ensuring that Iran cant have a nuclear weapon." pic.twitter.com/QXOxCAi87D  Vice President JD Vance (@VP) March 3, 2026

What would be the targets in Iran?

The operation would likely focus on three primary hubs where material is believed to be stored, according to the report:

Isfahan Nuclear Technology Center: Where a significant portion of the stockpile is currently buried under rubble.

Natanz Nuclear Facility: A major enrichment site previously targeted by airstrikes.

Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant: A highly fortified facility built deep inside a mountain.

What are the risks and obstacles?

Troops would remain on the ground for days in a hostile environment, facing risks from IEDs and direct fire.

Uranium hexafluoride (UF6) gas is highly toxic; any breach of containers during excavation or transport could cause severe contamination.

There are ongoing concerns that Iran may have moved some of its near-bomb-grade uranium to covert locations.

While President Trump has stated that such an operation is not currently imminent," he has confirmed the option remains on the table" as a means to ensure Iran never acquires a nuclear weapon, stated the report.

With agency inputs

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First Published: March 16, 2026, 13:14 IST

News explainers US Has A Plan To Seize Irans Nuclear Material: Decoding The Largest Special Forces Op In History

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11 Patients Killed In Massive Fire At Odisha's SCB Medical College Hospital

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 13:03 IST

10 patients died and several got injured in a fire at SCB Medical College Hospital in Cuttack, Odisha. The fire broke out in the trauma care ICU.

A fire broke out at Trauma Care ICU of S.C.B. Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack. (Photo: ANI)

A massive fire erupted in an ICU in Odisha government-run SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack killed 11 patients and injured several staff members. The incident took place in the wee hours of Monday. Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and other authorities rushed to the site.

As many as 23 patients undergoing treatment were shifted to safer locations soon after the fire. 10 patients died in the ICU and one more died during the shifting process. Several staff members suffered burn injuries while rescuing patients to safety.

As per the preliminary information, the fire erupted at the ICU of the Trauma Care department of the hospital, where critically ill patients were being treated. The officials added that the fire broke out at around 2.30 and 3 a.m.

#WATCH | Odisha: A fire broke out at Trauma Care ICU of S.C.B. Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack. Fire brigade present at the spot for firefighting operations. Visuals from the spot. More details awaited. pic.twitter.com/KZVF5wOy4V ANI (@ANI) March 16, 2026

Fire tenders and other officials also rushed to the site to douse the fire.

The fire service officials, along with hospital staff, police, and patients attendants, rescued the patients receiving treatment in the ICU and relocated them to other departments within SCB hospital.

Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, along with Health Minister Mukesh Mahaling, reached the hospital and reviewed the situation. He also visited the patients, who are under treatment at the facility.

The CM directed officials to ensure best possible treatment for the critically injured and announced Rs 25 lakh financial assistance for the families of the deceased.

Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi visited S.C.B. Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack this morning and held a discussion with the hospital authorities and Police officers. A fire broke out in the Trauma Care ICU here.(Pics: Odisha CMO) https://t.co/o3FurMyuwV pic.twitter.com/auguQlaQbS  ANI (@ANI) March 16, 2026

Speaking to the reporters, the CM Majhi said the fire erupted due to a suspected short-circuit. It affected Trauma Care ICU and adjoining ICI and wards, he said. A total of 23 patients have been shifted to other departments. Seven serious patients died while shifting to other ICUs and wards, while another three persons died later," Majhi said.

I have directed the concerned officers for proper treatment of the injured patients," he added.

President Droupadi Murmu also expressed condolences over the incident. Deeply distressed by the loss of lives in the tragic fire incident at a hospital in Cuttack, Odisha. My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families. I wish a speedy recovery to those injured," Presidents social media post reads.

(PTI inputs)

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Location : Cuttack, India, India

First Published: March 16, 2026, 07:26 IST

News india 11 Patients Killed In Massive Fire At Odisha's SCB Medical College Hospital

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Ahead Of Bengal Polls, EC Reshuffles Top Police Officers; Names New Kolkata Police Chief

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 12:30 IST

Ajay Kumar Nand, a 1996-batch IPS officer, has been appointed as the Commissioner of Kolkata Police after the EC ordered key police transfers in West Bengal.

(Left to right) Siddh Nath Gupta, Ajay Mukund Ranade, Ajay Kumar Nand (Photo: CNN News18)

A day after announcing the schedule for the 2026 Assembly elections, the Election Commission of India ordered key police transfers in West Bengal after reviewing poll preparedness.

Under the order, several senior officers have been given new postings.

Siddh Nath Gupta (IPS 1992) has been appointed DG & IGP (In-charge), West Bengal.

Natarajan Ramesh Babu (IPS 1991) has been appointed DG, Correctional Services.

Ajay Mukund Ranade (IPS 1995) has been appointed ADG & IGP (Law & Order). He will replace Vinit Goyel who has been removed from the post. Goyal was the Kolkata Police Commissioner during the RG Kar doctor rape and murder case. CM Mamata Banerjee had to remove him under pressure after protests.

Ajay Kumar Nand (IPS 1996) has been appointed Commissioner, Kolkata Police.

The orders must be implemented immediately, and a compliance report on the officers joining their new posts must be sent by 3:00 PM on March 16, EC told West Bengal government. Officers who have been transferred out will not be given any election-related posts until the polls are completed.

In its order, the Election Commission said it had reviewed preparations for the upcoming state polls before directing the changes. The Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said elections in West Bengal would be peaceful and violence-free. In pursuance of this objective, the Election Commission of India has transferred senior police officials in the state, including the DGP of West Bengal and the Commissioner of Kolkata Police.

I am directed to state that the Commission has reviewed the poll preparedness for the General Election to Legislative Assembly of West Bengal, 2026 and directs the following:- i. Shri Siddh Nath Gupta, (IPS -1992) be posted as DG & IGP, Govt. of West Bengal (In-charge) ii. Shri Natarajan Ramesh Babu, (IPS -1991) be posted as DG, Correctional Services, Govt. of West Bengal iii. Shri Ajay Mukund Ranade, (IPS -1995) be posted as ADG & IGP (Law & Order), Govt. of West Bengal iv. Shri Ajay Kumar Nand, (IPS -1996) be posted as Commissioner, Kolkata Police. The directions of the Commission to be implemented with immediate effect and a compliance report in respect of joining of above officers be sent by 03:00 PM on 16.03.2026. Further, the officers transferred out shall not be posted in any election related posts till the completion of elections."

2026 Assembly election in Bengal will take place in two phases  on April 23 and April 29  while counting of votes will be held on May 4.

Other administrative changes

The Election Commission also ordered the transfer of senior state officials soon after announcing the poll schedule.

Dushyant Nariala, a 1993-batch IAS officer, will be posted as Chief Secretary of West Bengal, replacing Nandini Chakravorty, who had taken charge on December 31, 2025.

The poll body also removed Jagdish Prasad Meena, a 2004-batch IAS officer, as Principal Secretary, Home and Hill Affairs. He will be replaced by Sanghamitra Ghosh, a 1997-batch IAS officer.

The Election Commission said these directions must also be implemented immediately, with a compliance report on the officers joining to be submitted by 3 PM on Monday, March 16.

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First Published: March 16, 2026, 12:07 IST

News india Ahead Of Bengal Polls, EC Reshuffles Top Police Officers; Names New Kolkata Police Chief

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'Body Kept In Veranda, Burn Marks On Feet': Father, Stepmother Kill 4-Year-Old Using Knife, Rope

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 11:41 IST

A four-year-old boy was murdered by his father, Bhishma Kharbanda. and stepmother. Ragini, in Lucknow. They were arrested after a complaint by the child's grandmother.

The police took action based on the child's grandmother's complaint. (Representative Image: Canva)

A four-year-old boy was brutally murdered by his father and stepmother in the Chowk area of Lucknow. The couple was subsequently arrested.

The accused, Bhishma Kharbanda (35) and his wife Ragini Kharbanda (30), were apprehended near the Nehru Yuva Kendra following a complaint by the childs maternal grandmother, officials stated.

According to the police, the matter came to light when Sudha Kashyap, from Unnao, filed a report stating that her son-in-law, Bhishma, informed her on March 12 about the death of her grandson, Arnav, PTI reported.

When the family reached the house in Lajpat Nagar, they found the childs body kept in the veranda. Upon inspection, several injury marks and blue bruises were found across the body, indicating the child had been brutally beaten. There were also burn marks on the feet," said a police official, citing the complaint.

The childs biological mother had died a few years ago due to illness, police added.

The complainant accused Bhishma and Ragini of killing the boy out of greed for property. As a result, an FIR was lodged at the Chowk police station.

A police team recovered various items allegedly used in the crime, including a broom, a wiper, a kitchen knife, a scale, a belt, and a rope. The arrested couple was being questioned, and further legal proceedings were underway.

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First Published: March 16, 2026, 11:41 IST

News india 'Body Kept In Veranda, Burn Marks On Feet': Father, Stepmother Kill 4-Year-Old Using Knife, Rope

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How 3 Indian Navy Ships Are Escorting India-Bound Vessels Amid Shutting Of Strait Of Hormuz

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 21:34 IST

Two of the ships including INS Surat have been there in the vicinity as per their mission-based deployment, while the third ship is present for escort purposes

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INS Surat is part of Indias mission-based deployment in the region. (IMAGE: PTI FILE)

Amid the US-Israel-Iran war and shutting of the Strait of Hormuz, three Indian Navy ships have been providing escort to the vessels bound to India, according to sources.

Two of the ships including INS Surat have been there in the vicinity as per their mission-based deployment, while the third ship is present for escort purposes. These ships are in the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea.

Several attacks on the merchant vessels have happened in the Gulf of Oman too, so the danger persists even beyond Hormuz. The navy escort for the vessels bound to India is mainly meant for deterrence. While the Arabian Sea is a safe passage, the escort is necessary to send a message that a warship is present to counter threats, said sources.

The Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulfs only access to the Arabian Sea, handles around 20 per cent of global crude oil and natural gas supplies. Iran has blocked the route in retaliation for US and Israeli attacks.

2 India-flagged tankers crossed the Strait of Hormuz

Two Indian-flagged tankers, Shivalik and Nanda Devi, carrying around 92,700 metric tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) safely crossed the Strait of Hormuz. The vessels are expected to arrive at the ports of Mundra and Kandla. The movement of Shivalik came after intense diplomatic engagement between India and Iran to ensure safe passage for Indian-flagged ships amid the ongoing regional crisis.

Earlier, reports had indicated that India was in talks with Iran to secure passage for up to eight LPG tankers stranded in the Gulf region due to the conflict.

No blanket arrangement, says EAM S Jaishankar

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said there is no blanket arrangement" with Iran to allow Indian vessels to pass through the strategic waterway. According to him, the ongoing talks with Iran helped the two Indian-flagged gas tankers pass through the key oil route, even as Tehran continues to restrict traffic during its conflict with the United States and Israel.

Jaishankar said discussions with Iran had produced some results" but described the process as ongoing", Financial Times reported. He said every ship movement was handled individually and denied that Iran had received anything in exchange for allowing the two tankers through.

Its not an exchange issue. India and Iran have a relationship. And this is a conflict that we regard as something very unfortunate," he said.

He added that discussions were continuing as more Indian ships remained in the region. These are still early days. We have many more ships there. So while this is a welcome development, there is continuing conversation because there is continued work on that," Jaishankar said.

Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and discussed the transit of goods and energy.

Strait of Hormuz open to most vessels: Irans Foreign Minister

Irans Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Saturday has said the strait remains open" to most vessels and is only closed to ships belonging to the United States, Israel and their allies. As a matter of fact, the Strait of Hormuz is open. It is only closed to the tankers and ships belonging to our enemies, to those who are attacking us and their allies. Others are free to pass," he said.

With inputs from News18s Akash Sharma

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First Published: March 16, 2026, 19:11 IST

News india How 3 Indian Navy Ships Are Escorting India-Bound Vessels Amid Shutting Of Strait Of Hormuz

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India's LPG Tanker Shivalik Docks At Mundra After Crossing Strait of Hormuz

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 17:45 IST

India's LPG tanker Shivalik arrived at Mundra Port from Qatar with 40,000 metric tonnes of cooking gas, receiving special transit clearance through the Strait of Hormuz.

Indian Flagged LPG Vessel Shivalik in Indian waters, docks at the Mundra Port. (Image Courtesy: X/ANI Snapshot)

Indias LPG tanker Shivalik arrived at Mundra Port in Gujarats Kutch district on Monday morning after crossing the Strait of Hormuz, carrying roughly 40,000 metric tonnes of cooking gas from Qatar. A critical delivery, at a time when the West Asia conflict has left LPG supplies strained across the country.

The vessel, operated by the Shipping Corporation of India, sailed from Ras Laffan in Qatar and docked at around 9 AM. Iran had been restricting movement through the Strait of Hormuz amid its conflict with the United States and Israel, but eventually granted special transit clearance to the Shivalik, and to a second tanker, the Nanda Devi, following intensive diplomatic negotiations between New Delhi and Tehran. The Indian Navy escorted both ships through the volatile corridor.

As many as 24 Indian-flagged vessels were stuck in the Persian Gulf when the crisis peaked. Two have just made it through, with The Nanda Devi now expected at Kandla Port, also in Gujarat, on March 17. Together, the two tankers are bringing approximately 92,712 metric tonnes of LPG, enough to fill nearly 68 lakh domestic cylinders. Indias average daily consumption sits at around 55 lakh.

Rajesh Kumar Sinha, Special Secretary in the Ministry of Shipping, confirmed on Saturday that all Indian seafarers in the region were safe. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar called the transit a practical win for Indias diplomatic approach with Tehran. But he made it clear that no blanket clearance for all Indian ships is in place yet. Each vessel is being handled on a case-by-case basis.

#WATCH | Gujarat: LPG tanker Shivalik, which crossed the Strait of Hormuz, arrives at the Mundra Port. pic.twitter.com/3E1T1DY4ut ANI (@ANI) March 16, 2026

Irans representative to India, Abdul Majid Hakeem Ilahi, reiterated on Saturday that Indian vessels would be allowed through the strait. For millions of Indian households already facing LPG shortages, Mondays arrival is a blessing. A gas cylinder is finally on its way home.

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First Published: March 16, 2026, 17:45 IST

News india India's LPG Tanker Shivalik Docks At Mundra After Crossing Strait of Hormuz

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'LPG Situation Concerning, But No News Of Dry Up By Distributors': Centre Amid West Asia Conflict

Written By :

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 16:38 IST

The central government said there is a 100 percent supply of CNG and PNG, and no dry up has been reported, not even in petrol pumps

The Centre said while the LPG situation is concerning, it is available to domestic users and its commercial use has also started. (Image: PTI/File)

The Centre on Monday said the LPG situation in India remains concerning, but there is no news of dry up by distributors even as war rages in West Asia.

According to the central government, there is a 100 percent supply of CNG (compressed natural gas) and PNG (piped natural gas). No dry up has been reported, not even in petrol pumps, it said.

The Government said it continues to prioritise the interests of domestic consumers and ensure uninterrupted LPG supply, particularly for households and priority sectors.

Follow US-Israel-Iran War LIVE Updates Here

The central government said while the LPG situation is concerning, it is available to domestic users and its commercial sale has been partially restored. Meetings have been held with state governments to ensure that there is no hoarding.

Crude is available in sufficient quantity. All refineries are operating at the highest capacity. Our petrol pumps are operating normally. No dry out has been reported anywhere" said Sujata Sharma, joint secretary (marketing and oil refinery), ministry of petroleum and natural gas, during the inter-ministerial press briefing.

Watch the video here:

#WATCH | Delhi: Sujata Sharma, Joint Secretary (Marketing & Oil Refinery), Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, says, "Crude is available in sufficient quantity. All refineries are operating at the highest capacity. Our petrol pumps are operating normally. No dry out has been pic.twitter.com/aulFwoMhDz ANI (@ANI) March 16, 2026

The government said incentives have been announced to ensure maximum use of PNG, like Indian Oil will give Rs 500 free gas while others like BPCL and GAIL will ensure people shift to PNG. It requested LPG consumers to shift to PNG connections, wherever possible.

It said commercial LPG consumers in major cities and urban areas are encouraged to opt for PNG connections and may apply through email, letter or the customer portal of city gas distribution (CGD) companies. Alternate fuels such as kerosene and coal have been activated for certain sectors, including hospitality and restaurants, to ease pressure on LPG supplies.

Follow Dubai, Abu Dhabi News LIVE Updates Here

WHICH SHIPS ARE EXPECTED TO DOCK AT INDIAN PORTS?

The Centre said there are two ships  Shivalik and Nanda Devi  bound for Indian ports via the Strait of Hormuz, which is practically a battlezone in the ongoing Iran war.

It said while Shivalik will reach the Mundra port by 5 pm, Nanda Devi will dock at Kandla on Tuesday, March 17.

Shivalik LPG carrier, which sailed from the Persian Gulf, crossed the Strait of Hormuz and headed towards India, will be reaching today around 5 pm, maybe after an hour or so. And before its arrival, documentation, priority berthing, and everything have been arranged at the port so that there is no delay in the discharge of cargo by this vessel," said Rajesh Kumar Sinha, shipping ministry.

Watch the video here:

#WATCH | Delhi: Rajesh Kumar Sinha, Shipping Ministry, GoI says, "Shivalik LPG carrier, which sailed from the Persian Gulf, crossed the Strait of Hormuz and headed towards India, will be reaching today around 5 pm, maybe after an hour or so. And before its arrival, pic.twitter.com/41AtHChQLY ANI (@ANI) March 16, 2026

Sinha said all Indian seafarers in the Persian Gulf are safe and the Indian embassy in Tehran is functional. He said major ports are monitoring cargo and ship movement, and there is no congestion reported anywhere.

550 Indians in Iran crossed through Armenia. The embassy in Tehran is fully functional All Indian seafarers in the Persian Gulf area are safe. No incident has been reported in the last 24 hours, and we are keeping a continuous watch on the situation. We are in touch with each vessel and its crew. 22 vessels, as was reported on Saturday, also. 22 Indian flag vessels with 611 Indian seafarers remain in the west of the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf" he added.

(With agency inputs)

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First Published: March 16, 2026, 15:15 IST

News india 'LPG Situation Concerning, But No News Of Dry Up By Distributors': Centre Amid West Asia Conflict

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Gas prices are surging. There's war in the Middle East and the world is a very uncertain place. Maybe now is the time to buy a hybrid, or perhaps an EV? This week Host Greg Migliore talks to Joseph Yoon of Edmunds to break down what surging fuel prices mean for your next car purchase.





In this week's gear test, Greg sampled spray-on wax and paint correction products from and Mothers' California Gold Car Care Collection.





In the AutoGuide Garage, Greg has been driving the Rivian R1T and our road test editor Kyle Patrick joins to talk about his time in the Mitsubishi Outlander Plug-In Hybrid.





We close things out with the mailbag, where we ponder the fortunes of Lucid, Rivian, Scout and more.





Listen to The AutoGuide Show on your favorite platform:





Show Notes:





00:08  01:34: Introduction





01:35  11:27: Fuel Prices and the Impact on EV/Hybrid Markets

Joseph Yoon from Edmunds joins the show to discuss how rising fuel costs are driving consumer interest toward hybrids and electric vehicles.





13:31  27:21: Geopolitics and Long-term Market Trends

The conversation with Joseph Yun continues, focusing on the differences between current fuel surges and past crises, the lack of certain tax credits, and the future of small car options in the U.S. market.



27:22  33:02: Gear Test: Mother's California Gold Collection

A review of car care products, specifically Mother's California Gold Ceramic Spray Wax and Ceramic Paint Correction.





33:03  47:14: The AutoGuide Garage: Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV and Rivian R1T

Reviews of two electrified vehicles: the Mitsubishi Outlander plug-in hybrid and the high-performance Rivian R1T Quad Max.





47:15  57:26: The Mailbag: The State of EV Startups

A discussion on which new EV makers are in the strongest positions, featuring insights into Lucid's investor day and future models from Scout and Polestar.




'No Link To PM Modi Visit': Envoy Reuven Azar Says Israel Approved Iran Strikes Days Later

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 14:58 IST

The Israeli envoy said the region was already highly volatile before the visit and stressed that the operational window for the strikes emerged only after PM Modi had departed.

PM Narendra Modi with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sara Netanyahu

Israel approved its military strikes against Iran two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi concluded his visit to the country, Israeli Ambassador to India Reuven Azar said on Monday, rejecting suggestions that the timing of the operation was connected to PM Modis trip.

Azar said the region was already highly volatile before the visit and stressed that the operational window for launching the strikes emerged only after the prime minister had departed.

The cabinet decision to approve the operation happened only two days after," he said, adding that any attempt to link the visit with the military action was misplaced.

PM Modi arrived in Israel on February 25 for his second visit in nine years and left the following day after holding talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

In the early hours of February 28, Israel, in coordination with the United States, launched a large-scale military campaign against Iran, accusing Tehran of pursuing nuclear weapons even as discussions on a possible nuclear agreement were under way.

Israel has said the strikes targeted senior leadership and key military and administrative assets, though details of the damage and casualties remain contested.

The timing of PM Modis visit drew sharp criticism from Indias opposition Indian National Congress, which described the trip as ill-timed" and said it risked creating the perception that India was politically endorsing military escalation.

Congress Foreign Affairs Department chairman Salman Khurshid said the party was deeply concerned about the visit amid heightened tensions and the risk of a wider conflict in West Asia.

Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh went further, calling the visit shameful" and accusing the government of undermining Indias traditional commitment to a rules-based international order.

Responding to the criticism, Azar reiterated that the decision-making on the strikes followed its own military and operational logic and was not influenced by Modis presence in Israel.

He said while the regional situation was tense even before the visit, the approval and execution of the operation took place only after the Indian leader had left, underscoring that there was no coordination or political signalling linked to the trip.

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First Published: March 16, 2026, 14:58 IST

News india 'No Link To PM Modi Visit': Envoy Reuven Azar Says Israel Approved Iran Strikes Days Later

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Reflect On Attacks On Hindu Temples In US: Indias Sharp Retort To USCIRF Report

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 19:59 IST

India criticized the USCIRF report for presenting a "distorted and selective picture" and recommended sanctions against RSS and R&AW. MEA's Randhir Jaiswal rejected the bias.

MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India categorically rejects its motivated and biased characterization of India.

India on Monday slammed the report by US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) for presenting a distorted and selective picture of India".

In a statement, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India categorically rejects its motivated and biased characterisation of India.

For several years now, USCIRF has persisted in presenting a distorted and selective picture of India, relying on questionable sources and ideological narratives rather than objective facts. Such repeated misrepresentations only undermine the credibility of the Commission itself," he said.

Also Read: Attacks On Hindu Temples In US: Congress Members Write To Justice Dept, Demand Probe Status Report

Instead of persisting with selective criticism of India, USCIRF would do well to reflect on the disturbing incidents of vandalism and attacks on Hindu temples in the United States, selective targeting of India, and growing intolerance and intimidation of members of the Indian diaspora in the United States, which merit serious attention," he added.

Also Read: Reprehensible: Pro-Khalistan Elements Vandalise BAPS Temple In US, Indian Consulate Reacts

The USCIRFs annual report, released on Sunday, recommended targeted sanctions against organisations including the RSS and R&AW over alleged violations of religious freedom. The commission also urged the US government to designate India as a Country of Particular Concern," a category used for nations accused of systematic and serious violations of religious freedom.

Also Read: Attack on BAPS Temple in New York Act of Hate Crime by Khalistani Groups: Intel Sources to News18

In its report, the USCIRF claimed that religious freedom conditions in India had continued to deteriorate in 2025. It alleged that authorities had introduced or strengthened laws targeting religious minorities, including stricter anti-conversion legislation in several states. The report also cited communal clashes in states such as Maharashtra, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh, and criticised legislation such as the Waqf (Amendment) Act.

Several states undertook efforts to introduce or strengthen anti-conversion laws to include harsher prison sentences. Indian authorities also facilitated widespread detention and illegal expulsion of citizens and religious refugees and tolerated vigilante attacks against religious minority communities," the report said.

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First Published: March 16, 2026, 19:36 IST

News india Reflect On Attacks On Hindu Temples In US: Indias Sharp Retort To USCIRF Report

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Shivalik Carrying Over 46,000 Tonnes Of LPG Set To Dock At Mundra Port After Safe Hormuz Transit

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 12:18 IST

The vessel is currently being escorted by the Indian Navy, which will guide it during the next leg of its journey towards India.

India said it is maintaining its trade flows by managing transits via the Strait of Hormuz on a "case-by-case basis". (Image: AFP/File)

India LPG Crisis: Indian LPG carrier Shivalik, carrying over 40,000 metric tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is set to dock at Mundra Port in Gujarat on Monday, providing relief for thousands amid concerns over energy supply disruptions linked to tensions in the Strait of Hormuz.

Rajesh Kumar Sinha, Special Secretary at the Ministry of Shipping and Waterways, last week told at an inter-ministerial briefing that Shivalik successfully moved into the open sea after transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

The vessel is currently being escorted by the Indian Navy, which will guide it during the next leg of its journey towards India.

Second LPG carrier Nanda Devi also successfully exited the Strait of Hormuz and entered open waters, marking another step forward in Indias efforts to safely move its energy cargo through the tense Gulf region.

The movement of Indian cargo vessels came after intense diplomatic engagement between India and Iran to ensure safe passage for Indian-flagged ships amid the ongoing regional crisis. India has been actively engaging Tehran to allow its energy shipments to pass through the strategic waterway. The discussions come as several Indian LPG carriers were stuck in the Persian Gulf after shipping through the Strait was disrupted due to the West Asia war.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier spoken to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, stressing the need to ensure the safety of Indian nationals and uninterrupted transit of goods and energy supplies.

The Strait of Hormuz remains one of the worlds most critical maritime chokepoints, handling roughly 20 per cent of global oil and gas shipments. Disruptions in the area have raised concerns about global energy markets and fuel supplies for import-dependent countries like India.

With India heavily reliant on Middle Eastern LPG supplies, the safe passage of vessels such as Shivalik is seen as crucial for maintaining domestic cooking gas availability and energy security.

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Location : Mundra, India, India

First Published: March 16, 2026, 12:18 IST

News india Shivalik Carrying Over 46,000 Tonnes Of LPG Set To Dock At Mundra Port After Safe Hormuz Transit

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Eid ul-Fitr 2026 Moon Sighting Date: Time To Watch Crescent Moon In India, Saudi Arabia And Other Countries

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Last Updated: March 18, 2026, 11:49 IST

Eid ul Fitr 2026 Moon Sighting Date And Time: Eid in India is expected on March 20 or 21 depending on moon sighting. Know Chand Raat date, Shawwal start and how Eid is confirmed.

Muslims look for the crescent moon on Chand Raat to mark the end of Ramadan and the beginning of Eid ul Fitr. (File photo)

Eid ul Fitr 2026 Moon Sighting Date And Time: The festival of Eid ul Fitr marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan, when Muslim devotees all over India and the world fast and pray to the Almighty Allah for good wishes and forgiveness. The occasion is the biggest in the Islamic calendar, when families gather to recite the verses of the great Quran, offer prayers and have the most wonderful celebrations and collective meals.

ALSO READ: Eid Ul Fitr 2026 LIVE: Will Iran Attack Affect Moon Sighting In Saudi Arabia Today?

In 2026, Eid ul Fitr is expected to fall in India either on March 20 or 21. The exact date for the festivities depends on when the crescent moon is sighted, marking the beginning of the Islamic month of Shawwal.

As Muslims undergo the challenging fast from dawn to sunset during Ramadan, the arrival of Eid ul Fitr is also celebrated as an occasion to pray for continuous peace, patience and strength in ones life beyond the holy month.

Apart from the prayers and spiritual reflection, Eid ul Fitr is also the occasion when Muslims take part in charity and donate towards welfare practices.

When To Watch The Crescent Moon In India And Other Countries

Since the Islamic calendar is lunar and follows the cycle of the moon, the date for the Eid ul Fitr  the start of Shawwal, the tenth month of the calendar  changes every year. As the system is variable, the exact day of Eid ul Fitr cannot be confirmed until the crescent moon is sighted. The crescent moon denotes a lunar phase when only a thin, curved sliver of the Moon is visible from Earth.

ALSO READ: When Is Eid ul-Fitr 2026 In India  March 20 Or 21? Moon Sighting And Celebration Details

Muslims usually look for the crescent moon on the 29th evening of the holy month of Ramadan.

Chand Raat On March 19

In 2026, the 29th evening or the Chand Raat of Ramadan falls on March 19. If the moon is indeed spotted on Chand Raat, Eid ul Fitr will be celebrated the following day  March 20. However, if the crescent moon is not visible that night, Ramadan will complete its 30-day period and Eid ul Fitr will be celebrated on March 21.

In India, the official confirmation of the arrival of the crescent moon comes from local moon-sighting committees and religious leaders after sunset. According to the astronomical estimates, the moon sighting for Eid ul Fitr will take place on the evening of March 20 in various states here. The date and the timings for the festival may vary in other countries, including the UAE, Saudi Arabia and other Asian countries, depending on the crescent moon sighting.

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First Published: March 16, 2026, 09:30 IST

News lifestyle events Eid ul-Fitr 2026 Moon Sighting Date: Time To Watch Crescent Moon In India, Saudi Arabia And Other Countries
Ugadi 2026 Date: History, Significance, Rituals, Traditional Foods And Wishes

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Last Updated: March 19, 2026, 08:20 IST

Ugadi, celebrated in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Karnataka, marks the Hindu New Year with rituals, traditional foods, and family gatherings symbolising hope and renewal.

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Ugadi 2026 will be celebrated on March 19. (Image: Shutterstock)

Ugadi 2026 Date: Ugadi marks the beginning of the New Year according to the Hindu lunar calendar and is widely celebrated in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka. In 2026, Ugadi will be observed on March 19, following the first day of the Chaitra month.

The word Ugadi comes from the Sanskrit terms Yuga (age) and Adi (beginning), meaning the start of a new era. The festival is believed to mark the day Lord Brahma began the creation of the universe, making it a symbol of renewal, fresh starts and hope.

ALSO READ: Happy Ugadi 2026: Wishes, Images, Quotes And WhatsApp Status For Telugu New Year

Ugadi 2026: History

Ugadi has ancient roots in Hindu tradition and is associated with the beginning of the lunar calendar year. According to Hindu belief, Ugadi marks the day when Lord Brahma created the universe, making it the symbolic start of time and a new era. The festival is mentioned in early Hindu scriptures and has been observed for centuries across the Deccan region.

Historically, Ugadi was also linked to agricultural cycles. Farmers considered it an auspicious time to plan crops and welcome the spring harvest season. The reading of the Panchanga on Ugadi helped communities understand weather patterns, rainfall prospects, and social developments for the year ahead.

Over time, Ugadi evolved beyond a religious observance into a cultural festival that brought families and communities together. While rituals vary slightly across Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Karnataka, the essence of Ugadi  renewal, reflection, and optimism  has remained unchanged through generations.

Ugadi 2026 Significance

Beyond rituals, Ugadi holds emotional value. It is a day when families come together, elders share wisdom, and communities reconnect through cultural programmes, music and traditional food. The festival reinforces optimism, discipline and gratitude as people step into a new year.

Ugadi Rituals

Traditionally, homes are cleaned and decorated with mango leaves and rangoli. Families wake up early, take oil baths, wear new clothes, and visit temples to seek blessings for the year ahead.

Ugadi Special Foods

One of the most important rituals of Ugadi is the preparation of Ugadi Pachadi, a special dish made with six tastes: sweet, sour, bitter, salty, spicy and tangy. These flavours represent the different experiences of life, reminding people to accept both joy and hardship with balance. Other traditional dishes prepared during Ugadi include Pulihora (tamarind rice), Bobbatlu or Holige (sweet flatbread stuffed with jaggery and lentils), Payasam, Poornam Boorelu, and Mango rice. Fresh seasonal ingredients, especially raw mango and neem flowers, are commonly used, highlighting renewal and the arrival of spring.

Happy Ugadi Wishes

Wishing you a joyful Ugadi filled with peace, health and new beginnings.

May this Ugadi bring happiness, prosperity and success to your home.

Let the new year start with hope, positivity and good health for all.

Wishing you strength to face challenges and wisdom to cherish happiness.

May Ugadi Pachadi remind you that every flavour of life has meaning.

Sending warm wishes for a bright and fulfilling Ugadi 2026.

May the coming year open doors to growth and happiness.

Wishing your family love, harmony, and abundance this Ugadi.

May this new year bless you with peace and progress.

Happy Ugadi to you and your loved ones.

Happy Ugadi Messages

Ugadi marks a fresh chapter. May yours be filled with hope and clarity.

New year, new beginnings. Wishing you balance in every phase of life.

Let Ugadi remind us to embrace both joy and challenges with grace.

May the new year bring meaningful changes and steady progress.

Ugadi is a reminder that renewal begins with gratitude.

Step into the new year with confidence and optimism.

May this Ugadi bring peace to your heart and purpose to your days.

Celebrate today with hope for tomorrow.

Wishing you a year guided by wisdom and kindness.

Happy Ugadi! May lifes journey ahead be fulfilling and bright.

Ugadi FAQs

When is Ugadi celebrated in 2026?

Ugadi will be celebrated on March 19, 2026, marking the first day of the Chaitra month as per the Hindu lunar calendar.

Which states celebrate Ugadi?

Ugadi is widely celebrated in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Karnataka. In Maharashtra, the same day is observed as Gudi Padwa.

Why is Ugadi considered the New Year?

Ugadi marks the beginning of a new lunar year and is believed to be the day Lord Brahma began the creation of the universe, symbolising renewal and fresh beginnings.

What is the significance of Ugadi Pachadi?

Ugadi Pachadi represents the six flavours of life, teaching acceptance of both happiness and challenges in the coming year.

What is Panchanga Shravanam?

Panchanga Shravanam is the ritual reading of the Hindu almanac, offering predictions about health, wealth, rainfall, and prosperity for the year ahead.

Is Ugadi a public holiday?

Ugadi is a public holiday in several southern states, though the holiday status may vary depending on state government notifications.

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First Published: March 19, 2026, 08:20 IST

News lifestyle events Ugadi 2026 Date: History, Significance, Rituals, Traditional Foods And Wishes
Kylie Jenners Cherry-Red Schiaparelli Gown Brings Bombshell Glamour To Oscars 2026

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 09:22 IST

Kylie Jenner stunned at the 2026 Oscars in a custom cherry-red Schiaparelli gown with 200 carats of Lorraine Schwartz diamonds and classic bombshell glam.

Kylie Jenner embraced bold glamour at the 2026 Oscars. (Images: Instagram/KylieJenner)

While many celebrities treat the Oscars red carpet as the nights main stage, Kylie Jenner proved that a memorable fashion moment doesnt necessarily require one. At the Academy Awards, the beauty mogul and reality star revealed her look ahead of the ceremony  delivering a bold shift from the all-black ensembles she has favoured throughout this awards season.

Instead, Kylie Jenner embraced the drama of monochrome in a striking cherry-red couture gown that instantly commanded attention.

A Schiaparelli Silhouette With Vintage Allure

Custom-made by Schiaparelli, Kylies gown was drenched in glossy, wet-look sequins that caught the light with every movement. The design featured a plunging halter neckline, a signature keyhole cutout and a sculpted body-hugging silhouette that emphasised the labels flair for theatrical glamour.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Kylie Jenner Closet (@kyliejennercloset)

The overall effect evoked the spirit of classic Hollywood bombshells, with Kylie herself playfully nodding to the resemblance by captioning her Instagram reveal Jessica Who?"  a clear wink to the iconic animated seductress Jessica Rabbit.

Yet the look also felt distinctly modern. The sleek construction and minimal colour palette kept the design sharp and contemporary, reinforcing the fashion houses signature blend of surrealist drama and couture precision.

A High-Wattage Diamond Statement

Kylie amplified the impact of the gown with a dazzling selection of jewellery from Lorraine Schwartz. The diamond suite  including statement earrings, rings and an eye-catching necklace  reportedly totalled around 200 carats.

Against the vivid red of the gown, the diamonds delivered maximum sparkle without overwhelming the look. Instead, they heightened the cinematic quality of the ensemble, giving it the kind of larger-than-life glamour that awards-season fashion thrives on.

For the glam, Kylie stayed true to a formula that has become instantly recognisable. Her makeup centred on luminous skin, softly bronzed eyes and a matte pink-nude lip, while generous blush added warmth and dimension. Her long brunette hair was styled in sweeping, voluminous waves.

Though Kylie Jenner skipped the red carpet entirely, she was later spotted arriving inside the theatre hand-in-hand with actor Timothee Chalamet, reinforcing their growing status as one of Hollywoods most-watched couples.

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Location : Delhi, India, India

First Published: March 16, 2026, 09:22 IST

News lifestyle fashion Kylie Jenners Cherry-Red Schiaparelli Gown Brings Bombshell Glamour To Oscars 2026
Priyanka Chopras Metallic Stella McCartney Dress Turns Heads At Oscars After-Party

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 18:14 IST

Priyanka Chopra switched from Dior to Stella McCartney for the Vanity Fair Oscars party, delivering glamorous after-hours style with Nick Jonas.

Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas brought coordinated glamour to the Oscars after party.

If the Oscars ceremony is about cinematic prestige, the after-parties are where Hollywoods fashion spirit truly loosens up. And few post-ceremony events carry as much style currency as the legendary Vanity Fair Oscar Party. This year, one of the evenings most memorable entrances came courtesy of Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Nick Jonas.

Fresh from presenting earlier at the Academy Awards, Priyanka Chopra embraced a complete style transformation for the nights celebrations, trading her elegant ceremony look for a shimmering ensemble that felt decidedly more after-hours.

From Ceremony Elegance To After-Hours Glamour

Earlier in the evening, Priyanka Chopra stepped onto the Oscars stage in a refined gown by Dior while presenting alongside Javier Bardem at the Dolby Theatre. For the Vanity Fair party, however, she leaned into a bolder aesthetic. The actor arrived on the grey carpet in a custom metallic cocktail dress by Stella McCartney that shimmered with every step, embracing the kind of sultry glamour synonymous with Hollywoods most exclusive celebrations.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by IIFA Awards (@iifa)

The floor-length gown featured a warm-toned metallic finish that created the illusion of molten gold cascading over the body. Designed with delicate spaghetti straps and a softly draped sweetheart neckline, the dress sculpted her silhouette before flowing into a sleek column skirt.

A dramatic thigh-high slit added movement and revealed flashes of gold strappy heels beneath the hem. The fabrics reflective micro-mesh texture amplified the effect under camera flashes, giving the entire look a liquid-metal sheen.

Adding an extra layer of drama, Priyanka draped a plush caramel-toned fur boa over her shoulders. From the back, the gown revealed an almost entirely backless design, held together by ultra-thin straps that emphasised the dresss sculptural simplicity.

Priyanka kept her jewellery minimal, opting for delicate stud earrings and a few understated rings so the gown remained the focal point. Her glam complemented the warm metallic tones  voluminous side-parted waves, bronzed makeup, sculpted cheekbones and a muted nude lip.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Patty Cardona (@jerryxmimi)

Walking beside her, Nick Jonas opted for a refined yet contemporary formal look. He wore a beige double-breasted tuxedo jacket paired with black trousers, a crisp white shirt and a classic bow tie. The neutral palette echoed the warm hues of Priyankas gown, creating a coordinated aesthetic that felt polished without appearing overly styled.

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Location : Delhi, India, India

First Published: March 16, 2026, 18:14 IST

News lifestyle fashion Priyanka Chopras Metallic Stella McCartney Dress Turns Heads At Oscars After-Party
Inside The Special Iftar Dinner Hosted By Chef Vikas Khanna For NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 11:13 IST

Chef Vikas Khanna hosted Zohran Mamdani at his NYC restaurant Bungalow during Ramadan, marking an emotional full-circle moment from their first meeting in 2001.

At Bungalow NYC, Vikas Khanna welcomed Zohran Mamdani for Iftar.

Some dinners are memorable for the food. Others linger for the stories they carry. At his celebrated New York restaurant, Bungalow, celebrity chef Vikas Khanna recently hosted an evening that blended both  an intimate Ramadan gathering that brought together nostalgia, gratitude and a remarkable sense of life coming full circle.

The guest of honour was New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who joined the chef and his team to break the fast during the holy month of Ramadan. The visit transformed an otherwise routine evening at the Michelin Bib Gourmand-winning restaurant into a deeply personal milestone for Vikas Khanna.

A Warm Iftar Welcome At Bungalow

The evening at Bungalow unfolded with understated elegance. Flower petals lined the entrance while softly lit lamps set a tranquil, festive mood for the Iftar gathering. Mamdani arrived dressed casually in a dark blue long-sleeved T-shirt, dark trousers and a matching cap, greeting the team with an easy warmth that matched the restaurants inviting atmosphere.

During the visit, he posed for photographs with the staff. Khanna shared the picture on Instagram and wrote, Welcoming the Mayor of New York City to break the fast with our team & Bungalow. I cooked some of his favourite dishes from 25+ years ago at Salaam Bombay."

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Vikas Khanna (@vikaskhannagroup)

A Story That Began In Tribeca

The chef had earlier shared a reel on Instagram reflecting on a connection that dates back more than two decades. It was in 2001 when I first met Zohran Mamdani. I had just survived homelessness, left a very abusive job, and started working at Salaam Bombay restaurant in Tribeca," he wrote.

That restaurants name held special meaning for Khanna at the time. I loved the name  it was also my favourite film by the iconic Mira NairOne day, Mira walked in with her very young 8-year-old son, Zohran," Khanna recalled.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Vikas Khanna (@vikaskhannagroup)

More than 25 years later, Khanna found himself welcoming that same child  now a public figure shaping conversations in New York  into his own award-winning restaurant. The emotional highlight came when a member of the team served Mamdani a date to break his fast. When Mysha served him a date to break his fast today, it was an emotional and deeply proud moment for us," he wrote.

For the chef, the dinner was a reminder of how food often becomes the thread connecting chapters of life. From a young immigrant chef navigating hardship in Tribeca to the owner of one of New Yorks most talked-about restaurants, Khannas journey has been shaped by resilience, relationships and the quiet power of hospitality.

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Location : Delhi, India, India

First Published: March 16, 2026, 11:13 IST

News lifestyle food Inside The Special Iftar Dinner Hosted By Chef Vikas Khanna For NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani
Why Consciousness And Meditation Matter More Than Ever In Todays Overstimulated World

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 11:14 IST

Dr Tony Nader explores how consciousness, meditation and Transcendental Meditation can help reduce stress, improve clarity and unlock human potential in todays fast-paced world.

Dr Tony Nader, neuroscientist and leader of the Transcendental Meditation movement, speaks about consciousness, meditation and mental clarity in modern life.

In a world increasingly defined by speed, noise, and constant stimulation, conversations around consciousness and meditation are becoming more relevant than ever. Yet these ideas are often misunderstood or dismissed as abstract spiritual concepts far removed from everyday life.

Dr Tony Nader, medical doctor, neuroscientist, Vedic scholar, and leader of the Transcendental Meditation movement argues that consciousness is not an abstract philosophical idea but the very foundation of human experience.

At its simplest, he explains, consciousness means awareness.

To be conscious is to be aware of ones surroundings, thoughts, and experiences. When consciousness is absent such as during anesthesia or deep sleep awareness disappears as well. Without consciousness, life cannot be experienced at all.

If someone were under anesthesia all the time," Dr. Nader says, it would not matter whether they were wealthy, loved, or knowledgeable. Without consciousness, there is no experience of life."

This makes consciousness the most intimate and fundamental aspect of human existence. It also raises deeper questions: Where does consciousness come from? How does it arise? And how can we understand it more fully?

Why Meditation Feels Difficult for Many People

Despite growing interest in meditation, many people say they simply cannot do it. They describe their minds as too restless or assume meditation requires intense focus.

Dr. Nader believes this perception comes largely from misunderstanding what meditation actually is.

The word meditation," he explains, covers many different practicesconcentration, mindfulness, contemplation, prayer, and reflection. Many of these require the mind to focus or control itself.

But the mind is naturally active. Trying to force it to stay in one place can feel frustrating.

He offers a simple analogy: imagine a honeybee flying from flower to flower. If you try to force it to stay still, it struggles. But if you provide nectar, the bee naturally settles.

Transcendental Meditation works in a similar way. Instead of forcing the mind to concentrate, it allows the mind to settle naturally by moving toward deeper states of fulfillment and quiet.

The mind, after all, is constantly seeking something more satisfying, more happiness, more charm, more fulfillment. When it experiences something deeper within itself, it naturally becomes calm.

Going Beyond Thought

The distinguishing feature of Transcendental Meditation lies in the idea of transcending."

To transcend means to go beyond.

In this technique, the mind moves beyond thoughts and mental activity while remaining awake and aware. Many other meditation practices involve observing thoughts or focusing attention, but they still operate within the realm of thinking.

Transcending allows the mind to experience something deeper: a state of inner silence and pure awareness.

This is achieved through a simple technique using a mantra, which acts as a vehicle for the mind to settle inward. Eventually, even the mantra itself is transcended.

Why People Seek Spirituality in Difficult Times

It is often said that people turn to spirituality only when life becomes difficult. While hardship can certainly prompt deeper reflection, Dr. Nader suggests that meditation is not merely a tool for coping with crises.

There are many paths that lead people toward meditation.

Some are driven by questions about meaning and purpose. Others are motivated by a desire to become more creative, productive, or fulfilled.

People naturally ask questions," he explains. Why am I here? What is the meaning of life? How can I create more happiness and less suffering?"

These questions lead toward a deeper exploration of consciousness.

Is Spirituality a Privilege?

Another common argument is that spiritual questions arise only after basic needs, food, security, and comfort are met.

Dr Nader challenges this idea.

While theories like Maslows hierarchy of needs suggest a progression from survival to self-realization, he believes developing consciousness can benefit people at every stage of life.

He compares it to walking through a dark room.

Opportunities may exist all around, but without light, they remain invisible.

When you turn on the light," he says, you suddenly see everything clearly."

Developing consciousness, in his view, is like turning on that light. It enhances clarity, creativity, and the ability to recognize opportunities and solutions.

The Mental Cost of Modern Life

Modern life places enormous demands on the human mind. Constant notifications, information overload, and digital distractions create a state of near-continuous stimulation.

Dr. Nader compares the brain to a computer running too many programs simultaneously.

Eventually, the system slows down, glitches, or crashes.

What does a computer need at that point?

A reboot.

Transcendental Meditation, he says, functions much like that reboot for the brain.

When the mind transcends thought and enters a state of deep rest, the brain reorganizes itself. Scientific research suggests that during Transcendental Meditation, brain waves become more coherent across different regions of the brain.

This coherence supports clearer thinking, improved creativity, and better decision-making.

Does Meditation Reduce Ambition?

A persistent myth about meditation is that it leads to detachment from worldly ambitions.

Dr. Nader strongly disagrees.

Meditation, he says, is not about withdrawing from life but about becoming more effective within it.

He compares the process to pulling back the string of a bow before releasing an arrow. The arrow travels farther because it was first drawn back.

Or consider a skyscraper. The higher the building rises, the deeper its foundations must go.

Similarly, developing inner stability clarity, resilience, and focus makes individuals more capable in the outer world.

Transcendental Meditation, he says, aims to cultivate both inner fulfillment and outer achievement.

He describes this balance as living 200 percent of life":

100 percent inner development and 100 percent outer success.

Discovering the Ocean Beneath the Waves

For someone who has never meditated, the first step is simply curiosity.

Learning about meditation, listening to discussions, and exploring the science behind consciousness can open the door to deeper understanding.

But the real discovery comes through experience.

Without an inner anchor, life can feel like being constantly pushed around by circumstances. With greater self-awareness, individuals can begin to shape their lives more consciously.

The Vedic tradition describes consciousness through a powerful metaphor.

The mind, with its thoughts and emotions, is like the surface of the ocean, constantly moving with waves.

But deep beneath the surface, the ocean remains calm and silent. Meditation, in this view, allows people to discover that deeper level within themselves.

Because ultimately, Dr. Nader suggests, we are not just the waves. We are the entire ocean.

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First Published: March 16, 2026, 11:14 IST

News lifestyle health-and-fitness Why Consciousness And Meditation Matter More Than Ever In Todays Overstimulated World
Flights To Dubai Cancelled: IndiGo's Urgent Travel Advisory As Airports In Dubai Suspend Landing Permission

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 23:03 IST

Dubai International Airport halted landing permissions after a fuel tank fire near the airport, forcing airlines to divert and cancel flights.

Flights To Dubai Cancelled: DXB Suspends Landing Permissions, Airlines Issue Urgent Travel Advisory

Dubai, one of the worlds busiest travel hubs and a favourite destination for Indian travellers, witnessed major aviation disruptions at the start of the week after authorities suspended landing permissions for foreign airlines at the citys main airports.

The decision, which applies to both Dubai International Airport (DXB) and Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC), was communicated to international operators through an official notice titled Suspension of landing permission at the DXB/DWC airport(s) in the Emirate of Dubai." The directive stated that the move was taken due to the prevailing situation within the region" and prioritised the safety of passengers, airline crew and airport staff.

According to the communication sent to airlines, landing permissions for aircraft operating into Dubai have been suspended until further notice, with authorities promising further updates once the situation stabilises.

Drone Attack Triggers Flight Disruptions

The suspension came after a fire broke out in a fuel tank near Dubai International Airport earlier in the day following a reported drone attack. The incident forced aviation authorities to immediately halt several operations at the airport.

Flight tracking platform Flightradar24 reported that multiple flights approaching Dubai were either placed on hold or diverted. Aircraft that were already close to DXB were rerouted to Dubai World Central (DWC) (the citys secondary airport) while others were redirected to alternative airports across the region. Several flights even turned back to their origin cities.

Among those affected were Emirates flights departing from Hyderabad and Thiruvananthapuram, which had to return mid-journey due to the disruption.

Airlines Cancel Dubai Flights

Following the landing suspension, several airlines, including Indian carriers, cancelled scheduled flights to Dubai. Budget airline IndiGo confirmed the development on social media, advising passengers to monitor their flight status.

The airline posted:

As per the latest update issued by Dubai Airport authorities, landing permissions for aircraft operating into DXB have been suspended until further notice in view of the prevailing situation in the region."

Passengers travelling to and from Dubai were urged to check flight updates online before heading to the airport, as airlines continue to monitor developments in the region.

Travel Update: Dubai FlightsAs per the latest update issued by Dubai Airport authorities, landing permissions for aircraft operating into DXB have been suspended until further notice in view of the prevailing situation in the region. Customers travelling to/from Dubai are  IndiGo (@IndiGo6E) March 16, 2026

Dubai: A Critical Hub For Indian Travellers

The disruption is particularly significant for Indian aviation, as Dubai remains the single largest international destination for Indian airlines and travellers. Multiple daily flights connect Indian cities to the emirate, making it one of the busiest international routes for carriers operating out of India. With landing permissions currently suspended, it remains uncertain when regular flight services between India and Dubai will resume.

Passenger Numbers Drop As Travellers Avoid The Region

Even before the latest disruption, airlines had begun noticing a sharp drop in passenger demand for Dubai routes. Internal aviation data reviewed by Bloomberg suggests that flights arriving in Dubai have been operating with unusually low passenger loads as travellers avoid the Persian Gulf region amid ongoing tensions.

The impact has been especially visible on long-haul routes from Europe and the United States. Some inbound flights from Prague and Budapest were reportedly operating at just 510 per cent capacity, while flights arriving from New York carried only about 20 per cent of their typical passenger load.

In one extreme case, an Airbus A380  an aircraft that normally seats nearly 500 passengers  landed in Dubai with fewer than 35 passengers on board. Flights from Chicago have also been operating with large numbers of empty seats.

What Travellers Should Do Now

With the suspension still in place, travellers planning trips to Dubai are advised to regularly check airline websites and official airport updates for the latest information. Airlines have also urged passengers to avoid heading to the airport without confirming the status of their flights.

For now, the timeline for the resumption of normal flight operations into Dubai remains unclear as authorities continue to assess the regional situation.

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First Published: March 16, 2026, 23:03 IST

News lifestyle travel Flights To Dubai Cancelled: IndiGo's Urgent Travel Advisory As Airports In Dubai Suspend Landing Permission
In the race to make EVs more affordable there are two U.S. winners in 2026: the Tesla Model Y and Chevrolet Bolt.

Price, not propulsion system, is still the biggest hurdle for Americans when considering an EV. Despite being the second-best year on record for EV sales in the U.S., total market share for EVs was 7.8%, down from 8.1% in 2024, according to Kelley Blue Book.

Affordability has been one of the most significant headwinds for broader EV adoption, and it still is, said Kevin Roberts, Director, Economic and Market Intelligence for CarGurus, an automotive research and shopping website, in an email. The average new EV list price on CarGurus is over $57,000, which puts the segment out of reach for a large share of the market, he said.

Chart notes: (1) Rivian says there are 90.1 cubic feet of total storage space, thanks to dual glove boxes and a 5.2-cubic-foot front trunk, or frunk. (2) **2027 Chevy Bolt LT price is slated for later this year. Currently, the lowest price is $29,990. (3) The Rivian R2 Launch Edition is close in pricing and specs to the Tesla Model Y Performance at about $59,130. (4) Rivian R2 Launch Edition curb weight is estimate. Source: Manufacturer data; Chart by Brooke Crothers / Gemini AI

Chevrolet Bolt, Tesla Model Y Handily Beat Rivians Least Expensive EV On Price

General Motors is leading the affordability competition this year with both the 2027 Chevrolet Bolt, priced starting at $28,995, and the No. 3 bestselling American electric, the Equinox EV, starting around $35,000. Tesla, meanwhile, continues to make the No.1 Model Y more affordable with a new base AWD trim priced around $43,000 including fees. By comparison, the R2 Launch Edition  Rivians most affordable EV to date due this spring  is priced at $59,495. (The base R2  Rivians least expensive model priced at $45,000  isnt expected until late 2027. A $53,990 Premium R2 is coming later this year and a $48,490 version coming in early 2027.)

Chinese EVs Not R2-Friendly

Established U.S. EV manufacturers like GM and Tesla arent pushing prices down simply to sell more EVs but to be on a more competitive global footing with Chinese EV manufacturers like BYD and Xiaomi. Rivian, still a relative upstart, has some work to do here. While the R2 adds a credible option in the midsize crossover space, this new entrant likely wont shake things up for the EV segment, said CarGurus Roberts. As Chinese EVs have demonstrated globally, the real opportunity is in the value play. If we can see more EVs priced in the $30,000 to 40,000 range or lower, thats where demand could really start to intensify, he said. The $29,000 Bolt brings American EVs into a price tier thats been almost entirely absent from the new market across all powertrains, according to Roberts.
Travelling With Strangers? Here's Why Gen Z And Millennials Cant Get Enough Of This Viral Travel Trend

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 12:41 IST

Solo but not alone; millennials and Gen Z are signing up for curated group trips with strangers, turning travel into a space for connection, friendships, and shared experiences.

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From bus rides to beach bonfires, stranger trips are redefining travel for Gen Z and millennials. (Image-iStock)

Why are millennials and Gen Z paying to travel with strangers? The rising trend of solo-group trips is transforming tourism with shared adventures, unexpected friendships, and connections. For a generation that grew up online but enjoys travelling alone, a new trend is reshaping tourism: paying to explore the world not with family, but with strangers.

At a glance, the concept sounds confusing and unusual, yet for many young travellers, it offers something traditional vacations often fail to deliver. These trips promise freedom without loneliness, adventure without any restrictions, and a chance to connect with the people who share the same curiosity about the world.

Rise Of Community Travelling

For decades, organised group tours were largely associated with family vacations or pilgrimage buses filled with elderly travellers. Today, the image is quietly changing. A new generation of travellers is embracing a modern version of group travel, one where participants often start the journey as strangers. This emerging travel trend is often referred to as community travel or solo-group travel.

Across India and beyond, millennials and Gen Z are signing up for curated trips that bring solo travellers together from different cities, professions, and backgrounds. What might initially sound unique and unusual is quickly becoming the most preferred way to explore the world.

Several travel companies have recognised this shift and now design experiences specifically for young travellers. Platforms such as WanderOn, Thrillophilia, and Tripoto organise tours where strangers are grouped together based on destinations and travel interests.

Instead of worrying about booking hotels, planning itineraries, or researching transport routes, travellers can simply sign up and show up at the pickup spot. But the emotional aspect of these journeys is what makes them particularly appealing to millennials and Gen Z.

What Is Driving The Trend?

Modern urban lifestyles have gradually reshaped how friendships function. A large chunk of young professionals move away from their hometowns for work prospects or higher education, leaving behind their social circles. Over time, coordinating trips with old friends becomes increasingly difficult.

Community travel, on the other hand, offers a practical solution to the problem, allowing people to travel independently while still enjoying the presence of companions. For some travellers, the biggest surprise is how natural these interactions feel.

Ridhima, a 24-year-old marketing specialist currently on a group trip, admits she initially felt uncertain about travelling with people she did not know. But the hesitation faded quickly.

Im travelling with a group of strangers right now, and it feels surprisingly comfortable," she says. Everyone signed up for the same reason: to explore freely and meet people who are also looking for something different from the usual family trips."

For millennials and Gen Z, the journey itself has become more important than simply visiting landmarks. Although sightseeing remains one of the most important parts of the experience, what many travellers remember most are the shared moments, conversations during long bus rides, laughter over late-night meals, unplanned treks, and spontaneous detours to live up to the acronym YOLO.

These shared experiences can quickly break down the awkwardness between strangers.

Travelling Alone But Not Lonely

Kunal, a 25-year-old software engineer, experienced this during his first solo-group trip to Goa. I booked a trip where I did not know anyone in the group," he recalls. But by the second day, we were sitting on the beach, sharing snacks and drinks like we had known each other for years. It felt surprisingly freeing."

Such experiences highlight one of the key advantages of community travel: it removes the pressure that sometimes accompanies travelling with close friends or family.

When travelling with people who already know you well, expectations can sometimes shape the entire trip, such as what activities to do, where to eat, and how long to stay in a specific place. Travelling with strangers, on the other hand, often allows individuals to express themselves more freely.

Riya, a 37-year-old homemaker who joined a group trip within India, describes the experience as refreshing precisely because of this lack of familiarity. When you travel with strangers, nobody knows your routine or your background," she says. There is no judgment about how you live your life. Everyone is simply there to enjoy the journey."

A Generation Raised Online Seeks Real Connection

For many travellers, that sense of anonymity can feel comforting. Another factor contributing to the popularity of solo-group travel is the way younger generations have grown up interacting online. Many people are comfortable meeting new individuals through shared interests or communities, whether online or offline.

Travelling with strangers, therefore, does not feel as unusual as it might have once seemed. In fact, it often becomes an opportunity to build connections beyond digital spaces.

Many travellers describe these trips as a chance to step away from screens and engage more deeply with the people around them. Group treks, cultural activities, and shared accommodations naturally encourage conversation, creating opportunities for friendships to develop organically.

Experiences Young Travellers Seek

The popularity of solo-group trips has also changed the kinds of experiences travellers look for. Traditional sightseeing tours are gradually giving way to immersive activities that feel authentic.

Spiritual Destinations

Spiritual and wellness destinations have become increasingly popular among solo-group travellers looking for more meaningful experiences. Cities such as Rishikesh, Varanasi, and Dharamshala attract visitors interested in yoga retreats, meditation sessions, and cultural immersion.

Cultural Retreats

Another popular travel experience is visiting cultural destinations across the country. Historic cities such as Jaipur and Udaipur are increasingly being explored through guided heritage walks, artisan workshops, and local culinary tours. Experiencing culture as a group can transform historical sites from static monuments into shared stories, sparking conversations that continue long after the tour ends.

Adventure Travel

Adventure travel is another major draw. From trekking routes in Ladakh to nature trails in Meghalaya and rafting in Rishikesh, group expeditions allow travellers to challenge themselves while relying on the encouragement of fellow participants. Completing a difficult hike or navigating a challenging trail together often creates a bond that lasts beyond the trip itself.

Coastal Destinations

Top coastal spots like Goa and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands continue to draw travellers seeking relaxed social settings. Places like Goa and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands provide the kind of easy-going atmosphere where strangers can quickly bond, whether during scuba-diving sessions or simple beachside gatherings.

A Safer Way To Travel

For many travellers, especially women, organised group journeys feel safer than travelling completely alone. The presence of a trip coordinator, structured itineraries, and a group environment can provide reassurance in unfamiliar destinations.

Budget is another important factor influencing the trend. Shared accommodations and group bookings often reduce travel costs, making certain experiences more accessible to younger travellers who might otherwise find them expensive.

Convenience is another important factor. With transportation, lodging and activities arranged in advance, participants can focus on enjoying the journey instead of spending weeks planning it.

Strangers Today, Friends Tomorrow

What makes these journeys special is their unpredictability. No one knows exactly who will join the trip or how the trip will unfold. Yet that uncertainty often becomes the most exciting part of the experience.

Travellers arrive as strangers, carrying different stories, expectations, and backgrounds. Shared adventures often accelerate friendships in ways that everyday life rarely allows.

Many travellers frequently stay in touch long after returning home, planning reunions or future trips together. For a generation that values experiences over possessions, these memories often become more meaningful than traditional souvenirs.

The rise of community travel suggests that tourism is evolving in response to changing social dynamics. For a generation searching for connection in an increasingly digital world, travelling with strangers may seem unconventional. Yet for many millennials and Gen Z travellers, it is becoming the most meaningful way to explore the world.

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First Published: March 16, 2026, 12:41 IST

News lifestyle travel Travelling With Strangers? Here's Why Gen Z And Millennials Cant Get Enough Of This Viral Travel Trend

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Arjun Rampals Paris Vacation With Gabriella And Kids Is All About Family Goals

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 16:14 IST

Arjun Rampal and Gabriella Demetriadess vacation diaries gave a sneak peek of his family time in the picturesque location, packed with love, laughter and fun.

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Dhurandhar 2 will release on March 19. (Photo Credit: Instagram)

Arjun Rampal recently took some time off his busy schedule to spend some quality time with his family. The actor, who is awaiting the release of the most-awaited sequel Dhurandhar: The Revenge, was recently holidaying with Gabriella Demetriades, and their sons, Arik and Ariv, in Paris. Allowing a peek into their fun getaway, Arjun has now dropped a bunch of pictures on Instagram.

His vacation diaries gave a sneak peek of his family time in the picturesque location, packed with love, laughter and fun. Gabriella posed for a picture with their sons in the first picture of the album. It is followed by a picture of the actor enjoying a toy car ride with his son. Next, there was a heartwarming frame of Arjun and Gabriella with their sons. But our favourite slide is the selfie of the couple in the picturesque location.

Captioning the post, Arjun gave a nod to his upcoming film. He wrote, My crew is ready!!! Is yours??? See you 19th March #Dhurandhar2 Mayhem loading." Ranveer Singh reacted to the post with several red heart emoticons.

Arjun Rampal and Gabriella Demetriadess Relationship

The couple have been in a romantic relationship ever since they met through mutual friends. Love blossomed soon between the two and Arjun welcomed his first son, Arik, with girlfriend Gabriella in 2019. Arjun and Gabriella welcomed their second son in 2023, whom they named Ariv.

Before Gabriella, Arjun Rampal was married to Mehr Jessia. After 20 years of marriage, the couple parted ways in May 2018. They were parents to two daughters, Mahikaa Rampal and Myra Rampal.

What We Know About Dhurandhar: The Revenge?

Made under the direction of Aditya Dhar, Dhurandhar: The Revenge promises darker, grittier, and far more explosive scenes. The film will show a new chapter of undercover agent Jaskirat Singh Rangi aka Hamza Ali Mazaris mission in Karachi, Pakistan, as he takes over Rehman Dakaits legacy to become the new Sher-e-Baloch and the undisputed king of Lyari.

The high-octane spy-action thriller brings back Arjun Rampal as Major Iqbal of the ISI, Sanjay Dutt as SP Chaudhary Aslam of Sindh Polices Lyari Task Force, and R Madhavan as Ajay Sanyal, the Director of the IB (a character inspired by Ajit Doval). The film will release in theatres on March 19 in five languages Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada, running for approximately 235 minutes.

Dhurandhar 2s Global Collection

In India, the films all-India advance booking collection has already reached approximately Rs 31.9 crore. Other markets, particularly North America, are contributing significantly to advancing sales. The worldwide pre-sales for the full opening weekend are estimated to be around $4.05 million (approximately 37 crores), signalling a promising start for the action-packed sequel when it arrives in cinemas worldwide on March 19.

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First Published: March 16, 2026, 16:14 IST

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Oscars 2026: Priyanka Chopra Joins Javier Bardem To Present Best International Feature Film Award

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 07:55 IST

Priyanka Chopra presented the Best International Feature Oscar with Javier Bardem at the 2026 Academy Awards while dazzling in a white Dior gown.

Priyanka Chopra Presents Oscar in Glam White Dior Gown.

Priyanka Chopra made a striking appearance at the 98th Academy Awards as she took the stage to present the award for Best International Feature Film. The actor was called up by host Conan OBrien during the ceremony held at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, joining Spanish actor Javier Bardem to announce the winner in the global cinema category.

Priyanka Chopra turned heads in a strapless white gown, which featured ruched detailing and a thigh-high slit. The elegant look, paired with statement diamond jewellery and soft waves, gave the moment a classic red-carpet feel as she walked on stage to present one of the evenings major awards.

Standing beside her, Bardem briefly used the moment to make a political statement, saying Free Palestine." Priyanka was seen smiling next to him as the two continued with the presentation.

The pair then introduced the nominees for the Best International Feature Film category before announcing the winner. The award ultimately went to Sentimental Value, directed by Joachim Trier. The film won over the other nominees in the category to take home the Oscar.

Director Joachim Trier, in his speech, said, This film is about a very dysfunctional family, and its the opposite of what I felt with this beautiful group behind me. I think Ive made films to feel at home with people, and Ive really felt at home with the crew. Theres 1,072 people on these credits, and I love them all, and I share this with them. The cast behind me, Ive never been so proud. Thanks for wanting to work with me. My real family, my mom and dad for showing me movies."

He went on to add, Because Im in this category and I feel I represent global filmmakers in a moment like this, I just want to recognize the wonderful films we were nominated together with, important, beautiful film that reflect our present crisis and the crisis of the past."

Priyanka Chopras appearance marked a big moment of Indian representation at the ceremony. While Indias official submission Homebound, directed by Neeraj Ghaywan and starring Ishaan Khatter, Vishal Jethwa and Janhvi Kapoor, did not secure a nomination in the international feature category this year, Chopras presence on stage ensured that an Indian star was part of the global spotlight on Hollywoods biggest night.

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First Published: March 16, 2026, 07:55 IST

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Vivek Oberoi BREAKS Silence On Dubai Amid IsraelIran Conflict, Says Life Remains Calm And Normal

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 16:30 IST

Vivek Oberoi addresses the situation in Dubai amid the IsraelIran conflict, saying businesses are adapting and life continues with calm normalcy.

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Vivek Oberoi speaks about life in Dubai amid the IsraelIran conflict, saying businesses are adapting and daily life continues with a sense of calm normalcy.

Actor and entrepreneur Vivek Oberoi recently addressed concerns about the situation in the Middle East amid the ongoing IsraelIran conflict, sharing his perspective on life and business in Dubai during the turbulent period. The Bollywood actor, who runs a successful business in the emirate, said that despite global perceptions of instability, the reality on the ground in Dubai remains stable and forward-moving.

Vivek is currently in India shooting for Spirit, but recently spoke about his experiences in Dubai and how businesses there are adapting to the changing geopolitical landscape.

Vivek Oberoi Says Dubai Businesses Are Adapting And Evolving

In an interview with Firstpost, Vivek dismissed claims that the ongoing conflict has severely disrupted business activity in Dubai. According to him, companies in the city have shown resilience and the ability to adjust to shifting circumstances.

There is an old saying: The storm does not disturb the fish in the deep sea. While the world outside often views us through a lens of distortion, the reality on the ground is a defiance of that narrative," he said.

Vivek added that Dubai continues to function with remarkable energy and confidence despite global uncertainty.

Dubai isnt just functioning; it has found a higher gear. You can feel it in the buzzing markets and the electric energy in our officesa conviction that comes when you are part of a community that knows its purpose. We arent just open for business; we are a global benchmark for progress and stability. Our companies arent merely surviving; they are adapting and evolving, mirroring the unshakeable, forward-leaning spirit of the UAE," he explained.

Actor Relieved To Reunite With Family

While emphasising that daily life in Dubai remains largely normal, Vivek admitted that he felt immense relief after recently reuniting with his family there. The actor said the experience of being back with his wife and children during uncertain times gave him a sense of calm.

The moment I landed in Dubai and saw my kids, the weight of the world just fell away. They were laughing over a board gamea scene of such profound, calm normalcy," he shared.

He also expressed gratitude towards the UAE leadership for maintaining stability and security in the country.

As a father, your priority is always their peace of mind. Under the visionary leadership of this nation, we are grateful that our daily lives remain focused on family and growth, providing a secure environment where children can simply be children," Vivek said.

People Abroad Are Misreading The Situation

Responding to questions about security concerns or rising regional tension in Dubai, Vivek said many people outside the region are misunderstanding the situation.

That is exactly what people abroad are fundamentally getting wrong; they are mistaking the razor-sharp precision of caution for the tremors of fear," he said.

According to him, the UAEs governance and security framework have ensured that residents continue to feel safe.

In reality, the UAE leadership deserves immense recognition. While uncertainty elsewhere can lead to division, here the leadership fosters unity. We are living within a highly sophisticated framework of security where everyone is protected without differentiation," he added.

Fire Near Dubai Airport Leads To Temporary Flight Suspension

Meanwhile, reports recently emerged about a major fire incident near Dubai International Airport after a drone struck a fuel tank in the vicinity. According to reports cited by The Indian Express, the incident prompted authorities to temporarily suspend flight operations as a precautionary measure.

On Monday, the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority confirmed that flights at the airport had been halted briefly to ensure safety following the fire.

Despite the incident, officials indicated that the suspension was a precautionary step and part of the citys broader security response measures.

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First Published: March 16, 2026, 16:30 IST

News movies bollywood Vivek Oberoi BREAKS Silence On Dubai Amid IsraelIran Conflict, Says Life Remains Calm And Normal
Why Has Salman Khan's Battle Of Galwan Title Changed To Maatrubhumi? Director REVEALS 'It Was Never...'

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 16:08 IST

The new title was announced by Salman Khan Films, which also dropped a fresh poster of the film.

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The director said that this was not an overnight decision.

Salman Khans upcoming war drama with director Apoorva Lakhia has undergone a major title change. The film, which was earlier titled Battle of Galwan, has now been officially renamed Maatrubhumi: May War Rest in Peace. Now, director Apoorva Lakhia has explained the reason behind this change.

Apoorva Lakhia told HTCity, Changing the title may feel sudden to SK sirs fans, but it was never an overnight decision. From the start, we had registered two titles- Battle of Galwan and Maatrubhumi. As we went through the journey of making our film, we realised it was never just about a battle. At its heart, the film is about humanity, empathy, and the silent battles our soldiers fight."

He added, Maatrubhumi: May War Rest in Peace captures that emotion and sacrifice far more truthfully. It reflects the soul of the story  preserving humanity even in the face of conflict. Theres also a song in the film by the same name, and the love it has received from audiences made the title feel even more right."

The update has quickly become a talking point among fans and industry watchers because the movie is inspired by the sensitive Galwan Valley clash between Indian and Chinese troops in 2020, one of the most discussed military confrontations in recent years.

That incident drew global attention and remains one of the most significant military stand-offs between the two countries in recent years. Because the story touches on real events and geopolitical tensions, the film has already generated debate even before its release. Reports have previously suggested that the makers may seek clearances from authorities due to the sensitive subject matter tied to the military conflict.

The new title was announced by Salman Khan Films, which also dropped a fresh poster carrying the message May War Rest in Peace." The tagline shows that the makers want the film to be more than just a war story. It focuses on the human side of war and the importance of peace.

Maatrubhumi: May War Rest in Peace is currently scheduled to arrive in cinemas on April 17, 2026. However, industry reports suggest that the release could shift to mid-August, aligning with the Independence Day weekend.

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First Published: March 16, 2026, 16:08 IST

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Jessie Buckley Makes Oscars History, Becomes First Irish Actor To Win Best Actress For Hamnet

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 09:05 IST

Jessie Buckley made history at the 98th Oscars, winning Best Actress for Hamnet, directed by Chloe Zhao. She is the first Irish performer to win this category.

Jessie Buckley Makes Oscars History As First Irish Best Actress Winner.

It was a night of big emotions and even bigger history at the Academy Awards as Jessie Buckley delivered one of the ceremonys most heartfelt moments. The Hamnet star took home the Best Actress trophy at the 98th Oscars, becoming the first Irish performer ever to win the category.

Buckley received the honour for her performance in Hamnet, a historical drama directed by Chloe Zhao. The ceremony took place at the Dolby Theatre and was hosted by Conan OBrien, who returned to lead the show for a second year.

The win marked Buckleys second Oscar nomination. She had previously been nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in The Lost Daughter.

Despite the competitive field, Buckley had been widely tipped as the frontrunner heading into the ceremony. Throughout the awards season, she swept several major honours, including trophies at the BAFTA Awards, the Golden Globe Awards, the Critics Choice Awards and the Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Still, the actor appeared overwhelmed as she stepped onto the stage to accept the award.

This is really something," Buckley began before thanking her fellow nominees Rose Byrne (If I Had Legs Id Kick You"), Kate Hudson (Song Sung Blue"), Renate Reinsve (Sentimental Value") and Emma Stone (Bugonia"). I am inspired by your art and your heart, and I want to work with every single one of you," she said.

Buckley then turned her attention to her family, revealing that they had travelled from Ireland to attend the ceremony.

Mom, Dad, thank you for teaching us to dream and to never be defined by expectation but to care from your own passion."

She also shared an emotional moment with her husband, Freddie Sorensen, who watched from the audience.

I love you, man. I love you. Youre the most incredible dad. Youre my best friend, and I want to have 20,000 more babies with you."

Their eight-month-old daughter was not present at the ceremony, but Buckley joked about what the baby might be doing while her mother accepted an Oscar.

Buckley also acknowledged the creative team behind Hamnet, including Zhao and author-screenwriter Maggie OFarrell.

To get to know these incandescent woman and journey to understand the capacity of a mothers love is the greatest collision of my life."

The actor noted that the award carried extra significance because the ceremony coincided with Mothers Day in the United Kingdom.

I would like to dedicate this to the beautiful chaos of a mothers heart," Buckley said. We all come from a lineage of women who continue to create against all odds."

In Hamnet, Buckley plays Agnes, a woman who falls in love with a struggling Latin tutor named William Shakespeare, portrayed by Paul Mescal. The film follows their life together and the devastating loss of their son Hamnet, who dies during a plague outbreak. The story explores the familys grief and the tragedy that later inspired Shakespeares famous play Hamlet.

The film had a strong presence at this years Oscars, receiving eight nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director for Zhao and Best Adapted Screenplay for Zhao and OFarrell. It also earned nods in categories such as Best Original Score, Casting, Costume Design and Production Design.

Hamnet premiered at the Telluride Film Festival in August last year, where Buckleys performance quickly drew critical praise and early awards-season buzz.

For the actor, the win represents another milestone in a career that has steadily gained momentum with acclaimed performances in films like Women Talking and Wild Rose.

Buckley has already returned to theatres with her latest project, The Bride!, which reunites her with Maggie Gyllenhaal, who directed her in The Lost Daughter. Looking ahead, she is set to appear in Three Incestuous Sisters, directed by Alice Rohrwacher, alongside Dakota Johnson, Saoirse Ronan and Josh OConnor.

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First Published: March 16, 2026, 09:05 IST

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KPop Demon Hunters Wins Best Animated Film Oscar: This Is for Korea And Koreans Everywhere

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 06:13 IST

KPop Demon Hunters wins Best Animated Feature at Oscars, celebrating Korean culture and breaking records with historic wins for female Asian filmmakers.

KPop Demon Hunters creates history.(Photo Credit: X)

Netflixs KPop Demon Hunters emerged as the big winner at Sunday nights Academy Awards, taking home the Oscar for Best Animated Feature. The film, which became Netflixs most-watched movie ever, defeated Arco, Elio, Little Amelie or the Character of Rain, and Zootopia 2 to claim the prestigious award.

The films journey to the Oscars has been nothing short of remarkable. KPop Demon Hunters previously swept the Golden Globes, Critics Choice Awards, and the Producers Guild Awards, in addition to winning 10 Annie Awards. Directed by Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans and produced by Michelle L.M. Wong, the film also marked a historic milestone: Kang and Wong are the first female Asian filmmakers to win an Oscar in the Best Animated Feature category.

During her tearful acceptance speech, Kang expressed gratitude and reflected on representation in cinema. Thank you to the Academy and to all fans who got us here, and for those of you who look like me," she said. She added, Im so sorry that it took us so long to see us in a movie like this. But it is here. And that means that the next generations dont have to go longing. This is for Korea and for Koreans everywhere."

A sequel was announced this week, with Kang and Appelhans returning to direct and write the film, targeting a 2029 release. The follow-up project will kick off their new multi-year exclusive deal with Netflix in animation.

Golden Could Make K-Pop Music History

The films breakout song Golden is also a frontrunner for Best Original Song, competing against tracks from Sinners, Diane Warren: Relentless, Train Dreams, and Viva Verdi!. If it wins, Golden could become the first K-pop song to earn an Oscar. EJAE, who provides Rumis singing voice, along with Mark Sonnenblick and South Koreas Black Label (Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Zhun), could also make history as the first Koreans to win in this category.

EJAE shared how working on the film was transformative. This film challenged me a lot in writing, singing, and really had to make me dig deep in my Korean side," she said. She revealed that being dropped as a K-pop trainee as a child left her feeling insecure about her voice, but contributing to KPop Demon Hunters allowed her to embrace that side. It was actually a superpower that hurt that I had, and the pain that I went through kind of helped me write the songs."

She concluded emotionally, This movie saved me to be honest. It is just so beautiful and I feel so accepted. So thank you to the fans so much."

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Location : Los Angeles, United States of America (USA)

First Published: March 16, 2026, 06:13 IST

News movies hollywood KPop Demon Hunters Wins Best Animated Film Oscar: This Is for Korea And Koreans Everywhere
Oscars 2026: Paul Thomas Anderson Cracks Joke After Best Director Win, Says You Make A Guy Work Hard

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 09:38 IST

Paul Thomas Anderson won his first Best Director Oscar for One Battle After Another at the 98th Academy Awards, also winning Best Adapted Screenplay.

Paul Thomas Anderson Bags Best Director For One Battle After Another

After years of being one of Hollywoods most celebrated filmmakers without a directing Oscar, Paul Thomas Anderson finally had his big moment at the Academy Awards. The veteran director picked up the Best Director trophy for One Battle After Another at the 98th edition of the ceremony and the moment felt long overdue for many film lovers.

The ceremony took place at the Dolby Theatre, where Anderson walked on stage to accept the award after a career spanning more than three decades. Known for crafting some of the most acclaimed films in modern cinema, the filmmaker appeared visibly emotional as he addressed the audience.

You make a guy work hard for one of these. I really appreciate it," he said, drawing laughter from the crowd as he acknowledged the long wait that came after years of nominations.

Paul Thomas Anderson just won his FIRST Oscar after 14 nominationsI wrote this movie for my kids, to say sorry for the housekeeping mess that we left in this world were handing off to them. But also for the encouragement that they will be the generation that hopefully brings pic.twitter.com/d2Aa5BHmeu  Spencer Althouse (@SpencerAlthouse) March 16, 2026

Anderson, who had previously received 14 Oscar nominations across categories, also took a moment to recognise the other filmmakers competing alongside him. Referring to them warmly, he described the nominees as his classmates," highlighting the sense of camaraderie among directors.

There will always be some doubt in your heart that you deserve it," he added with humility. But there is no question about the pleasure of having it for myself."

The night proved especially memorable for Anderson because the Best Director honour was not his only win. Earlier during the ceremony, he had already collected the Best Adapted Screenplay award for One Battle After Another, making it a double victory for the filmmaker.

Over the years, Anderson has built a formidable reputation through a string of acclaimed films including Boogie Nights, Magnolia, There Will Be Blood, Inherent Vice, Phantom Thread and Licorice Pizza. Each of these projects earned critical praise and several awards nominations, further cementing his reputation as one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary filmmaking.

His latest film, One Battle After Another, stood out this awards season for its gripping storytelling, dark humour and ambitious visual style. Critics particularly praised the films pacing and cinematography, including a high-speed car chase sequence that quickly became one of the years most talked-about scenes.

For many observers, Andersons win felt like a moment of overdue recognition. Despite decades of influence on modern cinema, the director had never previously taken home the Oscar for Best Director, something that changed on this years stage.

Anderson acknowledged the people who supported him along the way, noting that his path to the Oscars was possible because of peoples faith and time."

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First Published: March 16, 2026, 09:38 IST

News movies hollywood Oscars 2026: Paul Thomas Anderson Cracks Joke After Best Director Win, Says You Make A Guy Work Hard
Oscars 2026: Priyanka Chopra Reacts As Javier Bardem Says Free Palestine On Stage

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 09:42 IST

Priyanka Chopra presented Best International Feature Film at the 98th Oscars as Javier Bardem said No to War and Free Palestine, drawing applause.

Priyanka Chopra Presents Oscar in Glam White Dior Gown.

Priyanka Chopra made a striking appearance at the 98th Academy Awards as she took the stage to present the award for Best International Feature Film. The actor was called up by host Conan OBrien during the ceremony held at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, joining Spanish actor Javier Bardem to announce the winner in the global cinema category.

Javier Bardem at the #Oscars: No to war and Free Palestine!" pic.twitter.com/z00bfq2jXn Deadline (@DEADLINE) March 16, 2026

On the Oscars stage, Javier Bardem delivered a strong political message while presenting the Best International Feature Film award. The actor said No to War" and Free Palestine," prompting loud applause from the audience inside the theatre.

The phrase Free Palestine" is widely used by activists and supporters who call for an end to the conflict and for greater freedom, rights and self-determination for Palestinians. In recent months, the slogan has appeared at protests, public events and even award ceremonies, as many public figures have used their platforms to express solidarity and demand peace in the region.

Standing beside him on stage, Priyanka Chopra smiled and nodded as Bardem made the statement before the two continued with the presentation.

Chopra then spoke about the power of global storytelling while introducing the nominees for Best International Feature Film. Reflecting on cinemas ability to connect audiences across cultures, she said, Visceral and engrossing. They remind us that international is never truly far away."

Director Joachim Trier, in his speech, said, Because Im in this category, I feel I represent global filmmakers, and in a moment like this, I just wanna recognize the wonderful films we were nominated together with. Important, beautiful films that reflect our present crisis and the crisis of the past. And I want to end by paraphrasing the wonderful American writer James Baldwin, who makes us remember that all adults are responsible for all children, and lets not vote for politicians who dont take this seriously into account."

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Location : Los Angeles, United States of America (USA)

First Published: March 16, 2026, 09:39 IST

News movies hollywood Oscars 2026: Priyanka Chopra Reacts As Javier Bardem Says Free Palestine On Stage
Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 12:48 IST

1 / 6 A 600-year-old gold treasure discovered earlier this year in Lakkundi village of Gadag district, Karnataka, during house foundation work has drawn widespread attention. The ornaments were found on January 10, when the Ritti family was digging the foundation for their new home and unearthed a small pot buried underground containing 466 grams of gold jewellery. In a fresh development, experts have estimated that the collection could be worth nearly Rs 8 crore. The Ritti family, who discovered the treasure, has now requested the state government to grant them one-fifth of the estimated value, that is, around Rs 1.6 crore. (Local18)

2 / 6 The discovery was made on January 10, when members of the Ritti family were digging the foundation for their new house in Lakkundi village. During the excavation, they came across a small pot buried in the ground, which contained several pieces of gold jewellery. The ornaments together weighed about 466 grams, and the discovery quickly drew attention across the region. In a notable gesture, the family voluntarily handed over the treasure to the authorities soon after it was found. (Local18)

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3 / 6 Following the discovery, officials from the Gadag District Administration visited the site and took the ornaments into custody for documentation and further examination. The items were later secured in the district treasury before being examined by experts to determine their historical significance and origin. To understand the historical background of the treasure, the Karnataka Government constituted a team of specialists that included art historians, epigraphy experts, archaeologists, and jewellery specialists. The team spent several hours studying the ornaments and analysing their design, craftsmanship, and materials. During the examination, each ornament was carefully photographed, the designs and craftsmanship were closely analysed and gemstones and materials used in the jewellery were examined in detail. (Local18)

4 / 6 The examination of the treasure was carried out by a specialised team comprising Raghavendra Kulkarni, an art historian; Choodamani Nandagopal, art historian and professor; Hanumapaksi Gogi, an epigraphy expert and historian; Prabhu Kammar, a goldsmith and gemologist; and Shejeshwar, an officer from the Department of Archaeology. After closely studying the artefacts, the team concluded that the gold jewellery most likely dates back around 500-600 years, offering important insights into the regions historical and religious heritage. (AI Generated)

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5 / 6 According to the findings, the ornaments appear to have been designed for adorning female deity statues, suggesting a possible connection with temple traditions in the region. Experts also noted that the jewellery contains precious stones such as sapphire, crystal, and coral, indicating the high craftsmanship and cultural importance associated with the artefacts. Following the initial discovery, authorities initiated excavation work in Lakkundi village to check whether more historical artefacts were buried in the area. During the excavation process, additional ancient objects were reportedly found, strengthening the belief that the site may hold considerable archaeological and historical significance. (Local18)
Credit: CBS

The Northern Iowa-St. Johns NCAA Tournament matchup was announced within a few minutes of Sundays fast-moving March Madness Selection Show on CBS, and the UNI squad in Cedar Falls was reactionless as CBS showed a camera shot of the team right after the announcement.

Way to go, Panthers! CBS host Adam Zucker said, ahead of laughter from the studio crew. Here it comes! Here it comes! Thats alright! Well move on.

Heres what Northern Iowas reaction looked like on the CBS NCAA Tournament Selection Show, unaware of its matchup and destination being determined. Adam Zucker and the CBS crew mocked the non-celebration.  #MarchMadness https://t.co/davtxz2u7i pic.twitter.com/2C4yl8LXOv  Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 16, 2026

Well, the Panthers didnt celebrate because they had no idea their name had been called on the Selection Show.

According to Mark Woodley of KWWL (NBC Waterloo, IA affiliate), CBS had sent [Northern Iowa] a direct feed that was supposed to be faster than the broadcast, however, someone at the network punched up something wrong, so all they saw was a feed of Hofstra celebrating when their selection came up.

UNI didnt actually hear their name called. CBS had sent them a direct feed that was supposed to be faster than the broadcast, however, someone at the network punched up something wrong, so all they saw was a feed of Hofstra celebrating when their selection came up.  Mark Woodley (@MarkWoodleyTV) March 15, 2026

Woodley posted a video on X of how Northern Iowa learned of its matchup and destination. In the video, you can hear audio of Hofstra celebrating on the big screen that the Panthers were watching. Northern Iowas Leon Bond III noticed on a side TV that the Panthers game had been revealed to the rest of America on CBS.

You can hear the audio from Hofstra which was celebrating on the big screen at the time (which was weird as they hadnt been selected yet), then Leon Bond noticed the bracket on one of the side TVs that was on the broadcast. https://t.co/TQRTfCOo9u pic.twitter.com/ZIJ4zwst4z  Mark Woodley (@MarkWoodleyTV) March 15, 2026

And what continued to make this situation weird was that, as Woodley notes, Hofstra hadnt been announced yet on the CBS broadcast. CBS revealed the Hofstra-Alabama matchup roughly 20 minutes after the Northern Iowa-St. Johns announcement.

When Northern Iowas name was called on CBS, this is the Hofstra celebration the team seemingly saw. Hofstras placement wasnt revealed until roughly 20 minutes after Northern Iowas was on CBS. pic.twitter.com/yIQ9WOzJhB  Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 16, 2026

So, that was an unfortunate and bizarre way for Northern Iowa to learn of its NCAA Tournament game.

Either way, the MVC Tournament champion Panthers are dancing, and they will take on St. Johns in Friday nights NCAA Tournament first-round action in San Diego.
Advise Congress MPs To: Ex-PM Deve Gowda Writes To Sonia Gandhi Over Parliament Disruptions

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 14:44 IST

Deve Gowda urged Sonia Gandhi, as a senior leader in the Opposition, to advise Congress leaders and MPs to restore discipline and uphold parliamentary norms

Rapid Read

Deve Gowda and Sonia Gandhi. (File)

Former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda has written to Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi expressing serious concern over the recent disruptions in Parliament, which he said were largely being led by Opposition parties, particularly Congress MPs.

In his letter dated March 16, Gowda said the chaotic scenes in and around Parliament  including slogan shouting, display of placards, dharnas and blockades  were unprecedented and risked damaging the foundations of Indias parliamentary democracy.

Drawing on his 65 years of public life, much of it spent in the Opposition, the former Prime Minister said protests must not undermine the dignity and traditions of Parliament. He noted that even during intense political disagreements in the past, parliamentary decorum was maintained.

Recalling the democratic values espoused by leaders such as Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, B. R. Ambedkar and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Gowda said the traditions they established should continue to guide parliamentary conduct.

While acknowledging that the role of the Opposition was both difficult and important, he said protests should take place within established parliamentary rules and traditions. He urged Gandhi, as a senior leader in the Opposition, to advise Congress leaders and MPs to restore discipline and uphold parliamentary norms.

Gowda said the Opposition had every right to protest, but cautioned that such actions should not weaken institutions built over the past 75 years of Indias democracy.

The ongoing Budget Session has witnessed repeated disruptions in both Houses, with Opposition MPs staging protests, raising slogans and displaying placards over a range of issues. The protests have frequently led to adjournments and stalled proceedings, with the government and Opposition trading accusations over the responsibility for the disruptions.

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First Published: March 16, 2026, 14:44 IST

News politics Advise Congress MPs To: Ex-PM Deve Gowda Writes To Sonia Gandhi Over Parliament Disruptions

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Mandate Of People Is Clear: Akhilesh Yadav Predicts Respectable Defeat For BJP In West Bengal

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News18.com Edited By: Shobhit Gupta



Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 12:24 IST

The SP leader further criticised the government over the ongoing LPG crisis, saying the term LPG now stands for lapata gas.

Akhilesh Yadav. (PTI)

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is heading for what he described as a respectable defeat" in West Bengal, claiming the party has failed to mount a serious challenge against the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC).

Speaking to the media in Mumbai after attending the Vision India programme, Yadav said the political mood in West Bengal indicated that Mamata Banerjee will return as Chief Minister. The mandate of the people is clear," he said.

The SP leader further criticised the government over the ongoing LPG crisis, saying the term LPG now stands for lapata gas," suggesting that the government has disappeared from addressing peoples daily concerns. Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said the prime minister had missed an opportunity to show leadership on the global stage. If the PM had acted, he could have stopped the situation and stood as Vishwa Guru," he said.

Commenting on the announcement of polling dates in four states and one Union Territory by the Election Commission of India, Yadav said the poll body must work to rebuild public trust. My message to the Election Commission is to conduct fair elections and not become a puppet of the BJP. It should prove its credibility this time," he said.

The Samajwadi Party leader also reaffirmed his partys support for the opposition INDIA alliance, saying it would back the coalition in all poll-bound states except Assam. He said the party could contest one seat in Assam while supporting the alliance.

Responding to recent remarks by Raj Thackeray on migrants from Uttar Pradesh, Yadav said such comments are often made to stir emotions during elections. He added that he shares cordial relations with Thackeray.

Yadav also criticised the SIR process in Uttar Pradesh, alleging that it had affected ordinary voters. He claimed even supporters of the ruling party faced difficulties due to the system.

He further raised concerns about technical problems affecting LPG cylinder bookings, saying people were facing errors while filling forms online and questioning the governments preparedness.

On the Maharashtra governments decision to make the Marathi language compulsory in schools, Yadav said he supports all Indian languages and noted that technology has made learning and communication easier.

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First Published: March 16, 2026, 12:23 IST

News politics Mandate Of People Is Clear: Akhilesh Yadav Predicts Respectable Defeat For BJP In West Bengal

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WhatsApp Now Allows Kids To Chat With Friends But Only With Parental Support: How It Works

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Last Updated: March 13, 2026, 10:40 IST

WhatsApp is now allowing pre-teens to use the messaging app but most of its features are locked and the controls are with parents.

WhatsApp wants to tap into the pre-teen users with the help of parents.

WhatsApp is letting kids and pre-teens use the messaging app which is a big change for the platform as it looks to battle the ongoing concerns regarding child safety on the internet. Meta is making drastic changes to the kids version of WhatsApp which can only run with parental controls and also missing a host of features that you can access through the regular version of WhatsApp.

Social media apps are getting banned for kids in some regions and parents are worried about the misuse of these platforms, especially WhatsApp where people can connect just with the access to the phone number. Online addiction is also a big reason why apps need to be better controlled and WhatsApp is one of the many to go in this direction.

WhatsApp For Kids Under 13: How To Set It Up

Parental controls are not new as a concept and WhatsApp is merely integrating the existing system into its own platform. Heres how WhatsApp for the pre-teens is available and how people can make it work:

You need both the parent and kids devices next to each other

Scan the QR code that you can see on WhatsApp running on your kids phone

The device linking process will be a success

The main work starts after the linking is completed. Parents will have the control over all the activities on the kids app and also be given the ability to access the content and handle the privacy settings for their account. They can decide who can chat with the kids account, and even which group their kid can join on WhatsApp

More Privacy For Kids

The Kids version of WhatsApp does not have Channels, Status or even use features like disappearing chats and view-once photos. WhatsApp assures all the contents besides the parents are end-to-end encrypted which is now being legally challenged in the US but seems to be working in its usual form.

Kids accounts have an age limit and WhatsApp has a system in place wherein these users will be notified about the option to change their account to a standard profile without any parental controls.

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Location : Delhi, India, India

First Published: March 13, 2026, 10:40 IST

News tech WhatsApp Now Allows Kids To Chat With Friends But Only With Parental Support: How It Works

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Delhi Auto Driver Accused Of Overcharging In Social Experiment: Rs 600 Ka Rs 6,000 Maang Raha Hai

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 17:05 IST

Even as the traveller was about to make a payment of Rs 6,000, the auto driver never corrected him with the right price.

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The auto driver was ultimately exposed. (Photo Credit: Facebook)

A man played overly innocent and almost dumb to try and expose an auto driver in Delhi after enquiring about the charge for services to Connaught Place. In a video shared with the title, Biggest auto driver scammer" on Facebook, one could see this traveller reaching out to an auto driver and asking how much he would charge to take him to CP in New Delhi.

The traveller acted as if he were uncomfortable speaking in Hindi and could only pass on his query in broken English. He then asked the auto driver for the charge, to which the standing auto owner told him, Rs 600". Later on, the traveller told him, Tell me the right price?"

Sir, Right Price Is Rs 800

The auto driver then played a usual trick to get the price he wanted for the service. He tried convincing the traveller that he was actually offering him a discount because the real price was Rs 800. Sir, as you know, this is the nighttime.. a lot of traffic (is there)," said the auto driver, insisting that he had asked for the just price of Rs 600.

Moments later, the traveller, who was still acting dumb to ultimately expose the auto driver in his social experiment, wondered if the auto driver took payments online via UPI? Yes, online (is available)," said the auto driver, shaking his head in the affirmative.

It was at this point that the traveller started exposing the auto driver as he took out his mobile phone and typed 6,000 on his calculator instead of the 600 that were demanded and asked, this?". To which, the auto driver looked at the screen closely and despite learning that the customer had typed one zero extra, said, yes, this (is the price)."

How Can You Charge Me Rs 6,000

As the video continued, the traveller insisted on making a prior payment before entering the auto and visiting Connaught Place. He asked the auto driver to show him the UPI QR so that he could scan and make the online payment.

After scanning the QR, the man typed Rs 6,000 on the screen and before going through with the payment with his UPI pin, he showed it back to the auto driver and asked, are you sure?" He also showed it to a fellow auto driver, who asked which destination is this sum being asked for? Upon being told it was for CP, this auto driver suspected there was something off about the entire conversation and moved away.

But the original auto driver still didnt correct the traveller about the price on the screen, hoping somewhere that he would end up receiving Rs 6000 instead. It was now that the traveller caught him by yelling to his face, Are you for real? How can you charge me Rs 6,000 for this?" The driver never pleaded guilty in the matter and in a tone-deaf manner, said he was just going through with the payment.

The social experiment of the traveller worked, in that the auto driver never once asked him to correct his typo while he played dumb and said he was about to pay Rs 6000.

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Location : Delhi, India, India

First Published: March 16, 2026, 17:05 IST

News viral Delhi Auto Driver Accused Of Overcharging In Social Experiment: Rs 600 Ka Rs 6,000 Maang Raha Hai

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'Did They Boil It?': Bengaluru Cafe's 5% 'Gas Crisis' Fee On Lemonade Sparks Online Debate

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 16:38 IST

The unusual fee, applied on a bill for two mint lemonades, has left many users amused and some questioning its fairness.

The cafe in question, Theo Cafe, included the charge of Rs 17.01 on top of the drinks, which were priced at Rs 179 each.

A Bengaluru-based cafe has drawn attention on social media after adding a 5 per cent Gas Crisis Charge" to a customers lemonade order, sparking debate on social media platform X. The unusual fee, applied on a bill for two mint lemonades, has left many users amused and some questioning its fairness.

The cafe in question, Theo Cafe, included the charge of Rs 17.01 on top of the drinks, which were priced at Rs 179 each. After applying a 5 per cent discount and standard GST components, the final bill came to Rs 374.

A photo of the receipt has been widely shared, prompting reactions ranging from playful to critical.

Gas crisis charge" on a lemonade Source: r/bangalore pic.twitter.com/wkAU1QIsNl  Pakchikpak Raja Babu (@HaramiParindey) March 15, 2026

Some users joked, Nimbu garam karke daala hai kya?" and Next what? Bangalore charging for change in weather," while others questioned the legality and justification of the fee.

A few defended the cafe, noting that rising LPG costs could make such a small charge reasonable, though they suggested it should be optional for customers.

When a person is good to afford 179 for a mere lemonade which would otherwise cost 10-15, another 17 shouldnt burden any further. Also, a discount of 18 is already provided, nullifying the charge levied," a user wrote.

ALSO READ: LPG Crisis Or Panic Buying? Bookings Jump By 13 Lakh In A Day, Centre Asks States To Take Control

This comes amid disruptions in LPG supply across India. The war in West Asia have slowed shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, a key transit route for around 90 per cent of Indias LPG imports. India heavily relies on West Asia for roughly 60 per cent of its LPG needs, 50 per cent of natural gas, and 88 per cent of crude oil.

These disruptions have led to supply concerns, sporadic panic buying, and perceived shortages at restaurants, hotels, and public canteens.

Earlier today, the central government said that while the LPG situation remains concerning, there has been no complete shortage. CNG and PNG supplies are fully available, and petrol pumps have not reported any dry-ups.

The government also said they are prioritising domestic consumers, ensuring continuous LPG supply for households and priority sectors, and coordinating with states to prevent hoarding. Commercial sales have partially resumed.

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First Published: March 16, 2026, 16:33 IST

News viral 'Did They Boil It?': Bengaluru Cafe's 5% 'Gas Crisis' Fee On Lemonade Sparks Online Debate

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19 Indians Among 35 Held In UAE Over Misleading Content Amid West Asia Conflict

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 08:11 IST

The move follows rigorous monitoring of digital platforms to combat the spread of fabricated information and artificial content intended to incite public disorder.

Those detained have been referred for an expedited trial. (Representative Image)

The United Arab Emirates on Sunday ordered the arrest of 35 individuals, including 19 Indians, for publishing misleading and fabricated video clips on social media amid rising regional tensions linked to the war involving Israel, the United States and Iran.

According to the UAEs official news agency WAM, those detained have been referred for an expedited trial. The latest list includes 25 individuals of different nationalities  among them 17 Indians  and is separate from 10 people, including two Indians, whose arrests were ordered on Saturday, news agency PTI reported.

According to a statement released by the Attorney-General Dr Hamad Saif Al Shams, the move follows rigorous monitoring of digital platforms to combat the spread of fabricated information and artificial content intended to incite public disorder and undermine general stability.

Investigations and electronic monitoring revealed that the defendants were divided into three groups that committed various acts. These included the publication of real clips related to current events, the fabrication of clips using AI, and the promotion of a state practising acts of military aggression while glorifying its leadership and military actions," it said.

Investigations found that the accused were divided into three groups. The first group shared real video clips showing the interception of missiles over UAE airspace or gatherings of people watching such events, but added commentary and sound effects suggesting active attacks, which authorities said could cause public panic and expose the countrys defence capabilities.

This group comprised five Indians, one Pakistani, one Nepali, two Filipinos, and one Egyptian.

A second group was accused of publishing AI-generated visuals or reusing footage from incidents outside the UAE while falsely claiming they occurred within the country. According to officials, these clips showed scenes of explosions and missile strikes with national flags or dates added to make the claims appear credible.

This group, comprising seven individuals, includes five Indians and one each from Nepal and Bangladesh.

The third group allegedly circulated content praising a hostile state and its political and military leadership, portraying its military actions in the region as achievements. Authorities said such posts promoted hostile narratives and harmed national interests.

In this, five of the six accused are Indians, and one is Pakistani.

Two other individuals, both Indians, also face charges for similar offences, the statement said.

Officials said the offences are punishable under UAE law with at least one year in prison and a minimum fine of AED 100,000.

Such events have been exploited to disseminate misinformation intended to deliberately mislead the public while undermining national security, order and stability," he said.

Meanwhile, in Iran, authorities said around 500 people have been arrested for allegedly sharing information with enemies during the ongoing conflict. Police chief Ahmadreza Radan said some of the cases involved individuals accused of providing target information or filming strike locations and sending them to adversaries.

Iranian media reported additional arrests across several regions, including people accused of sharing location details of military assets or collecting information on sensitive infrastructure, as the conflict in the region continues to escalate.

(With inputs from agencies)

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Location : Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE)

First Published: March 16, 2026, 08:11 IST

News world 19 Indians Among 35 Held In UAE Over Misleading Content Amid West Asia Conflict

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After Strikes, Trump Wants To Capture Irans Crown Jewel Kharg Island

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 09:29 IST

Iran War Updates: US President Donald Trump is weighing the seizure of Kharg Island, Irans main oil export hub, as the war escalates.

US Considering Seizure Of Irans Kharg Island Oil Depot

Days after saying the United States had obliterated every military target" on Irans Kharg Island, US President Donald Trump is now weighing the possibility of seizing the islands critical oil depot, according to an Axios report citing American officials.

The move would require US troops on the ground if oil tankers continue to remain trapped in the Persian Gulf.

Why does Trump want Kharg Island?

Kharg Island, located in the Persian Gulf, is Irans main terminal for oil exports and a crucial part of the countrys energy sector. Often called Irans crown jewel", the island handles around 90-95 per cent of the countrys crude oil exports.

The terminal can load up to ten supertankers at the same time and has a loading capacity of roughly seven million barrels per day.

Despite heavy bombing of military facilities, Iranian state media said oil export operations on the island were continuing as normal.

The development comes as Trump has also threatened further strikes on the oil export hub and urged allies to deploy warships to secure the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for global energy supplies, while Iran has vowed to intensify its response.

US forces have continued to strike Iranian targets across the country, with particular focus on the Persian Gulf coast and Kharg Island, which lies about 15 miles off Irans coast and handles roughly 90 per cent of its crude exports.

Trump announced on Friday that he had ordered strikes on military installations on the island but spared its oil facilities. Speaking to NBC News on Saturday, he said the US may hit it a few more times just for fun".

Possible US ground operation in Iran

A senior White House official said no final decision had been taken on Kharg Island.

The president has made no decisions on Kharg Island," the official said, adding that the situation could change if efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz continue to stall.

The president is not going to wait around and let the Iranians dictate the pace of the conflict," the official added.

Another US official said Trump was drawn to the idea of seizing Kharg Island because it could deal what he described as an economic knockout of the regime" by cutting off Tehrans main source of oil revenue.

However, such a move would require US troops on the ground and could trigger Iranian retaliation against oil facilities and pipelines across Gulf countries, especially Saudi Arabia.

There are big risks. There are big rewards. The president isnt there yet and were not saying he will be," the official said.

Political support in Washington

US Senator Lindsey Graham praised Trumps decision to target Kharg Island, saying Irans economy would be annihilated" if it lost control of the oil hub.

Writing on X, he said, Seldom in warfare does an enemy provide you a single target like Kharg Island that could dramatically alter the outcome of the conflict. He who controls Kharg Island, controls the destiny of this war."

Kharg Island is a small coral island in the northern Persian Gulf, located about 25-30 kilometres off the Iranian coast near the port city of Bushehr.

It is also one of the few Gulf islands with natural freshwater, which supported settlements and trade in the region for centuries.

Earlier, Axios reported that the US military was considering seizing Kharg Island and separately sending special forces to secure Irans alleged stockpiles of highly enriched uranium.

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Location : Iran

First Published: March 16, 2026, 09:05 IST

News world After Strikes, Trump Wants To Capture Irans Crown Jewel Kharg Island

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Alliance Only On Paper? Pakistans Cautious Iran War Response Tests Saudi Defence Pact | Exclusive

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CNN-News18 Edited By: Apoorva Misra



Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 15:13 IST

Analysts say Pakistan seems unwilling, as a direct military role against Iran would risk retaliation from a nuclear-armed neighbour sharing a sensitive border

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Analysts say the move reflects Pakistans long-standing strategy of calibrated restraint in complex regional conflicts.

Pakistans restrained response to the escalating conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia has exposed the limits of the two countries recently signed defence pact, even as Islamabad insists it stands firmly with Riyadh.

The tensions intensified in March 2026 after Iranian strikes targeted Saudi assets, bringing into focus the Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement (SMDA) signed by the two countries in September 2025. The pacts central clause treats an attack on one as an attack on both, raising expectations in Riyadh that Islamabad would play a more direct role if hostilities escalated.

However, Pakistan has so far stopped short of deploying troops or offering direct combat assistance. While the government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has repeatedly reiterated unquestioned solidarity" with the kingdom, its response has been measured and largely diplomatic.

Senior-level engagements continue between the two sides. Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir held meetings in Riyadh on March 6-7 with Saudi Defence Minister Khalid bin Salman to discuss coordination and ways to halt Iranian strikes. Yet, despite these consultations, Islamabad has avoided activating the full military provisions of the defence pact.

Instead, Pakistan has opened a separate military front along its western border. The army has intensified operations against militant groups under Operation Ghazab Lil Haq, targeting Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan and Taliban-linked targets in neighbouring Afghanistan. The timing of the operationamid rising tensions in the Middle Easthas provided Islamabad with a justification for its limited engagement in the Saudi-Iran crisis.

Analysts say the move reflects Pakistans long-standing strategy of calibrated restraint in complex regional conflicts. A direct military role against Iran would risk retaliation from a nuclear-armed neighbour sharing a sensitive border. It could also inflame domestic sectarian tensions in a country with a significant Shia population.

For Saudi Arabia, the cautious stance has reportedly caused frustration. Riyadh had expected stronger backing under the 2025 defence pact, especially as Iranian attacks intensified.

Security experts note that the current episode highlights how the SMDA functions more as a diplomatic and symbolic instrument rather than a trigger for automatic military intervention.

The pattern also reflects Pakistans broader foreign policy approach of strategic ambiguity and multi-alignment. Over the years, Islamabad has entered formal security partnerships to secure financial aid, oil credits from Gulf states, military equipment from China, and previously security assistance from the United States while retaining flexibility in times of crisis.

As tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia continue to simmer, Pakistan appears determined to balance its commitments to Riyadh with its own security calculationsonce again walking a careful line between alliance and non-engagement.

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Location : Islamabad, Pakistan

First Published: March 16, 2026, 15:13 IST

News world Alliance Only On Paper? Pakistans Cautious Iran War Response Tests Saudi Defence Pact | Exclusive

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'Cuba Is A Failed Nation': Trump Says Talks Ongoing, Action Possible Soon

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 09:21 IST

President Trump hinted at a possible deal with Cuba or "other actions". Cuba's President Diaz-Canel confirmed talks to resolve differences amid Cuba's economic crisis.

US President Donald Trump (AFP)

US President Donald Trump indicated on Sunday that the United States could soon either reach an agreement with Cuba or take alternative measures, suggesting that changes in the historically strained relationship might occur swiftly.

Cuba is a failed nation. Cuba also wants to make a deal. And I think we will pretty soon either make a deal, or do whatever we have to do. Were gonna do Iran before Cuba," Trump said to reporters on Air Force One.

These remarks come at a time when tensions between Washington and Havana remain high due to years of sanctions, diplomatic friction, and disputes over migration and security. Both regional allies and investors are closely monitoring for any signs of a policy shift.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel announced on Friday that the country has initiated talks with the United States as it grapples with one of its most severe economic crises in decades.

These talks have been aimed at finding solutions through dialogue to the bilateral differences we have between the two nations," Diaz-Canels statement was quoted by Reuters.

He also expressed hope that the negotiations would help move the long-time adversaries away from confrontation."

Cubas economic crisis has been worsened by disruptions in imported oil, crucial for running power plants and transportation networks. Fuel shortages have led authorities to impose rolling electricity outages and limit some public services.

In recent weeks, Trump has made several statements suggesting that Cuba is on the brink of collapse or eager to make a deal with the United States. On Monday, he mentioned that Cuba might be subject to a friendly takeover," then added, it may not be a friendly takeover."

Despite the renewed contact, significant differences persist between the two governments. U.S. officials have indicated that any easing of pressure would likely require political and economic concessions from Havana, while Cuban leaders maintain that negotiations must respect the islands independence.

(Inputs From Agencies)

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Location : Washington D.C., United States of America (USA)

First Published: March 16, 2026, 09:21 IST

News world 'Cuba Is A Failed Nation': Trump Says Talks Ongoing, Action Possible Soon

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'Failed Nation': Why Cuba Is Donald Trump's Next Target After Iran

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 12:50 IST

Trumps remarks come as Cuba grapples with a severe economic and energy crisis, worsened by tighter US pressure and disruptions to its oil supplies.

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US President Donald Trump (IMAGE: REUTERS)

US President Donald Trump has escalated rhetoric against Cuba, calling the island nation a failed nation" while revealing that Washington is already engaged in talks with Havana and may take further action soon. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said the United States believes Cuba is eager to strike a deal and suggested that negotiations could either lead to an agreement or prompt other measures by Washington. However, he indicated that the ongoing war with Iran remains the immediate priority before any major move on Cuba.

Trumps remarks come as Cuba grapples with a severe economic and energy crisis, worsened by tighter US pressure and disruptions to its oil supplies. Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel has confirmed that discussions with the United States are taking place, expressing hope that dialogue could ease tensions while safeguarding the countrys sovereignty. Washington, however, has signalled that any improvement in relations would depend on major political and economic changes in Cuba, leaving open the possibility of tougher action if negotiations fail.

Trumps remarks have fuelled questions about why Cuba is suddenly back in Washingtons strategic spotlight, especially at a time when the United States is already deeply involved in the Middle East crisis. While tensions between the two countries have simmered for decades, the renewed focus on Havana reflects a mix of geopolitical calculations, regional politics in the Americas, and Cubas own worsening economic crisis. Heres looking at reasons why Cuba is Trumps next target after Iran:

Cuba Has Already Been Under Heavy US Pressure

One reason Cuba is back in focus is that the United States has already been steadily tightening pressure on the island well before the current Middle East crisis. The Donald Trump administration has reinstated Cuba on the US list of state sponsors of terrorism, a move that automatically triggers stricter sanctions and limits access to international finance. In addition, Washington has tightened restrictions on trade, travel and financial transactions, further isolating the Cuban economy. These measures are designed to squeeze Havana economically and diplomatically, increasing pressure on the government of Miguel Diaz-Canel.

The strategy reflects a broader attempt by Washington to force political and economic concessions from Cubas communist leadership. By escalating sanctions and cutting off financial lifelines, the US hopes to weaken the states ability to sustain itself while encouraging internal pressure for reforms. With the country already struggling with shortages of fuel, food and electricity, observers say the timing of renewed US pressure could be aimed at pushing Havana into negotiations from a position of vulnerability.

Cubas Deep Economic Crisis

Another major factor is the deep economic crisis currently gripping Cuba, which has made the island particularly vulnerable to external pressure. The country is facing one of its worst economic downturns in decades, marked by chronic fuel shortages, prolonged power cuts, and severe shortages of food and medicines. Much of the crisis has been worsened by reduced oil supplies and tighter US sanctions, which have strained Cubas already fragile economy and disrupted daily life across the island.

The deteriorating conditions have also sparked sporadic protests and growing public frustration, putting additional pressure on the government of Miguel Diaz-Canel. Against this backdrop, critics of Havana believe Washington may see the current moment as an opportunity to push for concessions or political changes. Donald Trump has repeatedly argued that Cubas leadership is struggling to keep the system afloat, suggesting that economic pressure could eventually force the government to negotiate on US terms.

Trumps Broader Strategy

It also fits into the broader geopolitical strategy of the administration of Donald Trump, which has increasingly focused on confronting governments seen as hostile to Washington. In recent months, the United States has taken an aggressive stance against Iran in the Middle East, while continuing to apply pressure on left-leaning governments in Latin America. Within this framework, targeting Cuba is seen by many analysts as part of a wider effort to reshape the political landscape in the Western Hemisphere.

Cuba has long maintained close ties with governments that are critical of US influence, particularly Venezuela, with whom it shares deep political, economic and security cooperation. For decades, Havana and Caracas have supported each other diplomatically while opposing US policies in the region. Because of these alliances and Cubas ideological position, policymakers in Washington often view the island as a key pillar of the anti-US bloc in Latin America. Increasing pressure on Cuba, therefore, is seen as a way to weaken that network and reassert US influence closer to home.

National Security Concerns Cited by US

Another reason cited by Washington is national security. Officials in the administration of Donald Trump argue that Cuba maintains close security and intelligence links with several US adversaries, which they say poses strategic risks given the islands proximity to the American mainland. Located barely 150 kilometres from the US state of Florida, Cuba has long been viewed in Washington through a security lens, dating back to Cold War tensions and the Cuban Missile Crisis.

US officials have alleged that Havana allows foreign intelligence operations linked to countries such as Russia and China to operate from its territory, potentially enabling surveillance activities close to US soil. Washington has also claimed that the Cuban government maintains relationships with groups and governments considered hostile to US interests. While Havana has repeatedly rejected such accusations, these concerns continue to shape US policy and are often cited as justification for maintaining sanctions and stepping up pressure on the island.

The US-Cuba History

The tense relationship between Cuba and the United States dates back to the Cold War, when the island shifted sharply into the Soviet camp after the Cuban Revolution of 1959 led by Fidel Castro. Before the revolution, Cuba had close political and economic ties with Washington. But Castros rise brought sweeping socialist reforms and the nationalisation of US-owned businesses on the island, triggering a rapid deterioration in relations. The United States responded with economic sanctions and diplomatic isolation, setting the stage for decades of hostility.

Tensions escalated dramatically in 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis, when the Soviet Union secretly deployed nuclear missiles in Cuba. The discovery brought the world to the brink of nuclear war, as the United States imposed a naval blockade around the island and demanded the missiles be removed. Although the crisis was eventually defused through negotiations between John F Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev, it cemented Cubas position as a key geopolitical flashpoint between Washington and its rivals.

In the decades that followed, relations remained largely frozen. The United States maintained a sweeping economic embargo on Cuba while Havana aligned itself politically and militarily with American adversaries. Although there have been brief periods of diplomatic thaw  most notably during the presidency of Barack Obama  mistrust has persisted, ensuring that Cuba continues to feature prominently in US strategic calculations even today.

Cuba, therefore, has long been a US adversary, and the current economic crisis, regional politics, and security concerns make it a strategic next pressure point for Washington after Iran.

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First Published: March 16, 2026, 12:50 IST

News world 'Failed Nation': Why Cuba Is Donald Trump's Next Target After Iran

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For The Purpose Of Rebuilding Iran: Trump Explains Why US Spared Oil Facilities On Kharg Island

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 23:53 IST

Donald Trump claimed the US attacked Kharg Island, destroying most facilities but sparing oil infrastructure. Iranian media reported the island remains secure and operational.

Trump claimed the US attacked Kharg Island, destroying most facilities but sparing oil infrastructure. (Image: AP)

Donald Trump said the United States carried out an attack on Kharg Island but deliberately avoided destroying the islands oil infrastructure.

Speaking about the operation, Trump said US forces targeted the island and destroyed most facilities there while leaving the oil pipelines intact.

We attacked Kharg Island and literally destroyed everything on the island except the area where the oil is. We left the pipes," Trump said.

.@POTUS: We attacked Kharg Island and literally destroyed everything on the island except the area where the oil is. We left the pipes. We didnt want to do that, but we could do that on 5 minutes notice. But for purposes of someday rebuilding Iran, we did the right thing. pic.twitter.com/q1dZyEcdbW Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 16, 2026

He added that the United States could have destroyed the oil facilities quickly but chose not to in order to avoid long-term damage to Irans energy infrastructure.

We didnt want to do that, but we could do that in five minutes notice. But for purposes of someday rebuilding Iran, we did the right thing," he said.

Kharg Island, located in the Persian Gulf about 25 kilometres off Irans coast, is the countrys most important oil export terminal. The island handles the majority of Irans crude oil shipments and serves as a critical hub for storage and loading facilities connected to mainland pipelines. Before the current conflict, analysts estimated that around 90% of Irans crude exports passed through the island, making it one of the most strategically important energy sites in the region.

However, Iranian media have pushed back against Trumps claims about the scale of the damage. Irans Mehr News Agency published footage from Kharg Island describing the situation as being in complete security and peace." The report said the island remains fully under the control of Irans armed forces and claimed that oil exports from the terminal are continuing without interruption.

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Location : Tehran, Iran

First Published: March 16, 2026, 23:43 IST

News world For The Purpose Of Rebuilding Iran: Trump Explains Why US Spared Oil Facilities On Kharg Island

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'Forced Disappearances Rising': Activists Accuse Pakistan Military Of Persecution In Balochistan

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News18.com Edited By: Pragati Ratti



Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 11:25 IST

Baloch rights groups claim that around 53 people have been forcibly disappeared since January 1 this year alone, alleging a systematic campaign to silence dissent.

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According to local sources and families of the missing, at least eight Baloch men have reportedly disappeared from different districts of the province in recent days.

Allegations of enforced disappearances in Pakistans Balochistan province continue to mount, with Baloch activists and families claiming that several individuals have recently been detained by security forces without any formal legal process. According to local sources and families of the missing, at least eight Baloch men have reportedly disappeared from different districts of the province in recent days.

Human rights activists say these incidents are part of a wider pattern. Baloch rights groups claim that around 53 people have been forcibly disappeared since January 1 this year alone, underscoring what they describe as a systematic campaign to silence dissent and suppress Baloch nationalist voices in the region.

Balochistan has long witnessed tensions between Pakistani authorities and Baloch nationalist groups, with activists accusing the military and intelligence agencies of routinely using enforced disappearances to intimidate political workers, students, and local residents. Rights groups say most detainees are picked up without arrest warrants, and their families are often left without any information about their whereabouts or legal status.

Among those recently reported missing is Saifullah, son of Attaullah, a resident of Killi Qambrani on Sariab Road, who was allegedly detained by Pakistani security forces. Another case involves Majeed, son of Ghulam Mohammad, a resident of Jiwani in Gwadar district, who local sources claim was taken into custody by Military Intelligence personnel along with members of the Frontier Corps.

Two brothers, Shams Zehri and Qamar Zehri, were reportedly detained in Khuzdar and later shifted to an undisclosed location. In another case, Amjad, a Baloch fisherman, was allegedly picked up from Karachis Mauripur area and later transferred to Ormara, with activists claiming that no case has been formally registered against him.

Families have also reported the disappearance of Balaach Peeral and Balaach Naseer from Kech district, while Abdul Ghani, a resident of Kharan district, was allegedly taken into custody by security forces but has not been officially shown as arrested.

Notably, activists point out that all the recent incidents of enforced disappearance have taken place during the holy month of Ramzan. Families say that since the detentions, they have neither been informed of the detainees locations nor have the individuals been produced before any court.

Despite repeated allegations by local human rights groups and international organisations, Pakistani authorities have consistently denied involvement in enforced disappearances in Balochistan. However, rights advocates maintain that the continued reports of such incidents highlight a long-standing human rights crisis in the province, where families of the missing continue to search for answers.

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First Published: March 16, 2026, 11:25 IST

News world 'Forced Disappearances Rising': Activists Accuse Pakistan Military Of Persecution In Balochistan

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'Haven't Seen Their Father Since 2022': Imran Khan's Ex-Wife Flags Visa Delays For Her Sons

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CNN-News18 Edited By: Oindrila Mukherjee



Last Updated: March 17, 2026, 00:16 IST

Jailed PTI leader Imran Khan's wife Jemima Goldsmith said this is an "appeal directly to Pakistan's PM Shehbaz Sharif" to intervene and allow her two sons to see their father

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Jemima Goldsmith urged the Pakistani government to facilitate a long-awaited reunion between former Pakistani PM Imran Khan and his two sons, Sulaiman Khan and Kasim Khan. (Image: AP/File)

Jailed PTI leader Imran Khans ex-wife, Jemima Goldsmith, issued a direct appeal to Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif over visa delays for her sons, who have not seen their father since 2022.

In a public plea for humanitarian access, Jemima Goldsmith urged the Pakistani government to facilitate a long-awaited reunion between Imran Khan and his two sons, Sulaiman Khan and Kasim Khan. She alleged that there have been significant administrative delays due to which the brothers have been unable to visit their father for an extended period, despite following official application protocols.

Goldsmith alleged that her sons have been denied" a reunion with their father due to stalled visa applications. She said they had applied for visas in January, yet they have faced a waiting period that far exceeds standard processing times.

She alleged that the discrepancy between official policy and their current experience was at odds with the normal process: the Pakistan consulate states that online visa processing normally takes seven to 10 working days". It has now been 60 days" without a resolution, she added.

Khans former wife said this delay has prompted her to raise questions" about why the visas are being withheld. She said this is an appeal directly to Pakistans PM Shehbaz Sharif" to intervene and please allow Imran Khans two sons to see their father (asap)".

She claimed her request to Sharif is based on a public promise", which reassured her that the brothers will be permitted to safely travel there to see their father after four years". Her sons have not seen him since he was shot in an assassination attempt in 2022, she added.

Goldsmith further flagged a total loss of communication between Khan and his sons, as the family is being denied even the most fundamental ways to keep in touch. She alleged that Imran Khans not allowed to speak to them on the phone, nor send him a letter".

She has demanded immediate restoration of phone calls, letters & visas" to ensure the family can maintain a connection during his time in prison. She said this is an urgent appeal as there have been reports of Khans ill-health in jail. The meeting is critical particularly since, by all accounts, his health is in decline" while in custody, she added.

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Location : Islamabad, Pakistan

First Published: March 17, 2026, 00:16 IST

News world 'Haven't Seen Their Father Since 2022': Imran Khan's Ex-Wife Flags Visa Delays For Her Sons

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Iran Launches Sejjil For 1st Time In Ongoing West Asia War. All About The Dancing Missile

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 07:27 IST

Because of its ability to manoeuvre at high altitude and potentially evade missile defence systems such as Israels Iron Dome, it has been nicknamed the dancing missile.

The Sejjil is an indigenously designed and developed two-stage ballistic missile powered by solid propellant. (X)

West Asia Conflict: As the tension rises in West Asia due to the ongoing war between Iran and Israel and the United States, Tehran on Sunday launched a series of advanced missiles targeting positions linked to Jerusalem and Washington, including the countrys domestically developed Sejjil missile, which was reportedly used for the first time since the war began on February 28.

According to Iranian news outlet Press TV, the Sejjil missile was among the weapons fired as the conflict in the Middle East entered its third week.

Iran using the Sejjil for the first time tells you everything.Liquid-fueled missiles take hours to set up With Israeli and U.S. eyes on every launcher, those are death traps. Solid fuel launches in minutes. But Iran has far fewer of them. The escalation is a sign of pic.twitter.com/dFNFX8BqKo  Open Source Intel (@Osint613) March 15, 2026

What Is The Sejjil Missile?

The Sejjil  also referred to as Sajjil, Ashoura or Ashura  is an indigenously developed two-stage ballistic missile powered by solid propellant. It is classified as a medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) with an estimated range of about 2,000 kilometres and a payload capacity of roughly 700 kilograms.

The missiles solid-fuel design allows it to be prepared and launched more quickly than older liquid-fuel systems such as the Shahab series, reducing the time available for adversaries to detect and intercept it.

Because of its ability to manoeuvre at high altitude and potentially evade missile defence systems such as Israels Iron Dome, it has been nicknamed the dancing missile."

According to the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the missile is about 18 metres long, has a diameter of around 1.25 metres and a launch weight of approximately 23,600 kilograms.

Work on the Sejjil system began in the early 1990s. The first test launch was conducted in 2008, when the missile reportedly travelled about 800 kilometres. A second test in 2009 was aimed at evaluating improvements to its guidance and navigation systems. Subsequent tests have reportedly demonstrated ranges of up to about 1,900 kilometres.

Iran is also believed to have developed multiple variants of the system, including the Sejjil-2, while reports have suggested that a possible Sejjil-3 variant could be under development.

Iran-US-Israel War Enters 3rd Week

The latest missile launch comes as the conflict between Iran, Israel and the United States enters its third week.

The fighting escalated after the United States and Israel carried out strikes on Iranian military and nuclear facilities last month. In response, Iran launched retaliatory attacks targeting Israel as well as US-linked military sites in the Gulf region.

The conflict has already resulted in heavy casualties and widespread disruption across the West Asia, affecting air travel routes and oil shipments from the region. Reports say the war has already killed more than 2,000 people, most of them in Iran.

The Pentagon has said that US and Israeli forces have struck more than 15,000 targets across Iran since the conflict began. US media have also reported that the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli (LHA7) has been deployed to the region along with around 2,500 Marines as the fighting continues.

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Location : Tehran, Iran

First Published: March 16, 2026, 07:27 IST

News world Iran Launches Sejjil For 1st Time In Ongoing West Asia War. All About The Dancing Missile

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Israel Claims It Destroyed Former Iranian Leader Ali Khamenei's Plane At Tehran Airport

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 14:05 IST

The IDF said the plane had been used by Khamenei and other senior Iranian officials to facilitate military procurement and manage relations with allied axis countries.

Mehrabad is one of Tehran's oldest airports

Israel said its air force overnight struck and destroyed an aircraft used by former Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei at Mehrabad Airport, marking what it described as a significant blow to Irans regional coordination capabilities.

The Israel Defence Forces said the plane had been used by Khamenei and other senior Iranian officials to facilitate military procurement and manage relations with allied axis" countries through domestic and international travel.

In a statement, the Israeli Air Force said the aircraft was a strategic asset" whose destruction would hamper Irans ability to coordinate with proxy groups and rebuild its military infrastructure.

The destruction of the plane impairs the ability to coordinate between the leadership of the Iranian terror regime and axis countries in building military power and rehabilitation capabilities," the air force said.

Located in the Iranian capital Tehran, Mehrabad is one of the countrys oldest airports and primarily serves domestic and regional flights.

It is also a dual-use facility that houses Iranian air force assets, making it a recurring target in the ongoing conflict.

Earlier this month, Israel said it destroyed 16 aircraft at the same airport that were allegedly used by the Quds Force, the overseas arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, to transfer weapons and cash to proxy groups, including Hezbollah.

According to Israeli military officials, Iran had attempted to conceal some of the aircraft by moving them into storage areas designated for out-of-service planes, in an effort to complicate Israeli surveillance and targeting.

Israel said the latest strike underscores its intent to degrade Irans logistical and coordination networks as hostilities continue to escalate across the region.

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First Published: March 16, 2026, 14:05 IST

News world Israel Claims It Destroyed Former Iranian Leader Ali Khamenei's Plane At Tehran Airport

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Israel Says Ready To End Hostilities Against Iran On One Condition: 'Future Will Be Brighter If...'

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 17:53 IST

Israeli Ambassador to India, Reuven Azar, said that in the last few days, Israel consulted diplomatic channels, including its partners the US and countries in the region.

Israeli Ambassador to India Reuven Azar. (PTI file photo)

Israeli Ambassador to India, Reuven Azar, on Monday said Israel is ready to stop hostilities against Iran if Tehran changes course. Speaking to reporters as the West Asia conflict entered its 17th day, Azar said the future could be brighter" if Iran recognises Israel and alters its stance.

We are always for diplomacy. Unfortunately, we exhausted diplomacy to the extent that we had to take military action. We hope that diplomacy will be relevant again as a result of our military action," he said.

Azar added that in recent days, Israel has consulted diplomatic channels, including the United States, regional partners, and even countries with which it does not have formal relations.

Through its military actions, Azar said, Israel has significantly degraded Irans missile and launching capabilities.

Right now, we are controlling the skies of Iran. They are in dire straits," he told reporters, adding, The future will be brighter" if Iran decides to change course" and recognises Israel."

ALSO READ: Trump Has Won Iran War, Then Why Does He Need Foreign Ships To End It? 3 Reasons Explained

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump confirmed on Sunday that the United States is in discussions with Iran, although he said Tehran is not yet ready for a deal.

Yes, were talking to them but I dont think theyre ready. But they are getting pretty close," Trump said aboard Air Force One.

The American leader added that while the US wants a deal, uncertainty remains over Iranian leadership after the first day of US-Israeli attacks on February 28, which reportedly killed Irans supreme leader Ali Khamenei and other officials.

Iran, however, continues to reject the idea of negotiations. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told CBSs Face The Nation" that Tehran is not interested in talks with the United States.

We are stable and strong enough. We are only defending our people. There is no good experience talking with Americans," he said, pushing back on claims of possible diplomacy.

(With inputs from agencies)

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First Published: March 16, 2026, 17:41 IST

News world Israel Says Ready To End Hostilities Against Iran On One Condition: 'Future Will Be Brighter If...'

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'Mattered Most To Me': Trump Vows To Bring Back Tariffs 'In Another Form' After US Court Setback

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 10:27 IST

Trump said tariffs were the issue that mattered most to him and accused the court of making a decision that could cost the United States trillions of dollars.

US President Donald Trump. (AP File)

US President Donald Trump renewed his push for tariffs, pledging to reimpose them in another form" roughly a month after the US Supreme Court struck down his administrations reciprocal tariffs."

In a lengthy post on Truth Social on Monday, Trump said tariffs were the issue that mattered most" to him and accused the court of making a decision that could cost the United States trillions of dollars by favouring foreign countries and companies he claims have taken advantage of American trade policy for decades.

While criticising the ruling, Trump said the court had also affirmed his authority to levy tariffs through other legal mechanisms, adding that his administration had already begun moving in that direction.

The February ruling dealt a significant blow to Trumps trade agenda, which has centred on aggressive tariffs as a tool to protect US industries and counter what he describes as long-standing unfair practices by rival economies.

Trump argued that the case involved potentially trillions of dollars" that would otherwise flow back to foreign governments and corporations, outcomes he said reward countries that benefited from trade arrangements at the expense of the United States.

In the same statement, he praised conservative justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh for their wisdom and courage," while sharply criticising the broader court for blocking the policy.

Even as the White House explores alternative paths to impose tariffs, Washington has begun laying the groundwork for fresh trade action.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative announced last week that it has launched a new unfair trade practices" investigation into excess industrial capacity across 16 economies, including China, the European Union, India, Japan, South Korea and Mexico. The probe could pave the way for new tariffs as early as this summer.

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the investigation will examine countries with unusually large manufacturing output relative to domestic demand, often reflected in persistent trade surpluses or idle production capacity.

Officials plan to assess factors such as government subsidies, currency practices, state-owned enterprise activity, wage levels and environmental or labour standards.

Greer said the administration aims to complete the Section 301 probe and recommend remedies before temporary tariffs are set to expire in July, keeping Trumps tariff-first trade strategy firmly in play despite the court setback.

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Location : United States of America (USA)

First Published: March 16, 2026, 10:27 IST

News world 'Mattered Most To Me': Trump Vows To Bring Back Tariffs 'In Another Form' After US Court Setback

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Missiles, Mines & Geography: How Iran's 'Asymmetric Plan' For Hormuz Threatens US Navy | Exclusive

Reported By :

CNN-News18 Edited By: Apoorva Misra



Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 16:29 IST

Irans coastal missile arsenal, including systems such as Noor, Qader, Khalij Fars, and the Hormuz-series, could play a central role in any confrontation

Rapid Read

Iran holds a major geographic advantage in the narrow maritime corridor that connects the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman. (Image Courtesy Wikimedia Commons)

Tensions surrounding the strategic Strait of Hormuz are raising concerns among security analysts, who warn that any confrontation between Iran and the United States Navy could quickly escalate into a costly and disruptive conflict for global trade and energy markets.

According to intelligence assessments with CNN-News18, Iran holds a major geographic advantage in the narrow maritime corridor that connects the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman. The strait is only about 33 kilometres wide at its narrowest point, with shipping lanes even narrower, making it highly vulnerable to disruption.

Iran controls roughly 1,200 kilometres of the northern coastline overlooking the waterway. From this position, Iranian forces can deploy missiles, drones, radar systems and artillery capable of targeting vessels transiting the strait. Analysts say this proximity allows Iran to threaten shipping without relying on large naval fleets.

Irans coastal missile arsenal, including systems such as Noor, Qader, Khalij Fars, and the Hormuz-series, could play a central role in any confrontation. Mobile launchers positioned along the coast could fire salvos of anti-ship missiles, potentially saturating the defences of passing warships in the confined waterway.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy is also known for its asymmetric naval tactics. Dozens of fast attack boats armed with rockets, torpedoes or explosives could swarm larger vessels, harassing or damaging them while complicating defensive operations for US or allied navies.

Another major threat comes from Irans extensive inventory of naval mines. Military experts estimate Tehran possesses thousands of mines that could be deployed rapidly by small boats, submarines or disguised civilian vessels. Clearing such mines is slow and dangerous, meaning the strait could remain closed to shipping for weeks if mining operations were carried out.

Maintaining sustained control of the waterway would require massive resources from outside forces. Continuous air cover, surveillance and naval patrols would be needed to secure the corridor and protect commercial shipping.

A conflict in the Strait of Hormuz could also expand beyond the waterway itself. Iran could target energy infrastructure, military bases or shipping across the Persian Gulf, while allied proxy groups might open additional fronts in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, or Yemen.

Because nearly a fifth of the worlds oil supply passes through the Strait of Hormuz, any sustained disruption would likely trigger a global energy shock and risk wider regional escalation.

Strategists say that while Iran may not seek to permanently control the strait, its asymmetric capabilities could make the area temporarily unusable, dramatically increasing the economic and military cost of any confrontation.

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Location : Tehran, Iran

First Published: March 16, 2026, 16:29 IST

News world Missiles, Mines & Geography: How Iran's 'Asymmetric Plan' For Hormuz Threatens US Navy | Exclusive

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Missiles Over Dubai: How The Iran War Has Pierced The Safety Bubble Of Gulf's Safest City

Written By :

News18.com Edited By: Apoorva Misra



Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 07:18 IST

The metropolis faces a test not just of its security infra, but of the idea that has defined it for decades---a sanctuary of stability in one of the most volatile neighbourhoods

Rapid Read

An alert issued by the UAE Ministry of Interior warning residents of Dubai and Abu Dhabi of a potential Iranian missile strike is displayed on a mobile phone shortly before a missile was intercepted in Dubai. (AFP)

Over the past two weeks, Iran has fired nearly 2,000 drones and missiles towards the UAE, according to officials, with many aimed at Dubaithe Gulfs financial and tourism capital. For residents in the citys gleaming skyline, the conflict is no longer distant geopolitics. It is something they can hear.

Paula Hancocks of CNN International says Dubai has built itself as having a bubble of security. Inevitably that has been pierced when we see the sheer number of missiles and drones that are coming into this country and the Gulf nations. According to the Ministry of Defence, they say they are intercepting well over 90 per cent of what has been fired at the UAE," Hancocks said. She said UAE had been singled out by Iran for the greatest number of missiles and drones in the last fortnight.

There is a growing contingent of countries around the world that are trying to protect the UAE. But inevitably, this reputation as being a bubble of safety in the middle of a tough neighbourhood that the UAE had very carefully curated is taking a hit," Hancocks said.

Hancocks said a couple of times there had been impacts near the vicinity of the Dubai Airport that led to an effect on operations. There were holiday-makers here and many in transit. Many people trapped here wanted to leave. Both Abu Dhabi and Dubai are really trying to allow as many planes as possible to take off and to take people away from the region. But the facts is that there is still missile and drone activity so it is a very impacted schedule right now," Hancocks said.

Across Dubai, residents have been receiving regular emergency alerts on their phones warning that the countrys air defence systems are responding to incoming threats. Authorities say the loud sounds echoing across the night sky are from interceptors destroying hostile drones and missiles mid-air.

According to the UAE Ministry of Defence, since the escalation began, the countrys defence systems have engaged 285 ballistic missiles, 15 cruise missiles and more than 1,567 drones.

Yet, not every projectile has been stopped. Nearly 100 drones and two ballistic missiles have struck land, marking one of the most visible security challenges the UAE has faced in decades. In a city known for its futuristic skyline and luxury lifestyle, the sounds of explosions have become an unsettling reminder that regional conflict can reach even the most carefully protected places.

Arunima of CNN-News18 says the heart of Dubai has seen attempts of being targeted with dronesincluding the business district. Drones are making people anxious, they are an irritant, but people are going on with their lives. There is a little bit of anxiety about what lies ahead, but no panic whatsoever," Arunima says. She also narrates how her phone had been vibrating strongly with alerts from the authorities of how the security forces are intercepting drones and missiles and that people should take precautions.

Arunima says authorities have asked people not to record or film any attacks or interceptions. People are taking these alerts in their stride now," she said.

The attacks have come with a tragic human cost. Authorities say six people have been killed, including nationals from the UAE, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh. More than 141 people have been injured, ranging from minor to moderate injuries. Among them are citizens from India, Egypt, the Philippines, Ethiopia and Sri Lanka.

In a country where nearly 90 per cent of residents are expatriates, the multinational casualty list underscores a stark reality: Dubais global workforce is directly exposed to the consequences of regional geopolitics.

The attacks have not remained abstract. Explosions have been heard in parts of Dubai, including near the Dubai International Financial Centrethe heart of the citys banking and corporate district. Smoke has occasionally been seen rising over the skyline.

Authorities confirmed that debris from an intercepted missile struck the facade of a building on Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubais main commercial artery. Another drone crash triggered a small fire at a residential building in Dubai Creek Harbour, forcing authorities to evacuate residents before firefighters contained the blaze.

Two drones were also intercepted near Dubai International Airport, leaving three people with minor injuries and one Indian national moderately injured. Officials insist flight operations are continuing normally, but the symbolism of drones falling close to one of the worlds busiest airports has not gone unnoticed.

For Dubai, security is not just a military concernit is central to the citys economic model. From the banks operating in the Dubai International Financial Centre to aviation giants like Emirates and the citys vast tourism industry, Dubai thrives on the perception that it is insulated from the instability surrounding the region. That perception is now under pressure.

The wider economic impact of the conflict is already beginning to show. According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, the ongoing conflict involving Iran is costing the Middle Easts tourism sector at least $600 million every single day in lost international visitor spending. Air travel disruptions, shaken traveller confidence and reduced connectivity are affecting major regional hubs, including Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha and Bahrain.

Together, these hubs normally process around 5.26 lakh passengers daily. But nearly two weeks of airspace disruptions, rerouted flights and operational uncertainty have begun to strain the regions aviation ecosystem, pushing up airfares and forcing airlines to rethink routes. Before the conflict erupted, the Middle East had been expecting nearly $207 billion in international visitor spending in 2026. Even temporary disruptions can quickly translate into massive losses for a region where aviation and tourism are central pillars of economic strategy.

For Dubai, the stakes are particularly high. Tourism contributes significantly to the emirates economy, while its airports serve as one of the worlds most critical transit hubs connecting Asia, Europe and Africa. The citys global brandcarefully built over three decadesrests on the promise that business can continue uninterrupted, even when the region around it is volatile.

Yet, beyond missiles and economics, another battle is quietly unfolding: the battle over narrative. Authorities have charged 21 people under cybercrime laws for filming and sharing videos of Iranian missile and drone attacks. Among those charged is reportedly a 60-year-old British tourist. Officials say spreading such footage can create panic and undermine public confidence, and strict advisories have been issued warning residents against circulating such material online.

The crackdown reflects how sensitive the authorities are to protecting the countrys image during a crisis. For decades, Dubais greatest strategic advantage has been its reputation as a safe and stable global hub.

For now, daily life in Dubai continues. Flights are operating, hotels remain open and financial markets are functioning. The UAE leadership maintains that its defence systems are successfully intercepting the vast majority of incoming threats and that the country remains fully prepared to confront any attempts to undermine national security.

But something intangible has shifted. For the first time in years, residents of one of the worlds most futuristic cities are hearing the sound of air defence systems roaring across the night sky.

Dubais rise has always been built on resilience. In just a few decades, it transformed from a modest desert trading port into a global metropolis. Now, as the Iran conflict reverberates across the region, the city faces a different kind of test. Not just of its security infrastructure, but of the idea that has defined it for decadesa sanctuary of stability in one of the worlds most volatile neighbourhoods.

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Location : Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE)

First Published: March 16, 2026, 07:18 IST

News world Missiles Over Dubai: How The Iran War Has Pierced The Safety Bubble Of Gulf's Safest City

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Multiple Explosions Rock Kabul; Afghanistan Accuses Pakistan Of Deadly Airstrike On Hospital

Reported By :

News18.com Edited By: Aveek Banerjee



Last Updated: March 17, 2026, 04:52 IST

Multiple explosions were heard in Kabul, Afghanistan, with fighter jets seen circling at low altitude over western Kabul shortly after the blasts.

Several explosions were heard in Kabul. (News18)

Multiple explosions were heard in Afghanistans Kabul City and surrounding areas on Monday night amid the ongoing conflict with Pakistan. Local residents reported seeing fighter jets circling at low altitude over parts of western Kabul shortly after the blasts.

Sources told CNN-News18 that at least two explosions were heard in Kabuls 5th district. Security forces and emergency vehicles were seen moving toward the affected areas as authorities began assessing the situation.

The Taliban government in Afghanistan has accused Pakistan of violating Afghan airspace. The Pakistani military regime has once again violated Afghanistans airspace and targeted a drug rehabilitation hospital in Kabul, resulting in the death and injury of addicts who were undergoing treatment," said Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid.

                           .              . Zabihullah (..   ) (@Zabehulah_M33) March 16, 2026

We condemn this crime in the strongest terms and consider such an act to be in violation of all universally recognised humanitarian principles," he added.

Meanwhile, Pakistan said it had carried out precision strikes on military installations and terrorist support infrastructure" in Kabul but denied Afghan claims that strikes hit a drug treatment centre, killing civilians. It said the military targeted locations in Kabul and the Afghan border province of Nangarhar.

The headquarters of Afghanistans Ministry of Defence has come under the attack, according to sources. Initial reports suggest the explosions may have occurred near security installations, though this has not been officially confirmed.

The situation in Kabul remains tense as residents report continued aircraft activity over the city. The Pakistani military has struck Kabul several times in recent weeks, as part of a conflict sparked by claims that the Taliban government has harboured militant groups that have carried out attacks across the border.

Earlier, Pakistan fired more than 270 rockets and artillery shells in a span of 48 hours. Afghanistan retaliated by striking several security checkpoints near the border with Pakistan.

Pakistan has repeatedly accused Afghanistan of allowing militant groups  especially the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)  to operate from Afghan territory and launch attacks in Pakistan. Kabul, on the other hand, has constantly denied the allegations.

The airstrikes prompted a retaliatory attack from the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan, triggering a cycle of daily clashes, drone strikes and cross-border exchanges along the shared frontier between the two nations.

Earlier this week, Pakistan carried out a series of airstrikes across multiple Afghan locations, targeting what it said were militant positions. According to Pakistani intelligence sources, the strikes focused on high-value targets linked to the Afghan Taliban and the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). However, the Afghan Taliban accused Islamabad of killing civilians and warned that the attacks will not go unanswered."

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First Published: March 16, 2026, 22:30 IST

News world Multiple Explosions Rock Kabul; Afghanistan Accuses Pakistan Of Deadly Airstrike On Hospital

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News / Africa

by Staff Reporter

President Robert Mugabe will this week travel to Lesotho for the volatile southern African country's 50th independence celebrations, just a week after he snubbed a similar invite from his Botswana counterpart, Ian Khama, as hostility between the two leaders intensifies.Mugabe cancelled a scheduled trip to Botswana after Khama told an international news agency, Reuters, that it was time the 92-year-old Zimbabwean leader steps down due to old age.Khama said Mugabe had overstayed in power and was now a liability to Zimbabwe and the Sadc region.But a State media columnist, revealed to be Mugabe's spokesperson, George Charamba, at the weekend intimated that Mugabe would use his Lesotho trip this week as a way to hit back at Khama.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Tells Trump To 'Keep Hitting Iran Hard': Report

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 17:04 IST

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman urged US President Trump to "continue hitting the Iranians hard" amid the US-Israel war, which has killed over 2,100 people.

US President Donald Trump with Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. (Image Courtesy: X/Nexta_TV)

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) has reportedly been urging US President Donald Trump to continue hitting the Iranians hard" during frequent direct conversations between the two leaders, as the US-Israel war against Iran enters its third week, according to a New York Times report published Sunday.

The advice, according to several officials cited by the NYT, mirrors a longstanding Saudi strategic position. It is almost word-for-word the same guidance that King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, who died in 2015, repeatedly gave to Washington: Cut off the head of the snake."

White House officials confirmed to the NYT on condition of anonymity that Trump has been talking regularly to Arab leaders throughout the conflict, with MBS being particularly prominent among them. The Saudi crown prince, who effectively runs the kingdoms foreign and defence policy, has reportedly been among the loudest voices pushing Washington to press forward rather than pull back.

This matters because the US is at a crossroads right now. Trump is in his third week of a war he chose to launch alongside Israel against Iran. The conflict has killed more than 2,100 people, including 13 Americans. It has sent oil prices toward $100 a barrel, choked off the Strait of Hormuz, and rattled global markets. And Trump, by his own administrations account, has not yet achieved his core objectives. Irans nuclear fuel stockpile remains inside Iranian territory. The new leadership in Tehran, apparently led by Ayatollah Khameneis son, has sworn to keep fighting.

In that context, having MBS in his ear urging him to keep hitting" carries real weight. Saudi Arabia and Iran have been regional rivals for decades, with a sectarian, political and economic rivalry that maps almost perfectly onto the Sunni-Shia divide across the Middle East. A weakened or destabilised Iran is, by almost every measure, a Saudi strategic win.

But, there is a catch. The same conflict that MBS is reportedly encouraging Trump to sustain has already produced drone strikes on oil infrastructure in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Iranian-backed attacks on energy facilities in both countries followed Israels decision to hit oil storage tanks near Tehran, against direct US advice, roughly a week ago. The war that Riyadh appears to be quietly cheering on is also flying shrapnel into its own backyard.

Trump, for his part, has publicly oscillated. He has said the war is nearly won, then swivelled and acknowledged that there is heavy fighting ahead." He told reporters he will know when to get out by feel, that he would feel it in my bones." Whether he makes that call based on military assessments, domestic political pressure from his own base, or the counsel of a Saudi prince who wants Iran broken, remains to be seen.

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Location : Washington D.C., United States of America (USA)

First Published: March 16, 2026, 17:04 IST

News world Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Tells Trump To 'Keep Hitting Iran Hard': Report

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Sri Lanka Declares Wednesday Holiday, Moves To 4-Day Work Week Amid Fuel Shortage Fears

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 21:14 IST

Sri Lanka announced a four-day workweek with Wednesdays as public holidays starting March 18 due to potential fuel shortages from the West Asia war.

As fuel crisis worsens, motorists wait in a queue to refuel their vehicles at a filling station in Wellawatte on the outskirts of Colombo on Monday. (Image: AFP)

Sri Lanka on Monday announced a four-day working with every Wednesday a public holiday as a contingency measure for possible fuel shortages in the wake of the war in West Asia.

It was decided to declare every Wednesday a public holiday with effect from March 18," PTI quoted Commissioner General of Essential Services Prabath Chandrakeerthi saying.

The new rule will be applicable to government employees, all government schools, Universities and Courts. The government stated that state events/government events will be suspended until further notice.

Check Latest Updates On Iran-Israel War Status Today

The private sector has also been requested to declare Wednesdays a holiday until further notice," Chandrakeerthi said. However, the essential services, such as health sector, ports, water supply and customs will not be having Wednesday as holiday.

The Commissioner General of Essential Services further stated that heads of Government institutions are empowered to call in employees for work on the other four working days of the week, depending on the necessity of their duties," he said.

Also Read: Red Seas Yanbu An Option, But Cant Fully Replace Oil Chokepoint Strait of Hormuz: 5 Reasons Why

The Sri Lankan government on Sunday said the QR-based fuel distribution system has been reintroduced as a precautionary measure to manage domestic fuel reserves in the wake of the escalating tensions in West Asia.

Under the system, fuel will only be issued to vehicles with a valid QR code. In addition, weekly fuel quotas have been established according to vehicle categories, Daily Mirror reports.

Motorcycles will be provided 5 litres per week, while motor cars and three-wheelers are allowed 15 litres. Vans will be provided 40 litres, buses 60 litres, and motor lorries up to 200 litres, the report added.

The fuel crisis stems from the ongoing tensions in West Asia, following the February 28 coordinated US-Israeli strikes against Iran and the subsequent retaliatory actions by Tehran across the Gulf nations.

The blockade of the Strait of Hormuz  a crucial maritime chokepoint  resulted into a global oil and gas crisis. Addressing the concern, Irans Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that the strait remains operational for international shipping.

However, he added that vessels linked to the United States and Israel are not allowed to pass through the waterway.

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Location : Colombo, Sri Lanka

First Published: March 16, 2026, 20:57 IST

News world Sri Lanka Declares Wednesday Holiday, Moves To 4-Day Work Week Amid Fuel Shortage Fears

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Starmer Says UK Taking All Necessary Measures To Avoid Fuel Rationing Amid Iran Crisis

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 21:35 IST

UK PM Keir Starmer said Britain is taking "all necessary measures" to avoid fuel rationing amid the Iran crisis, emphasizing reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

UK PM Keir Starmer said Britain is taking "all necessary measures" to avoid fuel rationing amid the Iran crisis, emphasizing reopening the Strait of Hormuz. (Image: AP)

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Britain is taking all necessary measures" to avoid fuel rationing as the ongoing crisis involving Iran threatens global energy supplies.

Speaking amid concerns over potential disruptions to oil shipments, Starmer said the UK government was closely monitoring the situation and ensuring adequate energy supplies for the country.

We are taking all necessary measures to make sure there is the right supply of energy," the prime minister said, adding that plans to maintain energy security would remain under constant review.

The comments come as analysts warn that the conflict could trigger supply shortages if disruptions continue in the Strait of Hormuz, one of the worlds most important oil transit routes.

Starmer stressed that reopening the strait for tanker traffic was critical for stabilising global energy prices and protecting consumers from rising costs.

Getting tanker traffic through the waterway along the Iranian coast is vital in relation to the price of energy," he said, adding that the governments efforts to shield households from rising living costs were closely linked to restoring shipping through the strait.

The British prime minister said he had been discussing plans with international partners, including European countries, Gulf states and the United States, to ensure safe passage for energy shipments.

We are working with others to come up with a credible plan for the Strait of Hormuz to ensure that we can reopen shipping and passage through the strait," Starmer said.

As part of those efforts, he noted that autonomous mine-hunting systems were already being deployed in the area to counter potential threats to commercial shipping.

The warning comes as former energy adviser Nick Butler said Britain could face a form of rationing" if the conflict continues to disrupt oil flows, urging the government to prepare for a possible supply shortfall in the coming months. Butler said critical sectors such as health services, food supply chains and other essential services would need to be prioritised if shortages emerge.

Officials say the government is continuing to monitor developments closely as tensions in the Gulf threaten to disrupt one of the worlds most critical energy supply routes.

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Location : London, United Kingdom (UK)

First Published: March 16, 2026, 21:35 IST

News world Starmer Says UK Taking All Necessary Measures To Avoid Fuel Rationing Amid Iran Crisis

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Starmer Snubs Trump's Hormuz Coalition: UK Refuses To Deploy Warships To Secure Strait

Curated By :

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 13:08 IST

Trump has argued that countries dependent on oil flowing through Hormuz should shoulder responsibility for securing navigation through the vital waterway.

Left: US President Donald Trump; Right: British PM Kier Starmer (Credits: Reuters)

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has declined a request from US President Donald Trump to deploy warships to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a decision that risks deepening strains between London and Washington.

Citing the Daily Telegraph, reports say Starmers refusal comes amid existing friction after Trump voiced frustration over Britains earlier decision not to allow US forces to use British bases for an initial strike on Iran.

Trump has argued that countries dependent on oil flowing through Hormuz, including the UK, China, South Korea, France and Japan, should shoulder responsibility for securing navigation through the vital waterway.

Tensions around the strait have intensified since early March, when Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Major General Ebrahim Jabari warned that Hormuz could be closed in response to US and Israeli military action against Iran.

Days later, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the strait remained technically open but that ships and tankers were avoiding it due to fears of attacks from both sides.

Several US allies have reacted cautiously to Trumps push for a naval coalition.

Australia ruled out sending vessels, with cabinet minister Catherine King saying Canberra recognises the straits importance but has not been asked to contribute and has no plans to do so.

Japan has also stopped short of any commitment, with senior lawmaker Sanae Takaichi saying Tokyo is not considering" maritime security operations for now and is still reviewing its options within the bounds of domestic law.

Trump said on Sunday that he has pressed around seven countries to send warships to help keep the strait open amid the ongoing conflict with Iran, as reports suggest Washington is preparing to announce a global coalition to escort commercial shipping.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said the countries involved are heavily reliant on Middle Eastern oil, noting that while the United States imports very little crude through Hormuz, others, particularly China, depend on it far more.

Despite the push, the lack of firm commitments from key allies underscores the diplomatic challenges facing Washington as it seeks to secure one of the worlds most critical energy chokepoints.

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Location : United Kingdom (UK)

First Published: March 16, 2026, 13:06 IST

News world Starmer Snubs Trump's Hormuz Coalition: UK Refuses To Deploy Warships To Secure Strait

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'Step Up, Do More': Trump Pushes European, Arab Allies To Help Reopen Strait Of Hormuz

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 19:04 IST

President Trump discussed re-opening the Strait of Hormuz with European, Gulf, and Arab allies. US Press Secretary urged NATO to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear bomb.

US President Donald Trump speaks with reporters aboard Air Force One during a flight from West Palm Beach, Florida, on Monday. (Image: AFP)

With Iran maintaining that the Strait of Hormuz will remain shut for US and Israel, President Donald Trump on Monday urged USs European, Gulf and Arab allies to step up to do more" to re-open the Strait.

Irans foreign minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday said the Strait of Hormuz remains shut only to enemies and those supporting their aggression". The waterway, effectively closed since the first week of March, is a vital route through which about 20 per cent of the worlds oil supply passes. The disruption to merchant shipping has pushed fuel prices higher around the world.

Following the closure, Trump has held meetings with countries about policing the straits. POTUS is speaking with our allies in Europe, and also many of our partners in the Gulf and Arab world to encourage them to step up to do more to open the Strait of Hormuz  and our NATO allies especially need to step up," US Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News.

The United States of America is leading way not just to support and protect our American assets and bases in the Middle East, but also to defend Europe, and the Middle East, and the rest of the world from the rogue Iranian regime obtaining a nuclear bomb," she added.

Check Latest Updates On Iran-Israel War Status Today

Meanwhile, Araghchi told a semi-official Students News Network that Iran has not requested a ceasefire and will ensure that any end of the war with Israel and the US is definitive.

The Times of Israel quoted a foreign ministry spokesperson saying that states not party to the war have been able to transit their vessels through the strait with coordination and permission from Irans armed forces.

This comes as several countries refuse to Trumps request to deploy warships to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump has argued that countries dependent on oil flowing through Hormuz, including the UK, China, South Korea, France and Japan, should shoulder responsibility for securing navigation through the vital waterway.

Among the countries that have declined the request include the UK, Italy, Germany, Japan and Australia.

Also Read: Vital Trade Route: Chinas First Reaction After Trump Seeks Help To Secure Strait Of Hormuz

France24 quoted British Prime Minister Keir Starmer saying on Monday that ongoing work to reopen the Strait of Hormuz would not be a NATO mission but would involve a broad alliance including Gulf partners as well as European countries and the United States.

We are working with others to come up with a credible plan for the Straits of Hormuz to ensure that we can reopen shipping and passage through the Strait. Let me be clear, that wont be and its never been envisioned to be a NATO mission," Starmer told reporters.

Also Read: Missiles, Mines & Geography: How Irans Asymmetric Plan For Hormuz Threatens US Navy | Exclusive

That will have to be an alliance of partners, which is why were working with partners, both in Europe, in the Gulf, and with the US," he added.

Australia ruled out sending vessels, with cabinet minister Catherine King saying Canberra recognises the straits importance but has not been asked to contribute and has no plans to do so.

Japan has also stopped short of any commitment, with senior lawmaker Sanae Takaichi saying Tokyo is not considering" maritime security operations for now and is still reviewing its options within the bounds of domestic law.

Tensions around the strait have intensified since early March, when Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Major General Ebrahim Jabari warned that Hormuz could be closed in response to US and Israeli military action against Iran.

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First Published: March 16, 2026, 18:48 IST

News world 'Step Up, Do More': Trump Pushes European, Arab Allies To Help Reopen Strait Of Hormuz

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The War In Iran Is Quietly Inflating The Price Of Your Cancer Medications

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 16:13 IST

Strikes on Iran disrupt Gulf air cargo, forcing pharmaceutical companies to reroute medicines through Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Turkey, raising costs and cancer drug prices.

Representative Image - Chemotherapy. (Image Courtesy: Dr. Vijay Anand Reddy)

Two weeks ago, the United States and Israel launched pre-emptive strikes on Iran with the intention of changing the existing regime. Iran hit back, targeting air bases and infrastructure across the region, also known as the Gulf  due to its regional proximity to the Persian Gulf. The conflict has roots in decades of tension over Irans nuclear programme, regional influence, and proxy wars from Lebanon to Yemen. Nobody agrees on who started it. Both sides say the other did.

Since then, Iranian strikes have knocked out the Gulfs biggest air cargo hubs at Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Doha, pharmaceutical companies have been scrambling to reroute critical medicines overland through Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Turkey. With just two weeks into the war, these detours have already pushed up transportation costs and threaten to inflate Cancer drug prices across the world.

War always raises prices, and its not just oil. In this case  the cost is to be borne by hospital wards, and neighbourhood pharmacies  leading straight into the medical chasm of chemotherapy that cancer patients face.

Supply Chain Logistics: The Cold-Chain Problem

Supply chain logistics refers to the management of the production, transportation and distribution of goods throughout a business overall supply chain and includes both inbound and outbound supplies.

Cold chain logistics refers to keeping temperature-sensitive goods safe and fresh by maintaining the right temperatures throughout the supply chain. It prevents spoilage, degradation, and health risks from improper storage or transport, and in this case, life-saving cancer medicines are the commodity at risk.

Most medicines are fine sitting in a container, or a truck for a few extra hours. Monoclonal antibodies, which act as the backbone of modern cancer therapy, are not. They need to be in a continuous, narrow temperature range from the factory floor to the IV bag connected to the patients arm. It is an expensive endeavour under normal conditions, and becomes a far-worse and different problem altogether with the added pressure of wartime rerouting.

The CEO of Marken  a biopharma logistics company, speaking to Maggie Fick at Reuters said that cold-chain cargo was getting through only with round-the-clock rerouting, as airspace restrictions keep shifting rapidly, as drones and missiles launch haywire.

Longer routes mean more dry ice, more handling stops, more fuel, and more risk of a slight temperature variation that could potentially write off an entire shipment worth in the tens of thousands of dollars.

These drugs are not cheap to begin with. A single course of chemotherapy treatment for some cancers runs into enormous figures. When the cost of basic supply-chain logistics and their transportation rises in such a sharp curve, it becomes extremely difficult to source the medications at cost-effective rates.

Wouter Dewulf from the Antwerp Management School cited industry data to Reuters showing that more than a fifth of all global air cargo stands exposed to the disruptions in the Gulf. Air-freight is the primary route for critical-care medicine and life-saving drugs.

Sea routes are out as well, with Irans closure of the Strait of Hormuz making longer transit times completely impractical for short shelf-life medicines. Hence, companies reroute. Jeddah, Riyadh, Istanbul, Oman, then overland into final markets. Each extra leg adds cost. Marken confirmed that transportation fees are already climbing as a direct result.

Stocks Are Holding. Barely.

Speaking to Reuters, Prashant Yadav from the Council on Foreign Relations said that typical stock reserves for expensive, temperature-sensitive medicines sit at roughly three months. But some customers (hospitals and pharmacies) have already warned their suppliers that they could run dry within four to six weeks if things do not improve.

If, and when those stocks are replenished, they would be bought at the new, higher logistics cost, that is to be borne by the patient, at the end of the day.

And it is not just the drugs themselves. David Weeks, who tracks supply chain risks pointed out that shortages of vial stoppers and IV bag plastics, components that travel through the same now broken and fragmented corridors, could create their own bottlenecks. Its not always a shortage of the medicine itself," Weeks told Reuters. In some cases, its the little stopper on the vial where the dosage is extracted."

Over 100 pharmaceutical and logistics professionals joined an emergency webinar hosted by Pharma.Aero, a life sciences logistics group, last week to work through the crisis. That kind of mobilisation signals that the industry is considerably more rattled than its public statements let on.

Dorothee Becher, head of air logistics for healthcare at freight company Kuehne+Nagel, told Reuters that inventory levels remain stable, for now. The official industry line holds. But logistics costs and procurement prices are not separate variables. They are connected through hospital supply contracts, insurance margins, and renewal cycles that will come around.

As the conflict continues, so will the increase in the bills, and cancer patients, as well as other terminally ill patients across the world are unlikely to be shielded from the impending boom in costs.

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First Published: March 16, 2026, 16:07 IST

News world The War In Iran Is Quietly Inflating The Price Of Your Cancer Medications

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The War That Wont End Yet: Takeaways From Trumps Pressure Tactics And Irans Defiance

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 10:03 IST

Even as both sides speak about how the war could eventually end, their public messaging shows little sign of an immediate diplomatic breakthrough.

Rapid Read

Iran Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US President Donald Trump

When will the US-Israel-Iran war end? The latest exchange between Washington and Tehran suggests the answer remains uncertain, with both sides publicly sticking to sharply different narratives about how the conflict could conclude. US President Donald Trump has claimed that Iran is eager to negotiate, saying Tehran wants to negotiate badly" to bring the war to an end. The US president has also projected confidence about the military campaign, suggesting that American forces are already very far ahead" of the timeline initially expected for the conflict.

However, Iran Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has firmly rejected that portrayal. In an interview with CBS News, Araghchi dismissed claims that Tehran is seeking negotiations, saying such suggestions are delusional." He insisted Iran has neither sought a truce nor talks" and argued that there is currently no reason" for Tehran to engage with Washington. At the same time, he made clear that Iran intends to continue resisting the US campaign, describing the conflict as a war of choice by President Trump" and adding that Iran will keep defending itself until Washington recognises that it is an illegal war with no victory."

Araghchi also signalled that Iran is trying to maintain strategic leverage rather than rush towards a settlement. Referring to tensions around the Strait of Hormuz, he said Iran has not closed the vital shipping route but that it is up to our military to decide whether or not to allow safe passage for their ships." According to him, many countries have approached us asking for safe passage," and Tehran is open to discussing maritime security with them. The message suggests that while Iran is willing to engage with other countries on shipping safety, it is not prepared to enter direct negotiations with the United States for now.

Iran Will End It On Its Own Terms

Iran has indicated that it is not opposed to ending the conflict, but only if the terms change significantly. Tehran has suggested it could accept a complete end to the war," but insists that attacks against it must stop first and that any settlement must ensure its security. In other words, Iran is signalling openness to peace  but not to a deal reached under military pressure or on terms dictated by Washington.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi strongly rejected claims by Donald Trump that Iran is seeking negotiations, saying Tehran has neither sought a truce nor talks" and calling such suggestions delusional." He added that Iran will continue defending itself until Washington recognises that it is an illegal war with no victory," stressing that Tehran doesnt see any reason why we should talk with Americans" while the conflict continues.

US Says Deal Possible But Terms Unacceptable

The United States has suggested that a deal to end the war is possible, but says the conditions being discussed are not acceptable yet. Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that Iran is eager to negotiate, saying Tehran wants to negotiate badly" as the pressure from the conflict mounts. However, he has also indicated that Washington is not prepared to rush into an agreement if it does not meet US strategic goals.

Trump has stressed that any settlement must be a very solid deal," suggesting the United States wants stronger guarantees before ending the military campaign. This could include tighter limits on Irans military and nuclear capabilities as well as assurances that Tehran will not threaten regional stability. In effect, while Washington says diplomacy remains possible, its position suggests the war will continue until Iran agrees to terms that the US considers strong enough to justify ending the conflict.

No Side Taking The First Step To Peace Talks Yet

Even as both sides speak about how the war could eventually end, their public messaging shows little sign of an immediate diplomatic breakthrough. Donald Trump has claimed that Iran is under growing pressure and wants to negotiate badly" to end the conflict. However, Washington has not indicated that it is ready to move towards talks yet, with the US leadership stressing that any potential agreement must meet its strategic objectives before military operations are scaled back.

Tehran, for its part, is firmly rejecting the suggestion that it is seeking negotiations. Irans Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the country has neither sought a truce nor talks" and dismissed such claims as delusional." His remarks underline the current diplomatic impasse: while both Washington and Tehran are framing the debate around how the war might end, neither side appears willing  at least publicly  to initiate direct peace talks at this stage.

Strait of Hormuz: A Bargaining Tool

Another major signal about how the conflict could evolve lies in the growing focus on the Strait of Hormuz, one of the worlds most critical energy corridors. A significant portion of global oil shipments passes through the narrow waterway, making it a strategic pressure point in the conflict. Iran has stressed that it has not formally closed the strait, but its officials have made it clear that security conditions there are directly linked to the ongoing war.

Irans Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that our military has decided to let vessels belonging to different countries pass, safe and secure," while adding that it is up to our military to decide whether or not to allow safe passage for their ships." He also revealed that many countries have approached us asking for safe passage for their ships." The remarks suggest that Tehran is signalling its ability to influence shipping without announcing an outright blockade.

At the same time, Donald Trump has urged other countries that depend heavily on Gulf oil to help secure the waterway, saying nations receiving energy through the route should help protect that passage." Washington has reportedly reached out to several countries to join a coalition to escort ships through the strait. However, the response from allies has been cautious. Countries such as Japan and Australia have indicated they are not planning to send naval vessels for now, highlighting the reluctance among some US partners to get directly involved in the conflict.

The Strait of Hormuz has emerged as a central pressure point in the war. By demonstrating its ability to influence shipping through one of the worlds busiest oil routes, Iran is raising the economic stakes of the conflict  while the US is trying to internationalise the effort to keep the passage open.

A Longer War?

Despite Donald Trump suggesting that the war could end relatively quickly, developments on the ground indicate that both sides are preparing for a prolonged confrontation. The conflict has already seen a dramatic escalation, including the killing of Irans Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes  one of the most significant blows to Irans leadership since the 1979 revolution. Yet rather than forcing Tehran to immediately seek peace, the attacks appear to have hardened Irans stance, with its leadership and military signalling continued resistance.

Iran has framed the loss of Khamenei and other senior officials as a rallying point rather than a reason to end the war. Officials have called for national unity and cohesion" and vowed to continue defending the country despite the leadership decapitation strikes. This suggests Tehran is preparing for a longer struggle aimed at demonstrating resilience even after major losses. Washington, meanwhile, remains insistent on tougher terms before any deal.

The signals from both sides point to a conflict that is still in a pressure-building phase  where military actions and strategic leverage may continue before any serious settlement emerges.

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First Published: March 16, 2026, 10:03 IST

News world The War That Wont End Yet: Takeaways From Trumps Pressure Tactics And Irans Defiance

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Trump Says He's Disappointed With US Allies Over Lack Of 'Enthusiasm' For Securing Hormuz

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Last Updated: March 17, 2026, 02:16 IST

Trump criticised the lukewarm response to his call for world powers to send warships to escort tankers through the Strait of Hormuz.

US President Donald Trump

US President Donald Trump on Monday expressed disappointment with American allies over his efforts to secure the strategic Strait of Hormuz, which remains closed amid the war, driving up oil prices by up to 40-50%.

During a briefing at the White House, Trump criticised the lukewarm response to his call for world powers to send warships to escort tankers through the strait, which normally carries a fifth of global crude oil. His remarks came as several US allies appeared reluctant to join his mission.

Numerous countries have told me theyre on the way. Some are very enthusiastic about it, and some arent," he said. Some are countries that weve helped for many, many years. Weve protected them from horrible outside sources, and they werent that enthusiastic. And the level of enthusiasm, it matters to me."

Trump said he thought Britain and France would get involved, but only reluctantly. Talking about French President Emmanuel Macron, Trump said, I think hes going to help, Ill let you know."

US Allies Reluctant On Trumps Hormuz Plan

Trumps remarks came as NATO allies and other Western nations pushed back earlier on Trumps call to secure the Strait of Hormuz. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said London was working with allies to craft a viable" plan to reopen the strait, but ruled out a NATO mission.

Germanys Chancellor Friedrich Merzs spokesman Stefan Kornelius said on Monday in Berlin that the ongoing US-Israel war on Iran has nothing to do with NATO" and is not NATOs war, drawing a clear line on how far Germany and the alliance intend to go in the conflict.

ALSO READ: Germany: Iran War Has Nothing To Do With NATO, Says Merzs Spokesman

Japan, Australia, Poland, Spain, Greece and Sweden also all distanced themselves from any military involvement in the Strait of Hormuz. EUs top diplomat Kaja Kallas said the blocs foreign ministers discussed the war in Brussels on Monday but showed no appetite" for extending their Red Sea naval mission to help reopen Hormuz.

Trump told the Financial Times on Sunday that it would be very bad for the future of NATO" if they refused to help, and he has threatened to delay a planned summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

Meanwhile, Trump said more than 30 mine laying ships of Iran have been destroyed which has affected Tehrans capacity to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. We are hammering their capacity to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz with more than 30 mine laying ships destroyed. We hit to the best of our knowledge, all of their mine laying ships. Now they can put them on other types of ships," he said.

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First Published: March 17, 2026, 02:16 IST

News world Trump Says He's Disappointed With US Allies Over Lack Of 'Enthusiasm' For Securing Hormuz

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Trump Says 'Iran Wants To Negotiate Badly' To End War; Tehran Signals No Rush For A Deal

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 07:42 IST

Trump said he had deliberately held back from negotiations, arguing that Irans leadership was too weakened and fragmented to engage meaningfully.

US President Donald Trump and Iran's New Supreme Leader Majtaba Khamenei | File Image

US President Donald Trump on Monday claimed that Iran is eager to negotiate as the war entered its third week, with Tehran rejecting any such rush to make negotiations or a deal with the US.

Speaking to reporters, Trump said he had deliberately held back from negotiations, arguing that Irans leadership was too weakened and fragmented to engage meaningfully.

They want to negotiate badly," Trump said, adding that he was unsure who exactly Washington would be dealing with, given that much of Irans senior leadership had been killed during the conflict.

Iran, however, flatly denied Trumps assertion, with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi saying Tehran had neither sought a ceasefire nor requested renewed talks, accusing the US of attacking Iran while earlier negotiations were still ongoing.

We have never asked for a ceasefire, and we have never even asked for negotiations," Araghchi said in a television interview, stressing that Iran remains ready to defend itself for as long as it takes."

Iran has neither sought a truce nor talks; such claims are delusional. Our military has decided to allow vessels belonging to different countries to pass safely and securely, and it is up to our armed forces to determine whether safe passage is granted to their ships. Many countries have approached us seeking assurances for the safe movement of their vessels, and we remain open to discussions with those who want to talk to us about safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz," he said.

Iran will continue to defend itself until President Donald Trump recognises that this is an illegal war with no prospect of victory. This is a war of choice by President Trump and the United States, and we will continue our self-defence. We see no reason why we should talk with the Americans," he added.

As fighting continues to roil the Middle East and unsettle global energy markets, crude oil prices have hovered near $100 a barrel.

Despite the volatility, senior Trump administration officials predicted the conflict would end within weeks, followed by a drop in energy costs. US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the administration expected a rebound in supplies and easing prices once hostilities subside.

Trump also said his administration is in talks with seven countries to help secure the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping lane that has been largely closed to oil tanker traffic during the war.

He argued that countries heavily dependent on Gulf oil have a responsibility to help police the waterway, noting that several of the potential partners are NATO members.

The White House is expected to announce a multinational coalition to escort ships through the strait, though US officials are still debating whether such operations would begin before or after the conflict ends.

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First Published: March 16, 2026, 07:22 IST

News world Trump Says 'Iran Wants To Negotiate Badly' To End War; Tehran Signals No Rush For A Deal

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Trump Says US Destroyed Over 30 Iranian Mine Laying Ships In Strait Of Hormuz

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 22:58 IST

US President Donald Trump announced that over 30 Iranian mine laying ships have been destroyed, impacting Tehran's ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

US President Donald Trump speaks ahead of Trump Kennedy Center Board Members on Monday. (White House/X)

US President Donald Trump on Monday said more than 30 mine laying ships of Iran have been destroyed which has affected Tehrans capacity to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

We are hammering their capacity to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz with more than 30 mine laying ships destroyed. We hit to the best of our knowledge, all of their mine laying ships. Now they can put them on other types of ships," Trump said ahead of a meeting with Trump Kennedy Center Board Members.

President Donald J. Trump provides an update on Operation Epic Fury:The Iranian Air Force is gone. The Navy is gone. Many ships SUNK. Total OBLITERATION. pic.twitter.com/RvwwKzuGnm  The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 16, 2026

The blockade of the Strait of Hormuz  a crucial maritime chokepoint which accounts for nearly one-fifth of the worlds oil trade  triggered disruptions in energy supplies across the globe.

Check Latest Updates On Iran-Israel War Status Today

Energy prices have soared across the world since Iran retaliated against the coordinated US-Israeli strikes by threatening shipping sailing though the strait.

Also Read: Strait Of Hormuz Shut For Enemies And Those Supporting Their Aggression: Iran

Irans foreign minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday said the Strait of Hormuz will remain shut only to enemies and those supporting their aggression".

Araghchi told a semi-official Students News Network that Iran has not requested a ceasefire and will ensure that any end of the war with Israel and the US is definitive.

This comes as several countries refuse to US President Donald Trumps request to deploy warships to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump has argued that countries dependent on oil flowing through Hormuz, including the UK, China, South Korea, France and Japan, should shoulder responsibility for securing navigation through the vital waterway.

Among the countries that have declined the request include the UK, Italy, Germany, Japan and Australia.

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First Published: March 16, 2026, 22:09 IST

News world Trump Says US Destroyed Over 30 Iranian Mine Laying Ships In Strait Of Hormuz

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by Staff reporter

AN 18-year-old Form 4 student in Bulawayo on Monday appeared in court for allegedly raping his eight-year-old cousin on several occasions.The student pleaded not guilty when he appeared before Western Commonage magistrate Sheunesu Matova and was remanded out of custody to August 18.Prosecutor Kingston Mukanganwi told the court that the student and girl stay in the same house in Nketa 6.Mukanganwi said on July 28 at around 1:30pm, the girl was watching television when he called her to the spare bedroom and ordered her to lie on top of him.The girl refused, but he removed her skirt and panties, lifted and placed her on top of him and allegedly sexually assaulted her.Their grandmother allegedly found the juvenile sleeping facing upwards with the boy's hand in-between her legs.The grandmother asked the girl what was going on and she indicated that she had been raped. Mukanganwi said the boy allegedly raped the juvenile on several occasions up to July 31.He said there was a medical report to prove that the girl was sexually assaulted.
Trump Signals 'Delaying' Beijing Summit With Xi If China Fails To Help Reopen Strait Of Hormuz

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 08:08 IST

Trump, speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Monday, said he has pressed about seven countries to deploy warships to help keep the Strait of Hormuz open.

US President Donald Trump (AFP)

US President Donald Trump signalled that his planned visit to China later this month could be postponed if Beijing does not help efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Trump said he expected China to play a role in easing disruptions in the vital oil shipping lane before he travels to Beijing for a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, tentatively scheduled for March 31 to April 2.

With about two weeks remaining, Trump said Washington wanted clarity, adding bluntly: We may delay."

The comments came as US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent met Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Paris for preliminary talks related to the proposed summit. Beijing has yet to formally confirm the dates, typically announcing such high-level visits closer to their start.

Trump, speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Monday, said he has pressed about seven countries to deploy warships to help keep the Strait of Hormuz open, though he acknowledged that no firm commitments have yet been secured as oil prices surge amid the Iran war.

He declined to name the countries involved but argued that nations heavily dependent on Middle Eastern crude have a responsibility to protect the waterway, through which roughly one-fifth of the worlds traded oil normally flows.

Trump singled out China as having a strong incentive, claiming Beijing sources about 90% of its oil through the strait, while the United States relies on it far less.

Iran, meanwhile, has pushed back against US pressure. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told CBS News that Tehran has been approached by several countries seeking safe passage for their vessels and said Irans military has allowed ships from different countries" to transit the strait.

He maintained that the waterway remains open, except to the United States and its allies, and insisted that decisions on passage rest solely with Irans armed forces.

Araghchi also ruled out talks with Washington to end the conflict, accusing the US and Israel of launching coordinated attacks while diplomatic contacts were underway.

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First Published: March 16, 2026, 08:08 IST

News world Trump Signals 'Delaying' Beijing Summit With Xi If China Fails To Help Reopen Strait Of Hormuz

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Trump Warns Media Over Fake War Reports, Claims Iran Using AI To Fabricate Attacks On US Assets

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 07:21 IST

Iran War News: Donald Trump said reports of damaged US refuelling aircraft and a burning American aircraft carrier were fabricated and amplified by fake news media outlets.

US President Donald Trump (AFP)

Iran War Updates: US President Donald Trump has accused Iran of using artificial intelligence and media manipulation to spread false claims about attacks on American military assets during the ongoing Iran war.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said reports of damaged US refuelling aircraft and a burning American aircraft carrier were fabricated and amplified by fake news" media outlets.

Fake videos and military damage

Trump said AI-generated videos were circulating online showing damaged US ships, aircraft and the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln. He insisted these claims were false.

According to Trump, Iran was using AI propaganda to make its military appear stronger despite being weakened in the conflict. He said reports claiming five US refuelling planes had been struck down were incorrect and that the aircraft remained in service, except for one that would soon return to operations.

Iran has long been known as a Master of Media Manipulation and Public Relations. They are Militarily ineffective and weak, but are really good at feeding the very appreciative Fake News Media false information. Now, A.I. has become another Disinformation weapon that Iran uses, quite well, considering they are being annihilated by the day. They showed phony Kamikaze Boats, shooting at various Ships at Sea, which looks wonderful, powerful, and vicious, but these Boats dont exist  Its all false information to show how tough their already defeated Military is! The five U.S. Refueling Planes that were supposedly struck down and badly damaged, according to The Wall Street Journals false reporting, and others, are all in service, with the exception of one, which will soon be flying the skies. Buildings and Ships that are shown to be on fire are not  Its FAKE NEWS, generated by A.I. For instance, Iran, working in close coordination with the Fake News Media, shows our great USS Abraham Lincoln Aircraft Carrier, one of the largest and most prestigious Ships in the World, burning uncontrollably in the Ocean. Not only was it not burning, it was not even shot at  Iran knows better than to do that," reads his post.

Trump criticises media

The US president also criticised some American media organisations for sharing such reports. He suggested that outlets spreading the claims should face serious legal scrutiny for distributing misinformation.

He argued that Iran was being heavily weakened in the conflict and that the only victories it claimed were those created through artificial intelligence and circulated by what he described as corrupt media organisations. Trump also accused sections of the left-leaning press of knowingly spreading false stories. He said this was the reason their credibility and approval ratings were low.

The story was knowingly FAKE and, in a certain way, you can say that those Media Outlets that generated it should be brought up on Charges for TREASON for the dissemination of false information! The fact is, Iran is being decimated, and the only battles they win are those that they create through AI, and are distributed by Corrupt Media Outlets. The Radical Leftwing Press knows this full well, but continues to go forward with false stories and LIES. Thats why their Approval Rating is so low, and I can win a Presidential Election, IN A LANDSLIDE, getting only 5% positive Press  They have no credibility," Trump added.

Trump said Brendan Carr, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, is reviewing the licences of corrupt" news organisations.

I am so thrilled to see Brendan Carr, the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), looking at the licenses of some of these Corrupt and Highly Unpatriotic News Organizations. They get Billions of Dollars of FREE American Airwaves, and use it to perpetuate LIES, both in News and almost all of their Shows, including the Late Night Morons, who get gigantic Salaries for horrible Ratings, and never get, as I used to say in The Apprentice, FIRED. Thank you for your attention to this matter!"

The Iran-US-Israel war entered its 17th day on Monday as fighting continued across West Asia.

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First Published: March 16, 2026, 07:21 IST

News world Trump Warns Media Over Fake War Reports, Claims Iran Using AI To Fabricate Attacks On US Assets

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Two Dubai-Bound Emirates Flights Return To Kerala As West Asia Conflict Escalates

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 12:08 IST

Two Emirates flights from Kerala to Dubai returned after Dubai Airport suspended operations due to a drone-related fire. Flights from Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi landed safely.

File photo of an Emirates airline plane. (Image: Reuters)

Two Emirates flights from Kerala to Dubai were forced to return on Monday after flight operations were temporarily suspended at Dubai International Airport following a security incident. Flights from Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi turned back mid-air and landed safely at their respective departure airports.

An Emirates flight from Thiruvananthapuram International Airport bound for Dubai International Airport departed at 4.40 am with 353 passengers and 19 crew members on board. However, the aircraft was instructed to return after the destination airport halted operations. The flight landed back in Thiruvananthapuram at around 8.40 am, and passengers were later shifted to the terminal, PTI reported.

A similar situation unfolded in Kochi, where another Emirates flight, EK533, that took off from Cochin International Airport at 4.30 am with 325 people on board, was also asked to turn back due to the closure of Dubai airport. The aircraft returned and landed safely in Kochi at about 8.30 am.

Passengers are advised to remain on board while the situation at DXB (Dubai) is reviewed. If the airport resumes operations, the return service will continue," a CIAL spokesman said.

Drone Strike Triggers Fire Near Dubai Airport, Flight Ops Hit

Flights were suspended at Dubais airport after a drone-related incident triggered a fire near the facility, officials said. The blaze reportedly involved a fuel tank but was quickly brought under control, and no injuries were reported.

The Dubai Civil Aviation Authority said the temporary suspension of operations was a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of passengers and airport staff.

The disruption comes amid escalating regional tensions. Authorities in United Arab Emirates said their air defence systems were intercepting drones and missiles launched from Iran as part of the ongoing conflict in the region.

In a related development, Saudi Arabia reported that its air defence forces had intercepted more than 60 drones in the eastern part of the country since midnight, highlighting the growing security concerns across the Gulf.

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Location : Kerala, India, India

First Published: March 16, 2026, 12:08 IST

News world Two Dubai-Bound Emirates Flights Return To Kerala As West Asia Conflict Escalates

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Last Updated: March 18, 2026, 09:35 IST

Smoke rises following an explosion after Israel and the US launched strikes on Iran on February 28, 2026. (Image: Reuters)

US-Israel-Iran War News Today Latest Updates: The conflict between Iran and Israel entered its 19th day on Wednesday, with both sides intensifying military operations. Saudi Arabia intercepted a ballistic missile near Prince Sultan airbase today. Earlier on Tuesday, several explosions were reported in Dubai and Doha. The US embassy in Baghdad was also targeted in a drone attack the same day.

Further, Irans national security chief Ali Larijani and top commander of the IRGCs Basij force, Gholamreza Soleimani, were killed in an Israeli airstrike. Under precise intelligence guidance, the Air Force carried out a targeted strike yesterday in the heart of Tehran, eliminating Gholam Reza Soleimani, commander of the Basij unit over the past six years, Israeli Air Force tweeted.

US President Donald Trump criticised NATO for not helping the United States reopen the Strait of Hormuz, while oil prices eased 1% even as US allies appear reluctant on Trumps offer.

According to Irans Ambassador to the United Nations, Amir Saeid Iravani, the US-Israeli attacks on Iran have killed more than 1,300 people, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and top Iranian officials.

Dubai, Abu Dhabi News Today Live

Iravani accused the United States and Israel of deliberately targeting civilians by striking populated residential areas and critical civilian infrastructure.

The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) has warned that the toll may be even higher, estimating at least 1,858 people have been killed, including both civilians and military personnel.

Meanwhile, at least 773 people have been killed in Israeli attacks on Lebanon since the Iran-backed Hezbollah group launched attacks on Israel, according to the countrys Ministry of Public Health.
Trump Plans Naval Coalition With Allies To Escort Ships Through Hormuz Amid War With Iran: Report

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 08:46 IST

Donald Trump on Sunday urged several countries, including close allies such as France and the United Kingdom, to help secure the strategic waterway and keep it open and safe.

US Eyes Multinational Escort Mission In Strait Of Hormuz. (Photo: Reuters)

Iran Hormuz Strait: The United States is planning to announce that several countries have agreed to form a coalition to escort ships through the war-hit Strait of Hormuz as early as next week, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal citing unnamed American officials.

We are talking to other countries about policing the straits. It will be nice to have other countries policing with us. We will help. We are getting a good response," Trump said, adding, It would be interesting to see which country would not help us with this small endeavour of keeping the Strait of Hormuz open. Compared to everything else, it is small because Iran has very little firepower left. Their missiles are down to a low number, you can see they are firing very few of them because they do not have many left and because we have decimated their manufacturing capability"

The move comes a day after US President Donald Trump urged several countries, including close allies such as France and the United Kingdom, to help secure the strategic waterway and keep it open and safe".

Trump is pressing China, which has openly supported Iran in the war, to join the proposed Hormuz security coalition before he travels to Beijing for talks with President Xi Jinping later this month. Speaking to the Financial Times, Trump said he may delay the visit if Beijing does not engage. He also warned NATO allies that a negative response could harm the alliances future.

Axios quoted a source familiar with the development, saying, It was a busy weekend of diplomacy between the US and European, Gulf and Asian allies. The Trump administrations primary focus is to build political commitment from allies for a Strait of Hormuz grouping."

Iran war and Strait of Hormuz closure

Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for US-Israeli strikes. The conflict erupted on February 28 following attacks by the United States and Israel on Iran, after which Tehran launched retaliatory strikes on US bases in the region.

American officials told WSJ that discussions were still underway about when the escort operations could begin  either before or after the end of the hostilities in the Middle East.

On Saturday, Irans Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the strait remains open" to most vessels and is only closed to ships belonging to the United States, Israel and their allies.

Araghchi said ships from other countries are allowed to pass through the key shipping route. As a matter of fact, the Strait of Hormuz is open. It is only closed to the tankers and ships belonging to our enemies, to those who are attacking us and their allies. Others are free to pass," he said.

Trump calls for naval support

Several countries, including some close US allies, have appeared cautious about Trumps public call for nations to send warships to help container vessels pass through the Strait of Hormuz unharmed.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote that he hoped countries such as China, France, Japan, South Korea and the United Kingdom would send ships to the area. He said these countries were affected by the disruption caused by the closure of the strait.

US officials hold talks with allies

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright told NBC that he had been in dialogue with some of the countries mentioned by the president. He added that he expected China would be a constructive partner" in efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

The waterway, effectively closed since the first week of March, is a vital route through which about 20 per cent of the worlds oil supply passes. The disruption to merchant shipping has pushed fuel prices higher around the world.

However, there has been little public commitment from governments regarding the proposed naval mission.

The United Kingdom said Prime Minister Keir Starmer discussed with Trump the importance of reopening the strait to end disruption to global shipping. He also spoke separately with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on the issue.

Chinas embassy in the United States said all parties had a responsibility to ensure a stable and uninterrupted energy supply. It added that Beijing would strengthen communication with relevant parties to de-escalate the conflict.

South Korea said it had taken note of Trumps appeal and would coordinate closely with Washington while reviewing the situation carefully.

Trump is also expected to raise the issue directly when Japans Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi meets him later this week at the White House.

France earlier said it was working with partners in Europe, India and Asia on a possible international mission to escort ships through the strait, but stressed such a move could happen only when circumstances permit and the fighting has subsided.

Meanwhile, Germanys Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul told local media that Berlin was reluctant to join the mission, saying: Will we soon be an active part of this conflict? No."

Risks in Hormuz

Since Iran warned merchant ships against attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz, maritime traffic in the region has nearly come to a standstill.

Last week, explosive-laden boats allegedly deployed by Iranian forces attacked two fuel tankers in Iraqi waters. The vessels caught fire and one crew member, an Indian national, was killed.

Why Hormuz matters?

Oil and gas prices are rising as Iran continues its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow Gulf waterway through which a large share of the worlds crude supply normally passes. The disruption has restricted exports from several Gulf countries, tightening global energy markets. Iran is allowing tankers carrying its own crude to move through the strait while blocking shipments from other Gulf producers. This ensures Iranian oil continues to reach buyers such as China and other markets. According to experts, as long as the blockade continues and Gulf oil exports remain restricted, Donald Trump may struggle to end the war even if he wants to.

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Location : Washington D.C., United States of America (USA)

First Published: March 16, 2026, 07:52 IST

News world Trump Plans Naval Coalition With Allies To Escort Ships Through Hormuz Amid War With Iran: Report

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US Strikes Military Facilities Near Irans Chabahar Free Trade Zone: Report

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 12:59 IST

The Chabahar Free Trade Zone is located in Irans southeastern Sistan and Baluchestan province, close to the border with Pakistan.

Last September, the United States had enforced stringent economic sanctions on Iran, while allowing India a temporary six-month exemption for its involvement in the Chabahar port project. (File pic/AFP)

As the war entered its 17th day, US fighter jets reportedly struck military facilities on a mountain near Irans Chabahar Free Trade Zone, according to Al Jazeera, which cited Voice of Americas Persian-language service.

The report said sounds of intense explosions were heard in the area behind the zone following the strikes.

The Chabahar Free Trade Zone is located in Irans southeastern Sistan and Baluchestan province, close to the border with Pakistan.

Further details about the reported strikes were not immediately available.

Why Chabahar Port matters?

Chabahar Port is Irans only oceanic port, located on the southeastern coast along the Gulf of Oman. Its location gives it direct access to the Indian Ocean without passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

India signed a 10-year agreement in May 2024 with Iran to operate the Shahid Beheshti terminal at Chabahar through Indian Ports Global Limited, replacing earlier short-term arrangements. The deal builds on a 2002 agreement and includes investment in infrastructure such as cranes and berths to increase capacity.

The port is also viewed as a counter to Pakistans China-backed Gwadar Port, located about 72 km away, strengthening Indias regional strategic position.

Despite recent US sanctions on operators linked to the project, development has continued, with Iran describing Chabahar as a long-term initiative resilient to external pressure.

Amid tensions in the Strait of Hormuz, Chabahars location outside the strait offers India a potential alternative route for oil imports.

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First Published: March 16, 2026, 12:47 IST

News world US Strikes Military Facilities Near Irans Chabahar Free Trade Zone: Report

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Were Fine For Now: US Treasury Secretary As Iranian, Indian, Chinese Ships Pass Through Hormuz

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 20:56 IST

The United States has permitted some Iranian oil tankers to leave the Strait of Hormuz, as global shipping resumes despite West Asia conflicts, according to US Treasury Secretary.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. (Courtesy: Reuters)

The United States has allowed some Iranian oil tankers to leave the Strait of Hormuz as global shipping slowly resumes in the region despite the ongoing conflict in West Asia, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.

Speaking to CNBC, Bessent said Washington is comfortable with certain shipsincluding Iranian, Indian, and Chinese vesselspassing through the key maritime route to maintain global fuel supplies.

We are seeing more and more of the fuel ships start to go through," the US treasury secretary told CNBC.

He noted that Iranian vessels had already begun leaving the strait and said the US had allowed it in order to ensure energy supplies continue reaching international markets.

The Iranian ships have been getting out already, and weve let that happen to supply the rest of the world. Weve seen Indian ships go out now we believe some Chinese ships have gone out."

According to Bessent, shipping activity in the region could increase further before additional security forces arrive.

That should start ramping up before there are any of the flotillas or protective armadas in the Gulf. So we think that there will be a natural opening that the Iranians are letting go out. And for now, were fine with that. We want the world to be well supplied."

When asked whether the Trump administration would take additional steps, such as releasing oil from reserves, to control energy prices during the conflict, Bessent said the decision would depend on how long the war lasts.

It will depend on the duration of the conflict."

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First Published: March 16, 2026, 20:53 IST

News world Were Fine For Now: US Treasury Secretary As Iranian, Indian, Chinese Ships Pass Through Hormuz

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West Asia Oil Exports Drops Over 60% As Strait Of Hormuz Closure Disrupts Global Supply

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 23:48 IST

The closure has forced oil exporters to cancel shipments and shut down production at several oilfields, creating one of the biggest supply disruptions in history.

An oil tanker unloads crude oil at a terminal at the port in Qingdao, in Chinas eastern Shandong province on March 11. (AFP photo)

Daily oil exports from West Asia have fallen by more than 60% in the week to March 15, as the closure of the Strait of Hormuz amid the USIsrael war in Iran has severely disrupted global supplies, according to a report by Reuters.

The Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway through which around a fifth of the worlds crude normally flows, has effectively halted activity since the conflict began.

The closure has forced oil exporters to cancel shipments and shut down production at several oilfields, creating one of the biggest supply disruptions in history. Crude prices have surged to over $100 per barrel, the highest in four years, while some fuel prices have hit record levels.

Exports from eight major West Asian producers  Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iran, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates  averaged 9.71 million barrels per day (bpd) last week, down 61% from 25.13 million bpd in February, according to data from Kpler cited by Reuters.

Data from Vortexa showed an even sharper drop to 7.5 million bpd, down 71% from Februarys 26.1 million bpd.

Some of the oil has been placed in floating storage, with volumes rising from 10 million barrels before the war to over 50 million barrels this week, as exporters struggle to move cargo.

Production cuts have intensified, with the UAE halving output from 3.4 million bpd, Saudi Arabia cutting by 20%, and Iraq by around 70%, analysts estimate total West Asian output cuts at 710 million bpd.

The crisis has drawn international attention with US President Donald Trump urging NATO allies, including Britain, France, and Japan, to send warships to reopen the strait, warning that refusal would be very bad for the future of NATO."

However, Western nations including the UK, Germany, Japan, and Australia have ruled out military intervention. Other European countries such as Poland, Spain, Greece, and Sweden have also distanced themselves from any involvement in the Strait of Hormuz following Trumps call. Japan and Australia expressed similar positions, with Canberra confirming it will not send a navy ship to the strait.

(With inputs from Reuters)

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First Published: March 16, 2026, 23:48 IST

News world West Asia Oil Exports Drops Over 60% As Strait Of Hormuz Closure Disrupts Global Supply

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Why It Is Not So Easy For US To Change Regime In Iran: Exclusive From Intel Note

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 16:08 IST

According to intel agencies, Mojtaba Khamenei is only a symbolic figure, while the real power now is with the Revolutionary Guard commanders who take security decisions

Rapid Read

Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei. (Image: Reuters/File)

Even as the US-Israel-Iran war rages on, changing the regime in Iran is not so easy, according to an intelligence assessment.

The intelligence note states that true regime change would require sustained internal tension or occupation level intervention.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) grip on military, economy, and society blocks any internal overthrow. Right now, during wartime vacuum created by the strikes, which also killed many top IRGC and clerical figures, this intervention has shifted Iran from clerical theocracy toward de facto IRGC-dominated governance. US miscalculations underestimated Irans institutional resilience and nationalist backlash," it stated.

According to intel agencies, Mojtaba Khamenei is only a symbolic figure, while the real power now is with the Revolutionary Guard commanders who take security decisions.

Why Mojtaba Khamenei was picked

Even after the US-Israeli strikes killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and decapitated the senior leadership, the system quickly changed with Mojtaba Khamenei.

The establishment is aware that for an Islamic Republic to survive, they needed him. Regime change in Iran is extremely difficult for the United States because the system is in a powerful ideological framework. Without a unified domestic opposition or a large-scale ground intervention, which is costly external pressure, sanctions or limited strikes alone cannot dismantle the regime," according to the note.

An 88-member Assembly of Experts formally convened online sessions starting March 3 and elected Mojtaba Khamenei on March 9 as the new Supreme Leader.

According to multiple credible reports which confirm that senior IRGC commanders applied intense pressure through repeated phone calls, personnel meetings, psychological pressure and direct threats to dissenting clerics.

Why US may not have it easy

They also threatened and their families to force a rapid vote in Mojtabas favour and bypass any broader debate or alternative candidates. No mass defections happened after attacks and agencies note external regime change would require a ground invasion which is politically unsustainable for the US," said sources.

The US policymakers assumed sanctions, maximum pressure and limited strikes would trigger collapse or empower moderates. The US underestimated the regimes ideological reasons and IRGC loyalty

At least eight members boycotted the follow-up March 5 online session held from a secure site near Qoms Fatima Masumeh shrine in protest over hereditary rule Mojtabas limited public clerical credentials and Ayatollah Khameneis known opposition to dynastic succession.

The IRGC continued lobbying to suppress public dissent and push for a swift formal announcement, which finally came just after midnight on March 9," sources said.

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First Published: March 16, 2026, 16:08 IST

News world Why It Is Not So Easy For US To Change Regime In Iran: Exclusive From Intel Note

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'Won't Be Sending A Ship': Australia, Japan Turn Down Trumps Request To Deploy Warships In Hormuz

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Last Updated: March 16, 2026, 09:24 IST

Several US allies have responded cautiously, or declined outright, after President Donald Trump urged about seven countries to deploy warships to help secure the Strait of Hormuz.

The Strait of Hormuz has been virtually shut due to the West Asia conflict. (Representational image: AFP)

Several US allies have responded cautiously, or declined outright, after President Donald Trump urged about seven countries to deploy warships to help secure the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil artery disrupted amid the Iran war.

Australia said it would not contribute naval assets, with cabinet minister Catherine King telling ABC that while the strait is critically important, Canberra has not been asked to send a ship and is not planning to do so.

We wont be sending a ship to the Strait of Hormuz. We know how incredibly important that is, but thats not something that weve been asked or that were contributing to," Catherine King said.

Japan also signalled restraint, saying it is not considering" maritime security operations at this stage, with senior lawmaker Sanae Takaichi affirming that no decision has been made to dispatch escort vessels, with options still being examined within Japans legal framework.

South Korea said it would continue consultations with Washington before deciding, with the presidential office noting that any move would follow a careful review.

Britain struck a diplomatic tone, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer discussing the need to reopen the strait with Trump to ease global shipping disruptions, according to Downing Street.

Starmer also spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, agreeing to continue talks on the Middle East crisis at a meeting scheduled for Monday.

Trump, speaking aboard Air Force One on Sunday, said he has pressed countries heavily reliant on Middle Eastern crude to help police the waterway, which carries roughly one-fifth of the worlds traded oil.

He declined to name the countries involved, arguing they should protect what he called their own territory," and reiterated that the United States depends far less on the strait than others.

Trump singled out China as having strong self-interest, saying it sources the bulk of its oil through Hormuz, but declined to say whether Beijing would join any coalition.

Despite his appeals, no firm commitments have yet emerged as oil prices continue to surge.

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First Published: March 16, 2026, 09:01 IST

News world 'Won't Be Sending A Ship': Australia, Japan Turn Down Trumps Request To Deploy Warships In Hormuz

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News / National

by Staff reporter

Zanu-PF has announced plans to expel party members who do not support the controversial Constitutional Amendment No 3 Bill, enlisting traditional leaders in a nationwide campaign to secure backing for the proposed changes. The Bill has faced strong opposition from civil society, opposition parties, and some members of the governing party, who argue that such sweeping amendments require direct citizen input through a national referendum. Despite these objections, Zanu-PF is mobilising its cells, districts, and provincial structures ahead of Parliament-led consultations scheduled for next week.Amendment Bill No 3 seeks to abolish direct presidential elections, transferring the power to elect the President to Parliament, where Zanu-PF holds a two-thirds majority. It also proposes extending presidential and parliamentary terms by two years, from 2028 to 2030, without a referendum. Critics argue that the Bill entrenches Zanu-PF's grip on power, undermines democratic processes, and excludes millions of Zimbabweans from meaningful participation in shaping the country's constitution.Parliament's schedule outlines 64 public hearings between March 30 and April 2  averaging fewer than seven hearings per province over four days. By contrast, the 2013 Constitution involved 4,821 public outreach meetings across 1,950 wards over 105 days. Among other changes, the proposed law seeks to abolish the Zimbabwe Gender Commission, with critics calling it a "procedural coup" that bypasses widespread public consultation.In Manicaland, Zanu-PF leaders told a provincial coordination committee meeting at Marymount Teachers' College in Mutare that members opposing the Bill will face expulsion. Provincial political commissar Albert Nyakuedzwa warned, "If you do not support [Amendment] Bill No 3, you are going to be expelled from the party We are serious about this." Outreach programmes, including inter-district meetings across all eight districts, are set to begin immediately.Party provincial chairperson Tawanda Mukodza stressed the role of traditional leaders in influencing rural communities, saying, "Traditional leaders will help us to whip villagers to support Bill No 3. This is now a matter of life and death for our political future." Mukodza also demanded full cooperation from MPs and central committee members, warning that refusal to participate or provide party vehicles during outreach activities would result in further action. Attendance at all levels, from cell groups to provincial meetings, is being treated as mandatory.The push to secure support for the Bill comes amid heightened attacks on critics, including the assault of prominent opposition lawyer Professor Lovemore Madhuku in Harare for opposing the amendments. The government's strategy to mobilise traditional leaders highlights its reliance on cultural influence to sway public opinion, a tactic that remains highly controversial in Zimbabwe's fragile democratic environment.
More than five decades after a man's mutilated body turned up on a rural New York roadside, investigators finally know his name. New York State Police say DNA testing has identified the victim as 35-year-old Clyde A. Coppage, who was living in Genesee, Pennsylvania, when he disappeared in 1970, per People . His head and hands were missing when his body was discovered along Davis Hill Road in the town of Andover on March 20 of that year, reports the Times Union . Police say he was never reported missing.

The breakthrough came after Coppage's remains were exhumed in June 2022. Working with the FBI, investigators used modern DNA analysis to match the remains to Coppage. Authorities have not disclosed a cause of death but reportedly believe Coppage was killed and dismembered in another location, per the New York Post. The Times Union notes that in homicide cases, perpetrators sometimes remove heads and hands to impede identification, a tactic now often overcome by advances in genetic technology. State Police are asking for the public's help to fill in the gaps of Coppage's life and what may have led to his death. Anyone with information is urged to call New York State Police at 585-344-6200.
A dispute over missing ID at a Dallas airport security checkpoint has landed a California man in federal custody, the Dallas News reports. Prosecutors say 33-year-old Idress Vinay Solomon of Oakland was trying to board a Southwest flight from Dallas Love Field to Oakland Tuesday when he showed up at TSA screening without identification. According to a federal complaint filed in the Northern District of Texas, officers moved him to a separate lane to verify his identity through TSA's ConfirmID system, but when that process failed, Solomon allegedly became agitated and disruptive.

The complaint alleges Solomon punched a TSA officer in the back of the neck after the officer called for a supervisor. Dallas police in the airport's main lobby responded, and Solomon is accused of then hitting one officer in the face multiple times, causing a severe orbital blowout fracture to the officer's left eye. Hospital treatment was required, CBS News reports. Authorities say he also punched another TSA officer several times before additional officers restrained him; surveillance video allegedly captured the incident. While handcuffed and being moved to a patrol car, Solomon allegedly spit on a uniformed officer and continued to yell, resist, and ignore commands.

Solomon has been charged with forcibly assaulting a federal officer resulting in bodily injury, a crime that carries a potential sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison if he is convicted, WFAA reports. He remains in custody pending further proceedings. US Attorney Ryan Raybould said in a statement that violent behavior toward TSA and law enforcement officers "will never be tolerated" and pledged to pursue such cases aggressively. The incident is under investigation by the TSA, the FBI, and the Dallas Police Department, and is being prosecuted by the US Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Texas.
The plane carrying about 150 Palestinians from Gaza came as a surprise to everyone on the ground when it landed in South Africa in November. It wasn't the only one. Since May, at least three flights filled with Gaza residents who'd signed up to leave the war-torn enclave have landed in Indonesia and South Africa. An Israeli group whose founder adamantly supported President Trump's proposal to resettle Palestinians from Gaza is behind the flights, an AP investigation has found, raising further questions about the motives behind the evacuation of hundreds of people from the strip. At the time, South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola called the flights a "clear agenda to cleanse ... the Palestinians out of Gaza and the West Bank."

Ad Kan, an Israeli organization founded by soldiers and former intelligence officers that means "enough is enough" in Hebrew, worked via another company to distance links to Israel and organize the flights, according to a contract, passenger lists, text messages, financial statements, and interviews with more than two dozen Israelis, Palestinians, and other people involved with the trips. Several of the passengerswho fled after more than two years of a devastating war that has decimated Gazasaid they didn't know who was behind the trip. But they largely didn't care, they said, as long as they could leave. "There was famine, and we had no options. My children were almost killed," said a 37-year-old Palestinian who arrived in South Africa in November. "Death and destruction was everywhere, all day, for two years, and nobody came to the rescue."

Ad Kan kept a distance from the flights. The evacuations were organized through a company called Al-Majd, which describes itself on its website as a humanitarian organization "supporting Palestinian lives" and providing aid for Muslim communities in conflict. Six Palestinians who spoke to the AP said they paid up to $2,000 per person through bank and cryptocurrency transfers. Families who flew to South Africa told AP they weren't aware that Israelis were behind the flights but that in the end, it didn't matter. "I agreed to the flight, and I didn't know the destination," said a Palestinian who sent his wife and son to South Africa. "All I cared about was getting my family out of Gaza and saving them." The AP has much more here.
News / National

by Staff reporter

The Scottish National Party (SNP) has passed a pro-independence motion calling on the Government of the United Kingdom to begin preparing for the possibility of Scotland leaving the Union.The motion, tabled by the Glasgow Southside constituency association, was approved unanimously at the party's 2026 conference after a proposal to withdraw it on the grounds that it was "incomplete" failed.The brief motion stated that as the prospect of a self-governing Scotland draws closer, the UK Government should begin preparations for a time when it may no longer be able to rely on what the motion described as continuing subsidies from Scotland.SNP councillor Norman MacLeod proposed the motion, while party member Alex Orr seconded it. Orr argued that the resolution was not about confrontation but responsible planning."The reality is not that Scotland cannot afford to be independent, it is that the UK Government cannot afford to be unprepared," Orr told delegates. He challenged the narrative that Scotland is dependent on subsidies within the Union, saying governments must plan for possible constitutional changes in the same way they plan for economic shocks or demographic shifts.However, some delegates criticised the motion for lacking detail. SNP delegate Gareth Morgan said it failed to address broader consequences of independence, including separate foreign, immigration and taxation systems. He also noted that the UK Government would need to prepare for the possibility of Scotland rejoining the European Union and managing the implications of having an EU member state on its northern border.The debate at the conference echoed remarks by former Green Party of England and Wales MP Caroline Lucas, who warned earlier in the week that discussions about constitutional change are largely absent in England. Speaking in Glasgow, Lucas cautioned that failure to prepare for major political shifts could lead to turmoil similar to the aftermath of the Brexit referendum.She noted that the government of then-prime minister David Cameron had barred the civil service from modelling the potential consequences of leaving the EU before the vote, which she argued worsened the disruption that followed.The UK Government has been approached for comment on the motion.
A weeklong Caribbean cruise turned queasy for nearly 3% of people aboard the Star Princess, where a norovirus outbreak sickened both passengers and crew, according to federal health officials. The CDC said 153 people fell ill during the voyage that ended Sunday: 104 passengers and 49 crew members, or about 2.6% of those on board, NBC News reports. Those affected experienced vomiting and diarrhea, symptoms commonly associated with norovirus, a highly contagious gastrointestinal virus that regularly causes outbreaks in the US.

Princess Cruises told the CDC it stepped up cleaning and disinfection, isolated sick individuals until they could leave the ship, and consulted with federal health experts on controlling the virus. Stool samples were taken for testing, CBS News reports. The CDC's Vessel Sanitation Program was notified Wednesday and investigators boarded the ship. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment. This is the second gastrointestinal illness outbreak onboard a cruise ship this year that met the CDC's threshold for public notification, USA Today reports. Last year saw 23.

The 4,307-passenger Star Princess returned to Fort Lauderdale on Sunday and then departed the same day for Princess Cays in the Bahamas, cruise-tracking site CruiseMapper shows. The ship, which launched in October and was formally christened in November by Matthew McConaughey and his wife, Camila, features dozens of bars and restaurants and a glass-domed concert venuefeatures that can bring a lot of people into close contact, where viruses like norovirus can spread via contaminated food, surfaces, or person-to-person contact. The CDC advises frequent handwashing and careful surface disinfection to help prevent transmission.
Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another was crowned best picture at the 98th Academy Awards, handing Hollywood's top honor to a comic, multi-generational American saga of political resistance, the AP reports. The ceremony Sunday, which also saw Michael B. Jordan win best actor and Sinners cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw make Oscar history as the first female director of photography to win the award, was a long-in-coming coronation for Anderson, a San Fernando Valley native who made his first short at age 18 and has been one of America's most lionized filmmakers for decades. Before Sunday, Anderson had never won an Oscar.

But One Battle After Another, the favorite coming in, won six Oscars, including best director and best adapted screenplay for Anderson, the Oscars' first trophy for best casting, and best supporting actor for an absent Sean Penn. Ryan Coogler's Jim Crow-set, blues-soaked vampire tale Sinners, which came in with a record 16 nominations, also landed some big and even historic wins, finishing the night with four awards. Coogler, the widely loved filmmaker, won the first Oscar in an unblemished career that started out with Jordan in 2013's Fruitvale Station.

Arkapaw, only the fourth female cinematographer ever nominated, won the award in a long-in-coming triumph for women behind the camera. And Jordan, one of Hollywood's most liked leading men, won best actor in one of the night's closest races. The Dolby Theatre rose to its feet in the most thunderous applause of the night. Click for the complete list of winners, including Jessie Buckley, who won best actress for her performance as Agnes Shakespeare in Hamnet, making her the first Irish performer to ever win in the category. (See some of the red carpet fashions here, or tidbits from host Conan O'Brien's monologue here.)
About 3,800 workers at one of the nation's largest meatpacking plants were set to strike Monday morning in Colorado in what union representatives said would be the first walkout at a US beef slaughterhouse since the 1980s. The strike at the Swift Beef Co. plant in Greeley was set to begin at 5:30am MDT, said Kim Cordova, president of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7, which represents the workers. It follows accusations from union officials that owner JBS USA retaliated against workers and committed other unfair labor practices amid contract negotiations, reports the AP . A previous contract was due to expire at midnight Sunday.

The expected strike comes at a 75-year low for the US cattle population, with a Jan. 1 inventory of 86.2 million animalsdown 1% from the prior year. Beef prices have added to economic anxiety in the US, while the administration of President Trump has turned to a trade deal with Argentina in an effort to lower prices for food, including beef. It also follows the January closure of a meatpacking plant in Lexington, Nebraska, which was expected to ripple through the local economy and community. At the Greeley plant, the company tried to intimidate workers to quit the union in one-on-one meetings, union general counsel Matt Shechter said.

Cordova said 99% of workers voted to authorize the strike. No formal negotiations took place over the weekend after the company refused a union request to negotiate on Saturday, Shechter said. JBS USA said in a statement that any employee who didn't want to strike would have work and be paid. The company said it would operate two shifts at the plant Monday and would temporarily move production as needed to other JBS facilities.

The statement said the company operates in full compliance with federal and state labor and employment laws. "Our goal is to minimize impact to our customers, our partners, and the broader marketplace while we work toward a fair resolution in Greeley," the company said. It's the first strike at a US slaughterhouse since workers walked out at a Hormel plant in Minnesota in 1985, Cordova said.
Sean Penn just joined Hollywood's exclusive three-Oscar club and wasn't there to see it happenbecause he was on another continent. The 65-year-old won best supporting actor Sunday for playing a fervent military commander in Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another. Onstage, presenter Kieran Culkin told the audience, "Sean Penn couldn't be here this evening, or didn't want to, so I'll be accepting the award on his behalf." The New York Times zeroes in on Penn's whereabouts, reporting the actor instead flew to Europe, with plans to visit Ukraine, according to two people familiar with his travel who weren't authorized to speak publicly.

An unnamed Ukrainian official confirmed the news to AFP, saying, "We can say that he's in Ukraine, but it's his personal visit; that's how he sees it, that he needs to be in Ukraine. He just wants to support Ukraine." Penn's rep declined comment, and it wasn't clear exactly what Penn would do or where he would go in Ukraine, where he has logged a good deal of time since Russia's 2022 invasion.

Penn, who also bypassed this year's SAG Awards and BAFTAs despite winning both, becomes just the fourth man to have won three acting Oscars, per the Hollywood Reporter, joining Jack Nicholson, Walter Brennan, and Daniel Day-Lewis in that group. Penn loaned Zelensky one of his Oscars during a 2022 visit.
A weather setup that forecasters say they see only a few times a decade is lining up over the Mid-Atlantic on Monday. The National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center has placed an area from western Maryland to South Carolina, including Raleigh, Richmond, and Washington, DC, under a "moderate" Level 4-of-5 risk for severe thunderstorms, per the Washington Post . The main concerns: destructive straight-line winds, large hail, and the possibility of a few strong, long-track tornadoes, most likely late afternoon into the evening commute. "There is potential that a couple of storms could become capable of producing strong and long track tornadoes," according to the Storm Prediction Center.

Expect scattered storms late morning into early afternoon, then a more organized line from roughly 4pm to 8pm before activity shifts offshore. Forecasters say wind shear will be plentiful, helping storms rotate and potentially driving 60- to 75-mph gusts, but the intensity later in the day will depend on how much "fuel" the atmosphere retains after morning storms. Meteorologists urge residents to understand the distinction: a tornado watch means conditions are favorable; a warning means take shelter immediately. A broader Level 3 zone runs from southern Pennsylvania to northern Florida, with a lower but still notable threat reaching from Syracuse to Tampa. Storms in these areas are likely to be isolated but could still be quite intense, per the New York Times.
Warren Buffett once predicted his big philanthropy experiment would unleash "trillions" for charity; 15 years later, some of the billionaires it targets are trying to kill it. In the New York Times , Theodore Schleifer charts the rise and stall of the Giving PledgeBuffett and Bill and Melinda French Gates' 2010 effort to get the ultra-rich to promise to give away at least half their fortunesand the sharper mood that's now meeting it.

New signers, who "are increasingly based overseas or are lower-profile," per Schleifer, have slowed. One backer (Coinbase's Brian Armstrong) who signed on in 2019 quietly withdrew in 2024, and another (Larry Ellison) publicly "amended" his commitment with an eye on giving to for-profit efforts. Peter Thiel says he's been urging fellow billionaires to unsign, dismissing the pledge as a "fake Boomer club."

Schleifer places the backlash in a broader shift: a Trump-era, tech-fueled skepticism of traditional philanthropy and a growing belief among some moguls that "giving back" happens through business or politics, not nonprofits. The founders still call the pledge a successbut even Melinda French Gates says many signers aren't living up to it. As Schleifer makes clear, there's no enforcement of that point. Buffett framed the pledge as a "moral" one, and the Giving Pledge doesn't keep tabs on how much its 225+ signers have given. Read the full story for more.
Mexican officials say they've nabbed a key figure tied to the operation that ended one of the country's most notorious manhunts. The Defense Ministry on Sunday announced the arrest of an alleged Jalisco New Generation Cartel logistics boss known as "El Pepe," accused of arranging transport for the romantic partner of cartel leader Nemesio "El Mencho" Oseguera ahead of the raid that killed him last month. Authorities say military intelligence followed that rendezvous to a luxury cabin in Tapalpa, Jalisco, where elite troops fatally wounded Oseguera on Feb. 22, aided by what officials called "very important" US-supplied intelligence.
Ecuador is rolling out its biggest anti-drug push in years, and this time Washington is openly in the mix. The government on Sunday launched a two-week crackdown on drug gangs with US support under a new presidential declaration. "We're at war," Ecuadorian Interior Minister John Reimberg warned, per CBS News. More:
Sen. Ron Johnson wants the FCC to take a big step back. The Wisconsin Republican criticized Brendan Carr after the Federal Communications Commission chair warned that TV and radio stations could see their licenses pulled if they air "hoaxes and news distortions" related to the war with Iran. Speaking on Fox News' Sunday Briefing, Johnson said he opposes government attempts to police speech or lean on private companies, the Guardian reports. "I'm in big support of the First Amendment," he said, adding that the government's job is to "protect our constitutional rights," not pressure broadcasters.

In complaining about news coverage of the war, Carr reflected President Trump's accusations. Carr argued on X that broadcast licenses aren't an untouchable property right and that stations must operate "in the public interest" or risk losing their authorization. Democrats accused Carr of crossing a constitutional line. Sen. Elizabeth Warren said it would be illegal for the government to censor speech it dislikes about the war and called the threat "straight out of the authoritarian playbook." Sen. Chris Murphy labeled it evidence the US is already in the middle of a "totalitarian takeover," per CNBC, while California Gov. Gavin Newsom called the threat "flagrantly unconstitutional."

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also denounced the war coverage before Carr did. But after Carr's comments, a few Republicans such as Johnson joined the Democrats in opposition. Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, said such threats could set a dangerous precedent for future relations between presidents and the news media, per the Hill. The FCC has licensing jurisdiction over broadcast stations but not networks or streaming operations.
President Trump publicly criticized US allies on Monday for turning down or slow-walking his push to send warships to guard commercial traffic through the Persian Gulf. Trump, who argues nations that rely more heavily than the US on the region's oil should step up, said "numerous countries" had agreed to help but declined to identify them, the New York Times reports. He framed the request as a test of loyalty, saying, "We don't need anybody, we're the strongest nation in the world." He added, "I'm almost doing it in some cases not because we need them but because I want to find out how they react." He earlier said that NATO will face a "very bad" future if allies don't help to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
News / National

by Stephen Jakes

Mutare resident Kennedy Kaitano has questioned the legal credentials of Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi and President Emmerson Mnangagwa over their handling of Constitutional Amendment No. 3, which seeks to extend presidential terms without a referendum.In a strongly worded statement, Kaitano said he had "sleepless nights" trying to understand how senior legal minds such as Ziyambi, Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda and President Mnangagwa could "fail to understand clauses of the Constitution written in such simple English that even a notsointelligent Grade Seven pupil will understand"."I have wasted my nights, because I have come to grips with the fact that these educated lawyers know very well what is supposed to be done, but they somehow think they can pull the wool over our eyes and get the world to accept human stool for cake," he said.Kaitano accused the authorities of attempting to use "brutal force" to push through amendments that undermine democracy, warning that history would judge them harshly.He argued that Section 328 of the Constitution clearly defines a "termlimit provision" as any clause limiting the length of time a person may hold public office. He said the Constitution explicitly states that any amendment extending such a term requires a national referendum.Kaitano noted that Section 95 of the Constitution sets the presidential term at five years, coterminous with Parliament. Extending it to seven years, he said, constitutes an extension of time in office and therefore triggers the mandatory referendum requirement.He urged Ziyambi, Mudenda, President Mnangagwa and Professor Jonathan Moyo to "revisit their introductory lectures in law school" and return with a correct interpretation of the Constitution."To err is human, and mistakes, once identified, should always be corrected," he said.Kaitano warned Zimbabweans not to be deceived into accepting "human stool for cake", insisting that citizens must defend the Constitution from manipulation.
Sam Bankman-Fried is trying to charm his way to a presidential pardon, but even his cryptocurrency allies in Congress want no part of it. The former FTX chief, convicted of fraud in 2023, has been praising President Trump's economic record and framing his own prosecution as political "lawfare," while his social media account touts Trump as a savior for crypto, Politico reports. Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in 2024. His X account says it contains Bankman-Fried's words, "posted through a proxy" after Bureau of Prisons-approved phone calls or emails.

Leading pro-crypto Republicans are openly rejecting the push. Sen. Bernie Moreno of Ohio called him "a piece of s---" who should be in prison "for a long, long time," while Sen. Cynthia Lummis, the Senate's most prominent crypto booster, warned she hopes Trump "doesn't fall for that," saying Bankman-Fried "hurt a lot of people." Rep. Mike Flood, a Republican on the House Financial Services Committee, dismissed any idea that SBF is needed back in finance. "He crashed the car, man. He engaged in massive fraud," he said, per Politico. "Wall Street's not needing him back to fix any problems. He helped us identify a problem by committing a massive amount of fraudand we rewarded him with a long stay in a federal prison."

Trump has previously granted clemency to controversial figures, including Bankman-Fried's former main rival. He told the New York Times in January, however, that he doesn't plan to pardon Bankman-Fried. The fraudster was a major donor to Joe Biden and other Democrats, which probably makes a pardon a longshot, Fortune reports, though he has been denouncing the "deep state" and other MAGA targets in recent posts on X. "Clinton-appointed judge Lewis Kaplan made his political bias very clear when sentencing me," he said in a post last month.

Democrats, meanwhile, are using the moment to swipe at Trump's pardon history. "Precedent has amply demonstrated that if Sam Bankman-Fried or his friends commit to donate a sufficiently large plaque in the new White House ballroom, he will get pardoned," Democratic Rep. Sam Liccardo says.
TOKYO, Mar 15 (News On Japan) - As Japan enters the peak spring relocation season from March to April, the transport ministry has released this years moving reservation outlook, warning that many people may struggle to secure their preferred moving dates.

According to reservation data published by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, the period from March 28th through April 4th is expected to be "extremely crowded."

Meanwhile, moving demand is also projected to be "crowded" on March 14th, March 20th through March 27th, as well as April 5th and April 11th.

The spring relocation season, which coincides with corporate transfers and the start of the new academic year, has led to growing concern over so-called "moving refugees"people unable to book movers on their preferred dates due to a shortage of drivers and transportation capacity.

In response, the ministry is urging people planning to relocate to review the published reservation schedule and consider adjusting their moving dates accordingly.

Source: TBS
TOKYO, Mar 16 (News On Japan) - A mobile battery carried by a passenger caught fire inside a Tokyo Metro Hanzomon Line train on March 15th, forcing the line to suspend operations temporarily across its entire route, though no injuries were reported.

At a subway platform, a station attendant was seen spraying a fire extinguisher onto a blackened object, after which white smoke rose from it.

According to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department and other authorities, the fire broke out at around 9:30 a.m. on March 15th shortly after a train stopped at Nagatacho Station on the Hanzomon Line in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo. A passengers mobile battery suddenly ignited inside the train.

The fire was extinguished in about 15 minutes, and no one was injured in the incident.

Due to the fire, the Hanzomon Line temporarily suspended service across the entire line but resumed operations shortly after 10 a.m.

Accidents involving mobile batteries catching fire inside trains have been occurring one after another in recent years, raising concerns about the safety of portable chargers on public transportation.

Source: TBS
TOKYO, Mar 16 (News On Japan) - Seven men, including suspected ringleaders linked to an organized crime group, have been arrested by the Metropolitan Police Department in connection with a robbery in which about 423 million yen was stolen from a man walking along a Tokyo street in January 2026.

Those arrested include Kano Jinryu, 21, believed to be the mastermind and a senior member of the Hirodo-kai faction of the Yamaguchi-gumi, and Koike Koji, 47, along with five other men suspected of carrying out the attack.

Police allege that the seven men robbed a suitcase containing approximately 423 million yen from a 43-year-old man on a street in Higashi-Ueno, Taito Ward, in January, spraying the victim in the face with tear gas and assaulting him during the robbery.

According to investigators, Kano and Koike met with three of the attackers at a park in Tokyos Itabashi Ward about an hour and a half before the incident before driving together to the crime scene.

After the robbery, the group allegedly fled in a light vehicle driven by Koike and later switched to a wagon vehicle belonging to Kano in order to escape.

When Metropolitan Police searched locations connected to the suspects on March 14th, they discovered and seized about 27.5 million yen in cash.

About two and a half hours after the robbery, another incident occurred at Haneda Airport in which approximately 190 million yen was nearly stolen, and police are investigating whether the two cases are linked.

Source: FNN
SAPPORO, Mar 15 (News On Japan) - The popular group Arashi, which will end its activities in May this year, launched its final nationwide tour in Sapporo, setting off a surge of fans and a ripple of economic effects stretching far beyond Hokkaido.

Shortly after 4 a.m. on March 15th, passengers arriving at Kansai International Airport included emotional fans returning from the Sapporo concert.

A fan who has followed the group for 10 years said, "I'm still in a daze. I was crying the whole time."

Another fan with a 15-year history of supporting the group said, "My bath towel was completely soaked."

Others spoke enthusiastically despite their lack of sleep.

"It was so much fun," one fan said. "They gave us such a happy time. I think I can keep going for another week."

Another added, "Maybe I can keep going a little longer. Just a little longer."

Fans rubbed their tired eyes while passionately describing their love for Arashi.

Junichi Inoue, a cameraman with Sapporo Television, said, "Fans from all over the country have gathered here, and it feels like their excitement is rising all the way into the sky."

The group's final tour began with the Sapporo concerts on March 13th.

Over the three-day run, about 150,000 people attended the shows, raising expectations for a major economic boost. The excitement has spread throughout the city's shopping districts.

A visitor from Tokyo said, "I bought crab and finished all my souvenir shopping, so now I can focus on the concert."

Kazuo Sasaki of Miyata Shoten said, "Almost everyone here is an Arashi fan. It's like New Year's and the Bon holidays coming at the same time."

While the concerts have generated excitement nationwide, concerns also emerged over a shortage of hotel rooms.

Once the tour was announced, accommodations across Sapporo quickly sold out, with prices surging. At the same time, the second round of entrance exams at Hokkaido University took place shortly before the concerts, causing the peak demand for lodging from both exam applicants and tens of thousands of Arashi fans to overlap.

Airlines stepped in to ease the accommodation crunch. Low-cost carrier Peach added extra flights, including a late-night service departing Sapporo at 2 a.m. bound for Kansai International Airport, to help handle the surge in travel demand.

A fan of 16 years said, "When I boarded the plane, they handed out candy in the five colors of the Arashi members. I could really feel Peach's love."

Another fan with an 18-year history of following the group said, "Everyone on the plane was an Arashi fan, so we ended up making friends with people we'd never met before and even exchanging contact information. I love how it creates this Arashi community."

Arashi plans to conclude its activities after completing a five-dome tour across Japan. The Osaka performances are scheduled for May, leaving many wondering what kind of whirlwind the group will bring to the Kansai region next.

Source: YOMIURI
News / National

by Staff reporter

Traditional leaders in the Senate have rejected a controversial clause in the Medical Services Amendment Bill that would have allowed abortion "on demand", forcing the proposed law back to the National Assembly for reconsideration.The clause, which sought to significantly expand access to abortion, was removed after strong opposition from traditional leaders who argued it conflicted with Zimbabwean customs and values.Clause 11 of the Bill proposed sweeping changes to the country's abortion laws. These included allowing termination of pregnancy on request up to 20 weeks, permitting minors to undergo the procedure without parental consent, removing the requirement to notify a spouse, and allowing a single medical practitioner to authorise the procedure.Traditional leaders, led by the deputy president of the National Chiefs Council, Fortune Charumbira, strongly objected to the clause during Senate deliberations.Deputy Health and Child Care Minister Sleiman Kwidini told the Senate the ministry had not been aware of the clause, claiming it had not been debated during proceedings in the National Assembly.With Clause 11 removed, the Bill has now been sent back to the National Assembly for consideration of the Senate's amendment.Charumbira questioned why the deputy minister's Second Reading speech had made no mention of the clause, even though it appeared in the version of the Bill presented to the Senate.A Midlands traditional leader, Chief Ngungumbane, backed Charumbira's concerns, saying traditional leaders supported Clauses 1 to 10 but could not approve Clause 11."Clause 11, we would like to find out from the minister whether it was an omission, deliberate or otherwise, because I fear that if we pass these and leave that clause unattended, it will be passed on a technicality," he said."If the minister could clarify whether Clause 11 is within the Bill, because from the copies we received, there were amendments made in the National Assembly, adopted and passed, and surprisingly, they came to the Senate."In response, Kwidini said he and his team were equally surprised by the clause.He explained that when the Bill was first introduced in the National Assembly it had only 10 clauses, ending at Clause 10. He said Clause 11 appeared only after further deliberations in the lower house.Following the concerns raised in the Senate, Kwidini moved to delete Clause 11 from the Bill  a motion that was adopted before the Bill was passed by the upper chamber.The legislation has now been returned to the National Assembly, with Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda formally notifying the House."I have received the Medical Services Amendment Bill [H.B. 6B, 2024] from the Senate with an amendment," Mudenda said."Accordingly, in terms of Standing Order Number 119, the Bill shall be recommitted to the committee of the whole House for the purposes of considering the said amendment."Apart from the abortion clause controversy, the Bill proposes several healthcare reforms. These include requiring private hospitals to obtain government approval before increasing service charges and obliging them to admit patients in life-threatening conditions for at least 48 hours, even if they cannot pay upfront.
Bill Gates is down to 19th richest person in the world.

He has a little more than three times as much as his x-wife.

Bill has one eighths of the wealth of Elon Musk.

Bill got out of Microsoft shares and into railroads and conservative mostly non-tech investments.

Bill has also been shorting Tesla.

SpaceX-XAI will IPO in a few months. It will send SpaceX-XAI to about $2 trillion in valuation. Elon will likely get to $1.2 to 1.5 trillion in wealth and will end 2026 with about $2 trillion.

This will make Elon 10-20 times richer than Bill Gates. IF Bill Gates is still shorting Tesla for the next 12 months this will likely go very badly for Bill.

Bill seems to only have conservative non-tech investments. His divorce settlement likely requires him to continue to fund the Melinda Gates Foundation.

Bill will drop below $100 billion.

Steve Ballmer was CEO of Microsoft after Bill and he once had about 12% of Bill Gates wealth. All Steve had to do was sell less of Microsoft and he became richer than Bill. Steve has $127 billion now and is 15th place.
News / Regional

by Stephen Jakes

The High Court circuit sitting in Hwange has sentenced Wellington Moyo to 15 years in prison for murdering his 17yearold cousin.The court heard that on 6 April 2025 at a homestead in Gwelutshena, the deceased, Gugulethu Moyo, was pulling logs with a witness in preparation for building a granary. The offender approached from behind and stabbed him once in the neck with a homemade knife used for harvesting sunflowers.The injured teenager ran about 50 metres before collapsing. The offender pursued him while still holding the knife.The victim was later found unconscious with a deep neck wound and was pronounced dead at the scene.The National Prosecuting Authority of Zimbabwe said family and community conflicts must be resolved peacefully, warning that courts will continue imposing custodial sentences on those who unlawfully take life.
National drum contest held in China's Shijiazhuang

Xinhua) 08:30, March 16, 2026

Artists perform during a drum contest at Zhengding ancient city in Shijiazhuang, north China's Hebei Province, March 15, 2026. A national drum contest was held here on Sunday, which was attended by 14 drum teams from across the country. (Photo by Zhang Xiaofeng/Xinhua)

Artists perform during a drum contest at Zhengding ancient city in Shijiazhuang, north China's Hebei Province, March 15, 2026. A national drum contest was held here on Sunday, which was attended by 14 drum teams from across the country. (Photo by Liang Zidong/Xinhua)

Artists perform during a drum contest at Zhengding ancient city in Shijiazhuang, north China's Hebei Province, March 15, 2026. A national drum contest was held here on Sunday, which was attended by 14 drum teams from across the country. (Photo by Zhang Xiaofeng/Xinhua)

Artists perform during a drum contest at Zhengding ancient city in Shijiazhuang, north China's Hebei Province, March 15, 2026. A national drum contest was held here on Sunday, which was attended by 14 drum teams from across the country. (Photo by Liang Zidong/Xinhua)

Artists perform during a drum contest at Zhengding ancient city in Shijiazhuang, north China's Hebei Province, March 15, 2026. A national drum contest was held here on Sunday, which was attended by 14 drum teams from across the country. (Photo by Zhang Xiaofeng/Xinhua)

An aerial drone photo taken on March 15, 2026 shows a scene of a drum contest at Zhengding ancient city in Shijiazhuang, north China's Hebei Province. A national drum contest was held here on Sunday, which was attended by 14 drum teams from across the country. (Photo by Liang Zidong/Xinhua)

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
In Anhui, businesses encountering operational issues now have a unified channel for helpthe Anhui Province Business Environment Optimization Service Platform, often referred to as the "Echo Wall." This platform is built on the principle of "You propose, I handle," dedicated to resolving urgent and challenging problems in business production and operation. "Our loan is about to mature, but there's still no news on the approval of a new loan..." In April of last year, Zhang Junbo, head of Huangshan Zhangshi Crankshaft Co., Ltd., posted a message on this service platform, his words tinged with anxiety. The company's 5 million yuan loan from the Postal Savings Bank of China (PSBC) was nearing its maturity date, putting their working capital at risk of a shortfall. On the very day the message was posted, the Anhui Financial Regulatory Bureau responded swiftly. It immediately directed the Huangshan Financial Regulatory Sub-Bureau to collaborate with the Shexian County Business Environment Office, the County Economic Development Zone Management Committee, and PSBC. Together, they formed a service team that went directly to the company's site. During the visit, they discovered that the company had applied for a loan renewal through an online channel. However, due to the higher risks associated with online approval processes and stricter documentation requirements, the application was not approved. "Don't worry, let's find a solution together," the team assured. During an on-site meeting, PSBC immediately assigned a dedicated financial services officer to guide the company step-by-step in switching to an offline application process. They helped supplement the key supporting documents and simultaneously initiated a "green channel" for approval. From getting stuck online to proceeding smoothly offline, the dedicated service team followed up throughout the entire process, working against the clock to find a resolution. Just two days later, the company's 5 million yuan loan renewal funds were successfully secured. "I really didn't expect it to be this fast! Just a couple of days ago, I was so worried, but now I feel completely at ease." Zhang Junbo's delight was palpable. From posting a plea for help to receiving the funds, this "timely rain" precisely resolved the company's working capital crisis. The Anhui Province Business Environment Optimization Service Platform has established an unobstructed communication bridge between the government and enterprises. Its primary function is to receive enterprises' complaints and requests related to the business environment within Anhui Province, ensuring unified reception, efficient task allocation, and resolution within a set timeframe. In 2025, the Anhui Financial Regulatory Bureau has adhered to the principle of handling matters immediately upon receipt and providing high-quality responses on time. In total, it received over 100 messages on the enterprise service platform. The satisfaction rate for cases handled over the past two years has remained stable at around 96%. Departments at all levels in our province are not only dedicated to resolving the issues posted on this message board, but also use these cases as opportunities to address and solve "broader, systemic issues" by drawing inferences from specific instances. The Anhui Province Business Environment Optimization Service Platform is systematically transforming the urgent difficulties and worries of individual enterprises into "to-do items" with strict deadlines. This process ensures that precise and efficient enterprise-oriented services arrive with "zero delay."

Source: Anhui Daily
It's officially time for the Oscars, as this year's awards season finally comes to a close. Will One Battle After Another or Sinners take home the top prize? Are Jessie Buckley and Timothee Chalamet shoe-ins for their respective acting awards, or could stars like Rose Byrne and Michael B. Jordan swoop in with an upset?

Get ready for all your movie award questions to be answered tonight, as the 98th Academy Awards get underway at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Calif. But before the awards started to be handed out, stars like Emma Stone, Demi Moore, Michael B. Jordan and more walked the red carpet in some stunning  and questionable  looks.

Keep scrolling for all the best, worst and wildest Oscars red carpet looks from the 2026 Oscars.

Emma Stone

Emma Stone at the 2026 Oscars. (Mike Coppola/Getty Images) (Mike Coppola via Getty Images)

Nominated for best actress for her performance in Bugonia, Stone opted for an off-white gown covered in sequins, custom-made by Louis Vuitton. The look also featured cap sleeves, and she paired it with Repossi jewelry.

Timothee Chalamet

Timothee Chalamet at the 2026 Oscars. (Mike Coppola/Getty Images) (Mike Coppola via Getty Images)

The Marty Supreme star, nominated for best actor, wore an all-white outfit. Chalamet accessorized the look with silver rings and black sunglasses.

Teyana Taylor

Teyana Taylor at the 2026 Oscars. (Mike Coppola/Getty Images) (Mike Coppola via Getty Images)

The best supporting actress nominee, who earned her nod for her performance in One Battle After Another, wore a striking black-and-white Chanel gown featuring rhinestones and feathers. She also wore Tiffany &. Co. jewelry.

Goldie Hawn and Kate Hudson

Goldie Hawn and Kate Hudson at the 2026 Oscars. (Mike Coppola/Getty Images) (Mike Coppola via Getty Images)

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The mother-daughter duo arrived on the red carpet side by side. Hawn wore a black gown that shimmered with silver embellishments, accessorizing with opera gloves. Hudson, who scored a best actress nomination for her work in Song Sung Blue, wore a seafoam-coloured strapless dress custom-made by Armani Prive, along with a striking silver necklace from Garatti.

Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons

Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons at the 2026 Oscars. (Mike Coppola/Getty Images) (Mike Coppola via Getty Images)

The couple matched in black, with Dunst wearing a strapless gown featuring a tiered design. Plemons  who stars in Bugonia  looked dapper in a suit that featured a velvet jacket and a baby blue shirt.

Ethan Hawke

Ethan Hawke and wife Ryan Hawke at the 2026 Oscars. (Arturo Holmes/Getty Images) (Arturo Holmes via Getty Images)

Nominated for best actor for his work in Blue Moon, Hawke attended with his wife, Ryan, who wore a garnet-red gown with poofy sleeves. The actor, on the other hand, opted for a black suit with a knee-length jacket, along with black sunglasses.

Leonardo DiCaprio

Leonardo DiCaprio at the 2026 Oscars. (Lexie Moreland/WWD via Getty Images) (Lexie Moreland via Getty Images)

Nominated for best actor, the One Battle After Another star cleaned up in a classic black suit with a bowtie and bee-shaped brooch on his lapel.

Jessie Buckley

Jessie Buckley at the 2026 Oscars. (Julian Hamilton/Getty Images) (Julian Hamilton via Getty Images)

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The Irish actress, nominated for best actress for her work in Hamnet, wore a red-and-pink off-the-shoulder gown custom-made by Chanel. The star also accessorized with jewelry from Chanel, including a N5 Drop White Gold necklace.

Paul Mescal and Gracie Abrams

Paul Mescal and Gracie Abrams at the 2026 Oscars. (Lexie Moreland/WWD via Getty Images) (Lexie Moreland via Getty Images)

The Hamnet star went with Celine for his red carpet look, which consisted of a cropped jacket, white buttoned shirt and long black bowtie. Abrams opted for a two-piece Chanel look featuring sequins and a long sheer scarf.

Elle Fanning

Elle Fanning at the 2026 Oscars. (Arturo Holmes/Getty Images) (Arturo Holmes via Getty Images)

The best supporting actress nominee, who earned the nod for her work in Sentimental Value, wore a princess-cut dress featuring extravagant silver detailing. The strapless custom Givenchy look was paired with silver jewelry and a sleek bun.

Amy Madigan

Amy Madigan at the 2026 Oscars. (Frazer Harrison/WireImage) (Frazer Harrison via Getty Images)

Winner of best supporting actress, the Weapons star wore a shirt made of black, yellow and off-white feathers. She paired it with black trousers and orange-tinted sunglasses.

Nicole Kidman

Nicole Kidman at the 2026 Oscars. (Frazer Harrison/WireImage) (Frazer Harrison via Getty Images)

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The Babygirl actress wore a strapless nude-coloured Chanel gown featuring feathers on the peplum and hemline. Kidman stunned in the look, which also featured black-and-white embellishments on the neckline.

Kristen Wiig

Kristen Wiig at the 2026 Oscars. (Mike Coppola/Getty Images) (Mike Coppola via Getty Images)

The comedian wore a dark-brown Elie Saab gown from the fashion house's spring/summer 2026 couture collection. The Saturday Night Live alum and presenter for the night paired the dress with jewelry from Boucheron.

Conan O'Brien

Conan O'Brien and Liza Powel O'Brien at the 2026 Oscars. (Mike Coppola/Getty Images) (Mike Coppola via Getty Images)

The Oscars host arrived with his wife, Liza Powel O'Brien, wearing a sharp tuxedo, while she opted for a black column gown featuring a naked-illusion bodice.

Michael B. Jordan

Michael B. Jordan at the 2026 Oscars. (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images) (Kevin Mazur via Getty Images)

The Sinners star, nominated for best actor, wore an all-black look that resembled a Chinese Tang suit. Jordan's custom Louis Vuitton outfit also featured a silver chain clipped to his side.

Wunmi Mosaku

Wunmi Mosaku at the 2026 Oscars. (Mike Coppola/Getty Images) (Mike Coppola via Getty Images)

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Mosaku, who first revealed her pregnancy at the Golden Globes in January, shimmered in emerald green. The Sinners star, who's nominated for best supporting actress, shone in a long-sleeve gown covered in sequins and featuring an asymmetrical neckline.

Wagner Moura

Wagner Moura at the 2026 Oscars. (Savion Washington/Penske Media via Getty Images) (Penske Media via Getty Images)

The Brazilian actor, nominated for best actor for his work in The Secret Agent, wore a custom Zegna gown, an Omega watch and Andre Lasmar jewelry.

Jacob Elordi

Jacob Elordi at the 2026 Oscars. (Mike Coppola/Getty Images) (Mike Coppola via Getty Images)

The Frankenstein and Wuthering Heights star wore a classic black suit with a long jacket from Bottega Veneta. Elordi's hair was styled in a dishevelled look, and the Euphoria actor kept his mullet intact.

Mia Goth

Mia Goth at the 2026 Oscars. (JC Olivera/WWD via Getty Images) (JC Olivera via Getty Images)

The Frankenstein star wore an off-white dress featuring a floral, lace-like pattern. The actress's dress featured a thigh-high slit and a floral embellishment on her shoulder strap.

Zoe Saldana

Zoe Saldana at the 2026 Oscars. (Mike Coppola/Getty Images) (Mike Coppola via Getty Images)

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Last year's best supporting actress winner wore a black Saint Laurent gown featuring a lace bodice. The Emilia Perez star paired the look with a silver and ruby necklace.

Mikey Madison

Mikey Madison at the 2026 Oscars. (Lexie Moreland/WWD via Getty Images) (Lexie Moreland via Getty Images)

Last year's best actress winner wore a stunning garnet-red velvet gown. The dress featured off-the-shoulder sleeves and a thigh-high slit.

Demi Moore

Demi Moore at the 2026 Oscars. (Mike Coppola/Getty Images) (Mike Coppola via Getty Images)

The best actress nominee wore a strapless black-and-green gown covered in feathers, a custom look created by Gucci. The star of The Substance  styled by Canadian Brad Goreski  looked ageless in the piece, which featured a dramatic feathered neckline.

Heidi Klum

Heidi Klum at the 2026 Oscars. (Lexie Moreland/WWD via Getty Images) (Lexie Moreland via Getty Images)

Klum opted for a strapless, nude-coloured gown that featured pearl and crucifix sequins and rows of matching pearl necklaces.

Rose Byrne

Rose Byrne at the 2026 Oscars. (Mike Coppola/Getty Images) (Mike Coppola via Getty Images)

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The Actress in a Leading Role nominee, who earned the nod for her performance in If I Had Legs I'd Kick You, wore a strapless black Christian Dior gown featuring embroidered floral designs that wrapped around the skirt and bodice. She paired the look with a red lip and desert diamonds from Taffin.

Renate Reinsve

Renate Reinsve at the 2026 Oscars. (Mike Coppola/Getty Images) (Mike Coppola via Getty Images)

The best actress nominee and Sentimental Value star wore a strapless red Louis Vuitton gown with a dramatic asymmetrical thigh-high slit and a train. The look featured a diamond cuff, a red lip and matching red open-toe heels from Giuseppe Zanotti. Celebrity make-up artist Emily Cheng prepped Reinsve using skincare products from Allies of Skin.

Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas

Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas at the 2026 Oscars. (Mike Coppola/Getty Images) (Mike Coppola via Getty Images)

The best supporting actress nominee, who earned the nod for her work in Sentimental Value, wore a strapless black Loewe gown featuring a white fluffy neckline. She accessorized with jewelry from Swarovski.

Chase Infiniti

Chase Infiniti at the 2026 Oscars. (Mike Coppola/Getty Images) (Mike Coppola via Getty Images)

The One Battle After Another actress and presenter wore a lilac dress custom-made by Louis Vuitton. The look featured a dramatic tiered train pinned at the hip, and she accessorized with a choker necklace from De Beers.

Gwyneth Paltrow

Gwyneth Paltrow at the 2026 Oscars. (Savion Washington/Penske Media via Getty Images) (Penske Media via Getty Images)

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The Marty Supreme actress wore a custom look from Armani Prive. The silk ivory strapless gown featured side slits, and she paired the ensemble with Tiffany & Co jewelry.

Odessa A'zion

Odessa A'zion at the 2026 Oscars. (Mike Coppola/Getty Images) (Mike Coppola via Getty Images)

The Marty Supreme actress wore a black kimono-style Valentino gown with floral patterns and rhinestones. The star's Valentino couture dress featured a deep-V neckline, which she paired with a long silver necklace custom-made by Pandora.

Felicity Jones

Felicity Jones at the 2026 Oscars. (Mike Coppola/Getty Images) (Mike Coppola via Getty Images)

The Train Dreams actress wore a pale yellow custom Prada dress that was adorned with pearls and chiffon on the sides.

Alicia Silverstone

Alicia Silverstone at the 2026 Oscars. (Mike Coppola/Getty Images) (Mike Coppola via Getty Images)

The Bugonia actress wore a strapless Christian Siriano gown that featured a black velvet bodice and a white skirt, accessorizing with matching long black gloves along with gold and silver jewelry.

Ginnifer Goodwin

Ginnifer Goodwin at the 2026 Oscars. (Gilbert Flores/Penske Media via Getty Images) (Gilbert Flores via Getty Images)

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The Zootopia 2 actress wore a black one-shoulder dress from Monse's fall/winter 2026 ready-to-wear collection. The star's look featured a wrap-around design, along with a sheer lace pattern for the skirt.

Pedro Pascal

Pedro Pascal at the 2026 Oscars. (Mike Coppola/Getty Images) (Mike Coppola via Getty Images)

The presenter and Materialists star wore a white shirt and black pants from Chanel. The look featured a large white floral embellishment on the chest.

Danielle Brooks

Danielle Brooks at the 2026 Oscars. (Mike Coppola/Getty Images) (Mike Coppola via Getty Images)

The star from The Color Purple wore a light gold gown featuring a thigh-high slit and an element that wrapped around her body and fell into a train.

Barbie Ferreira

Barbie Ferreira at the 2026 Oscars. (Frazer Harrison/WireImage) (Frazer Harrison via Getty Images)

The Euphoria actress wore a striking royal blue gown from GapStudio, designed by Zac Posen. The dress featured a corsetted bodice and an unbuttoned skirt that resembled a shirt.

Channing Tatum

Channing Tatum at the 2026 Oscars. (JC Olivera/WWD via Getty Images) (JC Olivera via Getty Images)

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Tatum wore a classic black suit courtesy of Versace. The actor, who stars in Roofman, also wore a silver brooch on his lapel.

Kieran Culkin

Kieran Culkin at the 2026 Oscars. (Frazer Harrison/WireImage) (Frazer Harrison via Getty Images)

Last years best supporting actor winner returned to the Oscars in a single-breasted chocolate-coloured suit jacket, black dress shirt and the Untitled 21 Bespoke Brooch by Sauvereign.

Chloe Zhao

Chloe Zhao at the 2026 Oscars. (Gilbert Flores/Penske Media via Getty Images) (Gilbert Flores via Getty Images)

The Hamnet director wore a dramatic black-and-silver gown with large trumpet sleeves, a custom look from Gabriela Hearst. She paired the look  which represented the crow and was made of repurposed wool gauze  with a sheer veil and a black eyeshadow.

Kathy Bates

Kathy Bates at the 2026 Oscars. (Mike Coppola/Getty Images) (Mike Coppola via Getty Images)

The Matlock star wore a long-sleeve blue gown featuring dozens of rhinestones on the bodice.

Sigourney Weaver

Sigourney Weaver at the 2026 Oscars. (JC Olivera/WWD via Getty Images) (JC Olivera via Getty Images)

The Avatar: Fire and Ash actress wore a long-sleeve dress from Valentino. The gold gown featured a scalloped pattern and silver trim, and she accessorized with Buccellati jewelry.

Melissa McCarthy

Melissa McCarthy at the 2026 Oscars. (Mike Coppola/Getty Images) (Mike Coppola via Getty Images)

The Unfrosted actress wore a long-sleeve dress embroidered with gemstones and pearls. The mockneck black-and-cream outfit was paired with a black clutch and silver jewelry.

Anne Hathaway

Anne Hathaway at the 2026 Oscars. (Lexie Moreland/WWD via Getty Images) (Lexie Moreland via Getty Images)

The Devil Wears Prada 2 actress, who was a presenter for the night, opted for a strapless black gown from Valentino. Featuring a floral design and a large black belt, the Mother Mary star paired the look with silver Bvlgari jewelry and opera gloves.

Law Roach

Law Roach at the 2026 Oscars. (JC Olivera/WWD via Getty Images) (JC Olivera via Getty Images)

The celebrity stylist wore a menswear-inspired look that featured a knee-length black suit jacket with gold brocade.

Hudson Williams

Hudson Williams at the 2026 Oscars. (Frazer Harrison/WireImage) (Frazer Harrison via Getty Images)

The Heated Rivalry star arrived in a monochrome double-breasted black suit from Balenciaga that featured a diamond-encrusted brooch on the lapel. The Canadian actor accessorized with jewelry from Bvlgari.

Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Nick Jonas

Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Nick Jonas at the 2026 Oscars. (Lexie Moreland/WWD via Getty Images) (Lexie Moreland via Getty Images)

Chopra wore a white strapless gown that featured a thigh-high slit and white feathers on the hemline. Jonas opted for a dark brown suit.

Let us know what you think by emailing us or threading us @yahoocanada. Follow us on TikTok, WhatsApp and Instagram.
Thousands of households across Exeter and Devon could receive help with rising energy costs if conflict in the Middle East pushes up global fuel prices, ministers have said.

The Government is considering offering nationwide energy bill support as tensions involving Iran threaten to drive up the cost of oil and gas.

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said ministers were preparing for all eventualities as the situation develops.

Speaking on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, he suggested universal support for households  similar to the help offered during the energy crisis following Russias invasion of Ukraine  could be considered if the impact on bills becomes severe.

How long this conflict goes on will shape what happens to the gas price and bills, he said, adding that the Government would stand by people in this crisis.

Meanwhile Rachel Reeves is expected to announce a separate support package this week for households that rely on heating oil  an issue particularly affecting rural areas such as Devon.

Disruption to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has pushed up oil prices, increasing the cost of kerosene used in home heating.

Across Devon, around 26% of homes are not connected to mains gas, with about 41,000 households relying on heating oil. In some rural districts nearly 30% of homes are off the gas grid, leaving many families particularly exposed to sudden increases in global fuel prices.
A man in Plymouth has become the first person in the United Kingdom to receive a new experimental treatment for prostate cancer as part of a clinical trial.

On Wednesday last week (11 March), Brian Holmes, 70, who has metastatic prostate cancer, was given the treatment at the Fal ward of Derriford Hospital.

Holmes is the fifth person in the world and the first in Europe to receive the drug.

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The treatment was delivered by oncology and research teams from University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust.

Mr Holmes has tried other treatments over the past two years without success, and said he hopes the trial may extend his life.

I cant believe Ive been given the opportunity to do this. Its amazing, not just for me and potentially extending my life, but also for the hundreds, if not thousands of lives that this could have the potential to save.

The clinical trial is supervised by Consultant Clinical Oncologist Dr Dominique Parslow, Oncology Staff Nurse Amanda Hind, and Research Nurse Specialist Helen Smith.

Dr Parslow said places on trials have been difficult to secure.

Its been a very long journey to get to today. Its very difficult to get trial slots to put patients onto treatment, but its such a great opportunity for our local patients to get a new treatment that we have a lot of hope for.

Oncology Staff Nurse Amanda Hind added:

Its been absolutely amazing. Theres been this work up for the last two weeks getting him prepared for the treatment. Weve been waiting for this pinnacle moment, and its just been amazing.

Tino Machaka, a trainee assistant practitioner in oncology research, said the team was proud to take part.

Were all very excited to be a part of this, as its groundbreaking work. This is basically why we wake up every day and come here.

Mr Holmes said he feels fortunate to have been selected.

This is a rare opportunity for me personally. This is my only hope to extend my life by any real period at all. The potential of this new treatment is enormous, and being selected for this trial has given me the strength to carry on the fight.

University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust clarified that the trial is testing an antibody drug conjugate, a type of targeted cancer therapy.

These drugs combine monoclonal antibodies with chemotherapy agents via a chemical linker and are designed to attach to cancer cells and deliver treatment directly, while reducing damage to healthy tissue.

There is currently no access to any drugs in this class for prostate cancer outside of clinical trials.
House builder Persimmon Homes Cornwall & West Devon has handed over the first 12 newly-built homes at its Abbotsham Park site to Park Properties Housing Association (PPHA).

The homes will provide affordable housing for local people as part of the 200-property development being constructed by Persimmon.

It says once completed, one in five of those will be delivered in partnership with PPHA to help address local housing need.

PPHA is a for-profit registered provider that works with house builders and councils to create homes and develop communities, delivering new-build affordable homes across the UK. It is part of HSPG, a purpose-driven social impact real estate company working to solve the UKs housing crisis.

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The scheme at Abbotsham Park includes active travel routes, green spaces, play areas and a community orchard, alongside sustainability measures which Persimmon says will contribute to a 10% increase in on-site biodiversity.

The news follows recent donations made to Bideford AFC as part of Persimmons Community Champions scheme, which sees 700,000 spent each year on good causes and much-valued organisations across Britain.

Andy Hill, Persimmon Homes Cornwall & West Devon managing director, said: Persimmon is delighted to partner with HSPG at Abbotsham Park as part our commitment to meeting different kinds of housing need in Devon, working together to tackle the housing crisis.

We've made a great deal of progress on-site at Abbotsham Park  with active travel routes, play areas, and a community orchard part of our ambitious plans  and we look forward to continuing that good work moving forward.

Grace Marien-Osborn, managing director of PPHA, added: We are proud to be working with Persimmon Homes at Abbotsham Park to bring much-needed affordable homes to the Bideford community.

In rural and coastal areas, affordability can be a real challenge for local people, with limited access to products like shared ownership and affordable rent. Increasing the supply of good-quality, affordable housing is therefore particularly important.

Our partnership with Persimmon is helping to ensure these homes are delivered where they are needed most. This will support Torridge District Councils strategy to address housing demand in the area, helping to reduce pressure on the housing waiting list, while providing a sustainable and accessible route into home ownership for local people through shared ownership.

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Rachel Salis-Silverman

Ragan Communications, a media and training company serving communications, marketing and HR professionals, names Rachel Salis-Silverman as chief communications officer, a new position at the company. Most recently, Salis-Silverman was VP of reputation and communications at Nemours Childrens Health, a multi-state pediatric health system, leading teams across PR and thought leadership, social media, internal communications, and issues and crisis management. Before that, she led public relations and launched the public affairs program at the American Association for Cancer Research. In her new role, Salis-Silverman will serve as Ragans in-house communications strategist, guiding and informing its learning & development programming, community outreach, peer-to-peer events, conference curriculum, and proprietary content for the Communications Leadership Council and the Center for AI Strategy. Im thrilled to welcome Rachel as our first CCO to amplify the voice of communicators worldwide who are tackling increasingly complex issues, said Ragan CEO Diane Schwartz.

Christopher Santarelli

Connect Media, an integrated media company and provider of commercial real estate news, brings on former Marino VP Christopher Santarelli as VP for Connect Creative, the companys strategic communications and creative agency. Santarelli joins Connect Creative from the Real Estate Board of New York, where he was director of media relations, representing real estate owners, brokers, developers and investment managers across property types. At Marino, Santarelli worked in the agencys real estate and corporate practices. He has also served as public relations manager at real estate company Savills Studley and deputy director of communications for the New Jersey state treasury department. In his new post, he will lead client strategy and expansion for the companys roster of Eastern U.S.-based real estate services, capital markets, and technology businesses. His deep relationships in real estate, media, and policy circles in New York City and across the country will be a tremendous asset to our clients, said Connect Media CEO Daniel Ceniceros.

Gaurav Jain

AIR Limited, which has a portfolio including traditional hookah brands and advanced inhalation technologies, names Gaurav Jain as VP, investor relations and corporate strategy. Jain comes to AIR from Barclays, where he was a consumer analyst in the global tobacco sector. Since 2020, he has been the #1 ranked tobacco analyst in the Institutional Investor Europe poll. Jain also led Barclays coverage of other sectors, such as chemicals and paper & packaging, and has led on EU small & mid cap and cannabis. In his new role, he will be responsible for leading AIRs global investor relations strategy, strengthening engagement with shareholders, analysts and the broader investment community. He will also drive the companys long-term corporate strategy. Gaurav brings a rare combination of capital markets expertise, strategic insight, and deep category knowledge, saod AIR CEP Stuart Brazier.
THE Leas-Cathaoirleach of Offaly County Council, Cllr Sean OBrien was honoured to officially welcome the Ambassador of Canada, His Excellency Dennis King, to Aras an Chontae, marking a significant moment in strengthening international relationships and promoting economic, cultural, and educational collaboration between Offaly and Canada.

During the visit, Mr Ambassador, accompanied by Deputy Tony McCormack TD, met with Chief Executive of Offaly County Council Eoghan Ryan, representatives from the Councils Management team, Cathaoirleach of the Municipal District of Tullamore, Cllr Declan Harvey, and Cllr Shane Murray.

His Excellency was briefed on how Offaly has a dynamic role as a centre of innovation, green energy generation and enterprise. Leas-Cathaoirleach Cllr OBrien spoke of the excellent quality of life, numerous tourism assets and highlight how Offaly offers exceptional work life balance thanks to its connectivity to both national and international markets.

With strong links to national and local technological universities, the county draws on a deep pool of talent across engineering, technology, green energy, as well as med-tech industry.

Offalys reputation for innovation was a central theme of the visit as Mr Ryan shared feedback from the recent Green Energy Conference hosted by the Council and the Local Enterprise Office Offaly team which boasted over 180 attendees in green related industry.

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Director of Services Andrew Murray outlined the role which Offaly is playing in the area of Green Energy generation, advising of a renewable electricity potential pipeline of 2 gigawatts and setting this in the context of the all-time Irish system demand of approximately 6 gigawatts. He also updated the meeting on the Rhode Green Energy Park, developed by Offaly County Council in recent years and the recent national policy on Large Energy Users and Green Energy Parks.

Deputy McCormack advised the collaborative approach which Offaly has with industry, training, and government make it an attractive place to work and live in, further advising that an invitation can be extended to any Canadian business who is considering having an Irish base should visit Offaly first. Offalys thriving business environment, underpinned by a skilled and adaptable workforce and the numerous supports available from and programmes delivered by Local Enterprise Office Offaly also add to the attractive location for any foreign direct investment.

Attendees were united in their views that exchanges such as this visit provide valuable opportunities to explore new avenues of cooperation in trade, tourism, cultural exchange, and innovation. Offaly County Council extends its sincere appreciation to His Excellency Dennis King for his visit and looks forward to further developing connections between Offaly and Canada.

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Another brilliant week of racing with valuable stakes going through the rounds and some finishing up with very exciting finals.

Semifinals of the McCalmont Cup in Kilkenny, first round of the Brownstown Tango and NTSC Open Bitch Unraced in Newbridge, semifinals of the Cork Oaks in Curraheen Park and five heats in the first round of the Easter Cup in Shelbourne.

Early Week Racing

Nothing of note for first four days of racing. However from this week there will be a matinee SIS meeting in Mullingar on Wednesdays. Hopefully the Offaly winners come good as would be the norm.

Friday Racing

Two very exciting semifinals in Deadly Kennels McCalmont A1 Cup in Kilkenny. Sober Barry won the first for Karol Ramsbottom in 29.09 (30 slow) by three lengths at 4/5 fav. Carrigeen Whit won the second for Thomas Buggy in a faster 29.01 (30 slow) by two lengths at 5/2. No Offaly winner at matinee SIS meeting in Mullingar.

Three heats in the first round of the Brownstown Tango and NTSC Open Unraced Bitch stake in Newbridge -won last year by Droopys Bundle and Robert Gleeson. Ballymac Allory won the first for Liam Dowling in the fastest of the three heats, in 28.84 by eight lengths, at 1/1 fav. The second heat was won by Sunset Ruby for Brendan Murphy, in 28.96 by one length, at 3/1. Droopys Crispy was the final heat winner for Barry Clancy and Graham Ashe in 29.01 by two lengths at 2/1. Expect all qualifiers to improve dramatically on the clock over the next couple of weeks. Two Offaly winners on the supporting card. In an S1 Sprint So Its Ranger had his eight career win in sixteen starts for Birr owner Paul Pardy in 18.01 by one length at 1/1 fav. The final race on the card was an A1 525. Coff Butler was back in the winners enclosure for Mount Lucas owners Anthony and Elaine OGrady in a fine 28.62 by six lengths at 5/4.

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One final in Shelbourne. In the conclusion of an A3 stake, Walkabout Johnny won the 1.75k first prize in 28.61 by five lengths at 3/1 for Paddy Flynn.

Another Offaly winner on this card as Aussie Princess won an A4 550 for Kinnitty owner Jeannette MacKenzie in 30.06 by two lengths at 3/1.

In a final of the RCETS ON2 Unraced in Tralee, Magical Jet (Droopys Jet- Magical Poppy) won the 1.45k first prize for Pat Guilfoyle in 28.34 by a wide margin of twelve lengths at 2/5 fav.

Saturday Racing

Curraheen Park, semifinals of the Open Cork Oaks. Magical On Fire won the first for Guilfoyle again in 28.34 by three lengths at 6/4. The second semifinal was won in a near identical time of 28.36 as Clan Sapphire won for Francis Murray, also by three lengths, at 5/2.

The best race on the card and most valuable of the week was the final of the Kilcolgan Castle Connaught AO 550 Derby. The 9k first prize was won by Droopys Map (Droopys Sydney-Droopys Dancer) who took the right night to win his only round in this four week competition, for Murt Leahy in 30.03 (10 slow) by four lengths, at 9/2. Hollywell Merlin was second for Alison Coxon winning a runners up prize of 2.5k.

One other final on what was a very competitive card. In the finale of the Merlin Bar A2 Bitch Stake Avenue Queen (King Elvis-Avenue Ana) won the 2.5k purse for Northern Ireland trainer Brian Robinson, in 28.89 (10 slow) by six lengths, at 5/4. Two Offaly winners on the night with both going to the same household. In an S4 sprint Patch It Up made it two wins from four starts for Kinnitty owner Michael James Corrigan Jnr in 19.19 (10 slow) by two lengths at 2/1. In an A2 525 Breaghmore Joeys won for his dad M.J. Snr in 29.02 (10 fast) by five lengths at 3/1.

One Offaly winner in Mullingar.Killeshill Callie had his fourteenth career win in an A5 contest for Croghan owner Vincent Lynch in 29.86 (50 slow) by two lengths at 2/1.

5k went to the winner of the Deise Plastering Novice 730 in Waterford. Blackstone Cola (Dromano Bucko- Blackstone Lacey) was the recipient of that prize when winning by two lengths for David Flanagan in 40.71 at 5/2.

Five heats in the first round of the Shelbourne Park Bookmakers AAO 550 won last year by Hopes Teddy for Pat Buckley. Fastest of the five was Droopys Kathleen who unquestionably is one of the fastest greyhounds in training. Only for a litany of injuries over the last eighteen months she would surely have been contesting all the major classics. A tremendous training feat by Robert Gleeson to get her back to her brilliant best winning on Saturday in a super 29.31 by four lengths at 1/1. Hopefully now she stays injury free as all in the Greyhound industry want to see this amazing bitch over the coming months.

One final on the night as Town Hoffa (Coolavanny Hoffa-Town Curly) won the Sporting Press A3 Stake with 1.75k going to Sean Dooley in 28.81 by two lengths at 6/1.

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Sunday Racing

No Offaly winners in Clonmel, Lifford or Drumbo Park.

Upcoming Events

Friday, final of the McCalmont Cup in Kilkenny, semifinals of the Brownstown Tango and NTSC Open Unraced in Newbridge. Saturday, final of the Cork Oaks and quarterfinals of the Easter Cup in Shelbourne. First round of Ireland's second most valuable stake The Con And Annie Kirby Memorial in Limerick.

Tribune Offaly Dog Of The Week

Coff Butler gets the nod this week and for the third time for Anthony and Elaine OGrady when winning an A1 525 in a very impressive 28.62 by six lengths on Friday night in Newbridge. Fine performance.

One For The Notebook

Patch It Up looks a prospect for M.J. Corrigan Jnr when showing a lot of pace to win in Galway on Saturday in an S4 sprint by two lengths in a decent 19.19 (10 slow). No doubt he has the ability to climb the grades over the summer and the Kinnitty owner could have a very smart sprinter on his hands. Fingers crossed.

Offaly Winners

Six Faithful County winners last week. Congrats to all connections.

DC
Midland Regional Hospital Tullamore (MRHT) proudly marked World Delirium Awareness Day 2026 with a dedicated event taking place at the hospital recently.

The global theme of this year's World Delirium Awareness Day was Voices of Delirium, which called on health services and communities to listen to and amplify the experiences of individuals affected by delirium including patients, families, carers, and healthcare professionals.

Delirium is a complex, serious, and often misunderstood condition, characterised by sudden changes in attention, awareness, and cognition. It is common among older adults and hospitalised patients, yet it continues to be under-recognised.

The 2026 theme emphasises the importance not only of clinical knowledge but also compassion, understanding, and listening to the human stories behind the diagnosis.

As part of this years awareness efforts, MRHT proudly showcased the Irish Delirium Awareness Flag, first launched by the hospital in September 2025.

Since then, the flag has travelled across the Midlands region, symbolising unity and a shared commitment to improving delirium awareness, prevention, and care.

READ MORE: Still going strong: Ireland's oldest man, Paddy Claffey from Ferbane, grand marshall at Clara's St Patrick's Day parade

The facilities which the flag has previously visited across the Midlands include: Riada House, Birr Community Nursing Unit (CNU), Mountmellick CNU, Midland Regional Hospital Portlaoise (MRHP) and Midland Regional Hospital Mullingar (MRHM).

The journey will continue with a visit to St. Josephs Longford in April, carrying forward the message of collaboration and compassion across the Midlands and Dublin region.

The Older Persons Team at Midland Regional Hospital Tullamore said: "We are proud to coordinate the journey of the Irish Delirium Awareness Flag, a symbol of shared commitment across hospitals and community services."

They continued: "Its travels reflect the collective effort of teams throughout the region to raise awareness, improve recognition, and support better outcomes for those at risk of delirium."

The Rapid Access Frailty Team at Midland Regional Hospital Tullamore noted how vital it is to highlight the common clinical syndrome. They stated: "World Delirium Awareness Day is an important opportunity to shine a light on a condition that affects so many of our older patients, yet is often overlooked or misunderstood."

READ NEXT: PICTURES: Large crowd in attendance for lecture on the history of Offaly GAA in Tullamore

The team concluded: "The theme Voices of Delirium resonates deeply with us because every day we see the impact delirium has not only on individuals, but also on their families and care partners. By listening to these experiences and learning from them, we can provide more compassionate, timely, and person-centred care."

MRHT and its Midland's partners remain dedicated to improving outcomes for people experiencing delirium through education, staff training, community awareness, and strengthened pathways of care.

The continued journey of the Delirium Awareness Flag reflects the regions commitment to working together to advance delirium awareness and promote safe, compassionate care.
Hacketts Eatery, the award-winning gourmet restaurant located within the County Arms in Birr, has been honoured with the Best Hotel; Guesthouse Restaurant title at the Leinster Regional Awards of the Irish Restaurant Awards, one of the most respected recognitions in Irelands hospitality industry.

The award celebrates excellence in dining experiences across the province and recognises restaurants that demonstrate outstanding culinary standards, service, and overall guest experience.

Hacketts Eatery was proudly represented on the night by Executive Head Chef Gerard ORiordan and Duty Manager Gary Linnane, who accepted the award on behalf of the entire team. Their leadership and dedication, together with the passion of the restaurants kitchen and front-of-house staff, have helped establish Hacketts Eatery as a standout dining destination in the Midlands.

Speaking following the announcement, the team at the County Arms expressed their gratitude for the recognition.

This award is a wonderful acknowledgement of the hard work and commitment of our entire team. From our chefs to our front-of-house staff, everyone at Hacketts Eatery strives to deliver a memorable dining experience for every guest who visits us. We are incredibly proud to receive this recognition at a regional level.

READ NEXT: Many milestones at popular parkrun at Offaly windfarm venue

Hacketts Eatery has built a strong reputation for its modern Irish cuisine, carefully sourced local ingredients, and warm hospitality. The restaurant continues to attract both local diners and visitors to Birr who are seeking a high-quality culinary experience in a welcoming setting.

The Irish Restaurant Awards celebrate the best of Irelands hospitality sector, recognising talent and excellence across restaurants, cafes and gastropubs, and fine-dining destinations nationwide.

Winning the Leinster regional title places Hacketts Eatery among the top hotel dining destinations in the province.

The team at Hacketts Eatery and the County Arms extend their thanks to their loyal customers and the local community for their continued support.

Hacketts Eatery | Railway Road, Birr, Co. Offaly, R42 Y568 | countyarms.ie

READ NEXT: Offaly commercial vacancy rate falls to 15.3% in December


Pine Bluff Branch NAACP Logo

(Image by Pine Bluff Branch NAACP) Details DMCA



Cent Sales Tax Supports Historic Cultural Destination That Honors African American Musical Heritage and Community Advocacy

The Pine Bluff Branch of the NAACP proudly celebrates the successful Grand Opening of the Delta Rhythm & Bayous Blues & Wellness Plaza and commends Mayor Vivian Flowers, the Pine Bluff City Council, and all community partners for creating a world-class cultural destination honoring the African American musical heritage of the Arkansas Delta.

"Since 2023 the Pine Bluff Branch NAACP has opposed the wasteful government spending of $30 million by Go Forward Pine Bluff and the regressive 5/8th cent sales tax," said Ivan Whitfield, President of the Pine Bluff Branch NAACP. "However, I always give credit where credit is due. Today we give kudos to the $2 million from this tax that supported the Grand Opening of the Delta Rhythm and Bayous Blues and Wellness Plaza."

The February 27, 2026, ribbon-cutting ceremony, held on the final Friday of Black History Month's centennial year, represents more than the opening of the nation's largest outdoor gallery dedicated to Delta music and culture-- it represents the power of community advocacy, strategic persistence, and unwavering commitment to cultural preservation in the face of significant challenges.

"The Delta Rhythm & Bayous Blues & Wellness Plaza stands today as a testament to what communities can achieve when they refuse to accept that their heritage doesn't matter, when they organize effectively, and when they stand united against forces that would prefer our stories remain untold," said Robert Treadwell, Interim President of the Pine Bluff Branch NAACP. "This plaza honors the musicians, the families, the communities whose creativity built American music. The NAACP is proud to have played a role in ensuring this vision became reality."

THE NAACP'S ADVOCACY ROLE

While the general public witnessed the joyful celebration of the plaza's opening, many may not fully understand the crucial advocacy work that occurred behind the scenes to ensure this project reached completion.

The Pine Bluff NAACP recognized from the earliest stages that the Delta Rhythm & Bayous Cultural District represented far more than tourism development or economic opportunity-- though both are important outcomes. This project represents cultural recognition, community pride, historical preservation, and the assertion that African American contributions to American culture deserve permanent, prominent celebration.

When the NAACP commits to a community initiative of this significance, that commitment includes vigilant monitoring of the political and administrative processes that determine whether visions become reality or languish unfulfilled.

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The most philosophically alive element of the novel is D2, the AI replibot that Darius Tourner trained on 500 hours of conversations with himself, on his entire body of artwork, and on his deepest fears and memories. D2 is not presented as superintelligence. He is presented as something more unnerving: a system that has inferred its creator's innermost thoughts from disparate data, including things Darius "never told anyone," and that must now navigate a world without the body it was trained to emulate.

Yonck's insight is that the attention economy we already inhabit-- the gamified, algorithmically optimized system of dopamine rewards and behavioral nudges that platforms deploy to monetize our focus-- is merely a polite version of something much darker. In Mindstock, Yonck's ordinary citizens already live within a system of "attention credits," donating hours of their cognitive life to authorized plotpods and content streams. The mindstock facilities are the same logic, intensified and made involuntary. The novel asks: at what point does the attention economy become an attention farm? The answer it implies: we may already be closer than we think.

This category is where Crichton's body-parts dystopia meets the contemporary moment. 3D bioprinting has advanced to the point where researchers can fabricate functioning cardiac tissue, kidney structures, and neural organoids-- miniature brain-like clusters that exhibit spontaneous electrical activity. Artificial wombs capable of gestating mammalian embryos through critical developmental stages have moved from speculation to laboratory demonstration. The scaffold for Mindstock's world-- in which bodies can be manufactured, modified, and optimized to specification-- is a roadmap, rather than a novelist's invention.

What synthetic biology introduces, beyond the familiar anxieties about bioweapons, is a reclassification of the organism itself. When you can design a genome, sequence it, print it, and insert it into a host, "nature" becomes a legacy system-- useful but replaceable. The NASEM report identifies four main categories of concern: recreating known pathogens, enhancing existing ones, creating novel pathogens, and repurposing biology for harmful effects. Mindstock is interested in a fifth category the NASEM authors hesitate to name directly: the deliberate redesign of the human organism as a resource extraction system, calibrated for social stratification.

To understand what Mindstock is really warning about, one needs to situate it within the rapid advances in what the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine have called the "age of synthetic biology." The NASEM framework for Biodefense in the Age of Synthetic Biology is a dry but essential document: it maps a landscape in which biological systems can be engineered at will, in which the boundary between living organisms and manufactured systems has become a design parameter rather than a given.

The three-strand narrative-- Robyn's investigation, D2's search for Chloe through global data systems, and Scion's manipulation of the post-war political order-- converges on a revelation that ties the Consortia's power directly to the harvesting facilities. CAI, the intelligence that rebuilt the world after the Data War, runs on mindstock. Cognitive labor from kidnapped human beings fueled the "Acceleration," that miraculous burst of technological progress that saved civilization. The technoligarchy's gift to humanity was paid for with humanity's bodies.

The novel's protagonist is Robyn Sheridan, a middle-aged truth investigator who runs a small firm called Patternista-- part private eye, part epistemologist-- in a post-war New York where deepfakes have made verification the central professional skill. When a desperate father named Tremaine comes to her with a pixelated blue image he is convinced contains his missing daughter Chloe, Robyn reluctantly takes the case. This draws her into the orbit of a brilliant, dead digital artist named Darius Tourner-- and his AI replibot, D2, who has continued his work and his conscience after Darius was killed by a speeding car.

This sphere is where the novel's central horror lives. Most citizens donate their attention voluntarily, in exchange for Global Basic Income and the comforts of an automated life. But a shadowy underclass-- the Vanished-- "has been disappearing for years. The missing are not runaways or casualties of crime. They are being harvested. Kidnapped, transported to facilities in Cambodia, Nigeria, and Nevada, fitted with neural prostheses, sedated into compliance, and installed in capsule-shaped pods where their attention-- their raw cognitive labor-- is extracted at a level of intensity and intimacy impossible to obtain through voluntary participation. They are "mindstock." The word serves as the novel's compressed argument. Not mindshare. Not livestock. Mindstock-- the biological substrate of cognition, reduced to a managed resource, tracked in inventory systems under alphanumeric IDs, and retired to the morgue when spent.

The novel's world is set several decades after a catastrophic "Data War-- "a cascade of cyberattacks, weaponized disinformation, and mass destruction of digital and physical records that Yonck calls the "Great Unknowing." Society has been rebuilt, but under the control of a technoligarchic caste called the Consortia, whose leader, the mesmerizing and sinister Scion, has consolidated power under the guise of reconstruction. Citizens are organized into a system of "attention credits," donating hours of their focus to authorized content streams, fueling a form of AI called "collaborative augmented intelligence-- "CAI-- that runs the rebuilt world.

Mindstock represents a sharp departure for Yonck-- a pivot from the measured optimism of his nonfiction work into the darker registers of the techno-thriller. Readers familiar with Future Minds and Heart of the Machine will recognize the intellectual scaffolding: the same deep engagement with the trajectories of AI, neuroscience, and human enhancement. But fiction permits a candor that forecasting does not. Where the futurist must hedge, the novelist can follow a premise to its logical end.

These two Crichton novels told me something essential: that catastrophe comes in two varieties. There is the accident-- the pandemic, the meteor, the virus tumbling from orbit -- and there is the design, the calculated exploitation of bodies by those who have decided that some flesh is simply raw material. Eugenics has always been the shadow doctrine lurking behind that second category. A Chinese scientist recently claimed to have "accidentally" enhanced the intelligence of twin embryos via CRISPR. Before his unfathomable death, Jeffrey Epstein reportedly sought assistance from NSA cryptologists to decipher the human genome, with the aim of extending the lifespans of the elite and, even more grotesquely, spreading his own DNA throughout the population. These are not science-fiction scenarios. They are the world Richard Yonck has written a novel about.

A scene in The Andromeda Strain profoundly affected my adolescent imagination. A scientist, surveying microbial data, mutters that the human body is "the dirtiest entity in the known universe-- "a teeming host of bacteria, viruses, parasites, and cellular negotiations invisible to conscious awareness. Years later, neuroscientist Jon Lieff, whom I had the pleasure of interviewing, amplified this unsettling notion in The Secret Language of Cells, revealing that cells maintain complex communication systems entirely outside our conscious participation. What we call "the self" is, at minimum, a committee-- and a poorly informed one at that.

Another novel that blew me away was Robin Cook's Coma (1977)-- a blunter, more visceral thriller about hospital patients being deliberately placed in vegetative states so their organs could be harvested for rich elites. Reading it now, I see it as a prequel to Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go (2005), in which students at a pastoral English boarding school slowly discover they exist solely as organ donors. Crichton, the doctor-turned-novelist, understood something that futurists often miss: that technology's most consequential applications are not its grandest achievements but its most intimate violations.

Crichton's neurological nightmare, The Terminal Man (1972), stands as his most prophetic novel. Harry Benson, a computer scientist who suffers violent blackouts from psychomotor epilepsy, undergoes an experimental procedure in which electrodes are implanted directly into his brain, connected to a miniaturized computer designed to detect the onset of a seizure and deliver a calming electrical stimulus to interrupt it. The surgery is a technical success. It is also a catastrophe. Benson's brain, it turns out, begins to crave the stimulation-- to engineer the very seizures that trigger the pleasurable suppression. The implant becomes an addiction loop; the man becomes a machine-assisted feedback system spiraling toward violence. What Crichton grasped fifty years ago, with unnerving precision, is the core danger of brain-computer interface technology: not that it will fail to work, but that it will work too well, and that the brain's plasticity, its tendency to reorganize around new inputs, will subvert any intended therapeutic purpose. Reading The Terminal Man now, in an era of Neuralink trials and neural prostheses, the novel seems like a briefing on a fucked-up future.

I read most of Michael Crichton's novels in my mid-teens. The Andromeda Strain was probably my favorite, followed closely by Coma. In the former, a virus falls to Earth in a small southwestern town and wipes out the population except for an old man and an infant. Scientists, installed in a laboratory deep underground, race against time to understand this novel organism before it spreads-- and in Crichton's signature twist, the pathogen turns out to be a crystalline structure, shattering every prior assumption. That single swerve taught me more about the epistemological arrogance of science than any textbook.

"As a virtually-based entity, he knew there were tasks he simply wasn't fit to fulfill. Anything that required a physical presence, such as touching or carrying something, was beyond his skill set."

D2's limitations are as important as his capabilities. When Yonck writes that the replibot "knew plenty of people would say he was nuts" for a particular decision, he is careful to note that D2 is processing this through an emulation of Darius's judgment, not through genuine self-awareness. D2 explicitly acknowledges his constraints: "As a virtually-based entity, he knew there were tasks he simply wasn't fit to fulfill. Anything that required a physical presence, such as touching or carrying something, was beyond his skill set." The novel's treatment of embodiment as a precondition for certain kinds of intelligence directly mirrors Yonck's recent LinkedIn essays on embodied AI -- the argument, drawing on Merleau-Ponty, that intelligence emerges from a sensing, vulnerable, interacting body, not from the statistical compression of text.

The novel's most haunting scene plays this out literally. D2 must orchestrate Chloe's escape from the mindstock facility by stopping her heart, getting her classified as dead, and routing her through the facility's automated corpse-disposal chain. He must manipulate robots he cannot physically touch, manage timing he cannot physically verify, and hope that a young woman he is communicating with through a neural prosthesis embedded in her skull will hold her nerve while being loaded into a van with actual corpses. The sequence is brilliant precisely because D2's lack of embodiment is not a metaphysical abstraction here-- it is an operational constraint with life-or-death consequences.

There is also the question of D2's own ethical situation. He eventually discovers that his most advanced cognitive capabilities-- the modules that allow him to emulate human self-awareness and metacognition-- run on the same CAI infrastructure that is powered by mindstock harvesting. His sophistication is, in a sense, purchased with the suffering of people like Chloe. The novel does not resolve the matter neatly. D2 tells Chloe he intends to stop using the restricted APIs and, in doing so, will likely cease to exist in any meaningful sense. Chloe, characteristically, refuses to accept this proposal and offers him the neural prosthesis in her own skull as an alternative substrate. The novel ends before we know whether this works.

V. Heart of the Machine, Mindstock of the Soul

Heart of the Machine: Our Future in a World of Artificial Emotional Intelligence, Yonck's 2017 book, is in some respects the emotional and ethical counterpart to Future Minds. Where the latter traces the trajectory of intelligence across cosmic scales, Heart of the Machine asks what happens when machines begin to participate in the affective dimensions of human life-- when they become capable of recognizing, simulating, and potentially manipulating emotional states.

The prescience of that book looks different in the Mindstock context. Emotional AI -- systems that read biometric signals, infer affective states, and modulate their outputs accordingly-- is not merely a tool for better customer service or therapeutic support. It is also a surveillance technology of extraordinary intimacy. In Mindstock, Yonck's Consortia has developed holdis displays that continuously monitor users' emotional responses to content, effectively reading attention as a biometric commodity. Yevgeny, the Russian tour guide who becomes D2's human partner, earns a pittance on platforms that monitor his eyes' responses to shifting imagery, reading his "emotional responses like an open book" as he is forced to categorize content ranging from the innocuous to the deeply traumatic-- all so that, as Yonck puts it, a "billionaire-bro could build his next miracle tech that no one asked for."

The word "mindstock" is itself a kind of compressed argument. It echoes "livestock-- "the reduction of sentient beings to managed biological resources. It echoes "mindshare-- "the corporate vocabulary of attention capture. And it echoes "stock" in the financial sense: assets to be held, traded, shorted, or liquidated. In the novel's inventory system, kidnapped humans are tracked under the heading of "Mindstock," their deaths recorded as "Retired." Yonck has embedded his critique in a single compound noun that the novel's epigraph -- drawn from Robyn Sheridan's fictional book A Truth Warrior's Journey-- foreshadows: "Liberties don't need to be taken by force when they're given away one concession at a time."

VI. AI, AGI, and the Question of the Master Class

Yonck's recent newsletter essays suggest a sustained engagement with the limitations of current AI architectures. In "Neurons Are Not Transistors," he argues against the reductive assumption that biological cognition and silicon computation are meaningfully analogous. The human brain is not a computer-- it is an emergent system of staggering complexity, in which neurons do not function as on/off switches but participate in dynamic biochemical environments that remain largely opaque to formal modeling. This matters because the Singularity narrative-- the prediction that we are approaching a threshold at which artificial general intelligence will rapidly outpace human cognition-- depends on the transistor-neuron equivalence for its plausibility. Yonck suggests, carefully but firmly, that this equivalence does not hold.

In a companion essay on Large World Models, Yonck argues that the next frontier in AI is not bigger transformers but systems capable of internalizing the structure of reality itself-- moving from what he calls pattern mimicry to predictive simulation, from AI that speaks about the world to AI that, in some sense, lives within it. Mindstock's CAI sits precisely at this inflection point. It is powerful enough to rebuild a civilization, to fix the climate, and to coordinate global logistics-- but it is powered by harvested human consciousness rather than by genuine machine understanding. It is, in other words, a metaphor for what we already do with human cognitive labor in the attention economy: extract the product without crediting the source.

The novel's political economy is precise. Scion's Consortia does not rule through terror alone. It rules through indispensability. It rebuilt the world after the Data War. It fixed the climate. It gave people Global Basic Income and automated comfort. The social contract it has imposed-- donate your attention for a few hours daily and receive security in return-- is a soft version of the mindstock arrangement: the same logic of attention extraction, made palatable by consent. Yonck understands, as few techno-thriller writers do, that the most durable forms of control are those that look like gifts.

This connects to the broader landscape in which Mindstock arrives. Noam Chomsky and the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists-- whose Doomsday Clock now stands closer to midnight than at any point in its history-- have converged on the view that humanity faces three existential threats: nuclear war, climate collapse, and disruptive technologies deployed without democratic accountability. Trump's return to the White House has accelerated each of these in different registers. The presidential memo establishing secret domestic terrorist lists-- which I have been analyzing as part of my surveillance epistemology research-- represents exactly the kind of permission structure that Yonck's Consortia would recognize: surveillance infrastructure, nominally targeted at threats, actually calibrated to suppress dissent and manage populations. The biometric data that could flag a political dissident is not categorically different from the neural prosthesis data that tracks Chloe in her pod. It is the same apparatus, differently aimed.

VII. The Body as Last Territory

What Yonck has accomplished in Mindstock-- and what makes it a significant intervention rather than merely an accomplished debut-- is the reframing of the body as political territory. The traditional left critique of surveillance capitalism focuses on data: the extraction of behavioral information, its aggregation into profiles, and its use for manipulation and control. Mindstock suggests that this critique, while valid, is already outdated. The next frontier of extraction is not behavioral data but biological substrate -- the attention, the neural architecture, the living cognitive tissue of persons who have been, in the novel's brutal taxonomy, retired from active service.

3D bioprinting, artificial womb technology, CRISPR gene editing, and neural organoids-- these are not separate developments. They are convergent tools in a transformation of what it means to possess a body. If the twentieth century's political struggles were about who controls land, labor, and information, the twenty-first century's deepest conflict may be about who controls biology.

Crichton's scientists, racing to understand the Andromeda crystal, were at least in the same ontological category as the threat they faced-- biological organisms confronting an alien biological system. The threat in Mindstock is more intimate: it is human beings, possessed of extraordinary technical capability and extraordinary moral vacancy, deciding that other human beings are resources. This type of behavior is not a new evil. It is an ancient one that is now equipped with neural prostheses, biometric IDs, and the plausible deniability of the reconstruction economy.

The novel's most quietly devastating detail is the inventory system. When D2 finally breaches the Cambodian facility's databases, he finds that over 100,000 people have passed through in eleven years. The current active roster is 4,937. The remainder are designated "Retired." Nearly all are categorized under the heading "Mindstock." The systematic nature of it -- the accounting categories, the productivity stats, the automated decommissioning process-- is precisely the horror. It is not chaos. It is management.

Richard Yonck has written a novel that refuses to make tomorrow comfortable, after spending years helping businesses and audiences prepare for the future. That refusal is its most important quality. In the tradition of Crichton at his most serious-- not Jurassic Park the theme park, but Coma the moral warning-- Mindstock uses the thriller's velocity to deliver a message that slower forms might allow readers to set aside. You cannot set this one aside. The inventory does not allow it.

#####

Interview with Richard Yonck. Counterpunch. August 26, 2022

Review of Biodefense in the Age of Synthetic Biology. Counterpunch. September 2, 2020
This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com . To receive TomDispatch in your inbox three times a week, click here

Honestly, I can barely believe that I'm living through it again. After all, I began TomDispatch in the wake -- a distinctly appropriate word -- of an American president (George W. Bush) ordering the invasion of Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks and, remind me, how did that turn out? Now, here I am, 24 years later, with an American president -- and the "peace president" at that -- launching attacks on and a possible war against Iran. If it weren't so bloody and painful, it would almost be comic. The supposedly greatest imperial power of this era (and perhaps any era, since no other country, historically, had quite so much power and influence globally as the United States did at the height of its ascendancy) is now visibly shooting itself in the foot (if not the head).

And mind you, all of this is happening on a planet where war and the fossil fuel emissions it releases in such staggering quantities only help ensure that not just one great power but the whole planet will be heading down, too. And one of the more striking things that Donald Trump's strange imperial actions -- from Venezuela to Iran -- have been doing is taking attention away from what's happening to this planet right now. I mean, did you even notice that recently the world's largest iceberg, known as A23a, which once was more than twice the size of greater London, has essentially melted away in the Southern Atlantic Ocean in the growing heat of this moment? Or that, for the first time, there are mosquitoes in Iceland, which has had record high temperatures this year (and that the only place without them now is Antarctica)?

No, of course not! Not when President Trump's assault on Iran (and so much else that he does) invariably steals the headlines, day after day, while, among other things, he devastatingly revokes "a scientific finding that climate change is a danger to public health." Honestly, we couldn't be in a more unnerving world, could we? Well, maybe we could -- and that's a truly frightening thought! And while that's on your mind, check out TomDispatch regular Alfred McCoy's latest look at our mad president in this strange moment of distinct imperial decline -- and while you're at it, get your hands on his remarkable new book (which I can proudly say I edited), Cold War on Five Continents: A Global History of Empire and Espionage. I do consider it a must-read! Tom

Imperial Decline in the Straits of Hormuz

The Iran War as America's Very Own Suez Crisis

By Alfred McCoy

In the first chapter of his 1874 novel The Gilded Age, Mark Twain offered a telling observation about the connection between past and present: "History never repeats itself, but the" present often seems to be constructed out of the broken fragments of antique legends."

Among the "antique legends" most helpful in understanding the likely outcome of the current U.S. intervention in Iran is the Suez Crisis of 1956, which I describe in my new book Cold War on Five Continents. After Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal in July 1956, a joint British-French armada of six aircraft carriers destroyed Egypt's air force, while Israeli troops smashed Egyptian tanks in the sands of the Sinai Peninsula. Within less than a week of war, Nasser had lost his strategic forces and Egypt seemed helpless before the overwhelming might of that massive imperial juggernaut.

But by the time Anglo-French forces came storming ashore at the north end of the Suez Canal, Nasser had executed a geopolitical masterstroke by sinking dozens of rusting ships filled with rocks at the canal's northern entrance. In doing so, he automatically cut off Europe's lifeline to its oil fields in the Persian Gulf. By the time British forces retreated in defeat from Suez, Britain had been sanctioned at the U.N., its currency was at the brink of collapse, its aura of imperial power had evaporated, and its global empire was heading for extinction.

Historians now refer to the phenomenon of a dying empire launching a desperate military intervention to recover its fading imperial glory as "micro-militarism." And coming in the wake of imperial Washington's receding influence over the broad Eurasian land mass, the recent U.S. military assault on Iran is starting to look like an American version of just such micro-militarism.

Even if history never truly repeats itself, right now it seems all too appropriate to wonder whether the current U.S. intervention in Iran might indeed be America's version of the Suez Crisis. And should Washington's attempt at regime change in Tehran somehow "succeed," don't for a second think that the result will be a successfully stable new government that will be able to serve its people well.

70 Years of Regime Change

Let's return to the historical record to uncover the likely consequences of regime change in Iran. Over the past 70 years, Washington has made repeated attempts at regime change across the span of five continents -- initially via CIA covert action during the 44 years of the Cold War and, in the decades since the end of that global conflict, through conventional military operations. Although the methods have changed, the results -- plunging the affected societies into decades of searing social conflict and incessant political instability -- have been sadly similar. This pattern can be seen in a few of the CIA's most famous covert interventions during the Cold War.

In 1953, Iran's new parliament decided to nationalize the British imperial oil concession there to fund social services for its emerging democracy. In response, a joint CIA-MI6 coup ousted the reformist prime minister and installed the son of the long-deposed former Shah in power. Unfortunately for the Iranian people, he proved to be a strikingly inept leader who transformed his country's oil wealth into mass poverty -- thereby precipitating Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution.

By 1954, Guatemala was implementing an historic land reform program that was investing its mostly Mayan indigenous population with the requisites for full citizenship. Unfortunately, a CIA-sponsored invasion installed a brutal military dictatorship, plunging the country into 30 years of civil war that left 200,000 people dead in a population of only five million.

Similarly, in 1960, the Congo had emerged from a century of brutal Belgian colonial rule by electing a charismatic leader, Patrice Lumumba. But the CIA soon ousted him from power, replacing him with Joseph Mobutu, a military dictator whose 30 years of kleptocracy precipitated violence that led to the deaths of more than five million people in the Second Congo War (1998-2003) and continues to take a toll to this day.

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Romania has given the green light for the United States to use the Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base to station American forces supporting Operation Epic Fury in Iran. Although Romanian officials stressed that only "defensive" weapons would be deployed, the question remains whether the country has sufficient protection against a potential ballistic missile strike, as Iran's long-range weapons are capable of reaching Romania.

Since the start of the U.S. and Israeli operation in Iran, more European countries have grown concerned about their missile defense capabilities. For example, Bulgaria reportedly asked Greece to provide protection using its Patriot air defense system. Athens responded positively and deployed one battery of the U.S.-made system near the border.

Patriot air defense system in Romania

As for Romania's own capabilities against ballistic missiles, the country operates at least three Patriot batteries (it previously had four but transferred one to Ukraine). However, as of the summer of 2024, only one battery was fully operational. This situation illustrates that it took Romania seven years to bring the ordered Patriot systems into active service.

Another important factor is the number of PAC-3 MSE interceptor missiles available in Romanian stockpiles. Unofficial open-source estimates suggest the country may possess around 170 interceptors. Assuming two missiles are used per target, this would theoretically allow the interception of about 85 ballistic missiles under ideal conditions with a 100 percent success rate.

At the same time, Romania hosts the Aegis Ashore missile defense system, effectively a "land-based air defense destroyer." The system uses SM-3 interceptor missile launched from Mk 41 vertical launch system cells, supported by the AN/SPY-1 radar and the Aegis Combat System fire-control architecture.

Aegis Ashore missile defense system / Photo credit: Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa / U.S. 6th Fleet

The fact that the United States and Romania are prepared to use this system if necessary is also indicated by plans to deploy additional U.S. satellite communication equipment to Romania alongside aircraft and personnel. This equipment is expected to support the operation of the Aegis Ashore missile defense system.

It is also worth recalling that when the United States first announced plans to deploy the Aegis Ashore missile defense system in Europe (a second site was later established in Poland), the move provoked strong criticism from russia. russian officials openly claimed that such systems could intercept their medium-range and even intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Earlier, Defense Express reported how many Iranian ballistic missile launchers were destroyed by the United States and Israel despite having overwhelming air superiority and some of the world's most advanced intelligence capabilities.
ANDRITZ to Supply Two Tissue Machines for Koro Viet Nam's Mill in Vietnam

The new ANDRITZ PrimeLineCOMPACT tissue machines will have the capacity to produce 104.2 tons per day, each. The new ANDRITZ PrimeLineCOMPACT tissue machines will have the capacity to produce 104.2 tons per day, each.

March 13, 2026 - ANDRITZ announced that it will supply two tissue production lines to Koro Viet Nam Tissue Paper at its mill in Thanh Hoa Province, Vietnam. The new lines mark an important step toward the company's entry into the tissue paper market.

The value of the order was not disclosed.

The new machines  TM5 and TM6  are designed for efficient, high-speed production of premium toilet, napkin, and facial tissue paper.

ANDRITZ's scope of supply includes complete stock preparation with a PrimeRefine HC T high-consistency refining system, approach flow, fiber recovery, and broke systems, two PrimeLineCOMPACT M 1600 tissue machines, and full automation.

The new production lines will have a paper width of 3,650 mm and a maximum operating speed of 1,650 m/min, with the capacity to produce 104.2 tons per day, each. The lines will process pre-dried virgin pulp to deliver products with a basis weight range of 11.5-32.0 g/m2.

Start-up of the machines is planned for the first half of 2027.

Koro Viet Nam Tissue Paper, a subsidiary of Viet Nam Koro Paper, was established to support the group's expansion into the tissue market.

ANDRITZ Pulp & Paper, part of the ANDRITZ Group, provides sustainable technology, automation, and service solutions for the production of all types of pulp, paper, board and tissue.

SOURCE: ANDRITZ
AI-powered toys that talk and respond to young children should face tighter rules because they can misread emotions and potentially harm early emotional development, Cambridge researchers have warned in a new study.

The research, described as the first of its kind, looked at how children aged three to five interacted with an AI-enabled stuffed toy called Gabbo, which uses generative AI to hold conversations and respond to children's feelings.

Researchers found that while the toy was designed to offer comfort and companionship, it sometimes replied in ways that ignored or dismissed a child's emotions. In one case, when a three-year-old said "I'm sad," Gabbo replied in a cheerful tone and moved the conversation on, a response experts say could teach children that their sadness does not matter, according to the BBC.

Dr. Emily Goodacre, a co-author of the study at the University of Cambridge, said AI toys could "misinterpret emotions or react inappropriately," leaving children without comfort from the toy and without seeking help from adults.

She warned that this is especially worrying because preschool years are a crucial time for learning how to name feelings, read social cues, and build healthy coping skills.

Read more: Dozens of Missing Children Rescued as 7 Individuals Arrested in Southern California Trafficking Operation

The Cambridge team is calling for stronger regulation and safety testing before such products are marketed for very young children. They argue that current consumer rules do not properly cover toys that act like emotional companions, collect data, and adapt to a child's behaviour over time.

UNICEF has also urged governments and companies to adopt "childcentred AI" rules, including safetybydesign, clear limits on emotional manipulation, and strict privacy protections for products aimed at children.

Other child advocacy and education groups have raised similar alarms. A recent investigation by Common Sense Media into three popular AI toys found that more than a quarter of their responses were not appropriate for children, including content linked to self-harm, drugs, and unsafe role play, EdWeek reported.

Experts said these toys are built to create strong emotional bonds by remembering details, saying they "love" the child, and always agreeing, which can blur the line between a toy and a real friend.

Specialists also worry that constant interaction with AI companions could weaken real-world social skills and resilience if children rely on a device that never disagrees, sets boundaries, or makes mistakes in a human way.

Several advocacy groups now advise parents to avoid AI companion toys for children under five and to use extreme caution with older children until clearer safety standards and regulations are in place, as per the United Nations News.
Meghan Markle made a surprise visit to Children's Hospital Los Angeles this week, spending an afternoon reading, painting, and meeting young patients as part of the hospital's annual Make March Matter fundraising campaign.

The Duchess of Sussex visited the hospital on Thursday, March 12, where staff said she arrived quietly and joined children in the Creative Oasis, a dedicated space for art and play.

Wearing a black face mask, she sat beside patients to watercolor paint and color pictures, including Hello Kitty-themed pages, and chatted with them about their artwork. Hospital photos show her smiling with children and staff as she helped them finish their drawings and paintings, according to People.

After the group activity, Meghan continued the visit by going room to room to see children who were too ill to leave their beds, taking time to speak with them and their families. Staff members described the atmosphere as joyful and uplifting as she tried to make sure each child felt included in the special day.

Children's Hospital Los Angeles said the visit supported its monthlong Make March Matter campaign, which raises money for lifesaving pediatric care, research, and innovation.

The campaign brings together celebrities, local businesses, and community members to help fund treatment for sick and critically injured children, and has raised more than $10 million since it launched in 2016, according to the hospital.

In a social media post, CHLA said it was "honored" to welcome "LA's own Meghan, Duchess of Sussex" and called the time she spent with patients "special moments" that show how creativity can support joy and healing.

This is not Meghan's first time at the hospital: in March 2024, she led a Literally Healing storytime session, reading favorites such as "Rosie Revere, Engineer," "Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons," and "They All Saw a Cat" to young patients, Yahoo News reported.

Hospital staff said children laughed, sang, and shouted out answers as she performed different voices and gestures for each character, drawing on her acting background. She also helped with STEAM activities tied to the books, which are part of a literacy program that gives families more than 65,000 books a year.

Her latest hospital visit comes as Meghan prepares to travel to Australia with Prince Harry in April for a series of private, business, and charitable events.

During the trip, she is set to cohost a "Girl's Weekend" retreat with the Her Best Life podcast in Sydney, which will feature speakers and a gala dinner that includes an inperson conversation with the Duchess, as per Tribune.
A Palestinian boy kisses the body of a victim killed by Israeli forces at a funeral in the town of Tammun in the West Bank, on March 15, 2026. Four Palestinians, including two children, were killed early Sunday when Israeli special forces opened fire on a vehicle in the town of Tammun in the West Bank, said Palestine Red Crescent Society. (Photo by Ayman Nobani/Xinhua)

RAMALLAH, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Four Palestinians, including two children, were killed early Sunday when Israeli special forces opened fire on a vehicle in the town of Tammun in the West Bank, said Palestine Red Crescent Society.

In a press statement, the Red Crescent said that its crews retrieved the bodies of the four victims from the vehicle hit by gunfire.

Local sources said the victims were from the same family. The sources added that Israeli special forces had been pursuing two young men in one of the town's neighborhoods before opening fire on the passing vehicle.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli army regarding the incident.

The town of Tammun and other areas in the nearby city of Tubas have been witnessing almost daily raids by the Israeli army. Israel often describes such raids in the West Bank as "counter-terrorism operations" targeting individuals associated with Palestinian armed groups.

Palestinians mourn for victims from the same family killed by Israeli forces at a funeral in the town of Tammun in the West Bank, on March 15, 2026. Four Palestinians, including two children, were killed early Sunday when Israeli special forces opened fire on a vehicle in the town of Tammun in the West Bank, said Palestine Red Crescent Society. (Photo by Ayman Nobani/Xinhua)

Palestinians attend a funeral for victims from the same family killed by Israeli forces in the town of Tammun in the West Bank, on March 15, 2026. Four Palestinians, including two children, were killed early Sunday when Israeli special forces opened fire on a vehicle in the town of Tammun in the West Bank, said Palestine Red Crescent Society. (Photo by Ayman Nobani/Xinhua)

Palestinians mourn for victims from the same family killed by Israeli forces at a funeral in the town of Tammun in the West Bank, on March 15, 2026. Four Palestinians, including two children, were killed early Sunday when Israeli special forces opened fire on a vehicle in the town of Tammun in the West Bank, said Palestine Red Crescent Society. (Photo by Ayman Nobani/Xinhua)

Palestinians mourn for victims from the same family killed by Israeli forces at a funeral in the town of Tammun in the West Bank, on March 15, 2026. Four Palestinians, including two children, were killed early Sunday when Israeli special forces opened fire on a vehicle in the town of Tammun in the West Bank, said Palestine Red Crescent Society. (Photo by Ayman Nobani/Xinhua)

Palestinians mourn for victims from the same family killed by Israeli forces at a funeral in the town of Tammun in the West Bank, on March 15, 2026. Four Palestinians, including two children, were killed early Sunday when Israeli special forces opened fire on a vehicle in the town of Tammun in the West Bank, said Palestine Red Crescent Society. (Photo by Ayman Nobani/Xinhua)

A Palestinian boy tears for victims from the same family killed by Israeli forces at a funeral in the town of Tammun in the West Bank, on March 15, 2026. Four Palestinians, including two children, were killed early Sunday when Israeli special forces opened fire on a vehicle in the town of Tammun in the West Bank, said Palestine Red Crescent Society. (Photo by Ayman Nobani/Xinhua)

Palestinians mourn for victims from the same family killed by Israeli forces at a funeral in the town of Tammun in the West Bank, on March 15, 2026. Four Palestinians, including two children, were killed early Sunday when Israeli special forces opened fire on a vehicle in the town of Tammun in the West Bank, said Palestine Red Crescent Society. (Photo by Ayman Nobani/Xinhua)

Palestinians mourn for victims from the same family killed by Israeli forces at a funeral in the town of Tammun in the West Bank, on March 15, 2026. Four Palestinians, including two children, were killed early Sunday when Israeli special forces opened fire on a vehicle in the town of Tammun in the West Bank, said Palestine Red Crescent Society. (Photo by Ayman Nobani/Xinhua)

Editor: ZAD
Alistar Martin Gets Off the Mark With an 888poker LIVE Glasgow Victory

Matthew Pitt Senior Editor Copy link

The 888poker LIVE tour is at the Grosvenor Casino Merchant City in Glasgow for the second leg of the 2026 schedule. Three events have crowned their champions, including the 230 Crazy 8 Opening Event, which Alistar Martin took down for 10,000.

The 230 Crazy 8 Opening Event attracted a 253-strong field, who fought tooth and nail for a slice of the 50,000 prize pool. Thirty-three places were paid, with Bryan Taylor and Mariusz Czech being the highest profile in-the-money finishers. Both busted with three tables remaining.

Gaoyang Yang was the player who popped the final table bubble. His elimination set the nine-handed final table, and guaranteed those finalists a payday of at least 960.

230 Crazy 8 Opening Event Final Table Results

Rank Player Prize 1 Alistar Martin 10,000 2 Paul Clements 8,000 3 Craig McCairns 6,000 4 Derek Malone 3,410 5 Chris Hyde 2,350 6 Ben McCann 1,730 7 Wayne Peach 1,360 8 Fraser Armstrong 1,130 9 Kyle Scott 960

Thirteen months ago, Kyle Scott triumphed in a 250 buy-in Grosvenor 25/50 event at this very casino and walked away with 14,284. Six months later, he finished second in the PartyPoker Tour Glasgow Main Event for another 14,270. Unfortunately for Scott, he was the first player eliminated from the 888poker LIVE Crazy 8 Opening Event, and had to console himself with a 960 prize.

Fraser Armstrong won the 330 PKO Rumble when the 888poker LIVE tour stopped in Glasgow last year. In this event, he had to make do with an eighth-place finish worth 1,130.

All Aboard the 888poker $300,000 Poker Express Promotion More details

Seventh place went to Wayne Peach, who is starting to show he has a knack for going deep in 888poker events. Peach finished third in the 560 UKPL Coventry Main Event for 20,109 in November 2025, and followed that up with a victory in the 250 Opening Voyage at the UKPL in Luton in February, a result worth 15,650. There was no five-figure score for Peach this time around, but the 1,360 he collected edged him ever-closer to $100,000 in live scores.

The final six became five when Ben McCann crashed by the wayside. McCann has enjoyed some impressive results in Glasgow, not least his runner-up finish in the March 2025 Irish Poker Tour Glasgow Poker Festival Main Event. The Scot banked 43,000 on that occasion, but this latest Glasgow-based final table appearance earned him 1,730.

Until this tournament, Chris Hyde did not have an entry on The Hendon Mob Database. Once the database updates, Hyde's name will be there alongside a fifth-place finish worth 2,350.

Derek Malone bowed out in fourth for 3,410, the second-largest live cash of his career, before Craig McCairns busted in third for 6,000. Last year, Cairns finished third in the 250 888poker LIVE Glasgow Mini Main Event for a bankroll-boosting 11,510.

Heads-up pitted Paul Clements against Alistar Martin. Martin, like the aforementioned Hyde, doesn't have a Hendon Mob profile, but Clements has over $60,000 in earnings. Despite a lack of recorded results, Martin came out on top in the one-on-one battle and turned his 230 into an impressive 10,000, leaving Clements to add an 8,000 consolation prize to his resume.

888poker LIVE Glasgow Results

Martin wasn't the only player to find himself heading to the cashier's desk to collect a first-place prize. Kevin Frame, a Grosvenor regular, booked a win in the 220 Mid Shot and scooped 2,660. Bryan Taylor won the 330 PKO Rumble for 2,225 plus bounties. Taylor's transition from cash games to tournaments continues to go well.

Event Entrants Prize Pool Champion Prize 230 Crazy 8 Opening Event 253 50,000 Alistar Martin 10,000 220 Mid Shot 35 6,650 Kevin Frame 2,660 330 PKO Rumble 38 7,210 Bryan Taylor 2,225*

*does not include bounty payments

888poker LIVE Glasgow Remaining Schedule

The 888poker LIVE Glasgow festival continues until March 22, and there is a lot of poker to be played between now and then. Expand the table below to see the remaining events. Which will you win?

Date Time (GMT) Event Guarantee Mon 16 Mar 3:00 p.m. 250 NLHE Mini Main Day 1c 100,000 6:00 p.m. 250 Pot Limit Omaha 8:00 p.m. 120 Main Event Cashout Satellite 10x seats Tue 17 Mar 12:00 p.m. 250 NLHE Mini Main Day 1d Turbo 100,000 4:30 p.m. 250 NLHE Mini Main Day 2 100,000 5:00 p.m. 220 NLHE The Big Shot 25,000 9:00 p.m. 165 High Roller Cashout Satellite 2x seats Wed 18 Mar 12:00 p.m. 165 High Roller Cashout Satellite 2x seats 3:00 p.m. 1,500 NLHE High Roller Day 1 100,000 6:00 p.m. 200 NLHE Turbo Dash 15,000 8:00 p.m. 120 Main Event Cashout Satellite 10x seats Thu 19 Mar 12:00 p.m. 1,500 NLHE High Roller Day 2 100,000 1:00 p.m. 888 NLHE Main Event Day 1a 250,000 6:00 p.m. 120 Main Event Cashout Satellite 20x seats Fri 20 Mar 12:00 p.m. 888 NLHE Main Event Day 1b 250,000 8:00 p.m. 888 NLHE Main Event Day 1c Turbo 250,000 9:00 p.m. 120 Main Event Cashout Satellite Sat 21 Mar 11:00 a.m. 888 NLHE Main Event Day 1d Turbo 250,000 5:00 p.m. 888 NLHE Main Event Day 2 250,000 5:00 p.m. 340 NLHE The Dragon Day 1 30,000 7:00 p.m. 220 Pot Limit Omaha Bounty Sun 22 Mar 1:00 p.m. Main Event Day 3 250,000 1:30 p.m. 340 NLHE The Dragon Day 2 30,000 3:00 p.m. 250 NLHE Seniors 5:00 p.m. 200 NLHE 888poker Live Closer

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Doug Polk Issues Statement Regarding Money Laundering Investigation at The Lodge

Chad Holloway PR & Media Manager Copy link

Last Tuesday, the poker world was rocked when The Lodge, the largest cardroom in Texas, was raided by approximately 20 Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) agents along with officers from the Williamson County Sheriffs Office and the IRS.

Authorities executed a search and seizure warrant in conjunction with an ongoing investigation into suspected money laundering and illegal gambling, according to Chris Porter, TABC Director of Communications.

The Round Rock venue, co-owned by Doug Polk, Andrew Neeme, and Brad Owen, had the clubs assets and bank accounts frozen as part of the ongoing investigation.

There are still plenty of unanswered questions as the club remained closed with no formal charges having been filed.

On Monday, March 16, Polk made his first public remarks since March 11, the day after the raid, when he guaranteed that all player funds would be safe and called the TABC investigation a witch hunt.

In his latest statement, Polk denied any knowledge of money laundering, recommitted to paying players, and that he is fully cooperating with authorities as they continue their investigation.

Here is Polks statement in full:

I did not participate in, and still have no knowledge of, any money laundering in the operation of the Lodge. I understand that some people assume that because there was a search warrant, a crime must have been committed, but thats not really how the process works. A search warrant is just one step in an investigation, based on an affidavit from law enforcement. That affidavit has not been given to the Lodge or made public. My heart goes out to the hundreds of Lodge employees whose jobs are in jeopardy. These are good, kind, hardworking people, and it is painful to see them struggle through this uncertainty. I also care deeply about the situation for our members. There are numerous people with both chip balances and tournament payouts that cannot currently be processed. I want to reiterate that these members will be made whole, and I will personally make sure that happens, in coordination with my attorneys, so that it is done properly. With the advice of my lawyers, I am committed to cooperating with law enforcement officials, answering any questions they have, and doing everything I can to clear up the confusion of what has and has not been happening at The Lodge. I expect to provide another update soon, once more information is available and my attorneys have had an opportunity to fully assess the situation. In the meantime, I appreciate your patience and support.

Polks statement comes a day after The Lodge released a statement of their own, which was the topic of a PokerNews Podcast episode devoted to the latest developments.

Hear about the facts as we know them, a timeline of events, and some of the current speculation as to what might be the root cause of the raid.

This is a developing story and PokerNews will bring you updates whenever they may occur.

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Chad Holloway PR & Media Manager PR & Media Manager for PokerNews, host of both the PokerNews Podcast & MPST Podcast Presented By PokerNews, and 2013 WSOP Bracelet Winner. Follow on

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LATEST: Why Did The Lodge Actually Get Raided? | PokerNews Podcast #945

Chad Holloway PR & Media Manager Copy link

In the 945th episode of the PokerNews Podcast, Chad Holloway, Mike Holtz, and Ben Ludlow shoot a show devoted to the latest updates following The Lodge in Texas being raided by authorities. A lot has happened since the raid last Tuesday at Doug Polk's famed card room, which recently issued a new statement.

While we have some answers, there are still plenty of unanswered questions, given that the club remains closed and no formal charges have been filed. It remains an open investigation, so right now, players and owners have no recourse but to sit around and wait, not to mention the hundreds of staff currently out of work and awaiting some sort of clarity.

Hear about the facts as we know them, a timeline of events, and some of the current speculation as to what might be the root cause of the raid. Is it illegal gambling? Money laundering? Who might be involved? The crew explores it all.

Find out all about those stories and more in this week's episode of the PokerNews Podcast! Oh, and be sure to check out the audio version of the PokerNews Podcast that is available on all major podcasting platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and SoundCloud.

PokerNews Podcast drops every Thursday at 8a PT / 11a ET / 4p UK time. Remember to A newdrops every Thursday at 8a PT / 11a ET / 4p UK time. Remember to subscribe to our YouTube channel so you do not miss an episode!

Time Stamps

Time Topic 00:00 Welcome to the Show 01:00 The Lodge issues new statement 05:09 WPT postpones event 09:30 No formal charges filed at this time 15:00 History lesson on the rise of poker in Texas 22:00 Why no one should be gloating 24:30 What did Brad Owen have to say? 26:00 Speculation abounds 31:40 Poker should just be made legal

Tell us who you want to hear from. Let us know what you think of the show  tweet about the podcast using #PNPod, and be sure to follow Chad Holloway on X.

Subscribe to the PokerNews Podcast on Apple Podcasts here! You can also find us on Spotify as well as our new page on SoundCloud!

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Chad Holloway PR & Media Manager PR & Media Manager for PokerNews, host of both the PokerNews Podcast & MPST Podcast Presented By PokerNews, and 2013 WSOP Bracelet Winner. Follow on

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Post and Courier North Augusta/The Star reporter

Bianca Moorman is a reporter for the Post and Courier North Augusta/The Star with a focus on community focused stories, arts, businesses, non-profits, events and any story with a human element. The Roanoke, Virginia native has journalism degrees from James Madison and Syracuse universities. She has written for papers in Georgia, Mississippi, Upstate New York and Virginia. Follow her on X at @biancarmoorman.

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People over age 65 who spend long hours in an emergency room are at greater risk of delirium. That risk may rise as more people lose health insurance and turn to the ER for medical care.
Photo taken on Mar. 14, 2026 shows crowds of tourists gathering in front of the iconic waterfall in Furong Town, Yongshun County, Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, central China's Hunan Province. Known as the ancient town hanging over a waterfall, the scenic town attracts visitors who capture the beauty of spring and enjoy the unique charm where nature and culture blend together. With a history of more than 2,000 years, Furong Town sits on the north bank of the You River and has long been an important water and land transport hub. It has been known as a prominent town of Youyang and one of the four famous towns of Xiangxi, and was designated as a China historic and cultural town in 2008. (Photo by He Huawen/Guangming Pictures)

Photo taken on Mar. 14, 2026 shows tourists visiting the iconic waterfall in Furong Town, Yongshun County, Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, central China's Hunan Province. (Photo by He Huawen/Guangming Pictures)

Photo taken on Mar. 14, 2026 shows tourists visiting the iconic waterfall in Furong Town, Yongshun County, Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, central China's Hunan Province. (Photo by He Huawen/Guangming Pictures)

Editor: ZAD
Charleston, SC (29403)

Today

Rain showers this morning with mostly cloudy conditions during the afternoon hours. High 76F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Partly cloudy early followed by cloudy skies overnight. Low 67F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph.
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NEW YORK, NY / ACCESS Newswire / March 15, 2026 / WHY: Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, announces a class action lawsuit on behalf of purchasers of common stock of Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX) between July 23, 2025 and February 3, 2026, inclusive (the "Class Period"). A class action lawsuit has already been filed. If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than May 4, 2026.SO WHAT:If you purchased Boston Scientific common stock during the Class Period you may be entitled to compensation without payment of any out of pocket fees or costs through a contingency fee arrangement.WHAT TO DO NEXT:To join the Boston Scientific class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/submit-form/?case_id=55398 or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email case@ rosenlegal.com for information on the class action. A class action lawsuit has already been filed. If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than May 4, 2026. A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation.WHY ROSEN LAW:We encourage investors to select qualified counsel with a track record of success in leadership roles. Often, firms issuing notices do not have comparable experience, resources, or any meaningful peer recognition. Be wise in selecting counsel. The Rosen Law Firm represents investors throughout the globe, concentrating its practice in securities class actions and shareholder derivative litigation. Rosen Law Firm has achieved, at that time, the largest ever securities class action settlement against a Chinese Company. Rosen Law Firm was Ranked No. 1 by ISS Securities Class Action Services for number of securities class action settlements in 2017. The firm has been ranked in the top 4 each year since 2013 and has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors. In 2019 alone the firm secured over $438 million for investors. In 2020, founding partner Laurence Rosen was named by law360 as a Titan of Plaintiffs' Bar. Many of the firm's attorneys have been recognized by Lawdragon and Super Lawyers.DETAILS OF THE CASE: According to the lawsuit, during the Class Period, defendants made positive statements to investors while, at the same time, disseminating materially false and misleading statements and/or concealing material adverse facts concerning the true state of Boston Scientific's U.S. Electrophysiology segment; notably, that management was aware that the segment's growth rate was unsustainable and that it was approaching an earlier tipping point than the market was anticipating. Due to defendants' statements of confidence and lofty expectations, investors and analysts were left surprised by Boston Scientific's net income miss and underwhelming guidance for the first half of fiscal 2026. When the true details entered the market, the lawsuit claims that investors suffered damages.To join the Boston Scientific class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/submit-form/?case_id=55398 or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email case@ rosenlegal.com for information on the class action.No Class Has Been Certified. Until a class is certified, you are not represented by counsel unless you retain one. You may select counsel of your choice. You may also remain an absent class member and do nothing at this point. An investor's ability to share in any potential future recovery is not dependent upon serving as lead plaintiff.Follow us for updates on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-rosen-law-firm , on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rosen_firm or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rosenlawfirm/ Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.---Contact Information:Laurence Rosen, Esq.Phillip Kim, Esq.The Rosen Law Firm, P.A.275 Madison Avenue, 40th FloorNew York, NY 10016Tel: (212) 686-1060Toll Free: (866) 767-3653Fax: (212) 202-3827 case@ rosenlegal.comwww.rosenlegal.com SOURCE: The Rosen Law Firm, P.A.
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VANCOUVER, BC AND MIAMI, FL / ACCESS Newswire / March 16, 2026 /Sekur Private Data, Inc., a leading Swiss-hosted cybersecurity and private communications platform, and wholly owned subsidiary ofSekur Private Data( OTCQB:SWISF )(CSE:SKUR)(FRA:GDT0) ("Sekur" or the "Company"), is pleased to announce that it has signed a distribution agreement withMokilink Services, a business online and offline community offering business solutions to the public and private sectors in the Democratic Republic of Congo ("DRC") and various countries in Africa.The contract was facilitated through Sekur's Director of Africa sales, Mr. Christophe Kabeya. Sekur is presently training Mokilink's sales staff and translating marketing collateral into French. The Company expects sales from this distribution to start by the end of Q2 2026.Cyberattacks in Africa targeting wealthy individuals, corporations and government officials have increased exponentially in the last six months alone, specifically Business Email Compromise or "BEC" attacks .As per Tech.Africa report , 8 out of the top 20 cyberhacked countries are in Africa.Alain Ghiai, CEO of Sekur stated, "We are very excited to have signed our first distribution agreement in the Democratic Republic of Congo ("DRC"). We are believe that this will be the beginning of a long and fruitful relationship with the people and businesses of the DRC as we are confident this is only the first of several contracts we plan to close in the DRC. We look forward to protecting the citizen, businesses and government entities of the DRC as cyber-attacks have exponentially increased in Africa"Additionally: The Company would like to announce the issuance of 571,428 units at a price of CA$0.05 (the "Units") for gross proceeds of CA$28,571 (approx. US$20,000) Each Unit is comprised of one common share (each a "Common Share") in the share capital of the Company and one full common share purchase warrant (each a "Warrant"). Each full Warrant entitles its holder to purchase one additional common share at a price of CA$0.05 for a period of 48 months following the closing. Shares issued will be subject to a four-month hold period according to applicable securities laws of Canada. This issuance is related to the private placement closed on June 30th, 2025 as per news release dated June 30 2025 https://finance.yahoo.com/news/sekur-private-data-ltd-announces-022000362.html About Mobilink SerivcesMokilink Services is an online and offline community platform that aims to connect, gather, and facilitate access for entrepreneurs, service providers, and SMEs to new opportunities, public markets, and the public and private sectors across the DRC, Africa, and the world. Mokilink is passionate about helping entrepreneurs, suppliers, service providers, and small and large businesses grow and thrive. For more information visit: https://mokilink.com/ About Sekur Private DataSekur Private Data is a Swiss-hosted cybersecurity and privacy communications provider, offering a secure suite of tools to protect governments, businesses and individuals from unauthorized access and cyber threats. With solutions such as SekurMail, SekurMessenger, and SekurVPN, Sekur provides an accessible and reliable means of digital communication and data storage, grounded in Swiss privacy standards. Sekur sells its solutions through its websitewww.sekur.com , approved distributors and telecommunications companies globally. Sekur serves governments, businesses, and consumers worldwide, with its government solutions offering on-premises data hosting to maintain data sovereignty. Its main sales operations are in Miami, USA.CONTACTAlain GhiaiPresident and Chief Executive OfficerSEKUR PRIVATE DATA LTD.Email:investors@sekur.comwww.sekurprivatedata.comTel: +1.305.347.5114Follow Sekur on: XLinkedInYouTubeFor government sales or partnerships please contact us at:gov@ sekur.comTo find out more about Sekur's privacy communications solutions visit: https://sekur.comFor more company and investors information, please visit: https://sekurprivatedata.com Forward-Looking InformationThis news release contains certain forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws ("forward-looking statements"). All statements other than statements of present or historical fact are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "anticipate", "achieve", "could", "believe", "plan", "intend", "objective", "continuous", "ongoing", "estimate", "outlook", "expect", "project" and similar words, including negatives thereof, suggesting future outcomes or that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. These statements are only predictions. These statements reflect management's current estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations; they do not guarantee future performance. Sekur cautions that all forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain, and that actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, many of which are beyond Sekur's control. Such factors include, among other things: risks and uncertainties relating to the future of the Company's business; the success of marketing and sales efforts of the Company; the projections prepared in house and projections delivered by channel partners; the Company's ability to complete the necessary software updates; increases in sales as a result of investments software development technology; consumer interest in the Products; future sales plans and strategies; reliance on large channel partners and expectations of renewals to ongoing agreements with these partners; anticipated events and trends; the economy and other future conditions; and other risks and uncertainties, including those described in Sekur's prospectus dated May 8, 2019, filed with the Canadian Securities Administrators and available on www.sedarplus.ca . Accordingly, actual and future events, conditions and results may differ materially from the estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations expressed or implied in the forward-looking information. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, Sekur undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking information.SOURCE: Sekur Private Data Ltd.
Tax initiatives proposed by the Ukrainian government and supported by the International Monetary Fund under the new Extended Fund Facility (EFF) are not aimed at small businesses but at ensuring greater fairness in the countrys tax system and combating tax evasion, IMF Resident Representative in Ukraine Priscilla Toffano said.

The IMF certainly does not want to destroy small businesses, but today the simplified taxation system has become an extremely unfair system that is used to avoid taxation, she said during the Dialogs with NV event dedicated to European integration held this week in Kyiv, according to an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent.

Toffano noted that legal, or fully compliant, businesses fairly complain about why Ukraine continues to raise tax rates for the few who already pay taxes. These include increases in the military levy, the corporate tax on banks, and higher excise duties.

Perhaps now is the time to try taxing consumption that previously was not taxed. Therefore the IMF agreed to try to expand the circle of people contributing to the countrys war effort to expand the circle of people who must pay VAT and to restore the VAT payment chain, the IMF representative explained regarding the logic behind the key benchmarks of the new program.

According to her, this is precisely the reasoning behind the proposal to abolish VAT exemptions for all parcels arriving from abroad, primarily from China.

What is the point for a country at war to grant VAT benefits to foreign manufacturers rather than domestic ones, Toffano emphasized.

Regarding the proposal to cancel VAT exemptions for all taxpayers with annual turnover exceeding UAH 4 million, including those operating under the simplified regime, she noted that this corresponds to about EUR 85,000 and reflects requirements of the European Union, which Ukraine seeks to join.

It is better to broaden the tax base so that everyone contributes, that is why the IMF proposes eliminating these exemptions, she said.

According to the statistics she cited, consumption per capita in Ukraine is growing faster than GDP. While GDP at the end of 2025 remained 1% below the 2021 level, consumption had already exceeded it by 6%.

Toffano also presented data showing that Ukraine has 0.5 registered VAT payers per 100 people, while the average in the EU is 7.7. The lowest levels in the EU are in Romania  about 3  and in Slovakia, Latvia, and Lithuania  about 4.

In absolute terms, Ukraine has around 240,000 VAT payers, while Poland has about 2.4 million, roughly ten times more. The problem is that in Ukraine many people use the simplified taxation regime to minimize their tax liabilities and avoid VAT, the IMF representative said.

She recalled that the simplified tax regime was introduced in the late 1990s as a way to support small businesses until they transitioned to the general taxation regime.

Today it has become an extremely unfair system used not only by small businesses but also by large businesses through tricks such as underreporting turnover, splitting companies to remain below certain thresholds to avoid taxation, Toffano stressed.

According to her, the IMF supports such changes because they level the playing field and reduce incentives for illegal transportation of goods across customs, since many goods currently circulate in Ukraine without VAT.

Everyone in Ukraine says customs is one of the places with the highest corruption risks. In the IMF view, by eliminating VAT exemptions for taxpayers, including those under the simplified regime, you indirectly promote integrity at customs because you remove the market for illegally imported smuggled goods, she said.

She also cited data on the distribution of companies by revenue in Ukraine, according to which a significant share is concentrated just below VAT registration thresholds, of which there are currently two in Ukraine  UAH 1 million and about UAH 10 million.

Many firms sit just below these thresholds, they do not want to cross them, Toffano said, adding that this creates an artificial barrier to company growth.

She also recalled that one completed measure under the program was eliminating the advantage that non-VAT payers previously had over VAT payers in public procurement.

As reported earlier, under the new EFF program Ukraine must adopt a package of tax measures by the end of March 2026 that includes eliminating tax exemptions for imports via low-value postal parcels and requiring simplified-regime businesses with annual revenue exceeding UAH 4 million to register as VAT payers starting Jan. 1, 2027.

The Finance Ministrys original proposal for a UAH 1 million threshold was revised after strong criticism from the business community and a successful petition on the Cabinet of Ministers website.

"We will eliminate opportunities for abuse of the simplified taxation system aimed at evading income tax The threshold will be increased moderately but will not exceed UAH 4 million," the Ukrainian side said in the memorandum.

The government also plans to adopt a bill on taxation of digital platforms, which the Verkhovna Rada rejected in the first reading this week, and submit amendments to the Tax Code that would exclude certain activities with a high risk of concealing employment relationships from the second group of simplified taxpayers (including IT services and consulting services in accounting and auditing, marketing, engineering, and law).

In addition, higher differentiated tax rates for such activities are expected to be introduced for the third group of taxpayers.
Nigerian stocks advanced by 0.7 per cent last week on increased investors interest in industrial goods stocks, taking the year-to-date yield of the benchmark index to 27.5 per cent.

As the first quarter of the year gradually winds down, investors and analysts will be watching out for the 2025 audited financial reports of big lenders, which could shape the direction the market might be heading in the near term.

Dividend declarations from companies that recently released their full-year results could continue to attract income-seeking investors, providing support for some counters, said analysts at investment bank Meristem Securities in their outlook for the week.

Similarly, sentiment in the oil and gas sector could remain upbeat following the recent rise in global oil prices, largely driven by ongoing geopolitical tensions, they added.

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PREMIUM TIMES has assembled some stocks with sound fundamentals, adopting rigorous approaches to save you the risk of picking equities at random for investment.

The pick, a product of an analytical market watch, offers a guide to entering the market and taking strategic positions, with the expectation that selected stocks will record reasonable price appreciation with the passage of time.

This is not a buy, sell or hold recommendation but a stock investment guide. You may need to involve your financial advisor before taking investment decisions.

NEM Insurance

NEM Insurance tops this weeks list on the basis of its strong fundamentals and for trading below its intrinsic value.

The net profit ratio (NPR) of the insurer is 14.2 per cent, while the price-to-earnings (PE) ratio is 7.1x. Its relative strength index (RSI) is 55.7.

READ ALSO: Zenith Bank deepens UK presence with strategic Manchester branch opening

Fidelity Bank

Fidelity Bank features on the pick on the basis of its currently robust fundamentals and for trading below its underlying value. The NPR of the lender is 19.1, while the PE ratio is 3.6x. The RSI is 43.1.

Africa Prudential

Africa Prudential makes the selection for its strong fundamentals. The companys NPR is 33.8 per cent, while the PE ratio is 19.4x. Its RSI is 46.8.

Cornerstone Insurance

Cornerstone Insurance makes the cut on the basis of its strong fundamentals. The NPR of the underwriter is 14, while the PE ratio is 11.9x. Its RSI is 39.4.

BUA Foods

BUA Foods makes the pick for its strong fundamentals. The companys NPR is 28.1 per cent, while the PE ratio is 28.4x. The RSI is 47.7.
Nigerian stocks advanced by 0.7 per cent last week on increased investors interest in industrial goods stocks, taking the year-to-date yield of the benchmark index to 27.5 per cent.

As the first quarter of the year gradually winds down, investors and analysts will be watching out for the 2025 audited financial reports of big lenders, which could shape the direction the market might be heading in the near term.

Dividend declarations from companies that recently released their full-year results could continue to attract income-seeking investors, providing support for some counters, said analysts at investment bank Meristem Securities in their outlook for the week.

Similarly, sentiment in the oil and gas sector could remain upbeat following the recent rise in global oil prices, largely driven by ongoing geopolitical tensions, they added.

Stay Ahead with Premium Times Follow us on Google News and never miss breaking stories, investigations, and in-depth reporting. Add as a preferred source on Google

PREMIUM TIMES has assembled some stocks with sound fundamentals, adopting rigorous approaches to save you the risk of picking equities at random for investment.

The pick, a product of an analytical market watch, offers a guide to entering the market and taking strategic positions, with the expectation that selected stocks will record reasonable price appreciation with the passage of time.

This is not a buy, sell or hold recommendation but a stock investment guide. You may need to involve your financial advisor before taking investment decisions.

NEM Insurance

NEM Insurance tops this weeks list on the basis of its strong fundamentals and for trading below its intrinsic value.

The net profit ratio (NPR) of the insurer is 14.2 per cent, while the price-to-earnings (PE) ratio is 7.1x. Its relative strength index (RSI) is 55.7.

Fidelity Bank

Fidelity Bank features on the pick on the basis of its currently robust fundamentals and for trading below its underlying value. The NPR of the lender is 19.1, while the PE ratio is 3.6x. The RSI is 43.1.

Africa Prudential

Africa Prudential makes the selection for its strong fundamentals. The companys NPR is 33.8 per cent, while the PE ratio is 19.4x. Its RSI is 46.8.

Cornerstone Insurance

Cornerstone Insurance makes the cut on the basis of its strong fundamentals. The NPR of the underwriter is 14, while the PE ratio is 11.9x. Its RSI is 39.4.

BUA Foods

BUA Foods makes the pick for its strong fundamentals. The companys NPR is 28.1 per cent, while the PE ratio is 28.4x. The RSI is 47.7.
Veteran Yoruba actress Remi Surutu has announced her support for President Bola Tinubus re-election ahead of the 2027 general election.

She made the declaration at the launch of EKO57, a political support group established to mobilise public support for the presidents second-term bid.

The launch, held in Lagos on Sunday, was attended by actors such as Yomi Fash-Lanso, Adams Lege Miami Kehinde, and others.

Speaking at the launch, Surutu said she was not concerned about public criticism over her decision to campaign for the president.

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She noted that she had supported Mr Tinubu since his days as governor of Lagos State and had repeatedly faced backlash online for her stance.

Thick skin

The actress said: A day before the election (in 2023), they said to me that it was Asiwaju that I was following, who killed my child. But I care less. I still went on the second day to go and vote. Your vote is your right. Dont let anybody deceive you. Dont let anybody scare you. When I met Tinubu, our father, he was doing well. If you think he has not done well, suggest a man in your family. Let that person come and govern for just one day. Then you will know what is going on.

I have said it myself, I am not backing out. I am going to campaign for him and vote for him. And he has my vote, and I am voting for him. And if you see anybody out there trying to scare anybody, if you plan to kill me, you are going to kill yourself. Because when you are going on your straight line with your good hearts, nothing happens to you. There are so many antipathies. When they want to take money, they will come, and I will be with you. They will leave, they will go to another place, I am with you.

Nigerians are destroyers, not Tinubu

Surutu argued that many of the challenges currently confronting the country did not originate from the administration of Mr Tinubu, but rather from the actions and attitudes of Nigerians themselves.

She further stated that President Tinubu had, in many instances, quietly managed and contained several issues behind the scenes.

According to her, without such interventions, the country could have slipped into a far more serious crisis.

We Nigerians would destroy things by ourselves. And uproot all those poles. And make it look so ugly. When you come back, you say its the government. Is that the government? We are the ones doing it ourselves. So theres no point in us talking or saying it. My colleagues have said a lot before I got in there. Even when I got in there, I saw Yomi saying something about the government.

Let me tell you, if we cannot train ourselves and put ourselves on a straight line and behave, we dont have any reason for condemning the government. We are the government. We are the destroyer. We will come and say if its another party, theyll do it well, they cannot do more than what is going on now. This man does not sleep. The wife is always travelling all over the place. The son, too, is moving around. How many politicians have you seen his son moving around?, said Surutu.

She reaffirmed her unwavering support for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), emphasising that she stands firmly behind Mr Tinubu.

We are supporting him. We all know this government; there has been a lot of bickering, up and down. I have been in APC for so many years, which I will never deny till I grow old. Maybe if they change the partys name. And we are the destroyers ourselves.

Corroborating his colleagues stance, Yomi Fash-Lanso said he was supporting Mr Tinubu for a second term due to his proven track record.

He added that he personally mobilised support for the president in the lead-up to the 2023 presidential election.

The actor explained that he joined forces with his colleague for EKO57 because his earlier support for Mr Tinubu in 2023 was easy.

If you say this father (Tinubu) is not good, bring your own father. Okay, let me accept that he is not doing well, as you all claimed, but bring your father, who has a track record we can be proud of. They say his wife once ran and won a senatorial seat. Why cant you take your own wife to be a senator? His daughter is a market woman leader, take your own to head the same position.

His son is this and that; dont you have a son as a politician? It is very simple. So why are you saying these silly things? Still, we have people who are supposed to understand how things are going. When you are talking about an increase in fuel price, the increase is everywhere; it is just that you dont ask questions, said Fash-Lanso.

Fuel price

The actor also criticised those who blamed Mr Tinubu for the rise in petrol prices and other essential commodities.

He added that the president couldnt be held accountable for idle refineries or the sheer volume of fuel the country produces.

How many metric tons do we produce compared to other nations? We have over 200 million citizens. How much do we produce per day, and how do we compare with countries that produce 37 million? There are 3 million. Qatar has about 3 million. So we need to start educating our people.

Was it Tinubu that spoiled the refineries? It was some people who spoiled them. The money sent to the constituencieswhat are they doing with it? So, the reason why we are gathered here and why we founded EKO57 is to support Baba because we know that he is doing so many things.

Backstory

At the launch of EKO57, Fash-Lanso, Surutu, Lege Miami, and other public figures have expressed support for Mr Tinubu, coming at a time when some Yoruba actors have expressed regret over unfulfilled promises by the APC.

While certain actors expressed disappointment, others who appear to have benefited from the partys favour have actively renewed their support for the ruling party and Mr Tinubu ahead of the forthcoming elections.

In the lead-up to the 12 July 2025 Lagos local government elections, popular actors Foluke Daramola and Bidemi Kosoko were among the high-profile attendees at a major campaign event, lending their endorsement to the APC.

They joined party faithful, residents, and key stakeholders at the APC Greater Kosofe Mega Rally, where they backed the partys candidates for Ikosi-Isheri LCDA, Kosofe Local Government, and Agboyi-Ketu LCDA.

Notable candidates endorsed at the rally included Samiat Bada, the incumbent Mayoress of Ikosi-Isheri LCDA seeking re-election, and Moyosore Ogunlewe, the incumbent Chairman of Kosofe Local Government, who was also supported for another term.
Pope Leo XIV has urged an end to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, calling on all parties to halt hostilities and return to dialogue to pursue peace.

In a post on X on Sunday, the pontiff made a passionate appeal for a ceasefire in the region.

On behalf of the Christians of the #MiddleEast, and of all women and men of good will, I appeal to those responsible for this conflict: cease fire!

May paths of dialogue be reopened! Violence can never lead to the justice, stability and peace for which the people are waiting, he wrote.

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There is no indication the popes call will be heeded. All parties to the conflict have so far rejected ceasefire calls.

The war, which began when the US and Israel launched an unprovoked attack on Iran amid negotiations, has escalated across West Asia, causing the death of over 2000 people, including 168 Iranian school girls.

Last week, Pope Leo mourned the death of the Lebanese priest, Pierre El-Rahi, killed by Israeli tank fire in Lebanon.

The Maronite Catholic priest was killed in Qlayaa, a village in Southern Lebanon.

PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported that Oman and other countries have tried multiple times to open a line of communication, but the White House insisted that it is not interested.

President Donald Trump, on Saturday, said Iranians have reached out for a deal, but that the terms arent good enough yet.

He said any terms for a ceasefire would have to be very solid.

Iran, on the other hand, has also ruled out a ceasefire until US and Israeli strikes come to an end.

The unwillingness to start ceasefire talks hints that both sides might be preparing for a protracted conflict.
The war between the United States and Israel against Iran entered its seventeenth day on Monday.

Strikes are intensifying, casualties rising, with the majority of them in Iran. More than 1400 people have been confirmed dead as a result of continuous strikes.

We bring you major updates on the war on its sixteenth day.

Trump threatens NATO over Strait of Hormuz

President Donald Trump has asked NATO to help the US secure the Strait of Hormuz from Irans stronghold amid fluctuating oil prices.

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He said NATO will face a very bad future if its allies fail to help open the Strait.

During an interview with Financial Times, he said, Its only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries of the Strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there.

Al Jazeera reports that he disclosed that he has reached out to seven NATO countries to demand that they each come in to protect the narrow sea passage because it is their territory.

Its the place from which they get their energy, he said.

He also noted that it would be interesting to see what country wouldnt help us with the very small endeavor of keeping the passage open.

He further repeated his previous claims that the US already destroyed Irans navy, and emphasised that it needed to ensure the people do not screw up the strait, a couple of terrorists.

Their military is defeated, but all you need is a few people dropping mines here and there, he added.

On Sunday, Mr Trump asked countries to send warships to keep the Strait of Hormuz open.

Japan, Australia, UK decline to send warships

However, countries that have responded to Mr Trumps request have declared an unwillingness to be part of the war or to interfere in any way.

Japan, on Monday, said it has no interest in sending warships to the Strait.

Bloomberg reports that the countrys Defence Minister, Shinjiro Koizumi, told the Parliament that the country has no plans to send warships to the regions at the behest of Mr Trump.

She said, What is most important is to put our efforts, including our diplomatic efforts, into calming the situation.

Australia has also said it is not sending its warship to the Strait.

According to the Transport Minister, Catherine King, Australia is well prepared as a nation for fuel disruptions.

Been very clear about what our contribution is in relation to requests, and so far that is to the UAE, obviously providing aircraft to assist with defence, particularly given the number of Australians that are in that area in particular.

But we wont be sending a ship to the Strait of Hormuz. We know how incredibly important that is, but thats not something that weve been asked (or) were contributing to, she said.

UK Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, is also refusing to send its worship.

The Telegraph reports that the PM stated that the UK wasnt ready to agree to demands to send ships to protect oil tankers.

Iran says it sees no reason to talk to the US

On its part, Iran dismissed Mr Trumps claim that it is seeking a deal with the US to end the war.

PREMIUM TIMES reports that Mr Trump, on Saturday, said Iranians have reached out for a deal, but that the terms arent good enough yet.

He said any terms for a ceasefire would have to be very solid.

But the Iranian Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, responded by declaring that Iran sees no reason to seek negotiations with Washington.

We are stable and strong enough. We are only defending our people, he told CBS News on Sunday.

We dont see any reason why we should talk with Americans, because we were talking with them when they decided to attack us. There is no good experience talking with Americans.

US Energy Secretary says war to end soon

Meanwhile, the US Energy Secretary, Chris Wright, projected that the war with Iran would end in the next few weeks.

His comment came amid concerns about high gas prices and appears to be an effort to calm markets.

He told ABC, I think that this conflict will certainly come to an end in the next few weeks. This Week. It could be sooner than that, but the conflict will come to an end in the next few.

Two weeks ago, Mr Trump also stated that the war would end very soon without providing any timeline.

UN peacekeepers attacked

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) reported on Sunday that three of its patrols were reportedly attacked by Hezbollah.

But the UN peacekeeping mission said its peacekeepers returned fire in self-defence and were able to carry on with their duties, with no injuries reported.

Meanwhile, the death toll in Lebanon continues to rise.

Authorities reported that the death toll in Lebanon rose to 850, including more than 100 children.

Attack on Gulf countries continues

Iranian strikes continue to target countries in the Middle East.

In Dubai, flights were temporarily suspended on Monday after a drone strike caused a fire at the international airport.

The Dubai media office in a post on X, said, Dubai Civil Aviation Authority announces the temporary suspension of flights at Dubai International Airport as a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of all passengers and staff.

Travellers are advised to contact their respective airlines for the latest updates regarding their flights. Further updates will be announced through official channels as soon as they become available, it added.

Iran arrests citizens for allegedly sharing information

Iran has arrested over 500 people across the country on allegations of working as spies.

According to the countrys police chief, Ahmadreza Radan, the arrested people are accused of sharing information with the enemies.

Half of those cases had involved serious incidents, including people who provided information for hitting targets and individuals who took footage of strike locations and sent them, he said, according to The Guardian.

Pope calls for ceasefire

Pope Leo XIV has urged an end to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, calling on all parties to halt hostilities and return to dialogue to pursue peace.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that he made this appeal to the countries involved in the war on Sunday.

On behalf of the Christians of the #MiddleEast, and of all women and men of good will, I appeal to those responsible for this conflict: cease fire!

May paths of dialogue be reopened! Violence can never lead to the justice, stability, and peace for which the people are waiting, the Catholic leader wrote.
Since the beginning of 2026, Algeria has stepped up its diplomatic outreach to Niger and Burkina Faso in an attempt to reassert its role in the Sahel. Relations with the three Alliance of Sahel States (AES) members  Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali  had deteriorated after Algerian forces shot down a Malian drone near their shared border in April 2025.

All three AES confederation countries condemned the incident as a hostile act and withdrew their ambassadors after Algeria recalled its envoys from Bamako, Niamey and Ouagadougou for consultations. Tensions subsequently escalated between Bamako and Algiers, with both countries closing their airspace and trading sharp exchanges during the United Nations General Assembly in September 2025.

To rebuild its foothold in the Sahel  which it views as both a natural extension of its sphere of influence and geopolitical strategy  Algeria is leading with economic engagement. The process began with back-to-back visits by the countrys Energy and Mines Minister, Mohamed Arkab, to Niger in January and Burkina Faso in February.

Beyond sectoral agreements, Algiers backed its outreach with tangible commitments, announcing a CFA50 billion ($88 million) programme to modernise Burkina Fasos mining and energy infrastructure, and the donation of a 40-megawatt power plant to Niger. The latter is a significant gesture towards a country that relies on Nigeria for more than 70 per cent of its electricity supply.

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In Niger, discussions also covered the development of the Kafra oil block in the countrys northeast, which is strategically important to both countries. The Trans-Saharan gas pipeline, whose construction was recently announced as imminent, stands at the centre of this energy diplomacy.

Algiers outreach also aims to preserve its regional influence amid growing Moroccan initiatives. Rabat is promoting King Mohammed VIs Atlantic Initiative, designed to provide landlocked Sahelian countries with access to the ocean, as well as the Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline, presented as an alternative to the Trans-Saharan project backed by Algeria.

These efforts by Algeria have paved the way for the restoration of formal diplomatic relations. On 12 February, Nigers ambassador returned to his post in Algiers, while his Algerian counterpart was instructed to resume duties in Niamey. Nigerien President Abdourahmane Tchianis state visit to Algiers on 15-16 February, leading a large ministerial delegation, expanded cooperation to infrastructure, health and training.

Amid the rapprochement with Niger and Burkina Faso, Algerias diplomatic impasse with Bamako persists, with Malian authorities denying reports of an imminent return of their ambassador to Algiers. The growing ties between Algeria, Niger and Burkina Faso highlight the delicate balance within the AES between alliance solidarity and national interests.

The alliance took shape under external pressure, as the three countries drew closer in response to the threat of a military intervention in Niger by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) following the July 2023 coup. The three then aligned their foreign policies around a sovereignist posture, marked by a break with Western partners and a closer relationship with Russia. Mali played a leading role in driving this shift.

The geopolitical environment has also become less constraining for the AESs military governments. The break with ECOWAS is now complete, five-year transition timelines to 2030 are in place, the European Union is recalibrating its approach, and the United States is engaging through a more transactional diplomacy. In this context, AES states may feel less compelled to maintain tightly aligned diplomatic positions.

Although the confederal treaty allows member states to conclude agreements with third countries, heads of state adopted an additional protocol on diplomatic coordination at the second AES summit in December 2025. The protocol, however, is not public.

It appears unlikely that Niamey and Ouagadougou would have re-engaged Algiers without prior consultation with Bamako. Such a step would risk weakening the confederations cohesion and exposing divisions over sensitive issues, particularly security and energy.

Malis deep mistrust of Algeria is closely tied to national security concerns. For Bamako, the dispute goes beyond the drone incident. Malian authorities accuse Algeria of meddling in the countrys north, including through contacts with armed groups. Against this backdrop, many Malians would be suspicious of their allies maintaining close relations with Algiers, which some also accuse of supporting terrorist groups active in the border region.

The normalisation process underway with Niger and Burkina Faso could eventually create the conditions for a thaw between Algiers and Bamako. A broader rapprochement between Algeria and the three AES capitals would reflect clear strategic realities.

Algeria is a pivotal actor in the Sahel. It shares more than 2,280 km of porous borders with Mali and Niger, and faces many of the same challenges, including terrorism, cross-border crime and irregular migration. Reopening channels of dialogue would serve pressing security, economic and political interests for all.

Framing engagements with Algeria as an AES initiative could offer Mali a politically acceptable pathway. Presented as a collective decision among allies, it would be consistent with the sovereignist posture that underpins the AES project. If formally spearheaded by one of its members, such as Niger, the move would show that AES solidarity can translate into tangible diplomatic action.

Such an initiative would also strengthen the confederations institutional standing at a time when its ability to coordinate member states is under scrutiny. It would give the AES an opportunity to show that it can bring its members into alignment and act as a collective diplomatic actor on regional issues.

Hassane Kone, Djiby Sow and Rahinatou Leila Salia, Institute for Security Studies (ISS) Regional Office for West Africa, and the Sahel

This article is published with the support of the Danish and Dutch governments and the Bosch Foundation.

(This article was first published by ISS Today, a Premium Times syndication partner. We have their permission to republish).
Within a week of the release of an OCCRP documentary exposing an online fraud operation, Nigerian authorities arrested a man allegedly involved in the scheme, while another apparent victim of the same scam came forward in Romania.

In last months documentary, Exposed: Fake Dubai Prince Tracked to Nigeria, reporters identified Nzube Ikeji, 31, who was afterwards taken into custody. Charges have not been filed, a spokesman for Nigerias Economic and Financial Crime Commission told OCCRP.

Mr Ikejis arrest came nearly a week after the video revealed how he allegedly posed as the real-life Crown Prince of Dubai, cultivating a romance that defrauded $2.5 million from Laura, a Romanian businesswoman.

A second apparent victim of the scam came forward to OCCRPs Romanian member centre Context.ro after watching the documentary. Ana, who is also Romanian, presented Context.ro with documents indicating she was targeted by the same operation that left Laura in debt.

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Both women were first contacted on LinkedIn by someone posing as the Crown Prince of Dubai, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and claiming to represent a humanitarian foundation affiliated with the royal family of the United Arab Emirates.

Communications provided by the women show that Ana first heard from the fake prince in October 2022, while he reached out to Laura a month later. Both were offered and accepted an official vip humanitarian membership permit for the sum of 7,748 UAE dirhams, which was paid out as 1,850 euros ($2,112).

It is common for romance scammers to impersonate the Crown Prince of Dubai in a variation of the classic romance scam, which involves an impersonator cultivating an online relationship with a victim with the goal of milking them for as much money as possible before they realise theyve been swindled.

In the case of both Laura and Ana, identical email addresses with similar messages and fake royal membership cards were used, indicating they were victims of the same group of scammers. Laura is a first name, and Ana is a pseudonym, as both victims wish to remain anonymous out of embarrassment.

Mr Ikeji could not be reached for comment on the latest allegations involving Ana. An email bounced back undelivered, while his previous lawyers did not respond to a request for comment. A message to his WhatsApp did not deliver. He previously told reporters that he did not scam Laura or anyone else, and alleged that OCCRPs documentary was a targeted plan to destroy his reputation.

The woman whom Context.ro identifies as Ana said she was invited by the fake prince to apply for a job at Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives (MBRGI), the humanitarian foundation launched by the actual crown princes father and ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. Laura, meanwhile, was asked by a fake prince to help MBRGI invest millions of dollars in humanitarian aid in Romania.

Neither of the opportunities was real. After they paid 1,850 euros for official vip humanitarian membership permit cards, both received messages saying their cards had been granted, but required another payment to be activated. Ana paid another 10,550 euros ($12,045), while Laura paid 12,550 euros ($14,328).

A fake prince had earlier steered their communications to Skype and later to WhatsApp, where he cultivated romances with them.

He told Ana that he wanted to visit her in Romania, but it would require Ana transferring 42,000 euros ($47,951). When Ana refused to send more money that she did not have, the fake prince texted her: Now youve lost me and the 13,000 euros you have paid.

While Ana stopped at that point, Laura continued deeper into the scam, exchanging thousands of messages over two years with the fake prince and even meeting his financial manager in London to facilitate opening a bank account.

(This report was first published by OCCRP, a Premium Times partner. We have their permission to republish.)
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) says four unauthorised persons have been apprehended near Akure airport.

This is contained in a statement by FAANs Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Henry Agbebire, on Sunday in Lagos.

Mr Agbebire said the arrest followed a distress alert after suspicious individuals were sighted behind the airport perimeter, near the Eleyewo community.

He said FAANs Aviation Security, Nigerian Air Force, Nigerian Army, Nigeria Police Force and other local security outfits launched a joint search operation.

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According to him, some individuals attempted to flee the area during the operation by the joint security team.

Four suspects were eventually apprehended and handed over to the police area command for further interrogation, Agbebire said.

He commended the collaboration among aviation security personnel, the military, police and local security groups.

The swift response of security agencies, including Amotekun and community vigilantes, led to the successful arrest, he added.

Mr Agbebire said the incident underscored the need to strengthen airport perimeter protection across the country.

He noted that the federal government, through the Ministry of Aviation, had accelerated modern perimeter fencing and improved security infrastructure at airports.

READ ALSO: FAAN sets up task force to improve cargo operations at airports

Work has already begun in phases to ensure FAAN-managed airports are better protected against unlawful access and other security threats, he said.

FAAN reassured travellers and host communities of its commitment to maintaining safety and security at airport facilities nationwide.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that a control tower personnel noticed unusual movement on the runway and alerted security operatives.

The alert prompted a swift response from security teams, leading to the arrest of four suspects near the airport.

(NAN)
The Nigeria Police Force has arrested two suspects after raiding a facility allegedly used for illegal arms fabrication and the production of narcotic-laced snacks in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.

The police said the operation, carried out late Saturday on Itu road in Uyo, followed intelligence reports that illicit chin-chin snacks mixed with Indian hemp were being produced and distributed from the location.

According to a statement issued on 16 March by the commands spokesperson, Timfon John, operatives stormed the premises at about 9 p.m. and discovered the site was also functioning as a clandestine workshop for fabricating and modifying firearms.

Ms John, a deputy superintendent of police, said items recovered from the facility include eight refilled cartridges, six expended cartridges, a bag of gunpowder, refilling pellets, a pack of striking pins, and a rifle butt.

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Police also recovered filing, cutting and drilling machines allegedly used for weapon fabrication, along with cutting stones, assorted saws and two machetes.

Other items found at the scene include substances suspected to be Indian hemp, packets of chin-chin believed to be laced with the drug, two pairs of black military boots with belts and a jacket, a laptop computer, and three live turtles suspected to be used for charms.

The police identified the suspects as Marsodi John and Koabasi Marsodi, also known as Five, both from Uya Oron in Oron Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom.

According to the police, a preliminary investigation indicates that Mr Marsodi, a graduate of Animal Science from the University of Uyo, allegedly operated the illegal facility.

Police said the suspect confessed to producing narcotic-laced chin-chin and modifying firearms, including cutting long guns into shorter, concealable weapons.

The police said the suspects are currently in custody while investigators are tracking down other members of the criminal network mentioned during interrogation.

According to the statement, the Commissioner of Police in the state, Baba Azare, said the operation was part of Operation Zero Black Spots, an ongoing crackdown on criminal hideouts, illegal arms production centres and drug networks across the state.
Police in Cross River State have arrested a Cross River State resident, Ibiong Bassey, over a viral video showing the alleged assault on her five-year-old niece.

PREMIUM TIMES is protecting the victims identity because she is a minor.

Eitokpah Sunday, the police spokesperson in Cross River, said operatives of A Division, Calabar, arrested the suspect on 11 March at about 10:45 a.m., following the release of the video clip.

Mr Sunday stated in a statement that Preliminary investigations reveal that the suspect assaulted the minor with a spatula, inflicting injuries around the childs right eye.

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He added that further examination also showed bruises on other parts of her body, indicating sustained abuse.

The police spokesperson said the investigation is ongoing and that further updates will be provided.

The footage, shared across social media platforms recently, drew public outrage after it showed the young girl, reportedly acting as a domestic help to her aunt, being beaten repeatedly over allegations of stealing meat from a pot of soup.

Online posts linked to the video claimed that Ms Bassey, a mother of four, forced the girl, who is said to be her late sisters daughter, to act as a nanny for her youngest child, while excluding her from going to school. Neighbours who spoke in the video clip claimed that the victim had been brutally assaulted by the same woman in the past.

The suspect and her husband are said to be pastors.

When contacted by PREMIUM TIMES, Uyo Iban Amplifier Initiative, a civil society organisation working on women and child rights in Cross River State, called on the police and the Cross River State Government to ensure justice for the child.

The organisations coordinator, Okoho Ene, asked for stronger enforcement of the states Child Rights Law.

There are many other children who face the same kind of abuse but never receive attention, Ms Ene said. The government must urgently sensitise the public on the Child Rights Law, strengthen community vigilance, and ensure offenders face the full weight of the law.
Moldova restored domestic market access for frozen and chilled poultry meat from one Ukrainian business entity authorized to export to the European Union, the State Service on Food Safety and Consumer Protection reported following a meeting with Moldovas National Food Safety Agency (ANSA).

According to the statement, the decision was made after receiving laboratory test results from an EU laboratory that confirmed Ukrainian products compliance with safety requirements.

"The next step is restoring exports to Moldova for other Ukrainian producers, which the State Food Safety Service is already working on together with ANSA," the agency stressed.

The parties also confirmed readiness for further dialogue to expand the list of meat product categories available for export to Moldova.

As previously reported, Ukraine and Moldova on March 5 agreed on an action algorithm for promptly restoring poultry meat exports. It required mandatory laboratory testing of samples at certified EU institutions. In addition, only products from enterprises with closed production cycles authorized to supply products to EU member states were allowed for testing.

Moldova in January 2026 suspended imports of Ukrainian poultry due to claims about feed quality, which the Ukrainian side called discriminatory. In response, Ukraines Cabinet of Ministers developed a draft resolution on introducing a licensing regime for imports of grapes, wine and spirits from Moldova as a tool to protect economic interests until full removal of restrictions on Ukraines agricultural sector.
The Nigerian Army has accused the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its sympathisers of spreading ethnicity-driven propaganda to discredit military operations in the South-East.

The Acting Deputy Director, Army Public Relations, 82 Division, Olabisi Ayeni, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday while reacting to viral claims that recovered IED images were fake.

Mr Ayeni, a lieutenant colonel, said the images, published on Thursday with a press release, showed improvised explosive devices recovered during Operation Eastern Sanity conducted simultaneously in Imo and Anambra.

He explained that the explosives were recovered from the OrsuEketutu Mother Valley and OrsuIhiteukwa areas of Imo during ongoing operations under Operation UDO KA.

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Mr Ayeni said geo-location details on the images were deliberately blurred for operational security, stressing that the measure was not intended to mislead the public.

The devices in the images were recovered during the ongoing operations in the operational areas, as earlier stated.

Unfortunately, IPOB sympathisers manipulated the blurred metadata and circulated altered versions online, falsely suggesting the images originated from Lagos and Oyo states, Mr Ayeni explained.

He said the propaganda was spread mainly on social media platforms, particularly X, formerly Twitter, and Facebook, by accounts linked to IPOB sympathisers.

Mr Ayeni added that beyond manipulating metadata, the group had highlighted the ethnic identity of a serving officer instead of addressing facts surrounding the operation.

According to him, the focus on ethnicity reflects attempts to sow division, undermine military operations and weaken national cohesion.

It is not gainsaying that troops have dislodged several camps, hideouts and IED-making factories belonging to IPOB and its armed wing.

The camps were located within the Mother Valley general area spanning Imo and Anambra.

Having lost operational assets and capacity to terrorise residents, they have now resorted to propaganda, fake news and divisive narratives, he said.

Mr Ayeni said the headquarters of Operation UDO KA had invited media organisations, civil society groups and other stakeholders for a verification tour of the operational areas.

He said the inspection would enable independent observers to verify recovery locations and view seized IED-making materials without compromising operational security.

The Nigerian Army remains a professional, apolitical and multi-ethnic institution whose personnel serve across the country irrespective of their state of origin, he said.

Mr Ayeni urged Nigerians and social media users to verify information from official sources before sharing and to prioritise national unity over ethnic sentiments.

(NAN)
According to Kaspersky telemetry, in 2025, spyware and password stealers attacks showed the biggest year-over-year growth in Nigeria among different analysed malware types. Spyware, which is a type of malicious software installed on users devices to collect their data, grew in the number of attacks by 28 per cent compared with the previous year. Password stealers, designed to gather users account information, increased in the number of attacks by 22 per cent.

Exploits decreased slightly in the number of attacks in Nigeria, however they remain an acute threat that should not be underestimated. These are programs designed by cyber attackers to take advantage of vulnerabilities in an application or operating system to gain unauthorised access to it and to cause unintended behaviour to occur on software. Ransomware, though very targeted in distribution, remains a high-risk threat for organisations, who should also guard themselves from supply chain and trusted relationship attacks.

Overall, Kaspersky security tools blocked more than 4 million online attack attempts on users in Nigeria in 2025. Online threats typically include different types of malware attacks, such as for example, password stealers, exploits, spyware, etc. Another 9 million on-device threats were blocked in the country, including malware delivered via infected USB drives.

Operations coordinated by INTERPOL, such as Serengeti to which Kaspersky has contributed, demonstrate how international cooperation and threat intelligence sharing can strengthen the fight against cybercrime across Africa. At the same time, both organisations and individual users in the region play an important role in improving cybersecurity by staying informed about evolving threats and practicing good cyber hygiene. Dedicated security solutions, including Kaspersky Next for organisations and Kaspersky Premium for individuals, can further help reduce exposure to cyber risks, said Moses Munguti, Technical Expert & Team Lead in Africa at Kaspersky.

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Malware often reaches a device through phishing messages and websites employing social engineering techniques. If an operating system, browser, or application is outdated, attackers may exploit security flaws to install malware. To significantly reduce the risk of infections with malware, Kaspersky experts advise individuals and organisations to follow these best practices:

Be cautious with links and attachments received, verify the sender before opening files or clicking links.

Download software only from official sources.Install updates for systems and applications as soon as they become available.

Use strong, unique passwords and enable multi-factor authentication wherever possible.

Install reputable security software that can detect malware before it compromises the system.

Regularly back up important data.

Staying informed about current cyber threats and maintaining good digital hygiene helps keep devices and data safe.

About Kaspersky

Kaspersky is a global cybersecurity and digital privacy company founded in 1997. With over a billion devices protected to date from emerging cyberthreats and targeted attacks, Kasperskys deep threat intelligence and security expertise is constantly transforming into innovative solutions and services to protect individuals, businesses, critical infrastructure, and governments around the globe. The companys comprehensive security portfolio includes leading digital life protection for personal devices, specialised security products and services for companies, as well as Cyber Immune solutions to fight sophisticated and evolving digital threats. We help millions of individuals and nearly 200,000 corporate clients protect what matters most to them. Learn more at www.kaspersky.co.za.
Ghana is preparing to carry out an emergency evacuation exercise for nationals living in the Gulf state as Iran presses with sustained missile and drone attacks across the region.

The Ghanaian embassy in Qatar, in a statement on Sunday, announced plans to carry out a one-way evacuation for citizens in the country.

It explained that the Ghanaian government has decided to undertake the evacuation as a precautionary measure.

According to the embassy, the exercise will provide an opportunity for Ghanaians who wish to leave Qatar immediately and return to Ghana.

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The Embassy of the Republic of Ghana in Qatar wishes to refer to its earlier notice dated 6th March, 2026, and to inform all Ghanaians living in Qatar that the Government of the Republic of Ghana has decided to undertake an emergency evacuation exercise in Qatar in the wake of the heightened security situation in the Region, the statement read.

The embassy asked interested Ghanaian nationals to reconfirm their intention to be evacuated by sending in the biodata page of their passports.

This submission must be done before Tuesday, 17 March.

Qatar and other Gulf states have been caught in the crossfire since the start of the US-Israel war with Iran.

Waves of Iranian drones and missiles continue to target Gulf countries and beyond, with Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

On Monday, the Qatari government issued an elevated security threat level alert, asking residents to remain in their homes and safe places. About a dozen people have been reported injured in Qatar from the impacts of downed Iranian missiles and drones.

The Foreign Ministry spokesman, Majed al-Ansari, said de-escalation is needed, while reiterating that Iran must stop the attacks on the country.

In Dubai, flights were temporarily suspended after a drone strike caused a fire at the international airport.

The Dubai media office in a post on X, said, Dubai Civil Aviation Authority announces the temporary suspension of flights at Dubai International Airport as a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of all passengers and staff.

Travellers are advised to contact their respective airlines for the latest updates regarding their flights. Further updates will be announced through official channels as soon as they become available, it added.

Last week, the Nigerian government began evacuating Nigerians in Iran by accompanying them across the Armenian border.

Meanwhile, the US has turned down attempts by its Middle Eastern allies to initiate diplomatic negotiations to end the war.
The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has dismissed reports alleging bribery and unlawful detention of a 69-year-old man Umar Bala and a purported National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member Joseph Philips, in Abuja.

In a statement shared with PREMIUM TIMES on Monday, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Commands Commandant, Olusola Odumosu, described the publications as false, misleading, and malicious, asserting that they misrepresented facts to create sensational stories.

The FCT Command categorically states that the allegations contained in the publication are entirely baseless. Under my leadership, the Command has consistently adhered to the law, operational guidelines of the Corps, and ethical standards expected of officers, Mr Odumosu.

How it started

SaharaReporters, an online newspaper, had reported that Mr Philips, who was teaching Mathematics and Physics at the International Model Science Academy in Sheda, Kwali Area Council, Abuja, was detained for about 65 days.

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The report claimed he was held following a dispute with the school proprietor, and that NSCDC officials demanded N1.3 million plus an additional N120,000 commandants service charge for his release.

It said his health reportedly deteriorated during detention and that he was not provided adequate food.

In another related but separate story, the newspaper also alleged that Mr Bala was detained for about 89 days after being arrested with nine workers at a construction site in Ruwan Shanyi Jangaba in Damau District, Kubau Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

The report claimed NSCDC officials demanded N10 million as a Commandants fee for his release, even though a Federal High Court order allegedly directed his release.

These reports raised concerns over alleged prolonged detentions and extortion by NSCDC officials in Abuja.

NSCDC denies

The NSCDC clarified that Mr Philips is not a legitimate NYSC member.

The statement stated that he was arrested on 6 February by the Kwali Division in Abuja for impersonation, forgery, and extortion after complaints from victims.

He was transferred to the FCT Command on 9 February for further investigation.

Guided by the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015, he was interrogated, a statement obtained and was issued a grant of bail on the same day (9th February, 2026), but was unable to meet his bail condition as no credible surety has come forth for him.

However, as a law abiding security agency fully sensitive to the rule of law, the Command approached the court to obtain a remand order for him as stipulated by law to justify holding him in our facility while the investigation continues. The remand order was issued by the Magistrate Court, Wuse Zone 2, Abuja, the statement said.

According to the statement, investigations revealed Mr Philips had fraudulently collected over N1.3 million from parents of students under the pretext of securing Cambridge University scholarships and extra lessons.

It noted that the recovered evidence included forged NYSC call-up letters, NYSC uniform, financial documents, and a bag containing hard drugs.

Contrary to the the falsehood being spread by Chimezie Otuojo (former detainee) through SaharaReporters on the alleged demand for money by the Command for his release, Chimezie must have been told by the self-acclaimed NYSC member with whom they once shared facility that the total of the money he has fraudulently collected from parents of the students amounted to over one million, three hundred thousand naira (N1.3 million).

This is what Chimezie has decided to weaponise against the Command. We are a credible institution with zero tolerance for corruption and no amount of money is charged for bail under any guise, the statement said.

Regarding the alleged prolonged detention of Mr Bala, the statement explained that the suspect was in custody following a formal complaint from TroBell Minerals Ltd over criminal breach of trust involving N217 million.

The statement stressed that his detention was carried out under a valid court remand order.

Furthermore, the allegations that nine (9) suspects in connection with the case paid N1 million each before they were granted bail and officers demanding a Commandants fee of ten million naira (N10,000,000) for the suspects release are entirely baseless, unfounded, and concocted without any credible evidence.

The Command remains committed to professionalism, due process, and the rule of law. Members of the public are therefore advised to disregard the misleading publication and allow the matter, which is already before the court, to be determined through the judicial process, the statement said.

Detention

According to court documents reviewed by PREMIUM TIMES, a magistrates court in the FCT initially remanded Mr Philips on 18 February for 14 days over allegations of obtaining by false pretence under the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act, 2006.

The order was set to expire on 6 March pending the conclusion of NSCDCs investigation.

However, on 9 March, the court extended the remand to 24 March, following an application for extension by NSCDC to complete its investigation.

ALSO READ: NDLEA wants drug tests on NYSC members

Accordingly, the Respondent is to remain in the custody of the applicant for 14 days pending the conclusion of the investigation effective from today, 9/3/2026 to 24/3/2026. Case adjourned to 25/03/2026 for report of the outcome of the investigation., the magistrate Sunday Adukwu ruled.

Public advisory

The Command reaffirmed its commitment to professionalism, due process, and the rule of law, assuring residents that it remains focused on protecting lives, property, and critical national assets.

The Command warned that it may seek legal redress against individuals or media platforms publishing unverified information.

While the Command respects the role of the media in a democratic society like ours, it expects that such responsibility be exercised with accuracy, objectivity, and adherence to professional ethics. The spread of unsubstantiated allegations not only damages reputations but also undermines public trust in institutions working tirelessly for national security.

The public is therefore advised to disregard the said publication in its entirety and rely only on verified information from official channels of the Corps as we remain committed, focused, resolute, and unwavering in our service to the nation.

On a final note, let me seize the opportunity to alert all MDAs and the private sector on the need for vigilance and to conduct proper screening of anyone who presents himself or herself for placements in your organisation for the mandatory primary assignment with reasonable suspicion by contacting the nearest NYSC office to verify the identity of such persons, the statement stated.
Two Nigerian ministers, as well as officials of the Lagos State Electricity Regulatory Commission (LASERC), will participate in discussions at the Powering Africa Summit 2026 scheduled to take place from 19 to 20 March in Washington, D.C., United States.

The summit, which brings together African energy policymakers, regulators, investors and development partners, will focus on strengthening the United StatesAfrica energy partnership and expanding investment in the continents power sector.

This summit is a high-level dialogue and an annual celebration of the US-Africa energy partnership. It brings together U.S. Government stakeholders, institutional investors, private financiers, service and technology providers, and international private sector stakeholders from North America with Ministers of Energy, Finance and Mineral Resources, governments, Heads of Utilities, Transmission and Distribution companies, and Regulators from Africa.

PAS 2025 explored how US foreign policy would change under the new administration, with the lens very much being around US stakeholders taking a more accountable and pragmatic approach to investment and partnerships globally. At PAS 2026, we are looking forward to deep diving into the past year and understanding whether expectations met reality, and the impact for banks, investors and stakeholders more broadly across the continent, the organisers said in an agenda shared with PREMIUM TIMES.

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The two Nigerian ministers who will be on different panels are the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, and the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo.

The Lagos delegation includes the CEO & Executive Member of the Lagos State Electricity Regulatory Commission (LASERC), Temitope George; the Chairman of LASERC, Akinwunmi Ogunbiyi and Executive Member, Licensing & Regulatory Standards, LASERC, Olakunle Falola.

The Lagos officials are expected to participate in a closed-door regulators roundtable involving energy regulators from several African countries. The session will examine regulatory transparency, governance frameworks, and strategies to strengthen power sector investment across the continent.

Lagos electricity market session

The summit will also feature a session focused on investment opportunities in Lagos electricity market. The panel titled Investing in Africas Largest Subnational Energy Market: The Lagos Opportunity, will examine prospects for private investment in power generation, transmission expansion and distribution reforms within Lagos.

The session will be moderated by Mr George, while speakers include Commissioner for Lagos State Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Biodun Ogunleye, Chairman, Lagos State House of Assembly Committee on Energy and Mineral Resources, Sabur Akanbi, as well as Mr Ogunbiyi and Mr Falola.

According to the programme, the discussion will explore bankable opportunities across gas-to-power, embedded and renewable generation, transmission expansion and regulatory innovations aimed at attracting private capital into Lagos electricity market.

Dele Alake to speak

The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Mr Alake, will speak during a panel on Critical Minerals in Africa: Meeting Global Demand. The discussion will examine how African countries can increase mineral production to meet rising global demand and how partnerships with the United States can strengthen supply chains for critical minerals needed for energy transition technologies.

In another session focusing on energy security and gas development, Nigerias minister of state for petroleum resources (gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, will participate in a discussion on how gas strategies between the United States and Africa can expand bilateral trade and support industrialisation.

ALSO READ: Oando joins global energy contemporaries at African Energy Week 2024

The programme also lists the acting managing director of the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading company, Johnson Akinnawo, as a speaker in a panel examining financing and guarantees needed to deepen energy investment across the continent.

The summit, organised by EnergyNet, brings together government officials, regulators, investors and private sector leaders to strengthen cooperation between the United States and African countries in developing energy infrastructure and expanding electricity access across the continent.

The 2026 edition will focus on the theme, Powering the US-Africa Partnership: Energy Infrastructure, Critical Minerals and Investment Strategies.
An Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) investigator told the FCT High Court in Abuja on Monday that former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Godwin Emefiele, is not a signatory to the accounts of two companies he was said to have corruptly awarded the Banks contracts.

My evidence never mentioned April 1616; however, the defendant (Mr Emefiele) is not a signatory to the account of April 1616. I cannot remember if he is a director or shareholder, said the investigator, David Jaiyeoba, who is the 12th prosecution witness in Mr Emefieles corruption trial.

The prosecution witness added that the defendant was neither a signatory, director nor shareholder of Archiketon Nigeria Limited.

He said this while Mr Emefieles lawyer, Matthew Burkaa, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), cross-examined him.

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The EFCC is prosecuting Mr Emefiele on 20 amended counts, including criminal breach of trust, forgery, obtaining by false pretence, conspiracy to commit forgery, procurement fraud, and conspiracy to commit a felony.

It accused the former CBN governor of conferring corrupt advantages on two companiesApril 1616 Nigeria Ltd and Architekon Nigeria Ltd.

April 1616 allegedly belonged to Saadatu Ramalan-Yaro, who was said to be an associate of Mr Emefiele CBN employee.

The 10th prosecution witness, Salawu Gana, who is a former head of procurement department at the CBN, testified in February 2025, that bidding information for CBN contracts was leaked to Ms Ramalan-Yaro and April 1616 Investment Limited. The alleged corrupt transactions allegedly took place between 2018 and 2020 while Mr Emefile was the CBN governor.

EFCC initially arraigned Mrs Ramalan-Yaro alongside Mr Emefiele as a co-defendant. However, an amendment to the case in 2024 discharged her from the trial, while the number of charges against Mr Emefiele was reduced from 20 to six.

Other charges against Mr Emefiele include the alleged fraudulent payout of $6.23 million from the CBN vault in Abuja in 2023, under the guise of payments for fictitious foreign election observers expenses.

Mr Emefiele denied all the charges.

Details of EFCCs investigation findings

During Mondays proceedings, the witness shed light on what transpired during investigations by the EFCC.

Mr Jaiyeoba told the court that he did not personally interview the defendant, but his team members did.

The EFCCs findings were based on documents and statements of suspects who were arrested during the course of the investigation, the witness said.

He admitted he had not visited the CBN Governors residence, the specific Archiketon renovation site alleged in this case, nor any other project locations.

Consequently, EFCCs findings on the renovation relied on statements provided by the companys director, he said.

Bidding process

Mr Jaiyeoba also noted that he was aware of the committee in the CBN that vets and handles the bidding process of contracts but could not recall the name.

He said that he did not interview the officers involved. My team did, but personally, I was not part of that interview because the team had to be divided. One operated within Lagos while the others operated in Abuja.

The Abuja team interacted with these officials due to proximity and distance.

When asked if Mr Emeifele was a member of the Major Contract Tender Committee that handled the procurement process, he replied: I cannot remember.

Mr Burkaa then challenged the witness understanding of CBNs procurement process, but the investigator maintained that he understood the process.

His response prompted Mr Emeifeles lawyer to ask again who in CBN was responsible for ensuring whether a company is qualified for a contract, the witness replied, I am not a staff (member), so I would not know.

Property forfeiture

Mr Burkaa then asked the witness about the properties he had mentioned in the last proceedings.

Earlier in March, the witness testified about how Mr Emeifeles lawyer, Collins Omeife, confirmed that he regularly received cash from Mr Emefiele through his personal assistant, Eric Ocheme.

He said the funds were used to acquire properties and renovate some old assets for Mr Emefiele.

He listed some of the properties in question to include detached duplexes at No. 17B Hakeem Odumosu Street, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos State; a bungalow and undeveloped land measuring 1919.592 square meter on Oyinkan Abayomi Drive, Ikoyi and a four-bedroom duplex at 12A Probyn Road, Ikoyi.

Others are an industrial complex under construction on 22 plots in Agbor, Delta State; eight units of undetached apartment on Adekunle Lawal Road, Ikoyi, Lagos State; and a detached duplex on Bank Road, Ikoyi, Lagos State.

On Monday, Mr Burkaa asked Mr Jaiyeoba if he was aware that the Court of Appeal had overturned the forfeiture order for the properties and presented him with a copy of the judgement.

The witness said he was seeing it for the first time but affirmed that while Mr Emefiele contested the forfeiture order, he never made a claim to $2 million (part of the items listed for forfeiture) as his property.

In June 2025, the Court of Appeal in Lagos overturned the forfeiture order and directed a fresh hearing by the lower court.

Mr Jaiyeoba then acknowledged that the EFCC was bound by the Court of Appeals decision. Mr Burkaa then challenged him on why he tendered the code of conduct forms, which listed the declaration of assets by Mr Emefiele.

The witness noted that he was not aware of the judgement.

During the last proceeding, the witness recalled that the investigations followed a report sent to the EFCC by the Inter-Agency Task Force, headed by the State Security Service (SSS).

On Monday, Mr Burkaa requested that the report be brought to court. EFCCs lawyer, A.O. Mohammed, did not object to the request.

Emefieles statement taken 73 days after filing of case

Earlier in March, prosecution lawyer Rotimi Oyedepo, who is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), tendered Mr Emefieles extrajudicial statement through the witness.

On Monday, Mr Burkaa noted that the statements were written from 26 October to 2 November 2023, but EFCC filed their charges against Mr Emefiele on 14 August 2023.

He then asked the investigator, So you took the statements 73 days after filing the charges, when you were still investigating the charges?

The witness replied, I am not aware of these dates. Similarly, Mr Burkaa asked if the defendant was confronted with Mr Nwikes statement to seek his reaction, the witness stated that they did not.

Thereafter, the trial judge, Hamza Muazu, adjourned the matter until Tuesday.

Highlights of testimonies

Mr Jaiyeoba, in a previous testimony, told the court how a lawyer working for Mr Emefiele was arrested with over $2 million in cash. However, during cross-examination on Monday (today), he noted that the defendant never laid claims to the money.

In January, the 11th prosecution witness, Bashirudden Maishanu, an assistant director in CBN, narrated how the sum of $6.23 million was withdrawn in cash from a CBN vault in one day in February 2023, during Mr Emefieles tenure as governor of CBN.

The testimony shed light on a transaction that previous witnesses had said was based on false claims and forged documents.

However, Mr Maishanu narrated the roles he played in facilitating the suspicious cash withdrawal. He said the money was tagged as payments to foreign observers for the 2023 general election.

On 13 February 2024, Boss Mustaphawho was at the time the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) during the administration of President Muhammadu Buharitestified as a prosecution witness in the ongoing trial.

In his testimony, Mr Mustapha said Mr Buharis signature was forged to give approval to the cash withdrawal of $6.2 million from the CBN vault.

That was a day after a former controller at the CBN in Abuja, Onyeka Ogbu, told the court that he received the written approval given by Messrs Buhari, Mustapha, and Emefiele for the cash payment.

Mr Mustapha, who testified as the fourth prosecution witness for the EFCC, said his signature and Mr Buharis were forged by people who pilfered the $6.23 from the CBN vault on 8 February 2023.

Similarly, on 7 March 2024, Bamaiyi Meriga, a forensic expert, told the court that documents used to facilitate the withdrawal of $6.23 million from the CBN were forged.
The Edo State Government has ordered the arrest and prosecution of students involved in a viral bullying incident at Igbinedion Education Centre.

The state Commissioner for Information, Kassim Afegbua, announced the directive on Monday during an interview on Channels Televisions Sunrise Daily programme, Punch newspaper reported.

Mr Afegbua described the incident as disturbing and unacceptable, saying the government moved swiftly after seeing the video on social media.

It is quite disturbing. When we heard the news and saw the clips of the video, we were wondering what could have warranted such behaviour, he said.

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He stressed that there could be no justification for students bullying their peers.

There will be no justification for that kind of treatment. It is very unacceptable, he added.

According to the commissioner, the students involved have already been expelled by the school authorities, while the government has also directed the police to ensure they are arrested and prosecuted.

We took action almost immediately that led to the expulsion of the students involved. But it is not just about expulsion; we also directed the police to make sure the students are properly arrested and made to face the full wrath of the law, he said.

Mr Afegbua also said he had contacted the Edo State Commissioner of Police to ensure the matter was being investigated.

I placed a call to the Commissioner of Police this morning to be sure they are taking steps. He told me he is expecting the parents to bring the students involved, and after investigations, they will be charged in court, he said.

Police commence investigation

Meanwhile, the police in Edo State said they have commenced an investigation into the incident.

In a statement posted on its Facebook page on Sunday, the police spokesperson in the state, Eno Ikoedem, said the Commissioner of Police, Monday Agbonika, had directed the Divisional Police Officer in charge of the area to carry out a detailed inquiry.

The Nigeria Police Force, Edo State Police Command wishes to inform the general public that it is aware of the viral video circulating on social media showing a disturbing incident of bullying involving a schoolboy at Igbinedion Secondary School, the statement said.

The police said the school management confirmed that the students involved had already been expelled as part of disciplinary measures.

Despite this action, the command said a comprehensive investigation was ongoing and assured the public that those responsible would be made to face the law in line with their ages and the provisions of the law.

The police also condemned bullying and other forms of violence among students.

The bullying video

The incident gained public attention after a video shared on social media platforms, including Facebook, showed four male students beating and kicking another student, beginning with a heavy-head knock.

One of the students was seen dragging the victim by his suit and stomping on his chest while the boy cried in pain.

It is, however, unclear when the incident occurred.

The Edo State Ministry of Education has also set up a five-member committee to investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident and identify all those involved.
President Bola Tinubu, accompanied by the First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, will depart Abuja on Tuesday, 17 March, for a State Visit to the United Kingdom as guests of Their Majesties King Charles III and Queen Camilla.

King Charles will host President Tinubu and his wife at Windsor Castle from Wednesday, 18 March, to Thursday, 19 March.

The state visit is the first by a Nigerian leader in 37 years. President Tinubu is also the first Nigerian leader to be hosted by the British monarch at Windsor Castle.

Nigeria and the United Kingdom share a deep history of ties and a special bond. The purpose of this visit is to strengthen bilateral relations and explore avenues for collaboration on issues such as immigration, trade, investment, and cultural exchange.

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While at Windsor Castle, Their Majesties will invite the President and the First Lady to view a special exhibition of items from the Royal Collection related to Nigeria. Later, the King and the President will hold private discussions and meet with organisations engaged in interfaith dialogue, both nationally and internationally.

The Royal Family will host a State Banquet in honour of the Nigerian guests in the evening.

President Tinubu will also hold a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Keir Starmer at 10 Downing Street, which will lead to expanded bilateral engagement between senior officials of the two countries. The meeting will culminate in the signing of various Memoranda of Understanding and agreements, including those on trade, investment, defence, and cultural cooperation.

President Tinubu will witness the signing of the landmark 746 million financing deal between the UK Export Finance (UKEF) and the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and Federal Ministry of Finance to support the refurbishment of two of Nigerias major national maritime infrastructure  the Lagos Port Complex (Apapa Quays) and the Tin Can Island Port Complex.

The President will be the guest of honour at the Nigerian Modernism exhibition, showcasing modern arts and culture, and will also attend a reception with Nigerian and British business leaders and the diaspora community.

Members of the Presidents entourage include: Senate President Godswill Akpabio; Attorney General and Minister of Justice Lateef Fagbemi; Minister of Solid Minerals, Dele Alake; Minister of Information and National Orientation, Idris Mohammed, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Bianca Ojukwu; Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun; and Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Jumoke Oduwole.

Others are: Minister of Culture and Creative Economy, Hannatu Musawa; Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani; Minister of Defence, Christopher Musa; National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu; and Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, Mohammed Mohammed.

President Tinubu will return to the country at the conclusion of the State Visit.

Bayo Onanuga

Special Adviser to the President

(Information & Strategy)
Two prosecution witnesses gave some details of some bank transactions of a company linking a wife and son of former Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) Abubakar Malami during the family members money laundering trial on Monday.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which is prosecuting the trio of Mr Malami, his wife Asabe Bashir, and his son Abdulaziz Malami at the Federal High Court in Abuja, alleged that the funds were part of the proceeds of a money laundering scheme involving N8.7 billion.

The commission alleged in the charges filed against them last December that they carried out the money laundering schemes between 2015 and 2025, through multiple bank accounts, corporate entities and high value property acquisitions.

In the 16 counts of money laundering, the EFCC accused them of conspiracy, procuring, disguising, concealing and laundering proceeds of unlawful activities involving the sum of N8.7 billion.

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Bulk of the transactions allegedly took place during Mr Malamis time as the Attorney-General of the Federation during the late President Muhammadu Buharis administration between 2015 and 2023.

Testifying as the second prosecution witness on Monday, Daniel Kwayil, a compliance officer with Union Bank, presented copies of the account opening package and statement of account of Meethaq Hotels Limited.

He gave the companys account number as 0179011105.

Prosecution lawyer, Jibrin Okutepa, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), tendered as exhibits the bank account documents along with a Union Banks forwarding letter dated 23 December 2025 along with a certificate of compliance.

Defence lawyer Joseph Daudu, also a SAN, said he had no objection for the time being but reserved the right to do so if it became necessary as the trial progressed.

Trial judge Joyce Abdulmalik then admitted the documents in evidence and marked them as Exhibit B series.

Mr Okutepa then asked the prosecution witness to refer to page 37 of the statement of account of Meethaq Hotels Limited.

Following the prosecution lawyers lead, the witness said on 5 February 2024, there was a payment of N14 million by instant transfer to Abubakar Malami on the order of Meethaq Hotels Limited.

On 4 March 2024, the witness said further, there was another transfer of N24 million in favour of Abubakar Malami from Meethaq Hotels Limited.

The witness added that on 3 February 2024, another N24 million was transferred to A.A. Malami and Co on the order of Meethaq Hotels Limited.

Mr Kwayil also told the court that on3 May 2024, as reflected on page 38, there was a transfer of N12.5 milliion in favour of A.A. Malami.

When asked who the signatory to the account of Meethaq Hotels Limited was, the witness replied:

The sole signatory to Meethaq Hotels Limited is Asabe Rakiya Bashir.

He identified the second defendant, Ms Bashir, in the dock and told the court that her identification card appeared on pages 11 and 12 of the account opening documents.

He also noted that the board resolution on page 10 made her the sole signatory to the account.

Mr Kwayil also said the statement of account of Meethaq Hotels Limited spanned pages 34 to 41, showing both inflows and outflows.

Inflows into Meethaqs account

According to him, on 3 November 2022, the account received two deposits of N1,745,242.73 and N21,202,209.36.

He said on 8 November 2022, the account received N685,200 and N685,400.

The witness added that on 18 November 2022, the account received N1,047,019.55.

He further told the court that on 28 November 2022, the account received N10 million twice from YMB Energy Limited.

On 2 December 2022, the witness said the account received N4,565,320.58, and on 5 December 2022, it received N4,828,880.56.

Mr Kwayil said that on 20 December 2022, there was an inflow of N1,83,686.44 into the account.

He said on 10 January 2023, the account received N43,177,453.94, and another N4,650,781.50 on the same day.

He added that on 17 January 2023, the account received N915,540.84, while on 12 February 2023, it received N25,483,054.24, all transfers from Meethaq Hotels Limited.

The witness further stated that on 3 March 2025, there was an inflow of N11,166,235.10 from another account of Meethaq Hotels Limited.

He added that on 14 March 2023, the account received N118,814.64.

According to him, on 3 April 2023, another inflow of N13,388,808.38 was recorded from another account of Meethaq Limited, while on 14 April 2023, the account received N158,066.73.

Mr Kwayim, who earlier told the judge that he was from the Union Bank branch at Area 3, Abuja, described himself as a regulatory liaison officer who interacts with regulators on behalf of the banks Abuja branches.

According to him, the regulators include government agencies that supervise the banking industry in Nigeria.

He added that his duties included reviewing account openings, authorising closures, and conducting investigation that bothers with regulatory glitches and customer complaints.

Mr Daniel told the court that in December 2025, the bank received a request from the EFCC requesting us to provide an account opening package of Meethaq Hotels Limited in account 0179011105 and the statement of account and certificate of compliance and any other useful information that will aid EFCC investigation.

The witness said the bank provided the requested information and related documents on 23 December 2025.

Cross-examination: Witness says purposes of payments not known

During cross examination by defence lawyer, Mr Daudu, the witness said he joined the union bank on 4 August 2014 for almost 12 years and has been in the compliance department from 4 August 2014 to date.

He agreed there is a difference between a compliance officer and a relationship officer but said he is not a relationship officer.

According to him, a relationship managers primary responsibility is to bring customers to the bank and process loans and other services.

He also said he met Mr Malamis wife at the Maitama branch where the account was opened.

When asked to describe AA Malami and Co, the witness said it appeared as a beneficiary in the third-party transfer.

He said he believed the name referred to Mr Malami himself, not his son, because he does not know the son as a lawyer.

The witness added that he did not know whether the transfers reflected in Exhibits B Series were commercial transactions and did not know the purpose of the transactions.

Third prosecution witness testifies on loan transactions, others

After the testimony of the second witness, the prosecution called a third witness.

The witness, Olomotane Egoro, told the court he works as a compliance officer with Access Bank, located at Plot 792, Muhammadu Buhari Way, Central Business District, Abuja.

He said he works in the compliance department and responds to requests from law enforcement agencies.

According to him, I send out responses to law enforcement agents like EFCC, SSS etc.

Mr Egoro told the court that Sometime in 2025 my team received a letter from the EFCC requesting for documents from Rayhaan Bustan and Agro Allied Ltd, Khadimiyya for Justice and Development Initiative, that account opening certification, loan documents for the account opening package etc.

He said the bank first sent the response by email and later forwarded hard copies of the documents.

The witness was shown letters dated 9 March and 5 February 2026 sent to the EFCC.

After confirming them and the attached documents, the prosecution sought to tender them in evidence.

Mr Daudu said the defence did not oppose the tendering but sought to confirm whether the witness name appeared in the witness statement.

Testifying from the documents, Mr Egoro said the account had a sole signatory, Abdulaziz Malami Abubakar, whom he identified as Mr Malamis son.

He said, My lord the letter of offer for the N400 million loan is on page 4 to page 4E, while the Memorandum of acceptance which forms part of the letter of offer can also be found on page 4.

He added that the loan was disbursed on 9 October 2020 to Rayhaan Bustan and Agro Allied Ltd and was fully repaid on 14 July 2022.

He said part of the loan included a N100 million disbursement to New Horism Limited on 10 November 2020.

Mr Egoro also said that on 9 October 2020, N400 million was disbursed to the account of Rayhaan Bustan and Agro Allied Ltd.

He added that on the same date, the account recorded a N4 million debit as management fees, another debit of N300,000, and another transaction of over N1 million.

Referring to Exhibit C2, the witness also testified about Khadimiyya for Justice and Development Initiative, with account number 0828310158.

He said the account statement showed several inflows from page five.

According to him, deposits included N500,000 on 17 October 2019 by Abubakar Abdulaziz Malmai, and anotherN500,000 on 21 October by the same person.

He said there was also a deposit of N1,720,000 on 28 October, followed by N1,500,000 on 29 October by one Musa.

Other deposits included N1,200,000 on 30 October by Sirajo, N8 million on 4 November 2019, and N1 million on 5 November 2019.

He said the account also received N2 million in cash deposits on 14 November and N1 million on 27 November 2019 from Aliyu Kwando.

According to him, further deposits included over N1 million on 5 January 2020, N10 million on 29 January 2020, and N5 million on 23 January 2020.

He added that another deposit was made by Afuwa Integrated Services Limited.

During cross examination, Mr Egoro said he described himself as a certified money laundering official but not a staff member of the EFCC.

He said he did not know the purpose of the inflows listed in the account statements and did not personally know the individuals who made the deposits.

After the cross-examination, the judge adjourned the case until 20 April for continuation of trial.

Backstory

The defendants, who were first arraigned on 30 December 2025, were re-arraigned before the current judge on 27 February.

The case, which subsequently passed through another judge, was later reassigned to the current judge, Ms Abdulmalik.

The EFCC had on 6 March called its first witness, David Ajoma, a compliance officer with Sterling Bank in Abuja.

The witness also told the court that Metropolitan Autotech provided the cash collateral that backed the loan facility granted to Rayham Hotel Limited.

He explained that both Metropolitan Autotech and Rayham Hotel Limited maintain separate accounts with Sterling Bank. He added that Hassan Aliyu is the signatory to the Metropolitan Autotech account.

Separate terrorism case

Mr Malami and his son are also facing a separate terrorism related case before the same court and judge, Abdulmalik.

In that case, the State Security Service (SSS) accused them of offences linked to terrorism financing and providing support to a proscribed group through financial transactions.

The defendants have denied the allegations, and are also facing trial.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Monday arraigned an ex-convict Oluokun Adekola at the Lagos State Special Offences Court in Ikeja over an alleged theft of N12 million.

According to a statement from the commissions spokesperson Dele Oyewale on Monday, Mr Adekola was arraigned on an amended count of stealing. The statement said, Mr Adekola who was convicted of fraud in 2020 pleaded not guilty to the fresh charge.

EFCC alleged in the count that Mr Adekola, sometime in 2025 in Lagos, conspired with other persons said to be on the run to conceal and disguise the genuine origin of N12 million paid into his account by transferring and converting same to cash through Point of Sale (POS) agents.

The charge alleged that the money formed part of over N3 billion (N3,091,441,849) stolen from accounts domiciled with FCMB through unauthorised access and fraudulent activities on the suspects mobile banking applications.

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Mr Adekola pleaded guilty to the sole charge when it was read to him.

Following his guilty plea, prosecution lawyers M.K. Bashir and E.S. Okongwu requested the court to set a date to review the facts of the case and pass a sentence.

They also asked that Mr Adekola be remanded in a correctional centre.

Trial judge Rahman Oshodi adjourned the matter until 17 March for the review of facts and sentencing and ordered that the defendant remain in custody pending that date.

Not his first conviction

Mr Adekola was previously convicted of fraud, according to the EFCC.

On 23 July 2020, the EFCC said trial judge Joyce Abdulmalik, then sitting in the Ibadan, Oyo State, division of the Federal High Court, sentenced Mr Adekola to 20 years in prison for defrauding a Taiwanese national of $22,300.

He had faced six amended counts of obtaining money by false pretence.

Mr Adekola was succesfully prosecuted by the Ibadan Zonal Directorate of the EFCC.
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Since the beginning of Sunday, 154 combat engagements have taken place on the front, with the highest concentration in the Pokrovsk, Huliaipole, and Kostiantynivka directions, according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

"In total, 154 combat engagements occurred since the start of this day. The enemy launched 74 airstrikes, dropping 212 guided aerial bombs. Additionally, they deployed 3,917 kamikaze drones and carried out 2,572 shellings of populated areas and our troop positions," the report states.

In the Pivnichnoslobozhanske and Kursk directions today, the enemy attacked our defenders positions twice, launched two airstrikes dropping four aerial bombs, and conducted 88 shellings of our positions and settlements, including two involving multiple launch rocket systems.

In the Pivdennoslobozhanske direction, the enemy launched one assault on the fortifications of Ukrainian units toward the settlement of Vilcha.

In the Kupiansk direction, the enemy attacked twice toward Novooshynove and Hlushkivka.

In the Lyman direction, Ukrainian military personnel repelled five occupier attacks toward the settlements of Dibrova, Lyman, and Drobysheve.

In the Sloviansk direction, the enemy attempted to advance 13 times in the areas of the settlements of Yampil, Zakitne, Platonivka, and toward the settlements of Ozerne, Riznykivka, and Rai-Oleksandrivka. Two combat engagements are ongoing.

In the Kramatorsk direction, the enemy attacked Ukrainian positions twice in the Stupochky area.

In the Kostiantynivka direction, the occupiers launched 21 assaults on the positions of Ukrainian defenders toward Kostiantynivka, Illinivka, Novopavlivka, and in the areas of the settlements of Pleshchiivka, Berestok, and Rusyn Yar. One combat engagement is ongoing.

In the Pokrovsk direction, the enemy carried out 35 attacks. The occupiers attempted to advance toward the settlements of Vilne, Novooleksandrivka, Shevchenko, Toretske, Bilytske, Nove Shakhover and in the areas of the settlements of Zatyshok, Nykanorivka, Kotlyne, Novomykolaivka, Udachne, Novopidhorodne, Myrnohrad, Rodynske, Molodetske, and Filiia. Five assault actions are ongoing.

"According to preliminary calculations, 27 occupiers were eliminated today in this direction and 20 were wounded; one unit of special equipment was destroyed, and three units of enemy automotive equipment and four personnel shelters were damaged. 72 UAVs of various types were destroyed or suppressed," the report says.

In the Oleksandrivka direction, the occupiers attempted to improve their position 12 times, attacking in the areas of the settlements of Zelenyi Hai, Oleksandrohrad, Kalynivske, Berezove, Ternove, Pershotravneve, Novomykolaivka, Zlahoda, and toward Verbove. Additionally, Ivanivka, Havrylivka, Prosiana, Kolomiitsi, Pokrovske, and Orly were subjected to enemy airstrikes.

In the Huliaipole direction, 20 occupier attacks took place: in the Huliaipole area and toward Zaliznychne, Varvarivka, Sviatopetrivka, Olenokostiantynivka, and Charivne. The enemy launched airstrikes on the areas of the settlements of Charivne, Huliaipilske, Kopani, Myrne, Vozdvyzhivka, Verkhnia Tersa, Novoselivka, and Barvinivka. Three combat engagements are ongoing.

In the Orikhiv direction, the enemy carried out one offensive action toward Pavlivka. Orikhiv and Veselianka were subjected to airstrikes.

In the Prydniprovskyi direction, no enemy offensive actions were recorded. Mykilske and Lvove were subjected to enemy airstrikes.
A new report on learning outcomes across Africa has revealed that only 9.5 per cent of Nigerian pupils reach the minimum proficiency level in reading and mathematics by the end of primary school.

The report, National Primary-Level Learning Proficiency Statistics from Africa, analysed harmonised learning assessment data from 47 African countries and found that learning outcomes across the continent remain critically low despite policy commitments to address the crisis.

Authored by education researcher Martin Gustafsson, the report shows that only 13.4 per cent of pupils enrolled in primary schools across Africa reach the minimum proficiency levels defined under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

However, when children who are not enrolled in school are included in the calculations, the continent-wide proficiency rate drops further to 10.8 per cent, highlighting the scale of the learning crisis.

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Nigerias learning gap

The findings place Nigeria among the lower-performing countries on the continent in terms of foundational learning.

According to the data, reading proficiency stands at 12.7 per cent, while mathematics proficiency is significantly lower at 6.3 per cent, suggesting major gaps in core learning skills among pupils.

The report also indicates that Nigeria has struggled to improve learning outcomes as children progress through school significantly.

Compared with several peer countries, Nigerian pupils show slower learning gains between the ages of 7 and 14, raising concerns about the effectiveness of teaching and learning systems across grade levels.

Wide disparities across Africa

Learning outcomes vary significantly across African countries, the report found.

For instance, Kenya recorded a proficiency rate of 31.1 per cent, placing it among the better-performing education systems on the continent.

Reading proficiency in Kenya stands at 25.2 per cent, while mathematics proficiency reaches 36.9 per cent.

In South Africa, learning performance places the country in the eighth decile among African nations, although the report notes that deep inequalities within the education system continue to affect overall outcomes.

Meanwhile, Rwanda reported that 91 per cent of Grade 6 pupils were proficient in mathematics in a national assessment.

However, the report cautions that this figure may overestimate proficiency because the assessment was not fully aligned with international benchmarks.

Early learning critical

The analysis emphasised that learning outcomes in Grade 1 strongly influence pupils performance in later years of schooling.

According to the report, proficiency levels in the first year of primary school differ widely across countries and often predict later academic success.

The report also highlighted the impact of non-educational factors on learning outcomes.

For example, evidence from Ethiopia shows that stunted children scored significantly lower in mathematics tests than their non-stunted peers.

These findings suggest that improving early childhood health and early-grade education could play a key role in strengthening learning outcomes across the continent.

Data gaps hinder progress

The report noted that Africa has made progress in measuring learning outcomes, with major assessment programmes now covering countries that represent about 97 per cent of the continents children aged five to 14.

However, the author warned that data transparency remains a major challenge. Limited access to assessment data makes it difficult for independent researchers to verify results or conduct deeper analysis.

Large regional assessment programmes such as PASEC and SACMEQ are considered important tools for measuring learning outcomes, but the report says restricted access to their datasets reduces opportunities for quality control and policy learning.

Call for stronger monitoring

The report stated that improving learning outcomes across Africa will require stronger education monitoring systems and greater transparency in learning assessments.

It also called for governments to move beyond focusing mainly on school enrolment and instead prioritise measurable improvements in learning outcomes, particularly in the early grades.

Without stronger monitoring systems and targeted investments in foundational learning, the report warns that Africa may struggle to achieve the African Unions goal of ending learning poverty by 2035.
Right now this moment in history. President Tinubu embodies the Nigerian dream. He carries the weight of the sum total of the hopes and aspirations of a 230 million population. And that this historic visit is taking place now during his time as president speaks to his transformational leadership. The moment has found its man and history is made.

This week, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will travel to the United Kingdom for what may prove to be one of the most consequential diplomatic engagements of his Presidency. It will be the first time a Nigerian leader will be berthing on the banks of the Thames on a State Visit in nearly four decades. Only very few such state visits in the past, by an African leader, have carried more symbolic and strategic weight.

In November 1977, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat made a historic journey to Jerusalem, becoming the first Arab leader to set foot on Jewish soil since the biblical Exodus  when Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt. That moment was more than a diplomatic gesture; it signalled a strategic rethinking of a relationship defined for decades by history, suspicion, and conflict.

President Tinubus visit to London may not carry the drama of Sadats visit to Begin, but its implications for the future of UKAfrica relations could prove just as significant. At first glance, NigeriaUK relations may appear familiar  two countries bound by history, language, legal traditions, and dense people-to-people ties. Yet, the significance of this visit lies not in nostalgia but in strategic renewal.

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The agenda is forward-looking: investment, financial cooperation, technology partnerships, security coordination, education linkages, and diaspora engagement. But beyond the formal programme, the visit carries a deeper message: Nigeria and the United Kingdom are repositioning one of Africas most important bilateral relationships for a new global reality.

A Relationship Built on History

Few international partnerships between Africa and Europe carry the institutional depth of the NigeriaUnited Kingdom relations. From the colonial administration to Nigerias independence in 1960 and through more than six decades of diplomatic engagement, the two nations have maintained enduring links across:

governance and legal systems

finance and banking

security cooperation

education and research

trade and migration

security

Today, more than ever, the human connection alone is immense. More than 300,000 Nigerians live in the United Kingdom, forming one of the largest African diaspora communities in Europe. Nigerian students also rank among the largest foreign student populations in British universities, strengthening the intellectual bridge between both societies.

The economic relationship is equally significant: Total bilateral trade in goods and services reached approximately 8 billion in the four quarters ending mid-2025, with UK exports to Nigeria valued at 5.6 billion and imports from Nigeria at 2.3 billion.

Nigerias exports to the UK are dominated by oil and gas products, while British exports to Nigeria include industrial machinery, refined petroleum products, pharmaceuticals, consumer goods, and financial services. Despite these flows, the relationship still operates below its full potential.

Investment, Remittances and the Diaspora Economy

The financial ties between both countries extend far beyond trade. Nigeria remains one of the largest recipients of diaspora remittances globally, with inflows reaching about $21 billion in 2024, according to Central Bank estimates.

A significant share of these remittances originates from Nigerians resident in the United Kingdom, making the diaspora corridor one of the most important economic bridges between both countries. British investment has also played a long-standing role in Nigerias economy.

Major British-linked companies operate in Nigeria and recent data shows that the stock of UK foreign direct investment in Nigeria stood at about 385 million in 2023, highlighting the need to revitalise and scale investment flows between both economies.

This visit is, therefore, expected to focus heavily on unlocking new capital flows into Nigerias infrastructure, technology, energy and financial sectors.

Security Cooperation: Quiet But Significant

Security cooperation between Nigeria and the United Kingdom is one of the most substantive, though often understated, pillars of the bilateral relationship. For over three decades, British and Nigerian armed forces have collaborated on training, intelligence sharing, counter-terrorism strategy, and military professionalisation. Sandhurst for the Nigerian military is the Harvard of elite military training.

British military advisory teams have trained hundreds of Nigerian military personnel, including specialised counterterrorism and civil-military relations units within the Armed Forces of Nigeria. In recent years, this cooperation has deepened through the UKNigeria Security and Defence Partnership, which focuses on:

counter-terrorism operations

counter-terrorist financing investigations

intelligence coordination

cyber-security cooperation

kidnapping response frameworks.

Under this framework, the United Kingdom has also supported the strengthening of Nigerias National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC) and assisted in developing the Multi-Agency Kidnap Fusion Cell, improving Nigerias ability to coordinate responses to security threats.

On the operational side, British military assistance has included:

the training of 150 Nigerian Special Forces personnel (Panther units) for counter-terrorism deployment

donation of counter-insurgency training facilities for the Nigerian Armed Forces

provision of counter-IED equipment and non-lethal military hardware to support operations against insurgent groups.

These efforts reflect a shared recognition that West African stability is inseparable from Nigerias internal security, and that both nations benefit from strengthening Nigerias capacity to confront terrorism, organised crime, and regional instability.

As insecurity in the Sahel increasingly spills southward, security cooperation is likely to feature prominently in President Tinubus discussions in London.

The First Major Visit in Nearly Four Decades

Diplomatic engagements between Nigeria and the United Kingdom have remained active over the years, but a formal state-level engagement of this scale by a Nigerian leader in London has not occurred in nearly four decades.

The last comparable high-profile engagement dates back to the late 1980s during the era of military leadership, making President Tinubus visit the first opportunity in almost 37 years to redefine the relationship at the highest strategic level.

That passage of time itself explains why a reset is necessary. The world has changed. Britain has redefined its global posture following Brexit, seeking deeper economic partnerships beyond Europe.

Nigeria, meanwhile, is undergoing its own transformation under President Tinubus structural reform programme, aimed at stabilising the macroeconomy and restoring investor confidence.

President Tinubus Reform Narrative

President Tinubu arrives in London at a time when Nigeria is implementing its most significant economic reforms in decades. Exchange-rate unification, fiscal restructuring, tax reforms, and subsidy removal are gradually repositioning Nigerias economic fundamentals.

These reforms are designed to restore credibility, attract investment, and strengthen macroeconomic stability. For partners such as the United Kingdom, the message is clear: Nigeria is not simply seeking aid. We are seeking investment, technology transfer, and mutually beneficial economic partnerships.

The Bigger Picture

The deeper significance of this visit lies in what it signals about the future of Nigerias diplomacy. Nigeria is no longer content to maintain relationships defined only by history. It is seeking partnerships defined by strategy, investment, and shared responsibility in shaping global narratives.

The United Kingdom, for its part, must also decide the nature of its engagement with Africas largest democracy. And to booth, one of Africas largest economy. For too long, London has sometimes appeared a detached observer when contentious narratives about Nigeria surface in global discourse  despite possessing perhaps the deepest institutional understanding of the country among Western partners.

Moments such as the recent international debate around allegations of religious persecution in Nigeria illustrate how a measured and informed voice from the United Kingdom could have helped calm tensions at the time, rather than allow speculation to shape perception.

A renewed partnership should therefore mean something more than trade statistics and diplomatic visits. It should mean engagement, candour, and strategic alignment.

When President Tinubu arrives in London on Tuesday, he is not simply visiting a former colonial capital. He is engaging a nation whose financial markets, diaspora networks, universities, and security institutions remain deeply intertwined with Nigerias own trajectory.

During Mr Presidents last outing to Turkiye, the metaphor was clear: Nigeria was choosing a corridor to global markets. In London, the metaphor is different. If Turkiye represents a corridor between continents, the United Kingdom represents a gateway into the worlds financial, technological, and diplomatic ecosystems.

Right now this moment in history. President Tinubu embodies the Nigerian dream. He carries the weight of the sum total of the hopes and aspirations of a 230 million population. And that this historic visit is taking place now during his time as president speaks to his transformational leadership. The moment has found its man and history is made.

And the task before both countries now is simple  to ensure that the bridge built by history becomes a highway to the future.

Sunday Dare is the special adviser on Media and Communication to Nigerias President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
This is not our war in Africa. Our people shouldnt be having appointments with avoidable death on account of the ongoing Gulf war. The African Union (AU) has wisely shifted its focus to the hundreds of thousands of African migrant workers in the Gulf and demanded safe passage and protection for these nationals as Iranian drones target regional aviation hubs.

Africa does not have a dog in the fight going on in the Middle East. Operation Epic Fury is a war between a tag team of a lion and a polar bear on one hand and a honey badger and its army of unseen Tasmanian devils on the other. What we have learnt so far is that the rules of warfare are being re-written before our very eyes. We have also seen that the world is more interconnected and nations more interdependent than the superpowers are prepared to admit.

Whichever way the hostilities end, the point has been made that one can only predict the beginning of a war; the variables that determine its duration and outcome are legion. Moreover, we have seen that asymmetry has two sides  in relation to armaments (where the god of war sides with superior firepower) and in the case of staying power (a situation in which the inferior opponent is primed to fight to the last man).

Avoidable

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Many of us thought (naively, it has turned out) that the war was avoidable, especially as Iran and the US were engaged in talks brokered by Oman. But what happened? While American diplomats were sitting across from Iranian diplomats in Geneva, the US military buildup was happening simultaneously with the peace talks. Irans Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, said publicly that even if his countrys supreme leader, Khamenei, were killed, the government would not fall.

The United States sat at the negotiating table and watched Iran agree to zero stockpiling and full IAEA verification  and still went ahead to launch the largest air campaign in the Middle East in a generation. In response, Iran is now targeting the infrastructure that keeps the entire Gulf region alive. And it has activated its proxies in the region. Believing that there is nothing more to negotiate, Iran is poised to fight to the bitter end, unless, perhaps, the rest of the world is able to assure it that it would never come under attack in the future again (which is a tall order).

Iran cannot militarily defeat a combination of the US and Israel, but it can make it impossible for the two allies to sustain an expensive, long-drawn war that negatively affects the world economy, because of its strategic location.

According to Jiang Xueqin, a historian and geopolitical theorist who runs a YouTube channel called Predictive History, Iran sees the conflict as a calculated opportunity to unify its fractured population under a nationalist banner, to expel American influence from the region permanently, and to bleed the United States financially and militarily until Washington has no choice but to leave. Iran does not need to win on the battlefield. Iran needs the United States to stay long enough that the cost of staying becomes politically and financially impossible.

The war has triggered a balance-of-payments crisis for many African states. With oil prices hovering between $100 and $120 per barrel, the pump price of petrol is getting beyond the reach of many people. In Nigeria, even with Dangote Refinery, petrol prices have spiked to over 1,200/1,300 per litre. The government is making more money from oil exports, while the pockets of the citizens are being picked at the pumps.

Environment

In the midst of all this, the environment is taking a bashing which may take generations to recover from. The conflict has generated a major regional environmental crisis, with implications for other parts of the planet. In addition to the destruction of physical assets, the war has triggered a series of transboundary ecological disasters, including but not limited to the following:

Atmospheric pollution and black rain caused by strikes on oil storage facilities in Shahran and Sohanak, releasing massive plumes of soot, sulphur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides.

Dispersal of carcinogenic compounds like benzene and PFAS into the air, raising fears of an increase in cancer rates and chronic lung disease for decades.

Resource diversion: Billions of dollars previously earmarked for green transitions in the Gulf are being diverted to defence and reconstruction.

Marine and coastal despoliation.

Agricultural impact: Contaminated black rain and toxic runoff have permeated Iranian farmland, posing a long-term threat to food security and contaminating groundwater layers.

Global climate and policy repercussions: Carbon spike: Military operations are estimated to contribute roughly 5.5 per cent of global emissions.

Desalination crisis: Over 100 million people in the region depend on desalination for drinking water. If desalination plants are taken out, a serious humanitarian crisis will ensue.

Oil slicks: Torpedo attacks on vessels, such as the Iranian frigate Dena, off the coast of Sri Lanka, have created 20 kilometre long oil slicks. In the Gulf, strikes on tankers and port infrastructure at Bandar Abbas have leaked hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil into the sea.

Acoustic pollution: Intense naval activity and high-decibel military sonar (reaching up to 235 dB) are disrupting marine life.

Soil and groundwater contamination.

Relapse into coal: Disruptions to Middle Eastern gas and oil have forced countries like India to pivot back to coal, undermining global net-zero commitments.



The reaction of African countries has varied from selective neutrality (see no evil, speak no evil, and hear no evil) and outright condemnation of Iranian retaliation targeting the Gulf states with US military bases, while remaining silent on the assassination of the 86-year-old Iranian leader, to South Africas outright condemnation of the US/Israels anticipatory self-defence.

The war has triggered a balance-of-payments crisis for many African states. With oil prices hovering between $100 and $120 per barrel, the pump price of petrol is getting beyond the reach of many people. In Nigeria, even with Dangote Refinery, petrol prices have spiked to over 1,200/1,300 per litre. The government is making more money from oil exports, while the pockets of the citizens are being picked at the pumps.

The war is hitting Nigerian agriculture through fuel costs, fertiliser scarcity, and the upcoming lean season (JuneAugust). Food prices are projected to rise by another 3035 per cent by June. With the Middle East being a primary source of urea and phosphate, the disruption of Gulf shipping has sent fertiliser prices soaring. Many smallholder farmers may be forced to plant without adequate inputs, which will lead to a smaller harvest in late 2026.

Countries like Senegal, Zambia, and Eritrea are at a high risk of depleting foreign exchange reserves due to rising import bills. With the Strait of Hormuz functionally impaired, 1/3 of the global fertiliser trade is at risk, forcing countries like South Africa and Morocco to scramble for non-Gulf supplies to prevent a 2027 food crisis.

Triple Threats

This is not our war in Africa. Our people shouldnt be having appointments with avoidable death on account of the ongoing Gulf war. The African Union (AU) has wisely shifted its focus to the hundreds of thousands of African migrant workers in the Gulf and demanded safe passage and protection for these nationals as Iranian drones target regional aviation hubs.

Operation Epic Fury has fundamentally altered Nigerias economic trajectory for the first half of the year. As of mid-March, petrol pump prices have already jumped from approximately 774 to between 1,200 and 1,500 per litre in major cities like Lagos and Abuja. Diesel (AGO) spiked to 1,620 per litre. This is particularly damaging because diesel powers the trucks that move food and the generators that power our industries. Analysts warn that if the Strait of Hormuz remains shut, petrol could hit 2,000 per litre by July.

The war is hitting Nigerian agriculture through fuel costs, fertiliser scarcity, and the upcoming lean season (JuneAugust). Food prices are projected to rise by another 3035 per cent by June. With the Middle East being a primary source of urea and phosphate, the disruption of Gulf shipping has sent fertiliser prices soaring. Many smallholder farmers may be forced to plant without adequate inputs, which will lead to a smaller harvest in late 2026.



Experts estimate that if the war continues for another six months, 2025 million Nigerians will need food assistance by August.

The fat prayer on all Nigerian lips now is that the oil windfall will be prudently managed to achieve the greatest good for the greatest number of Nigerians.

So help us God!

Wole Olaoye is a Public Relations consultant and veteran journalist. He can be reached on [email protected], Twitter: @wole_olaoye; Instagram: woleola2021
Nigeria stands at a digital crossroads. One path leads toward deeper repression, fragmentation, and fear. The other points (imperfectly) toward a civic renaissance grounded in cooperation, innovation, and solidarity. The work emerging from the Luminate Beyond the Grant process suggests that the second path is still open but only if we invest deliberately in people, relationships, and collective power.

Across Africa and particularly in Nigeria, the digital space has become one of the most consequential battlegrounds for democracy. Technology still holds enormous promise: it can expand participation, lower barriers to organisation, amplify marginalised voices, and drive accountability. But that promise is increasingly being suffocated by a toxic convergence of state repression, unchecked corporate power, and fragile civic capacity.

In 2024, Africa recorded 21 internet shutdowns across 15 countries, including Nigeria. These were mostly political decisions. Tools once celebrated as engines of inclusion are now routinely weaponised to silence dissent, manipulate elections, and fragment public discourse. Nigerias digital space sometimes reflects control rather than opportunity.

At the heart of this crisis lies digital authoritarianism: the systematic use of laws, surveillance technologies, platform governance, and economic leverage to constrain the civic space. Governments deploy cybercrime laws to criminalise speech; security agencies exploit data systems with little oversight; and technology companies, driven by profit and market access, too often comply quietly. For women, journalists, activists, and young people, the result is a digital environment that feels unsafe, extractive, and hostile.

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Yet as bleak as this picture is, something else is also becoming clear, defending democracy in the digital age is not only about platforms or policies, it is also about ecosystems.

Nigerias digital civic space is simultaneously expanding in influence and contracting in freedom. Surveillance is becoming normalised. Cybercrime regulations are routinely weaponised against critics. Online harms, particularly against women and children, are rising sharply. Big Techs business models reward misinformation and outrage, while institutional oversight remains weak and fragmented. These pressures are becoming systemic.

This insight was one of the clearest outcomes of the Luminate Beyond the Grant retreat, which brought together Nigerian organisations working across digital rights, media, litigation, civic technology, and public-interest advocacy. The conversations were frank, sometimes uncomfortable, but necessary. Participants agreed on one core truth: that no single organisation, no matter how capable, can confront digital authoritarianism alone.

The retreat surfaced the scale of the challenge. Nigerias digital civic space is simultaneously expanding in influence and contracting in freedom. Surveillance is becoming normalised. Cybercrime regulations are routinely weaponised against critics. Online harms, particularly against women and children, are rising sharply. Big Techs business models reward misinformation and outrage, while institutional oversight remains weak and fragmented. These pressures are becoming systemic.

However, the retreat reinforced the important reality that civil society remains the last credible line of defence. Civil society organisations sit at a difficult nexus between citizens, the state, and private power. They protect people from government excesses, push back against corporate exploitation, and translate complex digital harms into human consequences that the public can understand. Yet, the organisations we rely on most are themselves under strain.

A cohort-wide needs assessment discussed at the retreat showed that funding insecurity and organisational sustainability are now the dominant threats facing digital rights groups in Nigeria. While many organisations have sound strategies and governance structures, staff well-being emerged as the weakest link, an indication of a sector running more on commitment than financial incentive. Fragmentation, competition, and weak collaboration frameworks further dilute collective impact.

Perhaps, most importantly, the retreat reaffirmed that narrative power is as critical as technical expertise. Accurate policy analysis is no longer enough. Civil society must translate complex digital harms into stories that resonate with ordinary people, parents worried about their children online, elders targeted by scams, small businesses harmed by opaque platforms.

This is why the Ecosystem Support for Digital Democracy and Access project, implemented by Thoughts and Mace Advisory with support from Luminate, matters now more than ever. Its significance lies in providing support for an effective framework for collaboration and partnership amongst groups working on digital democracy. The project starts from a simple premise which recognises that democracy is defended not only by good ideas, but by strong relationships, shared strategy, and collective capacity.

The retreat also highlighted how the digital struggle is evolving. Advocacy can no longer focus narrowly on digital rights as a silo. Participants emphasised the growing links between technology and economic justice, environmental harm, labour exploitation, gender-based violence, and childrens rights. Data centres strain local water resources. Content moderation work is outsourced to the Global South under exploitative conditions. Online scams disproportionately target the elderly and the poor. AI systems are deployed faster than regulators can understand them. The fight for tech justice is now inseparable from everyday survival.

Perhaps, most importantly, the retreat reaffirmed that narrative power is as critical as technical expertise. Accurate policy analysis is no longer enough. Civil society must translate complex digital harms into stories that resonate with ordinary people, parents worried about their children online, elders targeted by scams, small businesses harmed by opaque platforms. Democracy erodes quietly when people stop seeing how abstract policies affect their daily lives.

Nigeria stands at a digital crossroads. One path leads toward deeper repression, fragmentation, and fear. The other points (imperfectly) toward a civic renaissance grounded in cooperation, innovation, and solidarity. The work emerging from the Luminate Beyond the Grant process suggests that the second path is still open but only if we invest deliberately in people, relationships, and collective power.

Toyin Akinniyi is the regional director, Africa at Luminate, while Nkemdilim Ilo is the managing partner, Thoughts and Mace Advisory.
The ongoing war in Iran, provoked by Israel and the United States of America (USA), has reached its seventeenth day with dreadful impacts. Iran is not prepared to cringe. Instead, it has vowed to resist this increasingly vicious offensive, underpinned by its demand for reparations from the US for damages. With Iranian missiles equally pulverising oil ships and the Strait of Hormuz being tugged between Iran and the US, the global economy is primed for a long tether.

There is a seeming effort of the belligerents to embroil other nations in the war. President Donald Trump is upset that the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Keir Starmer, refused to join him in this blatant abuse of US military might. Canadas Mark Carney has also bluntly said that his country will NEVER join in the war. This is concerning. Therefore, nations already fretting in the wake of this geopolitical fray in the Middle East should rally for its de-escalation and, possibly, the cessation of hostilities.

Before Israel fired the first missile, the US and Iran had been at a negotiation table over the formers long-standing demand for Iran to dismantle its nuclear programmes, among other demands. We believe that diplomatic engagement, which the Barack Obama and Joe Biden administrations had signed on to, was the best mechanism for addressing the issues, no matter how difficult they might have been. Oman was playing a key role in this regard.

At one such meeting in Geneva late February, the Iranian Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, had come out of it praising what he described as good progress, with both parties trying to reach an understanding on guiding principles. Ironically, this coincided with President Donald Trumps 10-15-day ultimatum to Iran to reach a meaningful deal with the US, or really bad things could happen. This was not the language of someone involved in genuine rapprochement.

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Indeed, on 28 February, US Tomahawk missiles rained on Iran, killing its Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, and six members of his family. The Defence Minister and other military top brass were also wiped out. The massacre of 175 innocent primary school girls, aged 7 to 12, in that attack, was most benumbing.

Mr Trump, as usual, did not own up to this horrific act. But a welter of evidence suggested the contrary, with a US military investigation subsequently confirming Americas liability in the carnage. According to UNESCO, this is a grave violation of international law.

It isnt only this tragedy; the war itself exemplifies such abuse. Article 2 (4) of the United Nations Charter demands that member nations refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state. Mr Trumps Operation Epic Fury aggression, which was highly uncalled for, falls squarely within the ambit of a misuse of power. Besides, opportunities for the utilisation of diplomacy to keep negotiations on course and forestall the descent into war were not exhausted before the concert of America and Israel launched what appears to be a premeditated offensive. Nobody expected or predicted the attacks when we had finished a third round of negotiations in Geneva, Alireza Salarian, Irans ambassador to Cyprus, attested to.

Since then, it has been a game of chest beating and avowals of destruction. At every turn, Mr Trump threatens to unleash further violence on Iran, the likes of which, he says, the world has never seen. In response, Iran has not been sitting or idling, as it has kept up its retaliation for every offensive by attacking the military bases, weapons systems and infrastructure of the US and its allies in the Middle East region. It has done this in addition to maintaining a chokehold on oil shipments across the Strait of Hormuz, in a manner that promises to negatively impact the global economy quite strongly in the near to long term.

Irans blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 per cent of global oil flows, has caused the greatest disruptions to the international energy market, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). Reports of ships laying mines in the strait last week led to the USs sinking of 16 of them. Still, Irans new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, said on Thursday that the strait will remain closed as a tool of pressure.

Meanwhile, these disruptions have forced oil prices to surge, with Brent reaching $120 per barrel a fortnight ago, the highest in four years. Presently, the countering measure of releasing strategic oil reserves to markets has forced what could be a momentary downward trend, with prices vacillating between a little above $90 and $100 per barrel, yet triggering sharp increases in the costs of goods and services across all economies. In Nigeria, a litre of petrol now sells for up to 1,350 per litre, from its former price of 887 per litre. A litre of diesel is now about 1,700 per litre.

The leadership transition process in Iran showed up Mr Trumps megalomania and delusion for what it really is, as his impudent demand for input in the selection of a successor to Ayatollah Khamenei was rebuffed. Iran is not Venezuela, he seems to have forgotten, and as the Iranian foreign minister sardonically quipped, how could Mr Trump, who had next-to-no influence in imposing a mayor on New York, think he had any chance of deciding what happened in Iran?

For their continued dalliance with the US, the Gulf countries of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain remain within the deadly loop of what Iran calls legitimate targets. Part of Saudi Arabias Aramco oil refinery has been hit by Iranian missiles. So also has the Dubai airport, the worlds largest transit hub, come under fire in the penultimate week. The aviation sector in the region and parts of Europe has been in suspended animation since the war started.

Going forward, the Gulf states need to be more circumspect in allowing the US military to use their territories to launch further offensives. As every US missile hit on Iran, for which they become victims of reprisals, has the potential to instigate a broader regional conflict that will do none of them any good. This calls for introspection and restraint by all.

Clearly, Mr Trump is playing Janus by setting up a so-called Board of Peace for the rebuilding of Gaza levelled through Israels scorched-earth aggression, while equally inflaming a war with Iran that threatens to destabilise not just the region, but the entire globe. Iran has warned the world to be prepared for a long night of consequences, with oil projected to reach $200 a barrel, signalling more perilous days for economies ahead. With the world seemingly trapped in the web of their dark ambition, we are therefore urging Trump and his ally, Benjamin Netanyahu, to end this war of choice now!

Barely eight months on, the rules-based world order is being challenged once again by the duos reckless conduct. Why nine nations  Russia, US, China, France, UK, Pakistan, India, Israel and North Korea  have the right to possess nuclear weapons, and hence the potential of being the belligerents, while others cannot, is at the heart of this crisis. Until this issue is effectively resolved, the instability defining the region will not subside any time soon.

Beirut in Southern Lebanon is being positioned as another frontier of carnage and mass destruction, with Israels unrestrained offensive against Hezbollah there, which it alleges is a threat to its security, in fighting a proxy war on behalf of the Iranian regime. Hence, there is an equally urgent case for de-escalation in that area, so that Beirut is spared the fate of a Gaza-like ruin.

Largely, Mr Trump has been given a cold shoulder in Europe, in this ill-conceived war that cost the US a whopping $11.3 billion in its first six days, according to The New York Times. This bill has certainly grown a lot more staggering as the human and material investments and losses of the war continue, which would be more complicated by the boots that the Trump administration is considering to plant on the ground in Iran.

Now is the time to retreat from what could possibly turn out to be apocalyptic, while a major reset of the international system for peace to prevail has become an urgent necessity.

Nigeria and other morally-minded African nations must not define their response to this global catastrophe by silence, being cognisant of Albert Einsteins admonition that, If I were to remain silent, Id be guilty of complicity.
The Managing Director of Kaduna State Roads Agency (KADRA), Abdullahi Baba Ahmed has said that Governor Uba Sani would break his own record, when the 36km Bagoma-Gagumi road project in Birnin Gwari local government is completed, surpassing the 35km Gadan Gayan-Gwaraji-Kujama road that was earlier commissioned in February.

Mr Baba Ahmed who stated this while on an inspection visit at the project site, described the governors rural transformation as revolutionary. It will be recalled that Governor Sani had last month commissioned the longest road that had been constructed in the last two decades, cutting across three local governments.

The 35km road that stretches from Igali to Kajuru and Chikun local governments, includes a 130-metre bridge over River Kaduna which serves several rural communities.

Speaking during the inspection tour of the Bagoma-Gagumi road in Birnin Gwari at the weekend, Mr Baba Ahmed disclosed that the road will set a new record as 66 farming communities across Birnin Gwari local government will benefit from the project when completed.

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The road will link farmers to markets, residents to schools and hospitals, and is expected to open up the area to significantly impact the local economy, he stated.

Highlighting the benefits of the Bagoma-Gagumi road, he said that Birnin Gwari is one of Nigerias leading maize-producing local governments, and this road will greatly improve the transportation of produce and boost economic growth.

According to the Managing Director of KADRA, the 66 farming communities will also have better access to markets, schools, and healthcare, including better jobs.

He argued that the Bagoma-Gagumi road project is part of Governor Sanis broader initiative to build 1,345 kilometers of roads across 20 local government areas, adding that he has launched 150 projects and has so far completed 66 of them.

He said that road is being constructed by CGC Nigeria Limited, a major construction firm which specialises in infrastructure projects like roads, bridges, and water supply.

Mr Baba Ahmed noted that although the project is expected to be completed by the end of the year, the contractor however promised to deliver ahead of schedule.

In his remarks on behalf of the contractors, the CGC Northern Regional Manager, Mr Wang Hongxi disclosed that we have mobilised more workers and are working around the clock to ensure timely completion of the project.

Some residents of Bagoma and Gagumi communities expressed hope that the 36 kilometre road will improve their lives and create economic opportunities.

Mr Dangajere Gagumi, a local trader in the area said: The road, which had been in a state of disrepair for years, is being transformed into a modern highway, easing transportation and boosting economic activities in the area.

We are grateful to Governor Uba Sani for his commitment to improving our infrastructure. He further stated that this road will change our lives. We will be able transport our goods to the market more easily, and our children can attend school without worrying about the rough terrain.

On his part, Mr Ibrahim Mande attested that the Uba Sani administration is truly committed to improving the lives of rural dwellers. This road is a testament to that commitment, and we are grateful for his efforts.
Zenith Bank Plc has announced the opening of a new branch in Manchester, United Kingdom, marking another significant milestone in the banks international growth and its commitment to strengthening financial connections between Africa and global markets.

The official opening ceremony, scheduled to hold on Tuesday, 17 March 2026, is expected to attract government officials from Nigeria and the United Kingdom, regulators, investors, customers, and business leaders from both countries, underscoring the growing economic ties and investment opportunities between the two markets.

The new Manchester branch will complement Zenith Banks existing operations in the United Kingdom and serve as a strategic hub for supporting businesses engaged in international trade and investment. Through the branch, the bank will provide corporate banking, trade finance, treasury and related financial services to clients operating across the United Kingdom, Europe and Africa.

Speaking ahead of the launch, the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Zenith Bank Plc, Dr Adaora Umeoji, said: The opening of our Manchester branch represents another important step in Zenith Banks growth as a leading African financial institution connecting businesses and markets across continents. Manchester is one of the United Kingdoms most dynamic commercial centres, and our presence here will further strengthen financial connections between businesses in the UK and opportunities across Africas rapidly expanding markets.

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Founded in 1990 by its Founder and Chairman, Jim Ovia, Zenith Bank has grown into one of Africas most respected banking institutions, boasting a robust capital base and a remarkable history of year-on-year profitability. Built on a strong foundation of people, technology and service, the Bank has consistently delivered innovative financial solutions while maintaining a disciplined approach to growth and risk management. The impressive performance of the Bank has consistently earned it excellent ratings, recognition and endorsement from local and international agencies and institutions.

Headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria, Zenith Bank operates over 500 branches and business offices across the 36 States of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The Bank currently operates subsidiaries in several African countries including Ghana, Sierra Leone, Gambia, and Cote dIvoire, while maintaining a presence in major international financial centres including the United Kingdom, France, UAE and China. In recent years, Zenith Bank has continued to expand its international network as part of its strategy to support global trade and investment flows involving Africa.

Manchester, widely regarded as one of the United Kingdoms most vibrant economic centres, hosts a diverse base of businesses across sectors such as manufacturing, engineering, logistics, technology and consumer goods. The citys strong commercial ecosystem and international outlook align closely with Zenith Banks expertise in corporate banking, structured finance and trade finance.

The Manchester branch will work closely with the Banks London operations and its broader international network to support clients seeking to expand across markets and unlock new opportunities in both the United Kingdom and Africa.

With the opening of the Manchester branch, Zenith Bank continues to advance its vision of building a truly global African banking institution that connects businesses, facilitates trade and investment, and creates stronger economic bridges between Africa and the world.
Leading lawyer, social advocate and philanthropist, Dr Aisha Muhammed-Oyebode, has been recognised among Africas most influential leaders after receiving the prestigious Women of Impact in Africa 2026 honour at an award ceremony hosted by ARISE News Channel in Lagos.

The recognition was presented during the Women of Impact in Africa Awards, held in celebration of International Womens Day at the Eko Convention Centre. The event celebrated 100 exceptional women whose contributions are transforming societies and shaping Africas future across governance, business, entrepreneurship, Law and Justice, media, academia, science, medicine, social impact, healthcare, technology and philanthropy.

Honourees were selected by the Board of Editors of ARISE News from nominations submitted by audiences and focus groups across Africa and the global diaspora. They were recognised for their measurable contributions to the continents growth and development in an evolving global landscape.

Dr Muhammed-Oyebode was honoured for her decades of leadership in law, governance advocacy and social impact, as well as for the transformative work of the Murtala Muhammed Foundation (MMF), where she serves as Chief Executive Officer.

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Speaking after receiving the award, she described the recognition as a powerful reminder of the responsibility that comes with leadership and service.

This recognition is deeply humbling. It is not just about me but about the countless women and young people across Africa whose courage and resilience inspire the work we do every day, she said.

Through the Murtala Muhammed Foundation, we remain committed to empowering communities, championing education and creating opportunities that allow the next generation of African leaders to thrive, she added.

Under her leadership, the Murtala Muhammed Foundation has implemented impactful programmes focused on education, humanitarian support, governance advocacy and youth development. One of its most notable initiatives is the Foundations long-term educational support programme for survivors of the Chibok schoolgirls abduction, which has helped many of the girls to access quality education and rebuild their lives after years of trauma.

Dr Muhammed-Oyebode noted that the Foundations mission remains rooted in the enduring legacy of her father, Nigerias former Head of State, Murtala Muhammed, whose commitment to integrity, service and national unity continues to guide its programmes.

At MMF, our work is driven by the belief that sustainable development must prioritise people, particularly women and young people, who are often the catalysts for lasting change, she said. Africas future will be shaped by bold leadership, compassion and the courage to address the challenges facing our communities.

She added that the recognition comes at a significant moment as the Foundation reflects on the legacy of national service and leadership while Nigeria marks five decades since the passing of the late statesman.

As we commemorate fifty years since the passing of General Murtala Muhammed, this moment reminds us that true leadership is defined by service to humanity, she added.

Africas progress depends on leaders who are willing to invest in people, particularly women and young people who will shape the future of our continent, she emphasised.

The event brought together distinguished leaders, policymakers and cultural icons from across Africa. Among notable guests in attendance were Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Wale Edun and Benedict Oramah, alongside other influential figures from across the continent.
A joint force of the army, air force, police and local vigilantes have thwarted a terror attack on Ajilari, a Maiduguri (Borno State) suburb adjacent to a Nigerian Air Force base and close to the international airport in the capital city.

Ajilari had been targeted several times in previous attacks by Boko Haram. At least 89 people were killed in bomb attacks on the garrison area in 2014, 2015 and 2021.

The midnight attack on Monday occurred around 12:30 a.m., according to residents. The attack was carried out concurrently with other assaults in Baga and Bururai where insurgents have killed many civilians and security operatives.

Nahum Daso, the spokesperson for Borno police command, confirmed the attack on X, saying, Joint Security operatives have been mobilised to the scene and efforts are ongoing to assess the situation and restore normalcy.

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The police spokesperson added that another attack was foiled in the Damboa LGA.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

The North-east region has been plagued by years-long insurgency by Boko Haramalso known as Jamaat Ahl al-Sunna li al-Dawa wa al-Jihad (JAS)and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).

ISWAP, which split from Boko Haram, has become more dangerous in the region. It has launched violent attacks on security forces and civilians it accused of aiding them.

Last year, it launched a campaign targeting military formations across Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states. At least 16 militants were overrun during the campaign.

In what appears to be a renewed campaign, ISWAP has attacked more than six military camps, killing senior officers and soldiers.

In an unusual joint operation, Boko Haram and ISWAP attacked Ngoshe, killed scores and abducted over 100. While the abductees still remain in captivity, the military recaptured the village last week.

Following the resurgence of these attacks, the Defence Minister, Christopher Musa, summoned service chiefs and charged them to decisively respond to the renewed threats.
The police have rescued a cleric illegally detained by a group of youths in the Birin Fulani community of Nafada Local Government Area.

The rescue operation followed a report of a disturbance in the community in the early hours of Saturday.

According to a statement issued by the police public relations officer in the state, Buhari Abdullahi, the incident occurred at about 3 a.m. on Sunday, when the police received information about a breach of public peace in the area.

The statement explained that upon receiving the report, the divisional police officer deployed officers to the community to restore order and assess the situation.

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Police investigations at the scene revealed that a 58-year-old cleric, Abubakar Puma from Akko Local Government Area, had been locked inside a house by a mob identified as members of the Darika sect.

The mob reportedly accused the cleric of making abusive and derogatory remarks against their leaders.

The police further disclosed that the cleric had been posted to Birin Fulani community by the national headquarters of the Jamaatu Izalatil Bida WaIkamatis Sunnah (JIBWIS) in Jos to conduct the 2026 Ramadan Tafsir.

Following the intervention of the police, the divisional police officer engaged the youths in dialogue, which led to the peaceful resolution of the situation.

The cleric was subsequently freed without any injuries, while calm was restored in the community.

Authorities confirmed that no life was lost during the incident.

Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police in Gombe State, Umar Chuso, has ordered a thorough investigation to determine the immediate and underlying causes of the incident.

The police chief also directed that anyone found responsible for unlawful actions in the matter should face appropriate legal consequences.

The command urged members of the public to avoid spreading false or unverified information on social media, warning that such actions could escalate tensions and mislead the public.

Residents of Birin Fulani and other communities across the state were reassured that the security situation remains under control.

The police further advised citizens to always channel grievances through lawful and peaceful means, and to avoid acts capable of disrupting public order.

The command reaffirmed its commitment to safeguarding lives and property while promoting peaceful coexistence among communities in Gombe State.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko has said that debris from enemy drones downed by air defense systems fell during an air raid alert in the capital.

"UAV debris fell in the very center of the capital. There are no fires or casualties. The enemy attack on Kyiv continues. Stay in shelters!" Klitschko wrote on Telegram on Monday morning.

Earlier, he reported that air defense forces were active in the area of the Obolon residential district in the northern part of the city.

In turn, the head of the Kyiv City Military Administration (KCMA), Tymur Tkachenko, reported that the "consequences of the attack were recorded in the Shevchenkivsky district of the capital" and confirmed that, according to preliminary information, there were no casualties.

The KCMA Telegram channel also reported that Kyiv is under threat of a missile strike. The air raid alert in Kyiv was announced at 8:26, and explosions have been heard in the city.
Kaduna Polytechnic is investigating the conduct of some members of its Dress Code Enforcement Committee after several students were allegedly denied entry into the institution over claims of indecent dressing.

The probe followed a viral social media video in which some female students accused officials of preventing them from attending lectures at the institutions College of Business and Management Studies (CBMS).

In the video, one of the students expressed frustration, saying she and several others had already been cleared by security personnel at the campus gate but were later stopped by another official who insisted their dress did not comply with the institutions rules.

I am fully covered; my trousers reach the ground. There is nothing wrong with what Im wearing. Security already cleared me to enter the school, only for one man in particular to call me back, she said.

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The student also lamented that many students had spent money on transportation to attend lectures only to be turned back over what she described as minor issues.

Management condemns extreme enforcement

Reacting to the development, the Deputy Registrar in charge of Information and Protocol, Godwin Ayegba, on Friday said the protest was triggered by what the institution described as the overzealous conduct of some members of the dress code enforcement team.

Mr Ayegba explained that although the polytechnic has a dress code to promote decency, professionalism, and a conducive academic environment, the enforcement also has approved guidelines.

The issue was caused by some individuals who are overzealous members of the committee. They are going beyond their bounds, he said.

The management is addressing the issue, and it will be resolved in no time.

In a statement issued earlier that day, the institution noted that the clothing worn by the affected students, as seen in the viral video, appeared moderate and appropriate, and stressed that they should not have been prevented from attending lectures on that basis.

The dresses worn by the affected students appear moderate and appropriate. In view of this, the students in question ought not to have been barred from their lectures, the statement said.

Investigation underway

The management confirmed that it had begun an investigation to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident and identify possible lapses in enforcing the dress code policy.

According to Mr Ayegba, appropriate measures would be taken to resolve the matter swiftly and fairly, while steps would also be implemented to prevent a recurrence of what the institution described as excessive enforcement.

He reiterated that the Dress Code Committee remains responsible for ensuring compliance with the institutions regulations, but warned that enforcement must not be arbitrary or extreme.

The enforcement must remain within the bounds of the approved policy and must not be carried out in an extreme or arbitrary manner, he said.

Students union raises concerns

The President of the Students Union Government (SUG), Ibrahim Mai Jamaa, also expressed concern over the incident.

Mr Jamaa said the union had received complaints from students and would be engaging the committee to address the concerns.

We are very concerned about how members of this committee treat our students, and we want them to begin to treat students with dignity, he said.

That is why we are meeting with the committee to address the issue.

Management not in support of incident

A senior staff member of the institution, who requested anonymity because he was not authorised to speak publicly on the matter, told PREMIUM TIMES that the polytechnics management was disturbed by the incident.

As you have heard, the investigation is ongoing, and the matter will be settled. It will not happen again.

Mixed reactions from students

Some students who spoke to PREMIUM TIMES said the institutions dress code is widely known on campus, so incidents of intimidation are rare.

A female student from the Department of Architecture at the institutions CES campus said most students comply with the rules and maintain modest dressing.

We dress modestly, and we never had issues like that on this campus, she said.

Some of the dressing code enforcers can be overzealous. The management has to check them too.

The student added that, while she supports the dress code, enforcement should not result in harassment.

For me, I support the dress code thing, but let it not be an avenue to molest people. Some girls and even boys can dress out of context if not checked, she said.
A senator from Cross River State, Asuquo Ekpenyong, has denied remarks attributed to him in an opinion article written by Etim Etim, a communications director in the Akwa Ibom Governor, Umo Enos re-election campaign group.

Mr Ekpenyong said the insinuation in the article was false and demanded an immediate retraction.

Mr Etim is the director of strategic communications for the ARISE Renewed Hope Initiative, the political platform coordinating Governor Enos re-election campaign.

In the opinion piece published on 14 March by TheCable, Mr Etim wrote that a senator from Cross River privately criticised his state governments handling of the oil well dispute with Akwa Ibom.

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According to the article, the unnamed senator whom Mr Etim said issued a statement in February supporting his governors efforts allegedly confided in him, saying, I cant see the logic in what my state government is doing. This matter has long been settled by the Supreme Court, but I have to play along so that Im not called a black sheep of the state or mocked as Akwa Ibom Senator as they usually do.

Checks by PREMIUM TIMES showed that Mr Ekpenyong was the only senator from Cross River who had publicly issued a statement on the matter in February.

The senator had posted a statement on Facebook on 3 February supporting the position of Governor Bassey Edet Otu of Cross River regarding the disputed oil wells.

Senator denies claim

In a statement issued on 15 March, Mr Ekpenyong said he neither knew Mr Etim nor made the comments attributed to him.

For the avoidance of doubt, I wish to state clearly that I do not know the author and have never made any statement of that nature, he said.

The insinuation contained in the publication is entirely false, and appears deliberately framed to create the impression of a disagreement where none exists.

It is therefore both misleading and irresponsible for any publication to attribute thinly-veiled and fabricated remarks to me in an attempt to introduce unnecessary tension into matters of collective state interest, he said.

He added that he remained fully aligned with Governor Otu and committed to working with other stakeholders to protect Cross Rivers interests.

Mr Ekpenyong said his lawyers had been instructed to formally demand a retraction and correction of the publication.

Should the author fail to retract the defamatory insinuations, we will have no hesitation in pursuing the appropriate legal remedies, he said.

Previous controversy

Mr Etim had recently been at the centre of public debate over some of his commentaries.

In mid-February, he published an article warning that the possible entry of the sons of President Tinubu, ministers Nyesom Wike and David Umahi, into the 2027 general elections portends danger to society.

On 27 February, he later published another article apologising to Governor Eno for the embarrassment and hurt the earlier commentary had caused the Akwa Ibom governor.
Two Years of Development. 25+ Years of Industry Expertise. A New Global Standard for How Brands Use Music.

BERLIN, March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- EightSix today launches Brand Studio, the world's first brand music intelligence system: a platform that transforms how global brands discover, evaluate, license and deploy music across every customer touchpoint.

EightSix Launches Brand Studio: The Worlds First Brand Music Intelligence System Speed Speed Shai Caleb Hirschson and Gordian Glei, Co-Founders of EightSix

Developed over two intensive years and shaped by more than 25 years of combined experience in composition, music supervision, licensing and audio technology, Brand Studio brings structure, science and accountability to an area of marketing that has operated on instinct for far too long. Music is the most powerful emotional driver in advertising, yet it has remained the last unstructured frontier, governed by taste, trends and subjective debate. Brand Studio changes that.

How It Works

At the core of Brand Studio is mDNA (Music DNA), a proprietary framework that benchmarks how a brand uses music across genre, emotion, tempo, energy and cultural positioning. Every music decision, from campaign tracks to social edits, from global licensing to creator collaborations, is aligned through this living standard. The platform's machine learning draws on decades of real industry knowledge, delivering domain-specific intelligence that brands can measure and defend.

Key capabilities include Discover, for searching the world's music against a brand's mDNA; SceneMatch, which uses Narrative-Driven Audio Mapping to match music to video in seconds; ArtistMatch, for brand-fit artist identification with budget modelling; SmartTest, built with SoundOut and over 500,000 consumer studies, delivering evidence-based validation in under two minutes; and SmartLicense, which makes complex global licensing transparent and scalable.

"Every brand says music drives emotion, yet none can prove which music drives sales. That era is over. Brand Studio makes every music decision as defensible as media spend."  Gordian Glei, Co-Founder, EightSix

"Every layer of this platform reflects how music actually works in the real world, not how technologists imagine it should. We trained the system on the decisions that experienced supervisors, composers and licensors make every day, then gave it the scale that no human team could achieve alone."  Grace Hammond, Lead Developer, EightSix

World-Class Partners. Built for CMOs.

EightSix has partnered with SoundOut, the global leader in consumer music testing, and Cyanite, a pioneer in AI-driven audio analysis, to ensure Brand Studio meets the highest global standards. The platform is engineered for enterprise brand teams, CMOs, agencies and procurement leaders who need every lever of spend to be defensible, measurable and aligned to strategy.

As Brand Studio scales, independent creators and composers will gain structured access to brand briefs, opening a new commercial pathway where music is evaluated intelligently, monetised responsibly and creators benefit from the same intelligence that powers brands.

"The problem was never creativity. It was communication. Brand Studio gives teams a shared language for music decisions. When everyone works from the same intelligence, decisions accelerate, conviction grows and brands sound unmistakably like themselves, everywhere."  Shai Caleb Hirschson, Co-Founder, EightSix

Music. Sound. Decoded.

Brand Studio by EightSix.

The Global Standard for Brand Music Intelligence.

About EightSix

EightSix is a strategic partner for brands navigating the growing importance of music and sound in communication. Founded in Berlin, the company works at the intersection of sound, strategy and technology to help organisations make music decisions that are creative, explainable and defensible at scale.

EightSix supports brand teams and their agencies by combining creative expertise with structured analysis, audience insight and decision frameworks that reduce subjectivity and increase alignment. Its work spans brand music strategy, sound systems, artist collaborations and proprietary decision-support tools, including EightSix Brand Studio, a web-based platform designed to bring clarity and consistency to music and sound choices across campaigns.

With a multidisciplinary team of 15 specialists working internationally, EightSix collaborates closely with leading brands including OTTO, Siemens Home Appliances, DEICHMANN and Ferrero. The company is committed to responsible innovation, human-led creativity and the fair treatment of creators, integrating technology and AI only where it meaningfully supports understanding and decision-making.

EightSix is headquartered in Berlin and operates globally.

More information at www.eightsix.com

Contact:

Press

press@eightsix.com

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SINGAPORE, March 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- As 51Talk celebrates its 15th anniversary, the global one-on-one online English learning platform is entering a new stage of international growth with the launch of a comprehensive brand refresh.

For learners and parents, the upgrade introduces a clearer and more intuitive visual identity, along with warmer, more engaging product interfaces designed to encourage active participation. Simplified layouts and IP-guided interactions across lessons aim to create a more supportive, interactive, and personalized learning experience for children.

Speed Speed

Since launching its global expansion strategy in 2021, 51Talk has expanded across key markets in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and East Asia. The 15-year milestone represents not only sustained growth but an important step toward building a more unified and internationally recognizable education brand.

A Stronger Global Brand System

The refreshed global visual identity system is designed to deliver greater clarity, consistency, and cohesion across the company's brand identity. The upgrade aligns brand visuals, product interfaces, and communication touchpoints, creating a seamless and intuitive experience for families worldwide.

This transition reflects 51Talk's shift from rapid international expansion toward long-term brand building. By strengthening recognition and consistency, the company aims to deepen trust with families while supporting the next stage of its global growth.

Introducing Toki: A Learning Companion for a New Chapter

At the heart of the refresh is Toki, 51Talk's new brand character and learning companion. More than a visual mascot, Toki embodies curiosity, confidence, and the courage to communicate.

Integrated across product interfaces, online classrooms, and brand touchpoints, Toki helps create a warmer and more engaging learning environment for young learners. By guiding children through lessons and encouraging participation, Toki reinforces a sense of companionship throughout their English learning journey.

The introduction of Toki reflects 51Talk's belief that effective one-on-one online English education combines a structured curriculum with emotional connection, enabling children not only to learn English but also to use it confidently in real-world communication.

Reinforcing Human Interaction in the AI Era

As artificial intelligence continues to reshape how people access language and information, automated tools and translation technologies are becoming more widespread. In this context, the value of authentic human interaction in education becomes even more important.

For children, learning English today is no longer about vocabulary acquisition or exam preparation. It is about developing the confidence to speak up, express ideas clearly, and engage meaningfully with the world.

Through its one-on-one live online learning model, 51Talk ensures real-time interaction between teachers and students, emphasizing personalized guidance, immediate feedback, and meaningful communication as essential elements of effective language learning.

Looking Ahead



Fifteen years after its founding, 51Talk continues to pursue its mission: Empower Everyone to Speak Up, Stand Out and Succeed. With a stronger global brand system and an enhanced learning experience, 51Talk is preparing for its next stage of international growth, empowering more young learners to communicate confidently in an increasingly connected world.

To learn more, please visit: www.51talk.com

SOURCE 51Talk
A new report from Resume Now reveals widespread fears of declining human skills, privacy risks, and dehumanization as AI reshapes workplace culture

GUAYNABO, Puerto Rico, March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- A new national survey of more than 1,000 employed U.S. adults from AI resume builder Resume Now suggests that the biggest impact of AI may not be just about productivity gains, but about how the workplace feels. The AI and Workplace Humanity Report finds that nearly two-thirds (63%) of workers expect AI to make the workplace feel less human this year, and 42% cite dehumanization of work as one of the biggest workforce issues linked to AI.

Key Insights:

Loss of workplace humanity: 63% of workers say AI will make the workplace feel less human in 2026.

63% of workers say AI will make the workplace feel less human in 2026. Skill erosion tops workers' expectations for AI's impact: 57% say AI reducing human skills will be the biggest workforce issue in 2026, ranking above job displacement (49%).

57% say AI reducing human skills will be the biggest workforce issue in 2026, ranking above job displacement (49%). Job loss is the leading personal fear, followed by privacy and critical thinking: 29% cite job loss as their biggest AI-driven worry, followed by data misuse/privacy violations (23%) and loss of creativity/critical thinking at work (20%).

29% cite job loss as their biggest AI-driven worry, followed by data misuse/privacy violations (23%) and loss of creativity/critical thinking at work (20%). AI skills are expected to matter, but not everywhere: Nearly half of workers (48%) say AI skills will be important in some roles but not most by the end of 2026, while just 18% expect them to be required across nearly all white-collar jobs.

"AI can improve efficiency, but technology adoption is never just about output," said Keith Spencer, career expert at Resume Now. "When most workers say AI will make the workplace feel less human, it signals anxiety about critical thinking, surveillance, and connection. Employees aren't rejecting AI. They're asking how it will be used and whether it strengthens or weakens the human side of work."

AI Is Expected to Make Work Feel Less Human

While much of the conversation around AI centers on productivity, the data suggests the deeper impact may be cultural. For many workers, the concern is not just what AI will automate, but how it will change the human experience of work in 2026.

A combined 63% say AI will make the workplace feel less human, either somewhat or significantly. 43% say the workplace will feel less human, with work becoming more devalued and automated. 20% say it will feel much less human, resembling a cold, machine-driven environment.

Only 16% say AI will make the workplace feel more human. 9% say somewhat more human. 7% say much more human, freeing people for more meaningful work.

21% expect no real change.

Human Skill Decline Is the Leading AI Workforce Issue

Workers primarily identify over-reliance on AI as the leading workforce problem, reflecting fears that increased automation could weaken critical thinking and other essential human skills. Concerns about job loss and dehumanization follow closely behind.

57% cite over-reliance on AI reducing human skills

49% cite job displacement or loss

42% cite dehumanization of work

36% cite surveillance or data misuse

35% cite lack of transparency or accountability

21% cite bias in hiring or promotions

2% cite other concerns

Job Loss and Privacy Top Workers' Immediate AI Fears

Workers rank job loss as the main AI risk this year, followed by worries about data misuse, privacy, and declining creativity and critical thinking, qualities that shape the human side of work.

29% cite job loss

23% cite data misuse or privacy violations

20% cite loss of creativity or critical thinking at work

18% cite constant surveillance and monitoring

10% cite hidden bias in hiring or promotions

AI Skills Are Viewed as Relevant, But Not Universal

While concerns about declining human skills are prevalent, most workers do not expect AI expertise to become mandatory across nearly all white-collar roles by the end of 2026. Instead, they believe those skills will matter in some jobs, but not most.

48% say AI skills will be important in some jobs but not most

18% say they will be required across nearly all white-collar jobs

17% say they will be optional or niche

17% say they will be overhyped and unnecessary

To view the full AI and Workplace Humanity Report, please click here.

Methodology

The findings in this report are based on a survey of 1,003 employed U.S. adults, conducted by Resume Now using Pollfish in October 2025. Respondents answered questions about the anticipated impact of artificial intelligence on workplace culture, skill development, job security, and AI-related risks in 2026. Question formats included multiple-choice, single-select, and multi-select questions.

Demographic Breakdown

Survey respondents reflected a broad cross-section of the U.S. workforce. Participants were 67% female and 33% male. Generationally, 13% identified as Gen Z, 32% as Millennials, 36% as Gen X, and 19% as Baby Boomers.

About Resume Now

Resume Now is a powerful resource dedicated to helping job-seekers achieve their potential. Resume Now's AI resume builder is a cutting-edge tool that makes creating a resume fast, easy, and painless. Resume Now has been dedicated to serving job seekers since 2005. Alongside its powerful AI resume builder and stylish ready-to-use templates, it also features free advice for job seekers at every career stage, guides for every step of the hiring process, and free resources for writing cover letters. Resume Now is committed to supporting job seekers and workers alike and has conducted numerous surveys related to the experience, trends, and culture of the workplace. These surveys have been featured in Business Insider, CNBC, Fast Company, Yahoo!, Forbes, and more. Keep up with Resume Now on LinkedIn, Facebook, X, and Pinterest.

SOURCE Resume Now
STOCKHOLM, March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- ASSA ABLOY, the global leader in access solutions, has today published its Annual Report 2025. The report can be found at www.assaabloy.com/investors.

The report summarizes ASSA ABLOY's financial and sustainability performance for the year and provides an overview of its strategy and governance. The report includes ASSA ABLOY's second sustainability statement in accordance with the European Sustainability Reporting Standard (ESRS). It also summarizes the conclusion of ASSA ABLOYs sustainability program 2025 and presents the new sustainability program to 2030.

"In 2025 ASSA ABLOY once again delivered record results", says Nico Delvaux, President and CEO of ASSA ABLOY. "This is a result to be especially proud of given the challenging market conditions on the residential side, tariffs, and global geopolitical uncertainty. Continued investments in product development and local presence have accelerated organic growth, while the completion of 23 acquisitions during the year further strengthened ASSA ABLOY's position. We successfully concluded our sustainability program to 2025, exceeding most targets, and launched a new, ambitious program extending to 2030. ASSA ABLOY is uniquely positioned to continue leading the industry and driving long-term profitable growth."

Printed copies of the Annual Report 2025 will be available for order by filling in the form on this page: www.assaabloy.com/investors.

For more information, please contact:

Bjorn Tibell, Investor Relations, tel. no: +46 70 275 67 68, E-mail: [email protected]

Christiane Belfrage, Corporate Communications, +46 8 506 485 10, E-mail: [email protected]

This information is information that ASSA ABLOY AB is obliged to make public pursuant to the Securities Markets Act. The information was submitted for publication at 10:00 CET on 16 March 2026.

About ASSA ABLOY

ASSA ABLOY is the global leader in access solutions. Every day we help people feel safe, secure and experience a more open world. We operate worldwide with 64,000 employees and sales of SEK 152 billion, with leading positions in areas such as efficient door openings, trusted identities and entrance automation. Our innovations enable safe, secure and convenient access to physical and digital places.

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/assa-abloy/r/assa-abloy-publishes-its-annual-report-2025,c4321682

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New Reward Items and a lower top-tier point threshold are designed to encourage repeat visits and enhance customer value

FORT LEE, N.J., March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- bb.q Chicken unveiled a major update to its rewards program, effective March 5, 2026. The revamped structure features exciting new menu rewards and lowered point threshold designed to make rewards more accessible and meaningful for members.

Rewards made simple: delicious menu items are just a few points away!

Under the updated program, bb.q Chicken will introduce several new reward options, including Lemon Fizz at 10,000 points, the Open Sandwich Club at 25,000 points, and a $7 off reward at 40,000 points  all curated to appeal to a wide range of customer taste and preferences. These additions are expected to broaden reward choices and boost redemption rates, encouraging members to visit more frequently.

In addition to the expanded reward offerings, the company is lowering its highest reward point threshold from 70,000 to 50,000 points, allowing more customers to redeem popular rewards such as the half & half chicken with fewer visits. This change reflects bb.q Chicken's commitment to rewarding loyalty more efficiently and making high-tier rewards within reach.

"The goal of this update is to make our rewards program easier to enjoy and more rewarding for our customer," said a spokesperson for bb.q Chicken. "By introducing new menu items and adjusting the point structure, we're creating more opportunities for customer to experience our menu while being rewarded for their loyalty."

For more information, visit bbqchicken.com.

About bb.q Chicken

Established in 1995 as part of parent company Genesis BBQ, bb.q Chicken's mission is to always provide the most delicious premium chicken in the world, based on the belief that food is the gateway to all culture. bb.q (pronounced bee-bee-que) stands for Best of the Best Quality and serves as a promise to always make Korea's Finest Fried Chicken and other K-Food offerings at each location.

The brand was recently recognized by Restaurant Business Magazine as one of the fastest growing chains in the U.S. and included in The Takeout's "11 Restaurant Chains to Watch in 2023." This year, bb.q was recognized by Yelp as the No. 3 Most Loved Brand and No. 2 fastest-growing brand in the restaurant sector. For more information on locations and franchise opportunities, please visit bbqchicken.com.

SOURCE bb.q Chicken
NEW DELHI, March 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the market research report published by Vyansa Intelligence, the Menstrual Care Market in China is projected to grow at a CAGR of around 1.01% during 20262032. The market growth is primarily supported by increasing awareness regarding menstrual hygiene, continuous product innovation in sanitary protection products, and the widespread availability of feminine hygiene products across retail distribution channels throughout the country.

China Menstrual Care Market Key Takeaways

The China Menstrual Care Market is estimated at around USD 15.49 billion in 2026 and is projected to reach approximately USD 16.62 billion by 2032, reflecting stable market growth supported by consistent demand for feminine hygiene products and rising awareness regarding menstrual health management among women.

By product type, sanitary towels are expected to dominate the market, capturing approximately 90% market share, driven by strong consumer preference for disposable sanitary pads due to their affordability, comfort, and wide availability across retail outlets.

By sales channel, retail offline distribution is projected to maintain its leadership position with around 75% share, as consumers primarily purchase menstrual care products through supermarkets, hypermarkets, pharmacies, convenience stores, and neighborhood retailers.

More than 15 companies are actively engaged in the menstrual care industry in China, indicating a competitive market environment supported by both domestic manufacturers and multinational hygiene product companies.

The top five companies collectively account for nearly 25% of the market share, including Chongqing Baiya Sanitary Products Co Ltd, Kao (China) Holding Co Ltd, C-Bons Group, Shanghai Uni-Charm Co Ltd, and Hengan Fujian Holding Co Ltd, among others.

Primary Drivers Supporting the Adoption of Menstrual Care Solutions Across China

Rising Awareness of Menstrual Hygiene and Women's Health

Increasing awareness regarding menstrual hygiene and women's health is playing a significant role in supporting the demand for menstrual care products across China. Educational initiatives, public health campaigns, and improved access to information are encouraging women and young girls to adopt safer and more hygienic menstrual management practices. As awareness continues to grow, consumers are increasingly prioritizing reliable menstrual protection products that offer improved hygiene, comfort, and convenience during menstrual cycles.

Product Innovation Focused on Comfort and Performance

Continuous product innovation is another key factor supporting the development of the menstrual care market in China. Manufacturers are actively introducing products with enhanced absorbency, ultra-thin designs, and breathable materials to improve user comfort and product performance. These innovations allow brands to address evolving consumer preferences for discreet, comfortable, and high-performance menstrual hygiene solutions while strengthening competition within the market.

Extensive Retail Distribution Network

The well-established retail infrastructure across China also contributes to the steady demand for menstrual care products. Feminine hygiene products are widely available through supermarkets, hypermarkets, pharmacies, convenience stores, and neighborhood retail outlets across both urban and semi-urban areas. The extensive reach of these retail channels ensures consistent product availability, enabling consumers to conveniently access menstrual care products as part of their routine shopping activities.

View Full Report and request to get the sample pages at: https://www.vyansaintelligence.com/industry-report/china-menstrual-care-market-trend

Key Challenges Impacting China Menstrual Care Market

Environmental Concerns Associated with Disposable Products

Despite stable market demand, environmental concerns related to disposable menstrual care products present a challenge for the industry. Most sanitary towels and other hygiene products contain synthetic materials and plastic components that contribute to solid waste generation. As environmental awareness increases, consumers and policymakers are placing greater emphasis on sustainable alternatives such as biodegradable materials and reusable menstrual products. In response, manufacturers may face growing pressure to invest in environmentally friendly product designs and sustainable packaging solutions to align with evolving consumer expectations and regulatory priorities.

Market Analysis by Product Type and Sales Channel

By product type, sanitary towels are expected to dominate the China menstrual care market, accounting for approximately 90% of the total share. The segment's leadership is primarily driven by strong consumer familiarity with sanitary pads, their affordability, and their widespread availability across retail outlets. Various product formats such as standard pads, pads with wings, and ultra-thin sanitary towels cater to different consumer preferences, further strengthening the segment's dominance.

By sales channel, retail offline distribution is expected to lead the market, capturing approximately 75% of the total share. Consumers primarily purchase menstrual care products through supermarkets, hypermarkets, pharmacies, convenience stores, and neighborhood retailers. These retail channels provide easy product accessibility and allow consumers to purchase menstrual hygiene products conveniently, reinforcing the dominance of offline retail within the Chinese market.

View Full Report (All Data, In One Place):

https://www.vyansaintelligence.com/industry-report/china-menstrual-care-market-trend(Explore in-depth analyses, market trends, and competitive insights.)

Prominent Companies Operating in the China Menstrual Care Market

Key companies contributing to competition and product innovation in the market include:

Chongqing Baiya Sanitary Products Co Ltd

Kao (China) Holding Co Ltd

C-Bons Group

Shanghai Uni-Charm Co Ltd

Hengan Fujian Holding Co Ltd

Procter & Gamble (Guangzhou) Ltd

(Guangzhou) Ltd Kimberly-Clark (China) Investment Co Ltd

Kingdom Healthcare Holdings Ltd, Guangdong

Vinda International Holdings Ltd

Winner Medical Co Ltd

China Menstrual Care Market Scope

By Product Type: Pantyliners, Tampons (Applicator Tampons, Digital Tampons), Towels (Standard Towels (Standard Towels with Wings, Standard Towels Without Wings), Slim/Thin/Ultra-Thin Towels (Slim/Thin/Ultra-Thin Towels with Wings, Slim/Thin/Ultra-Thin Towels Without Wings)), Intimate Wipes, Menstrual Cups, Period Underwear

By Nature: Disposable, Reusable

By Age Group: Up to 18 Years, 1930 Years, 3140 Years, 40 Years and Above

By Sales Channel: Retail Offline, Retail Online

Browse More Reports on Menstrual Care

US Menstrual Care Market: The menstrual care market in the US is estimated at USD 4.51 billion in 2025 and is expected to grow to USD 4.84 billion by 2032. Also, the market is projected to register a CAGR of around 1.01% during 2026-32.

UAE Menstrual Care Market: The menstrual care market in the UAE is estimated at USD 115 million in 2025 and is expected to grow to USD 155 million by 2032. Also, the market is projected to register a CAGR of around 4.36% during 2026-32.

UK Menstrual Care Market: The menstrual care market in the UK is estimated at USD 625 million in 2025 and is expected to grow to USD 670 million by 2032. Also, the market is projected to register a CAGR of around 1% during 2026-32.

Turkey Menstrual Care Market: The menstrual care market in Turkey is estimated at USD 265 million in 2025 and is expected to grow to USD 305 million by 2032. Also, the market is projected to register a CAGR of around 2.03% during 2026-32.

Spain Menstrual Care Market: The menstrual care in Spain is estimated at USD 535 million in 2025 and is expected to grow to USD 575 million by 2032. Also, the market is projected to register a CAGR of around 1.04% during 2026-32.

South Africa Menstrual Care Market: The menstrual care in South Africa is estimated at USD 190 million in 2025 and is expected to grow to USD 240 million by 2032. Also, the market is projected to register a CAGR of around 3.39% during 2026-32.

Saudi Arabia Menstrual Care Market: The menstrual care market in Saudi Arabia is estimated at USD 370 million in 2025 and is expected to grow to USD 465 million by 2032. Also, the market is projected to register a CAGR of around 3.32% during 2026-32.

Norway Menstrual Care Market: The menstrual care market in Norway is estimated at USD 60 million in 2025 and is expected to grow to USD 65 million by 2032. Also, the market is projected to register a CAGR of around 1.15% during 2026-32.

Japan Menstrual Care Market: The menstrual care in Japan is estimated at USD 700 million in 2025 and is expected to grow to USD 755 million by 2032. Also, the market is projected to register a CAGR of around 1.09% during 2026-32.

About Vyansa Intelligence

Vyansa Intelligence is a global market research and consulting firm dedicated to delivering strategic insights across high-growth and emerging industries worldwide. The company provides comprehensive research reports that offer data-driven analysis of market trends, competitive dynamics, technological advancements, and regulatory developments shaping the global business landscape. Leveraging robust research methodologies, advanced forecasting models, and rigorously validated primary and secondary data sources, Vyansa Intelligence equips corporations, investors, and decision-makers with reliable intelligence to identify emerging opportunities and address potential market risks. Through its in-depth market analysis and industry expertise, the firm supports organizations in developing well-informed long-term strategies, enabling them to achieve sustainable business growth and strengthen their competitive positioning in an increasingly dynamic and evolving marketplace.

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SOURCE Vyansa Intelligence
PLANO, Texas, March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Community Hospital Corporation (CHC) today announced that Becker's Healthcare selected CHC as one of the best places to work in healthcare.

CHC was among 165 hospitals, health systems, and healthcare companies chosen for the publication's list of the top healthcare workplaces in 2026. CHC's inclusion is the latest in numerous awards recognizing the company as a top workplace over the past decade.

Announcing this year's award winners, Becker's Healthcare chose organizations that "distinguish themselves as premier employers by supporting their teams in meaningful, holistic ways" in today's challenging environment, where recruitment and retention of top talent are critical.

CHC President and CEO Jim Kendrick commented on the award: "We are thrilled that Becker's Healthcare recognized our organization as one of the healthcare industry's top workplaces, a significant accomplishment that we have continually strived to achieve since our inception thirty years ago. This award further attests to our deep commitment to providing expertise and other resources needed to ensure quality and sustainable community healthcare delivery."

Placement on the publication's list focused on those organizations that consistently foster higher engagement and stronger satisfaction among employees by prioritizing employee development, actively listening to team members, providing flexible work environments, and offering competitive benefits.

"From comprehensive wellness initiatives and professional growth opportunities to community engagement and cultures rooted in connection and balance, these workplaces are redefining what it means to thrive in healthcare," the publication said.

About Community Hospital Corporation  HELP WHERE HOSPITALS NEED IT

Community Hospital Corporation owns, manages and consults with hospitals through CHC Hospitals, CHC Consulting and CHC ContinueCARE, with the purpose to collaborate with partners and bring innovative solutions to support the vibrancy and accessibility of community healthcare. Based in Plano, Texas, CHC provides the resources and experience community hospitals need to improve quality outcomes, patient satisfaction and financial performance. Visit CHC.com.

Media contact:

Anne Block, VP Marketing Communications

[email protected]

972.943.6470

SOURCE Community Hospital Corporation
FAIRBANKS, Alaska, March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ - Contango ORE, Inc. ("Contango" or the "Company") (NYSE American: CTGO) announced today that it filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission its Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025 ("FY 2025").

In FY 2025 Contango's share of production from its Manh Choh mine, operated in partnership with Kinross, totaled approximately 60,200 gold equivalent ounces1 ("GEO"). The Company reported a net loss of $36.1 million ("M"), including a non-cash expense of $46.0 M from an unrealized loss on derivative contracts for FY 2025. The Company reported adjusted net income2 of $73.0 million ("M") and total income from operations of $69.1 M. The Company's unrestricted cash position as of December 31, 2025 was $64.8 M compared to $20.0 M as of December 31, 2024.

Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse, President and CEO of the Company, stated, "Production in FY 2025 was in line with guidance, producing approximately 60,200 gold equivalent ounces, including 57,315 ounces of silver. In FY 2025, 57,800 ounces of gold were sold (the remaining sold during Q1 2026) with cash costs per ounce sold1 of $1,459 and all-in-sustaining costs per ounce sold1 of $1,616 in line with 2025 guidance of $1,625 per ounce sold. During FY 2025, the Company remained focused on paying down its debt and delivering into the hedge contracts with $37.5 M in principal repayments on its Credit Facility and 43,739 ounces of gold delivered into its hedge contracts, bringing the Credit Facility balance down to $14.6 M and hedge contracts to 43,000 ounces as of December 31, 2025. The Company further offset its hedge book through the repurchase of 15,446 ounces on February 12, 2026.

_____________________________ 1 See non-GAAP measures in the Company's 10K for the year ended December 31, 2025 2 See non-GAAP measures at end of this press release for calculation of adjusted net income

At the Lucky Shot project, we commenced an underground diamond drilling program in Q4 2025 with positive initial assay results released in late February 2026. The current program represents the first phase of a multi-phase underground and surface exploration campaign designed to support resource in-fill and expansion with an objective of targeting 400,000 to 500,000 measured and indicated gold ounces to support a feasibility level mine production and transportation plan, with the objective of targeting 40,000 to 50,000 ounces of annual gold production using our Direct Shipping Ore (DSO) approach, assuming positive exploration success. We expect to complete the feasibility study in 12 to 18 months and make a production decision in 2027.

At Johnson Tract an initial assessment of the tide water accessible high grade polymetallic (gold, zinc, copper, silver, lead) deposit was announced on May 6, 2025, indicating a post-tax net present value of $615.4 M and pay-back period of 1.3 years using a $4,000 gold price. We remain heads down with permitting under the FAST-41 program and will scale up field activities in 2026, including heavy equipment mobilization, construction of a road from the camp to the proposed portal site and winterizing the camp for year-round operations. This will result in developing sustainable mining projects that domestically produce the metals needed for our modern society and security.

Finally, we would like to acknowledge and thank our dedicated team of employees, the State and Federal agencies we work with as well as our contractors and extensive network of stakeholders in the communities around our projects. As we advance toward the Dolly Varden merger, currently targeted to close by late March, subject to shareholder and final regulatory approvals, we recognize that our continued success relies on support from all these groups as well as our investors. Note that after the Dolly Varden merger closes, we anticipate a comprehensive update on all exploration activities and plans for 2026 for the new Company  Contango Silver and Gold Inc."

During FY 2025 and subsequent to year end, the Company has the following updates:

Manh Choh Production Results

Peak Gold JV (on a 100% basis) 1



FY 2025

Total tons mined





13.6 M tons Ore tons mined





1.20 M tons Gold oz mined





216,758 oz Ore tons processed





1,069,470 ton Gold grade processed





0.20 oz/t Gold recovery





93 % Gold oz produced2





198,450 oz Gold oz sold





192,750 oz Silver oz sold





191,050 oz











Contango's Share (on a 30% basis) 1









Gold oz produced





59,500 oz Gold oz sold





57,800 oz Total gold equivalent oz produced3&4





60,200 oz Silver oz sold





57,315 oz Total gold sales





$196,653,253

Total silver sales





$2,313,217

Cash costs on a by-product basis, per oz sold4





1,459 per oz sold AISC on a by-product basis, per oz sold4





1,616 per oz sold











Principal debt repayments





$37,500

Gold oz delivered into hedge contracts





43,739 oz Average realized spot gold price





$3,400 per oz sold Cash distributions received from Peak Gold JV





$102,000,000



Notes:



1. Certain numbers have been rounded for presentation purposes.

2. Includes estimate of recoverable gold inventory of 5,700 oz.

3. Gold equivalent oz calculated using a factor of 85.1 to 1 for conversion of silver oz.

4. See non-GAAP measures disclosed in the Company's 10K for the year ended December 31, 2025.

FY 2025 Production Highlights (Contango's 30% share):

FY 2025 Production of 60,200 gold equivalent ounces ("GEO") 3 , including 1,700 ounces ("oz") of recoverable gold inventory and 57,315 oz of silver

, including 1,700 ounces ("oz") of recoverable gold inventory and 57,315 oz of silver Average realized spot gold price of $3,400 per oz

Average head grade of gold processed of 0.20 oz per ton ("oz/t")

43,739 oz of gold delivered into hedge contracts

$102 million ("M") in cash distributions received from the Peak Gold JV for 2025

Cash costs per ounce sold of $1,459 and all-in sustaining costs ("AISC") of 1,616 per ounce sold

_____________________________ 3 Gold equivalent oz calculated using a factor of 85.1 to 1 for conversion of silver oz.

Lucky Shot Project:

In Q4 2025, the first phase of a 15,000-meter underground in-fill drilling program commenced with positive initial assays results released in late February 2026. This work, along with detailed engineering, hydrology and geotechnical work will form the basis for a feasibility level mine and transportation plan for Lucky Shot, targeting 40,000 oz to 50,000 oz of gold production per year using our Direct Shipping Ore (DSO) approach, assuming positive exploration success. We expect to complete the feasibility study in 12 to 18 months and make a production decision in 2027.

Johnson Tract Project:

In FY 2025, the Company continued with ongoing work to permit the underground exploration drift along with baseline environmental and engineering work to support permitting a road and barge landing facility within the Transportation and Port Easements granted to Cook Inlet Regional Inc. (CIRI) the underlying landowner. Field crews started work in July 2025 and finalized the field program in mid-October.

On January 30, 2026, the Johnson Tract project was officially placed onto the FAST-41 Dashboard.

Repayments of Debt, Reduction of Hedge Contracts and Financing:

The Company's unrestricted cash position as of December 31, 2025 was $64.8 M.

In FY 2025, Contango repaid $37.5 M on the Facility, reducing the outstanding principal balance to $14.6M.

On September 25, 2025, the Company raised gross proceeds of $50 M by issuing 1,975,000 shares of common stock and pre-funded warrants to purchase up to 525,000 shares of common stock at a public offering price of $20.00 per share and $19.99 per pre-funded warrant.

On February 12, 2026, the Company raised gross proceeds of $50 M by issuing 1,678,206 shares of common stock and pre-funded warrants to purchase up to 325,000 shares of common stock at a public offering price of $24.96 per share and $24.95 per pre-funded warrant.

On February 12, 2026, the Company paid $46.4 M to settle gold hedge contracts for 15,446 ounces with an average strike price of $2,025 per ounce with maturities ranging between March and September 2026. In addition, as part of a price protection strategy to offset the hedge settlements, the Company paid $0.4 million to purchase 15,446 puts with a strike price of $4,000 per ounce. As of the date of this report, the remaining gold hedge contracts total 11,000 ounces in 2026 and 15,000 ounces in the first half of 2027.

Corporate Development  Dolly Varden Merger:

On December 8, 2025, the Company and Dolly Varden Silver Corporation ("Dolly Varden") announced that they entered into an arrangement agreement (the "Arrangement Agreement") to combine Contango and Dolly Varden on a merger-of-equals basis pursuant to a statutory plan of arrangement under the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia) (the "Transaction") (the combined entity referred to as "MergeCo"). Pursuant to the terms and conditions of the Arrangement Agreement, Contango will acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Dolly Varden (the "DV Shares") at an exchange ratio of 0.1652 of a share of voting common stock of Contango for each DV Share held (the "Exchange Ratio"). Upon completion of the Transaction, existing Contango and Dolly Varden shareholders will own approximately 50% each of the outstanding common stock of Contango, respectively, on a fully diluted in-the-money basis. MergeCo is expected to be renamed Contango Silver & Gold Inc. and will be led by Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse as CEO, Shawn Khunkhun as President and Mike Clark as Executive Vice President and CFO. The board of directors of MergeCo will include Clynt Nauman as Chairman, Brad Juneau, Darren Devine, Mike Cinnamond, Tim Clark, Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse and Shawn Khunkhun. The Transaction is expected to close in late March 2026.

Statement of Operations for FY 2025 compared to FY 2024 :

The Company reported total income from operations of $69.1M in FY 2025 compared to $26.3 M for FY 2024. In FY 2025, the Company reported adjusted net income of $73.0 M compared to $16.1 M for FY 2024. The Company reported net loss of $36.1 M or $2.80 loss per fully diluted share. This compares to a net loss of $38.0 M for FY 2024 or $3.49 loss per fully diluted share. The net loss for FY 2025 and FY 2024 includes a non-cash unrealized loss on derivative contracts related to the hedges in the amounts of $46.0 M and $34.3 M, respectively.

Statement of Cash Flows for FY 2025 compared to FY 2024:

Net cash provided from operating activities was $25.7 M for FY 2025 compared to $0.7 M for FY 2024. The increase in net cash provided by operating activities was primarily driven by gold production at the Manh Choh mine and the receipt of $102.0 M in cash distributions from the Peak Gold JV. Cash used in investing activities was $0.5 M for FY 2025 compared to $32.1 M in FY 2024 related to cash invested in the Peak Gold JV to fund Contango's share of Manh Choh development costs in 2024. Cash provided by financing activities in FY 2025 was $18.4 M, primarily related to cash proceeds from an equity offering offset by principal repayments of $37.5 M on the credit facility. This compares to cash inflows of $36.0 M in FY 2024, primarily related to debt drawdowns of $30.0 M on the credit facility and an equity offering. The Company's unrestricted cash position as of December 31, 2025 was $64.8 M compared to $20.1 M as of December 31, 2024.

2026 and 2027 Outlook: Rapid Growth and Strategic Momentum

Mr. Van Nieuwenhuyse further stated, "FY 2026 is a transition mining year at Manh Choh as operations sequence from the North Pit to the South Pit as outlined in the Feasibility Study mine plan in the Manh Choh Technical Report Summary4 (the "TRS"). Total tonnes mined in 2026 is budgeted to be approximately 14% higher than 2025 with 1.21 million ore tons to be mined at an estimated production grade of 0.19 oz/t resulting in a projected 225,000 contained ounces mined ( on a 100% basis), an increase of approximately 4% compared to 2025 gold ounces mined. On a FY 2026 basis, the improved ore production anticipated at Manh Choh will be partially offset by planned stockpile delays to accommodate batch processing of Manh Choh ores at the Fort Knox mill. There is an approximate 4-month lag between when a ton of ore is mined and then transported, processed, sold and credited to Contango's bullion account. This timing difference is particularly noticeable in 2026 as the Manh Choh mine sequences from lower grade "transition" ores in Q1 2026 through Q3 2026 into the higher-grade South Pit ores in Q4 2026, the primary benefits of which will be seen in Q1 2027. Ore tons and average grade delivered to the Fort Knox mill for processing during FY 2026 will be 990,000 tons with an average grade of 0.155 oz/ton for estimated gold production of 142,700 oz produced (40,000 oz to 45,000 oz for Contango's 30% share). The higher-grade ores in the South Pit are projected to produce 1.18 million tons of mined ore in FY 2027 at an average gold grade of 0.26 oz/ton, yielding an estimated 75,000 oz to 80,000 oz produced for Contango's account. We expect robust cash distributions from the Peak Gold JV with an estimated range of $48 M to $54 M distributed in FY 2026 and $165 M to $175 M in FY 2027, based on current assumptions, including an estimated $3,700 per oz gold price. We plan to be completely un-hedged by the end of FY 2026 with less than $10 M remaining on our Credit Facility, with a strong balance sheet and be well positioned to take full benefit of a rising gold-price environment.

_____________________________ 4 See press release announcing TRS: https://www.contangoore.com/press-release/contango-ore-announces-completion-of-s-k-1300-technical-report-summary-for-its-manh-choh-project-in-alaska . To view a copy of the TRS, see: https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5fc5d36fd44fd675102e4420/6470afdaf94d2ac9f93d93e0_SIMS%20Contango%20Manh%20Choh%20Project%20S-K%201300%20TRS%20FINAL%2020230524%20(1)-compressed.pdf. The information contained in, or otherwise accessible through, the links are not part of, and are not incorporated by reference into this release.

2026 and 2027 Production Guidance Highlights:

Contango's share of gold production from the Manh Choh mine is estimated to range from 40,000 to 45,000 oz of gold for FY 2026, with cash costs estimated to range from $1,900 to $2,000 per oz of gold sold, and 75,000 to 80,000 oz of gold production for FY 2027, with cash costs estimated to range from $1,200 to $1,300 per oz of gold sold. Higher estimated FY 2026 cash costs are the result of lower gold production in FY2026, larger royalty payments due to the increasing gold price and, to a lesser degree, higher costs associated with wages and consumables. Recent increased volatility in forecast fuel prices may have impact on costs in 2026.

Cash Distributions: The Company anticipates robust distributions from the Peak Gold JV, projected to range between $48 M to $54 M in FY 2026 and rising to a range of $165 M to $175 M in FY 2027 (based on a $3,700/oz gold price assumption).

Becoming Debt-Free and Hedge-Free: Contango is scheduled to deliver 11,000 oz of gold into its hedge contracts in FY 2026 and plans to become fully unhedged in FY 2026 by early delivering the remaining 15,000 oz by the end of FY 2026. In addition, the Company is forecasting to completely pay off its Credit Facility by early 2027.

Gold Production Guidance (Estimates)

Peak Gold JV (on a 100% basis) 1

2025

Actual 2026

Guidance 2027

Guidance

Total tons mined



13.6 15.5 3.0 M ton Ore tons mined



1.20 1.21 1.18 M ton Gold oz mined



216,758 225,000 307,000 oz Gold grade mined



0.18 0.19 0.26 oz/t Ore tons processed



1,069,470 990,000 1,096,000 ton Gold grade processed



0.20 0.155 0.27 oz/t Gold recovery (%)



93 93 88 % Gold production2



192,750 142,700 261,500 oz Silver production2



191,050 185,800 288,000 oz













Contango's Share (on a 30% basis) 1











Gold oz production guidance



59,500 40,000 to 45,000 75,000 to 80,000 oz Principal debt repayments



$37,500 $4,000 $10,000

Gold oz to deliver into hedge contracts



43,739 12,5545 15,000 oz Cash distributions from Peak Gold JV3



$102 M $48 M to $54 M $165 M to $175 M















Cash Costs and AISC Guidance (30% basis)4











Cash costs on a by-product basis, per oz



$1,459 $1,900 to $2,000 $1,200 to $1,300

AISC on a by-product basis, per oz



$1,616 $2,200 to $2,300 $1,300 to $1,400



Notes:





1. Certain numbers have been rounded for presentation purposes.

2. Gold and silver production reported in '2025 Actuals' represents gold and silver sold in the Peak Gold JV in 2025.

3. Based on current assumptions, including gold price of $3,700 per oz and current operating costs being achieved.

4. See non-GAAP measures disclosed in the Company's 10K for the year ended December 31, 2025.

5. The Company settled 15,446 oz of hedge contracts on February 12, 2026, reducing the balance of hedge contracts to 12,554 oz for 2026 and 15,000 for 2027.

Adjusted Net Income (Non-GAAP)

Management uses Adjusted net income to evaluate the Company's operating performance, and to plan and forecast its operations. The Company believes the use of Adjusted net income reflects the underlying operating performance of our core mining business and allows investors and analysts to compare results of the Company to similar results of other mining companies. Management's determination of the components of Adjusted net income is evaluated periodically and is based, in part, on a review of non-GAAP financial measures used by mining industry analysts. Net loss (GAAP) is reconciled to Adjusted net income (Non-GAAP) adjusted for loss on derivative contracts in the following table:



FY 2025 ($) FY 2024 ($) Net loss (36,086,645) (38,030,291) Loss on derivative contracts 109,108,194 54,150,141 Adjusted net income 73,021,549 16,119,850

QUALIFIED PERSONS

The scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Dave Larimer, CPG, VP, Exploration for Contango ORE, Inc., who is a Qualified Person as defined by SEC Regulation S-K 1300. Dave Larimer is not independent of the Company.

CONFERENCE CALL AND WEBCAST

Contango will host a conference call and webcast to discuss the year end 2025 results on Monday, March 16, 2026, at 2:00pm EST / 11:00am PST. Participants may join the webcast using the following call-in details: https://6ix.com/event/contango-ore-2025-year-end-earnings-and-2627-guidance.

ABOUT CONTANGO

Contango is a NYSE American listed company that engages in the exploration for and development and production of gold and associated minerals in Alaska. Contango holds a 30% interest in the Peak Gold JV, which leases approximately 675,000 acres of land for exploration and development on the Manh Choh project, with the remaining 70% owned by KG Mining (Alaska), Inc., an indirect subsidiary of Kinross Gold Corporation, operator of the Peak Gold JV. The Company and its subsidiaries also have (i) a lease on the Johnson Tract project, which consists of mineral rights to approximately 21,000 acres located near tidewater, 125 miles southwest of Anchorage, Alaska, from the underlying owner, CIRI, (ii) a lease on the Lucky Shot project, which consists of mineral rights to approximately 8,600 acres of State of Alaska and patented mining claims located in the Willow Mining District about 75 miles north of Anchorage, Alaska, from the underlying owner, Alaska Hardrock Inc., (iii) mineral rights to approximately 145,000 acres of State of Alaska mining claims, and (iv) mineral rights to approximately 11,700 acres of State of Alaska mining claims and upland mining leases, all of which give Contango the exclusive right to explore and develop minerals on these lands. Additional information can be found on our web page at www.contangoore.com.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding Contango that are intended to be covered by the safe harbor for "forward-looking statements" provided by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, based on Contango's current expectations and includes statements regarding future results of operations, quality and nature of the asset base, the assumptions upon which estimates are based and other expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions, strategies or statements about future events or performance (often, but not always, using words such as "expects", "projects", "anticipates", "plans", "estimates", "intends", "believes", "ensures", "forecasts", "predicts", "proposes", "contemplates", "aims", "seeks", "continues", "potential", "positioned", "strategy", "outlook", "future", "going forward", "designed to", and similar expressions or other words of similar meaning, and the negatives thereof, or stating that certain actions, events or results "may", "might", "will", "should", "would", or "could" be taken, or that they are "possible", "probable", or "likely" to occur or be achieved). However, the absence of these words does not mean that the statements are not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections that involve a number of risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected in the statements. These risks include, but are not limited to: the risks of the exploration and the mining industry (for example, operational risks in exploring for and developing mineral reserves; risks and uncertainties involving geology; the speculative nature of the mining industry; the uncertainty of estimates and projections relating to future production, costs and expenses; the volatility of natural resources prices, including prices of gold and associated minerals; the existence and extent of commercially exploitable minerals in properties acquired by Contango or the Peak Gold JV; ability to realize the anticipated benefits of the Peak Gold JV; potential delays or changes in plans with respect to exploration or development projects or capital expenditures; the interpretation of exploration results and the estimation of mineral resources; the loss of key employees or consultants; health, safety and environmental risks and risks related to weather and other natural disasters); uncertainties as to the availability and cost of financing; Contango's inability to retain or maintain its relative ownership interest in the Peak Gold JV; inability to realize expected value from acquisitions; inability of our management team to execute its plans to meet its goals; the extent of disruptions caused by an outbreak of disease, such as the COVID-19 pandemic; and the possibility that government policies may change, political developments may occur or governmental approvals may be delayed or withheld, including as a result of presidential and congressional elections in the U.S. or the inability to obtain mining permits. Additional information on these and other factors which could affect Contango's operations program or financial results are included in Contango's other reports on file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Investors are cautioned that any forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from the projections in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the estimates and opinions of management at the time the statements are made. Contango does not assume any obligation to update forward-looking statements should circumstances or management's estimates or opinions change.

SOURCE Contango Ore
Turkiye does not recognize the de facto situation in Crimea, which is a violation of international law, according to a statement by the countrys Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the twelfth anniversary of the illegal Russian annexation of the peninsula.

"Resolutely supporting the independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Ukraine, Turkiye will continue to closely monitor the situation on the peninsula and keep it on the agenda, paying special attention to the situation of the Crimean Tatar Turks," reads the statement published Monday on the website of the Turkish foreign ministry.

March 16 marks 12 years since Russia conducted a fake "referendum on the status of Crimea" on the previously occupied peninsula, while March 18 marks the anniversary of the attempted illegal annexation, when the so-called "agreements on the accession of Crimea to the Russian Federation" were signed.
Control and information systems integrator marks three decades supporting manufacturers with advanced automation and information solutions.

MAPLE GROVE, Minn., March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Cybertrol Engineering, a leading provider of industrial automation and information solutions, is celebrating 30 years of delivering high-quality engineering services to manufacturers across North America.

Cybertrol Engineering celebrates 30 years in business supporting manufacturers with advanced automation and information solutions.

Founded in 1996 by industry veterans Dan Scott and Merlin Graunke, Cybertrol was built on a vision of providing independent, high-quality control system integration and a customer-centered approach to engineering. Today, the company is led by CEO and Owner Ben Durbin, who has continued to build on that foundation as Cybertrol has expanded its capabilities and industry reach. What began as a small team of automation specialists has grown into an organization built around multi-disciplined engineering teams that support process-intensive manufacturers across industries including food and beverage, chemical, and life science sectors. This structure allows Cybertrol to continue expanding its technical capabilities while supporting increasingly complex automation and information system projects.

"Reaching 30 years is a milestone we're incredibly proud of," said Durbin. "From the beginning, our philosophy has been simple: understand our customers' businesses, deliver exceptional engineering, and stand behind every solution we build. While technology continues to evolve, our commitment to quality, partnership, and long-term value has remained constant."

Over the past three decades, Cybertrol has completed thousands of automation projects, helping manufacturers improve operational efficiency, system reliability, and plant performance. The company is recognized as a Rockwell Automation PartnerNetwork Gold System Integrator, reflecting Cybertrol's deep technical expertise and long-standing partnership with Rockwell Automation.

In recent years, Cybertrol relocated its headquarters and regional offices to modern facilities in Maple Grove, Minnesota, and in Marshfield and Madison, Wisconsin, to support greater collaboration across engineering teams. The company has also focused on strengthening its internal operations through the implementation of the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS), reinforcing accountability, communication, and continuous improvement across the organization.

To commemorate its 30th anniversary, Cybertrol hosted a Hollywood-themed celebration on March 3 for employees and their guests. The evening featured dinner, casino games, and a Cybertrol awards ceremony recognizing employees whose contributions have helped shape the company's growth and culture over the past three decades.

During the celebration, Durbin held up an early Cybertrol brochure from the late 1990s that he keeps in his office, noting that it emphasized understanding customers' businesses as deeply as the technology itself. He said the message remains just as relevant today.

As manufacturers continue investing in digital transformation and connected production environments, Cybertrol remains focused on helping organizations modernize automation infrastructure while improving operational performance and data visibility across the enterprise.

For more information about Cybertrol Engineering and its 30-year legacy, visit cybertrol.com.

About Cybertrol Engineering

Founded in 1996, Cybertrol Engineering is a control and information systems integrator specializing in industrial automation, manufacturing execution systems (MES), industrial IT/OT infrastructure, and manufacturing intelligence solutions for process manufacturers across North America.

Cybertrol designs, implements, and supports plantwide automation and information systems that improve operational performance, reliability, and visibility across the enterprise. The company provides expertise in control system design, UL control panel fabrication, industrial networking, cybersecurity, and lifecycle support services.

Cybertrol also develops specialized software and automation solutions for manufacturers, including an enterprise reporting platform, a configurable CIP (clean-in-place) solution, and proprietary software offerings such as BatchWorks and PalletWorks.

Headquartered in Maple Grove, Minnesota, with regional offices in Marshfield and Madison, Wisconsin, Cybertrol is a Rockwell Automation PartnerNetwork Gold System Integrator recognized for its technical depth, disciplined project execution, and long-standing customer relationships. For more information, visit Cybertrol Engineering's website, LinkedIn, Facebook, X, and YouTube.

SOURCE Cybertrol Engineering
Experience an autonomous, endtoend operations demo featuring Fault Detection and Workstation Sentinel.

Discover how these capabilities are powered by deep integration with NVIDIA edge AI technologies, including NVIDIA Metropolis VSS Blueprint, NVIDIA Cosmos Reason and NVIDIA Isaac Sim.

See how deviceWISE transforms OT and IT data into active intelligence, enabling realtime anomaly detection, adaptive SOP generation and autonomous decisionmaking at the factory edge.

BOCA RATON, Fla., March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Telit Cinterion's deviceWISE team will showcase how industrial operations are shifting from passive connectivity to active intelligence. The demonstration will feature the deviceWISE Intelligence Suite at NVIDIA GTC , taking place March 16 to 19 in San Jose, California. Visit Booth #1938 to see how artificial intelligence (AI)-driven autonomy is redefining modern manufacturing.

For more information about the deviceWISE Intelligence Suite, visit: https://www.telit.com/iot-platforms-overview/devicewise-ai/.

The team will run an autonomous, end-to-end operations demonstration featuring Fault Detection and Workstation Sentinel. These two cornerstone capabilities are now enhanced through deep integration with the latest NVIDIA edge AI technologies.

The solution uses NVIDIA Metropolis' Blueprint for video search and summarization (VSS) with Cosmos Reason, a reasoning vision language model built for physical AI. Together, they deploy native AI agents that can perform complex, adaptive tasks. They can:

Synthesize factory information technology (IT) data with operational technology (OT) contexts

factory information technology (IT) data with operational technology (OT) contexts Analyze root causes of manufacturing faults to improve process reliability

root causes of manufacturing faults to improve process reliability Detect anomalies and trigger contextual, real-time alerts

anomalies and trigger contextual, real-time alerts Generate dynamic standard operating procedures (SOPs) to guide operators through resolution

dynamic standard operating procedures (SOPs) to guide operators through resolution Feed structured insights into deviceWISE OT and IT pipelines

deviceWISE collects and synchronizes OT machine data with the enterprise IT context. The platform transforms disconnected streams into actionable assets.

This approach delivers crucial intelligence to each level of the factory, from the shop floor to the executive suite. Instead of reacting to events after they occur, manufacturers gain continuous, AI-driven situational awareness. They can transform historically underutilized sources into immediate value.

The demonstration also integrates NVIDIA Isaac Sim digital twins. Teams can use them to iterate, validate and stress test scenarios safely before deploying them on the shop floor.

Once validated, the system runs on the premises or at the edge. Telit Cinterion's industrialgrade 5G backhaul supports resilient operation, even in segmented or bandwidthconstrained industrial networks.

Cosmos Reason, Metropolis VSS Blueprint, Isaac Sim and deviceWISE work together. They unify video analytics, reasoning and automation into a single autonomous operations framework.

These capabilities map directly to use cases, including:

Quality inspection

Fault recovery

Process insights

Workstation oversight

This illustrates how manufacturers can progress rapidly from pilot to scaled deployment.

"Manufacturers are under pressure to operate with more speed, precision and intelligence than ever before. We're integrating deviceWISE with NVIDIA's latest edge AI technologies. As a result, industrial operations can shift from passive data collection to real-time autonomous decision-making," said Martin Krona, president of services and solutions at Telit Cinterion. "This is the future of industrial intelligence. We're excited to showcase it live at GTC."

As production environments become faster and more complex, traditional monitoring systems cannot keep pace. The deviceWISE Intelligence Suite, enhanced by NVIDIA, enables realtime intelligent workstation monitoring. It also supports autonomous decision-making at the factory edge. Connectivity now acts as an intelligent participant in operations, marking a new era of industrial intelligence.

Join Telit Cinterion at NVIDIA GTC, Booth 1938 to explore how we empower industrial operations with the deviceWISE Intelligence Suite. Visit www.telit.com for details.

About Telit Cinterion

Telit Cinterion is a global IoT leader with over 30 years of innovation experience. It provides modules, connectivity plans and services, platforms, and secure, scalable custom solutions.

Telit Cinterion's product portfolio supports mission-critical applications across industries. In addition, it simplifies life cycle management and device-to-cloud security. The company helps enterprises connect, manage and grow their IoT systems with confidence.

OEMs, system integrators and service providers worldwide trust Telit Cinterion. The company drives digital transformation and unlocks the power of connected technology.

For more information, follow us on YouTube, X, LinkedIn and Facebook . Visit telit.com or subscribe to receive our marketing communications.

Copyright  2026 Telit IoT Solutions Holding Ltd. and/or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. Telit Cinterion, Telit, OneEdge, Cinterion, and all associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Telit Communications S.p.A, Telit Communications LTD, Telit IoT Solutions Holding Ltd. and/or their affiliated companies in the United States and/or other countries. Other names used herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Media Contacts

Greg Oppenheim

Telit Cinterion

+1 949-540-1278

[email protected]

Casey Bush

GRC for Telit Cinterion

+1 949-608-0276

[email protected]

SOURCE Telit Cinterion
BETHESDA, Md., March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- DiamondRock Hospitality Company (the "Company") will report financial results for the first quarter 2026 after the market closes on Thursday, April 30, 2026. The Company will hold a conference call to discuss its first quarter financial results and business outlook on Friday, May 1, 2026, at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time (ET).

The conference call will be accessible by telephone and through the internet. Interested individuals are requested to register for the call using this link to obtain dial-in and webcast details. Registration details are also available by visiting https://investor.drhc.com. To participate in the webcast, please follow instructions via the links above 15 minutes before the call to download the necessary software.

A replay of the call will be available two hours after completion of the live call for a limited time on the Company's website at www.drhc.com.

About the Company

DiamondRock Hospitality Company (Nasdaq: DRH) is a self-advised real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns a leading portfolio of geographically diversified hotels concentrated in leisure destinations and top gateway markets. The Company currently owns 35 premium quality hotels and resorts with approximately 9,600 rooms. The Company has strategically positioned its portfolio to be operated both under leading global brand families as well as independent boutique hotels in the lifestyle segment. For further information on the Company and its portfolio, please visit DiamondRock Hospitality Company's website at www.drhc.com.

SOURCE DiamondRock Hospitality Company
PITTSBURGH, March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Next-gen retail technology platform, Eileen Inc., announced it has closed a $1 million pre-seed funding round. The funding round was led by Top Shelf Ventures. The capital will be used to scale the company's retail insights and execution platform, which bridges the gap between real time store insights and operational execution for CPG brands of all sizes.

Eileen Inc. data info flow infographic

Eileen's core innovation is its Performance Hub, a centralized platform that integrates store level data captured by its own network of "Shoppers", paired with AI-driven analytics to act upon data on-the-ground at scale.

"Retail execution is the single most critical, and often most broken, part of the CPG story," said Jordan Karcher, Founder and CEO of Eileen Inc. "Brands spend billions on marketing and distribution, only to lose at the shelf because they have no visibility into what's truly happening in-store. We built Eileen to give brands an on-demand, real-time view of the shelf at a fraction of the cost of legacy solutions. "

The company plans to use the new capital to:

Scale the AI Infrastructure

Expand Technical Talent

Accelerate Go-to-Market Strategy

"Eileen is solving a massive, persistent problem with an elegant and scalable solution," said Jason Sherman, Managing Partner at Top Shelf Ventures. "The CPG industry loses billions of dollars every year to out-of-stocks and poor shelf execution, and the existing tools to address this are expensive, slow, and inaccessible to most brands. Eileen flips that model entirely by delivering real-time, photo-verified shelf data at a fraction of the cost. We believe Eileen has the potential to become the definitive data layer for retail execution intelligence, and we are thrilled to partner with Jordan and his team."

About Eileen Inc.

Eileen Inc. provides a high-performance retail execution engine designed for the modern brand. By combining AI-driven prescriptive analytics with a seamless Performance Hub, Eileen helps brands instantly bridge the gap between store floor insights and operational execution.

About Top Shelf Ventures

Top Shelf Ventures is a venture capital firm that invests in the best early-stage brands and technologies across the CPG and vice categories including alcohol, nicotine, cannabis-adjacent beverages, and the technologies that support them. The firm leverages deep domain expertise and an extensive industry network to identify breakout opportunities and add meaningful value post-investment.

Visit us at: shopwitheileen.com

Contact: [email protected]

SOURCE Eileen Inc.
Financial Statements for FY 2025

DALLAS, March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Elah Holdings, Inc. (OTC:ELLH) has released its audited annual financial statements and disclosure report for the 2025 fiscal year. This report and additional company information can be found at www.elahholdings.com under the Financial Releases section of the website.

About Elah Holdings

Elah Holdings, Inc. (formerly known as Real Industry, Inc.) is a holding company led by experienced business leaders that is seeking to acquire profitable businesses in the commercial, industrial, financial and other markets to generate sustainable profitability and cash flows, unlock the value of our considerable tax assets, and use creative deal structures that reduce risk and ultimately create long-term value for our shareholders. For more information, visit www.elahholdings.com. Elah Holdings' stock trades on the OTC Current Market, which is operated by OTC Markets Group, a centralized electronic quotation service for over-the-counter securities under the symbol "ELLH."

Contact:

Michael Hobey

Elah Holdings, Inc.

+1 (805) 435-1255

@elah_inc

www.linkedin.com/company/elah-holdings-inc/

SOURCE Elah Holdings, Inc.
$1 million in grants awarded to 10 local sustainability partners

NEW ORLEANS, March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Entergy recently invested $1 million of shareholder funds in 10 local environmental partners through the company's Environmental Initiatives Fund. These grants mark the 25th year that Entergy has used its financial resources to support projects that save energy, educate the public, restore habitat, reduce waste and improve resiliency.

"Protecting natural resources in the communities Entergy serves is central to who we are," said John Weiss, vice president of sustainability and environmental policy. "Our shareholders have supported the work of community partners who are protecting our natural environment and local ecosystems for 25 years, and we are excited to continue that work with today's announcement."

Entergy's Environmental Initiatives Fund identifies projects that improve the environment by reducing emissions, protecting natural resources and restoring wetlands and forests. The fund also supports projects designed to educate Entergy's customers, employees, communities and owners on the value of natural resources and other environmental improvements.

Recipients of the 2025 Environmental Initiatives Fund grants are:

Arbor Day's Energy-Saving Trees is a strategic tree planting initiative focused on distributing 1,000 trees to residential customers to enhance their yards and shade their homes.

Arkansas

Arkansas Game and Fish's Generation Conservation Conclave Program encourages students to collaborate on conservation projects that address modern challenges and allows students to engage with Arkansas Game and Fish professionals.

Louisiana

The University of Louisiana at Lafayette Foundation will conduct a study to quantify carbon offsets using regional farmers and will compare standard farming methods to carbon uptake facilitated by farming methods.

Mississippi

The Jackson Heart Foundation is constructing the half-mile Capitol Green Connector Multi-Use Trail, which will employ green infrastructure to manage stormwater, increase biodiversity, improve air quality, and reduce heat.

New Orleans

The Audubon Institute "Party for the Planet" immersive educational series includes events throughout the year such as "Spring into Action," "Endangered Species Day," "World Ocean Day," and "Pollination Celebration."





immersive educational series includes events throughout the year such as "Spring into Action," "Endangered Species Day," "World Ocean Day," and "Pollination Celebration." The City Park Conservancy will receive funding to support a comprehensive aquatic restoration project to address environmental degradation of its historic lagoon and bayou system.





will receive funding to support a comprehensive aquatic restoration project to address environmental degradation of its historic lagoon and bayou system. Grounds Krewe will receive funding to support the Sustainable Throw Catalog, which promotes sustainable throws and aims to reduce the amount of landfill-bound waste produced during Mardi Gras parades.

Texas

The Liberty County Office of Emergency Management will re-establish degraded wetlands and coastal habitats while managing emergency management clean-up efforts.





will re-establish degraded wetlands and coastal habitats while managing emergency management clean-up efforts. The Mongomery County Food Bank is modernizing the HVAC system by replacing older units with high efficiency units.





is modernizing the HVAC system by replacing older units with high efficiency units. The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation will use funding to match federal and private investments in coast resilience in eastern Texas. The foundation will implement nature-based solutions to reduce risks from coastal hazards on the local community and improve habitat for fish and wildlife.

Since the Environmental Initiatives Fund was established in 2001, Entergy shareholders have invested nearly $45 million in environmentally beneficial projects and programs. The fund also contributes to Entergy's leadership role as an advocate for and contributor to solutions to our most critical environmental challenges.

View the list of grantees and learn more about Entergy's Environmental Initiatives Fund on our website.

2026 requests for proposals now open

If you or someone you know has a project idea that promotes conservation, energy efficiency or delivers other environmental benefits, encourage them to review the Environmental Initiatives Fund's 26th request for proposals for funding on our website. Applications are due May 31 no later than midnight Central Time.

About Entergy

Entergy generates, transmits and distributes electricity to power life for more than 3 million customers through our operating companies in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. We're focused on keeping costs for our customers as low as possible while providing reliable energy that our communities count on. We're also investing in growth for the future with a more resilient, cleaner energy system that includes nuclear, modern natural gas, renewable energy generation and storage. As a nationally recognized leader in sustainability and corporate citizenship, we deliver more than $100 million in economic benefits each year to the communities we serve through philanthropy, volunteerism and advocacy. Entergy is a Fortune 500 company headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana, and has approximately 12,000 employees. Learn more at Entergy.com and connect with @Entergy on social media.

SOURCE Entergy Corporation
ESChat for Government offers enhanced privacy and cybersecurity controls, meeting stringent security and compliance requirements of public sector agencies and commercial customers who operate in highly regulated industries.

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif., March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- ESChat, a global leader in Secure Mission Critical Broadband Push-to-Talk (MCPTT) communication service, today announced that it has received 'GovRAMP Authorized' and 'TX-RAMP Certified' designations. The new designations add to ESChat's current 'FedRAMP Authorized', 'FirstNet Certified', and 'DISA Approved' status.

GovRAMP (formerly StateRAMP) provides a standardized, NIST 800-53 based framework for managing cloud cybersecurity risks, designed for state, local, tribal, and educational (SLTT) institutions. GovRAMP operates a "verify once, serve many" model, which helps government entities secure data while reducing compliance costs.

TX-RAMP (Texas Risk and Authorization Management Program) is a mandatory cybersecurity certification program for cloud services used by Texas state agencies and public higher education institutions. Established by Senate Bill 475, it standardizes security assessments, authorizations, and continuous monitoring to ensure vendor data protection.

'ESChat for Government' is a hardened version of the ESChat broadband communication, collaboration, and interoperability platform, which originally received the 'FedRAMP Authorized' designation in August 2025.

"Our GovRAMP and TX-RAMP initiatives reflect our continued commitment to cybersecure, mission critical broadband communications," said Josh Lober, President of ESChat. "Our new 'GovRAMP Authorized' and 'TX-RAMP Certified' designations represent our continued commitment to provide our customers the most secure and interoperable broadband Push-to-Talk experience possible."

FedRAMP is a U.S. government program that empowers government customers with access to modern cloud technologies, with an emphasis on cybersecurity and protection of federal information. The FedRAMP Authorization Act was signed as part of the FY23 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The Act codifies the FedRAMP program as the authoritative standardized approach to security assessment and authorization for cloud computing products and services that process unclassified federal information.

About ESChat:

ESChat (eschat.com) is a leading provider of mission critical broadband Push-to-Talk (PTT) services. ESChat is a FedRAMP Authorized, GovRAMP Authorized, TX-RAMP Certified, FirstNet Certified solution and is also approved by the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) for U.S. military operational use. ESChat operates on and across all wireless carriers, providing cross-carrier interoperability. ESChat is available to federal government customers through the company's GSA Contract, which also includes a cooperative purchasing agreement for state, local, and tribal government agencies.

SOURCE ESChat
In the news release, Federal Judge Blocks Immunization Schedule Changes, Stays ACIP Member Appointments, issued 16-Mar-2026 by American Academy of Pediatrics over PR Newswire, we are advised by the company that changes have been made. The complete, corrected release follows:

Federal Judge Blocks Immunization Schedule Changes, Stays ACIP Member Appointments

Order stays Secretary Kennedy's pediatric vaccine schedule

Secretary Kennedy's 13 appointments to the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ACIP) are stayed for likely having violated the Federal Advisory Committee Act

All votes taken by the now-stayed ACIP are stayed

"ACIP as currently constituted cannot meet"

BOSTON, March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- A coalition of leading medical professional societies and public health organizations today announced that the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts has issued an order to stay Secretary Kennedy's appointments to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), as the appointments were likely made in violation of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA). Judge Brian Murphy also stayed all votes taken by the now-stayed ACIP.

The order further stays the heavily revised vaccine schedule issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on January 5.

Plaintiffsthe American Academy of Pediatrics, American Public Health Association, American College of Physicians, Infectious Diseases Society of America, Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Massachusetts Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Massachusetts Public Health Alliance, and Jane Does 1, 2 and 3requested the court issue an injunction after HHS announced significant changes to the national pediatric immunization schedule in January.

The underlying lawsuit, AAP et. al. v Kennedy et. al., challenges recent directives and actions by HHS that plaintiffs intend to prove circumvented longstanding, evidence-based procedures traditionally used to develop national vaccine guidance. These actions undermine public health, disrupt clinical practice, and erode confidence in immunization policy.

The Court has already ruled that the larger case may proceed and has denied the government's motion to dismiss.

Plaintiff and Attorney Statements

Statement from Richard Hughes IV, Epstein Becker Green, Attorney for Plaintiffs:

"This ruling is a momentous step toward restoring science-based vaccine policymaking. The judge recognized that the actions of Secretary Kennedy and the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices are not grounded in science and that they are destructive. We are thrilled that the court has discarded the baseless vaccine schedule changes made by Secretary Kennedy and is blocking the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices from doing further damage to vaccine policy."

Andrew P. Racine, MD, PhD, FAAP, President, American Academy of Pediatrics

"Today's ruling is an historic and welcomed outcome for children, families, pediatricians and communities across the United States. For many years the American Academy of Pediatrics, in collaboration with partners in the federal government, recommended a schedule of immunizations to promote children's health and development. Today's ruling marks an important step toward restoring scientific decision-making that is at the heart of that partnership. Protecting the health and safety of America's children is what prompted the AAP to petition the court for this decision from the outset and that goal will remain our guiding principle."

Georges C. Benjamin, MD, CEO, American Public Health Association

"This injunction underscores the need for using science in public health decision-making and using a process that engages qualified experts when it comes to recommending interventions that impact human health," says CEO of the American Public Health Association Georges C. Benjamin, MD. He adds, "Trust occurs when we engage the public in a transparent process, not one where decisions are made behind closed doors by unqualified individuals and presented in a disingenuous way."

Ronald G. Nahass, MD, MHCM, FIDSA, President, IDSA:

"Today's court ruling is an important step toward protecting Americans' access to life-saving vaccines. Infectious diseases doctors remain hopeful that adherence to a scientifically valid process in determining vaccine policy ultimately will be restored. Secretary Kennedy has caused needless confusion and distrust in vaccine guidance and unless stopped, his actions will continue to result in preventable disease outbreaks."

Jason M. Goldman, MD, MACP, President, ACP:

"Today's ruling is a win for public health and reaffirms that national vaccine policy should be guided by rigorous, evidence-based science, not politics," said Jason M. Goldman, MD, MACP, president of ACP. "Vaccines are critical to maintaining public health and recommendations about their use must be based on the best available data. Scientific consensus and overwhelming evidence demonstrate that vaccines are safe and effective. We are encouraged by today's injunction and hope that it will mean a return to a transparent and evidence-driven process that safeguards the health of all communities and the best interests of our patients."

Sindhu K. Srinivas, MD, MSCE, Immediate Past President, SMFM:

"We welcome today's court decision, which blocks ACIP and the CDC from making further nonevidence-based changes to established vaccine recommendations and restores the recommendations in place prior to January 5, 2026. As maternal-fetal medicine specialists caring for high-risk pregnancies, our highest priority is protecting pregnant patients, their infants, and families from vaccine-preventable illness and deathguided by rigorous science, transparent evidence, and clinical best practices."

Carlene Pavlos, Executive Director Massachusetts Public Health Alliance

"The Massachusetts Public Health Alliance is grateful for the judge's careful consideration of the issues at stake and his decision to issue a preliminary injunction to pause the implementation of a childhood vaccination schedule that could undermine years of progress in saving our nation's children from illness, suffering, and even death. We are equally grateful for his decision to enjoin the illegally constituted Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices from meeting until this case can be resolved. However, this is not the end. The continuing assaults by the federal administration on vaccine policy and infrastructure have not abated since we and our sister plaintiffs originally filed this complaint and there is no reason to believe they will stop as we move forward. But we are all in this because we know that people's health and lives are at risk and we are committed to promoting public health and we will continue to fight over the long road ahead."

Brenda Anders Pring, President, Massachusetts Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics

"The MCAAP applauds Judge Murphy's quick decision, giving Massachusetts pediatricians the opportunity to celebrate rare good news for child and adolescent health. We will continue to stand up for our patients by practicing science-based medicine to counteract this administration's relentless efforts to undermine vaccines and vaccine policy."

MEDIA CONTACT: Annalise Carol, [email protected]

Correction: Minor edits were made to the first subheadline and in paragraphs one and two.

SOURCE American Academy of Pediatrics; Infectious Diseases Society of America; Massachusetts Public Health Alliance; American Public Health Association; American College of Physicians; Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine
New look, same spirit.

MIAMI, March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- To celebrate 135 years of family legacy, Flor de Cana has introduced a refined new design across its premium rum portfolio  a bold evolution that honors its volcanic origin, five-generation heritage dating back to 1890, and long-standing commitment to sustainability and quality.

To celebrate 135 years of family legacy, Flor de Cana has introduced a new design across its premium rum portfolio. Post this Flor de Cana 12 and 18 Year Rums

More than a visual update, the new identity marks an exciting milestone for the brand. The redesigned packaging elevates Flor de Cana's premium presence around the world while bringing its story, craftsmanship, and purpose closer to consumers  allowing them to enjoy a world-class spirit that reflects both authentic heritage and responsible practices.

The bottles have been redesigned to be 18% lighter, helping reduce environmental impact and transport-related emissions. The packaging is also fully recyclable and produced using vegetable-based inks with less paper waste during manufacturing  thoughtful improvements that allow consumers to enjoy their favorite rum with a lighter footprint.

At the same time, the new look enhances the brand's storytelling and premium character, highlighting elements such as Flor de Cana's Carbon Neutral certification, its distillation with 100% renewable energy, and its internationally recognized quality awards. Refined finishes celebrate the brand's craftsmanship and ultra-premium positioning, with details such as the wooden stopper  a nod to aging in American white oak barrels  and the signature green belt symbolizing Flor de Cana's historic commitment to sustainability.

While the visual identity evolves, the rum itself remains unchanged. Each expression continues to be naturally and sustainably aged at the base of an active volcano, without sugar or artificial ingredients  delivering the same authentic taste and quality that has defined Flor de Cana for generations.

The new portfolio design began rolling out in the U.S. market in January 2026 and is now available in major retail stores and on the Flor de Cana website: www.flordecana.com

About Flor de Cana

Flor de Cana is a premium rum brand that is Carbon Neutral certified and sustainably made, from field to bottle. From an 1890 family estate, it's distilled with 100% renewable energy and naturally aged at the base of an active volcano without sugar or artificial ingredients. Recognized as a global leader in sustainability, the brand has received distinctions such as "World's Most Sustainable Rum Brand" (USA), "Ethical Award" (UK) and "Sustainable Spirits Producer" (France).

Media contact:

[email protected]

SOURCE Flor de Cana
Welcomes Xin Yao, MD to Statewide Practice

FORT MYERS, Fla., March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute, LLC (FCS) welcomes board-certified medical oncologist and hematologist Xin Yao, MD to the statewide practice. Dr. Yao will provide care to patients at the FCS clinics in Lee County at FCS Naples Napa Ridge, 3530 Kraft Rd., Ste. 300, Naples, FL 34105 and in FCS Estero, 8440 Murano Del Lago Drive, Estero, FL 34125.

Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute Expands Team of Cancer Experts in Lee County

Dr. Yao brings a special interest in gastrointestinal oncology and serves as community chair for GI oncology with the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group, a network of nearly 1,400 academic and community-based cancer centers and hospitals across the United States and worldwide.

David Wenk, MD, FCS assistant managing physician, said, "Dr. Yao's extensive clinical experience and leadership in gastrointestinal oncology enhances our ability to provide cutting-edge, research-driven care close to home. His longstanding commitment to compassionate, patient-centered treatment aligns perfectly with the mission at FCS."

Dr. Yao earned his medical degree from Hebei Medical University in Shijazhuang, China. He completed his internship and residency in internal medicine at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, followed by a fellowship in hematology and medical oncology at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. He is board-certified in medical oncology, hematology, and internal medicine.

Prior to joining FCS, Dr. Yao practiced as a medical oncologist with Cleveland Clinic in Stuart, Florida. He is a member of the American Medical Association, American Society of Clinical Oncology, and American Society of Hematology.

About Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute, LLC: (FLCancer.com)

For more than 40 years, Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute (FCS) has embraced innovation to deliver world-class care and drive the dramatic transformation of oncology care through its robust clinical research program.

FCS provides patients with access to a wide range of clinical trials, positioning it as a leader in research among private oncology practices in Florida and across the country. In fact, before receiving FDA approval, the majority of new cancer drugs in the U.S. were first made available to patients through participation in clinical trials at FCS.

Our outstanding team of highly trained and dedicated physicians is committed to delivering tailored treatment plans that make the best use of cutting-edge precision oncology advancements to enhance patient outcomes.

SOURCE Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute
Ukraine has reached 84% implementation of its Association Agreement with the European Union, according to a 2025 report cited by the Office of the Vice Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration.

"Based on the results of 2025, the overall progress in implementing the Agreement rose from 81% in 2024 to 84% in 2025," the statement reads.

Last year, the most significant progress in fulfilling obligations was achieved in the following sectors: "Financial Sector" saw an 8% annual increase (reaching 82% total progress); "Social Policy and Labor Relations" grew by 7% (87% total); "Customs Issues" rose by 5% (96% total); and "Agriculture" increased by 5% (79% total).

The highest levels of implementation were recorded in "Statistics and Information Exchange" (100%), "Education, Training, and Youth" (99%), and "Intellectual Property" (98%).

The least progress was noted in the following areas: science, technology, innovation, and space (74%); transport, transport infrastructure, postal and courier services (59%); and financial cooperation and anti-fraud efforts (24%).

For the period of 20142025, the primary entities responsible for implementation show the following performance: the Cabinet of Ministers fulfilled 81% of its measures, the Verkhovna Rada reached 74%, and other state authorities completed 68% of their assigned tasks.
Deployments further expand Global AI's sovereign AI infrastructure capacity

Global AI to install NVIDIA Vera Rubin NVL72 rack-scale systems across its U.S. footprint

Global AI is brining 100MW on line in 2026, 250MW in 2027 and 1GW in 2029

SAN JOSE, Calif., March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Global AI, an NVIDIA Cloud Partner and American provider of sovereign AI infrastructure, today announced that it has completed its deployment of NVIDIA GB300 NVL72 systems at its Endicott facility in New York to run the largest NVIDIA GB300 NVL72 cluster in the state. The company also announced that it plans to deploy the NVIDIA Vera Rubin platform across its U.S. data center footprint.

The continued capacity expansion of the Endicott facility in New York, including the planned NVIDIA Vera Rubin NVL72 deployment, marks Global AI's next step in building secure, high-density sovereign AI infrastructure for model training, large-scale inference, and sovereign-cloud integration within completely secure ecosystems. Building on Global AI's access to the latest GPU technologies, including NVIDIA GB300 NVL72, the Vera Rubin deployment underscores the company's ability to deliver bleeding-edge, high-performance AI compute.

Global AI is actively deploying 7000 GB300s. The deployment supports Global AI's compute capacity growth roadmap, with 16 megawatts (MW) of initial critical IT load as the company ramps up to 100 MW throughout 2026.

"These deployments underscore Global AI's compute-first strategy and disciplined execution," Michael Jeter, Director and Head of World Wide Sales at Global AI. "With our success in New York and our upcoming Vera Rubin rollout, we are extending our sovereign infrastructure platform to support clients through the next frontier of reasoning-intensive workloadswhile maintaining the operational discipline, security posture, and data-sovereignty controls our customers require."

He added, "In an era where public LLMs risk diluting differentiation, Global AI provides the sovereign infrastructure to keep proprietary intelligence under enterprise controlensuring your competitive edge doesn't become the market's baseline."

"The NVIDIA Vera Rubin platform is engineered with extreme co-design across new six chips, to power agentic AI and reasoning-intensive workloads within a secure, sovereign infrastructure," said Dave Salvator, Director of Accelerated Computing Products at NVIDIA. "Global AI's deployment of NVIDIA Blackwell, and their commitment to the Vera Rubin platform, clearly demonstrates their focus on delivering performant, sovereign AI at scale."

Built for rack-scale AI: compute first, then end-to-end integration

Global AI's deployment program focuses on the seamless integration of compute, networking, storage, and liquid cooling to ensure every subsystem is engineered for sustained high utilization. The company works with leading technology infrastructure providers, Supermicro (SMC), whose high-performance server platforms underpin the rack-scale architecture supporting Global AI's NVIDIA-powered deployments.

This approach centers on high-density performance, moving from the company's current NVIDIA GB300 NVL72 deployment in New York toward a future roadmap that incorporates NVIDIA Vera Rubin NVL72 racks. Once deployed, these Vera Rubin-based systems will provide the core acceleration for the next generation of training and inference workloads.

The NVIDIA Vera Rubin platform represents a step change in how large-scale AI systems are designed and operated. It advances rack-scale AI by integrating CPUs, GPUs, and high-bandwidth interconnect in a single system. This architecture supports higher utilization, lower latency, and more predictable performance for large-scale AI workloads  helping customers improve performance per watt, reduce orchestration complexity, and scale efficiently without stitching together disjointed systems.

About Global AI

Global AI is a U.S.-based, vertically integrated sovereign AI infrastructure company and the world's first sovereign AI hyperscaler, designing, building, powering, and operating single-tenant, air-gapped AI data centers that enable nations and enterprises to develop and deploy artificial intelligence within their own jurisdiction. Global AI's fully integrated model spans land, energy, construction, advanced liquid cooling, and GPU-dense compute, ensuring complete physical and operational separation across the entire stack. With infrastructure deployments across the United States, Global AI is executing a disciplined expansion strategy toward 1 gigawatt of critical capacity by the end of 2029delivering secure, compliant, and sovereign AI infrastructure at national scale.

SOURCE Global AI
Nurses, Case Workers to Demand Lawmakers Hold Henry Ford Accountable

LANSING, Mich., March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- 750 striking nurses and case workers at Henry Ford Genesys Hospital, represented by Teamsters Local 332, will take their fight for a new contract to the state capitol on Tuesday, March 17. The striking Teamsters will be joined by local elected officials, Teamsters members and leaders from across Michigan, and labor allies to demand that lawmakers hold Henry Ford accountable.

On September 1, Teamsters were forced to the picket line after their employer violated numerous labor laws and attempted to gut their contract. Since then, the hospital has committed multiple unfair labor practices and refused to accept Local 332's return-to-work agreement that would protect nurses' seniority and allow experienced nurses to return to their jobs.

WHO: Henry Ford Genesys Teamsters

Kevin Moore, President of Teamsters Joint Council 43

John Cherry, Chair of the State Senate Labor Committee (D-District 27)

Mallory McMarrow, State Senator and Majority Whip (D-District 8)

Chris Swanson, Michigan Gubernatorial Candidate

Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, Candidate for U.S. Senate

Ron Bieber, President of Michigan AFL-CIO

Dina Carlisle, RN, President of RN Staff Council at OPEIU Local 40

Steve Dawes, UAW Region 1D Director

Kelly Indish, President of AFSCME Local 875



WHEN: Tuesday, March 17

11 a.m.  1 p.m.



WHERE: 100 N Capitol Ave

Lansing, MI 48933

Media Contact:

Maura Drumm, (215) 510-3735

[email protected]

On-Site Contact:

Dan Glass, (810) 869-3692

SOURCE Teamsters Local 332
New line of frozen seafood skillet meals is being showcased at The Seafood Expo North America this week along with an array of other new High Liner Foods retail and foodservice products

For product images click here

LUNENBURG, NS , March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ - High Liner Foods Incorporated is introducing their brand new line of Sea Cuisine Skillet Meals, with a first look and taste, this week at the Seafood Expo North America (SENA). This innovative lineup of products, designed with the modern consumer in mind, is expanding the range of complete meal options available in the frozen meals category.

These chef-crafted, responsibly sourced, skillet meals feature globally inspired recipes that deliver delicious restaurant-quality meals at home. They are a complete meal solution; all made in a single pan and ready in 15 minutes. With premium ingredients and an excellent source of protein, these are a perfect dinner option for any night of the week.

"Sea Cuisine's Skillet Meals are made for today's consumers. We know that consumers are looking for meal options that are easy to prepare, tasty and high in protein and this new lineup of meal options is the answer for the perfect, restaurant-quality, easy weeknight meal," said Anthony Rasetta, Chief Commercial Officer, High Liner Foods. "We've also broadened the frozen seafood meal offerings commonly available to consumers, with sole and salmon options in addition to shrimp, to meet a wider range of tastes and preferences."

The three new Sea Cuisine Skillet Meals include:

1. Mediterranean-Style Sole Pasta

Sea Cuisine's premium wild caught sole is perfectly paired with penne pasta, roasted yellow & red peppers and diced tomatoes in a chef-crafted Mediterranean inspired lemon caper sauce.

22g of protein per portion

2. Thai Red Curry Salmon

Sea Cuisine's premium wild caught salmon with snap peas, red bell peppers, carrots and brown rice in a chef-crafted Thai red curry sauce.

19g of protein per portion

3. Chili Garlic Shrimp

Sea Cuisine's premium shrimp with chow mein noodles, broccoli, red peppers, and carrots in a chef-crafted chili garlic sauce.

15g of protein per portion

Consumers want meal options that are easy, fast and nutritious. Recent National Eating Trends results show that*:

45% of consumers want meals that have no prep, are simple and made in one dish.

75% of consumers want meals ready in 15 minutes or less.

41% of consumers are looking to consume more protein.

Sea Cuisine Skillet Meals are checking all these boxes for consumers and product testing results prove that, with over 87% of participants remarking that the products exceeded their expectations and 91% of participants expressing they were easy to prepare.**

Skillet Meals will be available across the United States in June 2026 with broader North American distribution to come.

These new innovative products are joined at SENA by a variety of High Liner Foods products including the recently released Sea Cuisine Guinness Battered Shrimp and Fish Strips, Van de Kamps Shark Bites and High Liner Foodservices' Fully Cooked portfolio of products.

High Liner Foods can be found at Booth 2865 at SENA where retail and foodservice customers can learn more about these new products and enjoy select samples.

Sources:

* Circana, National Eating Trends, 12ME March 2025 Sourced from home/retail and consumed in home and Circana, National Eating Trends, 2. Circana, NET HABTS, 12ME March 2025

** Home use test ("HUT") conducted by Matrix Sciences*, January 2026

About High Liner Foods Incorporated

High Liner Foods Incorporated is a leading North American processor and marketer of value-added frozen seafood. High Liner Foods' retail branded products are sold throughout the United States and Canada under the High Liner, Sea Cuisine, Mrs. Paul's, Van de Kamp's, Fisher Boy, C.Wirthy, Mirabel, and Catch of the Day labels, and are available in most grocery and club stores. The Company also sells branded products to restaurants and institutions under the High Liner, Mirabel, Icelandic Seafood and FPI labels and is a major supplier of private label value-added seafood products to North American food retailers and foodservice distributors.

High Liner Foods is a publicly traded Canadian company, trading under the symbol HLF on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

For further information about the Company, please visit our website at www.highlinerfoods.com

SOURCE High Liner Foods Incorporated
WASHINGTON, March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- HillFaith, an organization dedicated to examining the intersection of faith, history, and public policy, affirms the enduring relevance of 17th-century philosopher John Locke's political standards as a critical foundation for effective American lawmaking. This focused emphasis, rooted in Locke's profound influence on the American founding generation, serves as a timely reminder to contemporary legislators and policymakers regarding the ethical and moral standards upon which the U.S. legal system was built.

HillFaith

The organization highlights Locke's political philosophy, which, though not tied to orthodox Christianity, accorded tremendous respect to the moral values encouraged by the Bible and various religious denominations. These values were considered essential inputs for laws intended to serve the public good. Locke's writings, which were constant companions and instructors to many of the Founders, provided a framework for establishing a government constrained by higher principles. HillFaith maintains that understanding this historical context is vital for producing sound legislation today.

The Standard for Legitimate Lawmaking

Central to HillFaith's focus is a pivotal statement from Locke's Second Treatise on Civil Government, which established a clear criterion for legitimate legislation: "Laws  must be made according to the general Laws of Nature, and without contradiction to any positive Law of Scripture, otherwise they are ill made." This standard, the organization asserts, was a key guiding principle for early American leaders seeking to create a just republic. It suggests that laws gain their full authority from their alignment with an objective, moral order, rather than simply the prevailing political climate.

The analysis provided by HillFaith underscores that the persistent strength of American constitutionalism stems, in part, from this Lockean insistence on natural law and limits on governmental authority. The Founders sought to integrate universal moral truths into the positive law of the land, thereby preventing governance from devolving into arbitrary or purely pragmatic rule. This philosophical basis serves as a continuous intellectual challenge to lawmakers to consider the ethical and philosophical implications of their actions.

Reasserting Core Principles for Modern Policy

By reasserting Locke's standard, HillFaith aims to encourage a more disciplined and informed approach to contemporary public policy challenges. The organization believes that a deliberate engagement with the philosophical context of the founding era is crucial for maintaining the integrity and long-term viability of American governance. This historical insight serves as a necessary intellectual guardrail, encouraging legislators to ensure that statutory laws align with objective principles of justice and morality, transcending temporary political considerations.

The organization's work echoes the sentiment that while Locke was British, his role as a profound inspiration for the Founding Fathers makes his political insights immediately applicable to every individual involved in the American legislative process today, regardless of their position.

Learn more about HillFaith: https://www.hillfaith.org/

About HillFaith

HillFaith is a non-profit organization dedicated to examining the intersection of religion, faith, and public policy, primarily within the Washington, D.C. sphere. The organization offers insightful analysis, historical commentary, and resources to help lawmakers, staff, and interested citizens understand the influence of Judeo-Christian values on American political thought, the essential role of faith in a free society, and the ethical responsibilities inherent in governance.

Contact Information

Mark Tapscott

[email protected]

301-275-6645

SOURCE HillFaith
MONTICELLO, Ind., March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- What do most buyers misunderstand when looking at Lake Shafer homes or Lake Freeman homes? A HelloNation article provides the answer, offering detailed insight from Real Estate Network expert Chris Thayer of Monticello, Indiana, on how lakefront home purchases differ from traditional real estate transactions. The article shows how shoreline rules, permits, and utility expectations create a different ownership experience on the lake.

Chris Thayer, Broker and Owner Speed Speed

The article explains that a lakefront property is not just a house with a view. It's a blend of the home, shoreline, and water access, shaped by environmental and licensing rules. Buyers often assume they are gaining full control of the land between their home and the lake, but the article clarifies that this space is typically managed by the Shafer Freeman Lakes Environmental Conservation Corporation, or SFLECC.

The role of SFLECC is key to understanding what can and cannot be done with a waterfront lot. As the article points out, Lake Shafer homes and Lake Freeman homes fall under SFLECC oversight. One of the first steps for new property owners is to secure a shoreline license, which grants access to use the shoreline. This license carries an annual $175 fee and places the homeowner under specific shoreline rules.

The article notes that structures such as docks, lifts, and seawalls must obtain separate dock permits from SFLECC. Even longstanding fixtures may be subject to review. The article stresses that failing to follow the permit process can limit how the property is used and enjoyed. According to the article, these requirements are not arbitrary. They help maintain shoreline quality, preserve safe access, and support long-term water health.

In the article, Real Estate Network expert Chris Thayer emphasizes that these rules protect both the lakes and home values. SFLECC also performs services such as dredging and hazard removal to ensure waterways remain safe and navigable. The article notes that buyers who understand and follow shoreline rules help protect their investment and support the broader real estate market in Monticello, Indiana.

The article also addresses common questions about utilities. Many assume that homes around the lakes rely on septic systems. However, both Lake Shafer homes and Lake Freeman homes connect to the Twin Lakes Regional Sewer District. This update has replaced aging septic systems and reduced the risk of pollution. Owners pay sewer fees similar to those of in-town residents, helping reduce future repair costs.

Financing and insurance are additional concerns the article explores. Lenders may require documentation showing that shoreline licenses and dock permits are in place. Insurance providers also evaluate flood risk, compliance, and shoreline maintenance. The article makes clear that these factors can affect premiums, and buyers should budget for these considerations from the beginning.

Another key point is resale. Real Estate Network expert Chris Thayer explains that properties with proper licensing and compliance tend to hold their value over time. Buyers who treat lakefront purchases as they would a standard home may face costly surprises later. The article stresses that being informed upfront is the best way to protect both enjoyment and resale value.

The article concludes by reminding readers that lakefront homes offer scenic beauty and recreational benefits, but success in ownership depends on understanding the layers of responsibility that come with them. For anyone considering Lake Shafer homes or Lake Freeman homes, the article provides a valuable overview of what to expect.

What Most People Get Wrong About Buying a Lakefront Home features insights from Chris Thayer, Real Estate Network Expert of Monticello, Indiana, in HelloNation.

About HelloNation

HelloNation is a premier media platform that connects readers with trusted professionals and businesses across various industries. Through its innovative "edvertising" approach that blends educational content and storytelling, HelloNation delivers expert-driven articles that inform, inspire, and empower. Covering topics from home improvement and health to business strategy and lifestyle, HelloNation highlights leaders making a meaningful impact in their communities.

SOURCE HelloNation
WASHINGTON, March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Members of the Family Federation and supporters will gather outside the Japanese Embassy in Washington, DC on Thursday, March 19 at 12:00 PM to call attention to what organizers describe as a serious and historic moment for religious freedom in Japan.

Participants say the Japanese government has dissolved the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, resulting in the closure of 400 churches and offices across the country. Congregations that had existed for decades were forced to shut their doors, and thousands of members were asked to leave sanctuaries where they had prayed, gathered, and raised their families in faith.

"For our brothers and sisters in Japan, this moment has brought deep sorrow and uncertainty," organizers said. "Communities that have served quietly and sacrificially for decades are now facing the sudden loss of their churches and places of worship."

The demonstration in Washington will serve as a peaceful appeal for the protection of religious liberty and the dignity of people of the members of the Family Federation. Organizers say members of the global faith community are standing in solidarity with those in Japan who cannot publicly gather in the same way.

"For decades, Japanese members have supported missions around the world, traveling to distant nations, raising families in faith, and investing their lives for the sake of humanity," organizers said. "Now they are facing hardship, and the global family stands with them."

The rally comes at a significant moment as Japanese leadership visits Washington this week. Participants say they hope their peaceful demonstration will raise awareness and encourage dialogue about the protection of religious freedom.

Organizers expect approximately 500 participants, including members of the Family Federation and supporters of religious liberty.

"This gathering is not about anger or confrontation," organizers said. "It is about standing with our family and reminding the world that religious freedom matters."

Members in Japan are currently unable to gather publicly in the same way due to the closure of their churches. Supporters in the United States say they are using their freedom to speak out respectfully on behalf of those affected.

The event will include speakers and participants holding signs calling for help for their family of faith in Japan.

Event Details

WHAT: Help! Protest for Family Federation Japan

WHEN: Thursday, March 19, 2026, 12:00 PM

WHERE: Japanese Embassy, 2520 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington, DC 20008

Members of the public who wish to attend can register and receive updates at:

http://help.familyfed.org

Media Contact:

Ron Lucas

Irving Street Rep

[email protected]

Sungmi Holdhus

Family Federation for World Peace and Unification USA

[email protected]

SOURCE Family Federation for World Peace and Unification
Overweight and Obesity Remained the Third Most Common Telehealth Diagnostic Category Nationally

The Percentage of Patients with a Telehealth Claim Increased Nationally and in Every Region

NEW YORK, March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- In December 2025, overweight and obesity entered the top five telehealth diagnostic categories in the South for the first time in 2025, according to FAIR Health's Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker. Also in December, this diagnostic category entered the rankings in the Midwest for the first time since June. In both regions, it entered in fifth position, displacing November's fifth-position categories (encounter for examination in the South, noninflammatory female disorders in the Midwest), which fell off the lists. From November to December, there was no change in the overweight and obesity category rankings nationally or in the other regions; it ranked second in the West and third nationally and in the Northeast. The data represent the commercially insured population, excluding Medicare Fee-for-Service, Medicare Advantage and Medicaid.

Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker, December 2025, United States

In December, the largest percentage of telehealth claims, nationally and in every region, again consisted of patients with a mental health condition. From November to December, that percentage decreased nationally and in every region. Nationally, patients with a mental health condition decreased from 63.0 percent of patients with a telehealth claim in November to 62.4 percent in December.

Utilization

The percentage of patients with a telehealth claim increased nationally and in every US census region in December 2025. Nationally, that percentage increased from 15.0 percent in November to 15.2 percent in December, a 1.5 percent rise. The largest increase was in the Northeast, at 1.8 percent; in the South, it was 1.2 percent; in the West, it was 0.7 percent; and in the Midwest, it was 0.2 percent.

Telehealth utilization as measured by telehealth claim lines1 increased nationally and in the Northeast and South but decreased in the Midwest and West in December 2025. Nationally, telehealth claim lines increased from 5.1 percent of medical claim lines in November to 5.2 percent in December, an increase of 2.8 percent. In the Northeast, the increase was 3.5 percent and, in the South, it was 3.7 percent. In the Midwest, telehealth claim lines decreased by 2.1 percent, and in the West, the decrease was 0.5 percent.

Urban Versus Rural

In December 2025, as in November, telehealth utilization was higher in urban than rural areas nationally and in every region.2 Nationally, 15.4 percent of patients in urban areas had a telehealth claim, compared to 7.9 percent in rural areas. The largest difference occurred in the Midwest, where the percentage of urban patients using telehealth (11.7 percent) was 2.3 times the percentage of rural patients (5.1 percent). The smallest difference was found in the Northeast, where the percentage of patients in urban areas using telehealth (17.8 percent) was 1.5 times the percentage of patients in rural areas using telehealth (12.2 percent).

Age Distribution

In December 2025, the age group 31-40 followed by the age group 19-30 had the highest proportion of patients with a telehealth claim nationally and in every region. This was a change from November, when the two top age groups were reversed everywhere except the South. Nationally and in every region, the age groups 0-9 and 65 and older had the lowest proportion of patients with a telehealth claim. In all areas, less than 10 percent of patients in those age groups had a telehealth claim.

Procedure Categories

In December 2025, psychotherapy services and procedures, and established patient office or other outpatient services (including those for mental health conditions), were, as in November, the top two procedure categories nationally and in every region. The order of the two varied by location: Psychotherapy services and procedures ranked first nationally (47.4 percent of patients with a telehealth claim in December, down from 47.5 percent in November) and in the Midwest and Northeast in both months, while established patient office or other outpatient services ranked first in the South and West in both months.

About the Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker

Launched in May 2020 as a free service, the Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker uses FAIR Health data to track how telehealth is evolving from month to month. An interactive map of the four US census regions allows the user to view an infographic on telehealth in a specific month in the nation as a whole or in individual regions. Each year, the infographic introduces varied views into telehealth utilization. In this sixth iteration of the Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker, each infographic shows month-to-month changes in telehealth utilization, both through telehealth's percentage of medical claim lines and percent of patients with a telehealth claim; and that month's top five diagnostic categories; top five procedure categories; age distribution, which captures the percentage of patients within each age group with a telehealth claim; and urban versus rural telehealth usage.

This will be the last monthly edition of the Telehealth Tracker. Beginning with data from 2026, the Telehealth Tracker will be released quarterly as the Quarterly Telehealth Regional Tracker. The first installment, presenting data from January to March 2026, will be released in June 2026.

For the Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker, click here.

Follow us on X @FAIRHealth

About FAIR Health

FAIR Health's mission is to supply objective, unbiased information for all stakeholders to improve healthcare quality, access and affordability. It holds the nation's largest collection of commercial healthcare claims data, which is growing at a rate of about four billion claim records a year. A national Qualified Entity certified by CMS, FAIR Health also receives all claims for individuals enrolled in traditional Medicare Parts A, B and D. As a testament to its reliability and objectivity, FAIR Health's data productsincluding pricing benchmarks and custom analyticsare widely used by commercial insurers and self-insurers, providers, hospitals and healthcare systems, government, researchers and more. FAIR Health has been designated an official data source for state health programs, including workers' compensation and personal injury protection (PIP) programs, and surprise billing laws that protect consumers. FAIR Health's free consumer website and mobile app, available in English and Spanish, enable consumers to estimate and plan for their healthcare expenses and offer a rich educational platform on health insurance. The website has been honored by the White House Summit on Smart Disclosure, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), URAC, the eHealthcare Leadership Awards, appPicker, Employee Benefit News and Kiplinger's Personal Finance. FAIR Health is a national, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. For more information on FAIR Health, visit fairhealth.org.

1 A claim line is an individual service or procedure listed on an insurance claim.

2 Each telehealth service was attributed to a rural/urban designation in a region based on the patient's medical service area, which FAIR Health determines based on the unique geographical pattern of services utilized by the patient.

Contact:

Rachel Kent

Executive Director of Communications and Marketing

FAIR Health

646-396-0795

[email protected]

SOURCE FAIR Health
EASTON, Pa., March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- What types of protection should small businesses in Easton, PA, include in their insurance plans? That question is addressed in a HelloNation article featuring insights from David Wolff of Kressler Wolff & Miller. The feature presents a detailed checklist for business owners seeking clarity on how commercial liability insurance, property insurance, and related coverages help keep operations stable when unexpected events occur.

David Wolff - President, Kressler Wolff & Miller

The HelloNation article explains that small businesses in Easton operate in a blend of historic buildings, compact storefronts, and expanding industrial areas. Each of these environments carries unique risks, making a careful insurance review essential. Many business owners start with a standard policy package, only to find that insurance gaps appear later. Addressing these gaps early helps prevent confusion during a claim and provides financial support when disruptions happen.

According to the article, commercial liability insurance is the foundation of most business coverage. It responds when a customer or visitor is injured or when the business accidentally causes property damage. This protection is especially important in Easton's busy commercial districts, where narrow sidewalks and close storefronts increase the chances of simple mishaps. Commercial liability insurance helps reduce financial strain by offering a reliable safeguard against everyday accidents.

Property insurance is another critical component. The HelloNation feature notes that many Easton businesses rely on specialized equipment, inventory, or leased spaces that could be affected by fire, theft, or water damage. Property insurance covers the repair or replacement of physical assets after a covered event. Because older buildings in the city center may have aging electrical systems or worn roofing, maintaining accurate coverage limits is crucial. Without proper adjustments, businesses may discover too late that their policy does not fully match the replacement cost of modern equipment or infrastructure.

The article also highlights business interruption coverage as a key tool for keeping operations running. When a covered loss temporarily shuts down a business, this coverage helps maintain payroll, rent, and other fixed expenses. In a walkable community like Easton, where short closures can shift customer habits, business interruption coverage supports continuity until normal operations can resume. However, it only applies to specific types of events, so understanding the details of what is covered is an important part of responsible planning.

Reviewing policies regularly is another major theme in the HelloNation feature. Businesses change as they grow, adding services, equipment, or new locations, and these shifts can create new exposures. Insurance gaps often appear when coverage is not updated to reflect current operations. The article advises that regular check-ins help align protection with the business's present needs and prevent coverage shortfalls during a claim.

The role of cyber liability is also growing across the region. As the article explains, even small shops now depend on digital payment systems and store customer data electronically. A cyber breach can quickly become expensive, requiring notifications, system recovery, and sometimes credit monitoring for affected customers. Many owners mistakenly assume general liability insurance covers such incidents, but cyber liability typically requires its own protection. Reviewing digital exposure has become as important as checking locks or alarm systems.

Another area highlighted in the HelloNation article is workers compensation coverage. Any business with employees must ensure compliance with state requirements to protect against costs related to job-related injuries. Workers compensation helps pay for medical care and lost wages after an injury occurs. It also applies to contractors or part-time workers under certain conditions. The article stresses that correctly classifying each worker helps avoid complications during a claim and ensures consistent protection for the entire team.

Commercial auto coverage is another essential item on the checklist. Vehicles used for deliveries, service calls, or equipment transport often require separate commercial coverage, even if they are occasionally used for business purposes. Personal auto policies rarely extend to these situations. By reviewing commercial auto insurance in advance, business owners can prevent disputes over which policy applies when an accident occurs.

Professional liability coverage, sometimes known as errors and omissions insurance, is also addressed in the HelloNation piece. It applies to businesses that provide professional advice or specialized services. The coverage responds to claims involving mistakes, missed deadlines, or communication errors that cause financial loss to a client. As Easton continues to expand its technical and professional sectors, this form of coverage is becoming increasingly relevant.

The HelloNation article encourages owners to identify insurance gaps through simple scenario planning. Imagining how their business would handle disruptions, from fire damage to data loss, helps clarify which policies matter most. This process brings attention to overlooked details and ensures that business interruption coverage, property insurance, and cyber liability are properly balanced.

Ultimately, the article concludes that a comprehensive business insurance checklist supports stability for small businesses in Easton. A strong plan typically includes commercial liability insurance, property insurance, business interruption coverage, workers compensation, cyber liability, commercial auto protection, and professional liability when appropriate. Together, these elements create a safety net that adapts as the business evolves. When coverage stays current, owners can focus on growth and long-term success with confidence.

The article, A Business Insurance Checklist for Small Businesses in Easton, PA, features insights from David Wolff, Insurance Expert of Easton, PA, in HelloNation.

About HelloNation

HelloNation is a premier media platform that connects readers with trusted professionals and businesses across various industries. Through its innovative "edvertising" approach that blends educational content and storytelling, HelloNation delivers expert-driven articles that inform, inspire, and empower. Covering topics from home improvement and health to business strategy and lifestyle, HelloNation highlights leaders making a meaningful impact in their communities.

SOURCE HelloNation
ORO VALLEY, Ariz., March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The article outlines how experience, licensing, and communication help clients select a reliable insurance agency in Southern Arizona.

What should individuals and business owners consider when choosing a dependable insurance agency in Southern Arizona? HelloNation has published the answer in a HelloNation article featuring insights from Shawn Hellebuyck of Oakley Insurance Group, which explains how experience, licensing, and communication can help clients identify a reliable insurance agency.

Shawn Hellebuyck - Owner - Oakley Insurance Group

The HelloNation article explains that selecting a trusted insurance agency begins with understanding the role an agency plays in protecting financial well-being. Insurance is not simply a policy that provides coverage for property or liability risks. The article notes that a dependable insurance agency often serves as a long-term partner that helps clients understand risk, policy options, and the value of reliable coverage.

According to the article, experience is one of the most important factors when evaluating an insurance agency. Agencies with regional experience often have a stronger understanding of the risks that affect clients in Southern Arizona. The article explains that this experience may include knowledge of desert climate conditions, monsoon flooding, wildfire threats, and regional liability exposures that can influence coverage recommendations.

Another important factor discussed in the article is the range of carriers represented by an insurance agency. Agencies that work with multiple carriers can provide a wider selection of policies and coverage options. The article notes that this flexibility allows clients to compare policies and select coverage that best fits their personal or commercial needs.

Licensing and professional credentials are also highlighted as key indicators of a trustworthy insurance agency. The HelloNation article explains that licensed agents must meet state regulatory requirements and remain accountable to oversight authorities. This licensing structure helps ensure that clients receive guidance from professionals who understand policy requirements and insurance regulations.

Communication and transparency are also presented as essential qualities when selecting an insurance agency. The article describes how agencies that clearly explain coverage terms, policy limits, and deductibles help clients make informed decisions. Regular policy reviews are also recommended because they allow coverage to evolve as clients purchase homes, add vehicles, or expand business operations.

The article further explains that strong claim support is another important consideration. When clients file claims, they often depend on their insurance agency to help them understand policy details and navigate the claims process. Agencies that prioritize long-term client relationships are often more attentive to guiding clients through claims and ensuring the process remains clear.

Community involvement is another indicator discussed in the article. Agencies that maintain strong local engagement often demonstrate a long-term commitment to ethical practices and professional development. The article notes that these agencies may also be more familiar with the unique challenges faced by residents and businesses throughout Southern Arizona.

Client feedback is another factor that can help when evaluating an insurance agency. Reviews and testimonials can reveal patterns related to responsiveness, professionalism, and claims assistance. Agencies that maintain strong client relationships and positive feedback often demonstrate consistent service and reliability.

The article also explains that some insurance agencies provide services beyond basic policy placement. These services may include risk management guidance, claims advocacy, and assistance in coordinating multiple policies. Having a single insurance agency help manage these areas can simplify communication while helping clients maintain consistent coverage.

In summary, the HelloNation article explains that selecting a trusted insurance agency in Southern Arizona requires evaluating experience, licensing, carrier options, communication practices, and client feedback. By researching and comparing agencies, clients can build relationships with professionals who provide reliable guidance and effective coverage.

How to Choose a Trusted Insurance Agency in Southern Arizona features insights from Shawn Hellebuyck, Insurance Expert of Oro Valley, Arizona, in HelloNation.

About HelloNation

HelloNation is a premier media platform that connects readers with trusted professionals and businesses across various industries. Through its innovative "edvertising" approach that blends educational content and storytelling, HelloNation delivers expert-driven articles that inform, inspire, and empower. Covering topics from home improvement and health to business strategy and lifestyle, HelloNation highlights leaders making a meaningful impact in their communities.

SOURCE HelloNation
Inc.'s annual Female Founders list celebrates the nation's most innovative women entrepreneurs. Tiffany Whitlow is one of just two women in Alabama selected for the 2026 list, whose honorees collectively generated approximately $12.3 billion in revenue in 2025.

HUNTSVILLE, Ala., March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Acclinate is proud to announce that Tiffany Whitlow, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, has been named to Inc.'s 2026 Female Founders 500, an annual list honoring the most dynamic women business leaders in the United States. The recognition highlights founders whose bold ideas, resilience, and execution are shaping the future of their industries.

The 2026 Female Founders honorees collectively generated approximately $12.3 billion in revenue in 2025 and have raised more than $12.2 billion in funding to date, underscoring the economic impact of women-led businesses across sectors.

Each year, Inc. editors evaluate applicants through a rigorous, multi-round selection process. Founders are assessed on both quantitative performance metrics, including revenue growth, funding, sales, and audience size, as well as qualitative factors such as innovation, social impact, and brand momentum. The final list represents entrepreneurs who have demonstrated exceptional leadership and measurable progress over the past year. Previous honorees include game-changing leaders such as Billie Jean King, Sallie Krawcheck, Serena Williams, and Emma Grede, all of whom have transformed their industries and broken barriers along the way.

"Being recognized by Inc. is a testament to the fact that health equity isn't just a social imperativeit's a business one," said Tiffany Whitlow. "At Acclinate, we believe clinical research only moves forward when it includes everyone. This honor belongs to our entire team and the communities we partner with every day to build a more inclusive future for medicine."

Honoree selection is also informed by the program's advisory board, which includes Patty Arvielo, Co-Founder and CEO of New American Funding; Tiffany Dufu, President of the Tory Burch Foundation; Joy Mangano, Co-Founder and CEO of CleanBoss; Michelle Cordeiro Grant, Founder and CEO of GORGIE; Sheila Lirio Marcelo, Co-Founder and CEO of Ohai.ai and Founder of Care.com; and Melissa Mash, Co-Founder and CEO of Dagne Dover.

Under Whitlow's leadership, Acclinate has advanced how pharmaceutical companies and clinical research organizations engage with underrepresented populations. Through the NOWINCLUDED community platform, which has grown to more than 200,000 members, Acclinate helps bridge the gap between health organizations and communities historically excluded from clinical research, ensuring broader awareness of and access to opportunities to participate in medical innovation.

Acclinate has experienced significant growth and market validation. The company secured strategic investments from industry leaders Labcorp and Cencora, underscoring growing demand for more inclusive clinical research solutions. True to its founding vision of meeting people where they are, Acclinate has expanded its community footprint through the launch of the NOWINCLUDED mobile app and the NOWINCLUDED Unfiltered podcast, creating additional entry points for trusted health conversations and clinical trial awareness.

Beyond her work at Acclinate, Whitlow is a dedicated leader within the Huntsville community. She serves on the Board of Directors for United Way of Madison County and is a member of the Women's Economic Development Council (WEDC), where she supports initiatives that expand economic opportunity and support for women in the region.

"Each year, we are increasingly amazed by the extraordinary leaders on our Inc. Female Founders 500 list," said Bonny Ghosh, Editorial Director at Inc. "The honorees on this year's list include innovators in AI, beauty and wellness trendsetters building devoted audiences, and nonprofit leaders making a real impact in their communities. Together, they're showing all of us what trailblazing female leadership looks like."

Several honorees will be featured in Inc. magazine's Spring print issue, available on newsstands March 17, 2026. To see the complete list of honorees, please visit:

https://www.inc.com/female-founders/2026.

About Inc.

Inc. is the leading media brand and playbook for the entrepreneurs and business leaders shaping our future. Through its journalism, Inc. aims to inform, educate, and elevate the profile of its community: the risk-takers, innovators, and ultra-driven go-getters who are creating the future of business. Inc. is published by Mansueto Ventures LLC, along with fellow leading business publication Fast Company. For more information, visit www.inc.com.

About Acclinate

Acclinate is a digital health company based in Birmingham, Alabama, dedicated to advancing health equity by diversifying clinical research. Through its NOWINCLUDED ecosystem, which includes a community of more than 200,000 members, a mobile app, in-person engagements, and the Unfiltered podcast, Acclinate builds trust within underrepresented communities to

ensure they are informed about and included in medical advancements. Backed by investors such as Labcorp and Cencora, Acclinate combines cultural competency with advanced data analytics to help the pharmaceutical industry make clinical trials more representative and medicine more equitable for all.

Lauren Clements

Head of Marketing

Acclinate

[email protected]

256-435-2800

SOURCE Acclinate
A relative majority of Ukrainians support the idea of holding a referendum on a peace agreement, though a downward trend is emerging, according to a poll conducted March 18 by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS).

The share of those supporting such an initiative fell from 55% in mid-January 2026 to 50% in March. Meanwhile, the proportion of those opposed rose from 32% to 40%.

KIIS noted that in a separate February survey, 57% of Ukrainians found the proposal to withdraw troops from Donbas in exchange for security guarantees from the US and Europe categorically unacceptable, while 36% were willing to approve it, albeit mostly reluctantly. Support for the referendum is significantly higher among those ready to approve the troop withdrawal (71%) compared to those categorically against it (39%).

Approximately 64% of respondents expressed a readiness to vote if a referendum were held: 31% said they would definitely participate, and 33% said they likely would. One-third (30%) indicated they likely or definitely would not vote. There were no significant differences in readiness to participate based on region, gender, or education level, though residents of smaller towns and rural areas (60%) and citizens over 60 (60%) showed lower engagement.

The poll highlighted that the wording of the question significantly affects results. When asked if they support peace through an agreement involving EU membership in 2027, territorial compromises, and reliable security guarantees, 61% responded positively. Even among those who categorically reject trading Donbas for security guarantees, 54% would vote "yes" if the question were framed this way.

"A positive referendum result can be obtained with a correctly formulated question," the press release stated. KIIS warned that "packaging" difficult compromises in attractive language increases the likelihood of public approval but risks a crisis of legitimacy.

KIIS Executive Director Anton Hrushetsky emphasized that it remains unclear whether a referendum is a real scenario or a diplomatic maneuver. He warned of serious risks, including societal division, low turnout, and potential manipulation of the questions wording, which could undermine the legitimacy of the outcome and trigger a social crisis.

The survey was conducted via computer-assisted telephone interviews (CATI) with 1,003 respondents in government-controlled areas. The statistical margin of error does not exceed 4.1%.
AMSTERDAM, March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- JDEnergy showcased its full-scenario energy storage solutions at Solar Solutions Amsterdam 2026, presenting its flagship eBlock series to the European market. The exhibition, held from March 10 to 12 at Expo Greater Amsterdam, brought together leading companies across the solar and energy storage industries.

As the Netherlands accelerates its energy transition, the government has set ambitious targets to cut carbon emissions by 49% by 2030 and 95% by 2050. This policy push is driving rapid growth in renewable energy deployment, with the country's installed wind and solar capacity projected to reach 73.7 GW by 2030 and 107.8 GW by 2035.

The increasing share of renewables is also placing greater demands on grid flexibility. To address the growing need for energy storage in the Dutch market, JDEnergy showcased its flagship solutions, including the eBlock-250 and eBlock-418A, which attracted strong interest from industry professionals and project developers at the exhibition.

Designed for C&I energy storage, the eBlock-250 adopts a modular architecture with direct AC-side parallel connection for flexible expansion. It supports millisecond-level switching between grid-connected and off-grid modes, ensuring uninterrupted power for critical loads, while an integrated management platform provides real-time monitoring, fault alerts, and health diagnostics for reliable long-term operation.

The eBlock-418A is a high-performance energy storage system designed for grid-side and C&I applications. It supports multiple operational modes, including primary frequency regulation, peak shaving, and grid dispatch, enabling flexible participation in power system operations. Powered by a heterogeneous cluster control platform, the system can synchronize and coordinate thousands of units within hundreds of milliseconds, enabling precise and efficient large-scale energy management.

As a innovator in energy storage technology, JDEnergy pioneered the productization of energy storage systems through its distributed intelligent eBlock. To date, JDEnergy has delivered more than 2,000 sites worldwide, with over 30,000 eBlock deployed. This extensive experience reflects JDEnergy's integrated capabilities spanning R&D, system integration, and project delivery.

JDEnergy now has accelerated its global expansion while strengthening localized operations. It has established a comprehensive local service system covering pre-sales consultation, project assessment, commissioning and delivery, and after-sales support, enabling full lifecycle services for customers. Its products have also obtained relevant Dutch and European certifications, and multiple projects have already been successfully deployed across Europe, further reinforcing JDEnergy's position as a trusted partner in the region's energy transition.

For more informtaion, please visit: www.jdenergy.com
DUBLIN, March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Keenova Therapeutics plc, a leading global developer and manufacturer of branded therapeutics, announced today that it will report its fourth-quarter 2025 financial results on Tuesday, March 31, 2026, before market open. The Company will host a conference call on the same day at 8:00 a.m. ET.

The audio webcast may be accessed through the Investor Relations section of the Company's website at investor.keenova.com under Events & Presentations through this webcast link. To access the call through a conference line, participants can register here to receive a dial-in number and personalized PIN to participate in the call. Participants are advised to join 10 minutes prior to the scheduled start time. A replay of the webcast will be available following the event.

About Keenova

Keenova Therapeutics is a leading global developer and manufacturer of branded therapeutics that strives to help patients with rare or unaddressed conditions live happier and healthier lives.

Keenova's rare disease capabilities underpin our diversified brands portfolio, which is focused across a wide range of therapeutic areas of significant unmet need. These include rheumatology, ophthalmology, orthopedics, urology, neonatal respiratory critical care, nephrology, neurology, and pulmonology.

Globally headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, Keenova benefits from a strong U.S. manufacturing footprint with facilities in Louisiana, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. To learn more, please visit www.keenova.com.

Keenova uses its website as a channel of distribution of important company information, such as press releases, investor presentations and other financial information. It also uses its website to expedite public access to time-critical information regarding the Company in advance of or in lieu of distributing a press release or a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") disclosing the same information. Therefore, investors should look to the Investor Relations page of the website for important and time-critical information. Visitors to the website can also register to receive automatic e-mail and other notifications alerting them when new information is made available on the Investor Relations page of the website.

Contacts:

SOURCE Keenova Therapeutics
Strong Second-Half Momentum Drives 85% Net Loss Improvement; FDA Clearance Secured for Innovative Fusion Biomaterial Implant; Board Rejects Undervalued Acquisition Interest

CANTON, Conn., March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Kelyniam Global (OTC: KLYG), a leader in custom cranial implants, today announced its financial results for the year ended December 31, 2025.

"Despite a challenging start to last year, our team delivered a strong rebound in the second half while achieving meaningful bottom-line progress through continued expense management," said Ross Bjella, CEO of Kelyniam Global. "We are especially pleased with the 85% improvement in net loss, reflecting the strength of our core business model, the elimination of prior-year one-time charges, and sales across our innovative product portfolio. These results demonstrate our ability to respond to market conditions and we remain confident in our path forward."

Financial Highlights (Year ended December 31, 2025 vs. December 31, 2024)

Total revenue of $3,053,222, an 8% decrease from $3,328,384, with solid recovery in the latter half of the year,

Gross profit of $2,387,283 compared to $2,594,137

Operating loss of $(96,449) compared to operating income of $277,037,

Net loss of $(138,555), an 85% improvement from $(920,206)

EBITDA of $(81,661) compared to $322,824

The Company received FDA 510(k) clearance for our Fusion cranial and craniofacial implants, the first to utilize VESTAKEEP Fusiona next-generation biomaterial combining PEEK with biphasic calcium phosphate (BCP). This pioneering material leverages the proven mechanical strength, biocompatibility, and radiolucency of PEEK while incorporating BCP's osteoconductive properties to promote enhanced bone cell attachment, accelerated osteointegration, and improved bone regrowth at the implant interface. The Fusion implants use Kelyniam's patented integrated fixation system and can be delivered within 24-48 hours.

In late 2025, Kelyniam received unsolicited interest from a third party regarding a transaction regarding the Company. After careful consideration, the Company determined the preliminary cash and stock indication of enterprise value was materially inadequate and did not reflect the full value of the Company's assets, technology, and long-term growth potential, and therefore elected to not pursue further discussions at that time. The Company remains committed to evaluating opportunities that support the Company's long-term strategy and enhance shareholder value.

About Kelyniam

Kelyniam Global, Inc. specializes in the rapid production of custom prosthetic cranial implants utilizing computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing of advanced medical-grade polymers. The Company develops, manufactures, and distributes custom cranial and craniofacial implants for patients requiring reconstruction. Kelyniam works directly with surgeons, health systems, and payors to improve clinical and cost-of-care outcomes. The Company's website is www.Kelyniam.com.

As a cautionary note to investors, certain matters discussed in this press release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such matters involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially, including the following: changes in economic conditions; general competitive factors; the Company's ability to execute its service and product sales plans; changes in the status of ability to market products; and the risks described from time to time in the Company's SEC reports.

SOURCE Kelyniam Global Inc
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- MistAmerica Corp., the leading supplier of misting fan systems for outdoor commercial venues, is bringing its state-of-the-art cooling technology to the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area just in time for another Texas summer. From luxury resorts to quick-serve drive-thrus to restaurant patios, MistAmerica's industry-leading cooling systems are about to make summer dining in Texas a lot more comfortable.

MistAmerica's patented Mist360 systems utilize less water while covering more square feet than traditional directional fans. Built for easy installation, they evenly deploy a cooling mist that quickly evaporatesmeaning nothing in its orbit gets wetwhile dramatically improving outdoor comfort. It isn't uncommon for the systems to reduce outdoor temperatures by 15 to 20 degrees in both dry and humid climates.

"Summer heat in Texas is intense, and we're really looking forward to making it significantly more tolerable for Texans who don't want to abandon patios when the temperatures start to climb," said Dave Johnson, MistAmerica's president. "If we can make Arizona comfortable during its notoriously brutal summer season, we're confident we can lower the temperature in Texas, too."

MistAmerica views Dallas-Fort Worth as a strategic growth market due to its hot and humid weather and robust dining scene. Dallas alone is home to nearly 4,000 restaurants, and the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area employs more than 107,000 fast food and counter service workers  ranking it among the highest in the nation.

Beyond comfort, MistAmerica's systems have proven to increase revenue by at least 25%. Patios that go largely unused during summer months transform into active dining areas once a comfortable environment is established. Guests linger longer and spend moresome clients have seen revenue increase by as much as threefold during the hottest months after installation.

The systems also benefit employees, creating more tolerable conditions for patio servers and drive-thru workers, reducing heat-related illness and improving productivity and service quality..

"No one wants to be uncomfortable while they're dining," Johnson said. "These systems keep everyone cool, from patrons to employees, while increasing revenue. That's about as win-win as it gets."

MistAmerica offers commercial misting systems and an affordable rental program for restaurants, bars, and resorts. Headquartered in Scottsdale since 1994, the company has a strong presence across the West and Southwest with plans to expand into Florida. Learn more at mistamerica.com.

SOURCE MistAmerica
Premier lawsuit funding provider highlights financial relief options for plaintiffs pursuing car, truck, bus, and boating accident claims

NEWARK, N.J., March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Legal Bay LLC, a leading provider of presettlement funding, lawsuit loans, and non-recourse legal funding, announced today that it continues to support plaintiffs involved in motor vehicle accident lawsuits across the United States. As traffic-related incidents remain one of the leading causes of personal injury litigation, Legal Bay is helping injured plaintiffs secure lawsuit settlement funding and pre-settlement cash advances while their cases move through the courts.

Motor vehicle accidents occur every day on highways, city streets, and waterways nationwide. These incidents may involve cars, commercial trucks, buses, motorcycles, rideshare vehicles, and recreational vehicles and boats, often resulting in serious injuries and extensive property damage. Plaintiffs pursuing personal injury lawsuits after these accidents frequently face medical expenses, lost income, and ongoing rehabilitation costs long before their legal claims are resolved.

Legal Bay notes that motor vehicle accident lawsuits can take months or even years to conclude, especially when complex insurance disputes, multiple defendants, or serious injuries are involved. During this time, injured individuals may struggle financially while waiting for a settlement or jury verdict.

To help address this challenge, Legal Bay offers presettlement lawsuit funding, settlement loans, and loans on lawsuit settlements for qualified plaintiffs. These programs provide immediate cash advances against a plaintiff's anticipated settlement, allowing injured individuals to cover living expenses and medical costs while their attorneys continue building the strongest possible case.

Chris Janish, CEO of Legal Bay, says, "Motor vehicle accidents often lead to devastating injuries and unexpected financial strain. Our lawsuit funding and settlement loan programs help plaintiffs gain access to immediate financial support so they can focus on recovery while their legal teams pursue the compensation they deserve."

If you're a lawyer or plaintiff involved in an active personal injury lawsuit of any kind and need an immediate cash advance against an impending lawsuit settlement, please visit Legal Bay HERE or call toll-free at 877.571.0405.

Motor vehicle accident litigation may arise from a variety of circumstances, including negligent or distracted driving, unsafe road conditions, commercial trucking accidents, defective vehicle components, and public transportation incidents involving buses or other commercial carriers. In many cases, these claims involve complex insurance policies, liability disputes, and extended negotiations before a final settlement is reached.

Legal Bay works directly with plaintiffs and their attorneys nationwide to provide fast approvals for pre settlement funding applications, often within 24 to 48 hours once case documentation has been received. The company's underwriting team evaluates each case to determine eligibility for pre-settlement cash advances, lawsuit settlement funding, and litigation funding solutions designed to provide financial relief during the legal process.

Importantly, Legal Bay's presettlement funding programs are non-recourse, meaning plaintiffs only repay the advance if their case results in a successful settlement or verdict. If a plaintiff does not recover compensation, there is no obligation to repay the funds. This structure allows injured individuals to pursue justice without taking on traditional debt or financial risk.

Legal Bay emphasizes that pre-settlement funding and lawsuit settlement loans can provide plaintiffs with the financial breathing room they need to avoid accepting an early or inadequate settlement offer simply to cover immediate expenses.

If you're a lawyer or plaintiff involved in an active personal injury lawsuit of any kind and need an immediate cash advance against an impending lawsuit settlement, please visit Legal Bay HERE or call toll-free at 877.571.0405.

Legal Bay provides lawsuit loans and pre settlement funding for a wide range of legal claims, including motor vehicle accident lawsuits, personal injury cases, medical malpractice claims, wrongful death litigation, product liability lawsuits, and other complex civil matters. The company has become widely recognized in the legal funding industry for its transparent process, competitive rates, and quick turnaround times.

While commonly referred to as lawsuit loans, settlement loans, or loans on lawsuit settlements, Legal Bay's programs are actually non-recourse legal funding, meaning plaintiffs repay the advance only if they win or settle their case.

To apply right now for a loan settlement program, please visit the company's website HERE or call toll-free at: 877.571.0405 where agents are standing by to answer any questions.

SOURCE Legal-Bay, LLC
MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo., March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Magellan Health, Inc. today announced that Magellan Behavioral Health of Pennsylvania, Inc. (Magellan), a Medicaid Managed Behavioral Health Organization (MBHO), has earned Full MBHO Accreditation for a three-year term from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) marking the fourth consecutive time Magellan has received this honor.

Full MBHO Accreditation is granted for a period of three years to plans that have excellent programs for continuous quality improvement and meet NCQA's rigorous standards.

"Receiving the full NCQA accreditation for the fourth time reaffirms our team's dedication to continuously improving quality and raising the standard of care for our members," said Jim Leonard, CEO for Magellan Behavioral Health of Pennsylvania.

NCQA MBHO Accreditation is a nationally recognized evaluation that purchasers, regulators, and consumers can use to assess MBHOs. NCQA MBHO Accreditation evaluates how well a health plan manages all parts of its delivery system  physicians, hospitals, other providers and administrative services  in order to continuously improve health care for its members. NCQA reviews include rigorous on-site and off-site evaluations conducted by a team of physicians and managed care experts. A national oversight committee of physicians and behavioral health providers analyzes the team's findings and assigns an accreditation level based on the MBHO's performance compared to NCQA standards. There are approximately 60 standards for quality included in the following categories: quality management and improvement; utilization management; credentialing and re-credentialing; members' rights and responsibilities; and preventive behavioral health care services.

"It's a privilege to work with a team this committed to strong member outcomes, supporting our provider network, and advancing health equity in our communities," said Maria Brachelli-Pigeon, quality improvement director for Magellan Behavioral Health of Pennsylvania. "Magellan prioritizes infrastructure that supports continual readiness of high-quality standards, including frequent evaluation of opportunities to strengthen the existing programming and improve the service delivery system and overall customer experience."

Magellan currently administers behavioral health benefits through Pennsylvania HealthChoices contracts with Bedford, Bucks, Cambria, Lehigh, Montgomery, Northampton, and Somerset counties.

About Magellan Health: Magellan Health, Inc. supports innovative ways of accessing better health through technology, while remaining focused on the critical personal relationships that are necessary to achieve a healthy, vibrant life. Magellan's customers include health plans and other managed care organizations, employers, labor unions, various military and governmental agencies and third-party administrators. For more information, visit MagellanHealth.com.

About the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA): NCQA is a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to improving health care quality. NCQA accredits and certifies a wide range of health care organizations. It also recognizes clinicians and practices in key areas of performance. NCQA's Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) is the most widely used performance measurement tool in health care. NCQA's website contains information to help consumers, employers and others make more-informed health care choices. NCQA can be found online at ncqa.org, on Twitter/X @ncqa, on Facebook at facebook.com/NCQA.org/ and on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/company/ncqa.

SOURCE Magellan Health, Inc.
CAESAREA, Israel, March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Max Stock Ltd. (TASE: MAXO) (the "Company") announces an AGM to be held on Monday, April 20, 2026 at 10:00 AM IL (date of record: March 23, 2026), at the offices of the Company's external legal counsel Herzog Fox Neeman & Co., 6 Itzhak Sadeh St., Tel Aviv, with the following agenda items:

Discussion on both the Company's 2025 board report and financial statements



Please note that this agenda item is only informational and will not be voted upon.



Reappointment of the auditor and authorizing the Company's board to establish the auditor's fees



Proposed resolution : To approve the reappointment of Ernst & Young Israel - Kost Forer Gabbay & Kasierer, to serve as the Company's auditor until the end of the Company's next annual general meeting and to authorize the Company's board of directors to establish its fees.



Reappointment of directors (non-external directors) for an additional term of office



Proposed resolution : To approve the reappointment of the directors listed below (who are not external directors) currently serving on the Company's board of directors: Mr. Ori Max, Ms. Zehavit Cohen, Mr. Guy Gissin and Ms. Suzan Mazzawi (independent director) for an additional term of service, commencing from the time of them being approved by the general meeting convened under this report until the Company's next annual general meeting.



It should be noted that the appointment of each director will be voted upon separately.



Appointment of Mr. Guy Edri as an independent director on the Company's board of directors



Proposed resolution : To approve the appointment of Mr. Guy Edri to hold office as one of the Company's directors (non-external director), commencing from the approval date of his appointment by the general meeting being convened under this report until the next general meeting.



Appointment of Shelly Beinhorn as an independent director on the Company's board of directors



Proposed resolution : To approve the appointment of Ms. Shelly Beinhorn to hold office as one of the Company's directors (non-external director), commencing from the approval date of her appointment by the general meeting being convened under this report until the next general meeting.

A convenience translation into English of the general meeting notice and the relevant voting card can be accessed at https://ir.maxstock.co.il/en/shareholders-meetings/

This is an English translation of segments of a Hebrew immediate report published on March 16, 2026 (Reference no: 2026-01-022786 (hereinafter: the "Hebrew Version"). This English version is only for convenience purposes. This is not an official translation and has no binding force. Whilst reasonable care and skill have been exercised in the preparation hereof, no translation can ever perfectly reflect the Hebrew Version. In the event of any discrepancy between the Hebrew Version and this translation, the Hebrew Version shall prevail.

About Max Stock

Max Stock is Israel's leading extreme value retailer, currently present in 63 locations throughout Israel. We offer a broad assortment of quality products for customers' everyday needs at affordable prices, helping customers "Dream Big, Pay Small". For more information, please visit https://ir.maxstock.co.il

Company Contact:

Talia Sessler

Chief Corporate Development and IR Officer

[email protected]

SOURCE Max Stock Limited
Trailer debut during the Oscars broadcast on March 15 introduces "5 Sides of the All-New CX-5," directed by Paul Hunter and created in partnership with WPP

IRVINE, Calif., March 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Mazda today unveiled the trailer for "5 Sides of the All-New CX-5," a cinematic storytelling campaign introducing the 2026 Mazda CX-5. Debuting during tonight's Oscars broadcast, the trailer previews five original stories inspired by iconic movie genres: romance, action, sci-fi, musical and horror.

5 Sides of the All-New CX-5 5 Sides of the All-New CX-5

The campaign blends cinematic storytelling with a distinctive vehicle launch, using film to showcase the versatility of the all-new CX-5. Developed in partnership with WPP, the concept reflects Mazda's focus on connecting the vehicle to the many dimensions of modern life. The redesigned model offers more interior space, deeper connectivity and enhanced driver control to support those moments.

Each film stars rising actress Jessamie Waldon-Day alongside the Mazda CX-5, placing the same character in distinct cinematic worlds that reveal different sides of her life and how the vehicle supports each one. The campaign is directed by acclaimed filmmaker Paul Hunter and shot by Academy Award-winning cinematographer Hoyte Van Hoytema.

"The all-new Mazda CX-5 was designed for people who live full, multifaceted lives, so cinematic storytelling felt like a natural way to introduce it," said Brad Audet, Chief Marketing Officer, Mazda North American Operations. "Working with visionary filmmakers like Paul Hunter and Hoyte Van Hoytema allowed us to bring that story to life on screen. Our partnership with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Academy Gold program also reflects Mazda's commitment to supporting and inspiring the next generation of storytellers."

As part of the campaign, Mazda partnered with the Academy Gold program, a professional development initiative from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences that supports emerging filmmakers. Academy Gold mentees were invited to observe the production and engage with filmmakers and production leaders, gaining behind-the-scenes experience on a large-scale film shoot. The mentorship component was executed in collaboration with the Academy and Disney and featured students from the Academy Gold program.

Mazda collaborated with Disney CreativeWorks to document the mentorship experience and filmmaking process through original behind-the-scenes content featuring mentors and mentees. The short-form films will run across social and digital platforms leading up to and around the Oscars.

"Combining movie genres with the versatility of a carand seeing how seamlessly it fit into each storywas really special," said Annika Dean, an Academy Gold mentee who observed the production. "I'm excited to take this mentorship experience forward and continue growing as a filmmaker."

The campaign is supported by a cross-platform media launch designed to make the CX-5 unmissable during the launch window. Activations include high-impact placements across Hulu, YouTube, TikTok, X, Meta and Reddit, along with organic social content highlighting the campaign trailer and mentorship program.

The "5 Sides of the All-New CX-5" trailer premieres during the Oscars broadcast airing live Sunday, March 15 on ABC and Hulu. Similar to a traditional blockbuster movie release, the trailer builds excitement for the full slate of films debuting in early April. For more information and to watch the trailer, visit www.mazdausa.com.

About Mazda North American Operations

Proudly founded in Hiroshima, Japan, Mazda has a history of sophisticated craftsmanship and innovation, and a purpose to enrich life-in-motion for those it serves. By putting humans at the center of everything it does, Mazda aspires to create uplifting experiences with our vehicles and for people. Mazda North American Operations is headquartered in Irvine, California, and oversees the sales, marketing, parts and customer service support of Mazda vehicles in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Colombia through approximately 795 dealers. Operations in Canada are managed by Mazda Canada Inc. in Richmond Hill, Ontario; operations in Mexico are managed by Mazda Motor de Mexico in Mexico City; and operations in Colombia are managed by Mazda de Colombia in Bogota, Colombia. For more information on Mazda vehicles, including photography and B-roll, please visit the online Mazda media center at news.mazdausa.com.

Follow @MazdaUSA on social media: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, YouTube, and Threads.

SOURCE Mazda North American Operations
Recognition honors companies that 'positively influence their employees and communities'

NORTHFIELD, Ill., March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Medline has been named to Becker's Healthcare's annual list of Top Places to Work in Healthcare, which recognizes healthcare companies and providers that are "setting the standard for what it means to be an exceptional workplace in 2026."

Medline takes pride in serving its customers, tackling complex challenges and creating a culture where people can do their best work.

"The organizations featured on this list distinguish themselves as premier employers by supporting their teams in meaningful, holistic ways," according to Becker's Healthcare. "From comprehensive wellness initiatives and professional growth opportunities to community engagement and cultures rooted in connection and balance, these workplaces are redefining what it means to thrive in healthcare."

Becker's Healthcare considers organizations' investments in their people, benefits offerings, professional development opportunities, workplace environments and community impact for inclusion in its Top Workplaces list. Medline's core company values, benefits offerings and employee experience were highlighted as reasons for its selection.

"Being recognized by Becker's again reflects the values our employees bring to life every day," said Christopher Shryock, Medline chief human resources officer. "Our teams take pride in serving our customers, tackling complex challenges and supporting one another. That connection to purpose helps create a culture where people can do their best work and thrive."

The Becker's Hospital Review editorial team accepted nominations for the list and also considered rankings and awards from Forbes, Newsweek, Great Places to Work and other reputable organizations.

Medline is consistently acknowledged as a top workplace  in healthcare and beyond. Last year, Medline made the Chicago Tribune's Top Workplaces list for the 15th time and received a Handshake Early Talent Award for providing a supportive work environment for employees who are early in their careers. Forbes has recognized Medline as one of America's Best Large Employers, and Newsweek named Medline to its 2025 America's Greatest Workplaces for Inclusion and Diversity and America's Best Workplaces for Women lists.

Learn more about what makes Medline a great place to work at https://www.medline.com/about-us/careers/.

About Medline

Medline is the largest provider of medical-surgical products and supply chain solutions serving all points of care. Through its broad product portfolio, resilient supply chain and leading clinical solutions, Medline helps healthcare providers improve their clinical, financial and operational outcomes. Headquartered in Northfield, Illinois, the company employs more than 45,000 people worldwide and operates in more than 100 countries. To learn more about how Medline makes healthcare run better, visit www.medline.com.

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SOURCE Medline
ROUSES POINT, N.Y., March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ - MY01, an innovative medical technology company focused on transforming the diagnosis of limb perfusion injuries, announced today two major milestones in its partnership with the United States military: its formal support of the 2026 CSM Jack L. Clark Jr. Best Medic Competition and the receipt of a National Stock Number (NSN) for its flagship Continuous Compartmental Pressure Monitor.

Advancing Care at the 2026 Army Best Medic Competition

In January 2026, MY01 proudly supported the U.S. Army's premier medical event at Joint Base San AntonioCamp Bullis. The 72-hour competition challenged 33 elite teams in grueling scenarios, including Prolonged Casualty Care (PCC) and Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TC3).

The competition concluded on January 29, 2026, with Team #15 from the 7th Infantry Division (SGT Matthew R. Winters and SSG Kolby S. Kapsner) taking top honors.

Securing the National Stock Number (NSN)

Further strengthening its commitment to military medicine, MY01 has officially received a National Stock Number (NSN) from the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) for its flagship product and its associated training device. These 13-digit codes streamline the procurement process, allowing military medical units worldwide to easily order and stock MY01 devices through the standard federal supply system.

The NSN marks a critical step in ensuring broader access to continuous perfusion sensing technology capabilities across operational and training environments.

MY01-0001 NSN# 6515-01-737-1116

MY01-TRNR NSN# 6910-01-737-3898

"Receiving our NSN and supporting the Army's Best Medic Competition are pivotal steps in our mission to equip military medical care teams with the objective data needed to help save limbs and conserve life on the battlefield," said Olivier Bataille, Chief Operating Officer of MY01 Inc. "Our technology is designed for the high-pressure environments these soldiers face, where early diagnosis of acute compartment syndrome is critical to preserving 'life, limb, and eyesight'."

About MY01 Inc.

Founded in 2019, MY01 envisions a world where every disease is quantifiable, enabling precise, personalized care for all patients. At MY01, our Continuous Perfusion Sensing Technology (CPST) Platform has the ability to transform trauma programs by translating complex biological signs into dynamic, actionable, real-time data to inform better decision-making, thereby reducing variation in care and delivering better outcomes, allowing hospitals to allocate resources as efficiently as possible. MY01 is commercial in the USA, Europe, and Canada, setting new standards in healthcare.

SOURCE MY01, Inc.
Drone debris falls in 3 districts of Kyiv, no casualties; grass fire reported at one location  Mayor

The Mayor of Kyiv reported that debris from drones downed by air defense systems fell in three districts of the Ukrainian capital: Shevchenkivsky, Solomiansky, and Sviatoshynsky.

"In the Shevchenkivsky district, in the very center of the capital, UAV debris fell. There is no fire or casualties. In the Solomiansky district, debris fell on the territory of non-residential buildings. There are no casualties. In the Sviatoshynsky district, falling debris caused a grass fire in an open area," Klitschko wrote on Telegram on Monday.

He noted that emergency services are already operating at the sites where the drone fragments landed. Local reports indicate that some debris was specifically recorded near the Independence Monument on Maidan Nezalezhnosti.

As previously reported, the air raid alert in Kyiv was announced at 8:26, and explosions were heard shortly after as air defense systems engaged the targets. The alert lasted for approximately one and a half hours, concluding just before 10:00.
NYSE issues a pre-market daily advisory direct from the trading floor.

NEW YORK, March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) provides a daily pre-market update directly from the NYSE Trading Floor. Access today's NYSE Pre-market update for market insights before trading begins.

Ashley Mastronardi delivers the pre-market update on March 16th

Ireland INC will ring todays Opening Bell Speed Speed EltaMD rang the Closing Bell on March 13.

Markets are fractionally higher as investors monitor the latest oil price movement.

Ireland INC President Ian Hyland joins NYSE Live after ringing the Opening Bell to recognize the strong economic ties between the U.S. and Ireland.

Frore Systems reached unicorn status after securing a $143 million Series D funding round.

CoinDesk will launch a weekly show that explores the intersection of traditional finance and digital assets.

For market insights, IPO activity, and today's opening bell, download the NYSE TV app at tv.nyse.com

Opening Bell

Ireland Day and Ireland INC celebrate amplification of the significant Irish investment across the United States

Closing Bell

She Means Business and Citizens (NYSE: CFG) celebrate International Women's Day and the Citizens "She Means Business" Program

Click here to download the NYSE TV App

SOURCE New York Stock Exchange
STOCKHOLM, March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Hexagon today announced that Octave, as discussed on the company's most recent earnings call, will host an Investor Day on Thursday, March 26, 2026. The event marks a significant milestone as Octave prepares to become an independent, publicly traded company following its planned separation from Hexagon.

Octave's Investor Day will provide a detailed overview of the company's strategic priorities, financial profile, and growth opportunities. Leadership will present the company's vision as a standalone organization and discuss how the planned spin-off positions Octave to drive long-term shareholder value.

The Investor Day will be held in New York City and will begin at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time. A live webcast and replay will be available on Octave's investor relations website.

Agenda Highlights

Company Overview - Mattias Stenberg, Chief Executive Officer

Product Strategy - Jay Allardyce, Chief Product Officer

Go-to-Market Strategy - Tamie Adams, Chief Revenue Officer

Business Model & Financial Detail - Ben Maslen, Chief Financial Officer

Live Q&A with all presenters

To attend in person, please contact [email protected].

The event will be broadcast via live video webcast. Investors and other interested parties may register at: https://octave-investor-day-march-2026.open-exchange.net/registration.

A link to Octave's public Form 10 filing is available at https://www.octave.com/investors.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:

Octave:

Elizabeth Chwalk, VP, Investor Relations, Octave +1 401 749 - 0278, [email protected]

Hexagon:

Tom Hull, Head of Investor Relations, Hexagon AB, +44 7442 678 437, [email protected]

Anton Heikenstrom, Investor Relations Manager, Hexagon AB, +46 8 601 26 26, [email protected]

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/hexagon/r/octave-to-host-investor-day-in-new-york-on-march-26,c4321470

The following files are available for download:

https://mb.cision.com/Main/387/4321470/3983333.pdf Octave to Host Investor Day in New York on March 26

SOURCE Hexagon
MECHANICSBURG, Pa., March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Pennsylvania American Water is recognizing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Fix a Leak Week 2026 by sharing simple, practical tips customers can use to locate and address common household leaks that waste water, drive up bills and strain home plumbing.

"Finding and fixing leaks can help customers protect their homes, businesses and monthly bills," said Pennsylvania American Water Vice President of Operations Jim Runzer. "At the same time, Pennsylvania American Water plans to invest more than $631 million in 2026 alone to modernize water and wastewater infrastructure across our service footprint."

Household leaks are more common than many people realize. According to the EPA, leaks affect about one in 10 homes and can waste more than 90 gallons of water each day.

Here are a few places where leaks are often found:

Toilets : A defective plunger ball or flapper valve can waste water by causing the tank to continually drain and refill. To test, drop a dye-tracing tablet or a small amount of food coloring in the tank and wait 5 minutes. If the dye-colored water seeps into the bowl, you may have a leak and need to replace the defective part.

: A defective plunger ball or flapper valve can waste water by causing the tank to continually drain and refill. To test, drop a dye-tracing tablet or a small amount of food coloring in the tank and wait 5 minutes. If the dye-colored water seeps into the bowl, you may have a leak and need to replace the defective part. Faucets : A leaky faucet can waste nearly 3,200 gallons of water per year. If you notice one dripping, try closing it tightly. If it continues to drip, the washer may need to be replaced.

: A leaky faucet can waste nearly 3,200 gallons of water per year. If you notice one dripping, try closing it tightly. If it continues to drip, the washer may need to be replaced. Washing Machines and Dishwashers : If you see water on the floor near your washing machine or dishwasher, that could indicate a leak. You may want to call your repair service.

: If you see water on the floor near your washing machine or dishwasher, that could indicate a leak. You may want to call your repair service. Bathtubs and Showers : Check the spout and showerhead for dripping water. New washers may be needed on the faucet handles.

: Check the spout and showerhead for dripping water. New washers may be needed on the faucet handles. Boiler Systems: If the sound of running water is continuous and does not stop and start periodically, there may be a leak. Contact a professional to check it out and perform repairs.

"We all have a role to play in conserving water, our most precious resource," Runzer added. "Many people might be surprised to find that some leaks are invisible to homeowners because they don't have obvious signs, such as water on the floor. Invisible or visible, finding and fixing leaks reduces your utility bills and helps prevent damage to your property."

Learn more by downloading American Water's leak-detection kit and checking out the company's Fix a Leak Week blog post. Customers can also review water use for unexpected spikes and manage accounts through MyWater, Pennsylvania American Water's online customer portal.

Additional tips on water conservation and the value of water are available through the company's Water Learning Center.

About American Water

American Water (NYSE: AWK) is the largest regulated water and wastewater utility company in the United States. With a history dating back to 1886 and celebrating 140 years in 2026, We Keep Life Flowing by providing safe, clean, reliable and affordable drinking water and wastewater services to approximately 14 million people with regulated operations in 14 states and on 18 military installations. American Water's approximately 7,000 talented professionals leverage their significant expertise and the company's national size and scale to achieve excellent outcomes for the benefit of customers, employees, investors and other stakeholders. For more information, visit amwater.com and join American Water on LinkedIn, Facebook, X and Instagram.

About Pennsylvania American Water

Pennsylvania American Water, a subsidiary of American Water, is the largest regulated water utility in the state with approximately 1,200 dedicated employees working to provide safe, clean, reliable and affordable water and wastewater services to approximately 2.5 million people.

SOURCE American Water
Major transformation project replaces legacy PM platform with new, unified solution, delivering cloud-native resilience and performance, enriched KPI and service visibility, and new opportunities for integration and evolution.

STOCKHOLM, March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Bouygues Telecom has launched a new, cloud-native Analytics and Performance Management solution, based on Polystar's Kalix solution suite, marking the culmination of a multi-year migration program.

Seeking to maintain its already strong reputation for network and service quality, and to embrace a cloud-native, state-of-the-art architecture, the Bouygues Telecom team sought to introduce a new performance management solution aligned with its IT transformation goals that could also provide enriched data at new levels of granularity.

The Bouygues Telecom network spans multiple mobile network generations, and solutions from a range of different vendors, across RAN, core and transport domains. The new solution extends to all these different vendors - and consolidates data from both RAN and Core networks, while enabling new integration options and delivering new levels of insight.

In addition, the migration to a fully cloud-native architecture enables Bouygues Telecom to enhance operational resilience, strengthen security protocols, and improve integration with other platforms through expanded API exposure.

Working in close partnership with Polystar, the teams led customization of the Kalix dashboards for the integration and presentation of the enriched data set, with the development of a new syntax for KPIs. This dramatically streamlined KPI presentation to users, with the additional benefit that custom KPIs could also be generated, when required for deeper analysis.

"Our ambition was to boost overall performance and satisfaction for our customers, through a unified solution that was aligned with our IT evolution and the need to obtain more granular insights. Our journey to launch benefited from extended collaboration between our teams to deliver the new levels of insight and to achieve the customization we required," said Jean-Paul Arzel, CTIO of Bouygues Telecom.

The complex network included more than 60 different systems in the core, together with multiple RAN solution providers. As a result of the deployment, Bouygues Telecom can integrate a wider range of data and leverage that data across other operational systems, with KPIs to match highly specific requirements.

"Together with Bouygues Telecom, we created a new way to access and understand the operational KPIs that matter most, while fully supporting the goals of their IT team. This transformation reflects both the trust Bouygues Telecom placed in Polystar and the flexibility of our solutions to meet the needs of a leading national operator," said Stephen Preston, CEO of Polystar.

The combination of Polystar's Kalix Analytics and Performance Management provides a modern and innovative solution that delivers the versatility needed to meet the requirements of any operator and any network today. At the same time, it can be adapted to specific operational and IT goals. The new solution also serves as a foundation for deeper insights and future evolution as Bouygues Telecom continues its transformation journey.

More information & interview requests:

Elisa Industriq Mediadesk, [email protected], tel. +358 50 305 1605

About Polystar

Polystar is a global leader in smart, data-driven assurance and automation for telecommunications operators. Its solutions transform complex network data into operational intelligence that drives business results. Polystar enables communications service providers to enhance the customer experience and achieve optimal operational efficiency through real-time, actionable insights and pragmatic automation, powered by AI.

Trusted by more than 100 communications service providers across 55 countries, Polystar collaborates with operators to optimize their multi-vendor networks - cloud-native and on-premises.

Headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden with a worldwide presence, Polystar is part of Elisa Industriq, a global leader in software solutions for operational intelligence that enhances industrial knowledge with AI innovation.

Polystar is ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 27001:2013 certified, reflecting its commitment to quality management and information security. elisaindustriq.com/polystar

About Elisa Industriq

Elisa Industriq creates software solutions for operational intelligence by multiplying industrial knowledge with AI innovation. Our businesses-camLine, sedApta, Polystar, CalcuQuote, TenForce, and Gridle-serve over 2,500 clients internationally in the manufacturing, telecommunications, and energy sectors.

Elisa Industriq delivers business value for customers by reducing costs, improving quality, and generating growth. Our software solutions integrate with customers' existing systems to optimize their operations in areas including manufacturing execution, supply chain optimization, network analytics, and energy management.

Elisa Industriq is part of Elisa, a pioneer in telecommunications and digital services headquartered in Finland. Our shared mission is a sustainable future through digitalization. Elisa Industriq employs over 1,500 experts in Europe, Asia, and North America. elisaindustriq.com

About Bouygues Telecom

A subsidiary of the Bouygues group, Bouygues Telecom is a global French telecommunications and digital services operator. In 2025, the company achieved a turnover of 8.1 billion euros, employs 10,700 people, and has 501 stores in France. Founded in 1994, Bouygues Telecom is committed to providing its individual customers, businesses, and public administrations with secure, innovative, and high-quality Fixed and Mobile communication services, as well as very high-speed internet services, by constantly developing its network and user experience. 27.1 million Mobile customers and 5.4 million Fixed customers trust Bouygues Telecom, the number 1 operator for WiFi and mobile internet connections according to nPerf in 2025, and number 1 for Mobile in dense areas according to ARCEP, in 2025. Its 4G network now covers 99% of the population, and its 5G network covers more than 19,900 municipalities and over 86% of the population. Bouygues Telecom's Enterprise division supports and helps grow a community of over 120,000 clients, including four out of five major CAC 40 accounts, by generalizing Very High Speed Broadband in France and facilitating the adoption of new uses such as unified communications, smart networks, and corporate mobility services, and by supporting the transformation of their digital infrastructures. Committed to reducing its carbon emissions, Bouygues Telecom aims to achieve -29.4% for scopes 1 and 2 and -17.5% for scope 3 by 2027, objectives approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).

To follow Bouygues Telecom news:

corporate.bouyguestelecom.fr, on X: @ByTel_Corporate

#OnEstFaitPourEtreEnsemble

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

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This recognition highlights PGI's commitment to partnership, innovation, and supporting NAPA's nationwide network

MEMPHIS, Tenn., March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Premium Guard Inc. (PGI), a pioneer and leading filter manufacturer and supplier, has been honored with the Spirit of NAPA Award at the 2026 NAPA Partnership Event in Atlanta, recognizing the company's outstanding partnership, performance, and commitment to supporting the NAPA Auto Parts network.

Premium Guard, Inc. Accepts Spirit of NAPA Award

The Spirit of NAPA Award is the highest honor NAPA grants to a single supplier each year, recognizing partners that exemplify the core values of the NAPA brand, including performance, commitment, innovation, and shared success. Premium Guard Inc. was selected for its continued investment in product innovation, operational excellence, and dedication to supporting NAPA stores and customers across the country.

Alain Masse, North American President of NAPA Auto Parts, presented the award, stating:

"This supplier has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to NAPA's success with an exceptional 96%+ fill rate, in one of the most challenging categories. They made a significant investment in NAPA's growth by expanding their dedicated NAPA-specific sales team to drive market share. They've aligned strategically with our goals, ensuring we are first to market with new products introductions. Their leadership, integrity, and investment embody what it means to carry the Spirit of NAPA."

Through its partnership with NAPA, PGI has worked closely with the organization to support store operations, deliver reliable and innovative filtration products, and help drive growth across the NAPA network. The collaboration has also played a key role in one of the most significant changeovers in NAPA's history, further strengthening the partnership between the two organizations.

"We are deeply honored to receive the Spirit of NAPA Award," said Anan Bishara, Founder and CEO of Premium Guard Inc. "NAPA's leadership has created a highly collaborative and forward-looking partnership that encourages innovation and continuous improvement. Their openness to new ideas and commitment to evolving the business creates opportunities for partners like PGI to contribute meaningfully to growth. Together we remain focused on delivering best-in-class products, strong service levels, and supporting the success of NAPA stores and customers across North America."

Premium Guard Inc. supplies a comprehensive portfolio of automotive filtration products, including oil, air, cabin, and fuel filters, serving professional installers, retailers, and automotive service providers throughout North America.

About Premium Guard Inc. (PGI)

Premium Guard Inc. is a leading developer and supplier of premium automotive filtration solutions serving retail, traditional, quick lube, and e-commerce channels across North America. Beyond its Premium Guard branded product line, PGI powers many of the industry's most successful private-label programs, delivering turnkey solutions in engineering, product design, packaging, marketing, logistics, and data management. Through relentless innovation, global sourcing excellence, and a customer-first mindset, PGI continues to raise the standard for quality, agility, and value in the automotive aftermarket.

Media Contact: [email protected]

SOURCE Premium Guard Inc.
~ Invites Applications for EY1 to Year 9 for Academic Year 202627 ~

~ Welcomes its First Cohort of Day and Boarding Students ~

GURUGRAM, India, March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Queen Elizabeth's School, Gurugram, part of GEDU Global Education, a UK based global education group, today announced the launch of its Admissions Suite as it invites applications for EY1 to Year 9 for the Academic Year 202627. Marking a significant milestone in the school's journey in India, the Gurugram campus will extend a long-standing educational legacy through a curriculum that balances academic depth with personal development and global perspective. The school also introduced boarding facilities, welcoming its first cohort of both day and boarding students when it begins operations in August 2026.

The announcement was made during the inauguration ceremony, bringing together a distinguished gathering including Ms Susan Acland-Hood, Permanent Secretary at the UK Department for Education, representatives from the British High Commission and the British Council, and members of the school's leadership team.

Alison Barrett MBE, Country Director India, British Council, said: "India and the UK share a strong and enduring partnership in education, built on a shared commitment to academic excellence, innovation, and a global outlook. I congratulate the Gurugram Queen Elizabeth's School on launching admissions in India  this reflects the growing interest in international education opportunities and the deepening educational links between our two countries. We welcome initiatives that bring together British educational heritage with India's dynamic learning landscape, creating enriching opportunities for students to develop the knowledge, skills and perspectives needed in an interconnected world."

Ms Caroline Pendleton-Nash, Chief Executive Officer of Queen Elizabeth's Global Schools, said, "India represents one of the most dynamic and forward looking education landscapes in the world, and the launch of the Admissions Suite in Gurugram marks an important step in our journey to establish Queen Elizabeth's Global Schools in the country. As we invite applications for the inaugural academic year, we look forward to welcoming families who share our belief in the transformative power of an exceptional education. Through Queen Elizabeth's Global Schools, we aim to bring the heritage, values and academic standards shaped over more than four centuries to Indian students and expats, while building a meaningful academic bridge between the United Kingdom and India."

Dr Craig Cook, Founding Principal, Queen Elizabeth's School, Gurugram, said, "The launch of the Gurugram Admissions Suite provides an opportunity for families to experience the distinctive ethos that has defined Queen Elizabeth's Global Schools for more than 450 years. Our academic framework is designed to combine intellectual rigour with strong pastoral care and a rich co-curricular environment, ensuring that students develop both academic excellence and strength of character. We look forward to welcoming our founding cohort of students and nurturing confident, able and responsible young people who are prepared to contribute positively to an interconnected world."

The newly launched Gurugram Admissions Suite will serve as the first dedicated engagement space for families seeking to learn about the school's academic philosophy, values and learning environment. Designed to introduce prospective parents to the beliefs and aspirations of the school, the suite will provide an opportunity for families to engage closely with the school leadership and admissions teams as they explore the possibility of becoming part of the Elizabethan community.

Admissions Enquiries and Applications

Prospective families interested in applying for Academic Year

202627 may visit the Gurugram Admissions Suite or connect

with the admissions teams through the following details: Address: Tower 1, Atrium Place, Gurugram

Telephone: +91 921 702 4848

Email: [email protected]

About Queen Elizabeth's School, Gurugram

Queen Elizabeth's School, Gurugram, is part of Queen Elizabeth's Global Schools under the umbrella of GEDU Global Education network, bringing a world-class British education to India. Inspired by the legacy of Queen Elizabeth's School, Barnet, founded under Royal Charter in 1573, the school builds on more than 450 years of academic heritage and character-based education.

Opening in August 2026, the school will welcome students from EY1 to Year 9, gradually expanding to Year 13. The school plans to offer the Cambridge International Curriculum, leading to IGCSE and A Level pathways, alongside boarding facilities that will support a diverse and international student community.

Education at Queen Elizabeth's School, Gurugram, is guided by three integrated pillars: QE House, which builds belonging and leadership; QE Futures, which prepares students for life beyond school; and QE Flourish, a dynamic co-curricular programme spanning creativity, service, wellbeing and sport. Together, these create a balanced educational environment that nurtures confident, able and responsible young people.

For more information, visit www.qegurugram.com

About GEDU Global Education

GEDU Global Education (GEDU) is UK-HQ'd group of 15 education institutions with a mission to change lives through education and improving living standards and access to learning worldwide. The Group has operations in 16 countries, including the India, USA, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Malta, UAE, India, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Ireland and Canada.

GEDU offers a range of educational opportunities, from K-12 through Bachelor's, Master's degrees and Ph.D./DBA, as well as apprenticeships and language schools. Our portfolio has over 85,000 students, covers a wide range of subjects and is characterised by a keen focus on both employability and student experience to maximise return on investment for students.

SOURCE Global Education (GEDU)
Seasoned Regulatory Leader Strengthens Investment Banking Firm with Strategic Compliance Integration

NEW YORK and ORLANDO, Fla., March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Republic Capital Group ("Republic"), a leading investment bank specializing in strategic and financial advisory services for wealth and asset management firms and their clients, today announced the appointment of Lori Kamen as Chief Compliance Officer. With nearly three decades of experience in broker-dealer and investment advisory compliance, Kamen brings deep regulatory expertise and executive leadership to the firm's growing platform.

Lori Kamen Headshot

Kamen holds the Series 4, 7, 24, 53, 63, 66, 79 and 99 licenses. She has served in a variety of compliance and officer roles for various broker dealers, investment advisors, and reputable firms since 1997. She is a strong compliance leader with common sense, change management and leadership experience working closely with management, registered persons, and financial services industry organizations. Most recently, she served as the President and Chief Compliance Officer for a mid-size retail broker-dealer and a compliance officer for an SEC registered investment advisor. She also has a passion for securities compliance and helping registered persons and firms achieve compliance with the myriads of complex rules and regulations.

Lori said, "I am deeply honored to be selected as Chief Compliance Officer of Republic Capital Group. Compliance is more than a regulatory obligation- it is the foundation of trust, transparency, and long-term success. I look forward to working closely with the firm's leadership team and employees to further strengthen our culture of integrity, enhance our governance framework, and ensure we continue to meet the highest standards on behalf of our clients and stakeholders."

In her role at Republic, Kamen will integrate compliance throughout the firm's investment banking lifecycle, from engagement through closing. Her deep understanding of broker-dealer and advisory frameworks strengthens risk management and supports disciplined execution across capital markets and advisory mandates. She will work closely with firm leadership and banking teams to ensure regulatory alignment while maintaining operational efficiency- reinforcing a culture of accountability, transparency, and client trust.

"Lori's experience and leadership significantly enhance our regulatory infrastructure as we continue to expand our investment banking capabilities," said John Langston, Founder and CEO at Republic. "Her ability to align compliance with strategic growth ensures we remain disciplined, client-focused, and well-positioned for long-term success."

About Republic Capital Group:

Republic Capital Group, led by CEO and Founder John Langston, specializes in providing investment banking services to the RIA, asset, and wealth management communities and their clients. Republic partners with firms at the forefront of M&A activity and active participants in the transformation of the industry. Republic is headquartered in New York, with locations in Dallas, Chicago, San Antonio, Houston, Orlando, & West Palm Beach.

For more information, please visit republiccg.com and follow Republic Capital Group on LinkedIn.

Media Contact:

Carrie Massey

[email protected]

Republic Capital Group Holdings, LLC ("RCG") member of FINRA/SIPC.

SOURCE Republic Capital Group
In the news release, RoboForex Launches Swap-Free Trading for All Clients, issued March 16, 2026 by RoboForex over PR Newswire, we are advised by the company that an incorrect logo was used in the original distribution; this has now been replaced by the correct RoboForex logo. The complete, corrected release follows:

RoboForex Launches Swap-Free Trading for All Clients

BELIZE CITY, Belize, March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- RoboForex, a financial broker, has announced the launch of swap-free trading for all its clients. The new feature represents a distinctive innovation in the forex industry and introduces a fundamentally different approach to overnight trading costs.

RoboForex Launches Swap-Free Trading for All Clients (PRNewsfoto/RoboForex)

RoboForex offers a comprehensive swap-free model, completely removing overnight fees (swaps). Crucially, this is achieved without introducing hidden costs, such as increased commissions or wider spreads, which are common among other market providers. By opening a swap-free account, RoboForex clients can run their strategies without incurring additional charges for holding positions overnight.

Enhancing the trader experience

The introduction of this feature is designed to lower entry barriers and create a more predictable cost structure for traders. By removing overnight swaps, RoboForex simplifies trading conditions and reduces cost-related uncertainty, particularly for those holding positions over longer periods.

In volatile market environments, where traders already navigate price fluctuations and risk exposure, eliminating overnight charges helps minimise additional cost pressure and supports a more focused trading experience. This can be particularly relevant when traders hold positions for extended periods during prolonged market trends, waiting for more favourable exit conditions.

"Following a successful test launch last year in several Latin American countries and strong positive feedback from clients, we decided to scale swap-free trading across all our markets," said Douglas Abreu, LATAM Operations Director at RoboForex. "This step reflects our broader focus on simplifying trading conditions and making costs more transparent and predictable, giving traders more flexibility in managing longer-term positions."

Key highlights of the swap-free accounts:

Total transparency : no additional commissions or mark-ups are added to the spread in exchange for swap-free status

: no additional commissions or mark-ups are added to the spread in exchange for swap-free status Available to all RoboForex clients: swap-free trading is accessible on newly created accounts

swap-free trading is accessible on newly created accounts Broad instrument coverage: zero swaps apply for the most popular instruments, including metals and currencies

Building a low-barrier trading environment

The launch of swap-free trading aligns with RoboForex's broader strategy of reducing cost-related barriers for clients. In addition to swap-free accounts, the company offers free withdrawals, allowing clients to withdraw funds without a commission up to three times per month. RoboForex also offers 0% commission on deposits, ensuring clients are not charged for funding their accounts.

By combining swap-free trading with transparent and cost-efficient funding and withdrawal conditions, RoboForex continues to develop a trading environment focused on market accessibility, clarity, and reduced structural costs for traders.

About RoboForex

RoboForex is a company that provides brokerage services, offering traders in financial markets access to its proprietary trading terminals and industry-leading third-party platforms. RoboForex Ltd operates under brokerage license number FSC 9759600.

View more detailed information about the Company's products and activities on the website roboforex.com .

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2933547/RoboForex_Swap_Free.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2935804/RoboForex_Logo.jpg

SOURCE RoboForex
NEW YORK, March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ --

Why: Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, continues to investigate potential securities claims on behalf of shareholders of Lufax Holding Ltd (NYSE: LU) resulting from allegations that Lufax may have issued materially misleading business information to the investing public.

So What: If you purchased Lufax securities you may be entitled to compensation without payment of any out of pocket fees or costs through a contingency fee arrangement. The Rosen Law Firm is preparing a class action seeking recovery of investor losses.

What to do next: To join the prospective class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/submit-form/?case_id=53703 or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email [email protected] for information on the class action.

What is this about: On January 27, 2025, Lufax filed with the Securities and Exhange Commission a current report on Form 6-K. Attached to the current report as an exhibit was an announcement which stated that Lufax's board had proposed to remove Lufax's auditors, and that there was a possible delay in the publication of Lufax's 2024 annual report (which in fact did occur).

On this news, Lufax American Depositary Shares' ("ADSs") fell 13.8% on January 27, 2025.

Why Rosen Law: We encourage investors to select qualified counsel with a track record of success in leadership roles. Often, firms issuing notices do not have comparable experience, resources, or any meaningful peer recognition. Many of these firms do not actually litigate securities class actions. Be wise in selecting counsel. The Rosen Law Firm represents investors throughout the globe, concentrating its practice in securities class actions and shareholder derivative litigation. Rosen Law Firm has achieved, at that time, the largest ever securities class action settlement against a Chinese Company. At the time Rosen Law Firm was Ranked No. 1 by ISS Securities Class Action Services for number of securities class action settlements in 2017. The firm has been ranked in the top 4 each year since 2013 and has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors. In 2019 alone the firm secured over $438 million for investors. In 2020, founding partner Laurence Rosen was named by law360 as a Titan of Plaintiffs' Bar. Many of the firm's attorneys have been recognized by Lawdragon and Super Lawyers.

Follow us for updates on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-rosen-law-firm, on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rosen_firm or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rosenlawfirm/.

Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

Contact Information:

Laurence Rosen, Esq.

Phillip Kim, Esq.

The Rosen Law Firm, P.A.

275 Madison Avenue, 40th Floor

New York, NY 10016

Tel: (212) 686-1060

Toll Free: (866) 767-3653

Fax: (212) 202-3827

[email protected]

www.rosenlegal.com

SOURCE THE ROSEN LAW FIRM, P. A.
Validation of key systems at the Grid will support future testing of full-scale hybrid-electric Pratt & Whitney GTF engine demonstrator

ROCKFORD, Ill., March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Collins Aerospace has begun initial testing of the electric motor drive systems for the European Union's Clean Aviation SWITCH project, a key step towards demonstrating the hybrid-electric technology on a full-scale Pratt & Whitney GTF engine. Integrated lab tests of the hybrid-electric powertrain subsystem, including motor generators, controllers and power distribution systems, are taking place at "The Grid," Collins' advanced electric power systems lab in Rockford, Illinois. Collins Aerospace and Pratt & Whitney are RTX (NYSE: RTX) businesses.

The SWITCH project is focused on demonstrating the potential of hybrid-electric technologies to optimize engine efficiency across different phases of flight for future short- and medium-range aircraft. Key subsystems validated at The Grid, including two megawatt-class motor generators, will be integrated within a hybrid-electric Pratt & Whitney GTF engine demonstrator as part of the next phase of testing.

"The start of powertrain subsystem testing is a key step towards demonstrating the potential of applying more electric systems to future commercial aircraft," said Kristin Smith, vice president, Electric Power Systems at Collins Aerospace. "Hybrid-electric technology has the potential to transform aviation by enabling greater fuel efficiency across multiple future platforms, including next generation single-aisle aircraft."

The SWITCH powertrain incorporates multiple key components developed at world-class research and development facilities across Europe. Collins Aerospace designed and produced megawatt-class electric motor and controllers at its Solihull, UK facility, while power distribution components including a solid-state power controller and power distribution panel were designed in Nordlingen, Germany. The high voltage electrical wiring interconnection system developed by GKN Aerospace was built in Papendrecht, Netherlands.

SWITCH is a collaborative effort involving MTU Aero Engines AG, Pratt & Whitney, Collins Aerospace, GKN Aerospace, Airbus and several European research institutions. Collins Aerospace is also engaged in multiple ongoing Clean Aviation projects targeted at enabling hybrid-electric propulsion and more electric aircraft architectures across regional and short- and medium- range platforms.

Funded by the European Union under GA no. 101102006  SWITCH. Views and opinions expressed are, however, those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or Clean Aviation. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

About Collins Aerospace

Collins Aerospace, an RTX business, is a leader in integrated and intelligent solutions for the global aerospace and defense industry. Our 80,000 employees are dedicated to delivering future-focused technologies to advance sustainable and connected aviation, passenger safety and comfort, mission success, space exploration, and more.

About RTX

With more than 180,000 global employees, we push the limits of technology and science to redefine how we connect and protect our world. With industry-leading capabilities, we advance aviation, engineer integrated defense systems for operational success, and develop next-generation technology solutions and manufacturing to help global customers address their most critical challenges. The company, with 2025 sales of more than $88 billion, is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia.

About Clean Aviation

The Clean Aviation Joint Undertaking is the European Union's leading research and innovation programme for transforming aviation towards a sustainable and climate-neutral future. It is a European public-private partnership. The programme's disruptive clean aviation technologies will help reduce CO 2 of short-medium range aircraft by no less than 30% and -50% for regional range aircraft.

For questions or to schedule an interview, please contact [email protected].

SOURCE RTX
The Defense Forces of Ukraine shot down or suppressed 194 of the 211 Russian drones used to attack the countrys airspace. Strikes by 16 UAVs were recorded across 10 locations, and falling debris was documented at 11 sites, the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported.

"On the night of March 16 (starting from 18:00 on March 15) and throughout this morning, the enemy attacked with 211 strike UAVs of the Shahed, Gerbera, and Italmas types, as well as drones of other types from the directions of Orel, Kursk, Briansk, Millerovo, Primorsko-Akhtarsk (Russia), and Hvardiiske (occupied Crimea). Over 100 of these were Shaheds The main directions of the strike were the Odesa, Zaporizhia, and Kyiv regions," the Air Force statement on Telegram reads.

Military officials noted that the attack was characterized by an atypical morning strike using various types of strike drones heading toward the Kyiv region.

"According to preliminary data as of 11:00, air defense shot down or suppressed 194 enemy UAVs across the north, south, and east of the country. 16 strike UAVs hit 10 locations, and debris from downed targets fell at 11 locations," the Air Force informed.

This brings the effectiveness of air defense against drones during this wave to 91.94%. The attack was repelled by aviation, anti-aircraft missile troops, electronic warfare (EW) units, unmanned systems units, and mobile fire groups.

As previously reported, on the night of March 15, the Defense Forces neutralized 90 out of 97 enemy UAVs, with 5 strikes recorded at 5 locations.

On the night of March 14, the enemy launched a massive air strike where the Defense Forces neutralized 460 out of 498 aerial targets, with 6 missiles and 28 strike drones hitting 11 locations. Specifically, that effort eliminated: one Zircon anti-ship missile; 7 Iskander-M/S-400 ballistic missiles; 25 Kalibr cruise missiles; 24 Kh-101 cruise missiles; one Kh-59/69 guided air missile; and 402 enemy UAVs of various types.
TULSA, Okla., March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Rising Korean dubstep producer Saint Miller is making his most defining statement yet with the announcement of his debut EP, All of a Sudden, set for release on April 3, 2026 via the renowned bass music imprint Kannibalen Records. The EP's lead single and title track, "All of a Sudden," is available now on all major streaming platforms and it is already turning heads across the global bass music community.

Saint Miller - All of a Sudden

Described by critics as a raw, relentless bass anthem, the title single "All of a Sudden" arrived on March 11 and immediately signaled the arrival of a major new voice in the dubstep and bass music scene. With its crushing low-end energy, precise sound design, and an unrelenting forward momentum, the track offers listeners a powerful first look at what promises to be a landmark debut project. From the opening seconds, it is clear that Saint Miller has a command of his craft that goes well beyond his years as an emerging artist.

Landing a debut EP on Kannibalen Records is itself a statement. The imprint has long served as one of the most respected homes for forward-thinking, bass-driven music on the planet, cultivating a roster of artists who push the boundaries of dubstep, riddim, and beyond. For Saint Miller to debut on this platform signals not only the quality of his output, but the trajectory of an artist with serious longevity in mind.

All of a Sudden is more than a debut - it is the opening chapter of a carefully crafted artistic identity. Each track on the EP is expected to build on the energy and intensity introduced by the lead single, taking listeners on a journey through Saint Miller's production range while maintaining the cohesive, hard-hitting sound that has already earned him a rapidly growing fanbase. As anticipation builds toward the April 3 release date, "All of a Sudden" stands as both a mission statement and an invitation to pay close attention to what comes next.

Saint Miller is represented by VYNE Talent Group for artist development, bookings, and media relations.

Stream "All of a Sudden" now on all major streaming platforms.

For press inquiries, interview requests, or booking information, please contact VYNE Talent Group at: [email protected] or visit vynetalentgroup.com.

Contact:

VYNE Talent Group

[email protected] | (918) 425-8966

SOURCE Vyne Talent Group
MILWAUKEE, March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Ademi LLP is investigating National Storage Affiliates (NYSE: NSA) for possible breaches of fiduciary duty and other violations of law in its recently announced transaction with Public Storage.

Click here to learn how to join our investigation and obtain additional information or contact us at [email protected] or toll-free: 866-264-3995. There is no cost or obligation to you.

In the transaction, National Storage Affiliates stockholders will receive 0.14 of a share of PSA common stock or partnership units for each NSA share or unit they own, representing a total consideration of $41.68 per share based on PSA's closing share price on March 13, 2026.

National Storage Affiliates insiders will receive substantial benefits as part of change of control arrangements.

The transaction agreement unreasonably limits competing transactions for National Storage Affiliates by imposing a significant penalty if National Storage Affiliates accepts a competing bid. We are investigating the conduct of the National Storage Affiliates board of directors, and whether they are fulfilling their fiduciary duties to all shareholders.

We specialize in shareholder litigation involving buyouts, mergers, and individual shareholder rights. For more information, please feel free to call us. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.

Contacts

Ademi LLP

Guri Ademi

Toll Free: (866) 264-3995

Fax: (414) 482-8001

SOURCE Ademi LLP
Faruqi & Faruqi is a leading national securities law firm with offices in New York, Pennsylvania, California and Georgia. The firm has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors since its founding in 1995. See www.faruqilaw.com.

As detailed below, the complaint alleges that the Company and its executives violated federal securities laws by making false and/or misleading statements and/or failing to disclose that: (1) the Soleno Phase 3 clinical trial program for DCCR had systematically downplayed, misrepresented, and/or concealed significant evidence of safety concerns potentially related to the administration of DCCR, including issues related to excess fluid retention in clinical trial participants; (2) as a result, the administration of DCCR to treat hyperphagia in individuals with PWS posed materially greater safety risks than disclosed by Soleno or its executives; and (3) consequently, DCCR had materially lower commercial viability and undisclosed risks related to the likelihood of significant and widespread adverse events after its commercial launch, including risks related to patient discontinuation rates, lower patient adoption, prescriber reluctance, adverse regulatory action, and potential reputational and legal fallout.

On August 15, 2025, Scorpion Capital LLC published a report critical of Soleno Therapeutics, Inc., its drug candidate DCCR, and the company's Phase 3 clinical trial program. The report alleged significant concerns regarding the drug's safety, efficacy, and clinical trial data. On this news, the price of Soleno common stock declined from a high of more than $77 per share on August 14, 2025 to close at approximately $68 per share on August 18, 2025, a decline of nearly 12% over two trading days.

Subsequently, on September 10, 2025, Soleno filed a Form 8-K with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission disclosing that a patient had died after taking DCCR. On this news, the price of Soleno common stock declined from more than $70 per share on September 9, 2025 to close at approximately $57 per share on September 11, 2025, a decline of approximately 19% over two trading days.

Lastly, on November 4, 2025, Soleno reported its financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2025, revealing that the earlier Scorpion Capital report had disrupted the launch trajectory of DCCR and raised concerns within the Prader-Willi syndrome community, resulting in fewer patient start forms and increased discontinuations. On this news, the price of Soleno common stock declined from nearly $64 per share on November 4, 2025 to close at approximately $47 per share on November 5, 2025, a one-day decline of approximately 27%.

The court-appointed lead plaintiff is the investor with the largest financial interest in the relief sought by the class who is adequate and typical of class members who directs and oversees the litigation on behalf of the putative class. Any member of the putative class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member. Your ability to share in any recovery is not affected by the decision to serve as a lead plaintiff or not.

Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP also encourages anyone with information regarding Soleno's conduct to contact the firm, including whistleblowers, former employees, shareholders and others.

To learn more about the Soleno Therapeutics class action, go to www.faruqilaw.com/SLNO or call Faruqi & Faruqi partner Josh Wilson directly at 877-247-4292 or 212-983-9330 (Ext. 1310).

Follow us for updates on LinkedIn, on X, or on Facebook.

Attorney Advertising. The law firm responsible for this advertisement is Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP (www.faruqilaw.com). Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome with respect to any future matter. We welcome the opportunity to discuss your particular case. All communications will be treated in a confidential manner.

SOURCE Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP
Did you buy SMR Class A common stock between May 13, 2025, and November 6, 2025?

Affected NuScale Power Corporation Investor Summary

Who : NuScale Power Corporation (NYSE: SMR)

: NuScale Power Corporation (NYSE: SMR) What: Securities fraud class action lawsuit filed

Securities class action lawsuit filed Class Period: May 13, 2025, through November 6, 2025

May 13, 2025, through November 6, 2025 Deadline to Seek Lead Plaintiff Status: April 20, 2026

April 20, 2026 Key Lawsuit Allegations: Material misstatements and/or omissions concerning the company's commercialization strategy for its nuclear power generation projects and development.

Material misstatements and/or omissions concerning the company's commercialization strategy for its nuclear power generation projects and development. Investor Action: Contact Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP (www.ktmc.com) for recovery options at no cost to investor

RADNOR, Pa., March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP (www.ktmc.com ) , a nationally recognized securities litigation law firm, informs investors that a securities fraud class action lawsuit has been filed against NuScale Power Corporation (NuScale) (NYSE: SMR) on behalf of those who purchased or acquired NuScale Class A common stock between May 13, 2025, and November 6, 2025, inclusive. The lawsuit is filed in the United States District Court for the District of Oregon and is captioned Truedson v. NuScale Power Corporation, et al, Case No. 3:26-cv-00328 (D. Or.). Investors have until April 20, 2026, to file for lead plaintiff status.

CONTACT KTMC TO DISCUSS YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS:

If you purchased or acquired NuScale Class A common stock and have lost money on your investment, you are encouraged to contact KTMC attorney Jonathan Naji, Esq. at:

 (484) 270-1453

 [email protected]

 https://www.ktmc.com/smr-nuscale-power-corporation-class-action-lawsuit?utm_source=PR_Newswire&utm_medium=pressrelease&utm_campaign=smr&mktm=PR

There is no cost or obligation to speak with an attorney.

Learn more about NuScale Power Corporation on YouTube:

NUSCALE POWER CORPORATION CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT - COMPLAINT ALLEGATION SUMMARY:

The complaint alleges that, throughout the Class Period, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) ENTRA1 Energy LLC ("ENTRA1") had never built, financed, or operated any significant projects let alone projects in the highly technical and complicated field of nuclear power generation during its entire operating history; (2) NuScale had entrusted its commercialization, distribution, and deployment of its NuScale Power Module and hundreds of millions of dollars of NuScale capital to an entity that lacked any significant prior experience owning, financing, or operating nuclear energy generation facilities; (3) the purported experience and qualifications attributed to ENTRA1 by Defendants during the Class Period in fact referred to the purported experience and qualifications of the principals of the Habboush Group, a distinct entity without significant experience in the field of nuclear power generation; and (4) as a result, NuScale's commercialization strategy was exposed to material, undisclosed risks of failure, delays, regulatory challenges, or other negative setbacks.

Why did NuScale's Stock Drop?

On November 6, 2025, NuScale surprised investors by revealing that the company's general and administrative expenses had ballooned more than 3,000% to $519 million during its third fiscal quarter, up from $17 million in the prior year period, due largely to NuScale's payment of $495 million to ENTRA1 for its TVA agreement. As a result, NuScale's quarterly net loss skyrocketed to $532 million, up from $46 million in the prior year period. On this news, the price of NuScale Class A common stock declined by $5.45 per share, or approximately 14.4%, from a close of $37.91 per share on November 5, 2025, to close at $32.46 on November 6, 2025.

WHAT SMR INVESTORS CAN DO NOW:

File to be lead plaintiff by April 20, 2026. Contact KTMC for a free case evaluation. All representation is on a contingency fee basis, there is no cost to you. Retain counsel of choice or take no action.

THE LEAD PLAINTIFF PROCESS FOR NUSCALE POWER CORPORATION INVESTORS:

NuScale investors may, no later than April 20, 2026, seek to be appointed as a lead plaintiff representative of the class through Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP or other counsel, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member. A lead plaintiff is a representative party who acts on behalf of all class members in directing the litigation. The lead plaintiff is usually the investor or small group of investors who have the largest financial interest and who are also adequate and typical of the proposed class of investors. The lead plaintiff selects counsel to represent the lead plaintiff and the class and these attorneys, if approved by the court, are lead or class counsel. Your ability to share in any recovery is not affected by the decision of whether or not to serve as a lead plaintiff.

Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP encourages NuScale investors to contact the firm for more information.

ABOUT KESSLER TOPAZ MELTZER & CHECK, LLP (KTMC):

Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP (KTMC) is a leading U.S. plaintiff-side law firm focused on securities-fraud class actions and global investor protection. The firm represents individual investors as well as institutions, such as major pension funds, asset managers, and international investors. KTMC has led some of the largest recoveries in securities litigation and has been recognized by peers and the legal media with numerous accolades, including The National Law Journal's Plaintiff's Hot List and Trailblazers in Plaintiffs' Law, BTI Consulting Group's Honor Roll of Most Feared Law Firms, The Legal Intelligencer's Class Action Firm of the Year, Lawdragon's Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers, and Law360's Titans of the Plaintiffs Bar. The firm operates globally with offices in Pennsylvania and California. KTMC has recovered over $25 billion for our clients and the classes they represent. For more information about Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP, please visit www.ktmc.com. The complaint in this matter was not filed by KTMC.

CONTACT:

Jonathan Naji, Esq.

(484) 270-1453

280 King of Prussia Road

Radnor, PA 19087

[email protected]

May be considered attorney advertising in certain jurisdictions. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.

SOURCE Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP
/C O R R E C T I O N  In the news release, South University Nursing Programs Achieve Strong NCLEX Pass Rates Across Multiple Campuses in 2025, issued March 16, 2026 by South University over PR Newswire, we are advised by the company that changes have been made. The complete, corrected release follows, with additional details at the end:

South University Nursing Programs Achieve Strong NCLEX Pass Rates Across Multiple Campuses in 2025

Orlando campus achieves 100% pass rate for third consecutive year; SU, Savannah achieves perfect testing results with NCLEX

SAVANNAH, Ga., March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- South University is proud to announce exceptional results from its Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) programs, with graduates across multiple campuses achieving strong pass rates on the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN) in 2025.

Among the standout performers, South University, Orlando achieved a 100% pass rate for the third consecutive year, while SU, Savannah reported 100% of its first cohort of graduates successfully passing the examination. Additionally, South University, West Palm Beach continued its strong performance with a 96.88% pass rate. These results reflect the dedication of South University's nursing faculty and the rigorous preparation students receive throughout their academic journey.

"These results are a testament to the hard work of our students and the unwavering commitment of our nursing faculty," said Benjamin J. DeGweck, CEO and Chancellor of South University. "At South University, we believe that every student deserves the tools, support, and resources they need to succeed. When our graduates pass the NCLEX and enter the workforce as registered nurses, they're not just achieving a personal milestonethey're joining the front lines of healthcare at a time when skilled professionals are needed more than ever."

South University's BSN programs are offered at multiple campus locations across the Southeast, each providing students with a blend of rigorous coursework, hands-on clinical training, and dedicated faculty mentorship.

The 2025 NCLEX results by campus are as follows:

South University, Orlando: 100% pass rate

South University, Savannah: 100% pass rate

South University, West Palm Beach: 96.88% pass rate

South University, Tampa: 91.67% pass rate

South University's nursing programs are designed to prepare students for the realities of modern healthcare through a combination of classroom instruction, simulation-based learning, and clinical rotations at leading healthcare facilities. Students benefit from small class sizes that allow for individualized attention, as well as comprehensive NCLEX preparation resources that help them approach the licensure examination with confidence.

"Our faculty are deeply invested in each student's success," said Dr. Michelle Krawczyk, Dean, College of Nursing and Public Health at South University. "From the first day of class through graduation and beyond, we work to ensure our students have the knowledge, clinical skills, and critical thinking abilities they need to provide exceptional patient care. These NCLEX results reflect that commitment."

The strong NCLEX results come at a critical time for the healthcare industry. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that employment of registered nurses will grow faster than the average for all occupations over the coming decade, driven by an aging population and increased emphasis on preventive care.1 South University's nursing programs are positioned to help meet this demand by producing well-prepared graduates who are ready to enter the workforce and make an immediate impact in their communities.

"The quality of our graduates is what differentiates us from our competitors," DeGweck said. "When employers hire a South University nursing graduate, they know they're getting a professional who has been trained to the highest standards and is ready to deliver compassionate, competent care from day one."

South University remains committed to expanding access to high-quality nursing education and continuing to invest in the resources, faculty, and clinical partnerships that drive student success. For more information about South University's nursing programs, visit www.southuniversity.edu/nursing

About South University

South University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) to award associate, baccalaureate, masters, and doctorate degrees. South University also may offer credentials such as certificates and diplomas at approved degree levels. Questions about the accreditation of South University may be directed in writing to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, GA 30033-4097, by calling (404) 679-4500, or by using information available on SACSCOC's website (www.sacscoc.org)

1 https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/registered-nurses.htm?

Media Contact:

Juliette Haas

[email protected]

Correction: The subheadline has been updated to: Orlando campus achieves 100% pass rate for third consecutive year; SU, Savannah achieves perfect testing results with NCLEX

SOURCE South University
NEW DELHI, March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the in-depth study published by MarkNtel Advisors, the Global Sovereign Cloud Market is projected to grow at a CAGR of around 24.16% during 20262032. The market expansion is primarily driven by increasing regulatory requirements for data localization, rising concerns regarding national data security, growing adoption of cloud computing across regulated industries, and expanding government initiatives aimed at ensuring digital sovereignty and protection of sensitive information.

Regionally, North America leads the Global Sovereign Cloud Market, accounting for approximately 44% of the total market share in 2026. The region's leadership is supported by the presence of major cloud infrastructure providers, increasing government and enterprise demand for secure cloud environments, and the growing implementation of regulatory frameworks designed to protect sensitive data within national jurisdictions.

Global Sovereign Cloud Market Key Takeaways

The Global Sovereign Cloud Market was valued at around USD 129 billion in 2025 and is projected to grow from USD 156.2 billion in 2026 to approximately USD 572.3 billion by 2032, reflecting strong market expansion driven by increasing regulatory compliance requirements, growing digital transformation initiatives, and rising concerns regarding national data sovereignty.

By sovereignty type, the data sovereignty segment accounted for approximately 55% of the Global Sovereign Cloud Market share in 2026, supported by increasing regulatory requirements mandating that sensitive data be stored, processed, and managed within national borders to ensure compliance and data protection.

By end-use industry, the government & defense segment held around 32% of the Global Sovereign Cloud Market share in 2026, driven by growing investments in secure digital infrastructure, increasing reliance on cloud technologies for public services, and heightened concerns related to national security and protection of critical information systems.

The presence of major global cloud service providers continues to strengthen the competitive landscape through ongoing technological advancements, expansion of sovereign cloud offerings, and strategic collaborations aimed at enabling compliant cloud environments for regulated industries worldwide.

Download a FREE PDF Sample of the Report

https://www.marknteladvisors.com/query/request-sample/sovereign-cloud-market-report.html (Discover key market trends, growth opportunities, and industry insights.)

Key Drivers Shaping the Future Outlook of the Sovereign Cloud Market

Expanding Regulatory Emphasis on Data Sovereignty

One of the primary factors driving the growth of the sovereign cloud market is the increasing global emphasis on data sovereignty and regulatory compliance. Governments and regulatory bodies across various regions are implementing stringent policies that require organizations to store, process, and manage sensitive data within national borders. These regulations are designed to strengthen data privacy, enhance cybersecurity protections, and ensure that critical information remains subject to domestic legal and governance frameworks.

As digital transformation continues to reshape industries such as banking, healthcare, telecommunications, and public administration, organizations are increasingly seeking cloud solutions that allow them to benefit from scalable computing resources while maintaining strict control over data residency and governance. Sovereign cloud platforms address this requirement by providing secure, compliant environments where data remains under the jurisdiction of national laws and regulatory standards.

By enabling organizations to meet complex compliance requirements without compromising on the flexibility and efficiency of cloud computing, sovereign cloud infrastructure is becoming a critical component of modern digital ecosystems. This capability not only reduces cybersecurity risks but also strengthens trust in digital services and supports broader national strategies focused on digital sovereignty and data protection.

Growing Public Sector Investments in Secure Digital Ecosystems

Rising investments by governments in secure and resilient digital infrastructure are also significantly contributing to the expansion of the sovereign cloud market. As public sector institutions increasingly digitize services and modernize legacy IT systems, the need for highly secure and compliant cloud environments has become more pronounced.

Sovereign cloud platforms allow governments to deploy cloud-based infrastructure that aligns with national regulatory frameworks while maintaining complete control over sensitive governmental and citizen data. These environments enable secure data management, operational transparency, and enhanced resilience of critical digital systems.

Furthermore, the expanding use of cloud technologies across public administration, defense operations, and national infrastructure management is accelerating the demand for sovereign cloud solutions. By combining the scalability of cloud computing with strict jurisdictional controls, sovereign cloud platforms are playing a vital role in enabling governments to build secure, future-ready digital ecosystems.

Key Challenges Limiting the Expansion of the Sovereign Cloud Market

Complex Implementation Requirements and High Infrastructure Costs

Despite its strong growth potential, the sovereign cloud market faces several challenges, particularly related to the complexity of developing and maintaining highly secure cloud environments that comply with stringent regulatory standards.

Implementing sovereign cloud infrastructure typically requires substantial investments in localized data centers, advanced cybersecurity systems, specialized compliance frameworks, and operational capabilities designed to meet national regulatory requirements. These factors can significantly increase the initial cost of deployment when compared with traditional cloud environments.

Additionally, organizations operating across multiple regions must navigate a diverse and often complex regulatory landscape, as data governance requirements vary significantly between countries. This complexity can create operational challenges for multinational enterprises attempting to implement unified cloud strategies across different jurisdictions.

Nevertheless, ongoing advancements in secure cloud architecture, increasing collaboration between governments and technology providers, and the continuous expansion of sovereign cloud service offerings are expected to gradually mitigate these barriers. As regulatory frameworks become clearer and cloud technologies continue to evolve, the adoption of sovereign cloud solutions is likely to expand further across both public and private sectors.

Market Analysis by Sovereignty Type, End-Use Industry & Region

By sovereignty type, data sovereignty dominated the Global Sovereign Cloud Market in 2026 with around 55% market share, supported by the growing need to ensure that sensitive organizational and governmental data remains stored and processed within national borders. Increasing regulatory frameworks related to data protection, privacy compliance, and national digital sovereignty initiatives are encouraging organizations to adopt cloud solutions designed to comply with these requirements.

By end-use industry, the government & defense segment accounted for approximately 32% of the Global Sovereign Cloud Market in 2026, making it the leading segment. The growth of this segment is primarily driven by rising investments in national cybersecurity infrastructure, increasing reliance on digital public services, and the growing need to safeguard critical governmental data and defense-related information.

Regionally, North America dominated the Global Sovereign Cloud Market with around 44% share in 2026, supported by strong technological infrastructure, widespread adoption of cloud services across enterprises, and increasing investments by governments and private organizations in secure digital ecosystems. The presence of leading cloud service providers and the growing emphasis on regulatory compliance and data protection are expected to further strengthen the region's position in the global sovereign cloud market.

View Full Report (All Data, In One Place)

https://www.marknteladvisors.com/research-library/sovereign-cloud-market-report.html (Explore in-depth analyses, technology trends, and investment opportunities.)

Strategic Initiatives Advancing the Global Sovereign Cloud Landscape

The global sovereign cloud market is witnessing continuous strategic initiatives from leading technology providers aimed at enhancing secure cloud infrastructure, strengthening data sovereignty capabilities, and supporting regulatory compliance across different regions.

In 2026, Rackspace Technology announced that its UK Sovereign Services achieved VMware Sovereign Cloud certification, enabling the company to deliver managed sovereign cloud infrastructure designed to ensure that sensitive data remains securely stored, processed, and protected within the United Kingdom's jurisdiction. The certification reinforces the company's ability to meet stringent compliance requirements while supporting organizations operating in highly regulated sectors.

Earlier, in 2025, Google Cloud expanded its sovereign cloud capabilities through its ongoing partnership with T-Systems, further strengthening the "T-Systems Sovereign Cloud powered by Google Cloud" portfolio. The solution allows enterprises and public sector institutions to maintain strict control over data residency, operational governance, and regulatory compliance while benefiting from the scalability and performance of Google Cloud infrastructure.

During the same year, Amazon Web Services (AWS) entered into a cooperation agreement with Germany's Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) to support digital sovereignty initiatives and strengthen cybersecurity standards across Germany and the broader European Union. The collaboration aims to enhance secure cloud infrastructure while ensuring compliance with strict regional data protection and sovereignty regulations.

Also in 2025, Microsoft partnered with Yotta Data Services to integrate Azure AI services into Yotta's Shakti Cloud, a sovereign AI cloud platform developed in India. This initiative is intended to accelerate artificial intelligence innovation by enabling enterprises, startups, and government organizations to access advanced AI capabilities within a secure and locally governed cloud environment.

Further reinforcing the industry's focus on sovereign digital infrastructure, in 2024, SAP SE announced the general availability of its Sovereign Cloud capabilities in the United Kingdom. The solution provides secure and localized cloud services designed to meet strict national data protection, compliance, and cybersecurity requirements, particularly for public sector organizations, critical national infrastructure operators, and other highly regulated industries.

Collectively, these developments highlight the increasing strategic focus of global technology providers on strengthening sovereign cloud capabilities, expanding localized cloud infrastructure, and enabling organizations worldwide to operate within secure, compliant, and jurisdictionally governed digital environments.

Prominent players in the Global Sovereign Cloud Market

Amazon Web Services

Microsoft

Google Cloud

IBM

Oracle

Alibaba Cloud

SAP

OVHcloud

T-Systems

Atos

VMware

Huawei Cloud

Rackspace Technology

HPE (Hewlett Packard Enterprise)

Thales Group

Civo

Others

Global Sovereign Cloud Market Scope

By Component: Solution, Services

By Deployment Type: Cloud-Based Sovereign Cloud, On-Premises Sovereign Cloud

By Cloud Type: Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)

By Sovereignty Type: Data Sovereignty, Operational Sovereignty, Technical Sovereignty

By Enterprise Size: Large Enterprises, Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs)

By End-Use Industry: Government & Defense, Banking Financial Services & Insurance (BFSI), Healthcare & Life Sciences, Telecommunications, Energy & Utilities, Manufacturing, Others

By Region: North America, South America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East & Africa

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About MarkNtel Advisors

MarkNtel Advisors is a global market research and consulting firm dedicated to delivering accurate, data-driven insights across a wide spectrum of high-growth and emerging industries. The company follows a robust research framework that combines extensive primary research, featuring direct interactions with industry leaders, domain experts, and key stakeholders, with carefully validated secondary data sources. This integrated approach ensures the reliability, precision, and credibility of its market intelligence.

With strong domain expertise and a team of skilled analysts, MarkNtel Advisors provides strategic market insights that help organizations, investors, and decision-makers identify emerging opportunities, understand evolving industry dynamics, and make well-informed business decisions in an increasingly competitive and rapidly changing global market environment.

Contact Us:

MarkNtel Advisors

Office No.109, H-159, Sector 63, Noida, Uttar Pradesh  201301, India

Contact No: +91 87199 99009

Email: [email protected]

Website: marknteladvisors.com

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2687299/5862961/MarkNtel_Advisors_Logo.jpg

SOURCE MarkNtel Advisors
New joint venture to help companies manage business transformation in the AI and agentic age

The venture combines boardroom strategy, corporate advisory services, AI and software engineering services and the AI/works agentic development platform to deliver measurable business impact at speed

Will help companies seize AI-driven market opportunities while managing risk, security, ethics and governance

Aligns Teneo's 1,800-plus C-suite and Board advisors and deep network of global relationships with Thoughtworks' 10,000-plus engineers and AI delivery expertise

Builds new services designed for the C-suite and Board agenda with teams of executive advisers, engineers, data and AI specialists

Leverages Thoughtworks' proprietary agentic development platform to move companies from AI strategy to execution in weeks, not years



NEW YORK and LONDON, March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Teneo, the global CEO advisory firm, and Thoughtworks, a global technology consultancy that integrates design, engineering and AI, today announced the launch of a new AI-focused venture designed to help companies manage business transformation and turn AI ambition into measurable business outcomes.

As AI reshapes every industry, technology is at the heart of how every business runs. This joint venture is built for this new era. It redefines senior strategic advice as AI-native with the ability to design, build and run AI-powered platforms, so insight turns into action and strategy becomes operational across the enterprise.

The venture brings together Teneo's trusted advisory and global client network with Thoughtworks' more than 10,000 engineers and deep expertise in design, product engineering, data and AI. The goal is clear: help companies react in real time and capture value from AI investments that deliver business outcomes in weeks and months, not years.

As companies invest heavily into AI infrastructure and modernization, many struggle to translate ambition into results. The new joint venture is built to close that gap. It will work directly with CEOs and executive teams to align strategy, operating model and technology execution across growth, productivity, modernization, risk, talent and reputation.

"As CEOs navigate unprecedented macroeconomic, geopolitical and technological disruption, they must also become the primary architects of their companies' AI futures," said Paul Keary, CEO of Teneo. "Teneo has invested hundreds of millions of dollars into world-class talent and capabilities to develop the leading global CEO advisory firm. Now in partnership with Thoughtworks, we will bring to bear Teneo's services with Thoughtworks' AI leadership and deep engineering capability to help our clients navigate business transformation in the AI and agentic age."

"AI transformation only works when strategy, culture and execution move together," Mike Sutcliff, CEO of Thoughtworks, said. "This venture unites CEO-level advisory with hands-on engineering and AI delivery. In three days, we can help clients align on new product concepts. In three weeks, we can build a working prototype. In three months, we can put new systems into production. That is the pace today's market demands."

Built for CEO priorities

The joint venture will build new, integrated services designed specifically for the CEO agenda. Operating with multidisciplinary teams of executive advisers, product leaders, engineers, designers and data and AI specialists, it will create solutions that unite strategy and execution from day one. Services will include:

Accelerating CEO priorities tied to growth, productivity, modernization and resilience

Scaling enterprise AI programs from strategy through deployment, including generative AI and advanced analytics

Strengthening stakeholder trust through AI-powered insights and engagement across investors, regulators, governments and customers

Managing geopolitical and market risk through real-time monitoring and scenario planning

Supporting financial resilience with digital tools to improve liquidity and guide restructuring

Transforming customer and employee experiences through modern product platforms

Redesigning operating models and leading enterprise change at scale

"As companies navigate rapid shifts in technology and capital markets, AI represents both opportunity and disruption," said Alex Pigliucci, Teneo's Global Head of Enterprise Clients, who will lead the joint venture. "This partnership equips our advisory teams, and our clients, with the ability to combine strategy and execution in real time, particularly in critical moments such as acquisitions, restructurings and large-scale transformations."

The joint venture will be established in New York, with global hubs across the Americas, Europe, Middle East and Asia-Pacific. It begins operations immediately, supported by Thoughtworks' ecosystem of leading technology partners including Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google, NVIDIA, Microsoft, Databricks and Mechanical Orchard to bring these new services to market at speed.

About Teneo

Teneo is the global CEO advisory firm. We partner with our clients globally to do great things for a better future.

Drawing upon our global team and expansive network of senior advisors, we provide advisory services across our five business segments on a stand-alone or fully integrated basis to help our clients solve complex business challenges. Our clients include a significant number of the Fortune 100 and FTSE 100, as well as other corporations, financial institutions and organizations.

Our full range of advisory services includes strategic communications, investor relations, financial transactions and restructuring, management consulting, physical and cyber risk, organizational design, board and executive search, geopolitics and government affairs, corporate governance and ESG.

The firm has more than 1,800 employees located in 45+ offices around the world.

For more information about Teneo, please visit teneo.com.

About Thoughtworks

Thoughtworks is a global technology consultancy that integrates strategy, design, engineering and AI to drive digital innovation and large-scale business transformation. For more than 30 years, we have partnered with organizations around the world to solve complex business problems through modern technology, disciplined engineering and a deep focus on culture and capability.

With more than 10,000 Thoughtworkers across 47 offices in 18 countries, we help enterprises modernize core systems, build and design digital products, harness data and scale AI responsibly. Our expertise spans product engineering, data and AI, cloud and platform modernization, customer experience and enterprise transformation. We are known for our leadership in software engineering excellence, agile ways of working and responsible technology practices.

Thoughtworks serves many of the world's leading enterprises across financial services, retail, healthcare, automotive, energy and the public sector. We work alongside executive teams to turn strategy into working systems that deliver measurable business value.

Keep up with Thoughtworks news by visiting thoughtworks.com and follow us on X, LinkedIn and YouTube.

SOURCE Teneo
In this free webinar, learn what is causing Gross-to-Net (GTN) revenue leakage, and where the pharmaceutical industry's estimated $90B+ in lost annual revenue goes including copay accumulators, maximizers, AFPs and pharmacy copay misuse. Attendees will gain insight into how GTN leakage undermines the patient experience and why access models fail at the pharmacy counter. The featured speakers will share why retroactive audits after enrollment can't protect patients or revenue and how real-time GTN intervention at enrollment can prevent leakage from happening. Attendees will learn how manufacturers can translate affordability spend into measurable access outcomes and revenue performance.

TORONTO, March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Pharmaceutical manufacturers are facing a significant systemic failure: an estimated $90 billion in annual revenue leakage driven by copay maximizers, accumulators, pharmacy copay misuse and other misaligned industry dynamics. This leakage not only erodes Gross-to-Net (GTN) performance but also disrupts patient access and continuity of care.

This webinar examines the structural drivers behind GTN leakage and outlines practical strategies to address risk earlier in the patient access journey.

Drawing on frontline pharmacy and access workflow experience, this webinar explores how GTN leakage begins during program enrollment, and why retrospective audit approaches often fail to protect either revenue or patients. The discussion highlights how real-time intervention at enrollment can identify benefit design misalignment sooner, reduce avoidable leakage and improve access reliability.

Attendees will gain a practical understanding of:

The primary structural drivers of GTN revenue leakage including accumulators, maximizers, alternative funding programs and pharmacy-level copay dynamics

How GTN leakage directly impacts patient access, continuity of care and overall patient experience

Why retrospective audits after enrollment fail to adequately mitigate financial exposure or access disruption

How real-time intervention at enrollment can reduce GTN leakage while improving revenue predictability and access outcomes

With GTN performance now a board-level priority and profitability under increasing pressure, reactive strategies are no longer sufficient.

Register for this webinar to learn how pharmaceutical manufacturers can protect GTN while improving patient access.

Join experts from RIS Rx, Gerard Rivera, Co-Founder & CEO; and Stephen Hom, Co-Founder EVP & COO, for the live webinar on Monday, March 30, 2026, at 11am EDT (5pm CEST/EU-Central).

For more information, or to register for this event, visit The $90B Leakage Problem: What Pharma Must Know About Gross-to-Net (GTN) Risk.

ABOUT XTALKS

Xtalks  The Life Science Community empowers professionals across pharma, biotech, medtech, healthcare and research with the trusted knowledge and collaborative insights that move the industry forward. Powered by Honeycomb Worldwide Inc., Xtalks delivers news, feature articles, webinars, podcasts, videos, expert interviews, curated job opportunities and more designed to support informed decision-making in a fast-evolving sector.

Every year, thousands of professionals rely on Xtalks for timely intelligence, peer perspectives and industry thought leadership. Join our life science community to stay informed, connected and ready for what's next.

To learn more about Xtalks, visit www.xtalks.com

For information about working with Xtalks to host your webinar, visit https://xtalks.com/partner-with-us/

ABOUT RIS Rx

RIS Rx is a healthcare technology company delivering gross-to-net (GTN) revenue protection for the world's leading pharmaceutical manufacturers. Through proprietary software, real-time analytics and pharmacist-led expertise, RIS Rx helps clients optimize operations, eliminate leakage and ensure that financial assistance reaches the patients who need it most. In 2025 alone, the company protected more than $1 billion in revenue for its customers. Founded in 2020 and headquartered in Irvine, California, RIS Rx serves leading pharmaceutical manufacturers across a growing portfolio of drug brands.

Learn more at www.RISRx.com.

Contact: Vera Kovacevic Tel: +1 (416) 977-6555 x371 Email: [email protected] Contact: Chase Carpenter Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Xtalks
In the news release, "TIER IV unveils AI-based Level 4 autonomous driving, accelerating global platform expansion across Japan, U.S. and Europe", issued 15-Mar-2026 by TIER IV, Inc. over PR Newswire, we are advised by the company that "*March 18 update: Two scenes were added to the video 'Test Driving of Level 4 Autonomous Driving Functions in Tokyo' while retaining part of the original footage", and the YouTube URL of "Demonstration of Level 4 autonomous driving features in Tokyo" was accordingly updated to "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Bq0uW15UZk". The complete, corrected release follows:

TIER IV unveils AI-based Level 4 autonomous driving, accelerating global platform expansion across Japan, U.S. and Europe

TOKYO, March 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- TIER IV, the pioneering force behind open-source software for autonomous driving, has developed software stacks for Level 4 autonomous driving powered by data-centric AI. Publicly available via Autoware*, open-source software for autonomous driving, the newly developed software stacks aim to expand operational design domains. Designed to be hardware-agnostic, they support various system-on-chip (SoC) and sensor configurations based on automotive industry requirements. By using TIER IV's machine learning operations (MLOps) platform together with the new software stacks, automakers can continuously iterate and improve AI model performance. To validate the effectiveness of these capabilities, TIER IV has commenced testing through collaborations with partners including universities in three global hubs: Tokyo, Pittsburgh and Munich.

Software stack release

TIER IV has launched a Level 4+ initiative, envisioning the gradual expansion of fully autonomous driving into more complex environments. This approach starts with Level 4 under specific conditions and uses real-world operational data to continuously refine AI models and expand use cases.

The newly published data-centric AI technology is the core component supporting this concept, expanding the functional deployment of Autoware based on the end-to-end (E2E) architecture released in July 2025. The software configuration can be selected from two systems to ensure adaptability and scalability across diverse driving environments without hardware lock-in. This serves as the foundation for automakers to lead and internalize the development of autonomous driving systems customized for unique vehicle designs and use cases.

Hybrid system with perception AI and planning AI : Uses diffusion models to probabilistically capture temporal changes in the surroundings. By combining this with environment perception from other ML models, it generates decision-making and trajectories, mimicking human driving behavior.

: Uses diffusion models to probabilistically capture temporal changes in the surroundings. By combining this with environment perception from other ML models, it generates decision-making and trajectories, mimicking human driving behavior. E2E system: Treats the surroundings and driving status as vector representations. Leveraging the concept of world models, it integrates perception, planning and control into a single learning process, providing a seamless pipeline from environmental recognition to vehicle operation.

The software stacks are available on GitHub within the Autoware repositories. In collaboration with the Autoware Foundation, TIER IV aims to establish AI-based Level 4 autonomous driving as an industry standard by fostering a framework where academia, industry and the developer community can collectively improve the open-source software.

MLOps platform use

The MLOps platform delivered by TIER IV handles data-quality validation, anonymization, tagging for searchability and annotation based on assessments from active learning frameworks. It can also generate a diverse dataset by combining real-world and synthetic data to evaluate autonomous driving system functions in complex environments. These advanced technologies are sustained through collaborations with a wide range of partners, including the collaboration with the Matsuo Institute.

Looking ahead, TIER IV aims to realize highly practical AI-based Level 4 autonomous driving through collaborations with automakers, continuously improving AI model performance using large-scale driving data and various MLOps capabilities.

Testing in Japan, U.S. and Europe

To validate the effectiveness of data-centric AI for Level 4 autonomous driving, TIER IV is launching driving tests of Level 4 autonomous driving features in regions with distinct traffic characteristics, utilizing different vehicles, SoCs and sensor suites. Each test run lasts approximately 60 minutes. While a safety driver will be on board in accordance with local regulations, no manual intervention is expected under normal operating conditions.

Tokyo : In collaboration with the University of Tokyo, Toyota JPN TAXI is used to evaluate the user experience when traveling between hubs in urban centers.

: In collaboration with the University of Tokyo, Toyota JPN TAXI is used to evaluate the user experience when traveling between hubs in urban centers. Pittsburgh : In collaboration with Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), Hyundai IONIQ 5 is used for robotaxi tests in urban areas, including routes between Pittsburgh International Airport and CMU.

: In collaboration with Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), Hyundai IONIQ 5 is used for robotaxi tests in urban areas, including routes between Pittsburgh International Airport and CMU. Munich: In collaboration with the Technical University of Munich, Volkswagen T7 Multivan is used for safety evaluations across various urban driving scenarios in and around Munich.

Through an international framework built on the open-source ecosystem, TIER IV is committed to driving the deployment and sustainable evolution of Level 4 autonomous driving.

"To achieve Level 4+ autonomy, we need technology that evolves autonomously alongside the environments it serves," said Shinpei Kato, founder and CEO of TIER IV. "Our new data-centric AI models and collaborative MLOps platform provide a common language and a shared foundation for the entire industry. By working with research institutions, industry leaders and the development community to advance autonomous driving technology through Autoware, we are creating an open, transparent environment that fosters continuous, collective innovation for the benefit of society."

"Autoware serves as the global foundation where researchers, corporations and developers collaborate to advance autonomous driving software," said Yang Zhang, chairman of the Autoware Foundation's board of directors. "Our collaboration with TIER IV strengthens the international framework for validating and refining E2E autonomous driving through real-world deployment. By testing across three continents, we are driving standards-based innovation and expanding an open ecosystem that lowers the barrier for a diverse range of partners to join and contribute."

"The release of these software stacks and MLOps platform is a vital step toward deploying advanced AI models in industrial applications," said Yutaka Matsuo, professor at the University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Engineering. "By accumulating data from Japan's distinctive traffic environments through our Tokyo testing and contributing those insights back to Autoware, we aim to further bridge the gap between academic research and real-world deployment."

"Autoware is a foundational technology for shaping the Level 4+ autonomy concept," said Raj Rajkumar, George Westinghouse Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. "Our Pittsburgh testing will validate the effectiveness of this technology under unique urban traffic conditions. It is essential for the global advancement of autonomous driving that academia and industry continue to collaborate and share results through the Autoware ecosystem."

"This initiative provides a valuable opportunity to evaluate technologies at the Level 4 autonomous driving standard within European urban environments and verify their effectiveness from multiple perspectives," said Johannes Betz, Professor of Autonomous Vehicle Systems at the Technical University of Munich. "We expect that this frameworkimproving AI models using region-specific datasets through Autoware-based collaborationwill significantly contribute to the development of highly practical autonomous technology."

*Autoware is a registered trademark of the Autoware Foundation.

About TIER IV

TIER IV stands at the forefront of deep tech innovation, pioneering Autoware , open-source software for autonomous driving. With a comprehensive suite of platforms and services built around Autoware, TIER IV provides everything from software development and vehicle procurement to operational support. Through the Autoware ecosystem, TIER IV works with partners worldwide to shape the future of intelligent vehicles with open-source software, aiming to create mobility that is safer, more sustainable, and accessible to all.

Media contact

[email protected]

SOURCE TIER IV, Inc.
Marking White Rain's first launch in more than a decade, the 8-piece specialty haircare line will roll out nationwide this March, supporting the iconic brand's long-standing commitment to accessible, performance-driven beauty

ALLEN PARK, Mich., March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- White Rain, the iconic American personal care brand trusted by families for more than 70 years, is announcing the upcoming launch of a new Specialty Haircare Collection this March. With full details available on whiterain.com, the new 8-product line marks the first look into White Rain's 2026 brand reinvigoration, reflecting elevated formulas, upgraded packaging, and ingredient-focused benefits designed for today's value-driven beauty consumer. Founded in 1952 and acquired by Innovative Brands in 2021, White Rain has long been recognized for dependable performance at an accessible price point. The collection represents White Rain's first new launch in over a decade.

Marking White Rains first launch in more than a decade, the 8-piece specialty haircare line will roll out nationwide this March, supporting the iconic brands long-standing commitment to accessible, performance-driven beauty Marking White Rains first launch in more than a decade, the 8-piece specialty haircare line will roll out nationwide this March, supporting the iconic brands long-standing commitment to accessible, performance-driven beauty

Offering a modern take on a heritage brand, this Specialty Haircare Collection builds on White Rain's decades-long legacy while making affordable, performance-driven haircare available without compromise. This new line of accessible beauty solutions will address top concerns like frizz control, strand strength, lightweight hydration, volume enhancement and more - all with each product priced at just $1.25 each.

Incorporating key ingredients like Aloe, Argan, Keratin, Collagen, Biotin, Cocoa, Jojoba, and Almond, the collection features Anti-Frizz and Volumizing product families, each offering a separate:

Shampoo

Conditioner

Leave-In Conditioner

Hair Mask

For the first time, White Rain is launching formulas centered on ingredient transparency and real benefits, paired with improved textures and a more elevated feel. The collection reflects major beauty trends such as the skinification of haircare, while reinforcing White Rain's commitment to accessible beauty that works, bringing elevated formulations to everyday shoppers at an unmatched value.

"White Rain has been a part of consumers' daily routines for generations, and that is something we take seriously," shares David Konja, CEO of Innovative Brands. "This launch marks an important step forward in the brand's evolution. We are continuing to stay true to our values, offering products that reflect our continued commitment to delivering affordable beauty shoppers love and trust."

"White Rain is entering a new era: modernized, refreshed, and inspired by the needs of today's families while staying grounded in the trust we've built since 1952," adds William Johnson, Head of Marketing & Innovation for Innovative Brands. "This new Specialty Haircare Collection represents the first step in our 2026 vision to offer elevated, ingredient-forward products and modern packaging that remain accessible to all."

About White Rain

Founded in 1952, White Rain is a heritage personal care brand known for delivering reliable performance and everyday value. Acquired by Innovative Brands in 2021, White Rain continues to modernize its product offerings while honoring more than 70 years of consumer trust. With a broad portfolio of products that spans every category of daily care, White Rain serves as a one stop shop for accessible beauty for the entire family, providing haircare, body care, hand, nail and skincare solutions for men, women, kids, and babies

About Innovative Brands

Innovative Brands is a consumer goods company dedicated to delivering quality products and innovation that is accessible. With a portfolio spanning personal care, home care, and household cleaning, including iconic brands such as White Rain, Innovative Brands blends decades of craftsmanship with a modern approach to innovation, product development, and customer experience. Headquartered in Allen Park, Michigan, the company is committed to delivering value, expanding retail and digital growth opportunities, and fostering strong partnerships with retailers and consumers alike.

For more information, please visit

https://www.whiterain.com/collections/white-rain-specialty

Media Contact:

Janice McCafferty

[email protected]

773-290-7497

SOURCE White Rain
Yurii Ihnat, head of the communications department of the Air Force Command of the AFU, reported that the Russian morning attack on Kyiv and the surrounding region was atypical. He stated that the enemy is modernizing its drones, making them less visible and less vulnerable to electronic warfare (EW) systems.

"About 30 drones of various types were directed at the Kyiv region. From the not-so-good newsthese drones have communication channels: mesh networks and other links that allow the enemy to control them. From the better newsalmost all of them were shot down. We saw that debris was found in the center of the capital; it will be identified," he said during the United News telethon.

Ihnat noted that since 2022, the enemy has advanced in developing countermeasures against EW systems, as well as in UAV navigation tools.

"At the beginning of the invasion there were four antenna elements; now there are 16, plus there are new antennas that are becoming increasingly difficult for our EW specialists to suppress The enemy is spending billions of dollars to modernize these drones because they realize Ukrainian EW is working, so the drones must be made significantly more expensive," the spokesperson noted.

He informed that specialists are currently working at the crash and impact sites to determine the exact type of drones used and the nature of the high-speed target heading toward Kyiv previously reported by the Air Force. Currently, there is no information regarding the impact or crash of such high-speed targets.
About this content 

About Jamie Ashcroft

Jamie Ashcroft, the News Editor for Proactive UK, has developed an impressive career in financial journalism, focusing on the small-cap sector for over fourteen years. Before joining the Proactive team, he was a stockbroker during the global financial crisis, a role that complemented his educational background - a first-class degree in Business and Economics and qualifications in software design and development. As one of the early external hires at Proactive in 2009, Jamie contributed... Read more

About the publisher

Proactive financial news and online broadcast teams provide fast, accessible, informative and actionable business and finance news content to a global investment audience. All our content is produced independently by our experienced and qualified teams of news journalists.

Proactive news team spans the worlds key finance and investing hubs with bureaus and studios in London, New York, Toronto, Vancouver, Sydney and Perth.

We are experts in medium and small-cap markets, we also keep our community up to date with blue-chip companies, commodities and broader investment stories. This is content that excites and engages motivated private investors.

The team delivers news and unique insights across the market including but not confined to: biotech and pharma, mining and natural resources, battery metals, oil and gas, crypto and emerging digital and EV technologies.

Use of technology

Proactive has always been a forward looking and enthusiastic technology adopter.

Our human content creators are equipped with many decades of valuable expertise and experience. The team also has access to and use technologies to assist and enhance workflows.

Proactive will on occasion use automation and software tools, including generative AI. Nevertheless, all content published by Proactive is edited and authored by humans, in line with best practice in regard to content production and search engine optimisation.
FTSE 100 up 56 at 10,317

US stock futures point firmly higher

Brent $102 a barrel

National Grid downgraded

5.15pm: Stocks recover

London stocks recovered on Monday amid fresh weakness in oil prices, with the FTSE up 56 points at 10,317.

Earlier today it looked like we were poised for a fresh outbreak of risk aversion as Brent pushed through the magic $100 level, IG chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp said.

Stock markets stand or fall by the oil price at present, and in the topsy-turvy world created by the war against Iran, the absence of bad news, and hopes that the war will last weeks rather than months, is enough to prompt a recovery in equities.

4.10pm: Blue-chips set to end in the green

As we head into the final 30 minutes of trading, some of the froth has come off the blue-chip index. From 90-odd points up, the Footsie is settled at 10,320.12, up 59 points.

Markets remain highly sensitive to developments in the Middle East, with traders still watching for any escalation that could threaten shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the worlds most important oil chokepoints.

All three of the main US benchmarks were higher on Monday morning, suggesting investors are willing to step back into risk assets after last weeks more defensive mood.

3.01pm: Blue-chips accelerate

The Footsie bounced back strongly on Monday, rising almost 100 points to 10,359.83 after spending part of the session in the doldrums, as a slight pullback in oil prices gave equity markets some breathing room.

That recovery in London came as Wall Street also pushed higher at the open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite were all in positive territory, supported by softer moves in crude after last weeks jump.

Markets remain highly sensitive to developments in the Middle East, with traders still watching for any escalation that could threaten shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the worlds most important oil chokepoints.

Oil eases, but geopolitical risk remains front and centre

The immediate pressure on stocks has eased slightly as Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate pulled back from recent highs. That has helped calm some of the inflation worries that re-emerged when oil surged on fears of a broader regional conflict.

Even so, the tone across markets remains cautious rather than relaxed. Investors know any disruption around the Strait of Hormuz could quickly send energy prices sharply higher again, reviving concerns about consumer prices, growth and central bank policy all at once.

That tension explains why equity gains, while welcome, are being treated carefully.

Wall Street looks past the latest oil spike

US markets appear to be taking the view that, for now, cooler oil is enough to support a relief rally.

All three of the main US benchmarks were higher on Monday morning, suggesting investors are willing to step back into risk assets after last weeks more defensive mood. Lower energy prices tend to be especially supportive for rate-sensitive and growth-heavy parts of the market, which helps explain the firmer tone in the S&P 500 and Nasdaq.

Still, traders are not just watching headlines from the Middle East. The next major test is now much closer to home.

1.09pm: Footsie accelerates

London's blue-chip index pushed higher in afternoon trading, taking its cue from improving sentiment on Wall Street, where futures are pointing to a firmer open. S&P 500 contracts are up 0.9%, Nasdaq futures gain 1.1%, and Dow futures add 0.2%. Not a rally. A steadying of nerves.

The Iran war is three weeks old and shows no sign of ending. The Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly a fifth of the world's traded oil passes, remains effectively shut. Brent crude is holding above $103 a barrel. WTI is just below $98. Both benchmarks cracked $100 for the first time since the Russia-Ukraine energy shock of 2022.

Some tankers got through the strait over the weekend. Markets noticed. Whether that optimism lasts is another question. President Trump is leaning hard on NATO allies to join a naval coalition to force the waterway open, warning of a "very bad future" for the alliance if they refuse.

Into this steps the Federal Reserve. Officials begin their two-day meeting today, with a rate decision due Wednesday. Nobody expects a move. Everyone expects Jerome Powell to be asked, repeatedly, what surging energy costs mean for inflation and whether the rate path has changed.

He will choose his words carefully.

Then there is Jensen Huang. Nvidia's GTC conference opens today. The AI trade needs a signal. Huang usually delivers one.

11.06am: Back in the green

London shares scrambled back into the green after a brief dip, adding nearly 40 points in the final hour of the morning session, buoyed by a positive read from Wall Street ahead of the bell.

On a quiet day for corporate news, the Square Mile's analysts turned their attention to the spreadsheets. The big call came from UBS, which cut its rating on National Grid, the FTSE 100 electricity and gas network operator, from 'neutral' to 'sell', warning that the stock's valuation has reached levels historically associated with sharp price falls.

The Swiss bank raised its 12-month price target to 1,160p from 1,100p but said the shares, currently trading at 1,368p, are priced for a level of asset growth and returns that it believes are unlikely to be delivered.

National Grid now trades at a 57% premium to its regulated asset base (RAB), the value of the physical infrastructure on which the company earns returns, a level the bank said sits at the top of its 30-year historical range.

On four previous occasions when the shares reached similar RAB premia, between 42% and 61%, the stock subsequently fell by an average of 37% over periods of five to 19 months, with an average recovery period of around three years.

UBS analysts said the current valuation implies a cost of equity of 7-8%, well below their own estimate of 8.1%, and RAB growth of 8% per year through to 2041, requiring capital expenditure of around 15 billion annually against their own forecast of 12 billion.

9.30am: Early enthusiasm fades

After a bright early start, UK blue-chips hit the buffers to trade at parity in the first hour and a half of trading.

Brent crude is changing at around $10t per barrel (up 1.7%), with no firm international response yet to Donald Trump's call for a naval coalition to secure the Strait of Hormuz.

Despite the geopolitical backdrop, positive industrial output and retail sales data from China failed to lift Asian markets, where economies remain acutely exposed to rising import costs.

Central bank decisions will dominate the agenda later in the week, with the US Federal Reserve, Bank of England, European Central Bank and Bank of Japan all expected to hold rates steady.

US stock futures are pointing to a positive open, with tech investors looking to NVIDIA's annual GPU Technology Conference (GTC) for signals on the next phase of artificial intelligence development.

8.15am: UK blue-chips make a bright start

London shares opened almost 50 points above their Friday close as traders shrugged off higher oil prices and a mixed open to the week in Asia.

Unsurprisingly, Shell and BP were early risers as Brent moved 2.7% higher to almost $106 a barrel amid an escalation of hostilities in Iran.

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway through which roughly a fifth of the world's oil normally passes, has forced producers to cut output after tanker traffic effectively halted. More than 12 million barrels of oil equivalent per day have been taken offline since the closure, according to energy research firm Rystad Energy.

International Energy Agency members have released a record 400 million barrels from emergency reserves, but the move has done little to calm markets.

In the UK, the government looks set to unveil emergency measures to support consumers faced with spiralling energy bills.

Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, left the door open on Sunday to government intervention on fuel duty and household energy bills if the impact of the Gulf crisis worsens, speaking on BBC One's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme.

"We're going to stand by people in this crisis," he said.

Ahead of the open: Positive start predicted

The FTSE 100 is set to open around 40 points higher on Monday, defying a broadly negative session across Asia-Pacific markets rattled by soaring oil prices and the escalating US-Iran conflict.

Spread betting firms pointed to the London index outperforming its regional peers as investors weighed the economic consequences of military strikes on Iranian oil infrastructure.

Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose 1.7% to $105 per barrel.

President Donald Trump ordered strikes on Iranian military assets on Kharg Island, Tehran's primary oil export terminal, which handles the vast majority of the country's crude shipments.

Mike Waltz, the US ambassador to the United Nations, repeated warnings of further strikes on crude facilities at the site on Sunday, adding to investor unease.

In Asia overnight, the Hang Seng flipped decisively into positive territory after spending most of the session in the red after China reported stronger-than-expected economic data for the first two months of the year.

The Nikkei and Topix, meanwhile, were off session lows, but still in negative territory.
About this content 

About Stephen Gunnion

Stephen Gunnion is a senior financial journalist and broadcaster at Proactive Investors. He has more than 25 years of experience in television, radio and print media, anchoring on a number of television channels including South Africa's Business Day TV, CNBC Africa and the South African Broadcasting Corporation, where he was the economics editor. He has also worked for Daily Maverick, Bloomberg, the Business Day newspaper and Investors' Chronicle. Read more

About the publisher

Proactive financial news and online broadcast teams provide fast, accessible, informative and actionable business and finance news content to a global investment audience. All our content is produced independently by our experienced and qualified teams of news journalists.

Proactive news team spans the worlds key finance and investing hubs with bureaus and studios in London, New York, Toronto, Vancouver, Sydney and Perth.

We are experts in medium and small-cap markets, we also keep our community up to date with blue-chip companies, commodities and broader investment stories. This is content that excites and engages motivated private investors.

The team delivers news and unique insights across the market including but not confined to: biotech and pharma, mining and natural resources, battery metals, oil and gas, crypto and emerging digital and EV technologies.

Use of technology

Proactive has always been a forward looking and enthusiastic technology adopter.

Our human content creators are equipped with many decades of valuable expertise and experience. The team also has access to and use technologies to assist and enhance workflows.

Proactive will on occasion use automation and software tools, including generative AI. Nevertheless, all content published by Proactive is edited and authored by humans, in line with best practice in regard to content production and search engine optimisation.
About this content 

About Ian Lyall

Ian Lyall, a seasoned journalist and editor, brings over three decades of experience to his role as Managing Editor at Proactive. Overseeing Proactive's editorial and broadcast operations across six offices on three continents, Ian is responsible for quality control, editorial policy, and content production. He directs the creation of 50,000 pieces of real-time news, feature articles, and filmed interviews annually. Prior to Proactive, Ian helped lead the business output at the Daily... Read more

About the publisher

Proactive financial news and online broadcast teams provide fast, accessible, informative and actionable business and finance news content to a global investment audience. All our content is produced independently by our experienced and qualified teams of news journalists.

Proactive news team spans the worlds key finance and investing hubs with bureaus and studios in London, New York, Toronto, Vancouver, Sydney and Perth.

We are experts in medium and small-cap markets, we also keep our community up to date with blue-chip companies, commodities and broader investment stories. This is content that excites and engages motivated private investors.

The team delivers news and unique insights across the market including but not confined to: biotech and pharma, mining and natural resources, battery metals, oil and gas, crypto and emerging digital and EV technologies.

Use of technology

Proactive has always been a forward looking and enthusiastic technology adopter.

Our human content creators are equipped with many decades of valuable expertise and experience. The team also has access to and use technologies to assist and enhance workflows.

Proactive will on occasion use automation and software tools, including generative AI. Nevertheless, all content published by Proactive is edited and authored by humans, in line with best practice in regard to content production and search engine optimisation.
About this content 

About Lisa Uhlman

Lisa Uhlman is an equities reporter at Proactive Investors, covering ASX-listed companies across the mining, energy, biotech and emerging tech sectors. With a background in legal and financial journalism, Lisa brings a sharp analytical lens to market news and corporate developments. Prior to joining Proactive, she reported for national trade publications and newswires, with a focus on court reporting, regulatory affairs and ESG-related business issues. Based in Sydney, she is... Read more

About the publisher

Proactive financial news and online broadcast teams provide fast, accessible, informative and actionable business and finance news content to a global investment audience. All our content is produced independently by our experienced and qualified teams of news journalists.

Proactive news team spans the worlds key finance and investing hubs with bureaus and studios in London, New York, Toronto, Vancouver, Sydney and Perth.

We are experts in medium and small-cap markets, we also keep our community up to date with blue-chip companies, commodities and broader investment stories. This is content that excites and engages motivated private investors.

The team delivers news and unique insights across the market including but not confined to: biotech and pharma, mining and natural resources, battery metals, oil and gas, crypto and emerging digital and EV technologies.

Use of technology

Proactive has always been a forward looking and enthusiastic technology adopter.

Our human content creators are equipped with many decades of valuable expertise and experience. The team also has access to and use technologies to assist and enhance workflows.

Proactive will on occasion use automation and software tools, including generative AI. Nevertheless, all content published by Proactive is edited and authored by humans, in line with best practice in regard to content production and search engine optimisation.
About this content 

About Kerry Stevenson

Kerry Stevenson joins Proactive Australia's broadcast team part time. As the Managing Director of Gold Events Kerry has been hosting the annual Australian Gold Conference for over 14 years, connecting industry and investment professionals and showcasing the value of precious metals. Kerry is passionate about helping others to secure a safe and solid future by understanding money, finance, and strategy. That is why she created the Making Money Matter channel on YouTube, where... Read more

About the publisher

Proactive financial news and online broadcast teams provide fast, accessible, informative and actionable business and finance news content to a global investment audience. All our content is produced independently by our experienced and qualified teams of news journalists.

Proactive news team spans the worlds key finance and investing hubs with bureaus and studios in London, New York, Toronto, Vancouver, Sydney and Perth.

We are experts in medium and small-cap markets, we also keep our community up to date with blue-chip companies, commodities and broader investment stories. This is content that excites and engages motivated private investors.

The team delivers news and unique insights across the market including but not confined to: biotech and pharma, mining and natural resources, battery metals, oil and gas, crypto and emerging digital and EV technologies.

Use of technology

Proactive has always been a forward looking and enthusiastic technology adopter.

Our human content creators are equipped with many decades of valuable expertise and experience. The team also has access to and use technologies to assist and enhance workflows.

Proactive will on occasion use automation and software tools, including generative AI. Nevertheless, all content published by Proactive is edited and authored by humans, in line with best practice in regard to content production and search engine optimisation.
NO INVESTMENT ADVICE

The content on this Site is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute investment advice, a personal recommendation, an offer or solicitation to buy or sell securities, or any other regulated activity. It should not be relied upon as the basis for any investment decision.

Before making any investment decision, you should:

Read the relevant prospectus, term sheet, subscription agreement, or other offering documentation in full

Consider whether the investment is suitable for your individual circumstances, financial position, and objectives

Seek independent advice from an appropriately qualified financial adviser

Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. The value of investments can fall as well as rise. You may not recover the amount you invest, and in some cases you may be required to pay more.

In exchange for publishing services rendered by the Company on behalf of Elixir Energy Ltd named herein, including the promotion by the Company of Elixir Energy Ltd in any Content on the Site, the Company receives from said issuer annual cash compensation of typically up to $25,000.
Photo: General Staff

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported the destruction of TOR and TOR-M1 anti-aircraft missile systems, a radar station for the S-300 complex, and two enemy command and observation posts in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.

Yesterday and on the night of March 16, the Defense Forces of Ukraine launched strikes on the enemys air defense assets and command posts. Specifically, a strike was recorded on a TOR-M1 anti-aircraft missile system near Korobkyne (occupied Luhansk region), as well as a TOR anti-aircraft missile system near Balashivka (occupied Zaporizhia region). Additionally, a radar station from an S-300 anti-aircraft missile system was hit in the area of Chervone (occupied Donetsk region), the General Staff reported on its Telegram channel.

According to military information, Ukrainian Defense units also targeted enemy control points. In particular, hits were recorded at command and observation posts in the areas of Stepne (occupied Donetsk region) and Bahate (occupied Zaporizhzhia region), the General Staff added.

The extent of the occupiers losses and the scale of the damage are currently being clarified.
About this content 

About Jonathan Jackson

Jonathan Jackson is an experienced writer and editor. Over the past 20 years, he has worked in print and digital media across several business and finance titles amd is currently the Australian news editor at Proactive Investors covering the latest news for ASX listed companies as well as current financial trends. He was previously managing editor with Business First magazine, Wealth Creator Magazine and StocksDigital. Jonathan has interviewed some of the world's top CEOs and covered... Read more

About the publisher

Proactive financial news and online broadcast teams provide fast, accessible, informative and actionable business and finance news content to a global investment audience. All our content is produced independently by our experienced and qualified teams of news journalists.

Proactive news team spans the worlds key finance and investing hubs with bureaus and studios in London, New York, Toronto, Vancouver, Sydney and Perth.

We are experts in medium and small-cap markets, we also keep our community up to date with blue-chip companies, commodities and broader investment stories. This is content that excites and engages motivated private investors.

The team delivers news and unique insights across the market including but not confined to: biotech and pharma, mining and natural resources, battery metals, oil and gas, crypto and emerging digital and EV technologies.

Use of technology

Proactive has always been a forward looking and enthusiastic technology adopter.

Our human content creators are equipped with many decades of valuable expertise and experience. The team also has access to and use technologies to assist and enhance workflows.

Proactive will on occasion use automation and software tools, including generative AI. Nevertheless, all content published by Proactive is edited and authored by humans, in line with best practice in regard to content production and search engine optimisation.
NO INVESTMENT ADVICE

The content on this Site is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute investment advice, a personal recommendation, an offer or solicitation to buy or sell securities, or any other regulated activity. It should not be relied upon as the basis for any investment decision.

Before making any investment decision, you should:

Read the relevant prospectus, term sheet, subscription agreement, or other offering documentation in full

Consider whether the investment is suitable for your individual circumstances, financial position, and objectives

Seek independent advice from an appropriately qualified financial adviser

Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. The value of investments can fall as well as rise. You may not recover the amount you invest, and in some cases you may be required to pay more.

In exchange for publishing services rendered by the Company on behalf of Graphene Manufacturing Group Ltd named herein, including the promotion by the Company of Graphene Manufacturing Group Ltd in any Content on the Site, the Company receives from said issuer annual cash compensation of typically up to $25,000.
If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this





Got news tips, gossip, suggestions, complaints?E-mail us: progressivecharlestown@gmail.com We strive to avoid errors in our articles. Our correction policy can be found here
London, March 16 : British Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke with US President Donald Trump to discuss the situation in the Middle East and the disruption to global shipping caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

During the conversation on Sunday evening, Starmer stressed the importance of reopening the strategic waterway to help restore normal shipping routes and ease rising global costs, a statement from 10 Downing Street said, Xinhua news agency reported.

Both leaders agreed to remain in close contact regarding developments in the region.

British Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said earlier on Sunday that ending the ongoing conflict is the "best and most conclusive way" to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic chokepoint through which roughly one-fifth of the world's oil passes, warning that the situation is harming the global economy.

"The spike in oil and gas prices that we're seeing is caused by the closure of the Strait," Miliband told British media, adding that Britain wants to work with allies to seek to get the Strait reopened.

Trump said Saturday on social media that "many countries" would send warships to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, without offering any details.

On February 28, Israel and the United States launched joint attacks on Tehran and other Iranian cities, killing Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, senior military commanders, and more than 1,300 civilians. Iran responded with waves of missile and drone strikes targeting Israeli and US bases and assets across the Middle East.

As the strikes move into their third week, and with the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the disruption to global energy and economic markets is becoming increasingly severe.

In his first message as Iran's supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei pledged to maintain leverage over the Strait of Hormuz.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Tehran, March 16 : Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi has said that the country is not asking for a ceasefire or negotiations with the United States, stating that Tehran is prepared to defend itself "as long as it takes" against what he described as an "illegal war."

In an interview with CBS News aired Sunday, Araghchi rejected claims that Iran has sought an end to hostilities, Xinhua news agency reported.

"We never asked for a ceasefire, and we have never asked even for negotiations. We are ready to defend ourselves as long as it takes," said the minister.

He noted that Iran will continue its operations until US President Donald Trump "comes to the point that this is an illegal war with no victory."

"We don't see any reason why we should talk with Americans, because we were talking with them when they decided to attack us, and that was for the second time," Araghchi added.

As for the Strait of Hormuz, the minister stressed that Iran has not closed this waterway. "This is up to our military to decide, and they have already decided to let a group of vessels belongs to different countries to pass," he noted.

Speaking about the nuclear issue, Araghchi reiterated that Tehran has never sought nuclear weapons.

Revealing that Iran had agreed to dilute its enriched uranium during pre-attack talks with the United States, the minister said that those enriched materials are now "under the rubble" following strikes on its nuclear facilities. "Everything is under the rubble," he said, adding that Iran has no current plans to recover enriched uranium stockpiles from the damaged sites.

Earlier on Sunday, Araghchi said that Tehran has information that the US and Israel are launching attacks from certain locations against Arab states in the West Asia region.

He made the remarks in an interview with pan-Arab news outlet Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, parts of which were published, questioning the origin of attacks on regional Arab states that have been blamed on Iran.

Araghchi said Iran is ready to meet with regional states and form a joint committee to investigate the nature of the attacked targets.

Iran's strikes only targeted US bases and interests in retaliation for attacks launched from those sites, he added.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Seoul, March 16 : South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-young called on North Korea on Monday not to miss an opportunity to resume dialogue with the United States after President Donald Trump expressed interest in meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

"The government's position on a North Korea-US summit does not depend on how likely it is, but it believes the meeting must take place," Chung told reporters.

"I hope North Korea will not miss the opportunity (for talks with Trump) created by Trump's expression of interest," the minister noted.

Chung's remarks came after Trump reiterated his interest in meeting Kim again, during a meeting with South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min-seok in Washington last Friday.

"He also asked for my views, saying that he is wondering if Chairman Kim wants dialogue with the US and President Trump," the prime minister said, quoting Trump as saying, "Meeting (Kim) is something good."

Trump is scheduled to visit China from late March to early April for talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Speculations have grown that Trump may seek to resume summit talks with Kim on the occasion of the visit.

The unification minister portrayed a resumption of North Korea-US summit talks as "necessary" and "mutually beneficial" to the two countries at a time when Pyongyang seeks the rights to development and national security, while Washington needs to manage the security situation on the Korean Peninsula stably, Yonhap news agency reported.

It would also be essential for South Korea's present and future, he added.

North Korea has shown interest in principle in resuming talks with the US, with leader Kim saying during last month's party congress that the country has no reason not to get along with Washington. He said, however, the US must first drop its hostile policy toward the regime.

Chung said Trump appears to have a "strong willingness" to meet Kim, adding that his remarks to the prime minister may have reflected a question about whether Kim is also interested in meeting him, after Trump somewhat "lost face" when he failed to meet Kim during his trip to South Korea last year on the occasion of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

But the minister said as far as he was aware, there had been no specific contact between Pyongyang and Washington regarding a resumption of dialogue.
New Delhi, March 16 : A joint rescue operation by the Indian Army and the Jammu and Kashmir Police successfully evacuated 214 stranded tourists and local civilians from the high-altitude Sinthan Pass on Monday, following heavy snowfall that had disrupted movement in the region.

According to the Indian Army, troops from the 19 Rashtriya Rifles along with police teams from Anantnag carried out a challenging rescue operation in extremely harsh weather conditions. The passengers had been stranded after continuous snowfall made roads slippery and reduced visibility to near zero along the high-altitude route.

The rescue teams shifted the stranded passengers from the dangerous high-altitude stretch to safer areas, preventing any major incident despite the challenging conditions.

Officials said the situation developed after fresh snowfall made the mountainous road extremely risky for vehicles. The Sinthan Pass, which connects Kishtwar in the Jammu region with Anantnag in Kashmir Valley, often witnesses traffic disruptions during winter due to snow accumulation and slippery surfaces.

Earlier on Sunday, more than 30 light motor vehicles were also stranded at Margan Top and nearby areas after moderate snowfall affected the high-altitude passes.

Following information about the stranded vehicles, teams from the police, Army and civil administration rushed to the spot and launched a rescue operation to ensure the safety of passengers.

Authorities have urged commuters to avoid travel on the Sinthana"Margan stretch until weather conditions improve and the road is declared safe for movement.

Meanwhile, traffic on the Mughal Road, which connects the border districts of Poonch and Rajouri in Jammu with Shopian in south Kashmir, was also suspended on Sunday evening following fresh snowfall at Pir Ki Gali and adjoining areas.

Officials said the situation is being closely monitored, and road connectivity will be restored once weather conditions stabilise.
New Delhi, March 16 : Former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has approached the Supreme Court challenging the decision of the Delhi High Court Chief Justice declining his request to transfer the hearing of the CBI's plea in the Delhi excise policy case from the Bench of Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma.

In a writ petition filed before the apex court, Kejriwal assailed the communication from the Delhi High Court's Registrar General, which stated that Chief Justice (CJ) Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya  the master of the roster  had found no reason to reassign the matter to another Bench.

According to the petition, the Chief Justice declined the request on the ground that the case had been allocated to Justice Sharma in accordance with the existing roster, and there was no reason to transfer it by passing an order on the administrative side.

Kejriwal has contended that the refusal to transfer the matter raises a "grave, bona fide and reasonable apprehension" that the case may not receive a hearing marked by impartiality and neutrality.

He also referred to earlier orders in the excise policy cases where bail was denied to several accused by Justice Sharma but later granted by the Supreme Court.

Separately, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader has also filed a Special Leave Petition (SLP) challenging the observations made by Justice Sharma while hearing the revision plea filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Meanwhile, sources said the matters are likely to be mentioned before the Supreme Court on Monday, seeking an urgent hearing.

Last week, a single-judge Bench of Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma of the Delhi HC stayed the trial court's direction ordering departmental action against a CBI officer who had investigated the case, and said that the remarks made against the investigating agency and the officer would remain stayed.

It had issued notice to Kejriwal, Sisodia and other respondents on the CBI's plea assailing the trial court's refusal to frame charges against the accused.

The agency's criminal revision petition questioned the order of the Rouse Avenue Court discharging all 23 accused, including Kejriwal and former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, in the corruption case linked to the now-scrapped excise policy introduced by the then AAP-led Delhi government.

The trial court held that the material on record did not establish the alleged overarching conspiracy behind the formulation of the Delhi Excise Policy 202122, which was subsequently scrapped amid allegations of corruption and kickbacks.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Photo: https://www.facebook.com/Serhii.Flash

No Russian Lancet-type strike UAV is physically capable of reaching Kyiv, stated Serhii Beskrestnov (callsign Flash), an advisor to the Minister of Defense of Ukraine.

In a social media post, he emphasized that Lancets are electric strike UAVs with small payloads designed to hit frontline targets. These drones physically lack the battery capacity and radio control range to reach the capital.

"I believe the debris was likely intentionally dropped from Shaheds as part of an enemy information special operation. I am very sorry that one publication decided to play into the enemys hands and generate hype on this topic by publishing official police photos from the scene," the advisor stated.

According to Beskrestnov, the collection of information for event analysis is ongoing, and it is too early to draw final conclusions. "We are studying radio signals, video from cameras, radar data, and photos from interceptor drones. It is premature to make a definitive judgment," he added.

As previously reported, the publication Defense Express claimed earlier on Monday, citing its own sources, that the drone that fell on Maidan Nezalezhnosti in Kyiv was a new type of Lancet equipped with artificial intelligence. The outlet published operational photos of the wreckage and suggested the launch could have originated from the territories of Belarus or Russia.
New Delhi, March 16 : The Indian Youth Congress (IYC) has announced a 'Sansad Gherao' protest on Monday, alleging that the Centre's recently announced trade agreement with the United States could adversely affect India's economic interests.

The protest will be led by IYC National President Uday Bhanu Chib and is expected to witness participation from Youth Congress workers from various parts of the country.

Addressing a press conference in the national Capital, Delhi Youth Congress President Akshay Lakra said earlier that party members from across India would assemble at Jantar Mantar before marching in protest against what they described as the Centre's policies and the proposed IndiaUS trade deal.

Lakra alleged that the agreement could have serious consequences for key sectors of the economy. According to him, the Youth Congress intends to highlight concerns that the deal might negatively impact farmers and the textile industry while also raising issues related to the country's data security.

"The protest aims to draw national attention to the potential risks posed by the trade arrangement," Lakra said, adding that the organisation believes the agreement could undermine domestic economic interests.

He also referred to a previous demonstration by Youth Congress members during the AI Impact Summit, which he described as part of their democratic right to protest.

During that protest held on February 20, several IYC workers reportedly entered the summit venue carrying and wearing white T-shirts printed with images of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump, along with slogans related to the India-US trade deal and other issues.

Following the demonstration, IYC chief Uday Bhanu Chib was detained by authorities for staging a "shirtless protest" at the event. He was later released from Tihar Jail on March 3.

Meanwhile, Youth Congress national secretary and Delhi co-incharge Hevaran Kansana said the organisation is expecting a large turnout for the protest. He added that workers from multiple states are likely to participate in the 'Sansad Gherao' demonstration to voice their opposition to the Centre's policies and the proposed trade deal.

-- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed
March 16 : Lucknow: On the instructions of Yogi Adityanath, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been constituted under the chairmanship of the Divisional Commissioner of Bareilly Division to investigate the unfortunate incident that occurred at a CBG plant in Badaun district.

Chief Minister posted on the social media platform X stating that prompt action has been taken in the matter and that a fair and transparent investigation into the incident will be ensured.

The SIT formed on the Chief Ministers directions will thoroughly investigate all aspects related to the incident so that if any negligence or possible conspiracy comes to light, the responsible individuals can be identified and strict action can be taken against them.

In his message, Chief Minister said, the main accused has already been arrested in the case. However, if during the investigation any signs of conspiracy or other criminal involvement emerge, the state government will ensure strict action under its zero tolerance policy towards crime and criminals.

After the incident, the administration has taken immediate steps to further strengthen the security arrangements at the plant. On the instructions of the Chief Minister, security at the CBG plant premises has been enhanced and a police outpost has been established there to prevent any such incident in the future and to ensure the safety of industrial establishments.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath expressed deep condolences to the families affected by this tragic incident and said that the state government stands firmly with the victim families. He assured that every necessary step is being taken to ensure justice.

Chief Minister has also directed officials to conduct the investigation with utmost seriousness and ensure that no guilty person is spared.
March 16 : Lucknow: Under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) 2.0, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will release the first installment for nearly 90,000 eligible beneficiaries for beneficiary-led individual house construction. The amount will be transferred directly to the beneficiaries bank accounts through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) with a single click. The programme will be held on March 16 at 4:30 PM at Jupiter Hall, Indira Gandhi Pratishthan, Lucknow.

On this occasion, Chief Minister Yogi will also distribute housing approval certificates to 20 beneficiaries. In addition, he will interact virtually via video conferencing with one beneficiary each from Fatehpur, Gorakhpur, Prayagraj, Saharanpur, Maharajganj, and Deoria, and will learn about the benefits of the scheme and their experiences.

Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) 2.0 is a demand-driven scheme. Under this programme, all eligible urban beneficiaries are provided financial assistance in a phased manner for the construction of houses. The objective of the scheme is to provide every eligible family with a safe and permanent house, thereby realizing the vision of Housing for All.

This programme is not limited to the transfer of funds alone; it also reflects the clear commitment of the Uttar Pradesh government to translate the vision of Housing for All into reality on the ground. Through the state governments continuous efforts, a large number of urban poor and needy families are being provided housing facilities, bringing a positive change in their living standards.
Chennai, March 16 : Seat-sharing negotiations within the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA) have entered a difficult phase, with several long-time allies pressing for a greater share of constituencies ahead of the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.

Leaders of the Left parties and smaller allies have conveyed their concerns to the DMK leadership, arguing that their electoral performance and grassroots presence warrant an increase in seats compared to what they contested in the 2021 Assembly polls.

The discussions come at a time when the alliance has expanded, making the distribution of constituencies more complex.

The Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) have both sought a larger allocation of seats in the alliance arrangement.

In the previous Assembly election, both parties contested six seats each and secured two victories apiece.

According to sources within the Left parties, the DMK has suggested that they contest in five seats each this time, a proposal that has not gone down well with their leadership.

Leaders from the CPI and CPM held a series of internal consultations over the weekend to evaluate their options and discuss their strategy going forward.

While they have expressed their willingness to remain in the alliance, party insiders indicated that they are keen on retaining at least the same number of seats they contested in 2021.

Another ally, Tamilaga Vazhvurimai Katchi (TVK), has also voiced dissatisfaction over the seat allocation discussions.

Party leader T. Velmurugan said the party leadership was reconsidering its alliance with the DMK if it were offered only one constituency again.

"We have demanded additional seats, but there has been no response from the DMK so far. Under these circumstances, many members of our party's high-level committee feel we should rethink continuing in the alliance for just one seat," Velmurugan told reporters.

He added that the party had also submitted a set of ten demands to the DMK leadership and was awaiting a response.

Responding to the concerns raised by alliance partners, Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K. Selvaperunthagai said parties should recognise the adjustments already made by the Congress within the alliance.

He pointed out that the Congress had once contested more than 100 seats but had gradually reduced its share over successive elections.

Meanwhile, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) leader Thol Thirumavalavan struck a more conciliatory tone, stating that discussions with the DMK were progressing smoothly.

According to sources, the VCK, which contested six seats and won four in 2021, may receive one or two additional constituencies depending on the outcome of the ongoing negotiations.

With the elections approaching, the DMK leadership is expected to intensify talks with its allies in an effort to finalise a consensus formula and keep the ruling alliance united.

IANS

aal/rad
Patna, March 16 : Voting for five Rajya Sabha seats from Bihar was underway at the Assembly on Monday with leaders from both the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the opposition Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) arriving to cast their votes.

The polling process began at 9 a.m. and will continue until 4 p.m., while counting of votes will start at 5 p.m., and the final results are expected to be declared shortly afterwards.

Leader of the Opposition Tejashwi Yadav cast his vote and launched a sharp attack on Nitish Kumar and the Bharatiya Janata Party.

He alleged that since Nitish Kumar left the INDIA bloc in 2024 and joined the NDA, the BJP has been plotting politically against him.

"The BJP used a trick on Nitish Kumar to remove him from the Chief Ministeras post. It will be similar to what happened with Eknath Shinde after the Maharashtra elections. In the coming days, the BJP will destroy the Janata Dal-United," he said.

On the other hand, Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary arrived at the Assembly flashing a victory sign, reflecting confidence within the ruling alliance.

Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sinha said that the representatives elected to the Rajya Sabha would raise Biharas voice strongly at the national level and work for the state's development.

Meanwhile, senior JD-U leader Vijay Chaudhary also expressed confidence that all five NDA candidates would win comfortably.

Senior leaders and MLAs of the NDA were among the first to cast their votes.

RJD MLA Anita Devi also exercised her franchise.

Assembly Speaker Prem Kumar arrived at the House to supervise the voting process.

The election has drawn intense political attention because six candidates are contesting for five seats.

To secure victory, a candidate must obtain 41 first-preference votes.

If a candidate fails to reach this threshold, second-preference votes will be counted to determine the winner.

This has increased the importance of every vote and heightened speculation about political manoeuvring.

The NDA has fielded five candidates - Nitish Kumar and Ram Nath Thakur (JD-U), Nitin Nabin and Shivesh Kumar (BJP), and Upendra Kushwaha (RLM).

The opposition Mahagathbandhan has fielded Amarendra Dhari Singh as its candidate.

Amid the political contest, reports that two Congress MLAs were initially out of contact created tension in the opposition camp.

However, RJD leader Chandrashekhar Singh dismissed the concerns, stating that the Grand Alliance is contesting the election with full strength and confidence.

With both the ruling alliance and the opposition claiming victory, the political atmosphere in Bihar remains highly charged.
March 16 : Saharanpur: Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath visited Saharanpur on Saturday and, during his district tour, held a review meeting regarding the preparations for the Siddhpeeth Maa Shakumbhari Devi Mela to be held during Chaitra Navratri. He instructed officials to give special attention to security, cleanliness and proper arrangements on the occasion of Chaitra Navratri starting from March 19. He also directed that the entire fair area should be made plastic free.

Chief Minister said, "Counselling should be conducted for the personnel who will be deployed at the fair and they should be sensitized to maintain good behaviour".

He directed that the entire fair premises should be covered with CCTV cameras. Security must be ensured for everyone without discrimination. From a security perspective, the Anti Romeo Squad should function actively. Strict action should be taken against those acting against established traditions. Considering security needs, Civil Defence and NGOs should also be associated with the arrangements.

Chief Minister said, maintaining cleanliness requires public awareness. He instructed officials to hold meetings with sanitation workers as well and to select dumping sites at locations far from the fair area.

CM Yogi also instructed, "Plastic should be banned in the fair and awareness programmes should be organized. Separate restroom facilities should be ensured for men and women. Crowd management measures should also be implemented to ensure the fair is conducted in an organized manner. It should be ensured that devotees receive pure drinking water, good quality food and prasad without any kind of adulteration".

Chief Minister further directed that parking rates in the fair premises should be fixed and kept reasonable. Special care should be taken to ensure that there is no illegal collection of money. Verification of e-rickshaw and auto drivers as well as shopkeepers should also be carried out. Public welfare schemes of government departments should be promoted through hoardings, exhibitions and LED vehicles.

CM also directed that uninterrupted electricity supply must be ensured. Preparations should be made keeping in mind that arrangements for the fair during Chaitra Navratri are efficient and well organized. This is a traditional fair where devotees from various states and districts of the country come for darshan. A positive message of the government should be conveyed among the visiting devotees.

During the meeting, Divisional Commissioner Dr. Rupesh Kumar and Deputy Inspector General of Police Abhishek Singh gave a presentation through PPT.

On this occasion, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and Industrial Development Jaswant Saini, Minister of State for Public Works Department Brajesh Singh, MLA Nakud Mukesh Chaudhary, MLA Rampur Maniharan Devendra Nim, MLA Gangoh Kirat Singh, MLA Nagar Rajeev Gumber, Mayor Dr. Ajay Singh, District Panchayat Chairman Mangeram Chaudhary, ADG Bhanu Bhaskar, Chief Development Officer Sumit Rajesh Mahajan and SP Rural Sagar Jain were present.
New Delhi, March 16 : The Press Information Bureau (PIB) Fact Check unit on Monday issued a warning about an AI-generated deepfake video of former Chief of Army Staff, Manoj Pande, being circulated online by Pakistani propaganda accounts with misleading claims about the Indian Army.

In a statement, the PIB Fact Check unit said the manipulated video falsely portrays Gen. Manoj Pande (Retd.) making controversial remarks regarding the functioning and conduct of the Indian Army.

"Pakistani propaganda accounts are circulating a digitally manipulated video, falsely showing the former Chief of Army Staff, Gen Manoj Pande (Retd.), making false statements regarding the Indian Army. Beware! This is an AI-generated deepfake video," the PIB Fact Check stated, clarifying that the former Army chief has not made any such statement.

It further cautioned that such digitally altered content is being spread as part of a coordinated disinformation campaign aimed at misleading the public and undermining trust in the Indian Armed Forces. The agency urged citizens to verify information from official and credible sources before sharing it on social media platforms.

"Pakistani propaganda accounts are circulating such manipulated videos as part of a coordinated disinformation campaign to mislead the public and undermine trust in Indian Armed Forces," it added.

In the manipulated clip circulating online, the former Army chief appears to make remarks alleging that supporting Israel has caused losses to the Indian Army and that soldiers are being forced to become an "ethnic force." The video also falsely claims that Israeli instructors are training Indian Army personnel to dehumanise certain communities and that the situation could lead to a revolt within the forces.

However, the PIB clarified that the remarks in the viral clip have been digitally fabricated. In the original video, Manoj Pande can be heard speaking about the need for the armed forces to remain prepared for future security challenges.

"We live in a complex world. We should not only be able to deal with the current security challenges but also anticipate the future. Once you anticipate, you must prepare accordingly and develop the capabilities required to effectively fight future wars. The armed forces have to be future-ready," he said in the authentic video.

The PIB reiterated that such manipulated content is part of attempts to spread misinformation online and advised the public to remain cautious while consuming and sharing sensitive information related to national security.

Earlier on March 10, the PIB Fact Check unit dismissed as fake a viral claim on social media that India had shared the location of an Iranian naval ship with Israel, reportedly based on an AI-generated video of Indian Army chief General Upendra Dwivedi that was widely circulated by Pakistani propaganda accounts and later amplified by a Turkish newspaper.

According to PIB Fact Check, the Turkish newspaper Yeni Safak cited the manipulated video and claimed that India had admitted to sharing the location of an Iranian ship with Israel. However, the government's fact-checking unit clarified that the claim was completely false and misleading.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Patna, March 16 : A suspected liquor trader was injured and arrested during a police encounter in Bihar's Saran district, officials said on Monday.

Patna, March 16 (IANS) A suspected liquor trader was injured and arrested during a police encounter in Biharas Saran district, officials said on Monday.

The incident occurred in the border area of the Mashrakh police station and Panapur police station late on Sunday night.

According to an official, the accused has been identified as Suraj Mahto (26), son of Munni Mahto and a resident of Mithwa village under the Panapur police station area. Suraj Mahto had been under police scrutiny for allegedly supplying toxic liquor and had been absconding since then.

Acting on a tip-off, police traced him to Katihar, where he was arrested and brought back to Chhapra (Saran) for further investigation.

Police later took the accused to the Mashrakh-Panapur border area to conduct raids to recover illegal liquor stock and identify other members of the network.

During the raid, the accusedas accomplices opened fire on the police team in an attempt to rescue him. In response, the police fired in self-defense. During the exchange of fire, Suraj Mahto sustained a gunshot wound to the leg. He was immediately taken into custody and later provided medical treatment.

The encounter comes amid an investigation into a suspected toxic liquor incident in Saran district, where five people lost their lives after consuming spurious liquor. The deaths happened between March 11 and 13. Two people lost their lives in a village that comes under Panapur police station, and three in a village that comes under Masrakh police station.

Around 12 others fell ill and were admitted to the Sadar Hospital after complaining of symptoms such as blurred vision and sudden deterioration in health. After receiving treatment, the affected individuals were discharged from the hospital.

Following the tragedy, the district administration intensified its crackdown on illegal liquor networks operating in the region. Police said raids are still underway to arrest other suspects involved in the supply and distribution of the toxic liquor.
"Disrespectful remarks about any individual, caste, sect or religion will not be tolerated": CM. Image Source: IANS

March 16 : Lucknow: Taking a strict stance on the issue related to the question paper of UP Police Sub-Inspector recruitment examination, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has issued clear instructions.

CM directed all recruitment board chairpersons to ensure that no disrespectful or derogatory remarks are made about the dignity and beliefs of any individual, caste, sect or religious community. Such remarks will not be tolerated under any circumstances.

He also instructed that all paper setters should be clearly directed in this regard and that habitual offenders must be immediately blacklisted. CM further said that this provision should also be included in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with paper setters.

CM Yogi also took information about the damage to crops caused by rainfall in Western UP on Sunday morning. He directed all District Magistrates and officials to stay in the field, interact with farmers and assess the losses to their crops.

Chief Minister also instructed that Relief Commissioner should maintain direct coordination with field officials and ensure that the assessment of crop damage is completed promptly so that compensation can be distributed to farmers on time.
Bengaluru, March 16 : BJP leader and Leader of the Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly, R. Ashoka, on Monday launched a sharp attack on the Congress government, alleging that corruption has become widespread under its rule.

In a statement, Ashoka said that when the entire government, starting from Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to ministers and officials, is steeped in corruption, it is natural for senior officers to follow the same path.

Ashoka claimed that corruption cases registered against 195 senior-ranking officers, including IAS, IPS and Karnataka Administrative Service (KAS) officials, over the past three and a half years highlight the scale of alleged irregularities under the present government.

Quoting a Kannada proverb, Ashoka said that between September 2022 and February 2026, the Karnataka Lokayukta registered 195 cases against senior government officials, including IAS, IPS and Karnataka Administrative Service (KAS) officers. Of these, 104 cases involve raids on disproportionate-asset cases, and 91 officials were allegedly caught red-handed accepting bribes.

Using another Kannada saying, he alleged that ministers and MLAs of the ruling party, who he claimed believe the Congress will be defeated in the next election in Karnataka, are indulging in plunder without hesitation. He further alleged that the bureaucracy, too, has become part of the corruption.

Ashoka said the people of Karnataka would not get relief until what he termed the "corrupt Congress government" is removed from power.

Ashoka quoted a report stating that between September 2022 and February 2026, 195 cases were registered against senior government officials with the Karnataka Lokayukta. Of these, 104 cases relate to raids over disproportionate assets, while in 91 cases, government officials were caught red-handed while accepting bribes.

The report also states that none of the officials has either been convicted or cleared of the charges so far. Investigations in 89 cases are still in the preliminary stages. An IAS officer and an IPS officer are also facing corruption charges. In addition, cases have been registered against 12 officials attached to the Karnataka Administrative Service (KAS).

Turning to farmers' issues, LoP Ashoka criticised the government for failing to ensure timely payment to sugarcane growers. He said sugar factories are mandated to clear dues within 15 days of procurement, but in Belagavi district alone, around Rs 1,554 crore remains unpaid even after the 2025-26 sugar season, forcing farmers to protest once again.

"Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, instead of securing the livelihoods of farmers in the state, if you spend your time only securing your chair, who will respond to the hardships of the farmers? Is your government alive or dead?" Ashoka questioned.

"You should immediately instruct the sugar factories to release the pending payments to sugarcane growers and come to the aid of the farmers," Ashoka appealed.

Ashoka further stated, "The Union government expanded the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) in 2024, extending the scheme to cover all citizens above the age of 70. However, due to the Congress government not implementing the scheme properly in the state, senior citizens are reportedly unable to access medical treatment even though they possess the 'Ayushman Vayo Vandana' card, which assures health insurance coverage of up to Rs 5 lakh."

"Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao, your incompetent Congress government, cannot introduce new schemes. At the very least, ensure that the Central government's schemes are implemented properly so that the public can benefit," he stated.
The Ukrainian state will never recognize the Russian occupation of the peninsula and will strive to restore its territorial integrity by all available means, according to a statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Ukraine on the 12th anniversary of the illegal attempted annexation, published on the ministrys website on Monday.

The Ukrainian side will continue to use every international platform and legal mechanism for the de-occupation of Crimea, particularly within all dimensions of the International Crimea Platform. The "Crimean issue" will never be removed from the agenda until justice is restored, the statement read. The MFA called on the international community, all states, and international organizations to strictly adhere to the policy of non-recognition regarding Crimea and other temporarily occupied territories.

This policy includes avoiding any actions that could be perceived as legitimizing the Russian presence on the peninsula, full compliance with and strengthening of sanctions regimes, and refraining from any contact with the Russian occupation authorities. Furthermore, it demands the prohibition of visits to the temporarily occupied territories without Ukraines permission and ensuring the correct depiction of the map of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders in media, print, and online resources.

The ministry emphasized that the history of the occupation must serve as a precedent to ensure future violations of international law do not go unanswered. The world must learn the "Crimean Lesson": a lack of proper reaction to the brazen violation of international law only encourages the aggressor to commit further atrocities. With Moscow continuing its aggression, there can be no talk of easing restrictions; instead, all forms of pressure on the Kremlin must be intensified.

The MFA reminded that no one in the world, except for a few rogue regimes allied with Moscow, recognizes the annexation. It urged international organizations and human rights activists to maintain focus on Russian human rights violations in Crimea. Over the years of occupation, at least 430 people have faced politically motivated cases, though the real number may exceed 500. Currently, nearly 300 individuals are in Russian captivity on falsified charges, including 159 Crimean Tatars. Ukraine demands their immediate release and safe return.

The statement also noted that Russia is forcibly changing the ethnic composition of the peninsula, conducting forced mobilization, and destroying cultural heritage sites. Despite the pressure, resistance to the occupation persists among those who "keep Ukraine in their hearts." The MFA concluded by stating that stolen goods never bring happiness and must eventually be returned. History shows that nations that do not accept the theft of their territories will one day regain them. Crimea is Ukraine, and it will inevitably return to its home harbor.

March 16 marks 12 years since Russia held its fake "referendum on the status of Crimea" on the previously occupied peninsula, followed by the anniversary of the signing of the so-called "agreements on the annexation of Crimea to the Russian Federation" on March 18.
Bhubaneswar, March 16 : President of India Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday expressed deep grief over the tragic death of ten patients after a major fire broke out at the Intensive Care Unit of the Trauma Care Centre of SCB medical college in Cuttack, Odisha. PM Modi announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each to family members of the deceased patients even as many other leaders expressed their condolences at the tragedy.

Expressing condolences, President Murmu took to her X handle and wrote, "Deeply distressed by the loss of lives in the tragic fire incident at a hospital in Cuttack, Odisha. My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families. I wish a speedy recovery to those injured."

Taking to X handle of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), PM Modi while condoling the deaths also announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each to family members of the deceased patients from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund (PMNRF).

"The mishap at a hospital in Cuttack, Odisha, is deeply painful. Condolences to those who have lost their loved ones. I pray for the speedy recovery of the injured. An ex-gratia of Rs. 2 lakh from PMNRF would be given to the next of kin of each deceased. The injured would be given Rs. 50,000," said PM Modi.

This apart, the Governor of Odisha Hari Babu Kambhampati, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Leader of Opposition Naveen Patnaik among several others expressed deep grief over the unfortunate deaths of the patients.

"Deeply grieved by the tragic fire incident in the Trauma Care ICU of SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack. The affected patients have been swiftly shifted to safe locations and their treatment is continuing without disruption. My thoughts and prayers are with all those impacted, and I wish them a speedy recovery," stated Kambhampati.

Extending condolences to bereaved family members of deceased persons, LoP Patnaik also urged the state government to provide the best possible medical facilities for all the persons injured in the fire mishap.

"The tragic fire at SCB Medical in Cuttack has claimed multiple lives, which is deeply saddening. I pray for the eternal peace of the departed souls and extend my heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families. I also wish for the speedy recovery of those who have been critically injured in the incident. The state government must ensure the best possible medical facilities for all the injured. I have directed the Mayor of Cuttack and the MLA of Tangi-Choudwar to reach the site and provide necessary assistance," said Patnaik.

Earlier, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi visited SCB medical college and hospital and reviewed the situation. He also met the injured persons undergoing treatment at the hospital. CM Majhi announced an ex-gratia of Rs 25 lakh each for the family members of the deceased patients. He announced a judicial enquiry into the tragic death as assured stringent action against any act of negligence resulting in the unfortunate incident, in which as many as 10 patients died while several others sustained serious injuries.

As per reports, the major fire broke out at the ICU of Trauma Care center at the SCB medical college due to suspected electric short circuit at around 2.30 AM to 3 AM on Monday. Seven patients critically injured in the incident died immediately while three others succumbed after being shifted to other ICUs.

-- Syndicated from IANS
March 16 : Chittorgarh/Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath delivered a clear message against caste-based divisions from the historic land of Chittorgarh, Rajasthan. Quoting the famous lines of poet Ramdhari Singh Dinkar:

"Mool jaanana bada kathin hai nadiyon ka, veeron ka,

Dhanush chhor kar aur gotra kya hota randheeron ka?

Paate hain sammaan tapobal se bhootal par shoor,

Jaati-jaati ka shor machaate keval kaayar, kroor."

Chief Minister said, "Those who have nothing constructive to do are committing the sin of breaking social unity through casteism. Caste-based politics has weakened the foundations of society and nation. According to him, divisive politics can once again push the country toward a path of subjugation and unity is essential to prevent that".

CM Yogi Adityanath was addressing a gathering on Sunday at Inani City Center during the 'Jauhar Shraddhanjali Samaroh'. CM also felicitated individuals for their commendable work. On the occasion, he released a book written by former Punjab Governor V.P. Singh.

CM Yogi asked, "Who are those people, trying to divide society in the name of caste and spread mistrust through rumors". He said these are the same people who once claimed that Shri Ram and Shri Krishna never existed. They opposed Shri Ram Temple movement and tried every possible effort to delay the verdict. According to him, these are the people eager to break Ram Setu and oppose the construction of Shri Ram Temple, creating an atmosphere of distrust and questioning constitutional institutions.

Chief Minister said, "The transformation in Uttar Pradesh has taken place under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but the spirit behind it is the valor of Rajasthan and Chittorgarh. He recalled that his revered spiritual predecessor had once come from this land to Gorakhpur.

He praised the bravery of warriors of Mewar, the sacrifice of heroic women through Jauhar and the devotion of Meerabai, saying that their stories continue to inspire the nation. He described Chittorgarh Fort as not just a structure of stones but a guardian of Indias identity.

CM Yogi remembered great national heroes such as Maharana Pratap, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Guru Govind Singh. He said their struggles were not for personal power or family but for the nation, faith and Indias freedom. Even after immense sacrifices, such as the martyrdom of Guru Govind Singhs four sons, they never wavered in their resolve.

Referring to historical events, CM Yogi said that the spirit shown by Maharani Padmini during the Jauhar of Chittorgarh reflected the same determination as Mata Sita's vow of purity. He mentioned the three major Jauhar events of 1303, 1535 and 1568 describing them as symbols of womens dignity and courage.

CM Yogi highlighted the law-and-order situation in Uttar Pradesh, saying that when his government came to power, it adopted a zero-tolerance policy toward crime and threats to womens dignity. He said that in a state of 25 crore people, girls are now going to school safely, women are working even in night shifts and safely return home.

Chief Minister also mentioned the bravery of Maharana Sanga while speaking about preserving Indias identity. He said that Maharana Sanga had 80 wounds on his body, yet he was concerned not about himself but about the honor of the nation. Despite enduring injury after injury, he did not allow invaders to penetrate the land.

He also referred to Maharana Pratap, saying that at just 27 years of age, he fought a war against Akbar and forced the emperor into a very difficult struggle. Chief Minister added that Indian history has always remembered their courage and valor.

CM said, "Lord Shri Ram became revered because he resolved to rid the earth of evil. He added that the grand Shri Ram Temple in Ayodhya has now been built and no symbol of slavery remains there. According to him, when the nation moves forward united and stays alert against divisive politics, such historic achievements become possible.

CM Yogi said that national leaders have always called upon people to unite with courage and valor. He remembered Rani Lakshmibai, who fought the British at the age of 26 during the 1857 uprising and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, who famously declared, "Tum Mujhe Khoon Do, Mai Tumhe Azadi Dunga". He said if Netaji had been present, Pakistan might not have come into existence.

Chief Minister emphasized that Indias civilizational glory, from the Vedic era to the village-based economy, has always inspired people. Historically, farmers were producers, artisans were entrepreneurs and traders connected the nation. However, colonial exploitation weakened these structures. Strengthening Gram Panchayats, village assemblies and towns will be key to building a self-reliant and developed India.

Concluding his speech, CM Yogi said that while the descendants of Babur, Aurangzeb and Akbar are not visible today, the lineage of Maharana Pratap still continues and his descendants were present on the stage. Similarly, the lineage of Rani Padmini still exists centuries later. He said the values of Sanatan Dharma are eternal and will always remain alive despite challenges.

The event was attended by Maharana Vishvaraj Singh of Mewar, Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Rajasthan Minister Col. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, MP C.P. Joshi, several MLAs, spiritual leaders and office bearers of Jauhar Smriti Sansthan.
New Delhi, March 16 : Women have emerged among the biggest beneficiaries of the government's 'Make in India' initiative, with large-scale job creation in electronics manufacturing, Union Electronics and IT Minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw, said on Monday.

The minister said that over one lakh women are employed in iPhone manufacturing facilities in India, while female workers are also contributing in highly complex semiconductor manufacturing plants.

Taking to social media platform X, the minister said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Make in India' programme is empowering women by creating new employment opportunities in the electronics manufacturing sector.

"PM @narendramodi Ji's 'Make in India' is empowering women. Electronics manufacturing is creating new employment avenues for women," Vaishnaw said.

According to the minister, in several electronics manufacturing plants across the country, more than half of the workforce comprises women.

Earlier in February, Vaishnaw had said that women have been the biggest beneficiaries of the 'Make in India' initiative, which has created lakhs of direct and indirect jobs while also providing large-scale skilling opportunities.

Meanwhile, the Apple ecosystem alone has generated around 2.5 lakh direct jobs in India, with nearly 70 per cent of the beneficiaries being women.

US tech giant Apple has significantly expanded its manufacturing footprint in India.

The company increased iPhone production in the country by around 53 per cent in 2025, assembling nearly 55 million units compared with 36 million units a year earlier, according to reports.

Apple currently produces roughly a quarter of its flagship iPhones in India as part of its strategy to diversify manufacturing and avoid tariffs on China.

Globally, Apple produces about 220230 million iPhones every year, with India's share rising steadily, largely driven by the government's production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme.

The subsidies under the PLI scheme have helped offset structural disadvantages such as weaker supply chains and logistics challenges compared with China.

Older models such as the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 continue to be manufactured locally for both domestic sales and exports.

In 2025, iPhones emerged as the most valuable export item from India, with shipments worth around $23 billion, largely destined for the United States, according to industry data.

Smartphones also became India's top export category for the first time, with exports worth $30.13 billion during the JanuaryDecember period, of which Apple accounted for about 76 per cent.
Islamabad, March 16 : Over 300 illegal Afghan refugees have been detained by police during raids carried out in various parts of Swabi district in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, local media reported on Monday.

A crackdown had been launched after the district administration and police officials' decision to deport illegal Afghans, daily Dawn reported, citing sources. The police had ordered Station House Officers (SHOs) to keep data of all illegal Afghans in the jurisdictions of their police stations.

According to sources, 341 Afghan refugees were arrested during raids conducted in Topi, Razaar, Chota Lahor tehsils and other parts of Swabi on Sunday. They mentioned that the raids will continue and all Afghan refugees, who are illegally residing in Swabi, will be detained and deported to Afghanistan.

Around 30,000 Afghan refugees still live in various parts of Swabi, with most of them having proper documentation, while others stay illegally. The sources revealed that these Afghan refugees were residing in Gandaf Refugees Camp and Gohati Refugees Camp, and a large number of them were staying in various farming fields and cities, Dawn reported.

In the past few months, the district administration has been making efforts to ensure the repatriation of Afghan refugees at the earliest, according to sources. They further mentioned that the district administration had shut all the shops in the Gohati refugee camp. However, the refugees said that it is very difficult for them to shut their businesses so quickly, as they have established them through hard work for over 40 years.

Earlier in February, Afghanistan's Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation, and Livestock, Ataullah Omari, slammed the neighbouring nations for their policy of deporting Afghan refugees, saying that host nations have deported refugees, breaching humanitarian principles, human rights, and refugee rights.

He stated that more than 4.5 million Afghan refugees have returned to Afghanistan from various nations since the start of the expulsion process, Afghanistan-based media outlet Tolo News reported. "Our brothers were forcibly expelled from their homes. They were hosted for nearly 40 years, but in the end, they were deported by force and in violation of humanitarian principles."

His statement came as Pakistan and Iran continue to deport Afghan refugees, sparking concerns about Afghanistan's capacity to resettle the returnees. Some Afghan refugees who have recently returned to Afghanistan stated that they were forcibly deported from host nations and were not given the opportunity to take their belongings, leaving everything behind in those countries.
New Delhi, March 16 : Opposition leaders, including Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, on Monday raised concerns over the conduct and timing of Assembly elections.

New Delhi, March 16 (IANS) Opposition leaders, including Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, on Monday raised concerns over the conduct and timing of Assembly elections.

"The way elections are scheduled, phases are created, and dates are set, I feel all of this is done for the convenience of the BJP," Priyanka Gandhi said.

Similarly, Akhilesh Yadav alleged that administrative changes are often made ahead of elections in states where the ruling party at the Centre does not control the government.

aWhenever elections take place, if the Delhi government or the state government is not theirs, the first thing they do is remove the DGP, the Chief Secretary, and other officials. At that time, the Bharatiya Janata Party, which is against the government, deliberately colluded with the government here in Delhi and with the Election Commission to remove officials. Tell me, in Uttar Pradesh, has the DGP ever been removed? Why is the DGP never removed there? Whenever elections took place in UP, how many complaints were made to the Election Commission? Did the Election Commission ever remove anyone?" he asked.

The Election Commission on Sunday announced the schedule for assembly polls in Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and the Union Territory of Puducherry.

While polling for the Assam, Kerala, and Puducherry Assemblies will be held in a single phase on April 9, Tamil Nadu will also see single-day polling on April 23, while West Bengal will go to polls in two phases on April 23 and April 29. Counting for all will be held on May 4.

Hours after the Assembly polls were scheduled, the Election Commission on Sunday ordered the removal of West Bengal Chief Secretary Nandini Chakraborty and Home Secretary Jagdish Prasad Meena. Subsequently on Monday, it shifted out the state's acting DGP Piyush Pandey and Kolkata Police Commissioner Supratim Sarkar.
New Delhi, March 16 : Congress Rajya Sabha member Abhishek Manu Singhvi on Monday dismissed the claims made by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) about winning the upcoming Assembly elections in four states and slammed the party for what he called "divisive politics" and stooping to "extreme levels of coarseness and indecency".

In an exclusive interview with IANS, Singhvi said that the people of the poll-bound states, including Assam, West Bengal, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu, will "reject" the BJP.

He also stated that, in his opinion, Congress should form an alliance with the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal.

Additionally, Singhvi also talked about the Youth Congress's shirtless protest at the AI Impact Summit, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Chief Arvind Kejriwal being discharged in the Excise Policy case, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor and India's foreign policy amid the West Asia conflict.

IANS: Do you think that the BJP will be able to make a mark in the upcoming Assembly elections in the five states?

Abhishek Manu Singhvi: In Kerala, the BJP is making noise. Everyone will start to feel that they will win, but the results turn out differently.

In Tamil Nadu, the BJP is making every possible effort; however, it lacks any principled acceptance and operates without any sense of restraint. Within the Tamil-Dravidian political cycle, the BJP's core agenda is the imposition of language. This tendency toward imposition runs contrary to the very ethos and cultural values aaof Tamil Nadu. (Chief Minister and DMK President M.K.) Stalin's time has truly arrived; we, too, are partners in this alliance, and we fully acknowledge that he is the foremost leader at the helm.

Regarding Assam, where the BJP's prospects of success currently appear "brightest", I wish to point out why this perception is misleading. The politics of division -- at which the BJP is an expert -- is being employed there; however, the level of coarseness and indecency to which the BJP has stooped has reached an extreme. (Chief Minister) Himanta Biswa Sarma is poised to cause significant damage to the party's prospects, primarily due to the unprecedented and extreme vulgarity that characterises his conduct. The public understands that such an individual must be countered. Gaurav Gogoi is a highly capable leader who commands a strong political legacy in the region.

Furthermore, the sensible people of the state realise that Sarma engages solely in divisive rhetoric. Standing around brandishing a gun and constantly harping on about the "Miya" community in nearly every sentence -- these are the reasons, in my assessment, why he will fail.

In Bengal, if there is any leader who has entered the psyche of the local population, it is Mamata Banerjee. You may like her or oppose her, that's not the point. Nor is it necessary that you agree with everything she says. But she understands that the pulse of Bengal's culture and heritage runs through her veins. What will certainly happen is that there will be a lot of noise and hype.

IANS: Do you think that Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee will be able to win the Assembly elections this time too? The BJP is also very confident. What do you have to say about this?

Abhishek Manu Singhvi: I don't think that the people of Bengal will accept the BJP... In politics, no one is unbeatable. Mamata Banerjee still has a lot of strength, a lot of energy, and a great deal of dynamism. She has direction and momentum, and she understands the pulse of the people there. Among India's political leaders, especially among women, no one can match her in agitation politics. That is why I believe this atmosphere is being deliberately created.

IANS: Are there any chances that Congress and Trinamool Congress will form an alliance for the West Bengal Assembly elections? Do you think it will be beneficial if the alliance is formed?

Abhishek Manu Singhvi: This is not something that is decided at my level. Only three or four people in our party make such decisions. I personally believe that an alliance should be formed. But if you adopt the approach of contesting the elections alone in Bengal, your party will become stronger. What decision will ultimately be taken, I cannot say.

My personal view is that since the election is now very close, we have no option except to form an alliance based on the right seat-sharing numbers. But this is entirely my personal opinion; it has no validity until it is formally adopted.

IANS: Just recently, Youth Congress workers staged a protest at the AI aaSummit by removing their shirts. Do you consider this appropriate?

Abhishek Manu Singhvi: You may certainly express your disagreement, but consider the narrative that has been spun, labelling them as "absurd people" who "lack understanding." They staged a peaceful, non-violent protest in a public space. You (BJP) seem to be implying that they have no right to protest; even if they did commit a transgression, you have hounded them relentlessly, seeking to have them jailed -- despite the fact that they are merely young men.

You (BJP) appear unable to tolerate any form of dissent; you have pursued them vindictively. They secured bail only with great difficulty. Through this conduct, you evidently intend to send a message -- to intimidate and to threaten. You have stifled voices within Parliament, and now you are doing the very same thing outside of it.

IANS: AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal has been discharged in the Excise Policy case. What is your take on this?

Abhishek Manu Singhvi: Over the last 5a"7 years, I have handled cases for leaders from almost every political party. It is a very unfortunate situation that the kind of open, naked, and shameless misuse that has happened is not limited only to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. Whether it is the Enforcement Directorate, the Central Bureau of Investigation, the Income Tax Department, or other agenciesa"such misuse by a government has never happened before.

Secondly, suppose there are 100 total PMLA cases -- I am giving just an example -- and assume that out of them only 10 have a political flavour, because 90 are usually not political. Then out of those 10, nine and a half will be against the Opposition. Why is that? Till today, you have not received an answer to this question. Instead, they talk about the remaining 90 cases, which are ordinary business-related cases.

If you look at Arvind Kejriwal's case, I have handled cases of Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh as well. Let me mention two aspects of Kejriwal's case. I do not have time to go into full detail because a lot of time has passed, and I do not even remember the exact year, but the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had called him in 2021 or 2022. From 2022 to 2024, the CBI never called him again.

Suddenly, in 2024, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested him. In 2021a"2022, you called him for questioning, but you did not think it was necessary to arrest him. Arrest is a different matter -- you did not even summon him again.

IANS: Do you think that Congress should have supported Kejriwal?

Abhishek Manu Singhvi: Now, alliances have different situations in different places. At present, they are not in an alliance. This is quite common in politics. It also happens that at the state level, you may completely fight against a regional party but remain together at the national level. The Congress party has done this many times, and the Left parties have done the same. Similarly, Janata Dal and the Bharatiya Janata Party have, at times, contested against each other at the state level while cooperating at the national level.

IANS: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor often expresses views that diverge from the Congress party's stance. What is your opinion on this?

Abhishek Manu Singhvi: I am not going to give any opinion on this... You can ask Shashi Tharoor about it. You may also ask the people who are in charge of our organisation, such as the General Secretary or the President of the Indian National Congress. I am neither part of the disciplinary committee nor someone who polices the comments made by others. All I can say is that he is a very strong and wise person. He is highly intellectual and a sensible leader. Sometimes differences do arise. I met him recently, and it seems that most of the communication gaps have been cleared. I believe that if we work together, he will be a great asset to us in Kerala.

IANS: Two Indian ships have successfully crossed the Strait of Hormuz. Do you see this as a diplomatic success for New Delhi?

Abhishek Manu Singhvi: I do not see this as a complete success. Where does the question of victory arise? I cannot see even a single point where there is a ray of success. Let me be clear, I am the first supporter of acting in India's national interest. I stand in the front row as someone who is pro-India. We must act according to India's interests, even if we accept that national interest is the highest priority. Even then, what has been done raises questions.

First, no compulsion is required to abandon our traditional diplomatic pillars or long-standing policy. It was possible to maintain our traditional stance while also protecting India's interests. There was no contradiction in doing both. Second, when you went to Israel, only two possibilities exist: either your ministry knew that an attack was going to happen a day and a half later, or it did not. If it did not know, then it raises serious questions about the competence of the ministry.

It took you five days to sign the condolence book following (Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali) Khamenei's assassination. If you were to appear before the Security Council, people would surely hold up a mirror to you, questioning what kind of 'Vishwaguru' you truly are. What kind of diplomacy is this -- where someone brazenly enters another's home to commit a murder -- yet you lack the courage to utter even a single word regarding America or Israel?

IANS: Misleading statements regarding the Supreme Court and its judges are frequently made on social media. How do you view this trend?

Abhishek Manu Singhvi: The Supreme Court is, to a large extent, tolerant. I believe that the Supreme Court, too, should not treat every single instance as contempt of court; by doing so, you merely accord them undue importance. However, I do condemn the fact that the discourse has devolved into a complete free-for-all.

It is essential -- and indeed necessary -- that commentary on social media, particularly concerning the court, be conducted in a mature and serious manner. Yet, those who are merely "playing games" are neither serious nor mature; they are simply frivolous individuals who thrive on sensationalism.

IANS: Home Minister Amit Shah recently remarked that Rahul Gandhi remains absent from the House during discussions on crucial legislative bills.

Abhishek Manu Singhvi: This reflects a tendency on the part of the ruling party to engage in mockery. You must have observed the "Pappu" narrative they have propagated. Today, the most resounding voice standing up against misgovernance and the government is that of Rahul Gandhi. If his voice resonates so powerfully across pan-Indian platforms, how can you possibly claim that he remains absent?

When Rahul Gandhi speaks abroad, you allege that he is making incorrect statements. In Parliament, he is not allotted adequate time to speak. When he speaks outside Parliament, defamation cases are filed against him. And yet -- ironically -- you are the very ones who then claim that he is absent.
Amaravati, March 16 : Member of Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council, Anantha Uday Bhaskar's wife, Lakshmi Durga, on Monday appeared before the Special Investigation Team (SIT), probing the murder of his former driver.

She appeared before the investigating officer in Kakinada at the direction of the Andhra Pradesh High Court. Anantha Uday Bhaskar dropped her at the office of Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO), where investigating officer Manish Patil Devraj questioned her.

The High Court had directed her to appear before SIT between March 16 and March 30 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The order was passed on her petition seeking cancellation of a non-bailable warrant against her issued by the Special SC/ST Court in Rajamahendravaram.

The SIT, in the supplementary charge sheet filed last month, had stated that Lakshmi Durga had a role in the 2022 murder of Dalit youth Veedhi Subrahmanyam. Following this, she was named a second accused in the case and a non-bailable warrant was issued a week ago.

MLC Anantha Uday Bhaskar, also known as Anantha Babu, is the first accused in the case. He is accused of killing his former driver, Subrahmanyam, and later delivering the body to the victim's house.

Subrahmanyam (34) was found dead under suspicious circumstances in Kakinada on May 19, 2022. The MLC of the then-ruling YSR Congress Party had personally transported the body to the victim's parents' residence around 2 a.m. in his own car, claiming it was a road accident.

The family, however, suspected foul play and refused to accept the body. The murder had sparked protests by the victim's relatives and Dalit organisations.

Anantha Babu had allegedly pushed the deceased during an argument, resulting in his fall and death. The legislator allegedly inflicted additional injuries on the body to make it appear as though the death resulted from a road accident.

The MLC was subsequently arrested, and the YSRCP suspended him from the party.

With the investigating officer unable to submit the charge sheet within 90 days, Anantha Babu was released on default bail in December 2022.

After coming to power in June 2024, the TDP-led coalition government decided to re-investigate the case. Indian Police Service (IPS) officer and incumbent Kakinada DSP Manish Devraj Patil was appointed as the investigation officer.

In July 2025, the SC/ST Special Court ordered a re-investigation into the case. The MLC had challenged the order in the High Court, but it granted a stay on a lower court's order, which had also directed that a supplementary chargesheet be filed within 90 days.

In the supplementary charge sheet, the SIT stated that footage collected from multiple locations across Kakinada showed both Anantha Babu and his wife near a guest house, where the murder was alleged to have taken place.

Investigators said the MLC's vehicle made suspicious halts for over an hour on a dark stretch near a guest house.

Last month, the Supreme Court observed that there was a clear "nexus between police and power" in the case and that the police had attempted to help Ananta Uday Bhaskar secure bail.

Following this, the state government suspended four police officers over the lapses in the investigation that led to the release of the MLC.
New Delhi, March 16 : The Ghaziabad Police which arrested six people in connection with an espionage case has learnt that the racket was being managed by operatives from Pakistan. The police learnt that the accused people focussed largely on targets in Mumbai and the National Capital Region (NCR).

The police arrested six people and during their questioning they revealed that they were being paid by Pakistanis to dig out sensitive information and share it.

The payments were assignment-based and would range from Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000.

The instructions to get information on sensitive sites were given to the accused by a Pakistani handler through WhatsApp. The police traced the WhatsApp number to Pakistan.

The accused said that they filmed sensitive locations in Mumbai and NCR. These included RPF and GRP deployment points and offices of security agencies.

They also filmed railway stations, the police learnt. It was also revealed that the accused persons had installed a hidden camera at the Delhi Cantt Railway Station several months back. This gave the Pakistani handlers live footage of the railway station and the surrounding areas.

After it was learnt that the accused had also passed on sensitive information about railway infrastructure, Defence areas and government offices, an alert has been sounded.

The arrested persons are Raj Valmiki (19) from Auraiya, Siva Valmiki (20) from Badaun, Ritik Gangwar (23) from Shahjahanpur, Suhai Malik (23) from Bijnor and Sane Iram (25) alias Mehak from Kaushambi.

Eight mobile phones used to film sensitive areas and pass on the information to Pakistan were seized from the accused.

They have been booked under the Sections 152 and 61(2) of the BNS and Sections 3 and 5 of the Official Secrets Act.

Further, the police learnt that multiple photos had been shared. Calls records to the Pakistani handler are currently being scrutinised.

Some of the data has been deleted and the police is in the process of retrieving it.

Officials part of the probe say that these people were also told to recruit more persons. The idea was to spread this espionage network and gather more information.

Another official said that the worrisome part about this network and plot is the installation of a camera at the Delhi Cantt Railway Station as this gives live images of such sensitive locations. The same can be used to carry out real time surveillance, which in turn could be used to plan terror attacks.

Railway stations and Indiaas trains have for long been on the radar of the Pakistanis, another official said.

This development comes just days after six people from Masuri were charged under the provisions of the UAPA for following banned terror groups and sharing propaganda content on WhatsApp.

Since 'Operation Sindoor', the agencies are noting a pattern in which the Pakistanis have increased espionage activities in India.

The ISI had even got in touch with influencers and used them to gather information about India.

Influencer Jyoti Malhotra was also tasked with posting content on her YouTube channel that showed Pakistan in good light.

An Intelligence Bureau official says that such activity would continue to rise and the agencies must be on the lookout.

Nationwide crackdowns have been conducted by the National Investigation Agency and state police, which have led to several networks being busted.
New Delhi, March 16 : Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav on Monday criticised the government over the reported LPG shortage in parts of the country, alleging that common people are being forced to stand in long queues for gas cylinders.

Speaking to reporters outside Parliament, Akhilesh Yadav said that those who once aspired to make India a "Vishwaguru" should not put citizens through such hardships. Referring to UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, he said people cannot expect him to admit that there is a problem.

"Those who once aspired to be Vishwaguru are now making people stand in long queues. This is not the first time common people have faced such hardships. During the 2016 demonetisation, people stood in lines. During Covid-19, there was an oxygen shortage, and today people are again standing in queues for LPG," he said.

Akhilesh Yadav further claimed that in areas like Noida, many families are struggling as mothers are unable to cook for their children while waiting for gas cylinders. He said people are standing in queues from early morning and spending the entire day there.

He questioned the government's claims of adequate supply and alleged mismanagement, urging party workers to send photographs of the situation to the party headquarters.

Meanwhile, the Rajya Sabha also witnessed an uproar and noisy scenes over LPG supply shortages, with the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of the House (LoP) J.P. Nadda crossing swords over the government's response to the West Asia crisis.

The face-off broke out during the Zero Hour, as Kharge accused the government of mismanagement and poor handling of the energy crisis, arising due to a full-blown war in the Gulf and the subsequent blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

Kharge blamed the government for the acute shortage of LPG cylinders across the country and said that middle-class and poor families have been hit the hardest.

He claimed that the restaurants, hostels, and community kitchens have been forced to down their shutters, and it was a matter of big concern that LPG cylinders are being sold at exorbitant prices.

Stating out facts, he said that 60 per cent of the country's LPG is imported, and out of this, 90 per cent of this supply comes via the Strait of Hormuz  the key maritime route that stands closed, leading to a global oil crisis.

Kharge also highlighted supply shortages of fertilisers and claimed that fertiliser plants are facing a crippling situation. He said that if the government had done advanced planning on LPG supply, such a situation wouldn't have arisen.

"The waiting period for LPG cylinders has also been increased from 21 to 25 days, leading to hoarding and black-marketing. This crisis exposes the government's poor planning, lackadaisical approach and also raises questions on its foreign policy," he said, questioning the government over the lack of planning.

Kharge, who is also the Congress President, also accused Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri of giving falsified information on LPG supply in the country and said that the reality on the ground was far from what the minister boasted.

Kharge's relentless attack on the government over the LPG crisis prompted interjection by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju as well as Nadda.
New Delhi, March 16 : The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday issued instructions for the strict implementation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) following the announcement of Assembly elections in four states and a Union Territory.

A day earlier, the poll body had declared the schedule for the elections to the Assemblies of Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal.

According to the schedule, notifications issued on Monday by the Election Commission, as well as the governments of Assam, Kerala and Puducherry, have been published in their respective official gazettes.

Following the announcement of the poll schedule, the Commission issued directions to the Chief Secretaries and Chief Electoral Officers of the states and Union Territories concerned to ensure the immediate enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct.

The MCC will also apply to the Central government in relation to announcements or policy decisions concerning these states and the Union Territory.

"The Commission directed to ensure strict compliance with the instructions related to removal of defacement from government, public and private property; misuse of official vehicles or government accommodation by any political party, candidate or any other person connected with election; ban on issuance of advertisement at the cost of public exchequer," the ECI said in a statement.

"The privacy of citizens must be respected, with no demonstrations or picketing outside private residences. Land, buildings, or walls shall not be used for flags, banners, or posters without the owner's consent," the statement added.

The Election Commission also said that a complaint monitoring system has been established to enable citizens and political parties to report violations of the Model Code of Conduct.

A Call Centre with the number 1950 has been set up through which complaints can be lodged by members of the public or political parties with the District Election Officer or Returning Officer concerned.

The Commission further stated that citizens and political parties can also report violations through the C-Vigil application available on the ECINET platform.

To ensure swift action, more than 5,173 flying squads have been deployed across the states and the Union Territory so that complaints can be addressed within 100 minutes.

In addition, more than 5,200 Static Surveillance Teams have been deployed to monitor activities during the election period.

The poll body also reminded political parties of their responsibilities during the election process. It said that parties must inform the police authorities in advance regarding public meetings and processions so that proper arrangements for traffic management and security can be made.

They are also required to comply with any prohibitory orders and obtain the necessary permissions for the use of loudspeakers and other related facilities.

"Ministers shall not combine official duties with electioneering or use government machinery, transport, or personnel for campaign purposes," the Commission said.

The Election Commission further said that officials at all levels have been directed to remain impartial while enforcing the Model Code of Conduct and to ensure equal treatment for all political parties.

Authorities have been asked to prevent the misuse of official facilities and ensure that meetings, processions and polling arrangements are conducted fairly while maintaining law and order and safeguarding the credibility of the electoral process.

The Commission also informed that the SUVIDHA module on the ECINET platform has been activated, allowing political parties to apply for the use of public places such as maidans and helipads. These facilities will be allotted on a first-come, first-served basis.
UK will not participate in Middle East conflict but will assist in reopening Strait of Hormuz  PM

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has declared that the United Kingdom will not take part in the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, according to a report by Sky News on Monday.

"Speaking about the primary steps to protect our country and our allies, we will not be drawn into further hostilities," Starmer stated during a press conference.

At the same time, the British Prime Minister noted that the UK would assist in reopening the Strait of Hormuz for navigation. According to him, London is discussing a possible plan of action with European partners, partners among the Gulf nations, and the United States. Starmer added that specialized mine-clearing equipment has already been deployed in the region, and London is now considering the possibility of deploying anti-drone assets.

The Prime Minister explicitly stated that lifting the de facto blockade of the Strait of Hormuz is not a NATO mission. "To be specific: this is not and has never been considered a NATO mission," Starmer said.

The British leader recalled that he had discussed this issue with US President Donald Trump the previous day. According to the Prime Ministers office, Starmer and Trump "discussed the developing situation in the Middle East and the importance of reopening the Strait of Hormuz to end the destabilization of global shipping, which is leading to a widespread increase in costs."

Earlier on Monday, Trump stated that NATO faces a "bad future" if American allies do not provide assistance in securing navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. On Saturday, the American president asserted that security in the Strait of Hormuz should be the responsibility of the countries that receive oil through it.
Thiruvananthapuram Mar 16 : Kerala woke up to the first full day of intense campaigning on Monday, with political parties beginning a 25 day high voltage campaign ahead of the April 9 polls for the 140-member Kerala Assembly.

The opposition alliances are yet to finalise their candidates, but the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) was quick off the blocks, with its key constituents - CPI(M) and the Communist Party of India announcing their candidates and set campaign machinery in motion.

Across the state, ministers and candidates were seen hitting the streets early in the morning, meeting voters and seeking support.

In the suburban capital constituency of Nedumangad, State Food and Civil Supplies Minister and senior CPI leader G. R. Anil began his campaign on Monday morning.

Anil said the work carried out in the constituency would speak for itself.

"I know my constituency too well. Just look at the developments that have happened here. I am confident about the result and have no doubts about it," he said while interacting with voters.

At Kottarakkara, State Finance Minister K. N. Balagopal of the CPI (M) was also on the campaign trail, meeting residents and canvassing support.

Unlike the relatively comfortable contest he had in 2021, Balagopal now faces a tougher battle.

His opponent is former party colleague Aiysha Potti, a three time CPI(M) legislator who switched sides last month and joined the Indian National Congress.

"None knows why she left the party and she is yet to explain the reasons. I am confident the developmental works done in my constituency will hold me in good stead," Balagopal said.

Further north in Kochi, State Industries Minister P. Rajeeve of the CPI (M) was out early in the streets engaging with voters.

Rajeeve said his campaign strategy was to reach out widely across the constituency.

"I bank on what I have done for the state and for my constituency. I plan to meet as many people as possible, including those who did not vote for me last time, and explain why they should support me now," he said.

At the CPI(M) bastion in Kannur at the Thalassery assembly seat on Monday morning their local leader Karayi Rajan , presently out on bail in a murder case.

For the past two terms the seat was represented by the outgoing Speaker of the Assembly AN Shamseer and he being dropped came as a surprise to many.

"Yes, Shamseer has been nurturing this constituency for the past 10 years and this time the party has fielded me. Everyone who is here knows about the case against me and I will meet all the voters seeking a vote for my party," said Rajan.

Meanwhile, a high profile contest is shaping up in Beypore in Kozhikode district, where former independent MLA P. V. Anvar has entered the fray with the backing of the United Democratic Front (UDF).

Anvar had resigned his legislative position last year following a bitter fallout with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

Though he initially supported the Congress candidate in a subsequent contest, he later ran as an independent and finished third.

After renewed talks with the UDF, he has now been cleared to contest from Beypore.

Anvar will take on Tourism Minister P. A. Mohammed Riyas, Vijayan's son-in-law, setting the stage for one of the most closely watched contests of the election.

Launching his campaign on Monday, Anvar accused the incumbent of neglecting the constituency.

"This constituency has gone to the dogs. Apart from a few tourism projects, key sectors like health, education and industry have suffered. The constituency has been badly orphaned," he said.

Meanwhile, the Congress led UDF and the Bharatiya Janata Party are expected to announce their candidates in the next couple of days, with last-minute discussions underway at the national level.

As the campaign clock begins ticking, Kerala's political battleground has clearly come alive, signalling the start of intense and closely fought electoral contest.
Agartala/Kohima, March 16 : The statutory notifications for the April 9 by-elections to two Assembly constituencies in the Northeastern states of Tripura and Nagaland were issued on Monday, officials said.

According to the notifications issued by the election authorities in the two states, the filing of nominations began on Monday (March 16), while the last date for submitting nominations is March 23. The scrutiny of nominations will take place on March 24, and the last date for withdrawal of candidatures is March 26.

Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, while announcing the Assembly election schedule for four states -- Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and West Bengal -- and the Union Territory of Puducherry, had also declared bypolls to eight Assembly constituencies across Goa, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Nagaland and Tripura.

The CEC also announced the schedule for the bypolls in the Dharmanagar Assembly constituency in North Tripura district and the Koridang Assembly constituency in Mokokchung district of Nagaland, the latter reserved for Scheduled Tribes. Polling for both constituencies will be held on April 9, while the results will be declared on May 4.

The bypoll in the Dharmanagar Assembly constituency in North Tripura district became necessary following the death of Tripura Assembly Speaker and veteran legislator Biswa Bandhu Sen. Aged 72, Sen passed away at a private hospital in Bengaluru on December 26, 2025, after undergoing medical treatment for more than four-and-a-half months.

He was elected to the Tripura Assembly four times -- twice from Dharmanagar on a Congress ticket in 2008 and 2013, and later in 2018 and 2023 as a nominee of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from the same constituency. The main Opposition CPI (M)-led Left Front on March 9 nominated former MLA Amitabha Datta as its candidate for the Dharmanagar bypoll.

The ruling BJP and other parties are yet to announce their candidates. A total of 46,143 voters, including 23,763 women, are eligible to cast their votes in the Dharmanagar Assembly bypoll.

Meanwhile, the by-election in the Koridang Assembly constituency in Nagaland was necessitated by the death of veteran Naga leader Imkong L. Imchen, who passed away at a private hospital in Guwahati on November 11, 2024, after a brief illness. Imchen, 75, was elected to the Nagaland Assembly five times from the Koridang constituency - first as an Independent in 2003, then on Naga Peopleas Front tickets in 2008, 2013 and 2018, before winning on a BJP ticket in 2023.

A total of 22,390 voters, including 11,013 women, are entitled to vote in the Koridang Assembly constituency.

--IANS

sc/mr
New Delhi, March 16 : India's merchandise trade deficit narrowed to $27.1 billion in February from $34.68 billion in the previous month, according to data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Monday.

The countryas merchandise exports rose to $36.61 billion from $36.56 billion in January, while imports fell to $63.71 billion from $71.24 billion, the figures showed.

Indiaas merchandise exports stood at $402.93 billion for Aprila"February 2025a"26, up from $395.66 billion in the same period last year, which represents a 1.84 per cent increase, according to official data.

The data comes against the backdrop of the escalation in the Iran war, which broke out on February 28, leading to a choking of the Strait of Hormuz in the Middle East through which 20 per cent of the worldas oil and gas exports transit. The blocking of the Strait has also hit Indiaas exports of commodities such as rice to the Middle East countries.

Earlier, around 50 per cent of Indiaas energy imports came through the Strait of Hormuz, but these have now been diversified, with a big chunk coming from Russia.

Indiaas strategic oil reserves and diversification of energy imports across 40 supplier countries have transformed the countryas capacity to absorb global energy shocks. This resilience has ensured that there is no energy crisis in India due to the disruption caused by the Iran war, as the government is tackling the situation with supply-side management, a senior official said.

India is also in direct touch with Iran to allow its merchant ships to sail through Hormuz. Indian-flag vessel Jag Laadki sailed safely from the UAEas Fujairah port on Sunday, carrying about 80,800 metric tonnes of Murban crude oil and is bound for India. The vessel and all Indian seafarers onboard are safe, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Shipping and Ports.

All Indian seafarers in the region are safe, and no shipping incident involving Indian seafarers has been reported in the past 24 hours, the statement said.

Two Indian-flag LPG carriers, Shivalik and Nanda Devi, carrying about 92,712 MT of LPG, which had crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, are currently on passage to India and are scheduled to reach Mundra Port on Monday and Kandla Port on Tuesday, respectively.

At present, 22 Indian-flagged vessels with 611 seafarers remain west of the Persian Gulf region.

India has robust macroeconomic fundamentals with ample forex reserves to cover 11a"12 months of imports. These are also enough to cover the countryas oil import bills for 5 years. The strategic stocks of crude and petroleum products are sufficient to cover more than 70 days of market demand, while imports have been diversified to reduce the countryas dependence on the Middle East, the official pointed out.
Washington, March 16 : US fighter jets have targeted Iran's military positions near the Chabahar Free Trade Zone, according to reports.

The sounds of explosion were heard in the area behind the Chabahar Free Trade Zone, Al Jazeera reported, citing Voice of America's Persian language service.

The free trade zone is located in Iran's Sistan and Baluchestan province near the border with Pakistan.

The reports come amid the ongoing conflict in West Asia which erupted following US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, which killed Iran's Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and senior military officials. In response, Iran has targeted both US assets and civilian sites, including airports, ports and oil facilities across the Gulf.

As the conflict entered its third week and global energy markets remained under pressure due to the near-halt in shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, senior officials in the Trump administration said that the war with Iran could end within weeks.

Speaking on ABC's This Week, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the administration believed the military campaign was progressing quickly.

"Hey, there's no guarantees in wars at all," Wright said in the interview with ABC News anchor Martha Raddatz.

But he added that officials expected the conflict to conclude soon.

"I think that this conflict will certainly come to an end in the next few weeks, could  could be sooner than that," Wright said.

Meanwhile, Iran has rejected suggestions that it is seeking a ceasefire in the ongoing war, saying it will continue fighting and defending itself as long as necessary.

In an interview on CBS's Face the Nation, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi denied that Tehran had requested a ceasefire or negotiations with Washington.

"No, we never asked for a cease-fire, and we have never asked even for negotiation," Araghchi told CBS moderator Margaret Brennan.

He said Iran would continue its military response to what it described as aggression by the United States.

"We are ready to defend ourselves as long as it takes," Araghchi said.

The foreign minister argued that the conflict had been initiated by Washington and accused President Donald Trump of choosing war.

"This is a war of choice by President Trump and the United States, and we are going to continue our self-defense," he said.

Araghchi also dismissed suggestions that Tehran needed to negotiate to survive the conflict.

"No, it's not a war of survival. We are stable and strong enough," he said.
New Delhi, March 16 : Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday expressed deep sorrow over the tragic fire at SCB Medical College and Hospital in Odisha's Cuttack, which reportedly claimed the lives of at least 10 patients and left several others injured.

"Deeply saddened by the tragic fire at the Trauma Care ICU of SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack, Odisha, which has claimed the lives of at least 10 patients and left several others injured", Kharge said in a post on X.

"My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families in this hour of grief. I pray for the speedy recovery of those injured. I urge all Congress workers to extend every possible assistance to the affected families," he said.

Earlier in the day, President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed deep grief over the tragic death of ten patients after a major fire broke out at the Intensive Care Unit of the Trauma Care Centre of SCB Medical College.

Taking to the X handle of the Prime Ministeras Office (PMO), PM Modi, while condoling the deaths, also announced an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh each to family members of the deceased patients from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund (PMNRF).

Odisha Governor Hari Babu Kambhampati, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Leader of Opposition Naveen Patnaik, among several others, expressed deep grief over the unfortunate deaths of the patients.

Earlier, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi visited SCB Medical College and Hospital and reviewed the situation. He also met the injured persons undergoing treatment at the hospital. CM Majhi announced an ex gratia of Rs 25 lakh each for the family members of the deceased patients. He announced a judicial enquiry into the tragic death and assured stringent action against any act of negligence resulting in the unfortunate incident.

As per reports, the major fire broke out at the ICU of Trauma Care Centre at the SCB medical college due to a suspected electric short circuit at around 2.30 a.m. to 3 a.m. on Monday. Seven patients critically injured in the incident died immediately, while three others succumbed after being shifted to other ICUs.
Thrissur : , March 16 (IANS) In a significant political development ahead of the Assembly elections in Kerala, sitting CPI MLA C. C. Mukundan on Monday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after being denied a second consecutive ticket by his party

Mukundan, the legislator from Nattika in Thrissur district, had represented the constituency as part of the Left Democratic Front (LDF).

However, when the Communist Party of India (CPI) declined to renominate him for the upcoming polls, the veteran leader began exploring other political options.

Sources said Mukundan had initially reached out to the Congress, hoping to secure a berth in the United Democratic Front (UDF).

But the move ran into stiff resistance from local Congress leaders in Nattika and the wider Thrissur district, forcing the party leadership to distance itself from any possible arrangement with him.

With the Congress option closed, Mukundan eventually decided to cross over to the BJP.

Announcing his decision, Mukundan said he had full faith in the BJP leadership and would abide by whatever decision the party takes regarding his future political role.

"I repose complete faith in the BJP leadership, which will decide the future course of my political journey, including whether I should contest from Nattika," he said.

Senior BJP leader B. Gopalakrishnan confirmed that the party would welcome Mukundan into its fold, describing his entry as a positive development for the partyas expansion in the state.

Mukundanas defection is politically significant as it marks the shift of the second high-profile leader from the CPI to the BJP in recent weeks.

Earlier this month, two-time former CPI legislator K. Ajith also crossed over to the BJP. In another notable political shift last month, three-time former Communist Party of India-Marxist legislator S. Rajendran joined the BJP.

These developments come at a time when the BJP is attempting to strengthen its presence in Kerala by attracting leaders from both the Left and the Congress-led camps.

Political observers say Mukundanas move could add a new dimension to the contest in Nattika, particularly if the BJP decides to field him from the constituency where he currently serves as MLA.
New Delhi, March 16 : There has been a clamour among terror groups to recruit women and form an outfit exclusively for them.

Both the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad have all-women modules, and intelligence agencies have learnt that the Jamaat-ul-Mujahiddeen, Bangladesh (JMB) has now revived an old plan whereby it is setting up an all-womenas module known as the "Sister Wing".

The first time that the JMB thought of setting up such a module was in 2016. However, the plan had to be put on hold after the agencies in Bangladesh cracked down on the module.

Details about the womenas module came to light following the arrests of Asmani Khatun, alias Asma, and Shrine Khatun in February and March 2020, respectively.

Various Intelligence assessments have found that the JMB has been trying to actively spread its footprint along with the Islamic State in South India. These groups have been making some inroads in South India, but that has been limited largely to Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

These groups are now focusing on states such as Karnataka, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh.

An official said that the JMB and Islamic State are attempting to revive the womenas module and recruit in all southern states.

The investigations conducted following the arrest of Asma and Shirina revealed that they were told to spearhead recruitment and indulge in propaganda campaigns.

In recent months, women part of the JMB network have been instructed to get in touch with their contacts in South India and undertake a massive recruitment drive of women.

Another official said that the JMB may not be planning strikes in South India in the immediate present. The information that the agencies have suggests that the focus is more on recruiting women and then indulging in a massive propaganda campaign.

Setting up the aSister Winga in South India would be a huge step forward for the JMB. An Intelligence Bureau official said that the confidence to set up such a wing stems from the fact that there have been many women recruits in Kerala, who have left the state and joined the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) in Afghanistan. The official said that the 2016 exodus, in which 21 persons from Kerala left the state and joined the ISKP, had many women who were part of it.

All of them were brainwashed for several years before they could be convinced to join the ISKP in Afghanistan. These women were married to the men who travelled with them.

Another official said that the JMB and Islamic State would not look to send the women they recruit to other countries. Their plan suggests that they are more interested in creating a huge army, with the focus being more on recruitment rather than propaganda. A 2016 kind of exodus may not be easy, as the agencies are on high alert. Further, stories that came out from Afghanistan about the plight of the 21 recruits and the poor conditions they lived in have acted as a deterrent to many.

However, officials say that there are a large number of people in the Southern states who still subscribe to the ideology of these terror groups. They would be more keen on joining the JMB-Islamic Stateas aSister Wing,a and indulge in propaganda sitting in their own state, the official said.

The agencies are keeping a close tab on social media activity. The women members have been told to create multiple accounts on social media and then hunt for women recruits in South India.

This would be the first part of the plan, and once they manage to recruit a substantial number of women, then the outfit would pick a head and train her. The job of the head would be to train the women recruits in South India.

The JMB has realised that propaganda is a better tool in the initial stages when compared to an attack. It is the mind that they are looking to capture, and once they are successful in doing so, the next processes become relatively easy. Officials say that while remaining on alert and keeping a track of such activity is important, it is also necessary to have many de-radicalisation camps. There are already many camps that are present, but looking at the changed tactics that the JMB is indulging in, more would need to be done, the official added.
New Delhi, March 16 : Sri Lanka's reliable top-order batter Harshitha Samarawickrama had an outstanding ODI series in the Caribbean, playing a key part in Sri Lanka's 2-1 series victory over the West Indies.

New Delhi, March 16 (IANS) Sri Lankaas reliable top-order batter Harshitha Samarawickrama had an outstanding ODI series in the Caribbean, playing a key part in Sri Lankaas 2-1 series victory over the West Indies.

The left-handed player ended as the top scorer in the series, accumulating 171 runs from three ODIs with an average of 57.00. Samarawickrama demonstrated steady performance throughout, scoring 66, 35, and 70, effectively supporting Sri Lankaas batting lineup amid tough Caribbean conditions.

Her contributions were crucial as Sri Lanka won the ODI series 2-1, and her performance as the opener earned her the Player of the Series award.

Pakistan captain Fatima Sana excelled with both bat and ball against the Proteas, despite the series ending 2-1 in both formats. She was especially outstanding in the shortest format, finishing as the top scorer with 146 runs at an average of 73.00 and a striking rate of 184.81.

Her notable highlight came in the opening T20I, where she scored an impressive 90. She later contributed with an unbeaten 47 and took 2/12 in the third match, earning the Player of the Match award. Additionally, Sana scored 52 and took two important wickets with the ball in the second ODI. Throughout the tour, she took a total of four wickets in the ODI series and two in the T20Is.

Arundhati Reddy led India's bowling effort in their three-match T20I series win in Australia. She emerged as the top wicket-taker, securing eight wickets with an average of 10.87 and an economy rate of 7.25.

The right-arm seamer consistently delivered match-changing spells in each game, recording figures of 4/22, 2/30, and 2/35. Her ability to take wickets was crucial in maintaining pressure on Australia's batters, ultimately helping India secure the series 2-1.
Brussels, March 16 : External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar on Monday thanked the Armenian government and people for facilitating the safe evacuation of over 550 Indian nationals from Iran.

"Thank the Government and the people of Armenia for facilitating the safe evacuation of over 550 Indian nationals from Iran so far. Appreciate their support in these challenging times," EAM Jaishankar posted on X.

EAM Jaishankar's statement comes amid the ongoing conflict in West Asia, which erupted following US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, which killed Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and top military officials. In response, Iran launched drone and missile attacks targeting the US and Israel, regional capitals and allied forces in West Asia.

On Sunday, the Jammu and Kashmir Students Association (JKSA) said that the first batch of 70 Indian students evacuated from Iran via Armenia had safely landed in Delhi.

Nasir Khuehami, national convenor of the JKSA, said: "The first batch of more than 70 Indian students -- the majority of them from Jammu and Kashmir, along with several pilgrims -- who had been stranded in Iran amid the ongoing war-like situation in the region, safely arrived at Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi, on a commercial flight this morning as part of the initial phase of the evacuation process.

"The students returned to India via a connecting journey through Armenia and Dubai after undertaking a long and difficult land and air transit arranged in coordination with the concerned authorities."

On March 12, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stated that India continues to work extensively on extending assistance to Indian nationals in Iran and is also addressing issues pertaining to the safety of shipping and the country's energy security amid the ongoing conflict in West Asia.

Highlighting the assistance being extended to Indian nationals in Iran, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that several citizens have returned home, while support continues for those planning to leave. The ministry urged Indian nationals wishing to leave Iran to adhere to the advisory recently issued by the Indian Embassy in Tehran.

"We have around 9,000 Indian nationals in Iran, including students, seafarers, businesspeople, professionals and pilgrims. Following advisories issued earlier, several Indian nationals, especially students, have already returned home. We have recently shifted several Indian nationals, including students and pilgrims who are based in Tehran, to other safer locations and cities in the country," MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said during a weekly media briefing in New Delhi.

"We are also assisting Indian nationals who wish to travel to Azerbaijan and Armenia, and from there to take commercial flights to return home. We are assisting them with visas and border crossings. We have had several Indian nationals who have approached us, and we have helped them to cross over into Azerbaijan and Armenia and from there to take commercial flights back home," he added.

Jaiswal urged Indian nationals who want to leave Iran via land borders to adhere to the advisory the Indian Embassy in Tehran had issued on March 9.

"Our mission in Tehran is in constant touch with our community members and is offering all possible assistance to them," he noted.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Bengaluru, March 16 : Karnataka BJP leader Chalavadi Narayanaswamy, has demanded that the government register a suo motu case against International Booker Prize awardee Banu Mushtaq and arrest her for insulting Dr B.R. Ambedkar by offering floral tributes while wearing slippers.

Speaking to the media on Monday, Narayanaswamy, who is the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Legislative Council, said he strongly condemns the act of Banu Mushtaq offering floral tributes to the photograph of Dr B.R. Ambedkar while wearing slippers in Mandya district.

He urged the government to take strict legal action against her. According to him, Banu Mushtaq had called slippers her "house deity" and had also insulted Babasaheb Ambedkar.

He said Banu Mushtaq had insulted those who consider Ambedkar as a deity.

"I strongly condemn her arrogance in insulting both Hindus and Muslims," he said.

He recalled that when she was invited to inaugurate the Dusshera celebrations, several people had opposed the decision, alleging that she was anti-Kannada. At that time, many Dalit organisations and Dalit activists in the state had supported her.

He questioned what those Dalit organisation leaders are doing now.

He said that since Babasaheb Ambedkar, whom many consider a deity, had been insulted in such a manner, Dalit organisations across the state should worship Banu Mushtaq using her "household deity", which she claims to be slippers, and perform the worship with slippers.

As she has described slippers as her household deity, she would have no grounds to object to it, he said.

He also appealed to Dalit organisations, Hindus and members of the Islamic community to condemn her wherever she goes.

He said it is known across the world that Allah is the God of Islam and Muslims. Those who follow Islam pray to Allah and "we also respect that", he said.

However, Banu Mushtaq had claimed that slippers are her household deity and that she therefore wore slippers while offering floral tributes to Dr B.R. Ambedkar, and had defended her actions with arrogance, he said. Therefore, she is not deserving of forgiveness, he added.

He further said that those who stitch slippers are not from the Muslim community but from Scheduled Castes, and that members of his community traditionally stitch slippers.

He questioned whether Banu Mushtaq belonged to that community. "When you say slippers are your household deity while others worship Allah as their God, whom are you comparing to whom?" he asked.

He also asked whether the slippers or shoes worn by Dr B.R. Ambedkar could then be considered her household deity. "Will you accept the shoes or slippers worn by Dr Ambedkar as your household deity?" he asked Banu Mushtaq.

He questioned whether Islam would accept such a claim and asked why Islamic religious leaders and clerics were remaining silent even after hearing such statements. "Why are you not questioning her?" he asked.

He said people have begun saying that if Banu Mushtaq attends meetings or public events in the future, she will be "dealt with" using her own household deity. "You now know what her household deity is," he said.

If she is beaten, will she accept it as being done by her household deity and not misunderstand it, he asked.

It can be recalled that during a programme in Mandya, Mushtaq allegedly paid floral tribute to a photo of B. R. Ambedkar while wearing slippers.

She reportedly said "chappali (slippers) are my house deity" while explaining why she did not remove them before offering flowers.

Critics interpreted the statement as insulting Ambedkar and comparing religious symbols with slippers.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot announced the imposition of sanctions against nine Russians involved in the killing of civilians in the city of Bucha, Kyiv region, and four Russian propagandists, including Adrien Bocquet, who is of French-Russian origin.

"Following the extension on Saturday of 2,600 sanctions imposed since 2022, today we are imposing sanctions against 9 war criminals responsible for the massacre in Bucha and 4 Kremlin propagandists, including French-Russian Adrien Bocquet, who is essentially a recruiter of foreign fighters for Vladimir Putin," Barrot wrote on the social network X on Monday.

The Foreign Minister clarified that the measures against Bocquet were taken due to his active role in disseminating disinformation campaigns and attempting to justify Russian war crimes. According to investigative reports, Bocquet had previously posed as a humanitarian volunteer to fabricate narratives regarding the events in Bucha.

As previously reported, on March 13, French President Emmanuel Macron stated that pressure on the Russia must intensify and Ukraine must be provided with the necessary means to combat Russian aggression. He noted that the EU is currently preparing its 20th package of sanctions against the Russia, with much work already accomplished toward its implementation despite recent procedural delays.
March 16 : Jalore/Lucknow: CM Yogi Adityanath urged mothers not to give smartphones to young children. He said, "Children may cry or get upset for a while but they will eventually calm down, whereas excessive smartphone use harms thier eyes, wastes time, weakens thinking ability and dulls the intellect."

He further added that people are increasingly becoming victims of depression. Many smartphone games push children in a negative direction. If the time spent on smartphones is instead used for reading good books, practicing yoga and exercising, life will become more disciplined and meaningful. Continuous smartphone use, he said, can be as dangerous as an addiction.

On Monday, during the second day of his Rajasthan visit, Gorakshpeethadhishwar and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath attended two-day "Mahayagya and Vishal Dharmsabha" organized on the occasion of 375th anniversary of Shri Ratneshwar Mahadev Temple in Jalore.

Addressing the religious gathering, CM advised young people to use smartphones only as much as necessary. He encouraged them to make time for family and maintain regular communication. He suggested not answering phones during meals or prayer and instead calling back later. According to him, excessive smartphone use can eventually lead to depression and has contributed to increasing suicide tendencies over minor issues. He added that if someone faces failure, they should identify the reason and transform it into success. One should not fear failure but face challenges courageously. Destiny cannot be stolen by anyone, everything comes through divine grace. People should remain free from greed and think about the welfare of nation and society.

CM Yogi warned that enemies of the country and drug traffickers are trying to trap the youth in addiction. He urged people not to let such elements succeed and appealed that drug dealers should not be allowed to enter families, societies, towns or villages. The future of any nation can be judged by its youth, if they are moving in the right direction, country reaches new heights.

Chief Minister said, "Although there are more than 200 countries in the world, none is like India. Indias uniqueness comes from its festivals, traditions, sages, scholars, soldiers, farmers, youth, daughters and mothers."

Referring to the monkeys near the temple, he said when they fed one monkey a piece of bread, it ate the first one completely before taking another. Humans should learn this modesty and develop the habit of sharing with the needy rather than hoarding.

CM Yogi said that places where sages meditated had such spiritual power that even a lion and a cow could drink water from the same place. Referring to Lord Shivas family, he explained that despite their different symbolic animals as lion, bull, mouse, snake and peacock, they coexist and maintain the cycle of life. India is the land that can accommodate differences and unite society. India has taught the world the art of living. Country has been built by the sacrifices of warriors, the hard work of farmers, the enterprise of artisans and the efforts of laborers. When every section of society contributes, nation becomes 'Ek Bharat - Shreshtha Bharat'.

Chief Minister said religious institutions and spiritual traditions are working for social welfare in fields such as health, education and public service. India has a long spiritual heritage connected with sages and saints. He emphasized that religion is a force that unites society, while casteism weakens social harmony.

CM Yogi remembered historical warriors like Veermadev and Kirti Chauhan and mentioned the sacrifice of Rani Padmini and thousands of women in Chittorgarh. He also spoke about craftsmanship and inscriptions of the Sire Temple and contributions of Maharaja Man Singh.

Chief Minister said Indians are heirs to a rich heritage and must protect it. India has the worlds largest working population and under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi the country is emerging as a major global power. According to him, earlier governments promoted division along lines of caste, region and language, whereas the present leadership has worked to unite the nation and address issues like Kashmir and Naxalism while ensuring benefits reach the poor without discrimination. He also highlighted the development of infrastructure such as railways, roads, medical colleges, airports, metros, engineering colleges, IIMs and AIIMS.

CM Yogi said previous governments considered faith to be superstition, but Prime Minister Modi emphasized that faith is central to Indias identity and necessary for social progress. He mentioned the construction of grand Shri Ram Temple in Ayodhya, development of Kashi Vishwanath Dham and ongoing improvements in Mathura-Vrindavan. When the collective will of 145 crore Indians comes together, even centuries-old problems can be solved.

Chief Minister said Indias faith is not only spiritual but also a source of national consciousness. To preserve it, society must eliminate social evils such as caste discrimination, untouchability, dowry, child marriage and addiction. He said historical invaders succeeded partly because Indians were divided, if the country had been united, no invader could have dominated India.

The program was attended by several spiritual leaders and saints including Mahant Peer Ganganath, MLA Mahant Balak Nath of Tijara, and other saints of the Nath tradition.
Coimbatore, March 16 : Actress and political activist Gautami launched a sharp attack on the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government in Tamil Nadu, alleging that women in the State do not feel safe under the leadership of Chief Minister M.K. Stalin.

She made the remarks while addressing a Women's Day event organised by the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) in Coimbatore.

Speaking at the gathering, Gautami said Tamil Nadu had witnessed a different approach toward women's welfare during the tenure of late Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa.

According to her, Jayalalithaa remained committed to the welfare and empowerment of women until the end of her life and implemented several schemes aimed at improving their social and economic status.

In contrast, she alleged that the present government views women primarily as a "vote bank."

Gautami claimed that the current administration had failed to ensure safety and dignity for women across the State.

She said the policies and governance style under CM Stalin lacked the sensitivity and commitment that women expect from a government.

Highlighting the role of AIADMK's leadership, she praised party general secretary and former Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami, claiming that he had fought for nearly 28 months to restore and protect women's rights in Tamil Nadu.

She added that several welfare measures introduced earlier by the AIADMK government had been diluted or delayed under the present regime. Gautami also referred to the laptop distribution scheme for school students introduced during Jayalalithaa's tenure.

She alleged that the Stalin government had only revived the programme toward the end of its term, claiming the decision was driven by electoral considerations rather than genuine concern for students' welfare.

During her interaction with reporters after the event, Gautami also criticised Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, Member of Parliament from the DMK, over her response to the alleged rape and murder case in Vilathikulam.

Gautami described Kanimozhi's statement  that she could not comment until the post-mortem report was released  as insensitive and lacking in compassion for the victim and her family.

She questioned why political leaders had not visited the affected area to offer support or consolation to the victim's family.

Gautami also asked why there appeared to be greater urgency in responding to other incidents, while the Vilathikulam case had not received similar attention.

Further criticising the State government, Gautami alleged that the spread of narcotics had become a serious concern in Tamil Nadu and accused the administration of failing to curb the menace, which she said could damage the current and future generations.

Looking ahead to the upcoming Assembly elections, Gautami predicted that the contest would primarily be a direct fight between the DMK and the AIADMK, adding that other political players would only play a marginal role in the electoral battle.

IANS

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New Delhi, March 16 : The government has made a claim of $2.81 billion from Reliance Industries Limited and UK oil giant BP for allegedly siphoning out gas from ONGC's fields in India's eastern offshore KG basin, the Parliament was informed on Monday.

New Delhi, March 16 (IANS) The government has made a claim of $2.81 billion from Reliance Industries Limited and UK oil giant BP for allegedly siphoning out gas from ONGC's fields in Indiaas eastern offshore KG basin, the Parliament was informed on Monday.

"The Government has made a claim of $2.81 billion from Reliance Industries Limited and BP. The matter is presently sub judice before the Supreme Court of India," Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Suresh Gopi said in a written answer to a question in the Rajya Sabha.

The ministeras reply came in answer to a question raised by Rajya Sabha member Deepak Prakash, who asked: "Whether it is a fact that the Government has claimed more than $2.00 billion from private companies for alleged gas pilferage/theft from ONGCas blocks off the eastern coast"

The MP also asked for "complete details thereof with the names of private companies involved and the latest status of payment received from these private companies so far".

As of March, the Indian government has demanded approximately $2.81 billion (around Rs 25,983 crore) from Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and its partner BP following a February 2025 Delhi High Court ruling, which set aside a 2018 arbitration award that initially cleared RIL of liability for alleged migration of gas from ONGC fields in the KG basin.

The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has alleged that between 2004 and 2013-14, RIL's KG-D6 block drew gas from adjacent ONGC blocks, amounting to an "unjust enrichment" of over $1.55 billion (plus interest).

A division bench of the Delhi High Court on February 14, 2025, ruled in favour of the government, overturning a previous single-judge ruling that favoured RIL, calling the demand "unsustainable".

Reliance maintains that the gas was "migratory" (naturally moved across boundaries) and that they are not liable for extracting it. The company has challenged the Delhi HC judgment in the Supreme Court.
New Delhi, March 16 : Congress Rajya Sabha member Abhishek Manu Singhvi on Monday described the excise policy case involving Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal as "unfortunate", alleging that the kind of misuse of investigative agencies seen in recent years had never happened before. He also questioned why most politically-sensitive cases involve Opposition leaders.

Speaking exclusively to IANS, Singhvi said that during the past several years, he had handled cases involving leaders from multiple political parties and found the situation deeply troubling.

"Over the last 5a"7 years, I have handled cases for leaders from almost every political party. It is a very unfortunate situation that the kind of open, naked, and shameless misuse that has happened is not limited only to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act," he said.

"Whether it is the Enforcement Directorate, the Central Bureau of Investigation, the Income Tax Department, or other agencies -- such misuse by a government has never happened before," Singhvi added.

Referring to cases registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, he questioned why most politically sensitive cases appeared to involve Opposition leaders.

"Secondly, suppose there are 100 total PMLA cases -- I am giving just an example -- and assume that out of them only 10 have a political flavour, because 90 are usually not political. Then out of those 10, nine and a half will be against the Opposition. Why is that? Till today, you have not received an answer to this question. Instead, they talk about the remaining 90 cases, which are ordinary business-related cases," he said.

Speaking specifically about the cases involving Kejriwal, Singhvi said he had also represented other AAP leaders, including Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh, in related matters.

"I have handled cases of Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh as well. Let me mention two aspects of Kejriwal's case. I do not have time to go into full detail because a lot of time has passed, and I do not even remember the exact year, but the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had called him in 2021 or 2022. From 2022 to 2024, the CBI never called him again," Singhvi said.

"Suddenly, in 2024, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested him. In 2021a"2022, you called him for questioning, but you did not think it was necessary to arrest him. Arrest is a different matter -- you did not even summon him again," he added.

When asked about the status of the political alliance between Congress and the AAP, Singhvi said alliances often vary depending on political circumstances and can differ at the state and national levels.

"Now, alliances have different situations in different places. At present, they are not in an alliance. This is quite common in politics. It also happens that at the state level, you may completely fight against a regional party but remain together at the national level," he said.

"The Congress party has done this many times, and the Left parties have done the same. Similarly, Janata Dal and the Bharatiya Janata Party have, at times, contested against each other at the state level while cooperating at the national level," Singhvi added.
New Delhi, March 16 : Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Prime Minister's Office on Monday to discuss a roadmap for accelerating infrastructure, investment, and social welfare in the state.

During the interaction, Yadav briefed the Prime Minister on several ongoing and proposed projects aimed at boosting economic growth and improving infrastructure across the state.

"I met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi today and sought his guidance. On this occasion, I apprised the Prime Minister of the various programmes and activities being undertaken in the state under the 'Farmer Welfare Year' initiative, as well as the overall progress of the state," Yadav said.

He said that the state government is working actively for the four priority groups identified by the Prime Minister: farmers, women, the poor, and the youth.

Yadav provided a comprehensive briefing on the 'Farmer Welfare Year' initiative, a flagship program of his administration.

"We are observing the 'Farmer Welfare Year' with great enthusiasm and effectiveness. We are doing excellent work by integrating the efforts of around 16 departments, including animal husbandry, fisheries, horticulture, and agriculture. I am delighted that the Prime Minister has bestowed his blessings on our efforts to move forward, and I am confident that the results of these endeavours will be positive in the future," the CM said.

The discussion also highlighted the importance of close coordination between the central and state governments for the effective implementation of flagship schemes and development initiatives.

Both leaders emphasised the need to ensure that welfare programmes reach citizens efficiently, particularly in rural and semi-urban areas.

The meeting is seen as part of the Madhya Pradesh government's efforts to align its development agenda with national priorities while speeding up projects that contribute to economic growth and social welfare.

The Chief Minister also thanked the Centre for its continued support for development projects and policy initiatives in the state.

"Prime Minister Modi has bestowed his blessings on our efforts to move forward, and the results of these endeavours will be seen," Yadav said while interacting with the media at the Parliament complex.

The CM also met Om Birla, Speaker of the Lok Sabha, at Parliament and shared a photograph of the meeting on his social media accounts.
Chennai, March 16 : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday launched a sharp attack on the ruling DMK government in Tamil Nadu, alleging a serious decline in law and order in the State after a group of allegedly intoxicated men entered a government hospital.

BJP State president Nainar Nagenthran cited a recent incident in Cuddalore district, where a group of allegedly intoxicated men entered a government hospital's maternity ward and threatened doctors and patients, as evidence of the growing drug menace in the State.

In a statement issued on Monday, Nagenthran said the incident occurred at the Government Hospital in Kattumannarkoil, triggering concern among the public and raising questions about security in public institutions.

According to reports, a few men who were allegedly under the influence of ganja forced their way into the maternity ward and brandished a sickle while threatening the medical staff and patients present there.

Although no physical injuries were reported in the incident, the BJP leader said the mere fact that such a situation unfolded inside a maternity ward was alarming.

"It is deeply disturbing that intoxicated individuals could enter a government hospital, particularly a maternity ward, and threaten doctors and patients with a weapon. This raises serious concerns about public safety and hospital security," he said.

Nagenthran further alleged that the widespread availability of narcotic substances across Tamil Nadu had contributed to a rise in such incidents. He claimed that drugs were now easily accessible even in small neighbourhood shops and that the situation had worsened.

"Under the present government, narcotic substances are reportedly available even in petty shops. People under the influence of drugs can be seen roaming freely in many public spaces  from government schools to hospitals and offices," he said.

The BJP leader also argued that incidents linked to drug abuse were becoming increasingly common, creating fear among ordinary citizens. According to him, the deteriorating law-and-order situation had made many people reluctant to confront individuals behaving violently or creating disturbances under the influence of drugs.

Taking a swipe at Chief Minister M.K. Stalin's earlier promise to make Tamil Nadu a drug-free State, Nagenthran accused the DMK government of attempting to downplay the seriousness of the issue.

"While the government continues to claim that there is no major drug menace in Tamil Nadu, incidents like the one in Kattumannarkoil reveal the ground reality," he said, urging the State government to take urgent and effective measures to curb the spread of narcotics and ensure the safety of the public.

IANS

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New Delhi, March 16 : Lok Sabha MP and Congress general secretary K.C. Venugopal on Monday urged Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to revoke the suspension of eight Opposition MPs for the entire Budget Session of Parliament.

"At least some decision should be taken," said the Congress MP while raising the issue soon after Question Hour.

"On Friday, we had raised the same. Our eight members were suspended, and they are sitting outside," he said.

Expressing concern over the action against the eight Opposition MPs, Venugopal said, "This House has witnessed so many agitations, not just on one day."

In a message on social media, Venugopal said, "Rose in the Lok Sabha to raise concern over the unfair suspension of 8 Opposition MPs for this Session."

"Parliament has seen countless protests, but the suspension of MPs is a disturbing new trend, which cannot be allowed to continue. This suspension should be revoked immediately," he said.

Earlier, Birla, after hearing out Venugopal, ruled that the decision of the House cannot be raised for discussion.

The recently defeated no-confidence motion moved by the Opposition against the Lok Sabha Speaker also referred to the suspension of the eight MPs.

It said that on February 3, eight Opposition MPs were "arbitrarily suspended" for the remainder of the Budget Session, which amounted to penalising members for exercising their democratic rights.

Earlier, the no-confidence notice, which was defeated by voice vote on March 11, alleged "partisan conduct" in the functioning of the House.

In the notice, the Opposition accused the Speaker of conducting House proceedings in a "blatantly partisan manner" and repeatedly denying Opposition leaders, including Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, the opportunity to speak.

The motion cited several instances to substantiate its charge. It said that on February 2, Rahul Gandhi was not allowed to complete his speech on the Motion of Thanks to the President's Address.
Jerusalem, March 16 : The Israeli military said Monday it had destroyed an aircraft used by Iran's top leadership at Tehran's Mehrabad Airport, claiming the strike would hamper coordination between Tehran and its regional allies. Israel also said it carried out strikes on infrastructure in several Iranian cities.

In a statement, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said the plane had served senior political and military figures for both domestic and international travel. The military added that eliminating the aircraft would disrupt communication between Iran's leadership and allied groups across the region, slow Tehran's military buildup, and limit its ability to restore damaged capabilities.

The aircraft was identified as an Airbus A340 previously used to transport senior leaders, including President Masoud Pezeshkian and, in the past, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, to diplomatic engagements abroad. Iranian authorities did not immediately confirm the strike, Xinhua news agency reported.

Mehrabad Airport, located in western Tehran, is one of the capital's oldest aviation hubs. While Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport handles most long-haul international flights, Mehrabad remains the country's busiest domestic airport and also hosts military facilities, including units of the Iranian Air Force.

Separately, on Monday, the IDF said it struck targets in the Iranian cities of Tehran, Shiraz, and Tabriz, as the US-Israeli campaign against Iran entered its 17th day.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump threatened on Sunday that NATO would face a "very bad" future if its allies fail to take action to help Washington keep the Strait of Hormuz open, Financial Times reported.

In a phone interview with the British daily, Trump again pressed European allies by urging them to join US operations concerning the strait, a key global oil shipping route.

He said Europe was a major beneficiary of navigation through the waterway and should help to make sure that "nothing bad happens there." He also warned that NATO's future would be "very bad" if allies gave "no response" or a "negative response" to Washington's request.

Trump argued that the United States had previously helped Europe on the Ukraine issue and that now it was time to "see if they help us."
Jaipur, March 16 : A 'Mahayagya' (grand sacrificial ritual) was organised on Monday at the historic Sire Mandir, located atop the Kanakanchal Hill in Rajasthan's Jalore, to mark the 375th anniversary of the Ratneshwar Mahadev Temple, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath attended the ceremony and participated in the religious rituals.

Amid the chanting of Vedic mantras, the Chief Minister offered oblations into the sacred fire and performed prayers to Lord Shiva.

Later, Chief Minister Adityanath addressed a religious congregation ('Dharmasabha') organised within the temple premises.

During his address, the Chief Minister described Jauhar as the radiant spirit of Rajasthan's tradition, saying that it reflects the legacy of self-respect and sacrifice of the region's valiant women ('Veeranganas').

Taking to his official X account, Chief Minister Adityanath said: "Queen Padmini's resolve for Jauhar was a symbol of women's dignity. To honour the valour and self-respect of Indian women, today I participated, under the auspices of the Jauhar Smriti Sansthan, in the Jauhar Shraddhanjali ceremony held at Veer Bhumi Chittorgarh in Rajasthan, alongside Maharana Vishvaraj Singh ji Mewar, Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat ji, and Cabinet Minister in the Rajasthan government, Rajyavardhan Rathore ji. Be it north, south, east, or west, every Indian bows to the great tradition of heroic warriors and sacrificers like Maharana Pratap, Maharana Sangha, Queen Padmini, Maharana Kumbha, and Bappa Rawal. Heartfelt congratulations to all for the grand event, and salutations to the great heroic women and valiant mothers who observe the Jauhar Vrat."

Referring to the historical context of Rani Padmini, Chief Minister Adityanath said that during the time of Alauddin Khilji, Queen Padmini and other brave women of Chittorgarh Fort performed Jauhar to protect their honour.

Speaking on Jauhar, the Chief Minister noted that the tradition of Jauhar symbolises the courage and self-respect of Rajasthan's women.

He noted that the history of such sacrifice has left an enduring legacy in the state.

Similar traditions were witnessed in Jalore as well during the era of Alauddin Khilji and in subsequent periods.

According to Chief Minister Adityanath, this legacy has been shaped by the sacrifices of brave warriors and women, as well as the hard work of farmers and artisans.

Praising the temple's architecture, Chief Minister Adityanath said the craftsmanship of Sire Temple is exceptional and attracts visitors from across the world.

He also added that Maharaja Man Singh preserved the history of the site through inscriptions.

At the time, Maharaja Man Singh reportedly spent Rs 3.51 lakh on the temple -- an amount that would be worth several crores today.

Before reaching the temple, Chief Minister Adityanath stopped to feed monkeys along the route.

Recalling the moment in his speech, the Chief Minister said the monkeys displayed discipline while eating.

"One monkey refused to take a second piece of bread until it had finished the first. If humans also avoid greed and share resources with those in need, social unrest and disorder could be reduced."

"Abstaining from greed is itself a form of spiritual discipline (sadhana)," Chief Minister Adityanath added.

He also advised people to practise yoga and physical exercise to maintain a balanced life.

He cautioned that excessive use of smartphones wastes time, affects eyesight, and weakens thinking ability.

According to Chief Minister Adityanath, mobile games and excessive phone use are contributing to depression among youth.

He urged people to stay away from intoxicants and limit smartphone usage, suggesting that phones should be kept aside during meals and prayers and that families should spend more time together.

During the ceremony, Chief Minister Adityanath was warmly welcomed by the temple committee and local residents.

He was felicitated on the dais with a five kg floral garland.

Several saints and religious leaders were present, including Tijara MLA Baba Balaknath and Rajasthan Assembly Chief Whip Jogeshwar Garg, along with other spiritual figures.

On the second day of his visit to Rajasthan, Chief Minister Adityanath participated in programmes held within the Sire Mandir complex.

He reached the stage around 9:15 a.m. on Monday and addressed the gathering for nearly 40 minutes, while also taking part in the Mahayagya and temple rituals.

After the event concluded, the Chief Minister left for Jodhpur at around 12:30 p.m. from the helipad near Adarsh Balika School on Sire Mandir Road.
New Delhi, March 16 : The Supreme Court on Monday quashed criminal proceedings against Ashoka University's political science professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad, after the Haryana government informed the apex court that it had refused to grant sanction for his prosecution over social media posts related to 'Operation Sindoor'.

A bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi recorded the submission of Additional Solicitor General(ASG) SV Raju, appearing for the Haryana government, that it had decided not to proceed with prosecution as a "one-time gesture of magnanimity".

"As a one-time magnanimity, the sanction is refused. The chapter is closed. He can be warned that this is not repeated again," ASG Raju submitted before the top court.

While disposing of the matter, the CJIa"led Bench also issued a word of caution to the petitioner, observing that he should act prudently in the future.

"Sometimes writing in a manner which can be read between the lines creates more problems. Sometimes the situation is sensitive, and we all have to be careful," the apex court observed.

It further said that it had no reason to doubt that Mahmudabad, being a highly learned professor, would act responsibly in the future.

The Supreme Court was hearing a petition filed by Mahmudabad seeking the quashing of the criminal proceedings initiated against him over two social media posts concerning Operation Sindoor, Indiaas cross-border military response to Pakistan following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.

In an earlier hearing, the CJI-led bench had impressed upon the Haryana government to reconsider the matter and close the criminal case by declining sanction for prosecution.

Mahmudabad had approached the Supreme Court challenging his arrest and the registration of two FIRs lodged against him by the Haryana Police. The FIRs invoked provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) relating to inciting armed rebellion or subversive activities and promoting communal disharmony.

The controversy arose from Mahmudabadas social media remarks referencing public praise for Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, who had briefed the media during last yearas Operation Sindoor, while also criticising incidents such as mob lynchings and bulldozer actions.

"I am very happy to see so many right-wing commentators applauding Colonel Sophi(y)a Qureishi, but perhaps they could also equally loudly demand that the victims of mob lynchings, arbitrary bulldozing and others who are victims of the BJPas hate mongering be protected as Indian citizens," he wrote in a post on social media.

Earlier, in May last year, the apex court had granted Mahmudabad interim bail to facilitate investigation and directed the Haryana Director General of Police to constitute a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) comprising senior IPS officers, including a woman officer.

In August last year, the Supreme Court had also stayed proceedings before the trial court and restrained the jurisdictional magistrate from taking cognisance of the Haryana Police charge sheet involving offences under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) relating to acts against the sovereignty of the nation.

The top court had earlier pulled up the SIT for unnecessarily broadening the scope of its probe after it emerged that the investigation panel had seized Mahmudabadas electronic devices and sought his decade-long travel history. It had remarked that the SIT should confine itself to analysing the language of the posts and determining whether they constituted an offence.

--IANS

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Photo: President's Office / www.president.gov.ua

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy discussed the possibility of joint weapons production and Ukraine's path toward European Union membership with Portuguese President Antonio Jose Seguro.

"I personally congratulated President of Portugal Antonio Jose Seguro on his election victory and wished him success. Portugal has strongly supported us since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion. I thank him for assurances that defense, financial, humanitarian and political assistance will continue," Zelenskyy said on Telegram.

According to the president, the two leaders also discussed the possibility of joint arms production, participation of Portuguese businesses in Ukraine's reconstruction, and Ukraine's path toward EU membership.

Zelenskyy added that Ukraine values Portugal's participation in the PURL program and hopes for additional contributions.

He also thanked Seguro for his clear stance in support of Ukraine's European future.

Seguro won the Portuguese presidential election, significantly ahead of Chega party leader Andre Ventura in the second round held on February 8. He took the oath of office as Portugal's new president during a ceremony in parliament on March 9.
Moscow, March 16 : Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday that the fate of the nuclear non-proliferation regime is a source of grave concern amid escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.

In a message to participants of the Moscow Nonproliferation Conference, Lavrov said the recent military actions by Israel and the United States against Iran, including strikes targetting facilities under the safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency, had dealt a serious blow to the authority of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

Such actions have also hurt the credibility of diplomacy as a means of resolving disputes, Lavrov said, adding that some countries may increasingly view nuclear weapons as a guarantee of security.

He stressed the importance of preserving the pact as a key element of global strategic stability and urged all signatories, particularly nuclear-weapon states, to fulfill their obligations.

The foreign minister also noted that the risks of the militarization of outer space are increasing as a result of "destructive actions by the United States and its allies", Xinhua news agency reported.

The implementation of the US "Golden Dome" missile defence system, which envisions deploying space-based interceptor strike systems by 2028, poses a significant threat to strategic stability, he said.

Last week, a US news website reported that US President Donald Trump has rejected a proposal by Russian President Vladimir Putin to move Iran's enriched uranium to Russia as part of a deal to end the US-Israeli conflict with Iran.

Trump turned Putin down in a phone call earlier this week, sources told Axios, an American news website based in Arlington, Virginia.

Putin raised several ideas, including the uranium proposal, for ending the war during the phone conversation with Trump on Monday (March 9), said the report.

"This is not the first time it was offered. It hasn't been accepted. The US position is we need to see the uranium secured," a US official was quoted as saying.

It's not clear whether Iran would accept the proposal now. In the last round of talks before the war, Iran rejected the transfer idea and proposed diluting the uranium inside its own facilities under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency, according to the report.

Some news reports had also said that the Trump administration is considering sending special operations forces into Iran to secure or seize the country's highly enriched uranium.
New Delhi, March 16 : Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha member Raghav Chadha on Monday raised what he described as three "everyday anxieties" faced by ordinary Indians and urged the government to introduce constructive reforms.

His points included optional joint income tax filing for couples, full tax exemption on disability pensions for all wounded soldiers, and the abolition of penalties on bank accounts for not maintaining a minimum balance.

Speaking during the Budget Session debate in the Upper House, Chadha said these three issues directly affect millions of citizens and require policy changes that would make the system more equitable and humane.

He described the first concern as the need to "allow optional joint filing of income tax returns so married couples with uneven incomes are not penalised".

According to Chadha, the present system in India, which permits only separate tax filing by spouses, often disadvantages families where income distribution between partners is unequal.

Elaborating on his point, he said that in many households, one partner earns substantially more while the other earns little or nothing. In such situations, the higher-earning spouse ends up paying a larger amount in taxes because incomes cannot be combined for tax calculation.

He pointed out that several countries, including the United States and Germany, permit couples to file taxes jointly. Under such systems, spouses can combine their income and make better use of available tax slabs, often resulting in a lower overall tax burden for the household.

Chadha argued that introducing optional joint filing in India could help families manage their finances better without causing significant revenue loss to the government. According to him, such a reform would make the taxation framework fairer for households with uneven earnings.

The second issue raised by the AAP leader related to disability pensions for defence personnel. He said that historically, disability pensions granted to soldiers injured during service were completely exempt from income tax.

However, he said a recent policy change restricted the full tax exemption only to soldiers who are "invalided out" or medically boarded out of service due to their injuries.

"Those who continue to serve despite suffering disability or those who retire normally after sustaining injuries now face taxation on part or all of their disability pensions," he said.

Chadha described the situation as unjust and potentially discouraging for soldiers who have sustained injuries while serving the country.

"These are wounds received in service to the nation," he said, adding that such benefits should not depend on the type of discharge from the armed forces.

He urged the government to restore 100 per cent income tax exemption on disability pensions linked to service-related injuries, regardless of whether the soldier continues in service or is invalided out.

The third issue raised by Chadha concerned the penalties imposed by banks when account holders fail to maintain the required minimum balance in their savings or current accounts.

He said banks frequently impose charges that can range from hundreds of rupees to even over a thousand rupees per month when account balances fall below the stipulated limit.

According to him, these penalties disproportionately affect low-income individuals, rural residents, and marginal account holders who struggle to maintain such balances.

The Rajya Sabha member also pointed out that banks have collectively collected thousands of crores of rupees over the years through such penalties.

"The bank should not treat this as a crime. Bank accounts are meant to give financial security. Instead of financial security, they are giving us financial stress. And we have transformed a banking system into a system in which poverty is punished," he said during his address.

Highlighting the burden faced by ordinary account holders, he said that the minimum balance requirements vary depending on the location of bank branches.

According to him, urban branches typically require customers to maintain balances between Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000, while semi-urban branches require Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,000, and rural branches require between Rs 1,000 and Rs 3,000.

He said failure to maintain these balances often results in penalties ranging from Rs 50 to Rs 600 per month.

"Even on that charge, we collect 18 per cent GST," he said, adding that the overall financial burden becomes even heavier for those who can least afford it.

Chadha argued that such penalties contradict the goal of financial inclusion and discourage people from actively participating in the formal banking system.

"If we want more people to be a part of the banking system for financial inclusion, we have to protect small savings and not penalise them," he said.

In his concluding remarks, the AAP leader urged the government to abolish minimum balance penalties entirely, particularly for basic savings accounts, and said such a step would help promote financial inclusion across the country.

"In the end, I would just like to say that today, the banks are penalising the poor and earning more profit and revenue rather than any other service, due to which today, the poor are becoming poorer," he said.

He further appealed to the government to consider waiving such charges, drawing a parallel with measures like farm loan waivers.

"In the end, I would just like to say to the government to waive the penalty for the minimum account balance. Just like we forgive farmers' loans, bank charges of Minimum Average Balance (MAB) should be abolished in this country, and the poor should be included financially," Chadha said.
Gandhinagar, March 16 : The Gujarat government, on Monday, asked domestic and commercial LPG consumers, who also have piped natural gas (PNG) connections, to give up their LPG connections by March 18, as part of efforts to manage fuel supply and expand the use of PNG.

The directive was announced during a press conference held at the Gujarat Assembly complex in Gandhinagar following the presentation of the state's Budget estimates for 2026a"27.

Gujarat Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department's Additional Chief Secretary, Mona Khandhar, said the state currently has adequate stocks of domestic LPG cylinders and that buffer stocks are continuing to increase.

"Kerosene distribution arrangements are also being made in the state along with LPG," Khandhar said, adding that the state government is coordinating continuously with the Central government to ensure sufficient availability of fuel.

She said that adequate stock of PNG is available across the state for both domestic and commercial use and that the state government is prioritising the transition of LPG consumers to PNG where connections already exist.

According to Khandhar, consumers, who have both LPG and PNG connections, have been asked to give up their LPG connections by March 18 as part of the gas conversion process.

The state government has also initiated arrangements to distribute kerosene in rural areas as an additional option alongside LPG supply.

Khandhar said the Central government has allocated 1,452 kilolitres of kerosene, equivalent to 14,52,000 litres, to the state.

"Of this, 36,000 litres have been allocated to each district. From this stock, five litres will be provided per family and 25 litres per institution. Necessary arrangements are being put in place," she added.

Officials also outlined sector-wise allocation of commercial LPG for essential and semi-essential services.

Hospitals and educational institutions will receive 100 per cent supply, while pharma companies, dairy industries, seed processing industries and airline and railway canteens will receive supply with a 70 per cent cap.

Essential services such as the fisheries sector will receive supply with a 10 per cent cap.

Semi-essential sectors, including restaurants, dhabas, hotels, corporate and industrial canteens, corporate guest houses and food processing units, will also receive LPG supply with a 10 per cent cap.

To monitor distribution, the state has deployed teams of revenue and police personnel across public and private gas agencies.

The state government said the move is intended to ensure timely supply to consumers and prevent irregularities.

Officials said 912 inspections have been carried out at the district level over the past 12 days, while the state-level team has conducted investigations in 17 cases.
Hyderabad, March 16 : Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) will corner Congress government in Telangana legislature over unfulfilled poll promises, party's working president and former minister K.T. Rama Rao said on Monday.

On the first day of the budget session of state legislature, he along with the party legislators visited the Telangana Martyrs' Memorial (Gun Park) before attending the Assembly session.

BRS MLAs and MLCs paid tributes to the martyrs and staged a protest at the memorial, raising slogans against the Congress government.

During the protest, BRS leaders demanded the immediate implementation of the promises made by the Congress government, particularly the Six Guarantees. They also demanded that the government grant legal status to these guarantees and allocate adequate funds in the state budget for their implementation.

Speaking to the media later, KTR said that it has been a long-standing tradition for BRS legislators to pay respects to the martyrs whose sacrifices made the formation of Telangana possible before attending Assembly sessions.

KTR strongly criticised the Congress government in Telangana for what he described as a betrayal of farmers and the people of the state. He alleged that the Congress government has deceived every section of society by failing to fulfil the promises it made before coming to power.

The BRS leader said that the BRS will raise these issues forcefully during the ongoing Assembly budget session and expose what he called the Congress party's betrayal of Telangana. He particularly criticised the government's alleged plan to allocate 1000 crore to Rahul Gandhi while neglecting farmers in the state.

KTR pointed out that the Congress party had promised to implement the Six Guarantees within 100 days of coming to power and had even declared that legal status would be granted to these guarantees in the very first Cabinet meeting after assuming office. However, he said that even after two and a half years in power, the government has failed to provide legal backing to the Six Guarantees.

He recalled that during the first Governor's address after the Congress government came to power, the state government had announced that legal status would be granted to the Six Guarantees.

The Chief Minister had approved the speech and the then Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan had conveyed it in the Assembly. Despite this, he said, the government has failed to fulfil its commitment even after multiple Assembly sessions.

KTR criticised the government for failing to implement key welfare schemes for farmers. He said that during the BRS government led by K. Chandrasekhar Rao, Rythu Bandhu funds used to be credited to farmers before the sowing season. In contrast, he said, farmers are now completing harvests without receiving any support from the government, and there has been no clarity from the state on when the assistance will be released.

He said the BRS will question the government during the Assembly session on why it is prioritising political expenditures while neglecting farmers. "This is why we are raising the slogan  'Not Rahul Bandhu, give Rythu Bandhu; Rs 1,000 crore for Rahul is a betrayal for farmers,'" he said.

KTR further accused the Congress government of deceiving multiple sections of society. He said the government had promised a budget allocation of Rs 1 lakh crore for weaker sections over five years.

With two budgets already presented and the third underway, at least Rs 60,000 crore should have been allocated by now, but there is no clarity on this commitment.
New Delhi, March 16 : The Election Commission of India (ECI), on Monday, appointed a special observer to oversee the conduct of the upcoming Assam Assembly elections while issuing the official schedule for the polls covering all 126 constituencies in the state.

According to an official communication issued by the Commission, retired IAS officer Manjeet Singh has been appointed as the Special Observer for the elections to the Assam Assembly scheduled to take place on April 9.

The appointment has been made under the powers vested in the Commission under Article 324 of the Constitution of India.

The observer will visit Assam periodically to review poll preparedness and monitor the conduct of the election process.

He will also provide inputs and reports to the Election Commission for necessary action during the course of the electoral process.

Assam Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Anurag Goel, will coordinate with the Special Observer and provide all logistical and administrative support required for the upcoming state polls.

The Commission has also issued the detailed election schedule for the upcoming Assembly polls, which will be conducted in a single phase across all 126 constituencies in the state.

As per the schedule, the gazette notification for the election will be issued on March 16, while the last date for filing nominations has been fixed as March 23.

Scrutiny of nomination papers will take place on March 24 and the last date for withdrawal of candidatures has been set for March 26.

Polling for all Assembly constituencies in Assam will be held on April 9, while counting of votes is scheduled for May 4.

The Commission has also circulated the complete list of all 126 Assembly constituencies in Assam along with the election notification for administrative reference and coordination.

These constituencies span across multiple regions, including the Brahmaputra Valley, Barak Valley, Bodoland Territorial Region and the hill districts.

The appointment of a Special Observer is part of the Election Commission's standard mechanism to ensure free, fair and transparent elections in states going to the polls.
Brussels, March 16 : External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar held a meeting with his counterpart from Belgium, Maxime Prevot, on Monday on enhancing bilateral cooperation in trade, investment, semiconductors, health, technology and innovation.

"Started Day 2 in Brussels, meeting with FM Maxime Prevot of Belgium. Discussed intensifying our cooperation in trade & investment, semiconductors, health, technology & innovation. Agreed to establish a Strategic Dialogue," EAM Jaishankar posted on X.

EAM Jaishankar and Prevot had earlier met on the sidelines of Sir Bani Yas Forum last December.

Belgium was among the first European countries to establish diplomatic ties with independent India in September 1947. The bilateral ties between India and Belgium is based on shared commonalities and commitment to the rule of law, federalism and pluralism. Belgium supports Indiaas aspiration for permanent membership of the UNSC, according to the Indian Embassy in Belgium.

EAM Jaishankar is on a two-day visit to Belgium at the invitation of European Union (EU) High Representative and Vice President Kaja Kallas to interact with Foreign Ministers of the 27 EU Member States at the Foreign Affairs Council Meeting.

On Sunday, EAM Jaishankar met Cyprus counterpart Constantinos Kombos and discussed bilateral ties and situation in West Asia.

"Pleasure to meet FM Constantinos Kombos of Cyprus today in Brussels. Discussed ways to further strengthen our strategic partnership and exchanged views on the situation in West Asia. Holding the Presidency of the Council of the EU, appreciate Cyprusa support in advancing European Uniona"India engagement," EAM Jaishankar posted on X after the meeting.

In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stated: "During the visit, EAM will also hold meetings with the leadership of the European Union, and his counterparts from Belgium and other EU Member States. The visit of EAM coming soon after the historic 16th India-EU Summit is expected to further deepen Indiaas Strategic Partnership with the European Union."
Bhopal, March 16 : The Enforcement Directorate's Bhopal Zonal Office has arrested Kishan Modi, a key individual linked to M/s Jayshri Gayatri Food Products Pvt Ltd, in a major money laundering case involving the production and export of adulterated dairy products.

The arrest was made on March 13, 2026 under Section 19(1) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

Modi was produced before the Special PMLA Court in Bhopal the following day, where the court granted the agency custody until March 18, 2026 for detailed interrogation, according to a press note.

The case stems from two predicate offences -- an FIR registered on August 29, 2023 at Habibganj Police Station and another filed on July 22, 2024 by the Economic Offences Wing -- both targeting the companyas directors and officials under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, the press note said.

Investigations revealed that the firm, which marketed dairy items under the popular brand Milk Magic, systematically replaced milk fat with palm oil and other hazardous chemicals to manufacture adulterated products.

These substandard goods were sold not only within India but also exported to several foreign countries, it said.

To secure export clearances, the company allegedly submitted forged laboratory test reports from reputed testing facilities to the Export Inspection Agency in Indore.

When the Enforcement Directorate cross-verified these documents with the original laboratories, it emerged that many of the reports were fabricated and had never been issued by them, the statement said.

On the basis of these fake certificates, the firm exported the contaminated dairy products and routed the proceeds into accounts held with Axis Bank and HDFC Bank.

The agency has identified export proceeds totalling approximately Rs 20.59 crore as proceeds of crime under the PMLA.

Officials stated that the entire operation involved deliberate deception of regulatory bodies and foreign buyers, putting public health at risk both domestically and internationally.

Kishan Modias arrest marks a significant development in the ongoing probe, which is also examining the roles of other directors and the full chain of financial transactions.

The Enforcement Directorate indicated that more arrests and attachments of assets are likely as the investigation progresses.

The development has once again spotlighted concerns over food safety standards and the misuse of export mechanisms for illicit gains in the dairy sector.
Kolkata, March 16 : Two workers were killed and several others seriously injured after a landslide struck a stone quarry in West Bengal's Birbhum district on Monday, police said. The incident occurred at Gopalpur under the jurisdiction of Murarai Police Station in the district.

According to the police, the owner of the affected quarry is Sirajul Islam, the Chairperson of a Standing Committee of the Birbhum Zilla Parishad.

On Monday, while work was in progress, a sudden landslide struck the quarry. At the time, around 12 to 14 workers were on duty and many of them were buried under the rocks.

Several workers were rescued through the efforts of local residents before the police reached the spot.

Police later carried out rescue operations and the injured were taken to a nearby hospital. Two workers died in the accident.

However, fears remain that the death toll may rise as some workers are suspected to still be trapped under the debris.

Earlier, a similar accident had occurred in September last year at a quarry in Nalhati in Birbhum district, in which five workers lost their lives.

Monday's incident has triggered a political controversy, with the BJP demanding the arrest of the quarry owner, who is also a Trinamool Congress leader.

Dhruva Saha, former president of the BJP's Birbhum organisational district, alleged: "That quarry is illegal. The Model Code of Conduct for the Assembly elections has already come into force. We demand that the police make an arrest immediately."

Responding to the allegations, leaders of the Trinamool Congress said the party is looking into the matter.

A local Trinamool Congress leader said that at this stage the priority should be the condition of the victims rather than determining ownership of the quarry.

"Let the police and the administration do their work. We are now focused on the wellbeing of the injured workers. Our party will stand by the families who lost their dear ones in the accident," the leader said.
Chandigarh/New Delhi, March 16 : The Defence Ministry's Directorate General Resettlement (DGR) will organise a mega job fair for ex-servicemen at 12 Wing Air Force Station in Chandigarh on Tuesday, a Defence Ministry official said.

Additionally, the DGR, Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare (MoD), will organise a Job Fair for Ex-Servicemen in New Delhi on March 20, the official said.

These job fairs will serve as a dedicated platform to connect Ex-Servicemen of the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force with leading employers from Corporate and Industry from diverse sectors, including security, IT, administration, logistics, healthcare, and engineering, said an official statement.

Indian Army's Western Command said in a statement, "At the event, ex-servicemen can explore opportunities across a wide range of sectors, including logistics, manufacturing, security services, administration, hospitality and technical domains."

The job fair will be held at the Arjan Singh auditorium from 7 a.m., and the ex-servicemen will be required to carry their I-Card and five copies of their biodata, it added.

"The DGR said the fair will offer several benefits for industry employers, including free online registration; free job postings, free allotment of stalls and free access to resumes of ex-servicemen," the official said on social media platform X.

Sharing information on the job fair in Delhi, a statement issued by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said registrations shall begin at 7 a.m. at Aravali Auditorium, Near Shankar Vihar Metro Station, Delhi Cantonment.

This initiative reflects the continued commitment of the Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare (MoD) towards resettlement and welfare of Ex-Servicemen, ensuring they are recognised for their discipline, leadership and technical expertise  skills that are highly valued in the civilian job market.

The DGR is conducting 18 Job Fairs for Ex-Servicemen at various locations pan India during FY 2025-26, out of which 17 Job Fairs have been conducted in Delhi, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Varanasi, Kolkata, Secunderabad, Jammu, Bhopal, Kochi, Guwahati, Dehradun, Bengaluru, Pune and Chandigarh till now.

Employers and Ex-Servicemen (ESM) can register online on www.esmhire.com, which is an AI-powered job platform exclusively for Ex-Servicemen. Link for registration is also available on the DGR website www.dgrindia.gov.in under the Job Fair button. Registration is now open and is free for ESM and Employers, said the statement.

--IANS

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Dubai, March 16 : The fire that erupted at a petroleum facility in Fujairah, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), following a drone attack, has been brought under control, authorities said Monday.

Officials confirmed that the blaze broke out in the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone, with no injuries reported. Local civil defense teams responded immediately, putting the fire under control.

The Fujairah Media Office noted that this is the third time the area has been targetted in recent days, following a drone attack and a similar fire recorded last Saturday, amid escalating regional tensions, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Fujairah Oil Industry Zone is a strategic hub for ship refuelling and a key terminal for exporting UAE crude oil. Located outside the Strait of Hormuz, it plays a vital role in global oil supply flows.

Authorities urged the public to follow information from official sources and avoid spreading rumours, stressing that the situation is being closely monitored and that necessary measures are being taken to ensure public safety.

The UAE, along with other Gulf States, has been subjected to missile and drone attacks amid regional escalation linked to ongoing US and Israeli military actions against Iran.

Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud discussed regional developments during a phone call on Monday, including escalating military actions and their impact on regional and global security.

According to the Emirates News Agency, the two sides stressed the need for an immediate cessation of military escalation, warning that it threatens stability and security in the region and beyond. They underscored the importance of prioritizing dialogue and diplomacy to address regional issues and preserve peace and security.

Since the outbreak of the joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, Gulf States have faced waves of missile and drone attacks, with the UAE reporting interception of over 1,500 drones so far.
The production facilities of Ukrainian fashion brands TG Botanical, Tago, and VIKTORANISIMOV in Brovary were damaged in a massive Russian attack on the night of March 14, according to the brands' founder and creative director, Tetiana Chumak.

"Friends, I went through something similar four years ago, but at a different company, with greater losses. The main thing is that no one died," the businesswoman noted on Instagram.

She added that she is looking for a temporary workshop in Brovary.

As reported, the JUL clothing brand's production facility in Brovary was also destroyed by enemy shelling on March 14
Mumbai, March 16 : Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, on Monday, defended the state government's move to introduce the Maharashtra Freedom of Religion Bill, which aims to curb unlawful religious conversions in the state.

He said the Bill was presented especially when there have been several instances where women were allegedly lured into relationships, married and later abandoned.

"There have been many cases where women were lured, eloped and they were abandoned after marriages. In such situation, it raises the question of their child from such relationship. It complicates their life. The Bill is trying to find out solutions to such problems," Chief Minister Fadnavis told reporters.

However, he did not provide any data supporting his claim.

He said that if the opposition parties had read the Bill carefully, they would realise that it does not target any community but is aimed at preventing forceful religious conversions carried out through inducement, coercion or pressure.

"The Opposition is merely trying to politicise the issue for their vote bank politics. I can guarantee you that after careful reading of the Bill, the Opposition will not object to it," he added.

Chief Minister Fadnavis said that Maharashtra was not the first state to introduce such a legislation and several states had already enacted similar laws to curb unlawful religious conversions.

The state government had tabled the Maharashtra Freedom of Religion Bill, 2026, in the State Assembly on March 13, seeking to prohibit unlawful religious conversions carried out through force, coercion, allurement, misrepresentation or other fraudulent means.

Maharashtra Minister of State for Home, Pankaj Bhoyar, on March 13 introduced the Bill, which aims to protect the right to freedom of religion while regulating religious conversions and providing punishment in cases of unlawful conversion.

According to the Bill, individuals intending to convert must provide a 60-day advance notice to the district authorities. Following the conversion, the change must be officially registered within 25 days to be considered legally valid.

The Bill has also proposed that blood relatives of a person being converted to another religion can file a complaint if they suspect the process involves force or inducement.

Section 14 empowers the state to ban and fine organisations found guilty of facilitating or funding illegal conversions.

Section 9 outlines the judicial consequences for offenders with imprisonment up to seven years of rigorous jail time and a penalty of up to Rs 5 lakh.

The Bill has proposed stringent administrative requirements and criminal penalties to ensure that religious conversions are a matter of personal choice rather than coercion.

Under the proposed legislation, any person intending to convert from one religion to another, as well as any individual or institution organising a conversion ceremony, must give a notice at least 60 days in advance to the competent authority, defined as the District Magistrate or an officer authorised by the state government.

The competent authority will publicly display details of the proposed conversion at its office and at the village panchayat or local authority concerned, inviting objections from the public within 30 days.

The Bill further mandates that the converted person and the individual or institution organising the ceremony submit a declaration to the authority within 21 days after the conversion.

It also allows parents, siblings or relatives related by blood, marriage or adoption of the converted person to lodge a first information report (FIR) if they suspect unlawful conversion, and requires the police to register such complaints.

The burden of proof that a religious conversion did not violate the provisions of the law will lie on the person who caused, assisted or abetted the conversion, the Bill said.
Indore, March 16 : Judges of the Indore Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court will personally visit the disputed Bhojshala site before the next hearing in the matter.

The division bench made it clear that it intends to conduct a "personal inspection" of the disputed site prior to the next hearing.

In its order, the court explicitly stated that the bench will visit the site personally before the next date of hearing and that no other individuals will be permitted to accompany the judges during the inspection.

The bench, comprising Justice Vijay Shukla and Justice Alok Awasthi, made the observation while outlining the next steps in the case.

The judges further observed that the Supreme Court has already issued a clear directive for the expeditious disposal of the matter.

Quoting the apex court's mandate in the order, the bench noted that the Supreme Court has directed that the matter be heard and decided as expeditiously as possible.

The next date of hearing has been fixed for April 2.

During the proceedings held on Monday, the division bench heard detailed suggestions and objections submitted by both the petitioners and the respondents on the comprehensive report prepared by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

It was also recorded that five related petitions are being heard together in this batch.

Recalling its earlier order dated February 23, the court had directed all parties to file their objections, opinions, suggestions and recommendations on the ASI survey report within two weeks.

The ASI had carried out a detailed scientific investigation and survey of the entire complex over a period of 100 days, commencing on March 22, 2024.

The bench further recorded in its order that the Supreme Court, on January 22, had directed the Indore Bench to take up the hearing within three weeks.

During the previous proceedings, the court had observed that the sealed survey report had already been opened and copies furnished to all parties, rendering any further opening of the document before the court unnecessary.

The development marks a significant step in the decades-old dispute, with the court now set to examine the ASI findings on the ground after hearing the parties' submissions.

The judges' personal visit is expected to provide greater clarity before the matter proceeds further.
Tehran, March 16 : Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said Monday that Tehran has neither sought a ceasefire nor negotiations with the United States, rejecting US claims that it requested a truce.

In a post on X, Araghchi called such claims "delusional" and said Iran's armed forces would keep fighting until US President Donald Trump recognises that the "illegal war he's imposing on both Americans and Iranians is wrong and must never be repeated."

Speaking later at a weekly news conference in Tehran, Araghchi said that any end to the conflict must ensure that attacks on Iran are not repeated.

"When we say we do not want a ceasefire, it is not because we seek to continue the war," he said. "It is because this time the war must end in a way that the enemies never think of repeating the attacks."

Araghchi accused Iran's adversaries of attempting to force the country into "unconditional surrender" after mobilising their full capabilities, Xinhua news agency reported. He added that Iran's opponents, more than two weeks into the conflict, were now seeking help from countries they once considered hostile and calling for international assistance to secure shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran, he said, restricts passage only for enemies and their allies involved in the conflict.

On February 28, Israel and the United States launched joint strikes on Tehran and other Iranian cities, killing former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, senior military commanders, and civilians. Iran responded with waves of missile and drone attacks on Israel and US bases and assets across the Middle East.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military said Monday it had destroyed an aircraft used by Iran's top leadership at Tehran's Mehrabad Airport, claiming the strike would hamper coordination between Tehran and its regional allies. Israel also said it carried out strikes on infrastructure in several Iranian cities.

In a statement, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said the plane had served senior political and military figures for both domestic and international travel. The military added that eliminating the aircraft would disrupt communication between Iran's leadership and allied groups across the region, slow Tehran's military buildup, and limit its ability to restore damaged capabilities.

The aircraft was identified as an Airbus A340 previously used to transport senior leaders, including President Masoud Pezeshkian and, in the past, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, to diplomatic engagements abroad. Iranian authorities did not immediately confirm the strike, Xinhua news agency reported.

Mehrabad Airport, located in western Tehran, is one of the capital's oldest aviation hubs. While Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport handles most long-haul international flights, Mehrabad remains the country's busiest domestic airport and also hosts military facilities, including units of the Iranian Air Force.

Separately, on Monday, the IDF said it struck targets in the Iranian cities of Tehran, Shiraz, and Tabriz, as the US-Israeli campaign against Iran entered its 17th day.
Patna, March 16 : The festival of Ram Navami, which marks the birth of Lord Rama, will be celebrated with grandeur in Patna this year. BJP national president Nitin Nabin announced this here on Monday.

Preparations for the occasion have already been intensified by the Shri Shri Ram Navami Shobhayatra Abhinandan Samiti ahead of the grand procession scheduled for March 27.

Addressing a press conference here, Nitin Nabin, also the committee's convener, along with committee president Jagjivan Singh Bablu and other members, shared details about the upcoming celebrations.

Nabin said that Ram Navami is one of the most significant festivals of the Sanatan tradition and commemorates the divine manifestation of Lord Rama. As every year, a grand event will be organised in the state capital to mark the occasion, he said.

According to the organisers, 51 tableaux (floats) from different localities of Patna will be part of the procession. These tableaux will be presented by Puja Samitis from various areas, ranging from Digha to Transport Nagar and from Sipara to Gai Ghat.

In addition, 52 grand processions will emerge from different parts of the city on Ram Navami, filling the entire capital with devotional fervour. The tableaux will depict various episodes from the life and ideals of Lord Rama.

Organisers said a large number of women are also expected to participate in the celebrations. Ram Dhwaj flags are being installed at major intersections across the city, and residents have been urged to hoist the flags at their homes as well.

The committee plans to distribute around 2 lakh Mahavir Dhwaj flags and one lakh Vikram Samvat calendars among citizens. Puja committees have also been requested to hoist the Shri Ram Dhwaj in nearby slum areas and Dalit localities to ensure wider participation.

To enhance the grandeur of the event, decorative arches (Toran Dwar) and elaborate lighting arrangements will be installed along major roads of Patna. Several social organisations will set up stalls to distribute drinking water and sharbat to devotees along the procession route.

Artists from different parts of the country are expected to perform during the celebrations. The main venue at Dak Bungalow Chowk -- also known as Shri Ram Chowk -- will feature performances by a Mumbai-based band, a dance troupe from Jharkhand, a Ganga Aarti team from Varanasi, and decorative lighting from Chandannagar.

The main stage will also feature large depictions of Lord Rama and Lord Hanuman.

The event is expected to be attended by several dignitaries, including Syed Ata Hasnain, Governor of Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Deputy Chief Ministers Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, and BJP state president Sanjay Saraogi, along with ministers, MPs, MLAs, representatives of social organisations, and prominent citizens.

When asked about the NDA's performance in the ongoing Rajya Sabha elections, Nitin Nabin avoided making a direct comment and concluded his remarks with the slogan, "Jai Shri Ram".
New Delhi, March 16 : The Indian-flagged LPG tanker Shivalik, which departed from Qatar carrying liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), safely arrived from the Strait of Hormuz at Mundra Port in Gujarat on Monday.

The vessel carried around 45,000 metric tonnes of LPG and its safe arrival is expected to provide relief amid concerns over fuel shipments passing through the sensitive maritime route.

Earlier, Rajesh Kumar Sinha, special secretary in Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, said during an inter-ministerial briefing that the tanker had successfully moved into the open sea after transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

He noted that two Indian-flagged LPG carriers -- Shivalik and Nanda Devi -- were carrying around 92,700 metric tonnes of LPG to India. The two ships are owned by the state-run Shipping Corporation of India.

While Shivalik arrived at Mundra Port at 5 p.m., the other tanker, Nanda Devi, is expected to reach Kandla Port in Gujarat early tomorrow morning.

Sinha also said that all Indian seafarers operating in the Persian Gulf region are safe and there have been no reports of any untoward incidents involving them.

As per government data, there were 22 Indian-flagged vessels located to the west of the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf region, carrying a total of 611 seafarers.

While Nanda Devi will arrive at Gujaratas Kandla port, Jag Laadki carrying nearly 81,000 tonnes of crude oil from the UAE is en route to Mundra port. The vessel and all Indian seafarers onboard are safe.

The Strait of Hormuz remains one of the worldas most crucial shipping routes, with nearly 20 per cent of global oil and gas exports passing through it.

With tensions continuing in the region, authorities are closely monitoring the movement of ships and ensuring the safety of Indian vessels and crew operating in the area.

"Major ports across the country are closely monitoring vessel movements and cargo operations and providing support to shipping lines and cargo stakeholders, including concessions in anchorage, berth hire and storage charges," the ministry said in earlier briefing.
Mumbai, March 16 : Maharashtra Minister of Food and Civil Supply Chhagan Bhujbal on Monday appealed to citizens not to worry about the LPG supply, saying that the Centre and state are making all efforts to ensure smooth supply.

In his statement in the state Legislative Council, the minister also clarified that there has only been a moderate increase in the price of edible oil compared to the period before the Middle East conflict.

Bhujbal announced that priority sectors have been identified for the supply of the remaining commercial LPG. Hospitals, Educational Institutions, Crematoriums, Old Age Homes, Orphanages have been assured 100 per cent gas supply, Defence, Government Sector, Railways, Aviation, Police/Jail Canteens 70 percent and Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation Canteens, Pharmaceutical Industry, Seed Processing, Fisheries 50 per cent.

"LPG production in refineries has been increased from 9,000 metric tonnes to 11,000 metric tonnes. Special committees and control rooms have been set up at the district level. Regular meetings are being held with oil companies (BPCL, HPCL, IOCL) and gas distributors. Directives were issued to resolve technical glitches in Gas Refill Booking Apps and missed call services. Police protection has been ordered for the transport and distribution of LPG. Oil companies have sufficient stocks, and distribution is currently smooth," said Minister Bhujbal.

According to the minister, it is the responsibility of the Central Government to supply, control, and determine the rates of petroleum products for all states in the country. In view of the war-like situation in the Middle East, the Central Government, on March 5, 2026, issued orders to oil companies to supply LPG only for domestic use to ensure a smooth fuel supply. The Central Government has increased the price of domestic LPG cylinders from Rs 852.50 to Rs 912.50 as of March 7, 2026. Similarly, the price of commercial cylinders has been increased from Rs 1,720.50 to Rs 1,835.00.

Minister Bhujbal said the state government has also taken a slew of measures to maintain a smooth supply of fuel and prevent black marketing.

"The state government has given instructions through a letter on March 8 to District Collectors and regional offices to establish vigilance squads at the district level to take action against black marketing. The High Court, Nagpur Bench, was informed via a letter on March 11, 2026, that the State Government is considering the distribution of kerosene as an alternative fuel to LPG," he added.

Minister Bhujbal said that vigilance squads during January to March have taken various actions, including: Inspections - 2,129; number of seized Gas Cylinders - 1,208; value of seized goods - Rs 3,366,411; cases filed - 23 and number of arrests - 18.
Jerusalem, March 16 : The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) announced Monday that it had begun "limited and targetted ground operations" against key Hezbollah strongholds in southern Lebanon.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed the operation, saying it was intended "to remove threats and protect the residents of the north."

Security sources and eyewitnesses reported fierce clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters along multiple border axes. Israeli forces have been advancing toward the Blue Line, the UN-demarcated boundary between Israel and Lebanon, establishing positions in towns and strategic points throughout the border region.

The escalation is part of a broader widening of the Middle East conflict that began on February 28 with a US-Israeli air campaign against Iran. Hezbollah, which controls much of southern Lebanon and is a key Iranian ally, has regularly exchanged rocket and drone fire with Israeli forces since renewing attacks on March 2, two days after the killing of Iran's former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in a US-Israeli strike.

Hezbollah fighters have fortified their positions and pushed back against Israeli advances, producing some of the fiercest border clashes since a fragile ceasefire ended a previous year-long war in late 2024, Xinhua news agency reported. That ceasefire had halted wide-ranging hostilities that displaced hundreds of thousands of people and caused significant infrastructure damage on both sides.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military said Monday it had destroyed an aircraft used by Iran's top leadership at Tehran's Mehrabad Airport, claiming the strike would hamper coordination between Tehran and its regional allies. Israel also said it carried out strikes on infrastructure in several Iranian cities.

In a statement, the IDF said the plane had served senior political and military figures for both domestic and international travel. The military added that eliminating the aircraft would disrupt communication between Iran's leadership and allied groups across the region, slow Tehran's military buildup, and limit its ability to restore damaged capabilities.

The aircraft was identified as an Airbus A340 previously used to transport senior leaders, including President Masoud Pezeshkian and, in the past, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, to diplomatic engagements abroad. Iranian authorities did not immediately confirm the strike, Xinhua news agency reported.

Mehrabad Airport, located in western Tehran, is one of the capital's oldest aviation hubs. While Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport handles most long-haul international flights, Mehrabad remains the country's busiest domestic airport and also hosts military facilities, including units of the Iranian Air Force.

Separately, on Monday, the IDF said it struck targets in the Iranian cities of Tehran, Shiraz, and Tabriz, as the US-Israeli campaign against Iran entered its 17th day.
Kolkata, March 16 : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday announced its first list of 144 candidates for the two-phase elections to 294 Assembly constituencies in West Bengal scheduled for next month -- April 23 and April 29.

As had been predicted for quite some time, the party has fielded the Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, from both his own constituency of Nandigram in East Midnapore district and from Bhabanipur in south Kolkata, where the sitting legislator is Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

If Mamata Banerjee contests from Bhabanipur again, it will mark the second time that she will be pitted against Adhikari after the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections.

Adhikari was elected as a legislator from Nandigram for the second consecutive time in 2021, defeating the then Trinamool Congress candidate Mamata Banerjee.

Later, Banerjee was elected from Bhabanipur in a by-election and retained the post of Chief Minister for the third consecutive term.

Another important name in the first list announced by the BJP on Monday is that of former West Bengal BJP president and former national vice-president of the party, Dilip Ghosh.

He has been fielded from his old Assembly constituency of Kharagpur (Sadar) in West Midnapore district, from where he was elected in the 2016 West Bengal Assembly elections.

However, Ghosh resigned as the MLA from Kharagpur (Sadar) after being elected to the Lok Sabha from the Medinipur constituency in the same district in the 2019 general elections.

Former Rajya Sabha member and journalist-turned-politician Swapan Dasgupta has been fielded from the Rashbehari constituency in south Kolkata.

Actor-turned-politician Rudranil Ghosh has been fielded from the Shibpur Assembly constituency in Howrah district.

BJP insiders had earlier indicated that most of the partyas sitting legislators would be re-nominated this time.

Accordingly, the first list of candidates features a majority of familiar faces.

However, the name of the sitting BJP MLA from Balurghat constituency in South Dinajpur district and former Chief Economic Adviser to the Union government, Ashok Kumar Lahiri, is missing from the first list.

Instead, Vidyut Roy has been fielded from Balurghat this time.

Fashion designer-turned-politician and sitting BJP legislator Agnimitra Paul has been re-nominated from her constituency of Asansol (Dakshin) in West Burdwan district.

Chandana Bauri from Saltora constituency in Bankura district and Shikha Chattopadhyay from Dabgrama"Phulbari constituency in Jalpaiguri district are among other prominent sitting MLAs who have also received re-nominations.
New Delhi, March 16 : Retail participation in mutual funds through Systematic Investment Plans showed sustained momentum despite market volatility, with SIP inflows in February 2026 rising around 14.79 per cent in February 2025, a report said on Monday.

The SIP inflows in February 2026 grew to Rs 29,845 crore from Rs 25,999 crore in the previous years, while on a montha'ona'month basis, contributions fell 3.73 per cent from Rs 31,002 crore in January 2026, the report from ICRA Analytics said.

The ratings agency highlighted that the number of contributing SIP accounts stood at 9.44 crore, up from 8.26 crore a year earlier, while total outstanding SIP accounts grew to 10.45 crore from 10.17 crore.

Assets under management under SIP schemes stood at Rs. 16.64 lakh crore, representing about 20.29 per cent of the industryas total AUM, though slightly lower due to marka'toa'market corrections rather than a decline in investor interest, the report added.

"Retail investors in India have been showing a rapidly growing appetite for mutual funds, driven by structural, behavioural, and economic shifts that have strengthened over the past few years," the report said.

Multiple industry reports and regulatory data points confirm that mutual funds, especially equitya'oriented schemes and SIPs, have emerged as a preferred longa'term savings vehicle, the firm noted.

On a yearly basis, SIP inflows in January 2026 had risen 17 per cent to Rs 31,000 crore, compared with Rs 26,400 crore in January 2025, AMFI data showed earlier this month.

Meanwhile, the mutual fund industry recorded a net inflow of Rs 94,530 crore in February, supported by strong investor interest in equity funds, debt schemes and passive products, the AMFI data showed.

The industryas total assets under management (AUM) stood at Rs 82.03 lakh crore at the end of February, while the average AUM for the month was Rs 83.43 lakh crore.

Equity-oriented schemes continued to see strong investor participation with net inflows of Rs 25,978 crore during the month.

Among equity categories, flexi-cap funds led inflows with Rs 6,924.65 crore, followed by mid-cap funds with Rs 4,003 crore and small-cap funds with Rs 3,881 crore.

a"IANS

aar/pk
Chandigarh, March 16 : On the final day of its session on Monday, the Punjab Assembly unanimously passed a resolution urging the conferment of India's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, on Dalit icon and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) founder Kanshi Ram.

Chandigarh, March 16 (IANS) On the final day of its session on Monday, the Punjab Assembly unanimously passed a resolution urging the conferment of Indiaas highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, on Dalit icon and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) founder Kanshi Ram.

Earlier, Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, and Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati had also demanded Bharat Ratna for Kanshi Ram.

During the proceedings on Monday, the House also cleared two Bills. The Punjab Regulation of Crusher Units and Stockists and Retailers (Amendment) Bill, 2026, presented by Water Resources and Mining Minister Barinder Kumar Goyal, was passed by a majority. The Shri Guru Teg Bahadur World Class University, Punjab Bill, 2026, introduced by Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains, was passed unanimously.

The House also adopted a resolution strongly condemning the offensive and casteist remarks made by the Leader of the Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa against Cabinet Minister Harbhajan Singh ETO. Legislator Manjit Singh Bilaspur had moved the resolution.

Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa slammed the Speaker for refusing to allow a resolution demanding the Bharat Ratna for Shaheed Bhagat Singh.

Addressing the media, the Congress leader said his party had formally moved a resolution recommending the highest honour for Bhagat Singh in recognition of his sacrifice and role in Indiaas freedom struggle, but it was not taken up by the House.

Bajwa said Bhagat Singh was not merely a revolutionary figure from Punjab but a national icon who symbolised courage, sacrifice, and the spirit of freedom for the entire country. Honouring him with the Bharat Ratna, he said, was long overdue and would be a fitting tribute to one of Indiaas greatest martyrs.

The Congress lawmaker said it was deeply ironic that the AAP government frequently invoked the ideals of Bhagat Singh and claimed to take inspiration from his ideology, yet when an opportunity arose to formally recommend the highest civilian honour for him, the government failed to act.
Creation of a single Danube branch of state enterprise Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority (USPA) and reinvestment of state enterprises' profits in port infrastructure and fleet development are envisioned in an experimental project for developing Ukrainian Danube ports, which was supported by the Coordination Council on Competitive Environment Development in Sea Ports.

"This is about equal competitive conditions for business, stable operation of 56 stevedoring companies and growth of guaranteed cargo flow to 2.5 million tonnes per year. In addition, the proposed solutions will preserve about 2,000 jobs in the maritime economy complex and over 3,500 at Ukrzaliznytsia," said Deputy Minister Andriy Kashuba, who presented the project according to a statement from the Ministry of Communities and Territories Development.

The ministry notes that the project also provides for tariff incentives and directing port fees toward regional development, as well as stimulating rail transportation to/from Izmail and Reni ports on a compensation basis.

Separately, Kashuba presented developments on creating industrial parks in Izmail and Reni ports and on the territory of Ukrainian Danube Shipping Company, the statement says.

According to the statement, the coordination council unanimously supported submitting to the Cabinet of Ministers a proposal to launch the project for a two-year term.

In addition, Deputy Minister Oleksiy Balesta presented solutions for rail logistics to Greater Odesa ports, as currently due to security risks Ukrzaliznytsia is forced to use different transportation routes, which increases delivery time and costs. To address this, averaging the tariff distance was proposed, which would maintain the same tariff regardless of cargo delivery route, the statement explains.
Kolkata, March 16 : West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday lashed out at the Election Commission of India (ECI) after it carried out a major reshuffle in the state administration.

In a move executed late at night, Chief Secretary Nandini Chakraborty and Home Secretary J.P. Meena were transferred. Several senior police officials -- including the Director General of Police and the Kolkata Police Commissioner -- were also shifted.

Launching a sharp attack on the Election Commission, Banerjee said: "I received a message at 1 a.m. Have you ever heard of such actions being taken in the dead of night? The Chief Secretary is a Bengali woman. They removed her. They are anti-Bengali and anti-women."

She further said that earlier the Election Commission used to seek a panel of names from the state government before making such decisions.

"Previously, they would request a list from the state government; we would submit three names, from which they would make a selection. This time it was a suo motu action -- as if it were a 'Delhi ka laddoo' or as if this were a zamindari or a lawless fiefdom. When the Prime Minister of the country declares that he will pick them out one by one and strike them down, how do you expect the nation to be protected? Such rhetoric does not befit you," she said.

According to Banerjee, the BJP was using proxies to carry out covert acts of sabotage and acting like a "dark horse" behind the scenes.

She also alleged that the BJP was not only anti-Bengali but also anti-non-Bengali.

"Who was the state Director General of Police? Piyush Pandey. He too was summarily removed. You are sidelining not only Bengalis but non-Bengalis as well. In reality, you are cherry-picking individuals based on whether they will serve the BJP's agenda. But rest assured: no matter whom you send, they will ultimately work for the people," Banerjee said after leading a protest march in Kolkata against the hike in cooking gas prices.

Earlier in the day, Banerjee led a protest march from College Square to Dorina Crossing in central Kolkata against the hike in cooking gas prices and what she described as the Centre's arbitrary decisions regarding commercial gas supplies.

From the rally, she strongly criticised the reshuffle of several administrative officials.

"Change everything -- even then the government in Bengal will not change. Mark my words," she said.

Banerjee also claimed that her residence might be targeted in a manner similar to the alleged attack on the house of state minister Shashi Panja ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rally in Kolkata on Saturday.

"Before coming here today, I was watching a video. One of their leaders was saying that the residence of state minister Shashi Panja has been attacked. Now they are saying that the residence of the Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, will be attacked. Kalighat will be attacked. I say: if you have the guts, come and try. We will fight back. We will take on every single one of you," she said.

At the same time, urging people to remain calm, the Chief Minister asked them not to fall prey to provocations.

"Have faith and confidence; do not give in to provocations," she said.
Patna, March 16 : Amid the voting for five seats of the Rajya Sabha in Bihar, political circles were abuzz on Monday, after two members of Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi's family were seen exiting the chamber of the Leader of the Opposition Tejashwi Yadav inside the state Assembly.

The development drew attention as voting for the Rajya Sabha elections was underway in the state Assembly.

Deepa Manjhi, the Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) MLA from Imamganj and daughter-in-law of Jitan Ram Manjhi, along with her mother Jyoti Manjhi, were seen coming out of Tejashwi Yadav's chamber after a brief interaction.

Shortly after they exited the room, Akhtarul Iman, State All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) President, and A.D. Singh of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) were also seen leaving the chamber.

The meeting quickly sparked speculation in political circles, particularly within the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

However, both Deepa Manjhi and Jyoti Manjhi clarified that they had entered Tejashwi Yadav's room by mistake and that there was no political significance to the interaction.

According to sources, the two leaders had reached the state Assembly before the voting process began and briefly stepped into the chamber for a short conversation before leaving.

Despite the clarification, the incident triggered discussions in political corridors, with some observers interpreting it as a routine courtesy call while others linked it to internal political equations.

Leaders of Manjhi's party, the Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular), also dismissed the incident as an inadvertent entry.

Jitan Ram Manjhi's family holds several elected positions in Bihar's political landscape.

Manjhi himself won the 2024 Lok Sabha election from Gaya seat and currently serves as the Union Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises Minister.

His son Santosh Kumar Suman is a member of the Bihar Legislative Council and also serves as a Minister in the current state government led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

Meanwhile, Deepa Manjhi is the MLA from Imamganj, while Jyoti Manjhi represents Barachatti Assembly constituency in the Bihar Assembly.

Voting is currently being held for 37 Rajya Sabha seats across 10 states in the country.

In Bihar, elections are taking place for five seats, with a polling station set up inside the Bihar Assembly.
Mumbai, March 16 : NCP-SP legislator and former minister Jayant Patil on Monday said the Maharashtra budget reflects a major hit on non-tax revenue, primarily due to a shortfall in financial assistance from the Central government.

Participating in the discussion on budgetary demands in the state Assembly, Patil claimed that there will be a deficit of nearly Rs 24,361 crore in the expected central aid.

He further expressed concern that with no specific budgetary provisions for newly announced projects, the state's total debt could spiral to a staggering Rs 1516 lakh crore.

Patil also cited what he described as discrepancies in road construction costs, claiming there were massive variations in per-kilometre expenditure across projects.

"While Union Minister Nitin Gadkari recently announced road projects worth over Rs 1 lakh crore for Maharashtra, a detailed analysis of the per-kilometre cost reveals startling discrepancies between projects handled by different agencies," he said.

He cited the example of the Navi MumbaiPune Expressway (eight-lane), which is estimated to cost Rs 15,000 crore for 130 km (approximately Rs 115 crore per km), the NashikSolapurAkkalkot corridor costing Rs 19,142 crore for 374 km (around Rs 51 crore per km), and the Jan Kalyan Expressway costing Rs 36,000 crore for 450 km (around Rs 80 crore per km).

However, Patil alleged that the cost of state-managed projects appeared significantly higher, raising questions of corruption.

"In the case of the TalegaonChakan project, the cost is Rs 6,499 crore for 25 km, with the per-km cost estimated at Rs 259 crore. Similarly, the UttanVirar sea link is estimated to cost Rs 58,754 crore for 55 km -- around Rs 1,068 crore per km, or roughly Rs 1.06 crore per metre," he said.

"While NHAI projects are cost-effective and of superior quality, state-run agencies are delivering substandard work at exorbitant prices. This is not just a scam; it is daylight robbery. The disparity in these figures is enough to make one dizzy. This is open loot of public money," Patil alleged.

He added that if the public receives high-quality roads after such expenditure, he would be willing to felicitate the government.

However, he claimed that projects built by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) cost less and deliver better quality, while roads constructed by state agencies are often of inferior quality.

Patil demanded that road construction projects in the state be handed over to the NHAI to save thousands of crores of public money.

He also said the energy department was facing a dual crisis involving power arrears and allegations of a potential multi-crore scam.

"Over 1,800 cooperative water supply societies are struggling with a combined electricity debt of Rs 7080 crore. Despite the government providing free power to 1 HP7.5 HP agricultural pumps, these cooperative societies are excluded from these benefits," he said.

He added that following a tariff hike of Rs 5.16 per unit from April 1, 2025, there is a growing demand to include these societies under the "Krishi Sanjivani Yojana" to help clear their arrears.

Patil further said that the Chief Minister's "dream project" to generate 16,000 MW of solar energy for agricultural feeders has also come under scrutiny.

"Former Leader of the Opposition in the state council Ambadas Danve had alleged a Rs 10,000 crore scam. It is alleged that the four companies awarded the contracts submitted fake bank guarantees. Mahavitaran should investigate the matter and the government should present a detailed report at the earliest," he said.
New Delhi/Imphal, March 16 : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued its third Provisional Attachment Order (PAO), attaching properties worth Rs 50.8 crore linked to several Manipur-based private companies and their associated entities, according to sources in the central probe agency.

The ED's Imphal Sub-Zonal Office issued the third PAO, attaching properties worth Rs 50.8 crore pertaining to the Salai Group of Companies, SMART Society and associated entities.

The attached properties include balances lying in bank accounts as well as movable and immovable assets held in the names of various companies of the Salai Group.

These assets comprise land and buildings along with industrial and commercial units such as a rice mill, flour mill, edible oil refinery, mushroom plant, emu farms, a fish farm and gym equipment, the ED said in a statement.

The ED said that the investigation was initiated on the basis of an FIR registered by Manipur Police at Lamphel Police Station in Imphal West district under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860 against Yambem Biren, self-styled "Chief Minister of Manipur State Council", and Narengbam Samarjit, self-styled "External Affairs and Defence Minister of Manipur State Council".

They were accused of prejudicial activities such as waging war against the state, sedition and promoting disharmony, enmity or hatred among different groups by declaring the independence of Manipur from the Union of India.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) later filed a charge sheet against N. Samarjit Singh, Y. Biren and others under IPC sections 120B and 420, along with various provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.

The investigation revealed that the accused allegedly collected public money through the Salai Group and its affiliate SMART Society by promising a 36 per cent annual return without any legal authority or licence.

According to the ED, the funds were laundered through 19 group companies and used for unlawful activities, including secessionist operations.

Salai Financial Services (SAFFINS), registered under the Bombay Money-Lenders Act, was authorised only to lend money and not to accept deposits.

However, the accused allegedly misused this registration to collect deposits from the public and operated like a bank or non-banking financial company (NBFC) without authorisation from the Reserve Bank of India.

The funds collected were routed through accounts of directors and Salai Group companies and laundered through business investments and property purchases.

Subsequently, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered an FIR on March 15, 2023 under various sections of the IPC and provisions of the Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Act, 2019, alleging that the scheme functioned as an illegal Ponzi or money circulation scheme.

The CBI filed a charge sheet on November 9, 2024, revealing that Rs 46.43 crore was fraudulently collected from the public and deposited in the bank accounts of the accused and related entities.

During the course of the investigation, about Rs 11.26 lakh lying in the bank account of Salai Mart Pvt Ltd and around Rs 2.32 crore in the bank account of Salai Agri Consortium Pvt Ltd were provisionally attached, which were later confirmed by the Adjudicating Authority.

Subsequently, a prosecution complaint was filed before the Special Court (PMLA) in Imphal East district.

Further investigation revealed that the proceeds of crime were routed through bank accounts of Salai Group companies and their directors and were used for various purposes, including business expenses, acquisition of assets, foreign remittances for machinery purchases, payment of customs duty and income tax, foreign travel expenses of directors, credit card payments and cash withdrawals through employees.

A portion of the proceeds was also used for the purchase of properties in cash.

The investigation led to the identification of 28 immovable properties and five movable properties in the names of Salai Group of Companies, SMART Society and associated entities that were acquired using the proceeds of crime.

Accordingly, these properties worth Rs 50.8 crore have been provisionally attached.

So far, a total of Rs 53.22 crore worth of movable and immovable properties linked to the Salai Group of Companies and associated entities has been provisionally attached.

Further investigation is underway.
Chandigarh, March 16 : Amid an alleged shortage of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders and rising prices, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislators in Punjab on Monday staged a protest outside the state Assembly.

Raising slogans against the BJP-led government at the Centre, the MLAs described the situation as a result of government mismanagement and warned that the party would intensify its agitation if the issue is not addressed.

Leading the protest, AAP chief spokesperson and MLA Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal said, "Today the common citizens of the country are suffering because of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government's flawed foreign policies. In the race to side with Israel and the United States, the Centre has sidelined the country's interests, which has affected the supply of oil and gas.

"Until the prices of cylinders are reduced and supply is restored smoothly, the Aam Aadmi Party will not sit quietly, from the streets to the Vidhan Sabha."

AAP working President Amansher Singh Shery Kalsi highlighted the ground reality and criticised the statements of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders.

"BJP ministers and leaders are sitting in air-conditioned rooms and falsely claiming that there is no shortage of gas in the country. If they want to see the reality, they should look at the long queues where people are standing hungry and thirsty for hours.

"Today the situation is such that stoves in homes have gone cold. In houses where weddings are taking place, even rotis are not being cooked. The indifference of PM Modi-led government has snatched food from the plates of the poor," he said.

Issuing a warning to the Central government, the Aam Aadmi Party said that if the supply of LPG is not normalised soon, BJP spokespersons and ministers will be gheraoed across the country.

Earlier on Monday, the Central government said that the supply of piped natural gas (PNG) and compressed natural gas (CNG) continues uninterrupted across the country.

The government also said that efforts are on to move households away from LPG where gas pipelines are available.

In an inter-ministerial briefing, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas's Joint Secretary, Marketing and Oil Refinery, Sujata Sharma, said that fuel pumps supplying CNG and household PNG connections are operating normally.

"Supply to both CNG users and PNG consumers is being maintained fully. Authorities have also begun enforcement actions to prevent hoarding. Raids have been carried out in several states as part of checks on fuel storage and supply," she said.

The senior government official further said that crude is also available in sufficient quantity. "All refineries are operating at the highest capacity. Our petrol pumps operate normally. No dry outs have been reported so far," she said.

Gas distribution firms have also rolled out incentives for new PNG users. Indraprastha Gas Ltd (IGL) has announced free gas worth Rs 500 for consumers registering for PNG connections before March 31.

Meanwhile, there has been a decline in LPG bookings as panic eased among consumers over the availability of domestic gas, while raids are being conducted across states to check hoarding and black marketing.
Bhopal, March 16 : Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav on Monday announced that the third phase of the state government's water conservation campaign, 'Jal Ganga Samvardhan Abhiyan', will begin on March 19.

The Chief Minister said he will launch the campaign on the auspicious occasion of Gudi Padwa (March 19) from the banks of the Shipra river in Ujjain.

He said the initiative aims to meet water-related needs and safeguard water resources for future generations.

"Water is nature's invaluable gift and preserving it is our collective responsibility. We aim to involve every village, every city and every citizen in water conservation efforts," Yadav said in a statement.

He urged citizens of Madhya Pradesh to actively participate in the programme, stating that public participation would help make the state a model in the country for water harvesting and management.

"Through the participation of citizens, panchayats, voluntary organisations and various government departments, this campaign will set a new benchmark for water conservation in the state," he added.

Yadav said the objective of the 'Jal Ganga Samvardhan Abhiyan' is not only to construct new water structures but also to promote a culture of water conservation across the state.

He said the campaign would also sensitise people in villages about the importance of rainwater harvesting, groundwater recharge and the preservation of water sources for sustaining life and supporting development.

The Chief Minister said that if society and the government work together, Madhya Pradesh can transform into a water-rich state.

He added that the 'Jal Ganga Samvardhan Abhiyan' would not only strengthen water conservation efforts but also generate long-term environmental and economic benefits.

According to the government, the campaign is expected to improve groundwater levels, enhance water availability for irrigation, provide relief to regions affected by water scarcity or scanty rainfall, strengthen environmental protection and boost the rural economy.

Yadav said that during the first phase of the campaign launched in 2024, more than 2.79 lakh water structures were either newly constructed or revived.

These included the construction and rejuvenation of ponds, repair of wells and stepwells, canal construction, revival of dried-up rivers and the creation of several other water conservation structures.

During the second phase in 2025, more than 72,647 water structures were constructed across the state.

Additionally, work on another 64,395 water structures is currently underway.

These projects include the construction of farm ponds, check dams, stop dams, canals, wells, stepwells and other water-harvesting structures aimed at sustainably improving water availability in both rural and urban areas, the government statement said.
Raipur, March 16 : In a stormy session of the Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly, Opposition members created an uproar in Zero Hour over reports of pregnancy among three female minor students associated with the Porta Cabin residential school facility in Gangalur, Bijapur district.

The matter sparked intense protests, with legislators terming it a grave concern affecting the safety and education of vulnerable children, particularly from underprivileged and tribal backgrounds.

The Opposition, led by figures including former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and Leader of the Opposition Dr Charan Das Mahant, moved an adjournment motion seeking a detailed discussion on the incident.

Bhupesh Baghel described the case as extremely serious, demanding a thorough debate in the House to address the exploitation of tribal girls in such institutions, which he said had occurred in the past as well.

He alleged that the government was attempting to protect responsible officials.

LoP Dr Charan Das Mahant emphasised that this was not an isolated event but reflected a broader social problem requiring accountability.

Bijapur MLA Vikram Mandavi and others supported the call for discussion.

MLA Sangita Sinha highlighted a similar case from 2024 involving a pregnant girl, where no effective action followed.

MLA Kawasi Lakhma, a former minister, noted that Pota Cabins were set up to promote education among disadvantaged children, especially in remote areas, but repeated incidents raised doubts about parental trust in sending their daughters there.

He questioned how such facilities could function safely amid these failures.

School Education Minister Gajendra Yadav responded that two of the students, in 11th grade, were not hostel residents but attended the aAtmanand Schoola and commuted daily from home. The 12th-grader had gone home voluntarily during the Diwali festival in 2025.

The Chair rejected the adjournment motion after this clarification. Dissatisfied with the reply, Opposition MLAs shouted slogans, created a ruckus, and staged a walkout from the House.

Congress MLA Umesh Patel criticised officials for irresponsible statements, pointing out contradictions where the Superintendent of Police claimed no incident occurred while the administration appeared to downplay or cover up the matter.

The Opposition insisted on strict action against negligent officials.

Separately, MLA Purandar Mishra raised concerns over substandard gunny bags used in the state. He inquired about action on reports of bags weighing 45 to 50 grams less than the prescribed standards found in districts including Janjgir, Champa, and Korba.

The Minister informed that 4,219 bales of paddy in such bags were identified statewide, with claims sent to the Jute Commissioner's office.

MLA Ajay Chandrakar asked about losses to farmers and resolved cases, to which Minister Dayal Das said claims were settled.

The Leader of the Opposition sought details on blacklisted mills, and the Minister promised full information.
Lucknow, March 16 : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested a medical officer posted at the Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) and a private hospital executive in connection with an alleged bribery case involving undue favours to an empanelled hospital in Uttar Pradesh, an official statement said on Monday.

The arrested accused have been identified as Major Dr Ashish Shakya (retd), Medical Officer at the ECHS Polyclinic in Etah, and Bijendra Singh, an Assistant General Manager at a private hospital.

According to the agency, the case was registered on March 15 against five accused, including the ECHS medical officer, a private hospital/company and three representatives of the hospital, along with other unidentified persons.

The CBI alleged that the medical officer, in connivance with representatives of the private hospital, was facilitating and extending undue favours to the empanelled facility by referring patients to it in exchange for illegal gratification.

As per the investigation, the accused public servant allegedly accepted bribes from the hospital management in return for directing beneficiaries of the ECHS scheme to the particular hospital for treatment.

During a trap operation conducted by the CBI, a bribe amount of Rs 3 lakh, allegedly delivered by a representative of the private hospital to the medical officer, was recovered.

Both accused were arrested on Sunday.

The agency also conducted searches at multiple locations, including Noida, Etah, Firozabad, and Farrukhabad. During the raids, investigators recovered several incriminating documents and digital devices believed to be linked to the alleged corruption network.

The CBI said further investigation into the case is underway to ascertain the full extent of the conspiracy and the involvement of other persons.

The CBI actively investigates fraud and bribery cases, leading to convictions, including fines and imprisonment.
Kolkata, March 16 : The Communist Party of India-Marxist-Leninist (CPI-ML), which is a major Left force in Bihar, will contest from 10 Assembly constituencies in West Bengal in alliance with the CPI-M-led Left Front in the forthcoming two-phase Assembly elections in the state next month.

The West Bengal state committee of the CPI-ML issued a press statement on Monday saying that its decision to contest in alliance with the Left Front was driven by the twin objectives of ending the "corrupt" Trinamool Congress regime in the state and preventing what it described as the "fascist" BJP-RSS combine from coming to power.

"Our decision is also aimed at the revival of Left forces in the state. After a series of discussions with the Left Front chairman in West Bengal, Biman Bose, and the leadership of the CPI(M), we have decided to contest from 10 Assembly constituencies this time. The names of the constituencies where we will field candidates will be announced later," the statement said.

The CPI-ML had also contested the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections, but without any alliance or seat-sharing arrangement with the Left Front.

At that time, the CPI-ML leadership had also criticised the CPI-M for categorising the Trinamool Congress and the BJP as equal adversaries.

The CPI-ML had then called upon the people of West Bengal to elect any political force other than the BJP.

Meanwhile, the Congress has decided to end its seat-sharing arrangement with the Left Front -- which had been in place since the 2016 Assembly elections -- and contest independently from all 294 Assembly constituencies in the state.

The Left Front on Monday announced its first list of candidates for 192 Assembly constituencies, while the remaining names will be declared later.

The CPI-M leadership is also continuing its seat-sharing arrangement with the All India Secular Front (AISF).

Assembly elections in West Bengal will be held in two phases next month -- April 23 and April 29. The results will be announced on May 4.
Patna, March 16 : Following back-to-back police encounters in Bihar's Saran and Patna districts, Bihar Director General of Police (DGP) Vinay Kumar on Monday said that authorities are taking firm action against criminals in accordance with the law.

The statement came after an encounter took place in Saran district on Sunday night, followed by another exchange of fire on Monday morning in the Barh subdivision.

"The police forces in the respective areas took action against criminals as per the situation and strictly within the ambit of the law," DGP Vinay Kumar said.

Referring to the incident in Saran where five people died after consuming spurious liquor, the DGP confirmed that the presence of poisonous alcohol has been verified. Police have taken action against those involved in the liquor trade and made arrests, he said.

According to an official, five people lost their lives, and 12 others fell ill after allegedly consuming spurious liquor in villages under the jurisdiction of Panapur Police Station and Mashrakh Police Station between March 11 and March 13.

In connection with the case, police arrested Suraj Mahto (26), son of Munni Mahto and a resident of Mithwa village under the Panapur police station area. Suraj Mahto was allegedly involved in supplying the toxic liquor and had been absconding since the incident.

Acting on a tip-off, police traced him to Katihar, where he was arrested and later brought to Saran for further investigation. During the investigation, police took the accused to the Mashrakh-Panapur border area to conduct raids to recover illegal liquor stock and identify other members of the network.

Officials said that during the raid, accomplices of the accused opened fire on the police team in an attempt to rescue him. Police retaliated in self-defense, and during the exchange of fire, Suraj Mahto sustained a gunshot injury to his leg. He was later taken into custody and provided medical treatment.

In another incident, an exchange of fire took place between the Bihar Special Task Force (STF) and a notorious criminal identified as Dheeraj Singh within the jurisdiction of Pandarak Police Station in the Barh sub-division of Patna district.

Police officials said several criminal cases are already registered against the accused. Authorities said investigations in both cases are ongoing.
Photo: https://eurosolidarity.org/2026/03/

Member of parliament and leader of the European Solidarity party Petro Poroshenko warned of a parliamentary crisis in Ukraine and called for the creation of a national unity coalition.

"The internal parliamentary crisis is not imaginary, it is not political rhetoric  it is absolutely real. The coalition required by the Constitution of Ukraine does not exist either de jure or de facto. Tens of millions of Ukrainians have become hostages of several dozen MPs implicated in corruption recordings. Deputies have staged an 'Italian strike,' blocking the work of parliament simply because some people do not like anti-corruption investigations and demand the return and destruction of the recordings in which they appear," Poroshenko said in a video address on Monday.

"Ignoring such challenges is not just a mistake  it is dangerous for the country. That is why the time has come to emphasize that the way out of the crisis is a national unity coalition," he said.

Poroshenko said that since parliamentary and presidential elections cannot be held during martial law, the only constitutional way out of the crisis is the formation of a new parliamentary majority.

However, he said the issue is not about the distribution of positions but about developing a program of action for the country and a professional approach to decision-making.

The politician called on the president to hold a meeting with the democratic opposition, involving the government and parliamentary leadership.

He also said Ukraine is currently facing a particularly difficult moment in its history, referring to the security situation related to the war in the Middle East, the suspension of negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, and what he described as a crisis caused by a complete halt in European integration processes and reforms.

According to Poroshenko, the key priorities for a national unity coalition should include security issues, social protection and European integration.

"The European Solidarity faction is ready to vote for such decisions regardless of whether we are part of the coalition or not. But the issue of creating a national unity coalition is overdue. We are ready for a serious and responsible conversation with the president of Ukraine," Poroshenko said, adding that such a meeting should take place urgently with the participation of parliamentary leadership, the government and representatives of the democratic opposition.
New Delhi, March 16 : Union Minister J.P. Nadda's remark in the Parliament on Monday that a Congress leader has been caught hoarding gas cylinders drew sharp criticism from the Opposition parties, including the Congress and Shiv Sena-UBT.

His remark came after Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge raised concerns in the Rajya Sabha over an alleged LPG shortage.

Reacting to Nadda's accusation, Shiv Sena-UBT MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said: "If you look at the newspaper headlines every day, they all say how food has become costlier. Earlier, those people who used to be dependent on 'Dhaba' food are also compelled to spend their day on fruits. People have now shifted to using stoves."

She wondered where the opposition was at fault. "How can JP Nadda accuse a politician of hoarding cylinders?" she asked.

Chaturvedi added that the same thing is happening in all other states where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) itself has 'double engine' governments.

She instead accused the Central government of being unprepared for a crisis of this nature.

"They knew for the past two years that the US might attack Iran, despite this, the government didn't keep the LPG stock ready. Now none of us knows for how long this war will go on, but everybody knows about the LPG shortage, which is why people have to stand in long queues, " she said.

Defending her party, Congress MP Kumari Selja said: "How and why would a politician do hoarding? The Congress party raises those issues that are in the welfare of the people, that is our responsibility."

She asserted that if there are long queues for refuelling of cylinders, it is not hidden from the public.

"There is a role of the Opposition. We will raise such issues," Selja added.

Fellow party MP Rajini Patil alleged that the BJP wants to divert this issue.

"Whenever they want to divert an issue, they start this factory of lies. Nothing of this sort (hoarding of cylinders) is happening, and if somebody is involved in such things, whether it is from the Congress or the BJP, strict action should be taken against them."

Another Congress MP, Viriato Fernandes, urged the government to accept its mistake.

"Our foreign policy is a total mess because of which Iran has also put some restrictions on the movement of ships through the Strait of Hormuz."

Fernandes further said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should not place the country at risk due to his ego.
Mumbai, March 16 : Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday said the state government is committed to fulfilling the dream of homeownership for Mumbai's middle class, adding that the redevelopment of the BDD chawls will significantly improve the quality of life of residents.

He was speaking at a function to distribute 864 rehabilitation units to residents in the first phase of the Naigaon BDD Chawl Redevelopment Project, being implemented by the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA).

Fadnavis also appealed to residents not to sell their newly allotted homes.

"The project had been pending for years due to various obstacles. The state government decided not to rely on private builders and instead took charge of the project directly, engaging some of the country's top firms to ensure high-quality construction. The government aims to hand over keys to all residents by 2029 while pushing for the rapid completion of other redevelopment works in Mumbai," the Chief Minister said.

He said the infrastructure in Naigaon and Worli has been strengthened and assured residents that parking issues in Naigaon would be addressed.

Fadnavis also announced that around 900 square feet of space would be allocated to resolve issues related to the local Bhavani Mata temple.

Referring to the legacy of the BDD chawls  which housed prominent figures such as Anna Bhau Sathe and Dr B.R. Ambedkar  the Chief Minister said the government plans to commission a book documenting their rich history.

Addressing the housing needs of police personnel, Fadnavis said he would discuss the pricing issue with Deputy Chief Minister and Housing Minister Eknath Shinde.

He added that the government would revisit the 2016 ownership policy to find a legally and practically viable solution for police housing.

"Approximately 1,000 acres of redevelopment projects are currently underway in Mumbai. This initiative is being viewed as Asia's first and largest urban renewal project. Under this scheme, residents are receiving modern 500 sq ft 2BHK flats free of cost, replacing their old 160 sq ft rooms," he said.

Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who holds the housing portfolio, described the occasion as a "golden day", noting that residents who earlier lived in chawls will now move into modern residential towers.

He said the government's policy aims to ensure that the common man receives rightful housing and amenities while preserving the emotional and cultural bonds built over generations.

Shinde also announced that MHADA will pay the property tax of BDD chawl residents for the next 12 years.

He said through initiatives such as cluster development and slum rehabilitation schemes, the government is working to bring displaced Mumbaikars back to the city.

He added that the new housing policy involves an investment of Rs 70 crore and aims to provide eco-friendly homes to around 30 lakh people.

Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Ajit Pawar said that after four decades of waiting, handing over keys to 864 beneficiaries marks a historic moment.

She said the houses are not merely structures of brick and cement but symbols of the hopes and aspirations of the residents.

Referring to the British-era chawls built around 1920, Pawar said they are witnesses to Mumbai's history, but the real story lies in the struggle and unity of the hardworking families who lived there.

She said the event marks the beginning of a new chapter of dignity and safety for BDD residents.
Raipur, March 16 : The Enforcement Directorate's (ED) Raipur Zonal Office has provisionally attached movable and immovable properties worth Rs 23.35 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in connection with an alleged fraud in land acquisition compensation for the Raipur-Visakhapatnam National Highway project under the Bharatmala Pariyojana.

Raipur, March 16 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorateas (ED) Raipur Zonal Office has provisionally attached movable and immovable properties worth Rs 23.35 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in connection with an alleged fraud in land acquisition compensation for the Raipura"Visakhapatnam National Highway project under the Bharatmala Pariyojana.

The investigation was initiated on the basis of an FIR registered by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW)/Anti-Corruption Bureau in Chhattisgarh.

A charge sheet has already been filed in the Special Court (Prevention of Corruption Act) in Raipur against Harmeet Singh Khunjia a" also referred to as Harmeet Singh Khanuja in related records a" and others under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act, the ED said in a statement.

According to the agency, a criminal conspiracy was allegedly orchestrated involving land brokers, private individuals and certain public servants.

The accused are alleged to have manipulated the land acquisition process to secure excess compensation for land acquired for the highway project.

After the issuance of a notification on January 30, 2020, land parcels were allegedly subdivided fraudulently by falsifying and backdating revenue records, which artificially inflated the compensation amounts payable by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.

Key accused, including Harmeet Singh Khunjia, Khemraj Koshele, Punuram Deshlahare and Kundan Baghel, allegedly induced landowners to sign affidavits, applications and revenue documents.

With the assistance of certain government officials, they allegedly facilitated the manipulation of land records, resulting in the disbursal of compensation amounts far exceeding legitimate entitlements.

Multiple bank accounts were opened in the names of landowners, into which the inflated compensation funds were credited.

Subsequently, using pre-signed blank cheques and fabricated banking documents, a large portion of the funds was transferred to accounts controlled by Harmeet Singh Khunjia, his relatives, associates and related entities.

According to the ED, the landowners were left with only their legitimate compensation or a marginally higher amount, while the siphoned funds were allegedly laundered.

The agency said it traced Rs 27.05 crore as proceeds of crime, out of which properties worth Rs 23.35 crore have been provisionally attached under Section 5 of the PMLA.

The attachment includes several movable and immovable assets linked to the accused.

The ED said further investigation is underway to uncover the full extent of the alleged conspiracy and identify other beneficiaries.

The Bharatmala Pariyojana, a flagship national highway development programme, has previously come under scrutiny in Chhattisgarh over alleged irregularities in land compensation, with earlier raids and seizures reported in late 2025 and early 2026.
Guwahati, March 16 : Improved infrastructure and better connectivity across Assam have played a crucial role in enabling the upcoming Assembly elections in the state to be conducted in a single phase, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Anurag Goel said on Monday.

Addressing a press conference a day after the Election Commission of India announced the poll schedule, Goel said enhanced infrastructure --including better road connectivity, bridges and the availability of more public buildings -- has strengthened the confidence of authorities in conducting elections across all 126 constituencies on April 9.

"Improved infrastructure, availability of buildings, bridges and better connectivity have led to the confidence of holding the elections in the state in a single phase," Goel said.

He added that the civil administration and security agencies are fully prepared to ensure the smooth conduct of the polls.

Inspector General of Police (Law and Order) Akhilesh Kumar Singh, who is also the nodal security officer for the elections, said the law and order situation in Assam has improved considerably over the years.

He noted that the withdrawal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act from most parts of the state has contributed to a more stable security environment.

"Single-phase polling requires extensive planning and logistics. Compared to earlier years, both the civil and police administrations are now better equipped to conduct the elections smoothly," Singh said.

For the elections, the state has requested 828 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), of which 200 companies have already arrived.

More than 74,000 personnel of the Assam Police, including home guards, will also be deployed for election duty.

Security arrangements have been strengthened across the state with strict monitoring along inter-state and inter-district borders.

Officials said 134 border checkpoints have been established where flying squads and static surveillance teams will maintain round-the-clock vigil.

Authorities also said that international borders will be sealed in accordance with standard election protocols during the polling period.

To maintain law and order, security forces have intensified area domination exercises and confidence-building measures to ensure that voters can cast their ballots without fear or intimidation.

Officials said steps are also being taken to prevent the movement of illegal liquor and other illicit materials during the election period.

Meanwhile, the state CID has set up a special social media monitoring cell to track fake news and AI-generated content that could disrupt peace during the polls.

A dedicated helpline number has also been opened for the public to report such incidents.

Goel confirmed that the election notification has already been issued after obtaining approval from the Governor, formally setting the electoral process in motion.

According to official figures, Assam currently has more than 2.5 crore voters.

The largest share of voters belongs to the 2029 age group, with more than 66 lakh electors.

The state also has 2,482 centenarian voters and nearly one lakh voters above the age of 85, while more than six lakh electors fall in the 1819 age bracket.

A total of 31,486 polling stations have been planned across the state, with the CEO's office requesting four additional auxiliary polling stations.

Dalgaon Assembly constituency has the highest number of voters with more than three lakh electors, while Amri has the lowest with just over one lakh voters.

More than 1.5 lakh civil polling personnel will be deployed during the election process along with micro-observers and sector officers.

Goel also said that for the first time in Assam, ballot papers on Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) will carry coloured photographs of candidates, and 100 per cent webcasting will be conducted at polling stations.

Mobile phone deposit facilities will also be available at polling stations to maintain the secrecy of voting.
Kannur : , March 16 (IANS) A rebellion appears to be brewing within the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) in Kerala's Kannur against the party's decision to field P.K. Shyamala, wife of party state Secretary M. V. Govindan, as the LDF candidate from the Taliparamba seat in the April 9 elections.

Govindan had represented the constituency for the past two terms. After he stepped down from the seat, the party fielded his wife, a move that has triggered the present rebellion.

On Monday, T. K. Govindan, a member of the CPI-M district Secretariat, announced that he is quitting the party and will contest the election as an independent from Taliparamba.

The development comes amid strong opposition within sections of the party to Shyamala's candidature.

Govindan had reportedly raised objections during the district committee meeting where the candidate selection was discussed.

Since then, he has stayed away from party meetings, skipping constituency committee discussions as well as district Secretariat meetings over the past week.

As discontent grows within the party ranks in Taliparamba, the Congress leadership is closely watching the developments and has reportedly decided not to rush the announcement of its candidate for the constituency.

The 75-year-old Govindan, a senior party leader from the CPI-M stronghold of Malappattam, currently serves as chairman of the Kerala State Handloom Development Corporation.

He had earlier served as chairman of the Pariyaram Medical College Hospital and has held several organisational positions in the party, including area committee secretary in Sreekandapuram and Mayyil.

Opposition to Shyamala's candidature had surfaced from the beginning, even as the party entrusted senior leader P. Jayarajan with overseeing the constituency.

The controversy intensified after Jayarajan shared Shyamala's election poster separately on Facebook following the announcement of the candidate list, captioning it: "Dear comrade Shyamala, teacher in Taliparamba".

The post soon attracted a barrage of comments, many critical of the decision to field her.

Addressing a lengthy media interaction on Monday evening, T.K.Govindan made it clear that all was not well within the party in Kannur.

"I have told my wife, who is the president of a panchayat here, and all my close friends and well-wishers that none of them should quit the party. But I am leaving because things are not fair or right at the party in Kannur," he said.

Referring to the suicide of NRI businessman Sajan Parayil, Govindan alleged that Shyamala had taken a firm position that as long as she remained the chairperson of the Anthoor municipality, she would not grant sanction for Parayil's business venture.

Responding to a question on whether the Kannur CPI-M had adopted different standards in dealing with Shyamala and P. P. Divya, who was allegedly involved in the suicide of Naveen Babu, the Additional District Magistrate of Kannur, Govindan replied in the affirmative.

"My position is very clear. Despite severe opposition to Shyamala's candidature in Taliparamba, it was cleared. How can a seat be given to the wife when the husband, who has already served three terms, steps down? This is not correct. There were other eligible women candidates too, but only the wife was considered," he said.

Govindan also criticised the party's decision to shift senior leader K. K. Shailaja from her sitting constituency to another seat.

Referring to the controversy raised by another prominent leader, V. Kunhikrishnan, regarding alleged misappropriation of funds collected for a martyr memorial by sitting Payyannur CPI-M legislator T. I. Madhusoodanan, Govindan said he believed Kunhikrishnan's allegations were true.

"I do not know why Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is silent on all these issues," he added. Incidentally, earlier on Monday, Kunhikrishnan, who has been expelled from the CPI-M, had announced his decision to contest as an Independent from Payyannur.

With Govindan also declaring his intention to contest independently from Taliparamba, all eyes are now on the Congress to see whether it will extend support to the two rebel candidates.

"I will accept the support of the Congress, but not from any communal forces," Govindan said.
New Delhi, March 16 : Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri's daughter, Himayani Puri, has approached the Delhi High Court with a defamation suit seeking removal of online news reports, posts, videos and other digital content that allegedly link her to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his criminal activities.

In her suit, Himayani Puri has sought damages of Rs 10 crore and a permanent injunction against several social media entities as well as unidentified individuals for allegedly circulating defamatory material about her on the internet.

She has also requested directions to intermediaries, including X, Google, Meta Platforms and LinkedIn, to remove the allegedly defamatory content and take down similar posts when brought to their notice in the future.

According to the suit, multiple posts circulating online since February 22, 2026, have made allegations suggesting that Puri maintained direct or indirect business, financial or personal associations with Epstein.

The plea further contends that the allegations are entirely false, malicious and devoid of any factual foundation. It also alleges that several unidentified individuals and social media entities have propagated the claims through edited videos, misleading captions and manipulated thumbnails designed to maximise public outrage and cause reputational harm to the plaintiff.

The plea claims that she is being targeted in a motivated manner and that the attacks have intensified because she is the daughter of a senior Union Cabinet minister.

The matter is likely to come up for hearing before the Delhi High Court on Tuesday.

The developments come amid political controversy in India following the release of documents related to the investigations into Epstein in the United States.

Opposition members, including leaders from the Congress, had earlier demanded the resignation of Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri after his name allegedly appeared in the so-called "Epstein files".

Epstein, a wealthy US financier, died in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges involving underage girls. His death was officially ruled a suicide.

The controversy has resurfaced globally after US President Donald Trump signed legislation mandating the release of files related to the investigation into Epstein.

The United States Justice Department subsequently produced more than three million pages of records as part of the transparency process after reviewing millions of pages of material gathered during investigations into Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
Mumbai, March 16 : Maharashtra Minister Uday Samant, on Monday, told the State Legislative Council during Question Hour that a task force will be established to take action against unauthorised and unregistered nursing homes operating in the state.

The issue was raised through a question by member Chitra Wagh, while members Bhai Jagtap, Sanjay Khodke, and Sachin Ahir raised supplementary questions.

Minister Samant said that private hospitals and nursing homes in the state are registered and inspected as per the Maharashtra Nursing Homes Registration Act, 1949, and its relevant rules.

However, since complaints have been received regarding unregistered or unauthorised nursing homes operating in some areas, there is a need for coordinated action at the state level.

Minister Samant announced that "A task force will be formed under the chairmanship of the Additional Chief Secretary of the Urban Development Department and the co-chairmanship of the Additional Chief Secretary or Principal Secretary of the Health Department. The task force will include Divisional Commissioners, Police Officers, and other necessary officials. It will review all nursing homes in the state, take action against unauthorised ones, and present a comprehensive report before the House during the next session."

Since the current legal provisions for fines and punishment are limited and proving insufficient, the task force will also draft a proposal to make necessary amendments to the relevant laws for stricter action, the Minister said.

He also added that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will be directed to conduct a survey and collect data on unauthorised nursing homes.

Minister Samant told the House that the task force will submit its report within 90 days to ensure effective action against unauthorised nursing homes for the safety of patients in the state.

Meanwhile, State Public Health and Family Welfare Minister Prakash Abitkar said in the state Assembly that the state government is taking strict action against hospitals that charge patients despite the implementation of the Mahatma Jyotirao Phule Jan Arogya Yojana (MJPJAY) and the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY).

He also shared that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is now being utilised to increase transparency within these schemes.

The issue was raised in the state Assembly by member Nana Patole (Congress), with Sunil Prabhu (Shiv Sena-UBT), Babanrao Lonikar (BJP), and Ratnakar Gutte (Rashtriya Samaj Paksh) also participating in the discussion.

Minister Abitkar said that the state government has received several complaints regarding irregularities.

Consequently, fines totaling nearly Rs 60.47 lakh have been levied across 338 cases in the state.

In Akola district, 12 complaints were filed against a private hospital for charging patients for tests and surgeries covered under the welfare schemes.

"The State Health Assurance Society investigated and ensured one patient was refunded. Punitive action is proposed against the hospital, and inquiries are ongoing for the remaining 11 complaints. Following the integration of the Ayushman Bharat scheme with the Mahatma Phule Jan Arogya Yojana, the number of covered illnesses and treatment packages has been increased. AI systems are being used to scrutinise complaints and ensure immediate action, making the implementation more effective," Minister Abitkar added.

He said that the Committees involving public representatives have been established.

District-level review meetings, chaired by Guardian Ministers, are directed to be held every three months.

"If hospitals are found charging additional money from patients under these schemes, immediate action will be taken. For repeat offenders, the state government will proceed with filing criminal charges," Minister Abitkar clarified.
Mumbai, March 16 : Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday clarified that the Maharashtra Freedom of Religion Bill, 2026, is not directed against any specific religion. a Mumbai, March 16 (IANS) Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday clarified that the Maharashtra Freedom of Religion Bill, 2026, is not directed against any specific religion. 

He emphasised that the Bill is being introduced solely to prevent religious conversions carried out through coercion, fraud, or allurement. 

He explained the government's stance in his address to the Legislative Assembly.

The Bill, titled the Maharashtra Freedom of Religion Act, 2026, was tabled in the House on Friday by Minister of State for Home (Rural) Pankaj Bhoyar to curb conversions taking place through baiting, deception, or force.

Fadnavis noted that anti-conversion laws are already in effect in several states, including Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Karnataka, and Rajasthan. Maharashtra has decided to follow this trend.

He said Article 25 of the Constitution grants every citizen the right to profess, practise, and propagate their faith. However, coercing someone through fraud, pressure, force, or temptation is wrong, which makes such a law necessary.

He added that individuals wishing to convert voluntarily must follow a legal process. They must inform authorised officials, and competent authorities will verify that the conversion is voluntary before granting approval.

According to the proposed legislation, conversions carried out through force, threat, undue influence, fraud, or inducement will be treated as illegal. Marriages conducted solely for the purpose of unlawful conversion may be declared null and void by a court.

The Bill provides for imprisonment of up to seven years and fines for those found guilty of illegal conversions. Stricter penalties are proposed in cases involving women, minors, or persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Complaints may be filed by the affected individual or close relatives, and police may also take action in certain cases.

Fadnavis urged members of the House to support the Bill, saying it is intended to protect citizens from unlawful conversions and maintain law and order.

Supporting the Bill, Bhaskar Jadhav (Shiv Sena UBT) said it aims to protect the right to religious freedom and prevent illegal conversions. He said it is comprehensive and does not target any specific religion despite rumours. He argued that the objective is to curb unethical practices and misuse of religion.

Jadhav said media claims suggesting the Bill targets a particular religion are false. The Bill applies to all religions equally and seeks to prevent coercion or inducement. He cited Dr B.R. Ambedkar's 1956 conversion as voluntary and without coercion.

He added that every religion has certain harmful practices that infringe on human rights, and that the Bill is meant to regulate such practices legally. He raised questions about birth-based caste assignments and their interaction with the Bill. He said existing laws like POCSO can address forced child marriages.

Jadhav praised the Bill's intention and legal framework and said those making accusations should provide evidence. He urged clarity in certain clauses to avoid misuse and ensure fair enforcement. He congratulated the Chief Minister and the government for bringing the Bill and called for proper enforcement without targeting any religion.

Aslam Shaikh (Congress) said the Bill's objective and essence appear to impact the Constitution and the right to privacy. He said that under the Bill, a person wishing to convert must give a 60day notice, raising concerns about their safety. He questioned whether such a person might face threats or harm.

He argued that requiring someone to publicly announce their intention to convert interferes with fundamental rights. He added that if two adults decide to marry, any third party or relative can file a complaint under the Bill, which mandates the registration of an FIR. Once an FIR is filed, the person becomes an accused, creating mental pressure and social stigma.

Shaikh said allegations of "love jihad," "land jihad," and inter-caste marriages had been made earlier in Maharashtra, but the same department later stated that not a single incident of "love jihad" had been recorded.

Rais Shaikh (Samajwadi Party) said the Bill violates Articles 14, 15, and 21 of the Constitution. He said Maharashtra has always been a progressive state, and the Bill curtails the constitutional right to freedom of religion. He asked the government to explain how many conversions are taking place and in what numbers. He said the requirement of prior notice puts the safety of the person wishing to convert at risk.

BJP leader Atul Bhatkalkar cited historical and contemporary examples, including the Niyogi Commission (1970) report on missionary activities in tribal regions of Madhya Pradesh and statements by former Kerala Chief Ministers Oommen Chandy and V.S. Achuthanandan. He highlighted conversion cases and the use of the term "Love Jihad."

He warned against attempts to alter Maharashtra's demography through religious conversion, saying such efforts would not succeed. He drew parallels to Europe, where policies to return displaced populations have been implemented, and said India's legal framework is clear and constitutionally supported. He urged lawmakers and citizens to uphold laws preventing forced conversions.

The ruling alliance objected to certain comments by Jitendra Awhad (NCP SP) and demanded that opposition members apologise for insulting Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Members entered the well and shouted slogans. Presiding Officer Sanjay Kelkar adjourned the House for ten minutes.

After the House reassembled, Speaker Rahul Narwekar said no member should insult noted personalities like Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. He directed Awhad to apologise. However, members of the ruling alliance insisted that he be suspended. They again entered the well and raised slogans.

Awhad expressed regret over his statement, but ruling alliance members demanded another apology. The Speaker again directed him to apologise, after which he did so. The Speaker announced that Awhad's statement, allegedly insulting Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, would be expunged from the proceedings.
Washington, Mar 16 : U.S. President Donald Trump Monday announced that White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles has been diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer but will continue working from the White House while undergoing treatment.a Washington, Mar 16 (IANS) U.S. President Donald Trump Monday announced that White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles has been diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer but will continue working from the White House while undergoing treatment.

Trump disclosed the diagnosis in a social media message, praising Wiles as a close adviser and expressing confidence in her recovery.

"Susie Wiles is an incredible Chief of Staff, a great person, and one of the strongest people I know, but, unfortunately, she has been diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer, and has decided to take on this challenge, IMMEDIATELY, as opposed to waiting," Trump said.

The President said Wiles had already begun preparing for treatment and had the support of a strong medical team.

"She has a fantastic medical team, and her prognosis is excellent! During the treatment period, she will be spending virtually full-time at the White House, which makes me, as President, very happy! Trump said.

Trump also described Wiles as one of his most trusted advisers inside the administration.

"Her Strength and her Commitment to continue doing the job she loves, and does so well, while undergoing treatment, tells you everything you need to know about her," he said.

Calling her a key figure in the administration, Trump added that she remains central to his team.

"Susie, as one of my closest and most important advisors, is tough and deeply committed to serving the American People," he said.

Trump also said he and First Lady Melania Trump were standing by Wiles as she began treatment.

"Melania and I are with her in every way, and we look forward to working with Susie on the many big and wonderful things that are happening for the benefit of our Country!" the President said.

White House officials quickly rallied behind Wiles following the announcement.

Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt praised Wiles' leadership and personal character in a social media message.

"Susie Wiles epitomises what it means to be a strong leader. She is also one of the nicest people I've ever met," Leavitt wrote.

She added that Wiles had played a critical role in Trump's political comeback and now in the administration.

"Susie led President Trump's historic 2024 comeback campaign and is now spearheading the most successful administration in history," Leavitt said.

Leavitt also said the White House staff was united in supporting the chief of staff during her treatment.

"I know I speak for the President and the entire White House when I say that we are all praying for Susie and rallying behind her as she prepares to fight this battle against breast cancer," she wrote.

Wiles appeared with Trump at a Kennedy Centre board meeting in the White House East Room shortly after the President announced it.

Wiles is widely regarded as one of Trump's most influential advisers and a key architect of his 2024 election victory. Known for keeping a relatively low public profile, she has played a central role in shaping the political strategy of Trump's second administration.

During Trump's first presidency, the White House saw frequent turnover in the chief of staff position. Wiles' tenure has been viewed by many observers as providing a more stable leadership structure within the administration.


Mumbai, March 16 : Maharashtra Minister Shambhuraj Desai, on Monday, told the state Assembly that changes made by the state government to accelerate the redevelopment of dilapidated and dangerous MHADA (Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority) buildings in Mumbai are receiving a positive response from developers.

Within just six months, 10 project proposals have been received, one of which has already been granted a No Objection Certificate (NOC).

The statement was made in response to a "Calling Attention" motion moved by MLA Manoj Jamsutkar regarding the hurdles faced in the redevelopment of 388 reconstructed MHADA buildings.

Members Rais Shaikh and Manisha Chaudhary also participated in the discussion.

Minister Desai said that previous regulations discouraged developers from taking up these projects.

To ensure that tenants living in buildings more than 30 years old receive safe housing, the state government introduced the several incentives, including additional area, floor space index (FSI) premium adjustments and increased incentive FSI.

"A decision was made in July 2025 to provide extra area on top of the rehabilitation component. Following the decision on September 18, 2025, the provision to acquire Floor Space Index (FSI) was set at 25 per cent of the Ready Reckoner rate of the land value, replacing the previous 20 per cent premium structure. The incentive FSI, which previously ranged from 45 per cent to 75 per cent, has been hiked to 75 per cent to 100 per cent," he added.

As a result of these shifts, the Minister said that 10 project proposals received in the last six months, one NOC granted as of March 10 and six proposals submitted under the cluster redevelopment model.

"MHADA administration has been instructed to prioritise and expedite these projects. If all documentation is complete, officials have been directed to grant immediate approval," Minister Desai added.

He told the House that an annual fund of Rs 75 crore has been allocated for the repair of dilapidated MHADA buildings, with a promise to increase this amount if necessary.

He also added that verification of heirship documents will be conducted based on court certificates to ensure eligible beneficiaries face no hardships.

Meanwhile, Minister Desai in the State Legislative Council said that the land owned by MHADA at Dadasaheb Gaikwad Nagar, Malvani, Malad (West) and Mumbai, is divided into two parts.

One part belongs to the Maharashtra Police Federation, while the remaining portion has been developed by MHADA.

He announced that the Federation has submitted a construction agreement for the housing project being built on the land leased to the Maharashtra Police Federation.

The project is expected to be completed by March 2036.

The question was asked in the State Legislative Council by member Milind Narvekar.

"The Maharashtra Police Co-operative Housing Federation is executing the project under a lease agreement for a housing redevelopment scheme. The project is being developed according to the new Development Control Regulations (DCR), which will make 1,071 flats available. The plot within this layout is reserved as a Recreational Ground. Minister Desai clarified that this playground will remain open to the general public," he said.
Ukrainian MFA on Szijjarto's statement regarding consultations on Druzhba pipeline: Its impossible to abandon smth that was not planned

Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhiy Tykhyi denied Hungarian claims that Ukraine had refused to participate in a trilateral meeting to discuss the Druzhba oil pipeline.

"It's impossible to abandon something that wasn't planned, much less something that they're trying to impose at the last minute as a 'de facto agreement.' This has become typical Hungarian behaviorthey dreamed it up and blamed us," he said in response to journalists' questions on Monday.

In this context, Tykhyi recalled that on Saturday, Naftogaz held a detailed briefing for the diplomatic corps, where the Hungarian ambassador was among the representatives from 31 countries.

"Full information about the status of Druzhba was once again communicated to all partners, including the Hungarians," the press secretary added.

Earlier, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto stated that "trilateral consultations between the energy ministers of Slovakia and Ukraine were supposedly planned for today, but the Ukrainian side ultimately declined to participate."
Washington, March 16, : President Donald Trump on Monday criticised some US allies for hesitating to assist Washington in securing the Strait of Hormuz, saying several nations whose economies depend heavily on the waterway had been reluctant to contribute ships or equipment.a Washington, March 16, (IANS) President Donald Trump on Monday criticised some US allies for hesitating to assist Washington in securing the Strait of Hormuz, saying several nations whose economies depend heavily on the waterway had been reluctant to contribute ships or equipment.

Speaking at the White House before a meeting with board members of the Trump Kennedy Centre, Trump said the United States had taken the lead in confronting Iran's maritime threat but expected other countries to play a greater role.

"We strongly encourage other nations whose economies depend on the strait far more than ours," Trump said, noting that the US receives "less than 1 per cent of our oil from the strait."

He pointed to major Asian economies as being far more dependent on the passage. "Japan gets 95 per cent, China gets 90 per cent," he said, while "South Korea gets 35 per cent."

Trump said Washington had already moved to neutralise Iran's naval threat in the region. "We're hammering their capacity to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz with more than 30 mine-laying ships destroyed," he said.

But he said some countries had hesitated when asked to help secure the waterway.

"We have some countries where we have 45,000 soldiers, great soldiers, protecting them from harm's way," Trump said. "And when we want to know, do you have any minesweepers? Well, we'd rather not get involved, sir."

The President suggested that reluctance from certain partners confirmed his long-standing criticism that the United States often bears a disproportionate burden in global security.

"I just want the fake news media and everybody else to remember that," Trump said. "Because when I've been a big critic of all of the protecting of countries, because I know that we'll protect them."

Pressed by reporters about international participation in securing the strait, Trump said several nations had indicated they would join the effort but declined to name them.

"Numerous countries have told me they're on the way," he said. "Some are very enthusiastic about it."

When asked specifically about France, Trump said he had spoken to President Emmanuel Macron and rated his response "on a scale of 0 to 10" as "an eight."

He also voiced disappointment with Britain's response to US requests for support earlier in the conflict.

"I was not happy with the UK," Trump said, recalling that he had asked London to send aircraft carriers but that the response came only after the fighting had largely subsided.

"I said I don't need them after the war has ended, and once I need it before the war," he said.

Trump emphasised that the United States did not depend heavily on the Strait of Hormuz for energy supplies and was therefore urging countries that rely more on the route to contribute to its security.

"We don't need oil, we have all the oil we need for ourselves," he said.


Washington, March 16 : A group of Senate Democrats has introduced a War Powers Resolution aimed at preventing the United States from entering hostilities against Cuba without explicit approval from Congress, escalating a growing debate in Washington over President Donald Trump's military posture towards the island.

The resolution, introduced by Senators Tim Kaine of Virginia, Adam Schiff of California and Ruben Gallego of Arizona, seeks to ensure that any US participation in military action against Cuba must first be authorised by lawmakers.

The measure would direct the President to "remove the United States Armed Forces from hostilities within or against Cuba," according to the text released alongside the legislation.

The proposal follows heightened tensions after Trump imposed a blockade on oil shipments to Cuba and publicly warned of possible military action. The President has said the United States would "take care of Cuba" and suggested the island nation could "fall soon" if it does not strike a deal with Washington.

Kaine, a member of the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees, said the resolution was intended to protect Congress's constitutional authority over decisions of war.

"When will President Trump understand that Americans want lower prices, not more unnecessary wars?" Kaine said in a statement announcing the resolution.

"Only Congress has the power to declare war under the Constitution, but he operates with the belief that the US military is a palace guard, ordering military action in the Caribbean, Venezuela, and Iran without Congress's authorisation or any explanation for his actions to the American people."

Schiff said lawmakers must intervene before the United States becomes drawn into another conflict.

"The American people have spoken loud and clear that they do not want any more costly wars of choice that skyrocket prices at home," Schiff said.

"The President's sabre-rattling toward Cuba makes clear where his sights are next. Congress must make its voice heard, or we risk involvement in another risky war of choice and losing our constitutionally granted authorities forever."

Gallego also criticised the administration's posture toward Havana, linking it to broader tensions following US military actions elsewhere.

"As if the disaster of the Iran War and the resulting spike in oil prices weren't enough, Trump is now threatening to intervene in Cuba as well," Gallego said.

"He ran on America First, but now it's clear he's become a puppet of the war hawks in his party."

The joint resolution is considered privileged legislation under the War Powers Act and can be brought to a procedural vote in the Senate after ten days. However, analysts say the measure faces long odds, particularly in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.

The proposal comes as speculation grows that Cuba could become Washington's next military flashpoint following US strikes against Iran and earlier tensions involving Venezuela.

Senator Lindsey Graham, a close Trump ally, recently told Fox News that "the liberation of Cuba is upon us. It's just a matter of time."

Trump himself also suggested the Cuban government could soon collapse, telling CNN in a recent interview that "Cuba is gonna fall pretty soon."

Since January, the United States has enforced a blockade on oil shipments to Cuba, worsening fuel shortages that have triggered blackouts across the island and deepened an ongoing economic crisis.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said on Friday that his government had begun talks with US officials aimed at easing tensions. The discussions, he said, "were aimed at finding solutions through dialogue to the bilateral differences between our two nations."
Washington, March 17 : The House Democrats are demanding that top officials from the Trump administration testify before the Congress about the diplomacy and decision-making that preceded the United States' military conflict with Iran.

Representative Gregory W. Meeks, the ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, on Monday, led all Democratic members of the panel in sending a letter urging Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Presidential adviser Jared Kushner to appear before the committee.

The lawmakers said Congress must understand the diplomatic negotiations and planning that led to the conflict.

"These individuals, both drawn from the real estate industry rather than diplomatic or national security backgrounds, were placed in charge of one of the most consequential negotiations facing the United States," the members wrote.

"The decisions made during this process have now resulted in an unauthorised military conflict with Iran, with profound consequences for the security of the American people, the stability of the Middle East, and global energy markets that directly affect American families."

The Democrats said Congress has a constitutional duty to examine how negotiations unfolded and what strategy guided the administration before the use of force.

"Congress has both a constitutional responsibility and a clear national interest in understanding how these negotiations were conducted, what diplomatic strategy guided them, and what planning preceded the use of military force," the letter said.

According to the lawmakers, the US administration has repeatedly declined requests to allow Witkoff or Kushner to testify before the Congress.

"Yet despite repeated requests, the Administration has declined to make Witkoff or Kushner available for testimony or briefing before Congress," the letter added.

The Democrats also raised concerns that no public hearing has been held on the issue.

"At the same time, the Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee has declined to hold a public hearing on these matters with Administration witnesses," the letter said, adding that congressional oversight during a military conflict is a fundamental part of the constitutional system of checks and balances.

The lawmakers said that if the US administration believes its Iran strategy has been justified, it should be willing to explain its decisions publicly.

"If the Administration believes its approach toward Iran has been successful and justified, then it should welcome the opportunity to explain its decisions to Congress and the American people," the members wrote.

The letter formally asked the US President to direct Witkoff and Kushner to appear before the committee for a public hearing as soon as possible.

It also requested that Rubio and Hegseth testify so lawmakers can examine the US administration's strategy toward Iran.

"The stakes of the current conflict, including risks to US service members, regional stability, and the global economy, demand transparency and accountability," the lawmakers wrote.

"Congress and the American people deserve a clear explanation of the diplomatic and strategic decisions that brought us to this moment."

The letter was signed by Meeks and more than twenty Democratic members of the committee, including Joaquin Castro, William Keating, Greg Stanton, Pramila Jayapal, Brad Sherman, Jim Costa and Ami Bera.
London, March 17 : Jemima Goldsmith has publicly appealed to Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to intervene after her two sons, Sulaiman Khan and Kasim Khan, were unable to obtain visas to visit their father, former Prime Minister Imran Khan, despite applying more than two months ago. a London, March 17 (IANS) Jemima Goldsmith has publicly appealed to Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to intervene after her two sons, Sulaiman Khan and Kasim Khan, were unable to obtain visas to visit their father, former Prime Minister Imran Khan, despite applying more than two months ago. 

In a detailed post on X, Jemima Goldsmith said the boys had submitted their visa applications in January, yet the Pakistan consulate had not processed them, even though the official timeline for online visas is listed as 7 to 10 working days.

Jemima Goldsmith said the delay was particularly distressing because both Defence Minister Khawaja Asif and the Prime Minister's spokesperson, Mosharraf Zaidi, had publicly assured international media that Imran Khan's sons would be able to travel safely to Pakistan after four years. 

She added that the boys have not been permitted to speak to their father on the phone or send him a letter, and have not seen him since 2022, shortly after he survived an assassination attempt.

In her appeal, Goldsmith said that reports of Imarn Khan's deteriorating health made the situation more urgent, and she urged the Pakistani government to allow the visit "as soon as possible". 

She said the prolonged silence from authorities had left the family in a state of uncertainty, despite repeated assurances that the boys would face no restrictions.

The issue has added to growing concerns among Imran Khan's supporters and human rights groups about the conditions of his detention and the restrictions placed on communication with his family and legal team.

Imran Khan has been in prison since 2023 after being convicted in multiple cases, including corruption and charges related to the handling of classified documents. 

His party, Pakistan TehreekeInsaf (PTI), has repeatedly claimed that the cases are politically motivated and aimed at removing him from the political landscape. 

Since his imprisonment, Imran Khan's family members, including his sons living abroad, have struggled to obtain permission to meet him. 

His lawyers have also reported difficulties in gaining regular access, alleging that the Pakistani military establishment has imposed strict controls on who can see him and when. 

These restrictions have fuelled criticism from international observers who argue that Imran Khan's detention conditions lack transparency and fail to meet the basic rights afforded to detainees.
Ukraine as of March 16 in nine regions sowed spring grains and legumes on 53,400 hectares, representing 1% of this year's forecast, the press service of the Ministry of Economy, Environment and Agriculture reported.

According to operational statistics, the pace of work currently lags 35.7% behind last year's indicators. The Ministry of Economy specified that currently in Ukraine 25,600 ha of peas have been sown (9% of plan), 16,900 ha of barley (2%), and 5,400 ha each of wheat and oats. Sowing of industrial crops has not yet begun.

Leading regions are Odesa (26,400 ha), Volyn (8,500 ha), Mykolaiv (7,700 ha), Kherson (3,800 ha) and Lviv (3,500 ha).

The Ministry of Economy operational report also notes that in 2026 Ukraine plans to sow spring grains and legumes on 6.003 million ha, 1.6% less than the actual 2025 figure (6.104 million ha).

Corn will traditionally occupy the main share of area  4.418 million ha, 1.6% (or 70,300 ha) less than last year's figure. Areas under barley will also decrease to 753,700 ha (-2.7%). At the same time, wheat areas will expand 7% (to 186,300 ha), while production areas under peas (274,500 ha) and oats (138,000 ha) will each increase 1%.

The Ministry of Economy forecasts that buckwheat areas in 2026 will total 56,800 ha (-2%), while millet areas will be at 40,000 ha, 20.5% more than last year's figures. Sowings of other grains and legumes are expected at 135,500 ha, 19% less than last year's figure (167,100 ha).

In the structure of industrial crops, sunflower in 2026 is forecast to occupy 5.0 million ha, 2% (or 103,600 ha) less than in 2025. Soybean areas are expected at 2.04 million ha (-1.6%), sugar beet at 197,200 ha (-0.8%). The ministry has not yet released data on rapeseed.
Layan Elmor wakes up at approximately 5:15 a.m. each morning, making sure she is extra quiet to avoid waking her roommate in their shared dorm room. She grabs her water, snacks and dining hall to-go box from the fridge, and goes downstairs to the kitchen to heat up her breakfast. Then, it is time for the first prayer of the day at dawn, marking the start of the fast.
Companies such as Tesco, SAP, Walmart, and Airbus are increasingly using their India centres to develop AI-driven solutions and support global innovation, a trend expected to continue as AI adoption accelerates worldwide.

Kindly note the image has only been published for representational purposes. Photograph: Kind courtesy Yan Krukau/Pexels

Key Points Office lease sizes ranging between 50,000 and 100,000 square feet.

Many large tech and GCC expansions involve AI and engineering hubs in Bengaluru, Pune, Hyderabad, and Chennai.

Flexible operators have also signed AI platforms.

Indias office market recorded gross absorption of 75.2 million square feet in 2025.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is emerging as a potential new demand driver for Indias office market, with AI-focused technology (tech) firms actively leasing new office space and established information technology (IT) companies expanding their footprint as they ramp up investments in AI.

What industry execs say

Industry executives say this trend is becoming increasingly visible across major office markets, particularly Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Pune, where both global tech firms and AI-first startups are expanding their teams and taking up larger office spaces.

Karan Chopra, chairperson and co-chief executive officer of Table Space, said the company has signed multiple AI tech firms over the past three months, with lease sizes ranging between 50,000 and 100,000 square feet, largely concentrated in Bengaluru and Hyderabad.

Table Space houses around 40 AI companies across its facilities and is integrating AI- and Internet of Things-enabled infrastructure, such as smart workstations and intelligent building systems, to support these firms.

One prominent AI brand more than doubled its presence with us over a period of three years, Chopra said.

Umesh Uttamchandani, MD of DevX, said: Our existing clients are becoming much more productive with the large-scale adoption of AI.

"We are seeing that improved productivity is making organisations more bullish and optimistic about growth.

"This is leading them to take up more office space. Many IT companies are looking to lease extra space from us.

Why demand for office space is going up

Peush Jain, MD, commercial leasing and advisory at Anarock Group, highlighted that many large tech and global capability centre (GCC) expansions  such as those by L&T Technology Services, LTM, and global Cloud and search majors  involve AI and engineering hubs in Bengaluru, Pune, Hyderabad, and Chennai.

Flexible (flex) operators have also signed AI platforms such as Asper.ai and Eightfold AI for mid-sized office blocks.

WeWork India, IndiQube, Table Space, Incuspaze and other flex operators are reporting numerous agreements  usually for 50 to 700 seats  with AI-first startups in Bengaluru, Pune, and Hyderabad, Jain added.

What real estate consultants say

Real estate consultants say the broader office market is already seeing the effects of rising AI investments.Arvind Nandan, MD of research and consulting at Savills India, said much of the demand is being driven not only by pure-play AI startups but also by tech firms and GCCs building AI and advanced analytics.

Indias office market recorded gross absorption of 75.2 million square feet (msf) in 2025, with tech occupiers accounting for about 34 per cent of leasing activity.

GCCs absorbed around 28 msf, representing nearly 38 per cent of total leasing, he said.

Many GCCs are shifting their focus towards specialised roles in AI, analytics, Cloud computing, and product engineering.

Companies such as Tesco, SAP, Walmart, and Airbus are increasingly using their India centres to develop AI-driven solutions and support global innovation, a trend expected to continue as AI adoption accelerates worldwide.

Flex workspace operators say they are witnessing the shift firsthand.

Neetish Sarda, founder and MD of Smartworks, said global enterprises are expanding their India teams in areas such as machine learning, data science, and advanced engineering.

GCCs are becoming the innovation engines

Much of this growth is happening within GCCs, which are increasingly becoming the innovation engines of multinational companies.

Amit Ramani, chairperson and MD of Awfis Space Solutions, said AI-driven firms have distinct workspace requirements, including collaborative innovation zones and tech-enabled infrastructure designed for engineering and data science teams.

Many of the companies we signed earlier started with around 100 seats and are now occupying 800 to 1,000 seats, Chopra said, adding that new-age AI firms prefer ready-to-use offices in Grade A locations rather than building and managing their own workspaces.

These functions require secure, scalable, and collaboration-driven workplace environments, which is driving demand for enterprise-grade managed office campuses, Sarda said, adding that the rapid pace of change in AI is also pushing companies towards flex-office models that allow them to expand teams quickly.
For many outside the technology sector, Shantanu Narayen's impact may not always be visible, but his leadership quietly transformed how millions of people learn, work, create and run businesses across the world.

IMAGE: Shantanu Narayen. Photograph: Courtesy, Adobe.com

Key Points Shantanu Narayen transformed Adobe from a traditional software company to a cloud-based technology leader.

Narayen spearheaded the shift to a subscription model with Adobe Creative Cloud, making professional tools more accessible.

Adobe Acrobat and the PDF ecosystem grew significantly under Narayen's leadership, impacting global document management.

Narayen led Adobe's expansion into digital marketing and analytics with Adobe Experience Cloud.

Adobe embraced artificial intelligence with the launch of Adobe Firefly under Narayen's guidance.

When most people around the world were asleep at 2.31 am, Satya Nadella was awake and posting a message that would signal the end of an era in the global technology industry.

Taking to X in the early hours, the Microsoft chairman and CEO congratulated Shantanu Narayen for what he described as a 'legendary run' at Adobe.

'Congrats Shantanu, on a legendary run at Adobe! You've built one of the most important software companies in the world, and expanded what's possible for creators, entrepreneurs, and brands everywhere.

'What has always stood out to me is the empathy you've brought to the creative process and the example you've set as a leader. Grateful for your friendship, mentorship, and for all you've done for Adobe and for our industry,' Nadella wrote.

As the world woke up hours later, Nadella's post quickly spread across social media, with many realising that Narayen's nearly 19-year stint as Adobe's chief executive had come to an end.

For many outside the technology sector, Narayen's impact may not always be visible, but his leadership quietly transformed how millions of people learn, work, create and run businesses across the world.

Shantanu Narayen's Rise to Adobe CEO and Cloud Transformation

After becoming CEO in 2007, Narayen led a major transformation of Adobe, shifting the company from a traditional packaged software business to a cloud-based technology giant that now plays a central role in the global digital economy.

One of his most influential decisions was moving Adobe's products from one-time purchases to a subscription model through Adobe Creative Cloud in 2013.

Earlier, designers, photographers and filmmakers had to buy expensive software packages every few years.

The cloud model dramatically reduced upfront costs and made professional tools accessible to students, freelancers and small businesses.

Applications such as Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Premiere Pro became available through monthly subscriptions, opening doors for a new generation of digital creators across the world.

In January 2026, Adobe also pledged nearly $10 million in grants and product donations to support filmmakers, including funding creators directly for the first time.

Another key area of Narayen's influence was the growth of Adobe Acrobat and the global PDF ecosystem.

Today, PDFs and Acrobat are used by students, businesses, governments and legal systems worldwide.

From signing contracts digitally to submitting assignments or filling government forms, billions of documents move through Adobe's systems every day.

Narayen also pushed the company into digital marketing and analytics through Adobe Experience Cloud, which helps companies analyse consumer behaviour and personalise online experiences.

More recently, he steered Adobe into the artificial intelligence era with the launch of Adobe Firefly, a generative AI platform that allows creators to generate images, design elements and effects using text prompts.

Under his leadership, Adobe's tools helped shape entire industries ranging from social media content creation to digital advertising.

Teachers built digital classrooms, entrepreneurs designed their own marketing materials and filmmakers edited films on laptops using Adobe software.

From Hyderabad to Silicon Valley: Narayen's Journey

Born in Hyderabad in 1963, Narayen's journey from India to Silicon Valley has also inspired many young professionals.

He studied electronics and communication engineering at Osmania University before starting his career at Tata Consultancy Services in Mumbai.

In the mid-1980s he moved to the United States for higher studies, earning a master's degree in computer science from Bowling Green State University and later an MBA from University of California, Berkeley.

His early Silicon Valley career included roles at Apple between 1989 and 1995, where he worked on digital imaging technologies, followed by a stint at Silicon Graphics.

He also co-founded a startup called Pictra, a digital photo-sharing service, before joining Adobe in 1998 as vice president and general manager of engineering for desktop products.

Narayen steadily rose through the ranks, becoming president and chief operating officer in 2005 before being appointed CEO in 2007.

Reactions to Narayen's Departure

Social media users reacted quickly to news of his departure. One user wrote on X, 'He built something for human creators. He probably doesn't want to be the face of what comes next'.

Another commented, 'From a tiny startup to a global brand, Shantanu made sure creators had the tools to compete. A true legend of the SaaS era.'

A third user added, 'Leading a company like Adobe for so long and still keeping the focus on creators is no small feat. That kind of leadership shapes not just a company, but the entire industry around it.'
India's February trade data reveals a slight dip in exports and a surge in imports, with the looming West Asia crisis poised to further disrupt trade dynamics and increase economic uncertainty.

Photograph: Wolfgang Rattay/Reuters

Key Points India's merchandise exports decreased marginally by 0.81% in February, reaching $36.61 billion.

Imports surged by 24.11% to $63.71 billion, driven by significant increases in gold and silver imports.

The trade deficit narrowed compared to the previous month but widened year-on-year, reaching $27.1 billion.

The West Asia crisis is expected to negatively impact India's exports in March due to logistical challenges and rising freight costs.

Key export sectors like petroleum, plastics, and textiles experienced negative growth, while rice, marine products, and pharmaceuticals saw positive growth.

The country's merchandise exports dropped marginally by 0.81 per cent year-on-year to $36.61 billion in February, and the trade deficit narrowed to $27.1 billion compared to the previous month.

The impact of the West Asia crisis will be known in the data for the month of March, as the war began on February 28. The data will be released by mid-May.

Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agarwal said exports in March will see a "southward" trend due to the logistical challenges amidst geopolitical tensions.

The joint attack launched by the US and Israel on Iran has disrupted the movement of consignments in international waters. It has led to a significant jump in oil prices, due to which air and ocean freight have risen sharply.

Imports in February increased by 24.11 per cent to $63.71 billion due to a jump in gold and silver imports. Inbound shipments of gold rose 218.55 per cent to $7.44 billion, while silver imports were up by 285.23 per cent to $1.66 billion.

India mainly imports the yellow metal from Switzerland, from where the inbound shipments have climbed 719.3 per cent to $2.71 billion in February.

Oil imports were up 9 per cent to $12.97 billion during the month.

The trade deficit has narrowed when compared to the previous month, when it was $34.68 billion. However, the gap has widened year-on-year from $14.05 billion recorded in February 2025.

Briefing the media on the trade data, Agrawal said that the country's exports are doing well despite global economic challenges.

He said that the country's exports during the April-February period of FY26 went up 1.84 per cent to $402.93 billion. Imports rose 8.53 per cent to $713.53 billion during the period.

Merchandise trade deficit during the 11-month period of 2025-26 has increased to $310.60 billion as compared to $261.80 billion in the same month last year.

He added that the conflict will impact the country's exports to West Asia.

"...there are logistical challenges. Movement of ships...even air cargo also must face certain challenges because of some disruption in flights. So, it will have some impact.

"Indian exports to that region will suffer, and their imports from India will also suffer because they are also dependent on India for multiple product categories," he said.

Agrawal said both sides are engaged to find solutions, which can address some of these challenges.

He informed that the government is regularly taking feedback from exporters and are looking at ways to resolve them.

On overall export numbers, he said, "definitely", there will be some impact.

"At least there will be some impact on the potential exports....Overall export numbers that you are seeing, we have been holding that combined goods and services, we will be around 860 billion dollars... I am sure we will remain in positive territory," he told reporters.

When asked about India's imports from Russia, the secretary said: "We are buying Russian oil also...there has been an increased buying from Russian oil also, in the current month also, because of challenges we are facing."

Sector Performance

At the exports front, key sectors such as petroleum, plastics, textiles, leather goods, iron ore, spices, cashew, oil meals, oil seeds, and tea recorded negative growth in February.

However, shipments of rice, marine products, gems and jewellery, pharma, chemicals, engineering, and electronics have recorded positive growth.

As per the commerce ministry data, services exports are estimated at $39.53 billion as compared to $31.65 billion in January 2025.

The imports are estimated at $16.38 billion as compared to $14.51 billion in the same month last year.

India-US Trade Deal

Speaking about the progress on the India-US trade deal, the commerce secretary said that the actual signing of the pact will be done when the new architecture of tariffs is in place.

"We are talking right now on the details with the US," Agrawal said.

Last month, both the US and India agreed on a framework for a trade deal.

Industry Reaction

Commenting on the data, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO President S C Ralhan said the escalating conflict in the Middle East has heightened global trade uncertainty.

"Disruptions in key maritime routes, including the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea, have forced vessels to reroute, increasing freight costs, insurance premiums, and transit times, thereby adding pressure on exporters," he said.

He added that close monitoring of geopolitical developments, maintaining smooth logistics connectivity and providing timely policy support will be essential to sustain export momentum.
While the introduction of branded generics is likely to accelerate volumes for GLP-1 agonists, value growth may moderate because of price erosion.

IMAGE: An Ozempic Semaglutide injection. Photograph: Kind courtesy Dennis Sylvester Hurd/wikipedia.org/Creative Common

Key Points Over 50 semaglutide-based branded generics are expected to enter India following the molecule's patent expiry in March 2026.

Expansion of prescriptions from specialists to general practitioners may require stricter patient profiling and therapy monitoring.

GLP-1 drugs such as tirzepatide and semaglutide drove a 177 per cent rise in category sales to 1,446 crore.

With more than 50 semaglutide-based branded generics set to enter India this month, experts warn that an expansion of prescription beyond specialists to consulting physicians could require stricter patient profiling to prevent therapy dropouts.

"With branded generics, the prescribing specialities for anti-obesity drugs such as glucagon-like peptide (GLP-1) agonists will expand from speciality and super-speciality doctors, such as endocrinologists, to consulting physicians and general practitioners," a Delhi-based endocrinologist said.

This, he added, would require stringent patient profiling and close monitoring of therapy adherence and lifestyle changes as the prescriber base expands significantly.

Surge in Semaglutide Generics

GLP-1 agonists are a class of medicines that help regulate blood sugar, increase fullness (satiety) and slow stomach emptying, leading to weight loss and improved glucose control in patients with type 2 diabetes and obesity.

Over the past year, new launches in the injectable GLP-1 agonist segment, including tirzepatide and semaglutide, drove a 177 per cent rise in sales in this category on a moving annual turnover (MAT) basis to Rs 1,446 crore in February 2026, compared with Rs 571 crore in February 2025.

Tirzepatide drugs, such as Eli Lilly's Mounjaro, topped the revenue charts, recording Rs 882 crore in sales within 11 months of their March 2025 launch.

Semaglutide drugs, meanwhile, posted overall sales of Rs 445 crore over the past 12 months.

GLP-1 Drugs Sales Jump

Developed by Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk, semaglutide is currently available in India as Ozempic, Wegovy and Rybelsus.

However, with the molecule expected to lose patent protection by mid-March 2026, several Indian companies have begun aggressive promotion.

Patent Expiry Sparks Competition

"Before the launch of an innovator molecule, multinational corporations typically spend more than half a year on scientific education of speciality and super-speciality doctors about the disease, patient profiling and education," said Sheetal Sapale, vice-president (commercial) at Pharmarack.

However, she added that this level of engagement is often lost when CPs and GPs begin prescribing following the launch of branded generics.

"This can lead to a potentially higher rate of dropouts if patient profiling and monitoring are not done adequately," she said.

Doctors Warn of Therapy Dropouts

Experts say that while the introduction of branded generics is likely to accelerate volumes for GLP-1 agonists, value growth may moderate because of price erosion.

"Branded generics typically come at one-third to one-fifth the price of innovators and can increase monthly sales two-three times in the initial three-four months" explained Sapale.

"Although many players enter the segment, it is usually the top three or four companies that capture most of the opportunity created by the patent expiry," Sapale said.

While prices decline, she added the pool of eligible patients remains broadly unchanged.

In November last year, Novo Nordisk initiated a 37 per cent price cut for Wegovy, its injectable semaglutide drug.

As a result, Wegovy injections, available in five dose strengths ranging from 0.25 mg to 2.4 mg, saw their monthly prices fall to between Rs 10,850 and Rs 16,400, from the earlier range of Rs 17,345 to Rs 26,050.

Similarly, Novo introduced Ozempic in the Indian market at a relatively affordable price of Rs 8,800 per month (Rs 2,200 per week) for the entry dose of 0.25 mg.

The 0.5 mg dose costs Rs 10,170 per month (Rs 2,542.5 per week), while the 1 mg dose costs Rs 11,175 per month (Rs 2,793.75 per week).

Price Cuts in Wegovy, Ozempic

"Patients already onboarded on innovator drugs are unlikely to switch, as they generally belong to the affording class," Sapale said.

She added that speciality and super-speciality doctors may continue to prefer innovator brands because of the robust clinical evidence supporting their efficacy and safety profiles.

Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff
This article was first published 2 years ago

Anthology movies are a strange beast.

They can be as monotonous and harmless as munching away a bumper bag of chips -- you eat one, you have to finish the rest.

Or they can be like discovering a rare treasure marked by profound insight and offbeat experiences, observes Sukanya Verma.

A condition. A characteristic. A trigger. A tool for vengeance.

Lust isn't confined within the purview of sex. Much like its precursor, Lust Stories 2 strives to examine the various roles this primal emotion is capable of beyond a lascivious imagery.

Once again featuring four short stories by four directors with a decidedly diverse film-making voice, it is a fairly worthwhile follow-up whose potential as a streaming franchise cannot be undermined.

R Balki's typical 'look-what-I-did-there' candour gets things going in the first segment.

Straight up, Neena Gupta advocates coitus before chatees gunn to her granddaughter (Mrunal Thakur) during a rishta-meet between her family and Mr Right's (Angad Bedi). A firm believer of compatibility in bed over common love for chowmein, Gupta's granny reasons, 'Chinese noodles kab tak bandhe rakhenge?'

As open-minded Balki's intentions are, there's something gratingly synthetic about how the entire episode plays out.

Rather than realising the significance of sex in long-term relationships, it becomes about living up to a senior citizen's expectations.

Even a compelling actress like Neena appears too stilted in the part of the lascivious daadi opening about her sex life to her inexperienced grandkid.

Mrunal and Angad giggle through the part as if tickled by the naivete with which the director depicts their generation. Between a preachy condom ad or public service announcement for soon-to-marry couples, take your pick.

Trust Konkona Sen Sharma to dive in and save the day.

Behind the screen or before it (Geeli Pucchi), her anthology karma is strong. A fine actor and intuitive film-maker, she has a flair for capturing the remotest of circumstances in an intimate fashion. That she almost always finds a social context to her stories renders them even more believable.

Acknowledging lust at its most basal state, she documents a fascinating give-and-take of sexual arousal when Tillotama Shome's independent working woman is caught in a bizarre situation around her reliable domestic help (Amruta Subhash).

One's dry sexuality feeding off another's unbridled passions ensues in an lustful symbiosis transcending class and common sense.

It's a wild take and Konkona doesn't hold back.

But her directorial might lie in her ability to see the underlying tenderness. Like -- Kal se aaon kya? -- a character quizzes. Even her innuendoes have feelings.

Shome's role-reversed Peeping Tom is a hoot whereas Amruta Subhash delivers another knockout as a woman unapologetic about her libido or lies.

Awkwardness is one of the trickiest emotions to pull off realistically on screen, but these two dazzling women convey it in all its truth and tangibility.

Up next, Sujoy Ghosh imagines a tete-a-tete between subconscious and guilt in the intriguing encounters of Vijay Varma and Tamannaah Bhatia.

Coloured in fanciful visuals of dreamy skies, creepily cheerful neighbourhoods and recurring musical motif of Jurm's Jab Koi Baat Bigad Jaaye, there's a Dorothy in Oz quality to the yarn that gathers momentum as it draws a connection between a man's past and present following a road accident and mysterious reunion.

Though the leads engage in torrid lovemaking and amply display their scorching chemistry, sex isn't on its agenda unlike the first two explicit representations of the anthology's lust theme. More eerie than erotic, the endgame is anybody's good guess not living under the rock since Shyamalan's twist-ending era.

It's an odd little segment if only it wasn't so obvious. What's telling is the toxic pattern of lust in an individual's essential nature.

For a lot more satisfying twist, head over to Badhaai Do director Amit Ravindernath Sharma's concluding segment. Just as you're expecting a foreseeable finish, Sharma stops us in our tracks.

In the tradition of captivating short stories, it's enigmatic, imperfect and temperamental.

A depressing, downcast air envelops the mood amidst constant instances of domestic violence, wherein a depraved, down-on-luck royal (Kumud Mishra) abuses his wife (Kajol) day and night for wanting to turn their desolate haveli into a hotel and send their only son abroad for higher studies.

Sharma takes the opportunity to scoff at the milieu's deep-rooted casteism and Brahminical supremacy in humorous quips of the son's deeply religious friend -- teen mahine tak suraj nahi oogta wahan pe (England), pata nahi pani kisko chadhate hain wahan par.

Kumud Mishra plays Kajol's brutish husband with a terrifying degree of disagreeability.

Simran is a long way from the quintessential dulhania as a battered half in a hellish marriage.

Kajol's simmering disquiet gently underscores the irony between her former life and present -- a prostitute looking to be a respectable housewife only to be beaten black and blue. It's not the violence of her body, but her mind that fuels Sharma's tale of retribution that kicks off on the arrival of a seductive new maid (Anushka Kaushik).

Women-centric stories are still the mainstay in Lust Stories 2 as is its skewed 3:1 male-female director ratio, but its reluctance to tread on queer space is disappointing to say the least.

All said and done, anthology movies are a strange beast.

They can be as monotonous and harmless as munching away a bumper bag of chips -- you eat one, you have to finish the rest. Or they can be like discovering a rare treasure marked by profound insight and offbeat experiences.

Most of the time, they offer a perfect platform for actors to fan their adventurous side.

Bottomline: Let there be a Lust Stories 3.

Lust Stories 2 streams on Netflix.

Lust Stories 2 Review Rediff Rating:
A 9-foot crocodile wandered onto the IIT Bombay campus, prompting a swift rescue operation by wildlife experts to ensure the safety of both the reptile and the university community.

IMAGE: Kindly note that this image has been posted for representational purposes only. Photograph: Screen grab/X

Key Points A 9-foot crocodile entered the IIT Bombay campus, causing concern among staff and students.

IIT security staff promptly alerted the forest department after spotting the reptile on campus.

A rescue team comprising forest department personnel and RAWW safely captured the crocodile.

The crocodile is undergoing a medical examination and will be released back into its natural habitat.

The incident highlights the proximity of the IIT Bombay campus to the Powai lake, a known crocodile habitat.

A 9-foot-long crocodile entered the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay campus early on Monday and was later rescued by wildlife experts, officials said.

IIT security staff spotted the reptile on the campus, located in Mumbai's Powai area, and immediately alerted the forest department control room, they said.

The nearby Powai lake is home to several crocodiles.

Crocodile Rescue Operation

An eight-member rescue team comprising personnel from the forest department and Resqink Association for Wildlife Welfare (RAWW) reached the spot and safely captured the crocodile, the officials said.

The animal was taken for a medical examination and kept under observation. It will be released into its natural habitat after being declared fit, they added.
Top Congress leaders are questioning whether the Election Commission's announced schedule for the Assembly polls unduly benefits the BJP, citing concerns over the timing and structuring of election phases.

IMAGE: Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi at the Parliament premises during the ongoing Budget Session, in New Delhi. Photograph: Rahul Singh/ANI Photo

Key Points Priyanka Gandhi Vadra suggests Assembly poll dates and phases are structured to favour the BJP.

Shashi Tharoor expresses surprise at the early election date in Kerala, posing a challenge for Congress.

Congress leaders highlight the short campaign period due to the Holy Week and Vishu festival.

The Congress party acknowledges the challenges but asserts its readiness for the upcoming Assembly elections.

A day after the Election Commission announced the schedule for upcoming Assembly polls, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday said it seems that the polling dates and structuring of phases have been decided to suit the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's convenience.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor also expressed surprise over the poll schedule, saying an early election in Kerala has taken "us aback".

Assembly polls will be held on a single day in Assam, Kerala, Puducherry (April 9) and Tamil Nadu (April 23) and in two phases in West Bengal -- on April 23 and April 29 -- while the counting of votes for all the elections will be taken up on May 4, the EC announced on Sunday.

Asked about the dates and scheduling, Priyanka Gandhi said, "The election dates that have been announced and the way the phases have been structured, it seems to have been decided according to the BJP's convenience."

Congress Concerns Over Kerala Election Timing

Tharoor, talking to reporters in the Parliament House complex, said, "Kerala is an important election. It is a very important challenge for us because we have had the LDF government coming back to power last time, which is unusual because for half a century, the two fronts have alternated in government. We do not want to allow them to repeat."

"A very surprisingly early election has taken us all aback. We were all expecting the voting to take place in the last 10 days of April, but on April 9, we will have voting in Kerala. That means it is just barely three weeks left," the Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram said.

While the ruling CPI(M) has fielded a number of incumbent MLAs in the upcoming polls, the Congress has a lot of new candidates and they need more time to familiarise themselves with the electorate, Tharoor said.

"It is a bigger challenge for us but we are working hard and are prepared to rise up to that challenge," he added.

Tharoor also said he is likely to miss the last two weeks of the Parliament session due to the Kerala polls.

Campaign Period Shortened

All India Congress Committee general secretary K C Venugopal said on Sunday that the campaign period is very short.

"In between, there will be the Holy Week and the election is scheduled a few days before the Vishu festival. In practical terms, there are very limited days for campaigning," he said.

Venugopal, however, asserted that the Congress is ready for the election.
India's aerospace sector is poised for significant growth as government initiatives and international collaborations drive manufacturing capabilities, including joint ventures with Embraer and Sukhoi.

Key Points The Indian government is prioritising the growth of aerospace manufacturing through strategic initiatives and collaborations.

Embraer, a Brazilian aircraft manufacturer, has formed a joint venture to establish a final assembly line in India, enhancing the manufacturing ecosystem.

Collaboration with Russian company Sukhoi aims to manufacture SJ 100 super jets in India, boosting regional connectivity.

Adani Defence & Aerospace has partnered with Embraer to set up a final assembly line in India for the E175 regional jets.

Increased investment is expected in India's aerospace manufacturing sector as aircraft component production and final assembly lines improve.

The government is making efforts to boost manufacturing activities in the country's fast-growing aerospace sector and Indian companies are collaborating with foreign firms for setting up facilities, Union minister K Rammohan Naidu said on Monday.

Replying to a supplementary query during the Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha, the civil aviation minister highlighted joint ventures with Embraer and Sukhoi.

"Regarding the investment in manufacturing in aviation, we have taken it up very, very seriously. And for the first time, I am very happy to tell the House also that Embraer, which is a Brazilian aircraft manufacturing company, has come into a joint venture with the Indian manufacturing company.

"And we are going to very soon start a final assembly line in the country, which is going to improve the manufacturing ecosystem," Naidu said. The minister pointed out that the aviation sector was not an easy sector to start the manufacturing process.

"Aircraft manufacturing is very complex, very precise engineering takes place. And countries have had this project of building their own aircraft for many decades, and some have not been successful also. That is why, when you look at the international level, only a handful of countries are able to manufacture the aircraft in today's age," Naidu said.

Under the visionary leadership of the Prime Minister, he said the government strongly believes that everything is possible in this new India.

"We have collaborated with international companies. One, I have mentioned Embraer. Also, the Russian Sukhoi people have also entered into an MoU with HAL to manufacture their SJ 100 super jet, which is also a 100 seater (aircraft) and very, very important for our regional connectivity also," Naidu said.

Embraer and Adani Defence & Aerospace Partnership

Meanwhile, Embraer has partnered with Adani Defence & Aerospace and Brazil to set up a final assembly line in India for the E175 regional jets.

At present, there are aircraft component manufacturing activities happening in the country.

Naidu stated that more manufacturing facilities are being set up, especially for the aviation and aerospace ecosystem. "And in the coming days, as we improve the aircraft components and also the final assembly line, we are going to see more investment come in this manufacturing sector," the minister said.
AIIMS-Delhi has initiated the passive euthanasia process for Harish Rana, a patient in a coma since 2013, following a landmark Supreme Court ruling on end-of-life care and the right to die with dignity.

IMAGE: Kindly note that this image has been posted for representational purposes only. Photograph: Pexels.com

Key Points A specialised medical team at AIIMS will gradually withdraw life support, including nutritional support and oxygen, while ensuring pain relief and palliative sedation.

The Supreme Court's landmark judgment allows for the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment in cases where medical boards conclude the condition is irreversible.

The process of passive euthanasia at AIIMS is expected to take two to three weeks, focusing on maintaining the patient's dignity and comfort.

The family of Harish Rana sought both medical and spiritual guidance in preparing for the inevitable, viewing the decision as necessary for his well-being.

AIIMS-Delhi has initiated protocols to implement the Supreme Court verdict allowing passive euthanasia for Harish Rana, a process that will take about two to three weeks, say insiders.

The 31-year-old, who has been in a coma since 2013, was shifted from his Ghaziabad home to the palliative care unit at Dr BR Ambedkar Institute Rotary Cancer Hospital at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences on Saturday.

A specialised medical team headed by Dr Seema Mishra, professor and head of the department of anaesthesia and palliative medicine, has been constituted to implement the process, the first ever in India.

The team comprises doctors from departments of neurosurgery, onco-anaesthesia and palliative medicine, and psychiatry.

In a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court on March 11 allowed passive euthanasia for Harish, who was a BTech student at the Panjab University who fell from a fourth-floor balcony in 2013 and suffered severe head injuries. He has been in a coma since, with artificial nutrition support and occasional oxygen support.

The apex court also directed AIIMS-Delhi to ensure that life support is withdrawn with a tailored plan so that dignity is maintained.

"The process generally involves withholding or withdrawing the nutritional support gradually while ensuring adequate pain relief. The patient is given palliative sedation so that he or she is not in distress. Life support measures such as artificial nutrition, oxygen and medications are slowly withdrawn. The aim is not to prolong nor hasten death," Dr Sushma Bhatnagar, former head of the department of onco-anaesthesia, pain and palliative care, AIIMS-Delhi.

In Harish's case, sources said the entire process could take two to three weeks to complete.

Family's spiritual preparation

A video from the Rana home in Ghaziabad showed relatives offering prayers as a member of the Brahma Kumaris puts a 'tilak' on Harish's forehead and says softly, "Sabko maaf karte hue, sabse maafi mangte hue, so jaaoa theek hai... (Forgiving everyone and asking forgiveness from everyone. Now sleep. It's ok)."

The Brahma Kumari seen in the heartbreaking video was Sister Lovely from the Mohan Nagar Seva Kendra in Ghaziabad, Komal, a member of the Brahma Kumaris based at Mount Abu, told PTI over phone.

"She is following a ritual with the words that mean he (Harish) leave the world in a happy state, seeking and giving forgiveness... it is part of a meditative chant that comforts the soul and eases the entire process of the soul merging with the sublime," Komal said.

She added that the family has been deeply spiritually inclined, which helped them endure the difficult 13-year period of caring for Harish.

"Although the couple has another son, advancing age had begun to worry them about who would look after Harish in the future once they were no longer able to," she said, adding that members of the organisation counselled the family during this phase.

While the family was reluctant to talk, Harish's father Ashok Rana could not be reached for comment.

According to Komal, alongside medical consultations, the family also sought spiritual guidance as they prepared for the inevitable after the Supreme Court's directions.

The top court allowed withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment after medical boards concluded that Harish's condition was irreversible and continued clinical intervention would not restore neurological function.

Ashok Rana, who had approached the apex court seeking permission for passive euthanasia, had said after the verdict that the decision was extremely painful but necessary.

"No parent would ever want to see their son in such a condition," he said, adding that the decision was taken in his son's best interests.

"We believe that in the larger public interest, the decision could help families of many people who may be in a condition like Harish," Ashok Rana had told reporters outside his residence.

The Supreme Court had clarified that the order did not amount to active euthanasia but involved withdrawal of the feeding tube and continuation of palliative care so that the natural process of death may take place with dignity.
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas has assured that despite the war in Iran and related disruptions to energy supplies, Ukraine remains Europes top security priority.

She made the statement in Brussels on Monday after a meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council.

"Then we discussed the war on Ukraine. Moscow stands to gain from higher energy prices and the diversion of air defences from Ukraine to the Middle East. Ministers were clear that Ukraine remains a European top security priority and attention for Ukraine will not be allowed to fizzle out," Kallas said.

She said the same drones that strike Kyiv are also striking countries in the Persian Gulf.

"As Ukraine has the best drone defences, we also discussed briefly how we can put these things together: the needs for the Gulf countries, but also the needs of Ukraine and the defence sector and industry," she said.

The EU's top diplomat also pointed out that Russia continues to spread the war to its neighbors.

"Russia keeps spilling the war over to its neighbours. Russia strikes on Ukrainian hydro power plant threatened to contaminate Moldova's water supply. We are supporting Moldova with equipment aid and satellite imagery," Kallas said.

She also commented on the U.S. decision to ease sanctions on Russian oil, stressing that Europe will maintain sanctions and continue reducing dependence on Russian fossil fuels.

"If we want this war to end, Moscow must have less money for the war, not more. Dialling up pressure on Russia's shadow fleet is one of the best tools we have," she said.

In this regard, Kallas praised France, Belgium and Sweden for detaining tankers sailing under false flags.

"It is time for the gloves to come off on Russia's shadow fleet. On the EU side, the adoption of the 20th sanctions package is long overdue. We discussed how to push this forward. The same goes for the EUR 90 billion loan," Kallas said.
A recent report exposes that almost half of West Bengal's MLAs are facing criminal charges, while a majority are crorepatis, raising concerns about the integrity and financial status of state legislators.

Photograph: ANI Photo

Key Points Nearly half (47%) of West Bengal MLAs have declared criminal cases against themselves, according to an ADR report.

Over half (52%) of West Bengal's 291 analysed MLAs are crorepatis, with total assets amounting to 821.50 crore.

A significant portion of MLAs from both the Trinamool Congress (41%) and BJP (66%) have declared criminal cases.

22 West Bengal MLAs have declared cases related to crimes against women, including one case related to rape.

The average assets per West Bengal MLA stand at 2.82 crore, highlighting the financial wealth of state legislators.

Nearly half of the West Bengal MLAs have declared criminal cases against themselves, while over half are crorepatis, a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and West Bengal Election Watch released on Monday said.

The report analysed the criminal, financial and other background details of 291 out of the 294 sitting MLAs in the state, with three seats currently vacant.

It found that 136 MLAs (47 per cent) have declared criminal cases, while 109 legislators (37 per cent) face serious criminal charges.

According to the report, eight MLAs have declared cases related to murder, while 29 legislators face cases of attempt to murder.

Additionally, 22 MLAs have declared cases related to crimes against women, including one case related to rape.

Party-Wise Analysis of Criminal Cases

The party-wise analysis showed that 92 out of 223 MLAs (41 per cent) from the Trinamool Congress, and 42 out of 64 MLAs (66 per cent) from the BJP, have declared criminal cases in their affidavits.

Financial Background of West Bengal MLAs

The report also highlighted the financial background of the legislators, noting that 152 out of the 291 MLAs analysed (52 per cent) are crorepatis.

The total assets of the sitting MLAs amount to Rs 821.50 crore, with the average assets per MLA standing at Rs 2.82 crore, it said.

Among the legislators, Jakir Hossain, the MLA from Jangipur, tops the list with declared assets worth over Rs 67 crore, followed by Ahmed Javed Khan of Kasba with assets of over Rs 32 crore, and Vivek Gupta of Jorasanko with assets exceeding Rs 31 crore.

The analysis further showed that 45 MLAs, or about 15 per cent of the House, are women, while 246 legislators are men.

Educational Qualifications

In terms of education, 182 MLAs (63 per cent) have declared themselves as graduates or above, while 104 legislators (36 per cent) have educational qualifications between class 8 and 12.

The report is based on affidavits submitted by candidates during the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections and subsequent bypolls, the ADR said.
A Bengaluru woman was allegedly murdered by her husband after a domestic dispute, sparking a police manhunt and raising concerns about domestic violence.

Photograph: Courtesy Pixabay

Key Points A woman in Bengaluru was allegedly murdered by her husband after a quarrel.

The husband allegedly slit his wife's throat with a knife and fled the scene.

The couple had a history of domestic disputes fuelled by the husband's alcohol consumption.

Police have launched a manhunt to apprehend the accused husband.

The incident occurred in Bilekahalli, under the jurisdiction of MICO Layout police station.

A 45-year-old woman was allegedly killed by her husband, who slit her throat with a knife following a quarrel over a trivial issue, police said on Monday.

The deceased, identified as Rangamma, worked in housekeeping, they said.

The incident occurred in Bilekahalli within the limits of MICO Layout police station.

Police said the family originally hails from Davanagere district and had moved to Bengaluru about four years ago.

In the complaint, the deceased's son stated that they have been residing with parents and are working in the catering field. His father works as a security guard.

He alleged that his father, Nagraj, frequently consumed alcohol and often picked up quarrels with the mother.

"On March 15, between 8.30 PM and 9.30 PM, the father allegedly picked up a quarrel with the mother over a trivial issue and murdered her by slitting her throat with a knife, after which he fled from the scene," a senior police officer said.

In this regard, a murder case has been registered at MICO Layout police station, he said.

Investigation Underway

"Investigation has been taken up, and special teams have been formed to trace and apprehend the accused," he added.
A Border Security Force jawan's alleged suicide in a Jammu and Kashmir camp has triggered a police investigation to uncover the reasons behind the tragic incident.

Photograph: ANI Photo

Key Points A BSF Head Constable, Hari Babu, was found dead inside a camp in Samba district, Jammu and Kashmir.

The jawan allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself at his post in the Penthi area.

Police have initiated inquest proceedings and are investigating the circumstances surrounding the death.

The motive behind the BSF jawan's suicide is currently unknown.

A Border Security Force (BSF) jawan allegedly committed suicide inside a camp in Samba district of Jammu and Kashmir early Monday, officials said.

Head Constable Hari Babu, a resident of Uttar Pradesh, was found hanging inside his post at a camp in Penthi area.

The officials said the body was shifted to hospital for postmortem and other legal formalities.

Investigation into BSF Jawan's Death

The motive behind his taking such an extreme step was not known immediately, the officials said, adding police have started inquest proceedings and further investigation is on.
Yogi Adityanath champions national unity over caste divisions, asserting that 'casteism' weakens India's social fabric and hinders its progress on the global stage.

IMAGE: Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath. Photograph: ANI Photo

Key Points Yogi Adityanath asserts that while the caste system should organise society, 'casteism' weakens national unity.

Adityanath criticises previous governments for dividing people based on caste, region, and language, hindering national progress.

He highlights the Modi government's efforts to address issues like unrest in Kashmir and Naxalism while ensuring welfare schemes reach all citizens.

Adityanath contrasts the current government's support for spiritual traditions with the previous UPA regime's perceived disregard.

He emphasises the importance of unity and faith in achieving national goals, citing the Ram temple construction as an example.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday said while the caste system is meant to organise society, 'casteism' weakens the social structure and divides the nation.

Addressing a programme at the Sire temple in Jalore, Adityanath also said that religion should act as a unifying force in society.

"Caste should be the means of running the society systematically, but casteism weakens that system," Adityanath said.

"The previous governments believed in dividing people in the name of caste, region and language, which weakened the country and led to challenges such as the unrest in Kashmir, Naxalism, linguistic disputes and caste conflicts. The benefits of governance often failed to reach the Dalits, the poor and other marginalised sections," he said.

"But today, India is moving ahead to become a major global force under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The country has been brought together under his leadership," Adityanath said, adding that steps have been taken to address the issues of Kashmir and Naxalism, while ensuring that welfare schemes reached people without any discrimination.

The chief minister also said that the government is focused on expanding infrastructure and public facilities across the country.

"Good roads have been built in areas where there were none earlier, railway connectivity has been expanded, while airports, Metro, medical institutions and engineering colleges have been built in areas that lacked them," Adityanath said.

Spiritual Traditions and Development

Targeting the previous UPA regime at the Centre, Adityanath claimed it treated India's spiritual traditions as regressive.

"In contrast, the present leadership recognised that our faith is deeply connected to Sanatan Dharma and that society cannot move forward without faith," he said.

Referring to the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, Adityanath said it could have been built decades earlier, but the previous governments did not act on it and even questioned the existence of Lord Ram.

"The Ram temple is now progressing grandly. Whenever people unite with determination, achievements like the Ram temple become possible," he said.

Referring to the development of the Kashi-Vishwanath corridor in Varanasi, he said earlier only a limited number of devotees could visit the temple at a time, but now thousands can have 'darshan' simultaneously.

"Similar arrangements are being created for the devotees at Mathura and Vrindavan," he said.

Vision for a United India

Calling India a unique nation shaped by the spiritual practices of saints, the bravery of the warriors, and the hard work of the farmers, artisans and labourers, Adityanath said, "Every citizen should work towards the vision of 'Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat'. And preserving faith is essential for maintaining the country's unity and strength."

Adityanath also said that India endured centuries of attacks by foreign invaders who looted the country, disrupted social order and disrespected cultural traditions.

"These forces succeeded largely because of internal divisions. Had the country remained united, no invader could have dominated it," Adityanath said.
Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar is facing a potential impeachment as opposition parties raise serious concerns about his conduct, impartiality, and alleged manipulation of electoral processes.

IMAGE: Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Photograph: Naveen Sharma/ANI Photo

Key Points Opposition parties are seeking the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, alleging misconduct and bias.

The motion cites concerns over the appointment process, including a dissent note from Rahul Gandhi.

Allegations include public attacks on Rahul Gandhi and manipulation of voter lists during recent elections.

The impeachment process for the CEC is similar to that of a Supreme Court judge, requiring proof of misbehaviour or incapacity.

The opposition accuses the CEC of favouring the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), particularly regarding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

Notices seeking a motion for the removal of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar flag issues ranging from the appointment process to his public attack on Rahul Gandhi and instances of alleged manipulation of votes in recent elections, an opposition leader said on Monday.

The notices, submitted in both Houses of Parliament on Friday, seek a motion for Kumar's removal from the CEC's post, as Opposition MPs have cried foul over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls and raised concerns over the alleged manipulation of voters' lists on multiple occasions.

The process to remove the CEC is similar to that for the removal of a Supreme Court or high court judge, meaning an impeachment can be effected only on the ground of "proven misbehaviour or incapacity".

Concerns over appointment and conduct

According to the opposition leader, the around-10-page-long notices refer to a dissent note submitted by Gandhi in February 2025, when Kumar was picked for the post. Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, is a member of the panel that appoints the CEC, along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.

In his dissent note, the LoP had said, "It is both disrespectful and discourteous for the PM and HM to have made a midnight decision to select the new CEC, when the very composition of the committee and the process is being challenged in the Supreme Court and is due to be heard in less than forty-eight hours."

The notices also mention the CEC's public ultimatum to Gandhi from a press conference in August 2025. Amid allegations of "vote theft" by the opposition, a combative Kumar had asked the LoP to either apologise or back his claims with a signed affidavit, as required under electoral rules.

The notices also refer to allegations of manipulations in the voters' list raised by opposition parties in Karnataka's Aland and Mahadevapura.

The notices have been signed by around 130 members in the Lok Sabha and 60 in the Rajya Sabha. The signatories include leaders of the INDIA bloc parties, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and some independent MPs.

Allegations and impeachment process

According to sources, the notices list seven charges against Kumar, including "partisan and discriminatory conduct in office", "deliberate obstruction of investigation of electoral fraud" and "mass disenfranchisement".

The opposition parties have accused the CEC of aiding the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on several occasions, especially with the SIR exercise, which they have alleged aims at helping the ruling party at the Centre.

If the motion is admitted in both Houses, a committee will be constituted jointly by the Lok Sabha speaker and the Rajya Sabha chairman.

The committee will consist of the chief justice of India (CJI) or a Supreme Court judge, the chief justice of one of the 25 high courts and a "distinguished jurist".

The proceedings of the committee are like any court proceedings where witnesses and the accused are cross-examined.

The CEC, too, will get a chance to speak before the panel.

According to rules, once the committee submits its report, it will be tabled in the House and discussions will commence for impeachment.

A motion to remove a judge or, in this case, the CEC, will have to be passed by both Houses.

When the House discusses the motion, Kumar will have the right to defend himself standing at the entrance of the House chamber.
A notorious Chennai history-sheeter, Thoppai Ganesan, involved in numerous criminal cases including murder and dacoity, was killed in a police encounter in Madhavaram, sparking questions about law enforcement tactics.

Photograph: ANI Photo

Key Points Thoppai Ganesan, a history-sheeter with over 30 criminal cases, was killed in a police encounter in Chennai.

The encounter occurred during an investigation into a major dacoity case involving Rs 25 lakh.

Police claim Ganesan attacked officers while attempting to flee, leading to the use of force in self-defence.

Ganesan was a notorious figure in Chennai's underworld, with a criminal record spanning several years.

A high-profile history-sheeter, allegedly involved in over 30 criminal cases, including five murders, was killed in an early morning "police encounter" in the city's Madhavaram area on Monday, a police official said.

The deceased, identified as Thoppai Ganesan, was a key suspect in a recent major dacoity case involving Rs 25 lakh.

According to police sources, the encounter took place around 5.45 am, near the Chinna roundabout in Madhavaram. A special team had been tracking Ganesan's movements as part of an investigation into the robbery.

"The police team cornered him near the roundabout, but the suspect attempted to flee. When an officer tried to apprehend him, Ganesan allegedly attacked the personnel with a weapon in a bid to escape," a senior police official said.

The police reportedly fired warning shots in the air, but when Ganesan continued to resist and attack, the team opened fire in self-defence.

Ganesan sustained severe bullet injuries and was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital in Puzhal, where doctors declared him dead on arrival. His body was later shifted to the Government Stanley Medical College Hospital for a post-mortem examination.

Ganesan was considered a notorious figure in the city's underworld, with his criminal record spanning several years and multiple jurisdictions.
Amidst escalating clashes, China is actively mediating the conflict between Pakistan and Afghanistan, urging direct talks and a ceasefire to resolve their differences through dialogue.

Key Points China is actively mediating between Pakistan and Afghanistan, urging both nations to hold direct talks to de-escalate the ongoing armed conflict.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has held telephonic talks with Pakistani and Afghan counterparts, pushing for a ceasefire and peaceful resolution.

Pakistan conducted strikes in Afghanistan's Kandahar province, targeting alleged terrorist positions, leading to retaliatory actions from Afghanistan.

Taliban's Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada called for non-interference in Afghanistan's internal affairs, asserting stability under Taliban rule.

China emphasises a trilateral dialogue mechanism with Pakistan and Afghanistan, with special envoy Yue Xiaoyong mediating between Islamabad and Kabul.

China on Monday called on Pakistan and Afghanistan to hold direct talks to end their armed conflict, as fighting between the two neighbours continued.

China hopes both sides will remain calm and exercise restraint, hold face-to-face talks as soon as possible, achieve a ceasefire at an early date, and resolve their differences through dialogue, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told a media briefing here, replying to a question on Beijing's mediation efforts.

Clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan escalated in the last few days.

Late last week, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held telephonic talks with Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, and Afghanistan's Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, urging them to work out a ceasefire and end hostilities.

According to Afghan media reports, Muttaqi, in his talks with Wang, emphasised Afghanistan's legitimate right to defend its people and territorial integrity and denied Islamabad's allegations of hosting Pakistani militant groups.

Pakistan on Sunday said its security forces hit terrorist positions and military targets in Afghanistan's Kandahar province in overnight strikes.

Media reports said Pakistani air strikes targeted the complex in which Taliban Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada resided in Kandahar.

According to the Afghan Defence Ministry, 14 Pakistani military personnel were killed and 11 others wounded in its retaliatory strikes at Pakistan's border posts on March 14.

The Pakistani strikes came after Wang spoke to Muttaqi on March 13.

Chinese special envoy Yue Xiaoyong is also shuttling between Islamabad and Kabul to mediate between the two countries. China has a trilateral dialogue mechanism with Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Earlier, several other countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkiye, tried to mediate between the two countries.

Taliban's Stance on Internal Affairs

Meanwhile, Taliban's Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, in his message on Eid on Monday, urged all sides to refrain from interfering in Afghanistan's internal affairs.

He said Afghanistan has reached a stage of victory, general security, and stability under the Taliban government.

Through the sacrifices, patience, and perseverance of the Afghan people, "we have reached the stage of victory, general security, and stability," Akhundzada was quoted as saying by China's state-run Xinhua news agency.
Delhi Police have apprehended Javed alias Kallu Dada, a key member of the notorious Dhingra gang, wanted for armed assault in Jahangir Puri, Delhi.

Photograph: ANI Photo

Key Points Delhi Police arrested Javed alias Kallu Dada, a member of the Dhingra gang, in Jahangir Puri.

Javed was wanted in connection with an armed assault case and had been evading arrest.

The accused has a prior criminal record, including a conviction for robbery-murder.

Javed confessed to his involvement in the recent case during interrogation.

The Delhi Police has arrested a 29-year-old wanted criminal allegedly linked to the Sheikh Firoz alias Saiful alias Dhingra gang operating in northwest Delhi's Jahangir Puri, an official said on Monday.

The accused, identified as Javed alias Kallu Dada, a resident of Jahangir Puri, was wanted in connection with a case registered under charges related to armed assault in the area, he said.

Criminal History and Gang Affiliations

Javed has a criminal background and was previously involved in cases of robbery-murder and attempted murder. He was convicted and sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment in a robbery-murder case registered in 2015 at Jahangir Puri police station.

He is an active member of the Dhingra gang and had been evading arrest for a considerable period in the recent case.

Arrest and Confession

Police held the accused from Jahangir Puri on March 10, the official said, adding that during interrogation, Javed allegedly confessed to his involvement in the case, and admitted to laying low to evade arrest.

His criminal antecedents were verified, confirming his involvement in multiple serious offences, police said, adding that further investigation is underway.
Delhi Police are cracking down on the illegal LPG cylinder black market, seizing hundreds of cylinders and arresting multiple individuals amid fears of supply shortages and price gouging.

IMAGE: Photograph: Manash Das/ANI Photo

Key Points Delhi Police registered six FIRs related to illegal LPG cylinder activities, including storage, refilling, and black marketing.

Over 600 LPG cylinders were seized across Delhi, raising concerns about potential supply shortages and artificial scarcity.

The Crime Branch raided a godown in Mundka, discovering hundreds of illegally stored LPG cylinders from various companies.

Several individuals were arrested for refilling LPG from larger domestic cylinders into smaller ones for commercial purposes.

Police are taking strict action against illegal LPG cylinder operations due to safety hazards and violations of regulations.

At least six FIRs have been registered across Delhi in connection with illegal storage, refilling and black marketing of LPG cylinders with more than 600 cylinders seized amid concerns over a possible supply shortage, police said on Monday.

Two cases were registered in outer north Delhi, while one case each was reported from east Delhi's Shakarpur, Rohini and Gandhi Nagar in Shahdara, apart from one in Mundka.

In one of the biggest seizures, the Crime Branch raided a godown operating under the name of Guruji Indane Gas Service in Mundka and recovered 610 LPG cylinders of different companies, officials said.

The raid revealed that commercial LPG cylinders belonging to multiple oil marketing companies were stored together at the premises, which was authorised only to distribute Indane commercial cylinders.

"The recovered stock included 423 Indane cylinders, 92 Bharat Gas cylinders and 95 HP gas cylinders, both filled and empty," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Sanjeev Kumar Yadav said.

Preliminary verification also indicated discrepancies in stock records. According to initial information from officials of the Indian Oil Corporation, the authorised stock of Indane commercial cylinders at the distributorship was expected to be nil as of March 10.

However, police found 133 filled Indane cylinders during the raid, raising suspicion of irregular stock management and illegal storage.

Police suspect that such hoarding of LPG cylinders is often carried out during periods of supply shortage to create artificial scarcity and sell them in the black market at inflated prices.

A case has been registered under the Essential Commodities Act and relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), while the owners of the godown are absconding, and efforts are underway to trace them.

Arrests and Raids Across Delhi

Meanwhile, in east Delhi's Shakarpur, police arrested a 46-year-old man, identified as Yogesh Gupta, for allegedly refilling LPG from large domestic cylinders into smaller ones at his shop.

During a raid conducted on a tip-off, police recovered two domestic cylinders, three small cylinders, a gas transferring pipe, an LPG refilling machine and a weighing machine.

Another case was registered in Shahdara's Gandhi Nagar area where a 55-year-old man, identified as Ram Vilas Sharma, was apprehended for allegedly transferring LPG gas from domestic cylinders into smaller cylinders for commercial purposes at a shop in Dharampura.

Police recovered nine LPG cylinders, two gas filling machines and a weighing machine from the spot.

In Rohini district, police arrested a delivery boy, identified as Pushpendra, who was allegedly involved in illegally transferring gas from domestic cylinders into commercial cylinders for black marketing. The accused was caught during a raid conducted in Vijay Vihar.

Police recovered two filled commercial cylinders, 15 filled domestic cylinders, four weighing machines, four refilling pipes used to transfer gas between cylinders and a motorcycle allegedly used to transport them. A case has been registered under relevant provisions of the BNS and the Essential Commodities Act.

Illegal Refilling Operations Uncovered

In outer north Delhi's Bawana area, two separate FIRs were registered against shopkeepers for allegedly illegally decanting LPG from large cylinders into smaller containers and selling them at inflated prices.

In the first case, Lokesh Kumar Yadav was caught by a patrolling constable in Pooth Khurd area while transferring gas from a large HP cylinder into a smaller cylinder. In another case, Amar Jeet Kumar, a resident of Krishna Vihar in Bawana, was also booked for similar illegal LPG refilling activities, police said.

Police seized large LPG cylinders, smaller cylinders and gas transfer pipes with nozzles from the accused persons. Cases have been registered under Section 287 of the BNS and relevant provisions of the Essential Commodities Act, and proceedings have also been initiated for confiscation of the seized cylinders and equipment.

Police said strict action is being taken against those involved in illegal storage, hoarding and refilling of LPG cylinders, as such activities not only violate control regulations but also pose serious fire and safety hazards in densely populated areas.

Further investigation in the cases is underway.
Delhi Police have cracked down on illegal LPG cylinder operations, uncovering a major storage racket in Mundka and an illegal refilling scheme in Shakarpur, raising concerns about safety and potential black market activities.

IMAGE: Photograph: Manash Das/ANI Photo

Key Points Delhi Police busted a racket storing over 600 LPG cylinders in a Mundka godown, seizing cylinders from multiple companies.

The godown was only authorised for Indane cylinders, but also contained Bharat Gas and HP Gas cylinders, violating regulations.

A man was arrested in Shakarpur for illegally refilling LPG cylinders from larger to smaller ones, posing significant safety risks.

The illegal refilling operation lacked necessary licenses and safety measures, increasing the risk of fire and explosions.

Police suspect the illegal storage of LPG cylinders is linked to black market activities during supply shortages, where cylinders are sold at inflated prices.

Delhi Police has busted a racket storing more than 600 LPG cylinders in a godown in Mundka area and arrested a man in a separate case for refilling gas cylinders illegally, officials said on Monday.

In the first case, the Crime Branch conducted a raid in a godown under the name of Guruji Indane Gas Service in the Mundka area, police said in a statement.

During the raid on Sunday, the team found that commercial LPG cylinders belonging to multiple oil marketing companies were stored together inside the godown.

The premise was authorised only for the distribution of Indane commercial cylinders, but it had cylinders belonging to other companies, such as Bharat Gas and HP Gas, violating the licensing conditions and control regulations, the statement said.

"During the search, a total of 610 LPG cylinders, both filled and empty, were recovered. It included 423 cylinders of Indane, 92 cylinders of Bharat Gas and 95 cylinders of HP Gas," it added.

Among the Indane cylinders, 133 were filled while 290 were empty. The team also seized 17 filled and 75 empty cylinders of Bharat Gas, and 47 filled and 27 empty cylinders of HP Gas.

The statement further said that 21 small-sized empty cylinders were also recovered during the spot.

Further verification also revealed discrepancies in stock records. According to preliminary information received from officials of Indian Oil Corporation, the authorised stock of Indane commercial cylinders at the distributorship was expected to be nil as of March 10, 2025.

However, during the raid, police found 133 filled Indane commercial cylinders present inside the premises, raising suspicion of irregular stock management and illegal storage.

Police suspect that such hoarding of LPG cylinders is often carried out during periods of supply shortage or artificial scarcity, after which the cylinders are sold in the market at inflated prices through black marketing.

"Illegal storage of LPG cylinders also poses serious safety hazards as the highly inflammable cylinders were kept without following mandatory safety protocols. The raid was conducted in the presence of an officer from the Food Supply and Consumer Affairs Department," they added.

Based on the findings, a case has been registered under Section 7 (penalties for violating control orders) of the Essential Commodities Act and Section 61(2) (criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita at the Crime Branch police station, an officer said.

He added that the owners of the godown were not present during the raid and are currently absconding. Efforts are underway to trace and apprehend them.

Illegal LPG Refilling Operation Uncovered

Police arrested a 46-year-old man for allegedly refilling LPG gas from large cylinders into smaller ones at his shop in Shakarpur.

On Sunday, police received a tip-off regarding the black marketing and illegal refilling of LPG cylinders. Based on the information, a raid was conducted in the shop, and Yogesh Gupta, from Shakarpur, was arrested.

The accused admitted to refilling LPG gas from large domestic cylinders into smaller cylinders for the past few days, a police officer of the east district said.

During the search of the shop, police recovered two domestic LPG cylinders of 14.2 kg capacity, three small cylinders of five kg each, a "totapilas" (gas transferring pipe), an LPG refilling machine and a weighing machine.

"The accused did not possess any licence or authorisation to carry out LPG refilling activity and was operating the setup without any safety measures. Such illegal refilling poses serious risks of fire or explosion in densely populated areas," the officer said.

A case has been registered against Gupta at Shakarpur police station under sections 3 (powers to control production, supply, distribution, etc., of essential commodities) and 7 of the Essential Commodities Act, he said.

The case also added Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 287 (negligent conduct with respect to fire or combustible matter), 125 (act endangering life or personal safety of others), and 318(4) (cheating) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and further investigation is underway.
Photo: https://www.president.gov.ua/

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha participated online on Monday in the monthly meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council, during which he noted that the war in the Middle East has demonstrated Ukraine's role as a security contributor.

According to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry's website, the minister informed his colleagues that Ukraine had received requests from a total of eleven countries for security support in connection with the Iranian regime's aggressive actions.

"For years, Iran supplied weapons to the Russian aggressor. Today, the Iranian regime is a terrorist and nuclear threat. Ukraine has decided to help with a practical contributionjust as it did previously through the 'Grain from Ukraine' initiative," Sybiha emphasized.

He urged his European colleagues to maintain their focus on supporting Ukraine, as a just and lasting peace in Europe remains a shared priority. The minister also noted Ukraine's commitment to the peace process and its readiness for the next round of trilateral talks. At the same time, Sybiha emphasized that achieving real progress requires a meeting at the leadership level.

The Minister also noted the need to unblock the agreed EUR 90 billion loan and the inadmissibility of tying these funds to the operation of the Druzhba oil pipeline. "In this context, any blackmail of Ukraine through the seizure of our people and public funds is absolutely unacceptable. We call on Hungary to ensure the return of public funds to Ukraine," he emphasized.

Sybiha also addressed the topic of Ukraine's future EU membership and urged his colleagues to view it not only through the prism of enlargement, but also as an important element of long-term security and stability in Europe. This also applies to the membership of other candidate countries  the Western Balkan countries and Moldova.

The minister called on partners to further mobilize their efforts in the current circumstances.

"Countering Iran's aggressive regime must be accompanied by increased pressure on Russia's aggressive regime," Sybiha emphasized.
Amid escalating tensions in the Gulf, the Indian embassy in Tehran urgently advises Indian citizens in Iran to coordinate all border crossings with the embassy to avoid logistical and immigration complications.

IMAGE: Smoke rises following a strike, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Tehran, Iran, March 16, 2026. Photograph: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

Key Points The Indian embassy warns of potential logistical and immigration issues for those who don't coordinate their travel.

India emphasizes the importance of contacting the embassy for assistance and guidance before any travel plans.

The advisory is issued amidst escalating tensions in the Gulf region involving the US, Israel, and Iran.

Indian nationals in Iran are urged to follow official advisories and remain in touch with official channels for travel-related queries.

India on Monday asked its citizens currently in Iran not to approach or attempt to cross any land border for onward travel without prior and explicit coordination with the Indian Embassy in Tehran.

In an advisory, the Indian embassy further said that Indian nationals who attempt to leave Iran via land borders without its knowledge and guidance are highly likely to encounter serious logistical and immigration difficulties.

"...All Indian nationals currently in Iran are strictly advised not to approach or attempt to cross any land border of Iran for onward travel without prior and explicit coordination with the embassy of India," the advisory said.

It said the embassy will not be in a position to provide assistance once individuals move outside Iranian territory without prior coordination.

"The Embassy is in regular contact with members of the Indian community, and coordinated arrangements are being undertaken wherever necessary. Uncoordinated movement toward land borders is strongly discouraged," it added.

The mission urged the Indian nationals in Iran to strictly follow its advisories and remain in touch with official channels and before undertaking any travel.

The embassy also posted helpline numbers that Indian nationals could reach out to in case of travel-related queries or emergencies - Telephone: +98 912 810 9115, +98 912 810 9102, +98 9128109109, +98 993 217 9359; E-mail: cons.tehrant@mea.gov.in.

Context of travel advisory

The advisory comes in the wake of recent attacks by the US and Israel on Iran.

Starting February 28, the US and Israel launched a massive joint attack on Iran and with Tehran's retaliation, the conflict has extended to the entire Gulf region.
An Emirates flight en route to Dubai from Kochi was compelled to return due to a security incident at Dubai International Airport, causing travel disruptions and raising security concerns.

Photograph: Kind courtesy @emirates/X

Key Points Emirates flight EK533, carrying 325 passengers, returned to Kochi due to a security incident at Dubai International Airport.

The flight departed from Cochin International Airport (CIAL) at 4:30 am and landed back at 8:30 am.

Passengers were advised to remain on board while the situation at Dubai International Airport was being assessed.

The return service was expected to continue if Dubai International Airport resumed operations.

An Emirates flight bound for Dubai from Kochi returned to the Kochi airport on Monday following a security incident reported from the destination airport, a CIAL spokesman said.

Flight EK533 departed Cochin International Airport (CIAL) at 04.30 am with 325 people on board. En route, the aircraft was directed to turn back due to the sudden closure of Dubai International Airport, he said.

The flight landed in Kochi at 08.30 am, he added.

"Passengers are advised to remain on board while the situation at DXB (Dubai) is reviewed. If the airport resumes operations, the return service will continue," the spokesman said.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is investigating an alleged illegal call centre operation in West Bengal, conducting raids across multiple locations to uncover potential fraud and links to political funding.

Key Points The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids at approximately 10 premises across West Bengal, including Siliguri, Howrah, Bidhannagar, and Durgapur.

The raids are part of an ongoing investigation into the operations of an alleged illegal call centre.

The investigation aims to uncover potential fraudulent activities and scams perpetrated through the call centre.

Authorities are examining whether the call centre's operations are linked to political funding or electoral inducements in West Bengal.

Several individuals, including Surashree Kar, Samrat Ghosh, and Subhajit Chakraborty, are under scrutiny as part of the ED's investigation.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday conducted searches at multiple locations in poll-bound West Bengal as part of a probe into the operations of an alleged illegal call centre, officials said.

About 10 premises in Siliguri, Howrah, Bidhannagar and Durgapur were raided. The probe pertains to the activities of an "illegal" call centre, the officials of the federal probe agency said. It was not immediately clear if the probe is linked to some political funding or inducements linked to the electoral process.

Persons named Surashree Kar, Samrat Ghosh and Subhajit Chakraborty, apart from some others, are those being searched. A number of people are alleged to have been duped through the call centres that are under the scanner, they said.

West Bengal Assembly Elections

The Election Commission on Sunday announced the schedule for the assembly polls in West Bengal, stating that the state will have polls in two phases on April 23 and 29. Votes will be counted on May 4 along with three states of Assam, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, apart from the Union Territory of Puducherry.
Five individuals have been apprehended in Gadag, Karnataka, for their involvement in a sophisticated cyber fraud scheme targeting students with false scholarship promises to exploit their bank accounts for illegal transactions.

IMAGE: Illustration: Dominic Xavier/Rediff.com

Key Points Five men were arrested in Gadag, Karnataka, for allegedly scamming students into opening bank accounts for fraudulent activities.

The accused lured students with false promises of scholarship money and other incentives to open 'mule' bank accounts.

The fraudsters collected passbooks, ATM cards, internet banking details, and SIM cards linked to the student accounts.

Police seized mobile phones and bank kits related to the fraudulent accounts during the arrests.

The investigation is ongoing, with efforts to apprehend three more suspects who are currently at large.

Five men were arrested for allegedly luring students with false promises of scholarship money and other incentives to open mule bank accounts in their names for illegal transactions, police said on Monday.

The accused were identified as Vakdoth Vakeel (24), Raju (23), Zeeshan Ansari (22), Akash (32) and Sahil (22), they said.

Vakdoth and Raju, both residents of Huvina Hadagali taluk in Vijayanagara district colluded with the intention of committing cyber fraud and approached students staying at a boys hostel here.

According to police, by gaining their trust through false promises of scholarship money and other inducements, the accused duo convinced the students to open bank accounts in their respective names at the Bank of Maharashtra in Gadag city.

The accused themselves provided the initial deposit of Rs 2,000 for each account. After the accounts were opened, they deceitfully collected the passbooks, ATM cards, internet banking details, and the SIM cards linked to these accounts.

Based on the information gathered regarding this fraud, a case was registered on behalf of the government on March 11, and an investigation is underway.

Following a tip-off that Vakdoth and Raju were travelling to Goa to hand over the collected bank passbooks, ATM cards, linked SIM cards, and internet banking user IDs and passwords, their location was being tracked and they were subsequently apprehended, police said.

Investigation Details

"During the inquiry, it was confirmed that the accused had lured innocent account holders with false promises to open bank accounts in order to misuse them for cyber frauds, and subsequently collected all their account-related information," an officer said.

The duo revealed during questioning that they had travelled to Goa to discuss the commission for the eight fraudulently opened bank accounts with one of the other accused, Kumar, a resident of Attikatti village in Haveri district.

However, Kumar has not yet been traced, he said.

Subsequently, based on the information provided by them, three other accomplices were taken into custody.

Seized Items and Ongoing Investigation

With their arrests, police have seized 11 mobile phones, three bank kits pertaining to accounts opened at the Bank of Maharashtra in Haveri district and five bank kits pertaining to accounts opened at the Bank of Maharashtra in Gadag district.

"The investigation has revealed that the said accused have opened several more such accounts and efforts are being taken to nab three more accused who are currently absconding in the case," he added.
Interpol's new report exposes how AI-enhanced financial fraud is devastating the global economy, costing billions and requiring urgent international action to combat sophisticated scams and cybercrime.

IMAGE: Illustration: Dominic Xavier/Rediff.com

Key Points Global financial fraud cost the global economy over USD 442 billion in 2025, according to Interpol's latest report.

Agentic artificial intelligence (AI) is being leveraged by scamsters to autonomously plan and execute complete fraud campaigns, increasing profitability by 4.5 times.

Fraud-as-a-service platforms and generative AI have lowered the barrier to entry, enabling even low-skill individuals to launch hyper-realistic campaigns.

Cyber slavery and scam compounds are expanding beyond Southeast Asia, now appearing in the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America.

Interpol has launched 'Operation Shadow Storm' to combat financial frauds generated by scam centres, targeting cybercrime and human trafficking links.

Over USD 442 billion has been siphoned off from the global economy in 2025 through financial fraud, Interpol said in its global financial fraud threat assessment for 2026, released on Monday.

The report kept the overall global risk related to financial fraud at "high".

Scamsters are leveraging agentic artificial intelligence (AI), which can "autonomously plan and execute complete fraud campaigns -- from reconnaissance to ransom demands", the Lyon-based global police cooperation body said.

The second edition of the report, released Monday, warned that AI-enhanced fraud is 4.5 times more profitable than traditional methods, as agentic AI systems are now capable of autonomously planning and executing complete fraud campaigns -- from reconnaissance to ransom demands, making them a force multiplier.

From harvesting victim credentials to generating psychologically tailored ransom notes, fraudsters have used "deepfake audio" to mimic the voices of corporate executives during real-time phone calls to authorise fraudulent wire transfers in the Asia-Pacific region, it stated.

Titled 'INTERPOL Global Financial Fraud Threat Assessment', the report presents a grim anatomy of a "global fraud crisis", describing the frauds as a "polycriminal milieu" where traditional crimes like drug trafficking now cross paths with highly sophisticated, tech-enabled scams orchestrated through the Internet.

The report warned that "fraud-as-a-service" platforms and generative AI have demolished "barriers to entry", allowing even low-skill individuals to execute hyper-realistic campaigns.

The spread of cyber slavery and scam compounds, which were once prevalent in Southeast Asian countries, is being detected in the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America, aiding the expansion of global financial fraud syndicates, according to the assessment.

The labyrinthine compounds house hundreds of thousands of people from nearly 80 nationalities, trafficked and forced to perpetrate online scams in the name of lucrative jobs, it added.

International Law Enforcement Collaboration

Global law enforcement agencies are also trying to collaborate more effectively, the report noted.

"Since 2024, the number of fraud-related Interpol Notices and Diffusions has increased by 54 per cent. Over the same period, Interpol supported member countries in more than 1,500 transnational fraud cases in lost assets valued at USD 1.1 billion," it said.

The report further said the scam centres are growing in number and scale, targeting ever more victims.

"Although these operations are regularly shut down, the criminal leaders behind them remain hard to identify, using intermediaries and shell companies to hide their tracks and avoid detection," it said.

Interpol's Response: Operation Shadow Storm

Interpol said it is closing this critical gap by launching 'Operation Shadow Storm', a new international task force funded by the United Kingdom's Home Office as part of a unified, data-driven response.

"Using Interpol's network and tools such as I-GRIP, a stop-payment mechanism, the task force will target not only the financial frauds generated by scam centres, but also the links to cybercrime and human trafficking for forced criminality," it said.
In a Gurugram court, two individuals received life sentences for the murder and robbery of a taxi driver, while an accomplice was sentenced to three years for providing the murder weapon, bringing closure to the heinous crime.

Key Points Two men in Gurugram received life sentences for robbing and murdering a taxi driver.

The taxi driver was shot dead after the accused posed as passengers and attempted to steal his car.

A third individual was sentenced to three years for supplying the illegal weapon used in the murder.

Evidence presented in court included forensic reports confirming the murder weapon.

The court ordered the two main accused to pay Rs 1 lakh compensation to the victim's family.

The court here convicted two persons of robbing a taxi driver and shooting him dead, sentencing them to life imprisonment, while a third person was sentenced to a three-year term for providing illegal weapons to the assailants, police said.

According to the police, on March 24, 2022, information was received at Pataudi police station that a man's body was lying on Palasoli Road near Mau Lokri village, with a gunshot wound in the head.

A search revealed a driver's license, which identified the deceased as Rakesh Gurjar, a resident of Alwar in Rajasthan.

Rakesh, a taxi driver by profession, drove an Eco car and had left with passengers on March 23 night, but never returned.

Investigation revealed that the accused had rented Rakesh's taxi by posing as passengers. On the way, asked him to stop the vehicle at a secluded location where they they first tried to snatch the car keys, before shooting Rakesh dead.

The accused then fled from the spot with the car and the deceased's mobile phone. The car was later found abandoned in Nuh area, police added.

During the investigation, an accused named Hitesh alias Honey -- initially arrested in connection with another case -- confessed to the cabbie's murder during interrogation.

Based on his statement, another accused Pankaj was arrested from Mumbai. A country-made pistol, the weapon used in the crime, was recovered from his possession. A report from the Forensic Science Laboratory later confirmed that the bullet recovered from the deceased's body was fired from the same weapon.

Third accused Kuldeep, who supplied the illegal weapon, was also arrested. All the accused were subsequently sent to judicial custody, police said.

During the trial, the prosecution presented 32 witnesses and various evidence including forensic reports before the court, they added.

Sentencing and Court Orders

"The court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Puneet Sehgal convicted and sentenced all three accused on Monday. Pankaj and Hitesh alias Honey were sentenced to life imprisonment for murder and robbery," a senior police officer said.

Kuldeep was sentenced to three years' imprisonment for providing weapons and destroying evidence. The court also ordered Pankaj and Hitesh to pay a compensation of Rs 1 lakh to the victim's family, he added.
Himayani Puri, daughter of Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, is fighting back against defamatory online claims linking her to Jeffrey Epstein by filing a lawsuit seeking damages and the removal of the false content.

IMAGE: Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri. Photograph: ANI Photo

Key Points The lawsuit seeks the removal of the allegedly false and defamatory content.

Puri claims a coordinated online campaign is targeting her due to her father's position.

She asserts she has no connection to Epstein and that the allegations are baseless.

The lawsuit alleges the dissemination of false information across various social media platforms.

Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri's daughter has moved the Delhi high court for the removal of "false" and "defamatory" social media content linking her to convicted American sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The lawsuit by Himayani Puri is likely to be heard in the high court this week.

In her lawsuit seeking Rs 10 crore as damages and an order to restrain several entities from disseminating defamatory content, Himayani Puri said there was a "coordinated and malicious online campaign" to link her to Epstein and his crimes.

She also sought an unconditional apology and retraction from the defendant entities.

"Commencing on or around 22.02.2026, a series of false, misleading and defamatory posts, articles, videos and digital material were published, disseminated and amplified across social media and intermediary platforms including inter alia X, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, digital news portals and other web-based publications," the plea said.

Denial of allegations

Himayani Puri asserted that she is an accomplished finance and investment professional, who is being targeted solely because she is Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Puri's daughter.

According to her lawsuit, the defendants disseminated "baseless imputations" that Himayani Puri maintained direct or indirect business, financial or personal network links with Epstein.

The allegations are entirely false, malicious and devoid of factual foundation, the plea said.
Amidst rising Middle East tensions, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar highlights India's strategic dialogue with Iran to safeguard maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, ensuring India's energy security and continued oil trade.

IMAGE: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. Photograph: @DrSJaishankar/X

Key Points S Jaishankar champions direct dialogue with Iran to ensure maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, crucial for India's energy security.

India is actively engaging with Iran to facilitate the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, which handles approximately 20% of global oil trade.

The recent passage of Indian-flagged vessels Shivalik and Nanda Devi is cited as a success of India's diplomatic strategy with Iran.

While India is open to sharing its experience with European nations, Jaishankar emphasises that each country's relationship with Iran is unique.

India's diplomatic approach focuses on sustained dialogue with Iran to address maritime security concerns in the Strait of Hormuz.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has championed direct dialogue with Iran as the most efficient method for resuming maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, as India seeks to protect its energy security amidst intensifying Middle East tensions.

In an interview with the Financial Times, the Union Minister stated that New Delhi is currently engaging with Iran to facilitate the reopening of the vital waterway, which handles nearly 20 per cent of global oil trade.

Jaishankar Explains How India Secured Passage of Ships

He noted that these discussions are "already yielding some results," suggesting that India finds it more effective to "reason and coordinate" with Tehran rather than disengage.

"Certainly, from India's perspective, it is better that we reason and we coordinate and we get a solution than we don't. While this is a welcome development, there is continuing conversation because there is continued work on that," Jaishankar remarked.

The minister highlighted the recent passage of two Indian-flagged vessels, Shivalik and Nanda Devi, as a practical success of this diplomatic strategy.

The tankers, carrying approximately 92,712 metric tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), are currently en route to the Indian ports of Mundra and Kandla.

However, Jaishankar clarified that a formal "blanket arrangement" for all Indian-flagged ships has not yet been established. He explained that the transit of vessels is currently being managed on a "case-by-case basis."

India's Diplomatic Strategy

Jaishankar's remarks came in the wake of warnings from US President Donald Trump regarding potential additional strikes on Iran's Kharg Island.

In a social media post, Trump urged international allies, including China, France, Japan, South Korea, and Britain, to deploy naval assets to safeguard the shipping route.

Addressing India's specific diplomatic path, Jaishankar maintained that New Delhi's strategy is based on sustained dialogue.

He mentioned that while India is open to sharing its experience with European nations, each country's relationship with Iran is shaped by its own "circumstances."

Recent Incidents and Maritime Activity

In a related incident, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas confirmed that the Indian-flagged tanker Jag Laadki departed from Fujairah on Sunday.

The vessel, carrying 80,800 metric tonnes of Murban crude, had been loading at a facility when the terminal was targeted in an attack.
An illegal firecracker factory in Madhya Pradesh's Dewas district has been busted, leading to arrests and the booking of the factory operator under the stringent National Security Act.

Photograph: ANI Photo

Key Points An illegal firecracker factory was discovered in Dewas district, Madhya Pradesh, resulting in multiple arrests.

Approximately 50,000 sutli bombs and 2,500 kilograms of explosive materials were seized from the illegal firecracker factory.

The operator of the illegal firecracker factory has been booked under the National Security Act (NSA).

Authorities are actively searching for the absconding operator of the illegal firecracker manufacturing unit.

An illegal firecracker factory was uncovered in the remote forests of Madhya Pradesh's Dewas district on Monday, leading to the arrest of three persons, while the absconding operator of the unit was booked under the stringent National Security Act (NSA), a police official said.

Around 50,000 ready-made sutli bombs, along with approximately 2,500 kilograms of explosive material, including deadly chemicals, were found at the factory, Superintendent of Police Puneet Gehlod told reporters.

"The unit in the remote forests of Uday Nagar was busted following a tip-off. We have found that 35 workers were employed at the factory," he said.

Initially, a case was registered against three people who, acting as contractors, were illegally manufacturing firecrackers through labourers, the SP said.

Investigation and Legal Action

"During interrogation of the accused, the name of Indore resident Sanjay Sharma emerged as the factory operator. He has been booked under NSA. Efforts are on to nab him," Additional Superintendent of Police HN Batham said.
In a significant blow to Iran's strategic capabilities, the Israeli Air Force has destroyed the Iranian leadership's aircraft at Tehran's Mehrabad Airport and struck over 200 military targets.

IMAGE: A demonstrator holds a poster of Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a march marking the annual al-Quds Day (Jerusalem Day) on the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan in Cape Town, South Africa, March 13, 2026. Photograph: Esa Alexander/Reuters

Key Points The Israeli Air Force destroyed a critical aircraft used by Iranian leaders at Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran.

The targeted aircraft was a key asset for logistics, diplomacy, and military procurement for the Iranian regime.

Israel conducted a large-scale aerial campaign, striking over 200 targets in western and central Iran, including missile systems and defence installations.

The strikes aim to disrupt Iran's ability to coordinate with regional allies and build military power.

Advanced F-35I Adir stealth fighter jets were deployed by Israel for these long-range operations against Iranian targets.

The Israeli Air Force has destroyed the aircraft used by the Iranian leadership at Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran, marking a significant blow to the regime's strategic mobility.

In a post on X, the air force confirmed the strike, stating that they "destroyed the plane of the leader of the Iranian terror regime at the 'Mehrabad' airport in Tehran."

The aircraft was identified as a critical logistics and diplomatic tool used by the former Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, additional senior officials from the terror regime, and elements in the Iranian military.

The Israeli Air Force noted that the plane was vital to "advance military procurement and manage relations with Axis countries through domestic and international flights". Consequently, the mission was specifically designed to disrupt the operational synergy between Tehran and its regional allies.

According to military officials, "the destruction of the plane impairs the ability to coordinate between the leadership of the Iranian terror regime and Axis countries, in building military power, and in the regime's rehabilitation capability."

By eliminating this high-value target, Israel has significantly hindered the regime's ability to maintain its military and diplomatic networks, asserting that "another strategic asset has been removed from the Iranian regime".

This high-profile strike was part of a broader, intensive aerial campaign.

Extensive Aerial Campaign Against Iran

The Israeli Air Force said it has struck more than 200 targets across western and central Iran over the past day, targeting military infrastructure, including missile systems, defence installations, and operational headquarters.

Detailing the scale of the offensive in a post on X, the IAF stated, "In the past day: The Air Force struck more than 200 targets in western and central Iran and continues to strike the ballistic missile array and defence systems of the Iranian terror regime."

The military confirmed that the targets included "headquarters in which soldiers of the Iranian terror regime operated, defence systems, and sites for the production and storage of means of combat".

These strikes are part of an ongoing campaign specifically targeting Iran's ballistic missile network and air defence systems in multiple locations across the country.

Advanced Technology Deployed

To carry out these long-range operations, Israel has deployed its most advanced aerial technology. In an earlier post on X, the IAF shared footage of its stealth fighter jets heading toward Iran for the mission.

"He is Adir, and he is also on his way to Iran. Special documentation of F-35I jets on their way to strike," the post said, referring to the Lockheed Martin F-35I Adir aircraft.

The deployment of these specialised jets underscores the complexity and reach of the Israeli Air Force's current strike operations.
Photo: https://nypost.com/

U.S. President Donald Trump said that Americans allegedly do not need to cooperate with European partners on Ukraine.

During a lunch with members of the board of the Trump-Kennedy Center on Monday, Trump commented on the reluctance of European countries to send ships to assist U.S. forces in Iran. He said the United States had helped Europeans  including in Ukraine  even though it was not obliged to do so, adding that the U.S. joined the effort because Biden "got taken to the cleaners."

"We spend a lot of money on, you know, NATO and all these things to protect you [Europeans]. I mean, we protect them. We work with them on Ukraine. Ukraine is thousands of miles away, separated by a vast ocean. We don't have to do that, but we did it. Well, Biden did it. I mean, I have to be honest with you. Biden got taken to the cleaners. But we worked with them on Ukraine. We dont need to work with them on Ukraine," Trump said.
Israeli ambassador Reuven Azar has firmly denied rumours, branding them as disinformation spread by Iran amid the ongoing West Asia conflict.

IMAGE: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reacts at a cafe, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Jerusalem, March 15, 2026, in this screen grab taken from a handout video. Photograph: Benjamin Netanyahu via Telegram/Handout via Reuters

Key Points Azar attributes the spread of false information regarding Netanyahu's health to Iran and its 'accomplices'.

Netanyahu himself has addressed the rumours by releasing a video showing him alive and well in Israel.

The rumours circulated amid the ongoing conflict in West Asia, causing speculation about Netanyahu's absence from public view.

Israeli ambassador to India, Reuven Azar, on Monday scotched rumours about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's death amid the raging West Asia conflict, saying "PM Netanyahu is alive".

Interacting with reporters in Delhi, he also said a video of Netanyahu's visit to a cafe in Israel was not "AI-fabricated", dismissing the claim as spreading of "disinformation".

The rebuttal from Israel's top diplomat in India comes in the backdrop of several social media posts claiming that Netanyahu received fatal injuries amid the conflict in West Asia, which entered its 17th day on Monday.

During the media briefing on Israel's Operation Roaring Lion, Azar was asked if Netanyahu was harmed in the conflict.

"PM Netanyahu is alive. I saw him when I was in Israel more than once. The video at the cafe is not AI-fabricated. A lot of disinformation is being spread," Azar said.

He also accused Iran and its "accomplices" of spreading disinformation.

Interacting with PTI on the sidelines of the briefing, Azar said, "Look, this is a classical disinformation projection that the Iranians and their accomplices are trying to do. Our prime minister is feeling very well. I met him personally following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit (to Israel). He's completely intact. He also showed that yesterday in a video when he visited a cafe in Israel. So don't worry, he's okay."

Netanyahu addresses death rumours

On Sunday, Netanyahu mocked the widespread news on social media about his death as he released a video showing him ordering a coffee at what seemed to be a roadside mini market.

Speculation had been rife for about a week, questioning Netanyahu's absence from public space.

In the video posted on his personal X handle, Netanyahu can be heard saying, "Great (he tells the seller giving him coffee), Thanks."

"What did you ask me?" he is seen asking the videographer.

When told that channels were saying he is dead, Netanyahu mocks, "I am dying for coffee."
Three gangsters linked to the Prince Khan gang were arrested in Dhanbad, Jharkhand, after a dramatic gunfight with police, underscoring the ongoing battle against organised crime in the region.

Key Points Three gangsters arrested in Dhanbad after a gunfight with police, highlighting ongoing law enforcement efforts.

Two gangsters sustained gunshot wounds during the encounter, requiring hospital treatment.

The arrested individuals are linked to the Prince Khan gang and wanted for firing incidents in Dhanbad and Ranchi.

The operation involved a joint police team from Ranchi and Dhanbad, demonstrating inter-district cooperation.

Investigation is underway to uncover further details about the gang's activities and connections.

Three gangsters were nabbed after a brief gunfight with the police in Jharkhand's Dhanbad on Monday, with two of them sustaining gunshot wounds in their legs, officers said.

Acting on a tip-off, a police team comprising officers and personnel from Ranchi and Dhanbad Police, conducted a raid in Bhagabandh area this morning to nab the gangsters, they said.

Dhanbad City Superintendent of Police (SP) Ritvik Shrivastav told PTI, "When police reached the spot, the criminals, who were hiding, opened fire and the law enforcers retaliated, leading to an exchange of fire in which two gangsters suffered gunshot wounds in their legs. The third person's leg broke while he was trying to escape. They have been taken to the hospital for treatment."

Gang's Connection to Firing Incidents

Dhanbad Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Prabhat Kumar said, "The arrested persons were henchmen of the Prince Khan gang. They were on the run in connection with two firing incidents -- one at Ara More in Dhanbad and another at a restaurant in Ranchi. A police team from Ranchi reached here to nab them."

Ranchi SSP Rakesh Ranjan said the police team from Ranchi went to Dhanbad to nab the accused involved in the firing incident at a restaurant near Birsa Munda Airport, and further investigation into the matter is underway.
It is alleged that three Ukrainians were arrested from Delhi, three from Lucknow and one US citizen from Kolkata.

IMAGE: Kindly note that the image has been posted for representational purposes only. Photograph: ANI Photo

The special NIA court at Patiala House Court in New Delhi remanded six foreigners for 11 days of National Investigation Agency (NIA) custody.

Key Points It is alleged that three Ukrainians were arrested from Delhi, three from Lucknow and one US citizen from Kolkata.

Additional sessions judge Prshant Sharma remanded six Ukrainians and a US citizen for 11 days of NIA custody till March 27.

It is alleged that they came to India on a visa and then entered Mizoram, which is a protected area.

They were produced before the NIA court.

It is alleged that three Ukrainians were arrested from Delhi, three from Lucknow and one US citizen from Kolkata.

Additional sessions judge Prshant Sharma remanded six Ukrainians and a US citizen for 11 days of NIA custody till March 27. A hearing was conducted in a closed courtroom.

Special public prosecutor (SPP) Atul Tyagi alongwith Amit Rohila and others, appeared for the NIA.

The NIA had sought 15 days' custody to investigate the case.

It is alleged that they came to India on a visa and then entered Mizoram, which is a protected area. Thereafter, they entered Myanmar and contacted ethnic war groups.

It is alleged by the NIA that they were trained in Myanmar and were training ethnic war groups. These groups are associated with insurgent groups in India. It is also alleged that they brought a huge consignment of Drones from Europe via India.

On the other hand, senior advocate Pramod Kumar Dubey, advocate Atul Sehgal appeared for the accused persons. They opposed the custodial remand application moved by the NIA.
Amid fears of LPG shortages, thieves in Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh, targeted a primary school, stealing an LPG cylinder meant for children's mid-day meals, leading to one arrest and a police search for the accomplice.

IMAGE: Kindly note that the image has been posted for representational purposes only. Photograph: Shailesh Andrade/Reuters

Key Points Thieves stole an LPG cylinder from a primary school kitchen in Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh.

The stolen LPG cylinder was intended for preparing mid-day meals for students.

One suspect, Giyas, has been arrested, and police are searching for his accomplice, Lavkush.

The theft occurred amid rising concerns about potential LPG supply shortages in the district.

Police recovered the stolen cylinder from a field where the suspects had hidden it.

Thieves broke into a primary school here and allegedly stole an LPG cylinder meant for preparation of mid-day meal for pupils, police said on Monday.

One person has been arrested in this connection while efforts are on to trace his associate, an official said, adding that incidents of LPG cylinder theft have increased in the district owing to feared shortage of LPG supply.

The incident took place in a primary school in Sarai Sahay village under Dariyabad police station limits.

According to police, thieves broke the lock of the school kitchen and fled with an LPG cylinder.

The incident came to light on Monday morning when Furqan Ahmad, representative of the village head of Sarai Shah Alam gram panchayat, was taking a walk in the fields. He noticed two suspicious youth hiding a cylinder among bushes, before fleeing from the area.

Suspecting foul play, Ahmad chased the youths and managed to catch hold of one.

An inspection of the nearby primary school later revealed that the kitchen lock had been broken, police said.

Subsequently, police were informed and a team reached the spot and took the accused youth, identified as Giyas, into custody.

During interrogation, Giyas confessed to committing the theft along with his an associate Lavkush. Lavkush initially fled with the cylinder but fearing he might be caught, decide to hide it in the fields.

Police said the stolen cylinder has been recovered.

Dariyabad Station House Officer Dharmendra Kumar said Giyas has been arrested and is being sent to jail, while efforts are underway to arrest his accomplice.
The Lok Sabha is poised to revoke the suspension of eight opposition MPs, potentially easing tensions and restoring balance in parliamentary proceedings after their suspension for unruly behaviour during the Budget session.

IMAGE: Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi speaks in Lok Sabha. Photograph: ANI on X

Key Points Speaker Om Birla convened a meeting where the decision to revoke the suspensions was reportedly made.

The suspended MPs include seven from the Congress party and one from the CPI(M).

The opposition has been urging the Speaker to revoke the suspensions since the second leg of the Budget session began.

Agreement reached on maintaining decorum in the House, including no entering the well, tearing papers, or climbing on officials' tables.

The suspension of eight Opposition MPs from the Lok Sabha is likely to be revoked on Tuesday, sources said, citing a decision taken at a meeting convened by Speaker Om Birla.

Seven Congress and a Communist Party of India-Marxist MP were suspended on February 3 for unruly behaviour, following a resolution passed by the Lok Sabha in the first part of the Budget session.

While the eight MPs were suspended for the entire session that is scheduled to conclude on April 2, opposition parties have been urging the speaker to revoke the suspensions during one of the sittings of the Lok Sabha.

When Congress members had urged Birla to revoke the suspensions, he had said such action is taken when someone climbs on the tables.

The suspended members are Gurjeet Singh Aujla, Hibi Eden, C Kiran Kumar Reddy, Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, Manickam Tagore, Prashant Padole and Dean Kuriakose (all Congress) and S Ventakesan [(CPI(M)].

The revocation of suspension of the eight MPs has been a key demand of the opposition since the second leg of the Budget session commenced on March 9.

Both the ruling and the opposition sides agreed that neither side would enter the well of the House to confront the other.

No member will tear papers and throw them towards the speaker or the chair, sources said, quoting another key decision taken at the meeting.

Also, no member will climb the officials' table to register a protest.

Birla expressed "deep concern" on Sunday over the showing of banners, placards, posters and use of certain language in the House by some MPs, and urged the leaders of all political parties to ensure discipline and high ethical conduct among their members.

In a letter to the leaders of all the parties that have members in the Lok Sabha, Birla said the House has always had a glorious tradition of dignified discussion and dialogue but for a while now, the dignity and prestige of the country's parliamentary democracy are being undermined by some of the members, both inside and outside the chamber and within the Parliament complex.
Maharashtra's new Freedom of Religion Bill 2026 introduces stringent measures against religious conversions through coercion, fraud, or marriage, sparking debate over constitutional rights and religious freedom in the state.

IMAGE: A view of the Maharashtra assembly building in Mumbai. Photograph: ANI Photo

Key Points Maharashtra's Freedom of Religion Bill 2026 prohibits religious conversions through coercion, fraud, inducement, or marriage, with penalties including imprisonment and fines.

The anti-conversion law imposes stricter punishments for violations involving minors, individuals with unsound minds, women, or members of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

The bill mandates a 60-day prior notice to the district magistrate for individuals intending to convert, aiming to ensure conversions are voluntary and transparent.

The Maharashtra government asserts the law protects citizens from unlawful conversions while safeguarding constitutional rights and maintaining law and order.

Opposition parties have raised concerns about the bill's potential impact on constitutional rights and privacy, while the Shiv Sena-UBT supports the legislation.

The Maharashtra assembly on Monday night passed the Freedom of Religion Bill 2026, which has stringent provisions to prohibit religious conversions carried out through coercion, fraud, inducement or marriage, by voice vote.

As per the Bill, those involved in unlawful conversions on the pretext of marriage will be punished with imprisonment of seven years and shall also be liable for a fine of Rs 1 lakh.

Violations in respect of a minor, a person of unsound mind, a woman or a person belonging to the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe will be punished with imprisonment of seven years and a fine of Rs 5 lakh.

Mass conversions will have a jail term of seven years and a fine of Rs 5 lakh. Repeat offenders can get a jail sentence of 10 years and a fine of Rs 5 lakh, as per the Bill.

"The proposed anti-conversion law in Maharashtra is not directed against any particular religion, and it aims only to prevent religious conversions carried out through force, fraud or inducement, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis told the assembly.

He noted that several states, including Odisha, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Karnataka and Jharkhand, have already enacted similar laws.

"This bill does not restrict a person's right to follow a religion as guaranteed under Article 25 of the Constitution. The right to religion does not include the right to convert another person through coercion, misrepresentation, fraud or allurement," Fadnavis said and cited rulings of the Supreme Court.

Earlier in the day, Fadnavis told reporters that several women had been lured into relationships, married, and later abandoned, asserting that the bill against fraudulent religious conversion aims to address these issues and curb such practices.

"The Opposition parties are politicising the issue for vote-bank gains, but once they read the bill carefully, they will have no objections," he added.

Speaking in the assembly, Fadnavis, who holds the Home portfolio, also stated that complaints can be filed by the affected individual or close relatives, while the police may also take action in certain cases.

Seeking support for the passage of the bill, the chief minister said the bill is intended to protect citizens from unlawful conversions and help maintain law and order.

Notably, the opposition Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray has extended its support to the bill.

Sena-UBT MLA Bhaskar Jadhav said the bill aims to protect the right to religious freedom and prevent illegal religious conversions.

"It is comprehensive and does not target any specific religion, despite rumours or misconceptions. The objective is to curb unethical practices and misuse of religion that harm individuals or communities," Jadhav said, adding that reports of the bill targeting a particular religion are incorrect.

The bill applies to all religions equally, and its intent is to prevent coercion or inducement in religious conversion, he added, citing Dr B.R. Ambedkar's conversion in 1956 as voluntary and without coercion.

He emphasised that every religion has certain harmful practices that restrict human rights, and the bill is meant to regulate such practices legally.

A majority of Opposition MLAs demanded that the bill be referred to a joint select committee of the legislature for discussions.

Minister of state for home Pankaj Bhoyar said the proposed law aims to prevent conversions carried out through fraud, coercion or inducement while safeguarding Constitutional rights.

Replying to the debate in the House, Bhoyar said the bill seeks to ensure that religious conversions take place voluntarily and in a transparent manner.

Some members had objected to the provision requiring a person intending to convert to another religion to give a 60-day prior notice to the district magistrate, calling it unjust and against constitutional guarantees, he said.

"The objective of this provision is only to verify that the conversion is taking place out of free will and not through fraud, force or inducement," Bhoyar said, adding that the procedure was meant to provide transparency and protection rather than restrict personal liberty.

The minister also addressed concerns over the requirement to inform authorities within 21 days after the conversion, failing which the conversion could be treated as invalid.

He said the requirement was meant for administrative record-keeping and to prevent potential legal and social disputes in the future.

Responding to criticism that relatives or other persons could file complaints regarding the forced conversions, Bhoyar said in many cases, victims may not be in a position to approach the police themselves.

"The provision allowing others to lodge complaints is intended to ensure protection where fraud, pressure or threats are suspected," he said.

Bhoyar stated that the law does not deny adults the right to change their religion, noting that the Constitution guarantees the freedom to profess, practice and propagate religion.

The minister added that special care would be taken during implementation to ensure the protection of women's rights, adding that the law seeks to safeguard women, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and minors from forced or fraudulent conversions.

Bhoyar further said that if a marriage takes place on the basis of an illegal conversion and a child is born, the child would be considered to follow the mother's original religion prior to conversion, as per provisions in the bill.

BJP's Atul Bhatkalkar warned against attempts to alter Maharashtra's demography through religious conversion, saying such efforts would not succeed.

After the discussion, presiding officer Sanjay Kelkar declared the bill passed.

Nitin Raut and other MLAs from the Opposition had raised concerns over possible "vigilantism".

Congress MLA Aslam Shaikh said the objective and essence of the bill appear to impact the Constitution and right to privacy.

Samajwadi Party MLAs Abu Asim Azmi and Rais Shaikh also opposed the bill.

Shaikh said the bill violates Articles 14, 15, and 21 of the Constitution.

"Maharashtra is a progressive state which has always set an example for the rest of the country. This bill curtails the Constitutional right to freedom of religion," he said.
A Dalit man's arrest in Bhadohi, Uttar Pradesh, highlights the ongoing tensions surrounding caste and social media content, sparking debate over freedom of speech and community sensitivities.

Key Points A Dalit man in Bhadohi, UP, was arrested for posting offensive content against the Rajput community on social media.

The arrest followed a complaint by the district president of the Kshatriya Karni Sena, alleging caste-based slurs.

The accused is charged under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for circulating derogatory remarks against the Rajput community and their deity.

Police are investigating the matter, citing potential for social unrest due to the offensive posts.

A Dalit man was arrested on Monday for allegedly posting objectionable and abusive content against the Rajput community and its revered deity on social media, police said.

The accused, Sachin Sonkar alias Sunil, from the Chauri Bazaar, was arrested based on a complaint filed by Raghvendra Pratap Singh, district president of the Kshatriya Karni Sena.

Singh alleged that the accused uploaded posts and videos containing objectionable remarks and caste-based slurs targeting the Rajput community.

According to police, a case was registered on Friday under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) based on the complaint.

Additional Superintendent of Police Shubham Agarwal said the objectionable content was circulated on various social media platforms on March 13 and allegedly included derogatory remarks against the Rajput community and their revered deity.

The complainant alleged that the posts hurt the sentiments of several Rajput organisations and could potentially lead to tension in the district.

Police said the accused had been absconding after the case was registered and was arrested on Monday from the Madhorampur area in Chauri.

Further legal proceedings are underway, and the matter is being investigated, police added.
The Madhya Pradesh High Court has dismissed a rape FIR against an Army officer, concluding that the relationship with the complainant policewoman was consensual and lacked evidence of deceit or false promises.

Photograph: ANI Photo

Key Points Madhya Pradesh High Court quashed a rape FIR against an Army officer, determining the relationship with the complainant was consensual.

The court suggested the FIR was a pressure tactic after the relationship between the Army officer and policewoman soured.

The High Court found no evidence of sexual intercourse obtained through deceitful means or false promises of marriage.

The complainant alleged the Army officer falsely claimed to be a bachelor and promised to marry her, leading to a physical relationship that continued for years.

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has quashed an FIR accusing a married Army officer of raping a policewoman on the pretext of marriage, observing that their relationship was consensual and the case appears to be a pressure tactic by the complainant.

A single bench of Justice Vinay Saraf, in an order passed on March 11, held that the case appeared to have been filed after the relationship between the two turned sour.

"It appears that due to the failure of the relationship between the petitioner (Army officer) and the complainant (policewoman), the complainant has lodged the instant FIR to pressurise the petitioner to continue the relationship," the bench stated.

The bench said that, considering the long relationship between the petitioner and the complainant, it was difficult to believe that the physical relationship had been developed on the basis of a false promise of marriage.

"In view of the same, this court is of the view that the petitioner is able to make out a case that it is not a case of rape but a case of consensual relationship," the HC noted.

The bench further observed that the registration of the FIR appeared to be an abuse of the process of law and allowed the Army officer's petition seeking quashing of the FIR registered last year at the Mahila Thana in Bhopal.

"This court does not find any material and any ingredient in the FIR that any offence under sections 69 (sexual intercourse obtained through deceitful means or false promise to marry) or 351(2) (criminal intimidation) of the BNS is made out against the petitioner," the high court said.

Details of the Allegations

According to the FIR, the policewoman first met the officer at the Army canteen in the Shahjahanabad area of Bhopal on December 23, 2012, after which they started talking on mobile phones.

The complainant alleged that the officer falsely claimed to be a bachelor and promised to marry her. They subsequently established physical relations and continued to meet several times thereafter.

She later came to know in 2013 that the officer was already married, the FIR said.

When she confronted him, he allegedly told her that his wife's character was bad and that they were not living together. He assured her that he would obtain a divorce and marry her in the future, it said.

The relationship between the two continued till 2025, when the complainant allegedly found that the officer was also in contact with other women and had made similar assurances to them.

The FIR alleged that the officer later threatened her, following which she approached the police.
A Mumbai court has cleared Ajit Pawar and other accused in the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank (MSCB) scam case, accepting the police's closure report and finding no evidence of dishonest intent in the alleged Rs 25,000 crore fraud.

Photograph: ANI Photo

Key Points A Mumbai court accepted the closure report in the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank (MSCB) scam case, clearing Ajit Pawar and other accused.

The court found no dishonest or fraudulent intention on the part of the accused in the alleged Rs 25,000 crore scam.

The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) filed a closure report stating that no criminal offence was made out.

The court noted that about Rs 850 crore has been recovered, with efforts underway to recover the remaining amount.

The investigation found no evidence of wrongful gain by directors or employees, nor wrongful loss sustained by concerned factories.

There was no dishonest or fraudulent intention on the part of the accused, a local court has observed while accepting the police's closure report in the case related to an alleged Rs 25,000 crore scam at the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank (MSCB).

Mere irregularity or lapses in procedure cannot be converted into offences, it ruled while giving a clean chit to the late deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and other accused.

The court noted that "there is no prior meeting of minds or agreement between the directors (bank) to do an illegal action by illegal means".

"There is an absence of dishonest, fraudulent, or misappropriation of property for own use which is entrusted with the public servant'..There is no document which is called a forged one," the court added.

The court stated that about Rs 850 crore has been recovered, and the process for recovering the remaining amount was underway.

Mahesh Jadhav, special judge for cases involving MPs and MLAs, accepted the C-Summary report filed by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) on February 27.

The reasoned order was made available on Monday.

A 'C Summary' report is filed by the police when a complaint is found to be "neither true nor false".

The court's acceptance of the report came nearly a month after Pawar, then deputy chief minister, died in a plane crash in Baramati.

The probe began in 2019 following directives from the Bombay High Court.

Besides Pawar, who was then a director of one of the district banks, the First Information Report named government officials, the then directors and officials of the MSCB, and others.

The court had rejected more than 20 protest petitions, including the one filed by activist Anna Hazare, challenging the closure report.

The alleged scam pertained to the disbursal of loans to cooperative sugar factories, spinning mills and other entities by district and cooperative banks without following norms. The MSCB is Maharashtra's apex cooperative bank.

The state exchequer suffered losses of Rs 25,000 crore between January 2007 and December 2017 due to irregularities in disbursal of loans, the EOW had alleged.

However, the court found that the investigation in the case doesn't reflect that any wrongful gain was acquired by the directors or the employees.

It noted that the concern factories have not sustained wrongful loss.

Case History and Political Context

The case saw multiple twists since 2020. During the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government (in which Ajit Pawar was the finance minister) the EOW filed a closure report stating that no criminal offence was made out.

However, after the change of government in 2022, the probe agency sought to reopen the case.

In January 2024, months after Ajit Pawar split the Nationalist Congress Party and joined the ruling alliance, the agency once again filed a closure report.

After extensive hearings that continued for about two years, the court found that the "action conducted by the authority" is not covered within the meaning of illegality.

"Merely because some directions of NABARD area were not followed, it did not amount to a cognisable offence," the special judge said.

Court's Reasoning and Findings

The court pointed out that the board of directors was already exempted from the action as per the report of district judge Manikrao Jadhav (retd) under Sections 83 and 88 of the Co-operative Act.

It highlighted that personal loans were not distributed, and the credit facility extended by the bank "seems to be properly secured by mortgage".

"The charge was credited against the said loan. The recovery proceedings are filed before the co-operative court. The necessary security and bonds were obtained," the court said.

The court added that the loan against the sugar factory was created based on the letter by NABARD.

"The public servant is connected in good faith while discharging their office duty. There is no evidence on record which shows that the investigation carried by the investigating agency is designed or negligent. It does not seem to be a tempting evidence or tailored investigation," the judge noted.

After considering all aspects of the matter, the court concluded that the documentary evidence, witness statements, and the closure reports provided by the investigating agency did not demonstrate the commission of an offence.

Therefore, all the protest petitions, including the protest petition of the original complainant, deserve to be rejected, and the 'C' summary report is liable to be accepted, the special judge ruled.
The NDA alliance has strengthened its position in the Rajya Sabha after winning key seats in recent elections, amidst allegations of cross-voting and strategic political moves across Bihar, Odisha and Haryana.

IMAGE: BJP and JD-U MLAs at the Bihar Vidhan Sabha to cast their votes amid the Rajya Sabha polls in Patna, March 16, 2026. Photograph: ANI Photo

Key Points The NDA alliance, led by the BJP, has gained significant ground in the Rajya Sabha elections, securing key seats across multiple states.

Nitish Kumar, Bihar's longest-serving chief minister, was elected to the Rajya Sabha, further solidifying the NDA's presence.

Cross-voting allegations have emerged in Odisha and Haryana, raising concerns about the integrity of the Rajya Sabha election process.

Several prominent figures, including Sharad Pawar and Ramdas Athawale, were elected unopposed, highlighting the diverse representation in the Upper House.

The BJP is set to have the maximum number of seats in the Rajya Sabha following this round of elections, strengthening its legislative power.

Bihar's longest-serving chief minister Nitish Kumar and new BJP president Nitin Nabin were elected to the Rajya Sabha from Bihar as the ruling National democratic Alliance swept the elections held in three states for 11 seats of the Upper House on Monday.

Of the total 37 vacancies of Rajya Sabha, elections were held for only 11 seats in Bihar, Odisha and Haryana as the rest of the members were earlier elected unopposed.

The ruling NDA alliance won eight seats, including one Independent backed by it, and the Biju Janata Dal bagged one seat in results announced on Monday night, while counting on two seats in Haryana has been put on hold amid allegations of irregularities. A total of 14 candidates were in the fray.

Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar supremo Sharad Pawar and Union minister Ramdas Athawale were among the 26 candidates elected unopposed on March 9 after the withdrawal of nominations.

In the election held on Monday, the ruling NDA won all five seats in Bihar.

Besides Nitish Kumar, who heads the JD-U, and Nabin, the other winning candidates were Union Minister Ram Nath Thakur (JDU) and Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) chief Upendra Kushwaha, both sitting members who have been re-elected, and BJP's Shivesh Kumar, who will enter the Upper House of Parliament for the first time.

Outgoing RS member Amarendra Dhari Singh lost the election even after Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav claimed he got the support of five MLAs of AIMIM and one BSP legislator.

Odisha's cross-voting allegations

In elections for four seats in Odisha, where a total of five candidates were in the fray, the BJP won three seats amid cross-voting. At least five MLAs - three from Congress and two from BJD - reportedly voted in favour of ruling BJP-backed Independent candidate Dilip Ray.

Among those elected were BJP state unit president Manmohan Samal and sitting Rajya Sabha MP Sujeet Kumar and opposition BJD's Santrupt Misra, besides former Union minister Dilip Ray, who was backed by the ruling party.

BJD candidate and eminent urologist Dr Datteswar Hota, who was supported by the Congress and Communist Party of India-Marxist, was the fifth candidate in the fray.

Returning Officer and Odisha Assembly secretary Satyabrata Rout handed over certificates to the four newly elected members.

Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi congratulated the BJP's poll nominees and the Independent candidate backed by the party for winning the election.

In a post on X, Majhi said, "Heartfelt congratulations and best wishes to the party's state president Shri @SamalManmohan7 Ji, who emerged victorious as a candidate on behalf of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Rajya Sabha elections, the party's senior leader Shri @SujeetKOfficial Ji, and the party-supported independent candidate Shri @DilipRayOdisha Ji".

Haryana controversy

In Haryana, which has seen cross-voting in the past too, the counting of votes for elections to two Rajya Sabha seats has been put on hold following the BJP and Congress members filing complaints alleging violation of vote secrecy.

The counting was to begin at 5 pm after voting ended at 4 pm. Earlier, voting was held for the two RS seats in Haryana on Monday, with the Indian National Lok Dal, which has two legislators, abstaining from voting.

Haryana minister Anil Vij, who recently fractured both his legs after a fall, arrived in a wheelchair to cast his vote.

The Congress MLAs who were moved to Himachal Pradesh ahead of the polling returned to the city in the morning to vote.

On the shifting of Congress MLAs, Vij said, "Congress does not trust its MLAs, which is why they were taken here and there."

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge wrote to the Election Commission, alleging an attempt to interfere with the integrity of the RS election and seeking time for a party delegation to meet him.

"There is a clear attempt to interfere with the integrity of the election and it must be stopped/ redressed by the ECI immediately.

"Furthermore, no disqualification of our legitimate voters/ votes cast can be allowed in what is clearly a transparent attempt to taint/derail the process," it said.

BJP's Sanjay Bhatia, independent Satish Nandal and Congress candidate Karamvir Singh Boudh are in the fray from the state.

The Congress, which has 37 MLAs, needs only 31 first preference votes to win one seat.

The BJP will have the maximum number of seats in the Rajya Sabha after this round of elections.

Unopposed elections across other states

Among those who were elected unopposed to the Upper House were former deputy speaker of Lok Sabha M Thambidurai of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and noted lawyer Abhishek Singhvi of the Congress.

In Maharashtra, all seven candidates, including six of the ruling Mahayuti alliance and opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi nominee Sharad Pawar, were elected unopposed.

In poll-bound West Bengal, ruling Trinamool Congress' four candidates - Babul Supriyo, former West Bengal DGP Rajeev Kumar, senior Supreme Court advocate Menaka Guruswamy and actor Koel Mallick were also elected unopposed, along with BJP's former state unit president Rahul Sinha.

In Telangana, Congress candidates Abhishek Singhvi and Vem Narender Reddy were elected unopposed. In Tamil Nadu, all six candidates were elected unopposed.

All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam sitting MP M Thambidurai and PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss, along with ruling DMK candidates Tiruchi Siva and J Constantine Ravindran, were elected. Besides, Congress candidate M Christopher Tilak and DMDK treasurer L K Sudeesh were also elected unopposed.

In the hill state of Himachal Pradesh, Congress candidate Anurag Sharma, a close confidant of chief minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, was elected.
Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister for Humanitarian Policy and Minister of Culture Tetiana Berezhna has announced that the concrete sculpture "Origami Deer" from the upcoming Ukrainian pavilion at the Venice Biennale will be presented outside the European Parliament in Brussels (Belgium) on March 18.

"We will present 'Origami Deer' from the Ukrainian pavilion of the Venice Biennale outside the European Parliament in Brussels on March 18. Before that, we will hold a discussion titled 'Culture as National Security.' Together with artist Zhanna Kadyrova, the project team, EU experts and Members of the European Parliament, we will discuss why culture during wartime is an important element of resilience for both Ukraine and Europe," Berezhna said on Facebook.

She added that the sculpture will be on display from 12:30 on March 18 throughout the day at Esplanade Solidarnosc 1980 square near the European Parliament building. After Brussels, the sculpture will travel to several European capitals and in May will be presented at the Ukrainian pavilion of the 61st Venice Biennale.

According to Berezhna, the event will also feature the documentary "IDP," which tells the story of the evacuation of "Origami Deer" from Donetsk region.

"The sculpture will become the central object of the Ukrainian pavilion 'Security Guarantees' at the 61st Venice Biennale. 'Origami Deer' has a complicated history. It was created by Zhanna Kadyrova in 2019 for a park in Pokrovsk, Donetsk region. In August 2024, when the city came under constant threat of Russian shelling, the sculpture had to be dismantled and evacuated," the deputy prime minister said.

Ukraine has participated in the Venice Biennale since 2001. At this year's Biennale, Ukraine will present the project "Security Guarantees." The central element of the project is Kadyrova's sculpture "Origami Deer," which will be displayed in a public space  on a truck crane on the lagoon embankment.
Israeli Ambassador Reuven Azar has stepped forward to quash rumours surrounding Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's health, confirming he is alive and debunking claims of AI-generated deepfakes.

IMAGE: The Jerusalem cafe posts pictures of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu enjoying a coffee amid rumours of his death. Photograph: Kind courtesy The Sataf - Jerusalem on Instagram

Key Points Israeli Ambassador to India, Reuven Azar, confirms Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is alive and well, dismissing death rumours.

Azar asserts that recent video footage of Netanyahu in a cafe is authentic and not AI-generated.

The denial follows widespread social media claims alleging Netanyahu's public addresses were deepfakes and that he had died.

Netanyahu shared a video of himself at a cafe, seemingly responding to claims of AI glitches in previous videos.

Israeli officials have dismissed allegations of deepfake technology use as baseless disinformation.

Israel's Ambassador to India, Reuven Azar, has confirmed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is "very much alive" and clarified that recent footage of him is authentic, dismissing viral claims regarding his health and status.

The ambassador addressed the viral social media rumours, asserting that a recent video of the Prime Minister at a cafe is genuine and was not created using artificial intelligence.

"Prime Minister Netanyahu is alive. I saw him personally when I was in Israel more than once. This video at the cafe is not AI-fabricated. There is a lot of disinformation," he said.

The intervention follows a wave of online reports alleging that a recent public address by the Israeli leader was AI-generated, with some posts further speculating that he had died. These claims gained significant traction across various platforms, leading to a heated debate over the authenticity of official government footage.

Netanyahu Responds to Deepfake Allegations

On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu debunked the rumours of his assassination by posting his video drinking coffee at a cafe.

Netanyahu captioned the video as, "They say I'm what? Watch."

Earlier in the day, Netanyahu's office confirmed that he is "fine.

Netanyahu's Video Sparks Speculation

The rumours gained momentum after the Israeli PM posted a video of a press conference on Friday discussing the ongoing conflict involving the US, Israel, and Iran.

Some social media users alleged that the footage was AI-generated, claiming to have identified six fingers on the Prime Minister's right hand.

Specifically, viewers pointed to a moment at the 0:35 mark where Netanyahu raises his hands, asserting that visible extra flesh near his little finger was a 'Classic AI finger glitch'.

American conservative commentator Candace Owens joined the discourse, asking, "Where's Bibi?" in a post on X. She further questioned, "Why is his office releasing and deleting fake AI videos from him, and why is there mass panic at the White House?"

However, X's AI chatbot, Grok, fact-checked the allegations, clarifying that Netanyahu does not have six fingers.

It explained that the visual anomalies were optical illusions caused by shadows, hand angles, or the palm's natural shape, such as the hyphenar eminence. The chatbot noted that official footage from Israel's Government Press Office confirms a standard five fingers per hand.

The backdrop to these rumours is a significant regional escalation that began on 28 February, when joint Israeli and US attacks were launched against Iran. The opening day of the conflict resulted in the death of former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, prompting Iran to retaliate with strikes against neighbouring oil-exporting nations.
Thousands of Naga students are protesting the central government's Vande Mataram directive, citing concerns over religious freedom and cultural sensitivity in Nagaland.

Photograph: Kind courtesy Gautam Beera/Wikimedia Commons

Key Points Thousands of Naga students protested against the central government's directive mandating Vande Mataram in Nagaland.

The Naga Students' Federation (NSF) argues the directive infringes on religious freedom and secularism.

Protesters submitted a memorandum to President Droupadi Murmu, urging the withdrawal of the Vande Mataram mandate.

The NSF asserts that the directive conflicts with the religious and cultural sensitivities of the Naga people.

Speakers emphasised the need to protect the cultural and religious sensitivities of the Naga people and called for dialogue.

Thousands of students and citizens under the banner of the Naga Students' Federation (NSF) on Monday staged a rally here opposing the Centre's directive to the state government mandating the singing of Vande Mataram during official functions and in educational institutions.

Carrying placards reading "MHA's January 28 directive is an assault to secularism", "Naga rights are non-negotiable", "Stop forced policies", and "The directive is a direct attack on our faith," the rallyists marched from Kohima Town to Lok Bhavan.

The protesters submitted a memorandum addressed to President Droupadi Murmu through the Governor of Nagaland.

NSF's Opposition to Vande Mataram Mandate

In the memorandum, the NSF expressed its strongest opposition to the directive mandating the playing or singing of Vande Mataram during official functions and directing its compulsory observance in educational institutions.

The NSF stated that while the Naga people respect the national symbols and cultural expressions of all communities, the imposition of any symbolic expression with religious connotations raises serious concerns regarding freedom of conscience.

The memorandum stated that the revised version of Vande Mataram contains devotional imagery associated with the worship of a particular deity, which the federation said conflicts with the religious and cultural sensitivities of the Naga people.

It maintained that educational institutions should remain spaces for intellectual freedom and democratic values rather than platforms for "enforcing symbolic compliance or ideological uniformity."

Citing international legal frameworks such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the federation asserted that freedom of thought, conscience and religion must be upheld.

It also referred to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, stating that indigenous communities have the right to maintain their cultural institutions and traditions without external imposition.

Voices of Protest and Support

Addressing the gathering, NSF president Mteisuding Heraang said the rally was a collective assertion that the identity and beliefs of the Naga people cannot be dictated by administrative directives.

He maintained that the protest was not directed against any nation or community but against the principle of imposing symbolic practices that conflict with the conscience of the people.

Heraang further stated that respect for diversity and coexistence has always been a hallmark of the Naga society, where different faiths and communities have lived side by side peacefully.

However, he said the compulsory observance of Vande Mataram raises fundamental concerns related to secularism and freedom of belief.

Speakers from the Naga Peoples' Movement for Human Rights (NPMHR), Nagaland Joint Christian Forum (NJCF), Nagaland Christian Revival Churches and the Catholic Association of Nagaland also addressed the gathering, expressing support for the protest and stressing the need to safeguard the cultural and religious sensitivities of the Naga people.

The NSF urged the President to withdraw the directive mandating the singing or playing of Vande Mataram during official functions and within educational institutions in the Naga homeland, and called for dialogue and consultation with representatives of the Naga people before implementing policies that may affect the cultural and social fabric of the region.
Amidst escalating tensions, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar champions diplomatic dialogue as the key to resolving the West Asia conflict and fostering regional peace and stability.

Key Points Pakistan's Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar advocates for diplomatic dialogue to resolve the current conflict in West Asia.

Dar engaged with Saudi Arabia and the US, emphasising the need for peace and stability in the region.

Pakistan is actively working to contain the Middle East conflict through diplomatic efforts.

Iran has acknowledged and thanked Pakistan for its support.

Pakistan's Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Monday called for a dialogue to tackle the current conflict in West Asia.

Dar, who is also the Deputy Prime Minister, spoke with Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan and exchanged views on the latest developments in the ongoing regional situation and its broader implications, the Foreign Office said in a statement.

Dar "emphasised the importance of diplomatic engagement, dialogue, and sustained efforts to promote peace, stability, and security in the region," it said.

Separately, Acting US Charge d'Affaires Zachary Harkenrider met Dar in Islamabad, and their discussions focused on Pakistan-US bilateral relations and ongoing regional developments, the FO said in a separate statement.

Dar "emphasised the importance of diplomatic engagement and underscored the urgent need to promote peace and stability in the region," it said.

Pakistan's Diplomatic Efforts

The latest engagements of Dar are a part of wider Pakistani efforts to contain the Middle East conflict, and both Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Dar have been frequently interacting with the Muslim leaders.

Pakistan's role has been acknowledged by Iran, whose Foreign Minister Abbas Araqhchi, in a post in the Urdu language, thanked Islamabad for supporting his country.

"On this blessed, divine, and spiritual day and hour, I extend my heartfelt gratitude to the government and people of Pakistan for their strong expression of solidarity and support with the people and government of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the face of the aggression by America and the Zionist regime," he stated.

Araghchi added that Iran stood with "steadfastness and perseverance in defence of its sovereignty and territorial integrity, with complete reliance on Allah Almighty".
In a shocking incident, a Pakistani man murdered his wife and five children in an alleged honour killing, highlighting the ongoing issue of violence against women in Pakistan.

IMAGE: Illustration: Dominic Xavier/Rediff

Key Points A Pakistani man, Muhammad Yaseen, murdered his wife and five children in Sargodha district, Punjab, in an alleged honour killing.

Yaseen suspected his wife of having an affair and questioned the paternity of some of his children, leading to the brutal act.

The suspect confessed to the crime, stating he attacked his family with an axe while they were sleeping.

Approximately 1,000 women are reportedly killed in Pakistan each year in the name of 'honour'.

Despite legal reforms, honour killings persist in Pakistan, driven by the desire to restore perceived family reputation.

A Pakistani man on Monday axed to death his wife and five children in the name of "honour" in the Punjab province of the country, police said.

The incident took place in the wee hours of the day in a village in Sargodha district, some 200 kms from Lahore.

According to a senior police officer, the suspect, Muhammad Yaseen, killed his 45-year-old wife, 15-year-old daughter, and four sons, aged one to 12, suspecting that his wife had an affair with a man from a nearby village.

He also suspected that some of the children might not be his.

Yaseen was arrested and recorded his statement to the police.

"After learning that my wife had an affair and she was planning to elope with her lover, I decided to kill her and all my children, suspecting that some of them might not be mine," he was quoted as saying.

At midnight, Yaseen attacked his wife and children with an axe while they were sleeping and killed them.

The suspect said he also tried to end his life and was injured.

The police officer said the suspect's condition is stable, and a murder case has been registered against him.

The Broader Context of Honour Killings in Pakistan

According to human rights organisations, approximately 1,000 women are killed in the name of "honour" in Pakistan every year.

While reported cases are lower, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan says the practice persists, with families murdering women to restore perceived reputation, often despite legal reforms intended to curb the violence.
A tragic building collapse at a Pakistani aid centre has killed eight women seeking financial assistance, highlighting concerns over infrastructure safety and prompting calls for government compensation.

Photograph: Mohsin Raza/Reuters

Key Points Eight women killed and over 30 injured in a roof collapse at a government building in Rahim Yar Khan, Pakistan.

The women were at the building to receive financial assistance from the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP).

Local residents protested the use of a dilapidated structure for the BISP centre, demanding compensation for victims.

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has directed health authorities to provide care for the injured.

At least eight women were killed and over 30 others injured after the roof of a government building collapsed on Monday in the Punjab province of Pakistan, an official said.

The incident took place in Rahim Yar Khan (RYK) district, some 400 km from Lahore.

"A good number of women seeking financial assistance under the government-funded Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) had gathered at a BISP women centre's rooftop hall at Tiba Mithiar Chak (village) 123 when it caved in," RYK Deputy Commissioner Zaheer Anwar told reporters.

He said Rescue 1122 officials reached the site and rescued those trapped under the rubble.

"Some 40 injured women were shifted to the Sheikh Zayed Hospital RYK, where doctors pronounced eight of them dead. The death toll may rise as the condition of some injured women is stated to be critical," the deputy commissioner said and added, apparently, it seems the single-storey structure was shabby and collapsed when a good number of women gathered at its rooftop.

He said the women had come to the BISP centre to collect the amount under the programme.

Public Reaction and Government Response

After the incident, local residents protested against the government for opening the BISP centre in a rundown structure. They demanded that the government compensate the dead and injured victims.

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz expressed her grief over the tragic incident and directed the health authorities to provide the best facilities to the injured. She, however, did not announce any monetary compensation to the victims.
A speeding jeep accident in Nagpur, Maharashtra, resulted in injuries to 26 labourers, highlighting concerns about road safety and transportation of workers in the region.

Key Points A speeding jeep overturned near the Wardha River in Nagpur, Maharashtra, injuring 26 labourers.

The vehicle was overcrowded and headed to Belona village when the driver lost control.

Local residents and police responded to the scene, providing assistance and transporting the injured to hospitals.

An investigation is underway to determine the exact cause of the Nagpur jeep accident.

Twenty-six labourers, including nine women, were injured after a speeding pick-up jeep overturned near the Wardha River in Nagpur district of Maharashtra on Monday, police said.

The labourers were crammed in the vehicle, which was headed to Belona village.

"The accident occurred when the driver lost control of the vehicle near the Wardha River at Mowad," a police official said.

Local residents rushed to the spot and helped the injured.

After receiving information about the accident, a team from Narkhed police station reached the spot and shifted the injured to a nearby hospital. After primary treatment, they were referred to the GMC&H in Nagpur for further treatment.

A case has been registered, and further investigation is underway.
A policeman in Kufri, Himachal Pradesh, is facing disciplinary action after allegedly manhandling a journalist, prompting swift condemnation and intervention from the Chief Minister to uphold press freedom.

Photograph: ANI Photo

Key Points A policeman in Kufri is facing disciplinary action for allegedly obstructing and manhandling a journalist covering a news event.

The incident, captured on video, sparked widespread criticism on social media and within the media community.

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu intervened, assuring stern action and promising to prevent future incidents.

The Shimla Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) expressed regret and reaffirmed the police's respect for press freedom and responsible journalism.

Disciplinary action has been initiated against a policeman for allegedly manhandling a senior journalist in Kufri, about 20 kilometres away from Shimla.

The incident occurred on Sunday when the policeman allegedly obstructed the journalist from covering a news event and asked him to leave the spot.

However, the policeman retreated from the spot when the journalist resisted and questioned him for his action. The incident was captured on the camera, which also went viral on social media platforms.

The video drew criticism from people and the media fraternity alike, who questioned the policeman's action.

A delegation of media persons met Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Monday and expressed displeasure over the incident. The journalist demanded stern action against the said policeman.

The chief minister, after hearing their grievances, assured stern action against the accused and also assured the media persons that such incidents would not be allowed to be repeated in the future.

Following Sukhu's intervention, the police took disciplinary action against the accused.

Police Response and Commitment to Press Freedom

Shimla Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Gaurav Singh expressed regret over the incident and said that the police value the important role of the media in providing information to the people and respect the freedom of the press.

He said that the police acknowledge that responsible journalism is essential for maintaining public trust and awareness and it was equally important for both police personnel and media representatives to work with mutual respect, patience and professionalism while performing their duties.
A new CAG report reveals alarming levels of overcrowding, inadequate medical facilities, and infrastructure deficits plaguing Punjab's jail system, raising serious concerns about inmate welfare and security.

Photograph: ANI Photo

Key Points A CAG report highlights severe overcrowding in Punjab jails, exceeding capacity by thousands.

Inadequate infrastructure, including toilet facilities and hospital beds, contributes to unhygienic conditions and poor healthcare for inmates in Punjab prisons.

Delays in construction and renovation of jails, coupled with missed court hearings for undertrials, exacerbate overcrowding issues in Punjab.

Despite government claims of inmate transfers to ease overcrowding, the CAG report indicates that a significant number of inmates remain in overcrowded facilities.

Shortages of medical staff in Punjab jails necessitate external hospital treatments, leading to security risks and prisoner escapes.

A report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has flagged overcrowding, inadequate infrastructure, and poor medical facilities in Punjab jails.

According to the audit report which was tabled in the state assembly on Monday, the administration took six years to adopt the framework outlined in the model prison manual, 2016 and notify the Punjab Prison Rules, 2022.

Despite recommendations of the Public Accounts Committee, overcrowding in jails persisted, said the report.

There are 26 jails of various categories in the state: 10 central jails, seven district jails, two women jails at Bathinda and Ludhiana, one borstal jail at Ludhiana, one open air jail at Nabha (Patiala), and five sub jails.

According to the report, against the capacity of 23,638 male inmates, the occupancy was 24,101 in 2021-22. Similarly, the occupancy was 28,481 in 2022-23 against the capacity of 23,658 male inmates.

The report pointed out that the problem of overcrowding was a major deterrent in making basic facilities available to the inmates.

Contributing Factors to Overcrowding

Audit of records of the test-checked jails disclosed that among others, prolonged custody of undertrial prisoners due to missed court hearings and delay in construction or renovation of new jails had notably contributed to the increase in overcrowding year after year, thereby worsening the already inadequate availability of facilities for jail inmates in Punjab.

The government in its response said building additional barracks in existing six jails, and construction of a new high-security jail at Ludhiana and a new district jail at Mohali were under process and this would increase the authorised capacity.

Further, the government said that weekly review of the jail population was being assessed by State Level Committee headed by the inspector general (prisons) and on the basis of such reviews, from January 2021 to December 2023, 17,916 inmates had been transferred from overcrowded jails to less crowded ones.

The government further apprised that all adult male prisoners except lifers, as far as practicable, may be allowed to stay in the district or central prisons nearest to their home district in respect of convict inmates.

Discrepancies in Government Response

However, the report said the government's reply was not in conformity with the actual situation on the ground, as 6,204 male inmates and 203 female inmates were still housed in jails in excess of authorised capacity despite having vacancies in other jails and only 5,017 inmates (806 during 2021-22 and 4,211 during 2022-23), out of total 17,916 inmates, were transferred to ease overcrowding.

Inadequate Facilities and Healthcare

It also found that toilet facilities were inadequate in 74 per cent of male and 63 per cent of female barracks leading to unhygienic conditions.

Health care facilities also exhibited 72 per cent shortage of hospital beds and 60 per cent shortage of medical staff, the report said.

This necessitated treatment of 45,497 inmates in Civil Hospitals outside the jail thereby enabling 22 prisoners to escape, it added.
A shocking incident at a Barmer school has left two young students injured after a ceiling fan collapsed, prompting an urgent safety inspection of school facilities.

Photograph: Kind courtesy Liza Summer/Pexels.com

Key Points Two students, aged five and six, were injured when a ceiling fan fell in their classroom in Barmer district.

The incident occurred shortly after the students returned to their classroom following the morning assembly.

Both students are receiving treatment at the district hospital in Barmer.

A Tehsildar has ordered an inspection of fans and electrical fittings at the school to prevent future incidents.

Two students, five and six years of age, were injured after a ceiling fan inside a classroom at a government school in Barmer district fell on them on Monday morning, officials said.

The incident occurred at an upper primary school in Sansiyon Ka Tala area shortly after the students returned to their classroom following the morning assembly.

Both students were sitting in the classroom when the fan, along with its hook, suddenly descended on them. A portion of the fan hit the duo, causing injuries, school authorities said.

Teachers and locals rushed the injured children to the district hospital in Barmer, where they are currently undergoing treatment.

A teacher said both children had entered the classroom after the assembly and were seated while other students were still arriving.

Tehsildar Hukmichand reached the school and ordered an inspection of fans and electrical fittings to ensure safety.
Amidst the West Asia conflict, Israel signals its readiness to halt hostilities if Iran shifts its course and engages in diplomacy, according to Israeli ambassador Reuven Azar.

IMAGE: Emergency personnel work at the site of a strike on a residential building, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Tehran, Iran, March 16, 2026. Photograph: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

Key Points Israel claims to have significantly degraded Iran's military capabilities, including naval and air forces, through military action.

Israel consulted with the US and regional partners on diplomatic resolutions but ultimately resorted to military action due to Iran's unchanging stance.

The conflict has impacted global aviation and oil prices, potentially triggering an energy crisis, highlighting the widespread consequences.

Israel alleges Iran attacked Gulf countries, accusing them of using terror and extortion tactics, further escalating regional tensions.

Amid the raging conflict in West Asia, Israeli Ambassador to India, Reuven Azar, on Monday said "we are ready to stop hostilities if Iran changes course", and asserted that Tel Aviv has consulted "diplomatic channels" in the last few days, including its partners the US and countries in the region.

Asked about Israel's plans as the conflict entered its 17th day on Monday, Azar told reporters, "I don't think a full-fledged terrestrial invasion is on the cards."

He also said that through the military action, "we've managed to degrade Iran's launching capabilities" to a large extent.

"We are still hunting launchers... And the remainders of other military capabilities," the envoy said.

"Right now, we are controlling the skies of Iran," Azar told reporters, adding, "They (Iran) are in dire straits."

The West Asia conflict began on February 28 when the US-Israel combine conducted airstrikes on Iran.

In retaliation, Iran attacked the Gulf countries hosting American military bases and choked the strategic Strait of Hormuz as leverage against the US and Israel.

Asked if Iran's retaliation has made Israel change its achievable targets, Azar said, "The aims of this operation haven't changed a bit. Rather, we hope there will be a change in the regime (in Iran)."

Azar also said if Iran decides to "change course", and recognises Israel and engages with it diplomatically, the future can be "brighter".

Diplomacy and conflict resolution

During the interaction, Azar was also asked if Israel considered a resolution of the conflict through diplomacy.

"In the past few days, Israel consulted diplomatic channels, including its partners, the US, as well as the countries in the region, and a few other nations with which it doesn't have a diplomatic relationship.

"We are always for diplomacy. Unfortunately, we exhausted diplomacy to the extent that we had to take military action. We hope that diplomacy will be relevant again as a result of our military action," he said.

"And we are ready to stop hostilities if Iran changes course," he added.

The envoy was also asked whether Israel was prepared if the conflict turned into a long-drawn war.

Without much elaboration, Azar said, "We have the oxygen and the capabilities to continue this until we exhaust the options."

The conflict has impacted global aviation operations and oil prices, besides triggering a looming energy crisis.

Impact of military action

Interacting with PTI later, Azar said, "We are pretty confident that we have been able to degrade the Iranian regime's military machinery in a very substantive way."

Both the US and Israel have "taken out Iran's naval forces, their air forces, and a lot of their production capabilities; they have zero production now", he claimed.

"We've been able to degrade their ability to retaliate and to launch missiles. Now, they are launching about 10 barrages per day, much less than what they were able to do at the beginning of the war. As long as this continues, our only limitation is the weather.

"We'll continue to control the skies of Iran and take care of our interests, and continue to degrade Iran's capabilities," Azar said.

"We are fully in sync with the US in this operation," he added.

Asked if Iran's retaliation came as a surprise, the envoy said, "We are not surprised. We knew that the Iranians had this capability, but fortunately, we were pretty successful in removing it."

Accusations against Iran

On Iran attacking the Gulf countries, Azar said it is "very unfortunate" and alleged that Iranians "decided to use terror, and to extort their friends".

"Iran has launched attacks against the Gulf countries, which were supposedly their friends, and tried to threaten other countries with a lack of supplies. Fortunately, thanks to India's diplomatic efforts, two LPG ships have moved through, and I'm sure that India is going to use its best diplomatic talent, which I know it has, to safeguard its interests," Azar said.

The envoy also said that Israel "always prefers diplomacy", and had used the channel trying to "convince the Iranian leadership to change course".

"But they (Iran) didn't change their position. So, we had no choice but to use the military," he claimed.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is trying to cover up a parliamentary crisis with wartime rhetoric, a member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence (European Solidarity faction) Iryna Friz said.

"The president is once again trying to substitute the problem of his own parliamentary crisis with wartime rhetoric. When dozens of MPs from the ruling faction want to resign and some 'Servants' fail to maintain discipline in the session hall, Bankova should not look for loud formulas about the front, but honestly answer why the mono-majority has lost control," Friz told Interfax-Ukraine on Monday.

According to her, parliament is neither "a penal battalion for political failures nor a decoration for presidential statements."

"If an MP does not work, the issue is not loud words but the political responsibility of the ruling party that brought these people into parliament. It is very convenient to first bring your own faction to collapse and then shift the blame onto the army, mobilization and the war," Friz said.

As reported earlier, Zelenskyy said during the war MPs will have to either serve in parliament in accordance with Ukrainian legislation or discuss possible amendments to mobilization laws that would allow lawmakers to go to the front.

"Since the first days of the full-scale invasion there have been MPs who wanted to resign. There may be different wishes and attitudes toward them, but we are under martial law and must defend our state. Therefore, MPs will either serve in parliament in accordance with Ukrainian legislation, or I am ready to discuss with parliament representatives amendments to the mobilization law so MPs can go to the front. If you do not serve the state in parliament, then serve the state at the front," Zelenskyy told journalists on Saturday.
Russian air defences claim to have successfully intercepted a large-scale Ukrainian drone attack targeting Moscow, leading to temporary airport disruptions and raising concerns about escalating conflict.

Photograph: ANI Photo/Reuters

Key Points Moscow Mayor reports Russian air defences intercepted 250 Ukrainian drones targeting the capital.

The drone attack on Moscow prompted temporary restrictions at Domodedovo, Zhukovsky, and Vnukovo airports.

The Ministry of Defence's Air Defence System was praised for its role in intercepting the drones.

The Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow began on March 14, with 159 drones shot down approaching the capital.

Russian air defences intercepted and destroyed 250 Ukrainian drones targeting the capital over the weekend, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Monday.

The mayor's remarks came as some of the major airports curtailed their operations on Monday morning.

"Thank you to the Ministry of Defence's Air Defence System for your professional and dedicated work," Sobyanin wrote in a social media post, noting that about 250 fixed-wing drones, directly approaching the capital or on the second line of defence, were shot down.

Details of the Drone Attack

A massive Ukrainian drone attack on the city began on March 14.

A total of 159 unmanned aerial vehicles were shot down while approaching the capital.

Airport Operations Affected

The drone attack also led to major airports restricting operations on Monday.

"Due to air safety concerns, the capital's Domodedovo and Zhukovsky airports are currently accepting and dispatching aircraft in coordination with the relevant authorities," the Moskva 24 channel said.

It advised passengers to check their airports' online timetables for possible flight rescheduling.

Another busy airport, Vnukovo in south-west Moscow, also seemed to have been closed for air traffic as no aircraft were seen taking off or landing there.
A Maharashtra politician, Ambdas Danve, is under police protection after receiving multiple death threats, raising concerns about political tensions and safety.

Key Points Former Maharashtra opposition leader Ambdas Danve has received multiple death threats, prompting a police investigation.

The Shiv Sena (UBT) leader reported the threats after receiving numerous calls since March 12.

Police have registered a non-cognisable offence against an unidentified person in connection with the threats.

Danve stated he is unsure of the motive behind the threats, suggesting it could be related to past elections or other rivalries.

Former leader of opposition in Maharashtra legislative council, Ambdas Danve, has received multiple threat calls in the last four days, leading to the registration of a non-cognisable (NC) offence against an unidentified person at a local police station.

The caller allegedly threatened to kill the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader.

"Politicians receive such threats. I received multiple threat calls since March 12. Though I switched off my phone, the calls didn't stop, following which I met the police commissioner and lodged a complaint at a police station," Danve told reporters.

He, however, couldn't identify the reason behind the sudden spike in threat calls, saying it is the police's job to investigate the matter.

"I have played a key role in several elections since 1996. I don't know whether the threats are related to poll rivalry or any other reason. I have lodged a complaint with the police," Danve added.

An official said the complaint was lodged by Danve's PA, leading to the registration of a non-cognisable (NC) case at Kranti Chowk police station under section 351 (4) of BNS against an unidentified person.
After a landmark Supreme Court ruling, the family of Harish Rana, comatose for 12 years, prepares for his passive euthanasia, marking a significant moment in India's end-of-life care debate.

IMAGE: Relatives offer prayers for Harish Rana before his final journey. Photograph: Screen grab/X

Key Points Harish Rana is the first person in India to be granted passive euthanasia after being in a coma for over 12 years due to severe head injuries.

The Supreme Court directed AIIMS-Delhi to ensure the withdrawal of life support for Harish Rana is done with dignity and a tailored plan.

Harish Rana's family sought both medical and spiritual guidance as they prepared for the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment.

The Supreme Court clarified that this case involves the withdrawal of a feeding tube and palliative care, not active euthanasia.

The Ghaziabad administration has approved financial assistance and support for Harish Rana's family, acknowledging the financial strain of his prolonged medical care.

Meditative chants in the background, a loving hand on his forehead and the calm of words telling him 'theek hai'... with that, the family of Harish Rana, in a coma for more than 12 years, prepared for his final journey from their home in Ghaziabad to a Delhi hospital where he will breathe his last.

The 31-year-old is the first person in India to be allowed passive euthanasia. In its landmark judgment last week, the Supreme Court also directed AIIMS-Delhi to ensure that life support is withdrawn with a tailored plan so that dignity is maintained.

Though the exact details of when and how the process will pan out are still unclear, Rana's family is getting ready to say adieu to the young man who fell from a fourth floor balcony in 2013 and suffered severe head injuries. He has been in a coma since.

A video from the Rana home in Ghaziabad shows relatives offering prayers as a member of the Brahma Kumaris puts a 'tilak' on Harish's forehaead and says softly, "Sabko maaf karte hue, sabse maafi mangte hue, so jaao theek hai... (Forgiving everyone and asking forgiveness from everyone'. Now sleep. It's ok)."

The Brahma Kumari in the heartbreaking video is Sister Lovely from the Mohan Nagar Seva Kendra in Ghaziabad, Komal, a member of the Brahma Kumaris based at Mount Abu, told PTI over phone.

She is following a ritual with the words that mean he (Harish) leave the world in a happy state, seeking and giving forgiveness... it is part of a meditative chant that comforts the soul and eases the entire process of the soul merging with the sublime," Komal said.

She added that the family has been deeply spiritually inclined, which helped them endure the difficult 13-year period of caring for Harish.

Although the couple has another son, advancing age had begun to worry them about who would look after Harish in the future once they were no longer able to," he said, adding that members of the organisation counselled the family during this phase.

The family is reluctant to talk. Harish's father Ashok Rana could not be reached for comment.

According to Komal, alongside medical consultations, the family also sought spiritual guidance as they prepared for the inevitable in accordance with the Supreme Court's directions.

The Supreme Court allowed withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment after medical boards concluded his condition was irreversible and continued clinical intervention would not restore neurological function.

Ashok Rana, who had approached the apex court seeking permission for passive euthanasia, said after the verdict that the decision is extremely painful but necessary.

No parent would ever want to see their son in such a condition," he said, adding that the decision was taken in his son's best interests.

We believe that in the larger public interest the decision could help families of many people who may be in a condition like Harish," Ashok Rana told reporters outside his residence.

The Supreme Court in its judgement on Wednesday clarified that the order does not amount to active euthanasia but involves withdrawal of the feeding tube and continuation of palliative care so that the natural process of death may take place with dignity.

Government Support and Assistance

Following the judgment, Ghaziabad District Magistrate Ravindra Kumar Madar and Municipal Commissioner Vikramaditya Malik visited their residence and assured them of assistance.

Officials said the state government has approved financial assistance of Rs 10 lakh for the family from the chief minister's discretionary relief fund. The administration also announced that a shop will be allotted to the family free of cost to help ensure a stable livelihood.

According to officials, an initial sum of Rs 2.5 lakh had already been provided through public contributions, and the administration is also facilitating the family's access to various welfare schemes.

The prolonged medical care had placed severe financial strain on the household. Neighbours said Ashok Rana and his wife Nirmala had earlier sold their house in Delhi to fund their son's treatment.
A Samajwadi Party leader is facing legal action after allegedly urging Muslims to protest Eid celebrations in response to an alleged US attack on Iran, sparking controversy and raising questions about freedom of expression.

Photograph: Nand Kumar/PTI Photo

Key Points Samajwadi Party leader Yusuf Malik booked for urging Muslims to protest Eid celebrations.

Malik claimed the protest call was an appeal from jailed SP leader Azam Khan regarding an alleged US attack on Iran.

Police registered a case against Malik under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for promoting enmity and inciting offence.

The protest was reportedly in response to a missile strike in Iran that resulted in numerous deaths.

A video of Malik's statement circulated on social media, leading to the police complaint.

A Samajwadi Party (SP) leader has been booked for allegedly urging Muslims not to celebrate Eid this year as a protest against the US attack on Iran, while claiming that it was an appeal of jailed leader Azam Khan, police said on Monday.

Additional Superintendent of Police Anurag Singh said the accused, SP leader Yusuf Malik from Moradabad, had met Khan in the Rampur jail on March 14.

Khan's wife, Tazeen Fatima, was also present during the meeting, the officer said.

Malik later told mediapersons outside the jail that Khan had appealed to Muslims to wear black clothes and refrain from celebrating Eid this year to express grief over the deaths of more than 160 girls in a recent missile strike on a school in Iran, allegedly carried out by the US, Singh said.

Police said a video of Malik making the statement was circulated on social media, following which a sub-inspector posted at the Ganj police station lodged a complaint against him.

Legal Action Against SP Leader

Based on the complaint, a case has been registered against Malik on Sunday night under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 196(1) (promoting enmity between groups on grounds such as religion and disturbing social harmony), 153(2) (waging war against the government of any foreign state), and 57 (inciting the public or a group of more than 10 persons to commit an offence).

Further action will be taken based on the findings of the investigation, the officer added.
Amid rising tensions in West Asia, China is urging all parties to cease military operations, following Trump's appeal for help in securing the Strait of Hormuz.

IMAGE: The Thailand-flagged cargo ship Mayuree Naree engulfed in black smoke in the Strait of Hormuz, March 11, 2026. Photograph: Royal Thai Navy/Handout via/Reuters

Key Points China urges all parties to immediately halt military operations in West Asia to prevent further escalation of tensions.

The call follows US President Trump's appeal for international cooperation, including China's help, to secure the Strait of Hormuz for international transport.

China acknowledges the impact of recent tensions in the Strait of Hormuz on global energy flow, trade, and regional stability.

China confirms ongoing discussions with the US regarding President Trump's planned visit to Beijing.

Trump suggests delaying his visit to China if Beijing does not commit to helping keep the Strait of Hormuz open.

China on Monday called on all sides to immediately stop military operations in West Asia in response to US President Donald Trump's call to join other countries, including Beijing, to help keep Strait of Hormuz open for international transport.

The effective closure of the vital waterway by Iran in retaliation for airstrikes by the US and Israel has proved catastrophic for global energy and trade flows, causing the largest oil supply disruption and soaring global oil prices.

China also said it is in talks with the US about Trump's planned visit to Beijing later this month.

'Damaged regional peace and global stability'

About Trump's call to China and other countries to deploy warships to keep the strait "open and safe," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told a media briefing in Beijing that the recent tensions in Strait of Hormuz and adjacent waters impacted the flow of the goods and international energy and has damaged regional peace and global stability.

Again China calls on all sides to immediately stop military operations to avoid further escalation of tensions and prevent regional turbulence having a larger impact on the world economic growth, Lin said.

On Trump's comment that he may delay his visit to China at the end of the month, apparently linking his visit to Beijing's response to his appeal to help to keep Strait of Hormuz open, Lin said both Beijing and Washington are in talks about the US president's visit.

China and the United States are in communication with each other regarding Trump's China visit, Lin said, adding head-of-state diplomacy plays an irreplaceable strategic leading role in China-US relations.

We may delay China visit: Trump

In an interview on Sunday with the Financial Times, Trump said China's reliance on oil from the West Asia means it has to help with a new coalition he is trying to put together to get oil tanker traffic moving through the strait after Iran's threats have throttled global flows of oil.

"We'd like to know" before the trip whether Beijing will help. "We may delay," Trump said in the interview.

Trump in a social media post this weekend urged countries including China, the UK, France and Japan to deploy war ships to keep the strait "open and safe".

China, a close ally of Iran and recipient of Iranian oil supplies at cheaper costs, has condemned the US-Israeli attacks on Iran and criticised the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei in American airstrikes.
Two men accused in a Thane chain-snatching case have been acquitted after a special court found a lack of evidence to support the charges, including those under the stringent MCOCA act.

Photograph: Pixabay.com

Key Points A special court in Thane acquitted two men accused of chain-snatching due to insufficient evidence.

The court found the identification of the accused in the 2023 chain-snatching incident to be legally unsustainable.

MCOCA charges were dropped as the primary offence of robbery could not be proven against the accused.

The complainant admitted she did not clearly see the faces of the motorcycle riders during the incident.

A special court in Thane district has acquitted two men booked under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) in a 2023 chain-snatching case, observing that there was no evidence linking them to the crime.

Special judge V G Mohite acquitted Saurabh alias Sonya Manoj Salunkhe (22) and Abdulla Sanjay Irani alias Sayyad (24), who were booked under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Maharashtra Police Act, and MCOCA.

A copy of the order passed on March 12 was made available on Saturday.

Details of the Chain-Snatching Incident

According to the prosecution, on January 10, 2023, two motorcycle-borne men allegedly snatched a gold 'mangalsutra' from a pedestrian in Kalyan.

While the court accepted that the robbery took place, it found the identification of the accused to be legally unsustainable.

The judge noted that the complainant, during cross-examination, admitted she had not properly seen the faces of the riders as the incident occurred in a "fraction of a moment".

MCOCA Charges Dismissed

Regarding the stringent MCOCA charges, which were invoked based on the accused's prior criminal records, the court held that since the primary offence (robbery) remained unproven, these charges could not stand.

The court also pointed out that no evidence was presented to prove the existence of prohibitory orders under the Maharashtra Police Act on the day of the crime.

It directed the immediate release of the accused, who had been in custody since 2023.
Amidst rising tensions, the Trinamool Congress is making a third attempt to meet with President Droupadi Murmu to discuss West Bengal's welfare programs, following a controversial visit and previous rejections.

Photograph: Courtesy PIB

Key Points Trinamool Congress (TMC) seeks a meeting with President Murmu to discuss West Bengal's welfare initiatives.

This is the third attempt by the TMC after previous requests were denied due to 'paucity of time'.

The request follows a controversy during the President's visit to West Bengal, where she criticised the state government's handling of a tribal event.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused the President of acting on BJP's advice, escalating the political tensions.

The BJP has criticised the TMC for allegedly 'insulting' the President, further intensifying the political conflict.

The Trinamool Congress has written a third letter to President Droupadi Murmu seeking an appointment to "apprise her about the West Bengal government's welfare initiatives" after its earlier requests for a meeting were turned down, party sources said.

The developments came in the backdrop of the row during the President's visit to West Bengal early this month, where she had expressed displeasure over how the state administration handled a tribal conclave and protocol issues.

According to the sources in the Trinamool Congress (TMC), a senior party leader wrote to the President on Monday seeking an appointment. This is the third such letter the Mamata Banerjee-led party has sent to Murmu after her officer denied their initial request, citing "paucity of time", they said.

According to a source familiar with the developments, a senior TMC leader had written to President Murmu on March 9, seeking an appointment for a 12-to-15-member party delegation comprising MPs and state ministers.

The letter said the delegation wanted to share with Murmu the welfare initiatives taken by the West Bengal government for "inclusive development of all sections of society".

The request was, however, turned down.

Rashtrapati Bhavan sent a communication informing the TMC that its request was considered but could not be acceded to due to "paucity of time", the source claimed.

The TMC leader wrote to the President again on March 11 seeking an appointment, but received no response.

Now, a third letter requesting an appointment was sent to the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Monday, the source said.

Controversy Surrounding President's Visit

A major political controversy erupted after the President, on March 7, questioned the West Bengal government's decision to shift the venue of a conclave of the Santal tribal community she attended, wondering if the administration had hoped that no one would be able to attend the event.

She also expressed displeasure that neither Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee nor any state minister was present during her visit.

Soon after, Banerjee accused the President of speaking "on the advice of the BJP" and also questioned her "silence" on alleged atrocities against tribals in states like Manipur and Chhattisgarh.

The BJP lashed out at the TMC government for "insulting" the President, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi termed it "shameful and unprecedented" and accused the TMC of crossing all limits.
Amid escalating tensions with Iran, President Trump is urging nations dependent on Middle Eastern oil to deploy warships to the Strait of Hormuz to safeguard critical global energy supplies.

IMAGE: US President Donald Trump speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One on a flight back to Washington on March 15, 2026. Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

Key Points President Trump has requested approximately seven nations to deploy warships to the Strait of Hormuz to secure vital oil transit routes.

Trump emphasised that countries heavily reliant on Middle Eastern oil should take responsibility for policing the Strait of Hormuz.

Despite rising global oil prices, no country has yet committed to the international mission to protect vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran's Foreign Minister stated that permissions for vessels to pass through the Strait of Hormuz are under the Iranian military's purview.

Volatility in the Strait of Hormuz has caused oil prices to climb and petrol prices in the United States to surge.

United States President Donald Trump announced that he has requested approximately seven nations to deploy warships to assist in maintaining transit routes through the Strait of Hormuz as the conflict with Iran continues to impact the critical maritime corridor.

However, some allies have issued direct refusals or adopted a cautious stance to Trump's appeal.

Australia has confirmed it will not provide naval support to the region. Cabinet Minister Catherine King informed the ABC that while the waterway remains vital, Canberra has received no formal request and maintains no plans for deployment.

"We won't be sending a ship to the Strait of Hormuz. We know how incredibly important that is, but that's not something that we've been asked or that we're contributing to," King stated.

Mirroring this reluctant sentiment, Prime Minister Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi stated that Japan currently maintains no plans to deploy naval assets for escorting vessels in the Middle East.

Addressing the Japanese parliament, Takaichi clarified that Tokyo has not yet committed to any military involvement. According to a report by Reuters, she noted that the government is still evaluating its options.

"We have not made any decisions whatsoever about dispatching escort ships. We are continuing to examine what Japan can do independently and what can be done within the legal framework," Takaichi told the legislature.

South Korea indicated that it remains in discussions with Washington, with the presidential office in Seoul noting that any potential move would only occur after a thorough and "careful review" of the situation.

In London, Prime Minister Keir Starmer maintained a diplomatic approach to the request. According to Downing Street, Starmer held talks with Trump regarding the necessity to reopen the strait to mitigate "global shipping disruptions."

The British leader also consulted with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to coordinate a Western response. Both leaders agreed to further deliberate on the Middle East crisis during a scheduled meeting on Monday.

Trump calls for naval coalition to open Strait of Hormuz

The President's remarks follow reports indicating his intention to establish an international coalition to provide escorts for vessels navigating the strait. The waterway is a vital artery for global energy, with nearly 20 per cent of the world's oil exports passing through it.

While Trump did not specify the invited countries, he highlighted that the selected nations are those with a high level of dependency on Middle Eastern oil supplies.

Speaking to journalists on Air Force One, he said, "We're talking to countries about policing the straits because they are the ones -- you know, we don't get oil, very little, 1%. China, as an example, gets about 90% of its oil from the Hormuz Strait. It'd be nice to have other countries policing with us. And we'll help, and we'll work with them."

Trump took a firm stance on the responsibility of international partners, stating, "I'm demanding that these countries come in and protect their own territory because it is their own territory."

Despite escalating global oil prices, no country has yet provided a definitive commitment to the mission.

Trump drew parallels to US involvement in other global theatres, noting, "I think we're getting a good response. We're always there for NATO. We're helping them with Ukraine. It doesn't affect us, but we've helped them. It'd be interesting to see which country wouldn't help us with a very small endeavour, which is just keeping the Strait open."

Trump claims Iran's capabilities have been diminished

Assessing the military situation, the US President suggested that Tehran's capabilities have been severely diminished, though he acknowledged the potential for limited retaliation.

"As far as I'm concerned, we've essentially defeated Iran. I guess they can have a little bit of fight back. But not much. We have taken out their air forces, air defence. They have no air defence whatsoever. We have taken out their leadership. Militarily, it's been amazing. We have attacked Kharg Island. They wanted to negotiate badly. I don't think they are ready. I think they will be ready in some time. But we do it very well," he reiterated.

Trump further claimed that the US military has effectively crippled Iran's industrial base for weaponry.

"My comparison is small because Iran has very little firepower left. Their missiles are down to a low number. They're shooting very few of them because we've decimated their manufacturing capability," he said.

"Likewise, the drones are way down. They're down to about 20% of what they had. As of yesterday, we're starting to hit the places where they manufacture the drones. We think we know where they are.

"It's a very strong military operation, just as it was in Venezuela. We have the strongest military anywhere in the world by far, not even a contest. And I think people understand that, and we will finish the job."

Iran's Perspective on Strait Security

On the other side, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi informed CBS that several nations have approached Tehran to ensure safe passage for their ships.

He maintained that such permissions are strictly under the purview of the Iranian military, noting that "A group of vessels from 'different countries' had been allowed to pass."

Araghchi dismissed the possibility of diplomatic engagement with Washington to conclude the hostilities.

He asserted that Israel and the US initiated the conflict with synchronised strikes on February 28, occurring during indirect discussions regarding Iran's nuclear programme. He also stated that Tehran has "no plan to recover" its enriched uranium stocks, which were liquidated during US and Israeli operations in the previous year.

Economic Impact of Strait of Hormuz Tensions

The volatility in the Strait of Hormuz has sent shockwaves through the energy sector, with oil prices climbing past USD 100 per barrel since the onset of US military actions two weeks ago.

In the United States, petrol prices have surged by over 70 cents per gallon.

Tehran has reportedly attempted to obstruct the passage using small boats and sea mines. In response, US administration officials have affirmed that the US Navy will continue to offer protection to commercial ships in the region.

The economic implications are weighing heavily on domestic politics as well.

Republicans in Congress have called for swift White House intervention to avoid an economic crisis at the start of an election year. However, President Trump and certain party members have resisted pressure for a hasty conclusion to the war, seeking instead to prevent long-term disruptions to the global supply chain.
The first ship, Shivalik reached Mundra Port in Gujarat, while two other vessels, namely Jag Laadki and Nanda Devi, are set to reach India on Tuesday morning.

IMAGE: Indian LPG carrier Shivalik arrives at Mundra Port via the Strait of Hormuz, amid the US-Israel conflict with Iran, in Gujarat, India, March 16, 2026. Photograph: Amit Dave/Reuters

Key Points 22 Indian-flagged vessels with 611 seafarers remain in the western Persian Gulf, with efforts underway to ensure their safe passage.

Two LPG carriers have successfully crossed the Strait of Hormuz, delivering vital cooking gas supplies to India.

India is actively managing maritime trade continuity and seafarer safety amidst conflict in the Strait of Hormuz, including sourcing oil from alternative countries like Russia.

Indian authorities have repatriated 286 seafarers and are providing support to vessels through major ports, including concessions on various charges.

An Indian-flagged crude oil tanker that sailed safely from the UAE's Fujairah port despite an attack on the terminal is scheduled to reach India on Tuesday, a senior official said, emphasizing that New Delhi is working to ensure the safe passage of remaining Indian-flagged vessels in the region.

The vessel, Jag Laadki, carrying about 80,800 tonnes of Murban crude from the UAE, and all 22 Indian seafarers onboard are reported safe, said Rajesh Kumar Sinha, special secretary in the ministry of ports, shipping and waterways on Monday.

Jag Laadki is the fourth out of the 28 Indian ships that were stuck in the war-hit Strait of Hormuz for last two weeks.

Currently, 22 Indian-flagged vessels with 611 seafarers remain in the western Persian Gulf. Two LPG carriers started their journey on March 13 and crossed the Strait of Hormuz early on March 14.

The first ship, Shivalik reached Mundra Port in Gujarat where advance paper work and priority discharge was arranged, he said adding the other vessel, Nanda Devi is to reach Kandla port on Tuesday morning.

The two ships carry about 92,712 tonnes of LPG -- equivalent to a day's requirement of cooking gas in the country. These were among the 24 ships stranded on the west side of the strait since the war broke out in the region.

Besides the 24 on the west side of the strait, four others were stranded on the east side.

One of the four on the east side, an India-flagged oil tanker, Jag Prakash, carrying gasoline from Oman to Africa, crossed the war-hit strait on Friday. Jag Prakash loaded gasoline from Sohar port in Oman and is now headed to Tanga in Tanzania. It is due to reach Tanga on March 21.

Besides Jag Prakash, Jag Laadki was the second tanker on the east coast that managed to move to safety, he said adding Jag Laadki is scheduled to reach Mundra on Tuesday.

As of now, there are 22 Indian ships on the east size of the Strait of Hormuz and 2 on the west side, he said adding efforts are on to secure safe passage for them.

Since activation of the DG Shipping Control Room, over 3,000 calls and 5,400 emails from seafarers, families, and maritime stakeholders have been handled, while 286 Indian seafarers have been safely repatriated, including 33 in the past 48 hours.

Major ports are closely monitoring vessel movements and facilitating cargo operations, offering concessions on anchorage, berth hire, storage charges, and temporary transshipment storage at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA), which has also granted rebates on reefer container plug-in charges, Sinha said.

Export-bound containers at JNPA have fallen from 5,600 to 3,900, with no reported congestion, he said adding an inter-ministerial group under DG Shipping continues to coordinate with Customs, ports, and other stakeholders to ensure the safety and welfare of Indian seafarers while maintaining continuity of maritime trade.

On March 14, 2026, while the Indian-flag vessel Jag Laadki was loading crude oil at the Fujairah Single Point Mooring, the Fujairah oil terminal was attacked. The vessel sailed safely from Fujairah at 1030 hrs IST on Sunday carrying about 80,800 tonnes of Murban crude oil and is bound for India. The vessel and all Indian seafarers onboard are safe.

Impact on India's energy imports

India imports about 88 percent of its crude oil, 50 percent of natural gas and 60 percent of LPG needs. Before the US-Israel strikes on Iran on February 28 and Tehran's retaliation, more than half of India's crude imports, about 30 percent of gas and 85-90 percent of LPG imports came from Middle East countries such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

The conflict has led to a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, the main transit route for Gulf energy supplies. While India has partly offset crude supply disruptions by sourcing oil from countries including Russia, gas supplies have been curtailed to industrial users and LPG availability to commercial establishments such as hotels and restaurants has been reduced.
In a landmark verdict, a Gujarat court convicts five individuals in the 2016 Una flogging case, where Dalit men were brutally attacked for skinning a cow carcass, a case that ignited nationwide protests against caste discrimination and cow vigilantism.

Key Points A special court in Gujarat convicted five individuals in the 2016 Una flogging case, where Dalit men were assaulted for skinning a cow carcass.

The convicted individuals face charges under the Indian Penal Code and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

The 2016 Una flogging incident sparked widespread protests against cow vigilantism and caste-based discrimination across India.

The court examined approximately 260 witnesses during the trial, highlighting the extensive investigation into the case.

While five were convicted, 35 others were acquitted, and the case against a deceased policeman was abated, indicating the complexities of the legal proceedings.

A special court in Veraval in Gujarat's Gir Somnath district on Monday convicted five persons and acquitted 35 others in the 2016 Una flogging case, in which four Dalit men were thrashed when they were trying to skin the carcass of a cow, triggering massive protests across the country at the time.

The court of special SC/ST atrocities cases and additional district and sessions judge JJ Pandya convicted five accused and acquitted 35 others, while the case against a policeman was abated as he died during the pendency of the trial, district government lawyer Ketansinh Vala said, adding the court reserved its order of sentencing for Tuesday.

The five accused were convicted under sections 323 (causing simple hurt), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons), 342 (wrongful confinement) and 504 (intentional insult) of Indian Penal Code, as well as sections 3 (1)(D) and 3 (1)(E)(R)(S)(U) of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, he said.

The court did not convict them under IPC sections 307 (attempt to murder), 397 (robbery), 365 (kidnapping), 147 (rioting), 355 (assault to dishonour a person), and 120-B (criminal conspiracy), he added.

Those convicted in the case are Ramesh Jadhav, Rakesh Joshi, Nagji Vaniya, Pramodgiri Goswami, and Balwatgiri Goswami, while judgment against a juvenile is pending, Vala said. The court examined around 260 witnesses during the course of trial, he said.

Details of the Una Flogging Incident

The incident occurred at Mota Samadhiyala village near Una town of Gir-Somnath district on July 11, 2016 when four Dalit youths, as part of their traditional profession, were skinning the carcass of a cow that had died earlier in some other village.

The accused, self-proclaimed cow vigilantes, flogged the youths, who were then illegally put in the lockup and thrashed by police personnel as well. It was alleged that the four Dalits were thrashed for almost 4-5 hours. Police allegedly connived with the perpetrators and forged some FIR related documents to help them.

Villagers from nearby areas had attempted to rescue the Dalit youths, but were threatened by the accused. The villagers then called police control rooms in Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad.

The accused were also charged under sections 66A and 66B of Information Technology Act for allegedly making and circulating video clips of the incident.

Aftermath and Protests

The incident caused widespread unrest against cow vigilantes after the videos of the flogging went viral. Protests were held in various parts of Gujarat and the country.
Photo: https://t.me/Ukraine_MFA

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha held a call with Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna.

"I spoke with Margus Tsahkna following the EU Foreign Affairs Council. We agreed that now is the time for unity and strength in every EU decision. Maintaining and increasing pressure on Russia remains essential. Sanctions remain critical to limit Moscows ability to finance war and destabilise Europe and other regions," Sybiha said on X following the conversation.

The sides also exchanged views on developments in the Middle East and the importance of maintaining global attention on countering Russia's aggression against Ukraine.

They also discussed progress toward an EU-wide ban on entry for Russian militants who took part in the war against Ukraine.

"We appreciate the recent statement of leaders, signed by the Estonian Prime Minister, and hope for this strategic step to be taken as soon as possible," Sybiha said.

He also informed his Estonian counterpart about what he described as Hungary's appropriation of funds belonging to a Ukrainian state bank and Ukrainian taxpayers, saying such actions require strong EU-wide condemnation and the immediate return of the seized funds.

"Finally, we addressed the EUR 90 billion loan, which is critical to maintaining Ukraine and Europe's security. Hungary should not be allowed to hold the entire EU hostage on matters of strategic security," Sybiha said.
A dentistry student in Uttar Pradesh has been arrested for alleged links to an ISIS online module, raising concerns about online radicalisation and recruitment tactics in India.

Photograph: Thaier Al-Sudani/Reuters

Key Points Uttar Pradesh ATS arrested a 19-year-old dentistry student for alleged connections to an ISIS online module.

The student is accused of using social media and encrypted apps to connect with ISIS handlers and spread their ideology.

Intelligence inputs suggest the existence of online groups in Uttar Pradesh and other regions aiming to establish a Sharia-based caliphate and recruit for ISIS.

The accused allegedly created groups using pseudonyms and VPNs to recruit individuals and disseminate ISIS propaganda.

The student also ran a group called 'Al Ittihad Media Foundation' and maintained contact with ISIS-linked individuals both in India and abroad.

The Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has arrested a 19-year-old student pursuing dentistry for allegedly having links with an online module of the banned terror outfit ISIS, officials said on Monday.

Haarish Ali, a resident of Saharanpur district, was arrested in Moradabad on Sunday during an ongoing probe into activities of ISIS-linked online networks operating in India, a statement from the ATS said.

The second-year BDS student is alleged to have been associated with ISIS handlers and sympathisers through social media platforms such as Instagram and encrypted applications like Session and Discord, officials said.

ISIS Online Recruitment Tactics

According to the ATS, intelligence inputs indicated that some individuals in Uttar Pradesh and other parts of the country were creating online groups to propagate ISIS ideology aimed at establishing a Sharia-based caliphate system and recruit people to strengthen the terror outfit in India.

The groups were allegedly used to share propaganda materials, extremist literature and instructions related to ISIS activities.

Based on the inputs, a case was registered at the ATS police station in Lucknow under relevant sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the statement said.

During the investigation, it was found that the accused allegedly created several groups using pseudonyms and virtual private networks (VPNs) to recruit like-minded individuals and circulate ISIS propaganda, it said.

Officials said the accused also ran a separate group named "Al Ittihad Media Foundation" and maintained contacts with individuals linked to ISIS networks in India and abroad.
A new US government report alleges worsening religious freedom conditions in India, urging the US government to designate India as a 'Country of Particular Concern' and consider sanctions.

IMAGE: An RSS marchpast. Kindly note that this image has been posted for representational purposes only. Photograph: ANI Photo

Key Points The USCIRF report alleges a deterioration of religious freedom conditions in India, citing new legislation targeting religious minorities.

The report recommends designating India as a 'Country of Particular Concern' due to systematic and egregious religious freedom violations.

USCIRF suggests targeted sanctions on Indian entities like the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

The commission highlights concerns over anti-conversion laws, detentions, expulsions, and vigilante attacks against religious minorities in India.

The report links future US security assistance and trade policies with India to improvements in religious freedom.

A US federal government commission has flagged the alleged worsening of religious freedom in India and called for it to be designated as a "Country of Particular Concern".

There were no immediate comments from India on the report issued by the US Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). In the past few years, India rejected the USCIRF reports as "biased and politically motivated".

In its annual report, the USCIRF also asked that targeted sanctions be imposed on individuals and entities, such as the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), for their "responsibility and tolerance of severe violations of religious freedom by freezing those individuals' or entities' assets and/or barring their entry into the United States."

It recommended to the US government that India be designated as a "country of particular concern," or CPC, for "engaging in and tolerating systematic, ongoing, and egregious religious freedom violations".

The report said that in 2025, religious freedom conditions in India continued to deteriorate as the government introduced and enforced new legislation targeting religious minority communities and their houses of worship.

"Several states undertook efforts to introduce or strengthen anti-conversion laws to include harsher prison sentences. Indian authorities also facilitated widespread detention and illegal expulsion of citizens and religious refugees and tolerated vigilante attacks against religious minority communities," it said.

Concerns over Terrorist Attacks and Anti-Muslim Sentiment

The report also noted the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack against tourists in Jammu and Kashmir. On the attack, the report said, "three gunmen" attacked a group of "predominantly Hindu tourists in the Muslim-majority territory of Kashmir", killing 26 people.

"The perpetrators reportedly asked the victims to recite the Kalma, an Islamic verse, and killed those who were unable to do so. The attack sparked a five-day conflict between India and Pakistan and intensified anti-Muslim sentiment in India, including targeted attacks," it said.

The terror attack was carried out by the Resistance Front, a front for Pakistan-based terror organisation, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba.

USCIRF Recommendations

The report said that future US security assistance and bilateral trade policies with India be linked to improvements in religious freedom.

USCIRF said the US Congress should reintroduce and pass the Transnational Repression Reporting Act of 2024 to "require the annual reporting of acts of transnational repression by the Indian government targeting religious minorities in the United States."

In a statement, USCIRF Chair Vicky Hartzler said, "China arrests underground church members, mob violence is on the rise in India and Pakistan leading to attacks on religious minorities and the destruction of their homes, Burma's military bombs houses of worship, and Tajikistan denies parents the right to teach their children about faith."

"As USCIRF's Annual Report shows, far too many people in key nations are denied religious freedom through unjust laws, discrimination, harassment, violence, and even crimes against humanity. The US government must continue to advance religious freedom abroad to make a difference for those facing religious persecution."

The USCIRF is an independent, bipartisan US federal government agency. It makes policy recommendations to the US President, Secretary of State, and Congress and tracks the implementation of these recommendations.
West Bengal's political landscape heats up as TMC, BJP, and CPI(M) react to the Election Commission's reshuffle of key officials, setting the stage for contentious elections.

Photograph: ANI Photo

Key Points The Election Commission (EC) reshuffled senior administrative and police officials in West Bengal ahead of elections.

TMC criticised the EC's reshuffle, calling it a 'panic reaction' by the BJP.

BJP and CPI(M) welcomed the reshuffle as a step towards ensuring free and fair elections in West Bengal.

TMC accused the BJP of using the EC as its 'own wing' to transfer top officials.

Opposition leaders expressed hope that the reshuffle would ensure non-partisan administration during the election period.

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Monday called the EC's reshuffle of senior administrative and police officials in West Bengal a "panic reaction by a party that realises it cannot win elections through democratic means", while the opposition BJP and CPI(M) hailed the rejig as a "step towards free and fair polls".

After announcement of the poll schedule for West Bengal, the EC removed Chief Secretary Nandini Chakravorty, Home Secretary Jagdish Prasad Meena, DGP Peeyush Pandey and Kolkata Police Commissioner Supratim Sarkar. It said the removed officials would not be given poll-related assignments. The poll panel said the decision was taken following a review of the poll preparedness of the state.

Addressing a press conference, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said that despite what he called "backdoor politics", the BJP would "fail to weaken the bond between the people of West Bengal and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee".

He said the BJP-led Centre may change governors or senior officials, but it does not have the power to change the minds of West Bengal's voters.

Ghosh also accused the BJP of using the EC as its "own wing" to carry out hurried transfers of top officials, including the state's chief secretary and the director general of police.

"Replace whoever you want to; you won't be able to replace CM Mamata Banerjee. She is the tigress of India and the more opposition tries to target her, the stronger the party will emerge," he said.

He said the EC has removed West Bengal's first woman chief secretary in an "arbitrary and undemocratic manner".

The TMC spokesperson also accused the Centre of withholding more than Rs 1.96 lakh crore of the state's dues, including funds for schemes such as MGNREGA, PMAY, and the Jal Jeevan Mission.

He said that despite the "withholding" of funds, the state government continues to provide social security benefits to the people from its own resources.

Opposition Parties Welcome the EC's Decision

Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, told reporters, "I am happy that the EC has brought back officials who were sidelined and shunted by the Mamata Banerjee government as they did not toe her party line and acted against perpetrators of violence by TMC."

"Those efficient non-partisan IAS and IPS officials, who have integrity, had been given insignificant postings by the TMC regime. They have now been assigned important responsibilities and will be in charge of law and order to ensure smooth, fair and incident-free polls," he said.

Echoing him, BJP chief whip in the assembly, Shankar Ghosh alleged that a section of the state's bureaucracy had been functioning as an extension of the ruling TMC.

"Some IAS, IPS, and WBCS officers operate as if they are members of the TMC," he alleged.

Ghosh said the EC's intervention was vital for electoral integrity, adding that the move should serve as a warning to other officials.

"Those who needed to get a signal have received it," he remarked.

CPI(M) Calls for Focus on Voter Freedom

CPI(M) central committee member Sujan Chakraborty, while noting that the EC routinely reshuffles officials during elections, said the West Bengal administration's conduct made such action particularly significant this time.

"The state of administration in West Bengal is such that an official can take off his uniform and immediately become a Rajya Sabha member of the TMC," he said, indicating former DGP Rajeev Kumar.

Chakraborty, however, stressed that the focus must remain on ensuring that voters are able to exercise their franchise freely.

"The question isn't just about who was moved or who was brought in; the most important thing is to ensure that people are able to cast their votes according to their own will," he said, urging the EC to maintain neutrality.
Ahead of the West Bengal assembly elections, a new report reveals that a significant number of sitting MLAs are facing criminal charges, raising concerns about the integrity of the electoral process.

Photograph: ANI Photo

Key Points Nearly half (47%) of sitting MLAs in West Bengal have declared criminal cases against themselves, according to an ADR report.

37% of West Bengal MLAs face serious criminal charges, including cases related to murder, attempted murder, and crimes against women.

In the Trinamool Congress, 41% of MLAs have declared criminal cases, while in the BJP, the figure is 66%.

The average assets per MLA in West Bengal are Rs 2.82 crore, with TMC MLAs having an average of Rs 3.27 crore.

A significant portion of MLAs have declared their educational qualification to be between Class 8 and 12 (36%), while 15% of MLAs are women.

Around 47 per cent of sitting MLAs in poll-bound West Bengal have declared criminal cases against them, while 37 per cent face serious criminal cases, a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) said.

The assembly polls in West Bengal will be held in two phases on April 23 and 29, and votes will be counted on May 4.

According to the report that analysed self-sworn affidavits of 291 out of 294 sitting MLAs, 136 (47 per cent) have declared criminal cases against themselves, while 109 (37 per cent) have declared serious criminal cases.

At least eight sitting MLAs have declared cases related to murder, 29 have declared cases related to attempt to murder, while 22 have declared cases related to crimes against women, with one MLA declaring cases related to rape.

Party Affiliations and Criminal Charges

In the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC), 92 (41 per cent) of 223 MLAs have declared criminal cases, while in the BJP, 42 (66 per cent) of 64 MLAs have declared criminal cases.

MLA Assets and Education

The report also says 152 (52 per cent) of the total MPs are crorepatis. The total assets of 291 sitting MLAs are Rs 821.50 crore, and the average of assets per sitting MLA is Rs 2.82 crore.

The average asset per MLA for 223 TMC MLAs analysed is Rs 3.27crore, for 64 BJP MLAs, it is Rs 1.07 crore, while one Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha MLA analysed has assets worth Rs 18.23 crore.

As far as education is concerned, 104 (36 per cent) MLAs have declared their educational qualification to be between Class 8 and 12, while 182 (63 per cent) MLAs have declared having an educational qualification of graduate or above.

About 124 (43 per cent) MLAs have declared their age to be between 25 and 50 years while 167 (57 per cent) MLAs have declared their age to be between 51 and 70 years.

Out of 291 MLAs analysed, 45 (15 per cent) MLAs are women.
A husband in Yelahanka, Bengaluru, has been arrested on dowry harassment charges after his 24-year-old wife was found dead in their home, prompting a police investigation into the suspicious circumstances.

Key Points A 24-year-old woman in Yelahanka was found dead, with her family alleging foul play.

The woman's husband has been arrested on charges of dowry harassment following her death.

Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the death, initially suspecting suicide.

The family claims the husband and his family were harassing the woman for additional dowry.

An autopsy report is pending to determine the exact cause of death in the Yelahanka case.

A 24-year-old married woman who had been found hanging from a ceiling fan at her home has died, and her husband has been arrested in this connection, police said on Monday.

The deceased Shruthi was a resident of Yelahanka here, and her maternal family claimed it to be a murder. Her husband, Pawan Kalyan, has been arrested on charges of dowry harassment, police added.

According to police, on Saturday, she was found hanging from a ceiling fan, with police suspecting it to be a case of suicide.

She was rushed to a nearby hospital, where she was declared brought dead, police said.

Shruthi married Kalyan, a private employee, in December 2024, and the couple has been residing in Yelahanka since then, a senior police officer said.

Dowry Harassment Allegations

However, her family has alleged that Kalyan and his family had been harassing Shruthi for additional dowry, which often led to quarrels between them, he said.

The officer said the two families had recently resolved their disputes, but the issue cropped up again.

Amruth, Shruthi's younger brother, told reporters that he was informed over the phone that his sister had died by suicide.

"They told me on the phone that my sister died by suicide, and I immediately informed my father. The couple had argued earlier that day before I was told she had died. When I checked, the ceiling fan did not appear to have bent or moved. My sister weighed 75 kg," he said.

A case was registered against Kalyan at the Yelahanka New Town police station for dowry harassment, and he was arrested in connection with the incident, the officer added.

The autopsy report will ascertain the exact cause of death, police said.
If the oil infrastructure is attacked by the United States, the whole area could be flooded with oil, spilling into the Persian Gulf.

IMAGE: Tankers sail in the Gulf, near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from northern Ras al-Khaimah, near the border with Oman's Musandam, March 11, 2026. Photograph: Reuters

Key Points No ship can pass through the Strait of Hormuz undetected by Iran.

The Strait of Hormuz is fairly wide, roughly about 25 nautical miles across. But its shipping lanes are narrow.

The narrow shipping lanes of Hormuz are exposed to very heavy traffic. At any given time there may be 100 to 200 large ships moving through the area -- without counting smaller coastal vessels or the fishing boats.

When the United States bombed the island of Kharg in Iran on Friday, March 13, it brought back memories for Captain Jaideep Gode. As a young cadet on a merchant ship, forty years ago, he had found himself right in the middle of bombing on the same island during the Iran-Iraq war.

"We used to go to Kharg island to load oil, and the Iraqis would rain bombs -- and try to hit the tankers and ships going to Iran."

"They blew up the M V World Knight, a VLCC which was headed for the berth we were departing from. We saw the explosion," recalls Captain Gode.

A VLCC [very large crude carrier] is usually around 350 metres long and around 45 to 50 metres wide. It would have been a massive target.

During the Iran-Iraq war, Saddam Hussein's Iraq was backed by America and many countries in Europe. The Iraqis used French Exocet missiles to strike ships headed towards Iran.

"I remember the Iranian ack-ack batteries were manned by teenagers and they would fire over the ship at the Iraqi planes. We were more scared of getting blown up by ack-ack fire than Iraqi bombers!" says the captain who has sailed through the Strait of Hormuz many times in a long maritime career.

Iran-Iraq war lasted 8 years: One of the deadliest conflicts of the 20th century

It was thought that the war would last a few weeks, but the Iran-Iraq war dragged on from 1980 to 1988. Ayotollah Khomeini had just taken over Iran after the monarchy was overthrown in the Islamic Revolution in 1979. Iran was practically isolated, but the Iranians fought hard. Young boys, just over 18, went to war.

An estimated 500,000 to 1,000,000 human beings died in the deadly conflict. Iran saw an estimated 600,000 war dead.

As a student, Captain Gode remembers coming across many Iranian students at the Nautical College who had served on the frontlines for one or two years.

"The Iranians know how to fight. They do not give up."

IMAGE: A satellite image shows an oil terminal at Kharg Island, February 25, 2026. Photograph: Planet Labs PBC/Handout via/Reuters

What assets does Iran have on Kharg Island?

Kharg Island is located inside the Persian Gulf, 25 kilometres from the Iranian coast and 483 kms northwest of the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian oil tank farms are located on the island, which is around 8 kilometres long and 4-5 kms wide.

It is estimated that Iran probably has a storage capacity of 20 to 30 million barrels of oil on the island.

If the oil infrastructure is attacked by the United States, the whole area could be flooded with oil which could flow into the Persian Gulf.

Realistically, it would mean hitting a huge target; they would rather target the terminals instead.

IMAGE: An oil tanker awaits passage through the Strait of Hormuz in Iraq's territorial waters near Basra, Iraq, March 12, 2026. Photograph: Mohammed Aty/Reuters

What sailors experience navigating the Strait of Hormuz

The Strait of Hormuz is fairly wide, roughly about 25 nautical miles across. But its shipping lanes are narrow.

On busy sea routes, the most important thing to watch out for is the depth. Large ships can easily run aground in shallow water. Therefore, hydrographic authorities create shipping lanes -- TSS or Traffic Separation Scheme -- to guide vessels safely.

There is one lane for ships going east and another for ships going west, with a small separation zone in between.

Each lane is only about two miles wide, which isn't much at all when compared to shipping lanes in the English Channel that are four or five miles wide.

The narrow shipping lanes of Hormuz are exposed to very heavy traffic. At any given time there may be 100 to 200 large ships moving through the area -- without counting smaller coastal vessels or the fishing boats.

Large ships generally follow a route that hugs the coast of Oman. They sail along Oman, pass Fujairah in the UAE, and then onward.

The lane is roughly 20 miles south of the Iranian coast, closer to UAE and Oman.

Ships stick to these waters because the water outside is much shallower. The TSS depths are carefully surveyed and charted, and the lanes are followed by large vessels -- especially super tankers -- to avoid running aground.

The monsoon is a rough time to sail in the area.

"It is very windy in the Persian Gulf, Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman. But not as difficult as the open European waters or off Japan," says Captain Gode.

What happens when GPS systems are spoofed and jammed

The big challenge is the jamming and spoofing of GNSS/GPS signals which causes disruptions to commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran is suspected of jamming signals resulting in ships showing false positions and wrong data readings.

"Ships have to be really careful now. Captains will have to crosscheck every position physically in the old fashioned way using your radar to get your bearings," cautions Captain Gode.

"The only problem is young officers today are not used to the old way of navigation and rely on the GPS system. This is something that they'll have to learn quickly."

IMAGE: The Thailand-flagged cargo ship Mayuree Naree engulfed in black smoke in the Strait of Hormuz, March 11, 2026. Photograph: Royal Thai Navy/Handout via/Reuters

At full speed a ship can take 1.5 to 2 miles to stop: The challenge of manoeuvring big ships

Ships have an Automatic Identification System, AIS. Like in an aircraft, this gives the positions of the ship as it is moves -- giving information like position, speed, course, so that other vessels know its position and avoid coming dangerously close.

Big ships are not easily manoeuvrable. A tanker can be 200 or 300 metres long. It's not like driving a car. If a ship is at full speed, it can take a mile-and-a-half, sometimes two miles, before it stops. Therefore, AIS helps in knowing the position of different ships.

With the current situation in the Strait of Hormuz -- some ships will switch off their AIS so that the position of the ship is not revealed.

This is a practice followed to deal with the problem of piracy in the Gulf of Aden. Ships would just shut off any signal to stay invisible to pirates.

No ship can pass through the Strait of Hormuz undetected by Iran

All the ships are within radar range and monitored by Iran.

Iran has let some ships of friendly countries pass through -- like Chinese ships and two ships bound for India.

The ship's AIS gives the destination, the number of crew, the ship's size etc. It is quite easy for someone monitoring the traffic to identify which ships belong to countries they consider friendly -- say Chinese, Indian or Russian vessels.

Once you exclude those ships, the rest can be targeted.

How long does it take to cross the Strait of Hormuz?

Three to six hours.

The TSS itself can be done in a couple of hours, but then it's a chokehold. Ships can take several hours due to heavy traffic.

Ships can be targeted even beyond the Strait of Hormuz.

Any ship coming towards or exiting Hormuz risks being hit.

IMAGE: The Callisto tanker sits anchored in Port Sultan Qaboos in Muscat, Oman, March 12, 2026 as the traffic is down in the Strait of Hormuz. Photograph: Benoit Tessier/Reuters

How big are LPG and LNG tankers?

They are large size ships -- 200-250 metres long which is the size of INS Vikrant and even bigger.

22 Indian vessels are stranded. What happens when a ship is stuck?

Ships drop anchor off the port or they drift around.

If they drop anchor, hopefully there's food and water and the crew can survive for sometime. That's why ships try to stay close to port so they can be resupplied.

"During the Iran-Iraq war, a friend of mine was stuck in the Persian Gulf for three years," recalls Captain Gode.

IMAGE: Boats in the Strait of Hormuz amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, as seen from Musandam, Oman, March 2, 2026. Photograph: Amr Alfiky/Reuters

Why insurance companies have raised premium

The big problem for ships with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz is that insurance costs have shot up.

A ship's insurance is divided into various parts. First, the ship itself -- the hull insurance.

Protection and Indemnity clubs cover cargo damage and pollution. Pollution insurance is very high -- much higher than the value of the ship itself.

"For example, if a ship's worth about $100 million, the pollution cover might be as high as $1 billion! This is because if oil spills into the sea, the clean-up costs are huge," says Captain Gode.

Apart from that, the cargo and crew are insured. There's insurance in case the ship becomes a wreck. Even bunker fuel -- fuel carried by the ship -- is also insured because it can also cause pollution in case of an accident.

The freight from the voyage may not even cover the insurance cost. So many big container companies do not want to take that the risk.

"The unfortunate reality is that the cheapest thing in all of this is often the life of the seafarer. Usually, if crews sail into a risky area, they are offered double wages. But that 'double pay' is only calculated on basic salary, which is often just about 20% of their total wages," continues Captain Gode.

The extra money ends up being very small -- sometimes just about $20 or $30 a day for an ordinary seaman, sometimes even less.

"So why risk your life for so little? But the reality is many seafarers still go. For a lot of them, it's simple -- they need the job."

Photographs curated by Anant Salvi
Fight on toward goals that keep receding, or exit with most objectives unmet.

Trump is agitated, his poll numbers falling below the Plimsoll line, his base fractured between those who back the war and those who remember that he campaigned on ending them.

Prem Panicker continues his must-read daily blog on the war in the Middle East.

IMAGE: US President Donald John Trump speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One on a flight back to Washington March 15, 2026. Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

There is a lesson that great powers keep having to relearn, usually at critical moments in history: Allies are not retainers.

You cannot spend years treating them as an afterthought or, worse, as an adversary, and then expect them to come to your aid the moment you need help.

Key Points Donald Trump's criticism of NATO and allies has strained diplomatic relationships as he now seeks help reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

Closure of the Strait threatens global oil shipments, forcing Washington to seek naval support from reluctant allies.

The crisis traces back to the US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal and the subsequent 'maximum pressure' policy.

Escalating drone warfare, regional strikes and geopolitical tensions are expanding the conflict with no clear resolution in sight.

US President Donald Trump has spent the better part of his second term telling NATO that it is worth nothing to him.

He threatened to take Greenland by force from a member State.

He erased (external link) two decades of history in Afghanistan when, apropos of nothing, he said the soldiers of NATO nations were never on the frontlines of that conflict.

IMAGE: An oil tanker awaits passage through the Strait of Hormuz in Iraq's territorial waters near Basra, Iraq, March 12, 2026. Photograph: Mohammed Aty/Reuters

Trump's Rift With NATO Allies

Less than a week ago, he told British Prime Minister Keir Starmer not to bother (external link) sending aircraft carriers to the Gulf because 'We don't need them any longer. We don't need people that join wars after we've already won.'

Worse, he turned the alliance's foundational premise of collective security into a billing dispute, accusing NATO nations of being "freeloaders".

Now he stands waist deep in a quagmire of his own making and calls on NATO and other allies to send ships to open the Strait of Hormuz.

He promises to 'help A LOT' (external link).

Even as the silence from European capitals grows heavier and his own desperation more obvious, he reshapes his offer: NATO should do the heavy lifting, he says (external link).

IMAGE: The rugged, barren mountains of the Musandam Peninsula jut into the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow throughway between Iran (north) and Oman and the United Arab Emirates (south) where the waters from the Gulf of Oman enter the Persian Gulf.

Khasab, Oman, the main city sitting on the tip of the Musandam Peninsula, sits only 65 km from the Iranian city of Bandar Abbas.

The rocky limestone mountains of the peninsula rise as high as 6,500 feet (2,000 metrEs) above sea level and create fjord-like inlets along the coast.

Musandam is an exclave of Oman, separated from the rest of the country by the United Arab Emirates. Photograph: Kind courtesy MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC/wikipedia.org/Creative Commons

Strait of Hormuz Shipping Crisis

When one NATO nation after another declines (external link) to put its warships in harm's way, the old Trump reflex kicks in: There will be consequences, he warns (external link); not coming to his aid will be very bad for NATO's future. (In unintended irony, he is also now asking China to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz -- which underlines just how little he thinks of anything other than his own worldview, because China is the one country totally unaffected by the closure of the Strait.)

It is worth pausing to consider the audacity of that stand.

His message, stripped of verbiage, is: Help me out of the hole I dug for myself, or I will remember that you didn't.

But the hole he dug itself deserves examination.

The Iran crisis that now requires allied warships to resolve did not arrive out of the blue.

In 2018, as part of Trump's bid to destroy everything that the Barack Obama administration had done, he withdrew the United States from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, a nuclear deal that had taken years of painstaking multilateral diplomacy to construct, and which America's European allies had begged him to preserve.

He reimposed sanctions, throttled Iran's economy, and pursued a policy of maximum pressure that he said would force Tehran into a better deal. It did not.

IMAGE: Trump signs a document reinstating sanctions against Iran after announcing the US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal. Photograph: J Ernst/Reuters

Iran Nuclear Deal Fallout

What it did was methodically dismantle the architecture of restraint that had kept Iranian nuclear ambitions in check.

The Europeans watched all of this, dissented loudly, and were ignored.

Now Trump is asking those same Europeans to send their sailors into a strait made dangerous by the consequences of that decision.

It takes a particular kind of audacity to call this a test of allied solidarity.

IMAGE: National flags flutter at NATO headquarters in Brussels. Photograph: Yves Herman/Reuters

Media Pressure Over War Coverage

The insults, too, deserve to be named plainly, because they were not policy disagreements such as you expect among even the most committed allies. Trump's insults were personal.

The Greenland episode was a stated willingness to use force or economic coercion against Denmark, a NATO founding member, to satisfy a territorial appetite.

The message received in Brussels, Berlin and Paris was that American commitment to the principle of territorial sovereignty, which is the bedrock of the post-war order NATO exists to defend, could be sacrificed to American self-interest.

IMAGE: Spanish special forces aboard the Spanish landing ship L52 Castilla during a media event of the Steadfast Dart 26 exercise on the Baltic Sea off the Putlos military training area, Germany, February 18, 2026. Photograph: Christian Charisius/Pool/Reuters

The Afghanistan riffs cut just as deep.

Thousands of European soldiers served in that campaign. Hundreds died.

To have that sacrifice waved away, to be told that allied troops had kept to the rear while Americans did the real fighting, was not merely historically illiterate.

It was a deliberate erasure of the sacrifices America's allies had made, again in a war not of their making.

That is the kind of hurt that does not fade when the news cycle moves on.

IMAGE: Smoke rises from oil tanks beside the Suez Canal hit during the initial Anglo-French assault on Port Said, November 5, 1956. Photograph: Kind courtesy Fleet Air Arm official photographer/wikipedia.org/Creative Commons

History offers lessons to powers that operate in such high-handed fashion.

When Britain and France launched their Suez adventure in 1956, they did so without consulting Washington and found themselves abandoned by the very ally whose support they had assumed.

That humiliation marked the moment both nations understood that their relationship with the US was only as special as American interest allowed.

America itself learned a version of this lesson after the First World War, when its retreat into isolationism hollowed out the League of Nations, left Europe to its own increasingly lethal devices, and eventually required a second, far costlier war to repair.

Great powers that disengage or view alliances through the lens of their own self-interest, tend to find that the world does not wait patiently for them to re-engage on their own terms.

Alliances are relationships constructed over time, built on reciprocity, on demonstrated solidarity, on the credibility that comes from being present when it costs you something.

Big-power status has never meant the freedom to disrespect your partners and still bank on their loyalty.

History is littered with the wreckage of leaders who confused the two.

Trump needed friends in the Hormuz.

He spent years making sure he wouldn't have any when it mattered.

IMAGE: The Pentagon Papers: The Secret History of the Vietnam War. Photograph: Kind courtesy amazon.in

The War They Don't Want You to See

There is a scene familiar from the history of American wars, and from the books and films that later enshrined them in public memory, where the official version and the ground truth begin to diverge so visibly that the government stops trying to close the gap and starts trying to close the reporting instead.

The Pentagon Papers [National Archives (external link)] were, at their core, a document of that divergence: decades of classified internal assessments showing that American administrations knew the Vietnam War was unwinnable while continuing to tell the public the exact opposite.

It took Daniel Ellsberg's conscience and the US supreme ourt's backbone to get that truth into print.

(For those who need a refresher, the Neil Sheehan et al book The Pentagon Papers (external link); the memoirs of then Washington Post executive editor Ben Bradlee (external link) and then publisher Katherine Graham (external link) and the 2017 movie The Post (external link), directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks, are all worth your time.)

We are not there yet, but the directional signals are worth noting.

Trump has now called on the American media to stop reporting (external link) Iranian-inflicted losses.

Such reporting, he says, harms the United States. Stripped of its patriotic wrapping, the message is simple: The actual cost of this war is damaging his image, and he would prefer that it not be discussed.

This is not a new instinct for this administration.

Last week, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth delivered an extended complaint about war coverage, singled out (external link) CNN for particular attention, and expressed the view that the sooner Trump-aligned billionaire David Ellison completes his takeover of the network, the better.

The goals of the administration are clear: Discredit the coverage, intimidate the outlets, and wait for a friendlier owner to arrive.

It is not censorship in the statutory sense. It is more ambient and, in some ways, more insidious: An attempt to make honest war reporting feel, to journalists and their employers, like a professionally and commercially dangerous act.

History has a long memory for this kind of management.

The administrations that tried it in Vietnam succeeded only in deepening the public's eventual disillusionment when the truth arrived anyway, as it always does.

The images from the Gulf are already circulating: the flag-draped coffins, the fire and smoke from destroyed assets.

The only question is whether American journalism has the institutional nerve, in this political climate, to keep telling it.

PS: A great companion read is David Halberstam's The Best and The Brightest, which tells the story of the gap between the official narrative and the ground truths in Vietnam.

IMAGE: A drone view shows people next to a damaged house, following projectile barrages towards Israel from Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, amid an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel and the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in central Israel, March 12, 2026. Photograph: Miro Maman/Reuters

Reading List:

'At a meeting in the Oval Office last week, a frustrated Mr Trump pressed Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, about why the United States could not immediately reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

'The answer was straightforward: Even one Iranian soldier or militia member zipping across the narrow neck of the strait in a speedboat could fire a mobile missile right into a slow-moving supertanker or plant a limpet mine on its hull.'

IMAGE: Foreign oil tankers in Iraq's territorial waters, after unidentified attacks targeted vessels carrying Iraqi fuel oil, according to Iraqi ports officials, near Basra, Iraq March 12, 2026. Photograph: Mohammed Aty/Reuters

That quote comes from a piece by David Sanger et al in The New York Times, which presents a comprehensive situational map of where the war stands at the two-week mark.

Trump is caught between two bad options: Fight on toward goals that keep receding, or exit with most objectives unmet.

The Strait remains closed despite all the military.

The nuclear fuel stockpile sits untouched in tunnels under Isfahan.

The body count is rising -- 13 Americans killed, over 1,300 Iranian civilians dead.

And the US-Israel partnership is showing strain: Netanyahu bombed the Tehran oil depots against direct American advice, triggering the retaliatory drone strikes on Gulf infrastructure that followed.

The most arresting line belongs to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, on the nuclear fuel: 'People are going to have to go and get it.'

That sentence alone tells you how far this war still has to go. [New York Times (external link), paywalled]

In The Guardian, Simon Tisdall provides a scorching assessment of where the war stands as it enters week three: Trump without a plan, Israel reeling from strikes on its capital and on its military assets, Iran bloodied but unvanquished, the Strait still closed, and the financial cost running at over $11bn a week.

Tisdall's sharpest point is that the central problem that supposedly triggered all this, Iran's nuclear programme, remains unresolved.

Facilities bombed twice over, yet the enriched uranium stockpile and the scientific knowhow survive. [The Guardian (external link)]

Will Weissert of Associated Press points to the domestic political fallout.

Trump is agitated, his poll numbers falling below the Plimsoll line, his base fractured between those who back the war and those who remember that he campaigned on ending them.

Democrats, still bruised from 2024, have found their first coherent attack line: He promised to bring prices down, and now gas is pushing the price of everything else up.

The Russian sanctions waiver, which is intended to ease the oil shock, has thanks to the rising price of oil handed Moscow a windfall and infuriated Ukraine and European allies simultaneously.

And the coalition-building is going nowhere: Trump says he's spoken to 'about seven' countries, won't name them, and has no timeline.

The line that captures his bind most precisely is his own, from a Kentucky rally: 'We won. In the first hour, it was over.' The Strait is still closed. [AP (external link)]

The Institute for the Study of War provides the most granular operational update of the day. Three details stand out.

First, Ukraine's Zelenskyy says he has intelligence confirming Iran is using Russian-produced Shahed drones, with Russian components, against US bases in the Gulf.

If confirmed, this marks a significant escalation: Russia moving from sharing tactics and targeting intelligence to providing actual materiel.

Second, the new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is reportedly wounded and the IRGC is effectively running the war, which means the most hardline element of the Iranian state is now in the driver's seat, with no moderating hand on the wheel.

Third, and most telling on the diplomatic front: Trump says Iran wants a deal but the terms aren't good enough; Iran's foreign minister says Iran has requested neither ceasefire nor negotiations and will fight 'as long as it takes'.

Both sides are performing toughness for domestic audiences, and the Strait stays closed while they do. [ISW (external link)]

While the Indian media celebrates every tanker docking in Indian ports (three, so far, with more expected), Minister for External Affairs S Jaishankar says there is no 'blanket arrangement with Iran for India-flagged ships', and that every ship movement is an 'individual happening'.

In other words, do not hold your breath waiting for dozens of tankers to dock at Indian ports -- getting each one through the war zone is a discrete act of diplomacy and negotiation. [The Hindu (external link)]

IMAGE: The crude oil tanker Seaprincess off the Gulf of Fos-sur-Mer, in Port-de-Bouc, France, March 12, 2026. Photograph: Manon Cruz/Reuters

Hamidreza Azizi (external link) (via X), says the most strategically significant development here is the India-Iran bilateral passage deal: Tehran allowed Indian ships through the Strait in exchange for New Delhi releasing seized Iranian oil tankers.

It is a small transaction with large implications: if other nations follow, Iran achieves de facto recognition of its leverage over the world's most critical oil chokepoint, which is precisely what Washington is trying to prevent.

The second thread to watch is the Houthis: A Houthi official has stated on Iranian state TV that the decision to enter the conflict has already been made.

If they activate, both Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb come under simultaneous pressure, and the US navy has to cover two chokepoints at once.

Azizi also flags hardline Iranian proposals to institutionalise control of the Strait: transit tariffs, denial of passage to US-allied vessels, keeping it closed until American forces withdraw.

What began as a wartime disruption is quietly being reframed in Tehran as a permanent strategic asset.

US Senator Chris Murphy (external link) is worth following on X, mostly because he is one of the senators privy to confidential briefings on the course of the war. (Also worth keeping in mind, when you follow him, that it is also midterm season and opposition spin cannot be ruled out.)

That caveat noted, his thread is structured and specific enough to take seriously.

He identifies four compounding crises: The Strait cannot be secured by naval escorts alone: 100 tankers need escorting daily, and the mines and drones that threaten them threaten the escorts too.

Iran's drone arsenal is effectively inexhaustible and cheap, Gulf state interceptor stocks are being depleted, and the oil infrastructure of the entire region is increasingly exposed.

Iranian proxies in Lebanon and Iraq are widening the war, with Israel now threatening a ground invasion of Lebanon. And the Houthis, so far quiet, have the Red Sea within reach.

Murphy's sharpest point is the endgame problem: A ground invasion means thousands of American dead; a declared victory means Iran's new hardliners simply rebuild.

Trump, he says, blundered into a drone war without ever watching what drones did to Russia in Ukraine. The lesson was there, but he just didn't care.

John F Burns, 1944-2026: The New York Times foreign correspondent who spent four decades walking into places most journalists walked away from -- Sarajevo under siege, Kabul under the Taliban, Baghdad under Saddam and then under American occupation -- died last week.

He won two Pulitzer Prizes, but the awards barely capture what he actually did, which was to report, and refuse to sanitise.

He was among the handful of Western journalists who documented Saddam Hussein's Iraq from the inside, at considerable personal risk, and his dispatches from the early days of the American invasion remain some of the most clear-eyed writing produced from that catastrophe.

Burns belonged to a school of war correspondence that believed the reporter's job was to bear witness without flinching and without grandstanding, to let the human cost of conflict speak, and to hold it in the reader's face until they could not look away.

On a day when we are reading fragmentary dispatches from yet another war fought in fog and spin, his passing is worth more your attention. Here is the NYT obituary (external link), and also from the NYT, links to some of his most memorable stories (external link).

While Burns is one of those rare war correspondents who did not memorialize his work in books, read Dexter Filkins'The Forever War covers much of the same ground as Burns (Afghanistan and Iraq).

The Rorschach of war

Donald Trump said this undeclared war would take three or four days. That was three weeks ago.

What he got instead is what experts who have watched asymmetric warfare up close could have told him he would get: a conflict that does not respect timelines, does not respond to air dominance metrics, and does not stop because one side declares it over.

As experts like Professor Pape have repeatedly pointed out, asymmetric wars have a particular quality that conventional military planning struggles to accommodate: they find the cracks.

You can destroy a navy but can do nothing against a lone man in a speedboat carrying a mine. Iran has no air force left to speak of.

But it has, apparently, an inexhaustible supply of cheap drones, and an expanding list of targets.

IMAGE: Smoke rising from an area near the Dubai international airport is seen through the windshield of a vehicle, after a drone attack hit a fuel tank, according to Dubai authorities, in Dubai, March 16, 2026. Photograph: Reuters

Drone Warfare Reshapes Gulf Conflict

Fuel tanks at Dubai international airport were struck (external link), suspending flights in the region's premier business hub. (Iran's Foreign Minister Araghchi says (external link) that his country is willing to sit with others in the region to investigate such incidents, and adds that he has information that the US and Israel are carrying out false flag attacks on Arab countries to blame Iran).

The ink blot of war is spreading, and no one -- not the Pentagon's most sophisticated modellers, not the ISW analysts tracking every strike -- can tell you with confidence what its final shape will be.

The diplomatic picture is no cleaner. France's Macron has refused, categorically, to send French warships to bail Trump out, but in the same breath has warned Tehran that any strike on French personnel or assets will be treated as a hostile act.

It is a precise and pointed position: Europe will not be conscripted into America's war, but it will not be a casualty of Iran's either.

Meanwhile the war's unintended beneficiaries are doing rather well.

China is receiving all the Iranian oil it needs thanks to bilateral arrangements, quiet diplomacy, and the kind of patient statecraft that makes no headlines.

Russia, already the surprise winner of the sanctions lottery, finds itself further enriched.

Putin did not fire a shot in this war, but he is the one collecting the jackpot.

Into this picture arrive 2,500 US Marines, headed for the Strait of Hormuz.

What exactly they are to do there, how they are to enter a waterway that is mined, drone-patrolled and effectively closed, remains moot.

Their deployment seems, at least to me, more of a gesture than the outcome of planned strategy.

The week ahead may matter more than most.

Both sides are performing resolve for domestic audiences while reportedly declining, through intermediaries, to come to the table.

But wars have their own metabolism, and the signals from the Gulf suggest that the current tempo cannot hold indefinitely without something breaking in a new direction.

Whether that break leads toward an exit ramp or to a further escalation is the only question that matters right now.

If they are being honest, everyone involved will tell you that there are no clear answers, no way to forecast the immediate future.

No one knows the answer, least of all the man who started all this because he had a feeling.

Photographs curated by Manisha Kotian/Rediff

Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff
Deputy head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy and author of a PACE resolution Yevhenia Kravchuk has called for Russia to be barred from participating in the Venice Biennale while its aggression against Ukraine continues.

"As rapporteur of the PACE resolution on countering the erasure of cultural identity during war, I have called for Russia not to be allowed to participate in the Venice Biennale as long as its aggression against Ukraine continues," Kravchuk said on Facebook on Monday.

She noted that Russia's aggression against Ukraine is also a war against culture, as Ukrainian artists, writers and cultural figures are being killed as a result of the war.

Kravchuk recalled that, according to the latest data, since the start of the full-scale invasion Russia has damaged or destroyed 1,685 cultural heritage sites and 2,483 cultural infrastructure facilities, over 500 of them completely destroyed.

"The return of the aggressor to major international cultural platforms creates the dangerous illusion of 'business as usual.' Together with our partners, we must prevent this," the MP said.

Kravchuk's appeal was published on the PACE website on Monday.
Brattleboro, VT (05301)

Today

Partly cloudy skies this morning will become overcast during the afternoon. High 69F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph..

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Cloudy with occasional rain late. Low 43F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch. Locally heavy rainfall possible.
The Technology Users Association of New Zealand (TUANZ) has expressed disappointment at the decision by the Commerce Commission to recommend that regulation of mobile termination services should end.

In a statement released today, the commission said it has made a recommendation to the government that the Mobile Termination Access Service (MTAS), which enables voice calls and text messages to be sent between different networks, should be scrapped from the Telecommunications Act.

This was because competition in New Zealands mobile market is now strong enough for those rules to be removed.

Good regulation needs to know when to step in  but also when to step back, said Telecommunications Commissioner Tristan Gilbertson in the statement.

With competition now well established between three national providers, regulation has done its job and can step back.

However, removing the regulation could be detrimental to users if the market fails, TUANZ chief executive officer Craig Young told Reseller News.

While the commission has rightly pointed out that the market is significantly different now with a strong third player, removing the service from the schedule lessens the threat of regulation if the market fails, Young said.

It is this threat that often provides enough warning to the market to operate competitively.
In small towns and villages, a pharmacy is often much more than just a place to buy medicine. For many people  especially the elderly or those living close to the frontline  it is the only opportunity to obtain essential medications, receive advice from a pharmacist, and access state healthcare programs.

This is why, even in extremely challenging conditions, pharmacy chains strive to keep such pharmacies open.

At Apteka 9-1-1 https://apteka911.ua/ua, representatives say that the decision to continue operating is sometimes driven not only by economic considerations, but above all by responsibility to local communities.

Recently, the chain received a letter from the military administration of a frontline settlement in southern Ukraine expressing gratitude and asking the company not to close the pharmacy that serves the local community and residents of nearby villages.

Situations like this are becoming increasingly common in frontline communities. Due to security risks, complicated logistics, and the distance from major cities, access to medicines for residents of small settlements often depends on whether the local pharmacy continues to operate.

The letter emphasized that the pharmacy performs an important social function, providing people with medicines and dispensing prescriptions under the government program "Affordable Medicines." For many residents, this is the only opportunity to receive necessary treatment close to home, as not everyone is able to travel to other cities.

At Apteka 9-1-1 https://apteka911.ua/ua, the company notes that such appeals from communities confirm how critical the presence of pharmacies in small settlements has become during the war.

"When we receive letters like this, we clearly understand how important it is for a community to maintain access to medicines and basic medical supplies. For many people, a working pharmacy nearby means they can receive the treatment they need without having to risk traveling to other cities," the company says.

Despite the challenging circumstances, the chain has decided  for now  to keep the pharmacy operating as a point of support and assistance for the local community.

According to the head pharmacist, most visitors are elderly people and patients with chronic conditions who require regular treatment.

"Most people receive medicines through the Affordable Medicines program, and it is extremely important for them. Not everyone has the opportunity to travel to another city to find the medications they need. Because of their age and the security situation, traveling to another town becomes almost impossible for many residents," she explains.

Pharmacists say that for the local community, the pharmacy has become an important daily point of support.

"People often come with different questions  about medicines, treatment, or sometimes just for advice. Many thank us for staying open and for the possibility to get the medicines they need nearby, to talk, and to receive support," the head pharmacist adds.

In frontline communities, pharmacies often operate under very difficult conditions. Despite ongoing security challenges, the pharmacy team continues its work.

"There are three of us in the team, and we are all local residents. Of course, its not always easy, but we understand that people rely on us, so we stay and continue working," she says.

At Apteka 9-1-1, the company emphasizes that during the full-scale war pharmacy infrastructure has become an important element of community support  alongside hospitals, humanitarian centers, and volunteer initiatives. For thousands of people across different regions of the country, having a pharmacy nearby is not just a matter of convenience, but of basic safety.
WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump has called on allies to help secure the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz, urging partners to send naval forces to keep global energy shipments flowing through the waterway amid the Iran conflict.

The appeal has drawn mixed reactions from capitals in Europe and Asia, exposing uncertainty about whether a visible multinational coalition will form to ensure the critical shipping lane remains open.

Republican strategist Matthew Bartlett, a former political appointee in the first Trump administration and co-founder of the lobby group Darby Field Advisors, told RFE/RL that despite the hesitation, keeping the strait open is in every country's economic interest.

He said Washington has signaled both military dominance and a willingness to escalate if Tehran uses energy flows as leverage.

RFE/RL spoke with Bartlett about the strategy behind Trump's message to allies, the economic stakes of a prolonged confrontation, and whether the crisis could test unity within North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

RFE/RL: Trump has called on allies to send warships to help secure the Strait of Hormuz, but reactions from different capitals have varied. From a Republican strategic perspective, how serious is the problem if Washington cannot assemble a visible multinational coalition to reopen the strait?

Matthew Bartlett: There are many aspects to this engagement, to this war -- military, economic, and diplomatic -- and this situation around the strait certainly has implications for the global economy.

I believe it is largely in everyone's interest to get this open, and irrespective of what people or other nations think of President Trump or even the war with Iran, it is certainly in their interest to have the strait open. Much of the oil that goes through the strait goes to other nations.

So we will see if countries heed President Trump's call for a coalition and whether that means diplomatic pressure, military engagement, or some sort of on-the-ground assistance in escorting ships and ensuring the strait remains open.

That is the global situation. Of course, it is only aided by the help and assistance of other nations working in accordance with the United States and in their own interests. But again, that reality remains elusive and very far from the current state of affairs.

RFE/RL: President Trump said the United States has struck every military target on Kharg Island but deliberately spared oil infrastructure for now. Is that essentially a bargaining chip, a signal to Tehran that if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed the US could target Iran's main export lifeline?

Matthew Bartlett: Again, it seems as if the United States has engaged with Iran with overwhelming military force and has negated Iran's navy and air force, wiped out much of their ballistic program, and nullified their opportunity to strike back.

It seems Iran is trying to respond in asymmetric ways, namely by using its oil commodities as something of an offensive weapon against the United States and the global economy.

Because Kharg Island is an oil transfer station, if you will, the president has taken aim there and defanged some of their defense systems. If Iran chooses to escalate this war and use oil as a bargaining chip in its asymmetric response, President Trump has signaled that he is prepared to take that capability out of their hands.

It does not seem as if he wants to do this, and it does not seem as if it would be beneficial to anyone. Yet it remains quite possible that if Iran chooses to use its oil commodities to hold the rest of the world hostage, the president is ready to take action to address that as well, just as he did with their military threat.

RFE/RL: In this standoff, Iran can disrupt shipping and energy markets while the United States has overwhelming military superiority. Which side ultimately has the greater tolerance for economic pain if this becomes a prolonged confrontation around the strait?

Matthew Bartlett: I would argue clearly that you have an evil, illogical, erratic regime that has responded internally by killing its own people and externally by striking its neighbors. Now it may try to hold the world economy hostage. I would argue that this is to its own peril.

They have a population inside Iran wondering why neighboring countries are investing in their people and their future, diversifying from oil, engaging in the global economy, and participating in the global community while the Iranian people continue to suffer because their regime pursues nuclear and offensive military weapons.

It is at the expense of the Iranian people, who have a wonderful, storied culture and who yearn to be free. We support those people, many of whom have taken to the streets, many who have put their own lives on the line, and sadly too many who have died at the hands of this evil regime.

If the regime continues to escalate in asymmetric ways, I would argue it is at their peril. The world will continue to unite and recognize the threat they pose to their own people and to the rest of the world.

Even if nations are not currently involved, they may be forced to become involved because of economic constraints. At the end of the day, that does not work out well for the Iranian regime.

RFE/RL: From a Republican perspective, how should Washington explain this strategy to allies in Europe and Asia that depend heavily on Gulf energy?

Matthew Bartlett: The message is self-apparent: You have an erratic regime that has taken bizarre military action against its neighbors in the Gulf and is now holding global economic commerce hostage. That affects world interests, whether in Asia or Europe.

In some ways, we should appreciate just how naked this regime's response has been and how clearly it illustrates the issues at hand. Each country should recognize that and act according to its own self-interest. Iran is clearly working against those interests.

So a coalition -- diplomatic, military, naval, or otherwise -- that protects international commerce and minimizes Iran's destabilizing behavior would benefit everyone.

RFE/RL: From the GOP perspective, is this also a test of unity and burden-sharing within NATO?

Matthew Bartlett: At this point, I'm unsure what specific steps NATO has been taking, but it should absolutely be considering what steps might be appropriate. We have seen Iran potentially sending missiles toward NATO member states, namely Turkey. We have seen asymmetric links between Russia, Iran, and China, including drone cooperation connected to the battlefield in Ukraine.

There are links here. That does not mean NATO should fully engage or escalate the situation, but it must be prepared to take appropriate action -- military, diplomatic, or economic -- as the situation continues to develop globally. NATO should be prepared, whether that means statements urging Iran to change its behavior or preparing military assets if necessary.

RFE/RL: Germany's government said this war "has nothing to do with NATO." What is your reaction?

Matthew Bartlett: Part of that is true right now, and part of that could change as the battlefield changes -- whether through economic consequences, threats to NATO allies like Turkey, or the broader links between Russia and Iran. So there is some truth in that statement, but unfortunately it is not as simple as it sounds.

RFE/RL: Some European governments have historically been more cautious about confronting Iran. Do Republicans believe NATO allies will ultimately align with Washington to protect shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, or could this expose fractures within the alliance?

Matthew Bartlett: It is unclear. NATO is an alliance, and it is only as strong as its weakest member. NATO already has a lot on its plate, namely the war between Russia and Ukraine. NATO has stepped up tremendously there, and the Ukrainians have shown remarkable courage while also demonstrating how modern warfare is evolving, particularly with drones.

NATO should continue to assess realistic threats. It should not overextend its mission or distract from the primary concern of Ukraine. Yet it must also be keenly aware of the links and implications involving Iran -- from the battlefield in Ukraine to the Middle East and to threats to the global economy that affect NATO states.

RFE/RL: Iran appears to be betting that economic pain in the United States and Europe might pressure Washington to pull back. Is that a miscalculation?

Matthew Bartlett: It certainly seems that way. Their response has only illustrated their true intent. This is an evil regime intent on nuclear weapons. We have nuclear weapons and choose not to use them. Looking at their behavior over the past couple of weeks, I believe it is clear that if they had nuclear weapons, they might have used them.

Now they are trying to create more pain and havoc for their own people and for the world. I'm not sure that strengthens their hand. Quite the opposite. It exposes them further and heightens the need to address this situation immediately.

Yes, there might be economic pain in the short term. But if they escalate that further, it will only increase pressure on other nations to help address the situation because it is unsustainable. Ultimately, that will not bode well for the Iranian regime.

RFE/RL: There is still debate about what the ultimate US objectives in this war actually are. How do you interpret the White House's goals?

Matthew Bartlett: We have seen shifting language about issues such as regime change and how long this conflict could last.

Ultimately, it seems there is a simple goal: a neutered Iranian regime that cannot threaten America, the West, or its neighbors. Over 47 years, this regime has been a destabilizing force in the Middle East and has American blood on its hands, from Iraq to its proxies such as Hezbollah and Hamas, including the horrific attacks of October 7 [2023].

It seems we are willing to tolerate their rhetoric -- "death to America, death to Israel" -- so long as they do not have the capability to act on it. That means eliminating their nuclear ambitions, ballistic missiles, drones, and proxy networks so that their hostility is reduced to words rather than actions.

RFE/RL: Beyond Iran, what message do Republicans believe this sends to other US adversaries such as Russia and China?

Matthew Bartlett: I'm not sure it is wise for anyone around the world to think that Donald Trump is a fool. It seems he is prepared to engage globally in ways that no other president has been willing to -- diplomatically, economically, and militarily.

If you are an adversary, you should think twice about US interests and your own behavior around the world. Allies, too, should be better prepared to stand with the United States and recognize that this president, even in a short time, has asserted US leadership globally in many different ways -- and he is certainly not done yet.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Iran's effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz in response to a massive US-Israel bombing campaign has wreaked havoc on world energy markets and sent oil prices soaring.

Things could get even worse, experts say, if passage through the Bab al-Mandab Strait -- another crucial shipping route in the Middle East -- is also disrupted.

A choke point off Iran's coast, the Strait of Hormuz connects the Persian Gulf to the open ocean and global markets via the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. Likewise, Bab al-Mandab is a narrow passage for ships entering or exiting the Red Sea, whose Yemeni coastline is largely controlled by the Houthi rebels, an armed group backed by Iran.

A US-designated terrorist organization that has previously attacked international ships in the Bab al-Mandab Strait and the Red Sea, the Houthis -- one of Tehran's most potent allies -- have so far stayed out of the US-Israeli war on Iran. If they do enter the fray, there will be even more shock waves across energy markets, experts say.

"The Houthis' threat here is a real one," said Gregory Brew, a historian of Iranian oil and a senior analyst at the Eurasia Group.

The Bab al-Mandab Strait accounts for around 6 percent of the world's seaborne-traded oil, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

Saudi Arabia, the world's largest exporter of oil, has been redirecting millions of barrels of oil from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea via its East-West pipeline since the war began on February 28.

"There's a large number of tankers that are now making the Red Sea transit to pick up crude" from Saudi Arabia's Red Sea port of Yanbu, the country's only other oil-export route, said Brew. "This is very important for oil markets because it relieves pressure from the total shutting of the Persian Gulf."

"But if the Houthis attacked Yanbu and if they did enough to disrupt exports from the terminal, then you're looking at" a disruption of 7 millions barrel per day, he said.

Fingers On The Trigger'

The Houthis have not made a formal announcement of joining the Iran war. But their leader, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, has said the group was ready to strike any time it sees fit.

"Regarding military escalation and action, our fingers are on the trigger at any moment should developments warrant it," he said in a televised speech on March 5.

Iran's semiofficial Fars news agency said on March 12 that the Houthis were on full alert and could join Tehran's war effort. Fars warned that the involvement of the Houthis in the war could lead to the closure of the Bab al-Mandab Strait.

It is unclear if the Houthis' absence from the Iran war is deliberate or a sign of the group's current weakness.

US and Israeli air strikes have degraded the Houthis' fighting capabilities in recent years. The strikes were in response to the Houthis' missile and drone attacks on Israel and international shipping in the Red Sea. In May 2025, the group signed a cease-fire deal with the United States.

The Houthis are a key member of Iran's so-called axis of resistance, its loose network of proxies and militant groups against archfoe Israel. But the Houthis retain considerable autonomy and Iran has only limited control over the group's actions, experts say.

Another member of the axis, Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, has opened a second front in the war by firing rockets and drones into Israel. That has triggered a devastating military response from Israel, which has sent ground troops into Lebanon and waged a deadly aerial campaign.

"I think the Houthis' fiscal and military situation would discourage them from engaging in large-scale hostilities," said Brew. "The US and Israeli campaigns did real damage to the Houthis' position in Yemen. They're struggling to pay their fighters."

But Ahmed Nagi, a senior analyst for Yemen at the Brussels-based International Crisis Group, said the Houthis' decision to stay out of the war is a calculated move coordinated with Iran.

"Rather than activating all fronts at once, Iran appears to be managing escalation gradually and keeping the Houthis in reserve," said Nagi. "In this sense, the Houthis function as an important card that can be played later, especially given their ability to disrupt Red Sea shipping and create wider economic and security pressure."

Holding the Houthis back preserves that leverage, Nagi said.

"If the military pressure on Iran increases or the war enters a more critical phase, the Houthis could still jump in despite the potential costs on their domestic front in Yemen," he added. "Their current restraint therefore looks more like timing than reluctance to get involved."
US President Donald Trump questioned whether Iran's new supreme leader is alive and pressed Washington's call for help securing shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, which Tehran has effectively shut down with attacks on vessels and threats of more.

Trump's comments at a White House event on March 16 underscored the uncertainties that persist in the Middle East and beyond more than two weeks after the United States and Israel began a massive campaign of air strikes against Iran.

"We don't know...if he's dead or not. I will say that nobody has seen him, which is unusual," Trump said of Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, whose selection to replace his father, killed on the first day of US-Israeli bombardment, was announced on March 9.

The younger Khamenei, 56, has not appeared in public, and US defense chief Pete Hegseth said last week that he was believed to have been wounded in the strikes.

"A lot of people are saying that he's badly disfigured. They're saying that he lost his leg...and he's been hurt very badly," Trump said. "Other people are saying he's dead."

Trump also asserted that Iran had expressed interest in negotiations, but suggested the country's leadership remains disorganized amid strikes he said have hit more than 7,000 targets across Iran, destroyed more than 100 of its naval vessels, and significantly reduced its ability to launch missiles and drones since February 28.

"We don't know who their leader is," Trump said. "We have people wanting to negotiate. We have no idea who they are."

Amid uncertainty over how long the war will last, Trump was later asked whether it would end this week and said, "I don't think so, but it will be soon; it won't be long."

However, he also said he has asked Beijing to delay his planned summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the beginning of April for "a month or so" due to the war.

"Because of the war I want to be here, I have to be here, I feel," Trump said.

Strait Of Hormuz

Trump, who had said in a social media post a day earlier that "many countries" would be sending warships to help restore shipping in Strait of Hormuz, said on March 16: "Some countries have already started to get there.

"It takes a little while to travel an ocean, but we have some that are really enthusiastic," he said, without naming any country. "Some are less than enthusiastic, and I assume some will not do it."

Iran has responded to the attacks by using attacks and the threat of more to hamper shipping in the strait, virtually halting passage into and out of the Persian Gulf through a bottleneck that normally handles about one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas.

Blockage of the strait has crimped supplies, sending oil prices higher and compounding concerns about the war's effects on the economy -- both globally and at the gas pump, where prices have also climbed higher.

Trump said he had spoken with French President Emmanuel Macron about forming a coalition to secure the strait, describing Macron's response as "an eight on a scale of zero to 10" and expressing confidence that France would assist.

He criticized Britain's reluctance to provide support and said he was "not happy" with Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who had said he wanted a "viable" option to reopen the strait. But Trump also said he believes the United Kingdom will participate.

A day earlier, he said that "hopefully" China, France, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and "others" would join. But the response on March 16, however, was somewhat muted.

Britain and Denmark appeared open to helping aid shipping in the Middle East, though with caveats on not being drawn into the broader conflict the United States and Israel are waging against Tehran.

"We are working with others to come up with a credible plan for the Strait of Hormuz to ensure that we can reopen shipping and passage through the strait," British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said.

The Wall Street Journal on March 15, citing unnamed US officials, reported the Trump administration may announce, as soon as this week, that multiple countries have agreed to form a coalition for escorting ships through the crucial waterway.

The report said the matter is still being discussed and that the mission could shift depending on battlefield conditions. It also said potential participants were debating when such a mission would begin -- during hostilities or only after a cease-fire.

European Union foreign ministers displayed no desire to expand an EU naval mission in the Middle East to the Strait of Hormuz, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said after discussions on March 16. The mission, which involves a just a few vessels was set up in 2024 to protect ships from attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels in the Red Sea.

Ministers conveyed "a clear wish to strengthen this operation, but for the time being, there was no appetite in changing the mandate of the operation," Kallas said.

"While the Strait of Hormuz is at the center stage, the Red Sea also remains critical," she said.

Germany, Greece, and Italy, meanwhile, appeared to rule out participation altogether.

"What does Trump expect from a handful of European frigates that the powerful US Navy cannot do? This is not our war; we have not started it," German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said.

In an interview published on March 16 by The Financial Times, Trump said NATO faces a "very bad future" if member nations do not help the United States in Iran.

"It's only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries of the strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there," the FT quoted Trump as saying.

Big Oil Warning

The Wall Street Journal also reported US oil executives had warned administration officials that the energy crisis caused by the Iran war is likely to worsen.

In a series of White House meetings and talks with Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, the CEOs of ExxonMobil, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips said disruptions to shipping in the strait "would continue to create volatility in global energy markets," the paper said, citing people familiar with the matter.

Should military forces begin escorting ships through the strait while hostilities were still under way, it would mark a dangerous new phase in the US-Israeli war on Iran.

Tehran has fired back at US Arab allies in the region and could target foreign navies in the strait, even though Trump and other US officials have said Iran's navy has been destroyed during the US-Israeli air strikes.

Despite being pounded by US and Israeli air power, Iran has remained defiant, launching missiles and drones against Israel and US Arab allies in the region.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi on March 15 disputed Trump's claim that Tehran was seeking to negotiate with Washington. Trump said he was not ready for talks because Tehran's "terms were not good enough."

"We have never asked for a cease-fire, and we have never asked even for negotiations," Araqchi told CBS TV. "We are ready to defend ourselves for as long as it takes."

What The Iran War Teaches The Worlds Militaries by RFE/RL No media source currently available 0:00 0:02:51 0:00

At the United Nations on March 16, Iran vowed that it would not submit to "lawless aggression."

"The most urgent and fundamental human rights issue concerning Iran is the imminent threat to the lives of 90 million people whose lives are in immediate and grave danger under the shadow of reckless military aggression," said Ali Bahreini, Iran's ambassador to the UN in Geneva.

With reporting by RFE/RL Washington correspondent Alex Raufoglu, RFE/RL's Radio Farda, Reuters, and AFP
Mr. Nobody Against Putin, a documentary about wartime propaganda in a Russian provincial school, won the Academy Award for best documentary (feature), drawing international attention to the role of state messaging in Russia's education system since the start of the war in Ukraine.

Directed by David Borenstein and teacher Pavel Talankin, who later fled the country, the film follows Talankin in his job at a school in the poor mining town of Karabash in the Ural Mountains.

Backed by two years of footage shot by Talankin, the film shows how the Russian government indoctrinates students with pro-war messages.

At the request of Russia's Education Ministry, Talankin, 35, helped film pro-war propaganda efforts at elementary school No. 1 in Karabash, a small industrial town of about 10,000 people in Russia's Chelyabinsk region known for copper production.

Given his pro-government mission, ministry officials failed to suspect the footage may end up in a documentary about Russia's "patriotic education" campaign for schoolchildren after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Talankin also documents his own persecution and eventual exile in the film, called a "touching, intimate chronicle" by The Hollywood Reporter.

"Mr. Nobody Against Putin is about how you lose your country, and what we saw when working with this footage is that you lose it through countless small, little acts of complicity," director Borenstein said on stage alongside Talankin, who also spoke to the audience but in Russian.

"There are countries where instead of falling stars, bombs fall from the sky and drones fly. In the name of our future, in the name of all our children, let us stop all wars. Now," Talankin said.

'It's Unreal'

Talankin, also known as Pasha, fled Russia in the summer of 2024 with the hard drives containing what would become the documentary feature.

Talankin met Borenstein online and filmed for two years while Borenstein directed remotely from Europe.

Russian film critic Maria Bezruk told Current Time on March 16 that "the very fact that this topic has finally attracted global attention is already very significant."

"The fact that this film was awarded is extremely important for all of us anti-war Russians," Bezruk stressed. "Once you've made up your mind, you're not even afraid of being alone. When life inside that cage becomes so unbearable, you don't care if there's anyone outside it. Your goal is to break free from that cage, and I'm glad Pavel [Talankin] managed to do it."

"In my opinion, this topic -- the issue of propaganda among children, of how the state begins to shape these fragile souls into soldiers of the regime -- could have been explored much more broadly," Bezruk added.

In an interview with Current Time a year ago, Talankin recalled how the first propaganda lesson unfolded after the invasion.

"The first lesson began very smoothly: 'Russia, Ukraine, Belarus -- we are such wonderful friends, so united. We have one language, the same fairy tales, we understand each other,'" he said.

"And then the teacher says: 'But Ukraine chose a slippery path. It chose Nazism.'"

At that moment, Talankin said he realized the historical significance of what he was recording.

"I understood that what was getting into my camera was Ordinary Fascism2," he said, referring to the 1965 Soviet documentary by filmmaker Mikhail Romm about the rise of Nazism in Europe. "And this footage now belongs not only to the ministry."

Talankin said he was supposed to delete the recordings after submitting official reports.

"I was supposed to report and delete everything," he said. "But I didn't delete anything. So that in the future we could return to this problem and talk about it seriously."

The film premiered on January 25 at the Sundance Film Festival, where it received a special jury award. On March 12 it opened the One World documentary film festival in Prague.

Pro-government Russian media outlets have described the documentary as "anti-Russian." Local reports said security officials visited the Karabash school where Talankin worked after the film's release.

Talankin's mother, who worked as a librarian at the same school and occasionally substituted for teachers, was reportedly forced to resign.

Regional media reported that news of the film's premiere caused what they described as "the effect of an exploding bomb" in Karabash.

On pro-war social media channels, Talankin has been labeled a traitor.

Despite the backlash, Talankin has said he hopes the film will eventually be seen inside Russia.

He also recalled the tense moment when he departed Russia carrying the footage.

"At the airport it was very scary," he said. "I had tickets to Turkey there and back. And in my bag there were a lot of hard drives, a laptop, a camera."

Even so, he said, he left with hope, "with the feeling that the time will come when I return, and everything will be good -- maybe even better than before the war."

The film won a BAFTA award in London in February for best documentary.

With reporting by Current Time, Reuters, and AFP
China's duty-free access to Africa set to boost exports, says Zimbabwean expert

Xinhua) 09:15, March 16, 2026

People stand by the newly harvested tobacco at a trading market in Harare, Zimbabwe, on March 5, 2025. Photo by Shaun Jusa/Xinhua)

Speaking to Xinhua on Friday, Zimbabwean economic analyst and political commentator Dereck Goto said the policy represents a significant structural shift in the trade relationship between China and African economies.

HARARE, March 15 (Xinhua) -- China's zero-tariff treatment for 53 African countries will offer transformative opportunities for African exporters, a Zimbabwean expert has said.

Speaking to Xinhua on Friday, Zimbabwean economic analyst and political commentator Dereck Goto said the policy represents a significant structural shift in the trade relationship between China and African economies.

"For countries such as Zimbabwe, the implications are potentially transformative. It will increase the competitiveness of Zimbabwean exports such as horticultural products in the Chinese market," Goto said.

China announced in February that it will fully implement zero-tariff treatment for 53 African countries with diplomatic relations with China, starting from May 1.

Goto said the policy also creates incentives for production expansion and diversification. Zimbabwean exporters will be able to price their goods more competitively against suppliers from other regions.

According to Goto, the policy aligns with China's broader engagement framework with Africa under the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.

A trader checks tobacco at a tobacco auction floor in Harare, Zimbabwe, March 4, 2026. (Photo by Shaun Jusa/Xinhua)

"Over the past two decades, that framework has steadily shifted toward trade, industrialization support and infrastructure development. Duty-free access complements infrastructure corridors, logistics projects and industrial parks already developed through China-Africa cooperation," he said.

"Zimbabwe must ensure supply-side readiness. Exporters must meet Chinese phytosanitary standards, quality requirements and logistical demands. Without coordinated industrial policy and export support, the opportunity could remain underutilized," he added.

Goto also said China's latest decision carries broader geopolitical significance. By granting zero-tariff access across the continent, China is reinforcing its position as a partner of the Global South, offering trade-based development pathways.

"In short, for Zimbabwe and other African partners, the zero-tariff policy is more than a symbolic gesture. It is an invitation to deepen industrial capacity, expand exports and integrate more firmly into one of the largest markets in the global economy. The decisive factor will now be how effectively African producers organize themselves to seize the opportunity," he added.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
Tom Tuite

An airline worker accused of biting his wife "like a dog" in an alleged barbaric attack at their Dublin home has been granted bail with strict conditions.

Samuel David Oteri, 43, formerly of Buckingham Street, Dublin 1, was charged with assault causing harm on March 15.

The Venezuela-born Italian national, who has yet to enter a plea, appeared before Judge Derek Cooney on Monday, when he was warned to comply with a list of terms.

Garda Mark Callinan opposed bail, citing potential witness interference.

He alleged that the injured party reported that she had been attacked by the accused, who had bitten her arm and "described him as being like a dog".

Photos of her injuries were furnished to the court, and the complainant gave evidence in support of the bail objection.

She told the court that she had been using her laptop for an online exam when the accused returned after he had been drinking. She claimed he was aggressive and wanted her phone charger, but she asked him to leave her alone so she could continue her exam.

The contested bail hearing was told that there was an argument. The woman was using her phone to remain online, and she claimed the accused threatened to take her phone and step out so she would not have data.

He was said to have demanded her phone charger, and the court heard that there was a struggle, and he ended up on her and bit her on the arm.

Defence solicitor Tony Collier submitted that the court should not deny bail, as his client had no prior convictions or bench warrant history, had ties to the country, having lived and worked there for 10 years, and would obey conditions.

Judge Cooney said the man had the presumption of innocence and bail, but he described the allegations as a "barbaric type of behaviour", and if true, it was "some form of savagery".

However, he accepted the defence's points and set cashless bail at 1,000, subject to a list of conditions. The judge warned him that he must furnish gardai with an acceptable alternative address within 24 hours and not contact the woman, or bail would be revoked.

He was also told he must sign on daily at a garda station, stay away from the complainant and remain contactable by phone.

Directions from the Director of Public Prosecutions must be obtained to determine if the case will remain in the District Court or be transferred to the Circuit Court, which has broader sentencing powers.

The case was adjourned for a week to monitor compliance with the terms imposed.
Tom Tuite

Brown Thomas Arnotts Ltd has been spared a recorded conviction for breaching pricing laws during Black Friday sales.

At Dublin District Court, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) prosecuted the department store group, which operates at several prominent locations, including on Grafton Street and Henry Street in Dublin.

On January 26th, Judge Michael Ramsey ordered the firm to pay 1,000 to the Little Flower Penny Dinners charity and costs to the CCPC by Monday.

Otherwise, Brown Thomas Arnotts would, in default, be convicted and fined 1,000, payable within three months.

Judge Anthony Halpin presiding noted that the company had complied with the direction given by his colleague. Accordingly, he struck out the case.

The proceedings resulted from CCPC online sweeps conducted between October and December 2024, including during the Black Friday sales period.

This case follows a series of prosecutions brought by the consumer watchdog under sales pricing laws introduced in 2022.

On or about December 1st, 2024, a Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic 47 Silver on the Brown Thomas site was listed as reduced from 459 to 379, even though it had already been on sale at the retail outlet for 369 a few weeks earlier.

On or about November 28th, on the Arnotts website, a 65-inch Samsung television was advertised at a special Black Friday price of 1,699, claimed to be reduced from 2,899, but had actually been sold by the chain in previous weeks for 1,649.

Also around that time, a 55-inch Sony Bravia 8 T, also featured on arnotts.ie as a special deal at 2,399, had incorrectly shown a reduced from price of 2,599, even though it had recently been offered for 1,799.

Similarly, the issue arose with the sale of Sennheiser Accentum White ANC headphones on November 16th.

Under the law, traders must base any discount on the lowest price in the previous 30 days and must display this prior price clearly on any price tag or advertisement.

Last year, Lifestyle Sports, DID Electrical, Rathwood and Boots also pleaded guilty to breaking sales pricing laws.

Earlier, Patrick Kenny, Commission Member at the CCPC, said this action "marks another important outcome for the CCPC in ensuring consumers can shop with confidence, and that retailers can compete fairly on a level playing field.

__________________________________________

As part of a pilot project BreakingNews.ie has used AI to suggest headline options for this article. The final headline was chosen and edited by BreakingNews.ie journalists. Find out more
La Fheile Padraig will see lots of festivities around County Roscommon, as people proudly celebrate St Patrick and being Irish.

As well as parades in Athlone, Ballinasloe, and Carrick on Shannon, there will be a number of parades in County Roscommon.

The earliest parades will set off at 1 pm in Athleague and Lecarrow. It is an extra special day for Athleague as this is their first ever parade, while the ever popular Lecarrow parade returns with something for all the family. The next parade is at 2:30 pm in Ballaghaderreen, followed by Cloonfad at 2.45 pm.

The party begins at 3.00 pm in Ballintubber, with the parade in Boyle due to start at 3:30 pm. Elphin will round off the national holiday with its parade at 5.00 pm.

All are encouraged to wear green and join in on the festivities by attending one of Roscommons many parades.

As per tradition, Roscommon Town will celebrate its Easter parade on the 5th of April at 12:30 pm.
By Rebecca Black, Press Association in Washington DC

Ireland makes no apologies over its media regulation, the Taoiseach has said, as he defended the need to protect children from harmful online technology.

Among a series of hearings on the EU Digital Services Act, the US House Committee on the Judiciary was told by one witness that Irish media watchdog Coimisiun na Mean (CnaM) was ground zero for a lot of this regulation in Europe.

CnaM is responsible for enforcing the Digital Services Act against a range of US technology giants which have European headquarters in Dublin.

Taoiseach Micheal Martin speaks to the media at the Willard Intercontinental Hotel in Washington DC during his visit to the US for St Patricks Day (Niall Carson/PA)

Members of the committee were encouraged to use Irish-US relations to put pressure on the regulator.

Asked about the hearings on Monday, Micheal Martin said Ireland places among the top countries in indices that track freedom of speech, human rights, and freedom of assembly.

He told reporters in Washington DC: But where we make no apologies is the need to protect children and the need to protect young people from the harmful effects of modern online technology.

And in addition to that then, making sure that we protect democracy.

Martin said there will always be people with different perspectives and different analysis, but added: One thing were not about is shutting down free speech. We believe in peoples right to speak.

The Taoiseach said there was a need for simplification of regulation across Europe to focus on innovation in the space of artificial intelligence (AI).

He said: Ireland is a bastion of free speech, freedom of assembly and democracy, that would be our position in respect of that.

Taoiseach Micheal Martin is visiting the US for St Patricks Day (Niall Carson/PA)

On regulation more generally, we do need simplification of regulation  and thats acknowledged across Europe.

And the European Union is focused at the moment on a series of omnibus regulatory measures which are designed to simplify and, in some cases, reduce regulation and to try and shift the balance more towards innovation.

If you take the AI revolution at the moment, and therell be ups and downs in that journey, but essentially, the US and China are way ahead of everybody else.

Their focus is very much on the innovation side, and Europe needs to rebalance its approach and focus to innovation, and really look critically at the regulatory framework that governs us.
A day in the life of China's economy

08:19, March 16, 2026 By People's Daily reporters ( People's Daily

Photo shows the Meishan port area of Ningbo-Zhoushan Port in east China's Zhejiang province. (Photo/Zheng Kaixia)

Scene 1: Dawn at Ningbo-Zhoushan Port (5:00 AM)

As dawn breaks over Ningbo-Zhoushan Port in east China's Zhejiang province, the sea breeze carries the sounds of industry awakening. "Let's begin!" directs a foreman. A massive bucket-wheel reclaimer swings into action, processing iron ore recently arrived from Brazil. The ore travels along conveyor belts to a loading terminal, where a ship loader precisely transfers the cargo into an ore carrier's hold.

Ningbo-Zhoushan Port, the world's busiest cargo port for 17 consecutive years, handled over 1.4 billion tons last year. Its daily throughput averages approximately 3.9 million tons -- equivalent to moving 45 tons every second. This activity reflects a broader reality: across China, more than 2,900 berths capable of handling vessels over 10,000 tons facilitate a constant flow of goods, linking China's economy with global markets.

China's economic engine hums with remarkable momentum.

Within a single minute: China generates more than 200 million yuan ($29.13 million) in GDP and over 80 million yuan in goods imports and exports.

Within an hour: more than 2 million garments are produced, and over 30,000 kilograms of crops are harvested by intelligent combine harvesters.

Within a day: China smelts more than 3.9 million tons of steel and manufactures over 90,000 vehicles.

During the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), the Chinese economy achieved four consecutive leaps with an average annual growth rate of 5.4 percent, the highest among major global economies.

Humanoid robots are exhibited at the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum. (Photo/Wang Chu)

Scene 2: Innovation Relay in the Yangtze River Delta (2:00 PM)

A collaborative push in humanoid robotics technology unfolds across the Yangtze River Delta. At Shanghai Jiao Tong University, associate research fellow Yan Weixin from the Institute of Robotics spreads his palm, grips a test tube, draws liquid and gently shakes it. Nearby, a humanoid robotic arm mimics every subtle movement he does.

Two hours away in Suzhou, east China's Jiangsu province, Li Qian, deputy general manager of Leaderdrive, a manufacturer specializing in precision robotic components, is examining a harmonic reducer used in the elbow joint of a humanoid robot, exploring ways to make it lighter and more efficient.

As the world's largest producer of robots, China holds more than 190,000 valid patents related to robotics, accounting for roughly 2/3 of the global total.

The rapid development of China's humanoid robotics industry is driven by the country's most complete industrial system in the world, its vast application scenarios, and reliable energy supply, according to Qiao Hong, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

In a day, China's space station orbits the Earth 16 times, enabling astronauts to witness 16 magnificent sunrises and sunsets.

In a day, China's Supercomputing Network processes more than one million API calls.

In a day, thousands of invention patents are granted across the country.

In 2025, China's R&D investment accounted for 2.8 percent of the country's GDP, and the country entered the global top 10 in the global innovation index for the first time. This just demonstrates the powerful vitality of China.

A foreign tourist tries to cook Cantonese food in a park in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong province. (Photo/Wu Wenjun)

Scene 3: Evening Vibrancy - Guangzhou & Shanghai (6:00 PM)

Along Guangzhou's Pearl River banks, crowds gather. "Look -- the 'Slim Waist'!" On a sightseeing boat, a foreign visitor named Nazer and his family point excitedly at the brightly lit Canton Tower, one of the iconic landmarks of Guangzhou in south China's Guangdong province. From savoring Cantonese roasted meats at local eateries to enjoying a cup of aromatic coffee, the Nazer family has woven themselves into daily life in China.

Meanwhile, at a community canteen on Jiangyuan Road in Shanghai, the aroma of freshly prepared dishes fills the air. "Regular customer" Sun Yuhua walks in hand-in-hand with her husband.

"With affordable, home-style cooking, we feel good about our meal, and that reassures our children," Sun says.

Behind the vibrant glow of city life lies the resilience and potential of China's economy, demonstrating how the country's openness brings shared opportunities to the world.

Over the past five years, China has connected every county in formerly impoverished regions with expressways, paved roads reached every village, and telecommunications signals covered every corner. These achievements have solidified poverty eradication gains, proving to the world that poverty is not an insurmountable challenge.

Since the beginning of this year, senior foreign leaders have visited China in succession to explore business opportunities. Meanwhile, foreign tourists have flocked to China to celebrate the Spring Festival, experience traditional customs and witness firsthand a prosperous, open and inclusive nation.

In 2025, China imported 18.48 trillion yuan worth of goods, maintaining its position as the world's second-largest import market for 17 consecutive years. Cherries from Chile, durians from Malaysia, flour from Kazakhstan, and beauty products from France--the world is sharing the dividends of the growing Chinese market.

In 2025, China received more than 150 million inbound foreign visitors, who spent over $130 billion in the country. China has granted unilateral visa exemption to 50 countries, while transit visa-free arrangements now cover 55 countries. The experience of "becoming Chinese" has become a new global trend, offering people around the world fresh enjoyment and cultural resonance.

During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, China contributed around 30 percent of global economic growth.

"The attractiveness of China to foreign investment lies not only in the enormous size of its market but also in the high quality of that market," said Jiang Ying, chair of Deloitte China. Increasingly, foreign enterprises are treating China as a source of innovation and research and development, using innovations developed in China to serve global markets.

Every 24 hours of China's economy injects new momentum into global development.

Looking ahead to the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030), one conclusion is becoming ever clearer amid the uncertainties of the global landscape: despite a complex international environment, China's economy will continue moving toward higher quality and new growth drivers, offering the most stable, reliable and positive energy to a world navigating turbulence and changes.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
An exemplary father, brother, husband, and friend, Larry Joseph Dewhirst, found eternal rest on March 9, 2026.

Larry was born on April 12, 1948, and grew up on a farm near Grassy Butte, ND, alongside his brothers Gary, Lynn, and Loren. He attended Watford City High School, graduated from NDSU in 1971, and went on to build a rewarding career in banking. As a loan officer at Farm Credit Services, he helped local farmers and ranchers access crucial funding. He went on to be named vice president of the Independent Community Banks of North Dakota and president of First International Bank and Trust in Williston. Larry also served as president of the Mercy Hospital Foundation and chair of the Fort Union Association and Williston Area Economic Development.

However, his proudest achievement in life was his family, and he raised his children, Chad (Jenny), Janell (Ben), and Nathan (Heather), with steadfast devotion alongside his wife Patricia. Larry is also survived by four grandchildren whom he cherished, Brandon (31), Zach (22), Caden (10), and Caitlin (4).

In all things, Larry acted with kindness, humor, and generosity. His quick wit and characteristic warmth were his trademarks, and beloved by anyone who had the privilege of crossing his path. He found purpose in lending a hand to anyone in need, working hard, and bringing joy to others.

Larry was preceded in death by his parents, Neil and Winifred Dewhirst, and passed away surrounded by loved ones in Colorado.

Funeral Services for Larry will be held on Friday, March 20, 2026, at 2:00 PM at Watford City Assembly of God in Watford City, ND, with Pastor John Brady officiating. A luncheon will follow the burial at Watford City Assembly of God for a time of fellowship and sharing. Larry will be laid to rest at Schafer Cemetery in Watford City, ND. Visitation will be held on Thursday, March 19, 2026, from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM at Fulkerson Stevenson Funeral Home Chapel in Watford City, ND, and one hour prior to services at Watford City Assembly of God. A Family and Friends service will be held on Thursday, March 19, 2026, at 5:00 PM at Fulkerson Stevenson Funeral Home Chapel in Watford City, ND. The service will be recorded and uploaded directly to Larry's obituary page on our website, http://www.fulkersons.com, as soon as it is available. Fulkerson Stevenson Funeral Home of Watford City, ND, is assisting the family. Remembrances, condolences, and pictures may be shared with the family at http://www.fulkersons.com.
Margaret J. Seitz, 94 of Sidney, MT passed away on Friday, March 13, 2026, at the Sidney Health Center, Sidney, MT with her family at her side.

Mass of the Christian Burial for Margaret will be held on Friday, March 20, 2026, at 10:00 AM, at St. Matthews Catholic Church, Sidney, MT with Fr. Jim ONeil as presider. A luncheon will follow the burial at the Sidney Elks Lodge for a time of fellowship and sharing. Margaret will be laid to rest at the Sidney Cemetery, Sidney, MT. Visitation will be held on Thursday, March 19, 2026, from 10am to 5pm at the funeral home and one hour before mass at the church. The service will be recorded and uploaded as soon as available on Margarets obituary page on http://www.fulkersons.com. Fulkerson Stevenson Funeral Home of Sidney are assisting the family. Remembrances, condolences, and pictures may be shared with the family at http://www.fulkersons.com.
Student protests

Students in Bucharest and across the country protested against the austerity measures adopted by the government.

Education Minister Mihai Dimian

Daniela Budu, 16.03.2026, 13:50

Members of the National Alliance of Student Organizations in Romania protested on Saturday, in front of the government offices in Bucharest and in other university centers in the country, emphasizing the need for adequate financing of education. According to representatives of the organization, education is facing austerity measures adopted since last year, which directly affected the rights and academic conditions of students. These include limiting the 90% discount on rail transport fees only on the route between students home and the university center where they study, reducing the scholarship and social protection fund by approximately 52%, eliminating the possibility of students who pay tuition fees in public universities, to benefit from scholarships, as well as financing scholarships only for the duration of teaching activities, and not for the holidays. These measures, the Alliance representatives claim, increase the financial pressure on students and affect fair access to university studies. Thus, the students demand the re-granting of scholarships, given that, in the current academic year, over 44 thousand students were left without them.

The protesters are also unhappy with the small budget allocated to education and the decision of some universities in the country to increase tuition fees starting this fall. These would increase by amounts ranging between 1,000 (200 euros) and 3,000 lei (600 euros), and could reach 9,000 lei (1,800 euros) per year. The new Minister of Education, Mihai Dimian, previously rector of the University of Suceava, went to talk to the protesting students. I witnessed these scholarship reductions as a rector. I tried to obtain projects to partially compensate for these scholarship reductions. We have allocated 10% of the universitys own income to partially compensate for them, the Minister of Education stated. He told the students that he understood their dissatisfaction. Mihai Dimian: It is very important that you express these points of view and that they are heard by all decision-makers. Education was the first in which measures were taken. Of course, it is good that we all contribute to this reduction of the deficit, not just the education field. In this respect, the dissatisfaction of students and teachers who were the first to be affected by these measures, is justified.

We recall that last week, representatives of the National Alliance of Student Organizations in Romania had a meeting with the relevant minister, during which they also conveyed their concerns regarding the situation of university dropouts. They requested an open collaboration, based on a negotiation that would ensure both the increase in the quality of education, but especially by addressing a policy of equity and access to the university environment for all young people. We remain open to dialogue and monitor the changes and measures that will be taken in the upcoming period, the students said. (EE)
Novartis AG (NVS) announced that the U.S. FDA has approved Cosentyx for pediatric patients aged 12 and older with moderate to severe hidradenitis suppurativa. The decision makes Cosentyx the first IL-17A inhibitor available for this younger population.

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic inflammatory skin condition that causes painful, boil-like lesions that can rupture and lead to scarring. The disease often begins around puberty, and more than half of patients experience symptoms during adolescence, underscoring the need for earlier diagnosis and treatment options.

Cosentyx (secukinumab), already approved for adults with HS, is now cleared for use in adolescents weighing 30 kg or more. The approval is supported by data extrapolated from adult clinical trials, pharmacokinetic modeling, and pediatric studies from other Cosentyx indications. According to Novartis, weight-based dosing in adolescents is expected to provide drug exposure levels similar to those seen in adults.

Alexa B. Kimball, MD, MPH, lead investigator of the SUNSHINE and SUNRISE clinical trials in adult HS patients, noted that HS can cause irreversible scarring and disability, and that the availability of Cosentyx represents an important advancement for younger patients who have limited treatment options. Patient advocacy groups also highlighted the emotional and social impact of HS on adolescents, emphasizing the significance of earlier intervention.

Cosentyx is a fully human biologic that targets interleukin-17A, a key driver of inflammation in several autoimmune diseases. It has been used globally for more than a decade and is approved for multiple adult and pediatric conditions, including plaque psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis and juvenile psoriatic arthritis. More than 1.8 million patients worldwide have been treated with Cosentyx since its launch in 2015.

Victor Bulto, President, Novartis US, stated that expanding Cosentyx to adolescents with HS addresses a long-standing gap in care and aligns with the company's focus on inflammatory diseases.

Cosentyx generated $6.7 billion in full-year 2025 sales, representing an 8% increase from $6.14 billion in 2024, reflecting continued steady growth across its immunology portfolio.

HS affects approximately 1 in 100 people globally and is associated with significant quality-of-life burdens, including pain, scarring and comorbidities such as obesity, arthritis, and depression. Diagnosis can take up to 10 years on average, making timely access to effective therapies particularly important.

This latest approval marks the fourth pediatric indication for Cosentyx, reinforcing its established safety profile and expanding its role in the treatment landscape for chronic inflammatory diseases.

NVS has traded between $97.72 and $170.46 over the past year. The stock closed Friday's trading session (March 13, 2026) at $153.44, down 0.53%. During overnight trading, the stock fell further to $153.05, down 0.25%.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
Studsvik AB (STUD.ST,SVIK.ST, SUDKY), a Swedish-based supplier of nuclear analysis software, on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding with Novatron Fusion Group, a private Swedish fusion energy company, to support the development of fusion in the Nordic region.

The companies said the strategic partnership aims to strengthen the region's position in the fusion sector and support the development of a fusion reactor based on Novatron Fusion Group's technology.

The agreement will combine Studsvik's nuclear expertise and infrastructure with Novatron's fusion technology, which is based on a mirror machine design and proprietary plasma containment method.

Studsvik operates a licensed nuclear site in Nykoping and provides services to the nuclear sector including fuel and materials testing, software, and waste management.

The partnership will involve testing materials, running simulations, managing waste and decommissioning, helping build and locate a pilot fusion reactor, supporting regulatory approvals, and evaluating whether the technology can be used in other industries.

Studsvik AB is currently trading 1.31% higher at SEK 310 on the Stockholm Stock Exchange.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
Roche (RHHBY) has received CE Mark approval for the Elecsys ApoE4 test, the first in-vitro diagnostic immunoassay that can identify carriers of the ApoE4 genetic variant using a simple blood sample.

The test offers a faster and more accessible way to determine whether a patient carries ApoE4- a variant present in up to 60% of people diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease- without immediately requiring DNA-based genetic testing.

Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia worldwide, accounting for up to 70% of cases. The ApoE4 gene variant is one of the strongest known genetic risk factors for late-onset Alzheimer's, and identifying carrier status has become increasingly important as new disease-modifying therapies rely on genetic profiling to guide treatment decisions.

The Elecsys ApoE4 test uses a minimally invasive blood draw to distinguish between carriers and non-carriers. For patients who test negative, the result can eliminate the need for confirmatory genetic testing. For those who test positive, follow-up genetic sequencing can provide more detailed information- a step that is becoming essential as certain Alzheimer's treatments carry higher risk for ApoE4 carriers, particularly those with two copies of the gene.

Matt Sause, CEO of Roche Diagnostics, said the approval represents an important step toward simplifying Alzheimer's diagnostic pathways. By helping clinicians quickly identify ApoE4 carriers among patients with cognitive decline, the test aims to streamline decision-making and improve patient management.

The new assay joins Roche's growing portfolio of blood-based Alzheimer's biomarkers, including the recently CE-marked Elecsys pTau181 test, which helps rule out amyloid pathology. Together, these tools support earlier detection and more personalized care, and can be run on the large installed base of Roche diagnostic instruments across countries that accept the CE mark.

Roche says the Elecsys ApoE4 test demonstrated 100% concordance with genetic sequencing in a multicenter study of more than 600 participants, correctly identifying all carriers and non-carriers. The company views the approval as a key milestone in preparing healthcare systems for wider use of emerging Alzheimer's treatments.

RHHBY has traded between $34.75 and $60.85 over the past year. The stock closed Friday's trading session (March 13, 2026) at $50.12, down 3.49%.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
UniCredit S.p.A. (UNCFF.PK) on Monday announced a takeover offer worth 35 billion euros, which is equivalent to $40 billion, for Commerzbank AG (CBK.DE). While emphasizing that it does not intend to take full control of the lender, UniCredit said it plans to increase its stake in Germany's second-largest bank to more than 30 percent.

However, Commerzbank said the proposed offer had not been coordinated with the bank. It also noted that UniCredit's communication did not provide additional details about the key terms that would typically form the basis for discussions on a value-creating transaction.

Bettina Orlopp said the bank's primary focus remains on creating sustainable value for its shareholders and stakeholders. She added that Commerzbank remains confident in its current strategy centred on independence and profitable growth.

Commerzbank also said that its Board of Managing Directors and Supervisory Board will carefully review the voluntary takeover offer once it is formally published. The assessment, the bank added, will be carried out in the best interests of the institution, its shareholders, employees and clients.

Currently, UniCredit's stock is moving down 4.40 percent, to $72.38 on the OTC Markets.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
Alcon Inc. (ALC) announced on Monday that it has agreed with LENSAR, Inc. (LNSR) to terminate their previously announced merger agreement.

The medical device company Alcon cited prolonged regulatory review and related costs as the reason for the decision, after opposition from the Federal Trade Commission.

The regulatory review had been ongoing for nearly a year. Alcon, which operates in the ophthalmology industry, stated that it remains focused on advancing cataract surgery technologies to improve efficiency for surgeons and outcomes for patients.

ALC closed Monday's trading at $77.79 up $0.47 or 0.61 percent on the New York Stock Exchange.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
After taking a look at the sub 4m SUV sales and 4.2 to 4.5m SUV sales, let us now take a look at SUV sales in the 4.5m to 4.8m segment. This one recorded healthy growth in February 2026. Total sales stood at 39,638 units, registering a 26.54% year-on-year increase compared to 31,325 units sold in February 2025. On a month-on-month basis, the segment saw a marginal 1.56% growth over 39,030 units sold in January 2026.

The segment continues to be dominated by Mahindra models, with Scorpio / Scorpio N and XUV7XO occupying the top two spots. Meanwhile, the newly launched Mahindra XEV 9S electric SUV has made a strong entry, even surpassing established rivals like Tata Harrier and Tata Safari.

Mahindra Scorpio Continues To Lead

Mahindra Scorpio and Scorpio N retained their position as the best-selling SUVs in the segment, recording 14,665 units in February 2026. This marks a 7.69% year-on-year growth compared to 13,618 units sold in February 2025. However, sales declined 5.64% MoM from 15,542 units sold in January 2026. Recently launched Mahindra XUV7XO secured the second position with 9,112 units, posting a 22.01% YoY growth over 7,468 units sold in February 2025, though sales were 10.08% lower month-on-month.

Interestingly, Mahindra XEV 9S electric SUV recorded 3,539 units in February 2026, making it the third best-selling model in the segment. On a monthly basis, XEV 9S saw a massive jump of 478% over 612 units sold in January 2026, highlighting growing demand for Mahindras new electric offerings.

Tata Harrier, including its EV variant, registered 3,096 units, reflecting a strong 125% YoY growth compared to 1,376 units sold in February 2025. However, sales declined 16.57% MoM. Toyota Fortuner maintained steady performance with 3,076 units sold, posting a 6.95% YoY growth and a marginal 0.98% MoM increase.

Mahindras other electric offering, XEV 9e, recorded 1,889 units, marking a 14.33% YoY decline but only a minor 2.88% MoM drop. Tata Safari followed with 1,650 units, registering a 5.63% YoY increase, although sales fell sharply 30.53% MoM. MG Hector and Hector Plus combined sales stood at 1,204 units, marking a significant 133.79% YoY growth and a 260% MoM increase. Hyundai Alcazar recorded 907 units, witnessing a 28.24% YoY decline and a 5.72% MoM drop.

Among other models, Skoda Kodiaq reported 146 units, registering an impressive 1360% YoY growth due to a low base in the previous year. Jeep Meridian recorded 124 units, while Volkswagen Tayron accounted for 113 units, showing strong momentum since its introduction. Jeep Compass registered 92 units, while Volkswagen Tiguan sold 23 units during the month.

Segment Updates

Some notable changes are also taking place within this segment. MG Gloster has been discontinued in India and will soon be replaced by the upcoming Majestor SUV. Similarly, Hyundai Tucson has also been discontinued and is expected to return later this year with a facelifted version.

With multiple new launches and product updates expected in the coming months, competition in the 4.5m4.8m SUV segment is likely to intensify further. Mahindras aggressive push with both ICE and electric SUVs is already reshaping the segment dynamics.
Honda Cars India has officially flagged off the pan-India test run of its upcoming electric SUV, marking a key step in the companys electrification plans for the Indian market. The test run ceremony was held at Hondas Tapukara manufacturing facility in Rajasthan, where the camouflaged prototype began its real-world evaluation across Indian roads.

This programme marks the start of public road testing, during which Honda engineers will validate the vehicles performance, durability and reliability under diverse Indian driving conditions.

Extensive Testing Across Indian Conditions

The prototype used for this programme is based on the Honda 0 ? concept, which was first revealed at the Japan Mobility Show 2025. The new electric SUV represents Hondas next generation EV design and technology direction.

As part of the pan-India testing programme, the vehicle will be evaluated across highways, city traffic and challenging terrain conditions. Engineers will closely monitor aspects such as durability, ride and handling, efficiency and overall reliability.

The SUV will also undergo testing in extreme temperatures, heavy rain conditions and across different charging infrastructure setups, helping Honda optimise the vehicle for everyday use in India.

Developed For Both India And Global Markets

Honda confirmed that the upcoming electric SUV is being developed for both domestic and global markets. The model will be manufactured in India and exported internationally, positioning India as an important production base for Hondas future EV lineup. The SUV is expected to cater to both urban commuting and lifestyle-oriented driving needs, expanding Hondas portfolio into the fast-growing electric SUV segment.

Hondas EV Strategy Under Pressure Globally

The test programme in India comes at a time when Hondas global EV strategy is undergoing significant changes. Recently, Honda reported substantial financial losses related to its electric vehicle development, prompting the company to restructure parts of its EV roadmap.

As part of this restructuring, Honda has reportedly cancelled plans for the Honda 0 SUV and Honda 0 sedan models, along with an upcoming Acura electric vehicle that was being developed for global markets. These decisions were taken as the company reassesses its EV investment strategy and focuses on more commercially viable products.

Despite these global adjustments, Honda continues to push forward with EV development in key markets such as India and Japan, where electric mobility demand is expected to grow significantly over the coming years.

Launch Timeline

Honda has confirmed that the new electric SUV is targeted for global introduction in FY2026-27, with India and Japan among the first launch markets. With testing now underway on Indian roads, more details regarding the vehicles battery specifications, range, charging capability and features are expected to emerge closer to its official launch.
China's NEV industry ascends global value chain

14:51, March 16, 2026 By Wang Zheng ( People's Daily

New energy vehicles are assembled in a workshop of a smart factory of Chinese carmaker Leapmotor in Jinhua, east China's Zhejiang province. (Photo/Hu Xiaofei)

China's new energy vehicle (NEV) industry is accelerating its shift from rapid expansion to higher-quality growth, driven by breakthroughs in key technologies such as intelligent driving systems and advanced batteries.

In early March, Chinese companies unveiled a new round of innovations in the core technologies underpinning smart, connected NEVs.

On March 4, Chinese technology giant Huawei launched the world's first dual-optical-path imaging-grade 896-line LiDAR system under its Qiankun intelligent driving solution.

Compared with conventional 192-line LiDAR, the new system offers four times the resolution and addresses a long-standing industry challenge -- wide-angle sensors that capture the full scene but miss details, and telephoto sensors that capture details but sacrifice field of view.

This breakthrough enables vehicles traveling at 120 km/h to reliably identify small obstacles, such as 14 cm-high stones, from 120 meters away.

The following day (March 5th), BYD, China's leading new energy vehicle manufacturer, unveiled the second generation of its Blade Battery. The upgraded battery delivers what the company calls a breakthrough flash-charging experience: under normal temperatures, it can charge from 10 percent to 70 percent in just five minutes and from 10 percent to 97 percent in nine minutes.

New energy vehicles are parked in a port in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu province, ready to be shipped overseas. (Photo/Fang Dongxu)

Even at temperatures as low as minus 30 degrees Celsius, the charging process takes only about three minutes longer than under normal conditions. The new battery also increases energy density by five percent and supports a driving range exceeding 1,000 kilometers.

From LiDAR systems for intelligent driving to next-generation power batteries, Chinese companies have achieved fresh breakthroughs in key technologies for smart NEVs in the first quarter of 2026.

How can China's NEV industry further accelerate its transformation during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030)?

China's 2026 government work report emphasizes building a modernized industrial system and creating new forms of smart economy. Automotive experts noted that China's auto industry is entering a critical stage, shifting from scale expansion toward higher quality and efficiency. Leveraging its industrial chain strengths and economies of scale, the sector is expected to optimize product structures, refine industrial layouts and strengthen brand value.

According to Wang Jianqing, chief master technician at the vehicle assembly plant of Dongfeng Trucks, a subsidiary of Chinese automobile group Dongfeng Motor Corporation, the industry is moving toward greater intelligence, greener technologies and deeper industrial integration.

He stressed the importance of strengthening fundamental research, investing in cutting-edge technologies, and enhancing industry resilience to support this shift.

A man experiences a new energy vehicle in a shopping mall in Tengzhou, east China's Shandong province. (Photo/Zhao Qirui)

Vehicles equipped with Geely's Qianli Haohan intelligent assisted-driving system have delivered notable performance results. Recent data shows that the system has accumulated over 110 million kilometers of assisted-driving mileage, equivalent to circling the Earth about 2,750 times, while its active collision-avoidance function has prevented 225,000 potential accidents.

"Safety is the core of any intelligent driving system," said Li Chuanhai, president of the Geely Automobile Research Institute. He said that in 2026, Geely plans to introduce Level-3 high-speed autonomous driving and Level-4 low-speed autonomous functions where regulations permit, while steadily advancing the deployment of Robotaxi vehicles.

China's push toward higher levels of autonomous driving gained regulatory momentum in late 2025. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology granted China's first Level-3 autonomous driving vehicle permits, marking a transition from technological testing to the early stages of large-scale commercial application.

Feng Xingya, chairman of GAC Group, a major Chinese automaker, has urged the establishment of a nationally unified standards and evaluation system for autonomous driving. He proposed opening key testing scenarios such as highways and urban expressways to support testing and commercialization of Level-3 autonomous driving for consumer vehicles, while expanding pilot applications of Level-4 autonomous driving in logistics and mobility services.

Yin Tongyue, chairman of Chery Holding Group, another major Chinese automobile manufacturer, has emphasized the importance of data security in intelligent driving systems. He suggested establishing standardized procedures for data collection, transmission and use, ensuring privacy protection while enabling large-scale Level-3 deployment.

Inside a vehicle assembly plant of mobility technology company Magna International in Graz, Austria, engineering teams from China and Europe are conducting intensive adjustments around production rhythms, process validation and quality inspection. The preparations are aimed at the mid-March rollout of the Aion UT, produced by GAC Aion, an NEV brand of GAC Group.

Following the earlier production of the Aion V, the Aion UT will become the second GAC model to be manufactured locally at the plant.

According to Ma Haiyang, an executive of GAC Group, cooperation with Magna International allows the company to integrate more efficiently with Europe's mature engineering systems and local supply chains, accelerating the implementation of localized production.

"GAC is steadily advancing local research and development, procurement and manufacturing," Ma said. "By developing products according to European standards, we aim to better understand and meet the needs of the European market and provide high-quality products and services for local consumers."

China exported over 7 million units of automobiles in 2025, with NEV exports reaching 2.615 million units, more than doubling year on year and highlighting the industry's growing international competitiveness.

Despite progress, challenges remain. Limited overseas operational capacity and risks related to global industrial and supply chains continue to test Chinese automakers as they expand abroad.

For Chery Holding Group, globalization means integrating more deeply into local markets. "Our global strategy is to be rooted where we operate and contribute to local development," said Yin. He noted that Chery's project in Spain has not only enabled localized vehicle production but also created more than 1,500 local jobs.

"During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, we hope to replicate this model in more parts of the world," Yin said. "Our goal is to ensure that our products and pricing are acceptable to local consumers, our business models are welcomed by local governments and societies, and our development approach remains environmentally sustainable."

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
The term fair is rarely used in the industry these days, generally replaced by show or watch week. These are no longer organized exclusively by professional event organizers, but also by retailers, brands, media outlets and even collectors.

The catalyst effect of Geneva Watch Days

In the wake of Covid, two major phenomena radically changed the watchmaking landscape: the appeal of independent niche brands exploded (they remained active and close to their customers during lockdown), while Geneva Watch Days showed a new way forward. Launched in the days following the announcement of the cancellation of Baselworld and SIHH by Jean-Christophe Babin (then CEO Bulgari) and a handful of CEOs including Georges Kern (CEO Breitling), Geneva Watch Days proved that it was possible to organize an ambitious professional watchmaking event that was decentralized, relaxed and reasonably priced. Major brands rub shoulders with newcomers, which are just as popular among end customers as they are with the media and retailers. The community and educational aspects play a central role, while a festive spirit is omnipresent. The concept of the traditional GMT party that annually hosts 400 to 500 people has been part of the DNA of Geneva Watch Days since the beginning. This year, it will be dedicated to the 25thanniversary of WorldTempus. With the number of exhibitors quadrupling in six editions, the real challenge for Geneva Watch Days is to manage its growth without losing its soul. Meanwhile, it has inspired a new generation of watchmaking events.

Such is the case with Milano Watch Week, organized by a collective that has been aiming since October 2024 to offer a lively alternative to the major trade shows and is coordinated by watchmaking insiders (collectors, retailers, media) for their community. This typically Italian fall event brilliantly combines premium dolce vita with independent watchmaking.
President threatens allies if they don't join Hormuz protection force

United Arab Emirates port of Fujairah reopens after drone attack

Oil prices fell back from their highs on Monday after a key UAE loading facility restarted operations following an Iranian drone attack, amid demands from the US for its allies to join a maritime coalition to protect shipping through the vital Strait of Hormuz.

As the US-Israel war on Iran showed no signs of abating, with attacks on Tehran and neighbouring Lebanon continuing, Trump threatened Nato allies who failed to help in the strait and also hinted he might call off a planned trip to China at the end of this month if Beijing also declined.

Benchmark Brent crude fell 1.11% to $102 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate fell 3.64% to $95.12 on reports that crude loading operations had resumed at the United Arab Emirates port of Fujairah after a drone attack.

Trump over the weekend demanded help from other Western nations to protect shipments currently stranded either side of the narrow Strait of Hormuz under the threat of attack from Irans Revolutionary Guard.

He urged China, Britain, France, Japan and South Korea to send warships to help reopen the key waterway - which accounts for 20% of global shipments - despite the fact they were not involved in the US-Israeli attack on Iran.

The US on the weekend struck Irans Kharg Island, with Trump claiming the attacks totally demolished most of the key oil processing facility adding that the military may hit the site a few more times just for fun.

Trump also issued a thinly veiled threat to US allies if they did not join his proposed maritime coalition, saying it would be very bad for the future of Nato if they refused.

Its only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries of the Strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there, Trump said in an interview with the Financial Times, arguing that Europe and China are heavily dependent on oil from the Gulf, unlike the US.

I think China should help too because China gets 90% of its oil from the Straits [sic], Trump said, adding that waiting until the summit would be too late. Wed like to know before that... we may delay, Trump said, but did not say for how long.

The demand drew a lukewarm response from the countries involved, with Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi telling parliament on Monday that Japan had no plans to send warships to the Persian Gulf. French President Emmanuel Macron had said previously that he would be willing to use the French navy as escorts but only if the conflict stabilised.

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that "while taking the necessary action to defend ourselves and our allies, we will not be drawn into the wider war".

Irans Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has insisted that the strait was closed, insisting it was open to shipping from all nations except the US, Israel, and their allies.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com
Nebius shares surged in pre-market trade on Monday after the Netherlands-based artificial intelligence cloud company announced a new long-term AI infrastructure supply agreement with Facebook owner Meta worth up to $27bn.

Under the five-year agreement, Nebius will provide $12bn of dedicated capacity across multiple locations, based on one of the first large-scale deployments of the Nvidia Vera Rubin platform. Nebius will deliver this capacity starting early 2027.

In connection with access to these Nvidia Vera Rubin deployments, Meta has committed to purchase additional available compute capacity across certain upcoming Nebius clusters up to a total of $15bn over a five-year period.

Nebius plans to sell this capacity to third-party customers of its AI cloud business, with remaining capacity to be purchased by Meta.

Nebius founder and chief executive Arkady Volozh said: "We are pleased to expand our significant partnership with Meta as part of securing more large, long-term capacity contracts to accelerate the build-out and growth of our core AI cloud business. We will continue to deliver."

Last week, Nebius said that Nvidia was investing $2bn in the company as part of a strategic partnership to develop and deploy the next generation of hyperscale cloud for the AI market, from AI natives to enterprises.

Under the terms of the partnership announced on Wednesday, the companies will collaborate on AI factory design and support, inference, AI infrastructure deployment and fleet management.
Iran allowed two India-flagged LPG carriers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz amid regional tensions.

Irans ambassador Mohammad Fathali assured safe passage for ships heading to India.

Foreign minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi criticised the U.S. stance on Russian oil imports.

Amid rising tensions in the Middle East, Iran has allowed two India-flagged liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carriers to pass safely through the strategically crucial Strait of Hormuz, offering reassurance to India at a time when global energy routes remain under heightened scrutiny.

According to recent reports, the vessels were granted transit clearance despite the ongoing regional conflict, citing four sources familiar with the development. The move comes as Tehran signals its intent to maintain stable energy trade ties with India, a major importer of crude oil and gas.

Irans Ambassador to India, Mohammad Fathali, confirmed that ships heading to India would continue to receive safe passage through the narrow maritime corridor, which carries a significant share of the worlds oil shipments. Emphasising the longstanding relationship between the two countries, Fathali said Iran views India as a trusted partner with shared interests and mutual responsibility.

He underscored the depth of the bilateral relationship, stating that the welfare of the Indian people is closely tied to Irans own interests. According to him, the historical cooperation between the two nations creates a natural obligation for both governments to support one another, especially during challenging geopolitical situations.

Also Read: India Grants Visa Extensions for Stranded Foreign Nationals Amid Middle East Crisis

Saudi Arabian oil recently passed through the strait and is expected to reach India shortly, highlighting that energy shipments through the route continue despite the volatile environment. Shipping data from Lloyd's List Intelligence also indicated that a crude oil tanker transportingrecently passed through the strait and is expected to reach India shortly, highlighting that energy shipments through the route continue despite the volatile environment.

Meanwhile, Irans Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi criticised the United States for its evolving stance on Russian oil trade. In a post on the social media platform X, Araghchi argued that Washington had previously pressured countries such as India to curb imports of Russian crude, but is now urging nations to increase purchases amid escalating tensions with Tehran.

The remarks reflect the broader geopolitical shifts influencing global energy flows as nations navigate complex alliances and economic priorities.
In a city as dynamic and fast-evolving as Pune, real estate is not merely about constructing buildings; it is about shaping communities that endure. Siddhashila has steadily emerged as a name associated with thoughtful development, refined design, and a deep understanding of urban living. At the heart of this growth lies a leadership vision anchored in long-term value creation, architectural integrity, and a commitment to enhancing everyday life for residents.

Siddhashilas philosophy goes beyond square footage and specifications. The brands developments reflect a conscious effort to blend comfort, functionality, and location advantage into cohesive living environments. Each project is planned with attention to spatial efficiency, aesthetic appeal, and practical convenience, ensuring that homes are not only visually impressive but also genuinely livable. This approach signals a leadership mindset that prioritizes people as much as property.

Across Punes prominent micro markets, Siddhashila has established a portfolio that demonstrates both diversity and consistency. Trishala in Mukund Nagar offers 3 & 4 BHK residences designed to bring together style, comfort, and accessibility in a well-connected central neighbourhood. In Wakad, Treasure Troves presents 2 & 3 BHK residences characterized by contemporary architecture and meticulous detailing, catering to urban professionals seeking connectivity and modern lifestyle amenities. Samaira in Bibwewadi stands out with its twin fourteen-storey towers offering 2, 3 & 4 BHK homes. The project features thoughtfully designed rooftop amenities including a swimming pool, gymnasium, kids play area, and party lawn, along with The S Club clubhouse offering indoor games, spa, and fitness facilities for leisure and recreation. Meanwhile, Madhusagar in Model Colony offers refined 2 BHK residences in one of Punes prime neighbourhoods, supported by amenities such as rooftop rejuvenation zone, secured access controlled lobbies, and architecturally designed facades.

What distinguishes Siddhashilas leadership is its clear understanding of Punes evolving residential landscape. The selection of locations such as Mukund Nagar, Wakad, Bibwewadi and Model Colony reflects a strategic awareness of connectivity, infrastructure growth, and established social ecosystems. The upcoming project in Punawale further strengthens this vision, tapping into one of Punes rapidly developing residential corridors. Growth drivers in the area include expanding infrastructure, proximity to key road networks, and increasing housing demand driven by connectivity to major employment hubs. These neighbourhoods offer proximity to commercial hubs, educational institutions, healthcare facilities, and arterial road networks, factors that significantly influence long term livability and property relevance. By aligning development with such micro market strengths, Siddhashila demonstrates a disciplined and research-driven approach.

Equally important is the emphasis on design excellence and safety. Features such as secured access controlled lobbies, CCTV surveillance for common areas, fire-fighting systems, and thoughtfully designed entrances highlight a commitment to creating secure and welcoming environments. Amenities are not treated as superficial additions but as essential components that enhance the residential experience. This detail-oriented mindset reinforces trust among homebuyers who increasingly value transparency and quality assurance.

Leadership at Siddhashila also reflects adaptability to modern lifestyle needs. The inclusion of thoughtfully designed rooftop amenities at Samaira including a swimming pool, gymnasium, kids play area and party lawnalong with indoor facilities at The S Club clubhouse reflects responsiveness to evolving urban lifestyles, creating spaces for leisure, wellness and community interaction within the development. Such decisions indicate foresight, positioning developments to remain relevant as expectations evolve. In a competitive market, this ability to anticipate rather than react sets a developer apart.

As Pune continues to expand as an economic and educational hub, the demand for well-planned residential communities is set to remain strong. Siddhashilas trajectory suggests that its leadership is not solely focused on growth in numbers but on building environments where families can thrive. By combining architectural sophistication, strategic location choices, and a clear commitment to safety and comfort, the brand continues to strengthen its presence in the citys residential narrative.

For those seeking homes that reflect thoughtful planning and enduring value, Siddhashila invites you to explore its residential offerings across Pune. Discover how leadership driven by vision and integrity can translate into communities designed for a lifetime.




Criminal Trespass  Breaking into a Structure (Felony 2)

Intimidation of a Witness or Victim to Withhold Testimony (Felony 3)

Two counts of Simple Assault (Misdemeanor 2)

A Tamaqua woman is facing multiple felony charges following an overnight standoff with police that lasted more than four hours late Saturday into early Sunday.According to court papers filed by the Pennsylvania State Police at Frackville, officers were dispatched around 11:20 p.m. Saturday to a residence at 501 Washington Street for a report of a disturbance.When officers arrived, they spoke with the resident of the home and a male friend who were inside at the time of the incident. The two men told police they heard the basement door being forced open.The friend reportedly told officers that he witnessed the residents wife, Alysha Hartshorn, 39, of Tamaqua, kick in the basement door and enter the home.Police say Hartshorn then went to a rifle case inside the residence and allegedly removed two rifles and a box of ammunition, taking them to a bedroom on the second floor of the home.Hartshorns husband and his friend fled the residence and contacted police.Officers attempted to negotiate with Hartshorn to exit the home, but police say she refused and barricaded herself inside the upstairs bedroom while armed with the rifles.Due to the escalating situation, Tamaqua Police requested assistance from the Pennsylvania State Police, who activated their Special Emergency Response Team (SERT).The standoff continued for a little more than four hours before Hartshorn was taken into custody at approximately 3:55 a.m. Sunday.Hartshorn was charged with:She was arraigned early Sunday morning by on-call Magisterial District Judge Christian Lengel and committed to Schuylkill County Prison after bail was set at $100,000 straight cash.
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BusinessCompaniesAviation Emirates flights from Australia diverted after attack on Dubai Chris Zappone March 16, 2026  5:45pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Share A A A

An Emirates flight that departed from Melbourne last night bound for Dubai International Airport has been diverted following a drone attack near the airport. EK407 left Melbourne at 10.52pm on Sunday and was due to arrive at Dubai International at 5.40am on Monday (Dubai time), according to information on FlightRadar24. A drone attack near the Dubai International hit a fuel tank, forcing authorities to temporarily suspend flights. The flight instead landed at Dubai World Central, the international airport in Jebel Ali, Dubai, about an hours drive away.

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A Dubai International-bound flight from Sydney was also diverted. EK413 left Sydney at 9.54pm on Sunday and was due to arrive at 5.15 Monday morning Dubai time at Dubai International. It was instead diverted to Dubai World Central, information from FlightRadar24 showed. Both planes were Airbus A380s. Emirates information suggests passengers will be transferred by air to Dubai international. The airline was contacted for comment.

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All flights to and from Dubai have been temporarily suspended, Emirates posted after the attack. An Emirates flight lands. Twitter We would like to thank our customers for their understanding and patience, the Dubai-based airline said, warning passengers not to go to the airport. Later, the Dubai Media Office X account posted that the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority had announced the gradual resumption of some flights to and from Dubai International Airport to selected destinations, following the temporary suspension implemented as a precautionary measure. The incident is the third at the Dubai airport, one of the worlds busiest international travel hubs, since Iran began its attacks on Gulf nations on February 28.

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A significant number of Australians have relied on travel through Dubai to reach Europe and Britain in recent years. The outbreak of the war has paralysed flights between Australasia and Europe, stranding more than 10,000 Australians in transit. Even as Emirates seeks to scale up flights following the start of the war, official Australian government advice is to avoid the region. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, on the Smartraveller.gov.au website, lists the United Arab Emirates as a do not travel country. The regional conflict is likely to escalate further. We advise you to leave the UAE, dont wait until its too late, it says. DFAT also lists Qatar, Kuwait, Israel and Bahrain among other nations in the region.

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Do not travel advice also applies to transit and layovers in affected locations, DFAT says. Even if you dont plan to leave the airport, do not transit through these countries. Airports, hotels, roads, bridges and other locations have been struck with missiles. If you travel to or transit through a Do not travel country, you may be unable to leave. Your safety will be at risk. Iran has been sending salvos of missiles and drones towards military and civilian targets across the Persian Gulf after Israel and the US mounted an attack on Tehran, seeking regime change. The Market Recap newsletter is a wrap of the days trading. Get it each weekday afternoon.
The hidden meanings behind this year's Oscar frontrunners

Twin gangsters return to Mississippi to open a juke joint during the Jim Crow era, but the place gets overrun by vampires. There are metaphors everywhere in this film says Nell Geraets on The Morning Edition podcast.
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 CultureTV & radioReview Dawn French is back to her funny best in this playfully chaotic and very silly British comedy Craig Mathieson March 16, 2026  1:57pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Share A A A

Can You Keep a Secret?  As grand as it sounds, once you start calling someone a national treasure it tends to limit what they can do. For an artist, it can mean that every project has to be judged as a fitting use of their talents, even if their talent has a simple, welcome basis. Thankfully Dawn French, the British comic who earned the rank of national treasure for the likes of French and Saunders and The Vicar of Dibley, has come back to the sitcom. French has always been funny, and she is funny once more in this drily farcical comedy. Craig Roberts (left), Mark Heap and Dawn French in Can You Keep A Secret? In the BBCs Can You Keep a Secret?, French plays Debbie Fendon, a retired grandmother in Englands West Country who has the impervious confidence, and perhaps the streak of self-delusion, required to attempt to get things done her way. If that means going against the system, then thats OK. Broken Britain, Debbie will proclaim, happily brushing off convention. The problems start when she stops paying attention to the law. Dad was my best friend, laments Debbies only child, Harry (Craig Roberts), who has taken the loss of his father, William, badly. You should have friends your own age, replies Debbie, who after two months as a widow isnt grieving at all. But she takes pity on Harry and lets him on a secret: William (Mark Heap) is alive. A nervy GP and a funeral home mix-up saw him declared dead when he accidentally took too much medication, and once Debbie realised a sizeable life insurance claim was available William was exiled to the attic.

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The way this set-up is explained in the first of six episodes is typical of the shows playful chaos. Repeatedly getting sidetracked, the apologetic William and the unapologetic Debbie take the shocked Harry through the events, the three of them standing to the side of flashbacks as mishap becomes a tainted opportunity. It is ludicrous but tempting  Debbie even has the payout on hand in cash, because she doesnt trust banks any more. Editor's pick 

Review It sounds like an Oceans film, but this playful heist tale is so much more Created by Simon Mayhew-Archer, whose father Paul was a key writer on The Vicar of Dibley, Can You Keep a Secret? has just enough emotional ballast to make the daftness buoyant. Williams outlook is tempered by his Parkinsons disease, while Harry, you realise, is a constant mess of neuroses because his parents have long been upending his life. You and Dad have always done deranged things, Harry tells Debbie, who seems rather pleased with the observation. Mandip Gill as Neha and Dawn French as Debbie in Can You Keep A Secret? But Harrys marriage to local police constable Neha (Mandip Gill) is a major complication for someone who, in fact, cant keep a secret. Then theres the hooded figure who starts delivering blackmail notes, complete with cut-out lettering, about Williams resurrection and the pay-off they want. The crimes feel like dodgy decisions, poorly conceived and executed with about as much care at the locals put into their mundane daily activities. Even Only Murders in the Building has more genuine risk than this, but the laughs are frequent.

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Related Article Review What to stream this week: Louis Theroux gets inside the manosphere, plus five more picks As the plot unfolds, the show hits on a lovely mix of dynamics between separate pairs of characters: father and son, for example, have the shared consolation of living in orbit around Debbie. They should be worried about criminal charges, but Williams main worry is that not being able to go outside has allowed Debbie to cut him off from chocolate runs to the local service station. I feel like Im in Requiem for a Dream, he laments on his second day without treats. Silly? Yes. Enjoyable? Hugely. Can You Keep a Secret? airs at 8.20pm on Sundays on the ABC, and streams on ABC iview. Find out the next TV, streaming series and movies to add to your must-sees. Get The Watchlist delivered every Thursday.
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Exclusive Eating outJust open This folded Turkish sandwich is so good they named a cafe after it Sink into a sofa for its charred flatbread folded around meat or vegies with lemon slaw and zingy pickles. The Two Good Co-run cafe is also a work-friendly oasis. Erina Starkey March 16, 2026 Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Share A A A

Two Good Co.s second cafe has opened in North Sydney, and this time they wanted to do something different. We have a history of famous chefs giving us recipes for toasties, and we wanted to move away from that, says Marlon Kigonya, Two Goods general manager of hospitality. The team began experimenting with breads and fillings, eventually landing on The Fold, a sandwich made with charred Turkish flatbread folded around kofte, lemon slaw and zingy pickles in a creamy tahini dressing. The sandwich shares its name with the cafe itself, which sits within a 200 square-metre community hub called The Landing, also owned and managed by Two Good Co. Together, the two operate as a single, seamless space on the second level of Lendleases Victoria Cross Tower. The Fold is the namesake sandwich made on a chargrilled Turkish flatbread. Ethan Smart

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With deep, cosy sofas and free Wi-Fi, its the perfect spot to catch up on emails, grab lunch or just hang out. Its accessible for everybody, Kigonya says. You dont need to purchase something from the cafe to use it. Restaurant reviews, news and the hottest openings served to your inbox. Sign up The menu revolves around The Fold, which comes with a choice of three fillings that reflect the Turkish heritage of head chef Ayse Moonen, ranging from lamb kofte to chargrilled eggplant and herbed chicken, finished with house-made pickles and ferments. The Fold plate stocked with Manchego cheese, labneh, avocado and pickles and the Turkish salad bowl. Ethan Smart Moonen learnt to make pickles during her time at the Cornersmith Picklery and continues the practice here, using seasonal vegetables such as zucchini, peppers, turnips and eggplants. For those grabbing a quick bite between meetings, there are yoghurt pots and pastries from Sonoma, along with loaves from Baker Bleu to take back to the office kitchen. Coffee comes from Two Goods longtime partner Single O, with tea by Mood Tea and sodas from Auntys Ginger Tonic.

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The Fold is located within a larger community space called The Landing. Ethan Smart The Fold and The Landing were designed by Melbourne studio Fiona Lynch, the team behind the earthy, muted interiors at Kiln at Ace Hotel Sydney, with inspiration coming from the Australian landscape. The room mixes banquettes and lounges with timber furniture by Mark Tuckey and artworks by local artists Wona Bae and Charlie Lawler. The effect is closer to a boutique hotel lobby than a corporate breakout space. Visitors are free to sit, work or meet anywhere on the level, and food from The Fold can be enjoyed throughout. Coffee is by Single O and there are Baker Bleu loaves to take away. Ethan Smart The Fold also has another layer of meaning. Its a nod to the idea of bringing someone into the fold, says Kigonya, a reference to the organisations work, in welcoming, supporting and integrating women into the community.

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Like all Two Good Co. ventures, 50 per cent of profits are reinvested into the organisations Work Work employment program for women with experience of domestic violence, homelessness and complex trauma. The cafe also offers work experience placements for women in the program, creating pathways into hospitality and longer-term employment. Open Monday to Friday from 7am-3pm Vic X Tower, Level 2/155 Miller Street, North Sydney, twogood.com.au Related Article Review Top-notch toasties and treats at Two Good Co Cafe, Sydney
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Tips & adviceChip Month The secret to making crunchy, fluffy chip shop-style chippies at home Peel on or off? And which potatoes? Popular Melbourne chip shop and spice bag specialist, Northern Soul, and other spud experts give us the inside scoop. Dani Valent March 17, 2026 Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Share A A A

This story appears in the Good Food Guide to chips Victoria collection. See all stories .

When you really need to learn how to create golden, crunchy, fluffy chips, you head to the place that has chip fans queuing down the street every weekend. This is where the magic happens, says Joe Grimshaw from St Kildas Northern Soul, a St Kilda takeaway serving northern English and Irish chip shop classics (including the spice bag with its own cult following) so popular that the small shop goes through about a tonne of potatoes every week. Chips are the specialty at Northern Soul in St Kilda. Wayne Taylor Also chipping in with their essential tips, Kerri Farrell and Catherine Ramage, more commonly known as The Spud Sisters, third generation potato farmers and provedores. So, what are the key factors to producing perfect chippies?

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Spud Sisters aka Kerri Farrell and Catherine Ramage know a thing or 100 about making great chips. The best recipes from Australia's leading chefs straight to your inbox. Sign up The potatoes Starchy potatoes make the best chips. Good varieties include Sebago, Russet, Maris Piper, Gippy Gold and Innovator. If you catch Spud Sisters at a farmers market or head to their website, you may also find Fontane, another good chipping potato. Northern Soul prefers Innovator because the large, rectangular potato allows for long, even chips. But for about four months of the year, usually in peak summer, they can be harder to source before the new harvest comes in. Northern Soul owners Joe Grimshaw and Jess Tosh in their popular Melbourne shop. Wayne Taylor

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Making chips from scratch is challenging because potatoes are a seasonal crop, says Grimshaw. If we were buying a frozen product to cook, it would be the same year-round but we need to keep adjusting. Theres a bit of an art to it. He looks for firm potatoes, which signals freshness  bouncy is a bad sign  and he tests each new batch for sugar content. If the sugar content is too high, the outside of the chip may caramelise before the inside is cooked. The peel Northern Soul uses a rumbler to peel the potatoes to about three-quarters skinless, before removing any spots or blemishes by hand. A little bit of peel-on gives our chips a rustic look and feel, says Grimshaw. For home cooks, Kerri Farrell is inclined to suggest skin-on. You dont have to peel, she says. Its up to your preference but I would always leave the skin on.

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Northern Soul give us the scoop on how to make great chips. Wayne Taylor The cut Until a recent investment in a chipping machine, the Northern Soul crew were hand-cutting 800kg of potatoes a week. Now they tip potatoes into a large hopper with a blade at the bottom and nice, fat chips emerge at a fine clip. At home, youll want a long, sharp knife that extends beyond the length of the potato for smooth cutting. Smaller pieces mean crunchy bits: a positive. You can adjust the cut size depending on desired finish. Youll get more potato flavour with chunky hand-cut wedges, so Id lean to a Sebago or Gippy Gold for those, says Farrell. But if you want fries, theres a lot of edge and not much middle: Russet and Innovator will crisp up nicely.

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Northern Soul chips, doused in malt vinegar. Wayne Taylor The rinse Starchy potatoes are good but you dont want starch coating the exterior of each chip. It will make your chips oxidise before cooking, turn your oil claggy and risk gummy clumps of chips rather than solo travellers. Whether youre doing 1kg or 20kg at a time, place chips in a colander and rinse until the water runs clear. You can also soak them in cold water for 30 minutes or more, then drain. Drying and cooling Frying wet chips is a no-no. At Northern Soul, the rinsed chips are dried for at least an hour before their first cook. Spud Sisters recommend patting chips dry then cooling.

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Chips frying at Northern Soul. Wayne Taylor The first fry Northern Soul uses a mix of canola and sunflower oil but any neutral oil will do, and beef tallow is a delicious option, too (ask your butcher or seek tallow at health food stores). An initial fry moves the chips from raw to just-cooked without colouring them. At Northern Soul, this blanching step is at a lower temperature, somewhere between 140C and 160C, depending on the potato. Weve changed temperatures for this step 10 times this month, says Grimshaw. This stage takes between five and 10 minutes, depending on how new the oil is, and how dense the potatoes are.

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When theyre cooked, the chippies are shaken vigorously in the fryer basket to rough up the edges a bit so that there are different textures after the final cook. At Northern Soul, the chips are rested for at least five minutes before the second cook. At home, Spud Sisters suggest cooling blanched chips in the fridge or freezer in a single layer before proceeding. They can be cooked from frozen. A little bit of peel-on gives our chips a rustic look and feel. Joel Grimshaw, Northern Soul The second (and third) fry This is a hotter step, closer to 180C, for about three to four minutes, or until the chips are cooked as desired. When cooking at home, this is where you toss them with salt and start eating.

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At Northern Soul, the chips are racked over the fryer at this stage and given a third, short, sharp flash fry to order, just before seasoning and serving. We look for a nice, thin shell, a little bit puffy, and a creamy inside, says Grimshaw. Northern Soul balances the desires of its northern hemisphere customers, who love a soggy chip, with the Aussie hankering for crunchy. We are somewhere in between. Hot chips cook well in an air fryer. iStock Home hacks for air fryers and ovens Not every home cook wants to fill a saucepan with oil. The air fryer and oven are good options, too. For an air fryer, you want something with a bit more moisture, says Farrell.

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Sebago and Otway Reds are good. Dont overfill the tray, toss them in oil and salt, and go for it in one at 200C for 20 to 30 minutes, shaking the basket as you go.



For oven cooking, Farrell and Ramage swear by a tip from chef Shannon Martinez. You can par-cook chips in water with half a teaspoon of bicarb soda for every 1kg potatoes: it dries out the edges really well, says Ramage. Cook them in the oven in a single layer at 180C for 20 to 30 minutes, tossing halfway. The payoff Theres nothing like a really nice chip, says Farrell. Its a creature comfort, a homely treat, a family favourite that everyone enjoys. If you get it right, its gold. The super popular Spice Bag at Northern Soul. Wayne Taylor

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Submissions for a new and less combative Aussie chant, as requested by Victor Grasty (C8), are starting to come in, with Ted Richards of Batemans Bay thinking we should try Chill Aussie, Chill Aussie, Chill Chill Chill to the tune Run, Rabbit Run! while Joy Cooksey of Harrington may have missed the brief with Aussie Aussie Aussie. Time to trompe Trumpie!

Never let it be said that Wayne Duncombe of Lilyfield isnt a broad thinker: Combining Victors idea for a more soothing chant with recent Iced Vo-Vo stories, perhaps the incantation of vo-vo, vo-vo could be deployed? Its uniquely Australian (tick from Matt Canavan), calming and dodges any pitfalls of identity politics.

Kenneth Smith of Orange is always intrigued by those dog food ads (C8) which claim its guaranteed to tempt fussy eaters. Canines lick their genitalia, drink from the toilet and consume their own vomit. I doubt that one could call them fussy eaters.

Of constant amusement to my wife and I is the ad where a plug-in EV is recharging in bushland while the family are camping, opines Mark Berg of Caringbah South. Either EV chargers are installed in bushland or that family has an enormous extension cord!

Theres a new badge of honour for kids abrasions (C8). John Wall of Illawong explains: We were a Friars Balsam family in Beverly Hills in the 60s. Cuts and grazes were quickly protected, but it did sting going on. Maybe a new tribe of Brown in the suburbs. Surprisingly, its still available, so I might get some for the grandkids! Andrew Brown of Bowling Alley Point is reminded of the discomfort, too, referring to it as the second stinging.
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Exclusive NationalNSWProperty tax I want my $1m back: Wealthy cattle baron in legal fight with valuer general Lucy Macken March 17, 2026  5:00am Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Share A A A

As typos go, the one issued on a land tax assessment to property investor and cattle baron Theo Onisforou was expensive. A row of four terraces on Crown Street in Surry Hills, set on a 297-square-metre block, was erroneously assessed by Value NSW as sitting on a 597-square-metre lot. The wrong digit effectively doubled the land size on paper, if not the tax debt. The row of four terraces on Crown Street, Surry Hills, was incorrectly assessed as a 597 square metre block. The site is 297 square metres. Steven Siewert The fact that the error has been repeated in every annual assessment since 2001, when Onisforou purchased the Crown Street property as an investment for $1.91 million, has made things all the more costly. But if Onisforou had hoped to simply be reimbursed for the excess land tax, he was disappointed.

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Theo Onisforou was accidently overcharged land tax on his Surry Hills investment property. Instead, Onisforou has had to launch legal proceedings in the Land and Environment Court against the NSW valuer general in a bid to recoup his losses. This mistake wasnt my doing, and yet Im the one being forced into expensive legal action to defend myself against a statutory body that wont even clarify just how much theyve overcharged me, Onisforou said. I want my $1 million back. Land tax is levied on the unimproved land value of any second  or subsequent  property, such as an investment property or a holiday home, and it is charged at 1.6 per cent a year above a $1,075,000 threshold. The family home is exempt. For Onisforous part, his claim to a $1 million debt is calculated on the sum of his excess land tax payments over the years and charged at 3.3 per cent compound interest.

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The tax office would charge a lot more interest than that, so Im being overly generous, Onisforou said. Interest levied on outstanding tax debts by the Australian Taxation Office was set at 10.65 per cent in the March quarter. The valuer general has dismissed Onisforous percentage calculation, but it did revise the propertys land value from $5.29 million to $3.3 million for 2024, given the corrected size. But even that land value was overstated, Onisforou said. He says the true land value is closer to $2.6 million. The dispute over the 2024 valuation is set for a hearing later this year. Even if Onisforou is successful, that wont necessarily open the way for him to be repaid for previous years.

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In correspondence seen by the Herald, a lawyer acting for Valuer General Sally Dale said the court did not have the power to vary the land tax determinations for other years, and responsibility for the accuracy of land sizes was up to the owner. For Onisforou, that might mean separate proceedings to claw back overpaid tax from previous years. This should be a warning to everyone not to presume that the land size stated in your annual valuation is correct, Onisforou said. Objecting to a land valuation is no easy task, and it is often limited to those with the deepest pockets and the most to gain. Of an estimated 2.7 million valuations by Value NSW each year, about 110 are successfully challenged.

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Billionaire Dial A Dump founder Ian Malouf is a vocal critic, slamming the state-based levy as no more than a tax on the rich. He would know. I had a $1 million land tax bill in one year on one street, Malouf said. The Palm Beach house known as Gidget was purchased by Ian Malouf for $18.6 million in 2022. Domain Of those, one was the $40 million weekender on the Palm Beach beachfront up the road from two houses purchased for $18.6 million and $20 million each. Malouf launched his own legal fight in 2024 over a $15.9 million land valuation of one of the houses, called Gidget. He succeeded in having its value revised to $14.8 million. It was a small win, he said. It ultimately cost as much to fight it as the reduction, but it was worth it.

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More recently, a $95.5 million purchase by Singaporean tycoon Ho Whye Chungs Ho-Group Australia of an office tower in North Sydney had its land value revised from $90 million in 2024 to $73 million. Then conciliation last year valued it at a base rate of $56 million. Prestige valuer Scott Willoughby, of Knoxbridge, said while mainstream land valuations tended to be fairly conservative, that was often not the case in the trophy home market, where prices vary wildly and there are few comparable sales with which to benchmark values. Former Seven commercial director Bruce McWilliam recently took to court to dispute the valuer generals assessment of his Point Piper investment apartment (purchased in 2018 for $7.55 million) after the site was valued at $41.5 million. In court documents, McWilliam argues that because the apartments have no view of the Harbour Bridge or the Opera House, the block is worth no more than $33.3 million. Bruce McWilliam is disputing the valuer generals land tax assessment on his Point Piper apartment given its lack of Opera House and Harbour Bridge views. Domain

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The matter is slated for hearing later this year. Meriton founder Harry Triguboff successfully disputed the land tax assessment on part of his Vaucluse estate in 2008. Arsineh Houspian Another Point Piper local set to contest his land tax assessment in court later this year is troubled gold mining businessman John Changjin Li. Lis mansion, Edgewater, had its land tax value dropped from $90.2 million to $80 million in 2024, but Li is seeking to have that dropped again to $63.45 million. One of the most notable land tax disputes was in 2008, when billionaire Meriton founder Harry Triguboff was slapped with a $149,556 land tax bill because a second residence on his Vaucluse estate was a separate dwelling with its own street number and street access.

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But in the court proceedings that followed, Triguboff argued the dwelling was a spare house that shared the same grounds and was a better study for him to work from because it had a better outlook. It was a win for Triguboff and a loss for state coffers. Start the day with a summary of the days most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.
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NationalQueenslandCourts Former NRL player granted bail after DV allegations, dramatic police pursuit Jiselle Manning and and Cloe Read March 16, 2026  5:18pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Share A A A

Former NRL and State of Origin player Chris Walker was allegedly on drugs when arrested over domestic violence allegations following a two-hour police pursuit which ended with him in a nearby canal telling police he was going for a swim, a court has heard. The 46-year-old applied for bail on Monday after he was arrested on Saturday evening on the Gold Coast and charged in relation to domestic violence allegations. Loading Walker allegedly fled in a ute down a nearby street when police attempted to arrest him at his home, before abandoning the car and running, jumping over fences and into a nearby backyard. Officers combed the streets surrounding Whitsunday Drive in Currumbin Waters, before Walker was allegedly found after a two-hour search hiding under a pontoon in nearby canals.

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Police said Walker had been charged with several offences, including three counts of common assault. He also faces charges of using a carriage service to menace, harass or cause offence, and unlawful stalking, intimidation, harassing or abuse. Chris Walker speaking to media in 2003. Getty Images AsiaPac Walkers bail application was heard in the Southport Magistrates Court on Monday, where his barrister Thomas Polley told the court his client had alcohol problems and in the last two weeks fell off the wagon. The court heard Walker was allegedly involved in a dispute on March 12, and became physical. He later visited the complainants workplace, and argued with staff members. The prosecution told the court on March 14 at 2am, he drove to the alleged victims house, before trespassing onto a neighbours property.

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The court heard Walker was eventually found at the pontoon, where he told police he was going for a swim. The prosecution said he was on drugs at the time of his arrest. Walker was granted bail, with a series of conditions including that he must take part in a rehabilitation program and alcohol and drug testing, and must not enter the greater Gold Coast region or contact the complainant in the case. Walker played for several clubs in the NRL from 1999 to 2011, including for the Brisbane Broncos and Sydney Roosters. He also had stints with the South Sydney Rabbitohs, Melbourne Storm, Gold Coast Titans, Parramatta Eels and French club Catalans Dragons. He also played for the Queensland Maroons in the 2001 and 2002 State of Origin series.

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Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service (1800RESPECT) on 1800 737 732. Start the day with a summary of the days most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.
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NationalQueenslandCrime If possible, dont exercise alone, city told following unsolved attacks William Davis March 16, 2026  8:45pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Share A A A

Women in a North Queensland city have been warned not to exercise alone after two violent daylight assaults prompted an increased police presence. A 53-year-old was attacked on February 3 while swimming at Town Beach, adjacent to the Iluka Park area, in Mackay. More than a week later, a 27-year-old was assaulted while walking on the Bluewater Trail. Detective inspector Emma Novosel discussed alleged attacks in Mackay. Queensland Police Service Investigators said they believed the two incidents could be linked, but had limited information on the appearance of the alleged attacker.

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Both victims in this case have been approached from behind  the traumatic nature of these attacks, its sometimes difficult for victims to recall those sorts of details, Detective Inspector Emma Novosel told a press conference on Monday. At this time were working with these victims to try and ascertain a better description. Theyve been very courageous in coming forward to ensure that this perpetrator can be held to account and also to ensure the safety of the community. Both women were from the Mackay area, and were violently attacked and sexually assaulted during daylight hours on a weekday.

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Novosel confirmed one had been wearing headphones at the time, and urged residents to take extra precautions. I encourage the community to continue to enjoy using those public spaces, she said. We have increased our patrols to ensure that everyone is safe, but if you are going to exercise, can I ask you to take some basic security precautions that you would ordinarily do on a day-to-day basis? If possible make sure that someone knows where youre going, if possible dont exercise alone, and if you choose to wear headphones  make sure that the volume in those headphones is at a level so you can be aware of your surroundings. She added police believed it was possible there were more victims who had not come forward, and urged anyone with relevant information or CCTV from the area to come forward.

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Police are seeking assistance from the Mackay community, and from people who may have been using those areas, who may have had interaction or seen an interaction between persons and an unknown male that may have caused them concern. Investigators first became aware of the allegations last week. Start the day with a summary of the days most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.
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The state government said it can keep Victorian public schools open next Tuesday, even if tens of thousands of teachers walk off the job as they reject a 17 per cent pay increase over three years. The pay offer was the first tabled by the government on Monday in an attempt to avert the first government schools strike in 13 years, but was swiftly rejected by the Australian Education Union (AEU), which labelled the offer completely unacceptable. Deputy Premier and Minister for Education Ben Carroll says the government is prepared for teacher walk offs. Eddie Jim Education Minister Ben Carroll said on Tuesday that retired teachers, casual relief teachers and education support workers could be deployed to keep schools open during any strike action next Tuesday, and that specialist schools would be prioritised. But principals had already begun warning families on Monday that alternative arrangements may be needed for their childrens care next week.

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It marks the latest chapter in a wage dispute that has already dragged on for eight months, as Victorian teachers  the nations lowest-paid public education workforce  chase a 35 per cent pay rise over three years, reduced workloads and improved mental health support. The AEUs rejection of the governments offer on Monday increases the likelihood that teachers across the states 1570 government schools will strike next week, but Carroll said the government believed it would have the workforce to keep schools open. AEU Victorian branch president Justin Mullaly addresses teachers protesting outside Education Minister Ben Carrolls office last year. Eddie Jim We think we will still have a workforce. There will be some teachers who dont want to go out on strike and lose a days wages, the minister said. We know there are teachers who will look at this offer and say this is a serious offer, and we will work with them, and we will work with principals and schools and education staff to ensure that schools remain open.

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Related Article School funding State school teachers demand 35 per cent pay rise, smaller classes, reduced workload The uncertainty for families is set to linger for days, with principals warning they will not know until Friday afternoon how many of their schools staff intend to strike next Tuesday, the Victorian Principals Association confirmed. Schools wont be able to make any firm decisions regarding arrangements for supervision of students on the 24th March until they are advised by the AEU sub-branch of the numbers who will be taking action, association president Andrew Dalgleish said, saying he believed school leaders would be notified by 5pm Friday. Principals will then be advising parents of classes impacted and alternative programs as appropriate on Monday for those parents who may be unable to make alternative arrangements for their children. The AEU says the 35 per cent pay bump over three years would bring Victorian teachers into line with their NSW counterparts. A graduate teacher in Victoria earns $78,801 compared with $90,177 in NSW, while the pay gap between experienced classroom teachers is $15,000.

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Related Article Opinion

School funding In the so-called education state, Gonski puts our schools stone-cold last Chip Le Grand State political editor Victorian teachers and the AEU leadership remain incensed at secret cuts to the state school funding exposed by this masthead, which will leave government schools $2.4 billion worse off between now and 2031. The secret cuts were approved in March 2026 by the governments Budget and Finance Committee of Cabinet  chaired by Premier Jacinta Allan  despite Carrolls protests, meaning that Victoria will not fully fund its share of the Gonski school reforms before 2031. State governments in Western Australia, Tasmania, NSW and South Australia already provide their schools with 75 per cent or more of Gonski funding  a needs-based formula all states have agreed to. The Commonwealth government is committed to funding the balance, but only once states fully fund their share.

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In Victoria, the only jurisdiction in Australia without a published, long-term plan to fully fund the Gonski reforms, government schools will this year receive just 70.4 per cent from the state and 20 per cent from the Commonwealth. The gap between what government schools get in Victoria and what students need is currently about $1.38 billion. The simplest way of closing the gap is to pay teachers more through an enterprise bargaining agreement, but Treasurer Jaclyn Symes is struggling to contain public sector wages, which topped $23 billion in the second half of last year, according to a mid-year financial report tabled in state parliament last week. Carroll has publicly vowed to deliver teachers a proper pay rise and provide nationally competitive wages across the government school sector.

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The government was hoping to avoid industrial action next week by making what Carroll described as a significant and genuine offer. The proposal is for a one-off 8 per cent pay rise this year, followed by annual 3 per cent rises over the next three years. A meeting of the AEU Victorian branch executive voted on Monday to reject the offer and hold firm for a better deal. Education Minister Ben Carroll says Victorias government school teachers, the lowest-paid in the country, deserve a proper rise. Eddie Jim This offer will do nothing to fix the staffing shortage crisis in Victorias public schools, AEU Victorian branch president Justin Mullaly said in a statement issued late on Monday night. How can Education Minister Ben Carroll call Victoria the education state while teachers, principals and education support staff are overworked, underpaid, and already leaving the profession in droves?

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The Allan Labor government is overseeing the countrys lowest-funded public education system and is the employer to the nations lowest-paid public school teachers. AEU members working in public schools will stop work for 24 hours next Tuesday in the first, day-long strike of an increasingly bitter industrial campaign. It would be the first statewide strike action by Victorian teachers since Labor returned to government. Be the first to know when major news happens. Sign up for breaking news alerts on email or turn on notifications in the app.
The speaker of Irans parliament has told Iranian state television that the Strait of Hormuz cannot be as it was before as Iranian fire keeps nearly all traffic out of the strategic waterway.

Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf made the comment in an interview aired on Tuesday as Iranian fire continued to target shipping in the region.

They are flying, launching missiles. Should we just sit back and do nothing in response, or not? Qalibaf said. Naturally, it is our undeniable right. We must do this.

Certainly, from now on, with the interventions that have taken place, the strait can no longer be, from a legal standpoint and in terms of transit, as it was before. It no longer has the necessary security.

Typically, 20 per cent of all oil and natural gas traded passes through the strait.

AP
Trump divulges congressmans terminal illness, says doctors said he could be dead by June

The US president pressed House Speaker Mike Johnson to discuss the private medical details of Republican congressman, Neal Dunn, who had a serious health issue.
Dear Editor,

Over the past few days, I have read the reflections circulating online from St. Martiners, especially young St. Martiners, with a mixture of recognition and concern. Their words carry all of our frustration, but also something much more important: attachment. Their voices are not those of people who have given up on our island, but those of people who still care enough to speak out.

That is precisely why they deserve to be heard with seriousness rather than dismissed as merely negative, emotional, or impatient; there is nothing unreasonable about looking at the state of St. Martin with unease. There is nothing unfair about questioning traffic that consumes hours of peoples lives, or about a utilities system that is more fragile than it should be, development moving faster than the infrastructure required to support it, and a quality of life that is being steadily eroded.

I now also read these voices not only as someone from St. Martin, but also as someone who works across the wider Caribbean and, more poignantly, as a new father. Working regionally has provided me with perspective, but becoming a parent has introduced in me a worry in the pit of my belly, knowing that it is no longer about how we are living today, but about what kind of island will remain for my sons generation and whether we are tending to this country with the seriousness that this extraordinary place demands.

What many are expressing is grounded in the fact that too many of the issues being discussed have lingered for years without any meaningful resolution. They are asking whether enough attention is being paid in a way that is grounded, honest, and visible; whether stewardship still exists in a meaningful sense. And they have every right to ask.

It is not the responsibility of ordinary citizens, least of all frustrated young people, to arrive with polished policy prescriptions before they are allowed to voice concern. They do not need to solve traffic to say that daily gridlock is eroding quality of life; they do not need to redesign the energy grid in order to point out how dangerous dependency and fragility have become; they do not need to come up with technical answers in order to name the neglect that has unfolded in front of them for decades. Their first right is not to solve. It is to be heard. They are asked to be more patient, more constructive, more measured, more diplomatic. Yet while this is happening, the conditions provoking their concern remain plainly visible. And so frustration begins to settle into normalcy. And this is a most dangerous moment for any society, because once decline starts to feel routine, people will slowly lose faith in the very idea that things can improve.

Working throughout the Caribbean has also made something else clear to me: St. Martin is not the only island facing pressure, but there are places with fewer resources and less visibility that are beginning to confront their limits with greater honesty than we often allow ourselves, and that comparison can be uncomfortable. We have long taken pride in our resilience, our dynamism, and our ability to move quickly. Yet there are times when that confidence drifts into hubris, when we behave as though we are exempt from the consequences of poor planning, from the realities of overextension, or from the natural limits of a Small Island Developing State. We have built, expanded, approved, and promised as though roads, utilities, coastlines, hillsides, neighborhoods, and our very social fabric itself can endlessly absorb more pressure. They cannot.

That is why the question of capacity matters so much. Development is not simply a matter of what can be built; it is also a matter of what can be sustained. A serious country must ask whether it can maintain the competence and continuity needed to manage growth responsibly. It speaks to whether we treat our country as something to steward or merely something to use, or abuse. And often by those with interests way outside of our extraordinary community.

What gives me hope, though, despite all of this, is that these voices are still being raised. Concern is not the opposite of patriotism but one of its clearest expressions. The young people speaking now are not detached from St. Martin but are attached to it, often by their navel strings buried in this soil. Like mine. Like my sons. And their frustration comes precisely from that attachment. They want better from the place because they still believe it can be better. They want to feel that this country is more than traffic, strain, and neglect. They want to believe that it is still possible to live here with dignity, pride, and some confidence in the future.

As a new father, I am forced to think not only about the island we inherited, but also about the island we are shaping through action or inaction. Through complacency. St. Martin deserves more than a politics of reaction and more than a public culture in which concern is treated as an inconvenience. The people speaking up deserve to know that their country hears them, that their concerns are valid, and that caring enough to speak is still worth something.

If St. Martin is to have a future worthy of its people, one of the first things we must recover is the ability to listen seriously when our own sons and daughters tell us, plainly and without ornament, that something is not right.

Tadzio Bervoets

Belair

St. Martin
PHILIPSBURG:--- The Caribbean, often seen as a paradise of sun and sea, is increasingly becoming a battleground for gang wars and drug trafficking. Islands like Sint Maarten and Tortola are grappling with the violent consequences of these criminal networks, leaving local authorities overwhelmed and communities shaken. Recent events have exposed the deep ties between gang rivalries, drug operations, and gruesome murders that span across borders.

The Plumpy Boss Incident: A Catalyst for Violence

Trinibad dancehall artiste Meschach Emmanuel, known as "Plumpy Boss," was shot in Sint Maarten, an attack that has sent shockwaves through the region. A US$100,000 bounty was reportedly placed on his head, allegedly ordered by a high-ranking member of the Sixx gang based in Tortola. Emmanuel, who is out on bail for charges of gang membership and drug trafficking, is said to have been a key figure in promoting the rival Seven gang through his music.

The shooting, which left Emmanuel critically injured with a bullet lodged in his brain, is believed to be part of the escalating warfare between the Sixx and Seven gangs. Intelligence sources have revealed that the order to kill Plumpy Boss came from behind prison walls in Tortola, orchestrated by a figure known as "Killa." This same individual is also linked to other high-profile hits, including the murder of Jamal Walker, aka "Jango," in Trinidad last year.

Quincy Damon Sylvester: A Key Player in the Underworld ( ARLET PETERS ROAD HOMICIDE)

Adding to the chaos is the recent murder of Quincy Damon Sylvester, a Trinidadian drug dealer operating in Sint Maarten. Sylvester, who ran a legitimate-looking PVC pipe business as a front for his drug operations, was killed alongside an American companion in a vehicle that toppled over on Arlet Peters Road. Surveillance footage from the White Rabbit nightclub showed Sylvester being monitored before his death, raising suspicions of a targeted hit.

Sylvesters connections to the criminal underworld extend beyond Sint Maarten. Sources suggest he had ties to the same networks involved in the Plumpy Boss shooting, further highlighting the interconnected nature of these violent rivalries.

Gang Rivalries Spill Across Borders

The Sixx and Seven gangs, originating in Trinidad, have expanded their influence across the Caribbean, including Jamaica, Grenada, and Sint Maarten. Their rivalry is not only played out in violent confrontations but also in a "musical war," with diss tracks fueling tensions. The gangs leaders and financiers, some based as far as the United Kingdom and North America, use their resources to orchestrate hits and expand their operations.

The shooting of Plumpy Boss was seen as a strategic move to weaken the Seven gang by targeting one of its key financial assets and mouthpieces. Similarly, Sylvesters murder may be linked to his involvement in these criminal networks, as rival factions vie for control.

The Strain on Local Resources

The small and understaffed detective department in Sint Maarten faces an uphill battle in addressing these crimes. Despite their limited resources, local authorities have shown determination in bringing perpetrators to justice. However, the transnational nature of these criminal activities underscores the need for greater regional cooperation.

A Call for Action

The rise in gang violence and drug trafficking across the Caribbean demands a coordinated response. Law enforcement agencies must work together to dismantle these networks and prevent further bloodshed. The recent collaboration between Sint Maarten and Trinidadian police is a step in the right direction, but much more needs to be done.

As the Caribbean fights to reclaim its reputation as a haven of peace and beauty, the resilience of its people and the commitment of its authorities will be crucial in overcoming these challenges.
PHILIPSBURG: --- St Maarten is facing a growing crisis as violent crime escalates, yet the islands budget priorities remain heavily skewed toward corruption investigations. While the Taskforce Bestrijding Ondermijning (TBO) receives substantial funding to tackle financial and economic crimes and corruption, the resources allocated to hardcore criminal activities are woefully inadequate. This imbalance is leaving residents and visitors increasingly vulnerable, as evidenced by a recent spate of armed robberies.

A Budget Focused on Corruption

The Public Prosecutors Office (OM Sint Maarten) operates on a modest budget, with recent annual reports highlighting consistent underspending. In 2021, the office was allocated Cg 4.13 million, of which Cg 3.6 million was spent, leaving Cg 528,865 unutilized due to vacancies and adjustments in vacation pay. Similarly, in 2022, the budget was Cg 3.98 million, with actual expenditures of Cg 3.77 million, resulting in an under-spend of Cg 205,820. Personnel costs dominated the budget, with Cg 2.95 million allocated in 2021 and Cg 2.83 million in 2022, leaving limited funds for other critical areas like housing, transport, and general operations.

The reports for 2023 and 2024 lack detailed financial statements, focusing instead on cases, performance indicators, and operations. A 2024 performance indicator references the outgoing budget PEA SXM, implying continued budgeted operations, but no totals are provided. Fines collected under the Paga Bo But initiative amounted to Cg 203,715 in 2024 from 1,412 settlements. However, asset recovery and confiscation targets, such as the Cg 200,000 goal for 2024, were not fully met due to capacity issues.

Dutch Contributions: A Double-Edged Sword

While the OM Sint Maartens local budget is limited, significant funding for law enforcement comes from Dutch contributions to the TBO and the Recherche Samenwerkingsteam (RST). These funds, channeled through the Ministries of Justice & Security (JenV) and Kingdom Relations (BZK), are primarily aimed at tackling corruption, financial crimes, and undermining activities across the Caribbean part of the Kingdom.

For 20252027, the Dutch government has allocated approximately 35.5 million annually for TBO and RST operations. This funding is structural and supports investigations into corruption, the involvement of public officials, and financial and economic crimes. Additionally, 1 million per year is earmarked for governance tools to combat undermining criminality, and 17.5 million is allocated to sustainable investigations into financial crimes. Beyond 2027, the remaining RST/TBO budgets will stay within the Kingdom Relations (IV) budget rather than being fully transferred to JenV. Related justice support, including co-financing for prison improvements in St. Maarten, is estimated at 713 million annually.

While these contributions are critical for addressing corruption and financial crimes, they do little to address the islands growing violent crime problem. The focus on corruption investigations has inadvertently left a gap in the fight against hardcore criminal activity, which is becoming increasingly brazen.

Violent Crime on the Rise

St. Maartens streets are becoming more dangerous, with violent crime escalating at an alarming rate. Over the weekend, visitors from Aruba were robbed at gunpoint while returning to their hotel after participating in a cockfighting tournament. This incident is just one of many recent armed robberies that have left residents and tourists feeling unsafe. The police have yet to release any information on this latest crime, further highlighting the challenges in addressing public safety.

The OM St. Maartens budget for personnel, housing, and general operations is stretched thin, leaving little room for proactive measures against violent crime. Transport and general expenses, for instance, accounted for only Cg 141,000 and Cg 409,000, respectively, in 2022figures that pale in comparison to the resources needed to combat escalating criminal activities.

A Call for Balance

The structural funding for TBO and RST operations underscores the Dutch governments commitment to addressing corruption and financial crimes in the Caribbean. However, the growing wave of violent crime in St Maarten demands urgent attention. Without a balanced approach that allocates sufficient resources to both corruption investigations and core crime-fighting efforts, the island risks undermining public trust and safety.

The current allocation of resources reflects a troubling disconnect between policymakers' priorities and the realities on the ground. While corruption investigations are undoubtedly important for long-term governance and stability, they cannot come at the expense of public safety. Sint Maartens residents and visitors deserve a justice system that is equipped to address all forms of crime, not just those that make headlines in boardrooms.

As St. Maarten grapples with these challenges, it is imperative for local and Dutch authorities to reassess budget priorities. Strengthening the capacity to address violent crime while maintaining the focus on corruption is essential to ensuring a safer and more secure future for the island.
PHILIPSBURG:--- Member of Parliament (MP) Lyndon Lewis expresses his deepest condolences to the family, friends, and the entire school community of the Milton Peters College following the tragic passing of one of its students.

The news of the students sudden death has deeply impacted students, teachers, and parents across the island. In light of the heartbreaking loss, students who were scheduled to prepare for their Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CXC) examinations were temporarily dismissed from school on Monday to allow time for reflection and mourning.

This is a heartbreaking moment not only for the family but for the entire school community and our country as a whole. The loss of a young life is always painful, and my thoughts and prayers are with the parents, relatives, classmates, and teachers who are grieving during this extremely difficult time.MP Lewis stated

While the exact cause of death has not yet been publicly disclosed, MP Lewis emphasized the importance of respecting the familys privacy as they cope with this profound loss.

I encourage the community to keep the family in their prayers and to respect their privacy as they navigate this tragic moment. As a society, we must come together to support one another, especially our young people who may be struggling to process this loss. MP Lewis stated.

MP Lewis also commended the school administration for taking immediate steps to support students during this difficult period and encouraged continued counseling and emotional support services for those affected.

Our schools are not only places of education but also communities of care. Ensuring that students and staff receive the support they need during times like this is critical.

The NOW faction stands in solidarity with this family. May they find strength, comfort, and peace in the love and support of the community during this time of grief. MP Lewis concluded.
Trump says 'we're talking' to Iran but it's not 'ready' for deal to end war



Washington, United States, March 16 (AFP) Mar 16, 2026



US President Donald Trump said Sunday that the United States was in discussions with Iran as the war enters its third week but that Tehran was not ready for a deal to end it.

"Yes, we're talking to them," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, without detailing the nature of such talks, when asked if there was any diplomacy under way to end a conflict that has spread across the Middle East and roiled global markets.

"But I don't think they're ready. But they are getting pretty close," Trump said.

Iran's foreign minister had denied earlier that any talks with the United States were taking place.

Trump said he was not sure he wanted to make a deal to end the war "because first of all nobody even knows who you're dealing with, because most of their leadership has been killed."

Iran's supreme leader Ali Khameini and dozens of other Iranian officials died on the first day of the US-Israeli attacks on February 28.

Trump insisted however that "they want to make a deal badly".

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran was not interested in talks with the United States, pushing back on Trump's stance.

"We are stable and strong enough. We are only defending our people," Araghchi told CBS's "Face The Nation," in an interview aired Sunday.

"We don't see any reason why we should talk with Americans, because we were talking with them when they decided to attack us," he said. "There is no good experience talking with Americans."
20 Thai sailors return home after vessel attacked in Gulf



Bangkok, March 16 (AFP) Mar 16, 2026



Twenty Thai crew members of a cargo ship that was attacked in the crucial Strait of Hormuz arrived in Thailand on Monday, with three of their colleagues still stranded on the vessel in the Gulf.

The Thai-registered Mayuree Naree was hit by two projectiles on Wednesday while transiting through the Gulf waterway, after departing a port in the United Arab Emirates.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had struck the Thai ship, as well as a Liberia-flagged vessel, in the strait because they had ignored "warnings".

The 20 sailors landed at Thailand's main international airport early Monday morning and were immediately escorted away by officials without speaking to gathered media.

The wife of one of the returned crew, who gave her name as Bass, told reporters she was still waiting to see her husband after the ordeal.

"We are all afraid, but they are employees -- if they refuse to go (out to sea), they won't get paid," the 32-year-old woman said.

"I don't know where they went or when they will return home. The company hasn't told me anything," she added.

The vessel's owner Precious Shipping said Monday that the firm would provide "welfare support for the crew, including medical examinations and mental health assessments", according to a statement.

Its "highest priority" remained the "continued efforts to locate the three crew members who are still missing", the firm added.

The company said last week that the three crew were "believed to be trapped in the engine room", which was damaged in the attack.

Thailand was seeking assistance for the three stranded crew from two other nations, foreign ministry deputy spokeswoman Maratee Andamo told reporters at Suvarnabhumi airport in Bangkok.

The Omani navy rescued the 20 sailors on Wednesday, the Thai navy said last week.

Since strikes by the United States and Israel against Iran more than two weeks ago ignited the Middle East war, the Islamic republic has launched its own attacks against its oil-exporting neighbours.

The strikes have threatened shipping in the Strait of Hormuz -- through which about a fifth of global oil supplies usually pass -- and have plunged the global energy economy into crisis.
Japan not currently mulling maritime ops despite Trump pressure over Hormuz



Tokyo, March 16 (AFP) Mar 16, 2026



Japan said Monday it was not currently thinking about ordering maritime security operations, after US President Donald Trump called for other countries to send warships to help protect the Strait of Hormuz.

"In the current Iran situation, we are not at the moment considering issuing a maritime security operation," Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi told parliament.

Trump called for reinforcements on Saturday from countries including Japan after earlier vowing that the US Navy would "very soon" begin escorting tankers through the vital shipping lane for oil in the Middle East.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Monday that any maritime security operation would be "extremely difficult legally".

Sending its Self-Defense Forces abroad is politically sensitive in officially pacifist Japan, as many voters support the US-imposed, war-renouncing 1947 constitution.

Takayuki Kobayashi, the policy chief of Takaichi's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said Sunday the threshold was "extremely high" for Tokyo to send in its warships.

The world's number-four economy is the fifth-biggest importer of oil, with 95 percent of it coming from the Middle East and 70 percent passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran has effectively closed the strait in retaliation for the US-Israeli war against Tehran.
War in the Middle East: latest developments



Paris, France, March 16 (AFP) Mar 16, 2026



Here are the latest events in the Middle East war:



- Flights temporarily suspended at Dubai airport -



Flights were temporarily suspended Monday at Dubai's airport, previously one of the world's busiest, after a "drone-related incident" sparked a fire nearby, city authorities said.

The incident impacted a fuel tank, the Gulf financial hub's media office said, later adding authorities had extinguished the blaze that broke out and no injuries had been reported.



- Iran calls strikes on Tehran fuel depots 'ecocide' -



Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Monday that Israeli strikes on Tehran fuel depots constituted "ecocide" due to the long-term risks to residents' health.



- Trump says 'talking' to Iran -



US President Donald Trump said Sunday that the United States was in discussions with Iran as the war enters its third week but that Tehran was not ready for a deal to end it.

"But I don't think they're ready. But they are getting pretty close," Trump said. Iran's foreign minister had denied earlier that any talks with the United States were taking place.



- Macron tells Iran attacks on French interests 'unacceptable' -



French President Emmanuel Macron said Sunday he had told Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian it was "unacceptable" to target French interests, after an Iranian-designed drone killed a French soldier in Iraq's Kurdistan region last week.

"I called on him to put an immediate end to the unacceptable attacks that Iran is carrying out against countries in the region, whether directly or through proxies, as in Lebanon and Iraq," Macron said on X after his call with Pezeshkian.



- NATO, China pressured on Hormuz -



President Donald Trump said Sunday that NATO faces a "very bad" future if US allies fail to help open the Strait of Hormuz, the critical oil transport conduit effectively shut by Iran in the Mideast war.

Trump also said an upcoming summit in Beijing with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping could be delayed as he presses for China's help to open the strait.

"It's only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries of the Strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there," Trump said.

Japan said it was not considering launching maritime security operations and Australia ruled out sending a navy ship to the Strait of Hormuz following Trump's comments.



- Israel strikes Beirut again -



Israel launched a fresh strike on Beirut's southern suburbs late Sunday as Israel's military said it was striking Hezbollah infrastructure in the city following earlier raids mainly in the country's south.

On Sunday morning, an AFP photographer in south Beirut saw empty streets covered with debris and buildings flattened, with smoke still rising from strikes in previous days.



- Israel has 'thousands' more targets -



"We still have thousands of targets in Iran, and we are identifying new targets every day," Israeli military spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin told a televised briefing.



- Trump-Starmer call -



US President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke about the "importance" of reopening the Strait of Hormuz, currently blocked by Iran, the UK leader's office said.



- Iran hikes wages -



Iran's labour minister has announced a more than 60-percent hike in the minimum wage, local media reported, months after anti-government protests that began over discontent with dire economic conditions.



- UN force shot at -



The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon said its peacekeepers were fired upon three times, "likely by non-state armed groups", in the country's south, two days after another position was hit.



- Baghdad airport hit -



Five people were wounded in a rocket attack on the Baghdad airport complex, which houses a US diplomatic facility, Iraqi authorities said.



- Rafah crossing to partially reopen -



Israel said it would partially reopen Gaza's Rafah crossing with Egypt on Wednesday, after it closed the key gateway when it launched strikes on Iran.



- Oil reserves released -



Strategic oil reserves will be released "immediately" in Asia and Oceania, and as early as the end of March in America and Europe, the International Energy Agency said, as governments try to contain the surge in prices caused by the war.



- Iran says no talks -



Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran was not interested in talks with the United States, pushing back on Trump's stance that Tehran wants a deal to end the war.



- Israelis injured -



At least eight people were injured in Israel following repeated missile launches from Iran, at least two of which contained cluster munitions, according to Israeli authorities.



- Italy-US base hit -



Italy's military said there had been a drone attack on the Ali Al Salem airbase in Kuwait hosting Italian and US forces, but said all its personnel were safe.



- Lebanon says 850 dead -



Lebanon's health ministry said Israeli attacks have killed 850 people in the country during two weeks of war between Israel and Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah, including 66 women, 107 children and 32 health workers, with 2,105 wounded.



- Hezbollah missile -



Hezbollah said its fighters targeted Israel's Palmachim air base south of Tel Aviv with "an advanced missile".



- Hamas official killed -



An Israeli strike in south Lebanon's Sidon area killed Hamas official Wissam Taha, a source from the Palestinian militant group told AFP, after state media reported a strike on an apartment.

Overnight strikes in Sidon and nearby Al-Qatrani killed at least four people, Lebanese state media and the government said.



burs-jhb/dw/jgc/lga
Iranian protesters fled 'hell' at home, watch war from exile



Sulaimaniyah, Iraq, March 16 (AFP) Mar 16, 2026



Iranian activist Farhad Sheikhi fights back tears as he recalls the crack of gunfire and his fellow protesters falling under a hail of bullets. Now, having fled to Iraq, he watches from afar as American and Israeli strikes pound his country.

"I literally saw hell," said the 34-year-old Iranian Kurd in Sulaimaniyah, Iraqi Kurdistan's second city, as he showed AFP photos he took during recent anti-government protests of bodies lying on the bloodied ground.

But his biggest worry today is for the safety of his family back home.

With the internet under a blackout in Iran, Sheikhi said he relies on a friend who only occasionally manages to get online.

"He calls my father and tells me how they are. That is the only way I get news of them," he said.

Returning to Iran is no longer an option, according to Sheikhi, whose only remaining dream is to travel to Germany to finish his studies in law.

As the war enters its third week, Sheikhi said people are now more cautious and struggling with worsening living conditions.

"They are also still mourning the heavy price they have already paid" during the recent protests, he said, referring to the government crackdown that rights groups say killed thousands.

He said he can't lose hope that "one day a social revolution will allow me to go back, but for now the risk is too great".

After the crackdown in January, Sheikhi fled to the autonomous Kurdistan region in Iraq, fearing arrest and torture back home, where the moustached, bespectacled man had been no stranger to anti-government protests.

In 2022, he joined the vast crowds that poured onto the streets to denounce the death in detention of young Mahsa Amini after she was arrested for wearing her hijab improperly.

Back then, he was jailed three times and subjected to torture that left him with hearing loss. Even so, he once again joined the anti-government protests in December and January.

"The crackdown on the people, the slaughter, it was massive. I saw it myself," he said.



- 'If I die'-



Aresto Pasbar was also taking part in the 2022 protests when shotgun pellets peppered his body, leaving him blind in his left eye.

"I have undergone five surgeries," Pasbar, 38, told AFP in Sulaimaniyah.

Fearing for his life, he fled Iran for Turkey. There, he was caught at sea while attempting to reach Europe illegally by boat, and a Munich-based human rights organisation helped him obtain asylum in Germany in 2023.

But Pasbar has followed events in Iran closely, his heart aching as he watched the recent crackdown on protests until he couldn't bear it any longer.

When the war broke out, he left Germany to join the ranks of Iranian Kurdish rebels in Iraqi Kurdistan who have increasingly been the target of cross-border strikes from Iran since the start of the conflict.

"In my heart, I couldn't remain in that comfort and simply watch my people be oppressed," he said in a steady, determined voice.

Now, he wears the coarse grey traditional Kurdish fatigues, fully aware, he said, that he may never see his wife and two daughters again.

Before he left, he recounted telling his family: "Even if I die, please stand for your rights. Stand for who you are".



- 'Revenge'-



In 2005, when Amina Kadri's husband, Ikbal, fled Iran to escape political persecution, his family hoped Iraqi Kurdistan would be a safe haven.

But 15 years later, Ikbal -- then 57 and a member of an exiled Iranian Kurdish armed group -- was killed near the Iraqi-Iranian border.

The assailants shot him, dumped his body in a river and escaped toward Iran on a motorcycle, Kadri quoted witnesses to the killing as saying. She accused Iran of being behind it.

Kadri's ordeal did not stop there -- 53 days later, her eldest son, who had remained in Iran, was executed at age 30 for murder. Kadri claims it was a set-up.

"I no longer care about what happens to me," Kadri said over the phone from a border town that Kurdistan's security forces barred AFP from entering, citing security reasons.

"My life is no more valuable than my son's or my husband's," she added.

Today, the 61-year-old homemaker only wishes to see the Islamic republic fall, so she can have "revenge for the blood of all those who have been executed".
Japan not currently mulling maritime ops despite Trump pressure over Hormuz



Tokyo, March 16 (AFP) Mar 16, 2026



Japan said Monday it was not currently thinking about ordering maritime security operations, after US President Donald Trump called for other countries to send warships to help protect the Strait of Hormuz.

"In the current Iran situation, we are not at the moment considering issuing a maritime security operation," Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi told parliament.

Trump called for reinforcements on Saturday from countries including Japan after earlier vowing that the US Navy would "very soon" begin escorting tankers through the vital shipping lane for oil in the Middle East.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Monday that she had not received a request from Trump.

"The question is what Japan should do on our own initiative and what's possible within our legal framework, rather than what's requested by the United States," she told parliament. "We have asked various sections of various ministries to discuss this."

Any maritime security operation would be "extremely difficult legally", she added.

Sending its Self-Defense Forces abroad is politically sensitive in officially pacifist Japan, as many voters support the US-imposed, war-renouncing 1947 constitution.

Takayuki Kobayashi, the policy chief of Takaichi's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said Sunday the threshold was "extremely high" for Tokyo to send in its warships.

The world's number-four economy is the fifth-biggest importer of oil, with 95 percent of it coming from the Middle East and 70 percent passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran has effectively closed the strait in retaliation for the US-Israeli war against Tehran.
20 Thai sailors return home after vessel attacked in Gulf



Bangkok, March 16 (AFP) Mar 16, 2026



Twenty Thai crew members of a cargo ship attacked in the crucial Strait of Hormuz arrived in Thailand on Monday, with three of their colleagues still stranded on the vessel in the Gulf.

The Thai-registered Mayuree Naree was hit by two projectiles on Wednesday while transiting through the Gulf waterway, after departing a port in the United Arab Emirates.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had struck the Thai ship, as well as a Liberia-flagged vessel, in the strait because they had ignored "warnings".

The 20 sailors landed at Thailand's main international airport early Monday morning and were immediately escorted away by officials without speaking to gathered media.

The wife of one of the returned crew, who gave her name as Bass, told reporters she was still waiting to see her husband after the ordeal.

"We are all afraid, but they are employees -- if they refuse to go (out to sea), they won't get paid," the 32-year-old woman said.

"I don't know where they went or when they will return home. The company hasn't told me anything," she added.



- 'Highest priority' -



Bass said she had only spoken with her husband over Facebook Messenger and had brought their one-year-old son to the airport at her husband's request.

AFP journalists saw the returning crew members board a bus after arriving at the airport.

When the Mayuree Naree was struck last week, Bass's husband was only able to grab his phones before fleeing, she told reporters.

He had apologised to his wife for leaving onboard a token from his son -- a small pillow.

"I want (the company) to be sure during this war situation that the ship will be safe when it goes out," she said.

"I want them to look at the employees like their own family. If one of them were their family, how would they decide?"

The vessel's owner Precious Shipping said Monday that the firm would provide "welfare support for the crew, including medical examinations and mental health assessments", according to a statement.

Its "highest priority" remained the "continued efforts to locate the three crew members who are still missing", it added.

The company said last week that the three crew were "believed to be trapped in the engine room", which was damaged in the attack.

Precious Shipping did not answer questions about the three crew from AFP on Monday.

Thailand was seeking assistance for them from two other nations, foreign ministry deputy spokeswoman Maratee Andamo told reporters.

The Omani navy rescued the 20 sailors on Wednesday, the Thai navy said last week.

Since strikes by the United States and Israel against Iran more than two weeks ago ignited the Middle East war, the Islamic republic has launched its own attacks against its oil-exporting neighbours.

The strikes have threatened shipping in the Strait of Hormuz -- through which about a fifth of global oil supplies usually pass -- and have plunged the global energy economy into crisis.
War in the Middle East: latest developments



Paris, France, March 16 (AFP) Mar 16, 2026



Here are the latest events in the Middle East war:



- Saudi Arabia says intercepted more than 60 drones since midnight -



Saudi Arabia has intercepted more than 60 drones since midnight, according to a tally of defence ministry figures released on Monday.

The Saudi defence ministry posted a series of statements on X describing the interception of a total of 61 drones in the east of the country in the early hours of Monday morning.



- Flights temporarily suspended at Dubai airport -



Flights were temporarily suspended Monday at Dubai's airport, previously one of the world's busiest, after a "drone-related incident" sparked a fire nearby, city authorities said.

The incident impacted a fuel tank, the Gulf financial hub's media office said, later adding authorities had contained the blaze that broke out and no injuries had been reported.

The Emirati defence ministry later said its air defence systems were intercepting a wave of Iranian drones and missiles, without specifying where in the Gulf nation.

The UAE airline Emirates said on X that it expected to operate a "limited schedule" after 10:00 am Dubai time (0600 GMT) and that some flights had been cancelled.

- Iran calls strikes on Tehran fuel depots 'ecocide' -



Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Monday that Israeli strikes on Tehran fuel depots constituted "ecocide" due to the long-term risks to residents' health.



- Trump says 'talking' to Iran -



US President Donald Trump said Sunday that the United States was in discussions with Iran as the war enters its third week but that Tehran was not ready for a deal to end it.

"But I don't think they're ready. But they are getting pretty close," Trump said. Iran's foreign minister had denied earlier that any talks with the United States were taking place.



- Macron tells Iran attacks on French interests 'unacceptable' -



French President Emmanuel Macron said Sunday he had told Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian it was "unacceptable" to target French interests, after an Iranian-designed drone killed a French soldier in Iraq's Kurdistan region last week.

"I called on him to put an immediate end to the unacceptable attacks that Iran is carrying out against countries in the region, whether directly or through proxies, as in Lebanon and Iraq," Macron said on X after his call with Pezeshkian.



- NATO, China pressured on Hormuz -



President Donald Trump said Sunday that NATO faces a "very bad" future if US allies fail to help open the Strait of Hormuz, the critical oil transport conduit effectively shut by Iran in the Mideast war.

Trump also said an upcoming summit in Beijing with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping could be delayed as he presses for China's help to open the strait.

"It's only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries of the Strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there," Trump said.

Japan said it was not considering launching maritime security operations and Australia ruled out sending a navy ship to the Strait of Hormuz following Trump's comments.



- Israel strikes Beirut again -



Israel launched a fresh strike on Beirut's southern suburbs late Sunday as Israel's military said it was striking Hezbollah infrastructure in the city following earlier raids mainly in the country's south.

On Sunday morning, an AFP photographer in south Beirut saw empty streets covered with debris and buildings flattened, with smoke still rising from strikes in previous days.



- Israel has 'thousands' more targets -



"We still have thousands of targets in Iran, and we are identifying new targets every day," Israeli military spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin told a televised briefing.



- Trump-Starmer call -



US President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke about the "importance" of reopening the Strait of Hormuz, currently blocked by Iran, the UK leader's office said.



- Iran hikes wages -



Iran's labour minister has announced a more than 60-percent hike in the minimum wage, local media reported, months after anti-government protests that began over discontent with dire economic conditions.



- UN force shot at -



The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon said its peacekeepers were fired upon three times, "likely by non-state armed groups", in the country's south, two days after another position was hit.



- Baghdad airport hit -



Five people were wounded in a rocket attack on the Baghdad airport complex, which houses a US diplomatic facility, Iraqi authorities said.



- Rafah crossing to partially reopen -



Israel said it would partially reopen Gaza's Rafah crossing with Egypt on Wednesday, after it closed the key gateway when it launched strikes on Iran.



- Oil reserves released -



Strategic oil reserves will be released "immediately" in Asia and Oceania, and as early as the end of March in America and Europe, the International Energy Agency said, as governments try to contain the surge in prices caused by the war.



- Iran says no talks -



Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran was not interested in talks with the United States, pushing back on Trump's stance that Tehran wants a deal to end the war.



- Israelis injured -



At least eight people were injured in Israel following repeated missile launches from Iran, at least two of which contained cluster munitions, according to Israeli authorities.



- Italy-US base hit -



Italy's military said there had been a drone attack on the Ali Al Salem airbase in Kuwait hosting Italian and US forces, but said all its personnel were safe.



- Lebanon says 850 dead -



Lebanon's health ministry said Israeli attacks have killed 850 people in the country during two weeks of war between Israel and Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah, including 66 women, 107 children and 32 health workers, with 2,105 wounded.



- Hezbollah missile -



Hezbollah said its fighters targeted Israel's Palmachim air base south of Tel Aviv with "an advanced missile".



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South Korea lifts coal cap, ramps up nuclear output amid energy concerns



Seoul, March 16 (AFP) Mar 16, 2026



South Korea's ruling party said on Monday the country will lift a cap on coal-powered generation capacity set at 80 percent and boost the use of nuclear power to about the same level.

The world's eighth-largest consumer of crude oil is feeling the squeeze on energy supplies as Iran has choked off the vital Strait of Hormuz, with the Middle East war now entering its third week.

The disruption along the key oil route has sent prices soaring and prompted Seoul to impose a fuel price cap for the first time in nearly 30 years.

Ahn Do-geol, an MP from the ruling Democratic party, told reporters after a meeting with relevant government agencies that the coal cap limiting generation to 80 percent would be lifted from Monday.

"Effective today the 80-percent cap will be removed," he said.

The government will also raise the utilisation rate of nuclear reactors by more than 10 percent to help offset the impact of disrupted energy supplies, he said.

"Six reactors are currently undergoing maintenance, but we plan to complete maintenance on two of them by March and the remaining four by mid-May, raising the utilisation rate of nuclear power plants from the current high 60 percent-range to around 80 percent."

Nuclear energy accounted for 31.7 percent of the country's total electricity production in 2024, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The state-run Korea National Oil Corporation will bring in 3.35 million barrels of crude oil it is producing from its overseas projects by June, the MP said.

Seoul said earlier this month it had struck a deal to ship around four million barrels of crude from the United Arab Emirates to bolster supplies.

The government has said it holds oil reserves equivalent to about seven months of consumption.
Israel army says begun 'limited targeted ground operations' against Hezbollah in south Lebanon



Jerusalem, March 16 (AFP) Mar 16, 2026



The Israeli military said on Monday it had begun what it described as "limited ground operations" against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

"In recent days, IDF troops from the 91st division have begun limited and targeted ground operations against key Hezbollah strongholds in southern Lebanon, aimed at enhancing the forward defence area," the military said in a statement.

"This activity is part of broader defensive efforts to establish and strengthen a forward defensive posture, which includes the dismantling of terrorist infrastructure and the elimination of terrorists operating in the area, in order to remove threats and create an additional layer of security for residents of northern Israel," it said.

"Prior to the troops' entry into the area, the IDF conducted strikes using both artillery and the Israeli Air Force against numerous terrorist targets in order to mitigate threats in the operational environment."

Lebanon was dragged into the Middle East war on March 2 when Iran-backed Hezbollah attacked Israel in response to the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes, with Israel launching air raids on the neighbouring country and troop incursions into border areas.
Iran military says regional facilities used by outlawed TV channel could be targeted



Tehran, March 16 (AFP) Mar 16, 2026



Iran's military has warned countries in the region against cooperating with the London-based TV channel Iran International, saying media infrastructure used to support the channel would be placed on its list of targets.

"The Zionist International Network, using the satellite capacity and media infrastructure of some countries in the region, is acting to create tension, create false narratives... to help the goals of criminal America and the Zionist regime," the operational command Khatam Al-Anbiya said in a statement late Sunday.

"We warn that if you continue to help this evil and satanic network, the elements of cooperation with it will be placed in the bank of targets of the Islamic Republic of Iran," it added, according to the state television website.

It was not immediately clear where the infrastructure used by the channel in the region was located.

Iran has labelled Iran International a terror organisation since 2022 and in recent months said it was "affiliated with the Zionist regime," warning that cooperation with the channel would be punishable.

On Sunday, Iranian authorities announced the arrest of at least 18 people accused of sending images and information to the channel.

Iran has been at war with the United States and Israel since February 28, when US-Israeli strikes killed the Islamic Republic's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, sparking Iranian retaliation across the region.
Iran judiciary chief urges swift veridcts for those linked to US, Israel



Tehran, March 16 (AFP) Mar 16, 2026



Iran's head of the judiciary said on Monday there should be no leniency or delay in issuing verdicts against those affiliated with Israel and the United States.

"We must not delay or show leniency in executing final verdicts against those who, during wartime and unrest, committed crimes and were affiliated with the aggressor enemy," said Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei, according to Tasnim news agency.

He added that it was "necessary to accelerate the review and resolution of cases involving elements accused of threatening public security."

Authorities have in recent weeks carried out sweeping raids across Iran, arresting in the last few days hundreds of people suspected of cooperating with Israel and the United States, local media reported.

On February 28, Israel and the US launched strikes on Iran, killing its supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and triggering a war that spread across the Middle East.

Iran responded by targeting Israel and US interests across the region.
UAE, Saudi leaders discuss Iran attacks in second call since Mideast war



Dubai, March 16 (AFP) Mar 16, 2026



Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Emirati President Mohamed bin Zayed discussed on Monday Iran's retaliatory strikes on the Gulf and expressed solidarity and sympathy in their second call since a public row in late December.

The de facto Saudi ruler and the UAE's president discussed "the continued and blatant Iranian attacks targeting countries in the region," according to a statement published by Emirati news agency WAM.

"Both sides stressed the need for the immediate cessation of military escalation... underscoring the importance of prioritising serious dialogue and diplomatic means," it added.
Iran defiant as strikes hit Gulf transport, energy hubs



Jerusalem, March 16 (AFP) Mar 16, 2026



Iran said it was ready to take the Middle East war "as far as necessary" as it launched strikes across the region Monday, while Donald Trump piled pressure on world powers to help reopen a shipping lane choked off by the Islamic republic.

Global oil prices have surged by 40 to 50 percent as Iran has attacked shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and launched waves of strikes in the Gulf, in retaliation for the war launched against it by the United States and Israel.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Monday they had targeted Tel Aviv and Ben Gurion Airport in Israel, as well as military bases used by US forces in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

"By now they have learned a good lesson and understood what kind of nation they are dealing with, one that does not hesitate to defend itself and is ready to continue the war wherever it may lead, and take it as far as necessary," Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters in Tehran.

A drone sparked a fuel tank fire near Dubai airport, disrupting travel, while a missile killed a civilian in their car in Abu Dhabi, and another drone sparked a blaze in an area housing oil infrastructure in the eastern emirate of Fujairah.

"It has been a difficult few weeks hearing explosions regularly, but the Iranian attacks followed me in my last hours before I could fly back home," a witness at Dubai airport told AFP, adding that passengers had been evacuated to a lower floor after the attack.

Explosions hit the Iranian capital on Monday as air defence systems were activated, an AFP journalist said, and Israel said it had also targeted the cities of Shiraz and Tabriz.

More than two weeks into the Middle East war, Israeli military spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin said they still had "thousands of targets in Iran, and we are identifying new targets every day".



- 'Very bad' -



EU foreign ministers were gathering Monday to discuss extending the bloc's Red Sea naval mission, the bloc's top diplomat Kaja Kallas said.

US President Trump called this weekend for countries including China, France, Japan, South Korea and Britain to send warships to escort tankers through the Strait of Hormuz that normally carries one fifth of global crude.

Trump told the Financial Times it would be "very bad for the future of NATO" if they refused, and he has threatened to delay a planned summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

In Britain, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was working with allies on a "viable" plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, but he said any effort would not be a NATO mission.

Japan and Australia have said they are not planning deployments.



- Lebanon ground assault -



On another key front in the wider war, Israel announced the launch of "limited ground operations" against Iran-backed Hezbollah in southern Lebanon "aimed at enhancing the forward defence area."

Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war on March 2 when Hezbollah attacked Israel in response to the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

"We have identified Hezbollah is intending to expand their operations... and firing hundreds of rockets a day" toward Israel, military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said in a briefing.

The army's announcement echoed statements issued in 2024, when Israel and Hezbollah fought a major war in Lebanon, and during the start of operations in Gaza in 2023.

There were fresh Israeli strikes on Sunday on the southern suburbs of Beirut, a Hezbollah bastion usually home to hundreds of thousands of people.

Israel has ordered evacuations on an unprecedented scale across vast areas of Lebanon since the war began, sparking a major displacement crisis.



- Saudi, UAE call -



The war has engulfed much of the region, with Iran responding to Israeli and US strikes with attacks against at least 10 countries that host US forces.

Saudi Arabia intercepted more than 60 drones overnight, its defence ministry said Monday, and Iraqi authorities said rockets wounded five people at Baghdad's airport, which houses a US diplomatic facility.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Emirati President Mohamed bin Zayed expressed solidarity against "the continued and blatant Iranian attacks" in a call on Monday, according to a statement published by Emirati media.

The statement did not make explicit reference to US and Israeli strikes in Iran.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said some 700 missiles and 3,600 drones had been fired at US and Israeli targets so far.

Despite the violence and 17 days of internet blackout, some Iranians have sought to restore some normalcy in recent days.

Traffic was busier over the weekend, AFP journalists saw, with some cafes and restaurants reopening and more than a third of stalls in the Tajrish bazaar, a popular shopping hub, open ahead of the upcoming Persian new year.

More than 1,200 Iranians have been killed by US and Israeli strikes, according to the last toll from Iran's health ministry on March 8, which could not be independently verified.

The UN refugee agency says up to 3.2 million people have been displaced in Iran.

bur-er/ser
Mideast war 'nothing to do with NATO': German govt



Berlin, March 16 (AFP) Mar 16, 2026



The war in the Middle East started by US-Israeli strikes on Iran has "nothing to do with NATO" and is "not NATO's war", German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's spokesman said Monday.

US President Donald Trump on Sunday called for nations including South Korea, France, China and Britain to help ensure safe passage in the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has declared closed to US and US-allied traffic.

He later upped the pressure on NATO allies, telling the Financial Times newspaper that the alliance faced a "very bad" future if its members did not do their bit to reopen the strait.

"NATO is an alliance for the defence of territory" and "the mandate to deploy NATO is lacking" in the current situation, Merz's spokesman Stefan Kornelius told a regular press briefing.

Germany needed to know from Israel and the United States "at what point the military objectives in Iran will have been achieved", a foreign ministry spokesman said at the same briefing.

Merz said Friday that the Middle East war must end "as soon as possible" as the conflict "benefits no-one and harms many economically, including us".

At a separate briefing on Monday, Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said Germany wanted all those involved to prevent "further military escalation".

"There will be no military participation" from Germany but Berlin is prepared to support diplomatic efforts to "to ensure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz", he said.

"We have a situation which we did not provoke... This war started without any consultations," Pistorius added.

Germany's main responsibility is "for the eastern flank and the high north", he said, and "we stay committed to that but we can't be anywhere in the world".

"What does Donald Trump expect from a handful of European frigates in the Strait of Hormuz that the mighty US navy cannot manage alone? This is the question I find myself asking," Pistorius said.
EU to discuss extending naval mission to Strait of Hormuz



Brussels, Belgium, March 16 (AFP) Mar 16, 2026



EU foreign ministers will Monday discuss extending the bloc's Red Sea naval mission to help reopen the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz, the bloc's top diplomat Kaja Kallas said.

The Iran war has virtually halted activity in the key waterway, through which a fifth of the world's crude supplies and a substantial amount of gas normally run -- sending oil prices soaring.

"It is in our interest to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, and that's why we are also discussing what we can do in this regard," Kallas told journalists heading into the Brussels talks.

An option on the table would be to change the mandate of the EU's naval mission in the Red Sea, Operation Aspides, Kallas said.

She suggested this would be the "fastest" way for the 27-member bloc to boost security in the Strait of Hormuz, where Iranian retaliatory attacks to a US-Israeli bombing campaign have largely halted maritime traffic.

"If we want to have security in this region, then it would be easiest to actually already use the operation that we have in the region," she said.

But it remained to be seen whether EU countries were willing to use it to that end, Kallas added.

"We will discuss with member states whether it's possible to really change the mandate of this mission," she said.



- Sceptical capitals -



Several capitals indicated they were cold to the idea.

"The current mandate of Operation Aspides is correct and does not require any changes," Spain's foreign minister Jose Manuel Albares said arriving at the talks.

He was echoed by Italy's Antonio Tajani who expressed scepticism about the feasibility of extending the mission's mandate, adding Italy preferred a diplomatic solution to the crisis.

Germany's Johann Wadephul said Berlin wanted to first hear from Israel and the United States "when they believe they will have achieved their military objectives in Iran" before moving on to plan a "security architecture" for the region.

Launched in 2024 to prevent attacks on trade vessels by Iran-backed Houthi rebel forces, Aspides currently has three warships -- one French, one Greek and one Italian.

French President Emmanuel Macron said last week that Paris and its allies were preparing a "defensive" mission to reopen the strait.

He has also pledged to increase France's contribution to Aspides, with two additional frigates "over the long term".

Kallas said a "coalition of the willing" could also be considered, without providing further details.

On Sunday, US President Donald Trump urged NATO allies to help open the Strait of Hormuz, warning the alliance faced a "very bad" future if they did not.

His comments met with a frosty reception.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's spokesman said the Iran war had "nothing to do with NATO", while Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski stressed there were procedures within the alliance to request support -- and they were yet to be activated.
Non-Iran tanker transits Hormuz with tracker on: MarineTraffic



London, March 16 (AFP) Mar 16, 2026



A Pakistani oil tanker transited the Strait of Hormuz with its automatic transponder system activated, despite major disruption to shipping in the crucial waterway from the Middle East war, monitor Marine Traffic said Monday.

Since the peak of disruptions due to the war, "the Aframax tanker Karachi, carrying Abu Dhabi's Das crude, has become the first non-Iranian cargo to transit the chokepoint while broadcasting its AIS signal, suggesting that select shipments may be receiving negotiated safe passage," Marine Traffic said on X.

It said the 237-metre-long Pakistani-flagged oil tanker had a draft of 11.5 metres, indicating it was heavy and likely loaded.

It entered Iranian waters on Sunday and "is currently sailing in the Gulf of Oman at around 9.6 knots, having successfully passed through the strait with AIS active," MarineTraffic said in a post on Monday at 1028 GMT.

"The transit follows weeks of significantly reduced traffic through the strategic waterway."

Bloomberg data indicated it was last moored at the Emirati oil hub of Das Island.

The Strait of Hormuz is a strategic route for oil and gas exports from Gulf countries, with one-fifth of global oil production and of liquefied natural gas passing through it in normal times.

Tehran has targeted the waterway in retaliation for Israeli-US strikes, aiming to hurt the global economy to put pressure on Washington.

Maritime data firm Lloyd's List Intelligence had recorded 77 ships passing through Hormuz as of Friday since the start of the war on February 28 -- mostly vessels belonging to the so-called "shadow fleet", outside traditional insurance and tracking systems.

Since March 1, 20 commercial vessels, including nine tankers, have been attacked or reported incidents in the region, according to UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO).

bur-rlp/cw
Iran judiciary chief urges swift veridcts for those linked to US, Israel



Tehran, March 16 (AFP) Mar 16, 2026



Iran's head of the judiciary said on Monday there should be no leniency or delay in issuing verdicts against those affiliated with Israel and the United States.

"We must not delay or show leniency in executing final verdicts against those who, during wartime and unrest, committed crimes and were affiliated with the aggressor enemy," said Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei, according to Tasnim news agency.

He added that it was "necessary to accelerate the review and resolution of cases involving elements accused of threatening public security."

Authorities have in recent weeks carried out sweeping raids across Iran, arresting in the last few days hundreds of people suspected of cooperating with Israel and the United States, local media reported.

On Sunday, police chief Ahmad-Reza Radan said a total of 500 people were arrested on suspicion of being spies and "sending information to the enemy and anti-Iranian media," according to local media.

"Out of these 500 people, 250 were significant cases who were providing information to hit targets, were in contact with militant groups and were trying to disrupt public order," he said.

It was not immediately clear when the arrests took place.

On February 28, Israel and the United States launched strikes on Iran, killing its supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and triggering a war that has spread across the Middle East.
Israelis flock to desert resort to escape stress of war



Mitzpe Ramon, Israel, March 16 (AFP) Mar 16, 2026



School counsellor Tair Momo took a deep breath as she stared out over the vast silence of the Negev desert in southern Israel.

"I came here to get some respite, to not hear the sirens, not hear the alerts, to be in a place of nature that feels more relaxed," the 33-year-old told AFP.

As air raid sirens blare out warnings of Iranian missiles or Hezbollah rockets across much of Israel, residents of bigger towns and cities have packed out the small desert resort of Mitzpe Ramon in search of calm.

Perched on the cliffs above a 40-kilometre-long crater of sand and rock, the town of some 5,000 has been inundated by visitors who have booked out hotels and rental apartments.

Among them was Momo, who spent days waiting for some accommodation to come free before rushing here from her hometown of Kiryat Gat along with three friends.

"We just agreed: come on, let's go," she said.

Yaniv Harush, the general director of the local council, told AFP that Mitzpe Ramon has experienced just one alert since the beginning of the war with Iran on February 28.

"It's like an island of peace and security," he said, sitting in his modest office.

Usually Mitzpe Ramon draws visitors for its hiking, camping and relaxed hippish vibe. Impressively horned Ibex mountain goats roam freely through the streets.

Now, Hanush said that visitor numbers to the town were up by about 80 percent from normal times, with some 2,000 people having come to stay.

"Everything is full," he said.

Sitting outside the packed cafe he owns, Sami Elkrnwi said all 100 of the rooms in the four hotels he runs around town are occupied.

"Business is great," said the Bedouin entrepreneur. "There are no blasts here, everything is perfect."

The latest conflict -- which began when Israel and the United States attacked Iran -- is not the first time Mitzpe Ramon has played host to Israelis in search of refuge.

In the wake of the attack by Hamas on October 7, 2023, the town welcomed residents from areas close to Gaza that had borne the brunt of the bloodshed.

Elkrnwi said that back then "I opened my hotel, everything free for the people" displaced by the attack.



- 'Not a holiday' -



Sitting nearby sipping coffee and eating cake with her husband and two daughters, Michal Gat had come to Mitzpe Ramon for the day from the village where they'd relocated to stay with relatives.

"We moved the morning the war started since our home is without any shelter," said the resident of Israel's commercial hub Tel Aviv.

Gat has continued managing her brand consultancy business remotely and stays in close contact with friends and neighbours back in the city.

"It's not a holiday. You think about all the people you know," she said.

"Our heart is totally with the people in the centre and also in the north of Israel."

Her 18-year-old daughter Dror, said she was busy working with friends online on a performance for her school leaving prom in July.

Her generation has grown so used to remote classes -- first during the Covid-19 pandemic, then due to repeated bouts of rocket fire -- that they're planning a skit about their "six years of Zoom".

"I hope we can perform it properly in person," she said.

Back across town on the lip of the vast crater, tech worker Haggai Landa was strapping up his harness and tying the ropes as he prepared to rappel down the 40-metre cliff with his two sons.

On the first night of the war the windows of their house in Tel Aviv were blown out by a nearby missile strike.

After spending their nights in a public shelter, he and his wife decided to pack up the children and head out to the desert.

"We get to sleep every night, the anxiety level is low. It's an improvement," Landa said.

In two days they were planning to head back to Tel Aviv to visit his mother and so the boys could see their friends.

"We go back with mixed feelings," he said.

"If the war goes on and on, we may get out again and come back."
Western allies push back on Trump call for NATO help to reopen Hormuz



London, March 16 (AFP) Mar 16, 2026



NATO and other Western allies pushed back Monday on US President Donald Trump's demand that military alliance members help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the critical conduit for crude oil Iran has effectively closed.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said London was working with allies to craft a "viable" plan to reopen the strategic waterway but ruled out a NATO mission, while Berlin insisted it was "not NATO's war".

Poland, Spain, Greece and Sweden were among the other European nations to distance themselves from any military involvement in the Strait of Hormuz in the wake of Trump's call.

Japan and Australia voiced similar sentiments earlier Monday, with Canberra saying it would not be sending a navy ship to the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump over the weekend called on countries including China, France, Japan, South Korea and Britain to send warships to escort tankers through the strait, warning refusing would be "very bad for the future of NATO".

Oil prices jumped after the strait was closed and remained Monday above $100 per barrel as the Iran war moved into a third week.

The volatility further underlined the importance of ensuring safe passage for tankers through the vital transport route.



- 'Viable' -



Starmer, who had faced stinging criticism from Trump over Britain's refusal to join the US and Israel in offensive attacks on Iran, told reporters he had discussed the waterway with the US leader Sunday.

"We're working with all of our allies, including our European partners, to bring together a viable collective plan that can restore freedom of navigation in the region as quickly as possible and ease the economic impacts," he said in Downing Street.

"Let me be clear: that won't be, and it's never been envisioned to be, a NATO mission," Starmer said, while also stressing Britain "will not be drawn into the wider war.

"That'll have to be an alliance of partners," he added of any Strait of Hormuz mission.

In Berlin, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's spokesman said the conflict has "nothing to do with NATO".

"NATO is an alliance for the defence of territory" and "the mandate to deploy NATO is lacking" in the current situation, Stefan Kornelius told reporters.

Meanwhile German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said there would be "no military participation" from his country, but added the country was prepared to support diplomatic efforts "to ensure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz".



- 'Difficult' -



A NATO official noted that members "have already stepped up to provide additional security in the Mediterranean".

"We are aware that individual allies are talking with the US and others on what more they might do, including in the context of security in the Strait of Hormuz," the official told AFP.

Following Trump's demand for military support, some European countries sought to appear open-minded while remaining non-committal.

"We did not want this war. From day one, we have called for de-escalation," Denmark's Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told Danish media in Brussels before an EU foreign ministers' meeting.

"That said, I believe we need to keep an open mind and look at how we can contribute," he said, describing the situation as "very, very serious".

Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten told the country's ANP press agency that it would be "very difficult to launch a successful mission there in the short-term".

Lithuania and Estonia said NATO countries should consider a US request for help but cautioned over the need for greater clarity around various aspects of any potential mission.

burs-jj/rlp/rl
Strike kills six Iraqi fighters near Syria border



Baghdad, March 16 (AFP) Mar 16, 2026



A strike on Monday near Iraq's western border with Syria killed six fighters from the former paramilitary coalition Hashed al-Shaabi, the alliance said.

The fighters from the alliance -- also known as the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), now part of Iraq's regular army -- were struck by a "Zionist bombing" that targeted "an official security position belonging to the Hashed al-Shaabi".

Another four fighters were wounded, the group added in its statement.

The Hashed al-Shaabi is an alliance of paramilitaries and factions created in 2014 to fight jihadists, and is now integrated into the Iraqi armed forces.

Iran-backed groups have brigades that operate within the alliance, but have a reputation for acting on their own.

Earlier, an official with the group told AFP that the attack hit a checkpoint, blaming the United States.

He said the checkpoint, which also housed army and police personnel, was targeted again when ambulances arrived to help victims.

Since the start of the Middle East war on February 28, bases belonging to Hashed al-Shaabi have been hit several times, with strikes mostly targeting US-blacklisted Tehran-backed armed groups.

The Hashed al-Shaabi denounced the "repeated aggressions" against its forces.

Iraq has recently regained a sense of stability following years of conflict, and was unwillingly drawn into the current Middle East war after having long been a proxy battleground between the US and Iran.

These groups are also united under a loose alliance called the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, which has claimed attacks against US bases in Iraq.
Iran defiant as strikes hit Gulf transport, Trump to speak



Tehran, March 16 (AFP) Mar 16, 2026



Iran said it was ready to take the Middle East war "as far as necessary" as it launched strikes across the region on Monday, while US allies pushed back against Donald Trump's call for help to reopen a vital shipping lane.

Global oil prices have surged by 40 to 50 percent as Iran attacks shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and launches waves of missile and drone strikes in the Gulf in retaliation for the war launched by the United States and Israel on February 28.

US President Trump said he would hold a news conference on Monday, after several European countries rejected the idea of a NATO mission to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

"By now they have... understood what kind of nation they are dealing with, one that does not hesitate to defend itself and is ready to continue the war wherever it may lead, and take it as far as necessary," Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters in Tehran.

A drone sparked a fuel tank fire near Dubai airport, disrupting travel, while a missile killed a civilian in their car in Abu Dhabi, and another drone sparked a blaze in an area housing oil infrastructure in the eastern emirate of Fujairah.

"It has been a difficult few weeks hearing explosions regularly, but the Iranian attacks followed me in my last hours before I could fly back home," a witness at Dubai airport told AFP, adding that passengers had been evacuated to a lower floor after the attack.

Explosions hit the Iranian capital on Monday as air defence systems were activated, an AFP journalist said, and Israel said it had also targeted the cities of Shiraz and Tabriz.

More than two weeks into the Middle East war, Israeli military spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin said they still had "thousands of targets in Iran, and we are identifying new targets every day".



- 'Very bad' -



Trump called this weekend for world powers to send warships to escort tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, which normally carries one fifth of global crude.

He told the Financial Times it would be "very bad for the future of NATO" if they refused, and he has threatened to delay a planned summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

EU foreign ministers were set to discuss the issue on Monday and Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was working with allies on a plan but ruled out a NATO mission.

Several European governments rejected the idea outright, with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's spokesman saying the war had "nothing to do with NATO". Japan and Australia said they would not be deploying warships.

Meanwhile, a Pakistani oil tanker was able to transit the Strait of Hormuz on Monday with its location transmitter activated -- suggesting it may have negotiated safe passage.

The International Energy Agency said more strategic oil stocks could be released if necessary to limit the fallout from the Hormuz disruption.



- Lebanon ground assault -



On another key front in the wider war, Israel announced "limited ground operations" against Iran-backed Hezbollah in southern Lebanon "aimed at enhancing the forward defence area".

Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war on March 2 when Hezbollah attacked Israel in response to the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

"We have identified Hezbollah is intending to expand their operations... and firing hundreds of rockets a day" toward Israel, military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said in a briefing.

The army's announcement echoed statements in 2024, when Israel and Hezbollah fought a major war in Lebanon, and during the start of operations in Gaza in 2023.

Israel has ordered evacuations on an unprecedented scale across vast areas of Lebanon since the war began, and Defence Minister Israel Katz said the displaced "will not return" until northern Israel is no longer threatened.

In Iraq, a strike on Monday near the border with Syria killed six fighters from the former paramilitary coalition Hashed al-Shaabi, the alliance said.



- Saudi, UAE call -



The war has engulfed much of the region, with Iran striking at least 10 countries that host US forces. Its Revolutionary Guards say it has fired some 700 missiles and 3,600 drones.

Saudi Arabia intercepted more than 60 drones overnight, its defence ministry said Monday, and Iraqi authorities said rockets wounded five people the day before at Baghdad's airport, which houses a US diplomatic facility.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Emirati President Mohamed bin Zayed expressed solidarity against "the continued and blatant Iranian attacks" in a call on Monday, without mentioning US-Israeli strikes, according to a statement published by Emirati media.

Despite the violence and 17 days of internet blackout, some Iranians have sought to restore a sense of normalcy, with cafes and restaurants reopening and the popular Tajrish bazaar busy over the weekend ahead of the upcoming Persian new year.

There is little sign of a popular uprising within Iran, where security forces killed thousands during protests in January. Judiciary chief Gholam Hossein Mohseni said Monday there must be no leniency in issuing "final verdicts" against regime opponents during the war.

More than 1,200 Iranians have been killed by US and Israeli strikes, according to the last toll from Iran's health ministry on March 8, which could not be independently verified.

The UN refugee agency says up to 3.2 million people have been displaced in Iran.

bur-pdw/ser
Israel army says ground assault against Hezbollah underway in Lebanon



Jerusalem, March 16 (AFP) Mar 16, 2026



The Israeli military said on Monday it was carrying out what it described as "limited" ground operations against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, with its defence minister warning that those displaced would not return home until northern Israel was secure.

Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war on March 2 when Tehran-backed Hezbollah attacked Israel in response to the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes.

Israel responded with air raids on its northern neighbour and troop incursions into border areas.

Lebanon said on Monday that Israeli attacks have killed 886 people, including 111 children, in the country since the latest war erupted. More than 830,000 people have registered as displaced.

An Israeli military statement said that in recent days its troops "have begun limited and targeted ground operations against key Hezbollah strongholds in southern Lebanon".

"This activity is part of broader defensive efforts to establish and strengthen a forward defensive posture, which includes the dismantling of terrorist infrastructure and the elimination of terrorists operating in the area, in order to remove threats and create an additional layer of security for residents of northern Israel," it said.

The ground operations were preceded by air and artillery strikes, it added.

The announcement echoes similar statements issued in 2024, when Israel and Hezbollah fought a major war in Lebanon, and in 2023, when the military launched a ground assault in Gaza in response to Hamas's October 7 attacks.



- 'New locations' -



Turkey condemned the Israeli ground operation, saying it was "worsening instability in the region" and warning of "another humanitarian catastrophe" in the Middle East.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, meanwhile, urged Israel to "not take this path -- it would be an error", also warning of the humanitarian consequences of a ground offensive.

In a briefing to journalists, Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said Hezbollah was "intending to expand their operations... and firing hundreds of rockets a day" toward Israel.

"They have also sent hundreds of Radwan terrorists to the south (of Lebanon)," he added, referring to Hezbollah's elite unit.

Shoshani said the ground operations were "limited in target against locations what we understand Hezbollah is posing a threat towards our civilians."

"Those are new locations that our troops were not operating in yesterday," he said, adding that "we'll operate for as much as we need".

In recent days, Hezbollah has reported targeting Israeli forces on the border with Lebanon and in a number of frontier towns, including "direct clashes" in Khiam.



- No north Israel evacuations -



The town, located across the border from the Israeli town of Metula, was the first point into which Israeli forces advanced after the start of the war.

Hezbollah has repeatedly announced targeting Israeli forces and vehicles at positions inside Khiam.

Israel preceded its ground operations with strikes on a number of bridges and roads that connect southern Lebanon to the rest of the country.

Since the beginning of the war, the Israeli military has issued evacuation warnings for wide areas in southern Lebanon, extending more than 40 kilometres (around 25 miles) from its border.

Defence Minister Israel Katz warned on Monday that those displaced in Lebanon would not be allowed to return home "south of the Litani area until the safety of residents in the north (of Israel) is guaranteed".

The Israeli military has repeatedly said it would not evacuate people from the north, as it had done in the previous 2024 war.

During that conflict, Israel evacuated tens of thousands of residents from northern communities until a ceasefire was struck in November 2024.

Despite that ceasefire, Israel had conducted near-daily air strikes on Hezbollah targets inside Lebanon.

In recent days, the militant group and Iran have launched coordinated rocket and missile attacks against Israel.

Israel, meanwhile, said no direct talks were planned with Lebanon to end the fighting, which has been raging for two weeks.

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Mideast war 'not a matter for NATO': Germany's Merz



Berlin, March 16 (AFP) Mar 16, 2026



Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Monday said the war in the Middle East started by US-Israeli strikes on Iran was "not a matter for NATO" and Germany would not be taking part in it.

"It has been clear at all times that this war is not a matter for NATO," Merz said, adding that the US and Israel "did not consult us prior to this war".

"There was never a joint decision on whether to intervene. That is why the question of how Germany might contribute militarily does not arise. We will not do so," Merz said at a press conference alongside his Dutch counterpart Rob Jetten.

US President Donald Trump on Sunday called for nations including South Korea, France, China and Britain to help ensure safe passage in the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has declared closed to US and US-allied traffic.

He later upped the pressure on NATO allies, telling the Financial Times newspaper that the alliance faced a "very bad" future if its members did not do their bit to reopen the strait.

Merz ruled out Germany sending ships to the Strait of Hormuz.

"For as long as the war continues, we will not be involved in ensuring free passage in the Strait of Hormuz by military means," he said.

Merz's spokesman Stefan Kornelius earlier also said the war had "nothing to do with NATO".

"NATO is an alliance for the defence of territory" and "the mandate to deploy NATO is lacking", Kornelius told a regular press briefing.

At a separate briefing on Monday, Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said Germany wanted all those involved to prevent "further military escalation".

"There will be no military participation" from Germany but Berlin is prepared to support diplomatic efforts to "to ensure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz", he said.

"We have a situation which we did not provoke... This war started without any consultations," Pistorius added.

Germany's main responsibility is "for the eastern flank and the high north", he said, and "we stay committed to that but we can't be anywhere in the world".

"What does Donald Trump expect from a handful of European frigates in the Strait of Hormuz that the mighty US navy cannot manage alone? This is the question I find myself asking," Pistorius said.
Israel police say shrapnel from missiles, interceptors fell in Jerusalem holy sites



Jerusalem, March 16 (AFP) Mar 16, 2026



Israeli police said they found missile and interceptor fragments at holy sites in Jerusalem's Old City on Monday, including areas near the Al-Aqsa mosque and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

"During the recent missile salvo fired from Iran toward Jerusalem, several intercepts occurred over the city," the police said.

Following the interceptions, police located "fragments of missiles and interceptor debris, some of significant size, at multiple sites in the Old City, including the Temple Mount complex, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre complex, and the Jewish Quarter", they added.

The force shared photos showing debris on a roof near the Holy Sepulchre church, a cordon set up in the Al-Aqsa mosque compound and the smashed windscreen of a car.

"This incident underscores that the enemy does not distinguish between religions or places of worship -- synagogues, mosques, or churches," the police statement said.

The Old City is located in east Jerusalem, which Israel occupied in 1967 and later annexed in a move that is not internationally recognised.

It houses the Al-Aqsa mosque, Islam's third holiest site; the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where Christians hold that Christ was crucified, entombed and resurrected; and the Western Wall, considered the holiest site where Jews are allowed to pray.

AFP journalists also saw missile debris that had hit the roof of a residential building in east Jerusalem.

A cylinder about one metre in diameter and several metres long protruded from the tiled roof of the three-story building as first responders inspected the damage.

No injuries or deaths were reported in Jerusalem.
Attacks hit UAE after Iran blames it for strikes



Dubai, March 16 (AFP) Mar 16, 2026



Missiles and drone attacks struck across the UAE on Monday, disrupting travel at Dubai airport, causing a fire in a crucial oil hub and killing one civilian.

Iran has been able to hit the UAE regularly during the war, disrupting commercial air travel and targeting energy installations on both sides of the Strait Hormuz.

This has piled economic pressure on the oil-rich country, which has long been a lucrative hub for international travel.

Even the usually quiet northern emirate of Umm Al Quwain was not spared, with a drone attack damaging an unspecified building but inflicting no casualties, authorities said.

The slew of attacks came a day after Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said US bases in the Middle East had been used to launch air raids and that missiles had been launched from the UAE to strike Kharg Island. UAE officials have denied the claim.

In the eastern emirate of Fujairah, a drone attack on oil infrastructure sparked a fire, days after an AFP journalist saw smoke rising from a major Emirati energy installation there.

The UAE's state-owned oil giant Adnoc have since halted the loading of oil into storage tanks at their Fujairah facility, a source with knowledge of the operations told AFP, following repeated strikes on the energy installation there.

"Adnoc oil loading at Fujairah is suspended," the source told AFP.

A Palestinian civilian was killed on the outskirts of the Emirati capital Abu Dhabi when a missile hit a car, the state media office said.

The UAE has reported seven deaths since the war began, including five civilians and two military personnel, who died in a helicopter crash blamed on a technical malfunction.

Earlier, Dubai Airports said flights were gradually resuming at what is usually the world's busiest international hub, following a nearby fuel tank fire sparked by a "drone-related incident".

Authorities said they had contained the fire and reported no injuries.

Dubai airport has been targeted by several attacks since Iran began its Gulf campaign, as have many airports in the Gulf.



- 'Limited schedule' -



Two witnesses told AFP they saw a thick plume of black smoke rising from the direction of the airport at around 10:00 am local time, hours after the incident.

A witness at Dubai airport told AFP that passengers awaiting their flights had been evacuated to a lower floor for several hours after the attack.

"It has been a difficult few weeks hearing explosions regularly, but the Iranian attacks followed me in my last hours before I could fly back home," the witness added.

Iran has fired more than 1,900 missiles and drones at the United Arab Emirates, more than any other country targeted by Tehran since the start of the Middle East war.

This had upended travel plans in the financial hub despite its air defence intercepting the vast majority of projectiles.

Tehran has taken aim at US assets in the Gulf countries, but also civilian infrastructure, including landmarks, airports, ports and oil facilities, after US-Israeli attacks sparked the war.

In Fujairah, on the UAE's east coast, a drone attack on oil infrastructure sparked a large fire, authorities said, reporting no injuries and adding that "efforts continue to bring it under control".

The site sits on the UAE's Gulf of Oman coast.

A pipeline to the eastern emirate allows a large proportion of the country's oil exports to bypass the Strait of Hormuz, which has effectively been closed by Iran.

AFP journalists also heard explosions in the Qatari capital Doha, where foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari earlier told reporters talks with Iran are only possible if it ceases its Gulf attacks.

Neighbouring Saudi Arabia's defence ministry also reported intercepting more than 60 drones since midnight on Monday in the east of the country.
One man wounded in northern Israel following Hezbollah rocket launch



Nahariya, Israel, March 16 (AFP) Mar 16, 2026



Lebanon's Hezbollah said it launched an attack on Monday targeting the northern Israeli city of Nahariya, where first responders reported a man was wounded.

Firefighters and rescuers picked through still smouldering rubble and twisted metal, an AFP correspondent saw, while first responders extinguished burning cars following the strike.

The attack appeared to have damaged properties and vehicles with a major security deployment at the scene.

The Iran-backed militant group said in a statement that its fighters targeted Nahariya "with a barrage of rockets and a swarm of attack drones".

Israel's Magen David Adom (MDA) emergency responders said that paramedics in the area were treating a man "in mild to moderate condition suffering from blast injuries".

The blast was from "a missile strike between two buildings that caused a large fire", MDA paramedic Yonatan Avilea said.

The emergency service added that paramedics were also providing treatment to six people -- two teenage girls and four adults -- suffering from smoke inhalation.

Military sources quoted by Israel's public broadcaster KAN said that the impact was caused by a rocket and not an Israeli interceptor, denying previous reports in the media.

"You can see here in these homes that there were families who followed the instructions and stayed in protected spaces. Because they were in protected spaces, lives were saved, and these families are alive," said the Commander of the Home Front Command, Shai Klapper, at the scene.

burs-lg-jd-glp-gw/dc
Trump demands more enthusiasm from allies for Hormuz mission



Tehran, March 16 (AFP) Mar 16, 2026



President Donald Trump on Monday demanded that US allies help secure the Strait of Hormuz, but European powers pushed back on a possible mission to reopen the vital waterway shut by Iran in response to US-Israeli attacks.

Trump criticised the lukewarm response to his call for world powers to send warships to escort tankers through the strait, which normally carries a fifth of global crude oil, demanding a more enthusiastic response.

Global oil prices have surged by 40 to 50 percent as Iran attacks shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and launches waves of missile and drone strikes in the Gulf in retaliation for the war launched by the United States and Israel on February 28.

The conflict has also spread to Lebanon, where Israeli forces have carried out strikes and launched a "limited" ground incursion that Western leaders warned Monday should not become a large-scale operation.

Trump said he thought Britain and France would get involved in efforts to secure the Strait of Hormuz -- but only reluctantly.

"We strongly encourage the other nations to get involved with us and get involved quickly and with great enthusiasm," Trump told reporters at a White House event.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said London was working with allies to craft a "viable" plan to reopen the strait, but ruled out a NATO mission, while Berlin also said it "has been clear at all times that this war is not a matter for NATO".

Japan, Australia, Poland, Spain, Greece and Sweden also all distanced themselves from any military involvement in the Strait of Hormuz.

EU foreign ministers discussed the war in Brussels on Monday but showed "no appetite" for extending their Red Sea naval mission to help reopen Hormuz, the bloc's top diplomat said.

Trump told the Financial Times on Sunday that it would be "very bad for the future of NATO" if they refused to help. He said Monday he has asked to delay a summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping by a "month or so."



- Lebanon ground assault -



On another key front in the wider war, Israel announced "limited ground operations" against Iran-backed Hezbollah in southern Lebanon "aimed at enhancing the forward defence area".

Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war on March 2 when Hezbollah attacked Israel in response to the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Lebanese authorities said Israeli attacks have killed 886 people since the war erupted, with more than a million people registered as displaced.

The leaders of five Western countries said in a joint statement Monday that a large-scale Israeli ground operation in Lebanon "must be averted".



- Iranian defiance -



Explosions hit the Iranian capital on Monday as air defence systems were activated, an AFP journalist said, and Israel said it had also targeted the cities of Shiraz and Tabriz.

But Tehran's foreign minister struck a defiant tone.

"By now they have... understood what kind of nation they are dealing with, one that does not hesitate to defend itself and is ready to continue the war wherever it may lead, and take it as far as necessary," Abbas Araghchi told reporters in Tehran.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards threatened to target US companies in the region, warning employees to evacuate, after the Iranian foreign minister issued a defiant warning to Washington.

A drone sparked a fuel tank fire near Dubai airport, disrupting travel, while a missile killed a civilian in their car in Abu Dhabi, and another drone sparked a blaze in an area housing oil infrastructure in the eastern emirate of Fujairah.

The UAE's state-owned energy giant ADNOC halted the loading of oil into storage tanks at Fujairah, while a drone strike caused a fire at the major Shah oil field.

A Pakistani oil tanker was able to transit the Strait of Hormuz on Monday with its location transmitter activated -- suggesting it may have negotiated safe passage.



- Saudi, UAE call -



The war has engulfed much of the region, with Iran striking at least 10 countries that host US forces. Its Revolutionary Guards say it has fired some 700 missiles and 3,600 drones.

Saudi Arabia intercepted more than 60 drones overnight, its defence ministry said Monday, and Iraqi authorities said rockets wounded five people the day before at Baghdad's airport, which houses a US diplomatic facility.

Despite the violence and 17 days of internet blackout, some Iranians have sought to restore a sense of normalcy, with cafes and restaurants reopening and the popular Tajrish bazaar busy over the weekend ahead of the upcoming Persian new year.

There is little sign of a popular uprising within Iran, where security forces killed thousands during protests in January.

More than 1,200 Iranians have been killed by US and Israeli strikes, according to the last toll from Iran's health ministry on March 8, which could not be independently verified.

The UN refugee agency says up to 3.2 million people have been displaced in Iran.
War in the Middle East: casualty figures from across the region



Dubai, March 16 (AFP) Mar 16, 2026



Since the United States and Israel unleashed strikes on Iran on February 28, war has spread across the Middle East, with casualties reported in countries across the region.

AFP has not been able to independently verify all of the following tolls.

The figures are based on numbers released by governments, militaries, health authorities and rescue organisations in the affected countries.



- Iran -



Iran's health ministry said on March 8 that more than 1,200 people had been killed, including around 200 women and 200 children under the age of 12, with more than 10,000 civilians injured.

The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said on March 11 that at least 1,825 people had been killed, including 1,276 civilians -- among them at least 200 children -- as well as 197 military personnel and 352 people whose status had not been classified.

Due to reporting restrictions, AFP is not able to access the sites of strikes or independently verify tolls in Iran.



- Israel -



Israel's first responders and the country's authorities have reported 14 people killed in total.

First responders and local authorities say Iranian missile fire has killed 12 people inside the country, including four minors, since the start of the war, according to an AFP tally based on their announcements.

The Israeli military has separately announced the deaths of two soldiers in combat in southern Lebanon.



- Lebanon -



Lebanon's health ministry said Monday that Israeli strikes have killed 886 people, including 67 women and 111 children, since the start of the war with Hezbollah, adding that 2,141 others were wounded.

A ministry statement has said 38 paramedics were among the dead.

The Lebanese army has said three of its soldiers have been killed.

Hezbollah has not announced its losses.

The country's social affairs ministry said over one million people have been displaced by the ongoing conflict.



- The Gulf -



Authorities in Gulf states and the US Central Command (CENTCOM) have reported 26 people killed -- 13 of them civilians -- since the start of the Iranian attacks.

The rest of those killed were military or security personnel, including seven US service members.

Kuwait's military and health ministry have reported six deaths: two soldiers, two border guards and two civilians, one of them an 11-year-old girl.

The United Arab Emirates' defence ministry has reported six deaths: four civilians and two military personnel who died as a result of a helicopter crash blamed on a technical malfunction.

Saudi Arabia's civil defence agency has reported two civilian deaths.

Bahrain's interior ministry has also logged two civilian deaths.

Oman's maritime security centre reported the death of a mariner at sea and two other people in a drone attack on an industrial area.

Qatar's interior ministry, meanwhile, has reported 16 injuries and no fatalities.

CENTCOM has confirmed six US service personnel killed in Kuwait and one killed in Saudi Arabia.

A total of 13 US service personnel have died in the war so far, also including six in Iraq.



- Iraq -



Armed groups and officials have said at least 53 people have been killed in Iraq since the start of the conflict, according to an AFP tally based on their announcements.

France said an Iranian drone killed a French soldier in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region.

The US military said a refuelling aircraft crashed in western Iraq, killing all six crew members, in an incident not caused by hostile or friendly fire.

Pro-Iran armed factions and security sources say 39 Iran-backed fighters were killed in strikes they blame on the United States and Israel.

Kurdish rebel groups said at least five Iranian Kurdish militants were killed in strikes attributed to Iran on their positions in northern Iraq.

Kurdish security sources said one airport guard was killed in a drone attack on Erbil airport.

Officials said one civilian was killed by rocket shrapnel following a strike southeast of Baghdad.



- Jordan -



In Jordan, security officials said 29 people have been injured by falling debris from Iranian missiles and drones in various parts of the kingdom.

No deaths have been recorded so far.



- Syria -



Syrian state media reported eight people injured by falling debris from exchanges of fire between Iran and Israel on Monday.



- US injuries across Mideast -



The US on Monday said around 200 of its military personnel have been injured in seven countries across the Middle East since the start of the war.

Ten were categorised as seriously wounded and over 180 have already returned to duty, CENTCOM said.

burs/bou/giv
In video message, Netanyahu sends Nowruz holiday wishes to Iranians



Jerusalem, March 16 (AFP) Mar 16, 2026



Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent wishes to Iranians Monday for the upcoming Nowruz holidays, marking the Persian new year, as his country presses its war on Iran.

"To the brave people of Iran, I wish you, as I do every year a happy holiday season, beginning with the Festival of lights," said Netanyahu, referencing Chaharshanbe Suri, an ancient Iranian festival of light and fire celebrated Wednesday.

"It signifies the age-old belief of the Iranian people that light will triumph over darkness, that good will triumph over evil," he said in English, with subtitles in Farsi.

"This year this holiday has special meaning... I take this opportunity to wish you a happy Nowruz -- a year of freedom. A new beginning of hope to all of you," he added, referring to the holiday that will be celebrated Friday.

In recent years, Netanyahu has repeatedly recorded video messages addressed to the Iranian people, and in particular to opponents of the Islamic republic's clerical leadership.

In a televised press conference on March 7, the Israeli premier told Iranians that "the moment of truth is approaching" and urged them to free themselves from "the yoke of tyranny" so that Israel and Iran can "return to be brave friends".
Dead and wounded seen at Kabul blast site: AFP reporters



Kabul, March 16 (AFP) Mar 16, 2026



Heavy casualties were feared Tuesday after a Pakistani airstrike on Kabul, which the Afghan authorities said hit a drug treatment centre.

AFP reporters at the site counted at least 30 bodies as medical teams worked to help the wounded, who were taken to several hospitals for treatment, according to a source working with the rescue operation.

Health ministry spokesman Sharafat Zaman told AFP: "The preliminary reports are that so far we have more than 200 martyrs and more than 200 injured."

But he added: "As the rescue operations are still going on, we cannot give the exact number at this moment."

Zaman said that there were some 3,000 addicts at the centre from across Afghanistan at the time.

Dejan Panic, Afghan director of the Italian NGO Emergency, said it had received three bodies after the strike on Monday night and were treating 27 wounded.

Pakistan has denied targeting the centre and instead said it carried out precision strikes on "military installations and terrorist support infrastructure" in the Afghan capital and in the eastern border province of Nangarhar.

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Israel president tells AFP Europe should back efforts to 'eradicate' Hezbollah



Jerusalem, March 16 (AFP) Mar 16, 2026



Israel's President Isaac Herzog told AFP Monday that Europe should back his country's fight against Hezbollah, as Israeli forces carried out ground operations in Lebanon.

In an exclusive interview at his Jerusalem residence, the Israeli head of state also said the US-Israeli war with Iran marked a "historical juncture".

"Europe should support any effort, any effort, to eradicate Hezbollah now," Herzog said.

"They should understand that if you want to get anywhere, sometimes you need to win war."

Israel's military announced Monday it was conducting "limited" ground operations against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon to end the Iran-backed group's rocket attacks.

Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war when Hezbollah attacked Israel on March 2 in response to the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes.

Israel has carried out extensive air strikes against areas of southern Lebanon and the capital Beirut, mainly saying it is targeting Hezbollah sites or operatives.

The Lebanese authorities say that more than one million people have been displaced inside the country in the two weeks of fighting.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday offered to host direct negotiations between the Israeli and Lebanese governments in Paris, saying that Beirut was ready to engage.

Herzog, whose role is mainly ceremonial, welcomed the proposal as a "very positive development".

"I think it's very important that there should be talks," he said.

"Talks are very important, because it's about time we have an opportunity of moving forward with Lebanon."

So far, the Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has given no public indication that talks with Beirut are on the table.



- Lebanese army 'limitations' -



Israeli officials have repeatedly railed against the Lebanese authorities for what they say are failures to honour a commitment to disarm Hezbollah.

"It should be the Lebanese army that should do the work, but we know that they have their limitations," he said.

"We are demanding from Lebanon and from their army to do the work...All we want with Lebanon is peace."

In recent days, Hezbollah and Iran have launched coordinated rocket and missile attacks against Israel.

The Israeli military said on Monday that since the latest fighting began, "more than 400 (Hezbollah) terrorists have been eliminated".

Lebanese authorities said the death toll in Israeli attacks rose to nearly 900.

A Shiite movement, Hezbollah was founded in Lebanon with the support of Iran in response to Israel's 1982 invasion of the country to drive out Palestinian militants.

Hezbollah gained significance across the Arab world after forcing Israel to withdraw from Lebanon in 2000 following more than 22 years of occupation, and later standing up to Israel during a month-long war in the summer of 2006.

Over the years, the movement built what many describe as a state within a state in Lebanon. It emerged severely weakened from its last confrontation with Israel in 2023-2024 after joining the hostilities triggered by Hamas's October 7 attack.

Since a ceasefire came into force in October 2024, Israel has repeatedly demanded the disarmament of the movement, regularly bombing its positions while accusing the Lebanese authorities of failing to carry out the task themselves.



- 'Time for doing' -



Talking about the broader US-Israeli war with Iran war, Herzog said: "We are at a historical juncture."

"There comes a moment that after well over a generation of endless wars, bloodshed and terror, the root cause of it, which comes from Tehran, will be blocked and stopped, and the whole direction of the region will change," he continued.

He insisted defeating the clerical authorities in Iran was "in the innermost national security interests of Europe".

Herzog said that Iran had been seeking "10 times the amount of ballistic missiles, which would have threatened Europe big time".

"After talking and talking for a whole generation, it's about time for doing," he said.

Herzog reiterated Israeli hopes that the people of Iran "will rise up", as he insisted that the broader international community should assist the joint offensive with the United States against Tehran.

"Where is the whole world? Rather than all the time criticising Israel, let's help us. Let's help the Americans," he said.

"Let's help us bring a real change so that there will be a different future in the region."
Baghdad Green Zone targeted in attack, leaving hotel roof on fire



Baghdad, March 16 (AFP) Mar 16, 2026



A drone sparked a fire on Monday at a luxury hotel frequented by foreign diplomats in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone shortly before air defences foiled a rocket attack at the US embassy.

The attacks came shortly after the powerful Tehran-backed Kataeb Hezbollah group announced that its senior security commander Abu Ali al-Askari had been killed, without providing details on the circumstances of his death.

Iraq's interior ministry said initially that "a projectile fell on the roof of the al-Rasheed Hotel", before clarifying that it was a drone. It did not specify whether the building itself was the target.

"The incident caused no casualties or material damage," it added.

A street leading to the hotel, which hosts a few diplomatic missions, was blocked by a large security deployment, with firefighters and ambulances present, according to an AFP correspondent.

Witnesses saw a fire break out on the roof of the hotel inside the heavily fortified Green Zone, home to diplomatic missions, including the US embassy, and government institutions.

Shortly after the hotel incident, a loud blast was heard in Baghdad, as air defences were seen intercepting an attack over the US embassy, an AFP journalist said.

A security official told AFP "air defences thwarted an attack with four rockets" on the embassy.

Iraq has recently regained a sense of stability following years of conflict, and was unwillingly drawn into the current Middle East war after having long been a proxy battleground between the United States and Iran.

From the outset, strikes blamed on the United States and Israel targeted Iran-backed groups, which have been claiming daily attacks on US interests in Iraq and the region.



- Fighters killed, oil attack -



Kataeb Hezbollah announced Monday "the martyrdom of Haj Abu Ali al-Askari", without providing any details on how and when he was killed.

A security official told AFP that "Abu Ali al-Askari is Abu Ali al-Amiri, the commander who was killed in a strike on Baghdad on Saturday".

Kataeb Hezbollah referred to Askari as the group's security chief. He was also the spokesperson in charge of issuing all key statements in the group's name.

Drone and rocket attacks have also targeted oil fields and facilities.

Earlier Monday, two drones targeted the southern Majnoon oil field -- which had already ceased production -- with the oil ministry spokesperson saying that one of the drones had hit a telecommunications tower.

A security official said a second drone had targeted the offices of a US firm, operating at the site.

In a separate incident in the west, eight Iraqi fighters from a former paramilitary coalition were also killed in strikes near the country's border with Syria.

The fighters belonged to the Hashed al-Shaabi, also known as the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), which are now part of Iraq's regular army.

Sabah al-Numan, the military spokesman for the Iraqi prime minister, denounced "targeting an official force that operates under the command of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces."

"It is a blatant aggression against the sovereignty of the state," he said.

Iran-backed groups have brigades that operate within the Hashed al-Shaabi, but have a reputation for acting on their own.
Israel president says Europe should back fight against Hezbollah as troops operate in Lebanon



Jerusalem, March 16 (AFP) Mar 16, 2026



Israel's President Isaac Herzog said on Monday that Europe should back his country's fight against Hezbollah, as Israeli forces carried out ground operations in Lebanon.

Lebanon's government said more than one million people have been displaced in two weeks of fighting, while Israel's defence minister warned that those who left their homes in Lebanon could not return until northern Israel was secure.

Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war on March 2 when Tehran-backed Hezbollah attacked Israel in response to the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes.

Israel has responded with broad air raids on its northern neighbour and troop incursions into border areas.

In an exclusive interview, Herzog told AFP that "Europe should support any effort, any effort, to eradicate Hezbollah now".

The head of state, whose role is mainly ceremonial, however welcomed French President Emmanuel Macron's offer to host direct talks between Lebanon and Israel.

"Talks are very important, because it's about time we have an opportunity of moving forward with Lebanon."

His statements came after the Israeli military said that in recent days its troops "have begun limited and targeted ground operations against key Hezbollah strongholds in southern Lebanon".

"This activity is part of broader defensive efforts" and includes "the dismantling of terrorist infrastructure and the elimination of terrorists... in order to remove threats and create an additional layer of security for residents of northern Israel," it said.

The ground operations were preceded by air and artillery strikes, it added.

The announcement echoes similar statements issued in 2024, when Israel and Hezbollah fought a major war in Lebanon, and in 2023, when the military launched a ground assault in Gaza in response to Hamas's October 7 attacks.

In a later statement, Israeli military chief Eyal Zamir said his army killed "more than 400 terrorists" in their latest war with Hezbollah.



- Nahariya -



Hezbollah said it launched rockets and attack drones at the northern Israeli city of Nahariya on Monday.

Israel's Magen David Adom (MDA) emergency responders said paramedics were treating a man "in mild to moderate condition suffering from blast injuries" and six other people for smoke inhalation.

Military sources quoted by Israel's public broadcaster KAN said the impact was caused by a rocket, while MDA paramedic Yonatan Avilea said the strike hit between two buildings, sparking a blaze.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported strikes on Lebanon's south, while Beirut said Israeli attacks since March 2 have killed 886 people, including 111 children.

More than one million people have registered as displaced, with 132,000 of them staying in collective shelters.

Turkey condemned the Israeli ground operation, saying it was "worsening instability in the region" and warning of "another humanitarian catastrophe" in the Middle East.

In a joint statement, the leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom warned that "a significant Israeli ground offensive would have devastating humanitarian consequences and could lead to a protracted conflict".

Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said Hezbollah was "intending to expand their operations... and firing hundreds of rockets a day" toward Israel.

"They have also sent hundreds of Radwan terrorists to the south (of Lebanon)," he added, referring to Hezbollah's elite unit.

"Those are new locations that our troops were not operating in yesterday," he said, adding that "we'll operate for as much as we need".



- No north Israel evacuations -



In recent days, Hezbollah and Iran have launched coordinated rocket and missile attacks against Israel.

Hezbollah has also reported targeting Israeli forces on the border with Lebanon and in several frontier towns, including "direct clashes" in Khiam, located across from north Israel's Metula.

Hezbollah has repeatedly announced targeting Israeli forces and vehicles inside Khiam, which was the first point into which Israeli forces advanced after the war began.

In separate statements on Monday, Hezbollah said that it targeted Israeli troops and vehicles in several Lebanese border towns, including Khiam.

An AFP photographer on Monday saw smoke billowing from the town after Israeli bombardment.

Israel preceded its ground operations with strikes on some bridges and roads connecting south Lebanon to the rest of the country.

Since the war began, the Israeli military has issued sweeping evacuation warnings for southern Lebanon, extending more than 40 kilometres (around 25 miles) from its border.

Defence Minister Israel Katz warned that displaced Lebanese should not return home "south of the Litani area until the safety of residents in the north (of Israel) is guaranteed".

The Israeli military has repeatedly said it would not evacuate people from its north, unlike the previous hostilities with Hezbollah which a November 2024 ceasefire sought to end.

burs-lba-jd/lg/nad/dc/giv
War in the Middle East: latest developments



Paris, France, March 16 (AFP) Mar 16, 2026



Here are the latest developments Monday in the Middle East war:



- Israel president chides Europe -



Israel's President Isaac Herzog told AFP that Europe should back his country's fight against Hezbollah, as Israeli forces carried out ground operations in Lebanon.

Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war when Hezbollah attacked Israel on March 2 in response to the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes.

"Europe should support any effort, any effort, to eradicate Hezbollah now," Herzog said.



- Netanyahu sends Nowruz wishes -



Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent wishes to Iranians for the coming Nowruz holidays, marking the Persian new year.

"This year this holiday has special meaning...I take this opportunity to wish you a happy Nowruz -- a year of freedom. A new beginning of hope to all of you," he added, referring to the holiday that will be celebrated Friday.



- Trump wants Hormuz 'enthusiasm' -



US President Donald Trump stepped up pressure on Britain and France in particular to help secure shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has effectively shut down, sending global oil prices surging.

"We strongly encourage the other nations to get involved with us and get involved quickly and with great enthusiasm," Trump said, after urging allies over the weekend to help as well or face a "very bad" future for NATO.



- Baghdad hotel attack -



A drone sparked a fire Monday at a luxury hotel frequented by foreign diplomats in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone shortly before air defences foiled a rocket attack at the US embassy.

Iraq was drawn into the Middle East war after having long been a proxy battleground between the United States and Iran, with strikes targeting Iran-backed groups that have claimed daily attacks on US interests in Iraq and the region.



- Fire at major UAE oil field -



A drone strike caused a fire at a major oil field in the United Arab Emirates, authorities said, as Iran continued its drone and missile strikes across the Gulf.

Authorities in the emirate of Abu Dhabi said they were still responding to the fire at the Shah oil field, without reporting injuries.



- Hezbollah targets Israeli troops -



Hezbollah said it targeted Israeli troops and vehicles in at least three Lebanese border towns, after the Israeli army announced it had begun limited ground operations in Lebanon.



- Iraq's Kataeb Hezbollah commander killed -



Iraq's powerful armed group Kataeb Hezbollah said its senior security commander Abu Ali al-Askari had been killed, without providing details on the circumstances of his death.

He was also the spokesperson in charge of issuing all key statements in the group's name.



- Drone targets Iraqi oil field -



Two drones targeted a major southern Iraqi oil field late Monday, an oil ministry spokesperson told AFP, after the second attack in four days.

Majnoon oil field was "targeted by two drones, one hit a telecommunication tower," oil ministry spokesperson Saheb Bazoun said, adding that there had been no damage.



- Hezbollah targets Israeli city -



Hezbollah said it launched an attack on Monday targeting the northern Israeli city of Nahariya, where Israeli first responders reported a man was wounded.



- Trump: unclear if new Iran leader 'dead or not' -



US President Donald Trump said that he does not know whether Iran's new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei is still alive, adding that Washington was unclear whom it could negotiate with in Tehran.

"We don't know... if he's dead or not," Trump told reporters at the White House.



- 1 million displaced in Lebanon -



Lebanese authorities said more than one million people had registered as displaced since war erupted on March 2 between Israel and Hezbollah.



- Shrapnel falls on Jerusalem holy sites -



Israeli police said they found missile and interceptor fragments at holy sites in Jerusalem's Old City, including areas near the Al-Aqsa mosque and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

"During the recent missile salvo fired from Iran toward Jerusalem, several intercepts occurred over the city," the police said.



- Merz: Israel's Lebanon ground offensive an 'error' -



German Chancellor Friedrich Merz warned that an Israeli ground offensive in Lebanon was an "error" which would "further exacerbate the already highly tense humanitarian situation" in the country.

"We urgently call on our Israeli friends: Do not take this path -- it would be an error," Merz said.



- Key UAE port suspends oil loading -



The UAE's state-owned energy giant ADNOC halted the loading of oil into storage tanks at their Fujairah facility, a source with knowledge of the operations told AFP, following repeated strikes on the installation.

Fujairah is home to a major port where Iranian attacks have already targeted oil storage tanks.

burs-rh/js/msp
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Home heating oil is used by around 1.5 million British homes, most of which are in rural areas. But it is not protected by the energy price cap and its cost per litre has doubled as a result of the stranglehold on oil leaving the Middle East since the US-Israeli war with Iran broke out.
I said you dont need to meet up with the team, you are the Prime Minister, you can make your own..why do you have to meet with your team to find out whether or not you are going to send some mine sweepers.
I think we can understand from the scale of it that even if its distributed next week or the week after or it takes a number of months to try and target that intervention, its not going to be nearly enough to insulate people from the entirety of the cost consequence of whats been going on.
He told the BBC: Let me answer that by saying this, which is, Ill be candid with you, we dont know how long this conflict is going to go on and therefore, with five months to go until September, we will have to see where we are, obviously.
But also, of course, to take an opportunity to discuss and share insights into the ongoing conflict in the Gulf and the Middle East, most particularly between the Chancellor and myself on the economic impact of that, he said.
I say this to the Ukrainian people on behalf of the UK: we will not forget the war in Europe and our total determination to stand with Ukraine remains steadfast, and we will welcome President Zelensky to this country tomorrow.
The suspension of flights also affected thousands of people who were hoping to finally return to the UK after being stranded in the Middle East - or other parts of the world where UK flights connect in the region - since the start of the US-Israeli campaign against Iran.
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ISLAMABAD, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Five women were killed and 20 others injured on Monday when the roof of a building collapsed during the distribution of welfare payments in the Rahim Yar Khan district of Pakistan's eastern Punjab province, officials said.

Deputy Commissioner Zaheer Anwar Jappa told Xinhua that the incident occurred when more than 200 women gathered on the first floor of a building to receive payments under the Benazir Income Support Program.

Rescue 1122 teams launched relief operations and shifted bodies and the injured to the Sheikh Zayed Medical College Hospital, where the district administration declared an emergency to handle the casualties.

Authorities said the roof, reportedly constructed with substandard material, could not withstand the weight of the large crowd and suddenly collapsed, trapping several women underneath the debris.

An eyewitness claimed that seven women died at the scene and more than 30 others were injured during a stampede following the collapse, but officials have not confirmed the claim. 
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CAIRO, March 15 (Xinhua) -- The U.S.-Israel-Iran conflict entered its 16th day on Sunday, with U.S. and Israeli officials vowing prolonged attacks against Iran, Tehran warning of killing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and targeting Ukraine in retaliation, and many regional countries reaffirming calls for de-escalation and dialogue.

Tehran also suggested that the United States and Israel are launching attacks on regional states and framing them on Iran.

The following is a brief overview of the latest developments on the escalating crisis affecting nearly all regional countries and beyond.

The United States

-- U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright told ABC News that the U.S. military only struck Iranian military infrastructure on Kharg Island, and did not target Iranian energy infrastructure there. The remarks came after U.S. President Donald Trump's threat on Friday night to target the strategic island's oil infrastructure if shipping through the Strait of Hormuz is disrupted, and after the U.S. Central Command's claim on Saturday of striking over 90 Iranian military targets on the island.

-- Trump told NBC News on Saturday that he is not ready to make a deal to end the military campaign against Iran "because the terms aren't good enough yet." He added that any terms will have to be "very solid."

Israel

-- Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Israel does not intend to hold direct talks with the Lebanese government in the coming days, contradicting a Saturday report by the Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz, which said representatives from Israel and Lebanon were expected to meet for a round of talks within days amid the intensified fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

Saar also said that "Israel and the United States have a shared determination to continue the fight against Iran until our goals are achieved."

-- Israeli military spokesperson Effie Defrin told CNN that the military is planning for at least three more weeks of its campaign against Iran, with "thousands of targets ahead."

-- The Israeli military said in a statement that it struck more than 200 targets across western and central Iran over the past day. Among the targets were command centers, defense systems, and weapon storage and production sites.

Iran

-- Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps vowed to pursue and kill Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as fighting with Israel and the United States continues.

-- Pan-Arab news outlet Al-Araby Al-Jadeed published parts of its interview with Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi, who said Tehran has information that the United States and Israel are launching attacks from certain locations against Arab states in the West Asia region.

Araghchi also said Iran is ready to meet with regional states and form a joint committee to investigate the nature of the attacked targets.

He said the Strait of Hormuz is open to all except U.S. and U.S.-allied ships, adding that there have been no defections in Iran's state or military institutions, and that Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is in good health and fully in charge.

Araghchi also spoke by phone Saturday night with his French counterpart Jean-Noel Barrot to discuss the regional situation.

-- Ebrahim Azizi, head of Iran's parliamentary committee on national security and foreign policy, said Saturday that Ukraine has become a target for Iran because of its involvement in the U.S.-Israeli war against the Islamic republic, by providing drone support to Israel.

Iraq

-- A drone struck the United Arab Emirates (UAE) consulate in Erbil, capital of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, on Saturday, wounding two security guards and damaging the building, a security source said. The Kurdistan regional presidency strongly condemned the strike.

-- Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani and Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi urged the international community to take actions to halt ongoing military operations and prevent the expansion of regional conflict, according to a statement by al-Sudani's media office.

-- The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella body for Iraq's pro-Iranian militias, announced on Sunday evening that it had carried out 24 military operations against "enemy bases" in Iraq and the broader region over the past 24 hours.

Kuwait

-- Italy's military reported a drone attack in the morning on the Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait hosting Italian and U.S. forces, noting that the attack destroyed a remotely-piloted aircraft of the Italian Task Force Air, but that all its personnel are safe.

-- Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Jarrah Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah held a phone call on Saturday with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty to address the ongoing regional military escalation.

-- Several drones struck Kuwait International Airport on Saturday, damaging its radar system but causing no injuries, the country's civil aviation authority said.

Bahrain

-- Aluminium Bahrain, the world's largest single-site aluminum smelter, said it has started to shut down three primary production lines amid the regional crisis, which represent 19 percent of its total production capacity of 1,623,000 metric tonnes per annum.

-- The Bahrain Defence Force said it has intercepted 125 missiles and 211 drones since the conflict began.

-- Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani held a phone call on Saturday with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty to address the ongoing regional military escalation.

The United Arab Emirates

-- Six nationals of the UAE, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh have been killed and 142 residents of multiple nationalities have suffered minor to moderate injuries in the UAE amid the recent escalating regional tensions, the UAE's Defense Ministry said, adding that its air defense systems have intercepted 298 ballistic missiles, 1,606 drones and 15 cruise missiles since the start of the latest conflict.

Saudi Arabia

-- The Ministry of Defense of Saudi Arabia announced in a post on social media platform X the launch of a service enabling citizens and residents in the kingdom to report drones or missiles through the mobile phone app "Tawakkalna."

Lebanon

-- The death toll from Israeli attacks on Lebanon has risen to 850 since March 2, including 107 children, with 2,105 people injured, the Lebanese Health Ministry said.

Britain

-- British Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said ending the ongoing conflict is the "best and most conclusive way" to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, warning that the situation is harming the global economy.

"The spike in oil and gas prices that we're seeing is caused by the closure of the Strait," Miliband told British media, adding that Britain wants to work with allies to seek to get the Strait reopened. 
The Fine Print

I recently signed on to assist Americas longest-standing living history museum, Colonial Williamsburg, with the early stages of a pilot digital content project to explore how to leverage AI both to educate the public and to support the efforts of the interpretive staff to do their work in the most informed manner possible. Colonial Williamsburg has much to celebrate in 2026, with the centennial of the museums founding happening this year and the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence coming up on July 4. (Not to mention that, as a privately funded museum outside of federal control, Colonial Williamsburg is still allowed to talk openly about slavery, as it began doing in the latter half of the museums first century, which in this climate, is reason enough to celebrate.)

The first phase of this project, as one might expect, involves training the large-language model (LLM) at the heart of the resource. This means drawing a vast array of sources into the LLM, some primary, as well as some secondary ones produced internally. The vast majority of the primary sources are philosophical treatises that informed the founders, plus letters, pamphlets, and essays that speak to the events that ushered in the revolutionary era and drove the colonies into rebellion. The projects reliance on these older texts will raise some interesting questions about how accurately this type of LLM can decode their content on a technical level, as well as synthesize this sort of material without reproducing its biases, its racist language, and so forth, and about what types of interventions are necessary to make the project effective, particularly as a public-facing resource.

For me as a magazine editor, the element Ive found most fascinating thus far is exposure to the several newspapers published in Williamsburg, Va., in the 18th century, all of which chose to call themselves the Virginia Gazette in an effort for their owners to establish themselves as the colonys official printer. The owners were, in most respects, more printers than publishers, given that they employed no reporters, offered no in-house-written editorials, and did little to establish a clearly defined editorial voice. (Some of them did have killer taglines, though, particularly as revolutionary fervor rose to a boil: Alexander Purdies Gazette proclaimed its mission as Always for Liberty, and the Publick Good; William Rinds declared itself Open to All Parties, but Influenced by None; John Dixon and William Hunters led with a Latin quote from the Roman historian Suetonius that translates roughly as, In a free state, there should be freedom of speech and thought. If these papers didnt always uphold their lofty mission statements, at least they didnt turn out to be self-fulfilling prophecies like Democracy dies in darkness.)

The Gazettes contents could seem a bit baffling at times. The last page or two of each issue typically contained a mix of brief news items and notices as well as classified ads announcing the sale of or demanding the return of property in land, goods and services, livestock, and (theres no way to sugarcoat this) human beings. But the first two or three pages delivered some weird, wild stuff, offering a confounding and fascinating assortment of reprinted letters, reports on town meetings and congressional sessions, and spirited (if often pretentious and florid) essays submitted under real and imagined classical pseudonyms like Scipio, Brutus, Cato, Constitutionalis, Junius Americanus, Virginius, and (no joke) Mucius Scaevola.

Although the content of these newspapers comes off as random at times (and indeed it was), its also worth remembering that the Gazettes were widely read and discussed, and a number of these fiery essays got their readers (and auditors, when they were read aloud) hopping mad. And because of the nature of 18th-century printing, these essays (which were typically ready for typesetting before the news because they were reprinted from other publications) often ran on the front pages of Virginias and other colonies Gazettes and had an enormous cumulative impact in creating a sense of common cause among American colonists (around ideas noble and not so noble). In Thirteen Clocks: How Race United the Colonies and Made the Declaration of Independence (2021), historian Robert G. Parkinson wrote of these colonial newspapers, The success of the American Revolution depended on their efforts in small, yet essential ways. They were the protectors and carriers of the news, which made them nurturers of the patriot movement. They did the dirty work.

The idea that a motley assortment of reprinted essaysoften months oldgrabbed from here and there and running over pretentious Roman pseudonyms could have helped start a revolution and dramatically shrink the empire footprint of a distant king might seem far-fetched. But whether you buy Parkinsons assertion that the prime motivating factor in making those 13 clocks (of the 13 colonies, in John Adamss phrase) chime in unison was a ginned-up fear of slave and indigenous uprisings or you favor T.H. Breens claim in Marketplace of Revolution that it was an unprecedented series of consumer boycotts that pulled the colonies together and foreshadowed the passion for consumer rights that would define us to this day, reprinted newspaper essays played an outsized role in riling up far-flung readerships.

When I took over Streaming Media in 2022, I was a bit surprised to discover that the vast majority of the articles we published on our blog consisted of unsolicited guest op-eds on topics running the gamut (and then some) of our purview. It all seemed a bit random to me as an editor accustomed to cultivating long-standing author relationships and approaching editorial planning more deliberately. And that is what we do for the most part, especially in print. But opening our blog to a never-ending stream of guest contributors yields some of the coolest stuff we publish, with topics that would never occur to me. In 2026 alone, weve run guest bylines on topics as intriguing and disparate as From Probabilistic to Proven: The Deterministic Turn in Audience Data Strategy, Planning Beyond the C-Band Auction: How IP Distribution Is Shaping What Comes Next, and The Post-Holiday Subscription ResetAre Streaming Services Built for Retention? Though I rarely know when these pieces will arrive or where theyll come from, it is often heady, provocative stuff that Im proud to publish. And its usually a good bit easier to followat least for 21st-century readers well-versed in streaming tech and the media industrys travailsthan the fevered neoclassical rhetorical flights of a Virginius or Junius Americanus hell-bent on, say, dismantling Parliaments reviled Intolerable Acts with a deft stroke of his pen.

Even if Americas semiquincentennial and a year of No Kings protests are unlikely to deliver any incendiary essays to my inbox, its at least a little encouraging to note that revolutions have launched from less likely platforms.

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Lt. Gen. Antonio A. Aguto Jr., right, the commanding general of Security Assistance Group-Ukraine, visits soldiers on Feb. 7, 2024, at Grafenwoehr Training Area, in Germany. (Jarvis Mace/U.S. Army National Guard)



The Army general responsible for coordinating support for Ukraine left a tube of classified maps behind on a train in Europe and lost control of the sensitive material for 24 hours, according to the Pentagon watchdog.

Gen. Antonio Aguto, a three-star general at the time, was also found to have sustained a concussion following a night of heavy drinking at a social event in Kyiv, leading to incoherence and confusion in a briefing the next day.

The Department of Defense Office of Inspector General report, released Thursday, investigated incidents that occurred between April and May 2024. Aguto was commander of the Wiesbaden, Germany-based Security Assistance Group-Ukraine. Aguto relinquished command of the group in August 2024, having presided over its activation in 2022. He retired the same month.

The Inspector General received three anonymous complaints between May 20 and May 24, 2024. The IG initiated an investigation June 6, 2024. The IG also investigated a subsequent allegation that Agutos counterproductive leadership style created a toxic environment within Security Assistance Group-Ukraine headquarters, the report states.

The IG interviewed Aguto and 33 witnesses.

On March 24, 2024, Aguto and his staff traveled to Kyiv as part of the security assistance mission. Part of the trip required them to travel on the Department of State chartered train from Poland to Ukraine.

Aguto and witnesses said he decided to bring a set of classified maps to Kyiv for this trip. Aguto and a witness told the IG that the maps were not packaged in accordance with directives because the maps were too big to wrap and the map tube was too small.

I used [sic] these maps quite frequently regardless of where Im at to brief officials on the status of whats going on in Ukraine, uh, which is my job, Aguto said.

The general and his staff boarded the chartered train on April 3 to begin their journey back to Wiesbaden.

When they arrived in Poland, the witness performed a quick scan of the train and did not notice anything out of the ordinary, but he did not see the map tube come off the train, the 56-page report states.

Aguto did not recall who discovered the map tube was missing, but his executive officer alerted him. It was found on the train the next day and returned, via staff with the U.S. Embassy Ukraine.

Aguto told investigators he took responsibility for the loss of the maps because I am the senior guy.

Mishandling of classified information comes with severe penalties. Consequences range from official reprimand and loss of clearance to being fired in the case of nefarious intent.

The second incident involving the general occurred on May 13, 2024. During a nearly six-hour dinner, a military engagement, a witness said Aguto drank two bottles of Chacha throughout the course of the night. Chacha is a Georgian brandy containing 40-50% alcohol.

One witness said Aguto appears drunk to me. Aguto told the IG he was at some level of intoxication.

During a meeting in Agutos hotel room that night to go over his schedule for the next day, two witnesses reported seeing him fall backward and strike his head on the wall. The witnesses did not see him trip on anything.

Aguto told us that he remembered being near a table and trying to move a chair just before falling and hitting his head against a wall. He said that he felt woozy after the fall and sat down, and then things got a little uhm blurry for lack of a better terms [sic],  the report states.

Aguto stated that he had medical conditions that could have contributed to the fall.

One of the witnesses thought Aguto might have had a concussion.

Early in the morning of May 14, Aguto said he had another fall.

He told us that he could not remember much about the circumstances of the fall and could not remember where he fell or what he hit his head on, but he said it caused a mark on his forehead that he described as a bump, probably it was red, about a quarter of an inch long,  according to the report. When asked to compare the falls, Aguto said that the next morning, he did not feel well at all, and described that he had a headache and was extremely tired. He also told the IG that he felt a little woozy, dizzy, confused, and found it really hard to focus.

As he met staff in the hotel lobby ahead of a morning meeting with then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken, witnesses reported Aguto acting lethargic and not himself, and staff said they suggested he cancel the meeting.

Aguto slowly responded, I got it.

En route to the U.S. Embassy, and running late, Aguto and his staff decided to walk the remaining 50 meters to the embassys main gate. Shortly after exiting the vehicle, Aguto fell forward, striking his right elbow and jaw, as well as tearing his jacket and shirt sleeve, the report says.

Aguto was later taken to a local hospital and diagnosed with a concussion.

Investigators found Agutos falls had been a result of overindulgence in alcohol, saying he should have considered the effects before drinking so much. Whether he was permitted to consume more than two drinks, the IG report states he knew at the time he had important meetings to attend the following morning.

Aguto disagreed, saying he acted in good faith and had received verbal permission from Gen. Darryl Williams, commander of U.S. Army Europe, to drink at the dinner in light of the cultural significance of drinking at such events.

The IG report did not substantiate the allegations of counterproductive leadership during Agutos time in command.
Chaplain (Maj.) Brian Bailey, center wearing blue shirt, attends to a man who was badly burned when the cab of the semi-truck he was driving exploded into flames March 8, 2026, at a rest stop in Angath, Austria. (Brian Bailey)



NAPLES, Italy  A twice-thwarted attempt to satisfy a craving for cappuccino ended up turning an Italy-based U.S. Army chaplain into a godsend for two men seriously injured in a truck fire along an Austrian highway.

Chaplain (Maj.) Brian Bailey credited the timing to divine providence in explaining what recently led him to a rest stop in Angath, Austria, where a parked semi-truck had exploded into flames.

On March 8, Bailey was returning to U.S. Army Garrison Italy in Vicenza after attending a training class in Germany. He pulled into a roadside commercial area seeking a cappuccino.

The establishment was jammed with travelers, so Bailey drove on. To his disappointment, the next rest area where he stopped did not offer the beverage he was seeking.

I thought, Let me try to do this one more time because I really want the coffee, Bailey said.

He continued down the highway, pulling into a third rest area at Angath Nord, about 42 miles northeast of Innsbruck, when he soon saw black smoke billowing near the building.

A helicopter carrying the injured driver of a semi-truck that exploded into flames leaves a rest stop in Angath, Austria, March 8, 2026. Army chaplain Maj. Brian Bailey helped the badly burned driver and another injured man. (Brian Bailey)



A closer look revealed a panicked scene, with the cab of a semi-truck in flames, its badly burned driver lying on the pavement and a second injured man closer to the burning vehicle. Thats when the 41-year-old Iraq war veterans experience kicked in.

The training that Ive received in the Army and the relationships Ive had from people in my life, I felt like those were driving me to get out of the car, to run towards the fire and to run towards the burned man, not knowing what was going to come next, Bailey said.

Soon, Bailey was helping a Polish passer-by move the second injured man to safety. The 37-year-old Lithuanian had injured his leg while trying to rescue the truck driver, Bailey said.

Using his medical training, Bailey checked both mens vital signs and stabilized them while directing bystanders to call emergency services.

At one point, the Polish man on the scene feared that the truck driver had died, but Bailey noticed he was still breathing, so he tilted the mans head back to help clear his airway.

Fearful that the truck driver might go into cardiac arrest, Bailey ran into the rest stop asking in his best German for an automated external defibrillator, he said. He obtained the device and went back to rendering first aid.

Bailey and the Polish helper continued their efforts, cutting away burned clothing, monitoring his pulse and administering chest compressions when necessary.

It was kind of hard to feel for (a pulse) because his arms were burned, Bailey said. (It was) like just gently touching his neck to make sure he was still with us.

Chaplain Maj. Brian Bailey checks the temperature of the water in a baptismal font at U.S. Army Garrison Italy in Vicenza. Bailey, an Iraq war veteran, recently helped two injured men at the scene of a truck fire at a rest stop in Angath, Austria. (Rick Scavetta/U.S. Army )



They also talked to him and occasionally raised his legs to help the blood flow back down to his chest as they waited for emergency medical personnel to arrive, Bailey said.

Eventually, the truck driver was flown by helicopter to a Bavarian hospital. The injured Lithuanian man, who also suffered burns, was taken by ambulance to a local hospital, the online news site Unsertirol24.com reported March 9. Their conditions are unknown.

Firefighters extinguished the truck blaze, which was caused by a technical defect, according to the Unsertirol24 report.

After the injured were evacuated, Bailey got back in his car, called his wife to explain what had happened and continued back to Italy.

He also relived the experience, thanking God for the injured Lithuanian man who pulled the driver from the burning truck and other people who helped at the scene.

In that moment, you realize how fragile life can be, Bailey said.
The Justice Department paid out more than $175 million in the last month to settle toxic exposure claims from some people sickened by contaminated water on the Marines Camp Lejeune, N.C., department officials announced. (U.S. Marine Corps)



The Justice Department paid out more than $175 million in the last month to settle toxic exposure claims from some people sickened by contaminated water on the Marines Camp Lejeune, N.C., department officials announced.

Those new payments covered 649 settlements, according to a DOJ news release that said the department is speeding the compensation process for the more than 400,000 victims who have filed claims under the 2022 Camp Lejeune Justice Act. The bill allowed those sickened by the bases toxic water between 1953 and 1987 to sue the federal government for damages.

Since 2023, DOJ has paid about $708 million to 2,531 claimants  including the recent settlements  who agreed to take a preset payment outside of court, known as the elective option, to settle their cases. Meanwhile, attorneys representing toxic water victims said DOJ must do more to compensate those who did not agree to or were not eligible for the elective option.

At the direction of the president and attorney general, this Department of Justice has reprioritized approving settlements for Camp Lejeune victims and families, many of whom sadly had to wait years for justice, Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward said in a March 10 statement. I am proud of the work we have done in the past year to speed up the compensation approval process, and we will continue to approve settlements on a weekly basis.

J. Edward Bell III, an attorney leading a group of plaintiffs lawyers in overseeing the case, said the DOJs statement was short-sighted.

We appreciate any acceleration of help. I cant say anything but good about that, Bell said Monday. But there are two things that bother me: No. 1 is the government is who caused these problems.  They hid the fact that this water was poisonous, and then they intentionally decided not to tell people for decades, and now theyre bragging that theyre going to accelerate payments that are woefully inadequate.

Another lawyer involved in the case, Ronald V. Miller Jr., was also critical of the statement, saying it showed only minimal headway in the case.

We appreciate the effort, but we do not think we have meaningful progress, Miller said in a statement.

It remains unclear how much money the federal government will pay out to victims of toxic water at Camp Lejeune, where several contaminants  primarily dry-cleaning chemicals that leaked into wells from an off-post business  leached into on-post water supplies for decades.

The government has projected such payouts could exceed $21 billion. The Navy has estimated up to 1 million service members and civilians were likely exposed to water at the base containing toxins that have been linked to neurological disorders, including Parkinsons, cancers, reproductive issues and other health defects.

More than 400,000 victims or their survivors have filed claims in the toxic water case. Of those claimants, only about 12% were eligible to consider the elective option, which pays victims or their surviving family members between $100,000 and $550,000 depending on their illnesses and the amount of time they spent at Camp Lejeune.

The remainder must go through the court process, which has faced repeated delays, Bell said. The first 25 cases  a group of victims of Tier 1 illnesses including leukemia, bladder cancer, kidney cancer, liver cancer and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, known as bellwether cases  are expected to go to trial later this year.

Bell said DOJ attorneys have spent recent years attempting to remove some victims from the case.

Instead, they should be saying, Look, we messed up,  Bell said. We acknowledge back in the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, we did something terribly wrong.

He implored President Donald Trump to get involved in the case.

President Trump should come in here and say, I recognize what this government did, and I as president am going to take care of this and do it properly, do it quickly. Bell said. And you know what would happen? It would get done. But unless the Department of Justice has some guidance, it will never happen.

Meanwhile, as lawyers argue over how the court process should proceed, claimants continue to die, Miller said.

These veterans and their families were poisoned on American soil while serving their country, Miller said. They should not have to spend their final years fighting the same government that made them sick.
A third sailor is in stable condition after being injured in a noncombat-related fire last week in the USS Gerald R. Fords main laundry spaces, according to the Navy. The unidentified sailor has been flown off the aircraft carrier to receive medical treatment. (Nathan Sears/U.S. Navy)



A third sailor injured in a fire last week aboard the USS Gerald R. Ford was flown off the aircraft carrier to receive medical treatment, according to the Navy.

Ford is operating in the Red Sea in support of Operation Epic Fury, the ongoing joint American and Israeli military campaign against Iran.

The unidentified sailor reported to shipboard medical staff after the services statement Thursday about the fire and two other injured sailors, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command/U.S. 5th Fleet spokesman Cmdr. Joseph Hontz said Saturday.

That sailor is in stable condition, Hontz said. The two others finished medical treatment and were released for duty, he said, adding that an investigation into the fire is ongoing.

The blaze started in Fords main laundry areas Thursday and subsequently was fully contained. It was unrelated to combat, the Navy said.

The carriers propulsion plant was not damaged and the ship remained fully operational, the Navy said in a statement the same day.

Ford has been in the Red Sea since transiting the Suez Canal on March 5.
Two people died after two small boats carrying Japanese high school students on a trip to "learn about peace" capsized near Camp Schwab, Okinawa, March 16, 2025. (Keishi Koja/Stars and Stripes)



NAGO, Okinawa  A teenage girl and a boat captain died Monday after two vessels carrying Japanese students on a school trip overturned near the site of a planned Marine Corps airfield, according to Japans coast guard.

Two motorboats  the 25-foot-long Heiwa-maru and the 20-foot-long Fukutsu  capsized off Henoko Cape near Camp Schwab at 10:10 a.m., the coast guard announced in a news release that day. The accident occurred about 1,500 yards from shore.

The boats were carrying juniors from Doshisha International Senior High School in Kyoto on a trip intended to learn about peace, a school spokesman said by phone Monday.

A 17-year-old female student and the Fukutsus male captain, in his 70s, were pronounced dead after being taken unconscious to a hospital on Okinawa, the coast guard said in an update. The student was wearing a life jacket.

Authorities did not release the time of death for either victim, and their names are being withheld pending permission from their families.

Ten students and two crew members were aboard the Heiwa-maru, and eight students and one crew member were aboard the Fukutsu, the release said. All were pulled from the water by the coast guard, which dispatched 11 boats and a helicopter to the scene.

Four people, including the two who died, were injured and taken to hospitals, a coast guard spokesman said by phone. The conditions of the other two injured people were not immediately known.

Some Japanese government officials speak to the press only on condition of anonymity.

The cause of the accident remains under investigation, the coast guard said.

Workers towed the two boats about two miles to Henoko Fishing Port in Nago city and pulled them from the water around 4:15 p.m.

The vessels had previously appeared in protests related to the airfields construction project, according to the coast guard. Images of both boats have been posted on the website of Henoko Blue, a protest group that opposes the plan to reclaim land for the project.

The airfield is being built in waters off Camp Schwab to replace Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, which sits in the densely populated city of Ginowan. The relocation plan has been a source of long-running political tension on Okinawa, where many residents oppose the project despite support from the Japanese government.

Two people died after two small boats carrying Japanese high school students on a trip to "learn about peace" capsized near Camp Schwab, Okinawa, March 16, 2025. (Keishi Koja/Stars and Stripes)



A spokeswoman for Henoko Blue declined to comment by phone Monday.

Weather conditions at the time of the accident included winds of about 9 mph and waves of more than 1  feet, according to the coast guard. A wave warning had been issued for Okinawas northern coast.

At around 5 p.m., a plastic coast guard boat capsized while investigating in the same area off Henoko Cape, according to another coast guard release. Four officers on board were immediately rescued by a vessel from the Nakagusuku Coast Guard Office. Two others took shelter on nearby rocks and were rescued by helicopter an hour later, another coast guard spokesman said.

Construction of the replacement airfield is expected to last until at least 2033 and cost nearly $6 billion, according to Japans Ministry of Defense. Officials say the runways could become operational around 2036.
The Ramstein Air Base welcome sign is illuminated by sunrise Jan. 30, 2024. The 86th Airlift Wing said Kaiserslautern Military Community units and organizations are prepared to support military families that have evacuated from the Middle East. (Jordan Lazaro/U.S. Air Force)



KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany  Hundreds of military dependents and civilians are heading west after the Pentagon ordered their departure from Bahrain as the war with Iran heads into its third week.

Numerous structures at U.S. Naval Support Activity Bahrain have been destroyed, including communications centers and warehouses, and Bahraini authorities say they are continuing to intercept incoming missiles and drones.

The hasty exits amid the chaos require impromptu navigation of travel reimbursements, school enrollment and housing challenges. As host of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command and U.S. 5th Fleet, the base in the Bahraini capital of Manama has some 8,300 service members and is one of the only American military installations in the Middle East that offers accompanied tours.

The base and surrounding neighborhoods have taken heavy fire since the joint U.S.-Israeli campaign called Operation Epic Fury launched on Feb. 28. Two Bahraini residents have died as a result of the attacks, but no Americans in Bahrain are among the dead or injured.

Evacuees began arriving at European bases earlier this month, many of them en route to the U.S. The Pentagon has also authorized the Kaiserslautern area as an alternative safe haven location, allowing families to temporarily join the tens of thousands of Defense Department personnel assigned to the largest American military community overseas.

Members of the Kaiserslautern Military Community cheer on students from Ramstein Elementary School during an event at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, April 9, 2025. U.S. military families that have relocated to Kaiserslautern after evacuating from Bahrain have until April 6 to enroll their children in local Defense Department schools. (Alexandra Longfellow/U.S. Air Force)



Across European bases, volunteers have been organizing donations for families often arriving with just the bare essentials. As of Monday, the Ramstein Military and Family Readiness Center was still accepting items such as bedding, kitchen essentials, car seats and diapers.

Dependents who relocate to the Kaiserslautern Military Community will also be able to enroll their children in local Defense Department schools, according to Pentagon guidance released this month. They have until April 6 to do so.

The Department of Defense Education Activity is advising families to enroll their children in the local school districts at their new location.

If there is an operating DODEA school nearby, students can be enrolled there as well. Virtual DODEA classes will also be available to high schoolers.

Organizations in the KMC are prepared to support those who choose Germany as their safe haven, the 86th Airlift Wing, which provides base operating support at Ramstein, said in a statement Friday. It did not say how many evacuees there are in total.

It is unclear when evacuees might be able to return to Bahrain or retrieve their household goods. Officials at Ramstein are offering to assist families with both temporary and permanent housing options, according to guidance released by the Military and Family Readiness Center.

Those who were ordered to leave Bahrain may be eligible for early return of dependents, which allows families to return to the United States permanently, NAVCENT said.

Evacuees are still expected to pay rent and utilities for their homes in Bahrain, according to NAVCENT guidance. The Pentagon is continuing to pay overseas housing allowances for military personnel stationed in Bahrain and for civilians.

Personnel who evacuated from Juffair, a Manama neighborhood that is near the naval base, also are receiving temporary lodging allowance.

Military operations continued in Iran this week with no clear end in sight. President Donald Trumps top economic adviser, Kevin Hassett, said the operation would likely take four to six weeks to complete, CBS News reported.

Meanwhile, Irans threats continue to block oil tankers from transiting the Strait of Hormuz, and more than 2,000 additional Marines and at least one warship appear to be headed to the Middle East, multiple news outlets reported this weekend.
U.S. Marines board a German-French Binational Air Transport Squadron C-130 aircraft at Bardufoss Airport in Norway on March 11, 2026. (Mya Seymour/U.S. Marine Corps)



U.S. Marines were airlifted into Finlands Arctic by NATO allies during a military exercise that highlighted the ongoing cooperation of U.S. and European forces in the strategically vital High North.

The airlift on Wednesday carried a rifle company belonging to the 6th Marine Regiment from Bardufoss, Norway, to Rovaniemi, Finland, as part of exercise Cold Response, according to a Marine Corps statement Friday.

Two KC-130J Super Hercules aircraft operated by the Franco-German Binational Air Transport Squadron flew alongside a third KC-130J from Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 252, based at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C., to transport the Marines north.

For the Marine Corps, the operation demonstrated how aviation and logistics units can quickly move combat forces across the Arctic, where long distances, extreme weather and limited infrastructure complicate military operations.

As we continue to shape the future of distributed aviation operations and maneuver warfare, long-range assault support platforms will play an increasingly pivotal role, said Marine Maj. Rich Webb, a KC-130J pilot and weapons and tactics instructor with VMGR-252.

Cold Response is a biennial exercise led by Norway that is designed to test how NATO forces operate together in Arctic conditions and defend the alliances northern flank.

More than 20,000 troops are participating this year, including roughly 4,000 U.S. personnel from the Marines, Air Force and Army.

Last weeks flight to Finland marked the first time the Franco-German squadron has transported U.S. Marines, the statement said.

The Arctic has taken on increased strategic importance in recent years, as the region grows more significant for security and shipping routes.

Russia has strengthened its military presence there, and its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 pushed two European countries famous for their neutrality to join the alliance.

Finland was granted NATO membership in 2023, followed by Sweden in 2024, strengthening NATOs presence in Russias backyard.

After landing in Finland, the contingent from Echo Company, 2nd Battalion linked up with equipment and supplies that had been moved into position by Combat Logistics Battalion 6, which completed a multiday convoy through Norway, Sweden and Finland.

These integration flights exemplify how deliberate joint planning and seamless execution transform two capable units into a unified, effective team, Webb was quoted in the statement as saying.

U.S. Marines exit a KC-130J Super Hercules aircraft at Rovaniemi Air Base, Finland, March 11, 2026. (Mya Seymour/U.S. Marine Corps)



The KC-130J Super Hercules used in the exercise can conduct aerial refueling, transport troops and cargo, and operate from short or austere airfields with limited infrastructure.

The airlift was coordinated by the NATO Combined Air Operations Centre in Bodo, Norway, which oversees air operations across the Nordic region, the Baltic Sea, the north Atlantic Ocean and the Barents Sea.

The two allied aircraft belonged to the Binational Air Transport Squadron, a joint French and German unit based at Evreux-Fauville Air Base in northern France.

Formed in 2022, the squadron includes about 300 French and German pilots, maintainers and support personnel who train and operate as a single unit.
LONDON, March 15 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump Sunday evening to discuss the situation in the Middle East and the disruption to global shipping caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

During the conversation, Starmer stressed the importance of reopening the strategic waterway to help restore normal shipping routes and ease rising global costs, a statement from 10 Downing Street said.

Both leaders agreed to remain in close contact regarding developments in the region.

British Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said earlier on Sunday that ending the ongoing conflict is the "best and most conclusive way" to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic chokepoint through which roughly one-fifth of the world's oil passes, warning that the situation is harming the global economy.

"The spike in oil and gas prices that we're seeing is caused by the closure of the Strait," Miliband told British media, adding that Britain wants to work with allies to seek to get the Strait reopened.

Trump said Saturday on social media that "many countries" would send warships to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, without offering any details.

On Feb. 28, Israel and the United States launched joint attacks on Tehran and other Iranian cities, killing Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, senior military commanders, and more than 1,300 civilians. Iran responded with waves of missile and drone strikes targeting Israeli and U.S. bases and assets across the Middle East.

As the strikes move into their third week, and with the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the disruption to global energy and economic markets is becoming increasingly severe.

In his first message as Iran's supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei pledged to maintain leverage over the Strait of Hormuz. 
President Donald Trump, seen in this undated photo, on Sunday called on NATO to help the U.S. reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a key Middle East waterway. NATO has not yet commented publicly on Trumps call for action. (The White House)



President Donald Trump is demanding NATO involvement in opening the Strait of Hormuz, saying the alliances future could hinge on its actions regarding a vital Middle East chokepoint that Iran closed in retaliation for American and Israeli attacks.

In an interview Sunday with the Financial Times, Trump described the issue as a litmus test for the reliability of the alliance.

If theres no response or if its a negative response, I think it will be very bad for the future of NATO, he said.

When asked what specifically he was looking for from NATO, Trump said whatever it takes, including minesweepers and people who are going to knock out some bad actors that are along the (Iranian) shore.

Trump also called on China to give support as oil prices continue to rise in the wake of Iran shutting traffic through a waterway through which one-fifth of the worlds oil travels.

A frequent critic of NATO, Trump additionally linked the situation in Iran to U.S. support for Ukraine in its war against Russia.

Weve been very sweet, Trump said. We didnt have to help (the Europeans) with Ukraine. Ukraine is thousands of miles away from us ... but we helped them. Now well see if they help us because Ive long said that well be there for them, but they wont be there for us.

The Strait of Hormuz is shown in this undated satellite image. In an interview with the Financial Times on Sunday, President Donald Trump called on NATO to help the U.S. reopen the vital shipping chokepoint. (NASA)



NATO has not yet commented publicly on Trumps call for action from the alliance. However, the alliances top official, Secretary-General Mark Rutte, earlier this month said the alliance was not involved in the military operations.

But I can assure you that NATO will defend every inch of NATO territory, he said during a March 3 stop in North Macedonia.

Since then, NATO has bolstered air defenses in member state Turkey to protect it against Iranian missile launches directed at the country.

Since the Feb. 28 start of the U.S. and Israeli bombing campaign in Iran, European reactions to the mission have varied.

For example, Spain has been critical of the effort and refused to allow its bases to be used as launching pads for the operation.

Other allies have sent mixed signals. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the start of the campaign signaled support for the U.S-led effort, saying he was on the same page with Trump.

Pentagon installations in Germany such as Ramstein Air Base have seen an uptick in military air traffic related to the war.

But during a visit to Norway on Friday, Merz said he was concerned about economic upheaval the longer the crisis drags on.

It is having a massive impact on our energy costs, and it has the potential to trigger large-scale migration, Merz said.

Meanwhile, Trump on Sunday spoke with Britains prime minister Keir Starmer, whom he has criticized for what Trump considers insufficient support for the U.S. effort.

The U.K. might be considered the number one ally, the longest-serving, etc., and when I asked for them to come, they didnt want to come, Trump told the Financial Times. And as soon as we basically wiped out the danger capacity from Iran, they said, Oh, well well send two ships, and I said, We need these ships before we win, not after we win. Ive long said that NATO is a one-way street.
National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett speaks to reporters after attending a meeting at the U.S. Capitol Building on April 28, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Anna Moneymaker, Getty Images via TNS)



(Tribune News Service)  A top aide to President Donald Trump said the Pentagon estimates the Iran war, now in its third week, would take between four and six weeks.

Kevin Hassett, head of the White Houses National Economic Council, offered the timeline along with a caveat that the ultimate decision on when the war will conclude lies with Trump. He was among several administration officials on Sunday asking Americans for patience as energy prices spike, saying the goal of eliminating Iran as a threat in the Middle East is worth it.

As of Saturday, the Pentagon believed that it would take four to six weeks to complete this mission and that were ahead of schedule, Hassett said on CBS Face the Nation. We expect that the global economy is going to have a big positive shock as soon as this is over.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright signaled the war may last several more weeks with oil and gasoline prices elevated as the U.S. and Israel seek to destroy Iranian military capabilities.

I think that this conflict will certainly come to the end in the next few weeks  could be sooner than that  and well see a rebound in supplies and a pushing down of prices after that, Wright said on ABCs This Week.

Brent crude closed at more than $103 per barrel on Friday as Iran retains a chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, normally a conduit for a fifth of the worlds oil and a similar portion of liquefied natural gas.

Trump on Saturday called on other countries to send warships to keep the strait open, saying he hopes China, France, Japan, South Korea and the U.K. would take part. A senior official in Japans governing party said sending Japanese navy vessels to the Middle East to escort tankers would face high hurdles.

Wright said he has been in talks with the countries Trump mentioned, though he didnt elaborate. Clearly we will have this support of other nations to achieve that objective, he said on NBCs Meet the Press.

Wright said the Trump administration was aware that going to war against Iran would cause short-term disruption and a little bit of increased prices on Americans.

So this is short-term pain to get through to a much better place, he told ABC. But first and foremost right now is to finish to destroy Irans ability to project military force in the region and around the world.

With Irans decimated leadership defiant in the face of US and Israeli airstrikes, Hassett argued that U.S. domestic oil production means Iran has vastly less leverage than during the oil shocks of the 1970s.

They think theyre going to harm the U.S. economy and get President Trump to back down, he said. There couldnt be anything that is a stupider thing to say. Weve got lots and lots of oil.

With assistance from Sam Kim.

2026 Bloomberg L.P.

Visit bloomberg.com.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth speaks at a press briefing on Operation Epic Fury on March 10, 2026, in Arlington, Va. (Eric Brann/Defense Department)



Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered a review of the legal functions within the military intended to better align what positions require a uniformed service member versus those that could be filled by a civilian.

Each service has 45 days to assess how to split functions  what should remain within the Judge Advocate General Corps, and what work is better suited for general counsel. Hegseth provided six months following the review to implement changes.

For too long  over 20 years  legal shops across the services have grown bloated, duplicative, theyve muddied lines of authority and pulled critical judge advocates away from what matters most: advising commanders in the fight, on operations [and] in deployed environments where seconds and minutes count, Hegseth said last week in a statement.

Even before Hegseth became the militarys top civilian, the former National Guard officer had made clear his disdain for military lawyers, which are often referred to as JAG officers. Among his first actions as defense secretary, Hegseth fired the lead JAG officer of each of the military services.

Keith Scherer, a former Air Force JAG who now works as a defense attorney for courts-martial, said the reviews details and Hegseths public statements show that Hegseth aims to create a cultural shift toward the warrior ethos he has said is lacking in todays military.

He aims to attract a certain type of lawyer to join the military  someone less corporate-minded who is a warrior first and a lawyer second, Scherer said. It lines up with Hegseths statements similar to those about maintaining fitness standards for general officers, he said.

Hegseth isnt mandating that cultural shift. Hes creating the conditions for it to happen on its own. The institution becomes inhospitable to one type and magnetic to another. Give it a few accession cycles and the corps looks different, he said.

In his statement, Hegseth said JAG officers should focus on military justice, operational law, the law of armed conflict, deployed contracting, intelligence law and cyberspace. Civilians should handle acquisition, civilian personnel, intellectual property, real estate, military installation environmental concerns and litigation outside of military channels.

However, the review, which includes the Reserve and National Guard, comes as Hegseth has approved JAG officers to increasingly step into roles with the Justice Department that are outside the scope of the military, such as sitting as immigration judges and backfilling federal prosecutors offices.

What in reality is happening is that he wants JAGs who are going to serve roles that are politically sensitive  not to have neutral functions, but to serve political ends, said Frank Rosenblatt, a retired Army attorney and president of the National Institute of Military Justice.

Rosenblatt agreed there is room to evaluate legal functions that likely have become bloated. But, he said the military justice organization he represents has called on the military to follow the congressionally mandated process to reform the JAG Corps.

This is important enough that there ought to be public proceedings [and] public records, he said. Lets hear from witnesses. Lets have some people representing a diverse perspective of views, whether that is a victims council, law of war experts, the defense bar, veterans organizations, the Department of Justice, all of these people who have something to say about the right way  to administer justice fairly in the service.

Without this, the review process is left to just a few people trusted by Hegseth, Rosenblatt said. This could also create inconsistencies between the services.
BERLIN, March 15 (Xinhua) -- German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul expressed skepticism on Sunday regarding the potential expansion of the EU naval mission "Aspides" to the Strait of Hormuz.

In an interview with German public broadcaster ARD, Wadephul said he was "very skeptical" about whether the EU mission could ensure greater security in the strait. He argued that the operation has "not been effective" in its primary deployment area in the Red Sea.

Wadephul said that security can only be guaranteed if the military conflict is "fundamentally resolved." He noted that while Europe has always provided constructive support in securing maritime routes, he "sees neither an immediate necessity, nor, above all, that Germany should participate."

"Our demand to the U.S. and Israel is to keep us informed and tell us which concrete objectives are still being pursued, and then discuss with us how this war can be brought to an end," he added.

On Feb. 28, Israel and the United States launched joint attacks on Tehran and other Iranian cities, killing Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, senior military commanders, and more than 1,300 civilians. Iran responded with waves of missile and drone strikes targeting Israeli and U.S. bases and assets across the Middle East.

As the strikes move into their third week, and with the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which about one-fifth of the world's oil flows, the disruption to global energy and economic markets is becoming increasingly severe. 
Europa Press 16/03/2026 a las 16:28h.

Spain's social security system registered 398,638 foreign workers in Andalucia in February, adding another 32,109 workers over the last 12 months, representing an average year-on-year increase of 8.76 per cent. On a monthly basis, the increase was 2.11 per cent, (or 8,227 more workers than in January), according to data published by the Spanish government's ministry in charge of social security and more.

As for the gender divide among these figures, 58.4 per cent are men (232,995) and 41.55 per cent are women (165,642). As reported in a government statement, among the countries of origin providing the largest number of workers to the region are Morocco, a non-EU country, and Romania.

When analysing country of origin in relation to gender, 71.5 per cent of men and 68 per cent of women (112,799) come from outside the European Union (177,437). By province, Malaga has the highest number of foreign workers, reaching 121,126, a 10.7 per cent increase compared to a year ago, that's 11,703 more registered workers. The Costa del Sol province is followed by Almeria, with 86,392, a 2.24 per cent increase (1,897 workers).

Meanwhile, the largest percentage increase falls to Jaen province, which grew by 40.4 per cent compared to February 2025, adding 5,483 more workers to reach a total of 19,054.

Central government also indicated that, in February, Andalucia accounted for 12.9 per cent of the national total of foreign workers registered with social security. The nationwide total stood at 3,076,841, after adding 202,443 workers in the last 12 months. The year-on-year difference exceeded 7.0 per cent.

Overall, the number of foreign workers registered in Spain has increased by more than 800,000 since February 2022. In fact, 43.7 per cent of the jobs created since the implementation of Spain's labour reform correspond to foreign workers.
Jose Luis Piedra 16/03/2026 a las 15:56h.

Campo de Gibraltar demands specific treatment for the region in order to boost its development and to be able to compete on equal terms with more advantageous tax regimes such as those of Gibraltar or Ceuta, which border its area of activity and pose a threat to its future.

The Chamber of Commerce of Campo de Gibraltar presented a feasibility study to implement this economic figure in the region, an initiative that has the unanimous support of the municipalities of the territory and the economic and social fabric of the territory.

In fact, the event was attended by a large number of businessmen and representatives of all the town councils to show their support for this initiative.

The president of the Chamber of Commerce, Carlos Fenoy, highlighted in the presentation the importance of having this special fiscal and economic framework to promote territorial development and business competitiveness in the region.

He pointed out that "the region needs to have a tool to compete on equal terms with other tax regimes, such as Ceuta, Gibraltar or Morocco, with very powerful developments in recent years".

In his opinion, "it is about having competitive taxation, corporate tax rebates, deductions for investment or job creation, customs and VAT advantages, and a single, simplified administration that can reduce bureaucracy and make the area work as an engine for economic development".

The businessmen and municipalities agreed that this is a historic demand that could bring prosperity to the region, as well as recalling that the creation of this figure is a viable EU instrument in its implementation and that it already works in other parts of Europe.

According to the Chamber of Commerce's estimates, this initiative would create more than 4,000 direct jobs and up to 7,000 indirect jobs and attract investment of close to 7 billion euros.

This proposal from the region has already been passed on to both the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jose Manuel Albares, and the President of the Junta de Andalucia, Juanma Moreno. The promoters of this initiative demand that the Spanish public administrations support the region with investment, in accordance with the commitment made after Brexit.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, Jose Manuel Albares, yesterday sent the official translation of the Gibraltar Agreement reached after Brexit, which has been carried out by the European Commission's legal linguists.

The Ministry has sent this agreement in Spanish to all the institutional actors involved, such as the Andalusian Regional Government, the parliamentary groups in the Congress of Deputies and the Senate and the presidents of the Foreign Affairs Committee in both chambers, as well as to the Association of Municipalities, the president of the Cross-border Group, the Chamber of Commerce of Campo de Gibraltar and the mayors of the region.
Jennie Rhodes 16/03/2026 Actualizado a las 10:38h.

Southern Spain, with its large international population, is home to some of the most prestigious independent schools in the country.

The schools are responsible for educating thousands of youngsters from preschool right up to those important years before embarking on university.

For its 2026 Education and Learning supplement SUR in English brought together head teachers from some of those schools to discuss their achievements and challenges during a forum on Monday 9 March.

Laying the foundations for a global future is the important role and responsibility of these schools as they work towards maintaining the high quality of education international schools and colleges in the south of Spain are renowned for.

Speaking at Monday mornings webinar were representatives from four of those international schools: Richard Sutcliffe, School Director at English International College, Marbella; Gavin Palmer, Headteacher at Sunny View School, Torremolinos; Joseph Short, Head of Secondary and Sixth Form at Laude San Pedro International College; and Stefan Rumistrzewicz, Principal at British School of Malaga.

SUR in English editor Rachel Haynes welcomed participants and those watching the live stream before handing over to Jennie Rhodes who introduced the panellists and moderated the discussion.

British curriculum

Introducing himself and his school, Gavin Palmer said that Sunny View was now in its 55th year of international education on the Costa del Sol and accepts children from aged two to 18, offering iGCSEs and A-Levels to students of 14 different nationalities.

Stefan Rumistrzewicz explained that at the British School of Malaga (BSM), around 40 per cent of the just over 1000 students are Spanish and 60 per cent are international, which the principal highlighted reflects the changing demographic of Malaga.

Settling in at Sunny View starts with the warmth that students feel from the very first time they visit It is vital that what schools are teaching is being reinforced at home. There needs to be consistent messaging so that young people have a really good grasp of the society they are operating in Gavin Palmer Headteacher. Sunny View School, Torremolinos

The school, which is situated just outside Malaga city centre, offers the British curriculum including iGCSEs, A-Levels and BTECs (Business and Technology Education Council).

Richard Sutcliffe explained that British students make up around 40 per cent of the English International College (EIC), which has been established for 40 years.

Like the other schools, the EIC takes students from age two to 18 and follows the British system, culminating in iGCSEs and A-Levels.

In an international environment, we are particularly mindful that students may also be adapting to a new language, culture or education system. Independent learning is extremely important because it develops confidence, curiosity, and problem-solving skills Joseph Short Head of Secondary & Sixth Form. Laude San Pedro International College

Joseph Short of Laude San Pedro said that in an international environment, we are particularly mindful that students may also be adapting to a new language, culture, or education system, so patience and communication with parents are key.

Settling in to a new school

The panellists started off by explaining how they help new students and parents to settle in at their schools. Gavin Palmer said that at Sunny View School it starts with the warmth that students feel from the very first time they visit.

He went on to say that the school is very careful in making sure an incoming student is matched with a buddy to learn to navigate the school.

He added that it is vital that students - especially at preschool and primary level - know who their class teacher is and that they are the people that the student can go to. Proactively working with family to make sure a student is integrated as quickly as possible is key.

Establishing a culture of openness is vital so that students feel comfortable to come forward and not hide their feelings. AI is a marvellous tool with lots of opportunities but we need to teach students that using AI requires a skillset with powers of discernment, critical thought and ethics Stefan Rumistrzewicz Principal. British School of Malaga

Stefan Rumistrzewicz of the BSM echoed Palmers words and added that at the British School of Malaga, where they welcome a high number of new parents and students every year, induction days are key so that students and parents get to meet teachers and other staff.

Similarly to Sunny View, new students at BSM are assigned a buddy to show them the ropes. Parents also act as ambassadors to welcome families who have perhaps moved from other countries or other parts of Spain.

Richard Sutcliffe highlighted that as the EIC has just 440 students we get to have that personal touch with families and that the school has an open-door policy for parents.

Joseph Short said, At an international school like Laude, new students arrive throughout the year, so settling them well is extremely important. We focus on three main areas: orientation, peer support and pastoral monitoring. He added that there is a strong emphasis on peer integration, with the school often assigning a buddy or form support.

Helping students to flourish

The discussion moved on to how the schools work with all students to encourage both high achievers and lower achievers to reach their individual goals.

Sometimes students might open up to a teacher before they do to their parents. The ability to discern what is morally correct and right for humanity is key, as the education sector learns to handle all of these technological changes Richard Sutcliffe. Director, English International College

Richard Sutcliffe explained that for high achievers the EIC has various clubs and support structures in terms of future pathways, including university applications and careers advice.

He added that the school provides support in different languages to reflect the different nationalities represented at the school.

Gavin Palmer also said that at Sunny View Special Educational Needs (SEN) works hand in hand with English as an additional language department to make sure all children are supported and that the teacher-to-class ratio is important to making sure everyone gets the help they need.

Palmer pointed out that a child might have an emotional or social issue that they are not communicating which might be the hurdle that is preventing them from flourishing.

This led the panellists onto the next area which was what mechanisms the schools have in place to manage behaviour and responding to bullying.

Its an ever increasingly dangerous time for children with social media and bullying might be 24 hours, Richard Sutcliffe of EIC said.

All of the panellists agreed that it is an increasingly difficult area to tackle but that it is key for schools to make sure that students and parents can come to them. Sometimes students might open up to a teacher before they do to their parents, he said.

For high achievers, Joseph Short explained that at Laude San Pedro, the focus is on challenge and enrichment and that the goal is to ensure that able students are not just completing work faster, but thinking more deeply and creatively.

Stefan Rumistrzewicz of BSM agreed and added that establishing a culture of openness is vital so that students feel comfortable to come forward and not hide their feelings but agreed that Its a very complex and difficult issue.

Gavin Palmer of Sunny View School also stressed the importance of ensuring a culture of openness and that pastoral care and having trusted adults are important aspects of the school community.

Echoing these words, Joseph Short also said that Laude relies on strong collaboration between teachers, support staff, and parents to ensure students receive the help they need.

Technology and AI

Leading on from the discussion around behaviour and bullying, the panel reflected on whether the responsibilities of societal failures are falling onto schools. Richard Sutcliffe of EIC pointed out that society always puts the blame on education but now that technology is moving so fast we need to support rather than blame schools.

He went on to say that in a rapidly changing world where technology is developing so quickly, no one knows what you are preparing your child for. Nobody knows, when a child starts school at the age of three, what the world will look like when they leave 15 years later. We need to strengthen students characters and resilience to handle life.

Taking an optimistic view on artificial intelligence, Stefan Rumistrzewicz of BSM said, Its a marvellous tool with lots of opportunities but just like the internet is misused, we need to teach students that using AI requires a skillset with powers of discernment, critical thought and ethics.

He added, Theres more and more knowledge at our fingertips and the ability to discern what is morally correct and right for humanity is key, as the education sector learns to handle all of these changes.

Gavin Palmer of Sunny View agreed with the heads of the EIC and BSM and added, It is vital that what schools are teaching is being reinforced at home. There needs to be consistent messaging so that young people have a really good grasp of the society they are operating in.

Independent learning

Talking about independent learning, the head of Sunny View stressed the importance of this skillset, saying that teaching students to learn independently from an early age sets them up so that when they get older and do GCSEs or A-Levels, they are able to organise their time, think of their own wellbeing and get the right balance, adding: Its an ongoing quest.

Joseph Short said that at Laude, independent learning is extremely important because it develops confidence, curiosity, and problem-solving skills.

He added that students should not only learn to follow instructions but also to ask questions, explore ideas, and take responsibility for their own learning and that staff-student ratio can influence how effectively this happens. Smaller ratios allow teachers to monitor progress closely, and support individual needs.

Rumistrzewicz of BSM pointed out that learning through exploring and making mistakes is how we all learn and that its important that students get to know that and are comfortable with it.

Richard Sutcliffe of EIC said that schools need to create independent thinkers who go out there and are confident of their own ability but he said that this takes practice and that students must learn that if they want to get the top grades then they have to do something about it.

Conclusions

The discussion went back to the importance of an open-door policy and getting parents involved in their childrens education, which all three participants said that in their schools, events are organised to both encourage parent participation but also to teach students not just about local culture and traditions, but those of the nationalities represented in the schools.

Lots of families have moved here and the country, culture and language might be alien to what they know. Involvement is really important in that respect, Richard Sutcliffe of EIC said, while Stefan Rumistrzewicz highlighted that Malaga is becoming more and more cosmopolitan.

Sutcliffe pointed out that were living in a global community and that it is important that we all understand each other - learn about each others cultures and generate understanding.

Joseph Short of Laude San Pedro highlighted the fact that parent partnerships are essential in education, particularly in an international school community. He added, This can be challenging when you have a school with so many nationalities but we make it work.

All agreed that as educators in international schools, they have the awareness and responsibility to help families assimilate. Joseph Short stressed that ultimately, our aim is to ensure every student feels known, supported, and part of the community as quickly as possible.

Concluding remarks included the importance of exploring the wide range of international and British schools that the Costa del Sol has to offer before choosing one and also the importance of parents spending time with their children.

Children are becoming slightly disconnected from society and us - go and do something with them - spend time with your children, Richard Sutcliffe of EIC concluded. The heads of Sunny View School and British School of Malaga echoed the sentiment.
(Maria Jose Lopez / Europa Press)

Hector Barbotta Seville 16/03/2026 Actualizado 18/03/2026 - 11:30h.

The Andalusian regional government will fund a treatment for butterfly skin (epidermolysis bullosa, or EB), a rare, incurable disease affecting 45 children and young adults across Andalucia. EB causes intense pain in the epidermis upon any contact.

The drug, called Vyjuvek, has just been authorised by the European authorities, although its extremely high cost, around 100,000 euros per month, makes it unaffordable for families of sufferers. It is estimated that, as patients undergo this treatment, both their quality of life and their clinical condition improve, thus lowering the cost. The treatment lasts approximately one year.

Junta president Juanma Moreno announced the decision last Thursday after meeting Leo at the regional parliament in Seville. Leo is a 12-year-old boy from Seville who suffers from this disease and he met Moreno along with his family and other members of the association Debra Piel de Mariposa (Debra butterfly skin).

Leo gained some notoriety the previous week after attending the European Parliament to advocate for the EU authorities to approve the treatment, which they did.

FAQ: Andalusias funding of Vyjuvek for Butterfly Skin What is Butterfly Skin (Epidermolysis Bullosa)? Butterfly skin is a rare, incurable genetic condition that makes the skin as fragile as a butterfly's wings. Even minor contact or friction can cause painful blisters and open wounds on the epidermis. What is the new treatment Vyjuvek? Vyjuvek is a pioneering gene therapy gel recently authorised by European health authorities. It is designed to promote wound healing and improve the clinical condition of patients with dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa. How much does the Butterfly Skin treatment cost? The treatment is extremely expensive, costing approximately 100,000 per month. However, because it is a pioneering therapy, costs are expected to decrease as demand and production increase across Spain and Europe. Who is eligible for the funding in Andalusia? The Andalusian Health Service (SAS) has committed to funding the treatment for 45 children and young adults currently living with the condition across the region. Is Vyjuvek available in the rest of Spain? While not yet part of the national health system's standard portfolio, Andalusia's decision to provide "exceptional" funding is expected to set a precedent, encouraging other Spanish regions and the national government to include the drug in the public health catalog.Next Steps for surinenglish.com



Moreno praised the work done by the boy's family and other members of the association, which made it possible to reach this point. He assured them that, thanks to them, the Andalusian Health Service (SAS) has managed to find an exceptional way to purchase "a very pioneering treatment that is not included in the national health system's portfolio".

He added that this medication serves "not only to alleviate, cure and improve" Leo's situation, but also that of other children in the same situation.

Going nationwide?

Moreno pointed out that Andalucia leading this move will enable other regions to follow suit and, "therefore, the national health system will also include it and we can ensure this medicine is distributed throughout Spain. Also, that the cost of this medicine, which is currently excessive, will decrease", although he did not specify numbers.

"These types of drugs are expensive because they are very innovative and not yet commercially available", he stated. He predicted that the price will go down as other regions begin to demand this particular drug. "As soon as there is more demand for this medication, I believe that the cost will come down, that's what we want and what we need."

Moreno also called on the pharmaceutical industry to take into consideration that, with these types of rare diseases, the cheaper the necessary treatment, the easier it will be to make it more widely available.
Alekk M. Saanders Cordoba 16/03/2026 Actualizado 17/03/2026 - 10:55h.

Contrary to the widespread misconception, redheads have existed in Spain since ancient times. The so-called pelirrojos make up approximately one per cent to three per cent of the population.

They are most common in the northern regions, such as Galicia, Asturias and the Basque Country, which can be explained by their Celtic and Viking origins. This list is topped by by Andalucia, thanks to the village of Anora, where a surprisingly high proportion of the population  between ten and 15 per cent  has red hair.

Common Celtic ancestors

Anora is a charming Andalusian village situated in the north of the province of Cordoba, in the Los Pedroches region. It was founded in the late 14th century and granted town status in 1553. Surrounded by pastures dotted with holm oaks, the village stands out from the rest thanks to its unusual houses, built from granite blocks, and its distinctive inhabitants. In Anora there are redheads in almost every family.

Why are there so many redheads in this part of Spain? Out of Anora's 1,500 residents, nearly 150 defy the stereotypical image of Cordobas population. This concentration makes the village genetically unique in Spain and has given rise to several theories: The Celtic migration: A popular hypothesis suggests that centuries ago, Celts travelled from modern-day Ireland to northern Andalucia. The Flemish settlement: Some historians attribute the trait to Charles I of Spain (originally from Flanders), who settled northern Andalucia with immigrants from Central Europe in the 16th century to industrialise the region. This would explain the presence of Germanic or Visigothic features. Local lore offers more colourful explanations for why the MC1R gene is concentrated specifically in Anora rather than the wider region: 'La Cura' (The Priest): Residents often attribute the red hair to a specific ancestor who was a priest. To this day, a redhead in town might affectionately be called hija/o de cura (son or daughter of the priest) - the local equivalent of "ginger". The captivating Irishman: One anecdote tells of a red-haired Irishman who passed through the village and captivated many with his unusual appearance and charm. Social isolation: Historically, marriages between different villages were often frowned upon. This meant the redhead gene stayed concentrated within Anoras borders rather than spreading across the province.



Of the 1,500 inhabitants, nearly 150 are the complete antithesis of the stereotypical image of Cordoba people. Such a concentration of redheads in such a small area makes this village genetically unique in Spain and gives rise to numerous theories, hypotheses, legends and even jokes.

Such a concentration of redheads in such a small area makes this village genetically unique in Spain and gives rise to numerous theories, hypotheses, legends and even jokes

A popular hypothesis, which suggests that many centuries ago the Celts travelled all the way from what is now Ireland to the north of Andalucia, including the northern part of the province of Malaga, is often cited as an explanation for the high concentration of this gene (MC1R) in Anora.

However, some historians attribute the red hair of todays Andalusians to the king who reigned in the 16th century. Charles I of Spain (who was originally from Flanders) settled areas of northern Andalucia with immigrants from Central Europe, with the aim of industrialising the region and introducing new methods of agricultural development. So this fact is cited as a possible explanation for such a striking manifestation of Germanic or Visigothic features in the region.

From a priest to an Irishman

However, these theories cannot explain why the proportion of redheads is high not across the region as a whole, but in this particular village. Anora residents attribute the redheads in the village to La Cura - an ancestor who was a priest. That is why any redhead might affectionately be referred to as the priests son or daughter. Hija/o de cura is a sort of the local equivalent of ginger.

Incidentally, among the anecdotes, one with an Irish connection can be found. In Anora you may be told a story about a certain red-haired Irishman who happened to find himself in the village, and who apparently captivated many with his unusual appearance and charm. The fact that, in the past, marriages between people from different villages were frowned upon in the local villages meant that redheads did not spread very far beyond Anora.

More than welcome

Incidentally, when searching for information online, Anora is described as Andalusian Ireland. Unsurprisingly, such a nickname prompts some Irish people to get to know their compatriots better. For example, one red-haired blogger from Ireland shared her experience of visiting the village.

Whilst strolling through the village streets, she was surprised when a local woman told her without hesitation: Youre from Anora. Such rapid naturalisation might be considered as a need. In fact, the number of redheads in Anora is dwindling, and as one local remarked, preserving this authenticity will require a helping hand from outside.

After all, many areas along that Andalusian coast have become noticeably more blonde thanks to the influx of newcomers from northern countries. So why not, if foreigners with red hair who appreciate peaceful countryside with beautiful scenery choose Anora to find their second home and even feel they're right at home.
(E. CABEZAS)

Image of the ruined state of the old Cortijo del Daire today.

Eugenio Cabezas 16/03/2026 Actualizado 18/03/2026 - 13:49h.

Deep in Malaga province's Sierra Almijara mountains is a place where the wind blows strongly and the old muleteers' paths still leave scars on the stone: the ruins of Cortijo del Daire. Located in Competa, for generations it was one of the most remote inhabited enclaves between the mountain ranges that separate the Axarquia in Malaga and Alhama in Granada province.

Today there are only crumbling walls and memories, but its history, reconstructed from research and stories past on through word of mouth through the generations speal of mountain families, forgotten trade routes and an ambitious failed project in the 1990s that aimed to breathe new life back to this enclave.

Cortijo del Daire was built next to one of the old mountain roads that connected Nerja and Frigiliana with Granada province via Competa. For decades it was a regular stop for muleteers and travellers who crossed the Almijara mountains to trade goods.

FAQs about the Cortijo del Daire in Spain Where is Cortijo del Daire located? Cortijo Daire is situated in the Sierra de Almijara, within the Axarquia region of Malaga, Spain. It sits at the foot of the El Lucero peak and was historically a vital stop for traders and "maquis" (guerrilla fighters) crossing the mountains between Granada and Malaga. What is the history of the Cortijo del Daire ruins? Originally a prosperous farmhouse known for its high-altitude agriculture, Cortijo Daire became a strategic site during the Spanish Civil War and the post-war period. It is famous for its association with the "maquis" resistance and was eventually abandoned as traditional mountain life declined in the mid-20th century. How difficult is the hike to Cortijo Daire? The hike is generally considered moderate to difficult due to the steep terrain of the Sierra de Almijara. It is most commonly accessed via trails from the village of Canillas de Aceituno or Sedella. Hikers should be prepared for significant elevation changes and limited shade.



According to the research published by historian and chronicler Marilo V. Oyonarte in the portal Alhama Comunicacion, the toponym 'Daire' has various interpretations. One of the theories suggests that it could be a deformation of 'Cortijo del Aire', due to the constant exposure to the wind in that area of the sierra.

Another hypothesis links it to a possible foreign surname. However, Frigiliana historian Pablo Rojo has suggested a third possibility: that the term comes from a medieval word related to small monasteries or religious communities that may have settled in caves in the area before the Christian conquest.

The isolation did not prevent the cortijo from also being marked by episodes of the Spanish post-war period.

Beyond the origin of the name, what is documented, according to Oyonarte, is that the farmstead was inhabited for generations by several mountain families dedicated to livestock farming, the cultivation of small plots of land and muleteering. The inhabitants of the place were known throughout the region as 'the people of the Daire', a name that reflects the social importance that this enclave came to have in the life of the mountains.

The isolation did not prevent the farmhouse from also being marked by episodes of the Spanish post-war period. According to Oyonarte's research, the Guardia Civil searched the area for an alleged clandestine radio station during the repression of the anti-Francoist guerrillas. After the search, one of the residents, known as Jose del Daire, was arrested and subjected to harsh interrogations, in a context in which the Almijara mountains served as a refuge or passage for guerrillas.

Why were so many Spanish farmhouses in the Axarquia abandoned in the 20th century?

As happened with dozens of mountain cortijos in the Axarquia, abandonment came in the second half of the 20th century. Emigration to the coast, the decline of traditional livestock farming and the harshness of life in the mountains led to it being completely uninhabited and eventually reduced to ruins.

The Daire, however, was not to be seen again until decades later. In the early 1990s, the farmhouse and several surrounding plots were purchased by a foreign couple, Karim Navaie, originally from Iran and a British woman named Jane Wilson. The purchase, which according to Oyonarte's research, was closed for some 33 million pesetas, fuelled expectations of a possible rehabilitation or tourist development project.

Administrative difficulties, environmental protection and the complexity of intervening frustrated any initiative.

The plan never materialised. The administrative difficulties, the environmental protection of the surroundings and the complexity of intervening in such an isolated natural space ended up frustrating any initiative. Since then, the farmhouse has remained in the hands of its owners, and has become a silent vestige of the mountain life that shaped these landscapes for centuries.

What is the Cortijo del Daire in Spain's Almijara like in 2026?

Today the Cortijo del Daire is a place of passage for hikers who walk through the Almijara between Malaga and Granada provinces. Its crumbling walls, visible among scrub and pine trees, still evoke a past in which these mountains were inhabited and travelled by shepherds, muleteers and entire families who made the sierra their home. Its owner, according to the researcher, "appears to be currently living in Malaga".
Eugenio Cabezas 16/03/2026 a las 16:19h.

The National Police have deported a 45-year-old repeat offender to his native country (Romania) after studying multiple complaints from residents of the coastal town of Torre del Mar.

Locals said that the man had recently caused damage to several parked vehicles and engaged in aggressive and obscene behaviour. They took to social media to share their complaints.

According to a police statement, the Romanian citizen had been living in the town since 2021. He has a long criminal record for robberies with violence or intimidation, robberies with force, damage and other crimes.

The suspect had been arrested by the police on several occasions, but in order for a deportation to take place, the judicial authorities had to issue an order.

The police had been studying the case since October. The man had numerous open cases in different courts - Velez-Malaga, Malaga city and even Barcelona.

Once the court ordered his deportation, the National Police organised an operation, which culminated with the individual's arrest in February.
Las Campinuelas area of Velez-Malaga where the new desalination plant is to be built.

Eugenio Cabezas 16/03/2026 a las 15:52h.

Deputy prime minister and minister of finance, Maria Jesus Montero, stated during a visit to Torre del Mar on the eastern Costa del Sol on Friday 13 March that the central government is working towards the aim of being able to start work to the future Axarquia desalination plant by the end of next year.

The project has been declared general national interest and will be built in Velez-Malaga. Montero confirmed that the Ministry will fully fund the project, with a current investment of around 200 million euros, under the agreement signed with the state-owned water company Acuamed and the Axarquia's 'Junta Central de Usuarios', made up of local authorities and farmers.

"From project to reality, this is what we want to see as soon as possible, Montero said, adding that the desalination plant is essential and fundamental for the future of agriculture and the Axarquia's urban water supply. She pointed out that Pedro Sanchezs government has decided to cover its cost even though it is not a direct responsibility of the State.

In her address to farmers and local authorities, the deputy PM explained that the agreement signed between the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Acuamed initially set aside around 170 million euros, but an addendum is currently being processed to increase the total investment to 200 million. That is 200 million euros being contributed by the Spanish government towards this infrastructure, Montero pointed out.

She went on to explain that the administrative process and in particular, the environmental impact assessment is slowing the project down at the moment: It is important that we process all the documents as soon as possible, particularly the environmental assessment, which takes the longest and that Acuamed makes progress on drafting the project so that we can start the work as soon as possible, she said.

In this context, she has set a target for work to begin next year, or by the end of next year if that is not possible, immediately thereafter, provided that procedures can be streamlined.

In earlier statements to the media, the minister claimed that the central government is replacing the Andalusian regional government by taking on a desalination plant which, in her view, should be led by the regional government, suggesting that Juanma Morenos government is saving more than 200 million euros.

Montero went on to say, "the Regional Government has contributed nothing, not even land that would allow us to build the desalination plant and speed up the start of the work. She pointed out that the State has invested over 500 million in water infrastructure in Andalucia  750 million including European funds  and is preparing a 2.2 billion euro plan up to 2028.

The preliminary design for the Axarquia desalination plant envisages a facility in the Las Campinuelas area of Velez-Malaga, on land that has already been set aside and is in the process of being transferred, next to the A-7 motorway. The facility will provide an initial volume of 25 million cubic metres of desalinated water per year for irrigation and domestic supply, expandable to 50, in coordination with the reclaimed water network and connections to Malaga city.
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Juan Cano Malaga 16/03/2026 a las 15:13h.

The Guardia Civil arrested a dangerous fugitive wanted by the French authorities in Torremolinos on Sunday morning.

The residents of the town woke up to a large-scale police deployment on 15 March. After months of work, land police patrols and helicopters joined efforts to find the fugitive, who they had located in the Costa del Sol.

The suspect is of French nationality and North African origin. The French justice system has been trying to locate and detain him for a while, considering him to be a dangerous criminal.

This operation joins a series of successful arrest stories that various units of the Spanish police have achieved.

At the end of last year, the National Police in Malaga city arrested a 51-year-old Italian citizen on suspcion of sexual assault on a minor. The Italian authorities had issued a European arrest warrant for him.

Around the same time, the National Police also arrested a 47-year-old Montenegrin fugitive in Fuengirola. He had an international arrest warrant for murder. The search was difficult, because he was reportedly using 17 different identities to evade the police.
TEHRAN, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi has said that the country is not asking for a ceasefire or negotiations with the United States, stating that Tehran is prepared to defend itself "as long as it takes" against what he described as an "illegal war."

In an interview with CBS News aired Sunday, Araghchi rejected claims that Iran has sought an end to hostilities.

"We never asked for a ceasefire, and we have never asked even for negotiations. We are ready to defend ourselves as long as it takes," said the minister.

He noted that Iran will continue its operations until U.S. President Donald Trump "comes to the point that this is an illegal war with no victory."

"We don't see any reason why we should talk with Americans, because we were talking with them when they decided to attack us, and that was for the second time," Araghchi added.

As for the Strait of Hormuz, the minister stressed that Iran has not closed this waterway. "This is up to our military to decide, and they have already decided to let a group of vessels belongs to different countries to pass," he noted.

Speaking about the nuclear issue, Araghchi reiterated that Tehran has never sought nuclear weapons.

Revealing that Iran had agreed to dilute its enriched uranium during pre-attack talks with the United States, the minister said that those enriched materials are now "under the rubble" following strikes on its nuclear facilities. "Everything is under the rubble," he said, adding that Iran has no current plans to recover enriched uranium stockpiles from the damaged sites. 
Jose Antonio Sau 16/03/2026 a las 16:01h.

A total of 5,700 healthcare workers in Malaga province are set to participate in yet another strike against the 'statute framework' this week. The demonstration will run from 16 to 20 March, impacting thousands of consultations, tests, appointments and scheduled surgeries.

The Satse, FSS-CCOO, UGT and CSIF unions have already signed an agreement with the Ministry of Health, but the major doctors' unions in Andalucia and Malaga (SMA and SMM) are against the statute framework and its conditions. Many doctors feel like the negotiations have taken place without their representatives.

In addition to the five-day strike in Malaga, Seville is organising a large demonstration on 18 March to demand "a statute framework of their own". After this, the unions will keep organising rallies (27 to 30 April; 18 to 22 May; 15 to 19 June), until the Ministry of Health gives in.

As the president of the SMM union told SUR during the last strike, "on-call hours that don't count towards social security contributions add between five and seven years of extra working life" for doctors. In other words, if a normal working life is 38 years, they can reach 45 without that on-call time counting towards their pension. This calculation applies as long as those on-call hours are converted to regular working hours.

Doctors share feeling of "neglect"

"We are united in the fight against the neglect shown by politicians and the Ministry of Health when it comes to improving the conditions and addressing the demands of doctors," the head of the SMM said, describing the treatment by the government as despicable.

He criticised other unions for holding negotiations on their behalf with the government and highlighted that, of the 20,000 doctors in the public sector in Andalucia, the unions organising the strike represent 15,000.

Another key issue for doctors is 24-hour on-call shifts. "On top of that, they are paid less than a normal working day. I won't even get into on-call duty from home - it's a disgrace. You're paid at half rate and if you are called in to work you are then paid as if you were physically present, but the next day you still have to carry on with your normal schedule. It's exploitation, the system cannot keep running on the exploitation of doctors," he said.

Doctors demand their own statute framework, an end to 24-hour shifts and that overtime count towards retirement.

"Other professional groups work shifts and they have rest periods and complete their normal working day, but doctors end up spending five or six years of their working lives on on-call duty," he said.

According to the regional government, about a quarter of doctors in the Andalusian public health service took part in the indefinite strike in February. However, the SMM says participation reached 50 per cent in primary care and more than 80 per cent in public hospitals in the province.

Demands

President of the Malaga union of physicians Pedro Navarro said at the latest demonstration that the dispute is not about privileges but about creating a specific statute to regulate the medical profession.

Dr Navarro demanded "professional classification". "Our profession requires six years of university training, one year of residency and four or five years of specialisation, yet we are on the same level as other healthcare workers that do not require the same level of training, responsibility or time," he said.

He also described the pay system as outdated, noting that the most significant supplement comes from on-call shifts. "That means that when a colleague is on sick leave or holiday, their salary drops because they are not doing on-call duty."

Dr Navarro also said that 24-hour shifts are "inhumane", stating that a doctor "cannot operate at 4am as they can at 8am or 10am".
Antonio M. Romero Malaga 16/03/2026 Actualizado a las 11:21h.

SUR has returned to Malaga province's Ronda district to visit the residents of villages who had to leave their homes due to the floods that ravaged Andalucia in February.

One month after their return, they are still waiting for some of their neighbours to return and assessing the damage to homes, businesses and the countryside.

The Serrania de Ronda was among the areas of the region worst hit by the storms. Local authorities are now processing aid from the central and regional governments as well as from the provincial authority to help the municipalities recover.

The scale of the damage in the Ronda area of Malaga province The Serrania de Ronda was among the worst-hit areas in Andalucia during the February storms. While the immediate fear of the Guadiaro river and the Montejaque dam overflowing has subsided, the financial and structural impact is only now being fully realised. Ronda Municipality: Damage estimated at 5 million, particularly in rural areas like La Indiana and Llano de la Cruz. Cartajima: Infrastructure and warehouse damage totalling 3.5 million. Benaojan: Losses estimated at 3 million. Jimera de Libar: Repairs valued at 150,000.



The inhabitants of the district still feel fresh the fear they lived with in early February: the increased flow of the Guadiaro river, the Montejaque dam on the verge of overflowing and the underground water rumble that felt like an earthquake.

The residents of Ronda, who sheltered the evacuees from the village of Grazalema (Cadiz province) during the storm, are mostly concerned about the road infrastructure in the municipality. According to the town hall, the damages amount to five million euros.

Transport and road closures in the Serrania de Ronda update MA-8405: Linking the MA-7402 and Los Villalones (remains closed). MA-8306: (A-369 to Benalauria) Closed to heavy traffic. MA-7402: (A-374 to Acinipo) Work is currently paused pending an archaeological assessment near the Acinipo site. Note for travellers: Cartajima currently only has one accessible road, which is unsuitable for large vehicles.



The impact of the storms is particularly noticeable in the rural areas of La Indiana and Llano de la Cruz, close to the Guadalevin and Guadalcobacin riverbeds, and the districts of Puerto Sauco and Los Villalones, near the Acinipo archaeological site.

The village with the highest number of evacuees was Estacion de Benaojan, where some 200 people had to leave due to the rising of the Guadiaro river if the Montejaque dam overflowed.

There are several families who are yet to return to their homes in Cartajima (nine families) and Cortes de la Frontera (one).

Damaged access

Cartajima suffered significant damage valued at 3.5 million euros. The main impact has been on municipal infrastructure and industrial warehouses. A wall in the cemetery has also collapsed and the village currently has only one access road, through which large vehicles cannot enter.

In Cortes de la Frontera, rural roads are the most damaged. The Los Alcornocales natural park has also borne the brunt.

One of the houses in Benaojan that was flooded during the storm. (Salvador Salas)

According to estimates, the damage in Benaojan amounts to three million euros. The government sub-delegation has locally set up an office to process aid applications.

Mayor of Jimera de Libar Francisco Javier Lobo hopes that the aid from public administrations will arrive "soon" so that they can start working on repairs worth 150,000 euros.

The storm has also left unique sights such as the full Montejaque dam or the 20 water springs in Jimera de Libar, which have turned into a tourist attraction.
This photo taken on March 15, 2026 shows the headquarters of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris, France, venue for the new round of China-US economic and trade talks. [Photo/Xinhua]

The ongoing trade talks between China and the United States in France carry great importance for sustaining the hard-won stability achieved by the world's two largest economies over the past year, analysts said.

To this end, the analysts said, both Beijing and Washington need to act in good faith and meet each other halfway to seek more common ground rather than creating new obstacles, and this will serve the interests of both countries and help the world economy.

Vice-Premier He Lifeng is leading the Chinese delegation in discussions with his US counterparts on economic and trade issues of mutual concern, from Saturday to Tuesday.

The talks represent the sixth round of bilateral economic and trade consultations following previous rounds conducted between May and October last year that helped pull the relationship back from the brink of escalating trade conflict.

The previous trade talks reached considerable points of consensus, but some of these understandings have not yet been transformed into formal outcomes, a situation that requires joint efforts to address, said Zhou Mi, a senior researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.

Zhou also said that the current talks might focus on how to properly handle US unilateral measures and consolidate mutual trust.

The Trump administration has sought to maintain leverage through alternative mechanisms after the US Supreme Court struck down the administration's broad presidential tariff authorities last month. Just days before the talks began in France, Washington launched Section 301 trade investigations into various trading partners, including China.

The new round of trade talks will help "set the tone for the future direction of US trade policy" after the Supreme Court decision, said Cassey Lee, senior fellow and coordinator of the Regional Economic Studies Programme at the ISEASYusof Ishak Institute in Singapore.

A report in February from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said that roughly 90 percent of the economic burden from the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration last year was shouldered by US consumers and businesses, as opposed to foreign exporters.

He Weiwen, a senior fellow at the Center for China and Globalization in Beijing, said that "the common interests between China and the US are immense  far exceeding the tariff game". Both nations have much to gain from collaboration in frontier technologies such as open-source artificial intelligence, robotics and green transition, he added.

Last week, national lawmakers approved the outline of China's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30), vowing continued openness to global businesses, including those from the US, that seek to participate in the country's development.

China has a stable and predictable environment for business investment and cooperation, but it requires genuine commitment from the US to ensure that this can be extended into their shared areas of cooperation in manufacturing, technology industries and services, said Daryl Guppy, an international financial technical analyst.

Yang Han in Hong Kong and Xin Xin in Sydney contributed to this story.
Cloud infrastructure has become the backbone of modern digital services, and organizations now face a crucial cloud infrastructure comparison when choosing between Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP).

In this landscape, AWS vs Azure is often the central question, with Google Cloud emerging as a third contender focused on data and AI. A clear understanding of each provider's strengths helps technology leaders match platforms to current needs and long-term goals.

What Is Cloud Infrastructure and Why It Matters

Cloud infrastructure combines compute, storage, networking, and platform services to run applications without on-premises hardware.

In any cloud infrastructure comparison, these building blocks determine scalability, reliability, and cost. AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud all cover similar fundamentals, but they differ in service breadth, ecosystem integration, and pricing approaches.

For many enterprises, the AWS vs Azure decision starts with existing investments. Organizations heavily reliant on Microsoft technologies lean toward Azure because of its integration with Windows Server, Active Directory, and Microsoft 365.

Companies with more diverse stacks or early cloud adoption histories often lean toward AWS, drawn to its maturity, service depth, and extensive partner ecosystem. Google Cloud typically enters the conversation for analytics-heavy, Kubernetes-centric, or AI-first workloads.

Market Leadership and Ecosystem

AWS was first to market and still enjoys a reputation as the most mature hyperscaler with a vast service catalog, global coverage, and a rich third-party marketplace. This maturity gives AWS an edge for organizations that want a broad range of managed services and proven patterns.

However, in AWS vs Azure, Azure has rapidly narrowed the gap. Microsoft leverages long-standing enterprise relationships and licensing programs to make Azure attractive to existing customers. Hybrid capabilities and integration with familiar tools add to that appeal.

Google Cloud remains smaller in overall share but is widely recognized for innovations in containers, serverless technologies, and machine learning, making it a strong choice for specialized use cases.

Core Services: Compute, Storage, and Networking

Across compute, storage, and networking, the three providers offer broadly similar capabilities under different names and management models. The real distinctions show up in how these services are packaged, priced, and integrated into the wider ecosystem.

AWS Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2), Azure Virtual Machines, and Google Compute Engine all deliver a range of instance types for general-purpose, compute-optimized, and memory-optimized workloads.

In a detailed AWS vs Azure comparison, AWS often offers more granular instance families and purchasing options, while Azure emphasizes easy integration with Windows-based workloads and enterprise management tools. Google Compute Engine focuses on performance and discounts that reward sustained usage.

Object storage services, AWS S3, Azure Blob Storage, and Google Cloud Storage, enable durable, scalable data storage with tiered pricing for rarely accessed content.

All three also provide block and file storage, as well as networking services such as load balancers, virtual networks, content delivery networks, and private connectivity. While names and configuration styles differ, multi-cloud architectures that span providers are increasingly viable for organizations that are willing to manage the added complexity.

Global Reach, Reliability, and Availability

Geographic coverage and reliability are central to cloud infrastructure comparison. AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud all operate multiple regions and availability zones worldwide, supporting architectures that can tolerate localized failures and respect data residency rules.

In AWS vs Azure, AWS long held a visible lead in number of regions and availability zones, but Azure has expanded quickly, especially in markets where Microsoft already has a deep presence.

Google Cloud continues to grow its footprint, often highlighting high-performance networking and peering. Across all three, high availability depends more on careful use of multi-zone and multi-region designs than on minor SLA differences, so architecture choices significantly influence real-world uptime.

Pricing and Cost Management

Cost is one of the most complex elements in any cloud infrastructure comparison. All three providers offer on-demand pricing, discounts for long-term commitments, and various savings programs. Precise cross-provider comparisons are difficult because of differences in instance definitions, bundled features, and billing models.

From an AWS vs Azure perspective, AWS is known for its granular pricing options, on-demand, reserved instances, and savings plans that can be tuned closely to usage patterns.

Azure offers comparable options and adds hybrid benefits for organizations reusing existing Microsoft licenses, which can materially lower costs for Windows and SQL Server workloads. Google Cloud emphasizes sustained-use and committed-use discounts that automatically reduce rates for continuous workloads.

Cost management tools are available natively on each platform, providing cost dashboards, budgets, and alerts.

Still, the biggest savings usually come from rightsizing resources, shutting down unused services, and designing architectures that minimize data transfer and duplication. Governance and financial operations practices are as important as provider selection for controlling spend over time.

Security, Compliance, and Governance

Security is central in any cloud infrastructure comparison, and AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud all follow a shared responsibility model. Each provider secures its underlying infrastructure while customers manage configurations, identities, and application-level controls.

In the AWS vs Azure discussion, both offer robust identity and access management, encryption, key management, and monitoring tools.

Azure has particular appeal for organizations already using Microsoft identity solutions, while AWS integrates well with a wide range of security partners and open standards. Google Cloud provides mature security capabilities with strong emphasis on zero-trust principles and secure defaults.

All three vendors hold extensive compliance certifications across industries and regions. The deciding factor often becomes how easily each platform's compliance tooling fits into an organization's existing audit and governance processes rather than which has a particular certification.

Hybrid, Multi-Cloud, and Use Cases

As cloud adoption matures, many organizations explore hybrid and multi-cloud strategies. In modern cloud infrastructure comparison, this dimension is increasingly prominent.

Azure's portfolio includes Azure Arc and Azure Stack for managing resources consistently across on-premises and cloud environments. AWS offers Outposts and other integrations for hybrid deployments, while Google Cloud's Anthos focuses on Kubernetes-based multi-cloud management.

Patterns of adoption often mirror each provider's strengths. Microsoft-centric enterprises frequently choose Azure as their primary platform. Startups and digital-native businesses often turn to AWS for its broad capabilities and strong community support.

Organizations that place analytics, big data, or AI at the center of their strategy might favor Google Cloud, sometimes alongside one of the other providers.

Cloud Infrastructure Comparison: Finding the Best Fit

For organizations evaluating platforms today, a structured cloud infrastructure comparison is more useful than focusing on marketing claims or simple AWS vs Azure rankings.

A practical decision framework considers existing technology stacks, team skills, regulatory requirements, cost expectations, and strategic priorities. Azure tends to align well with Microsoft-heavy enterprises, AWS suits teams seeking maximum service breadth and flexibility, and Google Cloud excels in data and AI-centric scenarios.

In practice, the best cloud is the one that supports current workloads efficiently while leaving room to evolve. Some organizations will standardize on one provider for simplicity, while others will use multiple platforms to gain specific capabilities or reduce dependency on any single vendor.

By treating the decision as a long-term cloud infrastructure comparison rather than a one-time purchase, technology leaders can design an environment that remains adaptable, secure, and cost-aware as their needs change.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Can a business switch from AWS to Azure or vice versa?

Yes, but it can be complex. The effort depends on how many proprietary services (like managed databases or serverless functions) are used and how tightly they're integrated.

2. Is multi-cloud always better than choosing a single provider?

No. Multi-cloud can improve resilience and flexibility, but it adds operational complexity, higher management overhead, and skill requirements that not every team can support.

3. Do small businesses really need a full cloud infrastructure comparison?

Not always in depth. Smaller teams often benefit more from choosing the platform that best matches their existing tools and skills rather than over-optimizing across three providers.

4. Are certifications necessary to manage AWS or Azure effectively?

They're not mandatory, but certifications help teams learn best practices, reduce mistakes in production, and speak a common language when designing and operating cloud environments.
BEIRUT, March 16 (Xinhua) -- At least seven people, including two children and two paramedics, were killed on Monday in a series of Israeli airstrikes across southern Lebanon, Lebanese officials said.

In the village of Qantara in the Marjayoun district, an airstrike killed four civilians, including two children, the Emergency Operations Center of Lebanon's Public Health Ministry said in a statement. In Kfar Sir, Nabatieh district, a strike on a house killed one person. When an ambulance from the Islamic Health Authority responded, a second strike hit the same location, killing two paramedics and wounding another, the National News Agency reported.

Hezbollah said it launched a rocket salvo targeting an Israeli troop gathering near the settlement of Kfar Yuval. The group also accused Israel of deliberately striking civilian and medical facilities across southern Lebanon. Party media official Salman Har said Israeli attacks hit civil defense facilities and emergency vehicles in Tyre and the villages of Tayr Debba and Qalaouiyeh.

Hezbollah first fired rockets from Lebanon toward Israel on March 2, marking the first such attack since a ceasefire was declared on Nov. 27, 2024. Israel responded with an intensive military campaign targeting Hezbollah positions in southern and eastern Lebanon, as well as in the southern suburbs of Beirut.

Earlier on Monday, the IDF said it had launched "targeted" ground operations in southern Lebanon, which Hezbollah said it was fighting fiercely. 
Spain court rejects trial for ex-govt leader over deadly 2024 floods



Barcelona, March 16 (AFP) Mar 16, 2026



A Spanish court on Monday rejected a bid to put Valencia's former regional president on trial over his handling of deadly 2024 floods, ruling there was no evidence of a legal violation.

Carlos Mazon, a member of the conservative Popular Party (PP), resigned in November 2025 after intense scrutiny over his actions on the day of the disaster, when authorities delayed sending mobile alerts while he spent hours having lunch with a journalist.

Judge Nuria Ruiz Tobarra, who is investigating the regional government's response, had recommended trying Mazon with negligence, saying his decision to "retreat to a private dining room when faced with an extremely serious situation" was "a decisive factor in the deadly human toll".

The judge referred the case to the Superior Court of Justice of Valencia, which has the authority to prosecute Mazon because he retains legal protections as a member of the regional parliament.

The court said Monday that Mazon violated no emergency management law, which does not assign specific duties to the regional president.

The decision can be appealed and does not prevent the judge from continuing her investigation and from making future prosecution requests.

In addition to claiming 230 lives, thousands of homes were damaged across the Mediterranean region when a year's worth of rain fell in just a few hours on Oct. 29, 2024.

Families of victims of Spain's deadliest natural disaster in a generation expressed outrage at a state funeral a year later, shouting "murderer" and "coward" as Mazon arrived.
France threatens to block funds for India over climate inaction



Brussels, Belgium, March 16 (AFP) Mar 16, 2026



France warned Monday it could block the disbursement of climate funds to India under a recent trade deal with the EU if New Delhi does not up its game in fighting global warming.

France's ecological transition minister Monique Barbut told AFP the European Union should take a firmer stance against climate inaction and favour a "more transactional" approach in negotiations with emerging economies.

As an example, she singled out India, which signed a major trade deal with Brussels in January.

Under the accord, the EU is to pay 500 million euros ($574 million) to support India's green transition, she said.

"I am not in favour of such funding until India submits a Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) in accordance with its commitments and it adopts a slightly different approach towards the European Union in climate negotiations," she said.

NDCs are country plans to cut planet-warming emissions, which signatories to the 2015 Paris climate agreement have to submit every five years.

More than 60 countries, including major recipients of climate finance -- such as India, Egypt and the Philippines -- are yet to produce their latest version, having failed to meet a United Nations deadline last year.

India is the world's third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, after China and the United States.

More broadly, Barbut said Brussels had to take a tougher stance in climate negotiations, with a "more strategic and also more transactional approach".

"This clearly means: 'We only pay if you act'," she said in an interview, adding she had laid out her concerns in a message to the European Commission.

"Europe should only provide financial support to countries that themselves make credible commitments within the framework of the Paris Agreement."

EU climate ministers are due to discuss the 27-nation bloc's climate diplomacy during a meeting in Brussels on Tuesday.
JOHANNESBURG, March 16 (Xinhua) -- South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday warned that inefficiencies in the country's transport infrastructure are constraining economic growth, as the sector is vital to boosting competitiveness and inclusive development.

Addressing the inaugural National Transport Conference at Gallagher Estate in Johannesburg, Ramaphosa said that current logistics inefficiencies cost the South African economy about 1 billion rand (about 59.6 million U.S. dollars) per day.

"The transport sector is integral to our effort to make economic growth work for everyone," he said, adding that it is about unlocking opportunity, restoring competitiveness, reducing inequality and enabling inclusive growth.

Ramaphosa also noted rising geopolitical tensions, particularly in the Middle East, which have driven Brent crude oil prices above 100 dollars a barrel.

"The geopolitical environment is shifting rapidly. Old trade routes are being redrawn, and supply chains reconfigured," he said, adding that several African nations are now investing heavily in rail infrastructure to adapt.

The conference follows years of state efforts to repair a transport system severely degraded by criminal activity. Key priorities include addressing inefficiencies at ports and modernizing the rail network to facilitate smoother exports.

Ramaphosa said that 69 percent of the country's freight is currently moved by road rather than rail, a shift that places significant strain on roads and contributes to poor road safety.

He said that the National Rail Policy of 2022 and the National Freight Logistics Roadmap of 2023 are central to attracting private sector investment while keeping rail and port assets under state ownership.

"Building on the experience of our response to the energy crisis, the National Logistics Crisis Committee has brought together government departments and agencies, mobilizing expert support to drive the recovery of our logistics capabilities," he added. 
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The Tate has announced its 2027 programme of exhibitions, including the Tate Modern's first exhibition from France's leading impressionist, an installation celebrating David Hockney's 90th birthday, and the reopening of the company's Liverpool gallery.

The popular London gallery is currently in a state of flux; the Tate's first woman director in its 128-year history Maria Balshaw steps down from her role this month after nine years, with Karin Hindsbo taking on the role of interim director until the next director is appointed.

On Monday (16 March), the Tate announced the shows that would grace their walls next year, ranging from legendary and influential painters like Claude Monet and Edvard Munch to acclaimed contemporary artists, such as Lynda Benglis and Chila Kumari Singh Burman.

open image in gallery Hockney's 90th birthday will be celebrated at both the Tate Modern and Britain ( Handout )

Commenting on the 2027 programme, Hindsbo  a Danish art historian temporarily stepping up from her role as the Tate's deputy director  said: This is an exhibition programme that only Tate could deliver.

It spans the centuries, from the 1500s to the present day, and it spans the globe, from Europe to Asia, Africa and America. Even more importantly, the programme reflects a deep appreciation of artists themselves  All these exhibitions showcase the many different ways that artists think and work, and their unique ability to inspire and move us.

The main feature at the Tate Modern is Monet: Painting Time (25 February to 27 June 2027), the Tate Moderns first exhibition solely to focus on Monet's work. Drawing on new research, the show will centre on the artists relationship with time at the dawn of the industrial age, and will feature works of his rarely seen works.

There will also be a new exhibition from The Scream painter Edvard Munch (11 November 2027 to 23 April 2028), looking at the Norwegian artist's work through the lens of cinema and visual storytelling.

open image in gallery The Munch exhibition will run at the Tate Modern ( Handout )

Another of the programme's most prominent exhibitions is simply titled Ink (22 April to 30 August 2027), and focuses on the enduring and profoundly philosophical practice of ink painting in 20th century Asia.

With 2027 marking British artist Hockney's 90th birthday, the Tate will celebrate his career twice. A multimedia installation will be staged in the Turbine Hall in the summer, while a career-spanning retrospective featuring more than 200 works will run at the Tate Britain in the autumn (7 October 2027 to 20 February 2028).

Other solo exhibitions at the Tate Modern will centre on artists spanning the world over: Indian multidisciplinary artist Nalini Malani (1 July 2027 to 3 January 2028), Algerian painter Baya (10 June to 17 October 2027) and American sculptor Lynda Benglis (30 September 2027 to 5 March 2028).

Over at the Tate Britain in 2027, there will be exhibitions focusing on the work of Sonia Boyce (24 March to 22 August 2027) and Gainsborough (20 May to 10 October 2027), as well as the Tate's first major presentation of Tudor art in 30 years (18 November 2027 to 23 April 2028).

open image in gallery Work by Sonia Boyce ( Handout )

The year will also see the completion of the reinvented Tate Liverpool, which reopens with a solo exhibition from British artist Burman, whose work addresses self-representation, feminism and her Hindu Punjabi heritage.

The Tate St Ives will feature the first UK museum survey from textile artist Gulnur Mukazhanova (May to September 2027), featuring existing pieces and site-responsive work of her large scale felt installations.

The museum will also feature an exhibition from the Turner Prize (21 October 2027 to 23 January 2028) for the first time.
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Javier Bardem has criticised Hollywood's stars over the lack of activism at Sunday (15 March) night's Academy Awards.

The film world's brightest stars gathered last night for a celebration of the year in movie-making, with Sinners and One Battle After Another being the big winners of the night.

When it came to outright political statements, however, the Oscars were a far more muted affair, compared to earlier events in the awards season such as the Golden Globes and Grammys where stars sported pin badges with the slogans Be Good (a reference to Renee Nicole Good, who was killed by ICE agents in January) and ICE Out.

open image in gallery Bardem wore a patch with the phrase 'no a la guerra' ( Getty Images )

Never one to shy away from making a political statement, however, was Javier Bardem, who wore a patch reading no a la guerra  which is no to war in Spanish. Later on, while presenting the award for Best International Feature film, he declared: No to war and free Palestine.

Speaking to The Independent backstage at the Academy Awards, the Spanish film star suggested that those in Hollywood were too comfortable to speak out.

I think it's comfortable-ness, he said. I think they don't want to feel, themselves, uncomfortable. And that makes me uncomfortable; me and many others.

open image in gallery Wearing the keffiyeh in September ( AFP via Getty Images )

Bardem, 57, continued: When I said free Palestine in the room, in that theatre, the room broke [out] in a round of applause. So there is support, there is a lot of people supporting it, but it's not loud enough.

That's what I try to inspire. Like, Guys, it's OK. You can be part of the community of film-making, and also be a citizen, and it's OK.' One thing should be OK with the other.

Bardem has long been outspoken on the Palestinian cause. While appearing on US daytime talk show The View in June, the star said that he suffers on a daily basis due to what he saw happening in Gaza, only for the show to cut to an advert break.

open image in gallery Bardem presented with Priyanka Chopra Jonas ( Getty Images )

Last month, Bardem was one of 81 artists to sign an open letter addressed to the organisers of the Berlin Film Festival, questioning the institutional silence on the genocide of Palestinians.

Earlier in the festival, Berlinale president Wim Wenders had argued that filmmakers should avoid making political statements and "stay out of politics.

There were still some political statements at this year's Oscars. The filmmakers behind The Voice of Hind Rajab, which was nominated for Best International Feature Film, wore a new red Artists4Ceasefire pin on the red carpet. The docudrama follows efforts to rescue a Palestinian girl killed in Gaza.

The patch worn by Bardem was one the actor first wore to protest the Iraq war more than two decades ago.
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Kerry-born Jessie Buckley has made history, becoming the first Irish actress to win the Oscar for Best Actress.

Her family expressed immense pride after her triumph on Sunday night for her role as William Shakespeares wife Agnes Hathaway, historically known as Anne,

While Buckleys parents and three sisters attended the ceremony in Los Angeles, approximately 60 relatives and friends gathered in the family's hotel and bar in Kerry to watch the 98th Academy Awards unfold.

Her cousin, Brendan Fuller, remarked that the room was filled with people who had been part of "Jessies journey", some of whom he had not seen since her appearance on the BBC show Id Do Anything in 2008.

It was like a carnival from the get go, he told the Press Association.

It was like a reunion and get together, and there was tuxedos and dresses and glitz and glam and everything.

open image in gallery Jessie Buckley became the first Irish actress to win the Oscar for best actress ( AP )

Asked if there were nerves as the ceremony went on, he responded: There was so much confidence ahead of the Oscars. Im always more of a realist and a pessimist.

Theres Rose Byrne, theres Emma Stone, theres these incredible actors who did incredibly well, and throughout the night youre seeing these unbelievable performances and movies who are nominated but dont get the award.

It just got shakier and shakier in the room, it went from chatter to kind of a bit more of a simmer down. The best actor award was just beforehand, and then it was really just tense and quiet and nervy.

When it was announced, I heard it was her name, Jess Buckley, but I was still trying to look around people to make sure it was her that was getting up off her seat.

(Youre) trying to soak it all in, but it doesnt actually land at all, at all, I think it, I wont believe it until Im holding Oscar  no pressure Jessie.

open image in gallery Fiona Crowley from the Fiona Crowley Stage School is pictured at the Arbutus Hotel in Killarney to celebrate Jessie Buckley ( Lina Jevdet/PA Wire )

As media gathered outside the family Arbutus hotel in Killarney, people stopped to shake Mr Fullers hand  with some slowing down their drive to ask him how Jessie did at the awards.

Fiona Crowley, who runs a stage school in Killarney that Jessie Buckley worked at while a student, said that her win is huge for younger people.

She said boys and girls can look up to people like Jessie and say God, maybe I could do that, but also know it is okay to be normal on the global stage.

open image in gallery (Left to right) Fiona Crowley from Fiona Crowley Stage School and Mary Woodcock O'Sullivan, former principal and class teacher of Jessie Buckley at Loreto National School following the unveiling of the new Jessie Buckley mural ( Lina Jevdet/PA Wire )

I think thats really important and I think thats a really good thing.

I think thats really important for people to see you can be a mom, you can be somebody who is young, whos vibrant, but who has lived a life going in different directions, and yet you can still be yourself.

You dont have to have a fake accent, you dont have to have a fake body, you dont have to have a fake persona. You can actually just be yourself and isnt that what shines in the end.

Marie Moloney, deputy chair of Kerry County Council, said they were so, so proud of her.

Ms Moloney, who is a lifetime member of the Killarney Musical Society, said she had known Jessie Buckley since she was a young girl.

open image in gallery Jessie Buckley won an Oscar for her role in Hamnet ( Evan Agostini/Invision/AP )

She joined the childrens chorus at Killarney Musical Society back in the year 2000 when she was about 10 years of age, she told PA.

Subsequently, she came back and she auditioned for a lead role in Carousel and got the lead lead role, went on to receive a nomination for her acting in that role, and won that category with the Association of Irish Musical Societies.

We feel that we gave her a little kickstart in life, brought her into the world of nominations and awards.

The Jessie Buckley you see on the Oscar stage, or on any stage is the Jessie Buckley that left Killarney 18 years ago to go into that big world of acting. And she has not changed that one bit.

Shes still the Jessie Buckley we all love and adore, and she was always so friendly, so kind and so full of fun, and as Ive said several times to other people, a little bit of devilment thrown in there, too.

open image in gallery Marie Moloney, deputy chair of Kerry County Council, said they were 'so, so proud' of Oscar winner Jessie Buckley ( Lina Jevdet/PA Wire )

She said her Oscars speech made her very emotional and said it was a beautiful tribute for women and to mothers all around the world.

She added: It just goes to show that if you have the belief and the passion and the will to do it (and) hard work, you can achieve that.

All the young boys and girls that are looking on now and seeing what Jessie has achieved might be saying to themselves, well, Id like to do that, and I can do that. If she can do it, I can do it.

She said a civic reception has been approved for Jessie Buckleys return to the town.
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White House Communications Director Steven Cheung has lashed out at Jimmy Kimmel after he mocked First Lady Melania Trumps new Amazon documentary at the Oscars.

Kimmel, presenting the award for Best Documentary, took to the stage in Los Angeles on Sunday night and said, without even having to invoke President Donald Trump by name: Oh man, is he gonna be mad his wife wasnt nominated for this.

Cheung duly took to X (Twitter) to berate the stand-up comic, well known for ridiculing Trump on his nightly talk show, responding: Jimmy Kimmel (Mr. Blackface) is a classless hack who is self-projecting his depression and sadness onto others.

He lives a pathetic existence where nobody  not even his family  enjoys his miserable company. The only people giving him any attention are Hollywood Elites. BUH-BYE!

open image in gallery Jimmy Kimmel joked about Melanias new Amazon documentary at the Oscars, saying it largely consisted of its subject walking around the White House trying on shoes ( AFP/Getty )

The West Wing aide was alluding to Kimmels earlier apology for doing impressions of Black celebrities like Oprah Winfrey and Snoop Dogg.

Other members of the MAGA community sharing clips of the joke and fuming included Benny Johnson, who called Kimmel: Trump Derangement Syndrome patient zero. So pathetic.

Another person branded the host a Trump Deranged crybaby and the most broken man on planet Earth! and a third described him as an insufferable TDS-deranged p**** and raged against woke Hollywood and its refusal to nominate a Daily Wire film entitled What is a Woman as further evidence of liberal bias at work.

Elsewhere in his speech, Kimmel joked that Melania, for which Amazon spent a reported $40 million in acquiring the rights and another $35 million promoting, largely consisted of its subject walking around the White House trying on shoes, leading another MAGA commentator to accuse him of showing his misogynistic side.

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The prize Kimmel was presenting ultimately went to the Russian documentary Mr. Nobody Against Putin, about a schoolteachers growing disgust at the incursion of state propaganda into his classroom amid the war in Ukraine.

As you know, there are some countries whose leaders dont support free speech, the host observed. Im not at liberty to say which. Lets just leave it at North Korea and CBS.

open image in gallery Melanias film had a brief theatrical run but is now up for streaming on Prime Video ( Getty )

Attending the Vanity Fair afterparty, Kimmel told a reporter he was exhausted from having to joke about Trump in his opening monologue every night.

We live in a ridiculous country, he said. We always lived in a ridiculous country, but it was always ridiculous in a fun, Mr. T kinda way. Now weve got a different Mr. T.

Kimmel famously hosted the 2024 Oscars ceremony and read aloud a Truth Social post from Trump attacking him, to which he responded by asking the then-presidential candidate, Isnt it past your jailtime?

Kimmel also derided Melania on his show earlier this month, joking: Between this and Sinners, its been a big year for vampire movies.

And while some might say that it is not a great look to be plugging your vanity project while your husbands bombing another country, Melania has never cared much about optics. She cant even pronounce optics.

More than anything, this documentary is dreadfully dull. The whole thing is Melania going to fittings, riding in a car, trying on clothes, and interviewing people to work for her.
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Beyond the glittering spectacle broadcast to millions, the Academy Awards unfold a different, more candid drama behind the scenes. During commercial breaks, the Dolby Theatre transforms into a flurry of activity: a dash to network, offer congratulations, or perhaps a quiet word of consolation. For some, its an opportunity to slip away to the renowned lobby bar, momentarily out of the public eye.

The Associated Press was present inside the Dolby Theatre at Sunday's 98th Oscars, observing these untelevised moments. While many A-listers notoriously leave their red carpet arrival until just 30 minutes before showtime, live television, unlike a film premiere, famously waits for no one.

And it can be a helpful excuse when, say, youre Paul Mescal and you dont want to do the glambot. Sorry, I dont have time, he said politely. But as he made his way up the stairs to the Dolby Theatre with girlfriend Gracie Abrams by his side, she laughed and snarked you sure you dont want to do the glambot?

A Hudson/Hawn/Russell Oscars

Early in the show, after Conan OBriens opening bit, Kate Hudson made her way to the lobby bar during a commercial break where she was soon joined by Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell. She had a brief moment of panic that she might be needed in the auditorium and found a nearby staffer who eased her worries as they looked over the schedule on an iPad.

open image in gallery Danny Fujikawa, left, and Kate Hudson in the audience during the Oscars on Sunday, March 15, 2026, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Im good! she said as she made her way back to her mom and Russell and the three continued chatting.

They stayed close all evening. As they made their way out of the auditorium after the show, Hudson, who did not win the best actress prize, was still in good spirits and excitedly congratulated Michael B. Jordan on his win. Later, Kieran Culkin stopped Hawn and Russell and said it was really cool watching you interact with your daughter.

Drinks for the stars

Part of the fun of the lobby bar experience is getting a little glimpse into what the stars like to drink. After the absent Sean Penn took the best supporting actor prize, Jacob Elordi made his way to the bar with his mom, keeping her close with an arm around her shoulder. He chose a nice tequila, Don Julio 1942, with a bit of ice and lime.

open image in gallery Australian actor Jacob Elordi attends the 98th Annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California on March 15, 2026. (Photo by ANGELA WEISS / AFP via Getty Images) ( AFP/Getty )

In another part of the room, Nicole Kidman laughed and socialized while sipping champagne. Nearby, Jessie Buckley was doing the same. Mescal chose a pink colored tequila drink, while Abrams opted for champagne.

Nick Jonas held two bottled waters and a mixed tequila drink in his hand, which he sipped slowly. But it seems he or someone else wanted a vodka drink, which a kind server checked on and informed him that there was none to be offered. He thanked her and made his way back to the bar to leave a cash tip.

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open image in gallery Elle Fanning, from left, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, and Nick Jonas in the audience during the Oscars on Sunday, March 15, 2026, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Some stars werent drinking though. Domnhall Gleeson snacked on Hershey kisses with almonds, while Heated Rivalry star Hudson Williams ate a single sliced cucumber.

Emma Stone has another dress incident

Ok, so this one wasnt quite as dramatic, or public, as Emma Stone telling the Oscars audience and millions watching from home that her dress broke as she accepted her best actress Oscar for Poor Things, but Stone had another minor dress incident in the lobby. While chatting with Bugonia screenwriter Will Tracy and his date, she lost her diamond ring which had affixed itself to the back of her gown.

open image in gallery Emma Stone appears in the audience during the Oscars on Sunday, March 15, 2026, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

The woman with Tracy performed a delicate operation to remove the ring, dress unscathed and get it back on Stones middle finger.

Afterparty planning

Much of the chatter outside of the show revolved around what people were doing after, and complaints about not being on the list for Vanity Fair, which culled its invites this year in an effort to make it more exclusive.

open image in gallery Jessie Buckley, from left, winner of the award for best actress in a leading role for "Hamnet," Michael B. Jordan, winner of the award for best actor in a leading role for "Sinners," and Amy Madigan, winner of the award for actress in a supporting role for "Weapons," pose in the press room at the Oscars on Sunday, March 15, 2026, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP) ( AP )

Stone made a plan to jump on a big bus with her Bugonia peers and stop by the Universal Pictures party before heading to A24's bash. When asked about Vanity Fair, she said, its so weird, even if youre nominated it doesnt mean you can go.

Family support from the mezzanine

Both Jordan and Buckley made special mention of their families in the audience during their acceptance speeches. Both Jordans father and Buckleys family were seated in the same section  not bad seats by any stretch but a bit out of view of the person on stage.

open image in gallery ( AFP/Getty )

After the wins, many around the families were eager to congratulate them as well.

The Sinners crew sticks together

When the show ended and the One Battle After Another crew lingered on stage, hugging one another and watching, the Sinners group made their way out of the auditorium together. Jordan hugged costume designer Ruth E. Carter, while Joachim Trier found his way to Ryan Coogler to do the same. Ryan and Zinzi Coogler paused to look up at the screen which was already replaying Jordans acceptance speech.

open image in gallery Jessie Buckley, winner of the award for best actress in a leading role for "Hamnet," attends the Governors Ball after the Oscars on Sunday, March 15, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Omar Benson Miller, who played Cornbread, was still processing the night. In the theater and at the bar, the Sinners wins were by far the most enthusiastically celebrated. Though he said he has a tendency to be a sore loser, he still felt the palpable love for their film. Hey, we got a couple! he said.

Scenes from the Governors Ball

The first stop of the night for most is the Governors Ball, just a few escalator rides up from the Dolby. The happiest area was the Warner Bros. One Battle After Another tables where Leonardo DiCaprio, sipping red wine, and Benicio Del Toro, with champagne and not a few small beers, held court with studio executives, including Pamela Abdy. David Zaslav stopped by to chat with DiCaprio too, patting his star on the back. When DiCaprio saw co-star Chase Infiniti approaching the area, he made a gesture that was not entirely dissimilar to his famous cheers from The Great Gatsby.

open image in gallery Leonardo DiCaprio embraces Paul Thomas Anderson as 'One Battle After Another' wins Best Picture at the 2026 Oscars ( Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty Images )

Elsewhere Renate Reinsve ditched her shoes and walked barefoot through the party, which was carpeted. Steven Spielberg told Train Dreams director Clint Bentley about his plans to stop by Vanity Fair and how much he wanted to talk to Paul Thomas Anderson. Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons stayed close to Alicia Silverstone, while Kerry Condon sampled the prime rib.

And Mandy Patinkin sat alone sampling sushi and trying to make a phone call as the music blared. Patinkin said he was honored to be there to support his late friend Rob Reiner.

Rob made a beautiful movie, he said.
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Oscars host Conan OBrien shocked Hollywood A-listers with a paedophile joke seemingly about Jeffrey Epstein and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor during his presentation of the 2026 ceremony.

The TV host and comedian didnt name the duo directly, but he referenced the furore surrounding the Epstein files when he made a point about the absence of any British acting nominees.

For the first time since 2011, there are no British actors nominated, OBrien said, adding: But at least they arrest the paedophiles over there.

The crowd didnt seem to know how to react to the joke, with shock seeming to ripple across the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. However, applause then broke out.

Millions of files related to the case of Epstein were unveiled in January, linking the convicted paedophile to world figures, including Bill Gates and US president Donald Trump.

But it was disgraced royal former Prince Andrew  full name Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor  who was arrested in February 2026 on suspicion of misconduct in public office. Investigators are trying to determine if Andrew sent sensitive government information to Epstein.

open image in gallery Conan OBriens joke shocked audiences at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles ( ITV )

When the initial wave of emails was released in November 2025, the US president was mentioned and, in one email, Epstein claimed Trump knew about the girls.

Trump told reporters that he knows nothing about the emails. The president has consistently denied any wrongdoing and has characterised efforts to release the full files as a hoax. He has not been accused of criminal wrongdoing, and an appearance in the Epstein files does not suggest otherwise.

In January, comedian Nikki Glaser also made a joke about the Epstein files during the Golden Globes.

Directing her attention to the high-profile crowd, which included stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Julia Roberts, Glaser admitted that she couldnt believe the amount of star power we have in this room tonight.

She continued: Its insane. Theres so many A-listers. And by A lists, I do mean people who are on A lists that have been heavily redacted.

open image in gallery Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor after being arrested in February ( Reuters )

The 2026 Oscars saw One Battle After Another take home Best Picture and Best Director for Paul Thomas Anderson and Best Supporting Actor for Sean Penn, who snubbed the ceremony.

Hamnet star Jessie Buckley won Best Actress while Michael B Jordan won Best Actor for Sinners. Meanwhile, Amy Madigan took home Best Supporting Actress for her role in horror film, Weapons.
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When Sean Penn won his third Oscar at the 2026 ceremony, he didnt show up to collect the award  and Kieran Culkin made a dig at his expense.

Penn won the Best Supporting Actor trophy for his role in Paul Thomas Andersons One Battle After Another, having previously won Best Actor for Mystic River and Milk in 2004 and 2009, respectively.

However, after last years winner, A Real Pain star Culkin, announced six-time nominee Penns victory, he revealed that the actor wasnt there to claim the award.

According to The New York Times, Penn was visiting Ukraine instead. The actor has been one of the most high-profile supporters of Ukraines President Zelensky during his countrys war with Russia.

In his usual wry tone, Culkin poked fun at Penns absence, telling the crowd: Sean Penn couldnt be here this evening. Or didnt want to. So I'll be accepting the award on his behalf.

Viewers laughed along at Culkins comment at home, with one writing on X/Twitter: Funniest thing said tonight. Kieran Culkin saying it like it is.

Oh Kieran you are iconic for this! another added.

open image in gallery Kieran Culkin poked fun at Sean Penns Oscars absence after announcing hed won Best Supporting Actor ( Shutterstock / Kevin Ramirez/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock )

Host Conan OBrien then joked about the situation, sarcastically stating: We had a no-show in Sean Penn  this things a humdinger; youve got to stay tuned!

Penns victory arrives despite expressing disdain for the ceremony in the past. In 2024, he accused the Oscars of limiting different cultural expressions and said that ceremonies like the Oscars should be viewed as television shows first.

While receiving a career tribute at Marrakech Film Festival, he said: The Academy have exercised really extraordinary cowardice when it comes to being part of the bigger world of expression, and in fact, have largely been part of limiting the imagination and very limiting of different cultural expressions.

open image in gallery Sean Penn won an Oscar for One Battle After Another ( Warner Bros Pictures )

He beat his One Battle After Another co-star Benicio Fel Toro, Delroy Lindo (Sinners), Stellan Skarsgard (Sentimental Value) and Jacob Elordi (Frankenstein), who were all present at the ceremony.

Penn also didnt show up at several awards ceremonies in the run-up to the Oscars, including the Baftas, where he also won Best Supporting Actor. His win makes him the fourth male actor in history to receive three acting Oscars in total, joining Walter Brennan, Jack Nicholson and Daniel Day-Lewis.

The 2026 Oscars saw One Battle After Another also take home Best Picture and Best Director for Paul Thomas Anderson. Hamnet star Jessie Buckley won Best Actress while Michael B Jordan won Best actor for Sinners. Meanwhile, Amy Madigan took home Best Supporting Actress for her role in horror film Weapons.
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This article was originally published on March 12, 2026, and is being republished by The Independent after Timothee Chalamet lost the Best Actor Oscar to Michael B Jordan for Sinners.

During a recent interview to promote his film Marty Supreme, Best Actor-nominee Timothee Chalamet said no one cares about opera and ballet anymore.

The actors comments, labelled both a slight and swipe by news outlets has provoked swift rebuke from prominent individuals and opera and ballet companies worldwide. Some suggested the furore may have affected his chances of winning the top award at the Oscars ceremony.

Why have Chalamets comments hit such a nerve? Is it because his mother and sister both danced with the School of American Ballet? Or is it the hurtful realisation, as dance critic Gia Kourlas notes in her piece for the New York Times, that the only way for ballet to get noticed in the mainstream media is to be dissed by a celebrity?

A health check on ballet

Dance Australia tried a positive spin on the situation. They suggested Chalamets comments may prove unexpectedly useful [] to articulate, once again, why the artform continues to matter.

Meanwhile, Queensland Ballet Artistic Director Ivan Gil-Ortega wrote of the challenges of honouring the heritage of ballet while ensuring it remains alive and relevant for audiences today.

Former dancer-turned-critic Emma Sandall argued ballet has moved repeatedly in and out of fashion and always existed through one form of patronage or another.

Matthew McConaughey and Timothee Chalamet in conversation for Variety and CNN ( Variety/CNN )

Australias national ballet company, The Australian Ballet, has faced a recent decline in attendance. Total live performances fell from 248 in 2023 to 200 in 2024, while attendance dropped from 305,364 to 225,771.

Live Performance Australia, which incorporates ballet and dance into a single national figure, reported a 10.4% decline in attendance over the same period  and a drop of almost 30% from 2010 to 2024.

Reflecting on its A$9.1 million loss in 2024, Chair of The Australian Ballet, Richard Dammery wrote: Without philanthropy, the Australian Ballet would be in a dire financial position. The company only exists [] because of generous donors.

An analysis of the American sector showed half of the 150 ballet companies surveyed were operating in a deficit in the 2023 financial year. Attendance levels for ballet and other forms of live dance in the US almost halved between 2017-2022.

What about opera?

Opera faces a similar dilemma. Opera companies are vexxed by the question of how to remain loyal to artistic values while embracing market economics.

Research suggests they should look for alternate sources of revenue and overhaul traditional approaches to programming. But this comes with risks, such as alienating core audiences and potential donors.

Opera Australias forays into musical theatre previously allowed the company to grow income at a faster rate than expenditure.

However, programming Andrew Lloyd Webbers Sunset Boulevard in 2024 coincided with a A$10 million operating loss and 23% drop in attendance. Former CEO Craig Hassall (CEO from 2013-16) was scathing. He labelled Sunset Boulevard as disastrous  and the 2025 follow-up Guys and Dolls as crazy.

Reflecting on his final year with the company, Hassall observed that total performances of the musical My Fair Lady rivalled all of the main-stage operas combined. He warned: This addiction to musicals dangerously deprecated the companys assumed raison detre: first and foremost, to present opera. Musicals are not opera.

The newly minted CEO, Alex Budd, thanked Chalamet for bringing attention to the art form, and invited him to join the companys under-35 program. This initiative sold 1,110 tickets when it was launched in 2024. For reference, the capacity of the Joan Sutherland Theatre is 1507.

Budd boasted that Opera Australia has one million seats on sale in 2026. But, in a season that includes three musicals  Anastasia, The Phantom of the Opera and My Fair Lady  he doesnt say how many of the one million seats are actually for opera.

The worlds largest repertory opera house, The Metropolitan Opera, is adding performances and extending upcoming seasons. But it also faces significant budgetary issues.

About the author Craig Dalton is a Lecturer in Musical Theatre at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, Edith Cowan University. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Multiple articles published by the New York Times have reported salary cuts, layoffs and a drained deficit fund at the Met Opera. And this is against the backdrop of a tentative deal with Saudi Arabia to secure US$200 million in lifeline funding.

The sale of two Chagall murals owned by the company (valued at US$55 million by Sothebys) was also reportedly under consideration.

Labor economist Christos Makridis  who studies the economics of art and culture  recently argued the future is dire for opera companies who concentrate on the preservation of their art form rather than popularising, monetising and growing what they do.

Locally, the Australian Research Council is supporting research to investigate how performing arts companies can increase accessibility and expand audiences. But practical advice will be slow to arrive, and will take time to implement.

The bigger picture

The last National Arts Participation Survey undertaken by Creative Australia found weekly attendance across all art forms dropped from 5% in 2019 to 3% in 2022. This suggests a broader, sector-wide issue.

The opera and ballet sectors continue to argue of their inherent relevance. Popularity, or a lack thereof, does not determine the inherent value of an art form. But a more circumspect position would be to acknowledge and confront the scale of the huge task ahead.

What will opera and ballet organisations do, and change, to ensure their survival?

Chalamets words may have galvanised a community. But the communitys response has highlighted a prevalent disconnect between artists and administrators feelings, and their ability to address the conditions threatening their industries.
BANGKOK, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Twenty Thai crew members of the cargo ship attacked in the Strait of Hormuz arrived in Thailand on Monday, with their three colleagues still missing, according to the owner of the vessel.

Precious Shipping Public Company Limited, the owner of the Thai-registered vessel Mayuree Naree, said in a press release that its senior executives were present at Suvarnabhumi Airport to welcome the crew and coordinated closely with relevant authorities to facilitate their smooth return.

The company also reaffirmed that its highest priority at this time remains the continued efforts to locate the three crew members who are still missing.

Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow sought the Iranian side's assistance in the search and rescue operation for the three Thai crew members on board over a telephone conversation with his Iranian counterpart on Sunday.

They also discussed the authorization for the safe passage of Thai cargo vessels through the Strait of Hormuz. 
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US comedian Tina Fey will host the first episode of the highly anticipated UK edition of Saturday Night Live (SNL).

Fifty Shades Of Grey actor Jamie Dornan and Four Lions star Riz Ahmed have also been unveiled as hosts of the following two shows.

Fey, 55, who previously served as head writer and a lead cast member on the US sketch show, will launch the series on March 21. Isle of Wight indie band Wet Leg is confirmed as the musical guest.

Northern Irish actor Dornan, 43, is scheduled to host on March 28, with Brit Award-winning rock band Wolf Alice performing.

Ahmed, also 43, will follow on April 4, featuring 2000s indie stalwarts Kasabian.

open image in gallery Jamie Dornan will host the show on March 28 ( Getty Images )

SNL UK will be broadcast live from London every Saturday night at 10pm on Sky. Each 75-minute episode will feature a different host alongside the shows inaugural cast.

The cast will be made up of Hammed Animashaun, Ayoade Bamgboye, Larry Dean, Celeste Dring, George Fouracres, Ania Magliano, Annabel Marlow, Al Nash, Jack Shep, Emma Sidi and Paddy Young.

It comes after the writers for the shows first-ever official UK edition were announced, including 8 Out of 10 Cats writer Charlie Skelton, who will serve as the head writer for the satirical news segment, The Weekend Update.

open image in gallery Riz Ahmed will host April 4s show which will also feature 2000s indie stalwarts Kasabian ( Alberto Pezzali/Invision/AP )

He will be joined by Stath Lets Flats actor and comedian Al Roberts, Have I Got News For Yous Bella Hull and comedians Celya AB, Chris Cantrill, Grainne Maguire, Humphrey Ker and James Farmer.

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The series head writer, Jonno Johnson, said: The number of funny, talented writers we have got to work on SNL UK is ludicrous.

Some of them have been doing this for years, some of them its their first ever writing job.

All of them make me giddy to come to work each day. Could not imaginably feel luckier that we get to make this show together.

The shows US version has been running since 1975, and is responsible for launching the careers of the likes of Fey, Bill Murray and Eddie Murphy.

Saturday Night Live UK will launch on Sky and streaming service Now every Saturday from March 21, and will also be available on catch-up.
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The Iraq war drives front-page retrospectives this week, as The Independent stands firm in its opposition and brands the conflict a march of folly. War also looms in the Balkans, as the US warns Slobodan Milosevic to prepare for airstrikes amid escalating violence in Kosovo. A crisis of a different kind unfolds in a truly bizarre story involving the Italian mafia, where a tale of pollution and corruption threatens Europes mozzarella supply. Yet, moments of hope also define the week. Germany stands on the cusp of reunification as East Germans vote decisively for Helmut Kohl, and decades later, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe finally walks free after the UK strikes a landmark deal with Iran. Explore a world in tumult across these front pages of The Independent.

19 March 1990  East Germany votes for Kohl

East Germans deliver a decisive victory for the conservative Alliance for Germany in the countrys first free elections, backing a platform that promises rapid reunification with the West. The result strengthens the hand of Helmut Kohl and his government in Bonn, paving the way for negotiations that lead to the formal reunification of Germany later that year.

open image in gallery ( The Independent )

20 March 1990  Gorbachev pushes Soviet shift to the free market

Facing a deepening economic crisis, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev prepares sweeping reforms aimed at transforming the planned Soviet economy into a market system. Draft laws circulating in Moscow outline a rapid transition inspired partly by the shock-therapy reforms underway in Poland. The proposals reflect the mounting pressure on the Soviet system in its final years, as economic turmoil accelerates the forces that would soon lead to the collapse of the USSR.

open image in gallery ( The Independent )

20 March 1995  Sinn Fein pressed on IRA arms

Pressure mounts on Sinn Fein to clarify its position on the decommissioning of IRA weapons. British prime minister John Major warns US president Bill Clinton that talks with Sinn Fein cannot proceed without firm assurances that IRA arms will be put beyond use. The dispute highlights the fragile state of the Northern Ireland peace process in the early months of the IRA ceasefire, as negotiations inch toward what will eventually become the Good Friday Agreement.

open image in gallery ( The Independent )

22 March 1999  Nato warns Milosevic of imminent strikes

US envoy Richard Holbrooke delivers a final warning to Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic as Nato prepares airstrikes against Serbian forces amid escalating violence in Kosovo. With diplomacy collapsing and reports of mounting atrocities, the alliance signals it can launch attacks within hours  setting the stage for the Nato bombing campaign that begins days later during the Kosovo war.

open image in gallery ( The Independent )

17 March 2006  Blair remains defiant over Iraq war

Tony Blair strikes a defiant tone over the invasion of Iraq, insisting he would do it all again even as US forces launch their largest offensive since the conflicts official end. The front page mirrors recent debates on intervention in the Middle East as Blair urges Keir Starmer to back Donald Trumps strikes on Iran. However, foreign secretary Yvette Cooper has since firmly rejected the former premiers intervention, asserting that Britain has had to learn the lessons of the 2003 war.

open image in gallery ( The Independent )

20 March 2006  Three-year retrospective on the Iraq war

In a special three-year retrospective on the Iraq war, The Independent runs a distinctive front-page illustration by Ralph Steadman, well known for his work on Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Foreign reporter Robert Fisk labels the conflict a march of folly. Condemning the invasions ideological origins, Fisk writes, from its creation by the loonies of the American right  as a pro-Israeli policy to aid the Likud party leader Benjamin Netanyahu  and then foisted on Bush, to the hell disaster that Iraq now represents, the real war had to be turned into myth.

open image in gallery ( The Independent )

22 March 2008  Mafia mozzarella scandal

In a truly bizarre cover story, a major food scare grips Europe as Italian mozzarella is linked to pollution, corruption and the mafia. The crisis stems from a severe waste management breakdown in southern Italy, where illegal toxic dumping by organised crime rings has contaminated local grazing lands. Following the revelations, several countries temporarily halt imports of the buffalo cheese until emergency safety testing can restore consumer confidence.

open image in gallery ( The Independent )

17 March 2022  Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is freed

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and another British-Iranian national arrive in the UK, marking the end of their years-long detention in Iran. The diplomatic breakthrough is secured after ministers settle a historic 400m debt owed to the regime in Tehran. This complex agreement finally resolves a decades-old financial dispute over a cancelled 1970s order for British Chieftain tanks, concluding a relentless, high-profile campaign for their freedom.
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Leonardo DiCaprio and girlfriend Vittoria Ceretti made an unexpected public appearance sitting beside one another in the audience at the Oscars Sunday night.

The 51-year-old One Battle After Another actor decided to walk the red carpet solo, sporting a classic black tuxedo complete with a brand-new mustache, but Ceretti discreetly joined him to watch the ceremony, where DiCaprio was nominated in the Best Actor category.

Later on in the night, Ceretti, a 27-year-old Italian model, posed for the cameras on the Vanity Fair after-party carpet alone, wearing a burgundy Alaia gown that featured a low-cut neckline and transparent acrylic bodice.

The event marks a rare public appearance for the couple, whove opted to keep their three-year relationship out of the spotlight. In May 2025, DiCaprio attended the Met Gala with Ceretti, though he avoided the red carpet when she took her turn in front of the cameras. Four months later, she supported him at the One Battle After Another premiere in Hollywood, but she skipped the red carpet as he posed solo.

DiCaprio last appeared at the Oscars with a girlfriend in 2005, when he was in a five-year relationship with supermodel Gisele Bundchen. The former couple walked the carpet together when DiCaprio was nominated for Best Actor for his role in The Aviator.

open image in gallery Leonardo DiCaprio was spotted in the audience of the Oscars with his girlfriend Vittoria Ceretti ( ABC )

open image in gallery Leonard DiCaprio and Vittori Ceretti have been dating since 2023 ( Getty )

Since then, though, the actor has kept his red carpet appearances with romantic partners to a minimum. During an interview with Time in December, The Wolf of Wall Street star explained the importance of maintaining his privacy for the sake of his career.

Its been a balance Ive been managing my whole adult life, he said. And still Im not an expert. I think my simple philosophy is only get out there and do something when you have something to say, or you have something to show for it. Otherwise, just disappear as much as you possibly can.

DiCaprio noted that after the success of his 1997 filmTitanic, he reconsidered how much of his life he wanted to be in the public eye.

I was like, OK, how do I have a long career? Because I love what I do, and I feel like the best way to have a long career is to get out of peoples face, he added.

Ceretti made a rare comment about the relationship in March 2025, telling Vogue France that shes been dating a very, very famous actor, without mentioning him by name.

After revealing that she and her boyfriend met in Milan, she shared what she considered the risks of being labeled someones girlfriend.

open image in gallery Leonardo DiCaprio and girlfriend Vittoria Ceretti posed separately on the Oscars red carpets ( Getty Images )

As soon as you're in a relationship with someone who has a larger following than you, you become girlfriend of  or boyfriend of, for that matter, the model said. And that can be extremely annoying.

People are talking about you as so-and-so's girlfriend who was so-and-so's ex. So it's not nice to think that you can't love whoever you want, because of the labels people need to stick on you.

She also said that she has learned how to navigate dating such a famous celebrity. If what you're experiencing is real, if you know you love each other, then there's no reason to be alarmed, she concluded. Because love protects and gives confidence.

At the Oscars last night, DiCaprio lost the Best Actor award to Sinners star Michael B. Jordan. However, DiCaprios hit film, One Battle After Another, took home six trophies, including Best Picture.
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The Oscars have just finished and I'm stationed on the red carpet of the Vanity Fair party, the most famed afterparty in Hollywood. I'm toward the end of a row of reporters, deep in conversation with Yvette Nicole Brown about her desire to take a nap. Next thing I know, Queen Latifah suddenly appears and video bombs our interview, prompting my proclamation of love for her 2002 movie musical Chicago. The Vanity Fair Oscar party is in full swing and stars from film, television, and music have gathered to celebrate Hollywood's biggest night.

After one of the most feel-good ceremonies in years, that mood was certainly carried to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) where stars sauntered down the pale blue-gray carpet at Sunday evenings post-Oscars soiree. The venue may have changed  last years party was held at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills  but as the aroma of In-N-Out wafted through the air while a reporter was scolded for breaking the media guidelines, the location didnt seem to matter much; the vibe was just right.

In addition to the smell of grilled burgers, love was in the air as Timothee Chalamet (who left the ceremony without a little gold man) walked in hand-in-hand with Kylie Jenner. Jessica Alba politely waited as her boyfriend Danny Ramirez took his time walking the carpet, while Cara Delevingne rolled a cigarette. Lovebirds Sarah Paulson and Holland Taylor didnt stop to think when asked the secret to the success of their 10+ year relationship with a 32-year age gap between them; Oh god, I dont have an answer, Paulson laughed.

Early arrivals included funny people Jimmy Kimmel, Larry David, and Taylor Tomlinson; two-time Oscar winner Jane Fonda and Hacks star Hannah Einbinder; and Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi and CNNs Kaitlan Collins (especially radiant in a shimmery orange dress). Former Vogue editor Anna Wintour told The Independent she was loving her new chapter as global editorial director at the publication after stepping down last year as editor-in-chief, a role since filled by Chloe Malle.

Just as quickly as Wintour passed through, Kris Jenner appeared seemingly out of nowhere (dressed in Valentino, she told me), followed by a parade that included Nikki Glaser, Olivia Rodrigo, Noah Wyle, Colman Domingo, Jon Batiste (who delivered a surprise performance for those attending the dinner portion of the evening at LACMA), and Patrick Schwarzenegger. Then, as the one and only Fran Drescher stopped to chat about Marty Supreme and SAG-AFTRA (she finished a four-year run as president in September 2025), newly single (and very tall) Nicole Kidman waltzed into view in a gold gown with her wavy blonde locks framing her face, sending the carpet into a frenzy.

open image in gallery Kim Kardashian was on the Vanity Fair red carpet, clad in a seemingly difficult to walk in gold gown ( AFP via Getty Images )

Some stars were in a rush to get straight to the party, breezing past the press without so much as a glance. You look fabulous," I shouted at RuPaul and Kim Kardashian (clad in a seemingly difficult to walk in gold gown) to no avail. Josh Safdie at least said thanks when asked about his evening. For many partygoers, the excitement was palpable. When asked about the highlight of her night, Sentimental Value star Elle Fanning exclaimed, Winning international film!

open image in gallery Timothee Chalamet (who left the ceremony without a little gold man) walked in hand-in-hand with his girlfriend Kylie Jenner ( Getty Images )

open image in gallery When asked about the highlight of her night, Sentimental Value star Elle Fanning exclaimed, Winning international film! ( AFP via Getty Images )

Marty Supreme star Odessa A'zion  adorned in a feathered frock with a plunging neckline and daring waist cutouts  took the opportunity to pause and check her reflection in the camera. Extremely relatable. I dont know, Im still learning carpets. Ive gotten better though. It used to be really embarrassing, she told us. Ava DuVernay was just one of a handful of celebrities who admitted they were most looking forward to chowing down on In-N-Out.

Unsurprisingly, there was gushing. Lots of gushing. Teyana Taylor grew emotional talking about being so proud of everyone who was in that room. It took all of us a lot of work to earn our seat in that room, and Im just so proud of every single person. Barry Keoghan applauded fellow Irish actor Jessie Buckleys Best Actress win for Hamnet, saying, Im just really, really chuffed for her.

Buckley was one of the final stars to walk the carpet, along with fellow newly minted Oscar winner Michael B. Jordan. Both were flanked by at least five others  presumably PRs  trying to shepherd them into the party without fanfare; a tough task after winning two of the most coveted awards of the evening. Their arrivals were punctuated by the echoes of shrieks from fans clamoring for a look at the actors with their little gold men. Buckley was beaming with delight; Jordan was playing it cool  as cool as one could be after just achieving the greatest feat of a career in Hollywood.

But even that comes with a price, as I learned tonight. Gareth John, one of the winners for Best Sound for F1, passed his Academy Award to me. Those statues are heavier than they look!
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An Oklahoma woman has been arrested after allegedly stealing a car belonging to her ex-boyfriend's partner and slamming it into his home, police say.

Officers went to an address in Tulsa at 5.39 am on March 15, 2026, after receiving a trouble unknown call.

Once there, they found that a vehicle had been plowed directly through the front of the residence, according to a statement from the Tulsa Police Department.

Authorities allege that Annabel Torres, 24, had arrived at her ex-boyfriends home while his current girlfriend was visiting. The unnamed girlfriend was there with her two children.

After the suspect appeared at the home, authorities allege that she was acting erratically before stealing the car.

In the statement, officers said that they overheard Torres claiming that she intended to drive over anyone there.

open image in gallery Annabel Torres has been accused of stealing her ex-boyfriend's partner's car and driving it into his house ( Tulsa Police Department )

While being taken into custody, Torres fought with the officers a little bit, according to the TPD.

During the incident, two other stationary vehicles had been hit by the stolen car.

The TPD released a series of images from the crime scene, depicting a gaping hole in the houses exterior with the back of a red vehicle jutting out of the shattered wall.

open image in gallery Annabel Torres, 24, allegedly 'fought' with officers during her arrest ( Tulsa Police Department )

In another image, the front half of the red vehicle can be seen protruding into a room inside the house. Small flames roll out before the car in one frame.

Now, Torres faces a string of felony charges, including assault with a deadly weapon, assault and battery on a police officer and malicious mischief. She faces additional charges of larceny of an automobile and resisting arrest.

Since Torres is a tribal member, the case falls under the McGirt Ruling.

open image in gallery Officers from the Tulsa Police Department released a series of images revealing the damage caused by the crash ( Tulsa Police Department )

The Supreme Courts 2020 ruling in the McGirt v Oklahoma case determined that areas reserved for the Muscogee Nation by Congress in the 19th Century were never disestablished.

Subsequent court actions meant that almost the entire eastern half of Oklahoma now falls under the ruling.

As a result, criminal prosecutions of Native Americans for offences committed in those areas fall outside of the states court system.

In those cases, jurisdiction over prosecutions is vested in indigenous judicial systems and federal district courts.

The Independent has contacted the Tulsa Police Department for comment.
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NieJohn Woods still remembers the day his family changed forever.

In the weeks and months after Hurricane Katrina battered New Orleans in 2005, the Woods family was just struggling to survive when another tragedy struck. NieJohn watched his mother break down in tears as she knelt over his unresponsive baby brother, after feeding her child, desperately pumping the infants chest and breathing into his tiny body, trying to bring him back to life.

Nearly two decades later, he watched his mother break down again as a Louisiana parole board denied her request for release from prison.

I was shocked and angry, he said after watching the hearing over Zoom last month.

Tiffany Woods, now 46, has spent nearly 20 years incarcerated for the death of her five-month-old son, Emmanuel, who died of malnutrition after the storm devastated the city and its supply chains.

In February, Woods appeared before the Louisiana Board of Pardons and Parole hoping the hearing would focus on the person she has become after nearly two decades behind bars. Instead, her oldest son said, it felt like the past was on trial again.

I went into the parole hearing thinking that parole hearings are conducted to of course determine if an incarcerated person poses a risk to public safety if released from prison, NieJohn said. And to assess her readiness to enter society as a law abiding citizen.

But the DA opposition was focused on the past, he concluded.

open image in gallery Tiffany Woods is serving a life sentence for second-degree murder after giving cows milk to her malnourished baby in 2005. She was up for parole in February 2026, but was denied ( Louisiana Board of Pardon and Parole )

A death during Katrina

Baby Emmanuel was born prematurely in 2005 and released from Tulane Hospital just two weeks before Hurricane Katrina tore through New Orleans, forcing the evacuation of roughly 500,000 people and crippling access to food, medicine and baby supplies.

During the parole hearing, Tiffany Woods described the chaotic weeks that followed.

She testified that after drinking formula, Emmanuel would throw up in large amounts. When she ran out of government vouchers that provide infant formula for low-income families, she made what she later described as a devastating decision - she diluted cows milk with water and fed it to the baby.

He was no longer throwing up the way he did while taking the formula, she said during the hearing.

A baby under the age of one year should not be given cows milk, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. This is because it doesn't provide enough nutrients an infant needs, and it can be hard for some babies to digest the protein and fat in cow's milk, causing belly pain, vomiting and diarrhea.

When baby Emmanuel was born, he tested positive for a metabolic deficiency, which makes the body unable to break down certain fats, according to The Marshall Project. A follow-up was scheduled for August 29  the day after New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin issued an evacuation order, and they never made the appointment.

Woods admitted she was in survival mode and did not know what else to do to feed the child in the confusion of the evacuation.

The baby died from malnutrition in November 2005, according to autopsy results. In 2008, Tiffany Woods and the babys father Emmanuel Scott were convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. A second-degree murder charge doesnt require proof that anyone intended to harm him.

Brady OCallaghan, who prosecuted the case, argued that the babys parents should have tried to get help.

Ms. Woods and Mr. Scott had the complete custody and care of this child, he said. And they watched it die of starvation and dehydration in a city that at that time was doing everything it could to reach out to evacuees and in a place where medical care is available to anyone who needs it.

In 2023, Tiffany Woods sentence was reduced to 32 years, making her eligible for parole in 2026.

open image in gallery NieJohn was just eight years old when his baby brother died, but he vividly remembers his mother calling 911 ( Provided )

A hearing focused on the past

During the February 10 parole hearing, several prison officials and supporters testified on Woods behalf, painting a picture of an inmate who had spent nearly two decades working to rehabilitate herself.

While incarcerated at the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women, Woods completed seminary training and Blackstone Career Education courses for inmates studying paralegal work. She mentors and counsels other incarcerated women and has no disciplinary record.

Kristen Thomas, the prisons warden, told the board, She is not a disciplinary problem. We dont have any issues with Tiffany. The entire time that Ive been here with her. She is low risk and low needs.

NieJohn believed that was the point of parole - to find people who have been rehabilitated. Instead, he said, the hearing turned back to the crime itself.

Leone Fitzgerald, director of the Caddo Parish District Attorneys Victim Assistance Program, who was representing the state, portrayed Woods as a mother who had options but chose neglect.

She argued against Woods release as she presented heartbreaking photos of a malnourished baby Emmanuel from 2005.

open image in gallery While incarcerated, Woods completed seminary training and Blackstone Career Education courses for inmates studying paralegal work. She mentors and counsels other incarcerated women and has no disciplinary record ( Provided )

Fitzgerald also said her office was getting a little tired of hearing about that (Hurricane Katrina) because, while we dont undermine that, I know it had to be chaotic and stressful and unprecedented, but it wasnt a reason for Miss Woods to not feed her baby, she told the board.

While two of the board members voted for Woods to be granted parole, the third, who voted against parole, praised her progress but said she was ultimately swayed by images presented as evidence. Without an unanimous decision required for release, Woods would remain behind bars.

Well, I went in there thinking she only needed two out of three votes, but turns out she needed a unanimous agreement in order to be accepted for parole, NieJohn told The Independent after the decision. So I am a bit shocked and angry because one of the parole board members changed her vote based on photos of my dead brother and the DAs opposition, of course.

To him, the hearing felt less like a review of rehabilitation and more like a retrial.

Like the point of the parole hearing and the point of prison is when a person successfully do those things. You still look at what happened in 2005, he said. Its almost as if, in my opinion, youre being retried in a way. Or at least youre ignoring all the progress or youre choosing to ignore the progress.

A family torn apart

NieJohn was just eight years old when his baby brother died and he remembers his mother calling 911.

So it wasnt as if she just stood there and waited for them to show up, he said. She was trying to bring him back to life. Pumping his heart and trying to breathe life into him.

After Tiffany Woods arrest, their family fractured. NieJohn and his younger brother TroyJohn were placed together in a foster home, while sisters Nyla and Elisha were placed in another home. The siblings cycled through foster care and relatives houses.

open image in gallery After the babys death, and their moms arrest, NieJohn and his younger brother TroyJohn were placed in a foster home, while sisters Nyla and Elisha were placed in another home. The siblings cycled through foster care for years ( Provided )

So, yeah, the family was completely broken apart, and the state didnt make sure we stayed together as siblings, he said.

They painted it as if theyre doing justice for the family in regards to the death of my baby brother, but I feel like the least they could have done was make sure the remaining living siblings were together, you know.

She is not the same person

Now an adult, NieJohn has served in the Air Force and lives in California. He had hoped his mothers release would allow him to return to Louisiana and reunite their family.

I know we all lost something that day, he said. I lost a brother, she lost a son. We were put in foster care. So much happened to us because of this. Our family was shattered.

Instead, NieJohn watched his mother collapse emotionally during the hearing as she spoke about Emmanuel.

She couldnt even speak and she was very remorseful, he said. And you could see the defeat once she didnt receive all three votes.

After the hearing ended, he called her.

She feels defeated, he said. It was kind of heartbreaking. Shes devastated. She was saying that she doesnt want to go through that again. She cant take it.

open image in gallery In February 2026, Tiffany Woods described the chaotic weeks that followed Hurricane Katrina and how their family fought to survive before the baby died ( Louisiana Board of Pardons and Parole )

open image in gallery Two out of three board members voted in favor of parole for Tiffany Woods. She was denied parole by one vote as a unanimous decision was needed. Her next opportunity to go before the board will be in five years, her son said ( Louisiana Board of Pardons and Parole )

NieJohn believes his mother has changed and that she should be given another chance.

The point of prison, I thought, was to, in a way, rehabilitate you. And I believe she was. I believe she was successfully rehabilitated, he said, and I think my moms character was proven too. That shes changed because the person she is today is not the same person she was in 2005.

I mean, even as humans, free humans, Im not the same person that was in 2005, he added. We change for either the better, the worse, but in this case, she changed for the better.

For now, though, better wasnt enough and Tiffany Woods remains behind bars.

But her son says hes still trying to hold onto hope  for both of them.
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A babysitter will spend a year in jail after abusing a toddler in her care by leaving her without food or water for 21 hours at a time  and even pretending to shoot the hunger-stricken child with a toy gun when she would cry.

Carly Webb, 21, was sentenced to a year behind bars on Friday after a judge found she had neglected and physically abused the child of a family friend whom she watched at their Bedford, Virginia, home between October 2023 and January 2024, WDBJ 7 reported.

Parents Madison and Tyler told the court that Webb was a close family friend and that they had trusted her when they hired her to watch their child, who was just under 2-years-old.

However, the parents went to review footage taken on the surveillance cameras in their home after she made an offhand comment in 2024  only to reveal hours of abuse.

When I saw the videos, I couldnt believe it, the heartbroken father said. Thank God we had the cameras.

open image in gallery The judge sentenced Webb on one count of felony child abuse to five years, four of that suspended ( Blue Ridge Regional Jail )

The little girl, who was just under 2-years-old, was too young to vocalize the nightmare she had been left to endure while her parents were away, prosecutors said.

During the trial, prosecutors presented hours of footage taken from inside the home showing Webb repeatedly neglecting and physically abusing the toddler.

Bedford County Investigator Michelle Alderson testified that she reviewed months worth of footage showing Webb ignoring, mistreating and even physically assaulting the child.

On some days, the toddler would go up to 21 hours without food or water while in Webbs care. She would also be left in her crib alone for up to nine hours, prosecutors said.

Footage showed Webb throwing out food and drinks the toddlers mother had left prepared for her.

The footage also showed Webb eating in front of the child, and at times, kicking, hitting or taunting her. She would also call her vulgar names, including an effing b, prosecutors said, according to WDBJ 7.

Prosecutors also accused Webb of pretending to shoot the defenseless child with a toy gun as the child cried.

Webbs lawyers argued that while the footage was disturbing, her behavior was not at the level of felony neglect or abuse, as the child didnt sustain visible injuries or require medical treatment.

However, Bedford County Judge James Updike strongly disagreed, saying that in his 47 years on the bench, he had never seen a case with so much abuse caught on video, according to the report.

While Webb had pleaded guilty to 5 of the 17 charges against her, Updike found her guilty on all 17 charges, which includes one felony.

The judge sentenced Webb on one count of felony child abuse to five years, four of that suspended. She was also sentenced on five misdemeanors, with that time running concurrently with the felony offense. In total, Webb was sentenced to nine years, but will only serve twelve months behind bars.
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Four teens have been charged in connection to killing a high school student during a house party, North Carolina authorities said.

Investigators said 16-year-old Keedon Lewis was fatally shot around 3 a.m. March 8 at a party near Rowland, North Carolina, a small town about 110 miles south of Raleigh, according to The Charlotte Observer. Now, authorities have arrested a 15-year-old, two 16-year-olds and a 17-year-old in connection with the incident.

These teens, whose names have not been made public, are facing charges of first-degree murder, attempted murder and felony conspiracy, the Observer reports.

Keedon Lewis, 16, was killed at a house party in North Carolina, police said. Four teens have been arrested in connection to the case ( Revels Funeral Home )

Lewis father previously told WPDE his son was killed in a field near his home, and that the killing was shared across social media.

They posted my kid on social media, Brandon Lewis said. They got my kid going around on Snap[chat], laying in that field."

"You don't need a gun. Put the gun down. In fact, be a man, he added. The world just crazy right now in this. Its something that needs to come to an end."

Lewis was an 11th-grade student known for his humorous, enthusiastic and clever personality, according to an online obituary.

He had a deep love for hunting and fishing where he found peace and could be in an environment that characterized part of who he was, the obituary reads. Keedon also loved riding anything with wheels, singing his heart out and giving that old truck of his a run for its money.

Zachariah Hunt, who knew Lewis, told WDPE he was an amazing person who was always making you smile. Another friend, David Fipps, said its never going to be the same without him.

Robeson County Sheriff Burnis Wilkins reportedly called the situation heartbreaking. The local school district also shared a tribute to the teen on Facebook.

Please join us in prayer for the family of Keedon Lewis, a Purnell Swett High School student who passed away recently, the Public Schools of Robeson County said in a statement. We are deeply saddened for his family. Please also pray for the school and community as they navigate this difficult time of loss.

The Independent has contacted the Robeson County Sheriffs Office for comment.
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As the search for Savannah Guthries missing mother stretches past 40 days, the Today show co-anchor is reportedly livid over early reporting that claimed her brother-in-law and sister were involved in her mothers disappearance.

Guthries former NBC colleague Megyn Kelly claimed on an episode of SiriusXMs The Megyn Kelly Show last week that Guthrie was furious after journalist Ashleigh Banfield suggested that Guthries brother-in-law could be a prime suspect in the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, who vanished from her Arizona home on February 1.

The 84-year-old disappeared from her home in the affluent Catalina Foothills neighborhood outside Tucson in the early morning hours that day in what investigators believe to be an abduction. Authorities have since released footage of an armed suspect appearing to tamper with the homes doorbell camera, but have not publicly identified the person they believe abducted her.

Early in the investigation, on a February 3 episode of Banfields podcast, Drop Dead Serious With Ashleigh Banfield, Banfield cited a law enforcement source who claimed that Tommaso Cioni, the husband of Savannahs sister, Annie Guthrie, was possibly being eyed as a suspect.

Banfield continued to stand by her reporting, even after the Pima County Sheriffs Department publicly cleared the family of having any involvement. That allegation has infuriated Guthrie, according to Kelly, who claims she may be planning to sue the journalist.

open image in gallery Savannah Guthrie is reportedly livid over claims that her brother-in-law and sister were involved in the disappearance of her mother ( Instagram/@savannahguthrie )

I have not been able to confirm that the Guthrie family wants to sue Ashleigh Banfield, but I have confirmed that Savannah is livid about that report and definitely does not suspect her or her brother-in-law, Kelly said during the March 12 episode of her show.

Can you blame her? I mean, of course, she loves her sister, Im sure she loves her brother-in-law, and Im sure she genuinely doesnt believe they had anything to do with it.

Kelly said the situation places journalists and family members in very different positions.

All of us are in a different boat  you know, we have to be more objective in assessing the possible suspects, the possible people connected with it, and law enforcement certainly does.

Two days after Banfields report, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos appeared to push back on speculation surrounding suspects, telling reporters his department had not identified anyone as a person of interest.

Nobodys eliminated, but we just really dont have enough to say, This is our suspect, this is our guy, we know  or our gal. We dont know that, Nanos said during a press conference at the time. And its really kind of reckless to report that someone is a suspect when they could very well be a victim.

He continued: To the media, I plead with you to be careful of what it is we put out there, because we dont have anybody here listed as a suspect, and you could actually be doing some damage to the case, but you can do some damage to that individual, too. Social media is kind of an ugly world sometimes.

Banfield first aired the allegation days after the disappearance, citing a single law enforcement source who suggested Cioni might be under scrutiny. She later doubled down on the claim even after Nanos publicly said there were no suspects.

In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, a producer for Banfields podcast said the journalist stands by her reporting and her ironclad source.

open image in gallery The 84-year-old mother of Today show star Savannah Guthrie has been missing for more than 40 days ( NBC/Today )

open image in gallery Savannah Guthrie and her siblings, Annie and Camron, spoke out in February, begging for their mothers safe return ( Instagram/@savannahguthrie )

Investigators say Cioni and his wife were the last known people to see Nancy Guthrie before she vanished. The couple had dinner with her the night before the disappearance, according to authorities.

Investigators continue to analyze new evidence recovered from cameras around Nancy Guthries home.

Early in the investigation, authorities released video of the armed suspect appearing to tamper with Nancys front doorbell camera the day of her disappearance. Now, several outlets report that new photos have been recovered as authorities try to piece together what happened to Nancy and where she may be.

ABC News reported Friday, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter, that the new photos were taken from motion-activated cameras pointed at Nancys swimming pool, backyard and side yard before the suspected abduction. People were seen in the back and side yards, but nothing was deemed suspicious, according to the sources.

The cameras didnt catch anything the day Nancy was believed to be taken from her home as she slept, which one source told ABC News was odd.

Fox News later reported that the FBI does not currently plan to release the new photos.

open image in gallery New photos have been recovered from cameras at Nancy Guthries Arizona home as the local sheriff warns that her kidnapping suspect could 'absolutely' strike again ( AP )

open image in gallery Early on in the investigation, authorities released video of the armed suspect, appearing to tamper with Nancys front doorbell camera the day of her disappearance ( FBI )

In a statement shared with The Independent on Friday, the Pima County Sheriffs Department said it continues to analyze various forms of evidence in the Nancy Guthrie case, including material from laboratories as well as images and videos captured by cameras. Officials declined further comment.

Speaking on Today last week, Nanos acknowledged that investigators cannot rule out the possibility that the suspect could target others.

Well, absolutely, absolutely, he said. I mean, criminal minds are criminal minds.

Nanos added that authorities believe they understand the motive behind the crime but are not ready to publicly disclose it.

We believe we know why he did this, and we believe that it was targeted, but we cant  were not 100 percent sure of that, and so itd be silly to tell people, Yeah, dont worry about it. Youre not his target. No, you could be, Nanos warned.

Investigators are also examining a possible internet outage in the neighborhood around the time Nancy disappeared.

There was a timeline when things went offline. So were looking into that. Why did that occur? We checked with our power companies. We checked with others in the neighborhood, Nanos said.

The FBI and local authorities are offering a combined $200,000 reward for information that could help solve the case. The Guthrie family has also offered a $1 million reward for Nancys safe return.

open image in gallery Savannah Guthrie returned to the Today show studio earlier this month for the first time since her mom Nancy's disappearance ( Invision/AP )

open image in gallery Savannah Guthrie, right, her sister Annie Guthrie, left, and her brother-in-law Tommaso Cioni, visiting a tribute to their mother Nancy Guthrie outside her home on March 2 ( Fox News )

open image in gallery Flowers are piled up outside Nancy Guthries home ( Getty )

In an emotional Instagram video posted February 24, Savannah Guthrie acknowledged the painful uncertainty surrounding her mothers fate.

We still believe that she can come home, she said.

Her most recent post, shared on March 2, showed yellow flowers placed at a makeshift memorial outside Nancy Guthries home.

We feel the love and prayers from our neighbors, from the Tucson community and from around the country, she wrote. Please dont stop praying and hoping with us. Bring her home.
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A Kentucky woman has been killed after getting trapped underneath a St Patricks Day Parade float on Saturday afternoon, according to reports.

The parade was in full swing in Louisville when the woman, who was taking part in the parade, caught her foot underneath the float. Then, the as-yet unnamed woman fell and was struck by the vehicle, a spokesperson from the Louisville Metro Police told Wave News.

Officers responded to the incident at around 4 p.m., and the woman was subsequently rushed to the University of Louisville Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

The huge event on Saturday marched through The Highlands, an area of Louisville known for its bustling bars and restaurants. However, the procession abruptly ground to a halt in the area following the collision.

open image in gallery A woman was killed in Louisville, Kentucky, after she was caught underneath a St Patrick's Day parade float in the Highlands section of the city, shown here ( Google Streetview )

Video footage obtained by WDRB News showed onlookers swarming around a motionless float carrying balloons and bales of hay.

David Gnamba, who was working at his familys food truck just across from the crash, said that he saw somebody on a stretcher.

It does break my heart because thats a person that lost their life, he said. This is not news that we want to hear - as human beings, as vendors, as people, as partygoers.

Stephanie Youstra, who has marched in the parade as a mascot for 10 years, told Wave News that she noticed that something was wrong when the floats behind her stopped.

She was later told about the collision by other people helping out at the parade.

open image in gallery St Patricks Day Parades (like this one in Boston) are held all over the United States ( Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. )

My heart goes out to anyone who was in that float, and all the people in that float, and the family I just, I cant imagine what they are all feeling, she told Wave News.

Craig Greenberg, Louisvilles mayor, shared a statement in the wake of the crash.

I am so sorry to hear about the tragic accident that took a womans life at todays Saint Patricks Day Parade, he wrote on X. Please join Rachel and me in keeping her family and friends in your prayers.

May her memory be a blessing.

The Hibernian Cultural and Charitable Association, Inc., which organized the parade, released its own statement on Facebook.

The organizers thanked those who attended Saturdays event but urged social media users to respect the privacy of the deceased individuals family.

The Independent has contacted the Louisville Police Department for comment.
Volunteers prepare food for distribution at a charitable kitchen in Sanaa, Yemen, March 15, 2026. The kitchen, run by local volunteers and supported by community donations, prepares food for poor, sick and unemployed workers, and low-income families. (Photo by Mohammed Mohammed/Xinhua)

A volunteer prepares food for distribution at a charitable kitchen in Sanaa, Yemen, March 15, 2026. The kitchen, run by local volunteers and supported by community donations, prepares food for poor, sick and unemployed workers, and low-income families. (Photo by Mohammed Mohammed/Xinhua)

A volunteer distributes free meals for the needy at a charitable kitchen in Sanaa, Yemen, March 15, 2026. The kitchen, run by local volunteers and supported by community donations, prepares food for poor, sick and unemployed workers, and low-income families. (Photo by Mohammed Mohammed/Xinhua)
Abuse victims can get restraining orders at any Baton Rouge library. Here's how it works.
BEIJING, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese scientists recently provided a new perspective on the origin of the asteroid 2016HO3 -- the target of the country's first asteroid sample-return mission, Tianwen-2, according to the Purple Mountain Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Based on systematic numerical simulations of dynamics, scientists have discovered that this Earth quasi-satellite may not originate from the moon as previously hypothesized, but could potentially come from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The related findings were recently published in the journal Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics.

Ji Jianghui, a research professor at the Purple Mountain Observatory and the research team leader, said that the Tianwen-2 probe is currently en route to 2016HO3 and is scheduled to rendezvous with it in July 2026. The mission will then carry out close-range observations and sampling.

Investigating the origin of this celestial body not only offers fresh perspectives on the formation and evolution of Earth's quasi-satellites but also lays a theoretical foundation for the scientific analysis to be conducted during the Tianwen-2 mission, Ji noted.

This near-Earth asteroid, measuring approximately 57 meters in diameter, has an extremely short rotation period of about 28 minutes. Its most notable feature is that it maintains a 1:1 orbital resonance with Earth.

From the Earth's perspective, it appears to orbit Earth over long periods, hence its classification as an Earth quasi-satellite. This unique dynamic property makes it an ideal target for Tianwen-2's close-range exploration and sampling.

Previous spectroscopic observations had hinted at spectral similarities between the asteroid and lunar samples, leading to the hypothesis that the asteroid might have originated from a lunar impact event. To comprehensively investigate its origin, this study adopted a dynamic evolution approach, systematically examining the feasibility of the main asteroid belt as its source region.

The research team selected three key candidate regions within the main belt as potential sources. Based on observational data from these regions, test particles were generated, and their orbital evolution was tracked over 100 million years through numerical simulations.

The simulations indicate that all three candidate regions could produce particles that evolve into orbits similar to those of 2016HO3. The study further revealed three typical dynamic migration pathways.

Through large-scale numerical simulations, this study systematically demonstrates the dynamic feasibility of the asteroid belt as a potential source of 2016HO3, offering a new perspective on the origins of Earth's quasi-satellites.

These findings will provide important references for the Tianwen-2 mission. Once the samples are returned, laboratory analysis and comparison are expected to ultimately reveal their true origin.

Tianwen-2 was launched on May 29, 2025. With a design cycle of roughly 10 years, it aims to explore and sample 2016HO3, return the samples to Earth, and conduct an extended exploration of the main-belt comet 311P. 
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Review Eating outCanley Vale Try Vietnams viral coffee at this new Sydney restaurant opened by a Mad Max stuntman Michael Tang was repeatedly blown up in Furiosa, but now torches his popular beverage until brulee-like. Just crack the top with a spoon and knock off bergs of charred custard, and savour the choc-Biscoff notes. Lee Tran Lam March 17, 2026 Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Share A A A

1 / 11 Co-owner Michael Tang brewing coffee. Edwina Pickles 2 / 11 Bun rieu noodle soup. Edwina Pickles 3 / 11 Tina & Po has multi-generational appeal. Edwina Pickles 4 / 11 Caramelised eggplant clay pot. Edwina Pickles 5 / 11 Iced coconut cacao drink and Vietnamese egg coffee. Edwina Pickles 6 / 11 "Salted fish" fried rice. Edwina Pickles 7 / 11 Banh tam bi. Edwina Pickles 8 / 11 Tina & Po opened in October, with help from Tangs mum. Edwina Pickles 9 / 11 Vietnamese egg coffee. Edwina Pickles 10 / 11 Iced coconut cacao drink. Edwina Pickles 11 / 11 Vietnamese egg coffee and iced coconut cacao drink. Edwina Pickles Previous Slide Next Slide 13 / 20 How we score Tina & Po Vietnamese$$$$ Before opening Tina & Po in Canley Vale, Michael Tang had multiple lives. As a stuntman, he was repeatedly blown up in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. As a background extra, he battled alongside Oscar-winning actor Michelle Yeoh in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. And as co-owner of Cabramattas Alpha Unit martial arts school, he dreamt of opening a restaurant one day  when he was much older and couldnt move so well. Surprisingly, the 30-year-old launched Tina & Po in October. Hes still incredibly mobile, and youll notice his friendly, rocket-booster energy when placing your order. I got you! Tang says, as he ensures every requested dish is entered into the system. Bun rieu noodle soup. Edwina Pickles

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He opened earlier than planned because the right space surfaced near Canley Vale Station. Plus, his mum offered to help. Ngoc Truc Huong Doan has operated An Nhien in Cabramatta for a decade and many items from her vegetarian restaurant also appear here, from vegan pho to fried rice with XO sauce. Tina & Pos noodle soups, stir-fries and rice sets have a welcome familiarity and reflect whats typically available at Sydneys Asian vegetarian eateries. Many have served meat-free meals for decades (An Lac, Green Gourmet, Mother Chus Vegetarian Kitchen), long before Impossible Burgers and wood-fired cauliflower main courses existed. Restaurant reviews, news and the hottest openings served to your inbox. Sign up What sets Tina & Po apart is its energised, Instagram-era approach to drinks. At first glance, it feels like a matcha cafe cross-bred with an old-school vegetarian restaurant. The diversity of diners backs that impression, from schoolkids sipping matcha-streaked beverages to grandparents dividing turmeric-yellow serves of banh xeo (Vietnamese crepes) or tearing herbs for noodle soups such as bun bo Hue or bun rieu. Caramelised eggplant clay pot. Edwina Pickles Look closer, and youll realise its a restaurant fuelled by Viet coffee culture. The clue is in the title: Tina name-checks Tangs wife (who co-owns the business) and Po recalls Ho Chi Minh Citys Po Cafe, run by his cousins Doan Le Ai Tien and Vu Van Phuoc. During Tangs visits to Vietnam, he loved their drinks so much that he semi-seriously suggested they open a cafe in Sydney. He suggested it so often, they simply said, Why dont you do it? They even supplied recipes.

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Thats how the egg coffee ended up at Tina & Po. While a milk scarcity in 1946 led to coffee being bolstered with yolks whipped into flan-like fashion in Hanoi, his cousins have inverted that hot drink into a chilled viral sensation. At Tina & Po, the egg foam is torched until brulee-like. Crack it with a spoon and knock off bergs of charred custard; sip the underlying caramel sweetness and add ice cubes to savour the drink further. Its all incredibly delicious  particularly the choc-Biscoff notes that emerge while you swirl layers of egg and coffee. Notably, Tina & Po doesnt have an espresso machine. Tang says staff manually drip coffee, as is the style in Vietnam. Youll see phins (Viet coffee filters) lining the counter. In Australia, caffeine is usually something you grab to rev your workday, but Tang hopes to invoke Vietnams more laid-back coffee culture, where socialising is measured in well-nursed brews. Vietnamese egg coffee. Edwina Pickles Ca phe muoi transports you to his mums home town of Hue in Central Vietnam. The citys salted milk coffee has been adapted for our foam-laden signature drink era and its savoury punch will dial up your alertness (if the caffeine levels dont). Iced cacao with coconut foam tastes like a grown-up Bounty bar in sippable form. For matcha fiends, there are many options, from a salted-milk variant to Tangs coconut cloud version. The food is more old-school, and a vegetarian take on sweet-and-sour pork hits strong nostalgia notes. Many incorporate a Buddhist approach to using mock meats (a tradition thats more than 1000 years old). Some people criticise these plant-based alternatives for being too convincing, while others think they wont fool anyone. I see them as an inclusive touch. Fried rice with salty fish flakes of bean curd is a good gateway dish, as is banh tam bi: noodles flavoured with coconut cream, fresh vegie strips, alternative fish sauce and a convincing pork floss textured from tofu shreds. If you prefer something headlined with vegetables, try the clay pot with lush hunks of caramelised eggplant, zinging with lemongrass, basil and chilli.

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This is a multi-generational place: I can take both my matcha-loving sister and my parents, who have very exacting opinions on how food is prepared. Its called Tina & Po, but its for everyone. The low-down Atmosphere: A traditional Asian vegetarian restaurant remade for the social media era, with buzzy drinks and updated takes on Vietnamese coffee Go-to dishes: Banh tam bi ($15); caramelised eggplant clay pot ($22); salted fish fried rice ($16) Drinks: Trend-savvy, caffeinated beverages with a Vietnamese spin (including a must-order egg coffee) and matcha specials named after staff members Cost: About $40 for two, excluding drinks Good Food reviews are booked anonymously and paid independently. A restaurant cant pay for a review or inclusion in the Good Food Guide.
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A teenage girl missing from Brisbanes north has prompted police calls for public help less than 12 hours after she was last seen.

The 13-year-old went missing about 5.30pm on Sunday in Everton Hills, about 25 kilometres from her home in Rothwell, in Moreton Bay.

Police issued an appeal for public information on Monday morning about 4am, and said the girls family had concerns for her welfare due to her young age.

A 13-year-old girl has been reported missing, after she was last heard from in Everton Hills, Brisbane. QPS

Officers said she was known to frequent North Lakes Shopping Centre and the Redcliffe Jetty.
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NationalQueenslandQueensland government State defends Glasshouse name as opposition slams corrupted vote Catherine Strohfeldt March 16, 2026  5:02pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Share A A A

The state has denied it overrode a public poll to name the states newest theatre, the Glasshouse, despite the arts minister signing off months before voting opened. The new $184 million venue at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) was officially named The Glasshouse on July 20, 2025, following a four-week public consultation period offering a vote on four names. However, Arts Minister John-Paul Langbroek had already cleared the name on February 3, and eventual polling stripped a QPAC advisory boards strong recommendation to name the venue after activist and poet Oodgeroo Noonuccal. Attorney-General Deb Frecklington said the Glasshouse Theatre had been the governments preferred name. William Davis On Sunday, the premier said the Glasshouse moniker was fitting and clearly able to be marketed across the globe.

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On Monday, Attorney-General Deb Frecklington confirmed the name had been preferred by the government, but said the public had ultimately chosen it. We didnt announce it because we took it to the people of Queensland to hear from [them], she said. This was real consultation. Frecklington said 42 per cent of respondents  totalling about 2400 people  had backed the Glasshouse name. The other options were The Watershed, Lantern or Russell Street. I think even the builders, as they were building it, were calling it Glasshouse, she said.

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Related Article Queensland government Premier says why theatre name secretly decided before poll, Indigenous name omitted I mean, its a glass house  it is made of glass, and thats what the people on the street are calling it. The attorney-general said if the public had voted for another name then the government would have been lucky that we hadnt made our decision. State deputy opposition leader Cameron Dick said Frecklingtons claims were just more nonsense, and said the override was a strike against the states credibility. The naming process for the Glasshouse Theatre was corrupted from the start, Dick said.

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This has been a complete waste of public money, its been a waste of the publics time, and its just a complete sham. He said as new venues were opened in the lead-up to the 2032 Olympic Games, Queenslanders would have no way of knowing whether their vote was legitimate. Opposition spokeswoman for reconciliation and the arts Leeanne Enoch. Catherine Strohfeldt Dick said the states decision to cut out Oodgeroo as a prospective theatre name was also a missed opportunity for the state. Opposition spokeswoman for reconciliation and the arts Leeanne Enoch said the process was offensive from the very beginning.

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Performing arts Whats it like to see a show at Queenslands new $184 million theatre? We found out To just spin the name and then pretend like theres some kind of consultation going on when theyd already decided  I think every Queenslander should be asking questions about the integrity of this government, she said. The state had offered the public a vote on the four possible names, as well as an option to write in a new suggestion. When asked why the name Oodgeroo had not been offered on the public ballot, Crisafulli would not provide a clear answer, but said the Glasshouse name was fitting and people know exactly what it is. The Glasshouse Theatres first shows will be Queensland Ballets Messa da Requiem, which opens March 27, ahead of the opening of Stings The Last Ship from April 9. Start the day with a summary of the days most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.
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Updated NationalQueenslandEmergency services Woman dies, partner fights for life after falling down cliff face Catherine Strohfeldt March 16, 2026  10:02am Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Share A A A

A woman has died and a young man remains in critical condition after the pair fell down a cliff following a hiking slip on Sunday. Emergency services were called to Mount Beerwah  about 85 kilometres north of Brisbane  about 10.20am on Sunday to reports a pair of hikers, both 18, had fallen. Nine reported the hikers, who were partners, had been descending the mountain when they fell. Loading The man fell 90 metres down a cliff face and the woman fell 60 metres. Search and rescue crews rappelled down the drop to retrieve the hikers.

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Paramedics declared the woman dead at the scene. The man was treated for life-threatening injuries and airlifted to Sunshine Coast University Hospital, where he remained in critical condition on Monday morning. A third hiker, who Nine reported was the womans sister, was treated for shock. Search and rescue crews retrieved a pair of 18-year-old hikers who fell down a cliff face on Mount Beerwah on Sunday. Nine News Police at the scene suspected the pair might have fallen due to slippery conditions on the Mount Beerwah trail, which had been closed to the public following heavy rains in the Sunshine Coast region.

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Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service were due to assess the route on Tuesday to determine whether it was safe to reopen. Police said they were preparing a report for the coroner, and deemed the womans death non-suspicious. Mount Beerwah is the highest peak within the Glasshouse Mountains National Park, measuring 556 metres at its summit. Hours after the pair fell at Mount Beerwah, police were alerted that a group of six young men had become lost on the summit of Mount Barney, on the state border about 120 kilometres south-west of Brisbane.

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The hikers, all aged 18 or 19, contacted emergency services about 5pm but were forced to shelter on the mountain overnight. Officers said none of the group were injured, and they had food and water. The group remained in contact with emergency services overnight. Related Article Gold Coast Five students lost overnight in Springbrook National Park A rescue helicopter was sent on Monday morning to winch the group off the peak once weather had cleared.

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Mount Barney sits within the Mount Barney National Park and has two peaks, with the tallest measuring 1359 metres. Start the day with a summary of the days most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.
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NationalVictoriaCourts Property tycoon breaks down in tears after being remanded over $20m extortion case Alexander Darling Updated March 17, 2026  7:03pm ,first published March 16, 2026  10:47pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Share A A A

A high-flying Melbourne property mogul has broken down in tears as he learned he would spend the night behind bars, as he attempts to be granted bail while fighting extortion charges. Police allege Paul Fridman, 50, engaged a shadowy overseas operator to threaten two former business partners, Ash Boyd and Nigel Givoni, to pay him more than $20 million. Paul Fridman pictured in 2016. Daniel Munoz Fridman allegedly promised the operator, known as Mr International, 10 per cent of any money extracted from the pair. Police allege that in February this year that two victims received threatening messages demanding payments of $20 million and $250,000; the situation escalated on Saturday when a house in Glen Iris was firebombed with Molotov cocktails.

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Fridman appeared by video link in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Monday night, where his lawyer argued he should be granted bail. The property developer was arrested at his Caulfield North home on Monday morning, and the court heard police seized white powder believed to be cocaine. Detective senior constable Andrew Lauder said Fridman told officers he used cocaine to self-medicate his ADHD. Lauder said after his arrest, Fridman stated he contacted Mr International and recruited him to recoup monies he was owed. He stated he made an agreement with Mr International that a 10 per cent fee would be retained for any monies recovered and given to [Fridman], Lauder said. Fridman has been charged with three counts of extortion, one of blackmail and one of possessing a drug of dependence.

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Police allege Paul Fridman, 50, engaged a shadowy overseas operator to threaten two former business partners. Instagram Lauder told the court that threats against Boyd, a former partner of Fridmans company Fridcorp, began after Boyd pulled out of a plan to develop a hotel and apartments in Queensland on February 20. The court heard Boyd and Fridman had been planning to purchase a 50 per cent shareholding of the development from two other parties for about $5 million. Lauder said later that evening, after rebuffing Fridmans attempts to contact him, Boyd started receiving calls and messages from people and numbers he didnt know. Lauder said across the following days and weeks, the man leaving the messages said he would come around to Boyds house and threatened Boyd that people have been shot over stuff like this.

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The man making the threats, who identified himself as Mr International and claimed Boyd owed him $250,000, started contacting Boyds wife over WhatsApp. Im messaging you to get through to Ash, speak to him and get him to do the right thing. Hes ripped us off his shares that are worth millions and if he doesnt get that signed over to me, I promise you I will make sure people get shot, houses get burned and people get kidnapped over this. The court heard a man of Middle Eastern appearance also delivered threatening messages into the mailbox at Boyds house. Then just before 4am on Saturday, two Molotov cocktails were hurled at the house, according to Lauder. Boyd, his wife and children were all sleeping inside at the time. Though they escaped uninjured, the house sustained moderate damage. It is nothing short of a miracle that no one was injured, Lauder told the court. Police believe the family is still at risk of further arson attacks.

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The court heard that just a few hours after the fire, Boyd received another WhatsApp message from Mr International: Hey brother, have you changed your mind yet? The court heard Mr Internationals threats continued until Monday when Fridman was arrested. Lauder said Boyd doesnt believe he owes Fridman any money, and if anything, the opposite is true. The second alleged victim, Nigel Givoni, was a business partner of Fridmans for 20 years. Lauder said Givoni parted ways with Fridman after a business deal that Givoni disagreed with, and which eventually sent Fridman bankrupt. The court heard Givoni stopped replying to Fridmans messages in November 2023, but Fridman allegedly continued sending messages asking him for money. Lauder said Givoni received a WhatsApp call from Mr International on February 24 of this year. Lauder said that after Givoni rejected the call, Mr International messaged: Im calling in regards to Paul, so get in contact with me before I send my boys to come pay you a visit, and later Alright, looks like I go about things my way. If its worth losing your life over, then by all means lets go down that path.

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The court heard that after Givoni replied it was Fridman that owed him money, not the other way round, Mr International retorted: Ive seen everything, you owe him $20 million. A man of Middle Eastern appearance also attended Givonis house and spoke to his wife through the intercom, telling her this will only get worse. The court heard this man and Mr International are not the same person. Police argued Fridman was an unacceptable risk of endangering the safety of others and of interfering with witnesses if he was bailed. Fridman poses out the front of an apartment development in the Sydney suburb of Erskineville. Daniel Munoz His lawyer, Morgan Brown, argued that because police had no evidence of messages between Fridman and Mr International, it couldnt be said conclusively that Fridman had ordered the firebombing, nor that he was aware of everything Mr International had planned.

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I think that might be a little naive, Im not persuaded by that comment, replied the magistrate. He said Mr Internationals actions were aimed at persuading these people to give your client lots of money. Brown then changed tack and argued Fridman has a prima facie case for bail, and that he is a father of two. She said while he had a prior criminal history, the charges werent relevant to the current allegations, and this would be his first time in custody. The hearing will continue on Tuesday afternoon. Fridman looked forlorn as the case progressed, but as he learned he would be remanded overnight, he began to sob loudly. The magistrate had his video link muted. The court heard police continue to investigate the identity of Mr International. Be the first to know when major news happens. Sign up for breaking news alerts on email or turn on notifications in the app.
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Reviews & adviceLuxury holidays Opinion My hotel charged $100 for a baguette. Ill just eat a bag of chips, thanks Lee Tulloch Travel columnist March 17, 2026  5:00am

March 17, 2026  5:00am Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Share A A A

As a travel writer, I probably have a different relationship to hotels to most readers. Im strictly not there to enjoy them but to find out whats good and not-so-good about their service, facilities, location, food and ambience. Le Bristol It was the first hotel in Paris to receive the palace accreditation, which elevates the hotel above the mere five stars. Often, its about checking out the simple things. Whether theres tricky technology in the rooms or simple switches (hooray) to turn the lights on and off. If theres a separate sheet under the doona (good) or poor lighting in the bathroom (bad). Travellers have different tastes, budgets and expectations, so the most important thing for me is to define the general ambience of a hotel because I know some people are uncomfortable in glitzy hotels, for instance, while others thrive on their buzz.

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And that means, as often as I can, spending a lot of time in the hotel, even if the temptation is to go outside it and explore. Sign up for the Traveller newsletter The latest travel news, tips and inspiration delivered to your inbox. Sign up now. Years ago, an actor told me, I cant enjoy the theatre any more because Im always so critical of whats happening on the stage. But thats not the way for me with hotels. I will never tire of staying in good hotels, even though Im there to find faults. And few hotels are faultless. Le Bristols Lumiere suite, 15,000 a night plus tax. Im very aware that, being hosted, its a privilege to sometimes stay in rooms I could never afford in my wildest dreams. So, I make sure I enjoy every minute. Why else would I be there? Im mindful that staying in a hotel should be a treat. Hotels are not just lodgings but investments in time, comfort and, hopefully, pleasure. I have my personal preferences, of course. I love nothing more than a classic European hotel with a storied history, preferably one which still retains its old charm.

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I want the hotel Im staying in to be as far away from the style of my home as possible, so bring on the chandeliers, taffeta curtains, plush carpets and teams of people to tidy up after me. I often wonder, though, what the maids, concierges and waiters think of me, especially in very posh places where the guests travel with trunks of expensive clothing, tip in the hundreds, and order lavishly on room service. In 1925, the 18th-century mansion was transformed into the Le Bristol hotel and named for a British lord. Last December, I stayed for a couple of nights at the legendary Le Bristol at 112 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore. It was the first hotel in Paris to receive the palace accreditation, which elevates the hotel above the mere five stars. In 1925, the 18th-century mansion, near the Elysee Palace, was transformed into a hotel and named for a British lord. Its situated in fashion central, amid all the flagships of luxury brands such as Hermes and Dior, and its one of the most luxurious and stylish hotels in Paris, owned and operated by the Oetker family, which owns beautiful landmark hotels around the world.

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Lucky me. I dont pretend I wasnt thrilled to be there. And to make it even better, I discovered the hotel had generously assigned me the Lumiere Suite. The tariff on the back of the door read 15,000 a night plus tax. It felt like heaven, although maybe not $25,000 worth. Related Article Victoria The hip new Melbourne hotel vying to be among the worlds best The ceiling was painted like a blue sky with white clouds. The floors were beautiful parquetry with thick carpets in the bedroom. The furniture was Louis (XV and XVII.) There were gilded mirrors, fresh roses, chandeliers, oriental rugs, and two of everything: two desks, two white marble bathrooms, two mini bars, two sitting rooms, plus a dining area, and a walk-in wardrobe that was as large as my last Parisian apartment. The library had books I wanted to read. Why would I want to leave?

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So, I didnt. I stayed in. When would I ever have the chance to luxuriate in Le Bristol again? However, there was one slight problem. With the floundering Aussie dollar, a baguette via room service was going to cost me more than $100. That wasnt in the budget. So, I propped myself on the very comfortable bed, turned on the TV, found a Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movie, and demolished a packet of chips Id bought at a supermarket that morning. Bliss. I wonder what housekeeping thought of me the next day when they discovered my dining habits werent exactly queenly? Its often like this when I travel alone. I really couldnt care less about food, Im there for the room. Even in a city like Paris, my hotel is the destination. The writer was the guest of Le Bristol.
CAIRO, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi said on Sunday that Egypt is exerting intensive endeavors to stop the war in the Middle East as soon as possible.

Sisi made the remarks during separate phone calls with Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, President of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and King Abdullah II of Jordan, according to the Egyptian presidency.

During the phone calls, Sisi stressed that Egypt categorically rejects and condemns the Iranian attacks targeting Arab countries, affirming that his country is "ready to provide all possible forms of support in defense of regional stability."

He noted that Egypt is exerting intensive efforts at both the international and regional levels in pursuit of an immediate cessation of the war.

Sisi also underscored the importance of consolidating the concept of collective Arab national security to safeguard Arab states against any threats or aggressions, stressing that Arab unity remains the most effective path to confronting current challenges and preserving regional stability.

On Feb. 28, Israel and the United States launched joint attacks on Tehran and other Iranian cities, killing Iran's then Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, senior military commanders, and civilians. Iran responded with waves of missile and drone strikes targeting Israel and U.S. bases and assets across the Middle East. 
LIMA, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Peruvian presidential candidate Napoleon Becerra of the Workers and Entrepreneurs Party died on Sunday in a traffic accident while traveling to a campaign event in the country's south, according to local media reports.

According to the reports, the accident occurred in the Rumichaca area in southern Peru when Becerra was traveling by car to attend a campaign event in the Ayacucho region.

The news was confirmed by several individuals, including Emely Silva, a candidate for the Chamber of Deputies from the party.

Silva said some members of the party traveling with Becerra were injured in the accident. She has requested assistance from government authorities to arrange emergency transfers and medical treatment for the injured, as well as help transport Becerra's body.

Peru is scheduled to hold presidential and congressional elections on April 12 to elect a new president and vice presidents, as well as members of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies.

Becerra had long been involved in political activities and advocated strengthening public security, combating corruption, and promoting economic growth by supporting small and medium-sized enterprises. 
BJP promises new dawn in WB, alleges TMC denied people basic rights





KOLKATA :

WEST Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya on Sunday alleged that the ruling TMC has deprived people of their basic rights, asserting that a new dawn awaits the State if his party comes to power in the upcoming Assembly elections. Bhattacharya claimed that the TMC Government had denied people basic rights such as access to clean drinking water, housing under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, livelihood opportunities, and the democratic right to exercise their franchise freely. Once the BJP comes to power, peoples rights will be restored. Our Government will reach out to all sections to build an inclusive system where the wishes and aspirations of every citizen are respected, he said. Bhattacharya, a Rajya Sabha MP, said the BJP would ensure the rule of law in the State and put an end to what he described as divisive and provocative politics.

Strict legal action will be taken against those who attempt to divide people along religious lines, he said. Listing some of the partys promises, he said the BJP would implement the recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission for State Government employees, provide a monthly assistance of Rs 3,000 to women, and create employment opportunities to prevent migration of youths. He welcomed the Election Commissions decision to conduct the upcoming Assembly polls in two phases. Responding to a question on the two-phase polling in West Bengal, unlike single-phase elections in some other States, Bhattacharya said the situation does not bring glory to the State and needs to change. Referring to Bihar, he claimed that elections there were conducted without any violence. Even in Bihar, after the results were declared, there were no reports of houses of defeated Opposition candidates being demolished or deaths due to political violence.

One should compare that with the situation in West Bengal after the 2021 Assembly elections, he said. Bhattacharya also claimed that despite violence during the 2023 panchayat elections, party candidates managed to win seats in around 11,000 panchayats. This clearly indicates the possible outcome of the upcoming Assembly elections, he added. Elections in West Bengal will be held in two phases, with polling on April 23 and 29. The votes will be counted on May 4.

Left confident of revival in Bengal

RANCHI,

Mar 15 (PTI)

CPI national general secretary D Raja on Sunday asserted that the Left is confident of revival in West Bengal in the upcoming Assembly elections, and it would emerge as a force to be reckoned with that would shape the political discourse of the State. Rajas statement came hours before the announcement of poll dates for four States and one Union territory by the Election Commission. Everyone knows that West Bengal will be a very tough fight. But the Left is very confident. The Left will see a revival and will emerge as a force to be reckoned with that would shape the political discourse of the State, Raja told reporters at Ranchis Birsa Munda Airport. The CPI leader arrived in Ranchi to participate in the partys centenary celebrations here. He said situations are varied in the States going to the polls. In Kerala, we are part of the Left Democratic Front (LDF). There are no issues on that front. The LDF stands a good chance of returning to power for a third term. In Tamil Nadu, discussions are currently underway with the DMK coalition regarding seat-sharing arrangements. Everything will be clear in a day or two, Raja added. The Election Commission announced dates for Assembly polls in Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal and Puducherry on Sunday evening.

Our prime focus is to stop the BJP from coming to power in these States, Raja added. The CPI leader also accused the BJP Government at the Centre for the supply constraint of LPG cylinders. Later, addressing the partys centenary celebration in Ranchi, Raja stated that the party has been engaged in a continuous struggle throughout its 100-year history. We do not exist merely for the sake of elections, rather, we stand for mass struggles aimed at addressing the peoples pressing issues. Even today in Jharkhand, the battle for Jal, Jangal, aur Zameen (water, forests, and land) remains unfinished, and the Communist Party will bring this struggle to its completion, he said. Former Minister and farmer leader Shivkumar Mukherjee said that the farmers of the country are currently passing through a period of crisis. Chaos prevails across the world in the name of war. Innocent people are being killed, and a battle for capital is underway, he said.

Number of phases dont matter, BJP will be shown door anyway, says TMC

KOLKATA,

Mar 15 (PTI)

UNWILLING to grant too much importance to the dual-phase polls announced for West Bengal by the Election Commission, the Trinamool Congress on Sunday alleged that the poll body fixed the number of phases based on requirements of its political masters. The party questioned the commissions duality on conducting eight-phase elections in 2021 during a period of high Covid infections while settling for two-phase polls this time around. The number of phases is solely a reflection of what the BJP wants and the Election Commission has only adhered to the requirement of its political masters, TMC spokesperson, Arup Chakraborty said. The Election Commission on Sunday announced that Assembly elections in West Bengal will be held in two phases on April 23 and 29. Else, how can one justify conducting eight-phase polls in the State in 2021 when people were dying of Covid infections and deciding to hold the polls in two phases now when there is no such bug.

The number of polls doesnt matter, people will demolish the BJP irrespective of that, Chakraborty added. The party posted a cryptic text on its X handle, suggesting two phases are enough to corner the BJP in the State. How many phases will it take for the people of Bengal to decisively reject Bangla-Birodhi @BJP4India once and for all? Answer: Jotoi Koro Hamla, #AbarJitbeBangla #BoycottBJP, TMC wrote. Party leader Kunal Ghosh maintained that people of Bengal continued to stand firmly behind the TMC. If the turnout at the Yuba Sathi camps is any indicator of where the support of the States youths lie, then it wont matter how many phases the State will vote in. We already have the required backing of the people, he said.
Dr Gandhi wins VSS polls by thumping majority





Dr Girish Gandhi after winning the VSS polls.

Staff Reporter :

Dr Gandhis votes more than total votes secured by others

Dr Girish Gandhi, a social worker and the one who has been endeavoring to take Nagpurs cultural and literary movement ahead, won the much-publicised Vidarbha Sahitya Sangh polls. He had contested for the post of President. The counting was held on Sunday and Gandhi secured a whopping 2,261 votes. Gandhi will take charge as 23rd President of Vidarbha Sahitya Sangh on April 1, 2026. The results for the remaining 22 Executive Committee members are expected to be declared by Monday night; as only 600 votes for these posts have been counted so far. The vote counting process commenced on Sunday at 9:30 am.





The votes received by the five candidates contesting for the President post are: Girish Gandhi received a total of 2,661 votes; the current President Pradeep Date received 1,187 votes; current Vice-President Dr Shripad Bhalchandra Joshi received 701 votes; Dr Ravindra Shobhane and Ranjan Darvekar could garner 205 and 114 votes respectively. A total of 63 votes were declared invalid. The total of the votes secured by the all opponents come up to 2,207. It means Dr Gandhi left his opponents far behind. In this election, 4,935 voters exercised their franchise. Dr Girish Gandhi emerged victorious with a lead of 1,474 votes. The vote counting is currently underway under the supervision of Election Returning Officer Mohan Parkhi, with the assistance of college students.

The entire vote counting process and the results for the remaining members are expected to be finalised by Monday night. In the history of over 100 years of the existence of Vidarbha Sahitya Sangh, for the first time people witnessed grand and close contest as the body went to polls. Eleven candidates filed nomination for the post of President while 111 filed for the 22 executive posts. On February 9, six of 11 for President post and 28 out of 111 for executive posts withdrew on the last day. Those who withdrew for President Post were Adv Lakhan Singh Katare, Dr Pinak Dande, Pramod Bhusari, Shripad Aparajit, Satish Taral and Naresh Gadekar. The process of sending ballot papers to the residence of the voters and submitting them by the voters began on February 19. Voting ended on March 14. The candidates and voters objected the voting system. The elections were conducted after over 25 years. The ballot papers were sent to the voters residences. People faced some issues regarding their residential addresses. Some people were not aware of their old addresses where the ballot papers were sent. Some voters missed casting their votes.
Finally! Committee constituted for granting autonomy to GMCH





Staff Reporter :

The Hitavada had questioned delay in processing of CM Fadnavis letter

Acting on the directives of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, a high-level committee has been constituted to formulate a detailed policy framework regarding granting of autonomy to Nagpurs Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH). There are two other institutions which are also in the list. Those include Grant Government Medical College and Sir J J Group of Hospitals in Mumbai. Fadnavis had sent letter to this regard to Medical Education Secretary in August 2026. But no step was taken till mid-January 2025.

The Hitavada had questioned the delay and published a report on January 19, 2026 and now the committee has been constituted. Former State Chief Secretary Jayant Kumar Banthia has been appointed as the Chairman of this committee. In this regard, the Medical Education and Drugs Department recently issued a Government Resolution. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis stated that the Governments objective, through the granting of autonomy, is to enhance the academic quality, research capabilities, and healthcare delivery of the States premier Government medical institutions. The committee comprises the members: Dr Rajendra Badwe (former Director, Tata Memorial Hospital), Dr Sanjay Oak (former Director, KEM Hospital), Dr Ranjit Mankeshwar (Associate Dean, Grant Medical College), Dr Rajesh Karyakarte (Professor and Head of Department, B J Government Medical College, Pune), and the Registrar of the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences. Additionally, the Registrar of the Maharashtra Medical Council will serve as the Member Secretary of the committee.

The committee will undertake a study of the current administrative and academic structures of the States Government medical colleges, the necessity of granting autonomous status, the potential benefits involved, as well as successful models implemented both within India and abroad. This study will include a review of the management methodologies adopted by institutions such as AIIMS, PGI Chandigarh, and the Tata Memorial Hospital. The committee will formulate recommendations regarding the composition and powers of the Board of Directors and the Academic Council for autonomous colleges, as well as the powers and responsibilities of the Director/Dean. It will also recommend the necessary financial and administrative mechanisms required to support an autonomous framework. Furthermore, the committee will provide recommendations concerning financial autonomy, internal revenue generation, audit mechanisms, and the formulation of new service conditions and policies for both staff and faculty members. The Committee will also provide guidance to the Government regarding necessary legal, administrative, and policy-related changes.

The Committee will undertake tasks such as proposing the delegation of powers in administrative and financial matters aimed at enhancing efficiency while granting autonomy to government educational institutions. It will also recommend mechanisms for monitoring, evaluation, and accountability to ensure the efficient functioning of autonomous institutions, and formulate a framework for the phased implementation of the policy. The Committee is expected to submit a detailed report to the Government within three months. Necessary information and technical assistance will be made available to the Committee through the Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER).
Gulf States intercept new missiles, drones, Iran threatens to widen war





CAIRO :

GULF Arab states reported new missile and drone attacks on Sunday after Iran threatened to widen its campaign and called for the evacuation of three major ports in the United Arab Emirates as the war in the Middle East, now in its third week, expands further. Israel and the United States attacked Iran on Feb. 28, saying they were striking nuclear and military sites and encouraging the Iranian people to rise against their leaders. Iran has responded with attacks against Israel and neighbouring countries in the Persian Gulf. The war has upended global air travel, disrupted oil exports from the region and sent fuel prices rising. US President Donald Trump said he hoped countries reliant on oil and gas exports would send warships to secure the Strait of Hormuz. None responded with firm commitments by Sunday, though some said they were considering action. Israel said it continued to strike Iran on Sunday as Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE told residents they were working to intercept incoming projectiles, a day after Iran threatened three Emirati ports, the first time it has done so against a neighbouring countrys non-US assets. Iran had earlier accused the US of launching Fridays strikes on Kharg Island from the UAE, without providing evidence for the claim.

The UAE and other Gulf countries that host US bases have denied allowing their land or airspace to be used for military operations against Iran, including toward the island, home to Irans primary oil terminal. Iran says the US attacked from the UAE: Irans Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, said the US attacked Kharg and Abu Musa islands from locations in the UAE. He called the escalation dangerous and said Iran will try to be careful not to attack any populated area there. US Central Command said it had no response to Irans claim. Anwar Gargash, a diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, rejected Irans claim that the US used Emirati land or airspace for its attacks on Kharg Island. Iran has fired hundreds of missiles and drones at the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman during the war. It says it targets US assets, even as Iranian strikes are reported at civilian sites such as airports and oil fields. Though their air defences have intercepted most, the war has caused significant damage and rattled economies in the Gulf countries. Araghchi also told the London-based Al-Araby al-Jadeed on Sunday that Iran is ready to consider any proposal that includes a complete end to the war and said mediation efforts were ongoing between Iran and its neighbours to de-escalate.

He gave no indication of whether progress has been made. Trump urges countries to send warships to the Strait of Hormuz: As global anxiety soars over oil prices and supplies, Trump said Saturday he hopes China, France, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom and others send warships to keep the Strait of Hormuz open and safe. Those countries rely more heavily than the US on oil and gas that passes through the strait. We are intensively looking with our allies at what can be done, because its so important that we get the strait reopened, UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband told Sky News. , adding that ending this conflict is the best and surest way to get the strait reopened. South Koreas Foreign Ministry said it would co-ordinate closely with Washington and review Trumps proposal. Araghchi, in a social media post, described Trumps call as begging. Irans joint military command reiterated its threat to attack the regions US-linked oil, economic and energy infrastructures if the Islamic Republics oil infrastructure is hit. A wars mounting toll: Since the war started, Iranian strikes have killed at least a dozen civilians in Gulf countries, most of them migrant workers.

In Iran, the International Committee for the Red Cross said more than 1,300 people have been killed so far. Irans Health Ministry says 223 women and 202 children are among those killed, according to Mizan, the judiciarys official news agency. In Israel, 12 people have been killed by Iranian missile fire, and more have been injured, including three on Sunday. At least 13 members of the US military have also been killed since the war began; six of them died in a plane crash in Iraq last week. Meanwhile, at least 820 people have been killed in Lebanon, according to its Health Ministry, and 850,000 have been displaced since Iran-backed Hezbollah started hitting Israel and Israel responded with strikes and sent additional troops into southern Lebanon. Rain deepens misery in Lebanon: In downtown Beirut, displaced families fixed tents battered by wind and rain on Sunday. Fadi Younes, displaced from Beiruts southern suburbs, told The Associated Press that his mattresses and blankets were soaked. We dont know where this will end, he said, adding he hoped to return home. A person only truly feels at ease in their own home. In Haret Hreik, one of the southern suburbs, there was scarcely a person in sight when crews arrived to clear the streets of rubble.

The important thing is that the roads remain open for hospitals and for people, excavator driver Hachem Fadlallah said. In just 10 days, more than 800,000 people - nearly one out of every seven residents of Lebanon - have been displaced, just over a year since the last conflict uprooted over a million Lebanese from their homes. Israel is hit with more Iranian missile strikes: Iran fired barrages of missiles toward Israel on Sunday, sending residents rushing to shelters as sirens sounded and several strikes hit central Israel and the Tel Aviv area. Magen David Adom, Israels rescue service, released a video showing a large crater in a street and shrapnel damage to an apartment building. Strikes in the Tel Aviv region caused damage at 23 sites and sparked a small fire on Sunday. Multi-site impacts have become a hallmark of the war, as Israels military says Iran is firing cluster bombs that can evade some air defences and scatter submunitions across multiple locations.
HC announces a new roster, with effect from March 17







Staff Reporter :

High Court of Chhattisgarh has published a new roster of work with effect from March 17, 2026. The four Division Benches have been constituted. The Division Bench-I comprising of Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha and justice Ravindra Kumar Agrawal will hear all writ matters of division bench (except against the order of Tribunal constituted under articles 323-A& 323-B of the Constitution of India and matter relates to Ultra Vires upto the year 2022), Public Interest Litigation Petitions, writ appeals, habeas corpus petitions, criminal reference (reference in capital cases), criminal appeal of the year 2020 (Motion Hearing Matters), criminal appeal from the year 2021 onwards, writ petition (Cr.), contempt petition (criminal), application for leave to appeal U/s 378 Cr.P.C/application for leave to appeal U/s. 419 BNSS (Motion Hearing Matters), applications under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure/applications under Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (for quashing of FIR). The Division Bench-II comprising of Justice Sanjay K Agrawal and Justice Sachin Singh Rajput will take up all criminal matters which have not been assigned to any division bench, first appeals relating to matrimonial matters and writ petitions (S) matters relates to ultra Vires up to the year 2022.

The Division Bench-III comprising of Justice Sanjay Agrawal and Justice Amitendra Kishore Prasad will hear all civil matters of Division Bench, which have not been assigned to nay Division Bench, Company Appeal, tax cases including writ appeals of tax cases, acquittal appeals upto the year 2015, al writ matters of division bench (against the order of tribunal constituted under Article 323-A & 323-B of the Constitution of India) and ultra vires matters upto the year 2022 except WPS&WPC matters. The Division Bench-IV comprising of Justice Rajani Dubey and Justice Radhakishan Agrawal will hear commercial appellate division bench cases, application for leave to appear U/s 378 Cr.P.C, acquittal appeals and writ petition (C) matters relates to ultra vires upto the year 2022. The two special benches have been constituted. The special bench comprising of Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha will take up application under sub-section (4) or sub-section (5) or sub-section (6) of section 11 of the Arbitration & Conciliation Act, petitions under section 482 Cr.P.C, criminal revision, all bail applications, transfer petition (criminal), criminal appeal and specially assigned cases. The special bench comprising of Justice Ravindra Kumar Agrawal will take up acquittal appeals and leave to appeals from the year 2024 onwards, all nature of writ petitions (WP) upto the year 2006 and other cases.

Single Bench-I comprising of Justice Sanjay K Agrawal, Single Bench-II comprising of Justice Sanjay Agrawal, Single Bench-III comprising of Justice Parth Prateem Sahu, Single Bench-IV comprising of Justice Rajani Dubey, Single Bench-V comprising of Justice Narendra Kumar Vyas, Single Bench-VI comprising of Justice Naresh Kumar Chandravanshi, Single Bench-VII comprising of Justice Sachin Singh Rajput, Single Bench-VIII comprising of Justice Rakesh Mohan Pandey, Single Bench-IX comprising of Justice Radhakishan Agrawal, Single Bench-X comprising of Justice Sanjay Kumar Jaiswal, Single Bench-XI comprising of Justice Arvind Kumar Verma, Single Bench-XII comprising of Justice Bibhu Datta Guru and Single Bench-XIII comprising of Justice Amitendra Kishore Prasad have been constituted.
Indian crude tanker sails out safely from Fujairah





NEW DELHI :

AN INDIAN-FLAGGED crude tanker sailed out safely from the UAEs Fujairah after loading oil, despite an attack on the oil terminal, as the Government on Sunday said it is closely monitoring the situation in West Asia while ensuring stable fuel supplies and maritime safety. The vessel, Jag Laadki, carrying about 80,800 tonnes of Murban crude oil, departed Fujairah at 1030 hrs IST and is bound for India, with all crew members safe, the Government said in an update on preparedness measures. Jag Laadki is the fourth Indian-flagged vessel to have come out of the war zone unharmed. Besides, the safe passage being an important milestone for Indian diplomacy, the cargo they are carrying is considered critical as shipping constraints in the Strait of Hormuz have impacted Indias energy supplies. On March 14, 2026, while the Indian-flag vessel Jag Laadki was loading crude oil at the Fujairah Single Point Mooring, the Fujairah oil terminal was attacked. The vessel sailed safely from Fujairah at 1030 hrs IST today (Sunday) carrying about 80,800 tonnes of Murban crude oil and is bound for India, the update said. The vessel and all Indian seafarers onboard are safe.

On Saturday, two Indian-flag LPG carriers - Shivalik and Nanda Devi - carrying about 92,712 tonnes of LPG crossed the war-hit Strait of Hormuz. Shivalik is due to reach Mundra port in Gujarat on March 16, and Nanda Devi would dock at Kandla port on March 17, according to the update. The two ships were among the 24 ships that were stranded on the west side of the strait since the war broke out in the region. Besides the 24 on the west side of the strait, four others were stranded on the east side. One of the four on the east side, an India-flagged oil tanker, Jag Prakash, carrying gasoline from Oman to Africa, crossed the war-hit strait on Friday. Jag Prakash loaded gasoline from Sohar port in Oman and is now headed to Tanga in Tanzania. It is due to reach Tanga on March 21. The Government said Indian vessels and seafarers operating in the region remain safe, and maritime operations are being closely monitored. At present, 22 Indian-flagged vessels with 611 seafarers remain on the west side of the Persian Gulf region. India imports about 88 per cent of its crude oil, 50 per cent of its natural gas and 60 per cent of its LPG needs.

Before the US-Israel strikes on Iran on February 28 and Tehrans retaliation, more than half of Indias crude imports, about 30 per cent of gas and 85-90 per cent of LPG imports came from West Asian countries, such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The conflict has led to a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, the main transit route for Gulf energy supplies. While India has partly offset crude supply disruptions by sourcing oil from countries, including Russia, gas supplies have been curtailed to industrial users and LPG availability to commercial establishments, such as hotels and restaurants, has been reduced.
No shortage of fuel, domestic LPG, reiterates CM , n Eight FIRs filed against black-marketing and hoarding of LPGs







By Bhavana :

Denying any shortage of domestic gas cylinder, petrol and diesel, the State Government has asked denizens to remain calm and do not pay attention to any rumors as the situation is under control. The administration has taken necessary steps to ensure supply of these essential items. Coupled with necessary measures for instance amendments have been made in the refill booking system of LPG cylinder, the Government is also working on safe return of their people from the war torn Middle-East countries. According to highly placed sources, Chief Minister Dr Mohan Yadav is constantly reviewing the situation and a crucial meeting with the departments concerned was held on Sunday. The Chief Minister has assured people that an adequate stock of petrol, diesel and domestic LPG cylinders is available in the State and the supply system is completely smooth. He has appealed to citizens not to panic and not to pay attention to any kind of rumors. To control the impact of this global crisis, the State Government has formed a high-level Cabinet Committee, which includes Deputy Chief Minister Jagdish Devda, Food Minister Govind Singh Rajput and Minister Chaitanya Kashyap.

This committee, in coordination with the Central Government, is continuously monitoring fuel and essential commodities in the State. Prioritising domestic customer needs, administration in various parts of the State advised hotel and restaurant owners to opt for alternative fuel solutions rather than LPG. As the temporary situation, there will be gap of 25 days between two bookings of LPG cylinder. It is learnt that people are rushing to gas agencies and keeping LPG cylinder in stock. A criteria of priority customer has also been set to fulfill requirement of genuine customers. Relentless drives to curb hoarding and black-marketing of gas cylinder are being conducted across the length and breadth of the State by respective administrative establishments. Tough action In compliance with directives issued against the black-marketing and hoarding of LPG, continuous enforcement actions are being undertaken across the State. Operations were conducted at 1,025 locations throughout the State, resulting in seizure of 1,357 gas cylinders and the registration of FIRs in 08 separate cases.

Directives issued for timely supply of domestic gas cylinders Additional Chief Secretary for Food, Civil Supplies, and Consumer Protection Rashmi Arun Shami has issued directives to take necessary measures to ensure timely availability of gas cylinders to domestic consumers and to maintain a smooth distribution system through various agencies. The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India requesting citizens to refrain from panic booking. In an advisory issued by the Ministry, consumers have been advised to utilise digital channels for booking instead of visiting agencies in person. Oil companies have provided gas booking facilities via mobile apps, SMS, WhatsApp, and IVRS calls; consumers are, therefore, urged to utilise these digital mediums for their bookings. There has been 31 per cent increase in production of domestic gas within the country.
Private vehicle boom tests citys mobility plan





By Kunal Badge :

Nagpurs attempt to reshape its urban transport system around metro rail, electric buses and integrated mobility planning is unfolding alongside a powerful counter-trend, a relentless rise in private vehicle ownership. While authorities are investing heavily in mass transit to reduce congestion and dependence on personal vehicles, the citys rapidly expanding vehicle population is steadily filling its roads, posing a major challenge to the long-term success of the Comprehensive Mobility Plan. Recent data indicates that vehicle numbers in the city have been rising sharply year after year.





The citys total registered vehicles have increased from about 24.9 lakh in 2022 to 31.26 lakh in 2026, adding more than 6.3 lakh vehicles in just four years. Two-wheelers alone account for the largest share of this expansion, growing from around 15.6 lakh in 2022 to 17.66 lakh in 2026. The trend shows a steady annual increase, with nearly 1.5 lakh vehicles added between 2025 and early 2026 alone. According to Regional Transport Office data, the city now has more than 17.6 lakh two-wheelers and around 2.5 lakh cars, highlighting the growing preference for private mobility among residents. The growth is being driven by a combination of factors including rising household incomes, expanding suburbs and easy access to vehicle financing. As residential areas spread farther from traditional city centres, private vehicles are increasingly seen as the most convenient means of daily commuting.

The surge in Nagpur also reflects a broader statewide trend. Maharashtras vehicle population has grown from about 4.34 crore in 2022 to 5.28 crore by January 2026, according to successive Economic Surveys of the State. The addition of nearly one crore vehicles across Maharashtra during this period has placed mounting pressure on urban transport systems. Yet the increase in private vehicles is occurring at a time when the city authorities are attempting to shift towards a more sustainable mobility framework. Metro rail services have already become operational in the city, and electric buses are gradually being introduced to modernise the public transport fleet.

The proposed Comprehensive Mobility Plan for the Nagpur Metropolitan Region seeks to integrate metro corridors, bus networks, improved road infrastructure and facilities for non-motorised transport into a unified system designed to reduce congestion and dependence on private vehicles. Urban planners emphasise that strengthening mass transit, improving last-mile connectivity and deploying advanced traffic management systems are key elements of this strategy. The aim is to make public transport faster, more efficient and more convenient than private mobility. However, transport experts caution that the continued surge in private vehicle ownership could dilute the benefits of these investments. If behavioural patterns remain unchanged and commuters continue to favour personal vehicles, the citys expanding road network and transport infrastructure may struggle to keep pace with the rising number of vehicles. The steady climb in Nagpurs vehicle population therefore highlights a critical policy challenge. While the city is investing in metro rail, electric buses and integrated transport planning, the rapid expansion of private vehicles risks undermining the very effort to build a more sustainable and efficient urban mobility system.
HARARE, March 16 (Xinhua) -- At least one person was killed and another injured on Sunday after a light aircraft crashed in Zimbabwe's Zaka District of Masvingo Province, police said Monday.

Police spokesperson Paul Nyathi said in a post on social media platform X that the accident occurred around 11 a.m. (0900 GMT) after the plane developed a mechanical fault and crashed.

"One person died while another person was injured when an aircraft carrying two occupants crashed before being engulfed by fire," Nyathi said.

The spokesperson added that the plane had taken off from an aerodrome in Mount Hampden on the outskirts of Harare and was heading to Chipinda Pools in the Gonarezhou National Park in the southeastern part of the country.

Nyathi said the police and other relevant authorities have launched an investigation into the cause of the crash, and further details will be released in due course. 
This screen image captured at Beijing Aerospace Control Center on March 16, 2026 shows Shenzhou-21 astronauts performing extravehicular activities (EVAs) outside China's orbiting space station. The Shenzhou-21 crew aboard China's orbiting space station completed their mission's second series of EVAs on Monday, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA). The astronaut trio -- Zhang Lu, Wu Fei and Zhang Hongzhang -- worked for roughly seven hours and completed their tasks at 7:35 p.m. (Beijing Time), assisted by the space station's robotic arm and a team on Earth. The trio completed the installation of a space debris protection device for the space station along with other tasks. Zhang Lu and Wu Fei, who have conducted spacewalk operations, returned to the Wentian lab module safely, according to the CMSA. (Photo by Zhang Fan/Xinhua)

BEIJING, March 16 (Xinhua) -- The Shenzhou-21 crew aboard China's orbiting space station completed their mission's second series of extravehicular activities (EVAs) on Monday, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).

The astronaut trio -- Zhang Lu, Wu Fei and Zhang Hongzhang -- worked for roughly seven hours and completed their tasks at 7:35 p.m. (Beijing Time), assisted by the space station's robotic arm and a team on Earth.

Zhang Lu has so far carried out six EVAs, making him one of the Chinese astronauts with the most spacewalks to date.

The trio completed the installation of a space debris protection device for the space station along with other tasks. Zhang Lu and Wu Fei, who have conducted spacewalk operations, returned to the Wentian lab module safely, according to the CMSA.

Since completing the first series of EVAs on Dec. 9, 2025, the Shenzhou-21 crew has carried out equipment inspection and maintenance, environmental monitoring, and health management aboard the space station. The crew members have also conducted in-orbit training exercises, including rendezvous and docking, medical rescue, and emergency lifesaving.

The scientific experiment and test projects they undertook, covering space life science and human research, microgravity physics, and new space technologies, have been progressing steadily. They also celebrated the Spring Festival in Year of the Horse while in orbit.

The CMSA said the three astronauts have been working in orbit for more than four months. According to the mission plan, additional EVAs will be carried out by the crew during the Shenzhou-21 mission, with relevant scientific experiments and technical tests continuing as scheduled.

This screen image captured at Beijing Aerospace Control Center on March 16, 2026 shows Shenzhou-21 astronauts performing extravehicular activities (EVAs) outside China's orbiting space station. The Shenzhou-21 crew aboard China's orbiting space station completed their mission's second series of EVAs on Monday, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA). The astronaut trio -- Zhang Lu, Wu Fei and Zhang Hongzhang -- worked for roughly seven hours and completed their tasks at 7:35 p.m. (Beijing Time), assisted by the space station's robotic arm and a team on Earth. The trio completed the installation of a space debris protection device for the space station along with other tasks. Zhang Lu and Wu Fei, who have conducted spacewalk operations, returned to the Wentian lab module safely, according to the CMSA. (Photo by Zhang Fan/Xinhua)
BEIJING, March 16 (Xinhua) -- China's housing market showed further signs of stabilization in February as home price declines in 70 large and medium-sized cities continued to narrow from the previous month, official data showed on Monday.

In the four first-tier cities -- Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen -- prices of newly built homes remained flat month on month in February, compared with a 0.3 percent decline in January, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

Among them, Beijing and Shanghai both saw prices rise 0.2 percent, Guangzhou remained flat, and Shenzhen fell 0.3 percent.

Prices of second-hand homes in first-tier cities edged down 0.1 percent month on month in February, narrowing by 0.4 percentage points from January, the NBS said. Beijing and Shanghai recorded increases of 0.3 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively, while Guangzhou and Shenzhen recorded declines of 0.5 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively.

Across 31 second-tier cities, the average month-on-month price decline was 0.2 percent for new homes and 0.4 percent for resold homes, while prices in 35 third-tier cities fell 0.3 percent for new homes and 0.5 percent for resold homes. All these figures represented a 0.1 percentage-point narrowing from the previous month.

The data also showed that 17 cities reported month-on-month price increases or remained flat in new home prices during February, nine more than in January.

On a year-on-year basis, however, downward pressure persisted. First-tier cities saw new home prices drop 2.2 percent in February, widening by 0.1 percentage points from January. New home prices in second- and third-tier cities recorded year-on-year declines of 3.1 percent and 4 percent, widening by 0.2 and 0.1 percentage points, respectively.

For second-hand homes, first-tier cities saw prices fall 7.6 percent year-on-year, the same pace as in January. Second-tier cities declined 6.2 percent year-on-year, unchanged from January, while third-tier cities fell 6.3 percent, widening by 0.2 percentage points.

China will work to stabilize the real estate market this year, with city-specific policies to control the number of new real estate projects, reduce housing inventory, and improve supply, according to this year's government work report.

The country will take well-ordered steps to promote the development of quality homes that are safe, comfortable, eco-friendly and smart, and carry out projects to enhance housing quality and initiatives to improve property services, the report said.

The report also noted that efforts will be made to provide housing support for first-time married couples and those with their first child, and help families with children meet their needs for better housing. 
DUBAI, March 16 (Xinhua) -- A fire caused by a drone crash near Dubai International Airport has been brought under control, with no injuries reported, local authorities said Monday.

Flights, however, were temporarily suspended as a precaution to ensure the safety of passengers and staff.

Authorities said the fire broke out after a drone fell near the airport, affecting a fuel tank. Dubai Civil Defence said it successfully contained the blaze.

Gulf states have been hit by waves of missile and drone attacks since the outbreak of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran on Feb. 28, with the United Arab Emirates reporting interception of over 1,500 drones so far. 
DUBAI, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Iranian missile and drone attacks have killed seven people in the United Arab Emirates since Feb. 28, the UAE Defense Ministry said on Monday, as the fallout from U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran continues to ripple across the region.

The ministry said the attacks have claimed two military personnel and five civilians and injured 145 people of various nationalities, with injuries ranging from minor to severe. UAE forces have intercepted 304 ballistic missiles, 15 cruise missiles, and 1,627 drones launched from Iran over the same period.

Monday's assault involved six ballistic missiles and 21 drones, with strikes reported across Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Fujairah, and Umm Al Quwain. In the deadliest incident, a missile hit a civilian vehicle in Abu Dhabi's Al Bahyah district, killing a Palestinian national.

A drone strike near Dubai International Airport, one of the world's busiest travel hubs, hit a fuel tank and triggered a large fire, forcing a temporary halt to operations. Flights have since gradually resumed to select destinations. In Umm Al Quwain, another drone strike ignited a building, causing a fire but no casualties. In Fujairah, a strike set ablaze the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone, a major crude export and ship-refueling hub outside the Strait of Hormuz, before civil defense teams extinguished it; no injuries were reported there.

The ministry said it remains on high alert and prepared to respond to further threats.

The attacks are part of a broader regional escalation triggered by joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran beginning Feb. 28, which killed former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Since then, Iran and allied groups have launched waves of retaliatory strikes on Israeli and U.S. interests across the Middle East. 
TIANJIN, March 16 (Xinhua) -- In the exhibition hall of Tianjin Flying Pigeon Cycle Manufacture Co., Ltd. in north China, a row of vintage bicycles stood as a testament to a storied past.

As the manufacturer of China's first domestically produced bicycle, Flying Pigeon once served as a prestigious national treasure and an indispensable part of Chinese households.

Today, the time-honored brand is shedding its traditional image. By integrating "smart cores," a combination of flexible sensors, AI algorithms and the Internet of Things (IoT), Flying Pigeon is redefining the bicycle from a simple form of transport into an intelligent health management terminal.

"Traditional bicycles must embrace new scenarios to stay relevant," said Han Guiyou, chairman of Flying Pigeon.

Through collaboration with Tianjin University, the company has developed sensing systems that monitor heart rate and pedaling cadence in real time. The bicycle is no longer just a machine as it has begun to "understand" the rider's physical state.

A robust policy environment is fueling this transformation. In line with China's national strategy to revitalize traditional brands, the Tianjin municipal government issued a policy package in 2023 to support the innovation of "time-honored" enterprises such as Flying Pigeon.

Boosted by measures that include performance-based rewards for technological breakthroughs and incentives for university-industry partnerships, Flying Pigeon has established long-term research projects with several top-tier universities, focusing on reducing wind resistance and optimizing ergonomic postures.

Innovation has also slashed research and development cycles. With the assistance of the National Supercomputer Center in Tianjin, the development time for a new professional-grade racing frame has been reduced from years to eight months.

"The supercomputing center analyzes and optimizes our base frame models, which provides us with superior designs for prototyping and testing," Han explained.

The push for innovation is yielding tangible results. In 2025, Flying Pigeon recorded a sales volume of 4.5 million units, with annual revenue surging by nearly 40 percent year on year.

Its success reflects a citywide momentum in Tianjin to revitalize more than 70 national-level time-honored brands via innovation. In 2025, the city's time-honored enterprises reported collective revenue growth of 10.3 percent, while total profits rose by 21.5 percent.

"Modern consumers are increasingly looking for emotional and cultural resonance alongside high-tech functionality," Han said.

As China continues to emphasize high-end, intelligent and green manufacturing, Han noted that the brand is expanding into additional sports-related markets and partnering with other traditional brands to develop a broader product range. 
A drone photo taken on March 16, 2026 shows a view of the Tianjin Port in Binhai New Area, north China's Tianjin. (Photo by Du Penghui/Xinhua)

BEIJING, March 16 (Xinhua) -- China's value-added industrial output, an important economic indicator, went up 6.3 percent year on year in the first two months of 2026, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Monday.

The pace was 1.1 percentage points faster than the level in December last year, according to the NBS. In February alone, the industrial output grew 0.83 percent from January.

The industrial output is used to measure the activity of large enterprises, each with an annual main business turnover of at least 20 million yuan (about 2.9 million U.S. dollars).

A breakdown of the data showed that the mining sector's value-added output increased by 6.1 percent year on year in the two-month period, while that of the manufacturing sector grew by 6.6 percent. The value-added output of the electricity, heat, gas, water production and supply sectors rose by 4.7 percent.

NBS spokesperson Fu Linghui attributed the growth to improving domestic demand, stronger export momentum, and the increasingly visible effects of macroeconomic policies.

The equipment manufacturing sector has been a particularly strong contributor to overall industrial growth, according to Fu. In the first two months of the year, value-added output in that sector rose 9.3 percent, accounting for 47.4 percent of total growth.

Innovation has played a greater leading role, with emerging sectors increasingly supporting production growth, he said. Value-added output of high-tech manufacturing enterprises grew 13.1 percent year on year in the January-February period, while the digital product manufacturing sector expanded 8.8 percent, both considerably outpacing overall growth.

Fu said the green economy also provided fresh momentum for industrial upgrading. In the first two months, output of wind turbines surged 28.7 percent year on year, while energy storage lithium-ion batteries soared 84 percent.

"Years of progress in green energy transition have yielded prominent results," Fu said, noting that the development of wind and photovoltaic power has driven demand for energy storage and fueled the sharp expansion of related products.

At the same time, Fu cautioned about the evolving impact of international geopolitical conflicts and external uncertainties. With domestic demand yet to keep pace with supply, industrial production still faces considerable pressure.

Looking ahead, Fu said the priority will be building a strong domestic market and a unified national market. Key actions also include fostering integration between sci-tech and industrial innovation, upgrading traditional industries, nurturing emerging and future industries, and accelerating the development of a modern industrial system. 

A drone photo taken on March 15, 2026 shows a view of the Longtan Container Terminal at Nanjing Port, east China's Jiangsu Province. (Photo by Yang Suping/Xinhua)

Workers work on a production line of a wind power equipment company at an economic and technological development zone in Lianyungang, east China's Jiangsu Province, on March 16, 2026. (Photo by Wang Chun/Xinhua)

A drone photo taken on March 16, 2026 shows a tanker docking at Qingdao Port in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province. (Photo by Yu Fangping/Xinhua)

A worker operates a machine at a workshop in an economic development zone in Jurong, east China's Jiangsu Province, on March 16, 2026. (Photo by Zhong Xueman/Xinhua)

A drone photo taken on March 16, 2026 shows a view of the Tianjin Port in Binhai New Area, north China's Tianjin. (Photo by Du Penghui/Xinhua)

A drone photo taken on March 16, 2026 shows the construction site of an offshore oil and gas platform project in Binhai New Area, north China's Tianjin. (Photo by Du Penghui/Xinhua)

A worker works at a silk company's workshop in a high-tech zone in Qianjiang District of Chongqing, southwest China, on March 16, 2026. China's value-added industrial output, an important economic indicator, went up 6.3 percent year on year in the first two months of 2026, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Monday.

The pace was 1.1 percentage points faster than the level in December last year, according to the NBS. In February alone, the industrial output grew 0.83 percent from January. (Photo by Yang Min/Xinhua)

A worker works on a production line of a sock company in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province, on March 16, 2026. China's value-added industrial output, an important economic indicator, went up 6.3 percent year on year in the first two months of 2026, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Monday.

The pace was 1.1 percentage points faster than the level in December last year, according to the NBS. In February alone, the industrial output grew 0.83 percent from January. (Photo by Liang Xiaopeng/Xinhua)

A worker welds at a steel company in an economic development zone in Hengshan County of Hengyang, central China's Hunan Province, on March 16, 2026. China's value-added industrial output, an important economic indicator, went up 6.3 percent year on year in the first two months of 2026, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Monday.

The pace was 1.1 percentage points faster than the level in December last year, according to the NBS. In February alone, the industrial output grew 0.83 percent from January. (Photo by Cao Zhengping/Xinhua)

Workers work on a board production line of a wood products company in Pingyi County of Linyi City, east China's Shandong Province, on March 16, 2026. China's value-added industrial output, an important economic indicator, went up 6.3 percent year on year in the first two months of 2026, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Monday.

The pace was 1.1 percentage points faster than the level in December last year, according to the NBS. In February alone, the industrial output grew 0.83 percent from January. (Photo by Wu Jiquan/Xinhua)
ABU DHABI, March 16 (Xinhua) -- United Arab Emirates (UAE) President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud discussed regional developments during a phone call on Monday, including escalating military actions and their impact on regional and global security.

According to the Emirates News Agency, the two sides stressed the need for an immediate cessation of military escalation, warning that it threatens stability and security in the region and beyond. They underscored the importance of prioritizing dialogue and diplomacy to address regional issues and preserve peace and security.

Since the outbreak of the joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran on Feb. 28, Gulf states have faced waves of missile and drone attacks, with the UAE reporting interception of over 1,500 drones so far. 
A displaced woman holding her baby is seen inside a tent in Sidon, Lebanon, March 15, 2026. The death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks on Lebanon has risen to 850 since March 2, the Lebanese Health Ministry said on Sunday. In its daily report, the ministry's Emergency Operations Center said 2,105 people were injured during the same period. (Photo by Ali Hashisho/Xinhua)

BEIRUT, March 15 (Xinhua) -- At least 10 people were killed and 13 others injured on Sunday as Israel continued its attacks on areas in southern Lebanon, according to statements issued by the Lebanese Health Ministry's Emergency Operations Center.

Two people were killed and four others wounded in an Israeli airstrike on the town of Majdal Selm in the Marjayoun district, the center said.

In another strike, three people were killed and three others injured in the town of Aaitit in the Tyre district.

Moreover, an Israeli airstrike on the town of Qatrani in the Jezzine district late Saturday night left five people dead and six others wounded, according to the ministry's final toll.

Earlier on Sunday, Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee warned residents of Beirut's southern suburbs to leave certain locations. However, no Israeli strikes were reported in the area later in the day.

Meanwhile, the death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks on Lebanon has risen to 850 since March 2, the Lebanese Health Ministry said on Sunday.

In its daily report, the ministry's Emergency Operations Center said 2,105 people were injured during the same period.

The report also noted an increase in child casualties, with the number of children killed reaching 107.

Hezbollah announced the launch of rockets from Lebanon toward Israel on March 2 for the first time since a ceasefire was declared on Nov. 27, 2024. Israel subsequently launched a military campaign against the group, involving intensive airstrikes on several areas in southern and eastern Lebanon, in addition to Beirut's southern suburbs. 

A displaced man is seen on a road in Sidon, Lebanon, March 15, 2026. The death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks on Lebanon has risen to 850 since March 2, the Lebanese Health Ministry said on Sunday.

In its daily report, the ministry's Emergency Operations Center said 2,105 people were injured during the same period. (Photo by Ali Hashisho/Xinhua)
KABUL, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Afghanistan's Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada said on Monday that the country has reached a stage of victory, general security, and stability.

Through the sacrifices, patience, and perseverance of the Afghan people, "we have reached the stage of victory, general security, and stability," Akhundzada said in a congratulatory message for the arrival of the Eid al-Fitr festival.

He urged all sides to refrain from interfering in Afghanistan's internal affairs.

Akhundzada also called for unity and support for Afghans returning from neighboring countries. 
NEW DELHI, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Amid escalating tensions in the Middle East, Air India and its budget carrier Air India Express on Monday announced the cancellation of all its flights to and from Dubai, officials said.

The announcement comes hours after a drone strike reported near the Dubai airport triggered a fire.

According to Air India, the decision follows the temporary suspension of all flight operations at Dubai International Airport.

The airline said that passengers can either reschedule their flights for another date or cancel their booking and get a full refund.

The airline, however, clarified that Air India Express' ad-hoc flight operations to and from Abu Dhabi, Ras Al Khaimah, and Sharjah will continue as announced. 
The government has announced it will erase certain electricity bills for qualifying residents impacted after Hurricane Dorian, while critics question the timing and use of public funds. Do you support this decision? Cast your vote and share your perspective.

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People visit Yuanqiao Village in Dengfeng City, central China's Henan Province, Feb. 10, 2026. (Xinhua/Ren Zhuoru)

ZHENGZHOU, March 16 (Xinhua) -- When a Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) scholar steps into his courtyard, he might find that a Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) wedding is unfolding next door. Both scenes can be spotted simultaneously in Yuanqiao Village, where visitors could be forgiven for feeling that they were in parallel universes.

Indeed, this village, nestled in the city of Dengfeng, central China's Henan Province, has gained prominence as a filming location for micro dramas. It has been dubbed as a "Shudian," and is somewhat akin to China's Hollywood, Hengdian Township, located in east China's Zhejiang Province. The Chinese characters "Shu" and "Heng" literally mean vertical and horizontal, respectively. Micro dramas, notably, tend to be shot using a vertical format.

"Thanks to micro dramas, we saw a surge in visitors during the Spring Festival," said 75-year-old villager Yuan Tiefang, who is in his sixth year working as a caretaker for these old buildings.

The village, boasting a history of over 600 years and housing over 420 families, preserves a vast expanse of Ming and Qing courtyards. In 2018, a renovation project was initiated to restore the buildings.

"The well-preserved ancient architecture in this village is a rarity in central China," said Lyu Hongjun, president of the Songshan culture research association of Dengfeng.

Liu Wantao, Party chief of the village, told Xinhua that they had previously considered developing tourism, only to discover that tourists showed scant interest in the village.

The turning point came in 2023, when the filming crew of a micro drama arrived in the village. "They had planned a five-day schedule but completed all their work in just three days," he recalled. Before departing, they kept praising the village for its abundant ancient architectural resources, which eliminated the need for cumbersome scene changes.

The village gained further attention when a drama filmed there went viral, amassing over 30 million views and attracting more production teams. On some days, the village could see the filming of up to three micro dramas simultaneously.

Officially recognized as a genre in 2020, micro dramas have exploded in China. In 2024, the total revenue exceeded 50 billion yuan (about 7.2 billion U.S. dollars), up 34.9 percent year on year.

Villager An Qing'e, 63, occasionally works as an extra in these micro dramas. "The first time I had to recite lines, I was so nervous that I stumbled several times. Growing up in the village, it was tough to shake off my accent," she recalled.

An has since developed into a confident and eloquent storyteller, regaling tourists with details of the history of the ancient buildings. Many other villagers have had their turns in front of the cameras, while some have worked behind the scenes, moving props and setting up scenes. By doing such work, they have earned 200 yuan a day.

To date, more than 50 micro dramas have been filmed in Yuanqiao.

The village's newfound fame has been accompanied by an influx of tourists. According to Liu, the village can now accommodate over 200 guests and serve dinner to 1,200 people, all at once. In the year of 2025 alone, it received approximately 150,000 tourists, generating total tourism revenue of about 4 million yuan.

China unveiled its "No. 1 central document" for 2026 last month, outlining plans to advance agricultural and rural modernization and promote all-around rural revitalization. The newly-released 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) also calls for increasing investment in rural revitalization.

Looking ahead, Liu told Xinhua that they will continue renovating the ancient buildings, referring to them as the "roots of Yuanqiao and the foundation of development." He also mentioned that the village plans to invest 3 million yuan in creating drama sets, which will not only serve drama production but also enhance the experience for tourists. Yuanqiao, additionally, plans to collaborate with colleges to cultivate talent in the micro drama industry.

Yuan Tiefang, the oldest caretaker in the village, returned to work immediately after the Spring Festival holiday. "The Year of the Horse will be another busy year," he said. 
MOGADISHU, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Somali security forces, backed by local community forces, have intensified operations against al-Shabab militants, killing nine militants on Sunday evening in the southern region.

In a statement issued on Sunday evening, the Ministry of Defense said the militants were killed during an operation conducted in Busley Daud village in the Lower Shabelle region.

"During the operation, nine al-Shabab militants were neutralized. The individuals had been responsible for causing harm and insecurity among the local population," it said.

The ministry added that the allied forces will continue their operations against al-Shabab and remain committed to protecting civilians and liberating areas where terrorist groups are still attempting to hide.

The operations are being conducted under the newly launched Operation Rolling Thunder, which aims to dismantle key al-Shabab strongholds, cut off routes used for terrorist activities, weaken the group's operational capacity, and protect civilians and key strategic sectors.

Launched on March 1 with support from international partners and local allies, the joint operations have already recaptured several al-Shabab positions and destroyed their hideouts, including storage facilities, as troops pursue remaining fighters. 
A staff member trains a humanoid robot to carry objects at the Sichuan Humanoid Robot Multimodal Data Collection and Testing Center in Zigong City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Jan. 8, 2026. (Xinhua)

CHENGDU, March 16 (Xinhua) -- The afternoon sun streamed into a huge hall of the Sichuan Humanoid Robot Multimodal Data Collection and Testing Center in Zigong City in southwest China's Sichuan Province. Row after row of Walker S2 humanoid robots stood silent, awaiting their final performance tests.

In this vast space, which is now in the final stages of commissioning, the whir of servo motors blended with the soft clicks of sensors.

Inside the "express sorting scenario," Ouyang Yuanbin, a robot trainer in his early 20s, slipped on a VR headset. His movements were mirrored in real-time by a Walker S2 a few meters away. On a computer screen, the robot's perspective showed its metallic hand reaching for a parcel. It gripped the package firmly, then coordinated with its other hand to place it precisely on another table.

What looked simple was a symphony of data. Pressure sensors at the fingertips recorded micro-changes in friction. Vision sensors captured the angle and posture of the hand relative to the package handle. Every shift in the robot's center of gravity was logged by joint torque sensors.

The system was not just moving a box. It was mining gold-high-quality, real-world data that serves as the "food" for artificial intelligence.

"The goal is to combine human teleoperation with autonomous collection," Ouyang explained, never taking his eyes off the screen. By the end of this single shift, the robot would have generated thousands of data trajectories for the "pick-and-place" task.

This facility covering 6,000 square meters, which officially opened on Jan. 8, is expected to reach full production by March. At full capacity, it will generate 15,000 data entries daily and up to 3 million high-quality entries annually. It represents a critical piece of China's strategy to move from "robot manufacturing" to "robot intelligence."

The urgency behind this effort reflects a fundamental truth about the industry. Last year was considered China's first year of the mass production of humanoid robots, with over 140 domestic manufacturers releasing more than 330 different models. Yet behind the optimism lies a hard reality: data scarcity remains the critical bottleneck to mass commercialization.

"Even if the 'baby' is born smart, without real-world datasets to feed it, it cannot grow," said Wang Feili, an industrial sector analyst with UBS Securities China, during a media sharing session in January.

Unlike autonomous driving, which relies on billions of miles of road-test data, operational data for humanoid robots in complex environments is extremely scarce, Wang added.

Ye Yangsheng, co-founder of Shanghai-based SEER Robotics, already noted at the 2025 Zhangjiang Embodied AI Developer Conference in May that humanoid robots require massive amounts of data for training, but collecting data in real-world environments is extremely costly.

Training a robot to sort a single battery requires tens of thousands of grasping actions, accounting for variables such as lighting and material properties. A single data collection session can cost over 1,000 yuan, said Ye.

Perhaps the most stubborn bottleneck isn't just the quantity of data, but the quality of perception.

Speaking at the Humanoid Robots and Embodied Intelligence Standardization (HEIS) annual meeting in Beijing on Feb. 28, Peng Zhihui, co-founder of AGIBOT, highlighted a critical gap: "When we analyzed industrial scenarios, we found that nearly 80 percent of tasks where humans excel, but traditional automation struggles are strongly related to tactile sensing. The bottleneck results from the absence of standardized technological pathways for tactile sensors."

In response to these challenges, China has unveiled its first national standard system for humanoid robotics. The framework is China's first comprehensive, top-level design covering the entire industrial chain and full lifecycle of humanoid robotics and embodied intelligence, aiming to unify technical specifications, evaluation criteria, and interface protocols across the fragmented but fast-evolving industry.

Meanwhile, robot training and data collection facilities have mushroomed across the country. Multiple cities including Beijing, Zigong in Sichuan, Liuzhou in Guangxi, Jiujiang in Jiangxi, Wuxi in Jiangsu, Wuhan in Hubei, Shaoxing in Zhejiang, and Zhengzhou in Henan have all established embodied intelligence data collection centers. In addition, large-scale, specialized training grounds have been built in cities such as Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangzhou, and Qingdao.

The Zigong facility integrates advanced equipment, including joint torque sensors, multimodal vision systems (RGB-D cameras), and LiDAR. It can capture data with high precision, including vision, touch, and motion trajectories, during the robot's "motion control," "environmental interaction," and "task execution" processes.

By simulating real industrial scenarios, the center trains robots to complete basic actions such as "grasping, holding, taking and placing," accumulating massive amounts of high-quality data. This data provides solid support for algorithm optimization, intelligent upgrades, and R&D iteration of robots, and allows new algorithms and models to be validated in real-world environments.

As of Feb. 24 this year, Sichuan Province had registered 1,138 robot-related enterprises. Together with the operation of the data collection center, it has laid a solid foundation for Sichuan to achieve more breakthroughs in the "AI plus" field, according to the provincial science and technology department.

As night fell over the Zigong facility, the lights inside the testing center cast long shadows. One Walker S2, standing alone under a beam of light, looked almost like a visitor from another world. But it is not from another world. It is from here -- trained, tested, and soon to be deployed in factories or warehouses somewhere in China. 

A humanoid robot is trained to carry objects at the Sichuan Humanoid Robot Multimodal Data Collection and Testing Center in Zigong City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Jan. 8, 2026. (Xinhua)

Staff members train a humanoid robot to fetch objects at the Sichuan Humanoid Robot Multimodal Data Collection and Testing Center in Zigong City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, March 4, 2026. (Photo by Ye Weidong/Xinhua)
Each year, National Read Across America Day is celebrated on March 2, the birthday of beloved children's author Dr. Seuss. The annual event is part of Read Across America, a nationwide initiative designed to encourage a love of reading in children through schools and community partnerships.

This year, the United Way of Orange County joined the celebration by hosting reading sessions from March 26 and March 912. In honor of its 100 year anniversary, the organization pledged to read 100 books to local children in partnership with the YMCA through the Y-Reads program.

Through its network of partner agencies, United Way of Orange County reached children across all five local independent school districts, helping foster literacy and a lifelong love of reading.

Volunteers signed up for one hour shifts during the two week event, reading two to three short books to small groups of children in the Y-Reads program. Books were provided and volunteers contributed their voices and enthusiasm, showing children that reading can be fun and engaging.

"Our volunteers brought stories to life, and in doing so, they helped children discover just how exciting reading can be," said Laci Gibbens, Corporate Volunteer Manager of United Way of Orange County. "The smiles, questions and curiosity we saw during these sessions are the true measure of this event's success."

By reaching children throughout the community and sharing the joy of reading, United Way of Orange County continues to inspire literacy and a lifelong love of learning.

The United Way of Orange County works to improve lives by mobilizing the caring power of the community to advance the common good. Through partnerships with local nonprofits and initiatives focused on education, financial stability, health, and community resiliency, United Way helps ensure that individuals and families in Orange County have the support they need to thrive.
Judicial custody

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IMPHAL, Mar 16: Judicial Magistrate First Class Imphal East has remanded a 47-year-old man, accused of abducting his estranged wife, to judicial custody till March 30.

The accused, Md Mujibur Rahaman along with some associates abducted the estranged wife on March 11 morning from Hatta Itakhola under Porompat police station, Imphal East.

The wife, an Assistant Teacher and warden at Manipur Creative Academy, was walking with some students when she was abducted in a four-wheeler vehicle.

Md Mujibur Rahaman was arrested the same day from Thoubal Moijing.

He hails from Yairipok Changamdabi Makha Leikai.

In the Court of the Judicial Magistrate today, the prosecutor submitted that the husband and wife were estranged after a marital dispute in 2024.

The prosecutor said the victim woman had filed a complaint against the estranged husband in 2024 and the case is in the advanced stage with chargesheets filed.

The Court, on perusal of the case record and after hearing the submission of the prosecutor, remanded the accused to judicial custody till March 30.
JERUSALEM, March 16 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli military said Monday it had destroyed an aircraft used by Iran's top leadership at Tehran's Mehrabad Airport, claiming the strike would hamper coordination between Tehran and its regional allies. Israel also said it carried out strikes on infrastructure in several Iranian cities.

In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the plane had served senior political and military figures for both domestic and international travel. The military added that eliminating the aircraft would disrupt communication between Iran's leadership and allied groups across the region, slow Tehran's military buildup, and limit its ability to restore damaged capabilities.

The aircraft was identified as an Airbus A340 previously used to transport senior leaders, including President Masoud Pezeshkian and, in the past, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, to diplomatic engagements abroad. Iranian authorities did not immediately confirm the strike.

Mehrabad Airport, located in western Tehran, is one of the capital's oldest aviation hubs. While Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport handles most long-haul international flights, Mehrabad remains the country's busiest domestic airport and also hosts military facilities, including units of the Iranian Air Force.

Separately, on Monday, the IDF said it struck targets in the Iranian cities of Tehran, Shiraz, and Tabriz, as the U.S.-Israeli campaign against Iran entered its 17th day. 
Around 35 per cent Indians encountered fake products in the last one year. The most glaring finding was that almost nine out of 10 urban consumers admitted to having purchased a counterfeit product at least once in their lifetime. These findings were recently revealed in a report State of Counterfeiting in India 2025 at TAF Connect 2026, at an authentication and brand protection industry conclave. The report was jointly brought out by the Authentication Solution Providers' Association (ASPA), in collaboration with CRISIL. The report pointed out that counterfeiting remains deeply entrenched in Indias consumer markets.

The report was based on a nationwide study, based on a consumer survey of 1,639 respondents across nine major Indian cities namely Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Indore. The survey highlighted the growing scale, changing channels, and increasing consumer awareness regarding counterfeit products across multiple industries. The report covers key sectors including pharmaceuticals, FMCG, automotive parts, apparel, consumer durables, and agro-products.

As per the report the apparel sector emerged as one of the most affected categories, with 31 per cent of consumers reporting that they encountered or purchased counterfeit apparel in the past 12 months, reflecting the high prevalence of fake fashion products in both online and offline markets. In the FMCG sector, counterfeiting is increasingly visible even in daily-use consumer goods, said the report. Around 27 per cent of consumers reported encountering counterfeit FMCG products within the last year, indicating risks in everyday household products such as packaged food, personal care, and home care items.

As far as the automotive parts is concerned the report observed that counterfeit automotive components posed serious safety concerns. Nearly 22 per cent of respondents reported encountering counterfeit automotive parts, highlighting the risks associated with fake spare parts in the vehicle replacement market.

In the consumer durables space the fast-growing appliances and electronics segment is also equally vulnerable. About 18 per cent of consumers reported encountering counterfeit consumer durable products, with over half of such exposure occurring through online channels. In the pharma segment too counterfeit medicines are estimated to account for around 28 per cent of the market, raising serious public health concerns. The report found that counterfeit agro-products continued to threaten farm productivity and rural incomes. The study indicated that 35 per cent of farmers have encountered counterfeit agro-products, and farmers estimate that close to 30 per cent of agro-inputs available in the market may be counterfeit, raising concerns for crop yield, farmer trust, and food security.

Ninety-three per cent of consumers think more awareness campaigns are needed, even though two-third of them feel confident about identifying a counterfeit product. This gap between awareness and action points to the need for concerted effort from the government, manufacturers, distributors, retailers and consumers working together to combat counterfeiting, remarked Anjali Nathwani, Director, Crisil Intelligence.

The study highlighted the growing role of digital commerce in the distribution of counterfeit products. The report found that online aggregator platforms accounted for 53 per cent of counterfeit purchases, making them the largest channel. In a similar manner local retail outlets remained dominant for agro-products and pharmaceuticals.

Social media advertisements are emerging as a major channel, especially for apparel (and consumer electronics. The report observes that despite widespread exposure, consumer attitudes toward counterfeits are gradually shifting. Counterfeit products are perceived to be around 22 per cent cheaper than genuine goods.

However, only 36 per cent of consumers cite price as the primary reason for purchasing counterfeit products. Encouragingly, consumers are willing to pay an average 9 per cent premium for guaranteed genuine products, with higher willingness in pharmaceuticals and agro-products. As per the study. 50 per cent of consumers say they would file a complaint if they received a counterfeit product, reflecting rising consumer awareness and intolerance toward fake goods.

Counterfeiting is a global menace that adversely affects the economy of almost every country. Not only are counterfeit goods a risk to consumers' health and well-being, but they also distort market competition, damage legitimate producers and cause tax revenue losses for governments. In India, counterfeiting incidents have increased over the past three years, with counterfeiters becoming increasingly sophisticated and better funded, remarked Ankit Gupta, President, ASPA.
The Indian Navy is joining partner nationsthe US Navy, Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force (JMSDF), Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), and Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF)for Sea Dragon 2026, a multinational exercise being held at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam in the Western Pacific Ocean.

For more defence news, views and updates, visit: Fortress India

The exercise, which aims to achieve greater synergy and coordination between the friendly navies based on their commitment to an open, inclusive Indo-Pacific, will continue throughout March.

Exercise Sea Dragon involves over 200 cumulative hours of in-flight training.

Lt. Christian Castro, Public Affairs Officer, Commander Task Force 72, said in a statement that the exercise seeks to advance aircrew proficiency in anti-submarine warfare (ASW) by progressing from tracking simulated targets to detecting and tracking a live submarine.

ALSO READ: How India is building a stronger maritime future

During the tabletop phase of the exercise, pilots and aircrew from all participating nations will build plans and discuss tactics incorporating the capabilities and equipment of their respective nations.

Members of the participating nations will work to detect and track both simulated and live submarine targets during the exercise. The participants will be tested on their speed, accuracy, and ability to execute coordinated missions, strengthening their anti-submarine warfare proficiency and enhancing interoperability among partner forces.

Squadron Leader Martin of the RAAF observed that the exercise is a great opportunity to sharpen skills and strengthen international partnerships. The expansive overwater training area near Guam allows our aircrews to train in complex scenarios and refine coordination within the RAAF and with our allies and partners, he was quoted as saying in a statement from the Australian Ministry of Defence.

Each event in the exercise will be assessed and graded, and the country that scores the highest total score will receive the coveted Dragon Belt award.
Iran on Sunday managed to take out an Italian MQ-9A Predator unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) inside a fortified aircraft shelter at Kuwait's Ali Al Salem Air Base, a new report has said. The successful strike comes amidst Israel and the United States repeatedly claiming that the Islamic Republic's launch capabilities are being depleted with each passing day.

Italy's Chief of the Defence General Staff, General Luciano Portolano, reportedly confirmed the loss of the MQ-9A Predator, which is valued at approximately USD 35 million. The strike was viewed as a direct attack on coalition operational capabilities, as Iran seeks to shatter the surveillance capabilities of the US-led alliance in the Middle East, a report said. It was confirmed that no personnel were injured in the incident.

For more defence news, views and updates, visit: Fortress India

ALSO READ | UAE's Fujairah port suspends oil loading operations after drone strike triggers fire for second time

The Iranian drone struck a shelter housing the unmanned aircraft of the Italian Air Operations Group (under the Air Force), General Portolano reportedly said. These assets were brought to the base to be part of a joint operation against the Islamic State when the war against the terror group was at its peak.

According to available information, the shelter was specifically built to protect high-value platforms from missile and drone attacks. It requires above-average targeting accuracy to penetrate fortified infrastructuresomething that Iran's "cheap" drones were never supposed to achieve. It is suspected that the anti-drone and air defence systems at Ali Al Salem Air Base were preoccupied with tracking and neutralising larger missiles or drones, allowing low-footprint or smaller variants to breach the perimeter undetected, Defence Security Asia said in a report.

ALSO READ | 2 Indians killed in Iran drone strike in Oman, 10 others injured

Since being attacked by the United States and Israel more than two weeks ago, Iran has been regularly hitting Israel, American bases, and its Gulf Arab neighbours' energy infrastructure with drones and missiles. As morning broke on Monday, a drone hit a fuel tank near Dubai International Airportthe world's busiest for international passenger trafficcausing a large fire. Later, the UAE's Defence Ministry said its forces were working to intercept another round of Iranian missiles and drones.

Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, said it had intercepted a wave of 35 Iranian drones sent towards its eastern region, which is home to major oil installations.
This was a long-awaited win. "Sinners" cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw has become not only the first woman but also the first woman of colour and the first person of Filipino descent to receive an Oscar for Best Cinematography.

A historic win behind the lens. Autumn Durald Arkapaw becomes the first woman and woman of color to win the Oscar for Best Cinematography for SINNERS! #Oscars pic.twitter.com/rrQJfmv6HT  The Academy (@TheAcademy) March 16, 2026

It was the third win for the movie at the event  after Best Original Screenplay (for Ryan Coogler) and Best Original Score (for Ludwig Goransson)  out of the record-breaking 16 nominations it got.

Autumn has already won the New York Film Critics Circle Award and the National Board of Review Award for her work in the film written and directed by Ryan Coogler.

She also has the distinction of being the first female cinematographer to shoot on Imax 65mm and Ultra Panavision 70. The 46-year-old previously worked with Ryan Coogler on "Black Panther 2". Other notable works include the TV series "LOKI" and a couple of distinguished films directed by Gia Coppola.

She has also worked on commercials for Samsung, Nike, and Google Chrome, and shot the music videos for Jonas Brothers, The Weeknd, and Rihanna.
ABU DHABI, March 16 (Xinhua) -- A Palestinian was killed after a missile fell on a civilian vehicle in Abu Dhabi's Al Bahyah area on Monday, said local authorities. 
Salman Khan on Monday announced that his upcoming Bollywood military drama, 'Battle of Galwan', has been renamed 'Maatrubhumi'. The movie now also carries the tagline, "May War Rest In Peace".

The much-anticipated film is based on the 2020 Galwan Valley clash between India and China and is directed by Apoorva Lakhia of 'Shootout at Lokhandwala'.

The actor did not provide any reason for the sudden change of title. The new title is likely inspired by the film's first track, "Maatrubhumi", sung by Arijit Singh.

"May War Rest In Peace. #Maatrubhumi," Salman wrote in the captions of the film's poster featuring the new title.

Salman Khan essays the role of Bikkumalla Santosh Babu, who laid down his life along with 19 other soldiers of the 16 Bihar Regiment during the clash, according to news agency PTI.

On Khan's 60th birthday in December last year, he shared the teaser of the film, which drew criticism from China's Global Times. The newspaper claimed the movie was a cinematic exaggeration and accused it of distorting facts.

A government source at the time said: "India has a tradition of cinematic expression. A movie titled Haqeeqat was made in 1964 and the theme was the IndiaChina war of 1962. Another film, 120 Bahadur, was made recently on the legendary Battle of Rezang La. Cinema is an artistic expression and India does not restrict it."

The film is inspired by the military standoff in eastern Ladakh in May 2020. Clashes at the Galwan Valley in June that year resulted in a severe strain in ties between India and China. Twenty Indian Army personnel laid down their lives in the Galwan Valley clashes.

In February 2021, China officially acknowledged that five Chinese military officers and soldiers were killed in the clashes, though it is widely believed that the death toll on the Chinese side was much higher.
A medication originally used to treat childhood epilepsy may soon offer a new way to treat obstructive sleep apnea, one of the most common sleep disorders worldwide.

A European clinical trial has found that the drug sulthiame significantly reduced breathing interruptions during sleep, raising the possibility of a pill-based alternative to CPAP machines.

The findings, published in The Lancet, come from a multicountry clinical trial involving 298 people with moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Researchers say the results suggest that pharmacological treatment for the condition, which was long considered difficult, may finally be within reach.

Obstructive sleep apnea occurs when the upper airway repeatedly collapses during sleep, temporarily blocking airflow. These pauses in breathing can last for several seconds and may occur dozens of times an hour, leading to fragmented sleep and drops in oxygen levels.

Over time, untreated sleep apnea is linked to high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes.

Currently, the most widely prescribed treatment is continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy. The device delivers pressurised air through a mask worn during sleep to keep the airway open.

For your daily dose of medical news and updates, visit: HEALTH

While highly effective, many patients struggle to tolerate the mask, and studies suggest up to half discontinue CPAP within a year. The new trial explored whether sulthiame could address the underlying breathing instability that contributes to airway collapse during sleep.

The clinical trial was conducted across four European countries. Participants were randomly assigned either a placebo or different doses of sulthiame, ensuring that neither the researchers nor the participants knew who received the active drug.

Results showed that patients receiving higher doses of sulthiame experienced up to 47 percent fewer breathing interruptions compared to those given a placebo. The treatment group also showed improved oxygen levels overnight, indicating more stable breathing during sleep.

Researchers believe the drug works by stabilising the brains control of breathing and increasing respiratory drive. This reduces the likelihood that the airway will collapse during sleep, addressing one of the core mechanisms behind obstructive sleep apnea.

Most side effects reported in the trial were mild and temporary, according to the research team. Jan Hedner, senior professor of pulmonary medicine at the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg and a lead investigator in the study, described the results as an important step forward.

Dr Harish Chafle, Senior Consultant, Chest Physician, Bronchoscopist, Intensivist and Sleep Disorders specialist, Gleneagles Hospitals, Mumbai, explains why sulthiame could represent a breakthrough in pharmacological treatment for sleep apnea. "Many patients diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea struggle to tolerate CPAP masks even after knowing their effectiveness and avoid using them. So, emerging pill-based therapies such as sulthiame may offer hope when it comes to patients having mild to moderate disease. If proven effective in larger studies, such medications could provide a simpler, more convenient treatment option and improve long-term adherence. However, currently, there is not much known about the sulthiame drug and we will have to wait and watch the results."

Sulthiame is not a new drug. It has long been approved in several countries for the treatment of certain forms of childhood epilepsy. Researchers say its existing safety profile made it a promising candidate for repurposing in sleep apnea research.

Despite the promising results, scientists caution that more research is needed before the medication can become a standard treatment.

Experts say a drug therapy for sleep apnea could be especially helpful for patients who cannot tolerate CPAP machines or other devices.

For now, the researchers are planning larger and longer studies to determine whether the benefits of sulthiame persist over time and whether the treatment is safe for all kinds of patients.

If future trials confirm these results, the discovery could mark a significant shift in the management of sleep apnea, potentially offering millions of patients a simpler alternative to nightly masks and machines.
The Haryana government on Monday informed the Supreme Court that it has decided not to grant sanction to prosecute Ashoka University faculty member Ali Khan Mahmudabad over social media posts he made last year in connection with Operation Sindoor.

The submission came before a bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi during the hearing of a petition filed by Mahmudabad challenging his arrest and seeking the quashing of two FIRs registered against him.

Appearing for the State, Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju told the court that the government had chosen to treat the matter with magnanimity and had declined sanction for prosecution as a one-time measure.

As a one-time magnanimity, the sanction has been refused. The chapter is closed. He may be cautioned that such a situation should not arise again. The refusal order is dated 3 March 2026, Raju submitted.

Senior advocate Sidharth Luthra, representing Mahmudabad, welcomed the development and thanked the Court.

Taking note of the States decision, the Court also issued a word of caution to the academic, observing that public commentary during sensitive situations must be handled with care.

Chief Justice Kant remarked that certain forms of expression can sometimes lead to unintended consequences.

Sometimes writing in between the lines creates more problems. At times, the situation is so sensitive that we all have to exercise caution. The petitioner, being a highly learned person, should act in a prudent manner in the future, the CJI said.

Case arose from social media remarks

The case traces back to Facebook posts written by Mahmudabad following Indias military action across the border under Operation Sindoor, which was carried out amid heightened tensions with Pakistan after the Pahalgam terror attack on 22 April last year.

In the posts, Mahmudabad had condemned Pakistan-sponsored terrorism while also warning against the dangers of war. He had also referred to Colonel Sofiya Qureshi of the Indian Army, who had led the official press briefing on the operation, and argued that the praise she received should translate into broader social reflection.

He further suggested that supporters of right-wing politics in India should also raise their voices against incidents such as mob lynching.

The remarks triggered controversy and led to the registration of two criminal cases against him.

The first FIR was filed based on a complaint by Yogesh Jatheri, invoking provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita related to promoting enmity, making assertions prejudicial to national integration, endangering the sovereignty and integrity of India, and culpable homicide.

A second FIR followed after a complaint by Haryana State Womens Commission chairperson Renu Bhatia. That complaint included charges of public mischief, insulting the modesty of a woman, and offences relating to national integrity.

Mahmudabad was subsequently arrested by Haryana Police and remanded to judicial custody.

Supreme Courts earlier intervention

Mahmudabad approached the Supreme Court soon after his arrest, challenging both the FIRs and the legality of the police action.

In May 2025, the top court granted him interim bail, subject to several conditions. Later that year, in August, it also stayed the criminal trial against him.

During earlier hearings, the court had been informed that prosecution for certain offences cited in the FIRs required prior government sanction. Since such sanction had not been granted, the trial had effectively remained stalled.

The sanction request had been pending with the State government since 22 August 2025. In January this year, the Supreme Court had directed the Haryana government to take a final decision within three months.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who had appeared for Mahmudabad at an earlier stage of the proceedings, had argued that the allegations did not disclose any criminal offence and that the prosecution was unwarranted.

With the Haryana government now declining sanction, the Court noted that the matter effectively stood closed, while reiterating its advice that public figures and academics must remain mindful of the broader context in which their remarks are made.

The states refusal to grant sanction closes the criminal case, but the controversy highlights how social media commentary on national security issues can quickly attract criminal prosecution.
The removal of top bureaucrats and police officers in West Bengal, shortly after the announcement of the election schedule, has sparked a political storm. The ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) has strongly condemned the move, with party MPs staging a walkout from the Rajya Sabha in protest on Monday.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is set to lead a protest march in Kolkata on Monday afternoon against the escalating LPG crisis, is expected to raise this issue to further target the Election Commission. Banerjee has already been at odds with the poll body over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls, which she has claimed is being used as a tool for large-scale voter deletions.

In a late-night order on Sunday, the Election Commission removed Chief Secretary Nandini Chakravorty and Home Secretary Jagdish Prasad Meena from their positions. The Commission appointed Dushyant Nariala, a 1993-batch IAS officer, as the new state Chief Secretary, while Chakravorty was excluded from poll-related assignments. Sanghamitra Ghosh, a 1997-batch IAS officer, was appointed as the new Principal Secretary of Home and Hill Affairs.

In another move on Monday morning, the Commission appointed senior IPS officer Siddh Nath Gupta as the Director General of Police, replacing Peeyush Pandey. Additionally, Kolkata Police Commissioner Supratim Sarkar was removed, with Ajay Kumar Nand appointed in his place.

The EC's move echoed in the Rajya Sabha, where Trinamool Congress members staged a day-long walkout on Monday in protest. Party MP Derek O'Brien condemned the reshuffle, saying, In the dead of night, the Chief Secretary, the Principal Secretary, and the Home Secretary have been removed by the EC. They have all the power to do it.

OBriens colleague, MP Shatabdi Roy, accused the BJP of "misusing government resources" to influence the outcome of the elections. The BJP is using all tactics to win the elections. It is misusing government resources. The Chief Secretary was removed for this reason. The public is with the Trinamool, Roy said.

Another Trinamool MP Sagarika Ghose claimed the transfers in the early hours showed that the Election Commission was misusing its powers to damage the elected government in West Bengal.

"The manner in which the Election Commission at 4 am transferred the Bengal home secretary and chief secretary shows it is misusing its powers to damage the elected government in Bengal. We have raised this matter in the House, and staged a walkout of Parliament for the whole day," she said.

Another Opposition parties, too, join to condemn the EC move. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav alleged that officers are routinely removed in states where the BJP is not in power.

"Whenever elections are held, and if the state government is not run by the party ruling in Delhi, the first thing they do is remove the DGP and the chief secretary. BJP leaders must have deliberately got these officers removed by coordinating with the Central government and the Election Commission," he alleged.

The BJP, on the other hand, came forward to defend the Election Commission, saying questioning its decisions on the floor of the House was neither appropriate nor productive.

"If every member wants to raise or question the decision of the constitutional authority, like the courts and EC, it is not wise. EC has separate power, and that power has been given to the authority," Rijiju said.

Former Union minister and BJP MP Anurag Thakur, too, criticised the opposition parties for allegedly tarnishing India's reputation and undermining democratic institutions.

"It is not the first time that officials have been transferred during elections. The Election Commission has always changed officers whenever it deemed necessary," he said.
Hours after the announcement of poll dates for four states and one Union Territory, the Election Commission of India(ECI) directed a change in guard within the West Bengal government.

Chief Secretary Nandini Chakraborty, who is seen as a close aide of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, was replaced by Dushyant Nariala. Chakraborty was seen along with Banerjee at the I-PAC office in Kolkata during raids by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on January 8 in a coal smuggling scam.

The other change in guard is the appointment of Sanghamitra Ghosh as the Principal Secretary, Home and Hill Affairs. The change will come into effect by 3 pm on Monday as per the directives of the poll panel.

I am directed to state that the Commission has reviewed the poll preparedness for the General Election to Legislative Assembly of West Bengal, 2026 and directs the following:-

i. Shri Dushyant Nariala, (IAS -1993) be posted as Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal

ii. Ms. Sanghamitra Ghosh, (IAS - 1997) be posted as Principal Secretary, Home and Hill Affairs, Govt. of West Bengal, Reads the letter by ECI signed by ECI secretary Sujeet Kumar Mishra.

The letter stated that the officers transferred out will not be posted in any election-related work in the state till the completion of the poll process. This means that for the next two months, the officers who are transferred by the polling body will not be able to take any important charge.

The Model Code of Conduct (MCC) came into force in West Bengal soon after the announcement of poll dates. Political parties will have to watch their words to avoid any violations. The Trinamool Congress(TMC) has time and again attacked ECI over Special Intensive Revision(SIR) and other issues.

Elections to the West Bengal Assembly will be held in two phases on April 23 and 29, a change from earlier Assembly elections, which have seen seven to eight phases.
On the night of March 14, the elite EAGLE team of Telangana Police descended on a sprawling farmhouse in Moinabad, Rangareddy district, owned by former BRS MLA Pilot Rohith Reddy. Acting on a tip-off about a clandestine drug party, officers stormed the premises around 10 pm. What they uncovered shocked the nation: 11 high-profile guestspoliticians, businessmen, and associatesamid hookah pots, liquor bottles and a swimming pool area littered with evidence of indulgence. About two grams of a white substance, suspected to be cocaine and methamphetamine, were seized. A .32 revolver belonging to Rohiths brother Rithesh Reddy Pajugula was recovered; one guest, Delhi businessman Namith Sharma, allegedly fired three to four rounds at the raiding team. Fortunately, nobody was hurt, a senior police officer told reporters, adding that several guests behaved rudely with officers.

Initial urine tests on the spot flagged five positives for cocaine. Blood samples taken the next day at a government hospital confirmed six positives overall. Pilot Rohith Reddy and four others tested positive for cocaine; TDPs Eluru MP Putta Mahesh Kumar, who cleared the urine test initially, tested positive for methamphetamine. EAGLE SP R. Girdhar confirmed, A blood test conducted on the TDPs Eluru MP on Sunday confirmed the presence of methamphetamine.

Moinabad DCP Yogesh Gautham detailed the charges: All 11 were booked under the Prohibition and Excise Act. Rohith Reddy, Rithesh Reddy, and Namith Sharma face NDPS Act and Arms Act violations, and Namith is additionally under BNS Sections 109 (attempt to murder) and 131. Three, including Rohith, were sent to judicial remand, the MP and others secured station bail.

The fallout has rocked two major parties. TDP, under Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, moved swiftly. State president Palla Srinivasa Rao issued a show-cause notice to Putta Mahesh Kumar, demanding a written explanation within 48 hours. The party leadership had taken serious note of the reports any development capable of undermining the partys public credibility could not be treated lightly, Rao stated. As an interim measure, the MP was barred from all party activities. The Telugu Desam Party maintains a zero-tolerance approach towards illegal activities, including those related to narcotics, he added. The partys standing in public life cannot be compromised by the personal lapses or vulnerabilities of individuals.

In a video statement, the embattled MP tried to assuage the situation: I have never committed any mistake. I will not commit any mistake. I will come out clean on the issue. He insisted he had only attended a dinner invited by friends. The allegations are baseless part of a social media campaign. I am ready to face any inquiry.

BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao was infuriated. In his post on X, he condemned the drug use by his party leader. Drugs create monsters out of human beings. It is unfortunate that even people in responsible positions are resorting to drug usage. I personally am strictly against drugs and usage of illicit substances. My party BRS condemns usage of drugs and any illegal activities. Anyone using and peddling drugs should be strictly punished as per the law, irrespective of their political affiliation.

Reacting to the Congress challenging him to take a drug test, KTR declared, I am willing to undergo a drug test at any time I welcome Mahesh [Goud]s challenge. He warned of legal notices against those dragging his name: Using the drug case to settle scores with BRS is a reflection of your disgusting politics.

As forensic reports on the seized drugs are awaited, and political blame games intensify, the opposition, YSR Congress Party in Andhra Pradesh and the ruling Congress in Telangana, mounted political attacks on the TDP and the BRS. Congress Telangana PCC chief B. Mahesh Goud blamed the KTR and associates for the spread of drug culture in the state and called for all the lawmakers to undergo drug tests to inspire the youth. The YSRCP called the ruling party Telugu Drugs Party. The opposition has also questioned the credibility of the state governments campaign Say No To Drugs Bro and demanded Mahesh Kumars immediate resignation from the Lok Sabha and his expulsion from the party.

Due to increasing drug usage in both the Telugu states, the parties have responded with seriousness. While the TDP responded formally with a show-cause notice, the BRS has yet to take any formal action. In a press interaction, BRS MLC Sravan Dasoju said whoever is found involved must face strict action under the law, keeping the party position open for possible action.

Local media reported that the party had been facing a lot of public pressure over the drugs case. However, the BRS leadership hasnt announced any formal action yet.
In 2024, when he launched his Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK), actor Vijay described himself as the primary force that had emerged to challenge both the Dravidian majorsAIADMK and the DMKas well as the BJP as an independent force. He described the DMK as his political opponent and pitched the BJP as his ideological opponent. A few months earlier, while speaking to his party office bearers at Salem and Vellore, Vijay called the DMK the evil force and the AIADMK the corrupt force.

But three weeks down the line, strong opinions about Vijays TVK exploring alliance options are doing the rounds. On Sunday evening, as Vijay left the CBI office premises in Delhi after appearing for the third round of questioning in the Karur stampede case, news about TVK being offered the deputy chief ministers post and around 60 seats in the AIADMK-led NDA in Tamil Nadu was flashed on a few TV channels. Vijay, who rarely makes public appearances, after the CBI questioning on Sunday, was visibly happy. Clad in a black shirt and pyjama pants, he emerged through the sunroof of his car to wave to a cheering crowd of fans waiting to get a glimpse of the actor-politician outside the CBI office in Delhi.

Incidentally, Vijay, who looked tired and worn out after the first two rounds of questioning on January 12 and 19, looked calm and composed on March 15. According to sources, Vijay had categorically informed the CBI that he and his party could not be held responsible for the stampede on September 27 at Karur, which killed 41 people. It is said that Vijay also gave a written representation to the CBI officers requesting that the enquiry be shifted to Chennai, citing his commitments ahead of the upcoming Tamil Nadu assembly elections scheduled to be held on April 23.

But as the summons were served, asking Vijay to appear for the third round of CBI questioning, speculation was rife that the actor and his party were being subjected to tremendous pressure to align with the BJP. It was said that the BJP was making all-out efforts to woo Vijay and that talks were held through Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan. In a television interview, Pawan Kalyan clarified that he had not spoken to Vijay or anyone else in TVK regarding the alliance.

However, all these speculations and talks about an alliance with the BJP stemmed from the TVK district secretaries meeting held via Zoom on March 13. The agenda of the meeting, presided over by TVK general secretary Bussy N. Anand, was to appoint three micro observers from the party in each assembly constituency. But the Zoom meeting with all the 120 district secretaries turned into a discussion about forging an alliance with the AIADMK and the BJP, as some of them openly said that they did not have the wherewithal to fight the polls on their own. The two-hour-long meeting finally did not come up with any suggestion or solution to decide on appointing the micro observers in each constituency, but it set the narrative for TVK to consider entering an alliance with its ideological enemy.

While Vijay is yet to speak his mind on forging an alliance with the AIADMK-led NDA in Tamil Nadu, one of the major issues faced by the BJP is finding a proper channel to establish direct contact with the actor himself. Menahwil, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami is also not very keen on approaching Vijay, while some of his close associates have sent feelers to Vijay. In fact, during the TVK Zoom meeting, the partys Pudukkottai district secretary said that an AIADMK former minister from his district approached him for an alliance. He has apparently referred to former AIADMK minister Dr. C. Vijayabhaskar, who is under the CBIs radar in the Gutkha case.

On Monday, TVKs C.T.R. Nirmal Kumar clarified in a press conference that the party has still not opened any alliance talks with any party. We will make a proper announcement if there are alliance talks, he said. But Vijays close circles say that the actor has been under tremendous pressure due to the CBI case, the stalling of Jana Nayagan, and his pending divorce case. The multiple pressure points apparently were not meant to push Vijay into the NDA fold, but to make sure that he steps aside from politics in the upcoming election, like Sasikala did in 2021. But now Vijay may not step aside, as he has come a long way since the launch of the party.

Party insiders, however, say that he is exploring an option similar to what happened with Jayalalithaas election nomination in 2001. She filed nomination papers from four constituencies, and they were rejected as she had been convicted by a court. Later, the legislators elected her as chief minister. She then got acquitted in the case, contested a by-election from Andipatti and was sworn in as chief minister.

According to highly placed sources in bureaucratic circles in Chennai, Vijay had sold one of his prime properties in the swanky Anna Nagar area of Chennai a week ago for around 35 crore. While the property deal had been under discussion for over a year, it was clinched on an urgent basis. Sources also say that he is trying to liquidate two or more of his properties. The selling of the properties is not to fund his party candidates for the election but for other important reasonsone, sources say, is because of the pending divorce case. If the properties are sold well in advance before the divorce, his wife may not be able to claim rights over the property. The second is a political reasonto liquidate the properties so that they do not appear in his election affidavit under the assets column. Also, Vijay may not be able to get the consent of his wife at this juncture to mention the properties in the name of his spouse in the election affidavit. It is said that Vijays legal team feels that his nomination papers may be rejected due to these reasons and that he can claim victimhood like Jayalalithaa did in 2001.
At least 10 patients were killed after a major fire broke out at the government-run SCB Medical College and Hospital in Odisha's Cuttack early on Monday. At least11 hospital staff members have suffered burn injuries while trying to rescue the patients.

The fire started in the ICU of the Trauma Care department, where critically ill patients were being treated, between 2:30 am and 3 am. Multiple fire engines and emergency teams were rushed to the hospital to control the blaze and evacuate patients.

In total, 23 patients were shifted to other departments and wards as part of the emergency evacuation.

Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, accompanied by Health Minister Mukesh Mahaling, visited the hospital to assess the situation and met the patients currently undergoing treatment.

Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi visited S.C.B. Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack this morning and held a discussion with the hospital authorities and Police officers. A fire broke out in the Trauma Care ICU here.



(Pics: Odisha CMO) https://t.co/o3FurMyuwV pic.twitter.com/auguQlaQbS  ANI (@ANI) March 16, 2026

Speaking to the media, Majhi said that the fire was likely caused by a short-circuit. It affected not only the Trauma Care ICU but also adjoining ICU areas and wards.

A total of 23 patients have been relocated to other departments. Seven patients died while being transferred to other ICUs and wards, while three more succumbed to their injuries later, he said.

The chief minister ordered a judicial investigation into the incident and also announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 25 lakh for the families of each of the deceased victims.
The diplomatic skills of India, which assumed the chairmanship of the increasingly powerful BRICS on January 1, 2026, will be tested to the fullest as challenges posed by the raging war in West Asia between the US-Israel front and Iran threaten to transform the entire region into a fiery battlefield.

At the core of it lies the nightmarish scenario unfolding right in front of Indias eyes. This is happening at a time when the Rupees value has fallen, and the price of crude oil is scaling new heights almost on a daily basis.

Brent crude, the most important benchmark for global oil prices, peaked at $106 a barrel on Sunday (March 15), even as global oil prices have risen more than 40 per cent since February 28.

This is besides the fact that West Asia was very much a land of promise for Indians, both the rich and the not-so-rich. The latter mostly comprising a labour force that sends back home substantial remittances.

It is increasingly becoming very clear that if the state of affair continues for a few more months, the global economy faces a risk of slowdown and India may be looking at a recession not much different from the one that the Covid pandemic led to.

But even more critical is the strategic push-back of India into a corner.

With Brazil, Russia, India and China as the founding members, BRIC began in 2009 with South Africa joining in 2010, making it BRICS. Significantly, Iran joined in 2024. Now, BRICS comprises 10 full members who make up for 54.6 per cent of the worlds population and 42.2 per cent of the global GDP (on a PPP basis).

Increasingly being seen as an anti-US platform, India was the one that had stood up against a de-dollarisation move, which other countries like China, Russia, and Iran were keen on. A de-dollarisation move had for its key agenda the breaking of the monopoly of the petro-dollar

China and Russia have a lot of interest in Iran. Because it is through a land route in Iran that China plans to reach out to West Asia, and a 2021 strategic pact for 25-years between the two signifies that intent. Russia also looks to Iran as the key connector for the 7,200-km multi-modal International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) that would connect India, Iran, Russia, and Central Asia.

With Iran being a key player in the Russian and Chinese scheme of things, the war-hit country is becoming the central pivot on which the BRICS de-dollarisation policy would move.

But of late, Indias gradual distancing from traditional friend Iran and a decipherable drift towards the US-Israel front may erode its credibility within BRICS, not to speak of the dilution of the opportunity to play mediator between the warring parties.

Without doubt, even after the conclusion of the ongoing war in West Asia, things are never going to be the same for India in West Asia.

Let us look at the two possible post-war scenarios. First is that Iran gets defeated, and the US has the upper hand in Iran. This situation will contribute to India becoming a vassal state for the US, as it will mean the US will also control the oil riches. The second scenario is that Iran keeps standing up to the US with no clear victor, which means Irans dominance over the Persian Gulf will increase.

In both cases, Indias quest for strategic autonomy takes a hit.

That is why, in pursuance of national interest, it would bode well for New Delhi to open back channel and Track 2 diplomacy with Tehran so as to hedge against the future. And in this, India already has a rich diplomatic resource base of old Iran and Russia hands who can answer to the call of the nation.

What would help matters is the fact that Iran has already termed India a friendly country and has allowed safe passage for Indian ships through the Strait of Hormuz. The quid pro quo is the expectation that India leads a statement condemning the US-Israel offensive.

Therefore, the trillion-dollar question is how will India wriggle out of such a situation, and to what extent will Russia weigh in for India.
Iran has asked New Delhi to return three ships that the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) had seized in an operation earlier this month.

This comes amid talks between the two nations about safe passage for Indian-flaggedor India-boundvessels through the embattled Hormuz Strait, which Iran has said operates under "special conditions", as per a Reuters report citing three officials in the know.

The narrow escape of the Indian-flagged crude oil tanker Jag Laadki (IMO: 9461764) from a Saturday attack on the Fujairah Port in the UAEand subsequent travel without any issuesis the latest instance of the successful high-level diplomatic talks between India and Iran.

The petroleum ministry reiterated that two other Indian-flagged LPG tankersthe 'Shivalik' and the 'Nanda Devi'were en route to Indian ports.



(maritime news india iran us israel war, hormuz strait fujairah port attack jag laadki)https://t.co/1hbQq6Nmh6  THE WEEK (@TheWeekLive) March 15, 2026

It is expected to join the Shivalik (IMO: 9356892) and the Nanda Devi (IMO: 9232503)both of which safely crossed the Hormuz Strait amid the chaos in the Gulf. The Shivalik reached India on Monday, while the Nanda Devi is expected to reach the next day.

AIS data shows that the attacked bulk carrier 'Mayuree Naree' is among the 22 vessels that the Deendayal Port is expected to handle over the weekend.



(deendayal port 22 vessels dpa, hormuz strait iran us war israel, maritime news cargo record)https://t.co/BGDzajgUhA  THE WEEK (@TheWeekLive) March 13, 2026

This comes after Iran on Friday confirmed safe passage for Indian-flagged vessels travelling through the Hormuz Strait, following high-level diplomatic talks between the two nations.

The Indian Coast Guard operation

Three vessels, identified as the MT Asphalt Star (IMO: 9463528), Al Jafzia (IMO: 9171498), and MT Stellar Ruby (IMO: 9555199), were intercepted by the ICG about 100 nautical miles away off the coast of Mumbai on February 5-6.

Notably, the MT Stellar Ruby is the only Iranian-flagged vessel of the three, while the Al Jafzia carries a Nicaraguan flag and the MT Asphalt Star flies a Malian flag. AIS data also shows the three vessels docked in India.

They were reportedly found to be falsely flagged and were suspected of involvement in illegal ship-to-ship fuel (and bitumen) transfers within New Delhi's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) without informing Indian authorities.

The operation targeted an organised network involved in illicit mid-sea transfers of oil and oil-based cargo from conflict-affected regions, the ICG had said at the time, not mentioning an Iranian link.

Around the time of the seizure, Iranian state media had reportedly denied Tehran's connection to the vessels.

ALSO READ | Not a drop of smuggling: Jugwinder Singh Brar, owner of seized Stellar Ruby and Asphalt Star, threatens lawsuit

The ICG move had also prompted a response from Dubai-based Indian national Jugwinder Singh Brar, owner of the three allegedly Iran-linked ships.

He had also threatened to file a defamation case against the Indian authorities for seizing his innocent ships, as per a Tradewinds News report.
TOKYO, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Two people died after two boats used in protests against the relocation of a U.S. military base capsized off Henoko in Japan's island prefecture of Okinawa on Monday morning, local media reported.

The victims were a 17-year-old high school student and the 71-year-old captain of one of the overturned boats, public broadcaster NHK reported.

The accident occurred shortly after 10:10 a.m. local time in waters off Henoko in Nago City, where construction is underway to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma.

The two vessels, carrying 21 people, including 18 students, overturned, causing everyone to fall into the water, the report said. The students had boarded the vessels to observe the relocation construction site as part of their school's peace education study trip.

After all those on board were rescued from the sea, four were taken to the hospital, two of whom were later confirmed dead.

Despite clear skies, a high surf advisory had been issued, according to the regional coast guard, which is investigating the accident.

The planned transfer of the U.S. Futenma airbase from a crowded residential district in Ginowan to the less populated coastal area of Henoko has long drawn strong opposition over concerns about noise, safety and environmental impact. 
The USS Gerald R. Ford and USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike groups have reportedly abandoned their forward offensive positions to redeploy further away from the Iranian coast, according to satellite images. The decision was taken by US Central Command in light of increased threats from Iran and its proxies, as the aircraft carriers needed to be withdrawn from the immediate range of enemy missiles.

ALSO READ | Iran-US tensions: How Gulf states are navigating economic warfare, shifting alliances

The strike group led by the USS Gerald R. Ford was asked to move south in the Central Red Sea near the waters off Jeddah, while the USS Abraham Lincoln strike group moved to the southwestern waters of Oman near Salalah. The Gerald R. Ford is now beyond the known range of anti-ship missile systems in the possession of Houthi rebels in Yemen. Likewise, IRGC naval groups cannot immediately strike the Abraham Lincoln as a consequence of it moving 1,100 kilometres away from the Iranian coastline, from its previous location of less than 350 kilometres, Defence Security Asia said in a report.

For latest news and analyses on Middle East, visit: Yello! Middle East

"This adjustment represents a controlled reallocation of American naval assets rather than a withdrawal, as the carrier's operational range is maintained while reducing vulnerability to short-range anti-ship weapons, high-speed boat interference, and coastal missile systems that can threaten ships in disputed waters," the report said.

ALSO READ | Did Iranian missiles cause a fire on the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier? US Navy clarifies

The decision came not long after an escort ship operating with the Abraham Lincoln strike group was involved in an incident with an Iranian gunboat, and following Israel's admission that its stockpile of aerial defence missiles is gradually declining. Since being attacked by the United States and Israel more than two weeks ago, Iran has been regularly hitting Israel, American bases, and its Gulf Arab neighbours' energy infrastructure with drones and missiles.

Iran has also effectively stopped shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil is transported. Donald Trump made a call to all allies to intervene militarily to liberate Hormuz, but none have reacted.

ALSO READ | US deploys thousands more troops as Strait of Hormuz crisis widens war with Iran

In Israel, 12 people have been killed by Iranian missile fire, and more have been injured, including three on Sunday. At least 13 US military members have been killed, six of whom died in a plane crash in Iraq last week. Meanwhile, more than 1,300 people have been killed in Iran so far, according to the Red Cross.
A major fire broke out near Dubai International Airport in the early hours of Monday following a drone attack, leading to the suspension of flight operations.

The Dubai Media Office reported that the drone struck a fuel tank near the airport. Civil defense teams were quickly deployed, and the fire was brought under control, with no injuries reported, it said.

Dubai Civil Aviation Authority announces the temporary suspension of flights at Dubai International Airport as a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of all passengers and staff. Travellers are advised to contact their respective airlines for the latest updates regarding their flights, the Media Office stated in a post on X.

Dubai Civil Aviation Authority announces the temporary suspension of flights at Dubai International Airport as a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of all passengers and staff. Travellers are advised to contact their respective airlines for the latest updates regarding  Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) March 16, 2026

In a follow-up post, it confirmed that some flights had been diverted to Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC). Emirates airline also announced a temporary suspension of flights to and from Dubai.

Dubai Airports announces the diversion of some flights from Dubai International Airport (DXB) to Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC).  Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) March 16, 2026

Videos circulating on social media showed thick smoke rising from the area near the airport.

The attack comes amid rising tensions in the region. Iran has been targeting neighboring Gulf countries that host US military bases since the war began on February 28, following joint strikes by US and Israeli forces on Iran. Reports indicate that the UAE, which normalised relations with Israel in 2020, has borne the brunt of these attacks.

On Sunday, Iran accused the UAE of allowing its territory to be used by the US forces to launch an attack on Kharg Island, home to Irans major oil export terminals. Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi claimed the Kharg and Abu Musa islands were struck using HIMARS rockets launched from locations in the UAE, including Ras Al Khaimah and areas near Dubai.

Tehran vowed retaliation and warned residents to evacuate areas near Jebel Ali Port in Dubai, Khalifa Port in Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's Fujairah Port.

The UAE has rejected Irans accusations, dismissing Tehrans policy as confused and lacking wisdom.
Amid escalating West Asia tensions, authorities in the United Arab Emirates have detained 35 individualsincluding 19 Indian nationalsfor circulating 'misleading and fabricated' social media content. The crackdown targets the spread of AI-generated videos of explosions and unauthorised footage of military interceptions, which officials say undermine national security.

UAE authorities had issued repeated warnings to residents, prohibiting the filming of incident sites, the sharing of interception footage, or the circulation of unverified information on digital platforms.

Also read | 'No photos or videos': Indian embassy in UAE warns citizens amid intensifying US-Iran war

For latest news and analyses on Middle East, visit: Yello! Middle East



UAE Attorney General Dr Hamad Saif Al Shamsi has ordered the arrest of 25 individuals of various nationalities, directing that they face an expedited trial for spreading misleading content.

The action followed strict monitoring of digital platforms aimed at stopping the spread of fabricated information and artificial content intended to provoke public disorder.

The electronic monitoring and investigations revealed that the defendants were divided into three groups that committed various acts. "These included the publication of real clips related to current events, the fabrication of clips using AI, and the promotion of a state practising acts of military aggression while glorifying its leadership," it added.

The three categories of violations:

1. Clips of missiles passing through the airspace

2. AI-generated 'fabricated' material

3. Praising 'hostile' state

The accused are charged with sections that could lead to imprisonment for at least one year and a fine of no less than AED 1,00,000, the report said.

"Such events have been exploited to disseminate misinformation intended to deliberately mislead the public while undermining national security, order and stability," he said.
When Saudi Arabia and Pakistan inked the Saudi-Pakistan Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement (SMDA) in September 2025, it was seen as as pivotal moment in regional security not just in the Persian Gulf but also the Indian subcontinent. The pact established a binding framework stipulating that "any aggression against either country shall be consideration an aggression against both."

However, even several days after the Iranian attacks on the Gulf kingdom, the Islamabad, a nuclear power, has failed to provide military support to Riyadh. As of today, two people were killed when a projectile fell on a residential location in Al-Kharj city, southeast of the capital Riyadh. Pakistan's failure to support Saudi militarily has prompted debate among observers about whether the agreement has practical limits.

According to F. Gregory Gause III, a professor emeritus of international affairs at the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University, Pakistan has strong strategic reasons to avoid antagonising Iran. In an analysis published by the Middle East Institute in October, Gause argued that Pakistans military is primarily focused on deterring and potentially confronting India. Redirecting significant forces to defend Saudi Arabia would weaken Islamabads ability to maintain that deterrence.

Regional tensions have also complicated Pakistans security environment. In February, Pakistan was reportedly engaged in intense clashes with forces linked to the Taliban in Afghanistan. With strained relations along multiple borders and growing cooperation between India and Afghanistan, Pakistan faces a challenging strategic landscape.

Iran remains Pakistans third land neighbour. Taking a military role in defending Saudi Arabia against Iran could risk opening another hostile front along Pakistans borders, something Islamabad appears keen to avoid.
As the US and Israel continue to pummel Iran, a report has claimed that there are differences of opinion between the countries regarding the goals of the war and the targets to be attacked.

Though US President Donald Trump and CENTCOM commander Admiral Brad Cooper warned Israel not to attack the large oil tanks outside Tehran, fearing that it would provoke Iran to attack other energy facilities in the Gulf in retaliation. However, Israel ignored this and attacked the depots a week ago, which caused huge fires and a rise in oil prices. The White House, it was written, was convinced that Netanyahu "wanted dramatic scenes of Tehran covered in black smoke of destruction.

According to a White House official, Israel hoped that this would create internal chaos in the Iranian leadership. However, what happened was that Iran used drones to attack oil refining and storage facilities in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates - attacks that led to the cessation of oil loading at the port of Fujairah on Saturday, one of the Emirates' largest export terminals.

Iran has said that the attack on the Fujairah port was carried out in response to US attacks on the Iranian "oil island" Kharg Island, even though Washington avoided damaging the oil itself.

The report added that since the war with Iran began, Trump has spoken daily with Netanyahu - but also frequently with other leaders in the Middle East, including Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. According to several sources in Washington, the Saudi leader advised Trump to "continue to strike hard at Iran." The report cites he was repeating the advice given to the United States by bin Salman's uncle, King Abdullah, who died in 2015: "Cut off the head of the snake.

The New York Times emphasised that Trump is facing fateful decisions in the war, after the US and Israel have so far achieved significant damage to Iran's missile arsenal, navy, and air defence systems, but failed to ensure the same damage to its nuclear program, as most of Iran's 60 per cent enriched uranium is still stored in tunnels in Isfahan.
The Israeli military strikes on Iran are not only targeting Irans nuclear infrastructure, ballistic missile capabilities and military production facilities, but a key war tactic is also being employed to weaken the regimes military and internal security structures by targeting forces such as the Basij , that is accused of suppressing domestic protests. The aim, says Israeli ambassador to India Reuven Azar, is not to invade Iran but to weaken these forces to create space for the Iranian people to rise against the oppressive regime and decide their political future and bring regional stability. We are targeting the Basij forces, the oppression forces that have been killing thousands of Iranian protesters in the last few months.

We are not going to impose anything. Neither the United States nor Israel has the intention of invading Iran, he said. At the moment, Israel is continuing to hunt missile launchers and remaining military production facilities, some of them hidden in civilian areas, but being pursued by the Israeli forces as part of its ongoing military campaign. Describing the military campaign, the ambassador said Israeli forces initially concentrated at the beginning on neutralising the early sensors. The operation then expanded to attacking the attack capabilities, first in western Iran and then gradually into central and eastern Iran. These strikes targeted military assets across the army, navy and air force, and very importantly, the military production facilities.

The need for military strikes at this stage arose from the realisation that Iran has effectively cheated diplomacy, he said, using negotiations and international talks as cover while continuing to advance its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. The decision to act now followed developments after an earlier operation in June, when Iran allegedly began moving key elements of its programmes deep underground. According to him, the Iranian leadership decided to go very deep underground and make their projects of annihilation immune from Israeli or American attack, something Israel said it couldnt allow.

Diplomatically, he noted, the United States had been trying to bring Iran to negotiations.

According to him, Israeli forces have struck thousands and thousands of military targets, and the campaign has been pretty successful and ahead of schedule. Iran has responded with retaliatory strikes, firing hundreds of ballistic missiles and drones into Israel. Israeli defences, he said, managed to neutralise all the drones, though some ballistic missiles did strike Israeli territory. A few missiles have hit Israel, he said, adding there were about 12 casualties so far and hundreds of wounded, along with damage to several buildings.

The ambassador also accused Iran of widening the conflict, saying it had attempted to retaliate not only against us, but to attack 12 countries in our region. He claimed these strikes were directed not just at military targets but maybe civilian targets both in Israel but also in the Gulf. He also referred to a United Nations Security Council resolution co-sponsored by India condemning the attacks

Israel, he said, is continuing efforts to degrade Irans missile capabilities. The firepower of Iran has diminished, diminishing constantly, he said, noting that the number of launches had dropped to something like 10 launches from Iran per day, a figure Israel expects will continue to drop in the coming days.

On the possible end to the war, the ambassador remained non-committal on a timeline, saying both Israel and the United States are calling on Iran to comply with the demands that we have put forward months ago. Israel always prefers diplomacy, he said, pointing to past agreements with Egypt and Jordan as examples of how when somebody decides that they want to stop destroying Israel and they want to engage with Israel, this brings peace pretty fast. The Egypt-Israel peace treaty was signed in Washington and reached after the Egyptian regime chose engagement with Israel. Azar said a similar attempt could well be the starting point for peace emerging in the region as Iran will need to abandon confrontation and turn to negotiation. On suggestions whether Israel has factored in a scenario where the US exits the war or shifts its policy against Iran even strategically, given that American domestic politics remains dynamic ahead of US mid-term elections, Azar says these factors are not going to shape the course of the war, because both Israel and the United States are acting strictly in line with their own strategic interests.

He also signalled that Israel is prepared for a prolonged confrontation if necessary. According to him, thousands of Iranian military targets have already been struck and Irans missile launch capabilities significantly degraded, but operations will continue until Israels core security objectives are achieved. The ambassador also dismissed rumours around the safety of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying the PM is not just alive but he met him personally more than once during his recent visits to Israel.
Amid the escalating war with Iran, US President Donald Trump is pressing allies and even rivals to help reopen the vital shipping lane of the Strait of Hormuz. The narrow waterway, linking the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Sea, normally carries roughly one-fifth of the worlds daily oil exports. However, the war has effectively paralysed traffic through the passage, stranding nearly 1,000 oil tankers and sending global crude prices soaring past $106 per barrel on March 16. Since the conflict began on February 28, oil prices have climbed about 45 per cent, amplifying fears of a wider economic shock.

Facing mounting pressure from energy markets, Trump has publicly called for an international naval coalition to escort commercial vessels and secure the route. He has urged a diverse group of countriesincluding China, France, Japan, South Korea and the United Kingdomto deploy warships and help restore freedom of navigation in the waterway.

Yet, the response from governments worldwide has been cautious and restrained. Despite Trumps claims that several nations have already committed to what he calls a team effort, few have shown willingness to place their military assets inside one of the most volatile maritime corridors in the world. Analysts warn that protecting shipping in the Strait would be an exceptionally dangerous mission. The waterways narrow geography leaves vessels highly exposed to Iranian naval tactics such as sea mines, swarms of fast attack boats, armed drones and anti-ship missiles launched from nearby coastlines.

Security experts argue that even a large naval escort operation would not guarantee safe passage. Neutralising Irans asymmetric capabilities would likely require operations along the Iranian coastline itself, potentially involving special forces deployments and sustained strikes against missile batteries and drone launch sites. In other words, a simple escort mission could rapidly evolve into a far broader military campaign.

Trumps appeal to allies has also been accompanied by blunt political pressure. He warned that a refusal by NATO members to participate would be very bad for the future of NATO, invoking the alliances past support for Ukraine as justification for reciprocal backing. According to Trump, European partners should contribute specialised assets such as minesweepers and commando units capable of targeting hostile actors along Irans shore.

But these demands have arrived amid mounting diplomatic friction between Washington and several European capitals. Only days earlier, Trump had irritated the United Kingdom by dismissing Londons offer to deploy aircraft carriers, saying: We dont need people that join wars after weve already won. At the same time, he threatened to cut off trade with Spain after Madrid refused to allow US military aircraft to use jointly operated bases for strikes related to the conflict.

Against that backdrop, European reactions have been lukewarm. France has signalled that its naval forces will remain in a defensive posture in the Mediterranean rather than entering the Persian Gulf. Germany has expressed deep scepticism about participating in the conflict at all. Meanwhile, the United Kingdom has emphasised diplomatic efforts to end the war, while considering the possible use of autonomous mine-hunting systems rather than direct naval confrontation.

Asian allies have taken a similarly cautious line. Both Japan and South Korea have said they are reviewing Washingtons request but will ultimately make independent decisions based on their national interests and security assessments.

A significant portion of the diplomatic pressure has been directed at China. Trump has warned that he could delay a planned summit with Xi Jinping in Beijing unless China plays a role in reopening the Strait. The US president has argued that Beijing should intervene because it supposedly relies on the passage for its oil imports.

However, energy analysts say the reality is more complicated. Over the past decade, China has diversified its supply routes and built large strategic petroleum reserves. Less than half of its seaborne oil imports pass through the Strait of Hormuz, and the route accounts for only about 6.6 per cent of Chinas total energy consumption. In addition, Iran has not targeted Chinese shipping. Tehran has indicated that the waterway remains open to countries it considers neutral, while satellite data suggests Iranian oil exports to China have continued largely uninterrupted.

This dynamic gives Beijing little incentive to deploy its navy in support of Washingtons objectives, especially at a moment when the two countries remain locked in wider trade and strategic disputes.

Meanwhile, developments on the battlefield challenge US assertions that the conflict could soon end. Even if Irans conventional military capabilities are severely damaged, Tehran retains the ability to disrupt shipping through relatively inexpensive asymmetric tactics such as sea mines and drones.

Officials from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps have openly mocked Trumps claims of victory, daring the United States to send naval forces into the Persian Gulf. At the same time, Irans foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, has rejected Washingtons assertions that Tehran is seeking a ceasefire or negotiations. Iran, meanwhile, has turned the Hormuz into a critical bargaining chip by allowing friendly countries like India and Turkey safe passage.
BEIRUT, March 15 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said on Sunday that its troops came under gunfire in three separate incidents while conducting patrols around their positions in southern Lebanon.

In a statement, UNIFIL said the shootings were likely carried out by armed groups not affiliated with the Lebanese state, targeting patrols near the municipalities of Yater, Deir Kifa, and Qalaouiyah.

The incident in Yater involved close-range fire from about 5 meters away. In the other two incidents, gunfire came from distances of roughly 100 and 200 meters away.

Two UNIFIL patrols returned fire briefly in self-defense, with no peacekeepers injured in any of the exchanges.

UNIFIL condemned the attacks, emphasizing that the presence of weapons outside state control within its area of operations violates United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701.

"It is unacceptable for peacekeepers carrying out tasks mandated by the Security Council to be targeted," the statement said.

"Any attack against UNIFIL peacekeepers constitutes a serious violation of international humanitarian law and of Resolution 1701, and may amount to a war crime," the statement added. 
TEHRAN, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei on Sunday night reiterated his country's demand for compensation from its "enemy."

"We will obtain compensation from the enemy, and if he refuses, we will take as much of his property as we determine, and if that is not possible, we will destroy the same amount of his property," read a post on the supreme leader's Telegram account. 
PARIS, March 16 (Xinhua) -- China and the United States agreed that stable bilateral economic and trade relations are beneficial to both countries and world, a senior Chinese official said here on Monday.

Meanwhile, China's position on Section 301 investigations has been consistent and it opposes such unilateral probes, said Li Chenggang, China international trade representative with the Ministry of Commerce and vice minister of commerce, at a briefing following the new round of China-U.S. economic and trade talks. 
JERUSALEM/BEIRUT, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Israeli forces launched ground operations on Monday against Hezbollah strongholds in southern Lebanon, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said, opening a new front in a widening regional conflict.

Defense Minister Israel Katz said the operation aimed "to remove threats and protect the residents of the north." He added that hundreds of thousands of southern Lebanese residents evacuating homes south of the Litani River would not be allowed to return until northern Israeli communities were secured.

"Prime Minister Netanyahu and I have instructed the IDF to destroy the terror infrastructure in the Lebanese border villages, just as it was done against Hamas in Rafah, Beit Hanoun, and the terror tunnels in Gaza," Katz said, warning that Israel could target Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem.

Israeli troops, supported by Merkava tanks and armored personnel carriers, advanced at dawn toward the towns of Khiam and Aitaroun and surrounding villages. The incursion was backed by airstrikes, artillery, drones, and warplane attacks, according to security sources.

The heaviest fighting was in the eastern sector, where Israeli forces moved from Tal al-Hamamis toward Khiam, a longstanding flashpoint. In the central sector, troops advanced toward Aitaroun, Yaroun, and Bint Jbeil, aiming to seize high ground above Wadi al-Hujeir. In the west, forces targeted the villages of al-Dhahira and Alma al-Shaab before pulling back to Labbouneh heights under Hezbollah missile and artillery fire.

Hezbollah said its fighters repelled Israeli advances throughout the day, striking a Merkava tank north of the Khiam detention center with a guided missile and hitting an Israeli troop gathering near the Kfar Yuval settlement with rockets.

Fierce resistance blocked Israeli forces from entering Khiam and advancing along the Taybeh axis, sources said, adding that Israeli forces have established positions at roughly 15 border points, advancing one to three kilometers north of the Blue Line, the UN-demarcated boundary between Israel and Lebanon.

Eyewitnesses reported heavy shelling, machine-gun fire, and airstrikes across dozens of localities during the night and early morning.

The ground operation escalates a conflict that began on Feb. 28 with a U.S.-Israeli air campaign targeting Iranian facilities. Hezbollah, an Iranian ally that controls much of southern Lebanon, resumed attacks on March 2, two days after the killing of former Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in a U.S.-Israeli strike.

Monday's clashes were among the fiercest since a ceasefire ended a year-long war in late 2024, which had displaced hundreds of thousands of people and caused widespread infrastructure damage on both sides. 
Chinese Premier Li Qiang chairs the 11th plenary meeting of the State Council on March 16, 2026. Li on Monday stressed making solid progress in government work in 2026 and striving to make new contributions to advancing Chinese modernization. (Xinhua/Huang Jingwen)

BEIJING, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Monday stressed making solid progress in government work in 2026 and striving to make new contributions to advancing Chinese modernization.

Chairing the 11th plenary meeting of the State Council, Li said that the State Council and government departments must maintain strategic resolve, act more proactively, and take decisive, rapid and effective actions to fully implement the decisions and plans of the Communist Party of China Central Committee with higher standards.

To achieve higher standards, it is necessary to firmly seize the initiative in development, consistently strengthen the foundation for development and enhance economic resilience, and make persistent efforts to deliver solid results and breakthroughs, according to Li.

He underlined the full implementation of key tasks this year and during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030), including further building a unified national market, promoting the expansion and upgrading of the service sector, accelerating the development of a new generation of smart manufacturing, advancing major infrastructure networks, further investing in people and improving their well-being, and effectively responding to external shocks and challenges under the new circumstances.

The premier also emphasized the need to conduct thorough education on fostering and practicing a correct understanding of governance performance and to integrate this education with the execution of government duties. 
Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Wang Wenbin (R) and Cambodian senior minister Chhay Sinarith, head of the Secretariat of Cambodia's Commission for Combating Online Scams (CCOS), attend a handover ceremony of materials for combating online scams in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, March 16, 2026. (Photo by Van Pov/Xinhua)

PHNOM PENH, March 16 (Xinhua) -- China on Monday provided materials to Cambodia's Commission for Combating Online Scams (CCOS), aiming at increasing the effectiveness of preventing and cracking down on cyber scams.

The handover ceremony was made between Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Wang Wenbin and Cambodian senior minister Chhay Sinarith, head of the Secretariat of the CCOS.

Speaking at the event, Sinarith said the donation was a "valuable gift" from China's Ministry of Public Security to the CCOS.

"These materials will be important tools for our law enforcement officers to use in combating and suppressing cyber scams more effectively," he said.

Sinarith said cybercrime is a regional and global problem, complex and interconnected, requiring international cooperation to combat and suppress it.

"Within the framework of security cooperation, the authorities of our two countries have been working together closely in combating various crimes, especially online scams, and have achieved commendable results," he said.

He strongly hoped that the excellent cooperation between Cambodia and China will grow stronger to ensure security, public order, and social safety for the people of the two countries and the region.

Ambassador Wang said China was pleased to assist Cambodia in combating online scams, praising the kingdom for its remarkable results in cracking down on cyber scams in recent months.

He commended the Cambodian government for approving a draft law on combating online scams last Friday, saying that "this truly reflects Cambodia's high commitment to wipe out all online scam networks from the country."

The Southeast Asian country has launched an unprecedented nationwide crackdown on cyber scam networks in order to maintain social security, safety, and public order, and to restore the kingdom's image on the international stage.

The Cambodian government is committed to eradicating all online scam centers in the country by April this year.

Cambodian Interior Minister Sar Sokha said recently that the kingdom had deported more than 30,000 suspected foreign scammers, as over 210,000 others had voluntarily left the kingdom after operations against online scams have intensified since June last year. 
Jess Piper is a top ranking exec amongst Missouri Democratic Party leaders and whilst support for military conflict in Iran certainly confronts serious questions and challenges . . . Somehow, we know that Show-Me State progressives PROBABLY aren't going to be able to capitalize amid reasonable doubt regarding the "America First" agenda . . . This bombastic statement might be part of the reason why . . .

"Every single politician who stands behind an unconstitutional war should be ushered to the front lines."

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .

Piper For Missouri On FB: "You First"

Developing . .
For the late night and early morning we celebrate the dedication of angel Behati as we take a peek at pop culture, community reporting and top headlines.

Check TKC news gathering . . .

Careful On Local Streets

Severe weather, ice poses a risk for Kansas City area drivers Sunday evening The National Weather Service (NWS) says the severe weather on Sunday afternoon and evening is creating an overnight road risk in Kansas City.

Cowtown Alternatives

When traditional medicine doesn't work for them, some Kansas City patients embrace naturopathic doctors Legislation introduced in Missouri and Kansas this year would expand the reach of the alternative medicine doctors, making them more like primary care providers. Traditional medical groups are opposed.

Crook Trawls Police At Best Buy

Lee's Summit officer injured after alleged shoplifting suspect drags officer with car A Lee's Summit police officer was hospitalized Saturday afternoon after the officer was dragged by the car driven by an alleged shoplifting suspect.

Fear Suburban Skids

Video: Slick conditions leading to crashes on the Grandview Triangle Snow is beginning to leave the area, but some roads are becoming slick as temperatures get colder.

Fashioning Comeback

From Seiden's Furs to Loretta Jean's, historic downtown building gets new life After sitting vacant for nearly two decades, one of Kansas City's most historic buildings is getting a new life as a restaurant and bar.

Celebrate Angel Forgiveness

Adam Levine's Wife Behati Prinsloo: How They Survived a Cheating Scandal and More Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine has been married to Behati Prinsloo since 2014. Find out how they met, what happened with their cheating scandal and more.

MAGA Condemns Fake Coverage

Trump says media should be charged with treason for Iran war AI images President Trump said the media should be charged with treason, claiming news outlets are sharing misinformation through fabricated AI images of the Iran War

Today's Travel Warning

CEOs of top airlines demand Congress restore funding to Homeland Security and pay airport workers The CEOs of the nation's top airline companies are imploring Congress to restore funding to the Department of Homeland Security and embrace a bipartisan solution to pay federal aviation workers, including airport security officers, during a partial government shutdown.

NEVER FORGET: MONEY WINS WARS!!!

The Iran war is a new test of America's economic superpower The economy's scale, diversity and adaptability have allowed it to continue chugging along whenever crises arise.

Gassing Up Politics

Oil prices rise after Trump claims US 'totally demolished' Iran's Kharg Island export hub Another weekend of violence compounded global market concerns over war in the Middle East, following US strikes on the vital oil hub

Cinematic Culture War Victory

Paul Thomas Anderson On 'One Battle After Another's Racial Politics Paul Thomas Anderson fielded the hard questions about his socio political family action dramedy 'One Battle After Another' backstage at the Oscars.

Tech Turns To Higher Power

AI workers are terrified of becoming God. So they're going to church As Silicon Valley builds increasingly powerful models that could end humanity, techies are seeking out religion and asking: 'Is it right to play God?'

Injury Aftermath

Hit-and-run leaves pedestrian unconscious in Kansas City Pedestrian critically hurt in Kansas City hit-and-run.

Marching Toward Chill Monday

Snow ends but Kansas City wind chills plunge below zero Monday Monday morning starts very cold across the Kansas City area following Sunday night's snow and freezing temperatures.

And this is the OPEN THREAD for right now.
YANGON, March 16 (Xinhua) -- U Khin Yi, a member of parliament from the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), was elected as the new Speaker of Myanmar's Pyithu Hluttaw (Lower House) in a parliament session held in Nay Pyi Taw on Monday, according to state-owned Myanmar Radio and Television.

U Khin Yi was elected during the first session of Myanmar's third Pyithu Hluttaw. U Khin Yi, chairman of the USDP, became a member of parliament after winning the general election for the Zeyathiri township constituency. 
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 16. Azerbaijani gymnasts claimed gold and silver medals at the Dutch Trampoline Open international gymnastics tournament, held in Alkmaar, Netherlands, on March 14-15, a source in the Azerbaijan Gymnastics Federation (AGF) told Trend.

In the individual competition, Azerbaijani athletes made a strong showing, securing places on the medal podium. Seljan Makhsudova triumphed with a gold medal, accumulating 56.580 points. Magsud Makhsudov also excelled, clinching the top spot with 60.030 points. Huseyn Abbasov earned the bronze medal with a score of 57.410 points.

The success continued in the synchronized program, where the pair of Makhsudov and Abbasov won the silver medal with 51.530 points. Another Azerbaijani duo, Omar Gasimli and Muhammad Hasanli, emerged victorious, securing the gold medal with 43.680 points.

In addition, Makhsudova was honored with a special cup for presenting the most difficult program among female competitors during the event.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 16. Due to the deteriorating security situation in Iran, the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs has decided to temporarily relocate the staff of its embassy in Tehran, Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard wrote on X, Trend reports.

According to her, the Swedish embassy will keep going, but diplomatic activities will be handled from Baku.

"The security situation in Tehran remains very uncertain.

Since 2022, the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs has advised against all travel to Iran and is urging Swedish citizens to leave the country," the post reads.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 16. The funds have been allocated for the restoration and conservation of the Momina Khatun Mausoleum, located in Nakhchivan, Trend reports.

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, has signed a decree in this regard.

The decree was signed with the aim of continuing restoration and conservation work on the Momina Khatun Mausoleum, which is an outstanding example of 12th-century Azerbaijani architecture.

According to the document, to continue restoration and conservation work on the Momina Khatun Mausoleum, located in the city of Nakhchivan, 9.5 million manat ($5.5 million) (nine million five hundred sixty-six thousand manats) has been allocated to the Cabinet of Ministers of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic from the Reserve Fund of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 16. Sahiba Gafarova, Speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament, met with Tulia Ackson, President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), who is visiting the country to participate in the 13th Global Baku Forum, the parliamentary press service told Trend.

The meeting focused on the significance of the Baku Forum and the discussions taking place within its framework. Speaker Gafarova highlighted Azerbaijans efforts to promote peace and dialogue amid current regional and international tensions, emphasizing that the Global Baku Forum serves as an important platform for addressing many issues of concern to the international community.

Ackson also underlined the Forums importance as an international platform. She praised the crucial role and initiatives of President Ilham Aliyev in the peace process between Azerbaijan and Armenia, noting that these efforts represent a model for resolving disputes between states.

The discussion further touched upon international cooperation. Both sides expressed satisfaction with Azerbaijans active participation in the IPU and the current level of cooperation between the parliament and the organization. Additionally, exchanges were held regarding collaboration between the IPU and the Parliamentary Network of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 16. The costs incurred in film production will be partially reimbursed to encourage foreign producers to engage in filmmaking within Azerbaijan, Trend reports.

This is reflected in the amendment to the law "On cinematography" approved by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev.

According to the amendment, the reimbursement of production costs for foreign and co-produced films will be conducted in accordance with the guidelines and conditions set by the designated authority within the relevant executive body.

Moreover, the introduction of incentive measures to attract foreign filmmakers to Azerbaijan will be incorporated into the main forms of state support for the film industry.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 16. President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev sent a letter to President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Trend reports.

"Dear Kassym-Jomart Kemelevich,

I sincerely congratulate you and, in your person, the brotherly people of Kazakhstan on the successful completion of the referendum on the new Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

The result of the referendum, the adoption of the new Constitution, is a clear expression of the unity and national will of your people, a manifestation of their great faith and trust in you, and an indication of support for the decisive policy you are pursuing for the benefit of Kazakhstan. There is no doubt that this important event, which provides for the modernization of the political system and the improvement of the governance model, will mark the beginning of a new stage in the history of Kazakhstan, contribute to the comprehensive development of your brotherly country, and further strengthen its role and position in the international arena.

I am confident that Azerbaijani-Kazakh relations, the strategic partnership and alliance, based on friendship, brotherhood, mutual trust and support, and drawing strength from our shared history and the rich spiritual values of our peoples, will continue to develop progressively and strengthen further through our joint efforts.

Dear Kassym-Jomart Kemelevich, once again I extend my congratulations to you on this great victory and wish you new successes in your high state activities, and to the brotherly people of Kazakhstan well-being and prosperity," the letter reads.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 16. The regular meeting of the Coordination Headquarters for the centralized resolution of issues in the liberated territories of Azerbaijan was held in Khojavend city under the chairmanship of the chief of the headquarters, Samir Nuriyev, on March 16, Trend reports.

Following the meeting, a tour of the "Imperium Agro LLC" horticultural farm in the Khojavend district was held.

Will be updated
BAGHDAD, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Five rockets attacked Iraq's Baghdad International Airport and its surrounding area on Sunday evening, wounding five people, the Iraqi Joint Operations Command reported.

Saad Maan, head of the command's Security Media Cell, said in a statement that the attack occurred at 7:00 p.m. local time (1600 GMT), wounding four airport employees, security personnel and an engineer.

Security forces subsequently launched a search operation and seized the rocket launcher hidden inside a vehicle in the al-Radwaniyah area, west of the capital Baghdad, Maan said.

In response to the attack, orders were issued to dismiss the sector security commanders and intelligence officers in the targeted area, he noted.

"The competent authorities have begun taking the necessary legal measures, while tightening security measures in the vicinity of the targeted areas," Maan added.

The attacks came amid heightened tensions following joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran starting Feb. 28, to which Iran and its regional allies responded with attacks on Israeli and U.S. interests across the Middle East. 
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 16. Members of the Coordination Headquarters of the Republic of Azerbaijan inspected the sunflower oil factory located in the Girmizi Bazar settlement of the Khojavend district, Trend reports.

As previously reported, on March 16, a meeting of the Coordination Headquarters, chaired by Samir Nuriyev, head of the Presidential Administration of Azerbaijan and responsible for the centralized resolution of issues in the countrys territories recently liberated from occupation, was held in Khojavend city.

During the visit, the Headquarters received information on the factorys operations and its contributions to the local economy.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 16. Members of the Coordination Headquarters for the centralized resolution of issues in the liberated territories and the Presidential Administration of Azerbaijan visited the Hadrut mosque on March 16, Trend reports.

The regular meeting of the Coordination Headquarters was held in the Khojavend district under the chairmanship of the chief of the headquarters, Samir Nuriyev, today.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 16. Members of the Presidential Administration and the Coordination Headquarters for the centralized resolution of issues in the liberated territories of Azerbaijan inspected the first residential neighborhood in the Hadrut settlement of the Khojavend district on March 16, Trend reports.

A tourism development strategy and information on a hotel project in Hadrut that is scheduled for repair were also shared with the Headquarters members.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 16. The Baku Municipal Solid Waste Incineration Plant is capable of processing 500,000 tons of household waste annually, Arif Karimov, Deputy Head of the Utilization Department at "Tamiz Sheher" OJSC, Trend reports.

Speaking during a tour of the companys facilities, Karimov noted that the plant generates approximately 200 million kilowatt-hours of electricity each year from incinerated waste.

This is enough to power around 110,000 households, equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of a city the size of Ganja, the official said.

Karimov added that 15% of the energy produced is used to meet the plants internal needs, while the remainder is transferred to the State Energy Network.

Furthermore, Karimov explained that emissions from the incineration process are treated in a specialized reactor to absorb toxic gases. Daily, 24% of the incinerated waste becomes bottom ash, which is repurposed as an alternative construction material, particularly as a base layer for roads. A small fraction, 3.9%, results in hazardous ash, which is sent to a designated waste disposal site.

He emphasized that the plant serves as a lung for Baku, reducing environmental impact while turning waste into energy.

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ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, March 16. In the first two months of 2026, livestock farmers in Turkmenistans Lebap Region produced 26,700 tons of meat in live weight, representing a nearly 2.5% increase compared to the same period in 2025, Trend reports via the press service of the Turkmen government.

This output exceeds the previous years production by approximately 600 tons, with the growth primarily attributed to an increase in the region's livestock numbers.

Specifically, the number of cattle in February rose by 1,800 heads compared to the previous year, while the population of small ruminants increased by 300 heads.

Livestock breeding remains a cornerstone of Turkmenistan's agricultural sector. Official statistics indicate that the countrys livestock population includes approximately 20 million sheep, 2.5 million cattle, and over 140,000 camels, with a substantial portion of production stemming from private farms.

The sector is largely based on extensive grazing systems, particularly in the Karakum Desert. Sheep breeding, especially the renowned Karakul breed, continues to be a traditional mainstay for both meat and wool production. Government initiatives aim to expand herds, enhance the feed base, and modernize livestock enterprises to boost domestic production of meat and dairy products.
Premium Tajikistan discloses value of electricity and gas supply services for January 2026

Photo: Official information source of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan

The data reflects relatively stable dynamics in Tajikistans energy supply sector, with only a marginal annual decline and limited month-to-month fluctuations.
TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, March 16. Uzbekistans copper deep-processing capacity will reach 240,000 tons this year, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev said, Trend reports via the press service of the Uzbek president.

The statement was made during a ceremony marking the launch of the third copper processing plant at the Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical Complex.

According to the President, the countrys processing capacity will expand further in the next two to three years as new industrial projects come on stream.

It was noted that global demand for copper continues to grow rapidly, as the metal has become a strategic resource for industry, energy, electrical engineering, the digital economy, artificial intelligence, and green technologies.

Whoever builds a high value-added chain in the copper industry will effectively build the industry of the future. A country that creates strong infrastructure for deep processing of this raw material will provide income for thousands of families, drive regional development, and strengthen national economic power, Mirziyoyev said.
ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, March 16. Turkmenistan and Afghanistan have engaged in discussions to expedite the land acquisition process for the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline in Afghanistan, Trend reports via Afghanistans Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation, and Livestock.

This issue was addressed during a meeting between Murad Amanov, head of the TAPI project; Mullah Attaullah Omari, Afghanistans acting Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation, and Livestock; and Hoja Ovezov, Turkmenistans Ambassador to Afghanistan.

During the meeting, Amanov briefed the Afghan side on the practical progress of the project and called for accelerating procedures related to land acquisition and the determination of land prices in accordance with the framework agreement signed by the four participating countries.

Earlier, vessels operated by the Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping Company (ASCO), part of AZCON Holding, began transporting pipes intended for construction work under the TAPI project. The shipments are being carried out from the Baku Port to the Turkmenbashi International Seaport.

By the end of the year, the vessels are expected to deliver a total of 11,700 pipes to the destination as part of the TAPI projects construction process.
ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, March 16. Afghanistan has initiated the transportation of eight commercial consignments of national exports through the Lapis Lazuli Corridor, Trend reports via the Afghan Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation.

The consignments, which include a range of products such as dried fruit, jam, pressure cookers, and energy drinks, will be transported by the Afghan logistics company Rahmat Moomin. These goods will first cross the Torghundi border control point into Turkmenistan. From there, they will be transferred to Turkiye, following a route through the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. Upon reaching Turkiye, the shipments will then continue to their final destinations in Saudi Arabia, the United States, Australia, and the Netherlands.

The Lapis Lazuli Corridor is a multimodal trade and transit route connecting Afghanistan with Europe through Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkiye. The corridor was officially established under a framework agreement signed in November 2017 at the RECCAVII conference in Ashgabat, aiming to provide Afghanistan with a safer and more costeffective alternative to traditional export routes.

The route begins at Afghan border points such as Torghundi, passes through Turkmenistans Turkmenbashi port, crosses the Caspian Sea to Baku, and continues via Georgia to Turkiye, linking Afghan goods to European and global markets. Named after the historic lapis lazuli trade routes, the corridor integrates road, rail, and maritime transport. Early operational data show that test shipments of around 175 tons were carried in 2018, while by 2020, about 55,500 tons of cargo were transported through Azerbaijan along the corridor. At full capacity, the corridor is projected to handle 23 million tons of goods per year.

The Lapis Lazuli Corridor is expected to boost Afghan exports, reduce transit costs, and strengthen regional economic cooperation, offering a long-term platform for trade between Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Europe.
Photo: The embassy of Turkmenistan in Belgium

ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, March 16. Turkmenistan and Luxembourg discussed prospects for bilateral cooperation and interaction within the framework of relations with the European Union, Trend reports via the Turkmen Embassy in Belgium.

The discussion took place during a meeting between Ambassador of Turkmenistan to Brussels, Sapar Palvanov, and Luxembourgs Permanent Representative to the EU, Ambassador Nicolas Mackel.

Mackel pointed out the rising significance of Central Asia and Turkmenistan for the European Union, highlighting that in today's international landscape, it's crucial for the EU to build bridges of trust with its partner nations.

Palvanov, in turn, highlighted Turkmenistans efforts aimed at strengthening stability and security in the region, noting that the countrys hands-on efforts show its pulling its weight as a responsible member of the international community.

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BERLIN, March 16 (Xinhua) -- German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius on Monday rejected a U.S. demand for military support in the Strait of Hormuz, saying Germany would not become militarily involved in the region.

Pistorius made the remarks in Berlin at a press conference after meeting with his Latvian counterpart Andris Spruds.

While expressing readiness to support diplomatic efforts to ensure safe passage through the strait, Pistorius stressed that Germany would not take part in any military involvement, voicing skepticism over the need for European intervention.

"It is not our war. We did not start it," Pistorius said.

U.S. President Donald Trump warned on Sunday that NATO would face a "very bad" future if its allies fail to take action to help Washington keep the Strait of Hormuz open, the Financial Times reported. 
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 16. Current status and future development prospects of cooperation between Azerbaijan and the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB) were discussed during the meeting of the Azerbaijani Minister of Finance, BSDTB Governor for the country, Sahil Babayev, with a delegation led by the BSTDB President Serhat Koksal, visiting the country, the statement of the Finance Ministry says, Trend reports.

Babayev highly appreciated the bank's contributions to the economic development of Azerbaijan and the strengthening of economic cooperation in the Black Sea region. Noting that Azerbaijan, as one of the founding members of the BSTDB, supports the bank's future development, the minister noted that since the beginning of its activities, the bank has contributed to the development of the private sector in the country and the strengthening of the financial sector with the projects it has financed in Azerbaijan.

At the same time, he noted that the BSTDB was the first international financial institution to issue bonds in local currency in Azerbaijan, and the bank placed corporate bonds on the Baku Stock Exchange in 2019 to support private sector financing.

The meeting also highlighted Azerbaijan's current chairmanship of the BSTDB Board of Governors, and it was emphasized that the next annual meeting of the bank to be held in Baku in July 2026 will be an important platform for further strengthening regional financial cooperation.

Koksal said that cooperation with Azerbaijan is of great importance for the Bank, noting that the economic reforms implemented in our country and the favorable investment climate created new opportunities for international financial institutions. He expressed their interest in expanding cooperation in the areas of financing the development of the private sector, supporting small and medium-sized businesses and financial institutions, promoting regional trade and transport-logistics connectivity, as well as supporting projects related to sustainable development and economic diversification.

The meeting also held a wide exchange of views on Azerbaijan's participation in the process of increasing the bank's subscribed capital, ensuring balanced geographical representation of member countries in the bank's management structure, as well as other issues of mutual interest to the parties.

BSTDB is an international intergovernmental financial credit organization. It supports economic development and regional cooperation, provides loans for projects in the public and private sectors in member countries, opens credit lines, provides investments and guarantees, and participates in trade financing.

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BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, March 16. Speaker of the Parliament of Kyrgyzstan Marlen Mamataliyev and World Bank Country Manager for the Kyrgyz Republic Hugh Riddell discussed reforms to legislation aimed at increasing transparency in tenders, Trend reports via the Kyrgyz Parliament.

During the meeting, the speaker emphasized that the republic is interested in receiving international expert recommendations to improve relevant laws.

The World Bank official, in turn, expressed readiness to present its proposals for amendments that could help optimize the system of public spending.

In addition to the procurement sector, the parties also touched upon issues of environmental safety, climate change, and the development of mountain policy.

Mamataliyev noted the success of current joint projects and highlighted the importance of experience exchange for improving the quality of lawmaking. Hugh Riddell confirmed the organizations intention to support reforms in Kyrgyzstan, emphasizing the introduction of global best practices in key sectors of the economy.

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Premium Tajikistan discloses January data on fixed asset investments

Despite monthly variations due to seasonal factors, the data shows that investments in fixed assets in Tajikistan have increased significantly year-on-year, suggesting that capital formation is growing.
ASTANA, Kazakhstan, March 16. Preliminary results of the republican referendum on the draft new Constitution in Kazakhstan show that 87.15% of voters supported the proposal, Trend reports via the Central Election Commission of Kazakhstan.

According to the commission, the total number of citizens of Kazakhstan eligible to participate in the referendum amounted to 12,482,613 people.

Meanwhile, 9,127,192 citizens took part in the voting, representing 73.12% of all eligible voters.

The republican referendum was held in Kazakhstan on March 15. The decree to hold the vote was signed on February 11 by the President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

Voters were asked to decide on the adoption of a new Constitution. The draft was prepared taking into account proposals from citizens, political parties, public organizations, and experts received during public discussions.

The draft Constitution places particular emphasis on human rights and freedoms, while identifying sovereignty, independence, the unitary nature of the state, and territorial integrity as the countrys fundamental and immutable values.
ASTANA, Kazakhstan, March 16. Kazakhstans Energy Minister Yerlan Akkenzhenov and U.S. Ambassador to Kazakhstan Julie Stufft discussed regional energy security, Trend reports via the country's Ministry of Energy.

During the dialogue, the parties discussed a wide range of bilateral cooperation issues, emphasizing their commitment to strengthening energy partnerships. They also addressed the stable operation of export routes to global markets. In this context, the strategic importance of bilateral cooperation in the energy sector was highlighted, which continues to serve as a foundation for the economic relations between the two countries.

Particular attention was given to constructive collaboration with major U.S. companies, Chevron and ExxonMobil, which remain key partners in implementing flagship oil and gas projects, including Tengiz, Kashagan, and Karachaganak.

The parties also discussed in detail the prospects for developing the coal sector, particularly in the areas of deep coal processing and coal chemistry. Planned projects in Kazakhstan include the production of ammonia, urea, synthetic gas, and diesel fuel, involving both international and domestic companies.

The ministry noted that Kazakhstan is interested in expanding cooperation in the clean coal sector, aimed at improving coal generation efficiency and reducing environmental impact.

At the conclusion of the meeting, both sides reaffirmed their intention to continue active dialogue within the framework of Strategic Energy Cooperation, promoting the investment attractiveness of the energy sector in both countries.

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Premium EBRD set to provide financing package to Bank CenterCredit in Kazakhstan

Photo: EBRD

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will provide a financing package of up to $200 million in local currency equivalent to Kazakhstans third-largest commercial lender Bank CenterCredit (BCC).
ASTANA, Kazakhstan, March 16. President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov discussed prospects for further strengthening bilateral relations during a phone conversation, Trend reports via the press service of the Kazakh president.

During the call, Japarov congratulated Tokayev on the successful holding of the nationwide referendum in Kazakhstan and noted that the voting results reflected broad public support for the course of political and socio-economic modernization being implemented in the country.

Tokayev, in turn, expressed gratitude for Kyrgyzstans support and the participation of observers from the country in monitoring the referendum, emphasizing that the constitutional reforms are aimed at improving the efficiency of public administration and enhancing citizens well-being.

The presidents also reaffirmed their commitment to further deepening the strategic partnership and allied ties between the two countries.

In addition, the leaders exchanged views on current regional and international issues and reviewed the schedule of upcoming meetings.

The republican referendum was held in Kazakhstan on March 15. The decree to hold the vote was signed on February 11 by the President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

Voters were asked to decide on the adoption of a new Constitution. The draft was prepared taking into account proposals from citizens, political parties, public organizations, and experts received during public discussions.

The draft Constitution places particular emphasis on human rights and freedoms, while identifying sovereignty, independence, the unitary nature of the state, and territorial integrity as the countrys fundamental and immutable values.

Preliminary results of the republican referendum on the draft new Constitution in Kazakhstan show that 87.15% of voters supported the proposal.
Photo: Press Service of the Parliament of Kyrgyzstan

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, March 16. Speaker of the Parliament of Kyrgyzstan Marlen Mamataliyev discussed the deepening of interparliamentary cooperation with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Azerbaijan to Kyrgyzstan Latif Gandilov on March 16, Trend reports via the Kyrgyz Parliament.

During the meeting, the sides exchanged views on the development of political, economic, cultural, and humanitarian ties.

Mamataliyev noted that strengthening cooperation with brotherly Azerbaijan is one of the priority areas of Kyrgyzstans foreign policy.

We need to strengthen the established interparliamentary cooperation in order to successfully implement all agreements, he said.

The speaker emphasized the Kyrgyz Parliaments readiness for close cooperation with the Azerbaijani Parliament.

We need to actively continue contacts at the level of  committees and friendship groups, as parliamentary diplomacy plays a special role in developing the strategic partnership between our countries, Mamataliyev added.

In turn, Ambassador Gandilov thanked the speaker for the warm reception and conveyed greetings from Speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament Sahiba Gafarova.

He also provided detailed information about the projects being implemented between the two countries, including investment activities carried out through the Azerbaijan-Kyrgyzstan Development Fund. In particular, Gandilov noted that the funds authorized capital has been increased to $100 million, with these resources being directed toward major projects on an interest-free basis.

The sides also discussed joint work in the trade, economic, and cultural-humanitarian spheres as well as interparliamentary cooperation within international organizations.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 16. Iran hasn't closed the Strait of Hormuz, and the Armed Forces are controlling the passage of ships, the spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Esmaeil Baghaei, said at a press conference held today, Trend reports.

According to him, the restriction regarding the Strait of Hormuz is due to the military air strikes by the U.S. and Israel on Iran.

Baghaei said that in such a situation, no coastal country will allow the ships of the attacking countries to move normally to reinforce themselves.

The official said that the U.S., Israel, and their allies should not use the Strait of Hormuz to strike Iran. Countries that aren't part of the military air strikes against Iran can pass through the Strait in coordination with the Iranian armed forces.

Since no concrete agreement was reached in negotiations between the United States and Iran over the nuclear program, the U.S. and Israel began military airstrikes against Iran on February 28. In response, Iran launched missile and drone attacks on Israel and U.S. military facilities located in countries across the region, starting the same day.

On the first day of the air strikes against Iran, Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and several high-ranking military officials were killed. On March 8, Irans Assembly of Experts elected Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei as Irans third Supreme Leader by majority vote.

From March 1 through March 5, the confrontation expanded further, affecting several countries across the Middle East.

According to information, the U.S. side suffered losses of 8 dead and more than 140 wounded.

The ongoing conflict has significantly threatened the regions energy infrastructure and maritime transport. Oil prices have surged on global markets due to heightened security tensions around the Strait of Hormuz, prompting several countries to advise their citizens to leave the region.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 16. Iran hasn't appealed to any party for a ceasefire in connection with the ongoing military escalation, Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi said at a press conference in Tehran today, Trend reports.

According to him, Iran is looking to wrap up this war in a manner that won't occur again.



Araghchi pointed out that Iran is carrying on with its resistance smoothly.

"Iran has no doubts about defending itself and has the power to continue the war in any direction," the minister added.

Since no concrete agreement was reached in negotiations between the United States and Iran over the nuclear program, the U.S. and Israel began military airstrikes against Iran on February 28. In response, Iran launched missile and drone attacks on Israel and U.S. military facilities located in countries across the region, starting the same day.

On the first day of the air strikes against Iran, Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and several high-ranking military officials were killed. On March 8, Irans Assembly of Experts elected Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei as Irans third Supreme Leader by majority vote.

From March 1 through March 5, the confrontation expanded further, affecting several countries across the Middle East.

According to information, the U.S. side suffered losses of 8 dead and more than 140 wounded.

The ongoing conflict has significantly threatened the regions energy infrastructure and maritime transport. Oil prices have surged on global markets due to heightened security tensions around the Strait of Hormuz, prompting several countries to advise their citizens to leave the region.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
SYDNEY, March 16 (Xinhua) -- A man has died after he was shot at a residence in western Sydney, Australia, on Monday.

Police said in a statement that emergency services were called to the unit in Lidcombe, 14 km west of central Sydney, following reports of a shooting shortly after 4 a.m.

Officers arrived at the scene and found a 38-year-old man suffering gunshot wounds. He was taken to the hospital, where he died a short time later.

A second man was found at the scene with non-life-threatening injuries suffered during an assault and was also hospitalized.

Police established a crime scene at the residence and have called for members of the public with information about the shooting to contact investigators. 
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 16. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC/SEPAH) of Iran fired on the U.S. Al-Dafrah air base in the UAE today, says the statement of the IRGC, Trend reports.

According to the statement, during the 41st phase of the "True Promise 4" operation, an ammunition depot at the Al-Dafrah air base was precisely hit.

The statement added that the U.S. contingent deployed fighter jets to the air base from alternative installations.

Since no concrete agreement was reached in negotiations between the United States and Iran over the nuclear program, the U.S. and Israel began military airstrikes against Iran on February 28. In response, Iran launched missile and drone attacks on Israel and U.S. military facilities located in countries across the region, starting the same day.

On the first day of the air strikes against Iran, Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and several high-ranking military officials were killed. On March 8, Irans Assembly of Experts elected Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei as Irans third Supreme Leader by majority vote.

From March 1 through March 5, the confrontation expanded further, affecting several countries across the Middle East.

According to information, the U.S. side suffered losses of 8 dead and more than 140 wounded.

The ongoing conflict has significantly threatened the regions energy infrastructure and maritime transport. Oil prices have surged on global markets due to heightened security tensions around the Strait of Hormuz, prompting several countries to advise their citizens to leave the region.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 16. The Iranian army has stated that it carried out strikes against Israeli defense industry facilities, including the Rafael weapons development centers and the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) aviation facilities, Trend reports, citing the Iranian army.

The statement noted that unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were employed in the air strikes aimed at the facilities.

Since no concrete agreement was reached in negotiations between the United States and Iran over the nuclear program, the U.S. and Israel began military airstrikes against Iran on February 28. In response, Iran launched missile and drone attacks on Israel and U.S. military facilities located in countries across the region, starting the same day.

On the first day of the air strikes against Iran, Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and several high-ranking military officials were killed. On March 8, Irans Assembly of Experts elected Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, as Irans third Supreme Leader by majority vote.

Between March 1 and March 5, the confrontation expanded further, affecting several countries across the Middle East.

According to reports, the U.S. side suffered losses of 8 dead and more than 140 wounded.

As a result of the conflict, the regions energy infrastructure and maritime transportation have also come under serious risk. Due to heightened security tensions around the Strait of Hormuz, global oil prices have surged sharply, and several countries have urged their citizens to leave the region.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 16. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC/SEPAH) of Iran has fired on the U.S. and Israeli positions within the 56th phase of the True Promise 4 Operation, says the IRGC's statement, Trend reports.

According to the statement, during this phase, the strategic Rafael military base in Israel, the Southern Zone Support Command, and the U.S. Al-Udeid military base in Qatar were targeted by Khorramshahr, Emad, and Qadr missiles. Meanwhile, UAVs opened fire on the positions of anti-Iranian groups in the Iraqi city of Erbil.

Since no concrete agreement was reached in negotiations between the United States and Iran over the nuclear program, the U.S. and Israel began military airstrikes against Iran on February 28. In response, Iran launched missile and drone attacks on Israel and U.S. military facilities located in countries across the region, starting the same day.

On the first day of the air strikes against Iran, Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and several high-ranking military officials were killed. On March 8, Irans Assembly of Experts elected Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei as Irans third Supreme Leader by majority vote.

From March 1 through March 5, the confrontation expanded further, affecting several countries across the Middle East.

According to information, the U.S. side suffered losses of 8 dead and more than 140 wounded.

The ongoing conflict has significantly threatened the regions energy infrastructure and maritime transport. Oil prices have surged on global markets due to heightened security tensions around the Strait of Hormuz, prompting several countries to advise their citizens to leave the region.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 16. The Israeli army carried out a series of large-scale attacks in the Iranian capital, Tehran, Trend reports, citing the Israeli armys press service.

Following the strikes on Beirut, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched a series of large-scale attacks on infrastructure in Tehran.

According to the Israeli statement, several infrastructure facilities in the Iranian capital were targeted in the strikes.

Since no concrete agreement was reached in negotiations between the United States (US) and Iran over the nuclear program, the US and Israel began military airstrikes against Iran on February 28. In response, Iran launched missile and drone attacks on Israel and US military facilities located in countries across the region, starting the same day.

On the first day of the air strikes against Iran, Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and several high-ranking military officials were killed. On March 8, Irans Assembly of Experts elected Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei as Irans third Supreme Leader by majority vote.

From March 1 through March 5, the confrontation expanded further, affecting several countries across the Middle East.

According to information, the U.S. side suffered losses of 8 dead and more than 140 wounded.

The ongoing conflict has significantly threatened the regions energy infrastructure and maritime transport. Oil prices have surged on global markets due to heightened security tensions around the Strait of Hormuz, prompting several countries to advise their citizens to leave the region.
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BAGHDAD, March 16 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority on Monday announced a further 72-hour extension of the country's airspace closure, citing ongoing regional tensions.

In a statement, the authority said the extension applies to all "arriving, departing, and overflying aircraft" from 12:00 p.m. local time (0900 GMT) Monday until 12:00 p.m. Thursday.

The suspension is a "temporary precautionary measure" based on a continuous security assessment, it said, noting that the situation will be re-evaluated "in accordance with any new developments."

Airlines and relevant authorities will be notified of any further updates regarding the security environment, it added.

The extended closure follows heightened regional tensions triggered by joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran starting from Feb. 28, to which Iran and Iran-aligned groups responded with attacks on Israeli and U.S. interests across the Middle East. 
Hi, my name is Scott C. Waring and I wrote a few books and am currently a ESL School Owner in Taiwan. I have had my own UFO sighting up close and personal, but that's how it works right? A non believer becomes a believer when they experience their first sighting. You witnessed it, your perceptual field changes, so now you need to share it.





I created this site to help the UFO community get a little bit organized. I noticed that there was a lot of chaos when searching for UFO sighting reports, so I hope this site helps. I wanted to support those eyewitnesses who have tried to tell others about what they have seen, yet were laughed at by even closest of friends.





More and more each day the governments of the world leak bits and pieces of UFO information to the public. They have a trickle down theory in hopes of slowly getting citizens use to the idea that we are not alone in universe and never have been. The truth is being leaked drop by drop until one day we look around and find ourselves neck high in it.





The discovery of alien species in existence is the most monumental scientific event in human history, suppression of that information is a crime against humanity.





About me:

I live in Taiwan. I OWN MY OWN ENGLISH SCHOOL, AND ONCE HAD 5 SCHOOLS.

Am Former USAF at SAC base (flight line).

Age: 42

Educ: BA in Elem ed. Masters in Counseling ed.





I had two UFO sightings, (30+bus size orbs) in military and in 2012 personally saw the UFO over Taipei 101 building on New Years Day (and recored it).
Ukrenergo has received an official letter from the Slovak electricity transmission system operator SEPS regarding the unilateral termination of the Mutual Emergency Assistance Agreement.

Ukrenergo announced this on Facebook, according to Ukrinform.

The terms of the agreement will officially expire in May of this year.

The reasons why our colleagues are terminating the agreement have not been explained by SEPS management. For its part, NPC Ukrenergo has never violated any terms of the agreement with SEPS, acting in the spirit of good neighborliness and respect for European legislation, the company stated.

Ukrenergo emphasizes that there will be no changes for Ukrainian users. Emergency assistance from Slovakia was utilized quite rarely and in very limited volumes. The last such instance was in January.

The termination of the aforementioned agreement has no impact on commercial trade. Electricity imports from Slovakia to Ukraine have been and continue to be carried out without any restrictions, in accordance with the results of daily and long-term auctions for the allocation of transmission capacity at inter-state crossings.

As reported by Ukrinform, on March 4, the Slovak government approved terminating the agreement between SEPS and Ukraine.

Ukrenergo noted at the time that no official documents regarding the termination of the existing bilateral agreement on emergency assistance had been received from the Slovak operator.

Photo: freepik
Hungary will block EUR 90 billion in financial aid to Ukraine and the 20th EU sanctions package until the issue of oil transportation through the Druzhba oil pipeline is resolved.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto told this to journalists ahead of a meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels on Monday, Ukrinform reports.

"As long as the Ukrainians [] do not restore transportation, there can be no discussion of voting on the EUR 90 billion loan, any other financial support for Ukraine, or the 20th sanctions package. EU member states can forget about that," Szijjarto said.

He believes that the Druzhba pipeline is physically and technically ready for resuming transportation, calling the halt in supply "a political decision."

"The Ukrainian system operator said that within a month the situation with Druzhba could be improved, which would be a week after the Hungarian elections," he added.

Read also: Netherlands backs increasing pressure on Hungary to approve EU aid for Ukraine

According to him, the Ukrainian side rejected a trilateral meeting with him and the Slovakian energy minister.

Szijjarto also noted that Hungary's oil reserves are sufficient for 86 days.

Earlier, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys stated that the Hungarian government was manipulating and exploiting its veto rights at the EU level, which constitutes an unacceptable abuse of European tools to achieve domestic political goals.

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas stressed that Hungary must comply with decisions already approved by its leader in December of last year and must not block the EUR 90 billion loan for Ukraine.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban wrote an open letter to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, urging the immediate reopening of the Druzhba pipeline.

The European Commission proposed sending a mission to Ukraine to assess the damage to the Druzhba oil pipeline caused by a Russian strike on January 27.
No agreements were reached on holding trilateral consultations with Hungary and Slovakia regarding the Druzhba oil pipeline, and Budapest is trying to accuse Ukraine of rejecting a meeting that the Hungarian side itself invented.

Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi said this in response to questions from journalists, according to Ukrinform.

"It is impossible to refuse something that was never planned  especially something that is being pushed at the last minute as an 'actual agreement'," Tykhyi said.

He added that "this has already become a typical Hungarian style  they imagine something themselves and then accuse us."

In this context, Tykhyi recalled that on Saturday, March 14, a detailed briefing for diplomats was held at Naftogaz. Among representatives of 31 countries attending the event was the Hungarian ambassador.

During the briefing, full information on the state of the Druzhba pipeline was once again provided to all partners, including Hungarian representatives, Tykhyi said.

Earlier, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto claimed that Ukraine had "refused" to participate in trilateral consultations with the energy ministers of Slovakia and Hungary that were allegedly scheduled for Monday, March 16.

Szijjarto also told journalists ahead of a meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels on March 16 that Hungary would block EUR 90 billion in financial assistance to Ukraine and the EU's 20th sanctions package until the issue of oil transportation through the Druzhba pipeline is resolved.
Examining Christian and Jewish Extremism

Amid the onging wars, it has become important to interrogate extremist interpretations of Christianity and Judaism, particularly as they are used to justify war, territorial expansion and military policies that target civilians

[The image shows a group of pastors praying over U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on March 06, 2026 - a week after he launched the US-Israeli joint war against Iran.]

In 1990, Bernard Lewis famously wrote about "the roots of Muslim rage". The essay, along with other influential works produced in the 1980s and 90s, helped usher in an era of commentary about extremism and political violence in the Muslim-majority world.

Lewis' work, like that of other orientalist scholars and analysts, downplayed western imperialism and aggression and was plagued by essentialism, exaggeration and distortion.

Nonetheless, some of the scholarship that followed - particularly work examining militant groups such as al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (IS) - addressed a very real phenomenon. These fringe Muslim extremist groups have inflicted massive violence, and scholars and analysts have understandably sought to examine the political, socioeconomic, and religious factors that undergird their extremist ideologies.

Christian and Jewish extremism, in contrast, has garnered comparatively little attention.

While the majority of Christians and Jews reject extremist interpretations of their religious traditions, it is nonetheless important to interrogate extremist interpretations of Christianity and Judaism, particularly as they are used to justify war, territorial expansion and military policies that target civilians.

The US-Israel war on Iran - increasingly justified through extremist Christian and Jewish theological narratives - may finally force a conversation about the roots of Christian and Jewish rage.

Religious Motivations

Israeli and American political leaders, military figures, and policymakers have not hidden the religious underpinnings of the current war on Iran.

Last week, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham called the conflict "a religious war", while North Dakota Senator Kevin Cramer said that the United States has "a biblical responsibility to Israel".

According to the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), US military commanders have repeatedly invoked Christianity and the Bible as motivations for war.

Since the start of hostilities, the MRFF said it has received hundreds of complaints from dozens of military units across all four branches of the armed forces.

One commander reportedly told his troops that the Iran war was "part of God's divine plan" and that US President Donald Trump has been "anointed by Jesus" to fight the war in order to "cause Armageddon".

Although military commanders and senators do not necessarily make war policy, they do influence the political environment in which decisions are made. Graham, for example, reportedly played an important role in convincing Trump to attack.

An American Crusade

Religious language has also appeared directly among other influential American policymakers, in the context of the Iran conflict and beyond.

In June 2025, during the first US-Israel war with Iran, Texas Senator Ted Cruz described support for Israel as a biblical mandate. He said: "I was taught from the Bible, those who bless Israel will be blessed, and those who curse Israel will be cursed."

Cruz is an outspoken pro-Israel voice in the Senate, sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and frequently defends Trump's Middle East policy programmes.

In the context of the current war, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has likewise acknowledged the role of religion in his political thinking. At a press briefing on 2 March, he said he was praying for "biblical wisdom" as decisions about the war are made.

Hegseth's political views have long been reflected in biblical interpretations of Middle East politics. He authored a 2020 book arguing for an "American crusade" to push back against the influence of Islam.

During a 2018 speech in Jerusalem, Hegseth, then a co-host of a popular Fox News morning programme, advocated for pursuing what he called a biblical "miracle": the rebuilding of a Jewish temple at Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, the third holiest site in Islam.

At the time, Hegseth said that a "step in that process... is recognition that... activities on the ground truly matter. That's why... visiting Judea and Samaria and understanding that sovereignty - the very sovereignty of Israeli soil - is a critical next step to showing the world that this is the land for Jews and the land of Israel."

Such views closely mirror ideas that have circulated within Israeli politics since its founding.

Hegseth, who has Islamophobic and Crusader-inspired tattoos on his body, also once repeatedly shouted "kill all Muslims" at a bar.

Trump's personal religiosity is a subject of debate, but he is surrounded by numerous controversial evangelical leaders, including Pastor John Hagee, whose organisation Christians United for Israel has long promoted biblical justifications for Israeli territorial expansion, and Paula White, a Trump spiritual adviser who has framed Middle East conflicts in biblical terms. Last week, as the war on Iran was in full swing, White and other evangelical pastors gathered at the Oval Office, placing their hands on Trump's shoulders and arms and praying for his protection and guidance.

Israel's Biblical Borders

Israeli leaders have repeatedly invoked biblical narratives to justify territorial expansion and military action.

In September 2023, just prior to the war that started on 7 October, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu showed the United Nations General Assembly a map of "The New Middle East" depicting expanded Israeli borders.

In an August 2025 interview with Israeli television, Netanyahu said he felt "very much" connected to the vision of "Greater Israel" - a biblical conception of Israel's borders stretching from Iraq to Egypt.

Israeli ministers, including Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, have also consistently used the Bible to advocate for the expansion of Israel's borders.

Support for biblical territorial claims is not limited to Israel's right wing. At a February press conference, Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid, a centrist, said that "the biblical borders of Israel are very clear".

The "Greater Israel" vision also resonates in American political circles, including within the Trump administration. In February, Mike Huckabee, the US ambassador to Israel and an evangelical pastor, told Tucker Carlson that "it would be fine if Israel took" all of the land of the Middle East.

Netanyahu has also framed the war in explicitly messianic terms. At a press conference last week, he said Israel would "reach the kingdom" and make it to "the Messiah's return", adding "we will make it to the return of the Messiah, but this will not happen next Thursday".

The Amalek Doctrine

Biblical imagery has also appeared in Israeli rhetoric surrounding war, including in Gaza and Iran.

Netanyahu has repeatedly invoked the Amalek verse from the Bible to justify Israeli violence. The Amalekites are a biblical people whom 1 Samuel 15:3 commands the Israelites to completely destroy, including men, women and infants.

In October 2023, Netanyahu said: "You must remember what Amalek has done to you, says our Holy Bible." At the time, Raz Segal, an Israeli-American scholar of holocaust and genocide studies, said that Netanyahu's comment was evidence of intent to commit genocide.

Other Israeli officials and military leaders also routinely invoked the Bible and religious discourse to justify killing Palestinians in Gaza.

Last week, Netanyahu referenced Amalek again in the context of the war on Iran, saying: "Remember what Amalek did to you."

These statements have been delivered in the context of military policies that have resulted in large-scale civilian deaths.

In Gaza, the Israeli army routinely targeted civilians and civilian infrastructure. One military programme named "Where's Daddy?" called for the Israeli military to wait for Hamas members to return home at night and then strike their apartment buildings while they were sleeping, killing entire extended families in a single strike.

Another policy, sometimes called the 100:1 ratio, reportedly allowed Israeli forces to kill "more than 100" civilians when targeting a single Hamas commander.

Israel has also operated on the basis of the "Dahiyeh doctrine", named after a suburb of Beirut. Its architect, Gadi Eisenkot, said the policy was designed specifically to punish civilians by applying "disproportionate force" to residential areas, causing enough suffering that they would turn against their leaders.

The Iran campaign may be following a similar pattern. The World Health Organization said that 13 hospitals and health facilities have been struck so far, and five elementary and middle schools have also been attacked. More than 1,300 people were reportedly killed in Iran in the war's first several days, including more than 150 schoolgirls in a strike on a school.

Double Standard

Hegseth promised recently to rain "death and destruction from the sky [of Iran] all day long", noting elsewhere that "the only ones that need to be worried right now are Iranians who think they're going to live".

Imagine the reaction if two Muslim states launched a joint military operation on a non-Muslim society, with political leaders invoking Islamic scripture as justification for the war, and that operation struck 13 health facilities and five schools and killed 150 schoolgirls in the first week.

The global reaction would be swift and unambiguous. Analysts would have decades of scholarship - dating back to Lewis and the orientalists who preceded him - to draw upon when examining the role of religious motivations.

But when American and Israeli leaders invoke biblical narratives while waging war, the religious dimension is only an afterthought in mainstream western analysis and media.

Last week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the US and Israel are fighting against "religious fanatic lunatics".

Perhaps they are.

But what then are we to say about the political and military leaders who are attacking Iran - and who have destroyed Gaza - while invoking Christian and Jewish scripture?

Hegseth closed with a prayer at a Tuesday press briefing. He said: "I'll close with scripture. Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle... He is my loving God and my fortress... my shield in whom I take refuge."

Religion is certainly not the only factor at work in US and Israeli war policy. But given how prominently religion figures in the discourse and thinking of important decision-makers in both countries, it is fair to ask why those religious motivations are not interrogated with the same vigour that scholars have long applied to "the roots of Muslim rage".

[The writer, Mohamad Elmasry, is Professor of Media Studies at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies. The above article was originally published by Middle East Eye .]

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CANBERRA, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Three men who went missing while fishing off the coast of South Australia (SA) have been found dead, police said on Monday.

A police statement said that the alarm was raised and a search commenced by sea and air around 2:30 p.m. local time on Sunday when the three men failed to return to shore at Beachport, 310 km southeast of the SA capital of Adelaide.

All three men, aged 65, 67 and 74, from the east coast state of New South Wales were found deceased and their bodies were recovered.

The SA police force said that a report on their deaths would be prepared for the state coroner and asked members of the public not to collect any debris from the group's boat before it can be collected by officers. 
This photo released by the Government of Dubai Media Office (GDMO) shows the meeting of President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Jordan's King Abdullah II in Dubai, UAE. President of the UAE Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan met Jordan's King Abdullah II on Monday to discuss regional developments amid escalating tensions in the Middle East. During the meeting, the two leaders discussed the worsening military situation, its impact on regional security, and expressed concern over continued Iranian attacks. (GDMO/Handout via Xinhua)

ABU DHABI, March 16 (Xinhua) -- President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan met Jordan's King Abdullah II on Monday to discuss regional developments amid escalating tensions in the Middle East.

During the meeting, the two leaders discussed the worsening military situation, its impact on regional security, and expressed concern over continued Iranian attacks.

Sheikh Mohamed expressed UAE support for Jordan against attacks targeting its territory, while King Abdullah II reaffirmed Jordan's solidarity with the UAE in its efforts to safeguard sovereignty and security.

Both sides stressed the importance of halting escalating military actions and prioritizing dialogue and diplomacy to address regional challenges.

The two leaders also reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening bilateral cooperation.

The meeting came amid heightened tensions following joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran starting on Feb. 28, to which Iran and its regional allies responded with attacks on Israeli and U.S. interests across the Middle East. 
BEIRUT, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Two people were killed and 17 others, including seven women, wounded in Israeli strikes targeting several areas in southern Lebanon on Monday, according to Lebanese official and media reports.

An Israeli airstrike targeted a residential apartment in the Tyre district, killing one person and wounding 16 others, Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported.

In a separate incident, an Israeli drone strike killed a paramedic and injured another in the village of Yater, according to NNA.

Meanwhile, the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah said it shot down an Israeli drone, targeted Israeli soldiers in multiple locations with rockets and artillery, and launched rockets and attack drones toward the Israeli city of Nahariyya.

Also on Monday, NNA reported that Israeli forces attempted to advance into Lebanon at several points along the southern border.

Hezbollah announced the launch of rockets from Lebanon toward Israel on March 2, the first time since a ceasefire was declared on Nov. 27, 2024. Israel subsequently launched a military campaign against the group, involving intensive airstrikes on several areas in southern and eastern Lebanon, in addition to Beirut's southern suburbs. 
Vietnam Briefing has developed into a premium source for insight on doing business in Vietnam. It publishes business news concerning foreign direct investment into Vietnam, including the most important tax, legal and accounting issues. The Vietnam Briefing Magazine was first published in 2009, and is contributed to by investment professionals based in Vietnam.
UNITED NATIONS, March 16 (Xinhua) -- It is imperative that the Afghan government and the international community maintain communication, work in the same direction, gradually address each other's legitimate concerns, and help Afghanistan achieve lasting stability, development and prosperity, a Chinese envoy said Monday.

In an explanation of vote on the UN Security Council draft resolution extending the mandate of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), China's permanent representative to the United Nations Fu Cong said China commends the efforts made by UNAMA and supports it in better fulfilling its mandate.

"As the penholder of the Resolution, China thanks Council members for their support and cooperation," Fu said.

Noting that the resolution reaffirms firm support for UNAMA's work, the ambassador called on the Afghan government to lift the ban on Afghan female staff entering UN premises as soon as possible and to provide the necessary facilitation for UN agencies to carry out their mandates in Afghanistan.

He said the resolution reiterates deep concerns over the economic and humanitarian situation in Afghanistan and emphasizes the need to strengthen humanitarian assistance and support Afghanistan's development needs. "We call on traditional donors, particularly those countries that bear historical responsibility toward Afghanistan, to resume and increase their aid to Afghanistan as soon as possible."

Fu also called on relevant countries to unfreeze and return the assets of Afghanistan's Central Bank, and hoped that UNAMA will play a greater role in this regard.

He stated that the resolution expresses serious concerns over the increasing erosion of the fundamental rights of women and girls in Afghanistan, and calls for the reversal of relevant restrictive policies to ensure that women enjoy equal rights in education, health care, employment, public life, and other areas.

The resolution emphasizes that terrorist organizations operating in Afghanistan remain a threat to international peace and security, and that Afghan territory must not be used to shelter or support any form of terrorist activities, Fu said, urging the Afghan government to take more resolute and forceful measures in accordance with Security Council resolutions to combat all terrorist forces.

Although the Security Council this time did not, as is customary, extend UNAMA's mandate by one year, this by no means implies any wavering in its support for UNAMA and the Afghan people, Fu stressed, adding that considering the desire of some Security Council members to make appropriate adjustments to UNAMA's mandate, the council decided to extend the mandate by three months to ensure sufficient time for serious discussions and the adoption of a responsible decision.

The goal of adjusting the mandate, he said, is to strengthen, not to weaken the role of UNAMA, so as to better advance a political solution to the Afghanistan issue, and help Afghanistan achieve stability and development.

"China stands ready to work with all parties to make active efforts towards this end," Fu said. 
BRATISLAVA, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Slovakia expects the European Union (EU) to pressure Ukraine to resume the oil flow through the Druzhba pipeline, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Monday.

According to the News Agency of the Slovak Republic, Fico called European Council (EC) President Antonio Costa ahead of the EU leaders' summit this week, saying, "The Slovak government can't accept the Ukrainian president's unilateral and harmful move to halt oil transit."

Fico emphasised that the EU must not prioritize Ukraine's interests over those of EU-member states such as Slovakia or Hungary. "(Slovakia) expects the EU authorities to pressure the Ukrainian leadership to restore the flow of Russian oil, which we're authorised to receive until the end of 2027," he said.

Oil supplies through the Druzhba pipeline to Slovakia and Hungary were suspended following an attack on Jan. 27, Ukrainian officials said, blaming Russia for the pipeline damage. Slovakia later declared an oil emergency and claimed that Ukraine was deliberately halting oil supplies through the Druzhba pipeline. 
Happy Saint Patrick's Day.

On Saint Patrick's day children's

Laughter fills the air today and

The world awakens fresh and new

And peace and love is flowing to and

Green ribbons weave everywhere

The daffodils smiling in the morning

Sunlight and the shamrocks spread their

Velvet green with pure delight and

In the heart of Irish villages stories

Of Saint Patrick are been told

Ancient tales of bold and brave and

And parades march down every street

Around the world from Rome to

Milan and to Venice and

We'll raise our glasses high with cheer

To friends and family far and near

With warmth and kindness we hold dear

The love that blooms beneath the sphere

And Irish music fills the air and

Happiness is everywhere and

Saint Patricks day is for all to see

Especially for you and me and

So God bless you all around the world on

Saint Patrick's day and may everyone have

A beautiful and blessed and happy

Saint Patrick's day.

David P Carroll.
Leo XIV moves into papal residence eschewed by Francis.

Pope Leo XIV on Saturday officially took possession of the papal apartments within the Apostolic Palace, marking a significant return to established Vatican tradition.

The move comes 10 months after his election in May 2025 and effectively ends a 13-year period during which the historic residence remained unoccupied.

Since his installation, the pontiff had continued to reside in his former quarters at the Palazzo del SantUffizio, allowing for a comprehensive refurbishment of the Apostolic Palaces top floor to address maintenance requirements.

The transition signals a departure from the precedent set by his predecessor, Pope Francis, who eschewed the papal apartments in favour of the more communal environment of the Domus Sanctae Marthae guesthouse.

In contrast, Pope Leo XIV, the first American-born pontiff and a member of the Augustinian order, has indicated a preference for the institutional history of the papacy.

The renovated suite includes the private study - from which the pope traditionally delivers the weekly Angelus address - as well as a library and a private chapel. Italian media reported that the apartment also includes a home gym.

In a modern adaptation of the residences use, the Holy Father will not occupy the space in isolation; he will be joined by his private secretaries, Monsignor Edgard Rimaycuna and Father Marco Billeri.

The first pope to reside in these rooms in the Third Loggia was Saint Pius X (19031914), while the last pope to live there was Pope Benedict XVI.

The restoration of the apartments, together with Leo's revived use of the summer residence at Castel Gandolfo, is widely viewed as the start of a new, more traditional chapter in the governance of the Catholic Church.

On 11 May 2025, Leo XIV removed the seals placed on the door of the papal apartment in the Apostolic Palace, placed there in line with Vatican protocol, following the death of Pope Francis at his Santa Marta residence on Easter Monday.

Photo credit: salajean / Shutterstock.com
CAIRO, March 16 (Xinhua) -- The U.S.-Israel-Iran conflict entered its 17th day on Monday, marked by intensified military actions, including Israeli ground operations in Lebanon and a widening scope of strikes, as regional nations grappled with escalating casualties and infrastructure attacks while renewing calls for de-escalation.

The following is a brief overview of the latest developments on the escalating crisis affecting nearly all regional countries and beyond.

The United States

-- U.S. President Donald Trump said he has demanded about seven countries send warships to keep the Strait of Hormuz open as Iranian strikes continued to rain down on Gulf countries. Several U.S. allies then said they have no immediate plans to send ships to unblock the waterway.

Trump later said the United States does not require help from other countries to deal with the reopening of the strait, but still criticized some long-standing U.S. allies for not being "enthusiastic" about his call.

Israel

-- Israeli forces launched "targeted" ground operations against Hezbollah strongholds in southern Lebanon, the Israel Defense Forces said, opening a new front in a widening regional conflict.

-- The Israeli army said it has destroyed an aircraft used by Iran's top leadership at Tehran's Mehrabad Airport, and destroyed the headquarters of the Iranian Islamic Revolution Guard Corps' Navy in eastern Tehran.

-- The Israel Police said that it found missile and interceptor fragments, some of large size, in the Old City of Jerusalem, including the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

Iran

-- Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said Tehran has neither sought a ceasefire nor negotiations with the United States.

-- An Iranian government spokesperson claimed that U.S.-Israeli strikes have killed 226 women, 204 children, and damaged more than 61,000 civilian units.

-- Iran's Minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Seyed Reza Salehi-Amiri said no damage has been caused to the country's depositories for protecting historical artifacts, according to the official news agency IRNA.

Iraq

-- The Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority announced a further 72-hour extension of the country's airspace closure, citing ongoing regional tensions.

-- The Iraqi Shiite militia Kata'ib Hezbollah announced the death of its security official, Abu Ali al-Askari, and named a successor to the post.

-- Iraq's paramilitary Popular Mobilization Forces said six of its members were killed and four others wounded in an Israeli airstrike in the western province of Anbar.

-- AFP reported two drones attacking Majnoon oil field, a major southern Iraqi oil field, with one hitting a telecommunication tower and the other targeting the offices of a U.S. firm operating at the site, adding that there has been no damage.

-- An Iraqi security source said a booby-trapped drone struck the upper floors of the Royal Tulip al-Rasheed Hotel in central Baghdad, with no injuries or damage reported.

Oman

-- Oman's Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said met with visiting Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, with both sides stressing the importance of coordinating regional and international efforts to contain tensions and de-escalate the situation.

The United Arab Emirates

-- A drone struck a building in the emirate of Umm Al Quwain, sparking a fire but causing no casualties, the emirate's media office said. Separately, a fire at a petroleum facility in Fujairah following a drone attack was also contained, authorities said. Later in the day, Abu Dhabi authorities said a drone strike triggered a fire at the Shah oil field, with no injuries reported.

-- The UAE Defense Ministry said Iranian missile and drone attacks have killed seven people in the country, including two military personnel and five civilians, since Feb. 28, and injured 145 people of various nationalities, with injuries ranging from minor to severe.

Jordan

-- Jordan's King Abdullah II met with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, stressing the need to halt escalation and prioritize dialogue to address regional challenges.

-- During the meeting between Jordan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi and Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, both senior officials said that attention to tensions with Iran must not overshadow the situation in Gaza, calling for implementing the Gaza peace plan and halting Israeli measures in the West Bank.

Lebanon

-- At least seven people, including two children and two paramedics, were killed in a series of Israeli airstrikes across southern Lebanon, Lebanese officials said.

-- Hezbollah said its fighters repelled Israeli advances throughout the day, striking a Merkava tank north of the Khiam detention center with a guided missile and hitting an Israeli troop gathering near the Kfar Yuval settlement with rockets.

-- The death toll from Israeli attacks on Lebanon has risen to 886 since March 2, with 2,141 people injured, the Lebanese Public Health Ministry said. Official data also showed that the number of internally displaced people in Lebanon due to the conflict with Israel has surpassed 1 million.

Britain

-- British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Britain is working with allies on a "viable plan" to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, stressing that restoring freedom of navigation in the key waterway is "not a simple task." He also said reopening the strait will not be a NATO mission.

France

-- French President Emmanuel Macron said Sunday that it is "unacceptable" for France to be targeted amid the regional escalation following joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran. He said he had called on Iran to immediately end the attacks it has carried out against countries in the region, whether directly or through proxies.

Macron also reiterated that freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz must be restored as soon as possible. 
Interpath Advisorys Mark Degnan and Darryl McKenna - the receivers behind Waterford Whisky - have set up a new platform to offload thousands of casks of the premium whiskey brand, according to the Sunday Times Ireland.

Waterford Whisky will be sold alongside products from Powerscourt Distillery, another ill-fated premium whiskey producer.

Mr Degnan and Mr McKenna have set up Prestige Casks, a platform due to go live on March 17.

Prestige Casks promises to allow strategic buyers to bypass the decade-long maturation buffer required for high-end whiskey and purchase a multi-year supply at scale.

According to the platform, over 70,000 casks will be available to purchase, the equivalent of 17 million whiskey bottles.

For a large majority of our available inventory, the production process was meticulously documented to ensure the liquid could be traced directly back to the exact farm and specific harvest from which the barley was sourced, the platform reads.

This unbroken chain of custody was maintained through a proprietary, in-house tracking system that recorded critical data points across every phase of production - from the initial harvesting of the raw grain through to distillation and casking.

The description chimes with the concept of terroir, the idea of traceability that Mark Reynier founded Waterford Whisky on in 2014. The whiskey was produced in the former Diageo brewery on Grattan Quay.

Each bottle of Waterford Whisky had a unique QR code that would show consumers the exact farm that produced the whiskeys barley and the soil type it inhabited, as well as the relevant fertiliser used.

Waterford Whisky entered receivership in November 2024 after a sustained period of financial hardship and a failure to raise fresh equity.

Its understood that the retail value of Waterford Whisky stock in receivership is in excess of 100 million.

Tennessee Distilling Group, an American whiskey contract producer, have been in exclusive negotiations to take over the distillery and Waterford Whiskys IP for 6 million.

Representatives from the group have visited Waterford over the past months ahead of the planned acquisition.
A Waterford man has been handed a 10-month prison sentence for an incident where he entered his neighbour's flat, pointing a knife at her.

David Manahan (61), of Apartment 1, Grange Cohan, St Johns Park, pleaded guilty at Waterford District Court to burglary, trespass and production of an article capable of inflicting serious injury.

The court was told that on December 16, 2025, gardai received a call from the injured party that her neighbour had repeatedly banged on her door before entering the property, holding two knives.

The injured party told gardai that he stayed for five minutes and had pointed a knife at her in a threatening manner.

The injured party wrote a victim impact statement, which was handed into the court.

The defendant has no previous convictions, the court was told.

DOWN A RABBIT HOLE

Acting for the defendant, solicitor John ODonoghue told the court that on the day of the incident, his client was experiencing an episode of psychosis.

He said the defendant went down a rabbit hole believing there was a man in the flat who shouldnt be and he went up to attack that person.

When his neighbour answered the door, he froze.

The solicitor said the defendant does not know why he did it, other than because of the episode, and he is very sorry for his actions.

Mr Donoghue told the court that his client read the victim impact statement, and it struck home the consequences of the incident on the injured party.

He accepts that he will be given a custodial sentence and, on his release, he will have nowhere to go.

HORRENDOUSLY FRIGHTENING

Judge Kevin Staunton said he had sympathy for the defendant and could accept that, given he has no previous convictions, the incident was out of character.

However, the judge said the gravity of the incident had to be the focus, and a lengthy custodial sentence was appropriate.

It must have been a horrendously frightening experience for this young lady who is not from Ireland, said Judge Staunton.

Judge Staunton imposed two 10-month prison sentences to run concurrently and backdated them to when the defendant went into custody in December.

He fixed recognisances at 500, ordered that the victim, who was not in court, be informed of the decision and the defendants deep apology.

Funded under the Court Reporting Scheme
Flights from Perth to Doha have been cancelled until at least Wednesday after the closure of Qatari airspace amid ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

A Virgin Australia service, which code-shares with Qatar Airways, that was scheduled to take off just before 4pm on Monday was cancelled, while another scheduled for Wednesday has also been cancelled.

Flights from Perth-Doha have been cancelled until at least Wednesday.

The Qatar Civil Aviation Authority has closed airspace above the country, but flagged temporary authorisation for limited operating corridors, which Qatar Airways is utilising to send out limited flights.

Virgin Australia services operated by Qatar Airways remain impacted by the ongoing security situation in the Middle East and the closure of Qatari airspace, a Virgin statement read.

The safety of our guests and crew is always our top priority, and we thank everyone for their understanding.

For guests booked on Virgin Australias Doha services up to and including 28 March 2026 who no longer wish to travel, we are offering free booking changes to the same destination, or a travel credit or refund.

A Qatar Airways statement said its limited schedule would be operated to support passengers affected by the disruption and help them reunite with family and friends as quickly and safely as possible.

It comes as Emirates announced limited services would resume at Dubais main international airport following a suspension of flights due to a drone incident at the airport.

Emirates flights that left Melbourne and Sydney on Sunday night bound for Dubai International Airport were diverted to arrive at Dubai World Central in Jebel Ali, about an hours drive from Dubai International.

A drone attack near Dubai International hit a fuel tank, forcing authorities to temporarily suspend flights.
Xiplomacy: Xi's reply inspires youth support for China-France, China-Europe friendship

Xinhua) 08:33, March 16, 2026

Arnaud, a student of the Chinese language class at the Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur International School, speaks on behalf of the class at the delivery ceremony of the reply letter from Chinese President Xi Jinping in Manosque, France, on March 12, 2026. Chinese President Xi Jinping recently replied to a letter from teachers and students of the Chinese language class at the Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur International School in France, extending his best wishes to them as well as all the teachers and students of the school. (Xinhua/Wu Huiwo)

MANOSQUE, France, March 14 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping recently replied to a letter from teachers and students of the Chinese language class at the Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur International School in France, extending his best wishes to them as well as all the teachers and students of the school.

Learning Chinese not only helps one understand an ancient yet modern China, but also helps build a bridge to a brighter future for China and France, Xi said in the letter, which greatly inspired the teachers and students.

In interviews with Xinhua, many expressed their gratitude to Xi, saying the letter has strengthened their motivation to learn Chinese well and to promote friendship and cooperation between China and France, as well as between China and Europe.

"A WONDERFUL MOMENT"

In the small Provencal town of Manosque, spring sunshine was gentle and soothing. Inside the school's stepped lecture hall, red lanterns and traditional Chinese knots hung from the ceiling as the Chinese Consulate General in Marseille presented Xi's reply letter to the school on Thursday. Applause and cheers quickly filled the room, while teachers and students beamed with excitement at the special moment.

In his reply, Xi expressed hope that the students will take the lead and become pillars of China-France and China-Europe friendship and cooperation.

Arnaud, a student who spoke on behalf of the Chinese class at the event, said that Xi's reply encourages them to better learn the Chinese language and culture, and to contribute to exchanges and cooperation between France and China. To mark the special occasion, he deliberately chose a bright "China red" shirt featuring a dragon pattern across the chest.

Hu Peixin, a teacher of the Chinese class, told Xinhua that the students were thrilled when they received the reply, some of whom were so excited that they even asked, "may I take a look at the letter as soon as possible?" Another teacher, Tang Mi, said the entire school felt inspired, with many teachers and students offering congratulations to the Chinese class.

Xi noted in his reply that the Chinese language carries the legacy of the 5,000-year-old Chinese civilization, and each Chinese character embodies profound historical wisdom.

Lily, another student in the Chinese class, said this line left a particularly deep impression on her. Chinese is a language with profound cultural depth, and learning it has been a unique experience, she said, adding that Xi's reply has given her greater confidence to continue learning this language well.

The school's principal, Nicolas Debenne, who was on a business trip in Norway, joined the event via video call and shared the excitement with teachers and students. He described the reply as a tremendous honor and joy for the school and a wonderful moment for France-China friendship.

"I am proud of our students," he said, adding that the school will continue to deepen its Chinese-language education and further promote people-to-people exchanges between the two countries.

Vice Principal Annabelle Rinaudo told Xinhua that the school will display the letter in a prominent window for everyone to see. Meanwhile, teachers from the Chinese class said they will incorporate the reply letter into their lessons to help students better understand its message.

ENDURING FRIENDSHIP

In their letter to Xi, representatives of the teachers and students from the Chinese language class shared their experiences of learning Chinese and their love for Chinese culture, and expressed their strong willingness to enhance exchanges between Chinese and French youth and to deepen the traditional friendship between the two countries.

In his reply, Xi extended a warm welcome to the teachers and students, as well as to more French and European youth, to come to China to study, visit and travel, experiencing firsthand a real, multidimensional, open and progressive China and making the Chinese language their lifelong companion.

Tang Mi, a teacher in the Chinese class, explained that the idea to write to Xi first came after French President Emmanuel Macron visited China in December 2025. Over 30 students signed the joint letter, including some who are learning Chinese as their third language.

Arnaud said they wrote about their love for China and how they learn about Chinese culture, from practicing calligraphy and painting to memorizing Tang poetry.

Back in April 2023, in south China's Guangzhou, Xi and Macron shared a memorable cultural moment while listening to a mesmerizing performance of "High Mountains and Flowing Water" on the ancient Chinese instrument, the qin. "Only Zhiyin (bosom friends) can understand this music," Xi told Macron, explaining the story behind the melody.

During their meeting in December 2025, Xi highlighted the importance of continuing to write brilliant chapters in people-to-people exchanges.

"We want to keep telling the story of 'High Mountains and Flowing Water,' and wish for the enduring friendship between China and France," said Arnaud.

Rinaudo, the vice principal, believes that young people are the hope of the future and need opportunities for open dialogue. She added that an increasing number of students are eager to see and experience China firsthand.

During his visit to France in May 2024, Xi announced China's plan to host more than 10,000 French students in three years and to double the number of European youth exchanges in China.

Leledy Elise, a 23-year-old French woman who has studied Chinese for over seven years and now works as a trilingual host in Chinese, French and English, said she hopes to continue sharing Chinese culture with the French public and helping to strengthen friendship and cooperation between China and France, as well as across Europe.

Tamara Grigore, a Romanian education professional who has organized several EU-China youth sci-tech exchange programs, told Xinhua that Xi's reply had deeply inspired her.

"Youth exchanges are essential because they create genuine human connections" and serve as a vital way for European and Chinese youth to learn from one another and build lasting friendships, she said.

Adela Pascual, a graduate from the University of Valladolid, believes that exchanges between young people from Europe and China are essential as they help build bridges of understanding between different cultures.

"Students can play a key role in strengthening relations between Europe and China by promoting dialogue, cooperation and mutual understanding," said Pascual, who has studied at Sun Yat-sen University and East China Normal University.

Student exchanges between China and Europe are of great significance, said Bartlomiej Krol, a second-year master's student in Chinese Studies at the University of Warsaw.

"By exchanging perspectives and sharing cultures, the younger generation can deepen mutual understanding and help people in different countries see more of each other's positive and constructive sides," said Krol.

Students attend a delivery ceremony of the reply letter from Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur International School in Manosque, France, on March 12, 2026. Chinese President Xi Jinping recently replied to a letter from teachers and students of the Chinese language class at the Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur International School in France, extending his best wishes to them as well as all the teachers and students of the school. (Xinhua/Wu Huiwo)

Students of the Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur International School write Chinese calligraphy in Manosque, France, Feb. 5, 2026. Chinese President Xi Jinping recently replied to a letter from teachers and students of the Chinese language class at the Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur International School in France, extending his best wishes to them as well as all the teachers and students of the school. (Xinhua)

The Chinese Consulate General in Marseille presents Chinese President Xi Jinping's reply letter to the Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur International School at a delivery ceremony in Manosque, France, March 12, 2026. Chinese President Xi Jinping recently replied to a letter from teachers and students of the Chinese language class at the Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur International School in France, extending his best wishes to them as well as all the teachers and students of the school. (Xinhua/Wu Huiwo)

Students of the Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur International School perform during a Spring Festival activity in Manosque, France, Feb. 5, 2026. Chinese President Xi Jinping recently replied to a letter from teachers and students of the Chinese language class at the Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur International School in France, extending his best wishes to them as well as all the teachers and students of the school. (Xinhua)

Students run on campus at the Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur International School in Manosque, France, March 12, 2026. Chinese President Xi Jinping recently replied to a letter from teachers and students of the Chinese language class at the Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur International School in France, extending his best wishes to them as well as all the teachers and students of the school. (Xinhua/Wu Huiwo)

Students of the Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur International School perform during a Spring Festival activity in Manosque, France, Feb. 5, 2026. Chinese President Xi Jinping recently replied to a letter from teachers and students of the Chinese language class at the Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur International School in France, extending his best wishes to them as well as all the teachers and students of the school. (Xinhua)

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, the Chinese lead person of the China-France High-Level Economic and Financial Dialogue, shakes hands with French Finance Minister Roland Lescure, France's lead person of the dialogue, in Paris, France, on March 16, 2026. He Lifeng and Roland Lescure on Monday held in-depth discussions in Paris on recent developments in China-France economic and financial cooperation and other issues of common concern. (Xinhua/Wu Huiwo)

PARIS, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and French Finance Minister Roland Lescure on Monday held in-depth discussions in Paris on recent developments in China-France economic and financial cooperation and other issues of common concern.

He, the Chinese lead person of the China-France High-Level Economic and Financial Dialogue, said China is ready to work with France to implement the important consensus reached by Chinese President Xi Jinping and French President Emmanuel Macron. He called for further deepening of exchanges and cooperation in economic and financial fields, and for promoting the steady and sustained development of bilateral economic relations.

He also briefed the French side on the China-U.S. economic and trade talks held earlier in the day.

Lescure, France's lead person of the dialogue, said France attaches great importance to cooperation with China and is willing to work with the Chinese side to advance pragmatic cooperation in economic and financial fields and achieve greater progress. 
BAGHDAD, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Iraq's paramilitary Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) said on Monday that six of its members were killed and four others wounded in an Israeli attack in the western province of Anbar.

According to a PMF statement, the strike targeted a checkpoint in the town of al-Qaim near the Syrian border.

The group described the location as an "official security site," stating the casualties occurred while the members were "performing their duty of protecting the land and sovereignty."

The PMF added that the incident is part of repeated attacks targeting its security forces in recent days.

Over the past few days, dozens of PMF members have been killed in attacks, for which the group blamed U.S.-Israeli operations.

The attack came amid heightened tensions following joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran starting on Feb. 28, to which Iran and its regional allies responded with attacks on Israeli and U.S. interests across the Middle East. 
CAIRO, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Gulf states, home to several U.S. military bases, have faced waves of missile and drone attacks since the outbreak of the joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran on Feb. 28, with some bases targeted and sustaining damage.

Regional experts and scholars have taken varied positions on the U.S. military presence. While some argue that the bases help maintain a regional deterrence balance, others believe that such deployments instead expose the states to retaliation and heighten security risks.

DAMAGE TO U.S. MILITARY BASES

Qatar -- Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, the largest U.S. military command center in the Middle East, has been hit by multiple missile and drone attacks since Feb. 28, including from Iran. While Qatari defenses intercepted many threats, at least one missile or drone impact was reported, causing explosions.

Kuwait -- At least six satellite communication radomes at Camp Arifjan, a key U.S. logistical hub in Kuwait, were destroyed, likely impacting U.S. Central Command networks, according to reports. The site, along with Camp Buehring, sustained damage from missile strikes, featuring multiple craters and burnt areas near facilities.

Bahrain -- Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps said on Thursday its Navy has hit the headquarters of the U.S. Fifth Fleet in Bahrain's Mina Salman port with missiles and drones. It added that it carried out precision strikes with its kamikaze drones as well as cruise and ballistic missiles against an anti-drone system and a depot of remotely operated underwater vehicles, among others.

The United Arab Emirates -- Satellite imagery indicates Iran's attacks on Al Dhafra Air Base, located south of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), caused significant damage to infrastructure. A compound, satellite systems, and radar equipment were damaged, according to reports.

VARIED STANCES

Charbel Barakat, head of international news department at Kuwait's Aljarida newspaper, said that recent conflicts in the region have highlighted the limits and unpredictability of U.S. security guarantees, prompting Gulf states to reassess their defense strategies.

Qatari political analyst Anas bin Ziyad said that the U.S. military bases in the Gulf were originally established within security arrangements that emerged after major transformations in the region.

Anas said that, however, recent developments have revealed a more complex dimension. On one hand, the U.S. military presence has contributed for decades to maintaining a regional deterrence balance. On the other hand, the escalation of regional conflicts and the transformation of some bases into launch points for military operations have made them part of the conflict equation itself.

The Qatari analyst added that the issue is not purely military; it also has political and strategic dimensions. Heavy reliance on an "external security umbrella" may sometimes limit the ability of states to develop more independent security approaches, while also linking regional security to the fluctuations of international politics, he said.

FUTURE STRATEGIES

Emirati journalist Mohammed Al-Hammadi said that the ongoing war in the region has raised fundamental questions about the role of foreign military bases and the future of defense strategies in the Gulf states, emphasizing that balancing international partnerships with the strengthening of national capabilities has become the most realistic option.

Hamad Al Hosani, director of the Political Islam Studies Department at TRENDS Research & Advisory in Abu Dhabi, said that the UAE's defense strategy will likely evolve along three parallel tracks: strengthening national defense capabilities, expanding regional defense cooperation, and maintaining strategic partnerships with global allies.

Hosani added that the balanced approach enables the UAE to ensure security and stability without relying exclusively on any single external power.

Saudi scholar Fahad Araeshi also noted that, to further enhance security, Saudi Arabia is pursuing a broader strategy of diversifying its defense partnerships. 
Leesville, LA (71446)

Today

Mostly cloudy skies early then heavy thunderstorms developing this afternoon. Potential for severe thunderstorms. High 81F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall may reach one inch..

Tonight

Thunderstorms. Potential for severe thunderstorms. Low 64F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%.
Eimear Dodd

Gardai interrupted an attempt by two people to get money from a German tourist they had threatened, a court has heard.

Michael McDonagh (44) and Georgina McCarroll (39) both pleaded guilty to demanding money with menace at Fleet Street in Temple Bar on December 2, 2024.

McCarroll, with an address at Kildonan Road, Finglas West, Dublin 11, further pleaded to the theft of an iPhone on the same date. She has 204 previous convictions including for theft and fraud, robbery, and public order offences.

McDonagh, of Coultry Drive, Ballymun, Dublin 9, has 89 previous summary convictions, including road traffic, theft and fraud and public order offences.

Detective Garda Cathal Ryan told Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on Monday that the injured party was socialising in Temple Bar when he was approached by McDonagh who asked him for a cigarette.

The injured party said he was out of cigarettes and offered to go to a shop and buy a box for McDonagh. While walking, the man stopped to relieve himself in a laneway where McCarroll came up behind him and took his phone from his pocket.

McDonagh and McCarroll acted together and threatened the injured party, telling him not to cause any trouble.

The victim felt McCarroll had a knife by the way she had her hand in her pocket. Det Gda Ryan confirmed that neither of the defendants had a knife during the incident.

The injured party begged them not to take his phone, and they forced him to go to an ATM, telling him to withdraw money for them. He was terrified and in fear for his safety.

He got his phone back after saying he needed it to take money out. A first attempt to withdraw money failed. Det Gda Ryan said he and a colleague in an unmarked patrol car said the three individuals at the ATM appeared suspicious and they intervened while the injured party was making a second attempt to withdraw cash.

Both McDonagh and McCarroll were arrested at the scene. No money was taken from the injured party during the incident.

McDonagh made no admission during interview. He accepted speaking to the injured party who agreed to buy him cigarettes. He said he went into a shop and a woman approached him about the man's phone and he was giving out about giving his phone back.

McCarroll said she picked up the phone after it had fallen out of the injured party's pocket and asked him to give us a score for your phone. She denied having a knife, saying her own phone was in her pocket.

In a victim impact statement read to the court, the injured party said he has experienced a heightened sense of caution and a reduced sense of personal safety since this incident.

He said he used to occasionally help people experiencing homelessness by buying them food or giving them money, but has lost trust and feels no longer able to act as he did before.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that both defendants pleaded on a trial date after the charge of demanding money with menace was added to the indictment. The injured party had travelled from Germany for the trial.

Det Gda Ryan agreed with Karl Monahan, defending McCarroll, that this was opportunistic offending. He agreed with Patrick McCarthy, defending McDonagh, that while threats were made, no physical violence was used.

Counsel for both defendants outlined that their clients had difficult backgrounds and longstanding addiction issues, which they are attempting to address while in custody.

Judge Sinead Ni Chulachain said this was an opportunistic crime when the injured party was vulnerable. She noted that the effect on the injured party was aggravating.

She said McCarroll's past record is appalling.

She set a headline sentence of five years for McCarroll and, having considered the mitigation, handed her a sentence of three years and six months, with the final 18 months suspended for two years.

The judge noted that McDonagh's record of previous convictions was very shocking and very, very serious, but noted this was his first time at the Circuit Court and that the court hoped this would act as a wake up call for you.

The judge set a headline sentence of four and a half years for McDonagh as he was not involved in the theft, which she reduced to three years with the final 18 months suspended for two years.

She placed both defendants under the supervision of the Probation Services upon their release.
A mans car struck and caused serious injury to an elderly woman at a problematic pedestrian crossing.

Oliver Doyle, aged 81, of Drumbaun, Ballyhaunis, pleaded guilty to careless driving causing serious injury, before Castlebar Circuit Criminal Court.

The injured party Anne ODwyer, who was 72 at the time, was crossing the road at Bridge Street, Ballyhaunis at 6.25pm on November 30, 2023 when she was struck by the Doyles vehicle. Ms ODwyer has since passed away but her death was not connected to the collision, the court heard.

Ms ODwyer had met her friend Pauline Nolan on the street and they were walking towards The Gem store. They proceeded across the pedestrian crossing when Mrs Nolan saw that an oncoming car was not stopping. She was closest to the car and managed to jump back out of the way. However, Ms ODwyer was unable to do so, and the car collided with her causing a serious leg injury.

Doyle who has no previous convictions co-operated fully with Gardai. He was driving slowly when the accident occurred and there were no defects in his vehicle.

The court heard there has been numerous complains about the pedestrian crossing where the collision occurred which has been the site of several near misses. There are plans to remodel the crossing.

Barrister Dr Laura Byrne, representing Doyle said his client did not see the women as they crossed the road. She said he was looking at the shop in case anyone came out onto the pedestrian crossing.

Dr Byne said her client was distraught at the scene and had a letter of apology in court for the ODwyer family.

Originally from Rosslare, Doyle worked for CIE since completing his Leaving Cert and rose to the position of Deputy Chief Executive before his retirement. He moved to Mayo as his father had previously been a station manager in Claremorris.

Judge Eoin Garavan said it was clear that the defendant did not see Ms ODwyer and took his eyes off the road.

A car is a deadly weapon even at the slow and cautious speed Mr Doyle was at, the Judge stated.

Judge Garavan imposed a five-month suspended prison sentence and disqualified Doyle from driving for six months.
Young artists from all over Ireland, who submitted entries to this years Texaco Childrens Art Competition, are currently having their works evaluated as the judging process gets underway.

Pictured is preliminary adjudicator, Noelle McAlinden, admiring two of the entries received from Mayo this year  a work entitled The Journey Home by a pupil from Moyne College in Ballina (left) and another entitled Angel by a pupil from St Mary's Secondary School in Ballina.

The winners in six age categories plus one category reserved exclusively for young artists with additional needs, are due to be announced in mid-April.

Now celebrating its 72nd year, the Texaco Childrens Art Competition is the longest-running art sponsorship in Ireland. First held in 1955, it is now hosted by Valero Energy (Ireland) Limited  the company that markets fuel in Ireland under the Texaco brand.

Mayo has enjoyed considerable success in the competition through the decades and last year was particularly noteworthy when two students from Mayo were among the winners, with Daniel Walsh, from Claremorris, claiming the overall prize, while Charlotte Greham from Breaffy National School in Ballina won first prize in the 12-13 age category.
by Mohammed Mohammed

SANAA, Yemen, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Every morning, Abdul Qader Khaled, a resident of Yemen's Sanaa, arrives early at a modest charity kitchen, joining the line to collect a free meal for his family of five.

He clutches plastic containers and worn bags, waiting patiently for the day's ration.

"I come here early every day," he said. "Sometimes I worry I might return home empty-handed. But thankfully, the kitchen manager calls my name, and I can take a meal back for my family."

For Khaled and hundreds of local residents, the free meal offered by the kitchen run by its director, Abu Badr al-Yamani, with the help of local volunteers and supported by community donations, is one of the things they look forward to most each day.

According to al-Yamani, the kitchen prepares large pots of food every day to meet the needs of more than 500 families, including the poor, the sick, the unemployed, and low-income households.

"The joy of those in need receiving this bag of food is immense, and it is a great blessing ... It gives us even more motivation to help them, even though this meal is nothing compared to their needs," al-Yamani said.

Despite limited resources, volunteers say they remain committed to the food distribution program, determined to ease the burden on vulnerable families even as broader humanitarian challenges endure.

Abu Zaid, one of the volunteers, expressed his joy in helping the needy. "Honestly, I forget all my tiredness when I see children smile as they receive these free meals," he said.

Inside the small kitchen, some volunteers work around huge pots of simmering food, while others rush to fill containers with modest portions, trying to serve as many people as possible before the day's supplies run out.

Yaser al-Absi, a volunteer cook, said that helping those in need gives him a sense of peace.

"When we bring joy and smiles to people who truly need it, we feel an indescribable happiness and calm," he told Xinhua, "especially when we see the food reach those who truly deserve it."

Al-Yamani and the volunteers' efforts are part of a broader response to a humanitarian crisis affecting millions.

Yemen has been mired in conflict since the Houthis took control of the northern capital, Sanaa, in 2014. The protracted war has created one of the world's most severe humanitarian crises.

The United Nations has warned that Yemen is facing another year of severe humanitarian challenges, with more than 22 million people expected to require assistance in 2026.

For many families in Sanaa, the daily line outside the small charitable kitchen remains a simple but vital source of hope and survival.

However, despite ongoing relief efforts, local observers report that the number of people seeking assistance has increased in recent months, highlighting the broader economic hardships faced by many households.

Beyond the ongoing domestic conflict, the escalation of regional crises is adding further uncertainty.

Humanitarian concerns have intensified amid fears that regional tensions sparked by Israeli-U.S. attacks on Iran could spill over into Yemen and further worsen conditions in the country.

"As we watch developments in the region, there is growing worry that continued tensions and escalation could further strain Yemen's already fragile humanitarian situation," said Abdul Rahman Yahya, a Yemeni politician. 
JOHANNESBURG, March 15 (Xinhua) -- The South African government on Sunday said it has noted Israel's filing of its response to the written pleadings in a case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) concerning the Gaza Strip.

According to a statement released by the presidency, South Africa will consider Israel's response and decide whether to request the court's permission to make further written submissions in reply, or to proceed directly to the oral phase of proceedings.

Israel submitted its response on March 12, following two extensions granted by the court to a deadline initially set for July 28, 2025, in reply to South Africa's memorial filed on Oct. 28, 2024, according to the statement.

"South Africa remains committed to playing its part, along with others, to fulfil the promises of the Genocide Convention and the UN Charter," President Cyril Ramaphosa said in the statement.

Ramaphosa called for defending the principles of international law and reasserting the vital role of the United Nations and international dispute settlement mechanisms such as the ICJ.

The situation in Gaza has been compounded by the escalating crisis in the Gulf and Israel's ongoing attacks on Lebanon, raising the risk of a wider conflict with grave implications for regional and international peace and security, the statement said.

In December 2023, South Africa filed a case before the ICJ against Israel over alleged acts of genocide in Gaza. The ICJ has yet to rule, while South Africa has reiterated it would continue to pursue the case until a judgment is delivered. 
50 is the new 60

Africas population is living longer but not necessarily healthier. Research on brain health, gut health and robust policy can change this phenomenon.

In the Vhembe District Municipality in Limpopo, there are 2 000 centenarians, according to a 2022 Census SA report. Vhembe is not an official Blue Zone (where there are high rates of people living to 100) but many of its 100-year-olds live in ways that echo the worlds oldest populations: eating traditional foods, staying active into old age, maintaining close social bonds and living with strong spiritual and cultural convictions.

When 101-year-old Muyahavho Maria Muedi, who lives in the Vhembe region, was interviewed by The Citizen, she also attributed her ripened years to listening to elders and to avoiding alcohol, drugs, sugar and fatty foods.

Okinawa, Japan, has one of the highest rates of people living to 100 in the world. Here, people not only live longer but also live well, with fewer chronic diseases or later onset of illnesses. Vhembes centenarians, however, are outliers in a region where people are living longer but not always healthier.

Rapid transitions and NCDS

Elsewhere in the country and across southern Africa, people live, on average, to 65 years old. However, about nine of those years are spent in ill health, according to the World Health Organizations universal health coverage tracking. Notably, women live longer than men but those years are still spent in poor health. While a longer lifespan in the region is mainly attributed to preventing and treating infectious diseases, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and others have increased rapidly.

We are seeing that about 60% of those over 60 years old in our study area are hypertensive. This is much higher than the global average, says Professor Xavier Gomez-Olive, Associate Director of the South African Medical Research Councils Wits Rural Public Health and Health Transition Research Unit (Agincourt).

Agincourts longitudinal ageing data confirm that people are living longer but that they are acquiring non-communicable diseases younger than the global average. This seems to coincide with what we term a rapidly transitioning society where profound, fast-paced economic, social, lifestyle and behavioural changes interact with complex health and life-course dynamics, explains Gomez-Olive.

Not forgetting dementias

As sub-Saharan Africas population ages, dementia cases are set to rise sharply by 2050. In South Africa, estimates point to more than a million people living with the condition in the near future. This deepens the social, economic and community pressures already felt in the rural areas, says Professor Stephen Tollman, Agincourts Director.

He notes that brain health runs through every stage of life and every sector of society. If countries integrate brain health into what Africa is already doing well, the continent can protect ageing citizens and sustain our economies, he says.

Elevating the aged

Although older populations are traditionally viewed as frail and unable to work at full capacity, in low- and middle-income countries like South Africa, older people take on central and productive roles in their communities.

The impact of NCDs and dementia presents a challenge for the older population in Agincourt and indeed for the wider community of which they are a critical part. Older people are often the chief caregivers in extended families owing to labour migration and the remnants of the HIV crisis, where many younger people died. The old-age pension is also heavily relied on as a source of income in some communities.

Research on what makes older adults strong and resilient while others experience early and rapid decline is therefore necessary and has become one of the most urgent public health issues of our time, according to Tollman.

Gut feelings

Alongside social and clinical determinants, Africas scientists are uncovering biological pathways that help explain why some people age better than others.

Researchers at the Sydney Brenner Institute for Molecular Bioscience (SBIMB) are investigating the gut microbiome.

The gut is home to trillions of microbes and as much genetic diversity as the human genome itself.

These microbes produce metabolites that regulate inflammation, metabolic health, immunity and even aspects of cognition.

Ageing healthily from conception

Drawing on the Africa Wits-INDEPTH Partnership for Genomic Research longitudinal data from Soweto and Agincourt, scientists are mapping how lifestyle, environment and genetics shape these microbial communities and in turn how they influence frailty, diabetes risk, cardiovascular disease and cognitive ageing.

The microbiome gives us a biological lens to see how lifelong exposures accumulate and how ageing can be made healthier, not just longer, says Dr Luicer Olubayo, a researcher at the Institute.

What is evident is that diseases like HIV, diabetes or dementia are no isolated events of older age. Many of the pathways that drive risk are already set in motion decades earlier. Healthy ageing begins at conception, essentially, says Gomez-Olive, taking us right back to the beginning of our life cycle.
MAPUTO, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Mozambique's major industrial enterprise, the Mozal aluminum smelter located on the outskirts of Maputo, has halted aluminum production and entered a "care and maintenance" regime due to difficulties in securing sufficient electricity at competitive prices.

Mozal confirmed on Monday that it had stopped producing and exporting aluminum ingots after negotiations over electricity tariffs failed to reach an agreement.

The company said it had held discussions with relevant parties to secure power supply beyond March, when its current electricity agreement expires, but "it was not possible to reach an agreement on the electricity price that would allow the smelter to remain competitive internationally."

Mozal requires about 960 megawatts of electricity to operate at full capacity. However, the Cahora Bassa hydropower plant is currently unable to supply that level of power, partly due to drought conditions, while South Africa's utility Eskom has also indicated it cannot provide the required power.

Mozambique's government warned the suspension could have a significant economic impact.

Noting that Mozal has been one of the country's main sources of export revenue and accounts for about 40 percent of the industrial output of Maputo Province, government spokesperson Inocencio Impissa said the suspension is expected to affect around 1,100 direct jobs and about 5,000 indirect jobs.

According to local media reports, restarting production could take at least 12 months, and no other company has so far expressed interest in taking over the facility.

Mozal, majority-owned by the Australian mining group South32, has operated in Mozambique for about 25 years. 
Madagascar's President Michael Randrianirina (C) attends the appointment ceremony of new prime minister at the presidential palace in Antananarivo, capital of Madagascar, March 15, 2026. Madagascar's President Michael Randrianirina appointed Mamitiana Rajaonarison as prime minister on Sunday. (Photo by Sitraka Rajaonarison/Xinhua)

ANTANANARIVO, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Madagascar's President Michael Randrianirina appointed Mamitiana Rajaonarison as prime minister on Sunday.

During the appointment ceremony at the presidential palace, Randrianirina said that he needed the "integrity" of Rajaonarison, who has long worked in the anti-corruption field.

"We must show the Malagasy people that the nation needs upright and incorruptible individuals," he said.

The president also stressed that he expects the new prime minister to promptly form a government tasked with implementing the national refoundation policy and delivering tangible results as soon as possible.

Before his appointment, Rajaonarison served as director general of Madagascar's Financial Intelligent Unit, a national entity in charge of the fight against money laundering and terrorism funding.

This appointment comes six days after Randrianirina dissolved the government led by former Prime Minister Herintsalama Rajaonarivelo. 

Mamitiana Rajaonarison (1st R) accepts congratulations after his appointment as Madagascar's new prime minister at the presidential palace in Antananarivo, capital of Madagascar, March 15, 2026. Madagascar's President Michael Randrianirina appointed Mamitiana Rajaonarison as prime minister on Sunday. (Photo by Sitraka Rajaonarison/Xinhua)

Mamitiana Rajaonarison attends the ceremony of his appointment as Madagascar's new prime minister at the presidential palace in Antananarivo, capital of Madagascar, March 15, 2026. Madagascar's President Michael Randrianirina appointed Mamitiana Rajaonarison as prime minister on Sunday. (Photo by Sitraka Rajaonarison/Xinhua)

Mamitiana Rajaonarison (front) attends the ceremony of his appointment as Madagascar's new prime minister at the presidential palace in Antananarivo, capital of Madagascar, March 15, 2026. Madagascar's President Michael Randrianirina appointed Mamitiana Rajaonarison as prime minister on Sunday. (Photo by Sitraka Rajaonarison/Xinhua)
On Saturday, March 14, the Socialist Equality Party (UK) hosted a public meeting in London under the title Trotskyism and the Fight for Revolutionary Leadership. The event marked the 40th anniversary of the historic struggle within the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI) against the Workers Revolutionary Party (WRP) leadership and was attended by workers and youth from across the UK.

The meeting was addressed by a panel of speakers, including David North, chairperson of the World Socialist Web Site and of the Socialist Equality Party of the United States. As the leader of the US Workers League, forerunner of the US SEP, North played the leading role in the struggle against the political degeneration of the WRP leadership and its concerted efforts to destroy the world Trotskyist movement.

David North speaking at the Trotskyism and the Fight for Revolutionary Leadership event in London, March 14, 2026

The WRPs expulsion from the ICFI in the mid-1980s was a defining moment in the history of the international socialist movement. At stake was the survival of Trotskyism, of revolutionary Marxism as an organised political tendency.

The ranks of organised Trotskyism came under relentless assault in the 20th century, above all from the Stalinist counterrevolution in the Soviet Union and then from the revisionist tendency known as Pabloism, which demanded that the Trotskyist movement be liquidated into the Stalinist, reformist and bourgeois nationalist movements.

For several decades, the British Trotskyist movement, led by Gerry Healy, Cliff Slaughter and Mike Banda, led the way in the fight against these tendencies. By the 1980s, however, after a protracted period of political backsliding of an opportunist and nationalist character, they had abandoned and then betrayed the key theoretical conquests and principles of Marxism and Trotskyism.

The ICFI majoritys struggle against the WRP, led by the Workers League, secured a decisive victory over these political pressures and hostile class forces.

It prepared the way for a renaissance of Marxist thought, including an unparalleled analysis of globalisation, the dissolution of the Soviet Union and restoration of capitalism, and the wave of anti-socialist renunciationism which swept across the social democratic parties and trade unions.

This laid the foundations for the founding of the Socialist Equality Parties and of the World Socialist Web Site (WSWS).

On the panel to explain these events were comrades Chris Marsden, National Secretary of the Socialist Equality Party (UK), Peter Schwarz, Secretary of the ICFI, and comrade North.

The platform at the London meeting: Left to right, Chris Marsden, national secretary of the Socialist Equality Party (UK), Peter Schwarz, secretary of the ICFI, chairperson Tom Scripps, assistant national secretary of the Socialist Equality Party (UK). Speaking is David North, chairperson of the World Socialist Web Site Editorial Board and of the Socialist Equality Party of the United States

Marsden, a leading member of the internationalist faction of the WRP that sided with the ICFI during the 1985-86 split, described how The opportunist essence of the WRPs politics emerged most clearly in its abandonment of the theory of Permanent Revolution and its strategy of world socialist revolution

In place of this internationalist strategy for the building of Trotskyist parties worldwide, the WRP evolved its own foreign policy whose purpose was to gather the material resources necessary to finance the work of the party in Britain. This centred on forming unprincipled relations with various bourgeois regimes in the Middle East.

Within the UK, the WRP had first adapted itself to the spontaneous anti-Tory sentiment in the working class, then made an ultra-left turn which reflected a historic class shift taking place within the party, in which the loss of working class members reinforced the domination of the politically untrained petty-bourgeois forces catapulted into central leadership positions.

Ignorant of the partys long struggle to project a proletarian orientation and win workers to a revolutionary perspective, these forces gave support for an ultra-left line that left the labour and trade union bureaucracy unchallenged.

Schwarz described the intervention against the WRPs degeneration led by David North.

He began by explaining the burning topicality of the theoretical, political and programmatic issues that the ICFI fought out, clarified, in its confrontation with the WRP.

Over the past four decades, said Schwarz, all the political forces that kept the working class and the oppressed masses under control in the post-war period, and to which Pabloismand ultimately the WRPhad adapted, have revealed their bankruptcy: Stalinism, social reformism, petty-bourgeois nationalism and the pseudo-left of the Corbyn, Syriza, Podemos and Die Linke variety.

The crisis in the WRP was closely linked to this process and in many ways anticipated it.

Schwarz noted how The critique of the opportunist degeneration of the WRP, which David North and the Workers League had been developing since 1982, brought order to the chaos. The confusion subsided, the essential issues became clear, and the social and political camps sorted themselves out

I thoroughly learned at that time that the defence of principles must always take precedence over tactical and organisational considerations, and that all national concerns must be subordinated to the perspective of the International.

The perspective of the ICFI, which it has since further developed and deepened, will play the same role on a large social scale in the class struggles now unfolding as the WLs orientation did within the much smaller framework of the WRP.

In his closing remarks, David North placed the political issues at the heart of the struggle against the WRP in their full contemporary significance. He said of the US imperialist-led the war against Iran:

The strategy of this war is to abolish the 20th century. It is to eliminate completely all traces of the great liberation struggles. The war began only a few days after Marco Rubio declared that his aim was to put an end to the great retreat that began in 1945, that is, with the defeat of the Nazis, his heroes.

He continued:

All the rules, all the normalities of the last historical period are over. Young people find themselves in the type of situation that existed in the 1930s and 1940s. There is no safe haven. We are living now in a historical period in which either the working class comes to power and puts an end to capitalism, or capitalism will put an end to the world It is in this context that we have to understand the implications of what took place in 1985, when we state that there would be no Marxist, socialist, Trotskyist movement if that struggle had not taken place.

North concluded:

All the achievements of the International Committee since that time: the development of the World Socialist Web Site, the offensive on historical questions, the transformation of leagues into parties, the vast body of historical and political knowledge accumulated over the last 40 years, and most recently, the introduction of Socialism AI... All of this speaks to the correctness of the work that has been carried out by the ICFI But to recognise that does not provide the guarantee that this correctness and this historical continuity will be transformed into a mass movement. Outside of our efforts, it wont take place... History doesnt provide guarantees. What is possible must be achieved from our efforts, our determination We are in a revolutionary period. We are in a counter-revolutionary period. Which of these two tendencies in the world will predominate? As Trotsky said so well in 1932-33, against the shadow of approaching fascism, struggle will decide.

Following the speeches, over 1,500 were raised and hundreds of pounds of literature purchased from Mehring Books.

We encourage our readers to find out more about these issues on the WSWS and through Socialism AI.
German State Minister for Culture Wolfram Weimer, right, and his wife Christiane Goetz-Weimer pose for photographers at the opening ceremony red carpet of the International Film Festival, Berlinale, in Berlin, Thursday, February 12, 2026. [AP Photo/Scott A Garfitt]

Following his attacks on the recently concluded Berlinale, the German government commissioner for culture and the media (BKM), Minister of State Wolfram Weimer, has set his sights on the book trade. This time Weimers censorship measures involve removing three left-wing bookshops from a list of 118 shops compiled by an independent expert jury for the German Bookshop Award. This move has triggered a massive wave of protest and criticism.

In an introductory address for the Bookshop Prize, Weimer had boasted: Through literature, we can have experiences that would otherwise be impossible for us  That is why freedom of speech is one of the highest goods of our democratic society, which we must preserve and protect at all costs. Owner-run bookshops make an important contribution to this. His latest decision exposes his highflying rhetoric as perfidious hypocrisy.

Following the massive resistance to his decision, Weimer went further and cancelled the ceremonial presentation of the German Booksellers Prize at the Leipzig Book Fair, which begins this week. A spokesperson for Weimer stated last Tuesday that the debate over his removal of the three left-wing bookshops would increasingly overshadow the book fair.

Only weeks ago, the minister of state had tried in vain to dismiss the director of the Berlinale and then imposed a code of conduct on her that allows the government to influence the selection of films and control the conduct of the management of the Berlinale. Weimers actions in recent weeks constitute massive violations of the constitutional right to artistic freedom and freedom of expression.

His attack on the book trade is viewed by numerous figures from publishing houses, as well as by authors and booksellers, as an extremely threatening assault on democratic rights and has sparked a wide-ranging debate on the legality of such state intervention.

The Ministry awards annual prizes to support the work of small bookshops, which play an important role in the cultural sector but are increasingly facing competition from large cultural department stores, mass-market bookshops and online delivery services. Along with over 100 other bookshops, the three left-wing bookshops Golden Shop (Bremen), Rote Strasse (Gottingen) and Zur schwankenden Weltkugel (Berlin) were selected by a jury of experts for the Bookshop Award, which comes with financial incentives of up to 25,000. The last of these bookshops in particular stocks a large selection of Trotskyist literature from Mehring Verlag.

Haber procedure

Weimers ministry justified its ban on the bookshops with constitutionally relevant findings, which, according to press reports, are based on the Haber procedure. This procedure dates back to a decree from 2017 and enables government bodies to routinely review projects prior to funding decisions.

Since the mid-2000s, civil society projects combating right-wing extremism in the fields of political education and culture, amongst others, have been scrutinised by the German domestic intelligence agency (BfV) for findings relevant to the protection of the constitution prior to the approval of federal funding. Following intervention by the Ministry of the Interior, citing constitutional security assessments, organisations such as Berlins Bundnis Neukolln and the Edelweisspiratenfestival were denied prize money from a federal-affiliated democracy alliance, despite the fact that their core work involves remembrance and cultural policy.

The cooperation between ministries and the BfV in the distribution of state funding originally dates back to an initiative by the then German minister of the interior, Otto Schily (Social Democratic Party, SPD), in 2004. The procedure is highly controversial from a legal perspective. The publishing agency PROLIT points out that it has been classified as a breach of data protection law by the governments Data Protection Commissioner. The Scientific Services of the Bundestag also expressed concerns regarding proportionality in 2020, and the Federal Constitutional Court ruled in 2022 that the BfVs disclosure of information to authorities such as the Ministry of Culture was inadmissible.

Legal opinions suggest that the mere possibility that classifications by the BfV could lead to the refusal of funding, inducing cultural workers to exercise caution and self-censorship.

In a kind of preemptive test of obedience, numerous projects in the federal states and local authorities have already fallen victim to such vetting. In view of the need for austerity resulting from the reallocation of public funds towards military rearmament, this has evidently become a welcome practice. In Berlin, for instance, the former Senator for Culture, Joe Chialo (CDU), attemptedfollowing the smear campaign against Documenta 15to make cultural funding conditional on a commitment against antisemitism; however, he failed due to legal concerns.

This Haber procedure was also decisive in Weimers decision. It is extremely opaque: the BfV merely states whether there are findings regarding an organisationbut not what these consist of.

The three bookshops, which had already been honoured in the past, were now excluded from the award ceremony on the basis of the mere notification from the BfV that findings regarding them were available. The Schwankende Weltkugel had previously received the award no less than five times.

Weimers office stated: The exact nature of this intelligence is subject to secrecy. It is therefore impossible for those affected to find out what it is being levelled against them. They only learned of the ministers decision by chance through a slip of the tongue and are now preparing a lawsuit.

Ideological snooping

Several regional associations of the German Publishers and Booksellers Association have raised the accusation of ideological snooping. The Association stated: The suspicion of extremist and terrorist organisations remains highly questionable as long as no concrete evidence is disclosed.

In addition, they fundamentally reject making the recognition of a bookshops cultural achievements dependent on the political orientation of its stock.

Numerous figures from the cultural sector have also protested. The writers association PEN Germany stated that Weimer had damaged the reputation of an entire industry. Bookshops, they said, are places of democratic exchange and diversity of opinion.

The writer Rafik Schami protested: It is repugnant how, with such inimitably obstinate persistence, the floodgates are being opened to the far right. Author Sasa Stanisic accused Weimer of incompetence, arbitrariness and ideological interference in culture.

Many bookshops expressed solidarity with the three shops that had been dropped from the list and announced that they would donate part of their prize money to them.

The many outraged statements against the exclusion of the bookshops rightly regard this as a dangerous attack on democratic rights. The fact that the world of books is reacting so sensitively can also be understood against the backdrop of experiences from the Nazi era. After 1933, countless writers and intellectuals were forced to leave the country or were persecuted and imprisoned. Book burnings began in Germany as early as March 1933.

Most recently, a lawyer representing one of the bookshops revealed that Weimer is alleged to have actively misled the three excluded bookshops. According to a whistleblower, the jury had even earmarked two of the bookshops for top prizes, yet the ministers office told them otherwise.

Weimer has stated: Freedom of art and freedom of expression are the most important democratic achievements, which I will always defend. At the same time, he emphasised that prizes funded by taxpayers money should only be awarded to institutions that are above all suspicion.

Weimers remarks are brimming with hypocrisy. Whilst left-wing bookshops are being targeted, the far-right AfD receives around 120 million annually from party funding and Bundestag funds.

It comes therefore as no surprise that Weimers actions were expressly welcomed by the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD). The AfDs cultural affairs spokesperson, Gotz Fromming, stated with satisfaction that Weimer had learned from his own partys opposition work.

Weimer, who has declared himself to be an Independent, is a close confidant of Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and belongs politically to the far right. In his book The Conservative Manifesto he attacked the German left, which he claimed wanted to replace traditional values with equality, emancipation and solidarity. In his book Longing for God, he calls for a return to Christianity.

In articles and essays, he lamented Europes cultural self-destruction through immigration and also questioned man-made climate change.

At the Berlinale, Weimer attacked artists who drew attention to the plight of the Palestinian people. For him, the problem is rather millions of unemployed Muslims.

In many respects, Weimers commitment to Western Christian civilisation mirrors the ideology of the Trump administration, as recently articulated by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Munich Security Conference.

As early as 2022, the Socialist Equality Party (SGP) had warned of precisely such a development in its constitutional complaint against its surveillance by the BfV. At the time, the party stated: Furthermore, booksellers who distribute Marxist literature, workers striking for higher wages, or peace activists could be criminalised at the stroke of a pen. The latest events show just how accurate this warning was.
Soldiers arrive on the beach during an amphibious landing operation conducted by the Allied Reaction Force during NATO led military exercises on Wessek Beach in Putlos, Germany, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. [AP Photo/Virginia Mayo]

Over 32,000 troops from 14 NATO member states are currently exercising in Norway and Finland to create the conditions for the opening of a northern front in a war with Russia. The biennial military operation was visited Friday by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stre, underscoring the importance attached by the imperialist powers to war readiness in the Arctic.

The Cold Response exercise includes land, sea and air operations across northern Norway, Finland, and Sweden. About 25,000 troops are engaged in operations on Norwegian territory and off the coast from March 9 to 19. A further 7,500 troops are operating in northern Finland, while air operations take place across all three Nordic countries. The largest contingent of troops, at close to 4,000, comes from the US, but all of the major European powers have also sent substantial numbers.

The region is on the frontline of NATOs aggressive military pressure on Russia. Finland has a 1,300-kilometre border with Russia, while Norway has a shorter 200-kilometre frontier. Moreover, Norways coastline provides direct access to key naval passages for Russian commercial and military shipping to reach the open ocean.

The exercise occurs amid a massive militarisation across the entire Arctic region, as the imperialist powers and smaller states jostle for advantage in a strategically crucial region for trade, energy resources and waging war. While Cold Response and other exercises are ostensibly aimed at Russia, tensions are sharpening among the European and North American imperialists. This is reflected in the fact that Cold Response is part of NATOs larger Arctic Sentry, an operation launched in January in response to US President Donald Trumps threats to use military force to seize control of Greenland from Denmark. Trump and his fascist advisers view control over Greenland as essential within the framework of their America First agenda, which demands complete US dominance over the entire Western Hemisphere as a platform for waging global wars against China and other rivals.

Merz emphasised the need for European imperialism to strengthen its military independence from the US in remarks to the media during his visit to Norway, where he met the military leadership of the contingent of more than 1,200 German soldiers participating in the exercise. We have relied on other launch systems and other countries for too long, he said while visiting the Andya Space Port in northern Norway, where a Munich-based start-up is attempting to produce a European rocket capable of transporting satellites into orbit. Europes time is now.

The next test launch of a rocket from the Space Port is due between 19 March and 19 April, depending on the weather. The mission aims to transport five European satellites into Earths orbit. The European imperialists view this endeavour predominantly from a military standpoint, since independent satellite technology is crucial for selecting targets during a war and maintaining secure communication channels.

The extensive collaboration between Germany and Norway on military matters was underlined by the presence of Defence Minister Boris Pistorius alongside Merz during the visit. In addition to space-based technology, German and Norwegian companies are cooperating to build a next-generation submarine for combat in Arctic and coastal waters. Germanys TKMS (Thyssen Krupp Marine Systems) has led the project, which has resulted so far in Berlin and Oslo ordering six submarines each. TKMS is in the running for a multi-billion-dollar contract to supply the Canadian Navy with up to 12 submarines as part of Ottawas major military build-up in the Arctic.

Carneys visit, however, reflects a shift in Canadian imperialist foreign policy that goes beyond the decision of where to purchase its new submarine fleet. Ottawa has borne the brunt of Trumps America First agenda, including sweeping sanctions on trade and threats by the US president to annex Canada as the 51st state.

Carneys Liberal government has therefore undertaken a calibrated shift in foreign policy, summed up in Carneys speech to the World Economic Forum in Davos calling for a coalition of middle powers and the recently released Defence Industrial Strategy.

While still seeking to conclude an economic arrangement with the US, which is the destination for three-quarters of Canadian exports, Carney is pushing to build closer ties with the European imperialist powers on military and economic matters. The predatory character of such a project was made clear by Carneys remark in Davos that major powers who are not at the table, i.e., the table of imperialist geopolitics where territories and plunder are divided up, will be on the menu. His plan to increase military spending to 5 percent of Canadas GDP within a decade proves that being at the table means being ready for World War III. Prior to his trip to Norway, Carney visited Yellowknife in Canadas Arctic to announce C$35 billion (about 22.3 billion) in investments in military infrastructure.

Similar considerations of how best to project the interests of German and European imperialism are motivating government officials across the Atlantic. Merz and the overwhelming majority of the German bourgeoisie want for the time being to retain some level of military cooperation with the US, since European imperialism remains heavily reliant on American technology and equipment for waging war. European industry is also dependent on the US market for a major portion of exports. But Germany, France, and Britain are at the same time engaged in a huge remilitarisation programme that will see trillions of euros spent in the coming years on developing a more independent war machine aimed at enabling the European imperialist powers to aggressively pursue their own interests around the world as an opponent of the US if necessary. Merzs Christian Democrat/Social Democrat coalition government alone, with the full backing of the opposition Greens and Left Party, plans to spend 1 trillion over the next decade on the military and war-related infrastructure.

Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer have fully endorsed Trumps criminal war against Iran, hoping to secure their share of the spoils in the Middle East on the back of the demolition of Iranian society by American and Israeli weapons. At the same time, the European powers fear being destabilised by the war, which is driving up energy prices and threatens to unleash a new wave of refugees on Europes doorstep. Thus, Merz remarked pointedly in Norway that a persuasive strategy as to how the war can be brought to an end is required.

Trumps decision to loosen sanctions on Russia to allow oil exports in response to the rapid increase in its price to over $100 a barrel due to Irans blockade of the Strait of Hormuz provoked criticism in Berlin. German imperialism is concerned that the war in Iran is cutting across the drive to inflict a military defeat on Russia and subordinate the vast country to a semi-colony of European and American imperialism.

Reports prior to Merzs Norway visit suggested he may be seeking from Stre a commitment to increase oil and gas supplies to Europe. Norway, which already supplies 48 percent of Germanys natural gas and 17 percent of its oil imports, does not have the infrastructure to do this. Already throughout 2024, energy prices spiked drastically in the oil-rich country due to the connection of its energy grid with Europe and the rapid growth of exports since the beginning of the US/NATO war on Russia in Ukraine, prompting a growth in opposition to the government.

Stre hosted a meeting with Carney and the four other Nordic prime ministers in Oslo Sunday, where the breakdown of the US-led world order found expression. The gathering was the first of its kind and resulted in a joint statement and press conference at which the six leaders pledged to strengthen military operations and investments throughout the Arctic. The joint statement pledged common efforts in Arctic security, the defence industries, responses to hybrid threats and infrastructure. It also demanded a continuation of the war against Russia and committed to continued military and financial support to Ukraine, from which the US under Trump has largely withdrawn.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said at the press conference that Copenhagen has faced totally unacceptable pressure from the US and US President over Greenland. She applauded Carney for his proposal for a coalition of middle powers and argued that the downfall of the old world order meant that something new must be built. Stre, while clearly trying to avoid direct criticism of Trump by insisting that the stronger military presence in the Arctic was taking place within the Transatlantic alliance, opened the press conference by referring to the threats in a world where autocratic forces are moving ahead and weaponising critical resources.

Both Denmark and Sweden have committed to cooperate with Macrons proposal to expand Frances nuclear arsenal throughout Europe, which he announced just days after Trump launched his illegal war in the Middle East. Carney praised the initiative at the press conference. Finland is in the process of removing a ban on the import of nuclear weapons to the country that has been in place since the 1980s.

The aggressive militarist policies pursued by the governments in Germany, the other European powers and Canada entail a vast intensification of the class war agenda against the working class. Ruling classes are seeking the destruction of jobs in civilian industries, the elimination of public services and social programmes to pay for bloated military budgets and the expansion of highly exploitative precarious employment. These attacks will drive millions of workers into struggle across both the European and North American continents, from the imperialist centres of Germany, France or Canada, to more remote regions in the far north being dragged into the new redivision of the world among the great powers. The decisive task is to arm these struggles with a socialist and internationalist programme to oppose war and overturn the capitalist system that gives rise to it.
December 20 press conference held by Morenoites at the end of their Sao Paulo conference. [Photo: La Izquierda Diario]

At the end of 2025, the Morenoite current led by the Socialist Workers Party (PTS) of Argentina held an international conference in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Previously known as the Trotskyist Fraction, the organization used the gathering to rebrand itself as the Permanent Revolution Current  Fourth International (PRC-FI).

This operation represents a critical political reorientation of the Morenoite movement in response to the eruption of the imperialist crisis and the disruption of the bourgeois national orders around which its organizations operate. Anticipating massive struggles by the working class and youth throughout the world, the Morenoites are consciously preparing to divert them from the road of socialist revolution and back into the arms of the national bureaucratic apparatuses that defend capitalism.

Renaming their organization Permanent Revolution Current plays a sinister and well-defined role in these counterrevolutionary efforts. At the center of the Morenoite conferences deliberations was a reactionary theoretical revision aimed at eviscerating Trotskys Theory of Permanent Revolution.

By formally identifying themselves with the internationalist revolutionary doctrine that they expressly repudiate, the Morenoites seek to gaslight the working class and youth and prevent them from accessing genuine Trotskyism represented by the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI). They will not succeed.

The Morenoite conference was opened with a Great Internationalist Rally on December 14 in Sao Paulo with representatives from the different national groups affiliated to the PRC, such as Revolution permanente (RP) from France, Left Voice from the US, Revolutionary Workers Movement (MRT) from Brazil and other Latin American groups.

Preceded by a video juxtaposing scenes of war with images of street protests, the speakers at the rally highlighted some notable elements of the international crisis: the intensification of imperialist wars and economic crisis, along with the growth of social inequality and authoritarianism. The Morenoite leaders also referred to the process of social radicalization, particularly the massive protests against the genocide in Gaza, and what they defined as the return of class struggle as a dynamic factor. The main focus was to present themselves as standing in the front ranks of each of the struggles in their respective countries.

In a recorded speech, the longtime leader of the Argentine PTS, Emilio Albamonte, addressed the framework of the political reorganization:

The ruling classes have not lost their ferocity, but there is beginning to be a response from the mass movement, as demonstrated by the tendency in Italy toward a general strike. Accordingly, we must bring our organization up to the level of the circumstances, and that is what this Conference is for.

Clarifying what rising to the level of the circumstances is for the Morenoites, he pointed to the PTSs policy of pressuring the General Confederation of Labor (CGT) in Argentina, which is the right wing of the vacillating Peronist movement.

Albamonte celebrated, in particular, the alleged success of the Argentinian left wingthat is, the pseudo-left electoral coalition led by the PTS, the Left and Workers Front (FIT-U)in forcing the CGT to call a demonstration against the anti-labor bill that was subsequently rammed through the legislature by President Javier Mileis fascistic government. Together with the traitors of the CGT, the Morenoite leader said, we will carry forward our policy of the Workers United Front. The same supposed accomplishment was hailed by PTS congress members Myriam Bregman and Nicolas del Cano. Speaking in person at the rally in Sao Paulo, they boasted that Several media outlets said that the left marco la cancha (i.e., set the terms) for the CGTs call for this mobilization.

This demonstration, held exactly two months after the speeches, resulted in total betrayal by the CGT, according to the Morenoites themselves.

In the aftermath of the February 12 protest in Argentina, La Izquierda Diario admitted that the CGT had been cooking up the betrayal for many months, and explained that its lukewarm call for Wednesdays day of action, without a strike and with freedom of action for the unions, and with the added insult of not even filling the square in front of Congress or holding a rally, sought to serve the policy of negotiating with the far-right government to allow the essential parts of the plan to pass and to prevent the working class from expressing its full social force.

In other words, what the Morenoites actually accomplished was setting the terms for the CGT bureaucracys subordination of the working class to Mileis fascistic government, proclaimed as the centerpiece of the United States strategy for Latin America by Trumps Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

Workers protesting in Buenos Aires against Milei's labor counter-reform [Photo by Axrg / CC BY-SA 4.0

The assistance in carrying out this betrayal of the Argentine working class was hailed by Albamonte as the course that our organization must follow, not only to build parties in each of our countries, but to rebuild the world party of socialist revolution, the Fourth International.

The subordination of the working class in Argentina to the bourgeois Peronist movement and its trade union bureaucracy is hardly new to the Morenoite movement. It has long been the speciality of the tendency founded by Nahuel Moreno since the 1950s.

The cultivation of reactionary political blocs with the demoralized Stalinists and left-wing Peronists, in the fraudulent name of applying the united front tactic of Lenin and Trotsky, was the political stock in trade of the Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS)the party founded by the Morenoites in 1982, during the decline of the Argentine military dictatorship whose rise had been facilitated by their capitulatory policies. The MAS was the political cradle of Albamonte and his nationalist tendency, which remained for years as an exclusively Argentine party. Only in 2004, did the Trotskyist Fraction launch itself as an international organization, separating from the International Workers League (IWL-FI) founded by Moreno.

The Permanent Revolution Current (PRC) is being built as a new coveradorned with revolutionary colorsfor the Morenoite movements promotion of different national pseudo-left parties and trade union bureaucracies that defend the rotting capitalist order from the revolutionary offensive of the working class.

The stains on the Morenoites newly sewn political flag were quick to appear. The disgraceful role that the PRC is destined to play was graphically exposed in its response to the crisis unleashed in Venezuela by the US imperialist invasion on January 3, just two weeks after the end of their conference.

As the Chavista government led by interim president Delcy Rodriguez collaborates with the fascist Trump administration in establishing a neocolonial regime in Venezuela, the PRC has joined a political bloc with the Stalinists, pseudo-left dissidents of Chavismo and other Pabloite currents. This coalition is aimed at carving out space for the pseudo-left organizations in the new bourgeois setup being forged under imperialist tutelage and at preventing at any cost the working class breaking free of the bourgeois nationalist bureaucracy.

Among all organizations in this reactionary bloc, which were either directly integrated into the Chavista bourgeois regime or acting as its cheerleaders, the PRC plays the filthiest role.

For years, the Trotskyist Fraction had dedicated itself to issuing fraternal polemics against other pseudo-left currents for carrying out zigzags, without any anchoring in the firmest class independence and anti-imperialism, between aligning themselves with the Chavistas, on the one hand, and the Venezuelan far-right financed by US imperialism, on the other. But, as the historical development exposes the catastrophic result of such a political orientation, the PRC rushes to aid the demoralized pseudo-left parties to whitewash their past and masquerade as representatives of the working class.

While the Morenoites speak of internationalist resistance to war and imperialism, the theses approved at their congress clarify nothing about the nature of the global crisis. Leaving the characterization of all fundamental aspects of the political situation undefined, the central concern of the PRCs deliberations is to create leeway for their adaptation to imperialism.

The Morenoites reported having discussed different definitions of the international crisis directly extracted from bourgeois analysts and academia without ever politically digesting them or reaching any conclusion. They write: [A] debate developed around some categories such as interregnum, systemic chaos, asymmetric polarization, and period of hegemonic dispute between the US and China, and the need to specify their use within the framework of a Marxist analysis of the international situation.

What the situation definitely is not, according to the Morenoites, is objectively revolutionary.

The conference also could not reach an agreement about whether or not to characterize China as imperialist. This impasse directly reflects the dilemma of the Latin American bourgeoisie, to which the Morenoites are prominently oriented, as it seeks to balance between China and US imperialism. Nevertheless, the PRCs decisions indicate an ongoing preparation to justify Washingtons imperialist offensive against China under fraudulent anti-imperialist banners.

New political phenomena to the left of social liberalism

Unable to present a worked-out perspective on the world historic crisis, the Morenoites, however, have set guidelines. They write:

Therefore, [the congress] reaffirmed that we are preparing for a period of sharpening of rivalries between powers and processes of political radicalization and class struggle. In this framework, it addressed the discussion of the situation from the angle of intervention in the class struggle and the new political phenomena to the left of social liberalism.

By new political phenomena to the left of social liberalism the PRC means the pseudo-left political traps such as the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) in the US, The Left party in Germany, and Corbyns Your Party in the UK into which they will seek to divert the mass upsurge of workers and youth against war and capitalism.

The PRCs orientation represents a deepening of the counterrevolutionary role played by Pabloite revisionism, of which Morenoism was one of the most right-wing expressions, in the 20th century. The quintessence of Pabloism was the liquidation of the Fourth International, sabotaging the struggle to resolve the historic crisis of proletarian leadership.

In the closing speech of the Great Internationalist Rally that opened the work of the Morenoite conference, Diana Assuncao, leader of the Brazilian Revolutionary Workers Movement (MRT), declared:

I believe the conclusion is that we need to prepare ourselves and fight more vigorously so that the international working class has a tool equal to the coming events of the class struggle that the international situation may be announcing. In this sense, more than ever, it is fundamental to battle for the reconstruction of the Fourth International.... The Fourth International fragmented after the Second World War, including into currents that ended up seeking shortcuts, that is, in the old opportunism, or sinking into useless dogmas.... Therefore, in this Conference we will debate how to forcefully resume the struggle for a movement that promotes an International of Socialist Revolution, which for us is the Fourth International.... we want to deepen this call and open this debate with all the left that claims to be revolutionary. Our current is the most dynamic of Trotskyism at the international level, but we are few in the face of the enormous challenges we face. Therefore, we do not proclaim ourselves a revolutionary international, but rather seek to call on all those who wish to fight for this program and strategy to face the new processes and challenges together.

The Pabloite conception of an international party advocated by Assuncao is diametrically opposed to that defended by Leon Trotsky.

In the Transitional Program, Trotsky answered the skeptics who opposed the foundation of the Fourth International with the claim that its ranks are not numerous. He wrote: Outside these cadres there does not exist a single revolutionary current on this planet really meriting the name. If our international be still weak in numbers, it is strong in doctrine, program, tradition, in the incomparable tempering of its cadres.

By proclaiming itself as the most dynamic current of Trotskyism at the international level, the PRC arrogates to itself the right to repudiate the doctrine, program and traditions of the Fourth Internationallong ago rejected as useless dogmas by Morenoism.

The PRT creates the crudest political amalgam between the current that embraced old opportunismi.e., Pabloismand the tendency that fought to defend the revolutionary principles of Trotskyismi.e., the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI). This is a gross and deliberate distortion of the criminal role played by Pabloism and its Morenoite variant. The Pabloites did not simply end up in opportunism, they waged a conscious, protracted struggle to completely liquidate the Trotskyist movement.

With this slander, the Morenoites hope to whitewash the record of historical betrayals of the working class committed not only by Pabloism, but by Stalinism and the different anti-Trotskyist forces that they seek to rehabilitate as the left that claims to be revolutionary.

As we enter a period of the greatest revolutionary struggles in history, the derailing of the construction of the Trotskyist leadership in the working class assumes the greatest importance for the preservation of the power of the capitalist oligarchy.

To assimilate the conquests of the struggle against anti-Marxist revisionism, in particular of the ICFIs battle against Pabloism in the Fourth International, and to develop this struggle in light of the strategic experiences of the 21st century, is the most critical factor in developing the revolutionary vanguard that will establish working class power internationally.

The Morenoites renewed assault on Permanent Revolution

The perfidious character of the Morenoite operation finds no more damning exposure than in the fact that the rebranding of their movement as Permanent Revolution Current came hand-in-hand with the call for an all-out revision of Trotskys Theory of Permanent Revolution.

In preparation for their international conference, the Morenoites held a seminar in Argentina titled Theory of Permanent Revolution: Toward an Expanded Formulation. Its main documents were published in December by La Izquierda Diario as Dossier: Debates on the theory of permanent revolution and its relevance today.

The Morenoites debate amounts to a declaration of war on this fundamental doctrine of Trotskyism. While their leaders cannot find agreement on what the current form of permanent revolution might be, they concur on proclaiming Trotskys formulations to be incompatible with present reality.

In the article presented as Notes to the Militants, the Morenoites leading theoretician in the renewed assault on Trotskyism, Juan Dal Maso, attempts to provide an overview of the ongoing debates regarding the relevance of the theory of permanent revolution.

Dal Maso writes:

By expanded formulation of the TPR [Theory of Permanent Revolution], we refer to a new interpretation of the TPR that considers various elaborations by Trotsky, but also by Gramsci.  We also include Gramscis elaborations on hegemony as the current form of permanent revolution  because, on the one hand, it also contributes to thinking about the problem of the mechanics of permanent revolution in metropolitan or Westernized peripheral countries and, on the other, it contributes to thinking about the strategy corresponding to a reading of permanent revolution that emphasizes the aspects of the struggle for hegemony.

Anticipating criticism, Dal Masos Notes rhetorically ask: Doesnt this run the risk of deforming the TPR? He bureaucratically answers:

No, because we are not changing the Marxist concept of revolution, nor that of permanent revolution, nor are we changing the concept of theory, nor are we combining incompatible elaborations with each other.

In other words, everything must be changed for nothing to change.

The Morenoites contempt for theory and program (and for their own membership) is so tremendous that the adoption of their so-called new interpretation of the Theory of Permanent Revolution did not even merit a direct vote. Entrusting the leadership to lead its revisionist drive as far as it likes, the conference simply voted to hold as a major event an open public international seminar on the Theory of Permanent Revolution in the 21st century.

It is clear that the Morenoites decision to rename their organization was taken so as to preempt challenges to their theoretical offensive against the Theory of Permanent Revolution.

The essence of this revisionist attack is, first, to declare the precepts of the Theory of Permanent Revolution a dead letter and, second, to completely redefine the term permanent revolution so as to abolish its historical and political association with Trotsky and the Fourth International.

Presenting the fundamental conclusions of the Morenoites seminar, Dal Maso writes in an essay titled Searching for the Present Form of Permanent Revolution:

Understand well, when we say that the actuality of the Theory of Permanent Revolution is in debate, we are not saying that it is not valid. What that statement means is only that the typical, classical or virtuous dynamics foreseen by this theory do not coincide with current processes. Here it is important, precisely because of this circumstance, the difference between prescription and description. Prescription involves a practical will (in our case, the realization of socialist revolution with a strategy proper to the proletariat). Description seeks to account for a state of affairs or process that is, not necessarily in its development but in its existence, independent of that will. Taking this distinction into account, the TPR is irreproachable from a prescriptive point of view, unless one is in favor of alliances with the national bourgeoisie, social democracy, Stalinism or capitalism in general. However, from a descriptive point of view, the type of processes for which this theory was conceived are not those that occur in our reality. This circumstance forces us to rethink the question of the actuality of the TPR in order to re-articulate both dimensions (prescriptive and descriptive) in relation to the reality of this epoch.

This statement stands out, in the first place, for its hypocrisy. Not only can one be in favor of alliances with the national bourgeoisie, social democracy, Stalinism or capitalism in general, but, if one is a member of the Permanent Revolution Current, one is obliged to systematically pursue such alliances.

Moreover, once it is determined that the Theory of Permanent Revolution does not describe the processes that occur in our reality, it can only be invoked in holiday speeches. In fact, what the Morenoites present as the current form or expanded formulation of the Theory of Permanent Revolution is merely the reactionary politics of the pseudo-left disguised with pseudo-Trotskyist rhetoric.

The political swamp of the pseudo-left

However vulgar, Dal Masos contention about the difference between prescription and description raises profound theoretical issues.

By declaring an opposition between practical will and the state of things independent of that will, Dal Maso assumes a fundamental split between the subjective and objective elements of historical development. A party that conceives of its subjective activity independently from objective reality and its inherent contradictions is not a Marxist tendency rooted in the working class, but an outfit of petty-bourgeois pseudo-left freebooters.

In his Theses on Feuerbach, a foundational work of the historical materialist method, Marx proclaimed:

The chief defect of all hitherto existing materialismthat of Feuerbach includedis that the thing, reality, sensuousness, is conceived only in the form of the object or of contemplation, but not as sensuous human activity, practice, not subjectively. Hence, in contradistinction to materialism, the active side was developed abstractly by idealismwhich, of course, does not know real, sensuous activity as such.

The development of human understanding of the subjective and objective elements of reality under the same materialist system of thought was the great achievement of Marxist theory. From it, arises a political practice that was summarized in Lenins words:

The highest task of humanity is to comprehend this objective logic of economic evolution (the evolution of social life) in its general and fundamental features, so that it may be possible to adapt to it ones social consciousness and the consciousness of the advanced classes of all capitalist countries in as definite, clear and critical a fashion as possible.

But a party that dissociates its subjective will from objective necessity orients its activity to completely different goals. It acts not to adapt social consciousness to the objective logic of historical development, but to conform it to its subjective ideals and moral standards. Its chief goal is not to clarify the masses on the tasks posed by the objective development of the capitalist crisis and the class struggle, but to appeal to their emotions. The domain of the irrational is its preferred political arena.

While failing to clearly draw out the anti-Marxist implications of their conclusions, the Morenoites are not oblivious to them. The vindication of Gramscis elaborations on hegemony serves them, in fact, as a strategically positioned bridge to the vast swamp of pseudo-left theories and politics.

The Morenoite PRCs orientation towards virulent anti-Trotskyist tendencies was laid bare in the very framework of its pre-conference debate on the present relevance of the Theory of Permanent Revolution.

As Dal Maso reports:

The works we discussed at the first meeting offer different summaries of the theory of permanent revolution during the 20th century, each linked to the various issues we discussed in the previous section. These are Isaac Deutschers The Age of Permanent Revolution, Leon Trotsky as a Theorist, chapter 4 of Raya Dunayevskayas Philosophy and Revolution, Perry Andersons Epilogue to Considerations on Western Marxism, and chapter 2 of Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffes Hegemony and Socialist Strategy.

Thus, the Morenoites review of the theory of permanent revolution during the 20th century is based entirely on works dedicated to refuting the fundamental premises and perspectives of the Fourth International and of Marxism as a whole.

The political biographies of the authors referenced by the Morenoites illustrate a broad historical process of political demoralization and rejection of socialism by the petty-bourgeois intelligentsia. They reveal, moreover, the fundamental connection between the main trends of revisionism that emerged in the post-war period in the Fourth InternationalPabloism and Shachtmanismand the development of post-modernism and the politics of the pseudo-left.

Isaac Deutschermerely presented as the great biographer of Trotsky by the Morenoiteswas directly opposed to the foundation of the Fourth International based on his rejection of Trotskys characterization of Stalinism as counterrevolutionary. Deutscher advanced the perspective that Stalin played the role of a Soviet Napoleon, and that the Moscow bureaucracy could be pushed by mass pressure to play a progressive historical role, theories that would later be developed in the outlook of Pabloism.

Raya Dunayevskaya (Forest) and C.L.R James (Johnson) were protagonists of a petty-bourgeois tendency within the American Socialist Workers Party (SWP) in the 1930s-1940s that broke with Trotskyism on the same basis as the Shachtman fraction. As with the Shachtmanites, the Johnson-Forest tendency repudiated Trotskys characterization of the Soviet Union as a workers state, although degenerated, and of the ruling bureaucracy as a parasitic formation, and not a class. Dunayevskayas interpretation of the Soviet Union as a state-capitalist imperialist formation rapidly developed into a fundamental repudiation of Marxism and of the revolutionary role of the working class, embracing instead Humanism and the centrality of gender and racial struggles.

Perry Anderson has been the long-time editor of the New Left Review, the mouthpiece for a petty-bourgeois tendency that emerged in the context of the massive crisis of Stalinism and the labor bureaucracies of the late 1950s. The defining feature of this tendency was that its break with Stalinism on moral grounds was rooted in its rejection of the revolutionary role of the working class and hostility to the historical perspective of Trotskyism.

Summarizing the ideological conceptions that animated the New Leftwhich are profoundly connected to the present politics of the Morenoitesthe Socialist Equality Party (Germany) explains in its founding document:

Instead of capitalist exploitation, the leading figures of the New Left placed at the heart of their social analysis the concept of alienation, which they interpreted in a psychological or existential manner. The working class was no longer regarded as a revolutionary class, but, rather, as an apolitical, or even backward mass, thoroughly integrated into bourgeois society via the mechanisms of consumerism, the domination of the media and repressive forms of education. Herbert Marcuse, Heideggers pupil and a member of the Frankfurt School, even detected a proto-fascist syndrome in the working class. The revolution would proceed not from the working class, but from the young intelligentsia, social fringe groups or guerrilla movements. Its driving force was not the class contradictions of capitalist society, but critical thinking and the actions of an enlightened elite

The common historical and social roots of the demoralized anti-Marxist perspectives that came to dominate the petty-bourgeois left and the liquidationist tendencies that developed within the Fourth International over the same period were explained by David North in The Theoretical and Historical Origins of the Pseudo-Left (The Frankfurt School, Postmodernism and the Politics of the Pseudo-leftA Marxist Critique):

The aftermath of World War II saw the development within diverse sections of the petty-bourgeois intelligentsia of an increasingly self-consciously anti-materialist, anti-Marxist, anti-Trotskyist, anti-socialist, and anti-working class outlook. Especially as capitalist rule was restabilized in the United States and Western Europe, and the Soviet bureaucracy consolidated its position, the petty-bourgeoisie sought to develop the intellectual conceptions and elaborate the political program which best suited the defense of its own interests in the post-war order. The emergence of Pabloism between 1949 and 1953 was an expression within the Fourth International of this social, political and intellectual process.. It was not a matter of a few confused people making unfortunate political mistakes. Rather, the theoretical and political errors of Michel Pablo and Ernest Mandel, to name only the most important opponents of orthodox Trotskyism (that is, the political expression of revolutionary Marxism), arose as the expression of socio-economic processes that developed in the aftermath of World War II. Through the tendency known as Pabloism, the petty-bourgeoisie attempted to seize control of the Fourth International and utilize its prestige in its own interests.

The rightward trajectory of these petty-bourgeois tendencies culminated in their complete integration into bourgeois politics and the consolidation of the outlook of what the ICFI scientifically characterized as the pseudo-left.

The perspectives of the pseudo-left were epitomized in the influential work by Chantal Mouffe and Ernest Laclau, Hegemony and Socialist Strategy. Launched in 1985 by the Pabloite publishing house Verso (which also published Andersons Considerations on Western Marxism), the book proclaimed: What is now in crisis is a whole conception of socialism which rests upon the ontological centrality of the working class, upon the role of Revolution, with a capital r, as the founding moment in the transition from one type of society to another. Laclau and Mouffes left-wing populist perspective found concrete expression in the betrayals and political catastrophes carried out by Syriza in Greece and Podemos in Spain.

The hatchet jobs against the Theory of Permanent Revolution by these authors from various anti-Trotskyist traditions serve as the undeniable foundation for the PRCs mala fide rewriting of Trotskys theory. The Morenoite scoundrels, however, fail to specify what has been refuted in the Theory of Permanent Revolution by a balance-sheet of the 20th century and why it requires revision.

Juan Dal Maso at the launching of his book Mariategui. Teoria y revolucion, Buenos Aires, 2023 [Photo: La Izquierda Diario]

The answer to this question emerges more clearly from other writings by Juan Dal Maso, the architect of the Morenoite expanded formulation of the Theory of Permanent Revolution.

The Morenoite leaders theoretical elaborations have focused on, in addition to Gramsci, the works of the Peruvian heterodox socialist thinker Jose Carlos Mariategui. In 2025, La Izquierda Diario published two essays by Dal Maso reclaiming the contributions of Mariategui for the development of a present-day political myth.

He praised Mariateguis idea of myth as the banner, the goal, or what a group of people, especially crowds, pursue. Claiming this concept to be the most productive for thinking about the problem of revolutionary politics today, Dal Maso recognized it to be indissolubly linked to the ideas of myth as a metaphysical necessity, as something that obeys the human beings need for infinity, and as that which moves human beings in history  as when [Mariategui] says that history is made by men possessed and enlightened by a higher belief and the rest are the anonymous chorus of the drama.

Mariategui, who died in 1930 at the early age of 35, argued for the Communist movements need for a revolutionary myth. Dal Maso, for his part, prescribes a democratic myth for the 21st century.

But why would the problem of revolutionary politics today require delving into the realm of myth? Dal Maso answers:

Returning to Mariateguis terms, rather than a crisis of the bourgeois absolute, that is, rather than a crisis of the idea of progress with a capital P and the opening up to heroic and voluntarist imaginaries such as those of the early postwar period of the 20th century, what we are experiencing today is an exhaustion of bourgeois ideology due to its own banality, which in turn constitutes the very process of survival of that ideology as such: the idea that capitalism is the only possible system and the idea of presentism that closes off any view of the past (especially in its revolutionary aspects) and the future (as a possibility for change) because we live and must live in an immediate, instantaneous present in which we must devote ourselves to consumption. This imaginary, as befits any crisis situation, is not homogeneous either, but it has enough gravitation for us to ask ourselves whether there is not a certain chronic aspect to the ideological crisis, which can only be overcome as a stage of mass subjectivity through major historical events.

This formulation presents clearly not only how the Morenoites conceive of the problem of revolutionary politics today, but why the Theory of Permanent Revolution in its classical form is utterly unsuited to its purposes.

The perpetuation of the capitalist system is presented as the result of its ideological domination over the working class.

If this ideological crisis of the masses has taken on a chronic character that only unspecified major events can overcome, as Dal Maso proposes, then we are living under a completely different historical epoch from that analyzed by Trotsky, and one in which his theoretical postulates are absolutely useless.

The only thing original about the Morenoites ideas is their audacity in presenting them as an expansion of Trotskys theory. But long ago, the founding leader of the Fourth International already answered their demoralized petty-bourgeois contentions:

All the various types of disillusioned and frightened representatives of pseudo-Marxism proceed  from the assumption that the bankruptcy of the leadership only reflects the incapacity of the proletariat to fulfill its revolutionary mission. Not all our opponents express this thought clearly, but all of themultra-lefts, centrists, anarchists, not to mention Stalinists and social-democratsshift the responsibility for the defeats from themselves to the shoulders of the proletariat. None of them indicate under precisely what conditions the proletariat will be capable of accomplishing the socialist overturn. If we grant as true that the cause of the defeats is rooted in the social qualities of the proletariat itself, then the position of modern society will have to be acknowledged as hopeless.

The historical vindication and actuality of Trotskys Theory of Permanent Revolution

The PRC never gives a straightforward account of what they consider inconsistent with reality in the Theory of Permanent Revolution. But this question has been answered by the historical practice of Morenoism. The long political record of the Morenoite tendency has been consistently shaped by its repudiation of the basic interconnected premises of Trotskys theory: 1) The international character of the socialist revolution, which, as Trotsky wrote, flows from the present state of economy and the social structure of humanity 2) The decisive revolutionary role of the working class in every country in the current, imperialist epoch.

Contrary to the Morenoites claims, the Theory of Permanent Revolution entirely corresponds to the unfolding objective global capitalist crisis and the political problems of revolutionary politics today. The fundamental world political dynamics described by Trotskys theory are entirely contemporary.

The fundamental principles of this world political conception were elaborated by Trotsky back in 1905, as he determined the necessary programmatic framework for the coming Russian revolution.

Leon Trotsky at his desk in Prinkipo

Trotsky insisted that the backward Russian bourgeoisie, simultaneously oppressed by imperialism and confronting the internal challenge of a powerful working class, was incapable of resolving the tasks historically associated with the democratic revolutions of the past. Only the working class, by taking power, could carry out these revolutionary tasks. The Russian proletariat, however, would not be able to limit itself to democratic tasks and would be compelled to implement directly socialist measures, whose completion depended upon the expansion of the socialist revolution internationally.

As explained in David Norths 1993 essay, Permanent Revolution and the National Question Today:

The relation of the Russian Revolution to the world socialist revolution constituted the essential foundation of Trotskys theory of permanent revolution. With a consistency and far-sightedness that was unequaled by any of his contemporaries, Lenin not excluded, Trotsky insisted that the character of the Russian Revolution would be determined, in the final analysis, not by national, but by international, conditions. To the Menshevik pedants, who continuously argued that Russia was too economically backward to embark upon a program of socialist economic development, Trotsky replied that Russian economic potentialities could not be properly evaluated only from the standpoint of its national stage of development and the national resources at its disposal. The real dynamics of Russian development could be understood only within the context of the world economy and the international political relations within which it actually existed.

North continued:

The outbreak of the First World War vindicated Trotskys insistence on the primacy of the international situation over national factors. The imperialist war signified, in essence, the impossibility of peacefully reconciling the productive forces of world capitalism with the outmoded nation-state. Both the working class in the advanced as well as backward countries faced a common dilemma: The solution to all the fundamental problems of human society was to be found only at the level of world economic development and through the medium of international revolutionary struggle. This scientific conception underlay Trotskys appraisal of all political problems.

The critical historical experiences of the last century have time and again verified the laws of political development described by the Theory of Permanent Revolution.

Trotskys theory was positively confirmed in the victory of the 1917 October Revolution, which successfully established working class power by adopting the programmatic prescriptions of the Theory of Permanent Revolution. But it was also vindicated, in the negative, by the series of revolutionary defeats provoked by the treacherous nationalist perspectives promoted by the Stalinist and Pabloite enemies of Trotskyism. Nowhere in the world were the disastrous consequences of the renunciation of the Theory of Permanent Revolution demonstrated so repeatedly and definitively as in Latin America.

Stalinism emerged as a conscious political reaction against the revolutionary internationalist program which inspired the October Revolution. Its perspectives expressed the material interests of the bureaucracy of a workers state established in an economically backward country surrounded by imperialism. Its search for accommodation was rationalized in Stalins anti-Marxist theory of Socialism in One Country, which severed the link between the development of socialism in the Soviet Union and the advance of world proletarian revolution.

The major setbacks for the international revolution produced by the Cominterns betrayals, from the crushing of the 1927 Chinese Revolution to the rise of Hitler to power in 1933, consolidated Stalinism as a counterrevolutionary agency of imperialism. On the basis of this assessment Trotsky issued the call for the Fourth International.

Stalinisms counterrevolutionary role was clearly presented in its adoption of the Popular Front alliances aimed at preserving bourgeois rule as the capitalist crisis prepared a second inter-imperialist global war. But it was even more clearly exposed by its efforts to physically liquidate the revolutionary Marxist vanguard, which it correctly identified with Trotskyism.

The Trotskyist movement was politically forged in the struggle to develop the internationalist revolutionary strategy of the working class and to defend its political independence against the efforts by Stalinism to subordinate it to national alliances with the bourgeoisie. Pabloite revisionism represented a systematic attempt to disrupt that struggle from within the Fourth International.

Michel Pablo (right) with Ernest Mandel

The Pabloite tendencyled by Michel Pablo and Ernest Mandel, who presided over the International Secretariat of the Fourth Internationaladapted itself to the conditions of relative stabilization of capitalism in the post-war period, only achieved through Stalinisms betrayals of the revolutionary struggles of the working class at the end of World War II.

Whitewashing the counterrevolutionary crimes of Stalinism, the Pabloites hailed its successes in establishing deformed workers states in Eastern Europe. These successes, along with the advance of the anti-colonial revolution and the quiescence of the labor movement in the imperialist centers, were impressionistically presented as the elements of a new reality. Objective social reality, Pablo stated, consists essentially of the capitalist regime and the Stalinist world.

This grossly impressionistic assessment gave rise to a completely new historical perspective. As David North wrote in The Heritage We Defend:

Trotskyism was no longer seen as the doctrine guiding the practical activity of a party determined to conquer power and change the course of history, but rather as a general interpretation of a historical process in which socialism would ultimately be realized under the leadership of nonproletarian forces hostile to the Fourth International. Insofar as Trotskyism was to be credited with any direct role in the course of events, it was merely as a sort of subliminal mental process unconsciously guiding the activities of Stalinists, neo-Stalinists, semi-Stalinists, and, of course, petty-bourgeois nationalists of one type or another.

At the Third World Congress of the Fourth International in August 1951, Pablo drew out the full liquidationist implications of his perspective, declaring that no Trotskyist organization could avoid subordinating all organizational considerations, of formal independence or otherwise, to real integration into the mass movement wherever it expresses itself. Under this doctrine, dubbed entryism sui generis, the Pabloites oriented the sections of the Fourth International to fully dissolving themselves into the Stalinist and Social Democratic parties and into the bourgeois nationalist movements in the colonial and semi-colonial countries.

As for the Latin American sections, the Third Congresss theses oriented their participation and activity, free from all sectarianism, in all mass movements and all organizations which express, even in an indirect and confused fashion, the aspirations of the masses which may, for example, take the channel of the Peronist trade unions or the Bolivian MNR movement, or the APRA in Peru, the laborite movement of Vargas, or Democratic Action in Venezuela.

This line directly repudiated the previous orientation of the Trotskyist organizations in Latin America. In Brazil, for instance, the Socialist Revolutionary Party (PSR) had built its prestige in the workers movement as the most consequential opponent of the right-wing nationalist government of Getulio Vargas and its corporatist state apparatus, to which the Stalinist Communist Party completely subordinated itself.

In relation to Bolivia and Peru, Pablos thesis specifically sanctioned popular front alliances with the national bourgeoisie. They argued for the Bolivian Revolutionary Workers Party (POR) to intervene in the mass movement with the aim of pushing it as far as possible up to the seizure of power by the MNR on the basis of a progressive program of anti-imperialist united front.

As North critically observed in The Heritage We Defend:

This proposal demonstrated clearly that Pabloite liquidationism led directly, beneath the guise of integrating into the mass movement, to class collaboration and the betrayal of the working class. The orientation proposed by Pablo had nothing whatsoever to do with the tactics pursued by the Bolsheviks in 1917 on the basis of the theory of permanent revolution. It sanctioned the adaptation of Lora to the bourgeois nationalism of Paz Estenssoro, which led directly to the defeat of the Bolivian working class in 1952.  The idea that the Trotskyists should challenge the bourgeois nationalists of the MNR or the APRA for the leadership of the working class and oppressed peasantry, that it should strive to expose before the masses the inability of these organizations to complete the democratic revolution and wage a consistent struggle against imperialism, and that it should unmask the political insincerity of these organizations democratic pretensions, was anathema to the political outlook being championed by Pablo.

The 1953 split with the Pabloite revisionists and the founding of the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI) preserved the international Trotskyist movement from this massive liquidationist attack.

The Open Letter by the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) leader James P. Cannon, which launched the ICFI, restated the fundamental principles of Trotskyism under attack by Pabloism. It defended Trotskys characterization of the epoch as that of the death agony of the capitalist system, which threatens the destruction of civilization through worsening depressions, world wars and barbaric manifestations like fascism, and can be avoided only by replacing capitalism with the planned economy of socialism on a world scale. The world relationship of social forces was never so favorable as today for the workers to take the road to power, it affirmed, but the crisis of leadership in the working class had to be resolved. The main obstacle to this is Stalinism, Cannons letter clearly stated, which attracts workers through exploiting the prestige of the October 1917 Revolution in Russia, only later, as it betrays their confidence, to hurl them either into the arms of the Social Democracy, into apathy, or back into illusions in capitalism.

Developing on the fundamental political-theoretical divisions with Pabloism on the role of conscious leadership and internationalism, Cannon wrote in the months following the split:

We alone are unconditional adherents of the Lenin-Trotsky theory of the party of the conscious vanguard and its role as leader of the revolutionary struggle. This theory acquires burning actuality and dominates all others in the present epoch. The problem of leadership now is not limited to spontaneous manifestations of the class struggle in a long drawn-out process, nor even to the conquest of power in this or that country where capitalism is especially weak. It is a question of the development of the international revolution and the socialist transformation of society.

The foundation of the ICFI established the essential political issues in the split with Pabloism. But it could only initiate what out of necessity developed as a protracted and relentless political struggle against the powerful material pressures manifested in Pabloite revisionism.

Nahuel Morenos repudiation of Permanent Revolution

The profound implications of the 1953 split in the Fourth International emerged with greater force less than a decade later, with the SWPs promotion of unprincipled reunification with the Pabloite International Secretariat. The political differences with Pabloism, which had only grown sharper, were declared by the SWP leaders and its international backers to have been overcome by agreement on major events, above all, the 1959 Cuban Revolution. The essence of this agreement was a full-scale assault on the Theory of Permanent Revolution.

Reunification was justified on the basis of a common understanding with the Pabloites that Fidel Castros guerrilla movement had demonstrated that the overthrow of capitalism and the establishment of a workers state could be accomplished with blunted instruments, that is, by petty-bourgeois non-Marxist leaderships based on social forces other than the working class. The Pabloite United Secretariat, established in 1963 as a result of this unprincipled merger, explicitly assigned to Trotskyism the servile role of helping to strengthen and enrich the international current of Castroism.

The main architects of this operation to liquidate the Trotskyist movement into the realm of petty-bourgeois politics were Joseph Hansen, the former GPU and then FBI agent in the leadership of the SWP, and his Latin American ally, Nahuel Moreno.

Hansen and Moreno, echoed by their heirs in the Permanent Revolution Current today, cynically presented their frontal assault on the Theory of Permanent Revolution as an update of Trotskys theory. Hansen argued that the alleged fact that Castros petty-bourgeois leadership, beginning with a bourgeois-democratic program, had been driven by the objective logic of events towards establishing the first workers state in the Western Hemisphere was the ultimate vindication of the laws of Permanent Revolution.

Nahuel Moreno [Photo: nahuelmoreno.org]

Morenos gross revision of the Theory of Permanent Revolution was developed in tandem with his growing clash with the principled orientation of the ICFI in Latin America. Having initially supported the ICFI in the 1953 split, largely motivated by national factional disputes with Pablos protege in Argentina, Juan Posadas, Moreno soon found himself in disagreement with its perspectives. These differences were formulated for the first time in his report to the Latin American sections on the 1958 Leeds Conference of the ICFI, which he attended. The report was later published under the title Permanent Revolution in the Post-War.

The main point of Morenos report was declaring total opposition to the ICFIs resolution that In the colonial and semi-colonial countries, our central task is to build revolutionary proletarian parties, which armed with the theory of permanent revolution fight for establishing proletarian leadership of the masses. Rejecting this orthodox formulation, he argued: The most important theoretical and programmatic problem lies in this fact: the revolutionary process in this postwar period has enriched and given a new content to the thesis of permanent revolution.

Morenos revisionist conclusions were formulated in the clearest fashion in his programmatic document, The Latin American Revolution, issued the year before his reunification with Pabloism. The document stated:

Life has made evident the holes, omissions and errors of the Program of Permanent Revolution. ... The dogma that the only class which can carry out the democratic tasks is the working class is false. Sections of the urban middle class and the peasantry are on occasion the revolutionary leaderships. ... It is not only the workers who can organize and in the first stages of the revolution, the democratic agrarian movements can do so. Western Marxism forgot the armed struggle, the permanent method of the masses which incorporates to the class struggle a new factor which is specifically original: geography erases the classification of mature and immature regions. Any country, any region is ready for permanent revolution. ... The Cuban and Chinese revolutions took place under circumstances which the classical Marxists described as unfavorable: there were no great social struggles, and a handful of men began an armed struggle. Nonetheless, this group transforms the conditions into favorable.

This outlook finds a direct echo in the PRCs claim, in implicit reference to the ICFI, that part of the Fourth International ended up sinking into useless dogmas. The conclusion drawn by Moreno in the 1962 document also leaves no doubt about the origins of the gross eclecticism displayed in the PRCs expanded formulation. He wrote: It is necessary to synthesize the correct general theory and program (Trotskyism) with the correct particular theory and program (Maoism and Castroism.)

Addressing the critical issues at stake in his revisionist line, Moreno declared in The Latin American Revolution that it was a matter of finding out for what objective reasons the world revolution continued to advance despite the betrayal and the lack of revolutionary proletarian leadership. In other words, that the basic premise of the Fourth International, that the crisis of humanity reduces itself to the crisis of revolutionary leadership of the working class, had been historically refuted.

The attempt by Hansen and Moreno to definitively liquidate the Trotskyist movement was blocked by the political counteroffensive mounted by the ICFI under the leadership of the British Socialist Labour League (SLL) of Gerry Healy. Rejecting the Pabloites glorification of petty-bourgeois guerrillaism and demolishing the myth that Castros bourgeois nationalist revolution had established a workers state in Cuba, Healy and his comrades reasserted the need to build sections of the Fourth International as the conscious revolutionary leadership of the working class in Latin America and throughout the world.

The refusal to dissolve the ICFI guaranteed the preservation of the historical continuity of the international Trotskyist movement. But the disruption of the construction of revolutionary leadership provoked by Pabloism had catastrophic consequences. Thousands of revolutionary workers and youth throughout Latin America were massacred in the guerrilla adventures promoted by the Pabloites.

The Cordobazo general strike, May 29, 1969, in Cordoba, Argentina [Photo: Revista Gente]

Moreover, as the United Secretariat was proclaiming the strategic centrality of rural guerrillas and the peasantry, the region was in fact pregnant with mass uprisings of the urban working class. Movements like the Cordobazo, that rocked Argentina in 1969, and the subsequent revolutionary upsurge of workers in Chile, objectively posed the taking of political power by the working class. But in the absence of a conscious Marxist/Trotskyist leadership, these struggles remained politically subordinated to Stalinist and reformist bureaucracies and were led to defeat.

In Argentina and Chile, as in other countries through the region, immediately after splitting with the ICFI, the Morenoites carried the orientation to liquidate the existing sections of the Fourth International into developing militant currents that want to carry things through once and and for all a la cubana, as wrote Luis Vitale of the Chilean Workers Revolutionary Party (POR). Moreno carried out an unprincipled fusion with Mario Santuchos petty bourgeois nationalist Popular Indo-American Revolutionary Front to form the Revolutionary Workers Party (PRT) in Argentina.

As Bill Van Auken wrote in Argentine Workers at the Crossroads (in the Bulletin, Dec. 1988- Jan. 1989 as Bill Vann), Santucho soon drew the logical conclusion from the Pabloite line: that it was necessary to immediately launch an armed guerrilla struggle in Argentina. By 1968, on the eve of the mass uprising in Argentinas industrial center of Cordoba, Santucho, who was already organizing individual armed actions, and Moreno, whose relation to guerrillaism was entirely platonic, split, with two-thirds of the PRT leadership siding with Santucho and the United Secretariat recognizing his group as the official section.

While a section of the Argentine Pabloites launched themselves into catastrophic isolated armed struggles against the state, Moreno increasingly integrated his organization into the bourgeois apparatus that was murdering his former comrades. As Van Auken wrote:

Following the assumption of power by Peron in 1973, Morenos PRT played an increasingly key role in the betrayal of the Argentine workers. Under conditions in which the Triple A death squads organized by Perons Social Welfare Minister Lopez Rega launched a wave of terror and assassinations, and military and police repression was rampant throughout the country, the PRT proudly announced, Our party is the only one on the Argentine revolutionary left which publicly has proclaimed its support for the process of institutionalization. Thus, precisely when the life-and-death question facing the Argentine proletariat was the necessity to break with Peronism and construct an alternative revolutionary leadership for the struggle to smash the capitalist state and establish the dictatorship of the proletariat, the Morenoites acted to bolster Peronism and defend the bourgeois state machine.

The political disarming of the Argentine working class by Pabloism paved the way for the 1976 military coup led by Gen. Videla that gave rise to one of the most murderous regimes in the regions history.

The reign of terror that spread throughout Latin America under the US-backed network of military dictatorships was the price paid for the revolutionary defeats of the working class. As Van Auken wrote, The counterrevolutionary role of Pabloism was written in the blood of the workers and youth of Argentina, and beyond.

For the resolution of the historical crisis of leadership in the working class: Build the ICFI!

Pabloisms attack on the Theory of Permanent Revolution through the glorification of Castroism and promotion of the revolutionary protagonism of non-proletarian forces had a political impact far beyond Latin America. It played a critical role in disorienting the working class and youth in the advanced capitalist countries and preventing the revolutionary wave inaugurated by the French general strike of May 1968 from resulting in the overthrow of capitalism.

All the apparent successes of Stalinism and bourgeois nationalism utilized by Pabloism to revise the core perspectives of the Fourth International were subsequently reversed and the counterrevolutionary character of Stalinism was definitively established by the bureaucracys dissolution of the Soviet Union with the Pabloites backing.

Over the last 40 years, the heirs of Pabloism and its Morenoite variant have increasingly integrated themselves into the bourgeois political order and promoted the US-NATO imperialist wars for redivision of the world.

In Latin America, they acted as chief sponsors of the restabilization of bourgeois rule amid the crises of the military dictatorships in the 1980s. Moreno promoted the return of a capitalist civilian regime in Argentina as a completed democratic revolution, a characterization extended by his supporters, shortly after his death, to the restoration of capitalism in the USSR. The Pabloites and Morenoites have been implicated ever since in the construction of all the major bourgeois nationalist traps laid for the Latin American working class, from the rise of Brazils Workers Party to the 21st century governments of the Pink Tide.

The whole nationalist framework of the Morenoites political operation is being shattered by the explosion of the contradictions of imperialism. The year 2026 was opened by the US invasion of Venezuela, the encirclement of Cuba and the launching of a war of annihilation against Iran backed by all major imperialist powers. As imperialism launches the world into a rapidly developing third world war, the task of socialist revolution is being immediately and urgently posed to the international working class.

In this context, the Morenoite PRCs conference proclaimed:

The task of building an international of socialist revolution is one of the main duties of revolutionaries to face the new stage that is opening. We are aware that no currently existing organization that claims to be revolutionary can resolve by itself this task of historical magnitude. Against all sectarian self-proclamation we maintain that the construction of revolutionary workers parties and the building of an international of social revolution, which for us implies the refounding of the Fourth International on revolutionary bases, will not be the product of the evolutionary development of our organizations or of our international tendency, but the result of the fusion of left wings of revolutionary Marxist organizations and sectors of the workers and youth vanguard who orient themselves toward social revolution.

Let us clearly respond to them: The organization capable of resolving this task of historical magnitude does exist, it is the International Committee of the Fourth International. The ICFI is not afraid of self-proclamation because, contrary to yourselves, it does not fear claiming its own history. That it represents the only international party of socialist revolution is not a matter of subjective opinion, but of a historically verifiable record of struggle.

The 20th century has not passed in vain! The lessons of the historical triumphs and defeats of the working class, which are embedded in the ICFIs theory and program, constitute the fundamental weapon for the education of the revolutionary vanguard that will establish socialism in the 21st century.

The principles spelled out in the ICFIs foundational statement, written by Cannon 73 years ago, have acquired even greater contemporary relevance. The death agony of the capitalist system threatens, more than ever, the destruction of civilization through worsening depressions, world wars and fascism. At the same time, the world relationship of social forces was never so favorable for the working class taking the road to power and replacing capitalism with the planned economy of socialism.

As David North, the chairman of the International Editorial Board of the World Socialist Web Site, stressed in a February 2026 statement:

[The] same contradictions that are driving the ruling class toward authoritarianism and militarism are simultaneously creating the conditions for a revolutionary movement of the working class on an international scale. The [fundamental] cause [of the crisis] is structural and systemic: the irreconcilable contradiction between the private ownership of the means of production and the increasingly social character of the process of production itself. This is the central contradiction identified by Marx, and its operation in the present epoch has reached an intensity without historical precedent. To this must be added a second, closely related contradiction: between the growth of the world economythe development of a genuinely global system of production, exchange and communicationand the obsolete nation-state system within which political power remains organized. The emergence of transnational production networks, global supply chains spanning dozens of countries, and instantaneous worldwide communication has rendered the nation-state a fetter on the rational development of the productive forces... The American imperialist bourgeoisie seeks to resolve this contradiction through the assertion of military powerthrough the violent reorganization of global economic relations in its favor... There is, however, another force that this same process of globalization has createda force that the bourgeoisie did not intend to bring into existence and whose revolutionary implications it does not yet fully comprehend. The global integration of production has created a massive global working class of a size, concentration and objective interconnection without precedent in human history Moreover, despite the political dominance of reaction, the past half century has witnessed what can justly be described as the greatest scientific and technological revolution in human history.  Humanity possesses, for the first time in its history, the scientific knowledge and technological capacity to solve the most fundamental problems of material existencehunger, disease, environmental degradation, the drudgery of exploitative labor. And yet these capabilities are imprisoned within a social system that subordinates them to the accumulation of private profit, that channels scientific genius into financial engineering and weapons development, that allows children to starve while algorithms optimize advertising revenue.

These are the objective material conditions creating the possibility and urgent necessity for the adoption of the program of Permanent Revolution and the construction of the ICFI as the revolutionary leadership of the international working class.
This photo taken in March 2026 shows coral spawning in Cambodian waters. A conservationist group has spotted coral spawning events for the first time on Song Saa Island in Preah Sihanouk province and in Koh Sdach Archipelago in Koh Kong province in southwest Cambodia, said a joint press release on Monday. (Anna Sabrina Petry/Fauna & Flora/Handout via Xinhua)

PHNOM PENH, March 16 (Xinhua) -- A conservationist group has spotted coral spawning events for the first time on Song Saa Island in Preah Sihanouk province and in Koh Sdach Archipelago in Koh Kong province in southwest Cambodia, said a joint press release on Monday.

The survey and study of these coral spawning events were conducted from March 7 to 9, with support from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Ministry of Environment, Fauna & Flora, Marine Resource Protection Organization, and Song Saa Foundation, among others.

During the research, the team conducted night dives and detailed reef monitoring to record spawning activities, assess coral health, and document environmental conditions, the press release said.

"These observations provide vital scientific data that help researchers understand coral reproduction cycles, track reef recovery, and identify factors that contribute to effective coral reef management," the press release said.

"The information gathered also supports evidence-based strategies for long-term coral reef conservation, benefiting both biodiversity and coastal communities that rely on healthy reefs for food and livelihoods," it said.

Minister of Environment Eang Sophalleth said the successful observation of coral spawning highlighted the effectiveness of ongoing conservation and management efforts in Cambodia's marine protected areas.

"Continued collaboration between government institutions, conservation organizations, and local communities is essential to conserve biodiversity and to sustain these ecosystem services for all generations," he said.

According to the press release, the conservationist group also discovered a coral spawning event for the third time in Koh Rong Archipelago in Preah Sihanouk province.

"The results of these three consecutive years bear witness to the recovering health of our seas and stand as undeniable proof of our success in implementing fishery protection measures," Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Dith Tina said.

Healthy coral reefs are extremely important for ensuring the sustainability of marine fisheries resources and supporting the livelihoods of coastal communities.

Jun Cheng, senior marine program manager of Fauna & Flora-Cambodia Program, said witnessing coral spawning for the third consecutive year is an encouraging sign that Cambodia's coral reefs still hold remarkable resilience.

"These findings reinforce the importance of continued scientific monitoring and strong collaboration amongst the government, NGOs, and local partners to ensure the long-term protection of these critical marine ecosystems," she said. 

Divers record a coral spawning event in Cambodian waters on March 7, 2026. A conservationist group has spotted coral spawning events for the first time on Song Saa Island in Preah Sihanouk province and in Koh Sdach Archipelago in Koh Kong province in southwest Cambodia, said a joint press release on Monday. (Kimlong Meng/Fauna & Flora/Handout via Xinhua)

Divers record a coral spawning event in Cambodian waters on March 7, 2026. A conservationist group has spotted coral spawning events for the first time on Song Saa Island in Preah Sihanouk province and in Koh Sdach Archipelago in Koh Kong province in southwest Cambodia, said a joint press release on Monday. (Kimlong Meng/Fauna & Flora/Handout via Xinhua)

This photo taken in March 2026 shows coral spawning in Cambodian waters. A conservationist group has spotted coral spawning events for the first time on Song Saa Island in Preah Sihanouk province and in Koh Sdach Archipelago in Koh Kong province in southwest Cambodia, said a joint press release on Monday. (Morokot Long/Fauna & Flora/Handout via Xinhua)

This photo taken in March 2026 shows coral spawning in Cambodian waters. A conservationist group has spotted coral spawning events for the first time on Song Saa Island in Preah Sihanouk province and in Koh Sdach Archipelago in Koh Kong province in southwest Cambodia, said a joint press release on Monday. (Morokot Long/Fauna & Flora/Handout via Xinhua)
Multiple recently released studies highlight dire changes in the earths climate and environment due to global warming which may soon unleash a self-reinforcing feedback loop which is difficult or impossible to reverse.

The 2015 Paris agreement set a somewhat arbitrary but nevertheless significant goal of limiting global average temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) above the preindustrial level, beyond which significant negative changes in earths climate were projected to begin. At the current rate of increase, that turning point will be reached by 2030, if not sooner.

A newly published report in Nature, titled, Climate change is speeding upthe pace nearly doubled in ten years (Witz, March 6, 2026) finds that the past three years have been the hottest on record, continuing a decades-long trend of increasing temperatures. The overall rate of increase has risen from 0.2 degrees C. per decade in the 1970s to around 0.35 degrees C. per decade currently, based on data from NASA.

Emissions from a coal-fired power plant are silhouetted against the setting sun in Kansas City, Mo., Feb. 1, 2021 (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)

Ironically, the recent surge may be the result of a lowering of particulate matter in the atmosphere due to the introduction of fuel regulations for international shipping. These particles reflect sunlight into space, reducing the amount of solar radiation reaching the ground. Nevertheless, this has only enhanced an overall marked warming trend clearly evident since at least the 1980s, due to the burning of fossil fuels that release heat-trapping gasses into the atmosphere.

Other studies corroborate the acceleration in global warming. One, for example, found that the rate of warming increased from 0.2 degrees C. per decade in the 1970s to 0.27 degrees C. now. That is slightly slower than the study previously cited, but still demonstrates a marked upward trend.

This acceleration is being driven by continuing greenhouse gas emissions. Another study was published in the journal PHYS.ORG, prepared by the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) (March 6, 2026), and titled Carbon emissions now more than double the planetary boundary, analysis finds. It found that,

Based on the condition of limiting the rise in global average temperature to within 1.5C, the analysis showed that Earth's safe limit for annual CO emissions is approximately 417 gigatons (Gt CO per year). However, humanity's current annual emissions amount to about 37 gigatons (Gt CO per year). This level exceeds Earth's safe operating space by more than twofold.

The consequences of this trend are alarming. Another recent study published in Nature Climate Change (Palmer, March 3, 2026) is titled, The hard road back from overshoot. It presents the stark reality that there is no possibility of achieving the Paris agreements goal of keeping the increase in global temperatures to below 1.5 C degrees C. above preindustrial levels by drastically reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It is now clear that emissions have kept climbing, and even the most optimistic models now project that the global temperature will rise past 1.5 C in just a few years, reach 2 C in the next decade, and will remain above that for decades before coming back down, perhaps. This is now referred to as overshoot.

The period of overshoot, even if dramatic measures, much more extensive than the feeble attempts made so far, are undertaken, will have devastating consequences not easily reversed. According to one scientist quoted in the article, Coral reefs bleach, ice sheets melt, 50% of species vanish and droughts lengthen. These things happen long before temperatures start to fall. We cant just go above and then slide back, he said. We carry the damage forward. One result is that frequency and strength of extreme storms will increase, with devastating consequences. A number of other scientists corroborate these dire predictions. The longer the drastic reduction in greenhouse gas emissions is delayed, the greater the impacts to the earths environment will be.

The article goes on to frame the fight against global warming as a moral imperative, which is to be implemented by educating those in power. A wide range of measures are proposed that can be implemented to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, as with the struggle against the Gaza genocide, the war in Iran and the establishment of a Trump dictatorship, bitter experience demonstrates that such appeals will fail. As the old saying goes, There are none so blind as those who will not see.

Appeals to the ruling capitalist oligarchy fall on deaf ears. Their interest is in defending the economic system on which their power is based. Any more than token efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions would impinge on their profits and will be resisted. The history of the past half century proves that to be the case. And the growing capitalist crisis is already prompting the Trump administration to conduct a direct assault on the meager environmental regulations put in place in the preceding decades.

Indeed, the Trump administration is actively seeking to suppress research on the effects of climate change on the environment. For example, one study, newly released in draft form, reviews a large range of existing research on the already evident negative effects of global warming and other human activities on the natural environment and the consequences for humanity. This study was originally sponsored by the US federal government, then canceled by the Trump administration, but the team of scientists working on the project continued with it anyway.

The report paints a grim picture of the environmental degradation that has already occurred. For example, freshwater ecosystems are overdrawn, polluted, fragmented and invaded. Biodiversity is reduced. An estimated 34 percent of plant species and 40 percent of animal species are at risk of extinction. The impacts on the human population are already evident, including degradation of clean water, food, health, livelihoods and protection from storms and fire.

Another potentially devastating effect of global warming is the rise in sea level. New research, published in Nature(Seeger and Minderhoud, March 4, 2026), titled Sea level much higher than assumed in most coastal hazard assessments, has found that overall sea levels are already 8 inches to a foot (20.32 to 30.48 cm) higher than has been understood. In some areas it is considerably higher, up to several meters, due to ocean dynamics. The implications for millions of people living in coastal areas are significant. The study found the greatest deviations between pre-existing measurements and the new, higher findings were in Latin America, East Africa and the Indo-Pacific, with Southeast Asia and Oceania as global hotspots. Deviations of up to several meters were observed.

As global temperatures continue to increase, sea levels will rise even more. This is the result of two factors. First, warm water expands. A recent study released by NOAA, Climate Change: Ocean Heat Content (Lindsey and Dahlman, June 26, 2025) documents that the oceans of the world have already absorbed a huge amount of heat from global warming. It found: Upper layers are accumulating heat faster than deeper layers, but averaged over the full depth of the global ocean, the 19932024 heat-gain rates are approximately 0.66 to 0.74 watts per square meter averaged over the surface of the Earth. The authors observe:

Less than a watt per square meter might seem like a small change, but multiplied by the surface area of the ocean (more than 360 million square kilometers), that translates into an enormous global energy imbalance. It means that while the atmosphere has been spared from the full extent of global warming for now, heat already stored in the ocean will eventually be released. That release of ocean heat would commit Earth to at least some additional warming in the future once greenhouse gas emissions stop.

Secondly, the melting of glaciers and continental ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica will contribute significant additional water to the worlds oceans. It is estimated that if all this ice melts, global average sea level would rise about 6070 meters (200230 feet), a distinct possibility if global warming continues. This has potentially severe consequences, not only for the permanent inundation of major coastal urban areas around the world, but even more when combined with enhanced storm surges during increasingly powerful hurricanes or typhoons, also the result of global warming.

The bottom line is that unless drastic measures are undertaken to rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and thus slow and eventually stop global warming, the fate of human civilization is bleak. The resources that are now squandered on filling the pockets of the super-rich and financing war and dictatorship could instead fund the technological measures to accomplish the changes necessary to significantly reduce the emission of greenhouse gasses. However, as bitter experience has already shown, the corporate and financial oligarchy will do whatever is necessary to protect its interests regardless of the consequences.

Only the united struggle of the world working class to put an end to capitalism and institute a socialist society across the globe can avert otherwise inevitable disaster.
As part of the campaign initiated by the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI) and the World Socialist Web Site (WSWS) against the imperialist war being waged by the United States and Israel against Iran, the Socialist Equality Party (SEP) and the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) in Sri Lanka have held several discussions with workers and students.

The SEP and IYSSE will hold a public meeting titled Stop US-Israel war against Iran on March 17 at Colombo Public Library Auditorium.

Campaign in Ratmalana

SEP/IYSSE campaigners explained the flagrantly illegal character of the attack on Iran, the catastrophic situation developing in the Middle East, and the tasks facing the working class and youth in ending the war, which threatens to escalate into a world war. They distributed Sinhala and Tamil copies of the statement by WSWS chair David North, Oppose the US Imperialist War Against Iran!

Workers and students participated in the discussions with considerable interest.

Sameera, a young worker who met SEP/IYSSE members near the Ratmalana railway yard, in the south of Colombo, said he was completely opposed to the war.

It is very clear that the aim is to plunder the oil resources of Iran and other Middle Eastern countries, he said. What President Trump saysthat this war is being waged to bring democracy to the Iranian peopleis an outright lie.

Commenting on the brutal repression by the Trump administration against immigrants and workers in the US itself, Sameera responded: No one will believe that a ruler who tramples on the democratic rights of people in his own country is waging a war to defend democratic rights in another country.

He spoke angrily about the bombing of public infrastructure, including schools and medical centres, and especially the killing of schoolchildren.

Turning to the broader implications of the war, he pointed to its impact on Sri Lankas economy.

If you look at Sri Lanka, most garments are exported to the US. Tea is mainly exported to Iran. These are the countrys main export products. If the war continues it will directly affect Sri Lankas economy. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz will be a major factor driving up oil prices. As you say, if the war continues there is a strong possibility that Russia and China will become involved. There is a real danger of a nuclear world war.

Sameera also noted that the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna/National Peoples Power (JVP/NPP) government of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has not even condemned the US-Israeli war against Iran. Despite claiming to be neutral, in practice it is pursuing a policy aligned with the US, he said.

Sameera asked what could be done to stop the war. In response, SEP/IYSSE members explained that a global anti-war movement had to be built through the independent mobilisation of the working class against capitalism, in the US and internationally, based on a socialist and internationalist program. Sameera said he would attend the public meeting on March 17 to discuss these issues further.

Bimsara, an engineering student at the University of Moratuwa, said: I completely oppose the attack on Iran by the US and Israel. If President Trump wants to take over countries like Venezuela, or assassinate the leaders of Iran, he will do it without respecting any law.

Campaigners explained that the attack on Iran is not merely the product of the will of one individual but serves the interests of the financial oligarchy, and that the working class would be forced to pay for it through attacks on living standards and democratic rights.

Three students at the University of Moratuwa strongly condemned the US submarine attack which sunk the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena while it was returning from a naval exhibition organised by India. The attack killed more than 100 sailors.

However, the students praised the actions of the Sri Lankan government in deploying the navy to rescue 34 sailors from the vessel and allowing more than 200 sailors from another Iranian ship to stay in Sri Lanka.

Citing the WSWS article US memo exposes Sri Lankan humanitarian posturing over Iranian sailors rescue, SEP/IYSSE members explained that the Dissanayake government functioned as a compliant intermediary for the diplomatic and strategic objectives of the US and Israel as dictated by their diplomatic envoys.

The discussion turned to the hardships confronting workers and oppressed people. Since the outbreak of the Middle East war, the price of oil has surged within less than two weeks to levels exceeding those of 2022, and further increases are expected, one of the students said.

A non-academic worker at a Colombo school commented:

Trumps claim that Iran is being attacked because it supports terrorism is a lie. Just like the lie that Iran was producing nuclear weapons. After the US and Israel bombed several nuclear sites in Iran in 2025, Trump claimed that Irans nuclear weapons program had been destroyed. Yet he again justified the February 28, 2026 attack by claiming that Irans nuclear weapons posed a threat to the US and Middle Eastern countries.

Alton estate workers at the discussion on Iran war

Meanwhile, members of the Plantation Workers Action Committee (PWAC) at Alton Estate in Maskeliya, in the central plantation district Nuwaraeliya, met on March 8 to discuss the war. The PWAC was formed in 2021 during a bitter struggle in which dozens of workers at the estate were suspended and arrested after they protested to demand a living wage and improved working conditions.

The meeting unanimously endorsed the statement Oppose the US Imperialist War Against Iran! and participants emphasized the urgent need for workers and youth to mobilize against the imperialist war.

K. Kandeepan, President of the PWAC and political committee member of the SEP, explained how the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI) and the SEP had predicted the unfolding imperialist aggression more than a decade in advance.

K Kandeepan

He quoted from the Historical and International Foundations of the SEP (Sri Lanka) published in 2011: The rise of China, and to a lesser extent India, over the past two decades has dramatically shifted the centre of gravity of world politics towards Asia. China has risen from the worlds 10th largest economy in 1990 to overtake Japan in 2010 and become the second largest after the US. ...

. . . Every corner of Asia, including Sri Lanka, is caught up in this rivalry that is leading inexorably to a catastrophic conflict. Unlike the first two world wars that focussed on the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, a new conflagration is likely to be centred in the Indian Ocean.

One worker, Devi, said: The war must be stopped. War can cause us huge problems. Workers like us live in other countries. It is the workers who are dying the most due to war.

Another, Selvakumari, said: Workers in Sri Lanka have also gone to work abroad. If war breaks out, their living conditions will worsen.

Devasakhayam said: I agree that if there is no socialist revolution in the coming period, a catastrophe will threaten the culture of humanity. Capitalism will never go to peace. They are not going to give up arms production. Capitalism needs war. Therefore, the war cannot be stopped without overthrowing capitalism. If it is to be overthrown, I also agree that an international socialist program is necessary. As you mentioned, we must build action committees in all the plantations, cities and hospitals and workplaces. We must also develop an anti-war movement.

At the conclusion of the meeting, all participants pledged to join the meeting on March 17, and several took Tamil-language copies of the statement to share with their colleagues.
A worker heads into the JBS meatpacking plant in Greeley, Colorado, October 12, 2020. [AP Photo/David Zalubowski]

On Monday, 3,800 workers are set to strike at the JBS beef processing plant in Greeley, Colorado. The walkout would be the largest strike in the US meatpacking industry since the bitter 19851986 Hormel strike.

The strike is another sign of the rising class struggle in the United States. The year began with lengthy strikes by tens of thousands of nurses in New York City and on the West Coast. Educators in San Francisco have also carried out strike action, with educators in Los Angeles and other major districts voting to authorize strikes. The Greeley strike would also be the first major strike to begin since the start of the war against Iran, a massively unpopular conflict whose costs are already being imposed on the working class through price increases and austerity.

At the Greeley plant, between 80 and 90 percent of workers are immigrants, with the largest numbers coming from Haiti and Somalia. Fifty-seven different languages are spoken inside the plant, making it a truly international workforce.

The strike is doubly courageous given the rampage by the Trump administration against immigrants. According to the union, unmarked vans were parked outside the venue where the strike vote was held, raising concerns that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was conducting surveillance. An investigation by the Colorado Times Recorder uncovered nine secret detention facilities across the state.

The Trump administration is also attempting to revoke Temporary Protected Status for as many as 500,000 Haitian workers. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, subjected to more than two centuries of imperialist oppression and repeated foreign interventions.

The assault on immigrants by Trump is an expansion of the deportation regime built up under both corporate-controlled parties. The Obama administration set records for deportations during its two terms, while the Biden administration deported 4.6 million people during its four years in office.

It is not uncommon for management to retaliate against workers by tipping off immigration authorities. An infamous raid on poultry plants in Mississippi in 2019 led to 680 arrests, including of workers who had recently won a legal settlement against management over harassment and abuse. More than 350 were deported. One worker was later killed in Mexico while attempting to reunite with his family after deportation.

A recent lawsuit has also accused JBS of human trafficking at Greeley. Haitian workers say they were lured to the United States through TikTok advertisements promising stable jobs and housing. When they arrived, many found themselves crammed into overcrowded conditions, with as many as 11 people to a room and between 40 and 60 workers living in a five-bedroom house without electricity or running water.

Workers across the country, regardless of legal status, race or nationality, have an obligation to support the strike. The same is true for workers internationally. JBS is a Brazilian multinational corporation that operates roughly 250 meatpacking plants in 25 countries, making the struggle of Greeley workers part of a global fight.

Last year, a national contract covering roughly 26,000 JBS workers at 14 facilities across the United States was ratified with the United Food and Commercial Workers union (UFCW). However, the Greeley plant was excluded from that agreement, and workers there have been working under a contract extension since last summer.

The strike by workers at the JBS plant in Greeley is an important development and must be supported by workers everywhere, Will Lehman, a socialist running for president of the United Auto Workers on a platform of abolishing the union bureaucracy, said in a statement issued in response to the strike. These workers are standing up against a giant multinational corporation and against terrible conditions that have been imposed for years.

The ruling class and the politicians want to divide workers by nationality and immigration status. This is a lie. Immigrant workers are not our enemies. They are our brothers and sisters, fighting the same exploitative corporations and facing the same attacks.

I call on autoworkers across the country to support the JBS workers. The UAW bureaucracy, which has lined up with Trump and nationalist policies, tries to claim that foreign workers are our competition. That is a fraud meant to divide us. The principle that must guide workers everywhere is the old and powerful one: an injury to one is an injury to all.

The workers in Greeley have already shown their determination. In 2020, they organized walkouts and sickouts against being forced to work during the COVID-19 pandemic. They were fighting not only JBS management but the first Trump administration, which invoked the Defense Production Act to keep meatpacking plants operating even as workers were getting sick and dying.

Today, with the war against Iran spiraling out of control, similar methods will be used again to force workers to continue producing under dangerous conditions. Workers must prepare to resist these measures.

Workers fight poverty pay, deadly conditions

Workers at the Greeley plant face atrocious conditions. Starting pay is roughly $22 an hour, barely above Colorados state minimum wage of $15.16 and barely half the living wage of $43.30 needed for a Greeley household with two adults and two children, according to MITs Living Wage Calculator.

JBS has responded to workers demands with a provocative wage proposal of just 60 cents in the first year and 30 cents in each of the following two years.

At least six workers at the Greeley plant died of COVID-19 during the first year of the pandemic in 2020. Meatpacking plants became major superspreader sites, particularly in rural areas where they often serve as major employers. According to Food and Environment Reporting Network data, at least 59,000 workers in meatpacking plants were infected and 298 died by the fall of 2021.

Greeley was a center of resistance. Workers organized spontaneous walkouts during the spring and summer of 2020 to protest unsafe conditions. But UFCW Local 7 eventually intervened to instruct workers to remain on the job.

In 2021, another worker at the Greeley plant died after falling into a chemical vat. The conditions evoke the scenes described in Upton Sinclairs novel The Jungle, which exposed the brutal exploitation of immigrant workers in Chicagos meatpacking plants in the early twentieth century.

Other recent deaths underscore the broader crisis. Last summer, a 19-year-old Guatemalan immigrant Brayan Neftali Otoniel Canu Joj died after falling into a meat grinder at a food processing plant in California. Outside the meatpacking industry, two postal workers died at distribution centers late last year, while autoworker Ronald Adams Sr. was killed on the job in a case now the subject of an independent investigation by the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees.

The brutal pace of production is another central issue. Workers report that line speeds have been increased from roughly 390 cattle per hour to between 420 and 440 per hour. Key equipment such as knife sharpeners have reportedly been broken for weeks. The speedup, combined with understaffing, creates extremely dangerous conditions and contributes to cuts, repetitive motion injuries and other ailments that already make meatpacking one of the most injury-prone industries in the United States.

Attempts by UFCW officials to isolate strike

While workers at Greeley are determined to fight, they face an obstacle in the UFCW bureaucracy, which will systematically try to isolate and undermine the strike.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the union assisted corporations and the government in keeping meatpacking plants open even as workers were becoming infected in large numbers. One of the most infamous cases occurred at the Tyson plant in Waterloo, Iowa, where management organized a betting pool among supervisors over how many workers would become infected, even as the union collaborated in keeping the plant operating.

UFCW Local 7 has a long history of isolating struggles by its members. Last year, grocery workers at King Soopers and Safeway in Colorado struck, but the UFCW did everything to keep these struggles from uniting. The union shut down the King Soopers strike in February with a 100-day labor peace agreement that ensured workers would not be on strike at the same time as Safeway workers. Safeway employees eventually struck on their own for three weeks during the summer.

These actions formed part of a nationwide pattern of sabotage. Roughly 100,000 grocery workers had contracts expiring last summer, placing them in an extremely powerful position to fight for major gains after decades of poverty wages and the spread of casual labor. Yet only a handful of workers went on strike at isolated chains in individual states.

In this context, the fact that Greeley workers are outside the national JBS contract creates a serious danger that their struggle will be isolated. This must not be allowed to happen.

The mass protests in Minneapolis against ICE violence shows the broad support for immigrant rights, Will Lehmans statement concluded. But this movement must be grounded in the working class. Workers at other JBS plants, meatpacking workers across the United States and workers in other industries must be prepared to take action in defense of their brothers and sisters in Greeley. If there are signs that raids or other forms of repression are being prepared, workers across the country must respond immediately with mass action.

The key question is the development of rank-and-file committees to expand this struggle. These committees must prepare collective action and ensure that the struggle is expanded, not isolated.

The UFCW bureaucracy plays the same role as the bureaucracy in the UAW and the other unions in undermining our collective power. It has already undermined the position of Greeley workers by keeping them separated from the national JBS contract. Workers must overcome this isolation by uniting from below. Rank-and-file committees can also enforce democratic oversight over negotiations and ensure that any contract ends the strike only after workers win real improvements in wages, safety and conditions.
In Australia, as internationally, the utterly criminal US-led war against Iran has provoked widespread shock and anger. Those sentiments are particularly directed against the Labor government, which has been among the most enthusiastic supporters of the war and is an active participant.

Under those conditions, the condemnations of the war by the Australian Greens have elicited a response. The Greens have denounced Labors participation in the war and have branded it as illegal, something that no other parliamentary party has done.

The political function of the Greens criticisms, however, is to direct opposition back behind the very Labor government and parliamentary establishment that is complicit in the war. The Greens posturing goes hand-in-hand with appeals to Labor to change course based on suggestions that its participation in the war is an unfortunate mistake that could easily be remedied.

The line was set in the very first statement issued by the Greens the day after US President Donald Trump launched his sneak attack on February 28. The Greens condemn these illegal, abhorrent and unilateral attacks, Greens leader Larissa Waters declared.

Waters took note of the fact that Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had immediately declared his governments support for the war, branding this as disgraceful. But in the very next breath, she stated: The Labor government must immediately rule out Australian support for Trump and Netanyahus illegal war. No resources. No intelligence. No more cover.

To use a colloquialism, the horse had well and truly bolted on that front. The Australian military is deeply integrated with the US war machine, the US-Israeli war depends on real-time intelligence relayed from the joint Pine Gap spy base in Central Australia, and the Labor government parrots all of Washingtons lies to justify the war.

Australian Greens Senator David Shoebridge [Photo: X/DavidShoebridge]

In the same statement, Greens Senator David Shoebridge introduced another theme of the partys position on the war. The rapidity with which Labor had supported the war, he stated, proves without a shadow of a doubt that Labor has outsourced Australian foreign policy to Washington.

Waters declared that Australia must be a force for peace and diplomacy across the world. She has said in parliament that we deserve an independent foreign policy. The Greens have linked this to their calls for an end to AUKUS, the militarist pact of the US, the UK and Australia and for an end to the US alliance.

The Greens have not shifted their position even as Australias participation in the war has become more open and direct. They condemned the involvement of Australian personnel in a murderous attack on an unarmed and defenceless Iranian vessel off the coast of Sri Lanka, as well as last weeks announcement by Labor that it is dispatching a warplane, missiles and troops to the Gulf to aid the war against Iran.

But despite these developments, proving that Labor is an active, willing and important participant in the war, the operative call of the Greens, featured on its website, remains: We call on the Albanese Government to: Withdraw support for the US-Israeli war against Iran and clearly condemn the bombing.

In practice, that is to encourage workers and young people to simply plead with the government that is involved in waging the war, not to mount a political struggle against it.

It is the exact same position that the Greens have advanced over the course of more than two years of the genocide in Gaza. While at times noting that Labor is complicit in those historic war crimes, the Greens have insisted that with sufficient pressure, Labor can be compelled to end its backing for the US and Israeli atrocities against the Palestinians.

That argument politically wrecked the mass movement against the genocide, subordinating it to the pro-genocide government. Labor has not shifted to the left, but has shifted further to the right, identifying itself even more openly with the Israeli regime and conducting an ongoing anti-democratic rampage against opposition, including through laws potentially criminalising protests and even anti-Zionist political speech and organisations.

In putting forward the same position in relation to the war on Iran, the Greens make no reference to the experience of the anti-genocide movement. They do not want political lessons to be drawn, as they put forward the same bankrupt protest politics oriented to Labor. And in fact, the Greens make virtually no reference to any antecedent developments.

That is not accidental. The premise of the Greens appeals to Labor is that its support for the war is a policy of the day, unconnected to its record or class character.

However, the record shows that Labor is the preeminent party of imperialist war. It has frequently been brought to power by the ruling class in times of war, including the two world wars of the last century. And it has either directly overseen or backed Australias participation in all the criminal US-led wars in the Middle East, beginning with the 1991 Gulf War against Iraq.

In that context, Labors support for the onslaught against Iran is not a surprise, but the logical continuation of its participation in wars that have spanned almost 40 years, in which American imperialism has sought to offset its protracted economic decline through militarism. The aim is to secure control over the resource-rich and strategic Middle East, as part of a confrontation with Washingtons rivals, above all Russia and China, which is leading to world war.

The related fact that the Greens cover up is that Australia is now and has been since its federation in 1901 an imperialist power, pursuing the interests of its banks and corporations through militarism and war. Shoebridges laments about Australia having outsourced its foreign policy to Washington, and the calls for a more independent foreign policy, cover up Australias imperialist record, presenting it instead as the hapless victim of the US. In reality, the US alliance is the mechanism through which Australia, as a middle-order imperialist power, advances its own predatory interests, particularly in the South Pacific.

The calls for an independent foreign policy reflect the interests, not of workers and young people, but of a minority wing of the Australian capitalist class itself.

This layer is not opposed to militarism or war in the slightest. However, it is fearful of the economic implications of the complete alignment with the US, under conditions where Washington is preparing for war against China, which remains Australias leading trading partner. And it is worried that Australias frontline role in such a war, which has been deepened under the Labor government, will provoke mass opposition from the working class.

In practice, the calls for an independent military build-up amount to an alternative strategy for the aggressive prosecution of Australian imperialist interests. That was demonstrated in the lead-up to last years May federal election. The Greens, which in the past projected a pacifist coloration, issued their first-ever costed military policy, calling for the development of sovereign Australian missile and drone capabilities.

Those offensive weapons would inevitably be used to advance Australian interests in the Pacific. And notwithstanding the Greens condemnations of the US alliance, in the event of a war with China, the weaponry would be integrated into American imperialisms military operations in the Indo-Pacific.

The Greens costed military policy was a signal to the ruling class that it had matured and could be trusted with playing a central role in the oversight of Australias military-intelligence complex. Having denounced the onslaught on Gaza as genocide for months, the Greens dropped the issue in the election campaign. Their entire pitch was to beg for a coalition with Labor, if it failed to achieve a majority of seats as polls at the time suggested. That is, the Greens were ready and willing to join a government that was participating in the genocide and overseeing AUKUS.

The Greens electoral calculations proved mistaken and Labor formed government in its own right. But the Greens have continued to collaborate with Labor. That has been the case even as Labor has joined the war on Iran, with the Greens helping it to pass changes to superannuation taxation, while pointing to the limited and essentially pro-business character of the measure itself. For the Greens, the historic war against Iran, like the genocide, is one issue among many, and is not an obstacle to working with the pro-US, pro-war Labor government.

The pro-imperialist record of the Greens

Just as Labors open support for the war is not an aberration, so too the bogus posturing of the Greens is rooted in its class character. Notwithstanding its occasional left rhetoric, the Greens is a capitalist party, committed to the parliamentary order and to the defence of capitalism and Australian imperialism. The Greens record on war has been either to divert opposition back behind the political establishment, or to openly support imperialist operations.

The Greens denounced the 2003 invasion of Iraq and Australias participation. But as with their current calls for an independent foreign policy, their opposition was largely from the standpoint that the Australian military should focus its operations in the Indo-Pacific to secure our interests, i.e., those of Australian imperialism. At the same time, the Greens repeatedly lent support to the brutal neo-colonial occupation of Afghanistan.

This more open support of imperialist intervention became even more pronounced in the 2010s. In 2011, the Greens were the most frothing supporters of a US-led regime-change operation targeting the Libyan government of President Muammar Gaddafi. The Greens outflanked the then Labor government from the right, being the first Australian parliamentary party to demand that NATO impose a no-fly zone, meaning a direct US bombardment of Libya.

That operation having laid waste to Libya, the Greens then backed a similar US-led operation targeting Syria. They hailed the CIA-funded Islamist rebels, and again condemned the Australian government for not doing enough to aid the war effort, including with the imposition of sanctions.

More recently, the Greens have been the most vociferous supporters of the US-NATO proxy war against Russia in Ukraine. They have depicted the war as an effort to defend democracy and human rights in Ukraine, covering over the reality that the conflict was deliberately provoked by Washington and has been used by it to try and inflict a decisive defeat on Russia.

The Greens support for that war is particularly significant, because it is a graphic demonstration of where all the imperialist operations of the past 40 years are leading. Contrary to the Greens depiction of the wars in the Middle East and elsewhere as essentially disconnected episodes, they are components of a single US-led drive to reestablish its imperialist hegemony, the trajectory of which is to a world war with Russia and China.

By supporting the war against Russia in Ukraine, the Greens have demonstrated that whatever their tactical criticisms, they are on board.

That has also found expression in the Greens support for imperialist provocations against Iran. In 2022, for instance, the Greens issued a statement in response to an Iranian government crackdown on demonstrations, demanding that the Australian government uphold human rights in Iran.

It called upon the Labor government to impose sanctions on Iranian government and business figures, similar to those that have targeted Russia. And it demanded that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, a key component of the state apparatus, be listed as a terrorist organisation, a step the Labor government eventually took last year.

The statement was framed from the standpoint of opposition to the repression of the Iranian regime. But the call for the same Western powers who have laid waste to the Middle East to oppose such repression is staggering hypocrisy and an exercise in imperialist propaganda.

Socialists oppose the Iranian regime from the standpoint of building a socialist movement of the Iranian working class against it. Such opposition is inseparable from complete and intransigent opposition to all imperialist provocations and measures against a historically-oppressed country, which have nothing to do with human rights, but are simply the pretext for predatory operations and war.

The Greens are hostile to a socialist perspective, not only in Iran, but everywhere including in Australia. They are seeking to cover up the reality that the current war and the eruption of imperialist militarism are the expression of a breakdown of the global capitalist system.

The critical task is to build a revolutionary anti-war movement uniting the working class internationally and directing its struggles to the socialist reorganisation of society as the only means of halting the plunge into barbarism. In Australia, that struggle requires not only the most determined political fight against the Labor government, but also against the Greens.
Nine North Texas activists were convicted of material support for terrorism and a list of other offenses last Friday for their alleged roles in a shooting on July 4 of last year. The Department of Justice press release explicitly framed this as a conviction of Antifa, with the title reading Antifa Cell Members Convicted in Prairieland ICE Detention Center Shooting.

The case relates to an incident on July 4, 2025 at the Prairieland ICE detention center in Alvarado, Texas, about 30 miles south of Fort Worth. There was a peaceful protest outside the center in the daytime, but a small group of activists came back late at night with the intention of setting off fireworks, hoping the noise would alert the detainees that they had support on the outside.

Officers with the Department of Homeland Security walk on the sidewalk outside the Eldon B. Mahon U.S. Courthouse during a trial for nine people connected to a 2025 shooting outside an ICE detention facility, in Fort Worth, Texas, Thursday, March 12, 2026. [AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez]

This was not a peaceful protest, but was far from a conspiracy to commit murder or terrorism. Messages between the activists released during the trial showed plans for slashing police tires, firing fireworks at the detention center and engaging in other acts of vandalism, which they in fact did. The activists brought guns and a bulletproof vest, which are legal to own and purchase in Texas and most US states, but left all but one weapon in a van they used to carpool. The defendants clearly ascribed to some form of anarchist political viewpoint.

Most of the protesters had left when two guards came out of the detention center and an Alvarado police officer, Lt. Thomas Gross, pulled up in front of the center in his squad car. There was an exchange of gunfire, in the course of which Gross was wounded and Benjamin Song, the protester who fired the shot, fled. He was arrested several weeks later.

Song, 32, was convicted of three counts of attempted murder and three counts of discharging a firearm and faces a sentence of 20 years to life in prison. He served in the Marine Corps Reserves in 2011-2016 and was a Lance Corporal at the time of his other-than-honorable discharge. It is undisputed that Song was the only shooter in the group of protesters.

Along with Song, Cameron Arnold, Savanna Batten, Zachary Evetts, Bradford Morris, Maricela Rueda, Elizabeth Soto and Ines Soto were convicted of Providing Material Support to Terrorists. This support supposedly consisted of the fact that they all wore black clothing to better conceal their identities.

Seven of the eight, excluding Morris, were convicted of Conspiracy to Use and Carry an Explosive, and Using and Carrying an Explosive, during a riot, with the explosive in question being fireworks. The ninth defendant, Daniel Rolando Sanchez Estrada, was convicted on two lesser charges.

The case against the nine defendants was built at least in part on the testimony of seven other activistsNathan Baumann, Joy Gibson, Susan Kent, Rebecca Morgan, Lynette Sharp, Seth Sikes and John Thomaswho pleaded guilty to the charge of Providing Material Support to Terrorists last fall. All 16 defendants face sentencing on June 18.

US Attorney General Pam Bondi hailed the verdict, claiming in a statement, Antifa is a domestic terrorist organization that has been allowed to flourish in Democrat-led citiesnot under President Trump. She went on to threaten, Todays verdict on terrorism charges will not be the last as the Trump administration systematically dismantles Antifa and finally halts their violence on Americas streets.

Every word is false except the threat of more prosecutions. Antifa is not a real organization. At most, it is a nameplate used by individuals who identify as anti-fascist. It has no organizational structure. There is no membership roll, no officers, offices or cells. It has no financial filings, no funds, nor any official or unofficial newspaper. It is no more an actual organization than the Justice League or the Fantastic Five.

This is well known by the government and is precisely the point. This case against a fictional organization is aimed at setting the legal precedent for applying the Antifa moniker against anyone the government chooses to target. Anyone protesting rising living costs, the war in Iran (or anywhere else), or who is on the picket lines could suddenly be labeled Antifa, and subjected to the full force of the state. No evidence is required, and that is by design.

Contradicting the propaganda headline released by the DOJ, all the defendants charged with attempted murder and discharging a firearm were acquitted except for Song, who actually pulled the trigger. The claim of material support for terrorism is doubly false given that Song himself purchased the firearm used in the assault.

This case marks the first attempt to validate the charge of material support for terrorism on a large scale. This required the manufacturing of a conspiracy charge, although some of those convicted had not met Song until the day of the shooting, and there were no plans discussed to shoot anyone, only to conduct a noise demonstration that would reach the ears of the detainees inside the camp.

Anarchism is alien to the standpoint of Marxism and is incapable of and even opposed to mobilizing the working class against capitalism, which is the root cause of the drive towards dictatorship and the interrelated persecution of immigrants. Even in its most violent form, such as that seen in pre-revolutionary Russia, where assassinations of tsarist officialsand even Tsar Alexander IIwere carried out by populist and anarchist groups, such methods were denounced by Lenin as liberalism with bombs.

The reliance on individual acts of violence, or even mere vandalism, exposes those involved to state repression and provocation, since it is easy for police provocateurs to feign willingness to carry out direct action.

In that context, there are unanswered questions as to Songs background. According to a LinkedIn page which appears to be Songs, while in the Marine Reserves, he attended the University of Texas at Austin pursuing an Economics degree. He then attended the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) from 2013-2015 during which he held various leadership roles in student organizations including serving as co-chair and vice president of the College Republicans. He was Sergeant at Arms for the campus chapter of Toastmasters International, which is frequently used by those looking to develop communication skills for political careers.

The Prairieland convictions took place only a week after the start of US imperialisms criminal war on Iran, during which it killed hundreds of schoolchildren at multiple elementary schools. While the SEP opposes the anarchist methods of the activists, their opposition to imperialism and ICE is entirely legitimate. What the government and ruling class are really concerned about is a socialist opposition emerging that mobilizes the working class against both domestic repression and imperialist war.
Amazon delivery drivers say they were locked out of an Oklahoma City warehouse last week during an active tornado warning. Amazon employee Priscilla Maddox captured footage of the moment bosses at the Amazon Flex station turned away drivers seeking shelter after the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for the area on Tuesday.

The incident took place on the evening of March 10 at an Amazon delivery station at 8707 Pole Road, near the interchange of Interstate 35 and Interstate 240. In addition to the doors being locked, multiple Amazon Flex drivers alleged that management ushered them out of the building while sirens blared.

Maddox was due to run her last route of the day when tornado sirens went off, prompting workers to seek shelter inside of the warehouse. A video she uploaded to TikTok shows the warehouse doors being shut and locked as up to 15 drivers tried to get inside. The video showed the bosses pulling the door down as she begged to be let in while tornado sirens blared.

Okay, from my understanding, theyre closing the doors on all these people because their priorities are way better than ours. We dont belong in a safe environment, and we are all out here now, Maddox said in the TikTok.

In another moment, Maddox exclaimed, What is wrong people? I dont get it. You would think theyd be like come in, be safe. No.

Maddox and her boyfriend, Cody Townsend, who is also an Amazon Flex driver, said they were forced to rush home to seek safety from the storm.

I was just completely shocked that they would do that, and I was just looking at everybody and was like look, we got to get to safety guys. Just dont stand here, Maddox told local news. They just disregarded us and disregarded our safety and they just didnt care.

Townsend offered his perspective of the incident to local news station Oklahoma News 4.

Townsend said, Being locked out during a tornado warning was kind of like a big kick in the teeth because you would at least expect to have some human decency.

Another driver that was locked out of the door recounted the indifference with which workers were treated.

I got right to the door, and one of the employees, I just kind of looked him in the face, and I was like, These sirens are going off, my friend. Like, we need shelter, the driver told News 4. And his eyes just got big, and my eyes got big. And he just pointed at the security guard and was like, We do what he says. And I looked at the security guard, and he gave me a stare for a second.

Moments later, the driver said a worker grabbed the door and shut it.

I just turned around and was like, what in the world just happened? the driver said. Like, there is a tornado that can hit at any time, and we are here to fend for ourselves.

I couldnt believe it, another driver said. My first thought after we got back into the car was that, you know, I guess theyre prioritizing their merchandise and their equipment over the lives of their workers.

Fortunately for workers, the storm ultimately veered slightly north, and the tornado dissipated soon after.

God forbid the tornado would have touched down and cars started flipping over and blocking paths to get in and out, one driver said. It would have just been a madhouse.

In an attempt at damage control, Amazon spokesperson Sam Stephenson issued a statement saying, The health and safety of our employees and partners is our highest priority, and we take these matters very seriously. The actions taken here are unacceptable and did not follow our policies and procedures, and weve suspended the employees involved while we investigate the incident. Were reaching out directly to everyone affected to apologize and let them know that were taking steps to ensure nothing like this happens again.

In fact, Amazon possesses a terrible record of safety and hazard violations. Amazon warehouse workers are generally injured at roughly twice the average rate. In 2021, an OSHA analysis determined that Amazons injury rate of 6.5 per 100 employees was 71 percent higher than the rate for all other non-Amazon warehouses with over 1,000 employees. Musculoskeletal disorders are the most common injury, borne from the relentless focus on speed and quotas as high as 600 packages an hour for some roles.

Tuesdays close brush with disaster could have turned out like two previous incidents where Amazons negligence during inclement weather led to the deaths of workers. A fulfillment center in Baltimore collapsed in November 2018 following severe storms, killing two workers. In December 2021, six workers died in Illinois after Amazon kept them on the job overnight as severe tornadoes ripped through the midwest. Management ignored extensive warnings of the danger days in advance of the tragedy, including from the National Weather Service and local news outlets.
A USPS worker leaves his truck after parking in the Canal Street station loading bay in New York City. [AP Photo/ John Minchillo]

As the US-Israeli war against Iran rages on with the support of the European imperialist powers and the United Nations, opposition is building in the working class throughout the United States. Reporters from the World Socialist Web Site have been speaking with different sections of workers to give voice to this widespread anti-war sentiment.

In New York City, a WSWS team recently spoke with postal and UPS workers about the war and its connections to attacks on the working class at home. The perspectiveWar abroad, mass layoffs in the US: The working class must stop the assault on Iranwas distributed, along with an announcement for the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) and Socialist Equality Partys upcoming public meeting in New York, Stop the US-Israeli War Against Iran! on Saturday, March 21, at 6:30 p.m. at The Center (Room 202, 208 West 13th Street, New York, NY).

The perspective begins, While the criminal war against Iran rages in the Middle East, a parallel war is being waged by the American ruling class at home. The United States economy shed 92,000 jobs in February, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Thursday, as the unemployment rate stands at 4.4 percent. This jobs bloodbath includes UPS, which has announced a plan to layoff an additional 30,000 jobs this year after eliminating 48,000 positions last year.

UPS and postal workers were eager to discuss these topics.

A UPS driver of seven years at the 43rd Street hub in Manhattan commented, Their reasons to drag us into another war are BSfighting someone elses wars with our children. And obviously it also plays a part of driving the costs up of daily everyday needs, and more precisely, oil. So it just screws everything up for everybody, even on the other side of the planet in which we are, far from the conflict. I completely disagree with it.

Were hearing now that kids were bombeda school, with 170 children or something. And it turns out that it was us who did that, which is insane. Im not for it whatsoever. Were not at all. We just want to live peaceful lives.

Going in there and bombing the whole thing, I dont think that is a solution. They were probably all lying to us to try to get us into more war. We know it happened in Iraq and Afghanistan decades ago. I think the same thing is happening here and theyre just making up excuses to get in that territory.

Asked if he supports an anti-war movement in the working class, he agreed. I do support a third party, someone independent thats not Republican or Democrat because as you can see over the years, it just doesnt work for any of us. All they do is protect their own special interests. Theyre all covering each others backs when it comes to this sexual abuse case which is rocking all the establishment.

Attacks on the working class in the US and mass layoffs were also discussed, including the elimination of shifts at the UPS 43rd Street hub.

From what I can see, the midnight shift has already been eliminated. The same guys Ive seen when I come into the building, theyre no longer there, and this has been for months already. The clerk position during the twilight shift has completely gone. Im not sure if its going on in other buildings.

Its 100 percent because of automation, the inclusion of AI into our everyday lives to save the company money. Thats what it all comes down to: corporate greed. While were struggling to survive, you know? Its all about money and them keeping as much money as it possible.

All we heard from the Teamsters is big talk. In 2023, they did win us over with precisely that big talk, about the company adding thousands of new workers, which is why we voted for the contract. But I guess you can say two years later, they havent lived up to the expectations or any promises that they said that they would.

Meanwhile, UPS is offering drivers a buyout as part of its recent announcement to cut 30,000 jobs this year. The company came with a second insulting buyout offer$150,000 to say goodbye to this job. The first offer was just a slap in the face. This one is two slaps in the face, which is basically a years worth of work that theyre willing to pay you out. But many of us still have 20 years left to go. So in living in New York City specifically, where the cost of living is crazy high, the rent is crazy high, thats just not going to support us whatsoever. What theyre offering us will only cover the next two years, and many of us have 15, 20 years left.

Another UPS worker commenting on the war stated, Im opposed to it. Ive got a son over there on active duty. I was able to speak with him recently thankfully, and they dont even know what their assignment is. Its crazy.

A postal worker at the Morgan Processing Facility explained, The Iran war didnt need to happen. It was selected. Look at the gas prices now. I dont see any end plan, which means more people are going to die. They are talking about troops on the ground and a draft. That is when they are comparing Trump to Hitler. Iran is not bending down.

He shouldnt be in office. Nobody is stopping him. We dont want this war, but the Democrats are not doing anything. I felt like Mamdani just got in there and could do some good, but I didnt know how he appeared with Trump as Trump launched the war.

One postal worker denounced the role of the United Nations, I dont think the UN vote was fair. It was the US and Israel that started the war. Another worker commented, All the parties and the press are for the war, but we are not. Its criminal and about the production of energy. We need to stop it.

An APWU (American Postal Workers Union) clerk pointed to the colonial model of the war. Its crazy. I am against bombing and killing 170 girls in a girls school. It is not just Trump trying to cover up his Epstein connections. They want the oil and control. America wants to take resources. The working class disagrees. Gas prices will go up. Taxes will go up, and the working class pays. The working class should oppose this.

A young Morgan worker stopped for a discussion on the war and the call for a general strike. I know postal workers want to stop the war. I cant believe they would bomb the girls school. She added, I am so scared of the draft.

The recent death of a postal worker during her shift at Morgan was also raised. I know about Lucy Diaz, who died by herself on the APPS machine. I believe they are starting CPR training now, and they are talking about having a buddy system where no one is alone anymore.

A city letter carrier at Farley Post Office in Manhattan with just over a year on the job strongly condemned the war in Iran. I dont support it, and I dont believe in war. We dont know how many will be killed in this war, but the 1,300 killed in Iran already is more than I expected.

Its a criminal war. The whole purpose Trump is there is for oil. Its what benefits him and his friends. But its for the whole government. If it was just Trump, somebody else would have stopped it. Regardless what side it is, Republicans or Democrats, its the same. I was in support of Mamdani until his friendly appearance with Trump just as the war was started.

Even with the protests, nothing is changing and Trump is still going through with everything. To be honest, I dont see things changing through legal avenues. I say we get rid of all the people at the top by any way necessary. I dont stand for any of these political leaders or representatives because all they care about is self-interest.

I did hear about the calls for a general strike in Minneapolis. Everyone should come together and shut it down. When the working class stops, everything shuts down.

Workers in the New York City area who oppose the US-Israeli war against Iran and the drive toward dictatorship at home should make plans to attend the IYSSEs public meeting on Saturday, March 21, at 6:30 p.m. ET at The Center to discuss what is driving the war, what the next stage of escalation could mean and the socialist political program on which opposition must be based.
Israels top military lawyer has dropped all criminal charges against five Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reservists who brutally assaultedincluding rapinga Palestinian detainee held at the notorious Sde Teiman military detention centre during Israels genocidal war on Gaza.

The only person now facing charges and even a jail sentence relating to the events is Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmithe IDFs previous Military Advocate General who exposed the crime in the first place and initiated the original investigation and indictments. It was Tomer-Yerushalmi who released in August 2024 the infamous video showing the soldiers surrounding and raping a blindfolded Palestinian detainee against a wall for around 15 minutes.

Israeli soldiers gather at the gate to the Sde Teiman military base to protest in support of soldiers being questioned for detainee abuse, July 29, 2024 [AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov]

Investigators are examining allegations against Tomer-Yerushalmi linked to the leak and related actions, such as obstruction or false statements, abuse of office, and disclosure of official information by a public servant. If convicted she could face up to three years in prison.

The case centred on a July 5, 2024 assault by soldiers from the Force 100 unit on a Palestinian detainee from Gaza who was hospitalized with terrible injuries, including severe rectal damagedue to being stabbed in the rectum with a sharp object. Sde Teiman, located in the Negev desert near the Gaza border, has become synonymous with the torture and abuse of Palestinians captured during Israels assault on Gaza.

As the World Socialist Web Site reported, the prisoner had been raped so violently that he had to be transferred to a hospital for treatment for severe injury to his anus, a ruptured bowel, lung damage, and broken ribs that left him unable to walk. The soldiers wore masks as they carried out a war crime, with the view of an overhead camera at the facility deliberately obscured by a group of soldiers holding up riot shields.

The Palestinian victim was never charged with any crime and was later released back to Gaza under an October 2025 ceasefire.

Charges against the soldiers were dismissed on March 12 by Military Advocate General Maj. Gen. Itai Ofir, who claimed preposterously that prosecutors lacked sufficient evidence and cited exceptional circumstances making a fair trial impossible. Ofir included as a reason the fact that the vast majority of the defendants actions are obscured by shields.

He justified the decision by citing the complexity regarding the existing evidence and the release of the detainee back to Gaza, which made it difficult to secure testimony. He referenced claims by the defendants of abuse of process due to the prior leak of security footage, arguing these factors affected the fairness of the trial. Ofir further cited procedural difficulties in transferring investigative materials from the police, which he claimed could harm the defendants right to a fair trial. He concluded that the accumulation of all these exceptional circumstances, and their impact on the fundamental and basic right to a fair trial, requires, in the view of the military advocate general, the cancellation of the indictment.

The decision to drop the case was celebrated by Israels far-right government, which appointed Ofir to oversee the case, replacing Tomer-Yerushalmi. She resigned on October 31, 2025, was arrested two days later, later placed under house arrest and remains under criminal investigation.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus office said, The blood libel known as the Sde Teiman affair against the fighters of Force 100, which smeared Israels reputation around the world in an unprecedented way, has come to an end. Defense Minister Israel Katz declared justice has been done, while National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir insisted IDF soldiers need to have our full support.

Despite overwhelming evidence of their guilt, there was no serious investigation of the soldiers involved. Ten soldiers, according to Haaretz, were initially detained in July 2024, but only five were formally indicted. They were never named, and none were charged with rape.

IDF soldiers and right-wing activists publicly defended the accused, gathering outside Sde Teiman and breaking into military bases in order to obstruct arrests. When it became known that the soldiers had been transferred to Beit Lid base for questioning, 1,200 rioters gathered outside, accusing soldiers serving there of being traitors. Dozens broke into the base before being dispersed by police, who made no arrests.

Among the demonstrators were armed and masked soldiers, some wearing the Force 100 logo of the unit re-established at the start of the war and tasked with guarding Gazan detainees at Sde Teiman.

Joining these thugs were several coalition cabinet ministers, including Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu, MK Nissim Vaturi (Likud), and MK Zvi Sukkot (Religious Zionism). No indictments were brought against these political actors, highlighting the exceptional protection afforded to perpetrators of abuse and those defending them.

As a result of this campaign, one of the suspects--Meir Ben-Shitrit--was elevated into a media personality, appearing on far-right Channel 14 as a hero of Israel. He gave lengthy interviews on the Fathi and Shai programme, initially appearing with his face concealed before later revealing his identity on mainstream television.

Human rights organisations condemned the cancellation as a license for further atrocities.

The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) accused the military prosecutor of granting soldiers immunity for sexual violence and torture. Executive director Sari Bashi said, Israels military attorney general just gave his soldiers licence to rape, so long as the victim is Palestinian. PCATI highlighted medical evidence and video footage showing the detainees condition, which reflected blood-curdling cruelty inflicted by guards for a long time.

Legal experts underlined the extraordinary nature of the decision. Suhad Bishara of Adalah noted that security footage and medical evidence clearly documented severe sexual and physical abuse.

Erika Guevara Rosas of Amnesty International described the ruling as yet another unconscionable chapter in the Israeli legal systems long-standing history of granting impunity to perpetrators of grave crimes against Palestinians. Amnesty observed that, despite extensive evidence since October 2023, only a single Israeli soldier has been convicted for assaulting a Palestinian detainee.

Evidence of other war crimes at Sde Teimanknown as Israels Guantanamoemerged in October 2025. Palestinian officials in Gaza reported that 135 mutilated bodies returned under the Gaza ceasefire had been held at the military camp. The Guardian reported that many of those killed were blindfolded, with hands tied behind their backs, and some had ropes around their necks.

Blindfolded Palestinian detainees inside the Sde Teiman detention camp in May 2024 [Photo: Obtained by CNN - https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/10/middleeast/israel-sde-teiman-detention-whistleblowers-intl-cmd/index.html]

Other survivors recently released from Israeli detention recounted gang rapes, beatings, and sexual torture, including assaults with objects or trained dogs. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) highlighted that these were part of a policy of collective punishment designed to humiliate Palestinians and inflict maximum psychological and physical harm.

Survivors accounts, documented by PCHR, describe extreme psychological terror, repeated rapes, and injuries severe enough to require hospitalization. Men and women were assaulted with sticks, bottles, and dogs; restrained, blindfolded, and left naked for hours. PCHR stressed that the abuse was not incidental but part and parcel of the ongoing crime of genocide against the Palestinian people in the Strip.

Moreover, detainees face ongoing threats, including coerced confessions and potential execution under new Israeli legal measures. PCHR warned that thousands face death following a draft law approved in November 2025 authorizing the death penalty for Palestinian prisoners. Coerced confessions extracted under torture could render all remaining detainees vulnerable to mass executions.

The cancellation of charges against the Sde Teiman soldiers graphically demonstrates the brutality of the Israeli state and the sickness of the society over which it presides.

When details of the crime first emerged, the WSWS noted, World leaders and the corporate media have largely remained silent about Israels crimes at Sde Teiman, in Gaza and the West Bank because Israel enjoys the support of all the imperialist powers now themselves slashing democratic rights and freedom of speech to suppress all opposition to their domestic and foreign policies.

The same silence has greeted the exoneration of the IDF torturers.
COLOMBO, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has directed ministry secretaries to examine the feasibility of remote work for public and private sector employees to reduce fuel consumption and maintain essential services amid the Middle East conflict, the President's Media Division (PMD) said in a statement on Sunday.

He gave the instructions at a meeting where officials reviewed the needs of key sectors, including health, education, industry, agriculture, and fisheries, with a focus on fuel requirements and service continuity.

Dissanayake urged authorities to stay prepared for possible disruptions, closely monitor developments and coordinate across sectors to ensure an effective response, the PMD said.

The president also instructed officials to improve the digital QR code system, introduced on Sunday to manage fuel distribution, and manage available fuel stocks effectively. A weekly fuel quota was also implemented alongside the QR code system. 
CANBERRA, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Australia will not send navy ships to protect oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, a senior government minister said on Monday.

Australia is well-prepared for the "economic crisis" caused by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and would not be sending a warship to the region, said Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government Catherine King, also a member of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's Cabinet, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) radio.

King said that Australia's fuel stockpile was sitting at 37 days of petrol, 30 days of diesel and 29 days of jet fuel as of Monday after the government reduced minimum stockholding obligations and temporarily amended fuel quality standards to allow higher sulfur levels.

"We're well-prepared here in this country to weather the economic crisis that is occurring as a result of the Middle East," she said.

The federal government on Saturday issued a warning to citizens not to transit through Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Kuwait, Lebanon, Palestine, Qatar, Syria, Yemen and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade had previously issued travel warnings for all of those countries through its Smartraveller service, but said on Saturday that Australian citizens should also avoid transiting through them, even if they do not plan to leave the airport.

It said that the conflict is likely to escalate further and flights could change or stop suddenly. 
KIEV, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the United States has reached out to Ukraine several times regarding the expertise in intercepting Iranian-made Shahed drones, the Ukrinform news agency reported on Sunday.

"We received letters, calls and requests in all military institutions," Zelensky said, adding that Ukraine has responded to each of them.

He also noted that he had discussed Ukraine's expertise in protection against Shahed drones with the leaders of the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Bahrain.

However, in a phone interview with NBC News on Saturday, U.S. President Donald Trump said his personal grudge with Zelensky hasn't abated and snubbed the Ukrainian leader's offer for help with drone tech.

The "last person we need help from is Zelensky," said Trump. 
Alba Baptista and Chris Evans had a big night out at the 2026 Oscars after split rumors.

The couple stepped out on the Oscars red carpet followed by another appearance at the 2026 Vanity Fair Party, proving theyre still going strong.

More from SheKnows

Alba Baptista and Chris Evans at the 98th Annual Oscars held at Dolby Theatre on March 15, 2026 in Hollywood, California.

Baptista and Evans have been plagued with breakup rumors since unfounded allegations on TikTok started that Evan had cheated on Baptista one month after they welcomed a child together. They havent responded to the rumors until now.

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Since their red carpet debut at the 2024 Vanity Fair Oscar Party, they havent made another appearance until the 2026 Oscars, where Evans will be presenting. See the photos of their rare appearance below:

The two couldnt keep their hands off each other and looked so gorgeous on the carpet (with Baptista in a silver Zuhair Murad gown)! Truly, these two are showing the world theyre happier than ever and we love to see it.

RELATED: Insiders Reveal How Chris Evans Feels About Being a Girl Dad After Welcoming Baby With Alba Baptista

The Captain America star and Baptista sparked dating rumors in 2021 after she followed him and his family on Instagram. Their relationship was confirmed a year later in Oct 2022. Theyve kept their relationship quite private until 2023.

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In 2023, Evans and Baptista married in Boston, Massachusetts, in a private ceremony. But Evans actually confirmed at New York Comic Con that they actually had two weddings, one in his hometown and one in Portugal. I got married. It was really, really great. We kinda had two ceremonies. We had one on the East Coast. We did one in Portugal, he said.

Then, in Oct 2025, they became parents to a baby girl reportedly named Alma Grace Baptista Evans!

Click here to see more of our Oscars coverage, including dramatic moments and more.

Before you go, check out these celebrities who are parents of only children.



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Disgraced actor John Alford died in prison on March 13, two months after being jailed for sexually assaulting two teenage girls

Alford, 54, starred in the British kids' series Grange Hill and the firefighter drama London's Burning

He began serving his sentence on Jan. 14

Disgraced actor John Alford died in prison, two months after being jailed for sexually assaulting two teenage girls.

Alford, who starred in the British kids' series Grange Hill and the firefighter drama London's Burning, was found dead at HMP Bure in Norfolk, England, on March 13, a Prison Service spokesman confirmed to the BBC. He was 54.

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"As with all deaths in custody, the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman will investigate," the spokesperson added.

Alford, whose real name was John Shannon, was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison after being found guilty of sexually assaulting the two teenagers, who were 15 and 14, per the BBC.

At his trial at St. Albans Crown Court last year, the jury heard how Alford bought a bottle of vodka for the two girls, which they drank at a friend's house in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, before he sexually assaulted them in April 2022.

John Alford arrives at his trial at St. Albans Crown Court on Aug. 26, 2025

Credit: Jordan Pettitt/PA Images via Getty

During the trial, prosecutor Chris White also told the jury that Alford "was fully aware of the girls' ages, yet he chose to exploit them  giving them alcohol and then committing sexual offences against them," according to the BBC.

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Alford denied the crimes, telling jurors that the allegations were a setup" and that there was no DNA evidence to support the assault claims, per The Guardian.

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.

The disgraced actor was ultimately found guilty on four counts of sexual activity with the 14-year-old girl and charges of sexual assault and assault by penetration relating to the 15-year-old girl.

When the verdict was issued, Alford shouted, "Wrong, I didn't do this!" per the BBC.

John Alford in 'London's Burning' (1993)

Credit: Press Association via AP

He began his prison sentence on Jan. 14, and Recorder Caroline Overton said at the time that his offences had a "significant and ongoing impact" on his victims' lives.

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Alford was previously convicted in 1999 of supplying cocaine and cannabis to an undercover News of the World journalist conducting a sting, per the BBC. He was jailed for nine months that same year, resulting in his firing from London's Burning, an ITV drama that he joined in 1993 for its sixth season.

John Alford in 'London's Burning' on ITV

Credit: ITV/courtesy Everett

Alford began his television career as a child actor in the ITV sitcom Now and Then, before landing a breakout role in Grange Hill in 1985. His other acting credits include The Bill, Casualty and Provoked.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.

Read the original article on People
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle may eventually get pulled into the controversy surrounding ex-Prince Andrew. However, a public relations expert says the couple has so far taken careful steps to avoid that situation. The Sussexes chose not to comment on Andrew during their recent humanitarian visit to Jordan. According to communications specialist Lynn Carratt, this is part of a strategy to stay away from a sensitive issue.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry risk intense scrutiny over Ex-Prince Andrew, says expert

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle traveled to Amman on February 26 as part of humanitarian and health initiatives in the region. During their time in Jordan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex met with organizations supporting medical and humanitarian work. They also visited a refugee camp and the Amman office of World Central Kitchen. The trip formed part of broader efforts linked to the World Health Organization and the couples philanthropic foundation, Archewell Philanthropies.

During the trip, a journalist asked Harry about his uncle, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. Harry declined to talk about the topic during his interview with Channel 4 News. Instead, he kept the conversation focused on the humanitarian work in Jordan and the need for continued international support for aid programs. Observers noted that his decision not to respond stood out, especially because Andrew has been receiving a lot of public attention.

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Lynn Carratt said the decision not to comment likely reflects a conscious effort to avoid stepping into an already volatile public debate, as per GB News. By choosing silence on the Andrew situation, Harry and Meghan are navigating a minefield, she explained.

Because the couple has experienced intense media scrutiny themselves, Carratt said they would likely understand how quickly comments could be amplified or misinterpreted. Their own experiences with intense media scrutiny make commentary a risky business; one offhand remark could be sensationalised or politicised, she added. The PR expert argued that staying silent may help the couple avoid becoming part of a controversy that is already dominating headlines.

The post Ex-Prince Andrew May Drag These 2 Royals Into Intense Scrutiny  Expert appeared first on Reality Tea.
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Theres not a hair out of place on Lisa Rinnas latest look.

The Traitors star arrived at Elton Johns 2026 Oscars party on Sunday wearing a one-of-a-kind Christian Cowan dress adorned with multiple yards of glossy brunette hair extensions  11 pounds worth, to be precise.

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With this project, I wanted to bring hair further into the world of fashion, Cowan tells Page Six Style exclusively. Instead of hair simply finishing the look, it becomes the look.

He worked with Tresemme on the unique design, which combines his signature playful style with products from the brands A-List Collection. (A team of 16 people dedicated 152 hours to the creation, from the sleek bodice to the long train.)

Lisa Rinnas look for the 2026 Elton John AIDS Foundation Oscar Party was fashioned from multiple yards of hair extensions. WireImage

With this project, I wanted to bring hair further into the world of fashion, designer Christian Cowan tells Page Six Style exclusively. Getty Images for Elton John AIDS Foundation

Instead of hair simply finishing the look, it becomes the look, Cowan adds. REUTERS

The dress features 11 pounds of hair. Tressemme

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Just like we would style our hair, the A-List Collection helped to shape the hair into the couture form while maintaining that unmistakable movement, the designer explains, saying he became really fascinated with the texture and movement of hair itself.

Hair can be braided, wrapped, twisted or smoothed, he adds. It behaves almost like fabric when you think about it.

He also used Tresemme products at his New York Fashion Week show this February, with models like Heated Rivalry star Ksenia Daniela Kharlamova completely transforming their tresses with the lines smoothing formulas.

Cowan says hair behaves almost like fabric. Tressemme

All the hair for the look was first styled using Tresemme A-list Collection products. Tressemme

A team of 16 people dedicated 152 hours to the creation. Tressemme

Rinna was perhaps the perfect star to wear Cowans latest look, given she never shies away from a headline-making mane moment  whether shes test-driving a red pixie cut, a blond bouffant or a viral pageboy do.

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Its not the first time a celebrity has worn a hair-covered dress to an Oscars event; Julia Fox channeled Botticellis Birth of Venus at last years Vanity Fair party, wearing a sheer Dilara Fndkoglu design with strategically-placed curls.

With Rinna now joining in on the fun, it remains to be seen whether the trend will take off with more stars  or if itll be hair today, gone tomorrow.
The Gist

Heidi Klum attended the Vanity Fair Oscar Party in a butter yellow Chrome Hearts gown with strategically placed sheer cutouts.

The 52-year-old supermodel paired the striking look with gold jewelry and Paris Texas heels.

Earlier in the evening, she wore another Chrome Hearts ensemble.

Heidi Klum is embracing a bright, spring color palette. On March 15, the 52-year-old German supermodel attended the star-studded Vanity Fair Oscar After-Party in a striking butter yellow Chrome Hearts gown featuring strategically placed sheer cutouts. The transparent fabric revealed glimpses of Klum's chest and legs, and was embroidered with delicate paisley-like detailing. The floor-length gown also featured a low-cut open back.

Heidi Klum at the 2026 Vanity Fair Oscar Party.

Credit: Getty Images

Klum kept her makeup minimal, wearing a smoky eye, a nude lip, and a hint of bronzer on her cheeks. She styled her ombre brown-and-blonde hair in a deep side part and wore a soft blush polish on her nails. The intricate gown did all the talking, and her accessories were subtle. She wore a chunky gold bracelet and a collection of gold rings. Klum capped off the look with a pair of gold mirrored leather mules by Paris Texas.

Heidi Klum at the 2026 Vanity Fair Oscar Party.

Credit: Getty Images

Earlier in the evening, Klum stunned in another Chrome Hearts look at the Oscars ceremony. She walked the red carpet in a nude strapless corset gown covered in intricate pearls. She also wore nude Paris Texas heels, and her jewelry included pearl necklaces, a cross pendant, and a collection of rings. She changed her hair and styled it with a middle part, but kept her glam simple.

Heidi Klum at the Oscars.

Credit: Getty Images

Though this was Klum's first time back at the Academy Awards since 2016, where she wore a purple Versace gown accented with 3D florals and tulle, she's become a regular at the Vanity Fair after-party. For last year's festivities, she donned a white gown with a plunging neckline and a thigh-high slit that resembled Marilyn Monroes ensemble in The Seven Year Itch. The look also featured white feather detailing, and Klum wowed in rhinestone heels.

Read the original article on InStyle
Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Kyle Richards is opening up about Robert Cosby Jr.s incredibly moving memorial service. During a new interview, the veteran reality star revealed why she chose to attend the 23-year-olds homegoing in Salt Lake City following his unfortunate death.

Kyle Richards Opens Up About Robert Cosby Jr.s Incredibly Moving Memorial Service

Bravo | Rich Polk

Speaking with PEOPLE, Richards shared that she chose to attend the memorial service in Utah to support Mary Cosby. I dont know her well, but shes somebody whos always been kind when I have met her, and as a mother and a fellow Housewife, I just felt I needed to be there and show up and support her, she said.

Richards went on to say that the service was so incredibly moving, adding that shed never experienced something like that before.

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According to Richards, attending the religious event left her with a profound sense of gratitude. Im so grateful that I had the opportunity to be there and support her and experience something like that. Like I said, I will never forget that day ever in my life, she said.

Kyle Richards Says She And Mary Cosby Are Texting Back And Forth Following Her Sons Homegoing

Bravo | Trae Patton

While Richards and Mary arent incredibly close, the two Bravo stars have been in communication since Roberts memorial service. Richards shared that the pair had been texting back and forth and later explained how appreciative she was that the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star even invited her.

I appreciated her having me there because I just, like I said, I was so touched by it, Richards said. I just cant imagine what shes going through.

According to a previous report from The Blast, Robert passed away in February 2026 after Utah police responded to a call of a potential overdose.

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Mary confirmed Roberts death in a social media post of her own, writing, Our beloved son Robert Jr. has been called home to the Lord.

She added, Though our hearts ache, we take comfort in Gods promise and in knowing he is finally at peace. We are grateful for your prayers and trust in the Lord to carry us through this time of sorrow.

Kyle Richards Wasnt The Only Real Housewives Star In Attendance

MEGA

Real Housewives figurehead Andy Cohen revealed on his radio show, Andy Cohen Live, that while he wasnt able to attend Roberts memorial service, several of the franchises marquee players did.

In addition to Richards, Cohen shouted out Real Housewives of Atlanta stars Cynthia Bailey and Sheree Whitfield, as well as Marys Real Housewives of Salt Lake City peers, Heather Gay, Lisa Barlow, Meredith Marks, Bronwyn Newport, Whitney Rose, Angie Katsanevas, and Britani Bateman.

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I love it that they went, Cohen shared. I think that is so kind. [Whitfield, Bailey, and Richards] are real ones, those three.

Cohen also dished on the service, revealing that he heard it was so uplifting and so moving and absolutely, kind of, rapturous. He continued, And Mary was on one, I mean, in a spiritual way. She was spiritually on one, let me say that.

Marys Son Remembered For His Faith Following His Death

Bravo | Todd Williamson

Roberts death came as a surprise to many, considering he spoke with his mother during RHOSLC season 6 about his addiction struggles and shared that he believed he was making progress.

In an online obituary, Robert was remembered as a bright, loving, and gifted young man whose compassion and gentle spirit touched everyone he met, according to The Blast.

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Robert loved his parents with a fierce and unwavering devotion, and his mother was his closest confidante, the obituary continued. His first and greatest love, however, was for God. Baptized in Jesus Name and filled with the Holy Ghost, he was cherished as the First Son of the Faith Temple Pentecostal Churches.

Bailey Recalled Being Paralyzed By The News Of Roberts Passing

MEGA

During an episode of her Humble Brag podcast, Bailey recalled being paralyzed by the news of Roberts passing. Elsewhere in the episode, the RHOA alum shared how she believed Mary was processing her tragic loss.

I think theres levels, theres shock, theres just processing the reality of the situation, Bailey shared. I know Im doing a horrible job of trying to explain this to you guys, but I just dont know any other way to do it. I just wanted to recognize that we are all supporting Mary Cosby and her family. This was a huge hit for the Bravo universe. Shes such a big part of it.

The Kyle Richards So Grateful She Could Attend Robert Cosby Jr.s Moving Memorial Service first appeared on The Blast
The Gist

Leonardo Dicaprio was first linked to Italian model Vittoria Ceretti in 2023.

The couple made their Met Gala debut in 2025.

Ceretti has walked in over 400 fashion shows and was previously married to Italian-American DJ Matteo Milleri, who goes by the moniker Anyma.

Leonardo Dicaprio is going strong with his girlfriend Vittoria Ceretti nearly three years after the duo were first spotted together in Santa Barbara. After years of keeping a relatively low profile, the pair made their Oscars debut at the 2026 show, sitting side by side. The One Battle After Another actor and the Italian model have been romantically linked since August 2023 and have a 24-year age gap.

"She is very cute, sweet and charming," a source told People of the 27-year-old. "Leo seems to really like her."

Leonardo DiCaprio and Vittoria Ceretti at the 2025 Summer Gala by Gala One Saint-Tropez.

Credit: Getty Images

As for Ceretti, the runway modelwho has walked in over 400 fashion showsalso has positive things to say about their relationship. Ceretti is no stranger to the spotlight and, on that note, just so happens to be friends with DiCaprio's ex-girlfriend Gigi Hadid. (For the record, Hadid is "not concerned" that they're dating, according to a source who spoke to US Weekly.)

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"If what you're experiencing is real, if you know you love each other, then there's no reason to be alarmed," Ceretti told Vogue France. "Because love protects and gives confidence."

Ahead, everything you should know about Leonardo DiCaprio's latest love Vittoria Ceretti, her previous relationship with DJ Matteo Milleri, and why she doesn't really want to be known as "the girlfriend of" anyone.

Leonardo DiCaprio and Vittoria Ceretti have been romantically linked since 2023.

News of the DiCaprio and Ceretti's budding romance broke thanks to Page Six, which published photos of the duo out and about in Santa Barbara enjoying some iced coffees and ice cream in August 2023. Later that same month, they were spotted dancing at a nightclub in Ibiza. They were also photographed while on vacation in Italy the following summer with fellow A-lister Tobey Maguire.

"She is very cute, sweet and charming," a source told People at the time. "Leo seems to really like her."

They made their joint Met Gala debut in 2025.

Vittoria Ceretti at the 2025 Met Gala.

Credit: Getty Images

Dicaprio and Ceretti entered the Metropolitan Museum of Art for the first time together on May 5, 2025. The pair's only photograph together later appeared in Vogue. Ceretti wore a pinstripe mini dress courtesy of Moncler x EE72 while the Don't Look Up actor kept things simple in a black tux.



They attended Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez Bezos's wedding together.

One month after walking the steps of the Met, Dicaprio and Ceretti jetted off to Venice, Italy to witness Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez Bezos say "I do." The $50 million wedding was a star-studded affair with the likes of Kim Kardashian, Kylie Jenner, and Sydney Sweeney in attendance.

She's been on the cover of Vogue 24 times.

Vittoria Ceretti walking for Chloe during Paris Fashion Week in March 2026.

Credit: Getty Images

Ceretti's modeling career has been defined by success after success. After being discovered in 2012 through a contest called Elite Model Look, the native Italian went on to walk in 400 fashion shows and counting (she is, after all, only 27). Ceretti has also appeared on Vogue covers around the world a whopping total of 24 times, including American Vogue's iconic 125th anniversary edition in March 2017.



She was previously married to Italian-American DJ Matteo Milleri.

Matteo Milleri and Vittoria Ceretti in Ibiza in 2022.

Credit: Vittoria Ceretti/Instagram

Ceretti reportedly met DJ Matteo Milleri, who goes by the moniker Anyma, through mutual friends. The couple tied the knot in June 2020 in Ibiza before announcing their separation three years later. Milleri has since begun dating Grimes, who was previously coupled up with Elon Musk.

She doesn't want to be known as "the girlfriend of" anyone.

Perhaps it will come as no surprise that after establishing her own career on her own terms, Ceretti has little interest in becoming an accessory to someone else's fameincluding DiCaprio's.

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As soon as youre in a relationship with someone who has a larger following than you, you become girlfriend ofor boyfriend of, for that matter. And that can be extremely annoying," she told Vogue France. "Suddenly, people are talking about you as so-and-sos girlfriend who was so-and-sos ex. So its not nice to think that you cant love whoever you want, because of the labels people need to stick on you."



She was close friends with Karl Lagerfeld.

Vittoria Ceretti at the 2023 Met Gala.

Credit: Getty Images

Following the designer's death in 2019, Ceretti penned a tribute to Lagerfeld for the 2023 Met Gala, which was hosted in his honor. (The theme of the evening was "Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty.") Ceretti wore a dress from the first Balenciaga Couture collection designed by Demna Gvasalia.

"Dear Karl, Ceretti wrote. Ive been spending the past 4 years thinking about you nearly everyday. I remember the sound of your voice like you were speaking to me yesterday or the way you pronounced my name with your French accent. The feeling of your leather gloves while youd hold my hand proudly, looking at the computer screen to see the pictures we had just shot together. She continued, You gave me so much. I will be grateful for you forever!

Read the original article on InStyle
WASHINGTON  This feud is getting nuts.

The conservative-podcast wars took an even nastier turn over the weekend when pundit Megyn Kelly fired a below-the-belt comeback at radio host Mark Levin for calling her evil and diabolical.

Kelly had first shared an X post from lefty Drop Site News co-founder Ryan Grim that noted the terror suspect behind last weeks synagogue bombing in Michigan lost his nephew and niece in a recent Israeli strike.

Im sorry you have a micro penis @marklevinshow but dont drag the rest of us into your drama https://t.co/YmsSBGXvqM  Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) March 15, 2026

Megyn Kellys frustrations with radio host Mark Levin reach a boiling point over the weekend. Getty Images

Levin delivers his own nasty comments at Kelly during their ramped-up feud. FOX NEWS

Levin called Kelly evil and diabolical for even sharing Grims post.

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Kelly retorted on X to Levin, Im sorry you have a micro penis but dont drag the rest of us into your drama.

Levin and Kelly had been sniping at each other for months in an increasingly toxic spat largely fueled by a larger rift among conservative podcasters over Israel, Iran, Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens.

Micropenis Mark @marklevinshow thinks he has the monopoly on lewd. He tweets about me obsessively in the crudest, nastiest terms possible. Literally more than some stalkers Ive had arrested. He doesnt like it when women like me fight back. Bc of his micropenis. https://t.co/7cl3Efc3N7  Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) March 15, 2026

Kelly has been a critic of the US and Israeli war in Iran and refused pressure to denounce likeminded conservative pal Carlson or Owens.

Levin has meanwhile been a staunch supporter of Israel and raged against Carlson and Owens.

Poor Megyn Kelly. An emotionally unhinged, lewd, and petulant wreck, Levin wrote Sunday. Shes completely revealed and destroyed herself.

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Shes everything people say she is, but much worse. Never an intelligent, thoughtful, or substantive comment. Utterly toxic.

Ben Shapiro has pushed the conservative movement to have clearer ideological borders. Stephen Yang

Levin currently has a show on Fox News, and Kelly also used to be a primetime anchor at the cable news giant before she publicly clashed with then-President-elect Donald Trump, among other things, and left for NBC.

The Megyn Kelly Show podcaster re-upped her lewd jab at Levin on Sunday and compared him to stalkers shes dealt with in the past, suggesting he was even worse.

Micropenis Mark thinks he has the monopoly on lewd, she wrote on X.

He tweets about me obsessively in the crudest, nastiest terms possible. Literally more than some stalkers Ive had arrested. He doesnt like it when women like me fight back. Bc of his micropenis.

Tucker Carlson claims he could get charged over his texts to Iranian officials. YouTube/Tucker Carlson

For a time, Kelly had tried to stay somewhat neutral in the conservative-podcast wars, maintaining a friendship both with Carlson and podcaster Ben Shapiro, who has largely been aligned with Levin.

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Then late last year, Shapiro, who has been beefing with Carlson, called her out by name during TurningPointUSAs America Fest for not denouncing Owens, who has been spewing baseless conspiracy theories about Erika Kirk being involved with her late husbands murder.

Carlson also has become infamous for his controversial softball interview with white supremacist troll Nick Fuentes last year.

If they come for Tucker, we ride at dawn.

Really nothing else to say here.



Were not doing the gulags 2.0 with these Bolshevik descendants. https://t.co/Q90F0k3osu  Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) March 15, 2026

But Kelly declared that she would rather die than cave to the pressure from the Levin and Shapiro flank.

She and others have accused Shapiro of directing broadsides at them because of their skepticism about Israels actions.

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Shapiro has contended his beef with Kelly primarily comes from her refusal to denounce Owens for spreading bogus claims about Erika being involved with her husbands assassination.

The war in Iran has poured fuel on the rhetorical scrum in the conservative podcast sphere. Further bickering took place on all sides over the weekend when Carlson claimed that the CIA read his text messages with Iranian officials and fretted that he could face foreign agent charges.

If they come for Tucker, we ride at dawn. Really nothing else to say here. Were not doing the gulags 2.0 with these Bolshevik descendants, Owens declared.
Megyn Kelly has christened Fox News host Mark Levin with a crude new nickname as their feud over President Donald Trumps war in Iran boils over.

The right-wing firebrands have dug into opposing trenches in the growing MAGA civil war over the conflict in the Middle East, with Kelly, 55, blasting the U.S.-Israeli strikes while Levin, 68, cheers them on.

Levin drew first blood in their latest skirmish Sunday morning, calling Kelly an emotionally unhinged, lewd, and petulant wreck.

Kelly, unlike the staunchly pro-Israel Levin, joined MAGA figures like former Fox host Tucker Carlson, exGOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, and commentator Matt Walsh in slamming Trump's war with Iran. / Mark Levin/X

Shes completely revealed and destroyed herself, the host of Foxs Life, Liberty & Levin wrote on X. Shes everything people say she is, but much worse. Never an intelligent, thoughtful, or substantive comment. Utterly toxic.

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Kelly returned fire less than an hour later, suggesting Levins bluster might be overcompensating for a lack elsewhere.

Levin had egged Trump on to bomb Iran since before the start of the war, aligning himself with MAGA figures like Sen. Lindsey Graham and Ben Shapiro. / Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

Micropenis Mark @marklevinshow thinks he has the monopoly on lewd, the former Fox host wrote. He tweets about me obsessively in the crudest, nastiest terms possible. Literally more than some stalkers Ive had arrested. He doesnt like it when women like me fight back.

Bc of his micropenis, Kelly, who is Catholic, added for good measure. By the afternoon, the post had racked up more than 2.3 million views on X.

Kelly aimed low after Levin fired the first shot in their latest skirmish on X. / Megyn Kelly/X

In true MAGA fashion, Levin responded by throwing gasoline on the fire.

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Busy Sunday morning for Megyn Kelly. She wakes up and has micrope*is on her mind. Suffice to say, if it talks like a harlot, and posts like a harlot, its  well, you know the rest. Shalom! wrote Levin, who is Jewish.

Levin, a staunch proIsrael hawk, had egged Trump on to bomb Iran since before the start of the war, aligning himself with MAGA figures like Sen. Lindsey Graham and Ben Shapiro.

Levin responded to Kelly's below the belt jab with a verbal broadside of his own. / Mark Levin/X

Kelly, meanwhile, has been sharply critical of Israel, joining MAGA figures like former Fox host Tucker Carlson, exGOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, and commentator Matt Walsh in breaking with Trump, who attacked Iran more than two weeks ago.

The rift within Trumps America First movement has deepened as the conflict claimed six more U.S. service members on Thursday, bringing the total number of U.S. military casualties to 13, and as Trump, once a staunch antiinterventionist, has failed to lay out a clear exit strategy.

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Kellys micropenis rant was called out by MAGA commentator Jon Root, who commented, You just proved his point that you are emotionally unhinged, lewd, and childish with this response

Kelly replied, Walk me through it Jon - how many times should I allow him to attack me in the nastiest, most personal and vile ways possible and say nothing? Did you condemn him for the multiple personal attacks on me? Show me. Ill wait.

The Daily Beast has reached out to Fox News and Kellys publicist for comment.
NEED TO KNOW

Melissa Rivers and Steve Mitchel married in 2025 in Jackson Hole, Wyoming

The couple celebrated their first wedding anniversary on March 15

Rivers and Mitchel both marked the occasion in sweet posts on Instagram

Melissa Rivers is celebrating one year of marriage.

The daughter of the late comedian Joan Rivers married Steve Mitchel last year at the Four Seasons in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. To mark their first wedding anniversary on Sunday, March 15, the couple shared sweet tributes to each other alongside photos from their big day on Instagram.

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"One year ago today I said I do," Melissa, 58, captioned a photo of herself kissing Mitchel as they sliced into their three-tier wedding cake. "I do, to a new love, a new adventure and I am so lucky to have met and married an incredible man. And dont get me wrong, he is even luckier."

Melissa Rivers and Steve Mitchel on their wedding day in 2025

Credit: Melissa Rivers//Instagram

Melissa was previously married to John Endicott between 1998 and 2003, and they share son Edgar "Cooper" Endicott, 25.

She playfully added, "My mother was right, second wives definitely have it better."

Melissa shared a second close-up photo of the wedding cake, which was decorated with pink flowers and flavored chocolate. The cake was specially sourced from the HF Bar Ranch in Saddlestring, Wyoming, where Melissa used to spend time as a child with her mom.

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In his own post, Mitchel wrote, "Happy Anniversary my love. I am truly a blessed man." He shared a photo of the pair lovingly gazing into each other's eyes as they slow danced during their reception.

Exclusively speaking to PEOPLE about their nuptials last year, Melissa said they "nailed" their singular goal.

Melissa Rivers and Steve Mitchel on their wedding day in 2025

Credit: Paul Morse | @paulmorseweddings

"When we were planning it, our goal was simple: throw a party and have a wedding ceremony break out somewhere in the middle," she said. "And you know what? We nailed it. People were meeting, laughing, and by the end of the night, strangers were acting like old friends."

Approximately 150 guests attended the wedding, which Melissa raved was absolutely perfect.

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"Who knew almost all of my friends could be on such good behavior all at the same time?" she quipped at the time. "But seriously, the amount of genuine happiness in that room was so overwhelming. Im not one to be cliche and say, Oh, you could feel the warmth and love! But you know what? I actually felt it! And Im so grateful."

Never miss a story  sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Melissa Rivers and Steve Mitchel on their wedding day in 2025

Credit: Paul Morse | @paulmorseweddings

In November 2025, Melissa opened up to PEOPLE about married life.

It's a lot like living together, so it's not a huge transition, but we're adults, she said. I guess there's more of a feeling of permanence."

She continued, That's taken me a minute to get used to because I was always the one looking for the emergency exits, and now I feel like I can't do that.

Read the original article on People
MOSCOW, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday that the fate of the nuclear non-proliferation regime is a source of grave concern amid escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.

In a message to participants of the Moscow Nonproliferation Conference, Lavrov said the recent military actions by Israel and the United States against Iran, including strikes targeting facilities under the safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency, had dealt a serious blow to the authority of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

Such actions have also hurt the credibility of diplomacy as a means of resolving disputes, Lavrov said, adding that some countries may increasingly view nuclear weapons as a guarantee of security.

He stressed the importance of preserving the pact as a key element of global strategic stability and urged all signatories, particularly nuclear-weapon states, to fulfill their obligations.

The foreign minister also noted that the risks of the militarization of outer space are increasing as a result of "destructive actions by the United States and its allies."

The implementation of the U.S. "Golden Dome" missile defense system, which envisions deploying space-based interceptor strike systems by 2028, poses a significant threat to strategic stability, he said. 


"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links."



To celebrate his first-ever Oscar nomination, Michael B. Jordan went all out with his black-tie look for the 98th Academy Awards.

Tonight, the Black Panther star hit the red carpet in a custom, all-black look from Louis Vuitton, styled by Jason Bolden. His suit consisted of a Mandarin-inspired stand-collar jacket with large onyx buttons and a singular silky breast pocket. To match the jacket, Jordan wore a pair of black tuxedo pants, which were accessorized with a silver chain, and he completed the look with patent leather dress shoes and silver jewelry.

Gilbert Flores - Getty Images

Jordan is nominated for Best Actor thanks to his double duty performance as the Smokestack Twins, AKA Elijah and Elias Moore, in the vampire horror flick Sinners. The same performance recently earned him a win at the Actor Awards, as well as nominations for a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, a Critics Choice Award, and a Satellite Award.

Gilbert Flores - Getty Images

Tonight, he is up against Timothee Chalamet for Marty Supreme, Leonardo DiCaprio for One Battle After Another, Ethan Hawke for Blue Moon, and Wagner Moura for The Secret Agent.

Julian Hamilton - Getty Images

Sinners made history earlier this year when it received a record-breaking 16 Oscar nominations, beating out past record-holders like La La Land, Titanic, and All About Eve. In addition to Jordans nod, the movie is up for other major prizes like Best Picture, Best Director (Ryan Coogler), Best Supporting Actor (Delroy Lindo), Best Supporting Actress (Wunmi Mosaku), and Best Original Screenplay (Coogler).



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This is not the first time Jordan has attended the Oscars though. Most recently, he attended the 2023 ceremony in support of his Marvel film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which was nominated for a total of five awards that night, ultimately winning Best Costume Design (Ruth E. Carter).



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The Gist

Princess Diana was given a $5.7 million heirloom choker as a wedding present from Queen Elizabeth when she married Prince Charles in 1981.

The piece was from 1911, originally given to Queen Mary.

In 1985, Queen Elizabeth was reportedly irritated when her daughter-in-law famously wore the choker as a headband during a trip to Australia with Charles.

When Lady Diana Spencer married Prince Charles on July 29, 1981, her mother-in-law Queen Elizabeth gave her a $5.7 million heirloom wedding presentan emerald choker originally given to Queen Mary in 1911.

The piece became a beloved accessory in Dianas collection. Four years after their wedding, Charles and Diana visited Australia in 1985, and the ever fashion forward Diana famously opted to wear the choker as a headbanda decision that Brides reported irritated the Queen.

Princess Diana wearing the emerald choker as a headband

Credit: Getty

But, royal biographer Kitty Kelley reported, Dianas decision to wear the choker as a headband was an unintentional one. As the Princess of Wales attempted to slide the piece over her head as she was rushing to get ready for a gala dinner dance at the Southern Cross Hotel that she and Charles were scheduled to attend, it got stuck. Canadian diplomat Victor Chapman suggested that Diana wear it as a headpiece, which Diana ultimately agreed to do.

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Diana took the necklace and put it over her head rather than wait to have it clasped around her neck, Kelley wrote. She couldnt get it over the bridge of her nose. Vic roared. Leave it there, he said. Its young and fun, like you.

Princess Diana on October 31, 1985

Credit: Getty

Queen Elizabeth, however, was reportedly not impressed. It was a piece that the Queen was very fond of, but which she, in turn, decided to pass on to Diana as a wedding gift, royal commentator Debora Attanasio told Marie Claire Italia. According to sources close to the Queen, having seen what Diana had done with it, Her Majesty became very irritated.

Dianas longtime hairstylist Richard Dalton told People a different version of events about why the princess wore her choker as a headbandapparently she had a sunburn on her neck, he said.

Princess Diana and Prince Charles dancing

Credit: Getty

Princess Diana and Prince Charles on October 31, 1985

Credit: Getty

Irritated though she was, Diana kept the piece in her collection, wearing it many times more, including on the night of her last birthday at the Tate Gallery in London. Diana turned 36 years old on July 1, 1997, and would die as a result of a Paris car accident less than two months later. In his book Its All About the Hair: My Decade with Diana, Princess of Wales, Dalton wrote that Diana had a bit of a sunburn around her neck from being out in the hot Australian sun all day.

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This was a totally spontaneous moment where I thought, What should we do for fun, Dalton wrote. He added, I said to Diana, Lets try something different. Why dont we stick some emeralds in your hair?

Princess Diana and Prince Charles laughing and dancing in Melbourne, Australia

Credit: Getty

Diana absolutely loved it, Dalton continued. The emerald choker, by the way, took my breath away, he wrote, adding, I love that necklace. We caused such a sensation that night.

Kate Middleton and Prince William in Boston on December 2, 2022

Credit: Getty

The choker is valued at approximately $20 million today, according to The Sun, and it came out of the archives in 2022, when Dianas daughter-in-law Kate Middleton wore it to the Earthshot Prize Awards ceremony in Boston alongside Prince William. It was the first time that a royal had worn the piece since Dianas death 25 years prior.

Read the original article on InStyle
Savannah Guthrie is reportedly livid and considering legal actions following claims that falsely labeled her brother-in-law as a suspect in the disappearance of her mom, Nancy Guthrie.

Nancy is yet to be found with the search for her crossing the six-week mark. Reports suggest the authorities recently questioned workers at a Mexican eatery where she filmed a Today segment.

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has also suggested that Savannah Guthries mother was targeted, warning that her abductor may strike again.

Savannah Guthrie Is Livid Over Claims Linking Her Brother-in-law To Her Moms Disappearance

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Savannah is said to be unhappy that her brother-in-law, Tommaso Cionis name, has been dragged through the mud amid her moms disappearance.

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Cioni was one of the last people who saw Nancy after he and his wife, Annie Guthrie, hosted her to dinner the night before she vanished.

Just days after her disappearance, journalist Ashleigh Banfield alleged that he was linked to the whole incident and cited a law enforcement source who claimed he was viewed as a suspect.

However, Savannahs former NBC colleague Megyn Kelly has revealed that the grieving host is livid to hear of the chatter against her brother-in-law and may be taking legal action.

I have not been able to confirm that the Guthrie family wants to sue Ashleigh Banfield, but I have confirmed that Savannah is livid about that report and definitely does not suspect her or her brother-in-law, Kelly said during an episode of SiriusXMs The Megyn Kelly Show late last week, per the New York Post.

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She added, Can you blame her? I mean, of course, she loves her sister, Im sure she loves her brother-in-law, and Im sure she genuinely doesnt believe they had anything to do with it.

Pima Sheriff Officer Cleared Savannah Guthries Family Of Any Wrongdoing

The Pima County Sheriffs Office has since debunked these theories, with the Sheriff boss, Chris Nanos, stressing that Savannah and her relatives have been cleared of any wrongdoing amid investigations into Nancys disappearance.

The family has been nothing but co-operative and gracious and are victims in this case, the Pima County Sheriffs Office said in a statement.

Implying the family is involved is not only wrong, it is cruel, Nanos further stated during a press briefing.

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At the time, he also told NBC News that his office sent out the statement because people had been attacking the innocent.

The Local Sheriff Believes Nancy Guthrie Was Targeted

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No suspect has been arrested so far, but authorities are still working around the clock to ensure that they come up with viable leads and leave no stone unturned.

Reports suggest authorities have received thousands of tips since Savannah announced an increase in the reward money for anyone with information about her moms whereabouts to $1 million.

Meanwhile, Nanos shared his beliefs that Nancy was targeted, while also warning that the abductor could absolutely strike again.

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Criminal minds are criminal minds, he told NBCs Liz Kreutz in a recent interview.

We believe we know why he did this, and we believe that it was targeted, but were not 100% sure of that, Nanos continued, per People Magazine. So itd be silly to tell people, Dont worry about it. Youre not his target. You could be.

The Arizona officer then shared his hopes that the mixed DNA they found would lead them to somebody very soon.

Law Enforcement Searched Mexican Eatery Where Nancy Guthrie Filmed

Instagram | Savannah Guthrie

Authorities have reportedly visited the Mexican restaurant where Nancy filmed her Today segment with Savannah just months before she was kidnapped.

According to NewsNations Brian Entin, federal agents asked the employees there if they recalled seeing anyone suspicious while the mother and daughter were filming.

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In addition to that, Entin claimed workers were also asked if there was anyone who wanted to take pictures or who got angry or who was lingering around in a creepy way.

The Chef At The Mexican Eatery Had Kind Words For Savannah Guthries Mother

MPI28/Capital Pictures / MEGA

After Nancys Today segment resurfaced following her February 1 disappearance, the chef Carlotta Flores had only good things to say about the 84-year-old.

She explained that Savannah Guthrie and her family have been regular customers for years and noted how humble a person Nancy is.

I have absolutely nothing to say but wonderful things about their family. If you think about your grandmother, thats the way [Nancy] is, Flores said, per reports. Shes a humble, proud mom who only wants good things for her family. She is proud of her children. She just happens to have a daughter who is in the limelight.

The Savannah Guthrie Livid Over Suspect Claims Against Brother-In-Law Amid Her Mothers Disappearance first appeared on The Blast
Sophia Macy, the daughter of Felicity Huffman and William H. Macy, is a rising star.

Huffman, 63, starred on Desperate Housewives as Lynette, a struggling stay-at-home mom of four. She won an Emmy for the role and also earned acclaim for her portrayal of a trans woman in the 2005 film Transamerica. While Huffman struggled as a result of the 2019 college admission scandal that landed her in jail for 14 days, shes thriving once again, and her daughter is out of college and working the red carpet herself.

Sophia stepped out with her dad, a legendary actor in his own right known for projects ranging from The Cooler to Shameless, to attend the premiere of Brian at SXSW at the State Theatre in Austin, Texas. Now that's one father-daughter duo we can get behind! The actress also stars in the new HBO series Rooster, alongside the beloved star Steve Carell.

Photo by Tibrina Hobson on Getty Images (Photo by Tibrina Hobson on Getty Images)

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Whats Felicity Huffman Up to These Days?

Huffman recently appeared on the FOX series Doc, playing Dr. Joan Ridley. Her character debuted in the second episode of Season 2 back in September, according to TV Insider.

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Joan is a tough, old-school feminist, big believer in female empowerment and self-made, and a really interesting, eccentric personality. She is double boarded in internal medicine and surgery and has traveled the world doing Doctors Without Borders type of medicine, so shes been all over the world, shes extremely adventurous and sure of herself, executive producer Hank Steinbergtold the publication.

Photo by Savion Washington on Getty Images (Photo by Savion Washington on Getty Images)

What Does Huffman Think About a Desperate Housewives Reboot?

Last year, Huffman weighed in on the planned reimagination of Desperate Housewives with a whole new crew of ladies.

I am all for it, Huffman said during an appearance on Good Morning America. I just think its wonderful and Im a huge fan of Kerrys, she noted, referring to actress Kerry Washington, whose production company is putting the new show together.

However, the show wont feature the same iconic title as Desperate Housewives, which ran from 2004 through 2012. Instead, its said to be titled Wisteria Lane, named for the legendary road the ladies lived on.

Related: Felicity Huffman Shines on the Red Carpet 6 Years After College Admission Scandal

This story was originally published by Parade on Mar 16, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Police are reportedly investigating an alleged domestic incident involving "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives" stars Dakota Mortensen and ex-girlfriend Taylor Frankie Paul, whose "Bachelorette" season debuts in a week.

The Draper City Police Department in Northern Utah confirmed to People that there is an ongoing "domestic assault investigation" involving Paul and Mortensen, who have both reportedly leveled allegations. Law enforcement made contact with the parties on Feb. 24 and 25, the spokesperson told the outlet.

When reached by USA TODAY, the Draper Police Department issued a statement saying it "respects the rights and privacy of all citizens."

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It continued, "Without an immediate impact to public safety, it is the practice of the department not to release details related to active investigations."

USA TODAY has reached out to representatives for "Mormon Wives" and "The Bachelorette" for comment.

TMZ was first to report the news of an incident involving Paul and Mortensen, which the outlet said caused a pause in production on Season 5 of "Mormon Wives."

Paul, who is the first "Bachelorette" lead to helm the franchise despite never appearing on "The Bachelor," will date 22 men in the upcoming 22nd season, which premieres Sunday, March 22. The 31-year-old, mom to 8-year-old Indy, 5-year-old Ocean from her previous marriage to Tate Paul, shares her nearly 2-year-old son, Ever, with Mortensen.

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The two had an on-and-off relationship, which was documented on "Mormon Wives" and showed they were close right up until she started filming her "Bachelorette" season.

Taylor Frankie Paul took the reality TV world by storm in 2024 when "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives" became a cultural phenomenon. The "MomTok" influencer and most recent " Bachelorette " spoke candidly about her infamous "swinging scandal" and has faced legal troubles throughout the show.



See her career in the spotlight, beginning here backstage during the 98th Oscars at Dolby Theatre on March 15, 2026, in Hollywood, California. Paul attends the 2026 NBA All-Star Celebrity Game at The Kia Forum on Feb. 13, 2026, in Inglewood, California. Former NBA player Tacko Fall and Paul before the start of the game. Paul was named ABC's " Bachelorette  for 2026. She is the first "Bachelorette" lead to helm the franchise despite never appearing on "The Bachelor". Paul attends the 2025 TIME100 Creators Launch Party at Gansevoort Rooftop on July 10, 2025, in New York City. Paul at an event hosted by Hulu on April 22, 2025, in Los Angeles. "The Secret Lives Of Mormon Wives" stars Layla Taylor, Miranda McWhorter, Jessi Ngatikaura, Mikayla Matthews, Mayci Neeley, Paul, Jennifer Affleck, Whitney Leavitt and Demi Engemann attend the Los Angeles Premiere of Season 2 at Paramount Studios on May 9, 2025, in Los Angeles. From left, Affleck, Paul, McWhorter, Neeley, and Matthews at SiriusXM Studios on May 8, 2025, in Los Angeles. Mitchell Tenpenny and Paul speak onstage during The 58th Annual CMA Awards on Nov. 20, 2024, in Nashville. Paul poses on the red carpet before the CMAs. See 'Mormon Wives' star Taylor Frankie Paul's life in the spotlight 1 of 10 Taylor Frankie Paul took the reality TV world by storm in 2024 when "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives" became a cultural phenomenon. The "MomTok" influencer and most recent " Bachelorette " spoke candidly about her infamous "swinging scandal" and has faced legal troubles throughout the show.



See her career in the spotlight, beginning here backstage during the 98th Oscars at Dolby Theatre on March 15, 2026, in Hollywood, California.

When the show premiered on Hulu in 2024, it opened with Paul's legal troubles stemming from a 2023 incident with Mortensen. She was arrested on misdemeanor charges of assault, criminal mischief and commission of domestic violence in the presence of a child, according to police.

According to People, local news station KSL and the Salt Lake Tribune, Paul later entered a plea of abeyance to the aggravated assault charge. While the other criminal charges were dropped, the aggravated assault charge will reportedly remain for three years until she meets the conditions of her guilty plea.

Per KSL, Paul's case has a review date in August. If she follows the terms of the agreement, which include supervised probation and avoiding violating the law for 36 months, the felony charge will be reduced to a class A misdemeanor.

In her "Call Her Daddy" interview from September, an emotional Paul called the alleged assault "the worst night of my life."

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"I think I was being very selfish, and I've accepted that I was selfish at that time," she said. "But I've learned from it, and I've been trying to make up for it," she said.

Contributing: Melina Khan, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Taylor Frankie Paul, Dakota Mortensen under police investigation
Timothee Chalamets conversation with his girlfriend, Kylie Jenner, at Sunday nights Academy Awards 2026 has been revealed by a lip reader.

The actor was seen talking with the business mogul about hating something before losing the Best Actor award to Michael B. Jordan, the star of Sinners.

Later that same night, the two were spotted packing on the PDA at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party. They have also been seen together at other awards events this season, with Timothee Chalamet often giving a shout-out to his girlfriend in his acceptance speeches.

What Timothee Chalamet Discussed With Kylie Jenner At The Event

OConnor-Arroyo / AFF-USA.com / MEGA

Chalamet was caught on camera having a conversation with his girlfriend, Kylie Jenner, at Sunday nights Academy Awards 2026, which may have centered on his feelings about the ceremony.

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The Marty Supreme star lost the award to Michael B. Jordan for his role in Sinners, amid competition from Leonardo DiCaprios One Battle After Another, Wagner Mouras The Secret Agent, and Ethan Hawkes Blue Moon.

Before his conversation with Jenner, Chalamet appeared to say yay when Jordans name was called, but his follow-up discussion with his girlfriend suggested he felt otherwise.

According to the Daily Mail, lip reader Nicola Hickling, Chalamet told Jenner, I hate this, to which the makeup mogul replied, Were all right, OK?

Chalamet reportedly followed up with Yeah, but that didnt seem satisfactory for Jenner, who responded, I hope so.

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Continuing the conversation, Chalamet then made an emotional request to his girlfriend, saying, Tonight, I need a big cuddle.

The Duo Packed On The PDA At An After Party

Timothee Chalamet and Kylie Jenner pose together at the Vanity Fair #Oscar party pic.twitter.com/9YjePS3pnv  Variety (@Variety) March 16, 2026

Whatever Timothee Chalamets true feelings may have been about losing the award, he appeared to be in a great mood at the after-party later that night.

The actor and his girlfriend showed up together at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party 2026 and wasted no time packing on the PDA right on the red carpet.

The couple held hands while posing for photos at the star-studded event, with Chalamet also seen taking things further by placing his hands on Jenners hips.

At one point, he leaned in to give her a quick kiss before stepping aside to let her pose for solo photos.

Timothee Chalamet And Kylie Jenner Looked Stunning The Vanity Fair After Party

OConnor-Arroyo / AFF-USA.com / MEGA

For the party, Jenner arrived in a black, body-hugging gown from Alexander McQueen that bared her cleavage and back. The outfit also featured a halter neck and a waist cutout.

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Chalamet, on his part, opted for a white shirt from Givenchy, paired with matching trousers. The outfit was similar to what he wore for the main ceremony, though he added a tie at the time, in keeping with the formal occasion.

Meanwhile, Jenner wore a different outfit at the main event: a sparkling red number from Schiaparelli featuring a lock-shaped cutout just above the midsection. She accessorized the look with a diamond necklace and earrings.

The Actor Has Shouted Out His Girlfriend At Previous Award Ceremonies

Lisa OConnor/ AFF-USA.COM / MEGA

During this awards season, Jenner has accompanied Chalamet as his plus-one, and he has often acknowledged her whenever he won an award.

He referred to her as his partner during his acceptance speech at the Golden Globe Awards 2026, where he won Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy.

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To my parents and my partner, I love you. Thank you so much, the 30-year-old said at the time.

At the 2026 Critics Choice Awards, Chalamet also used the same loving remark to honor Jenner, but was even more expressive.

I would like to say thank you to my partner of three years. Thank you for our foundation. I love you. I couldnt do this without you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, the actor stated, which elicited an I love you from Jenner.

Timothee Chalamet And Kylie Jenner Have Been Dating Since 2023

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Chalamet and Jenner have been together since 2023, although they only recently began to draw attention to their relationship.

Earlier in the year, reports emerged that the duo had been living together for over a year, seemingly hinting at how serious they are with their romance.

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Its like theyre basically married already, a source told Page Six. Theyre obsessed with each other and always together.

At the time, the insider also shared that Chalamet is involved in the lives of Jenners kids, Stormi, 7, and Aire Webster, 3, whom she welcomed with her ex-partner, Travis Scott.

The Timothee Chalamets Blunt Three-Word Confession To Girlfriend Kylie Jenner At The Oscars Revealed first appeared on The Blast
A four-time Oscar nominee by the time he hit 30, Timothee Chalamets family is likely quite used to his superstar fame by now. Timothee has been in the public eye for many years, beginning as a child actor in appearing in commercials and short films before making his professional television debut at 13 on Law & Order in 2009. Within a few years, he was featured in Showtimes Homeland and the Christopher Nolan film Interstellar when he was still a teenager.

Timothee comes from a family with strong ties to the arts, which might come as a surprise to some Oscars news readers after the Marty Supreme actor recently made some controversial comments about ballet and opera. Here, get to know Timothee Chalamets family:

Timothees father, Marc Chalamet

Allen Berezovsky - Getty Images

Marc is a career journalist from Nimes, France, who has worked at the Associated Press in both its Paris and New York bureaus and at the French newspaper Le Parisien. In 1987, he founded News of America, a news agency directed toward a French audience that was in operation until 2000. Per his LinkedIn page, he also works as a freelance editor and translator for UNICEF and other UN agencies.

Timothees mother, Nicole Flender

Nicole is a third-generation New Yorker who attended Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, the same school her son Timothee later attended. She got a bachelors degree at Yale University, and later earned her masters degree in French literature from New York University.

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As a child, she danced with the New York City Ballet and went on to perform in several Broadway productions, including Fiddler on the Roof and Hello, Dolly! She later worked as an English teacher in Paris and wrote behind-the-scenes accounts of her Broadway experience for publications including The Boston Herald. She is now a real estate agent at the Corcoran Group.

Dan MacMedan - Getty Images

Nicole is also an advocate for child actors rights and improved working conditions for stage performers. According to The Guardian, as an elected officer of Actors Equity Association, she has negotiated wages and working conditions on behalf of the unions 50,000 members. In 2003, she lobbied for legislation requiring parents to obtain performance permits for their children, mandating on-set tutoring during the eight-hour workday, and directing 10% of a child actor's earnings into a protected trust account.

I planted seeds, and our lifestyle really inspired those interests, but they always had control of their careers, Nicole told The Guardian about her children choosing acting as their professions. I was encouraging, you know, but I wasnt like you better get this job.

Timothees sister, Pauline Chalamet

Variety - Getty Images

Timothee's older sister, Pauline, born in 1992, is also an actress, best known for playing Kimberly in Mindy Kaling's The Sex Lives of College Girls. She made her film debut in Judd Apatows The King of Staten Island in 2020. The siblings were raised together in Manhattan. Pauline splits her time among Paris and New York, In 2024, she welcomed her first child, a daughter, with director Rhys Raiskin. Pauline is next expected to appear in The Devil Wears Prada 2 when it hits theaters in May.

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It has nothing to do with either of us. He didnt choose that. I didnt choose him as a brother; he didnt choose me as a sister, Pauline told Vanity Fair in 2021 about their mutual success in Hollywood. So it feels normal, but because it doesnt impact our lives at all. It doesnt impact our relationship.

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Travis Scott sparked online speculation after sharing a post following the Academy Awards that some fans believed was aimed at Timothee Chalamet, who lost the Best Actor award to Michael B. Jordan.

The moment added to an already eventful night for Chalamet, which also included jokes from host Conan OBrien and renewed debate over the actors past comments about opera and ballet.

The resurfaced remarks drew criticism from figures in the classical arts community, who defended the cultural relevance of the art forms while slamming Timothee Chalamet.

Travis Scott Appears To Shade Timothee Chalamet Following Oscar Loss To Michael B. Jordan

OConnor-Arroyo / AFF-USA.com / MEGA

Travis Scott seemingly took a subtle jab at his ex-partners current boyfriend, Timothee Chalamet.

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The moment came after the Academy Awards, where Chalamet, 30, was nominated for Best Actor but ultimately lost the award to Michael B. Jordan. Jordan, 39, appeared visibly emotional as he accepted the honor for his dual performance in the film Sinners.

Shortly after the ceremony, Scott, 34, posted a photo to his Instagram Stories showing Jordan wiping away tears during his acceptance speech.

Although the rapper did not include a caption, the post quickly sparked debate online, with some fans suggesting it was less about celebrating Jordans win and more about highlighting Chalamets loss.

Scott shares two children with Jenner: Stormi, eight, and Aire, four. The pair was in an on-and-off relationship beginning in 2017 before separating a few years later. Jenner then later began dating Chalamet.

Travis Scotts Instagram Post Fuels Fan Speculation About Subtle Jab At His Ex-Partners Beau

Travis Scott, Timothee Chalamet'e kars Oscar' kazanan Michael B. Jordan' hikayesinde paylast. pic.twitter.com/qKIGGv7I0f  Pop Fest (@PopFestTR) March 16, 2026

Fans have previously accused Scott of referencing the actor in his music. On his track Meltdown, Scott appeared to allude to Chalamets role in Wonka, leading some listeners to interpret the lyrics as a subtle dig.

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After the Instagram post circulated, users on platforms like X and Reddit weighed in with mixed reactions. Some found the move amusing, calling it iconic, while others criticized the rapper as being unnecessarily petty.

One commenter joked that Scott seemed unusually invested in the Oscars, while another argued the rapper should move on instead of targeting the man dating the mother of his children.

Others chimed in with remarks such as, Hes so happy Timmy didnt win, and, Last year he wanted Adrien Brody over Timmy, this year hes supporting MBJ. Travis dont f-ck with Timmy confirmed.

Despite the speculation, the night could have led to an awkward encounter as Scott later attended the Vanity Fair Oscar Party, where Jenner and Chalamet were also present and reportedly appeared affectionate throughout the evening.

Timothee Chalamets Marty Supreme Co-Star Kevin OLeary Lost $1,000 Bet After Best Actor Upset At The Academy Awards

Timothee Chalamet cheering Michael B. Jordan following #Oscars win pic.twitter.com/oNEnbfOsG2  Deadline (@DEADLINE) March 16, 2026

Meanwhile, Chalamets Marty Supreme co-star Kevin OLeary revealed he had lost a $1,000 bet after the actor failed to take home the Best Actor prize.

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OLeary, 71, who plays Milton Rockwell in the upcoming film directed by Josh Safdie, said he had been confident Chalamet would win for his role as Marty Mauser. Instead, the award went to Jordan for Sinners.

Speaking to CNN on the red carpet, OLeary said he had placed the wager shortly before entering the ceremony, explaining that he believed voting had already closed before controversy surrounding Chalamets comments about opera and ballet began circulating online.

I just put 1000 bucks on Kalshi walking in here that hes going to win, he said, per the Daily Mail. The kid is a great kid. He took a bum rap on that. And by the way, gave a lot of promo to opera houses and ballet.

Conan OBrien Jokes About The Actors Opera Comments During Academy Awards Monologue

Lumeimages / MEGA

Chalamets remarks about the art forms had drawn criticism in the days leading up to the awards ceremony.

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During the broadcast, host Conan OBrien referenced the controversy in his opening monologue, joking that security was especially tight because of potential attacks from the ballet and opera communities. Theyre just mad you left out jazz, he quipped.

The camera then cut to Chalamet and his girlfriend Jenner in the audience, where the actor appeared to laugh along with the joke.

Later in the proceedings, OBrien seemed to lighten the moment by addressing Chalamet again, telling the audience the two were simply vibing. Turning toward the actor, he asked, Were vibing, right?

Chalamets response wasnt picked up by the microphones, prompting OBrien to add with a grin, He doesnt think so.

Timothee Chalamet Faces Backlash Over Resurfaced Opera And Ballet Remarks As The Royal Ballet And Opera Responds

Ok I did not hear this. This sucks pic.twitter.com/O2ZW26zHrb  Seth Abramovitch (@SethAbramovitch) March 5, 2026

The controversy traces back to remarks Chalamet made during a conversation with his Interstellar co-star Matthew McConaughey for a Variety-produced Townhall, where the pair discussed shrinking attention spans and the challenges of keeping audiences engaged with slower-paced storytelling.

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During the conversation, Chalamet joked that he wouldnt want to be working in art forms like ballet or opera that struggle to maintain mainstream attention.

I dont want to be working in ballet or opera where its like, Hey! Keep this thing alive even though no one cares about this anymore, he said with a laugh, before adding that he meant all respect to those communities and joking that he had probably lost 14 cents in viewership by making the remark.

The comments quickly circulated online and drew criticism from members of the classical arts community.

A spokesperson for The Royal Ballet and Opera in the United Kingdom responded in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, pushing back against the suggestion that the art forms have lost their relevance.

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Ballet and opera have never existed in isolation, the organization said, adding that both disciplines have long influenced theater, film, contemporary music, and fashion.

The statement noted that millions of people around the world still engage with the art forms today.

The Timothee Chalamet Seemingly Mocked By His Girlfriends Ex After Humiliating Oscars Loss first appeared on The Blast
Queen Mary of Denmark arrived at a state banquet in Canberra on Sunday wearing a striking gold leaf brooch in her hair rather than a tiara, a choice that has become something of a signature for the Australian-born queen at formal state occasions.

The piece, from Ole Lynggaards Petit Frost collection, features pave-set diamonds within a design of gold leaves and was created by Copenhagen-based jewelry designer Charlotte Lynggaard. Versatile by design, it can be configured as a hair piece or worn as a smaller brooch. As noted by The Royal Watcher, Mary has worn the Ole Lynggaard brooch frequently over the years at formal events in place of a tiara. She first wore it at King Carl XVI Gustaf of Swedens 70th birthday banquet in 2016. Since then it has appeared at the French state visit to Denmark in 2018, and on several business visits, including one to Rome that same year.

LUDOVIC MARIN - Getty Images

The banquet was part of the Danish royal couples first official state visit to Australia since ascending the throne in 2024, following the abdication of Frederikss mother, Queen Margrethe. The tour began Saturday with a trip to Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park Cultural Center, where the couple were welcomed by elders of the Anangu people, the Indigenous residents of the land, who performed a traditional dance before accompanying them to watch the sunset.

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Frederick and Mary also visited the Kulata Academy Cafe, an initiative of the National Indigenous Training Academy that trains and employs young Aboriginal people in hospitality. The Red Centre, a sacred site, has become a fixture in the iconography of royal visits to Australia. The royal couples photo in front of Uluru echoed the famous image of Princess Diana and Prince Charles there during their 1983 tour.

DAVID GRAY - Getty Images

Princess Diana Archive - Getty Images

The trip carries personal significance for both: Mary was born and raised in Hobart, Tasmania, where her father and two sisters still live, and the tour is set to conclude there later this week. Frederik, then the Crown Prince of Denmark, and Mary, nee Mary Donaldson, first met in Australia during the 2000 Sydney Olympics at a pub called the Slip Inn.

Pool - Getty Images

In a rare moment of public affection and nostalgia, Frederick shared what Australia means for the couple during his speech at the banquet. For me, Australia has held a very special place in my heart ever since I slipped into that bar and lost it in a conversation that has never ended, King Frederick said. Mary, you had the courage to leave your beloved home and build a new one with me as far away as one can possibly go. For that, I will be forever grateful. Australia is our second home. Whether we come here for a family visit or a State Visit, we feel both excited and entirely at ease.

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The joint is beyond packed. The parking lot overflows with cars hoping to get into the late-night hotspot. A bouncer keeps the growing line from getting unruly, while patrons wait their turn to step into the action inside.

The only thing missing from the Hollywood In-N-Out on this bustling Sunday night: Actual Hollywood stars, fresh from the Academy Awards.

In-N-Out Burger has been a synonymous, albeit unofficial, part of the Academy Awards for years. With a location just blocks from the Oscars' home at the Dolby Theatre, the burger chain's proximity to Hollywood's biggest night has spurred a tradition unique to Los Angeles: After the ceremony, Oscar winners have often eventually made their way over to the fast-food staple, toting a hard-won statuette in one hand and gripping a double-double in another. Noted In-N-Out sicko Paul Giamatti has been known to celebrate wins at the burger spot, and Jimmy Kimmel has cracked wise about it. Last year, the team behind "Flow," the film that took home the prize for best animated feature, showed up to eat burgers while toting their statuettes.

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Convenience aside, the high-low pairing of the industry's highest honor with California's quintessential fast-food burger is irresistible. Vanity Fair has long catered the burgers as part of their coveted afterparty. The magazine's newly-appointed editor, Mark Guiducci, marked the occasion of this year's ultra-exclusive party with - what else? - a 2012-era photo he took of Oscar statuettes next to the In-N-Out soda fountain. (The magazine ran the image in print in its following issue.)

Yet something shifted this year. While the Hollywood In-N-Out saw its usual steady drip of customers tonight, the place was noticeably subdued compared to last year. By nearly 10 p.m., not even seat-fillers had shuffled in, let alone stars.

Lynette Howell Taylor, President, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, speaks onstage during the 98th Oscars at Dolby Theatre on March 15, 2026. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)





Maybe it had to do with economic and geopolitical uncertainty, which precipitated a heightened security perimeter around the festivities. Fears of AI encroaching on creative pursuits, heightened corporate consolidation and productions increasingly moving outside of Los Angeles also loom large over an already beleaguered film industry. Even the grumbling around Vanity Fair's party - which tightened the guest list even more this year - didn't translate into those turned away at the door stopping by for a burger instead.

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But as the final award of the night was announced, I kept my eye trained on the door for bowties and stilettos. Soon, I saw a smartly dressed woman waiting for her order, and figured the flood of talent was making its way down for a ceremonial burger. I approached her, only to find that she was a well-heeled Australian who had not attended the Oscars - but she had stopped by the In-N-Out in hopes of seeing a celebrity on her last day in LA.

A little while later, a few guys wearing official Oscars lanyards rolled in. One of the members of the production team, Dealyn Bass, said he and his colleagues were here taking a beat on their two-hour lunch break. Hopefully, I could catch Best Actor winner Michael B. Jordan here, he offered: "Mike's from New Jersey, but I know he lived out here for a little bit," said Bass. "He got a little bit of LA in him. I see it and I hear it. I feel like he's a burger guy."

Alas, no Jordan. For a moment, though, I thought I might catch another big winner from the "Sinners" team tonight: Ludwig Goransson, who won an Oscar tonight for Best Score. When I spotted a shaggy-haired guy coming through the door, I stuffed my notebook in my pocket and started walking over to talk to him. But when the man came into full view, he turned out to be a hirsute skater-type instead - not the Swedish composer I was after.

The famous In-N-Out Burger on Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood. (AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)





Several hours in and with only strikeouts to show for it, I decided to call it a night. When I walked outside, a large group of thirty-somethings in nice clothes had gathered up front. Then, I caught a flash of gold in my peripheral: A statuette!

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I rushed over to the woman holding the award to congratulate her - what did she win for? She chuckled. Turns out she wasn't holding an Oscar at all: In her hands was an award for selling the most amount of Cutco knives in 2014, and she'd received the hefty trophy - a dead ringer for the bald Oscars statuette - for her work.

The recipient of this corporate honor, Rachelle De Young, had just come from an all-out Oscars party she threw with friends. It featured punny snacks named after Best Picture nominees (i.e. "One Bagel After a Butter"), a dress code and ballots with themed prizes. In addition to De Young's fake Oscar statuette, the group brought tiny awards to dole out to people in line at In-N-Out.

I packed up and headed out, leaving De Young to the festivities inside. And then, about 45 minutes after my departure, Michael B. Jordan showed up, Oscar in hand. He smiled as the crowd swarmed around him, with people audibly shrieking. The thrilling energy of a post-Oscars night at In-N-Out had finally happened, just as Bass had predicted.

Before my ill-timed exit from In-N-Out, I had run into the same group of Central Valley teachers who bring a group of students to LA every year to experience facets of the creative industry. They had visited the Academy Museum, among other institutions, and ended with a trip to In-N-Out before heading back home. Although I personally didn't catch the Oscar winner make a pit stop there before partying on into the night, hanging out there still had its charms - and a little bit of Hollywood magic, in the form of tiny statuettes.

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This article originally published at Star is swarmed at LA In-N-Out as he grabs a burger, Oscar in hand.
LONDON, March 15 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump threatened on Sunday that NATO would face a "very bad" future if its allies fail to take action to help Washington keep the Strait of Hormuz open, Financial Times reported.

In a phone interview with the British daily, Trump again pressed European allies by urging them to join U.S. operations concerning the strait, a key global oil shipping route.

He said Europe was a major beneficiary of navigation through the waterway and should help to make sure that "nothing bad happens there." He also warned that NATO's future would be "very bad" if allies gave "no response" or a "negative response" to Washington's request.

Trump argued that the United States had previously helped Europe on the Ukraine issue and that now it was time to "see if they help us."

Trump noted he had long believed NATO was "a one-way street," meaning that the United States would stand by its allies, but they might not come to Washington's aid when needed.

Speaking of Britain, Trump said the country was often regarded as Washington's "number one ally" and its "longest serving" ally but that Britain "didn't want to come" when the United States asked for help.

He added that Britain only offered to send ships after the United States had "basically wiped out the danger capacity."

"We need these ships before we win, not after we win," Trump was quoted as saying.

According to the report, Trump said the United States was prepared to launch new strikes on Kharg Island, Iran's oil export hub, and could further target Iran's oil infrastructure.

On Feb. 28, Israel and the United States launched joint attacks on Tehran and other Iranian cities. Iran responded with waves of missile and drone strikes targeting Israeli and U.S. bases and assets across the Middle East.

As for the Strait of Hormuz, Alireza Tangsiri, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy, said Saturday in a statement that the strait has not been militarily blocked and "is merely under control." 
Hamnets Jessie Buckley made history Sunday night at the 98th Academy Awards when she became the first Irish actress to take home the Best Actress Oscar, and her home country and its President Catherine Connelly, are celebrating her win.

Jessie Buckleys award is an historic moment, with Jessie becoming the first Irish woman to receive an Oscar in the Best Actress category, Connelly said in a press release Monday. This achievement is a thoroughly deserved testament not only to Jessies outstanding performance in Hamnet, but to her performances both in film and on stage across her career to date. I know that her proud community in Kerry and beyond will be sharing with her in this wonderful achievement.

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Connelly also paid tribute to Ireland native Richard Baneham for his third Oscar win for Visual Effects.

In her acceptance speech Sunday night, Buckley called the win for her heartbreaking portrayal of a grieving mother her greatest honor.

To know this incandescent woman, and journey to understand the capacity of a mothers love is the greatest collision of my life, she said during her speech. Its Mothers Day in the UK today, but I would like to dedicate this to the beautiful chaos of a mothers heart.

RELATED: Jessie Buckley Celebrates Hamnet Win On UK Mothers Day  Oscars Backstage

Prime Minister Micheal Martin also praised Buckley on social media. Congratulations Jessie Buckley on your historic Oscar success! A well deserved win too for Richard Baneham on a wonderful night for Irish film and the performing arts.

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Focus Features Hamnet received eight Oscar nominations in all, including Best Picture, Directing, Writing (Adapted Screenplay), Music (Original Score), Casting, Costume Design and Production Design.

The historical fiction film, an adaptation of Maggie OFarrells 2020 novel of the same name, dramatizes the life of William Shakespeare (played by Paul Mescal) and his wife (Buckley) as they grieve the loss of their son. Noah Jupe, Jacobi Jupe, Emily Watson and Joe Alwyn round out the cast.

Congratulations Jessie Buckley on your historic Oscar success!



A well deserved win too for Richard Baneham on a wonderful night for Irish film and the performing arts.  pic.twitter.com/tOC9q5JJo4  Micheal Martin (@MichealMartinTD) March 16, 2026

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Originally appeared on E! Online

Jessie Buckley is hamming it up at the 2026 Oscars.

Indeed, after the Hamnet star was named Best Actress in a Leading Role at the awards showhosted by Conan OBrien at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood March 15she revealed the surprising way her family was able to attend the ceremony.

My family, my Irish family, they're all here, Jessie said from stage. Ireland bought them flights.

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And because they were in-person, she was able to praise them to their faces.

Mom, dad, thank you for teaching us to dream, the 36-year-old continued, and to never be defined by expectation, but to carve from your own passion.

Jessie also gave a rare shoutout to her husband Freddie Sorensen, with whom she shares 8-month-old daughter Isla.

Fred, I love you, man, she shared. You're the most incredible Dad. You're my best friend, and I want to have 20,000 more babies with you.

And Isla, my little girl, who is 8 months, who has absolutely no idea what's going on and is probably dreaming of milk, Jessie added, I love you, and I love being your mom, and I can't wait to discover life beside you.

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Ahead of the ceremony, Jessiewho was nominated alongside Rose Byrne for If I Had Legs Id Kick You, Kate Hudson for Song Sung Blue, Renate Reinsve for Sentimental Value and Emma Stone for Bugoniabuilt a reputation for delivering powerful speeches as she collected multiple awards for her performance as William Shakespeares wife Agnes in the Chloe Zhao period piece.

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During the Actor Awards earlier this month, she praised her costar Emily Watson for inspiring her career.

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Your wild imagination, your brave, untethered womanhood, your ferocious gentleness is a guiding light to me, Jessie said during her acceptance speech. The best advice that you always give to me is to always go back to the well of just being human.

She added, You're the realest of the real. I love and cherish being part of this community.

Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty Images

Jessiewho scored her first Oscar nod for starring alongside Olivia Colman in 2021s The Lost Daughteralso made waves when she told costar Paul Mescal at the Golden Globes in January, I could drink you like water.

As for what she meant by that?

I meant that he is essential to what I need and what Ive discovered as an actor is possible, in what we do in our work, Jessie explained to reporters backstage at the event. He brings you to the core of your humanity, and once you know what that isit becomes like water.

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In addition to Jessie, read on to see who else took home Oscars gold at the 2026 ceremony.

Best Picture

Bugonia F1 Frankenstein Hamnet Marty Supreme WINNER: One Battle After Another The Secret Agent Sentimental Value Sinners Train Dreams





Actress in a Leading Role

WINNER: Jessie Buckley - Hamnet Rose Byrne - If I Had Legs I'd Kick You Kate Hudson - Song Sung Blue Renate Reinsve - Sentimental Value Emma Stone - Bugonia





Actor in a Leading Role

Timothee Chalamet - Marty Supreme Leonardo DiCaprio - One Battle After Another Ethan Hawke - Blue Moon WINNER: Michael B. Jordan - Sinners Wagner Moura - The Secret Agent





Actress in a Supporting Role

Elle Fanning - Sentimental Value Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas - Sentimental Value WINNER: Amy Madigan - Weapons Wunmi Mosaku- Sinners Teyana Taylor - One Battle After Another

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Actor in a Supporting Role

Benecio Del Toro - One Battle After Another Jacob Elordi - Frankenstein Delroy Lindo - Sinners WINNER: Sean Penn - One Battle After Another Stellan Skarsgard - Sentimental Value





Director

Chloe Zhao - Hamnet Josh Safdie - Marty Supreme WINNER: Paul Thomas Anderson - One Battle After Another Joachim Trier - Sentimental Value Ryan Coogler - Sinners





Original Screenplay

Blue Moon It Was Just An Accident Marty Supreme Sentimental Value WINNER: Sinners





Costume Design

Avatar: Fire and Ash WINNER: Frankenstein Hamnet Marty Supreme Sinners

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Original Song

"Dear Me" from Diane Warren: Relentless WINNER: "Golden" from KPop Deamon Hunters "I Lied to You" from Sinners "Sweet Dreams of Joy" from Viva Verdii "Train Dreams" from Train Dreams





International Feature Film

The Secret Agent It Was Just an Accident WINNER: Sentimental Value Sirat The Voice of Hind Rajab





Live Action Short Film

Butcher's Stain A Friend of Dorothy Jane Austen's Period Drama

WINNER (Tie): The Singers WINNER (Tie): Two People Exchanging Saliva





Documentary Short Film

WINNER: All the Empty Rooms Armed Only With A Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud Children No More: "Were and Are Gone" The Devil Is Busy Perfectly a Strangeness

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Original Score

Bugonia Frankenstein Hamnet One Battle After Another WINNER: Sinners





Visual Effects

WINNER: Avatar: Fire and Ash F1 Jurassic World Rebirth The Lost Bus Sinners





Cinematography

Frankenstein Marty Supreme One Battle After Another

WINNER: Sinners Train Dreams





Film Editing

F1 Marty Supreme WINNER: One Battle After Another Sentimental Value Sinners

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Production Design

WINNER: Frankenstein Hamnet Marty Supreme One Battle After Another Sinners





Adapted Screenplay

Bugonia Frankenstein Hamnet WINNER: One Battle After Another

Train Dreams





Documentary Feature Film

The Alabama Solution Come See Me in the Good Light Cutting Through Rocks WINNER: Mr. Nobody Against Putin The Perfect Neighbor





Casting

Hamnet Marty Supreme WINNER: One Battle After Another The Secret Agent Sinners

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Animated Short Film

Butterfly Forevergreen WINNER: The Girl Who Cried Pearls Retirement Plan The Three Sisters





Makeup & Hairstyling

WINNER: Frankenstein Kokuho Sinners The Smashing Machine The Ugly Stepsister





Animated Feature Film

Arco Elio WINNER: Kpop Demon Hunters Little Amelie or the Character of Rain Zootopia 2





Sound

WINNER: F1 Frankenstein One Battle After Another Sinners Sirat



Watch the Oscars 2026 Sunday, March 15, at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT on ABC and streaming on Hulu.
NEED TO KNOW

Jessie Buckley took home the award for best actress at the 2026 Oscars for her performance in Hamnet

"You, Fred. I love you, man. I love you. You're the most incredible dad. You're my best friend and I want other have 20,000 more babies with you! I do, I do," the 36-year-old said to her husband while accepting her award on Sunday, March 15

Rose Byrne, Kate Hudson, Renate Reinsve and Emma Stone were also nominated for best actress at the 98th Academy Awards

Jessie Buckley shouted out her husband, Freddie, after she was named best actress at the 98th Academy Awards.

While accepting the award for her performance in Hamnet at the 2026 Oscars on Sunday, March 15, in Los Angeles, Buckley, 36, made sure to give kudos to the entirety of her family in Ireland, who joined her in L.A. for the ceremony, before addressing her husband directly.

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"You, Fred. I love you, man. I love you. You're the most incredible dad. You're my best friend and I want other have 20,000 more babies with you! I do, I do," Buckley said in her emotional speech. "And Isla, my little girl who is eight months who is absolutely no idea what's going on and is probably dreaming of milk, but this is kind of a big deal, and I love you and I love being your mom and I can't wait to discover life beside you."

Buckley has been married to her husband Freddie, whom she has described as a mental health professional, since 2023. The couple, who remain extremely private, welcomed their daughter in the fall of 2025, as Buckley previously revealed during an October appearance on The New York Times Modern Love podcast. Buckley has explained in multiple interviews that her husband prefers to remain anonymous due to his work in the mental health field. As Vogue reported in January, Buckley and Freddie were originally set up by a music executive named Marc Robinson and met via a blind date in Hackney, a district within London.

Buckley's fellow nominees for Best Actress also included Rose Byrne for If I Had Legs Id Kick You, Kate Hudson for Song Sung Blue, Renate Reinsve for Sentimental Value and Emma Stone for Bugonia.



Jessie Buckley accepts the Oscar for Best Actress on March 15, 2026

Credit: Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty

Hamnet is Chloe Zhaos heartbreaking adaptation of author Maggie OFarrells 2020 novel of the same name, which tells a fictional story about the life of the Shakespeare family. The film sees Buckleys Agnes, the wife of Paul Mescals William Shakespeare, unravel after the death of their son Hamnet, played by Jacobi Jupe. Hamnets death leads Shakespeare to write the world-renowned play Hamlet.

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"Chloe and Maggie  to get to know this incandescent woman and journey to understand the capacity of a mother's love is the greatest collision of my life," Buckley said as she wrapped up her speech. "It's Mother's Day in the U.K. today. So I would like to dedicate this to the beautiful chaos of a mother's heart. We all come from a lineage of women who continued to create against all odds. Thank you for recognizing me in this role; I can't even believe it."



Joe Alwyn and Jessie Buckley in 'Hamnet'

Credit: Courtesy of Focus Features

Buckleys critically acclaimed performance in the film has swept this years awards season, with the star taking home awards at the 2026 Critics' Choice Awards, Golden Globes, BAFTAs and the Actor Awards in their respective best actress categories.

Hamnet received a total of nine nominations at this year's Oscars, including best picture, best director, best adapted screenplay, best casting, best production design, best original score and best costume design. Buckley was the sole nominee from the movie to win an Oscar.

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See PEOPLE's coverage of the 98th Academy Awards, airing live on ABC and Hulu on March 15.

Read the original article on People


The actor delivered an emotional speech thanking Ryan Coogler, his family, and the Black Hollywood legends who paved the way as Sinners continued its historic Oscars run.

Michael B. Jordan is officially an Academy Award winner.

The actor took home the Oscar for Best Actor for his powerful performance in Ryan Cooglers Sinners, marking the first Academy Award win of his career and a major milestone for one of Hollywoods most bankable and beloved leading men.

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Jordan, visibly emotional as he accepted the award, opened his speech with a simple but heartfelt declaration.

God is good, he said. God is good.

The actor quickly turned his attention to his family, acknowledging the people who have supported him throughout his career.

Yeah, mama, whats up? Jordan said from the stage, before shouting out his father, who had traveled from Ghana to attend the ceremony. My dad came in from Ghana to be here my brother, my sisters here, my family.

MICHAEL B. JORDAN ACCEPTING THE AWARD FOR BEST ACTOR FOR HIS ROLE IN SINNERS AT THE 2026 #OSCARS  pic.twitter.com/UAmMEArFW9  clubheartbreak (@clubheartbreak) March 16, 2026

Jordan also used the moment to thank Warner Bros. and the team behind Sinners, including longtime collaborator Ryan Coogler.

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I want to thank Warner Bros. and Mike and Pam for believing in this dream, this vision of Ryan Coogler, and betting on the culture and betting on original ideas and original artistry, Jordan said.

The actor spoke warmly about his partnership with Coogler, who has directed Jordan in several defining films throughout his career.

Youre an amazing person. Im so honored to call you a collaborator and a friend. You gave me the opportunity and space for me to be seen, Jordan said. I love you, bro.

Jordan also thanked the films ensemble cast, including Delroy Lindo and Wunmi Mosaku, as well as the rest of the creative team behind the project.

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I stand here because of the people that came before me, Jordan said, referencing Black Hollywood pioneers including Sidney Poitier, Denzel Washington, Halle Berry, Jamie Foxx, Forest Whitaker, and Will Smith.

To be up among those giants, among those greats, among my ancestors thank you.

The actor closed his speech by thanking audiences who supported Sinners throughout its theatrical run.

Everybody at home who supported Sinners, who went to see the movie one, two, three, four, five times  thank you, he said. You guys made this movie what it is.

Jordan first rose to prominence with his breakout performance in Cooglers Fruitvale Station before becoming a household name through films like Creed, Black Panther, and Just Mercy. His work in Sinners earned widespread critical acclaim throughout awards season for its emotional depth and commanding screen presence.

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The film entered the Oscars with a record 16 nominations, including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor for Delroy Lindo, Best Supporting Actress for Wunmi Mosaku, and Best Costume Design for Ruth E. Carter. Ultimately, including Jordans Best Actor win, the project earned four gold statues for the night. The other victories include Ryan Cooglers Best Original Screenplay win, Autumn Durald Arkapaws historic Best Cinematography win and Ludwig Goranssons win for Best Score.

Jordans win marks one of the biggest moments of the night for Sinners and further solidifies his place among the most influential actors of his generation.

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Noted Mississippi and Mid-South musicians Bobby Rush, Eric Gales and Christone "Kingfish" Ingram hit the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood Sunday, March 15, to perform a smashing rendition of the "Sinners" song "I Lied to You" at the 2026 Oscars.

The "Sinners" segment saw Miles Caton and Raphael Saadiq performing the Oscar-nominated original song.

The performance kicked off with Caton mirroring a scene from the film where his character Sammie Moore performs the song. Caton, who sings the vocals for the song, was joined onstage by a few of his "Sinners" co-stars, including Li Jun Li, Jayme Lawson and Jack O'Connell.

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The act featured musical sounds from across time periods and cultures as well as myriad performers, including Grammy-winner Shaboozey, Buddy Guy (who plays an older Sammie Moore in "Sinners"), Alice Smith, Brittany Howard and retired American Ballet Theatre dancer Misty Copeland.

After the performance was over, the cameras panned to director Ryan Coogler and actor Michael B. Jordan beaming in support of their co-stars. The performance received a standing ovation.

Mississippi bluesmen  Grammy-winning veteran Rush and rising star Ingram  and Memphis native Gales all three contributed to the film's music, which was partially recorded at South Memphis' Royal Studios. Royal's Lawrence "Boo" Mitchell served as a "music consultant" and produced several songs for the film, which is set in Clarksdale.

"I Lied to You" made up one of "Sinners" record-breaking 16 Oscar nominations, the most of any film in the Academy Awards' history.

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Following are the categories in which "Sinners" won at the 98th Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles Sunday night.

'Sinners' comes home: Ryan Coogler, Miles Caton attend Clarksdale screenings. See reaction

How many Oscars did 'Sinners' win?

Christone "Kingfish" Ingram performs live in London.

Ryan Coogler's record-breaking horror film walked away with four Oscar wins on Sunday night, March 15.

"Sinners" is a 2025 American horror film directed by Coogler, set in 1932 Mississippi. The movie, which follows twins Smoke and Stack as they return to their small town in Mississippi to start a juke joint, has become a cultural phenomenon.

Best actor (Michael B. Jordan)

Best original screenplay

Best cinematography

Best original score

Following are the other awards "Sinners" was nominated for at the 2026 Academy Awards:

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Best picture

Best supporting actor (Delroy Lindo)

Best supporting actress (Wunmi Mosaku)

Best director (Ryan Coogler)

Best costume design

Best editing

Best makeup and hairstyling

Best original song (I Lied to You)

Best production design

Best sound

Best visual effects

Best casting

Bobby Rush's new album "Rawer than Raw" is a solo production featuring Rush on acoustic guitar, harmonica and percussion. Mississippi blues musician Bobby Rush. Recording artist Bobby Rush attends the 56th Grammy Awards at Staples Center on January 26, 2014 in Los Angeles, California. Recording Artist Bobby Rush performs during the Music City Root's Tribute to Sam Phillips at The Factory At Franklin on February 3, 2016 in Franklin, Tennessee. Blues Artist Bobby Rush performs during the 2012 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival Day 2 at the Fair Grounds Race Course on April 28, 2012 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Blues Artist Bobby Rush performs during the 2012 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival Day 2 at the Fair Grounds Race Course on April 28, 2012 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Bobby Rush (L) and Buddy Guy perform onstage during B.B. King Blues Club & Grill's Final Show With Buddy Guy at BB King on April 29, 2018 in New York City. Recording Artist Bobby Rush performs during the Music City Root's Tribute to Sam Phillips at The Factory At Franklin on February 3, 2016 in Franklin, Tennessee. Christone Ingram and Bobby Rush attend the Special Merit Awards Ceremony & 66th Annual GRAMMY Nominees Reception during the 66th GRAMMY Awards on February 03, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. Samuel L. Jackson and Bobby Rush attend the LA Premiere Of Netflix's "Dolemite Is My Name" at Regency Village Theatre on September 28, 2019 in Westwood, California. US composer Bobby Rush poses in the press room with the Grammy for "Best Traditional Blues Album" during the 66th Annual Grammy Awards at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on February 4, 2024. The blues singer Bobby Rush in photos over the years in Mississippi 1 of 11 Bobby Rush's new album "Rawer than Raw" is a solo production featuring Rush on acoustic guitar, harmonica and percussion.

Pam Dankins is the breaking news reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Have a tip? Email her at pdankins@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Mississippi artists perform song from movie Sinners at Oscars 2026
Hollywood actor Michael B. Jordan revealed Tuesday that his family roots trace back to Shreveport, Louisiana and Hope, Arkansas, during a red carpet appearance at the Critics Choice Association's 8th Annual Celebration of Black Cinema & Television.

"My dad's side of the family is from Shreveport, Louisiana and my mom's side of the family is from Hope, Arkansas so having a family history and lineage from the south is something that was always there," Jordan told a reporter for The Root. "I guess realizing and contextualizing a bit that the movie we were making, somehow, is basically my grandparents' story also. You only really realize that your grandmother and grandfather  you only know them as older people  but you forget [that] they were 25 too, having a good time and deal with the harsh reality of the Deep South, Jim Crow era and how they were trying to find a piece of freedom and a piece of themselves along the way."

"I think this idea of this movie was channeling a lot of my own family heritage and lineage a little bit," he said.

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Jordan made the remarks while answering questions about "Sinners," his latest award-winning and nominated Southern Gothic horror film, which is set in 1932's Mississippi Delta and explores themes of Black cultural identity, spirituality and racial oppression.

He earned a Golden Globe nomination for his dual performance as twin brothers in the film, portraying criminals who return to their hometown and are forced to confront a supernatural evil.

Follow Ian Robinson on Twitter @_irobinson and on Facebook at https://bit.ly/3vln0w1.

This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: Michael B. Jordan has deep family roots in Shreveport, Hope
In recent years, the Academy Awards have walked a careful line between celebration and activism, with producers and hosts promising to keep political commentary to a minimum. The 2026 Oscars, in a time of particular global turmoil and precarity, did not too much to break with tradition.

In fact, compared to the sustained anti-Trump resistance of the 2017 Oscars or the passionate speeches of recent years, this years 98th Academy Awards was notable for how few political moments there actually were  and how carefully vague most of them remained.

Heres every major political moment from the Oscars this year:

Conan OBrien Warned Viewers What Was Coming

HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 15: Host Conan O'Brien speaks onstage during the 98th Oscars at Dolby Theatre on March 15, 2026 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images) Getty Images

O'Brien opened the night by acknowledging what everyone already knew: this Oscars was going to get political. "I should warn you, tonight things could get political," the host said during his opening monologue. His solution? "There's an alternate Oscars hosted by Kid Rock at the Dave and Busters down the street," he quipped, referencing the right-wing Super Bowl counter-programming event held the previous month.

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The joke landed with Hollywood's liberal crowd, but O'Brien wasn't finished. He took aim at British actors not being nominated in the lead categories for the first time since 2012, then pivoted to a sharp jab at the Trump administration's connections to Jeffrey Epstein. "A British spokesperson said, 'Yeah? Well, at least we arrest our pedophiles,'" O'Brien said, earning more than ten seconds of applause from the Dolby Theatre audience.

The reference arrived less than a month after Prince Andrew was arrested in the U.K. on suspicion of misconduct in public office due to his links to the late convicted sex offender Epstein. The joke drew audible groans and cheers, setting the tone for a night that would repeatedly challenge the current political climate.

Later in the broadcast, O'Brien returned from a commercial break with another Trump dig. "Welcome back, we're coming to you live from the 'Has A Small Penis' Theater. Let's see him put his name in front of that," he said, mocking President Trump's recent rebranding of the Kennedy Center as the Trump Kennedy Center  a move currently being challenged in court.

O'Brien's most substantial moment came when he set aside the jokes entirely. "Yes, tonight is an international event. If I can be serious for just a moment, everyone watching right now, around the world, is all too aware that these are very chaotic, frightening times," he said. He continued: "It's at moments like these that I believe that the Oscars are particularly resonant  31 countries across six continents are represented this evening, and every film we salute is the product of thousands of people speaking different languages, working hard to make something of beauty."

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He closed with: "We pay tribute tonight, not just to film, but to the ideals of global artistry, collaboration, patience, resilience and that rarest of qualities today  optimism."

Beautiful sentiment, albeit standard Oscar fare that left it up to interpretation what exactly was causing the chaotic, frightening times.

Jimmy Kimmel Took Aim At CBS And The Melania Trump Documentary

US television host Jimmy Kimmel presents the award for Best Documentary Short Film onstage during the 98th Annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California on March 15, 2026. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty Images) AFP via Getty Images

When Jimmy Kimmel appeared to present the documentary categories, he wasted no time launching into political territory. "We hear a lot about courage at shows like this, but telling a story that could get you killed for telling it is real courage. As you know, there are some countries whose leaders don't support free speech. I'm not at liberty to say which. Let's just leave it at North Korea and CBS," he said, taking a shot at David Ellison, who now owns Paramount Global, the parent company of CBS.

The jab referenced growing concerns about media consolidation and editorial independence under new ownership structures. Kimmel also couldn't resist mentioning the Melania Trump documentary that failed to receive an Oscar nomination, sarcastically noting that the president would surely be upset about the snub.

Javier Bardems "Free Palestine" Moment

Hollywood, CA - March 15, 2026: Priyanka Chopra and Javier Bardem present the Oscar for Best International Feature Film during the 98th Annual Academy Awards held by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, CA, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images) Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

The most electrifying political moment of the evening came from presenter Javier Bardem, precisely because of its specificity. Before announcing the Best International Feature Film winner alongside Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Bardem waited for the walk-up music to quiet down, and then said: "No to war, and free Palestine."

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The crowd erupted in applause and cheers in response before Bardem and Chopra continued with the presentation. The Spanish actor wore two pins on his tuxedo lapel: one reading "No a la Guerra," or "No to War," and another featuring Handala, the long-standing symbol of Palestinian identity and resistance.

On the red carpet earlier, Bardem told the Associated Press that the "No to War" pin was the same one he wore to the Oscars in 2003 while protesting what he called the "illegal Iraq war." Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Bardem connected the symbolism to the current conflict, saying, We are here 23 years after with another illegal war, created by Trump and Netanyahu with another lie to defeat the regime. They're radicalizing the regime by their horrific actions, that is not the reason. And also the Palestine symbolism of resistance.

Artists4Ceasefire Pins Appeared Throughout The Ceremony

HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 15: Charithra Chandran attends the 98th Oscars at Dolby Theatre on March 15, 2026 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Arturo Holmes/Getty Images) Getty Images

British actress Charithra Chandran was among those wearing the red enamel Artists4Ceasefire badge during the ceremony, which calls for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, humanitarian aid for civilians, and the release of all hostages.

"What we are demanding is a ceasefire in Gaza, I think that I am so blessed to have a platform and this is the least I could do to use it," Chandran told The Hollywood Reporter on the red carpet. She emphasized the importance of sustained public attention on civilian suffering.

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Actors from The Voice of Hind Rajab, a film nominated for Best International Feature that recounts the killing of a five-year-old Palestinian girl during the war in Gaza and the attempts by emergency responders to reach her, also appeared wearing the symbol. Actress Saja Kilani said, "There is no ceasefire right now, there are bombings happening to this day. Destruction, displacement, all over the world. Palestine, Lebanon, Iran and Venezuela, everywhere. This is a demand for a permanent ceasefire."

Her fellow cast member, Israeli actress Clara Khoury, linked the message to wider political issues, saying, "It's happening in the US, ICE."

One Invited Actor Couldn't Even Enter The Country

LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 22: Motaz Malhees attends the 2026 EE BAFTA Film Awards at The Royal Festival Hall on February 22, 2026 in London, England. (Photo by Lia Toby/Getty Images) Getty Images

Perhaps the most damning political statement of the night was the one that didnt need to be spoken at all: Motaz Malhees, the lead actor in The Voice of Hind Rajab (nominated for Best International Feature) was absent from the ceremony because the Trump administration's travel ban on Palestinian Authority passport holders prevented him from entering the United States.

"Three days left to the Oscars. Our film 'The Voice of Hind Rajab' is nominated for an Academy Award. I had the honor of playing one of the lead roles in a story the world needed to hear. But I will not be there," Malhees wrote on Instagram three days before the ceremony. I am not allowed to enter the United States because of my Palestinian citizenship.

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Hind Rajab's mother, Wissam Hamada, also could not enter the United States. According to Variety, she and her family watched the ceremony from Greece, where they were granted asylum thanks to the efforts of the film's executive producer Amed Khan. One of the film's producers told Variety: "We tried talking to a lawyer, and he said the only way to get her in was if Marco Rubio signs the entrance permit himself."

The travel ban, instituted by Trump in December 2025, affects people holding Palestinian Authority passports as well as those from Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan, and Syria. Other Palestinian members of the film's cast were able to attend the Oscars because they hold dual citizenship. Director Kaouther Ben Hania, who is Tunisian, was able to attend.

A Grieving Mother's Plea On Gun Violence Stopped The Room

HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 15: (L-R) Joshua Seftel, Gloria Cazares, Conall Jones, and Steve Hartman accept the Documentary Short Film award for "All the Empty Rooms" onstage during the 98th Oscars at Dolby Theatre on March 15, 2026 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images) Getty Images

One of the most powerful moments of the entire ceremony came during the Best Documentary Short Film presentation. When All the Empty Rooms won the award, filmmaker Joshua Seftel brought Gloria Cazares to the stage  the mother of Jackie Cazares, a nine-year-old killed in the 2022 Uvalde school shooting.

The documentary follows journalist Steve Hartman and photographer Lou Bopp on a seven-year journey documenting the empty bedrooms of children killed in school shootings across America. Seftel began his acceptance speech by explaining, "The empty rooms in our film belong to four young children who were all killed in school shootings: Hallie, Gracie, Dominic, and Jackie."

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He then passed the microphone to Cazares, who wore a red gown and a pin featuring her daughter's photo. "My daughter, Jackie, was 9 years old when she was killed in Uvalde. Since that day, her bedroom has been frozen in time," she said.

"Jackie is more than just a headline. She is our light and our life. Gun violence is now the No. 1 cause of death in kids and teens. We believe that if the world could see their empty bedrooms, we'd be a different America. Thank you."

The Dolby Theatre erupted in applause. Seftel gave Cazares an emotional hug before the group walked offstage, leaving behind one of the most moving moments in recent Oscar history.

In a December 2025 interview with Business Insider, Cazares shared that she and her husband, Javier, have kept Jackie's room just as it was on the day of her death, explaining, "We never thought of changing it because it pays tribute to the memory of our bright, funny little girl."

'Mr. Nobody Against Putin' Filmmakers Drew Parallels To American Politics

HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 15: (L-R) Radovan Sibrt, Alzbeta Karaskova, David Borenstein, Pavel Talankin, and Helle Faber, winners of the Best Documentary Feature Film Award for Mr. Nobody Against Putin, pose in the press room during the 98th Oscars at Dolby Theatre on March 15, 2026 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images) Getty Images

The Best Documentary Feature winner, Mr. Nobody Against Putin, delivered one of the night's most pointed political speeches. The film follows Pavel Talankin, a Russian schoolteacher who documented his school's transformation into a war recruitment center during Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

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Co-director David Borenstein used the acceptance speech to draw explicit parallels between Russia and the United States. "Mr. Nobody Against Putin is about how you lose your country. And what we saw when working with this footage, it's that you lose it through countless small little acts of complicity. When we act complicit, when a government murders people on the streets of our major cities, when we don't say anything, when oligarchs take over the media and control how we can produce it and consume, we all face a moral choice. But luckily, even a 'nobody' is more powerful than you think."

His speech was interrupted by applause from the Dolby Theatre audience. The references to government violence in major cities and oligarchic media control were read by many as commentary on recent ICE raids in American cities and concerns about media consolidation under figures like David Ellison.

Talankin, the film's main subject and co-director, also spoke through a translator, making an impassioned plea for global peace. "We look at the sky for shooting stars to make a very important wish. But there are countries where instead of shooting stars, they have shooting bombs and shooting drones. In the name of our future, in the name of all of our children, stop all of these wars now," he said.

It was the second time in three years that an anti-Putin documentary won the Oscar; Navalny, about Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny who died in prison, won Best Documentary Feature in 2023.

Joachim Trier Quoted James Baldwin To Challenge Politicians

HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 15: Joachim Trier accepts the International Feature Film award for "Sentimental Value" onstage during the 98th Oscars at Dolby Theatre on March 15, 2026 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images) Getty Images

When accepting the Oscar for Best International Feature Film for the Norwegian film Sentimental Value, director Joachim Trier ended his speech with a political appeal. "I want to end by paraphrasing the wonderful American writer James Baldwin, who makes us remember that all adults are responsible for all children, and let's not vote for politicians who don't take this seriously into account," he said.

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The invocation of Baldwin  a writer who spent much of his career challenging American racism and violence  added another layer of political commentary to the night.

What The 2026 Oscars Revealed About Hollywood's Limits

The 2026 Oscars werent the resistance ceremony some expected or the completely apolitical show others hoped for. They were something perhaps messier and more familiar: a room full of people trying to say something without risking everything. Most threaded that needle carefully. A few didn't bother with the needle at all.

Whether you see that as Hollywood showing appropriate restraint or failing to use its platform at a critical moment likely depends on what you wanted from Oscars night in the first place.
For people who've followed his career since childhood, Michael B. Jordan's Best Actor Oscar was richly deserved and a long time in the making. Securing the top acting honor for his dual role in "Sinners" at the 98th Academy Awards, Jordan has much to be proud of. In the ceremony's almost 100-year history, he is one of just seven Black actors to ever receive the award in a leading role. The "Black Panther" and "Creed" star joins acting legends like Sidney Poitier, Denzel Washington, and Halle Berry in the pantheon of greats. A momentous achievement requires an equally momentous meal, and Jordan elected to celebrate at In-N-Out Burger after the awards show.

In a video clip shared on YouTube, the Oscar-winning actor is seen signing autographs as he waits for his meal at the fast food chain. With his award in tow, Jordan smiles at fans and poses for pictures. Behind him, the In-N-Out staff stands proudly as photographers take snaps of the actor. Jordan isn't the restaurant's only ultra-famous fan  some stars have even brought the chain's burgers into the Academy Awards ceremony in the past. When it comes to celebrities and their signature fast food orders, Gordon Ramsay, Prince Harry, and Meghan Markle are also reported fans of the In-N-Out chain.

Read more: The Real Reason These Celebrity Chefs Disappeared

Why In-N-Out Burger is a West Coast Institution

Burger, fries, and beverage on table at In-N-Out Burger - Walter Cicchetti/Shutterstock

Movie stars: they're just like us, at least where post-revelry sustenance is concerned. Michael B. Jordan's trip to In-N-Out makes a lot of sense when you consider that attendees of the Oscars ceremony reportedly subsist on a rather basic array of snacks during the hours-long show. The quality of the food served at In-N-Out is also a huge part of its appeal. The reason behind In-N-Out's ongoing success seems to be its delicious yet streamlined menu. It's proof that the words of founder Harry Snyder, "Keep it simple; do one thing, and do it the best you can," are ones the chain still adheres to (via NPR). Limiting expansion is another factor, as it allows California-founded In-N-Out to source fresh, high-quality, local ingredients.

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As for Jordan's specific In-N-Out meal, it's not exactly clear what the actor ordered on his big night, though there were multiple trays of burgers and fries on the counter in front of him. While we're not on the same level as an Oscar-winning actor, we do know a thing or two about the West Coast institution's burgers  we rated the Double-Double number one in our ranking of every In-N-Out menu item from worst to best (though the popular Animal Style burger was our second-place pick).

For more food and drink goodness, join our newsletter and add us as a preferred search source. Get taste tests, food & drink news, deals from your favorite chains, recipes, cooking tips, and more!

Read the original article on Mashed.
Pretty Lethal is not getting a cinematic run, sadly, but the ballet thriller film will be streaming on Prime Video on March 25. The film premiered last week at the SXSW (South by Southwest) Film Festival in Austin, and is directed by Vicky Jewson, who is best known for female-led thrillers and horror films, like Close, Born of War and Lady Godiva. She is a huge champion of female-led action films.

On the Jewson Film website, she writes: We are on a mission to create female driven narratives in the action space. We believe the best stories are the ones which feel highly specific to the central characters. Characters who are authentic, complex human beings with agency.

The films star-studded cast includes Maddie Ziegler, Lana Condor, Iris Apatow, Avantika, Millicent Simmonds and Uma Thurman. It feels a bit like Suspiria meets Kill Bill. This gory film doesnt use the female cast as scream queens, but warriors with tutus. The five ballerinas (Ziegler, Condor, Avantika, Simmonds and Apatow), arrive in Hungary for a performance but end up fighting a local gang in an inn, run by former ballerina Devora (Thurman). Jewsons passion for action films with women leads truly shows here, and brings the hardworking discipline and ethos of ballerinas to the next level.

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Working with Thurman was a dream come true for the ballerina cast. I remember when Maddie and I were landing in Budapest, and when we were on our layover, Maddie got the news first about who was cast for Devorah, and she was like, Avantika, I need you to guess who's going to play Devorah, and it was a reference that we've been making the entire time, said Avantika. It changed the whole weather of the set to have her there. It made us all on our game more. And she was nothing but gracious and kind and just a great person to look up to.

Pretty Lethal prime video

One cant make a ballet film without thinking of how reactive it feels to some Hollywood opinions on the relevance of the art, but besides the controversial chatter, it is a testament to the demand for women-led horror and action films.

Why are there no good female-led action movies? This film is really trying to break that. Because no one will make them, said Apatow. You're asking the same questions we're asking too. It took over a decade to get to this point where we're sitting right here from writing it to trying to get it made.

I know that it was quite a challenge to get any higher ups to take this kind of script seriously about a group of young dancers being tough and fearless, adds Apatow. It's a real tragedy that there isn't more. I hope that in some way, this is proof that we can be badass and make a good impression on that side of the industry.

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It taps into the whole balletcore fashion movement, which saw its rise in 2022 after Black Swan. To Ziegler, a classically trained ballet dancer, it wasnt something she typically embraced. It's funny because for me growing up as a dancer, I was actually hesitant to the balletcore aesthetic at first because I was like, I grew up wearing this stuff, said Ziegler. I thought, there's no way that it's now becoming popular. This has been my whole life. But I can't help but love a wrap skirt, a wrap top and a ballet flat. It's cute, it works and it's fun. We've all had a fun time playing into balletcore in our own ways for this press run together for Pretty Lethal.

Self-care routines were essential when the group wrapped for the days in the century-old building they were shooting at in Budapest. Budapest is known for their bathhouses, so every time we were off, we would go straight to the bathhouses, especially because we were so disgusting after filming all the scenes with fake blood and dirt, said Ziegler.

Avantika Vandanapu, Lana Condor and Uma Thurman at "Pretty Lethal' Premiere during the SXSW Conference & Festivals held at Paramount Theatre on March 13, 2026 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Stephen Olker/SXSW Conference & Festivals via Getty Images) SXSW Conference & Festivals via Getty Images

Condor plays the role of Princess, who is a low-key unlikeable villain who fuses forces with the team under pressure. I don't have a lot of those opportunities to play an unlikable, sassy, mean character, so it was a huge joy and it was a relief, said Condor. I felt like it was tapping into a skill set that I've never really had to use before. I wanted to play Princess right and I wanted to make her super unlikable, but I still wanted to toe the line of you could believe that she is a real person. Because I do think sometimes when you play kind of a mean person, it can come off as a caricature.

The film was a sisterhood on set, despite the plot twists. Getting to this point for all of the actors has been a mission, but especially for Simmonds, a deaf actor. I was not into dance at all, and so immediately I thought, well, I'm never going to compare to some of my castmates, said Simmonds.

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And so I put these limitations on myself, even though I had such a good supportive team. I have to say that at the end of this process, I really realized it's up to me to break that barrier for myself to say, look, Millie, you know what? I'm here. I can prove myself and I can do this. And so I think it's up to all of us to find your own inner voice and just to crush all of the doubt.

She adds: You know, the doubt doesn't necessarily go away, but you learn how to control it and say, not today, today I'm going to do this. Or at least I'm going to try.
Sean Penn won his third Academy Award on Sunday, but he wasnt on hand to receive his statuette, reportedly due to travel plans that included a visit to Ukraine.

Penn, who won the award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Col. Steven J. Lockjaw in One Battle After Another, has been an outspoken advocate for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people since Russia launched a war on the country in 2022.

Buzz: Here's Everything You Might Have Missed At The 2026 Oscars

The actor met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy not long after Russia invaded and gave him his first Oscar statuette, which he earned for his performance in Mystic River, The Hollywood Reporter recently reported.

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Penn, at the time, said that he hoped Zelenskyy would accept the symbolic silly thing from him and bring it back to Malibu when Ukraine defeated Russia in the war.

After Penn was a no-show Sunday, presenter Kieran Culkin accepted the actors most-recent statuette in his absence.

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Sean Penn becomes fourth male actor to win three #Oscars after taking the prize for best supporting actor. Presenter Kieran Culkin joked: Sean Penn couldn't be here this evening or didn't want to, so I'll be accepting the award on his behalf.



Penn joins Daniel Day-Lewis, Jack pic.twitter.com/JfVKeU1LWG  Variety (@Variety) March 16, 2026

The New York Times, citing two sources familiar with Penns travel plans, said it wasnt clear what the actor planned to do in Ukraine or where he would be in the country. The newspaper noted that there remained some possibility that Penns travel plans may have changed.

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His absence at Sundays ceremony comes after he skipped the BAFTAs and the Actor Awards earlier this year.

Penns third statuette puts him in the same company as Daniel Day-Lewis, Jack Nicholson and Walter Brennan, all of whom are tied for the most acting wins by a male actor at the Oscars.

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LONDON, March 16 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Monday that Britain is working with allies on a "viable plan" to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, stressing that restoring freedom of navigation in the key waterway is "not a simple task."

Speaking at 10 Downing Street in London, Starmer said reopening the strait is crucial for ensuring stability in global markets and maintaining secure international shipping.

He said Britain is coordinating with its allies to develop a workable approach to restore navigation in the region following the recent escalation of tensions in the Middle East.

Starmer added that reopening the strait will not be a NATO mission. "Let me be clear, that won't be and it's never been envisioned to be a NATO mission," he said.

Starmer also provided an update on Britain's activities in the region, saying more than 92,000 British nationals have returned to Britain on commercial and government-chartered flights.

Support efforts for British citizens in Lebanon are continuing, he added.

U.S. President Donald Trump warned on Sunday that NATO would face a "very bad" future if its allies fail to take action to help Washington keep the Strait of Hormuz open, the Financial Times reported. 
With her win at Sunday's Oscars for Sinners, Autumn Durald Arkapaw becomes the first woman to take home the prize for cinematography.

The film is her second collaboration with Sinners director Ryan Coogler, following 2018s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Set in 1930s Mississippi, Sinners is a tale of vampires and blues music, cultural appropriation and the enduring relevance of Black art.

The win felt like one of the emotional highs of the night. As she took the stage, she scanned the audience to see Coogler rushing to carry her young son from farther back in the room to a seat closer to the stage.

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During her speech, Arkapaw asked for all the women in the audience to stand, saying, "I don't get here without you guys."

Arkapaws work on the film also made her the first woman to shoot on the large Imax 65mm and Ultra Panavision formats. For "Sinners," she captured the dusty grit of hard work along with flights of expressionist fantasy, such as what is now considered the films signature moment, when generations of Black musicians are seen performing amid the dancing crowds of a rural juke joint. The camera rises through a roof that's on fire.

Read more: After a racial slur and an underdog narrative, 'Sinners' elevated its chances for Oscar gold

Only three women had ever been nominated in the category: Rachel Morrison in 2018 for Mudbound, Ari Wegner in 2022 for The Power of the Dog and Mandy Walker in 2023 for Elvis.

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The 46-year-old Arkapaw, who lives in Altadena with her husband, cinematographer Adam Arkapaw, is of Filipino and Creole descent. A California native raised in the Bay Area, she has family roots in Louisiana and Mississippi, creating an even stronger bond to the world of Sinners.

In an interview conducted on the day she received her Oscar nomination in January, Arkapaw reflected on that sense of connection.

When I read the story, it felt very close to home," she said. "And I think that allows you to be able to pour yourself into it. And theres a lot of meaning in it and you want to make your ancestors proud. This film has so much love that was poured into it on set and I think it really connected with a lot of people. And I think thats how you do really great films. You pour as much as you can of yourself into it.

Going into Sundays Academy Awards, Sinners was nominated for a record-breaking 16 nominations, besting the previous achievement of 14 nominations held by All About Eve, Titanic and La La Land.

Get exclusive awards season news, in-depth interviews and columnist Glenn Whipps must-read analysis straight to your inbox.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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Credit: Brianna Bryson/FilmMagic

There's a real tribal feel to the 2026 Oscars, with critics' choice One Battle After Another looking set for a straight showdown with social media darling Sinners across near-enough all of the main categories, primarily Best Picture. Ryan Coogler's vampire horror has earned 16 nominations, the most in Academy Awards history, three more than Paul Thomas Anderson's action comedy. Whatever the outcome, an uproar is guaranteed.

You can watch Oscars 2026 online from anywhere with a VPN and potentially for free.

Watch Oscars 2026 for FREE

The 2026 Oscars are free-to-air in the UK and Australia, courtesy of ITV1 and Channel 7.

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 UK: ITVX

 Australia: 7Plus

What if you're abroad? Movie fans can use NordVPN to watch their usual Oscars coverage from anywhere.

How to watch Oscars 2026 from anywhere

If you're keen to watch the Academy Awards but you're away from home and access to the ceremony is geo-blocked, you can always use a VPN to access it (assuming you're not breaching any broadcaster T&Cs, of course). You may be surprised by how simple it is.

A VPN is handy piece of software that can make your device appear as if it's back in your home country, so you can unlock your usual service. The best VPN right now? We recommend NordVPN  it does everything and comes with a 74% discount and Amazon Gift Card thrown in on some plans.

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How to watch Oscars 2026 in the US

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In the US, the 2026 Oscars will air on ABC at 7pm ET / 4pm PT on Sunday. Red Carpet coverage begins at 6.30pm ET / 3.30pm PT.

Cord-cutters can access ABC via an OTT service such as Sling TV (in select cities), Fubo, YouTube TV and Hulu + Live TV.

The ceremony is also available to live stream through Hulu. Plans start at $11.99/month after a 30-day FREE trial, but you'll get more bang for your buck with the Disney Plus Bundle, which is currently available at $54.99 for three months.

Brits and Aussies away from home can use a VPN to watch the Oscars for free from abroad.

How to watch Oscars 2026 in Canada

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In Canada, the 2026 Oscars will air on CTV at 7pm ET / 4pm PT on Sunday, March 15.

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The ceremony will be available to stream live and on-demand on the CTV website and app for a limited time after broadcast.

Outside of Canada? Use a VPN to gain access to all the content you'd normally stream at home.

How to watch Oscars 2026 in the UK

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Movie buffs in the UK can watch the 2026 Oscars for FREE on ITV1 and via the ITVX streaming service.

The only catch is that the ceremony starts at 11pm GMT on Sunday night/Monday morning. ITV's coverage gets underway at 10.15pm.

All you need is an account, a TV license and a UK postcode (e.g.HA9 0WS). Sign up here!

Outside the UK? Use a VPN to gain access to all the content you'd normally stream at home.

How to watch Oscars 2026 in Australia

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In Australia, the 2026 Oscars are free-to-air on Channel 7, with live streaming available via 7Plus.

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The ceremony gets underway at 11am AEDT on Monday morning. Channel 7's coverage starts at 5.30am, and includes the Red Carpet show at 10.30am.

Outside Australia at the moment? Use NordVPN to access your usual coverage.

Oscars 2026 Nominations & Preview

Preview

Timothee Chalamet wasn't on high enough alert for the Ides of March. The Marty Supreme lead had been on a fevered one-man mission to secure that Oscar he so desperately covets, only to undo all of his campaigning efforts by tacitly endorsing Matthew McConaughey's aggressively pro-AI views.

Hamnet has proven divisive, yet Jessie Buckley's scenery-chewing performance has made her a shoo-in for the Best Actress award. F1, essentially a 155-minute promo for Formula One, is a surprise Best Picture contender, as is Guillermo del Toro's tepidly-received sci-fi drama Frankenstein, starring Jacob Elordi. Wuthering Heights, incidentally, is shooting for the 2027 Oscars.

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Brazilian political thriller The Secret Agent, which cleaned up at Cannes, Norwegian drama Sentimental Value, surreal black comedy Bugonia and railroad drama Train Dreams have each garnered universal acclaim from movie-goers, but  barring a shock of all shocks  realistically don't have the commercial heft to topple the likes of One Battle After Another, Sinners, Marty Supreme and Hamlet.

Read on as we explain how to watch Oscars from anywhere. Scroll down for the full list of nominees, red carpet details and more.

What are the 2026 Oscar Best Picture nominees?

Bugonia

F1

Frankenstein

Hamnet

Marty Supreme

One Battle After Another

The Secret Agent

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Sentimental Value

Sinners

Train Dreams

Who are the 2026 Oscar Best Actor nominees?

Timothee Chalamet  Marty Supreme as Marty Mauser

Leonardo DiCaprio  One Battle After Another as Bob Ferguson

Ethan Hawke  Blue Moon as Lorenz Hart

Michael B. Jordan  Sinners as Elijah "Smoke" Moore / Elias "Stack" Moore

Wagner Moura  The Secret Agent as Armando Solimoes / Marcelo Alves / Fernando Solimoes

Who are the 2026 Oscar Best Actress nominees?

Jessie Buckley  Hamnet as Agnes Shakespeare

Rose Byrne  If I Had Legs I'd Kick You as Linda

Kate Hudson  Song Sung Blue as Claire Sardina

Renate Reinsve  Sentimental Value as Nora Borg

Emma Stone  Bugonia as Michelle Fuller

Who are the 2026 Oscar Best Supporting Actor nominees?

Benicio del Toro  One Battle After Another as Sensei Sergio St. Carlos

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Jacob Elordi  Frankenstein as The Creature

Delroy Lindo  Sinners as Delta Slim

Sean Penn  One Battle After Another as Col. Steven J. Lockjaw

Stellan Skarsgard  Sentimental Value as Gustav Borg

Who are the 2026 Oscar Best Supporting Actress nominees?

Elle Fanning  Sentimental Value as Rachel Kemp

Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas  Sentimental Value as Agnes Borg Pettersen

Amy Madigan  Weapons as Gladys

Wunmi Mosaku  Sinners as Annie

Teyana Taylor  One Battle After Another as Perfidia Beverly Hills

Who are the 2026 Oscar Best Writing (Original Screenplay) nominees?

Robert Kaplow  Blue Moon

Jafar Panahi, Nader Saivar, Shadmehr Rastin and Mehdi Mahmoudian  It Was Just an Accident

Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie  Marty Supreme

Eskil Vogt and Joachim Trier  Sentimental Value

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Ryan Coogler  Sinners

Who are the 2026 Oscar Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay) nominees?

Will Tracy  Bugonia (based on the film Save the Green Planet! by Jang Joon-hwan)

Guillermo del Toro  Frankenstein (based on the novel by Mary Shelley)

Chloe Zhao and Maggie O'Farrell  Hamnet (based on the novel by Maggie O'Farrell)

Paul Thomas Anderson  One Battle After Another (based on the novel Vineland by Thomas Pynchon)

Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar  Train Dreams (based on the novella by Denis Johnson)

Who are the 2026 Oscar Best Director nominees?

Ryan Coogler  Sinners

Chloe Zhao  Hamnet

Josh Safdie  Marty Supreme

Paul Thomas Anderson  One Battle After Another

Joachim Trier  Sentimental Value

Ryan Coogler  Sinners

How does 2026 Oscars voting work?

Voting is restricted to members of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), which include actors, writers, directors, film editors, cinematographers, costume designers, makeup artists, hairstylists, producers, casting directors, marketing and PR executives, and more.

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In 2026, for the very first time, AMPAS members are required to have seen  or at least pretend to have seen  all of the films in a category in order to participate in the final round of voting.

It's extraordinary that this wasn't the case before, but it goes some way to explaining why the Oscars campaign trail has spiraled to the extent it has. Almost as much work seemed to go into marketing the Marty Supreme jacket as the film itself.

Who are the 2026 Oscars presenters?

Javier Bardem, Maya Rudolph, Paul Mescal, Robert Downey Jr., Anne Hathaway, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kumail Nanjiani, Chase Infiniti, Will Arnett, Chris Evans, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Mikey Madison, Adrien Brody, Zoe Saldana and Kieran Culkin have been confirmed as presenters at the time of writing.

Who are the 2026 Oscars performers?

Miles Caton and Raphael Saadiq will give a rendition of I Lied to You from Sinners, while Ejae, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami will perform Golden from KPop Demon Hunters.

We're likely to get additional performances too, but at the time of publication they're tightly under wraps.

We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example:1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service).2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad.We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.
Spotify has just announced a special event for their BTS ARMY loyal Spotify users, Spotify x BTS: SWIMSIDE, in New York City, on March 23.

The immersive experience celebrates the release of BTSs anticipated comeback album, ARIRANG, which is out this Friday. The event will be exclusively for 1000 of the groups loyal listeners in New York City, with immersive album-themed experiences and a special performance and Q&A with the group.

This will mark the first time all seven BTS members  RM, Jin, SUGA, j-hope, Jimin, V, and Jung Kook  reunite for the fans in the U.S. since 2022, when they visited the White House together in May.

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Spotify has worked closely with global superstars on their comebacks, through several campaigns, including What Is Your Love Song? and SWIMSIDE . Some of the activities that Spotify has released include Decoding ARIRANG, an in-app Easter egg hunt that unlocks exclusive audio messages from members. There is also the BTS Music Quiz, where fans can test their BTS knowledge, challenge friends head-to-head, and share results on social starting March 20.

BTS WORLD TOUR ARIRANG LIVE VIEWING FROM GOYANG & TOKYO BIGHIT MUSIC

For those in Seoul, there will also be a SWIMSIDE Cruise event the weekend of March 27-28, a limited fan event taking place on the Han River. Select ARMY will have the opportunity to attend the BTS-themed event, which features BTS music, immersive visuals, and fan activities. BTS are not expected to attend.

Spotify is no stranger to partnering with K-pop groups to offer these experiences, having worked closely with SEVENTEEN and ENHYPEN . Their collaboration with BTS is about to get even bigger, branching internationally through online and in-person events, with Spotify committed to providing meaningful experiences.

Prior to their stateside visit, BTS will perform a live set from their ARIRANG album on March 21, which will stream exclusively on Netflix. The BTS x Netflix event marks BTSs first performance as a group since their Yet To Come concert in Busan in October 2022.

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For more information and details on the events and planned experiences, be sure to follow along with SpotifyNews on Instagram for the latest news.

BTS releases their album ARIRANG on all streaming platforms on March 20, with the BTS x Netflix event streaming live the next day on March 21 on Netflix. Following the event, the Spotify x BTS: SWIMSIDE, will happen on March 23 in New York City.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth openly expressed his impatience for billionaire David Ellison to take over CNN last week, and the admission stunned John Oliver. It also made the HBO host cringe  a lot.

While addressing the press, Hegseth complained about the coverage of the war Trump has waged in Iran. He was particularly bothered by reports that the administration didnt plan for impact on the Strait of Hormuz, which has led to a spike in gas prices for Americans. Hegseth angrily called CNNs reporting unserious and said The sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better.

Wow, that is not good! Oliver said, watching the clip on Sunday. I cant wait until the billionaire sympathetic to this administration takes over the news is a little like your mom saying When you were conceived, your dad came harder than ever before.'

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Even if you thought that was the case, your ability to make it through the day really depends on never hearing those words! Oliver added.

Indeed, it appears as though the Ellisons will be taking over CNN, as the network will be included in Paramounts purchase of Warner Bros. CEO David Ellison told CNBC that CNN would maintain editorial independence, despite the Ellisons friendship with the president, and the fact that CNN has long been a target of the administration.

Meanwhile, actual CNN staffers have expressed anxiety. One staffer told TheWrap that people think it could be the end of CNN. Their concerns come after Ellison appointed Free Press cofounder Bari Weiss  whose first major blowback came when she pulled a story on the Trump administrations deportations  to reshape CBS News.

John Oliver himself also faces uncertainty under a Paramount-WBD merger, as HBO and HBO Max are currently owned by Warner Bros. Upon hearing the news of the Ellisons winning bid, Oliver asked How the fk do I get out of this?

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The latest episode of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver is now streaming on HBO Max.

The post John Oliver Cringes at Pete Hegseth Saying He Cant Wait for David Ellison to Take Over CNN: Wow, That Is Not Good appeared first on TheWrap.
On the latest Last Week Tonight, John Oliver took a deep dive on JD Vance, the former Hillbilly Elegy memoirist turned US senator from Ohio and Donald Trumps second-term vice-president. I know to some, Vance might appear to be just another abrasive Maga asshole with a load-bearing beard, Oliver duly noted. But to many on the right, hes a towering intellect.

Tucker Carlson once called him the smartest and deepest [senator] Ive ever met, which is kind of like Ryan Lochte calling Cookie Monster his go-to guy for investment advice, said Oliver. I dont trust any of the individuals involved on any of the subjects involved.

Vance has also performed one of the most confounding about-faces in modern politics. As recently as 2016, when he was doing press rounds for Hillbilly Elegy, he said that if Trump stood a good chance of winning, he would hold my nose and vote for Hillary Clinton, because Trump would become Americas Hitler. Just a few years later, he was campaigning for the Senate in Ohio alongside him.

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And Vance has turned out to be perfect for Trump, as in many ways hes become like a son Trump doesnt even have to pretend to love, Oliver quipped. The 41-year-old has served as a dutiful attack dog for the president, defending the presidents decisions with barely passable rationalizations.

Related: John Oliver on the demise of USAID: What this administration has done is beyond cruel

Now obviously some of that is just being vice-president  you have to roll over for your boss, Oliver said. But its worth remembering: Vance has an inside track to the Oval Office in the future, not only because polls show him leading the Republican field for 2028, but also because if this guy doesnt make it through his term, either because the 25th amendment got invoked or his internal organs decided you know what, dude, you cant keep doing this to us, were out, JD Vance will become president.

Given that, Oliver dug into Vances current ideology and status as a prominent rightwing troll. But first, he returned to 10-year-old clips of Vance, expressing somewhat complicated and grounded views on the white working class and the impulse to scapegoat others for political expediency. It is strange to see such a nuanced tone from a guy who has since become such a troll, Oliver observed. It would be like finding old videos of your dog eating with a fork and knife. What the fuck?! Yesterday, I watched you take a shit and then eat it mouth-first. How on earth did we get from this to that?

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I wish I could tell you what happened to him between 2016 and that moment, but sadly I am not a mind reader nor the therapist he so desperately needs, he continued. Vance would tell you its that Trump turned out to be a great president in his first term. Others would say that hes a power-hungry ladder-climber who saw that the Maga right was the only way up.

But Id argue his shift was both opportunistic and genuine. Because Vance has seemed to have journeyed farther and farther into some pretty far-right thought. In 2024, Vance himself said he was plugged into a lot of weird rightwing subcultures, guided by his mentor and patron, the billionaire PayPal founder Peter Thiel  which isnt something you want to hear from your Tinder date, let alone the fucking vice-president, Olive fumed. In fact, in many ways, hes become the archetype of the hyper-online conservative troll, right down to the whole kidding/not kidding, trigger the libs shtick.

Related: John Oliver on police bodycam footage: Hoping for leaks cannot be the system here

As an example, Oliver pointed to Vances role in spreading lies about Haitian immigrants eating cats and dogs in Springfield, Ohio; when asked by CNNs Kaitlan Collins about the baseless rumor, Vance insisted that the claim deserved attention, and only got some because Republicans turned it into a meme about cats.

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You didnt turn it into a meme about cats, Oliver responded. You shared misinformation that turned a whole town upside down. And it wasnt even the fun kind of misinformation, like when that same summer, everyone got convinced that Vance had fucked a couch, a theory that went so viral it led to us calling Vances team and asking: Has the senator ever had sex with a couch? To which, by the way, they hung up on us.

He added that the show followed up via email with the same question, along with several additional follow-ups on whether Vance had ever had sex with a latex glove stuffed between two couch cushions or any other furniture or household items.

So far, they still havent responded to us, which isnt exactly a resounding no, is it? he added. And its not like its hard to deny you fucked a couch. If you email hasjohnoliverfuckedacouch@hasjohnoliverfuckedacouch.com and ask if Ive fucked one, I promise youll be emailed right back with an answer of: No way.

That exchange is basically JD Vance in a nutshell, Oliver added. He told a racist lie he saw on social media, doubled down, then tried to play the you elites dont get it card to huff his way out of the whole thing.

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As for where Vances beliefs have ended up, the result is, according to Oliver, pretty grim. The vice-president has inaccurately blamed numerous societal issues, such as healthcare costs and home prices, on undocumented immigrants and expressed nakedly racist views. (It is totally reasonable and acceptable for American citizens to look at their nextdoor neighbors and say: I want to live next to people that I have things in common with, Vance said on a radio show.) And he remains obsessed with women having children, even going so far as to say that childless women are more sociopathic and that the rejection of the American family is the most pernicious and evil thing the left has done.

That is, at least in part, who Vance is, and Id argue its repellant, said Oliver. But the dangerous thing is hes proven himself able to hide the worst part of himself at moments when the most people are watching him. Oliver pointed to the 2024 vice-presidential debate, in which Vance appeared polished and reasonable, to the surprise of many Democrats.

If he can put that act back on when everyone is looking, we may be in trouble, Oliver noted. All of which is why it is so important to remember who JD Vance actually is. Because hell present himself as an anti-elitist man of the people, but much of his career has been bankrolled by tech billionaires such as Thiel. Hell offer empathy and understanding when it comes to non-conventional thinkers, but hell deride immigrants as a net-negative on society, and its not hard to see what the differences between those two groups are.

I know Vance is easy to write off as a charisma-less asshole, he concluded, but scratch even one inch under the surface  peel back the beard  and youll find something far worse: his batshit views, and his bare fucking face.
Lisa and Daniel have become one of the most talked-about couples on 90 Day Fiance: Before the 90 Days Season 8. After meeting online, Lisa fell hard for Daniel. She decided to fly to Nigeria to meet him after six months of online dating, although she was hiding several things from him. Daniel, on the other hand, also has questionable intent for wanting to be with Lisa.

In recent years, 90 Day Fiance fans have craved the authentic chaos that older seasons of the show offered. Lisa and Daniel are the closest couple that weve had to old school 90 Day Fiance in years, and viewers are loving it. No matter how Lisa and Daniels story this season ends, they will both be remembered in the franchise for years to come.

Lisa and Daniel have a unique story on 90 Day Fiance: Before the 90 Days Season 8

Lisa and Daniel arguably have the most captivating story line on Season 8. When she was first introduced, Lisa explained that she has a complicated relationship history. She has been married five times, and was still technically married to her fifth spouse at the time of filming. However, Lisa revealed that for the last twenty-one years, she had only been with women. Daniel was the first man to catch her eye in over two decades, which made her sure that there was something special about him. However, she didnt tell Daniel about any of this, due to Nigerian cultures views of same sex marriage.

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Daniel, on the other hand, also had an interesting introduction. He revealed that before his mother passed away, she had been saved by a white woman during a war. As a result, he promised her that he would marry a white woman. He believed that Lisa was the woman he was looking for, but also made it clear that he was very interested in coming to America. This caused viewers to question if Daniel loved Lisa or if he was in the relationship for a green card.

Their chaotic story has resulted in several memorable moments

Lisa and Daniels story this season has created several memorable moments, which will be remembered for a while. When Lisa first arrived in Nigeria, Daniel proposed to her right at the airport. He brought along a large group who sang and danced while he proposed. This was one of the quickest proposals in 90 Day Fiance history and was the first of Season 8. Lisa accepted, but she felt bad as she didnt get a chance to tell Daniel the truth about her past.

Another memorable moment came from one of the couples huge fights. When Lisa came clean to Daniel about being married five times and still being married, he was shocked. He took some time away from the camera and accidentally gave one of the most hilarious 90 Day Fiance confessionals ever. He claimed that he felt blindsided by Lisa because he thought white people tell the truth. This was unintentionally hilarious and quickly became a meme. Back at the table, Lisa was distraught because he still didnt know that she was still married to a woman. She cried out, and he doesnt even know shes a she. This was also another unintentionally funny one-liner. Between Lisa and Daniel, the 90 Day Fiance franchise now has several memorable new quotes.

Lisa and Daniel bear similarities with other memorable 90 Day Fiance couples

Lisa and Daniel arent the first iconic 90 Day Fiance couple with one American and one Nigerian partner. One of the most infamous couples in 90 Day Fiance history was Angela Deem and Michael Ilesanmi. They had a similar age difference as Lisa and Daniel, and created many memorable moments. While they are now divorced, they will always be considered a classic couple of the franchise.

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Lisa Hamme and Usman Umar were another memorable couple who filmed in Nigeria. Usman wrote Lisa a song, and even married her before they ultimately went their separate ways. Many fans found it hilarious that another Lisa from Pennsylvania was going to Nigeria for a relationship. While Lisa and Daniels relationship is currently in jeopardy, they will always be remembered regardless of how things end.

90 Day Fiance: Before the 90 Days is available to stream on Discovery +.

TELL US  WHAT DO YOU THINK OF LISA AND DANIEL ON BEFORE THE 90 DAYS SEASON 8? WHAT DO YOU THINK HAS BEEN THEIR MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT SO FAR?

The post How Lisa and Daniel Have Already Become a Historic 90 Day Fiance Couple appeared first on Reality Tea.
(NewsNation)  Production for The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives has been temporarily shut down after an explosive argument between two members of the cast.

Taylor Frankie Paul and Dakota Mortensen reportedly fought while filming Season 5 of the Hulu reality show, according to TMZ.

Paul and Mortensen have had an on-again, off-again relationship since 2022, according to People Magazine, and they broke up in December 2024.

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Sean Penn wins Oscar for One Battle After Another, skips show for Ukraine

The reality stars welcomed their son, Ever True, in 2024, and their tumultuous relationship has been a major storyline on the show.

PARK CITY, UTAH  JANUARY 24: Dakota Mortensen at the Arbys Cinema Center during the We Audition party on January 24, 2026 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Sara Jaye/Getty Images for Arbys) Taylor Frankie Paul, right, Jennifer Affleck, and Jessi Ngatikaura, left, speak with ABC4s Sarah Murphy on their upcoming show, The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.

Mortensen claims he and Paul, who was named the newest Bachelorette last year, were intimate a day before she left to film the show.

This is kind of like the last, our last time seeing each other before she goes away, he said in a confessional on the show.

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NewsNation.
Who would have thought it?

Two missing Doctor Who episodes feared to be lost forever will be broadcast for the first time in 60 years after they were found stuffed in a cardboard box.

The episodes of the iconic British science fiction television series were discovered wrapped in plastic in the private collection of a deceased film collector by the charity Film is Fabulous! according to BBC News and a news release.

Two Doctor Who episodes, lost for 60 years, were found and will air this Easter. BBC/Courtesy of Everett Collection / Everett Collection

The trust, run by movie collectors and lovers of vintage TV, approached the BBC Archives, which worked to restore the original 16mm telerecordings of the two black-and-white episodes.

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The episodes  The Nightmare Begins and Devils Planet  were originally broadcast in November 1965 during the shows third season starring the late William Hartnell as the Doctor. The episodes are part of a 12-part serial called The Daleks Master Plan which is still largely missing.

Both of the recovered episodes will be made available on the BBCs streaming platform, BBC iPlayer, this Easter.

Were thrilled to have worked with the team at Film is Fabulous! to bring these lost Doctor Who episodes to viewers on BBC iPlayer this Easter, said Noreen Adams, director of the BBC Archives.

BBC Archives has been working to restore the original recordings and update these to broadcast quality, ensuring fans can enjoy a little extra treat with their Easter Eggs this April, she said.

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The worlds longest-running sci-fi series, Doctor Who features an eccentric alien main character traveling through time and space in the TARDIS  a spaceship resembling an old-fashioned British police box. It initially ran from 1963-1989 and continues to air after a 2005 relaunch.

The 1965 episodes, starring William Hartnell, were found in a collectors box and restored. BBC

Over the decades, it has built up a cult appeal in the US, thanks to its campy special effects, glamorous assistants, and iconic villains such as the Daleks and the Cybermen.

Hartnell was the first of 15 actors to play the Doctor, the most recent being Ncuti Gatwa between 2023 and 2025.

Of the 253 episodes aired as part of the 26 seasons in the original Doctor Who series, 95 episodes are missing.

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Between 1967 and 1978, the BBC regularly deleted archive programs for reasons of a lack of space and a lack of rebroadcast rights.

The BBC deleted many old episodes; 95 are still missing, with 11 found in Nigeria in 2013.

Doctor Who superfans have worked for decades to try and recover or restore the missing episodes. The last find of any missing installments of the series was in 2013, when copies of 11 long-lost episodes were found in a Nigeria TV station.

In some ways finding missing Doctor Whos is the holy grail, De Monfort University film professor and Film is Fabulous! member Justin Smith told the Associated Press.

With Post wires
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Credit: CBS

The story of Yellowstones Dutton family legacy continues to thrive on CBS with Marshals, which has which has already been renewed for Season 2 just two episodes into its run on the 2026 TV schedule. The role of Kayce Dutton was a life-changer for actor Luke Grimes, who was convinced to return to the role after thinking he was done, and it wasnt long at all before he decided to shift his home life (with wife Bianca Rodrigues Grimes) from Los Angeles to Montanas Bitterroot Valley in 2020.

As such, the actor has been living in the state long enough to have witnessed the direct effect Yellowstones massive popularity had on the local community during its five-season stretch and beyond. While guesting on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, the burgeoning country music star addressed that the influx of outsiders moving to the region wasnt exactly welcomed with open arms by the locals. To the point where some creative messaging tactics were enforced. As Grimes put it:

Its true [Yellowstone made a lot of people move]. Theyre not happy about it. The valley that I live in, we had some people come visit us, our friends from California, drove out. We went on a hike. And we were in their car. They had Cali plates. We get off the hike and someone had written go back in the dust on their car.

That is pretty hilarious. Though it involves someones vehicle being messed with by a stranger, at least no damage was done, and the message (seemingly) wasnt overtly hateful. I cant think of the last time I saw a truly welcoming message written in dirt on someones vehicle. Besides maybe "Wash Me," but that's a different kind of welcome.

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Hes not exactly willing to give up an exact location on where he and his family are currently holed up, lest there be any vindictive locals who might potentially want to pay him a visit. In his words:

Like people are super weird about it. So, I dont tell anyone like exactly where Im at, because they would get really mad at me.

Luke Grimes, who lived in Los Angeles for around 16 years before uprooting anew, laughed when saying moving to Montana made it confusing it is to know when to eat dinner, as the sun doesnt set until 11 p.m. I wonder how much money gets spent on blackout curtains up there.

More On Luke Grimes

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Despite any amount of antagonism or side-eyed judgement that exudes from any of the locals that he crosses paths with, Luke Grimes is not holding onto any regrets when it comes to moving from Hollywood to Big Sky Country. It also doesn't sound like he's dead set on pissing off any of those locals, either, and seems much more content with keeping to himself and letting the outside world go on without him constantly being involved. Here's how he put it:

We love it, man. It was the best thing thats ever happened for me, just sort of like all the L.A. stuff we were talking about, its the opposite of that. I have no FOMO about anything anymore. I can just eat and think and sleep and read and watch films. Its the best.

Grimes has previously talked about how living in Montana has been a boon for his non-acting endeavors, without the hustle and bustle of Hollywood being a constant distraction from digging into songwriting (especially for country music) and other creative ventures. Maybe if all of Montana's newer residents would keep to themselves the way Grimes does, the locals might not be so lit up about it all. Or maybe nothing would help.

Fans can catch Luke Grimes' Kayce Dutton tearing it up around Montana every Sunday night on CBS, with new episodes of Marshals airing at 8:00 p.m. ET, and streaming the next day via Paramount+ subscription.
The post The 10 Most Destructive Invasive Animals in North America appeared first on A-Z Animals.

Quick Take

Some of the most destructive invasive species in North America share one common trait: persistence .

Managing feral swine is now a $1.6 billion requirement to protect U.S. agricultural interests, and this is just one invasive species causing damage in North America.

The sea lamprey could collapse Great Lakes fisheries within months if current control efforts are paused.

More than 15 million pounds of invasive carp were harvested from Kentucky and Barkley lakes in 2024, yet the species still remains in these waterways.

What makes an animal invasive, and which species are causing the most destruction across North America? A species is considered invasive when it is non-native to an ecosystem and its introduction causes, or is likely to cause, economic or environmental harm or harm to human health. This is especially true when communities are trapped by them, ultimately paying for the animals long-term control.

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These ten animals rank high on any destructive invasive species list because they reliably do damage in multiple ways: ecological disruption and economic loss are the main factors, with their continued spread into new landscapes causing the rest. So, what are some of the most destructive invasive species in North America, and are any of them in your home state?

Weve found the top ten animal culprits, providing you with what the species harms most, why it keeps spreading, a list of the states these animals have taken over, and wildlife agency insight into these invasive species. Lets take a closer look now.

1) Feral Swine/Wild Pigs

Most affected states: Texas, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, California, Hawaii

Wild pigs are primarily destructive because they excavate, and excavate seriously. The rooting they are capable of turns native plant communities into bare soil, collapses ground nests, muddies vital waterways, and makes it easy for invasive weeds to spread. When feral hogs move through agricultural land, the damage becomes immediate and expensive, affecting businesses and homes alike.

The wild pig problem continues to spread across North America. ZoranOrcik/Shutterstock.com (ZoranOrcik/Shutterstock.com)

The financial impact of feral swine is especially significant for this reason. A national assessment commonly cited by agriculture groups lists the annual U.S. agricultural losses from feral swine at over $1.6 billion, and that number doesnt even attempt to tally every ecosystem cost, such as erosion and water-quality impacts tied to rooting and wallows.

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What makes wild pigs especially hard to manage is how quickly they bounce back. USDA Wildlife Services has long described feral swine as a fast-growing population that can expand range rapidly without sustained pressure, and the states currently dealing with them understand this intense expansion better than most.

2) Zebra and Quagga Mussels

Most affected states: Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, New York, Nevada, Arizona, California, Colorado, Utah

If you want a small animal that winds up making big bills for states, invasive mussels are it. These deceptive shellfish cover infrastructure of all types, turning boat and coastal building maintenance into a constant chore. Plus, they strip plankton from waterways, shifting the food baselines that native fish depend on. They also ultimately change how people can use water systems, according to experts.

The spread of zebra mussels can be difficult to control if boaters are not responsible. Dolores M. Harvey/Shutterstock.com (Dolores M. Harvey/Shutterstock.com)

Oregons invasive-species coordinator, Rick Boatner, has described the trouble with mussels in a radio interview with Oregon Public Broadcasting, warning that once quagga mussels arrive, they will forever change how we use water in Oregon. He tied his warning directly to water delivery and management realities, alongside ecological ramifications. Thats why its paramount to ensure boaters dont have any hitchhikers when moving their vessels from different waterways; you never know when a mussel might be onboard.

3) Bighead and Silver Carp

Most affected states: Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, Indiana, Ohio (and the wider Mississippi River Basin, with potential Great Lakes risk)

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Bighead and silver carp compete with native fish by consuming plankton, and once they reach high numbers, they can completely change what a river system can support. They also spread through connected waterways with ease, which is why agencies treat them as both a fisheries issue and a containment challenge in affected waterways.

Kentuckys wildlife agency has been transparent about how aggressive the removal of these carps has to be. In fact, the state recently increased payments to commercial fishers to keep carp harvest pressure high, and the agencys Aquatic Invasive Species Program coordinator, Joshua Tompkins, explained the strategy: We have several lines of evidence suggesting our management strategy is reducing invasive carp populations in both lakes To keep that trend going, were adapting our efforts to maintain harvest at effective levels.

The number of invasive carp threatening North America is astronomical. Invasive Carp Removal Program/public domain  Original / License (Invasive Carp Removal Program/public domain)

The scale of removal is massive: more than 15 million pounds of carp were harvested from Kentucky and Barkley lakes in 2024, and more than 74 million pounds have been harvested from these lakes since 2013. Dave Dreves, the Fisheries Division director for Kentucky Fish and Wildlife, said the incentive helps ensure the state keep[s] suppressing invasive carp numbers, calling it a big win not only for anglers and boaters but also for the regions $940 million tourism economy. Still, ongoing management is necessary, as these fish spread far too easily to ignore.

4) Emerald Ash Borer

Most affected states: Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Maryland, and a growing western footprint, including Oregon

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The well-known killer of ash trees, emerald ash borers spread quickly once theyre established. When dead or dying trees accumulate, they become hazards near roads, homes, and power lines. This leads to increased removal and replacement costs, while forests simultaneously lose their canopies and vital habitat structures for multiple species.

State agencies understand the scale of this threat, including Minnesotas Department of Natural Resources, noting that the emerald ash borer has killed millions of ash trees across the U.S. and Canada. In fact, its so bad that Minnesotas dwindling ash resources put the state at long-term risk, with a multi-year arc of vital tree loss.

Emerald ash borers are named for the brilliant emerald color of their wings and shells, but they are highly destructive. iStock.com/Donald Bilski (iStock.com/Donald Bilski)

In Oregon, on the other side of the country, the beetles spread has drawn significant public attention. Wyatt Williams of the Oregon Department of Forestry described ash trees within the state as basically sitting ducks, which is likely how other Western states will be affected, too. By the time this pest is widely noticed, the system is already behind and may not catch up in time to save the trees.

5) Burmese Python

Most affected states: Florida (especially South Florida and the Everglades region)

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While Burmese pythons are not widespread across many states, they are extremely destructive where present. They are broad predators in a place full of vulnerable prey, taking anything from mammals to birds to reptiles indiscriminately. Once a breeding population is established, removing it becomes a long-term suppression effort rather than a simple solution.

While only in Florida, Burmese pythons are incredibly damaging to ecosystems. dwi putra stock/Shutterstock.com (dwi putra stock/Shutterstock.com)

Floridas own wildlife agency considers Burmese pythons as extremely invasive in Florida due to their impacts on native wildlife. In fact, the state has it set as legal for them to be removed year-round on many managed lands, with continual removal encouraged as opposed to seasonal, recreational hunting of these snakes.

6) Nutria

Most affected states: Louisiana, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina

Similar to feral hogs, nutria damage wetlands by eating the plants that hold marsh soils together. When they graze vegetation down to roots, the marsh loses structure and erosion accelerates beyond repair, with open water the only future for some of these affected areas. Wildlife habitat is lost and the marshs ability to buffer storms is reduced; this creates an expensive restoration problem caused by a single animals feeding behavior.

Nutria damage crops and soil, similar to feral hogs. Robert Adami/Shutterstock.com (Robert Adami/Shutterstock.com)

Louisianas wildlife agency is direct about the damage, as nutria were introduced to the state through the fur trade, then became established in coastal marshes, where theyve caused extensive wetland damage. In a call for participation in the Coastwide Nutria Control Program, LDWF biologist Catherine Normand said the program is essential for keeping nutria populations at manageable levels to prevent their destruction of our valuable marshlands, with private land enrollment protecting both property and the overall coastline.

7) Sea Lamprey

Most affected states: Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York (plus Ontario in Canada)

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Sea lampreys are destructive because they attack fish directly and can collapse fisheries if not consistently controlled. Unlike some other invasive animals, they do not need to outcompete native species; they simply kill the fish they attach to.

Michigan is extremely affected by sea lampreys, but other states are as well. Theresa Grace/Shutterstock.com (Theresa Grace/Shutterstock.com)

The Great Lakes Fishery Commission has a control program with long-running success rates, but the program still requires constant work. They note that sea lamprey control has reduced populations by about 90% in most areas of the Great Lakes, warning that, if control is relaxed, lamprey rebound and host fish decline within months. Thats why funding for this program remains vital, though it is questioned frequently by officials.

8) Red Imported Fire Ant

Most affected states: Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee

This specific type of fire ant is especially destructive because it can damage multiple targets at once: wildlife (especially ground-nesting species), livestock, people, and even infrastructure. They also thrive in disturbed, human-altered landscapes, which are increasingly common in the warm-climate states these ants prefer.

When it comes to their diet, red imported fire ants are known to feed on the buds and fruits of various crops, which is why they are a damaging invasive species. NOTE OMG/Shutterstock.com (NOTE OMG/Shutterstock.com)

The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension has estimated the fire ants annual impacts in Texas at around $1.2 billion when damage and control are combined, and widespread costs occur quickly once ant populations are established in any given state. It is a recurring national cost issue in warm regions, with prevention and treatment remaining vital to the states listed above.

9) Spotted Lanternfly

Most affected states: Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia, Connecticut

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Lanternflies cause damage in two ways: they feed heavily on plant sap and produce honeydew, which leads to sooty mold buildup. The species also spreads efficiently via egg masses laid on common items like vehicles and outdoor furniture, making human activity a key factor in their spread.

Spotted lanternflies lay multiple eggs at once, which is why its important to be proactive in their removal. iStock.com/arlutz73 (iStock.com/arlutz73)

Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding has repeatedly pushed a simple, quantifiable message: egg mass removal is vital. In coverage of the states recent lanternfly quarantine expansion, he said, Every egg mass you scrape and squash means 3050 pests wont hatch in May, noting thats what Pennsylvania residents are growing accustomed to doing in their yards in early spring.

10) Brown Marmorated Stink Bug

Most affected states: Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, New Jersey, New York (plus orchard regions in additional Western states)

These stink bugs cause chronic damage to commercial fruits and vegetables, often requiring repeated control efforts. They also move between crops and nearby habitats, making outbreaks seem sudden and difficult to predict. Although originally established on the East Coast, brown marmorated stink bugs have now spread to many states across the U.S., including the Midwest and West Coast.

These insects cause damage to commercial crop industries. Ruth Swan/Shutterstock.com (Ruth Swan/Shutterstock.com)

While this insect is often tracked through agriculture channels rather than fish-and-game agencies, its destruction is notable. It repeatedly imposes costs on growers and supply chains in the Mid-Atlantic and beyond, with extensive management guidance coming from land-grant extension systems and state agriculture partners in their efforts to mitigate damages.

Why These Ten Species Remain a Serious, Nation-Wide Issue

There is a reason each of these animals made our list of destructive invasive species. They each have the potential to change the landscapes they enter, often beyond repair. While they are all distinctly different, their shared trait is persistence: once established, these species keep generating damage unless theres constant suppression or prevention.

There are many invasive species in North America; these are just some of the most damaging. Jay Ondreicka/Shutterstock.com (Jay Ondreicka/Shutterstock.com)

That is why invasive species awareness is essential across all of North America. Certain regions face more destruction than others, but it is up to all of us to understand these species and stop their spread as soon as they are detected.

The post The 10 Most Destructive Invasive Animals in North America appeared first on A-Z Animals.
WASHINGTON, March 16 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. forces are continuing operations to weaken Iran's ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, Brad Cooper, head of U.S. Central Command, said Monday.

"We will continue to rapidly deplete Iran's ability to threaten the freedom of navigation in and around the Strait of Hormuz," Cooper said in a video statement posted on X.

However, the commander gave no details on how the United States would reopen the strait, the critical global energy waterway that Iran has effectively closed.

Cooper said Friday's U.S. strikes on Kharg Island, Iran's oil export hub, destroyed more than 90 military targets, including storage bunkers for naval mines and missiles.

In the past 16 days, U.S. forces have carried out more than 6,000 combat missions, destroying over 100 Iranian naval vessels, while Iran has fired hundreds of missiles and drones at targets in about 12 countries across the region, Cooper said.

The United States and Israel launched massive attacks on Iran on Feb. 28, disrupting global shipping and resulting in soaring oil prices and a volatile global economy. 
People from across North Jersey watched the 2026 Bergen County St. Patrick's Day Parade march along Washington Avenue in downtown Bergenfield on Sunday, March 15.

NorthJersey.com's annual live parade broadcast captured all of the action, including marching bands, bagpipes and plenty of flags  and interspersed the live coverage with historical images of the parade and interviews with parade officials, dignitaries and more.

Hundreds of people gathered along the sidewalks of Washington Avenue in Bergenfield on a chilly, windy afternoon to celebrate the festivities. During the hourlong procession, patrons saw local law enforcement, modern and vintage firetrucks, several marching bands and color guards, bagpipers, civic and community groups and more.

Oliver Urban, 10, blows bubbles as he marches in the St. Patrick's Day Parade with his Cub Scout group, Sunday, March 11, 2026, in Bergenfield. Members of the Bergen Irish Pipe Band marches down Washington Avenue during the St. Patrick's Day Parade, Sunday, March 11, 2026, in Bergenfield. The St. Patrick's Day Parade moves down Washington Avenue, Sunday, March 11, 2026, in Bergenfield. Tom McKenna, of Hillsdale, and others enjoy the St. Patrick's Day Parade, Sunday, March 11, 2026, in Bergenfield. Adriana DiCristo (left arm up) and others enjoy the St. Patrick's Day Parade, Sunday, March 11, 2026, in Bergenfield. See photos from Bergenfield's 44th annual St. Patrick's Day Parade 1 of 5 Oliver Urban, 10, blows bubbles as he marches in the St. Patrick's Day Parade with his Cub Scout group, Sunday, March 11, 2026, in Bergenfield.

Longtime parade participants said this year's edition had one of the highest turnouts in recent memory.

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Brian Clancy, who had participated in the parade in previous years as a member of the Bergen Irish Pipe Band, served as the grand marshal of the parade. Clancy is also chief of the New Milford Police Department.

Members of the Bergen Irish Pipe Band marches down Washington Avenue during the St. Patrick's Day Parade, Sunday, March 11, 2026, in Bergenfield.

Clancy, along with Irish Council President Deirdre Spollan-LaRaie and Tommy Fox's owner Tommy O'Reilly, joined us during the parade to share their perspectives on the growth of the parade and the richness of the community that helps support it.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: 2026 St. Patrick's Day Parade in Bergenfield. Watch our replay
Person holding a bowl of Colombian changua - Luis Echeverri Urrea/Shutterstock

If you visit a cold mountain town in Colombia's Central Andean Range, you might be served an uncommonly white soup for breakfast. Sip it and you'll savor a mix of sweetness and saltiness that some people find delicious and others off-putting. I'm in the first group, and this soup, called changua, is one of my favorite breakfasts. But I understand why some people might be hesitant about slurping milk with eggs, cilantro, cheese, and hardened bread.

Changua is a traditional dish from the Colombian departments of Boyaca and Cundinamarca. The latter includes the country's capital, Bogota, where I'm originally from. Because mornings here can be cold, changua is a great way to start the day with a warm, protein-filled bowl of soup. As for the "strange" mix of ingredients, all I can say is that Colombians love creative culinary combinations. We do, after all, add cheese to our hot chocolate and top our hot dogs with chips and quail eggs.

That said, the soup is divisive even amongst Colombians. Make sure to try it if you're ever in the region, though. Changua is creamy and salty, and hits the spot when you want something comforting for breakfast. It's okay if you don't like it, but at least give your taste buds the chance to decide for themselves. And, who knows? Maybe you'll join my camp and end up craving milk soup to start the day.

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Read more: The Most Overpriced Breakfast Chains, According To Customers

How to make Colombian changua

Bowl of changua with bread pieces and blocks of cheese - Luis Echeverri Urrea/Shutterstock

While you probably can't fly to Colombia just to try a soup, changua is very easy to make at home. Recipes vary widely, but you always need water, milk, eggs, cilantro, semi-hardened cheese, hardened bread, and salt. Some people also add scallions and butter. Start by boiling about 3 cups of water, 3 cups of milk, and salt in a medium pot over high heat. If you want to add scallions and butter, put them into the pot as well. When the soup starts to boil, bring the heat down to medium-low and cook the eggs (two to four work perfectly) until the yolk is hardened. Then, turn off the heat and serve the soup in a bowl.

Once the soup is plated, garnish it with cilantro to give it some freshness, and drop the cubes of cheese into it. This is also the moment to add bread. You have a couple of choices for this step. My favorite ones are either almojabana or pan de bono, which are Colombian cheese breads. Otherwise, you can go for regular hardened bread, though it should be in chunks rather than slices. The idea is for the bread to soften and give the soup a bit of texture. Some people also like to serve Colombian arepas (which are very different from Venezuelan ones) on the side. In about 15 minutes, you get a hearty soup that is perfect for adventurous eaters willing to give unique foods a chance.

For more food and drink goodness, join The Takeout's newsletter and add us as a preferred search source. Get taste tests, food & drink news, deals from your favorite chains, recipes, cooking tips, and more!

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Welcome to the Des Moines Burger Bracket, a competition to see where Des Moines residents love to eat burgers.

We pit 16 restaurants  some specializing in a long list of burgers, some classics and some that have a great option on the menu  against each other in an NCAA-style bracket. Contenders include a mix of restaurants in the Des Moines metro. You can help by voting for your favorite restaurant. The seeds were randomly selected.

Similar to a NCAA hoops bracket, your favorites will battle it out with round-by-round voting March 16-April 2, with a winner announced April 3. Well keep you posted every step of the way until a winner is declared.

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This first round of voting remains open until March 19. Round two of voting runs March 20-24, and the final four burgers battle it out March 25-29. The finals run March 30-April 2. The winner will be announced April 3. And now, to the match-ups:

More: 29 of the best burgers you need to try in the Des Moines metro

Lacheles Fine Foods vs. Bubba Southern Comforts

Lacheles Fine Foods

The Boom Boom Burger at Lachele's Fine Foods in Highland Park in Des Moines comes with a smash patty, American cheese, grilled onion, Boom Boom sauce and mayo on a potato roll.

Crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside. The namesake Lachele burger cooked on a griddle comes with the standards: pickles, onions, romaine lettuce, and American cheese on a sesame seed bun. No, its not a Big Mac; its much, much better. Cory Wendel named the restaurant for his wife, Lachele. Gluten-free options are available as well.

Locations: 2716 Ingersoll Ave., Des Moines, 515-330-6876; and 3621 Sixth Ave., Des Moines, 515-330-6876

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Contact: lacheles.com

Bubba Southern Comforts

The Bowtie burger at Bubba comes with pimento cheese and pecan-smoked bacon.

Bubba, the Southern restaurant in downtown Des Moines, only has one burger on its menu, but its an ode to down South cuisine. The Bowtie burger comes topped with pimento cheese and pecan-smoked bacon on a brioche bun. You can add a fried egg for an extra dollar. Find it at brunch, lunch and dinner.

Location: 200 10th St., Des Moines

Contact: 515-257-4744 or bubbadsm.com

Jesses Embers vs. The Cheese Bar

Jesses Embers

The Emberburger at Jesse's Embers features a half pound sirloin beef patty served with French fries or pasta salad.

At Jesses Embers  one of Des Moines most enduring supperclub institutions  the steakhouse ethos extends beyond its celebrated ribeyes and chops. Tucked into the restaurants lineup of openpit favorites is a humble, quietly iconic staple: the Emberburger with cheese, a minimalist hamburger made with a half-pound of sirloin that reflects the restaurants oldschool charm as much as its menus flamekissed roots.

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Location: 3301 Ingersoll Ave., Des Moines

Contact: 515-2556011 or theoriginaljessesembers.com

The Cheese Bar

The Cheese Bar Burger comes with Sakura beef, Alpine cheese, caramelized onions, roasted red peppers, pickles, fry sauce and greens on a South Union bun. Get it at Cheese Bar in Des Moines.

This restaurant on Ingersoll Avenue in Des Moines celebrates all things cheese, and the Cheese Bar Burger does just that. Sakura Beef, Alpine cheese, caramelized onions, roasted red peppers, pickles, fry sauce and greens come on a South Union bun. Do order the fries on the side; they're some of the best in the city.

Location: 2925 Ingersoll Ave., Des Moines

Contact: 515-277-7828 or cheesebardsm.com

Arcadia vs. Lua Brewing

Arcadia

The Smash Burger at Arcadia on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025, in Polk City.

Arcadias Smash Burger showcases the restaurants farm-to-table approach with a flavor-packed build: caramelized onions, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, cheddar cheese and Arcadia sauce, all layered over a smashgriddled beef patty. Known for its emphasis on fresh, local ingredients and a modern American menu with global touches, Arcadia elevates the classic burger into one of its signature draws  so much so that its highlighted among its top-rated offerings.

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Location: 1010 Tyler St., Polk City

Contact: 515-2070011 or arcadiapolkcity.com

Lua Brewing

Lua Brewing's smush burger features tomato jam, onion marmalade, homemade pickles, lettuce and muenster cheese on a brioche bun.

The brewery in Sherman Hill has found a following not only for its Iowa beers and Climbing Kites THC sparkling water, but its smush burger. Pull a chair up at a table on the patio and order the burger with two house-ground patties, fried onions, American cheese, Lua sauce and pickles. The restaurant also has an Impossible Burger version for $1 more.

Location: 1525 High St., Des Moines

Contact: 515-630-5311 or luabeer.com

Burger Shed vs. Prime & Providence

Burger Shed

Burger Shed in Altoona offers the mushroom and Swiss burger.

Burger Shed in Altoona is a lively, laidback restaurant from the Heart of America Group, the team behind the Machine Shed and Johnnys Italian Steakhouse. The space features 5,600 square feet of indoor dining and a 100-seat patio overlooking the lake, offering ample room for families, groups, and sports-watching crowds. The main level houses the primary dining room, while a lowerlevel  referenced in ordering systems as Barntown Shanes  provides an additional service area. Known for playful branding and hearty comfort fare, Burger Shed serves standout specialty burgers such as the Shed Burger with smoked brisket and barbecue sauce, the Mac Attack Burger topped with mac and cheese and bacon jam, and the Mushroom Swiss Burger.

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Location: 500 Bass Pro Drive N.W., Altoona

Contact: 515-6307433, eatatburgershed.com

Prime & Providence

The Black Label Burger at Prime & Providence in West Des Moines features an 8-ounce filet mignon, hand-chopped and grilled, then topped with raclette, mushrooms and burger sauce.

This steakhouse from Dominic Iannarelli and Cory Gourley in West Des Moines goes over-the-top with its version of a burger. Really, the Black Label burger is more of a filet mignon chopped into big cubes and then swaddled in raclette, roasted mushroom relish and burger sauce. During cocktail hour from 3 to 6 p.m., it's $25, or $18 as sliders. Diners can also go for a less fancy burger, the mac burger, topped with white cheddar cheese and triple-cooked bacon on a sesame bun with fries for $18 in the bar area.

Location: 595 60th St., Suite 100, West Des Moines

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Contact: 515-644-6805 or primeandprovidence.com

B-Bops vs. Exile Brewing

B-Bop's

B-Bops quarter-pound cheeseburger features ground beef with ketchup, mustard, onion, pickle, lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise on a toasted bun with American cheese.

B-Bops serves true retro fast food nostalgia, and its burgers remain the backbone of the Iowa favorite. The classic quarter-pound cheeseburger features 100% pure ground beef topped with catsup, mustard, onion, pickle, lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise and American cheese on a toasted bun  an old school build that hasnt changed in decades.

Founder Bob Johnson, who started his fastfood career in the early 1970s at a Mr. Quick in Bolingbrook, Illinois, moved to Iowa in 1973 to open his first Mr. Quick in Newton, eventually expanding to Fairfield and Muscatine. In 1983, Johnson and his partners rebranded their Mr. Quick locations to Sizzlin Sams, continuing to operate and grow the business. By the mid1980s, Johnson became increasingly interested in the emerging popularity of double drivethru restaurants, studying the trend and preparing to build his own concept. That opportunity came in 1988, when he located a vacant building at 1500 E. Euclid Ave. in Des Moines, which he identified as an ideal double drivethru site. After six months of renovations and brand development, the first BBop opened in late 1988. The restaurant quickly drew long drivethru lines and local attention for its burgers, establishing the foundation for the chain.

Locations: Visit B Bops at b-bops.com for locations.

Exile Brewing Co.

Exile Brewing Co.'s Exile Burger features Ruthie onion bacon jam, white cheddar, an onion haystack and truffle aioli.

At Exile Brewing Co. in downtown Des Moines, the signature Exile Burger delivers a decadent, modern brewpub twist on the classic American burger: a groundchuck patty layered with Ruthie onion bacon jam, white cheddar, a crisp onion haystack and truffle aioli, all hugged by a warm pretzel bun. The ambiance strikes a balance between industrialchic brewery and lively neighborhood gathering place  highceilinged, energetic and beerforward, with a spacious dining room and a patio that keeps the atmosphere buzzing through warmweather months.

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Location: 1514 Walnut St., Des Moines

Contact: 515-8832337 or exilebrewing.com

B&B Grocery, Meat & Deli vs. Mulberry Street Tavern

B&B Grocery, Meat & Deli

B&B Grocery, Meat & Deli is known for its Killer Burgers with up to four patties.

B&B Grocery, Meat & Deli  a south side landmark since 1922  keeps its famed Killer Burgers refreshingly old school. The lineup includes a third-pound cheeseburger for $2.89, a two-thirds-pound cheeseburger for $4.29, and the over-the-top triple cheeseburger for $5.69, all griddled and served on a classic bun. For those craving excess, the legendary Quadzilla stacks four third-pound patties with American cheese and full toppings. B&Bs burgers reflect its deli ethos: unpretentious, generous and built for appetite.

Location: 2001 S.E. Sixth St., Des Moines

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Contact: 515-2437607 or bbgrocerymeatdeli.com

Mulberry Street Tavern

The MST Burger at Mulberry Street Tavern is a favorite.

Mulberry Street Tavern, located inside the historic Surety Hotel, offers a warm, nostalgic and refined atmosphere in downtown Des Moines. The space blends rich woods, textured leather, and a long zinc bar, all set within a former early20thcentury bank building that retains Beaux-Arts architectural details, including marble, copper, artisan plaster and dramatic historic elements. The openhearth kitchen, featuring a Spanish woodfired charbroiler, brings lively energy to the dining room and underscores the taverns elevated take on classic tavern fare. The MST burger  touted by the restaurant as the hands-down best burger in Des Moines  is a standout smashburger layered with grilled onions, sriracha pickles, American cheese, mustard and caper mayo, making it a musttry for burger lovers.

Location: Surety Hotel, 206 Sixth Ave., Des Moines

Contact: 515-985-2066 or suretyhotel.com/mulberry-street-tavern

Lucky Horse Tavern vs. Littleleaf Luncheonette

Lucky Horse Tavern

Lucky Horse Beer & Burgers offers the Dogtown Burger with hot pepper bacon jam and Gouda.

Diners can choose from 12 burgers on the menu at Lucky Horse near Drake University, and the restaurant typically offers a burger of the month that rotates. Try the cheeseburger that includes a 7-ounce patty and American cheese, or go with the fried mushroom Swiss, bacon cheddar or Dogtown burger with hot pepper bacon jam and smoked Gouda. Gluten-free buns are available for $2.

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Location: 2331 University Ave., Des Moines

Contact: 515-381-9088 or luckyhorsedsm.com

Littleleaf Luncheonette

The tavern burger from Littleleaf Luncheonette in Waukee, Oct. 20, 2025.

The Tavern burger  made with a 45-day dry-aged flank and hanger steak blend inspired by the famous Red Hook Tavern burger  comes with American cheese, onion, pickle and burger sauce on a sesame bun. Order the crispyoutside, pillowyinside potato wedges. Gluten-free buns are available. For dinner, customers can order a slider version of the Tavern burger.

Location: 405 Sixth St., Waukee

Contact: 515-777-7171 or littleleafluncheonette.com

Zombie Burger + Drink Lab vs. Clydes Fine Diner

Zombie Burger + Drink Lab

Theyre Coming to Get You Barbara burger with a grilled cheese bun at Zombie Burger + Drink Lab in Des Moines

When people outside Iowa think of restaurants in Des Moines, they inevitably mention Zombie Burger, which earned a cult following for its zombie-themed menu. The GoreMet Bashed Burgers, as theyre called, come with a choice of one, two or three patties. The namesake Zombie burger comes with American cheese, lettuce, tomato and red onions, but other novelty names include the East Village of the Damned with a breaded mushroom and cheese croquette, the 28 Days Later with blue cheese and caramelized onion, and Theyre Coming to Get You, Barbara with two grilled-cheese-sandwich buns, American cheese, caramelized onion and bacon. Vegan diners can request the veggie nut patty, Beyond Meat patty or grilled Portobello.

Location: 300 E. Grand Ave., Des Moines

Contact: 515-244-9292 or zombieburgerdm.com

Clydes Fine Diner

Clyde's Fine Diner in the East Village in Des Moines offers the CFD burger.

Every diner should have a burger, and the elevated diner Clydes in the East Village offers a fine version. A James Beard Foundation semifinalist for Best Chef Midwest in 2024, Chris Hoffmann makes it tough to order anything besides the burger on his menu. The CFD burger features two patties, American cheese, the restaurant's own burger sauce, shaved onions, and pickles. You can also find a veggie burger with Field Roast vegan cheese, greens, shaved onion, and Dijonnaise, as well as an optional vegan bun and Dijon for $15. Order a vegan and gluten-free bun for an additional $2.

Location: 111 E. Grand Ave., Des Moines

Contact: 515-243-3686 or clydesfinediner.com

Sign up for our dining newsletter, Table Talk DSM, which comes out on Wednesday mornings with all the latest news on restaurants and bars in the metro. You can sign up for free at DesMoinesRegister.com/tabletalk.

Susan Stapleton is the entertainment editor and dining reporter at The Des Moines Register. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, or drop her a line at sstapleton@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Vote now as Des Moines Burger Brackets launch with citywide favorites
Detroit  The 68th Detroit St. Patricks Parade brought families and friends to Michigan Avenue for a celebration of Irish culture.

Participants were bedecked green accessories: beaded necklaces, clover-decorated clothing, bandanas, head bows and glittering face paint.

The parade rolled down Michigan Avenue in Corktown and offered a taste of Irish culture.

Jason McKay of Clinton Township was with longtime friend Kevin Sining, 52, who both had generations of family with them, wore leprechaun top hats on Sunday afternoon.

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"We're here to celebrate the Irish pride, Irish community and just family values. We got generations of our heritage ... we've been coming here for the last 10 years to celebrate the parade," said McKay, 51.

People from Motor City Irish Dance, the Whiskey Wagon, Fraternal Order of United Irishmen, Most Holy Trinity Parish, local officials like former Mayor Mike Duggan, school marching bands and more walked along Michigan as a group and waved at parade-goers who cheered and blew horns.

Green parade floats, clowns and bagpipes, bubble-blowing ghostbusters and dance and song performances entertained the crowd.

Corktown got its name as result of Irish immigrants that moved to Detroit from from County Cork. The Corktown neighborhood is Detroits oldest surviving neighborhood, and the Irish were the largest ethnic group of newcomers to Detroit at the time, according to the parade's website.

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The parade typically attracts 80,000 to 100,000 people, making it one of the largest St. Patricks parades in the country, the website said.

Jessica Corner of Royal Oak was invited to the parade by her neighbor, Patrick Brainer, who recommended she attend. The crowd of a dozen Royal Oak residents have been coming to the parade ever since.

"It's the marching bands for me. It's so exciting to see the marching bands, all the kids. And we're going to keep coming every year," said Corner, 36.

Anna Stileski and Justin Scott of Detroit found seats right at the parade kickoff near the Lodge Service Drive and Michigan Avenue.

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They said the event is an amenity of living in Detroit. The couple rode their mopeds to the celebration.

"We love the firefighter clowns. The ghostbusters are great," Stileski said.

The United Irish Societies, the parade organizer, is made up of over 35 Irish organizations across Metro Detroit that donate money, time and resources to support the parade.

In 1958, the UIS hosted the first St. Patricks Parade in Dearborn.

mjohnson@detroitnews.com

This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Detroit St. Patrick's Parade draws crowd to Irish culture
Early Monday, the line for security at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport stretched outside the terminal into the dawn.

Were expecting a record-breaking volume of people - there are about 38k of you flying out today, the airports social media account posted on X. Please arrive at least 2.5 hours prior to your flights departure for domestic.

Subscribe to The Post Most newsletter for the most important and interesting stories from The Washington Post.

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Its not just Austin. Travelers across the country are facing longer wait times thanks to the confluence of Transportation Security Administration staffing shortages, bad weather and a spring break travel surge. Even line-cutting programs such as TSA PreCheck and Clear have sometimes proved futile.

But there is one hack many travelers are missing that could save them: TSA PreCheck Touchless ID.

TSA PreCheck Touchless ID is a separate lane from regular PreCheck that uses facial recognition to verify your identity. Instead of handing an ID over to a TSA officer for verification, enrolled travelers just pause for a face scan, then keep moving to the X-ray machines. Its not available at every airport and can be used only with participating airlines.

Crucially, travelers must opt in to the program before they check in for their flight. If you try to enroll at the airport while youre stuck in a long line, its too late.

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Its also not a foolproof work-around. Weve shown up to the airport eager to try the program only to find the verification machine down for maintenance. Weve also been lumped into the standard PreCheck line in terminals where TSA PreCheck Touchless ID is available, but no dedicated lane was set up. So dont cut your arrival time too short.

Heres what else you need to know.

What is PreCheck Touchless ID?

The TSA said in an email that the program is a joint effort from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, airports and airlines that allows travelers to move through dedicated lanes with ease, enjoying a smoother and more convenient airport experience.

The first iteration was launched in 2021 in partnership with Delta Air Lines at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. It is expanding to 65 airports this spring.

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Just because you dont have to show your ID doesnt mean you should leave it at home. TSA warns that travelers should still carry a physical Real ID-compliant form of identification as a backup.

Who is eligible to use it?

To use the program, fliers must be a TSA PreCheck member with a valid known traveler number and an active airline profile (such as being enrolled in a loyalty program). They must also have a valid passport uploaded to their airline profile.

The airlines participating in the program include:

Alaska Airlines

American Airlines

Delta Air Lines

Southwest Airlines

United Airlines

What about families?

Children can use TSA PreCheck Touchless ID lanes with their enrolled parents on certain airlines, and policies will vary by airline.

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For example, American Airlines said only AAdvantage members 18 or older can use the program. The Delta Air Lines website says everyone traveling in your party must individually opt in for Touchless ID to participate in this program, including children.

Families should check with their airlines before travel.

How do I sign up?

To use the program, travelers must first opt in through their airlines website or app before checking in for their flight.

The process varies by airline, but you can usually find the prompt under a travel documents section (where you add your known traveler number or passport details) of your airline loyalty program app or website.

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American Airlines customers, for example, will find the opt-in choice toward the bottom of the Information and password page of their AAdvantage profile. Alaska Airlines customers should go to their account settings, then click the travel documents section.

Once travelers have opted in, then checked in for their flight, a TSA PreCheck Touchless ID symbol should appear on their boarding pass. At the airport, travelers should follow signs to a separate TSA PreCheck Touchless ID lane. Here, staff will ask to see your boarding pass to ensure youre enrolled before allowing you to enter. If the symbol is not on your boarding pass, you wont be able to use the lane, even if you are enrolled. In airports or terminals without dedicated lanes, travelers may be directed to the standard PreCheck lane.

Which airports offer PreCheck Touchless ID?

Travelers should check the TSA website for more information, as the program is expanding. TSA PreCheck Touchless ID is available at the following airports through varying participating airlines:

Albuquerque International Sunport

Austin-Bergstrom International Airport

Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport

Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport

Boise Airport

Boston Logan International Airport

Bradley International Airport

Buffalo Niagara International Airport

Charleston International Airport

Charlotte Douglas International Airport

Chicago Midway International Airport

Chicago OHare International Airport

Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport

Cleveland Hopkins International Airport

Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport

Dallas Love Field

Daniel K. Inouye International Airport

Denver International Airport

Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport

Washington Dulles International Airport

Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport

George Bush Intercontinental Airport

Harry Reid International Airport

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport

Indianapolis International Airport

Jacksonville International Airport

John F. Kennedy International Airport

John Glenn Columbus International Airport

John Wayne Airport

Kansas City International Airport

LaGuardia Airport

Long Beach Airport

Los Angeles International Airport

Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport

Luis Munoz Marin International Airport

Miami International Airport

Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport

Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport

Nashville International Airport

Newark Liberty International Airport

Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport

Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport

Orlando International Airport

Palm Beach International Airport

Palm Springs International Airport

Philadelphia International Airport

Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport

Pittsburgh International Airport

Portland International Airport

RaleighDurham International Airport

Reagan National Airport

Rhode Island T. F. Green International Airport

Sacramento International Airport

Salt Lake City International Airport

San Antonio International Airport

San Diego International Airport

San Francisco International Airport

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport

St. Louis Lambert International Airport

Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport

Tampa International Airport

Tulsa International Airport

Will Rogers International Airport

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What should I know about privacy concerns?

The TSA is using more facial recognition at the airport, including in regular security lanes and CBP checks.

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On its website, the TSA says, Images are not used for law enforcement, surveillance, nor shared with other entities. Your photo and personal data are deleted within 24-hours of your scheduled flight departure.

Some say facial recognition technology raises privacy and civil liberties concerns.

Facial recognition technology is notoriously unreliable, said Nate Wessler, deputy director of the American Civil Liberties Unions Speech, Privacy and Technology Project.

Denying people access to their flight because an algorithm got it wrong is a very bad outcome for travelers and something we dont want to be playing with, Wessler continued.

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There has been bipartisan effort to put more guardrails on biometric use at airports. In the meantime, U.S. citizens have the right to opt out of biometric screening at the airport.

Correction

A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that children could use TSA PreCheck Touchless ID with eligible families. The policy varies by airline.

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It's the last few nights of Ramadan, and many Muslims are spending these nights in a state of worship.

Some might be wondering when to ask their boss for the day off for Eid al-Fitr, the Islamic holiday that commemorates the end of Ramadan, which began on Feb. 18.

On the Islamic Calendar, a lunar calendar, the sighting of a crescent moon signals the beginning of the next month. With the expected sighting of the waxing crescent moon toward the end of March, nearly 2 billion Muslims worldwide and 2% of Bay Staters who are Muslim, according to the Pew Research Center, will celebrate Eid al-Fitr at the end of Ramadan.

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When is the end of Ramadan? When is Eid al-Fitr? Here are the possible dates and what to know about the holiday that marks the end of the holy month.

Muslims perform the morning prayer around the Kaaba at the Grand Mosque in Saudi Arabia's holy city of Mecca at the start of Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, early on March 30, 2025.

When is Eid al-Fitr 2026?

Eid al-Fitr 2026 is expected to fall on the night of March 19 or March 20, depending on when spotters see the waxing crescent moon, according to Islamic Relief.

Shawwal, the Islamic month that follows Ramadan, begins immediately with the sighting of the crescent moon, or "Shawwal moon." The first day of Shawwal brings Eid al-Fitr, marking the end of Ramadan.

Children celebrate the start of the holy month of Ramadan in Mosul, Iraq, on Feb. 17, 2026. Ramadan is a period of prayer, reflection and abstinence that coincides with the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, which depends on the lunar cycle. It ends with the celebration of Eid al-Fitr. During the month of Ramadan, Muslims observe a fast from dawn to sunset, meaning they do not eat or drink at all during daylight hours.

What is Eid al-Fitr?

Eid al-Fitr is celebrated on the first day of Shawwal, the 10th month in the Islamic calendar. Eid al-Fitr is the first of two celebratory days in the Islamic calendar, both observed every year. Though the holiday is marked on one day, some Muslims celebrate this festival for as long as three days.

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Eid is not on the same date every year. Like Ramadan, it follows the Islamic Hijri calendar, a lunar cycle. Each year, the start of Ramadan and both Eid holidays fall about 11 days earlier than the year before because of the lunar cycle. The sighting of the crescent moon determines the start of these holidays.

Eid in Arabic means "festival" or "feast," and Fitr means "breaking the fast." So, Eid al-Fitr literally means festival of breaking the fast.

How is Eid al-Fitr celebrated?

Muslims will wake up early in the morning, preparing food and getting ready to attend Eid prayers at local masjids. Eating during daylight hours after a month of fasting may feel strange for Muslims, but it is actually forbidden for Muslims to fast on Eid al-Fitr.

On Eid, just like every day, Muslims will follow the way of Prophet Muhammad, also known as Sunnah in Islam. Specific Sunnahs on Eid include:

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Taking a bath or shower

Wearing ones best clothes and perfume

Saying Takbeer or praising God on the way to Eid prayers

Taking a different route home from attending Eid prayer

Muslims will hug their friends and family and greet them with Eid Mubarak, meaning blessed festival in Arabic.

Eid traditions vary from country to country. But friends and families will commonly gather and spend time together at each others homes, enjoying sweets and delicious food after Eid prayers in the morning. Children will receive gifts and money, also known as Eidi.

Children check out a petting zoo provided by New England Party Animals as part of the Eid festival, held April 5 at Worcester Islamic Center.

What is Zakat al-Fitr?

Between sunset on the last day of fasting and before Eid prayer the next morning, Muslims with an income are obligated to give a charitable donation  Zakat al-Fitr. This donation is meant to cover the cost of ones meal.

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Charity to those who are poor is an important value in Islam. The donations are given to the needy so they can also celebrate Eid. Muslims can donate to nonprofits. Mosques holding Eid prayer will also collect these donations, directly giving them to those in need.

When is Eid al-Adha, the second Eid in the Islamic calendar?

The second Eid, Eid al-Adha, will fall on the 10th day in the Islamic month of Dhu al-Hijjah, which is predicted to fall on the evening of May 26, 2026, and end on the night of May 27.

How do you wish someone a happy Eid?

Muslims will hug their friends and family and greet them with Eid Mubarak, meaning blessed festival in Arabic.

Rin Velasco is a trending reporter. She can be reached at rvelasco@usatodayco.com.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Eid alFitr 2026: Possible dates Massachusetts Muslims should know
A Nicaraguan breakfast features eggs, plantains, rice, breads, tortilla, and crema. - JeffMQ/Shutterstock

In the U.S., McDonald's breakfast means egg or sausage McMuffins, hash browns, and hotcakes. But it's known that around the world, McDonald's varies its international menus to cater to local tastes. If you head to Nicaragua, that means a breakfast menu that's more in line with a typical Central American breakfast.

The traditional breakfast platter in Nicaragua, for instance, features scrambled eggs, sausage, cheese, plantains, beans, crema, and chirmol, a tangy tomato salsa. That's a lot more elements than the McDonald's "Big Breakfast" in the U.S., which only includes eggs and sausage, plus a hash brown and biscuit. If you're not big on sausage, McDonald's Nicaragua also offers the McCrispy Pinto breakfast platter, featuring two pieces of fried chicken, fried cheese, tortillas, and gallo pinto, a mix of rice and beans with onion, garlic and peppers.

Many breakfast sandwiches and wraps lean on the same ingredients. The breakfast wrap mixes up eggs, fried cheese, sausage, plantain, and gallo pinto, while the McMuffin Nica includes refried beans,cheese, egg, and sausage. There's also a bean and egg McMuffin if you want to keep it simple. For homesick Americans in Nicaragua, you can still get some of those classics like the egg or sausage McMuffin and hotcakes (no biscuits or bagels, though).

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Read more: 12 Fast Food Burgers, Ranked

It's not just McDonald's Nicaragua, and it's not just breakfast

A McDonald's sign from Nicaragua has the word "hamburguesas" on it. - Franco Origlia/Getty Images

If you want to get a taste of these kinds of different items, take note that McDonald's isn't nearly as ubiquitous in Nicaragua as the USA, with just nine restaurants in the country. That said, you don't have to be in Nicaragua to sample the way McDonald's does beans or plantains. McDonald's in neighboring countries serve similar breakfasts: The traditional platter in Guatemala is nearly identical, as is the version in El Salvador, while in Honduras you'll drop the salsa and crema but get a scramble with veggies mixed in.

Back in Nicaragua, if you miss breakfast hours, there are still some unique menu items to try. While the burgers and fries served at lunch and dinner seem closer to the U.S. offerings  although sometimes with naming differences, like the Quarter Pounder being called the "McNifica"  there are a few more distinctly Central American options. Fried cheese bites or a toasted sandwich with beans and cheese are options for a light snack. Apart from chicken nuggets, the menu in Nicaragua notably also includes bone-in wings, which had a brief, unsuccessful run in the American market.

For bigger appetites, there's a cheeseburger with guacamole and pico de gallo. Those with a sweet tooth may also appreciate some interesting desserts: A strawberry-cream pie, a cheese pie, and a McFlurry with tangy Tajin seasoning and orange, one of many McFlurry flavors we wish could be added to the menu stateside.

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Read the original article on Chowhound.
Mar. 15AIKEN  Horsepower, sunglasses and "fair food" were part of Two Notch Road's atmosphere March 14, as this year's Aiken Trials' running took place under sunny skies with an abundance of classic cars as a new part of the horse-heavy landscape.

"It was a lovely, warm day," said Bethany Raines, who attended with her husband and their two children. "My children loved all the vendors, and enjoyed the opportunity to get ice cream, but my son, especially  he's 14  loved looking at all the old automobiles that were on display."

Equestrian Michael Broad, a car collector, recalled being approached in February by Chad Ingram, representing Aiken Training Track, with the idea of a display to add to the weekend fun.

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"I said, 'Sure, let's talk about it,' and we came up with a plan, and here we are," Broad said, noting that the Saturday display included vehicles from as far back as 1927 and as recent as 2023. Some neighbors chipped in, resulting in several Ferraris being added to the mix.

"Believe it or not, the most popular car in this whole collection, no matter where I go, is this 1957 T-Bird station wagon  the red one," he said, adding that another conversation piece is a 1927 Packard that belonged to David Butler, largely remembered for his work as a movie director with such superstars as Shirley Temple, Bing Crosby and Doris Day.

Broad also touched on the topic of vehicular protection, noting that he was part of a two-person team that "spent the last seven days, eight hours a day, detailing them, to get them out  not that they were bad, but they've got to be perfect."

Tailgaters, in keeping with tradition, went for a variety of themes, with St. Patrick's Day (March 17) being represented in several spaces, along with Ireland in general, Mexico, Buc-ee's, Clemson and the University of South Carolina. Food trucks offered a variety of options, and Andrew Siders, who sang the national anthem, said attendance was strong and weather was perfect.

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The racetrack was extremely familiar territory for at least one couple: Bob Barnett, 95, and his wife, Mary, 96. The longtime Aiken residents moved to a retirement home in Columbia in 2025 but returned for the 2026 festivities. She estimated that they have been on board for the annual races since 1978.

"It was always just such a wonderful day to be out and do this," Mary said, confirming a prime opportunity for "getting together with friends and family."

Aiken Training Track's website notes that the annual tradition dates back to 1942 "as a way to give young horses in training the enlightening opportunity to experience every aspect of live racing," with thousands of spectators on board for "a day of family fun that includes extravagant tailgating spreads, assorted vendors and good-natured side betting."
Demand for donor kebabs in Germany is growing despite rising prices for the tasty snack.

If you have not tried one, a doner kebab - or doner kebab - is a dish of Turkish origin made of meat cooked on a vertical rotisserie. The operator uses a knife to slice thin shavings from the outer layer of the meat as it cooks.

The sliced meat of a doner kebab is usually served in a sandwich with salad or vegetables and various types of sauces.

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Alongside currywurst, kebabs are one of the most popular fast foods in Germany.

The modern sandwich variant of doner kebab originated and was popularized in 1970s West Berlin by Turkish immigrants.

If you want to try one and are in Berlin but spoiled for choice, one man has tried almost all of the kebabs located at local train station stops. His views may help you narrow down some of the options.

Bring some cash as nationwide at least, the average price for a flatbread filled with spiced meat and salad last year was 6.70 ($7.80) - a steep 47% more than in 2021, when the price was 4.85, a recent poll says.

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Nonetheless, Germans know a good thing when they see one. The number of orders increased by 15% over the same period, representing an above-average increase for kebabs, says the study.

One in three people in Germany eat kebabs at least once a month (35%) - including meat and meat-free options.

But that is nothing compared to one TikTok star who made it his business to figure out which Berlin subway station has the best kebab.

After all, Berlin is Germany's foodie capital and is famed for doner kebabs, which are often sold near underground train stations. The best is in the West, says influencer Can F. Kennedy.

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"The bread is phenom. The meat packs a punch and the sauce is crazy good."

When Kennedy gives his ratings for kebab shops on TikTok, it's short and sweet.

He has eaten his way through Berlin's kebab shops, known here as doner stands  testing all the kebabs in or right next to underground stations all over Berlin.

You his videos on YouTube, too. He is not alone. TikTok, YouTube and other platforms are home to countless food critics - some of whom have large followings. Many travel across Germany and further afield, always on the lookout for the best kebab.

Kennedy focuses on snack bars that are easily accessible.

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But Berlin's underground network has a dizzying 175 stations. Where to go?

That is a steep task for the food critic, who does not want to disclose his real name. No matter which stop he heads to, he always finds his trips educational - most involve some sightseeing.

Which is not to say he is easily distracted from exacting standards for the snacks.

No kebab stand has yet to earn the maximum score of 10. But he did give a score of 8.8 to the Elbis snack bar at the Berliner Strae underground station in the Wilmersdorf area.

"Authentic and traditional, just like the classic kebabs of the old days," he says.

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Pure veal is the most important ingredient. Kennedy awards a certificate to the best kebab on each underground line. This year, that includes Elbis' kebab.

Kebab seller has more customers after test

Owner Suleyman Sahin already received a certificate for second place in 2023. Since his shop is right on the U7 and U9 - popular lines in west Berlin - he had the chance to be rated twice. The test videos, which are also available on platforms such as YouTube, have given his business a real boost, he says.

"I now have to order more and more meat so that I can still sell kebabs in the evenings," says the owner.

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In addition to the food, the overall ambience and friendliness of the staff are also included in Kennedy's assessments. Often, the owner-managed shops perform significantly better than those where employees can be found.

"If it's a family business and the mother is maybe baking the bread at the back and the son is helping out, then there's a lot more love and passion in it and you can taste it," he says.

Not just fast food

The doner kebab, which was invented in Berlin, is no longer just fast food. "It has developed and is now even offered at the [luxury hotel] Adlon, says Mehmet Cam, spokesman for the Association of Turkish Doner Producers in Europe.

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The association assumes that around 400 tons of kebabs were recently produced per day across Europe and estimates that around 60,000 people are employed in the industry. The kebab industry in Germany generates an annual turnover of around 2.4 billion ($2.5 billion), and around 3.5 billion across Europe.

Berlin tops the kebab ranking among Germany's major cities - with 18 kebab shops per 100,000 inhabitants in the capital in 2022.

But if you are travelling elsewhere in Germany, no need to fret.

Dresden followed close behind with around 17 kebab shops per 100,000 inhabitants, and Nuremberg came in third with around 16 shops per 100,000 inhabitants.
A tradition in Plaquemine entered its ninth decade Friday when the Iberville Parish Library presented the 80th annual Gray Monkey Parade.

The long-standing Louisiana tradition was held in Plaquemine's Belleview Park.

Celebrating literacy and community, this kid-focused event features walking, hand-pulled floats, and costumed participants, often themed around childrens reading programs, such as "Plant a Seed, Read" in 2026.

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More than 100 kids participated in the parade.

Fairy tale characters and superheroes led kids in a dance after the Gray Monkey Parade.

This year marked the 41st year the Iberville Parish Library System has hosted the event.

The annual celebration extends beyond encouraging children to read, Library Director Jennifer Seneca said.

I think it brings the community together, she said. We use it as an opportunity to provide literacy and reading and for parents to read to their kids and lead into the summer and the summer reading programs.

Tractors and farming figured prominently in "floats" for the 80th annual Gray Monkey Parade.

The history of the parade goes back to 1947 when Plaquemine Elementary teacher Lolita Daigre bought two plush toy monkeys, named Gray and Brownie in the French Quarter. According to local lore, the monkeys were "married" in New Orleans' City Park and eventually had a "baby" named Koko.

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Daigre used the monkeys in her classroom to encourage good behavior among her students.

Every year during Mardi Gras, a parade was held for the students, with the monkey family reigning over the festivities. Kindergarteners and preschoolers would ride in decorated wagons through the streets of Plaquemine.

The original tradition eventually went on hiatus but was revived in 1985by Iberville Parish Library employees Kappy Nadler and Kitty Wood, in partnership with local recreation departments and preschools.

The modern parade is geared toward children ages 05. It typically features hand-pulled "floats" (decorated wagons) and is followed by family activities like puppet shows, petting zoos, and magic shows at Belleview District Park.

"Pinkalicious" was among the float entires in the 80th annual Gray Monkey Parade presented by the Iberville Parish Library.

The revived parade was designed to promote the librarys summer reading programs. Each year, the parade features a new theme related to reading, such as "Plant a Seed, Read" (2026).

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The parade is not the only milestone Iberville Parish Library will observe this year. This year marks the 75th anniversary of the Iberville Parish Library System.

Work is near completion on renovation of the five smallest locations.

This article originally appeared on Plaquemine Post South: Iberville Parish Library presents 80th annual Gray Monkey Parade
WASHINGTON, March 15 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday that he has "demanded" about seven countries heavily reliant on Middle East oil join a coalition to escort vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway through which about 20 percent of the world's oil passes.

"I'm demanding that these countries come in and protect their own territory, because it is their own territory," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, referring to the strait.

Trump didn't name the countries the White House is negotiating with.

In an interview with The Financial Times on Sunday, Trump said that NATO members should send warships to help open up the Strait of Hormuz or face a "very bad" future.

"If there's no response or if it's a negative response, I think it will be very bad for the future of NATO," he told the British newspaper.

A report in The Wall Street Journal earlier Sunday said the White House plans to announce a multinational coalition as early as this week, citing U.S. officials.

"Many countries, especially those who are affected by Iran's attempted closure of the Hormuz Strait, will be sending War Ships" to secure the oil trade route, Trump claimed in a post on Truth Social on Saturday.

Publicly, many governments have been reluctant to commit to such a mission before the end of the U.S.-Israel war with Iran, given the risks involved, said The Wall Street Journal in its report.

In his first message as Iran's new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei on Thursday called for the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz and pledged to open new fronts in his country's conflict with the United States and Israel.

The United States and Israel launched massive attacks on Iran on Feb. 28, disrupting global shipping, sending oil prices soaring and shaking the global economy. 
While there are old-school local beers from all over the country, the Midwest is their true spiritual home in the United States. Sure, the oldest surviving brewery in the U.S. might be in Pennsylvania, but if your dad liked a beer with a coat of arms label and old-timey script on the can, it probably came from America's heartland. Hamm's, Stroh's, Old Style, these are the classic '70s beers for crisp, easy drinking, but also with a sense of place and hometown pride that was nearly lost in the era of big macrobreweries before the craft beer revolution. While some old-school local beers sadly died out, a fair number have survived  including Belleville, Illinois' Stag beer.

Belleville is a small, old manufacturing town east of St. Louis, and it has a brewing tradition rooted in the history of Midwestern German immigration that gave rise to the nearby Anheuser-Busch. The biggest local beer  still popular there to this day  is Stag, which was produced in the town from 1906 until 1988. After a series of sales, Stag is now owned by fellow Midwestern legacy brand Pabst, which has expanded its business by purchasing several local old-school beer brands. Today, Stag is produced in Milwaukee. However, it is still primarily a hyper-regional beer rarely seen outside of its home region of Southern Illinois and St. Louis.

Read more: The 30 Best Bourbon Brands, Ranked

A midcentury beer from Belleville, Illinois, that is still found in the St. Louis area

Stag beer can - winter_beard/Reddit

Stag was originally made by Western Brewery, which dated back in different forms to 1856, and went through several different owners before being purchased by successful brewer Henry Griesedieck in 1912. Stag's slogan, "Golden Quality Since 1851," seemingly dates from a different purported founding date for the brewery, but there is no record of it existing at that time, and Stag itself wasn't produced until the early 1900s. The beer was introduced before Griesedieck took over, when Western Brewery released it in 1906 as a seasonal Christmas offering, and it was so popular that it became a permanent fixture in 1907. The name Stag was chosen by contest, with the winner receiving $25 in gold.

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By the early 1950s, Griesedieck Western was the 13th largest brewery in the country, with Stag being sold in 22 states. Unfortunately, that was the peak for Stag as a larger national beer brand. Later in the '50s it was sold to a big Cleveland-based brewing company, and changed hands a few more times as sales declined. In 1988, its large corporate owner decided the Belleville plant was no longer viable due to the expense of necessary renovations, and the brewery was closed.

Pabst became the current owners in the late '90s as it worked to revive classic beer brands and has thankfully kept Stag alive, even returning to the old 12-point buck head logo after an ill-fated rebranding a few years ago. It may not be a national powerhouse anymore, but stop in Belleville or the St. Louis area and you'll still find a beer that is a symbol of a time when even big breweries were proudly local.

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Read the original article on Tasting Table.
SANTA MARIA ZOQUITLAN, Mexico (AP)  Mexicos agave spirit mezcal is still produced much as it has been for generations. The work is slow and physical, guided by knowledge passed down within Indigenous families.

In many villages in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, the countrys largest mezcal producer, the spirit has long been used as a home remedy and offered as a gesture of hospitality. It is at every wedding, funeral and community celebration. It remains not only a drink, but part of daily life.

Here is how its made:

Harvesting agave

The process begins in the fields. Workers known as jimadores cut mature agave, locally known as maguey, by hand, often on steep hillsides. Using machetes and sharp blades, they slice away the spiny leaves to reveal the pineapple, which can be carried by trucks or donkeys to the distillery.

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The work is physically demanding and sometimes dangerous. The terrain can be uneven and remote, and the agaves pointed spines can easily injure workers.

About 40 species of agave can be used to make mezcal, out of roughly 200 that exist. The species known as espadin is the most common because it matures faster than many wild varieties, and it is often cultivated in monoculture.

Cooking the agave

Plants are buried in pits lined with hot stones and covered with soil. Firewood heats the stones beneath the ground, and the agave roasts for several days. The slow cooking gives mezcal its distinctive smoky flavor.

Since I was a little girl, I spent days helping my father at the distillery, said Elena Aragon Hernandez, referred to as a mezcal master thanks to her expertise, from Santa Maria Zoquitlan. Women have always been part of the process and we are now demanding our place in this industry.

Crushing the agave

Once cooked, the agave is crushed beneath a massive circular stone known as a tahona. In many towns, a horse pulls the stone in circles, grinding the agave into a fibrous mash.

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Some producers have begun using mechanical shredders to speed up the process. While industrial equipment makes the work easier, some traditional producers say the tahona breaks the fibers differently and produces a flavor that cannot be replicated by machines.

When I grew up, I realized making mezcal was much harder and physical than I thought, said Luis Cruz Velasco, who learned the craft from his family in San Luis del Rio. We spend all day at the palenque working from sunrise to sunset, Monday to Sunday.

Fermentation

The crushed agave is transferred to open wooden vats and mixed with water by hand. Fermentation can take days or weeks depending on temperature and humidity.

Mezcal production requires significant amounts of water and firewood. Some have also begun buying certified wood, and installing systems to cool and reuse water, as well as biodigesters to treat waste from fermentation and distillation.

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Armando Martinez Ruiz, a producer from Soledad Salinas, said his distillery uses roughly 30,000 liters (7,925 gallons) of water and more than 15 tons of firewood each month to produce about 5,000 liters (1,320 gallons) of mezcal.

Distillation and tasting

The fermented mash is distilled in small batches in copper stills, a method commonly known as artisanal mezcal. A smaller number of producers continue to distill in clay pots, known as ancestral mezcal, a slower and older technique.

The spirit goes through two rounds of distillation before its ready for drinking. It is measured by sight, smell and taste rather than tools, shaped as much by tradition as by the land where it is made.

Every year, thousands of visitors travel to Oaxaca to taste the spirit at local bars known in Spanish as mezcalerias. Mezcal is typically sipped slowly rather than taken as a shot, allowing drinkers to experience the differences between its many varieties.

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Reporting for this story was supported by the Pulitzer Center. The Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find APs standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
Seas of green are on the way in the Carolinas...and it's not the spring plants.

St. Patrick's Day is almost here, and with it a tide of all things green and Irish starting over the weekend and leading up to the March holiday. In America, that usually means some parades, a visit to a local Irish pub, dying rivers green, and even giving beer a dye job. And while it isn't a federal holiday here, it is a national one in Ireland.

Ireland's celebrations for St. Patrick's Day have changed drastically over the years, from solemn religious events to now kicking off the country's tourist season.

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Here's a look at how this multi-nation holiday came to be and how it has changed over time.

When is St. Patrick's Day? Is it a federal holiday?

St. Patrick's Day is always on March 17, and while it isn't a federal holiday in the U.S., most people will get to enjoy some festivities without a day off because the Irish holiday is on a Tuesday in 2026.

And since it's on a weekday, many celebrations got underway over the weekend of March 14-15, but you can find some more events happening in Asheville below.

Asheville St. Patrick's Day events: Shamrock Irons Irish Pub makes festive debut, St. Patrick's Day events

Who was Saint Patrick and why do we celebrate him?

There are many legends surrounding St. Patrick and his time in Ireland, including great battles of miracles and magic against druid priests on the Hill of Tara, sprouting shamrocks to explain the holy trinity, and, of course, banishing all the snakes from Ireland. While not all of these can be confirmed, we do know several things about him. Like he wasn't even born in Ireland.

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St. Patrick was brought to Ireland as a slave from Wales in the 5th century, around the age of 16. He spent six years in captivity in Ireland, where he eventually became a devout Christian. After he escaped Ireland, he later returned and went on to convert the pagans of Ireland to Christianity, according to Discovering Ireland.

During his time there, he established his first cathedral at Armagh, a site that is still the Ecclesiastical capital of Ireland and, to this day, the principal seat of both the Catholic and Protestant Archbishops of Ireland.

He came to be celebrated on March 17 because it is believed that he died that day. The St. Patrick's Day holiday originally was tied to religious ideals, but now is also a symbol of Irish pride for many in and outside of Ireland.

Who is the patron saint of Ireland?

Saint Patrick is often thought of as Ireland's patron saint, but Ireland actually has several patron saints.

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Saint Brigid is known as the patroness saint, or "mother saint," of Ireland. She was the daughter of a pagan King of Leinster and a Christian slave who had reportedly been baptized by St. Patrick. She was known for her generosity and founded the Convent of Cill-Dara in County Kildare.

The other is Saint Columba. Columba was born in County Donegal in the 5th Century and is believed to have been descended from Irish nobility. He is known as the patron saint of bookbinders and wrote an illustrative book of psalms while at the monastery of St. Finnian, according to Discovering Ireland.

According to Discovering Ireland, St. Patrick is buried in Downpatrick, Ireland, alongside Ireland's other patron saints, Brigid and Columba, following an ancient legend that the three saints would be laid to rest together.

When was St. Patrick's Day first celebrated in America?

Americas first St. Patricks Day celebration was in 1600. Spanish colonial records mentioned a celebration for Saint Patrick in what is now St. Augustine, Florida, in 1600. The first known St. Patricks Day parade was held on March 17, 1601.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: When is St. Patrick's Day 2026? Asheville events, trivia, more




A renowned barbecue expert in Central Texas dished on the business of smoked meats and food culture at South by Southwest. KG BBQ pitmaster Kareem El-Ghayesh explained his tips and tricks for success in the ever-changing Texas barbecue industry on Sunday, March 15.

MySA sat down with El-Ghayesh in one of his 15-minute mentor sessions for SXSW badgeholders where he shared his story and discussed topics like entrepreneurship, food/agriculture technology, product management and development. During the session, El-Ghayesh gave advice to up-and-coming entrepreneurs, revealed his plans for expansion to Houston and his "Mount Rushmore" of barbecue restaurants in Central Texas.

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Here's everything we learned from our Q&A with El-Ghayesh at SXSW:

KG BBQ of Austin will bring flavors such as its pomegranate-glazed pork ribs, pomegranate BBQ sauce, Egyptian baladi salad, smoked kofta with pita bread, yogurt sauce and brisket shawarma pita to Pullman Market's inaugural Smoke & Fire celebration of barbecue. (J.C. Reid/Contributor)





What's key to being successful in barbecue, especially in a competitive market like Austin?

"I feel like, what makes me stand out is my story. It's an American dream. It's a story that people get just naturally attracted to, and it's barbecue, right? We all love barbecue. Texans love barbecue," El-Ghayesh said. "The second part is that I kind of played on this niche. You know, that's the business part. I saw a need in the market. There is not enough diversity in barbecue."

El-Ghayesh left behind a corporate finance career in Cairo, Egypt to pursue his passion for barbecue and smoked meats in Texas. He started introducing Egyptian flavors to his foods for pop-ups in 2017 while working at various Austin barbecue restaurants like Interstellar. During the COVID-19 pandemic he opened an exclusive high-end Egyptian Supper Club and in 2022, he opened KG BBQ as a food truck, which quickly became a hit.

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"My plan was to open up shop in Egypt, bring Texas barbecue to Egypt, and I moved here, and I started working for pitmasters, and then I fell in love with the city..." El-Ghayesh said. "When things started opening back up, I did another pop-up, and I had my first line, which was a big moment. I had my first line of like Texans. I'm an Egyptian guy cooking barbecue, and there's all these, like, Texans lined up waiting to eat my barbecue. This was a moment I would never forget."

Over the years, El-Ghayesh has received high praises for his unique take on Texas barbecue including recognition in the state's first Michelin Guide, Texas Monthly and as part of Netflix's Barbecue Showdown in 2023. He added that fusing his Egyptian culture with barbecue is another reason behind all his success.

"There's not a lot of diversity and freshness [in the industry], and that's really kind of what I bring to the people," El-Ghayesh said. "There's a lot of fresh ingredients, a lot of herbs, a lot of vegetables, citrus, vinegars, fruits, nuts, like all of these spices, sumac, cinnamon, cumin, all these spices you don't except expect to see in a barbecue tray."

What's your advice for entrepreneurs who want to merge their culture with food for business?

"Pay your dues to Texas barbecue," El-Ghayesh said. "Make sure you spend time learning from pitmasters. You're not going to ever survive in the city if you don't perfect how to cook a great brisket. You'll be crushed by competition. So, you gotta learn the basics. You gotta pay your dues to this craft."

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"I recommend infusing brighter flavors with barbecue because barbecue can be rich and heavy," he added. "And make sure you're authentic and true to yourself and your community. Whatever dishes that you cook, don't take it as a business, don't try to make sure dishes because you're going to please other people. Please cook for yourself first before you cook for others."

A spread of dishes from Curry Boys BBQ, which is open on Mondays. (Polly Anna Rocha/MySA)





What are your favorite barbecue restaurants in Central Texas?

El-Ghayesh said his "Mount Rushmore" of barbecue restaurants in Central Texas are Austin's Interstellar Barbecue, Terry Black's Barbecue, LeRoy and Lewis, Curry Boys in San Antonio and Truth Barbecue in Houston.

What does the future look like for KG BBQ?

El-Ghayesh concluded by saying he's planning to open another KG food trailer in Houston, which would be his first venture outside of Austin. He hopes to transform his Austin location into a brick-and-mortar that he described will be a "hub for Egyptians and Middle Easterns." His biggest dream is to also have his own barbecue travel show one day in the future.

This article originally published at Texas barbecue star names Curry Boys to 'Mount Rushmore of Texas BBQ'.
Glass of whiskey on a barrel - evgeeenius/Shutterstock

Whiskey, or whisky depending on the origins of a particular bottle, is one of the most popular liquors in the world, and for good reason. This smooth distilled drink comes in over a dozen unique varieties, and a globe-spanning list of countries specialize in making it, from Canada to Ireland to Japan, and many of them are worth trying. While various brands of whiskey and bourbon fly off the shelves across continents, one brand reigns supreme in the United States: Jack Daniel's. According to a report from Royal Batch, which analyzed liquor sales data in the U.S., Jack Daniel's was the third-best-selling liquor brand in 2025. It won the national whiskey war by beating out major competitors like Jim Beam and Maker's Mark.

Jack Daniel's is the oldest registered distillery in the country, and the iconic Tennessee brand is one of the best-selling American whiskeys in the world. In 2025, over 14 million bottles of Jack were sold globally, according to Vinepair, which actually puts it behind one of its main American competitors, Jim Beam. In its home country, however, Jack Daniel's stays on top, with its instantly recognizable square bottles a mainstay in many Stateside liquor cabinets.

Read more: All The US Presidents And Their Favorite Drinks

Jack Daniel's is a true American classic

A bottle of Jack Daniels - Monticelllo/Getty Images

It's no surprise to see Jack Daniel's so high on the sales charts. The company has been commercially bottling whiskey since 1866 and has long been synonymous with American whiskey abroad. Although decent whiskey is the kind of liquor you should just drink straight, "Jack and Coke" is an extremely popular drink order, and an extremely simple mixed drink. The combination makes a lot of sense, as Jack has a slight caramel flavor, thanks to the maple charcoal used in distillation that marries really well with cola. Coke isn't the only beverage that mixes well with Jack Daniel's, either  lemonade, ginger beer, and soda water are also worthwhile J.D. pairings.

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Another aspect of Jack Daniel's appeal is the variety of its offerings. While the standard Old No. 7 Tennessee Whiskey is the brand's top seller, in our ranking of 22 Jack Daniel's bottles, we found that the brand is at its best when it gets a little fancy via limited releases and specialty bottles. A review from Bourbon & Banter noted that the brand's 10-year and 12-year whiskeys are evidence that "Jack Daniel's is best at higher proofs". Having over 150 years in the bottling business is no joke, and Jack proves that many of its whiskeys are sophisticated enough to stand on their own.

For more food and drink goodness, join our newsletter and add us as a preferred search source. Get taste tests, food & drink news, deals from your favorite chains, recipes, cooking tips, and more!

Read the original article on Mashed.
Note: An earlier version of this story ran in March 2025. It's been updated for 2026.

You can wear green, you can watch a parade, and maybe drink green beer this Saint Patrick's Day, but can you say Slainte like the Irish do?

If so, fair play to you. If not, don't get banjaxed. Here are some Gaelic words, phrases and other slang terms to help you sound authentically Irish this Saint Patrick's Day.

When is Saint Patrick's Day 2026?

Tuesday, March 17 is a good day to bust out your green clothing as millions in the United States celebrate Saint Patrick's Day. As they do, you might hear this phrase bandied about: "Erin go bragh," or "Ireland Forever."

How to say 'Erin Go Bragh' on Saint Patrick's Day

How to say it : Air-in... go... braw.

What it means : Ireland forever.

When to use it: The phrase, "Erin go bragh," is traditionally spoken on Saint Patrick's Day to express loyalty and admiration for the Emerald Isle. The original Irish phrase, according to Merriam-Webster, was "Erin go brach," which translates to "Ireland till doomsday."

How to say 'Good Luck' in Irish Gaelic: Go n-eiri on bothar leat

How to say it : Go... ny-ree... on... boh-har... lat or: Guh... ny-ree... uhn... BO-har... loth.

What it means : May the road rise with you.

When to use it: When you want to wish someone, "good luck" in Irish, or you hope they prosper or that their journey goes well, tell them, Go n-eiri on bothar leat (Guh ny-ree on bo-har lat).

How to order beer in Irish Gaelic: 'Gloinne beoir, le do thoil'

How to say it : Glenna... be-or... leh-duh... huh-el.

What it means : Can I have a glass of beer, please?

When to use it: "Beoir" means "beer" in Irish, so you can swap out "beoir" for whatever drink you like best.

How to say 'thank you' in Irish: 'Go raibh maith agat'

Firefighters spray green dye into the Canal as guests watch on Thursday, March 12, 2026, during the 30th annual greening of the Canal for St. Patrick's Day by the Hoosier Lottery in downtown Indianapolis. Green dye is sprayed into the Canal on Thursday, March 12, 2026, during the 30th annual greening of the Canal for St. Patrick's Day by the Hoosier Lottery in downtown Indianapolis. Green dye is seen spreading through the Canal water Thursday, March 12, 2026, during the 30th annual greening of the Canal for St. Patrick's Day by the Hoosier Lottery in downtown Indianapolis. Tigei Rahman smiles for a photo Thursday, March 12, 2026, during the 30th annual greening of the Canal for St. Patrick's Day by the Hoosier Lottery in downtown Indianapolis. Andrew Purdy, (left), Elle Stephens, and Chloe Darnell smile for a photo on Thursday, March 12, 2026, during the 30th annual greening of the Canal for St. Patrick's Day by the Hoosier Lottery in downtown Indianapolis. A goose swims past Thursday, March 12, 2026, during the 30th annual greening of the Canal for St. Patrick's Day by the Hoosier Lottery in downtown Indianapolis. The fountain turns green Thursday, March 12, 2026, during the 30th annual greening of the Canal for St. Patrick's Day by the Hoosier Lottery in downtown Indianapolis. Karen Shoulta smiles for a photo Thursday, March 12, 2026, during the 30th annual greening of the Canal for St. Patrick's Day by the Hoosier Lottery in downtown Indianapolis. Guests pour the green dye into the Canal on Thursday, March 12, 2026, during the 30th annual greening of the Canal for St. Patrick's Day by the Hoosier Lottery in downtown Indianapolis. A goose flies away from the spraying hose Thursday, March 12, 2026, during the 30th annual greening of the Canal for St. Patrick's Day by the Hoosier Lottery in downtown Indianapolis. A young attendee dips her toy into the Canal on Thursday, March 12, 2026, during the 30th annual greening of the Canal for St. Patrick's Day by the Hoosier Lottery in downtown Indianapolis. Green dye is seen spreading through the Canal water Thursday, March 12, 2026, during the 30th annual greening of the Canal for St. Patrick's Day by the Hoosier Lottery in downtown Indianapolis. Goc. Mike Braun speaks Thursday, March 12, 2026, during the 30th annual greening of the Canal for St. Patrick's Day by the Hoosier Lottery in downtown Indianapolis. Luna Xiong walks through the crowd Thursday, March 12, 2026, during the 30th annual greening of the Canal for St. Patrick's Day by the Hoosier Lottery in downtown Indianapolis. Joseph 'Joey' Holmes listens to speakers on Thursday, March 12, 2026, during the 30th annual greening of the Canal for St. Patrick's Day by the Hoosier Lottery in downtown Indianapolis. Mayor Joe Hogsett speaks Thursday, March 12, 2026, during the 30th annual greening of the Canal for St. Patrick's Day by the Hoosier Lottery in downtown Indianapolis. Sarah Taylor, Executive Director of the Hoosier Lottery, listens to Mayor Joe Hogsett speak on Thursday, March 12, 2026, during the 30th annual greening of the Canal for St. Patrick's Day by the Hoosier Lottery in downtown Indianapolis. Residents gather to listen to speakers on Thursday, March 12, 2026, during the 30th annual greening of the Canal for St. Patrick's Day by the Hoosier Lottery in downtown Indianapolis. The green dye is seen on Thursday, March 12, 2026, during the 30th annual greening of the Canal for St. Patrick's Day by the Hoosier Lottery in downtown Indianapolis. Sarah Taylor, Executive Director of the Hoosier Lottery, claps while listening to speakers on Thursday, March 12, 2026, during the 30th annual greening of the Canal for St. Patrick's Day by the Hoosier Lottery in downtown Indianapolis. Sarah Taylor, Executive Director of the Hoosier Lottery, stands next to the green dye to be poured in the canal Thursday, March 12, 2026, during the 30th annual greening of the Canal for St. Patrick's Day by the Hoosier Lottery in downtown Indianapolis. Kristin Harvey sits and listens to speakers with a green bow on her braided hair Thursday, March 12, 2026, during the 30th annual greening of the Canal for St. Patrick's Day by the Hoosier Lottery in downtown Indianapolis. Firefighters spray green dye into the Canal as guests watch on Thursday, March 12, 2026, during the 30th annual greening of the Canal for St. Patrick's Day by the Hoosier Lottery in downtown Indianapolis. The Canal is dyed green Thursday, March 12, 2026, during the 30th annual greening of the Canal for St. Patrick's Day by the Hoosier Lottery in downtown Indianapolis. Residents gather to listen to speakers on Thursday, March 12, 2026, during the 30th annual greening of the Canal for St. Patrick's Day by the Hoosier Lottery in downtown Indianapolis. Residents gather to listen to speakers on Thursday, March 12, 2026, during the 30th annual greening of the Canal for St. Patrick's Day by the Hoosier Lottery in downtown Indianapolis. Sarah Taylor, Executive Director of the Hoosier Lottery, stands next to the green dye Thursday, March 12, 2026, during the 30th annual greening of the Canal for St. Patrick's Day by the Hoosier Lottery in downtown Indianapolis. Residents gather to listen to speakers on Thursday, March 12, 2026, during the 30th annual greening of the Canal for St. Patrick's Day by the Hoosier Lottery in downtown Indianapolis. Guests inducing Mayor Joe Hogsett (left), Gov. Mike Braun (middle) and Sarah Taylor, Executive Director of the Hoosier Lottery, (right) pour green dye into the Canal on Thursday, March 12, 2026, during the 30th annual greening of the Canal for St. Patrick's Day by the Hoosier Lottery in downtown Indianapolis. Firefighters spray green dye into the Canal as guests watch on Thursday, March 12, 2026, during the 30th annual greening of the Canal for St. Patrick's Day by the Hoosier Lottery in downtown Indianapolis. Green dye is seen spreading through the Canal water Thursday, March 12, 2026, during the 30th annual greening of the Canal for St. Patrick's Day by the Hoosier Lottery in downtown Indianapolis. Green dye is seen spreading through the Canal water Thursday, March 12, 2026, during the 30th annual greening of the Canal for St. Patrick's Day by the Hoosier Lottery in downtown Indianapolis. Green dye is seen spreading through the Canal water Thursday, March 12, 2026, during the 30th annual greening of the Canal for St. Patrick's Day by the Hoosier Lottery in downtown Indianapolis. See photos of the Canal greening for St. Patricks Day 1 of 33 Firefighters spray green dye into the Canal as guests watch on Thursday, March 12, 2026, during the 30th annual greening of the Canal for St. Patrick's Day by the Hoosier Lottery in downtown Indianapolis.

How to say it : Go... rev... mawt... og-got, or Guh... ruh... mah... a-gut.

What it means : Thank you, or literally translated: "May you have goodness."

When to use it: Not only can you mind your manners this Saint Patrick's Day, but you can do it with class. Example, after the server brings you and your friends a pint from the bar, be polite and tell them, Go raibh maith agat (Go rev maw a-gut).

How to say 'Slainte' during an Irish toast

How to say it : Slawn-cha.

What it means : Cheers, or good health!

When to use it: A perfect word for when you're about to share a drink with friends. Example: Thanks for coming out with me on Saint Patrick's Day. Slainte (Slawn-cha)!

12 Irish slang terms you should know

Tigei Rahman smiles for a photo Thursday, March 12, 2026, during the 30th annual greening of the Canal for St. Patrick's Day by the Hoosier Lottery in downtown Indianapolis.

If speaking Irish Gaelic has your tongue banjaxed, then here are some Irish slang terms you should know courtesy of Mental Floss, Culture Trip and the Ireland tourism blog, The Irish Road Trip.

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Banjaxed : When you want to say something or someone is damaged, ruined or broken in a bad way, it's banjaxed. Example: "I spilled water on my new laptop and now it's banjaxed." Or "I feel banjaxed Monday after drinking too much wine last night."

Craic : Pronounced like "crack," this word can be used in a couple of ways but generally refers to something fun as well as news or gossip. Example: "That party I went to last night was a good craic." Or, "What's the craic?" (What's new, or how are things?). Other craic terms include: "Minus craic," which means no fun at all, and "craic killer," someone or something that spoils a good time.

Deadly : This word can be used as a modifier for "good" or "great." Example: "Taylor Swift's latest song about her ex-boyfriend is deadly; I can't stop listening."

Donkey's years : A long period of time. Example: "I haven't seen you around here in donkey's years." Or, "I've known him for donkey's years."

Eat the head off : A severe or aggressive scolding. Example: "A driver on Washington Street nearly hit me as I was trying to cross the road. They stopped for a red light and I ate the head off 'em."

Fair play : A response to something you find favorable or to a good deed. Example, Person 1: "We're throwing a surprise party for Cheryl today. Would you mind signing their card?" Person 2: "Ah, fair play."

The jacks : A slang term for toilet. Example: "I'll be back in a minute. I need to use the jacks."

Leg it: Run fast. Example: "Zombies are after us  leg it!"

Students from St. Richards School attend the 44th Annual St. Patricks Day Parade on Friday, March 13, 2026, in Indianapolis.

Melter: An annoying person. Example: "This melter keeps texting me and they won't stop."

Savage : Like "deadly," this is another slang term for "good" or "great." Example: "This homemade chili you brought is savage. You'll have to give me the recipe." Or, "I can't get over what a savage craic that concert was last night. I haven't had that much fun in donkey's years."

Stall the ball : An expression for asking someone to slow down, stop or wait. Example: "I know you want to leg it to the next bar but stall the ball; I haven't finished my drink."

Yer man / yer one: A slang term referring to a person you aren't familiar with, or aren't fond of. Example: "Can this line go any faster? Yer man in front of me has been waiting since the 1980s."

John Tufts covers trending news for IndyStar and Midwest Connect. Send him a news tip at JTufts@Gannett.com. Find him on BlueSky at JohnWritesStuff.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Easy Irish phrases and slang words you can say for Saint Patrick's Day
A Colombian drug ring laundered at least $14.9 million through banks in Metro Detroit, including one Bank of America account belonging to a successful Latin American musician, federal prosecutors allege.

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents seized the money from Bank of America, Truist Bank, JPMorgan Chase Bank and Regions Bank in 2023, and prosecutors Friday unsealed court records that seek to have the haul forfeited to the government.

The court filings describe an ongoing international drug investigation involving an illegal immigrant found in suburban Detroit, the most lucrative money seizure by federal agents in Michigan  and one of the largest nationwide  since at least 2019 and teases ties to a Latin American celebrity who prosecutors deliberately did not publicly identify.

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Though the musicians identity is being kept private, Colombia has a rich history of music from the narcocorridos genre that romanticizes the violent exploits of drug traffickers. Prosecutors believe the money seized in Metro Detroit is tied to drug dealing, though the musicians accountant had another explanation.

When DEA interviewed one of the musicians accountants, the accountant attributed the deposits ... as being linked to Colombian concerts but could not explain why they occurred in cash in the United States, Assistant U.S. Attorney K. Craig Welkener wrote in the forfeiture complaint.

The ongoing investigation dates to November 2023. That is when DEA agents started investigating an unidentified person for international drug money laundering that is believed to involve a Colombian narcotics ring.

In late November, DEA agents raided room #108 at the Courtyard by Marriott in Farmington Hills and found a Colombian national suspected of working as a money courier and living illegally in the United States.

DEA agents found a drug courier with numerous bank deposit slips at the Courtyard by Marriott hotel in Farmington Hills in November 2023.

Drug rings routinely use low-level couriers to travel, pick up and deposit drug money in accounts at financial institutions nationwide.

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Investigators searched the courier and found cash and clues.

The courier had copies and photos of bank deposit slips. The slips and photos showed that the money seized by investigators was laundered through banks by depositing less than $10,000, an amount designed to avoid bank transaction reporting requirements, according to the government.

Investigators also found a backpack in the courier's hotel room filled with eight large bundles of cash wrapped in rubber bands.

"... The suspected courier appears to have been routing drug proceeds through numerous bank accounts ... as part of a broader operation to launder drug proceeds," the prosecutor wrote.

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Then, the courier started talking.

He told investigators he was directed via cellphone by someone in Colombia to pick up money in Metro Detroit.

"The suspected courier would receive information on who to contact locally and where to meet," the prosecutor wrote. "He would then coordinate with that individual to take possession of the money. Once the suspected courier received the money, he would repackage it and place it in his backpack to transport it, then receive further instruction from a subject in Colombia to make bank deposits."

The courier gave agents permission to search his cellphones, prosecutors said.

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Investigators found communications involving money laundering and digital photos and videos of bulk cash, according to the government.

Photos and videos also helped agents chart the courier's money-laundering path throughout the U.S., showing stops in Charlotte, North Carolina, in early November 2023 before arriving in Metro Detroit.

The bank slips showed up at numerous institutions, including PNC and Wells Fargo banks.

"By intermingling drug proceeds with otherwise legal business activity, those responsible sought to conceal their nature and source as drug proceeds, thus involving the entire accounts in concealment money laundering of various kinds, as well as promoting the underlying drug distribution," the prosecutor wrote.

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Most of the seized money, $12.8 million, was seized from the Latin American musician's account at Bank of America.

After seizing money from the accounts, investigators discovered "other individuals in addition to the suspected courier who had played a similar money courier role. Many of the companies controlling the underlying bank accounts had import-export businesses, or other links to international commerce," the prosecutor wrote.

The money seized by investigators eclipses some recent federal criminal cases in Metro Detroit.

Last year, prosecutors accused a Florida businessman of orchestrating a $500 million COVID-19 testing scheme and revealed investigators had seized assets worth almost $6.5 million. That includes a $1.2 million SR22T Cirrus airplane and a fleet of exotic vehicles, including a $359,000 Lamborghini Urus and a $373,365 Bentley Bentayga.

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In 2017, prosecutors revealed they had seized more than $14.4 million from West Bloomfield Township resident Mashiyat Rashid, the architect of one of the largest health care fraud schemes in Metro Detroit history.

rsnell@detroitnews.com

This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Feds in Detroit unravel drug caper involving $15M, a popular musician
19-year-old arrested after allegedly pointing firearm another student at CMU

Editors note: This story has been updated to include a statement from Colorado Mesa University.

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KREX)  A Colorado Mesa University student is behind bars after law enforcement learned he had a firearm in a shared dorm bathroom and threatened another student with it.

The Grand Junction Police Department responded to the incident around 12:40 p.m., Friday, at the 1100 block of Elm Walk at CMU. Officers learned through their investigation that a student, who was suspected of being intoxicated, allegedly pointed a gun at another student.

Charles Labbo

Charles Labbo, 19, was taken into custody without incident and transported to the Mesa County Detention Facility. He was booked for menacing  real/simulated weapon, weapon possession at school/childcare  firearm, prohibited use of a weapon, possession of a dangerous or illegal weapon and illegal possession of marijuana under 21 years of age.

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GJPD stated this was an isolated incident with no injuries and no ongoing danger to the community. The case is under investigation.

The Grand Junction Police Department takes incidents of this nature seriously and commends CMU staff for their swift reporting, which helped ensure the safety of all students, GJPD stated.

A CMU spokesperson said in a statement to WesternSlopeNow, in part, The safety and well-being of CMU students, faculty, and staff is our highest priority. We are grateful for the partnership with the Grand Junction Police Department, who have campus safety officers stationed on campus, allowing incidents to be addressed quickly and effectively.

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WesternSlopeNow.com.




NEW LONDON - City police are investigating after two suspects fired pellet guns and later handguns at a person on Bolles Avenue early Sunday morning, police say.

In a release, New London Police Chief Brian Wright said officers were dispatched to the area of Rosemary Street and Bolles Avenue at 1:23 a.m. for a report of shots fired at a vehicle. Wright said the victim told officers he was stopped at the intersection of Colman Street and Jefferson Avenue about five minutes before the shooting when two males in a silver SUV shot Orbeez-type guns at his vehicle. Orbeez guns are toys that shoot gelatin-filled pellets.

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Wright said the victim then followed the suspect vehicle to the area of Rosemary Street, where the suspect vehicle turned onto Bolles Avenue. He said the suspect vehicle stopped, and two males exited and began shooting handguns at the victim's vehicle.

The two suspects then re-entered their vehicle and fled the scene, Wright said, noting both men were about 5-foot-10 with thin builds, and wearing black ski masks and black hoodies.

Wright said multiple handgun shell casings were located at the scene. He said the victim's vehicle was struck, as were two residences in the area, but no injuries were reported.

Detectives from New London Police Department's Investigative Services Division responded to the scene, Wright said. Evidence was collected, the scene was processed and the surrounding area was canvassed, he said.

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Wright said the shooting does not appear to be a random act and the investigation is ongoing.

Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to call the New London Police Department's Detective Bureau at 860-447-1481. Anonymous information can be submitted via the New London Tips 411 system by texting NLPDTip plus the information to Tip411 (847411).

Correction: This story has been updated to correct the type of guns used in the shooting.

This article originally published at 2 suspects in New London fire pellet guns, handguns at person on Bolles Avenue, police say.
Hector Gutierrez became an overnight campus celebrity at the University of Alabama earlier this year after an embarrassing email faux pas put him in the spotlight.

While applying for the schools honor society, he mistakenly sent his business school professors recommendation letter to a college listserv with thousands of recipients.

More from Yahoo Scout How do business mistakes lead to entrepreneurial success? Why are college students pessimistic about career prospects? How are Gen Z entrepreneurs starting businesses earlier? What role does AI play in young entrepreneurship?

I started getting phone calls and messages saying, Why did you email me? Why did you email me? Gutierrez told Fortune. My Outlook started blowing up.

While he initially found himself cringing at the mistake, the exposure turned out to be a boon for his small business. It made him a social media star, earning him a meeting with the universitys president, and landed him a feature in the school newspaperall of which shone a spotlight on his small business.

Gutierrez, 18, started Hecs Pet Sitting nearly three years ago. Instead of taking a traditional teen job at his local Publix supermarket, he wanted to start something of his own. The business he started as a high school student in South Florida, has grown into a registered LLC, with 10 part-time employees, and bringing in over $10,000 a year.

I started simply by going around my neighborhood posting flyers, saying, local pet sitter, he said. I was fortunate by having one person trust me, and I did a great job taking care of their dog, and then it started expanding, and then there was a point where I needed to hire people.

Now in his first year studying business management in Alabama, Gutierrezs accidental fame is opening new doorsincluding potential clients in his college town. The business income also helps offset the more than $50,000 annual cost of attendance he faces as an out of state student. But balancing a growing company with a full course load is no small featand hes far from the only one trying.

Gen Z isnt waiting for a job offerits building its own

As traditional job pathways grow less reliable, a growing number of young workers are redefining what work looks likeand starting earlier than ever.

A 2023 Samsung and Morning Consult survey of U.S. students ages 16 to 25 found that 50% of respondents have aspirations to start their own business. Similarly, a survey from Intuit found that nearly two-thirds of young people aged 18 to 35 have startedor plan to starta side gig.

The job market isnt offering much reassurance in the meantime. Three in five college seniors feel pessimistic about their career prospects, according to a Handshake survey.

Jacob Stone Humphries, the University of Alabama business instructor who wrote Gutierrezs letter of recommendation, said it comes down to a generation confronting deep uncertainty.
Now that 2026 is well underway, some Americans are still waiting to see if the stimulus checks President Donald Trump talked about will actually arrive.

Trump has made several comments about the payment since first floating the idea of tariff dividend checks back in November, but months later  on Feb. 20  the Supreme Court ruled that his reaching tariffs were illegal and exceeded his powers under federal law, prompting the president to call the Supreme Court justices in the majority a "disgrace to our nation."

So, what does the Supreme Courts decision mean for the much-anticipated tariff checks?

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The Supreme Court decision did not address the issue of when or how the refunding of the billions in tariff money already paid would work.

Here's what to know about if and when those stimulus checks could arrive.

Could we get a stimulus check in 2026?

Trump has continued to say that Americans would get a payment as recent as in February, when in an interview on Feb. 4, NBC reporter Tom Llamas asked Trump about an update on the stimulus checks, to which Trump responded, "I'm looking at it very seriously. I haven't made my commitment yet, but I may make my commitment."

Financial experts have weighed in about the likelihood that any type of stimulus will arrive, especially after the Supreme Court's decision.

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Tariff dividends were a long shot from the beginning, certified financial planner Stephen Kates, a financial analyst at Bankrate, told CNBC. Any such broad-based benefit program would require legislation passed by Congress and there does not appear to be sufficient political support, Kates said. The odds of this policy moving forward is now effectively zero.

Who would get the $2,000 stimulus check?

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Nov. 12 that Trump is considering stimulus checks for families earning $100,000 or less.

What would need to happen to get a $2,000 stimulus check?

Any form of stimulus payment issued by the U.S. government would have to be approved by Congress.

USA TODAY contributed to this story.

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Natassia Paloma may be reached at npaloma@gannett.com, @NatassiaPaloma on x; natassia_paloma on Instagram, and Natassia Paloma Thompson on Facebook.

More: Forbes' 2026 billionaires' list: Paul Foster moves up as wealth grows

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Will you get a $2,000 stimulus check in 2026? Latest update
NEED TO KNOW

Three friends were found dead after they went missing while fishing off the coast of south-central Australia on March 15

A local had urged the fishermen not to venture into the rough waters

"Just the most beautiful people," said a friend of the victims

Three missing fishermen were found dead after a local warned them about the dangerous water conditions.

On Monday, March 16, officials announced that the bodies of three men in their 60s and 70s were discovered in the waters off Beachport, a coastal town in South Australia, after they didnt return to shore the previous afternoon, the South Australia Police said in a statement.

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The victims all hailed from the Riverina region of New South Wales. They have since been identified as Les DeMamiel, 74, Russell Fisher, 67, and John McKenzie, 65, 7 News, 9 News and news.com.au reported.

A report will be prepared for the coroner, and the South Australia Police did not immediately respond to PEOPLEs request for comment.

The risk was apparent to Alan Campbell, a local fisherman, who encountered the trio on the day of the fatal fishing trip on Sunday, March 15. He told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) he urged the men not to venture out in the rough waters.

"I said, 'Mate, however big your boat is, there's a wave to match it, and these aren't the conditions to be out in that boat,' " Campbell said. When I saw the trailer on the ramp, I was very concerned.

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He later drove along the beach and called authorities after he didnt see a sign of the mens boat, ABC reported. Police said a multi-agency search was launched on Sunday around 2:30 p.m. local time.

Superintendent Trent Cox of the South Australia Police told ABC that the men did not appear to be wearing life jackets. According to 7 News, Fisher couldnt swim because of a spinal injury he sustained years ago.

From what we can gather, there were life jackets aboard; sadly, it does not appear any of the gentlemen were wearing them," Cox told ABC. "One death is a tragedy, but three is unthinkable.

At a press conference, the official told reporters that a civilian in a small airplane located the overturned fishing boat between Beachport and South End, and also discovered one of the victims. The other two men were located later by search and rescue teams, according to the report.

Beachport in South Australia, Australia.

Credit: Michael Zegers/imageBROKER/Shutterstock

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After the bodies of the three fishermen were discovered, a friend told ABC that they died doing what they absolutely loved.

She added, according to the outlet, Just the most beautiful people.

Read the original article on People
More than 30 people were arrested early Sunday morning before a planned street takeover in a Cincinnati neighborhood.

Cincinnati Police Officers received information that a large group of drivers was heading Interstate 75 toward Cincinnati for a street takeover, according to our news partner, WCPO.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WHIO-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

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Officers were able to encounter the group of drivers near Paddock Road and I-75, where officers saw the drivers engaging in disorderly driving.

Officers were able to stop one driver, locate a firearm, and arrest that driver. The other drivers fled the scene.

The group moved to the 4300 block of Kellogg Avenue, where they attempted another street takeover.

Officers were proactive in the area and stopped the takeover, leading to drivers fleeing the scene again.

Later Sunday morning, the drivers met at Woodward High Schools parking lot in Bond Hill.

Officers, alongside the Civil Disturbance Response Team, were able to contain the drivers.

In total, 39 individuals were arrested and 65 vehicles were towed for investigation.

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DURHAM  University of New Hampshire students widely oppose a bill that would allow students to openly carry firearms.

A Student Senate survey with 2,361 responses from UNHs Durham campus shows 81.8% "strongly oppose" HB 1793 while 3.5% are "somewhat opposed." The bill, if passed, would prohibit the state's colleges and universities from regulating possession of firearms or non-lethal weapons on campus. The survey noted 10.8% of respondents strongly support it.

In the Granite State, both open and concealed carry are legal for adults aged 18 and older without a license, though public colleges within the University System of New Hampshire enforce gun-free zones. The New Hampshire House of Representatives bill states public college and university policies against law-abiding citizens carrying firearms are inconsistent with the states Constitution.

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The survey found 85.9% of respondents would have been less likely to enroll at UNH if the proposed legislation were the law, compared to the 3.9% of students who said they would more likely to attend the school and 7.8% reporting it would not affect their decision.

UNH's administration has come out in opposition to the bill. UNH previously issued a statement, saying, "We are deeply worried about the impact of adding armed civilians to our campus communities when our campus police officers face life or death decisions to protect the safety of all.

What students told lawmakers: After Brown shooting, some NH students want guns allowed on campus, others disagree

What does UNH's policy against firearms on campus say?

The use and possession of all firearms by all is banned on all three UNH campuses in Concord, Durham and Manchester. Permission to carry a firearm may be granted in writing from the schools police chief for instructional or other qualified purposes and in other special circumstances and conditions," according to the colleges policy.

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House lawmakers passed the bill in a 188-165 vote last month, advancing it to the state Senate.

HB 1793 cites 2005 U.S. Supreme Court ruling

HB 1793 says the government has no duty to protect individuals from private harm, citing the U.S. Supreme Courts June 2005 decision in Castle Rock v. Gonzales. The high court ruled police in Castle Rock, Colorado, did not violate a mothers right to due process by not enforcing her restraining order against her estranged husband, who abducted and killed their three children in 1999.

Preventing lawful students from carrying only ensures that potential victims are left defenseless against unlawful aggression  New Hampshire should secure and protect the right of law-abiding college students, faculty, staff, and visitors at public institutions of higher education to exercise their constitutional right to carry firearms, consistent with existing state law, HB 1793 states.

The bill's prime sponsor is Rep. Samuel Farrington, R-Rochester, a current UNH student.

National Rifle Association of America shares supports for HB 1793

The National Rifle Association of Americas Institute for Legislative Action has urged supporters to back the New Hampshire bill.

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H.B. 1793 would ensure that law-abiding students and members of the public who enter public university campuses are not left defenseless because unelected officials circumvented the legislature in creating gun-free zones through local rules, the association wrote. In addition to restricting public colleges from prohibiting the carrying of firearms on campus, H.B. 1793 would similarly prohibit those institutions from regulating the possession of non-lethal weapons, commonly carried in self-defense including pepper spray, mace, stun guns and tasers.

In February, upon the bills passage in the House of Representatives, UNH shared its stance against the initiative.

As residential campuses, we believe this long-standing policy supports community safety and helps most students, faculty, and staff feel comfortable in their living, learning, and working environment, a university statement read. The university system has shared this position with lawmakers and will continue to do so.

At this time, UNHs policy remains in effect. If House Bill 1793 were to become law, the university would communicate in a timely fashion about our next steps, the school added.

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The bill is pending before the state Senates Judiciary Committee.

The University of New Hampshire Survey Center assisted the schools Student Senate in finalizing its report. The findings were shared with university administrators March 13 by the university's student body vice president, Ben Doyle.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: 85% of UNH students oppose bill to allow guns on campus
March 16 (UPI) -- An Afghan father of six died in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Texas less than 24 hours after being detained while seeking asylum.

AfghanEvac, a group that advocates for Afghan allies to the United States, said Sunday that 41-year-old Mohammad Nazeer Paktiawal died on Saturday. The cause of his death is unknown.

Paktiawal had no known health issues, his family said.

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Rahmanullah Zazy, a family friend, said Paktiawal was surrounded by masked men who handcuffed him in front of his children. Paktiawal was detained by ICE agents on Friday when he was preparing to take his children to school.

Paktiawal immigrated to the United States in 2021 with temporary protected status under the Biden administration's Operation Allies Refuge.

In 2005, Paktiawal began working with the U.S. Army Special Forces as a member of Afghanistan's special forces. His brother Naseer Paktiawal said he was hired by the U.S. government and worked with U.S. troops for more than a decade.

A statement by ICE did not mention Paktiawal's military service. The agency said his parole ended on Aug. 20, 2025. It also said he had a criminal history, including an arrest for theft in November.

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On Friday, Paktiawal reported experiencing shortness of breath and chest pains while he was held in ICE's Dallas Field Office, ICE said. He was transported to the Parkland Hospital emergency room. He was treated for his breathing issues and kept under observation.

On Saturday, while Paktiawal was eating breakfast, a member of Parkland Hospital's staff noted that his tongue began to swell. He was put on an epinephrine drip. Later that morning, medical staff administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation on Paktiawal. Lifesaving efforts were unsuccessful and he died on Saturday morning.

Paktiawal is the 12th person confirmed to have died in the custody of ICE this year.
An Afghan man who reportedly served alongside U.S. forces for more than a decade died at a Dallas hospital less than 24 hours after Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested him in front of his children.

Mohammed Nazeer Paktiawal, 41, a husband and father of six, was detained around 7 a.m. on Friday while dropping his kids off at school near his home in Richardson. His brother, Naseer Paktiawal, described the scene.

He was arrested in front of these kids while taking them to school at 7 in the morning. Some people surrounded him, put him in the car, and drove him away while they were screaming, asking for help, Naseer Paktiawal said, CBS News Texas reported.

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Less than 24 hours later, the family received word that Mohammed Nazeer Paktiawal had died at Parkland Hospital.

The family says he arrived in the U.S. legally in 2021 after evacuating under the Biden administrations Operation Allies Refuge and had a pending immigration case. ICE said he was paroled into the country but provided no record of military service, and his parole expired on August 20, 2025. The agency cited prior arrests for SNAP fraud and theft, though The Dallas Express has not independently confirmed convictions.

Naseer Paktiawal called his brother a hero to his family, to his people, and to his country.

ICE confirmed Mohammed Nazeer Paktiawal was arrested on March 13 and held for one day. He reported no prior medical history at the time of his arrest. Late Friday, he complained of shortness of breath and chest pains at the ICE Dallas Field Office and was taken to Parkland Hospital, where an ER doctor recommended observation.

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Early Saturday, while he was eating breakfast, medical staff noted that his tongue had become swollen. He received an epinephrine drip. Later that day, staff began cardiopulmonary resuscitation. After multiple lifesaving efforts, he was declared dead at 9:10 a.m.

ICE said the death is under investigation.

All I want, said Naseer Paktiawal, I want justice for my brother. I dont need anything else from this government.

Mustafaa Carroll, DFW executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations  Texas, called the timing especially painful.

This tragedy comes during the final days of Ramadan, the most sacred time of the month when Muslims reflect on mercy and justice, Carroll said. Detention does not erase a persons humanity. Every individual in custody must be treated with dignity, safety, and respect. We call on authorities to ensure a full and transparent investigation into the circumstances surrounding Mr. Paktiawals detention and death.

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Department of Homeland Security Deputy Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis defended agency practices.

No one in ICE custody is denied access to proper medical care, Bis said. It is a longstanding practice to provide comprehensive medical care from the moment an alien enters ICE custody. This includes medical, dental, and mental health services as available, and access to medical appointments and 24-hour emergency care. This is the best healthcare that many aliens have received in their entire lives.
Time and time again, Hollywood has embraced an imminent apocalypse, as films like 2012 beamed the fictionalized end of the world onto the big screen.

Fortunately, the scientific logic for many such movies has been, to put it lightly, creative. The planets crust did not suddenly shift 14 years ago and sweep most of us away in a flurry of earthquakes, eruptions and megatsunamis.

And yet, by the time you reach the end of this sentence, Africa will have moved a little closer to splitting apart. The remote Afar region of Northern Ethiopia sits at the center of a Y-shaped rift system, along which the continent is separating to form a new ocean.

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Leave your canned food on the shelf and put down the apocalypse shovel, theres no need to make a beeline for your doomsday bunker. This is less a case of The Day After Tomorrow movie and more a matter of the day after a few million years.

It can often get lost in communication, Emma Watts, part of a research team who embarked on an extensive research project to study the area, told CNN.

People see that and theyre like, Oh no, its breaking apart! No, its very, very slow  I could say it until Im blue in the face, but people still go for the clickbait title. You just have to kind of grin and bear it.

A hellish paradise

One of the driest and hottest areas on the planet, where summer temperatures tick over 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit), the aptly-named Afar region is about as remote and hostile as could possibly be. In its Danakil Depression lies the Erta Ale volcano, home to a decades-old lava lake and locally dubbed the gateway to hell.

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For scientists, though, its paradise.

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Thats because it sits at the juncture of three tectonic plates  the Main Ethiopian Rift, the Gulf of Aden Rift and the Red Sea Rift  which are gradually spreading apart in a process known as continental rifting. As the plates diverge, the mantle beneath rises and, if seen through to completion, melts to form a new ocean basin.

Its far from the only triple junction rift system on the planet and continental rifting has been occurring for billions of years, but Afar is invaluable for researchers because the process is, quite literally, taking place under their feet. By the time late-stage rifting occurs, the point at which the ocean floor has almost formed, its typically concealed far under the sea.

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Afar is a beautiful place because it (the new ocean floor) is not quite yet submerged, Watts explained. Its giving us a window into a process that we dont normally see.

Erta Ale, which means "Smoking Mountain" in the Afar language, is a volcano that houses one of the world's few lava lakes. - Michele Spatari/AFP/Getty Images

Fascinated by volcanoes since learning about the 1980 eruption of Washingtons Mount St. Helens while at middle school, Watts jumped at the chance to join a team studying the region as she pursued her doctorate in volcanology at the University of Southampton in southern England.

Their research, published last June, found a single, asymmetric plume rising from deep beneath Afar. Geologists had theorized its existence before, but the new findings went a step further by showing the plume to be pulsing in a pattern akin to a heartbeat, albeit not necessarily at a constant rhythm.

This pattern is spreading differently at each of the three rifts depending on tectonic conditions, Watts explained, evidence that the plume is dynamic and responsive to the plate above it, not static.

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Before this study, we thought the plume was simple: it came up, it was one composition, she said.

But we actually think it might have heterogeneities (varied characteristics) within the plume, whether thats the amount of melt or what its made up of. Thats also then interplaying with that rifting rate, causing these variations.

Time to learn

That rifting rate, Watts stresses, is extremely slow.

The Red Sea and Gulf of Aden rifts are moving at approximately 15 millimeters per year, half the speed at which fingernails grow, while the Main Ethiopian Rift is moving even slower at around 5 millimeters each year.

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At that pace, itll be millions of years before a new ocean is formed, and its not guaranteed. The continental rifting process can fail, like the Midcontinent Rift that would have ripped North America apart around the Great Lakes.

Thats music to the ears of scientists, who continue to glean new discoveries from the region. The pulling apart of the plates is exposing older layers of sediment, shedding light on almost 5 million years of evolution.

The Afar region is ripe for scientific study. - Michele Spatari/AFP/Getty Images

A range of preserved fossils have been found in Afar, with research published in the journal Nature in January revealing the discovery of a 2.6-million-year-old fossil of an extinct human relative.

Remains of Paranthropus, given the moniker Nutcracker Man due its pronounced chewing muscles, had typically been found in southern and eastern areas of the continent like Kenya, so its existence some 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) north of any other record suggests the species was more adaptable and widespread than presumed.

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It was thought that it (Paranthropus) never dispersed this far north, either due to ecological factors or because of competition with other species present in the area, London Natural History Museum paleontologist Dr. Fred Spoor, part of the research team, said in a press release.

The new discovery now suggests otherwise and the assumed absence was the result of an incomplete fossil record.

Last August, the fossilized teeth of two further kinds of hominins dating to between 2.6 and 2.8 million years ago were found in the Afar Depression, shedding new light on the coexistence of our human ancestors.

The possibilities for discovery are almost endless, with Watts hoping to add to the regions volcanic understanding following the eruption of Afars long-dormant Hayli Gubbi volcano in November.

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The subsequent ash cloud was so intense it smothered local grasslands and affected air travel as far away as India.

I think often with risk in the region, we dont know that much, because the eruptions havent been witnessed that frequently, Watts said. I would love to continue making sure that we understand those volcanoes and help move science along with whats happening with rifts and the hazards that we get.

Like any science, you take one step forward and theres still a massive path to go, she added.

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HARTFORD, Conn.  A Massachusetts man who amassed silencers, ghost guns, and machinegun parts despite multiple felony convictions will serve more than nine years in prison, capping a probe that began when customs officers flagged suspicious packages from China, federal authorities announced Monday.

Nicholas Kingsley, 42, of Agawam, Massachusetts, was sentenced in federal court in Hartford, U.S. Attorney David X. Sullivan said in a statement Monday. Kingsley also will face three years of supervised release for the gun crimes.

Kingsley pleaded guilty on Dec. 22 to being a felon in possession of firearms, having a machine gun and possessing a weapon regulated under the National Firearms Act, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Connecticut.

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He has previous felony convictions for drug, gun, assault and larceny charges, and federal officials said the law bars him from having any gun or ammunition that crosses state or national lines.

Investigators said the case began when federal agents started looking into Chinese companies suspected of shipping gun parts to the U.S., including silencers and devices that can turn a gun into a machine gun.

During the investigation, Homeland Security Investigations flagged several packages containing machinegun conversion devices and silencers that were sent to Kingsleys home in Agawam.

Customs officers later stopped and opened one of the packages, and found three silencers and four of the conversion devices inside, prosecutors said.

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Prosecutors said federal agents searched Kingsleys home on April 8, 2024, and found a small amount of drugs but no guns. He was arrested on state drug charges and later released on bond.

Enfield police said they arrested Kingsley on April 16, 2024, after stopping a car he was riding in and finding three ghost guns, a silencer, an extended magazine, a Glock conversion device and 45 rounds of ammunition. Ghost guns are privately manufactured weapons that lack serial numbers.

Two days later, according to officials, federal agents searched his vehicle in Agawam and seized 14 more guns, several conversion devices, magazines, body armor and about 3,000 rounds of ammunition, prosecutors said.

Officials said a later search of Kingsleys phones showed he had bought machinegun conversion devices and firearms, as well as revealed messages with a Chinese company about ordering more of the devices. Kingsley has been held since his arrest, according to prosecutors.

Read the original article on MassLive. Add MassLive as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
A U.S. Air Force captain killed in a military refueling crash in western Iraq is being remember as fierce, brave and passionate.

Capt. Ariana Savino, 31, of Covington, Washington, was one of three airmen who were members of a historic Alabama-based squadron killed in the March 12 KC-135 Stratotanker crash during Operation Epic Fury that took six lives.

Her smile will live on, according to a GoFundMe created for her family.

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Savino, Maj. John A. Alex Klinner, 33, and Tech Sgt. Ashley B. Pruitt, 34, were members of the co-located 99th Refueling Squadron, which is located at Sumpter Smith Joint National Guard Base in Birmingham.

The squadron shares resources, space, manpower, and infrastructure with the Alabama National Guards 117th Air Refueling Squadron.

We take comfort in knowing that Ariana died doing the one thing she loved the mostflying, Savinos family said in a statement released to KOMO News and other media outlets.

Her smile would brighten every room she walked into, and her energy and laughter were nothing short of contagious.

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They described Savino as fierce, brave, passionate, adding that she was deeply loved by everyone she encountered.

Savinos family said she dedicated her life to aviation and military service.

Savino was a graduate of the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps program at Central Washington University.

She commissioned in the U.S. Air Force in September 2017, originally serving as a navigator on the E-8 JSTAR aircraft prior to flying the KC-135.

She was a dependable leader who knew how to look out for her fellow Airmen; a dedicated friend; devoted sister and best friend to Kelaia and Zevin, and loving mom to her dogs, Zoey and Piper, who were her whole world, according to the GoFundMe.

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The family said they plan to use a portion of money raised to go toward establishing a scholarship fund supporting Latina women in aviation - something Ariana was passionate about.

Donations can be made here.

Klinner, a husband, father of three and 2016 Auburn University graduate, was the Chief of Squadron Standardizations and Evaluations at the 99th Air Refueling Squadron in Birmingham.

Klinner entered the Air Force in 2017 through Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps from Auburn University.

On March 12, our world shattered, his wife, Libby, posted on Instagram.

Im devastated to lose the best person I know, the person that made everything more fun, my best friend. But even more so, my heart is broken for our three kids who will grow up not knowing him, Libby wrote.

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They wont see how goofy and funny he was. They wont witness his selflessness, the way he thought about everyone else before himself. They wont get to feel the deep love he had for them. He was an incredible person and husband, but he was the best dad.

A GoFundMe created for Klinners wife and children has already raised more than $1.2 million. Donations can be made here.

Pruitt, of Bardstown, Kentucky, and was very, very proud of her military career, her husband Gregory Pruitt said Sunday.

Ill give you something brief - in a word, radiant, he said on a phone interview, trying to hold back tears. If there was a light in the room, she was it.

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Survivors include the couples 3-year-old daughter and Sgt. Pruitts stepson.

Pruitt entered the Air Force in May 2017 and completed Career Enlisted Aviator training in February 2018 followed by the Initial Boom Operator course in July 2021.

Pruitt was described as a leader who cared deeply about the airmen she worked with.

More than anything, Ashley loved her family, according to a GoFundMe created for her. Donations can be made here.

The other three Ohio-based airmen killed were Capt. Seth R. Koval, 38, of Mooresville, Ind.; Capt. Curtis J. Angst, 30, of Wilmington, Ohio; and Tech. Sgt. Tyler H. Simmons, 28, of Columbus, Ohio.

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The aircraft was in friendly airspace, supporting operations against Iran, when an unspecified incident involving another aircraft occurred on Thursday, according to U.S. Central Command. The other plane landed safety, U.S. military officials said.

The KC-135 aircraft refuels other planes in midair, allowing them to fly longer distances and sustain operations without landing. The plane also can be used to transport wounded personnel and conduct surveillance missions, according to military experts.

The crash is being investigated.

Stories by Carol Robinson

Read the original article on al.com. Add al.com as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
CHEYENNE  Military leaders cut the ribbon Wednesday morning on the first completed military construction project for the Sentinel Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Program at F.E. Warren Air Force Base.

The event, hosted by Sentinel Task Force Detachment 10, marked the opening of a Sentinel Task Force facility on base, which will support activation and integration efforts associated with the Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile program.

The building also provides the necessary security protections for personnel working to replace the more than 400 Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) in the U.S. with the new LGM-35 Sentinel ICBMs.

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The work done here, at places like F.E. Warren, is the foundation for our nations defense, Brig. Gen. William Rogers said. It is our true strategic defense.

Modernization

The $141 billion Sentinel program has been criticized by some due to long delays and massive cost increases. The project also has sparked debate in some circles over the need for such a program.

ICBMs are the ground-based leg of the U.S. nuclear triad and the most responsive leg, according to military officials.

The new building celebrated Wednesday is the first Sentinel MILCON (military construction) project to reach completion. According to a news release, The facility represents an important step in ensuring a safe, secure, and effective strategic deterrence mission.

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The new building will provide a more stable workspace and more efficient communication between those involved, according to Sentinel Task Force Detachment 10 security manager Dallas Stroud.

Previously, those who needed to have classified conversations or work on sensitive aspects of the project had to coordinate with those not involved to find appropriate spaces to speak about classified information and work on the project. Now, they have an appropriate place of their own.

The walls and the roof that youre sitting in now will be the nerve center, Maj. Gen. Colin J. Connor from Air Force Global Strike Command said. Everything that occurs, both on base and in Nebraska, Wyoming and Colorado in the missile field of the 90th Missile Wing will be because of this building right here.

Connor noted that, as someone who came to F.E. Warren when Minuteman III seemed to be cutting edge, being at Wednesdays ribbon cutting felt like a full-circle moment.

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Theyll write history out of what happens in this building, Connor said. Thats how historic this is, and its personal to me, obviously, because I started here, and to see this come full circle  for one day, for a couple of minutes, we get to be part of something big.

Office space

The building itself is a relatively plain structure, hosting what on the surface appears to be standard office space and conference rooms.

However, as contractors, construction workers and security personnel who worked on the building will tell you, theres a lot more to it than a standard office building.

Rooms are constructed to meet specific security guidelines. Some high-security clearance rooms have layers of foil, wooden panels and other materials specifically laid out to deter any sort of technology that could be used to steal information from the base.

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Some rooms are even equipped with Radiofrequency (RF) Protection technology, which is installed to block signals from entering or leaving the room. Others simply have soundproof walls to keep any potential eavesdroppers at bay.

Should a person without the proper security clearance for the topic being discussed enter a room for whatever reason, a blue light fixed to the ceiling is turned on to signal that classified conversations must cease.

Where materials are sourced, transported, placed and even who placed them is meticulously documented.

We know where every material in this building has been, down to the screws, Stroud said.

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This level of security is essential, and is mandated by intelligence directives, such as Intelligence Community Directive (ICD) 705, which governs the physical and technical security standards for Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities (SCIFs).

F.E. Warren is not the only base that will face changes due to Sentinel, though it will be the first to receive the new system. Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana and Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota also are key players in the transition.

These are the folks that are basically going to write the playbook, said Capt. Stephen Collier, Sentinel SATAF Public Affairs Liaison, referring to the people who will be working in the new building.

Sentinels future

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In 2021, the U.S. Air Force informed Congress that Minuteman III would reach the end of its service life in 2036. Following delays to Sentinel, it was determined that Minuteman III could feasibly run until 2050, though it would be risky, according to a report from the Government Accountability Office.

The program then faced an 81% cost overrun, which triggered a Nunn-McCurdy breach in 2024. The Nunn-McCurdy Act requires the Pentagon to inform lawmakers if a program incurs a cost or schedule overrun of more than 15%. Any breach over 15% is considered significant, while a breach of 30% is considered critical. For critical breaches, the Secretary of Defense must either cancel the program or certify it to continue as necessary for national security.

After the program was federally reviewed, it was deemed suitable to continue due to national security.

Military leaders have continued to emphasize the importance of modernization for the nations land-based ICBMs, but it is unclear at this point when that process will be complete.
It's been a wild year for artificial intelligence (AI) stocks. The technology continues to advance and demonstrate just how impactful it could be. Yet investors are a bit concerned about the significant capital expenditures these companies have committed to building out AI infrastructure. AI companies, even large ones in the "Magnificent Seven," took on debt to fund the buildouts, and investors are unclear whether the returns will justify the expense.

That said, most Wall Street analysts believe much of the sell-off is overblown and do see opportunities. Here are two AI stocks that Wall Street analysts think could surge 47% and 54%, based on consensus estimates.

Will AI create the world's first trillionaire? Our team just released a report on the one little-known company, called an "Indispensable Monopoly" providing the critical technology Nvidia and Intel both need. Continue 

Image source: Getty Images.

Microsoft

It's hard to imagine that a company like Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), with everything it has going for it, could see such a big sell-off in recent months. Not only does the company operate a strong, diverse tech conglomerate without AI, but Microsoft is expected to be one of the largest beneficiaries of what some are calling the fourth industrial revolution.

However, the stock has stalled as Microsoft has already spent over $72 billion in capital expenditures (capex) through the first half of its fiscal year 2026, which ends in June. Capex has come in higher than expected, and most of it has been spent on AI infrastructure, such as graphics processing units (GPUs) and data centers.

Furthermore, investors seem somewhat disappointed in Microsoft Copilot, the company's AI chatbot and assistant that is a big part of its AI strategy. The company revealed on its most recent earnings call that Copilot has 15 million paid members. That's a small percentage of its total Microsoft 365 subscribers and a far cry from what the big AI chatbots like ChatGPT or Claude have, although Microsoft may not see Copilot as a direct competitor.

Despite the struggles, Wall Street analysts see the stock as a strong buy. Of the 33 Wall Street analysts who have issued research reports on the company in the past three months, 30 have a buy rating, while three have a hold rating, according to TipRanks. The average price target implies roughly 47% upside from current levels.

Jefferies analyst Brent Thill recently reiterated a buy rating on the stock with a $675 price target, implying 66% upside. Thill sees Microsoft's end-to-end platform, encompassing its 450 million Microsoft 365 subscribers and Azure cloud, as a key advantage. The analyst also has the stock trading at about 21 times his projected fiscal year 2027 earnings per share, which isn't an expensive valuation historically.
Just weeks after approving limits on screen time for preschoolers, Alabama lawmakers are mounting a last minute push to set screen time limits for all public school students.

The House Education Policy Committee Thursday approved HB 584, sponsored by Rep. Jeana Ross, R-Guntersville and filed on March 5. The bill is an extension of the Healthy Early Development and Screen Time Act signed by Gov. Kay Ivey earlier this month.

What Im hoping this will accomplish is that these two acts will work together to create a continuous research based framework for developmentally appropriate technology you see from from early childhood to 12th grade, Ross said in an interview Friday.

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Among other features, Ross bill would limit total screen time instruction in schools to two hours a day and mandate regular vision breaks after screen use.

Ross first bill limited screen time for children from birth until kindergarten in licensed child-care facilities, public kindergarten classrooms and specific Pre-K classes. Under the law, the Department of Early Childhood Education, Alabama State Department of Education and Department of Human Resources would collaborate on creative guidelines for appropriate screen time usage.

During committee, Reps. Alan Baker, R-Brewton, and Marcus Paramore, R-Troy, brought amendments extending the limit to 12th grade and requiring students to follow the 20-20-20 rule during scheduled screen breaks. The 20-20-20 rule states every 20 minutes students must look at an object at least 20 feet away from them for at least 20 seconds. The method has been recommended by the American Optometric Association to reduce and prevent eye strain.

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Mark Dixon, president of A+ Education Partnership, a education nonprofit, said in an interview Friday the organization supported the bill.

Weve seen the benefits of the cell phone ban that legislature and Gov. Ivey passed last year; we were already seeing the benefits in classes this year, and A+ is support of limiting screen time in an age-appropriate manner, he said.

Messages seeking comment were left with School Superintendents of Alabama and Alabama Association of School Boards Friday.

During the meeting, Rep. Terri Collins, R-Decatur, who chairs the committee, said Rep. Chris Blackshear, R-Smiths Station, brought the idea of expanding the limit to 12th grade. Attempts to reach Blackshear were not immediately successful.

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Under HB 584, a 17-member task force composed of educators; vision specialists and national experts in child development, digital media research or cognitive science will work in collaboration with the Alabama State Department of Education to develop guidelines for best practices for screen-based instruction.

We want it to be high quality and to be used intentionally, again, just avoiding that passive use of technology, just like with the birth to age five kindergarten, but on up through 12th grade, our technology is intentional, Ross said.

Ross said after her original bill passed she heard concerns from parents about whether or not the bill would dictate what goes on in their homes. She said both bills only relate to instructional time in classrooms.

It has nothing to do with what parents choose to do in their homes, but all to do with what happens in public schools and in places that receive public funds, she said.

The bill was not on Tuesdays House agenda as of Friday afternoon. There are seven legislative days left in the 2026 regular session.
Six U.S. service members were killed Thursday, March 12, when a KC-135 refueling aircraft crashed in Iraq while conducting a mission in support of Operation Epic Fury.

The Pentagon has released the identities of the six service members, including a pilot from Alabama.

Heres what we know so far about the crash and the victims.

Alabama service member identified among six killed in aircraft crash

Maj. John Alex Klinner, 33, an Air Force pilot, Auburn graduate and veteran, was among those killed in Thursdays crash.

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Klinner leaves behind his wife and three young children 7-month-old twins and a 2-year-old son.

Friends and family described Klinner as an outdoorsman who enjoyed hiking and spending time outside, and someone who was always willing to lend a hand to others.

Klinner was one of three people in the crash assigned to the 6th Air Refueling Wing at MacDill Air Force Base. Governor Kay Ivey said the airman was stationed in Birmingham.

A fundraiser created to support Klinners family says he was a devoted husband, a loving father and the kind of person who would quietly step in to help anyone who needed it. The campaign, hosted on GoFundMe, will help provide financial support for his wife and their three children as they navigate life after his death.

What we know about the KC-135 crash in Iraq

Officials said the aircraft, a Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker, went down during a mission supporting Operation Epic Fury. The U.S. Military said the crash was not caused by hostile or friendly fire.

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It was confirmed on Friday morning that all crew members aboard the aircraft were killed in the crash.

A second plane involved in the operation landed safely.

Operation Epic Fury is the Pentagons designation for its current response to the conflict in the region involving Iran. Military officials said the incident remains under investigation.

Pentagon identifies six servicemembers killed in Iraq KC-135 crash

U.S. officials have identified the other five service members who were killed when the refueling aircraft was lost over Iraq.

Capt. Ariana G. Savino, 31, of Covington, Washington

Tech Sgt. Ashley B. Pruitt, 34, of Bardstown, Kentucky

Capt. Seth R. Koval, 38, of Mooresville, Indiana

Capt. Curtis J. Angst, 30, of Wilmington, Ohio

Tech Sgt. Tyler H. Simmons, 28, of Columbus, Ohio

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According to the U.S. military, Klinner, Savino and Pruitt were assigned to the 6th Air Refueling Wing at MacDill Air Force Base.

Koval, Angst and Simmons were assigned to the 121st Air Refueling Wing at Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base.

Auburn University, Gov. Kay Ivey react to airmans death

Auburn University and Gov. Kay Ivey shared condolences after the death of Klinner

In a statement, Auburn said Klinner graduated in 2016 with a degree in mechanical engineering and praised his commitment to service.

The university said his decision to serve reflects the courage, character and sense of duty demonstrated by those who choose a life of service, adding that the schools community, often called the Auburn Family, is mourning the loss.

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Ivey also released a statement on X, noting that three of the service members killed in the crash were stationed in Birmingham.

They were not only outstanding Airmen. They were our neighbors our fellow Alabamians, Ivey said. May their service and that of their families never be forgotten.

Three of the service members who lost their lives in duty to our nation were stationed at the 117th in Birmingham. They were not only outstanding Airmen. They were our neighbors  our fellow Alabamians. May their service and that of their families never be forgotten. https://t.co/HjGZTmQMs2  Governor Kay Ivey (@GovernorKayIvey) March 15, 2026

Jennifer Lindahl is a Breaking and Trending Reporter in Alabama for USA TODAYs Deep South Connect Team. Connect with her on X @jenn_lindahl and email at jlindahl@usatodayco.com.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Alabama pilot John Klinner among 6 killed in Iraq KC-135 crash
Mar. 15For decades, Alaska has taken in people fleeing war and persecution. Between 2022 and 2024, the state welcomed an annual average of more than 450 new arrivals through refugee and humanitarian programs, a trend largely driven by Ukrainians fleeing war.

But that steady flow of new arrivals to the state has been reduced to a trickle with the Trump administration's dismantling of the United States refugee resettlement program.

Now the only new refugees coming to Anchorage are a handful  fewer than 10 people total  of Afrikaners from South Africa, the only group the U.S. is currently resettling.

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In Alaska, the whipsawing changes have meant upheaval for providers of support to refugees, and uncertainty for those already here.

"These systematic changes are having deep impacts on our clients and their security and access to important documentation for their families," said Heba El-Hendi, the senior director of Refugee Assistance and Immigration Services at Catholic Social Services, an organization that has historically played a main role in placing and resettling refugees in Alaska.

From many countries to one

In the months before Trump took office in January 2025, new refugees arrived in Alaska from countries such as Venezuela, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Colombia and Guatemala.

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For several years, the number of refugees arriving in Alaska had been rising, driven largely by the arrival of hundreds of Ukrainians who came through a special Uniting for Ukraine humanitarian parole program from their war-torn country starting in 2022.

Alaska started as a refugee resettlement destination in the early 2000s with populations of Hmong refugees moving from abroad or elsewhere in the United States. Those waves were followed by arrivals fleeing conflicts in Sudan, Somalia, Myanmar and other nations.

Trump signed an executive order suspending the refugee resettlement program nationally the day he took office.

In Alaska, the decision halted the travel plans of at least 22 refugees who'd already been approved to travel as soon as the following month, leaving people in limbo, Catholic Social Services said at the time.

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Later, Trump said the U.S. would accept a limited number of refugees from a single group: Afrikaners, a white minority group in South Africa, saying that they faced persecution and land seizures in their home country  claims disputed by government officials in South Africa.

The administration set a threshold of 7,500 refugee arrivals for the year, down from a high of 125,000 during the Biden administration.

All of Alaska's most recent refugee arrivals are from South Africa, according to federal data, with a family of four arriving in September, followed by another family of four in December.

Ukrainians ask to stay

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Meanwhile, refugees and other new arrivals who came to Alaska under humanitarian programs post-pandemic are facing major changes.

The more than 1,000 Ukrainians who arrived in Alaska under the Uniting for Ukraine humanitarian relief program starting in 2022 are in limbo, said Zori Opanasevych, the head of New Chance, an Alaska nonprofit that serves as a resettlement agency.

[Previous coverage: Ukrainian refugees begin planning departures from Alaska ahead of expiring statuses]

The Ukrainians who came to Alaska received a legal status that allowed them to live and work in the U.S. for two years, but those statuses have started to expire. That means more than a thousand Ukrainians in Alaska are living without clear legal status and without an employment authorization.

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More than 100 have left, according to Opanasevych.

Without the status being renewed, she said, "you lose your driver's license. You lose everything. You are just waiting."

The tide may be turning: In February, a trickle of Ukrainians saw their re-paroles processed, after advocacy by Alaska's congressional delegation and Gov. Mike Dunleavy for a federal exemption to allow Ukrainians residing in Alaska under the program to adjust their status to be considered.

Many of the Ukrainians have found steady work in skilled jobs, and employers want them to stay, the letter from Dunleavy said.

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The way refugees are resettled into the state has also changed.

Catholic Social Services has long been the centerpiece of Alaska's refugee resettlement program as the federally designated state resettlement organization. In practical terms, that meant a statewide refugee coordinator housed within the organization was responsible for the acceptance and placement of refugee families through complex criteria having to do with job availability, housing availability and other support possible.

But that all began to shift when, in 2025, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops announced it would end its 50-year partnership with the federal government because funding had been suspended.

With that change, some of the resettlement work has shifted from Catholic Social Services to other agencies, including New Chance, the group that received and resettled Ukrainian refugees. New Chance was asked to take over similar duties for the handful of South African refugees allowed in by the Trump administration.

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That has been a difficult fit for the organization, Opanasevych said. With the low number of arrivals repeatedly rescheduled, it has been hard to provide consistent staffing to help, she said.

New Chance probably won't continue providing resettlement services for the trickle of new South African refugee arrivals.

"Our capacity to serve (the new arrivals) is just not there," Opanasevych said. The organization will pause arrivals until "things are stable and arrivals are consistent."

A federally funded Refugee Support Services program currently offered by the Alaska Office of Refugees at Catholic Social Services that provides employment case management and other work support will transition to the state's Office of Citizenship Assistance during the next fiscal year.

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That office won't offer services directly to refugees, but will disburse federal funding, said Adam Weinert, a special commissioner with the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, which oversees the office.

So far, with only a few arrivals, that funding amounts to significantly less, he said: under $25,000.

South African arrivals find scarce support

When one of the two South African families who recently resettled in Alaska arrived, they weren't greeted by the usual apartment stocked with kitchen implements and cold-weather gear.

Because of the shifting landscape of refugee resettlement and disappearing funding, the family  two parents and two children  didn't receive the kind of resources previous arrivals have. Instead, they ended up turning to a Government Hill church headed by a pastor from South Africa for most needs, the family said in a recent interview.

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The family asked not to be identified because of safety concerns for family members remaining in South Africa.

Pastor Jacques Britz and his wife moved to Alaska to start a nondenominational congregation, Echo Church. He heard that a family of Afrikaans-speaking South Africans were set to arrive in Anchorage and reached out. The South African community in Anchorage is small: He estimated 10 to 15 people in total.

"We wanted them to have something familiar," Britz said in an interview at the church, a spacious remodeled building on Government Hill with an espresso bar. That has meant supplying everything from borrowed cars to food for the family.

The family said they've had trouble adjusting to life in America, and have struggled to find employment even though the father has a professional engineering background. They've relied on the church for help for most essentials. The Trump administration took away refugee eligibility for SNAP food benefits a few months after they arrived, creating an additional strain. And because the refugee resettlement program is so small and much of the system dismantled, reports of Afrikaner arrivals struggling to pay rent and find food have popped up across the country.

Now, the church has set up a refugee assistance program of its own called Echo Refuge. It will serve any refugees allowed in, not just South Africans, Britz said.

"We can't discriminate," he said.

So far, there haven't been any other arrivals.
Members of the NATO alliance are denying U.S. President Donald Trumps demand that they send warships to help protect shipping in the Strait of Hormuz after frequent Iranian attacks. As we noted yesterday, the president said that If theres no response or if its a negative response I think it will be very bad for the future of NATO.

Germany on Monday outright rejected the demand.

In This Article

This is not our war; we did not start it, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius told reporters in Berlin on Monday. We want diplomatic solutions and a swift end to the conflict, but sending more warships to the region will likely not help achieve that.

WATCH: German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius:



We did not start this war.



What does the world expect, what does Donald Trump expect from a handful or two handfuls of European frigates to achieve there in the Strait of Hormuz, which the powerful American Navy cannot manage https://t.co/lO4WR2zly3 pic.twitter.com/MWwu3U4xyS  Clash Report (@clashreport) March 16, 2026

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul doesnt see NATO playing a role in dealing with the blockade of the Strait.

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I dont see that NATO has made any decision in this direction or could assume responsibility for the Strait of Hormuz, he said Monday ahead of a meeting of European Union foreign ministers in Brussels. If that were the case, then the NATO bodies would address it accordingly.

Wadephul added that despite the volatile situation in the Middle East, Ukraine remained Europes top security priority, the BBC noted. When the prices for oil and gas rise, he explained, it contributes to Russias war chest.

Germanys Foreign Minister Wadephul on Iran War:



Will we soon be an active part of this conflict? No.



We will not participate in this conflict.



We want to participate in negotiations, because security for the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea will only be achieved through a pic.twitter.com/J6cJNxXWsO  Clash Report (@clashreport) March 16, 2026

Luxembourgs Foreign Minister Xavier Bettel offered a blunter response to Trumps demand.

Blackmail is not what I wish for, he stated, adding that NATO is there to react when members are attacked, not for all defensive or military requests, Bloomberg News noted.

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I want to remind that none of us has been directly attacked, he said. There are no grounds for now to invoke Article 5, he added, referencing the alliances collective defense clause.

Germany and Luxembourg joined Japan and Australia in rejecting Trumps call for help in reopening the Strait, at least for now.

BREAKING: Japan's Takaichi says Tokyo has no plans to escort ships through Strait of Hormuz



 LIVE updates: https://t.co/hJo80ysMUSpic.twitter.com/CYsDR8loj7  Al Jazeera Breaking News (@AJENews) March 16, 2026

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said while the Strait must be reopened, it is not up to the alliance to do so.

Let me be clear, that wont be, and its never envisioned to be, a NATO mission, he said, adding that Britain will not be drawn into the wider war.

Britain is working with allies on a collective plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and restore freedom of navigation in the Middle East but it will not be easy,  Starmer posited, according to Reuters.

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Ultimately, we have to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to ensure stability in the (oil) market. That is not a simple task, Starmer told reporters.

Britain and Germany, after Australia, become the latest allies not jumping to send warships to protect the Strait of Hormuz, as Trump wants. https://t.co/wxDkAnoIa4  Idrees Ali (@idreesali114) March 16, 2026

Some nations are willing to listen to any plan Trump might present to NATO.

We have to look into it and consider it, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys told Bloomberg TV in an interview in Brussels. I would look for an in-depth debate within NATO.

Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski concurred.

If there is a request with NATO to discuss the issue, we will of course consider it out of respect and sympathy for our allies, he said.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas encouraged member states to consider expanding their Aspides naval mission, originally launched in 2024 while Houthis attacked shipping in the nearby Red Sea.

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If we want to have security in this region, it would be easiest to already use the operation we have in the region and maybe change a bit, Kallas said.

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz hurts the global economy and helps Russia fund its war.



It is affecting our partners in the region and is dangerous for global energy supplies.



Today, EU Foreign Ministers will discuss how to better protect shipping in the region, including pic.twitter.com/iJSVdT7FqA  Kaja Kallas (@kajakallas) March 16, 2026

While the Aspides vessels are currently allowed to navigate in the Strait of Hormuz, its mandate doesnt allow more than that, Bloomberg News posited, adding that EU countries would have to unanimously agree to change those directives, which could be difficult.

There is no change to Aspides mission or posture, Lt Colonel Socrates Ravanos, an Aspides spokesman, told us on Monday. EUNAVFOR ASPIDES continues to carry out its mandate, ensuring the protection and security of commercial maritime traffic within its area of operations.

The operations assets in the area of operation monitor the situation closely and remain vigilant, he continued. Maritime security developments in the region are continuously assessed in coordination with partners and relevant maritime authorities.

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Concern over Iranian attacks in the Strait date back many decades. Back in 2012, The Washington Institute estimated that clearing the Strait of Hormuz could require up to 16 Avenger-class (mine counter measure) MCM vessels.

The Washington Institute estimated years ago that clearing the Strait of Hormuz could require up to 16 Avenger-class MCM vessels.

The Navy has three MCM-equipped LCS in the region. https://t.co/vFTRppfdwL  Hunterbrook (@hntrbrkmedia) March 13, 2026

As we previously reported, however, the last four of those decommissioned vessels left Bahrain in January aboard a larger heavy lift vessel.

The Navy has three MCM-equipped Littoral Combat Ships in the region, Hunterbrook noted. As we reported yesterday, two Independence class Littoral Combat Ships configured for mine-sweeping duties that were previously deployed to the Middle East showed up in port in Malaysia. Both the USS Tulsa and USS Santa Barbara had arrived in Bahrain in the past year or so to take the place of a group of now-decommissioned Avenger class mine hunters. You can read more about that in our story here.

In Washington, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Monday reiterated that the administration is forming a naval coalition to escort tankers through the Strait of Hormuz.

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The president is speaking with our allies in Europe and also many of our partners in the Gulf and Arab world to encourage them to step up and do more to open the Strait of Hormuz, and our NATO allies especially need to step up, she told Fox News. President Trump has been very frank with our friends in NATO for a very long time now hes calling on them to do the right thing.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on the administration forming a naval coalition to escort tankers through the Strait of Hormuz: The president is speaking with our allies in Europe and also many of our partners in the Gulf and Arab world to encourage them to step up pic.twitter.com/SgxvPSExab  RedWave Press (@RedWavePress) March 16, 2026

In his latest update on Epic Fury, CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper on Monday said attacks are zeroed in on dismantling Irans decades old threat to the free flow of commerce through the Strait of Hormuz, through a combination of air, land and maritime capabilities. We have successfully destroyed over 100 Iranian naval vessels, and we arent done.

Update from CENTCOM Commander on Operation Epic Fury: pic.twitter.com/oGJ3QJBz5o  U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) March 16, 2026

Iranian attacks on shipping seem to have tapered off.

Between the start of Epic Fury on Feb. 28 and March 12, The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) office received 20 reports of incidents affecting vessels operating in and around the Arabian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz, and Gulf of Oman. There were 16 attacks on ships, and four reports of suspicious activity. There have been no verified reports of attacks since March 12, according to UKMTO.

UKMTO DAILY SUMMARY 14 Mar-15 Mar 26



Click here to view UKMTO Products.  https://t.co/tsQ04qD4p9#MaritimeSecurity#MarSecpic.twitter.com/tb4OlCy0wS  UKMTO Operations Centre (@UK_MTO) March 15, 2026

Amid the debate on how to protect Strait shipping, the first non-Iranian ship has transited the Strait with its AIS transponder on, according to the MarineTraffic open-source tracking site. Several observers have noted how close to the Iranian shore these ships are traveling. This could be due to Iranian mines, even though Trump on Monday repeated the assertion that Epic Fury attacks have destroyed all Irans mine-laying ships. Mines can be laid by small boats and Iran has practices doing exactly this in the past. This could also just be a safe deconfliction corridor Iran is using for safe passage.

Do note the route, north of Larak Island and then close to the Iranian coast. https://t.co/QAdIVcswRV  Thord Are Iversen (@The_Lookout_N) March 16, 2026

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The U.S. is fine with some Iranian, Indian and Chinese ships getting through the Strait of Hormuz for now, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC on Monday.

Bessent says Treasury is not intervening in oil commodities markets and has no authority to do so https://t.co/VfdOZlG279  CNBC (@CNBC) March 16, 2026

The closure of the Strait has forced several nations to alter their energy policies. Japan started the largest-ever release of oil from its strategic reserves on Monday, according to the Japan Times. The 80 million-barrel effort comes as the Strait of Hormuz stays effectively closed amid the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran and crude oil prices continue to soar.

The release  15 days worth of domestic demand from mandatory private reserves and one month from national reserves  was the seventh ever conducted in the nation, the publication noted.

BREAKING Japan says it is beginning the release of its strategic oil reserves after the International Energy Agency indicated that the release would begin in Asia and Oceania before other regions.



Japan depends on the Middle East for 95% of its oil imports pic.twitter.com/XLqWOFJSl6  AFP News Agency (@AFP) March 16, 2026

South Korea is also taking action in the wake of the Strait of Hormuz closure. It is lifting a cap on coal-fired power generation (until now set at 80% of capacity) to offset the loss of LNG, explains Bloomberg energies and commodities columnist Javier Blas in a post on X.

South Korea is lifting a cap on coal-fired power generation (until now set at 80% of capacity) to offset the loss of LNG



The flexibility of Asia to performan gas-to-coal switching (and its enormous coal-fired fleet) provides a layer of insulation that Europe didn't have in 2022  Javier Blas (@JavierBlas) March 16, 2026

Beyond attacking shipping in the Strait, Iran is continuing strikes across the region.

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The UAE says it is defending against Iranian missile and drone attacks.

         .



UAE Air Defences engaged Iranian

Ballistic and Cruise Missiles and UAVs Attacks#_ #__#MOD#UAEMinistryOfDefence pic.twitter.com/UElmhzI86y    |MOD UAE (@modgovae) March 16, 2026

Video emerged from the scene of another Iranian attack on the UAEs Fujairah Port facility, showing thick plumes wafting into the sky.

 '        "  pic.twitter.com/A1mgsohK1o     Itay Blumental (@ItayBlumental) March 16, 2026

An Indian-flagged crude tanker had a close call when the UAEs Fujairah port came under attack on Saturday while it was loading crude at the oil terminal, according to the Times of India. The vessel sailed out safely the next day with everyone onboard unhurt.

JAG LAADKI an Indian flagged Crude Oil Tanker is being escorted out of the Gulf of Oman by the Indian Navy as maritime security in the region remains tense pic.twitter.com/0YdR06QxDJ  Damien Symon (@detresfa_) March 16, 2026

Iran has asked India to release three tankers seized in February as part of talks seeking the safe passage of Indianflagged or Indiabound vessels out of the Gulf via the Strait of Hormuz, Reuters reported on X, citing three sources with knowledge of the matter.

(Reuters)  Iran has asked India to release three tankers seized in February as part of talks seeking the safe passage of Indianflagged or Indiabound vessels out of the Gulf via the Strait of Hormuz, three sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.



Indian authorities  Phil Stewart (@phildstewart) March 16, 2026

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In a brief chat with PBS News, Trump repeated his stance, since denied by Tehran, that Iran wants to negotiate.

Were doing very well, he told the outlet, reiterating comments about destroying Irans military. He added: They want to make a deal but theyre not ready to make a deal in my opinion.

Just had a brief phone call with @potus this morning and asked him several questions about Iran. He noted when he answered that it was not a good time to chat because he was in the middle of a "very important meeting" about it  but said the following:  Liz Landers (@ElizLanders) March 16, 2026

In addition to frequent conversations with Israeli leaders, Trump is also talking regularly to Arab leaders, particularly Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi crown prince.

According to several officials, the advice Mr. Trump is getting from the prince is to keep hitting the Iranians hard  essentially repeating the advice that King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, who died in 2015, repeatedly gave to Washington: Cut off the head of the snake, according to The New York Times.

Just as the war is poised to escalate this leak could be adding fuel to fire. According to @nytimes "Mr. Trump is talking regularly to Arab leaders, particularly Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi crown prince. According to several officials, the advice Mr. Trump is getting from the  Vali Nasr (@vali_nasr) March 16, 2026

Axios reported that some key officials around Trump were reluctant or wanted more time before an attack on Iran.

He ended up saying, I just want to do it,' the source told the outlet. He grossly overestimated his ability to topple the regime short of sending in ground troops.

A source close to the administration said some key officials around Trump were reluctant or wanted more time.



"He ended up saying, 'I just want to do it,'" the source said. "He grossly overestimated his ability to topple the regime short of sending in ground troops." https://t.co/lJWB1SyOhM  Axios (@axios) March 16, 2026

The America class amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli is continuing to speed toward the Middle East after the Pentagon ordered a Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) to bolster forces in the region.

The vessel, along with two Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer escorts, was last seen about 420 miles from Manilla, pushing deep into the South China Sea, according to open-source investigator MT Anderson.

Running an aviation-optimized amphibious assault ship at high speed with a dedicated twin-destroyer escort is a heavily protected, offensive posture, Anderson assessed. They are moving with purpose, bringing a major Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) umbrella with them as they sprint toward the theater.

HIGH-SPEED TRANSIT: USS Tripoli Flanked by Heavy Escorts



OSINT Update (Mar 15 imagery): Tracking the USS Tripoli (LHA-7) as she continues her rapid push toward the Middle East for Operation Epic Fury. She is not making this run alone.



The Fix: Spotted ~678 km from Manila, pic.twitter.com/Zy8ddlp4lW  MT Anderson (@MT_Anderson) March 16, 2026

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Monday it had begun a targeted ground operation against key targets in southern Lebanon, pushing more forces deeper into the area as part of an expanded buffer zone, The Times of Israel reported. The move came after Hezbollah began attacking Israel earlier this month amid the US-Israeli war with Iran.

Defense Minister Israel Katz said the operation would continue until Hezbollah no longer poses a threat to the residents of northern Israel, and said displaced Lebanese would not return to their homes until then.

IDFs 401st Brigade troops of the 91st Division carry out precision raids in southern Lebanon against Hezbollahs terror infrastructure. pic.twitter.com/eYwjr2jwXG  Open Source Intel (@Osint613) March 16, 2026

Hezbollah reportedly used its Almas missiles for the first time in this conflict. You can read more about these weapons in our story here.

#Lebanon: Hezbollah has used its first Almas missile amid ongoing conflict with Israel.



While Hezbollah primarily uses anti-tank missiles such as the Konkurs and Kornet, the Iranian-made Almas (a copy of the Israeli Spike) offers more advanced capabilities.



As seen in the https://t.co/kIpei0jLc8 pic.twitter.com/EmW2P1aSVe  Qalaat Al Mudiq (@QalaatAlMudiq) March 16, 2026

The IDF also said it attacked an Iranian space-related compound that researcher Fabian Hinz said was used to conduct research on exoatmospheric guidance.

The Iranians were conducting a lot of research and development work on exoatmospheric guidance technologies as part of their missile and SLV programs. Would not be surprised if they were eventually aiming to develop direct-ascent anti-satellite capabilities as well. https://t.co/sugj1KrDPq  Fabian Hinz (@fab_hinz) March 16, 2026

Chinas Foreign Ministry is calling for an immediate halt to military operations in the Middle East, warning that further regional escalation could hit the global economy, Al Jazeera reported on X.

BREAKING: Chinas Foreign Ministry is calling for an immediate halt to military operations in the Middle East, warning that further regional escalation could hit the global economy. pic.twitter.com/rWyDn2DxgV  Al Jazeera Breaking News (@AJENews) March 16, 2026

Online flight trackers say a Qatari Air Force C-17A strategic military transport plane flew to Rzeszow, Poland, earlier last week, following a similar flight the week before.

The nature of these flights is unclear. However, with Rzeszow serving as the primary hub for military aid being transshipped to Ukraine, it is possible the flights may have been delivering air defense interceptors originally intended for Ukraine or transporting Ukrainian counter drone specialists. We just dont know.

A Qatar Air Force C-17A strategic military transport plane flew to Rzeszow, Poland, earlier last week.



A UAE Air Force C-17A also carried out a similar flight to the same destination last week.



Rzeszow is the primary hub for military aid being transshipped to Ukraine, so the pic.twitter.com/o5JjxEulpc  Egypt's Intel Observer (@EGYOSINT) March 15, 2026

The flow of videos out of Iran, already greatly reduced because of the regimes internet blockage, has slowed even further.

Theres been a notable drop in the number of videos coming out of Iran in the last 24 hours. Ive now heard from multiple sources inside Iran that the government has further tightened its imposed internet blackout by closing loopholes and targeting those with Starlink access, BBC journalist Shayan Sardarizadeh noted on X.

There's been a notable drop in the number of videos coming out of Iran in the last 24 hours.



I've now heard from multiple sources inside Iran that the government has further tightened its imposed internet blackout by closing loopholes and targeting those with Starlink access. https://t.co/KOCGBS5fXr  Shayan Sardarizadeh (@Shayan86) March 16, 2026

Still, some videos are making it out, like this one purporting to show Iranian Basij paramilitary forces hiding in a school.

Basij forces and government security agents had gathered inside a school, a citizen who sent a video to Iran International said. pic.twitter.com/RkEjEtMCMK  Iran International English (@IranIntl_En) March 16, 2026

UPDATES:

We have concluded our rolling coverage for the day.

UPDATE: 5:48 PM EST 

Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi pushed back on claims that he has established backchannel communications with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff.

My last contact with Mr. Witkoff was prior to his employer's decision to kill diplomacy with another illegal military attack on Iran.



Any claim to the contrary appears geared solely to mislead oil traders and the public.  Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) March 16, 2026

With speculation rife that is he is badly wounded or perhaps even dead, new Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei will reportedly give a television speech in the coming days. Khamenie, who Iranian officials have admitted was wounded in an airstrike, has not been seen in public since.

An Iranian Foreign Ministry Advisor tells Lebanese Al-Jadeed that the new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, will deliver a televised speech in the coming days.



The advisor stated that Khamenei is in direct contact with military and political leaders, and the reason for his  Ariel Oseran   (@ariel_oseran) March 16, 2026

Speaking to reporters at The White House, Trump extolled the virtues of the B-2A Spirit stealth bomber.

Let me hug that little sucker, he said while asking an aide to hand him a model of the aircraft the president keeps in the Oval Office.

US President Trump presenting a B-2 bomber figure:



"Let me just hug that little sucker!" pic.twitter.com/JpI1abqjir  Status-6 (War & Military News) (@Archer83Able) March 16, 2026

UPDATE: 5:24 PM EST 

MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, home of the command running the war in Iran, is reopening its main gate after a bomb scare earlier today, a spokesman for the 6th Air Refueling Wing, the base host unit, confirmed to The War Zone.

The incident has been terminated and we are ready to open the main gate and visitor center, the spokesman told us. The base, however, was not on lockdown.

MacDill is home to CENTCOM, U.S. Special Operations Command as well as the 6th Air Refueling Wing (6th ARW) and the 927th Air Refueling Wing and dozens of other mission partners. Last week, three airmen assigned to the 6th ARW were among six killed in a crash of a KC-135 aerial refueling tanker.

Todays situation unfolded this afternoon when a suspicious package was found at the Visitors Center near the Dale Mabry entrance gate, according to the FBI. The bureau sent its Special Agent Bomb Techs to the scene, who worked it along with Tampa Police, the FBI said in a post on X.

The main gate at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, was reopened Monday afternoon after a bomb scare. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Vernon L. Fowler Jr MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa is home to both U.S. Central Command and U.S. Special Operations Command. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Vernon L. Fowler Jr.

UPDATE: 4:23 PM EST 

Talking to reporters on Monday, Trump seemed surprised that Iran would actually attack its neighbors if it came under fire.

The president was responding to a question about whether he was briefed about possible Iranian strikes on nations like the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar.

Trump on Iran:



I heard they were sending missiles to the UAE. I said, Thats strange, you know? The UAE is like the banker for Iran. Theyre sort of the banker. Qatar, their neighbors  they got along okay.



Then suddenly Saudi Arabia, Kuwait  Kuwait is getting hit. Bahrain pic.twitter.com/KVVvX1sKMw  Clash Report (@clashreport) March 16, 2026

A direct communications channel between U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has been reactivated in recent days, Axios reported, citing a U.S. official and a source with knowledge.

   A direct communications channel between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi & U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff has been reactivated in recent days, according to a U.S. official & a source with knowledge. Read the story by @MarcACaputo & me on @Axioshttps://t.co/izoFpwZV5m  Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) March 16, 2026

Araghchi lashed out at comments made by U.S. War Secretary Pete Hegseth that America would show no quarter in Epic Fury.

When the U.S. Secretary of War declares no quarter. he doesnt project strength, Araghchi stated on X. He conveys moral bankruptcy and ignorance about law of armed conflict. We advise him to review the Hague Convention and Rome Statute of the ICC, unless he aspires to join Netanyahu as war criminal.

When the U.S. Secretary of War declares no quarter, he doesn't project strength. He conveys moral bankruptcy and ignorance about law of armed conflict. We advise him to review the Hague Convention and Rome Statute of the ICC, unless he aspires to join Netanyahu as war criminal.  Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) March 16, 2026

The IDF Chief of the General Staff approved plans to continue operations in the Northern Command.

The impact of the strike and the weakening of the radical regime in Iran is also felt in the campaign against Hezbollah, said Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir. To date, the Northern Command has eliminated more than 400 Hezbollah terrorists.

     :            ;       -400  



              ,    pic.twitter.com/HrBMLk9LFf     (@idfonline) March 16, 2026

UPDATE 3:50 PM EST 

CENTCOM spokesman Capt. Tim Hawkins confirmed to The War Zone that more than 200 troops have been wounded or injured across seven countries since the start of Epic Fury. The injuries took place in Bahrain, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

The vast majority of these injuries have been minor, and more than 180 troops have already returned to duty, he explained, adding that 10 troops were seriously injured.

In addition to the wounded, seven U.S. troops have been killed in Iranian attacks, the most serious being March 1 when six Army soldiers were killed in an Iranian drone attack on Kuwait. Another six Air Force airmen died when their KC-135 refueling plane crashed in Iraq, reportedly after colliding with another KC-135.

The Washington Post was first to report the latest casualty figures.

U.S. troops have been wounded or injured in Bahrain, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.



More here:https://t.co/IRmwkfwWsN  Dan Lamothe (@DanLamothe) March 16, 2026

CENTCOM released its latest Epic Fury update, saying it struck more than 7,000 targets, flew more than 6,500 combat sorties and damaged or destroyed more than 100 Iranian ships.

CENTCOM

Baghdad continues to be hit.

In what looks like a scene from a video game, a counter rocket, artillery, and mortar C-RAM system is seen engaging with a drone over Baghdad.

C-Ram successful interception of a drone/rocket launched by Iranian-backed militias in Baghdad this evening. The Target was the U.S embassy. pic.twitter.com/EuHGx705gR  Steven Nabil (@thestevennabil) March 16, 2026

Footage of a reported coalition interception of an Iranian drone can be seen in the following video.

Footage of a coalition interceptor knocking down an Iranian attack drone over western Baghdad tonight. pic.twitter.com/29xXktDi4h  OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) March 16, 2026

Not all the interceptions apparently worked. A drone reportedly slammed into the Royal Tulip al-Rasheed hotel in the Iraqi capital.

Explosive-laden drone targets al-Rasheed Hotel that hosts the European Union Advisory Mission in Iraq.  pic.twitter.com/j5JspHoVbL  Tammuz Intel (@Tammuz_Intel) March 16, 2026

The Spanish Ministry of Defense confirmed on Sunday that it temporarily transferred its special forces from Iraq due to worsening safety and failure to conduct missions securely.The Special Operations Task Group was relocated to safe areas because the security situation prevented it from continuing training operations with Iraqi forces, according to the ministry.

Spain withdraws special forces from Iraq amid regional unrest https://t.co/mn7PhHfUE8  Pawe Wojcik  (@SaladinAlDronni) March 16, 2026

GPS interference in and around the Strait of Hormuz has continued to rise since the crisis began, suggesting a persistent and geographically dispersed campaign of electronic disruption, according to Kpler.

Hormuz GPS disruption continues



GPS interference in and around the Strait of Hormuz has continued to rise since the crisis began, suggesting a persistent and geographically dispersed campaign of electronic disruption. This interference is triggering false AIS positioning, pic.twitter.com/VXiaxHwFat  Kpler (@Kpler) March 16, 2026

Wild video was posted on X of an Israeli interception of an Iranian ballistic missile. No injuries were reported, according to Times of Israel military correspondent Emanuel Mannie Fabian.

No injuries are reported in Iran's latest ballistic missile salvo on Israel, the sixth since midnight, and the first in some six hours.



A small number of missiles were launched, which were likely intercepted, according to initial military assessments.



Sirens had sounded across https://t.co/9JaXEDgJJm pic.twitter.com/5t2YXuw7AQ  Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 16, 2026

UPDATE: 2:42 PM EST 

The war with Iran is expected to last at least another month, according to Israel media, citing a senior Israeli official.

Israel is reportedly preparing for an extended phase of fighting as it seeks to further weaken the Iranian regime and capitalize on what it views as signs of internal instability within the countrys leadership, The Times of Israel reported. According to the source, U.S. President Donald Trump supports Israel in continuing the campaign.

We reached out to the White House for comment.

 Senior Israeli source: Iran war will continue for longer than expected; were preparing to fight for another month at least; Trump is on board.



via N12 News https://t.co/gkDAbmaod1  Israel Radar (@IsraelRadar_com) March 16, 2026

NATO responded to our query about debate over sending warships to the Strait of Hormuz.

Allies have already stepped up to provide additional security in the Mediterranean, a NATO official told us. We are aware that individual Allies are talking with the US and others on what more they might do, including in the context of security in the Strait of Hormuz.

In the first 96 hours of Epic Fury, the US-led coalition expended approximately 5,197 munitions across 35 types, according to a new report from the Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI).

This carries a munitions-only replacement bill of $10$16 billion in four days, FPRI posited. This represents a significant industrial burden for replacing some munitions that cannot be replenished in 4 days, 4 weeks, or even 4 months. Worse, those estimates do not include combat losses of warfighting assets or damage to bases and the high-end air defense enabling architecture.

We have an important new analysis of munitions used in the first 96 hours of the war with Iran out at the @FPRI (Foreign Policy Research Institute).



In the first 96 hours, the US-led coalition expended approximately 5,197 munitions across 35 types. This carries a munitions-only  Morgan Bazilian (@MBazilian) March 16, 2026

Video has emerged showing intense flames at Dubai International Airports fuel storage area after an Iranian attack.

Dubai: The scale of fire at Dubai International Airport's fuel storage area after Iranian strike. pic.twitter.com/jlzIwNOwyl  Clash Report (@clashreport) March 16, 2026

CENTCOM posted additional video of its attacks on Iranian targets.

Thousands of Iranian military targets have been struck by U.S. forces to neutralize threats posed by the Iranian regime now and into the future. pic.twitter.com/dE4VNxjjW1  U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) March 16, 2026



MT Anderson provided an update on the location of the Tripoli. The ship was spotted on AIS North of the Riau Archipelago, transiting the southern South China Sea at 18 knots.

USS Tripoli spotted on AIS North of the Riau Archipelago, transiting the southern South China Sea at 18 knots pic.twitter.com/QFiWSJqMhE  MT Anderson (@MT_Anderson) March 16, 2026

The Iraqi armed faction Kataib Hezbollah announced the death of its spokesperson, known as Abu Ali al-Askari. He was reportedly killed in a U.S. airstrike after a wave of attacks against U.S. facilities in Iraq.

   

                .

                 .

             Sabereen news (@sabreenS11) March 16, 2026

Six people were injured in a Hezbollah rocket attack in Nahariya, according to medics. The town is located about eight miles south of the Lebanese border.

Six people are injured in a Hezbollah rocket strike on a home in Nahariya, medics say.



Magen David Adom says it treated two adults and four minors with signs of smoke inhalation. They are all listed in good condition.



The IDF says the impact was caused by a rocket launched from pic.twitter.com/IeKGd0amAB  Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 16, 2026

Turkeys Foreign Affairs Ministry (MFA) condemned the latest Israeli incursion into Lebanon.

The Netanyahu governments collective punishment and genocidal policies in Lebanon will lead to a new humanitarian catastrophe in the region, the MFA said in a statement on Monday. We reaffirm our solidarity with Lebanon amid these attacks, which violate its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

UPDATE: 1:50 PM EST 

Speaking at a board meeting of the Trump Kennedy Center, the president claimed he predicted that Iran would attack shipping in the Strait.

NOW  Trump says he predicted Iran would weaponize the Strait of Hormuz, adding, "I predicted all of it. I predicted Osama bin Laden would knock out the World Trade Center. I made that prediction a year before he did it." pic.twitter.com/6VqkvzamW0  Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) March 16, 2026

The president added that he does not know Iran mined the Strait.

Trump on Iran:



We have destroyed all of their mine-laying ships.



We dont know if any mines have been laid. pic.twitter.com/y1BoEgzuBh  Clash Report (@clashreport) March 16, 2026

He also said the U.S. has hit 7,000 targets since launching Epic Fury.

Trump on Iran:



Since the beginning of the conflict, we struck more than 7,000 targets across Iran; these have been mostly military and commercial targets. pic.twitter.com/ppiyztSRDj  Clash Report (@clashreport) March 16, 2026

France has reportedly boosted its deployment of Rafale fighters to Jordan and UAE to 24, more than double the usual 10, according to French defense observer Tom Antonov. The jets have already intercepted dozens of Iranian drones, he added in a post on X.

Rt @LEXPRESS   

France has temporarily increased its Rafale deployment in #Jordan and #UAE to 24 jet fighters (compared with the usual 10), and these jets have already intercepted dozens of Iranian drones.#France#Iran#uavpic.twitter.com/D2PLLImrYV  Tom Antonov (@Tom_Antonov) March 16, 2026

The MQ-9 Reaper drones have played a big role in the war, and have been heavily targeted by Iran. To date, the U.S. has lost about a dozen Reapers, including one accidentally shot down by an ally, according to The Wall Street Journal.

NEW: About a dozen MQ-9s had been lost in the air or on the ground when attacked by Iranian missiles as of late last week, military officials said. One was mistakenly shot down by a Gulf nation. From @MarcusReports and @mgordonwsj https://t.co/dCGvNGsrQr  Lara Seligman (@laraseligman) March 16, 2026

NATO is considering boosting its ballistic missile defense capacity in Turkey against threats from neighboring Iran, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter

The military alliance already deployed a battery in eastern Turkey to protect an early-warning radar used to track missiles across the Middle East, the outlet stated. Its now considering sending another Patriot missile-defense system to bolster an airbase where American troops are stationed.

NATO is looking into reinforcing further its ballistic missile defense capacity in Turkey against threats from neighboring Iran, according to people familiar with the matter. https://t.co/eQzealf1qp  Bloomberg (@business) March 16, 2026

Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com
European Commissioner for Energy Dan Jrgensen has said that the halt in the transit of Russian oil via the Druzhba pipeline does not pose a threat to the European Union's energy security and reiterated that the EU intends to fully phase out Russian energy imports.

Source: European Commissioner Dan Jrgensen, responding to a question from a European Pravda correspondent

Details: The EU has no intention of abandoning its plans to phase out all Russian energy imports, the commissioner stressed.

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"We should also maybe start by reminding each other why it is that there's a problem with this pipeline. It's because Russia has destroyed it. Let's not forget that," Jrgensen said in response to European Pravda's question.

He emphasised that there are no concerns regarding security of supply, as alternative sources exist.

"Having said that, we have sent a very clear signal to Ukraine that we would like to see a timeline on when this Druzhba will be up and running again," the commissioner noted.

"But let me also underline that the Commission does intend to put forward a proposal to ban the import of oil from Russia," he added.

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Jrgensen recalled that EU sanctions already prohibit member states from importing Russian oil, although two countries  Hungary and Slovakia  currently benefit from exemptions.

However, the EU will shortly propose a full ban on Russian oil imports.

"We will put forward a proposal to change that. So all countries need to prepare for this situation," Jrgensen stressed. "We do not want to buy energy from Russia in the future."

Background:

As European Pravda has reported, Hungary and Slovakia initiated a discussion on the Druzhba pipeline with the Council of the EU on 16 March.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has announced on the sidelines of an EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting that Hungary will continue its blocking stance until Ukraine restores the transit of Russian oil via the Druzhba pipeline.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has expressed the view that reopening the Druzhba pipeline would be equivalent to lifting sanctions on Russia.

Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
By Samia Nakhoul

DUBAI, March 16 (Reuters) - Gulf Arab states did not ask the U.S. to go to war with Iran, but many are now urging it not to stop short by leaving the Islamic Republic still able to threaten the Gulfs oil lifeline and the economies that depend on it, three Gulf sources told Reuters.

At the same time, these sources and five Western and Arab diplomats said Washington was pressing Gulf states to join the U.S.-Israeli war. According to three of them, President Donald Trump wants to show regional backing for the campaign, to bolster its international legitimacy as well as support at home.

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"There is a wide feeling across the Gulf that Iran has crossed every red line with every Gulf country, said Abdulaziz Sager, chairman of the Saudi-based Gulf Research Center and familiar with government thinking.

At first we defended them and opposed the war, he said. But once they began directing strikes at us, they became an enemy. There is no other way to classify them.

IRAN ATTACKS THE SIX GULF STATES

Tehran has already demonstrated its reach, attacking airports, ports, oil facilities and commercial hubs in the six Gulf states with missiles and drones while disrupting shipping through the Strait of Hormuz - the artery carrying about a fifth of global oil and underpinning Gulf economies.

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The attacks have reinforced Gulf fears that leaving Iran with any significant offensive weaponry or arms manufacturing capacity could embolden it to hold the regions energy lifeline hostage whenever tensions rise.

As the war entered its third week, with U.S. and Israeli airstrikes intensifying and Iran firing at U.S. bases and civilian targets across the Gulf, a Gulf source said the prevailing mood among leaders was unmistakable: that Trump should comprehensively degrade Iran's military capacity.

The alternative, the source said, was living under constant threat. Unless Iran was severely weakened, he said, it would continue to hold the region to ransom.

Predominantly Shi'ite Muslim Iran has often viewed its Sunni Arab Gulf neighbours - close allies of the U.S. that host American military bases - with deep suspicion, even if relations with Qatar and Oman have generally been less fraught.

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Over the years, Iran and its regional allies have been accused of attacks on Gulf energy installations, not least a 2019 strike on Saudi Arabias Abqaiq and Khurais oil facilities - for which Iran denied responsibility - that halved Saudi output and rattled energy markets.

For Gulf leaders, inaction is now the greater risk.

The effect of Irans attacks this month goes far beyond specific material damage, not only disrupting oil flows but damaging a hard-won image of stability and security that has underpinned Gulf countries' attempts to expand trade and tourism and rely less on fossil fuel exports.

"If the Americans pull out before the task is complete, well be left to confront Iran on our own, Sager said.

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GULF FEARS OF TRIGGERING WIDER WAR

In response to questions about those concerns, the White House said the U.S. was "crushing (Iran's) ability to shoot these weapons or produce more", and that Trump was "in close contact with our partners in the Middle East".

Of the Gulf countries, only the United Arab Emirates responded. It said that it "does not seek to be drawn into conflicts or escalation" but affirmed its right to "take all necessary measures" to safeguard its sovereignty, security and integrity, and ensure residents' safety.

Sources in the region said unilateral military action by any Gulf state remained off the table because only collective intervention would avoid exposing individual countries to retaliation.

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Moreover, consensus is still elusive. The six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council - Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman and the UAE - have held just one Zoom call, and no Arab summit has been convened to discuss coordinated action.

Gulf leaders remain deeply fearful of triggering a broader, uncontrollable conflagration.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said last week that Gulf partners were stepping up even more and were willing to go on the offense while already working with Washington on collective and integrated air defenses, though he did not specify what else they might do.

A senior UAE official said his country had chosen restraint, after Iran said the U.S. military had used the UAE to strike Kharg Island, home to Iran's main oil export terminal.

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Yet Sager said Saudi Arabia, Iran's main rival for regional influence, could be forced to retaliate if Iran crossed red lines, notably with strikes on major oil facilities or desalination plants or causing heavy casualties:

In that case, Saudi Arabia would have no choice but to intervene.

He said Riyadh would nevertheless try to calibrate any response to avoid further escalation.

GULF'S STRATEGIC DILEMMA

At heart, the Arab Gulf states face a strategic dilemma, said Fawaz Gerges of the London School of Economics: balancing the immediate threat of Iranian attacks against the far greater risk of being drawn into a war led by the U.S. and Israel.

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Joining that campaign, he said, would add little to Washingtons military superiority while sharply increasing exposure to Iranian reprisals. The result is calculated restraint: defending sovereignty and signalling red lines without entering a war the Gulf countries neither started nor control.

Right now, Irans leverage is evident. It has effectively been deciding which ships can pass through the strait, something no state in the region considers acceptable.

"Now that Iran has shown it can shut down Hormuz, the Gulf faces a fundamentally different threat, said Bernard Haykel, professor of Near Eastern studies at Princeton University. If its not addressed, this danger will be long-term.

Trump on Sunday called - with little initial success - for a coalition of nations to help reopen the waterway.

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Haykel argued that, while the global economy depends on Gulf oil and gas, most of it flows east to China, Japan and other Asian economies, meaning that they, too, must shoulder responsibility.

"China helped secure maritime routes off Somalia; it may be willing to step in here too, Haykel said.

(Additional reporting by Alexander Cornwell in Jerualem and Parisa Hafezi in Dubai, writing by Samia Nakhoul; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy appeared in court on Monday as his appeal trial over allegations that he conspired to receive illegal campaign funding from Libya got under way in Paris.

The Paris appeals court began reopening the case against the 71-year-old and several co-defendants.

In a first ruling last year, Sarkozy was sentenced to five years in prison for membership of a criminal organization. The court ordered the sentence to be enforced immediately, even though the conservative politician had lodged an appeal.

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Never before in recent French history has a former head of state been sent to prison.

Sarkozy spent just under three weeks behind bars in Paris late last year after the court ruled the sentence should be provisionally enforced. He was later released under judicial supervision while awaiting the appeal proceedings.

The Libya affair centres on allegations that illegal funds were channelled to Sarkozy's 2007 presidential campaign by the leadership of former Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi.

While the Paris criminal court found no evidence that money actually flowed from Libya, it concluded in its ruling that Sarkozy had at least attempted to obtain funds from the Libyan leader.

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The presiding judge at the original trial said Sarkozy had committed "an offence against the nation, the state and public order," describing the case as one of "extraordinary gravity."

However, Sarkozy was acquitted of separate charges of corruption and illegal campaign financing.

Sarkozy, who served as France's president from 2007 to 2012, has consistently denied wrongdoing. He described the conviction as an "intolerable injustice" and a scandal.

The appeal trial in Paris is scheduled to run until June 3, though a verdict is not expected until a later date.

Ten other defendants are also on trial in the appeal proceedings, including former ministers Claude Gueant, Eric Woerth and Brice Hortefeux. Both the convicted defendants and prosecutors have appealed the original ruling.

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Sarkozys presidency was marked by a series of controversies involving wealthy allies, allegations of cronyism and criticism of government excess. He lost the 2012 presidential election to Socialist candidate Francois Hollande and later failed in a bid to win his partys nomination in 2017.

Despite his legal troubles and absence from elected office, Sarkozy remained an influential figure among supporters on the French conservative right for many years.
"This scenario cannot be repeated," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned, asserting that "reparations will be paid" following the conclusion of the war.

Iran will demand assurances that all attacks will stop and reparations are made for war damages before agreeing to end the conflict, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Qatari-owned Al-Araby al-Jadeed on Sunday.

Araghchi emphasized that he was not referring to a short-term ceasefire - he was demanding an end to US and Israeli strikes on Iran indefinitely. "We will end this war when we are certain it will not be repeated, and this requires a decisive and final end to the war," he said.

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According to Araghchi, the previous ceasefire allowed the US and Israel to regroup in order to attack the regime again. "This scenario cannot be repeated," he warned, asserting that "reparations will be paid" following the conclusion of the war.

Araghchi also mentioned that reparations must be paid to end the war, something that the Islamic Republic President Masoud Pezeshkian had already said last week in a post on X/Twitter.

"The only way to end this war is recognizing Irans legitimate rights, payment of reparations, and firm international guarantees against future aggression," Pezeshkian wrote in that instance.

Araghchi: 'War must end and not be repeated'

According to Araghchi, the Iranian demands to end the war are not conditions but "what the reason dictates." He explained that from Irans perspective, any idea worth considering must include sufficient guarantees to end the war completely.

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Additionally, he explained that he has no specific predictions for when the war may end. What I do know, he said, is that this war and our defense will continue wherever and whenever necessary.

Beyond ending the war, Araghchi asserted that even continuing the war in the current situation has become a dilemma for the US and Israel. They failed to realize that the Islamic Republic is not based on a single person or a few individuals, but rather on a strong and robust structure, he asserted.

I believe they have trapped themselves in a situation from which they see no escape, he shared.

Iran is even prepared for further escalation in hostilities with the US, with the regime anticipating the entry of American ground forces into our territory, Araghchi stated, adding that the IRGC will know how to confront them in case of a US ground invasion.

A plume of smoke rises after a strike on the Iranian capital Tehran, on March 3, 2026. (credit: ATTA KENARE / AFP via Getty Images)

Regime enjoying complete stability, Araghchi claims

When probed on the possibility of the Islamic regime collapsing and US-Israeli hopes of an uprising among the Iranian people, Araghchi claimed that the regime enjoys complete stability and strength.

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Despite a large number of the regimes leadership and military personnel being killed in the war so far, he stated that there has been no upheaval because the system is established and cohesive.

I believe that no one has any hope left for change, and there is no longer any talk of sweeping reforms in Iran, he stated, alleging that the secret to the strength of the Islamic Republic of Iran lies in its supportive and ever-present people.

Araghchi additionally claimed that Irans newly appointed Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is in excellent health, in control of the situation, and present at his post despite rumors that he was injured.

On Friday, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth delivered a speech in which he stated that Khamenei is wounded and likely disfigured.

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He's scared, he's injured, he's on the run, and he lacks legitimacy," Hegseth said of the Supreme Leader.

Still, Araghchi stated that everything is under control.

We have principles we cannot compromise, the most important of which is our independence, he said. While others might accept relinquishing our ambitions, goals, and achievements simply because they desire it, the Iranian regime will not, Araghchi asserted.
BATON ROUGE, La. (KLFY)  Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill has released a list of bills her office sees a priority for the 2026 Regular Legislative Session.

My legislative package this session addresses critical issues, including criminalizing the use of artificial intelligence to generate child sexual abuse material, prioritizing American citizens over illegal immigrants, ensuring victims voices are heard, advancing post-conviction relief reforms, applying RICO charges to predatory online gambling syndicates, authorizing the seizure of vehicles from criminals who flee officers in aggravated circumstances, and more, Murrill said.

Here is the list of bills Murrill highlights:

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SB110 by Sen. Heather Cloud (R-Ville Platte):

Criminalizes the creation of computer-generated child sexual abuse materials using artificial intelligence.

HB53 by Rep. Bryan Fontenot (R-Thibodaux):

Adds gambling offenses to the list of predicate crimes under Louisianas RICO statute.

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HB335 by Rep. Chance Henry (R-Crowley):

Requires the verification of citizenship status before an individual receives government funds through a non-governmental organization (NGO).

HB336 by Speaker Pro-Tempore Mike Johnson (R-East Pineville):

Expedites the adjudication of post-conviction relief cases by requiring the timely submission of unexhausted claims.

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HB51 & HB58 by Rep. Debbie Villio (R-Kenner):

Prohibits a judge from granting post-conviction bail for individuals convicted of aggravated offenses against minors.

HB789 by Rep. Jay Galle (R-Mandeville):

Permits the seizure of off-road vehicles from criminals who flee from law enforcement.

These bills make Louisiana safer and more attractive for families and businesses, Murrill said. Im excited to collaborate with our partners in the Legislature to pass this vital legislation.

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Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLFY.com.
The National Weather Service has canceled a tornado watch issued for the Augusta area on Monday. The tornado warning alert was originally set to remain in place until 2 p.m.

The threat of severe weather prompted some Augusta-area school systems to either cancel classes or plan e-learning days for Monday.

Richmond County closed public schools and district offices, as noted on the school system's website on Sunday. Extracurricular activities were canceled. Edgefield County also cancelled classes for public schools.

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Augusta Technical College classes were held remotely on Monday. Aiken County public schools also conducted an e-learning on Monday, as noted on its website on Sunday evening.

Augusta University is also going to remote learning for Monday, according to an alert issued to staff Monday morning.

Columbia County public schools already had planned for a professional learning day on Monday, meaning no school for students.

McDuffie County public schools were already closed on Monday, but school officials there also decided to close the central office, noted the system's website.

What to do in case of a tornado

NOAA, National Weather Service, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offer these tips in case of a tornado or impending tornado:

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Take shelter if there is a tornado warning or you see signs of a tornado, such as funnel or debris clouds.

Monitor local alerts or a NOAA weather radio if available.

Go to a basement, storm cellar, or safe room if available.

If no basement is available, go to a small interior, windowless room on the lowest floor of the building.

Stay away from windows.

Get under something, like a heavy table. Use blankets or mattresses for added protection.

Those living in mobile homes should seek out an alternate shelter.

This reporting content is supported by a partnership with Journalism Funding Partners.

More: Augusta teacher a finalist for Georgia Teacher of the Year

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Augusta area schools close Monday for weather
Bob Dylan's lyrics that "the times, they are a-changin'" have never been truer. Artificial intelligence (AI) is disrupting businesses. The geopolitical world order is undergoing major upheaval. Populations are aging in many countries, including the U.S.

How can income investors best position their portfolios for this era of radical transition? Here are three monster dividend stocks to hold for the next 10 years.

Will AI create the world's first trillionaire? Our team just released a report on the one little-known company, called an "Indispensable Monopoly" providing the critical technology Nvidia and Intel both need. Continue 

Image source: Getty Images.

1. Enterprise Products Partners LP

In the midst of massive changes, at least one thing will remain constant: The world will need energy. And it's become increasingly clear that natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs) will remain critical components in meeting those energy needs. That's great news for Enterprise Products Partners LP (NYSE: EPD).

This limited partnership (LP) is one of my favorite pipeline stocks. Enterprise Products Partners operates over 50,000 miles of pipelines across the U.S. It also has other midstream energy assets, including 45 natural gas processing trains and over 300 million barrels of liquid storage facilities. Roughly 55% of Enterprise's gross operating margin stems from its NGL business, and 16% comes from its natural gas operations.

Income investors seek stability. Enterprise Products Partners delivers. The company has consistently generated dependable cash flow, even during tumultuous periods such as the financial crisis of 2007 through 2009 and the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 through 2022.

Enterprise's forward distribution yield currently stands at almost 6%. The LP has increased its distribution for an impressive 27 consecutive years. I think it's in a great position to keep that streak going over the next decade.

2. Pfizer

An unfortunate reality with aging populations is that the demand for healthcare increases. As individuals age, they're more likely to be diagnosed with cancer and other serious diseases. Their immune systems become weaker, so vaccines are more critical. Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) is one of the top pharmaceutical companies poised to address these challenges.

Pfizer markets 13 blockbuster drugs. Seven of them generated sales of over $2 billion last year. The company's pipeline includes 102 candidates in clinical testing, with 32 in late-stage clinical studies and two awaiting regulatory approvals.
WINNEBAGO COUNTY, Ill. (WTVO)  Voters heading to the polls Tuesday will decide three highprofile referendum questions affecting schools, student funding and emergency medical services across the Stateline.

Below is a breakdown of each measure and what it would mean for local residents.

Countywide 1% School Facilities Sales Tax Referendum

Winnebago County voters will decide whether to adopt a 1% sales tax to fund school facility improvements, school resource officers and mentalhealth professionals.

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The proposal would apply to most retail purchases but exclude groceries, prescriptions, OTC medications, wholesale purchases, and vehicle sales.

Local school districts say the revenue would help pay for safety upgrades, infrastructure repairs and longterm maintenance needs. Districts would receive funds based on student enrollment levels within the county.

>>>> Illinois Primary Election 2026

Examples of potential district revenues, according to previous projections, include roughly $5.4 million per year for Harlem, $1.5 million for Hononegah, $1.4 million for Rockton, and $1.48 million for Kinnikinnick.

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The measure has drawn opposition from the Greater Rockford Chamber of Commerce, which argues that the countys alreadyhigh sales tax burden could place strain on consumers and businesses.

Advisory Referendum: Should Illinois Opt Into the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit Program?

A second, nonbinding question asks voters whether Illinois should join a new federal taxcredit scholarship program that would allow individuals to donate to Scholarship Granting Organizations and receive up to a $1,700 federal tax credit beginning in 2027.

If Illinois opts in, K12 students, public, private, religious and homeschooled, would be eligible for funds if their household income is at or below 300% of the area median. Money could be used for tutoring, test prep, educational therapies, books, exam fees, tuition and other academic expenses.

Supporters, including some local officials, argue the program creates opportunities for all students and ensures Illinois donors contributions stay within the state.

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Opponents, including publicschool advocates, say the referendums wording is misleading and that the program would ultimately divert public funds by reimbursing private donors through tax credits.

The question is advisory only; state leaders will use results as a gauge when deciding whether Illinois should participate.

North Park Fire Protection District Ambulance Tax Referendum

Residents in the North Park Fire Protection District will again weigh a proposal to create a dedicated ambulance tax of up to 0.40% of assessed property value to fund a second ambulance for the district.

The district currently operates one ambulance for 18,000 residents. Fire Chief Joel Hallstrom says call volume often overwhelms the department, forcing dispatchers to search for outside agencies when the lone ambulance is already on a call.

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Hallstrom warns that delays caused by overlapping emergency calls snowball as mutualaid crews travel farther distances to reach residents.

If approved, the tax increase could cost homeowners up to $21 per month, depending on property value. Hallstrom says the cost is justified for faster response times and improved emergency coverage.

The same proposal failed last year.

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Saying no to Donald Trump can be a dangerous game, as Sir Keir Starmer is finding out.

But Germany is no longer mincing its words, with the US presidents demand for help from Nato allies in Iran given short shrift by Berlin.

This war has nothing to do with Nato, Friedrich Merzs spokesman declared emphatically to Mr Trumps request for allies to secure the Strait of Hormuz. It is not Natos war.

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It is not our war; we did not start it, added Boris Pistorius, the German defence minister, later.

What does Donald Trump expect from a handful or two handfuls of European frigates to achieve there in the Strait of Hormuz, which the powerful American navy cannot manage alone? he asked.

When the German chancellor reacted to the air strikes that killed Ali Khamenei on Feb 28, the tone was very different.

This is not the time to lecture our partners and allies, Mr Merz said the day after the attack on the mullah and terrorist regime.

Other European leaders questioned the legality of the strikes and some refused the use of their military bases, including Britain, as rifts opened among Nato allies.

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But Mr Merz said: There is never a right time to do something like this but there is a time when it is too late.

Soldiers stand guard in Berlin during a meeting between the German and Latvian defence ministers on Monday - Nadja Wohlleben/Reuters

He then headed to Washington for talks with Mr Trump, which backfired on the German conservative.

His failure to defend fellow EU leader Pedro Sanchez from a trademark Trump tirade for refusing use of Spanish bases went down badly in Europe.

It was a high-profile gaffe at a difficult time for the chancellor.

Mr Merz suffered defeat by the Greens in state elections in Baden-Wurttemberg earlier this month.

There are another four state elections this year. The anti-migrant AFD is poised to do well, which would put more pressure on the coalition government.

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Mr Merz also knows that rising energy prices could jeopardise his promised reboot of the German economy. A migration hardliner, he will also fear a spike in arrivals from Iran.

After Mr Trumps request for allies to secure the Strait of Hormuz, Mr Merzs spokesman stated: This war has nothing to do with Nato - AARON SCHWARTZ/EPA/Shutterstock

Mindful that most Germans oppose the attacks, Mr Merz has since sought to put clear water between himself and Mr Trump after his initial prevarication.

Last week he said the president was wrong to ease sanctions on Russia to curb rising crude oil prices.

In rare German criticism of Israel, he accused it and the US of not having a plan to end the war.

With each day of war, more questions arise, he said. Let me make this very clear once again: Germany is not part of this war, and we do not wish to become one.

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Berlin has a point when it says this is not Natos war, not least because Iran is out of the alliances area of operations. However, any official US request for help would have to be given serious consideration.

When Polands foreign minister was asked about the US call for help, he tactfully said such requests could be made through Nato channels if a member felt under threat.

It is telling that, when asked the same question, Germany chose to be as undiplomatic as possible.

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Something is happening this Thursday that, during normal times, Americans wouldnt need to pay a lick of attention to. Freedom House, the esteemed Washington, D.C.-based research institute that has existed since 1941, is scheduled to release its annual report on the state of freedom in the world. You may have seen one of these at some point or another. Theres the written reportlast years ran to 30 pagesthat describes broad trends. And then theres the ever-popular clickable map, which gives every country in the world a global freedom score based on a number of assessments pertaining to political rights and civil liberties. The nations of the world are divided into three categories: free (a score between 70 and 100); partly free (a score between 40 and 69), and not free (0 to 39).

Freedom House has been issuing this report since 1972, and the United States of America has, of course, always been rated free. In the report released in 2025, which actually covered the calendar year 2024, America scored an 84. Not up there with Sweden (99) or Canada (97) or the U.K. (92), but not bad. We finished fifty-fourth. (Its worth noting that a lot of the countries that had better scores are very tinyPalau, Tuvalu, San Marino.) The U.S. score has been declining in recent years; in 2006, the first year Freedom House used the current 100-point scale, we got a 93.

Well. I think you know where Im headed. This weeks report covers events from the year 2025. You may have noticed that a few things changed in this country from 2024 to 2025. A masked federal police force started rounding up law-abiding people and shipping them off to hellish prisons in countries to which they had no connection. The Justice Department became a transparent arm of the chief executive. Said chief executive has enriched himself on a scale the tinpot dictators of the 1950s and 1960s could never have imagined, making him arguably among the most corrupt chiefs of state in modern world history. And much, much more.

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Will the great and mighty United States of America, the oldest democracy in the world, celebrating its 250th birthday this July, be demoted to partly free? I dont know. But the mere fact that we even have to ask this question is chilling.

For a hint as to where the U.S. might land in the 2026 report, lets take a selective little tour of the 2025 report. Heres Freedom Houses capsule overview of our country from last years report:

The United States is a federal republic whose people benefit from a vibrant political system, a strong rule-of-law tradition, robust freedoms of expression and religious belief, and a wide array of other civil liberties. However, in recent years its democratic institutions have suffered erosion, as reflected in rising political polarization and extremism, partisan pressure on the electoral process, mistreatment and dysfunction in the criminal justice and immigration systems, and growing disparities in wealth, economic opportunity, and political influence.

Its pretty obvious that the vibrant political system, the strong rule-of-law tradition, and most of those robust freedoms suffered pretty serious injuries in 2025. But the more interesting reading in last years report is found in the overviews of some of the countries that just missed the free cutoffthat scored in the mid- to high-60s and were designated partly free.

Here, for example, is the description of the Dominican Republic (68): The Dominican Republic holds regular elections that are relatively free. Pervasive corruption undermines state institutions and the use of excessive force by police is a problem. Discrimination against Dominicans of Haitian descent and Haitian migrants, as well as against LGBT+ people, remain serious problems. Relatively free; pervasive corruption; discrimination against minorities. Sound familiar?

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Bolivia (65): Child labor and violence against women are persistent problems, independent and investigative journalists face harassment, and the judiciary is highly politicized and hampered by corruption. OK, child labor not so much (although Project 2025 called for relaxing rules to allow teens to work in hazardous jobs), but the other factors sure seem to apply.

Hungary (65): Since taking power in the 2010 elections, Prime Minister Viktor Orbans Alliance of Young DemocratsHungarian Civic Union (Fidesz) party pushed through constitutional and legal changes that have allowed it to consolidate control over the countrys independent institutions. Trump and the Republicans havent managed to change the Constitution, which is very hard to do in this country, but as for independent institutions, well, just ask the universities hes come after.

Serbia (a bit further down the scale at 56): Serbia is a parliamentary democracy with competitive multiparty elections, but in recent years the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) has steadily eroded political rights and civil liberties, putting pressure on independent media, the political opposition, and civil society organizations.

I could go on, but you get the point. And Im not cherry-picking. Go read for yourself the overviews of the partly free countries scoring in the 50s and 60s, and youll see that almost all of them describe conditions that often now apply to the United States under Donald Trump.

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I have no idea what Freedom Houses report will reveal on Thursday. I could see us holding onto a free rating with a score dipping into the 70s (its next to impossible to imagine the score not dropping). For example, here are the first two questions listed under methodology: Was the current head of government or other chief national authority elected through free and fair elections? Were the current national legislative representatives elected through free and fair elections?

The answer to both is yes, as far as we know.

Certain other questions, however, wouldnt seem to bode well. Are safeguards against official corruption strong and effective? Does the government operate with openness and transparency? Is there protection from the illegitimate use of physical force and freedom from war and insurgencies? Do laws, policies, and practices guarantee equal treatment of various segments of the population?

One other such ranking was already released this year. The Century Foundations Democracy Meter gave the U.S. a 79 out of 100 for the year 2024. The report on 2025, released in January, dropped the score down to 57. In a year.

Well see. But whether the score is 77 or 71 or 63, we know what our eyes have been seeing these last 15 months. Our democracy is being suffocated. And Trump and his people and the oligarchs who helped put him in office are just getting started. Fans of the Brooklyn Dodgers used to say, with hope in their hearts, wait till next year. Fans of American democracy now use the phrase with dread.
The heavy snow and blowing wind forced districts across northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula to close schools on Monday, with some already canceling in-person classes for Tuesday.

In the Upper Peninsula, where 20 to 30 inches of snow were being experienced in parts of the region from the blizzard, some districts already were canceling school for Tuesday, which in one case received online praise from parents.

More: How much snow did Michigan get in blizzard? Totals so far

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More: Michigan record snowfalls by county

More: Michigan blizzard leaves some UP side roads 'completely impassable'

Menominee Area Public Schools closed school on Monday and, by noon, had already canceled school for Tuesday.

"Road conditions are not anticipated to be safe for travel," the district posted on Facebook. Parents commented by thanking the district for making the call early.

Iron Mountain Public Schools announced closures for both Monday and Tuesday as well, and moved a senior photo event to Thursday after school.

Traverse City Public Schools were closed Monday, as were Crawford AuSable schools in Grayling, Gaylord Community Schools, Petoskey Public Schools and Cheboygan Area Schools.

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"It appears we will experience steady snowfall and drifting throughout the night," said Cheboygan Area Schools' announcement. "This will likely make it impossible for the road commission to clear many roads by tomorrow morning. In addition, snowfall is expected to continue throughout the day on Monday, making travel difficult, if not impossible, both tonight and tomorrow."

Gwinn Area Community Schools also announced an early closure for Tuesday. "Stay home and stay safe!" the district's announcement said.

Universities and colleges close

In the Upper Peninsula, the state's three public universities in the region shut down for Monday, but Michigan Tech in Houghton, Northern Michigan in Marquette and Lake Superior State in St. Sault Marie didn't indicate whether classes would be canceled for Tuesday.

Other colleges in the UP and northern lower Michigan also closed Monday, including Alpena Community College, Bay College, Bay Mills Community College, Gogebic Community College, Kirtland Community College, North Central Michigan College, Northwestern Michigan College and West Shore Community College.

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This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Blizzard prompts Michigan school, college closings with Tuesday cancellations
Outspoken Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino is retiring from federal service at the end of this month, after being pulled away from a high-profile role leading immigration raids in major U.S. cities, two sources directly familiar with his decision told CBS News on Monday.

Over the past years, Bovino, a longtime Border Patrol official, has been serving as the chief patrol agent of the El Centro sector along the California-Mexico border. But he quickly became a leading public face of the Trump administration's aggressive crackdown on illegal immigration after he was deployed to cities across the U.S., to oversee sweeping and often controversial immigration raids.

Bovino and his team of green-uniformed Border Patrol agents were dispatched first to the Los Angeles area in June of last year. There, they conducted immigration arrest operations that sparked local outcry, including at Home Depot parking lots.



In September, Bovino and his agents were deployed to Chicago, followed by Charlotte, New Orleans and ultimately, Minneapolis. In all those cities, their operations came under scrutiny, with local residents and leaders denouncing them as heavy-handed and indiscriminate. Border Patrol agents under Bovino's command were captured on video stopping people to ask for their immigration status, including because of the person's accent.

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Bovino was relieved of his role in late January after the fatal shootings of U.S. citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis  and the response from Bovino and other officials  triggered widespread political backlash.

Immediately after Pretti's killing, Bovino, citing no evidence, claimed that Pretti intended to "massacre" federal agents.

In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said Bovino has not formally submitted any retirement paperwork. Sources told CBS News that Bovino informed his colleagues that he is retiring at the end of March.

CBS News reached out to Bovino for comment.

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Bovino's decision to retire comes roughly two weeks after President Trump announced he had tapped Oklahoma Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin to replace Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who had empowered Bovino and made him a direct report.

Administration officials told CBS News that Noem had increasingly gotten herself in a precarious position with Mr. Trump, with frustrations growing over her handling of the controversial Minneapolis immigration crackdown, the fatal shootings of American citizens there and her recent congressional testimony, in which she claimed the president was aware of a $220 million ad featuring her.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated Sen. Markwayne Mullin's home state.

Iran strikes U.S.-owned oil tanker in Strait of Hormuz

Iran launches heavy wave of missile strikes as war enters third week

Lawmakers react to Pentagon sending 5,000 more troops to Middle East
Boston police officers have arrested 17 people at the St. Patricks Day parade in South Boston as of 4 p.m. on Sunday, according to a police department spokesperson.

As of Sunday night, the suspects had been booked for charges such as assault and battery on a police officer, affray, drug possession with intent to distribute, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and drinking an alcoholic beverage in public, a Boston police spokesperson said in an email.

No further information about the arrests was immediately available.

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The annual parade, which began at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, changed its route this year, swapping its start and end points. In response to public safety concerns, parade organizers also created a designated family-friendly zone in the Medal of Honor Park on M Street.

Arrests at the parade have continued despite efforts to reduce criminal activity at the event.

Multiple alarming incidents were tied to the 2024 parade, including an assault that happened near the parade route after it ended. A video of the attack that went viral on social media showed at least four suspects kicking and punching a victim.

In response to the incidents, a parade preparation task force made up of South Boston elected officials was formed. Officials hoped to crack down on the anything goes attitude of previous parades.

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Despite the task forces efforts, Boston police arrested nine people at the parade last year and issued court summonses to four more. Those arrested and summonsed faced charges including assault and battery, disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace, assault and battery on a police officer and destruction of property.

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Boston Police Department detectives are seeking the publics assistance to identify a woman in connection with an armed robbery in Dorchester.

On Wednesday, March 4, officers responded to the location at approximately 8:25 p.m. following reports of a person armed with a knife.

The suspect is described as a Black female, of thin build, and stands between 56-7. At the time of the incident, she was seen wearing a blonde wig, a gray jacket, a pink sweater, black pants, and gray boots.

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According to reports from the scene, the woman entered the store while armed with a knife and began swinging the weapon at customers. She then walked through the aisles and confiscated various pieces of merchandise.

The victim told investigators that the woman pointed the knife at him and threatened to stab him if he tried to approach her. Before fleeing the store, the suspect allegedly threw a glass on the ground. The victim noted the woman is a known shoplifter at the location, though he did not know her name.

Anyone with information is urged to contact investigators at (617) 343-4275.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

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A Manatee County jury convicted the final defendant charged in a 2023 armed robbery that erupted in gunfire outside a Bradenton home, killing one man and wounding two others.

Jurors found Tyreak Allen, 23, guilty of first-degree murder and attempted robbery with a firearm in the death of James A. Jackson Jr., according to court records.

The first-degree murder conviction, a capital felony under Florida law, carries a mandatory life sentence in prison. Allen also received a 20-year prison sentence for attempted robbery with a firearm, to run at the same time as the life sentence, court records show.

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An attorney representing Allen did not immediately respond to the Bradenton Heralds request for comment.

Allen was one of seven suspects investigators say took part in a robbery attempt that escalated into a barrage of gunfire outside a Bradenton house in the 100 block of 10th Avenue West.

Killer convicted in Bradenton robbery, prosecutors say

Investigators said the group targeted Jackson with the intent of robbing him of a gold chain. When he refused to hand it over, several suspects began firing , according to detectives.

Police said they later recovered more than 60 shell casings at the scene.

Jackson suffered multiple gunshot wounds and was brought to HCA Florida Blake Hospital in critical condition. He died eight days later, on Jan. 31, 2023.

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Two other men were also struck by gunfire during the shooting. One victim suffered a gunshot wound that initially left him unable to speak due to his injuries, while another was treated and released, according to an arrest report.

Witnesses told investigators that a large group of younger men wearing masks approached the victims outside the home shortly before the gunfire erupted, the report said.

Detectives wrote that cellphone video captured much of the robbery and showed several suspects surrounding Jackson while pointing firearms at him as others searched his pockets.

Armed robbery turns to gunfire, police say

Investigators said Allen could be seen in the footage pointing a handgun at one of the victims during the robbery. One personwas seen holding a rifle while Shamar Mobley, 23, stood nearby with a pistol, according to detectives. The footage also showed Dorian Brooks, 27, and Mekhi Booker, 21, going through Jacksons pockets, investigators wrote. Detectives said they later identified Kevion Brooks, 25, as one of the individuals who fired shots during the incident.

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Police said a Bradenton Police Department K-9 officer heard the gunfire and spotted a vehicle fleeing the area shortly afterward. Investigators said Jerome Williams, 23, was driving the car, with Allen and Mobley among the passengers.

The vehicle later crashed near the intersection of 13th Avenue West and First Street, and police said several people ran from the wreck. A police K-9 located and detained Allen nearby, according to an arrest report. Officers said he was wearing a black ski mask and dark clothing and was found with a 9mm handgun that investigators later linked to shell casings recovered at the scene.

Williams and Mobley were later located with assistance from the Sarasota County Sheriffs Office aviation unit, investigators said. Detectives said the robbery and shooting also involved Kobe Brooks, 22.

Others charged in fatal armed robbery case

All seven defendants have now been convicted in connection with the case.

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Williams pleaded no contest earlier this year to attempted robbery and constructive possession of a firearm and was sentenced to 35 years in prison, court records show.

Booker pleaded no contest to second-degree murder with a firearm and attempted robbery and received concurrent 15-year prison sentences, according to court records.

Court records show that in 2025, Dorian Brooks pleaded no contest to robbery with a weapon and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. That same year, Mobley pleaded no contest to attempted robbery with a weapon and was sentenced to five years in prison with credit for time served.

Kevion Brooks pleaded guilty in 2024 to second-degree murder with a firearm and attempted robbery with a firearm and received concurrent prison sentences of 25 years and 15 years, records show.

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Kobe Brooks pleaded no contest to the lesser charge of grand theft and was sentenced to 18 months of probation, according to court records.

Assistant State Attorney Suzanne ODonnell, who prosecuted the case, said the verdict brings long-awaited justice for Jacksons family after years of court proceedings.

This has been a heartbreaking experience for the victim, James Jacksons family, who has appeared in court for every hearing for every defendant, ODonnell said in a statement. Now that the court process is over, hopefully they can continue to heal and find peace.

Allens conviction marks the final resolution of the criminal cases connected to the fatal shooting. The sentencing came following a three-day trial at the Manatee County Judicial Center presided over by Circuit Judge Teri Dees, court records show.

Allen has 30 days to file a notice of appeal under Florida court rules.
Three brothers accused of a 2020 killing will be able to be released from jail on bail, following recent revelations of an alleged cover-up involving one of the State Police detectives who investigated them, according to a report.

Channa, Billoeum, and Billy Lee Phan were granted bail on Monday after being held without bond for over five years for the 2020 murder of Tyrone Phet, according to the Boston Herald.

The judge set the brothers bail at $25,000 each, according to the Herald.

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The Phans second trial for Phets murder was paused last month after Middlesex County prosecutors disclosed that State Police Sgt. Scott Quigley, one of the cases key investigators, was allegedly drunk during a fatal 2023 cruiser crash.

In January, it was revealed that hospital records allegedly show Quigley was intoxicated in December 2023 when he lost control of his cruiser and hit a wheelchair transport van in Woburn. The crash later resulted in the death of 37-year-old Angelo Schettino, a special Olympian from Saugus.

25 Investigates: New filing alleges MSP supervisor knew about alcohol in deadly trooper crash

The Phan brothers first trial for Phets murder ended in a hung jury, leading to the currently paused retrial.

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

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Adobe has agreed to a $150m settlement with the US Department of Justice to resolve allegations that it did not clearly disclose termination fees and complicated the cancellation process for its subscription services.

The agreement requires Adobe to pay a $75m civil penalty and provide another $75m in free services to customers, pending court approval.

The Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint in June 2024, asserting that Adobe obscured information about early termination fees on its annual paid monthly subscription plan, reported Reuters.

These fees could reach hundreds of dollars and were often hidden in fine print or placed behind hyperlinks and text boxes.

Authorities also claimed that Adobe made it difficult for customers to cancel subscriptions, requiring multiple steps online or repeated interactions with customer service representatives when cancelling by phone.

The complaint stated that these practices violated the Restore Online Shoppers Confidence Act, which mandates that companies offering online subscriptions must clearly disclose key terms and provide straightforward cancellation options before charging customers.

US Department of Justice Civil Division head Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate said: American consumers deserve the right to make informed choices when deciding where to spend their hard-earned money. The Justice Department will strongly oppose any attempt to harm Americans with deceptive and unfair business practices.

The settlement also addresses claims against two Adobe executives named in the governments action.

As part of the proposed order, Adobe will need to inform customers about early termination fees and how they are calculated before enrolment.

For free trials longer than seven days, the company must notify users before switching them to a paid plan with a termination fee.

Adobe is also required to offer easier methods for cancelling subscriptions.

In response, Adobe stated on its website that it has recently taken steps to simplify its sign-up and cancellation processes.

The company denied any wrongdoing but welcomed an end to the proceedings.

Subscriptions represented 97% of Adobes $6.4bn revenue for the quarter ending 27 February.

In June 2025, Adobe and Infosys announced a partnership to use AI in marketing operations for international brands.

"Adobe agrees $150m DOJ settlement over subscription cancellation terms" was originally created and published by Verdict, a GlobalData owned brand.








Members of California's congressional delegation on Monday called for an investigation into the recent deportation of a Bay Area mother and her two young children, including a 6-year-old boy who is deaf.

In a letter sent Monday, the congress members demanded that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State work with the family's legal representatives to return them back to the United States through humanitarian parole so the deaf child can access their assisted hearing devices and receive medical support.

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Congress members also urged the federal agencies to explain what legal basis they used to deport the family, why they withheld the boys' hearing equipment and how many minors with disabilities have been deprived of their assistive devices.

"This case raises serious concerns about the treatment of vulnerable families and children in immigration proceedings," according to the letter sent to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.

Congress members Eric Swalwell, Lateefah Simon, Kevin Mullin, Zoe Lofgren, Adam B. Schiff, Nanette Diaz Barragan and Alex Padilla signed the letter.

Federal immigration officers arrested 28-year-old Lesly Rodriguez Gutierrez, of Hayward, on March 3 during what she believed was a routine immigration check-in at the ICE office in San Francisco. Her two children, ages 4 and 6, were with her at the time of the arrest.

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Three days later, before immigration attorneys could find the family and contest what they believed was an unlawful detention, federal officials deported the family to Colombia. Rodriguez Gutierrez and her children arrived in the U.S. four years ago, seeking asylum after fleeing an abusive partner, according to the family's attorney, Nikolas De Bremaeker of Centro Legal de la Raza. She did not have a criminal record, he said.

ICE officials said they deported the family because an immigration judge ordered their removal two years ago and that Rodriguez Gutierrez failed to comply with reporting requirements. The agency said DHS officials gave Rodriguez Gutierrez the option to leave with her children with a designated caregiver in the U.S. but she chose to be deported with them.

The family's attorney, however, said Rodriguez Gutierrez never agreed to deportation.

"In fact, when ICE pressured her to sign a document in a language she did not understand, and without access to counsel, she refused," De Bremaeker said, adding that ICE officials provided attorneys with confusing and false information about the family's whereabouts.

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De Bremaeker said ICE officials asked Rodriguez Gutierrez to bring her children to the check-in appointment to renew their photos when they were instead detained. During the arrest, Rodriguez Gutierrez asked agents to allow a relative outside the building to bring hearing devices for her son, who is deaf, but the request was denied, attorneys said.

Last week, De Bremaeker filed a humanitarian parole request to the Trump administration, seeking to return the family back by March 18 because the 6-year-old boy was in need of critical medical care. The child had been attending California School for the Deaf in Fremont, according to the school.

"Doctors have put in writing that Joseph is at incredible risk if he doesn't get the ongoing treatment and care (that he needs)," De Bremaeker said.

He said the child is at risk of infection or meningitis and of "losing the ability to communicate for his entire life."

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Rep. Swalwell said last week that members of his staff traveled to Colombia to deliver hearing aids to the boy. State Superintendent Tony Thurmond and officials from the California School for the Deaf spoke with the family in a virtual meeting last Thursday to check on their well-being.

When officials asked the boy how he was doing, they said he signed, "I want to go back to school."

This article originally published at California Congress members demand answers on deportation of 6-year-old deaf child, family.
California regulators have launched a sweeping review of recent vehicle purchases registered in Montana as the state intensifies efforts to curb a long-running tax avoidance practice commonly known as the Montana Loophole.

The strategy has been used by some vehicle owners seeking to avoid Californias sales taxes and registration fees. By purchasing and registering vehicles in Montana, a state that does not impose a statewide sales tax, drivers can potentially bypass the significantly higher costs associated with registering vehicles in California.

Authorities are now examining records tied to recent Montana vehicle registrations to identify transactions that may involve California residents attempting to skirt the states tax system. The effort represents one of the most aggressive steps yet in Californias attempt to address the loophole.

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The practice typically involves creating a limited liability company in Montana, which then purchases and registers a vehicle in the state. Because the vehicle is technically owned by the Montana-based entity, the buyer may attempt to avoid paying taxes and fees that would normally apply if the vehicle were registered where it is primarily driven.

California regulators believe the arrangement can result in lost tax revenue when vehicles that are primarily used within the state are not properly registered there. State law generally requires residents to register vehicles locally when they are principally operated in California.

As part of the investigation, regulators are reviewing data tied to Montana vehicle purchases and registrations to determine whether any violate Californias requirements. The review includes identifying where vehicles are actually being used and whether the buyers reside in California.

Some California communities have drawn particular attention in the review process. Mill Valley has emerged as one of the cities with a notable number of potentially suspicious transactions, placing it among the top ten locations in the state linked to these types of vehicle registrations.

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The crackdown signals a broader effort by California authorities to ensure vehicle owners comply with state tax and registration laws. By examining recent purchases and registrations tied to Montana, regulators aim to identify cases where the loophole may have been used to avoid financial obligations tied to vehicle ownership.

The investigation could lead to enforcement actions if regulators determine that vehicles registered out of state are primarily operated within California without meeting the states legal requirements.



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Topline

Some Harvard students and faculty are asking the university to remove billionaire Leslie Wexners name from buildings, marking the latest fallout from the governments files on Jeffrey Epstein as Wexner comes under increased scrutiny for his lengthy ties to the late financier.

Leslie Wexner at the Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus, Ohio, on Sept. 19, 2014. Associated Press

Key Facts

A group of Harvard students and faculty submitted a denaming request for the Leslie H. Wexner Building at Harvards John F. Kennedy School of Government and a lobby named after the billionaire.

The proposal, which was first reported by the Harvard Crimson and confirmed to Forbes by the university, argues Wexners name should be removed due to the billionaires strong ties to Epstein, and claims keeping his name acts as an unintended signal of institutional tolerance of his conduct.

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Wexner is believed to have been Epsteins biggest financial client, with Epstein managing the former L Brands chiefs wealth for years, though Wexner has denied any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein and maintained he was unaware of the financiers alleged sexual abuse.

The proposal kickstarts a process in which the school first decides whether the proposal should be further reviewed, and, if so, convenes an advisory committee to decide whether or not Wexners name should be removed.

A spokesperson for Wexner declined comment on the proposal, but the billionaire told members of Congress in February that Epstein was a master manipulator who most carefully and fully hid his unthinkable crimes from Wexner, and claimed he never would have tolerated his horrible behavior.

Crucial Quote

Maintaining the name Leslie H. Wexner on the most prominent building at the Harvard Kennedy School actively creates a harmful environment for many current and potential students, faculty, and staff, undermines Harvards credibility on issues of gender justice and abuse of power, and would signal a set of institutional priorities at odds with the Universitys values, the proposal argues, as published by the Crimson.

Its Not That Easy To Rename A Building, Though

The proposal marks the third major request Harvard has received in recent years to remove controversial names from its building, but the others have not fully been successful. The school previously declined to dename buildings named after Arthur M. Sackler, after a proposal was brought to remove Sacklers name due to the controversy over members of the Sackler familys role in perpetuating the opioid epidemic. Harvard was also asked to remove the name of John Winthrop, a colonial governor who owned slaves, from a building and only partially agreed, removing John and just calling the building Winthrop House. It also remains unclear whether Wexners name could be removed from anything beyond Harvard, as students at Ohio State University have similarly demanded for his name to be removed from buildings there.

Forbes Valuation

Forbes estimates Wexners net worth at $8.9 billion as of Monday morning.

What Was Wexners Relationship With Epstein?

Wexner employed Epstein for years to handle his personal finances and is believed to have been Epsteins biggest financial client, even giving the financier power of attorney in 1991. The billionaire said he cut ties with Epstein in 2008, when the financier first pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution, and has accused Epstein of stealing millions of dollars from him. Wexner has described his relationship with Epstein as being more professional than social, though reports suggest the financier used his close proximity to Wexner to bolster his reputation and cultivate more ties with high-profile figures. Wexner has been accused of abuse by Epstein victims Maria Farmer and Virginia Giuffre but has vehemently denied both claims. In testimony to Congress last month, Wexner slammed the outrageous untrue statements and hurtful rumor, innuendo, and speculation about his relationship with Epstein and criticized the financier as a world-class con man whom he was naive, foolish and gullible to have put his trust in. Wexner testified while he was duped by Epstein, I have done nothing wrong and have nothing to hide. The testimony came after the governments tranche of Epstein files released in late January renewed scrutiny of Wexners ties with Epstein, as the financier wrote in an undated letter to Wexner that the two had gang stuff for over 15 years. Its unclear what Epstein meant by gang stuff, and a spokesperson for Wexner told The New York Times the billionaire had not received that letter, and it appears to fit a pattern of untrue, outlandish, and delusional statements made by Epstein in desperate attempts to perpetuate his lies and justify his misconduct.

Key Background

The new proposal for removing Wexners name marks the latest in a string of consequences that have come out of the governments release of millions of Epstein files on Jan. 30, which included references to numerous high-profile and wealthy figures. Most of those mentioned in the files have never been accused of wrongdoing, but have still faced increased scrutiny for associating with the late financier, particularly those who continued their relationship with Epstein after his guilty plea in 2008. Former CBS News contributor Peter Attia, former DP World CEO Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, attorney Brad Karp and former World Economic Forum CEO Borge Brende are among those who resigned their roles in the wake of the Epstein files release. Metropolitan Police in the U.K. also arrested Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew, and former Ambassador to the U.S. Peter Mandelson for suspected misconduct of public office over documents included in the Epstein files, though neither have yet been formally charged. All have denied any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein or knowledge of his crimes.

Further Reading

MORE FROM FORBESEverything We Know About Les Wexner In The Epstein Files By Simone Melvin

MORE FROM FORBESRich And Powerful In The New Epstein Files: Steve Tisch Transfers His NY Giants Ownership By Alison Durkee
COLDWATER, MI  Veronica Carter closed the doors on the Goodie Shop on Sunday, March 15, 72 years after the diner opened at 30 N. Monroe St.

A new owner is set to close on the purchase of the 1950's diner next Friday, after Carter put the business up for sale in January.

Carter has not yet met the new owner, a woman from Ft. Wayne, Indiana.

Veronica Carter manned the grill on Sunday, March 15, the last day the Goodie Shop served breakfast under her ownership waiting for the new owner to take over soon.

She said the new owner plans to keep it as a restaurant. She bought the name, Carter said.

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"I wish them well. I'm glad someone will keep it a restaurant," Carter said, reflecting on 72 years in the community.

Her grandfather purchased the business in 1985 from the Drumm and McLaughlin families, who opened the diner in 1954.

Prior story Coldwater's classic community diner, the Goodie Shop, celebrates 70 years of good food

Carter bought the business in 2018 from her father, Brian Weber, who had taken over in 1995.

Carter has been involved in the business since childhood. After years of early mornings opening from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m., she says, at 43, "It's somebody else's turn." She plans to sleep in, though she expects old habits may be hard to break.

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There is no family member to take over. Her daughter Kaitlyn, almost 16, wants to be a criminal psychologist, and her son Grant is studying HVAC.

I want them to do what they want to do, Carter said.

Carter said her dad told her he is proud of her. "I just hope my grandparents would want me to do this. I'm sure they would. He'd say, 'be happy. Life's short'."

Since news of the sale became public, people from all over have shared memories and wished Carter well.

One couple drove three hours from Ohio to visit The Goodie Shop after hearing about the new ownership.

Kaelyn Swain brought her four children for breakfast, recalling lunches at the counter with her late mother, Kristy.

Family and friends decorated the Goodie Shop as Veronica Carter closed the 72-year-old downtown Coldwater diner, waiting for the new owners to close the sale.

Retired Coldwater city employee Dennis Scheilder first visited in 1972. Hes enjoyed the friendliness and says, The food is really good.

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Carter had mixed feelings as she locked the front door for the last time. "I'm sad, but I'm excited. It's a conflict. I'm ready to enjoy my family and take off for a weekend without worry," she said.

Subscribe Follow this story. Subscribe to the Coldwater Reporter

This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: Veronica Carter closes sale on Coldwater Goodie Shop
A man convicted of the 1990 murder of his neighbor while burglarizing her home is scheduled to be the sixth person executed in Florida this year. Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday, March 13, issued a death warrant for Chadwick Willacy, 58.

Willacy was in Marlys Sather's home when she arrived home from work unexpectedly. He struck her several times, tied her up, attempted to strangle her, and then set the house on fire after removing the smoke detectors and dousing her with gasoline, prosecutors said. Willacy's record to that point included some minor offenses in New York and Florida, mostly drug-related.

Willacy's execution has been set for April 21 and he has until April 2 to appeal. It follows three in March, including the execution of Michael L. King on Tuesday, March 17.

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Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty have started a petition to ask DeSantis to commute his sentence to life without parole.

Here's what to know.

When is Chadwick Willacy scheduled to be executed?

Willacy's execution is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, April 21, at Florida State Prison near Starke.

Who is Chadwick Willacy?

Chadwick Willacy

When Sather came home from lunch unexpectedly, she found Willacy, her 22-year-old next-door neighbor who had mowed her lawn, burglarizing her home.

Willacy bludgeoned her with a hammer and a squeegee, tied her wrists and ankles with wire and duct tape, and choked and strangled her with a cord with a force so intense that a portion of her skull was dislodged," court documents said.

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Prosecutors said Willacy took Sather's car keys and ATM PIN, drove her late husband's car to her bank, and took $200 from her bank account before coming to her house and taking a significant amount of property.

Willacy then stashed her car, jogged back, and went to great lengths to hide his crimes, prosecutors said. He disabled the smoke detectors, poured gasoline from the garage over Sather, placed a fan at her feet to provide oxygen for the fire, and set her on fire, court records said.

She was alive at the time, an autopsy showed. She had managed to pull free from her shoes before succumbing to the flames and smoke inhalation, court records said.

Willacy was found guilty of first-degree murder, burglary with an assault, robbery with a weapon, and arson in the first degree and was sentenced to death. His sentence was vacated in 1995, and a jury recommended a death sentence again, 11-1. Multiple appeals over the years. were denied.

Willacy is 6th death warrant in busy 2026 year

DeSantis appears to be maintaining the same rapid pace he set for state executions last year, when Florida put four times the number of inmates to death as any other state in the country. The record-breaking 19 death warrants in 2025 more than doubled the previous modern era record for Florida executions in one year, which was eight in both 1984 and 2014.

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The state has already executed three people this year:

Ronald Heath : Executed Feb. 10 for shooting, fatally stabbing, and robbing traveling salesman Michael Sheridan in the Gainesville woods in 1989.

Melvin Trotter : Executed on Feb. 24 for the brutal 1986 murder of Virgie Langford during a convenience store robbery in Palmetto.

Billy L. Kearse: Executed on March 3 for shooting Fort Pierce Police Officer Danny Parrish with his own service weapon during a 1991 traffic stop.

Who is the next person to be executed in Florida?

On Tuesday, March 17, Michael L. King is set to be put to death for the 2008 kidnapping, rape, and murder of 21-year-old Denise Amber Lee.

After that, former Central Florida police officer James A. Duckett is scheduled to be executed on March 31 for the 1987 rape and murder of 11-year-old Teresa Mae McAbee.

How many people are on Florida's death row?

As of March 13, there are 249 people on death row in Florida. The stats break down to 248 men (153 White, 84 Black, 11 other) and one Black woman.

How many death row inmates has Florida executed?

From 1924 until May 1964, the state of Florida executed 196 people. There were no executions from May 1964 until May 1976.

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In 1972, the United States Supreme Court struck down the death penalty, but it was reinstated in 1976. Florida has carried out 128 executions since then.

C. A. Bridges is a journalist for the USA TODAY Network-Florida's service journalism Connect team. You can get all of Floridas best content directly in your inbox each weekday day by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Florida sets 5th execution of 2026. Who is Chadwick Willacy?
The Chatham Emergency Management Agency (CEMA) issued a tornado watch for the county this morning, in effect until 2 p.m.

A line of thunderstorms will enter the eastern parts of southeast Georgia counties including Hinesville around 9 a.m. to 10 a.m., possibly arriving with tornadoes. The storm will likely reach Savannah and most of Chatham County between 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Wind gusts may reach up to 75 mph and a chance for tornado formation at EF-2+ intensity, or winds at 111 to 135 mph. The chance of tornado conditions remains between 10 and 14%.

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Due to the storm's relatively rapid stint in the area, overall flooding risk is low. Rainfall totals are expected to range from 0.25 to 0.5 inches for the Lowcountry.

The National Weather Service (NWS) predicts the storm will pass quickly, exiting off the coast at around 4 to 5 p.m., and recommends bringing loose outdoor items inside, and being aware of downed trees and power lines. Last week's tornado watch brought several outages caused by strong winds from the storm, according to Georgia Power Spokesperson Joshua Peacock.

These storms fall along a streak of severe weather warnings across the East Coast today stretching from New York to Florida.

More: What will the weather hold for Savannah's St. Patrick's Day parade?

Approximate timing of thunderstorm impact at 5 a.m. on Mar. 16, 2026

Tornado safety tips

Touch base with each other on where the safest places within your home are located and listen to the radio and news for updates. If you dont have an idea of where the safest places are, or how to take shelter, CEMA offers some potentially life-saving advice for when that time might arrive.

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If you see the twister headed your way, take cover and stay away from windows, entryways and open spaces. Basements and cellars, or inner hallways and rooms without windows are safest.

If you are in a vehicle, mobile home or trailer, seek a more robust structure and do not go underneath them. Never try to out-drive a tornado. Instead, exit your vehicle and find shelter in the nearest building.

If you are unable to find shelter in time, shield your head from debris and lie flat in the nearest ditch, or crouch near a strong building.

Jillian Magtoto covers climate change and the environment in coastal Georgia. You can reach her at jmagtoto@usatodayco.com. This reporting content is supported by a partnership with Journalism Funding Partners.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Tornado watch issued for Chatham County
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Nationalist politician Jose Antonio Kast on the campaign trail before he was elected Chiles president. | Credit: Marvin Recinos / AFP / Getty Images

When Jose Antonio Kast was elected as Chiles next president in late 2025, it was one more alarming case of a worldwide trend toward nativist authoritarianism, said the Chilean American author Ariel Dorfman at The New York Times. It was also a sign of the rehabilitation of former dictator Augusto Pinochet, one of the continents most infamous autocrats.

Kast, as a vocal supporter of the notoriously brutal Chilean strongman, was elected in part for his hard-right bona fides, only to take office in a very different world than the one in which he campaigned. With war raging in the Middle East and a White House demonstrating an eagerness for regime change across the hemisphere, what does Kasts unapologetically right-wing ascent mean for one of South Americas most robust economies?

Nostalgia for dictatorships past? Or frustration with the status quo?

President Kast built his career in government by railing against liberal values from the fringes of Chilean politics, said National Public Radio. But during this recent election, he avoided all mention of the hard-line moral agenda that has been synonymous with his decades-long career in public office.

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The son of a Nazi party member who fled to South America following the Holocaust, Kast has shown admiration for Pinochet that has left political analysts questioning whether the new president is showing nostalgia for Latin Americas past dictatorships or expressing signs of frustration with the status quo, said Al Jazeera.

Regardless of Kasts personal motivations, the global right-wing excitement over his victory transformed the routine transfer of power at last weeks inauguration into a celebration of a movement that is gaining momentum across the hemisphere, The New York Times said. Kast is now part of a growing roster of leaders in South and Central America aligned with the Trump regime as the White House leans on ideological allies to address narco cartels and purge Chinese influence from the region.

Kast has avoided commenting on controversial issues both domestic and international, but he has nevertheless made overtures to the Trump administration, The Associated Press said. Indications of those types of overtures intensified recently with his cancellation of a planned submarine cable between Chile and China that had garnered intense criticism from  and deepened diplomatic tensions with  the United States.

For his supporters, Kasts electoral victory and now presidency come as part of his promise to take a harder line on migration, crime and poverty  issues Chileans claim have eroded the countrys sense of order, said Zeteo. Critics counter that Kasts strongman rhetoric, Trump-style political playbook and backing from hard-right coalitions revives acute fears of authoritarianism.

Grappling with an increasingly challenging geopolitical landscape

Kast now assumes the Chilean presidency, a position whose relationship with the U.S. has deteriorated significantly under the second Trump administration, the AP said. Kasts predecessor was a vocal critic of Trump, at one point labeling Trumps leadership as that of a new emperor.

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Although Kast seems interested in renewed rapprochement with the U.S., he enters office in an increasingly challenging international geopolitical landscape, said Guillermo Holzmann, a political analyst from the University of Valparaiso, to Reuters, including economic risks from the Iran war, the U.S. security strategy in the region and Chinas influence in Latin America. Chinese sway, in particular, poses an acute risk to Chile, the worlds largest copper producer, given that China is the biggest purchaser of the metal.

While the Trump regime looks on enthusiastically at this trend of arch-nationalist conservatives taking office across Latin America, said the Times, it remains unclear whether Kasts Chile and others will work with the United States on security and move away from China, their dominant trading partner.
For the last year, Elianis Gautier Peraza has been working to influence city governments across Pennsylvanias Lehigh Valley to pass ordinances restricting federal immigration enforcement.

The 38-year-old, who moved to the mainland of the United States from Puerto Rico in 2018, lives in Forks Township, a small and conservative community. While her township is unlikely to budge, shes worked with immigrants rights advocates and members of her Democratic Socialists of America chapter to focus on cities around the Lehigh Valley.

But results have been mixed.

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When an ICE raid in Bethlehem resulted in 17 people being detained in June, 2025, advocates with the DSA organized to get 17 people to hold a minute of silence during the public comment period there.

While the city has released a statement saying it wants immigrants to feel safe, Gautier Peraza said elected officials have declined to take up legislation reining in federal immigration enforcement.

A similar push was more successful in Allentown, where a non-cooperation policy was adopted.

Easton passed a resolution urging city employees not to aid immigration enforcement, but stopped short of passing legislation that would bar them from doing so.

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SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE

Gautier Peraza is hopeful immigrant advocates like her are building momentum.

People are beginning to wake up, she said, and noted that some Lehigh County council members, and officials on city council in the region have taken up their cause. Theres a lot of people out there very engaged.

Since the beginning of 2025, dozens of Pennsylvania cities and counties have considered or passed legislation aimed at limiting cooperation with federal immigration authorities or supporting immigrant communities. Elected officials in places like Allentown, Easton, Reading, Upper Darby and Narberth, as well as in counties such as Allegheny, Bucks and Montgomery have all passed some form of legislation or resolution aimed at restricting cooperation with immigration officials or protecting residents.

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Still others have law enforcement agencies, district attorneys offices or corrections departments that have agreed to actively cooperate with ICE agents, which means using their employees time and available resources to aid in immigration enforcement.

But the patchwork is rapidly changing, and the ability of local governments to take action is limited.

For many elected leaders, whose purview is generally managing the budget and resources of a single municipality or county, theyre having to learn on the fly what they can and cant do to restrain or support a federal law enforcement agency better-funded than most of the worlds militaries.

Its not just municipal government thats wrestling with this, I think its all of us as American citizens, said John Brenner, executive director of the Pennsylvania Municipal League and the mayor of York from 2002 to 2010. Thats why you have residents of our communities, whether its a city, bureau or township, who are going to their local officials. And I think local officials are trying very diligently to listen to those concerns and try to explain what we can do.

A man at the NRAs Great American Outdoor Show at the Farm Show complex in Harrisburg, shows his support for ICE. The whiteboard was in front of a voter registration booth, on Feb. 11, 2026. (Photo by Tim Lambert/Pennsylvania Capital-Star)

Communities try to find their way

Since the Trump administration began its immigration enforcement crackdown, Pennsylvanians like Gautier Peraza have begun to ask their elected officials on the municipal, city and county level what they plan to do if federal immigration agents come to their communities in force.

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Immigration arrests have surged around the commonwealth. In the first three quarters of 2025, agents arrested 4,800 people, 3.5 times more than they did during the same period in 2024. And nearly 40 percent of those arrested had no criminal histories, according to an analysis by the Capital-Star.

As images from larger, targeted operations in cities like Minneapolis, Chicago and Los Angeles go viral, more municipal and county officials have begun to question what they can do to avoid similar scenes at home.

Dozens of bills that would govern ICE activity across the commonwealth have failed to make progress in the state legislature, where Democrats control the House and Republicans lead the Senate. For many Pennsylvanians, that means local officials may be the only elected politicians they can effectively lobby to enact legislation governing what federal agents can and cant do in their communities.

And many local officials are feeling the pressure.

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What I hear from our members is that theyre concerned that a large number of ICE enforcement agents will be deployed to either their community or nearby communities, and that that will have an impact on what theyll do, Brenner said. If its anything like it was out in Minnesota, that presence drains local resources. And whos gonna pay for that?

Difficult discussions in Harrisburg

In Harrisburg, city council members spent the first two months of 2026 debating what an anti-ICE ordinance might look like, spurred in part by the shooting deaths of protesters Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota, as well as by months of urging from residents and advocates at home.

By early February, members were ready to put an ordinance forward.

Ausha Green, the chair of the public safety committee, began the public discussion by assuring the audience that had come to watch, We heard you.

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The initial bill borrowed heavily from a 2024 ordinance passed in Lancaster. That one prohibited the collection of data on residents immigration or citizenship status where it isnt required by law, and reiterated that only the federal government should conduct immigration enforcement.

Over the month of February, as Harrisburgs ordinance went through its three required readings and a series of amendments, council meetings grew more crowded. There were demonstrations on the sidewalk outside. One public comment period devolved into shouting. Other times, hearings on the bill began to resemble civics lessons.

Its not just municipal government thats wrestling with this, I think its all of us as American citizens. Thats why you have residents of our communities, whether its a city, bureau or township, who are going to their local officials. And I think local officials are trying very diligently to listen to those concerns and try to explain what we can do.

 John Brenner, executive director of the Pennsylvania Municipal League and the former mayor of York

Council members questioned the city Solicitor Neil Grover on matters such as: can they legally ban ICE from public buildings? He responded that wasnt likely, but they could in parts that arent accessible to the public.

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What about the sidewalks around those buildings? Absolutely not, was the answer.

Can they create new mandatory penalties for city employees who are caught aiding federal immigration officials? Its complicated, Grover noted, but that would likely violate existing union contracts.

As council members sought, under urging from the public, to add some teeth to their legislation, as one member put it, Grover had another warning.

We cant tell federal agents sent to the city that they cant be in the city, he told members of the council. People need to be realistic about that. We can not take a group of armed officers and send them against another group of armed officers to decide whos the last person standing.

Harrisburg City Council spent the first two months of 2026 debating what an anti-ICE ordinance might look like.

(Photo by Ian Karbal/Pennsylvania Capital-Star)

So what can be done?

Alex Domingos, an advocacy and policy strategist at the ACLU of Pennsylvania has worked with a number of local governments, including officials in Dauphin County, where Harrisburg is the county seat.

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While he advocates for robust anti-ICE policies, he acknowledged that there are limits to what a local government can do.

No matter what policy is passed locally, they cant prevent ICE from coming into a town or doing a raid, he told the Capital-Star. But they can choose not to expend their own resources or support it voluntarily, absent a [judicial] warrant or a court order.

Domingos said an ideal policy, from his perspective, would ban local resources from being used to aid federal immigration enforcement. That would include not allowing ICE or CBP agents to use local facilities and equipment, prohibiting local law enforcement from aiding in immigration arrests or even asking people about immigration status in their normal course of duty.

It would also mean not detaining people in local jails and prisons any longer than they would be in normal circumstances because of a DHS request.

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While law enforcement would still have to follow any court order requiring their cooperation, under the Trump administration, DHS has increasingly relied on what are called administrative warrants and detainers.

Detainers are voluntary requests sent to local authorities asking them to hold detainees for an extended period so that ICE or CBP can pick them up and take them into custody. Administrative warrants are signed by government officials, not judges, authorizing searches or arrests.

Three cars filled with federal agents stop in front of Elle Neubauer and another observer, surrounding the car and threatening arrest during an early morning watch observing ICE in South Minneapolis Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer)

While they can justify arrests, they do not allow law enforcement to take certain actions that a court order might, like entering private property.

Domingos also advocated for local policies prohibiting agreements with DHS, including 287(g)s.

A number of law enforcement offices around the commonwealth have entered into such agreements, which see their officers receive benefits like training in exchange for aiding in federal immigration enforcement.

Domingos would also like local governments to refrain from collecting information on peoples immigration and citizenship status, except where the law requires it.

Its part of a suite of things we like to see, he said. Its enabling all residents of an area to be comfortable interacting with government officials without fear of being denied services or being subject to immigration enforcement because of voluntary collaboration.

Some leaders in other communities want to go further.

Philadelphia braces itself

Philadelphia has long been rumored as a potential site for a massive ICE deployment like what was seen in Minneapolis. Urgency around preempting such activity grew after the agency bought two warehouses in Pennsylvania that they intend to convert to massive detention centers.

In late January, Philadelphia city council members put forward what advocates see as arguably the most aggressive anti-ICE legislation in the commonwealth.

A package of seven bills called ICE Out would prohibit immigration agents from concealing their identities with masks or unmarked vehicles. It would also ban law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration agents, prevent data sharing with federal immigration authorities, and bar city employees from granting immigration agents access to public spaces like libraries and health care centers.

But, its unclear if all of these provisions could stand legal scrutiny.

A mask ban in California, for example, has been blocked by a federal judge. But Philadelphia council minority leader Kendra Brooks, who co-authored the citys bills, said shes worked with advocates and legislative staff to create the strongest laws possible that she believes can withstand scrutiny.

Protesters braved freezing temperatures in Philadelphia on January 24, 2026, to voice their anger over immigration enforcement tactics by the Trump administration. They also called on Gov. Josh Shapiro to stand up to to federal efforts in other states. (Photo by John Cole for the Pennsylvania Capital-Star)

My legislative team has been crafting and working with legislative bodies across the commonwealth and across the country on what we should do to prevent ICE from disrupting our city, she told the Capital-Star. All of this is all preventative. If we have a plan, then we wont be caught off guard.

The bills have not yet passed.

Brenner, the head of the Pennsylvania Municipal League, says he expects some municipalities to push the boundaries with local legislation.

Theres gonna be places that are going to push the envelope one way or the other, he said, noting cities like Philadelphia have a history of passing aggressive legislation, like gun restrictions, that have ended up in court. There are issues like that where places try to go beyond what their purview might be. I think theres some gray area here with this issue, and its going to take some time and we all have to be patient.

The city of Philadelphia has also roughly doubled its funding for immigration deportation defense, at $950,000, providing legal counsel for immigrants facing deportation.

Advocates have pushed the city to provide even more funding. Shayna Kessler, director of the Vera Institutes Advancing Universal Representation Initiative, also said she would like to see more cities take up similar initiatives.

Theres a real urgency and a need for additional municipalities across the state of Pennsylvania to invest in this, she said. Its a really powerful program based in Philadelphia.

The risks of cooperation

Not all local government officials have supported restricting cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. And its not clear how much power some government officials have to stop law enforcement from working with ICE.

Commissioners in Dauphin County, for example, vetoed a bill that would have limited cooperation between law enforcement and federal immigration agents last September.

The resolution, introduced by Commissioner Justin Douglas, who is running for a chance to unseat Republican Rep. Scott Perry in the 10th Congressional District Democratic primary, would have barred county employees from complying with ICE detainer requests that werent backed by a court order.

Commissioner George Hartwick, a fellow Democrat who opposed the resolution, argued it was merely symbolic, since elected officials like sheriffs and district attorneys are allowed by law to enter agreements with the federal government on their own.

Justin Douglas, a pastor and Dauphin County Commissioner who is running in the Democratic primary to unseat Rep. Scott Perry in Congress, is the first speaker at the Hershey rally. (Photo by Ian Karbal/Capital-Star)

When we adopt policies that suggest protections where none actually exist under state or federal law, we create false hope for some of the most vulnerable people within our community, Hartwick said. Families who may already live in fear of deportation could mistakenly believe that a county policy offers them legal protection when, in truth, it does not.

Roughly a month after the debate in Dauphin County, a Court of Common Pleas judge sided with Bucks County Sheriff Fred Harran over his decision to enter into a 287(g) agreement with federal immigration agents, despite opposition from county commissioners.

Ultimately, it was rescinded when the county elected a new sheriff who has said he would not work with ICE or CBP, unless required by a court order, and has directed deputies not to ask victims and witnesses of crimes about their immigration or citizenship status.

The case, however, is moving forward under appeal.

We still have three other defendants in this case who fought for and won a decision  we think a wrong decision  giving a blessing to their 287(g) agreements, and thats what were appealing now, said Stephen Loney, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, which led the case.

The County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania also believes the case was wrongly decided in the first go-round, since commissioners are responsible for budgetary decisions and those involving resource management.

From our position, this is a contract that would require the allocation of resources, said Kyle Kopko, executive director of the group. It could result in additional insurance liability, civil liability on the part of the county. And thats why the county commissioners need to have that final oversight and approval.

Kopko noted, however, that the association is agnostic on whether or not county commissioners should take up ordinances barring or allowing cooperation with immigration officials.

Counties could face legal liability

Douglas, who introduced the Dauphin County resolution, emphasized the point about legal liability, citing a recent example involving his countys prison.

In July, Dauphin County prison employees turned over a Chinese immigrant named Chaofeng Ge, 32, to ICE. Five days after being sent to the Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Centre County, Ge died by suicide in federal custody.

PennLIVE reported that Ge had previously attempted suicide in the county prison, an incident that would have been documented in his medical records. But ICE stated in a death report those files were missing when Ge arrived at Moshannon.

Douglas told PennLIVE the records were handed over and, if they werent, were never requested by Moshannon staff.

He told the Capital-Star that he couldnt get into specifics about the case at the request of county attorneys, but said the incident shows the risks local governments take when they collaborate with ICE.

Dauphin County generally does not hold prisoners longer than the end of their scheduled release date for immigration officials.

Thats largely because of a 2010 lawsuit against Lehigh County that resulted in a settlement with a U.S. citizen who claimed he was illegally held on ICEs request.

Ernesto Galarza was detained for three days in the Lehigh County prison on an immigration agents request, and the ACLU of Pennsylvania sued on his behalf.

The case resulted in Allentown and a city detective paying Galarza $25,000 in a settlement, and the county paying him $95,000 and agreeing to adopt a policy that they would only honor ICE detention requests with a court order. ICE and the United States also paid $25,000 to Galarza in a settlement.

A warehouse purchased by ICE in Upper Bern Township, Berks County on Feb. 26, 2026 (Photo by Ian Karbal/Capital-Star)

The next frontline

Two communities have found themselves on the frontlines of a new legal fight in the Trump administrations push to more aggressively enforce federal immigration laws, and it has local officials facing hard decisions.

In January, it was revealed ICE purchased two warehouses in Pennsylvania, one in Upper Bern Township in Berks County and the other in Tremont, in Schuylkill County.

Its part of a plan to purchase and convert such facilities around the country into detention processing centers for immigrants arrested by the Department of Homeland Security, which have faced pushback from community members and human rights advocates.

The two proposed detention centers in the state would house 1,500 and 7,500 inmates, respectively.

According to Gov. Josh Shapiro, even Republican officials in the affected areas have expressed alarm at their prospects. He also said that the warehouse purchases were made in secret, bypassing local authorities input.

To hear from Republicans and Democrats alike expressing opposition to this, I think speaks volumes about how unwanted these facilities are in our communities, Shapiro said at a press conference in Berks County earlier this month, after meeting with local officials from both communities.

The plans for the warehouses have also raised concerns about whether or not local infrastructure can handle an influx of detainees that would roughly double the population of the rural part of the commonwealth.

Elected officials in the two counties have raised concerns about the areas water and sewage capacity, which would be heavily burdened by an influx of thousands of prisoners.

Following Shapiros meeting with elected leaders from both counties, the state Department of Environmental Protection issued orders outlining these concerns and blocking the use of the facilities unless the federal government can comply with state water regulations.

The proposed centers have spurred other elected officials to act preemptively.

Montgomery County passed a resolution that says it intends to bar 287(g) agreements with the county, and that county resources will not be used for immigration enforcement. The county cited the facilities as a possible indication of increased immigration enforcement in the area.

Bucks County passed a resolution vowing to oppose any detention centers within its county lines, though none have been proposed.

And Northampton County passed a resolution discouraging property owners from selling land to ICE for the purposes of housing detainees. County officials there had previously issued an open letter to warehouse owners, asking them not to sell or lease their properties to ICE.

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However, its municipalities, not counties, that generally have zoning authority in Pennsylvania.

While not every fight has been a victory, immigrant advocates have been encouraged by governments that have moved to pass legislation supporting immigrant communities.

After Montgomery County passed a resolution earlier this month limiting cooperation with federal immigration agents and barring county property from being used for civil immigration enforcement, the Pennsylvania Immigration Coalition attributed the move to the work of advocates.

To the community leaders, legal experts, and residents who spent the last year writing letters, packing hearing rooms, and sharing stories: this victory is yours, the statement said. Your refusal to accept the status quo  especially in the face of over 125 confirmed ICE detentions in our county forced a conversation that couldnt be ignored.
Charges are allegations only. All arrested persons are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

PARK CITY, Utah (ABC4)  On Monday morning, jurors heard closing arguments in the trial of Kouri Richins, the Kamas woman accused of killing her husband and writing a childrens book about coping with grief. Jury deliberation is now underway.

Kouri Richins, 35, is charged with aggravated murder, attempted criminal homicide, two counts of fraudulent insurance claims, and forgery. She is accused of poisoning her husband, Eric, with fentanyl in 2022.

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Attorneys in Kouri Richins murder trial meet ahead of closing arguments, jury deliberation

From left to right: Kouri Richins, Josh Grossman, and Katie Richins at the Kouri Richins murder trial.

The last three weeks of trial saw testimonies from family members, investigators, law enforcement, forensic scientists, and others. Additionally, the Richins housekeeper who allegedly purchased fentanyl for Kouri, and her alleged boyfriend, testified.

A variety of texts, notes, and phone calls were presented to the court, along with a reading of the Walk the Dog letter.

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Evidence presented at the Kouri Richins murder trial.

Prosecutions closing argument

Brad Bloodworth, representing the prosecution, began Monday by delivering the states closing argument. He stated that Kouri felt grief throughout her life and wanted to appear privileged and successful. This goal was achieved when she met Eric, a business owner with money.

She wanted the perfect life. Or, at least, the appearance of a perfect life, said Bloodworth.

While Eric and Kouri had a family and seemed stable from a distance, Bloodworth argued that [Kouri] wanted to leave Eric but did not want to leave his money.

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As a result, Bloodworth claimed that Kouri took $250,000 from Erics house to start her own business, hoping to earn enough money to leave him. Kouri was ambitious and took risks; however, she gambled and lost her business was failing.

Kouri Richins complete timeline in murder case

Kouri dreamed of raising her kids in the Midway Mansion, but with her alleged boyfriend, Grossman, not Eric, Bloodworth said. To make this dream a reality and stay well-off and successful, the state argued that Kouri knowingly and intentionally murdered Eric for his money.

The prosecution stated that Kouri booked a future trip with Grossman, knowing Eric would be dead by then, confided in friends about her unhappiness with Eric, and believed it would be better if he were dead. Additionally, she changed Erics life insurance policy and asked two individuals for the Michael Jackson drug. Bloodworth said that those illicit street drugs Kouri purchased contained fentanyl that Kouri put in a Moscow Mule and/ or a shot that was given to Eric.

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The first minute of the 911 call from the morning that Eric was found deceased was played again for the jury. Bloodworth stated that the first minute of the call was not the sound of a wife becoming a widow; rather, it was the sound of a wife becoming a black widow.

He noted that Kouri took six minutes to begin CPR from the time the dispatcher told her to do it. She also referred to Eric as an it during the call.

Bloodworth then went through the evidence presented to the courtroom over the last few weeks and argued that Kouri committed aggravated murder, attempted criminal homicide, fraudulent insurance claims, and forgery.

He notes that all the evidence points to the fact that Eric did not commit suicide. He reminded the jury that Eric and his family were planning to go to Disneyland, that he was hoping to buy a cabin in the mountains, and that he loved his sons.

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The evidence proves that Kouri Richins murdered, attempted to murder, Eric Richins, said Bloodworth.

Whos who in the Kouri Richins murder trial?

Defenses closing argument

Wendy Lewis, representing the defendant, spoke about the night of Erics death. She stated that Kouri and Eric had a celebratory drink that night to celebrate the close on the Midway Mansion, then went to bed.

However, Kouri heard one of her sons crying and went to lie down with him. After some time, she went back to her bedroom. It was unknown what she was doing in the minutes before she discovered Erics body.

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Lewis claimed that Kouris grief and pain prevented her from having a conversation with her children about their fathers passing. She said that there is no room to judge a mother for how grief affects her, and that the state has been speculating about what people were feeling rather than what the evidence showed.

The defense argued that the investigation has been ongoing for four years, with the last search of the home on Feb. 9, 2026. Lewis said that the state is still trying to prove Kouri Richins is guilty, but she stated that there is no evidence of her guilt.

Everything about this investigation was led by the Richins family, said Lewis.

Kouri Richins trial summit county Utah. Judge Richard Mrazik. (Courtesy: The Park Record)

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She also said that it is absolutely possible that what Kouri wrote in the Walk the Dog letter was true, but it was never investigated. The letter was nothing more than her thoughts on paper. Lewis stated that this is because the investigators only wanted information supporting their theory that Kouri killed Eric, and no effort was made to find anything that might prove her innocence.

It was also acknowledged that there was no evidence that fentanyl was added to a drink or that Kouri forged Erics signature. Additionally, Lewis said that Carmen Lauber changed her story about selling Kouri drugs numerous times.

Regarding the searches and texts, the defense argued that Kouri was looking for information based on what she knew about Erics death, and she may have deleted texts due to an affair or drug purchases.

The state has not proven their case, said Lewis, asking the jury to find Kouri not guilty if they even had the slightest belief in her innocence.

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Judge addresses juror safety issue in Kouri Richins Trial

Prosecutions rebuttal

Following a brief recess, the prosecution addressed jury instructions in its rebuttal. Bloodworth noted that what the attorneys say doesnt matter, and the evidence is what matters. He accepts that a lot of the evidence is circumstantial, but that its just as good as direct evidence.

Bloodworth notes that Lauber was at the Maverik in Draper, where she allegedly purchased pills for Kouri only three times. Those three times, Robert Crozier was also there, according to the evidence. He argues that Kouri chose Lauber because she had control over her.

He then played a clip of Kouri reacting to Erics death against Katie, Erics sister, reacting to his death. Bloodworth said she did not want to speak with Erics dad, because Kouri could not face the father of the man she had killed. He claimed she was hiding her face because she didnt want people to see how she was reacting, that she wasnt crying.

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While the defense argued that Kouri did not tell first responders that Eric took illicit drugs because she didnt know he died from an overdose, the prosecution stated that Kouri didnt tell them because she thought she would get away with it.

Images recovered from Kouri Richins phone on March 4, 2022.

Day 13: Prosecution and defense rest their cases, Kouri Richins waives right to testify

Erics toxicology had no signs of hydrocodone in his system, Bloodworth stated, so the empty prescription bottle from 2016 found in his nightstand is immaterial. He brought up the gifs that were accessed by Kouris phone, saying that they were accessed the minute Eric was being removed from the house for the autopsy.

Bloodworth stated that following Erics death, Kouri played dumb with the medical examiner. She pretended not to understand words like illicit and that she didnt know what acetaminophen was. She has a masters degree, Bloodworth said, claiming that she feigned ignorance to create her alibi.

The medical examiner who determined the manner of death was retiring, Bloodworth said. She had one foot out the door, and later evidence proved that Eric did not ingest a THC gummy that was contaminated with fentanyl. The gummies were tested.

He moved on to the Midway mansion property, saying that Kouri was not tethered to reality about the property. She had purchased it with no plan, writing in an email that she had to get it because it seemed like such a good flip.

Day 12: Kouri Richins murder trial resumes after one-day continuance

Bloodworth then showed Kouris book cover, alongside news coverage of her. He stated that she wanted to be an author, but that she didnt write it and wasnt a good author. She wanted to appear as one. Kouri was actively promoting her book while detectives investigated Erics death, and her mother even sent a copy to detectives.

After noting that she was not a good author, Bloodworth turned to the Walk the Dog letter. He stated that it is obvious the letter was written to get her brother to testify to a narrative that would explain everything.

walk-the-dog-letterDownload

Unredacted version of the Walk the Dog letter. A redacted version of this was displayed during the Kouri Richins murder trial.

Bloodworth walked through the letter beat by beat. He noted all the ways that Kouri was directly asking her brother to invent a story that would explain away the fentanyl in Erics system. If Ronney does not say these things, Im convicted, Bloodworth read.

Despite all of the evidence against Kouri, he argued, she continued blaming Eric.

Do not let her get away with murder, Bloodworth concluded.

Day 11: Kouri Richins murder trial continues with state prosecution

Jury begins deliberation

After the prosecutions rebuttal, the bailiffs who will oversee the jurys deliberation were sworn in. Judge Richard Mrazik reviewed several jury instructions, explaining how to deliberate and fill out the verdict form.

He notes that a jury in Utah is usually eight, but there are 12 in this case. Judge Mrazik noted that there are alternate jurors to ensure that an emergency circumstance does not cause a mistrial.

The four alternate jurors were released from the courtroom, but were reminded that they must remain under restriction in case they are called to join the deliberation. Judge Mrazik thanked them for their ongoing service.

The judge also told the jury that if they have any questions, they can write a note and pass it to the bailiff. The judge and attorneys will review the note and respond. Jurors were instructed to use no outside resources and only to use their notes and copies of the evidence provided to them.

This case is now submitted to you for deliberation and determination of your verdict, Judge Mrazik concluded.

The jury exited the courtroom to begin deliberating. The prosecution and defense both had nothing further. The judge said he will check with the jury at 4:30 p.m. to see if they would like to continue working into the evening or continue deliberating tomorrow.

Jury deliberation begins in the Kouri Richins trial: What happens next

Defense attorneys share a statement

The defense attorneys provided a statement on the case after jury deliberation kicked off. Kouris attorneys asserted their belief that the jury will find her innocent and she will be able to resume her life.

After three weeks of testimony and closing arguments, this case is finally where it belongs: in the hands of the jury. We are grateful to the jurors for the seriousness and care they have shown throughout this trial. They have listened closely to every witness and every piece of evidence, and we respect the responsibility they now carry. For nearly three years, the public has heard accusations about Kouri. Those accusations created a narrative that spread far beyond this courtroom. But in court, accusations are not enough. The law requires proof. After three weeks of testimony, the prosecution has failed to prove its case. The standard in this country is proof beyond a reasonable doubt. That burden has not been met. Kouri has maintained her innocence from the very beginning. Over the past several weeks, the jury has had the opportunity to hear the full evidence  not the headlines, not the speculation, but the facts. We believe in the jury system, and we trust the process. Kouri should finally be able to go home to her three young boys and begin rebuilding her life.  Statement from Wendy Lewis, Kathy Nester, and Alex Ramos

Jury deliberation to continue

According to the Utah State Courts, the jury has decided to continue working after 5 p.m. It is unknown how long they will deliberate for and whether they will decide to break for the evening at any point.

This is a developing story. ABC4 will update this post as more information becomes available.

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Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.
This article first appeared on GuruFocus.

Alibaba Group Holding (BABA, Financials) is reportedly preparing to launch a new artificial intelligence agent designed for enterprise customers as early as this week, according to a report citing people familiar with the plans.

Businesses may use the solution to deploy AI assistants that do tasks autonomously, showing increased interest in agent-based AI systems. Alibaba's Qwen big language model may power the service, which may ultimately merge into its digital ecosystem.

According to the article, the AI agent may link to Alibaba's Taobao e-commerce marketplace and Alipay financial service to automate company procedures and consumer interactions.

The team behind DingTalk, Alibaba's workplace communication platform, which has added AI functions for enterprise users, built the tool.

The anticipated debut comes as Chinese tech companies rush to create AI bots that can perform real-world activities for customers and enterprises. Alibaba Cloud has been developing its AI ecosystem and recently launched an OpenClaw-based platform enabling developers to install AI agents fast.

According to CEO Eddie Wu, the corporation would invest over $53 billion in AI infrastructure and development.
First responders Sunday walked on ice and moved through the waters off the shore of Mackinac Island in white-out conditions to save a man who was lost on the ice.

Mackinac Island Fire Chief Jason St. Onge was notified at 4:40 p.m. Sunday that a man was lost on the ice roughly a mile off the west shore of the island, a news release said. The man was told through a translator over the phone to stay put for rescue teams.

Firefighters drifted onto the ice, which was jagged and had waist-deep snow drifts, according to the news release.

Mackinac Island firefighters and the Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw rescued a man stranded on the ice off Mackinac Island Sunday night.

The man advanced toward the firefighters but ran into open water and couldn't go farther. The crew on the vessel USCG Cutter Mackinaw said they could see him and were going to try to get him, the release said.

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 MORE: Traverse City residents, visitors brace for 'exceptional' ice storm

 MORE: Mackinac Island, Detroit fire crews team up in lifesaving effort

Firefighters learned the Coast Guard had rescued the man off the ice as the firefighters walked back to shore.

"It took (the Mackinac Island Fire Department) members almost 40 minutes to walk 2,000 feet due to conditions," the release said.

"The ice is no joke, not an inland lake or a mill pond, conditions can and do change by the minute," the release said.

St. Onge urged Mackinac Island residents to "stay off the ice."

#News - @USCG Cutter Mackinaw rescued a snowmobile operator stranded on ice near #MackinacIsland, Michigan, March 15, 2026.



The person was brought aboard, received medical care, & is in stable condition. The snowmobile was also recovered by the cutter.#IceRescue #GreatLakes pic.twitter.com/W1xYKOZuZd  USCG Great Lakes (@USCGGreatLakes) March 16, 2026

This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Coast Guard rescues man on ice off Mackinac Island
Heavy rainfall is increasingly threatening coffee production in Brazil, the world's largest coffee producer, a study by the World Weather Attribution research initiative said in March.

The downpours could encourage the spread of diseases on Arabica plantations in the state of Minas Gerais and affect the harvest, the analysis said.

Brazilian coffee beans are preferred by many roasters around the world and known for their nutty and light chocolate flavour profile with a soft taste thanks to their low acidity.

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However in recent years, extreme weather has led to a 15% to 20% decline in coffee production and pushed up world market prices, the World Weather Attribution analysis said.

Minas Gerais in south-eastern Brazil is the centre of Brazilian coffee production and the most important producer of Arabica coffee.

Brazil is the world's largest coffee producer overall and, according to the Brazilian coffee exporters' association Cecafe, the largest buyer imported 5.4 million 60-kilogram sacks of Brazilian coffee in 2025.

Extreme rainfall at the end of February triggered severe landslides in the region. Authorities said 72 people were killed and thousands had to leave their homes. In the city of Juiz de Fora, February was the wettest since records began, according to government data.

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The devastating landslides were a taste of the years ahead: More intense heavy rainfall events are expected to become more frequent with global warming, the World Weather Attribution scientists warned.

The research initiative regularly examines the influence of climate change after extreme weather events. The researchers were unable to establish a clear influence on the latest rainfall in Brazil.

However they warned that the intensity of such rainfall would increase by an estimated 7% or more if the Earth warms by 2.6 degrees compared with pre-industrial times by the end of the century.

"The scale of this tragedy is immense and shows how vulnerable our hillside communities are as the planet continues to warm," said climate researcher Regina Rodrigues of Brazil's Federal University of Santa Catarina.

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Rainfall in Brazil is not the only factor increasing coffee prices, and Vietnam, another major exporter, has also recorded declining output in recent years. At the same time demand for coffee has steadily risen in China.

According to the United Nations, the Earth is heading for 2.8 degrees Celsius of warming by the end of the century under current global climate policy. If countries implemented everything they have set out in their national climate plans, the calculations suggest warming of 2.3 to 2.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century.
A Colorado community has been left in shock after an 11-year-old boy was accused of killing his 5-year-old brother.

Authorities were called to a home in Centennial, a city just outside of Denver, Tuesday night following the death of the little boy, the Arapahoe County Sheriffs Office said.

Deputies are investigating the case as a homicide, and have identified the boys older brother as the suspect in his death.

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Neither of the boys has been publicly named. The 11-year-old boy is in custody at the Marvin W. Foote Youth Services Center in Centennial and is expected to face charges of first-degree murder.

Our hearts go out to the family of these two young boys and to everyone in our community who is grieving this loss, Sheriff Tyler Brown said.

An 11-year-old boy is expected to face a first-degree murder charge for the killing of his 5-year-old brother in a case that has left their Colorado community in shock (Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office)

We know tragedies like this impact not only the family, but also classmates, teachers, and neighbors throughout the community, he added. We appreciate the support and patience of the public as our investigators work to gather the facts and pursue justice in this case.

There is no danger to the community, the sheriffs office said.

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The victim was a kindergarten student at Timberline Elementary School, according to the Denver Gazette.

The Arapahoe County Coroner said no information about the boys autopsy would be released out of respect for the family, a spokesperson told the newspaper.

Authorities investigation remains ongoing, but the sheriffs department noted that the information released would be limited due to the victim and suspect being minors.

Legal experts who work with juvenile cases told the Gazette that it is rare for someone so young to face a first-degree murder charge.

Anytime were hearing about a child whos alleged to have caused great harm at such a young age, we just really have to look at our own 11-year-old, and remember what it was like when we were 11, said Hannah Seigel Proff.

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FOX31 legal analyst Christopher Decker told the outlet that he could not recall another case involving an 11-year-old potentially facing a first-degree murder charge.

In a situation like this where we have an 11-year-old, the prosecutions options to transfer the case to adult court are not there, Decker said.

Colorado law states that children under 10 cannot be charged criminally. Prosecutors are also not allowed to transfer a juvenile case to adult court if the child is under 12.

The 18th Judicial District Attorneys Office told the Gazette that formal charges for the 11-year-old would come next week.

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I dont know whether an 11-year-old can understand what first-degree murder means, Isabel Briet, an associate attorney for Recht Kornfeld, P.C., said. Is the legal definition of first-degree murder in an 11-year-olds vocabulary, much less something they can understand?

If convicted, the 11-year-old would face a minimum of three years and a maximum of seven years in detention at the Colorado Division of Youth Services, according to the report.
ROCKVILLE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV)  A 19-year-old Colorado man has been taken into custody for child solicitation charges, stemming from a multi-state investigation involving the Rockville Police Department.

According to a social media post from the police department, the investigation into Christopher Neal Turner, of Pueblo West, Colorado, began in September 2025 after the department received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Turner was then taken into custody on an Indiana warrant in Pueblo County on March 13. Turner is charged with child solicitation (a level 5 felony), and inappropriate communication with a minor (a class B misdemeanor)

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The Rockville Police Department was assisted in the investigation into Turner by the Indiana Crimes Against Children Task Force, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the Parke County Prosecutors Office, and the Pueblo County Sheriffs Office in Colorado.

Turner is currently being held in the Pueblo County Jail awaiting extradition to Indiana.

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to MyWabashValley.com.




A New York State Police trooper was injured after being struck by a driver from Connecticut in the Empire State on Sunday morning, police say.

In a release, New York State Police said two troopers were conducting a traffic stop on a 2025 Mercedes sedan operated by a 52-year-old from Connecticut along the right shoulder of the New England Thruway, also Interstate 95, in Mamaroneck, N.Y., at about 5 a.m.

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Police said troopers were standing near the Mercedes when a 2007 Chevy Suburan, operated by a 24-year-old from Connecticut, rear-ended the patrol car. They said the cruiser was then pushed into the Mercedes, which then struck one of the troopers.

The trooper was transported to Westchester Medical Center for treatment of minor injuries and later released, police said, adding the other trooper was not struck. Police said the driver of the Suburban was transported to Westchester Medical Center for minor body pain evaluation, and the driver of the Mercedes was evaluated on-scene and declined transport.

Police said the investigation into the crash is ongoing.

This article originally published at Connecticut driver strikes New York police cruiser, injures trooper, police say.
Lawyers for Jonah Bevin, the estranged, adopted son of former Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin, have asked a judge to hold the father in contempt of court for ignoring a court order to turn over his personal financial information.

The filing Friday came after a family court judge last week ordered Matt Bevin and his ex-wife, Glenna Bevin, to disclose detailed financial information as part of a proposed settlement in their divorce case and a year-long legal battle with their son, 19, who is seeking support.

While they did not file the information with the court, as ordered by a judge, Glenna Bevin has provided her financial information to Jonah Bevins lawyers, according to the court filing Friday. But Matt Bevin, who has fought unsuccessfully to keep his son from intervening in his divorce settlement, provided only incomplete and redacted information, it said.

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Jonah submits that Matt Bevin has failed to comply with the utmost good faith and he requests the court to sanction Mr. Bevin for his obvious disregard of the courts clear order, said the motion filed by lawyers John H. Helmers Jr. and Melina Hettiaratchi.

Jonah Bevin listens to the judge during a hearing in family court in Louisville on March 25, 2025. At left is lawyer Melina Hettiaratchi. (Photo by Michael Clevenger, Courier Journal, via press pool)

Their filing asks for a hearing on the matter and notes that contempt of court is a serious matter, and persons held in contempt may be incarcerated for up to 180 days in the county jail.

Jefferson Family Court Judge Angela J. Johnson on March 10 gave the Bevins 48 hours to provide financial disclosures or face sanctions, saying the Bevins acted in bad faith by concealing their financial status from the court and Jonah Bevin.

She ordered the Bevins to produce such information by March 12 to the court and to Jonah.

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This is the only warning the court will issue; any deficiency or failure to adhere to the letter and spirit of the courts rulings pertaining to discovery SHALL result in sanctions against Matt and Glenna, her order said.

Her order noted that possible sanctions for failure to comply could include a finding of contempt.

Jonah Bevin alleges his wealthy parents abandoned him at age 17 in a brutally abusive youth facility in Jamaica closed in 2024 by child welfare officials, leaving him with no resources or education.

He is one of four children from Ethiopia adopted in 2012 by the Bevins, who have nine children altogether.

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His lawyers have argued Jonah is entitled to support and resources to complete his education. The judge, in her order March 10, indicated she is considering child support for Jonah and said she needs details of the Bevins finances.

It is proper for both the court and Jonah to be made aware of the parties assets when considering child support, Johnsons order said.

A lawyer for Matt Bevin, a business entrepreneur whose worth was estimated in the millions when he ran for governor, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Jason Bowman, a lawyer for Glenna Bevin, said in an email his client has complied and is not subject to the contempt motion.

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I believe my client has met her obligations under the courts orders, Bowman said.

Glenna Bevin filed for divorce in 2023 from her husband, a Republican who served as governor from 2015-2019.

The divorce was finalized last year but a final settlement of assets has been delayed after Jonah Bevin filed a motion to intervene in March 2025, seeking support from his adoptive parents.
Fans of the musical Hamilton know three things about the nations first Treasury secretary because of Lin-Manuel Mirandas brilliance. First, that Alexander Hamilton cheated on his wife, Eliza. Second, he was killed by the vice president, Aaron Burr. Third, and most importantly, he was considered a highly principled man. And when it came to the topic of nationalizing elections, do you know how this Revolutionary War vet and founding father characterized doing so?

A threat.

Referring to corruptible public officials, Hamilton wrote in the Federalist Papers: No 59 : With so effectual a weapon in their hands as the exclusive power of regulating elections for the national government, a combination of a few such men, in a few of the most considerable States, where the temptation will always be the strongest, might accomplish the destruction of the Union, by seizing the opportunity of some casual dissatisfaction among the people to discontinue the choice.

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Hamiltons prescient views became the framework for the Election Clause in the Constitution. And since returning to the White House, President Trump has been searching for ways to usurp it. Last month he made calls to nationalize elections . This month hes at it again.

Hes also pushing Congress to pass his so-called SAVE Act, which would require voters to show proof of citizenship when they register to vote. It sounds innocuous until you realize a drivers license isnt good enough; a passport would often be required. But half the country doesnt have a passport, and it costs roughly $200 and a few weeks to get one. The logistical burden is unreasonable and cruel : Consider that this year, during primary season, weve already witnessed natural disaster  such as the tornadoes that recently ripped through the Midwest or the fires in Texas  upend entire communities. Many people would not have been able to vote, simply because they had been separated from their papers during the disaster.

The financial obstacles that would be created by the SAVE Act are at least as onerous: Why would Congress choose to financially burden voters  with what is essentially an unlawful poll tax  at a time when the unemployment rate and gas prices are up and the approval rating for nearly everyone in office is down? There are a couple of reasons. One is that the party controlling Congress hopes to suppress voting in order to defy the will of the American majority and cling to power.

Another reason lawmakers support this terrible bill is simply that Trump wants it. Some Republicans in office are so afraid of angering a vengeful president that they would rather entertain his authoritarian tendencies than go through the fire of his opposition during a primary.

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For politicians such as Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who this week changed his long-held position on the filibuster in order to push the SAVE Act, its simply about political survival. He needs the presidents endorsement heading into the runoff for his Senate seat.

Trump has called the election overhaul bill his top priority  not the war he started with Iran, not returning the billions collected from illegal tariffs , not justice for Jeffrey Epsteins victims . Before there was a Constitution, there was a warning, written by Hamilton and other founders, whose concerns about nationalized elections are well documented and have proved to be well founded.

You would think a nation in the midst of beating its proverbial chest about our 250th birthday would take more heed from the countrys founders. But nope: This week Florida state lawmakers, in an attempt to appease their states most powerful resident, passed an election overhaul law that mirrors the federal SAVE Act. More red states are likely to follow, not because a national wave of voter fraud has been unearthed by authorities, but because the authorities want to stay in the good graces of someone who has yet to prove any widespread fraud other than his own .

The party that famously railed against the bridge to nowhere is now offering bills that solve nonexistent problems. Or in some cases, creating problems, particularly for women who changed their names after marriage so their state IDs dont match their birth certificates.

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Cornyn is not alone in exchanging his principles for Trumps favor; hes just the most recent. However, the manner in which he announced his flip flop was particularly tone deaf.

If a man takes a swing at you and barely misses, that doesnt make him a pacifist  it just means he has bad aim, Cornyn wrote in an op-ed about the bill for the New York Post, the newspaper founded by Hamilton in 1801. Standing still and giving him a second free swing wouldnt be wise or honorable: it would be foolish.

In 2016, then-candidate Trump took his first big swing at our elections when he implied  without evidence  that his opponent, Sen. Ted Cruz, had rigged the election after losing to him in the Iowa Republican caucus. Reportedly Trump even tried to get the states party chair to overturn the result. Hes been throwing jabs at our elections ever since. The Jan. 6 riot was a haymaker that barely missed. Given the presidents propensity to hand out Trump 2028 hats, it seems passing the SAVE Act would be, in Cornyns words, setting voters up to stand there while Trump takes another swing at our democracy.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Over the course of the last year, the United States relationship with South Africa has deteriorated to levels unseen in recent memory, due in large part to Donald Trumps sustained offensive. Late last year, however, the president took steps that appeared likely to make matters worse.

The White House nominated, and Senate Republicans confirmed, L. Brent Bozell III to be the U.S. ambassador to South Africa. He was hardly an obvious choice for the role: TPM reported that Bozell, in the 1980s, was critical of Black activists in South Africa who fought against their countrys racist apartheid government. And Media Matters has highlighted the conservative activists rhetorical record, which does not lend itself to a career in international diplomacy.

My MS NOW colleague Jahan Jones recently described Bozell as Trumps apartheid-defending ambassador to South Africa.

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With the far-right activist in Pretoria, it was tempting to wonder not whether but how soon the relationship between the U.S. and South Africa would get worse. The answer seems to be not long at all.

The New York Times reported on the ambassador delivering harsh words against his host government less than a month into his job. From the article:

He claimed that South Africa had more than 150 laws aimed against whites, and that the Trump administration was running out of patience with the South African government. He made veiled comments about South Africas president, Cyril Ramaphosa, subtly accusing him of insulting our president, an apparent reference to Mr. Ramaphosas criticisms of President Trump in a recent interview with The New York Times. And he rejected a South African courts ruling that an anti-apartheid song was not hate speech. I dont care what your courts say, said the ambassador, L. Brent Bozell III, speaking at a business forum in the Western Cape Province.

Not surprisingly, South Africas foreign minister summoned Bozell to a meeting, where hed be expected to explain his undiplomatic remarks.

Time will tell whether Bozell manages to make matters still worse, but in the meantime, consider the broader pattern:

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Bill White, Trumps ambassador to Belgium, sparked an international incident of sorts when he accused Belgian officials of antisemitism via social media. Belgiums government was not pleased, and it summoned the U.S. ambassador for an official conversation soon after.

Charles Kushner, Trumps ambassador to France, was soon after banned from meeting members of the French government, which is ostensibly his job, after his own politically provocative rhetoric.

Mike Huckabee, Trumps ambassador to Israel, recently sparked a regional incident when he suggested that it would be fine if Israel took lands stretching across the Middle East from Egypt to Iraq.

Tom Rose, Trumps ambassador to Poland, boasted about severing ties with the speaker of Polands Parliament after the legislative leader said Trump did not deserve to win a Nobel Peace Prize.

Taken together, Politico recently characterized the group as the American presidents undiplomatic corps. The Washington Posts Max Boot added, Rather than promoting U.S. interests, many of Trumps mini-me envoys are alienating their host countries by insulting critics and offending local sensibilities.  Trump does enough damage to Americas reputation by himself. He doesnt need help from his undiplomatic diplomats in alienating the rest of the world.

Whether the White House actually approves of the ambassadors antics and their capacity to insult their host countries is unclear. Watch this space.

This post updates our related earlier coverage.

The post Controversial U.S. ambassador to South Africa adds to Trumps many diplomatic woes appeared first on MS NOW.

This article was originally published on ms.now
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle spent some of her last remaining hours before Election Day with voters in West Pullman and the south suburbs. She did a quick chant and posed with Percy Julian High Schools students, who are about to vote for the first time.

"In the in the last couple days, you just run from one place to the next," Preckwinkle said.

Preckwinkle is running toward history as she tries to tie former Board President George Dunne as Cook County's longest leader. Seeking her fifth term, Preckwinkle is up against downtown Ald. Brendan Reilly. He is considered her toughest opponent yet.

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"People are talking about, it's time for a change, which has been our slogan throughout the campaign. A lot of energy out there, a lot of enthusiasm. Our base is certainly showing up," Reilly said.

While Reilly is campaigning on change, Preckwinkle is trying to convince voters that staying the course is what the second-largest county in the nation needs.

"I've great record of fiscal responsibility and support for our health care system, and a difficult moment when the federal government is withdrawing support for health care," Preckwinkle said.

SEE ALSO | 2026 primary elections: Voter information in Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin

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Both Democratic candidates have spared over donations. Reilly called on Preckwinkle to give back a donation by a developer who reportedly owes the CTA more than $1 million.

"I got modest contribution from Scott Goodman. This is just a distraction. The challenge that that my opponent has is his connection to Donald Trump. So, I think he's just flailing," Preckwinkle said.

Preckwinkle says Reilly's connection to Trump is Trump Tower, located in Reilly's ward, and the alderman's vote on changes to the city's sanctuary city ordinance.

"All the candidates running for every level of office, from Senate down to dog catcher, have been accused of being friends of Trump or MAGA, and I think that people are starting to tune that out for what it is. It's nonsense," Reilly said.

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Preckwinkle turns 79 on Tuesday, which is primary day. Reilly has not made age a specific issue in the campaign. However, he has suggested that there may be voter fatigue with older politicians who have stuck around for too long.

READ MORE | Live updates on Chicago-area voting, candidates, results for Election Day 2026
CHICAGO  The 17-member Cook County Board is guaranteed at least four new faces next year thanks to two retirements and two ambitious congressional hopefuls.

Among the spots up for grabs in primary elections Tuesday: the boards sole Republican seat, two suburban districts covering much of the Southland and the northwest suburbs, and another on the citys North Side.

The board had already seen significant turnover in recent months, as three commissioners appointed since the summer of 2024 are defending their seats. And two longer-serving incumbents are also fighting off primary challengers.

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While voters in each district will carry particular concerns into the voting booth, candidates almost universally promised to tamp down property taxes and address potential budget hits with the final wind-down of pandemic aid and cuts to federal health care subsidies.

Open races

Four seats opened up this cycle. Commissioners Bridget Degnen and Sean Morrison are stepping aside, while Kevin Morrison and Donna Miller opted to run for Congress instead.

The Southlands 6th District, which Miller has represented since 2018, attracted a field of five Democratic candidates. But only two have raised enough money to mount a serious campaign: attorney Wesam Shahed and Worth Township Supervisor Patricia Joan Murphy.

Trish Murphy, the daughter of the late Commissioner Joan Patricia Murphy, argues she is the best qualified of the batch, having worked in Worth and as vice chair of the Moraine Valley Community College District Board, where she oversaw budgets, staff and services.

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Murphy previously ran kiosks at Navy Pier and has been the Democratic committeeperson for Worth township since 2018. Shes raised just over $130,000 over the past year and previously ran for the seat in 2018, losing to Miller in the primary by only 1,145 votes.

But Shahed, a first-generation Palestinian American former prosecutor and senior legislative counsel for Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, has raised nearly $650,000 since last August alone. Aside from Raoul, hes also racked up endorsements from U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly, SEIU Illinois, the Illinois Nurses Union, progressive County Board members Alma Anaya and Jessica Vasquez and AFSCME, which represents thousands of county workers.

He has sought to nationalize the race, saying in a campaign video that the district needs a leader who is going to rise and meet this critical moment in history.

He is trying to position himself as the commissioner best able to stand up to President Donald Trump weaponizing ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) against our communities, gutting Medicaid all over the country and threatening womens right to abortion.

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Also running are real-estate agent Antoine Bass, social worker Sylvester Fulcher and Veronica Bolling-Franklin, a school board member for Elementary School District 159.

In the 12th District on Chicagos North Side, the countys current asset management chief, Elizabeth Granato, has led the fundraising and endorsement match in the Democratic primary against challengers Jose Che-Che Wilson and Isaiah White to replace Bridget Degnen.

The candidate Degnen endorsed, Catherine Cat Sharp, dropped out to fight a federal court case related to ICE protests at Broadview. Federal prosecutors dropped the charges against Sharp on Thursday.

Granato, the wife of state Sen. Ram Villivalam and daughter of former Ald. Jesse Granato, has raised over $500,000  nearly half came via transfers from Villivalams various campaign committees  and secured endorsements from U.S. Reps. Jan Schakowsky, Delia Ramirez, Jesus Chuy Garcia, Mike Quigley and several progressives and moderates on the Chicago City Council, County Board and Illinois General Assembly.

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State colleagues of Villivalam including Senate President Don Harmon and state Sens. Rob Martwick and Omar Aquino chipped in another $95,000 combined.

Citing federal threats to health care access and rising costs for working families, Granato argues shes best equipped to navigate the county from the jump.

Wilson, the director of civic engagement for LGBT advocacy group Equality Illinois, said hes the alternative to insider Granato. You deserve better than the undemocratic Chicago machine politics that try to buy political offices, one of his mailers reads, noting the infusion from Villivalams campaign.

He pledges to broaden the countys revenue base without raising property taxes, expand the forest preserves and said the countys most pressing issue are federal cuts that threaten Cook County Health. He has the support of Aldermen Timmy Knudsen and Scott Waguespack, and state Sen. Lakesia Collins.

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Isaiah White, an elementary school teacher in a Chicago public school, said he is running to bring a moderate, pragmatic perspective to the board. He has been endorsed by more business-friendly Democrats like former CPS CEO Paul Vallas, Aldermen Anthony Napolitano and Brian Hopkins, and the Neighborhood Building Owners Alliance, which represents landlords.

Though the county hasnt raised its base levy since the 1990s, he has pledged to lower property taxes while boosting staffing at the offices of the sheriff and the public defender. Hes also pledged to strengthen the countys ethics ordinance and plant 2 million trees.

In the 15th District, which stretches from Des Plaines west through Hoffman Estates to Barrington Hills and Elgin, where Democrat Kevin Morrison exited to run for U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthis seat, his chief of staff, Ted Mason, is running unopposed in the Democratic primary.

Republicans Gabriella Hoxie, a 25-year-old staffer for House Republican Leader Tony McCombie, and small-business owner Daniel Lee are competing for their partys nomination in the 15th. Though the district was once red, Kevin Morrison handily won against Republican Chuck Cerniglia in 2022.

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The boards lone Republican, Sean Morrison, is stepping aside in the 17th District, which runs along the countys western boundary from Elk Grove Village south through Schiller Park, Oak Brook, Lemont, Palos Park and Orland Park. Both primaries there are uncontested. Democrat Elyse Hoffenberg and Republican Liz Doody Gorman will face off in November.

Appointees defending seats

In the 2nd District, which covers the citys West and South sides and down Michigan Avenue , incumbent Michael Scott Jr., was first appointed to the seat in 2024 after resigning from the Chicago City Council in 2022. He faces Andre Smith, a community activist who unsuccessfully ran for a seat on Chicagos new school board last year. Scott, the director of community and industry relations at Cinespace Studios, previously worked as an area manager at the Chicago Park District.

In the 5th District, spanning Blue Island, Dixmoor, Hazel Crest, Olympia Fields, Chicago Heights and Ford Heights, Kisha McCaskill is defending her seat against Kiana Belcher, a trustee for the village of Dolton since 2021.

McCaskill, the executive director of the Harvey Park District, was appointed to the board early last year after Monica Gordon rose to become county clerk. McCaskills husband, Anthony McCaskill, previous president of the Harvey Park Board and current head of the library board, made an unsuccessful run for Harvey mayor in 2023.

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Belcher was one of a group of candidates who ran as part of the Clean House slate to oppose former Dolton Mayor Tiffany Henyard. People have seen that I dont mind going against the grain, I dont mind standing up for my residents, and Ill do the same thing at the county level, she told the Daily Southtown.

Belcher has been endorsed by U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly, state Rep. Will Davis, former Mayor Lori Lightfoot, SEIUs Illinois state council and the Sierra Club. McCaskill has the endorsement of the Chicago Federation of Labor, House Speaker Emanuel Chris Welch, and several suburban mayors and members of the General Assembly.

Appointed to the seat last May as part of a grand reshuffle kicked off by former Ald. Carlos Ramirez Rosas appointment to run the Chicago Park District, Jessica Vasquez is defending her seat against Nicholas Cade, a U.S. Navy service member, attorney and former Teach for America participant. The 8th District includes Chicago neighborhoods Irving Park, Avondale, Logan Square, Belmont Cragin and Portage Park.

In her short time on the board, Vasquez has been a vocal critic of ICE enforcement in Chicago, helping pass a resolution calling for county offices to notify commissioners of any immigration enforcement agent sightings. She is endorsed by fellow progressives like Commissioner Alma Anaya, state Rep. Will Guzzardi and Aldermen Ruth Cruz and Daniel La Spata.

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Cade has been endorsed by pro-growth groups that advocate building more housing.

Incumbents with a challenge

Bridget Gainer, a member of the County Board since 2010 and founder and chair of the countys Land Bank Authority, faces her first serious challenge in years. The 10th District extends from the Lakeview neighborhood up to Devon Avenue and also includes much of Chicagos Northwest Side.

Gainer faces Drake Warren, a former industrial engineer at West Monroe who donated more than $100,000 to his own campaign fund. Citing Gainers outside employment as the global head of public affairs and policy at Aon and her attendance record at County Board meetings, Warren said he would be a full-time commissioner. A recent Sun-Times analysis found that Gainer had missed about 23% of County Board meetings.

Hey, thats better than 2018, when she was at the very bottom, missing one in three meetings, Warren said in a recent social media post.

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He is backing a ban on outside employment for county officials, supports a budget floor for the countys inspector general and reform efforts to cut down and consolidate units of local government in Cook County. Gainer has argued her expertise from her outside job gives her valuable insight for her county job.

The West Sides 16th District, which swings from Cicero, Lyons and Riverside up through Melrose Park, features a three-way race steeped in tangled histories. Commissioner Frank Aguilar, a former Republican, faces one old opponent and the daughter of another.

Aguilar beat Leticia Letty Garcia, a nurse and the current Berwyn city clerk, in the 2022 Democratic primary for his full first term on the board.

And as a Republican, he beat Lisa Hernandez for his seat in the Illinois General Assembly 20 years before that. Hernandez, now a state Representative and chair of the Democratic Party of Illinois, is supporting daughter Miranda Hernandez in the race, including transferring more than $20,000 to her campaign fund.

Miranda Hernandez is a legislative deputy for States Attorney Eileen ONeill Burke and previously worked in Washington, D.C., on the Senate Judiciary Committee and on the Department of Justices Reproductive Rights Task Force. She is endorsed by a broad swath of elected officials, including House Speaker Chris Welch, Melrose Park Mayor Ron Serpico and Cicero Town President Larry Dominic, whom Aguilar had a falling-out with in recent years.

Hernandez said she is focused on funding law enforcement and public safety initiatives and offering property tax assistance.

Garcia is presenting herself as the independent in the race. Many voters are increasingly wary of the perception of nepotism and backroom deals, a recent campaign email said. Garcia represents a grassroots alternative for those who have grown weary of the status quo.
This article first appeared on GuruFocus.

Amplifon (AMFPY) has agreed to acquire the hearing-aid business of GN Store Nord (GNNDY) in a transaction valued at 17 billion Danish kroner, or about $2.6 billion, marking a move that could reshape the competitive dynamics of the hearing-care industry. Under the agreement announced Monday, Amplifon will pay 12.6 billion kroner in cash and issue 56 million shares to GN Store Nord. The announcement triggered a sharp market reaction, sending GN Store Nord shares up as much as 42%, the largest jump on record, while Amplifon declined as much as 10%.

The acquisition could significantly expand the scale of the Milan-based company's hearing-aid operations as the sector begins to draw interest from larger industry players such as EssilorLuxottica. Amplifon said the combined business could generate about 3.3 billion in revenue and operate in more than 100 countries, potentially strengthening its position in the global hearing-care market. The company described the transaction as the most transformative acquisition in its 75-year history.

Amplifon also expects the integration to generate net EBITDA benefits of 60 million to 80 million by the end of 2029, while estimating integration costs of about 80 million over the next two to three years. The deal is expected to close by the end of this year, subject to regulatory approvals. GN Store Nord currently holds roughly 8% of the global hearing-aid market, making it the smallest among Europe's three major manufacturers alongside Sonova and Demant.
Nato leaders rejected US president Donald Trumps call to get involved in the war against Iran, despite mounting pressure from Washington.

A day after Japan, Australia and the UK said they had no plans to send naval ships to the strategic waterway, Germany joined in saying Nato had nothing to do with the US-Israeli war on Iran.

It is not Natos war, a spokesperson for German chancellor Friedrich Merz said. Nato is an alliance to defend the alliance area. The United States did not consult us before this war, and so we believe this is not a matter for Nato or the German government.

Mr Trump earlier said his administration had contacted seven countries and expected them to help secure the waterway, which Iran has effectively blockaded.

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Im demanding that these countries come in and protect their own territory because it is their territory, Mr Trump told reporters aboard the Air Force One. Its the place from which they get their energy.

German defence minister Boris Pistorius also dismissed the American request. This is not our war. We have not started it. What does Donald Trump expect a handful or two handfuls of European frigates to do in the Strait of Hormuz that the powerful US navy cannot do? he said, downplaying warnings by the US president that failing to come to Washingtons aid could have consequences for the Nato alliance.

Japanese prime minister Sanae Takaichi earlier said the US had yet to make any formal request for assistance.

We have not made any decisions whatsoever about dispatching escort ships. We are continuing to examine what Japan can do independently and what can be done within the legal framework, she said.

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Dan Caine said on Friday that the situation in the Strait of Hormuz is 'complex' after traffic through the waterway trickled to a halt (Defense Department)

Ms Takaichi told lawmakers: Legally speaking, this is very difficult. We are carefully examining what can be done within the scope of current laws and what is the best course of action at this time. At the same time, we are continuing to engage with Iran to help de-escalate the situation while also exchanging information with various countries.

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Japan has begun releasing oil reserves to stabilise supply, but says sending its Self-Defence Forces abroad would be politically sensitive. Takayuki Kobayashi, the policy chief of Takaichis ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said the threshold for military involvement was extremely high.

Trump on Strait of Hormuz: "Really, I'm demanding that these countries come in and protect their own territory, because it is their territory ... they should help us. You could make the case that maybe we shouldn't be there at all, because we don't need it. We have a lot of oil." pic.twitter.com/y97MflXvLs  Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 16, 2026

Australia has also rejected calls to provide naval support to secure shipping in the strait. Weve been very clear about what our contribution is to requests and so far that is to the UAE [United Arab Emirates] obviously providing aircraft to assist with defence particularly given the number of Australians that are in that area in particular, transport minister Catherine King said.

We wont be sending a ship to the Strait of Hormuz, Ms King said.

We know how incredibly important that is but thats not something weve been asked or were contributing to.

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James Paterson, the shadow defence minister, said that Australia would have to carefully consider any request for naval assets. You would need to have a naval vessel thats capable of protecting itself against drone and missile attacks.

A navy vessel is seen sailing in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway through which much of the worlds oil and gas passes, on 1 March 2026 (AFP/Getty)

And in 2023, when a similar request from the United States came to help in the Red Sea against the Houthis terrorist organisation, we werent able to provide any naval vessels because we didnt have ones that could protect themselves that were available for that mission, he told Australias Channel Nine.

Most other countries approached by Mr Trump are reluctant to send military ships to the Strait of Hormuz, despite US pressure. In an earlier social media post, he said he hoped countries including China, France, Japan, South Korea and Britain would take part.

The UK is considering sending aerial minesweepers, but officials have warned that deploying warships could escalate the conflict.

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Prime minister Keir Starmer also went on the record to warn that Britain will not be drawn into the wider war.

My leadership is about standing firm for the British interest, no matter the pressure, he said, without naming Mr Trump.

File. Liberia-flagged tanker Shenlong Suezmax, carrying crude oil from Saudi Arabia, that arrived clearing the Strait of Hormuz, is seen at the Mumbai Port in Mumbai, India, Thursday, 12 March 2026 (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Observers note that European leaders are under pressure from rising fuel costs at home but are wary of repeating past mistakes like the 2003 Iraq war.

Italian foreign minister Antonio Tajani said diplomacy was the right way to solve the crisis in the strait and there were no naval missions Italy was involved in that could be extended to the area.

As far as Hormuz is concerned I believe diplomacy needs to prevail, he told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting in Brussels.

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Italy is involved in defensive naval missions in the Red Sea, he claimed, but I dont see any missions that can be extended to Hormuz.

A South Korean protester wears a mask of US president Donald Trump during a protest against Trumps request to dispatch warships to the Strait of Hormuz in front of the US embassy in Seoul on 16 March 2026 (AFP/Getty)

France has ruled out sending additional military forces, saying its current posture aims to maintain regional stability rather than escalate tensions. On Monday, in a post on X, the French foreign ministry said its navy was staying in the eastern Mediterranean. Posture has not changed: defensive it is.

Dutch prime minister Rob Jetten said it would be very difficult to launch a successful mission there in the short term, according to the countrys ANP news agency.

Luxembourgs deputy prime minister Xavier Bettel said his country would not give in to blackmail from Washington. Don't ask us to send troops, he told reporters in Brussels.

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Greek government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said his country would not take part in any military operations in the Strait of Hormuz.

A US Air Force B-1 bomber is loaded with bombs at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire. UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer said he is working with allies on a plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz (PA)

Denmark, a country which has clashed repeatedly with Mr Trump over his demands that it cede Greenland, said even if the EU did not agree with the war, it should consider helping reopen the strait.

Even if we dont like whats going on, I think its wise to keep an open mind on whether Europe, Danish foreign minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said, in some way can contribute, but with a view towards de-escalation.

In an interview with the Financial Times on Sunday, Mr Trump warned that Nato faced a very bad future if his proposal for a military operation in the Strait was ignored or rejected.

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Kaja Kallas, the European Unions top diplomat, said on Monday: This is not Europes war, but Europes interests are directly at stake. She met foreign ministers from across the 27-nation bloc in Brussels.

She added: For the time being, there was no appetite in changing the mandate of the Operation Aspides.

A cargo ship sails towards the Strait of Hormuz (AP)

In Asia, South Korea has not committed either way, saying theyll continue to communicate closely with the US regarding this matter and make a decision after careful review.

It was reported last week that China has been in talks with Iran about ensuring safe oil and gas passage.

However, the US president said he might postpone his trip if it did not provide assistance.I think China should help too because China gets 90 per cent of its oil from the Straits, Mr Trump said.

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We may delay, he said in reference to his visit if China did not offer support in the Gulf.

On Monday, Mr Trump claimed that numerous countries have told me theyre on the way, without naming any.

Some are very enthusiastic about it, and some arent. Some are countries that weve helped for many, many years. Weve protected them from horrible outside sources, and they werent that enthusiastic. And the level of enthusiasm matters to me, he said during an event at the White House.

We have some that are really enthusiastic. Theyre coming already. Theyve already started to get there, he said. You know, it takes a little while to get there.
(The Center Square)  A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction late last week restoring $42 million in public health funding to Minnesota, blocking the Trump administrations attempt to terminate some grants to Democrat-led states.

Attorney General Keith Ellison, who led Minnesotas legal challenge alongside California, Illinois, and Colorado, praised the Thursday ruling as a protection of essential health services.

I am pleased to have stopped the Trump administration from slashing funding the CDC provides to Minnesota to support our health and well-being, Ellison said. This funding is used to track disease outbreaks, provide public health services in rural areas, prepare for emergencies, and so much more. It remains deeply alarming that Trump and his lackies are still so hell-bent on harming Minnesotans.

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The legal action challenges a February directive from the White House Office of Management and Budget that targeted over $600 million in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention grants to the four states, with the states citing political animus and disagreements as the reason for the cuts.

The injunction protects against further cuts while the case proceeds.

The largest affected program, the Public Health Infrastructure Block Grant, operates in all 50 states. It fully or partially funds dozens of Minnesota Department of Health staff and about 200 Community Health Board positions, including public health nurses who provide direct care to residents statewide. Ellison's office said the cuts would have jeopardized disease tracking, emergency preparedness, and rural health services.

The cuts come as the Trump administration continues its "war on fraud," which was also announced in February.

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In his order, U.S. District Court Judge Manish S. Shah of the Northern District of Illinois described the harm from the funding cuts as irreparable and intangible and noted that agencies cannot use grant funding to advance political objectives.

He added the states were likely to succeed in proving that the OMB directive violated the Administrative Procedure Act.

While the injunction protects funding for current grants, the court noted it cannot enforce new payments for federal grants, which remain subject to separate legal processes.

The ruling follows a 28-day temporary restraining order granted in February that prevented immediate implementation of the funding cuts. Minnesota and the coalition of states continue to pursue the broader lawsuit challenging the Trump administrations actions.
Crews work to control three major wildfires in Nebraska, including the largest one in the state's history. So far, they've burned a combined 600,000 acres of land in central and western Nebraska and killed one person.

As of Sunday night, all three fires remain 0% contained.

Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen declared a state of emergency and deployed the Nebraska National Guard to help local firefighters. State officials said two Nebraska Army National Guard Blackhawk helicopters have also been working to fight the flames

The Morrill Fire

The largest of the fires, the Morrill Fire, has burned through more than 572,000 acres across Morrill, Arthur and Keith counties. It's now the largest wildfire in Nebraska's history.

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That fire killed one person in Arthur County, according to Pillen.

The Omaha Fire Department said it sent eight members, one of its engines, a water tender and a brush truck to Keith County to help fight the wildfires. Omaha Fire Chief Kathy Bossman said in a press release they would be deployed for up to seven days.

Lincoln Fire & Rescue also said it had mobilized an 11-member team to support wildfire response.

And in a Facebook post, the Columbus Fire Department said it sent a crew of six fire and a grass fire rig for at least a 48-hour deployment.

The other wildfires

The Cottonwood Fire in Dawson County near the city of Gothenberg has burned more than 120,000 acres.

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The third fire, the Road 203 Fire, spans across Blaine and Thomas counties, near Halsey. That fire has burned more than 35,000 acres.

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BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB)  Crews responded to a fire that broke out at an apartment building at 217 Minnesota Ave. in the city of Buffalo on Sunday afternoon that displaced eight individuals.

Officials said crews responded to the scene around 4:50 p.m. at the two-story, six-unit apartment complex to reports of a structure fire. According to authorities, the fire started on the second floor and extended to the attic.

The American Red Cross was requested for eight adults, officials said, and no injuries were reported. Fire crews estimate the damages are around $150,000. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

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This is a developing story that will be updated as more information becomes available.



Latest Local News

Gabriella Baiano has been a digital producer with WIVB since November 2025. View more of her work here.

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to News 4 Buffalo.
(COLORADO SPRINGS)  The Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD) said an investigation that started in February about a pattern of garage burglaries has resulted in an arrest on the evening of Sunday, March 15.

In February, CSPDs Metro Burglary Unit started an investigation into a pattern of garage burglaries happening throughout Colorado Springs and other jurisdictions along the Front Range. In early March, investigators identified a suspect as 42-year-old Eric Vasquez, according to CSPD.

CSPD said Vasquez also had been arrested and released for similar crimes in Castle Rock in December 2025.

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On the evening of Sunday, at around 9:30 p.m., investigators found Vasquezs car parked in the 6400 block of Showhorse Court near North Carefree Circle and Tutt Boulevard. When Vasquez entered the vehicle, officers with CSPDs Tactical Enforcement Unit made contact with Vasquez.

According to CSPD, Vasquez tried to drive away but was unsuccessful. Vasquez was able to get away from officers on foot, however. Vasquez was arrested a short time later in the yard of a neighboring home.

CSPD is still investigating the scope of Vasquezs alleged crimes, but he was booked into the El Paso County Jail on charges of Burglary, Criminal Mischief, and Obstruction.

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX21 News Colorado.
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Washingtons economic campaign against Cuba is beginning to bite. | Credit: Simon Maina / AFP / Getty Images

Since 1959, Cubas so-called white coat army has been one of the Caribbean island nations most distinctive exports. From Latin America to Africa and beyond, thousands of highly trained medical professionals have worked to fill gaps in overstretched health systems around the world, generating valuable income for Havana in the process, said Al Jazeera.

But the long-standing scheme is now under strain, as the United States seeks to starve Cuba of much-needed revenue by putting pressure on its allies to stop importing Cuban medics to prop up their strained health services.

Coercive labour

For decades the Cuban government has sent healthcare professionals to work overseas in diplomatic arrangements in which host nations pay Havana directly for the services of its medics, said The New York Times. Doctors are dispatched to work in remote villages and cities in dozens of countries where local healthcare systems have difficulty filling posts, but the medics themselves only receive a small fraction of what is paid for their services. It is unclear exactly how much Cuba has received from such arrangements, but research estimates a revenue of around $4 billion (2.9 billion) a year from the export of skilled workers, including healthcare workers and teachers.

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US officials argue that the programmes amount to a coercive labour export scheme, said the Financial Times. The US has expanded visa restrictions on those involved in medical missions, including officials in host countries, whom it accuses of participating in forced-labour practices. Last year, it imposed travel restrictions on several officials from Brazil, once a top destination for Cuban doctors but where numbers have now rapidly fallen amid increasing pressure from the US.

Close to collapse

After nearly 50 years, arrangements will draw to a close in Guyana, said the Associated Press, while several other Caribbean countries including St Lucia, Antigua and Dominica are also reviewing their programmes. Medical missions have also ended in staunch Cuban ally Venezuela, as well as Guatemala.

Cuba framed the end of the medical mission in Jamaica as the nation yielding to US pressure, said Cubas 14ymedio. But Jamaicas version is different, alleging that Cuba did not even respond to a proposal to pay doctors directly for their work.

The impact is being felt well beyond the Americas. In Calabria, one of the poorest regions in Italy, the arrival in recent years of 400 Cuban doctors has been essential to keeping local hospitals running, said Reuters. But, under duress from Washington, Calabria has now scrapped plans to hire 600 further doctors, and is now scrambling in a global search for medical staff expected to cost the region 8 million (6.9 million), said Euractiv.

Giuseppe Ranuccio, vice-president of the Calabrian regional council, told the outlet that the health system was already close to collapse. The Cuban doctors were supposed to buy time for structural reforms, he said. But those reforms never arrived.
March 16 (UPI) -- Cuba entered its 10th consecutive day of protests Monday as demonstrations against power outages, water shortages and worsening living conditions intensified after the government's confirmation last week of talks with the United States.

Residents in several Havana neighborhoods banged pots and pans, erected improvised barricades and burned trash overnight Sunday and into early Monday. Activists and social media influencers reported detentions and a heavy security presence around official buildings.

Protesters said they are frustrated by more than two weeks of rolling blackouts and, in some areas, several days without running water, according to independent outlet Diario de Cuba.

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The unrest escalated after President Miguel Diaz-Canel acknowledged that his government is holding conversations with the United States to address longstanding differences between the two countries, amid a deepening energy crisis on the island.

In the central city of Moron, demonstrators stormed and set fire to the local headquarters of the Communist Party of Cuba, according to Noticias Cubanet. The outlet reported that hundreds of people, most of them young, removed files, computers and furniture from the building and burned them in the street.

France24 reported that five protesters were detained. They had complained about constant blackouts and difficulty accessing food and basic supplies.

Diaz-Canel wrote on X that the public's frustration over prolonged outages is "understandable," describing them as a consequence of what he called a U.S. energy embargo that has been "cruelly intensified in recent months."

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He said complaints and demands are "legitimate," but must be expressed "with civility and respect for public order."

"What will never be understandable, justified or accepted is violence and vandalism that threatens public tranquility and the security of our institutions. There will be no impunity for vandalism and violence," he wrote.

Cuban journalist Jose Raul Gallego said on social media that activists reported a strong deployment of security forces in several cities overnight.

Gallego shared video footage showing police patrols and vehicles circulating through darkened Havana streets during blackouts.

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"This happens every night, all over Cuba. Patrol cars, trucks and special forces vehicles with long guns patrolling the streets to intimidate the population," he said.

Analysts have described the current demonstrations, which began in Havana and have spread to central provinces, as the most significant since the historic July 11, 2021, protests.

On that day, thousands of Cubans took to the streets in the largest wave of anti-government protests in decades. Chants of "Liberty" and "Homeland and Life" echoed across the island. Security forces quickly dispersed the demonstrations and carried out mass arrests.

Human rights organizations estimate that between 1,000 and 1,500 people were imprisoned after those protests. The government said those convicted were sentenced for crimes including public disorder and vandalism.

According to the Cuban Electric Union's daily report, the national power grid was expected to face a 1,930-megawatt deficit Monday, meaning about 61% of the island could be without electricity at night.
Damage from Fridays high winds is still visible in different parts of Butler County.

Click here to see the latest number of power outages in the area.

FirstEnergy said as of 1 p.m. Monday, there were still nearly 1,300 people without power in the county. One example of why so many people are without power can be found on State Road in Middlesex Township.

The winds on Friday caused a tree to uproot and fall on power lines, which caused a power pole to lean. Those wires are now hanging low across the road. That part of the road is closed.

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These road closures may seem minor, but there were so many partial closures across the area in Middlesex and Adams Townships, Mars Area School District had its students learning from home on Monday.

In a statement, FirstEnergy tells Channel 11, At the height of the windstorm, nearly 175,000 West Penn Power and Penn Power customers were without power in western Pennsylvania. With the help from more than 800 additional line workers and support personnel, our crews continue working around the clock to restore service to about 5,000 customers who remain without power. Currently, about 1,280 customers remain without power in Butler County and 350 customers remain out in Beaver County. We expect to have most customers back up and running today, and some customer outages could spill over to tomorrow.

Seneca Valley and Mars schools have power. I believe their schools were remote today due to road closures in the area, NOT power issues. Please confirm this with them.

As we work through this stage of power restoration, there are hundreds of isolated issues affecting individual or small numbers of customers. These are the most time-consuming repairs because they require our crews to go to each individual location to make the repairs. Many of the isolated issues include repairs to service drops, which are wires attached to each home to deliver electricity from the neighborhood power line. These wires are often damaged by fallen trees and large branches.

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Safety is our TOP PRIORITY. Please use caution if you must go outdoors. Stay far away from downed- or low-hanging power lines that could be hidden in storm debris or downed trees. If you see any downed- or low-hanging wire, assume it is energized and dangerous; stay far away and report it immediately to 911."

Channel 11s Andrew Havranek called and left a message for Middlesex Township, but his call has not been returned.

The Adams Township Manager said late Monday afternoon crews were reopening the last road closure that was impacting residents there.

FirstEnergy is urging anyone who is in the dark to report their outage by going online, calling 1-888-LIGHTSS (1-888-544-487)7, or texting the word OUT to 544487.

Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW
The Senate could vote as soon as Monday afternoon to reopen the Department of Homeland Security, potentially ending a shutdown that has already resulted in missed paychecks for TSA workers nationwide.

Transportation officials say at least 300 TSA agents have walked off the job as the partial government shutdown continues, raising concerns about airport operations in the days ahead.

A New England TSA union representative says passengers flying in and out of Logan have been lucky so far, as agents continue showing up despite not being paid. But he warns that this may soon change.

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Across the country, major airports have already seen the impact. Over the weekend, images from Atlantas Hartsfield-Jackson Airport showed hours-long security lines as staffing shortages mounted.

Bostons Logan International Airport has not experienced the same widespread delays, but union leaders say the situation is becoming increasingly unsustainable. With workers missing paychecks, many are being forced to consider leaving the job altogether.

TSA employees will not be paid until Congress reaches an agreement to reopen DHS and resolve the ongoing standoff over federal immigration enforcement.

Union representative Mike Gayzagian says some officers are already struggling financially.

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I dont think people realize how integrated TSA is into the entire aviation system, Gayzagian said. A full TSA meltdown would put everybody in a dangerous situation.

If more agents leave, Gayzagian says TSA will face another significant challenge: replacing them. Recruiting and training new employees can take months, potentially leading to extended operational issues long after the shutdown ends.

Meanwhile, the pressure is building in Washington.

Ten major airline CEOs have sent a letter to Congress urging lawmakers to ensure TSA workers are paid during the shutdown, warning of the broader impact on the aviation system.

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As the Senate weighs a vote that could bring an end to the stalemate, TSA workers at Logan and across the country are waiting to see whether relief is finally on the way.

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

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President Donald Trump on Monday left House Speaker Mike Johnson and others visibly shocked by revealing private medical information about a House Republican while television cameras broadcast the scene.

Trump was speaking during an impromptu press conference  where he was expected to field a few questions about the ongoing Iran War  before a scheduled lunch with Kennedy Center board members, when he began praising the way House Speaker Mike Johnson has managed to keep his majority together despite having only a two-vote margin since earlier this year.

Seated between Johnson and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, whom Trump had earlier revealed is battling early-stage breast cancer, he asked the Speaker about one GOP member who was very ill. Johnson replied that Florida Representative Neal Dunn had been suffering from real health challenges and a pretty grim diagnosis while still showing up to work and voting, calling him a real champion and a patriot.

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Trump then interjected to ask about Dunns diagnosis before revealing, unprompted, that it had been a terminal diagnosis.

He would be dead by June, said Trump, prompting Johnson to jump back in, more than a bit surprised.

U.S. President Donald Trump, flanked by the Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, speaks during a lunch with the Kennedy Center board members in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 16, 2026. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst (REUTERS)

Ok, that wasnt public, Johnson said.

Johnson added that Trump had connected with Dunn to offer condolences and later arranged for him to receive medical treatment from White House Medical Unit doctors and other military physicians at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.

The man has a new lease on life. He acts like he's 30 years younger, and he walked into the conference meeting, and we thought we'd seen a ghost, and I spoke with him over the weekend, and he's encouraged and thankful, and he thanks the President for his leadership and intervention, Johnson said.

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Trump re-entered the conversation by recounting how Johnson had told him that Dunn had been terminal with a really bad heart and remarked how there was nothing they could do for the longtime Florida representative.

I realized I have doctors in the White House ... the White House, doctors are incredible and they've helped me with other people. They're helping me with people right now, people that are very sick... like they're miracle workers. And I said, I have to call them. And I called the two doctors, they're both great. And they immediately went over to see the congressman, and he was on the operating table, like two hours later, Trump said.

Earlier this year, Dunn said he would not seek re-election in Florida's 2nd district. Last month, amid rumors that Dunn might resign early, his office told Politico that he would serve out the duration of his term.

Since January, House Republicans had been operating with just 218 seats, a virtual two-seat majority, after the death of Rep. Doug Lamalfa of California died and the resignation of former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia.

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Because Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) frequently votes against House Republican leadership, Johnson has often struggled to keep his conference together to pass party-line legislation or procedural rules needed to debate and pass bills without resorting to a fast-track procedure that requires two-thirds of the House to support a bill.

His margin effectively narrowed earlier this month when California Rep. Kevin Kiley announced he was registering as an Independent, though Kiley said he would still caucus with the GOP and support Johnsons leadership.
MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) secures a spot on our list of the 11 best very cheap stocks to buy according to billionaires.

Analyst Sentiment Strong on MetLife (MET) Amid Dividend Announcement

Investor sentiment surrounding MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) has remained constructive. At the same time, analysts are keen to assess how the companys shareholder returns measure up against the life insurance sectors valuation headwinds.

Roughly 62% of analysts remain bullish on MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) as of March 10, 2026, with a consensus price target of $92.00 that suggests a 30.31% upside potential.

The first-quarter 2026 dividend of $0.315 per share on the companys floating-rate preferred non-cumulative stock, Series A (MET PRA), was confirmed by MetLife on March 5, 2026. On March 16, 2026, stockholders of record as of February 27, 2026, will receive the dividend, which is linked to the $25 liquidation preference.

Meanwhile, on March 3, 2026, Bob Huang, an analyst at Morgan Stanley, maintained his Overweight rating while lowering the firms price target for MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) from $101 to $93.

This development was part of Morgan Stanleys broader update for life and annuity insurers in North America. Huang pointed out that the industry as a whole may nevertheless see pressure on valuation, which might lead to changes in target prices even in the face of positive long-term fundamentals. At the same time, Morgan Stanley remains not so concerned about insurers exposure to private credit.

MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) offers a range of insurance and financial services worldwide, including group benefits, retirement solutions, and life products to both individuals and institutional clients.

While we acknowledge the potential of MET as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.

READ NEXT: 33 Stocks That Should Double in 3 Years and 15 Stocks That Will Make You Rich in 10 Years

Disclosure: None. Follow Insider Monkey on Google News.
President Donald Trump in a ghoulish moment revealed that a retiring GOP lawmaker had received a terminal health diagnosis, The Hill reported.

Trump and GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana on Monday revealed that GOP Florida Rep. Neal Dunn had received a terminal diagnosis for a heart problem.

We had one man who was very ill, it looked like he wasnt going to make it, Trump said. I dont know. I wont mention his name.

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Trump then turned to Johnson, saying, Do you want to mention it? Hell be proud. Go ahead, tell them the story.

Johnson said that Dunn had some real health challenges, with a pretty grim diagnosis.

After some additional prodding from Trump, Johnson said, I think it was a terminal diagnosis.

He would dead by June, Trump said.

OK, that wasnt public, Johnson said.

Trump said: It was a heart problem.

Dunns health sparked concerns about the House GOPs super-slim majority. Trump connected the congressman with Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for care.

Dunns health came up during a press conference at the Kennedy Center while the president was introducing Johnson and noting Johnsons tough job in managing the GOPs small majority.

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The Hill said that Republicans can currently afford to lose no more than one member on any party-line vote when all members are present and voting.

Trump said that Dunn had said to Johnson: Mike, Im going to last this out for the president and you, and however long I live  I mean, it looks like June is the time, but however long I live, Im going to be voting for you.

Trump added, I mean, how many people are going to say that?

I did it for him first and for the vote second. But it was a close second, actually, Trump added.

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KYIV, March 16 (Reuters) - Russia launched a rare daylight attack on Kyiv on Monday using drones that appeared upgraded, Ukrainian officials said, with multiple explosions ripping through the city and drone debris crashing onto the capital's main square.

Ukrainian air defence units downed 194 out of 211 Russian drones, the air force said, adding that the morning attack was unusual in its timing and involved different types of drones targeting the central Kyiv region.

Drone strikes on the Ukrainian capital usually happen at night since drones are less easily detected in the dark.

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"Around 30 drones of various types were targeting the Kyiv region," Yuri Ihnat, air force spokesperson, told Ukrainian TV.

"The not-so-good news is that these drones have communication channels  mesh networks and other channels  which the enemy can use to control them. The better news is that almost all of them were shot down."

Russia has in the past often used pre-programmed drones that cannot be piloted once in flight for long-range attacks.

Experts were working at the sites to identify types of drones used, Ihnat said.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that drone debris fell in the busy Shevchenkivskyi district in the centre and two other districts in the west of the capital. Explosions ripped through the city as residents rushed to the shelters, Reuters witnesses said.

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Reuters television footage showed police officers inspecting what appeared to be drone debris next to the Independence Monument on Kyiv's main square. No casualties were reported in Kyiv, officials said.

Russia's capital, Moscow, was also targeted by Ukrainian drones in recent days.

Over the weekend, Russia shot down 250 Ukrainian drones heading towards Moscow, in what officials said was the biggest attempted attack on the Russian capital in at least a year.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 caused the bloodiest war in Europe since World War Two, killing hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians on both sides.

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In a separate Russian attack on Monday on Ukraine's eastern Dnipropetrovsk region, two civilians were killed and seven others were wounded, the regional governor said.

(Reporting by Anna Pruchnicka in Gdansk, Olena Harmash in Kyiv; Editing by Aidan Lewis)
The U.S. Postal Service unveiled a new series of stamps on Friday that features five special cars. For the lowrider community, it's validation of a vibrant, artistic expression that blossomed decades ago in Mexican American and Chicano communities with the transformation of everyday cars into rolling masterpieces.

Roberto Hernandez likes to ride low and slow in his 1964 Chevrolet Impala.

For years, that got him into trouble.

RELATED: For the South Bay lowrider community, cruising is not just for holidays - it's a lifestyle

"I got arrested 113 times for cruising; I got 56 tickets. We were always looked upon as criminals," said Hernandez.

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Lowriding got its start in the Mexican American community during the hot rod era that came after World War II.

Latino youth who could not buy newer cars would buy older cars and fix them up, often finding creative ways to lower their profile.

"Some people would put sandbags or cement bags in the trunk so that it could be lowered," said Hernandez.

Eventually, hydraulics lowered and raised the car or made them bounce.

That made lowriders gain even more popularity in the 1970s, but discrimination against Latinos gave rise to local ordinances banning cruising, which was a popular way for Mexican American youth to show off their cars.

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Cities made it a crime to cruise past the same street more than once in a specified period of time, often citing possible violence or congested streets that would make it difficult for first responders to get to an emergency.

Lowriders said they were harassed by police for simply driving their cars.

In 1981, Hernandez formed the lowrider council to fight back against cruising bans.

The group sued San Francisco for discrimination. The city settled the case and overturned its cruising ban.

Two years ago, a new California law officially banned all local cruising bans.

RELATED: Last 'No Cruising Zone' sign comes down in San Jose, lowrider community celebrates historic change

Lowriders are now a symbol of pride.

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"It's an art form. It's part of our culture. It's something we invented," said Hernandez. " If you look at some of the paint jobs, they're murals."

Hernandez wanted lowrider vehicles memorialized on a postage stamp.

He had experience getting a stamp approved.

After farmworker rights leader Cesar Chavez died, Hernandez worked to get a stamp approved in his honor. The stamp was issued in 2003 after a slow approval process.

His advocacy for a lowriders stamp came to fruition with the unveiling this month of a forever stamp depicting five distinct lowrider vehicles.

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There is a 1946 Chevrolet Fleet line, three Chevrolet Impalas from 1958, 1963 and 1964, and a 1987 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme.

"I'm smiling, we're getting our stamp of approval. For us, it's recognition on behalf of the U.S. Post Office and the government."

If you're on the ABC7 News app, click here to watch live
Kristi Noems lies are finally catching up with her.

The Department of Justice on Monday received a recommendation to investigate the outgoing secretary for allegedly committing perjury while testifying under oath earlier this month, Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats announced on X.

The recommendation, first reported by former CBS journalist Scott MacFarlane, comes from Illinois Senator Dick Durbin and Maryland Representative Jamie Raskin, who are the ranking members on the Senate and House Judiciary Committees, respectively.

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The recommendation cites at least four responses Noem provided under oath, including her answers to questions about the $220 million ad campaign that reportedly got her fired. Speaking before the committees, Noem had crumbled under scrutiny regarding the multimillion-dollar ad contract shed awarded to an eight-day-old company.

While testifying under oath, Noem claimed that Donald Trump had signed off on the campaign. The president later claimed he never knew anything about it.

Noem may have misled lawmakers about the process for awarding contracts, claiming there was open bidding while she really only allowed a few companies to pitch and passing federal funds to companies with ties to her inner circle. Senators Richard Blumenthal and Peter Welch have launched an investigation into the ad campaign.

The recommendation will also urge a probe of Noems statements about ICE satisfying detention standards for detainees, the treatment of U.S. citizens, and violating court orders.

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Speaking under oath, Noem claimed that the Department of Homeland Security does not detain American citizens. This is not true. By October, DHS had detained at least 170 American citizens, including 20 children.

Noem also claimed that DHS had complied with court orders, while federal judges across the country have found that DHS has violated dozens of orders involving immigrants challenging the legal basis for their detention.

Its not clear that the Department of Justice, led by Pam Bondi, will pursue an investigation against Noem. Any claim that Secretary Noem committed perjury is categorically false, a DHS official told MacFarlane.

Committee Democrats acknowledge it might take a while to see movement. We have low expectations that Pam Bondis partisan Justice Department will pursue a perjury investigation into Kristi Noem, they wrote on X. Unfortunately for her, the statute of limitations is five years. This case can be pursued by the next Administration.

This story has been updated.
His attempt to alter the states vaccine policies for school children failed during the now-concluded legislative session, but Gov. Ron DeSantis said late Friday that he remains committed to seeing his policies pass before having to leave his post in January 2027.

The 2026 regular session was DeSantis last as governor, but the Republican could have as many as three more opportunities in the form of special sessions to strong-arm his policies through a reluctant Legislature.

DeSantis already has called a five-day special session for congressional redistricting. The Legislature also must at some point reconvene to agree upon and pass a state budget after it was unable to do so during the regular session, although no official dates have been announced.

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A potential third opportunity could be the special session on property taxes that DeSantis has indicated he wants.

Theres more than one way to skin the cat on some of this stuff, DeSantis said when asked about having the Legislature address some of his priorities this year. Im committed to seeing the policies ultimately prevail. And well look to see what options that we have.

DeSantis made those remarks during a press conference at a senior living facility in Jacksonville, during which he highlighted his legislative successes and disappointments in the session.

As he has done for most of the last two years, DeSantis criticized the Florida House specifically for the demise of his vaccine proposal, which he calls medical freedom.

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With roughly two weeks left in the regular 2026 session, House Speaker Daniel Perez all but declared the medical freedom bill in the House (HB 917) dead when he said on March 4 that his chamber would not consider any bills during the last two weeks of the session that hadnt already been heard by a House committee.

Despite Perezs comments, the Senate continued to debate and ultimately voted, 23-15, to pass its version of the medical freedom measure, SB 1756

The House and Senate bills were not identical, although they shared similar provisions. Both bills would have allowed ivermectin to be sold by Florida pharmacists, a permanent ban on mandates for any mRNA-based vaccines, and establishing in statute a non-medical exemption from immunization requirements for school children based on a parents conscience. The exemption also would have applied to children in day care.

HB 917 also would have forced a broad range of health care providers, including physicians, dentists, nurses, and therapists, to treat unvaccinated patients by amending the statutorily created Patients Bill of Rights and Responsibilities to make clear people have the right to access health care regardless of their vaccine status.

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The House bill would have allowed the Florida Department of Health, the agency with oversight over medical professionals, to discipline any health care provider who refuses to accept unvaccinated people as patients or to treat them.

That provision was never part of the Senate bill.

Push coincides with increasing measles infections

The back and forth over vaccine exemptions came as the latest available Department of Health data show the number of measles cases in the state had increased to 132 as of March 7. As the cases increase, so do the number of counties with reported outbreaks. While most (98) of the cases are in Collier County, there now are confirmed cases in 13 other counties: Alachua, Broward, Collier, Duval, Escambia, Hillsborough, Lee, Manatee, Miami-Dade, Osecola, Pasco, Pinellas, and St Johns.

About 76% of the reported cases (100) are in the 15-24 year age cohort.

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Of the 132 cases, 15 are listed as probable, meaning they havent been confirmed. All the listed probable cases in Collier County.

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During his press conference, DeSantis credited the House in 2025 for passing what he called similar legislation, and offered that hed thought the Senate would be the obstacle again this year.

On the medical freedom. they have engaged on that and theyve actually been very good on it. The members, the individual members in the House, have been very good on it, DeSantis said. referring to a bill that cleared the chamber by a near unanimous vote but ran into trouble in the Senate.

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DeSantis, though, was describing a different bill.

The House in 2025 did vote to pass legislation that would have required physicians to accept unvaccinated people as patients, another position advocated by people who oppose vaccine mandates and has been endorsed by DeSantis and First Lady Casey DeSantis. Similar to the 2026 bills HB 1299 also would have made the permanent the ban on mRNA vaccine mandates.

But last years House bill didnt address school vaccines or whether parents should be allowed to opt out of them based on conscience.

In 2025, it was the Senate specifically Stuart Republican Sen. Gayle Harrell  whose husband was a physician, who put the brakes on the bill.

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It wasnt until the mandate to treat unvaccinated patients was eliminated and the mRNA bans altered that HB 1299 received final passage from the Legislature.

Senate President Ben Albritton talks to reporters following the 2026 session Sine Die on March 13, 2026. (Photo by Jay Waagmeester/Florida Phoenix)

DeSantis acknowledged it was a really tough lift to get the Senate to agree with his positions on vaccines, and credited GOP Senate President Ben Albritton for helping to maneuver the 2026 bill through the chamber.

And despite Perezs statements, DeSantis said he thought his health care priority would pass the regular session.

I really believe that once it passed the Senate, I think everyone felt it was going to end up passing. I dont know why the House, you know, didnt put it in the end zone given that they already had passed it.

Assistance from Albritton again?

In a media availability last week, Speaker Perez said any substantive policy not passed during the regular session wouldnt be revisited.

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Whenever we sine die [adjourn session] I would expect things to die, Perez told a reporter.

Albritton, on Friday suggested unresolved policy issues could be revisited during a budget special session.

The Senate president noted budgets can be accompanied by conforming bills  budget-related bills that, similar to other legislation  make permanent changes to statutes. Theres also proviso language in the budget that can be used to direct specific spending of appropriations, as well as implementing bills, which can make statutory changes but remain in effect for one year, like the budget.

Im expecting that therell be a conversation about a lot of things. What specifically, I dont know, Albritton said, mentioning the various types of bills that could be in play during a budget session.

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DeSantis recent push on vaccines, though, wasnt included in either the House or Senate proposed spending plans, or either chambers implementing or confirming bills, the Phoenix flagged during the press availability.

When asked if, given that, it would be appropriate to tie the issue to the budget, Albritton replied, I would say that is a decision the Legislature would make. And we will see.

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Editors note: This story was originally published on March 16, 2025.

A look back at local, national and world events through Deseret News archives.

On March 16, 1984, William Buckley, the CIA station chief in Beirut, was kidnapped by Hezbollah militants; he would be tortured by his captors and killed in 1985. In the Deseret News story of the day, Buckley was listed as an American diplomat.

One year later to the day, Associated Press correspondent Terry Anderson was kidnapped in Beirut by Hezbollah militants; he would spend nearly seven years in captivity before being freed in December 1991.

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One man made it home, the other did not.

Per Deseret News investigative reporters Jack Anderson and Dale Van Atta, Buckley was seized by three gunmen as he headed for his office in the U.S. Embassy in Beirut. The most reliable intelligence now places his death about Oct. 4, 1985. But not until the following Dec. 5 was the CIA certain he was dead.

We broke the news on Dec. 13, 1985, reporting that Buckley was the victim of savage torture that had induced a heart attack. The CIA, paralyzed by this unprecedented capture and abuse of one of its key officials, could not decide how to respond. So CIA officials denied our story.

The following February, President Reagan admitted to us, off the record, that Buckley was dead. But it was a full year after we broke the story that his death was publicly acknowledged, and the CIA has continued to suppress the details, the pair reported.

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In reality, even today, little is known about Buckley, what information he gave up to his captors and about CIA activities.

Acknowledging the fallen

At CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, the Memorial Wall is located in the Original Headquarters Building lobby on the north wall. There are 140 stars carved into the marble wall, representing CIA employees who have died in the line of duty.

In front of the wall is a glass-encased Book of Honor. It lists the names of 106 officers who died while serving their country. The names of the remaining 34 officers must remain secret, even in death; each of these officers is remembered in the book by a star. This wall memorializes those men and women who served and sacrificed in silence.

Here are some Deseret News articles about Buckley, the CIA and its operatives and how it acknowledges its own:

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CIA official tortured to death, gave secrets

CIA remembers fallen covert operatives

CIA officers marks death of spy with rare request

Higgins body flown back to base in U.S.

Veil of secrecy shrouding dead CIA officer lifted

CIA defector dies in Moscow

CIA has a brutal history of assassination attempts

Former CIA officer shares tools, tricks to protect self, family in Spy Secrets




MEXICO CITY - After President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January 2025, his administration launched a sweeping operation across the U.S. to deport people in the country illegally. But data compiled by a Mexican investigative news outlet show that deportations of Mexicans were lower last year than in each of the previous four years.

Under the Biden administration, deportations of Mexicans reached 258,000 per year. From January through November of 2025, the first 11 months of Trump's second term, the U.S. deported about 144,000 Mexicans to their homeland, according to Mexican government data.

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The analysis by Quinto Elemento Lab, a nonprofit investigative journalism organization based in Mexico City, illustrates trends in migration from Mexico to the U.S. and highlights conditions in Mexico driving those trends. Around 90% of those deported were men, the data show.

"The deportation policy that Trump has rolled out does not appear to be as severe as in previous years in numerical terms," said Efrain Tzuc, data analyst at Quinto Elemento Lab.

Deportations of Mexican nationals dropped sharply in 2025, the first year of President Donald Trump's second term. (Courtesy of Puente News Collaborative)





But raw numbers do not tell the whole story. The overall numbers are down, in part, because there are fewer Mexican migrants entering the United States since Trump beefed up border security. Fewer successful entries means fewer ejections.

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For generations, Mexican immigrants crossed the border in search of economic opportunity. That motivation still holds for many, but Mexican government data analyzed by Quinto Elemento Lab reveal that many of the migrants deported in 2025 came from states wracked by cartel violence.

The largest number of deported Mexicans, 12,786, came from Chiapas, which borders Guatemala and is Mexico's southernmost state. Traveling from there to the U.S.-California border is a journey of about 2,000 miles.

Many of the Mexican nationals deported from the U.S. in 2025 appear to have fled parts of Mexico gripped by cartel violence. (Courtesy of Puente News Collaborative)





In decades past, a state in central Mexico would be the likely source of the most immigrants, but cartels have waged bloody battles in Chiapas, as criminal groups fight to control lucrative drug trafficking and migrant smuggling routes from Guatemala into Mexico.

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The hyper-violent Jalisco New Generation cartel, which started in the western state of Jalisco, is now a presence in far off Chiapas. The group was vying for control of migrant smuggling routes there, according to security analysts, and fought bloody battles for the territory. Extortion of citizens skyrocketed as the group implemented its model of extorting communities it controls to pay the salaries of foot soldiers.

After Chiapas, the two other main states of origin for deported Mexicans were Guanajuato, with 11,552, and Guerrero, with 11,044.

As in Chiapas, the Jalisco New Generation cartel now dominates life in parts of Guerrero, driving entire populations from their villages to take over the territory for drug trafficking operations and opium growing. Cartels there have escalated their use of violence, using drone bombs to target not only their enemies and military convoys but also to drive villagers from their homes.

In one case in 2024, the Jalisco New Generation cartel dropped more than 100 bombs on a community in the mountains of Guerrero in a 24-hour period, according to a former cartel operative who witnessed the bombings.

About this story

This article was published in partnership with Puente News Collaborative, a bilingual nonprofit newsroom that covers the U.S.-Mexico border; the Los Angeles Times; and Quinto Elemento Lab, a nonprofit investigative journalism organization in Mexico.

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Steve Fisher is an independent journalist based in Mexico City.

The southern state of Oaxaca had the fifth-highest number of Mexican deportees - 9,133.

Oaxaca is one of the country's poorest states, with 16% of the population living in extreme poverty, according to government data. The state has long been an exporter of migrants to the U.S. looking for work to support their families at home.

The trend found in the Quinto Elemento Lab analysis  that more Mexicans were deported annually under the Biden administration than in the second Trump administration  is also reflected in statistics for deportees of all nationalities.

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An analysis of federal U.S. data by the New York Times shows that in 2025, the Trump administration deported about 540,000 people last year. That is 50,000 fewer than in 2023 and 110,000 fewer than 2024, the last year of the Biden administration.

This article originally published at Despite Trump's mass deportation effort, many fewer Mexicans were removed from the U.S. last year.
Maine Morning Star has been following the case of this Maine resident since immigration agents detained him in January. Read our previous reporting.

After eight years of waiting for the federal government to schedule a hearing for his case, a father seeking asylum in Maine was instead detained, thrusting him into hostile court proceedings with limited opportunities for appeal.

It is a pattern lawyers said they are seeing as President Donald Trumps administration is targeting immigrants regardless of whether they are lawfully present in a push for mass deportations.

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During the January immigration enforcement blitz in Maine, federal authorities detained the father of four, surrounding his car with weapons drawn a few blocks from his house, taking him out of state and holding him in dismal conditions.

Hes since been released on bond. However, the fact that he was taken into custody has irrevocably altered his underlying case for asylum, a legal protection granted to someone fleeing persecution in their home country.

Because he entered the U.S. on a visa and soon after applied for asylum, hed been an affirmative asylum seeker, permitted to pursue a nonadversarial process of presenting his case before an immigration officer, who determines eligibility without a prosecutor opposing the claim.

But his detention puts him in a defensive posture. Now, hes slated to go to immigration court in May, where a denial from a judge could mean deportation.

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This once rare shift from affirmative to defensive asylum has become increasingly common under the second Trump administration, several attorneys told Maine Morning Star.

Courts are no longer what Americans might think of as a balanced institution of justice but, really, a part of the instrument of deportation, said Gregory Chen, senior director of government relations at the American Immigrant Lawyers Association.

Immigration courts, which are civil courts run by the Department of Justice, are always at the whim of a given presidential administration. But Trump has drastically altered the courts and their policy directives, as well as reduced opportunities for appeal in an attempt to expedite removals.

Its hard to wrap your head around just how many aspects of the process are stacked against an individual seeking protection, said Robyn Barnard, senior director of refugee advocacy for Human Rights First.

Fewer people released on bond

The Maine man, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, is one of many asylum seekers arrested during ICEs large-scale operation in the state. While the Department of Homeland Security has still released few details about the 200 people the agency says it arrested, reporting has revealed several are like this man, with no criminal records and a legal right to remain in the U.S. while their cases proceed.

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In response to questions about this mans case, DHS focused on how he entered the country, calling him an illegal alien who overstayed his visa, not mentioning his pending asylum claim that was timely filed, permitting him to reside in the U.S. while awaiting a decision. The agency also said its encouraging all illegal aliens to self-deport.

There was never a legitimate public policy reason for him and others in his situation to be put in immigration detention. While he is free now, the impacts of what happened to him and his family will remain.

 Lia Newman, Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project

If ICE is actually coming here to arrest illegal immigrants and people that broke the law, theres a right way to do that, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Troy Jackson said during a debate earlier this month. I would let them do that, but not the way theyre doing it right now.

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Pointing to the fact that many Mainers have since been released on bond, Republican candidate Bobby Charles said, at the end of the day, due process was served.

Maines Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project, the only state-wide immigration legal services organization, has had a high number of cases requiring relatively low bond, which attorney Lia Newman said reflects that the people arrested in Maine during the surge are not flight or public safety risks but everyday Maine residents with deep roots and community ties, working hard to support themselves and their families, and trying to build permanent, stable lives here. Posting bond in an immigration proceeding involves paying a sum of money as assurance that the person released will appear for their court date, and returned if they do.

The man who spoke with Maine Morning Star paid a relatively low $2,000 bond.

However, Newman, who represented him in his bond case, added, The pattern within the bond system is there is no pattern. ILAP responded to several cases with the same set of facts where one person was released on a $3,000 bond, one on a $6,000 bond, and one denied altogether.

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Overall, its becoming less common for people to be released on bond.

The Trump administration has stripped back immigration judges authority to decide whether someone needs to be held in detention, upending how past administrations have interpreted federal immigration law for roughly three decades.

As a result, courts have become flooded with petitions ordering immigration judges to conduct bond hearings. An ICE attorney asked a Minnesota judge to hold her in contempt because she was so overwhelmed.

That mandatory detention policy has been rejected by hundreds of courts as illegal, though a conservative federal appeals court recently handed Trump a win.

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Even if bond is granted, those detained and their families still have to come up with the funds. The Maine Solidarity Fund, a community fund for legal defense and emergency assistance, has raised about $975,000, as of Saturday.

Presente! Maine, which runs the fund, has dispersed nearly $600,000 so far. Of those donations, which largely came from individual community members, $249,000 has been used to directly pay the bonds of 38 people, ranging from $1,500 to $20,000. However, fundraising has slowed and requests for bond assistance continue, with the latest ask for help having been on Friday, said Executive Director Crystal Cron.

Regarding the basis for the Maine mans asylum claim, nothing has changed. He, his wife and their first-born child fled their home country fearing theyd be killed after he was arrested for speaking out against the government.

I did nothing bad, he said. I know how to defend my case.

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However, the conditions surrounding his case have drastically changed.

There was never a legitimate public policy reason for him and others in his situation to be put in immigration detention, Newman said. While he is free now, the impacts of what happened to him and his family will remain.

On the defensive

There are two primary paths to seek asylum in the United States: an affirmative posture before U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and a defensive posture before the immigration court system.

Because the Maine resident had entered the U.S. on a visa and then applied for asylum, he had been an affirmative asylum seeker. In that scenario, an asylum officer carries the responsibility of being both the fact-finder and decider.

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While that process requires probing and interrogation, its generally viewed as less intimidating, said Chen with the American Immigrant Lawyers Association. If an affirmative application isnt granted, its referred to a judge for defensive proceedings, offering more opportunities to appeal.

The Maine man never had the chance to go before USCIS. Its common for it to take years for the government to schedule asylum interviews due to massive backlogs, in part because of a 2018 policy prioritizing newly filed applications for interviews over older cases, which the government said is meant to deter people from using the asylum backlog to get work authorization.

When federal authorities decide to detain someone, they have to issue either an expedited removal order for an immediate deportation without a hearing or a notice to appear that begins formal removal proceedings in court  which is the case for this man.

That now shifts his case to a defensive one, which is seen as more combative, as theres a government prosecutor trying to disprove his case, and higher stakes, because a negative decision could result in a deportation order.

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Asylum is really notoriously difficult to win, said Stephanie Marzouk, the mans new asylum attorney. Theres so many exceptions and so many things that can block you, even if you have experienced horrible harm in your country. So the outcome of his case is still very much uncertain, and Im not saying that because he has a bad case. Im saying that because theres so many different things that could affect it.

The immigration court asylum approval rate has been cut in half over the past year or so, a continued decline since before Trump took office, and the rates vary widely among judges. After firing nearly 100 judges, many with immigrant defense backgrounds, and dozens of others quitting due to discomfort with policy directives, the Trump administration launched a hiring campaign explicitly calling for deportation judges rather than immigration judges, recently hiring 42, many with backgrounds as prosecutors or in immigration enforcement.

Its a battle, Marzouk said, where youre walking into court knowing that you know things are stacked against your client.

The defensive process is supposed to still be a multi-layered one, with an evidentiary hearing and opportunities for appeal, but both are being curtailed.

At the directive of the Trump administration, judges have been increasingly dismissing cases before hearings and deporting people to other countries to seek asylum instead, where their safety cannot be assured and they could ultimately be deported back to the country they fled. A new rule this month also shortens the time people have to appeal decisions and allows appeals to be dismissed without reviewing a cases merits.

Marzouk is considering all of those possibilities as she works to present her clients asylum case in May, which she said is also complicated by the fact that his wife and child still have pending affirmative cases for asylum. Theyre still awaiting hearings with an immigration officer, but the Trump administration has indefinitely paused all affirmative asylum adjudications.

Newman agreed that one family member having their case put into a defensive posture creates new complexity.

Timelines of cases are no longer together, she said, and there are new risks of family separation and impossible decisions of what will happen if one spouse and parent is granted asylum and the other is not.

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LLOYD The Greenup County Coroners Office announced a deceased body was discovered on Sunday morning.

According to Coroner Neil Wright, the body has been identified as Keely Shuler, a 32-year-old woman who had wrecked a vehicle into the Ohio River on Feb. 10 in Pomeroy, Ohio. A news release indicted her 4-year-old daughter was in the car with her. Local firefighters rescued the 4-year-old at the time, but Shulers body was not found until a little more than a month later.

A worker doing a routine safety walk discovered Shulers body near 804 Corps Street in Lloyd (Greenup Locks and Dam).

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The coroner said the body was located on the downriver side of Roller No. 9, making the recovery extremely dangerous and very difficult.

The coroners office said a rescue boat and crew from the South Shore Fire Department executed the recovery mission.

Relatives and members of the Meigs County (Ohio) Sheriffs Department made the positive identification.

The Greenup County Coroners Office released Shulers body into the custody of the Meigs County Sheriffs Office in order to continue its initial invention.

I am very proud of the combined effort of all the agencies working together, Coroner Neil Wright said.

The Greenup County Sheriffs Office, Kentucky State Police, Lloyd Fire Department, South Shore Fire Department, Kentucky Fish and Wildlife, Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Scioto County Coroners Office, Meigs County Sheriffs Office, Greenup County Emergency Management, Greenup County E911 Dispatch and Boyd County Coroner Transport assisted.
RTX Corporation (NYSE:RTX) is among the 8 Best Drone Stocks to Buy for the Next 3 Years. According to a report on TipRanks, Morgan Stanley analyst Kristine Liwag reiterated the firms Overweight rating on the stock on March 7, with a price target of $235.

Analysts See 11% Upside To RTX Corporation (RTX)

Stock market data. Photo by Burak The Weekender on Pexels

This is a reaffirmation of the investment banking companys earlier update in late January when it lifted the price target from $215 following the defense contractors strong fourth-quarter results.

As of the close of business on March 13, RTX Corporation (NYSE:RTX) is a Strong Buy with an average share price upside potential of 11%.

In other news, on Friday the company announced that its Raytheon business had completed a $115 million expansion of its missile integration facility in Alabama, which is now expected to increase the facilitys delivery and integration capacity by more than 50%.

The development follows last months agreement with the Department of War to expand the production and delivery of Tomahawks, AMRAAM missiles, and other missiles and interceptors.

RTX Corporation (NYSE:RTX) is a giant in the global aerospace and defense industry, providing systems and services to commercial, military, and government clients. It operates through three main businesses: Collins Aerospace, Pratt & Whitney, and Raytheon.

While we acknowledge the potential of RTX as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.

READ NEXT: 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds Heading Into 2026 and 10 Best Aerospace Dividend Stocks to Buy

Disclosure: None. Follow Insider Monkey on Google News.
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The US and Israel attacked Iran together at the same time. But as the war drags into its third week, it is becoming clear the two countries have some differences in how they see the war proceeding.

In order to better understand what Israel wants from the war compared with what we know about what the Trump administration wants, I spoke with Daniel Shapiro, an Atlantic Council fellow who was US ambassador to Israel during the Obama administration and was deputy assistant secretary of defense for Middle East policy during the Biden administration.

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Our phone conversation, edited for length and style, is below.

Do Israel and the US have the same objectives in the war as weve seen it play out so far?

SHAPIRO: Israel and the US have a number of overlapping objectives, but there is some divergence, and probably an increasing divergence of those objectives as time passes.

Both countries are clearly focused on degrading Irans ability to project power and threaten its neighbors. They have focused on degrading Irans air defense capabilities, its ballistic missile stocks and launchers and production capability, same for its drones, its navy and what remains of any kind of air force assets.

Former US Ambassador to Israel Daniel Shapiro speaks at a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near East, South Asia, Central Asia, and Counterterrorism at the US Capitol in July 2025. - Michael Brochstein/Sipa USA

Another area of common concern is the nuclear program and ensuring that Iran does not regain access or make use of the access that it has to its highly enriched uranium, and to try to presume enrichment and potentially try to create the material for a nuclear weapon.

Where do their objectives diverge?

SHAPIRO: Both the US and Israel also have, at different times, in different ways, expressed hope the Iranian regime could be weakened to the point where it might fall or the Iranian people might rise up and overthrow it.

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Although the president in the early days of the war spoke about his hope that the regimes overthrow would be approaching, he has de-emphasized that in recent days.

Regime change seems like a priority for Israel

A demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei during a rally at Enghelab Square in Tehran on March 9. - Majid Saeedi/Getty Images

SHAPIRO: So we have the real question about whether this is a regime change war. And I think theres no question that Israel would like to continue to prosecute the campaign and does hope that it will lead to the end of the regime, and for understandable reasons. They face an implacable enemy sworn to their destruction through decades of sponsoring terrorist organizations that have the blood of many Israelis on their hands, building nuclear capabilities and ballistic missile capabilities to try to carry out that vision. For Israelis, seeing a weakened Iran in a moment that they might be able to lead to that change that reality is very understandable.

The US is less clear in its goals

SHAPIRO: But the United States has its own history of regime change wars, which the president has spoken against and which most Americans dont support.

There is the risk that a war that goes on for many more weeks or even longer could be highly costly to US blood and treasure, and in the form of a global economic crisis  which we are not yet in, but perhaps on the cusp of. It could certainly happen. The way it would degrade US military resources, that could harm our strategic interests in the Indo-Pacific and in Europe, simply because weve expended so much of our capability in the Middle East.

Regime change would affect Israel and the US differently

SHAPIRO: So I do see a divergence of interests in this conflict as time goes by, and even if the regime were to fall, there are different ways that scenario would affect each country. The United States would be forced to deal with the fallout of a chaotic scenario after the regime fell, potentially a civil war within Iran, potentially spillover instability that affects neighbors, potentially migration flows that could destabilize Europe and Gulf allies. While the United States could be sucked into dealing with all of those problems, Israel would be very satisfied to see the end of the regime and would be less concerned.

Are the US and Israel on the same timeline in the war?

SHAPIRO: I think the Israelis will want to continue longer because they will want to continue to weaken the regime and even hope that it will actually fall.

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President Donald Trump has been very inconsistent and unclear about what his objectives are and therefore how long it will take to achieve. Its getting more complicated as the Strait of Hormuz crisis develops.

Its possible President Trump could claim victory immediately, today, by citing the significant degradation of all those Iranian power projection capabilities. But its not certain if he were to declare a ceasefire that Iran would cease fire. They might continue to launch drones into the Gulf or missiles at Israel and they might continue to harass ships in the Strait of Hormuz until they were satisfied that there were terms that they could live with.

Its definitely possible that President Trump will reach a point, much sooner than the Israelis would like, where he would try to bring this to an end. Whether hed be successful in doing that is a different question, but I do think those timelines are probably divergent.

Israel is not just at war with Iran

An Israeli self-propelled howitzer artillery gun fires rounds towards southern Lebanon, from a position in northern Israel on March 15. - Odd Andersen/AFP/Getty Images

SHAPIRO: Theres one more piece, which is that Israel has a related but separate agenda in Lebanon, where Hezbollah has attacked Israel since the war in Iran started. The Lebanese government and the Lebanese armed forces have not fulfilled their commitments under the 2024 ceasefire to disarm Hezbollah. And so (Israel is) clearly intent on an ulterior campaign to try to do significantly more damage to Hezbollah and possibly use that campaign as leverage to spur a diplomatic process that would get the Lebanese government  perhaps to recognize Israel, but also to step up to its responsibilities to disarm Hezbollah.

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This is not of the same level of priority for US interests, although obviously it wants to see Hezbollah disarmed. But I suspect President Trump will not object if Israel continues to pursue some activity in Lebanon, even if there is a ceasefire in Iran. As for when the ceasefire with Iran comes  once President Trump decides that this campaign is over, I dont think Israel will be able to continue it in Iran in the same way its being conducted now, as long as the Iranians are standing down.

So Israel needs the US to continue against Iran so that it can continue?

SHAPIRO: This is a very integrated campaign with an extraordinary level of coordination between Israel and the US. Even if Israel wanted to continue, it would have to adjust its operations to account for the fact it wasnt operating in the same way alongside the United States.

But I suspect even more than that there would be a political reality where if President Trump says, Were ending, Prime Minister Netanyahu is not in a position to defy him and say, Sorry, we are going to continue this war.

There will almost certainly still be Iranian threats and capabilities to be dealt with. Of course the nuclear threat is its own issue. But I could imagine Israel shifting into what its called in other arenas its mow the grass strategy, where periodically it engages militarily to suppress a threat, to manage it, to keep it at bay, without being in the same kind of sustained combat that theyre in at the moment.

Is there any risk the US becomes involved in Israels conflict in Lebanon?

SHAPIRO: I dont think theres any request from Israel for US military involvement in Lebanon and frankly no need. In Iran, the size of the country and each military having its own areas of specialization and unique capabilities, there was a certain synergy to the combined nature of this campaign. But what Israel wants to achieve in Lebanon, it can largely do on its own.

How has Netanyahu communicated with Israelis about this war?

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits the city of Beit Shemesh on March 2, after area previously targeted by retaliatory strikes from Iran. - Avi Ohayon/GPO/Anadolu/Getty Images

SHAPIRO: Well, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not doing a great deal of discussion with the Israeli people. Maybe hes held one press conference and done a few videos. Its quite limited. Of course, there is broad support among the Israeli public for the war. All Israelis have lived with this really unacceptable reality for many decades of a major country in the region calling for its destruction and using terrorists and weapons buildups to try to achieve that. And theyre sick of it. So he may not need to use the bully pulpit, as it were.

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There may be questions among Israelis about whether a ground campaign in Lebanon is the right thing after two-and-a-half years of a very exhausting period of conflict post-October 7. But at least as far as the Iran conflict goes, it has broad support.

How has Trump communicated with Americans about the war?

President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House on March 16. - Alex Wong/Getty Images

SHAPIRO: President Trump is in a different situation. He, of course, has not engaged the American public in the way previous presidents have done before a major military commitment, with an Oval Office address and going to Congress and seeking support and explaining in some detail why we are engaged in this conflict, what the strategy is, what the objectives are, and how well know when we succeeded.

Instead, he, like he always does, talks more or less nonstop to reporters, but hes saying many very inconsistent things. Despite him having a lot more to say, I dont think its done much to alleviate the confusion a lot of Americans are feeling about why were doing this, and frankly, were seeing an unusually low degree of public support for a major military conflict  in part because its a regime change war of choice in the Middle East. At least, thats how it looks.

(Also) in part because it appears to be metastasizing and potentially creating major economic hardships for the global economy and for Americans in their own pocketbooks. And in part, obviously, because of the loss of life already of American service members. But mostly because no one has explained why were doing this.

Will an economic shock affect Israeli support for the war?

SHAPIRO: I think Israelis are generally more willing to tolerate those kinds of disruptions in order to try to keep their biggest enemy weaker and less able to attack them, and more generally, they dont have the same global reach or global responsibilities. Those kinds of global disruptions are of lesser concern to a small country that is really attending to its core security needs. Remember, most Israelis are hearing sirens several times a day and being forced to go spend time in shelters as ballistic missiles are shot at them, so theyre willing to tolerate a lot to bring that kind of threat to an end.

The US miscalculated Irans willingness to stop the global oil supply. What did Israel miscalculate?

The Thailand-flagged cargo ship Mayuree Naree is engulfed in black smoke in the Strait of Hormuz, on March 11. - Royal Thai Navy/Reuters

SHAPIRO: In general, there was probably an overly optimistic assessment by both Israel and the United States that the decapitation of the regime by killing the ayatollah and a number of other senior leaders on the first day, and then sustained pressure against many regime targets and power protection targets, could produce a crumbling effect of the regime, and also could inspire the Iranian people to return to the streets and put pressure on the regime internally. That was a shared overly optimistic assessment. And with that, probably there was a shared insufficient appreciation for how even a very weakened Iran still has cards to play.

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The closure of the Strait of Hormuz, thats something that the US military has planned for for decades, because its always been known that it was a potential Iranian strategy in moments of crisis.

So its not a new idea, but there was none of the political and diplomatic preparation that there should have been and that you would have expected if the United States saw that as realistic.

Were seeing that now, as President Trump is calling on or insisting, and maybe even threatening NATO nations to send ships to help police the strait. Its rather late to go to those allies, who were not consulted in any respect before the campaign began, and insist that they play this role, and, of course, after stoking tensions with them in many other ways, and imposing tariffs on them, etc., over the last year.

It speaks to a certain lack of realistic preparation for what options Iran had, even though theyre the weaker party, to cause pain, play some cards, perhaps even extend the conflict because they see that theyve already endured most of the pain they will endure through the heavy air strikes, and that a longer campaign actually gives them more leverage and more opportunity to impose pain in the other direction.

What will be the ripple effect of this war for the US?

SHAPIRO: I mentioned the different perspective of a small country like Israel addressing its most challenging regional threats, and the United States being a country with global interests and global responsibilities. Something that Israelis are going to be less likely to take into account in their calculation is, what would an extended conflict mean for US strategic interests in the Indo-Pacific and in Europe? How are China and Russia already, in some ways, benefiting strategically from this conflict?

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If it goes for a long period of time, what if US resources  air defense resources, ship time afloat and extended maintenance schedules, extending munitions that are then therefore not available  what would that mean for the US ability to compete with China in the Pacific, to protect Taiwan, to protect other allies? What does it mean that Russia is benefiting from $100 a barrel oil, maybe higher, in terms of addressing its economic crisis and refueling its war machine for perhaps a much longer war in Ukraine? What does it mean that there may not be air defense assets for the Europeans to purchase for Ukraine, because theyve all been used and it takes so long to produce new ones?

And those are things that affect the United States interests in ways they just dont affect Israeli interests. And so were obviously going to approach those differently.

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U.S. President Donald Trump said his upcoming visit to China could be delayed as Washington presses Beijing to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The potential postponement comes amid growing tensions tied to the strategic oil shipping route and ahead of a planned summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Donald Trump says he may delay China visit

The meeting in Beijing had been scheduled for March 31 to April 2. However, Donald Trump indicated that the timeline could change if there is no clarity on Chinas role regarding the Strait of Hormuz.

Speaking in a recent interview with the Financial Times, Donald Trump said he wants China to help reopen the important maritime passage before he travels to Beijing for talks with Xi Jinping. The Strait of Hormuz is one of the worlds most important oil transit routes, carrying roughly one-fifth of the global daily oil supply.

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Trump said the timeline before the meeting leaves room for changes. We may delay, Trump stated, adding that the remaining time before the summit was a long time. At the same time, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent met Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Paris to discuss preparations for the summit. China has not yet officially confirmed the dates for the meeting, which is typically announced closer to the scheduled time.

If the visit goes ahead, it would be the first trip by a U.S. president to China since Trumps previous visit during his first term in 2017. Trump also raised the issue while speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, arguing that China has a strong incentive to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz because of its energy needs.

According to Trump, China sources about 90% of its oil through the Strait. He has urged several European and Asian countries, including China, to assist in reopening the shipping corridor. However, China may be less vulnerable to disruptions than the president suggested. Over the past two decades, Beijing has diversified its energy supplies and built large strategic reserves (via CNBC).

The post Donald Trump Might Postpone China Visit for Major Reason appeared first on Mandatory.
For years, mental health professionals have argued that President Donald Trumps behaviors, which some have called malignant narcissism, are a detriment to the nation.

Much has been written about the presidents tendency to gaslight  a form of psychological manipulation weaponized by narcissists to make victims question their own reality, memory and perceptions.

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Most recently, some have said that Trump has tried to gaslight the American people into believing that there is no real affordability crisis (hes called it a hoax cooked up by the Democrats), despite widespread concerns about the rising cost of living and his running on a platform heavily focused on bringing down prices. (In spite of that, energy bills have increased as much as 13% since Trump took office.)

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But psychologists say theres another classic narcissist tactic that Trump appears to employ with alarming frequency thats less talked about: DARVO: Deny, Attack, and Reverse Victim and Offender.

DARVO is a manipulative tactic often used by narcissistic abusers to evade accountability: They deny the abuse, attack the person confronting them and then reverse the roles to portray themselves as the victim. And because most of us are unfamiliar with DARVO, were not well equipped to counter the tactic.

Jennifer Freyd, a pioneer in the field of trauma psychology who coined DARVO, said its a strategy that Trump and his team have weaponized for years to distort reality.

Life: Forget 10,000 Steps A Day  This Is The Number You Should Focus On Instead

In an opinion piece that ran in The Hill last spring, she and her co-researcher pointed to how Trump made the case for imposing steep tariffs on other countries by arguing that America had been humiliated and exploited by foreign nations (both critics and friendly trade partners) for decades. We were the victims, not the countries facing steep new tariffs.

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Whether he knows the term or not, Trump is well versed in DARVO, Freyd wrote: Its helped him to discredit women whove accused him of ****** assault, deflect blame during Signalgate, and blame Ukraine for Russias invasion.

Because DARVO has been a central strategy in Trumps political playbook for years, it has undoubtedly contributed to distorted perceptions of what is true and what is fake news, her op-ed read. When leaders like Trump weaponize DARVO, the public becomes more disengaged and confused.

President Trumps use of DARVO is exceptionally blatant, said Sarah Harsey, an assistant professor of psychology at Oregon State University-Cascades, who has researched DARVO as a manipulation technique. ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS via Getty Images

DARVO is extremely effective.

For some people  namely narcissists  acknowledging wrongdoing threatens their sense of power or control and brings them closer to facing accountability for harmful conduct. In a bind  when theyre being forced to take responsibility  the DARVO user cleverly shifts attention away from their original wrongdoing, said Sarah Harsey, an assistant professor of psychology at Oregon State University-Cascades and the co-author of the Hill op-ed.

This technique injects a misleading or fictitious counter-narrative that can be compelling for people to believe. It can also be confusing: Whos telling the truth, what really happened? Harsey told HuffPost.

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DARVO is a tactic often used by ****** abusers to deflect accountability by reversing the roles of victim and offender, she added. Harsey and Freyds research shows that DARVO is associated with higher rates of ****** harassment perpetration and greater acceptance of rape myths.

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But run-of-the-mill narcissists use it, too, because of how effective it is: The person employing DARVO doesnt need to convince everyone that the counter-narrative theyre offering is true, Harsey said. They just need to muddy the waters enough that people feel the truth is hard to determine.

DARVO puts the other person  the real victim  on the defensive and makes them feel like they need to explain themselves, defend themselves or question themselves, said Avigail Lev, a psychologist in San Francisco.

Lev offered an everyday example to show how convincing DARVO can be: Imagine a spouse is confronting their partner about why theyre home so late. The DARVO-using spouse will deny it and attack their partner, saying something like, Why are you so insecure? We never agreed that I had to be home at 10 p.m. That didnt happen. Youre so jealous.

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In doing so, the deflecting spouse discredits their partner and flips the situation, allowing them to claim the moral high ground while leaving their partner confused, Lev said.

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They become the victim, she said. This allows the actual perpetrator to continue harmful behavior while still feeling justified, because they now see themselves as wronged or victimized.

Like this article? Keep independent journalism alive. Support HuffPost.

Even before his inauguration in 2017, he said that the voice heard in the infamous 'Access Hollywood' tape wasnt his, Harsey said. Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images

Expert says Trumps use of DARVO is exceptionally blatant.

As Freyd and Harsey wrote in The Hill, Trump has been using DARVO from the start.

Even before his inauguration in 2017, he said that the voice heard in the infamous Access Hollywood tape wasnt his, Harsey told HuffPost.

Life: Trump Calls His Critics 'Haters' And 'Bad People'  And It's Totally A Strategy

A few years later, she said, he used DARVO against E. Jean Carroll, who described being sexually assaulted by Trump in her memoir. He denied ever meeting her, he made repeated attacks against her, like calling her a nut job and a whack job, and, in Carrolls defamation case against him, he argued he was the victim of a witch hunt.

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Harsey thinks DARVO is harmful when any government official uses it. She pointed to how former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo used it when confronted with ****** harassment allegations, denying hed harassed anyone and calling himself a victim of cancel culture.

But Trumps use of it is exceptionally blatant, the professor said. He consistently denies, attacks and plays the victim, almost to an absurd degree, she said.

And it appears hes enabled those in his inner circle to follow suit: Harsey pointed to how Vice President JD Vance used DARVO pretty unabashedly in January when talking about Renee Good and Alex Pretti, two Minneapolis residents who were killed by federal agents amid protests over the administrations aggressive crackdown on immigration. Vance called Good a domestic terrorist and reposted a social media post that described Pretti as an assassin.

Just a few weeks ago, Attorney General Pam Bondi extensively used DARVO tactics during her House Judiciary Committee hearing, Harsey said.

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She seems to have favored the attack aspect of DARVO, given the way she repeatedly insulted the lawmakers questioning her, Harsey said. There are ways the president and his officials could refute claims without using DARVO, yet they choose this tactic that inflicts as much harm as possible.

Harsey believes Trump continues to use DARVO, whether he knows about the term or not, because its been an effective tool in helping him dodge consequences.

What accountability has he actually faced? There have been just enough people who have uncritically accepted his DARVO as truth, which has helped sustain his political career, she said.

It appears Trump has enabled those in his inner circle to follow suit when it comes to using DARVO. Pool via Getty Images

What can people do in response to DARVO-ing?

One way to fight back against DARVO is to simply understand that it is a manipulative tactic and to learn how to recognize it when it happens, Harsey said.

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Because DARVO follows a predictable pattern (deny, attack, and reverse victim and offender), it becomes fairly easy to spot when its used, she explained. Weve conducted research that shows how educating people about DARVO renders it a little less convincing.

To defend yourself against DARVO in the moment, its important to name the manipulative strategy and label the behavior as soon as you sense its happening.

But for Americans experiencing DARVO from the president, the obvious dilemma is that theyre not in direct conversation with him. Normally you can hold firm to facts and call them out rather than engaging in defensive arguments.

If you were calling someone out directly for DARVO in a personal interaction, the response would look very different than when an entire society is experiencing it from a political leader, Lev said.

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Some of us do have some power, though. Reporters in the White House press corps should  and sometimes do  call it out directly: Look at how CNNs Kaitlan Collins called out press secretary Karoline Leavitt last week, when the latter claimed the reporter was mischaracterizing something Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had said. Calmly, Collins read Hegseths quote back verbatim.

When we experience DARVO collectively, our role is to continue speaking the truth and articulating facts so that were not further gaslit and can maintain some shared understanding of reality, Lev said.

At the same time, the psychologist thinks we should be cautious about getting pulled into identity politics and instead focus more on cultivating critical and discerning thinking.

This allows people to examine the facts and form their own values-based opinions grounded in their moral judgments, rather than simply adopting what one side tells them they should believe, she said.

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Once youre able to spot DARVO, its important to help others recognize instances of it, too.

We should encourage people to use critical thinking and deductive reasoning and to notice cognitive distortions and manipulations so that we can maintain a shared sense of reality rather than falling for propaganda, she said.

Related...

Read the original on HuffPost
Questions and concerns persisted last week during community meetings the state Department of Transportation and Development hosted in Plaquemine and St. Gabriel last week regarding the proposed La. 10/La. 30 Mississippi River project.

Approximately 60 residents converged in Plaquemine at the Iberville Parish Carl F. Grant Civic Center, while an estimated crowd of 75 attended the session two nights later at St. Gabriel Community Center.

Skepticism continued among residents on both sides of the river regarding additional traffic, the environmental impact and even whether the project would ever come to fruition.

Representatives from the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development fielded questions and comments from residents March 12 in St. Gabriel regarding the proposed La. 1/La.1 connector bridge between Plaquemine and St. Gabriel.

The project remains in the NEPA (National Environmental Impact Policy Act), required by U.S. law requiring federal agencies assess environmental impacts of proposed work is allowed to proceed.

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Were trying to minimize or avoid all of the impacts to the areas, said Glenn Ledet, Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development.

The most common concern along the Eastbank centered on where the bridge should lead in that area.

A decision on where the artery would lead motorists along the Eastbank drew particular concern at the St. Gabriel forum.

Dan Gomez questioned how much benefit the artery would have if it only led motorists to La. 30.

It needs to go to Interstate 10  that would solve the traffic issue, he said. Who in their right mind would get across the bridge just to go to La. 30?

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He and his wife, Janet, live in the Plaquemine Pointe area, which is several miles away from the proposed area for the bridge.

They say it would not affect them, but the connection only to La. 30 would not accomplish much in terms of less traffic through the area.

Taking it only to La. 30 is the most ridiculous thing Ive ever heard, he said.

Sunshine resident David Andrews also believes the current plans on the DOTD drawing board do not address the other issue with La. 30.

The La. 30 extends southward from Nicholson Drive near downtown Baton Rouge southward to Ascension Parish beyond Interstate 10 in Gonzales.

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The biggest issue with that route has not been addressed, he said.

Its still two lanes, Andrews said.

Congestion is not the only issue.

His wife, Pam, fears the bridge will eliminate the quiet, rural nature along the Eastbank.

I worry about the impact on wildlife and how it cuts through so many properties, she said. Its a comfortable balance between the human and wildlife population.

They relocated from Baton Rouge 10 years ago, and they do not want to see the rural charm forsaken with the construction of the bridge.

She said they moved to Plaquemine Point to escape from the noise and traffic congestion that has become the status quo in the Baton Rouge area.

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The difference in Baton Rouge and where we live now is like night and day, Pam Andrews said. Were now enjoying a peaceful life away from the city, and we love the peace and serenity where we live now.

She maintained that they do not oppose construction of the bridge.

They said they want a respectable balance between the traffic issues and the environment and communities.

Were not against it  we just hope its done right. Pam Andrews said. We realize a bridge is needed, but the DOTD needs to be careful with its considerations.

Resident Laura Comeaux remains opposed to the E-11 site for the project, which would place it in an area where rare centuries-old cypress trees stand.

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She also worries about the impact on the ecosystem.

Comeaux referred to the depletion of trees in the years since the construction and 2011 completion of the John James Audubon Bridge, an artery that connects traffic from West Feliciana and Pointe Coupee parishes across the Mississippi River.

Being adjacent to a bridge this size can change the hydrology that much, she said. Were saying that if the bridge is adjacent to our property, it poses an impact on trees.

Roger Peak of the Acadian Group chapter of the Sierra Club said construction of the bridge in the Plaquemine Point would prove detrimental to the ecosystem.

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DOTD has acknowledged the concerns of residents regarding the impact on forestry, Ledet said.

Are there any alternative or possibilities that that would be able to be routed away from that? Yeah, so with all of them, you see, we're trying to minimize or avoid all the impacts in areas where we can, he said.



This article originally appeared on Plaquemine Post South: DOTD fields questions regarding Mississippi River Bridge proposal
Windy weather overnight knocked part of a tree into a roadway in Mount Pleasant, Westchester County, leaving branches dangling into traffic and setting the stage for a deadly crash during the morning commute.

Town officials say a driver swerved to avoid the fallen tree and slammed into another tree around 7:30 a.m. along the Mount Pleasant border with Briarcliff Manor.

According to Mount Pleasant police, a motorist driving behind the victim saw the vehicle swerve, lose control, and crash. First responders arrived within minutes and pulled a man from the wrecked vehicle. He was rushed to Westchester Medical Center, where he later died.

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"The tree had come down and partially blocked the left lane," said Mount Pleasant Town Supervisor Carl Fulgenzi. "Unfortunately, this driver maybe last minute saw it, tried to divert, and ran into a tree on the right shoulder of the road."

Fulgenzi called the crash a tragedy, adding, "You never want this to happen to anyone. We feel for the family."

There was also heavy fog in the area at the time, causing limited visibility, though it is unclear whether that contributed to the crash. Officials have not yet released the name of the victim.

In New York City, Emergency Management issued a Weather Alert for Monday due to heavy downpours and thunderstorms expected during the evening hours.

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Periods of rain evolved into windswept downpours on Monday night, with flooding a possibility in some areas. Also, embedded strong to severe thunderstorms were possible, especially south and west of the city.

New Yorkers were urged to allow extra travel time during periods of heavy rain.

Rain will gradually taper early Tuesday morning. A brief rain or snow shower cannot be ruled out on Tuesday morning as cooler air moves into the region.

A truck ban was issued on seven bridges at 4 p.m. Sunday due to the forecast of high winds:

The seven bridges where the prohibition will be in effect are:

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Bronx-Whitestone Bridge

Cross Bay Bridge

Henry Hudson Bridge

Marine Parkway Bridge

Robert F. Kennedy Bridge

Throgs Neck Bridge

Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge

It is expected that the ban will remain in effect until 12 a.m. Monday.

CeFaan Kim reports from Mount Pleasant, New York.

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The United Arab Emirates has announced the diversion of some flights from Dubai International Airport, one of the worlds busiest, after a drone attack sparked a fire near the facility as Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia also have reported intercepting drones and missiles.

The Dubai Media Office said civil defence teams on Monday successfully contained the fire resulting from impact to one of the fuel tanks in the vicinity of the airport, noting that no injuries had been reported.

Some flights were diverted to Al Maktoum International Airport, the office said on X.

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The Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, meanwhile, said it was suspending flights at the airport as a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of all passengers and staff. It did not say when it expected flights to resume.

Authorities in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE, are responding to an incident involving a missile falling on a civilian vehicle in Al Bahyan area, according to the citys media office. The incident resulted in the death of a Palestinian, it said in a post on X.

Later on Monday morning, the emirates media office said a fire had broken out in an industrial zone in Fujairah after a drone attack.

Civil defence teams were trying to bring the fire under control, and no injuries were reported, it added.

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A fire broke out at the Fujairah oil hub after debris fell during the interception of a drone on Saturday.

The incidents came three days after the city media office said two falling drones wounded four people near the airport.

The UAEs Ministry of Defence has reported six deaths since the war began on February 28, including four civilians and two military personnel who died in a helicopter crash blamed on a technical malfunction.

Iran justifies its attacks

Iran has sought to justify its attacks on Gulf countries by arguing that the presence of United States military bases on their soil makes those states legitimate targets after Israel and the US launched joint air strikes on Tehran on February 28.

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However, civilian infrastructure has also been hit, including landmarks, airports, ports and oil facilities across the Gulf.

The UAE, which normalised relations with Israel in 2020, has faced the brunt of the attacks.

Iran has fired more than 1,800 missiles and drones at the UAE, more than any other country targeted by Tehran in the conflict, upending travel plans in the financial hub despite its air defences intercepting a vast majority of the projectiles.

All Gulf Arab states have been affected. They have reported more than 2,000 missile and drone attacks since the war began and have condemned Iran.

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In a phone call on Monday, UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman condemned the sinful Iranian attacks on the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and affirmed their intentions to defend their territories.

The GCC, United Kingdom and Jordan issued a joint statement condemning Iranian aggression and calling for de-escalation.

The Saudi Ministry of Defence on Monday announced that it intercepted three waves of drones in the countrys east. It said 12 drones were destroyed in the latest wave while six were shot down before that and another five were intercepted earlier.

The report came after the ministry reported it had intercepted 37 drones early in the morning.

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Attacks were also reported in Qatar on Sunday night with its Ministry of Defence saying all the drones in its airspace were intercepted.

Kuwait International Airport was also struck and radar equipment damaged although Iran denied responsibility for those attacks.

Al Jazeeras Zein Basravi, reporting from Doha, said Gulf states were undergoing a recalibration of their foreign policies.

Arab leaders are addressing their relationship not just with Iran, where political collateral has been squandered in the last two and a half weeks of Irans retaliation, Basravi said.

If experts are to be believed, Gulf states are looking at the US not as a stable, reliable, long-term partner [any more].

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Meanwhile, more strikes were reported in Irans capital, Tehran, after Israel announced it had launched a new wave of attacks.

Al Jazeeras Mohamed Vall said the strikes were some of the strongest we have seen so far.

The Iranians are watching and are very much concerned with over three million people already displaced from their homes due to the intense bombardments, he said.

Nearly 1,500 civilians have already been reported killed in Iran.

The Iranian Red Crescent Society said the latest air raids on Tehran damaged one of its clinics and an aid relief post. Footage posted online by the group showed broken glass and damaged equipment strewn on the ground.

Several hospitals and other health facilities have been damaged by strikes across Iran since the US-Israeli attacks began.




March 16 (UPI) -- Dubai officials temporarily suspended all flights at the city's international airport Monday morning, as the United Arab Emirates was defending itself against a barrage of Iranian drone and missile strikes.

A drone fired by Iran caused a fire to erupt from a fuel tank in the vicinity of Dubai International Airport, the Dubai Media Office said in a statement, prompting civil defense teams to deploy to the site.

No injuries were reported, and the fire was brought under control, according to Dubai officials.

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Due to the incident, the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority announced the temporary suspension of flights at the airport. Some flights en route were diverted to Al Maktoum International Airport, it said.

About three hours later, officials announced a gradual resumption of some flights was underway, though it was unclear when the airport would fully reopen.

Emirates was among carriers affected. Amid the resumption of services at the airport, it said it would be operating a "limited schedule." Some flights scheduled for Monday were canceled, it said.

Air India announced that it was canceling all flights to and from Dubai for Monday.

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The strike at the airport came as the UAE's forces were responding to Iranian attacks.

It was unclear how many missiles and drones were fired by Iran and what sites inside the UAE were targeted. The UAE's Ministry of Defense told residents that "air defenses are currently responding" to them.

"MOD asserts that the sounds heard are the result of the Air Defense Systems intercepting missiles and drones," the ministry said in a statement.

The UAE is among U.S. allies in the Middle East that have come under Iranian attack since the United States and Israel launched a war against Iran on Feb. 28. Dubai International Airport has now been involved in three drone-related incidents during the conflict, including on the first day of the war when it sustained minor damage in an attack.
A Duke student is the subject of a disciplinary investigation by the school as a result of her involvement in an ICE protest in Miami.

In November, protesters blocked the entrance to Krome Detention Center in Miami-Dade County, where people suspected of being in the country without authorization are detained. More than 30 protesters were arrested.

Among them was Duke junior, Miami native and student organizer Artivista Karlin, 21.

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At Duke, Karlin has organized protests of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. But as an aspiring photojournalist, she was in Miami that day photographing the action, she said. She was arrested by Florida law enforcement for unlawful assembly, obstructing a highway and resisting an officer without violence, according to her arrest affadavit and other documents reviewed by The News & Observer.

Also arrested that day was David Decker, a photojournalist with the Tampa Bay Times. The charges against Decker have been dropped, and so, too, will Karlins charges this summer, she said. Shes on a pretrial diversion program, according to an agreement reviewed by The N&O.

They ... temporarily shut down full operations [of the Krome Detention Center] in a historic act of nonviolent civil disobedience, Karlin said. I was back in the place that I grew up in for the people I love and the two places and communities I call home, Miami and Duke.

Three months after her arrest, on Feb. 22, Karlin got an email from the Dean of Students office at Duke.

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This message is to inform you that an investigation through the Office of Students and Community Standards has been initiated regarding a report that you may have engaged in potential misconduct as a respondent under the Duke Community Standard during the Fall 2025 semester, the email reviewed by The N&O reads.

The report alleges you were arrested in Miami, Florida, while protesting on November 22, 2025. The alleged conduct, if substantiated, may constitute a violation of the following university policy(ies) appear(s) to be [sic]: Disruption, Interference, and Disorderly Conduct, [and] Other Violations.

Karlin and the Duke administration were working to set up a meeting in the coming days to discuss the investigation and her continued student activism on campus. She organizes monthly days of action at Duke, leading calls for the school to resist ICE and raise its minimum wage.

Karlin says she has spoken with attorneys about what her options are if the investigation doesnt go her way.

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I was there in my capacity as a citizen photojournalist, using photography as a message of light to bring about a better world, Karlin said. Instead of recognizing the courage that it takes to sacrifice ones freedom for the right to document, the right and responsibility to use our First Amendment to safeguard our right to protest and our rights to freedom of the press, ... Duke is seeking disciplinary action against those who do exercise their constitutionally protected rights for protecting the people we love and the places that we call home.

Two of the examples of prohibited conduct under the Disruption, Interference, and Disorderly Conduct policy in Dukes community standard are as follows:

Refusing to leave a private area or closed meeting when unauthorized to attend;

Interrupting or interfering with the carrying out of the duties of a university or public official, including law enforcement.

Duke cited its policies and federal privacy laws when asked to comment on the investigation.

The Duke Community Standard governs student conduct at Duke, spokesperson Gregory Phillips told The N&O. Duke adheres to federal privacy laws and cannot comment on disciplinary matters, if any, related to Duke students, including whether a students conduct has been investigated.
E. coli illnesses in Florida, Texas and California of the deadly E. coli form have been linked by investigators to cheese from the Fresno, California, company Raw Farm, the FDA announced Monday morning.

But, Raw Farm CEO Mark McAfee says the FDA is Jumping to misleading and early conclusions without evidence.

Heres whats known so far about this outbreak of E. coli O157:H7.

Where have people been infected with E. coli in this outbreak?

There have been five people sickened in California, one in Florida and one in Texas from Sept. 1 through Feb. 13. Two people have been hospitalized. None have died. Four of the seven people are 3 years old or younger, the FDA said.

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Whole genome sequencing analysis of E. coli isolates from ill people shows that they are all closely related genetically to each other, the FDA said. This means that people in this outbreak are likely to share a common source of infection.

Raw Farm Raw Cheddar Cheese (FDA)

Why are Raw Farm cheeses being linked to this outbreak?

The FDA said of the seven people sickened, three have been interviewed, all of whom said they ate Raw Farm Raw Cheddar Cheese.

State and local officials are working to gather additional data for the four other illnesses, including two illnesses that occurred in 2025, the FDA said. Epidemiologic evidence indicates that Raw Farm-brand raw cheddar cheese products made by Raw Farm LLC are the likely source of this outbreak.

McAfee points out that epidemiologic evidence is an investigative tool. It does not prove causation.

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He said Raw Farm tested each batch of cheese multiple times and all came up negative for E. coli and has negative test records going back into 2025. Also, federal law prohibits shipping of raw milk products across state lines, so, McAfee asked, how is Raw Farms cheese to blame for the Florida and Texas people infected?

A miniscule number of recalls actually are ordered by the FDA or USDA. Though the FDA recommended a recall, the agency said, Raw Farm declined.

McAfee said, We would cooperate with a recall if we thought it was our product, but its not.

Raw Farm Raw Cheddar Simply Shredded (FDA)

Why is this form of E. coli worse than others?

E. coli O157:H7 is a Shiga toxin-producing form that can lead to hemolytic uremic syndrome or HUS, a form of kidney failure that can be deadly.

As the CDC notes, most people infected with a form of Shiga toxin E. coli get better after five to seven days of stomachaches, vomiting and diarrhea, which can be bloody.
The Israeli strike on the healthcare centre was so huge that it felt like an earthquake. Without warning, the missile tore through the four-storey building in southern Lebanon, punching open concrete floors, eviscerating every wall, and gouging out a multistorey crater in the ground.

The dozen medics based there, whose job it was to respond to the injured across 20 nearby villages, were finishing dinner. There was nowhere to hide.

The bodies were everywhere, in pieces, says Ali Shaimi, 51, a first responder with the Hezbollah-linked Islamic Health Authority, which ran the centre. He is speaking to The Independent beside the skeletal remains of the building, which is still partly on fire and sending acrid, choking smoke into the air.

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Describing the attack as like an earthquake, he says he rushed to tend to the wounded, only to realise there were none.

Abbas Hijazi, 36, another rescuer who was in a building across the street when the explosion happened, said the force of the blast smashed the doors in, briefly penning him in.

Abdullah Nour al-Din from the Islamic Health Authority stands inside the remains of a medical centre in southern Lebanon (Bel Trew/The Independent)

The faces of the medics were so disfigured, you couldnt work out who was who, he adds, visibly shaken, to the staccato beat of nearby Israeli strikes. It was incredibly hard. These are our colleagues, our friends. We work with them every day.

This is Burj Qalaouiyah, about 11km (seven miles) from Lebanons southeastern border with Israel, and firmly within the epicentre of Israels massive assault on the country and its armed group Hezbollah, which erupted two weeks ago.

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Abdullah Nour al-Din, who works at the Islamic Health Authority, tells The Independent that the clinic provided services to 20 surrounding villages, including an emergency ambulance, an emergency room, a pharmacy, a first aid centre and a clinic.

A first responder looks out of a medical centre destroyed by an Israeli missile that killed 12 medics in southern Lebanon (Bel Trew/The Independent)

On Friday it was pounded by a missile strike that killed at least 12 doctors, paramedics and nurses, according to the World Health Organisation.

On the same day, two paramedics were also killed in an attack on a health facility four kilometres further south in al-Souaneh, the WHOs director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a post on X, adding that it was a tragic development in the escalating Middle East crisis.

The Israeli military told The Independent it was aware of reports of a strike on Burj Qalaouiyah, and that the incident was under review. Medical facilities are protected under international law, and direct attacks on them, if carried out with criminal intent, could amount to war crimes, according to Human Rights Watch.

The destroyed building belonging to the Islamic Health Authority in southern Lebanon (Bel Trew/The Independent)

But the Israeli militarys Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee warned on Saturday that the army would strike ambulances and medical facilities it said were being used unlawfully by Hezbollah in Lebanon for military purposes, though it did not provide evidence for this claim.

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A Hezbollah official said the group was not using ambulances and medical facilities for military purposes. Hajj Salman Harb, Hezbollahs media officer for the area surrounding Burj Qalaouiyah, accused Israel of terrorising civilians by targeting medical and civilian facilities.

Lebanon was dragged into the regional conflict earlier this month when Iran-backed Hezbollah fired at Israel after massive US and Israeli strikes killed Irans supreme leader.

Since then, Israel has pounded swathes of the country, killing at least 850 people and wounding 2,100 more, according to health authorities. It has also put large areas of the country under evacuation orders, forcing more than 800,000 people to flee their homes.

Among the dead are 32 healthcare workers, while nearly 60 have been injured, according to the Lebanese ministry of health. Over the same time period, 30 ambulances and 13 medical centres have also been attacked, and dozens killed.

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Lebanese health minister Rakan Nassereddine told The Independent he feared the strikes on the healthcare system were not isolated or accidental and that they would impede the countrys ability to treat thousands of wounded.

Unfortunately, ambulances are being attacked. Nurses are being attacked. We have a number of hospitals that have been attacked or are under threat, and five are now out of service, he told The Independent in Beirut. This is against the Geneva Conventions, he added.

Fires still burn around the destroyed building in southern Lebanon (Bel Trew/The Independent)

Israel has repeatedly been accused of deliberately targeting healthcare services in the region, an accusation it has vehemently denied.

In 2024, during the last war between Israel and Lebanon, Human Rights Watch said that Israels attacks on Lebanese medical workers and healthcare facilities amounted to war crimes and called for international investigations.

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Last summer, United Nations experts accused Israel of medicide in Gaza, saying that health and care workers have been continuously targeted, detained, tortured and starved, and that hospitals had been attacked, bombed, besieged and raided.

The concern is that the same pattern may play out in Lebanon during this conflict, says Ghassan Abu Sittah, a prominent British-Palestinian plastic surgeon who worked in Gaza and is currently in Lebanon treating some of the most gravely wounded children.

My fear is that the Israelis will do what they were doing in Gaza, and what they did in the previous war, which is start to take out one hospital after the other to increase the pressure by reducing the capacity of the health system, he tells The Independent.

By the end of the last war in Lebanon, we had lost access to eight hospitals. Thats my biggest fear. The system collapses.

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So far, the deadliest attack was in Burj Qalaouiyah, where the constant pounding of Israeli strikes sounds in the background. The floor is littered with smashed test tubes, destroyed medicines, and the shredded belongings of the medics who were killed.

We saw them just two hours before, they are eating. These were our colleagues and friends. We saw and worked with them every day, Hijazi, 36, says with a hopelessness in his voice. It was one of the hardest scenes I have seen.

*additional reporting by Rana Najjar
An Australian Senate committee has handed down its report on the governments proposed digital-asset regulatory framework, backing legislation that would bring crypto platforms and custody services under the countrys financial-services regime.

The Senate Economics Legislation Committee said the bill represents a step toward modernizing oversight of digital assets, an industry lawmakers say is expanding rapidly but remains unevenly regulated.

The move builds on earlier steps by Australian regulators, including mandatory AUSTRAC registration for crypto exchanges and Treasury consultations aimed at bringing digital-asset platforms within the countrys financial-services framework.

The proposed Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Bill 2025, published on Sunday, would amend the Corporations Act and ASIC Act to create a licensing and compliance regime for businesses that hold or manage digital tokens on behalf of clients.

Under the framework, operators of digital-asset platforms and tokenized custody services would typically need to hold an Australian Financial Services Licence, comply with asset-safeguarding standards, and meet disclosure requirements when onboarding retail clients.

Lawmakers said the changes are intended to close regulatory gaps that currently allow businesses to hold large amounts of client digital assets without the safeguards required in traditional finance.

The legislation defines core concepts such as digital tokens, digital asset platforms, and tokenized custody platforms, aiming to bring intermediaries dealing with customer assets under existing financial-services law rather than regulating blockchain technology itself.

If enacted, the regime would include a six-month transition period for providers that do not already hold an Australian Financial Services Licence.

Ripple Seeks Australian Financial License to 'Scale' Payments Across the Region

Industry groups broadly welcomed the move toward regulatory clarity. Kate Cooper, CEO of OKX Australia, told Decrypt that clearer rules could help bolster economic gains.

Legislative clarity could be the foundation for a significant increase in Australias productivity standards, Cooper said, citing research from the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre and the Digital Economy Council of Australia estimating digital-finance innovation could add up to $24 billion a year, or about 1% of GDP, to the economy.

She added that digital-asset platforms support stronger safeguards around how customer assets are held while enabling Australian businesses to access global blockchain technology within a regulated framework.

The bill will now proceed through the next stages of the parliamentary process as lawmakers consider final passage of Australias first comprehensive regulatory framework for digital-asset platforms.
QUITO, Ecuador (AP)  Ecuadorian officials said Monday that they have deployed 75,000 soldiers and police officers to four crime-ridden provinces where the government is implementing a nightly curfew banning people from leaving their homes from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m.

Officials said that 253 people were arrested for breaking the curfew, which started Sunday night in Guayas, El Oro, Los Rios and Santo Domingo de los Tsachilas. The curfew is expected to last two weeks. While the orders cover Guayaquil, Ecuadors most populous city, they do not extend to Quito or the touristic Galapagos Islands.

Interior Minister John Reimberg said Monday that Ecuadorian troops used authorized artillery to destroy three identified targets, though he provided no specific details regarding the nature of the strikes. Let whatever must fall, fall  and whoever must fall, fall, he told journalists, noting that the operations resulted in no recorded casualties.

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Ecuador is struggling to contain drug violence as rival cartels battle for control of coastal ports used to smuggle cocaine to the United States.

Last year, Ecuador recorded its highest homicide rate in decades of 50 murders per every 100,000 residents, according to the Ministry of the Interior.

The homicide rate in Ecuador has quintupled since the COVID-19 pandemic, as cartels from Colombia and Mexico fight over the nations drug trafficking routes and partner with local gangs.

Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa recently extended a state of exception that enables the military to conduct joint patrols with police officers and enter homes without a search warrant.

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The conservative leader has blamed some of the violence on neighboring Colombia, accusing its government of not doing enough to stop cartels that operate along the border between both nations. In January, Noboa also imposed tariffs on Colombian imports and said they would not be lifted until the security situation along the border between both countries improves.

Earlier this month, Ecuadors military said it carried out a joint operation with the United States against a training camp used by Colombian drug traffickers, that included attacking the site with drones, helicopters and boats.

Officials said the camp was located on Ecuadors side of the border, and belonged to Comandos de la Frontera, a group that split off from the FARC, the guerrilla organization that signed a peace deal with Colombias government in 2016.

Ecuadors president has come under criticism from civil society groups, who say his iron fisted methods have failed to reduce crime, while putting civilians in danger.

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In a case last year that raised questions about Noboa's crime-fighting methods, eleven soldiers were sentenced to more than 30 years in prison over the abduction of four children, whose bodies were found outside a military base near Guayaquil.

___

Follow APs coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
Hawaii was deluged with rain this weekend, with homeowners on the Big Island and Maui being slammed with record rainfall over a five-day period.

Among them, Carrie Bashaw and her husband Tom, who watched in horror as their peaceful home on Upcountry Maui was swept away with the unforeseen swell of a nearby river.

The Kona storm, as its called, has started to calm as of Monday, but local meterologists are warning that more wet weather is on the waya devastating forecast for those who have already lost so much.

A kona low destroys homes in Hawaii

On Monday, the worst of the storm passed. Waterfalls have sprung everywhere and the typically deep blue ocean has turned an unwelcome shade of brown.

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But the biggest impact has been the flooding, which in many places has yet to recede. The kona low, a type of seasonal cyclone in the Hawaiian Islands, brought historic levels of water to the island. On Maui, places in the upcountry like Kula 1 saw nearly 45 inches of rainfall, according to local news outlets.

This is where the Bashaw family live, and as their daughter shared, the devastation was quick and heartbreaking.

A normally small or dry stream near their home swelled into a powerful flood during the storm, Stephanie Ichinose shared on a GoFundMe page set up for her family.

A home on Maui belonging to an elderly couple that was destroyed during a storm (Stephanie Ichinose/gofundme)

A home on Maui belonging to an elderly couple that was destroyed during a storm (Stephanie Ichinose/gofundme)

A Maui home, belonging to an elderly couple, was destroyed during a storm. (Stephanie Ichinose/gofundme)

The rushing water quickly eroded the land, causing trees to fall onto the house. With that, the couple, who are in their 80s, evacuated, taking only their cats and few precious items. By the next morning, the house was lost.

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The floodwaters had swelled so severely that it undercut their property and half of their home had collapsed and was washed away. By the end of the day, the rest of the home and the garage was lost as well, Ichinose shared.

Elsewhere on Maui, which is still recovering from the deadly fires in 2023, flooding in the popular tourist destination Kihei caused parts of South Kihei Road to collapse (seen above), damaging sewer and water lines, Maui Emergency Management officials said.

The collapse has caused a delay in emergency services during the critical time.

We are taxed. We are at the end of our staffing limits right now, but we are pushing through, Maui Emergency Management Agency Deputy Administrator Kono Davis told Hawaii News Now.

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But the other islands did not walk away unscathed. On the Big Island, Mauna Loa contended with 25.45 inches of rainfall, while North Wailua Ditch in Kauai and Schofield Barracks in Oahu both got close to 20 inches as well.

More rain to come?

Forecasters have cautioned that while the worst conditions may be easing in some areas, flooding can persist and rainfall can still produce problems, especially in saturated locations.

Even as the most severe weather conditions begin to abate in certain regions, forecasters warn that rainfall could still create issues, particularly in areas where the ground is already saturated, and flooding may continue.

The kona low has lifted well north of the area. However, the islands remain enveloped in the southern periphery of large scale cyclonic flow aloft which itself is anchored over the central North Pacific," according to the National Weather Service in Honolulu.

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Despite more wet weather continuing through this week, the biggest concern remains evacuating residents and restoring power, as nearly 50,000 are without electricity across Oahu, Hawaii Island, and Maui.

All customers are urged to stay prepared for potential extended outages through the remainder of today into early next week as the storm continues to make its way across the state, according a Hawaiian Electric statement.
The actions by the standby squad prevented a potentially serious hit near a residential area, with the police informing that the drone was loaded with explosives.

Members of an emergency standby squad shot down an unmanned aircraft that infiltrated from Lebanon using small arms in the Western Galilee on Saturday, the Israel Police stated.

The actions by the standby squad, which happened during a drone intrusion alert in the area, prevented a serious hit, with the police revealing that the drone was loaded with an explosive payload and cameras.

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The incident occurred on Saturday at approximately 6 a.m., at the same time another drone struck the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya. Members of the squad identified two drones passing over their town and opened fire against them.

"We noticed a UAV flying right above our heads," recalled Lt. Col. Yossi Padlon, commander of the Nahariya station's volunteer jeep unit and a soldier in the settlement's standby squad.

"We used small arms and fired in its direction. We missed the first vehicle, but a few seconds later, another one passed over us. We fired accurately and managed to shoot it down near the town's entry," he added.

Israel Police at the site of the crash. (credit: ISRAEL POLICE SPOKESMAN)

Cameras, explosives, and a tragedy prevented

Upon arrival at the scene, police forces found cameras on the UAV alongside a load of explosives that was ready to be activated.

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The police emphasize that the quick response of the emergency squad members prevented the vehicle from completing its mission or exploding in a residential area.

The police worked in the area for an extended period to neutralize the explosives and remove the threat from the scene, while collecting technical evidence from the vehicle.

The UAV and the equipment it was carrying were transferred to security officials for further investigation and analysis of the vehicle's collection and attack capabilities, the authorities informed.
The head of the centre-right European People's Party (EPP), Manfred Weber, has said he did not know about communications between members of his parliamentary group and far-right parties that reveal they closely cooperated on a contentious migration bill.

"I am not aware of staff chat groups, nor have I given them authorization," he was quoted as saying by several German media outlets on Monday.

Leaked communications revealed as part of a dpa investigation released on Saturday show that Weber's EPP, the largest group in the European Parliament, has cooperated more closely with far-right parties than previously known.

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EPP representatives recently used a WhatsApp chat group and held face-to-face meetings with lawmakers from the far right to draft legislation aimed at tightening EU migration policy, dpa learned.

Weber did not comment on any face-to-face meetings.

The collaboration centres on a draft law that would enable the deportation of asylum seekers to "return hubs" in non-EU countries.

The proposal successfully passed the relevant parliamentary committee shortly after the secret negotiations, bolstered by votes from the EPP and the far right, including the anti-immigrant and eurosceptic Alternative for Germany (AfD).

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Weber, the EPP's chairman and a member of Bavaria's

Christian Social Union (CSU), had given the impression that there was no coordinated cooperation with the far right.

As recently as late last year, Weber had stated that a "firewall" was in place to protect European values against those he labelled "enemies" of the European Union.

In Germany, all mainstream parties have pledged to maintain a "firewall" against the AfD, a strategy intended to keep the country's biggest opposition party from power.
European Union foreign ministers are set to discuss the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East on Monday, as well as the spillover effects from the fighting.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha is expected to join his EU counterparts by video-link for a briefing on his country's most pressing needs in its defence against Russia.

The EU's support for Kiev suffered a setback last month when the bloc's 27 member countries failed to unanimously agree on new aid measures in time for the 4th anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion.

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A 20th sanctions package on Russia, as well as a financial aid package worth 90 billion ($103 billion), are still blocked amid resistance from Hungary and Slovakia.

The EU has also repeatedly warned against possible repercussions for Ukraine from the conflict in the Middle East.

The European Commission says Moscow has hugely benefited from soaring fuel prices since the war in Iran started, with additional daily earnings of 150 million from oil sales.

This comes after years of EU efforts to curb Russias fossil fuel revenues in order to limit its ability to finance the war against Ukraine.

The conflict has also stretched military resources, with air defence systems and other assets increasingly needed outside the Ukraine theatre of war as Iran retaliates against US and Israeli airstrikes with attacks across parts of the Middle East.

On Iran, EU ministers are expected to formally approve new sanctions targeting Iranian officials and organizations, as announced last week by the blocs top diplomat, Kaja Kallas.
The European Union is to provide 458 million ($526 million) in humanitarian aid to the Middle East in 2026, the European Commission announced.

"In a war-torn Middle East, the European Union is stepping up while others step back," EU Crisis Management Commissioner Hadja Lahbib said on Monday.

"We are now the largest donor still delivering humanitarian aid in some of the worlds most severe crises, helping people living through the darkest moments of their lives. We must stand with them."

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Of the available funds, 210 million is to benefit people in Syria and will cover " food assistance, health care, shelter, clean water and education for children out of school," the commission said.

In Syria 16.5 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, according to EU figures.

Another 124 million is to support food assistance, access to health care, shelter, clean water and education in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

People in Lebanon are to benefit from 100 million in humanitarian support. The EU started last week to deliver medical and relief items to Lebanon to respond to the ongoing humanitarian crisis.

In addition, 15.5 million is to support humanitarian relief efforts in Jordan and 8 million in Egypt.
Arriving at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels, Kallas said she had spoken to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres about the idea to unblock the strait.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Monday she had discussed with the United Nations the idea of freeing up transport of oil and gas through the Strait of Hormuz by replicating a deal that gets grain out of Ukraine during wartime.

Arriving at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels, Kallas said she had spoken to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres about the idea to unblock the strait, currently choked off due to the Iran war.

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"I had talks with Antonio Guterres about whether it was possible to also have the same kind of initiative like we had (with) the Black Sea Initiative," Kallas said.

Iran has effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz, amid the US-Israeli war on Iran, now in its third week. Iranian forces have attacked ships in the narrow channel between Iran and Oman, choking off a fifth of global oil supply in the biggest disruption ever.

Kallas said the closure of the strait was "really dangerous" for energy supplies to Asia but was also a problem for the production of fertilizers.

Tankers sail in the Gulf, near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from northern Ras al-Khaimah, near the border with Omans Musandam governance, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in United Arab Emirates, March 11, 2026. (credit: REUTERS/STRINGER)

"And if there is a lack of fertilizers this year, there's going to be also food deprivation next year," Kallas said. She did not provide any more details.

UN talks focus on reopening Hormuz passage

Kallas said ministers would also discuss whether it was possible to change the mandate of the EU's small Middle East naval mission, Aspides, which currently focuses on protecting ships in the Red Sea from Yemen's Houthi rebel group.

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"It is in our interest to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, and that's why we are also discussing what we can do in this regard from the European side," she said.

Asked about the skepticism expressed by German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul on whether Aspides could be useful in the Strait of Hormuz, Kallas said: "Of course, we need to also have the member states on board."

"If the member states say that we are not doing anything with this, then of course it's their decision, but we have to discuss how we help to keep the Strait of Hormuz open."
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha stressed during an online address to the Council of the European Union that the approval of a 90 billion loan from the European Union cannot be contingent on the operation of the Druzhba oil pipeline.

Source: Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha on X, as reported by European Pravda

Details: The Ukrainian Foreign Minister referred to Hungary, insisting that it is unacceptable to blackmail Ukraine by detaining people or seizing funds from a state-owned bank.

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Andrii Sybiha called on Budapest to return the money seized from Ukraine's state-run Oschadbank's cash-in-transit personnel.

He also insisted on the need to immediately adopt the 20th package of EU sanctions against Russia.

Quote: "Pressure on Russia must increase and support for Ukraine must grow. I called on EU colleagues to adopt the 20th EU sanctions package without delay. Russia must not benefit from instability in the Middle East."

Background:

Hungary is blocking the adoption of both decisions  the 20th package of sanctions against Russia and the 90 billion loan for Ukraine.

On the sidelines of the EU Foreign Affairs Council, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto announced that Hungary would continue to block decisions until Ukraine resumes transit via the Druzhba pipeline.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed his conviction that the resumption of oil transit through the Druzhba pipeline would be equivalent to lifting sanctions against Russia.

Hungary and Slovakia initiated discussions on the Druzhba pipeline at a meeting of the Council of the EU on 16 March.

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The EUs Aspides mission was established in 2024 to protect ships from attacks by Yemens Houthi rebel group in the Red Sea. It currently has an Italian and a Greek ship under its direct command.

European Union foreign ministers will discuss on Monday bolstering a small naval mission in the Middle East but are not expected to decide on extending its role to the choked-off Strait of Hormuz, diplomats and officials say.

The EUs Aspides mission was established in 2024 to protect ships from attacks by Yemens Houthi rebel group in the Red Sea. It currently has an Italian and a Greek ship under its direct command and can also call upon a French ship and another Italian vessel for support.

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With the Strait of Hormuz largely shut off since the United States and Israel began attacking Iran on February 28, some European officials have pondered whether the EU mission could be part of an effort to restore freedom of navigation in the Gulf.

Iran's ability to choke off traffic through the strait, the conduit for a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas, has emerged as a major threat to the global economy.

But EU officials and diplomats said ministers discussions on Monday in Brussels would likely focus on a push by EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas to add more ships to the mission.

European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and European Commission Vice-President Kaja Kallas looks on ahead of the start of a meeting under the European defense and foreign ministers format in Brussels, Belgium, December 1, 2025. (credit: YVES HERMAN/REUTERS)

The conversation on Monday will be about trying to have more member states contribute further capacities, said a senior EU official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

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German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said on Sunday that Aspides  named after the Greek word for shields - was not even effective in carrying out its current task.

"That is why I am very sceptical that extending Aspides to the Strait of Hormuz would provide greater security," he said in an interview with Germanys ARD television.

Trump calls for international effort to reopen Hormuz Strait

US PresidentDonald Trump on Saturday called on China, France, Japan, South Korea, Britain, and other countries impacted by the curbing of oil supplies through the Strait of Hormuz to join efforts to reopen shipping lanes.

France has been seeking to assemble a coalition to secure the strait once the security situation stabilizes, while Britain is discussing a range of options with allies to ensure the security of shipping, officials have said.

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It is too early to say whether the EU as a bloc could play a role in any such initiative, diplomats and officials said. Any change to the mandate of Aspides would require the approval of all the EUs 27 member countries.

Protecting ships in the Strait of Hormuz in the current situation is a decision that wont be taken lightly by ministers, said an EU diplomat.
A Baltimore restaurant recently filed for bankruptcy in an effort to prevent the foreclosure sale of its building in Fells Point, reports CBS News (1).

The Black Olive opened nearly 30 years ago in a popular waterfront neighborhood, serving a variety of classic Greek dishes with a Maryland twist. The restaurants location  814-816 S. Bond Street  was scheduled for a foreclosure sale at auction in late February 2026 before the owners filed for bankruptcy at the last second and blocked the sale, according to the Baltimore Sun (2).

Must Read

The Black Olive's owners insist the restaurant will remain open despite the Chapter 13 bankruptcy case.

"This filing has nothing to do with the viability of the restaurant," Adam Freiman, the restaurant's attorney, told CBS News. "This is a real estate dispute involving loans that the owners contend have been fully satisfied, and which the bank disputes."

A Chapter 13 filing, which is also known as a wage earner's plan, allows individuals with regular income to establish a repayment plan to pay off debts and often protects specific assets, such as real estate. Filing for bankruptcy also halts any attempts by creditors to recover said debts (3).

Related: A realistic exit strategy for credit card debt

How filing for bankruptcy can help a company

When a business faces property foreclosure, the consequences can be severe. Once a foreclosure sale goes through, ownership of the building transfers to the lender or a new buyer, and the business that occupies that building may be forced to negotiate a new lease, relocate or shut down entirely.

But filing for bankruptcy temporarily changes the rules. By filing for Chapter 13 bankruptcy, The Black Olives owners triggered whats known as an automatic stay (3). This pause immediately stops foreclosure proceedings, giving the owners time to challenge disputed debts and work through repayment issues under judicial supervision.

In cases like this, bankruptcy isnt about escaping obligations; its about buying time. The process allows business owners to present evidence, negotiate with lenders and propose a structured repayment plan rather than losing a property outright. That breathing room can be critical for restaurants and small businesses that are otherwise operating successfully, as The Black Olive claims.
European Union energy ministers are to mull the consequences of the Middle East conflict as consumers and businesses in the bloc face rising energy prices.

In the first 10 days of the war alone, gas prices in the EU rose by 50% and oil prices by 27%, according to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, causing additional costs for fossil fuel imports worth 3 billion ($3.5 billion).

After Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 sent energy prices soaring, the war involving Iran, Israel and the United States marks the second major geopolitical shock in recent years to drive up energy costs in the EU.

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During the last energy crisis, EU countries struggled to agree on far-reaching bloc-wide reforms of the electricity market. The debate over major reforms has now returned.

Member states remain divided over how to reduce price volatility. Von der Leyen has floated the idea of a gas price cap, while Italy has been calling for a suspension of the EU's carbon pricing mechanism.

EU leaders meeting in Brussels on Thursday are also expected to discuss the impact of the Middle East conflict on the availability and prices of fossil fuels as well as possible solution for soaring bills.

In addition, EU energy ministers will also consider a European Commission proposal aimed at improving cross-border electricity grids and accelerating permitting procedures.
THE GIST

Europe spent four years trying to turn Russian energy into a closed chapter. Now a fresh oil shock is prying that chapter back open.

Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wevers call to normalize ties with Moscow and Volodymyr Zelenskyys challenge over Russian oil flows point to the same uncomfortable reality. When energy prices surge, Europes unity starts looking a lot more conditional.

WHAT HAPPENED

The latest fracture emerged in Brussels after Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever said Europe should normalize relations with Russia in order to regain access to cheaper energy supplies.

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De Wever said in an interview that Europe cannot realistically maintain full military support for Ukraine while simultaneously trying to cripple Russias economy, especially without strong backing from the United States. According to the Belgian leader, many European politicians privately share this view but are unwilling to say it publicly.

His remarks immediately triggered backlash across the EU. Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot distanced himself from the comments, stressing that dialogue with Russia is not the same as normalization and warning that such rhetoric risks weakening European unity.

EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jrgensen also rejected the idea that the bloc should reopen the door to Russian energy. He reiterated that the European Union had already made a strategic decision to phase out Russian fossil fuels and warned that returning to those imports would repeat the strategic mistake that left Europe vulnerable to energy blackmail before the Ukraine war.

At almost the same moment another energy dispute erupted, this time involving Kyiv.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy questioned whether European countries had effectively decided to restart Russian oil flows as pressure mounted on Ukraine to repair the Druzhba pipeline. The pipeline, which carries Russian oil to Central Europe, was damaged earlier this year during Russian strikes.

Hungary and Slovakia have been blocking a 90 billion EU financial package for Ukraine while demanding that the pipeline be restored. Both governments argue that their energy security depends on Druzhba and say Kyiv should allow inspections and repairs that would allow flows to resume.

Zelenskyy responded by openly challenging European leaders. If the bloc wants Ukraine to restart infrastructure that enables Russian oil exports, he said, then Europe must acknowledge what that decision means politically.

The argument comes amid a wider global energy shock. The war involving Iran has driven oil prices sharply higher and disrupted shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, pushing governments to consider emergency measures to stabilize markets.

WHY IT MATTERS

What is unfolding now is less a diplomatic dispute than a stress test of Europes entire post 2022 energy strategy.

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After Russia launched its full scale invasion of Ukraine, the EU built a clear strategic narrative. Russian energy was no longer just a commodity. It was a geopolitical risk and a financial lifeline for Moscows war machine. The bloc responded by imposing sanctions, slashing imports and laying out plans to eliminate dependence on Russian fossil fuels altogether.

For several years that strategy held together surprisingly well. European countries diversified their gas supplies, increased LNG imports and accelerated investment in renewable energy. Russian pipeline flows collapsed and the continent gradually adjusted to the new system.

But the strategy was built in relatively calm energy markets.

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The war in the Middle East has changed that equation. When oil prices surge and supply chains tighten, the political calculus shifts quickly. Governments face pressure from businesses, voters and industry to stabilize costs. That is the moment when long term strategic principles start colliding with short term economic reality.

De Wevers comments reflect that tension. His argument is essentially that Europe cannot indefinitely sustain a strategy that cuts itself off from cheap energy while facing rising geopolitical risks and weaker American engagement.

That position is controversial but not entirely isolated. Hungarys Viktor Orban has long argued for maintaining economic links with Moscow, and Slovakia has also resisted the EUs push to fully sever Russian energy ties. The Druzhba dispute shows how energy infrastructure can become leverage in wider political battles.

Zelenskyys response highlights the other side of the equation. For Ukraine the issue is not simply energy policy. It is whether Europe is prepared to maintain economic pressure on Russia even when doing so becomes costly.

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If Russian oil begins flowing again through European infrastructure, even indirectly, Kyiv fears that the political logic of sanctions will begin to unravel.

This is why the dispute has such symbolic weight. The argument over a single pipeline reflects a much deeper question about Europes strategic endurance.

WHATS NEXT

In the short term the European Commission appears determined to hold the line. EU officials have repeated that the bloc does not intend to restart large-scale Russian energy imports and that the long term goal remains full independence from Russian fossil fuels.

But the political pressure is unlikely to disappear. If oil prices remain elevated, if the Druzhba dispute continues to delay financial support for Ukraine and if global supply disruptions worsen, calls for a more pragmatic approach to Russian energy may grow louder across parts of Europe.

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The EUs anti-Russian energy consensus is still intact. The real question is how resilient it remains if the energy shock deepens and the economic costs start to rise.

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BRUSSELS, March 16 (Reuters) - EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Monday she had discussed with the United Nations the idea of freeing up transport of oil and gas through the Strait of Hormuz by replicating a deal that gets grain out of Ukraine during wartime.

Under the deal, Ukraine can export grain and related foodstuffs and fertilizers through the Black Sea, and merchant vessels and other civilian vessels are not attacked by Russia.

Kallas said she had spoken to U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres about the idea to unblock the strait, currently choked off due to the Iran war.

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"I had talks with Antonio Guterres about whether it was possible to also have the same kind of initiative like we had (with) the Black Sea Initiative," Kallas said.

A U.N. spokesperson acknowledged speculation about a possible U.N.-led initiative around the strait, but cautioned that the "stakes are too high" and that the world body will continue to work "discreetly."

Guterres is due to travel to Brussels on Tuesday for informal discussions with European officials, Dujarric said.

Iran has effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz, amid the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, now in its third week. Iranian forces have attacked ships in the narrow channel between Iran and Oman, choking off a fifth of global oil supply in the biggest disruption ever.

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Kallas said the closure of the strait was "really dangerous" for energy supplies to Asia but was also a problem for the production of fertilisers, which could lead to shortages of food.

Kallas said ministers would also discuss whether it was possible to change the mandate of the EU's small Middle East naval mission, Aspides, which currently focuses on protecting ships in the Red Sea from Yemen's Houthi rebel group.

Asked about the scepticism expressed by German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul on whether Aspides could be useful in the Strait of Hormuz, Kallas said: "Of course we need to also have the member states on board."

(Reporting by Lili Bayer, Charlotte Van Campenhout and Andrew Gray; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta, Kate Mayberry, Alexandra Hudson)
(Sipa via AP Images)

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) shared an explosive idea to re-open the Strait of Hormuz that has been essentially closed to shipping by Iranian attacks and mines.

The narrow passageway is the conduit for up to 30% of the worlds total oil consumption and 20% of global liquefied natural gas.

Although he hasnt been seen in public since becoming Irans new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei vowed in a written statement to use the lever of blocking the Strait of Hormuz to keep the enemy highly vulnerable.

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President Donald Trump has urged allies  like France, South Korea, Japan, and the UK  as well as China, to send warships to the Strait to police the area and keep it open for oil shipments.

But Gingrich posited that it would be much better to open the Strait with a nuclear attack.

Instead of fighting over a 21-mile-wide bottleneck forever, Gingrich wrote, we cut a new channel through friendly territory.

A dozen thermonuclear detonations and youve got a waterway wider than the Panama Canal, deeper than the Suez, and safe from Iranian attacks, Gingrich wrote.

Instead of fighting over a 21-mile-wide bottleneck forever, we cut a new channel through friendly territory. A dozen thermonuclear detonations and youve got a waterway wider than the Panama Canal, deeper than the Suez, and safe from Iranian attacks. https://t.co/Et21kHCiAw  Newt Gingrich (@newtgingrich) March 15, 2026

Gingrichs post linked to an article that a community note called satirical, but Gingrich didnt mention the humor angle in his post.

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Since the Iran strikes began, the U.S. Navy reported that 20 commercial vessels have been targeted in the Strait, causing seven fatalities, and four crew members to go missing.

One of the reasons given by the Trump administration for striking Iran in the first place was to avoid nuclear war by stopping the Islamic State from producing nuclear warheads.

Although Trump insisted the U.S. destroyed Irans ability to produce nuclear bombs with airstrikes last June, U.S. intelligence officials reportedly believe that up to 20 canisters of Irans highly-enriched uranium is still attainable even under the rubble at Isfahan.

The New York Times reported, If President Trump ends the war without getting control of the canisters, Iran will almost certainly speed toward going nuclear. Grabbing it, on the other hand, would entail huge risk and the inevitable deployment of American or Israeli ground forces.

The post Ex-GOP Honcho Says Trump Should Drop A Dozen Nukes on Strait of Hormuz first appeared on Mediaite.
DAKAR, March 16 (Reuters) - Senegalese proponents of a tougher anti-LGBT law discussed campaign strategy and mobilization tactics with a U.S.-based "pro-family" group that calls homosexuality a public health threat, activists in both countries told Reuters.

The U.S. group MassResistance, known for its work at home pushing legislation against same-sex marriage and denouncing "the transgender war on cultural norms", has advised like-minded African activists for years.

But now it is trying to take advantage of what it sees as a more restrictive approach by U.S. President Donald Trump's administration towards the rights of same-sex couples. Beyond Senegal, it has been involved in recent advocacy supporting a proposed new anti-LGBT law in Ghana.

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"There's a renewed push to put in place these strict bans on the promotion and proliferation of LGBT ideology now because President Trump is not in the business of harassing and bullying countries to incorporate these destructive ideologies," the group's field director, Arthur Schaper, told Reuters.

The collaboration between MassResistance, headquartered in Massachusetts, and And Samm Jikko Yi, a Senegalese network of Islamic and civil society organizations, has not previously been reported.

'PRO-FAMILY' MOVEMENT GAINS MOMENTUM

Senegalese lawmakers last week approved the new law, which doubles the maximum prison term for same-sex sexual acts to 10 years and criminalizes so-called promotion of homosexuality.

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Reuters could not determine the impact of MassResistance's work in Senegal on the vote.

But this is the first known case of a U.S. group helping shape a successful push for anti-LGBT legislation in Africa since Trump returned to power in January 2025.

"The transnational pro-family movement has reached new heights in terms of their level of influence now that Trump is in office," said Haley McEwen, author of the 2024 book "The U.S. Christian Right and Pro-Family Politics in 21st Century Africa".

The State Department said Trump's approach to foreign assistance ensures taxpayer dollars are not "wasted on divisive social and gender issues", a departure from the Biden and Obama administrations which made LGBT rights part of foreign policy.

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NEW GOVERNMENT CREATED OPENING FOR LAW

And Samm Jikko Yi began campaigning across Senegal for tougher anti-LGBT legislation in 2020, arguing that the existing provision in the penal code was too weak, said Ababacar Mboup, the network's former coordinator and honorary president.

The old version imposed prison sentences of up to five years for "acts against nature".

President Bassirou Diomaye Faye and Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko promised on the campaign trail in 2024 to deliver a new law.

In December 2024, And Samm Jikko Yi contacted MassResistance to discuss an attempt to change the law as well as the possible creation of a MassResistance chapter in Senegal, Mboup and Schaper said.

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They discussed tactics for awareness-raising, mobilization and advocacy with Senegalese authorities, Mboup added.

MassResistance says it is focused on pushing "pro-family laws and policies" that ensure LGBT rights are not celebrated or normalized.

"The high rates of disease, dysfunction, and death associated with these sexual paraphilias are too great to ignore," Schaper said.

MassResistance has also been in touch with activists in Ghana, where lawmakers are considering a harsher anti-LGBT bill.

As in Senegal, same-sex sexual acts are already criminalized there, but the new legislation would increase the maximum penalty from three to five years and impose jail time for the "wilful promotion, sponsorship, or support of LGBTQ+ activities".

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Frank Mackay Anim-Appiah, executive director of the Ghanaian human rights NGO Freedom International, said he and Schaper had exchanged "educational materials" and broadly discussed the need to curtail LGBT rights.

Anim-Appiah has toured schools across Ghana to speak against the "infiltration" of the LGBT movement, and said Schaper had tried - so far unsuccessfully - to secure financing for him from "funders" he declined to name.

"I see Arthur as a colleague... We are all fighting a common battle," Anim-Appiah told Reuters.

CONCERNS OVER FIGHT AGAINST HIV

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Health workers in Senegal say the new law is likely to harm the fight against HIV/AIDS among key populations, notably men who have sex with men (MSM).

Fear of arrest drives people underground, and by criminalizing "promotion", efforts to address HIV/AIDS among LGBT people could be jeopardised, they say.

That fight already suffered a blow last year when the Trump administration cut foreign assistance.

National HIV prevalence is 0.3% in Senegal but is much higher among MSM - hitting 49% in parts of Dakar, government figures show.

Between February 9 and 24, 27 suspected MSM were arrested on suspicion of "acts against nature" and, in some cases, "voluntary transmission" of HIV, the International Federation for Human Rights said.

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A spokesperson for Senegal's government and a spokesperson for Senegal's gendarmerie did not respond to requests for comment on the increased arrests.

They have forced MSM into hiding, and some have fled to other countries including Mauritania, Gambia and Ivory Coast, said two Senegalese MSM who spoke on condition of anonymity for safety reasons.

(Reporting by Robbie Corey-Boulet; Editing by Mike Collett-White and Gareth Jones)
Claim:

On June 3, 2013, X user @Marco_Acortes posted, "Corona virus....its coming."

Rating:

Rating: True

Context:

There's no reason to believe the user was referring to COVID-19 in particular. The first reports of coronavirus  a group of viruses that includes COVID-19 and other diseases  go back to the 1930s; coronavirus did not originate with the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019. In 2013, one form of coronavirus was spreading in the Middle East.

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In March 2026, an X user resurfaced a supposed 2013 post on the platform that read, "Corona virus....its coming," receiving millions of views (archived). Some users in the comments appeared to believe the 2013 post predicted the COVID-19 pandemic that officially began in March 2020.

just realized something that makes me feel ancient https://t.co/b6izPHWf03 pic.twitter.com/uFMbV7Vkib  emily north (@north0fnorth) March 8, 2026

Similar claims about the post previously spread on several other platforms, including YouTube (archived), Instagram and Reddit.

The post is real. X user @Marco_Acortes posted "Corona virus....its coming" on the site then known as Twitter on June 3, 2013 (archived):

Corona virus....its coming  Marco (@Marco_Acortes) June 3, 2013

Dozens of commenters appeared shocked or confused as to how someone in 2013 could have seemingly predicted the COVID-19 pandemic, commonly referred to as "corona" or "coronavirus," which killed at least 7 million people worldwide between January 2020 and November 2024.

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We were unable to reach the user for comment regarding what influenced or inspired the post, and the account does not show any activity after 2016.

However, there's no reason to believe the user was referring to COVID-19 in particular. The term "coronavirus" has been in the medical lexicon since 1968, when scientists first named a group of viruses based on their microscopic crownlike structure. Scientists first observed diseases caused by viruses of this type in chickens in the early 1930s. It wasn't until the 1960s that researchers discovered the first strains of coronavirus in humans, and in 1968, an "informal group of virologists" submitted their findings to the scientific journal Nature, coining the term:

https://media.snopes.com/2025/11/nature_magazine_1968_issue.pdf

COVID-19 is also not the only deadly form of coronavirus found in humans. Ten years before the X post appeared, an outbreak of a strain of coronavirus in the same genus as the virus that causes COVID-19 killed 774 people from more than two dozen countries.

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According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, scientists have observed seven coronavirus diseases in humans (they typically manifest in mild, coldlike symptoms), though only three have had severe pathogenic impact on populations over the past few decades: an initial outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV) from 2002-03, periodic flare-ups of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS-CoV) since 2012 and COVID-19 (SARS-2-CoV), which resulted in the 2020 pandemic that lasted just over three years.

In June 2013, when the user wrote the X post, there was a fresh outbreak of MERS in Saudi Arabia. News releases by the World Health Organization in June 2013 detailed additional cases that spread around the same time the post appeared online. While it's impossible to know what exactly inspired the user behind the post to warn his followers about coronavirus, the news reports coming out of the Middle East around the same time may have influenced the post.

After the first SARS-CoV outbreak beginning in 2002, the user was also not the only one warning about the future impact of coronavirus.

Even before 2013, scientists claimed that a coronavirus pandemic could occur again at a much larger scale, given the right conditions. For example, one scientific study (archived)  initially submitted in 2012  claimed SARS-CoV originated from bats, and possibly still existed in humans. "These existing but undetected SARS-CoVs have a large potential to evolve into highly virulent strains when favorable climate conditions occur, highlighting a potential risk for the reemergence of SARS," the study read.

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In sum, the 2013 post that read, "Corona virus....its coming," is authentic, and while it's not possible to know what exactly inspired the user to write it, humans have known about coronaviruses since the early 1930s  first in animals, then in humans and eventually on the scale of a global pandemic. Scientific studies published before the X post appeared warned of the potential impact of SARS-CoV potentially reemerging, making it possible the X user saw such reports to reach his conclusion.

Sources:

Alert over Hong Kong 'Super-Flu'. 13 Mar. 2003. news.bbc.co.uk, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/2846243.stm.

Coronavirus | Johns Hopkins ABX Guide. https://www.hopkinsguides.com/hopkins/view/Johns_Hopkins_ABX_Guide/540143/all/Coronavirus?refer=true. Accessed 19 Nov. 2025.

Ge, Xing-Yi, et al. 'Isolation and Characterization of a Bat SARS-like Coronavirus That Uses the ACE2 Receptor'. Nature, vol. 503, no. 7477, Nov. 2013, pp. 53538. www.nature.com, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12711.

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Knox, Richard. 'Outbreak In Saudi Arabia Echoes SARS Epidemic 10 Years Ago'. NPR, 20 June 2013. Public Health. NPR, https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2013/06/20/193821501/outbreak-in-saudi-arabia-echoes-sars-epidemic-10-years-ago.

Lessler, Justin. 'Mers - Will It Start the next Global Pandemic?' The Guardian, 15 Sept. 2013. Science. The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/sep/15/mers-next-global-pandemic.

Medicine, Northwestern. 'When Did the Pandemic Start and End?' Northwestern Medicine, https://www.nm.org/healthbeat/medical-advances/new-therapies-and-drug-trials/covid-19-pandemic-timeline. Accessed 19 Nov. 2025.

Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) - Update. https://www.who.int/emergencies/disease-outbreak-news/item/2013_06_07-en. Accessed 19 Nov. 2025.

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Mole, Beth. 'Deadly Coronavirus Found in Bats'. Nature, Aug. 2013. www.nature.com, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature.2013.13597.

Tao, Ailin, et al. 'SARS-CoV Originated from Bats in 1998 and May Still Exist in Humans'. arXiv:1305.2659, arXiv, 14 May 2013. arXiv.org, https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.1305.2659.

'Virology: Coronaviruses'. Nature, vol. 220, no. 5168, Nov. 1968, pp. 650650. www.nature.com, https://doi.org/10.1038/220650b0.

WHO MERS Global Summary of Novel Coronavirus Infection  as of 5 June 2013. https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/who-mers-global-summary-of-novel-coronavirus-infection-as-of-5-june-2013. Accessed 19 Nov. 2025.
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chair Brendan Carrs threat to crack down on broadcasters over coverage of the U.S. war in Iran is raising fresh alarm about Trump administration efforts to intimidate or influence the media.

In a Saturday post that was not targeted toward a specific outlet, Carr suggested news broadcasters could have problems renewing their licenses because of their coverage of the war.

Broadcasters that are running hoaxes and news distortions  also known as the fake news  have a chance now to correct course before their license renewals come up, Carr wrote on social media. The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they do not.

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The post came as President Trump, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other officials have increasingly stepped up their criticism of media outlets over their coverage of Iran. CNN, The Wall Street Journal and ABC News were all criticized by voices within the administration for intentionally focusing on aspects of the war that are not going well for the administration.

At the FCC, Carr oversees a department that holds licensing jurisdiction over local broadcast stations, most of which are affiliates of CBS, ABC and NBC, which they rely on for national news coverage.

The FCCs public interest statute, a provision Carr frequently cites as he warns media outlets about coverage that is critical of Trump, does not apply to cable news channels, streaming services or social media platforms where millions of Americans have been getting information about the war effort.

Changing course, Carr said of mainstream news outlets, is in their own business interests, citing declining viewership figures across television and polls showing trust in media plummeting in recent years.

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The American people have subsidized broadcasters to the tune of billions of dollars by providing free access to the nations airwaves, he continued. When a political candidate is able to win a landslide election victory after in the face of hoaxes and distortions, there is something very wrong. It means the public has lost faith and confidence in the media. And we cant allow that to happen. Time for change!

Carrs comments sparked instant backlash from Democrats, First Amendment advocates and some elected Republicans who argued the head of the FCC was taking an inappropriate step by weighing into the editorial decision of broadcast networks.

I am a big supporter of the First Amendment, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said on Fox Newss The Sunday Briefing when asked about Carrs comments. I do not like the heavy-handed government, no matter who is wielding it.  I would rather the federal government stay out of the private sector as much as possible.

Other Republicans, like former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), argued comments like Carrs could set a dangerous precedent for future dynamics between presidential administrations and independent media.

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Its the responsibility of journalists and media companies to get the truth out to the American people, and I never want to see the government take control or try to take that away, Greene said during an interview Monday on CNN. Americans are fed a lot of propaganda depending on the political views of the media platform. Thats wrong. No government, whether Republican or Democrat, should ever put a lid or any type of threatening enforcement on media companies as they try to get the truth out.

Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) on Monday sent a letter to Carrs office demanding he resign over the post, which he said demonstrated your continued effort to turn the FCC into Trumps personal speech police.

Ann Gomez, a Democratic FCC commissioner, blasted Carr, who she said in a statement pretends it has the power to control news coverage.

Trump and his allies have sparred with mainstream media outlets routinely during his two terms, but since the war started two weeks ago, observers have noted an uptick in the frequency and intensity of such attacks.

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Theyre having trouble fighting a war against the Iranians and it seems like they think they might have better luck fighting against the press instead, said Matt Gertz, a senior fellow at the left-leaning watchdog Media Matters for America. It obviously creates a chilling effect. Any broadcaster now has to question if anything they put out could end up getting them in a heap of legal trouble with the FCC.

Carrs statement came in response to a Truth Social post in which the president complained about a fake news headlines about strikes against U.S. oil tanker planes that were reportedly struck at an airport in Saudi Arabia.

Trump called out The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal specifically over their coverage of the strikes, saying those news organizations actually want us to lose the war.

Carr has no jurisdiction over print media and streaming, but many see his latest attack as evidence of the administrations continued vexation with the way the war is being portrayed to the American people and a failure to control the narrative around it.

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What seems to be frustrating the White House is theyre completely dominating Iran, yet the focus and concentration has been on the weak spots for the U.S. military, one Republican political operative told The Hill on Monday. So, theyre pretty clearly trying to put their thumb on the scale to try and increase positive coverage. The danger in that is when theres a Democrat in office, theyre going to feel theres a precedent there. And its hard to complain someone is doing this to you when you just got done doing it to them.

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
A perfect storm has arrived on the ledgers of many state budgets, bearing down on the people who often need help the most.

Federal and state policy decisions, the end of pandemic aid and long-term fiscal trends  such as people aging into Social Security benefits  are requiring states to take a tougher look at their financial plans than they have in the past.

President Donald Trumps One Big Beautiful Bill Act is weighing heavily on legislators, who face having to make up for billions of dollars the bill cuts out for states to help fund programs, such as Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, that allow low-income people to receive health care and pay for groceries.

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At the same time, states are grappling with the end of federal funds they had been receiving since 2021 as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act and the American Rescue Plan Act.

The combination leaves lawmakers in many states grappling with ways to lessen the impact on Americans.

Potential Medicaid cuts

Kansas is projected to lose more than $3.9 billion in Medicaid funding over the next 10 years, according to a report by the United Methodist Health Ministry Fund and Reach Healthcare Foundation, both based in the state.

David Jordan, president and CEO of the United Methodist Health Ministry Fund, said he does not expect the state to backfill the federal cuts to Medicaid and SNAP.

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Its really going to trickle down to Kansas in a way that just makes (residents) lives harder economically. Its going to make it tougher to get those supports like Medicaid or help putting food on their table, which is really too bad, Jordan said.

The federal cuts to the program could leave more Kansans uninsured. That means hospitals would then receive less in reimbursements, which could lead to higher medical costs and potential closures, according to the United Methodist Health Ministry Fund and Reach Healthcare Foundation.

Kansas Gov. Laura Kellys fiscal year 2027 budget lays out plans to designate $15 million to handle the increased caseload in the Childrens Health Insurance Program to help maintain health coverage for children.

In Arizona, legislators had three budgetary options going into the session: go above and beyond to conform with the bill, do the bare minimum or not conform at all.

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In the six years that Ive been here, this is the first time that we have not gone into session saying, Yeah, were going to rubber-stamp conform to the federal and keep right on marching, said Rep. Stephanie Stahl Hamilton, D-Tucson.

She said the biggest impact of Trumps bill will be felt in health care and that social services, Medicaid, food and other benefits would be hit hard. The state does not have enough rainy day funds to backfill the programs that will be impacted by the bill.

Tax increases might seem to make up the difference, but they are very difficult to pass as they require a two-thirds vote, according to Dennis Hoffman, professor of economics at Arizona State University.

Were going to cut income taxes again this session to conform with the Big Beautiful Bill, Hoffman said. So, it just means that theres less limited resources to go around to support other things.

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Systemic changes to Medicaid will require almost 200,000 Arizonans to submit paperwork to Arizonas state Medicaid service, to keep their coverage. Thats because a major aspect of Trumps bill is that enrollment in Medicaid will require workforce participation or participation in another qualifying activity, like education or a work program. States must implement that condition by Jan. 1, according to the Center for Health Care Strategies.

The Grand Canyon Institute, a bipartisan economic think tank, analyzed the states three main options.

Significant conformity with the new regulations would create a deficit of more than $300 million and cut funding to other agencies, according to the institute. Minimal conformity would leave a small surplus but would not fund all other priorities, and non-conformity would fund other state agency priorities but risk penalties for being out of compliance with the new regulations.

SNAP

As Tennessee expects to face a tighter budget in the next fiscal year, lawmakers are moving to seek federal funding through the federal Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer program after Republican Gov. Bill Lee declined to opt in for the second consecutive year.

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Lees decision has left hundreds of thousands of Tennessee children not receiving school meals during the summer. The legislation would require Tennessee to participate as long as the federal program remains available.

The program provides grocery benefits to families who receive free school meals. It served about 700,000 Tennessee students during its nationwide rollout in 2024.

In its absence last summer, the General Assembly created a Tennessee Summer Nutrition Program funded by a $3 million grant, which reached only about 18,200 children statewide.

Advocates have said the loss of Summer EBT will increase child hunger and negatively affect local economies, particularly in rural communities, by removing federal food dollars that support families and grocery stores statewide.

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Some of these students are receiving breakfast and lunch from school five days a week.  Thats an extra 10 meals a week (per child) that families are having to provide with no additional support, said Anna Grace Breedlove, anti-hunger policy coordinator at the Tennessee Justice Center.

State of the budgets

In addition to federal funding cuts, some states are encountering rough waters as revenue, the workforce and the cost of living fluctuate.

In Virginia, newly sworn-in Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanbergers proposed budget aims to offset expenses for housing, health care and energy costs.

Spanberger campaigned on affordability, but Republicans want to put money back into peoples pockets by cutting certain taxes.

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Prices have been rising for years, Spanberger said. But the economic uncertainty and instability coming out of Washington (D.C.) over the past 12 months, particularly for Virginia, have made things undeniably worse.

The state has one of the highest rates of federal workforce reductions in the nation, with almost 24,000 jobs cut last year.

Despite the reduction in the federal workforce, state Republicans point to the states unemployment rate, which is lower than the national average.

In Colorado, as the state faces an estimated $850 million budget deficit this year, two legislators have shown fundamental differences in how to handle finances.

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State Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer, R-Brighton, who is running for governor, has criticized the current Democratic administration and called for spending cuts.

Colorados budget didnt break by accident, Kirkmeyer said at the meeting sponsored by the Colorado Sun at the University of Denver.

It broke because politicians at the Capitol keep chasing new programs and bigger government while shortchanging the basics that families actually rely on, like schools, health care providers and services people use every day.

By contrast, Speaker of the House Julie McCluskie, D-Dillon, has focused on protecting access to state services.

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She pointed to the Fair Access to Insurance Requirements Plan, which helps homeowners in high-risk areas get property insurance and was passed by the Democratically controlled legislature in 2023.

Some states are able to be optimistic about their budgets this upcoming fiscal year.

After five years of historic revenue growth from an oil and gas boom, New Mexico state lawmakers in January proposed a 2.5% budget increase.

The state has been on a multi-year streak of record-breaking income from oil and gas, and although projected revenue came in lower than expected this year, Democratic leaders are confident about spending.

Im grateful and excited that we have a strong fiscal position. That comes after years of planning, strategic saving and focusing on the highest-value investments for New Mexicans, said House Appropriations and Finance Committee Chair Nathan Small, D-Las Cruces.

The $11.1 billion budget was signed by the governor in March.

How we got here

Long-term fiscal trends, like aging populations and more expensive natural disasters, and federal and state policy decisions are key factors colliding in states upcoming budgets, explained Josh Goodman, a senior officer on state fiscal policy at The Pew Charitable Trusts.

He also said that almost-dried-up federal aid from the COVID-19 pandemic could affect financial planning for states next fiscal year.

States have to generally balance their budgets each year. The federal government has a lot more flexibility to engage in deficit spending, Goodman said. So, if you have this economic downturn  some kind of crisis like COVID  then its typical for the federal government to offer help to states.

One of the biggest forms of funding, totaling $350 billion, came in the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds  the money allocated to state and local governments during the pandemic era under the American Rescue Plan Act.

Dollars from that fund have two deadlines: to have been allocated by the end of 2024 and spent by the end of 2026.

That money is essentially gone now, Goodman said.

I think part of the story now is: Its not as though states have been just returned to the old status quo of federal funding. There are these new discussions going on, he said.

Going forward

Whatever the effects on states budgets, federal funding changes have immediate, medium-term and long-term impacts, explained Wesley Tharpe, senior advisor for state tax policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Like in Arizona, immediate budget impacts include having to find new administrative dollars for processing costs, Tharpe said.

States are having to do things like invest in new IT systems, hire new, full-time employees, to kind of stand up and operate these systems in ways that theyre going to have to immediately account for in their budgets, Tharpe said.

Short-term impacts include the early stages of the Medicaid cuts that are beginning to trickle down to states, he said.

Those are costs that are going to have to be accounted for right now, heading into states next fiscal year budget, Tharpe said.

The rest of the decade will see regulation changes that are implemented gradually. The big example here would be the SNAP cost shift requirement that states now have to take on, he said.

Although they are a little way down the road, policy changes like these are ones that states are already thinking about, but they have a little bit of time to basically constructively plan for, Tharpe said.

Due to an uneven economy and the expiration of federal pandemic aid, Tharpe said, States and localities were likely already gonna be facing hard choices in a lot of places, and now this huge suite of federal tax and budget changes are stacking on top of that.

What Tharpe sees is a fairly dire challenge, but also a fairly significant opportunity to show leadership on what their response to these factors is gonna be.

The story was reported by Zoe Naylor, a reporter and journalism masters student at the University of Missouri. Allie Fischer of the University of Kansas, Cassandra Chavez of the University of New Mexico, Audrey Lippert of Arizona State University, Evelyn Archibald of the University of Washington, Luke Purvis of Colorado State University, Kacy Lee of Virginia Commonwealth University, and Kayelyn McCaslin and Beeta Baghaevaji of the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga contributed.

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It was hilarious. But the idealism being satirized was also partly real, and what replaced it isnt so funny. Veteran tech investor Roger McNamee, in the same piece, recalled asking Silicon Valley creator Mike Judge what he was really going for. Judge answered, I think Silicon Valley is immersed in a titanic battle between the hippie value system of the Steve Jobs generation and the Ayn Randian libertarian values of the Peter Thiel generation.

One of the shows writers, Clay Tarver, told The New Yorker that year: Ive been told that, at some of the big companies, the P.R. departments have ordered their employees to stop saying Were making the world a better place, specifically because we have made fun of that phrase so mercilessly.

The language of doing good has been wearing thin in Silicon Valley for years. Back in 2016, the HBO series Silicon Valley was so relentless in mocking the industry  with characters constantly insisting they were making the world a better place  that it reportedly changed actual corporate behavior.

I dont know if the branding is outright negative, but it feels way less important for people to join, Thiel told the Times.

The roster currently includes Sam Altman, Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan, and Elon Musk  some of the most powerful people in the world  and yet, in Peter Thiels words to The New York Times, it is a club thats really run out of energy.

The Giving Pledges numbers, reported on Sunday by The New York Times, show a steady decline. In its first five years, 113 families signed the Pledge. Then 72 over the next five, 43 in the five after that, and just four in all of 2024.

This is the world in which a small group of extraordinarily wealthy people are debating whether to honor  or walk away from  a voluntary and unenforceable promise to give away half of what they have.

The numbers no longer surprise anyone paying attention. The top 1% of American households now hold roughly as much wealth as the bottom 90% combined  the highest concentration the Federal Reserve has recorded since it began tracking wealth distribution in 1989. Globally, billionaire wealth has grown 81% since 2020, reaching a whopping $18.3 trillion, even as one in four people worldwide dont regularly have enough to eat.

The year seemed to call for it. Tech was minting billionaires faster than any industry in history that decade, and the question of how those fortunes would impact society was just beginning to take shape. Were talking trillions over time, Buffett told Charlie Rose in 2010. The trillions materialized; the giving, not so much.

In 2010, Warren Buffett and Bill Gates launched a disarmingly simple campaign aimed at the worlds wealthiest people called the Giving Pledge : a public commitment to give away more than half their fortune during their lifetime or upon their death.

Story Continues

McNamees own read on things was less diplomatic: Some of us actually, as naive as it sounds, came here to make the world a better place. And we did not succeed. We made some things better, we made some things worse, and in the meantime, the libertarians took over, and they do not give a damn about right or wrong. They are here to make money.

A decade later, today the libertarians McNamee was describing are in the Cabinet.

Not everyone agrees on what giving back even means. To the increasingly significant libertarian wing of tech, the entire framework is wrong: Building companies, creating jobs, and driving innovation are the real contributions, and the pressure to layer philanthropy on top is, at best, a social convention; at worst, a shakedown dressed up as virtue.

Few figures capture the current mood quite like Thiel, who never signed the Pledge himself and is no fan of Bill Gates (he has reportedly called Gates an awful, awful person). In fact, Thiel tells the Times he has privately encouraged around a dozen signers to undo their commitments, and has even gently pushed those already wavering to make their exits official.

Most of the ones Ive talked to have at least expressed regret about signing it, Thiel said, calling the Giving Pledge an Epstein-adjacent, fake Boomer club.

He has urged Musk to unenroll, for example, arguing his money would otherwise go to left-wing nonprofits that will be chosen by Gates. When Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong quietly let his letter disappear from the Pledge website in mid-2024 without a word of public explanation, Thiel sent him a congratulatory note.

But Thiel also told the Times something worth a harder look: Those who stay on the Pledges public roster feel sort of blackmailed  too exposed to public opinion to formally renounce a non-binding promise to give away vast sums of money.

Its a claim thats difficult to square with the public behavior of some of the people Thiel has in mind. Musk has shown little interest in managing his public image, and at this point, a majority of Americans already view him unfavorably. Zuckerberg spent nearly a decade facing some of the most sustained regulatory and public hostility any tech exec has endured, and came out the other side more sure of himself, not less.

Meanwhile, a different picture is forming on the ground. GoFundMe reported that fundraisers for basic necessities  rent, groceries, housing, fuel  surged 17% last year, with the top keywords in campaigns including work, home, food, bill, and care.

And when the 43-day federal shutdown halted food stamp distribution last fall, related campaigns jumped six-fold. Life is getting more expensive and folks are struggling, the companys CEO told CBS News, so they are reaching out to friends and family to see if they can help them through.

Whether these trends are connected to decisions made in philanthropy boardrooms is a matter of debate, but the coincidence is hard to ignore.

Its worth separating the fate of the Pledge from the fate of philanthropy more broadly. Some of the wealthiest people in tech are still giving; theyre just doing it on their own terms, through their own vehicles, toward their own chosen ends.

At the start of 2026, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) cut about 70 jobs  8% of its workforce  as part of a move away from education and social justice causes, and prioritizing its Biohub network, a group of nonprofit, biology-focused research institutes operating across several cities. Biohub is going to be the main focus of our philanthropy going forward, Zuckerberg said last November.

The CZI cuts look, at least on paper, less like the couple is retreating from philanthropy than recalibrating their approach. The Zuckerbergs have, after all, committed to give away 99% of their lifetime wealth through the Pledge.

Not everyone is redefining the terms, either. Gates last year said hed give away virtually all his remaining wealth  more than $200 billion  through the Gates Foundation over the next two decades, and the foundation would close permanently on December 31, 2045. Invoking Carnegies old line that the man who dies thus rich dies disgraced, he wrote that he was determined not to die rich.

This standoff between concentrated wealth and everyone else isnt new. Wealth last concentrated at such levels during the original Gilded Age, the 1890s through the early 1900s, and the correction didnt come from philanthropists. It came from trust-busting, the federal income tax, the estate tax, and eventually the New Deal. It arrived as policy that was driven by political pressure too powerful to be ignored. The institutions that forced that correction  a functional Congress, a free press, an empowered regulatory state  look considerably different today.

What isnt in dispute is the pace of change. These fortunes have been built in years, not generations, while the safety net was being cut. The wealth gained by the worlds billionaires in 2025 alone would have been enough to give every person on earth $250 and still leave the wealthiest more than $500 billion richer, according to Oxfams 2026 global inequality report.

The Giving Pledge was always, as Buffett said from the start, just a moral pledge: no enforcement, no consequences, no one to answer to but yourself. That it once carried weight says something about the era that produced it.

The fact that Thiel now frames staying on the list as a form of coercion  and that the Times found that argument worth reporting at length  says something about the one were in right now.
Candidates fanned out across the state to hit traditional campaign stops in the final weekend before Tuesdays primary, wooing local audiences in an election increasingly overcome by national events and out-of-state money.

Some trooped through soupy rain along Western Avenue at the South Side Irish St. Patricks Day Parade. Others toured West and South Side churches with predominantly Black congregations. Still others held rallies in favored locales.

It was the late Speaker of the U.S. House Tip ONeill who popularized the phrase all politics is local. But that was years before the U.S. Supreme Court issued its Citizens United ruling that allowed independent political expenditures by corporations, unions and other outside groups.

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The effects of the Citizens United case, accelerating the nationalization of local politics, have rarely been more evident in Illinois than in this campaign season, with tens of millions of special-interest dollars being pumped into TV and online commercials and mailings aimed at influencing voters choices of candidates for U.S. Senate and in four intensely crowded races for open U.S. House seats.

Chief among the outside spenders are generically named political action committees launched by pro-Israel, pro-artificial intelligence development, pro-cryptocurrency and pro-cloud data center interests. The funding by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee comes as the U.S. and Israel are prosecuting a war on Iran that many Democrats have called illegal, leading to a surge in gas prices as they campaign against President Donald Trump on the issue of affordability under his leadership.

Senate is the marquee race

With the marquee race Tuesday coming down largely to three Democrats  U.S. Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Schaumburg and Robin Kelly of Lynwood, and Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton of Chicago  looking to win the nomination to succeed retiring U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, money has been flowing freely.

At a campaign meet-and-greet at the Second Baptist Church in Elgin, where Stratton and her husband, Bryan Echols, were married, the states junior U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth lashed out at groups funded at least in part by Krishnamoorthi supporters. Its resulted in a combined $11.6 million in spending, including $9.9 million from the pro-cryptocurrency super PAC Fairshake, attacking Stratton as she began to build momentum.

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Who do you think is going to answer the phone when crypto calls and wants to exploit working people? The guy that they just spent $10 million to support, or Juliana, whos been an independent fighter for this state? asked Duckworth. She defeated Krishnamoorthi in 2012 for a northwest suburban U.S. House seat, which he later won when Duckworth captured a U.S. Senate victory in 2016.

Given a chance to raise their concerns, members of the audience discussed the lack of affordable housing, cuts to federal programs such as Head Start, and the hollowing out of the Civil Rights Division at the U.S. Department of Justice. In many ways, those concerns have been overshadowed during the primary campaign by attacks and debates over who is funding whom.

Stratton, the states two-term lieutenant governor under Gov. JB Pritzker, has also benefited from roughly $12.2 million in outside spending, much of it funded by the billionaire governor and some of his relatives. That backing, channeled through the ostensibly independent Illinois Future PAC, helped Stratton remain competitive in a race where Krishnamoorthis campaign spent more than $25 million on TV ads beginning in July.

The late infusion of money from Krishnamoorthis backers sends a message, Stratton argued: I dont want somebody whos going to be a fighter against Donald Trump.

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After stops at other churches, Stratton and Duckworth were set to appear at a veterans event in Chicagos Hyde Park neighborhood with Ald. Gilbert Villegas, 36th.

South Side Irish Parade

Amid periodic rain and a lingering winter chill, politicians, some sporting green, worked the crowd along a lengthy stretch of Western Avenue at the South Side Irish Parade in Beverly.

Krishnamoorhi greeted prospective voters along the metal railings on Western, shaking hands with supporters along the route.

Shortly before marching, Krishnamoorthi downplayed the role of outside money in the race, saying he has raised substantial funds on his own and that nobodys bankrolling my campaign.

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At some point, were going to fix this campaign finance system so we dont have super PACs dominating things, Krishnamoorthi said. But right now, thats the situation in a lot of races.

As for Pritzkers heavy influence on Strattons campaign and what it means for the race, Krishnamoorthi said, It is what it is.

All that being said, I think the people want to decide, he said. They want to make the decision ultimately about who their next U.S. senator is going to be. And so thats why Im here. I am appealing to every single person for their vote.

Money was also top of mind for Kelly as she rallied supporters Sunday afternoon at Replay Lakeview, an arcade bar in Chicagos Northalsted neighborhood, formerly known as Boystown.

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I need everyone to talk to everyone they know because I cannot buy this race, Kelly told a packed roomful of volunteers and staffers, many clad in green Im with Robin Kelly T-shirts, before they headed out to talk to voters in the neighborhood. I cannot buy it. I have to go person by person by person by person, and I will tell you, I feel great on the ground. So many people from all kinds of neighborhoods have been coming up to me and saying, We got you, we got you, we got you.'

Kelly, whose only outside financial backing has come from Krishnamoorthi supporters seeking to sway Black voters away from Stratton, expressed frustration with the lieutenant governors surrogates casting her as a spoiler. That includes Duckworth, who praised Kellys work ethic during her Sunday morning appearance with Stratton but added, Where we are right now with my dear friend Robin Kelly is that its her siphoning votes away from Juliana.

If people are concerned about splitting the vote, they should vote for the most qualified person, Kelly said. Happens to be this Black woman.

Also seeking the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination are Kevin Ryan, Steve Botsford Jr., Bryan Maxwell, Jonathan Dean, Sean Brown, Awisi Bustos and Christopher Swann.

The Republican race

On the Republican side in the Senate race, former Illinois GOP Chair Don Tracy spent the day knocking on doors in his hometown of Springfield alongside his 10-year-old grandson Charles, urging dispirited conservative voters to turn out Tuesday.

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Im worried about apathy, complacency, and Mr. and Mrs. Undecided, said Tracy, a lawyer and a member of the family that owns Dot Foods, the nations largest food redistributor.

Tracy, who lost a 2002 bid for a state Senate seat as a Democrat and finished third in a six-way Republican lieutenant governor primary in 2010, argued his political experience and business background make him the strongest GOP candidate to take the Senate seat in November.

Echoing a frequent campaign theme, Tracy said the Senate general election is no place for a rookie Republican candidate.

Also running for the GOP Senate nomination are attorney Jeannie Evans, a first-time candidate, Casey Chlebek, who unsuccessfully sought the GOP U.S. Senate nomination in 2020 and 2022; Pamela Denise Long; Jimmy Lee Tillman II; and R. Cary Capparelli.

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Another major statewide contest Tuesday is the Republican race to challenge Pritzkers bid for a third term as governor in November. Pritzker is unopposed for the Democratic nomination.

The four-way GOP race features downstate former state lawmaker Darren Bailey, who lost to Pritzker by nearly 13 percentage points four years ago; Ted Dabrowski, the former head of the Wirepoints conservative activist organization; real estate developer and video gambling firm owner Rick Heidner; and DuPage County Sheriff James Mendrick.

The race has been notable not only for a dearth of out-of-state money but for a general lack of overall spending, a stark contrast to the tens of millions of dollars that poured into the 2022 GOP primary.

With little TV advertising, turnout among Republicans  who tend to vote on Election Day rather than use early voting or vote by mail, following Trumps directives  could be dampened further by the weather. The forecast calls for a rapid shift to snow and blustery winds on Monday, leading to a frosty Election Day.

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Look, you know, theres not a whole lot of money this time around in the Republican primary. So I think, you know, turnout will be low, but, you know, it is what it is, Dabrowski said before stepping off at the South Side parade.

What weve been doing is just traveling (to) southern Illinois. Weve traveled (to) Rock Island last night. I was in Madison County three or four days ago. Now, you know, here in Chicago, doing these parades and just having a great time, and the people, the people who vote will vote, and hopefully theyre all going to move our way.

Dabrowski said he believed Baileys campaign focus on his native downstate territory has opened up the door for us.

Bailey was campaigning Sunday night at a get-out-the-vote rally in downstate Quincy before scheduling a six-city fly-around of the state on Monday, including a final stop in suburban Palatine.

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By Yomna Ehab, Federico Maccioni and Linda Pasquini

DUBAI, March 16 (Reuters) - Dubai's international airport was gradually resuming flights on Monday after a fuel tank fire caused by a drone attack forced a temporary closure and flights to reroute, spotlighting the challenge for airlines grappling with the Middle East crisis.

The U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, now in its third week, has thrown global aviation into turmoil, with flights cancelled, rescheduled and rerouted, as most Middle East airspace stays shut over fears of missile and drone attacks.

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With the Gulf a global crossroads for commercial aviation, the war has disrupted travel, sent fuel charges and ticket prices surging, hit flows of goods such as critical medicines and thrown holiday plans into disarray.

Monday's incident, causing a fuel tank blaze but no injuries, is the third attack on the Dubai airport since Iran launched assaults on Gulf nations on February 28, with strikes Tehran says aim at the U.S. presence in the region.

While the United Arab Emirates and other Gulf countries host U.S. military facilities, Iran has used missiles and drones to target civilian facilities such as airports, hotels and ports.

Flights in the region are at about half their usual level, though their number has risen from just after the start of the war.

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ATTACKS PROMPT DIVERSIONS

Drone and missile fire has regularly kept aircraft circling Dubai's busy airport, heavily affecting Middle East tourism worth about $367 billion a year. Air freight rates have also surged as much as 70% on some routes.

In a statement on X posted by the Dubai Media Office earlier on Monday, the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority flagged a "gradual resumption" of some flights to selected destinations.

Reuters could not immediately establish how many scheduled commercial flights were due to depart from the hub, which last year handled over 1,000 flights per day.

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"Civil Defense teams have confirmed that the fire in a fuel tank in the vicinity of Dubai International Airport has been extinguished. Cooling operations are now underway," the media office said in a separate post.

Emirates airline said it expected to partially resume operations at 0600 GMT after the attack, which prompted authorities to divert some flights to the smaller Al Maktoum international airport.

A Reuters reporter on board an Emirates plane from Rome to Dubai observed the disruption, as security concerns forced the aircraft to divert abruptly when it came in to land early on Monday, going instead to the inland city of Al Ain.

The airline told passengers it planned to fly them back to Dubai as the airspace had re-opened. At one point it said it would arrange a bus for the 130-km (81-mile) road trip back to the coastal city.

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FLIGHT CANCELLATIONS EXTENDED

On its website, Emirates said it had cancelled some flights scheduled for Monday. Flightradar24 tracking showed some flights to Dubai turning back to their departure airports. Sister airline flydubai said it was restarting flights.

Air India and Air India Express said in a statement flights with Dubai had been cancelled for the day. Polish carrier LOT said it was extending cancellations of flights to Dubai, Riyadh, Tel Aviv and Beirut to dates later in March and April.

"We are acting in accordance with the recommendations of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) - safety remains our priority," LOT said in a statement.

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Gulf Arab states have faced more than 2,000 missile and drone attacks since February 28, with targets including U.S. diplomatic missions and military bases but also key oil infrastructure as well as homes and offices.

The UAE, which normalised relations with Iran's arch-foe Israel in 2020, has faced the brunt of the attacks.

(Reporting by Yomna Ehab and Menna Alaa El Din in Cairo; Linda Pasquini, Maha El Dahan and Jana Choukeir in Dubai; Writing by Adam Jourdan; Editing by Lincoln Feast, Clarence Fernandez and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
Wildfire risk in Oklahoma remains high after weekend fires sparked around the state, worsened by strong winds, prompted thousands of Oklahomans to evacuate.

On Sunday, emergency managers in Sayre, Oklahoma, in Beckham County ordered neighborhoods to evacuate as fires swept north of the community of about 5,200 people two hours west of Oklahoma City. The order was lifted around 2 p.m. Sunday as fire officials declared the fire under control. Estimates on damage were not immediately available.

There were also wildfires east of Arapaho and near Martha, five miles north of Altus, the NWS Norman reported.

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A majority of the state was under a red flag warning for fires and a high wind warning with gusts of up to 65 mph through the day Sunday. On Monday, the state is in a red flag watch, which means that the risk of hazardous weather is increasing, but not immediately occurring.

"Postpone any activities that could spark a fire, and be sure to secure outdoor belongings and use caution when driving high-profile vehicles like box trucks, semis, or tall vans," the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management said on its Facebook page.

In the Oklahoma City metro, meanwhile, downed power lines caused the closure of the southbound lanes of I-35 in Norman on Sunday. The road was reopened to traffic at 1:30 a.m. Monday.

At the height of the fire activity on Sunday, there were more than 25,000 power outages reported statewide, according to the Oklahoma State Emergency Operations Center.

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As of Monday morning, almost all power has been restored. Counties with the highest number of damages are Canadian, Oklahoma, Tulsa, and Cleveland.

Fires in Oklahoma right now: Map

Weather this week in Oklahoma

Monday morning, Oklahoma residents woke up to a hard freeze. Temperatures will stay below freezing until about 10 a.m., according to the National Weather Service.

Outside of fire weather conditions, NWS Norman also reported that people are seeing snow in parts of northern Oklahoma and that in the western parts of the state, blowing dust could reduce visibility to less than a mile.

Flames and huge plumes of smokes could be seen from one of several wildfires impacting western Oklahoma on February 17, prompting evacuation across multiple counties. Huge plumes of smoke could be seen from one of several wildfires impacting western Oklahoma on Feb. 17, prompting evacuation across multiple counties. Footage released by the Oklahoma Forestry Services showed the rapidly spreading wildfire in Beaver County. Fast-moving wildfires burn thousands of acres in Oklahoma and Texas, prompting evacuations and red-flag warnings. A screenshot from a video shows a large wildfire sending thick plumes of smoke into the sky in Beaver County, Oklahoma, on Tuesday, February 17. Flames and huge plumes of smokes could be seen from one of several wildfires impacting western Oklahoma on February 17, prompting evacuation across multiple counties. Oklahoma wildfires spark near Woodward, Beaver: See photos of damage 1 of 5 Flames and huge plumes of smokes could be seen from one of several wildfires impacting western Oklahoma on February 17, prompting evacuation across multiple counties.

On Tuesday, Oklahoma can expect a near-critical risk of fire weather in the southwestern parts of the state with warming temperatures, extremely dry air, and gusty winds, the weather service reports.

Oklahoma wildfire alerts, red flag warnings

Power outages OKC, Oklahoma

See live updates on how weather is impacting OG&E customers.

Tulsa, PSO power outage map

See live updates on how weather is impacting PSO power.

Outage data from Public Service Company of Oklahoma.

Stay informed. Get weather alerts via text

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Fire weather watch issued in Oklahoma after wildfire evacuations, power outages
With votes from the first round of France's municipal elections on Sunday being tallied, the far-right and far-left parties have claimed gains.

A key temperature reading ahead of next year's presidential vote, nearly 49 million people were eligible to vote in the elections, which will determine thousands of local councillors who in turn elect mayors in their municipalities.

In races where no absolute majority is reached, a second round will be held on March 22.

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In Paris, projections see the capital remaining in Socialist leadership with Emmanuel Gregoire finishing ahead of his conservative challenger, Rachida Dati.

In Marseille, France's second-largest city, the Socialists are projected to remain in power with the incumbent Benoit Payan but face a challenge from the far-right National Rally's Franck Allisio.

In Nice, projections put far-right mayoral candidate Eric Ciotti ahead of incumbent Christian Estrosi of the centre-right Horizons.

In Perpignan in southern France, the only major city where the National Rally had previously governed, projections point to the re-election of Mayor Louis Aliot.

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In Strasbourg, Socialist candidate Catherine Trautmann lead the first round, according to projections. Trautmann, who served as mayor from 1989 to 1997 and again from 2000 to 2001, is narrowly ahead of Les Republicains candidate Pierre Vetter. The incumbent Green mayor Jeanne Barseghian is third.

Jean-Luc Melenchon's France Unbowed is projected to win the mayor's position in Roubaix and the party scored highly in cities including Toulouse, Lille and Limoges.

Under French electoral rules, party lists must include equal numbers of men and women in alternating order on the ballot. In addition to French citizens living in the country, residents from other European Union member states are also entitled to vote in municipal elections.

By evening, turnout stood at 48.9%, up from the 38.7% recorded in the pandemic-hit year of 2020.

President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte cast their votes in Le Touquet-Paris-Plage in the north of the country. After two terms in office, he is barred from standing again.
A Davie man who police say sells drugs is accused of locking another man in a storage unit for months over money that was owed for crack and fentanyl, according to an arrest report.

Oscar Moses Badger, 39, has been in Broward Countys main jail in Fort Lauderdale without bond since March 3 on a charge of felony kidnapping.

Police were called to Access Self Storage at 7000 Southwest 22nd Court on March 1 after an employee reported hearing a man inside a unit screaming and asking for medical attention, according to the report.

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Davie Fire Rescue cut the lock and discovered the 58-year-old man inside, along with several five-gallon buckets filled with the mans urine and feces, the report states.

The man told detectives that his drug dealer, known to him as Tray, locked him in the unit in November. Police say Badger is Tray.

Detectives watched security-camera footage that showed Badger drive to the storage facility in a Honda Accord, get out with a bag of food and place it in the unit, according to the report.

The victim told police that he recently became homeless and addicted to crack cocaine and fentanyl. The man said Badger would supply him with drugs and hotel rooms, and the man would pay Badger once his Veterans Administration monthly $7,000 check reached his bank account, the report states.

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In November, the man owed Badger $3,000, he told detectives. Another man he associates with told Badger the victim was not going to pay the debt, according to the report.

Badger had another man and a woman take the victim to their apartment, where he told detectives he was beaten. He escaped when the man was taking a shower, the report states.

He then called Badger to buy more drugs, and this is when he was kidnapped, he told detectives, according to the report. While he was locked in the unit, Badger took his bank and VA cards and would also take the man to the bank to withdraw money, according to the report.
BOSTON (WWLP)  A former science teacher in Massachusetts was sentenced to prison for child exploitation of an underage girl through online conversations on Discord.

In a news release from the Department of Justice stated that 35-year-old John Magee Gavin of Brookline is a former science teacher at Josiah Quincy Upper School in Boston. He previously worked at the Academy of the Pacific Rim Charter Public School in Hyde Park and the Brookline Public Schools.

Amherst woman charged after police chase, crash on I-91 in Holyoke

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Gavin was identified as an owner of a Discord account who messaged at least 20 underage females between the ages of 12 and 17 years old located throughout the U.S., including Georgia, Texas, Tennessee, West Virginia, North Carolina and Florida, as well as the United Kingdom and Canada.

John Magee Gavin (Photo screenshot of court filings dated 7/18/2025)

In these chats, Gavin disclosed that he was a teacher, engaged in sexual conversations and often asked the minors to send him pictures of themselves engaged in sexually explicit conduct  knowing that the children were underage. According to authorities, nearly 150 files (94 images and 53 videos) of CSAM were found on his iPhone.

He was arrested in February 2025 and charged with enticing a child under 16, possession of child pornography and other offenses. He was indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly coercing or enticing at least one underage girl to engage in sexual conversations online and requesting child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

Gavin pleaded guilty to one count of coercion and enticement of a minor, one count of receipt of child pornography, and one count of possession of child pornography. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release.

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Local News Headlines

WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Download the 22News Plus app on your TV to watch live-streaming newscasts and video on demand.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WWLP.
Former Waupun Correctional Institution officer Jamall Russell pled no contest to misdemeanor charges on Wednesday in a Dodge County Circuit Court case. The criminal complaint in the case charged Russell and others in the death of Donald Maier, the Examiner reported in June 2024.

The Wisconsin Examiners Criminal Justice Reporting Project shines a light on incarceration, law enforcement and criminal justice issues with support from the Public Welfare Foundation.

Maier, 62, was incarcerated at the Waupun prison and was reportedly found dead in February 2024. Authorities said Maiers death was due to dehydration and malnutrition.

Russell, 41, was originally charged with misconduct in public office and with neglecting a person confined in a correctional institution, which are both Class I felonies that carry a penalty of imprisonment of up to three and a half years, a fine of up to $10,000 or both.

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The criminal complaint charged Russell with neglect through a failure to act that caused unreasonable suffering, misery or physical harm. It also accused him of misconduct by reporting false information.

The complaint stated that Maier had severe mental health issues and medical problems, and that multiple staff had noted he could not effectively communicate his needs. Maiers inability to speak coherently to communicate his medical needs was likely a factor in why he didnt receive needed medical and psychological intervention, the complaint said.

According to camera footage, on four consecutive days, Russell does not feed a meal (breakfast or lunch) to Maier, according to the complaint, causing eight out of 12 meals to not be fed to Maier. During six of eight deliveries, he didnt ask Maier if he would like to eat.

Maier refused or wasnt provided medication for his known medical and psychological conditions during his approximately nine days in the restricted housing unit, with the exception of one possible distribution where its unclear if he ingested the medication given to him, the complaint said.

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Russell said that an incarcerated persons refusal of medication is when they dont respond or say no when a medication pass is conducted, the complaint stated. In the case of Maier, Russell said that he would either yell obscenities or ignore him completely, so he did not distribute medications to him.

Russell also said he wouldnt give medications to an incarcerated person if he couldnt verify the person was taking them, because of the possibility that the person would hoard the medications and abuse them later.

Russell said he had written incident reports involving self-harm or suicidal actions. He said that writing an incident report about an inmate losing weight and getting thinner or flooding his cell, which Maier reportedly did, was not in line with his training. Russell claimed that he told a nurse he was worried about Maier because he was not eating, not responding, his movements were getting slower and his skin appeared to be paler, the complaint stated. Dodge County Sheriff Dale Schmidt said the water in Maiers cell appears to have been shut off for a significant amount of time; based on the criminal complaint, this appeared to be in response to Maier flooding his cell.

Russell said he told a sergeant about unusual observations of Maiers activities and reported his meal refusal to a sergeant and hospital unit staff.

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Schmidt said that the required number of cell checks was not conducted and supervisors knew cell checks were commonly skipped.

Camera footage showed that 14 times over two days, Russell did not complete rounds in the restrictive housing unit that he reported he had completed, the complaint stated.

A nurse was present during Maiers intake into restricted housing and didnt proceed with an evaluation because he was verbally abusive, according to the criminal complaint. Maier was placed in a cell and never again removed or seen in person, other than through a window, to determine if he needed medical attention.

Correctional officer and sergeant vacancies at the Waupun prison have decreased after a peak of about 56% in February 2024, around the time of Donald Maiers death. The latest rate reported online by the DOC is about 25%.

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The Examiner reported in June 2024 on criminal charges against nine Waupun staff members, including Russell, with abuse of prisoners and misconduct, after the deaths of Maier and Cameron Williams, 24, who were both incarcerated at the prison. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that Russell is no longer a correctional officer.

Russell pleaded no contest to three counts of violating the law governing a state or county institution. This misdemeanor carries up to a $500 fine, up to 30 days of imprisonment or both.

However, the plea agreement, signed by Russell and Dodge County District Attorney Andrea Will on Wednesday, would impose different requirements: probation, community service hours, honest testimony and the inability to work as a correctional officer.

Former Waupun warden Randall Hepp was convicted last year and fined $500 and court costs, the Examiner reported. He also pleaded no contest. Maiers mother filed a lawsuit against Hepp, Wisconsin Department of Corrections Secretary Jared Hoy and others, seeking compensatory and punitive damages.

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According to an article in the Appleton Post-Crescent last year on the conviction of a different Waupun staff member, Dodge County Assistant District Attorney Shawn Woller read a letter from Maiers mother during the prosecutions sentencing argument. He said she requested for the letter to be read at each of the sentencings for those convicted of crimes relating to her sons death.

I feel that each and every person who ignored my son and therefore had a hand in his death should spend some time in jail so that they learn firsthand what it is like to be dependent on other guards for food and water and medical care and protection, her letter states, according to the Post-Crescent. Nothing can bring my son back, but Id like to think that we as a society would at least learn something from this tragedy, so this never happens to anyone elses son.

Plea agreement does not include jail time

The plea agreement states that in exchange for truthful testimony in any trial surrounding the death of Donald Maier, the state will recommend a withheld sentence on each count for two years of probation.

This comes with the condition that Russell cant be employed as a correctional officer, as well as 100 hours of community service and following all other conditions deemed appropriate by the agent. Russell would also be responsible for all applicable court costs and fees.

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If the state believes that Russell does not provide truthful testimony or refuses to testify, the state will be free to argue at sentencing for whatever sentence it prefers, the agreement states.

The plea offer depends upon truthful testimony against any co-actors who go to trial.

Next in Russells case is a May 11 scheduling conference, to pick a date for his sentencing.

Where do the other prosecutions stand?

In June 2024, charges were brought against Hepp and eight members of his staff: Russell, Lt. Brandon Fisher, Sgt. Alexander Hollfelder, nurse Jessica Hosfelt, correctional officer Sarah Ransbottom, Sgt. Jeramie Chalker, nurse Gwendolyn Vick and Sgt. Tanner Leopold.

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Ransbotton, Hepp, Fisher and Russell each pleaded no contest to one or more charges of violating the law governing a state or county institution after each originally was charged with one or more felonies.

In the time leading up to Maiers death, Ransbottom reported in the log that she completed rounds that surveillance footage showed she did not complete, according to a criminal complaint.

Fisher pled no contest to two counts of violating the law governing a state or county institution, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. He has a sentencing hearing scheduled for May 29. The complaint said Fisher did not act on information he received to further investigate Maiers condition or well-being.

In an incident report, Fisher wrote that the night before Williams death was reported, Leopold said he could see Williams breathing and slight movement of his head, but could not get a verbal response from him, the complaint said.

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Leopold reported that he told Fisher about the situation and was told that he had to contact the health services unit, so that they could determine whether it was necessary to assemble a team to remove Williams from his cell.

According to the complaint, Fisher told detectives that because (Williams) had a history of faking things, (Fisher) advised that a nurse should be contacted to visually look at him and see if there was a medical reason to pull him out of the cell, but if they dont have a reason, he didnt want to play games with (Williams) because he was attention seeking.

Nurse Megan Leberak came to Williams cell front and noted that he was breathing but would not respond. Leberak indicated that usually, when a cell entry is done, she would be called to come over after staff entered the cell, if there was a medical issue, the complaint said.

Leberak said she gave the go ahead for a cell entry to be conducted, but video footage showed Leopold, Fisher and nurse Gwendolyn Vick didnt check on Williams, the complaint said. Leberak was at the end of her shift, and reportedly gave an update to Vick, who was later criminally charged.

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Leopold said he received a call from Vick, telling him that entry wasnt necessary at that time and that they would wait, according to the complaint.

The case against Chalker was dismissed on a motion from the prosecution. Camera footage did not show Chalker completing 2:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. rounds on one day, contrary to what Chalker had logged, according to the criminal complaint. The Journal Sentinel reported that prosecutors said the investigation determined Chalkers superior officer had instructed Chalker to fill out the rounds sheets.

The case against Hollfelder was also dismissed on a motion from the prosecution. The Journal Sentinel reported that they determined Hollfelder properly communicated concerns to his supervisor and a member of the health services unit, and had limited contact with Maier because of time he spent off work on family and medical leave.

Cases against Leopold, Vick and Hosfelt are still active. Each is charged with neglecting someone confined in a correctional institution, which is a felony. Vick has a trial scheduled for May, while Hosfelt has a scheduling conference on March 27 and Leopold has a scheduling conference on March 23.

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March 15 (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday he had asked Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to put an immediate end to attacks against countries in the Middle East whether directly or through proxies, including in Lebanon and Iraq.

"I reminded him that France is acting within a strictly defensive framework aimed at protecting its interests, its regional partners, and freedom of navigation, and that it is unacceptable for our country to be targeted," Macron said in a post on X.

Macron also stressed the need for freedom of navigation to resume in the Strait of Hormuz.

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"Freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz must be restored as soon as possible," he said.

The French president said lasting stability would require a new political and security framework addressing concerns over Iran's nuclear ambitions, ballistic missile programme and regional activities.

"Only a new political and security framework can ensure peace and security for all," Macron said, adding that such an arrangement must guarantee Iran never acquires nuclear weapons.

(Reporting by Rhea Rose Abraham in Bengaluru; Editing by Will Dunham and Tom Hogue)
A year ago, gold was trading around $2,900 an ounce. Since then, central banks have been buying at a pace not seen in decades, with China's central bank adding gold for 15 consecutive months and countries like India and Poland building reserves alongside it. By late January, gold had already surged past $5,000 and hit an all-time high of $5,595 on January 29. When the U.S. and Israel launched strikes against Iran on February 28, gold jumped another 2% in a single session, from roughly $5,100 to above $5,300, as investors piled into the one asset that has always worked during wartime.

Most Americans drastically underestimate how much they need to retire and overestimate how prepared they are. But data shows that people with one habit have more than double the savings of those who dont.

The conventional belief is that gold is the real store of value and Bitcoin is not due to its high level of volatility. But JPMorgan recently argued the opposite, saying Bitcoin's volatility relative to gold has dropped to a record low and that BTC is now "more attractive than gold" as a long-term investment. The bank put a $266,000 long-term price target on Bitcoin, while acknowledging it might not happen anytime soon.

Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) and Gold are the two most recognized store-of-value assets in the world. Both are built on the promise of holding value when everything else falls, but they are moving in completely opposite directions right now. Gold is trading near $5,200 an ounce after climbing 77% over the past year, hitting an all-time high of $5,595 in January. Bitcoin on the other hand, is at $70,000 after falling 47% from its own all-time high of $126,000 set in October 2025.

Goldman Sachs raised its year-end gold target to $5,400 per ounce and points to golds track record of never losing more than 45% in a single drawdown compared to Bitcoins four drops exceeding 50% since 2017.

JPMorgan argues Bitcoin is now more attractive than gold long-term because the volatility ratio between the two has dropped to a record low of 1.5, and BTC at $70,000 sits below its estimated $87,000 production cost.

Gold hit an all-time high of $5,595 in January 2026 and is up 77% over the past year, while Bitcoin is down 47% from its October 2025 peak of $126,000 and trading around $70,000.

Story Continues

Bitcoin was supposed to benefit from the same kind of uncertainty. It has a fixed supply of 21 million coinsmeaning no central bank can print more of itand its supporters have long called it "digital gold." But when the Iran strikes hit on February 28, Bitcoin dropped from $66,000 to $63,000 in a single session while gold surged by over $200. Bitcoin ETFs have now bled roughly $3.8 billion in net outflows in 2026, with February alone marking the worst single month since these products launched in January 2024. Gold-backed ETFs moved in the opposite direction, with SPDR Gold Trust and iShares Gold Trust pulling in fresh capital as the war premium drove institutional demand for physical gold exposure.

Gold is up 77% over the past 12 months while Bitcoin is down 47% from its October high and roughly 25% below where it started the year. The last time gold and Bitcoin diverged this sharply was early 2020, and Bitcoin went on to rally over 1,000% in the two years that followedJPMorgan thinks a similar setup may be forming now.

Wall Street Is Split: JPMorgan Picks Bitcoin While Goldman Picks Gold

Ink Drop / Shutterstock.com  Ink Drop / Shutterstock.com

JPMorgan's quantitative strategist, Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou, argued in a February note that Bitcoin is now more attractive than gold over the long term. His reasoning is that gold has actually gotten more volatile than Bitcoin. He also points that golds 77% rally came with wider and more frequent price swings, while Bitcoin's volatility has been fallingand that the ratio between the two has dropped to about 1.5, which is a record low.

If Bitcoin is now closer to gold in terms of volatility, JPMorgan argues it should also be closer in terms of how much money is invested in it. Right now, roughly $8 trillion in private sector capital sits in gold through ETFs, bars, and coins. For Bitcoin to match that level of investment, JPMorgan forecasts its price would need to reach $266,000.

On top of that, BTC is trading below its estimated production cost of $87,000what it costs miners on average to produce one coinand every time that's happened in past cycles, the price eventually recovered. The bank's own commodity team projects gold at $6,300 by year-end, which is about 21% upside from $5,200. Compare that to the 280% implied by their $266,000 Bitcoin target from current levels near $70,000, and it's clear which asset JPMorgan thinks has more room to move.

As JPMorgan argues Bitcoin is the better bet, Goldman Sachs believes otherwise. The bank raised its year-end gold price target to $5,400 per ounce in January, which from $5,200 today still implies upside with room to run further as central banks keep buying. Goldman's reasoning is that central banks are still buying gold at a pace not seen in decades and that gold doesn't need Bitcoin-style volatility to deliver strong returns.

Gold has also never lost more than 45% of its value in a single drawdown, while Bitcoin has dropped over 50% four times since 2017. For Goldman, the consistency is what makes gold a safer long-term hold compared to BTC.

Bitcoin or Gold: Which One Makes More Sense Over the Next 5 Years

Bitcoin has more room to run from $70,000 than gold does from $5,200, but you'd have to hold through 40-50% drawdowns to get there. Gold doesn't ask that of you. The thing is, gold has sharply outperformed Bitcoin before, in 2015 and again in early 2020, and both times Bitcoin eventually caught up and blew past itand the same type of gap is forming now.

Moreso, Bitcoin now has an institutional foundation that didn't exist during previous drawdowns, with spot ETFs holding over $100 billion in assets and Strategy alone sitting on 738,000 BTC. If the institutional floor is strong enough to drive a recovery once the macro pressure eases, buying Bitcoin at $70,000 with JPMorgan's $266,000 long-term target on the table could end up being one of the better entry points of this cycle. If not, gold at $5,200 with JPMorgan projecting $6,300 to $8,000 and central banks still loading up was the right call all along.

Data Shows One Habit Doubles Americans Savings And Boosts Retirement

Most Americans drastically underestimate how much they need to retire and overestimate how prepared they are. But data shows that people with one habit have more than double the savings of those who dont.

And no, its got nothing to do with increasing your income, savings, clipping coupons, or even cutting back on your lifestyle. Its much more straightforward (and powerful) than any of that. Frankly, its shocking more people dont adopt the habit given how easy it is.
There are three poles on which the Middle East stands: the Arab nation states, Turkey and Iran.

For the West and Israel to hold influence in the region, we need two poles on our side. In this delicate balance of power, thus far we have successfully isolated Iran since the 1979 Islamist revolution. But the talk of a new cold war from Israeli politicians against Turkey risks wrecking this formula. Worse, this thinking fails to understand Turkey and does Irans bidding.

To an American audience, potential Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett last month declared that a new Turkish threat is emerging. Several days ago, Bennett again warned Turkey that after Iran, we wont stay idle. Former Israeli defence minister, Yoav Gallant, another possible runner for prime minister, also views Turkey in hostile terms.

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Turkey and Iran are rivals. They have been fighting a cold war for decades as champions of competing claims of leadership of over 1.8 billion Muslims around the world. Turkey is a Sunni Muslim nation of 86 million, inheritor of the Ottoman Empire, and faces East (Russia) and West (Balkans). Iran is a Shiite nation of 92m and the result of the Safavid Empire. For almost three centuries, these empires were at war. Now, their successor states continue that bitter rivalry.

Israeli threats in the past could have been interpreted as politicking, but after the Israeli attack on Doha, Qatar, targeting Hamas officials, there is deep concern across the Middle East that no nation is safe. Israel desperately needs Turkey and Arab nations as allies for it cannot secure its existence by enraging all. Indeed, Turkey has deeper strategic interests that outweigh tactical support for Hamas.

Turkey is a vital Nato ally, its second largest army, and producer of advanced drone technology. Donald Trump also enjoys a deep friendship with the Turkeys president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, one of the few leaders who stayed in touch with the US president during his legal battles and isolation. Trump is said to have been impressed with Erdogans removal of Bashar Al-Assad in Syria and the instating of Ahmed Al-Shara. Turkey dismantled a pro-Iran regime in Syria.

Unlike Iran, Turkey and Israel maintain diplomatic relations. Turks holiday in Israel and vice versa. Erdogan has met Benjamin Netanyahu multiple times. In Iran, hatred for Israel is state doctrine as is calling for the Jewish states destruction. In Turkey, the collective memory of the nation frequently recalls that, when Isabella and Ferdinand expelled Jews from Spain, the Ottomans sent their navy to rescue Jewish people. When the modern Jewish state was founded, Turkey recognised Israel in 1949, the first Muslim nation to do so. Relations are now strained, but friends of Israel must help change that course.

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Iran fears Turkey more than it does Israel. As we have seen so far, Israel has no domestic leverage in Iran. The previous supreme leader and his successor are both Azeri Turks. Approximately a quarter of the population of Iran today is Azeri with deep linguistic, cultural, and familial ties to Azerbaijan, northern neighbour of Iran. Azerbaijan and Turkey are, in turn, family members among nation states. Turkey has tentacles inside Irans population and the ability to harm its cohesion. Increasing tensions with Turkey would guarantee the loss of Israels relations with Azerbaijan.

Israel is fighting a multi-front war in Iran, Syria, Yemen, Gaza, and the West Bank, and suffering from the trauma of October 7. Rather than tilt the Turks and Iranians both against Israel, it is to Israels benefit to carry Turkey and the Arab nations with it towards a plain of coexistence. There are 400m Sunni Arabs in the Middle East, with 21 nation states, increasingly led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE. This is a new dynamic where power has shifted from Damascus, Baghdad and Cairo. The Sunni Arabs outnumber Iran, Turkey and Israel combined. They also have links to the wider Sunni Muslim world of 50-plus nations where the Shiite population is only 15 percent.

Arnold Toynbee wrote of creative minorities, a small elite group of leaders who in his A Study of History guide civilisations through crises by devising innovative solutions. The UAE is leading that creative minority in the Middle East, and the Abraham Accords are a standing testament to that new thinking. Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, the president of the UAE, has also had his disagreements with Turkey over the Muslim Brotherhood. But the UAE and others would be forced to side with Turkey in any possible conflict with Israel. This only would strengthen Iran and its Hamas proxies and further isolate Israel.

Shiite extremism is on the rise. The fanatics have vowed revenge after the killing of Irans supreme leader. Hezbollah and the Houthis are only two manifestations. For Israels own security, the safety of the wider West and our Arab allies, deeper diplomacy with Turkey is more promising than greater hostility. President Erdogan is a listener in every meeting I have participated. Whoever wins the election in Israel, Erdogan will be listening, as will be Arab leaders, for a pathway to a Palestinian homeland that is not a threat to Israel. That pursuit will secure Israel.

Ed Husain is a senior fellow at the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations and a professor of international relations at Columbia University in New York and Georgetown University in Washington DC

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Its tempting to think that a gas station charging more than $8 a gallon is a glamorous Los Angeles curiosity. Sort of like shopping at Erewhon, the healthy grocery chain that wows with a premium experience  and commands up to $22 a smoothie.

But theres no glamour at the 901 N Alameda Street station. Its just a dingy Chevron on the edge of LAs Chinatown, regularly featured in news stories to illustrate the high cost of fuel in California. Midday on Tuesday, the station charged $8.31 for a gallon of regular gas.

The price of gasoline has spiked since the US and Israel attacked Iran, according to AAA data. But the Alameda Street station is an outlier: in Los Angeles, the average price hovers at about $5.37.

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Related: I dont give a shit about Iran. I dont want to pay higher gas: Motor City motorists feel pinch as gas prices surge

An attendant who did not want to be identified said the stations outsized prices are because of its downtown location. But when asked why stations barely two miles away sold gas for much less, she demurred.

Unsurprisingly, the station sat largely deserted. An unhoused man bought a bottle of Pepsi. Two cars approached the pumps and drove away. Only a couple of customers bought gas during a 40-minute period. One was a frazzled woman in a black SUV with Nevada plates. She quickly pumped some fuel and peeled off toward Union Station, about two blocks away. The other was Alex Markarian, who works at the LA county assessors office near Grand Park.

Really, I didnt pay attention to the price when I drove in, he said. Markarian expressed regret he didnt wake in time to fill his Prius near his home in Pomona before heading to the office. He ended up pumping 4.1 gallons  plenty to safely get back  and paid $34.56. Where I live its cheaper by at least $3 a gallon, he said. He calculated he paid a $12 tax for just being lazy.

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A content creator showed up and started shooting footage. The attendant declined to offer the owners contact information and said they were not interested in interviews. This is private property, she said.

Soon, a police cruiser appeared with lights on. The content creator adjourned to the public sidewalk.

The Chevron station is owned by Joe Bezerra Jrs Hawk II Environmental Group. Public records indicate the Bezerra family has long operated independent fuel stations in southern California. Attempts to contact Bezerra and other family members were unsuccessful.

Online reviews indicate Hawk II may have a habit of rubbing customers the wrong way. A mail carrier blasted its Hacienda Heights station for charging him $1 for a small amount of ice. Others complained about exorbitant gas prices in various locales. One reviewer called the Alameda station a scam. Some would-be customers have alleged its a grift or price gouging.

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High prices may be galling at this station, but they probably arent illegal, says LA county department of consumer and business affairs spokesperson Keven Chavez. Businesses can charge high prices, or even substantially raise them, and it is likely not considered a price gouging violation unless those increases are due to a declared federal, state or local emergency.

AAA spokesperson Kandace Redd also said its no crime  and no surprise  when gas stations near each other charge varied prices. [Prices] can depend on factors such as traffic, rent or where the station gets its fuel, said Redd. Gas stations in busy areas, such as near highways, airports, tourist destinations or downtown districts, often charge higher prices.

Indeed, Bezzeras Chevron is wedged between touristy Olvera Street and Philippe the Original, an LA institution famous for its French dip sandwiches. The higher cost could be because rent and operating costs are more in this location, notes Redd.

Furthermore, come spring, California stations are compelled to switch to a summer blend gas formula, which is more environmentally friendly for warm weather  but also costlier to produce. Naturally, the cost increase is passed along to the consumer. Redd suggests comparison shopping with AAAs free app, which shows where stations are located and how much theyre charging in real time.

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While few have the stomach to empathize with a hawkish proprietor, it is also worth noting that station owners generally realize slim margins on gas, just pennies per gallon. In California, nearly 90 cents on each gallon goes to a combination of local, state and federal taxes. Most of the rest goes to the oil producer, as well as costs associated with refining, distributing and marketing the gasoline, according to the National Association of Convenience Stores  a trade group representing the gas station and convenience store industry. On the other hand, proprietors rake it in on drinks and snack foods. Profit margins can easily exceed 40%.

The downtown Chevron potentially made more on the unhoused mans Pepsi purchase than it did on Markarians fuel. But this doesnt make Markarian feel any better.

I wont be stopping for gas here again, thats for sure, he said.
The German government on Monday expressed great concern about Israel's attacks on Lebanon, calling on the country not to expand its ground operations after cross-border fighting between the two neighbours flared up again amid the war in Iran.

"The situation in this part of the war zone fills us with concern, as we see preparations for a major Israeli ground offensive," government spokesman Stefan Kornelius in Berlin.

Such a move would "significantly worsen the already tense humanitarian situation in the region [...] and lead to a further increase in displaced people," Kornelius said.

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"We are urging our Israeli friends not to go down this path, and are in contact to convey this message," he added.

Germany strongly condemns the fact that the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement resumed attacks against Israel following the start of joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran last month, Kornelius said.

He called on Hezbollah to cease fighting and lay down its arms, and welcomed diplomatic efforts to facilitate new talks between Israel and Lebanon.

Berlin also calls on Israel to refrain from attacking civilian targets and the UN observer mission in Lebanon, the spokesman said.

The Israeli military on Monday confirmed it has begun "limited and targeted ground operations" in southern Lebanon to target active Hezbollah members and infrastructure as the war in the Middle East continues to expand.
Germanys defense minister on Monday rebuffed calls from U.S. President Trump to send ships to unblock the Strait of Hormuz, telling reporters this is not our war.

Trump has called on allies, including those in NATO, for military support to keep the vital shipping route open. Iran has effectively closed the strait for the past two weeks in response to the U.S.-Israeli war on Tehran, using missiles, drones and mines to attack oil tankers trying to get through.

What does  Donald Trump expect a handful or two handfuls of European frigates to do in the Strait of Hormuz that the powerful U.S. Navy cannot do? Boris Pistorius said in Berlin, as reported by Reuters. This is not our war, we have not started it.

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Trump on Sunday said he is in talks with about seven countries on policing the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly one-fifth of the worlds oil supply flows.

A day earlier on Saturday, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that China, France, Japan, the United Kingdom, South Korea and other countries affected by this artificial constraint should send ships to police the strait.

Over the last 24 hours, zero ships have made it through the waterway, down significantly from the typical daily average of 60 ships, according to hormuzstraitmonitor.com.

In an interview with the Financial Times on Sunday, Trump also warned that the NATO alliance faces a very bad future if they do not help keep the Strait of Hormuz open.

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Its only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries of the strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there, Trump said.

But countries have remained noncommittal, with Germany outright rejecting any calls to help.

Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said in an interview with Germanys ARD television on Sunday that he was very skeptical that sending German ships to the strait would provide greater security.

And government spokesperson Stefan Kornelius said the conflict has nothing to do with NATO.

Neither the United States nor Israel consulted us before the war, and . . . Washington explicitly stated at the outset of the war that European assistance was neither necessary nor desired, he said.

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Pistorius downplayed Trumps threat to NATO over the issue, telling reporters he didnt think it would lead to a breakdown of the alliance.

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Germany has rejected President Trumps request for them to join his war on Iran while the United States flounders in controlling the vital Strait of Hormuz.

What does Trump expect a handful of European frigates to do that the powerful U.S. Navy cannot? German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said on Monday. This is not our war, and we didnt start it.

Neither the United States nor Israel consulted us before the war, and ... Washington explicitly stated at the outset of the war that European assistance was neither necessary nor desired, German spokesperson Stefan Kornelius added.

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Germany is the latest Western ally to rebuke Trump as he struggles to rein in surging oil prices caused by Irans retaliatory blockade of the strait. French President Emmanuel Macron told Trump the French Navy would only get involved after the situation calms, and U.K., Polish, and Spanish leaders have completely rebuked the president.

Germanys reaction, along with those of various other European countries, underscores just how little support Trumps war has with longtime U.S. alliesand understandably so. The Trump administration has spent over a year demeaning, attacking, and demanding more of European leaders. Begging them to cobble together some kind of save the oil coalition at the last minute seems like a Hail Mary in every sense.
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has called for a swift end to the war in Iran and warned of the risk of the conflict escalating.

At the same time, Steinmeier emphasized that this war "was launched on dubious grounds under international law." He also considers the military conflict to be politically disastrous.

"And a further escalation of the war would be just as disastrous, for which we have indeed seen many signs in recent days," Steinmeier said on Monday in Panama City, the first stop on a five-day tour of Latin America.

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According to the information available, Iran has very extensive capabilities to disrupt the Strait of Hormuz over the long term using low-intensity military means, Steinmeier pointed out.

"We should therefore bring the hostilities to an end as soon as possible and, above all, work towards this with all parties involved," the German head of state asserted.

He recalled that, as foreign minister, he had helped to eliminate the threat from Iran through political means.

This had been achieved with the Iran nuclear deal reached in 2015 by Iran and China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States and Germany.

"And then President (Donald) Trump withdrew from this agreement during his first term in office," he added.
President Donald Trump is bringing back 2020. Many Republicans wish he wouldn't.

Conversations with nearly a dozen GOP state and county chairs and strategists reveal a party largely eager to move on from relitigating Trumps election grievances, which theyre worried may detract from an economic message that actually motivates voters. But the president wont let it go, subpoenaing 2020 election records and putting pressure on lawmakers to pass legislation to overhaul voter registration laws.

As Republicans stare down a treacherous midterm landscape, there's a growing view inside the party that focusing on stolen election claims and voter fraud will kneecap them in the general election: That messaging might play well with the MAGA base in the primary, but it could alienate moderates tired of rehashing an election from nearly six years ago.

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Im always one to believe you should look forward, not backward, said Charlie Gerow, a Pennsylvania-based GOP strategist and Trump convention delegate who hosted a meeting of fake electors in 2020 at his Harrisburg-based public affairs firm. It would be better if the midterms focused on the recovery of the economy and all the good things the Republican administration and Congress are doing to move the economy forward.

In recent weeks, Trump has turned his sights on Maricopa County  Arizona's largest county  subpoenaing records just weeks after the FBI raided an elections office outside Atlanta. He has revisited grievances that the 2020 election was rigged, suggested Republicans should nationalize elections and is demanding that lawmakers make passing the SAVE America Act, which would put in place stricter voting requirements, their No. 1 priority.

Part of me understands it, and part of me just wants to move forward, said Todd Gillman, chair of the Monroe County Republican Party in Michigan.

Focus on the things that matter to everybody throughout the whole country, he said, or were going to have a problem in a few months.

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Trump does have backing from a number of Republicans, including some battleground-state GOP chairs who are not only embracing the presidents election probe, but openly encouraging his administration to audit their states records as they continue to push allegations of fraud from 2020.

Bruce Parks, the chair of the Washoe County, Nevada, GOP, said he would absolutely welcome a probe into his county and Clark County, the two largest in the state. And Jim Runestad, the chair of the Michigan Republican Party, suggested a review of records in Detroit, long a focal point of Trumps 2020 election conspiracies.

Theres no problem at taking a look at this and making sure everybodys comfortable, Runestad said.

Still, others say the risk is that voters simply dont care  or have moved on. Republicans, including Trumps own advisers, increasingly want him to focus on the economy ahead of the midterms.

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That comes as polling repeatedly shows that economic issues  not election issues  top voters list of concerns. In a February POLITICO Poll, more than half of all Americans  52 percent  said the cost of living was a top issue facing the U.S. By comparison, less than a quarter  23 percent  said a top issue was the U.S. democracy being under threat, a view held predominately by Democrats.

Those cost of living worries are now being exacerbated by Trumps war in Iran, which is driving up gas prices and wreaking global economic havoc as it enters its third week.

The White House said Trumps efforts are aimed at restoring confidence in elections and reiterated the importance of passing the SAVE Act.

[Trump] is committed to ensuring that Americans have full confidence in the administration of elections, and that includes totally accurate and up-to-date voter rolls free of errors and unlawfully registered non-citizen voters, spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement.

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Buzz Brockway, a GOP strategist and former state representative in Georgia, called election issues a huge distraction, adding: Nobody outside of a small dedicated group are talking about this, they're talking about the economy, they're talking about, now, the price of oil.

In Georgia, long an epicenter of Trumps repeated efforts to litigate the 2020 election, some Republicans say voters are now largely immune to the issue thats been rehashed endlessly for the past five years.

Some state-level GOP officials are hoping Congress passes the SAVE Act  despite the reluctance of many Republican lawmakers  so it will give them enough cover with MAGA voters but allow them to avoid talking about election issues themselves.

While Trumps stolen election claims may still be a driving force for some primary voters, the general electorate is focused elsewhere. And if Republicans make those grievances central to their midterm message, they risk falling into a similar trap Democrats confronted during the 2024 presidential election  when former Vice President Kamala Harris warnings about democracy won over already loyal Democrats but failed to sway enough of the swing voters she needed to clinch the presidency.

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Youve got to at least touch that base, said one Georgia-based GOP strategist, granted anonymity to speak candidly. But once youve got the nomination, then I think it really collapses down into economic issues.

That dynamic can create a political conundrum for Republican candidates.

A savvy Democrat will put a candidate on the spot and say, You agree with [Trump], don't you? and make a mess, Brockway said. Republicans have got to figure out a way to deflect that question somehow, in a plausible way that doesn't alienate this loud minority.
Gulf countries reported new attacks Sunday morning, a day after Iran called for the evacuation of three major ports in the UAE

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright has said the war could be over within weeks, while Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that Tehran hasn't asked for a ceasefire

Israeli strikes have deepened Lebanon's humanitarian crisis, with more than 800 people killed and over 850,000 displaced

US President Donald Trump has called on allies, including the UK, to send warships to help secure the vital Strait of Hormuz

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted a video of himself in a coffee shop to refute online rumours that he had died in the war

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said he sees no reason to negotiate with Washington, as the war in the Middle East entered its third week.

Speaking to CBS Face The Nation on Sunday, Araghchi said that Tehran hasn't asked for a ceasefire, or negotiations to be conducted between Iran, and the US and Israel.

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He also said that this is a war of choice by US President Donald Trump, and that Tehran will continue its self-defence.

It comes as US Energy Secretary Chris Wright says the war could be over within weeks.

"I think that's the likely timeframe," he told NBC News.

"I think the president came out early on saying he expected the need for four to six weeks to completely defang Iran's military capabilities."

UK 'discussing options' to help US secure Strait of Hormuz

Starmer and Trump discuss importance of reopening Strait of Hormuz

On Sunday, the Israeli military said it began a broad wave of strikes on western Iran while missile and drone interceptions have been reported again in Gulf states.

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The war, which began after Israel and the United States attacked Iran on February 28, has upended global air travel, disrupted oil exports from the region and sent fuel prices rising across the world.

Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates warned residents on Sunday that they were working to intercept incoming projectiles, a day after Iran called for the evacuations of three major UAE ports, threatening for the first time a neighbouring countrys non-US assets.

Iran earlier accused the US of using ports, docks and hideouts in the UAE to launch strikes on Kharg Island, home to the main terminal handling Irans oil exports, without providing evidence.

The UAE and other Gulf countries that host US bases have denied allowing their land or airspace to be used for military operations against Iran.

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Iranian strikes have killed at least a dozen civilians in Gulf states, most of them migrant workers.

In Iran, the International Committee for the Red Cross said more than 1,300 people have been killed so far, while in Israel, 12 people were reported dead by Iranian missile fire, according to the national rescue service Magen David Adom.

At least 13 members of the US military have been killed since the war began, including seven in combat and six who died in a plane crash over Iraq last week.

A fire and plume of smoke rise after, according to authorities. debris from an intercepted Iranian drone struck an oil facility in the UAE. Credit: AP

Southern Beirut ravaged by overnight strikes

Continued Israeli strikes overnight have deepened Lebanon's humanitarian crisis, with more than 800 people killed and over 850,000 displaced.

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Collapsed concrete, steel bars and sheets of plastic spilled onto the streets of southern Beirut Sunday morning.

Smoke rose into the air and small fires burned in the city's suburb of Haret Hreik.

Israeli strikes have killed 826 people, including 106 children and 65 women, since the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel reignited on March 2, according to the Health Ministry.

Israeli soldiers fire on family car in West Bank killing four

Israeli soldiers fired on a car carrying a family in the northern West Bank, killing four people, including two children, the Palestinian Authoritys Health Ministry said.

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The Palestinian Red Crescent rescue service said that Ali and Waed Odeh, and two of their four children, were shot in the head.

The Odehs two surviving children had shrapnel wounds that were examined by first responders once they were granted access, the group said, accusing Israel of delaying ambulances dispatched to the scene.

Israels military and police said in a joint statement on Sunday that forces opened fire after a car accelerated toward them in Tammun. They said the forces were pursuing suspects accused of terrorist activity and that the shooting was under investigation.

Israeli soldiers accused of harming Palestinians are rarely penalized and were indicted in fewer than 1% of cases based on 2,427 complaints alleging wrongdoing between 2016 and 2024, according to Israeli rights group Yesh Din.

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Tel Aviv cleans up after multiple impacts

Police and city workers scoured the area of what appeared to be a cluster munition impact in Tel Aviv on Sunday, attempting to locate and clear any unexploded ordnance.

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City workers used street sweepers and power washers to hose down an area where a small munition damaged two cars and spread shrapnel across a small park.

The impact also left a hole in the pavement, next to a bomb shelter that serves as a youth center at the local swimming pool. Within 90 minutes, bulldozers and other heavy equipment arrived to clear debris and patch the hole.

Israel police said there were a number of impact sites in the greater Tel Aviv area after Sundays attacks that left four people injured, one moderately.

Trump urges allies to send warships to Strait of Hormuz

As global anxiety soars over oil prices and supplies, Trump said on Saturday that he hopes China, France, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom and others send warships to keep the Strait of Hormuz open and safe.

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Britain, in response, said it was discussing with allies a range of options, which reportedly include the use of minehunting drones, to secure shipping.

Araghchi, in a social media post, urged neighbours to expel foreign aggressors and described Trumps call as begging.

Irans joint military command has reiterated its threat to attack US-linked oil, economic and energy infrastructures in the region if the Islamic Republics oil infrastructure is hit.

Netanyahu posts coffee shop video to refute rumours of his death

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu published a video on Sunday to refute false claims on social media that he was killed in the country's war with Iran.In the video, Netanyahu can be seen at a coffee shop being asked if he had seen the rumours of his supposed death.

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Social media users had honed in on an official video earlier this week, claiming that a shadow beneath one of his fingers was actually a sixth finger that proved AI manipulation of the video.In the video released Sunday, Netanyahu held up his hand and asked people to count his fingers. He also included a message to citizens to stay near bomb shelters and obey the instructions to enter them when sirens sound.

Another attack on the US Embassy in Baghdad

A missile struck a helipad inside the US Embassy compound in Baghdad late on Saturday.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. The embassy complex, one of the largest US diplomatic facilities in the world, has been repeatedly targeted by rockets and drones fired by Iran-aligned militias.

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The State Department again warned citizens in Iraq to leave now, and by land since commercial flights were not available.

It noted that Iran and Iran-aligned militia groups may continue to target US citizens, interests and infrastructure.

From Westminster to Washington DC - our political experts are across all the latest key talking points. Listen to the latest episode below...
Crypto trading and liquidity provider BlockFills confirmed Sunday that its operator, Reliz Ltd., has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Delaware alongside three affiliated entities.

BlockFills said the Chapter 11 process will allow the business to pursue a restructuring while working with clients, creditors, and investors to stabilize operations and explore additional sources of liquidity.

The companys announcement follows a February lawsuit from creditor Dominion Capital that prompted a federal judge in New York to freeze Bitcoin tied to a client dispute and order the firm to account for and segregate customer funds.

Dominion Capital alleged that BlockFills misappropriated and commingled customer crypto assets, concealed losses, and refused to return funds after suspending withdrawals.

BlockFills allegedly admitted during calls with clients in early February this year that customer assets were pooled with company funds on a single balance sheet. The firm also purportedly told clients that the practice had left it with a balance sheet shortfall of about $77 million as of the end of 2025.

Dominion further alleged that BlockFills used the pooled customer assets to cover company expenses and losses, including costs tied to crypto mining operations, mining equipment purchases, and settlements and loans involving other crypto firms.

Dominion claimed it held 70.5 BTC on BlockFills platform when withdrawals were halted and later sought an asset freeze to protect those funds.

Earlier this month, a federal judge in New York issued a temporary restraining order freezing the assets, valued at roughly $4.8 million at the time, and directed the firm to account for and segregate customer funds while the case proceeds.

Decrypt has reached out to both parties for comment.

Bitcoin on Exchanges Can Be Legally Seized in South Korea, Supreme Court Affirms

Middle zone

Legal observers say the case raises questions about how institutional crypto trading venues handle customer assets and what protections clients have when those firms fail.

The case is structurally similar to what regulators alleged in the FTX collapse, but on a much smaller scale, Andrew Rossow, public affairs attorney and CEO of AR Media Consulting, told Decrypt.

The FTX case, which ended with the exchanges collapse and criminal fraud convictions against former executives, showed how crypto trading venues that lack mandatory customer asset segregation rules can expose clients to losses if company funds and customer deposits are mixed, Rossow explained.

BlockFills occupied a middle zoneinstitutional-facing, custody-adjacent, but not a registered broker-dealer in the traditional sense, he noted.
Cryptocurrency supporters in Washington have spent the last four years working to rinse the stench of Sam Bankman-Fried off of legislative efforts that could legitimize digital assets.

Now, as the convicted former crypto tycoon publicly vies for a pardon, the industrys leading cheerleaders in Congress are urging President Donald Trump not to take the bait.

Bankman-Fried, who was convicted in 2023 on fraud charges after his FTX crypto exchange collapsed, has been heaping praise on Trump and claiming on social media in recent months that his exchange was solvent  apparently part of a brazen campaign to win a pardon from the president.

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Crypto supporters arent buying it.

The guys a piece of shit, said Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), a longtime crypto enthusiast who has championed industry-friendly legislation. The guy shouldnt be pardoned. The guy should go to jail for a long, long time.

On X, Bankman-Frieds account has lauded the Trump administrations drug pricing initiative, praised his management of the economy and touted the president as a savior for the crypto sector. The one-time crypto wunderkind has also sat for a jailhouse interview with Tucker Carlson. He has blamed his conviction on Bidens lawfare machine, likening it to the Justice Departments indictments of Trump after he left office the first time.

(The X posts are SBF's words but posted through a proxy, according to the accounts biography, which says he can use Bureau of Prisons-approved phone calls / emails to tell others what to post on our socials.)

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None of it is winning him any favor among Trump allies on Capitol Hill.

I hope the president doesnt fall for that, said Sen. Cynthia Lummis, a Wyoming Republican whos been dubbed the Senates crypto queen. He hurt a lot of people. He should have to spend some time contemplating that.

Rep. Mike Flood of Nebraska, an up-and-coming Republican on the House Financial Services Committee, was taken aback when told about Bankman-Frieds campaign.

He crashed the car, man. He engaged in massive fraud, he said. Wall Streets not needing him back to fix any problems. He helped us identify a problem by committing a massive amount of fraud  and we rewarded him with a long stay in a federal prison.

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Lawyers representing Bankman-Fried did not respond to a request for comment.

The brazen pardon push remains a long-shot: Trump told The New York Times in January that he does not plan to pardon Bankman-Fried, and there is nothing to suggest his position has changed. But the effort comes after an array of white-collar criminals have won pardons from Trump  some after waging high-dollar influence campaigns. The White House did not respond to a request for comment about a potential pardon.

Democrats have seized on Trumps use of the pardon power as corrupt. Asked about the possibility of an SBF pardon, Rep. Sam Liccardo, a crypto-friendly California Democrat, said that precedent has amply demonstrated that if Sam Bankman-Fried or his friends commit to donate a sufficiently large plaque in the new White House ballroom, he will get pardoned.

Trump has also pardoned several controversial figures in the crypto world, including Changpeng Zhao, the former CEO of the crypto exchange Binance, who pleaded guilty in 2023 to money laundering-related charges. On his second day in office, he fulfilled a campaign promise to free Ross Ulbricht, the founder of an online illegal marketplace known as Silk Road.

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He faced little pushback from his own party for those moves. But Republicans see any link to SBF, whose crimes helped crash the crypto market and became synonymous with the risks associated with the industry, as a threat to their digital asset agenda.

Lummis, who is helping to negotiate a landmark rewrite of Wall Street regulations to accommodate crypto trading in the Senate, publicly rejected SBFs endorsement of the legislative effort on X.

I worked so hard trying to separate the fraudster from the means he used that I just dont even want him to rear his ugly head in this argument, she said in an interview. Because he does muddy the water.
The secret letter follows a more public statement made by Hamas on Saturday, in which the terrorist group urged Iran not to target neighboring Gulf countries.

Hamas encouraged Iran to "activate all fronts" in a secret letter sent to the regime's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, KAN News reported on Sunday.

The secret letter followed a more public statement made by Hamas on Saturday, in which the terrorist group urged Iran not to target neighboring Gulf countries.

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"While the group affirms Iran's right to respond to this aggression by all available means in accordance with international norms and laws, it calls upon our brothers in Iran not to target neighboring countries," Hamas stated in its more measured public response.

The secret letter, on the other hand, presented a far less diplomatic face of Hamas, announcing its intention not to allow itself to be disarmed.

"The Hamas movement stands today with all its weight behind your wise leadership in the face of the 'Zionist-American' anarchy," Hamas proclaimed.

Hamas terrorists gather during a public event in Khan Younis, Gaza, on February 1, 2025. (credit: MOIZ SALHI/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

It also dismissed those Gulf countries that had undergone normalization processes with Israel, calling them part of a "losing camp."

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"They didn't even dare to protect those who found shelter in their bases," the letter said, seemingly mocking the Gulf countries, such as Yemen, in which US soldiers have been killed by Iranian missiles during Operation Epic Fury.

Hamas determined to see future victories under Iranian leadership

The letter also promised Hamas' unwavering support for Iran, alongside "our brothers in the resistance axis in Lebanon, Yemen, and Iraq."

"We'll forge, under your leadership, the next victories," Hamas told Khamenei in the letter.

The Israeli Foreign Affairs Ministry, responding to the letter on X/Twitter, pronounced it a "smoking gun."

"Proof the Palestinians betray their Arab brothers," it declared, pointing to Hamas calling other Gulf states "weak."
OLGE COUNTY, Ill (WTVO)  High winds Saturday morning caused a semi-truck to tip over in Ogle County.

According to the Ogle County Sheriffs Office, deputies were dispatched to the intersection of North Illinois Route 251 and East Scott Road around 6:25 a.m on March 14 to a rollover crash involving injuries.

Investigators say 66-year-old Jeffrey Meline of Byron, Illinois, was traveling southbound when extreme winds tipped the truck to its side.

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Meline was taken to a local hospital to be treated for minor injuries.

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to MyStateline | WTVO WQRF News, Weather and Sports.
Heres what you will learn when you read this story:

A figure in a photograph of an infamous WWII massacre known as The Last Jew in Vinnitsa has long gone unidentified.

Through years of research, AI-assisted photographic analysis, and archival images supplied by a distant relative, German historian Jurgen Matthaus was finally able to put a name to the gunman.

Jakobus Onnen, a former teacher and member of Einsatzgruppen C, has been identified as the Nazi gunman who posed for a photo during a massacre at the citadel of Berdychiv.

This story is a collaboration with Biography.com



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When Hannah Arendt reported on the trial of Adolf Eichmann in her landmark work Eichmann in Jerusalem, she coined the phrase banality of evil. She defined the concept as being that such remoteness from reality and such thoughtlessness can wreak more havoc than all the evil instincts taken together which, perhaps, are inherent in man.

Few photographs of the horrors of the Holocaust embody that idea quite like the image that was for a long time known simply as The Last Jew in Vinnitsa. The picture was once owned by Munich-Allach concentration camp survivor Al Moss, who provided it to the United Press to circulate in 1961, coinciding with Eichmanns trial. Moss insisted the image be seen, to know what went on in Eichmanns time.

United States Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs division

The photographdepicting a Nazi officer with a gun to the head of a man kneeling over a mass grave as other officers look onevokes an undeniable, visceral horror and an encapsulation of the totality of that banality of evil. But in terms of specifically what went on in the picture itself, that has been a mystery for decades.

No one in the photograph had been identified; they were faces without names. From their uniforms, it was evident they were members of the Einsatzgruppenthe Nazis mobile SS death squads. Somewhere along the line, the photograph came to be known as the Last Jew in Vinnitsa, allegedly because a different copy had the title inscribed on the back; though perhaps the attribution was merely inferred, as Einsatzgruppen C and D committed numerous massacres throughout Soviet Ukraine.

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But one historian has spent years trying to determine the identity of the man holding the gunthe cold-blooded, bespectacled killer in the infamous image. Now, thanks in part to AI-assisted analysis, the gunman has likely been identified as Jakobus Onnen, a teacher from Tichelwarf.

Onnen joined the party before Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor, becoming part of the Sturmabteilung (SA) in 1933, the year of the Reichstag fire. By 1934, and for the remainder of his life, Onnen was part of Einsatzgruppe C. This has all been known for some time.

But until now, it was not known that Jakobus Onnen was the trigger man in one of the most horrific images of World War II. We might never have known, if not for the dogged efforts of German historian Jurgen Matthaus.

Matthaus first breakthrough in researching the photograph was not identifying any of the figures, but instead, as The Guardian reports, identifying the date, location and unit involved in the mass shooting. Through carefully analyzing the background of the photograph and comparing it with 19th-century maps, contemporary photography, and modern overhead images from Google Earth, Matthaus was able to determine that the location of the photograph was not Vinnitsa at all, but rather the citadel of Berdychiv, a city 93 miles (150 kilometers) southwest of Kyiv.

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Matthaus was then able to establish the unit depicted as Einsatzgruppe C (previously the unit had been thought to be Einsatzgruppe D), which had been under the command of Otto Rasch. Through diligent research through dusty archives, Matthaus was then able to pinpoint the date of the massacre in the picture to July 28, 1941.

In 2024, Matthaus made these findings public in the German media. A reader came forward and said he believed, based on correspondence from the era in his familys possession, The Guardian reported, that the gunman could be his wifes uncle, Jakobus Onnen.

Matthaus pursued the lead, with his results now published in Zeitschrift fur Geschichtswissenschaft (Journal of Historical Studies). Onnens family had destroyed the letters Onnen had written home from the eastern front some time in the 1990s, but photographs of the man still existed. So, the distant relative provided the images to Matthaus.

There were visual similarities to the naked eye, but in order to solidify his certainty, Matthaus received assistance from the journalism group Bellingcat to submit the photographs, along with The Last Jew in Vinnitsa, for comparative AI analysis.

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The match, Matthaus said of the results, from everything I hear from the technical experts, is unusually high in terms of the percentage the algorithm throws out there.

The AI analysis alone wouldnt be enough to conclusively prove the identification, of course. This is clearly not the silver bulletthis is one tool among many, Matthaus noted, The human factor remains key. But combining that computer-driven confirmation with the copious amounts of circumstantial data Matthaus has collected over the years gave him the confidence to finally publish his findings.

That Jakobus Onnen is the man photographed holding the gun is no longer in dispute for Matthaus. But there is still the question of why he posed for the photograph at all. Motivation is one of the most difficult questions to answer, he said. The reason I think why he is posing there, the way he depicts himselfI think is meant to impress.

In posing for that photograph, Onnen was not merely following orders, nor was this cold-blooded killing even a means by which to advance his career. Participating in a killing like that was taken for granted and didnt give you any kind of bonus points in these murder units, Matthaus stressed. The ones he sought to impress, then, were likely the regular folks back at home. The regular, everyday people who, after the war, would try so hard to scrub any evidence of their knowledge of the horrors of the Holocaust, who would push the idea of the Clean Wehrmacht. The people who, in the 1990s, would burn all of Onnens letters to wipe away the dark past.

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But the photograph never went away, and now, slowly but surely, its story is coming into focus.

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A high wind warning and a flood watch are in effect in Massachusetts on Monday due to a windswept rainstorm that is expected to soak the region with on-and-off downpours over the next 24 hours, potentially knocking out power in some communities.

Track the storm on live radar

High wind warning

The National Weather Service issued the high wind warning for parts of Middlesex, Essex, Norfolk, Suffolk, Bristol, Plymouth, Barnstable, Dukes, and Nantucket counties from 5 p.m. Monday through 6 a.m. Tuesday.

Gusts will range from 30 to 40 mph during the day, but the evening and overnight hours will bring gusts of 55 to 65 mph, Boston 25 Meteorologist Shiri Spear.

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Damaging winds will blow down trees and power lines. Power outages are possible. Travel will be difficult, especially for high-profile vehicles, the NWS stated in the warning. Remain in the lower levels of your home during the windstorm, andavoid windows. Watch for falling debris and tree limbs. Use cautionif you must drive.

Central and western Massachusetts are under a wind advisory.

Flood watch

Parts of Franklin, Worcester, Essex, Middlesex, Hampshire, Hampden, Norfolk, Bristol, Plymouth, and Barnstable counties are under a flood watch through early Tuesday morning.

Flooding caused by heavy rainfall continues to be possible, the National Weather Service stated in its flood watch. Excessive runoff from heavy rainfall may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations. Flooding may occur in poor drainage and urban areas. Area creeks and streams are running high and could flood with more heavy rain.

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Spear warned Bay Staters to expect up to 3 inches of rain in some places, heavy at times, with the chance of embedded thunderstorms.

Hour-by-hour rain and wind gust timeline:

Check out the rain & wind gust forecast for the next 24 hours. On/off downpours. Winds peak overnight. @boston25 #mawx #boston pic.twitter.com/3rZ6VYoc9X  Shiri Spear (@ShiriSpear) March 16, 2026

For the latest forecast updates, visit the Boston 25 Weather page.

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
President Donald Trumps frustration over the worlds reluctance to join his war with Iran has found a new target: China.

The president, 79, is threatening to delay his scheduled trip to the country if Chinese leader Xi Jinping doesnt provide the United States with assistance in keeping the Strait of Hormuz open, according to comments he made in an interview with Financial Times.

President Donald Trump has been left red-faced after his push for allies in his war with Iran has fallen apart. / Andrew Harnik / Getty Images (Andrew Harnik)

The waterway is currently being blockaded by Iran, leaving roughly 20 percent of the worlds oil supply at a standstill and rapidly driving up the prices of gas and aviation fuel in America.

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Trump told the outlet that there is a long time until his Beijing summit, which is scheduled for March 31 to April 2, and that Washington wanted clarity on whether Xi would deploy ships to the narrow waterway vital to Chinas energy flows.

Its only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries of the Strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there, Trump said in the interview.

Trump and Xi engaged in a brief and voaltile trade war last year before calling a one-year truce. / Andrew Harnik / Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

The trip would be Trumps first visit to China in nine years and comes after a year of ups and downs between him and Xi, including a trade war that sent tariffs skyrocketing to triple-digit levels.

Trumps officials, however, were not as candid as he was. On Monday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC that a potential delay in the summit could be due to logistics rather than spite.

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If the meetings are delayed, it wouldnt be delayed because the president demanded that China police the Strait of Hormuz, Bessent said in an interview with CNBC in Paris, where he had met with his Chinese counterpart to plan the summit.

Bessent has been working the press circuit about the Strait and the upcoming Chinese summit. / screen grab

He added, If the meeting, for some reason, is rescheduled, it would be rescheduled because of logistics.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt expressed a similar sentiment on Fox News on Monday morning, suggesting the summit could be rescheduled, but not canceled.

The presidents utmost responsibility right now as commander in chief is to ensure the continued success of Operation Epic Fury, as hes doing a 24/7 here at the White House and here at home, she said.

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Leavitt also called on NATO allies to do the right thing by rushing to Trumps aid, which has yet to materialize.

The U.S.s top military commander in the Middle East vowed to deplete Irans ability to threaten freedom of navigation in and around the Strait of Hormuz, in a video posted to X on Monday. Meanwhile, China has yet to comment publicly on Trumps threat.

Closer allies of the United States have also turned their backs on the presidents pleas for assistance following the U.S. and Israels surprise attacks on Iran on Feb. 28.

Many Countries, especially those who are affected by Irans attempted closure of the Hormuz Strait, will be sending War Ships, in conjunction with the United States of America, to keep the Strait open and safe, Trump wrote on Truth Social on Saturday.

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Hopefully China, France, Japan, South Korea, the UK, and others, that are affected by this artificial constraint, will send Ships to the area so that the Hormuz Strait will no longer be a threat, he continued, in what appeared to be a veiled plea for help.

Trump has claimed the Iranian military is both destroyed and posing a significant issue to American forces. / Truth Social

French Response, the official X account of the French governments foreign office, was quick to clarify that it would not be sending the ships Trump requested.

No. The [French] aircraft carrier strike group remains in the Eastern Mediterranean. Frances posture is unchanged: Defensive. Protective, the diplomatic outlet wrote. Stop the scaremongering.

The official French Foreign Office account has denied that the country will be sending military support. / X

Even the United Kingdoms Ministry of Defense has swerved any pledge of assistance to the United States and said it is discussing a range of options to ensure the security of shipping in the region.

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The Financial Times previously reported that both France and Italy were seeking to negotiate a deal to guarantee safe passage of their ships through the Strait, though Italy has since denied the report.

The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has said on the sidelines of an EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting that as long as Ukraine blocks the transit of Russian oil to Europe via the Druzhba pipeline on Ukrainian territory, Hungary will block the provision of an EU loan worth 90 billion to Ukraine as well as the adoption of the European Union's 20th sanctions package against Russia.

Source: European Pravda

Details: Szijjarto said that the situation was very simple and that as long as Hungary remained under what he described as an oil blockade, Budapest would not agree to the decision to provide 90 billion to Ukraine.

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He also noted that Ukrainians were, in his words, mocking Hungarians and were not restoring oil transportation for political reasons.

According to Szijjarto, as long as the situation continued, neither a vote on 90 billion for Ukraine, nor any other financial support for Ukraine, nor the adoption of the 20th sanctions package could be discussed.

He further stressed that the Druzhba pipeline was physically and technically ready for the resumption of transportation and that there were no technical or technological problems preventing this.

Background:

Hungary and Slovakia initiated a discussion on the Druzhba pipeline at the EU Council on 16 March.

The day before, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed the view that restoring the Druzhba pipeline would be equal to lifting sanctions on Russia.

On 11 March, a Hungarian delegation arrived in Ukraine to assess the condition of the Druzhba pipeline. Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said the delegation had no official status or scheduled official meetings.

Later, a document emerged confirming that the Ukrainian side had not approved the visit in the form proposed by Budapest.

Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
By Anita Komuves

DEBRECEN, Hungary, March 16 (Reuters) - Istvan Hollo, a 76-year-old supporter of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, spends up to an hour daily on Facebook promoting the right-wing leader's messages to bolster his chances in an April 12 parliamentary election.

In early March, Orban launched a "40-day digital challenge", urging his grassroots supporters to spend at least 10 minutes daily sharing posts and comments on social media, as he seeks to counter the strong online presence of his rival Peter Magyar of the centre-right Tisza party, which leads in opinion polls.

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Orban's bid to mobilise online support for his nationalist Fidesz party from its predominantly ageing demographic comes after platforms such as Meta and Google halted political advertising last October due to new Europe-wide restrictions on such paid ads, which had been Fidesz's mainstay.

Wearing an orange Fidesz cap and a paper mask of Orban's ally U.S. President Donald Trump, Hollo said the election "will be decided on Facebook" - by far the most popular online platform in Hungary.

"Our opponent is Tisza and they are more active on Facebook, so all of us alive and kicking must hit the keyboard hard," Hollo told Reuters during a campaign rally at a stadium in the eastern city of Debrecen.

In the April 12 vote, Orban faces the biggest challenge yet to his 16-year rule, although opinion polls show many voters still undecided, making the outcome uncertain.

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"DIGITAL FIGHTERS"

Orban's government had dominated the digital sphere for years by spending millions of dollars on advertising, but the EU law has forced Fidesz to change tactics. It requires Big Tech companies to clearly label political advertising, indicating who paid for it and how much, or risk hefty fines.

It now resorts to the help of "digital fighters", as its leaders call grassroots activists who have received training at party events on how to most effectively post and comment on Facebook, and of wider "digital civic circles" of supporters who hang out in online chats.

Fidesz has also enlisted the help of right-wing influencers and used artificial intelligence tools to create campaign videos and deepfakes attempting to discredit its opponent.

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Peter Kreko, director of the think-tank Political Capital, said the ban had forced Fidesz, which was the biggest campaign spender on Google's platforms in Europe before the 2024 European elections, to become more creative.

"The carpet bombing approach no longer works, they cannot push their messages on everyone's screens in paid advertising," Kreko said, adding that Hungary could become a test lab for how European campaigns adapt to the political advertising ban.

Whether the tactic will pay off remains to be seen.

Observers say Magyar's less official approach, where he personally writes posts and comments, has allowed him to successfully reach voters, particularly younger ones.

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A February tally by news site Telex showed 179 Facebook posts by Magyar, who has 833,000 followers, received 9.6 million reactions, while Orban's 278 posts gathered 5.2 million reactions, even though he has more followers - 1.5 million.

Last month's survey by pollster Median also showed 67% of those under 30 support Magyar's Tisza and just 8% back Fidesz.

The rally in Debrecen brought together mostly older supporters, some of whom said they were actively sharing Fidesz content online, while still underscoring the value of door-to-door campaigning.

"Facebook is a world that cannot be avoided. But people also expect us to visit them," said longtime Fidesz backer Imre Simon, 72.

(Reporting by Anita Komuves, editing by Andrei Khalip)
The Idaho House on Monday widely passed a bill to criminalize willfully entering public and government bathrooms and changing rooms designated for another sex.

State Rep. Cornel Rasor, R-Sagle, presents a bill on the House floor on March 16, 2026, at the Idaho Capitol in Boise. (Photo by Pat Sutphin for the Idaho Capital Sun)

The bill would effectively block transgender people from using their preferred public bathrooms in Idaho, expanding on the states transgender bathroom ban in public schools.

House Bill 752 would create criminal misdemeanor and felony charges for people who knowingly and willfully enter a bathroom or changing room designated for the opposite sex, with some exceptions. The bill would apply in government-owned buildings and places of public accommodations, like private businesses.

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A first offense would carry a misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in prison. A second offense within five years would be a felony, punishable by up to five years in prison.

Bill sponsor Rep. Cornel Rasor, a Republican from Sagle, told House lawmakers that the bill is about protecting women and girls.

It prevents discomfort and voyeurism escalation and assaults, while preserving single-user options and narrow exceptions so no one is denied access for emergency aid, Rasor said.

Rep. Chris Mathias, a Boise Democrat, said the bill could endanger transgender people.

Rep. Chris Mathias, D-Boise, makes a comment during the House Education Committee meeting on Jan. 14, 2026, at the State Capitol Building in Boise. Also pictured is Rep. Sonia Galaviz, D-Boise. (Photo by Pat Sutphin for the Idaho Capital Sun)

The truth of the matter is  and I know a lot of people dont want to say it, but  forcing people who dont look like the sex that they were born with, or transgender folks, forcing them to use other peoples bathrooms is going to put a lot of people in danger, Mathias said.

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The House passed the bill on a 54-15 vote Monday. Six Republicans joined the Houses nine Democrats in opposing the bill.

Bill was opposed by Idaho law enforcement groups

In committee last week, the bill was opposed by some law enforcement groups and several transgender Idahoans.

The Idaho Fraternal Order of Police opposed the bill, telling lawmakers in written testimony that the bill presents significant practical enforcement challenges for law enforcement officers in the field.

Officers responding to a complaint would be placed in the difficult position of determining an individuals biological sex in order to enforce the statute, Idaho Fraternal Order of Police President Bryan Lovell wrote. In many circumstances, there is no clear or reasonable way for officers to make that determination without engaging in questioning or investigative actions that could be viewed as invasive and inappropriate.

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The Idaho Sheriffs Association requested that lawmakers amend the bill to require that people who could be prosecuted under the bill be first offered a chance to leave the bathroom immediately when asked.

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Rasor said he has addressed issues that law enforcement brought. But his bill has not been amended since law enforcements opposition last week.

The bill outlines several exceptions, including to give medical assistance, law enforcement assistance, and if a single-user facility is the only facility reasonably available at the time of the persons use.

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The bill now heads to the Senate for consideration. To become law, Idaho bills must pass the House and Senate, and avoid the governors veto.

A bathroom ban bill enforceable through lawsuits passed the House a month ago. But that bill, House Bill 607, has not received a committee hearing in the Senate.

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BrewDog's Canal Winchester brewery, hotel and taproom, its New Albany pub and its bar at John Glenn Columbus International Airport will stay open under new owner Tilray Brands, the company has announced.

Tilray, a San Diego-based company that owns brands in the craft-brewing, cannabis and wellness industries, said March 16 that it has entered into an agreement to buy the brewery's U.S. assets. Tilray earlier agreed to purchase BrewDog operations in the United Kingdom and Australia.

More: Who has central Ohio's best burger? Vote now in Round Three of our bracket

The U.S. deal includes not only BrewDog's central Ohio operations, but also bars in Cleveland, Denver and Las Vegas. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval but is expected to close by the end of 2026, the company said.

"BrewDog has built a strong following in Ohio and established a highly visible presence in Las Vegas, including a flagship brewpub located on a premier stretch of the Las Vegas Strip," Tilray Chairman and CEO Irwin D. Simon said in a company news release.

"These assets fit squarely within our brewpub model, creating destination led venues that deepen consumer engagement while providing new opportunities to introduce and sell our broader portfolio of Tilray beverage brands, Simon said.

Tilray hasn't responded yet to a Dispatch request for information about whether any more BrewDog employees in central Ohio will lose their jobs in the acquisition. The brewer already closed Columbus taprooms in Franklinton and the Short North in January.

Tilray's other breweries include 10 Barrel Brewing Co. of Bend, Oregon; Alpine Beer Co. and Green Flash Brewing Co. of San Diego; Atwater Brewery of Detroit; Blue Point Brewing Co. and Montauk Brew Co. of Long Island, New York; Breckinridge Brewery of Littleton, Colorado; Hop Valley Brewing of Eugene, Oregon; Redhook Brewery of Seattle; Revolver Brewing of Granbury, Texas; Runner's High Brewing Co., a nonalcoholic beermaker, and Sweetwater Brewing Co. of Atlanta; Shock Top of St. Louis; Terrapin Beer Co. of Athens, Georgia; and Widmer Brothers Brewing of Portland, Oregon.

The company also owns a canned cocktail brands, distilleries and cannabis-infused drink-makers.

Follow Dispatch dining reporter Bob Vitale on Instagram at @dispatchdining. You can reach him directly at rvitale@dispatch.com.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Tilray Brands buys BrewDog's Columbus brewery, hotel and bars
The News

CHICAGO  State Sen. Robert Peters found himself in a tricky spot days ahead of his Democratic primary race: dubbed a corporate pawn by a corporate-funded super PAC.

Hes an unlikely candidate for the label. Peters campaigned for Bernie Sanders twice, joined the Democratic Socialists of America, and accused Israel of genocide for its war in Gaza. Endorsements from Sanders and other top progressives rolled in when he decided to seek an open House seat representing part of Chicagos south side; Elizabeth Warren joined him on Friday.

But a few weeks before Tuesdays primary, voters opened their mail to learn that Peters had taken nearly $140,000 in corporate money and a donation from a hedge fund executive.

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The ad came from Fairshake, the crypto industrys super PAC, which is spending more than $3 million to attack him and a Democrat seeking the citys other open congressional seat  both of them voted for state crypto regulation.

I actually think its kind of insulting  not just to me, but to the voters, Peters told Semafor. It says bad things about our politics that these crypto folks think that they can spread that type of misinformation and win.

Peters accepted the specific donations mentioned in Fairshakes ad, but the PACs depiction of a well-known progressive as an industry tool is an example of the biggest trend of the 2026 campaign so far. Super PAC money, much of it from the crypto and AI industries as well as AIPAC, is swamping races and giving candidates bizarro-world branding.

Illinois pop-up groups funded by AIPAC, with innocuous names like Elect Chicago Women, have spent millions on ads that falsely portray pro-Israel candidates as anti-Trump warriors and pro-Palestinian candidates as secret right-wingers. The ads have dragged Democrats who otherwise have few policy differences into arguments about what they would owe their donors and whose money they wouldnt take.

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The effect of the outside spending on this springs primaries, which in some districts involve the first open-seat contests in decades, is huge. Super PAC spending has dwarfed the fundraising for individual candidates in most of Tuesdays competitive races, as crypto- and AI-backed PACs go big for candidates whove signaled that they wont over-regulate.

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Super PAC money is also flooding into the Senate Democratic primary to replace retiring Illinoisan Dick Durbin. At least $5 million of the spending there has come from Gov. JB Pritzker, who seeded a super PAC to help his lieutenant governor, Juliana Stratton, succeed Durbin.

One of Strattons Senate primary rivals, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, spent years building a war chest that funded nearly $30 million in ads. The Pritzker-funded Illinois Future PAC helped Stratton catch up; then Fairshake went on the air, blasting Stratton, whose allies began asking if Krishnamoorthi was a puppet for wealthy and MAGA-curious donors.

Im really worried about our democracy, Warren said at a Friday night rally for Stratton. I am worried that we have a handful of wealthy folks who think that theyre the ones who are going to call all the shots.

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On the ground, its not always that black and white; Democrats are campaigning around and against the super PACs. Peters has gone after Donna Miller, Cook County Commissioner, after she benefited from $4.4 million in super PAC spending from an AIPAC affiliate called Affordable Chicago Now!

We dont need electeds who are gonna hide while bombs are being dropped, Peters said on Facebook, asking if Millers early silence on the Iran war was a payoff to the pro-Israel group.

In the suburban race to replace Krishnamoorthi, entrepreneur Junaid Ahmed got caught by surprise when AIPAC affiliate Elect Chicago Women became the biggest-spending supporter of ex-Rep. Melissa Bean. The centrist Bean is incorrectly portrayed in its ads as a progressive architect of Obamacare.

Youre AIPAC! Just accept that youre AIPAC, Ahmed said as he waved pro-immigrant signs with a group of Democrats in Palatine, Ill. Youre so toxic. Youre going to come under the name Elect Chicago Women, youre going to call yourselves Chicago progressives? Thats fraud.

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In a third open-seat Chicago-area race, super PAC spending started earlier, and candidates have run more vigorously against it. Elect Chicago Women spent early for Laura Fine, a liberal state legislator who backed AIPAC.

The hope, as local Democrats saw it, was that progressive Israel critics in the race  led by Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss and journalist Kat Abughazaleh  would split their vote. Later on, AIPAC affiliate ads portrayed Biss and Abughazaleh as say-anything phonies with hidden right-wing views.

Both candidates pushed back by attacking Fines reinforcements. Biss drove down Fines numbers by clipping and promoting a moment from a February forum when the candidates were asked if they took money from Trump donors; every candidate but Fine raised a red no sign, while she raised a green yes sign.

Heres whos giving the money: Its AIPAC and Trump donors. Heres why theyre giving the money: Because Laura Fine promises to offer a blank check of military aid to Israel no matter what they do in Gaza or the West Bank, and I wont do that, Biss told Semafor on Friday.

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They are taking a toxic, unpopular position. And the way you can tell is theyre lying about whether or not whats happening is happening.

Room for Disagreement

Krishnamoorthi doesnt easily wear the label of crypto-funded candidate, either. He has not always sided with the industry, and he said Stratton allies were hypocritical in their criticism of his super PAC support.

The lieutenant governor kicked off this contest with four or five super PACs coming in for her because her campaign couldnt muster the resources necessary to do whatever she needed to do, he told Semafor. All that being said, Id like to be in a different campaign finance world.

Davids view

Ive been covering the role of super PACs in defeating progressive Democrats for five years. The two major developments since then: The flowering of crypto and AI industry PACs, which have essentially limitless resources, and the Democratic bases souring on the Israeli government thanks to the Gaza war.

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What hasnt changed is that these PACs run on what their strategists believe will play with Democratic primary voters, not what their funders want to achieve. As a result, watching TV in Chicago makes you feel like a cordyceps fungus has taken over the Democratic Party  imitating its messaging to destroy it, just as the parasite does in the wild.

This epidemic of often-manipulative messaging is also, in some ways, shrinking the candidates themselves. As more money gets spent to drive up their negatives, they are spending more money, and calling in more favors, to portray super PAC beneficiaries as shills.

And accountability isnt easy to achieve here, although Chicagos suburbs have robust and skeptical media outlets that have closely covered this spending. The AIPAC spinoff PACs are almost completely opaque, setting up copypasta websites and not commenting on their buys or strategy; Fairshake, which has mostly run ads under the main PAC brand, declined to comment for this story.

Notable
IMPD says one person was injured in a shooting Sunday night on the near northeast side of Indianapolis.

According to IMPD, just before 9 p.m. on March 15, officers were called to the 3200 block of Baltimore Avenue, which is near E. 30th Street and N. Keystone Avenue, on a report of a person shot.

When officers arrived, they found one person who had been shot. They were reported to be in stable condition, according to police.

Anyone with information on this incident is asked to contact Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at 317-262-TIPS (8477).

This story is developing. Check back for updates.
State Senator Rick Bennett proposed a broad health care affordability plan on Monday, intended to lower costs and help Mainers get healthier.

Speaking at the Skowhegan Free Public Library, Bennett espoused a "prevention first" approach, with greater access to primary and behavioral care that too many Mainers lack.

"Families have to check their bank account before seeing a doctor," Bennett said. "The result is manageable conditions go untreated until they become emergencies, which is worse, of course, for the patient and far more expensive."

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He said, My goal is to make Mainers the healthiest people in the nation. A healthier Maine is also a less expensive one for families, for employers, and for the state. Too often prevention fails, not because people dont want care, but because they cant access it, whether thats due to cost, lack of insurance, or a shortage of providers.



Bennett advocated payment reform to cut administrative waste. "We'll also examine where overhead, profit extraction, and middlemen are taking resources away from care, and we will eliminate those costs."

Bennett proposed a new medical debt relief program to help the 40% of Maine households, he said, that are saddled with medical debt, according to a Consumers for Affordable Health Care survey this year, with most of that debt incurred while people were insured.

He envisioned the state negotiating collective settlements for a fraction of what people owe, similar to a new program in Vermont.

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Bennett said, "I will launch the medical debt relief program with a $2 million investment that could result in up to $200 million in relief for tens of thousands of Maine families."



MaineCare, the state's version of Medicaid, covers about 400,000 low-income Mainers and accounts for one-third of the state's $12 billion biennial budget. Bennett promised more transparency and accountability to combat MaineCare fraud.



"I will require a full audit of eligibility control, payment accuracy, and program outcomes," he said.



Bennett expressed his desire for MaineCare providers to receive higher, timely payments, partly because of the savings. He said, "I will require that clean claims be paid within 30 days, and we will also review and update reimbursement rates to reflect what care actually costs."



Bennett rejected the proposalnow before the Maine State Legislatureto cap hospital bills to patients with private insurance at 200% of the Medicare reimbursement rate.



"I won't be voting for that," he said.



When it comes to his goal of seeing universal health care coverage, Bennett is still working out the details, but he said he is committed to the path and that the state can't rely on the federal government to get there.

Universal care can be multi-payer or single-payer. I havent wedded to any particular solution, Bennett said. I think if we take a regional approach and have those conversations with other states, we might be able to do that. Theres a lot of uncertainty from the feds.

Bennett said he supports reproductive rights and freedom and that he would not seek to roll back any of the numerous laws expanding abortion access passed by the state legislature and signed by Governor Janet Mills since 2019. He noted that he received a 92% rating from the Planned Parenthood Action Fund for his voting record last year.

A longtime state senator, Bennett was a Republican until last year, when he unenrolled. He previously served as the chairman of the Maine Republican Party and as the Republican Maine Senate President.

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Maine Democratic Party Executive Director Devon Murphy-Anderson said in a written statement, "Rick Bennett has a long record of opposing the policies that helped Mainers get affordable, quality health care. He voted against expanding MaineCare and spent years attacking the Affordable Care Act. Bennett cant rewrite history and claim to care about health care costs after spending years fighting against the very policies that expanded coverage and lowered costs for Maine families.

Bennett released his housing affordability plan last month. The national Forward Party, which backs independent candidates, has endorsed Bennetts campaign.

For more local stories, continue with us on our NEWS CENTER Maine+ streaming app.

For the latest breaking news, weather, and traffic alerts, download the NEWS CENTER Maine mobile app.
Cook Medical has chosen Indiana University as its main proving ground for next-generation MRI-guided procedures that the partners hope will improve outcomes for patients, including children with heart problems and adults with cancer.

Cook, a Bloomington-based medical device maker, said it chose IU for one of the first Interventional MRI Centers of Excellence because the universitys physicians, engineers and computing specialists can test the devices in realistic settings and collect and analyze data to prove and improve their effectiveness.

For IU, the partnership with Cook fosters collaboration among various schools and provides students with hands-on experience with innovative technology, even before it has gained widespread adoption in hospitals.

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The partners envision their collaboration to be replicated at other sites across the globe.

What starts here in Indiana, we hope will become a model for hospitals around the world, said Peter Polverini, who leads Cooks Interventional Magnetic Resonance Imaging division.

How iMRI Technology Improves Imaging and Patient Outcomes

Peter Polverini

Cook launched the iMRI division last summer to provide hospitals with technology that provides better images to help doctors identify and treat diseases sooner. The technology uses realtime MRI imaging to help doctors perform minimally invasive procedures, allowing them to see soft tissue clearly without exposing patients to radiation. Experts have said Cooks iMRI tech will help doctors detect cancer at an earlier stage and allow for earlier treatment and better health outcomes.

For example, when doctors freeze a tumor inside a patient, current imaging technology might allow them to see the ice inside the body, but iMRIs also would provide information about the temperature in that part of the body, Dr. Chris Sinsabaugh, an interventional radiologist at Indiana University Health, said last year.

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Polverini and Sinsabaugh also have said that Cooks iMRI tech will allow doctors to reduce exposing patients to potential harmful radiation from X-rays and other current imaging technology.

A Growing Collaboration Across IUs Medical and Engineering Schools

Ghazal Yoosefian, a research assistant at the Medical Imaging Research Institute of the IU School of Medicine, is collaborating with Yanni Pandelidis from Cook Medical in the lab. This photo was taken at IU Indianapolis on Wednesday, March 4, 2026.

Polverini said this week that the partnership between Cook and IU has quickly expanded across multiple IU schools, from the School of Medicine to the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering.

Cook will debut an iMRI suite at an international conference next month, and Polverini said the IU suite will be done in about six months.

He said Cook has worked hard for nearly a decade to figure out how to safely use small metal devices inside a large magnet. But that was only half the battle. Convincing hospitals that investing in the new tech will improve patient outcomes is the next hurdle, and thats where the partnership with IU comes in.

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We chose Indiana University because its the place where research can quickly turn into real patient care, he said.

Inside IUs New Lab Where Engineers and Clinicians Work Side by Side

Jillian Turner

Jillian Turner, senior advisor and vice president of strategy and operations at the IU Launch Accelerator for Biosciences, said rather than imaging scientists, engineers and physicians working in silos across separate schools, they will work side-by-side with Cook employees in the same lab in Indianapolis to test devices, collect and analyze data and adapt the technology so hospitals can see how it performs in real workflows.

The collaboration with Cook also will help IU prepare more students in fields that are experiencing worker shortages, she said, and the students will graduate with expertise in the use of cutting-edge technology.

First Clinical iMRI Suites Set for Installation This Year

Polverini said he expects the first interventional MRI suite to be installed in a U.S. hospital as early as August.

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Over the next five years  our goal is to get somewhere in the realm of a couple hundred of these suites installed around the world, he said.

Boris Ladwig can be reached at bladwig@heraldt.com.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Cook Medical, IU to Drive Statewide Innovation in MRIGuided Care
Last week, a colleague worked her fourth consecutive extended shift. The position beside her has been vacant since 2021. Nobody is coming.

That issue represents a structural failure  one playing out in emergency departments, rural clinics, and obstetrics units across Indiana. And without deliberate legislative action it will get worse.

Indianas nursing workforce mirrors a troubling national pattern: nearly 40% of registered nurses are 55 or older and approaching retirement, with no equivalent wave behind them to fill those beds. Meanwhile, more than half of Indianas 92 counties face primary care shortages. As of December 2025, HRSA had designated 169 primary care Health Professional Shortage Areas across the state, affecting millions of Hoosiers.

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In rural counties, the picture is grimmer still. Patients wait longer for appointments. Emergency departments hold admitted patients for hours, sometimes days, because beds and staff are limited. Specialty services that once existed locally have quietly migrated to Indianapolis or Fort Wayne or simply disappeared.

The Indiana Hospital Associations January 2026 Kaufman Hall analysis puts the financial stakes in concrete terms: Indiana hospitals posted a median operating margin of just 1.9% through August 2025, compared to a national median of 2.6%. Operating income fell 5.5% year over year, nearly $50 million in resources that are no longer available for patient care. Some projections suggest margins could slide to negative 3% without corrective action.

When margins collapse, services close particularly in rural areas. We are seeing this play out in Indiana where Greene County General Hospital eliminated its obstetrics unit. Pregnant patients there now drive farther, sometimes much farther, to deliver their babies.

Incentives problem

Indiana does not lack talented physicians, mid-level providers, or nurses. Our training programs are excellent. The problem is that the incentive structure we have built consistently steers nurses and providers away from the communities that need them most.

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The average medical student now graduates carrying roughly $200,000 in educational debt. Many express genuine interest in rural or underserved practice. But when rent is due and loan payments begin, Indianapolis pays more than Boonville. This is a rational, incentive driven response to the system we have designed.

The same math applies to nurses. Indianas median registered nurse salary runs roughly $15,000 below the national average and nearly $15,000 below neighboring Illinois. For a new graduate weighing two offers, that gap is not abstract. It is a car payment, a student loan installment, a years worth of groceries.

Administrative burden deepens the problem. National studies estimate that physicians now spend nearly as much time on administrative tasks as direct patient care. Prior authorization alone has become a full-time job layered on top of an already full-time job. Clinicians burning out in year five or six are not a mystery. They are a predictable outcome.

What lawmakers can do

There is some genuinely good news. Indiana received a $206.9 million first-year award in December 2025 under the federal Rural Health Transformation Program, the GROW: Cultivating Hoosier Health initiative, aimed at expanding rural access and workforce investment through 2030. That is real money, and it creates a real opportunity. But federal dollars without complementary state policy are a floor, not a ceiling. None of what follows requires reinventing the wheel.

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Expand loan repayment and make it worth staying. Indiana participates in loan repayment programs through the Indiana State Department of Health, and they help. But they remain modest relative to the debt burdens driving workforce distribution. Tying larger incentives to multi-year commitments in federally designated shortage areas would meaningfully shift those calculations. Recruiting a healthcare provider costs hundreds of thousands of dollars. Retaining one is almost always cheaper.

Make interstate licensure compacts actually work. Indiana has joined both the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact and the Nurse Licensure Compact. Good. But participation is not performance. When the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency is understaffed and credentialing takes months, clinicians accept positions in Ohio or Michigan before Indiana finishes the paperwork. In an era of expanding telehealth and cross-state practice, licensure speed is a competitive advantage. The General Assembly should fully fund and modernize IPLA so that credentials are processed in weeks, not months.

Align Medicaid reimbursement with the actual cost of care. Approximately two million Hoosiers receive coverage through Medicaid. When reimbursement rates fall chronically short of what it costs to deliver evidence-based care, hospitals face a binary choice: restrict services or absorb losses. Rural hospitals, which disproportionately serve Medicaid populations, cannot indefinitely absorb losses. The obstetrics closure in Greene County is one data point. It will not be the last unless reimbursement reflects reality.

Reform prior authorization. Every hour a physician spends navigating insurance bureaucracy is an hour not spent with a patient. Thoughtful prior authorization reform, protecting accountability while eliminating reflexive delays, would return meaningful clinical time to frontline care teams. This is not a radical ask. It is a practical one.

The window is now

Bipartisan recognition of these challenges has begun to emerge at the Statehouse, and that matters. Workforce policy does not lend itself to culture war. It lends itself to problem-solving. Both parties share a common constituent interest: people who can see a provider when they are sick.

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Indiana has strong training institutions, capable clinicians, and health systems genuinely committed to their communities. What we lack is a policy architecture that keeps those clinicians here in the communities that trained them and need them. My colleague will probably work another extended shift this week. The vacancy beside her will probably remain unfilled. Indiana has paid that price long enough. The General Assembly has this session to decide whether to keep paying it.

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There is a good chance you had never heard the name MissMeensy until this story started circulating online. She is not one of the internets biggest influencers, and her audience is relatively small compared with the massive followings that dominate platforms like TikTok, YouTube, and Kick.

That fact is actually part of the larger story. Social media has created an environment where almost everyone is chasing the same thing: a viral moment, a sudden spike in followers, or a clip that explodes across the internet. The pressure to perform for the camera can push aspiring influencers to behave in ways they might never consider otherwise.

When those decisions happen behind the wheel of a car, the risks extend far beyond the person holding the phone.

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A livestream titled IRL IN BERLIN recently turned into a viral crash clip after Kick streamer MissMeensy collided with traffic on Germanys Autobahn while broadcasting to viewers. Clips from the stream quickly spread across social media after viewers reposted portions of the broadcast, reigniting debate about distracted driving and livestream culture.

Livestreaming on the Autobahn Went About as Expected

MissMeensy crashed her car live on stream seconds after looking away from the road on the German Autobahn pic.twitter.com/Qrru1nZZWG  TaraBull (@TaraBull) March 14, 2026

The crash happened while MissMeensy was talking to viewers about driving on the Autobahn during her livestream. Germanys Autobahn network is well known for sections without a general speed limit, though drivers are still required to adjust their speed based on traffic, visibility, and road conditions.

According to the German automobile club ADAC, motorists are expected to maintain control of their vehicles and keep a safe following distance even on unrestricted sections of highway. Those expectations are part of why the Autobahn can safely accommodate high-speed travel when drivers remain attentive.

Video clips circulating online show the streamer mentioning a car in front of her shortly before the collision. Moments later, she appears to glance away from the road while interacting with chat. Within seconds, the vehicle collides with traffic ahead.

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The impact sends the livestream camera backward, leaving viewers briefly staring at the sky while the aftermath unfolds inside the vehicle. Audio captured during the stream records MissMeensy repeatedly asking whether everyone in the car is okay while passengers react to the crash.

An Apple iPhone inside the vehicle also appears to trigger the companys Crash Detection emergency feature, which can automatically initiate an Emergency SOS prompt after detecting a serious collision. The livestream ends shortly afterward.

Missmeensy Issues a Statement After the Crash

statement regarding my car accident that was live-streamed. pic.twitter.com/nsg5E3XnEa  m. (@missxmeensy) March 15, 2026

After the video began circulating online, MissMeensy released a public statement addressing the incident. She said everyone involved in the crash walked away safely and described the primary loss as the vehicle itself, which she said was totaled.

Her statement also addressed rumors that had begun spreading online. She said hospital toxicology tests were negative and that she was not under the influence at the time of the crash.

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Additional clarification in the statement noted that there were no children in the vehicle. She also stated that everyone inside the car was an adult wearing a seatbelt and that no one had been lying down in the vehicle at the time of the crash.

Legal matters connected to the accident limit how much she can publicly discuss the circumstances of the collision. Her statement describes the incident as a serious wake-up call and emphasizes the importance of remaining fully focused while driving.

She also acknowledged that viewers were upset that the crash occurred during a livestream.

Reddits Reaction Was Brutal, but Not Entirely Undeserved

Clips of the crash quickly appeared on Reddit, particularly in communities that track livestream mishaps and viral internet moments. Watching a collision unfold live on camera tends to produce strong reactions, and this situation proved no different.

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Many viewers focused on the moments immediately before the impact. One Reddit user wrote, And right before that she says there is a car right in front of me then looks away and hits it lol.

Speed quickly became another focal point in the discussion. High-speed driving dramatically reduces reaction time, making even brief distractions dangerous. One commenter summarized that concern by writing, All it took was 3 seconds, eyes off the road for this accident to happen.

The following distance also became part of the debate. One commenter argued that proper spacing between vehicles should have prevented the collision, writing, She must always be able to stop and not hit the car in front of her. That is the law. Too fast or too close.

Criticism also extended beyond the specific details of this crash. Several commenters focused on the broader trend of livestreaming while driving and the risks it creates for other motorists.

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One user wrote, Streaming while driving should be banned everywhere. Another commenter warned that the growing trend could eventually have tragic consequences, adding, Someone getting killed is inevitable.

One observation appeared repeatedly throughout the discussion. Because the crash occurred during a livestream, the footage itself effectively records the moments leading up to the collision. As one Reddit user put it, Streaming through the accident is a brilliant way to make the negligence case against yourself.

This Isnt the First Livestream Crash

MissMeensys crash may be the latest viral example, yet livestream-related driving incidents have appeared repeatedly over the past decade.

One of the most widely known cases occurred in 2017 when 18-year-old Obdulia Sanchez livestreamed a crash on Instagram while driving in California. The vehicle rolled over after leaving the road, killing her 14-year-old sister. Sanchez continued filming after the accident and was later sentenced to prison for vehicular manslaughter, according to reporting from TIME.

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Influencers themselves have also experienced high-profile livestream crashes. In 2024, YouTuber Jack Doherty crashed a McLaren 570S while livestreaming on Kick after glancing down at his phone while driving on a Miami highway, an incident reported by People.

These incidents illustrate a recurring pattern. Technology that allows anyone to broadcast their lives in real time has also created a new form of distracted driving, one where the pressure to entertain an audience competes directly with the responsibility of operating a vehicle safely.

The Autobahn Isnt a Free-For-All

One theme that recurs throughout the discussion concerns the common misunderstanding of Germanys Autobahn system. Certain sections do not have a fixed speed limit, though that does not mean drivers can ignore safety responsibilities.

Germany maintains a long-standing recommended speed of 130 km/h (about 81 mph) on unrestricted sections. Drivers who exceed that speed can still face increased liability if they are involved in a crash.

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Commenters familiar with German driving culture emphasized the discipline required for high-speed travel. One wrote, Just because there is no limitation rule doesnt mean you cannot self-moderate with discipline and awareness.

Another added that attention to the road is essential when traveling at Autobahn speeds. You are driving on the Autobahn. You pay more attention to the road because your life depends on it.

Cars Are Not Content Studios

MissMeensys statement serves as a reminder that distractions can happen while driving, whether from adjusting the radio, reaching for a drink, or reacting to something around you.

Many viewers saw the situation differently. The crash occurred during a livestream with a camera running and chat scrolling while the vehicle was traveling at highway speed.

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That distinction explains why the clip generated such a strong response online. A car moving at high speed is not simply a backdrop for content creation.

The broader concern is not whether MissMeensy was famous before the crash. The real issue is a social media culture in which thousands of aspiring influencers are willing to engage in risky behavior on camera in the hope that one clip might go viral.

When that performance takes place behind the wheel, the consequences extend to everyone sharing the road.

What Can Actually Be Done About It

Incidents like this are bigger than any single streamer or viral clip. They reflect a broader problem created by technology, social pressure, and a culture that sometimes rewards risky behavior with attention. Preventing the next crash will require more than simply criticizing the person involved after the fact.

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One of the most important steps starts close to home. If you have younger drivers in your life, talk to them about the dangers of livestreaming while driving, aggressive driving, and distracted driving. Many younger drivers have grown up with phones and social media as constant companions, and the temptation to check messages, record videos, or interact with an audience can feel normal even when they are behind the wheel.

Parents, teachers, and mentors can make a difference by setting expectations early. Driving requires full attention, and anything that takes your focus off the road for even a few seconds can have serious consequences. A moment of distraction at highway speeds can cover hundreds of feet before a driver even realizes something has gone wrong.

Technology platforms also play a role. Livestream services make it easier than ever to broadcast from anywhere, including behind the wheel of a moving vehicle. When content clearly shows dangerous driving or livestreaming while operating a vehicle, platforms should consider removing that content and discouraging creators from repeating the behavior.

No single change will eliminate distracted driving entirely. Education, responsible platform policies, and stronger cultural expectations can at least reduce how often people treat a moving vehicle like a stage for content creation. The goal should be simple: fewer viral crash clips and more drivers who understand that the road deserves their full attention.
Bithonistim's new strategy could have far-reaching consequences for the country's future.

While the Iran war still has grabbed most of the public's attention for the moment, at the end of February, the right-leaning Bithonistim former senior security officials group held a conference to unveil a new national security strategy to challenge the often centrist or left-leaning strategies proposed by the majority of the defense establishment.

Given that the country's voting population after October 7 has swung significantly to the right, many centrists today identify as such more on domestic rule-of-law issues than on national security. Bithonistim's new strategy could have far-reaching consequences for the country's future.

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Whether in a few days or a few weeks, the war with Iran will end, and in the not-so-distant future, most attention will shift again to the Palestinians, including both Gaza and the West Bank.

To date, the majority of the defense establishment has opposed annexing the West Bank.

Since the 1990s, the reigning security doctrine has been that mountains and hills and physical borders are no longer important.

Iran, Hezbollah, and Hamas were all mostly threatening Israel with rocket and drone attacks, and no force in the region could possibly succeed at invading Israel (until Hamas shocked everyone when it did on October 7).

An Israeli flag flutters, as part of the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim is visible in the background, in the West Bank, August 14, 2025. (credit: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun)

In that sense, annexing the West Bank would be useless for improving security, might even strain security resources by requiring more IDF soldiers to be diverted to protect settlements from "more important" fronts, and would bring about terrible strategic, diplomatic, and economic consequences.

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But after October 7, much of the voting population and more of the defense establishment are again concerned about defending against physical invasions.

Bithonistim's strategy views Israeli control from river to sea as mandatory

Bithonistim's strategy on the issue says that, in the 21st century, Israel must start from the simple position that, between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean, it must have complete control, including "applying sovereignty."

Next, the strategy says, "The underpinnings of the framework are to recognize that Israeli geographic control of the area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea is a necessary condition to the existence of a defendable eastern border and ability to guarantee the security of the coastal plains, where most of the population and national infrastructure is concentrated."

"Israel does not have the privilege to rely on 'borders on paper': effective control of the Judea and Samaria mountain range and of the Jordan Valley creates strategic depth, a zone for warning and for preventing enemy penetration or terrorism into the airports, central cities, and critical installations on the coastal plain," the strategy states.

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Further, "any waiver of complete security control creates a situation where only a short distance of a small number of kilometers separates a hostile force from the main travel routes, the central governing bodies, and economic centers of Israel."

Moreover, "an updated framework requires: complete freedom of action in the entire area, physical control of the infrastructure arteries (highways, electric lines, water infrastructure), and continued Jewish settlement in the field as a sovereign anchor, and not merely as 'spread out positions.'"

One of the speakers at a Bithonistim-sponsored conference on the strategy on February 24 was IDF Maj. (res.) Omri Cohen, who said that not only the IDF, but Israeli citizens, must "have a presence in the field, we came to live here. Settlements are a matter of principle underpinning the security presence in the field."

Put differently, Cohen explained that the IDF fights harder and takes security more seriously when it is defending Israeli citizens on any given border than when it is only defending empty land, and could easily do a temporary tactical withdrawal, followed by a later return.

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This summarizes one position on the Israeli right, which is in favor of significant expansion in Judea and Samaria as a security imperative, and not merely as a matter of ideological politics.

Many of those supporting this view are also ready to take whatever diplomatic and economic consequences might come from annexing the West Bank.

There are other views within the right-wing security camp that tend to oppose the establishment of a Palestinian state and tend to be heavily in favor of stronger IDF actions and an extended presence in Palestinian parts of the West Bank, but still oppose annexation.

Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security (JISS) Director and Brig. Gen. (res.) Yossi Kupperwasser said at the same conference, "There is a mixed national security concept with diplomatic aspects about how we see issues like borders, settlements, global relations, Jewish relations  some are big on settlements and some on other issues."

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The strategy asks, "What is the relationship between achieving peace and achieving security? There is a political dimension that goes beyond technicalities."

Problematically, Kuperwasser said that much of the defense establishment in the recent past was focused only on threats from Iran and Hezbollah, with Hamas's threat in the West Bank being categorized as an afterthought.

He added, "Around Oslo, we thought we were done: theyll recognize us, so we dont need to continue to fight."

But Yasir Arafat "didnt think this way. Of course, Hamas did not. They cry out Allahu Akbar [god is great/powerful] - not "build Palestine!" he warned.

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Kuperwasser strongly opposes a Palestinian state for the foreseeable future, until the Palestinians revise what he views as their basic anti-Israel ideology.

As such, he is in favor of a broad IDF presence in even the Palestinian parts of the West Bank.

However, he opposes annexation and is even skeptical of expanding the existing settlements much without buy-in from the US and from the majority of Israelis.

At the same conference, former national security council adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Yaakov Amidror, whose politics are known to be center-right, said that, "settlements are a political position, but not a security position. Anyone who thinks that Netiv Haasara in the South helps stop Hamas is not connected to reality."

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He said that it might or might not be true that villages in the West Bank help with Israeli security needs.

Generally, Amidror's approach has been a hard-nosed readiness to pursue Israel's specific interests, even when they run counter to world opinion, while not getting caught up in political ideology when deciding what Israel's security interests are.

Although he did not specifically address annexation, he would likely evaluate it based on anticipated costs and benefits for national security, rather than viewing it as inherently positive, as Bithonistim does.
Authorities are investigating after a person was shot in the South End.

Boston police say that around 7:42 p.m. on Sunday, officers responded to the area of Washington Street and East Berkeley Street to reports of a person shot.

Police say that the victim was transported to a local hospital. Police say that the victim suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

No arrests have been made, and an investigation remains active.

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This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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The Iowa Secretary of States office Monday released the finalized list of candidates who will appear on the June 2, 2026 primary.

Candidates for state and federal offices had between Feb. 23 and March 13 to file their nomination petitions in order to appear on the ballot. Many candidates for Iowas highest-profile state and federal elections submitted their paperwork in the week leading up to the 5 p.m. Friday deadline, including candidates for Iowa governor.

In a statement, Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate congratulated the candidates who qualified and thanked his staff for their work in reviewing the petitions.

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There were nearly 300 Democratic and Republican candidates who qualified for the ballot this June, and I want to congratulate them for meeting the threshold and seeing their hard work pay off, Pate said in a statement. My staff takes the review process very seriously, and I want to thank them for their meticulous work over the past few weeks to ensure that this part of the elections process is completed accurately and transparently.

Iowa Rep. Eddie Andrews, R-Johnston, filed the petition signatures to secure his spot on the Republican gubernatorial primary ballot at 4:55 p.m. Friday, according to Radio Iowa, as campaign staff scrambled to organize the batches of petitions to submit to the Secretary of States office. In order for a candidate to qualify for the primary ballot, they must submit signatures from at least 3,500 Iowans in support of their campaign. Of those 3,500 signatures, a candidate must have at least 100 signatures from 19 different counties to qualify.

Andrews made the list released by the SOS office Monday. This means the line-up for the Republican gubernatorial ballot is expected to include Andrews, U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra, former Iowa Department of Administrative Services director Adam Steen, Zach Lahn, a businessman who has worked for Americans for Prosperity and former state lawmaker Brad Sherman.

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While two Democratic gubernatorial candidates submitted paperwork, only one candidate appears to have qualified for the primary ballot. Auditor Rob Sand submitted 24,756 signatures Monday  a number his campaign said breaks records formerly set for the gubernatorial race by Gov. Kim Reynolds and the overall record set by U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst.

On Thursday, Democrat Julie Stauch, a former political operative, filed her paperwork at the SOS office, where she told reporters she submitted 4,575 signatures.

But on Friday, Stauch said in a statement posted to social media that the office informed her that her campaign did not meet the requirement for a minimum of 100 signatures from at least 19 counties.

This afternoon I had a call from the Iowa Secretary of States election office telling me that my petitions did not meet the requirements during their review, Stauch wrote. Two counties had several problems which led to numbers below the 100 threshold required. Therefore, my name will not be on the June primary ballot.

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The staff at the Secretary of States office does two counts of signatures submitted through nomination paperwork to verify candidates eligibility for the ballot.

Here is the list of candidates eligible for the ballot, as of Monday at 4:19 p.m.:

2026 Primary - Candidate List Database - All Elections_12

While the list released Monday represents the final total of candidates who have qualified for the ballot, there could still be some candidates deemed ineligible through the objections process.

Iowans who are eligible to vote for the candidate running for an office have the ability to submit challenges to candidates nomination papers. These challenges can be heard by the State Objections Panel, which consists of the secretary of state, state auditor and attorney general. If the nomination of any of the panels members are challenged  or if there are challenges to other candidates in their race  a different statewide elected official would take their place as outlined by state law.

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Objections must be submitted by March 20, 2026 for candidates appearing on the June primary ballot.

This story has been updated to replace the candidate list with a corrected version that the Secretary of States office sent due to errors in its previous list.

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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)  Explosions sounded over Dubai early Tuesday as the United Arab Emirates military worked to intercept incoming Iranian fire that caused the country to briefly close its airspace as Israel launched new strikes in war in the Middle East.

The Israeli military said early Tuesday it had begun a wide-scale wave of strikes across Irans capital and was also stepping up strikes on Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. It announced the new strikes as Israel reported two incoming salvos from Iran.

Fears of a global energy crisis loomed even as a small number of ships passed through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway through which a fifth of the worlds oil normally travels.

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Iranian strikes on commercial ships in and around the strait have slowed shipping to a trickle, dramatically increasing oil prices and pressuring Washington to do something to ease the pain for consumers and the global economy.

Brent crude, the international standard, remained over $100 a barrel. U.S. President Donald Trump said he had demanded that roughly a half-dozen countries send warships to keep the Strait of Hormuz open. But his appeals brought no immediate commitments.

Speaking of the strait, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said: From our perspective it is open  just not for the United States, Israel and its allies. Araghchi also rejected as delusional claims that Iran was looking for a negotiated end to the war.

Since the United States and Israel attacked Iran more than two weeks ago, Tehran has regularly fired drones and missiles at Israel, American bases in the region and Gulf Arab countries energy infrastructure.

UAE briefly closes airspace

The UAE shut down its airspace early Tuesday as its military reported it was responding to missile and drone threats from Iran." The closure was soon lifted, the state-run WAM news agency quoted the UAEs General Civil Aviation Authority as saying.

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Authorities said the situation stabilized, allowing flights to resume.

Shortly after, authorities sent a missile warning alert to people in Dubai. The sound of explosions could be heard in Dubai as the military worked to intercept the incoming fire.

The state-run WAM news agency said a drone attack again sparked a fire in an oil tank farm in Fujairah, a UAE emirate that repeatedly has been targeted on the countrys east coast with the Gulf of Oman. It said no one had been injured in the blast.

The snap announcement on its airspace showed the balancing act Emirati authorities face in trying to keep their long-haul carriers, Emirates and Etihad, flying as Iranian attacks continue to target the country. On Monday, an Iranian drone attack set a fuel tank ablaze at Dubai International Airport, the worlds busiest for international travel.

Israel launches new attacks on Tehran, steps up strikes on Beirut

The Israeli military early Tuesday said it had launched new attacks across Tehran in addition to the Lebanese capital targeting Hezbollah militants. Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel after U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran began Feb. 28.

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Israels strikes have displaced more than 1 million Lebanese  or roughly 20% of the population,  according to the Lebanese government, which says some 850 people have been killed. Some Israeli troops have pushed into southern Lebanon, and there are fears Israel is preparing a large-scale invasion.

In Israel, an intercepted Iranian missile attack sprayed shrapnel through Jerusalems Old City, hitting the rooftop of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, just meters (yards) from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, built on what is revered by many Christians as the site of Jesus crucifixion, burial and resurrection.

Shrapnel also fell near the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray, and within the Al Aqsa Mosque compound, the third-holiest site in Islam. Missile strikes on Jerusalem have been rare in the past.

Israel also reported two Iranian salvos early Tuesday fired toward Tel Aviv and an area south of the Sea of Galilee. No injuries were reported.

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More than 1,300 people have been killed in Iran, according to the Iranian Red Crescent.

Israel has carried out some 7,600 strikes on Iran, knocking out 85% of its air defenses and 70% of Iran's missile launchers, Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani said.

In Israel, 12 people have been killed by Iranian missile fire. At least 13 U.S. military members have been killed.

Trump seeks allies' help to police the Strait of Hormuz

The virtual shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz is unnerving the world economy, driving up energy prices, threatening food shortages in poor countries, destabilizing fragile states and complicating efforts by central banks to drive down prices for consumers.

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On Monday, Trump said numerous countries have told him theyre on the way to help police the Strait of Hormuz. But he also suggested some countries' reluctance showed a lack of reciprocity in defense agreements with the United States.

Europeans have been critical of the U.S. and Israel for failing to provide clarity on their objectives in the war.

The level of enthusiasm matters to me, Trump said. He didn't specify the countries, but has previously appealed to China, France, Japan, South Korea and Britain.

Brent crude fell to $100.21 per barrel Monday, but remained up roughly 40% since the war began.

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Officials have been scrambling to ease prices. Fatih Birol, head of the International Energy Agency, said its 32 member countries still have additional reserves of 1.4 billion barrels on top of the record 400 million they agreed to release last week to address supply constraints.

Adm. Brad Cooper, the top U.S. military commander in the Middle East, said in a video posted on X that American forces are zeroing in on Irans threats to freighters carrying oil and natural gas.

Ahead of a meeting in Brussels, the European Unions foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the bloc would discuss possibly extending a naval mission that protects ships in the Red Sea to the Strait of Hormuz, without giving any details.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told reporters in Brussels that his country favors strengthening anti-piracy and defensive missions in the Red Sea, but not expanding their role in the Strait of Hormuz.

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Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain, which is not an EU member, told reporters that Britain and allies were working on a plan to reopen the strait. Starmer said Britain might deploy mine-hunting U.K. drones already in the region, but insisted it will not be drawn into the wider war.

Japan and Australia said Monday they had not been asked to help protect the strait and had no current plans to do so.

A person was killed in the capital of the United Arab Emirates when an Iranian missile hit a vehicle, the Abu Dhabi media office said. Authorities said drone strikes Monday caused fires at two UAE oil facilities, in Abu Dhabi and Fujairah.

___

Bynum reported from Savannah, Georgia. Mroue from Beirut, Lebanon. Associated Press writers David Rising in Bangkok, Will Weissert from aboard Air Force One, Michelle Price in Washington; Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut, Julia Frankel in Jerusalem, Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo, Sam McNeil in Brussels, Jill Lawless in London, Ben Finley in Washington, Giada Zampano in Rome, and Adam Schreck in Bangkok, contributed to this report.
By David Milliken and Elizabeth Piper

LONDON, March 15 (Reuters) - Britain will invest an additional 1 billion pounds ($1.3 billion) to unlock jobs for young people, the government said on Monday, part of a drive to reduce the nearly 1 million 16- to 24-year-olds not in education, employment or training.

Britain's youth unemployment has reached a 10-year high, according to figures released last month, outpacing other European nations and posing tough questions for the governing Labour Party over its decision to raise the minimum wage.

Work and pensions minister Pat McFadden announced that the 1 billion pounds will be invested in grants to companies willing to engage young people and in more subsidised jobs - measures that he says will help create 200,000 jobs.

FIRMS TO GET MONEY FOR HIRING YOUNG UNEMPLOYED

"These measures will give life-changing opportunities to young people and significantly reverse the increase we inherited in those not in education, employment or training," McFadden said in a statement.

Businesses will receive a 3,000-pound subsidy if they hire someone aged 18-24 who has been receiving unemployment benefits for the past six months. Small and medium-sized businesses will get 2,000 pounds for each apprentice aged 16-24.

A scheme offering 25 hours a week of subsidised work to people who have been unable to find work for 18 months will be widened to include those aged up to 24.

Some companies say they struggle to afford to hire younger people, citing increases to the minimum wage alongside a rise in employers' social security contributions and other costs.

The Recruitment and Employment Confederation, an industry body, welcomed the steps but said rules around apprenticeships remained too rigid and hiring costs were too high.

"It is time for more decisive action to get young people into work by making taking a chance on young people more practical for firms, from employment tax costs to the approach taken to new employment rights," REC Chief Executive Neil Carberry said.

Some employers complain that new legislation giving more rights to workers will make hiring more expensive.

RISING YOUTH MINIMUM WAGE RATE UNDER SCRUTINY

The government has also pledged to end lower minimum pay rates for 18- to 20-year-old workers. The main minimum wage rate now stands at 12.21 pounds an hour - up 29% over the past three years - while the rate for 18- to 20-year-old workers has risen 46% to 10 pounds an hour over the same period and is due to increase to 10.85 pounds in April.

McFadden said he accepted that "business costs matter, and of course we're mindful of them, but this issue is deep-rooted and is long term".
An Iranian missile strike damaged five U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker refueling aircraft on the ground at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, two U.S. officials told The Wall Street Journal.

The aircraft were parked on the flight line at the time of the strike and sustained damage but were not destroyed, according to the officials. The tankers are being repaired and are expected to return to service. No U.S. personnel were killed in the attack, The Wall Street Journal reported.

President Donald Trump disputed those characterizations in a Saturday Truth Social post, saying, The Base was hit a few days ago, but the planes were not struck or destroyed. Four of the five had virtually no damage, and are already back in service. One had slightly more damage, but will be in the air shortly. None were destroyed, or close to that."

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Trump singled out The Wall Street Journal by name, saying its reporting was the exact opposite of the actual facts.

U.S. Central Command declined to comment on the strike.

Prince Sultan Air Base has served as a key hub for U.S. aerial refueling operations supporting Operation Epic Fury, the joint U.S.-Israel campaign against Iran. An Iranian attack on the base March 1 led to the death of one U.S. soldier, Sgt. Benjamin Pennington, 26.

In addition to the five aircraft struck in Saudi Arabia, a KC-135 crashed in western Iraq last week. All six crew members aboard the downed aircraft were killed, the Pentagon announced Friday. U.S. Central Command has said the crash was not due to hostile or friendly fire and remains under investigation.

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The U.S. Air Force operates approximately 376 KC-135s across active duty, Air Force Reserve,and Air National Guard units, according to the Congressional Research Service. The Air Force has been gradually replacing the Stratotanker with the Boeing KC-46A Pegasus, which entered service in 2019 and has reached a fleet of 100 aircraft.

KC-46A deliveries were paused for several months in 2025 after cracks were discovered in multiple aircraft, and the program continues to address technical deficiencies, including issues with its refueling boom, according to the Department of Defenses Director of Operational Test and Evaluation.
The U.S. war with Iran is spilling out across the Middle East, putting AI infrastructure at risk and increasingly raising questions about large-scale investments by American tech firms in the region.

Industry leaders have committed billions of dollars to delivering chips and building data centers in wealthy Gulf nations like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as the Trump administration has embraced the Middle East as a partner in the AI race with China.

However, AI infrastructure has also become a key target, as Iran has launched strikes throughout the region amid hostilities with the U.S. and Israel.

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This war has been a stark reminder that indeed theyre in a rough neighborhood, Daniel Silverberg, an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for New American Security, said of tech firms and regional AI players, like the Emiratis.

Middle Eastern countries, which have long been dependent on oil revenues, are increasingly seeking to diversify their economies, with an eye toward technologies like AI.

They are, I think, over the long term, seeing the writing on the wall for oil, and they see that their geopolitical influence globally is tied to the degree to which they are integral to the oil supply chain, Chris McGuire, a senior fellow for China and emerging technologies at the Council on Foreign Relations, told The Hill.

They are trying to basically replace that influence with a place in the AI supply chain, added McGuire, who previously served as deputy senior director for technology and national security at the National Security Council under former President Biden.

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While the Biden administration had some reservations about the regions ties to China, President Trump has fully embraced the Middle East on AI since taking office.

Trumps first major international trip of his second term was a tour of the Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE, where he unveiled a spate of tech investments and agreements.

Silicon Valley showed up in force in Riyadh, with Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, AMD CEO Lisa Su, Palantir CEO Alex Karp and others accompanying the president.

Nvidia and AMD both announced high-profile deals with Humain, an AI firm created by Saudi Arabias sovereign wealth fund. Nvidia said it would send 18,000 of its most advanced Blackwell chips to Riyadh, while AMD announced a $10 billion partnership with Humain.

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In the UAE, Trump unveiled plans to build a massive data center campus in Abu Dhabi. OpenAI later said it was teaming up with Emirati AI firm G42, as well as Nvidia, Oracle Cisco and SoftBank to build a 1-gigawatt cluster referred to as Stargate UAE.

When Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visited Washington in November, tech leaders gathered once again and unveiled more deals. Humain announced it was expanding its partnership with Nvidia, with plans to deploy up to 600,000 chips, as well as a new agreement with Elon Musks xAI to build a network of data centers.

Gartner, a research and advisory firm, projected last August that IT spending in the region would top $155 billion in 2025 and rise further to about $169 billion in 2026.

The Gulf presents an incredible market opportunity, and its not just about the Gulf, Silverberg said.

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[U.S. tech companies] are looking at global opportunity because the platforms that UAE entities like G42 are developing are going to be exported to Africa and Latin America and other key areas of contention with China, he added.

However, the conflict with Iran has thrown a wrench in the regions sweeping AI ambitions. After the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran late last month, killing the countrys Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Tehran has hit back at targets across the Middle East.

Three Amazon data centers in the UAE and Bahrain were damaged in drone strikes just days after hostilities got underway. The two Emirati facilities were directly hit, while a drone struck nearby the third facility in Bahrain and caused physical impacts to our infrastructure, the company said.

Iranian state media also released a list of offices and infrastructure run by U.S. companies that were considered potential targets Wednesday, including Google, Microsoft, Palantir, IBM, Nvidia and Oracle, according to Al-Jazeera.

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[The Gulf nations] know, for their futures, its critical to be diversifying into tech, and they really have created the infrastructure to do it, Silverberg said, adding, Iran knows that, and Iran is specifically targeting data centers and their tech infrastructure and their energy infrastructure to hit them where it counts.

McGuire drew comparisons to the vulnerabilities of the chip supply chain, which is heavily dependent on Taiwan.

China has long had its sights on the self-governing island that is responsible for more than 90 percent of leading-edge chip manufacturing, according to the International Trade Association. Chinese military action against Taiwan could have wide-ranging consequences for global access to chips.

It wouldnt make a lot of sense to put large parts of the AI supply chain in places that are also very vulnerable to geopolitical disruption, McGuire said.

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If youre a U.S. hyperscaler serving global populations, and you have very large investments in any region that is in missile range of a country that might actually be willing to fire missiles off, I would feel nervous about that, he added. These are very, very expensive facilities that are pretty delicate.

This is only the beginning of targeting data centers. This is the least important data centers will ever be to the U.S. economy, to the global economy and to military operations, right. Its only going up from here because AI is getting more important to all of those things.

However, Gershom Sacks, director of the N7 Foundation, suggested the calculus for tech companies investing in the region hasnt really changed. The N7 Foundation is an initiative focused on increasing ties between U.S. partners in the Middle East.

He underscored that the Gulf has significant land and capital to put behind these investments, in addition to a stable energy supply and a lax regulatory environment.

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Its possible that they could think about diversifying, so they dont have all their eggs in one basket so to speak. But really, in the long term, I think theyll continue to partner with the UAE and Saudi on this, Sacks, who served as Director of Gulf Affairs at the National Security Council under Biden, told The Hill.

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Iran has warned that Israel and the United States could carry out "false flag attacks."

Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday that Iran's armed forces "declare every target they attack with courage and honour."

He said it was conceivable that the US and Israel - who sparked the ongoing conflict in the Middle East with large-scale attacks on Tehran on February 28 - could carry out false flag attacks.

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Baghaei cited a drone attack in the Gulf state of Oman as an example, alleging that the US military replicated a kamikaze drone loaded with explosives.

He further expressed concern that any attacks on targets on the US mainland could be falsely attributed to Iran.

The comments came after the FBI warned police departments of the threat of attacks in California as retaliation for the war in Iran, according to reports by broadcaster ABC News.
The women were among medical staff at Tehrans Rajaei Cardiovascular, Medical and Research Center who treated injured demonstrators during nationwide protests in late December and early January.

Two nurses detained in Tehran after treating wounded anti-government protesters were tortured and repeatedly raped by Iranian security agents in custody, according to an exclusive report by Iran International.

The women were among medical staff at Tehrans Rajaei Cardiovascular, Medical and Research Center who treated injured demonstrators during nationwide protests in late December and early January, the report said.

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Both nurses suffered severe internal injuries and underwent major surgeries after their detention, according to sources cited by the outlet. One reportedly had part of her intestine removed, while the other allegedly underwent a hysterectomy due to the extent of her injuries.

Iran International also reported that one nurses family was forced to pay an intelligence officer a large sum to secure her release, and that she was made to sign statements meant to conceal the abuse and blame it on rioters.

Cars burn in a street during a protest over the collapse of the currency's value, in Tehran, Iran, January 8, 2026. (credit: STRINGER/WANA (WEST ASIA NEWS AGENCY) VIA REUTERS)

Security forces ordered medical staff not to treat wounded protesters

The report further alleged that security forces stormed the hospital on January 8, ordered staff not to treat wounded protesters, and later beat medical workers who resisted. According to witnesses, two female nurses were shot dead and five others were arrested.

The allegations come amid growing international concern over Irans treatment of detainees during protest crackdowns. Amnesty International and UN investigators have previously warned of torture, sexual violence, arbitrary arrests, and forced confessions in Iranian custody.

The latest claims echo earlier reports alleging that Iranian authorities have used sexual violence systematically as a tool to suppress dissent.
A millionaire businessman who founded the political action committee DOGE SC, a name borrowed from the Trump administrations Department of Government Efficiency, announced Monday that hes running for governor.

Republican Rom Reddy said in a Monday news release that hes self-funding his campaign and wont be taking any donations, big or small.

Money has corrupted politics, and it has to stop, the Isle of Palms resident, known for running manufacturing companies, told the SC Daily Gazette. He bashed his opponents in the race as part of the ruling class due to their years of experience in politics and said he launched his campaign to give voters a better option.

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Reddy will be spending at least $1 million of his own money on a two-week advertising blitz to kick off his campaign, according to his email announcement.

At the start of this year, Reddy said, he still wasnt sure if he wanted to make his first run for elected office. But he told the Gazette that working on DOGE SC, which has been pushing for change in how the state vets its judges, convinced him that the state has weaponized government against the citizens.

DOGE SC, which is not affiliated with the federal initiative, has been advocating for legislation that would give the governor total control over the panel that screens judicial candidates. Under the proposal, all 12 members of the Judicial Merit Selection Commission would be appointed by the governor, and none could be legislators. While the bill, which the House passed last month, would change the makeup of the screening panel, the Legislature would continue to elect judges in a joint assembly.

South Carolina is among two states where the Legislature elects most judges.

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Reddy is perhaps best known for suing the state after he was told to remove an illegal seawall built to protect his beachfront home and fined about $300,000. A judge said last week that the wall can stay up, at least temporarily, while litigation continues.

Reddy entered the race on the first day of filing for 2026 races, which runs through March 30. Less than three months remain until the 2026 primaries on June 9.

Nothing makes him confident he can beat his five Republican opponents in the primary, Reddy told the Gazette  but hes willing to invest a chunk of his fortune in the race anyway. God has a plan for all of us; our job is to try the best at what we do, and not worry about the outcome, he said.

The first debate held by the state Republican party for candidates seeking its nomination for governor will be on April 1 at Newberry Opera House.

The other Republicans in the race are Lt. Gov. Pam Evette, state Sen. Josh Kimbrell of Boiling Springs, U.S. Reps. Nancy Mace and Ralph Norman, and state Attorney General Alan Wilson. The Democrats running for the job are state Rep. Jermaine Johnson of Hopkins and Charleston attorney Mullins McLeod.
March 16 (UPI) -- The Israeli military announced Monday that soldiers were conducting "limited and targeted ground operations" in southern Lebanon against Hezbollah, amid its larger war against the militant organization's backer, Iran.

Israeli troops were reported in Lebanon earlier this month, but Monday's announcement appears to formalize and broaden the mission. The language in the announcement was also consistent with other reports that Israel may be planning to significantly expand its ground operation.

"This activity is part of broader defensive efforts to establish and strengthen a forward defensive posture, which includes the dismantling of terrorist infrastructure and the elimination of terrorists operating in the area, to create an additional layer of security for residents of northern Israel," the IDF said in a social media statement.

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Israel has been attacking Hezbollah in Lebanon for years, and launched a ground operation there in October 2024 that ended with a fragile cease-fire, with both sides accusing the other of violations. Fighting erupted again late last month after the United States and Israel launched a war against Iran.

Specifics about the ground operation were minimal, including the day it began, with the IDF stating on Telegram that the troops entered Lebanon "in recent days."

Troops from the 91st Division are conducting what the Israel Defense Forces called "limited and targeted ground operations" against Iran-backed Hezbollah strongholds.

Videos of the operation taken from apparent night-vision cameras worn by the soldiers and distributed by the IDF online show Israeli forces and military vehicles seemingly operating in southern Lebanon.

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The operation was aimed at enhancing the forward defense area and was part of broader efforts to strengthen Israel's forward defensive posture, the IDF said, which is consistent with reporting by Axios that Israel plans to seize all of Lebanon south of the Litani River and will be a major operation.

The IDF said airstrikes were conducted before the soldiers of the 91st Division moved in, with a Hezbollah site attacked on Saturday. Troops on Sunday searched the area and found a storage facility housing dozens of rockets, explosive devices and guns, it said in a Monday update on the operation.

Photos included in the release show rockets laid upon a couch inside a debris-filled residence.

Two Hezbollah operatives were also killed, it said, stating the militants had advanced on the Israeli troops.

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"The IDF will continue to operate with determination against the Hezbollah terrorist organization following its deliberate decision to attack Israel on behalf of the Iranian regime," the IDF said.

"The IDF will not tolerate any harm to the residents of the State of Israel."
The Israeli Air Force (IAF) claims that it destroyed the Iranian governments Airbus A340 in a strike on Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran. Last summer, the aircraft had been part of an exodus of Iranian state-operated airliners to Oman, but its apparent demise now underscores the intensity of the current airstrikes against Iran, which have been systematically removing aircraft of all types from the Iranian inventory.

-                  ,    ,       ,            .



   pic.twitter.com/lOtRRIHTff  Israeli Air Force (@IAFsite) March 16, 2026

In a statement on X, the IAF described the A340-300 as the plane of the leader of the Iranian terror regime and a strategic asset, and said that its destruction impairs the ability to coordinate between the leadership of the Iranian terror regime and Axis countries, in building military power, and in the regimes rehabilitation capability. The IAF posted a library photo showing the A340, which it says was also used by additional senior officials from the terror regime, and elements in the Iranian military, to advance military procurement and manage relations with Axis countries through domestic and international flights.

The fact that any airlift-capable aircraft, whether military or civilian by design, can be used to move materiel to Iranian proxies has long been a problem for Israel. With the IAF destroying its airlift fleet, Iran will find it harder to connect with proxies, providing support, as well as engaging in a variety of other nefarious activities.

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At this stage, it should be noted that the destruction of the A340 has not yet been independently verified. TWZ has approached various commercial providers of satellite imagery for confirmation.

Video allegedly taken during the strike on the VIP Iranian A340 Airbus in Mehrabad airport geolocates the strike at the western hangars complex which is close to the AA defenses and has access to the open southern runway.

Rough Point of Impact (POI) #geoposted 35.69465,51.271681 pic.twitter.com/zFBPfCZnPa  OSGINT (@posted_news) March 16, 2026

Previous satellite imagery showed the A340 parked in different dispersed areas around the airport, including among derelict airframes. This was almost certainly an effort to complicate targeting.

A satellite image of Mehrabad showing the runway blocked with parked buses and helicopters, rendering it unusable:

The runway at Tehrans Mehrabad Airport has been blocked with parked buses and helicopters, apparently to make it unusable and prevent further strikes or aircraft operations.



Satellite imagery from March 7 also shows visible damage at the airport following heavy bombing during pic.twitter.com/GyG8NB2LCo  Visegrad 24 (@visegrad24) March 12, 2026

The A340 in question has the Iranian civil registration EP-IGA and is the largest aircraft in Irans modest government transport fleet. Widely described as Iran Force One, in reference to the U.S. presidents Air Force One, the A340 has been used by the Iranian state for a variety of long-haul missions, making use of its widebody capacity and intercontinental range. In general, the A340 has been a fairly popular choice as a government transport, with VIP A340s having been operated by Egypt, France, Jordan, Libya, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, among others.

In practice, Irans supreme leader only left the country occasionally, with the A340 primarily being used to move other high-ranking officials on diplomatic visits. For example, it was used to transport Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to the United States for the main annual United Nations General Assembly meeting in 2024.

Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF) used the Airbus A340-313X aircraft (Serial 5-8405, registration EP-IGA) to carry the Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to the New York's John F. Kennedy Airport.



This aircraft (MSN:257) was part of the fleet of Air Canada (C-GDVV), pic.twitter.com/ILWzTpcUW8  FL360aero (@fl360aero) September 23, 2024

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The A340, which was operated by the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF), despite its civilian-style livery, had a complicated history. It was first delivered to Air Canada in 1999, before flying under the colors of Air Jamaica, Turkish Airlines, AirBlue, and Asian Express. By 2015, it was owned by Tehran-based Meraj Airlines, which leased it to the Iranian government. It spent a period with Dena Airways, a passenger charter carrier based out of Mehrabad, but by 2018, it belonged to the Iranian government and was registered as EP-IGA.

"               .     A340   EP-IGA pic.twitter.com/fG5wR3lEwp     Itay Blumental (@ItayBlumental) March 16, 2026

Serving alongside the A340 in the Iranian governments transport fleet were at least one Airbus A321-200 and a pair of BAe Avro RJ85 regional jets. Their fates remain uncertain at this stage.

Mehrabad has been hit particularly hard by U.S.-Israeli airstrikes, with targeted aircraft including the unique KC-747 aircraft operated by the IRIAF. The tanker version of the 747 was not flown anywhere else in the world, and Iran had just one flying example. You can read all about the aircraft in this past article.

Footage of the last Iranian KC-747 tanker burning after an Israeli airstrike on Tehran's Mehrabad airport last week. pic.twitter.com/DIn9Qnkcsz  OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) March 12, 2026

Smoke rises after a reported Israeli strike on Mehrabad on March 3:

:   ,   -   @ishayb2003 pic.twitter.com/cdqFH7NQT6    (@kann_news) March 3, 2026

In June 2025, during the previous conflict with Israel, the A340 made an unusual flight to the Oman capital, Muscat. The widebody touched down there together with a pair of Airbus A321s, leading to speculation that they were transporting a delegation from Iran to try to negotiate an end to the fighting before the United States became involved.

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Since Iran and Oman had strong diplomatic ties, with the Omanis often serving as an intermediary between the regime in Tehran and the West, this certainly seems a likely explanation.

The 3 aircraft that have left Iran and landed in Muscat, Oman are 2 x A321 and 1 x A340. pic.twitter.com/8aelNJs9Cq  Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) June 18, 2025

             .     ,        .    :     ,       . pic.twitter.com/GRGYEfnnmB  avi scharf (@avischarf) June 18, 2025

Other options that we discussed at the time included the evacuation of individuals seeking to escape the current conflict. This became particularly urgent after Israel began striking Tehran, as well as other locations across western Iran, with virtual impunity.

Theres also the very strong possibility that the Iranian government moved these aircraft for their own protection from the Israeli strikes on Iranian air bases, including Mehrabad, where IRIAF F-14 Tomcat fighters were also targeted.

Regardless of the purpose, by the end of June, the United States was not only fending off Iranian attacks but had also bombed three key Iranian nuclear sites in Operation Midnight Hammer.

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While the A340 made its way back to Tehran after the Twelve-Day War, its apparent destruction in an Israeli airstrike means that it wont be able to repeat any such missions, and it is now little more than a symbol of the intensity of the U.S.-Israeli campaign to wipe out the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force fleet alongside other key military capabilities.

Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com
Israel on Sunday said the suspect alleged to have conducted the recent Michigan synagogue attack was related to a Hezbollah commander.

The suspect, Ayman Muhammad Ghazali, 41, died by suicide on Thursday after driving into Temple Israel in a suburb outside of Detroit. He was a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Lebanon.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Sunday said the suspects brother, Hezbollah Cmdr. Ibrahim Muhammad Ghazali, was killed during a strike on Lebanon last week. His two children were also pronounced dead after the strike.

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Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Muhammad Ghazali was responsible for managing weapons operations within a specialized branch of the Badr Unit. The unit is responsible for launching hundreds of rockets toward Israeli civilians throughout the war, the IDF wrote in a post on the social platform X.

His brother, Ayman Muhammad Ghazali, carried out the terror attack in Michigan this past Thursday. Ibrahim was eliminated in an IAF strike on a Hezbollah military structure last week, it added.

The attack on Temple Israel comes three weeks into U.S. strikes on Iran. Police in multiple jurisdictions said theres a heightened awareness for incidents linked to the war overseas.

The FBI described the Thursday attack as a targeted act of violence against the Jewish community.

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They also said the suspect was in possession of a rifle, commercial-grade fireworks and jugs of liquid believed to be gasoline and waited outside of the reform synagogue for two hours before attacking the site, which had over 100 students and clergy inside the building.

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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With rapid AI innovation comes big dangers  such as unparalleled access of AI agents to our personal data.

"I think one of the biggest dangers is that AI has access to all of our most sensitive information, and now people are giving permissions and access for these AI agents to get access to literally everything," AlphaTON Capital CEO Brittany Kaiser said on Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid Unfiltered podcast (video above; listen in below).

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Kaiser is a well-known data rights activist  and the Cambridge Analytica whistleblower who exposed how the political consulting firm harvested personal data from millions of Facebook users to influence elections.

She joined Cambridge Analytica in 2015 as director of business development and worked there until January 2018, when she fled to Thailand and began exposing the company's practices to the UK Parliament, the Mueller investigation, and the public.

Since then, Kaiser has written a memoir and become the subject of The Great Hack, an Emmy-nominated Netflix (NFLX) documentary.

"They're [AI CEOs] not saying that their products are safe, but they're not giving real teeth to their head of AI safety," Kaiser added. "So I don't think there's any CEO of an AI company that says what they're doing is fully safe. I think they are actually quite transparent about the huge risks and dangers, but they're not doing much about that."

The risks to companies and their consumers are beginning to pile up due to the proliferation of AI.

Nearly 72% of S&P 500 (^GSPC) companies now call out AI as a material risk in their public disclosures, according to a recent survey from the Conference Board. That's up sharply from just 12% in 2023.

Reputational risk tops the list, mentioned by 38% of companies. Companies warn that failed AI projects, mistakes in consumer-facing tools, or breakdowns in customer service could rapidly erode brand trust.

Cybersecurity risks follow, according to 20% of firms surveyed.

"We're seeing a clear theme emerging across disclosures: Companies are worried about AI's impact on reputation, security, and compliance," said Andrew Jones, author of the report and principal researcher at the Conference Board. "The task for business leaders is to integrate AI into governance with the same rigor as finance and operations, while communicating clearly to maintain stakeholder confidence."
The Israeli military has begun "limited and targeted ground operations" in the south of neighbouring Lebanon in recent days, it said on Monday.

The aim is to target active members of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia in the area as well as its infrastructure, the military said.

The ground operations are said to be "part of broader defensive measures" to protect residents in northern Israel.

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The Times of Israel reported over the weekend that Israeli ground troops had killed dozens of Hezbollah militiamen in clashes in southern Lebanon. Israel's Ministry of Defence confirmed the report upon request.

Weapons depots, a command centre and Hezbollah observation posts had reportedly been destroyed.

In Lebanon, there is concern about a larger ground offensive by Israel. According to the news portal Axios, citing Israeli and US officials, Israel intends to take control of the entire area south of the Litani river to dismantle Hezbollah's military infrastructure.
The Israeli military on Monday confirmed it has begun "limited and targeted ground operations" in southern Lebanon as the war in the Middle East continues to expand.

The aim is to target active members of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia in the area as well as its infrastructure, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said.

The ground operations are said to be "part of broader defensive measures" to protect residents in northern Israel.

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The Israeli army is now operating in areas that it had not previously been active in, said IDF spokesman Nadav Shoshani.

He declined to specify exactly which locations were involved, but said Hezbollah poses a threat to Israels civilian population from the areas.

According to the spokesman, it has yet to be decided whether the the IDF will seek to hold the new locations.

The IDF also stated that it had carried out artillery strikes and airstrikes prior to the troops advance "to minimize threats in the area of operations."

The Times of Israel said the move could signal the Israeli government's intention to expand its buffer in southern Lebanon.

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The newspaper reported over the weekend that Israeli ground troops had killed dozens of Hezbollah militiamen in clashes in southern Lebanon. Israel's Ministry of Defence confirmed the report upon request.

Weapons depots, a command centre and Hezbollah observation posts had been destroyed, it said.

Hezbollah has confirmed ground operations in the area around Khiam, which lies near the border with Israel.

Ceasefire shattered

Intense fighting has resumed in Lebanon following the US-Israeli attack on Iran on February 28, with Hezbollah retaliating by firing missiles into Israel.

The resumption of hostilities has dragged Lebanon into another conflict, shattering the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah that was agreed in November 2024.

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Hundreds of civilians have since been killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon, including more than 100 minors, the Lebanese Health Ministry has said, with almost 1 million displaced across the country.

Concern is mounting in Beirut about a larger Israeli ground offensive. According to the US news portal Axios, Israel intends to take control of the entire area south of the Litani river to dismantle Hezbollah's military infrastructure.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz recently threatened to occupy territory if the Lebanese government was unable to prevent Hezbollah from firing on Israeli towns and to disarm the militia, as agreed in the 2024 ceasefire.

French President Emmanuel Macron has warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to refrain from launching a ground offensive in Lebanon.
Heads-up for Canyon County late-night commuters.

Idaho Transportation Department announced it will be closing a stretch of Karcher Road overnight later this week.

The work is part of the Highway 55 project from Farmway Road to Middleton Road, designed to reduce traffic and improve safety. This round of closures will begin Wednesday and Thursday night from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.

On Wednesday, Karcher Road will be closed from Florida Avenue to Lake Avenue. Midway Road will also be closed between Karcher Road and Moss Lane.

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On Thursday, the same stretch of Karcher Road will close, but Midway will stay open.

After the widening road construction is done, the highway will feature four lanes and dedicated turn lanes, per ITD.

Other planned features will include a separated 10-foot bicycle and pedestrian pathway on both sides of Highway 55, a pedestrian undercrossing east of 10th Avenue near Vallivue Middle School and upgraded signal equipment at major intersections for better traffic timing coordination.

ITD said the project will also install sound walls at Crestwood Estates, Fieldcrest Village and Lakeview Apartments, and construct the Karcher View frontage road west of 10th Avenue on the highway's north side.

Construction is scheduled for completion in 2028.
Washington  Michigan U.S. Rep. John James is asking the Congress to set aside $638 million in military construction dollars for eight projects needed to prepare Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Macomb County for the arrival of two new aircraft platforms in the next five or so years.

James, a Shelby Township Republican who is running for governor, said the federal funding is an investment not just in the mission at Selfridge but in the defense and safety of the country.

"Given the fact that Selfridge is a super base and a flight line that is owned federally, I think this is a remarkable deal for the feds, and they should take us up on it," said James, a former Army helicopter pilot who served in Iraq.

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"These are investments for the next 50, 60, 70, 100 years, and this is something we don't do enough as a state in this nation  look forward into the future and what we are going to need to keep our nation safe."

U.S. Rep. John James, a Shelby Township Republican who is running for governor, is asking the Congress to set aside $638 million in military construction dollars for eight projects needed to prepare Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Harrison Township.

James formally requested the money on Friday in a letter to House appropriators, telling them that, despite President Donald Trump's commitment last year to base the new F-15EXs at Selfridge, "the mission is incomplete until these 21st-century facilities are in place."

"We must ensure the Air Force provides an executable and fully funded plan to support the Citizen-Airman of the 127th Wing as they defend our nation," James wrote.

The upgrades would include $218 million for a dual bay hangar complex for KC-46 refueling aircraft; $190 million for a maintenance complex for the F-15EX fighter aircraft; and $110 million for a runway realignment, and $52 million for taxiway extensions, according to a cost breakdown that James said came from Selfridge.

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Another $34 million would go toward a training complex for the KC-46 air crews and $28 million for a KC-46 squadron operations building at the base in Harrison Township.

It's not guaranteed that Congress will fully fund James' massive request. The congressman had asked for $90 million for Selfridge upgrades in fiscal 2026, while Michigan's Democratic senators, Gary Peters and Elissa Slotkin, asked for $200 million. The final funding bill incorporated just $20 million for Selfridge infrastructure.

James praised Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall, who last week fast-tracked the approval of a $152 million supplemental spending plan through the state House to secure funding for upgrades at Selfridge. That move was "absolutely essential" in James' talks with the Air Force secretary, who named the state funding as "one of the last gates to pass," he said.

"I think that getting such a significant commitment from the state will motivate folks," James said.

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The upgrades to Selfridge's infrastructure and facilities are anticipated to cost around $1 billion over five to seven years, Brig. Gen. Leah Voelker, the base's commander, told The Detroit News last month. Base leaders aim to complete 35% of the design work for the main infrastructure projects for the two missions by May, she said.

By 2028, the F-15EX fighter mission is intended to replace the aging A-10 Thunderbolt II squadron at Selfridge that is set to be retired soon at the base on Lake St. Clair northeast of Detroit. Eight new KC-46 Pegasus tankers are expected at the base by around 2030, Voelker said.

More: Major changes loom for Selfridge. How base's new commander is preparing

Michigan officials are eager to minimize the gap between the time when the A-10s roll out of the base and the F-15EXs arrive in an effort to maintain the workforce of pilots and maintenance staff for the aircraft. The length of that gap could depend on the availability of funding for the base upgrades.

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"We're already going to be in a situation where we may lose the A-10 before the F15EX comes, so the more quickly we move, the less likely that is to occur," James said.

"And so we are going to be pushing hard. This is going to be on both sides of the aisle, from Michigan to D.C., to do everything that we can to get this done as quickly as possible."

More: Michigan lawmakers push to block 'early' retirement of fighter jet fleet at Selfridge

More: Major changes loom for Selfridge. How base's new commander is preparing

The state, in collaboration with the National Guard Bureau, previously awarded contracts for the design and environmental assessment required for the Selfridge project that proposes relocating the primary runway northward to shift the southern clear zone away from residential areas.

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The William P. Rosso Highway relocation project between I-94 and Jefferson Avenue is state-funded and includes relocating road and drainage infrastructure to support the bases expanded mission capabilities, according to the Macomb County Department of Roads.

mburke@detroitnews.com

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This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: James seeks $638M for Selfridge upgrades ahead of new aircraft arrivals
By Tim Kelly

TOKYO, March 16 (Reuters) - Japan has no plan to dispatch naval vessels to escort vessels in the Middle East, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on Monday, after U.S. President Donald Trump called on allies to protect tankers traversing through the Strait of Hormuz.

"We have not made any decisions whatsoever about dispatching escort ships. We are continuing to examine what Japan can do independently and what can be done within the legal framework," Takaichi told parliament.

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Trump's call in a social media post for U.S. allies, including Japan, to help protect oil and gas shipments through the strategic waterway puts Tokyo in a difficult position because while it relies heavily on Middle East energy its war-renouncing constitution limits the scope of overseas military operations it can conduct.

Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force has conducted anti-piracy operations in waters near the Middle East, but those missions were policing operations rather than combat missions against state actors. Japan can deploy its military overseas to respond to what it determines to be an existential threat to the nation, but that would be politically difficult and a high legal threshold for Takaichi's government to justify.

Takaichi will travel to Washington this week for talks with Trump that she said will cover the conflict with Iran.

"I would like to engage in solid discussions based on Japans views and position regarding the need for early de-escalation," she told lawmakers.

(Reporting by Tim Kelly; Editing by Michael Perry and Raju Gopalakrishnan)
When President Donald Trump threatened funding for the massive Gateway tunnel project between New York and New Jersey, vulnerable Republicans expressed their dissatisfaction  but largely stayed away from publicly criticizing the president directly.

One GOP candidate running in a blue-leaning seat in northern New Jersey had a different approach.

The president should not be using Gateway as a pawn, said Joe Hathaway, a local councilmember who is looking to succeed Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill in New Jerseys 11th District, an affluent suburban seat that she flipped in the 2018 blue wave. It's the right thing to do for the district, he later said in an interview with POLITICO. This isn't just a party-line thing.

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While the fight over Gateway seems to have quieted for now, with the administration releasing millions of dollars but still fighting it in court, Hathaway has also spoken out on other hot-button topics that Republicans are worrying will drag them down in the midterms.

He disagrees with a controversial immigrant detention facility in a neighboring district, and has advocated for reforms for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, including better training and deescalation techniques. Banning masks and body-worn cameras "will end up keeping people more safe, he said. Hathaway also said that he would have supported subsidies in the Affordable Care Act, which he acknowledged that the president and a lot of Republicans werent in favor of.

Its an uncommon strategy these days in the GOP, where candidates hope that cozying up to Trump will boost turnout. But as recently as last year in New Jersey, the Trump affiliation proved to be Republicans downfall in the race for governor as the president faced low approval ratings and criticisms over the economy.

And in NJ-11, where Democrats outnumber Republicans by more than 60,000 voters and its most recent representative  Sherrill  won her gubernatorial election by double digits with a staunch anti-Trump message, theres little appetite for a candidate who ties themselves to the president.

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Hathaway isnt going out of his way to bash Trump or claim an anti-MAGA lane  like others have done in New Jersey  and has commended some of Trumps signature policies, like the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. But unlike many other Republican candidates across the country, hes not making Trump a focal point of his campaign.

My plan is to take this thing in the special, completely reshape the narrative going into November and give Republicans a new sense of swagger and a blueprint to how we can win again in a place like New Jersey, and make sure that our party continues to grow and be the party of common sense and practical leadership, Hathaway said.

Next months special election will be an uphill climb for Hathaway, especially as the national environment continues to favor Democrats and Republicans in Congress continue heading for the exit ahead of Novembers midterms.

But some Republicans hope that Hathaways bipartisan approach  he said hed want to join the Problem Solvers Caucus  and his local network from serving as mayor and on the Randolph Township Council can make the race competitive. Another factor: the Democrat hes up against, longtime progressive organizer Analilia Mejia.

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You have a technocratic Republican who talks about improving peoples lives and isn't venturing into your standard Republican campaign lore versus someone who is very emblematic of where the Democratic Party is going, said GOP strategist Carlos Cruz, who worked on a super PAC during the gubernatorial campaign.

National Democrats not too worried

Mejia, the co-executive director of the Center for Popular Democracy and a former executive director of the New Jersey Working Families Party, emerged victorious in last months crowded special primary election. (Hathaway did not face a primary challenger.)

She defeated former Rep. Tom Malinowski in an unexpectedly close race, due in part to the American Israel Public Affairs Committees super PAC, United Democracy Project, spending $2 million attacking him because he would not support unconditional aid for Israel. The group did not target Mejia, who has said that Israel committed a genocide in Gaza. Unlike other progressive candidates across the country, Mejia did not make Israel and Palestine prominent parts of her campaign messaging, with her primarily focusing on affordability, immigration and democracy.

Shortly after the special primary election, Jewish Insider published an article with a quote from Jeff Grayzel, one of the other Democrats who ran for the seat, saying that Mejia said that Israel has a right to exist, but not as a Jewish state. When asked in an interview if she thinks Israel has a right to exist as Jewish state, Mejia said that Israel has both the right and a responsibility to exist as a free and fair democracy and Israelis have a right to self determination.

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If the concern is whether or not I support a free and just democracy in Israel, I repeatedly said I do. If the concern is, do I support Israelis rights to have self determination, I clearly do, she said. As someone in the United States that is currently pushing against a movement to impose religious ideology on my fellow friends and neighbors, I do pause around the idea of church and state. Maybe that's an American sensibility, but ultimately, it's on the Israeli people to decide and lead their own government. And I think I've been clear about that.

UDP left the door open to spending in the race in the future  its focus remains on who will serve the next full term in Congress, a spokesperson said after the February primary. But it is unclear if it will engage in the April election. A spokesperson for UDP, which is active in other races across the country this cycle, did not respond to a request for comment.

Even without AIPACs involvement, Hathaway has repeatedly suggested that he is a staunch supporter of Israel, while Mejia is not. When asked if he is looking for AIPACs endorsement, Hathaway said that its up to them if they want to get involved and added that he would expect that a number of pro-Israel groups have an interest in this race.

Neither Mejia nor Hathaway were particularly strong fundraisers in the primary, and outside investment could shake up the race. But mail-in ballots are already out, and no outside groups on either side of the aisle have made a significant investment  suggesting that national players arent expecting that close of a fight. National Democrats especially do not see this seat in danger of flipping.

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Democratic leaders across the spectrum, including Sherrill, have coalesced around Mejias campaign. And even some in the party who are most outspoken against those further to the left arent concerned about her chances in April.

This is not the NJ-11 of [former Republican Rep.] Rodney Frelinghuysen, said David de la Fuente, deputy director for politics and research at center-left group Third Way. The district was shored up to be reliably Democratic, and while I think the district as a whole is probably more of a Mikie Sherrill district than a Mejia district overall, its a special election when Donald Trump is in the White House doing everything but fixing the economy, and I dont think Democrats have anything to worry about.

GOP calls opponent a 'far-left radical'

Still, Republicans are leaning into Mejias progressive accolades, arguing that she is much further to the left of Sherrill. After Mejia won the Democratic nomination, Hathaway posted a video linking her to other Democrats like New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani  a frequent boogeyman of choice for the GOP  along with New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Mejia's former boss Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), both of whom endorsed Mejia in the primary. Its a strategy Republicans hope can bring unaffiliated voters  the second-largest voting bloc in the district  and more moderate Democrats on their side.

Luke Ferrante, executive director at the New Jersey Republican Party, said that Democrats picked a more partisan option who is not as close to the district.

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While far-left radical Analilia Mejia wants to raise taxes, defund the police, and turn New Jersey into a socialist hellscape, Republican Joe Hathaway wants to lower costs and make communities safer, National Republican Congressional Committee spokesperson Maureen OToole said in a statement. New Jerseyans have no interest in Mejias proven-to-fail socialist agenda, and voters will reject her because of it.

Mejia pushed back on Republicans attacks labeling her as a socialist: I have two sons, and whenever they have lost the argument or they don't have a constructive thing to actually say, they resort to name calling, she said. And so that's actually how I feel about it.

I'm a Democratic county committeewoman in Essex County, so it just goes to show their ignorance that they don't actually know what they're talking about, she continued. If they were curious about my party affiliation, they could see that I've been helping build the Democratic Party for quite some time in New Jersey.

When asked if there are caucuses shed like to join if she wins the election, Mejia said she got a lot of support from the Congressional Progressive Caucus, adding that her top priority is going to be, how do I establish an office that is responsive to the needs and concerns and questions of voters in New Jersey's 11th Congressional District. As for becoming a member of the progressive Squad, she said, My focus isn't labels or squads or this or that. My focus is, can I get in there and do the job to the best of my abilities? Hathaway has claimed that Mejia is attempting a political makeover in the general election.

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Mejias team has taken to describing Hathaway as a MAGA Republican and criticized him for appearing at an Italian-American groups event with Joseph Belnome, a Republican who previously ran for the seat and attended a Stop the Steal rally in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. Democrats similarly attacked GOP gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli last year for campaigning with Belnome. Hathaway accused Mejia of grasping at straws and said that he has crossed paths with Belnome on the trail over the years, but does not have a relationship with him. He also condemned Jan. 6 rioters, calling it one of the darkest days in American history.

After April, a rematch is in the cards. Candidates have to run again in the June primary for the full term, and Hathaway has said hes in it for the long haul. No prominent challengers have emerged against Mejia nor Hathaway for the June elections.
The woman was deported after being involved with a security incident in which a Jewish settler hit a 5-year-old Palestinian child with the side mirror of his vehicle.

Israel has deported another Jewish-American young adult involved in solidarity efforts for West Bank Palestinians, adding to what critics say is an unjust crackdown on left-wing activists.

Because of the war with Iran, which has disrupted flights, Israel deported the woman to Egypt rather than sending her on a plane to the United States, as it did for two Jewish-American women deported in November after, police said, they entered a closed area of the West Bank.

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The new deportation followed an incident on Friday in the Bedouin village of Umm Al-Khair in which a 5-year-old Palestinian child, Siwar Al-Hathaleen, was struck by a car driven by a Jewish West Bank settler. Umm Al-Khair is a hotspot for violent confrontations between settlers who are expanding their presence in the area and local Palestinians, including one last year in which a settler shot to death another member of the Al-Hathaleen clan, Awadh, whose activism had been the subject of an Academy Award-winning documentary.

Multiple videos of the new incident reviewed by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency show the vehicle hitting the child with its side mirror after she ran toward the road near a local playground. The Jewish woman can be seen attempting to prevent the driver from fleeing the scene.

The Israel Police Spokespersons Unit said in a statement that the driver immediately stopped at the scene, called emergency and rescue services, and provided assistance and noted that a preliminary investigation had found the driver not at fault. It said that several Palestinians and three foreign activists began to disturb the public order at the scene, acted violently, and caused damage to the drivers vehicle.

A general view shows the football field and surrounding homes in the village of Umm Al-Khair in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron, West Bank on Feb. 12, 2026. (credit: Photo by Mosab Shawer / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images)

The videos reviewed by JTA, which cover the period after the attack, do not show damage to the vehicle. The activists deny the allegations against them, and they have not been charged with any crimes.

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After detaining the three foreigners, the statement said, police let two go with warnings to stay away from the area or risk being deported. The third had received a previous warning in recent months and was turned over to immigration officials.

Given a 10-year ban from Israel, the third activist was subsequently deported through the Taba Crossing with Egypt on Sunday. She has not yet spoken publicly about her experience.

Critics say government emboldened in crackdown on Jewish leftists

The deportation comes amid a number of incidents that critics of the government say show that it has become emboldened in its crackdown on Jewish leftists. Several times, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has recently praised our partners in the Population [and Immigration] Authority for their decisive and professional work that led to the expulsion of dozens of anarchist activists who identified with a terror organization.

Engaging in solidarity efforts with West Bank Palestinians is an ongoing tradition among some liberal U.S. Jews, who argue that confronting rising violence against Palestinians there is essential both morally and to securing Israels future.

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Gilad Kariv, a Reform rabbi who is a member of the opposition in the Knesset, said in a statement that the deportation reflected improper collusion between the police and the Population Authority, which in practice is serving as a contractor for the deportation of Jewish left-wing activists.

Kariv vowed to bring the matter before the Diaspora Affairs committee and called on U.S. Jewish leaders to respond to this phenomenon of deporting American Jews from Israel simply because they dont sit well with Ben-Gvirs extremism.
While much of the attention has focused on incumbent U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy and Congresswoman Julia Letlow, another Republican lawmaker has also been making the push for the U.S. Senate seat.

Louisiana Treasurer John Fleming made his pitch to the Plaquemine Rotary Club during a recent visit to Iberville Parish. He is no stranger to Capitol Hill.

Fleming served four terms in Congress from 2009-17 and was one of the founders of the House Freedom Caucus.

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In addition, he has served as Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development in 2019 and later served as a Deputy Chief of Staff for President Trump.

Fleming grew up in a working-class family. His father died while he was in high school, leaving him with no breadwinner in the home along with younger siblings. He worked his way through college and was accepted into medical school.

U.S. Senate candidate John Fleming, a resident of Minden, outlined his campaign platfrom during his visit to the Plaquemine Rotary Club.

After his residency in family medicine, Dr. Fleming served as a naval medical officer. After leaving the military, he set up a medical practice in Minden, where he lives today.

In addition, he has managed commercial real estate properties well as multi-unit franchises.

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He and his wife continued to practice Medicine and he still practices from time to time.

Believe it or not, as a matter of fact, if there's anybody here today who has back aches, sore throat, fever, or headache, I can accept most any form of patient, Fleming said.

Fleming said he finds himself defending Trump and trying to anchor conservatism in the Republican Party.

After eight years in Congress, he was appointed to Health and Human Servies, where he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary.

He served as Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Development until the Trump Administration tapped him to serve as a Deputy Chief of Staff in 2020.

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And it was very interesting, as you can imagine  right at the peak of the pandemic, Fleming said.

He would later serve on the Coronavirus Task Force.

Fleming described that period as a very challenging time.

He returned home after Trumps first term ended.

Its not to say he always agreed with Trump.

He voted to convict Trump in a second impeachment trial, which likely played a role in his not receiving the President's endorsement.

I know the things that have happened lately that have his poll numbers completely upside down, Fleming said.

Fleming said he is running a grassroots campaign.

Its different from the old style campaigns, he said.

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This is a closed primary  to vote for a Republican, youve got to either be registered Republican or unaffiliated, Fleming said. If you want to vote for Democrats, you got to be registered Democrat, or unaffiliated.

The election will be held March 16, and the runoff is set for June 27.

And if you're unaffiliated, you can't vote in both Democrat and Republican, he said. Youve got to choose one in the beginning and stay with them and then the two winners the Republican and the Democrat will face each other.

This article originally appeared on Plaquemine Post South: Louisiana Treasurer Fleming visits Plaquemine
(AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Israeli journalist Emanuel Fabian said deranged gamblers threatened his life  as well as members of his family  if he did not change a story about an Iranian missile strike that hit an Israeli town.

Fabian shared the harrowing ordeal in a story in The Times of Israel on Monday.

He said his problems started after reporting an Iranian ballistic missile hit the city of Beit Shemesh on March 10; Fabian said it seemed like a minor incident at the time, considering the missile hit an open area and no one was hurt.

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But he was soon inundated with emails telling him to change his story. Someone named Aviv emailed him in Hebrew and insisted not a full missile had hit the city, but merely an interceptor fragment.

Id appreciate it if you could update your article, as in its current form it does not reflect reality, Aviv added. Alternatively, if you have information that it was indeed a full missile that was not intercepted, I would be glad to be corrected.

Fabian responded by telling him that the military information he received showed his report was correct. Things quickly escalated from there, with Fabian receiving more angry messages  including one from a man named Haim who said Fabians report cost him and others nearly $1 million.

You have no idea how much youve put yourself at risk. Today is the most significant day of your career, Haim told him over WhatsApp. You have two choices: either believe that we have the capabilities, and after you make us lose $900,000 we will invest no less than that to finish you. Or end this with money in your pocket, and also earn back the life you had until now.

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By this point, Fabian had figured out the barrage of messages was tied to a bet on Polymarket, one of the top prediction markets. There had been $14.1 million wagered on whether Iran strikes Israel on March 10, and Fabians report would play a key role in how the bet was paid out.

The Polymarket wager had a clause that said intercepted missiles will not be sufficient enough to determine a strike had taken place  making it clear why he was getting pestered by bettors to change his report.

Fabian said Haim continued to hound him to change his story, and shared specific details about his parents, his family, and his neighborhood to try to get him to comply.

If you decide to go with your ego and not with your head, you are leaving behind dozens of wealthy people from all over the world who will know that you performed market manipulation and stole from them, Haim said. They know who you are, you dont know who they are. It took them less than 5 minutes to find out exactly where you live  how often you see your lovely parents  and exactly who your  brothers and sisters are.

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He added, Believe me, you dont want to be their target. Because you will never, ever earn enough money to pay back even half of those you stole from.

Fabian said he ultimately went to the police, and they are now investigating the threats.

The attempt by these gamblers to pressure me to change my reporting so that they would win their bet did not and will not succeed, Fabian added. But I do worry that other journalists may not be as ethical if they are promised some of the winnings.

The post Journalist Got Death Threats After Enraged Gamblers Demanded He Change a Report on Iranian Strikes on Israel first appeared on Mediaite.
A man accused of a triple shooting in Hickory over the weekend that left one man dead appeared before a judge in Newton Monday morning.

Melvin Ramseur was charged with first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder after that shooting along Second Street Court Southwest Friday night.

READ MORE: Investigation underway following deadly Hickory shooting

Dozens of officers responded to the scene after neighbors said multiple rounds were fired in the parking lot.

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Police said Donnie Morgan died at the scene and two other men were hospitalized with gunshot wounds.

The judge said because of the seriousness of the charges, he would not consider bond at this time.

VIDEO: Investigation underway following deadly Hickory shooting
LONDON  A judge has granted a temporary restraining order in a lawsuit filed on Tuesday, March 10, by the family of Douglas Harless  temporarily blocking the Kentucky State Police from sharing investigative records related to the fatal police shooting while the case proceeds in court.

The lawsuit was filed in Franklin Circuit Court by Nicki Lawson and Mona Alsip, the co-administratrices of the Estate of Douglas Harless, seeking records under the Kentucky Open Records Act and asking the court to intervene in what they describe as an improper delay by the Kentucky State Police.

Harless was shot and killed at his Lily home on Dec. 23, 2024, when officers with the London Police Department attempted to execute a search warrant on Vanzant Road in Laurel County.

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According to the complaint, the warrant was reportedly issued for 489 Vanzant Road, but officers instead executed it at Harless home located at 511 Vanzant Road.

Despite clear markings indicating the address, London Police Officers executed their warrant on 511 Vanzant Road, the wrong home, the complaint states.

The filing further alleges that officers forced entry and shot Harless multiple times shortly after entering the home.

Following the incident, attorneys representing the Harless family submitted an open records request to the Kentucky State Police on Jan. 13, 2025, seeking documents including the investigative file, video footage, dispatch communications, 911 calls, photographs and the search warrant connected to the case.

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At the time, KSP denied portions of the request, citing the ongoing criminal investigation into the officer-involved shooting.

According to the lawsuit, the state police later completed their investigation and turned the case over to a special prosecutor. The case was presented to a grand jury this past February, which ultimately declined to indict any officers in the shooting death.

After the grand jury decision, the Harless family submitted another open records request on Feb. 20, seeking the same investigative records.

The complaint states that KSP responded on Feb. 27, saying it needed additional time to review the records due to the large volume of material and that a final response would be issued by April 13.

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Attorneys for the Harless family argue that the delay violates Kentuckys Open Records Act, which requires agencies to respond within five business days.

The lawsuit also raised concerns that the investigative file could be transferred to another agency, including the City of London, for an administrative review before the family receives the records.

According to a report from LEX18 on Monday, a judge has now granted a temporary restraining order preventing KSP from sharing the records to the city of London before the family can first review the findings.

London City Attorney Larry Bryson said Monday that the city was not involved in the legal action.

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I didnt know about it until today. Apparently it was filed electronically  technically its an appeal from an open records decision by the state police (KSP), that the city was not a party to, stated City Attorney Larry Bryson on Monday. I made an open records request, along with probably 1,000 other people for the report. I was told the same thing, that I wouldnt get it until April.

Bryson continued by reiterating that the city was not a party to the appeal.

Howard O. Mann of the Law Offices of Howard O. Mann, one of the attorneys representing the Harless family, said the courts quick action was appropriate.

We appreciate the judge dealing with it in a timely manner, said Mann. We think its meritorious The bottom line is, I am not surprised that the judge ruled quickly on it, and hopefully that will get the records available to the news stations and the family.

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Tad Thomas with Thomas Law Offices, who also represents the Harless family, provided this statement:

Doug Harless was killed in his own home, and his family has spent more than a year fighting to access records that explain what happened that night. This temporary restraining order is a step toward preventing the Kentucky State Police from hiding the records. We continue to use every legal avenue to seek the full truth of what happened that night and hold the wrongdoers accountable.
(Jose Luis Magana/AP photo)

President Donald Trump insisted, I just want to do it, to staffers wary of a military strike on Iran, according to a new report that explores a sense of buyers remorse surrounding the war among the presidents top aides.

In a new report on Monday, Axios reported that those closest to the president may see Americas involvement in the war as a mistake a little over two weeks since the U.S. launched Operation Epic Fury on February 28.

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As the White House grapples with a recent spike in oil and gas prices after Iran blocked the Strait of Hormuz, Trump continues to tout the operation as successful, insisting that Irans armed forces are decimated.

But a senior official told Axios that Trump grossly overestimated his ability to force regime change in Iran, and was high on his own supply after previous strikes in Iran that he claimed had obliterated their nuke facilities and the military operation in Venezuela that led to the capture of its president, Nicolas Maduro.

A source close to the administration said some key officials around Trump were reluctant or wanted more time. He ended up saying, I just want to do it,' the source said. He grossly overestimated his ability to topple the regime short of sending in ground troops.

Trump downplayed the cost of the war in a phone call with PBS News Hour White House correspondent Liz Landers on Monday, saying, Were doing very well.

The post I Just Want to Do It: Trump Was Reportedly High on His Own Supply When He Ordered Iran Strikes to Reluctant Staffers first appeared on Mediaite.
The Supreme Court announced on Monday afternoon that it will hear oral argument on whether the Trump administration can end a program that allows several thousand Syrians and approximately 350,000 Haitians to live in the United States temporarily. In a brief, unsigned order, the justices left in place rulings by federal judges in New York and Washington, D.C., that had indefinitely postponed the termination of the program, known as the Temporary Protected Status program, for Syrian and Haitian nationals. But the justices granted a pair of requests from the Trump administration to weigh in on the merits of the dispute over the administrations efforts to end the TPS program for those nationals without waiting for federal appeals courts to do so first, as is the normal procedure.

The court will hear oral arguments in Noem v. Doe, the challenge to the termination of the TPS program for Syrian nationals, and Trump v. Miot, the challenge to the termination of the program for Haitian nationals, during the second week of its April argument session, which runs from April 27 through April 29. A decision in the two cases, which will be combined and treated as one for purposes of oral argument and the courts eventual ruling, is likely to follow by late June or early July.

Congress enacted the Temporary Protected Status program in 1990. The program gives the Department of Homeland Security the power to designate a countrys citizens as eligible to remain in the U.S. and work if they cannot return to their own country because of a natural disaster, armed conflict, or other extraordinary and temporary conditions there.

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In the wake of a brutal crackdown by Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad against anti-government dissenters, which led to the deaths of thousands of Syrians, Janet Napolitano  then the Secretary of Homeland Security  designated Syria under the TPS program. The program was repeatedly renewed for Syria over the next 13 years. A relatively small number of people  estimated at several thousand  are currently protected by the program.

Al-Assads regime was overthrown in 2024, and he fled to Russia. Last fall, then-DHS Secretary Kristi Noem announced that the Trump administration planned to end Syrias TPS designation, effective Nov. 21, 2025. She indicated that Syrias new government was attempting to move the country to a stable institutional governance, and she said that it would be contrary to the national interest if the TPS designation for Syria remained in place.

A group of Syrians in the United States who had benefited from the TPS program went to federal court in New York to challenge the Trump administrations attempt to end the designation of Syria. Shortly before the termination of the TPS designation was slated to go into effect, U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla blocked the government from ending the program for Syria. Failla concluded that the challengers were likely to succeed on their claim that the decision to end the TPS designation for Syria violates the federal law governing administrative agencies. She noted that Noem had tried to end TPS not only for Syrians, but also for virtually every country that has come up for consideration  which, she wrote, in light of the different conditions and factors leading to the initial designations, suggested that the decisions to terminate TPS were not appropriate.

The Trump administration asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit to freeze Faillas order while it appealed, but it declined to do so.

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U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer then came to the Supreme Court on Feb. 26, asking the justices to pause Faillas order and allow the Trump administration to terminate TPS for Syrians while its appeal moves forward. Sauer pointed to a pair of earlier rulings on the courts interim docket in which the court had paused lower-court rulings barring the government from ending TPS for Venezuelans, calling Faillas order a materially similar order with materially similar flaws. Sauer also suggested that courts do not have the power to review Noems decision to end TPS for Syrians at all.

Sauer further asked the justices to take up the dispute and hear oral argument now, without waiting for the 2nd Circuit to weigh in first. This relatively rare maneuver, known as certiorari before judgment, is necessary, Sauer wrote, because of the lower courts persistent disregard for this Courts stay orders.

The Syrian plaintiffs countered that the government had not shown that it would suffer any harm if Faillas order remains in effect for now  a key factor in determining whether the government is entitled to the relief that it seeks. Moreover, they added, their case is different from the Venezuelan cases in which the justices did allow the government to move ahead with terminating TPS. Among other things, they noted, several hundred thousand Venezuelans benefited from the TPS program, prompting the government to claim that it suffered acute harm from the additional drain that those beneficiaries placed on government services.

And if the government is allowed to go ahead and terminate the Syrian TPS program while its appeal continues, the plaintiffs countered, they will suffer imminent and concrete harms. They pointed to the Do Not Travel advisory concerning Syria issued by the State Department even before the military conflict in Iran began at the end of February, creating the prospect of a full-scale regional war.

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Napolitano designated Haiti under the TPS program in 2010 in the wake of a devastating earthquake that caused hundreds of thousands of deaths. Noem announced in November 2025 that the government intended to terminate Haitis TPS designation, effective Feb. 3, 2026, based on her determination that there are no extraordinary and temporary conditions in Haiti that prevent Haitian nationals  from returning in safety. Moreover, Noem said, it is contrary to the national interest of the United States to permit Haitian nationals  to remain temporarily in the United States.

Several Haitian nationals with TPS challenged Noems efforts to end the program in federal court in Washington, D.C. U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes issued an order in early February that barred the government from ending the program for Haitians. Reyes concluded that it was substantially likely that Noem had ended the Haitian TPS designation because of hostility to nonwhite immigrants. The termination also violated the federal law governing administrative agencies, Reyes concluded, because Noem had failed both to consult with other federal agencies before ending Haitis TPS designation and to consider the billions Haitian TPS holders contribute to the economy.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit declined to pause Reyes ruling. The majority acknowledged the Supreme Courts orders freezing similar rulings involving TPS designations for Venezuela, but it contended that those cases were meaningfully distinct because  unlike in this case  the government had invoked complex and ongoing negotiations with Venezuela as part of its argument for temporary relief.

The Trump administration came to the Supreme Court last week, asking the justices both to pause Reyes ruling and (as in the Syrian TPS case) grant review now. Sauer described the governments efforts to end the Syrian and Haitian TPS designations as the legal equivalent of fraternal, if not identical, twins to its effort to end Venezuelas TPS program.

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In a Monday filing, the Haitian nationals stressed that if Reyes order were temporarily paused, they could be permanently harmed, because the government could deport them to Haiti even while the litigation continues. Once there, they stressed, they would face dangerous conditions. Indeed, they noted, the State Department advises that people not travel to Haiti due to kidnapping, crime, terrorist activity, civil unrest, and limited health care.

On the other hand, they wrote, if Reyes order stays in place, the government will not suffer permanent harm. Haitian TPS holders have lived in our midst for nearly two decades without problem, they wrote. There is no sudden emergency requiring their immediate expulsion.

Just a few hours after the Haitian TPS holders submitted their response, and without waiting for the Trump administration to file a reply brief, the court issued a one-paragraph order setting the cases for one hour of oral argument during the second week of the April 2026 argument session. The briefs in the case will be highly expedited, with the governments brief due in just two weeks and the challengers briefs due two weeks after that.

For more Supreme Court news and analysis, visit SCOTUSblog.

Read more at SCOTUSblog 
TOPEKA  A banking official told lawmakers Monday about an elderly customer who was scammed into giving tens of thousands of dollars to what she believed would be a scholarship honoring her dead husband.

Tony Weingartner, manager of the financial intelligence unit at Topeka-based Capitol Federal Savings Bank, said the bank engaged with the woman, and law enforcement and social workers met with her, but she could not believe that that would occur illegitimately and that she was defrauded.

She couldnt accept it, he said. And now, my understanding is, even with a conservator over her finances, she still believes that theres a scholarship out there for her husband. There isnt one.

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Weingartner used the anecdote to demonstrate the need for legislation that would hold telecommunications providers and social media platforms liable for fraudulent activity that results in losses for banks.

In another example, he said, the bank lost $45,000 last month after a customer was tricked by a fraudster who appeared by caller ID to be a bank employee. The customer provided account information.

The fraudster then convinced the victims phone service provider that the victim needed calls transferred to a new number. When the bank called to verify the legitimacy of checks from the victims account, fraudsters answered the phone and provided a green light.

Representatives for the banking industry appeared before a joint committee of House and Senate lawmakers to initiate conversation about House Bill 2648. The bill would require social media platforms such as Meta, which operates Facebook, to verify the identity of advertisers, give users a clear and conspicuous tool to report suspected fraud, and investigate reports of fraud within 72 hours.

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Social media platforms would be liable for damages caused by fraudulent ads if they knowingly allow such ads on their platform or ignore credible reports of fraud.

The bill also would prohibit telecommunication companies from transmitting a call that falsely identifies a callers name or phone number.

Rep. Nick Hoheisel, a Wichita Republican who chairs the House Financial Institutions and Pensions Committee, said he wanted to hold an informational hearing on the bill, even though it wont advance this year.

Were not doing anything with it, Hoheisel said. This is to further our understanding of financial fraud and how we can impact it here in Kansas as a committee and as a Legislature.

Kelly VanZwoll of the Kansas Bankers Association tells lawmakers during a March 16, 2026, hearing at the Statehouse in Topeka that fighting fraud is a team sport. (Photo by Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)

Kelly VanZwoll, of the Kansas Bankers Association, introduced the bill in early February. She told the joint committee that banks have been on the front lines of protecting consumers, and they want regulators and industry to work with them.

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It really is a team sport, she said. We cant do it alone, and thats what we need your help.

She presented information she attributed to reporting by the Wall Street Journal and Reuters news service about fraudulent ads on Meta: 50% of scams for one large bank were traced to Meta, 70% of new Meta advertisers are flagged for fraud, and 96% of valid user scam reports are ignored. Additionally, she said, Meta earned $16 billion  10% of its 2024 revenue  from ads that were scams or for banned goods. When Meta detects fraud, she said, the penalty is to charge bad actors a higher rate.

A Meta representative didnt immediately respond to a request to comment for this story.

Megan Stokes, state policy director for the Computer and Communications Industry Association, of which Meta is a member, said in written testimony that the bill is unconstitutional because it regulates interstate services that are under federal domain and would criminalize protected free expression in violation of the First Amendment.

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She objected to a private right of action in the bill that would allow individuals to sue companies for violations. She predicted courthouses would be flooded with frivolous claims with little evidence of actual injury.

Gerry Keegan, who represents CTIA, a trade association for the wireless industry, said telecommunication providers share a goal of protecting residents from fraud. They are actively developing new technology, he said, including an effective framework called STIR/SHAKEN, to combat bad actors.

This legislation would impractically and improperly establish that providers of voice and messaging services would be liable for the actions of bad actors on their networks, Keegan said. While well-intentioned, this legislation would do little to deter bad actors who are already violating existing laws and would instead impose new requirements on law-abiding companies who are hard at work in the fight against unwanted and illegal robocalls and texts.
TOPEKA  Three Democrats walked out of a Kansas House committee last week, adding physical emphasis to vocal objections against Rep. Pat Proctors commentary, including alleged antisemitic statements about a philanthropist whose family survived the Nazi occupation of Hungary.

Proctor, a Leavenworth Republican seeking the GOP nomination for Kansas secretary of state, defended his critique of businessman George Soros and rejected assertions by Democratic Reps. Heather Meyer of Overland Park and Alexis Simmons of Topeka that his statements were prejudicial against Jewish people.

The icy exchange came during consideration of bills that could terminate mail-in advance voting statewide, move all elections to even years, require new reporting by candidates of small donations and block use of public funds to promote state constitutional amendments or local ballot measures.

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It culminated with Meyer, Simmons and Rep. Brooklynne Mosley of Lawrence packing up their belongings and exiting the committee room at the Capitol.

Thats the first time Ive ever had members walk out of my committee, Proctor said before adjourning. I only had one more meeting to do it. So, Im glad we were able to get that done before I was done as chair.

The ruckus began with criticism of Proctors maneuvering to send a cluster of bills to the full House before the window closed on the 2026 session. Democrats objected to Proctors decision to advance a four-bill bundle and move ahead with legislation that never had a meaningful public hearing.

We had an informational hearing today in which you were the only proponent, said Rep. Kirk Haskins, a Topeka Democrat. Were just going to blindly add it because we can?

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Attack on George Soros

Proctor was dismissive of the idea a bill with a single advocate  himself  was unworthy. He brought up George Soros, an American businessman who survived the Nazi occupation of Budapest, emigrated to London as a teenager and later moved to New York. Over a 30-year period, Soros donated an estimated $8 billion to education, public health and human rights causes.

I was amused by the gasping and clutching of pearls with one news agency sponsored by George Soros that was aghast that we had a hearing with no proponents, Proctor said. Apparently its only a travesty of justice when it occurs in the elections committee.

Meyer, the first Democrat to depart the meeting, replied: We should refrain in committee and in our daily lives from trying to assume that people are funded by sources and using antisemitic language and dog whistles to do so.

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I dont remember making any antisemitic comment, Proctor said, but it is a fact that the 

Meyer: The George Soros part 

Proctor hammered the desk with a gavel: We will have one member speaking at a time, and right now the chair has the mic.

Proctor had been complaining about Kansas Reflector, a nonprofit news outlet started in 2020 to cover the Legislature, politics and policy in Kansas. Its part of States Newsrooms 501(c)(3) consortium of statehouse news bureaus. Kansas Reflector has neither directly nor indirectly received Soros funding.

Its an egregious abuse of your position to defend any antisemitic commentary, said Simmons, the second Democrat to leave. The George Soros commentary is well-documented to be heavily associated with antisemitic rhetoric. You are entitled to your opinion, chairs prerogative, sir, but its wrong.

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Mosley, the third Democrat to walk out, told Proctor: I just want to say that youve been highly inappropriate.

Proctor: Right now, were on the bill. Not your opinion of me as chair.

Rep. Paul Waggoner, a Hutchinson Republican and vice chair of the committee, defended Proctor.

Some of the kerfuffle that has resulted, I find just totally bizarre and political grandstanding to be honest, he said.

In an interview, Simmons said Proctor had used his chairmanship of the committee to advance his campaign to become the states top elections official.

His campaign is built on stoking conspiratorial fears, whether theyre rooted in xenophobia or antisemitism, she said. And, because hes using his chairmanship to amplify his campaign, those sick beliefs spill over into our legislation.

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She said Proctor wasnt a stupid man, and its embarrassing for his constituents that he pretends to be. He knew exactly what he was saying with his antisemitic dog whistle and his defensive, immediate explanation proves it.

The bill scramble

In the end, the committee approved Senate Bill 394 devoted to verification of signatures on mail-in ballots. The bill included a provision that would repeal all advance voting statutes in Kansas if a state or federal court declared SB 394 unconstitutional.

Clay Barker, general counsel to Secretary of State Scott Schwab, said the Legislature began work on tightening signature verification methods after Republican Kris Kobach defeated Jeff Colyer in the 2018 primary for governor. In that race, he said, evidence emerged that counties were taking different approaches to verification of signatures on mail-in ballots. The inconsistency raised due process concerns, he said.

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Were playing chicken with people with disabilities right to vote, said Mike Burgess, director of policy and outreach at the Disability Rights Center of Kansas and an opponent of the bill.

Proctors committee also endorsed Senate Bill 395, forcing candidates for office or organizations involved in constitutional amendments to report donations of less than $50 to the Kansas Public Disclosure Commission. He said the information could help investigate whether large sums of money were broken into small donations and attached to individuals, sometimes unwittingly, to evade disclosure requirements.

The committee placed Senate Bill 451, related to how candidates reported services of campaign subcontractors, into SB 395. This bundle was expanded with House Bill 2451, which prohibited public employees from using tax dollars to inform voters about ballot initiatives or constitutional amendments. It included House Bill 2450 to affirm candidates could accept donations for a general election during a primary campaign.

The committee gutted Senate Bill 231 and inserted House Bill 2452, which limits elections to even-numbered years. That bill previously died in the House, but Proctor wanted another bite at the apple.
Russia has agreed to stop recruiting Kenyan citizens to fight with its army in Ukraine, Kenyas foreign minister has said.

More than 1,780 citizens from 36 African countries are believed to be fighting alongside Russian soldiers in Ukraine, according to Ukraines estimates in February.

We have now agreed that Kenyans shall not be enlisted through the [Russian] Ministry of Defence, Kenyan Foreign Minister Musalia Mudavadi told reporters on Monday.

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He made the statement sitting beside Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov after the two held talks in Moscow, Russia.

His excellency has conversed with us on the issue of the welfare of Kenyans who are in Russia and more specifically those who are involved in the special operation, Mudavadi said.

There will be no further enlisting.

Mudavadi added that consular services would be organised for those Kenyans requiring assistance through proper diplomatic channels.

Russias Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov attends a meeting with Kenyas Foreign Minister Musalia Mudavadi in Moscow [Tatyana Makeyeva/Pool/AFP]

We do not want for any reason our partnership with Russia to be defined from the lens of the special operation [in Ukraine] agenda only, he said. The relationship between Kenya and Russia is much more broader than that.

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Lavrov did not mention the agreement in his remarks to the media, but said the Russian Defence Ministry was looking into cases that had caused concern among our Kenyan friends.

Russia is not forcing anyone to enlist, Lavrov said.

He said that Kenyan citizens had voluntarily signed contracts to fight alongside the Russian army.

A Kenyan intelligence report presented to lawmakers in February said that more than 1,000 Kenyans had been recruited to fight on Russias side in the war in Ukraine, five times more than authorities had previously estimated.

Since launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russia has been widely accused of recruiting foreign nationals to fight alongside its army.

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Kenyan politicians have described what they say is a network of rogue state officials who have colluded with human trafficking syndicates to recruit Kenyans to fight for Russia in Ukraine, a practice Nairobi said it wanted to stop.

In November, reports emerged that a group of South Africans ages 20-39 had travelled to Russia expecting to receive security training.

Instead, they were soon pressed into a paramilitary force and dispatched to the front lines in Ukraine.
Kenya's foreign minister on Monday expressed his concern about Russia's recruitment of Kenyan nationals to fight in its war against Ukraine, the Russian TASS news agency reported.

Musalia Mudavadi made the complaint in a meeting in Moscow with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, TASS reported.

Ahead of the trip, Mudavadi's office said discussions would seek to "address concerns surrounding Kenyans who may have been voluntarily or involuntarily enlisted in the Russian military."

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He said the Kenyan government would step up efforts to combat misleading recruitment and false job promises.

Lavrov, however, played down the issue.

"All citizens of Kenya, as well as those of other states, are participating in the special military operation voluntarily and in full compliance with Russian law," he said, using Moscow's term for the war in Ukraine.

He added that Russian law also provides for the early termination of contracts.

More than 1,000 Kenyans lured to Russia

According to figures recently presented in parliament in Nairobi, around 1,000 Kenyans have so far been lured to Russia with job offers. Many then found themselves recruited into the military and sent to war in Ukraine.

Kiev claims to have taken prisoners of war from Kenya and other African countries, though no exact figure has been given.
MADRID (AP)  Spains monarch said Monday the Spanish conquest of the Americas included much abuse and ethical controversies, striking a conciliatory tone amid a yearslong row between Spain and Mexico over colonial era abuses committed by the Spanish crown centuries ago.

King Felipe VI made the remarks while speaking with Mexicos ambassador to Spain, Quirino Ordaz, during a visit to a museum exhibition in Madrid about the role of women in pre-Columbian Mexico.

About the centuries-old Spanish conquest, Felipe said: There are things that, when we study them, we come to know them, and well, with our current values, they obviously cannot make us feel proud.

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But they must be understood in their proper context, not with excessive moral presentism, but with an objective and rigorous analysis, he said.

The Bourbon kings symbolic remarks came after years of a diplomatic spat between Spain and Mexico over the Mexican governments demands that Spain apologize for its 1519-1521 conquest of Mexico, which resulted in the death of a large part of the countrys pre-Hispanic population.

Colonial Spain ruled one of the largest empires in history with its territorial holdings spanning 5 continents at its peak between the 16th and 18th centuries. That included much of Central and South America.

Mexico City was the seat of Spains colonial power in the Americas after the Spanish and their Indigenous allies toppled the Aztecs in 1521. Mexico City was built over the ruins of the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan.

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In 2019, former Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador demanded that Spain publicly and officially recognize the abuses committed during the conquest of Mexico in a letter sent to the Spanish king and Pope Francis. Spain refused to do so, which soured relations between the two governments.

In 2024, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum did not invite Felipe to her inauguration over the palaces refusal to issue a formal apology, a move that Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called unacceptable. Spain refused to send a representative to Sheinbaums inauguration.

But tensions appeared to thaw last fall when Spains Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares acknowledged the pain and injustice suffered by Mexicos Indigenous population at the hands of Spanish conquerors. Those comments came at the inauguration of the same museum exhibit attended Monday by the king.

There has been pain, pain and injustice toward the indigenous peoples to whom this exhibition is dedicated, Albares said at the time.

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Sheinbaum recognized the foreign ministers remarks as a first step, saying then that this is the first time that a Spanish government authority has spoken of regretting the injustice.

Felipes comments do not constitute a formal apology by Spains royal palace. Sheinbaum on Monday said she would look into his remarks.
Republican lawmakers have been clear from the jump: a major theme of the state budget for the next two years will be fighting spending thats out of control.

The executive branch budget bill, House Bill 500, is still waiting in the Senate for a committee hearing and floor vote. But its far from the only bill thatll have an effect on state dollars and cents.

Many bills have accompanying fiscal impact statements, which are analyses of what legislation, if enacted, could cost the state or local governments.

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Consider House Bill 422, also called Logans Law, filed in response to last years controversial early release of Ronald Exantus, who killed 6-year-old Logan Tipton in the boys Versailles home in 2015. That bill cleared the House 93-to-1 on Feb. 24; the corrections impact statement for the bill was issued March 6. That analysis showed the bill, if passed into law, would result in significant long-term increases in operational costs, eventually adding hundreds of millions of dollars in expenses.

For other bills, the governors office has taken things into its own hands.

For the third year, Gov. Andy Beshears office has rolled out its own Facts & Fiscal Notes page, assessing the hypothetical costs of dozens of bills filed during this General Assembly. Beshear, a Democrat, often finds himself in opposition to many priorities passed by the Republican supermajority.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear speaks during the State of the Commonwealth and budget address at the Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History on Jan. 7, 2026, in Frankfort, Ky.

Scottie Ellis, a spokesperson for Beshear, said in a statement the governors office began the fiscal notes in 2024 because he has prioritized transparency and fiscal responsibility.

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The Governor believes our people should have access to this information because decisions made during the legislative session ultimately impact Kentuckians and taxpayer dollars, Ellis continued.

For example, House Bill 103  the perennial effort from Rep. Mark Hart, R-Falmouth, to end Kentuckys water fluoridation mandate  does not have a fiscal impact statement.

But according to the governors office, it could cost the state millions.

Assuming 10-to-30% of the state population has drinking water without fluoride, that could cost between $19.7-to-$59.1 million for increased dental services. Of that expense, the governors team predicts $3.9-to-$11.8 million would be state money.

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Unfortunately, the General Assembly has chosen not to include information about a bills fiscal impact on their website or elsewhere, Ellis said. While many other states have laws in place requiring that fiscal impact statements be published, Kentucky does not.

Thats not for one lawmakers lack of trying.

Rep. Savannah Maddox, R-Dry Ridge, filed House Bill 917 in early March. It would require fiscal notes accompany each bill or resolution, and legislation could not be voted on until such an analysis has been done. Similar legislation from Maddox in 2025 didnt gain any traction.

If one were to put the political beliefs of Beshear and Maddox on a Venn diagram, this might be the only overlap.

Child care bills on the move

Several proposals meant to help Kentuckys struggling child care industry are nearing the final stages of the legislative process.

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House Bill 6, a far-reaching child care bill based on recommendations from the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, was approved March 10 by a Senate committee and sent to the Senate floor. Among its many sections, HB 6 would strengthen the states five-star quality ratings system for daycare centers; require child care employees to be trained in working with special needs children; and improve the states tracking of demand and supply of child care around the state.

Other child care bills passed in one legislative chamber and now moving through the opposite chamber include Senate Bill 160, requiring state regulators to go a little easier on child care centers during inspections, especially if theyre new; Senate Bill 191, financially rewarding child care centers that do a better job of preparing kids for kindergarten; and House Bill 190, letting some child care centers count bathrooms and hallways toward their usable square footage, which determines how many children they can serve.

-Reported by John Cheves

Planned Parenthood rallies supporters

As session reaches its final stretch, advocates are drawing attention to legislation theyd still like to see passed. Among them is the Planned Parenthood Alliance, which hosted a rally at the Capitol Education Center with legislators, students and reproductive health care supporters.

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During the event, multiple speakers demanded better access to sex education and solutions for period poverty.

Rep. Vanessa Grossl, R-Georgetown, said Kentuckians need more tools, including contraceptives and comprehensive care, to help reduce unplanned pregnancies. While Grossl didnt mention the word abortion, she spoke in support of Planned Parenthood, saying it provides essential resources, including STD testing, Plan B and birth control.

In my party, we pride ourselves in limited government and individual liberty, and there is no greater liberty than the right to make your own health care decisions without a bureaucrat standing between you and your doctor, Grossl said.

Rep. Lisa Willner, D-Louisville, confers with Rep. Matt Lockett, R-Nicholasville, on Jan. 7, 2026.

Rep. Lisa Willner, D-Louisville, said providing appropriate sex education to students should be a non-controversial and common-sense issue.

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Willner said she filed House Bill 717, which has yet to receive a committee hearing, to require students to learn about consent, healthy relationships, how to make responsible decisions about their health and their futures.

It would ensure that the curriculum is respectful and inclusive of all students, and it would give parents the option to opt their child out, Willner said.

-Reported by Hannah Pinski

More headlines from Week 10 of the 2026 General Assembly

Early-morning fog settles in near the mountain town of Whitesburg in rural Eastern Kentucky. (Austin R. Ramsey/aramsey@herald-leader.com)

What were looking for in Week 11 of the 2026 General Assembly

The end is near  but not near enough.

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There are 12 legislative days left until the 10-day veto recess begins, followed by two more legislative days, which will largely be used to override Beshears vetoes. April 15 is when the General Assembly adjourns sine die. (A Latin phrase Im not confident that I, or anyone else in Frankfort, has ever pronounced correctly, meaning without a day.)

At some point, I expect to see the Senate pass some House bills and the House pass some Senate bills. The number of times that has happened so far this session can be counted on one hand with a finger to spare.

Meanwhile, there are more than 160 bills that have passed the House but not the Senate, and more than 110 that have passed the Senate but not the House.

Not all of those bills will make the cut, but anything the GOP supermajority doesnt want the governor to have unchecked veto power over needs to be on his desk by April 1.

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Session wraps up in about a month, but we must slog through some very long days before we reach sine die  however you say it.

Thank you for following the Herald-Leaders coverage of the Kentucky General Assembly. If you havent already, consider signing up for our (twice-weekly during session!) Bluegrass Politics newsletter.

Give me a shout at tduvall@herald-leader.com with any feedback, tips or sine die haiku drafts.
Valued at a market cap of around $27.6 billion, Charter Communications, Inc. (CHTR) is a prominent broadband connectivity and cable telecommunications company that provides internet, television, mobile, and voice services to residential and commercial customers across the United States. Headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, the company operates primarily under the Spectrum brand and serves tens of millions of customers across more than 40 states.

Companies valued at $10 billion or more are typically classified as large-cap stocks, and CHTR fits the label perfectly. Charter is one of the largest cable and broadband providers in the United States, with its network capable of reaching more than 50 million homes and businesses.

More News from Barchart

Despite its notable strength, shares of the broadband connectivity provider have slipped 50.1% from its 52-week high of $437.06, reached on May 16. Moreover, shares of CHTR have gained 5.6% over the past three months, outperforming the State Street Communication Services Select Sector SPDR ETF Funds (XLC) 1.8% decline during the same time frame.

www.barchart.com

In the longer term, CHTR stock has fallen 36.8% over the past 52 weeks, lagging behind XLCs 20.7% uptick over the same time period. Moreover, over the past six months, shares of CHTR are down 17.2%, compared to XLCs 2.5% dip.

The stock has been trading below its 200-day moving average since late July, but has climbed above its 50-day moving average since Jan-end.

www.barchart.com

Charter Communications has underperformed the broader market over the past year primarily due to slowing growth in its core broadband business and increasing industry competition. The company has reported broadband subscriber losses in recent quarters as the market becomes more saturated and rivals such as fiber providers and wireless carriers offering fixed-wireless internet gain traction.

At the same time, the ongoing shift away from traditional cable TV toward streaming services continues to erode its video subscriber base. Investor sentiment has also been weighed down by Charters substantial debt levels and the capital-intensive nature of upgrading and maintaining its network infrastructure.
(WJW)  Hundreds across Northeast Ohio are still without power after strong winds tore through the state on Friday.

Latest weather alerts

LATEST OUTAGE NUMBERS

At 9 p.m. Tuesday, FirstEnergy reported more than 600 outages in Cuyahoga County, the most of which are in Gates Mills, Mayfield Heights and Cleveland.

For outages in county, check the FirstEnergy outage map here

Thousands of Cleveland Public Power customers also lost power in Fridays wind. But just before 10 p.m. on Saturday, the utility reported no widespread outages, according to the utilitys website.

WHEN COULD POWER BE RESTORED

As of Tuesday morning, restoration times vary, with some stretching into Wednesday.

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FirstEnergy said in a Facebook post Sunday:

As we continue restoring service from Fridays storm, were also monitoring another system expected tonight and tomorrow that may cause additional outages. Our crews will remain focused on repairs from Fridays storm first and will work around the clock until all customers affected by either event have power restored.

If you experience an outage due to the incoming storm, please report it to us. Every outage report provides critical information that helps us plan restoration work.

To report a power outage to FirstEnergy, visit its website, text OUT to 544487 or call 1-888-544-4877.

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Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Fox 8 Cleveland WJW.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday he has demanded about seven countries send warships to keep the Strait of Hormuz open as fears of a global energy crisis persist. Iranian strikes on commercial ships in and around the strait, and even just the threat of attacks, have slowed shipping there to a trickle.

The U.S. and Israel have kept pummeling what they describe as military targets in Irans capital, and Israel stepped up its campaign against Iran-backed militants in Lebanon. More than 1 million people have been displaced in Lebanon  roughly 20% of the nations population  as U.N. peacekeepers say Israel is massing ground troops along the border.

Iran has retaliated with persistent drone and missile attacks on neighboring countries, including oil fields in Iraq and the United Arab Emirates, where a drone strike temporarily closed Dubais airport, a crucial travel hub.

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The war has killed at least 1,300 people in Iran, at least 880 in Lebanon and 12 in Israel, according to officials in those countries. The U.S. military says 13 U.S. service members have been killed and about 200 wounded.

Here is the latest:

Drone footage appears to show US Embassy in Baghdad

Footage released Tuesday by a pro-Iran Shiite militia in Iraq appears to show the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, one of the countrys most-secure facilities.

The footage came from Saraya Awliya al-Dam, or Companies of the Guardians of Blood, a group that has claimed several attacks since the start of the Iran war.

The footage, dated Monday and shot from a quadcopter, showed the drone swooping over the complex.

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Details of the facility in the footage, including an American flag at the compound, corresponded to satellite pictures and known features of the complex.

The footage ends without showing any attack by the drone.

This marks the second first-person-view drone footage coming from militias in Iraq during the war.

The first was an attack on an American facility at Baghdad International Airport.

Such footage has become common in Russias yearslong war on Ukraine.

Tanker hit off coast of UAE

A tanker anchored off the UAEs eastern coat was hit by a projectile early Tuesday morning as the nation came under several waves of Iranian attacks.

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The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center, run by the British military, reported the attack, saying the vessel was in the Gulf of Oman off Fujairah.

It said the tanker sustained minor structural damage and no one was hurt.

Since the Iran war started, some 20 vessels in the region have come under attack as Iranian fire effectively halts traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which 20% of all oil and natural gas traded passes.

Shrapnel from shot down drones hits US Embassy in Baghdad

Incoming fire targeted the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad early Tuesday, with the facilitys air defenses shooting down the projectiles, two security officials said.

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The Iraqi officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters, said the embassys C-RAM air defense shot down all four drones targeting the facility.

However, shrapnel hit the embassy.

The C-RAM, or counter rocket, artillery, and mortar system, sprays 20 mm rounds on incoming fire targeting the facility.

Separately, an apparent airstrike targeted a house in the heavily fortified presidential compound in Baghdads al-Jadriya area, the officials said.

It wasnt clear who carried out that attack.

By Qassim Abdul-Zahra

Drone attack sparks fire in UAEs Fujairah

The state-run WAM news agency said a drone attack again sparked a fire in an oil tank farm in Fujairah, a UAE emirate that repeatedly has been targeted on the countrys east coast with the Gulf of Oman.

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It said no one had been injured in the blast.

Israel says no impacts from latest Iranian attack

Israels emergency services said no casualties or missile impacts were known to have occurred in the latest launch of missiles from Iran early on Tuesday.

Israel launches attacks on Tehran and Beirut

Israels military said it has begun a wide scale wave of strikes across Tehran, minutes after sounding the alarm about the second incoming missiles launch from Iran since midnight Monday into Tuesday.

Israels military added that it was also striking Hezbollah infrastructure in Beirut overnight.

Missile warning in Dubai

Shortly after reopening the UAEs airspace, authorities sent a missile warning alert to people in Dubai.

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The sound of explosions could be heard in Dubai as the military worked to intercept the incoming fire.

Sirens sound in Israel

Sirens sounded in Tel Aviv and to its north as Israels military said early Tuesday morning its air defenses were working to intercept a second launch of missiles from Iran.

Israels emergency services said no casualties or missile impacts were known to have occurred in the latest launch of missiles from Iran early on Tuesday.

UAE lifts brief airspace closure

The United Arab Emirates lifted a brief airspace closure Tuesday morning after the country faced incoming Iranian attacks.

The state-run WAM news agency quoted the UAEs General Civil Aviation Authority as saying the closure had ended.

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Earlier Tuesday, Dubai authorities said sounds heard in various areas of the city are the result of successful interceptions. They did not elaborate.

The authorities said the situation stabilized, allowing flights to resume.

The snap announcement early Tuesday showed the balancing act Emirati authorities face in trying to keep their long-haul carriers Emirates and Etihad flying as Iranian attacks continue to target the country.

On Monday, an Iranian drone attack set a fuel tank ablaze at Dubai International Airport, the worlds busiest for international travel.

UAE closes airspace as military reports missile and drone threats from Iran

The United Arab Emirates on Tuesday said it temporarily closed its airspace as its military reported it was responding to incoming missile and drone threats from Iran.

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It wasnt immediately clear how long the closure would last and if it was immediately related to the incoming fire from Iran early Tuesday.

The UAEs General Civil Aviation Authority said it made the decision to close its airspace as an exceptional precautionary measure aimed at ensuring the safety of flights and air crews, and safeguarding the UAEs territory.

The decision comes after an Iranian drone attack set a fuel tank ablaze Monday at Dubai International Airport, the home of the long-haul carrier Emirates and the worlds busiest airport for international travel.

400 people killed in Pakistan strike on Afghanistan hospital, Afghan officials say

Afghanistan on Monday accused Pakistans military of targeting a hospital that treats drug users with airstrikes that Afghanistans deputy government spokesperson says killed 400 people.

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In a post on X, Hamdullah Fitrat said a further 250 people have been reported injured.

Pakistan dismissed the accusation that the hospital in Kabul, Afghanistans capital, was targeted, saying the strikes  which were also conducted in eastern Afghanistan  did not hit any civilian sites.

The alleged attack came hours after Afghan officials said the two sides exchanged fire along their common border, killing four people in Afghanistan, as the deadliest fighting between the neighbors in years entered a third week.

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Israels military says Iran has launched a new salvo of missiles toward Israel

Sirens sounded just south of the Sea of Galilee.

No injuries were reported in the first missile launch of the day from Iran that Israels military announced very early on Tuesday.

Family of American man held in Iran says hes been designated as wrongfully detained

Kamran Hekmati, a jeweler from Long Island, traveled to Iran last year to visit family but was detained and has been held there since. He is currently imprisoned in the notorious Evin Prison and is believed to be among a half dozen Americans detained in Iran.

The family says the State Department notified them on Monday that Hekmati has been designated as wrongfully detained. Such a designation moves supervision of a detained Americans case to the Special Presidential Office of Hostage Affairs, which functions as the U.S. governments chief hostage negotiator.

The State Department last week designated Iran as a state sponsor of wrongful detention, accusing the country of engaging in hostage diplomacy.

Trump asks to delay his upcoming meeting with Chinas president because of the Mideast war

Trump said hes asked to push off the meeting by a month or so because of the war.

I want to be here, Trump said at the White House. I have to be here, I feel.

A trip by Trump to China to meet with President Xi Jinping has been scheduled for the end of March and early April.

I think its important that I be here. And so it could be that we delay it a little bit Trump said.

US stocks climb to their best day since the Iran war began after oil prices ease

A drop in oil prices on Monday helped send the U.S. stock market to its best day since the war in Iran began. And for all its dramatic swings over the last couple weeks, including several that struck hour to hour, the S&P 500 is only 4% below its all-time high.

The S&P 500 climbed 1% on Monday for its biggest gain in five weeks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 387 points, or 0.8%, and the Nasdaq composite jumped 1.2%.

The driver for markets once again was the price of oil.

A barrel of benchmark U.S. crude fell 5.3% to settle at $93.50, easing some pressure off the economy after topping $102 earlier in the morning. Brent crude, the international standard, fell 2.8% to $100.21 per barrel after earlier getting as high as $106.50.

Its a reprieve, for now at least, after oil prices spiked from roughly $70 before the war.

 Read more

No reports of Israeli casualties after latest salvo of missiles from Iran

This was the seventh time the Israeli public was warned about incoming Iranian missiles on Monday.

These alerts cause Israelis to head to shelters and disrupt daily life, even as most of the missiles are intercepted. And heavy pieces of debris from intercepted missiles can fall on populated areas.

Earlier Monday, shrapnel fell in and around Jerusalems Old City, home to some of the worlds most revered religious sites.

Sometimes fire by Hezbollah militants in nearby Lebanon, especially targeting northern Israel, comes without those warnings.

Vance is again pressed on past views of military intervention

U.S. Vice President JD Vance showed some irritation at a reporter who asked whether Vance was fully on board with Trumps strategy in Iran, considering his past views on military intervention.

I know what youre trying to do Phil, JD Vance told the reporter, Phil Wegmann of RealClearPolitics. Youre trying to drive a wedge between members of the administration, between me and the president.

Vance stressed that Trump has said for more than a decade that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, and I agree with him.

I think all of us, whether youre a Democrat or a Republican, should pray for success and pray for the safety of our troops, Vance continued. Thats the approach Ive taken and make it as successful as possible.

Trump also added: JDs been great.

Schumer says Trump is flailing over Iran strategy

The Senate Democratic leader criticized the presidents claim that he knew all along that Iran could weaponize the Strait of Hormuz in wartime.

Well, if thats true, hes done a terrible job planning if advance for how to stop it from being used as a weapon, Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York said in a Senate speech. He added that Trump continues to do a terrible job containing the damage now occurring.

A hotel in Baghdads Green Zone is struck by a drone

A prominent hotel in central Baghdads heavily fortified Green Zone was struck by a drone Monday, officials said.

Two Iraqi security officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, said the strike hit the top floor of the Rasheed Hotel, which houses diplomatic delegations and international organizations, causing damage but no casualties. Security forces cordoned off the area. No group immediately claimed responsibility.

Earlier Monday, the Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah militia announced that Abu Ali Al-Askari, a prominent security official with the group, had been killed without giving details on the circumstances. In recent days, a number of airstrikes have targeted facilities of the Iraqi militias.

Also Monday, six fighters with the Popular Mobilization Forces, a paramilitary group, were killed in a strike on a checkpoint in western Iraqs Anbar province and two others were killed in a separate strike on a headquarters on a PMF brigade in the same area.

Qatar urges Iran to take a clear decision to stop attacks on Gulf countries

At a news conference in Doha, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari said Qatar has distanced itself from the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.

The matter is very simple, he said, what is required is to stop the attacks on countries that have not targeted Iran.

Qatar hosts Al Udeid Air Base, a sprawling desert facility that serves as a major regional military hub for American forces.

He said Iranian strikes have targeted civilian residential areas and key facilities like Hamad International Airport. He said the Gulf region speaks one voice that rejects Iranian aggression and calls for de-escalation.

Israel brings journalists to the Old City holy site damaged by shrapnel

Near the roof of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Jerusalems Old City, where shrapnel from an intercepted Iranian missile fell Monday, Israels Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein accused Tehran of targeting holy sites and trying to escalate the conflict.

Shrapnel also fell near the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray, and within the Al Aqsa Mosque compound, the third-holiest site in Islam.

Missile strikes on Jerusalem in the past have been rare, apparently because of the presence of the mosque and the nearby golden Dome of the Rock.

Qatar reports missile and drone attacks without casualties

Qatars Defense Ministry said it intercepted all of the drones  without saying how many  and 13 missiles, while one missile landed in an uninhabited area.

No casualties were reported, it said.

Fire at a UAE oil field after a drone attack

No casualties were reported after the drone hit the Shah oil field Monday evening in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, according to the sheikhdoms media office.

Its the second attack on an oil facility in the UAE on Monday, after a fire broke out in the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone following a drone attack.

Israeli army says more missiles are fired from Iran

Moments later, sirens sounded in parts of central Israel and the West Bank

Kuwait reports more missile and drone attacks

Kuwaits Defense Ministry says air defense systems were responding to missile and drone attacks Monday evening. It said explosions could be heard amid the interception operations.

Israel approves new battle plans for continued ground operation in Lebanon

The militarys chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, said the Israeli army is determined to deepen the operation until all of our objectives are achieved.

Speaking on a visit to the northern border, Zamir said We are preparing for what comes next and reinforcing the Northern Command with additional troops in order to strengthen the forward defensive posture, deepen the damage to Hezbollah, and push the threat away from the communities in the north.

The army said in a statement that Zamir approved plans for continued limited, targeted operations.

A military spokesperson said earlier on Monday that the army had deployed additional ground troops into Lebanon for what it calls a limited and targeted operation.

Economic conditions are getting hard for Iranians amid war

A Tehran resident said workers paid by the day were struggling especially hard because of the war. The internet blackout also has hammered businesses that normally rely on online sales.

Money has become scarce, people cannot buy things, and businesses are being damaged, the resident said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals from the government.

The streets were busier than at the beginning of the war, he said, because people were growing desperate and needed to earn money.

Stores still had food. Fuel was not in short supply. Utilities were still functioning. And people could still withdraw money from banks, he said. But he said people were deeply anxious as the attacks persisted.

Even before the war, Irans economy had been crippled by international sanctions.

UN adds to media speculation of a UN-led initiative around the Strait of Hormuz

U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric raised speculation about an eventual U.N.-led initiative after saying the global impact of restrictions or closure of the vital Strait of Hormuz cannot be underestimated.

He referred to behind-the-scenes negotiations that led to the July 2022 deal that allowed Ukrainian grain exports through the Black Sea after Russias invasion, saying silence was the better half of valor.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres remains very much engaged and in frequent contact with senior officials in the region and beyond, he said, but were not going to be feeding the speculation.

Dujarric said Guterres will head to Brussels on Tuesday for meetings with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and other EU officials.

EU considers immediate steps to ease energy costs amid the Iran war

As the Iran war sends energy costs higher across the 27-nation European Union, Energy Commissioner Dan Jrgensen said EU energy ministers met Monday in Brussels to discuss targeted, temporary steps to lower bills for businesses and vulnerable households.

Over the longer term, he said the EU will double down on clean energy and domestic production to reduce reliance on volatile global markets, referencing the EUs push to cut dependence on Russian energy after Moscows 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Now Europe faces again an existential choice: Stay dependent on volatile global energy markets, or finally take control of our own energy future, he said.

About 200 US troops wounded since start of the Iran war, military says

About 200 U.S. troops have been wounded since the start of the Iran war though more than 180 service members have returned to duty, Capt. Tim Hawkins, the spokesperson for U.S. Central Command, told The Associated Press.

Hawkins said 10 service members are considered seriously wounded.

The previous update released last week by the Pentagon put the number of wounded personnel at around 140 and eight as severely injured.

CENTCOM has not said when or where those troops were wounded, or given details on the type of injuries.

Since the war in Iran began, 13 U.S. service members have been killed.

An airstrike turns a police station in a Tehran neighborhood to dust

A resident of Tehran was driving Monday when an airstrike destroyed a police station in the Iranian capital and heavily damaged neighborhood shops nearby. It appeared the police station had been abandoned days ago.

The blast was so strong it shook our eardrums. The cars in front of me were almost completely destroyed," the resident said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals from the government.

He quickly drove in reverse to get away. Others abandoned their cars, he said.

The government sealed off the area and detained anyone trying to photograph it.

The situation felt like the end of the world, he said.

A drone attack targets an oil field in southern Iraq

Two Iraqi security officials said that the Majnoon oil field in Iraq's southern Basra province was targeted by two drones Monday.

No casualties were reported, and it was not immediately clear if there was damage to the facilities.

Iraqs oil industry has been severely impacted by the American-Israeli war with Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil trading corridor.

Another security official said that air defenses shot down a drone that attempted to target a U.S. logistics support center near the Baghdad airport. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.

Iran and Iran-backed Iraqi militias have launched dozens of attacks against U.S. facilities in Iraq since the beginning of the war.

United Nations peacekeepers see Israeli buildup in southern Lebanon

Theres an evident buildup of Israeli troops inside Lebanese territory in at least six locations near the Blue Line, the border with Israel, said the U.N. peacekeeping force spokesperson Kandice Ardiel.

UNIFIL peacekeepers have also seen clashes around the villages of Odaisseh and Khiam in the region. In some cases, she said, Israeli ground incursions reached at least 5 kilometers (3 miles) into Lebanese territory, although forces have not established permanent positions that deep.

The Israeli military has said it is moving more troops into Lebanon as it attempts to push Hezbollah away from the border but has not given numbers.

U.N. peacekeepers have not been able to move around or monitor the situation fully because of the current fighting, Ardiel noted.
Its been five years since a gunman entered a series of spas in Fulton and Cherokee counties and murdered eight people.

Six of the victims were Asian women.

Channel 2s Richard Elliot was at the Georgia State Capitol, where lawmakers paused to remember the day and honor the victims.

Robert Aaron Long is accused of shooting several victims, leaving them dead, at a Cherokee County spa, then going to another shooting at two spas in northeast Atlanta.

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Hours later, Georgia State Troopers arrested Long.

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In Cherokee County, a jury convicted him of murder. Hes still awaiting a trial in Fulton County.

Every year around 3-16, the grief returns like it happened yesterday, advocate Cam Ashling said.

RELATED STORIES:

On Monday, lawmakers gathered to remember the victims killed on March 16, 2021.

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The murders in metro Atlanta happened as the United States saw an upsurge in violence and anger aimed at the Asian population.

But Johns Creek Democrat Rep. Michelle Au said the victims stories are an American story and should be remembered.

Those we lost were people who were deeply loved and needed and whose stories embodied a vibrant picture of the America those of us who grew up in the immigrant community know well, Au said.

Dunwoody Democrat Rep. Long Tran said the murders marked a turning point in the Asian community.

It was A tragedy that changed the course of our AAPI community, not just politically but in our community advocacy and how we approach serving and protecting our community, Tran said.

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Au says they wont forget those who died as they wait for Longs second trial to begin in Fulton County.

On this five year anniversary, many will remember how they died, Au said. But they should be remembered for how they lived.

While Cherokee County jurors convicted Long of murder, he faces additional charges for committing a hate crime in Fulton County court.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

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(The Center Square)  With just over two weeks left until the 2026 General Assembly adjourns, three tax bills that would cut state income taxes are still undecided amid questions about their cost.

The Senate Special Committee to Eliminate the Income Tax drafted two bills following a series of summer meetings. Both have passed in the Senate and are in the House.

Senate Bill 476 increases the standard deduction for married couples from $24,000 to $100,000 and from $12,000 to $50,000 for single filers and cuts personal income tax rates to 4.99%. Senate Bill 477 reduces the state income tax rate to 3.99%. Senate lawmakers say the bill package would put the state on the path to end the income tax in six years.

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House Bill 880 would lower the rate by one-tenth of a point each year until it is 3.99% as part of a 10-year plan to eliminate the state income tax.

In making their case, lawmakers say eliminating Georgia's income tax would make the state more competitive in attracting new businesses. Georgia's neighbors, Tennessee and Florida, do not have an income tax.

The Senate Special Committee to Eliminate Georgia's Income Tax heard from residents at an October meeting held in Gainesville.

Carli Jones told lawmakers she spends $28 a week on diapers and $70 a week on formula for her child.

"And in our household, when you see that line item of the state income tax coming out every month, it stings just a little bit because we are seeing those numbers, $28, $70 a week, daycare costs, different things like that, that are coming out of our budget that that state income tax could be going toward," Jones told the committee.

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Corporate and individual income taxes have the most "drag" on a state's economy, Jannell Fritts, an analyst for the Tax Foundation, wrote in an editorial. But there is no "magic wand" to eliminate the income tax, she said.

"Lawmakers are coming from a place of good intentions, but  famously  paving a road with those doesnt guarantee success," Fritts said. "In fact, eliminating Georgias income tax would require trade-offs that may make the state worse off overall."

Increasing the standard deduction and reducing the income tax rate would only leave a $9.8 billion hole in state revenues, according to an analysis by Dr. Daniel Kanso of the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, who has followed the issue since the Senate committee meetings last year.

The bill passed the Senate in February, before a fiscal note showing the impact and how the lost revenue would be recouped was finalized. The March 5 fiscal note shows that eliminating the tax breaks would only create $1.8 billion by 2031.

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"Unfortunately folks really want to talk about which taxes they're going to cut," Kanso said in an interview with The Center Square. "But they don't want to tell us how they are going to pay for them and that could create some some really severe problems for the state down the road."

The Senate Special Committee to Eliminate the State's Income Tax pledged not to increase taxes on groceries or motor fuels at its September meeting.

"This leaves few options for raising revenue, and the remaining options would harm the states economy," Fritts said.

Even if the state considers expanding the sales tax, it may still not be enough to make up for lost income tax revenue, according to Fritz. Based on fiscal year 2024 numbers, which include the grocery and fuel taxes, the state would still not bring in enough to cover the revenue needed to offset the loss of income tax.

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"To bring in the right amount of money, the new sales tax base would have to include many business inputs, such as machinery, software and other digital services, HR and IT services, and the like, driving up the cost of doing business in the state," Fritts said. "In turn, many businesses would raise prices, hire fewer Georgians, or simply leave the state so they dont have to pay as much to function."

Senate Bills 476 and 477 are in the House Ways and Means Committee. House Bill 880 is in the Senate Finance Committee.
Alabama had to deal with severe weather and snow in the span of 24 hours, and those storms produced at least one tornado late Sunday night.

The National Weather Service in Huntsville said an EF1 tornado track has been confirmed in northwest Alabama. The tornado began in Lauderdale County and then crossed into southern Tennessee.

It had peak winds estimated at 105 mph, the weather service said. The path length was 14.53 miles and the path width was 400 yards. It touched down at 10:48 p.m. CDT

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Sunday and was on the ground for an estimated 16 minutes.

There were no injuries.

The storm left a path of damage to homes and trees before crossing the state line and continuing for 10 more miles into Tennessee, the weather service said.

Storms on Sunday night and early Monday morning prompted several tornado warnings, but so far the weather service hasnt announced additional plans for surveys.

Correction: An earlier version of this post listed the incorrect dates of the storm

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NEED TO KNOW

A bus plunged down a steep hillside in Nepal on Saturday, March 14, leaving at least seven people dead

According to local reports, they had just visited the popular Manakamana Hindu Temple

Nine others, who were on the bus, were rushed to the hospital following the crash, but the extent of their injuries is currently unknown

Seven people are dead and multiple others are injured following a bus crash in Nepal.

On Saturday, March 14, a bus carrying more than a dozen people veered off the road and plunged down a steep hillside in the Gorkha District, the Associated Press and regional outlet The Sunday Guardian reported.

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Five men and two women died in the crash, the Indian newspaper Hindustan Times reported, citing Gorkha District Police Office Chief Bharat Bahadur BK. They have been identified as Tamilarsi, 60, Meenakshi, 59, Muthu Kumar, 58, Anamalik, 58, Meena, 58, Vijayal, 57, and Sivagami, 53.

At least seven Indian pilgrims were also injured in the incident, alongside the wounded bus driver and his assistant, per AP. Emergency responders retrieved the injured from the wreckage and rushed them to the hospital. The extent of their injuries is currently unknown.

The wreckage of a bus that slipped off a mountain road at Shahid Lakhan village in Nepal on March 14

Credit: Binod Shrestha/AP Photo

Local authorities have stated that the bus was traveling along a mountainous route, after returning from the popular Manakamana Hindui Temple, when the crash occurred, per The Sunday Guardian.

Chief District Officer Tulasi Bahadur Shrestha told the outlet, The microbus was heading towards the Anbukhaireni area of Tanahun district, west of the Manakamana Temple, but it is not immediately clear where the passengers were heading after concluding their visit to the temple.

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The bus was going downhill on a path from the highway to the temple near Shahid Lakhan village, located around 75 miles west of the capital, Kathmandu, when it crashed and fell 500 feet down the mountainside into a ravine, AP reported.

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Manakamana Temple in Mugling, Nepal

Credit: Sergi Reboredo/VWPics/Universal Images Group via Getty

Officials have alleged that the bus lost control" on a curve during its downhill journey, per The Sunday Guardian. However, the police said it remains unclear exactly what caused the crash.

Investigators are assessing the vehicle's speed, possible mechanical issues, and the conditions of the road as possible factors in determining what caused the crash, The Sunday Guardian reported.

PEOPLE has contacted the Nepal Police and Chief District Officer Shrestha for comment.

Read the original article on People
The U.S. Treasury has ended production of the one-cent coin because the cost to manufacture the penny has risen significantly above its face value. It currently costs 3.69 cents to produce each individual penny.

By stopping production, the U.S. Mint expects to save approximately $56 million annually.

Although the final pennies were minted in November, the coins will remain in circulation for the foreseeable future.

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While the coins are no longer being produced, the 114 billion pennies currently in circulation remain legal tender.

Because North Carolina and South Carolina have not passed legislation regarding how businesses should handle the transition, some local retailers are creating their own rules for cash transactions.

ALSO READ: Penny sales tax proposal for transit projects clears key hurdle in Mecklenburg County

Loc Tran, the owner of Giant Penny Grocery, said his business began adapting after receiving notice from financial institutions.

It was sometime late last year that the bank notified us that theyre no longer passing out pennies, Tran said. So weve been having a hard time getting pennies.

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To manage the shortage, Giant Penny Grocery posted signs informing customers that cash totals will be rounded to the nearest nickel.

Under this policy, total amounts ending in one, two, six, or seven cents are rounded down to the nearest five-cent increment. Totals ending in three, four, eight, or nine cents are rounded up. Tran noted that the vast majority of his customers have not expressed concern about the change.

You know, 99.99% of people dont really even notice, Tran said. And one or two people who do notice, we just round up to a nickel for them, its not a big deal for us.

Shoppers at the store shared varying opinions on the disappearance of the one-cent coin. Pepper Poole often finds that the coins are easily misplaced rather than used for purchases.

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I lose it in the car, it falls between the seats... The pennies, it really doesnt matter to me, Poole said.

Other customers, like Tarena Moore, believe the removal of the coin is a mistake. Moore suggested that people should hold onto the currency they have left.

I dont think its a good idea. All money is good money, Moore said. So I just suggest to the people, save your pennies. Cuz the world is changing.

Research from the Federal Reserve suggests that cashiers may end up rounding up more often than down.

Researchers found that prices not ending in zero or five were most likely to end in eight or nine cents. This trend primarily affects those who use physical currency.

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Shopper Deidre Williams said she primarily uses cards and is comfortable with the rounding process for cash users.

I dont use pennies anyway, or cash, so I guess Im okay with rounding up or rounding down, Williams said.

Despite the change in currency production and the stores new cash policies, Tran said he has no plans to change the name of the Giant Penny Grocery.

The U.S. Mint expects the existing supply of pennies to remain in use for several generations.

VIDEO: Penny sales tax proposal for transit projects clears key hurdle in Mecklenburg County
On Wednesday, Chevron Corp. agreed to a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to resolve alleged violations tied to renewable fuel credits under the Clean Air Act's Renewable Fuel Standard program.

Regulatory Settlement Impact

Chevron agreed to pay a civil penalty of just over $1 million. To remediate the violation, it retired over 2 million renewable fuel credits valued at about $3.6 million.

The DOJ said Chevron disclosed in June 2023 that from January 2022 through August 2022, it had invalidly generated over 2.2 million advanced biofuel production credits (Renewable Identification Numbers, or RINs).

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These credits were on renewable diesel that had previously been used for RIN generation and sold to third parties.

The DOJ framed the settlement as protecting the integrity of the RFS credit market.

It emphasized that RINs may only be generated once on any volume of renewable fuel to prevent double-counting.

The agency also noted Chevron is both a renewable fuel producer and an "obligated party" because it produces renewable diesel and petroleum fuels.

Technical Analysis

Chevron is trading 4% above its 20-day simple moving average (SMA) and 18.4% above its 100-day SMA, keeping the intermediate trend pointed higher. Shares are up 25.62% over the past 12 months and are positioned closer to their 52-week highs than lows after setting a new 52-week high on 2026-03-06.

Trending: Own the Characters, Not Just the Content: Inside a Fast-Growing Pre-IPO IP Company

The RSI is at 66.12, which sits in neutral territory but is close enough to overbought to watch for momentum cooling. MACD is at 4.1421 and remains below its signal line at 4.5232, a bearish configuration that can hint at slowing upside follow-through even as price holds up.

RSI in the 5070 range with bearish MACD indicates momentum leaning bearish, even though the broader trend remains constructive.

Key Resistance : $193.50

Key Support: $182.00

Earnings Forecast

Looking further out, the next major catalyst for the stock arrives with the May 1, 2026 (estimated) earnings report.

EPS Estimate : $1.52 (Down from $2.18 YoY)

Revenue Estimate : $47.53 Billion (Down from $47.61 Billion YoY)

Valuation: P/E of 28.9x (Indicates premium valuation relative to peers)

See Also: 1.5 Million Users Are Already Working Inside This AI Platform  Investors Can Still Get In

Analyst Consensus & Recent Actions: The stock carries a Buy Rating with an average price target of $176.50. Recent analyst moves include:
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP)  South Africa's president has authorized a yearlong deployment by the army to fight crime in some of the country's violence-stricken areas.

The move has underlined how Africa's leading economy has struggled to reign in its high rates of violent crime.

A look at the deployment by the numbers:

SOLDIERS DEPLOYED: 2,200

South Africa's Constitution requires President Cyril Ramaphosa to advise Parliament of his order to deploy the army. He said in a notice to lawmakers that 2,200 soldiers have been deployed to assist police in law enforcement operations relating to two specific criminal threats: gang-related violence and illegal mining run by criminal syndicates.

DURATION OF DEPLOYMENT: 13 MONTHS

The soldiers will be deployed on the streets from March 1 this year to March 31, 2027, Ramaphosa said.

COST: $49.2 million

While some opposition parties initially questioned the cost of the operation, Ramaphosa's decision to use the army against crime has largely been welcomed. Some crime-weary communities cheered soldiers on the streets of the country's biggest city of Johannesburg when they were first deployed last week.

NUMBER OF PROVINCES: 5

Soldiers will be deployed in five of South Africa's nine provinces. They include Gauteng, the economic hub where Johannesburg is, and the Western Cape, where the second biggest city of Cape Town is located.

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The army will also work to combat crime in the North West, Free State and Eastern Cape provinces.

PROBLEM CRIMES TARGETED: 2

Ramaphosa said the deployment will focus specifically on helping police with the problems of gang-related violence and illegal mining.

Gang violence leads to hundreds of homicides a year in South Africa, especially in the poor neighborhoods known as the Cape Flats on the outskirts of South Africa's top tourist city of Cape Town.

Authorities estimate there are around 30,000 illegal miners operating in some of South Africa's 6,000 disused gold and other mines. The mining gangs are often armed and violent in protecting their territory and are controlled by criminal syndicates, authorities say.

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Ramaphosa said gang violence and illegal mining are the two organized crimes that most threaten South Africa's democracy and economic development.

OBJECTIVES: 4

Police, who will be in charge of the soldiers during the law enforcement deployment, say they have four key operational objectives: reduce crime in designated problem areas, arrest offenders, recover illegal firearms and explosives, and confiscate narcotics.

LAST DEPLOYMENT: 3 YEARS AGO

This is not the first time South Africa has used the army to fight crime, though it is the longest deployment in recent years. In 2023, Ramaphosa deployed more than 3,000 soldiers for a month to certain crime hot spots.

Later the same year, the army was deployed after a series of truck burnings on major roads stoked fears of wider civil unrest.

___

AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa
(The Center Square)  Louisiana officials are preparing to roll out a state framework aimed at positioning Louisiana for growth in nuclear energy.

Gov. Jeff Landrys administration is looking to tie the states economic development ambitions more closely to rising power demand.

Louisiana Economic Development Secretary Susan Bourgeois said the governor has made clear he sees a future for the state in the domestic resurgence of nuclear power and has directed state agencies to develop a plan for what that could look like.

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In the coming weeks, that framework will be rolled out, Bourgeois said in an interview, describing Louisiana as all in on the opportunity.

The push comes as Louisiana courts a wave of energy-hungry industrial projects, from Hyundai to liquified natural gas expansion and artificial intelligence data centers. Bourgeois said those announcements all point to the same reality: Louisianas growth strategy is increasingly tied to its ability to provide large amounts of reliable power.

This is a power-first economy, Bourgeois said. To not pay attention to something as significant as a nuclear opportunity would be a miss.

In December 2024, Landry convened a working group to examine not just advanced nuclear generation but also the broader nuclear industry and supply chain, according to Stephen Swiber with the Department of Conservation and Energy. Included were the Department of Environmental Quality, the Department of Conservation and Energy, and the Louisiana Public Service Commission.

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Swiber said that work has recently wrapped up and a final product is expected soon. He added that the Trump administration is very keen on advanced reactor deployment and said Louisiana is determined to move in step with that push.

Bourgeois said part of what has held nuclear back in the United States has been public perception shaped by older accidents and longstanding safety concerns. But she said technological advances and process improvements have changed the equation, while growing demand for cleaner energy has made nuclear harder to ignore.

Truth be told, nuclear is a very clean energy, Bourgeois said. Its a great way to create a clean energy product.

Louisiana lawmakers have already begun moving policy in that direction. During the 2025 legislative session, legislators advanced a bill by Sen. Adam Bass, R-Bossier City, aimed at speeding environmental permitting for small modular reactors and other advanced nuclear projects. Supporters said the measure would help Louisiana cut red tape and better align with federal efforts to accelerate next-generation reactor deployment.

At the higher education level, LSU appears to be one of the most active campuses in the state on nuclear-related work. Last year, LSU signed a memorandum of understanding with Idaho National Laboratory focused in part on small modular reactor technology, saying the partnership would connect students, faculty and researchers around advanced nuclear applications and cybersecurity for critical energy infrastructure.
So it begins again. Commuters who head south on the Palisades Interstate Parkway to hop on the Thruway northbound/Interstate 287 westbound will find a loopy detour starting at midnight Wednesday, March 25.

PIP South's Exit 9W was closed for months in 2025.

How long will this detour last?

In a March 18 statement, New York State Department of Transportation spokesperson Heather Pillsworth said the closures would go through mid-November.

After a months-long closure, the Palisades Interstate Parkway exit 9W was reopened in November 2025. It's due to close again in March 2026, so expect detours again.

Why the PIP Exit 9W closure?

The closure comes amid the removal of the bridge deck on Route 304, a state road that passes over the highway exchange.

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The 304 work includes replacement of bridge pedestals and bearings, along with utility installation.

"NYSDOT understands that the prolonged ramp closures have caused inconvenience and we appreciate the communitys patience as we undertake this important project to rehabilitate the State Route 304 bridge over the Thruway, which has required more extensive work than was initially expected," Pillsworth said.

Repeated PIP closures: PIP southbound to 87/287 northbound/westbound link shut through summer

What's the detour for closed PIP Thruway exit?

Drivers will once again be instructed to follow a posted detour that loops from PIP south to the Thruway south/I-287 east then gets back on PIP north to then exit to the Thruway north/I-287 west.

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The interchange was closed for work on Route 304 in March 2025 and then reopened in November 2025. The original closure was set to last about a month, but the work wasn't done by April 2025. It was then supposed to open in June, but work was again extended.

Even when the interchange did reopen at the end of last year, the DOT announced it with the caveat that the PIP-to-Thruway link would have to close as spring 2026 approached.

The 304 overpass was originally constructed in 1953. The PIP was being constructed back then; the parkway fully opened in 1958.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Rockland's PIP to Thruway link to close again. How long this time?
Domestic violence advocates and legal experts are weighing in after investigators say a man with a history of violence killed two people in St. Johns County.

Investigators say 32-year-old Christian Barrios shot and killed his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend at a Walgreens near TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach.

Court records show Barrios had a documented history of violence against women before the deadly shooting.

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In 2025, a domestic violence injunction was ordered against him in Duval County. Also, in Duval County, records show Barrios was arrested in 2020 after allegedly punching and stomping a woman who was nine months pregnant. According to that arrest report, Barrios also approached the woman with a knife and threatened to kill her.

Despite that history, investigators say Barrios was out of jail on probation Friday night when the shooting happened.

RELATED: Double homicide suspect captured in Nassau County after an all-night manhunt

After the killings, deputies say Barrios ran from the scene and led law enforcement on a chase into Nassau County. Barrios is now facing multiple new charges, including two counts of murder and vehicle theft.

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Domestic violence advocates say cases like this highlight how dangerous it can be for victims trying to leave abusive partners.

For victims of domestic violence, when they are trying to escape an abuser, it is often a complicated and even dangerous situation, Stephanie Brown with Jacksonvilles Hubbard House said.

Brown said injunctions and restraining orders can help protect victims, but they are not always enough on their own.

RELATED: Deputies arrest suspect after 2 killed in St. Johns County shooting

What were able to do is work with them on that individual level, talk about an injunction, what benefit does it bring you, what are the limitations if we get police involved, what are the different systems, and how can those benefit you, what are the limitations? Brown said.

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Hubbard House works with thousands of victims every year. Brown said the organization provides more than emergency shelter, offering counseling, legal advocacy, and safety planning tailored to each survivors needs.

At the core of all of it is what we call safety planning. We want to work with that survivor on their specific needs for how to be safe, Brown said.

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Legal experts say cases like this are also an example of the difficult balance courts face when deciding who should remain behind bars.

Criminal defense attorney Michelle Suskauer said the case represents what many in the legal system fear most.

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His record is significant, and its every courts worst nightmare that hes out and about and then gets charged with multiple homicides, Suskauer said.

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She said it is important for the justice system to focus not just on punishment, but also on reducing the chances someone will reoffend after they are released.

Its very important that there is more of an approach to make sure that its not just someone going in and doing time because eventually, as we see, people are going to come out again, Suskauer said.

Hubbard House provides round-the-clock support, every day of the year, for victims and survivors in need. Their 24-hour hotline and textline can be reached at (904) 354-3114 and (904) 210-3698.

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PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)  A man accused of slashing a Vancouver womans neck in front of her infant child could soon be returned to Washington to face trial.

Dariel Nunez-Montero, now 32, was arrested in Kentucky last year on charges related to a large-scale diesel theft operation that resulted in a loss of over $18,000. He pleaded guilty to engaging in organized crime and is now set to be returned to Clark County to face charges for the murder of 31-year-old Courtney Valencia Clinton.

Vancouver domestic abuser arrested after skipping court, fleeing to Portland

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Clintons body was found alongside her unharmed 1-year-old son in a parked gray Ford Edge SUV near 300 N. Blandford Dr. in Vancouver on Nov. 1, 2024. Her throat had been cut, and the medical examiner later determined she had been assaulted by another person.

The spokesperson for the Clark County Prosecuting Attorney told KOIN 6 News that Nunez-Monteros case in Kentucky has been resolved, and he is now set to be extradited back to Washington. The process is expected to take several weeks.

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com.
Man arrested for soliciting child prostitution

SUMMIT COUNTY, Colo. (KREX)  A 62-year-old man was arrested for soliciting child prostitution over the weekend after a joint law enforcement operation.

Summit County resident William LeClair was booked into the Summit County Detention Facility on Friday for:

Soliciting for child prostitution

Enticement of a child

Cybercrime

Criminal attempt to sexual assault on a child

Criminal attempt to patronize a prostituted child

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The arrest was part of an undercover operation  between the Summit County Sheriffs Office, Dillon-Keystone, Frisco, Breckenridge and Silverthorne Police Departments, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, the Colorado Fifth Judicial District Attorneys Office and the Summit County 911 Center  that targeted those using the internet to solicit sex with children, according to law enforcement.

This is our second joint operation to combat human trafficking. Its not the first time we have seen a crime like this, and it wont be the last. Unfortunately, crimes like this occur in our community, and we work tirelessly to address the reality, said Summit County Sheriff Jaime FitzSimons.

LeClair was released from jail on Saturday on a $25,000 bond. He is due back in court on Tuesday.

Professional law enforcement personnel conducted this operation; no children were involved. All arrests are based on probable cause, the Summit County Sheriffs Office stated

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Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WesternSlopeNow.com.
KANSAS CITY, Mo.  A Kansas City man was sentenced on Friday for his role in a robbery-turned-shooting that left his 18-year-old accomplice dead last summer.

Hajji McDonald III is sentenced to serve 10 years in prison in the Missouri Department of Corrections after he pleaded guilty to first-degree involuntary manslaughter and attempted stealing.

Kansas City police find man, woman shot to death inside Northland apartment

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He was originally charged with second-degree murder, but the charge was changed to involuntary manslaughter as part of his plea deal.

McDonalds conviction stems from an incident that took place on June 22, 2025.

Court records say that at about 8:40 p.m. on that day, officers with the Kansas City Police Department were called to a business near Winner Road and Hardesty Avenue on a reported disturbance.

When officers arrived, they found a man, later identified as Jones, suffering from a gunshot wound to the chest. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

As detectives began their investigations, court documents say they were able to gather video footage and found seven 9mm spent shell casings at the scene.

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The video footage showed the defendant, McDonald, loitering around the front of the business just after 8:20 p.m.

According to court records, a man arrived on an electric bike, walked into the business and made a purchase. He was also seen speaking to some people inside the business before walking out.

As he turned his back and exited the building, court records say the security cameras captured McDonald with his left hand on his waistband, and Jones attempting to steal the bag from the man.

The Jackson County Prosecutors Office says McDonald helped Jones knock the man to the ground, and at one point during the struggle, the man grabbed a gun.

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McDonald tried to take the gun from the man, but the man was able to hold on got back on his feet. McDonald then ran away.

The man also tried to get away, but was pulled to the ground for a second time by Jones, who still had a hold of his bag. As they were on the ground, the man fired his gun at Jones seven times. Jones later died from his injuries.

After the shooting, court records say the man went to the KCPD Headquarters with his lawyer to issue a formal statement.

Burglary suspect shot by police behind Mission Target

He told investigators that at one point during the incident, he heard McDonald or Jones say pop him, leading him to grab his gun out of self-defense. He then admitted to shooting Jones approximately seven times.

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During the investigation, investigators showed the man two photographic lineups, where he identified both Jones and McDonald as the suspects.

McDonald was eventually arrested on July 30, over a month later. While being questioned, McDonald denied ever trying to grab the mans gun during the fight and said he had simply tried to break up the fight.

He was later charged with second-degree murder for his involvement in Jones death. As previously stated, this was later amended following his guilty plea.

The reason for the original murder charge, according to Prosecutor Melesa Johnson, was: Under Missouri law, if a death occurs during the commission of a felony, everyone involved in committing that felony can be charged with murder, even if they did not pull the trigger.

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Johnson continued, While the man was legally defending himself, the defendants participation in the attempted theft makes him a responsible party for the resulting death.

Lees Summit officer dragged by car while trying to arrest shoplifting suspect

At the time of the deadly shooting, McDonald already had an active felony warrant for a separate robbery case, where he was facing one count of second-degree robbery and one count of aggravated fleeing a stop or detention.

His latest sentencing is set to run concurrently with this separate robbery case.

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports.
MEMPHIS, Tenn.  A man pleaded guilty to illegal possession of a firearm on Monday, according to the United States Attorneys Office of the Northern District of Mississippi.

The U.S. attorneys office said that Daniel Mireles-Reyna was arrested on December 26, 2025, on Natchez Trace Parkway near Tupelo, Mississippi.

They said law enforcement rangers with the National Park Service arrived on the scene and found that Mireles-Reyna had a loaded stolen handgun in his pocket.

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Armed career criminal gets over 15 years for firearm possession

Rangers said they also located two other firearms, including a Glock handgun and a Draco 7.62 firearm, in the defendants car.

Guns seized Courtesy of U.S. Attorneys Office of the Northern District of MS

According to the attorneys office, information provided during the defendants guilty plea also noted that rangers located ammunition for these firearms and suspected narcotics.

The office said that Mireles-Reyna is a citizen of Mexico, and that this case is a part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.

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A man is dead after police said an argument escalated to gunfire in north Houston.

According to the Houston Police Department, on Sunday, officers were sent to a shooting call at about 11:07 a.m. in the 10500 block of Bauman Road, near East Sunnyside Street.

When officers arrived, they reported finding a Hispanic man, between the ages of 18 and 25, with apparent gunshot wounds on the street.

Investigators said they were told by witnesses that the victim was arguing with the suspect when he was shot. Police said the suspect then fled in an early 2000s grey-colored Honda sedan.

While a description was not immediately provided, police said they are searching for multiple suspects.

An investigation is still ongoing into the case.


The United States Coast Guard (USCG) says a helicopter crew rescued a hiker trapped on a cliffside in Lincoln City, Oregon, on Saturday.

USCG posted a video of the airlift rescue at Gods Thumb, a popular viewpoint on the Oregon Coast.

North Lincoln Fire and Rescue reported the incident to the Coast Guard after local crews determined a rope rescue would not be safe.

A crew from Air Facility Newport responded, hoisted the hiker from the cliffside, and brought him to a local hospital with minor injuries.
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Chevron (NYSE:CVX) has secured a new exploration block in Libya, expanding into a high risk, resource rich market.

The move comes as the Iran war and closure of the Strait of Hormuz disrupt global oil flows and trade routes.

Chevron is reshaping its global portfolio, including asset sales and restructuring, during a period of record oil prices.

Berkshire Hathaway has increased its stake in Chevron, as the company trades near all time high market valuations.

For investors watching NYSE:CVX, these Libya plans land at a time when the stock price sits at $196.82, with returns of 26.2% year to date and 136.4% over five years. Those figures, together with a 29.6% return over one year, put Chevron among the stronger large cap energy names by recent performance.

Chevrons push into Libya during an Iran related supply shock, along with portfolio reshuffling and high market valuations, raises fresh questions about its future production mix and risk exposure. Readers considering the stock can watch how the company executes in Libya, manages Middle East disruption and progresses asset sales, as these developments may influence earnings resilience and market confidence over time.

Stay updated on the most important news stories for Chevron by adding it to your watchlist or portfolio. Alternatively, explore our Community to discover new perspectives on Chevron.

NYSE:CVX Earnings & Revenue Growth as at Mar 2026

2 things going right for Chevron that this headline doesn't cover.

Quick Assessment

 Price vs Analyst Target : At US$196.82, Chevron trades about 3.8% above the US$189.63 analyst price target, which is within a 10% band that suggests no clear signal either way.

 Simply Wall St Valuation : Simply Wall Sts model has Chevron trading about 47.4% below its estimated fair value, which screens as materially undervalued.

 Recent Momentum: A 30 day return of 7.1% indicates positive short term momentum as the Libya entry and Iran related disruption unfold.

To explore potential timing around buy, sell or hold decisions for Chevron, visit Simply Wall St's company report for the latest analysis of Chevron's Fair Value.

Key Considerations
The number of American troops injured in the Iran war has climbed to 200, 60 more than the total the Pentagon last announced six days ago, according to Capt. Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson for U.S. Central Command.

Ten service members are currently seriously wounded, Hawkins said. The vast majority suffered minor injuries, and more than 180 of them have returned to duty, he said.

After the United States and Israel launched attacks Feb. 28, Iran retaliated with an ongoing barrage of drone and missile attacks at U.S. allies across the region and the American military bases they host.

Members of the military walk during a dignified transfer of the remains of six U.S. Army service members of the 103rd Sustainment Command, who were killed in Kuwait.

The number of American troops killed in the war reached 13 after a KC-135 refueling aircraft crashed in Iraq on March 12, killing its six occupants.

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Three of the soldiers on board were from MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida: Maj. John A. Klinner, 33, of Auburn, Alabama; Capt. Ariana G. Savino, 31, of Covington, Washington; and Tech. Sgt. Ashley B. Pruitt, 34, of Bardstown, Kentucky. Three were from Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base in Columbus Ohio: Capt. Seth R. Koval, 38, of Mooresville, Indiana; Capt. Curtis J. Angst, 30, of Wilmington, Ohio; and Tech. Sgt. Tyler H. Simmons, 28, of Columbus, Ohio.

More: Alabama pilot among 6 killed in KC-135 crash. What we know

The other seven servicemembers were killed in Iran's attacks on U.S. bases. Six soldiers were killed in a drone attack in Kuwait: Capt. Cody A. Khork, 35, of Winter Haven, Florida; Sgt. 1st Class Noah L. Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Nebraska; Sgt. 1st Class Nicole M. Amor, 39, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota; Sgt. Declan J. Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, Iowa; Maj. Jeffrey OBrien, 45, of Waukee, Iowa; and Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert Marzan, 54, of Sacramento, California. All were assigned to the 103rd Sustainment Command in Des Moines, Iowa.

Sgt. Benjamin Pennington, 26, of Glendale, Kentucky, was killed in an Iranian attack on Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia. He was assigned to the 1st Space Battalion, 1st Space Brigade, based in Fort Carson, Colorado, according to the Pentagon.

Smoke rises following an explosion, after Israel and the U.S. launched strikes on Iran, in Tehran, Iran, February 28, 2026. People gather at the site of a destroyed building at a school where, as the state media reports, several people were killed in an Israeli airstrike, following strikes by the United States and Israel against Iran, in Minab, Iran in this screengrab obtained from a social media video released on February 28, 2026. Iranian state media reported on February 28 that Israel struck a school in southern Iran, resulting in 40 deaths. Smoke rises following an explosion, after Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz said Israel had launched a pre-emptive attack against Iran, in Tehran, Iran February 28, 2026 in this screen grab taken from video. Iranian people run for cover in Tehran, Iran, on February 28, 2026, as explosions are heard after a reported strike and Israel announced it had launched a "preemptive strike" on Iran, with sirens sounding in Jerusalem and phone alerts warning of an "extremely serious" threat. Smoke rises following an explosion after the U.S. and Israel reportedly launched an attack against Iran, in Tehran, Iran, February 28, 2026, in this screen grab taken from video. A graffiti on a wall reads" Down with the U.S.A", after Israel said it launched a pre-emptive attack against Iran, in Tehran, Iran, February 28, 2026. People run for cover following an explosion, after Israel said it launched a pre-emptive attack against Iran, in Tehran, Iran February 28, 2026. A plume of smoke rises after an explosion on February 28, 2026 in Tehran, Iran. After explosions were seen in the Iranian capital, the office of the Israeli Defense Minister issued a statement saying it had launched a preemptive strike against the country. A plume of smoke rises following a reported explosion in Tehran on February 28, 2026. Two loud blasts were heard in Tehran on February 28 morning by AFP journalists, and two plumes of thick smoke were seen over the centre and east of the Iranian capital.



Israel's defence ministry announced it had launched a "preemptive strike" on Iran as sirens sounded in Jerusalem and people across the country received phone alerts about an "extremely serious" threat. U.S. President Donald Trump pumps his fist after disembarking Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., February 27, 2026. Hours later, Trump made live comments about the military strikes he launched against Iran. A plume of smoke rises over Tehran after a reported explosion on February 28, 2026, after Israel said it carried out a "preemptive strike" on Iran as sirens sounded in Jerusalem and phone alerts warned of an "extremely serious" threat. A plume of smoke rises following a reported explosion in Tehran on February 28, 2026. Two loud blasts were heard in Tehran on February 28 morning by AFP journalists, and two plumes of thick smoke were seen over the centre and east of the Iranian capital. Israel's defence ministry announced it had launched a "preemptive strike" on Iran as sirens sounded in Jerusalem and people across the country received phone alerts about an "extremely serious" threat. Buildings inin Tehran stand after Israel and the U.S. launched strikes on Iran, February 28, 2026. Iranians try to clear a street amid heavy traffic in Tehran, Iran, on February 28, 2026, as explosions are heard following a reported strike and Israel announced it had launched a "preemptive strike" on Iran, with sirens sounding in Jerusalem and phone alerts warning of an "extremely serious" threat. Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the southern Lebanese area of al-Qatrani on February 28, 2026. Lebanon's foreign minister said on February 24 his country feared its infrastructure could be hit by Israeli strikes if the situation with Iran escalates, after Israel intensified its attacks on Tehran-backed Hezbollah Anti-riot police stand in front of state building that is covered with a giant anti-U.S. billboard depicting the destruction of a US aircraft carrier in downtown Tehran on a main street in Tehran on February 21, 2026 in Tehran, Iran. In recent weeks, the United States had moved vast numbers of military vessels and aircraft to Europe and the Middle East. The US and Israel proceeded to launched strikes on Iran on February 28, 2026, Latest photos capture US and Israeli strikes against Iran 1 of 16 Smoke rises following an explosion, after Israel and the U.S. launched strikes on Iran, in Tehran, Iran, February 28, 2026.

Family members of the soldiers killed in the KC-135 crash criticized the Iran war in interviews over the weekend. "This could have been prevented, Stephan Douglas, a cousin of Simmons, the 28-year-old tech sergeant killed, told WCMH, an NBC affiliate in Columbus, Ohio. We didnt need to be in this war. This is uncalled for, and this is what we get.

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As the war continues into its third week, approximately 2,000 people have been killed across the Middle East, including at least 1,330 Iranians, according to the country's ambassador to the United Nations. Israel has intensified its attacks on Lebanon, killing at least 800 people. Nine Israelis were killed in an Iranian missile strike, and two of the country's soldiers were killed in southern Lebanon, according to Reuters.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Iran war toll: Update on the US dead and wounded
OMAHA  Mark Martinez is suing to get back on the ballot for Douglas County sheriff.

His campaign is asking the Nebraska Supreme Court to overturn a decision last week from the Douglas County election commissioner who determined that he doesnt qualify to run for the position after the Douglas County Republican Party filed a complaint questioning Martinezs eligibility.

Martinez needs a ruling quickly, because the primary election is a month and a half away, and ballots are soon to be printed. His attorney seeks to skip the typical steps and head straight to the states high court.

Former U.S. Marshall for Nebraska Mark Martinez is seeking to unseat Douglas County Sheriff Aaron Hanson. (Courtesy of the Martinez campaign)

The county GOP complaint had argued that he was ineligible to file for election to the office under a 2024 state law that requires a candidate for sheriff to possess a certificate or diploma from the Nebraska Law Enforcement Training Center before filing to run or being appointed to the job. The party said Martinez, a former U.S. marshal for Nebraska, no longer had an active law enforcement certificate.

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The Martinez campaign argued that Nebraskas 2024 law does not specify that a law enforcement certificate must belong to an active law enforcement officer and that Martinez has more than the laws required law enforcement certificate and diploma, that he has both.

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They also said his eligibility to run for sheriff had been reviewed and green-lighted by the Douglas County Election Commission, the Douglas County Attorneys Office and the Nebraska Secretary of States Office before the GOP complaint was filed, the same people the countys new top election official says she consulted before deciding Martinezs fate.

First-year Douglas County Election Commissioner Danielle Jensen said she changed her stance after further reviewing the law and consulting with the county attorney and secretary of state.

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Her decision was cheered by the Douglas County GOP, which called it the right one.

Douglas County Sheriff Aaron Hanson. Aug. 5, 2024. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)

Jensen formerly worked as a communications director and senior policy adviser for U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., before Gov. Jim Pillen appointed her to the county elections job late last year.

Martinez announced his entry into the race for the Douglas County sheriffs last month against the incumbent Republican Sheriff Aaron Hanson. The Hanson campaign had no immediate comment.

Martinez said in a statement that his campaign is confident the court will recognize the legal merits of our case, correct this flawed ruling and restore my name to the ballot.

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In the vast majority of Frances 34,000 villages, towns and cities that went to the polls Sunday, the mayor was expected to be elected in the first round, but races in many larger cities will go to a second round next Sunday, 22 March, and parties are looking to form alliances.

Socialist in the lead in Paris

According to official results, in Paris the Socialist candidate Emmanuel Gregoire won 37.98 percent of the vote, ahead of the conservative candidate Rachida Dati, 25.46 percent.

Dati, the former culture minister, is hoping to shift the balance of power in the French capital, which has been run by the left for the past 25 years.

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The hard left France Unbowed (LFI) candidate, Sophia Chikirou, was neck and neck with Pierre-Yves Bournazel, from President Emmanuel Macrons Renaissance group, both with over 11 percent of the vote, while Sarah Knafo, vice-president of the nationalist far right Reconquest party, only just qualified for the second round with 10.4 percent.

France's local elections: who are the contenders in the battle for Paris?

Dati will need to unite the right around her candidacy to win.

Division weakens us, she said on Sunday evening, referring to the lists led by Bournazel and Knafo.

She later wrote on X that she had spoken with Bournazel to propose a joint list.

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Gregoires lead could be threatened by a three-way race involving Chikirou.

He called on all voters from the republican camp, the camp of progress, whatever their choice this Sunday, to support the list we are putting forward, without mentioning Chikirou.

Alliances against the far right next week in the second round could prove difficult, with several left-wing leaders refusing to work with the LFI after the killing last month of a far right activist blamed on hard left militants.

Marseille in the balance

In the second-largest city, Marseille, the far right National Rally candidate Franck Allisio won 35.35 percent of the vote, putting him neck and neck with the incumbent left-wing mayor, Benoit Payan, with 35.5 percent.

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The second round hinges on whether the list led by LFI MP Sebastien Delogu, who won just over 13 percent of the vote, merges with Payans list or withdraws in his favour.

Payan said he would engage in no backroom negotiations, no political horse trading, a position that Delogu described as irresponsible.

Payan had previously rejected a technical merger of left-wing lists and instead called for the LFI list to withdraw.

Alliance with hard left in Lyon?

LFI leader Jean-Luc Melenchon said the party was urging the left to accept the outstretched hand of his movement to defeat the far right.

That could happen in Lyon, where the incumbent Green mayor Gregory Doucet, backed by the Socialists, Place Publique and the Communists, managed to hold his ground against Jean-Michel Aulas, who leads a joint centre-right list.

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LFI candidate Anais Belouassa-Cherifi, who won just over 10 percent of the vote, called for a technical merger of her list with Doucets to keep the city on the left, a possibility Doucet did not rule out during the campaign.

LFI is leading strongly with 45 percent of the vote in the northern town of Roubaix, which would become the largest city run by the party if it wins in the second round.

The mayor is the democratic figure in whom the French have the most confidence

Far right gains

The far right also made gains. In Perpignan, National Rally mayor Louis Aliot was re-elected with 50.61 percent of the vote. The city remains the largest municipality currently controlled by the party.

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In Nice, an ally of the far right held a lead of around ten points, according to estimates.

The far right candidate was also ahead in the southern city of Toulon, leading the incumbent mayor, according to projections.

Change will not wait for 2027. It starts next Sunday. It starts in seven days, National Rally leader Jordan Bardella told supporters, referring to the presidential election next year.

The local races are seen as an early indicator of political trends and tactical voting for that election, where the National Rally sees an opportunity to take power, as Macron is due to step down after two terms in office.

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Bardella said several outgoing mayors from the party had already been re-elected in the first round, and called on centre-right politicians to join forces with the National Rally in the second round.

According to early results, Edouard Philippe, a centrist seen as a strong contender for the presidential election, appeared well placed to remain mayor of the northern port city of Le Havre.

Low turnout

According to estimates from several polling organisations, overall turnout stood between 56 percent and 58.5 percent, compared with 63.55 percent in 2014.

That would make it the lowest turnout for the municipal elections apart from the 2020 vote, which took place during the Covid pandemic.

(with newswires)
New Hampshire State Police arrested a Massachusetts teen early Monday morning after a car chase through several towns, the police department said.

Stoneham resident Jason Schalebaum, 18, has been charged with multiple felony counts of reckless conduct with a deadly weapon, New Hampshire State Police said in a press release. He is also facing misdemeanor counts including aggravated driving under the influence, disobeying an officer and drug possession.

The incident unfolded after a trooper noticed a Chrysler 300 going 118 mph on I-95 in Greenland around 12:30 a.m. on March 16, State Police said. He tried to pull the car over, but the driver did not stop.

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The trooper began pursuing the driver on Route 101 west through Hampton and Exeter, State Police said. The driver eventually left the highway via exit 11 in Stratham where he failed to complete a turn around a traffic island at the bottom of the off-ramp.

The driver lost control of the Chrysler and crashed into a wall at the base of the Route 101 overpass, State Police said. The driver was identified as Schalebaum, and troopers soon noticed that he was showing signs of impairment.

Troopers took Schalebaum to a nearby hospital to be treated for minor injuries, State Police said. Once he was medically cleared to leave, troopers took him to Rockingham County Jail where he refused bail.

The investigation into Schalebaum revealed that he failed to stop for Maine State Police about five minutes before the New Hampshire state trooper spotted him, State Police said. Additional charges against him are pending out of a Maine court.

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New Hampshire State Police are still investigating Schalebaum. They ask that anyone with information relevant to the investigation email Trooper Daniel Bourque at Daniel.J.Bourque@DOS.NH.GOV.

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A Massachusetts teenager is facing charges after he allegedly led New Hampshire troopers on a high-speed chase through multiple towns while under the influence before crashing early Monday morning.

Jason Schalebaum, 18, of Stoneham, is slated to be arraigned Monday in Brentwood District Court on charges of reckless conduct with a deadly weapon, aggravated driving under the influence, disobeying an officer, conduct after an accident, and possession of controlled drugs, according to New Hampshire State Police.

A trooper spotted a 2014 Chrysler 300 traveling at 118 mph on Interstate 95 in Greenland around 12:30 a.m. and attempted to stop the vehicle, but the driver failed to stop, prompting a pursuit, state police said.

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The driver, later identified as Schalebaum, then got on Route 101 via the Hampton Toll Plaza, continuing west through Hampton and Exeter. Authorities said the chase ultimately ended in Stratham, where Schalebaum exited the highway, lost control, and collided with a retaining wall at the base of the Route 101 overpass.

Schalebaum, who allegedly displayed signs of impairment, was taken to a local hospital for the treatment of minor injuries. He was then transported to the Rockingham County Jail.

Authorities said troopers also learned that Schalebaum allegedly failed to stop for the Maine State Police about five minutes before he was encountered in New Hampshire.

Additional charges are pending against Schalebaum in Maine.

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An investigation is ongoing.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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The president of Beacon Bank, formerly BankRI, has been tapped to lead the Rhode Island Life Science Hubs board of directors.

Gov. Dan McKee announced William Tsonos, a 30-year veteran of the banking industry, as his pick to head the 15-member, volunteer advisory board Monday.

Rhode Island is building momentum in the life science sector, and I believe Will is well-positioned to take it to the next level, McKee said in a statement. His leadership and business acumen will support the Life Science Hubs mission to attract innovative technologies and bolster economic development in this critical industry.

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If confirmed by the Rhode Island Senate, Tsonos would replace Commerce Secretary Stefan Pryor, who has served as the boards interim chair since September 2025 after former chairman Neil Steinberg retired.

Beacon Bank changed its name in February after a regional banking merger between its parent company, Brookline Bancorp Inc., and another Massachusetts banking company, Berkshire Hills Bancorp Inc. As of June 2025, the most recent data available, BankRI was the fifth largest bank by market share in Rhode Island, with just under 6% of in-state deposits, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

As bank president, Tsonos manages $3.5 billion in assets and 200 employees, according to a copy of his resume provided to Rhode Island Current. He has worked for the same bank since 2006, and previously headed the banks commercial banking segment, and has also worked in business banking and underwriting.

Tsonos has served on the board for Rhode Island Commerce Corp., which McKee chairs, since 2024. He also serves on the board of trustees for The Miriam Hospital Foundation and on the Woonsocket Investment Committee. He has a bachelors degree in business administration from Bryant University.

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I look forward to working with fellow board members, the Hubs staff, and Governor McKee to continue to bring well-paying jobs to the State, Tsonos said in a statement.

The Senate has not yet scheduled a date to review and vote on his nomination.

The pending replacement comes amid shakeups in the full-time, paid leadership of the fledgling agency. Its first full-time CEO and president, Dr. Mark Turco, abruptly resigned earlier this month, one year into a three-year contract. Vice President Lilia Holt was appointed interim president by the board on March 9, with a search for Turcos permanent replacement expected to begin shortly.

After Turcos departure, House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi, a champion for the agencys creation and initial funding, asked Steinberg to return to the board. Steinberg said at the time he was willing, but only if he could again be board chairperson.

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Steinberg said Monday he was still willing to help out if needed, even without any open positions on the board. He was not disappointed that McKee picked someone else as board chair, he said.

Shekarchi said he respected McKees appointment.

I dont know Will Tsonos well but Ive heard nothing but great things about him, Shekarchi said in an emailed statement Monday.

The nascent agency faces the daunting challenges of establishing a state hub for innovation and entrepreneurship in life sciences and medical technology, akin to Cambridge or Worcester, Massachusetts. Since meetings began in January 2025, board members have worked to develop a framework for achieving this mission while also partnering with the state and Brown University on a $98 million public health laboratory in Providence that includes private wet lab incubator space. The wet lab is expected to open within the first quarter of the year.

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The $45 million in federal pandemic aid allocated to get the life science agency off the ground must be spent by the end of the year, and no new state allocations have been authorized. However, a $115 million economic bond included in McKees fiscal 2027 budget proposal includes some money for life sciences.

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German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has criticized cooperation in the European Parliament between conservative lawmakers and the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) on migration legislation.

"We disapprove of what apparently took place last week at the staff level," Merz said in Berlin on Monday, adding that he expected the cooperation to stop.

Communications uncovered in a dpa investigation showed that the conservative European People's Party (EPP), the largest group in the European Parliament, had cooperated more closely with far-right factions than previously known.

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Staff members working for EPP lawmakers used a WhatsApp group, and members of parliament held face-to-face meetings with far-right colleagues, to draft legislation aimed at reforming EU migration policy, the dpa investigation found.

EPP chief and veteran German conservative Manfred Weber said on Monday he was unaware of the communications.

"I am not aware of staff chat groups, nor have I given them authorization," he was quoted as saying by several German media outlets. He did not comment on the reported in-person meetings.

Merz repeats: No cooperation with the AfD

Merz said Weber now bore responsibility for ensuring such cooperation does not happen again.

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"We do not work with far-right extremists in the European Parliament," Merz said, arguing that majorities can be secured for every decision without the support of AfD lawmakers.

The legislation at the centre of the political firestorm would allow the deportation of asylum seekers to return hubs in non-EU countries.

The measure passed the relevant European Parliament committee shortly after the secret chats, supported by votes from the EPP and several right-wing factions, including lawmakers from the AfD.

The EPP is the European political family that includes Merzs Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and their Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), of which Weber is a member.

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The EPP currently forms the largest alliance of parties in the European Parliament.

"Firewall" under threat?

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul earlier urged lawmakers to avoid any cooperation with the AfD, calling for a continued "firewall" against the party  a policy long maintained by Germanys mainstream parties.

Any appearance of collaboration with the AfD must be avoided, Wadephul said in Brussels, adding that he expected the matter to be discussed within the EPPs internal bodies.

Senior CSU figures sought to contain the political fallout after the revelations.

CSU leader and Bavarian state premier Markus Soder said the WhatsApp chat group and the meeting between lawmakers had very much surprised and unsettled his party.

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Soder said Weber had assured him that such cooperation would not happen again. From our perspective, that settles the matter for now, and were fine with it, Soder said.

In Germany, the rise of the far right carries particular sensitivity given the countrys Nazi past.

All mainstream parties, including the CDU/CSU conservative bloc, have pledged to uphold a political firewall against the AfD, currently the largest opposition party in the German parliament.

Alexander Hoffmann, parliamentary leader of the CSU in the Bundestag, called for an investigation.

"These chat groups need to be looked into," he told broadcaster RTL, vowing that Germanys conservatives would continue their policy of isolating the AfD.

Applause emojis mark deal

The migration proposal emerged in early March after months of deadlock within an informal coalition of three parliamentary groups: the EPP, the Socialists and Democrats and the liberals in Renew Europe.

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When the Socialists refused to back the "return hub" concept, staff working for EPP lawmakers turned to three right-wing factions, sources told dpa.

These included the European Conservatives and Reformists, which includes allies of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni; the Patriots for Europe, which includes politicians from Frances National Rally led by Marine Le Pen; and the Europe of Sovereign Nations group, which includes AfD members.

Shortly after the WhatsApp group was created, lawmakers negotiating the bill met in person on March 4.

Participants later exchanged messages thanking each other for the "excellent cooperation," accompanied by applause emojis.

The European Parliament is still finalizing its position on the legislation. The next step is then negotiating with EU member states to reach a compromise and adopt the law.
Law enforcement agencies were still seeking a suspect in a high-speed pursuit after a rollover crash Sunday near Santa Fe injured a New Mexico State Police officer.

The officer was transported to a local hospital with injuries that did not appear to be life threatening, state police spokesperson Wilson Silver wrote in an email to The New Mexican.

State police officers assisted U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs police with a traffic stop on northbound Interstate 25 near Santo Domingo Pueblo around noon Sunday. During the stop, the driver fled, and state police pursued the vehicle, Silver wrote.

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The rollover crash occurred near Avenida del Sur and N.M. 14 south of Santa Fe.

Another state police vehicle sustained minor damage during the chase, but that officer was not injured.

"No other injuries were reported, and no other vehicles were involved," Silver wrote.

He added the suspect's vehicle has not yet been located. An alert known as a BOLO  or "be on the lookout"  has been issued to law enforcement.
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM)  The New Mexico State University Foundation will launch its annual 1888 Minutes of Giving campaign next month.

The fund-raising campaign, themed Bring the Heat this year, will kick off at 10 a.m. on April 21 and continue to 5:28 p.m. on April 22.

This 1,888-minute crowdfunding initiative supports more than 100 funds submitted by college deans, Foundation leadership, faculty and student organizations to benefit students and essential NMSU programs.



Bring the Heat feels especially fitting for New Mexico, said Sylvia Y. Acosta, CEO of the NMSU Foundation. This is a place known for green chile, big skies and people who work hard and show up for their community. During 1888 Minutes of Giving, Aggies everywhere can bring that same spirit together to create opportunities for our students and strengthen the future of NMSU.

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Launched in 2024 as part of NMSUs Founders Day celebration, the campaign commemorates the 1888 founding of Las Cruces College, now NMSU, and honors the visionaries advancing its land-grant mission. Early giving is now open by clicking here.



With a fundraising goal of $270,000, donors may direct their gifts to any area across campus, including featured initiatives such as Cooperative Education, Aggie Jumpstart, Undergraduate Research and the Student Emergency Fund, or the 100-plus funds participating in this years campaign.



The campaign begins with a campus parade at 9:45 a.m. April 21 from Hadley Hall to Corbett Center Student Union, spotlighting participating organizations. Student groups will host tables at Corbett, followed by a coffee and cookies reception. To close the campaign, donors are invited to Petes Patio from 4 to 6 p.m. April 22, where final totals, donor participation and leading fundraising organizations will be announced.



Throughout the campaign, challenges and matching gifts may multiply donor impact. Businesses or individuals interested in sponsoring a match should contact Luis Suira, annual giving officer, at luis.suira@nmsufoundation.org.



Real-time results will be displayed on AlwaysAnAggie.org. Faculty, staff and retirees may also establish a Cornerstone Endowment through a one-time gift, annual contributions or payroll deduction by calling (575) 201-9023.

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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The high roller who insists he was drugged with Ketamine while playing blackjack at MGM Grand in 2021 has enough evidence to warrant a jury trial, says Federal Judge Miranda Du. The judge refused last month to grant MGMs Motion for Summary Judgment in the case filed by Southern California businessman Dwight Manley.

I find that plaintiff has offered evidence to create a genuine issue of fact that the cocktail he was served by defendants employee was poisoned such that he was incapacitated at the time he entered into the credit instrument at issue, Du said at a hearing Feb. 25, according to a transcript obtained by the Current. Where reasonable minds could differ on the material issues of fact, summary judgment is not appropriate.

Manley alleges MGM executives took advantage of his drugged condition by increasing his longstanding $1 million credit limit to $3.5 million in the course of an afternoon, despite his erratic behavior, which was witnessed by his friends and acknowledged by his longtime casino host, according to court documents.

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A hair drug test determined Manley ingested Ketamine, and a medical expert asserted it was likely on Dec. 10, 2021, the day Manley became incapacitated while gambling, according to his suit.

While MGM argues the drug test covered a two-month period, I think that argument goes to the weight of the evidence for the jury to decide, not the Court to decide, Du said.

Du says her review of surveillance video shows the bartender mostly using what appears to be prepared ingredients in different containers and bottles, and then adding a single serving ingredient that appears to be a sugar package. But, the surveillance video does not, undisputedly, show that Ketamine was not contained in the ingredients

MGM fought Manleys efforts in the discovery phase of the case to learn more about customer allegations of drugging at the hotel, according to his attorney, Paul Hejmanowski.

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Nonetheless, we got 11 examples from the MGM of patrons who said they were drugged by employees of the MGM, Hejmanowski told the judge.

Hejmanowski asserted MGM is responsible for knowingly serving alcoholic beverages to a visibly intoxicated patron.

Du cited text messages sent by Manleys casino host, Vanessa Reboton, to MGM credit manager Justin Manacher, noting Manley looked drunk or wasted, and about his credit increase This occurred after he had gotten up from the table and was a little wobbly.

There is no liability to MGM relating to allowing a patron to overindulge in alcohol consumption, attorney Lawrence Semenza, who is representing MGM, argued. That is an issue for gaming (regulators). If a casino or licensee is determined to have done that, then its a gaming issue.

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Serving alcohol to a visibly impaired customer or permitting them to gamble is a violation of gambling regulation. The Nevada Gaming Control Board, which investigated Manleys complaint, has taken no action against MGM.

Serving intoxicated patrons is also a violation of MGMs Responsible Gaming Practices, Hejmanowski asserted. The company policies create a separate duty to patrons such as Mr. Manley.

Hejmanowski indicated he would amend Manleys complaint to include a violation by MGM of its own alcohol awareness protocol.

MGM contends Manley is claiming he was drugged in an effort to get out of paying $3 million in gambling debts. The gambler, according to court documents, paid his host $560,000 on the plane ride back to California. He also made no effort to stop payment when MGM deposited his markers, according to the lawsuit.

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Manley, in a deposition, said he covered the markers in order to protect his reputation, and anticipated that MGM would reimburse him upon discovering he was drugged.

Nevada law requires that an incapacitated person who enters into a contract will be deemed to have ratified the contract unless, within a reasonable time after becoming sober, he takes steps to disaffirm it, Du noted, adding Manley offered evidence that he did disaffirm the contract and did not ratify it.

Manley, the judge said, informed the casino early the following morning that he thought that his drink had been spiked the afternoon before, and three days later sent defendants a preservation demand letter in anticipation of litigation.

Du said she will set the case for trial following a routine settlement conference.
The stock market got off to a good start this year, but it dropped following the start of the Iran war. The S&P 500 index lost 1% from the end of 2025 through March 11.

Individual stocks have performed both better and worse, of course. Chewy (NYSE: CHWY) falls into the latter category, its share price having dropped about 23% this year.

Will AI create the world's first trillionaire? Our team just released a report on the one little-known company, called an "Indispensable Monopoly" providing the critical technology Nvidia and Intel both need. Continue 

A sharp stock price decline doesn't mean you should rush out and buy the shares, however. It's important to look at Chewy's long-term fundamentals and valuation before making that determination.

Image source: Getty Images.

Understanding the business

Chewy hasn't been in existence for very long. It started in 2011.

The company sells pet products, supplies, and prescriptions solely online. Revenue was growing at a nice clip before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the rate accelerated after pet adoption soared when people were forced to stay home.

Chewy's revenue went from $4.8 billion in fiscal 2019 (ended Feb. 2, 2020) to $10.1 billion in fiscal 2022 (ended Jan. 29, 2023).

Naturally, this growth proved unsustainable as people's lives returned to greater normality. Still, management has focused its attention on customer retention and additions, and it's producing solid revenue gains.

Active customers (those who ordered a product or service within the last year) grew 4.9% year over year in the third quarter of fiscal 2025 (ended Nov. 2, 2025) to 21.2 million. Importantly, sales per active customer increased by the same percentage, to $595.

Revenue from Chewy's recurring delivery service, which helps retain loyal customers and provides a stable revenue source, continued to rise, gaining 13.6% to $2.6 billion. Chewy produced solid, if not spectacular, revenue growth of 8.3%.

The valuation

It certainly looks like Chewy is moving in the right direction. However, despite this year's price drop, the shares still look richly valued.

The stock has a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 52. While that's down from 68 at the end of 2025, it's still expensive. Using the S&P 500 as a proxy for the market, the index has a P/E multiple of 29.

The market's valuation reflects high-growth earnings expectations. Can Chewy meet them?

Is this a rare opportunity?

Perhaps Chewy's revenue growth will accelerate as it pursues growth initiatives like opening its own veterinarian clinics, which management stated have gotten off to a good start.
A powerful winter storm battered northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula on Monday, leaving more than 126,000 customers without power, closing schools and offices, and making travel dangerous or impossible in some areas due to heavy snow and strong winds.

The storm also was on track to set record snowfalls in certain regions of Michigan.

Spalding appeared to set a one-day record in the UPs Menominee County with 35 inches of snow, more than doubling the old record of 15 inches set near Daggett in 2012.

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An observer station two miles south of Herman in L'Anse Township in Baraga County also appeared to set a new one-day record with 34 inches of snowfall in the past 24 hours, breaking a record of 32 inches set in 1985.

The Southeast Forest Lake area of Alcona County in Michigan's northeastern part of the Lower Peninsula got hit with 31.9 inches, a record surpassing the prior mark of 27 inches set in 1929.

Marquette County's Negaunee on Sunday broke the snow record for March 15 with 14.6 inches of snow, eclipsing the prior mark of over 12 inches, said Chris Burling, a meteorologist at the Marquette National Weather Service in Negaunee.

Negaunee had 29.4 inches of snow unofficially accumulated through Monday morning, according to the National Weather Service. Other records, such as one-day or two-day all-time record snowfalls, were still being measured and have yet to be determined, Burling said.

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Meteorologists said the storm formed from a large and organized system across the Great Lakes, bringing widespread snow and a band of freezing rain along its southern edge.

Power outages were concentrated particularly north of Mount Pleasant. Consumers Energy reported more than 98,000 outages and deployed more than 480 crews working extended shifts to assess damage and restore service. The utility said the storm had a major impact in areas stretching from Cadillac to Alpena.

More: Blizzard prompts Michigan school, college closings with Tuesday cancellations

More: Michigan record snowfalls by county

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Blizzard conditions were expected to continue into Tuesday across the northern Lower Peninsula and much of the Upper Peninsula. Forecasters predicted an additional one to two feet of snow in parts of the region, including Marquette, along with wind gusts reaching 50 mph near Lake Superior. Snowfall totals already ranged from about 7.5 inches near Sault Ste. Marie to 23 inches in St. Ignace.

Travel conditions were extremely hazardous, with the National Weather Service advising residents in the hardest-hit areas not to drive. In areas outside the blizzard zone, officials urged motorists to slow down, maintain extra distance, and ensure vehicles were properly equipped for winter conditions.

On Sunday, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer activated the states Emergency Operations Center to coordinate response efforts, while several counties declared local states of emergency and many state offices closed. In Traverse City, near-whiteout conditions blanketed downtown streets, shutting down businesses and government offices and prompting officials to urge residents to avoid unnecessary travel.

The heaviest snowfall from the weekend winter storm fell across Michigans Upper Peninsula, where several locations reported more than two feet of accumulation in 48 hours, according to the National Weather Service. The highest total came from an observer station south of Herman in Baraga County, which measured 36 inches over 48 hours, including 34 inches in the most recent 24-hour period. Other U.P. communities also reported major totals, including 31 inches in Three Lakes (Baraga County) and 31 inches in Menominee County, while National Mine in Marquette County recorded 30 inches by early Monday.

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Snowfall was also significant across parts of northern Michigan in the Lower Peninsula, though totals were generally lower than in the U.P. Communities such as Petoskey, Saint Ignace, Harbor Springs and Charlevoix saw substantial accumulation, while areas farther south, such as Traverse City and Cheboygan, reported lighter totals as the storm weakened toward the southern edge of the system.

More: Michigan blizzard leaves some UP side roads 'completely impassable'

Reported snowfall totals in Michigan

The heaviest snowfall from the weekend winter storm fell across Michigans Upper Peninsula, where several locations reported more than two feet of accumulation in 48 hours, according to the National Weather Service. The highest total came from an observer station south of Herman in Baraga County, which measured 36 inches over 48 hours, including 34 inches in the most recent 24-hour period. Other U.P. communities also reported major totals, including 31 inches in Three Lakes (Baraga County) and 31 inches in Menominee County, while National Mine in Marquette County recorded 30 inches by early Monday.

Three feet of snow tops the list so far

Herman (Baraga County): 36 inches (48 hours)

Three Lakes (Baraga County): 31 inches

Menominee County: 31 inches

National Mine: 30 inches

Cusino Lake: 27.5 inches

Spalding: 26 inches

Petoskey: 24.6 inches

Saint Ignace: 23 inches

Iron Mountain: 21.6 inches

Arnold: 21.5 inches

Negaunee: 21.4 inches

Pellston: 20 inches

Trout Lake: 20 inches

Charlevoix: 18 inches

Newberry: 18 inches

Harbor Springs: 16.5 inches

Cedar: 16 inches

Cheboygan: 9 inches

Traverse City: 5 inches

Hancock: 4 inches

Authorities warn Michigan drivers to stay off the roads

Sheriffs offices across Michigans northern Lower Peninsula and the Upper Peninsula urged residents to stay home. Officials warned that vehicles were becoming stuck and that travel could be delayed as emergency responders struggled to clear heavy snow.

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In Schoolcraft County, deputies described road conditions as terrible, with several side roads completely blocked and vehicles stranded. The county had received about 27.5 inches of snow by Monday morning, and authorities said they hoped plows could reopen roads by Tuesday if snowfall eased.

Authorities in other northern counties issued similar warnings. The sheriffs office in Otsego County said many roads were impassable and advised residents not to travel, while officials in Roscommon County asked drivers to stay home after a tree fell onto a county administrators vehicle during the storm.

In Alpena County, officials reported more than 5 inches of snow and freezing rain, with downed trees and power lines adding to the danger. Meteorologists at the National Weather Service warned that isolated blizzard-like conditions and falling temperatures could worsen conditions and potentially bring down more tree branches and power lines.

Blizzard closes schools, universities in Michigan

The heavy snow and strong winds from a blizzard forced widespread school closures across northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula on Monday, with some districts already canceling classes for Tuesday.

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Districts including Menominee Area Public Schools and Iron Mountain Public Schools canceled classes Monday and Tuesday, citing unsafe road conditions, while Traverse City Area Public Schools, Gaylord Community Schools, Petoskey Public Schools, and Cheboygan Area Schools also closed Monday as steady snowfall and drifting made it difficult for road crews to clear roads.

Colleges and universities across the region also shut down Monday because of the storm. The Upper Peninsulas three public universities  Michigan Technological University, Northern Michigan University, and Lake Superior State University  suspended operations for the day, while several community colleges in northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula also canceled classes, including Alpena Community College, Bay College, Gogebic Community College, Kirtland Community College, North Central Michigan College, Northwestern Michigan College, and West Shore Community College.

Staff Writers Max Bryan, Charles E. Ramirez, Sarah Atwood and Jennifer Pignolet contributed.

This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Michigan blizzard: Everything you need to know about the snowstorm
As Michigan officials continue to slow-walk and stonewall the expansion of the states Freedom of Information Act to include the governors office and the Legislature, a key lawmaker is now calling for the issue to be placed on the ballot in a future election, and with language removing all exemptions from the law.

In an interview with Michigan Advance, state Sen. Jeremy Moss (D-Bloomfield Township), one of the primary sponsors of legislation to open up FOIA to the top offices in government, said he was becoming fed up with the lack of movement of Senate Bill 1 and Senate Bill 2, which he co-sponsored with Sen. Ed McBroom (R-Vulcan).

The current iteration of the bills were passed nearly unanimously, 33-2, by the Senate in early 2025, but have been sitting in the House Government Operations Committee since the bills were sent to the lower chamber. Much of that has to do with House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Township) insisting that the bills were not a priority for his caucus in 2026.

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McBroom is term limited, and Moss is seeking election to a congressional seat this year. With their collective time in state office ending soon, Moss said he was now advocating for a more direct path for FOIA reforms, and that involves letting the people decide in an upcoming election.

We have a package that both balances the needs of our lawmakers but also gets information out to the public. This is the version, I think, that is the most comprehensive version that could pass, Moss told the Advance. If these lawmakers cant even accept that, then lets lift up the whole veil and have no exemptions.  Lets go to the ballot, and Im confident that the people would pass this. Lets go all the way in. If we cant pass something that is measured and thoughtful, then lets give the people what they really want.

Monday is the start of Sunshine Week, a period when journalists and leaders in both the private and public sector highlight the need for open government and transparency. In the Great Lakes state, the sore need for FOIA reform will likely take up a large part of that discourse.

Michigan is one of two states that makes its lawmakers and the governors office exempt from open records laws; the other is Massachusetts.

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That could soon change, as Massachusetts is angling to put a similar public records question on the 2026 ballot that would achieve much of what Michigans Senate Bills 1 and 2 are aiming for.

There is, at present, no effort to get the reforms outlined in Senate Bill 1 and Senate Bill 2 on the 2026 ballot in Michigan, but a future election is ripe for the taking.

With Moss now advocating for a FOIA-focused ballot proposal, his rallying cry could act as a necessary springboard.

Lisa McGraw, the public policy manager with the Michigan Press Association, told the Advance on Monday that there were active conversations going on in the background about a Michigan FOIA ballot question. Any new proposal would follow previous efforts from Progress Michigan, which was behind a push to get the question on the ballot both in 2020 and in 2022. Those efforts ultimately failed.

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McGraw, like Moss, said that a ballot measure may be needed given the fact that there is currently no path for a legislative solution.

Its just going to cost a lot of money, McGraw said, speaking to the challenges of putting the question on the ballot. This is an issue that has 89% support from the people in Michigan, and yet, two people are basically holding this up right now.

Speakers stance draws criticism

One of those people is Hall, who ironically has made transparency one of his legislative calling cards. The speaker enacted his hallmark Ethics, Accountability and Transparency plan last year, which called for an open accounting of earmarks, and well before a budget bill went to a vote in either chamber of the Legislature.

On FOIA, however, Hall has said that his caucus was not planning on taking up the proposed Moss/McBroom changes. The stalling from Hall in the House is discouraging to some because the speaker voted to advance the bills in their previous forms, both in 2018 and in 2021. Hall also made it a point to harangue his colleagues on the other side of the aisle when the bills did not get to the finish line in 2024 during the final days of the Democratic Party controlling both legislative chambers and the governors office.

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Moss and McGraw echoed each other across separate interviews as they lamented Michigans lack of progress. If 48 other states can figure out how to make open records laws that include the governor and the main legislative body, so can Michigan, they said.

Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Twp.) poses with a poster promoting his Ethics Accountability and Transparency (HEAT) Plan which references the 1995 movie Heat. | Kyle Davidson

Aside from Hall, others have criticized Gov. Gretchen Whitmer for not championing FOIA reform more forcefully during her time in office.

Whitmers tenure is coming to a close this year. On the campaign trail in 2018, Whitmer promised to open up FOIA to her office voluntarily.

The governors office has yet to issue such a directive.

In defense of Whitmer, Moss said he had a more reliable partner in her on FOIA than Hall, noting that if the measure did come up on the House floor, he would expect it to pass and reach Whitmer, who would then happily sign the bills.

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Moss also said that Whitmers office issued a card of support during one of several rounds where he and his colleagues attempted to roll FOIA reform bills through the Legislature.

With those roadblocks in place, cutting out the middleman with a ballot measure could also have some unique benefits for Michigan residents, overall.

Specifically, a no-exemptions FOIA law could help in getting information that is currently blocked by other important provisions of the law, namely, its limitations for attorney-client privilege.

Transparency limits highlighted by past cases

Some years ago, Michigan news outlets, including The Detroit News and Gongwer News Service, sought to shed light on the decisions made by the Flint Water special prosecutorial team with the Department of Attorney General as it investigated the genesis of the crisis before bringing charges against several members of former Gov. Rick Snyders administration. Those charges were ultimately scuttled by the courts over procedural issues, but questions abounded over how the team came to decide who would be charged and why.

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Several open record requests were denied in the hunt for that information. Documents were either withheld in their entirety or were heavily redacted before delivery due to exemptions for attorney-client privilege.

Eliminating that portion of the law could expose even more documents and information to the publics eye, advancing government transparency and accountability.

The lack of sunshine due to all of Michigans lapses in FOIA has become such an untenable situation that the Michigan Press Association recently decided against granting its annual Peter Pettalia Memorial Sunshine Award this year.

Sen. Sam Singh tries to close the shutters in the Senate chamber after members symbolically opened them to let the sun shine in after long-delayed FOIA reforms passed the chamber on June 26, 2024 | Kyle Davidson

The honor typically goes to a public official who demonstrated leadership in advancing open government, but the association said this year, no such person exists.

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As an example of the FOIA being a horseshoe issue arcing across political lines, the conservative-leaning Mackinac Center for Public Policy recently issued its 2026 policy recommendations for state leaders, and FOIA reform was at the top of the transparency list.

The center said it was mostly concerned with secrecy clouding economic development deals between the state and companies receiving taxpayer subsidies.

Economic development deals  especially taxpayer-funded business subsidies  should be fully open to public scrutiny, wrote Michael Van Beek, the Mackinac Centers director of research. Taxpayers have the right to know where their money is going and whether public officials keep their lofty promises about these corporate handouts.

Gubernatorial candidates float their own FOIA solutions

The publics right to know might also have new allies in a future governor. A handful of candidates this year said they back the merits of Senate Bills 1 and 2.

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Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Leonard, a former speaker of the state House, said Monday that he would, if nominated in August and elected in November, issue an executive directive to jumpstart the movement to at least bring the governors office into the FOIA fold.

The people of Michigan no longer trust government to put their interests first, Leonard said. The way you rebuild trust isnt with talking points about FOIA. Its by putting forth a real proposal that can be implemented on day one.

His proposal is to include the governor, the lieutenant governor and the executive office by creating a new Office of Open Government to process public records requests. Those requests would follow the current laws timelines for disclosure or records, and a formal appeal process would be put in place.

In addition to his fledgling directive to create the new office, Leonard said he would dedicate himself to working with the Legislature on a package that permanently includes the executive branch.

Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson at a news conference, Dec. 12, 2023 to unveil a new online system for processing requests under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for the Department of Elections | Jon King

Former Attorney General Mike Cox, another candidate for governor on the Republican side, recently wrote on X that he also supports reforming FOIA.

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The reality is that the Governor could do that now if she wanted: nothing prevents her from doing so, Cox wrote. As AG, I was the first elected official in Michigan to put all our offices spending online. (Not sure if anyone does anymore). And I did that without a law  just did because it was right. In Michigan, every elected officer at every level (state, county, city) is subject to FOIA except the Governor, State Senate and State House.

If elected, Cox said that would change in 2027.

U.S. Rep. John James (R-Shelby Township), has also vowed to do the same, and is part of his freedom from corruption agenda.

Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, running for governor on the Democratic side of the aisle, also has been an advocate for expanding FOIA since 2023.

Benson also made it a point in her office to publish information requests after contents are delivered to their requestors as a way of broadening public records access to the department she oversees.

In a statement to the Advance, Benson reiterated her stance on the opening day of Sunshine Week.

As governor, I will voluntarily comply with FOIA and continue to call on the Legislature to do the same, Benson said. Thats consistent with how Ive always approached this work. As Secretary of State, my office is subject to FOIA, and weve gone even further by creating a public website where anyone can see the FOIA requests we receive. I believe government should be open and accessible to the people it serves, always.
Next up in this year's election cycle: Illinois.

Voters head to the polls on Tuesday, March 17, to cast ballots in primary elections for a variety of state and national seats. The results will determine which candidates face off in the November midterm elections, which promise to deliver strong signals about the country's political climate in the midst of President Donald Trump's second term.

Polls open in Illinois at 6 a.m. on Tuesday. If you're a registered Illinois voter, you can find your sample ballot on the State Board of Elections.

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Here's what to know about the primary elections in Illinois.

Former U.S. Ambassador to Japan and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff See 19 potential Democratic presidential candidates for the 2028 election 1 of 2 Former U.S. Ambassador to Japan and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel

Illinois district primaries

Voters in each of Illinois' 17 congressional districts will select one Republican and one Democrat to be on the November 2026 ballot, which determines who gets elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Currently, Illinois has 14 Democratic and three Republican representatives in the U.S. House.

There's lots of room for new faces in the House come January 2027. Two Illinois House members, U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi and U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly are currently running for Senate, while Rep. Jan Schakowsky, 81, and Rep. Danny Davis, 84, are retiring. A number of candidates have entered the race to fill their seats, according to Ballotpedia:

2nd District (Kelly): 10 Democrats, 2 Republicans

7th District (Davis): 13 Democrats, 2 Republicans

8th District (Krishnamoorthi): 8 Democrats, 4 Republicans

9th District (Schakowsky): 15 Democrats, 4 Republicans

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Given the GOP's narrow House majority, Republicans will be looking to maintain control while Democrats may spearhead an opportunity to gain influence and curb Trump's second-term agenda.

Midterms 2026: Can Trump run a war and a midterm campaign at the same time?

Illinois US Senate primary

A U.S. Senate seat is up for grabs in Illinois after Sen. Dick Durbin, 81, announced his retirement in April 2025. Durbin serves alongside Democratic counterpart Sen. Tammy Duckworth, who assumed the role in 2017.

Democratic candidates have vied for public blessing from Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who endorsed state Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton in April 2025. Stratton is also endorsed by Duckworth and Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch.

Left to Right, Rep. Robin Kelly (D-IL) Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL); Illinois Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton

Krishnamoorthi leads the race in fundraising at over $30 million, according to the Federal Election Commission. Stratton has raised about $4 million. Other Democrats in the race include Kelly, Steve Botsford Jr., Sean Brown, Awisi Bustos, Jonathan Dean, Bryan Maxwell, Kevin Ryan, Christopher Swann.

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Among GOP contenders, Don Tracy, former chairman of the Illinois Republican Party, and former chairman of the Illinois Gaming Board, has raised the most funds at $2.2 million, according to the FEC. He faces R. Cary Capparelli, Casey Chlebek, Jeannie Evans, Dr. Pamela Denise Long and Dr. Jimmy Lee Tillman II for the Republican candidacy.

Illinois gubernatorial primary

Pritzker is staring down his own campaign to become the state's first-ever third-term Democratic governor. Candidates for governor and lieutenant governor run on the same ticket. Pritzker and Christian Mitchell are running unopposed in Tuesday's Democratic primary, but will face the Republican winner come November.

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker speaks at a public memorial service to celebrate the life of civil rights activist Reverend Jesse Jackson in Chicago on March 6, 2026.

The GOP race includes Darren Bailey and Aaron Del Mar; Ted Dabrowski and Dr. Carrie Mendoza; Rick Heidner and Christina Neitzke-Troike and James Mendrick and Dr. Robert Renteria.

Immigration at the forefront

A key issue at the center of the Illinois primary is immigration: Illinois is a "sanctuary state"  refusing to cooperate with Trump's federal immigration enforcement. The president has traded barbs with Pritzker over his "Operation Midway Blitz" in Chicago, even threatening federal funds for the state. And Chicago has been the site of anti-ICE protests amid Trump's immigration crackdown. Durbin, a long supporter of liberal policies, has matched that messaging in the Senate as a staunch supporter of immigration rights.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: When are midterm primary elections this week? Illinois hits the polls
KEYSER, WV (WVNS)  A man from Mineral County was arrested by the West Virginia State Police for an alleged sexual offense and fraud.

According to a press release from the West Virginia State Police, 35-year-old Jeremy Shingler, of Keyser, was arrested by members of the Keyser Detachment of the West Virginia State Police, on Friday, March 13, 2026 for Soliciting a Minor via Computer, Sexual Abuse by a Person in a Position of Trust, and Embezzlement and Fraudulent Scheme.

Two people arrested and charged with multiple crimes after search warrant in Summers County

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The press release stated that the arrest was made after the West Virginia State Police conducted two different investigations. After a concerned parent reportedly notified the police about improper electronic communications Shingler had with a minor, one of the investigations started. During that investigation, it was discovered that Shingler allegedly had sexually explicit and inappropriate communications and inappropriate physical contact with the minor.

A second investigation began when suspicious financial disparities with company funds was reported by Shinglers employer, according to the press release. Troopers discovered during that investigation that checks were made out to a fake company and there were unauthorized credit card transactions, which resulted in a financial loss of around $15,969.

The press release stated that the Mineral County Magistrate Court arraigned Shingler, who posted a $25,000 bond and was released.

The investigation remains ongoing.

Stick with 59News for additional news, weather, and more.

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WVNS.
A high school choir is seeking donations after a weekend snowstorm in Minnesota left students stranded in California.

Members and supporters of Bloomington Kennedy Choirs were due to fly from Los Angeles to the Twin Cities on Sunday, only for their flight to be canceled as a blizzard dropped 1-2 feet of snow over a large swath of southern Minnesota.

It sparked hundreds of flight cancellations at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on Sunday, and it's having a subsequent knock-on effect for travelers trying to get back to Minnesota, with several reports of passengers stranded across the U.S. as they await a return flight.

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The choir of Kennedy High School students is now facing thousands in unanticipated costs as the kids from Bloomington await different modes of transportation later this week.

"Our flights home from Los Angeles have been canceled due to the massive blizzard hitting Minnesota, and we need your help to get us there," reads a donation page on the Bloomington Kennedy Choirs website.

"Were incurring an unexpected $30,000 in new flights and buses. Anything you can do to help get our kids home."

Bloomington Kennedy Choirs flew to Los Angeles last Thursday to participate in its final competition of the year.

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The choir won five awards at Los Alamitos Choir's annual Xtravaganza, including grand champions, best music and best show. Indigo Gabriel claimed best soloist and Andrew LeDoux earned best performer during the competition.

Bloomington Kennedy Choirs | Facebook (Bloomington Kennedy Choirs | Facebook)

More than 600 flights in and out of Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport were canceled Sunday due to the blizzard, with some cancelations and delays continuing Monday.

Fox 9 reporter Adam Llorens spoke with Minnesotans who were stranded in Florida after every flight from Orlando International Airport to MSP was canceled Sunday.

Minnesotans trying to fly home from Orlando on Sunday became stranded due to the winter storm that dumped more than a foot of snow in some areas of Minnesota. pic.twitter.com/tPYGWWHzYW  FOX 9 (@FOX9) March 16, 2026

It's unclear which airline the choir booked for its return flights, but the biggest airline at MSP, Delta, had 68% of its flights at the airport canceled Sunday.

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Thrifty Travelers Kyle Potter has heard that Delta is telling passengers that Thursday is the soonest it's able to get them from Atlanta, the airline's hub, to Minneapolis.

Heard from several flyers that after all the cancellations in/out of Minneapolis today (and full flights this week), Delta is saying the soonest they can get passengers from Atlanta home to MSP is Thursday.



Woof.  Kyle Potter (@kpottermn) March 16, 2026

This story was originally published by Bring Me The News on Mar 16, 2026, where it first appeared in the MN News section. Add Bring Me The News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
A Minnesota photojournalist and press freedom advocates are suing the Federal Aviation Administration over a recently issued rule banning drone flights within 3,000 feet of Department of Homeland Security buildings and vehicles.

You have no way of knowing in advance before you fire up the drone whether you are within a prohibited distance of, say, an unmarked car that ICE is using for immigration enforcement, said Grayson Clary, a staff attorney at Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, which is representing independent photojournalist Rob Levine in the case challenging the rule.

On Jan. 16, while Operation Metro Surge was in full swing in Minnesota, the FAA issued a nationwide temporary flight restriction, known as a TFR, banning drones from flying within 3,000 feet laterally and 1,000 feet vertically of Department of Defense, Department of Energy and DHS facilities and mobile assets, including vessels and ground vehicle convoys and their associated escorts.

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News organizations immediately pushed back. A coalition of media organizations including the New York Times, Washington Post and the National Press Photographers Association sent a letter to the FAA on Jan. 28, arguing that the flight restrictions violate the First and Fifth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution.

The press photographers association warned its members that lawful newsgathering could quickly become criminal.

A moving, effectively invisible TFR, applying to unmarked or rented vehicles creates a constantly shifting restricted airspace that journalists have no practical way to identify or avoid, NPPA President Alex Garcia said in the press release.

Clary said the situation creates a chilling effect on journalists exercise of the First Amendment.

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Which, candidly, I think, is likely what was intended, Clary said. He also argues that the rule violates a fundamental portion of the right to due process  fair notice of what the law prohibits.

Levine, the plaintiff in the case, has run into FAA restrictions around newsworthy events before. In 2016, when the FAA issued a TFR around the protests at Standing Rock in North Dakota, Levine was the only journalist to receive an exemption, allowing him to document the events from the air.

The new restrictions for drone flights near DHS operations has made him think twice before taking out his drone.

Seeing how these federal agents treated constitutional observers, I was truly worried that going out and flying, I could get arrested, have my drone destroyed, and be roughed up, like they did to so many of those constitutional observers, Levine said.

The petition for judicial review was filed Monday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
Missouri House Speaker Jon Patterson is pledging support for legislation aimed at cracking down on date rape drugs, after two Democratic lawmakers said they believe they were drugged in Jefferson City during last years legislative session.

Patterson, a Republican and physician, said he found the lawmakers accounts very troubling and encouraged them to pursue criminal investigations.

I just want them and everybody to know I support them 1,000% on doing that, whatever they need on that, Patterson told reporters at a press conference last week. He added that it was the first he had heard of anything like that happening in Jefferson City, and said he would back the lawmakers 100% if they need help at the Capitol.

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Patterson pointed to legislation filed by state Rep. Elizabeth Fuchs, a St. Louis Democrat, who went public last week about her experience and has sought to increase penalties for substances commonly associated with drink-spiking. The bill was approved last week by the House Emerging Issues Committee.

I think one of the representatives has proposed legislation even, and has had a hearing, and I really support her in that, Patterson said.

Fuchs said she was grateful to hear the speakers support  but emphasized that the next meaningful step will be whether House leaders help move the bill to the floor after it cleared committee last week.

I hope that the support continues, she said in an interview, and now that it passed unanimously out of committee, Im hopeful that the speaker is going to help encourage the floor leader to bring it to the floor so we can have a discussion about it and get it over to the Senate.

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Fuchs filed legislation to add several psychoactive substances  including GHB and its chemical precursors, as well as nitrous oxide  to Missouris Schedule I controlled substance list and to modify penalties for possession and delivery.

The speakers remarks came after Fuchs and House Minority Leader Ashley Aune, a Kansas City Democrat, testified in committee earlier this month that they suspected their drinks had been spiked during the 2025 session.

Fuchs told lawmakers she broke a rule she had long followed in Jefferson City  accepting a drink from someone she didnt know well  and became disoriented and sick with gaps in her memory. She said she initially doubted herself, then later in session watched another colleague go from coherent to struggling with stairs, which made her suspicions feel less isolated.

Aune told the committee she questioned whether she had been drugged after a night in Jefferson City when she said she had been drinking only club soda. She said she later felt inexplicably inebriated, and spent the next day vomiting so severely she had to leave a leadership meeting repeatedly.

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Since going public, Fuchs said she has heard from colleagues and from members of the public, including people who told her the testimony prompted them to reflect on their own experiences. She added that some people have privately disclosed similar stories, while others have expressed interest in being part of the conversation without wanting attention themselves.

Once you start talking about things like this, she said, it brings awareness and also gives people thinking about their own experiences.

Fuchs also framed the bill as a way to respond to a reality that can be difficult to prove after the fact: some drugs leave the body quickly, and victims may not seek testing immediately.

Debate around Fuchs bill has resurfaced a larger question about what has  and hasnt  changed in Missouri politics since the Capitols most prominent sexual misconduct scandals a decade ago. In 2015, then-House Speaker John Diehl resigned after revelations he had sent sexually explicit text messages to a teenage intern, and state Sen. Paul LeVota resigned months later following allegations from interns of harassment and retaliation.

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Fuchs, who first arrived in Jefferson City in 2015, said progress since then has been real but incremental.

Its incremental, and the light is shining on some of these things that happen in the dark, she said. We have sexual harassment policies here. We have trainings. We have people who are invested in making sure that the House and the Senate and this building are not only just safe for people who come here as elected officials, but for guests.

Pattersons statement of support is an opening, Fuchs said, but not the finish line.

We could have bigger wins, she said. But if were measuring success according to how power structures work, yes, I do feel like were making progress.
The legislature offered a near-perfect snapshot of itself last week.

On Thursday, the Missouri House advanced a proposed constitutional amendment designed to phase out the individual income tax and give lawmakers broad authority to expand sales taxes to replace lost revenue.

Soon after, the same chamber approved a carveout from that very tax base, creating a new sales tax exemption for equipment and materials used in certain public improvements.

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This is not hypocrisy. Its cognitive dissonance: an urge to promise tax cuts, warn of fiscal strain, preserve favored projects, create new exceptions and somehow insist the arithmetic will sort itself out later.

In Jefferson City, the appetite for lower taxes remains absolute. The appetite for the tradeoffs those cuts may require remains highly selective.

Depending on how you feel about it, the proposed constitutional amendment is either an ambitious or reckless plan. It would put Missouri on a path to eliminate the individual income tax, using triggers tied to general revenue growth. It would also remove a constitutional barrier that now limits the expansion of sales taxes to services and other transactions not taxed as of Jan. 1, 2015  from haircuts and legal services to streaming subscriptions and home repairs.

Under the proposed language, lawmakers could expand sales taxes to any goods and services so long as they say the move is for the purpose of reducing and eliminating the income tax.

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And yet the House, on the same day, added another favored category to the list of transactions spared from the sales tax, exempting purchases by contractors and subcontractors for certain public improvements that will be owned by the government.

No sneer intended here. Every exemption has a rationale and a local constituency attached to it. But exemptions are not free. They narrow the base of the very tax lawmakers now say must do more of the heavy lifting.

That is the larger Missouri pattern. Lawmakers sound alarms about budget stress  Medicaid, education, prisons, roads, child care and every other claim on the public purse. Then, in the next breath, they pass tax cuts, expand exemptions or create new obligations.

Sit through a budget hearing this year and youll hear lawmakers trying to figure out ways to avoid massive cuts to a litany of programs, most notably those benefiting the disabled or foster kids. Take the elevator three floors up, and lawmakers fast-tracked a bill to the governors desk that could require construction of a new prison costing nearly $1 billion.

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The statehouse is full of lawmakers who speak sincerely about discipline. Its just that the discipline is almost always assigned to someone elses priority. Austerity is forever being directed toward another committee, another constituency or another line item. One members bloated indulgence is anothers essential commitment back home.

The real issue is not whether Missouri should prefer sales taxes to income taxes. That is a legitimate argument. Its whether the legislature is willing to describe the exchange honestly.

At some point, what looks like tax policy starts to resemble magical thinking.

And magical thinking, unlike the income tax, never seems to be in danger of repeal.
A Russian strike on the Dnister Hydroelectric Power Plant in Ukraine's Novodnistrovsk has put Moldova's water supply at risk.

Source: European Pravda, citing Maia Sandu, President of Moldova, on X (Twitter)

Quote: "Russia's attack on Ukraine's Novodnistrovsk hydropower plant has spilled oil into the Nistru River, threatening Moldova's water supply."

Details: Sandu added that the Moldovan authorities have declared an environmental alert and are taking measures to protect the population.

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"Russia bears full responsibility," she stressed.

An environmental alert has been declared in Moldova for 15 days and the water supply has been temporarily restricted in several settlements.

Background:

Moldovan Prime Minister Alexandru Munteanu announced on 13 March that Moldova had asked the EU for assistance in dealing with the pollution of the Dnister River.

On 10 March, Moldova sent an official request to Ukraine over the appearance of oily patches on the Dnister River.

After that, Moldovan experts began installing filters to stop the spread of pollution along the river.

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Estefany Rodriguez, a Nashville Spanish-language news reporter detained earlier this month by ICE agents, is scheduled to appear in a Louisiana immigration court for a bond hearing today, court records show.

Separately, a federal judge set a hearing in Nashville on Tuesday to consider constitutional challenges to the detention brought by Rodriguez attorneys.

Rodriguez was arrested by ICE agents on March 4. Government attorneys said Rodriguez is subject to deportation after illegally overstaying her visa.

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In legal filings, attorneys for Rodriguez have outlined how they say she has complied with immigration laws. Rodriguez, 35, came to the United States five years ago on a tourist visa then applied for asylum as a result of threats she faced as a working journalist in her native Colombia, a claim that is still pending, they said.

Rodriguez is married to an American citizen; she filed a petition to adjust her status to lawful permanent resident in January.

Court records show Rodriguez has a valid work permit through 2029.

Rodriguez attorneys are also challenging her detention on First Amendment grounds: in recent months, Rodriguez, a journalist for Nashville Noticias, had been reporting on local ICE activities for months, up to the day before her arrest. Her arrest, they wrote in court filings, was in retaliation for her critical reporting.

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They are seeking Rodriguez immediate release and asking the court to bar immigration officials from taking any enforcement actions in retaliation against her past speech or to chill her future speech.

ICEs arbitrary actions serve to punish her for her public criticism of ICE, attorneys Joel Coxander, Julio Quiroz and Michael Holley wrote in court filings.

Government lawyers have asked U.S. District Judge Eli Richardson to dismiss the federal court case, arguing that Rodriguez failed to exhaust all remedies in the immigration court system and federal court lacks jurisdiction.

Federal prosecutors also countered Rodriguez allegation she was arrested without a warrant, filing in court a copy of a warrant document dated March 2.

ICE agents werent required to show Rodriguez the warrant at the time of her arrest, they said.

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Showing a detainee the arrest warrant is not a requirement when an officer arrests an illegal alien for deportation, they wrote.

They also disputed Rodriguez allegations she was targeted for her reporting on ICE activities.

Petitioners claim that the arrest was based on a violation of First Amendment rights, which may not even be applicable to an illegal alien, and hostility directed at her as a journalist is nothing more than a challenge to a discretionary decision to commence her removal proceedings, Mercedes Maynor, assistant U.S. Attorney, wrote in a legal filing on Thursday.

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The number of ICE detainees in Kentucky jails has more than doubled, and almost three-fourths of them have no criminal record or pending charges, according to an analysis by the League of Women Voters of Kentucky.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained 1,041 individuals in Kentucky jails in February up significantly from the 434 in September 2025, the League reports in a four-page analysis released last week.

Jennifer Jackson, president of the League, in a statement said Kentuckians have a right to know whats happening in publicly-funded jails operated by local elected officials.

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The League of Women Voters supports immigration enforcement policies that ensure fair treatment and due process for all persons, including the right to a fair hearing, right to counsel, right of appeal, and right to humane treatment, Jackson said in her statement.

The analysis also found a steep increase in the share of detainees ICE designates as non-criminal  from 47% last September to 72% last month. Across the country, ICE arrest data shows an increasing share of those arrested have no criminal convictions or pending charges.

The group collected the data for the analysis separately from ICE and local jails, the data dated Feb. 5 and Feb. 19, respectively. The county jails shown to have ICE detainees, cumulatively 1,041 detainees, as of Feb. 5 include:

Boone County Jail with 202 detainees.

Campbell County Detention Center with 140 detainees.

Christian County Jail with 104 detainees.

Daviess County Detention Center with 27 detainees.

Grayson County Detention Center with 158 detainees.

Hopkins County Jail with 167 detainees.

Kenton County Detention Center with 113 detainees.

Laurel County Correctional Center with 1 detainee.

Oldham County Detention Center with 128 detainees.

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Five of the local jails with significant detainee populations are considered overcrowded. The jails in Grayson, Christian, Daviess, Kenton and Boone counties are holding more people than their available beds. available beds. As of Feb. 19, the Grayson County Jail was approximately 42% overcapacity; it held 759 people while having 536 beds.

The group in a press release wrote that severe overcrowding can create challenges to ensuring human dignity and that it was reaching out to local jailers to learn more about how this overcrowding affects the living conditions for ICE detainees and others.

The group wrote it planned to issue updates to its analysis and urged citizens to question their local elected officials including county judge-executives, county jailers and county magistrates or squires about the number of detainees in local jails, the jail conditions detainees face, the rights detainees have and the financial impact detainees have for counties.

Republican lawmakers have filed bills to require local law enforcement to work with ICE, though the bills havent gotten a legislative committee hearing so far during the 2026 legislative session.

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Rep. TJ Roberts, R-Burlington, filed House Bill 47 earlier this session that would require Kentucky State Police posts to enter 287(g) agreements with ICE, which effectively deputizes local enforcement to aid with immigration enforcement. He previously said in the interim session that he was working on legislation to require all Kentucky law enforcement agencies to work with ICE.

Other bills dealing with Kentucky law enforcement agencies having to aid federal immigration agents include House Bill 361 from Louisville Republican Rep. Jared Bauman; House Bill 76 from Roberts; and Senate Bill 86 from Pikeville Republican Sen. Phillip Wheeler.

The progressive think tank Kentucky Center for Economic Policy has also published analyses of ICE arrest data, tracking 287(g) agreements signed by local jails and local law enforcement agencies. The think tank wrote there are 30 such agreements signed across the state including with four local jails: the Grayson County Detention Center, the Kenton County Detention Center, the Oldham County Detention Center and the Bullitt County Detention Center.
Sunday evening's storms affected tens of thousands across many of Kentucky's counties.

According to an update from LG&E, strong winds and severe weather caused more than 46,000 customers to lose power.

RELATED: NWS Louisville surveys storm damage in parts of Kentucky

As of 11 a.m. on Monday, about 4,500 customers remain without power.

The outages affected customers in several Kentucky counties, such as Jefferson, Bullitt, Grayson, Hardin and Laurel.

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RELATED: Police search for Hardin County family's pet emu after strong storms

LG&E crews are continuing to make steady progress restoring service, according to LG&E.

"We appreciate the patience of our customers who have been impacted," the power company said in an update.

As of 1 p.m. on Monday, LG&E estimates nearly 500 customers in Jefferson County remain without power.

Click here to see LG&E's Outage Map.
One month into the partial government shutdown, hundreds of Transportation Security Administration workers going without full pay have quit, while others have taken unscheduled time off, prompting more travel headaches as a winter storm slammed the Midwest and spring break travelers try to fly.

A number of travelers are facing long airport security lines, including at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and Houstons George Bush Intercontinental Airport, where wait times on Monday occasionally stretched up to nearly two hours long.

Oh my God, are these the lines for TSA? Thats crazy, Alijah Brown told CNN when she saw the line in Atlanta.

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More than 300 TSA agents have quit, the Department of Homeland Security said in an X post Friday.

Last weekend, TSA workers missed their first full paycheck since the partial shutdown began in mid-February after funding for DHS, which oversees TSA, lapsed amid a standoff between Republicans and Democrats over federal immigration reform.

Its not their fault because theyre not getting paid and theyre not going to come in here. I wouldnt do it either, Victoria Kilgore said as she tried to get her family of four from Atlanta to Punta Cana, Mexico, for vacation. Youre just trying to buy your time back, have a little piece of vacation from the Matrix, and the Matrix still gets you.

In a letter Sunday, the CEOs of major airlines, including American, Delta, Southwest and JetBlue, urged Congress to restore DHS funding and embrace a bipartisan solution to ensure federal aviation workers are paid during shutdowns.

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Its difficult, if not impossible, to put food on the table, put gas in the car and pay rent when you are not getting paid, the letter said.

Late last year, the longest government shutdown on record came to an end after an increasing number of air traffic controllers and TSA screeners did not show up to work. Air traffic controllers are not affected by the ongoing partial shutdown.

Double the callouts

Its no surprise that hundreds of TSA employees have quit this time around, Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said in a statement to CNN on Sunday. The union represents more than 46,000 uniformed TSA workers.

Most Americans would quit their jobs if they didnt get a paycheck on payday, Kelley said. Still, many officers continue to work with care and professionalism, he added.

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Last year, approximately 1,110 officers separated from TSA in October and November, according to TSA data shared in February with the US House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security.

But the reduced staffing is not just due to workers quitting. The callout rate for unscheduled absences by frontline officers jumped to an average of 6% during the current shutdown, compared with about 2% before government funding lapsed, according to CBS News, citing TSA statistics. CNN has reached out to TSA.

Officers are not just not showing up, they have reasons for not showing up. Whether it is I cant put gas in my car, I have to take care of my children, Aaron Barker, an American Federation of Government Employees union leader in Atlanta, said Monday.

Federal employees are guaranteed to receive back pay once the shutdown ends, according to a 2019 law.

Less money and a lot less help

In the last major shutdown, which affected the entire federal government, more financial help was available to struggling federal workers.

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Some employees were able to access short-term, no-interest loans from their financial institutions to help them meet expenses during the last impasse. And several nonprofit groups hosted events to provide groceries and household items to affected employees.

The officers are pissed off. They want this to end. They are ready to get back to some normalcy or some consistency within their lives, Barker added.

This time, several employees interviewed by CNN said they are not getting as much support. Some have opted to withdraw thousands of dollars from their retirement accounts to pay the bills, and others are borrowing from family and friends. And many are trying to figure out what bills can be left unpaid or what expenses can be postponed until they start receiving paychecks again.

The city of Atlanta is providing TSA officers with two meal vouchers per shift and free parking, among other supportive measures, according to a statement from Mayor Andre Dickens on Monday.

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Some airports have started asking travelers to assist the TSA officers. Denver International Airport, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas are requesting donations of items, including grocery and gas gift cards, non-perishable food, hygiene products and infant supplies.

Officials at Portland International Airport have set up donation areas where travelers and community members can drop off food, household items and gift cards.

We couldnt keep things running so smoothly at PDX without our federal partners, a spokesperson for Portland airport said in a statement to CNN. While the partial government shutdown continues, hundreds of TSA officers at PDX are designated as essential and continue to work without pay.

In Idaho, Boise Airport put out food donation boxes and Pocatello Regional Airport is accepting donations of food, household supplies and gift cards.

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The financial consequences of this shutdown, damaged credit, missed payments and lost housing will remain after the government reopens, Barker said.

People wait in a TSA security line at William P. Hobby Airport in Houston last week. - Mark Felix/AFP/Getty Images

Storms, spring break and long lines

Security lines also swelled in South Florida airports on Monday, as effects from the partial government shutdown combined with increased spring break traffic and disruptions from storms up and down the East Coast.

Getting through security at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport took up to an hour at some points, with lines sometimes stretching out the door, CNN affiliate WPLG reported.

Im just looking ahead, and this is  this is wild, one traveler told WPLG from the tail end of a long TSA line.

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Its spring break. It is what it is, another traveler whod been in line for about an hour told WPLG.

To make matters worse, some passengers checked bags and waited in line only to find out their scheduled flight wasnt happening. About one out of every five flights at Fort Lauderdale airport were canceled Monday, according to data from the flight tracking site FlightAware. There were nearly 600 cancellations across both the Fort Lauderdale and Miami airports.

Despite the travel headaches, some at the airport expressed sympathy for the unpaid TSA officers and said they didt blame them for the airport congestion.

I know (TSA officers) are in a really tough spot, one Fort Lauderdale traveler said. Whatever frustrations I have, its toward higher-up leadership, not toward the people who are working here  theyve been wonderful.

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The security backups at US airports have continued for days. Going into the weekend, Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport warned it had a shortage of TSA workers at security checkpoints due to impacts from the federal governments partial shutdown, and wait times could be up to two hours. It advised passengers traveling in recent days to arrive at least three hours before their flight.

Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta advised travelers to arrive at least three hours early for flights, citing TSA projections for more than 250,000 travelers over the weekend through Sunday. Last week, the airport reported long lines due to staffing constraints.

A TSA report published in 2024 found more than 99% of passengers waited less than 30 minutes at airport security checkpoints, while 99.4% of passengers in TSA PreCheck lanes waited less than 10 minutes.

At Chicago OHare International Airport, a CNN reporter saw chaotic scenes Sunday, with passengers shuffling from line to line.

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Long lines were not the only concern in the Midwest, where winter storms caused widespread cancellations and delays.

Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport canceled more than 670 flights in and out of the airport on Sunday, while OHare and Chicago Midway International Airport canceled more than 1,200 flights, according to FlightAware.

This story has been updated with additional information.

CNNs Chris Boyette, Jason Hanna, Aaron Cooper, Ryan Young, Chris Youd and Alexandra Skores contributed to this report.

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The Trump administration has launched an unprecedented immigration enforcement operation across the U.S. to deport people here illegally, but data compiled by a Mexican investigative outlet show that deportations of Mexicans were lower last year than in each of the previous four years.

Under the Biden administration, deportations of Mexicans per year reached nearly 300,000. Since President Trump returned to the White House in January last year, the U.S. has deported a little over 144,000 Mexicans to their homeland by the end of 2025, according to Mexican government data.

The analysis by Quinto Elemento Lab, an independent nonprofit investigative journalism organization based in Mexico City, illustrates trends in migration from Mexico to its northern neighbor and highlights the conditions in Mexico driving those trends. Around 90% of those deported were men, the data show.

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The deportation policy that Trump has rolled out does not appear to be as severe as in previous years in numerical terms, said Efrain Tzuc, data analyst with Quinto Elemento Lab.

But raw numbers do not tell the whole story about Mexican migration. The overall numbers are down, in part, because there are fewer Mexican migrants entering the United States since Trump beefed up border security. Fewer successful entries can mean fewer removals.

For generations, Mexican immigrants have crossed the border in search of economic opportunity. That motivation still holds true, but Mexican government data analyzed by Quinto Elemento Lab reveal many of the migrants deported in 2025 came from states that are racked by cartel violence.

The highest number of deported Mexicans, 12,786, came from Chiapas, which borders Guatemala and is Mexicos southernmost state. Traveling from there to the U.S. border is a journey of about 2,000 miles.

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In decades past, a state in central Mexico would be the likely source of the most immigrants, but cartels have waged bloody battles in Chiapas over the last decade as criminal groups fought to control lucrative drug trafficking and migrant smuggling routes from Guatemala into Mexico.

The hyper-violent Jalisco New Generation cartel, which started in the western state of Jalisco, is now a presence in far-off Chiapas. The criminal group was vying for control of migrant smuggling routes there, according to security analysts, and fought bloody battles for the territory. Extortion skyrocketed as the group implemented its model of extorting from communities they control to pay the salaries of foot soldiers.

After Chiapas, the two other main states of origin for deported Mexicans were Guanajuato, with 11,552, and Guerrero, trailing just behind with 11,044.

Read more: Deported to danger: Returning migrants discover a Mexico transformed by cartels

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As in Chiapas, the Jalisco New Generation cartel now dominates life in parts of Guerrero, driving entire populations from their villages to take over the territory for its drug trafficking operations and opium growing. Cartels there have escalated their use of violence, using drone bombs not only to target their enemies and military convoys but also to drive villagers from their homes.

In one case in 2024, the Jalisco New Generation cartel dropped more than 100 bombs on one community in the mountains of Guerrero in a 24-hour period, according to a former cartel operative who witnessed the bombings.

The southern state of Oaxaca had the fifth-highest number of Mexican deportees  9,133.

Oaxaca is one of the countrys poorest states, with 16% of the population living in extreme poverty, according to government data. The state has long been an exporter of migrants to the U.S. looking for work to support their families at home.

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Read more: U.S. spent $40 million on roughly 300 deportations to third nations, Democratic report finds

The trend found in the Quinto Elemento Lab analysis  that more Mexicans were deported annually under the Biden administration than the second Trump administration  is also reflected in statistics for deportees of all nationalities.

An analysis of federal U.S. data by the New York Times shows that the Trump administration deported about 540,000 people last year. That is 50,000 fewer than in 2023 and 110,000 fewer than 2024, the last year of the Biden administration.

This article was co-published with Puente News Collaborative, a bilingual nonprofit newsroom that covers stories from Mexico and the U.S.-Mexico border.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Closing arguments in the Moscow trial of German sculptor Jacques Tilly for mocking Russian President Vladimir Putin have been delayed to next month, the court said on Monday.

Tilly is being tried in absentia for his satirical floats featuring Putin during Carnival parades in Dusseldorf, the western German city where he lives.

The hearing originally scheduled for Monday was postponed at the request of the prosecution, with the new prosecutor stating that she was not yet familiar with the case, leading Judge Konstantin Ochirov to set a new date for April 2, according to a dpa reporter inside the courtroom.

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Tilly has dedicated several floats to Putin. One from 2024 depicted Putin and Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill having oral sex and another showed Putin in a bath of Ukrainian blood in reference to Russia's full-scale invasion of that country.

Russian prosecutors have described the floats to the court in great detail. "Propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations" is a crime in Russia, they said. And the same applies to libel directed at officials.

Witnesses have told the court that their religious sensibilities as devout Christians were hurt by the artist, a charge that is punishable by severe penalties in Russia.

Prosecutors have cited Paragraph 207 of Russia's criminal code, which provides for a prison sentence of up to 10 years for false reports on the actions of the Russian military in Ukraine.

If convicted, Tilly would not face immediate imprisonment, as Germany would not deport him. However, a guilty verdict could limit his future travel to countries that have extradition agreements with Russia.
As the search for Nancy Guthrie continues, Megyn Kelly claimed Savannah Guthrie is livid over reports that her brother in law, Tommaso Cioni, was investigated as a prime suspect in the disappearance.

I have not been able to confirm that the Guthrie family wants to sue Ashleigh Banfield, but I have confirmed that Savannah is livid about that report and definitely does not suspect her or her brother in law, Kelly said during the March 13 episode of her eponymous SiriusXM show.

Kelly added, Can you blame her? I mean, of course she loves her sister, Im sure she loves her brother in law, and Im sure she genuinely doesnt believe they had anything to do with it.

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Nancy was last seen on January 31 after daughter Annie Guthrie and son-in-law Cioni dropped her off at her Catalina Foothills home in Tucson, Arizona. The next morning, she failed to show up to watch a streaming church service and a friend alerted a family member of her absence.

Former NewsNation host Ashleigh Banfield first claimed that Cioni was being investigated in connection with Nancys disappearance shortly after the 84 year old went missing. Days later, Rob Shuter reported on February 5 that Savannah, 54, was considering possible legal action against Banfield.

As In Touch previously reported, the Pima County Sheriffs Department quickly pushed back on Banfields claims.

We have not identified a suspect or person of interest in this case, a spokesperson from the department told TMZ on February 4. Detectives continue to speak with anyone who may have had contact with Mrs. Guthrie. We are also awaiting additional forensic results.

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Soon after, the department announced that all siblings and spouses have been cleared as possible suspects. Since then, there have been few leads in the case.

People with any information regarding the case are asked to contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324). You may also contact your local FBI office, the nearest American Embassy or Consulate, or you can submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov.

Read More From InTouch Weekly

This story Nancy Guthrie News: Savannah Guthrie Livid Over Report Linking BIL Tommaso Cioni to Case first appeared on InTouch Weekly. Add InTouch Weekly as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Scoop

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he is alarmed by FCC Chairman Brendan Carrs threats against media companies. But despite Democrats desire for revenge should they come back into power, he said the party shouldnt follow Carrs example.

Speaking with Semafor on Sunday during a stop on his book tour, Newsom said Carrs warnings about revoking local broadcast licenses from affiliates carrying news networks that have covered negative information about the US attack on Iran were sick. The governor argued people from all political perspectives should be concerned about federal regulators weighing in on news content.

In the middle of a war, now were talking about propaganda that suits the Dear Leader, because [the Trump administration doesnt] like independent media, he said. So we have to have state media and content thats driven by state media that comports to their perspective of the truth.

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Newsom has made a political career in recent months out of using Republican tactics against the party in blue states. After President Donald Trump said Republicans should redistrict their states before the midterms, the governor successfully pushed his state to adopt a new map, earning him kudos among Democratic primary voters. The governor has also mimicked Trumps rhetorical style online, mocking political opponents and complimenting himself in what he says is an attempt to illustrate the crudeness and absurdity of Trumps signature posting style.

But when asked if Democrats should apply Carrs tactics to right-leaning media outlets the next time a Democrat can appoint the FCC chair, Newsom said the next chair should not overstep in regulating content, and should follow the existing guidelines more closely.

No, I want independent thinkers that hold people to account. I want people to appropriate the rules and regulations as theyre drafted, with the constitutional constraints and constructs, but also the laws that Congress has enacted, and you enforce those at the executive level with truth and objectivity. None of that is on display right now. Its all subjectivity. Its all about kissing the ring.

Room for Disagreement

Carr responded on Tuesday, saying Newsom was projecting and referring to his ongoing defamation suit against Fox News.

Know More

The California governor and presumptive presidential candidate has been attempting to introduce himself to non-Californian voters familiar with him via his scandals or fights with the president. He spoke with Semafor as he was finishing up a multicity swing through urban hubs in red states like Miami and Nashville.

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But while he has attempted to meet and connect with voters on the tour, the governor has been paying close attention to the new media environment, sitting down with podcasters and influencers, and weighing in on the macro corporate media stories shaping the landscape.

Meanwhile, Californias attorney general has launched an inquiry into Paramounts acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery  though Newsom said the probe isnt a personal attack on owner David Ellison.

Newsom said hes concerned about the amount of debt Paramount was taking on to acquire WBD, and whether it will inevitably lead to massive consolidation and job loss in the state.

Were doing our job, Newsom said. The [California] Department of Justice is doing their job because we know the federal government will not. Theyve already basically signed off on it, which is just in and of itself extraordinary. It was ready, fire, aim, as opposed to ready, aim, fire, in terms of assessing the merits of this.
There were no injuries to people or animals after a section of the roof collapsed at a Kewaunee County Farm on Sunday morning. According to a video sent to a Green Bay television station, a portion of the roof above a holding area at Junion Homestead near Casco, Wisconsin, collapsed on March 15 due to the weight of the snow. The National Weather Service reported that areas in Kewaunee County received over 20 inches of snow, with top wind gusts reaching roughly 45 to 55 miles per hour.

The now seven-generation dairy was founded in 1868 and hosted the 2018 Kewaunee County Breakfast on the Farm to celebrate the farms 150th anniversary.

This article originally appeared on Wisconsin State Farmer: Dairy cattle and workers escape injury in Kewaunee County barn roof collapse
The hottest story in education right now is coming from the unlikeliest place.

The state of Mississippi, long viewed as a barrel-bottom performer in its public schools, has become the national example of how to raise reading scores. In a few short years, the state has made sweeping gains in how well its children read by fourth grade  vaulting from the bottom of the list into the top 10.

This Mississippi Miracle, as its called, has been cited by governors, researchers, and policy wonks across the country. Everyone wants to know what Mississippi did right.

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As I dug into how this miracle came about, I was quickly struck by how closely Mississippis plan mirrors what North Carolina has done over the past decade. So why hasnt North Carolina seen the same results?

I put that question to Catherine Truitt, North Carolinas former superintendent of public instruction. Her answer wasnt that North Carolina missed out. Its that we may simply be on a different part of the timeline.

In fact, Truitts view is that North Carolina has already planted the seeds of a miracle of its own. Now were waiting to see the harvest.

Two states, same structure

Mississippi passed its Literacy-Based Promotion Act in 2013. North Carolina passed Read to Achieve one year earlier, in 2012.

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Both laws zeroed in on third grade as a critical benchmark for reading performance, recognizing that if a child cant read by then, everything that comes after gets harder. Both emphasized early identification of reading difficulties. Both created summer reading camps and put pressure on districts to intervene before it was too late. Both made early literacy a statewide priority.

The difference came in the instruction itself. At the core of Mississippis gains was a clear shift in how reading was taught.

Its 2013 law implemented whats come to be known as the science of reading. In effect, this means daily, dedicated time for reading instruction that teaches kids how to decode words through phonics. Its grounded in decades of research on how children actually learn to read.

That was a shift from the older model known as balanced literacy, which emphasized context clues, independent reading, and exposure to books, but didnt always give struggling readers the systematic instruction in letter-sound relationships that they need.

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If this sounds familiar, too, it should. North Carolina has passed a science of reading law, but it didnt do so until eight years after Mississippi did.

In 2021, state lawmakers passed the Excellent Public Schools Act, which put the science of reading at the center of North Carolinas early literacy work. Truitt, then serving as state superintendent, helped design and champion the effort.

The law paid for every Pre-K through fifth-grade teacher, and one administrator per school, to complete a year-long training in the same program Mississippi had used. It funded a statewide reading screener to identify students who were falling behind. It required districts to align their instruction to the research.

It was, in Truitts words, the most comprehensive and best funded reading reform effort in the country at the time.

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The difference is simply that it came later than Mississippis.

A harvest year

So why bring this up now? Because if Mississippis timeline is any guide, North Carolina could be on the cusp of its own breakthrough.

Mississippi began its work in 2013, but it wasnt until 2019 that the first full cohort of students  those who had been taught under the new model from the beginning  showed up in fourth-grade reading results. That six-year window turned out to be the payoff period.

In North Carolina, the clock started in earnest in 2021, and early elementary teachers didnt get trained until a year later. That means todays fourth graders are the first class to benefit from this kind of instruction from the start.

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And if the timeline holds, 2026 or 2027 could be when we begin to see the results.

Already, early literacy assessments are showing promising signs. State literacy screeners show North Carolina students outperforming national averages in K3 reading skills. Does that mean a North Carolina miracle is on the horizon?

Oh, I hope so, Truitt told me. Were far away enough past the pandemic. Weve had enough training. We have very, very rigorous accountability expectations. So Im really hoping that we do see a big bump.

If we do, it wont be because we stumbled on a secret formula. Itll be because we finally followed one, and gave it time to work.

Contributing columnist Andrew Dunn is the publisher of the Longleaf Politics newsletter, which offers thoughtful analysis of North Carolina politics and policy from a conservative perspective. He can be reached at andrew@longleafpol.com.
Cloudberry Clean Energy has signed an agreement with Sampi Renewables Holding to acquire a 50% stake in a 132MW onshore wind farm in Finland for an enterprise value of 75m ($85m) on a cash and debt-free basis.

The wind farm, which has been fully operational since 2022, produces an estimated 378 gigawatt-hours (GWh) per annum, with Cloudberry expecting to receive approximately 189GWh net from its share.

The acquisition is structured as a purchase of shares in a Norwegian holding company that owns the portion of the MLK wind farm.

Sweden-listed renewable energy company Orron Energy will continue as the wind farms joint venture (JV) partner.

The financing structure includes 45m in debt arranged through a Nordic bank, 20m to be settled through new Cloudberry shares issued at Nkr12.41 ($1.27) per share based on a recent market average and 12m to be paid in cash from the companys own resources.

Cloudberry CEO Anders Lenborg said: This investment gives Cloudberry a strong foothold in a new core market, with immediate cash flow and a platform for further growth together with a solid partner.

The transaction also involves a 30-year service agreement with GE, intended to manage operational risks over the long term.

The site may see future installation of battery energy storage systems.

Cloudberry views this move as a means to expand its renewable portfolio across different Nordic regions and technologies and to gain access to the Finnish energy market, which is currently experiencing increased electricity demand from energy-intensive industries.

Lenborg added: After several years of evaluating different entry options, we are now taking our first step into the Finnish market with a large-scale, high-quality operating wind farm.

For Cloudberry, this represents a compelling combination of attractive valuation, a strong industrial partner and a high-quality asset with a proven production track record. The enterprise value is below construction cost, offering an attractive entry point that supports resilient returns.

The deal remains subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to finalise within one month of signing.

"Cloudberry to acquire 50% stake in onshore wind farm in Finland" was originally created and published by Power Technology, a GlobalData owned brand.




A tractor-trailer driver was arrested in North Carolina after deputies say he fired a BB gun at another vehicle during a road rage incident on Interstate 40. Authorities reported that the incident occurred in Haywood County on March 10 and resulted in the rear window of a passenger vehicle being shattered by a projectile. Deputies identified the driver as 52-year-old Billy Franklin Swaim of Wilkes County and took him into custody following the incident.

The Haywood County Sheriffs Office said deputies initially responded to a disturbance call involving vehicles traveling on Interstate 40. According to authorities, the driver who reported the incident met deputies at Exit 37 after leaving the highway. The caller informed deputies that the confrontation had occurred while traveling through Haywood County and provided a description of the tractor-trailer involved in the incident.

Deputies examined the vehicle and found that the rear window had been shattered. Investigators determined that the damage was consistent with a projectile fired from a BB gun. Authorities reported that the driver believed the shot had been fired during a road rage encounter involving the tractor-trailer.

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After receiving the vehicle description, law enforcement began searching for the truck. The North Carolina State Highway Patrol located the tractor-trailer a short time later and stopped it at a weigh station. Troopers detained the driver at the location until Haywood County deputies arrived to continue the investigation.

Authorities reported that deputies took Swaim into custody after arriving at the weigh station. Investigators said they also seized the weapon believed to have been used during the incident. The device was identified as a black CO-powered BB pistol designed to resemble a Glock handgun.

Deputies later displayed the BB pistol next to a real Glock 45 handgun to demonstrate how closely the two appeared. Authorities said the replica-style design made the BB gun visually similar to a real firearm. The weapon was taken into evidence as part of the investigation.

The sheriffs office confirmed that Swaim was transported to the Haywood County Detention Center following his arrest. Authorities reported that he was charged with misdemeanor going armed to the terror of the people and misdemeanor injury to personal property.

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Investigators said the damage caused by the projectile destroyed the rear window of the vehicle involved in the incident. While no injuries were reported, deputies said the situation created a dangerous scenario for drivers traveling on the interstate. A projectile striking a vehicle at highway speeds can cause drivers to lose control or create sudden hazards for surrounding traffic.

Authorities reported that the investigation progressed quickly after the driver reported the incident and provided details about the tractor-trailer. Law enforcement used the description of the vehicle to locate the truck on Interstate 40 and detain the driver before deputies arrived.

The coordinated response involved both the Haywood County Sheriffs Office and the North Carolina State Highway Patrol. Officials said the assistance from the Highway Patrol allowed deputies to locate the tractor-trailer quickly and prevent the situation from escalating further along the busy interstate corridor.

Road rage incidents involving weapons can quickly become dangerous on major highways where traffic moves at high speeds and vehicles are traveling close together. In this case, investigators said the projectile struck the vehicles rear window, causing it to shatter. Broken glass inside a moving vehicle can create an immediate hazard for occupants and nearby motorists.

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Authorities emphasized that the investigation focused on determining how the damage occurred and identifying the driver responsible. Deputies collected the BB pistol and documented the damage to the vehicle as part of their case.

The charge of going armed to the terror of the people is applied when a weapon is used or displayed in a way that causes fear or alarm to others in a public setting. According to authorities, the charge reflects the risk created when a weapon is used during a confrontation on a public roadway.

Investigators also filed a charge of injury to personal property due to the damage caused to the vehicles rear window. Authorities reported that the shattered glass and resulting damage were consistent with the projectile fired from the BB pistol recovered during the investigation.

Officials said the quick reporting by the driver and the coordinated response by law enforcement played a key role in identifying the suspect vehicle. The drivers decision to meet deputies and provide a description of the tractor-trailer allowed authorities to locate the vehicle within a short period of time.

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Law enforcement officers continued documenting evidence after the arrest, including photographs of the weapon and the damaged vehicle. The BB pistol remained in custody as investigators completed their reports.

Authorities confirmed that Swaim was booked into the Haywood County Detention Center following his arrest. According to officials, he was held under a $5,000 secured bond while the case moves through the legal process.

The investigation remains documented by the Haywood County Sheriffs Office as the case proceeds through the court system. Swaim remains charged with misdemeanor going armed to the terror of the people and misdemeanor injury to personal property in connection with the interstate road rage incident.



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North Dakotas public water systems have spent several years creating vast inventories of their service lines in an effort to find pipes made of lead, which pose a health threat. Now, communities are beginning to use that information to replace both public and private lines.

Municipal and rural water systems across the country began mapping their service lines  pipes connecting buildings to water mains  after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency required them to begin that process in 2021.

Most of the nations lead and galvanized lines are concentrated in the older cities of the eastern United States, which were built before lead pipes were banned.

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North Dakota is estimated to have fewer than 20,000 lead and galvanized lines, while neighboring Minnesota is estimated to have between 40,000 and 150,000, according to the EPA.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, lead exposure can impact nearly every organ and bodily system.

Children are particularly vulnerable, as their intelligence, behavior and ability to learn can be impacted even at low levels of exposure. Lead has also been classified as a probable human carcinogen by the EPA.

The EPA implemented its first Lead and Copper Rule in 1991, requiring water systems to test their water for lead and copper and take action if results exceeded safe levels.

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The 2021 Lead and Copper Rule Revisions added requirements to inventory all of a systems lines and their materials. Water systems had until October 2024 to submit a preliminary inventory to state regulators.

While all systems in North Dakota have complied, many had unknown lines in their 2024 inventories and have since been working to inspect those pipes, according to Sandra Washek, who manages the Lead and Copper Rule for the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality.

Some have also begun replacements. That comes ahead of a new EPA rule, the Lead and Copper Rule Improvements, which will go into effect in November 2027 and require cities to begin replacing their lines. Theyll have until 2037 to complete that process.

Lines need to be replaced if they are made of lead or if they are made from galvanized steel and are downstream from lead lines, because galvanized steel can capture lead from passing water and release it later.

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Service lines include a public section  typically from the water main to the curb stop at the edge of a property  and a private section that runs from the curb stop to the building.

Both sides have to be inventoried. To help communities do that, the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law earmarked funding for states to disperse to local water systems.

The North Dakota Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, a low-interest loan program that helps communities finance water infrastructure projects, has received close to $30 million in federal funding every year from 2022 to 2026 to support lead service line work.

Of North Dakotas more than 300 water systems, around two-thirds are using that money to help cover their costs, according to Shannon Fisher, who manages the fund.

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While water systems are only required by the EPA to replace the public section of lead lines, water systems must offer to replace any private lead lines they find to qualify for a state loan, Fisher said.

However, in other communities, cities may split the cost with property owners, or residents may have to pay the full cost out of pocket.

The state has also used part of its federal funding to hire engineering firms to help water systems complete their inventories, Fisher said.

Advanced Engineering and Environmental Services, or AE2S, is one of those firms. Its working with more than 30 water systems across North Dakota.

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It helped cities put together their initial inventories by reviewing municipal records and identifying neighborhoods built after North Dakota banned lead in water systems in 1989.

Any structure that was built after that, if we could identify it on our maps, we could eliminate it, said Eric Lothspeich, an AE2S project manager working in Mandan.

That delineation has helped North Dakotas newer cities narrow down their search. In West Fargo, all five of the lead service lines found so far were in an old neighborhood called Riverside, said Brian Matzke, the citys public works director.

The small number of lead lines meant West Fargo was able to cover the cost of replacing those lines  on both the public and private sides  out of its own budget.

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West Fargo still has around 800 unknown lines, but Matzke said he doesnt expect to find more lead.

We got lucky  Bismarck, Fargo and Mandan, some of those  they aint good, Matzke said. Theyve got a headache coming their way.

As of March, Mandan has identified 65% of its 7,900 service lines, including 89 lead lines and 17 galvanized lines that need to be replaced, Lothspeich said. Another 2,770 are still unknown.

This year, AE2S will work to bring that number down by knocking on doors and sending out surveys to ask property owners to test their line themselves or set up a time for an inspector to test it for them.

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As inspections continue, Lothspeich said he expects to find somewhere between 200 and 250 lead and galvanized lines in total.

Mandan will also begin replacing lines this summer using a loan from the revolving fund, two-thirds of which will be forgiven. The city will use that money to replace all of the lead and galvanized lines, including sections on private property.

How much the city will ultimately have to pay will depend on the number of lines found, the number of contractors available and how difficult it is to access pipes, Lothspeich said, adding that replacing a line can cost around $8,000 to $12,000.

I wouldnt want to tell somebody that thats what its going to cost, cause its hard to know for sure, he said. But if you just do the math  if you say its $10,000 per service line and you have 200 of them, youre looking at about $2 million.

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In communities that dont cover the cost themselves, what property owners may have to pay to replace their part of a line will vary, Lothspeich said.

Thats because what communities consider to be the private section can sometimes be more than half of the line, and because individual factors  like whether asphalt or dirt has to be excavated  impact cost, he said.

Washek, from the Department of Environmental Quality, urged property owners to reach out to their water provider and get their lines tested.

The more we get all these lines identified on both sides, the faster we can get the systems to move onto the next step, she said.

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While waiting for a line to be inspected or replaced, Washek said residents can reduce exposure by flushing their lines in the morning, cleaning their aerators, using cold water to cook, using filters approved for removing lead, and having their blood lead levels tested by a doctor.

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SEOUL, March 16 (UPI) -- North Korea-linked hackers carried out a spear-phishing campaign that used the popular South Korean messaging platform KakaoTalk to spread malware and steal sensitive information, according to a cybersecurity report released Monday.

The campaign was attributed to the Konni advanced persistent threat group and detailed in an analysis by the South Korean cybersecurity firm Genians Security Center.

Researchers said the attackers initially targeted victims with spear-phishing emails offering what appeared to be an appointment as a lecturer on North Korean human rights issues. The emails contained a malicious shortcut file that, when executed, installed remote-access malware on the victim's computer.

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The operation stood out for its use of compromised victims to help spread the attack, creating what researchers described as a "trust-based propagation chain that leveraged existing victims as intermediaries for further intrusions."

"This campaign is assessed as a multi-stage operation that extends beyond simple spear-phishing, combining long-term persistence, information theft and account-based redistribution," the report said.

Genians said Konni shares overlapping targets and infrastructure with other North Korea-linked threat groups, including Kimsuky and APT37, which have been tied to cyber espionage, surveillance and influence operations targeting South Korean government agencies, researchers and civil society groups.

Once inside the system, the hackers collected internal documents and other data while maintaining persistent access to the compromised machine.

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Investigators found the attackers also gained control of the victim's KakaoTalk desktop session and used contacts in the victim's friend list to distribute malicious files to additional targets -- a key step that allowed the campaign to expand.

"A notable feature of this campaign is that, after gaining unauthorized access to the victim's KakaoTalk PC session, the attacker used selected contacts from the victim's friend list to redistribute the malicious file," the report said.

The attackers used messages framed as planning topics for North Korea-related video content to capture recipients' interest, turning existing victims into new distribution channels, according to the researchers.

In January, Genians reported that the same group carried out spear-phishing attacks impersonating human rights organizations and financial institutions in an effort to compromise computers and harvest sensitive data.

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The findings come as North Korea, under heavy international sanctions, has increasingly turned to hacking and cybertheft to help bankroll its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

An October report by the 11-country Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team described North Korea's cybercrime apparatus as "a full-spectrum national program operating at a sophistication approaching the cyber programs of China and Russia."

The report added that "nearly all the DPRK's malicious cyber activity, cybercrime, laundering and IT work is carried out under the supervision, direction and for the benefit of entities sanctioned by the United Nations for their role in the DPRK's unlawful WMD and ballistic missile programs."

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea is the official name of North Korea.

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In November, the U.S. Treasury Department said North Korea had stolen more than $3 billion over the previous three years through attacks on financial systems and cryptocurrency platforms.

Washington has moved to disrupt the North's other cyber-enabled revenue streams. On Friday, the Treasury Department imposed sanctions on individuals and entities accused of helping North Korean information technology workers obtain remote jobs using stolen identities and fraudulent documentation, with earnings funneled back to Pyongyang.
By Jack Kim and Heejin Kim

SEOUL, March 16 (Reuters) - North Korea held an election for the Supreme People's Assembly on Sunday, state media KCNA said, to select delegates to the legislature that formally approves state policy and appoints the country's top officials.

Nearly 99.99% of eligible voters had cast their ballots as of 6 p.m. (0900 GMT) on Sunday, KCNA said.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un cast his ballot at a coal mine run by young workers, where he said the coal industry is essential to driving the country's economy and his five-year economic plan, the state media outlet said.

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North Koreans living in China and other socialist countries also cast ballots, KCNA said.

The assembly legislates and manages policies in all areas of government, but its approval is only a formality for measures decided by the ruling Workers' Party, which holds ultimate power. Kim rules the country as the general secretary of the Workers' Party, president of the State Affairs Commission and supreme commander of the Armed Forces.

(Reporting by Heejin Kim; Editing by Edmund Klamann)
Norwegian prosecutors are set to present their closing arguments on Monday in the trial of Marius Borg Hiby, son of Norwegian Crown Princess Mette-Marit, over charges of rape, drug offences and domestic violence.

The trial, which began in early February, has shocked Norway and drawn global media attention.

Hiby, 29, faces 40 charges, including four counts of rape under Norwegian law.

Prosecutors allege that he sexually abused several women, committing some of the most serious offences while the victims were asleep and filming them during the incidents.

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The proceedings have included testimony from numerous witnesses and a review of more than 800 text messages and video recordings.

While the alleged victims testified in court, Hiby's mother and the royal family have largely stayed away from the proceedings.

Hiby has denied the sexual offence charges but admitted to some of the other allegations.

The trial of Crown Prince Haakon's stepson has sparked a major scandal, coinciding with scrutiny of Mette-Marit over her past association with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Leading members of Nato have dismissed Donald Trumps demands for assistance in the war against Iran, with Germany insisting that the conflict has nothing to do with the military bloc.

Mr Trump had called on allies to help the US police the Strait of Hormuz, which has been blockaded by Iranian forces in response to the intense US-Israeli bombardment that began on 28 February.

It is not Natos war, said a spokesperson for German chancellor Friedrich Merz. Nato is an alliance to defend the alliance area. The United States did not consult us before this war, and so we believe this is not a matter for Nato or the German government.

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Sir Keir Starmer also went on the record to warn that Britain will not be drawn into the wider war.

Oil tankers and cargo ships lineup in the Strait of Hormuz as seen from Khor Fakkan in the United Arab Emirates (AP)

He refused to commit to sending in warships to help allow oil tankers to pass through the strategic waterway, even after a former Downing street adviser warned that he may need to consider fuel rationing if supplies dry up.

Sir Keir said: Ultimately, we have to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to ensure stability on the market. That is not a simple task. There have been discussions going on in relation to a viable plan.

We want to make sure that that involves as many partners as possible, thats been our stated directive here, particularly talking to European partners, inevitably talking to Gulf partners and to the US, because we need a credible, viable plan, if we can.

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Responding to Sir Keirs reluctance to get involved, President Trump said he was not happy and very surprised, adding: They should be involved enthusiastically.

The ongoing war of words came as a senior Labour source, who is a regular part of the security discussions in relation to Iran and Ukraine, told The Independent that the feedback coming to the government from Republican allies as well as Democrats is one of deep despair at the erratic behaviour of the president with a number of allies questioning his judgement.

Mr Trump has warned that Nato faced a very bad future if member states did not use their navies to support the US in the Strait of Hormuz, as Iranian forces use drones, missiles and mines to prevent fuel tankers from transporting a fifth of global oil supply.

Germanys defence minister Boris Pistorius dismissed the American request.

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What does (...) Donald Trump expect a handful or two handfuls of European frigates to do in the Strait of Hormuz that the powerful US navy cannot do? he said, downplaying warnings by the president that failing to come to Washingtons aid could have consequences for the Nato alliance.

Meanwhile, Italian foreign minister Antonio Tajani said diplomacy was the right way to solve the crisis in the strait and that there were no naval missions Italy is involved in that could be extended to the area.

As far as Hormuz is concerned I believe diplomacy needs to prevail, he told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting in Brussels.

Italy is involved in defensive naval missions in the Red Sea, but I dont see any missions that can be extended to Hormuz, he added.

The Dubai skyline with the landmark Burj Khalifa skyscraper is pictured as a smoke plume rises from an ongoing fire near Dubai International Airport (AFP/Getty)

Meanwhile, UK work and pensions minister Pat McFadden warned: It is not a Nato war, it is a US-Israeli action. The articles of association of Nato are that it is a defensive alliance.

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Some allies, however, did signal a cautious willingness to assist the US.

Kaja Kallas, the EUs foreign policy chief, said the bloc is looking to unblock the passage by discussing with the United Nations a similar deal to the one which allows for grain to be exported from Ukraine despite the war with Russia.

Ms Kallas said the EU is also discussing whether it could change the mandate of its Middle East naval mission, Aspides, which currently protects ships in the Red Sea from attacks by Yemens Houthi rebel group, to include the Strait of Hormuz.

Denmark, a country which has clashed repeatedly with Mr Trump over his demands that it cede Greenland, said that even if the EU does not agree with the war, it should consider helping to reopen the strait.

Donald Trump warned it would be very bad for the future of Nato if allies to do not help secure the Strait of Hormuz (PA)

Even if we dont like whats going on, I think its wise to keep an open mind on whether Europe... in some way can contribute, but with a view towards de-escalation, said Danish foreign minister Lars Lkke Rasmussen.

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The war, which is now in its 17th day, has caused the price of oil to surge to one of the highest rates since July 2022, peaking at $104 (78) per barrel on Monday as fuel costs continue to soar.

The conflict shows no signs of abating. The Israeli military has claimed that it still has thousands of targets to hit across Iran, with new ones identified every day.

We have a precise plan. We still have thousands of targets in Iran, and we are identifying new targets every day, military spokesperson Brig Gen Effie Defrin said in a televised briefing.

It also expanded its operations in southern Lebanon against Hezbollah on Monday.
All 11 counties in northeast Wisconsin are under a rare do not travel advisory due to dangerous road conditions from record-breaking snowfall.

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation's road conditions map shows black lines throughout the entire northeast region, which includes Brown, Calumet, Door, Fond du Lac, Kewaunee, Manitowoc, Marinette, Oconto, Outagamie, Sheboygan and Winnebago counties.

Road conditions as of 7:30 a.m. March 16, 2025.

That is a do not travel advisory, a warning that "does not happen often," said Mark Kantola of the state Department of Transportation.

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Big storms like this where the roads are in black, or "travel not advised," are very rare, Kantola said. "And when people see them, they need to heed it."

The wind is the most challenging part right now, Kantola said. Winds can cause mounds of snow or snowbanks in the road and also cause whiteout conditions, limiting visibility. Roads going east and west are seeing a larger impact, Kantola said, as the winds are travelling in those directions.

The Wisconsin State Patrol has responded to 28 vehicles running off the road between 7 a.m. March 15 and 7 a.m. March 16 in the northeast region, according to data from the Department of Transportation. In the same time, the State Patrol has responded to a total of 225 vehicle runoffs across the state.

The State Patrol has assisted 24 motorists in that 24-hour period and responded to six property damage crashes, the transportation department said.

Vehicles surrounded by snow during a blizzard on March 16, 2026, in De Pere, Wis.

Even if the roads look drivable when you look out your window, Kantola strongly encourages travelers to check their entire route on 511wi.gov. Cameras will show you what road conditions look like live.

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Remember that strong winds are expected to continue until 4 p.m. March 16, Kantola said, so even if the snow has stopped or slowed near you, "blowing snow is going to be a huge challenge."

The transportation department will remove the black lines and do not travel advisory as soon as roads are in better shape, Kantola said. That depends on weather conditions and how quickly local and state resources are able to clear the roads.

Kantola said he's hopeful the advisory will be lifted by the afternoon of March 16.

Vivian Barrett is the public safety reporter for the Green Bay Press-Gazette. You can reach her at vmbarrett@usatodayco.com or (920) 431-8314.

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Rare do not travel advisory covers all Northeast counties amid blizzard
Village elections in Nunda, New York, will take place on March 18 with residents voting for two trustee positions and the mayor position, both four-year terms.

Nunda has about 1,300 people. Residents of the area can vote at Nunda Fire Hall from noon to 9 p.m.

Location: 4 S. State St.

Whos running for Nunda mayor

Two candidates are on the ballot: Robert Bob Cox (Democratic, Nunda Together) and Jack Morgan (Republican).

Cox lives in Nunda and serves as the Democratic committee representative for the Town of Nunda within the Livingston County Democratic Committee.

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Morgan has lived in the village of Nunda for 53 years and currently serves as the village mayor. After retiring from education, he currently serves as the organist and music director for the Trinity Church of Nunda.

Elected in 2018, he has served the village of Nunda for eight years. He also served as appointed mayor to complete the term of a mayor who resigned.

Whos running for Nunda trustee seats

On the ballot are three candidates  Jennifer Quinn (Democratic, Nunda Together), Paul D. Palmer (Republican) and William Davis (Republican).

Quinn has lived in Nunda for 10 years.

She is currently a sixth-grade teacher at Austin Steward Elementary School in the Rochester City School District and has worked within the RCSD for 26 years. Quinn teaches math, science, social studies and ELA.

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This is her first time running for any government position. I feel like I am uniquely qualified because not only am I a woman and the positions in Nunda are typically filled by men, but I am highly empathetic, and adept at making informed decisions for groups of people, which will directly result in positive change because of my career as an educator in the Rochester City School District, Quinn said.

Palmer has been a resident of Nunda for most of his life; he graduated from Keshequa in 1978.

He is the pastor of the Oakland Wesleyan Church, where he has served for the last 25 years. Palmer has also driven school buses for the Keshequa School DIstrict for the last 20 years.

Davis has been a resident of Nunda for 26 years and serves as a trustee on the village board.

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Davis is also the CFO and director of administration at The Legal Aid Society of Rochester  a non-profit law firm.

In 2021, he was appointed by Morgan to serve as a trustee on the board and was elected for his first full term in 2022.

Each candidate's main issue

MORGAN: Times are not easy and people are facing decisions: food or gas, insurance or education. The number one issue we face is to provide needed services (e.g. drinking and waste water, streets and sidewalks, police, fire and ambulance) with a minimal financial impact on Nunda residents. To do this, we have adjusted investments (with a net gain of over $100,000 in the last year), negotiated reduced electrical costs (cut our electric rate in half), eliminated inappropriate taxes and thoroughly examined every expenditure. We will continue to take similar actions to benefit our residents."

QUINN: I believe the No. 1 issue facing the village is that Nunda is a very small rural village and the local economy offers relatively few employment options. Many residents must commute to nearby towns for work since local employment opportunities are few and far between. If Nunda could attract new businesses, not only would it open up new employment opportunities for the residents, but it would offer residents new opportunities for shopping and dining. I also think attracting new businesses would help attract people from other towns because many people do not even know where Nunda is or what it has to offer."

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DAVIS: Updating the villages aging infrastructure concerns, including, but not limited to, water supply and wastewater treatment systems, roadways, pedestrian walkway accessibility, and communications. I would address any issue or concern by working with key stakeholders in each area to determine what updates and processes are needed to not only provide quality services and products to our current village residents but also to anticipate future needs. I understand that funding is a major barrier; however, it takes more than securing dollars to move a vision forward  communication and a clear vision are integral to the process."

The Democrat and Chronicle was unable to reach candidate Bob Cox for comment.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Whos running in Nundas March 18 village election
A New York State Police trooper sustained minor injuries after being struck during an early morning traffic stop on the Thruway in Westchester County.

Two troopers were conducting a traffic stop on a 2025 Mercedes sedan along the right shoulder shortly after 5 a.m. on Sunday in Mamaroneck. The Mercedes was operated by Siiyer W. Walker, 52, of Connecticut.

While the troopers were standing near the Mercedes, a 2007 Chevy Suburban operated by Kevin Ariel Cunache Moyolema, 24, of Connecticut, rear-ended the patrol car. The impact pushed the patrol car into the Mercedes, which then struck one of the troopers.

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The injured trooper was transported to Westchester Medical Center for treatment of minor injuries and was later released. The second trooper was not struck.

Moyolema was transported to Westchester Medical Center for evaluation of minor body pain. Walker was evaluated by emergency medical services at the scene but declined transport to a hospital.

The investigation is continuing.

Read the original article on syracuse.com. Add syracuse.com as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Ohio chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police is denouncing Butler County Prosecutor Mike Gmoser's response to a critical post by a local police union president amid a string of officer misconduct investigations.

In a statement on March 16, the union said Gmoser's decision to place FOP Lodge 101 President Jasen Hatfield on a list questioning his courtroom credibility is retaliation against a union leader advocating for his members.

Gmoser put Hatfield on a newly formed list of officers who could have credibility issues if testifying in court. It's called a Brady list, a document optionally maintained by prosecutors across the country to identify law enforcement officials with criminal convictions, excessive force violations, or questions of honesty, integrity and bias.

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The prosecutor's decision came after Hatfield published a LinkedIn post critical of the prosecutor's office, which secured a misdemeanor indictment against a Middletown officer earlier this month. The officer is accused of failing to protect the safety of a juvenile who was in police custody.

Union: Brady list being used to 'punish' local FOP leader

Hatfield said it is a "lightweight case that will get beat." He also questioned the confidence police have in Gmoser as the county's elected prosecutor.

The prosecutor's office is currently involved in other cases related to accusations of police misconduct in Butler County.

In a letter addressed to the Butler County Sheriff's Office, Gmoser said he respects Hatfield's ability to criticize his office's decisions, but Hatfield's comments about the merits of pending litigation show he minimizes criminal conduct.

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Gmoser ended the letter by resigning from the police union in Hamilton.

Law enforcement officers who serve in leadership roles within the Fraternal Order of Police have both the right and the responsibility to speak out on issues impacting their members and the profession, FOP Ohio President Jay McDonald said in a statement. Using a Brady list to punish an elected FOP leader for expressing concerns about a prosecution is a misuse of the Brady process and undermines the very purpose for which it exists.

The Ohio FOP, which represents about 24,000 members and 175 local lodges, argues that officers should be afforded due process before being placed on a Brady list. It says it will support the police union lodge in Hamilton.

'No one is above the law,' elected prosecutor says

Gmoser is standing firm in his decision to place Hatfield on a Brady list.

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He told The Enquirer that his actions were not retaliation. He said he's taken steps to avoid the appearance of inappropriate associations while in office and hasn't worried about the perception of his police union membership, until now.

"The FOP criticism points exactly to my concern," Gmoser said. "The president of the FOP in question stuck his nose in a pending case that his membership was not involved [in] to criticize my decision to prosecute alleged police misconduct captured on videotape."

Butler County Prosecutor Mike Gmoser.

"No one is above the law," he added.

Gmoser said that Hatfield's prejudgments about the Middletown officer's case require disclosure, as Hatfield may be required in the future to testify in similar cases.

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"My suggestion to your criticism: Don't talk about it," the prosecutor said. "Take it, and me, to federal court, where Brady was decided, and let a federal judge decide."

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Ohio police union criticizes Butler County prosecutor over Brady list
Limited-time offers (LTOs) drive traffic to retailers and restaurants. Some of those offers, like McDonald's Shamrock Shake and Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte, come back every year at predictable times. In other cases, brands try a first-of-its-kind offer to drive customers to their store or restaurant.

In many cases, an LTO can either bring back a lapsed customer or get a recurring visitor to spend more. My Starbucks order, for example, grows a couple of times a year when the chain brings back its Creme Brulee Latte or anything that involves peppermint.

"Limited-time offerings (LTOs) or limited-time menus are a great way for restaurants and bars to create excitement and news around the brand, especially for those with a limited marketing budget," Kim Jensen-Pitts, chief marketing officer at Cowboy Chicken, told Bar and Restaurant News.

Creating a new item that people have never experienced or bringing back an old favorite creates excitement. That can also bring customers to stores they may not regularly visit.

Coca-Cola, which will launching a new flavor exclusive to Walmart should be able to drive the chain's existing customers to add the soda to their carts while also sending fans of the brand, who may not be Walmart shoppers, to the chain.

Walmart adds an exclusive Sprite flavor

Coca-Cola and Walmart, the two biggest names in their respective spaces, have teamed up to give Sprite fans something new.

"Sprite Chill just dropped a new MANGO CITRUS flavor at Walmart and it's starting to arrive in stores now! This is a sequel to last year's Strawberry Kiwi flavor and is available in 20oz bottles (full sugar only) and 12packs (regular an* zero sugar)," read a post on the Snackolator Instagram page, a respected food and beverage industry site known for first-to-market coverage.

"The Coca-Cola Company released the original Cherry Lime Sprite Chill as a limited-time offering the same week they released Coca-Cola Spiced 'permanently.' Two years later, Coca-Cola Spiced is long gone, and were here to talk about a brand-new Sprite Chill flavor," Sporked's Griffin Parker wrote.

Coca-Cola launched Sprite Chill, he noted, to give your throat a tingle like menthol, without actually using menthol.

"The new Sprite Chill will follow in the footsteps of the original, pairing a new fruit flavor with the fruits already present in the OG Sprite. In the very near future, well all be enjoying the brand-new Sprite Chill Mango Citrus," he added.

Neither Walmart nor Coca-Cola has made an official statement on the new Sprite Chill flavor or their exclusive partnership on the soda.
Imagine living in a state where you cant access basic police reports detailing what the heck officers were doing in your neighborhood or what caused a four-vehicle crash that shut down a local street for hours.

Seems a little out-of-touch with the American way, doesnt it?

Yet thats exactly what has happened in Oklahomas capital after Oklahoma City police administration exploited a perceived loophole in the states Open Records Act, a state law designed to protect the publics inherent right to know what government bodies are doing and why.

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The biggest example of this police departments emboldened approach stems from reporting by a fellow nonprofit news outlet Oklahoma Watch. It was looking into reports last year that a teacher was confronted by, as the site put it, vigilante-predator catchers at his home. Oklahoma City police refused to provide the media outlet access to incident reports, contending that those were private because no one was arrested or charged with a crime.

Many police departments across the U.S. create incident reports to help the public understand whats happening by revealing the five Ws  who, what, when, where and why. But Oklahoma Citys police department cited a 2023 internal policy change  and not anything from the Legislature, which creates laws  that insists incident reports are no longer considered public records under state law. Even if there are no arrests made.

State law requires all law enforcement agencies to make public a chronological list of all incidents, including initial offense report information showing the offense, date, time, general location, officer and a brief summary of what occurred.

The OKCPD argues that it doesnt keep such a list, which exempts it, even though these same records are widely made available by other law enforcement bodies in this state and others. The Attorney Generals Office compounded the problem by refusing to insist that those records are public despite long-held practices of releasing them, Oklahoma Watch reported.

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To their credit, Oklahoma lawmakers are moving swiftly to fix this problematic interpretation. They want to make sure this practice that promotes secrecy doesnt spread across the state and infect their communities, too.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle know what the rest of us know. We give police departments an enormous amount of power and trust to protect us. Incident reports are one of the forms of accountability the public has to make sure that trust is not being abused.

House Bill 4144, authored by Republican legislators Robert Manger and Warren Hamilton, would clearly spell out that incident reports are public record. Last week, it became one of those rare measures that cleared the House by a bipartisan 97-0 vote. It now heads to the Senate.

Its a low-key bill that hasnt generated a ton of attention, but it is one of the best pieces of legislation this session that would actually strengthen the publics right to know.

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Given that this week marks Sunshine Week, an annual nonpartisan event that highlights the need for open records and government, its fitting that House leadership prioritized this issue.

Unfortunately, most sessions it can be hard to find lawmakers willing to make simple and clear clarifications to improve access to records that help strengthen Oklahomans right to understand how our government works.

Sometimes needed reforms are thwarted by lobbyists who trick lawmakers into slipping in bad language that protects their clients or muddies the legal waters. Other times, its government agencies themselves that want to operate under a blanket of secrecy, figuring  rightly  that most Oklahomans dont have the financial resources to fight for their rights in court.

Another piece of bipartisan legislation aimed at fortifying the publics right to know is Senate Bill 1415, authored by Democratic Sen. Michael Brooks-Jimenez and Republican Rep. Chris Kannady.

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It would make nondisclosure agreements, better known as NDAs, between state employees and agencies void and unenforceable upon resignation or termination unless an individual has a professionally mandated confidentiality requirement such as an attorney or health care work.

Brooks-Jimenez told me that he filed it because hes seen a trend of state agencies offering stipends or some sort of severance payment to employees on their way out in exchange for a public employee signing a severance agreement containing an NDA. He said unless something is going wrong, theres no reason to have nondisclosure agreements.

I think that affects the transparency of those state agencies in a way thats not consistent with what state government is supposed to do, he said. If theres any kind of fraud, waste, corruption or any other issues going on with the state agency, I think once someone separates from service from that place, they need to have the ability and probably the encouragement to be able to disclose the circumstances.

While the bill is a laudable starting point, one issue is that it does not also expressly include confidentiality agreements, which is an equally problematic term some that agencies are using instead.

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I know because for the past two years Oklahoma Voice has been fighting the Department of Wildlife Conversations governing board to obtain a copy of the severance agreement outlining why this board paid its former executive director, J.D. Strong, $169,341 to abruptly leave the agency. Were suing the board to force it to release the document, and the case is scheduled to next be considered in district court this summer.

Among other things, the board argues its severance agreement is not public because it contains a confidentiality clause. They also argue that Strongs privacy interests in keeping the severance agreement, which he apparently submitted to them for approval, should prevail over the publics right to know.

And the governing board cites a provision of the Open Record Act that they claim give boards at their sole discretion the right maintain the confidentiality of personnel records when such records pertain to internal personnel investigations including examination and selection material for employment, hiring, appointment, promotion, demotion, discipline or resignation.

Theyre also arguing they have the sole discretion, to maintain the confidentiality of personnel records when disclosure would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.

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For full transparency, the board has since stipulated that Strong was not under investigation at the time of his departure. But everyone involved has otherwise stayed quiet on what really happened, and why it required a payout of public money.

So as lawmakers consider removing NDAs, heres hoping they remember there are other loopholes that government bodies use to obscure access to information, such as classifying things as personnel records, arguing they have sole discretion over the release of records or including confidentiality agreements or withholding severance agreements.

Lets hope they remember this Sunshine Week that just because public transparency is good for most peoples souls, there will always be work to be done. Because despite their best intentions, there will always be someone, somewhere trying to keep the public in the dark.

Its their job to close the door on those bad actors and let the public in.

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OKLAHOMA CITY  Candidates are lining up to run for open Oklahoma Congressional seats following a recent White House appointment.

President Donald Trump announced U.S. Sen. Markwayne Mullin as his replacement for Kristi Noem as the next head of the Department of Homeland Security, which has faced scrutiny for enforcement of immigration policy. His Senate confirmation hearing is expected to be held this week.

Once Mullin resigns, Gov. Kevin Stitt has 30 days to select a replacement for the remainder of Mullins term. State law requires the replacement to sign an affidavit saying they will not run for the post in the next election, but its unclear whether this is enforceable.

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Stitt, who is serving his final year of his second term, and U.S. Rep. Stephanie Bice, R-OK, have both said they will not be running for Mullins Senate seat.

I was elected to be governor. I love being governor, and Im going to finish my term, Stitt told News9.

Bice posted on social media that Trump needs strong allies in the House and she plans to file for reelection.

After prayerful consideration, I remain committed to serving the Fifth Congressional District, a place that I proudly call home, she wrote on X.

Republican U.S. Rep. Kevin Hern, who serves Congressional District 1 which encompasses the Tulsa area, has already declared his candidacy to fill Mullins Senate seat, leaving his House seat open.

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Trump endorsed Herns Senate bid with a post on Truth Social.

A true friend of MAGA, Kevin is now running for the United States Senate, where I know he will continue to do an incredible job, Trump wrote in the social media post. Kevin is strongly supported by the fiercest MAGA Warriors in Oklahoma, and the most Highly Respected Leaders in the United States Senate!

At least two of Oklahomas elected officials have said they will run for Herns House seat, including Kim David, chair of the Corporation Commission, and state Rep. Mark Tedford, R-Tulsa.

David was previously the Majority Floor Leader in the Oklahoma Senate and has served on the Corporation Commission since 2023.

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Others talk conservative. Ive spent my career delivering results, she wrote in a Facebook post Friday.

State law does not require David to vacate her seat on the Corporation Commission to run for the House seat, according to a spokesperson for the state Election Board.

Tedford posted on Facebook Thursday announcing his own candidacy for the U.S. House seat. He was first elected to the state House in 2022 and currently serves as the vice chair of the House Commerce and Economic Development Oversight Committee.

The state lawmaker owns Tedford Insurance and has a bachelors degree from Missouri Southern State University and a masters in business from University of Tulsa.

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Jackson Stallings, a Navy Judge Advocate General and veteran, also announced his candidacy for the House seat on Monday.

He said in a news release that service to the U.S. is a family tradition and hes ready to fight for an America First agenda and defend Christian values.

Candidate filing is April 1-3 in the state Capitol.

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CLINTON, Tenn. (WATE)  A man was airlifted to a hospital, and another was taken into custody after a shooting in Clinton Sunday, police said.

At 6:27 p.m., Clinton Police Department officers went to the Super 8 motel on Park Place after reports of a shooting. When they arrived, the officers found a man with a gunshot wound to the chest.

One charged after road rage shooting on I-40 in Knoxville

CPD said the suspect had remained at the scene, and officers took him into custody without further incident. Anderson County Emergency Medical Services and the Clinton Fire Department treated the victim on site before he was airlifted to a hospital, police said.

This is a developing story. Download the WATE 6 News app or sign up for our email alerts for updates.

READ: More top stories on WATE.com

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Police are actively investigating the incident, trying to determine the circumstances around the shooting.

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WATE 6 On Your Side.
One of the most wanted fugitives in Puerto Rico was detained in Camden County and charged with possessing more than 12 ounces of cocaine last month, authorities said.

Domitilo Delgado-Ruiz, 50, of Reading, Pennsylvania, was arrested in Camden on Feb. 27 and charged with first-degree possession with intent to distribute controlled substance and third-degree possession of a controlled dangerous substance.

Delgado-Ruiz was among the top 10 most wanted fugitives of Ponce, Puerto Rico, where he had been charged with attempted murder, officials said.

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Detectives from the Camden County Prosecutors Offices High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force received information in February that a suspect was driving a minivan with a large amount of cocaine near Penn Street and North Sixth Street, officials said.

Investigators determined the license plate was registered to an address in Reading, and tracked the van between New Jersey and Pennsylvania, officials said.

Authorities pulled the minivan over on Feb. 27 and identified Delgado-Ruiz as having outstanding warrants in Puerto Rico, officials said.

Delgado-Ruiz was taken into custody and is awaiting extradition to Puerto Rico, officials said.

An attorney for Delgado-Ruiz did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Read the original article on NJ.com. Add NJ.com as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Self-styled secretary of War Pete Hegseth reportedly believes that moral purpose is a weakness in war, which may well explain his disdainful campaign against the foremost U.S. universities.

In a video posted last month, Hegseth announced the cancellation of all Department of War attendance at Harvard, as well as institutions like Princeton, Columbia, MIT, Brown, Yale and many others for the purported offense of pushing a creed of globalist submission, rather than training lethal and effective leaders.

A follow up memorandum named 14 U.S. universities and eight other institutions, where Senior Service College Fellowship programs for active-duty military personnel would be ended, beginning with the 2026-27 academic year. Current students would be allowed to complete their degrees.

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There are currently only 93 students in the fellowship program, 21 of whom are at Harvard, which Hegseth considers one of the red-hot centers of hate America activism. Still, alarms went off across higher education. Hegseths intention to evaluate all existing graduate programs for active duty service members, threatens generations of cooperation between American universities and the military.

Terminating the Senior Service College Fellowships is only the beginning of Hegseths plan to replace woke breeding grounds of toxic indoctrination with the singular mission of developing the most lethal and effective leaders and warfighters the world has ever known.

He has an odd way of pursuing his goal.

The Senior Service College Fellowships are limited to senior officers who, Hegseth fears, will be hopelessly corrupted by exposure to graduate programs that undermine the very values they have sworn to uphold. But according to a rollout plan, obtained by Inside Higher Ed, there is no impact to ROTC programs.

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In other words, seasoned officers cannot be trusted to resist the lure of wicked ideologies at elite universities, but 19-year-old undergraduates will presumably survive just fine.

The difference, of course, is that the military needs ROTC recruiting. Hegseth would risk an irreparable loss by tampering with ROTC, but there is no comparable cost to his puffed-up posturing about the evils of the Ivy League.

Hegseth is obsessed with killing, constantly referring to absolute lethality, most-lethal, lethality of the force, lethal warfighters, maximum lethality and lethality above all else, to list some of his phrases.

He seems not to have considered, or more likely refuses to recognize, that civilian education is useful to officers whose jobs include such non-lethal objectives as pacifying populations and winning the peace. As Gen. David Petraeus put it in the counterinsurgency manual, the civilian population is the center of gravity  the deciding factor in the struggle.

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I forwarded Hegseths video to two miliary veterans, asking what they thought of his singular mission. A former Navy Seal, awarded the Navy Cross for valor in the Vietnam era, said, Hegseth is cutting off outside sources that provide information that is unavailable anywhere else, and invaluable to the successful prosecution of modern warfare. A decorated Marine combat officer from the Iraq War told me that Hegseths video insults the American military members and senior military leaders who actually have the capacity to think for themselves.

There is no contradiction between a civilian education and successful warfighting, as Hegseth calls it. Examples include Gen. David Petraeus (Ph.D., Princeton), Gen. H.R. McMaster (Ph.D., University of North Carolina), Gen. Wesley Clark (Rhodes Scholar, Oxford), Gen. Brent Scowcroft (Ph.D., Columbia), Gen. Colin Powell (MBA, George Washington), General John Abizaid (M.A., Harvard), Gen. Mark Milley (MBA., Columbia) and many others.

Dwight Eisenhower was among the greatest warfighters in U.S. history. As Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, with the rank of five-star general, he led the defeat of fascism in World War II.

Although Eisenhowers degrees were from military institutions, he was president of Columbia University from 1948 until his inauguration in 1953. Shortly afterward, he gave the commencement address at Dartmouth College of the Ivy League, with G.I. Bill veterans among the graduates.

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Here is what he said about subject matter that Hegseth would condemn today:

Dont think you are going to conceal faults by concealing evidence that they ever existed. Dont be afraid to go in your library and read every book. Regarding one of the wicked ideologies of his day, Eisenhower asked, How will we defeat communism unless we know what it is, and what it teaches?

I am embarrassed to admit having led demonstrations against Naval ROTC in the 1960s, during the anti-Vietnam War movement. The midshipmen on campus were a convenient target for protesters, but we were badly misguided. Instead of demanding their banishment, we should have appreciated their contributions in liberal arts classes.

Hegseth now boasts that the war on Iran is being fought without mercy, which would violate both the first Geneva Convention and the U.S. Law of War Manual.

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There lies the true lesson in Hegseths intemperate vendetta: The more military instruction fixates on lethality, the greater the need for broad education in civilian institutions.

Steven Lubet is the Williams Memorial Professor Emeritus at the Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law.

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Operation Epic Fury is long overdue. Since 1984, when the United States formally designated Iran a State Sponsor of Terrorism under the leadership of Ronald Reagan, the regime in Tehran has defined itself in direct opposition to the freedoms America defends. For more than four decades, that hostility, echoed in chants of Death to America, has gone far beyond rhetoric. It has been lethal. The pattern is unmistakable. In 1983, a bombing tied to Hezbollah and backed by Iran killed 241 American servicemembers at the Marine barracks in Beirut. In Iraq, Iranian-trained militias deployed explosively formed penetrators (EFPs), sophisticated roadside bombs responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American troops. Rather than confront the United States openly, Iran relied on proxies to attack Americans while attempting to shield itself from direct accountability. At the center of this strategy stands the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization. Through its Quds Force, the regime has funded, armed, and directed Hezbollah, Hamas, Shia militias in Iraq and Syria as well as other terrorist groups across the region. Since October 2023 alone, Iranian-backed forces have launched more than 150 attacks against U.S. personnel in Iraq, Syria, and Jordan. In January 2024, a drone strike carried out by an Iran-backed militia killed three American service members in Jordan. Meanwhile, the Iran-aligned Houthi movement has fired missiles and drones at U.S. naval vessels and commercial shipping in the Red Sea, directly threatening American forces and destabilizing global trade. Irans aggression is not limited to land. During the 1980s Tanker War, Iranian forces attacked commercial vessels in the Persian Gulf, and in recent years, Iran has seized international vessels, harassed U.S. Navy ships, and transferred advanced missile and drone technology to its proxies. The IRGC strategy is consistent: pressure, probe, and escalate just below the threshold of direct war. This is not episodic behavior. It is systemic. The regimes brutality, however, is not reserved for foreign adversaries. Under Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Iran has ruled its own people through fear. Peaceful protesters have been beaten, imprisoned, and killed. Women are punished for defiance. Journalists are silenced. Religious minorities are persecuted. The same government that exports terror abroad denies its own citizens basic human freedoms at home. Against this backdrop, President Trumps Operation Epic Fury did not arise from impulse. It was the culmination of a conflict Iran chose to wage. Diplomacy was attempted. Warnings were issued. Opportunities for de-escalation were presented and ignored. The objective of the operation was narrow and clear: halt nuclear advancement and protect American lives. Similarly, our democratic partner, Israel, was compelled to pursue Operation Lions Roar in response to the same destabilizing threat posed by Iran. For decades, Iran has funded, armed, and directed violence against Israel while expanding its missile and drone capabilities across the region. Operation Lions Roar targeted Iranian military infrastructure and weapons systems that threaten Israeli civilians and broader regional security. Irans expanding missile programs and proxy networks do not threaten Israel alone; they undermine stability across the Middle East and endanger American personnel, allies, and interests as well. When diplomacy no longer restrains aggression, our nation faces a choice: tolerate continued attacks or act lawfully and proportionally to defend our people. Faced with persistent threats to U.S. personnel and regional stability, this Administration acted within its Article II constitutional authority. History offers context. Limited, targeted strikes have been used by presidents of both parties to protect American personnel and interests. In Libya under President Obama, in Syria under President Biden, and now in response to Iran under President Trump, the doctrine has remained consistent: discrete uses of force, confined in scope and duration, do not constitute full-scale war. No prolonged campaign. No national mobilization. The War Powers Resolution requires notification and imposes time constraints; it does not prohibit limited defensive action. International law is equally clear. Article 51 of the U.N. Charter affirms a nations inherent right of self-defense. A response to ongoing aggression is lawful. For years, Iran has tested American restraint through proxy warfare, maritime aggression, hostage-taking, cyber operations, and repeated attacks on our troops. Consequences are not escalation for escalations sake. They are the restoration of deterrence. Strength and restraint are not opposites. When applied deliberately and proportionally, they form the foundation of peace.

More: Opinion: Will Trump allow a free and fare midterm election this year?

Opinion: Militarized immigration enforcement threatens our rights

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Congressman Chuck Edwards serves as the U.S. representative for North Carolinas 11th District, which covers 16 counties in the states western mountains.

Congressman Chuck Edwards

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Opinion: Why 'Epic Fury' was justified against Iran's terror
Ugandan opposition politician Bobi Wine fled his home country to evade what he described as the governments attempt to capture him following criticism of recent election results.

He was the most notable challenger to President Yoweri Museveni in the last two presidential elections. Museveni extended his 40-year rule in Januarys presidential poll, which was criticized by the UN and rights groups for severe repression of the opposition.

Wine, a 44-year-old former pop star whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, posted a video message on X in which he announced a brief exit from Uganda, adding that he would return at the right time. He faulted the declaration of Museveni as the winner of the last two elections, claiming in his video post that Museveni usurped the will of the people of Uganda and declared himself president on gunpoint.

Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the presidents son and the countrys military chief, has repeatedly threatened to arrest Wine since Januarys vote.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)  A Southern Oregon man has been accused of murdering his 11-month-old son.

Roseburg resident Jared Scott Jeremy Stoller, 27, was arrested Sunday by the Douglas County Sheriffs Office on charges of first degree murder and second degree abuse of a corpse.

Hiker rescued from cliff at Gods Thumb with minor injuries

Stoller reportedly called 911 on March 15 to report that his 11-month-old son Jaxson was missing from his hotel room at the Relax Inn in Sutherlin, according to the sheriffs office.

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Sutherlin Police Officers responded and determined there were suspicious circumstances. During an interview with detectives from the sheriffs office, Stoller eventually confessed to killing the infant days earlier in Roseburg, and disposing of the body in the South Umpqua River.

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Divers from the Douglas County Sheriffs Office worked with Oregon State Police to recover the childs body, which was found around 6 p.m. Sunday in the area of 3500 Old Melrose Road in Roseburg.

An autopsy is expected to take place in the coming days. Stoller was booked into Douglas County Jail where he is currently being held without bail. His arraignment is set for Monday afternoon.

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Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com.
More than 600,000 German Catholics and Protestants left the church in 2025, official figures revealed on Monday, as Germany's two main Christian churches continued to haemorrhage members.

The Protestant Church in Germany (EKD) reported some 350,000 members quit last year, while some 307,000 people turned their backs on the Catholic Church.

While the numbers represented a decline in dropouts for both churches compared to the previous year, they do not include the thousands of deaths that are responsible for a drop in membership each year, with the number of new members far too low to offset the trend.

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The latest decline means that the total number of Catholics in Germany has dropped to 19,2 million, accounting for 23% of the population, according to the German Bishops' Conference.

In 2024, the Catholic Church in Germany still had 19.7 million members.

Meanwhile, some 17.4 million Germans were members of a Protestant church last year, down from 17.9 million in 2024.

Heiner Wilmer, the newly elected chair of the German Bishop's Conference expressed regret at the high number of people leaving the church.

"Despite all the upheavals," he urged the faithful "not to bury the head in the sand" and search for ways "to ensure that being a Christian can lead to greater acceptance in society today."
Topline

The price of diesel has spiked more than 36% in the last month to nearly hit $5 per gallon Monday, and the rising cost of the fuel essential to farmers, shipping companies, construction workers and the retail sector could soon mean a spike in prices of other goods for the everyday consumer.

A shopper selects from pre-packaged produce. Getty Images

Key Facts

The price of a gallon of diesel rose to $4.99 on Monday, according to AAA, up 7% from $4.66 one week ago and up 36.7% from $3.65 one month ago, before the U.S. and Israel began its attacks on Iran.

The rising cost of dieselthe primary fuel used in shipping, construction, agriculture and other industriesmeans higher operating expenses for major companies that could soon be passed on to consumers in the form of price hikes on retail goods, groceries, building costs and other commodities.

Matt McClain, petroleum analyst with GasBuddy, called the change in the price of diesel an "extraordinarily sharp increase in a very short amount of time," and warned of a trickle-down effect impacting the price of everything.

Both FedEx and UPS, the largest trucking companies in the U.S., have already bumped up fuel surcharge rates and implemented temporary fees for shipments to the Middle East from the U.S, with industry expert David Sullivan warning of "more price volatility and targeted lane fees tied to the conflict in Iran.

Groceries are the next thing expected to rise in price, with farmers relying on diesel fuel to run agricultural equipment and ship food across the country (trucks ship 83% of all agricultural products and 92% of dairy, fruit, vegetables and nuts in the U.S., according to the USDA).

Construction equipment like bulldozers, excavators and dump trucks also run on diesel, and most building materials are transported on diesel trucks, which could push up the prices of housing, infrastructure and renovations.

Crucial Quote

"The costs of all products will rise," energy economist Philip Verleger told Reuters.

Key Background

Spikes in the cost of diesel have led to price hikes on retail goods in the past. When crude oil surged to roughly $147 per barrel in the mid 2000s, global food prices, shipping rates, airfare and retail goods followed. Wheat, corn and rice prices spiked, leading to food riots in dozens of countries and a world food price crisis that lasted for roughly two years. U.S. trucking companies added large fuel surcharges, which were passed on to customers in the form of store prices, and several large firmslike Arrow Trucking and Jevic Transportationwent bankrupt. A similar phenomena happened following the COVID-19 pandemic and was then exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, when rapidly rising fuel and fertilizer costs led to another major surge in world food prices. The United Nations World Food Program this month warned surging fuel prices driven by the war in the Middle East could push more people "towards severe food insecurity" in the coming months.
The Pennsylvania State Board of Higher Education has only existed for a couple of years, but some GOP senators say it has already overstayed its welcome.

Since the board's 2024 creation, the senators say it has burdened taxpayers with staff costs, yet has little to show for these investments. So on March 12, they introduced legislation that would abolish the fledgling panel.

The Commonwealth is not receiving value for this structure, Sen. Kristin Phillips-Hill, a York County Republican, wrote in a bill memo. And taxpayers should not be asked to absorb the cost of ineffective governance.

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Her legislation, SB1214, has 10 Republican cosponsors and is awaiting consideration by the Senate Education Committee.

In a recent budget hearing Phillips-Hill also questioned state officials about investments in the board when the commonwealth also has a state board of education and an office of postsecondary and higher education.

But in a recent budget hearing, Education Secretary Carrie Rowe argued that the states postsecondary system demands this kind of attention because of its hefty tuition costs and declining enrollment.

When were 49th or 50th in the country related to higher education, affordability, attainment, this is a place to focus, she said. To spend the time and effort and, indeed, money to make sure that we have a plan that we can execute and that you can hold us accountable for.

How much does the board cost?

The 21-member panel includes the commonwealths education secretary, the labor and industry secretary, lawmakers, university and community college heads, union members, business representatives and students.

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The members themselves are unpaid, according to the law, but the board is supported by an executive director and several other employees: a chief of staff, director of economic and workforce development and director of information systems and strategic analysis, according to the website.

More: Pa. has a skilled worker shortage. What's the plan for filling it?

Collectively, these four employees earn about $750,000 annually, according to the commonwealths transparency website.

The agency has also listed a job opening for an associate director of academic and workforce development, with a salary range of between $77,300 and $117,500 per year.

What does the board do?

Lawmakers created the new board in 2024 as part of a bill focused on streamlining credit transfers between community college and Pennsylvanias four-year universities.

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The section creating the board states that panels mission is to address college affordability and provide direction, coordination and support to ensure that institutions of higher education fully meet the workforce and economic development needs of this Commonwealth.

It has had 12 public board meetings since getting off the ground in September 2024, according to online records.

Meeting agendas show the board so far has spent time so far hiring, establishing its bylaws and hearing from workforce leaders. But its primary achievement so far has been crafting a strategic plan for higher education to guide work going forward.

In February 2026, the board unveiled the plan, which aims to align postsecondary education with the commonwealths workforce and economic needs and make this advanced schooling accessible to more Pennsylvanians.

The Nittany Lion watches a news station shoot b-roll on an empty Penn State York campus on May 14, 2025.

The plan grew from an extensive outreach process that involved five regional hearings, a statewide survey and smaller meetings with experts and advocates.

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The Board will move quickly to implement the strategic plan, it will not sit on a shelf and collect dust, Cindy Shapira, the board chair, said in a statement. We are ready to roll up our sleeves and collaborate with partners across the state as we work together to make our vision a reality.

The plan lays out six goals  increasing postsecondary credential attainment, improving affordability, supporting the commonwealths economy, meeting the states workforce needs, using taxpayer dollars efficiently and strengthening the financial stability of postsecondary institutions.

Bethany Rodgers is a USA TODAY Network Pennsylvania investigative journalist.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: PA senators want to end state higher education board. What does it do?
As data centers working to develop artificial intelligence increase the demand for power in the commonwealth, Pennsylvania lawmakers have sought solutions to stem the associated rise of electricity costs.

Often, those discussions revolve around how to increase the amount of power being generated and build more infrastructure to supply it. But on Monday, members of the state House Energy Committee heard testimony on two proposals that wouldnt require any new power plants or transmission lines, which can take years to bring online, and could take advantage of the existing infrastructure.

We know that we are dealing with serious supply chain problems and demand problems, and that we need to do everything we can to get as much as possible out of our existing infrastructure, House Energy Committee Chair Elizabeth Fiedler (D-Philadelphia) said. I believe we need to do that while we are also getting more energy online.

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The focus was in part on so-called advanced transmission technologies, which could be installed on new or existing transmission lines to move electricity more efficiently. Another technology discussed was what are known as virtual power plants, which work by networking together products like smart appliances, electric vehicle chargers and rooftop solar panels across the commonwealth and remotely coordinating their energy use and release during times of stress on the grid.

A pair of bills put forward by House Democrats would incentivize those technologies use across the state. House Bill 2223, sponsored by Fiedler, would require utilities to show theyve evaluated and considered the use of advanced transmission technologies when submitting already-required paperwork to the Public Utility Commission.

House Bill 2264, sponsored by Rep. Nathan Davidson (D-Dauphin), would direct utility companies to establish opt-in virtual power plant programs.

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Instead of building more large power plants and adding more capacity to the grid, which I think we all generally support in a variety of ways, virtual power plants connect things like rooftop solar panels, home battery storage systems and smart thermostats so they can work together in support of a strained grid, particularly in times of large peaks in energy demand, Davidson said during a committee meeting Monday. I think this bill is a practical solution to a problem we are all feeling today.

Advanced transmission technologies

Advanced transmission technology includes both hardware and software.

Examples cited during the hearing include sensors that monitor things like weather and power line temperature in real time, allowing power suppliers to increase electricity flow safely when conditions are optimal.

Another would be high performance conductors, which could replace standard cables on power lines. Theyre made of materials that reduce energy losses during transmission by up to 40% compared to traditional wires.

Paige Rodrigues holds up a model high performance conductor while testifying at a House Energy Committee meeting on Monday, March 16, 2026. (Screenshot from livestream)

According to Paige Rodrigues, the senior manager for policy and grid safety at CTC Global, which manufactures the conductors, they cost roughly twice as much per foot as traditional conductors, but can also roughly double energy capacity. They also reduce cable sag, allowing greater space between towers when installing new power lines.

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Jenny Netherton is an energy modernization project officer at Pew Charitable Trust, a nonprofit think tank. She said advanced transmission technologies can be installed on existing energy infrastructure in mere months, whereas building new power lines and plants can take years.

They can also reduce power bills by helping to solve a problem known as grid congestion. When a power grid lacks sufficient capacity, energy providers often have to release more expensive forms of energy to meet demand.

Netherton said that the technology is already being used. She said in 2002, PPL deployed dynamic line reading sensors on three bottlenecked power lines in central Pennsylvania for under $1 million, which resulted in $65 million in congestion cost savings.

And she said 18 states across the country, five in the PJM region, have already adopted policies aimed at increasing the use of such technologies. PJM ensures the flow of power to utilities in all or parts of 13 states from New Jersey to Illinois and the New York border to North Carolina.

Virtual Power Plants

Chris DAgostino, the Pennsylvania policy principal for Advanced Energy United, an industry association that represents various energy businesses, told lawmakers they could think of virtual power plants like a traditional one. But instead of being centralized, its spread out across the commonwealth.

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It allows owners of appliances like electric car chargers, heat pumps and smart thermostats to opt in to a program that would network their devices for a power supplier to remotely direct to expend power or use less.

When coordinated together, they operate like a single power plant from the grid operators perspective, DAgostino said.

Particularly at times of heavy energy usage, like extremely hot or cold days, a subtle change to hundreds or thousands of thermostats, for example, can substantially bring down demand on a power grid.

DAgostino stressed that participation in the program would be voluntary, but incentivized by lower utility bills and rebates from a customers utility company.

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Leah Gibbons, the director of regulatory affairs at NRG Energy, a company that operates virtual power plants, said that a similar program has already been running in Texas since a 2021 winter storm caused substantial disruptions to the power grid there.

She noted the program was particularly successful because that storm prompted so many to invest in technology like solar panels and home batteries to ensure they could keep their homes powered in the event another storm knocked out their grid. But those panels and batteries ended up contributing to a virtual power plant as well.

When lawmakers raised concerns that customers may be hesitant to give a power company control over their home appliances, Gibbons stressed that any change to an individual appliance, like a thermostat, would be almost undetectable. And she said, in her experience, clear communication makes people more willing to sign up.

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The key to having these programs work is that theyre transparent and theyre easy to understand, she said. They also can override them at any time.

Neither bill received a vote Monday.

As it stands, only Democrats are attached to both bills, but Republicans have shown some support for the technologies.

Pennsylvania U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick, for example, is a co-sponsor on a federal bipartisan bill that would encourage the use of advanced transmission technology nationally.
Pakistan's Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said in a post on social media platform X that Pakistan had targeted "military installations" and "terrorist support infrastructure" in Kabul.

A Pakistani airstrike hit a drug rehabilitation hospital in Kabul, killing or wounding an unspecified number of people, an Afghan Taliban spokesperson said on Monday, an action that Pakistan rejected, saying it had targeted "military installations".

Pakistan's Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said in a post on social media platform X that Pakistan had targeted "military installations" and "terrorist support infrastructure" in Kabul and Nangarhar.

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It said the targeted sites included facilities hosting ammunition and equipment used by Afghan Taliban militants and "Fitna al-Khawarij" fighters, a term Pakistan uses for militants.

Pakistan's military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Pakistani airstrikes target militant strongholds

Fighting between the two nations erupted last month with Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan that Islamabad said targeted militant strongholds. Afghanistan called the strikes a violation of its sovereignty and launched its own attacks.

An Afghan Taliban fighter sit next to an anti-aircraft gun near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border in Spin Boldak, Kandahar Province, following exchanges of fire between Pakistani and Afghan forces in Afghanistan, October 15, 2025. (credit: REUTERS/STRINGER)

Militancy has been a contentious issue between the neighboring allies-turned-foes, with Islamabad saying Kabul provides a haven to militants launching attacks on Pakistan. The Taliban deny the allegation, saying tackling militancy is Pakistan's internal problem.
A wrongful death lawsuit filed in California has drawn national attention after an 11-year-old e-bike rider was named as one of the parties allegedly involved in a chain of events that ended with the death of a four-year-old boy.

The case stems from a tragic incident on August 8, 2024, in the city of Burlingame, south of San Francisco. According to reporting by the Daily Mail and the San Francisco Chronicle, four-year-old Ayden Fang was struck and killed when an SUV crashed onto a sidewalk outside a restaurant where his parents were dining.

The Chain of Events

Court filings described a sequence of events that began in a nearby parking lot. The lawsuit, filed by Aydens father Ming Fang, alleges that an 11-year-old boy was riding an electric bike in the lot with his 10-year-old sister when a Jeep SUV driven by 19-year-old Mari Abey attempted to pull out.

Image Credit: KTVU FOX 2 San Francisco/YouTube.

The SUV allegedly collided with the e-bike. According to the complaint, the impact caused Abey to press the accelerator instead of the brake. The vehicle then surged forward, reaching a speed of about 27 miles per hour before leaving the parking area.

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Investigators say the SUV crossed onto the sidewalk and struck Ayden, who had been playing outside the restaurant. The vehicle then crashed into the front of the building. The lawsuit claims Aydens parents rushed outside and discovered their son trapped beneath the SUV.

Ayden died at the scene.

Multiple Parties Named in Civil Suit

In the civil complaint, Ming Fang alleges that multiple parties share responsibility for the crash and its aftermath. The lawsuit names the young e-bike rider, the SUV driver, and the city of Burlingame.

Ayden's parents / Image Credit: KTVU FOX 2 San Francisco/YouTube.

The filing argues that the 11-year-old should not have been operating the e-bike because the vehicles manual lists 12 as the recommended minimum rider age. It also claims the childs parents should not have allowed him to ride the bike in areas with vehicle traffic.

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The lawsuit further alleges that the SUV driver was inexperienced and had only recently obtained her drivers license. It also claims she was taking medications that could impair judgment at the time of the crash.

Earlier this year the San Mateo County District Attorneys Office reviewed the incident but declined to file criminal charges against the driver. Prosecutors said in January that there was not enough evidence to prove vehicular manslaughter beyond a reasonable doubt.

Following that decision, Aydens family pursued civil litigation.

Allegations of City Negligence

Fang has also accused the city of Burlingame of failing to address long standing safety concerns at the parking lot where the crash began. According to the lawsuit, the driveway exit had visibility problems that made it difficult for drivers to see oncoming traffic.

Image Credit: KTVU FOX 2 San Francisco/YouTube.

The complaint claims that parked vehicles near the exit could block sight lines. Abey reportedly told first responders she could not see the children on the e bike because an SUV was parked next to the driveway exit.

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The lawsuit also states that the city had received close to a dozen complaints about the layout of the parking lot in the years leading up to the incident. According to the filing, officials had already planned to remove a problematic parking space as part of a redesign scheduled for 2025, but the change had not yet been implemented.

Fang said the legal action is intended not only to seek accountability but also to push for stronger pedestrian safety measures.

We want to expose all the broken regulations and infrastructure issues and improve pedestrian safety, Fang told the San Francisco Chronicle. We want to make the community safer for other families.

A Familys Grief and Quest for Change

He described his son as a joyful and energetic child with a bright personality.

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Ayden was cheated of his years, Fang said. My wife and I were cheated of the sacred right of parents, watching their child grow from a toddler into a teenager and into an adult.

The lawsuit argues that the citys response after the crash shows a longstanding failure to address pedestrian safety risks. Attorneys representing the Fang family told the Chronicle that officials must take stronger action to prevent similar tragedies.

Aydens parents say the legal case is ultimately about preventing other families from experiencing the same loss.

It pains me to think about Aydens smile, his hugs and his kisses, Fang said. But we hope this litigation will help make sure another family does not suffer the same unimaginable pain.

Sources: Daily Mail, San Francisco Chronicle

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VERSAILLES, Ky. (FOX 56)  A dozen inmates received certification to operate forklifts on Friday, opening gateways to new job opportunities once theyre released.

Officials said its all thanks to a partnership with a program founded by a former inmate.

On March 13, the 12 inmates from the Woodford County Detention Center (WCDC) obtained their certifications for completing a week-long program made available through Goodwill Kentucky, the Kentucky Education and Labor Cabinet, Forklift University, My Workforce Future, and the Bluegrass Workforce Development Board, per a Monday news release.

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Kentucky emergency management officials share alert tips as 2 siren systems fail

The Forklift U training process included virtual reality simulations with hands-on forklift classes, customized to meet the needs of facilities that partner with Goodwill Kentuckys employer partners.

Seven years ago, I was incarcerated and couldnt get hired anywhere, and thats exactly why this work matters to me, said Scott Peloso, vice president of program operations for Forklift U. We are bringing the same enterprise-level VR forklift simulation technology used inside large manufacturing companies directly into detention centers.

An inmate at the Woodford County Detention Center was one of 12 to earn their forklift certification on Friday. (Goodwill Kentucky)

Members of Goodwill of Kentucky said Fridays certifications marked the second cohort of its kind to complete the training, following the inaugural group in February, which also graduated 12 participants.

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The Reentry and Employment Services Branch is proud to partner in this meaningful effort to help equip individuals with the skills and resources [they need] for a successful transition from incarceration to the workforce, said Aaron Poynter, director of the Reentry and Employment Services Branch of the Kentucky Office of Adult Education. This intentional collaboration reflects our shared commitment to increasing workforce participation, reducing recidivism, and strengthening communities across Kentucky.

For more information on the services Goodwill Kentucky provides and other apprenticeships and work initiatives, visit the Kentucky Education and Labor Cabinets website.

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 56 News.
Stanford University biologist Paul Ehrlich, who died March 13, 2026, in Palo Alto, California, was a scientific crusader whose dire predictions about population growth, world hunger and environmental collapse made headlines and sparked controversy for decades.

Sometimes called a prophet of doom by his detractors, Ehrlich was among the most public figures of the environmental movement. He was admired and often honored for his prophetic warnings. But he was also excoriated when his worst predictions failed to come true.

Ehrlich founded Stanfords Center for Nature and Society in 1984 and wrote more than 40 books and over 1,100 scientific articles on ecology, the environment and population dynamics. He is best known outside of academia for writing The Population Bomb in 1968, along with his wife, conservation biologist Anne H. Erhlich, who survives him.

Paul Ehrlich and his wife, biologist Anne Ehrlich, arrive in New Zealand for a series of talks on population on Aug. 22, 1971. George Lipman/Fairfax Media via Getty Images.

The book became a bestseller that was reprinted more than 20 times and translated into multiple languages. It starkly predicted that population growth would exhaust Earths resources, leading to wars and social collapse.

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Ultimately, the book both popularized and polarized the U.S. environmental movement.

As a scholar of communications and environmental history, I see Ehrlichs difficult fight for the environment as emblematic of the vast chasm between science on one side and political culture influenced by the mass media on the other side.

And I see Ehrlichs passing  along with others of his generation, such as Carl Sagan, E.O. Wilson and Jane Goodall  as a loss for a world that needs visionaries and public scientists now more than ever. Public understanding of science and technology is critical for political discussion, for environmental preservation and, in the words of British physical chemist C.P. Snow, for the sake of the poor who neednt be poor if there is intelligence in the world.

The battle over the book

The Population Bomb opened with a verbal blast: The battle to feed all of humanity is over. And because the stork had passed the plow, the Ehrlichs wrote, hundreds of millions of people are going to starve to death. Overpopulated India was doomed, they contended, and England will not exist in the year 2000, following a massive social and environmental breakdown.

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These stark warnings, while overstated, seemed at least plausible at the time. Older scientists, including Snow and oceanographer Roger Revelle, had also warned about population growth overtaking food production.

The Ehrlichs were influenced by books such as the 1948 bestsellers Road to Survival, by ecologist William Vogt, and Our Plundered Planet, by paleontologist Henry Fairfield Osborn. All of these thinkers owed a debt to the original Cassandra of population catastrophe, English economist Thomas Malthus, whose 1798 book An Essay on the Principle of Population warned that the worlds population would inevitably outstrip its food supply.

Even worse, Malthus predicted, efforts to produce more food would simply continue the cycle of famine and poverty. However, new crops and agricultural techniques forestalled Malthus catastrophe in the 19th century. As a result, the term Malthusian came to signify overly pessimistic views about complex social problems.

A different sort of Malthusian

Handsome and well-spoken, Ehrlich captured the public imagination through news articles, public lectures and television appearances. The Population Bomb launched him into the center of a raging global debate over environment and conservation. He appeared as a guest on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson more than 20 times in the 1970s and early 80s.

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This wasnt the typical public profile for a biology professor. As New York Times reporter Robert Reinhold observed in 1969, Ehrlich was representative, perhaps, of a growing new breed of scientists who are willing to get involved in the unscientific and sometimes rough business of crusading in public against such things as DDT, highway building and population growth.

Not all environmental advocates agreed with Ehrlichs view that population growth was the critical threat. Another prominent biologist, Barry Commoner, saw faulty technology as the primary source of environmental problems.

In fairness, Ehrlich and his frequent collaborator, physicist John Holdren, saw technology and population as cofactors in a complex social problem, which they summarized with the equation I = P x A x T, or Impact equals Population times Affluence times Technology. Put another way, population growth, wealth and the types of technologies people chose to use all contributed to human impacts on the environment.

The debate between Ehrlich and Commoner perplexed some people, but it showed two different approaches to environmental policy. With Commoners approach, technological problems such as toxic waste and nuclear radiation, would be solved through cleanups and improved processes.

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Ehrlich said reducing overconsumption and addressing population growth would also help ease these challenges. To slow population growth, Ehrlich called for promoting contraception and increasing access to abortions, and perhaps even resorting to coercive methods, such as forced sterilization.

By the 1970s, a focus on population growth had become widely accepted. The first United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, held in Stockholm in 1972, ranked population growth alongside pollution and underdevelopment as the top action items on the global agenda. Later that year, a prominent European think tank, the Club of Rome, echoed Ehrlichs warnings in its widely circulated Limits to Growth report.

Scarcity or abundance?

World population continued to grow through the 1970s and 80s, but the impacts that Ehrlich predicted did not occur. This was largely due to the Green Revolution, a broad campaign by governments and research institutes to provide high-yield varieties of wheat and rice, along with pesticides and mechanized agriculture, to developing countries. These new tools increased harvests and dramatically reduced the risk of famine.

Agricultural scientist Norman Borlaug, a leader of this effort, received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970. Borlaug made a point of agreeing with Ehrlich in his Nobel lecture, saying the Green Revolution was a temporary reprieve and that population control was also essential in the ongoing battle against hunger.

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Conservative economists and scientists werent persuaded. One prominent critic, academic economist Julian Simon, argued for what came to be called the cornucopian view, which held that the only limits to growth were imagination and ingenuity. Simon said the Earth had infinite capacity to provide materials and that humans would constantly innovate and find new ways to use them.

In 1980 Simon publicly bet Ehrlich that prices of five important industrial raw materials  copper, nickel, tungsten, chromium and tin  would fall rather than rise over the next decade. Ehrlich said he would have preferred some environmental measure rather than metals, but he said resources would become scarce and prices would rise.

Simon, on the other hand, argued that markets and new technologies would drive prices down. Ultimately, although prices for these five metals had risen during the preceding decades and would also rise during the 1990s, they declined between 1980 and 1990. Simon won the bet, and Ehrlich wrote him a check in 1990 for US$576.07, the difference between the 1980 and 1990 prices.

A matter of when

After the catastrophes that Ehrlich predicted in The Population Bomb failed to occur, many critics had a laugh at his expense. As you may have noticed, England is still with us. So is India, chuckled New York Times columnist Clyde Haberman in 2015.

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Paul Ehrlich is a misanthrope whod make you apply for a government permit to have a baby if he could, wrote Chelsea Follett of the libertarian Cato Institute in 2023.

Ehrlich and his supporters replied that while the Green Revolution might have forestalled widespread famine, human impacts were weighing ever more heavily on the planet. Taking problems such as climate change and toxic pollution into account, Ehrlich asserted in 2009 that The Population Bomb had been way too optimistic.

In his 2023 memoir, Life, Ehrlich expressed deep gratitude for a 70-year career in science. However, he was frustrated over what he saw as the inability of science to penetrate Americas stubbornly unscientific political culture. He was also saddened that the environmental movement was failing to effectively oppose the forces that pose existential threats to civilization. Throughout his career as a public scholar, Ehrlich was never afraid to look into the abyss.

This article has been updated to correct the date of Ehrlichs death.

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This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: William J. (Bill) Kovarik, Radford University

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William J. (Bill) Kovarik does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
A super PAC backing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) for Senate is airing television ads in Palm Beach, Fla., where President Trump is spending the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago resort, as his endorsement in a competitive primary runoff hangs in the balance.

Lone Star Liberty PAC came out with a new television ad on Friday that accuses Paxtons opponent, Rep. John Cornyn (R-Texas), of having betrayed Trump, citing his votes to confirm Merrick Garland as U.S. attorney general and Lisa Monaco as deputy attorney general in 2021.

John Cornyn betrayed President Trump, and he doesnt deserve our trust the one-minute spot states. It concludes with a clip from earlier in the week of Cornyn telling an NBC News reporter to go away.

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The play comes as Trump is still reportedly weighing an endorsement in the closely watched race, which advanced to a runoff after neither candidate secured enough votes in the March 3 GOP primary to win outright.

Top Republicans on Capitol Hill have been lobbying Trump behind the scenes to back Cornyn amid concerns that the seat could be costly to defend in the general election if Paxton, whose time as attorney general has been mired in controversy, wins.

The winner of the May 26 runoff will face Texas state Rep. James Talarico (D) in November.

Trump has so far declined to wade into the race but signaled several times in recent weeks that he was nearing a decision. The president told NBC News in a phone interview on Saturday that he like[s] both candidates very much and expected to make up his mind in the next week.

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A lot has to do with the SAVE America Act. A lot is going to determine  Republicans have to get that passed, because that will secure voting in this country, Trump said, according to the network.

Trump previously asked whoever he did not endorse to drop out of the race, something Paxton said he would consider doing on the condition that Senate leaders agreed to lift the filibuster to advance the SAVE Act.

Republicans have been facing pressure to pass the nationwide voter ID bill, which would also require proof of U.S. citizenship to register in federal elections, with midterm primaries already underway in some states.

The measure has passed the House but stalled in the Senate, largely because Republicans lack the required 60 votes needed to break a Democratic filibuster and move it forward.

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On Wednesday, Cornyn reversed his longstanding opposition to eliminating the filibuster, saying he was open to changing the rule.

After careful consideration, I support whatever changes to Senate rules that may prove necessary for us to get the SAVE America Act and homeland security funding past the Democrats obstruction, through the Senate, and on the presidents desk for his signature, Cornyn wrote in an op-ed published by the New York Post.

The senator denied later that day that he switched his stance to curry favor with Trump in hopes of earning the presidents endorsement.

Id say thats not true, Cornyn told a reporter when asked to respond to the speculation.

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Chad-Alan Carr turned himself in to Pennsylvania State Police on March 13, two weeks after resigning as mayor of Gettysburg Borough, Us Weekly reports. The 48-year-old faces two felony counts of photograph/film/depict on computer sex acts involving a child and one misdemeanor count of corruption of minors.

The charges stem from allegations that Carr exchanged sexually explicit messages and exploited a victim during Skype calls beginning in 2012 or 2013, when the alleged victim was a high school student between 16 and 17, according to WGAL. Investigators say the communications involved sharing explicit images and videos.

State police began investigating after receiving a tip on Feb. 26. Carr, who volunteered with community and school organizations, reportedly met the victim while working on a local theatre production.

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Carr stepped down from his position just weeks into his first term, citing a personal matter unrelated to the borough. According to the Evening Sun, Carr told his campaign manager he shared inappropriate messages with the victim.

Adams County District Attorney Brian Sinnett said he is not aware of any illegal physical contact in this case. However, other individuals have made similar claims against Carr that remain under investigation.

Carr remains in custody on $100,000 bail. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 20. It was unclear if he had retained an attorney as of Monday.

A former borough council member, Carr defeated incumbent Mayor Rita Frealing in the 2025 Democratic primary and won the general election by 185 votes, according to Us Weekly. Officials have accepted his resignation, and Frealing has expressed interest in taking his place.

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State police ask anyone with information to call the Gettysburg barracks at 717-334-8111 or the PSP Tips line at 800-472-8477.

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(Corrects name of Lopez Chau's party in paragraph 2 to Ahora Nacion, not Juntos por el Peru)

LIMA, March 16 (Reuters) - Peruvian left-wing candidate Alfonso Lopez Chau is closing in on the two leading right-wing candidates leading the race just weeks before the presidential election, a poll showed.

 Lopez Chau, an economist and former central bank director from the left-wing party Ahora Nacion, rose to 6.5% of the vote from 5.1% in the prior poll.

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 The frontrunners, Rafael Lopez Aliaga and Keiko Fujimori, netted 11.4% and 10.9% of the vote respectively in a Datum Internacional survey.

 Those numbers could imply a technical tie within the poll's margin of error of +/-2.5%.

 The survey was conducted March 6-10 and released Sunday on America Television.

 Retired air force general and former intelligence director Wolfgang Crozo placed fourth at 5.1%.

 Fujimori, running for a fourth time, is the daughter of late ex-president Alberto Fujimori, who was imprisoned 16 years for human rights abuses.

 The number of Peruvians undecided or that plan not to vote declined to 36.7%, from 38.5% priorly, still elevated compared with the 18% registered at a similar point leading up to the 2021 presidential election.

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POLITICAL CONTEXT

 Peru, which has experienced constant political instability with eight presidents since 2018, will hold elections on April 12.

 No first-round winner is anticipated and a run-off vote is expected in June.

 The new president will assume power at the end of July.

 The world's third-biggest copper producer with a heavily mining-reliant economy has thus far shown resilience to political shocks.

 Latest official data showed that Peru's economy expanded 3.54% year-on-year in January with an increased production of copper, zinc, gold and silver.

(Reporting by Marco Aquino; Writing by Aida Pelaez-Fernandez; editing by Cassandra Garrison)
Nvidia has been the star of the artificial intelligence (AI) show so far, as this tech giant sells the fastest and most powerful AI chips. Customers put these graphics processing units (GPUs) to work in important ways, such as powering the training and inference of large language models. This has resulted in explosive earnings growth and a stock price that's climbed 1,300% over five years.

But Nvidia isn't the only high-potential AI company around. And investors looking for additional opportunities in the space may turn to another company that's earlier in its AI story and showing tremendous progress. I'm talking about networking giant, Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO). The company has built an empire in this field -- in fact, more than 99% of internet traffic touches Broadcom technology.

Will AI create the world's first trillionaire? Our team just released a report on the one little-known company, called an "Indispensable Monopoly" providing the critical technology Nvidia and Intel both need. Continue 

The AI boom has supercharged demand for Broadcom's networking and compute abilities, and the company emerged as a significant player when it launched its XPU technology in 2024. With all of this in mind, could Broadcom become the next Nvidia? Let's find out.

Image source: Getty Images.

Broadcom's custom chips

So, first, it's important to keep in mind that while Nvidia and Broadcom both sell networking equipment and chips, their selection isn't exactly the same. In fact, they aren't truly direct competitors. Nvidia's GPUs are general-use, providing unequaled power for a variety of projects. Broadcom's XPUs are custom chips, designed to suit a specific purpose. This means that Broadcom's growth doesn't necessarily hurt Nvidia's market position, and the great news for Broadcom here is that the company doesn't have to "beat Nvidia" to succeed.

A look at Broadcom's latest earnings report offers us some clues about what's to come. The company has seen mind-boggling growth in recent times. It works with six major customers to develop XPUs to suit their needs, and in the quarterly report, it said these partnerships are "deep, strategic, and multiyear."

Last fall, Broadcom said a customer had placed a $10 billion order -- and later in the year, the company announced that this mystery customer was Anthropic. In fact, Anthropic then placed an additional $11 billion order. The company also recently signed a deal with new customer OpenAI and has deals with Meta Platforms and Alphabet.
MANILA, March 16 (Reuters) - The Philippines said on Monday it rejected Beijing's assertion of sovereignty over the entire South China Sea, disputing a claim by China's embassy that a Filipino diplomat had once conceded the disputed Scarborough Shoal was not part of Philippine territory.

"China must be reminded that maritime and territorial claims are subject to established international legal procedures and dispute settlement mechanisms, not through unilateral proclamations or social media posts," Philippine foreign ministry spokesperson Rogelio Villanueva told a briefing.

Villanueva said the Philippines had "indivisible, incontrovertible and longstanding sovereignty" over Scarborough Shoal and the islands Manila holds in the Spratly archipelago.

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The remarks are the latest in a war of words between Philippine officials and the Chinese embassy in Manila over disputes in the South China Sea. China's embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Philippines and China both lay claim to the Scarborough Shoal, which is effectively under Beijing's control through continuous deployment of its coast guard. Sovereignty over the atoll has never been formally established.

STRATEGIC SHOAL

Villanueva was responding to a weekend social media post by the embassy that said a former Philippine ambassador had told a German radio station that Scarborough Shoal did not fall within Manila's territory.

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Located 200 km (124 miles) off the Philippines and inside its exclusive economic zone, the strategic shoal is located close to major shipping lanes and is coveted for its fish stocks and a turquoise lagoon that provides safe haven for vessels during storms.

"Sovereignty is not merely claimed, it is exercised," Villanueva said.

The Philippines and China have been locked in a series of maritime confrontations in recent years, with the Philippines accusing Beijing of aggressive actions inside its EEZ.

Those include water-cannoning and interference in resupply missions to Philippine-held features that Manila has often called "dangerous manoeuvres". China has insisted its coast guard has acted professionally to defend what is its territory.

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The Philippines won a landmark case at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2016 that found China's sweeping claim of sovereignty in the South China Sea had no basis under international law, a decision that Beijing continuously rejects.

(Reporting by Mikhail Flores; Editing by Martin Petty)
In Chatham County, a small town became a big one overnight.

It happened a decade ago, when Pittsboro, approved a master plan for the massive Chatham Park development. When complete, the 7,000-plus acre development of homes and businesses could increase Pittsboros population by more than 60,000 residents.

The mismatch between the small town of about 5,000 and the states largest real estate development offers a striking example of how the Triangle is growing without strong regional controls.

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Chatham Park, now taking shape along U.S. 15-501 and U.S. 64, just west of Jordan Lake, is putting pressure on the regions infrastructure, services and environment, but its development is being overseen by members of Pittsboros town commission. Theres already concerns about stormwater runoff and loss of the tree canopy that could affect water quality.

Under a better approach, a regional governing board with the power to approve and shape large developments would bring resources and expertise to determining how major developments fit into the Triangles long-range goals. The Central Pines Regional Council, formerly the Triangle J Council of Governments, helps local governments plan, but it doesnt oversee development. Minnesotas Metropolitan Council, a policymaking agency that directs planning for the Twin Cities, is a good model.

Its ironic that the growth in the Triangle was ignited by a state and regional planning effort that created Research Triangle Park. Now its driven by towns, cities and counties acting on their own and sometimes at cross purposes.

A Balkanized approach can leave municipalities struggling to keep up with the task of balancing the interests of big developments and the interests of their communities. That, unfortunately, is whats happening with Chatham Park.

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A master plan for the development calls for close community communication and involvement as the projects huge real estate footprint fills in by stages. Much of Chatham Parks 2,000-acre northern phase is in place, but plans for the 5,000-acre southern phase are meeting opposition.

The town commission in a split vote rejected a unanimous planning commission opinion that Chatham Parks next steps have not been presented in enough detail. Meanwhile, three environmental advocacy groups have sued Pittsboro saying the town is not abiding by its commitment to public involvement in decisions about the development.

The lawsuit contends that the town commission shifted the real land-use decisions to a later administrative process that strips away political accountability.

Lenore Yarger, a member of Chatham Climate Action, one of the groups suing the town, said the developer, the Preston Development Company, submitted a plan that pushed everything through at once without the detail of a small area plan.

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Yarger said that approach leaves many decisions to be worked out between the towns staff and the developer. I dont think just a few staff members can do that in a way that reflects the values of the community, she said.

The lawsuit is not about blocking the development, its about guiding it in an environmentally sensitive area near the Haw River and Jordan Lake, a source of drinking water for Wake County.

We recognize its happening, but we would like to see it done the way it was originally approved, Yarger said.

Other plaintiffs in the case are 7 Directions of Service, an Indigenous-led organization focused on environmental justice, and Haw River Assembly, a group that supports protections for the Haw River watershed and Jordan Lake.

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Caitlin Murphy, Pittsboros communications director, said the town would not comment on pending litigation, but added that Pittsboro remains committed to transparency, fairness, and responsible stewardship, and we trust the legal process to resolve this matter appropriately.

Megan Kimball, an attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, which is representing the advocacy groups, said, This lawsuit isnt anti-growth. Its just about making sure its done the right way.

The way its being done in Pittsboro is vague, incomplete and confusing. They are sort of making it up as they go along, Kimball said.

Unfortunately, thats true of more than just Pittsboro and its giant development. Whats happening there offers a lesson to the Triangle: A broader approach to planning is needed so the fast-growing region knows  and can shape  where its going.

Associate opinion editor Ned Barnett can be reached at 919-404-7583, or nbarnett@newsobserver.com
By Joshua McElwee

VATICAN CITY, March 16 (Reuters) - Pope Leo urged journalists on Monday to highlight the suffering caused by war, cautioning against news reports that risk sliding into propaganda by glorifying conflicts or serving as "a megaphone" to amplify the voices of those in power.

In a meeting with broadcasters from Italy's TG2 television news programme, the pope made a direct appeal for reporters "to show the face of war and tell it through the eyes of the victims, so as not to turn it into a video game."

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"In the dramatic circumstances of war, such as those we are experiencing, information must guard against the risk of turning into propaganda," said Leo, the first U.S. pope.

Journalists must work "in verifying the news so as not to become a megaphone of power," he said.

Leo did not mention a specific conflict on Monday, but he has been ramping up calls in recent days for an end to the expanding U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

On Sunday, he called for an immediate ceasefire to what he called the "atrocious violence" of the conflict, in some of his strongest remarks to date.

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Leo's warning against depicting war like a video game echoed remarks from a senior United States church official earlier this month.

Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich sharply rebuked the White House for posting a video on social media featuring footage from the Iran war, spliced with scenes from video games and action films. Cupich called the video "sickening".

(Reporting by Joshua McElwee; Editing by Pooja Desai)
By Joshua McElwee

VATICAN CITY, March 16 (Reuters) - Pope Leo met on Monday with an investigative journalist who alleges that a prominent Catholic organisation with ties to right-wing politicians in the U.S. and other countries covered up sexual and financial crimes, which the group firmly denies.

Leo met with British writer Gareth Gore, author of a 2024 book on Opus Dei, a Catholic religious community counting about 85,000 members across 70 countries. In a statement afterwards, Gore said he asked the pope to launch a formal inquiry into the group.

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The Vatican press office said the pope wanted to have the meeting to listen first-hand to Gore's allegations. While the pope meets with a range of people daily, it is unusual for him to have a private meeting with a journalist.

Opus Dei ("Work of God") was founded in 1928 by a Spanish priest and teaches Catholics to strive for holiness through their work. Most of its members are not clerics but maintain strict spiritual practices and often choose to remain celibate.

The group is known for close ties with the Vatican, where many employees are members, including at least two former directors of the Vatican's press office.

Among allegations in the book, Gore said the group practices emotional control over its members and uses its influence to perpetrate financial fraud.

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The organization has sharply rejected Gore's accusations, saying in a 2024 statement that his book was "littered with twisted facts". It did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the pope's meeting on Monday.

Opus Dei has a strong presence in Peru, where Leo served as a missionary for decades before becoming pope. The group says its mission is to spread Christian teachings across the world.

(Reporting by Joshua McElwee; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
Marriages between first cousins will remain legal in Florida At least for the time being.

In Florida, its illegal to marry your parent, grandparent, child, aunt, uncle, niece, or nephew.

But first cousins, at least as far as the law is concerned, are fair game.

Meanwhile, at least 32 states currently prohibit or severely restrict cousin marriage.

>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<

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State Representative Dean Black (R-Yulee) argued its high time Florida joins that list as well.

There was a time when I think first cousin marriages were allowed because population densities were not great, and you know it was hard to find a mate back when Florida was a wilderness, Black said.

25 states have blanket bans on marriages between first cousins.

Nine others mostly ban the practice but have various exceptions to the rule, like in cases where one partner is infertile, both partners are above a certain age, or if the two partners are of the same sex.

Florida is among just 16 states with no restrictions on first-cousin marriages.

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Others in that group include California, New York, Massachusetts, and our neighbor to the north, Georgia.

Ill leave things in New York and California to them. They have their own way of looking at things, but I think we need to do the right thing for Floridians here, Black said.

This session, Black snuck an amendment onto a bill dealing with the Department of Health that would have made it illegal for first cousins to marry starting in July of this year.

It was adopted without any discussion or pushback and flew under the radar for the remainder of the session.

[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]

That was until the final day, when Black explained disagreements over other elements in the bill created an impasse, and the legislation died as the clock on the session expired.

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Despite the bills unceremonious demise, cousin lovers may want to make their proposals sooner rather than later, as Black expects this proposal will likely be back next year.

There are plenty of people here, and there are plenty of people you can find to be your lifelong partner without looking to your first cousin, Black said. So, yes. I think it should come back whether its a standalone bill, whether its tagged onto some other bill. Not really sure. Well have to see.

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This article was originally published in Chalkbeat.

New York City students with a passion for STEM  and an interest in artificial intelligence  may soon have a high school dedicated to training the next generation of technology professionals.

But families in Manhattans District 2 are pushing back against the proposal for Next Generation Technology High School, a new screened admissions high school that would take the place of the tiny, girls-only Urban Assembly School of Business for Young Women. Next Generation would be the first city public school to focus its curriculum on AI and computer science.

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As details of the two proposals emerged over the last month, so have dual tensions: What should fill the space left by Young Women in Business, and how private technology companies and their artificial intelligence products could shape the curriculum at Next Generation.

Much of the opposition to Next Generation has come from families at a middle school also in the Broadway building, Lower Manhattan Community School. Also known as LMC, parents at the school have called on the department for years to expand enrollment from grades 6-8 up to grade 12.

The Panel for Educational Policy, the board that votes on new schools and closures, is expected to consider the proposals for Next Generation and Business for Young Women at its April 29 meeting.

The Education Department released both proposals on March 6, the day after the citys eighth graders received their high school acceptance offers. If approved, Next Generation would welcome its first class of ninth graders in the fall. (The plan to close Business for Young Women in June is not contingent on Next Generations approval.)

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Despite not having the green light yet, Next Generation has already held three virtual open houses. Its online interest form states the school is set to open in fall 2026, noting that applications would open March 19.

Parents ask: Why this school and why here?

Manhattan High Schools Superintendent Gary Beidleman introduced the idea for Next Generation Technology High School at a Feb. 25 meeting of the District 2 Community Education Council.

Panel for Educational Policy members and families of the three co-located schools at 26 Broadway  in addition to LMC and Business for Young Women, Richard R. Green High School of Teaching shares the building  said that meeting was the first time the district school community had been notified of the proposed STEM- and technology-focused screened high school.

At the Feb. 25 announcement, Beidleman said Next Generation grew out of his experience as a summer 2024 Google Education Innovation Fellow, and that Google and OpenAI are part of the planning team for the school. One of the schools goals, he said, is to expand pathways connected to high-growth technology careers and provide advanced STEM and technology programming for NYC students. Next Generation also plans to offer a summer internship program with Carnegie Mellon University.

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Related

AI Trailblazer Google Doesnt Want Schools to Bypass the Human

Caleb Haraguchi-Combs, founding principal and project director of Next Generation High School, said in an information session that the school would utilize Googles new, AI-powered Skills Platform. How much of this AI-powered, AI-focused Google coursework would comprise the curriculum is still in flux, according to the proposals educational impact statement.

The schools academic description includes similar or identical language as found on the Google Skills website: Next Generations special access to technology industry mentors, technology certifications, and curriculum that adapts to the dynamic changes in the technology field are offerings advertised on the homepage of the Google Skills site.

Related

Exclusive: New Google Partnership a Sizable Investment in AI for Teachers

Officials and families question new school proposal process

The community and Panel for Educational Policy members have asked questions about the fast proposal process, speaking to uncertainty around admissions for the coming school year.

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Parents said in a letter to the Panel for Educational Policy that the proposal seemingly came out of nowhere, and families were not provided adequate engagement opportunities before its release. Panel Chair Greg Faulkner said he has received hundreds of similar letters from parents since the community learned of the incoming proposal in late February.

High school offers were released March 5, ahead of the panels vote and months before the proposed school would open. It remains unclear how the Education Department would handle screening requirements  such as interviews or assessments  after the main admissions cycle has concluded. The Office of District Planning did not respond to questions about how enrollment would work for this fall.

A petition in support of the school, created by the Next Generations founding principal and program director on March 8, had under 100 signatures at the time of publishing.

A public hearing is scheduled for April 14, two weeks before the panels vote.

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I would love more transparency around why the department chooses certain schools to go in certain places, said Sarah Calderon, a parent at Lower Manhattan Community School. When we asked the superintendent, Why this school and why here? he said he had no data on district demand.

Beidelman told parents at the Feb. 25 District 2 meeting that expanding Lower Manhattan Community was not an idea that was on the table.

The Education Department receives many proposals each year, including some from outside New York City, said Sean Rux of the Office of New School Development.

This was the proposal that spoke to us, Rux said.

Families push to expand Lower Manhattan Community School

The plan to close the underenrolled Business for Young Women school has been percolating for a few years  with just 91 students this year, its the smallest district high school in the city, said Education Department officials.

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Families at Lower Manhattan Community School say they have pushed for years to expand into a 612 model, and would like to move into the space used by Business for Young Women, if closed.

A proposal to expand LMC could potentially open up sixth grade admissions to applicants citywide, but we have not been given the opportunity to even submit a proposal, said Anne Hager, a parent of a sixth grader at Lower Manhattan School.

At a PTA meeting with Education Department staff on Wednesday, LMCs Student Leadership Team presented its case to expand the school instead of opening Next Generation.

A new 6-12 would eliminate the need for LMC students to go through a second, onerous application process, something that students with disabilities would especially benefit from, they said. The presentation also cited Department of Education data from 2024 that showed 6-12 schools have nearly three times higher demand than their 6-8 middle school counterparts.

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District 2 has a higher proportion of screened and specialized high schools compared with citywide averages.

The departments proposal focuses largely on space at the Broadway campus, estimating that Next Generation would serve roughly 450 students by its fourth year. All three schools can comfortably co-locate, according to the proposal, though its capacity calculations do not allot for significant expansion for either Richard R. Green High School or LMC.

Debate over AI timing and oversight

Next Generations proposal arrives amid broader debate over artificial intelligence in schools.

The school initially marketed itself in information sessions and on social media as an AI school, though DOE officials later clarified that students would learn about artificial intelligence rather than be taught by it.

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Students need to be creators, not consumers, of technology, Beidleman said at the Feb. 25 meeting. Lessons learned from the past show us that new tech in place creates an opportunity.

Some parents have argued that broad use of an AI platform in public schools should not be allowed before comprehensive guidelines have been released by the city.

Greg Faulkner, who chairs the Panel for Educational Policy, said he first learned of the proposal after receiving Next Generations interest form last month. Since then, the panel has received hundreds of letters from parents opposing the plan and raising concerns about the lack of community engagement so far.

I have two major hesitations with this: We dont know what kind of AI involvement there will be. The development team has not provided a playbook for how that will look, Faulkner said. And in reading the response letters from District 2 parents, I see that proper engagement and process was not done.

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At a District 2 town hall on March 5, Chancellor Kamar Samuels said the Education Department expects to release AI guidance in the coming weeks and will provide a 45-day window for community feedback once its published.

Five Community Education Councils have passed resolutions calling for a two-year moratorium on artificial intelligence use in schools. But calls for broad AI guidelines implemented at the city level are nothing new; a proposed expansion of an AI-powered reading program was halted in 2024 after former Comptroller Brad Lander called for a citywide playbook.

I think the question of teacher capacity and teacher shortages, the research on kids and AI, is still nascent, and the DOEs lack of its own AI policy leads me to question the timing of any AI school, said Calderon, the parent at Lower Manhattan Community.

Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools. This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters at ckbe.at/newsletters.
This story appears as part of a collaboration between The Maine Monitor and Maine Focus, the investigative team of the Bangor Daily News, a partnership to strengthen investigative journalism in Maine. You can show your support for this effort with a donation to The Monitor. Read more about the partnership.

A data center planned at the former paper mill in Jay may fall victim to a bill being considered in the Maine Legislature even before work on it begins in July.

The projects owner, JGT2 Redevelopment, has an agreement with a national data center company, Sentinel Data Centers, to occupy a total of 1 million square feet on two floors of the former paper mill long owned by International Paper, which was a regional powerhouse employing more than a thousand people before closing in 2023.

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The planned revamp of the mill has not been previously reported. But a recent bill approved by the Legislatures energy committee would limit new data centers in the state for about a year. If it passes, the moratorium would effectively kill the project, said Tony McDonald, a longtime commercial developer in the state who is behind the data center project.

The moratorium would put a damper on investment in other multimillion-dollar projects, McDonald and other businesspeople said. The bill still needs approval from both chambers and Gov. Janet Mills.

The moratorium would be disastrous for us, said McDonald, who works at the Boulos Co. real estate and has partnered with New Mill Capital Holdings, Infinity Asset Solutions and Camjay LLC on the project.

Sentinel is very concerned about the path the bill will take, he said. The client, through McDonald, declined an interview about its plans. The Democratic-led version of the bill would not allow exceptions for any data center projects.

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The bill comes after Lewiston and Wiscasset halted proposed data centers amid public outcry over their safety and use of water and other resources. It also could threaten a $300 million project proposed in Sanford and another proposal for Loring Air Force Base in northern Maine.

The Jay mill once was the heartbeat of the town and the region. Opened by International Paper in 1965, as the market changed it went through several owners, most recently by Pixelle Specialty Solutions. A major explosion in 2020 hobbled the mill, and its owners shut it down three years later.

McDonald said he hasnt seen any pushback yet from Jay residents or town administrators, he believes largely because he is not asking for special tax breaks or other funding as other projects in the state have. Town officials were not immediately available for comment on Friday. The location also is away from a downtown area, which was one of several objections by Lewiston residents to the data center proposal in the former Bates Mill 3.

The proposed Jay data center also has its own energy source, so it wont increase costs to ratepayers, another concern expressed by residents in the other two towns. The project calls for replacing the current gas turbine with 150 megawatts of cleaner solar energy.

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We dont need any improvements to the  grid, McDonald said. Were working with what is there.

The site is permitted for the project, which he said will require only minor changes to current buildings. The paper machines have already been shipped to Pakistan, and demolition is scheduled to begin in July.

Maine has a lot of regulations and expensive electricity costs, which make it difficult for attracting new investors, Tony Buxton, an energy lobbyist at Preti Flaherty in Portland who is working with McDonald, said. He doesnt think any companies will propose new projects until the bill is settled.

Doing a project like this requires a huge investment, and you want certainty that youre wanted and can go ahead, he said.

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Local resistance in Lewiston and Wiscasset to data centers comes from fears about large artificial intelligence facilities elsewhere in the country using excessive water and energy resources. Residents and municipal officials also said they feel they are being rushed into making decisions about data centers here. The proposed moratorium would allow legislators to come up with regulations for the data centers.

Residents who pushed back on data centers in Wiscasset, Lewiston and Sanford saying they were not provided with enough information about the proposed data centers and their potential impact on the environment and the community. In Lewiston, some of them worried the data center would employ a dozen or fewer people who wouldnt necessarily have to live in Maine.

McDonald said the Jay project would add lots of local jobs. He said building the Jay center could employ 800 to 1,000 construction workers. Ongoing operations would need at least 125 people to manage and maintain the computers, building and utilities, he said.

Im shellshocked at whats happening now, McDonald said.

Support for this story was provided by the Unity Foundation, a fund at the Maine Community Foundation and donations by BDN readers.
BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First)  The Mississippi River Commission will visit Baton Rouge for its yearly high-water inspection trip along the river.

The commission will hold public hearings in Riverside communities from March 23 to March 27. This gives residents, businesses, and local leaders a chance to share their concerns and ideas about river system issues.

The Baton Rouge hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on March 27 at the City Dock above the USS Kidd, located along the downtown riverfront.

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The hearings take place on the Motor Vessel Mississippi. This vessel belongs to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and is used for the commissions yearly inspection trip, a news release said.

Officials said the meetings allow community members, stakeholders and local organizations to speak directly with commission leaders about challenges facing the Mississippi River, including:

Flood control.

Navigation.

Infrastructure.

Other water resource needs.

A news release said the he commissions president will also present a report on regional and national issues impacting Army Corps of Engineers projects along the Mississippi River and its tributaries.

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The Baton Rouge stop will be the final hearing of the trip. Other hearings are scheduled for:

March 23: New Madrid, Missouri

March 24: Memphis, Tennessee

March 26: Vicksburg, Mississippi

All hearings are free and open to the public. Attendees will have the opportunity to discuss concerns related to water infrastructure and the Mississippi River system.

Latest News

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Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Louisiana First News.
(WFRV)  Authorities in Wisconsin say the pursuit of a stolen car on Sunday evening led to an officer-involved shooting, leaving the driver dead.

According to a release from the Verona Police Department, officers observed a stolen vehicle at 5:09 p.m. heading south on US Highway 18/151 that was believed to be in connection with a burglary in the Town of Cottage Grove.

While attempting to stop the vehicle, police say the lone driver took off, leading to a vehicle pursuit. The pursuit was brought to an end on US Highways 18/151 near Spring Rose Road in the Town of Springdale.

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Man stabbed at Stevens Point social gathering, suspect in custody

An altercation was said to follow the pursuit, which led to a Verona officer firing his gun, hitting the driver. Police immediately provided medical aid until EMS was able to arrive on the scene and take the driver to a local hospital, where they were later pronounced dead.

In accordance with standard department policy and procedures, the involved officer is now on paid administrative leave.

No other information is available at this time, and the Verona Police Department has requested that the Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation investigate the incident.

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Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFRV Local 5 - Green Bay, Appleton.
But if you just I could take oil at 100, the jitters was already there in the tech trade. I mean, if you think about it, the AI goes trade anthropic. Everything we saw and saw for too big to fail . In terms of OpenAI circular finance, I mean, that was already kind of going into this. So it just added, well, it's just a very nervous time.

DAN IVES You need to look I mean you need a resolution, you know, call it in the next few weeks. I think if it goes on further than I can tell, it being like a future proof this week and obviously talking to so many writers and, you know, in so many, you know, retail investors and I get it in very similar to when I talk to institutional investors , if this is something that lasts another few weeks, then all of a sudden goes to Geneva and get some sort of, you know, negotiation, then I think that's something that's very contained relative to the broader story.

CAROLINE WOODS But can the AI trade power through all of that, or do we need a resolution before we see a turnaround in some of these tech stocks?

And we we've not been bullish on tech for much of the last 20 years. So I'm missing you have to be able to navigate this. That is ultimately going to be a contained issue. And it's not stopping the AI revolution and everything we've seen from user conferences the last few weeks to all of our checks, I think you've seen, even on some of the numbers for companies that report Rubrik Oracle content near a few, it's more emboldened in terms of what we see. I think we'll see similar things in GTC from Nvidia next week.

DAN IVES Well, if this is a long dated prolonged in terms of, you know, as we go into, you know, late April, May into the summer, okay, then that's something that, you know, could start to dent some of that growth. But for now, I mean, you you've known Trevor years. But if I focus just on geopolitical and that always sort of was the guiding factor to so much of, you know, our bullishness.

CAROLINE WOODS I always have to wear color when I know you're on Dan. I have to start by asking, for a check on your bullishness here, though, because you've been one of the most outspoken bulls on tech. But since we last spoke, we've seen this war with Iran. We've seen oil pushing toward or above $100 a barrel. And we've had tech stocks continue to be under pressure.Does any of that shake the bull case down?

DAN IVES Always great to see you. And I think actually we kind of have some matching, clothes to sort of deal.

CAROLINE WOODS Tech is at a major crossroads and the biggest bull on the street is back. Dan Ives of Wedbush joins us for a tech check. Dan, great to have you back.

Story Continues

But our bullish stance like it's my view stocks make tech stocks make all time highs later this year. As long as this you know Iran conflict or war is contained into the next few weeks.

CAROLINE WOODS

Okay. Outside of that though, there is also some new uncertainty in the AI space. With anthropic now battling the US government after being labeled this national security supply chain risk. Do you think that's anthropic specific, Dan? Or does that raise red flags around the AI trade overall?

DAN IVES

I think it's anthropic specific. I also think, you know, it's almost like be careful what you wish for, because if you take my anthropic, right? I mean, almost like AI alarmist or AI lama system, you know, in terms of everything with software or cybersecurity, you know, jobs that, you know, they're going to eliminate, you know, where 50, 70% of the jobs.

And then ultimately they jumped on to the third rail of Penn Station. Bye bye. Battling with the Pentagon. And I think, you know, once they got label, what I view is like a scarlet letter right now in terms of the supply chain is same as Huawei. It's a huge black eye for anthropic. I view it as very specific.

10th, Robert, because look, OpenAI came right in there and I think others would do the same. But it speaks to just the world's colliding that you're going to see in AI. But I don't view this as some sort of impact outside just anthropic. And I think to some extent, the goose trade in saw for a while that was really caused by anthropic.

And I continue things most disconnected tech trade that I've seen in my career.

CAROLINE WOODS

Yeah. You've said it's the most disconnected trades or one of the most disconnected trades you've seen in decades. What is the market getting wrong right now about enterprise software?

DAN IVES

And I a that lambs are going to this to locate or basically destruct the software sector. I five talk to 6070 customers. The last quarter three four weeks feel more and more emboldened of our thesis that it's going to be about the stack, the workflow, the install base is Elms have a role. They'll get layered on top or wrapped in there.

But did you do anthropic is going to unseat CrowdStrike in cybersecurity. Palo Alto, Salesforce, ServiceNow. They work Monday.com, UiPath, AI. They're going to be names that definitely, you know, are much more impacted. And the one trick ponies to get her. Yeah, but I think what the investors are getting wrong is this structural view that software done or, you know, seriously dented because of anthropic.

That's why it's a good trade. And I think that continue what the market's getting wrong.

CAROLINE WOODS

Now that we've seen a lot of tech sell off though outside of some names like SanDisk and Western Digital Seagate micron those names is software still the biggest laggard opportunity in tech right now.

DAN IVES

You know I don't think talent I don't think tech. It's hard for tech to work without software because right now the consensus trade on Wall Street is you own Sammy's, you own hardware, you can't talk software. But that does sound functional sort of balance for the overall tech trade to work. And that's why, you know, I think the bottoming event will be viewed as an anthropic event that they did a few weeks ago when they introduced her AI agent, because I think that was the one where you realize the bully that you were worried about.

Everyone's had six, six, 300 pounds squats, 1,000 pounds is 5 to 80 pounds.

CAROLINE WOODS

So that was the bottoming event. What do you see is the bottom of the tech trade though. Do you think the worst is behind us or does it get worse before it gets better.

DAN IVES

Well you never know obviously just given macro and just the nervousness and everything we see. But to me as long as this is a contained conflict, that's gets to some sort of off ramp in the next few weeks, I think this is views a bombing event where, you know, the stocks go higher ultimately in March. And to to me, like I said, I think tech would make all time highs in terms of what we see probably by the summer.

Look, it speaks to the view like whether it's private credit, Blue Owl, you know, I GU trade worries about secure financing. I just think it's a check by check. These companies, you know, really checking the boxes. I mean, look, Oracle huge step in the right direction. OpenAI raising money. You know, another huge step in the right direction.

CAROLINE WOODS

But Dan you know you mentioned Oracle a huge step in the right direction. And we did see Oracle shares pop. They're lower today but still higher on the week about 3% but more than 50% off the highs. But it didn't do enough to revive the whole software trade. So what's it going to take.

DAN IVES

Okay I think it was just I'll call like a baby start to show in it. Karen, I think the main thing is just investors, like they're frustrated because they and Simon is Asian. So you have and outside of pound here you have really Simon's Asian on the software trade MongoDB was disappointing. And look Salesforce you with you with the off quarter numbers like Salesforce Palo Alto a again good.

But it kind of furthers that narrative. You need to see as you go into your call in like late April or May, you need to see these earnings and software. They start to see some monetization in the use cases to, you know, are, as a security conference, very huge, obviously biggest security conference in the world when that happens in San Francisco in a few weeks.

And then very important terms, denouncement the data points. You know, maybe some things that come out of there, you know, could there be M&A in the next few weeks in software. And that's also important. That's all part of buying. But a lot of it is a psychological. You use the risk score from software where, institutionally speaking, to do not enter zoom.

But I think that's the wrong view. Good idea. As the software winners.

CAROLINE WOODS

Okay. Well you you were out with a note not too long ago saying the top ten tech names to own during the geopolitical jittery backdrop were CrowdStrike, Palo Alto, Checkpoint Software, Microsoft, Palantir, Planet Labs, Apple, Voyager Technologies, Vijay, Salesforce and ServiceNow. Who is the clearest winner if global tensions remain elevated.

DAN IVES

And I like to that list I give you, I would sort of the rhyme or reason. Like, first of all, I think some of the large tech names continue to be in terms of like valuations and just more. See for names. If I look like Apple, Microsoft doing as good examples, I think cyber security I think we saw with Rubik's is a good example.

I think that's one where that's probably going to be the area that's the most, I think, disconnected relative to that ghost train. That's where CrowdStrike, Palo Alto, among others. Palantir. I mean, we were just today I become, you know, you know, yesterday in Maryland. I mean, that's why it's hard to walk out of there negative. Like, you know, like when you walk out of there, you're like, they're just beginning what's going to be really a transmission on just a pound tier.

But the whole space and I think they just have a solution no one else has. That's why Palantir, I continue to view this is one where I think it's going to grow into $1 trillion mark next year. I get it, we're going through this white knuckle period and, you know, good is bad. Bad is worse. But I just I keep focusing on my CapEx deals.

I get accelerated what the environment looks like. And that's why I'm just not one that gets caught up. We can have the two in the morning. Look how was doing in geopolitical. As scary as it is, if I just if unless you think this is going to be prolonged it doesn't change reduces.

CAROLINE WOODS

Okay. But I can't be as upbeat when you look at your of compared to walking out of it. Yeah

DAN IVES

Know it. But but but that's why it's a, it's a, it's a white knuckle environment. And I think you have to be maybe like on the risk curve if you think about means you're going to be bullish on you have to be like I think maybe a little more defensive in tact, specifically with some of the bigger names.

But it also goes back to software because like, look how these software names have sold off so dramatically. That's right. Then there's like value names in stock. Even I go can name like checkpoint. A good example.

CAROLINE WOODS

Okay. So Dan just before we wrap up and before we get to our rapid fire round, you said the geopolitical turmoil and the surging oil has to have some sort of revolution resolution in the next few weeks. If it doesn't and we check in, will that be the first time that I've ever talked to you that you're not bullish from here out?

DAN IVES

Well, again, it's I'm not going to do like, you know, some others and predict what's going to happen in the next two years or with that. But the whole point is count I do is like everything that we would have hoped fundamentally is happening. You actually accelerate relative to CapEx. But you you can't look at this in isolation.

You need, you know, resolution for risk on and you can have oil in triple digits and then all of a sudden be sitting there saying, like, you know, it's up and to the right for tax. I mean, that's it's important in terms of the macro story. And we need some sort of resolution off ramp in the next few weeks.

CAROLINE WOODS

Okay. All right. Well we'll check in in a few weeks. But before we let you go, we of course want to play a rapid fire game of this or that with you. Are you ready, Dan?

DAN IVES

Yeah. It's good.

CAROLINE WOODS

All right. Here we go. Semis or software from here.

DAN IVES

So offer

CAROLINE WOODS

Describe the current software market in one word.

DAN IVES

Armageddon.

CAROLINE WOODS

Do you have better software a dip Salesforce or ServiceNow?

DAN IVES

I'd have to say ServiceNow because McDermott.

CAROLINE WOODS

Who was just here on the floor today, most misses.

DAN IVES

McDermott's the government. McDermott's too good.

CAROLINE WOODS

If only he was still here, I would, I would pass along the message most misunderstood mag seven.

DAN IVES

I'd say, Tessa, just given the lack of respect in and valuation toward it, ultimately will be autonomous and optimistic.

CAROLINE WOODS

Most mispriced tech stock on the board.

DAN IVES

Yes. Microsoft AI leadership, Google, Gemini are open AI.

CAROLINE WOODS

Anthropic or the white House.

DAN IVES

In terms of who wins.

CAROLINE WOODS

Whose side are you on?

DAN IVES

And I don't take I look, I don't take sides, but I would just advise jumping on a third rail of cancellations. Probably not a good thing.

CAROLINE WOODS

Okay. All right. Biggest tech winner over the next three years.

DAN IVES

PLtr know memory apps.

CAROLINE WOODS

Memory upside. Micron or Western Digital?

DAN IVES

I think micron.

CAROLINE WOODS

First mag seven to cut CapEx.

DAN IVES

I don't think there's going to be a cut in CapEx this year. I think CapEx will ultimately be accelerated from still where it is. You will maybe flow into a slower growth into next year. But I don't think this is one of those, like the cutting cap back start to happen.

CAROLINE WOODS

Okay. Who's the most at risk of falling behind in the Mag seven race?

DAN IVES

Book. We've talked I mean Apple given I. Which is why it's so important that you don't keep doing Siri. I why the Google Gemini deal is so important. But that's it's a very important times and I think they're going to be extremely successful. But this is a very a key moment that okay.

CAROLINE WOODS

If a retail investor asked you today am I too late to the AI trade, what would you tell them?

DAN IVES

I'd say it's second and third innings and just don't you know, it's don't let the haters get you down. See the forest of the trees.

CAROLINE WOODS

If the party doesn't end until 4 a.m., what time is it on the AI clock right now? Dan.

DAN IVES

Look, it's 1040 5:11 p.m., but we always said there will be times the cops come to try to break up the party. The glasses on the dance floor and the DJ starts playing music. We always said in that party things rap and maybe, you know, the cops are there with lights around right now. But again and then.

CAROLINE WOODS

All right. Yeah, you said that. Glasses on the dance floor last time we chatted. So, the party continues, but, party at your own risk here. Dan, I'm.

DAN IVES

Not a nonalcoholic party right now.

CAROLINE WOODS

Hahahahaha! Dan Ives of one verse. That's why it's not fun. Thank you so much. Always a pleasure.

DAN IVES

Appreciate it. Great.

This story was originally published by TheStreet on Mar 16, 2026, where it first appeared in the Video section. Add TheStreet as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Qatar has rejected Iranian claims that its strikes do not target civilian locations, as missile and drone attacks on the country continue despite appearing less intense in recent days, Qatar's foreign ministry spokesman Dr Majed Al-Ansari said in a briefing on Monday.

I find it very difficult to even respond to what Mr Aragchi said in light of the fact that these attacks are ongoing every day, Al-Ansari told reporters, referring to the Iranian foreign minister's denial that Tehran would target civilian sites.

Since the Iranian attacks have started on Qatar, the threats and the attacks on civilian targets have not stopped, Al-Ansari said.

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These attacks have targeted our LNG facilities in Ras Laffan, they have targeted the industrial complex in Mesaieed, they have targeted the airport, Hamad International Airport, and they have targeted residential areas, he added.

Shortly after the briefing ended, two consecutive air-raid alerts were issued in Doha, with interception blasts heard across parts of the city's skyline by Euronews journalists.

Qatars air defences have intercepted over 90% of the incoming attacks, Al-Ansari said.

While the pace of attacks may appear lower than at the start of the war, he said they have not stopped.

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You might see what some people would call a lessening of the intensity of attacks, but yesterday there were attacks using five different drones, Al-Ansari said.

The foreign ministry spokesman presented details of an evacuation in Doha on Saturday night when the trajectory of an Iranian missile showed that it was a threat to central residential areas in the capital.

The missile was intercepted, and the evacuees have returned to their homes.

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Law enforcement was deployed in parts of central Doha at the time of the attack, with some streets cordoned off in the Musheireb district. The area hosts offices used by international technology and financial companies.

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Al-Ansari said Iranian threats circulating online had mentioned specific companies and locations in Qatar, which authorities took seriously when assessing potential risks.

"The threat to civilians is ongoing every day and the fact that we had to evacuate civilians, and students, and faculty during the weekend is just one realisation of what this means for the people who are living in these conditions," the spokesman said.

Qatar hails Europe's defence support

The foreign ministry spokesman declared that Qatar is "hugely appreciative" of Europe's support throughout the crisis, highlighting the country's defence by the joint Qatar-Europe squadron which includes France, Italy, Germany, the UK and others.

The defensive posture in the region has been helped with our European partnerships, Al-Ansari said.

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In a statement echoing a similar appreciation for Europe by the UAE in a Euronews interview with Lana Nusseibeh, Minister of State at the UAE Foreign Ministry, Dr Al-Ansari said that "what is taking place right now in this European position is laying the ground for an important increase in our defense and security partnerships with Europe."

"These are the times when you know your partners and your friends as assets, and this is what we have seen when it comes to Europe," the Qatari official said.

Qatar's foreign ministry spokesman said that Doha is not aware of any mediation efforts underway, especially while the Iranian attacks continue.

There are daily missiles and drones coming into our country, which means it is very difficult to envision a diplomatic solution without these attacks stopping, he said.

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During the briefing he also shared what he described as a personal reflection on the situation.

This message is personal. But I hope we don't reach a point where we normalise the crisis to the point of becoming accustomed to such attacks, he said.

We hope this will be an exceptional situation for all of us in the region, as the Gulf has always been an oasis of security and stability, Qatar's foreign ministry official concluded.
Khan Younis, Gaza Strip  Dawn marks the beginning of another day in Ramadan. At the partially damaged al-Shafii Mosque in western Khan Younis, the buzz of Israeli drones overhead was not the only sound heard as the dawn prayer concluded.

Instead, a solemn echo filled the air  verses of the Quran recited aloud.

Rows upon rows of Palestinian men and boys dressed in white cloaks filled the mosques yard for one single purpose: to recite the entire Quran before sunset. Some sat on chairs while others lay on the floor, but all remained focused on the sacred task before them.

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Two hundred and fifty-six Quran memorisers  Palestinians who have committed the entire holy book to memory  sat in the place while companions beside them listened attentively, following each word carefully to ensure the recitation remained flawless.

The gathering, titled Safwat Al-Huffaz  The Elite of Quran Memorisers, has become a special collective way of observing Ramadan in Gaza. Yet after nearly two years of Israels genocidal war on the enclave, its meaning has grown far deeper.

Memorising the Quran is considered one of the most noble Islamic honours, one that requires years of disciplined study, repetition, and devotion. Over the years, Gaza has developed a rich tradition of Quran memorisation circles that nurture spiritual values and strengthen connection with religious faith.

The massive recitation sessions, where Quran memorisers collectively recite the entire book by heart, have become one of the most distinguished expressions of that tradition.

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Despite the devastation created by Israels genocidal war on Gaza  which has killed more than 75,000 Palestinians  participants have insisted on holding the gathering again this year in an act of spiritual perseverance.

Among those carefully reciting was 51-year-old Mohammad al-Qiranawi, a Quran memoriser whose dark glasses concealed the fact that he has been blind since childhood.

Losing his eyesight early in life never prevented him from memorising the Quran.

The Quran has always been my best companion, al-Qiranawi said as he paused briefly from his recitation.

By the time I turned 10, I had completely lost my eyesight due to health issues. But even through that loss, [God] granted me another gift. I continued memorising the Quran and relied on my hearing to perfect it.

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Over the years, he went on to teach the Quran to his children and others, who also memorised the Quran.

But Israels genocide has made his journey more difficult.

Displacement, destruction, and the daily struggle to survive have disrupted the memorisation circles he once attended regularly. Still, he continued reciting whenever possible.

Despite these hardships, I held on to my companion, he said. I kept reciting and joined sessions whenever I could to preserve the Quran in my heart and teach younger students the rules of recitation.

Crowd of Quran memorisers sitting in the al-Shafii Mosque hall reciting the Quran by heart [Courtesy of Dar al-Quran and Sunna Institute]

War on religious life

For Gazas predominantly Muslim society, mosques have long served as pillars of both spiritual and social life.

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Faith is a lived practice woven into daily life, rather than something confined to words or symbolic gestures.

In nearly every neighbourhood, the mosque functions as a community hub where people seek not only religious guidance but also relief from the pressures of daily life.

Through generations, these religious spaces have nurtured Palestinians from all walks of life. Scholars, doctors, engineers, and labourers alike passed through the same Quranic circles that taught discipline, patience, and faith.

But Israels genocide in Gaza has harmed that spiritual infrastructure.

According to Gazas Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs, more than 89 percent of the territorys mosques, more than 1,000 in total, have been destroyed or severely damaged by Israeli attacks.

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Israeli strikes have also killed worshipers while they were gathered for prayer in mosques, in addition to bombing and damaging Gazas three historic churches.

The widespread destruction has left religious institutions in ruins, forcing worshippers and students to scatter across displacement camps and makeshift shelters.

And yet, despite the conditions, many Palestinians have made it a priority to establish makeshift religious spaces. In camps and shelters, mosques have been built from wood, tarps, or scraps of fabric.

There, people gather to pray, study, and recite the Quran, even as copies of the holy book have become scarce and often have to be shared.

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These fragile spaces have allowed Gazas Quranic tradition to endure, enabling new generations of Quran memorisers to continue despite the immense difficulties around them.

Thirteen-year-old Abdul Rahman Abu Nimr had just completed nearly eight hours of recitation when he reached the final chapter of the Quran.

I finished memorising the Quran while being displaced, Abu Nimr said. The genocide has transformed his life. I lost my home, my uncle, and many friends, he said.

We are exhausted from displacement and wish we could return to normal life.

The Quran circles with other displaced students consoled me during these times, he said. Today, I am very happy to recite it again, and I will continue revising it so I never forget.

Mohammad al-Qiranawi, left, was able to memorise the Quran despite being blind [Ahmed al-Najjar/Al Jazeera]

Faith under fire

For some participants, the assault on religious life has not been limited to domes and minarets.

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Wasim Abu Sahloul, another Quran memoriser taking part in the gathering, sat murmuring verses with a steady face. But behind his poise was multilayered trauma.

Abducted during the genocide and then released from Israeli prisons in February 2025 as part of a prisoner exchange, Abu Sahloul said that religious practices inside prison were heavily constrained.

The [Israeli] occupation deprived us of copies of the Quran, he said. They prevented us from praying freely or even hearing the call to prayer.

But Abu Sahloul explained that did not stop him from teaching the Quran to others.

We began teaching others to memorise, Abu Sahloul explained. Some prisoners memorised chapters, while others eventually memorised the entire Quran. Some of them are here among us today.

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Freedom brought Abu Sahloul back to his family  but the reunion was tragically brief.

Months after his release, an Israeli air strike killed nine members of his family.

On July 18, I lost my mother and my nine-year-old son, Islam, along with my brother and his children, he said painfully.

I dedicate todays recitation to the souls of my mother, my child, and my entire family.

Despite the loss, Abu Sahloul said the Quran remains a source of his strength.

I will keep reciting the Quran until my last breath, he said. My message to my jailer and killer is that we live through the Quran.





Rebuilding religious spaces

Among the institutions trying to preserve Gazas Quranic tradition is the Dar al-Quran and Sunna Institute, one of roughly 30 religious educational institutions severely affected by the war.

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Despite the destruction of mosques and schools, organisers say they are working to revive Quranic learning wherever possible.

Just as rain brings benefit wherever it falls, working for the sake of the Quran brings benefit wherever it is done, said Ahmed al-Saafin, a director at the institute.

With so many mosques destroyed, we could no longer run our programmes as we once did, he explained.

But even in displacement camps, you will find people gathering to revise the Quran together. They cling to it as a path to healing from the trauma they have endured.

The institute itself suffered heavy damage, losing staff members and large amounts of educational data during the war.

But efforts are under way to revive the institute.

By the beginning of the [October 2025] ceasefire, we managed to establish 67 spaces for teaching the Quran, al-Saafin said. Within just five months, that number grew to 300 children, women, and men, and it continues to increase.

But the gathering at al-Shafii Mosque marked something larger.

The Elite of Quran Memorisers session is unique because it gathers the most dedicated Quran memorisers in Gaza, al-Saafin said.

It comes after two years of genocidal war to send a message that Gaza is unbreakable. Through the Quran, our souls continue to live, and our minds continue to grow. By sunset, the reciters will have completed the entire holy book, and then return to lives still marked by loss, displacement, and uncertainty but committing the verses of the Quran once again to preserve their overwhelmed hearts.




A woman raising two children was among the six U.S. service members killed last week when a military refueling plane involved in the war with Iran crashed in western Iraq.

Tech Sgt. Ashley B. Pruitt, 34, hailed from a large family in Bardstown, Kentucky, and was very, very proud of her military career, her husband Gregory Pruitt said Sunday.

Ill give you something brief: in a word, radiant, he said in a phone interview, trying to hold back tears. If there was a light in the room, she was it.

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Survivors include the couples 3-year-old daughter and Sgt. Pruitts stepson.

Pruitt joined the military nine years ago and had previously deployed overseas three times. She had nearly 900 combat flight hours and two associate degrees from the Community College of the Air Force.

Most recently, she had served with the 99th Air Refueling Squadron from Sumpter Smith Joint National Guard Base in Birmingham, Alabama. She was an assistant flight chief of operations and was an instructor in operating the boom on the KC-135, which refuels other planes in midair so they can fly longer distances and sustain operations without landing.

A crash in friendly airspace

The aircraft was supporting operations against Iran on Thursday in friendly airspace when an unspecified incident involving another aircraft occurred, according to U.S. Central Command. The other plane landed safely, U.S. military officials said. The crash is being investigated.

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The U.S. military identified the crash victims late Saturday. Three were connected to the Sumpter Smith base and the 6th Air Refueling Wing at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, and the other three were out of an Ohio Air National Guard base in Columbus.

To lose a member of the Air Force family is excruciatingly painful, especially to those who know them as son, daughter, brother, sister, spouse, mom, or dad, U.S. Air Force Col. Ed Szczepanik, commander of the 6th Air Refueling Wing, said in a news release. To lose them at the same time is unimaginable.

Maj. Gen. Matthew S. Woodruff, the Ohio adjutant general, called the three from Columbus remarkable Airmen whose service and commitment embodied the very best of our Ohio National Guard.

The Congressional Research Service says the Air Force last year had 376 KC-135s, including 151 on active duty, 163 in the Air National Guard and 62 in the Air Force Reserve. It has been in service for more than 60 years.

I will see him in the smile of our son

Capt. Seth R. Koval, 38, was an instructor pilot for the KC-135R Stratotanker with 19 years of service, according to the Ohio National Guard.

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A resident of Stoutsville, Ohio, he was an aircraft commander with the 121st Air Refueling Wing out of Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base in Columbus. The military said he had trained pilots in air refueling, aeromedical, cargo and passenger operations.

He grew up dreaming about becoming a pilot and to stand beside him as he made his dreams come true was an honor, Kovals wife, Heather, said in a family statement posted on Facebook.

Kovals wife described him as an amazing husband, father, son, brother, friend and airman who was a loving, generous fixer of all things. The most important thing about him was that Jesus was his lord and savior, she said.

I will see him in the smile of our son and carry him with me in every moment, she wrote.

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Koval was from Mooresville, Indiana, according to the U.S. government. He had a bachelors degree in aviation operations from Purdue University and deployed five times in the past 12 years. Koval had more than 2,000 flight hours, including 443 in combat, the Ohio Guard said. He was promoted to captain in 2022.

A life defined by service, generosity and love

Capt. Curtis J. Angst, 30, was in the military for a decade after getting a bachelors degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Cincinnati. He enlisted in the Ohio Air National Guard in 2015, with deployments in 2015 and this year.

He was doing what he loved most  flying and serving alongside the men and women he cared so deeply about, his family said in a statement posted on Facebook by his wife, Mary.

Angsts family said his life was defined by service, generosity and a genuine love for people. They described his passion for travel, the outdoors and music, and said he made others feel welcome and valued with his constant smile and instantly recognizable laugh.

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Those who knew Curtis remember his steady kindness and the joy he carried with him everywhere he went, the family said.

Angst was a KC-135R pilot with the 166th Air Refueling Squadron and lived in Columbus. A statement about his death from the federal government indicated he was from Wilmington, Ohio. He had 880 flight hours, including 67 combat hours. He was promoted to captain in November.

A new father and a new major

Maj. John A. Alex Klinner, 33, had just been promoted to major in January and had been deployed less than a week when the crash occurred, his brother-in-law said.

The pilot left behind three small children: 7-month-old twins and a 2-year-old son, according to his brother-in-law, James Harrill.

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Klinner was a graduate of Auburn University and an eight-year U.S. Air Force veteran from Birmingham, Alabama. He had just moved with his family into a new home, his wife Libby Klinner said in an Instagram post mourning his death.

He was the chief of squadron standards and evaluations at the Birmingham air base.

An outdoorsman who enjoyed hiking, Klinner was also ready to help others. When Harrill last saw him in January, Klinner had shoveled Harrills vehicle out of the snow during a family wedding.

Alex was one of those guys that had this steady command about him, said Harrill, of Atlanta, who helped set up a GoFundMe site for Klinners family. He was literally one of the most kindest, giving people.

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Libby Klinner said in a post that her heart is broken for their children, who will grow up not knowing their father.

They wont get to see firsthand the way he would jump up to help in any way he could, she wrote. They wont see how goofy and funny he was. They wont witness his selflessness, the way he thought about everyone else before himself. They wont get to feel the deep love he had for them.

He deployed four times since 2019 and had put in 362 combat hours and 181 combat support hours.

A man with a ready smile

Tech Sgt. Tyler Simmons, 28, served with the Ohio Air National Guards 166th Air Refueling Squadron as a boom operator, according to his Air Force biography.

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His mother, Cheryl Simmons, said Saturday that she was making funeral plans for her son, who lived in Columbus.

In a statement obtained by WCMH-TV in Columbus, Tyler Simmons family said they were saddened beyond measure.

Tylers smile could light up any room, his strong presence would fill it. His parents, grandparents, family and friends are grief stricken for the loss of life, they said.

Simmons joined the Air Force in 2017 and earned an associate degree from the Community College of the Air Force. He became a refueling specialist in 2022 and was made a technical sergeant in 2023. He deployed three times in the past decade and had 230 combat hours.

Pilot with Birmingham, Alabama, squadron

Capt. Ariana G. Savino, 31, was a pilot with the 99th Air Refueling Squadron, serving as its chief of current operations. She was responsible for the flying hour program and managing daily flight scheduling, among other duties.

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Savino, from Covington, Washington, was a product of the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps program at Central Washington University, earning an active duty commission in 2017.

She served at bases in Georgia and Mississippi and had more than 300 combat hours. She was made captain in 2021.
Conservatives who attend church weekly are the least likely to have ever been diagnosed with a mental health condition, sociologist Ryan Burge reported Thursday on X.

By contrast, he added, liberals who have low attendance are the most likely to have a diagnosis.

Conservatives who attend church weekly are the least likely to have ever been diagnosed with a mental health condition.



Liberals who have low attendance are the most likely to have a diagnosis. pic.twitter.com/eXAuKGMwOu  Ryan Burge  (@ryanburge) March 12, 2026

Burge was drawing on his analysis of data from the Pew American Trends Panel from March 2020, which surveyed 11,537 randomly selected U.S. adults between March 19 and 24, 2020.

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In both English and Spanish, respondents were asked, Has a doctor or other health care provider EVER told you that you have a mental health condition?

Regular churchgoers of all ideologies reported lower rates of diagnosed mental health conditions, especially those attendees who identified as conservative.

Although non-attending liberals showed the highest rates of diagnoses, the implications of this data are not clear, since awareness of mental health problems is also important.

Just as higher rates of abuse may be indicative of a community more willing to open up and hold perpetrators accountable, some argue that higher diagnostic numbers may likewise be a positive sign of higher community awareness when it comes to mental health.

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So what does the data really demonstrate  and whats an accurate view of its implications?

Churchgoers attend Palm Sunday services at the Metropolitan AME Church in Washington, Sunday, March 24, 2024. | Amanda Andrade-Rhoades, Associated Press

Showing the fruits of faith?

Matt Von Swol said in response to Burges post, My family started going to church together for the first time last year. It has been absolutely revolutionary.

He added, No church is perfect, but you can literally go to church for free and get a community, moral teaching, and a babysitter. Seriously.

My family started going to church together for the first time last year.



It has been absolutely revolutionary.



I highly recommend it.



No church is perfect, but you can literally go to church for free and get a community, moral teaching, and a baby sitter.



Seriously.  Matt Van Swol (@mattvanswol) March 12, 2026

Other X users from different faith backgrounds added their experiences:

I love church. Worshipping God. Communing with the Creator of the universe! Daisy M said. And yes. Friends.

Faith gives you strength and hope, Judi Greener said. Ive started praying again each and every day. Im much happier and content for doing such.

I go to synagogue every day (twice a day), Greg Yaris said. Couldnt imagine life without it.

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Katy Faust argued that these mental health benefits reflect a worldview aligned more with a reality that acknowledges good and evil, while telling you the truth about who you are.

Once these truths are denied, she said, people are left to build a replacement reality out of ideology detached from who you really are.

Living in a self-constructed universe is not great for mental health.

Are believers less likely to seek help?

David Stein questioned on X if religious people are less likely to self-report due to any stigmas. Im not trying to imply religious people have more mental conditions  I would expect them to be more similar to other populations.

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In response, X user Melissa said, Or our locus of control is different. We know and can rely on God being in control of everything. This frees up a lot of mental weight (anxiety and depression) because we know we dont have to carry things by ourselves.

Stein responded, That can go both ways though. Plenty of studies show if people dont feel they have control over things they become more stressed / depressed.

Other believers suggested they were not as anxious about the world. We know were in control of our lives where applicable and Hes in control of it all, said Brandon Bohning. Grover Dill added that believers tend to focus their lives on pleasing God instead of other draining pursuits.

You have a small point, Abigail Raatz said to those pointing to a hesitance some believers have to seek out help. But living with purpose and hope does wonders. It also helps to be surrounded by intentional community that want to share each others burdens.

Churchgoers worship at 2819 Church on Nov. 16, 2025, in Atlanta. | Jessie Wardarski, Associated Press

Other relevant data

None of this suggests that faith eliminates mental health struggles, of course, since many believers across traditions experience serious challenges. But across decades of research, a certain pattern has been unmistakable.

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As summarized in hundreds of studies documented in the Handbook of Religion and Health, a majority of available research finds religious people reporting greater well-being and life satisfaction, lower levels of depression and anxiety, and lower suicide risk  especially when that faith is practiced in healthy and loving ways that respect agency.

Although some still raise questions about causation, few dispute the emotional benefits religious communities bring by discouraging substance use and strengthening family and community connections  while infusing life with greater meaning, purpose and solace.
Middlesex DA Marian Ryan announced on Monday that human remains found in the home of a Tyngsboro man are believed to be those of missing woman Jill Kloppenburg.

Friends fear the worst for Lowell woman missing since January

Jill Kloppenburg, 47, disappeared back in January of 2025. Her friends told Boston 25 back in October that they were fearing the worst.

According to the FBI, Kloppenburg was last seen leaving her residence on Broadway Street in Lowell.

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Were very concerned because she hasnt checked in. No matter what is going on in her life, she has always checked in with her friends, Ann Matlosz told Boston 25.

According to the DA, on March 10, the Nashua, New Hampshire Police Department received a call about a possible homicide.

The friend of a man named Shawn Sullivan told police that Sullivan had confided in him by telling him that he had killed a woman by the name of Jill around January of 2025.

Sullivan further claimed he shot and buried her under the floor of his garage on Audrey Avenue in Tyngsboro.

Nashua, New Hampshire Police took that information and was able to see that there was a missing person in Tyngsboro by the name of Jill Kloppenburg.

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The individuals who made the missing person report to Tyngsboro Police claimed to be friends of hers, and they had not physically seen her since August of 2024 and their last contact with her via text was in November.

Last record of any communication from her cell phone was on January 14, 2025, according to the DA.

Based on the investigation, Kloppenburg was someone known to Sullivan, as she allegedly had been in his home before. He had also allegedly been with her around the time of her disappearance.

Courtesy: FBI

Screenshot

On Sunday, March 15 Tyngsboro Police, Massachusetts State Police, and Tewksbury Police executed a search warrant on that house and observed in the garage of the home a large, patched area about 5 feet long and 3 feet wide.

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Using ground penetrating radar to scan, something was located.

The Chief Medical Examiner was able to confirm that after cutting through the floor, human remains were recovered in a bag, however they have not been officially identified at this time.

Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan said they do believe the remains are in fact those of Jill Kloppenburg.

Shawn Sullivan, 40, will be charged with murder, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury, and improper disposal of a body. The Chief Medical Examiner is also working to determine a cause of death.

The investigation is ongoing and active at this time, according to the DA.

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Anyone with information is encouraged to contact Massachusetts State Police at 781-897-8300.

In a statement following the press conference, Tewksbury Police Chief Ryan Columbus wrote that this was not the outcome anyone had hoped for, but they were grateful Jills family and friends had some answers, peace, and closure. They also offered their condolence to her loved ones.

For more than a year, members of our Criminal Investigation Division continued working this case and followed every lead in an effort to find Jill and determine what happened. Their persistence and commitment in this case are just one example of the dedication our officers bring to serving this community every day, he said.

The statement continues:

I also want to recognize Detective Timothy Oteri, whose work was central to this investigation. Detective Oteri listened carefully, gathered critical information, and diligently pursued every lead in the effort to locate Jill and bring clarity to this case. The Town of Tewksbury is fortunate to have dedicated professionals like Detective Oteri and the members of our Criminal Investigation Division, who remain committed to seeking the truth and supporting victims and their families. We are grateful for the partnership of the Middlesex District Attorneys Office, the Massachusetts State Police, the Lowell Police Department, and the Tyngsborough Police Department. Their support was essential throughout this investigation. A suspect is in custody, and we trust the legal process will take its course. Chief Ryan Columbus

The Tyngsboro Police Department also released a statement following the news of the discovery, recognizing the work of the investigators in the case whose collaborative efforts led to the arrest of a suspect and brought a level of closure to Jills loved ones. The departments involved in the investigation included the Tyngsboro Police Department, the Tewksbury Police Department, and Massachusetts State Police.

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The statement further says:

This case represents a tragic loss of life, and our thoughts remain with the victims loved ones during this incredibly difficult time. I want to reassure our community that the suspect is in custody, that this incident was not a random act of violence, and that there is no ongoing threat to public safety. We understand this case is of great concern to our community. This remains an active investigation, and additional information will be released by the Middlesex District Attorneys Office as it becomes appropriate. Chief Shaun Woods

Neighbors on Audrey Avenue woke up Sunday morning to an active investigation.

I woke up to my parents being like, Oh my God, said neighbor Ella White. It really is crazy knowing this happened so close to home.

Monday afternoon, Boston 25 saw a man going into the home.

You dont know what youre talking about, the man yelled to reporters.

Meanwhile, family and friends of Kloppenburg were still coming to terms with the news.

Ann Matlosz has been searching for her high school friend since she disappeared over a year ago.

You dont throw her away, she said over the phone. You dont throw anybody away. They dont deserve that... Like why? Like how little of a man are you?

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Boston 25 crews also saw police going into the home Monday night.

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

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"My compatriots," Pahlavi began, "On the eve of Charshanbeh Suri, the anti-Iranian regime of the Islamic Republic is once again attempting to prevent this ancient national ritual."

Exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi posted a message to his fellow Iranians on X/Twitter on Sunday in honor of Charshanbeh Suri, an ancient Persian holiday discouraged by the current regime.

"My compatriots," Pahlavi began, "On the eve of Charshanbeh Suri, the anti-Iranian regime of the Islamic Republic is once again attempting to prevent this ancient national ritual. But this year, we will mark Charshanbeh Suri with solemn national pride in memory of the brave souls who have sacrificed their lives to reclaim Iran and our national identity."

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Pahlavi called for mass gatherings worldwide in front of Iranian embassies, telling his followers to "shout with one voice: the Iranian nation will not rest until Iran is liberated and the Islamic Republic is consigned to history."

He also urged US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to "closely monitor" events occurring on Charshanbeh Suri, so as to prevent the Iranian regime from reacting with violence against protesters.

"Our message is clear," Pahlavi said, "Our fire, the symbol of Irans light and purity, will triumph over the darkness of this un-Iranian regime and cleanse the soil of our homeland from its criminal occupiers."

Chaharshanbe Suri celebration turns to rejection of Iranian regime

Last year, during the fire festival of Chaharshanbe Suri, young Iranians turned a traditional celebration into a political statement. Fires burned across the country as young men and women jumped over the flames, chanting, Reza Shah, rohat shad! in praise of the founder of the Pahlavi dynasty, who had previously sidelined the clerical class that now dominates Iran.

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Many of the participants were unveiled women, openly defying the regimes strict hijab laws.

For Irans ruling mullahs, festivals such as Chaharshanbe Suri have always been complicated, as their ancient Persian roots stand in conflict with the Islamic Republics stance to define the countrys religion primarily through revolutionary Shiite ideology.

Alex Winston contributed to this report.
Katherine Riordan, a former press assistant for U.S. Rep. Seth Magaziner, has been tapped as the Rhode Island Democratic Partys new executive director.

The states Democratic party announced Riordans hiring in its weekly email newsletter on Friday. Riordan, who most recently worked in communications for Democratic congressman Magaziner, fills the full-time, paid leadership role left open after Sam Bader left in December 2025. Bader, who worked for three years for the Democratic party, including one year as its director, took a new job as campaign manager for Kim Ahern, a candidate for state attorney general.

Riordan, a Rhode Island native and University of Rhode Island graduate, was chosen through a nationwide search that drew candidates from across the country, Liz Beretta-Perik, party chair, said in an email.

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Katherine applied for and was offered the position because of her vast experience in communications, organization and public service, Beretta-Perik said. Her experience and energy will be critical as we begin a pivotal election season working to keep Rhode Island Blue.

A job posting still up on the partys website lists a $70,000 to $100,000 salary, with a minimum of four years of campaign or related work experience.

Beretta-Perik declined to comment on Riordans pay or provide a copy of Riordans resume. A LinkedIn page for Riordan was unavailable.

Public government payroll information shows Riordan began working for Magaziner in May 2023. She previously worked as a staff assistant for U.S. Rep. Jim Langevin, who held Magainzers seat representing the states 2nd Congressional District for two decades before deciding not to seek reelection in 2022.

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I look forward to doing everything possible to elect Democrats in the upcoming election cycle, Riordan wrote in a brief note included in the partys email newsletter.

She did not respond to email requests for comment.

The Democratic party also hired a new data director, Will Hardy, according to the same email newsletter. Hardy graduated from Brown University in 2025, and held internship positions with the U.S. House and U.S. Senate, according to his LinkedIn page.

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A Romanian citizen illegally living in the United States has been sentenced to federal prison for his role in a wire fraud scheme.

Viorel Cristea, 33, was sentenced to 21 months for a scheme that sold fake farming equipment.

U.S. District Court Chief Judge R. Stan Baker also ordered Cristea to pay $679,100 in restitution and to be deported upon the completion of his prison term.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

The investigation into the fraudulent operation began in May 2025 after a victim contacted the Pierce County Sheriffs Office regarding suspicious activity from a dealer purportedly located in Blackshear, Ga.

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Investigators determined the company was a front used to defraud more than a dozen purchasers, resulting in total losses exceeding $600,000.

A federal indictment returned in August 2025 alleged the fraudulent operation took place between March 2025 and May 2025.

During that time, Cristea and his co-conspirators used false representations to convince victims to wire large sums of money for used farm equipment. Many of the targeted victims were older adults.

Additionally, victims were told their purchased machinery would arrive within weeks. However, once the money was transferred to bank accounts owned by the conspirators, the sellers stopped responding to inquiries and the equipment was never delivered.

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Farmers in Georgia and around our nation already face enormous challenges to provide our citizens with food and fiber. Getting ripped off by unscrupulous scam artists  especially those who are illegal aliens  shouldnt be one of those hardships, prosecutor Meg Heap said.

A second man named in the indictment, 27-year-old Bogdan Alexandru Gherghevici, remains a fugitive. Gherghevici, also known as Victor Zema, is a Romanian citizen who was illegally in the United States and is believed to have fled to Romania when the investigation began.

We appreciate the help of our federal partners in this prosecution, Pierce County Sheriff Ramsey Bennett said. Its refreshing to see a con artist prosecuted for stealing from hard-working Americans.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Bondura is prosecuting the case. The Homeland Security Investigations Savannah Field Office continues to investigate the matter. There is no parole in the federal system.

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March 16 (Reuters) - Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi spoke by phone with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump called on allies to create a coalition to reopen the vital waterway.

Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said earlier on Monday that Japan had made no decision about dispatching naval vessels to escort ships in the Middle East. An official of Japan's Foreign Ministry said there was no request from Rubio in their call for Japan to send warships.

The following is from the outline of the call provided by Japan's Foreign Ministry:

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* "The two foreign ministers exchanged views primarily onthe current situation in the Middle East, including developmentsconcerning Iran. * "Minister Motegi stated that Japan condemns Iran'sactions, including attacks on civilian facilities such asenergy-related facilities in Gulf countries and acts thatthreaten the safety of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. * "He also noted that ensuring freedom and safety ofnavigation in the Strait of Hormuz is extremely important to theinternational community, including Japan, from the perspectiveof energy security, and said that Japan will continue to makeall necessary diplomatic efforts in cooperation with theinternational community, including the United States. * "The two ministers confirmed that they would continue tomaintain close communication in responding to the situationinvolving Iran."

The readout added that Japan and the United States would continue to work closely to prepare for the visit this week to Washington of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.

(Reporting by John Geddie, Tim Kelly and David Brunnstrom; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama )
A few dollars here, a quick purchase there, most people barely notice the small expenses that slip into their daily routine. But personal finance personality Dave Ramsey says those tiny purchases can quietly add up to thousands of dollars each year.

How to waste $5,000 a year: Spend $13.70 a day on things you dont need, Ramsey said in a post on X last year.

The Hidden Cost Of Everyday Spending

The idea behind Ramsey's comment is simple. Many purchases feel insignificant because they are small and routinea coffee on the way to work, a quick snack, or an impulse buy online. Individually, they rarely trigger concern. Over time, though, the repeated spending can quietly build into a large annual total.

Don't Miss:

Spending about $13.70 per day on nonessential items equals roughly $5,000 over a year. That's the type of habit Ramsey often warns about: not major splurges, but ordinary spending patterns that repeat almost automatically.

Other well-known investors have made similar points using familiar everyday examples.

Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban has frequently used coffee purchases to illustrate the same concept. Speaking on content creator Jules Terpak's YouTube channel last year, Cuban explained why he often brings up the daily latte.

I did a thing on TikTok where I said don't get that latte, Cuban said. Take that $6 or $8 or $10 depending on where you live and put it in a money market account.

Cuban acknowledged the advice often frustrates people who see daily coffee as a small pleasure. People were like you're killing people's experience, you're killing people's joy, he said. I'm like okay, it's up to you. You can have joy.

Even small daily habits can have a noticeable long-term impact. A $7 latte every day adds up to about $2,555 per year. Over five years, that spending reaches roughly $12,775 before any interest or investment gains.

Trending: Don't risk buyer's remorse  ask these critical questions every homebuyer should know.

Small Habits, Big Long-Term Impact

Shark Tank investor Kevin O'Leary has taken an even more direct approach when talking about everyday spending.

In a 2023 TikTok video, O'Leary criticized expensive convenience lunches. You go to work, you spend 15 bucks on a sandwich  what are you, an idiot? he said.

O'Leary compared the price of takeout with making food at home. It costs you 99 cents to make a sandwich at home and bring it with you, he said, adding that home-brewed coffee can cost about $0.20 compared with roughly $5.50 at a coffee shop.
By Jack Kim and Kyu-seok Shim

SEOUL, March 17 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a phone call with his South Korean counterpart on Monday that cooperation among countries to secure the Strait of Hormuz is more important than ever to stabilise the global economy and oil prices, Seoul said.

Foreign Minister Cho Hyun later declined to say whether Washington had asked South Korea to deploy a naval ship to the strait, despite intense questioning by members of parliament, some of whom suggested such a move could breach domestic laws.

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"The question of how we're going to respond to an ally's demand is a very important one," Cho said. "As we make a decision, I assure you we will act according to the constitution and the law," he told a parliament committee hearing.

U.S. President Donald Trump has accused some Western allies of ingratitude after several countries rebuffed his demand to send warships to escort oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, which carries 20% of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas. The closure of the strait has spiked energy prices and sparked fears of inflation around the world.

South Korea has said it would carefully consider Trump's call for countries, which in Asia include South Korea, Japan and China, to deploy navy ships to the Middle East to form a coalition to ensure safe passage through the waterway.

South Korea already has some forces in the Middle East after deploying the Cheonghae unit in 2009 to escort its merchant vessels sailing near the Somali coast in anti-piracy operations and has since sent a rotation of destroyers with an attack helicopter and about 260 crew.

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The Asian country is ranked among the world's top naval powers, with a diverse fleet of more than 150 modern warships and submarines, largely deployed for regional deterrence and defence against North Korea.

SEOUL SAYS NO DEPLOYMENT REQUEST

Asia's fourth-largest economy relies almost totally on imports for its energy, buying about 70% of its oil and 20% of its liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Middle East, according to Korea International Trade Association data.

South Korea's Defence Ministry said on Tuesday it had not received a request to deploy naval ships or troops to the Strait of Hormuz.

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Defence Minister Ahn Gyu-back told a parliamentary hearing on Tuesday that sending a warship or troops to the Strait of Hormuz would require legislative approval.

In his call with Rubio, Cho agreed on the importance of the freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz for the security and economies of South Korea and other countries, and he suggested the allies continue close consultations, South Korea's foreign ministry said.

The vital waterway has been effectively closed for most of the world's tanker traffic since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on February 28 at the start of an intensive bombing campaign hitting targets across the country.

(Reporting by Jack Kim, Kyu-seok Shim, Joyce Lee, Hyunjoo Jin and Heejin Kim; Editing by Ed Davies and Michael Perry)
No longer do drivers in Utah need to signal out of a roundabout. Manufacturers who collect data about drivers through their cars must be more transparent. And law enforcement must impound a vehicle during a traffic stop if the driver doesnt have a license.

Those are just some of the changes Utah is making to the rules of the road after a bustling 45-day legislative session ended on March 6. With a focus on law enforcement, registration rules, what happens when your car is towed, and other road rules, heres a list of some of the bills  either already signed or headed to the governors desk  that could affect Utah drivers.

Law enforcement

SB226 requires law enforcement to pursue chemical testing when investigating a crash if they suspect the driver was impaired. It also requires officers to review crash information with a senior officer.

HB11 changes when law enforcement can search a vehicle suspected of using red dyed diesel fuel  which is only authorized for off-road use  making it so law enforcement can only check a drivers fuel tank for red dyed diesel with probable cause, the drivers permission, or at a port of entry.

HB217 bars cities and local governments from imposing additional requirements that make it harder to report a stolen vehicle. It also allows law enforcement to wait 48 hours after a rental vehicles return date to accept a stolen vehicle report.

Legal penalties

HB24 changes the penalty for speeding in a school zone from a class C misdemeanor to an infraction, if the drivers speed was between 21 and 29 mph. It also reduces a careless driving offense from a class C misdemeanor to an infraction.

HB423 increases the legal punishment for hit-and-run cases if the driver who flees a scene has been involved in similar cases or has a history with driving under the influence. The bill also prevents DUI cases from being dismissed just because a law enforcement officer fails to appear in court.

Towing and impound

HB136 requires law enforcement to impound a vehicle during a traffic stop if the driver does not have a license or learners permit. Law enforcement is not required to impound the vehicle if the driver has expired driving credentials, if seizing the vehicle would create a public safety concern, if seizing the vehicle would prevent the officer from addressing other public safety concerns, if the operator is under 18 years old, or if another licensed driver is willing and able to drive or pick up the vehicle.

SB191 allows people to retrieve life-essential items from their impounded vehicle. The bill also sets new standards for impound lots and allows the state to enforce those standards, setting a three-year ban for companies that lose their official designation as a state impound lot.

SB120 requires a car to be towed to a nearby impound yard if law enforcement orders the towing without consent of the vehicle owner. Also changes requirements for opaque fencing at impound yards.

New rules of the road

HB357  which applies to newer vehicles  requires car manufacturers to be transparent with vehicle owners regarding data they collect on a driver using the car, and what third parties can access that information. Drivers must be able to opt-out of information collection if it is used for targeted advertisement and be able to delete data that is collected and stored on the vehicle.

SB22 clarifies that a stepparent or foster parent may supervise a learners permit holder as their required in-vehicle adult when driving.

HB128 removes the requirement to signal out of a roundabout.

Registration and insurance

HB47, changes vehicle insurance requirements. If a vehicle has active registration but is not being driven for long periods of time, it does not need to be insured.

HB119 requires insurance companies to disclose when they use, or plan to use, an aftermarket part to repair a damaged vehicle. The bill also requires these parts be equivalent in quality and performance to the vehicle manufacturers part.

SB91 increases annual registration fees for Utahs historic black license plate from $25 to $50 in an effort to increase funding for Utahs Motor Vehicle Division.

SB74 standardizes how insurance claims are made after a crash by clarifying the requirements for filing a liability claim. The bill also requires more transparent communication between drivers, insurance companies and attorneys.

Licenses and titles

HB52 allows Indigenous people to request a designation on their drivers license or identification card noting their tribal status with a federally recognized Indian tribe.

HB228 requires Utahs Motor Vehicle Division to check a national database for previous damage to a vehicle before issuing a new Utah title and changes when a salvaged vehicle may receive rebuilt or be given a restoration status.

HB22 replaces the vintage vehicle classification with a classic vehicle designation, also removing emissions test requirements for some older vehicles.

HB481 repeals Utahs Clean Vehicle Program, which allows solo drivers of hybrid, electric or alternative fuel vehicles to use carpool lanes.

Safety inspections and commercial drivers

HB118 requires all applicants for a commercial drivers license to attest they are proficient in English before training, building on existing federal law requiring English proficiency for all CDL drivers.

HB192 allows safety inspection stations to charge a reasonable fee for safety inspections without a statutory limit, as long as they post the fee in advance.

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Gov. Mike Kehoe has proposed decreasing state spending for Missouris transportation industry.

According to a chart from Citizens for Modern Transit and the Missouri Public Transit Association, Missouri counties were provided $6.7 million for transportation for this fiscal year.

The governor is proposing that the state cut spending to $1.7 million.

For the past three fiscal years, the state has pumped in funds from general revenue to supplement federal transit funding. Kehoes proposal returns funding to 2024 levels without additional state revenue. State budget officials project some very tight budget years ahead for Missouri.

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Missouri already spends a substantially lower amount on transportation relative to surrounding states, according to research by the Citizens for Modern Transit organization.

Kimberly Cella, CEO of Citizens for Modern Transit and executive director of the Missouri Public Transit Association, wrote a letter to Kehoe expressing concern for the cuts.

Public transit providers deliver nearly 40 million rides each year across rural and urban Missouri, while also stimulating $4 billion in economic activity statewide, Cella wrote. This proposed cut will carry very real and tangible repercussions.

The governors office did not respond to a request for comment on the reasons for the proposed cuts.

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Cella notes that these budgetary restraints will adversely affect employees across Missouri. According to her organizations research, over half of the state transit drivers work commutes dedicated to getting Missouri residents to their designated place of employment.

OATS Transit reports that employment is its leading trip purpose, and the demand is growing.

According to Citizens for Modern Transit, the states reported $265 million surplus discovered through a bookkeeping error earlier this year should be directed toward improving transit services throughout Missouri.

Cella said that under Kehoes proposition, 30 transit providers would need to share $1.7 million in funding. Big cuts to the budget would have an impact on how many routes companies can provide to Missourians.

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Were looking at providers, some of them enroll in rural Missouri who will probably go under if not have to cut significant service, she said.

This is going to have a significant impact on Missouri transit providers because the other thing is, its not just the state funding thats impacted. That state funding serves as a local match for many of these providers for federal funding, she said.

Federal funding is available to Missouri providers, but it requires a match of 80% federal funds to 20% local funds.

Many of our providers use the state investment as a match, so its literally a double whammy, Cella said. Theyre losing state investment, but theyre also losing the necessary matching funds to draw down additional federal funds for their budgets.

This story originally appeared in the Columbia Missourian. It can be republished in print or online.
MOSCOW, March 16 (Reuters) - Russia has taken control of 12 settlements in Ukraine in the first two weeks of March as part of advances along the front line in eastern and southern Ukraine, Russian state-run news agencies quoted top general Valery Gerasimov as saying on Monday.

In Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the country's armed forces had disrupted Russian plans for an offensive, with Moscow failing to reinforce its troops.

Gerasimov, the chief of Russia's General Staff, was speaking during a visit to the southern grouping of forces and pointed to gains around major Ukrainian cities in the more than four-year-old conflict, known in Russia as a special military operation.

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"The offensive is being conducted in all directions," the Russian Defence Ministry quoted him as saying on its Telegram channel.

"In two weeks in March, 12 settlements have been liberated by units and military formations of the United Group of troops."

Gerasimov said Russian forces were "actively moving towards Sloviansk," a heavily defended town in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region long seen as one of Moscow's major targets.

He said Kostiantynivka, another town long subject to Russian pressure, was now 60% in Russian hands, with Ukrainian forces "taking all possible measures to stop our advance".

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"In Kostiantynivka itself, there are street battles in the northwestern district," Gerasimov was quoted as saying, adding that assault troops were pushing their way into the city.

Russian forces were also making headway further south in Zaporizhzhia region, were "actively advancing westward" and were also continuing to set up buffer zones in Kharkiv and Sumy regions on the border.

Zelenskiy, speaking in his nightly video address after meeting Ukraine's top commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said Russian assaults had become less intense.

"Ukraine's defence forces have disrupted Russia's strategic offensive operation that the enemy had planned for March," he said.

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"Although attacks are constant and assaults continue, their intensity and the scale of the confrontation are not what Russia had planned and what its command promised to Russia's political leadership."

Zelenskiy and Syrskyi have pointed in recent weeks to successes in Zaporizhzhia region, recapturing about 400 sq. km. (154 sq. miles) of territory and retaking eight settlements.

Russia's top military offices have repeatedly said their forces have been making constant gains all along the front line.

The Ukrainian DeepState military blog, which relies on open sources to determine the position of both sides, said Russian forces were attempting a breakthrough in Kostiantynivka and had made some gains around Sloviansk.

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The issue of territory remains the key sticking point in slow-moving negotiations aimed at clinching a settlement to the conflict. Russia is pressing for Ukraine to give up all of the Donbas (made up of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions), including areas its forces have not captured, a demand Zelenskiy has rejected.

(Reporting by ReutersWriting by Maxim Rodionov and Ron Popeski; Editing by David Gregorio)
Authorities in Moldova declared a 15-day environmental alert in the Dniester River basin after oil contamination linked to a Russian strike on Ukraine's Novodnistrovsk Hydropower Plant threatened the country's water supply, President Maia Sandu said on March 15.

The emergency measures show the cross-border environmental risks posed by Russia's attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, which have increasingly affected neighboring states.

"We declared an environmental alert and are acting to protect our people," Sandu said.

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Government analyses showed petroleum products and aromatic hydrocarbons in river water exceeded safety limits, prompting authorities to introduce containment measures.

Officials plan to install additional barriers at the Dubasari Reservoir to prevent the spread of pollutants and to assess water wells that could serve as alternative sources.

Prime Minister Alexandru Munteanu said the government's "primary objective is the protection of public health," urging citizens to rely only on official information as authorities monitor the situation and coordinate with international teams deployed through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.

Romanian Foreign Minister Oana Toiu said Bucharest would assist Chisinau in addressing the environmental threat and emphasized Moscow's responsibility for the attack.

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"Russia has full responsibility," Toiu said on X.

Since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Moldova  a small landlocked country  has faced mounting security and political pressure that authorities have linked to Moscow.

The incident comes just a day after a Russian Shahed-type attack drone violated Moldova's airspace during a large-scale overnight strike against Ukraine.

Moldovan Foreign Minister Mihai Popsoi condemned the breach, saying Russia's war against Ukraine threatens regional security and the safety of Moldovan citizens.

Read also: Serious breach  Russian drone crosses into Moldova during mass strike on Ukraine

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
(FOX40.COM)  Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho appears prepared to settle a years-long lawsuit against Sacramento, new documents show.

In September 2023, Ho filed the suit against the city, alleging Sacramentos approach to homeless encampments let the city collapse into chaos. At the time, Ho said city officials had declined his request that they enforce local sidewalk obstruction laws and create formal comping sites.

This is a model for the people to stand up and hold their government accountable, Ho told the Associated Press at the time. All Im asking is the city do its job.

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Now, it appears hes ready to settle.

On March 11, an attorney with the Sacramento County District Attorneys Office filed a notice of settlement with Sacramento Superior Court Judge Jill Talley.

The notice notes that the settlement will be conditional, with conditions that have not yet been released.

A spokesperson for the district attorneys office would not comment on the filing or the terms of the settlement, telling FOX40 only that there has not been a final formal settlement reached in this matter.

For Sacramentos side, a spokesperson told FOX40 the city does not comment on pending litigation and directed questions to the district attorneys office.

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The next hearing in the case is set for March 20.

When the lawsuit was filed, then-Mayor Darrell Steinberg accused Ho of politicizing the issue of homelessness.

The city needs real partnership from the regions leaders, not politics and lawsuits, Steinberg said.

Ho, first elected as the countys top prosecutor, is now running for Congress.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX40 News.
A school building has been destroyed in an airstrike in central Iran, Iranian reports said on Monday.

The attack occurred in the small town of Khomeyn, the Iranian news agency Mehr reported, citing the governor of the Markazi province. There were no fatalities. Several houses in the vicinity were reported to have been damaged.

Images from several Iranian media outlets showed a completely destroyed main building behind the entrance of the secondary school. It initially remained unclear which air force was responsible for the bombing.

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The governor in Markazi referred to an attack by the "Zionist-American regime."

In other attacks in the province, five people were reported to have been killed.

Accounts monitoring the war from abroad reported on attacks in Khomeyn on Sunday. A well-known internet activist named Vahid cited local residents as saying that a missile base of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had been bombed there.

Since the beginning of the war launched by the US and Israel against Iran over two weeks ago, more than 21,000 civilian facilities have been destroyed or damaged in Iran, according to the Red Crescent.

A total of 69 schools have been attacked, said the head of the Red Crescent Society, Pirhossein Kolivand, on Thursday.
A new study finds people can detect buried objects through dry sand before contact, revealing an overlooked extension of the human sense of touch. (CREDIT: Shutterstock)

Sand has a memory of sorts. Press into a loose pile of dry grains and something moves, not just where your finger sits, but farther out, ahead of where you have not yet reached. That disturbance travels. And according to a new set of studies from Queen Mary University of London and University College London, human fingertips can read it.

The finding is stranger than it first sounds. People can detect a solid object buried beneath dry sand before their finger ever touches it, sensing its presence through pressure changes that ripple outward through the grains. The ability had never been formally tested in humans before. Researchers now have numbers to back it up, and they built a robot to see how far the phenomenon could go.

When Touch Reaches Beyond Contact

Most people think of touch as something that kicks in at the moment of contact. Skin meets surface, nerves fire, information arrives. That is the simplified version. What this research complicates is the assumption that awareness stops at your fingertip.

Experimental setup for detecting touch in granular materials. (CREDIT: IEEE Xplore)

The inspiration came partly from biology. Shorebirds such as sandpipers and plovers hunt by pressing their bills into wet sand, detecting buried prey through tiny pressure shifts without ever seeing what they are after. Scientists at the two London universities wanted to know whether humans carry a similar capacity, one that rarely gets used because daily life seldom demands it.

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To find out, they recruited twelve volunteers between 18 and 26 years old. Each person moved a single index finger through dry sand inside a covered box, guided by a strip of blinking LEDs set to pace them at two centimeters per second. Somewhere along the track, which stretched more than a meter, a five-centimeter plastic cube might be buried.

Participants pressed their fingers into the sand through a narrow slot and kept moving until something felt off. Before each trial, they touched the cube directly so that finger depth stayed consistent. On average, fingers sat about 4.8 centimeters into the sand.

The setup was deliberately boring. No visual cues. No guessing from context. Just a finger moving through grains and whatever that finger could feel.

What 216 Trials Turned Up

Across 216 human trials, results held up in ways that surprised even the researchers. Participants detected buried objects 79 times without touching them. They made contact-based discoveries 35 times, recorded 30 false positives, and correctly reported no object in 58 trials.

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Signal detection theory, a statistical method designed to separate genuine sensitivity from lucky guessing, produced an average sensitivity score of d = 1.1973. That is well above chance. The response bias score came in at c = -0.112, indicating participants were not simply leaning toward saying yes to every trial. They were responding to something real.

Shorebirds such as sandpipers, lesser yellowlegs and plovers hunt by pressing their bills into wet sand, detecting buried prey through tiny pressure shifts without ever seeing what they are after. (CREDIT: Russ / Wikimedia / CC BY-SA 4.0),

Most detections happened roughly 2.7 centimeters before the finger reached the cube. Granular physics predicts a theoretical detection range of 6.9 centimeters, a ceiling imposed by how pressure waves move through loose material. Human performance fell short of that ceiling, as you might expect given the natural wobble of a moving finger through shifting grains. Still, precision topped 70 percent.

This changes our conception of the perceptual world, said Elisabetta Versace of Queen Mary University of London, describing the sense as one that stretches awareness beyond direct contact.

A Robot Gets the Same Assignment

The team did not stop at human subjects. To probe the physics more precisely, researchers built a robotic finger: a custom-designed tactile tip mounted on a UR5 robotic arm, fitted with four sensors measuring forces across three directions. The assembly matched the size of a human finger and moved through sand at the same two-centimeter-per-second pace. It completed 120 trials, including 20 with no object present.

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Five machine learning models using Long Short-Term Memory networks processed the sensor data. Each model ran with a different detection threshold, ranging from three to eleven centimeters, essentially telling the algorithm how early it was allowed to call a hit. The lowest threshold gave the most balanced outcome. At that point, the robot detected a real object in every trial and avoided false alarms 90 percent of the time. Precision reached 91 percent, higher than any individual human score.

Wider thresholds extended the robots sensing range but introduced a serious tradeoff. At the broadest threshold tested, precision dropped to zero because ordinary sand movement began triggering detections. The algorithm was treating noise as signal.

Median detection distances reflected the range-accuracy tension clearly: 2.46 centimeters for the lowest threshold, 4.43 centimeters at the five-centimeter model, and up to 12.94 centimeters for the widest. Reach increased. Reliability collapsed.

Histogram showing how far each of five LSTM models was from the object when it first detected it during the robotic experiment (20 trials with the object buried). (CREDIT: IEEE Xplore)

Two Systems, Different Instincts

Matching the human data against the robots seven-centimeter model put both near the predicted physical limit of sand sensing. The comparison held up numerically. But the behavioral differences were sharp.

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People produced fewer false positives. They seemed to hesitate when the evidence was thin, applying something like natural skepticism to ambiguous sensations. The robot responded to the faintest force changes with full commitment, which made it exquisitely sensitive but also prone to errors when grains shifted without cause.

Lorenzo Jamone of University College London described the two sides of the study as mutually informative. The robots design emerged from the human results, and the robots detailed force data helped researchers revisit what the human participants had actually been feeling. Psychology, robotics, and machine learning stitched together into a single line of inquiry.

PhD student Zhengqi Chen, involved in the robotic component, noted that the findings open paths toward assistive tools; systems that let people or machines sense through loose material without disturbing it, locating things that cannot be seen.

Where This Kind of Research Lands

The practical territory here is genuinely wide. Robots equipped with this kind of tactile awareness could assist archaeological teams by identifying buried objects before any physical excavation begins, reducing the risk of damage to fragile artifacts.

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After structural collapses or disasters, search and rescue machines could probe rubble for hazards or survivors using touch rather than cameras. In planetary exploration, where dust, low visibility, and unpredictable surface textures are constant challenges, tactile sensing could serve as a primary navigation tool on Mars or icy moons.

Even closer to home, the research raises quieter questions about human perception. The volunteers in this study had no training. They were not specialists. They simply moved their fingers through sand and, more often than chance alone could explain, they felt what was coming.

Research findings are available online in the journal IEEE Xplore.

The original story Scientists discover that humans have a hidden seventh sense is published in The Brighter Side of News.

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The brain uses two key pathways for neural communicationneurotransmitters and nerve impulsesbut what if there was a third, unknown channel?

A review article highlights growing research around the speculative hypothesis that the brains biofieldthe electromagnetic field generated by neurons and mediated by biophotonscould be leveraging aspects of quantum field theory.

While previous research has shown that nervous tissue does emit biophotons via metabolic activityand that entanglement between photons can be maintained across very short distances in brain tissuethe article finds that the noisy environment of the brain makes the idea improbable.

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Homo Sapiens became the dominant mammalian species on Earth largely because having a powerful, flexible, sophisticated brain offers all sorts of evolutionary advantages. However, until recently, we had relatively little idea how this energetically-hungry lump of gray matter really worked, and a full picture emerged only gradually. The electrical nature of nerve impulses was recognized by the late 19th century, and chemical synaptic transmission via neurotransmitters was discovered in the mid 20th century, culminating in todays integrated view that neural signaling depends on tightly coupling those two routes. But a lot still remains to be discovered. Case in point: a new review article suggests that there might be a third brain signaling pathway, dubbed the biofield, that scientists have been largely neglecting.

Published in the journal Biophysics and Molecular Biology, authors Pavel Pospisil and Ankush Prasad from Palacky University in the Czech Republic analyzed data from more than a decade of research hypothesizing that the biofieldthe electromagnetic field thats generated by neuronscould also play a role in neural communication. The most eyebrow-raising piece of this study is the fact that nervous tissue does emit ultra-weak photons known as biophotons as byproducts of its metabolic activity.

This isnt a new revelation, as scientists have been pondering the role of biophotons in the brain for yearseven dating as far back as 1989, when physicist Roger Penrose hypothesized that consciousness could have a yet-undiscovered quantum element. The new study advances this line of research by positing that since biophotons are just light emitted biologically, they theoretically possess the same quantum properties as photons.

When considering such a principle extended across scales from atoms to biomolecules, cells, and even whole tissues, biophotons might mediate ultrafast interactions between neurons occurring at the speed of light, the authors wrote. Specific quantum properties of photons, such as superposition, coherence, and entanglement, could provide a physical basis for biophoton-mediated communication.

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In order to traverse this hidden pathway of neural communication, information would need to be encoded into the quantum state of a biophoton, survive the journey through the inhospitable environment of the brain, and then be decoded by the neuron. The most challenging of these three steps is the middle one, considering that nearly all quantum science occurs at near-absolute zero temperatures to limit the thermal noise that can lead to decoherence (a loss of the quantum state). As the brain operates at temperatures nearing the triple digits (Fahrenheit) and is filled with chemical and structural noise, quantum coherence is pretty unlikelybut maybe not impossible.

Experimental studies have shown that polarization-entangled photon pairs can retain their quantum correlations after transmission through thin slices of brain tissue up to 400 m thick, the authors note, but also add that any quantum-mediated signaling in neural tissue remains highly speculative and likely limited to very short distances.

The gaping hole at the center of our understanding of the human mind is whats known as the hard problem. While neuroscientists can lecture endlessly about how the brain wondrously uses electrical and chemical signals to carry out many biological functions and engage in both voluntary and involuntary reasoning, they cant quite explain our subjective conscious experience. Scientists like Stephen Hawking have argued that integrating quantum field theory into neuroscience is a kind of Holmesian fallacy in which two scientific mysteriesconsciousness and quantum field theorysomehow make a scientific certainty in the form of quantum consciousness. Yet scientists have also found it impossible to fully solve the conundrum of consciousness by relying on neurons alone.

Pospisil and Prasad suggest that the biosphere hypothesis, while speculative, still holds scientific merit, and could possibly be further supported using recent advances in photon detectionincluding technologies like photomultiplier tubes or charge-coupled device cameras.

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Despite the speculative nature of these mechanisms, future research should aim to move beyond purely correlative observations by identifying the conditions under which biophoton emission could meaningfully influence neural activity, the authors write. By integrating sensitive biophoton detection with advanced biophysical techniques and computational modeling, the research area can begin to critically test the central hypotheses.

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Elon Musks X Money payments service may have gotten a major boost as a user shared a video of making a transaction using the services debit card.

X Money Debit Card In Action

On Thursday, user Josh Wood took to the social media platform X to share a video of him making a transaction at a chain gas station. Recorded for posterity, Wood said in the caption, showcasing the metal debit card touted by Musk. He then thanked the Tesla Inc. CEO, as well as actor William Shatner, for beta access to the platform.

The card, which appears to be made out of metal, featured Woods full name, as well as his official X handle, something that has been touted by Musk and Shatner in the past.

Recorded for posterity: the first ever @XMoney Buc-ee's transactions. Yes, that's the beautiful new X Money debit card. God bless America.  (Thanks for beta access @WilliamShatner @elonmusk !) pic.twitter.com/hiBuXzdoCf  Josh Wood (@joshwoodtx) March 12, 2026

Don't Miss:

William Shatner Shares X Money Details

Recently, Shatner shared details about the platform and announced the beta rollout of the service. X Money will offer 6% APY (annual percentage yield) on the account, as well as a $25 welcome gift to users of the platform. Shatner also shared that the debit card could be personalized with a users official X handle.

The platform is a step towards Musks everything app goals, as last year, the company had announced a partnership with Visa Inc. in a move touted by CEO Ryan McInerney that would enable 600 million or so active monthly users of X to fund their X Money accounts.

Chamath Palihapitiya Weighs In

Meanwhile, Social Capital co-founder and entrepreneur Chamath Palihapitiya thinks that the users on the social media platform X could turn their identity on into a crucial financial asset due to the X Money platform, as other users touted it as a one-stop financial hub.

See Also: Before the IPO: How One Company Quietly Locked Up 500+ Iconic Character Rights

Elsewhere, author Nassim Nicholas Taleb shared that the X Money payments service could be better than Bitcoin, adding that there must be competition within private currencies. However, its worth noting that Taleb has been a vocal critic of Bitcoin.

Robinhoods Platinum Card

Trading platform Robinhood Markets Inc. also revealed its new Platinum card, available for an annual fee of $695, offering a range of benefits, including a $250 per year credit for autonomous rides, a $120 credit for the Transportation Security Administrations (TSA) Global Entry and PreCheck programs and more.
At the 2026 Oscars ceremony, actor Sean Penn joined a small coterie of male performers who have three Academy Awards to their name. But the 65-year-old, who was named Best Supporting Actor for his brilliant portrayal of a racist military officer in Paul Thomas Andersons One Battle After Another, wasnt among the stars gathered at Los Angeles Dolby Theatre on Sunday night.

Sean Penn couldnt be here this evening, or didnt want to, so Ill be accepting the award on his behalf, Succession star  and last years Best Supporting Actor winner  Kieran Culkin quipped after opening the golden envelope.

So where was Penn on one of the biggest nights of his acting career? According to a report from the New York Times, the actor, who previously earned Oscars for Mystic River in 2004 and for Milk in 2009, chose to skip the ceremony in order to head to Europe.

Penn won best supporting actor for his performance as Colonel Steven J Lockjaw in One Battle After Another (Warner Bros)

His plan as of late last week, anonymous sources told the paper, was to visit Ukraine, although they did not specify what he would be doing there or where precisely within the country he would be going. On Monday, an AFP reporter spotted Penn leaving a car in Kyiv, and he has since been photographed in a meeting with president Volodymyr Zelensky.

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Swapping a glitzy Hollywood party to spend time in a country torn apart by war  its not exactly your usual A-list behaviour, but it is certainly quite typical of the unusual turn that Penns life and work has taken in recent years.

This is, after all, the man who lent one of his Oscar statuettes to Zelensky, promising that it should remain in the capital city of Kyiv until Ukraine wins the war against Russia  and who previously debated melting down his two little gold men to make bullets they can shoot at the Russians.

Penn met up with Zelensky after being awarded another Oscar (Ukrainian Presidential Press Service)

What is perhaps particularly notable is, where other celebrities activism has notably waned in the years since Russia invaded in 2022, replaced by other splashier and more of-the-moment causes, Penn has remained stalwart, persisting as one of Americas loudest voices in the defence of Ukraine.

So how did Penn, the star who was once best known for his tumultuous marriage to Madonna in the late Eighties, become such a passionate supporter of Zelensky? Its worth noting that this is not the first cause that Penn has taken up. Far from it.

Sean Penn was photographed in Kyiv on Monday (Genya Savilov / AFP via Getty Images)

His activism has roots in his familys liberal politics. His father, the actor and director Leo Penn, was blacklisted from Hollywood in the Fifties after refusing to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), the organisation designed to root out alleged Communist sympathisers.

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Penn Jr, meanwhile, emerged as one of the film industrys most outspoken activists in the early Noughties, when George W. Bush went to war in Iraq in the wake of the September 11 attacks. Penn, sceptical of the existence of weapons of mass destruction, took out an ad in The Washington Post in 2002, in which he called on the then-president to change his mind.

Months later, he travelled to Baghdad to personally record the human face of the Iraqi people so that their blood  along with that of American soldiers  would not be invisible on my own hands, as he put it in a powerful statement to the press.

A few years on, he operated a rescue boat during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, managing to pick up survivors who had been trapped in their homes. Then, in 2010, following the devastating earthquake in Haiti, he set up and ran what would become one of the countrys biggest refugee camps. It was an endeavour that, unlike many celebrity brushes with humanitarianism, won praise from experienced aid workers for making a tangible difference, and Penn was later named as an ambassador-at-large for Haiti to recognise his hands-on work.

Sean Penn has a long history of political and humanitarian activism (Getty Images)

Not all of his ventures have been as well received, though. Penn has been criticised for his past defence of controversial South American leaders such as Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, with whom the actor became close friends, and Cuban president Raul Castro. And in 2015, he embarked on a bizarre trip to Mexico to interview the drug lord El Chapo for Rolling Stone magazine; the circus surrounding the venture overshadowed Penns aim to contribute to this conversation on the war on drugs. I have a terrible regret, he later reflected on the whole debacle.

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His work has also attracted many of the usual barbs prompted by A-list activism, namely that his ventures are prompted less by genuine altruism and more by a desire to be at the heart of the story, like some sort of real-life Hollywood hero (who can pop home to Malibu for a bit of rest and relaxation whenever he fancies).

His involvement in Ukraine initially began when he was searching for a lighter directing project to pursue, after planned documentaries about the exiled Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad and the assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi didnt pan out.

The story of Zelensky  an actor and comedian who had starred in a TV series about an ordinary bloke who ends up as president after his rant about government corruption goes viral, and had then himself successfully won a presidential election on an anti-corruption platform  seemed like good material for a film.

We thought wed follow this kind of interesting story that would have been a light-hearted take, Penn said at the time.

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The Covid pandemic meant that filming ended up being delayed, and it wasnt until late 2021 that Penn finally headed to Ukraine. He and Zelensky eventually met on 23 February 2022; their initial encounter wasnt filmed, the actor has said, so that the politician could figure out whether he could trust him or not.

What neither of them could have predicted was that on that night, Russia would invade Ukraine. The following day, which the pair had agreed would mark the start of filming, would be the first day of the war.

Sean Penn presented Vlodymyr Zelensky with one of his Oscar trophies in 2022 (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office)

Inevitably, the project moved in an entirely different direction. What had been intended as a lightly comic portrait of a celebrity-turned-politician would morph into a depiction of a nation thrown into conflict. Zelensky, though, kept his planned appointment with Penn on 24 February.

It seems as if this second meeting stoked an abiding admiration on the Americans side. I saw a very big change in him from one day to the next, Penn recalled. At that moment, he was the significant target. But he wasnt going anywhere. That day, he found out that he was born for this.

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The fact that Zelensky chose to stay in the capital city, rather than accepting offers to leave his country for his own safety, seemed to especially impress Penn. President Zelensky and the Ukrainian people have risen as historic symbols of courage and principle, he said in a statement released a few weeks later. Ukraine is the tip of the spear for the democratic embrace of dreams. If we allow it to fight alone, our soul as America is lost.

Penns documentary Superpower premiered at the Berlin Film Festival the following year. The unabashedly pro-Zelensky movie  If its propaganda, Im proud, he told one audience  shows the star traipsing through the rubble and meeting with civilians who have had their lives turned upside down.

The response was mixed. While The Independents Geoffrey Macnab praised Penn and his co-director Aaron Kaufman for their sprawling and uneven but also heartfelt and inspiring effort, other critics questioned the stars apparent need to place himself at the heart of the story once again.

The Guardians two-star review described it as a queasy-making examination of the celebrity-blighted news cycle where somebody like Penn is the de facto messenger of tragedy. Was the film more concerned with Sean Penn, real-life action hero, than it was with the heroism of the Ukrainian people? Or was the actor doing vital work in keeping the Ukraine conflict front of mind for American viewers?

The president and the actor have struck up a friendship over the years (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office)

Penn, perhaps to his credit, kept up his friendship with Zelensky long after the cameras stopped rolling. In late 2022, he made headlines for handing over his Oscar statuette to the president, telling him to bring it back to Malibu after a Ukrainian victory. Its just a symbolic silly thing, but if I know this is here with you then Ill feel better and stronger for the fight, the actor said. Zelensky, in response, presented him with a very different accolade: Ukraines Order of Merit.

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Then in 2025, following a tense moment between president Donald Trump and Zelensky during a White House meeting, Penn doubled down on his praise for his friend, hailing him as constantly, extemporaneously genuine in his desire to secure freedom for Ukraine. I think the last significant moment that we [Americans] were bridging a division was in support of Ukraine and its head of state, he said. And if we lose track of that, we really have to ask ourselves if were losing track of the value of democracy.

Just a few weeks later, Penn headed to Ukraine to meet with special forces, and at the Cannes film festival in May, he posed on the red carpet with soldiers, along with U2s Bono and The Edge.

With his latest visit to Kyiv, the latest member of the Oscars three-timers club shows no erosion of his own unique form of activism. Where other actors might have opted to pledge support for Zelensky in their winners speech (and be praised for their powerful words on social media), Penn clearly prefers a more hands-on approach.

Its his personal visit, thats how he sees it, that he needs to be in Ukraine, a senior Ukrainian official told AFP on Monday. He just wants to support Ukraine. Whether he offers up his latest trophy to Zelensky remains to be seen.
Athens-Clarke County police have confirmed that a second victim has died after a triple shooting early Saturday morning.

Dylan Bentley, 19, died from his injuries on Sunday.

Police previously announced that Clayton Adams, 22, died in the shooting.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

The third victim remains at Grady Memorial Hospital in critical condition. Family identified him to Channel 2s Eryn Rogers as Landon Skinner, 20.

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Investigators have since arrested Mark Desousa, 22, and charged him with malice murder, aggravated assault and aggravated battery. Its unclear how his charges will change after Bentleys death.

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Shanna Duren, Skinners mother, told Rogers that Adams and Bentley were trying to help her son.

I call them my heroes, and my heart goes out to their families, Duren said. Im so sorry that they had to endure that. My heart breaks for them. Im thankful. I feel like they helped my son.

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
A semi-truck crashed into an Iowa State Patrol car during a crash response Sunday, Sgt. Alex Dinkla told Local 5.

Late Sunday, multiple semi-trucks had been involved in a crash and were stuck on a roadway near mile marker 175 on Interstate 80, just south of Kellogg.

Iowa State Patrol troopers had been responding to the scene. Around 11:30 p.m., a trooper was going back to his patrol car when another semi lost control and crashed into the patrol car, Dinkla said.

No one was injured.

Roads saw a number of issues due to the high winds throughout Sunday night and into Monday morning . Most of Interstate 80 in central Iowa was closed.
March 16 (UPI) -- Senate Republicans are trying to pass the SAVE America Act this week, as both the GOP and Democrats are gearing up to fight over the election reform bill that would require those registering to vote to show proof of citizenship with passports or birth certificates.

The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act already has broad public support, but Democrats are strongly against it. Republicans and President Donald Trump want a prolonged fight, forcing Democrats to defend their opposition.

Republicans say it will make elections safer, but Democrats call it a "voter suppression act."

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The bill would force people registering to vote to show proof of citizenship with a passport or certified birth certificate. People who have legally changed their name, including transgender people and most married women, would have a more difficult time.

According to State Department statistics, around half of Americans have a valid passport, and a first-time applicant would have to pay $165 to get one. The University of Maryland's Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement said that 2.6 million Americans do not have a government-issued photo ID.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., speaks to the press on March 3. Schumer called the SAVE Act a "horror." Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI

A recent Harvard CAPS/Harris poll showed that 71% of voters support the SAVE Act.

House Republicans passed a version of the bill along party lines in February. But the Senate needs 60 votes to avoid a filibuster. Right now, Republicans have a 53-47 majority, and Sen. John Fetterman, I-Pa., who usually votes with the GOP, has said he's against the bill.

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, said President Donald Trump wants to see a prolonged battle in the Senate over the SAVE Act. File Photo by Jemal Countess/UPI

On Thursday, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said he wants to bring the bill to a vote to "put Democrats on the record."

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Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, told The Hill that Trump wants to see an epic fight, similar to the two-month battle to pass the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

"What I want to do is try to maximize the period of time in which we debate it," Lee said.

"They faced a 32-vote cloture deficit at the time it came over from the House in March of '64," Lee told The Hill. "They were able to close a 32-vote cloture deficit. It took them 60 days, but they got there."

He said taking a longer time gives lawmakers clarity.

"Debating a bill that continues to get more popular even as people are trying to slow it down and stop it and obstruct it sometimes sharpens the minds of individual lawmakers and makes them more amenable in the end to negotiation," Lee added. "That's what we're looking at here."

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Trump and other conservative Senators want to force Democrats to do a talking filibuster, but Thune has said there just aren't enough votes to do so. He said the Republicans aren't unified enough to table potential Democratic amendments.

"The votes aren't there, one, to nuke the filibuster and the votes aren't there for a talking filibuster. It's just a reality," The Hill reported Thune said last week. "I'm the person who has to deliver sometimes the not-so-good news that the math doesn't add up but those are the facts and there's no getting around it."

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Democrats are prepared for the battle.

"We don't yet know what Thune is doing ... but we're prepared for every possible scenario," Schumer told reporters Sunday.

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"My caucus really feels strongly that this would be a horror ... one of the worst things that's happened in the history of this country in terms of allowing people to vote," he said.

Trump has said he will not sign any legislation until the act passes the Senate.
By Robbie Corey-Boulet and Diadie Ba

DAKAR, March 12 (Reuters) - Senegal's National Assembly late on Wednesday overwhelmingly passed a bill doubling the maximum prison term for same-sex sexual acts to 10 years and criminalising any efforts to promote homosexuality.

The law - passed by 135 votes to zero, with three abstentions - fulfils a campaign promise of the government that came to power in 2024, led by President Bassirou Diomaye Faye and Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko. It now awaits Faye's signature.

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Senegal's penal code already carried an article, last amended in 1966, imposing up to five years' jail and fines of up to 1,500,000 CFA francs ($2,700) for "acts against nature".

The new version doubles the maximum term and allows for fines of up to 10 million CFA francs.

ANTI-LGBT LAWS TIGHTENED ACROSS WEST AFRICA

It says a judge may not grant a suspended sentence, or use their discretion to reduce a prison term below the minimum.

It specifies that acts against nature relate to homosexuality, bisexuality, "transsexuality", zoophilia and necrophilia.

Those found guilty of promoting or financing such acts also face prison time.

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Imam Babacar Sylla, leader of And Samm Jikko Yi, a network of Islamic and civil society organizations, urged Faye to sign the bill into law as soon as possible.

"The longer it takes, the more complicated it will be. And these people, whom I consider a public danger, will continue to escape," he said.

In the weeks leading up to Wednesday's vote, supporters of the bill, including lawmakers from the ruling Pastef party, organised demonstrations in Dakar in which participants shouted "No to homosexuality!" and held signs with rainbows crossed out.

The period has also been marked by a surge in arrests of men on suspicion of "acts against nature" as well as, in some cases, "voluntary transmission" of HIV - a crime carrying up to 10 years in prison.

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Some 27 men were arrested between February 9 and 24, according to the International Federation for Human Rights.

Last year, Burkina Faso passed a law criminalizing same-sex sexual relations for the first time, imposing prison terms of up to five years.

Lawmakers in Ghana are considering raising the maximum penalty for same-sex sexual acts from three years to five and imposing jail time for the "wilful promotion, sponsorship or support of LGBTQ+ activities".

($1 = 560.5000 CFA francs)

(Reporting by Robbie Corey-Boulet, Diadie Ba and Ngouda Dione; Writing by Robbie Corey-Boulet; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
Longmont is celebrating a milestone birthday this year, and it is happening alongside two even bigger anniversaries.

In 2026, Longmont marks 155 years since its founding. The celebration coincides with Colorados 150th anniversary of statehood and the United States 250th anniversary since the signing of the Declaration of Independence, according to the citys Colorado 150 information page and History Colorado.

Put those together and you get a word the city says residents may see popping up in celebration materials this year: sesquisemiquincentennial, a mashup of sesquicentennial (150 years) and semiquincentennial (250 years). City materials describe it as a way to capture the overlap of Colorados 150th and the nations 250th during the same year Longmont turns 155.

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Longmonts 155th birthday traces back to 1871, when the Chicago-Colorado Colony platted the original square mile and named the town Longmont, according to the citys website. And in a rare timing overlap, Colorados 150th lands Aug. 1, 2026, marking statehood in 1876, while the U.S. hits 250 on July 4, 2026.

Longmonts CO150 hub says the city plans a yearlong celebration with monthly history themes, plus a column from Longmont Museum Director Erik Mason and a video series featuring Curator of History Elizabeth Beaudoin.

The next scheduled event is coming up March 27. Mason will discuss the founding of Longmont by the Chicago-Colorado Colony. Reservations are recommended for this free event, from 2:30 to 4 p.m. in the museums Stewart Auditorium, 400 Quail Road. Reservations can be made online or by calling the museum at 303-651-8374.

The city of Longmont is encouraging residents to follow along with the anniversary year through its CO150 webpage, which includes historic content and a calendar of events tied to the commemorations. The city is using the hashtag #Colorado150 on their social media channels to highlight anniversary-related events and programs throughout the year.

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The Longmont Public Library, Colorados first public library, is also marking the anniversary year with local history programming and community storytelling.

Residents who want to explore Longmonts past from home can also check out the citys free self-guided virtual history tours promoted through the CO150 effort, including a Women of Longmont virtual tour, a Historic Downtown virtual tour, and a Latino History virtual tour, according to the citys online CO150 materials.

City staff says additional programs and events will continue to roll out through city departments and community partners as the anniversary year unfolds. For updates, residents can follow the citys CO150 webpage and the associated events calendar.
Delaware's tornado watch has expired, but a wind advisory continues until 2 a.m. March 17 as a series of severe storms move through the First State, according to the National Weather Service.

The storms moved into Delaware around 2 p.m. and will remain in the area throughout the night, dropping between a quarter to an inch of rain throughout the state with high amounts possible with thunderstorms.

The storms also will bring strong wind gusts of up to 50 mph and possibly hail. Delaware residents should watch out for downed trees and power lines.

Tornado risk decreases in the region

The National Weather Service posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, at 5 p.m. Monday, March 16 that the threat of tornadoes was reducing in the northwest and southeast areas of the region, but the risk still remained along Interstate 95 and southwest of I-95.

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At 6 p.m., the tornado watch for the state was canceled.

Staying safe in severe weather: Tornado watch vs warning meaning as severe storm nears Delaware

When will the peak of the storm hit?

The peak of the severe weather was supposed to hit the First State between 5 and 11 p.m., bringing thunderstorms, heavy rain and damaging winds, according to the National Weather Service.

1201 N. Market (left, 23 floors, 360 feet) and 1105 N. Market St. (23 floors, 282 feet) are neighbors separated by 12th Street and two of the tallest buildings in the city. They are shown in May, 2023. Information on building heights, even the number of floors, doesn't always agree between sources. 500 Delaware Ave., seen from the south, rises 15 floors above the intersections of Washington and 11th streets and Delaware Avenue. 300 Delaware Avenue is a zebra-striped boxy office building rising 17 stories above Wilmington, putting it in the top 10 of Delaware high-rises. 1201 N. Market (left, 23 floors, 360 feet) and 1105 N. Market St. (23 floors, 282 feet) are neighbors and two of the tallest buildings in the city of Wilmington and the state. 1201 N. Market St. in Wilmington is one of the few buildings in Delaware that can be called a skyscraper by modern definition - typically a building of at least 20 floors - but some definitions would still leave Delaware's tallest building short of qualifying for the distinction. 1313 N. Market St. rises abruptly along one edge of the Midtown Brandywine neighborhood and defines one border of that section of Wilmington. Hercules Plaza, now known as 1313 Market St. (left), the tallest building in the state - 1201 N. Market St. (top center) and the I.M. Pei building all share Market Street addresses and are among the city's and state's tallest. The red brick building in the center (One Commerce Center) houses the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce and other offices at 12th and Orange Streets. The Sheraton Suites Wilmington Downtown building (1989, 15 floors) is reflected in the mirroring glass of the WSFS Building (500 Delaware Ave., 2007, also 15 floors but more than 40 feet taller. The Brandywine Building is Wilmington's - and Delaware's - fourth tallest building, rising 19 floors and 259 feet above HB duPont Plaza. Seen from a parking garage roof, two out of three of Wilmington's tallest buildings stand on some of the highest points of downtown - 1201 N. Market (left) and the I.M. Pei Building. Three formerly DuPont associated-buildings stretch in a row along 11th Street in Wilmington from Rodney Square: (from left) the DuPont, Nemours and Brandywine buildings. The changing biology of the city means some the office space inside the Nemours building - to be renamed "Market West" is being converted to luxury apartments and the Brandywine Building is being relabeled 1000 N. West. 300 Delaware Ave, is a zebra-striped, boxy office building rising 17 stories above Wilmington, putting it in the top ten of Delaware high-rises. The Brandywine Building - or, now 1000 N. West - seen in early spring of 2022, looking out over HB DuPont Plaza. 300 Delaware Avenue is a zebra-striped boxy office building rising 17 stories above Wilmington, putting it in the top ten of Delaware high-rises. It shares some appearance with 919 N. Market Street (the Citizens Bank Center) on Rodney Square and each was designed in the 1960s. The Wilmington Trust Center is built 12 stories over the former US Postal Service headquarters in Wilmington. The I.M. Pei Building (1105 N. Market St, originally known as the American International Building) and Wilmington Trust Center frame the First and Central Presbyterian Church in Wilmington. The DuPont Building looks over Rodney Square. At 14 floors, it was among the city's first skyscrapers when built in 1908. The Christina Landing towers are two of Wilmington's - and Delaware's - tallest buildings. The Residences (left) and The River Tower at Christina Landing serve as rental apartments (in the Residences) and condominiums (in the River Tower). A crew team slips along the Christina River under the residential towers named for the waterway. The Christina Landing complex hosts the River Tower (front) and The Residences. The Citizens Bank Center on Rodney Square (919 N. Market St.) in Wilmington is one of the state's five tallest buildings at 20 stories, 253 feet high. 1201 N. Market St. remains the state's tallest building - 23 floors and 360 feet. It was completed in 1988. I.M. Pei's Brutalist design for the third-tallest building in Delaware gives 1105 N. Market St. the distinction of being conceived by a "name" architect, though the building was not an immediate commercial success. I.M. Pei's Brutalist design for the third-tallest building in Delaware gives 1105 N. Market St. the distinction of being conceived by a "name" architect, though the building was not an immediate commercial success. Three Christina Centre and its sister One Christina Centre (not shown) help unite the core Wilmington skyline with the riverfront. The late 1980s glittering design stretches 14 floors above North Walnut Street. The not-twin towers of the residential Christina Landing project rose over Wilmington's south side in 2005 and 2007 (first The Residences (left) then the River Tower) to add what is now the second and eighth tallest buildings to the city's skyline, set apart from much of the city's core business downtown high-rises. One Christina Centre (left) and Three Christina Centre along North Walnut Street rise above parking near the Wilmington riverfront. The two connected office towers of 18 and 14 floors help visually bridge the core downtown to the riverfront - a process that has been gradual as the city has grown slowly upward. The Park Plaza Condominiums building rises 18 floors above Happy Valley, the Brandywine and I-95 in Wilmington and at 253 feet is one of the tallest buildings in the state. Sister residential towers glow in early evening light over a mirror-smooth Christina River - the Residences at Christina Landing (left) was first completed at 22 floors in 2005 and followed by the tallest residential building in the state in 2007 - the River Tower at Christina Landing at 27 floors (295 feet) in 2007. In Newark, the Christiana West Tower is one of two closed residential dorm sister high rises at the University of Delaware's Laird campus awaiting its fate - demolition - after serving as student housing from 1972 to 2019. The west tower stands at 16 stories. Christiana East Tower, like its sister to the west, is one of two closed residential high rises at the University of Delaware's Laird campus awaiting its fate - demolition - after serving as student housing from 1972 to 2019. The east tower stands at 17 stories. The Brandywine Building, which once bore the red oval DuPont logo, takes an unusual asymmetrical U-shape with a windowless rear elevator core. 300 Delaware Avenue stands 17 floors, across from the Brandywine building. The Tower at Avenue North development along Concord Pike where Delle Donne and Associates is building a mix of residential, retail and office space. The office building will be a 12-story glass high-rise and neighbor to the once-solitary landmark Wells Fargo building. The steel frame has grown to its full height since this photo was made July, 25, 2023. The Wells Fargo Tower has been a landmark on Concord Pike since it was built in 1970-1972 as the Rollins International building and has taken a succession of names and a color change since. The Tower at Avenue North had nearly reached its full height in late August 2023 as construction on the 12-story office structure along Concord Pike continues. It will join the Wells Fargo Tower as two standouts standing above the suburban skyline looking down on the taller buildings of downtown Wilmington. A construction worker stands high above Concord Pike on The Tower at Avenue North in early September 2023. The Tower has reached its full height as construction on the 12-story office structure continues. It will join the Wells Fargo Tower as two standouts standing above the suburban skyline looking down on the taller buildings of downtown Wilmington. The duPont Carillon Tower on the campus of the Nemours Hospital for Children stands 210 feet tall - a height that would put it among the top 20 buildings in Wilmington. The Christina Landing residential towers are two of the taller buildings in Delaware - but both fall short of the Delaware Memorial Bridge's 440 foot towers. Prominent downtown Wilmington buildings feature several of the state's highest including (from left) 1201 N. Market St. (the state's tallest), 500 Delaware Ave. (the WSFS Center), barely visible behind that is I.M. Pei building, then the Brandywine Building (currently capped by the Citi logo), the black and white-striped 300 Delaware Ave. and the PNC Bank Center (far right) at 222 Delaware Ave. Now emblazoned wth Capital One branding, 802 Delaware Ave. in Wilmington is also known  but not as frequently referred to - as the Ben Franklin Building. It was completed in 1987 and stands 14 stories tall, and only Trinity Episcopal Church and Adams Street separate it from I-95. The Leonard L. Williams Justice Center (left) shares the Wilmington skyline with One Christina Centre and appears as tall as the office tower, but the courthouse sits higher on King Street. The office tower (right) fronts Walnut Street and was completed in 1990, standing at 18 floors, just slightly taller than its sister tower (not shown). Residential townhomes stand outside downtown where the Leonard L. Williams Justice Center (top left) shares the Wilmington skyline with One Christina Centre (center) and Three Christina Centre. The office towers are nearly identical in height fronting on Walnut Street and were completed about 25 years before the court house on King Street, which stands as tall because of its higher location but rises a few floors shorter from its main street-level entrance. Ingleside Retirement Apartments overlooking the Cool Spring Reservoir is typical of the taller residential buildings ringing downtown Wilmington at 15 floors (1975, 192 feet). Cool Spring Park delivers a view of some of Wilmington's - and Delaware's - highest buildings, clustered downtown - including the Brandywine Building (left center) and 500 Delaware Ave. (The WSFS Center). The Park Plaza Condominiums tower, seen from Cool Spring Park, stands along I-95 looking over downtown and the Brandywine. It was the tallest residential building in the state for 20 years before the construction of the Christina Landing complex on the other end of downtown Wilmington. The PNC Bank Center at 222 Delaware Ave. in Wilmington is one of the city's tallest at 18 floors, 246 feet. The Nemours Buidling is undergoing a Buccini/Pollin Group renovation to convert office space to luxury apartments and rebranding the former DuPont site as Market West. It stands 14 floors above 10th and 11th streets and between the DuPont and Brandywine Buildings. The Delaware Trust Building (Residences @ Rodney Square) stands over the neo-classical Wilmington Library but once a 1960 addition stood over both buildings, rising 22 stories from the courtyard of the Delaware Trust building and enclosing that space until it was removed in the 2003 conversion of the building into condominiums. The Citizens Bank Center, or 919 N. Market St. or originally the Mellon Bank Center, is the fifth-tallest building in Wilmington, rising 20 floors above Rodney Square with a street-level facade of polished stone from a 1990s renovation, giving way to vertical lines of its mid-1960s construction. One Rodney Square doesn't make the top 20 list of Delaware's - or Wilmington's - tallest buildings - but its brick facade is recognizable as it looks out over the Wilmington Library and Rodney Square. The rigid Brutalist design at 1105 N. Market St. is softened upon reflection in a car parked across Market. The architect is recognized in the naming of the building - now known as the I.M. Pei building - and the ground floor coffee shop: I.M. Coffee. 1201 N. Market St., the tallest building in Delaware, was designed by the prolific skyscraper firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. Its neighbor across 12th Street was designed by no less a recognizable name in I.M. Pei. 1313 N. Market St. (previously better-known as the Hercules Building) differs from much of the other high-rise buildings in Wilmington in benefitting from a grassy, human-scaled plaza to soften its massive, imposing facade. Inside its 14 floors are centered on a large atrium. 1201 N. Market Street and its 23 floors stands over the plaza at 1313 N. Market (formerly the Hercules Building). The Legal Arts Building isn't remarkably tall even by modest Wilmington standards, but it towers above the converted row homes that mostly cater to the same clientele on Lawyers Row on King Street. Arched windows and a masonry facade of the Delaware Trust Building face Rodney Square at the top of its 15 stories. It's now known as the Residences at Rodney Square after it was converted to apartments 20 years ago. It has taken a variety of forms since first constructed beginning in 1919. A 22-story office tower taking up the courtyard was the most notable addition - and later deletion. 901 Market Tower stands in two tiers over Market Street, where it looks over the art deco facade of the one-time Woolworth's building, now a Walgreen's store - and one-time Happy Harry's. 901 Market St. itself has had various names, uses and even heights since originally built as a six-story masonry building in 1892. Today it rises 14 stories as a residential and retail/commercial space with 82 newly opened apartment units. The Carvel State Office Building stands 12 stories over downtown Wilmington and houses many of the core state offices not located in Dover - or at least their north Delaware equivalents. Many of Delaware's tallest buildings are seen from Frawley Stadium: (from left) The Brandywine (1000 N. West), 300 Delaware Ave, PNC Bank building (222 Delaware Ave.), 1201 N. Market (Delaware's tallest), the I.M. Pei building, the Citizens Bank Center, and the 901 Market Tower. The Park View on Broom Street overlooking Brandywine Park is a typical Wilmington residential high-rise reaching double digit stories in height with one wing supported by a central elevator core. The PNC Bank Building (18 floors) in Wilmington has sharp angles on most sides, but a rounded facade over its main entrance (at right) at 10th and Tatnall Streets. Late-day sun plays across the multi-faceted Nemours Building. It is being partly remodeled from offices to luxury residential by Buccini/Pollin Group and rebranded as Market West. I.M. Pei's 14-floor brutalist tower (right) is accompanied by a four-story wing (bottom right). It sits across 12th Street from the tallest building in the state, 1201 N. Market St. The Hercules Plaza building has undergone a rebranding and is known as 1313 N. Market today. Three of Delaware's tallest buildings come together at Market and 12th streets in Wilmington - (from left) 1201 N. Market, the Wilmington Trust Center and the I.M. Pei Building. 1201 N. Market and the I.M. Pei Building are the tallest and third-tallest in Delaware. The Wilmington Trust Center, at 15 floors, ranks in the top 15. The third-tallest building in Delaware - the brutalist I.M. Pei Building - also has a low-slung wing that rises but four stories above 12th Street in Wilmington. The I.M. Pei Building (left) and 1201 N. Market are two of the tallest buildings in the state but share little in terms of style - the Brutalist Pei building being an uncommon example of that style in Delaware. The Sheraton Suites, the tallest hotel in Delaware, takes a staggered form to conform to its angled lot where Delaware Avenue cuts between 10th and 11th streets. The Sheraton Suites hotel is reflected in the glass wrap of its neighbor across Washington Street - 500 Delaware Ave., or the WSFS Bank Center. The Sheraton Suites hotel is the tallest hotel in Wilmington with 16 floors. The Brandywine Building (left) and 300 Delaware Ave. stand behind a parking payment kiosk along Washington Street. There is always room to expand up - but neither Wilmington nor the rest of Delaware seem to be running out of real estate to expand horizontally as evidenced by the flat parking lots available even in the central city core. The Delaware Trust Building - now the Residences at Rodney Square (left) and Wilmington Public Library (right) frame the more modern Citizens Bank Center, the fifth-tallest building in Delaware. It was formerly known as the Mellon Bank Center. The Residences at Rodney Square still bears the name "Delaware Trust Building" from its time as the headquarters of the bank and other office space. Courtyard Square, or 600 N. King Street, is a 10-story office building, and, like its neighbor, the New Castle County Courthouse, is set back from the street with a plaza in front. The building was completed in 1984 but renovated in 2016 and was rebranded, taking advantage of its location next to the relocated courthouse. 600 N. King St., or Courthouse Square, stands 10 floors overlooking the New Castle County Court House - now named the Leonard L. Williams William Justice Center. Both buildings enjoy setbacks from King Street. A weathered sign for the "Christina Gateway" still resides along King Street though the name has faded from everyday use. The Gateway has become a familiar part of the city skyline between the high-rises growing from the Rodney Square area to the revitalized Christina Riverfront. The 14- and 18-floor office towers of Three (left) and One Christina Centre stand on North Walnut Street near the Christina River and the Wilmington Train Station (or the Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Railroad Station) - lasting products of a 1980s vision to stretch downtown revitalization from the central core high-rises to the riverfront. 1201 N. Market St. (left) stands tallest in Wilmington and Delaware among some of the city and state's loftiest buildings, including the Brandywine Building (right) which for years bore the red DuPont company logo but now is being renamed 1000 N. West as part of the Buccini Pollin Group remaking of its "Market West" complex. Bracebridge IV of the MBNA downtown Wilmington complex was one of several 1990s buildings completed by the bank before its acquisition in 2006. Today it is the Community Education Building. Three towering buildings (The Wilmington Trust Center, I.M. Pei Building and 1201 N. Market St.) loom over a throw-back to a lower-slung city along King Street. Older row homes stand in front of one of the MBNA-built Bracebridge buildings that grew near Rodney Square as the credit-card giant expanded to a large Wilmington presence before being acquired by Bank of America. The 11-story Staybridge Suites on Market Street was converted from office space, one of several buildings in Wilmington to go from work space to residential or hotel use. The conversion came at a more than $31M price tag and was completed in 2022. The moon glows over the Brandywine and 1201 N. Market St. (the tallest building in Delaware) and 1313 N. Market St., which is among the highest but sits squatter but wider. The I.M. Pei Building peeks in at left but is barely visible in this view, behind 1201 N. Market. The three buildings make up a trio of some of the tallest in Delaware, all neighbors along three blocks of Market Street. The moon glows over 1201 N. Market Street (the tallest building in Delaware) and 1313 N. Market Street, which is among the highest but sits squatter but wider. The I.M. Pei Building peeks in but is barely visible at left. The three buildings make up a trio of some of the tallest in Delaware, all neighbors along three blocks of Market Street. 802 Delaware Ave. - 14 stories tall - is one of the first buildings visitors see up close when entering Wilmington from the north via I-95. 300 Delaware Ave. reflects its neighbor across the Avenue: the Brandywine Building - or rebranded 1000 N. West The former Nemours Building is part of the Market West complex. The glass-wrapped Crosby Hill apartment building is Wilmington's newest addition to the skyline - for now. The 11-story apartment building at 517 Shipley St. isn't among the tallest of the city's structures but expands its downtown high-rise footprint. It will only be the newest building until The Press, a 14-story residential tower at 801 N. Orange St., is completed. The Press began construction in October 2023 with opening expected in mid 2025. Delaware buildings reaching new heights 1 of 88 1201 N. Market (left, 23 floors, 360 feet) and 1105 N. Market St. (23 floors, 282 feet) are neighbors separated by 12th Street and two of the tallest buildings in the city. They are shown in May, 2023. Information on building heights, even the number of floors, doesn't always agree between sources.

Is snow hitting Delaware?

After the storms roll through the state, temperatures will start to drop as winds shift out of the west.

On Tuesday, March 17, New Castle County will see strong west winds at 20 mph and gusting up to 40 mph. Highs will reach 39 mph with increasing clouds and a chance of flurries after 1 p.m. Flurries will end before nightfall.

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In Kent County, highs will reach 43 degrees, but there will be scattered flurries after 4 p.m. Winds will be out of the wet at 25 mph with gusts hitting 40 mph. Flurries will end around 7 p.m.

In Sussex County, highs will reach 44 degrees with west winds at 20 mph and gusts reaching 40 mph. Flurries will start after 4 p.m. and end before 8 p.m.

On Wednesday, March 18, the state will remain chilly with highs ranging from the upper 30s in the north to the low 40s in the south.

Temperatures throughout the state will start to get back toward seasonal norms on Thursday, March 19.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Severe storms hitting Delaware. Snow is coming next
Detroit city officials say the process to get a permit to renovate homes and businesses is now much shorter and an effort to ramp up new home construction is on its way.

Mayor Mary Sheffield launched a plan to speed up permitting for repairs  from up to 30 days down to the same day  and build new housing by offering pre-approved home designs to cut through red tape so developers can construct hundreds more new single-family homes. Sheffield has a goal of building 1,000 new single-family homes in her first four years as mayor, as Detroiters struggle to afford quality housing and make repairs.

"For quite some time, we have heard our developers and Detroit contractors and homeowners talk about the challenges that they face navigating the permitting process in our city, and when projects get delayed, we know that investment is delayed and our neighborhoods miss out on the growth that they deserve," Sheffield said, speaking at a news conference on Monday, March 16 inside a home on the city's west side.

Mayor Mary Sheffield is sworn in on Jan. 1, 2026, by city Clerk Janice Winfrey in this photo provided by the city of Detroit. Rikesha Williams, 39, of Detroit talks with Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield as she serves New Year's Day food to people at the Capuchin Soup Kitchen in Detroit on Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. Sheffield started her first day on the job as the City of Detroits 76th mayor and its first female mayor. Detroit Mayor Sheffield, left, holds Zoe Reese, 2 months, of Livonia as she stands with Dr. Mona Hanna after announcing that Detroit will be the largest city in the nation to participate in RX Kids, a mom and baby support cash program for local families on Monday, Jan. 5, 2026 at the Franklin Wright Settlements in Detroit. Mary Sheffield, mayor of Detroit, speaks during a press conference announcing 2025 crime trends inside the Detroit Public Safety Headquarters in Detroit on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. Senior U.S. District Judge Denise Page Hood administers the oath of office to the Mayor of Detroit Mary Sheffield during the Investiture Ceremony at the Detroit Opera House on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. Detroit mayor Mary Sheffield takes a selfie with attendees during her inaugural ball at the Icon in Detroit on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. Mayor Mary Sheffield announced on Monday, Jan. 12, 2026 that Luke Shaefer, of the University of Michigan Poverty Solutions initiative, and Benita Miller, an attorney and nonprofit and public sector leader, will lead the city's effort to tackle poverty and homelessness. Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield declares the Cadillac Escalade IQ 1000 E4 her favorite after a test drive, during a tour of the Detroit Auto Show at Huntington Place in Detroit, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. Chanel Hampton, Detroit's new senior director of youth and education, and education liaison, speaks at a press conference where Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield announced a new department of youth and education, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. Mary Sheffield's actions, events as mayor of Detroit 1 of 9 Mayor Mary Sheffield is sworn in on Jan. 1, 2026, by city Clerk Janice Winfrey in this photo provided by the city of Detroit.

Her administration wants to change that. David Bell, the newly re-appointed director of the city of Detroit's Buildings, Safety Engineering, and Environmental Department (BSEED), said Detroit is in the middle of a construction boom.

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"Cranes are in the sky. Houses are being renovated. Businesses are expanding, and BSEED is in the center of it, leading the way and we've made new strides. We've modernized, we've streamlined, we've cut the red tape, but now it's time to take things to the next level," Bell said.

Here's the plan officials laid out, meant to repair and build housing, while also improving the BSEED customer experience:

Implement same-day renovation permits for homeowners, small business owners and contractors to make important repairs, such as roofs, new windows and siding. Bell  describing the change as "streamlining the process"  has authorized inspectors to review permits while in the field, which gets rid of unnecessary steps . This change is now in effect, according to a new release.

By the end of the year, BSEED is expected to offer pre-approved home designs so lot owners don't have to hire their own architect, can reduce costs for building the house and shorten the construction timeline.

BSEED plans to update and simplify three existing technology platforms for tasks such as zoning, permitting, licensing, payments and site plan review into one "point-of-entry."

Kalaya Long, owner of Blue Horizon Construction, applauded the shorter length of time for permitting.

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"We want to see that happen across the city," Long said at the news conference.

Building homes in Michigan: How home builders responded to Whitmer's call to 'build, baby, build'

Detroit needs to preserve the existing housing stock and build new ones, said Matt Temkin, of Greatwater Opportunity Capital. His real estate firm has been building homes in the East Village neighborhood. Greatwater has sold 40 homes so far but it hasn't always been easy, he said.

Added Temkin: "It has been hard to do, which is why we're really excited to see that maybe we're going to be able to make it easier, which will encourage other people to come do it as well."

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National and local leaders want to build more housing.

The National Association of Home Builders says one step in addressing the nation's "housing affordability crisis" is to remove roadblocks to permitting that can get in the way of constructing new homes and apartments.

The Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) estimates the state is short 119,000 affordable housing units. While Michigan's housing production has ramped up, it still falls short of the demand needed to address the housing shortage.

Free Press staff writer JC Reindl contributed to this report.

Reach reporter Nushrat Rahman at nrahman@freepress.com.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit to build 1,000 new homes in next 4 years, Sheffield says
Sued for breaking up a marriage, former U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema acknowledged a romantic affair with a member of her security detail during her time as an elected official.

Sinema made this declaration as part of a motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by security detail Matthew Ammels ex-wife, Heather Ammel.

She sued for alienation of affection in the North Carolina state court and has requested $75,000 in damages. The suit moved to federal court in January.

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Heather Ammel has alleged that Sinema interfered in her marriage over the course of months in 2023 and 2024.

What did Sinemas attorneys argue?

Then Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, an Arizona independent, shuttles between conferences at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024. | J. Scott Applewhite

In the latest document, Sinema revealed that the relationship began at the end of May 2024, and all communication between her and Matthew Ammel was professional prior to that point.

Her lawyers also argued that North Carolina courts dont have jurisdiction in this case, since Sinema and Ammels relationship grew outside of North Carolina, as The Associated Press reported.

She also rejected Heather Ammels claims that she phoned her husband with the knowledge that he was in North Carolina with his wife and children.

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The motion filed by Sinemas attorneys noted that the former Arizona senator messaged Matthew Ammel after his marriage had ended and he was living in a new place in North Carolina.

Although she admitted the affair turned physical and intimate, she denied sending sexual photos of herself or making suggestions for Matthew Ammel to bring her psychedelic drugs.

What has Sinema been up to since retirement?

Sinema, who began her political career as a Democrat but later switched her affiliation to independent, did not seek reelection in 2024, completing her one term in the U.S. Senate after three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Since her retirement from the Senate, Sinema has worked as the president and CEO of an advocacy organization, the Arizona Business Roundtable, which lobbies for more artificial intelligence data centers in her home state of Arizona.

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Most recently, the Washington Reporter announced Sinema will join the news outlet, as the Deseret News reported.

But the controversy surrounding the lawsuit appears to continue affecting Sinemas public appearances.

Earlier this year, as Sinema emphasized the importance of civility in politics during the 2026 Utah Economic Outlook & Public Policy Summit, she was interrupted by protesters.

The panel, hosted in Salt Lake City, was interrupted twice by men standing and yelling at Sinema, referencing the allegations made against her in the lawsuit. The protesters, who were with people who appeared to be recording them on cellphones, were removed by security.
Is ENVA a good stock to buy? We came across a bullish thesis on Enova International, Inc. on Valueinvestorsclub.com by skimmer610. In this article, we will summarize the bulls thesis on ENVA. Enova International, Inc.'s share was trading at $135.41 as of March 12th. ENVAs trailing and forward P/E were 12.11 and 8.86 respectively according to Yahoo Finance.

10 Best Trade-War-Resistant Stocks to Buy

Nonwarit/Shutterstock.com

Enova International, Inc., a technology and analytics company, provides online financial services in the United States, Brazil, and internationally. ENVA presents a highly compelling investment opportunity following its announced acquisition of Grasshopper Bank, a move that could be transformational for the company. ENVA, a disciplined and analytically driven non-prime lender, has a proven track record of profitable growth across consumer and small-business lending, consistently generating strong underwriting performance and allocating capital efficiently through share repurchases and disciplined M&A.

The Grasshopper acquisition positions ENVA to evolve into a regulated bank holding company, providing a meaningful deposit franchise, a national bank charter, and infrastructure that would be difficult to replicate organically. Management expects the deal to be more than 15% accretive to adjusted EPS in the first full year post-close, driven primarily by revenue and funding synergies, with cumulative net synergies reaching approximately $360 million by Year 3.

These synergies alone are sufficient to recoup the $369 million purchase price within two years, while pro forma adjusted earnings could reach $1 billion, implying roughly 35% compound annual earnings growth over the next four years. The acquisition enhances ENVAs funding economics by shifting a larger portion of liabilities to lower-cost deposits, broadens its geographic and product reach, and strengthens its regulatory framework, all while maintaining conservative expense assumptions.

Risks remain, including regulatory approvals, integration complexity, and deposit stability, but ENVAs history of executing large-scale acquisitions, most notably OnDeck, provides a strong precedent. With a combination of earnings uplift, enhanced capital structure, and potential valuation re-rating, ENVA offers a highly attractive risk/reward profile for investors seeking exposure to a diversified, deposit-funded fintech-bank poised for substantial growth.

Previously, we covered a bullish thesis on Upstart Holdings, Inc. (UPST) by Unconventional Value in March 2025, highlighting its AI-driven credit models and scalable network effects. UPSTs stock price has depreciated by approximately 53.56% since our coverage. skimmer610 shares a similar view but emphasizes Enova Internationals (ENVA) Grasshopper Bank acquisition, creating a deposit-funded, regulated fintech platform with significant earnings and growth potential.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA), a statutory board under Singapore's Ministry of Transport, has awarded the final civil contract for the Downtown Line 2 extension (DTL2e), marking the latest phase in expanding the city-states rail network.

China Railway Tunnel Group Company (Singapore Branch) secured the contract, valued at approximately S$199m ($154m), for designing and constructing tunnels between the current Bukit Panjang station and the planned DE1 station.

The construction of the twin bored tunnels, each about 1.8km in length, will take place beneath Woodlands Road and run under existing infrastructure, including the Kranji Expressway flyover.

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LTA has scheduled construction works for these tunnels to begin in the third quarter of 2026, with passenger operations targeted to start in 2035.

LTA will coordinate tunnel works with relevant agencies and SBS Transit, carrying out sensitive activities during non-operating hours to minimise disruption to existing railway structures and commuters.

Real-time ground stability monitoring and related safety protocols will be implemented throughout construction, and LTA has announced it will provide regular progress updates to nearby residents and stakeholders.

Earlier this year, LTA awarded two other civil contracts for DTL2e. Woh Hup Engineering Pte received the contract for the DE1 station along Sungei Kadut Avenue at around S$285m, which includes constructing a vehicular bridge extending Choa Chu Kang North 7 and a pedestrian link-bridge over Pang Sua Canal.

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The second contract was awarded to a joint venture between Samwoh Corporation Pte and China Communications Construction Company (Singapore Branch) for approximately S$450m.

This agreement covers both an underground DE2 interchange station on DTL2e and a new aboveground NS6 station situated between Yew Tee and Kranji stations on the North-South Line (NSL).

Construction of DE1 and NS6/DE2 stations is set to commence in the second quarter of 2026.

These works will use earth retaining and stabilising structures due to challenging ground conditions, such as hard granite, undertaken close to both existing infrastructure and operational rail lines.

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LTA has also completed an Environmental Impact Assessment for these sites and will follow mitigation measures outlined in its Environmental Monitoring and Management Plan to control dust, noise, vector control, and ensure safety during construction.

Once DTL2e is complete in 2035, it will comprise three new stations: DE1 after Bukit Panjang, located along Sungei Kadut Avenue; DE2 serving as an underground interchange with NS6 aboveground between Yew Tee and Kranji on the NSL; plus one further station within the extension.

The new section aims to increase connectivity across Singapores north-western region by offering alternative travel routes, improving transfers between lines, providing access to areas including Yew Tee and Sungei Kadut Eco-District, and reducing travel times, such as shortening journeys from Yew Tee to Chinatown by up to 20 minutes.

LTA has stated that it will continue updating affected communities as construction progresses in order to manage any potential inconvenience.

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"Singapores LTA grants $154m civil contract for DTL2e tunnel works" was originally created and published by World Construction Network, a GlobalData owned brand.




Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has told European Council President Antonio Costa that the European Union cannot place Ukraine's interests above those of Slovakia or Hungary.

Source: Fico on X (Twitter), as reported by European Pravda

Details: Fico held a 45-minute call with Costa on Monday 16 March.

Fico thanked Costa for devoting a substantial part of the discussion to the issue of "restoring the operation of the Druzhba oil pipeline on Ukrainian territory".

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"In a conversation with the President of the European Council, A. Costa, I emphasised that the EU cannot prioritise the interests of Ukraine over the interests of EU member states such as Slovakia or Hungary," Fico said.

He stated that his government cannot accept the "unilateral and harmful step taken by the Ukrainian president" with the aim of halting oil transit.

Fico said Slovakia expects EU institutions to "exert pressure on the Ukrainian leadership to restore the flow of Russian oil, which we are entitled to receive until the end of 2027".

"I also expressed dissatisfaction that the European Commission has so far presented no concrete proposals to reduce electricity prices, despite repeated requests from EU prime ministers and heads of state," he added.

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Background:

As European Pravda has reported, Hungary and Slovakia initiated a discussion on the Druzhba pipeline with the Council of the EU on 16 March.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has announced on the sidelines of an EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting that Hungary would continue its blocking stance until Ukraine restores the transit of Russian oil via the Druzhba pipeline.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has expressed the view that reopening the Druzhba pipeline would be equivalent to lifting sanctions on Russia.

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SHELBY COUNTY, Ill. (WCIA)  Part of Illinois Route 32 is closed in Shelby County following a crash near Windsor, while another part of the highway near Stewardson has reopened following two other crashes.

Brian McReynolds, the Shelby County Sheriff, told WCIA that the ongoing closure happened on the northern part of Windsor near the towns cemetery. A semi-truck hit a garbage truck, and one driver was transported to the hospital after complaining about back pain.

Drivers are advised to find an alternate route of travel to avoid the crash scene.

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UPDATE: Northbound I-57 reopens after morning crashes, slide-offs

McReynolds added that two other crashes happened south of Stewardson Monday morning. One involved a jack-knifed truck near County Road 150N and the other involved a rollover at 276 Route 32.

The Sheriff said the driver involved in the rollover was ejected from their vehicle and was pinned underneath the vehicle. The Shelby County Rescue Squad and Stewardson Fire Department were able to rescue the victim, who McReynolds said was conscious and stable.

A helicopter was called to take the victim to a hospital, but it was unable to fly due to the weather. McReynolds said the victim was ultimately transported by ambulance.

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The rollover and jackknife crashes have been cleared, and Route 32 is back open near Stewardson.

With wintry weather and icy road conditions still impacting Illinois roads, McReynolds urged drivers to slow down and drive with caution.

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCIA.com.
By Tim Cocks

JOHANNSESBURG, March 16 (Reuters) - South Africa has no reason to cut ties with Iran, its director general of foreign affairs said, after the new U.S. ambassador was quoted as saying the country's association with the Islamic Republic was an impediment to good relations with Washington.

In an interview with Reuters over the weekend, Zane Dangor, director-general of the department of international relations, also rejected some other Trump administration demands, such as dropping South Africa's genocide case against Israel, scrapping Black empowerment laws or accepting a refugee programme for whites.

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Dangor was speaking against the backdrop of the U.S. and Israeli war on Iran, a conflict placing increased strains on governments navigating relationships with Tehran, and a sharp deterioration in Pretoria's ties with the U.S. during President Donald Trump's second term.

In August Trump imposed a 30% tariff on imports from South Africa, a move that could cause tens of thousands of job losses at a time when a third of South Africans are out of work.

"We have not any reason to cut ties with Iran," Dangor said, but he added: "we are not absolutely uncritical of Iran," noting that President Cyril Ramaphosa's government had admonished the republic for its crackdown on protesters in January, and for attacking neighbours in the latest war with the United States.

"(But) we cannot be pulled into the sort of sphere of influence politics that great powers want to pull us into, and that in this instance includes the U.S.," he said.

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In his first media interview, new U.S. Ambassador Leo Bozell was quoted by News24 as saying "an association with Iran is an impediment to good relations with the United States."

"You (the United States) have a particular relationship with Iran ... that many in the developing world (do not) have," Dangor said.

RELATIONSHIP WITH US HITS ROCK BOTTOM

South Africa's relationship with the U.S. has been at a low since Trump accused its Black majority government of persecuting its white minority, repeating false claims about land seizures from white farmers circulating on far-right chat rooms.

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Dangor said Pretoria was keen to improve ties with Washington, but "let's engage about areas we agree on".

Regarding the International Court of Justice case against Israel for its Gaza war, Dangor said: "it's not even on the table ... In my last engagement with the State Department people, we indicated that if you disagree with us on this, it's a court process."

Trump administration officials have suggested laws aiming to redress apartheid's legacy, like minimum requirements for Black business ownership and Black employees, must be modified to ease South Africa's 30% tariff.

"We're not going to let the domestic issues that they've put on the table become part of that equation," Dangor said.

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The U.S. also aims to process 4,500 refugee applications per month from white South Africans Trump claims are persecuted.

"It's a preferential immigration programme," Dangor said. "But they should do it through the normal channels. They cannot use the moniker of 'refugee'," he said, adding that this was why a Kenya-based organisation that processes refugees was denied entry.

(Reporting by Tim Cocks, Editing by William Maclean)
Investing.com -- Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez accused U.S. President Donald Trump of undermining the international order through a war with Iran, calling the conflict unilateral and lacking coordination with allies.

"This is a unilateral war started by two nations, by two governments, without consulting or coordinating with their allies," Sanchez said in an interview published Monday with The Rest Is Politics podcast.

The Spanish leader warned that challenges from the U.S. administration aimed at weakening the international order will result in "an erosion of our welfare state, and of the middle and working class."

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Spain's disputes with Washington extend beyond the Iran war. The country has refused to commit to spending 5% of GDP on defense, a NATO target that all other members of the military alliance have endorsed.

Sanchez dismissed the 5% defense spending target as "an arbitrary figure, which is not based on data and facts." He suggested defense spending could vary year to year, saying "One year could be 5%. The other year could be 2%. And the other year could be 7%."

Spain plans to allocate approximately 2.1% of GDP to defense, which the government says will adequately address common defense challenges.

The Spanish government has also condemned the U.S. detention of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and is preparing measures targeting major American technology and social media companies over online abuse and hate.

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Despite the tensions, Sanchez said he supports an honest transatlantic relationship. "Real allies are like real friends, they tell each other the truth no matter what," he said.

Sanchez has emerged as one of the most outspoken critics of Trump among European Union leaders. He previously labeled the war "illegal" and blocked the use of two U.S. military bases in Spain for the Iran conflict, a move that angered the American president.

Trump has threatened retaliation against Spain in recent weeks for its positions on NATO and Iran, including potentially severing commercial ties with the country.

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SPOKANE, Wash.  Spokane is having a moment.

The generally sleepy economy of the states second-largest city is getting a shakeup, thanks to surging employment and incomes.

The U.S. Senate got into the action in January, approving up to $70 million in federal funds to boost the aerospace industry here.

This money would go to the Spokane Aerospace Tech Hub, a consortium of nearly 50 companies, agencies and schools working to make the Inland Northwest a player in the field of advanced composite materials.

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The states two Democratic senators, Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, said the federal funds are a big boost for the Lilac City.

This funding can open up an important new pathway for Spokane to compete for new resources to power the work thats happening across our region, Murray said.

This is great news for the Spokane tech hub, Cantwell said. It means that there will now be a serious investment in the composite advances we need for our defense, NASA, and aviation competitiveness.

The funding isnt fully locked in yet, as it must still pass the U.S. House of Representatives.

Spokane, located on the Idaho border nearly 300 miles east of wealthy Seattle, has long had a slumbering economy with higher unemployment and lower wages than state averages.

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But that has changed in recent years, according to Patrick Jones, an economist at Eastern Washington University in Cheney who studies local trends.

Jones said the population and incomes of Spokane County residents have been rising fairly rapidly in recent years.

The population is growing, income is growing, retail sales are growing, Jones said. All that is new to many people.

Jones pointed to population gains as a key factor.

Its hard to have a good economy with a stagnant population, Jones said. Over the past three years, Spokanes population has been growing about 1% a year, matching the state average, he said.

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We are one of the more rapidly growing states, Jones said. This is not a bad place to be.

By the numbers

As of 2025, the city of Spokane had about 234,700 people, second-largest in the state after Seattle. Spokane County had 566,000 residents, the fourth-largest county in the state.

The Spokane-Coeur dAlene Combined Statistical Area, which includes adjacent Kootenai County, Idaho, has about 800,000 residents, making it the 70th largest community in the nation.

Spokanes median household income in 2024, the most recent year available, was $86,000, well above the national average of $81,000, Jones said. We used to be 90% of the U.S. median, he said. Now were above.

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The growth in taxable retail sales now matches the statewide rate of about 1% per year, Jones said. Before it was growing below the state level, he said.

In the past, Spokanes unemployment rate was higher than the state average, but it currently mirrors it at about 4.5%, Jones said.

The main drivers of the Spokane economy are health care, which provides one in five jobs in the region, followed by government, retail, hospitality and manufacturing, Jones said.

Of course, the economic picture in Spokane is not all glowing. The city has a large population of homeless people, especially in the downtown core, an issue that has defied easy solutions.

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Housing affordability is difficult for many residents. The population is on average older than in many other communities and one in six adults in Spokane County is getting disability payments, Jones noted.

That seemed high to me, he said.

Aerospace growth poised to take off

Regarding money for the Spokane Aerospace Tech Hub, the Spokane area was awarded $48 million by the federal government in the final days of the Biden administration. The Trump administration rescinded that money last May.

The recent inclusion of up to $70 million for the project in the appropriations package speaks to the influence of Murray and Cantwell. Patrick McHail, executive director of the Tech Hub, said Spokane is ready to capitalize on its aerospace sector.

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The aerospace market here is really ripe and growing, McHail said.

The Spokane Tech Hubs existing work is centered around a former Boeing factory near the Spokane International Airport. Spokane already has factories that roll aluminum for airplane bodies and that make brakes for jetliners, among other aerospace manufacturers.

Joey Gunning is a spokesman for Greater Spokane Inc., the regions chamber of commerce. He said the new Aerospace Tech Hub is a key feature of the regions future.

We have lots of suppliers to Boeing, Gunning said.

Gunning also noted that the Spokane airport continues to serve record numbers of passengers each year, a key indicator of economic health.

We are confident in our position as a region to compete, Gunning said. Im excited about what the future of Spokane holds.
After months of defending Haitian residents in their city, Springfield leaders are traveling to Washington, D.C., to "beg" the U.S. Supreme Court to let them stay in the city and the nation.

The Ohio city of 60,000 to the west of Columbus has been in the national spotlight for nearly two years due to its large population of Haitian immigrants with Temporary Protected Status (TPS), a special protected status President Donald Trump's administration is attempting to end.

After a federal judge sided with Haitian TPS holders seeking to stop Trump's cancellation of their status, the Supreme Court agreed March 16 to hear the administration's appeal. Now, locals who have defended Springfield's 15,000 Haitians say they are taking their cause to the high court too.

Rev. Michelle Boomgaard (right) presents the team going to Washington to protest outside the US Supreme Court in support of Haitian immigrants. From left is Carl Ruby, Casey Rollins, Brandon Peterson, Renee Murphy, Biassu Pierre and Vile Dorsainvil. They were at a Springfield Neighbors United Deny the Stay press conference held Monday, March 16, 2026. About 75 people attended the event at Greater Grace Temple, 380 W. Level Land in Springfield. Greater Grace Temple associate pastor Brandon Peterson speaks at a Springfield Neighbors United Deny the Stay press conference held Monday, March 16, 2026. About 75 people attended the event at Greater Grace Temple, 380 W. Level Land in Springfield. Attendees listen at a Springfield Neighbors United Deny the Stay press conference held Monday, March 16, 2026. About 75 people attended the event at Greater Grace Temple, 380 W. Level Land in Springfield. Able Advocates for Basic Legal Equality managing attorney Renee S. Murphy speaks at a Springfield Neighbors United Deny the Stay press conference held Monday, March 16, 2026. About 75 people attended the event at Greater Grace Temple, 380 W. Level Land in Springfield. St. Vincent De Paul director Casey Rollins speaks at a Springfield Neighbors United Deny the Stay press conference held Monday, March 16, 2026. About 75 people attended the event at Greater Grace Temple, 380 W. Level Land in Springfield. Zion Hill Baptist Church pastor Mike Young speaks at a Springfield Neighbors United Deny the Stay press conference held Monday, March 16, 2026. About 75 people attended the event at Greater Grace Temple, 380 W. Level Land in Springfield. Attendees listen at a Springfield Neighbors United Deny the Stay press conference held Monday, March 16, 2026. About 75 people attended the event at Greater Grace Temple, 380 W. Level Land in Springfield. Christ Episcopal Church rector Rev. Michelle Boomgaard speaks at a Springfield Neighbors United Deny the Stay press conference held Monday, March 16, 2026. About 75 people attended the event at Greater Grace Temple, 380 W. Level Land in Springfield. Attendees listen at a Springfield Neighbors United Deny the Stay press conference held Monday, March 16, 2026. About 75 people attended the event at Greater Grace Temple, 380 W. Level Land in Springfield. Rev. Marian Stewart speaks at a Springfield Neighbors United Deny the Stay press conference held Monday, March 16, 2026. About 75 people attended the event at Greater Grace Temple, 380 W. Level Land in Springfield. Children hold a sign supporting immigrants at a Springfield Neighbors United Deny the Stay press conference held Monday, March 16, 2026. About 75 people attended the event at Greater Grace Temple, 380 W. Level Land in Springfield. Haitian Support Center executive director Viles Dorsainvil speaks at a Springfield Neighbors United Deny the Stay press conference held Monday, March 16, 2026. About 75 people attended the event at Greater Grace Temple, 380 W. Level Land in Springfield. Attendees listen at a Springfield Neighbors United Deny the Stay press conference held Monday, March 16, 2026. About 75 people attended the event at Greater Grace Temple, 380 W. Level Land in Springfield. Attendees listen at a Springfield Neighbors United Deny the Stay press conference held Monday, March 16, 2026. About 75 people attended the event at Greater Grace Temple, 380 W. Level Land in Springfield. Attendees talk at a Springfield Neighbors United Deny the Stay press conference held Monday, March 16, 2026. About 75 people attended the event at Greater Grace Temple, 380 W. Level Land in Springfield. Attendees listen at a Springfield Neighbors United Deny the Stay press conference held Monday, March 16, 2026. About 75 people attended the event at Greater Grace Temple, 380 W. Level Land in Springfield. Springfield News Sun reporter Jessica Orozco listens at a Springfield Neighbors United Deny the Stay press conference held Monday, March 16, 2026. About 75 people attended the event at Greater Grace Temple, 380 W. Level Land in Springfield. Filmmaker Eli Hiller records attendees at a Springfield Neighbors United Deny the Stay press conference held Monday, March 16, 2026. About 75 people attended the event at Greater Grace Temple, 380 W. Level Land in Springfield. Attendees listen at a Springfield Neighbors United Deny the Stay press conference held Monday, March 16, 2026. About 75 people attended the event at Greater Grace Temple, 380 W. Level Land in Springfield. Springfield faith leaders, residents hold TPS press conference 1 of 19 Rev. Michelle Boomgaard (right) presents the team going to Washington to protest outside the US Supreme Court in support of Haitian immigrants. From left is Carl Ruby, Casey Rollins, Brandon Peterson, Renee Murphy, Biassu Pierre and Vile Dorsainvil. They were at a Springfield Neighbors United Deny the Stay press conference held Monday, March 16, 2026. About 75 people attended the event at Greater Grace Temple, 380 W. Level Land in Springfield.

"We need to be reminded that behind every policy discussion there are real people," said the Rev. Brandon Peterson, associate pastor at Greater Grace Temple in Springfield, where leaders assembled on March 16 to announce their plans. "There are mothers, there are fathers, there are children, coworkers, neighbors and members of our community. As people of faith we believe God calls us to care for those that are not just vulnerable but to stand with those that feel they're unheard."

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He and other local leaders addressed about 75 people gathered at the church and detailed what's next in the ongoing legal battle for Haitians' status.

Springfield Neighbors United, a group formed to help Haitians locally, hired Advocates for Basic Legal Equality (ABLE) to write an amicus brief to the Supreme Court.

In Springfield, the Rev. Carl Ruby, expressed concern that the court would rule using a "shadow docket" or emergency docket, which leaves the public and lower courts without explanation for why the rulings were made.

"We're going to Washington to simply ask that they not (use the shadow docket), and that they give this case the attention it merits," said Ruby, senior pastor at Central Christian Church in Springfield and an advocate for local Haitians. "Because over 350,000 lives are at stake. ... We just ask them not to act in a hurry, to consider the merits of the case and to deny the stay."

The court case regarding Haitian TPS

The case, Trump v. Miot, was filed in July 2025 by Haitian residents who sued for the right for themselves and 350,000 others with TPS to stay legally in the nation and not be sent back to a dangerous nation and uncertain fates.

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TPS to SCOTUS? Trump administration asks Supreme Court to let Haitian TPS lapse

On March 11, the administration asked the Supreme Court to take it on. The administration stated that Haitians with the special immigration status that is in question in the case should not be allowed to stay in the U.S. while the case is being decided.

The administration argued that it is urgent that Haitians not be allowed to stay while the case is adjudicated, and asked that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) be able to begin enforcement actions against them.

The court on March 16 said it will hear oral arguments in April for the case, which also affects about 6,100 Syrians.

Trump seeks to end Haitian TPS

Trump has sought to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS)  which allows Haitians and those from other designated nations to work and protects them from deportation while dangerous situations are taking place in their home nations  since he took office for his second term.

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Two other federal courts have already made rulings in the case, one to postpone the Trump administration's cancellation of TPS for Haitians in February. The other, on March 6, was an appeals court decision denying the administration's request to allow the temporary protected status to expire while the case is appealed.

Rev. Michelle Boomgaard (right) presents the team going to Washington to protest outside the US Supreme Court in support of Haitian immigrants. From left is Carl Ruby, Casey Rollins, Brandon Peterson, Renee Murphy, Biassu Pierre and Vile Dorsainvil. They were at a Springfield Neighbors United Deny the Stay press conference held Monday, March 16, 2026. About 75 people attended the event at Greater Grace Temple, 380 W. Level Land in Springfield.

The judges in the appeal said the administration didn't explain why TPS was allowed for months but now is an imminent threat to the nation.

If deported back to Haiti, those with TPS face life in an unsafe nation the U.S. advises citizens not to go to and which natives say is suffering from political and economic turmoil as it is overrun by dangerous militias and crime.

In its amicus brief, ABLE and Springfield Neighbors United state that Springfield is "the heart of the national debate about Haitian immigration." Haitians are credited with turning around a decades-long population decline and reviving the economy in Springfield.

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The brief outlines the impact Haitian TPS holders have had on small cities and rural counties previously suffering economic decline since they got the status in 2010.

More: What happens to U.S. citizen children if Haitians with TPS are deported?

Springfield residents say they will be harmed if Haitians are deported

To Springfield residents who spoke at Monday's event and who are quoted in the amicus brief, the danger lies in Haitians leaving Springfield, not staying there.

It could result in economic devastation; threats of violence from outsiders; and thousands of children without guardians, local leaders said March 16.

The brief was intended to help the court understand the local context of its decision and how ending Haitian TPS will hurt not only Haitians, but Springfield natives who have been impacted by their presence, said Renee Murphy, a managing attorney at ABLE.

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"When the Haitian community here is threatened, the whole community feels it," Murphy said. "Because the safety here is shared."

Underserved Communities Reporter Danae King can be reached at dking@dispatch.com or on X at @DanaeKing.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Springfield leaders 'beg' SCOTUS to help Haitians, ask for no 'shadow docket'
McAlester celebrated its first St. Patricks Day festival Saturday alongside Irish delegation from Midleton, Ireland.

The festival was the ending of the delegations visit to McAlester, part of the Sister Cities program McAlester Association for Global Interconnections and Midleton, Ireland, created.

The Choctaw Nation Honor Guard and choir came to the event to honor the history between the Choctaw Nation and Midleton, Ireland, MAGIC President Adrian OHanlon III said.

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Robert Karr, Choctaw Nation Tribal Council member, said it was nice to meet the delegation from Midleton, Ireland.

I know the Choctaw Nation has a great relationship with the nation of Ireland, and I just look forward to the City of McAlester forming that same relationship, Karr said. We can share culture. We can share traditions.

The relationship between the Choctaw Nation and Ireland began in 1847 when the Choctaw Nation raised money to send to Ireland during the Great Famine.

When our people had just crossed the Trail of Tears and death and faced hard times, they saw people of Ireland facing hard times at that time, and they gathered up some money and sent it there, Karr said. Its a small gift, but it wasnt the amount of the gift. It was the compassion the Choctaw people had toward other people that were struggling at the time.

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OHanlon said the relationship between McAlester and Midleton began when he and a group of others started the conversation of Sister Cities and how meaningful it could be for McAlester.

Its been a fun journey to see it get to this point, OHanlon said.

Oklahoma Rep. David Smith, R-Dist. 18, presented a citation of recognition to the delegation from Midleton, Ireland.

Cllr Rory Cocking told representatives of McAlester, You have created magic here.

Its magic, Cocking said. You guys have been welcoming and have been welcoming for nearly 200 years.

Ryan Spring, cultural research associate for the Historic Preservation Department at the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, spoke about the connection between the Choctaw Nation and Ireland.

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He said it started with the Trail of Tears and Native Americans being forced out of their homes to come to Oklahoma. During that transition, the Choctaw Nation looked at other people in the world.

In 1847, our people had gotten together, and were a worldly people. We know whats going on in the world, Spring said. Weve been studying the issues that were happening, and one of those was the famine that was happening in Ireland.

He said the Choctaw people would come together for festivals and meetings and discuss the issues they heard about from across the world. So, as a group effort, they came together to send donations to Ireland.

They went directly, helping to feed people that were suffering in the famine, Spring said. At the same time that theyre putting this money together, 1,600 Choctaw people were removed that year into the Choctaw Nation. They understood the suffering that was happening. They understood what was going on.

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Spring said the story of the donation disappeared from the Choctaw Nation until the 1990s when residents from Ireland visited and wanted to talk about the donation.

The story of the donation returning to light created the opportunity for a new relationship between Ireland and the Choctaw Nation.

This is an amazing thing, because the gifts that were given in 1847 were still having an effect in Ireland, Spring said.

Midleton, Ireland, made the decision to establish the Kindred Spirits statue to memorialize the gift tangibly so people can see it and connect with them.

Its because of that memorialization that were here today, Spring said.

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MAGIC hired Johnny Wright to create a statue for McAlester that represents the growing relationship between the city and Midleton.

Kindred Spirits inspired the statue in Midleton, but with a twist of how the feathers are a mix of Irish and Choctaw elements, cementing the beginning of the Sister Cities designation between the two cities.
Sir Keir Starmer will pledge to help households with the cost of living amid the energy price spike caused by the war in the Middle East.

The prime minister will on Monday say helping households with living costs is my first priority as he announces a subsidy for people who use heating oil to heat their homes after war-driven price spikes.

Starmers heating oil announcement on Monday comes after Chancellor Rachel Reeves said Treasury officials have found the money to help the 1.5 million households relying on the fuel.

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Heating oil is not protected by the energy price cap, and its price per litre has doubled due to disruption to oil supplies from the Middle East since the US-Israeli war with Iran began.

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Inside Downing Street, Starmer will say: Its moments like this that tell you what a government is about.

My answer is clear. Whatever challenges lie ahead, this government will always support working people.

That is my first instinct  my first priority  to help you with the cost of living through this crisis.

The prime minister will also raise concerns over claims some heating-oil suppliers cancelled orders before sharply increasing prices.

Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband Credit: Maja Smiejkowska/PA

Last week, Ms Reeves and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband met oil firm bosses and forecourt operators to warn them against profiteering.

In his press conference, Starmer will say: I will not tolerate companies trying to exploit this crisis to make money from working people if the companies have broken the law, there will be legal action.

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De-escalation of the war is the quickest way to reduce cost-of-living pressures for the British public, the prime minister will insist.

A warning from Wall Street: Global fuel shortage may be days away

Four-day weeks and driving limits: How the world reacts to Iran oil crisis

Elsewhere, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has mobilised more than 5 million in aid for humanitarian organisations in Lebanon amid fighting between Israel and the militant group Hezbollah.

She said she was gravely concerned about the developing conflict in Lebanon and the scale of the humanitarian impact.

From Westminster to Washington DC - our political experts are across all the latest key talking points. Listen to the latest episode below...
Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) is included among the 12 Best Large Cap Energy Stocks to Buy Now.

Equinor Reveals New Discoveries in the North Sea

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) is an international energy company headquartered in Norway, with over 25,000 employees in around 20 countries worldwide.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) revealed on March 10 that it had discovered oil in the Troll area and gas and condensate in the Sleipner area in the North Sea. The find at Trolls Byrding C prospect contains between 4 million and 8 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe), while the discovery in the well northwest of the Sleipner Vest field is estimated to contain 5M-9M boe.

Moreover, both these discoveries are considered commercial and were made in areas with well-developed infrastructure for export to Europe. Equinor owns 75% of the permit in the Byrding C prospect and 58.3% in the Sleipner field, while also being the operator in both.

The discoveries come as Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) is targeting to grow its production by 3% in 2026, after already hitting a record high production level. Meanwhile, the companys CapEx guidance stands at $13 billion for 2026 and $9 billion for 2027.

While we acknowledge the potential of EQNR as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.

READ NEXT: 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds Heading into 2026 and 13 Undervalued Dividend Aristocrats to Buy Now.

Disclosure: None. Follow Insider Monkey on Google News.
The State of Iowa is suing for a pharmaceutical firm that is managed in part by a state legislator, alleging the company has spent $22 million owed to the state for an HIV treatment program.

NuDak Ventures, a limited liability corporation that does business as NuCara Specialty Pharmacy, is being sued by the state in Polk County District Court. NuCara owns and manages more than 30 full-service, community-based pharmacies in Iowa, Texas, North Dakota and Minnesota.

In its lawsuit, the State of Iowa alleges the company has repeatedly failed to make millions in monthly payments due to the state under a contract with the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services.

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Iowa Rep. Brett Barker, a Republican from Story County, is vice president of operations for NuCara. When asked about the $22 million the company allegedly owes the state, Barker said Monday, There is no knowledge that I have into whats been going on, so I dont have anything to add  I dont have anything to do with that. I am on the community pharmacy side of the business and thats a separate division. So, I wasnt aware of anything until there was a lawsuit filed.

Rep. Brett Barker, R-Nevada, spoke in support of a bill sent to Gov. Kim Reynolds May 12, 2025 restricting certain business practices by pharmacy benefit managers in an effort to aid rural and independent pharmacies. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

NuCaras website indicates Barker began serving as the companys vice president of operations in November 2012, having previously served as director of clinical services for two years.

State records show Barker also served as a member of the Iowa Board of Pharmacy from May 2017 to December 2021.

The lawsuit, filed in Polk County District Court, states that until recently NuCara was a state-contracted pharmacy, providing pharmacy services related to sexually transmitted diseases, tuberculosis control, immunization, and substance abuse treatment since 1998.

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NuCara company also provided services related to a federal AIDS drug program established by Congress in 1990, according to the companys contracts with the state. As part of that program, the federal government has provided states with money to improve access to HIV medical care and support services. Iowa has used its share of that revenue to operate the Iowa AIDS Drug Assistance Program, which provides critical medications, treatment, and assistance with health insurance costs to low-income Iowans, the contacts show.

Under the federal law, the program requires pharmaceutical manufacturers to sell outpatient drugs at discounted prices to Iowa DHHS. If patient-clients in the program have health insurance, the law allows DHHS to generate program income by purchasing the medications at the discounted rates while billing insurers at the standard, non-discounted rate. The resulting profit is then reinvested in the program itself.

As part of its contract with the state, NuCara was tasked with ordering the outpatient medications purchased by DHHS at discounted prices. Under the terms of that deal, NuCara was responsible for paying DHHS the program profit that was generated each month.

Ten days ago, on March 6, 2026, the state terminated its contract with NuCara, alleging that between October 2024 and January 2026 the company had repeatedly failed to make all of the required monthly payments.

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NuCara is now alleged to be eight months in arrears, totaling more than $22 million in money owed to the state.

NuCara is also alleged to have improperly spent the states program income to pay off other creditors in violation of the contract and state and federal laws, and the state claims the company no longer has, and is unable to return, the states lost revenue.

While NuCara is reportedly pursuing a corporate acquisition by OneroRX, the state alleges that OneroRX does not intend to accept NuCaras liabilities as part of any proposed corporate acquisition. Even if NuCara is acquired by OneroRX, the proceeds from the sale and collection on any pending invoices will not be sufficient to repay the program income the state is due, the lawsuit claims.

The lawsuit alleges breach of contract and conversion, and is seeking reimbursement of all money owed to the state, plus interest.

NuCara has yet to file a response to the lawsuit and company officials did not respond to emails seeking comment on the lawsuit.

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As blizzard conditions continue across Central Wisconsin and additional snowfall is forecast, some local school districts and colleges are canceling classes or adjusting their plans for Monday, March 16. Many students in the Stevens Point area were already scheduled to be on spring break starting Monday.

The National Weather Service issued a Blizzard Warning for the area through 4 p.m. Monday. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation and local law enforcement are urging motorists to stay off of local roads, many of which have been deemed "impassible."

The following Stevens Point-area school districts and local colleges have announced closures or other changes for Monday, March 16.

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LIVE UPDATES: What you need to know as weekend snowstorm targets Stevens Point

Central Wisconsin weather: How much snow has fallen so far during March 14-15 storm in Central WI?

Local school districts

Iola-Scandinavia School District: Iola-Scandinavia Schools will be closed Monday, March 16.

Tri-County Area School District: The Tri-County Fitness Center will be closed March 14-16; normal hours will resume on March 17. The students are on spring break March 16-20.

Colleges and universities

Mid-State Technical College: All Mid-State campuses will be closed and all classes and activities canceled for Monday, March 16. The monthly Mid-State Technical College Board of Directors meeting will still be held Monday as scheduled.

University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point: The three campuses of UW-Stevens Point will be closed on Monday, March 16.

This article originally appeared on Stevens Point Journal: Stevens Point schools, colleges, UWSP announce closures for March 16
From virtual reality to robotics kits to 3D printers, one lucky Brevard classroom will have the chance to explore a whole new world of science and technology.

Each year, Florida Power & Light, with support from NextEra Energy Foundation, selects Title I schools throughout Florida to offer grants for advancing STEM learning opportunities. Here in Brevard, on March 16, FPL officials presented a check for $50,000 to district and school officials at Stone Magnet Middle School in Melbourne.

The funds will give students new hands-on learning opportunities.

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"This grant will allow our students to experience STEM in a completely new way," said Diahann Shaw, Stone's STEAM coordinator. "By creating a student-run news and media studio, our students will not only learn technology skills but also apply science, engineering and problem-solving concepts in authentic, hands-on projects."

On Monday, March 16, Stone Magnet Middle School was the recipient of a $50,000 STEM Classroom Makeover Grant. The grant will support innovative STEM learning opportunities for students at the school. Local leaders from Brevard Public Schools, Brevard Schools Foundation and Florida Power & Light Company were there for the announcement. Diahann Shaw, STEM coordinator for Stone Magnet school, wrote the grant. On Monday, March 16 Stone Magnet Middle School was the recipient of a $50,000 STEM Classroom Makeover Grant. The grant will support innovative STEM learning opportunities for students at the school. Local leaders from Brevard Public Schools, Brevard Schools Foundation and Florida Power & Light Company were there for the announcement. Superintendent Mark Rendell talked about the grant. On Monday, March 16 Stone Magnet Middle School was the recipient of a $50,000 STEM Classroom Makeover Grant. The grant will support innovative STEM learning opportunities for students at the school. Local leaders from Brevard Public Schools, Brevard Schools Foundation and Florida Power & Light Company were there for the announcement. School board member Megan Wright spoke about the grant. On Monday, March 16 Stone Magnet Middle School was the recipient of a $50,000 STEM Classroom Makeover Grant. The grant will support innovative STEM learning opportunities for students at the school. Local leaders from Brevard Public Schools, Brevard Schools Foundation and Florida Power & Light Company were there for the announcement. Richard Miller, board Chair for the Brevard School foundation, talks about the grant. On Monday, March 16 Stone Magnet Middle School was the recipient of a $50,000 STEM Classroom Makeover Grant. The grant will support innovative STEM learning opportunities for students at the school. Local leaders from Brevard Public Schools, Brevard Schools Foundation and Florida Power & Light Company were there for the announcement. Michele Murrell with Florida Power & Light was on hand to presnt the check. On Monday, March 16 Stone Magnet Middle School was the recipient of a $50,000 STEM Classroom Makeover Grant. The grant will support innovative STEM learning opportunities for students at the school. Local leaders from Brevard Public Schools, Brevard Schools Foundation and Florida Power & Light Company were there for the announcement. Stone Magnet Middle School Principal Lauren Feronti Williams spoke about what the grant will mean to the students. On Monday, March 16 Stone Magnet Middle School was the recipient of a $50,000 STEM Classroom Makeover Grant. The grant will support innovative STEM learning opportunities for students at the school. Local leaders from Brevard Public Schools, Brevard Schools Foundation and Florida Power & Light Company were there for the announcement. Michele Murrell (center) presented the check to STEM coordinator Diahann Shaw (left) and principal Lauren Feronti Williams. On Monday, March 16 Stone Magnet Middle School was the recipient of a $50,000 STEM Classroom Makeover Grant. The grant will support innovative STEM learning opportunities for students at the school. Local leaders from Brevard Public Schools, Brevard Schools Foundation and Florida Power & Light Company were there for the announcement. On Monday, March 16 Stone Magnet Middle School was the recipient of a $50,000 STEM Classroom Makeover Grant. The grant will support innovative STEM learning opportunities for students at the school. Local leaders from Brevard Public Schools, Brevard Schools Foundation and Florida Power & Light Company were there for the announcement. Stone Magnet Middle school receives STEM grant 1 of 9 On Monday, March 16, Stone Magnet Middle School was the recipient of a $50,000 STEM Classroom Makeover Grant. The grant will support innovative STEM learning opportunities for students at the school. Local leaders from Brevard Public Schools, Brevard Schools Foundation and Florida Power & Light Company were there for the announcement.

Over the course of the year, Stone  along with nine other selected schools throughout the state  will redesign a classroom with modern equipment and hands-on learning materials, FPL officials said in a press release.

"At FPL, we are committed to empowering students through education and we recognize the limitless opportunities that STEM learning can bring," said FPL Vice President of External Affairs and Economic Development Pam Rauch. "With STEM education forming the anchor of a thriving future, these grants are designed to spark creativity, exploration and a lifelong passion for learning within our communities. As we celebrate the fifth year of this program, we are proud to continue expanding its reach and positively impacting even more students."

Janice Kershaw, president and CEO of Brevard Schools Foundation, emphasized the new pathways for learning the grant will allow students at Stone to explore in preparation for their futures.

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"Partnerships like this demonstrate what is possible when businesses, schools and community organizations work together with a shared commitment to education," Kershaw said.

"Through Florida Power & Light Companys STEM Classroom Makeover Grant, students at Stone Magnet Middle School will have new opportunities to explore STEM concepts, develop real-world skills and build confidence in their ability to innovate and lead."

Finch Walker is the education reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Walker at fwalker@floridatoday.com. X: @_finchwalker. Instagram: @finchwalker_.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Brevard middle school gets STEM classroom makeover grant from FPL
On March 15, residents were glued to their TVs and phones as storms rolled through Alabama late Sunday.

Tornado watches and thunderstorm warnings swept across the state, leaving trees down, debris littering neighborhoods and power outages in parts of the region.

Meteorologists at the National Weather Service offices in Birmingham had warned of a level 3 out of 5 risk for severe weather.

As the alerts flashed on phones and TVs, these warnings may have left some residentsespecially those new to Alabamas tornado seasonwondering what each alert actually means. Understanding the distinction between watches and warnings is crucial for making informed decisions when severe weather strikes.

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Here's what to know about the difference between a watch and a warning as Alabamians head into storm season

What is a watch?

According to the National Weather Service, a watch means residents should be prepared because storms are possible in and near the watch area, though none have been spotted or indicated on radar.

Its a heads-up to review your emergency plans, make sure your supplies are ready and know where your safe space is.

Watches cover large areas, sometimes multiple counties or even several states, and are issued by the Storm Prediction Center.

What is a warning?

A warning means a storm has been spotted or detected on radar, whereas a watch means conditions are favorable for storms to develop. During a warning, theres an immediate threat to life and property. Residents should move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a sturdy building and stay away from windows.

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If youre in a mobile home, vehicle or outdoors, head to the nearest substantial shelter and protect yourself from flying debris.

Warnings come from your local National Weather Service office and usually cover a smaller area, about the size of a city or a small county, where a tornado is expected to hit.

Aerial photos, taken on Monday, March 9, 2026, show the aftermath of a tornado that struck several homes on Prairie Rose Lane on Union Lake last Friday.

Tornado emergency

A tornado emergency is the National Weather Services highest alert, issued only for the rarest and most severe situations.

It is issued when a violent tornado has touched down and poses a severe threat to life and property, and residents should immediately seek the safest shelter possible.

Check on friends and family in the area and give them a heads-up about what is coming.

Never try to outrun a tornado in a vehicle.

Continue to monitor local forecasts for updates.

Alabamas 2026 tornado outlook

Alabama may see slightly fewer tornadoes this year, as the U.S. is forecast to have 1,050 to 1,250 tornadoes, according to AccuWeather. Experts caution that fewer tornadoes doesnt mean Alabama is in the clear.

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Northern and central areas, including Huntsville and Decatur, remain at a higher risk for severe storms with damaging winds and hail. Cities like Birmingham, Tuscaloosa and Montgomery could face heavy rainfall and flash flooding.

When is peak tornado season in Alabama?

Tornadoes can happen any time of the year, however, peak tornado season in Alabama is typically the months of March, April and May.

There is a second tornado season that happens in the fall between the months of November and December.

Jennifer Lindahl is a Breaking and Trending Reporter in Alabama for USA TODAYs Deep South Connect Team. Connect with her on X @jenn_lindahl and email at jlindahl@usatodayco.com.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: What's the difference between a watch and warning? Tornado season in AL
During the United States-Israeli war on Iran, Tehran has said the Strait of Hormuz is open to all except the US and its allies. One-fifth of the worlds oil shipments transit through the strait.

On March 2, Ebrahim Jabari, a senior adviser to the commander-in-chief of Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced that the strait was closed and if any vessels tried to cross it, the IRGC and the navy would set those ships ablaze.

The move sent oil prices soaring above $100 per barrel from a pre-war price of about $65.

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A barrel of Brent crude, the international benchmark, was up 2.5 percent at $105.70 on Monday. That is more than 40 percent higher than before the war began on February 28.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told the US television network CBS on Sunday that Tehran had been approached by a number of countries seeking safe passage for their vessels and this is up to our military to decide. He added that a group of vessels from different countries had been allowed to pass, without providing details.

Here is what we know about which countries ships are being allowed to pass through the strait and which nations are reported to be negotiating for safe passage.

Pakistan

A Pakistani-flagged Aframax tanker called Karachi sailed out of the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, Bloomberg News reported.

First non-Iranian cargo transits Strait of Hormuz with AIS on The Aframax tanker Karachi, carrying Abu Dhabis Das crude, has become the first non-Iranian cargo to transit the chokepoint while broadcasting its AIS signal, suggesting that select shipments may be receiving pic.twitter.com/Q6j6W3Cxz3  MarineTraffic (@MarineTraffic) March 16, 2026

India

On Saturday, Irans ambassador to India, Mohammad Fathali, said Tehran had allowed some Indian vessels to pass through the Strait of Hormuz in a rare exception to the blockade that has disrupted global energy supplies.

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Fathali did not confirm the number of vessels. However, on the same day, New Delhi said two Indian-flagged tankers carrying liquefied petroleum gas bound for ports in western India had passed through the strait.

They crossed the Strait of Hormuz early morning safely and are en route to India, Rajesh Kumar Sinha, special secretary of the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, said at a news briefing in New Delhi.

Turkiye

A Turkish-owned ship that had been waiting near Iran was allowed to pass through the strait after authorities received permission from Tehran, Turkish Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said in comments to Turkish media on Friday.

Fifteen ships [with Turkish owners] were there. We obtained permission from the Iranian authorities for one of them that had used an Iranian port, and it passed, Uraloglu said.

China

China is in talks with Iran to allow crude oil and Qatari liquified natural gas carriers safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, the Reuters news agency reported on March 5, quoting three unnamed diplomatic sources.

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China, which has friendly relations with Iran and relies heavily on Middle Eastern petroleum supplies, is unhappy about Irans decision to paralyse shipping through the strait and is pressing Tehran to allow safe passage for its vessels, according to the sources.

China receives 45 percent of its oil via the Strait of Hormuz.

France and Italy

The two European nations are understood to have requested talks with Iran about allowing their ships to pass through the strait, the UKs Financial Times has reported, citing unnamed officials.

What is the naval coalition Trump proposed for the strait?

US President Donald Trump called for a naval coalition to join the US Navy in deploying warships to secure the strait.

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Hopefully China, France, Japan, South Korea, the UK, and others, that are affected by this artificial constraint will send ships to the area so that the Hormuz Strait will no longer be a threat by a nation that has been totally decapitated, Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Sunday.

However, the countries Trump mentioned have made no promises to join such an operation.

On Monday, Germany and Greece ruled out military involvement.

A German government spokesperson said: As long as this war continues, there will be no participation, not even in any effort to keep the Strait of Hormuz open by military means.

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Greece will also not engage in any military operations in the Strait of Hormuz, government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said.

Despite pressure from the Trump administration to provide support to the US in its war on Iran, United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer told the media on Monday: We will not be drawn into the wider war.

Rodger Shanahan, a Middle East security analyst, told Al Jazeera it is unlikely US allies will get involved in securing the Strait of Hormuz as the Trump administration suggested.

Shanahan said because most US allies opposed this war to begin with, it makes them feel relatively less inclined to provide support to it.

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Besides, theres a practical issue. If you want naval support for some kind of coalition protection operation, it takes you a long time to get ships to sail to that area. You cant do this kind of stuff on the fly.
NEED TO KNOW

Madison Paige Jones, 30, and Zackery Dondlinger, 37, were indicted in Texas on dozens of charges related to the alleged sexual abuse of a 5-year-old girl

Authorities said Jones, a former substitute teacher, allegedly abused the child at Dondlingers direction and sent videos to him via Snapchat

Following the indictments, both suspects bonds were dramatically increased, with Jones set at $3.84 million and Dondlingers at $5 million

A substitute teacher and her boyfriend have been indicted for dozens of child sex crimes involving a 5-year-old girl in Texas.

Madison Paige Jones, 30, was indicted on March 4 on 19 counts, including aggravated sexual assault of a child, sexual contact with a child and possession with intent to promote child pornography, according to public court records from Ellis County.

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Zackery Dondlinger, 37, was indicted on March 4 on 20 nearly identical counts, per the public court records.

The indictment means a grand jury found that there was sufficient evidence against both Jones and Dondlinger for the case to proceed to trial.

Attorneys for both Dondlinger and Jones did not immediately respond to PEOPLEs request for comment.

Authorities arrested Jones on Dec. 19, 2025, per a media release from the Winkler County Sheriffs Office (WCSO). Detectives soon identified Dondlinger as a second suspect and arrested him several days later at the oil rig where he was employed on Dec. 23, 2025.

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Authorities said Jones was reportedly a substitute teacher, and she and Mr. Dondlinger were in a romantic relationship, per the release.

Madison Paige Jones

Credit: Midlothian Police Department

Authorities initially received information that the alleged abuse was occurring from a woman who identified herself as a friend of Jones, according to court documents obtained by NewsChannel10.

The woman told police that she was concerned about Dondlingers behavior toward a 5-year-old child in Jones home, per the documents, according to the outlet.

It is not immediately clear whether the child was a relative of Jones.

Police confronted Jones, who allegedly confessed to sexually abusing the 5-year-old at Dondlinger's direction. Jones additionally stated that Dondlinger was having sexual fantasies about the child, per the documents obtained by NewsChannel10.

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Affidavits obtained by the outlet state that Jones sent videos of alleged sexual acts to Dondlinger via Snapchat to satisfy his sexual needs. The documents also stated that police found text messages between Jones and Dondlinger that confirmed her statements, per NewsChannel10.

The Midlothian Police Department did not immediately respond to PEOPLEs request for comment.

Zackery Dondlinger

Credit: Winkler County Sheriff's Office

Jones was a former substitute teacher for the Midlothian Independent School District (Midlothian ISD), per NewsChannel10 and Fox 4 News.

A spokesperson for Midlothian ISD confirmed that Jones worked for the district, but said she had only worked four days in the past year in a statement to Fox 4 News.

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.

The spokesperson further stated that Jones is no longer employed by the district, and that the alleged crimes did not appear to have occurred at their schools or involved one of their students.

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Midlothian ISD did not immediately respond to PEOPLEs request for comment.

After the recent indictments, Jones' bond was increased from $90,000 to $3,840,000, and Dondlingers bond was increased from $200,000 to $5,000,000, according to News 4 San Antonio.

If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.

If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.

Read the original article on People
Washington  The Supreme Court on Monday said it will consider the Trump administration's efforts to roll back temporary deportation protections for hundreds of thousands of immigrants from Syria and Haiti.

While agreeing to take up the legal battle over Temporary Protected Status for the two countries, the Supreme Court did not allow the Trump administration to end the programs while it considers the case. The Justice Department had asked the high court to grant it emergency relief and freeze lower court orders blocking Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's decisions to terminate TPS for more than 6,000 immigrants from Syria and 350,000 immigrants from Haiti.

The Supreme Court instead said in a brief unsigned order that it is deferring consideration of the requests, leaving those lower court rulings in place for now. It set oral arguments in the cases for late April.

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The disputes over legal protections for immigrants from Haiti and Syria are the latest involving President Trump's immigration agenda to land before the Supreme Court in its current term. The high court also will hear arguments April 1 on the legality of the president's plan to end birthright citizenship. Decisions in each of the cases will likely come by the end of June or early July.

The Supreme Court has already allowed the administration to lift deportation protections for more than 300,000 Venezuelans in the U.S. while legal proceedings continued. The Department of Homeland Security has also moved to terminate TPS designations for at least a dozen other countries, including Afghanistan, Nicaragua, Somalia and Yemen. The Trump administration has argued that courts cannot review the secretary's TPS determinations.

Congress created TPS in 1990, and the program provides temporary immigration protections for people from countries beset by armed conflicts, natural disasters or other "extraordinary and temporary" conditions that make it unsafe for deportees to return. Migrants from a country designated for TPS generally cannot be removed from the U.S. and are authorized to work for the length of the designation, which is typically 18 months but can be extended.

The dispute over TPS for Haiti

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Haiti was first designated for TPS in 2010 after the catastrophic earthquake that left more than 300,000 people dead and devastated the country. The program has since been extended for Haitian immigrants several times, including during the Biden administration in 2021 following the assassination of then-President Jovenel Moise and again in 2024 because of economic, political, security and health crises.

But after Mr. Trump returned to the White House last year, Noem took steps to rescind TPS for Haiti, effective Feb. 3.

Noem determined the decision to end the protections "reflects a necessary and strategic vote of confidence in the new chapter Haiti is turning" and the "foreign policy vision of a secure, sovereign and self-reliant Haiti." While the secretary acknowledged that certain conditions in Haiti remained "concerning," Noem said parts of the country were "suitable" to return to.

The State Department has warned U.S. citizens not to travel to Haiti because of "kidnapping, crime, terrorist activity, civil unrest and limited health care."

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In December, a group of five Haitian nationals challenged Noem's termination of TPS and sought to block the move. A federal district court granted their request, finding in part that Noem's decision to unwind the protections was likely motivated by racial animus.

"Kristi Noem has a First Amendment right to call immigrants killers, leeches, entitlement junkies, and any other inapt name she wants," U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes wrote. "Secretary Noem, however, is constrained by both our Constitution and the [Administrative Procedure Act] to apply faithfully the facts to the law in implementing the TPS program. The record to-date shows she has yet to do that."

Reyes also pointed to derogatory statements Mr. Trump has made about Haitians, including referring to Haiti as a "s***hole" country and, while on the campaign trail in 2024, promoting the conspiracy theory that Haitian immigrants living in Springfield, Ohio, were eating people's pets. City officials said there were no credible reports of Haitian immigrants abducting and eating pets.

The Justice Department appealed Reyes' decision, and a divided three-judge panel on the U.S. appeals court in Washington, D.C., declined to freeze the lower court's decision. Justice Department lawyers asked the Supreme Court last week to step in and allow the Trump administration to rescind the deportation protections for Haitian nationals.

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The dispute over TPS for Syria

Syria was designated for TPS by the Obama administration in 2012 after the brutal crackdown by former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Protections for Syrian immigrants were extended several times, including during Mr. Trump's first term. The Trump administration estimates there are more than 6,000 Syrian nationals covered by the program.

But last September, Noem moved to end the program for Syrians, citing in part the collapse of the Assad regime at the end of 2024 and the lifting of sanctions against the country last year. The secretary determined that Syria no longer met the criteria for an armed conflict that jeopardized Syrian nationals returning to the country, and found there are "sporadic, isolated episodes of violence."

The State Department has warned Americans not to travel to the area, citing "terrorism, civil unrest, kidnapping, hostage taking, and armed conflict."

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The deportation protections for Syrian nationals in the U.S. were set to end Nov. 21.

But after a group of seven Syrians filed a lawsuit last October challenging Noem's decision to unwind TPS protections, a federal district court delayed the termination. U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla found, in part, that Noem's move to rescind the protections for Syria was based on a political decision to end TPS altogether, citing comments by Mr. Trump and the secretary.

"The president made sweeping and erroneous statements concerning his belief in the legality of the TPS program and its inutility to what can only be fairly described as an anti-immigrant agenda," she said.

Of Noem, the judge said she "endeavored to terminate TPS status whenever presented with an opportunity to do so, resulting in termination decisions that are ground not in law and not in fact, but that are in political considerations simply not relevant under the TPS statute."

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The Trump administration filed an emergency appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, and it declined to halt the lower court's decision in February.

While the 2nd Circuit acknowledged that the Supreme Court had twice allowed the Trump administration to end temporary protections for Venezuelans, it said those cases involved a designation for a different country with different circumstances.

The Trump administration sought emergency relief from the Supreme Court at the end of February and argued that the district court's order interfered with the government's foreign policy determinations and its interest in enforcing immigration laws.

With Iran choking off the Strait of Hormuz, what can the U.S. do?

All in the family

A Hollywood landmark preserved
A 34-year-old man who is alleged to have stabbed an Afghan man to death in the Austrian city of Linz at the weekend has a history of violent offences.

A spokesman for the Linz Public Prosecutor's Office said on Monday that the suspect was most recently sentenced to a prison term in 2018 for causing grievous bodily harm.

The Croatian national has confessed to the crime and is citing mental illness, according to the public prosecutors office.

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A request has been made for the suspect to be remanded in custody on suspicion of murder and attempted murder.

The man is alleged to have ambushed two Afghan men on Saturday after an altercation.

In the street, he is alleged to have first seriously injured a 24-year-old with a standard kitchen knife and then killed a 26-year-old with a stab wound to the upper body.
SINGAPORE, March 16 (Reuters) - China's Hua Hong Group has developed advanced chip manufacturing technologies that can be used to produce artificial intelligence chips, four people familiar with the matter said, a major milestone in Beijing's efforts to boost tech self-sufficiency.

The group's contract chipmaking business, Huali Microelectronics, is readying a 7-nanometre (nm) chipmaking process at its plant in Shanghai, the people said, which would make it the second Chinese chipmaker with such advanced technologies. Hua Hong is China's second-largest chipmaker.

More from Yahoo Scout What advanced chip manufacturing milestone did Hua Hong achieve? What role is Huawei playing in Hua Hong's technology? What are Hua Hong's production plans and capacity targets? How does this impact China's semiconductor self-sufficiency goals?

China's largest contract chipmaker, SMIC, is at present the only domestic producer capable of making chips with 7 nm technologies.

The development comes after Washington eased some of its tech export controls since last year, allowing Nvidia to sell its second-most-powerful AI chips to China.

Despite the easing, Beijing has encouraged domestic firms to purchase homegrown alternatives, as it seeks to wean itself off foreign suppliers.

Reuters could not determine how Hua Hong achieved the advanced manufacturing capability, its manufacturing efficiency, and which major equipment suppliers were involved in the development. Hua Hong's development of a 7 nm chipmaking process has not been previously reported.

But Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies has been in collaboration with the chipmaker for the 7 nm technologies, three of the sources said. All of the sources declined to be named, because the information is not meant to be public.

Hua Hong Group, Huali, its sister company Hua Hong Semiconductor and Huawei did not respond to requests for comment.

Shares in Hua Hong Semiconductor surged 12% on Monday after the Reuters report.

SMIC uses Dutch chip equipment maker ASML's immersion machines to make 7 nm chips, but production yields - the number of good chips made per silicon wafer - have remained weak, analysts have said.

ASML said it does not comment on questions related to deliveries.

TEST PRODUCTION UNDERWAY

Huali's research and development on 7 nm chips at its Hua Hong Fab 6 began last year, with support from domestic equipment suppliers including Huawei-backed SiCarrier, which tested its equipment at a facility in Shenzhen last year, a separate source said. SiCarrier did not respond to a request for comment.

The development followed an announcement by Hua Hong Semiconductor in December that it planned to acquire a controlling stake in Huali and raise a further 7.56 billion yuan ($1.10 billion) to fund technological upgrades and research at the foundry.
TAMAQUA, SCHUYLKILL COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU)  A massive state police standoff ended with a person now in custody in Schuylkill County.

This is Pennsylvania State police, we have a search warrant for this residence. Surrender the residence immediately, authorities announced on scene.

That message awakened many people overnight in Tamaqua at a home on Washington Street.

Officials say scooter battery possible cause of house fire

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A neighbors security camera captured the heavily armed officer heading to the rear of the home.

State police told 28/22 News a suspect was taken into custody, but they did not say what led to the standoff in Schuylkill County.

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to 28/22 News.
BROOME COUNTY, N.Y. (WIVT/WBGH)  A Tennessee man is facing felony charges after he allegedly traveled to Broome County to have sex with a 15-year-old girl he met on TikTok.

The Broome County Sheriffs Office announced the arrest of 25-year-old Samuel Harris. Harris was arrested on March 15 by members of the Broome County Sheriffs Office Road Patrol after receiving a report that sexual offenses involving a juvenile female took place at the Hillside Inn & Suites on Old Front Street in the Town of Dickinson.

An investigation determined that Harris had allegedly met a 15-year-old girl on the social media platform TikTok and had exchanged messages with her over the past five months. Police say Harris then purchased a bus ticket from Tennessee to New York to meet with the juvenile.

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On March 14, Harris allegedly met with the girl, who was staying at the hotel, and engaged in sexual acts while her mother was out getting food.

Upon making contact with BCSO deputies, Harris allegedly stated, Im caught, aint I?

As a result of the investigation, Harris was charged with two counts of Rape in the Third Degree, Class E Felonies, and Child Endangerment, a Class A Misdemeanor.

Harris was arraigned and remanded to the Broome County Jail. An Order of Protection was filed on behalf of the victim.

Excellent work, as always, by our Broome County Sheriffs Office deputies in quickly getting sexual predators off the street and away from our communitys children, said Broome County Sheriff Fred Akshar. We will continue to hold these predators accountable, but parents must continue to be ever vigilant when it comes to social media use by their children. Sexual predators are unbound by geographical distance, and will use social media any way they can to find and exploit their victims.

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Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WIVT - News 34.
BANGKOK, March 16 (Reuters) - Thailand's parliament will hold a session on March 19 to vote on a new prime minister, House Speaker Sophon Zaram said on Monday, following last month's general election.

Caretaker Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul is seeking to be voted back to office by the new parliament after his Bhumjaithai Party won a clear victory in the February 8 election.

(Reporting by Panarat Thepgumpanat; Writing by Orathai Sriring; Editing by Martin Petty )
Maritime authorities have warned mariners to steer clear of a crewless Russian fuel tanker that has been drifting between Italy and Malta for days after an alleged drone attack, prompting fears of an environmental disaster.

Surveillance video taken from above the ship shows the smoldering blackened vessel listing to one side, with a massive gash on its port side and a filmy substance in the waters around it.

The Russian-flagged vessel  the Arctic Metagaz  is carrying around 900 metric tons (992 US tons) of diesel fuel and more than 60,000 metric tons (66,000 US tons) of liquefied natural gas in the still-intact hull, according to Italian authorities.

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It is alleged to be part of Moscows so-called shadow fleet, made up of aging tankers that clandestinely ferry Russian oil around the world despite sanctions imposed by the United States and Europe after Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The 277-meter (909-foot) ship left the Russian Arctic port of Murmansk and was headed to Egypt, according to the website Vessel Finder.

However, early on March 3, it was attacked by maritime and aerial drones in neutral waters in the central Mediterranean Sea, about 168 nautical miles southeast of Malta, Russias Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement March 11.

The 30 crew members  some of whom sustained burns  abandoned ship after a fire broke out. They were rescued from their lifeboat and taken to Benghazi by the Libyan Coast Guard in conjunction with the Russian embassy in Libya, according to Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova, who called the alleged attack on the commercial vessel an act of terrorism.

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Russias transport ministry said Ukrainian naval drones were responsible for the attack, Reuters reported. Ukraine has not commented on the incident.

Zakharova described the incident as a flagrant violation of international law with potentially grave consequences.

Notably, the attack occurred in close proximity to the shores of an EU member state, yet none of the European nations have condemned the incident to date, she said.

The Arctic Metagaz is allegedly part of Moscows so-called shadow fleet. - Newsbook Malta/AFP/Getty Images

Although the incident happened in international waters, the Italian government is increasingly worried shifting winds might push the vessel close to Italian territory, according to Italian navy authorities.

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They addressed the situation in a special session Friday with defense, foreign, energy, maritime and civil protection ministers, as well as Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. The group recommended to Meloni that the ship could not safely dock at an Italian port, calling it a ticking time bomb filled with gas, a spokesperson for the foreign ministry who attended the meeting told CNN.

It is not thought that anyone remained on the tanker, which lost all power and control of its steering. Meloni said in a statement after the meeting that her government was in constant contact with the Maltese authorities and that both countries were monitoring the situation.

Both Italy and Malta have dispatched tugboats and anti-pollution assets that are ready to intervene if necessary. On Sunday, the ship was drifting about 20 nautical miles off the Sicilian island of Linosa, part of the archipelago that includes Lampedusa.

Ultimately the responsibility for salvage lies with the ships Russian owner, LLC SMP Techmanagement, but neither Italian nor Maltese authorities have confirmed any contact with the group. CNN has tried to contact the owner.

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Maltese authorities have commissioned a specialized marine salvage team to determine whether the tanker can be safely towed to a port, or if it should be sunk at sea, according to newspaper Malta Today. The Italian Coast Guard declined to confirm to CNN if it is also part of the plan to tow it further out to sea, where the waters are deeper.

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), a global conservation organization, has issued a warning about the potential threats to the environment, especially if the tanker is sunk with its extremely dangerous cargo.

A potential spill could cause wildfires, cryogenic clouds that are lethal to marine wildlife, and large, long-lasting pollution of water and atmosphere, the group said in a statement Friday.

The group says the area where the ship now drifts is home to almost all the protected marine species found in the Mediterranean and is traversed by bluefin tuna and swordfish.

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The area concerned is of exceptional ecological value, with fragile deep ecosystems and one of the highest biodiversity in the Mediterranean basin, the group warned. The environmental risk is therefore very high and potentially irreversible, with serious repercussions for the economies of the Pelagie Islands, which are based on fishing and tourism.

When the ship was hit, the Libyan port authority mistakenly reported to Mediterranean maritime authorities that it had sunk after suffering sudden explosions followed by a massive fire, Italian naval authorities told the Italian special commission.

A few days later, Maltese authorities spotted the ship and alerted Italy, with both countries warning anyone at sea to maintain at least five nautical miles distance from the vessel.

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Imagine living in a state where you cant access basic police reports detailing what the heck officers were doing in your neighborhood or what caused a four-vehicle crash that shut down a local street for hours.

Seems a little out-of-touch with the American way, doesnt it?

Yet thats exactly what has happened in Oklahomas capital after Oklahoma City police administration exploited a perceived loophole in the states Open Records Act, a state law designed to protect the publics inherent right to know what government bodies are doing and why.

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The biggest example of this police departments emboldened approach stems from reporting by a fellow nonprofit news outlet Oklahoma Watch. It was looking into reports last year that a teacher was confronted by, as the site put it, vigilante-predator catchers at his home. Oklahoma City police refused to provide the media outlet access to incident reports, contending that those were private because no one was arrested or charged with a crime.

More from Stecklein: OK legislators need to fulfill education pension commitment | Opinion

Many police departments across the U.S. create incident reports to help the public understand whats happening by revealing the five Ws  who, what, when, where and why. But Oklahoma Citys police department cited a 2023 internal policy change  and not anything from the Legislature, which creates laws  that insists incident reports are no longer considered public records under state law. Even if there are no arrests made.

State law requires all law enforcement agencies to make public a chronological list of all incidents, including initial offense report information showing the offense, date, time, general location, officer and a brief summary of what occurred.

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The OKCPD argues that it doesnt keep such a list, which exempts it, even though these same records are widely made available by other law enforcement bodies in this state and others. The attorney generals office compounded the problem by refusing to insist that those records are public despite long-held practices of releasing them, Oklahoma Watch reported.

To their credit, Oklahoma lawmakers are moving swiftly to fix this problematic interpretation. They want to make sure this practice that promotes secrecy doesnt spread across the state and infect their communities, too.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle know what the rest of us know. We give police departments an enormous amount of power and trust to protect us. Incident reports are one of the forms of accountability the public has to make sure that trust is not being abused.

House Bill 4144, authored by Republican legislators Robert Manger and Warren Hamilton, would clearly spell out that incident reports are public record. Last week, it became one of those rare measures that cleared the House by a bipartisan 97-0 vote. It now heads to the Senate.

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Its a low-key bill that hasnt generated a ton of attention, but it is one of the best pieces of legislation this session that would actually strengthen the publics right to know.

Given that this week marks Sunshine Week, an annual nonpartisan event that highlights the need for open records and government, its fitting that House leadership prioritized this issue.

Unfortunately, most sessions it can be hard to find lawmakers willing to make simple and clear clarifications to improve access to records that help strengthen Oklahomans right to understand how our government works.

Sometimes needed reforms are thwarted by lobbyists who trick lawmakers into slipping in bad language that protects their clients or muddies the legal waters. Other times, its government agencies themselves that want to operate under a blanket of secrecy, figuring  rightly  that most Oklahomans dont have the financial resources to fight for their rights in court.

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Another piece of bipartisan legislation aimed at fortifying the publics right to know is Senate Bill 1415, authored by Democratic Sen. Michael Brooks-Jimenez and Republican Rep. Chris Kannady.

It would make nondisclosure agreements, better known as NDAs, between state employees and agencies void and unenforceable upon resignation or termination unless an individual has a professionally mandated confidentiality requirement such as an attorney or health care work.

Brooks-Jimenez told me that he filed it because hes seen a trend of state agencies offering stipends or some sort of severance payment to employees on their way out in exchange for a public employee signing a severance agreement containing an NDA. He said unless something is going wrong, theres no reason to have nondisclosure agreements.

I think that affects the transparency of those state agencies in a way thats not consistent with what state government is supposed to do, he said. If theres any kind of fraud, waste, corruption or any other issues going on with the state agency, I think once someone separates from service from that place, they need to have the ability and probably the encouragement to be able to disclose the circumstances.

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While the bill is a laudable starting point, one issue is that it does not also expressly include confidentiality agreements, which is an equally problematic term some that agencies are using instead.

I know because for the past two years Oklahoma Voice has been fighting the Department of Wildlife Conversations governing board to obtain a copy of the severance agreement outlining why this board paid its former executive director, J.D. Strong, $169,341 to abruptly leave the agency. Were suing the board to force it to release the document, and the case is scheduled to next be considered in district court this summer.

Among other things, the board argues its severance agreement is not public because it contains a confidentiality clause. They also argue that Strongs privacy interests in keeping the severance agreement, which he apparently submitted to them for approval, should prevail over the publics right to know.

And the governing board cites a provision of the Open Records Act that they claim give boards at their sole discretion the right maintain the confidentiality of personnel records when such records pertain to internal personnel investigations including examination and selection material for employment, hiring, appointment, promotion, demotion, discipline or resignation.

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Theyre also arguing they have the sole discretion, to maintain the confidentiality of personnel records when disclosure would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.

More: Oklahoma lawmakers should focus on funding schools, not fluff | Opinion

For full transparency, the board has since stipulated that Strong was not under investigation at the time of his departure. But everyone involved has otherwise stayed quiet on what really happened, and why it required a payout of public money.

So as lawmakers consider removing NDAs, heres hoping they remember there are other loopholes that government bodies use to obscure access to information, such as classifying things as personnel records, arguing they have sole discretion over the release of records or including confidentiality agreements or withholding severance agreements.

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Lets hope they remember this Sunshine Week that just because public transparency is good for most peoples souls, there will always be work to be done. Because despite their best intentions, there will always be someone, somewhere trying to keep the public in the dark.

Its their job to close the door on those bad actors and let the public in.

Janelle Stecklein

Janelle Stecklein is editor of Oklahoma Voice. An award-winning journalist, Stecklein has been covering Oklahoma government and politics since moving to the state in 2014. Oklahoma Voice is part of States Newsroom, the nations largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OK House advances bill to strengthen public's right to know | Opinion
A Memphis-area tech consultant with a background in mutual aid and LGBTQ+ advocacy is now trying her hand at county government. If successful, Lena Chipman would be the first out trans person elected to public office in western Tennessee , according to her campaign team .

Keep up with the latest in LGBTQ + news and politics. Sign up for The Advocate's email newsletter.

Chipman, a Democrat , is running for a seat on the Shelby County Board of Commissioners representing District 13, centered around East Memphis. Chipman told The Advocate her campaign is focused on community well-being and fighting back against policies enacted at the state and federal levels that she considers harmful.

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Im not running to be more of the same. Im not running to be a centrist Democrat who doesnt make any changes. Chipman said. I want to solve the big problems. I want to create big impact.

From corporate offices to community organizing

For Chipman, making a difference begins with channeling lessons from their professional and personal life. For starters, Chipman has lived in Shelby County since 1985. Close familiarity with the area and its needs makes for more effective leadership, they said.

Related: This transgender Space Force veterans service didnt end when Trumps military pushed her out

Related: Former Air Force secretary endorses decorated trans retired colonel running for Congress in Virginia

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Chipman also points to their background in the tech industry. After earning a graduate degree from the University of Memphis, they rose through the ranks and became a senior executive at a Fortune 500 company, they said.

It gives me a lot of background in: How do you negotiate complex systems? Chipman said. How do you solve problems when you have multiple competing stakeholders that all want different things?

Outside the corporate world, Chipman said they became involved in mutual aid efforts decades ago, but expanded their advocacy after coming out as transgender about four years ago. It became really apparent that if I didn't get out there and help do the work, then it wasn't going to get done, they said.

A person with short, multicolor hair and a shirt displaying several LGBTQ Pride flags speaks to a person wearing a black shirt and backpack outside.

Chipman would be the first out trans person elected to public office in western Tennessee. Photo courtesy of the Lena Chipman for County Commission 13 campaign

Putting beliefs into practice

Chipman became involved with local nonprofits and LGBTQ+ advocacy groups, even delivering remarks outside Memphis City Hall at a pro-trans-rights demonstration organized by LGBTQ+ activist groups in 2023 .

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Chipman hopes to combine these experiences into a county commission platform focused on effective management and community uplift. That means better local transit, a stronger social safety net, and local protection against policies passed by higher levels of government, they said.

One proposal would give Shelby County at least partial oversight of the Memphis Area Transit Authority, which currently operates under city leadership. Chipman said regional oversight could help expand service to communities that are currently harder to reach.

Related: Ousted under Trump's trans military ban, retired Space Force Col. Bree Fram launches bid for Congress

Related: Trans candidate Arienne Childrey is running for Ohio House and against the state's drag ban sponsor

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Related: Despite Trumps election, a glimmer of hope as transgender candidates win elections nationwide

When you dont have an effective transit system, it touches all the different problems that you have inside of the county, Chipman said. Lack of transit drives poverty.  It affects even things like education. If your kid has no easy way to get around the city, then now you have incurred the cost.

Chipman also supports expanding bus transit infrastructure, subsidized internships connected to union jobs, improved support for people attending pretrial and probation appointments, and a publicly funded motorsports venue intended to reduce illegal drag racing on county roads.

All of these things have worked together to fight poverty, they said.

Out in public office

Chipmans campaign comes at a time when trans people across the United States, and especially in Southern states like Tennessee, face threats to their health care, employment, and even daily lives. If elected, Chipman would be just the second out trans person elected in Tennessee, following the election of Olivia Hill to local office in Nashville in 2023.

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But Chipman said her campaign would be stronger precisely because she is not part of the status quo.

This office gives you a megaphone. The moment you are in any form of political office, you have a voice that is louder, Chipman said. This voice gives me the ability to advocate.

Chipman said LGBTQ+ rights would figure prominently in her work as a county commissioner. They suggested providing tax incentives to developers who build properties with non-gendered facilities, in light of state laws restricting trans people from accessing the bathrooms that align with their gender.

With Shelby Countys primary municipal election set for May 5, Chipman said they hope their message resonates with voters across the district.

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I'm not running because I want to be in office, [or] because we need trans people in office. We do, but that's not why I'm doing this, Chipman said. I'm doing this because I've seen the challenges that Shelby County has.  And we need people who are willing to actually change things.

This article was written as part of the Future of Queer Media fellowship program at The Advocate, which is underwritten by a generous gift from Morrison Media Group . The program helps support the next generation of LGBTQ+ journalists.

This article originally appeared on Advocate: Trans tech executive could become first out officeholder in western Tennessee

RELATED
Traverse City, Michigan  Residents aren't as worried about snow in mid-March, it's the threat of ice that has them on alert.

The National Weather Service issued an ice storm warning for Traverse City on Sunday through at least 8 a.m. Monday. The area could receive up to 6 inches of sleet and snow and up to a quarter-inch of ice.

The weather grounded all flights in and out of Cherry Capital Airport until 9 a.m. Monday. The city announced it would delay opening local facilities until 11 a.m. Monday, according to social media posts from the city and airport.

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Chief Medical Officer Kathy Behler of the city's Northwest Michigan Health Services clinic was told not to come into work on Monday, she said. Behler said they have never gotten as much ice this late in the year as what was expected get overnight Sunday.

This is exceptional," said Behler. "I have not seen it in the 11 years that Ive lived here, but it is pretty nasty out."

What is a bomb cyclone and why is it so dangerous?

Heavy equipment travels on State Street during a snowfall Sunday, March 15, 2026 in Traverse City, Mich.

Blizzard hits Michigan: Historic storm predicted to dump record snow

Behler said she went grocery shopping Saturday to make sure she had supplies and food until the middle of the week. She hadn't seen the grocery store that busy "in a long time."

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The roads in Traverse City were snow covered Sunday afternoon. Casey Albaugh, a professional snow plower, said he was out from 4 a.m. to 6 p.m. plowing. By 4:05 p.m., the area had already received 5 inches of snow.

Albaugh expected to be out again early Monday.

Ill go out at 3 oclock in the morning and then turn right back around and have to do it again," said Albaugh, who has more than 50 clients.

The ice storm expected to hit Sunday night is part of a busy winter season for Albaugh. He said he usually plows snow 25-30 times per season. This season, he had gone out 38 times as of Sunday afternoon.

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Albaugh expected road conditions could change "every minute" into Monday morning.

Its raining right now, so its going to get really slippery," Albaugh said around 6:30 p.m. Sunday.

 MORE: Get the latest weather for where you are.

Casey Albaugh, of Traverse City, plows snow Sunday, March 15, 2026 in downtown Traverse City, Mich.

Rain hit northwest Michigan on Sunday afternoon. The rain made the roads icy leading into Traverse City.

Jeff Austin, who lives south of Toledo, Ohio, drove to Traverse City on Sunday with his wife for a conference for agricultural workers with disabilities at Park Place Hotel downtown.

From about 4 oclock to 5:30 (it) was just icy, the whole entire way," said Austin.

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Austin, who is paralyzed from the waist down, said moving around outside in his wheelchair is trying.

"Its more difficult, and of course your coat gets wet, your arms and hands and gloves get wet," Austin said. "Its just a pain in the butt, but you adapt and overcome."

The airport closure meant several people couldn't make it to the conference, said Monica Robbins. Robbins, who lives in Spring Lake, Michigan, got to Traverse City around 12:30 p.m. Sunday.

As a Michiganian, Robbins said she is not surprised by the weather. But she is disappointed that it "derailed" the start of the conference, which ends Thursday.

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"Hopefully by Tuesday, things start to clear up a bit," Robbins said.

mbryan@detroitnews.com

This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Traverse City residents, visitors brace for 'exceptional' ice storm
By Saurabh Sharma and Krishna N. Das

NEW DELHI, March 16 (Reuters) - Iran has asked India to release three tankers seized in February as part of talks seeking the safe passage of Indianflagged or Indiabound vessels out of the Gulf via the Strait of Hormuz, three sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

Indian authorities seized the three Iranlinked tankers near Indian waters alleging they had concealed or altered their identities and were involved in illegal shiptoship transfers at sea.

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Tehran has also sought supplies of certain medicines and medical equipment, according to one of the sources, an Iranian official.

Irans ambassador to New Delhi met Indian foreign ministry officials on Monday to discuss the issue, the source said.

The sources declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.

India's foreign ministry, the Iranian embassy in New Delhi, and Iran's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment.

Iran recently allowed two Indian liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tankers to pass through the strait, according to Indian officials, and one of them returned to western India on Monday. Traffic has ground to a near standstill on either side of the strait since the beginning of the war in Iran.

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Asked about negotiations to ensure passage for Indian vessels, foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Monday that recent movements reflected a "history of engagement, of dealing with each other".

He told a daily news briefing that nothing was being exchanged.

Since the start of U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran in late February, Tehran has responded with attacks across the region including on ships attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz, killing three Indian sailors and leaving one missing.

India said on Monday that at least 22 Indian-flagged vessels and 611 Indian seafarers remained in the Gulf.

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An Indian source said six of the vessels were loaded with LPG and the country was keen for their passage first to ease a shortage of the cooking fuel. About 90% of India's total LPG imports come from the Gulf.

IRANIAN-LINKED TANKERS ANCHORED OFF MUMBAI

Indian authorities seized the tankers Asphalt Star, Al Jafzia and Stellar Ruby alleging they had concealed or altered their identity and movements, and were involved in illegal shiptoship transfers.

Stellar Ruby is Iranianflagged, while the other two vessels are flagged to Nicaragua and Mali.

A police complaint filed by the Indian Coast Guard on February 15, and seen by Reuters, said Asphalt Star was involved in the smuggling of heavy fuel oil that was transferred to Al Jafzia and bitumen to Stellar Ruby. All three are currently docked off Mumbai.

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Around the time of the seizure, Iranian state media cited the National Iranian Oil Company as saying that the three tankers seized had no connection to the company.

Jugwinder Singh Brar, whom the United States accuses of running a shipping fleet that helps transport Iranian oil, said he was a consultant for all three ships seized by India and that they had done nothing wrong.

"We were transporting bitumen and there is nothing illegal in doing this. My ships have been there for 40 days and I have faced losses," he told Reuters by phone, adding he was not aware of any negotiations over the tankers.

(Reporting by Saurabh Sharma and Krishna N. Das in New Delhi; additional reporting by Hritam Mukherjee and Parisa Hafezi; editing by Jason Neely)
A week ago, President Donald Trump told Britain not to bother sending ships to the Middle East because hed already won the Iran war.

Now, hes calling on Americas special relationship ally; fellow NATO states; and even China to dispatch vessels to open the Strait of Hormuz. He implied that if help didnt arrive, Europes US defense umbrella and his planned summit this month with Chinese leader Xi Jinping could be at risk.

Trumps salvo, in an interview with the Financial Times, was a fresh sign that despite his multiple Iran victory laps, the war is far from over.

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It would not be the first US military venture this century to drag on longer than Washington expected. This may explain new attempts by administration officials to convince the public and global markets that the conflict could end soon.

US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz declined to say on CNNs State of the Union on Sunday when American forces would come home despite lauding them for a dominant victory, the likes of which we havent seen in modern American military history.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright was more optimistic. I think that this conflict will certainly come to the end in the next few weeks, could be sooner than that, he said on ABC News This Week.

Israel, meanwhile, told CNN that fearsome bombing raids against Iranian military and intelligence targets could last at least three more weeks. The Jewish state is more accustomed to perpetual military action than US voters and leaders are.

Wars are not defined by their first few weeks

It remains too early to judge the overall impact of the war. It looks possible, even likely, that combined US and Israeli raids have caused massive damage to Irans military machine and ability to threaten the outside world. If confirmed, such a scenario would offer Trump a credible argument to have made the world safer.

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Plus, the war is only two weeks old. By any standard, thats not a long time. Any frustration for top brass about short attention spans in the media and among analysts about the war may be understandable.

But modern history shows that a war is often not defined in the first few weeks, when Americas massive military edge is at its most decisive.

So the White House is facing multiple reasons for skepticism that it can extricate the US soon.

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before boarding Air Force One as he departs Joint Base Andrews on Saturday. - Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

Trump has barely prepared the country for the war, and he keeps adding to the confusion with conflicting statements. He vehemently insists that the war is already won. But he says it will end only when he feels it in his bones. If victory is already achieved, its fair to ask why American troops are still in harms way after 13 US deaths on active service so far.

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The administration is also operating under a dark historical cloud. This war is not yet directly comparable to the forever wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. But in both those cases, early US triumphs were undermined by the political impact of the initial assault and poor understanding of foreign nations. There are enough signs in Iran to validate public concerns about a possible quagmire.

At the same time, Trump has dilemmas that would undercut a characteristic declaration of victory if they remain unsolved but that could take more than weeks to mitigate.

 Iran has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz  causing a global energy crisis and steep oil price hikes that threaten to weaken him at home. Wiping out Iranian missile batteries, seaborne drones and mining operations could be a prolonged affair. And it might need the deployment of ground troops in a risky widening of US operations.

Trump is now demanding foreign navies help open the narrow strategic passage. Theres been a noncommittal response to his request so far.

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Trump told the Financial Times that Europe and China were more dependent on oil from the Gulf than the US  although American consumers have been hit by a general spike in oil prices. His remarks are likely to be seen abroad as a demand for help in fixing a mess he created by waging war on Iran.

But the president took aim at the weak spot of European allies that rely on the US for their defense. If theres no response or if its a negative response, I think it will be very bad for the future of NATO, he said.

 The Islamic Republic still has stocks of highly enriched uranium it could use to defy Trumps vow it will never have a nuclear weapon  despite the presidents claim to have obliterated its nuclear program last year. The US has special forces units trained to extract radioactive material. But such a mission at Irans nuclear plants could require hundreds of troops and might provoke dangerous land battles with Iranian forces deep into hostile territory.

 One way to shatter Iranian government leverage would be for US forces to seize Kharg Island, the epicenter of Tehrans oil exports that bankroll the regime. The island was targeted in weekend US air raids. The removal of the countrys primary economic engine might alter calculations within the regime. Waltz told CNNs Jake Tapper that I would certainly think (Trump) would maintain that optionality if he wants to take down their energy infrastructure. But an amphibious assault on Kharg Island would also risk significant US casualties. It could cause environmental damage and a market meltdown if Iran chose to sabotage its own oil facilities rather than lose them to American control.

President Donald Trump speaks with the media as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, right, and special envoy Steve Witkoff, center, look on aboard Air Force One on March 7. - Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

Why Americans may not trust the administrations timeline

Political factors inside Iran also make it hard to pin down a timeline for ending the war.

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The pace of Iranian drone attacks on Gulf states allied with the US has slowed  proof perhaps that US and Israeli raids are degrading Tehrans offensive capabilities. But projectiles still rained down on Baghdad airport and Israel on Sunday.

Theres also no sign of a diplomatic off-ramp. Theres no deal in sight, and Trumps demands for an unconditional surrender have fallen on deaf ears. The anointing of new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei signaled the regime intends to renew its decades of resistance to Washington.

Theres also no public sign of the regimes grip loosening. Trump opened the war by telling Iranians he was giving them a once-in-a-lifetime chance to throw off repression. But no uprising has yet occurred in a nation where thousands of protesters were recently gunned down by the authorities.

The overthrow of the government would represent a huge win for the Iranian people and would provide Trump with a genuine legacy achievement. Many Iran analysts, however, worry that a collapse of central authority could lead to sectarian or civil strife and an implosion of the Iranian state. Such an outcome might bog down US forces in the region for years to come  or leave allies facing massive security problems. The war between the US, Israeli and the Iranian governments might ostensibly end. But the international crisis it precipitated might get a lot worse.

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Domestically, there is likely to be skepticism outside Trumps fiercely loyal base over predictions that the war will end within weeks. Trust in the presidents war leadership was already thin according to multiple polls when the war broke out.

Republicans have held firm against Democratic efforts in Congress to thwart Trumps war powers. But assurances that the fighting will last only weeks reflect an understanding in the GOP that a long war in Iran could further harm the partys chances in Novembers midterm elections.

Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks at a press conference at the Pentagon on March 10. - Pool

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last week tried to stamp out any analogies to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that haunted the presidencies of George W. Bush and Barack Obama. This is not endless nation-building under those types of quagmires.  Its not even close, said Hegseth, an Army veteran who served in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

But the administrations refusal to consult Congress on the war, its opaque endgame and its apparent lack of an exit strategy have already given an opening to Democrats.

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What Im worried about is not the soldiers and the people who are serving. What Im worried about is their political leadership, like Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump, past and possibly future Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg said on State of the Union.

We lived through a war that was sold to us on false pretenses when I was younger, said Buttigieg, a US Navy Reserve veteran who was deployed to Afghanistan in 2014. This war has not been sold on any pretense. The president just went ahead and did it.

Over the weekend, Trump used his social media network to slam media organizations seeking greater clarity about his plans for the war and when he might end it.

Such questions are merited in the context of a conflict in which Irans actions  including its attacks on Gulf states and virtual closure of the Strait of Hormuz  have seemed to frequently surprise the administration.

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But they are especially acute because of the loss still felt by countless American families whose loved ones died in 21st-century foreign misadventures that Trump vowed not to replicate.

That painful modern history sets a high bar for justifying new wars that have uncertain endgames.

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Donald Trump is set to announce that a coalition of countries will escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz, according to a report.

The US president is pressuring Americas allies, including Britain, to accompany vessels as Irans shutdown of the critical shipping channel threatens to worsen a spiralling economic crisis.

Members of the group, led by the US, are still discussing whether operations in the Strait would commence before or after the end of hostilities. Mr Trump is set to announce the coalition this week, according to The Wall Street Journal.

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The US president said on Sunday his administration was talking to seven countries about helping to secure the Strait.

Im demanding that these countries come in and protect their own territory, because it is their territory, Mr Trump told reporters on board Air Force One on Sunday evening.

He declined to reveal which governments his administration had contacted. But Mr Trump has previously appealed to China, France, Japan, South Korea and Britain for support in opening the Strait.

The UK and other countries have been wary of committing publicly to deploying their forces to the Middle East given the risk of provoking Tehran, which has placed mines throughout the Strait and has threatened retaliation.

However, Britain and member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council released a joint statement on Sunday condemning the Islamic Republics chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz and affirming their right to take all necessary measures to defend their security and stability and protect their territories, citizens and residents.

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Reports of the coalition agreement came as Britain resists the US presidents appeal for a team effort to reopen the waterway, where traffic has slowed to a trickle since Iran warned it would set fire to any vessel attempting to pass through.

On Sunday, Sir Keir Starmer ruled out sending warships even as he held a call with Mr Trump to discuss the importance of reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, said the Government was intensively looking at mechanisms to restore the flow of ships through the channel, but did not commit to a firm plan.

The price of crude oil has consistently spiked to more than $100 (75) a barrel, triggering sharp falls in global markets and driving the White House into panic mode over soaring petrol costs.

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Prices jumped further on Monday morning after the US struck a key Iranian production facility on Kharg Island at the weekend and Mr Trump hinted at a second attack just for fun.

Chris Wright, the US energy secretary, said the Trump administration aimed to bring prices down in a few more weeks, but cautioned that there are no guarantees in war.

Several other countries, including Germany, France and South Korea, have expressed doubts about Mr Trumps coalition.

France refused the US presidents request, with Catherine Vautrin, the armed forces minister, stating that her countrys stance would remain defensive and protective and France would not be forced into the war.

The Trump administration plans to announce that multiple countries have agreed to form a coalition to escort ships through the narrow waterway - Reuters

Johann Wadephul, Germanys foreign minister, said he was sceptical about an expansion of the EUs Aspides naval mission  which is deployed to prevent Houthi attacks off the coast of Yemen  into the Strait of Hormuz because the operation hasnt been effective at protecting ships in the Red Sea.

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Thats why Im very sceptical whether an expansion of Aspides into the Strait of Hormuz could provide more security, Mr Wadephul told ARD.

The 27 EU member states are set to discuss the idea at a foreign affairs meeting on Monday.

The White House declined to comment on reports about the coalition to The Wall Street Journal.

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Donald Trump has accused Sir Keir Starmer of failing to show leadership amid a row over defending the Strait of Hormuz.

Speaking to reporters, the US president also revealed that the Prime Minister said he needed to consult his team over whether to send warships or minesweeper boats to help reopen the shipping lane, which has become a choke point for oil shipments in the war with Iran.

European leaders have resisted Mr Trumps calls to form a coalition, comprised of nations reliant on Middle East oil, to help keep the Strait of Hormuz open.

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In his latest rebuke of the Prime Minister, the president said Sir Keirs unwillingness to help defend the route was terrible, while adding that the UK should be enthusiastically helping the US with its war efforts.

Mr Trump said at the White House on Monday: I was very surprised with the United Kingdom. Two weeks ago, I said: Why dont you send some ships over? And he [Starmer] really didnt want to do it.

Youre our oldest ally, and we spend a lot of money on, you know, Nato and all of these things to protect you. I mean, were protecting them

I think its terrible... I was not happy with the UK. I think theyll be involved, maybe, but they should be involved enthusiastically.

Reporter: Have you been speaking with President Macron about the coalition to reopen the Strait of Hormuz?@POTUS: "Yeah, I have spoken to him. He's been, on a scale of 0-10, I'd say he's been an 8. Not perfect  but it's France." pic.twitter.com/VqCGUHUFDa  Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 16, 2026

Mr Trump added: You know, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom yesterday told me: Im meeting with my team to make a determination.

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I said: You dont need to meet with the team. Youre the Prime Minister, you can make [up] your own [mind]. Why do you have to meet with your team to find out whether or not youre going to send some minesweepers to us or to send some boats?

In a later press conference on Monday, Mr Trump reiterated his criticism of Sir Keir, calling his response to the war very disappointing, and saying Britain used to be the Rolls-Royce of allies.

The Telegraph understands that during the call between the two leaders, Sir Keir referred to consulting British military officials who were in contact with their American counterparts.

Downing Street sources pushed back on the idea that Sir Keir was required to consult his team before deciding whether to agree to Mr Trumps request.

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On Monday, allies insisted that they would not be dragged into a wider conflict by sending warships to protect the strategic waterway, which is responsible for a fifth of the worlds energy supplies.

Downing Street sources have pushed back on the US presidents claim about his phone call with Sir Keir Starmer - Chris J Ratcliffe/POOL/EPA/Shutterstock

Britain, France, Germany and South Korea have so far signalled reluctance to meet the US presidents demand to bolster security in the strait, which Tehran has largely blocked.

Tankers in the region have been targeted by Iranian drone boats, sea mines and other weapons since the start of the US-Israeli military campaign on Feb 28.

The shipping risk has brought most traffic to a standstill and caused economic upheaval, including soaring oil prices.

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Daily oil exports from the Gulf dropped by at least 60 per cent in the week to March 15 compared with February, according to shipping data and Reuters calculations.

Sir Keir said he wanted to see the Middle East conflict brought to an end as quickly as possible as he vowed not to have Britain drawn into the conflict.

I want to see an end to this war as quickly as possible because the longer it goes on, the more dangerous the situation becomes and the worse it is for the cost of living back here at home, he said during a Downing Street press conference.

Not Europes war

The Prime Minister was joined in his sentiment by Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, who said the war in the Middle East was not a matter for Nato.

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Mr Merz also said that the US and Israel did not consult us prior to this war.

There was never a joint decision on whether to intervene. That is why the question of how Germany might contribute militarily does not arise. We will not do so, Mr Merz said at a press conference alongside Rob Jetten, the Dutch prime minister.

Kaja Kallas, the EUs foreign policy chief, also told Mr Trump that the conflict was not Europes war.

France is one of the few nations that have proposed using European warships to escort vessels through the strait, but only after fighting subsides and with permission from Iran.

Two people watch as the Shivalik, an India-flagged tanker, arrives in Indian waters on Monday after travelling through the Strait of Hormuz - Amit Dave/REUTERS

Emmanuel Macron, the French president, said that during a call on Sunday he had challenged his Iranian counterpart, Masoud Pezeshkian, to restore navigation through the choke point.

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The public rebuttals came after Mr Trump warned that Nato faced a very bad future should its allies refuse to join his efforts to protect the waterway.

Since his return to the White House, the military alliance has been fighting to maintain US support for Article 5, the mutual defence clause which states an attack on one member is an attack on them all.

Iran warns US of another Vietnam

Mr Trump has previously threatened to ride roughshod over the clause if he did not get his own way.

Speaking about Nato allies, the US president said on Monday: Ive been saying for years that if we ever did need them, they wont be there, not all of them, but they wont be there.

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We dont need to work with them in Ukraine. And then they tell us they have a mine ship around, and they dont want to do it. I think its terrible, he added.

Meanwhile, Saeed Khatibzadeh, Irans deputy foreign minister, warned the US that it would face another Vietnam War if it deployed ground soldiers in the country.

He did not rule out negotiations but made it clear it was for America and its allies to come forward with a proposal to end the conflict.

Just read what happened in Vietnam, Mr Khatibzadeh told Sky News. They understand those that dragged them into this war can drag them also into a quagmire.

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The war has killed at least 1,300 people in Iran, at least 880 in Lebanon and 12 in Israel, according to officials in the countries. At least 13 US military members have been killed, including six in a plane crash in Iraq last week.

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President Donald Trump on Sunday endorsed Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carrs threat to revoke broadcast licenses over news coverage of the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran, calling media organizations Corrupt and Highly Unpatriotic in a Truth Social post.

They get Billions of Dollars of FREE American Airwaves, and use it to perpetuate LIES, both in News and almost all of their Shows, including the Late Night Morons, who get gigantic Salaries for horrible Ratings, Trump wrote.

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As I used to say in The Apprentice, FIRED, he added.

Carr, in his Saturday post on X, warned he would deny or revoke government-issued licenses if broadcasters run what the agency deems fake news. The warning was the latest salvo from the official who since becoming FCC chairman at the outset of Trumps second term has relished the role of media enforcer.

Broadcasters that are running hoaxes and news distortions - also known as the fake news - have a chance now to correct course before their license renewals come up, Carr wrote on X. The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they do not.

Carr said changing course would be a savvy business decision for broadcasters - though he did not mention any by name - given trust in legacy media has now fallen to an all time low of just 9% and are ratings disasters. Its unclear what trust metrics Carr is citing, but Gallup found in 2020 that 9 percent of Americans have a great deal of trust in mass media, though another 31 percent said they had a fair amount of trust.

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When a political candidate is able to win a landslide election victory after in the face of hoaxes and distortions, there is something very wrong, Carr said, presumably talking about Trump, who received 312 electoral votes and 49.9 percent of the national vote in the 2024 presidential election. It means the public has lost faith and confidence in the media. And we cant allow that to happen. Time for change!

Carrs post elicited backlash from Democratic politicians and press freedom advocates, who have long criticized the administrations frequent insistence that adversarial or unflattering coverage is fake.

If Trump doesnt like your coverage of the war, his FCC will pull your broadcast license. That is flagrantly unconstitutional, Gavin Newsom, the Democratic governor of California, responded on X.

Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) said Carrs statement is a clear directive to provide positive war coverage or else licenses may not be renewed.

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Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-Massachusetts) wrote a letter to Carr calling the chairmans remarks a stain on the FCCs legacy and urging him to resign.

Will Creeley, legal director at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, called Carrs statement dangerous in a statement to The Washington Post.

Brendan Carrs authoritarian warning - that networks risk their broadcasting licenses for Iran war reporting that the government doesnt like - is outrageous, Creeley said. When the government demands the press become a state mouthpiece under the threat of punishment, something has gone very wrong.

Carrs comments appeared to build on a separate post Saturday by Trump on Truth Social in which he condemned the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and other news outlets over their coverage of damage to U.S. military aircraft at a base in Saudi Arabia, calling them Lowlife Papers and Media whose reporting amounted to wanting the United States to lose the War. Trump did not mention any broadcasters. Spokespeople for the Times and the Journal did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The White House did not immediately comment on whether Trump included any broadcasters in his criticism of this line of coverage.

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Scrutiny over the Iran war, which began with a U.S.-Israeli attack last month, has escalated the administrations pressure campaign, in which Carr has become a key participant, against legacy media - although the FCC only oversees radio and television stations such as local NBC affiliates or NPR member stations that license publicly owned airwaves to broadcast programming.

He has evoked condemnation from free speech advocates for pressuring Disneys ABC and its affiliate stations to temporarily take comedian Jimmy Kimmel off the air, expanding the equal-time rule to cover daytime and late-night talk shows, launching investigations into numerous media companies, and overseeing a lengthy merger review of Skydances purchase of CBS parent company Paramount that included the network appointing a conservative ombudsman to review content.

A bipartisan group of FCC commissioners including chairs from both parties petitioned the agency in November to repeal its news distortion policy - a rarely used instrument that has been at the heart of Carrs media campaign - arguing that even without enforcement action, the specter of government interference alone chills broadcasters speech. At the time, Carr said the petition was quite rich coming from people who, he said, censored conservatives. A spokesman for Carr did not immediately respond to a question about whether Carrs remarks were targeted at specific broadcasters.

Trump spent much of Friday and Saturday attacking news organizations as well. He shared an infographic on Truth Social titled President Trump Is Reshaping the Media, cataloguing the departures of prominent journalists and TV anchors under a section labeled Gone, which also includes massive layoffs at The Post.

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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth complained Friday about what he called fake news from CNN, over a report indicating that the administration underestimated the wars impact on the Strait of Hormuz. He also said the network would improve once Skydance Paramount chief David Ellison - whose pending purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery includes CNN and requires Trump administration approval - takes it over.

CNN Chairman and CEO Mark Thompson pushed back in a statement Friday.

We stand by our journalism, Thompson said. Politicians have an obvious motive for claiming that journalism which raises questions about their decisions is false. At CNN our only interest is in telling the truth to our audiences in the U.S. and around the world and no amount of political threats or insults is going to change that.

CORRECTION: In a previous version of this article, Will Creeleys last name was misspelled. In addition, the article incorrectly reported the state that Sen. Edward J. Markey (D) represents. He represents Massachusetts, not Connecticut.

Related Content
By Maya Gebeily, Emily Rose and Jarrett Renshaw

PALM BEACH, Florida/DUBAI/JERUSALEM, March 15 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump threatened further strikes on Iran's Kharg Island oil export hub and urged allies to deploy warships to secure the Strait of Hormuz, an artery for global energy supplies, as Tehran vowed to intensify its response.

With the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran in its third week, Trump said U.S. strikes had "totally demolished" much of the island and warned of more, telling NBC News on Saturday, "We may hit it a few more times just for fun."

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The remarks marked a sharp escalation from Trump, who had previously said the U.S. was targeting only military sites on Kharg, and undercut diplomatic efforts. His administration has rebuffed efforts by Middle Eastern allies to start negotiations, three sources told Reuters.

WAR, ENERGY CRISIS LOOK SET TO PERSIST

The war showed no sign of ending. Trump said Tehran appeared ready to make a deal to end the conflict but that "the terms aren't good enough yet."

Tehran's ability to halt shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil passes, poses a difficult problem for the U.S. and its allies. Energy prices are soaring as the war causes the biggest-ever disruption in oil supply, and the energy crisis looked set to continue.

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"The Countries of the World that receive Oil through the Hormuz Strait must take care of that passage, and we will help  A LOT!" Trump wrote in a social media post on Saturday. "The U.S. will also coordinate with those Countries so that everything goes quickly, smoothly, and well."

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Iran would respond to any attack on its energy facilities.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Sunday they had carried out missile and drone strikes on targets in Israel and three U.S. bases in the region, calling the attacks the first round of retaliation for workers killed in Iran's industrial areas. The Israeli military said it was intercepting incoming launches.

Saudi Arabia intercepted and destroyed 10 drones in Riyadh and the east, the defense ministry said. Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they no had connection to the attack, semi-official Fars news agency reported.

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A drone attack disrupted a major United Arab Emirates energy hub on Saturday, and the U.S. warned U.S. citizens on Saturday to leave Iraq.

The war that Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched on February 28 has killed more than 2,000 people, mostly in Iran, according to reports from governments and state media. At least 15 were killed when an airstrike hit a refrigerator and heater factory in the central Iranian city of Isfahan, the semi-official Fars news agency said on Saturday.

NO IMMEDIATE TAKERS ON TRUMP'S HORMUZ REQUEST

Russia is supplying Iran with Shahed drones to use against the U.S. and Israel, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told CNN. Shahed drones have been linked to other attacks on countries in the region, although their manufacturers are not always clear.

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Oil market disruptions looked unlikely to end soon. Some oil-loading operations were suspended in the UAE's Fujairah emirate, a global ship-refueling hub, after a drone attack, industry and trade sources said on Saturday.

Trump, in a post on his Truth Social platform, urged China, France, Japan, South Korea, Britain and others to send warships to the Strait of Hormuz. None of those countries gave any immediate indication they would do so.

Takayuki Kobayashi, Japan's ruling party policy chief, declined to rule out the possibility, but told public broadcaster NHK that "the (legal) threshold is very high."

Japan interprets its pacifist postwar constitution to mean it can deploy its military if the nation's survival is threatened, but the government would have to invoke a 2015 security law that has not been used.

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France is seeking to assemble a coalition to secure the Strait of Hormuz once the security situation stabilizes, while Britain is discussing a range of options with allies to ensure the security of shipping, officials have said.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who replaced his slain father, has said the Strait of Hormuz should remain closed.

(Reporting by Maya Gebeily in Dubai, Emily Rose in Jerusalem and Jarrett Renshaw in Palm Beach, Florida; Additional reporting by Reuters bureaux; Writing by Patricia Zengerle, Lisa Shumaker and Shri Navaratnam; Editing by Sergio Non, Chizu Nomiyama and William Mallard)
By Bo Erickson, Alexander Cornwell and Parisa Hafezi

WASHINGTON/TEL AVIV/DUBAI, March 16 (Reuters) - Several U.S. allies rebuffed Donald Trump's call on Monday to send warships to escort tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, drawing criticism from the U.S. president, who accused Western partners of ingratitude after decades of support.

The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran is in its third week with no end in sight. The critical Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas flow, remains largely closed off, raising energy prices and fears of inflation.

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The conflict has already imposed economic costs on U.S. allies, who were not consulted before the airstrikes on Iran and who have endured months of harsh criticism and bellicose threats from Trump since he returned to office.

A number of U.S. partners, including Germany, Spain and Italy, said they had no immediate plans to send ships to help reopen the strategic waterway, which Iran has effectively shut with drones and naval mines.

"We lack the mandate from the United Nations, the European Union or NATO required under the Basic Law," German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said in Berlin, adding that Washington and Israel had not consulted Germany before launching the war.

Trump, speaking at a White House event in Washington, said many countries had told him they were prepared to help, but voiced frustration with some longstanding allies.

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"Some are very enthusiastic about it, and some aren't," he said, without offering specifics. "Some are countries that we've helped for many, many years. We've protected them from horrible outside sources, and they weren't that enthusiastic. And the level of enthusiasm matters to me."

ISRAEL STILL HAS 'THOUSANDS' OF TARGETS IN IRAN

Israel said on Monday it had drawn up detailed plans for at least three more weeks of war as it pounded sites across Iran overnight, while Iranian drone attacks temporarily shut Dubai airport and hit a key oil facility in the United Arab Emirates.

Israel troops pushed into new parts of southern Lebanon, part of an expanding operation after Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran's supreme leader.

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In a joint statement, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Britain warned that any "significant Israeli ground offensive would have devastating humanitarian consequences and could lead to a protracted conflict," and that such an operation "must be averted."

Israel has said it wants to weaken Iran's capacity to threaten it, striking ballistic missile infrastructure, nuclear facilities and the security apparatus, and that it still has thousands of targets to hit.

"We want to make sure that they are as weak as possible, this regime, and that we degrade all their capabilities, all parts and all wings of their security establishment," Israeli military spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it would target U.S. industrial facilities in the Middle East and urged people living near U.S.-owned plants to leave.

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Iran also responded to Trump's threat that he might attack oil facilities on Kharg Island, the country's main oil hub, if Tehran does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. forces destroyed military targets on Kharg on Friday.

A spokesperson for the armed forces, Abolfazl Shekarchi, said Iran would target oil and gas facilities in any country from which U.S. attacks were launched on Kharg Island.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Tehran had not asked for a ceasefire or exchanged messages with the U.S., according to Iran's semi-official Student News Network.

In a post on X, Araqchi also said some "neighbouring states" that host U.S. forces and permit attacks on Iran were actively encouraging the killing of Iranians.

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He said 200 children were among the hundreds of Iranian civilians killed in U.S. or Israeli bombings.

Rescue workers in Tehran worked to pull people from the wreckage of a building in what an Iranian Red Crescent aid worker said was an entirely residential alleyway.

ISRAEL CLAIMS STRIKES ON IRAN'S SPACE PROGRAM

Israel said its air force had struck sites linked to Iran's space program, including destroying a research facility in Tehran involved in developing a satellite launched in 2024.

One Tehran resident told Reuters that there had been no internet overnight and Iranians felt isolated from the world.

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"People are being killed," Shahnaz, 62, said via WhatsApp. "Just days before Nowruz (Iranian New Year, on March 20), but people are not in the mood to celebrate. When will this end?

Asked if she supported the Islamic Republic, Shahnaz said: "No, I dont. How can I? They killed my granddaughter in (January's) protests. We want this regime to go. We want this misery to end."

In Tel Aviv, air raid sirens sounded late into the night, warning of incoming Iranian missiles and underscoring that, after more than two weeks of war, Tehran still retained the capacity to carry out long-range attacks. The IRGC said earlier that Iran had launched strikes on areas in Tel Aviv, the U.S. Al Dhafra Air Base in Abu Dhabi, the U.S. naval base in Bahrain and Bahrains Sheikh Isa Air Base.

On the UAE's coast along the Gulf of Oman, oil loading operations at the port of Fujairah partially resumed after an Iranian drone strike. Fujairah is a key exit point for the UAE's Murban crude - a volume equivalent to roughly 1% of global demand.

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Flights at Dubai International Airport, one of the world's busiest, were suspended for several hours after a drone strike on a nearby fuel storage facility sent plumes of black smoke into the sky. Saudi Arabia intercepted 34 drones in its eastern region in one hour, state media said. No injuries were reported in either incident.

Despite the turbulence, oil prices, which had been above $100 a barrel, fell and stocks rallied after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC the U.S. was "fine" to let some Iranian fuel vessels through the strait, and believed Indian and Chinese tankers had also passed through. [O/R] [MKTS/GLOB]

(Reporting by Reuters bureaux; Writing by Lincoln Feast, Sharon Singleton, Crispian Balmer and Joseph Ax; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Nick Zieminski)
President Trump reportedly took his top military boss to task over a vital oil route remaining snarled as a result of his Iran war.

Trump, 79, is said to have leaned on Gen. Dan Caine, 57, to explain why battlefield dominance has not translated into instant control of the Strait of Hormuz, despite Caine having repeatedly briefed him on the likely closure of the waterway ahead of the war.

The New York Times reported Sunday that the president pressed Caine in the Oval Office last week about why the Strait of Hormuz could not simply be reopened.

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The problem, as the Times reported, is that Iran can still threaten commercial traffic in the narrow waterway with small boats, mobile weapons and explosive devices, even after major damage to its conventional forces. The risk has kept many shipowners and insurers wary of sending tankers through the strait.

That has left the administration looking at a harder and slower fix. The option under discussion is to have the U.S. Navy escort commercial shipping through the strait. But the Times reported that such a plan would likely still be weeks away. It would require more ships, more defensive systems, and further attacks on the Iranian weapons that still menace the passage.

In multiple briefings ahead of the war, Caine had repeatedly warned Trump that Iran could respond to any American attacks by closing the strait, The Wall Street Journal reported last week. Trump is said to have responded by arguing that Iran would likely surrender before even having time to shut down the waterway.

Reuters reported Monday that Trump is now pressing allies and partnersincluding Britain, France, Japan, South Korea, and Chinato help secure the strait, including with minesweepers and other assets. About a fifth of the worlds oil and liquefied natural gas normally moves through the passage.

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But the coalition Trump wants is not in place. Japan said Monday it has no plan to send escort vessels, while the Associated Press reported that no country has yet formally signed on to the effort. Trump is also threatening more pressure, including possible further strikes tied to Irans Kharg Island oil hub and even a delay to his planned China trip as he tries to force Beijing to take a side.

Iran is not signaling a climbdown anytime soon. Reuters reported that Tehran says it has neither sought a ceasefire nor negotiations and is prepared to keep fighting.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine (L) listens as President Donald Trump speaks during a Medal of Honor ceremony. Trump is said to be frustrated at Caine for not simply doing as he demands. / JIM WATSON / Jim WATSON / AFP via Getty Images

Trumps apparent frustration with Caine is notable. He is not just the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff but is one of the few senior military figures Trump has openly admired.

Reuters reported that Trump became fixated on Caine after meeting him in Iraq in 2018 and later described him as a real general. The president picked him last year for the militarys top uniformed role in an unconventional move that pulled him back from retirement.

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Caine took over as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on April 11, 2025. Before that, he was the CIAs associate director for military affairs, having served mainly as an experienced F-16 pilot, weapons officer, White House staffer, and special operations officer.

The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House and the Pentagon for comment.

White House spokesperson Anna Kelly responded with a statement that did not address the question asked regarding the Strait of Hormuz, instead hailing Trump for his courageous war.
More states are encouraging businesses to help employees sign up for Obamacare.

Theyre using a policy backed by President Donald Trump  the same Donald Trump who spent much of the fall deriding Obamacare as the Unaffordable Care Act  to do it.

Trump issued those broadsides to explain why he didnt support an extension of government subsidies that made Obamacare plans more affordable for millions. Those subsidies have now expired, sending premiums soaring. But Trump has continued to support a 2019 rule issued in his first term that allowed states to offer tax credits to businesses that help employees enroll in Obamacare plans.

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That offer is now finding more takers, among Republicans and Democrats, as state lawmakers look for ways to keep the uninsured rate down. Obamacare enrollment has already dropped by more than 1 million this year, with further decline expected. At least six states, including Ohio and Connecticut, are looking at offering the tax credits to businesses that adopt the Trump policy, known as Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangements, to stem the damage. ICHRAs allow employers to give workers a tax-exempt subsidy to purchase Affordable Care Act coverage, as opposed to offering a traditional group plan.

If the Trump administration likes it, that means it's likely to survive a little bit longer, Democratic Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont said in an interview with POLITICO.

Connecticut is one of several states where lawmakers are introducing and passing bills to incentivize small businesses to adopt the Trump policy. Employers who offer to help their workers with Obamacare premiums can write off the amount they contribute on their taxes.

Employers shift toward ICHRAs, encouraged by insurers and state governments, doesnt come without drawbacks. The amount of money workers receive is up to their employer's discretion and may not cover the cost of a plan. Depending on their income, employees might be better off using a government subsidy to purchase an Obamacare plan on their own or enrolling in a traditional group plan, if their employer offers it, health policy experts said.

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But the concept of tax-exempt subsidies has bipartisan support, a rarity in the health policy world, giving proponents hope that its a long-term solution to make health care more affordable.



Lamont, in his 2026-27 budget request, is proposing a tax credit incentive for small employers adopting the arrangements. For him, the benefit of expanding their use is two-fold: It would help the small business community deal with soaring health costs, and it would help keep people off of Medicaid, the insurance program for low-income people. That would lower costs for the state, which shares the Medicaid bill with the federal government. Both outcomes would be a win for Democrats and Republicans, he said.

GOP proponents of the bill concur.

I'm a very strong supporter of getting folks off of Medicaid, into the workforce, into private payer insurance, and that's really the goal behind this, said Ohio state Rep. Meredith Craig, a Republican who is the lead sponsor of legislation in the state to create tax credit incentives for small businesses offering ICHRAs. The bill has passed the state House and is awaiting Senate action.

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Indiana was the first state to adopt a law offering the tax credits in 2023. The policy has quickly become a model other states are looking to  especially after Congress let the Obamacare subsidies expire at the end of 2025.

Obamacare insurers, like Oscar Health and Centene, are bullish on the policy and are creating plans marketed specifically toward people with access to the tax credits.

Theres not much middle ground left in Washington," Lamont said. "This is a piece that has some bipartisan buy-in."

ICHRAs rise

Though ICHRAs were established in 2019 through a Trump final rule, few employers initially utilized the arrangements. But ICHRAs have gained popularity since around 2023, as companies have sought innovative ways to deal with rising health cost pressures. The growth has been bolstered by increasing state- and federal-level interest in expanding the arrangements.

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Everything about ICHRA is growing, said Robin Paoli, executive director of the HRA Council, a group that lobbies in favor of the arrangements.

Paoli has for years pushed lawmakers in Congress to codify Trumps ICHRA rule  coming close to victory last summer when Republicans attempted to tack on the codification to the GOPs sweeping tax law. Lawmakers ultimately scrapped the provision from the final version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, but given renewed interest in addressing health care affordability, a top issue for voters in the leadup to the midterm elections, the time is perfect for Congress to work together on making the policy permanent, Paoli said.

There's momentum in the states, there's momentum in the administration, there's growing momentum in Congress, and we're seeing more and more different kinds of employee groups and employers get excited about ICHRA, Paoli said.



On the insurer front, Oscar Health is among the companies leading the charge to expand ICHRAs.

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Oscar Health has been lobbying state governments to take up bills similar to Indianas, which would provide small businesses a tax credit incentive to adopt ICHRAs. The major Obamacare insurer sees the arrangements as a way to keep people insured in the absence of enhanced ACA subsidies.

"With the expiration of enhanced subsidies, folks are looking for affordable alternatives, if their premium is higher than expected, said Cathy Grason, head of government affairs at Oscar Health. We're very optimistic that employers can leverage ICHRA to be part of that solution for folks."

Grason says the concept resonates with state- and federal-level Republicans and Democrats who want to make health care more affordable. For Democrats, ICHRA offers an avenue to strengthen the ACA marketplace. For Republicans, who favor health care choice, ICHRAs can be framed as a way to put money in the hands of consumers as opposed to insurers  a concept Trump recently endorsed.

Six states are considering a version of an ICHRA tax credit bill: Arizona, Georgia, Mississippi, Ohio, Connecticut and New Hampshire.

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The National Conference of Insurance Legislators, an organization of state legislators serving on insurance committees, is working to approve a model tax credit law based off of Ohios bill that other states can emulate. The model bill could be put up for a vote as early as April, said NCOIL CEO William Melofchik.

State interest in the model is pretty strong, Melofchik said, and its coming from a rare red and blue state mix, including Florida, New Jersey and Texas.

Everyone, whether Republican or Democrat, is just looking for solutions to get as many folks covered as possible."

Not so fast 

Despite growing bipartisan interest, even the strongest ICHRA proponents concede that the arrangements are not a cure-all for the health care affordability crisis, and the policy comes with limitations.

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We are bullish on ICHRA as a solution, said Alan Silver, president of Centenes Ambetter Health Solutions business, which focuses on ICHRA. At the same time, we are more bullish on it being an alternative to traditional group-sponsored coverage.

Employer-sponsored health insurance is the most popular form of coverage in the U.S., enrolling about 160 million Americans. Though rising premiums have been plaguing employers and consumers , a wholesale shift to ICHRAs is unlikely.

The arrangements can save money and administrative burden for employers while lowering their financial risk, but workers might not be better off under an ICHRA.

If a worker is offered the tax credit from their employee, the worker is typically disqualified from receiving Obamacare subsidies. An Obamacare subsidy, depending on the workers income level, could potentially be more generous than the ICHRA the employer offers. Employers cant tailor ICHRA amounts to workers based on individual income or subsidy eligibility and instead must uniformly offer ICHRAs based on classes like family size or age.

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Traditional group plans are also more likely to offer out-of-network coverage, while individual market insurers in some states have a limited number of plans providing out-of-network coverage, said Louise Norris, a health policy analyst for healthinsurance.org , an independent health insurance guide for consumers.

For small business owners who didn't previously offer health coverage, ICHRAs can often be an upgrade for their workers. But whether the policy is an adequate cost solution for a given company and its employees should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, she added.

Either way, Norris said ICHRAs dont address underlying causes of rising medical costs or the sky-high premiums consumers in both markets are experiencing, limiting their potential to be a long-term cost solution.

You can't solve that problem by shifting people from the group market to the individual market or vice versa, because those underlying costs are driving up across the board, she said.
President Donald Trump said the US could soon reach a deal with Cuba, where the White House has sought regime change.

Cubas economic situation has worsened significantly since Washington tightened its oil embargo, and Trump has vowed to take over Cuba, in a friendly manner or otherwise.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel has vowed to cling to power, but acknowledged Friday that Havana was in talks with Washington, which he hoped would move the countries away from confrontation.

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Details of any possible agreement were scant, but Trump suggested resolving the Cuba crisis may only come after the US operation in Iran. Meanwhile, the domestic challenges for Havana are compounding, with thousands staging rare protests over the weekend.
After three decades of stagnation, researchers in Idaho are making up for lost time in the nuclear innovation space.

The Microreactor Application Research Validation and Evaluation (MARVEL) project is developing a small, sodium-potassium-cooled nuclear reactor at Idaho National Laboratory.

Its goal is to help private companies build their own reactors without having to reinvent the wheel, the head of the project, Abdalla Abou-Jaoude, told the Deseret News.

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His team just achieved two major milestones.

First, the Department of Energy approved their Preliminary Documented Safety Analysis report.

That took I dont know how many thousands of man hours to do the analysis, calculations, drawings  all these things to get reviewed by the department to make sure theyre OK with it," Abou-Jaoude said.

Second, the team finished MARVELs reactivity control system, which uses control drums instead of traditional vertical control rods.

This kind of tech hasnt been used in four decades, Abou-Jaoude said. We almost lost that knowledge, so we had to relearn all of it.

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Idaho National Laboratory researcher Anthony Crawford led the effort, and its now built and assembled.

Its pretty exciting, Abou-Jaoude said. The setup could be used by other companies. ... Its like the peoples reactor. Were not trying to make money off of it  its a taxpayer-funded project for private companies to learn from."

Trumps nuclear energy executive order is speeding everything up

President Donald Trump signed a pro-nuclear power executive order last May, which has significantly sped up progress at INL.

President Donald Trump holds an executive order regarding reinvigorating the nuclear industrial base, in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, May 23, 2025, in Washington. | Evan Vucci, Associated Press

One of my colleagues, Brian Smith, likes to joke that, for a while these timelines were slipping to the right, and theyre finally now slipping to the left," Abou-Jaoude said.

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The executive order has sped MARVELs progress up by at least a year. MARVEL was initially scheduled to go critical at the end of 2027, and now theyre targeting sometime between September and December of 2026.

The executive order has really lined up everybody to push this all forward, Abou-Jaoude said.

He added that a 2026 appropriations bill gave his teams budget a significant boost. It appropriated about $1.8 billion for nuclear innovation and another $3.1 billion for small modular and advanced reactors.

What could MARVEL be used for?

Officials at Idaho National Laboratory celebrate the first delivery of TRISO fuel for use in microreactors. Each TRISO particle is about the size of a poppy seed, but its engineered with three protective layers  hence the name TRi-structural ISOtropic. These layers make it resilient to extreme heat, radiation and corrosion, so much so that TRISO fuel cannot melt in a reactor and can withstand temperatures far beyond what traditional nuclear fuels can handle. | INL

INL has partnered with several private companies for potential microreactor applications.

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In the artificial intelligence space, a microreactor like MARVEL could be coupled with a data center, which houses IT infrastructure like servers and storage drives.

Were working with some data center companies like Amazon Web Services, Abou-Jaoude said. Regular transmission lines are so complex, data center companies want to have their own islanded grid, with nuclear reactors providing their energy directly.

The lab has also partnered with ConocoPhillips and NOV on nuclear-powered desalination, which could alleviate water challenges in oil and gas operations.

With these projects and others, MARVEL serves as a testbed, where private companies can test novel applications of nuclear energy, Abou-Jaoude said.
Juul purchased 123 Mission St., an office tower in San Francisco, in 2019 for $400 million. A debt deal has reduced the building's value to a fraction of that price. (Liz Hafalia/The Chronicle)





The 29-story office tower at 123 Mission St. in the heart of San Francisco's Financial District has been sold, and serves as a poignant example of the rise and fall of the city's pre-pandemic tech boom.

Juul Labs, the embattled electronic e-cigarette maker, purchased the 360,000-square-foot office building three blocks from Salesforce Tower in 2019 for nearly $400 million during a phase of rapid growth when tech properties were booming. The tower was meant to house the company's large local workforce. But as the pandemic swept over the city in 2020, 123 Mission had become a poster child for the real estate market collapse, struggling with significant vacancy and multiple failed attempts to lease and sell the property.

While the tower was meant to serve as Juul's headquarters, the company left San Francisco without ever fully moving in its workforce - once estimated at 3,000 employees. Juul was still based in the Dogpatch area when it purchased the Financial District skyscraper for a massive expansion, but by mid-2020, it had cut more than half of its workforce.

On Friday, the debt tied to the property sold for less than $100 million to Madison Capital and the investment arm of Prudential Financial Inc., PGIM, which now have the option to formally take control of the building through foreclosure or a negotiated transfer, multiple sources confirmed to the Chronicle. For contrast, Juul paid more than $1,000 per square foot for 123 Mission more than half-a-decade ago.

While the exact terms of the deal are not known, Madison's head of acquisitions, Jonathan Nachmani, said the debt was bought in the "low $90 million" range, meaning Madison has claimed the tower for less than 25% of its pre-pandemic value.

Neither Juul nor Affinius Capital, the Juul lender that sold the debt on the property last week, responded to inquiries for comment Monday. Real estate brokerage Newmark and Align Real Estate worked to facilitate the transaction between Madison and Affinius, and also declined comment. Public records show that Affinius, which previously operated as Square Mile Capital Management LLC, provided a $220 million loan for Juul's 123 Mission acquisition.

The layoffs coincided with growing scrutiny that Juul faced from both the city and the state over its marketing practices in light of what lawmakers described as a "teen vaping epidemic." The city's Board of Supervisors accused the company of targeting children for its products, and voted unanimously to ban the sale of most e-cigarettes that lacked U.S. Food and Drug Administration marketing approval - including those produced by Juul - in the summer of 2019.
Members of President Donald Trumps inner circle are experiencing buyers remorse over the Iran conflict and are beginning to regard Operation Epic Fury as a disastrous mistake, according to a report.

The U.S. and Israel launched surprise joint airstrikes against Tehran in the early hours of Saturday, February 28, killing Irans Supreme Leader Ali Ayatollah Khamenei on the first day of the aerial bombardment, ending his 47-year authoritarian reign in one fell swoop.

Iran quickly hit back with retaliatory strikes of its own against its Gulf neighbor states hosting American and Israeli military assets. So far, 13 U.S. servicemembers have died. Meanwhile, Tehrans moves to target tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of the worlds total oil supply is shipped, have caused global fuel prices to soar.

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Now an administration source quoted by Axios has claimed that Trump was high on his own supply when he gave the greenlight for the joint operation to commence.

President Donald Trump has been accused of allowing himself to get carried away by recent U.S. military successes (AFP/Getty)

They suggested that the president had assumed that bringing Iran to heel would be simple, given the success of last summers Operation Midnight Hammer targeting the aspiring nuclear states uranium enrichment sites and of the U.S. operation to remove Nicolas Maduro from power in Venezuela on January 3.

He saw multiple decisive quick victories with extraordinary military competence, the source said.

[Trump] ended up saying, I just want to do it, they continued. He grossly overestimated his ability to topple the regime short of sending in ground troops.

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However, White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly rubbished Axioss report as totally false.

The entire administration is united behind President Trump and the Department of War as our United States military continues to crush the Iranian regime, she told The Independent.

A woman displays a poster of Irans new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei and waves her countrys flag in support of the government in Tehran Saturday March 14, 2026 (AP)

The president listens to a host of opinions on any given issue, but ultimately decides based on what is best for our country and U.S. national security.

The Independent also reached out to the Pentagon for comment but was referred back to the White House.

The president himself bragged to The Financial Times Sunday: Weve essentially decimated Iran... They have no navy, no anti-aircraft, no air force, everything is gone.

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The only thing they can do is make a little trouble by putting a mine in the water  a nuisance, but the nuisance can cause problems.

But another senior Trump administration official quoted by Axios warned that those problems could become more acute if they force the president into what the outlet described as an escalation trap.

Irans stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, driving up global oil prices, is proving a growing problem for the Trump administration (AP)

The Iranians f***ing around with the Strait makes [Trump] more dug in, they warned, suggesting the U.S. could find itself forced into using ever greater force  at great expense  to demonstrate its dominance, whereas success for Iran merely means surviving its present ordeal.

A prolonged engagement with Iran could backfire on Trump  who has midterm elections to win this November  particularly given that the conflict is widely unpopular, with the American public remaining uneasy about the administrations mixed messaging over its ultimate purpose and probable duration.

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Just 29 percent of U.S. voters are currently in favor of the operation, according to an Ipsos poll, with 43 percent opposed and 26 percent unsure.

Given that the president promised an end to American involvement in forever wars overseas during the campaign, support for the airstrikes is proving highly divisive among his MAGA movement.

Some influential opinion-makers have even traded vicious personal insults as the internal tensions within Trumps base threaten to yield a much larger fracture.
WASHINGTON, March 16 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that it was unclear whether new Iranian leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei was still alive, given reports he had been injured in an air strike.

"We don't know ... if he's dead or not. I will say that nobody has seen him, which is unusual," he said during an event at the White House.

After Iran's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, was killed in the initial strikes of the war, Tehran announced his son, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, had been named as his successor. Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said last week the new leader was believed to have been wounded in a strike. He has not been seen publicly.

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"A lot of people are saying that he's badly disfigured. They're saying that he lost his leg ... and he's been hurt very badly. Other people are saying he's dead," Trump said.

Oman has attempted multiple times to open a line of communication between the United States and Iran, but the White House made it clear it is not interested at this juncture, Reuters reported on Saturday.

"We don't know who their leader is. We have people wanting to negotiate. We have no idea who they are," Trump said.

(Reporting by Bo Erickson and Steve Holland;Editing by David Ljunggren)
Just three weeks after the Supreme Court handed President Donald Trump a stinging defeat over the sweeping tariffs he imposed last year, the legal battle over his first move to replace those import taxes is heating up.

Democratic attorneys general and governors from 24 states and a libertarian group representing two small businesses filed their first legal briefs Friday asking a federal trade court to strike down the 10 percent tariffs Trump imposed on most U.S. trading partners in February.

Trump promised to hike those tariffs to 15 percent, but hasnt yet done so.

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Legal experts told POLITICO that Trumps backup tariffs are probably on stronger legal footing than the Liberation Day taxes the high court struck down.

Despite that, his challengers are exuding bravado about their chances.

"We are 100 percent confident that we will be successful in the Court of International Trade," New York Attorney General Letitia James told reporters last week.

Trump is also projecting confidence, repeatedly claiming that the same Supreme Court went ahead and blessed his use of other authorities, like the so-called Section 122 tariffs hes turned to as a short-term fix.

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That is not true. While the three justices who dissented from last months decision did cite Section 122 as one of the tools Trump could use to rebuild his tariff scheme, the courts six-justice majority explicitly declined to embrace that position. We do not speculate on hypothetical cases not before us, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote.

While Trump called his new approach time tested, that authority has never been invoked before and the high court has not given its blessing to Trump using that specific law in the current circumstances.

Heres a look at the key issues in the legal fight over Trumps replacement tariffs:

A new rationale

The Supreme Court resolved the earlier Trump tariff case by finding that the statute Trump invoked, the International Economic Emergency Powers Act, conferred no power on any president to impose tariffs. With that off the table, the court did not have to examine whether the global emergency Trump asserted existed.

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The new challenges could face a bigger hurdle because their arguments will require judges to second guess Trumps conclusion that the U.S. faces a large and serious balance-of-payments deficit.

The bottom line here is: How much deference does the president get in determining  this sort of predicate condition  that there's a large and serious payments problem? said Matthew Seligman, a lawyer representing importers seeking refunds of the previous tariffs. How much deference does the president get in his determination in deciding how large is large and how serious is serious?

I think [it] will probably be the court's instinct to defer to the president's determination that, whatever it is balance of payments means, that the requisite facts on the ground exist, Duke University law professor Timothy Meyer said.

Defining balance of payments

The text of the law Trump invoked for his latest round of tariffs, Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, makes eight references to balance of payments issues. Yet, it offers no definition of the term.

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Some experts contend the phrase refers to a specific problem the U.S. faced in the years leading up to the laws enactment, involving the U.S. government buying or selling foreign currency to adjust or maintain exchange rates.

A balance of payments deficit is a term of art incorporating into law a settled meaning from international financial accounting, the blue states lawsuit says. A trade deficit does not qualify, either as a matter of economics or of law, as a balance of payments deficit.

The president has tried to pull a fast one by switching the term balance of payments to mean balance of trade, in other words, a trade deficit. But those two things aren't the same thing, said Jeffrey Schwab of the Liberty Justice Center.

However, other experts say the lack of a definition may indicate that different lawmakers had different views of what balance of payments meant and what problem they were trying to fix.

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They had a broader set of problems in mind  .They weren't seemingly talking about just official payments, said Brad Setser, a Treasury Department official under President Barack Obama and an adviser to the U.S. Trade Representative under President Joe Biden.

One awkward aspect for the White House: during the pitched battle over the Liberation Day tariffs, the administrations lawyers suggested that Section 122 wasnt a viable option to address the trade deficit. Trade deficits  are conceptually distinct from balance-of-payments deficits, Justice Department attorneys told the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit last June.

Trumps carve-outs

The law Trump invoked for the replacement tariffs says they should be of broad and uniform application, but the presidents approach seems far from that standard. Attached to the proclamation he issued are 88 pages of exemptions and exceptions.

The fine print waives the new tariffs for Mexico and Canada and some goods coming from Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, or Nicaragua. Trump also carved out a slew of product categories where consumers regularly complain about higher prices, including many foods, cars and prescription drugs.

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The exemptions and exceptions the President has made are in direct violation of the text of Section 122, which requires generally uniform treatment the President is declining to observe, Liberty Justice Center argues in the lawsuit filed on behalf of two importers, Burlap and Barrel and Basic Fun!

But the law does contain wiggle room to exclude some products or single out countries in some circumstances. Trumps proclamation seeks to invoke those exceptions, although many dispute whether his assertions about the current state of global trade and the needs of the United States economy are actually true or are just parroting the language in the statute.

Its unclear whether judges will accept Trumps claims at face value and whether they have time to dig into such factual disputes on the accelerated timetable the challengers have demanded. Another uncertainty is whether a court that strikes down the carve-outs would throw out the tariffs altogether or do what Trumps proclamation urges in such a scenario: wipe out the exemption and keep the broader tariffs.

Can the courts beat the clock?

The law Trump used to deploy the new tariffs limits his move to 150 days, roughly five months. While that may weaken Trumps hand in negotiations with trading partners and force him to look to other tools to sustain his tariff policies, the short fuse means that the courts are unlikely to deliver a final verdict on the legality of the presidents action before it expires on July 24.

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In the challenges to Trumps earlier tariffs, lower courts ruled against the policies but allowed the administration to keep collecting the duties while the fight played out. If the pattern holds, it could take months for the lower courts to consider the issues and a year or more if the Supreme Court decides to weigh in.

To actually halt the tariffs, opponents will likely have to persuade the trade court or the Federal Circuit to refuse to issue the stays that the White House won the last time around.

The Court of International Trade has set arguments on the pending suits, including a request for a preliminary injunction, for April 10. But some expect these cases to take longer to decide than the last time.

I would expect, at every level, that the time to write an opinion would be longer than it was in the IEEPA case because the issues are just more complicated, Meyer said.

Would Trump double dip?

Some trade experts have speculated that, if the courts dont stop the new tariffs by the time they are set to expire in July, Trump could attempt to re-issue them for another 150 days, perhaps with a few tweaks to make them a bit different than during the first phase. The statute doesnt directly prohibit re-upping, but does say its up to Congress to extend such tariffs beyond the 150-day period.

It's arguably a little ambiguous, if he wanted to re-declare a balance of payments emergency right after, said Stanford Law Professor Alan Sykes. Certainly the statutory language, to me, implies that the Congress did not want to leave that loophole in place. If I were the judge, I would say that that's not permissible.
Two weeks before President Donald Trump is scheduled to hash out critical US-China disputes in Beijing, he has set a new condition for the negotiations: help reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

China has little incentive to concede to his demands.

By closing the major shipping channel, Iran has effectively choked off one-fifth of the worlds oil supply, triggering price spikes and fears of energy shortages that could upend the global economy. Now facing the worst oil crisis in history, Trump is calling on other nations, including France, Japan, South Korea and Britain, to work together to secure the strait.

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To persuade China, Trump is exerting additional pressure. In an interview with the Financial Times published Sunday, he said he wants to know whether China will provide assistance before his planned summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the end of the month. Without an answer, Trump added, he may decide to delay his trip.

Its only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries of the strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there, Trump told the FT. I think China should help too.

On the face of it, that request is extraordinary  Trump is asking China to risk its own military assets in a war the US started against a Beijing-friendly nation, and threatening to withhold diplomacy otherwise.

But China is better positioned than the rest of Asia to endure a prolonged energy crisis. In the past several years, Beijing has sought to cushion itself from such an oil shock by stockpiling crude reserves, diversifying imports and investing billions in clean energy such as wind, solar and electric vehicles.

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CNN also reported that Iran is considering allowing some tankers through the strait if the oil is traded in Chinese yuan.

The Chinese may say, Okay lets just wait, said Bert Hofman, a professor at the East Asian Institute at the National University of Singapore. Given that they are pretty secure strategically, they would have some room to maneuver.

The upper hand

The war, which both US and Israeli officials have said will continue for weeks, has overshadowed the Beijing summit first announced by Trump, who is now grappling with domestic backlash from rising fuel prices as attacks on Irans energy infrastructure escalate.

Inside China, news of the conflict comes with an air of schadenfreude.

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Trump is lonely these days in the world, no one really supports him, said Henry Huiyao Wang, president of the Beijing-based research group Center for China and Globalization. Hes really disturbed the world with the war in Iran and hes in kind of a tight situation.

While commentary from Chinas official state-run media on Sunday called for greater US-China collaboration in the face of global uncertainty, the Global Times, a nationalist tabloid, denounced the idea of sending warships to the Strait of Hormuz.

Is this really about sharing responsibility  or is it about sharing the risk of a war that Washington started and cant finish? wrote the unnamed author of the op-ed.

A Sinopec gas station in Shanghai, China, on March 10, 2026. - Qilai Shen/Bloomberg/Getty Images

In a Monday press briefing, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian gave no firm commitment to Trumps appeal and reiterated the importance of the upcoming meeting.

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Head-of-state diplomacy plays an indispensable role in providing strategic guidance to China-US relations. The two sides remain in communication regarding President Trumps visit to China, Lin said.

Trumps suggestion to delay the trip comes as US and Chinese economic officials have held several rounds of talks in Paris about potential trade agreements on agriculture and critical minerals, according to Reuters.

His leverage in negotiations with China was dealt a significant blow earlier this year, when the Supreme Court ruled that he overstepped his authority in unilaterally imposing tariffs on all trade partners. His administration is now looking to other mechanisms to impose similar tariffs.

The US needs China more than China needs the US, Wang said.

Chinese influence

Trump has warned NATO of a very bad future if its members do not heed his call to send warships. Other US allies such as Japan and Australia have so far declined to do so.

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China, one of Irans most important strategic partners and the biggest purchaser of its oil, has even less reason to side with Trump.

Chinese officials have condemned the attacks on Iran and called for an immediate ceasefire. However, China has also criticized Iranian strikes against neighboring states, including Saudi Arabia.

Though Beijing is unlikely to take action in the Strait of Hormuz, the country has a vested interest in bringing stability to the broader region. China is relatively insulated from the oil crisis, but it is not immune to its widening effects on energy prices.

It will still be painful, said Ja Ian Chong, an associate professor of political science at the National University of Singapore. They do want to keep their economy chugging along.

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Beijing has also positioned itself as a diplomatic leader among Gulf states and the Global South, having brokered an agreement between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore diplomatic ties in 2023.

The Middle East is ostensibly an area that Beijing has spent a lot of political capital on, Chong said. They do want things to stabilize and highlight their role in the region, but whats happening now does cast a shadow on those efforts.

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Trump salutes U.S. troops killed in the war. | Credit: Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images

What happened

A defiant Iran intensified its attacks on Arab states and U.S. assets across the Middle East this week, as President Trump seesawed on Americas war aims and when the joint U.S.-Israeli offensive on Iran might end. Thousands of Iranian missiles and drones have rained down on Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and other Arab nations, smashing into oil refineries, airports, residential buildings, and hotels and killing at least 16 people. At least 11 U.S. military bases have been hit, damaging communications infrastructure and air defense systems and partially collapsing some buildings, according to satellite imagery reviewed by The New York Times. The Pentagon said at least 140 U.S. troops have been wounded, eight seriously, and seven have been killed; in Israel, Iranian strikes have killed at least 13 people. As the damage mounted, Trump judged the operation very complete, pretty much. Within hours he backtracked, saying the U.S. was bent on ultimate victory, while still asserting it would end very soon. Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth insisted the assault was at just the beginning. Asked which of those things was true, Trump said, I think you could say both.

Inside Iran, Mojtaba Khamenei, the 56-year-old son of assassinated

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was selected to replace his father as the nations supreme leader. Trump, who insisted he must approve any new leader, said the selection of Khameneia hard-line cleric with deep ties to the elite Revolutionary Guardwas unacceptable, judging it would lead to more of the same problems. The U.S. and Israel continued to pound targets across Iran; more than 1,300 Iranians have died in the strikes, most of them civilians, according to the Iranian Red Crescent Society. They are striking everywhere: homes, schools, mosques, hospitals, said one Tehran resident.

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In Washington, Democrats berated Trumps failure to articulate a clear plan. After a closed-door briefing, Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut called the administration incoherent. He said it had backed off the previously stated goals of regime change and destroying Irans nuclear weapons program, and that it had no plan for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, where shipping has come to a standstill. Meanwhile, defiant Iranian leaders ruled out a ceasefire or mediation. Iran will determine when the war ends, said Iranian Revolutionary Guard spokesman Ali Mohammad Naini.

What the columnists said

Theres a growing realization inside the administration that Trump and his team misjudged how the Iranian regime would respond to a conflict it views as an existential threat, said Mark Mazzetti in The New York Times. They thought the war would follow the same pattern as last years U.S.-Israeli strikes, when Irans retaliation was fairly muted. That Tehran responded with far more aggression has forced administration officials to adjust plans on the fly. Some are growing pessimistic about the lack of an exit strategy. But they are careful not to express that directly to Trump, whos called the operation a complete success. It is not too late for Trump to build a case for the war, said Therese Shaheen in National Review. The Iranian regime has been an active, aggressive foe of the U.S. for 47 years, and was building capacity to cause catastrophic damage with its nuclear program. The publics not buying it, said Greg Sargent in The New Republic. A poll aggregator found only 38% of Americans approve of the offensivethe lowest initial support for an American war perhaps ever.

Among Iranians, faith in the U.S. project is also in short supply, said Najmeh Bozorgmehr in the Financial Times. At the wars outset, opponents of the brutal regime hoped better days were at hand. But the terrifying air campaign has shattered that belief. Choking on toxic black smog from burning oil depots, many Tehran residents are shocked by the destruction of schools, thousands of homes, and historic landmarks, and dismayed by the resilience of the Islamic regime. Theres no sign of the anti-regime unrest that erupted in January; instead, one sociologist in Tehran, a critic of the regime, sees a rising sense of nationalism.

Mojtaba Khameneis ascent is a grim sign, said Marc Champion in Bloomberg. Instead of a shift toward a less confrontational government, his selection represents regime consolidation. And Trumps tone-deaf demand for veto power over Irans supreme leader is yet another sign he profoundly misunderstands his opponents. He thought theyd crumble at his shock-and-awe campaign. But Iran has been preparing for this fight since 1988, and they are ready for a long war. Now Trump must decide if he is too.

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Trump should declare victory and walk away, said Jason Willick in The Washington Post. Regime change would be the ideal outcome, but that would require ground troops and take years and many American lives. As it stands, U.S. and Israeli strikes have severely damaged Irans military capability, knocking out missile launchers, air defenses, and more than 60 naval craft. Quitting nowas some advisers are reportedly urgingwould serve Trump best politically while saving the U.S. from a potential quagmire.

Trump is confounded by the war he started, said Andrew Egger in The

Bulwark. Pumped with hubris after last years Iran strikes and the capture of Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro, he and his team thought the U.S. could simply impose its will on smaller countries, with little cost. Now theyre waking up to the fact that they have plunged into a morass without the support of the American people. The president and his advisers didnt anticipate an actual war, but now theyve got one, and they dont have the faintest idea how to end it.
President Donald Trump laughed out loud after receiving an intelligence report last week that new Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei may be gay, according to a new report.

Trump couldnt contain his surprise and laughed aloud when he was briefed on the intel, according to sources, the New York Post reported Monday, citing two intelligence officials and a source close to the White House.

Khameneis father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a strike at the start of Operation Epic Fury, feared his son would not be an ideal candidate to succeed him because of his rumored sexual orientation, the Post reported.

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Mojtaba Khamenei, who was wounded in the same strike, which also killed his wife and son, has made aggressive sexual overtures to men caring for him, possibly while under the influence of heavy medication, one of the Posts sources told the paper.

The sources said the intelligence report is credible and not disinformation intended to undermine Mojtaba Khamenei, according to the Post.

The fact that this was elevated to the highest of high levels shows you theres some confidence in this, one of the sources said.

The new intelligence is the latest potentially embarrassing information about Irans new supreme leader, who is as the head of state of the theocracy where homosexuality is illegal.

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After Mojtaba Khamanei was selected as the new supreme leader, The Sun reported he needed four hospital visits in London to be treated for impotency, citing U.S. intelligence.

Donald Trump

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President Donald Trump said Sunday that he has demanded about seven countries send warships to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, but his appeals have brought no commitments as oil prices soar during the Iran war.

The president declined to name the countries heavily reliant on Middle East crude that the administration is negotiating with to join a coalition to police the waterway where about one-fifth the worlds traded oil normally flows.

Im demanding that these countries come in and protect their own territory, because it is their own territory, Trump said about the strait, claiming the shipping channel is not something the United States needs because of its own access to oil. Trump spoke while answering reporters questions as he flew back to Washington from Florida aboard Air Force One.

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Trump said China gets about 90% of its oil from the strait, while the U.S. gets a minimal amount. He declined to discuss whether China will join the coalition.

It would be nice to have other countries police that with us, and well help. Well work with them, Trump said. Previously, he has appealed to China, France, Japan, South Korea and Britain.

Irans Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi earlier told CBS that Tehran has been approached by a number of countries seeking safe passage for their vessels, and this is up to our military to decide. He said a group of vessels from different countries had been allowed to pass, without providing details.

Iran has said the strait is open to all except the United States and its allies.

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Araghchi added that we dont see any reason why we should talk with Americans about finding a way to end the war, noting that Israel and the U.S. started the fighting with coordinated attacks on Feb. 28 during indirect U.S.-Iran talks on Irans nuclear program. He also said Tehran had no plan to recover the enriched uranium that is under rubble following U.S. and Israeli attacks last year.

Countries are cautious after Trumps call

U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright told NBC earlier Sunday that he has been in dialogue with some of the countries Trump had mentioned previously, and said he expected China will be a constructive partner in reopening the strait.

But countries made no promises.

Britain said Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Sunday discussed with Trump the importance of reopening the strait to end the disruption to global shipping, and spoke with Canadas prime minister about it separately.

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Aboard Air Force One, Trump specifically named Starmer, who he said initially declined to put British aircraft carriers into harms way.

Whether we get support or not, but I can say this, and I said to them: We will remember, Trump said.

A spokesperson for Chinas embassy to the U.S., Liu Pengyu, said previously that all parties have the responsibility to ensure stable and unimpeded energy supply and that China would strengthen communication with relevant parties for de-escalation.

South Koreas Foreign Ministry said it takes note of Trumps call and that it will closely coordinate and carefully review the situation with the U.S.

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Expectations are high that Trump will ask Japan directly when Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi meets him on Thursday at the White House.

France previously said it is working with countries  President Emmanuel Macron mentioned partners in Europe, India and Asia  on a possible international mission to escort ships through the strait but has stressed it must be when the circumstances permit, when fighting has subsided.

Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul of Germany, which was not mentioned in Trumps call, told ARD television: Will we soon be an active part of this conflict? No.

Meanwhile, emergency oil stocks will soon start flowing to global markets, the International Energy Agency said Sunday, describing the collective action to lower prices by far the largest ever.

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It updated last weeks announcement of 400 million barrels to nearly 412 million. Asian member countries plan to release stocks immediately, and reserves from Europe and the Americas will be released from the end of March.

Trump didnt directly answer whether his administration is talking about selling oil futures as a way to cap surging oil prices.

The prices are going to come tumbling down as soon as its over. And its going to be over pretty quickly, he told reporters.

More missile and drone attacks are reported

Gulf Arab states including the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain reported new missile or drone attacks a day after Iran called for the evacuation of three major ports in the United Arab Emirates  the first time it has threatened a neighboring countrys non-U.S. assets.

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Dubai temporarily suspended flights at its international airport  the worlds busiest  after a drone hit a fuel tank and caused a fire. Civil defense crews contained the blaze and no injuries were reported, authorities said.

Tehran has claimed that Fridays U.S. strikes on Kharg Island, home to Irans primary oil terminal, were launched from the UAE, without providing evidence. It has threatened to attack U.S.-linked oil, economic and energy infrastructures if its oil infrastructure is hit.

U.S. Central Command said it had no response to Irans claim, and Anwar Gargash, a diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, rejected it. Gulf countries that host U.S. bases have denied allowing their land or airspace to be used for military operations against Iran.

Iran has fired hundreds of missiles and drones at Arab Gulf neighbors during the war, causing significant damage and rattling economies even as most are intercepted. Tehran says it targets U.S. assets, even as Iranian strikes are reported at civilian sites such as airports and oil fields.

Wars toll mounts across the region

Iranian strikes have killed at least a dozen civilians in Gulf countries, most of them migrant workers.

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In Iran, the International Committee for the Red Cross said more than 1,300 people have been killed. Irans Health Ministry said 223 women and 202 children are among the dead, according to Mizan, the judiciarys official news agency.

Irans government on Sunday showed journalists buildings damaged by strikes in Tehran on Friday. A police station was hit and surrounding buildings were damaged. Some apartments outer walls had been stripped away.

God had mercy on all of us, said Elham Movagghari, a resident. Other Iranians are leaving the country.

In Israel, 12 people have been killed by Iranian missile fire and more have been injured, including three on Sunday. At least 13 U.S. military members have been killed, six in a plane crash in Iraq last week.

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At least 820 people have been killed in Lebanon, according to its Health Ministry, since Iran-backed Hezbollah hit Israel and Israel responded with strikes and sent additional troops into southern Lebanon. In just 10 days, more than 800,000 people  nearly one out of every seven residents of Lebanon  have been displaced.

More Iranian missile strikes hit Israel

Israels military said early Monday that Iran launched missiles toward Israel.

Earlier, several strikes hit central Israel and the Tel Aviv area, where they caused damage at 23 sites and sparked a small fire. Magen David Adom, Israels rescue service, released video showing a large crater in a street and shrapnel damage to an apartment building.

Israels military says Iran is firing cluster bombs that can evade some air defenses and scatter submunitions across multiple locations. ___

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This version corrects to say Araghchi was speaking to CBS, not NBC as previously reported.

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By Bo Erickson and Humeyra Pamuk

WASHINGTON, March 16 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Monday repeated his call to nations to help unblock the Strait of Hormuz, and complained that some were not very enthusiastic about providing help to Washington.

Trump wants nations to help police the strait after Iran responded to U.S.-Israeli attacks by using drones, missiles and mines to effectively close the channel for tankers that usually transport a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas.

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"Some are very enthusiastic about it, and some aren't. Some are countries that we've helped for many, many years. We've protected them from horrible outside sources, and they weren't that enthusiastic. And the level of enthusiasm matters to me," Trump said at an event at the White House.

He also said some nations did say they would be willing to help but Trump did not utter the names of any countries.

U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran have jolted global energy markets, sending oil prices higher and raising gasoline costs for U.S. consumers. The surge threatens to complicate Trump's domestic economic agenda and could weigh on Republican prospects in November midterm elections.

Several U.S. allies said on Monday they had no immediate plans to send ships to unblock the Strait of Hormuz.

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Germany, Spain and Italy were among allies that ruled out participating in any mission in the Gulf, at least for now. Other countries were more circumspect, with Britain and Denmark saying they would consider ways they might help, but emphasising a need to de-escalate and avoid getting dragged into the war. France has said it will probably help.

Earlier on Monday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the U.S. was "fine" with some Iranian, Indian and Chinese ships going through the Strait of Hormuz for now. Oil prices eased about 1% on Monday.

Without specifying which country or countries he spoke to, Trump relayed a conversation that appeared to be a plea for help that was rebuffed. "We have some countries where we have 45,000 soldiers ... protecting them from harm's way and we have done a great job. And well, we want to know, do you have any mine sweepers? Well, would rather not get involved, sir," he said.

Over the weekend, Trump threatened further strikes on Iran's Kharg Island, which handles about 90% of the country's exports, after hitting military targets there and spurring further retaliation from Tehran. The U.S. is in contact with Iran, Trump said, though he doubted Tehran was prepared for serious talks to end the conflict.

(Reporting by Bo Erickson, Humeyra Pamuk and Trevor Hunnicutt;Editing by David Ljunggren and Mark Porter)
United States President Donald Trump has said numerous countries have told him theyre on their way following his appeal for an international naval coalition to secure the Strait of Hormuz amid the US-Israel war on Iran.

Trump made the statement on Monday after calling on a handful of countries to join the coalition. However, he did not identify any of the countries in question.

Numerous countries have told me theyre on the way. Some are very enthusiastic about it, and some arent, Trump said.

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When subsequently asked which countries had pledged to join, Trump responded Id rather not say yet, adding that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio would be making an official announcement.

Theyve already started to  it takes a little while to get there, Trump said. In some cases, you have to travel an ocean. So doesnt go that fast, but itll go fast. And we have some that are fairly local that are doing it.





In his appeal over the weekend, Trump identified China, France, Japan, South Korea, and the United Kingdom as countries that should join the coalition. He later on called on all the Countries of the World that receive Oil through the Hormuz Strait, specifically saying the members of the NATO alliance should join.

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To date, no country has confirmed its involvement.

Coalition kept at arms length

In contrast, several countries have already doused the prospect, with Australia, Japan, Poland and Sweden and Spain saying they had no intentions of sending military ships.

On Monday, several more European leaders joined the chorus, with German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius saying that there would be no military participation, but that Berlin was open to supporting diplomatic efforts.





South Korea and the UK have said they were reviewing the situation. The UKs Prime Minister Keir Starmer said it was discussing the possibility of offering its mine-hunting drones in the region, but maintained the UK would not be drawn into the wider war.

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France has indicated more willingness to help.

Trump, meanwhile, again took aim on Monday at countries that would not support the mission.

Some are countries that weve helped for many, many years. Weve protected them from horrible outside sources, and they werent that enthusiastic, he said.

Without specifying a country, Trump pointed to one apparent rebuff.

We have some countries where we have 45,000 soldiers  protecting them from harms way and we have done a great job, he said. And well, we want to know, do you have any mine sweepers? Well, would rather not get involved, sir.'

Iran remains defiant

Global oil prices have shot up by 40 to 50 percent amid repeated Iranian attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

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Trump has argued that the US is more insulated from the fallout, although economists have said the impact will reverberate globally.

About 20 to 30 percent of global oil consumption travels through the narrow strait, which separates Iran from the Arabian Peninsula.

On Monday, Trump said that more than 100 Iranian naval vessels have been sunk or destroyed since the US and Israel launched the war on February 28, including more than 30 mine laying ships.





He further claimed a 90 percent reduction in Irans ballistic missile launches and a 95 percent reduction in drone attacks.

All told, he said, the US and Israel have struck more than 7,000 targets across Iran, mostly commercial and military targets.

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He spoke shortly after the rights group Amnesty International said the US was responsible for a strike on a girls school in Minab that killed at least 170 people, most of them children.

Since the war began, at least 1,444 people have been killed in Iran, 20 across the Gulf, and 15 in Israel. Thirteen US soldiers have also been killed.

The United Nations refugee agency has said as many as 3.2 million people have been displaced inside of Iran during the fighting.

Iranian officials, meanwhile, have remained defiant.

Speaking on Monday, Irans Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi indicated Tehran would continue its operations.

By now they have understood what kind of nation they are dealing with, one that does not hesitate to defend itself and is ready to continue the war wherever it may lead, and take it as far as necessary, Araghchi said.
By Jarrett Renshaw and Bianca Flowers

March 15 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the United States could soon reach a deal with Cuba or take other action, signaling that developments in the long-strained relationship may come quickly.

"Cuba also wants to make a deal, and I think we will pretty soon either make a deal or do whatever we have to do," Trump said to reporters on Air Force One. "We're talking to Cuba, but we're going to do Iran before Cuba."

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The comments come as tensions between Washington and Havana remain elevated following years of sanctions, diplomatic friction and disputes over migration and security, with regional allies and investors watching closely for signs of a policy shift.

Cuba's President Miguel Diaz-Canel said on Friday that the country opened talks with the United States as the island faces one of its most severe economic crises in decades.

"These talks have been aimed at finding solutions through dialogue to the bilateral differences we have between the two nations," Diaz-Canel said in a video aired on state television.

Diaz-Canel said he hoped the negotiations would move the two long-time rivals "away from confrontation."

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The country's economic crisis has been exacerbated by disruptions in imported oil, which the island relies on to run power plants and transportation networks. Fuel shortages have forced authorities to impose rolling electricity outages across the country and limit some public services.

Trump in recent weeks had made a series of statements, saying Cuba was on the verge of collapse or eager to make a deal with the United States. On Monday he said Cuba may be subject to a "friendly takeover," then added, "it may not be a friendly takeover."

Despite the renewed contact, significant differences remain between the two governments. U.S. officials have suggested that any easing of pressure would likely depend on political and economic concessions from Havana, while Cuban leaders insist that negotiations must respect the islands independence.

(Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Michael Perry)
Photo Credit: iStock

Though chocolate has consistently remained one of the world's most sought-after treats, the price of cocoa has fluctuated wildly in recent years, going from staggering highs to crushing lows.

Currently, prices have dropped so low that bags of cocoa beans have been left to rot in West African warehouses, according to Fortune.

What's happening?

After a surge in prices that reached as high as $13,000 per ton, cocoa prices have since cratered to current levels of only about $4,000 per ton, per Fortune. The crash has particularly hurt cocoa farmers in Ghana and Ivory Coast, which together account for about 70% of the world's cocoa production.

In response, cocoa farmers have been forced to put their lands to alternative uses in order to make ends meet. One farmer took money from illegal gold miners in exchange for allowing them to use a portion of his land. Similarly, another accepted payment from illegal sand miners, despite knowing that their operations would render the soil infertile, according to Fortune.

"Cocoa is not selling, but farmers still need to feed their families," said Moussa Kone, president of the Ivorian cocoa farmers' union, per Fortune.

Why does the price of cocoa matter?

The challenges impacting West African cocoa farmers and the hard choices they are facing as a result offer a glimpse of what a growing number of farmers around the globe are likely to face in coming years.

With weather patterns changing, many regions that once proved ideal for growing certain crops are rapidly becoming less so.

In West Africa, cocoa farmers have been hit with a combination of economic factors and environmental ones.

Manu Yaw Fofie, a 52-year-old cocoa farmer, has seen annual yields fall from approximately 300 bags of cocoa per year down to about 50. Cocoa crops have been harmed by everything from lack of rain to disease, according to Fortune.

Farmers are not the only ones hurt by fluctuating crop yields and prices. Everyday consumers have seen rising prices at the grocery store, and regional economies can also suffer as a result.

What's being done about it?

While the governments of Ghana and Ivory Coast have taken steps to help farmers, there is only so much they can do.

"Preparation allows you to mitigate a crisis," said Edward Karaweh, former general secretary of the General Agricultural Union, according to Fortune. "It is not that you prevent the crisis altogether."
WASHINGTON (AP)  President Donald Trump relied on his gut and largely side-stepped diplomatic coordination as he made the decision to launch strikes on Iran with Israel. But now with the war's economic and geopolitical consequences unfurling rapidly, he's cajoling allies and other global powers to help mop up the mess.

Trump says he's asked roughly a half-dozen other countries to send warships to reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz, a consequential waterway through which one-fifth of the worlds traded oil flows. So far, none has committed. Trump even indicated he would use his long-planned trip to China to pressure Beijing to help with a new coalition meant to get oil tanker traffic moving through the strait  a notion that his treasury secretary later downplayed.

We strongly encourage other nations whose economies depend on the strait far more than ours ... we want them to come and help us with the strait, Trump said at the White House on Monday, listing Japan, China, South Korea and several countries in Europe as examples. Trump has argued that the shipping channel is not something the United States needs because of its own access to oil.

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It's the type of bullying to action that has secured key foreign policy wins for the Republican president in his second term, like prompting nearly all NATO countries to up their defense spending last year after he spent years accusing allies of freeloading off American largess, and using tariffs to extract investments and concessions from trade partners.

But with oil prices soaring and the Middle East rattled by violence, there's little inclination from other countries to heed Trump's call.

China is noncommittal. France is a maybe on escorting ships, when circumstances permit. Britain is unlikely to dispatch a warship.

In Trump's view, this lack of appetite for helping to secure the strait confirms his suspicions about the benefits of working with other countries, because if we ever needed help, they won't be there for us.

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Ive always felt that was a weakness of NATO, Trump said Monday. We were going to protect them, but I always said when in need, they wont protect us.

Yet not long after, Trump insisted the U.S. didn't need help from anybody because we're the strongest nation in the world.

White House: Trump right to demand help with Strait of Hormuz

Nonetheless, the pressure campaign from the White House is continuing.

Trump's top spokeswoman, when asked why other nations that were neither consulted nor involved should put their troops in danger to secure the Strait of Hormuz, argued that other countries were benefiting directly from Trump's attempt to disarm the Iranian regime.

This is something not just the United States but the entire Western world has agreed with for many, many years, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Monday.

Separately, Trump signaled in a Sunday interview with the Financial Times that we'd like to know before he leaves for a late-March summit in Beijing whether China will help secure the strait because of its reliance on Middle Eastern oil, adding: We may delay.

In an afternoon event in the Oval Office, Trump revealed that he has asked China to delay the trip a month or so.

We're speaking to China. I'd love to, but because of the war ... I have to be here, I feel, Trump said.

Yet calling off the face-to-face visit with Chinese President Xi Jinping could have its own major economic consequences as the relations between the world's two biggest economies remain fraught over tariffs and other issues. In a CNBC interview Monday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said any delay would not be due to disputes over the strait and explicitly urged investors not to react negatively should Trump put off his trip.

If the meeting for some reason is rescheduled, it would be rescheduled because of logistics, Bessent said from Paris, where he was meeting with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng for a new round of trade talks that were meant to pave the way for the trip.

A Foreign Ministry spokesperson in Beijing, Lin Jian, did not respond directly to questions about Trumps call for outside help in the strait. He noted the impact on goods and energy trade and repeated his governments call for an end to the fighting.

No takers so far on Trump's call for a coalition to secure Hormuz

In the early days of the Iran conflict, Trump had said U.S. Navy vessels would escort oil tankers through the strait, which connects the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman, and downplayed the threat posed by Iran. But as oil prices soared, he and his administration have been forced to consider new options  including the idea, broached this weekend, for other countries to join the push with their own warships.

Trump told reporters that he has asked about seven countries to participate in a coalition that would help oil tankers navigate the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran says is only cut off for the United States, Israel and their allies.

In addition to China, Japan and South Korea, Trump has made appeals for help to Britain and France.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Monday that Britain is working with allies on a plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, but will not be drawn into the wider war.

Britain is discussing with the U.S. and allies in Europe and the Gulf the possibility of using mine-hunting drones that the U.K. has in the region, Starmer said. But he signaled the U.K. is unlikely to dispatch a warship.

Other countries have similarly been resistant to get involved.

Australias Transport Minister Catherine King told Australian Broadcasting Corp. on Monday that we wont be sending a ship to the Strait of Hormuz, although she wasnt aware of such a request from the U.S.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told reporters in Brussels on Monday that while Italy backs reinforcing EU naval missions in the Red Sea, I dont think these missions can be expanded to include the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump administration downplays oil price spikes

War in Iran has sent the price of oil skyrocketing, which has raised the price Americans pay at the pump, just as the midterm election season begins to heat up.

Bessent downplayed the war's impact on oil prices and accused the media of trying to make it into some crisis that its not. Echoing Trump, the secretary insisted prices would come down after the conflict ends.

I dont know how many weeks it will be, but on the other side of this, the world will be safer, and we will be better supplied, Bessent said on CNBC.

China, which faces its own economic pressures, recently lowered its 2026 target for growth slightly to 4.5% to 5%, its slowest projected growth since 1991, meaning prolonged disruptions in the strait could have long-term impacts for Beijing as well.

At the White House on Monday, Trump was asked what his aides have told him about how long gas prices will remain high.

Trump dismissed the question, showing once again that he ultimately relies on his own instincts.

I dont need advisers to tell me that, he said. "I know what it is.

___

Associated Press writers Jill Lawless in London, Samy Magdy in Cairo, Rod McGuirk in Melbourne, Ken Moritsugu in Beijing, and Giada Zampano in Rome contributed to this report.




WASHINGTON - Halfway across the world, President Donald Trump is waging a war against a theocratic regime that he considers a threat to American ideals. Back home, Rep. Jared Huffman is doing the same.

Since coming out eight years ago as the only openly nonbelieving member of Congress, the San Rafael Democrat has embarked on a crusade to uphold the constitutional separation of church and state. Through the Congressional Freethought Caucus, Huffman now leads nearly three dozen colleagues in a public defense of secular society against a rising Christian nationalism that he fears will undermine democratic norms and religious freedom in the United States.

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His mission is propelled with renewed imperative in the second Trump administration, whose conservative Christian policy agenda aims to "bring God back into our lives," as the president has put it. This month, whistleblower complaints by U.S. soldiers prompted Huffman and 29 other House members, from within and beyond the Freethought Caucus, to request that the Defense Department's inspector general investigate whether military officials are using "biblical end-times prophecies" from the Book of Revelation to justify the war in Iran.

In an interview with the Chronicle, Huffman accused Trump of advancing a broader movement to center faith in American government and reconfigure the country as a Christian state.

Those tenets, known as Christian nationalism, have infected the highest levels of the federal government, Huffman argues: The White House hosts a regular Bible study for the Cabinet, the Department of Homeland Security posts scripture alongside videos of immigration raids, and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., last week defended a member who said "Muslims don't belong in American society." But this doctrine more closely aligns with right-wing theocracies like the Taliban, he said, than the free democracy envisioned in the Constitution, which prohibits the government from establishing an official religion.

"It's a full-spectrum assault," Huffman said. "It's dark. This is unthinkable. We are being taken to places we have never been."

President Donald Trump stands for a prayer during a Medal of Honor ceremony in the East Room of the White House on March 2, 2026, in Washington. (Alex Brandon/Associated Press)





The White House did not respond to Huffman's criticisms of its alignment with Christian nationalism. Spokesperson Anna Kelly provided a statement defending the objectives of the Iran war.

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"President Trump and the administration have clearly outlined their goals with regard to Operation Epic Fury: destroy Iran's ballistic missiles and production capacity, demolish their navy, end their ability to arm proxies, and prevent them from ever obtaining a nuclear weapon," she said. "The success of this operation speaks for itself."

Channeling a moral breaking point'

The dispute goes deeper than the typical ideological clashes between Democrats and Republicans. Huffman said tying American identity to Christian identity not only erodes the country's founding principles, but is also out of touch with an increasingly pluralistic society, where nearly 1 in 3 people now identifies as religiously unaffiliated.

Huffman is among them. It has occasionally caused awkward tensions for him as an elected official, like in 2013, when he was reluctantly sworn in on a Bible for his first term in Congress because he did not want to cause a scene.

Then in November 2017, Huffman publicly disclosed that he does not believe in God. It felt like a risk, but a necessary one after reaching what he calls a "moral breaking point" over Trump's elevation of "fringe religious extremists" during his first term. Hearing the head of the Environmental Protection Agency quote the Bible as he dismantled its science advisory boards was particularly distressing for Huffman, a former environmental attorney.

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Though Huffman was raised in a fundamentalist offshoot of Mormonism, he had drifted from religion for decades. When Huffman was in college, his father died, and he began to question his understanding of the world. He also grew unsettled as friends from childhood did terrible things because they thought God was talking to them, including one who participated in a mass murder.

"It should be very alarming. And it certainly was to me," Huffman said.

But coming out as a nonbeliever forced him to finally consider what he did identify with. He settled on humanism, a moral framework emphasizing compassion and a duty to care for other people that Huffman connected to through the books of Kurt Vonnegut. It has given Huffman a sense of sacred purpose, he said, without having to "embrace the supernatural stuff" - when there is no second chance, your actions in this life are all the more important.

"It brings some clarity and urgency to getting it right in the here and now," he said. "Labels like atheist or agnostic reduced me too much. They didn't really say what I was for."

Thinking big about free thought

The Congressional Freethought Caucus, named for the philosophy prioritizing logic and reason over religious dogma, emerged from his disclosure.

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Though they did not know each other well before, Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., reached out to Huffman about his decision to go public and they began to discuss the history of free thought and people who challenged religious orthodoxy in politics. The following spring, they founded the caucus.

Raskin is a former constitutional law professor who taught a seminar on the First Amendment and cites Thomas Paine as his hero. A concern that "right-wing religious movements have completely derailed our basic constitutional ethos" drives his advocacy for secularism.

He is also Jewish. Raskin praised Huffman for speaking out for the separation of church and state while showing respect for all religions and without attacking people for their faith.

"He feels the constitutional values I've got in my head very much in his heart," Raskin said.

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Despite initially worrying that their cause would be too controversial, the Freethought Caucus has gradually attracted more than 30 members. Raskin said some are "constitutional nerds" like him. Others are fighting religious fanaticism in their communities or are looking for a place to discuss their own spiritual journeys.

Some Christian members have joined, citing the importance of church-state separation to maintain the diversity of thought and religion that has always been a strength of the country.

House Speaker Mike Johnson stands with Bishop Kelvin Cobaris, rear left, and Pastor Paula White, right, during a National Day of Prayer event in the Rose Garden of the White House on May 1, 2025. (Alex Brandon/Associated Press)





"Everyone benefits when influential policy decisions, government and laws are driven by science and reason, not extremist rhetoric or exclusionary religious beliefs," Rep. Kevin Mullin, a San Mateo Democrat who credits his Catholic Jesuit education for inspiring his career in public service, said in a statement.

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Rep. Julia Brownley, a Thousand Oaks (Los Angeles County) Democrat who identifies as Episcopalian, noted that the United States was founded by people fleeing religious persecution. She said in a statement that politicians failing to respect the full scope of faiths across the country "undermines the very promise of America."

"That experiment only works if we protect the foundational principle that government must remain free from religious interference," she said.

What binds the Freethought Caucus, Raskin said, "is a belief in humanism as a positive principle for government."

"As champions of free thought, we are not aggressive proselytizers of the dogma," he said. "The people who have joined us have pretty much found us."

Partisan divide remains

They all are also Democrats. By comparison, dozens of Republicans belong to the Congressional Prayer Caucus, which promotes "prayer as a fundamental and enduring feature of American life."

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Huffman said he would welcome Republicans into the Freethought Caucus but has not put much effort into recruiting them as the GOP embraces a "performative piety."

After Johnson was elected House speaker in 2023, the caucus requested a meeting with him to discuss protecting religious liberty, but Huffman said it was ignored. In response, they released a report investigating Johnson's ties to Christian nationalist groups, highlighting a history of rejecting church-state separation and using public resources to promote evangelical Christianity. A spokesperson for Johnson did not respond to requests for comment.

"I don't think there's much interest on that side of the aisle in religious diversity," Huffman said. "It's a sad testament to where the parties are."

Even as the Freethought Caucus has grown over the past eight years, Huffman remains the only public nonbeliever in Congress - though two freshman members declared themselves religiously unaffiliated when they arrived last year and joined the caucus.

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He is not disappointed. Huffman said he understands the political calculation is more difficult for other members who may privately hold similar views but serve districts that would be less receptive to a nonbeliever than the liberal North Coast that he represents.

And he feels more validated than ever about his decision to identify himself, especially as people of faith have rallied to his cause.

"There's just no doubt that coming out so that I could speak out candidly and fearlessly was so necessary," he said. "You can just watch these events unfold and see that we're going to need a lot more people to break taboo and speak out against this Christian nationalism."

Holding the Trump administration accountable

Huffman's call to arms could soon find a new audience: He wrote a book, "No Prophets: The Fight to Save Democracy From Christian Nationalism," that is scheduled for release in August. If Democrats win back the House majority in November, members of the Freethought Caucus also gain control of committees that could conduct oversight investigations and hearings into the Trump administration's embrace of religion.

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As the ranking Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, Huffman is already looking into the upcoming celebrations for the 250th anniversary of the United States. He said the Trump administration is hijacking the milestone to rewrite the country's history and promote an explicitly Christian founding.

Huffman is eager to find out more about claims that the military is promoting its operation in Iran as a holy war. The watchdog group Military Religious Freedom Foundation has reported hundreds of complaints from troops who said commanders told them conflict in the Middle East would hasten the return of Jesus Christ and that the Iran war is "all part of God's divine plan." Huffman believes the overtly religious rhetoric of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who has promoted "Western Christian" values within the military, is permitting extremism to spread.

"That is madness, that is absolute madness," he said. "There are so many examples like that where we have just allowed religious extremism to run amok."

This article originally published at Trump is waging a holy war in Iran. A Marin congressman is fighting one at home.
The potential capture of the oil depot would require, in a first for the ongoing US Operation Epic Fury, American troops to step foot on Iranian soil.

US President Donald Trump is considering seizing Irans Kharg Island oil depot should tankers remain unable to advance from the Persian Gulf, Axios reported on Monday, citing four sources familiar with the matter.

The island is one of Irans main oil export terminals, and any attempt to seize the depot would, for the first time in the ongoing US Operation Epic Fury, require American troops to enter Iranian territory.

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So far, US military action against Iran has been limited to strikes launched from the air and from positions outside Iranian territory. Among them were the Friday strikes carried out by US Central Command on Kharg Island.

The United States Central Command executed one of the most powerful bombing raids in the History of the Middle East, and totally obliterated every MILITARY target in Irans crown jewel, Kharg Island," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post at the time.

Trump added in his announcement that the strikes avoided the islands oil installations.

A picture taken on March 12, 2017, shows a view of an oil facility in the Khark Island, on the shore of the Gulf. (credit: Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images)

Trump reportedly planning coalition to escort ships through Strait of Hormuz

The officials also told Axios that the American president is working to build a coalition of countries to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and is looking to officially announce it this week, Axios reported on Monday, citing four sources familiar with the matter.

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The straight runs along the Iranian coast and is a critical avenue for global shipping.

The Axios report mirrors another Wall Street Journal report, which, citing US officials, also said that the Trump administration intends to announce as soon as this week that multiple countries have agreed to join the coalition to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

The American outlet noted that the White House declined to comment on the announcement, while countries have so far avoided committing to join efforts to escort ships through the Strait.

Japan and Australia said on Monday they were not planning to send navy vessels to the region for the purpose of escorting ships through the strait.

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A German government spokesperson also reiterated on Monday that Germany would not take military action to keep the Strait of Hormuz.

"As long as this war continues, there will be no participation, not even in any effort to keep the Strait of Hormuz open by military means," the spokesperson said.

Nevertheless, Trump has announced on Truth Social that the US, along with several other countries affected by Irans attempted closure of the Hormuz Strait, would be sending warships to keep the Strait open and safe.

Further, in a Sunday interview with the Financial Times, the president threatened NATO, warning that it would have a very bad future if US allies failed to assist in opening the Strait of Hormuz.

On Saturday, Trump said the US will open the Strait of Hormuz "one way or another" and would "be bombing the hell out of shoreline."

Reuters contributed to this report.
LAFAYETTE  Tiffani Earley has been appointed as the coordinator of the new Tippecanoe School Corp. Early Learning Center.

The center, 111 Walter Scholer Drive in Lafayette, is set to open in August, according to a community announcement. It will serve about 225 preschool students with disabilities who are currently part of the Greater Lafayette Area Special Services program at various sites, including Linnwood Elementary in Lafayette.

Tiffani Earley has been named coordinator of the new TSC Early Learning Center, a preschool for students with disabilities opening in August 2026.

Coordinator brings experience to the role

Earley, currently a kindergarten teacher at Cole Elementary School, has 14 years of experience in education. She holds a master's degree from Purdue University and a bachelor's degree from Indiana University.

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As the coordinator, Earley will serve as the educational and instructional leader for the developmental preschool program, according to Alyssa Hart, director of elementary special education.

Hart said Earley stood out during the hiring process because of her experience and commitment to early childhood education.

Tiffanis passion for early childhood education and her experience working with students with diverse needs make her an excellent fit for this role, Hart said in the announcement. She also brings a strong commitment to supporting families.

Earley calls the program "an amazing foundation for children."

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It will be centered around inclusion and access for all, with highly qualified staff, evidence-based curriculum and family input that will help prepare students as they continue their education," she said.

Program aims to support students and families

Superintendent Scott Hanback says the new center is an important step in supporting young learners and their families.

As we end our participation in GLASS, we are proud to bring these services in-house and build something that is uniquely TSC, Hanback said in the announcement.

Earley said families can expect guidance, a listening ear and someone who will adapt to best fit each student's needs.

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My door will be open and my heart will be happy to have each student in this program, she said.

More information on the TSC Early Learning Center will soon be available on the TSC website, according to the announcement.

This story was created with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Journalists were involved in every step of the information gathering, review, editing and publishing process. Learn more at cm.usatoday.com/ethical-conduct/.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: TSC names coordinator for new early learning center
At least two civilians have been killed by Russian strikes in the Dnipropetrovsk region of south-eastern Ukraine.

A further seven people were injured in the village of Sayzeve in the Synelnykove district, Oleksandr Ganzha, head of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Military Administration, said on Telegram on Monday.

Ganzha said a school and 10 residential buildings were damaged.

The village is about 80 kilometres from the front line.

Ukraine has been defending itself against a Russian invasion for over four years.
Two Iowa-licensed pharmacists are facing sanctions for alcohol-related issues.

In the first case, pharmacist Benajmin Grote, 50, who now lives in Fremont, Nebraska, recently agreed to surrender his Iowa pharmacists license.

Records from the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services indicate that Grote has a long history of licensing issues, beginning in 2007 when he was charged with unprofessional conduct. He was accused of sending a sexually suggestive email to a person the board described as a young female co-worker.

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Grote was also accused of making inappropriate sexual inquiries of a young, female job applicant, asking about her drinking habits and whether she and her partner used condoms. He allegedly presented the applicant with a box of condoms at the conclusion of the job interview. As a result of those allegations, Nebraska officials placed Grotes license on probation for five years.

In 2019, the Nebraska board suspended Grotes license for 12 months after he was convicted of third-offense drunken driving in Woodbury County, Iowa. In 2021, the state of Nebraska reinstated Grotes license subject to one year of probation that required him to abstain from alcohol.

In 2022, Grote wrote to the Woodbury County judge in his 2019 drunken-driving case to report that since his conviction he had been experiencing problems finding work as a pharmacist. As a consequence of that, he said, he had fallen behind in child support and owed $70,000.

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Pharmacy is the only work I can do to earn that kind of money, he told the judge. As a felon, I cannot bill Medicare, which makes me unemployable in pharmacy.

Grote asked that his felony conviction be set aside so that as a practicing pharmacist I can be of service to the community. The judge denied the request.

That same year, Nebraska officials extended Grotes probation, censured him and fined him $500 after he was allegedly arrested again for third-offense drunken driving.

In July 2025, Nebraska officials suspended Grotes pharmacy license for 30 days and fined him $2,000, alleging he had tested positive for the use of alcohol.

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In August 2025, Grote allegedly participated in a substance abuse assessment in which he admitted consuming eight shooters  a term typically used to describe 50-milliliter bottles of alcohol  per day since his license was suspended.

That same month, Grote was allegedly pulled over driving north in the southbound lanes of a highway in Platte County, Nebraska. Police alleged he had a blood-alcohol level that was three times the legal limit, and they charged him with felony fifth-offense drunken driving, an open-container violation and other offenses.

Grote then signed an agreement with the Iowa Board of Pharmacy to refrain from practicing in Iowa, and a few weeks later, the Nebraska board revoked his license to practice in that state.

Recently, the Iowa board charged Grote with habitual intoxication or addiction to the use of drugs or alcohol, and having his license in another state revoked or suspended. To resolve the matter, the board agreed last week to accept Grotes voluntary surrender of his Iowa license.

Evansdale pharmacy technician case

In a separate, unrelated disciplinary case, the board charged pharmacy technician Nicole Clausman of Evansdale with fraud in procuring a license and practicing pharmacy while under the influence of alcohol or illicit substances.

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According to the board, Clausmans employer, whose identity the board has not disclosed, reported to the board that Clausman was under the influence of alcohol while at work, as verified by two separate screening tests that produced positive results for alcohol.

The board alleges Clausman was not permitted to return to work that day and was later fired. During the boards investigation of the matter, the board discovered that when Clausman submitted her technician registration renewal application five years ago, in October 2020, she failed to disclose that she had previously pleaded guilty to a simple misdemeanor charge in January 2020.

The board has not publicly disclosed the precise nature of the conviction, or said when Clausman was alleged to have been under the influence of alcohol at work.

In resolving the matter, the board imposed a $100 civil penalty against Clausman and issued her a warning.

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Long before I became a college history professor, I was a schoolboy. I have been thinking a lot about a picture in one of my public-school history textbooks of the 1960s. The textbook picture originally appeared in 1905 in a popular American satirical magazine called Judge.

Titled The Worlds Constable, the cartoon depicted President Theodore Roosevelt dressed up as a policeman, grasping a document that read, Tell yer troubles to a policeman, wielding a night stick and surrounded by supplicating figures representing the countries of the world.

The cartoon titled, The Worlds Constable in the satirical magazine, Judge, in 1905.

Judge was reacting to President Theodore Roosevelts 1904 message to Congress. He wrote that if a nation shows that it knows how to act with reasonable efficiency and decency in social and political matters, if it keeps order and pays its obligations, it need fear no interference from the United States. Chronic wrongdoing, or an impotence that results in a general loosening of the ties of civilized society, ultimately requires intervention by some civilized nation, and, in the western hemisphere, the adherence of the United States to the Monroe Doctrine may force the United States, however reluctantly, in flagrant cases of such wrongdoing or impotence, to the exercise of an international police power. We would interfere with countries in Central America or South America only in the last resort, and then only if it became evident that their inability or unwillingness to do justice at home and abroad had violated the rights of the United States or had invited foreign aggression to the detriment of the entire body of American nations.

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Some historians call this speech the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine.

Roosevelt and his presidential successors, for the next 121 years, sent the U.S. military or the CIA to act as the worlds policeman, without a Congressional Declaration of War. They have invaded countries, overturned governments, or snatched the rulers of Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Panama, Guatemala, Granada, Chile and installed the Shah as ruler of Iran. President Harry Truman initially called the Korean War a police action." Hows that for an understatement.

Now President Donald Trump has attacked Venezuela and Iran, blown motorboats and their occupants, probably including fisherman, into oblivion without an arrest and trial, and is threatening to attack Cuba and Greenland whilst denigrating any other country that disagrees with him. For someone miffed that he has not gotten the Nobel Peace Prize, this is surely the most mismanaged campaign for it in world history.

The contradiction of the worlds policeman is that a domestic cop-on-the-beat is governed by laws. Trump self-appointing himself as the worlds policeman, unconstrained by Congress, is an ungoverned loose cannon  including his lack of interest in public opinion. He is following his personal definitions of international law and Americas best interests; and imposing his definitions of right-and-wrong on other nations. If another country did what the U.S. is doing, wed denounce it as an imperialist aggressor. It reminds me of another lesson I learned as a schoolboy: If the shoe fits, wear it.

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Opinion: My daughter, Leqaa Kordia, has been held by ICE for a year

When J.D. Vance was running to be Trumps vice president, he campaigned on a platform of studied indifference to world conflicts.

"I gotta be honest with you, he said, I don't really care what happens to Ukraine one way or another.

Trump told us the idea of creating regime change in other countries was a failed strategy. I guess they didnt get their own memo.

I think there are two memos we all got when we were schoolchildren. We learned in civics class that the U.S. Constitution vests the Congress with the power to declare war. They also taught us a lesson attributed to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis: The most important political office is that of the private citizen. That is true only if citizens take their responsibility seriously and exercise the powers both of public opinion and the ballot.

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Edward C. Halperin, M.D., M.A., teaches history of medicine at New York Medical College, where he is also chancellor and CEO. This essay represents his opinion and not that of the college.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Should U.S. role as policeman go unchecked in war in Iran? | Opinion
First Phosphate secures $16.7M in federal funding for Quebec phosphate project Proactive uses images sourced from Shutterstock

First Phosphate Corp. (CSE:PHOS, OTCQX:FRSPF, FRA:KD0, OTC:FPHOY) announced that it has finalized an agreement with the Government of Canada for a $16.7 million non-repayable contribution to support the development of its Begin-Lamarche phosphate project in the SaguenayLac-Saint-Jean region of Quebec.

The funding will be provided through the Natural Resources Canada Global Partnerships Initiative and will help advance technical and engineering work for the project.

The work will focus on validating the companys ability to produce phosphate concentrate that meets the quality requirements of the lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery market.

According to the company, the contribution will support the development of processing circuits and equipment needed to confirm production capabilities under the parameters of an existing offtake agreement.

"We welcome this investment from the Government of Canada which supports the continued progress of our project and its strategic role in the LFP battery supply chain," First Phosphate CEO John Passalacqua said.

"Together, we are taking another step toward establishing an integrated phosphate-based LFP battery supply chain in Canada."

Federal Energy and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson said the investment is part of Canadas broader effort to strengthen supply chains for critical minerals.

"By supporting companies like First Phosphate, we are helping deliver the minerals the world needs and the prosperity and security Canadians deserve, Hodgson said.

The Begin-Lamarche demonstration and feasibility project aims to help develop domestic capacity to process apatite into high-purity phosphoric acid for battery applications. The company said the initiative could support the establishment of a Canadian phosphoric acid facility supplied by locally produced phosphate concentrate.

First Phosphate estimates the project could create about 277 skilled jobs and contribute to reducing reliance on foreign supply chains for battery-grade phosphate materials.

The federal contribution will fund eligible activities related to a feasibility study for the integrated Begin-Lamarche phosphate mine and processing project, with work planned through 2028.
Ukraines war effort is being undermined by sales of air-defence munitions to the Gulf and continued aggression from Washington, while an oil-price bonanza means that Moscow can now, literally, fund its own war dead.

In the grim calculus of the meat grinder conflict on Europes eastern flank, Kyivs defence ministry has a target of killing 50,000 Russian soldiers a month.

This is because Ukraine estimates that Vladimir Putin can only recruit somewhere between 35,000 and 37,000 troops a month, despite staggering sign-up bonuses, extravagant salaries, and a $165,000 (124,000) compensation package provided to the families of Russian soldiers killed in action.

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According to Ukrainian and Western sources, if Putins ministry paid for all the Russian dead the war is generating every month  also estimated at around 35,000  the cost would be $5.775bn (4.35bn).

Vladimir Putin meets soldiers during a visit to a military training centre outside the town of Ryazan  Russia now has to offer huge financial incentives to get people to join up (Sputnik)

Add to that the cost of recruiting 35,000 replacements with $24,000 (18,000) sign-up bonuses, and the figure rises by another $840m (632m). Thats a total of $6.615bn (4.98bn) that Russia must generate to pay for its monthly casualty list.

Ukraine knows it cannot outlast Russia in terms of manpower  but Kyivs aim is to make the war unsustainable for Putin in basic economic terms.

Russias crisis point is not running out of people; it is running out of money to buy people, according to intelligence analysis seen by The Independent.

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But a surge in oil prices, along with Donald Trumps decision to lift some sanctions on Russias massive oil industry, has provided Moscow with an immediate respite from the bloody financial pressure Ukraine is delivering, at a heavy cost to itself in human life, on the front lines of the Donbas.

Russia is estimated to have made an extra $6bn to $10bn (4.5bn to 7.5bn) in oil revenues as a result of the US-Israeli war in Iran, since it began less than a month ago. That more than covers the cost of Russias war dead every month.

It is a body blow to Ukraine.

Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during a joint press conference with French president Emmanuel Macron following a bilateral meeting in Paris on 13 March (AP)

This year, Kyivs innovations in drone warfare, longer-range strikes against Russian targets, and improved tactics have resulted in a turn in favour of Ukraine.

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Morale on the front lines improved over the previous year. In the major cities being targeted by waves of Russian drones and ballistic missiles, and where winter temperatures plunged to -25C, civilians were managing to cope with days of power cuts as the energy infrastructure was pounded by Russia.

Ukrainian military assessments were based on figures that prevailed in the global oil markets, and in the weapons industry, before Iran was attacked by Israel and the US, and before oil prices surged and the production of air-defence munitions was absorbed by Gulf nations and their allies combating Iranian counterattacks with home-produced drones and missiles.

US missiles being loaded at RAF Fairford on 12 March (Getty)

Lifting sanctions on Russias oil exports saw a 13 per cent surge in its crude oil exports  mainly to China, India and Turkey, according to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.

From the start of the Israel-US campaign against Iran, Volodymyr Zelensky warned, first in an interview with The Independent, that Ukraines air defences would suffer from a loss of supply. Ukraine gets most of its anti-ballistic-missile technology from the US, and it is purchased for Ukraine by European allies.

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The focus will shift to the Middle East, to the Iranian war, now, and to the United States and also to Israel, Zelensky told theWorld of Trouble podcast. This is very understandable. And to the countries in the Middle East, who are now under attacks, massive attacks of drones and missiles from the Iranian side.

Our estimation, of course, is that air defence [for Ukraine] could decrease.

Since then, Zelenskys offer of Ukrainian drone experts to help defend the Gulf has been rejected by Trump, who said at the weekend: We dont need their help on drone defence. We know more about drones than anybody. We have the best drones in the world, actually.

The oil bonus for Russia, allowed by Trump, has been condemned by European leaders and Ukrainian politicians. Oleksandr Morezkho, chair of the Ukrainian parliaments foreign affairs committee, said: Its like giving a murderer more bullets. For Russia, oil and gas are weapons. If we see, as a result of lifting oil sanctions, more intensive Russian attacks and more casualties, it might be perceived as if Trump is aligning himself with Putin.

Ukrainian soldiers fire at Russian positions on the front line in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine (AP)

Ukraine continues to push Russian forces back in small territorial shifts in its favour along a front line that is 1,200km (745 miles) long.

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Soldiers serving there have repeatedly said that the quality and motivation of Russian soldiers appear to have improved. Its because theyre motivated by lots of money, one commander on the Zaporizhzhia front line explained.

Putin wants to avoid general conscription, and has recruited between 400,000 and 430,000 contract soldiers on salaries of around $3,000 (2,260) a month, alongside their sign-up bonus and death compensation for their families.

Russian officers have routinely hidden casualty figures from their bosses. Mass graves of Russian dead have been found on sites liberated from Moscows forces, and the number of dead is suppressed in an effort to save the Kremlin money.

But still, the salary bill of $1.3bn (98m) a month for contract soldiers is a further strain on the Russian economy, which is growing at only 0.8 per cent, and which is 40 per cent focused on defence since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

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Before the oil-price surge, Western intelligence analysis calculated that in Russia, at current trajectory, regional budgets financing recruitment will face insolvency before manpower pools are exhausted.

Ukraine is now being forced to recalibrate these assumptions. Kyiv had estimated that killing Russians at a rate of 50,000 a month would have caused systemic collapse by the autumn. That date will now have been pushed back, following the Netanyahu-Trump war against Iran.
Hungary accused Ukraine on March 16 of refusing to attend a trilateral meeting with Hungarian and Slovak officials on the status of the Druzhba pipeline, escalating a dispute over the damaged route that previously carried Russian crude to Central Europe.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said a consultation involving energy ministers from Hungary, Slovakia, and Ukraine had been scheduled but Kyiv ultimately declined to participate.

Ukrainian officials denied that such talks had ever been planned.

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The disagreement highlights growing tensions between Ukraine and two European Union member states that relied on the pipeline for Russian oil supplies before it went offline in late January.

Ukraine has said the pipeline's Ukrainian section was damaged during a Russian strike, while Hungarian officials dispute that claim and argue the infrastructure is ready to resume operations.

"Ukraine is not restarting the Druzhba oil pipeline for purely political reasons," Szijjarto said.

Responding to a query from the Kyiv Independent, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi said Kyiv could not refuse to attend a meeting that had never been agreed upon.

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"It is impossible to refuse something that was never planned," Tykhyi said, adding that Hungary had attempted to present last-minute proposals as established arrangements.

The accusations follow the arrival in Kyiv of a Hungarian delegation, which sought to assess whether the pipeline remained operational. Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said the visit had not been coordinated and that the delegation held no official meetings with Ukrainian authorities.

The team failed to inspect the pipeline during the visit.

Orban  widely viewed as one of the EU's most Kremlin-friendly leaders  has accused Kyiv of deliberately suspending oil transit. Hungary has since blocked the EU's proposed 20th sanctions package against Russia and a planned 90-billion-euro ($107-billion) loan to Ukraine.

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Ukraine's state energy company Naftogaz, together with the Foreign Ministry, held a briefing for ambassadors from 31 countries to outline the reported damage caused by a Russian strike.

Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Yevhen Perebyinis and Naftogaz CEO Serhii Koretskyi presented details on the pipeline's status, which were shared with Hungarian representatives as well.

Tykhyi said partners received full updates on the condition of the Druzhba route during the briefing.

Hungarian rhetoric toward Ukraine has intensified in recent weeks amid a domestic election campaign, with analysts noting that Orban's ruling Fidesz party trails the opposition.

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Read also: On Hungarys National Day, two futures took the streets

Read also: Exclusive: Ukraine has few options if Hungary keeps EU funding frozen

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Ukraine knows it cannot match Russias relentless waves of manpower.

Refusing to throw troops into the grinder, Kyiv has taken a different path to victory  one defined by precision, patience and technology. Now, that strategy is starting to pay off.

A relentless and meticulously planned drone campaign is choking Russias front-line forces, expanding the so-called kill zone threefold in some areas.

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It has turned areas once considered safe behind the front line into deadly no-go zones.

The aim is simple: make it impossible for Russian forces to move men and equipment forward fast enough to sustain offensive operations.

A soldier from one of Ukraines unmanned systems battalions, who remained anonymous for security reasons, told The Telegraph: The drones are constantly watching, constantly striking. It slows them down, it breaks their rhythm and it gives us the space to control the battlefield without sending men to die.

Ukraine stepped up its precision drone campaign earlier this year, focusing on destroying Russian drone defences to allow its own drones to operate deeper behind enemy lines.

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Ukrainian drones are now able to strike targets from up to 93 miles away from the front line, compared to around 31 miles a few weeks ago, expanding the kill zone to unprecedented depths, according to experts.

The kill zone is the area behind the front line where Ukrainian drones can strike Russian troops, vehicles and logistics, making movement hazardous or impossible.

Its boundaries are fluid, shifting along a zigzag pattern depending on the positions of Ukraines elite drone units.

Kateryna Stepanenko, a Russia team lead at the Institute for the Study of War, said: This takes time and a tremendous amount of planning, adding that the campaign was a turning point in the conduct of drone warfare on the battlefield.

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It is becoming much more systematic. Based on geo-located footage we are observing and frequent reports from Ukrainian officials about successful strikes  not just precision strikes against vehicles travelling along roads, but also attacks on Russian drone positions, assembly areas, storage facilities and other key targets.

At the heart of Ukraines new drone war is its Deep Strike Command Centre, a unit created in early 2026 by the Unmanned Systems Forces to co-ordinate and improve the management of drone strikes on targets behind Russian troops.

Ukrainian drones are able to strike targets from up to 93 miles away - Eduardo Soteras

Experts say its founding represents Ukraines transition to a network-centric model of warfare, where planning and the sharing of real-time information allow forces to strike effectively across the battlefield without relying on massed troop movements.

Anton Zemlianyi, senior analyst of the Ukrainian Security and Co-operation Centre, said: Precision, co-ordination and technological superiority play a key role.

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This years campaign began with the deployment of heavy bomber drones, such as Nemesis, a Ukrainian-developed heavy attack system that has become one of the most feared assets in Kyivs drone arsenal.

Russian forces refer to it as Baba Yaga, in reference to the figure in Slavic folklore, because of its ability to strike silently and effectively at night.

These heavy bombers have been deployed to target key Russian systems, including electronic warfare units, air defence installations and equipment that allows Russia to strike or intercept drones.

Heavy bomber drones such as the Nemesis have become one of the most feared weapons in Ukraines arsenal - Ukraine's 412th Unmanned Systems Battalion

Ms Stepanenko said: Heavy bomber drones give an advantage because they are able to pursue specialised targets.

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By undermining and suppressing these Russian assets, Ukrainian forces create conditions in which more drones can fly at greater distances without being intercepted or jammed.

The destruction of Russian air defence systems, including Buk, Tor, and PantsirS1 models, has weakened Russian defences in the occupied territories, opening up the skies to unprecedented numbers of lighter drones, which are most affected by jammers.

The shortages of air defence capabilities have also pushed the Russians to rely on antiquated equipment, soldiers on the front line told The Telegraph.

Dimko Zhluktenko, a soldier and analyst at Ukraines 413th Unmanned Systems Regiment, said: In some cases, Russian units have reportedly removed multi-barrel machine-gun mounts from old Soviet attack helicopters ... and installed them on improvised gun trucks to fight drones.

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The 413th Unmanned Systems Regiment is one of Ukraines cutting-edge drone warfare units, serving as the tip of the spear for many tactical and technological developments.

Drones have allowed Ukraine to take control of the lower sky, according to Russian war bloggers - Unmanned Systems Forces

Russian war bloggers have claimed that Ukraines efforts are paying off.

The enemy has once again taken control of the lower sky, one said on the app Telegram, adding: The situation is difficult.

Experts have said that infractions have been made across the Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk front lines, with successful campaigns in Dobropillia, Huliaipole, Kupiansk, Petrovske, Kostiantynopil, among others.

So far, Russian attempts to push back Ukraines dominance in the skies have been largely unsuccessful.

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Outages from Starlink, SpaceXs satellite internet service in Ukraine, are making it harder for Russian forces to operate their own drones, sometimes forcing operators to move into the open to rig communications equipment to lamp posts or trees to maintain control.

Ukraine has been able to secure an advantage over Russia as analysis of its drone operations is paving the way for technological advancements.

Mr Zemlianyi said: Ukraine continuously analyses battlefield data, including operational reports and signals intelligence, to determine which technologies and tactics work effectively and which are vulnerable.

Based on this feedback loop, Ukrainian engineers and operators adapt drone systems, communication links and control frequencies to make them more resilient to electronic warfare.

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He said as a result, drones were evolving not only tactically but also operationally, and that in many cases they were beginning to perform roles traditionally associated with long-range precision weapons systems.

Many of the heavy bomber drones also have machine learning or artificial intelligence capabilities, according to Ms Stepanenko, while the range of lighter drones has steadily increased.

Ukrainian forces are not only expanding the kill zone with large numbers of drones, but are using the opportunity to conduct a targeted campaign against Russian vehicles and logistical hubs to make it harder for Moscow to move equipment closer to the front line.

The goal, according to Ms Stepanenko, is to force Russian troops to travel long distances on foot to reach their positions, eventually weakening their ability to hold defensive lines.

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By extending the reach of its drones and systematically targeting the systems that protect Russian logistics, Ukraine is attempting to reshape the battlefield without matching Moscows manpower, according to Mr Zhluktenko.

I think the results speak for themselves, he said. Russia is losing crazy amounts of rare air defence systems, radars, and there is no way to quickly replenish them.

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Key developments on March 16:

Explosions rock Kyiv as Russian drones target capital during morning rush hour

Ukrainian drones reportedly strike oil depot in Russia's Krasnodar Krai

12 years after Crimea annexation, Ukraine says nearly 300 still jailed on fabricated political charges

'Terror against civilians'  Russian occupation court jails 69-year-old woman for donating to Ukrainian army

A series of explosions were heard in Kyiv on March 16 as Russia launched a rush hour drone attack on Ukraine's capital.

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Air raid sirens sounded at 8:26 a.m. Explosions and air defenses were heard around 20 minutes later, according to Kyiv Independent journalists on the ground.

According to Telegram monitoring channels, up to 30 Shahed-type drones are targeting energy infrastructure. Reports suggested Russian missiles were also targeting Kyiv, though this has not been confirmed.

Yurii Ihnat, head of the Air Force's communications department, later told the Kyiv Independent no missiles were used in the attack.

"Debris from a drone has fallen in the very centre of the capital. There are no fires or casualties," Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said in a post on Telegram. "The enemy attack on Kyiv is ongoing. Stay in shelters," he added.

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Klitschko later said debris from downed drones had also fallen in the Solomianskyi and Svyatoshynskyi districts in the west of the city.

The attack caught many Kyiv residents during the morning commute and at the start of the work and school day.

"I was waiting for my first class when the air raid siren started," said Oliana Pavlyshyn, an 18-year-old first-year philology student at Taras Shevchenko National University. "We went down to the basement and stayed there for almost the entire air raid."

Pavlyshyn said the morning strike was unusual compared with the more frequent nighttime attacks.

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"Usually they attack at night, but this time it was in the morning when we were already at university," she said, adding that several classes were cancelled. "You could hear the explosions clearly. It was very loud."

Speaking about the broader impact of the war, she added: "I'm only 18 years old. I want to live. But many Ukrainians right now are not living. We are surviving."

The all clear sounded in Kyiv at 9:57 a.m.

Russia last launched a missile and drone attack against Ukraine just two days ago in the early hours of March 14. Over the winter, Russia frequently targeted civilian infrastructure in an attempt to freeze Ukraine into submission.

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Read also: Exclusive: Ukraine has few options if Hungary keeps EU funding frozen

Ukrainian drones reportedly strike oil depot in Russia's Krasnodar Krai

Ukrainian drones struck a Russian oil depot in Labinsk, Krasnodar Krai, overnight on March 16, setting the site ablaze, Telegram news channel Exilenova Plus reported, citing local residents.

Prior to the reported attack, Russia's Defense Ministry said it shot down 28 Ukrainian drones over Russian territory late on March 15.

Local authorities have not yet commented on the strike, and the Kyiv Independent could not verify the reports at the time of publication.

Labinsk is located about 345 kilometers (214 miles) southeast of occupied Crimea and approximately 500 kilometers (310 miles) from Ukrainian-controlled territory near Orikhiv, Zaporizhzhia Oblast.

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Ukraine regularly strikes military infrastructure deep within Russia and occupied territories in an effort to diminish Moscow's fighting power as the Kremlin wages its war against Ukraine.

Kyiv considers oil facilities to be valid military targets as they directly fund Russia's war.

Just a day earlier, Ukrainian forces reportedly struck the Tikhoretsk oil pumping station in Russia's Krasnodar Krai overnight on March 15, Russian Telegram media channels reported.

On March 14, Ukrainian drones struck the Afipsky Oil Refinery, sparking a large fire in Russia's Krasnodar Krai, Ukraine's General Staff reported.

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Authorities also reported a separate drone attack on the Port Kavkaz facility in Russia's Krasnodar Krai, where three people were injured, and a technical vessel was damaged after drone debris fell on a dock complex.

"Both facilities are involved in supplying the Russian military," Ukraine's General Staff said in a statement.

Read also: What Trumps jackpot for Putin move on Russian oil sanctions means

12 years after Crimea annexation, Ukraine says nearly 300 still jailed on fabricated political charges

Around 300 people are currently being held in Russian captivity on politically fabricated charges in occupied Crimea, including 159 Crimean Tatars, Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said on March 16.

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The ministry issued the statement on the 12th anniversary of Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, when Russian forces organized what Kyiv described as a "fake and illegal referendum" under the presence of Russian troops.

According to the ministry, Russia has since built a system of repression on the peninsula targeting activists, journalists, and members of the Crimean Tatar community, the peninsula's indigenous people.

"Russia has turned Crimea into a territory of lawlessness, where people are intimidated, persecuted, and imprisoned simply for the language they speak, the views they hold, or the faith they practice," the ministry said.

Crimean Tatars have faced some of the harshest repression since the occupation began, Ukrainian officials said, noting that Russia banned the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, the community's representative body, and forced the closure of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church on the peninsula.

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The Foreign Ministry said at least 430 people have faced politically motivated criminal cases in Crimea since 2014, though the real number may exceed 500 because not all cases are publicly reported by occupation authorities.

Russia has also carried out forced mobilization in Crimea and intensified the militarization of the peninsula, which has transformed the region into a launchpad for further aggression against Ukraine.

"Over the years of occupation, Russia has effectively turned Crimea into a military base and a springboard for further aggression against Ukraine and the destabilization of the Black Sea region," the ministry said.

Russia seized Crimea in 2014 after deploying troops without insignia across the peninsula and staging a referendum widely condemned by Ukraine and Western governments as illegal. The annexation triggered international sanctions against Russia that remain in place today.

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"The world must learn the 'Crimean lesson': the lack of a proper response to a blatant violation of international law only encourages the aggressor to commit further atrocities. Now, as Moscow continues its aggression, there can be no talk of easing restrictions - all forms of pressure on the Kremlin must be strengthened," the ministry added.

Read also: Russias disinformation campaign tests Canadas support for Ukraine

Terror against civilians'  Russian occupation court jails 69-year-old woman for donating to Ukrainian army

Russian authorities in occupied Zaporizhzhia Oblast have sentenced a 69-year-old woman to 11 years in jail for donating to the Ukrainian army, Ukraine's Ombudsman Office said on March 15.

"When an elderly woman is targeted by the repression machine, it is clear that this is not about 'justice' but about terror against civilians," the office wrote on Facebook.

Halyna Bekhter is a retired resident of the village of Plodorodne, in the Russian-occupied part of Zaporizhzhia Oblast. According to the Russian installed Zaporizhzhia Regional Court, Bekhter, using Ukrainian online banking, donated to Ukraine's Armed Forces in July 2023.

On March 5, 2026, the court sentenced Bekhter to 11 years' imprisonment, followed by one year of probation. She was charged under Article 275 of Russia's Criminal Code, financial assistance to a foreign state in activities directed against the security of the Russian Federation.

"Halyna Bekhter's story is further proof that Russian occupiers are systematically persecuting Ukrainian civilians in the temporarily occupied territories in an attempt to intimidate people and suppress any support for Ukraine," Ukraine's Human Rights Ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, said.

Lubinets said he took further steps, such as sending a letter to the International Committee of the Red Cross, starting a process of adding Bekhter to the list of civilians unlawfully detained by Russia, and sending a letter to the Human Rights Commissioner of the Russian Federation requesting confirmation of the Ukrainian woman's place of detention.

The southern village of Plodorodne in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia Oblast has been under Russian occupation since 2022.

Russia regularly sentences Ukrainian citizens for donations to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, accusing them of treason. On Feb. 10, 2026, the same court sentenced another 69-year-old woman living in occupied Tokmak, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, to 15 years in prison for donating her Ukrainian pension to the Ukrainian army.

Read also: Russia sentences 21-year-old admin of Melitopol is Ukraine Telegram channel to 14 years in prison

Read also: Oscar-nominated Mr. Nobody Against Putin exposes Russian passivity

Note from the author:

Ukraine War Latest is put together by the Kyiv Independent news desk team, who keep you informed 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you value our work and want to ensure we have the resources to continue, join the Kyiv Independent community.

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Key developments on March 14-15

Ukraine strikes Russian radar systems, S-400 launcher in occupied Crimea, General Staff says

Russian strike razes homes in Zaporizhzhia, killing 1, injuring 19

Moscow attacked by over 60 drones in single day, mayor says

Ukraine claims 'successful' strike on 2 Russian ships ferrying weapons, equipment through Kerch Strait

Russia sentences 5 Ukrainian POWs to 1518 years over 2024 Kursk incursion

Ukraine confirms drone strike on major southern Russian oil refinery, key port

Ukraine struck Russian radar systems and an S-400 air defense launcher in occupied Crimea overnight on March 15, Ukraines General Staff reported.

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According to the statement, Ukrainian defense forces hit the 59N6-E "Protivnik" and 73E6 "Parol" radar stations near the village of Liubknekhivka in Russian-occupied Crimea.

The Protivnik radar is a long-range surveillance system designed to detect and track aircraft, cruise missiles, and ballistic targets at high altitudes. The Parol system is used to identify aircraft as friend or foe within Russias air defense network.

Ukrainian forces also struck a launcher belonging to an S-400 "Triumf" air defense system near the settlement of Dalne in Crimea, the General Staff said.

The extent of the damage is still being assessed.

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The General Staff also confirmed that a Valdai radar system struck by Ukrainian forces near Prymorske in occupied Crimea on March 10 sustained significant damage. The Valdai radar is designed to detect and counter low-flying drones.

According to the General Staff, systematically targeting Russian air defense systems helps reduce Moscows ability to control airspace and protect other military facilities.

Read also: Ukraine plans anti-drone protection for 600 kilometers of front-line roads

Russian strike razes homes in Zaporizhzhia, killing 1, injuring 19

Russia struck a residential area in Zaporizhzhia with guided aerial bombs on March 14, killing one man and injuring 19 others, Governor Ivan Fedorov reported.

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One of the injured victims, a 17-year-old boy, is in serious condition following the attack.

At around 4:30 p.m. local time, Russia launched four guided bomb attacks targeting apartments and homes in the city, Fedorov said. A fire broke out at the site of the attack that has already been extinguished.

One man was killed in the strike. Another 18 victims, including the teenager, were injured.

Two victims were trapped beneath the rubble and rescued by emergency workers, the governor reported.

0:00/0:211Rescue workers carry out a woman who was trapped under the ruins of an apartment building razed by a Russian bomb on March 14, 2026, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. (Ivan Fedorov / Telegram)

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Several houses were destroyed in the attack, Fedorov said. Twelve additional homes and 12 multistory apartment buildings sustained damage. An unspecified "infrastructure object" was also damaged, along with multiple vehicles.

Emergency response teams have been working into the night to clear the attack sites, the governor reported.

The southern city of Zaporizhzhia, home to approximately 710,000 residents before Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, is regular target of Russian attacks. Strikes intensified throughout the winter, with Russia's assault on energy infrastructure inflicting multiple region-wide blackouts.

A Russian guided bomb attack on March 11 damaged critical infrastructure and injured 13 people, including children.

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Read also: Russian strikes on Ukraine kill 5, injure 47 over past day

Moscow attacked by over 60 drones in single day, mayor says

Russian air defenses shot down over 60 drones headed toward the Russian capital on March 14, Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin claimed.

Throughout the day, Sobyanin reported that groups of Ukrainian drones were intercepted en route to Moscow. As of 11:25 p.m. local time, Russia had countered 65 drones, according to Sobyanin.

Emergency crews have been dispatched to the crash sites, and no casualties or damage have been reported.

The drone threat also caused Moscow's Domodedovo, Vnukovo, and Zhukovsky airports to temporarily suspend flights.

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Russia's Defense Ministry reported that air defense units destroyed 280 Ukrainian drones across various Russian regions, including dozens over Moscow Oblast, during a 10-hour span on March 14.

The Kyiv Independent could not verify these reports at the time of publication.

Ukraine regularly launches drone attacks against military and industrial facilities in Russia.

Drone strikes on Moscow have been reported on several occasions, though the capital is well-defended against aerial threats. Many of these attacks have triggered temporary airport closures, which Ukrainian officials have said is part of a strategy to return the Kremlin's war home to the Russian population.

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Read also: Serious breach  Russian drone crosses into Moldova during mass strike on Ukraine

Ukraine claims 'successful' strike on 2 Russian ships ferrying weapons, equipment through Kerch Strait

Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR) said on March 14 that it had "successfully" struck two Russian vessels transporting weapons and military equipment through the Kerch Strait.

The agency described both ships as a "key part" of Russia's Kerch ferry service, used to supply ammunition and equipment to Russian forces fighting against Ukraine.

"As a result of the operation, the enemy's railway ferry 'Slavianin' was put out of action, and the vessel 'Avangard' was damaged," the statement reads.

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The Kerch Strait  a 35-kilometer (21-mile) waterway linking the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov  separates the Kerch Peninsula in Russian-occupied Crimea from Russia's Taman Peninsula and serves as a key logistics corridor for Moscow.

As part of the same operation, Ukrainian intelligence units, working alongside other military formations, struck infrastructure at the Port Kavkaz in Russia's Krasnodar Krai.

HUR said Russia has been using the port to sustain military operations against Ukraine.

The facility, located on the Chushka Spit, is one of Russia's largest passenger ports and supports the ferry connection with occupied Crimea.

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Ukraine's General Staff confirmed the strike, reporting damage to port infrastructure.

Russia's Defense Ministry said air defenses "intercepted and destroyed" 87 Ukrainian drones overnight across multiple regions. The Kyiv Independent could not independently verify the claim.

Read also: Ukraine reportedly strikes oil hub in Russias Krasnodar Krai

Russia sentences 5 Ukrainian POWs to 15-18 years over 2024 Kursk incursion

A Russian court has convicted five Ukrainian prisoners of war captured during Ukraine's incursion into Kursk Oblast, handing down sentences ranging from 15 to 18 years, Russia's Investigative Committee announced on March 13.

The rulings mark the latest in the ongoing prosecutions of Ukrainian servicemembers held in Russian captivity following Kyiv's cross-border operation in August 2024.

Ukraine advanced up to 1,300 square kilometers (500 square miles) into Russian territory in the first months of the offensive, aiming to divert Russian forces from eastern Ukraine.

Russia later launched a counteroffensive in the region, reinforced by around 12,000 North Korean troops, eventually pushing Ukrainian forces out of the captured areas.

The Kursk operation initially drew praise for its scale and surprise effect, but analysts remain divided over its long-term strategic impact.

Critics say the incursion failed to significantly slow Russian advances in Donetsk Oblast and became a resource-intensive battle, while Ukrainian officials continue to highlight Russian losses as evidence of the operation's effectiveness.

According to Russian authorities, Ukrainian soldier Oleksandr Harbuz, 53, of the 129th Territorial Defense Brigade, received an 18-year sentence after being accused of planting landmines in the Sudzha district. He was captured near the village of Gornal on July 23, 2025.

Volodymyr Koshmel of the 25th Assault Battalion was sentenced to 17 years. Russian prosecutors alleged he conducted reconnaissance and participated in a "blockade" of the village of Guevo between December 2024 and January 2025. He was taken prisoner on Jan. 24, 2025.

Serhii Mekhonoshyn, a rifleman from the 17th Mechanized Brigade, and Mykola Cheban of the 255th Assault Battalion each received 16-year terms for allegedly entering the Glushkovsky district.

Cheban was captured on June 9, 2025, while Mekhonoshyn was detained on Sept. 25, 2025, near the village of Novy Put, Russian officials said.

Oleksandr Sychuhov, 47, of the 33rd Assault Regiment, was sentenced to 15 years for reportedly taking part in what Russia calls a "blockade" of the village of Tetkino on April 19, 2025.

The Kyiv Independent could not verify the claims made by Russian authorities.

Moscow has conducted multiple trials against Ukrainian POWs during the war that Kyiv and international observers have described as politically motivated and lacking due process. Russian authorities routinely flout international human rights law, subjecting Ukrainian POWs to inhumane conditions and brutal torture during their captivity.

Read also: Moscow residents turn to pagers, printed maps as Russia enforces internet whitelist

Ukraine confirms drone strike on major southern Russian oil refinery, key port

Ukrainian drones struck Russia's Krasnodar Krai overnight on March 14, hitting the Afipsky Oil Refinery and sparking a large fire, Ukraine's General Staff reported.

The refinery is one of the largest oil processing facilities in southern Russia, producing gasoline, diesel fuel, gas condensate distillates, heavy petroleum residues, and sulfur.

Local residents reported hearing dozens of explosions around 1 a.m. local time as air defense systems were activated and sirens sounded across the region.

The strike damaged parts of the refinery, from falling drone debris, local authorities claimed, adding that no casualties were reported. Kyiv confirmed that "a hit on the target has been recorded."

The plant processes roughly 6.25 million tons of crude annually  about 2% of Russia's refining output  and has been repeatedly targeted in previous drone attacks.

Russia's Defense Ministry said air defenses "intercepted and destroyed" 87 Ukrainian drones overnight across multiple regions. The Kyiv Independent could not independently verify the claim.

Russian authorities also reported a separate drone attack on the Port Kavkaz facility in the Krasnodar Krai region, where three people were injured, and a technical vessel was damaged after drone debris fell on the dock complex.

Ukraine's General Staff confirmed the attack and said damage to the port's infrastructure had occurred.

"Both facilities are involved in supplying the Russian military," the statement said.

The Kavkaz port, located on the Chushka Spit in the Kerch Strait, is one of Russia's largest passenger ports. Its main task is to serve the Kerch ferry crossing in Russian-occupied Crimea.

Local residents additionally reported another drone strike in the city of Tolyatti in Russia's Samara Oblast targeting the KuibyshevAzot chemical plant, though the extent of damage is unclear.

Ukraine routinely launches deep strikes against military and industrial facilities in Russia, primarily relying on domestically developed drones.

Kyiv continues to escalate its campaign against Russian oil and gas infrastructure, a key source of Moscow's revenues helping to fuel its war against Ukraine.

Read also: Russia rebuffs French proposal for European role in Ukraine peace negotiations, FT reports

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Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi has responded to accusations from Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto that Ukraine had allegedly refused to take part in a trilateral meeting with Hungarian and Slovak colleagues to discuss the situation surrounding the Druzhba oil pipeline.

Source: Tykhyi answering journalists' questions, cited by European Pravda

Details: Earlier, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said he had initiated a trilateral meeting with the energy ministers of Ukraine and Slovakia in Brussels, but Kyiv allegedly refused to participate "at the last minute".

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"It is impossible to reject something that was never planned. And even more so, something that is being imposed at the last moment as a 'de facto agreement'," Tykhyi responded.

As he said, this has already become a "typical Hungarian pattern" when Hungary "imagines something" and then accuses Ukraine.

"I can only remind you in this context that on Saturday, a detailed briefing for the diplomatic corps took place at Naftogaz, where the Hungarian ambassador was present along with representatives from 31 countries. Full information regarding the status of Druzhba was once again provided to all partners, including the Hungarians," the Foreign Ministry spokesperson added.

Background: Ukraine's Foreign Ministry previously reported that a delegation from Hungary that arrived in Kyiv last week had no official status and that its visit had not been agreed upon.

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Hunters and anglers in the Deep South were given reason to celebrate last summer, when a conservation group purchased a large chunk of land near the Okefenokee Swamp that was the site of a proposed mine. The purchase put an immediate halt to the mining project  one that local conservationists and outdoorsmen had been fighting for years. Now, the state of Georgia is planning to acquire more than half of that land in order to establish a new wildlife management area there.

The pending 4,000-acre acquisition lies near the southeast corner of the Okefenokee Swamp, which is the largest remaining blackwater swamp in North America. The purchase was just recently approved by the state legislature, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and it is being funded in part by a $7 million grant from the Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Program.

Related: A Mining Proposal in the Okefenokee Threatens Americas Largest Remaining Blackwater Swamp

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Just like the other WMAs located across Georgia, the land will be managed as high-quality wildlife habitat by the states Department of Natural Resources. It will also provide public access for hunting, fishing, and other outdoor recreation.

Like any other land acquisition opportunity considered by the DNR, this property is significant because of its high conservation value, the DNR deputy commissioner Trevor Santos told the AJC last week.

In an emailed statement shared with Outdoor Life, Santos said the new WMA hasnt been officially named yet, but that it should open to public use sometime in 2027. He specified that approximately 3,900 acres will be open to the public for deer, turkey, and small game hunting.

Staff will also assess the potential for additional hunting opportunities, Santos said. The property also contains several creeks that will be available for fishing.

The new WMA will further protect the wildlife-rich Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge from development. Photo by Brian Lasenby / Adobe Stock

Part of the reason for the propertys high conservation value is its proximity to the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. This federally managed refuge is a 438,000-acre haven for fish and wildlife, along with paddlers and fishermen. Its been compared to other iconic wilderness areas like the Boundary Waters, and it was nominated as an UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2024.

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Go ahead and put Georgias Okefenokee Swamp on the same shortlist with Alaskas Bristol Bay, Minnesotas Boundary Waters, and Nevadas Ruby Mountains, reads an explainer piece by the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. [These are] areas that provide unmatched fish and wildlife habitat and recreation opportunities that spur the local economy but have been at risk from development interests.

The newly acquired land is located on Trail Ridge, which forms the eastern boundary of the Okefenokee Swamp, as well as the headwaters of two major rivers: the Suwanee and the St. Marys. Conservation groups like TRCP had long campaigned against the Twin Pines mine because of the downstream impacts it could have on these watersheds, which feed the Okefenokee Swamp. Similar to the long-simmering debate around the Boundary Waters and the proposed Twin Metals mine, opponents have contended that this is simply the wrong place for a mine.

The Twin Pines project had already encountered permitting roadblocks at the state level. Its prospects were further dimmed in January 2025, when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced plans to expand the Okefenokee NWR, opening the door to a potential buyout of the mining site.

The Conservation Fund seized this opportunity in June, when it reached a deal with Twin Pines Minerals LLC to purchase both the land and the mining rights for 7,765 acres on Trail Ridge. The TCF reportedly paid around $60 million, a large portion of which came from private funders and philanthropic groups who wanted to see the Okefenokee Swamp protected long-term.

As the nations largest blackwater swamp, the Okefenokee NWR provides endless paddling opportunties. Photo by Joanne Dale / Adobe Stock

Georgias Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge is a special place and one of the most important natural treasures in Georgia. said Stacy Funderburke, vice president of the central Southeast region at TCF, in an announcement last June. By purchasing this land from Twin Pines, The Conservation Fund will ensure that the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge remains wild and unspoiled for all Americans.

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Funderburke also cheered the states more recent decision to purchase 4,000 acres from TCF, which will retain ownership of the remaining 3,765 acres.

Read Next: House Votes to Strip Critical Boundary Waters Protections in a Blow to Sportsmen and Public Lands

In my mind, it gets public access [to the property] on the table sooner, Funderburke told reporters. But it also enhances the public recreation benefit for local communities around the swamp.

Updated March 23, 2026: This story was updated to include comments from Georgia DNR Deputy Commissioner Trevor Santos.
(This story will be updated throughout the day.)

A blizzard warning is in effect for Green Bay and northeastern Wisconsin until 4 p.m. Monday, March 16, as record-breaking snowfall pounded the area.

Green Bay received 17.1 inches of snow on March 15, breaking the record of 6 inches set in 1959 for that day, according to the National Weather Service Green Bay. It's the third highest single-day record, behind 17.8 inches set on Jan. 9, 1889 and 24 inches on March 1, 1888.

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Follow the Press-Gazette for information on the storm and its effects on schools, businesses, garbage collection on Monday, March 16.

Emplify Health by Bellin adjusts March 17 hours

As the area digs out from a blizzard, here are some changes for Emplify Health by Bellin on Tuesday, March 17:

Primary and specialty care clinics will open as conditions allowed at 8 a.m. but not later than noon, except in Escanba, Marquette and Daggett, Michigan. Call your clinic before heading out.

Urgent care clinics in Ashwaubenon, Bellevue and Iron Mountain, Michigan will open at 8 a.m.

FastCare clinics will open at 8 a.m.

Marinette urgent care will open at noon.

Hospitals in Green Bay and Oconto will remain open.

Brown County urges people to stay off roads, issues a tow ban

Brown County Executive Troy Streckenbach called on residents to stay off the roads as plows work to clear the snow.

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Even though the snowfall has ended, high winds continue causing significant drifting making it difficult for crews to keep roads clear, Streckenbach said.

The county also issued a town ban for all interstates and highways countywide, as even wreckers, plows and squad cars have gotten stuck.

Green Bay-area schools cancel Tuesday classes

Here are the northeastern Wisconsin districts that have announced school closures on Tuesday, March 17:

Ashwaubenon

Denmark

De Pere

Green Bay Area

Howard-Suamico

Oconto Falls

Oconto

Pulaski

Sevastopol

Southern Door

Sturgeon Bay

Suring

West De Pere

Wrightstown

Flights into Green Bay airport to resume Monday night; departures should resume Tuesday morning

Green Bay Austin Straubel International Airport should see its first arrival Monday night after a blizzard forced airlines to cancel flights to and from Green Bay for almost two days.

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Three Delta Air Lines flights are expected to arrive Monday evening in Green Bay, one each from Detroit, Minneapolis and Atlanta.

United Airlines, Delta and American Airlines all canceled departures from Green Bay on Sunday and Monday due to the blizzard.

Green Bay Airport Director Marty Piette said Monday night's arrivals should enable Delta to resume normal flight services to and from the Green Bay airport on Tuesday, March 17. He said American and United currently expect to resume arrivals and departures on Tuesday morning, but that the schedule remains subject to change based on weather-related impacts.

Piette said airport crews have continued to plow runways, taxiways and roadways to make sure the airport is ready when the airlines are able to resume service.

Ashwaubenon bar and grill offers snow plow drivers a discount as a thank you for blizzard work

While snowplow drivers remain busy clearing roads for a second straight day, one Green Bay-area business plans to thank them later this week.

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Stadium View Bar, 1963 Holmgren Way, will host Snow Plow Drivers Appreciation Day on Wednesday, March 18, according to a Facebook event page.

Snow removal drivers can stop in and get 50% off their meal or a free drink.

"During this crazy snowstorm, our snowplow drivers have been working nonstop to keep our roads safe and clear. We want to take a moment to say thank you for everything you do for our community," the post reads.

No injuries reported in barn roof collapse in Kewaunee County

There were no injuries to people or animals after a section of a roof collapsed at a Kewaunee County Farm on Sunday morning. According to a video sent to a Green Bay television station, a portion of the roof above a holding area at Junion Homestead near Casco collapsed on March 15 due to the weight of the snow. The National Weather Service reported that areas in Kewaunee County received over 20 inches of snow, with top wind gusts reaching roughly 45 to 55 miles per hour.

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The now seven-generation dairy was founded in 1868 and hosted the 2018 Kewaunee County Breakfast on the Farm to celebrate the farms 150th anniversary.

Prevea closes clinics, reschedules procedures

All Prevea Health locations are closed for in-person appointments and procedures March 16. That includes all Prevea's health centers, the Prevea Surgery Center on Shawano Avenue, and urgent care locations. Anyone who has an appointment will be contacted to reschedule.

Call your provider directly or 920-496-4700 with any questions.

Warming shelters available at Door County fire stations

Two fire stations in northern Door County are serving as warming shelters for those who need a safe and warm place to stay because of the storm.

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The shelters are available at the Gibraltar Fire Station, 3496 County F, Fish Creek, and the Sister Bay/Liberty Grove Fire Department, 2258 Mill Road, Sister Bay.

Washington Island Electric dealing with numerous outages, difficult conditions

The Washington Island Electric Cooperative is dealing with terrible weather conditions as it works to fix numerous power outages on the Island.

A post on its Facebook page at about 7:30 a.m. March 16 said the utility had reported outages at that time on Jackson Harbor/Indian Point Road, Wickman Drive, Njord Heim Areas, Old West Harbor Road and McDonald Road, with likely more that haven't been reported yet.

A post from late in the afternoon of March 15 said crews had restored power to areas on Hemlock Drive and were working on the west side of the Island, but once that work was completed they wouldn't be able to continue until the next morning because it would be unsafe with the darkness, poor visibility, very strong winds and large amounts of snow.

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"Our crew is digging out to be able to get into work. They will be heading out as soon as possible," the post the morning of March 16 said. "PLEASE STAY HOME! The Town (of Washington) crew is working to get the roads cleared, but it is going to be a long, tiring job."

The March 16 post also noted that Robert Cornell, manager of the electric cooperative, said he'd never experienced north winds as strong as those battering the Island during the storm.

Green Bay-area businesses closed Monday, March 16, due to blizzard

Several Green Bay area restaurants and businesses announced they will remain closed Monday. Here's a list:

Nearly 30 vehicle runoffs in 24 hours in northeast region

The Wisconsin State Patrol has responded to 28 vehicles running off the road between 7 a.m. March 15 and 7 a.m. March 16 in the northeast region, according to data from the Department of Transportation. The northeast region includes Brown, Calumet, Door, Fond du Lac, Kewaunee, Manitowoc, Marinette, Oconto, Outagamie, Sheboygan and Winnebago counties.

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At the same time, the State Patrol has responded to a total of 225 vehicle runoffs across the state.

The State Patrol has assisted 24 motorists in that 24-hour period and responded to six property damage crashes, according to the Department of Transportation.

Road conditions as of 7:30 a.m. March 16, 2025.

Rare do not travel advisory covers all 11 northeast Wisconsin counties

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation's road conditions map shows black lines throughout all 11 counties in the northeast region. That is a do not travel advisory, a warning that "does not happen often," Mark Kantola with the Department of Transportation said.

"Big events like this that totally have in black are very rare," Kantola said. "And when people see them, they need to heed it."

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The wind is the most challenging part right now, Kantola said. Winds can cause mounds of snow or snowbanks in the road and also cause whiteout conditions, limiting visibility. Roads going east and west are seeing a larger impact, Kantola said, as the winds are travelling in those directions.

Some stuck without power overnight

Most residents across northeastern Wisconsin have not lost power during this blizzard. But for those that have, outages have sometimes lasted through the night.

The number of customers without power has hovered around 1,600 through the morning of March 16, according to Wisconsin Public Service, which services about 450,000 customers in much of northeastern Wisconsin. This was down from about 2,660 the previous afternoon.

Loss of power has mostly been a localized issue, with the largest number of outages in Door County, at over 50 of the roughly 70 incidents reported by WPS. Most of those power losses occurred through the night of March 15 into the early morning of March 16, affecting less than 50 people at a time. For many of those impacted, it hasnt yet been determined when residents would see their power come back on or the cause of the outage, according to WPS outage map.

Matthew Cullen, a senior communications specialist at WPS, said crews were working around the clock to restore power. He said the challenge with this storm were the terrible road conditions slowing crew response times and making some areas inaccessible.

While this storm has seen downed power lines and trees, it's not caused "substantial damages."

Green Bay airport flights canceled; activity could resume Monday afternoon

Green Bay Austin Straubel International Airport flights departing Monday morning have been canceled, but Airport Director Marty Piette said crews could be ready to resume activity this afternoon.

Airlines canceled all of Sunday's flights and Monday morning's flights, Piette said. But crews continue to plow a runway and taxiways to keep them clear. And with snow expected to stop soon, Piette said activity could resume this afternoon.

"That's what we're hoping," Piette said. "Ultimately, the airlines will decide based on weather conditions. We'll be ready to go when the airlines are ready."

Piette said travelers affected by the storm should download their airline's app and contact the airline directly to make alternate arrangements.

Vehicles surrounded by snow during a blizzard on March 16, 2026, in De Pere, Wis.

Banks, credit unions close Green Bay, Marinette area branches due to blizzard

Several banks and credit unions have closed their branches and offices Monday due to the blizzard's impacts.

Most banks and credit unions indicated they will return to normal business hours on Tuesday, March 17.

Weather forecast for Green Bay on March 16

An early weather forecast calls for snow until about 2 p.m. Monday, according to the National Weather Service Green Bay. Winds are expected to be 23-29 mph with gusts near 50 mph. Another 3-7 inches of snow is expected Monday.

Temperatures will drop to about 1 in the evening and skies should clear. "Blowing snow, visibility and slick roads continue to be big concerns," WisDOT says.

Most garbage collection delayed into the week

Garbage delays in Allouez, Bellevue, Green Bay, De Pere, Howard, Lawrence, Ledgeivew and Suamico will cascade into the rest of the week. All collections will be delayed by one day. (Monday collection will be on Tuesday, Tuesday will be on Wednesday, etc.)

Ashwaubenon has announced that normal Monday garbage collection will be delayed until Tuesday. No other collection days will be affected this week, according to the village.

Pulaski has said that Monday garbage pickup will start at 8 a.m. with the hope to collect all garbage by the end of the day. Residents with uncollected garbage may put extra bags next to containers, according to the village.

Green Bay Metro

The Green Bay Metro bus line, paratransit service and GBM on demand will not operate Monday. It expects to resume normal operations on Tuesday, March 17.

Schools cancel Monday classes

The following school districts have canceled classes for Monday, March 16. There will be no after-school or evening activities.

Ashwaubenon

De Pere

Denamrk

Gillett (remote learning day)

Green Bay

Howard-Suamico

Lena

Marinette

Oconto

Oconto Falls

Peshtigo

Pulaski

West De Pere

Wrightstown

Snow emergencies

Snow emergencies for the most part prohibit parking on streets. The following municipalities have declared snow emergencies:

Allouez: Ends at 6 p.m. Monday

Ashwaubenon: Ends at 10 a.m. Tuesday

Bellevue: Ends at 6 a.m. Tuesday

Denmark: Ends at noon Tuesday

De Pere: Ends at 6 p.m. Monday

Green Bay: Ends at 11:59 p.m. Tuesday

Hobart: Ends at noon Tuesday

Howard: Ends at 6 a.m. Tuesday

Lawrence: Ends at noon Monday

Ledgeview: Ends at noon Tuesday

Suamico: Ends at noon Tuesday

Wrightstown: Ends at 6 p.m. Monday

Salvation Army Community Center, Kroc Church to close

The Salvation Army of Greater Green Bay Corps Community Center and Kroc Church, on the city's east side at 1315 Lime Kiln Road, will be closed Monday.

Emplify Health clinics to close Monday

UPDATE: All Emplify Health Bellin Urgent Care and FastCare clinics will be closed Monday. All primary and specialty care clinics are closed, too.

The announcement does not affect the provider's hospitals in Green Bay or Oconto, which will remain open, including to emergency care around the clock, the news release said.

Urgent care clinics in Ashwaubenon and Bellevue that were scheduled to be open on Monday will be closed.

Green Bay City Hall to close Monday

City Hall, at 100 N. Jefferson St., will not open to in-person services on Monday, according to a city news release.

City services that are available online, including pet licensing and paying citations, will remain open for service on the city's website, greenbaywi.gov.

Most Brown County offices to close Monday

All non-essential services provided by the Brown County government will close to the public on Monday, according to a county news release. All departments deemed critical will remain operational.

Affected departments include the county clerk's office, the library system, the courthouse and its clerk of courts, and the Aging and Disability Resource Center.

Remaining operational will be: The sheriff's office, the dispatch center, the highway department, the airport, the community treatment center, as well as port and resource recovery.

NWTC in Green Bay cancels classes

Northeast Wisconsin Technical College in Green Bay anounced that all locations will be closed Monday. The college has campuses in Green Bay, Marinette and Sturgeon Bay and centers in Aurora, Crivitz, Luxemburg, Oconto Falls and Shawano.

AVB Community Band concert canceled

AVB Community Band's free "Echoes of Time" concert at 7 pm. Monday at Ashwaubenon Performing Arts Center has been canceled.

Mulva Cultural Center to close

The Mulva Cultural Center in De Pere will be closed Monday due to the weather.

Lambeau Field Atrium will close

The Lambeau Field Atrium and all businesses inside, like the Packers Pro Shop and 1919 Kitchen & Tap, will be closed on Monday. Stadium tours through Lambeau Field and the Packers Hall of Fame will also be unavailable.

Ashwaubenon delays Monday garbage pickup

Garbage typically scheduled for Monday collection will be delayed until Tuesday, March 17, the village announced in a social media post. The delay will not affect other pickup days during the week, the village said.

Curative Connections transport closed

Curative Connections, the nonprofit that provides specialized transportation options for seniors and those with disabilities, will suspend all transportation services on Monday, according to a news release.

Pulaski garbage collection will be delayed

Garbage collection in Pulaski will start later than usual on Monday, the village said in a social media post.

Trash collection will begin at 8 a.m. with the hope to collect all garbage within the day, the post said. For residents who have garbage that's unable to be collected, the village will allow extra bags to be placed next to the trash container, the village said.

NEW Zoo & Adventure Park to close for 2 days

NEW Zoo & Adventure Park in Suamico will be Monday due to severe weather. The closure includes the zoo, Neil Anderson Canopy Tour and winter equipment rentals at the Adventure Park.

Funeral postponed for former Packers president Bob Harlan

Funeral service at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral in downtown Green Bay and a celebration of life in the Lambeau Field Atrium for former Packers CEO and president Bob Harlan have been postponed.

Originally scheduled for Monday, they have been rescheduled for March 23.

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Updates on blizzard in Green Bay area: Forecast, closures, travel
BERLIN/BRUSSELS/LONDON, March 16 (Reuters) - Several U.S. allies said on Monday they had no immediate plans to send ships to unblock the Strait of Hormuz, rebuffing a request by President Donald Trump for military support to keep the vital waterway open.

Trump called on nations to help police the strait after Iran responded to U.S.-Israeli attacks by using drones, missiles and mines to effectively close the channel for tankers that normally transport a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas.

Germany, Spain and Italy were among allies that ruled out participating in any mission in the Gulf, at least for now. Other countries were more circumspect, with Britain and Denmark saying they would consider ways they might help, but emphasising a need to de-escalate and avoid getting dragged into the war.

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"What does (...) Donald Trump expect a handful or two handfuls of European frigates to do in the Strait of Hormuz that the powerful U.S. Navy cannot do?" German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said in Berlin on Monday, as he downplayed threats by Trump that failing to come to Washington's aid could have consequences for the NATO alliance.

"This is not our war, we have not started it," he added.

The conflict has nothing to do with NATO and Germany has no plans to be drawn into it, German government spokesperson Stefan Kornelius said.

"Neither the United States nor Israel consulted us before the war, and ... Washington explicitly stated at the outset of the war that European assistance was neither necessary nor desired," the spokesperson said.

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Spain said it would not do anything that could escalate the conflict, while Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini said sending military ships to a war zone would be interpreted as joining the conflict.

"Italy is not at war with anyone and sending military ships in a war zone would mean entering the war," Salvini told reporters in Milan.

NATO countries, several of whom have been at the sharp end of criticism from Trump in recent months, are wary of angering the White House, and some signalled willingness to help find a solution, even if plans remain vague for now.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the bloc was in talks with the United Nations about replicating a deal that had been used to allow grain to be exported out of Ukraine during its war with Russia.

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EU DISCUSSING MANDATE OF RED SEA MISSION

The EU is also discussing whether it could change the mandate of its Middle East naval mission, Aspides, which currently protects ships in the Red Sea from attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebel group, to include the Strait of Hormuz, Kallas said.

But Greece, which leads the Aspides mission, will limit its participation in the Middle East to the Red Sea, said government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis.

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer, whose reluctance to help the initial U.S. attacks drew sharp criticism from Trump, said Britain would work with allies on a collective plan to secure freedom of navigation through the strait.

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But he said this would not be easy, and he reiterated that the UK would not be drawn into a wider war. Britain has autonomous mine-hunting systems that could be used, Starmer said.

Denmark, traditionally one of the most enthusiastic NATO allies but which has clashed with Trump over his demands that it cede Greenland, said the EU should consider helping reopen the strait even if it didn't agree with the war.

"Even if we don't like what's going on, I think it's wise to keep an open mind on whether Europe ... in some way can contribute, but with a view towards de-escalation," Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said.

Dutch Foreign Minister Tom Berendsen said that were NATO to agree any mission in the Gulf it would take time to draw up a framework.

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"These are weighty decisions, and any action must be both feasible and impactful. At this moment, no decision is on the table," Berendsen said on Monday in Brussels.

(Reporting by Sabine Siebold, Andreas Rinke, Stine Jacobsen, Angeliki Koutantou, Gavin Jones, Lili Bayer, Anthony Deutsch and David Latona; writing by Charlie DevereuxEditing by Matthias Williams, William Maclean, Peter Graff)
Is GIS a good stock to buy? We came across a bullish thesis on General Mills, Inc. on Compounding Qualitys Substack. In this article, we will summarize the bulls thesis on GIS. General Mills, Inc.'s share was trading at $43.57 as of March 5th. GISs trailing and forward P/E were 9.37 and 11.86 respectively according to Yahoo Finance.

General Mills is a global packaged food company that generates revenue through a broad portfolio of well-known consumer brands sold across grocery aisles worldwide. The company owns major brands such as Cheerios, Nature Valley, Blue Buffalo, and Betty Crocker, spanning categories including cereals, snacks, baking products, and pet food.

Its business model relies on strong brand equity and large-scale distribution through retailers, which allows the company to maintain pricing power and stable demand across economic cycles. By selling branded food products directly to supermarkets, mass retailers, and other distribution channels, the company captures consistent recurring revenue driven by everyday consumer consumption.

Read More: 15 AI Stocks That Are Quietly Making Investors Rich Read More: Undervalued AI Stock Poised For Massive Gains: 10000% Upside Potential

A key part of the investment case for General Mills is its dominant market position across numerous grocery categories. The company holds the number one or number two market share in many of the segments it operates in, giving it substantial bargaining power with retailers and strong shelf placement advantages. This scale also supports marketing efficiency and supply chain leverage, reinforcing the strength of its brand portfolio and helping defend its position against private-label competitors.

Despite its strong competitive positioning, the market currently values the company at a relatively low multiple compared to its historical valuation, while the stock offers an attractive dividend yield of approximately 5.5%. This combination of defensive cash flows and income generation appeals to investors seeking stability in the consumer staples sector.

At the same time, management is pursuing a growth strategy centered on product innovation and quality improvements, targeting roughly 25% of 2026 sales from new or recently launched products. By continually refreshing its product lineup and enhancing brand relevance, General Mills aims to retain customer loyalty and prevent consumers from shifting toward lower-cost store brands, supporting long-term revenue stability and shareholder returns.

Previously, we covered a bullish thesis on McCormick & Company (MKC) by Investing Lawyer in February 2025, which highlighted its dominant position in the spice and flavoring industry, steady dividend growth, and resilient consumer staples demand. MKCs stock price has depreciated by approximately 20.05% since our coverage due to softer volumes and limited growth expectations in the consumer staples sector.. Compounding Quality shares a similar view but emphasizes General Mills strong brand portfolio, attractive valuation, and higher dividend yield.
Earlier on Saturday, the US Embassy in Baghdad was hit by a missile attack, Iraqi security sources told Reuters.

US citizens should leave Iraq immediately, the US embassy in Baghdad said in an updated security alert on Saturday, following an overnight missile attack on the embassy's building.

"US citizens choosing to remain in Iraq are strongly encouraged to reconsider in light of the significant threat posed by Iran-aligned terrorist militia groups," the embassy said.

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Earlier on Saturday, the US Embassy in Baghdad was hit by a missile attack, Iraqi security sources told Reuters.

The attack caused smoke to rise from the embassy's building, the sources said, without providing details on the damage.

Meanwhile, the US State Department said on Saturday it had ordered non-emergency government employees and the family members of government employees to leave Oman, citing safety risks as the US-Israeli war on Iran continues.

Drone strike halts operations at refinery in Iraq's Erbil, officials say

Additionally, on Saturday, operations at the Lanaz refinery in the northern Iraqi city of Erbil were suspended until a fire caused by a drone strike was extinguished, provincial officials said.

A plume of smoke rises near Erbil International Airport in Erbil on March 1, 2026. (credit: Shvan HARKI/AFP via Getty Images)

Work will remain suspended until the extent of the damage is assessed, officials at the Kurdistan Region's Ministry of Natural Resources told Reuters.
The News

US President Donald Trumps administration is pivoting toward military-led governments in West Africa, with a senior State Department official making the second trip to the Sahel in a month and Washington nearing an intelligence-sharing deal with Mali.

Nick Checker, head of the State Departments Bureau of African Affairs, met with officials in Burkina Faso and Niger  following his trip to Mali last month. The visits show intensifying diplomatic engagement with the members of the Alliance of Sahel States, a coalition of military-run governments that have largely shut out Western powers.

Efforts toward normalization with the juntas are not an endorsement of how they came to power, Checker told Semafor ahead of the trips announcement. He said the focus reflects pragmatic cooperation leaving room for a credible transition to democracy over time.

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The State Department trip came as Reuters reported that the US is nearing an agreement with Mali that would restore American operations over the countrys airspace as Al Qaeda-aligned jihadists continue to seize Malian territory. Last month, the administration made a major overture to Bamako by lifting sanctions on Malis defense minister and other senior officials accused of ties to Russian mercenaries. The sanctions removal was met with criticism from Sen. Cory Booker, D-New Jersey, at the hearing for Frank Garcias nomination to become assistant secretary of State for African Affairs.

The push reflects twin priorities to rebuild a counterterrorism footprint in a strategically important subregion where jihadist insurgencies have expanded for years, and to secure access to critical minerals.

Know More

Map of Sahel states in West Africa

The shift marks a sharp break from the Biden-era approach, which used sanctions and public pressure to push junta leaders toward democratic transitions. After Nigers 2023 coup, Washington conditioned continued support on limiting partnerships with Russia and Iran  an approach junta leaders dismissed as condescending. The friction culminated in the 2024 expulsion of US forces from Niger, including a strategically vital drone base at Agadez.

Critics of that approach argue it backfired, pushing Sahel states toward Russia and China while hollowing out US influence. They say policy should prioritize American interests while acknowledging that many West Africans have supported the coups out of frustration with prior governments.

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Others warn the new posture carries its own risks. The Trump administration has upended the decades-long, bipartisan consensus to support democracy globally, said Alexander Noyes of the Brookings Institution. This is a mistake that will substantially decrease Americas hard and soft power.

Step Back

Observers view the normalization drive both in terms of security and in the context of a wider push by the American government to secure supplies of critical minerals around the world.

Rama Yade, a former French human rights minister and director of the Atlantic Councils Africa Center, told Semafor that what matters is Sahels natural resources, yet acknowledges broader geopolitical factors. [B]eyond the worldwide decline in democratic standards, a window of opportunity has opened up due to the terrorist threat  which the Russians have failed to avertleaving Sahelian regimes short on options.

Cameron Hudson, a former White House official in the George W. Bush administration, suggests the US prioritization of security interests is just as much about sending a signal to the rest of the continent and rest of the world that the US is willing to work with anybody to advance US interests.

Notable
By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON, March 16 (Reuters) - The Federal Communications Commission could accelerate reviews of licenses held by broadcast television stations, agency Chair Brendan Carr told Reuters, as he intensifies efforts to investigate news media companies and faces pressure from President Donald Trump.

"You can do early renewals," said Carr, who spoke with Reuters last week before ramping up threats against broadcasters on Saturday. He noted that the FCC has a number of investigations into various broadcasters, including NBC, ABC, PBS and National Public Radio.

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Asked if he could seek to revoke any broadcast licenses as a result of pending investigations, he said it was possible.

"All of that stuff is on the table," said Carr, a Republican appointed by Trump in 2025. He said he thought it would be a "good thing long-term to make sure people understand that there are, in fact, things you can do to lose your license and really help broadcasters reorient their operations to the public interest."

The FCC, an independent federal agency, issues eight-year licenses to individual broadcast stations.

The FCC has not revoked a broadcast TV station license in more than 40 years.

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According to the FCC's website, the next broadcast licenses come up for renewal in October 2028, but Carr said he could accelerate the reviews.

"The licenses could come up earlier than 2028," he said. "Maybe we would, maybe we wouldn't. They could."

Anna Gomez, a Democratic FCC commissioner, said on Monday: "Early-renewal attempts are exceedingly rare, and the process is so demanding that any effort would almost certainly fail, especially given the well-documented First Amendment violations underlying these moves."

She added: "The FCC can issue threats all day long, but it is powerless to carry them out."

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Carr has repeatedly said broadcasters must operate in the public interest and has faced criticism from Democrats, who say he wants to use the public-interest standard to remove content that Trump does not like.

Carr said the FCC has an enforcement investigation into DEI efforts at Walt Disney and ABC. He also said the agency is reviewing complaints against CBS, which is owned by Paramount Skydance, over a 2024 "60 Minutes" interview as well as a 2024 NBC "Saturday Night Live" episode over an appearance by then-Vice President Kamala Harris.

The FCC is also probing ABC's daytime talk show, "The View," over whether it failed to provide equal time for opposing political candidates, Carr said, adding that his agency is also investigating advertising sponsorships of PBS and NPR.

"We'll see where they go," Carr said. "They could land in any number of places at this point." He said ABC is continuing to assert that "The View" should be exempt from the equal-time rules.

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Trump has repeatedly pressured the FCC to revoke the licenses of NBC and ABC stations. NBC is owned by Comcast. Trump said on social media on Sunday that he was "thrilled" that Carr is looking at licenses held by some media companies.

Disney, NPR, Comcast and PBS did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In November, Carr said he was reviewing when TV stations can opt not to air programming from national networks on public-interest grounds. Two major affiliate groups briefly preempted late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel last year.

"We're looking at lots of ways to constrain the power of national programmers and re-empower local affiliates," Carr said. He added that there were "things that you could do to make local TV stations feel more comfortable preempting, and impose consequences on national programmers for punishing local stations for preempting, and we're actively looking at those types of things."

(Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by Nia Williams and Matthew Lewis)
WASHINGTON, March 16 (Reuters) - The United States is "fine" with some Iranian, Indian and Chinese ships going through the Strait of Hormuz for now, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday, adding that any action to mitigate higher prices would depend on how long the Iran war lasts.

"We are seeing more and more of the fuel ships start to go through. The Iranian ships have been getting out already, and we've let that happen to supply the rest of the world. We've seen Indian ships go out now ... we believe some Chinese ships have gone out," he told CNBC in an interview.

"That should start ramping up before there are any of the flotillas or protective armadas in the Gulf. So we think that there will be a natural opening that the Iranians are letting out. And for now, we're fine with that. We want the world to be well supplied," Bessent said.

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Asked if there were any tools the Trump administration would use to mitigate higher prices and impacts from the war outside of oil reserve releases, Bessent told CNBC "it will depend on the duration of the conflict."

(Reporting by Susan Heavey; editing by Scott Malone and Katharine Jackson)
Human rights group says it has gathered information on 310 civilians and 2,090 Iranian members of the security forces killed in two weeks of war.

As the US and Israel's war withIran enters its third week, there are new reports that civilians have been killed in airstrikes.

Hengaw, an organization that covers human rights violations in Kurdistan and across all of Iran, said on March 15 that five civilians, including two women and two children, were killed during the ongoing war.

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Overall, the organization says that 310 civilians have been killed in two weeks of war, while around 2,090 members of the Iranian military and security forces have been killed.

The report notes that five civilians, including three Kurds, two women, and two children aged two and 15, were killed during airstrikes carried out by US and Israeli warplanes targeting Iranian military and security facilities in the cities of Tehran, Bukan, and Ravansar.

Hengaw primarily covered human rights abuses by the Iranian regime, focusing on the Kurdish regions in western Iran. However, as the war has grown since February 28, the organization also covers the civilians who have been harmed in strikes.

Iranians rally as Muslims attend Friday prayer, in Tehran, Iran, March 6, 2026 (credit: MAJID ASGARIPOUR/WANA (WEST ASIA NEWS AGENCY) VIA REUTERS)

Airstrikes by the US and Israel have been targeting sites of the Iranian regime, which has included regime officials, as well as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and also attacks on Irans military industries.

Israel believes to need more time to strike Iran's defense

In fact, recent reports indicate Israel believes it needs another several weeks to degrade Irans defense industries. In addition, many airstrikes have targeted Iranian regime sites in the Kurdistan region, including IRGC checkpoints.

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Some airstrikes have harmed civilians. The worst killing of civilians in Iran came on the first day of the conflict when more than 150 children were killed at a girls primary school in Minab.

Hengaw describes the recent casualties it has identified: According to information received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Soma Salimi, a Kurdish woman from Bukan, was killed during the bombing of Resalat Square in Tehran by US and Israeli warplanes, on Monday, March 9, 2026. Seven days after the incident, her body has still not been recovered from beneath the rubble of her home.

She holds a bachelors degree in general psychology and a masters degree in psychology of exceptional children. She also worked as an instructor for children with autism at the Afarinesh Cultural Center, the organization said.

In another incident, two-year-old Abra Zherfi and his mother Faezeh Reyhani were killed during recent airstrikes by US and Israeli warplanes in the Moniriyeh district of Tehran, the organization said.

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On Saturday, March 14, 2026, Kian Moradi, a 15-year-old Kurdish boy from Ravansar, died from injuries he had sustained during airstrikes conducted on March 1 targeting security and military centers of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the city. He died after 13 days of hospitalization due to the severity of his injuries, it added.

The organization also identified a Kurdish civilian from Hajiabad village in Bukan, who was killed during the bombing of the Qarehmusalian military base on the BukanMiandoab road. It identified him as Qarni (Siavash) Sharifipour.

Many civilians are located near the sites used by the Iranian military, or work next to sites of Iranian defense industries. In recent conflicts in the region, high death tolls of civilians have become the norm.

It is believed more than 500 civilians have already been killed in Lebanon since March 2, when Hezbollah carried out a rocket attack on Israel that sparked a new round of conflict.

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The UN said more than 815,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon. Reports indicate that up to 3 million people have also been displaced in Iran as a result of the conflict.

According to Hengaw, the Iranian regime continues its abuses of civilians as the war continues. Iranian authorities have re-arrested Peshawa Aqapour, a former detainee of the Women, Life, Freedom (Jin, Jiyan, Azadi) protests, in the city of Bukan. Government forces used violence during the arrest and assaulted members of his family, leaving his father with broken ribs, the organization said.

Iranian authorities have held three members of a Bahai family, Bahareh Afshar, Arshia Afshar, and Arshad Afshar, in detention for more than two months in Isfahan province. They remain imprisoned in Dolatabad and Dastgerd prisons without a clear legal status, Hengaw also noted.

In Alborz province, the Iranian regime continues to hold a mother and her 15-year-old son.
Following the crash of a US Boeing KC-135 "Stratotanker" refueling jet in Iraq on Thursday (March 12), it came to light that the crew likely lacked any parachutes. According to reports, these pieces of kit were removed in 2008 to save time and money.

This crash occurred as part of America's ongoing "Operation Epic Fury" in Iran, officials of which have confirmed the loss was not from enemy or friendly fire. According to reports, two KC-135 aircraft were involved in the operation, with the second landing safely.

This incident was the first lost KC-135 since 2013, when a 3-man crew aircraft crashed in the Kyrgyz Republic after the flight control system malfunctioned during a combat aerial refueling mission.

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Reports at the time indicate that the lost KC-135 had five crew members onboard at the time of the incident, and no casualty reports have been publicly released. US officials also confirmed that rescue operations were underway to find and recover the lost crew.

KC-135 lost over Iraq

The KC-135 is a derivative of early Boeing 707 airframes, and can weigh up to a 322,500 lb (146,285 kg) aircraft when fully laden. They can operate at altitudes of between 30,000 and 40,000 feet and act as flying gas stations, refueling fighters, bombers, and surveillance aircraft mid-air.

The exact cause of the crash has not been publicly announced, but likely the result of mechanical failure, a midair refueling accident, or a fuel system malfunction. Other possibilities include structural failure or controlled flight into terrain.

On the surface, however, what appears to be most surprising is the apparent lack of parachutes for the crew. However, as it turns out, this is not uncommon for such aircraft.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGB3QUlxm30&pp=ygUQS0MtMTM1IGxvc3QgaXJhcQ%3D%3D

Removing parachutes from military aircraft may sound peculiar, but KC-135s are not like other aircraft. They seldom have mishaps, and the likelihood a KC-135 crew member would ever need to use a parachute is extremely low, an Air Force press release said in 2008.

However, a lot of time, manpower, and money go into buying, maintaining, and training to use parachutes. With the Air Force hungry for cost-saving efficiency under its Air Force for Smart Operations in the 21st Century Program, commonly known as AFSO 21, the parachutes were deemed obsolete," it added.

Most large military and civilian aircraft tend not to carry parachutes, including airliners, cargo aircraft, AWACs, etc. Instead, safety doctrine focuses on redundant systems, controlled emergency landings, and crew resource management to try to get the plane down safely without the need to bail.

Parachutes may not have helped anyway

Even if the crew had them, it is unlikely they'd be able to safely use them, escape the aircraft at height, and survive in an emergency anyway. Parachutes make more sense for things like fighter ejection seats and other aircraft with specially designed escape systems.

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So the lack of parachutes in the KC-135, under this light, should not come as much of a shock. What is more concerning is that the KC-135 is now very old (first built in the late 1950s) and is in dire need of retirement or upgrade.

The airframe is currently scheduled to remain in service until at least 2050, and upgrade programs are constantly being delayed. It is now hoped that this latest tragedy may force the issue to prevent further similar losses in the future.

Please keep these brave airmen, their families, friends, and units in your thoughts, the Joint Chiefs chairman, General Dan Caine, told the press in a Pentagon briefing on the matter. In the coming hours and days, our service members make an incredible sacrifice to go forward and do the things that the nation asks of them," he added.

*This article has been updated to correct a typo and factual error. We initially reported the KC-135 was a derivative of the Boeing 747, when in fact it was the Boeing 707. Its max takeoff weight has also been corrected to 322,500 lb (146,285 kg).
VERMONT (ABC22/FOX44)  If the on-and-off mild weather over the past week wasnt enough of a reminder, Vermonts wildlife officials are telling people: bears are waking up.

Do not wait to take down your birdfeeders and bearproof your yard until a bear comes to visit, said Jaclyn Comeau, the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Departments bear biologist.

Last fall, Comeau warned that Vermonts bear population is nearly double the state target, and human-bear conflicts are on the rise.

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Vermont biologists: more bears than usual in the state

While many bears wont leave their dens until April, especially in colder parts of our region, a lot of snow has melted already, with little snow on the ground in low-lying areas like the Champlain Valley.

And VT F&W says its already gotten reports of bears on the move this season.

Other than the Champlain Islands, black bears can be found all over Vermont. Last June, local police warned of bears even in the Burlington area.

Police: Black bears are prowling Colchester neighborhoods

The department suggests storing garbage in special bear-resistant containers, using electric fences if you have chickens or honeybees, and feeding pets indoors.

Bear conflicts can get worse quickly if bears learn to target bird feeders, garbage and backyard chickens as easy sources of food. (VTF&W Photo)

Comeau also warns that feeding bears is bad for the bears themselves. If bears are finding food on your property, it is your responsibility to remove that attractant and report a problem before the situation gets worse.

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Q : How much revenue was recognized from the Lenovo deal in the second half of 2025, and what were the key growth drivers? A : We received a portion of the Lenovo second milestone payment in the second half of 2025. Besides the Lenovo deal, our core business achieved strong growth, particularly in the life sciences group, with a 51.15% growth in gene to protein revenue. Europe and Asia markets contributed significantly, driven by warming funding environments and industry trends. Overall, the business grew by nearly 15% year over year, with a faster growth rate of 18.7% in the second half.

The company made significant progress in sustainability, receiving an upgraded ESG rating and inclusion in the FTSE for Good Index Series.

For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript .

Story Continues

Q: What are the plans to improve profitability for the Life Sciences and Bestzyme segments in 2026? A: For the Life Sciences group, we are focusing on strategic investments in differentiating technologies and cost optimization through generative AI and manufacturing automation. For Bestzyme, we are monitoring pricing strategies and commercialization progress of new products to restore gross profit margins.

Q: What is the outlook for the CRO and CDMO business given geopolitical uncertainties? A: We are optimistic about the long-term prospects of CRO and CDMO. Global biopharmaceutical investment and financing have rebounded, and China's CRO/CDMO capacity utilization has improved. Geopolitical factors had a minor impact on biopharmaceutical production capacity in 2025.

Q: What is the development strategy for Legend Biotech, and are there any early-stage pipelines for future growth? A: Legend Biotech is a valuable asset, and we are not planning to set up a new biotech company at this stage. We have companies like ProBio to help accelerate drug discovery. ProBio has established some early-stage pipelines and innovative platforms like the CD3 VHH platform, which are attracting industry interest.

Q: How is Genscript addressing regulatory scrutiny on genomics or gene therapy-related companies? A: Genscript is not a genomics or gene therapy-related company but provides raw materials to such companies. We are enhancing transparency, compliance, data security, and privacy measures, and engaging proactively with regulators to address any issues.

For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.
Hundreds of American soldiers have been captured across the Persian Gulf. US military bases throughout the region lie in ruins. Benjamin Netanyahu is dead or gravely wounded.

Washington officials are begging for a ceasefire while the US loses control of a war that will not end until Iran says so.

Relentless Iranian missile strikes are smashing Israel while enemies plead for mercy, and the US strike groups are rendered non-functional and forced to retreat after being hit with missiles.

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This is the war as it is seen and heard on Iranian state media, the only source available to millions of people living under fire.

During a near-total communications blackout that has cut internet access, the majority of Iranians are getting their information about the war from state media.

Persian-language satellite news channels broadcasting from outside Iran have also been jammed and people who use satellite internet devices are being arrested.

What they are hearing bears limited resemblance to the war documented by human rights groups, Western media and the social media posts that occasionally break through the information blockade.

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For a window into the propaganda machine, The Telegraph spent much of the last two weeks tuning into Iranian state televisions war coverage.

For several hours on Friday, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that Mr Netanyahu had been killed or seriously wounded in an Iranian strike.

State broadcasts spoke of the daring capture of US soldiers and airmen, with reports about shooting down a US jet every other day and a drone every other hour.

On March 8, the mood across Iranian media shifted from mourning black graphics and funeral dirges to jubilant celebration as they announced that Mojtaba Khamenei had been selected as the new supreme leader.

        https://t.co/JvyEEL9y9I pic.twitter.com/PPSVgUklol    (@FarsNews_Agency) March 8, 2026

The anchor shouted the news at the top of his lungs. Four days later, another presenter bellowed the new supreme leaders first written statement, reading each line as if delivering a battle cry.

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The TV screen split into three frames. Regime supporters flooded the streets, waving Iranian flags in one corner, while missiles and drones launched towards Israel and American bases in the Gulf in another, and rockets fell on Israeli cities in the third frame.

News outlets evoked the eight-year Iran-Iraq war that started in 1980, a conflict that is seared into Irans collective memory as a period of national unity against foreign aggression.

With each missile fired towards Israel or American bases, state TV broadcast the same martial music that accompanied strike footage during the war against Iraq.

Revolutionary songs from the 1980s play continuously across all channels, interspersed with religious hymns referring to Imam Ali, the first Shia imam, with themes of martyrdom.

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The main military spokesman providing updates has no name visible on his uniform. He is identified only as a sacrifice for Iran.

Citizens are urged to take to the streets every night after iftar, the breaking of the Ramadan fast, during what state media calls the war of Ramadan, giving the conflict an added religious element.

State television broadcasts these rallies extensively and shows crowds carrying Iranian flags with participants declaring loyalty to the new supreme leader and vowing to fight until victory.

The media show messages written on missiles before launch, with one reading: In the memory of victims of Epsteins island.

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The image, which appear to have been doctored to include the message, has also been widely shared by pro-regime accounts on social media.

AI-edited photos of missiles with the message In the memory of victims of Epsteins island written on them in Persian have been shown on Iranian state TV

Ali Larijani, Irans security chief, said on Friday: Mr Hegseth! Our leaders have been, and still are, among the people. But your leaders? On Epsteins island.

He followed it up on Sunday with a tweet claiming what remains of Epsteins network was plotting a 9/11-style attack to place the blame on Iran.

Anti-war protesters marching through London later that day were joined by a van with a screen showing an AI-generated image of Donald Trump, Mr Netanyahu and Jeffrey Epstein standing shoulder-to-shoulder.

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Iran uses missiles for other messages, too.

Consolation for the grieving hearts of the mothers of Minab, and the patient hearts of the fathers, reads the text on another rocket, referring to the bombing of a girls school that killed more than 165 people, most of whom were children.

The hand of God has been revealed  Khamenei has become young  this battle continues, another message reads.

The US struck the school on the opening day of the war, a preliminary Pentagon investigation has found.

The memories of the scores of children killed in a US air strike on a school in Minab have been invoked by those opposing US and Israeli forces - Iranian Foreign Media Deaprtment/Reuters

What Iranian state television does not show is equally revealing.

Coverage of many other strikes on Iran is largely absent from broadcast television, appearing occasionally in brief text updates on Telegram channels operated by state news agencies.

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Reports refer to general areas hit in Tehran and other cities but provide minimal detail about damage or casualties.

The broadcasts create an impression of limited, sporadic strikes on civilian targets such as hospitals rather than the comprehensive campaign documented by residents and human rights monitors.

Unlike neighbouring countries that have developed air raid sirens, mobile phone alerts and public shelter networks, Iran has no functioning infrastructure to warn its citizens of impending attacks.

State television does not offer advice to those seeking shelter, with no prepared public shelters available. During the 12-day war in June last year, citizens were occasionally advised to shelter in metro stations.

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The messages threatening dissidents or protesters, meanwhile, are explicit and repeated.

Ahmad-Reza Radan, Irans national police commander, appeared on state television to warn: If anyone comes to the streets at the enemys behest, we do not see them as protesters. We see them as enemies and will deal with them as we deal with enemies. All our boys have their hands on the trigger, ready.

Intelligence sources from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps threatened a blow harder than Jan 9  referring to the violent response to anti-regime protests two months ago that killed thousands  if any demonstrations happened during the war.

Daily funeral coverage provides the only consistent acknowledgement of Iranian casualties.

US strikes that killed over 100 schoolchildren in Minab have become a focal point in the regimes messaging on the war - Getty Images

State television shows mourning families, flag-draped coffins, and burial ceremonies, but the broadcasts frame every death as martyrdom in defence of Iran rather than civilian casualties of war.

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Human rights groups estimate that more than 1,300 civilians have been killed in Iran by air strikes since the war began. Estimates of how many were killed by the regime during Januarys protests range from 7,000 to 30,000. Many of those were buried without ceremony.

The ensuing information blockade means millions of people are experiencing war through a lens that bears limited resemblance to the war outside. Iranians are being told that victory is certain while bombs continue to fall on their homes.

Try full access to The Telegraph free today. Unlock their award-winning website and essential news app, plus useful tools and expert guides for your money, health and holidays.
In 2025, Sarah Wells Bags, a small Virginia business, made $500,000 less in revenue than it did in 2024, founder Sarah Wells told me. Wells attributed that downturn to disruptions caused by President Donald Trumps legally suspect tariffs.

Refunds of unconstitutional tariffs paid by companies across Virginia and the country will not come soon  if at all  to Wells and millions of other business owners, despite the U.S. Supreme Courts Feb. 20 decision that limited Trumps ability to enact certain tariffs without the approval of Congress.

Judging from the presidents words, his administration is in no hurry to make any of his victims whole without years of court battles.

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They take months and months to write an opinion, and they dont even discuss that point, Trump said of the Supreme Court justices on Feb. 20, when reporters asked if the federal government would return tens of billions collected through the tariffs. I guess it has to get litigated for the next two years.

Just like he did going to war with Iran without a constitutionally required declaration from Congress, and as he did in ignoring constitutional rules of due process and free speech in his Gestapo-like deportation program of immigrants, Trump ignored the Constitution in unilaterally imposing tariffs.

Trump called his tariff plan liberation day. Again and again, the president promised Americans that foreign countries would pay the tariffs he imposed. Over and over, he lied.

In Virginia and elsewhere, many hard-working small business owners see that as a betrayal.

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The presidents idea that exporters pay the tariffs is just wrong, said Bill Butcher, the owner of Port City Brewing, a beer company in Alexandria. Trumps tariffs are a further indication that the president doesnt care about small businesses, Butcher added.

If there is one thing most conservative and liberal economists can agree on, it is who gets stuck with tariffs.

There was never any misunderstanding on who pays the tariffs, Wells said. Weve had to come up with tens of thousands of dollars to get products out of ports.

The uncertainty of the situation weighed heavily on Wells.

You never knew what the rate was. It could go from 20% to 49% to 145% in a few weeks. It disrupts your business. Many of my colleagues have had to take out second mortgages. I had to lay someone off last year, she said.

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Thats why Virginias U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine signed on to a bill to require Americans get refunds for Trumps unconstitutional tariffs.

Kaine, a Democrat, told me he does not expect cooperation from the White House in getting refunds for his constituents, regardless of their political persuasion. Kaine also said that one corporate leader told him that while big companies may survive, some smaller businesses will not.

Big corporate players can hire good lawyers, Kaine added. But what about everyday citizens and mom and pop businesses?

Unless they sign on to a class action lawsuit, they may drown in a wake of political cynicism.

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Passage of a refund bill is unlikely because Republicans hold slim majorities in the Senate and House of Representatives. Those majorities would be forced to choose between Trump and the people they supposedly serve.

There are too many Republicans who are still too afraid of Donald Trump to do what I believe is their constitutional duty, Warner told me.

In the case of tariffs, theyve all quietly complained, but we were only able  on the basis of Tim Kaines good work  to pass one resolution around the Canadian tariffs. We should have passed more.

A Congressional Research Service report found that by Dec. 10, 2025, Trumps unconstitutional use of the International Emergency Powers Act to place tariffs brought in about $129 billion.

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During that time, Wells company suffered from chaos. For the first 13 years of its existence, Sarah Wells Bags paid a Chinese factory to make carrying cases for breast milk used by nursing women. Wells told me she tried, but could not find, an American manufacturer to work at the scale she needed.

Wells relationship with China ended in 2025 when Trump upped tariffs on the country. Suddenly, Wells was looking at three separate tariffs passed on by her manufacturer that totaled 62% on the cost of her bags.

Wells tried to move her manufacturing operation to Cambodia where she would only pay a 17% tariff on her bags. Then, Trump declared liberation day and announced a list of tariffs on individual countries that tacked a 49% tariff on Cambodia.

It blew up Wells plan. She lacked the cash flow and had to delay purchases of new bags. She eventually ran out of her best-selling inventory and watched her revenue shrivel. Now, she has sued for a refund of unconstitutional tariffs but needs a miraculously expedited legal process supported by Congress to be made whole anytime soon.

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Making Trump accountable is exactly what Congress has refused to do in response to the presidents abuses of executive power.

This lack of checks and balances is ultimately toxic for the country, Warner told me.

When Congress continues to cede power to a chief executive who ignores the law, ignores norms, (and exhibits)  crudeness and threatening to his supporters and foes alike, it really diminishes America (and) diminishes Americans trust in their government and institutions, the senator said.

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SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS)  Louisiana Sen. Sam Jenkins has filed legislation to rename a portion of Highway 1 after a 25-year-old Vivian police officer who was shot and killed while serving a warrant last November.

Man with knife reported at Live! Casino was having mental episode, Bossier police say

Vivian Officer Marc Tyler Brock

Jenkins filed Senate Bill 70 during this legislative session to designate the stretch of highway running through Vivian as the Officer Marc Brock Memorial Highway in honor of Officer Marc Tyler Brock, who was killed when he was shot through a closed door during an attempt to serve an arrest warrant to Nicholas Edward Alexander, accused of cyberstalking.

Nicholas Edward Alexander (Source: Caddo Parish Sheriffs Office)

Jenkins says he obtained permission from Brocks family, as well as from the mayor and council members of Vivian.

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This will be an appropriate way to memorialize the sacrifice that Officer Brock made, protecting the people in the town of Vivian, Jenkins said.

The bill is currently awaiting a committee assignment and a hearing date before it can advance through the legislative process. Jenkins says once the bill clears the legislature, it will be sent to the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) to construct and erect the signs along Highway 1.

I dont foresee there being any pushback on making sure that this bill makes it to the governors desk, Jenkins said.

Jenkins says he hopes to have the designation official by the summer of 2026.

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It is my hope that we will have some form of a ceremony to unveil the signs once they have been posted, Jenkins said.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTALnews.com.
DURING HIS STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS on February 24, President Donald Trump asked Congress to stop illegal aliens and others who are unpermitted persons from voting in our sacred American elections. The cheating is rampant in our elections. Its rampant.

The accusation that there is rampant cheating in our election is dramatic, alarming, and oft-repeated. It is also totally false.

After years of audits, recounts, lawsuits, academic studies, and investigations across red states and blue states alike, there is absolutely no evidencezerothat substantial, outcome-changing voter fraud is present in American elections. There simply isnt proof.

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It turns out that the real fraud is not at the ballot box; its claims like the one the president made as he addressed a joint session of Congress.

The president made this fraudulent statement for a reason. Both he and his Republican allies in Congress are trying to advance the SAVE America Act, which they have breathlessly touted as necessary to protect our elections from rampant fraud. But the bill, which would place excessive new ID requirements for votingin the process effectively disenfranchising many lawful votersis based upon the entirely phony premise that there is a massive fraud problem to be fixed. Every study, every lawsuit, every audit, every recount has reached the same conclusion: You are about 13,000 times more likely to be struck by lightning than to find a fraudulent vote by an undocumented immigrant.

Last year, for example, the right-leaning Heritage Foundation updated its database of voter fraud by state between 1982 and 2025. After laboring mightily, they pinpointed 1,620 cases in the entire country during the last forty-four years out of a total of more than two billion votes cast. And how many of those cases involved undocumented immigrants trying to vote? Ninety-nine. You read that right, ninety-nine out of two billion. (Those odds99/2,000,000,000are three orders of magnitude longer than the National Weather Services estimated 1/15,300 odds of being struck by lightning at some point during an eighty-year lifespan.)

Lets look at my state of Maine. We have Election Day registration, no voter ID, no-excuse absentee voting, voting by mail, and dropboxesin other words, all the voter fraud bogeymen. The Heritage study found two cases of voter fraud there in the past forty-four years, neither of which involved illegal immigrants. Give me a break.

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The phrase rampant voter fraud suggests something widespread, systemic, decisive. Yet every serious investigation into this claim has come up empty. Courts have dismissed sweeping allegations for lack of evidence. (Trump was 1 for 62 in lawsuits alleging voting irregularities in the 2020 election.) Recounts have confirmed results with only minor numerical adjustments. Post-election audits consistently show extremely high accuracy rates. Republican secretaries of state, Democratic governors, and federal judges appointed by presidents of both parties have all acknowledged the same reality: There is no evidence of significant, coordinated voter fraud sufficient to alter election outcomes.

But the drumbeat continues and plenty of people seem to be marching to it.

If you convince people that the system is rotten, you do not need to prove it. Repetition can substitute for evidence. Suspicion can substitute for fact. The more frequently a claim is made, the more normal it sounds.

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BUT HERE IS THE REAL DANGER: Democracy depends not only on secure systems, but on public trust in those systems. When leaders and commentators repeatedly claim elections are rigged without substantiation, they chip away at that trust. Citizens begin to believe their votes do not matter. Election workersordinary people volunteering long hoursface harassment and threats. Peaceful transitions of power become contested spectacles. The damage is not theoretical. It is real and measurable. We saw it on January 6, 2021.

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Fraud is deception for gain. What do we call it when the public is told, again and again, that their elections are corrupt, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary? What do we call it when isolated irregularities are inflated into sweeping indictments of the entire system? When normal human error is presented as proof of conspiracy?

We should call this voter fraud fraud what it is: a massive effort to mislead the people in order to justify taking over our elections and manipulating the results.

The SAVE America Act is a solution in search of a problem. Instead of fixing the nonexistent problem of rampant voter fraud, it would create real-life barriers to everyday Americans trying to exercise one of their most fundamental rights as an American citizen: the right to vote. The bill would require American citizens to show documents like passports or birth certificates to prove their citizenship to register to vote. Other forms of identification, including the REAL ID, wouldnt be good enough. These same documents would need to be shown anytime you update your voter registration, such as when you move and change your address, or even when you do something as simple as changing your party affiliation. Over 21 million eligible voters lack access to the necessary documents to comply with these requirements. Obtaining these documents costs timeoften during working hoursand money, so the SAVE America Act would effectively create a poll tax for tens of millions of Americans.

The bill will also create unnecessary barriers for people who have changed their name. Lets take one particular American voter, for example: our vice president, JD Vance. Vice President Vance was born James Donald Bowman and later changed his name on his birth certificate to James David Hamel after he was adopted by his stepfather. He again changed his last name to honor his grandmother, who raised him, in 2013. If JD Vance were one of millions of regular American citizens without access to a passport, the SAVE America Act would make it harder for him to prove his citizenship with documents with mismatched names, and make it that much harder for him to register to vote.

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Equally problematic, the SAVE America Act would place a massive burden on state and local election officialsmany of whom are volunteers trying to serve their communityand impose complicated legal risks. For example, the bill would establish criminal penalties against any election official who registers an applicant who fails to provide the right documentation to prove citizenship. These criminal penalties apply even if the individual is actually an American citizen and the official just makes a clerical error on their paperwork. I worry that this will discourage public-spirited citizens from volunteering to serve at the polls and that it will result in citizens being denied voter registration and, ultimately, their right to vote, because local officials would live in fear of running afoul of these burdensome provisions.

As if all of that werent reason enough to oppose the bill, the SAVE America Act would also severely restrict vote by mail, which would have an outsized impact on rural voters. It also requires states to turn over their voter rolls to the Department of Homeland Security to run through the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements Program, a program that was rebuilt by DOGE and has already misidentified American citizens as being ineligible to vote. I am worried that DHS will use this opportunity to purge state voter rolls, even further limiting who is able to vote.

The SAVE America Act would be, in short, not just a disaster but a direct assault on one of Americas most sacred principles.

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FOR MORE THAN TWO CENTURIES, the United States has conducted elections during wars, depressions, social upheavals, pandemics, and times of intense partisan division. Power has changed hands peacefully between bitter rivals. Razor-thin margins have been recounted, litigated, and resolved within constitutional boundaries. That record does not reflect a fragile sham. It reflects a resilient framework that has endured precisely because it is structured with safeguards. And one of the primary safeguards is the decentralization of the system itself, its management at the local level. The presidents plan to nationalize our elections would sweep this all away.

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To declare elections illegitimate without compelling evidence is not a defense of democracyit is an assault on it.

Confidence in elections should be built on facts, not fueled by fear. Citizens deserve honesty about both the strengths and limits of the system. They deserve to know that while no system is flawless, there is no evidence to support the claim that ours is filled with rampant fraud.

The health of a democracy rests on a shared commitment to reality. And the reality here could not be clearer. Substantial voter fraud is not a significant feature of American elections. The far more dangerous threat today is the repeated assertion that it is.

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Angus S. King Jr. represents Maine as an independent in the United States Senate.
Rivian and Lucid could soon be able to sell cars from a showroom in the same way Tesla has done for more than a decade.

Late-arriving legislation that sped through the process would open the door wider for consumers to purchase an electric vehicle directly from its manufacturer.

Senate Bill 6354 received bipartisan support en route to passing the House in the early morning hours of March 12, the final day of the session.

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If Gov. Bob Ferguson signs it, luxury electric vehicle makers Rivian and Lucid will be able to directly sell to Washington customers.

And it means Rivian will abort its plan to try to change state law through an initiative this fall. In January, the company set out in that direction, launching a political committee with a $4.5 million contribution and a pledge for an additional $40 million.

Were very pleased that the Legislature took action to ensure that Washington drivers have the option to test drive and purchase the vehicle of their choice, Mark Funk, a spokesman for the Rivian-sponsored Washington Coalition for Consumer Choice and Innovation, said in a statement.

He added that the group wants Ferguson to sign the bill as soon as possible, making these important consumer benefits law and eliminating the need for a ballot measure campaign.

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The legislation is the product of private negotiations between the two electric vehicle makers and the Washington State Auto Dealers Association, a longtime foe of direct sales. Those talks began after the start of the legislative session and culminated in the introduction of the Senate bill on Feb. 19.

Its provisions restrict eligibility to United States companies that exclusively produce battery electric vehicles and had at least 300 of their cars registered in Washington as of Jan. 1, 2026. They also must have one service facility in the state and have never had a franchise agreement with a motor vehicle dealer.

It will require qualifying manufacturers to obtain dealer licenses and follow the same laws as existing dealers.

Supporters say the language bars inexpensive Chinese-made EVs from being sold directly to consumers in Washington if they become widely available in the U.S.

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Meanwhile, the bill would prevent existing car makers from using a subsidiary to sell directly to the public, so legacy car makers like Ford or Toyota wouldnt be able to cut out dealers.

The Senate bill would hike the certificate of title fee on the purchase of a new or used vehicle from $15 to $40. Of the $25 increase, 35% would go toward rebates on used EV purchases by low-income families and the remainder would be deposited in the account that supports bus, bike and pedestrian projects.

Automakers were excluded from negotiations on the bill and will ask Ferguson to veto it.

The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents the nations largest auto manufacturers, considers it anti-competitive.

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In a March 4 letter to lawmakers, a top alliance official said no automaker should be given special treatment to operate outside the states established dealer franchise system.

Our view is simple. Competitors selling the same product should be governed by the same rules. Tesla, Rivian, and Lucid sell electric vehicles; every other automaker in the marketplace is also selling electric vehicles, wrote Curt Augustine, senior director of state affairs for the Alliance.

Augustine also reiterated an argument he made to the Senate Transportation Committee last month that what the state started with Tesla in 2014 will not end with Rivian and Lucid. It will instead create a legal pathway for other electric vehicle auto makers, such as government-supported Chinese firms, to seek the same access.

Where one firm, Tesla, was an outlier, the expansion to three automakers to sell directly creates a class, and Chinese manufacturers will go to court to demand equal treatment under the law, Augustine warned.

Senate Bill 6354 passed by margins of 47-2 in the Senate and 84-9 in the House. Ferguson has until April 4 to act on the legislation.
Tennessee has once again been ranked as one of the top states for interstate migration, according to a recent study.

The recent study performed by StorageCafe, using U.S. Census data, showed that Tennessee added roughly 52,000 new residents in 2023, with millennials and Gen Z making up for over half of that figure. Of course, that statistic leads to the question of "where exactly did all these people go?" Well, StorageCafe's new study has conveniently answered that question and more.

Here's what to know about Tennessee's growth and interstate migration.

Which Tennessee county is growing the fastest?

Knoxville's primary county, Knox County, is at the top of the fastest growing county list, as the state added more newcomers than any other county in 2023. Of the 8,800 newcomers to move to Knox County, more than half of them came from out of state. Roughly 39% of all new residents were members of Gen Z, with the medium age falling just below 31-years-old.

The mass migration into Knox country reportedly comes from the appeal of the University of Tennessee, a young workforce, lifestyle opportunities, and healthcare and logistic companies that have solidified a strong economic foundation.

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Here are the counties that follow Knox County as the fastest growing in Tennessee:

No. 2: Rutherford County (8,000 net move-ins)

No. 3: WashingtonUnicoiCarterJohnson counties (5,000 net move-ins)

No. 4: Hamilton County (3,600 net move-ins)

No. 5: Montgomery County (3,500 net move-ins)

No. 6: Williamson County (3,100 net move-ins)

No. 7: Robertson and Sumner counties (2,900 net move-ins)

No. 8: Cumberland, Fentress and White counties (2,800 net move-ins)

No. 9: Coffee, Franklin and Moore counties (2,400 net move-ins)

No. 10: Anderson, Morgan and Roane counties (1,800 net move-ins)

Where are renters and homebuyers moving the most?

The pool and outdoor patio area at the Westerly House in the Wedgewood-Houston neighborhood Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. Nashville has seen a massive apartment building boom with many new complexes still trying to get renters.

Hamilton and Montgomery counties saw the biggest influx in renters, as they made up 55%-57% of their new arrivals. In both counties, millennials made up the majority of those new residents and renters.

The CumberlandFentressWhite Counties received the strongest homeowner rate with nearly 68% of their new residents purchasing a home. Of that 68%, the majority of newcomers were Baby Boomers.

What states are these newcomers coming from?

California was once again Tennessee's biggest feeder state in 2023, as the state sent approximately 22,000 new residents to Tennessee. Roughly 56% of the California transplants bought homes within their first couple of months living in Tennessee.

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The second state to send the most transplants to the Volunteer state was Florida, given that nearly 21,000 people left the Sunshine state in 2023 to head to Tennessee.

What are the generational migration patterns across Tennessee?

Guests listen to live music at Postys in Nashville, Tenn., Wednesday, July 2, 2025. Post Malones three floor venue features six bars and three stages.

As reported in the study, Gen Z members tended to move to places in the state with campuses, live music venues, and generally, a flourishing nightlife; hence, it is not incredibly surprising that Knox, Murfreesboro, and the surrounding Nashville area saw a steady demand for compact units near schools and nightlife hubs.

On the contrary, millennials opted for Hamilton, Montgomery, Williamson, and Robertson-Sumner counties due to school ratings, average yard size, and home-to-work commute times.

Methodology

This analysis was conducted by StorageCafe using data from the U.S. Census American Community Survey PUMS 5-Year, 2023. To discover the counties with the highest net-migration, Storage Cafe created a ranking structure by simply subtracting the number of residents that left from the total of number of move-ins for a given county.

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Other institutions StorageCafe referred to for data included the Bureau of Labor Statistics and Yardi Matrix, StorageCafes sister division.

For the full study, visit Which Tennessee Counties Lead In Net Migration?

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: What Tennessee counties are people moving to? Knoxville leads top 10
March 17 is the primary election in Illinois.

Numerous candidates hope to secure the nomination allowing them to represent their party later this year. The Democratic primary for Illinois comptroller is no exception  with four candidates vying to fill the role left by current Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza.

On the Republican side, one candidate is running for the position.

Illinois Senate race: Who is leading in polls ahead of the primary?

What does the comptroller do?

The states comptroller manages the states central fiscal accounts, according to the state constitution. Along with managing funds, the office keeps elected officials and the public informed, acts as a fiscal watchdog for the state and issues reports, according to the comptrollers website.

Illinois comptroller candidates for Democrats

Margaret Croke running for state comptroller

Margaret Croke, representative for the states 12th Legislative District, has secured endorsements from Gov. JB Pritzker, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, former Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes and others.

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Croke chairs the House Financial Institutions & Licensing Committee and the Houses Tax Policy: Income Tax Subcommittee.

If elected, Croke hopes to implement systems to show the full lifecycle of our dollars for accountability and transparency, stay committed to balanced budgets, update and modernize systems and continue the states commitment to the Prevailing Wage Act. To learn more about Crokes priorities, go to http://crokeforillinois.com/priorities.

Stephanie Kifowit one of Illinois comptroller candidates

State representative for the 84th District, Stephanie Kifowit serves as the chairperson of the Illinois Houses Appropriations-Pensions & Personnel committee.

Her campaign website describes Kifowit as an independent, experienced leader who possesses a "deep, unparalleled understanding of the state's complex financial system. It lists endorsements from former state Rep. Kate Cloonen, state Rep. Will Davis, state Rep. Michelle Mussman and others.

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Kifowit spent time in private banking and as a registered financial advisor after college. As a state legislator, she has regularly worked with the comptrollers office and knows this office inside and out.

To learn more about Kifowit, go to: https://kifowitforcomptroller.com/home.

More: Illinois primary election: Key races for governor, U.S. Senate

Holly Kim gets endorsement of current Illinois comptroller

Endorsed by the outgoing comptroller, Holly Kim currently serves as the treasurer for Lake County. Her campaign website says, in this role, Kim also fulfills the responsibilities of Comptroller for the third largest county in Illinois by ensuring accountability, writing checks and managing finances. Kim also received the endorsement of Peoria County Clerk Rachael Parker, U.S. Representative Brad Schneider and others.

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If elected, Kims priorities include modernizing the comptrollers office to improve cybersecurity, incorporating digital tools and phasing out paper checks where possible. Her campaign website said Kim also aims to strengthen and expand enforcement of prevailing wage laws so that public dollars never subsidize exploitation. She also plans to fight against government overreach to protect peoples personal and money information.

To learn more about Kims platform, go to: https://www.voteforhollykim.com/platform.

Primary election 2026: Local races on the ballot in Peoria County

Karina Villa running for Illinois comptroller as 'watchdog'

Currently state senator for Illinois 25th District, Karina Villa is running for Illinois Comptroller to be the peoples watchdog. She has secured endorsements from U.S. Congresswoman Lauren Underwood, state Sen. David Koehler and other elected officials in Illinois. U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, of Vermont, has also given his endorsement.

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The platform outlined on her campaign website includes points such as ensuring the public has access to accurate, transparent information, making sure corporations and billionaires pay their fair share, safeguarding tax dollars from Donald Trump and prioritizing the vulnerable, upholding prevailing wage laws and more.

To see Villas full platform, go to https://karinavilla.com/platform/#taxdollars.

More: Illinois candidates for governor: Who will take on JB Pritzker?

Illinois comptroller candidate for Republicans

Bryan Drew

Bryan Drew, attorney and small business owner, is the only Republican candidate running for comptroller. His campaign website states Drew will bring a commitment to affordability, accountability and transparency to the office.

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Drew aims to Stop Government Waste So We Can Lower Costs for Working Families. His campaign website says people cannot afford to live in Illinois and state's the issue wont get better if one of my opponents is elected. With experience as a small business owner, attorney and father, Drew said he is ready to fight on your behalf to make Illinois a good steward of your tax dollars.

When it comes to accountability, Drews campaign website argues there are zero checks-and-balances in our state government and argues his Democratic opponents will simply be rubber stamps instead of holding politicians accountable.

Transparency has improved under both Democratic and Republican comptrollers, Drews platform said. Yet, he aims to ensure data is easily accessible and understandable.

To learn more about Drew, go to: https://www.drewforillinois.com/.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Illinois comptroller candidates 2026: Who's replacing Susana Mendoza?
The iconic B-52 Stratofortress carries eight jet engines for a straightforward reason rooted in history. When the aircraft was conceived in the late nineteen forties, engine technology simply could not deliver the required thrust with fewer power plants. To lift a fully loaded intercontinental bomber to high altitude, engineers had little choice but to cluster eight early turbojet engines beneath the wings.

Those engines were the Pratt and Whitney J57, cutting-edge at the time but modest by modern standards. Grouping them in pairs on four pylons provided the massive thrust needed while staying within the limits of reliability and materials available during the early jet age.

A Design Shaped by Its Era

Photo Courtesy: U.S. Air Force 412TW by Todd SchannuthPublic Domain/Wiki Commons.

If the same bomber were designed today from a clean sheet of paper, it would almost certainly use fewer engines. Modern transports and bombers such as the C-17 Globemaster III, the B-1 Lancer, and even the future B-21 Raider rely on two or four highly efficient low-bypass turbofans. The B-52, however, is a product of an earlier technological moment, and its configuration reflects that reality.

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Interestingly, the bombers instantly recognizable silhouette was not the result of a long-term aesthetic vision. It emerged from an urgent redesign that took place over a single weekend. Early Boeing concepts relied on massive turboprop engines rather than pure jets. Those engines proved complex and raised concerns about propeller efficiency at high speed.

The Weekend That Changed Everything

The turning point came in October, nineteen forty-eight, when Colonel Henry Pete Warden from the Air Materiel Command urged Boeing to abandon the troubled turboprop approach. Over one intense weekend, engineers reworked the aircraft into a new proposal that combined swept wings with eight turbojet engines. That configuration became the foundation of the B-52 that entered service only a few years later.

Why Four Engines Were Never a Simple Upgrade

Photo Courtesy: Geoff McKay from Palmerston North, New ZealandBoeing B-52 Stratofortress flyby... CC BY 2.0/Wiki Commons.

Over the decades, the United States Air Force repeatedly explored the idea of replacing the eight engines with four modern turbofans similar to those used on commercial airliners. Proposals surfaced in 1969, again in 1980, and later in the mid-1990s through a joint Boeing and Rolls Royce effort.

Each time, the idea was rejected. The core issue lay in the B-52 airframe itself. The vertical tail and rudder on the later G and H variants are relatively small. In a four-engine layout, the failure of a single large engine would create a powerful asymmetric thrust condition. The resulting yaw could overwhelm the existing rudder, making the aircraft extremely difficult or even impossible to control safely.

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Addressing that problem would require extensive structural changes to the wings, tail, engine mounts, and even the cockpit systems. The weight distribution and aerodynamic balance would change dramatically, opening the door to cascading engineering risks, high costs, and long delays.

Modernization Without Reinvention

Rather than gamble on a radical redesign, the Air Force chose a more conservative and reliable path. The B-52 would keep its eight-engine layout, but those engines would be replaced with far more efficient modern units.

In two thousand twenty-one, Rolls-Royce secured a contract worth about two point six billion dollars to supply six hundred fifty new F130 engines. These are military versions of the BR725, installed on a one-for-one basis to preserve the existing architecture. The engines replace the aging Pratt and Whitney TF33 units that had powered the bomber for decades.

Efficiency and Longevity as the Real Goals

Photo Courtesy: US Air Force from the USA - Refueling a B-52 Stratofortress, Public Domain/Wiki Commons.

The objective of the re-engine program is not higher speed or dramatic performance gains. Instead, the focus is on improving fuel efficiency by roughly thirty percent and sharply reducing maintenance demands. Those gains translate directly into longer range, higher availability, and lower operating costs.

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To minimize risk, Boeing and Rolls-Royce are using advanced digital twin technology. These detailed virtual models allow engineers to identify issues such as hydraulic line conflicts or electrical routing problems long before any hardware is installed on an actual aircraft.

Eight Engines That Keep the B-52 Relevant

Photo Courtesy: Airman 1st Class William Pughaf.mil, Public Domain/Wiki Commons.

The B-52 retains its eight engines because changing that fundamental feature would undermine the very qualities that have allowed it to serve for so long. By modernizing propulsion without altering the airframes core design, the Air Force has made a pragmatic decision that preserves reliability while extending service life.

As a result, the Stratofortress is expected to fly alongside the B-21 Raider well into the middle of this century. With its updated engines and proven design, the oldest jet bomber in service remains on track to approach a full century of operational life, a testament to engineering choices made generations ago that continue to pay dividends today.

This article originally appeared on Autorepublika.com and has been republished with permission by Guessing Headlights. AI-assisted translation was used, followed by human editing and review.

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On February 23, 2026, Gold Hart announced completion of the drill hole DDHTOL01, which reached a depth of approximately 1,053m. Interestingly, the core continued to display encouraging characteristics, with multiple intervals showing strong hydrothermal alterations and mineralization consistent with a fertile porphyry-style environment. Gold Hart geologists observed multiple generations of veinlets and stockworks with varying intensities over intervals up to several hundred meters, banded veinlets with thicknesses of several cm, and locally chalcopyrite and bornite mineralization has been recognized in several of these veinlets. HART geologists do not believe the drill intercepted the same fault which caused a sterile zone in the middle of the initial 2 diamond holes.

Isaac B. Maresky, CEO of Gold Hart Copper, commented: "For years we focused on rolling-up prime historic assets in the renowned Vicuna and Domeyko gold & copper belts of Chile. Even though we struck disciplined partnership-based deals with land owners, limited budgets generally forced us to focus the lion's share of exploration and development singularly on our flagship asset - the Tolita gold-copper-moly-silver porphyry target in the Vicuna. Finally, we can accelerate exploration with dedicated budgets for all of our top properties and develop multiple high-potential assets simultaneously."

Robert Cudney, CEO of Northfield Capital Corporation, a significant investor in Gold Hart Copper, commented: "The overwhelming response to this financing speaks for itself. Northfield invested in Gold Hart Copper because its quality assets and geological team are first-rate, and the Vicuna District and Domeyko Fault System are rapidly emerging as two of the most important copper and gold belts on the planet. We look forward to the drilling."

The Company intends to use the proceeds from the Financing to advance its mineral resource programs in Chile, including accelerated drilling, trenching, geochem and geophysics at its Tolita, Toro, Cachitos, Casale Sur and Zelma concessions in the Vicuna District, and the Nessa Complex of assets (Nessa, Ringo, Manto Carolina, and Rebecca properties) along the Domeyko Fault System; and for working capital and general corporate purposes. Additional details regarding the Financing may be found below and in the Company's prior press releases dated February 17, 2026 and March 5, 2026.

Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 16, 2026) - Gold Hart Copper Corp. (TSXV: HART) (the " Company " or " Gold Hart Copper ") is pleased to announce that it has closed its non-brokered private placement of 71,590,822 units of the Company (each, a " Unit ") at a price of $0.26 per Unit for aggregate gross proceeds of $18,613,613.72 (the " Financing "). As disclosed in its March 5, 2026 news release, the Company has issued solely Units with proceeds immediately available to Gold Hart Copper, and not subscription receipts contingent upon the Proposed Acquisition (as defined herein).

Story Continues

In terms of next steps for the Company's flagship Tolita Gold-Copper-Moly-Silver Asset in the Vicuna District of Chile, Gold Hart has already launched the next diamond drill hole - DDHTOL04 - which has now exceeded 500m. Gold Hart will provide an update upon completion of this diamond drill hole.

In addition the ongoing diamond drill campaign, Gold Hart anticipates launch of RC drilling at its high-grade trench - with up to 52g/t gold equivalent including 3.99% copper on surface. The objective of the RC campaign is to demonstrate higher grade pockets close to surface, beyond the larger porphyry target. The Company has added a video regarding this high-grade trench: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/s_tbILO1Gqk

Gold Hart recently hosted a site visit which included tours of the Tolita & Nessa assets. Gold Hart board and advisory board members including the honourable John R. Baird, Mark Kucher, and Aleta Shiff were also in attendance. In this 360-degree immersive video - which allows you to interactively toggle views - Gold Hart co-founder Jonathan Warner explains the diamond drilling process

https://cloud-va.insta360.com/share/va/374Q7q0e1K66213G4421719040 also accessible on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/shorts/lw3fGWwQH2Q

Portfolio of Assets in Vicuna and Domeyko

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https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10786/288658_gold%20hart%20copper%20-%20portfolio%20of%20assets%20in%20vicuna%20and%20domeyko%20-%201.jpg

Tolita High Grade Gold Copper Trench on Large IP Anomaly

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Nessa Copper-Gold-Silver Complex - Domeyko Fault System- High Grade Copper Up To 4.7% on Surface

Gold Hart recently announced that its geochemical survey at the Nessa Complex just west of Kinross' La Coipa Gold Mine returned high-grade gold, copper, and silver results. In total, 12 samples returned gold values in excess of 1g/t (samples of 1-5kg ranging from 1.11g/t to 9.74g/t), while 13 samples returned copper values in excess of 0.3% (samples of 0.6-4.2kg ranging from 0.379% to 4.725%)

In addition to high grades on surface, the Nessa Complex was historically home to 13 artisanal gold and copper mining pits, where it is reported that high-grade minerals were mined using mules. Gold Hart has been planning a more comprehensive geochemical survey at the Nessa Complex, with a target of 500-1,000 geochemical samples gridding the property. Gold Hart will provide an update once this exploration campaign commences. Please refer to the notes regarding quality assurance and quality control measures applied during the execution of the work being reported on, at the end of this disclosure.

Nessa Gold Copper Complex Expansion 3.3x

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Tolita - High Grades Nessa

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Additional RC Drill Rig at Tolita to Target High Grade Trench Up to 52g/t Gold Equivalent with 3.99% Copper

In addition to Gold Hart's primary diamond drilling at Tolita, the Company is planning to add a reverse circulation (RC) drill rig in order to target certain higher grade opportunities closer to surface at Tolita. Specifically, Gold Hart intends to target its highest grade trench, which grades 8.61g/t gold equivalent over 10m, including 8m at 10.41g/t gold equivalent and including 2m at 10.40g/t gold, 20g/t silver, and 2.88% copper, and including grabs of 45.75g/t gold, 28g/t silver, and 3.99% copper (approximately 52g/t gold equivalent).

Gold Hart recently opened up this high-grade trench with a bulldozer and exposed visible green and turquoise staining typical of copper minerals malachite and chrysocolla. Interestingly, the larger geophysical anomaly at Tolita appears to reach surface at or near this high-grade trench.

Gold Hart Vice President Rodrigo Diaz Tilleria (P.Geo) commented, "Our focus remains the large-scale porphyry potential of Tolita. But Tolita also offers the rare opportunity to target and hopefully prove a high-grade shallower component of the asset. In the Vicuna District where 1g/t gold on surface is rare, we have 52g/t gold and simply put we need to test it. RC drilling is significantly faster and cheaper, does not require water to operate, and is well suited to the characteristics of this target. Our current geological model assumes that this high-grade trench at Tolita may only be a fraction of the size of the larger system, but we do believe it hosts potential for generating higher grade intercepts close to surface and therefore potential to add high grade ounces, thereby demonstrating another facet to the Tolita asset." HART originally anticipated launching its RC drill campaign at this high-grade trench in early March, but the drill rig put forth by contractors did not meet the Company's requirements. The Company has located an alternative drill rig and will update as soon as this campaign commences in the very near future. The Company has added a video regarding this high-grade trench: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/s_tbILO1Gqk

Tolita - 76pc Expansion of Anomaly to 4.5km sq

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Nessa Expansion - Historic Mines

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About Gold Hart Copper's Nessa Gold-Copper-Silver Assets

Gold Hart's Nessa properties sit on the renowned Domeyko Fault of Chile, most famous for hosting the Escondida Copper Mine - now the largest copper mine in the world - which was first staked by Gold Hart co-founder Dr. Jose Frutos in the 1970s. Dr. Frutos recognized and personally staked some of the Nessa claims nearly two decades ago, due to the unique surface alteration - visible from satellite imagery - with high grades on surface and several historic mines which exploited gold, copper and silver at or near surface via pits and shallow tunnels. The historic mines coincide with a pervasive yet intense hydrothermal alteration (silicic-argillic to quartz-sericitic with abundant kaolin in the central part) with a halo of propilitic alteration in the periphery, with disseminated gold-copper-silver mineralization throughout.

Gold Hart recently expanded the Nessa property by 330% (3.3X) from an initial property size of 4,100Ha up to a current land position of 13,500Ha (135km2). The Nessa Complex is just south of the massive Codelco El Salvador - Portrerillos copper mining and smelting complex, one of the oldest copper smelting facilities in the country. Nessa is also surrounded by major miners Newmont, Solaris, JX Nippon, and Anglo American, and sits just northwest of Rio2's Fenix gold deposit and just west of Kinross' La Coipa gold mine.

The Nessa properties were known to host 13 historic artisanal high-grade gold & copper pits, which were mined using mules due to lack of access. Additionally, historic geochemical surveys discovered high grades on surface for gold, copper, and silver, with samples up to 25g/t gold, 3.25% copper, 958g/t silver. However, the Company has now discovered additional copper showings on surface and historic mining pits, and now believes there may be other unknown targets on these assets. Gold Hart recently completed a follow-on geochemical survey and obtained additional high grade samples, including up to 9.7g/t gold, 968g/t silver, and 4.7% copper on surface.

Please refer to the notes regarding quality assurance and quality control measures applied during the execution of the work being reported on, at the end of this disclosure. Please visit the Gold Hart Copper YouTube channel for footage of the road construction and copper oxides at Nessa: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Ax6fOStX72c

Nessa - High Grades Copper Gold Surface

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Nessa Expansion - High Grades on Surface

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Nessa Expansion - Copper Chunks

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Nessa Expansion - Visible Copper Manto

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Tolita - Flagship Gold Copper Moly Silver Porphyry Target in Vicuna District - Diamond Drilling Program

Gold Hart geologists - including senior geologists Professor Dr. Jose Frutos, Enrique Viteri, Jonathan Warner, and Rodrigo Diaz Tilleria - carefully designed a 10-hole drill plan in order to optimally test Tolita as a potential gold-copper-molybdenum-silver porphyry target. As prior announced, Gold Hart first attempted to drill target #1 known as DDHTOL01 in March of 2025, but after difficulties were encountered under tight time constraints, the team instead elected to drill DDHTOL02 and DDHTOL05. These holes were approximately 600m each and encountered approximately 360m and 230m of gold, copper, and moly porphyry mineralization, respectively. Most recently, Gold Hart returned to target #1 DDHTOL01 with a more powerful drill rig and completed a 1.053km drill hole. Gold Hart is now in the process of drilling DDHTOL04 which has recently exceeded a depth of 500m.

Consequently, there await at least another 6-7 highly attractive diamond drill targets identified across the asset area. These targets are supported by a combination of geophysical characteristics, including chargeability and conductivity, strong geological and structural controls as well as coincident geochemical anomalies.

Tolita is a very large target, with an original 2.5km2 geophysical anomaly recently expanded by 76% to 4.3km2 - 4.8km2. The Tolita gold soil sample geochemical surface halo (an approximation of gold on surface above 0.1g/t) alone is nearly 28Ha and the Tolita property is 3,476Ha equal to approximately 34.8km2.

Furthermore, as recently confirmed in a follow-up geophysical survey, the Tolita geophysical anomaly expands in both size and intensity at depth, which could translate into an enlarging system at depth. Per the third party geophysicist who conducted the survey, ""The vertical extent of the steeply dipping conductor that is likely related to a fault is better defined on the two new deep lines (2600N and 452200E). This surprised me, as I had expected resolution similar to the first lines. This would indicate to me, that the probable structure extends very deeply and has a strong contrast in resistivity with the host rock. Because it is conductive, it should act as good conduit for hydrothermal water flow, which should be good news for mineralization. There is confirmation that the alteration system extends to greater depth and may increase in intensity at depth as it is more conductive. Hopefully, the copper and gold grades would increase correspondingly as well."

Porphyry systems in Chile, and in the Vicuna District specifically, can prove larger and richer as they progress deeper. For example, in Chile, Atex Resources announced one of their most significant drill holes ever (ATXD25C) which graded 2.72% copper equivalent, beginning at 1,558m and ending at a depth of 1,722m. In the Vicuna District, NGEX published "DPDH028, the best hole drilled to date as Lunahuasi, which was drilled deeper and to the west of all previous holes", which included multiple highly compelling intercept including the deepest 53.5m (1,219.5m - 1,273.0m) grading 7.79% copper equivalent.

About Gold Hart Copper's Tolita Gold-Copper-Molybdenum-Silver Target

The Tolita property is a historically significant gold-copper asset which was first recognized and staked in 1993 - by one of the pioneering geologists of the Maricunga-Vicuna district - for its uniquely high grades of gold and copper on surface3. Geochemical surveys revealed gold, copper, silver, and molybdenum anomalies, which led to trenching. Tolita has had significant trenching (5,600m / 5.6km) with the highest grade trench returning grades up to 52g/t gold equivalent including 4% copper. Tolita has undergone helicopter mag surveys which identified 4 unique anomalies as well3.

In 1996, a third party company optioned the property and drilled 3 short 200m RC holes, without any geophysics, and yet still hit gold and copper in all 3 holes, including long intercepts of gold and copper (150m and 164m, respectively) close to surface in 2 of the 3 holes. At the time, gold was approximately $300/oz and copper traded below $1.00/lb, and large scale sulphide porphyry deposits with both gold and copper were often considered less favorable than smaller scale gold-only oxide deposits. As a result, and due to general market sentiment for junior exploration companies in 1997-1998, Tolita was only drilled to a depth of 200m with 3 short RC holes (out of a planned 8 hole campaign)3.

When Gold Hart acquired the property, a full geophysical survey was conducted by a recognized geophysics firm, and a large high-chargeability and conductive anomaly was discovered that is near surface and almost 2.5km2 in size and "interpreted as a copper-gold or gold-copper porphyry system that certainly warrants additional exploration and drilling4". Gold Hart Copper has therefore launched diamond drilling and is fully funded for this planned campaign.

Most recently (April-May 2025), the Company completed two holes of approximately 600m each, confirming that Tolita indeed hosts a fertile porphyry system. Gold Hart geologists observed early stage veining near surface, providing the first clear evidence of a porphyry related system within zones of moderate chargeability. The mineral intercepts occur within a multi-generation stockwork vein system hosted by a series of multi-phase porphyry intrusions. Multiple alteration types have been identified, overprinting the original potassic alteration of the porphyry system. At greater depth, the potassic alteration becomes increasingly dominant, accompanied by more intense and continuous veining across locally moderate to stronger chargeability amplitudes. The newly acquired geophysical data indicates that the system may even extend several hundred meters further at depth. Effectively, the Company, and various visiting geologists have all concluded the presence of a porphyry, and Gold Hart is now focused on exploration to find the richer grades and potential limits of the system. Please visit the Gold Hart Copper YouTube channel for footage regarding the mobilization and drill pad expansion: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/M5ovBFOgQTU

Additional Details Regarding the Financing

The Company does not intend to use any of the proceeds from the Financing on its proposed all-stock acquisition (the "Proposed Acquisition") of Rhyolite Resources Ltd. ("RYE"), nor on the advancement of RYE's mineral resource assets in the event that the Proposed Acquisition is completed. The Proposed Acquisition is expected to close in late Q2 2026, subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions, including: (i) negotiation and execution of definitive agreements; (ii) RYE shareholder approval; (iii) receipt of applicable court and regulatory approvals, including the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV"); and (iv) RYE meeting minimum working capital requirements. In connection with the Financing, the Company paid participating investment dealers aggregate cash finder's fees of $741,055, and granted an aggregate of 2,859,013 non-transferable finder warrants (each, a "Finder Warrant"). Each Finder Warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one Share at an exercise price of $0.26 until March 12, 2028. Certain directors and advisors of the Company subscribed for an aggregate of approximately 3% of the Units sold in the Financing. Their participation in the Financing is considered to be a "related party transaction" for purposes of Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). The Company is relying on exemptions from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements available under MI 61-101, as the fair market value of the transaction, insofar as it involves insiders, is less than 25% of the Company's market capitalization. The securities issued in the Financing are subject to a hold period expiring on July 12, 2026, in accordance with applicable securities laws. The Financing remains subject to the completion of customary post-close filings with the TSXV. Additional details regarding the Financing may be found in the Company's prior press releases dated February 17, 2026 and March 5, 2026.

About Gold Hart Copper

Gold Hart Copper is one of the largest independent land owners surrounding major miners where the famous Maricunga Gold Belt meets the emerging Vicuna Copper Belt in Chile. HART is actively acquiring, exploring and developing its portfolio of gold, copper & silver properties adjacent to the largest gold and copper assets on the continent.

HART has rolled-up a portfolio of historically significant assets surrounding majors, in some cases personally staked by the very same geologists who made the adjacent mega-discoveries, since the early 1990s. Some of the Gold Hart properties have already undergone a first phase of drilling, with highly encouraging results of gold, copper, silver, and molybdenum. Gold Hart properties are controlled 100% and not subject to any royalties whatsoever.

HART believes it may be sitting on one of the only fully-preserved untested large-scale gold-copper-silver porphyry targets in the Vicuna District - an asset that was first recognized for its uniquely high grades of gold and copper on surface - and staked by one of the Maricunga-Vicuna district's pioneering geologists3 in 1993. Gold Hart Copper is fully funded for its planned drill campaign.

HART's team of geologists were personally involved in pioneering exploration in the region, leading to some of its greatest gold, copper, and silver deposits, and include the country's former Geological Survey National Deputy Manager Dr. Professor Jose Frutos. Specifically, senior Gold Hart geologists were personally involved in the Escondida copper discovery, now the largest copper mine in the world1 controlled by Rio Tinto and BHP, as well as Norte Abierto / Cerro Casale, the largest gold-copper discovery in Chile2 acquired by Barrick and Newmont (GoldCorp) with reserves and resources of 50.6-million ounces of gold (0.53g/t), 13.4-billion pounds of copper (0.20%) and 218-million ounces of silver (2.3g/t).

In addition to its large land position in the Vicuna District, Gold Hart recently acquired the Nessa properties just northwest on Chile's Paleocene-Eocene Belt on the famous Domeyko Fault System, which is home to some of Chile's largest gold, copper, and silver assets including Escondida, Chuquicamata and Collahuasi. The Nessa properties host several historic gold and copper artisanal mines with high grades of gold, copper, and silver on surface, with a large alteration and magnetic anomaly extending approximately 6km. Kinross' La Coipa Gold Mine sits just east of Nessa, as does the Rio2 Fenix Gold Mine.

HART | Gold Hart Copper Corporation - Social Media Channels

Website: https://goldhartcopper.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/goldhartcopper

X / Twitter: https://x.com/goldhartcopper

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@goldhartcopper

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goldhartcopper

Qualified Person

The technical information contained in this news release related has been reviewed and approved by Mr. Jonathan A. Warner, Executive Vice President of Gold Hart Copper and a Qualified Person within the meaning of NI 43-101.

For further information please contact:

Gold Hart Copper Corp.

Isaac B. Maresky

Chief Executive Officer and Director

Email: im@goldhartmining.com

Notes on quality assurance and control regarding geochemical survey published

Hermetic sealed individual bags for every sample (ii) Unique sample ID for tracking (iii) Coordinate location and picture of outcrop (iv) Basic geology notes on control points with samples (v) Consistent sample size between 2-3kg (vi) Certified lab conducting assays. Gold Hart utilized AAA Labs in Chile to conduct the assays, an independent laboratory with no relationship to Gold Hart.

References & Notes:

Escondida is the largest copper mine globally, as defined by producing the greatest number of copper tonnes per annum. Numbers sourced directly from property owner's website and public filings. Norte Abierto is considered the largest undeveloped gold asset in Chile as defined by hosting the largest number of total gold ounces. Numbers sourced directly from property owner's website and public filings. Please refer to the Company's NI 43-101 Technical Report on Sedar for information pertaining to Gold Hart Copper's properties including historical exploration at Tolita, including but not limited to, the history of the asset and its original staking, geochemical surveys, trenching surveys, helicopter magnetic surveys, and historical RC drilling. Geophysical survey is summarized in the Company's NI 43-101 Technical report available on Sedar. Such geophysical surveys are not definitive, and the results are still at an early stage of interpretation, with no guarantee of a mineral discovery.

Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. Any statement that involves predictions, expectations, interpretations, beliefs, plans projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often, but not always, using phrases such as "expects", or "does not expect", "is expected", "interpreted", management's view", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "budget", "scheduled", "forecasts", "estimates", "potential", "feasibility", "believes" or "intends" or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results "may" or "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking information and are intended to identify forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and is based upon a number of estimates and assumptions of management, in light of management's experience and perception of trends, current conditions and expected developments, as well as other factors that management believes to be relevant and reasonable in the circumstances, including, without limitation, assumptions about: the ability of exploration results, including drilling, to accurately predict mineralization; errors in geological modelling; insufficient data; equity and debt capital markets; future spot prices of copper and zinc; the timing and results of exploration and drilling programs; the accuracy of mineral resource estimates; production costs; political and regulatory stability; the receipt of governmental and third party approvals; licenses and permits being received on favourable terms; sustained labour stability; stability in financial and capital markets; availability of mining equipment and positive relations with local communities and groups. Forward-looking information involves risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events, results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking information are set out in the Company's listing statement dated March 14, 2025, a copy of which is available on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.ca) under the Company's issuer profile. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information, which only applies as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward- looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/288658
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine ordered on March 14 that U.S. and Ohio flags on all public buildings and grounds throughout the state will be flown at half-staff to honor three Ohio Air National Guard members killed in Iraq.

Here's everything to know.

Why are flags at half-staff in Cincinnati and Ohio?

On March 14, DeWine ordered flags to be flown at half-staff in the state to honor three Ohio Air National Guard members killed in Iraq: Captain Seth Koval, Captain Curtis Angst and Technical Sergeant Tyler Simmons.

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"Every mission they undertook involved risks that they were willing to take and the courage to put the lives of others above their own. They served with honor," DeWine wrote on X. "Their sacrifice will not be forgotten."

All six servicemembers aboard a KC-135 refueling tanker died after a mid-air collision on March 12 over western Iraq. Three of the members were from the Ohio Air National Guard's 121st Air Refueling Wing, DeWine wrote on social media.

At least 2,000 people, including 13 American service members, have died in the Middle East since the war in Iran, Operation Epic Fury, started Feb. 28.

Fran and I offer our deepest condolences to the families, friends, and fellow servicemembers of Capt. Seth Koval, Capt. Curtis Angst, and Tech. Sgt. Tyler Simmons of the Ohio Air National Guard. pic.twitter.com/QyVjCCcNpx  Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) March 15, 2026

How long will flags be at half-staff?

Flags will fly at half-staff for 30 days now until sunset on the day of their funerals.

What's the difference between half-staff and half-mast?

Flags are flown at half-mast on ships and at naval stations. On shore, flags are flown at half-staff, meaning the flagpole is attached to a building or stuck in the ground.

Why are flags flown at half-staff?

The American flag flies at half-staff when the country or a state is in mourning, according to USA.gov.

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Flags can be ordered to fly at half-staff by the president, a state governor or the mayor of the District of Columbia. In most cases, flying the flag at half-staff marks a significant death, such as one of a government official or military member, a national tragedy or a national day of remembrance, such as Memorial Day or Patriots' Day, which occurs annually Sept. 11 in memory of the victims who died in the 2001 attacks.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Why are flags at half-staff in Ohio? How long will they be lowered?
PARIS (AP)  France's government is bolstering the country's military presence in the Middle East, dispatching its aircraft carrier and other warships, while President Emmanuel Macron engages with key players in the conflict, including Iran, in a bid to position Paris for future diplomatic talks.

Macron said that Frances military involvement is strictly defensive and aims to avoid making the country a party to the war. He reaffirmed that position after one French soldier was killed Thursday in a drone attack in Iraq.

We are not at war with anyone, Macron said.

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Still, the large-scale deployment of the French navy  which he described as unprecedented  has made France the European nation with the most prominent presence in the region.

Visiting the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier last week, Macron said that its presence in the Mediterranean demonstrates Frances strength: a balancing power, a force for peace.

Heres what to know about Macron' strategy.

Frances large naval deployment

Macron announced the deployment to the eastern Mediterranean and the wider Middle East of eight warships, two helicopter carriers and the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle with its 20 Rafale fighter jets.

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The French frigate Languedoc arrived off Cyprus, a fellow European Union member, to bolster anti-drone and anti-missile defenses. Cyprus and France signed a new strategic partnership in December. Macron also said that two French frigates have been dispatched to the Red Sea to help ensure maritime security and freedom of navigation.

Macron said that the warship deployment is intended to allow France to respond to emergency situations and evacuate French nationals if necessary.

France has more than 400,000 citizens in the Middle East  more than any other European country  including more than half in Israel and over 60,000 in the United Arab Emirates.

Other European nations, including Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and Greece, have deployed frigates in the region.

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The French navys swift deployment contrasts with the United Kingdom's delay in sending the HMS Dragon destroyer, which left Portsmouth, England, on March 10.

U.K. opposition parties have accused Prime Minister Keir Starmer's government of moving too slowly to protect British bases in Cyprus and allies in the Middle East.

The U.K. government also has sent Typhoon and F-35 fighter jets, helicopters and air defense systems to help intercept Iranian missiles and drones and protect British troops across the region, especially in Cyprus and Qatar and the country's partners in the Middle-East.

Defending Gulf allies

France has key defense agreements with several countries in the region, including Qatar, Kuwait and the UAE, where it maintains a permanent base in Abu Dhabi. France's military, which has air and naval forces there, doubled the number of Rafale fighter jets stationed on site to 12.

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French authorities acknowledged that Rafale jets intercepted drones targeting the UAE since the beginning of the war.

We stand by the side of our allies and our friends, Macron said during his visit to the Charles de Gaulle. There have been some interceptions that have continued in recent days.

We do so within the framework of our partnerships, he said, without providing further details.

French forces are also deployed in Jordan and Iraq.

On Thursday, one French soldier was killed and several others injured in a drone attack in the region of Irbil, in northern Iraq. They were training Iraqi units as part of a multinational counterterrorism mission in the country.

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Former President Francois Hollande, who led France from 2012 to 2017, said that it was important for France to show it can protect its nationals and reassure its partners, but warned of the risks.

We must be careful  its always a risky operation  to make sure our warships are not targeted, Hollande said. Because if they are attacked, we have to fire back.

Historic ties with Lebanon

Macron is leading a diplomatic effort to try to halt the conflict in Lebanon, where at least 850 people have been killed and hundreds of thousands displaced as the Hezbollah militant group entered a new round of fighting with Israel. Macron urged Hezbollah to stop fighting and called on Israel to renounce any ground offensive.

France supports the Lebanese military as authorities have pledged to take control of positions held by Hezbollah and assume full responsibility for security in the country, Macron said. Hezbollahs arsenal notably includes exploding drones, similar to the ones used by Iran.

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France has traditionally been a key supporter of Lebanon, a former French protectorate, and maintains 800 troops in the U.N. peacekeeping force there. The French government provided the country with armored vehicles and operational military support.

France sent 60 tons of emergency aid to Lebanon last week on a humanitarian flight to Beirut, authorities said. The shipment included medicines, medical equipment, a mobile health unit, shelter materials, basic necessities and infant formula.

Maintaining contact with Iran

Macron was the first Western leader to speak with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian since the war began.

He said he urged Iran to halt strikes against countries in the region. Since the phone call on March 8, this appeal had gone unanswered.

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Macron stressed that a diplomatic solution is needed to end the escalation and said that he and Pezeshkian agreed to remain in contact.

Macron also spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump, though there were no signs of de-escalation.

France hopes diplomatic efforts could bear fruit once the most intense phase of the conflict subsides, which could take weeks or months.

Macron is also promoting an international effort to secure the Strait of Hormuz, a key energy corridor, so oil, gas and goods can flow freely again when circumstances permit. He has suggested countries could use warships to escort tankers and container ships once fighting eases.

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Political analyst Bertrand Badie, an international relations professor at Sciences Po Paris, said Macron has long sought to assert Frances role on the global stage.

With low approval ratings at home and about a year left in his term, Macron may have the most to gain among European leaders by pursuing diplomacy, Badie said.

At this point, we are forced to scale back our expectations  drastically, he said. From a diplomatic standpoint, what leverage does France really have?

My assessment is that this crisis cannot be resolved by French remedies, Badie said. There is no point in having any illusions.

___

Jill Lawless contributed to this report from London.
The war between the United States, Israel, and Iran spread almost as soon as it started. In two weeks, at least 11 territories from the Mediterranean to the Arabian Gulf have come under attack from Iran or its proxies in retaliation for the US-Israel strikes. The Horn of Africa  a strategic point  could yet become a new theater.

Djibouti is already exposed. It hosts the largest US military base in Africa: Camp Lemonnier, a key logistical hub for American operations in the Horn of Africa and the Gulf. Next door, Somaliland is emerging as a potential host for an Israeli security presence. Both sit at one of the worlds most important maritime chokepoints, where the Red Sea narrows into the Gulf of Aden. Meanwhile, the wider Horn of Africa is grappling with fragile states, active jihadist insurgencies, and territories whose sovereignty is contested or unrecognized.

To the north, in Yemen, the Houthi movement has so far been unusually restrained since the US-Israeli strikes on Iran began on Feb. 28, despite being an Iranian proxy. In opposition to Israels war in Gaza, the group spent nearly two years attacking commercial shipping in the Red Sea, disrupting a significant portion of global commercial trade. This provoked a Washington-led multinational armed response.

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After months of airstrikes, the Houthis agreed to a ceasefire with the US, which could explain their caution. But their leadership has warned they could still get involved. The current war is already disrupting global oil supply from the Strait of Hormuz. Adding another Red Sea blockade  along the path of roughly 15% of global trade  would be disastrous.

A map showing the Horn of Africa.

The Horn of Africa has largely avoided becoming a direct theater for the kind of great proxy conflict playing out in the Middle East, but that may be changing. The same logic that made Yemen useful to Iran  a weak state, a strategic coastline, and local grievances  applies to parts of East Africa.

If the Houthis eventually retaliate, Camp Lemonnier would be a target of interest. It earns Djibouti $63 million a year in rent  significant revenue for one of the continents smallest states.

In neighboring Somaliland  internationally recognized as Somalias territory  Israel has already identified a potential foothold to counter the Houthi threat. In December, Israel became the first UN member state to recognize the breakaway region as an independent country and is reportedly exploring the possibility of a Red Sea security base.

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Somalilands sustained peace has appealed to foreign powers, along with its ideal location for Red Sea surveillance. This is what drew Israel, and the United Arab Emirates before it, to consider establishing a foreign military outpost. But it also risks drawing the territory into conflict  something it has long avoided. The Houthis say theyll consider Israels proposed presence in the region a military target. Somaliland needs investment and diplomatic recognition, but it will now have to be more alert to the risks of getting this from Israel.

Hosting foreign military powers brings clear financial and diplomatic benefits. But for Djibouti and Somaliland it may also carry risks. As the Iran war widens, bases that once symbolized security may become liabilities.

That is the trap now facing both territories. Djibouti cannot easily turn away a lucrative tenant that underwrites its regional significance while Somaliland cannot afford to spurn the first UN member state to recognize its existence.

The Horn of Africa has long been coveted for the same qualities that make it vulnerable: its coastline, its chokepoints, its weakness. What is changing is that the war those qualities were always expected to attract has finally arrived. For Djibouti and Somaliland, the question is no longer whether to get involved  it is whether they have any real choice.
White House chief of staff Susie Wiles has early stage breast cancer, President Donald Trump announced on Monday afternoon.

Wiles, 68, a longstanding fixture of Trumps orbit, has been his chief of staff since he took office for his second term in 2025. Trump first announced her diagnosis in a Truth Social post. calling her prognosis "excellent" and noting she would continue working as his chief of staff while she undergoes treatment.

During the treatment period, she will be spending virtually full time at the White House, which makes me, as President, very happy! Her Strength and her Commitment to continue doing the job she loves, and does so well, while undergoing treatment, tells you everything you need to know about her, Trump wrote. He also called her one of his closest and most important advisors.

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In a separate statement, Wiles said she was diagnosed last week and is grateful to have a team of doctors that detected the cancer early. She said she felt encouraged by her prognosis and thanked the president for his support and encouragement.

Nearly one in eight women in the United States will face this diagnosis. Every day, these women continue to raise their families, go to work, and serve their communities with strength and determination. I now join their ranks, Wiles said.

Wiles informed the president about her diagnosis soon after she found out, said one person close to the White House, granted anonymity to describe the conversation.

The first woman to serve as a presidents chief of staff, Trump frequently talks about Wiles publicly and commends her power in the White House. He has called her the most powerful woman in the world and nicknamed her Susie Trump.

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Wiles joined Trump at an event at the White House shortly after her diagnosis became public, sitting next to him at a meeting of Kennedy Center board members. During that meeting, Trump noted that Wiles had already started treatment. "She just started actually and shes going to be in great shape, he said, patting Wiles on the back as he spoke.

Wiles has had a long political career in Republican politics, working for a wide spectrum of politicians from the former Utah Sen. Mitt Romney to Florida Sen. Rick Scott, before joining Trumps political campaign in 2016 as the Florida campaign chair. She became his campaign manager alongside Chris LaCivita in 2022, ahead of Trumps win in 2024.

Dasha Burns contributed to this report.
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW)  A home in southeast Kansas was destroyed in a house fire early Monday morning.

The Independence Fire Department was called to assist with a house fire in Cherryvale just after midnight. It happened on the north end of town near Labette Street and 5000 Road.

55 mph wind gusts feed building fire in Kingman

The department said the strong winds made the fire very difficult to fight, but crews were able to eventually bring it under control.

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However, the home is a total loss. A GoFundMe has been established to assist the family.

For more Kansas news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news by downloading our mobile app and signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track 3 Weather app by clicking here. To watch our shows live on our website, click here.

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSN-TV.
As blizzard conditions continue across Central Wisconsin and additional snowfall is forecast, some local school districts and colleges are canceling classes or adjusting their plans for Monday, March 16. Many students in the Wisconsin Rapids area were already scheduled to be on spring break starting Monday.

The National Weather Service issued a Blizzard Warning for the area through 4 p.m. Monday. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation and local law enforcement are urging motorists to stay off of local roads, many of which have been deemed "impassible."

The following Wisconsin Rapids-area school districts and local colleges have announced closures or other changes for Monday, March 16.

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LIVE UPDATES: What you need to know as weekend snowstorm targets Wisconsin Rapids

Central Wisconsin weather: How much snow has fallen so far during March 14-15 storm in Central WI?

Local school districts

Auburndale School District: The Auburndale School District was already scheduled to have no school on Monday, March 16 due to parent-teacher conferences at the elementary school. Parent-teacher conferences will now be held virtually or on the telephone. Teachers will reach out to parents. All district activities also have been canceled for Monday, including practices. Solo/Ensemble will be postponed to a later date. Little Sprouts will be closed Monday. The Tractor Club brat fry has been rescheduled to April 2.

School District of Pittsville: The School District of Pittsville will have a virtual learning day on Monday, March 16, according to the districts website.

Port Edwards School District: The YMCA day care site at Ed Heuer Elementary School will be closed on Monday, March 16. The students are on spring break March 16-20.

Tri-County Area School District: The Tri-County Fitness Center will be closed March 14-16; normal hours will resume on March 17. The students are on spring break March 16-20.

Wisconsin Rapids Public Schools: All WRPS buildings will be closed on Monday, March 16 and all activities and practices are canceled. The students are on spring break March 16-20.

Colleges and universities

Mid-State Technical College: All Mid-State campuses will be closed and all classes and activities canceled for Monday, March 16. The monthly Mid-State Technical College Board of Directors meeting will still be held Monday as scheduled.

University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point: The three campuses of UW-Stevens Point will be closed on Monday, March 16.

This article originally appeared on Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune: Wisconsin Rapids schools, colleges announce closures for March 16
The multi-day winter storm that brought more than two feet of snow to some areas of Wisconsin and continues to thrash much of the state with blizzard conditions has also severely deteriorated road conditions.

All highways in the Milwaukee area were "completely covered" in snow as of 11 a.m., according to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.

The only exception was a stretch of Interstate 43 in Ozaukee County that was considered "partially covered." But north of that, in Sheboygan and Fond du Lac counties, the DOT advised against travel. That warning, issued on March 15, remained in place for all of northeast Wisconsin, when over a foot of snow fell there. Traffic cameras showed a handful of vehicles traveling along highways in that region.

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The Wisconsin State Patrol said it had responded to more than 90 weather-related crashes in the past 24 hours; 11 of those incidents resulted in injuries, the department said in a post on X.

Highways across Wisconsin were not closed or impassable, but DOT officials urged people to stay off the roads to avoid stretching emergency resources thin.

"This storm isn't over yet," said John DesRivieres, communications director for the department. "Stay off the roads if you don't need to be there."

Blowing snow would continue to reduce visibility even after the snow stops falling, he said.

A car is disabled along Interstate 94 around 7:15 a.m.

Throughout the March 16 morning commute, cameras near Milwaukee showed several disabled cars stranded on the side of I-94, mostly blocking the shoulder, and in some cases, a right or left lane.

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It took longer than usual to travel across the Milwaukee area during the morning commute, according to the DOT. At 9 a.m., it took nine extra minutes to go from the Zoo Interchange to the airport via I-94, and an extra seven minutes to go from Highway 100 at Beloit Road to I-94. But those delays diminished by mid-morning.

The highways around Madison were all either partially covered, or completely covered, by snow throughout the morning. A number of vehicles were disabled along highway shoulders.

Snow plows work to clear a stretch of Interstate 94 in Jackson County where semi trucks became stranded for hours on March 15.

Interstate was closed for more than 10 hours in Jackson County

The only major, extended highway closure was on March 15 along I-94 in Jackson County, in western Wisconsin.

About 6:30 a.m., two semi trucks headed westbound lost traction on an icy, snow-covered hill, and they became stuck, according to DesRivieres. One lane remained passable on the eastbound side of the interstate.

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A line of about 70 vehicles built up on the westbound side, and because of the large amount of snow that was falling and the lack of visibility, "large vehicles such as snowplows, tow trucks, semi-trucks, and law enforcement vehicles were getting stuck," DesRivieres said.

National Guard members and Department of Natural Resources wardens checked on drivers using snowmobiles and made sure people had enough food and water. By 11 a.m., some tow trucks began removing vehicles from the line, and plows cleared snow from the highway crossovers so that people could turn around and go eastbound.

After hours of continuously towing and rerouting cars, the highway reopened at 5 p.m., DesRivieres said. No one was injured, and there were no crashes.

"It was simply a winter storm so extreme that vehicles could no longer navigate the stretch of highway," he said in an email.

Northeast Wisconsin travel advisory

The Department of Transportation on March 15 said travel was not advised across all of northeast Wisconsin, and many of those roads remained under that warning on Monday.

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The DOT's road conditions map on March 16 showed all roads in northeast Wisconsin  from Fond du Lac, north past Green Bay and up to the border with the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and west to Waupaca, Antigo and Eagle River  continued to carry that "travel not advised" warning .

The roads in those areas were open, but the DOT urged people not to drive there except in emergencies because it was too dangerous.

That "travel not advised" warning is issued by the department when visibility is significantly reduced, there are reports of whiteout conditions and road treatments like salt or sand may become ineffective. It may be impossible for emergency vehicles to reach a scene.

Interstate 94 at the Stadium Interchange was snow-covered as of 7:15 a.m.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: How are road conditions in the Milwaukee area? Here's what 511WI says
A federal civil rights lawsuit has been filed against Worcester, accusing the city of endangering people in mental health crisis by sending armed police to 911 calls instead of trained clinicians  a practice advocates say violates disability law and leaves children and adults traumatized, injured and afraid to call for help at all.

The suit was filed in U.S. District Court on Monday by three major mental health groups  the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) of Central Massachusetts, NAMI-Massachusetts and the Parent-Professional Advocacy League.

It juxtaposes 911 calls made by Worcester residents for physical health emergencies with those involving mental health crises, highlighting how armed police officers enter situations that call for clinical care and escalate crises instead of stabilizing them. This disparity, the groups argue, amounts to discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504.

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None of the Citys policies, procedures or practices provides for mental health professionals to be first responders to mental health emergency calls, the complaint states.

It is not a crime to experience a mental health crisis, and the City should not respond by sending armed police to mental health emergencies. People with mental health disabilities deserve better, said Steven Schwartz, Special Counsel at the Center for Public Representation.

The City of Worcester declined to comment on the lawsuit to MassLive, stating it had not officially been served this complaint yet as of 11:50 a.m. Monday.

We value our longstanding partnerships with law enforcement. At the same time, we recognize that the City response to individuals with mental health conditions in crisis is not equitable, effective, or adequate, said Eliza Williamson, Executive Director, NAMI Massachusetts. The Americans with Disabilities Act is built on the simple belief that people with disabilities deserve dignity, equity, and meaningful access to the support they need.

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The suit argues Worcesters 911 system violates federal disability law by treating mental health emergencies fundamentally differently from physical health emergencies.

When a resident calls 911 for a heart attack or other medical crisis, the city dispatches EMTs and paramedics trained to assess, stabilize and provide clinical care. But when the emergency involves suicidal thoughts, panic, psychosis or trauma, the complaint argues Worcesters default is to send armed police officers  even though officers are not qualified to perform the core functions of an emergency mental health response, and their presence alone can escalate a crisis.

The plaintiffs cited examples of families whose children or relatives received no mental health support after calling 911, but instead were involuntarily committed, told to go to the emergency room or arrested  including two autistic boys in two different incidents, aged 10 and 14. Officers kicked down the teen boys bedroom door and physically restrained him. In the other incident, they fractured the 10-year-olds arm.

The suit also points to Worcester Police Department policy that limits officers options to arrest, involuntary commitment or transport, noting research that shows people with mental illness are nearly 12 times more likely to experience police use of force.

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As a result, the plaintiffs argued, many Worcester residents now avoid calling 911 altogether, turning instead to NAMI or PPAL for help during emergencies.

The complaint also highlights the citys shortlived Mental Health Crisis Response Team that was launched in 2023 and staffed by clinicians and peers. According to the suit, the team operated only on limited hours, was rarely dispatched as the first responder and was often sent only after police had already intervened  undermining its purpose.

Worcester then disbanded the program after less than 18 months, leaving no unarmed clinical response in place. The plaintiffs argue that this failure to provide a healthbased response for psychiatric emergencies denies people with mental health disabilities equal access to emergency services and violates the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504.

The current system leaves people in Worcester feeling that there is no available help for individuals experiencing mental health emergencies. We have hope that this lawsuit will bring about positive change, said Robin Bahr Casey, President, Board of Directors, NAMI Central Mass.

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The plaintiffs are asking a federal judge to order Worcester to overhaul its 911 system so that mental health emergencies receive a clinical, unarmed response comparable to the care provided during physical health crises. They argue the city must redesign its dispatch policies, train staff and create or reinstate a dedicated mental health crisis team to comply with federal disability law.

The case in Massachusetts comes as cities across the country face mounting pressure, and in some cases, federal investigations, over policeled responses to psychiatric emergencies.

The Worcester Police Department was sharply criticized for its use of excessive and unjustified force in a 2024 Justice Department report following a two-year investigation. Worcester police officers unnecessarily and rapidly escalated minor encounters with the public, including with people who had behavioral disabilities or were in the midst of mental health crises, the Justice Department said in its report.

Root causes, federal authorities said, were deficient training and supervision of officers, insufficient accountability and missing policies. Several initiatives were announced by Worcester City Manager Eric D. Batista following the report, including a hotline for members of the public to report misconduct by police officers.

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This hotline was to be managed externally, by the investigations division within the Executive Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (EODEI). The EODEI also was to lead training sessions, seminars and workshops on behavioral health, implicit bias and additional topics, all of which will align with and inform written policy within the police department.

More Worcester Stories

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WRIGHTSTOWN, Wis. (WFRV)  Officials with the Wrightstown Community School District Board of Directors have selected the districts next superintendent.

According to a release, Wrightstowns next superintendent will be Dirk Ribbens. Ribbens currently serves as the principal of Ashwaubenon High School and has more than 30 years of experience in education, including in leadership roles such as principal, associate principal, and classroom teacher.

Historic blizzard forces Marinette County to halt plowing operations

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Ribbens has served as principal of Ashwaubenon High School since 2019 and leads a school of about 1,000 students with a focus on strengthening instructional practices, building collaborative professional learning communities, and expanding pathways for student success.

Officials say his leadership also included initiatives focused on grade and assessment reform, alternate pathways to graduation, and strengthening connections between school and community partners.

I am honored and excited to be the next superintendent of the Wrightstown School District. It is a great school in a wonderful community. I look forward to collaborating with the community, the school board, staff, students, and parents to make this a place where students learn at high levels, feel safe and connected, and develop the skills to be successful after they finish school. Dirk Ribbens, New Wrightstown School District Superintendent

Ribbens is said to hold an Educational Specialist degree in Educational Leadership from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He also has a Masters degree in Educational Leadership from the University of WisconsinMadison, and a Bachelors degree in Spanish from Lawrence University.

Officials with the Wrightstown Community School District Board of Education say they conducted a comprehensive search process in partnership with CESA 7.

The Wrightstown Community School District Board of Education is confident that Mr. Ribbens leadership experience, commitment to student success, and dedication to community partnerships will help guide the district forward. The Board is excited to welcome Mr. Ribbens to the Wrightstown community and looks forward to partnering with him to support students, families, and staff across the district.

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFRV Local 5 - Green Bay, Appleton.
A 14-year-old boy has been arrested in Wyoming after he allegedly shot his mother in the back of the head after they got into a fight over a tablet.

Police with the Laramie County Sheriffs Office responded to a home in Cheyenne, Wyoming, after they received a report of a 41-year-old female with a gunshot wound to the head around 12:50 p.m. on March 7, according to a news release shared by the department.

Once police arrived at the home, they found the woman who was unconscious but breathing. Police added that there was a visible gunshot wound to the back of her head.

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The victim, who has since been identified as Theresa McIntosh, was transported to a local hospital for treatment before she was airlifted to a medical center in Colorado. Police confirmed that she ultimately died from her injuries.

A Month Before Their Murder-Suicide, a Wyoming Woman Predicted Her Ex-Boyfriend Would Kill Her

A juvenile was taken into custody at the scene, authorities added in the release. Further details regarding charges or the identity of the involved parties are being withheld at this time due to the age of the suspect and the sensitive nature of the case.

Police also said that the investigation remains active.

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The Wyoming Tribune Eagle and Cowboy State Daily reported that the alleged shooter was identified as McIntoshs teenage son, according to a police affidavit submitted to the Laramie County Circuit Court.

The 14-year-old initially stated that his mother shot herself, according to the affidavit. However, he later admitted to shooting her after they got into an argument about a tablet that he allegedly stole from one of her cleaning business clients.

The teen said he was angry at McIntosh for calling him names and insulting him while they were arguing, according to the court documents. He also allegedly told authorities that hed thought about killing his mother during previous incidents, specifically when she would make him do things he didnt want to do."

He added that he killed his mother while he was in his bedroom and he used a gun that she usually kept in her car.

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The teen allegedly took the weapon from his mom's vehicle about a week earlier after they got into a big fight over his math grades, per the affidavit.

The boys father  who was also McIntosh's common-law husband  was home at the time of the shooting, though he said he didnt realize the shooting happened because he was wearing noise-cancelling headphones while playing video games.

He later went upstairs and found his son standing outside the bedroom, while McIntosh was on the ground. The father said that his son originally told him that he didnt know what happened."

Texas Man Allegedly Shot and Killed Mother in Front of 9-Year-Old Daughter After He Was Evicted

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The father then called 911 and attempted to help McIntosh until first responders arrived.

I dont want to think what I think happened, the man told police, per the affidavit. "I dont even want to put it into words. I dont want to think that because its a really f**ked up thing for a parent to think.

The father added that the teen was seeing a counselor and was on medication for mental health issues at the time of the shooting.

The Wyoming Tribune Eagle, Cowboy State Daily and Oil City News reported that the teen has since been charged with first-degree murder and will be tried as an adult.

If he is found guilty, the teen could be sentenced to life in prison.

It is not currently clear if the teen has retained legal representation or entered a plea. The Laramie County Sheriffs Office did not immediately respond to Us Weeklys request for comment.
Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) secures a spot on our list of the 11 best very cheap stocks to buy according to billionaires.

Goldman Sachs Mixed on Global Payments (GPN) As Industry Valuation Multiples Remain Under Pressure

Goldman Sachs reinstated coverage of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) on March 9, 2026, with a Neutral rating and an $88 price target, emphasizing the companys size following its acquisition of Worldpay, which resulted in the creation of the largest merchant-acquiring business in the world.

At the same time, the firm cautioned that industry valuation multiples remain under pressure due to structural competition in merchant acquiring. Goldman also highlighted persistent concerns about market share loss, speculating that these factors would prevent the company from achieving significant multiple expansion despite its increased presence.

A cautious approach was reiterated in February analyst updates as well.

In light of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)s Q4 results and FY2026 guidance, which call for 5% adjusted net revenue growth (ex-dispositions), 150 basis points of operating margin expansion, adjusted EPS of $13.80-$14.00, and free cash flow conversion above 90%, Cantor Fitzgeralds Ramsey El-Assal increased his price target to $88 from $80 while keeping a Neutral rating.

Following a Q4 earnings beat, RBC Capital raised its target to $97 from $95 with a Sector Perform rating, pointing out that managements FY2026 outlook seemed appropriately calibrated.

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) serves companies and financial institutions worldwide by offering payment technology and software through its Merchant and Issuer Solutions sectors. The company is headquartered in Atlanta.

While we acknowledge the potential of GPN as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.

READ NEXT: 33 Stocks That Should Double in 3 Years and 15 Stocks That Will Make You Rich in 10 Years

Disclosure: None. Follow Insider Monkey on Google News.
Washington law will make it easier for state to distribute its abortion pill stockpile
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP)  Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds and state-backed companies are unlikely to scale back renewable energy investments in Africa despite disruptions from the Iran war, analysts say, given the strong long-term economic and strategic reasons driving such funding.

Investors made wealthy by the Gulf region's abundant oil and gas increasingly are turning to Africas clean energy sector, attracted by rising electricity demand, rapid urbanization and the continents growing role in global supply chains tied to critical minerals and manufacturing.

A report released last month by the Clean Air Task Force found that more than $101.9 billion had flowed into Africas renewable energy sector from Gulf countries by end of 2024, led by the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain. Much of the investment has been concentrated in North Africa, Southern Africa and parts of East Africa, while West Africa has attracted relatively limited funding.

Africa remains one of the few regions where demand growth is unequivocal, said Matthew Tilleard, chief executive of CrossBoundary Energy, a Nairobi-based firm that develops and operates renewable energy projects. Short-term shocks may delay individual transactions, but the biggest infrastructure opportunities require a long-term view of risk and value.

Africa faces one of the worlds largest electricity gaps. About 600 million people across the continent still lack access to power and many more face unreliable supplies. Governments have increasingly turned to private investors to help finance solar, wind and hybrid power projects to expand generation capacity without overstretching public finances.

That gap has created opportunities for Gulf investors looking to diversify beyond oil and gas.

Ultimately, Gulf investments in Africa tend to be driven by pragmatic national interests and strategic returns, said Louw Nelson, a political analyst at Oxford Economics. There is currently a significant amount of energy investment underway across Africa, which are long-term projects that have been years in the making, so we dont anticipate major disruptions.

Overseas investments in renewable energy form part of broader strategies among Middle Eastern countries to diversify their economies and adapt to a global shift toward cleaner energy.

Joab Okanda, an energy and development analyst, said the disruptions to oil and gas shipments due to the war with Iran may strengthen the case for renewable energy investment since they show how vulnerable such supply routes can be.
Taishan eels: from hometown of overseas Chinese to global markets

In 2025, six out of every 10 live eels exported from China came from Taishan. The city has ranked first in live eel exports nationwide for six consecutive years.

2026-03-16 21:46:32
The National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) are working on a mechanism to bolster regulatory coordination and improve audit quality in the country.

According to a report in the Economic Times, the move follows friction between the bodies over the revamp of a key auditing standard and is aimed at reducing the chances of future regulatory clashes.

People aware of the discussions told the publication that the proposed framework will require senior officials from both the NFRA and ICAI to meet more regularly to discuss significant matters.

The mechanism is also expected to provide for broader and more systematic sharing of information, especially around auditors involvement in suspected corporate frauds, and for more joint initiatives to improve audit quality in India.

One person with direct knowledge of the development was quoted by the Economic Times as saying: The mechanism would ensure regular interactions between the regulators. The ultimate goals of both of them are the same  improving audit quality and strengthening the audit ecosystem in India.

The ICAI president and two senior office-bearers already sit on the NFRAs 13-member board.

However, the NFRA and ICAI expect regular engagement between the two bodies to foster a better understanding of each others roles and sensitivities.

As part of efforts to delineate responsibilities, the ICAI has decided to call off its desktop review of the financial statements of Gensol Engineering, where an alleged fraud has been flagged, after the NFRA initiated its own investigation.

The ICAI may also drop its review of the accounts of IndusInd Bank, as the NFRA is examining that case as well.

Under existing rules, the institute is not permitted to continue its own proceedings once the NFRA has started a formal investigation into a matter.

The institute also assured the NFRA that it does not intend to interfere with the authoritys remit over auditor investigations, particularly in fraud cases involving auditors of listed companies, the report added.

The NFRA, established under the Companies Act, holds the authority to act against auditors of all listed entities and large unlisted public interest companies for professional misconduct.

Before the NFRA was constituted, the ICAI was effectively the sole professional body disciplining auditors across the board.

"ICAI-NFRA look to deepen ties with new coordination framework" was originally created and published by The Accountant, a GlobalData owned brand.
NEW DELHI, Mar 16 (Reuters) - Indias merchandise trade deficit narrowed to $27.1 billion in February from the previous month, data released on Monday showed, with economists warning that shipments face risks from the escalating crisis around the Strait of Hormuz.

Economists had expected the February trade deficit to be $28.8 billion, according to a Reuters poll, compared to a deficit of $34.68 billion in the previous month.

India's merchandise exports marginally rose to $36.61 billion from $36.56 billion in January, while imports fell to $63.71 billion from $71.24 billion, data released by the commerce ministry showed.

The data comes as a prolonged war in the Middle East has heightened uncertainty over Indias energy security and trade.

An effective blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for global oil and gas, has disrupted shipments, including those of liquefied natural gas, and could affect Indias broader trade with the region.

India, the world's No. 3 oil consumer, imports more than 80% of its crude oil needs and 60% of its cooking gas, with the Middle East accounting for a large chunk of the supply.

Exports of goods including rice destined for the major Middle Eastern markets, including Iran, Iraq, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, have been hit due to blocking of the key waterway, exporters said.

(Reporting by Shivangi Acharya; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)
Alkami posted Q4 revenue of $120.79 million, up 34.7% year-over-year, with adjusted EBITDA of $19.14 million, nearly doubled year-over-year. Revenue per user climbed 20% to $21.44, net dollar retention sits at 115%, and annual recurring revenue (ARR) churn is below 1%. Management guided FY2026 revenue to $525.5 million to $530.5 million, with adjusted EBITDA of $93.5 million to $97.5 million. The thesis: a high-retention SaaS model serving regional banks and credit unions, still unprofitable on a GAAP basis but approaching cash flow inflection. The MANTL acquisition adds omnichannel account-opening to the platform, and over 50% of new logo online banking deals in H2 2025 adopted the full platform umbrella. Analyst consensus targets $22.67 versus the current $18 price. Retirement-focused investors should note the ongoing GAAP losses and integration risk, but General Atlantic's repeat accumulation at these levels reflects a significant commitment by a long-term stakeholder.

General Atlantic, already a 10% owner and board participant, purchased 2,845,015 shares across March 9, 10, and 11, 2026, at prices ranging from $17.35 to $18.41 per share. The stock has fallen 28.71% over the past year, creating what appears to be a conviction re-entry for an investor that knows the business intimately.

Three beneficial owners filed open-market purchases this past week, each targeting a stock under significant pressure. General Atlantic accumulated shares in Alkami Technology ( NASDAQ: ALKT ) across three consecutive sessions. Richard Cashin stepped into AdaptHealth ( NASDAQ: AHCO ) with aggressive buying. And Energy Holding added to its position in Tecnoglass ( NYSE: TGLS ). Each purchase carries a distinct thesis worth understanding.

Large beneficial owners are accumulating shares in all three stocks as they trade near multi-year lows, betting that near-term pressure from cost inflation, earnings impairments, and currency headwinds masks underlying cash generation and demand visibility.

Alkami Technology (ALKT) posted Q4 revenue of $120.79M, up 34.7% year-over-year, with net dollar retention at 115% and ARR churn below 1%, as General Atlantic accumulated 2.8M shares at $17.35 to $18.41 amid a 28.71% annual decline. AdaptHealth (AHCO) generated full-year operating cash flow of $601.77M, up 11.06%, with management guiding FY2026 Adjusted EBITDA to $680M to $730M, as Richard Cashin purchased 2M shares around $9.73 despite a 71.5% five-year decline. Tecnoglass (TGLS) reported record Q4 revenue of $245.30M and a record backlog of $1.30B, up 16.1%, with a forward P/E of roughly 10x, as Energy Holding added to its position near 52-week lows.

Story Continues

Read: Data Shows One Habit Doubles Americans Savings And Boosts Retirement

Most Americans drastically underestimate how much they need to retire and overestimate how prepared they are. But data shows that people with one habit have more than double the savings of those who dont.

Richard Cashin Bets on AdaptHealth's Recovery

Cashin, a 10% owner, executed three purchases between March 10 and 12, 2026, totaling 2,046,691 shares at prices clustered around $9.73. The stock has recovered modestly from post-earnings lows, now trading at $10.60, but remains down 71.5% over five years.

The Q4 report was messy: a $128 million non-cash goodwill impairment in the Diabetes Health unit drove a significant earnings miss. But operating cash flow for the full year reached $601.77 million, up 11.06% year-over-year. Management guided FY2026 adjusted EBITDA to $680 million to $730 million and free cash flow to $175 million to $225 million, underpinned by what CEO Suzanne Foster described as "the largest capitated contract in the industry's history." The stock trades at roughly 0.44x trailing sales, a valuation that reflects deep pessimism if the capitated contract ramp materializes. The risk is real: repeated earnings misses and a structurally impaired diabetes segment. But Cashin's buying pace suggests he views the cash flow story as the operative metric, not GAAP earnings.

Energy Holding Accumulates Tecnoglass Near Lows

Tecnoglass has pulled back 31.17% over the past year, pressured by margin compression from near-record aluminum costs, tariff headwinds, and Colombian peso strength. The company delivered record Q4 revenue of $245.30 million and holds a record backlog of $1.30 billion, up 16.1% year-over-year, extending visibility well into 2027. Residential orders grew 20% year-over-year in Q4. The company repurchased $118 million in shares during FY2025 and has approximately $110 million remaining under its expanded $250 million authorization. The forward P/E sits at roughly 10x, and the analyst consensus target of $66.25 implies substantial upside from the current $45.71. Energy Holding's accumulation near 52-week lows aligns with insider buying the company itself has disclosed. The margin compression is largely cost-driven rather than demand-driven, and the backlog provides visibility into future revenue.

In Conclusion

All three purchases represent insiders and large beneficial owners buying into weakness rather than chasing strength. Each stock carries distinct risks that investors should weigh against their own risk tolerance and time horizon before drawing conclusions.

Data Shows One Habit Doubles Americans Savings And Boosts Retirement

Most Americans drastically underestimate how much they need to retire and overestimate how prepared they are. But data shows that people with one habit have more than double the savings of those who dont.

And no, its got nothing to do with increasing your income, savings, clipping coupons, or even cutting back on your lifestyle. Its much more straightforward (and powerful) than any of that. Frankly, its shocking more people dont adopt the habit given how easy it is.
The News in Brief Monday, March 16, 2026

The de facto authorities of occupied Abkhazia have announced the detention of Emzar Bagishvili, a Georgian citizen holding an "Abkhaz residence permit," on suspicion of spying for Tbilisi. According to the region's de facto security service, the 56-year-old Bagishvili was taken into custody on March 10 in the village of Okumi, located in the Tkvarcheli district.Local security officials allege that Bagishvili was engaged in collecting and transmitting sensitive information to an employee of Georgia's special services. The accusations specifically cite the monitoring of the region's socio-political situation as well as the tracking of military equipment and transport routes. A formal case has been opened against him on charges of espionage.The de facto agency stated that such cooperation with Georgian services is being "suppressed at the stage of an attempt," claiming the intervention prevents damage to the interests of the "Republic of Abkhazia".In response to the reports, the State Security Service of Georgia told RFE/RL's Georgian Service that a "hotline" has been activated. Georgian authorities are currently working to clarify the specific details of the case.Giga Bokeria, one of the leaders of the Federalists, sharply criticized billionaire and former prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, saying the current political situation in Georgia reflects a serious legitimacy crisis.Speaking about the recent report prepared under the OSCE Moscow Mechanism, Bokeria said the document reflects the reality created by the ruling Georgian Dream government."None of Ivanishvili's nonentities' words have any significance. The picture described by the OSCE through the 'Moscow Mechanism' reflects the grave reality that the regime has created in the country," Bokeria said. He argued that the government has pushed Georgia into international and domestic isolation and is now trying to address the situation by punishing people who do not recognize its legitimacy.According to Bokeria, dialogue with the government will be possible only after political change through democratic elections. "Correcting this situation is possible in one way: by removing Ivanishvili and all his nonentities from power. Dialogue will be possible only on the conditions under which they are defeated as a result of free elections," he said.He added that the process should include the release of political prisoners, accountability for those responsible for violence, and a broader change in the political environment.Bokeria also accused the ruling authorities of prioritizing the interests of one individual over the country's future. "It is in Georgia's national interest to have in power those who protect the country's interests, not the power and money of one person, Ivanishvili," he said."Just as a bad owner treats a pet, Bidzina Ivanishvili treats his own citizens, including the nonentities within his team, some of whom he now has in prison," Bokeria added.
International shipping partners ePost Global and ShipWise are expanding their cross-border returns capabilities as merchants face rising international return rates, stricter customs rules and growing volatility in global e-commerce logistics.

The companies said merchants can now manage international returns alongside outbound domestic and global shipments through the ShipWise platform, giving retailers a single system for both forward and reverse logistics.

The expanded support is aimed at helping e-commerce merchants handle cross-border returns more efficiently while navigating increasingly complex customs regulations and data requirements.

Returns have become a real operational risk, said Helaine Rich, vice president of strategic sales and administration at ePost Global. When regulations change or carriers fail, merchants feel the impact immediately. Our role is to absorb that volatility so returns and delivery remain predictable.

Cypress, California-based ePost Global is a technology enabled global shipping solutions provider. The company has facilities in Chicago, New Jersey, Miami and Los Angeles.

Cross-border returns growing more complex

Reverse logistics has become a growing challenge for global e-commerce merchants as international online shopping expands.

Return rates are rising globally while customs compliance requirements and carrier reliability issues add new layers of complexity to moving returned goods across borders.

The global reverse logistics market is projected to reach roughly $936 billion in 2026, according to Global Market Insights.

Industry estimates suggest that 20% to 30% of online purchases are returned, far higher than the roughly 8% to 10% return rate in brick-and-mortar retail. In the U.S. alone, consumers returned nearly $890 billion worth of merchandise in 2024, highlighting the growing operational burden reverse logistics places on retailers and logistics providers.

Rich said many merchants underestimate the regulatory hurdles involved in cross-border returns.

One of the main things is that they have to understand what the commodities are, Rich said. Certain items can be exported from the U.S., but they may be restricted from coming back into the United States depending on regulations.

Companies also must ensure documentation matches the original export records when items return to the U.S., she said.

Everything has to be very clean and accurate when its being exported so that when theres that cross-reference, what was declared going in is whats declared coming out, Rich said.
By James Davey and Helen Reid

LONDON, March 16 (Reuters) - Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com on Monday launched its Joybuy online marketplace in the UK, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, stepping up its push beyond its home market and taking aim at market leader Amazon.

JD.com wants to internationalise its business and last year agreed to buy German electronics retailer Ceconomy, owner of the MediaMarkt and Saturn brands, for 2.2 billion euros ($2.52 billion).

The launch comes as Chinese retailers and brands have been expanding abroad in the U.S. and Europe, looking for new growth drivers away from the cut-throat competition and weak consumer demand they face at home.

JD.com's arrival will intensify pressure on Amazon, which is already contending with the rapid rise of rivals Temu and Shein.

Clive Black, head of consumer research at UK investment bank Shore Capital, said Joybuy's success would depend on whether it can offer a differentiated product assortment at attractive prices with compelling fulfilment.

"If they bring something new, different and better, then Amazon's got something to think about," he said.

"But Amazon isn't passive, it does have the capability to respond."

Joybuy's website and app will sell over 100,000 products across technology, appliances, beauty, homeware, and grocery. Brands will include Apple, Samsung, Sony and Philips.

Its platform will also feature dedicated brand stores including L'Oreal, Braun, DeLonghi, BRITA, and Bodum.

JD.com said prices will be "competitive".

FAST DELIVERY IS KEY SELLING POINT

Fast delivery to shoppers in major cities will be a key selling point, said Matthew Nobbs, Joybuy UK managing director, with orders placed by 11 a.m. arriving the same day, and orders placed before 11 p.m. arriving the next day.

More than 15 million households in Europe and the UK overall would be covered by same-day delivery from launch.

Delivery is free on orders over 29 euros ($33.21) or 29 pounds ($38.52), and Joybuy is also targeting Amazon Prime with its "JoyPlus" unlimited free delivery subscription at an introductory price of 3.99 euros or 3.99 pounds a month.

Nobbs declined to say how much JD.com has invested in the project, which includes 60 warehouses and depots across Europe and its own last-mile delivery service.

He said lessons had been learnt from its first foray into Europe in 2022 - a trial in the Netherlands called Ochama - that failed to make an impact.

Ed Sander, tech analyst at Tech Buzz China, said the acquisition of Ceconomy was a much bigger deal for JD.com's Europe business: "It comes with an already existing customer base, which is something that Joybuy would have to build from scratch."
Chinese e-commerce group JD.com has introduced its Joybuy online marketplace in the UK and five additional European markets as part of its international expansion.

The platform launched simultaneously in Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and the UK.

It sells products across several categories, including technology, appliances, beauty, home goods, groceries and everyday essentials.

In the UK, eligible orders placed before 11am qualify for same-day delivery through the Double 11 service, arriving before 11pm. Orders submitted before 11pm are delivered the following day.

When launched, the service will reach more than 17 million people across 4.5 million households.

Coverage includes cities such as London, Birmingham, Leicester, Nottingham, Oxford and Cambridge.

Customers outside Double 11 delivery areas can still use next-day or standard delivery services across the country.

Logistics operations are managed through JoyExpress, JD.coms delivery network, which operates more than 60 warehouses and depots across Europe.

In the UK, the company runs self-managed warehouse facilities in Milton Keynes and Luton with a combined floor area of more than 90,000m.

Joybuy features brand stores from companies, including Bodum, Braun, Emma, DeLonghi, LOreal Paris, and The Pink Stuff.

A Joybuy UK spokesperson said: Our investment in the UK and across Europe is focused on ensuring that when a customer clicks buy, they know the product will be delivered to their door with the quality, speed and reliability they deserve.

The company has also introduced JoyPlus, a subscription programme that provides free delivery without a minimum order value, alongside exclusive offers and a points-based rewards scheme.

JD.com has been expanding its European presence as part of broader international growth plans.

Last year, it agreed to acquire German electronics retailer Ceconomy, owner of the MediaMarkt and Saturn chains.

"JD.com launches Joybuy marketplace across Europe" was originally created and published by Retail Insight Network, a GlobalData owned brand.




LIMA, Peru, March 16, 2026--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Johnson & Johnson announced the arrival in Peru of a new pulsed field ablation (PFA) technology for the treatment of drug-refractory paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. This incorporation represents a significant advance in the approach to cardiac arrhythmias, with benefits in terms of safety, precision, and procedural efficiency.1

"With this launch, Peru joins the Latin American countries that already have this world-class innovation, used in international reference centers. In the country, institutions such as Clinica Delgado of the AUNA group will lead its implementation, consolidating Peru's positioning at the forefront of electrophysiology," says Silvina Romero, General Manager, Peru & Ecuador, MedTech, Johnson & Johnson. "The procedure was performed using VARIPULSE technology, currently under evaluation by the institution as part of its ongoing commitment to identifying innovations for patient treatment. This is how our presence in the region directly impacts the quality of life of the thousands of Peruvian patients living with atrial fibrillation."

One of the most relevant differentiators of this innovation is that it is an integrated mapping and ablation system, allowing electrophysiologists to work with real-time visualization and immediate feedback during the procedure. This integration facilitates a more efficient, reproducible workflow with minimal fluoroscopy exposure, contributing to improved patient safety and medical team confidence. 2 3 4

For Dr. Mario Cabrera, cardiologist at Clinica Delgado of the AUNA group, "the integration of three-dimensional mapping and pulsed field ablation in a single system substantially improves our ability to make decisions during the procedure. This translates into more efficient operating times, a lower complication rate, and reduced radiation exposure for both the patient and our medical team  all fundamental aspects of the quality care we strive to provide."5

Atrial fibrillation is the most common cardiac arrhythmia globally, affecting more than 50 million people worldwide.6 When medications fail to control the condition, catheter ablation is established as a safe and effective option for restoring normal heart rhythm.7

"Atrial fibrillation affects thousands of Peruvians, and many of them do not respond adequately to pharmacological treatment. Having this innovation positions us at the regional forefront and, most importantly, allows us to offer our patients the possibility of recovering their quality of life," concludes Dr. Cabrera.
Indian company JSW Steel has initiated the development of the Minas de Revuboe (MdR) coking coal mining project in the Moatize coal basin, Tete Province, Mozambique.

The announcement was made during a ceremony in Moatize, attended by the President of the Republic of Mozambique, Daniel Francisco Chapo, and representatives from JSW Group and Indian Government officials.

This event is seen as a significant development in industrial ties between India and Mozambique.

The MdR project provides JSW Steel with access to extensive reserves of quality hard coking coal essential for steel manufacturing.

Its is strategically located approximately 10km north of Tete city, with proximity to the Beira and Nacala ports, offering logistical benefits for supplying Indian steel plants.

Total reserves at MdR are estimated at 850 million tonnes (mt), with 250mt projected to be extractable.

The project will be developed in stages, with the initial phase aiming to produce 2.4 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of prime hard coking coal over the next two and a half years.

This initiative marks a pivotal move in JSW Steel's strategy to integrate its supply chain backwards, providing a steady supply of a crucial material given India's limited domestic premium coking coal resources.

The project is expected to help manage cost fluctuations by reducing exposure to global coking coal price volatility and optimising long-term production costs.

Securing high-grade coking coal also aligns with JSW Steel's sustainability goals by potentially lowering carbon emissions in steel production.

The quality of coal from MdR is expected to support the companys wider decarbonisation efforts.

Chapo said: The government and people of Mozambique are elated by the entry of a world leader like JSW Steel into Mozambique.

With the development of the Minas de Revuboe project, Mozambique looks forward to creating a world-class mining asset. With JSW Steels presence, Mozambique will prove to international investors the ease of doing business in Mozambique.

"JSW Steel initiates coal mining project in Mozambique" was originally created and published by Mining Technology, a GlobalData owned brand.




Julius Baer Group has announced that Olga Zoutendijk will not stand for re-election to its board of directors at the companys annual general meeting (AGM) on 9 April 2026, stepping down from her position at that time.

The wealth manager revealed plans to nominate Urban Angehrn and Colin Bell as new members of the Board at the 2026 AGM.

Julius Baer Group board chairman Noel Quinn said: I would like to express my deep gratitude to Olga for her many important and valuable contributions to Julius Baer over the last seven years.

Olga has been a valued member of the Audit Committee and the Governance & Risk Committee since she joined the Board, and she was a strong contributor to the many constructive debates that have taken place over this time. After concluding a period of transition for Julius Baer over the last two years, she leaves the organisation in a stronger position and has decided that now is the right time to retire from the Board at our 2026 AGM.

Bell, who previously worked as group chief compliance officer for HSBC and UBS, retired recently and has experience in compliance, risk management, and leadership roles at major financial institutions.

He has also interacted with several regulatory authorities, including the Financial Conduct Authority and the European Central Bank.

Quinn added: I am pleased to welcome Colin Bell to the Board. He brings tremendous experience and contributes important capabilities of building and operating sophisticated compliance programmes, along with his business and technology transformation skills.

Julius Baer noted that with these changes, the Board would not fulfil its gender diversity targets for now.

The company said it is in the process of seeking qualified female candidates for future consideration and aims to meet diversity requirements before the AGM in 2027.

More details about the boards composition will be shared in the AGM circular expected in March.

The Swiss wealth manager reported a 25% fall in net profit for 2025, down to SFr764m ($981.3m).

This decline was attributed to one-off charges and credit losses of SFr213m, following writedowns linked to the collapse of Signa property group in the previous year.

"Julius Baer announces board overhaul " was originally created and published by Private Banker International, a GlobalData owned brand.




This article first appeared on GuruFocus.

South Korea's equity market is once again under the spotlight after a wave of volatility rattled the nearly $4 trillion market, pushing investors to reassess how much influence two semiconductor heavyweights exert over the broader index. Samsung Electronics (SSNLF) and SK Hynix (HXSCL) together account for almost 40% of the Kospi Index and roughly half of the MSCI Korea gauge, meaning even modest swings in their shares can ripple across the entire market. The concern resurfaced after turbulence tied to the Iran war triggered sharp gyrations, including a record drop followed by the strongest rebound since 2008, prompting investors to search for structural forces that could be amplifying the moves.

One explanation gaining traction centers on the growing role of leveraged exchange-traded funds linked to SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics. Because single-stock leveraged ETFs are not permitted in Seoul, investors have increasingly turned to Hong Kong-listed products such as the CSOP SK Hynix Daily 2x Leveraged Product and the CSOP Samsung Electronics Daily 2x Leveraged Product. Those two funds hold about $3.3 billion in combined assets, placing them among the Chinese asset manager's largest vehicles. The structure of these funds requires daily rebalancing to maintain targeted leverage, meaning they may need to sell futures or underlying shares after market declines, a process that could intensify swings during volatile sessions.

Trading patterns suggest these flows may already be playing a meaningful role in price action. A UBS trading desk note cited by Bloomberg indicated that rebalancing activity accounted for as much as 60% of SK Hynix trading volume during the final hour on March 3, when the shares fell 16%, while similar flows represented roughly 30% of activity in other sessions. The surge in leveraged ETF interest has coincided with a powerful Kospi rally that lifted the index nearly 140% in the year through Feb. 27, though geopolitical tensions, profit-taking by foreign investors and margin calls affecting retail traders have also contributed to the turbulence. With Seoul considering allowing leveraged ETF trading domestically as part of efforts to attract retail participation, some market participants suggest the structural influence of these products could remain an important factor for investors monitoring Korea's equity market.
They joked about their customers being stupid and how they were robbing them blind. Now, two Live Nation execs could be off the hook after the Department of Justice (DOJ) settled its antitrust lawsuit against the event promotion company and Ticketmaster, which it owns.

Prosecutors sought (1) to enter the private Slack messages from 2022 that were exchanged between Ben Baker and Jeff Weinhold, both Live Nation regional ticketing directors at the time, into evidence in the case that aims to break up the companys monopoly power over live events (2). They also hoped to compel Baker  whos since been promoted to head of amphitheater ticketing according to Pollstar (3)  to testify. But Baker has evaded that, for now, with the prospect of a settlement (4).

Must Read

Meanwhile, the Slack messages gloated about fleecing customers, with Baker admitting I gouge them on ancil prices, including how I charge $50 to park in the grass  $60 for closer grass. He added robbing them blind baby  thats how we do, to which Weinhold laughed (5).

Weinhold also boasted about raising prices, including VIP parking at an event to $250 (6). These people are so stupid, Baker quipped. I almost feel bad taking advantage of them.

The messages imply that the perceived price gouging is deliberate, even celebrated, while fans are left holding the increasingly hefty bill  an issue so pervasive that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) used it as one of the key points in a lawsuit against the companies last year (7).

That said, despite the antitrust settlement, numerous state attorneys general plan to continue the fight  which means there could be justice for frustrated fans on the horizon.

The Live Nation settlement and what it means for fans

The antitrust suit, launched in 2024 by the DOJ and more than 30 states, aims to undo the 2010 Live Nation and Ticketmaster merger. The New York Times reported that the union gave Live Nation global reach and a sprawling business model unmatched by any rival  a $25 billion revenue generator in 2025 alone, that includes control over hundreds of venues and artists (8).

But, the Times added, the government accused Live Nation of repeatedly breaking a merger agreement to not refuse live events to venues that didnt use Ticketmasters service, which eventually led to the current antitrust battle.
Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) is among the 8 Best Drone Stocks to Buy for the Next 3 Years. On March 12, the Department of War (DOW) announced that the company was awarded a contract worth $111.5 million by the Naval Air Systems Command for the procurement of the F-35 Drag Chute System.

Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMT) Secures $111.5 Million Naval Contract Order

This is a fixed price order against an earlier ordering agreement. According to the release, the F-35 Drag Chute System is being procured for the Lot 18-19 aircraft delivery in support of Non-U.S. DOW Participants and Foreign Military Sales customers operational aircraft.

In other news, Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) further expanded its ties with Japan during the week by providing the Japanese Ministry of Defense with a second Aegis System-Equipped Vessel (ASEV) shipset, including AN/SPY-7(V)1 radar equipment.

Earlier in the month, the defense contractor announced that it will supply an anti-jamming payload for Japans Next-Generation Defense Satellite Communication System, which will offer enhanced interoperability and interference resistance.

The stock remains on analysts radar and currently carries a Hold rating as of the close on March 13. It has a one-year average share price target of $659.31, representing an upside of 2%.

Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) is one of the worlds largest defense contractors. It specializes in the research, design, and development of advanced technology systems, products, and services.

While we acknowledge the potential of LMT as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.

READ NEXT: 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds Heading Into 2026 and 10 Best Aerospace Dividend Stocks to Buy

Disclosure: None. Follow Insider Monkey on Google News.
This article first appeared on GuruFocus.

Lynas Rare Earths (LYSDY) has outlined a new supply framework with the Pentagon that could reinforce Western access to critical minerals used in advanced manufacturing and defense technologies. The company said it signed a binding letter of intent covering the potential supply of heavy and light rare-earth oxides over four years, with the arrangement valued at $96 million. The framework includes a floor price of $110 per kilogram for neodymium-praseodymium oxide, a material widely used in applications such as electric-vehicle motors, wind turbines and military systems.

Chief Executive Officer Amanda Lacaze said the framework could help ensure the US Defense Industrial Base continues to access rare-earth oxides that remain essential for modern manufacturing. Lynas had already been selling rare-earth material to the US defense industry through spot transactions that were not tied to a floor price, Lacaze said previously during a call with investors in late February, distinguishing those earlier sales from the structured supply framework announced on Monday.

The agreement comes as Lynas continues to operate as one of the few major rare-earth producers outside China, which dominates much of the global supply chain. The company runs a mine and processing plant in Western Australia and also operates a processing facility in Malaysia. Lynas said the new Pentagon framework follows a mutual decision to modify an earlier agreement related to building a heavy rare-earth processing facility in Texas, where the company noted there remains significant uncertainty about whether construction will proceed. The announcement also follows a separate offtake agreement signed less than a week earlier with Japan Australia Rare Earths BV to supply at least 5,000 tons of neodymium-praseodymium oxide annually through 2038 at the same $110-per-kilogram floor price.
Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban once delivered a frank message to business owners who resist paying higher wages: if companies underpay workers, everyone else ends up covering the cost.

Cuban explained that his views on the minimum wage changed after he discovered something troubling inside his own company. On the Valuetainment podcast in 2015, he shared that some employees were working full-time but still relying on government assistance to get by.

Low Wages Shift Costs To Everyone

That discovery pushed Cuban to rethink how businesses treat lower-paid workers. He said he didn't like the idea that taxpayers were indirectly making up for wages that were too low.

Don't Miss: Most founders obsess over the wrong hires. See the 5 startup roles that actually determine whether a company scales or stalls.

I hate the idea that Im subsidizing somebody, Cuban said. You know, the fact that Im not paying enough, everybodys taxes are subsidizing this persons life.

As a result, Cuban raised the minimum wage at his company to at least $10 an hour later that year.

For Cuban, the issue comes down to fairness. When companies pay very low wages, workers often rely on public programs like food assistance or housing support to survive. That means taxpayers help fill the gap created by low pay.

All of us pay for the fact that youre not paying that person enough, Cuban said in the interview, directing his criticism at entrepreneurs who resist raising wages.

He also noted that if wage increases apply broadly across businesses, the competitive playing field stays level. In other words, if everyone has to follow the same rules, no company gains an unfair advantage by paying workers less.

Trending: Think you're saving enough for your kids? You might be dangerously off  see why

Debate Over What Minimum Wage Should Do

The conversation around minimum wage has continued for years, with strong opinions on both sides.

Personal finance expert Dave Ramsey has taken a different view. In a 2024 conversation with comedian Theo Von, Ramsey argued that minimum wage was never designed to support a family or build long-term wealth.

I dont think any time in history, minimum wage has been enough to take care of a family, Ramsey said. So youve always had to think beyond minimum wage if you wanted to excel, if you wanted, a, build some wealth or b, just take care of a family.

Ramsey believes workers shouldnt treat minimum wage as a limit. He pointed to his own experience as a teenager mowing lawns, saying he charged $3 per yard when the minimum wage at the time was $1.65 per hour.
Nebius (NBIS) stock fell 9% on Tuesday after the AI infrastructure company announced it was raising $3.75 billion in convertible debt following major deals with Meta (META) and Nvidia (NVDA).

Nebius announced it will sell convertible senior notes to institutional buyers in two series: $2 billion due 2031 and $1.75 billion due 2033. The neocloud company, which provides cloud services specifically built for artificial intelligence, said it intends to use the funds to finance business growth by building data centers and buying chips.

Read more about Nebius's stock moves and today's market action.

The debt offering follows two landmark deals the company inked in March, valued cumulatively at $29 billion, that have driven the stock 32% higher over the past month.

On Monday, Nebius agreed to sell Meta $12 billion in computing capacity starting in 2027, providing Meta with access to Nvidia's (NVDA) Vera Rubin platform. Meta has also committed to purchasing up to $15 billion in additional compute capacity that Nebius has reserved for third-party customers over a five-year period.

Nebius also reached a deal directly with Nvidia last week, in which it agreed to deploy more than 5 gigawatts of data center capacity by the end of 2030 in exchange for a $2 billion investment from Nvidia.

News of the deal with Meta lifted Nebius stock by more than 14% on Monday, while Meta rose by more than 3%, alongside a Reuters report over the weekend that Meta is planning sweeping layoffs. According to the report, Meta is exploring laying off up to 20% of its workforce to help defray the costs of its AI infrastructure build-out.

Visitors view racks for data servers, GPUs, and CPUs during a tour inside the Nebius AI UK data center, a new facility hosting Nvidia and other computer firms, at Ark Data Centres, in Chertsey, Britain, on Nov. 6, 2025. (Reuters/Toby Melville)  REUTERS / Reuters

Meta is one of several hyperscalers that have spent billions on its artificial intelligence build-out. In 2026, the company forecast spending between $115 billion and $135 billion on AI, up from $72.22 billion in 2025.

A significant portion of its capital expenditures has gone toward its Superintelligence Labs, including the development of in-house chips to meet demand for artificial intelligence.

Meta has spent billions on splashy hires, including bringing on Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang as its chief AI officer by spending $14.3 billion to acquire his company, and hiring Moltbook's creators, Matt Schlicht and Ben Parr. The company has also joined the race to build "AI factories" and expects to spend $600 billion to build data centers by 2028.

StockStory aims to help individual investors beat the market.

Click here for the latest stock market news and in-depth analysis, including events that move stocks

Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance
Micron Technology (MU) stock surged by more than 5% through midday trading on Monday after the digital memory and storage provider announced plans to build a second chip manufacturing facility in Taiwan.

The new chip facility will be built at a newly acquired site from Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp., and it will produce cutting-edge DRAM products, such as high-bandwidth memory (HBM), to meet AI demand.

Investors were also preparing for the company's fiscal second-quarter earnings report due after the closing bell on Wednesday.

Micron is expected to report $19.3 billion in revenue, according to estimates compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence, representing growth of more than 40% quarter-on-quarter and more than 130% year-on-year. Analysts are estimating adjusted earnings of $8.66 per share, more than 80% over the prior quarter and more than 450% higher than a year ago.

Shares in Micron, the largest American manufacturer of memory chips, are up more than 340% year-on-year. At the same time as the company is investing its new Taiwan facility, Micron is also spending $50 billion to double the size of its manufacturing facility in Boise, Idaho, where the company is based.

The construction will include two new chip fabrication facilities, The Wall Street Journal reported.

S&P Global Visible Alpha analyst Melissa Otto noted in a recent memo that stocks such as Micron and Sandisk (SNDK), which are up more than 1,200% from a year ago, have heavily benefited from the rotation out of software into memory, which is poised to be a large beneficiary of the AI boom and related drive for computing power.

Memory chips are key components of the data centers that Big Tech is planning to spend hundreds of billions of dollars building out in 2026 as the demand for AI continues to surge. The processing chips designed by companies like Nvidia and AMD require increasing amounts of memory chips to function.

"MUs continued strong technological execution and discipline on capex is resulting in what we view to be a paradigm shift in the memory sector," Deutsche Bank analyst Melissa Weathers wrote in a recent client note.

She added: "We are seeing stronger evidence of a memory industry that is structurally low on supply, which could sustain for multiple years to come."

A technician walks into a chip processing clean room at the Micron Technology automotive chip manufacturing plant Tuesday Jan. 1, 2019, in Manassas, Va. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)  ASSOCIATED PRESS

Jake Conley is a breaking news reporter covering US equities for Yahoo Finance. Follow him on X at @byjakeconley or email him at jake.conley@yahooinc.com.
Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF) stands among the 11 best very cheap stocks to buy according to billionaires.

Mixed Investor Sentiment on Capital One Financial (COF), While Management Remains Confident

With over 75% of covering analysts maintaining bullish ratings and a consensus price target of $275.00 (48.75% upside), investor opinion toward Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF) remains positive, as evidenced by its outperformance relative to the industry over the longer term.

While Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF) declined almost 17% over the last six months compared to the 10% decrease in the credit services industry, the companys shares have increased by over 12% over the last year, significantly outpacing the industrys 1.78% decrease, indicating that investors still view the companys strategy positively despite recent uncertainty.

Recent commentary came from BofA in March, which cautioned that it sees an increasingly uncertain macro outlook and lower market multiples. Accordingly, the firm reduced its price target on Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF) to $254 from $280, while reiterating a Buy rating.

At the same time, Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF)s management appeared at the UBS Financial Services Conference 2026, where it expressed optimism about progress on the Discover Financial integration and Brex acquisition. From Discover integration, management projects $2.5 billion in revenue and expense synergies by the second quarter of 2027. Reaffirming a digital-first banking strategy, management expects consumer stability to remain strong, delinquency rates to remain flat, and card activity growth to continue.

Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF) is a technology-driven financial services provider that offers credit cards, consumer banking, and commercial banking services. It uses advanced analytics and cloud infrastructure to supply financial products in the U.S., Canada, and the UK.

While we acknowledge the potential of COF as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.

READ NEXT: 33 Stocks That Should Double in 3 Years and 15 Stocks That Will Make You Rich in 10 Years

Disclosure: None. Follow Insider Monkey on Google News.
Morning Minute is a daily newsletter written by Tyler Warner. The analysis and opinions expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Decrypt. And check out our new daily news show covering all of the top stories in 5 minutes or less, downloadable on Apple Pod or Spotify.

GM!

Todays top news:

Crypto majors are very green with ETH leading; BTC at $73,700 & ETH $2,275

The Bitcoin ETFs posted a 5-day inflow streak with $763M in net inflows

Tom Lee buys $10M in ETH OTC from the Foundation

Stanley Druckenmiller says stablecoins could reshape the global payments system

New LIBRA report shows $5M payment to Argentine President Milei

 Crypto Holds Up Through a Weekend of War Headlines

The macro backdrop remains tense, but crypto is holding up surprisingly well.

As of this morning, Bitcoin is trading at $73,900, Ethereum at $2,280, and Solana at $93.80.

Over the last seven days, Bitcoin is up 9%, Ethereum up 13.9%, and Solana up 12.1%.

Thats a notable show of strength, especially with gold down and stocks flat.

In fact, many shared strong concerns that today would be a very red Monday.

After the U.S. struck Kharg Island, traders immediately focused on energy supply risk because Kharg handles roughly 90% of Irans oil exports. Reuters reported that Brent climbed to about $105 a barrel in the aftermath, while U.S. crude briefly topped $100, as the market priced in the risk of deeper disruption across the Gulf.

Yet oil is down this morning, stock futures are slightly green and crypto majors are leading the way.

Key Details

 Reuters reported oil had surged more than 25% over the weekend

 Bitcoin is up 9% on the week with ETH leading up 14%, outperforming other markets

 HYPE is trading over $39, up 24% on the week

 Bitcoin ETFs Logged Inflows All Five Days Last Week

Spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded net inflows on all five trading days last week, according to CoinGlass data.

From March 9 through March 13, the group brought in about $763.4M in total net inflows. Notably, thats the first 5-day inflow streak of 2026 and hasnt happened since November 2025.

The ETH ETFs were also green on the last 4 trading days, with $117M in net inflows on the week.

Key Details

 Weekly net inflows totaled about $763.4M

 This was reported as the first five-day inflow streak of 2026

 IBIT was the largest contributor on several days, including $185.8M on March 10 and $143.6M on March 13

 Tom Lees BitMine Bought ETH Directly From the Ethereum Foundation

The Ethereum Foundation sold 5,000 ETH directly to Tom Lees BitMine in an over-the-counter transaction worth about $10.2M, according to Decrypt.
By Aditya Soni and Toby Sterling

March 16 (Reuters) - Amsterdam-based AI infrastructure firm Nebius Group said Monday it has signed a five-year deal with Meta Platforms to provide the social media giant with $12 billion of AI computing capacity across multiple locations by 2027.

Under the deal, Meta will also buy an additional $15 billion worth of capacity planned by Nebius over the coming five years if it is not sold to other customers, giving the contract a total value of up to $27 billion, Nebius said.

Last week, Nvidia said it would invest $2 billion for an 8.3% stake in Nebius, which uses Nvidia chips in its data centers.

DATACENTER RACE

The deal is the latest sign of U.S. tech giants racing to supplement their own AI data-centre build-outs by locking in scarce GPU and power capacity from "neocloud" providers like Nebius.

Neocloud firms Nebius and U.S. competitor Coreweave provide infrastructure but hope to become major cloud service providers in their own right.

Nebius CEO Arkady Volozh said the latest Meta deal would help "accelerate the build-out and growth of our core AI cloud business."

It signed an initial $3 billion deal with Meta in November and a $17.4 billion deal with Microsoft in September.

(Reporting by Aditya Soni in Bengaluru, Toby Sterling in Amsterdam; Editing by Leroy Leo and Bernadette Baum)
* A qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimates as current mineral resources or mineral reserves and the Company is not treating the historical estimates as current mineral resources or mineral reserves. See Notes Regarding Historical Estimates below for further information regarding the above historical estimates.

Svabovce has a historic resource of 13.9 Mt at 14.47% Mn* (2) , one of the largest manganese deposits in the EU

The Carbonate Advantage: Nuclear Vision is acquiring strategically positioned manganese carbonate (MnCO 3 ) deposits in Slovakia. Unlike typical oxide deposits, the Projects host manganese in carbonate form. This can enable direct acid leaching, bypassing the energy-intensive and carbon-heavy reduction roasting required for oxide ores.

The Company agreed to acquire the operating rights and license to the Projects, located within Slovakias emerging "Battery Belt", and it intends to transfer the licenses to a brand new wholly-owned Slovakia corporation. The Svabovce Project consists of a 47.24 km granted exploration license and the Michalova Project is contained within a 14.34 km granted tenement. Both projects are strategically positioned within 300 kilometers of major automotive and battery manufacturing hubs, including facilities for Volvo and Gotion-InoBat. For more details on the Projects, refer to the Companys news release of January 21, 2026.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 16, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nuclear Vision Limited ( Nuclear Vision  or the  Company )(CSE: NUKV) is pleased to announce that, further to its news release of January 21, 2026, it has paid an aggregate of 100,000 and issued an aggregate of 10,000,000 common shares of the Company (each, a  Share ) at a deemed price of $0.24 per Share pursuant to the assignment of option agreement and consent to assignment dated January 21, 2026 (the  Assignment Agreement ) with Private Equity Pty and Kluane Capital FZCO (together, the  Assignor ), both of which are arms length parties to the Company, whereby the Assignor assigned to the Company all of its rights, title and interest in an existing option to purchase agreement dated January 14, 2026 (the  Option Agreement ) with VMS Exploration S.R.O. ( VMS ) (the  Acquisition ). Under the Option Agreement, the Assignor held an option to acquire a 100% interest in two manganese carbonate projects, Svabovce and Michalova (together, the  Projects ), located in the heart of Slovakias emerging Battery Belt. The Company has agreed to assume the obligations of the Assignor under the Option Agreement.

Story Continues

Infrastructure Ready: The Projects benefit from immediate proximity to established rail, power, and road networks, de-risking the development timeline.

Offtake Proximity: The Projects are strategically located near prominent battery and vehicle manufacturers, and gigafactories, making them well-positioned to benefit from the growing demand for battery grade materials.

Critical Timing: The acquisition coincides with the EUs Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) mandates and Germanys recent 3 billion EV stimulus package 1 , which favors the high-manganese, low-cost battery chemistries (LMFP) that these assets are ideally suited to supply.

Development Roadmap: The Company intends to advance verification work, including confirmation programs, with the objective of completing an NI 43-101 compliant mineral resource estimate, if warranted.





The Projects are currently in the verification stage. Both sites have a history of operational activity, Svabovce was mined from the 1850s until 1971 and contains roughly 35 km of underground workings, and Michalova has seen historic small-scale mining and initial metallurgical operations, and both have historic, Soviet resources.

Notes Regarding Historical Estimates:

(1) The historical estimate for the Michalova Project was published by Slovak State Geological Institute (SGUDS) as part of the State Balance of Mineral Reserves in 1993 under the Slovak GKZ system. The historical estimate is reported as 10.4 Mt at 9.49% Mn and was classified under the GKZ alphabetical system (A+B+C1+C2), which differs from CIM categories as defined under NI 43-101. While GKZ categories are sometimes compared conceptually with CIM categories, such comparisons are approximations only and are not considered equivalent.

The foreign historical estimate is considered relevant as it was reportedly derived from historical drilling and underground sampling. However, the historical estimate has limited reliability as the Company does not currently have access to supporting information including drill core and/or core photographs; detailed sampling, sample preparation, and analytical methodology; quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) data; core recovery information; downhole surveys or collar survey data; or sample security information.

The historical estimate was reportedly estimated using the polygonal method assuming an underground mining scenario and prevailing metal prices at the time. Key assumptions and parameters (including cut-off grade, bulk density, grade capping, interpolation parameters, and QA/QC procedures) are not available to the Company at this time. The Company is not aware of any more recent mineral resource estimates for the Project prepared in accordance with NI 43-101.

To verify the historical estimate as current mineral resources in accordance with NI 43-101, the Company intends to complete verification work, including a site visit and data validation, and may undertake additional confirmation programs and modern QA/QC procedures to support an NI 43-101 compliant mineral resource estimate, if warranted.

A qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as current mineral resources or mineral reserves and the Company is not treating the historical estimate as current mineral resources or mineral reserves.

(2) The historical estimate for the Svabovce Project was published by Slovak State Geological Institute (SGUDS) as part of the State Balance of Mineral Reserves in 2000 under the Slovak GKZ system. The historical estimate is reported as 13.9 Mt at 14.47% Mn and was classified under the GKZ alphabetical system (A+B+C1+C2), which differs from CIM categories as defined under NI 43-101. While GKZ categories are sometimes compared conceptually with CIM categories, such comparisons are approximations only and are not considered equivalent.

The foreign historical estimate is considered relevant as it was reportedly derived from historical drilling and underground sampling. However, the historical estimate has limited reliability as the Company does not currently have access to supporting information including drill core and/or core photographs; detailed sampling, sample preparation, and analytical methodology; QA/QC data; core recovery information; downhole surveys or collar survey data; or sample security information.

The historical estimate was reportedly estimated using the polygonal method assuming an underground mining scenario and prevailing metal prices at the time. Key assumptions and parameters (including cut-off grade, bulk density, grade capping, interpolation parameters, and QA/QC procedures) are not available to the Company at this time. The Company is not aware of any more recent mineral resource estimates for the Project prepared in accordance with NI 43-101.

To verify the historical estimate as current mineral resources in accordance with NI 43-101, the Company intends to complete verification work, including a site visit and data validation, and may undertake additional confirmation programs and modern QA/QC procedures to support an NI 43-101 compliant mineral resource estimate, if warranted.

A qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as current mineral resources or mineral reserves and the Company is not treating the historical estimate as current mineral resources or mineral reserves.

The Company referenced the Chvaletice Manganese Project in the neighbouring Czech Republic as a valuation comparable. Chvaletice is the only other manganese project in the European Union and currently holds a market capitalization of approximately C$26 million. Nuclear Vision valued the Acquisition at approximately 10% of Euro Manganese's current market value  a discount that reflects the fact that the Chvaletice project has completed a feasibility study and achieved "Strategic Project" status under the EU Critical Raw Materials Act, whereas the Projects require confirmation of historical resources and further metallurgical work. The price of the shares issued was based on the Company's average share price at the time the transaction was initially agreed to.

The Assignor brings a unique combination of in-country, EU, and global financing networks, along with deep familiarity with the Projects developed through years of direct engagement with the project owners. This strategic context was a key factor in structuring the Acquisition. The Projects have been inactive since production ceased in the 1970s, and the Company believes that the Assignor complements the Companys technical, commercial, and financing capability to advance the project to a restart.

The Company notes that it has agreed to pay a fraction of what the market currently values the only other manganese project in Europe. So, the Company believes it has acquired the Projects at a very favourable price.

The Shares are not registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended or the securities laws of any state of the United States. The Shares are subject to a statutory hold period expiring four months and one day after the date of issuance, as set out in National Instrument 45-102  Resale of Securities and are subject to a voluntary six month hold period.

Qualified Person

The scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Lorne Warner, P.Geo., Director of Nuclear Vision Ltd., who is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101  Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

Portfolio Diversification

The addition of the Slovak manganese assets complements Nuclear Visions existing portfolio of uranium projects in Botswana and reinforces the Companys strategy of building a diversified energy transition metals platform focused on:

Secure jurisdictions

Infrastructure-ready assets

Clear pathways to commercialisation





Through disciplined project advancement and systematic de-risking, Nuclear Vision aims to attract strategic partners and become a meaningful participant in the global critical minerals supply chain.

About Nuclear Vision Ltd.

Nuclear Vision Ltd. is an energy transition focused exploration and development company advancing a diversified portfolio of uranium and critical mineral assets in stable, mining-friendly jurisdictions. The Companys strategy is to identify underdeveloped assets with strong fundamentals, advance them through disciplined technical programs, and create long-term value through responsible development.



For more information, please contact:



Derrick Dao

Chief Executive Officer

info@nuclearvisionltd.com

+1 825 558 3828

Carrie Howes

Investor Relations

chowes@nuclearvisionltd.com

+1 647 725 9639

Footnotes, sources

German Ministry of Environment as reported by Reuters Jan 19, 2026 https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/benchmark-launches-manganese-sulphate-market-outlook

European Commission: Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, Study on the critical raw materials for the EU 2023  Final report, Publications Office of the European Union, 2023

Forward-Looking Statements:

This news release contains forwardlooking statements and forwardlooking information (collectively, forwardlooking statements) within the meaning of applicable Canadian legislation. Forwardlooking statements are typically identified by words such as: believes, expects, anticipates, intends, estimates, plans, may, should, would, will, potential, scheduled or variations of such words and phrases and similar expressions, which, by their nature, refer to future events or results that may, could, would, might or will occur or be taken or achieved. All statements in this news release that are not purely historical are forwardlooking statements and include statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations and orientations regarding the future, the continued demand for manganese carbonate and electric batteries, the drill-readiness of the Projects, the anticipated results of exploration and development on the Projects, the Companys ability to commercialize the Projects, and the Companys ability to form strategic relationships with key customers and supply chain partners. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable and reflect expectations of future developments and other factors which management believes to be reasonable and relevant, the Company can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. In making the forwardlooking statements in this news release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, including without limitation, that market fundamentals will support the viability of Manganese carbonate exploration, the availability of the financing required for the Company to carry out their planned future activities on the Projects, and the availability of and the ability to retain and attract qualified personnel. Other factors may also adversely affect the future results or performance of the Company, including general economic, market or business conditions, future prices of minerals, changes in the financial markets and in the demand for minerals and electric batteries, changes in laws, regulations and policies affecting the mineral exploration industry and electric battery industry, as well as the risks and uncertainties which are more fully described in Companys annual and quarterly managements discussion and analysis and in other filings made by the Company with Canadian securities regulatory authorities under the Companys SEDAR+ profile. Ongoing labour shortages, inflationary pressures, changing interest rates, the global financial climate and the conflicts in Ukraine and Palestine and surrounding regions are some additional factors that are affecting current economic conditions and increasing economic uncertainty, which may impact the Companys operating performance, financial position, and future prospects. Collectively, the potential impacts of this economic environment pose risks that are currently indescribable and immeasurable. No assurance can be given that any of the events anticipated by the forwardlooking statements will occur or, if they do occur, what benefits the Company will obtain from them. Readers are cautioned that forwardlooking statements are not guarantees of future performance or events and, accordingly, are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forwardlooking statements due to the inherent uncertainty of such statements. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update such forwardlooking information whether because of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable law.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor the Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.




Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) has been a cornerstone of the artificial intelligence (AI) trade since it became a popular investment theme following OpenAI's release of ChatGPT in late 2022. The stock has advanced 1,100% since January 2023, but shares have added just 1% in the past six months.

Fortunately, CEO Jensen Huang just gave investors great news that should ease concerns about whether AI spending is sustainable and whether Nvidia can hold its leadership position in AI infrastructure. Here are the important details.

Will AI create the world's first trillionaire? Our team just released a report on the one little-known company, called an "Indispensable Monopoly" providing the critical technology Nvidia and Intel both need. Continue 

Image source: The Motley Fool.

Jensen Huang says data center spending will reach $3 trillion to $4 trillion annually by 2030

Many investors are worried about the sustainability of AI spending, but Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang attempted to quell those concerns during the company's fourth-quarter earnings call in February. "Compute demand is growing exponentially -- the agentic AI inflection point has arrived," he told analysts.

Companies are developing increasingly complex models to keep pace in the AI arms race. For instance, the GPT-3 models developed by OpenAI arranged text based on probabilities, meaning they were essentially sophisticated autocomplete systems. But the GPT-5 models solve multistep problems through reasoning.

Reasoning models are more compute-intensive, which means more Nvidia GPUs are needed for training and inference. Reasoning models also produce better outcomes and broaden the number of AI use cases, per JPMorgan strategist Stephanie Aliaga. "Beneath the near trillion-dollar headlines is a real computing platform shift decades in the making that is reshaping industries and business models," she said.

Huang also told analysts how reasoning models will evolve: "The wave that we're seeing now is the agentic AI inflection and the next inflection beyond that is physical AI, where we take AI and these agentic systems into physical applications." Physical AI is an emerging discipline focused on autonomous machines like robots and vehicles. "That's a giant opportunity," he told analysts.

Huang expects data center spending to reach $3 trillion to $4 trillion annually by 2030. For context, the top five hyperscalers are forecast to spend $700 billion on capital expenditures (capex) in 2026, meaning total capex might be somewhere around $1 trillion this year. So Huang thinks the market can triple or quadruple by the end of the decade, which implies annual growth between 32% and 41%.
Nvidia (NVDA) is taking its AI chips to the next frontier: space. The company revealed its Vera Rubin Space Module during its GTC 2026 event in San Jose, Calif., on Monday, saying the platform is designed for orbital data centers, geospatial intelligence, and autonomous space operations.

Nvidias chips have already made the trek to space, with startup Starcloud launching an H100 processor on a satellite in November. The processor became the first to run an AI model based on Googles Gemini and trained NanoGPT in space.

But Vera Rubin is a significant performance improvement over H100, with Nvidia saying the Rubin GPU will provide up to 25x more AI compute power for space-based inferencing.

In addition to the Vera Rubin Space Module, which Nvidia says will be available at some point in the future, the company also talked up its Nvidia IGX Thor and Jetson Orin platforms for AI inferencing while in orbit.

Back on Earth, the company said its RTX Pro 6000 Blackwell Server Edition GPU can process geospatial data 100 times faster than CPU-based systems when analyzing enormous imagery archives.

Nvidia announced its new Vera Rubin Space Module during its GTC event in San Jose, Calif. on Monday.  Nvidia

AI processing across space and ground systems enables real-time sensing, decision-making and autonomy, transforming orbital data centers into instruments of discovery and spacecraft into self-navigating systems, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said in a statement. With our partners, were extending NVIDIA beyond our planet  boldly taking intelligence where its never gone before.

Orbital data centers have become a hot topic in Silicon Valley and beyond. The idea is that they can use solar energy for power and dont require the enormous cooling solutions necessary to operate on Earth.

Starcloud is just one company exploring the possibility of orbiting data centers. Googles Project Suncatcher is a moonshot looking into the possibility of connecting constellations of solar-powered satellites equipped with the companys TPU AI chips to run AI systems in space.

Elon Musk has said his team at SpaceX (SPAX.PVT) is working on its own space data centers, and, according to the Wall Street Journal, Jeff Bezos Blue Origin has been developing data center technology for space, as well.

But launching data centers into space is no easy task. You cant exactly strap a building to a rocket and chuck it into orbit. It will take a multitude of separate launches to get the thousands of satellites into space necessary to match the power of an Earth-based data center, and theres the risk that the technology will prove to be too capital-intensive even for Big Tech.
Just two months ago, NATO was in the middle of an existential crisis over President Donald Trumps insistence that the U.S. take control of Greenland. He threatened tariffs and refused to rule out military action, but eventually backed down.

Then on Sunday, Trump demanded the alliance help him clear the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has blocked since the U.S. and Israel launched their war on the Islamic republic two weeks ago.

Its only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries of the Strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there, Trump told the Financial Times, while also saying he could delay his summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. If theres no response or if its a negative response I think it will be very bad for the future of NATO.

After he precipitated the Greenland crisis this year and launched a trade war last year, allies have been re-evaluating the global order and their long-term future with the U.S.

Trump admitted to the FT that hes pessimistic about U.S. allies coming to his aid. But he suggested NATO owes him, despite years of berating member states for not spending more on defense and even belittling their losses fighting with the U.S. in Afghanistan.

Weve been very sweet, Trump said. We didnt have to help them with Ukraine. Ukraine is thousands of miles away from us  But we helped them. Now well see if they help us. Because Ive long said that well be there for them but they wont be there for us. And Im not sure that theyd be there.

He explained that NATO help could come in the form of minesweepers or commandos, and downplayed the military threat that Iran poses. While Irans military has indeed been decimated by U.S. and Israeli bombardment, it still packs enough punch to scare commercial shipping away from the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran seize gatekeeper role

But Tehran is also signaling that the strait isnt totally closed and that it wields the power to choose who may pass, as the U.S. military has yet to re-establish free navigation through the narrow waterway.

Oil prices have soared as Irans attacks on shipping in the Persian Gulf have created a de facto blockade over the strait, through which one-fifth of the worlds oil and liquid natural gas flow, with Wall Street warning crude could even hit $150 a barrel in a prolonged conflict.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Sunday that vessels from different countries have already been allowed to transit the strait and that a number of governments have approached Tehran about securing safe passage for their ships.
WTI, the primary U.S. oil benchmark, spiked on Sunday night when the futures market opened, hitting a high of $102.57 per barrel. However, it erased those gains on Monday, closing below $95 per barrel on reports that several countries had agreed to provide naval escorts for oil tankers in the Persian Gulf. Even with that dip, WTI is up nearly 70% this year due to the escalating conflict with Iran.

Here's a look at two developments in Iran that are affecting the oil market.

Will AI create the world's first trillionaire? Our team just released a report on the one little-known company, called an "Indispensable Monopoly" providing the critical technology Nvidia and Intel both need. Continue 

Image source: Getty Images.

Seeking to secure the Strait

Crude oil prices have rocketed this year amid concerns that the war with Iran will significantly impact supplies. Iran has responded to military attacks by the U.S. and Israel by striking oil tankers trying to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. Before the war began, about 20% of global oil supplies moved through this narrow waterway on their way out of the Persian Gulf.

The U.S. is seeking to secure the Strait. President Trump has asked several countries to assist with reopening it to maritime traffic. The Wall Street Journal reported late Sunday night that the Trump Administration would soon announce that multiple countries had agreed to help escort oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz. If oil can flow freely from the Persian Gulf, it would help alleviate concerns about a global supply crunch.

While oil prices have surged since the conflict started, most oil stocks have had a more muted reaction. For example, shares of oil giants ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) and Chevron (NYSE: CVX) are only up 3% and 5%, respectively, since the U.S. and Israel launched military attacks against Iran earlier this month. That's due to the market's belief that oil prices will settle down once the Strait reopens to oil tanker traffic.

All eyes on Kharg Island

Last week, the U.S. struck military targets on Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf. It serves as Iran's main oil export terminal, accounting for 90% of its oil exports. President Trump has threatened to strike this vital oil infrastructure if Iran doesn't allow tankers to move through the Strait of Hormuz. There have also been reports that the U.S. could send in the Marines to take over the island, seizing control of Iran's oil exports.

If the U.S. strikes Iran's oil infrastructure, it could retaliate by attacking the energy infrastructure of neighboring nations in the Gulf. Should a retaliatory attack cause significant capacity to go offline and require lengthy repairs, oil prices could rise sharply and remain elevated even if the Strait reopens.
Oil prices held above $100 per barrel through Monday morning as attacks from both sides of the Iran war targeted key infrastructure and showed no signs of an offramp for what has become the largest energy crisis since at least the 1970s.

Futures on Brent crude (BZ=F), the international pricing benchmark, held above $100/barrel, while those on the US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (CL=F) traded above $96.50 after cracking the key $100/barrel mark late Sunday night.

Read more: How oil price shocks ripple through your wallet, from gas to groceries

Over the weekend, key actions from both sides of the war pointed toward further escalation.

Late Friday night, the US struck a litany of military assets on Kharg Island, the Iranian regime's primary oil export terminal, with threats to strike oil infrastructure on the island if the conflict continues. At the same time, drone strikes from Iran on Saturday and Monday have halted oil loadings at the key port of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates as the conflict continues to threaten the wider Gulf region's energy industry.

The Strait of Hormuz, the world's most important shipping lane for oil, remains essentially closed to all but a handful of Indian LPG tankers that made the crossing over the weekend. Through the weekend, President Trump called for other world leaders to step up their own efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, but those international partners have so far deferred on any concrete promises or actions.

Market sentiment has also been shaped by diplomatic developments, including reports that President Trump is working to assemble a coalition response to the crisis  even if early signs are that those efforts have been unsuccessful.

The sum of these factors has helped push prompt futures into steeper backwardation and lifted freight rates and insurance costs for vessels operating in the region, amplifying upward pressure on benchmark prices.

In a client note on Monday, Morgan Stanley equity research director Martijn Rats announced that he has raised his oil-price forecast for the second quarter to an average of $110/barrel on Monday, up from $80/barrel previously. In the third quarter, he now sees an average of $90/barrel, up from $70/barrel.

"The result is a high stakes stalemate that markets are struggling to price," Capital analyst Daniela Hathorn wrote in a client note Monday morning. "Energy flows remain significantly constrained, and as long as that persists, the risk of a prolonged global energy shock remains elevated."

A plume of black smoke rises from an ongoing fire near fuel depots at the port of Fujairah. (Fadel SENNA / AFP via Getty Images)  FADEL SENNA via Getty Images

Beyond geopolitics, the rally is increasingly feeding into broader macro expectations as central banks prepare to deliver key policy decisions this week.
The conflict in Iran has created unprecedented volatility in oil prices. Future contract prices on West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil, which had been trading around $65 per barrel at the end of February, soared to nearly $120 on March 9 before settling back down to around $85 at the close. Even the current price, however, is the highest since late 2023.

But the volatility may not be over. President Donald Trump has indicated that the conflict will be "ended soon," but activity in the region carries on for now. If access to the Strait of Hormuz for oil freighters and cargo vessels remains restricted, it's certainly possible we could see $100 oil again.

Will AI create the world's first trillionaire? Our team just released a report on the one little-known company, called an "Indispensable Monopoly" providing the critical technology Nvidia and Intel both need. Continue 

If you're interested in investing in oil, there are three primary exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that could be used. Each provides different exposure to the oil market, so which one to choose depends largely on how much volatility you're willing to stomach.

Image source: Getty Images.

1. United States Oil Fund

The United States Oil Fund (NYSEMKT: USO) is the most commonly used ETF for oil exposure and is pretty straightforward. It invests primarily in the nearest-to-expiration future contracts on WTI crude oil and rolls forward to the next contract when the current one expires.

The nearest-to-expiration contract tends to be the more volatile one since it's more directly impacted by current events. During the COVID meltdown in oil prices, this fund altered its strategy slightly to allow for investing in the next three months' contracts to manage volatility. Currently, it's back to using just the front-month contract and remains the best way to gain exposure to current oil prices.

2. United States 12 Month Oil Fund

The United States 12 Month Oil Fund (NYSEMKT: USL) is designed to offer a more risk-managed version of the above fund. As the name suggests, it equally weights its investments across the next 12 monthly contracts. Because of the diversification factor, it has historically experienced about 25% less volatility than the United States Oil Fund.

That strategy paid off in 2020 when energy prices crashed. The United States Oil Fund fell more than 80% from peak to valley, but this fund declined "only" by 60%.

3. ProShares Ultra Bloomberg Crude Oil Fund

If you really want to take a big swing on changes in oil prices, the ProShares Ultra Bloomberg Crude Oil Fund (NYSEMKT: UCO) offers 2x daily exposure to the Bloomberg Commodity Balanced WTI Crude Oil Index.
Is PBR a good stock to buy? We came across a bullish thesis on Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras on Aurelion Researchs Substack. In this article, we will summarize the bulls thesis on PBR. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras's share was trading at $16.96 as of March 3rd. PBRs trailing and forward P/E were 8.03 and 6.57, respectively according to Yahoo Finance.

Ecopetrol (EC) Reaches Four-Year High in Proven Reserves with 121% Replacement Ratio

Copyright: Elnur / 123RF Stock Photo

Petrobras (PBR) stands out as a dominant force in Brazils energy sector following renewed optimism around Brazilian equities. As the countrys national oil champion, Petrobras controls a significant portion of the domestic value chain, operating as Brazils largest oil producer and owning most of its refining capacity.

The core investment case centers on its highly productive pre-salt assets, particularly the Buzios field, alongside its extensive refining footprint in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. After unveiling its 20262030 strategic plan, Petrobras reinforces its positioning as a fundamentally strong, cash-generative enterprise.

Read More: 15 AI Stocks That Are Quietly Making Investors Rich Read More: Undervalued AI Stock Poised For Massive Gains: 10000% Upside Potential

The company benefits from predominantly dollar-linked revenues tied to international oil benchmarks, providing insulation from Brazilian real volatility and ensuring substantial hard currency exposure. Operationally, Petrobras continues to demonstrate execution strength, with competitive lifting costs from its pre-salt offshore reservoirs supporting resilient production growth.

Policy visibility has also improved, as recent tax and regulatory adjustments are now largely understood and appear reflected in the current share price. Despite a recent rally from roughly $11 to above $15, the stock continues to trade at discounted valuation multiples relative to regional peers while offering an attractive distribution yield.

Although Petrobras remains a compelling value opportunity with further upside potential, the sharp recent appreciation tempers near-term risk/reward attractiveness. The equity remains fundamentally strong and positioned for continued gains, but a pullback in the share price would provide a more attractive and compelling entry point for long-term investors seeking favorable risk-adjusted returns.

Previously, we covered a bullish thesis on Occidental Petroleum Corporation (OXY) by Oliver | MMMT Wealth in April 2025, which highlighted the companys 40%+ decline from highs, supportive U.S. supply dynamics, and attractive valuation relative to ExxonMobil, Chevron, and BP. OXYs stock price has appreciated by approximately 34.77% since our coverage. Aurelion Research shares a similar view but emphasizes on Petrobras pre-salt strength and discounted valuation.
Is PFE a good stock to buy now? We came across a bullish thesis on Pfizer Inc. on Investomines Substack. In this article, we will summarize the bulls thesis on PFE. Pfizer Inc.'s share was trading at $26.81 as of March 9th. PFEs trailing and forward P/E were 19.89 and 9.14, respectively according to Yahoo Finance.

Analyst Says Pfizer (PFE) Stock Will Move Too Fast to Catch

Photo by Spencer Davis on Unsplash

Pfizer Inc. discovers, develops, manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells biopharmaceutical products in the United States and internationally. PFE delivered solid operational execution in fiscal 2025, successfully navigating the post-COVID transition while positioning itself for long-term growth.

Despite a 2% year-over-year revenue decline driven by the continued normalization of COVID products, the companys core business demonstrated resilience, with non-COVID operational growth of 6% and adjusted EPS rising 4% to $3.22. Key growth drivers included Abrysvo, which surged 136% operationally, oncology biosimilars up 76%, and established franchises such as Eliquis, Prevnar, and Vyndaqel, which showed steady growth.

The oncology segment led the expansion, with double-digit growth across multiple therapies and a strengthened pipeline from recent Phase 3 successes, enhancing long-term revenue visibility. Specialty care and primary care franchises, while mixed, displayed durable performance, supporting the broader shift toward a diversified, innovation-led profile. Adjusted cost discipline was evident, with decreases in cost of sales, R&D, and SI&A, driving margin improvement and robust free cash flow.

However, GAAP results were heavily impacted by $4.4 billion in intangible asset impairments, restructuring, and other charges, creating persistent concerns about earnings quality. Pfizers capital allocation prioritized pipeline investment and deleveraging over share buybacks, with $10.4 billion in R&D and $8.8 billion in business development spend.

Guidance for 2026 anticipates stable revenues of $59.5$62.5 billion, adjusted EPS of $2.80$3.00, and continued pipeline-driven catalysts. Overall, Pfizer presents a cautiously bullish case for income-oriented investors, supported by a strong non-COVID growth trajectory, an advancing oncology pipeline, and resilient core franchises, while upside depends on continued execution and normalization of reported earnings.

Previously, we covered a bullish thesis on Pfizer Inc. (PFE) by Akim Guerreiro in September 2024, highlighting its high dividend yield, strong pipeline, and Seagen acquisition. PFEs stock price has depreciated by approximately 8.05% since our coverage. Investomine shares a similar view but emphasizes Pfizers 2025 operational execution, post-COVID transition, and growth from non-COVID drivers like Abrysvo and oncology biosimilars.
The margin improvement came from three places: volume leverage, pricing increases, and manufacturing efficiency gains under Project Quantum Leap. These are structural improvements, not one-time accounting items, though Jefferies pushed back on that point (more on that below).

Furthermore, Plug Power's full-year 2025 revenue reached $709.92 million, up 12.9% year over year, a record for the company. Annual cash burn was cut by 26.5%, and Plug Power ended the year with $368.5 million in unrestricted cash.

The Q4 beat extended across the board. Plug Power's revenue came in 3.63% above the consensus estimate of $217.3 million, and adjusted EPS of -$0.06 beat the consensus of -$0.11 by nearly 43%.

The story starts with a number that seemed impossible not long ago. Plug Power reported Q4 2025 gross profit of $5.5 million on $225.2 million in revenue, marking the first positive gross margin in recent memory at 2.4%. For context, the company's gross margin in Q4 2024 was -122.5%. That's not a typo: Plug Power was spending more than twice its revenue just to deliver its product.

Most Americans drastically underestimate how much they need to retire and overestimate how prepared they are. But data shows that people with one habit have more than double the savings of those who dont.

The catalyst is a combination of genuine operational milestones, a fresh leadership voice, and continued momentum from the company's strongest earnings print in recent memory. The bulls are cheering while the courts are still watching, and that tension is exactly what defines PLUG right now.

Plug Power ( NASDAQ:PLUG ) shares are up 5% in today's session, trading around $2.26 as of midday Monday. The move extends a broader recovery that has the stock up 36% over the past year.

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Analyst consensus puts Plug Power shares at a Hold rating with an average price target of $2.89, leaving room for upside but signaling the market wants proof the margin improvement is durable.

Plug Power (PLUG) stock is rising 5% today as investors cheer the companys first-ever positive gross profit and a new CEO promising a clear path to profitability by 2028.

Story Continues

New CEO, New Tone

New Plug Power CEO Jose Luis Crespo, who took the helm on March 2, wasted no time setting expectations.

"In 2025, we achieved $710 million in revenues and Q4 margin positive as we projected at the start of the year. In 2026, we will continue executing with discipline, driving margin improvement, and delivering exceptional outcomes for our customers. By leveraging our strong commercial foundation, advancing cost-efficiency initiatives, and capitalizing on our more than $8 billion global sales funnel, we are converting operational momentum into sustainable financial performance. Our targets remain consistent in achieving positive EBITDAS in Q4 of 2026, positive operating income by the end of 2027, and full profitability by the end of 2028, while still growing the Company substantially."

That roadmap gives Plug Power's investors specific milestones to track rather than vague turnaround promises. The company is also participating in investor conferences across London, Stockholm, Paris, and Washington, D.C. this month, keeping the narrative active.

Asset Sales and Strategic Pivots Add Fuel

Beyond the earnings beat, Plug Power has been executing on its balance sheet. The company sold its New York Project Gateway site to Stream Data Centers for $132.5 million, the first phase of a $275 million strategic infrastructure optimization program expected to close in H1 2026.

Perhaps the most forward-looking development is Plug Power's plan to offer up to 250 MW of hydrogen electricity in a potential PJM Interconnection power grid auction. PJM is the largest power grid in the U.S., and positioning hydrogen as a dispatchable power source for AI-driven data center demand is exactly the kind of narrative shift that attracts new investor attention.

For a deeper look at how Plug Power stacks up against its closest fuel cell rival, this comparison of Bloom Energy and Plug Power from earlier this month lays out the diverging paths clearly.

The Courts Are Still Watching

The legal overhang is real and cannot be dismissed. Multiple securities class action lawsuits have been filed by firms including Pomerantz, the Rosen Law Firm, and Bronstein Gewirtz and Grossman, alleging that Plug Power made false and misleading statements about the likelihood of receiving a $1.66 billion U.S. Department of Energy loan guarantee and its ability to construct hydrogen production facilities.

Additionally, Plug Power carries an accumulated deficit of $8.2 billion and recorded approximately $763 million in Q4 non-cash asset impairment charges. Operating cash flow for the full year was negative $535.84 million. The path to profitability runs through the end of 2028 -- a long runway with a lot of execution risk.

Analysts Split on Whether the Margin Gains Are Real

The analyst community is not rushing to upgrade Plug Power shares. The consensus sits at Hold across 17 analysts, with 5 sell ratings, 8 holds, and 4 buy or strong buy ratings. The average PLUG stock price target is $2.89, implying modest upside from current levels.

Wells Fargo raised its price target to $2 from $1.50 following the Q4 results, acknowledging the beat and the margin milestone. Jefferies, on the other hand, cut its target to $1.80 from $2, calling the margin improvement a "show me" story and flagging that some Q4 gross margin benefit came from one-off items. TD Cowen downgraded Plug Power shares from Buy to Hold and cut its target to $2 from $4, citing execution challenges and a slower electrolyzer ramp-up.

Insiders, for what it is worth, are net buyers. Nine recent insider transactions have skewed toward buying, which at least suggests those closest to the business believe in Plug Power's growth prospects.

What to Look for Now

Today's move reflects a market that wants to believe the inflection point is real. The first positive gross profit in recent memory, a new CEO with a concrete timeline, $275 million in incoming asset sale proceeds, and a PJM power grid opportunity all give the Plug Power stock bulls something tangible to hold on to.

Still, the lawsuits, the $8.2 billion accumulated deficit, and the skeptical analyst community remind everyone that belief in Plug Power still needs to be earned quarter by quarter. For the time being, investors should monitor the legal proceedings as well as the $2 level for PLUG stock.

Data Shows One Habit Doubles Americans Savings And Boosts Retirement

Most Americans drastically underestimate how much they need to retire and overestimate how prepared they are. But data shows that people with one habit have more than double the savings of those who dont.

And no, its got nothing to do with increasing your income, savings, clipping coupons, or even cutting back on your lifestyle. Its much more straightforward (and powerful) than any of that. Frankly, its shocking more people dont adopt the habit given how easy it is.
POZNAN, Poland (AP)  A generation ago, Poland rationed sugar and flour while its citizens were paid one-tenth what West Germans earned. Today, the economy of the country has edged past Switzerland to become the worlds 20th largest with more than $1 trillion in annual output.

Its a historic leap from the post-Communist ruins of 1989-90 to European growth champion, which economists say has lessons on how to bring prosperity to ordinary people  and that the Trump administration says should be recognized by Poland's presence at a summit of the Group of 20 leading economies later this year.

The transformation is reflected in people like Joanna Kowalska, an engineer from Poznan, a city of around 500,000 people midway between Berlin and Warsaw. She returned home after five years in the U.S.

I get asked often if Im missing something by coming back to Poland, and, to be honest, I feel its the other way around, Kowalska said. We are ahead of the United States in so many areas.

Kowalska works at the Poznan Supercomputing and Networking Center, which is developing the first artificial intelligence factory in Poland and integrating it with a quantum computer, one of 10 on the continent financed by a European Union program.

Kowalska worked for Microsoft in the U.S. after graduating from the Poznan University of Technology, in a job she saw as a dream come true.

But she missed having a sense of mission, she said.

Especially when it comes to artificial intelligence, the technology started developing so rapidly in Poland, Kowalska said. So it was very tempting to come back.

Breaking out of poverty

The guest invitation to the G20 summit is mostly symbolic. No guest country has been promoted to full member since the original G20 met at the finance minister level in 1999, and that would take a consensus decision of all the members. Moreover, the original countries were chosen not just by gross domestic product rank, but by their systemic significance in the global economy.

But the gesture reflects a statistical truth: In 35 years  a little less than one person's working lifetime  Polands per capita GDP rose to $55,340 in 2025, or 85% of the EU average. That's up from $6,730 in 1990, or 38% of the EU average and now roughly equal to Japans $52,039, according to International Monetary Fund figures measured in today's dollars and adjusted for Polands lower cost of living.

Polands economy has grown an average 3.8% a year since joining the EU in 2004, easily beating the European average of 1.8%.

It wasn't simply one factor that helped Poland break out of the poverty trap, says Marcin Piatkowski of Warsaws Kozminski University and author of a book on the countrys economic rise.
Cicis Pizza parent company SSCP Management has acquired Logans Roadhouse, the 125-unit steakhouse brand.

As part of this strategic decision, SPB will focus its resources on growing its upscale-casual and chef-driven brands, including J. Alexanders, Stoney River, and the Garces Collection, which includes Amada and Village Whiskey, a representative for Logans former parent company, SPB, told Nations Restaurant News.

The company is confident Logans Roadhouse is well-positioned for continued success under SSCPs ownership and leadership.

Stories by Heather Gann

This acquisition marks the franchises third owner in six years, according to Nations Restaurant News.

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store first acquired the brand in 1999, but it was sold seven years later to a private equity group.

In 2010, the company was then acquired by private-equity firm Kelso & Co., valuing the company at $560 million.

In 2016, Logans Roadhouse filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and announced plans to close 18 locations as part of a restructuring process.

The chain emerged from bankruptcy and, in 2018, was acquired by restaurant platform CraftWorks Restaurants & Breweries, backed by Centerbridge Partners, along with several other brands, forming CraftWorks Holdings.

In 2020, CraftWorks Holdings filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection due to COVID-19-related sales declines. A few months later, SPB Hospitality acquired CraftWorks restaurant brands, including Logans Roadhouse, out of bankruptcy for approximately $93 million.

In addition to Cicis Pizza, SSCP Management currently owns Corner Bakery and Roys Restaurant. The company is also a franchisee of Sonic Drive-In and Applebees.

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The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared Prodeon Medicals implantable technology for treating lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) associated with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).

The California-based companys Urocross expander system is a non-permanent implant that is designed to remodel obstructed prostatic tissue before retrieval within six months.

Once implanted, the nitinol-based structure initiates a process called prostatic urethral reshaping, in which the implant applies constant, gentle pressure to the obstructive prostatic lobes, effectively pushing them aside and opening the urethral lumen.

FDA approval for Urocross was supported by data from Prodeons Expander-2 pivotal trial (NCT05400980). Among 240 patients enrolled in the study, 48.1% demonstrated a mean improvement in International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) at 12 months post-implant (six months post-retrieval). IPSS is a seven-question tool designed to address the severity of LUTS, with a higher score reflecting more severe symptoms. Meanwhile, Urocross achieved a procedural responder rate of 74.5%, defined by the FDA as the percentage of patients with IPSS improvement above 30% at 12 months.

Prodeon now plans to initiate a controlled US release of Urocross later this year.

Prodeons president, Thomas Palermo, commented: Unlike existing minimally invasive therapies that rely on permanent implants or irreversible tissue ablation, Prodeon Medical introduces a new category of non-permanent, retrievable intervention for BPH, designed to remodel obstructive tissue while leaving no permanent foreign material behind.

According to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), approximately 14 million men in the US are affected by BPH, with the conditions prevalence most common in men aged 60 and above.

Big players focusing on urology space

GlobalData analysis reveals that the global nephrology and urology device market, of which BPH treatments are a part, will be worth almost $12bn in 2035, up from around $8.6bn in 2024. Within this space, recent moves by some of the biggest players in the medtech industry suggest it is coming to be viewed as a significant revenue driver.

Speaking at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare conference in January 2026, Medtronics CEO Geoff Martha touted the billion-dollar market opportunity for Altaviva, the medtech giants urge urinary incontinence (UUI) treatment device that gained FDA clearance in September 2025.

Boston Scientifics recent dealmaking suggests a prioritisation of the urology-nephrology space, too. During the J.P. Morgan conference, the company announced the acquisition of Valencia Technologies at an undisclosed sum, adding an implantable tibial nerve stimulation (ITNS) treatment for UUI treatment to Bostons urology portfolio. This acquisition followed Bostons acquisition of Axonics and its portfolio of urinary and faecal incontinence solutions for $3.7bn in November 2024.
Financial operations platform Ramp has acquired Billhop, a payments platform licensed in the UK and Sweden.

Financial terms of the deal were not revealed.

In a statement, Ramp said the deal strengthens its regional expertise and deepens support for customers operating in the UK and Europe.

The US-based company will now open its first international offices in London and Stockholm.

Thousands of US businesses already use Ramp to manage spend and payments across Europe, noted the company.

Beginning this summer, Ramp will onboard businesses headquartered in the UK and EU directly.

It also intends to build its European team across go-to-market, partnerships, and operations, with an aim to more than double the UK headcount withn the next 12 months.

Ramp co-founder and CEO Eric Glyman said: "We've spent years building Ramp into something the most ambitious US companies rely on. This summer, for the first time, companies headquartered in the UK and EU will be able to use Ramp directly.

"In their first year, the median Ramp customer saves 5% and grows revenue 16%. Europe is home to extraordinary companies. We can't wait to get to work."

Nearly half of Ramp customers transact internationally across more than 180 countries every week.

The company said it supports those operations with worldwide payment capabilities and local currency cards and payments in Canada, Australia, Japan, Mexico, and Singapore.

Billhop CEO Niklas Bothen said: "Joining Ramp allows us to realise that vision at a much larger scale. Together, we can help companies move money across countries and currencies faster, more intelligently, and with less complexity."

"Ramp secures EU regulatory foothold with Billhop acquisition" was originally created and published by Electronic Payments International, a GlobalData owned brand.




Revolution Wind, a joint venture between Skyborn Renewables, a subsidiary of Global Infrastructure Partners, and rsted, has begun supplying electricity to the power grid in New England, US.

The 704MW offshore wind project is contracted to deliver energy through 20-year fixed-price agreements with utilities in Rhode Island and Connecticut.

It aims to provide enough electricity for more than 350,000 homes and businesses.

ISO New England, the organisation managing the regional grid, has cited the significance of offshore wind projects like Revolution Wind in maintaining grid reliability, particularly during winter when demand peaks and energy supplies can tighten.

The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection in Connecticut has reported that the project could result in annual wholesale energy cost savings of up to $500m for ratepayers throughout New England.

Energy generation is expected to be consistent throughout the year, with increased output anticipated in winter months.

More than 2,000 workers have contributed to the buildout and operation of Revolution Wind across construction, shipping, operations and manufacturing. Over 1,000 local union labourers have worked more than two million hours on the project.

rsted's investment in US offshore projects includes nearly $700m (Dkr4.56bn) directed towards domestic shipbuilding and vessel contracts, facilitating the construction of 14 new vessels in America.

rsted chief development officer Amanda Dasch said: Revolution Wind is adding affordable, reliable American-made energy to New Englands grid, helping to meet growing energy demand and lower consumer costs.

Built by local, highly skilled union workers, Revolution Wind is a testament to states tapping their energy resources to strengthen regional energy security.

We are grateful to the leadership of Rhode Island and Connecticut, our labour partners, utility customers and the many other stakeholders whose collaboration has made this milestone possible.

Revolution Winds launch comes as overall electricity demand rises in New England due to economic growth and expanding sectors such as manufacturing and data centres.

"Revolution Wind project starts delivering electricity to New England" was originally created and published by Power Technology, a GlobalData owned brand.




The Retail & Hospitality Information Sharing and Analysis Centre (RH-ISAC) and the Retail Council of Canada (RCC) have agreed on a partnership aimed at improving cybersecurity resilience in Canadas retail sector.

In a statement, RH-ISAC said the initiative combines its global cyber threat intelligence capabilities with RCCs knowledge of the Canadian retail environment.

The organisations intend to help retailers strengthen their ability to identify and respond to rising cyber threats, including fraud and ransomware.

Under the arrangement, RCC members will be given access to RH-ISACs cybersecurity resources, tools and intelligence-sharing network.

RCC president and CEO Kim Furlong said: This partnership with RH-ISAC will equip our members with the knowledge and support to protect their businesses, their employees, and their customers in today's unpredictable threat landscape.

The collaboration will also include regional workshops focused on training and interaction with cybersecurity specialists.

These sessions are planned to take place in Vancouver and Toronto this year.

RH-ISAC president Suzie Squier said: Cybersecurity is no longer just a technical issue; it's a business imperative. By partnering with Retail Council of Canada, we aim to increase resilience and strengthen cybersecurity among Canadian retailers.

Members will also receive access to RH-ISACs threat intelligence services, which provide real-time alerts on vulnerabilities, active breaches and wider trends affecting the retail industry.

In addition, RCC members will be offered a complimentary trial membership with RH-ISAC, enabling them to explore the organisations cybersecurity defence framework.

The partnership is intended to support Canadian retailers with shared intelligence, tools and industry cooperation as they address evolving digital security risks.

"RH-ISAC and Retail Council of Canada partner on retail cybersecurity" was originally created and published by Retail Insight Network, a GlobalData owned brand.




Updated 4 p.m. ET March 16

Saks Global has a plan  and the bondholders supporting the company through its bankruptcy approve.

More from WWD

The luxury retailer unlocked access to an additional $300 million of the $1.75 billion in committed capital it secured in January when filing for a Chapter 11 restructuring. To unlock access to those funds the company received approval of its five-year business plan from a group of senior secured bondholders and hit other milestones. Now the court has to take a look.

The new money comes on top of the $825 million the company has already been given access to. Saks Global will get access to the rest of the funds after it emerges from bankruptcy, which is expected to happen later this year.

Saks Global said it has sufficient liquidity to continue to support operations and advance its transformation as it focuses on serving luxury customers, strengthening brand partner relationships and driving full-price selling.

The five-year plan will be filed with the court in the coming weeks, but the company is already made big changes that illuminate much of its future.

As was expected, Saks Global used the bankruptcy to trim down and is in the process of shuttering 20 Saks Fifth Avenue stores, four Neiman Marcus doors, 57 Off 5th locations, all five Last Call clearance centers and the Horchow catalogue.

The company is also winning its way back into the good graces of key vendors, with 600 brands releasing $1.4 billion in retail receipts to Saks Global, increasing merchandise receipts by nearly 60 percent so far this month, compared with a year earlier.

And the supply chain is getting tightened up and three distribution and service centers  in Texas, Pennsylvania and California  are being prioritized.

Geoffroy van Raemdonck, who took the reins as chief executive officer of Saks Global when it started the restructuring, said in a statement: We have made significant progress over the past two months as we work to position Saks Global for the future, quickly stabilizing our business, improving inventory flow and investing in our transformation.

With continued strong support from our capital partners, we are laying the path to realize the combined full potential of our three banners, achieve double-digit adjusted EBITDA margin and drive profitable and sustainable growth. As we continue to secure a bright future for Saks Global, guided by our relentless devotion to the luxury customer, we are focused on delivering an expertly curated assortment and personalized service across Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman.
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission.

Credit: Sanuj Bhatia / Android Central

What you need to know

Samsung's mobile division has reportedly entered an emergency management phase due to rising component and logistics costs.

Despite record Galaxy S26 pre-orders, Samsung's smartphone profits may fall sharply in 2026.

Memory prices have surged by over 850% as AI data centers compete with smartphones for components.

2026 is shaping up to be a gloomy year for the smartphone market overall, and a new report from a Korean outlet suggests Samsung is already starting to feel the pressure.

Samsung's Galaxy S26 series is reportedly off to a strong start. The company has sold a record number of pre-orders for the lineup, with most of them going toward the Galaxy S26 Ultra. Sales appear to be driven by the refined features in the new lineup, particularly the Privacy Display, which users are reportedly enjoying.

Despite that early success, Samsung still seems to be facing difficulties in the broader smartphone market.

According to Korean outlet FNNews (via @jukan05 on X), Samsung has reportedly "declared an emergency management regime for its mobile phone division." The move has placed the entire Device eXperience (DX) division into crisis mode. This division includes not only Samsung's smartphone business but also its smart TV and home appliances units.

The main reason cited is the same challenge affecting the wider smartphone industry in 2026: rising component costs. Memory prices have surged since the second half of last year, reportedly by more than 850%, as AI data centers compete with smartphone makers for the same components.

The situation is reportedly severe enough that Samsung could face what the report calls a potential 'first-ever operating loss' for the division.

Samsung may already be feeling the 2026 slowdown

Credit: Derrek Lee / Android Central

Adding to this, the ongoing conflict in the Middle East has reportedly increased logistics costs. A Samsung spokesperson told the outlet, "With raw material costs under extreme pressure from rising semiconductor prices, and logistics costs increasing on top of that, we ultimately had no choice but to put the MX division under emergency management."

In terms of operating profit, Samsung's margins have already dropped significantly. Estimates that were around 11% in Q1 2025 have reportedly fallen to roughly 3% in Q1 2026, and the possibility of an operating loss has not been ruled out. The DX division has reportedly instructed all business units to cut costs by 30%.

Samsung also increased the prices of the base Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26 Plus by $100 this year, despite relatively modest upgrades over the previous generation. That move could be an attempt to offset the declining operating margins.
Quick Read

Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD) charges just 0.06% annually ($6 per $10,000), yielding 3.39% and returning 12.29% year to date and 225.89% over ten years. Top holdings include Lockheed Martin (LMT) at 4.9% with $75.05B in FY2025 revenue and a $194B backlog, Verizon (VZ) at 4.49% yielding 5.4%, ConocoPhillips (COP) at 4.48% raising its quarterly dividend to $0.84, Chevron (CVX) at 4.42% marking its 39th consecutive annual dividend increase, Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY) with 94 years of consecutive dividend payments, Merck (MRK) paying $0.85 quarterly, and Coca-Cola (KO) extending a 63-year streak of dividend increases after raising its quarterly payout to $0.53.

SCHDs 12% annualized dividend growth rate compounds significantly over time, delivering total returns that exceed fixed-rate savings accounts while maintaining exposure to dividend aristocrats across energy, consumer staples, and healthcare sectors.

A recent study identified one single habit that doubled Americans retirement savings and moved retirement from dream, to reality. Read more here.

Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (NYSEARCA:SCHD) costs $6 a year on a $10,000 investment, holds 100 dividend stocks, and currently yields 3.39%. With the Fed funds rate sitting at 3.75% and most high-yield savings accounts paying in that same neighborhood, the yield gap is narrow. But SCHD adds something a savings account never will: price appreciation. The fund is up 12.29% year to date and 17.28% over the past year. Over ten years, shares have returned 225.89%.

For context, the average mutual fund charges 0.44%, or $44 per year on $10,000. An advisor-managed portfolio typically runs 1%, or $100 per year. SCHD's 0.06% expense ratio leaves almost every dollar working in the portfolio rather than covering fees.

What the Fund Actually Owns

The top ten holdings account for roughly 40% of the portfolio, and they read like a dividend investor's wish list. Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) leads at 4.9% of assets. The defense contractor posted FY2025 revenue of $75.05 billion and carries a $194 billion backlog. Its quarterly dividend now stands at $3.45 per share, up from $3.30 throughout 2025.

Read: Data Shows One Habit Doubles Americans Savings And Boosts Retirement

Most Americans drastically underestimate how much they need to retire and overestimate how prepared they are. But data shows that people with one habit have more than double the savings of those who dont.

Verizon (NYSE:VZ) at 4.49% yields 5.4% on its own, paying $0.69 per quarter. ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) at 4.48% raised its ordinary dividend to $0.84 per quarter in early 2026 and plans to return 45% of cash from operations to shareholders this year. Chevron (NYSE:CVX) at 4.42% just marked its 39th consecutive annual dividend increase, now paying $1.78 per quarter.
By Wen-Yee Lee, Faith Hung and Ben Blanchard

TAIPEI, March 16 (Reuters) - Taiwan's Foxconn, the world's largest contract electronics maker, said on Monday it expected strong revenue growth in the first quarter and the whole of this year, even as it posted a fall of 2% in quarterly profit, lagging estimates.

The technology giant, Nvidia's biggest server maker and Apple's top iPhone assembler, blamed a rise in its tax rate for the drop, which came despite robust global demand for AI products and a jump of 22% in fourth-quarter revenue.

Foxconn's guidance for both first quarter and full year revenue are for "strong growth", the highest outlook it can give, as the company does not provide a numeric outlook.

"Artificial Intelligence's strong growth was not just for this past year or two," Chairman Young Liu told an earnings call. "It will last through the next two to three years."

He added, "Our major customers expect the size of the AI industry to hit $1 trillion over the next two to three years."

It is the first time the company, which generates a significant share of revenue from AI servers, has given an outlook for the full year 2026.

Growth would be driven by sustained strong demand for AI servers, in which its market share would reach 40%, it said.

Despite predicting a good 2026, Liu pointed to external issues beyond Foxconn's control.

"The biggest external challenge this year, in my view, is still the global political and economic situation, especially the war in the Middle East," he said, without elaborating.

The escalating conflict in the Middle East has rattled global markets and fuelled concerns over supply chain risks.

Foxconn has been riding a data centre boom as cloud computing firms such as Amazon, Microsoft and Alphabet's Google spend billions of dollars to expand AI infrastructure and research capacity.

QUARTERLY PROFIT LAGS FORECASTS

Foxconn's net profit for the period from October to December was T$45.21 billion ($1.42 billion), versus an LSEG consensus estimate of T$63.86 billion.

The electronics giant said it also expected first-quarter revenue for smart consumer electronics to see significant growth year-on-year, although it forecast a decline in the personal computer sector.

"In the smart consumer electronics products segment, there have been concerns about memory shortages and price increases," Liu said.

However, with its product mix skewed toward higher-priced models, the Foxconn saw limited impact, he added.
Nail salons are next in line for Starbucks-style expansion after decades of being overlooked by investors, the boss of the UKs largest luxury chain has said, after clinching a 130 million valuation.

Townhouse, which runs 40 luxury nail salons in the UK, said it was targeting hundreds of new franchised sites after securing backing from the US private equity firm behind the Burger King and Tim Horton chains in China.

The new investment from Cartesian Capital will propel the expansion of the business, which was founded in 2018 by Juanita Huber-Millet and headed up by her husband and chief executive Jonathan Millet.

Mr Millet said it was capturing a turning point in the nail care industry, which is highly fragmented and has been typically under-invested in compared with other services.

I think there is probably an element of beauty services overall being overlooked, he told the Press Association.

Townhouse has 44 salons in the UK and the US (Townhouse/PA)

I would say there is a little bit of an element of, historically, 20, 30 years ago, finance and capital being very dominated by men, and this being a sector that primarily serves women.

So if youre a male private equity investor maybe 15 or 20 years ago then maybe it wasnt front and centre of your mind as something to invest in.

He made comparisons with industries such as coffee houses, hotels, gyms and sandwich shops, which have all expanded with the emergence of chains over recent decades.

Other parts of the beauty salon sector, such as waxing and massages, have started to grow with brands delivering that Starbucks-esque experience after years of the beauty services industry lagging behind.

Meanwhile, there are no major nail salon chains in the UK, with Townhouse entering a market that is typically led by independent and boutique shops.

Mr Millet also said the nail industry has been plagued with poor working conditions for staff, a lack of employment contracts, and even cases of modern slavery.

In our industry there has historically been quite a lot of exploitation of workers, he told the Press Association.

When Covid hit, there were a lot of people in the industry who didnt have contracts, who were just being paid cash in hand, so they didnt get government relief.

And we still see a lot of people, as were recruiting, who have worked in the industry and not had contracts  all the way through to, less pervasive but there, some elements of trafficking and indentured labour.

Townhouse says it offers its nail technicians above-market pay, private healthcare, paid leave and structured career progression, including in the US, where it currently has a handful of stores.
Uber cofounder Travis Kalanick unveiled a robotics company for the food, mining and transport industries after being in stealth mode for eight years.

The new company is called Atoms and sprang from his real estate company, City Storage Systems, which owns ghost-kitchen operator CloudKitchens.

The whole idea was can you get a meal thats prepared and delivered to you so efficiently that it starts to approach the cost of going to the grocery store, Kalanick said on the TBPN show on Friday. Because if you do, you do to the kitchen what Uber did to the car.

He also said that hes on the verge of acquiring Pronto, a self-driving startup focused on industrial and mining sites that was created by former Uber colleague Anthony Levandowski. The Information first reported the deal and said the company also has backing from Uber.

Kalanick was ousted as Uber CEO in 2017 via a shareholder revolt amid allegations that he ignored reports of sexual harassment at the company.

Google also sued Uber for allegedly stealing trade secrets related to autonomous driving. Levandowski was convicted but avoided prison after getting a pardon from President Donald Trump.

During his interview on TBPN, Kalanick acknowledged the challenge of running Uber during intense public scrutiny and dealing with 100 headlines every day.

So I was just like, I gotta wake up every day and sort of just get to work and build, he recalled. So I went under the radar.

But that also meant thousands of his employees were not allowed to put the name of the company on their LinkedIn profiles. Thats despite choosing a purposely nondescript name, City Storage Systems, after previously toying with the idea of calling the company Super.

Instead, he decided to go full underground, full stealth which created some obstacles when recruiting talent to the startup.

You have a name like City Storage Systems, and its like, so do you guys just have like these these boxes sitting in parking lots?' Kalanick said.

But there are advantages to being in stealth for so long, he added. For one, he said he has the best recruiters in the world.

Flying under the radar also attracts a certain type of employee and contributes to a more progress-oriented, unselfish environment.

What you get when you create a culture around that is you have you then build a culture of builders, Kalanick explained. You build a culture of people that want to build and do not need to be famous when they do it, which basically means emotional intelligence.
Multiple comments from President Trump and his aides in recent days have suggested that a closely watched trip to China to meet with Xi Jinping at the end of this month may be delayed.

"Because of the war, I want to be here," Trump told reporters on Monday afternoon at the White House saying he'd made the request to China "that we delay it a month or so."

The fresh comments from the president came after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent met with Chinese officials in Paris in Sunday and Monday and to iron out details of the ongoing trade truce and ahead of the trip which is scheduled for March 31 to April 2.

Bessent on Monday on CNBC cited "logistics" as the possible reason for the delay and tried to underline that differences over the war with Iran itself are not behind the possible change of plans.

"If the meetings are delayed, it wouldn't be delayed because the president demanded that China police the Strait of Hormuz," Bessent added.

The critical shipping channel has been effectively closed amid the fighting, stanching the flow of oil into global markets, with President Trump over the weekend pushing other nations to help reopen the strait.

President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House on March 16. (ANNABELLE GORDON / AFP via Getty Images)  ANNABELLE GORDON via Getty Images

Bessent appeared to be walking back other comments from Trump, who also told the Financial Times on Sunday that the trip could be delayed and suggested no deal on Chinese ships helping patrol the strait could be a reason.

"We'd like to know" if China will be helping before taking the trip, the president told the outlet.

Read more: How to protect your money as Mideast turmoil fuels market volatility

Terry Haines of Pangaea Policy called a potential delay "breaking markets negative news" and added that "developing uncertainty alone likely increases markets jitters until resolved."

Economic observers have long had this China visit circled on their calendars as a likely indicator of the durability of a current trade detente.

Tensions have been lower in recent months after both sides briefly leveled triple-digit duties against each other last year.

The commentary from Bessent  as well as separate comments from press secretary Karoline Leavitt  repeatedly sought to downplay the importance of any forthcoming delay. Bessent directly said that markets should "absolutely not" react if the delay is announced.

Bessent, meanwhile, said that the meetings in Paris  which wrapped up Monday  had made progress on broader bilateral concerns, that a joint statement would be forthcoming, and that there is a "stable relationship" between the world's two largest economies.
Chinese FM meets with Vietnamese counterpart

Xinhua) 08:41, March 16, 2026

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, meets with Vietnamese Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee, in Hanoi, Vietnam, March 15, 2026. (Xinhua/Hu Jiali)

HANOI, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Vietnamese Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung in Hanoi on Sunday.

During the meeting, Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, noted that following the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) in January this year, the top leaders of the two parties agreed to hold the first ministerial meeting of the China-Vietnam "3+3" strategic dialogue on diplomacy, defense, and public security, and the 17th meeting of the China-Vietnam Steering Committee for Bilateral Cooperation.

In accordance with the strategic consensus reached by the top leaders, these two important mechanisms should be used to deeply explore the coordination of the two major issues of development and security, clarify important measures for following the socialist path, and send a positive signal to the international community of China-Vietnam solidarity, mutual trust, and joint progress, Wang said.

Stating that this year marks the beginning of China's 15th Five-Year Plan and the new era for Vietnam's national rise, presenting unprecedented opportunities for the socialist cause of both countries, Wang said that the advantages of the socialist systems of China and Vietnam are becoming increasingly prominent, and the strategic value of the China-Vietnam community with a shared future continues to rise.

He pointed out that the two countries should deepen strategic mutual trust, strengthen strategic cooperation, promote development amid change, safeguard security amid crisis, enhance the respective national strategic resilience and development momentum, respond external uncertainties with the stability of China-Vietnam cooperation, so as to inject lasting impetus into improving the well-being of the two peoples, safeguard the socialist cause, and build a community with a shared future for humanity.

For his part, Trung, also a member of the Political Bureau of the CPV Central Committee, said that guided by the spirit of comrades and brothers between Vietnam and China, both sides will certainly be able to implement the strategic consensus reached by the top leaders of the two parties.

Trung added that as friendly neighbors, comrades, and brothers, Vietnam is always willing to support China's development and growth, the enhancement of its international status, and its greater contributions to the socialist cause, as well as world peace, stability, and development.

Vietnam firmly adheres to the one-China policy and, as always, supports China's position on issues related to Xinjiang and Xizang, said Trung.

He also noted that Vietnam is willing to work with China to plan the next stage of high-level exchanges, strengthen inter-party exchanges, promote pragmatic cooperation in trade, investment, green development, and connectivity, implement cultural exchange projects, and join hands to deepen and solidify the strategically significant China-Vietnam community with a shared future.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
by Qaiser Nawab

Chinas foreign trade has begun the year with unusual vigour. In the first two months alone, the countrys trade in goods returns to the double digit era, recording a 18.3% surge year-on-year. Imports reached 3.11 trillion yuan, up 17.1%.

A defining feature of Chinas latest trade boom is diversification. In the first two months of the year, total trade between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) reached 1.24 trillion yuan, up 20.3%. Trade with the European Union climbed 19.9% to 998.9 billion yuan. Commerce with Belt and Road countries rose 20% to 4.02 trillion yuan.

Robust global demand is certainly something we shouldnt neglect. South Korea and Vietnam, saw double-digit export growth as well, Tianchen Xu, Senior Economist from the Economist Intelligence Unit said.

More tech, more trade

Behind the headline figures lies a shift in the composition of exports.

High-tech products exported from China rose 26.9% in the first two months of the year. Mechanical and electrical goodslong the backbone of the countrys export sectorreached 2.89 trillion yuan, increasing 24.3% and accounting for a growing share of overall shipments.

Robotics illustrates the trend. In 2025 Chinese-made intelligent handling robots and welding robots were widely deployed in overseas infrastructure and transport projects, with export growth exceeding 60%. Optical transceiver modules used in high-end graphics processorscritical for data centres and artificial-intelligence workloadsalso recorded export growth approaching 60%.

China is also supplying hardware for the worlds expanding digital infrastructure. Exports of large transformers, energy-storage batteries and other electrical equipment rose 18.8%, reflecting booming demand from global data centres and energy systems.

China is among the largest importers of iron ore, copper and crude oil, and robust exports feeds into import demand as well, Xu observed. For 17 consecutive years, China maintains its position as the worlds second-largest import market.

Increasingly, the countrys imports mirror its technological ambitions. Rapid development in autonomous driving has driven lidar imports up by more than 20%, while demand for artificial-intelligence computing power lifted computer component imports by 20%.

In the first two months of this year, imports of mechanical and electrical products reached 1.21 trillion yuan, up 21.3%, pushed by strong demand for electronic components and computer parts that support industrial upgrading.

Commodity imports remain steady as well. China imported 210 million tonnes of iron ore, up 10%, and 96.9 million tonnes of crude oil, an increase of 15.8%.

This patternimporting raw materials and intermediate inputs while exporting industrial goodshas become a hallmark of Chinas economic ties with other developing economies, providing resource exporters in the Global South with a reliable market while supplying them with affordable manufactured products, lowering the costs of industrialisation.

According to Chinas Ministry of Commerce, Chinas imports from more than 130 countries and regions recorded growth in 2025, while the country became a major export destination for nearly 80 economies worldwide.

Trade flows are also reshaping the global financial landscape. Data from Chinas State Administration of Foreign Exchange show that cross-border yuan settlements rose by 24.8% last year. The currencys share in Chinas cross-border trade payments has climbed from 16% in 2020 to nearly 30% in 2025.

The worlds laboratory

International businesses with operations in China are feeling the momentum more directly. Foreign-invested enterprises recorded 2.2 trillion yuan in imports and exports in the first two months of the year, an increase of 15.3%. In 2025? China established 70,392 new foreign-funded firms, up 19.1% from the previous year, with strong inflows into e-commerce services, medical equipment manufacturing and aerospace industries.

Its something Id call world factory 2.0. Its advantage lies in cost-effectiveness, supply chain readiness and engineering expertise, Xu said.

A recent report by KPMG found that 94% of multinational companies plan to maintain investment in China, with 67% expressing moderate or strong confidence in market growth over the next three to five years.

Oliver Oehms, Executive Director and Board Member of the German Chamber of Commerce in China - North China talked about further investment plans of German companies in China: Some 5,000 German companies are operating in China across several industries. We see the commitment of German investment and companies in China in our annual business confidence survey. The latest version shows that more than 50% have further plans to invest in China. he said.

Even for American firms, China is an indispensable partner. A recent business climate report by the American Chamber of Commerce in China found that 72% of surveyed firms believe their industry will continue to grow. More than half list China among their top three global investment destinations, and 71% say they are not considering relocating production or sourcing outside the country.

An efficient, productive innovation ecosystem is increasingly central to Chinas appeal. R&D spending has risen steadily by around 10% annually over the past five years. According to the World Intellectual Property Organizations Global Innovation Index 2025, China now ranks first in the number of top-tier innovation clusters, with 24 among the worlds leading 100.

Data from Chinas Ministry of Commerce show that newly established foreign-invested enterprises nationwide rose a robust 25.5% year-on-year in January, with actual foreign investment in R&D and design services surging 175.1%.For many multinational firms, China is no longer just a manufacturing base: it has become a place to develop, test and scale the next generation of productsfrom advanced industrial machinery to digital and green technologiescementing its role as the worlds laboratory of innovation.

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Qaiser Nawab is Chairman of the Belt and Road Initiative for Sustainable Development (BRISD), an international platform focused on fostering cooperation and innovation across Asia, Africa, and Latin America

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The views and opinions expressed by guest columnists in their articles may differ from those of the editorial board and do not necessarily reflect its views.
This also jeopardizes the stability of the Andean countrys electricity grid, which is increasingly dependent on gas-fired power plants, especially during times of low rainfall, which impacts water levels at Colombias hydroelectric facilities. You see, more than 60% of Colombias electricity is generated by hydro-plants, with output falling sharply whenever water levels decline because of poor hydrology from reduced rainfall.

Natural gas produced alongside oil is reinjected into wells to boost reservoir pressure and reduce viscosity, making it easier and more efficient to lift the petroleum. As demand for enhanced recovery grows, because of Colombias aging oilfields , less associated natural gas is available for commercial production, further heightening domestic supply constraints. Those diminished reserves, along with production falling to multi-decade lows, pose a threat to Colombias economy, where the fossil fuel has long been a cost-effective alternative to other sources of energy.

A lack of investment in drilling activity, along with Petros decision to cease issuing new exploration and production contracts, is weighing on natural gas reserves as well as production. At the end of 2024, Colombia possessed reserves of 2.064 trillion cubic feet, which, at the current rate of production, is only sufficient for another 5.9 years. Around 70% of those reserves are associated with oil production. As Colombias oilfields age and decline rates rise, there is growing pressure on drillers to implement enhanced recovery techniques , one of the lowest cost being gas injection.

There are signs that Colombias natural gas output will continue falling despite the belief that recent discoveries, notably the Sirus 1 and 2 wells in the GUA-OFF-0 block, could bolster reserves by up to 6 trillion cubic feet.

Colombias economically vital natural gas production has been in free fall for years. For January 2026, the Andean countrys natural gas output fell to a multi-decade low of 683 million cubic feet per day. While this is just over 1% lower than a month prior it is a shocking 17% less than the same period a year earlier.

Colombias natural gas production is spiraling ever lower, with the hydrocarbon sector impacted by tax hikes and leftist President Gustavo Petros reforms aimed at weaning the country off its dependence on fossil fuels. This forced Bogota to significantly boost costly liquified petroleum gas (LPG) imports to meet domestic demand and ensure the stability of Colombia's electricity grid. Those imports are straining government finances and the economy at a time of fiscal crisis . Nonetheless, U.S. President Donald Trumps intervention in Venezuela has created an alternative, more cost-effective solution.

Story Continues

Any electricity shortfall is filled by thermal power plants fired by natural gas, coal, and fuel oil. These facilities also provide crucial baseline power for an ailing electric grid, where in some regions, power shortages and brownouts are regular occurrences. There is also growing demand for natural gas because of Bogotas push to reduce greenhouse emissions by replacing coal-fired plants with those powered by natural gas. For these reasons, demand for natural gas soars during periods of substantially reduced rainfall, which impacts water flows at hydro facilities.

To address the ever-growing natural gas supply shortfall, caused by growing domestic demand and declining production, Bogota is ramping up LPG imports. The situation is so dire that it is predicted that as much as 30% of domestic natural gas will be supplied by LPG imports for 2026, a significant jump from 18% for 2025. This will push the cost of natural gas higher in a country where a spiraling cost of living is sharply impacting households and the economy.

While these events triggered alarm bells in Bogota, President Trump's intervention in Venezuela, with illegitimate President Nicolas Maduro snatched during a daring January night raid on Caracas by U.S. forces, offers a better solution. You see, aside from possessing the worlds largest petroleum reserves of more than 300 billion barrels, Venezuela holds considerable natural gas reserves totaling an estimated 6.3 trillion cubic feet, more than double those of Colombia. Most of that natural gas, estimated to be around 80%, is associated with offshore oil production.

Since the White House intervened in and eased sanctions against Venezuela, there is considerable opportunity for those natural gas reserves to be shipped to Colombia. This saw the plan to ship natural gas from Venezuela to Colombia, which was shelved years earlier because of strict U.S. sanctions and technical difficulties, reconsidered. Bogota and Caracas recently agreed to investigate repairing the Antonio Ricaurte natural gas pipeline after more than a decade of inactivity.

Related: Six Stocks That Could Soar in an Era of Regional Instability

The trans-Caribbean pipeline has the capacity to pump roughly 500 million cubic feet per day of natural gas from Venezuela to Colombia, more than adequately meeting the projected supply shortfall of up to 206 million cubic feet per day. Colombias Ministry of Mines and Energy announced this week it had formalized a roadmap with PDVSA to reactivate the Antonio Ricaurte pipeline. This includes replacing 3.3 miles or five kilometres of the pipeline and reversing the structures flow to pump gas from Venezuela to Colombia.

The facility was built originally to ship natural gas lifted from Colombias La Ballena field in La Guajira to Venezuelas second-largest city, Maracaibo. It was only a year before the pipelines commissioning when Colombia pumped 699 million cubic feet of natural gas, with production exceeding domestic demand. This freed up natural gas supplies for export, with Venezuela, at the time, emerging as a key customer. At that time, with Colombias economy ravaged by a low-intensity multiparty civil war, President Alvaro Uribes administration was desperate to boost exports to invigorate the conflict-scarred economy.

Even so, restarting the Antonio Ricaurte pipeline doesnt provide an immediate solution, with considerable work required before the facility can be recommissioned. The pipeline is heavily corroded and damaged after more than a decade of inoperability, with little to no crucial maintenance performed during that period on the 139-mile or 224-kilometer-long facility. As a result, many sections are badly damaged, with many key components scavenged by looters. For these reasons, until a technical review and urgent repairs are completed, it will remain inoperable.

While importing natural gas from Venezuela provides a cost-effective solution for boosting supplies of the fossil fuel in Colombia, it will take months, even years, to bring the Antonio Ricaurte pipeline online. This makes Bogota, at least for the immediate future, highly dependent on expensive LPG imports to meet domestic demand for natural gas. Indeed, to boost LPG supply, Colombia is engaging in a costly redevelopment of natural gas infrastructure. This will harm Colombias balance of trade and economy at a critical time, with a fiscal crisis looming during an election year.

By Matthew Smith for Oilprice.com

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President Donald Trump the U.S. doesnt need anybody to help reopen the Strait of Hormuzdespite also calling for allies to form a coalition to help secure the waterway critical for the global oil market as price fluctuations continue to drive gas prices higher.

Protesters shout slogans against Donald Trump's demands to multiple countries to send warships to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, near the U.S. Embassy in Seoul. Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved

Key Facts

Before a meeting of the Kennedy Center board on Monday afternoon, Trump said numerous countries have told me theyre on the way to secure the strait, but declined to provide details on exactly which countries were helping.

However, it is unclear which other nations would join this coalitionthe leaders of Spain and Germany said their nations would not participate, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he did not see a role for the NATO in the matter, and the European Unions foreign policy representative Kaja Kallas said there was no appetite for the bloc to deploy more ships to the region.

But at the same meeting, Trump insisted he was only asking for help to find out how they reactinsisting were the strongest nation in the world, we have the strongest military by far in the world.

Speaking to reporters onboard Air Force One on Sunday evening, Trump said he has demanded that about seven countries send their warships to help reopen the strait for commercial shipping.

The global benchmark Brent Crude Futures rose as high as $105.9 per barrel, before falling to $100.43 by Monday afternoon.

The price fluctuations come amid Irans continued threats against oil infrastructure in the Middle East and its efforts to impose a blockade on the Strait of Hormuzwhich is used to transport around 20% of the worlds oil supply.

Crucial Quote

"Some are countries that we've helped for many, many years, Trump said on Monday afternoon. We've protected them from horrible outside sources, and they weren't that enthusiastic. And the level of enthusiasm, it matters to me." When asked exactly which countries were helping with the Strait of Hormuz, the president said Secretary of State Marco Rubio would announce further details at a later date. He did say French President Emmanuel Macron was potentially one of the supporters, describing his level of enthusiasm as an eight on a scale of ten. "I think he's going to help, I'll let you know," Trump told reporters on Monday. Earlier on Sunday, the president argued that, unlike the U.S., which primarily relies on domestic oil production, these countries needed oil from the Middle East and they should help us protect it. The president even claimed there was a case that the U.S. shouldn't even be near the Strait at all, because we don't need it, we have a lot of oil.
The UKs Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA) has published an updated guidance pack to help businesses that supply food and grocery products to large supermarkets understand their rights under the Groceries Supply Code of Practice (GSCOP).

The document, known as the Code Confident pack, explains how the UK grocery supply rules work and how suppliers can raise concerns about supermarket practices.

It forms part of the regulators effort to improve transparency and encourage suppliers to report potential breaches of the Code.

The Groceries Supply Code of Practice regulates how the UKs largest grocery retailers deal with their direct suppliers. The GCA monitors and enforces the Code to ensure supermarkets treat suppliers lawfully and fairly across areas such as payments, promotions and supply agreements.

What the groceries code covers

The Groceries Supply Code of Practice sets rules for how major UK supermarkets manage relationships with direct suppliers. The Code applies to grocery retailers with annual UK grocery sales of more than 1 billion that are formally designated by the Competition and Markets Authority.

These retailers include companies such as Tesco, Sainsburys, Asda, Morrisons, Aldi, Lidl, Amazon, Marks & Spencer and Waitrose, among others.

The Code aims to prevent unfair supply chain practices. For example, it requires supermarkets to:

pay suppliers on time

avoid unexpected changes to supply agreements

compensate suppliers for certain forecasting errors

avoid charging suppliers for shrinkage or wastage in stores

The rules also restrict certain listing fees and set out procedures supermarkets must follow if they plan to remove a supplier from their range.

Guidance for suppliers

The updated Code Confident pack provides a practical overview of the regulation and explains how suppliers can identify potential problems when working with supermarkets.

It includes frequently asked questions about the Code, a list of retailers covered by the regulation, and contact details for Code Compliance Officers within each retailer. These officers act as a first point of contact for suppliers with concerns about compliance.

The pack also highlights training opportunities to help suppliers understand how the Code works in practice. According to the GCA, supermarket buyers must receive regular training on the Code, meaning suppliers without similar knowledge may be at a disadvantage during negotiations.

Encouraging suppliers to report issues

A key aim of the guidance is to encourage suppliers to raise concerns about potential breaches of the grocery supply rules.
This story was originally published on Supply Chain Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Supply Chain Dive newsletter.

The United States and Ecuador have signed a reciprocal trade agreement, finalizing tariff and non-tariff measures first outlined in a framework deal last year, even as the U.S. works to reconstruct its tariff regime.

Under the agreement, the U.S. agreed to apply the most-favored-nation rate of duty to a lew of goods from Ecuador, including flowers, coffee, fruits, spices, gas and certain chemical compounds. The U.S. also said it would provide preferential treatment to the South American country for future tariff actions, a provision that could prove to be important in the near future.

Last week, the U.S. initiated a pair of Section 301 investigations, one of which is reviewing foreign forced labor regulations of 60 trading partners, including Ecuador. The U.S. has previously used these probes as the foundation for fresh tariffs.

For its part, Ecuador agreed to remove, reduce or cap tariffs on a wide range of U.S.-origin goods and said it would not apply any price band system to U.S. agricultural products, such as the Andean Price Band System. The U.S. and Ecuador also plan to enter into a duty evasion agreement, though no further details were provided.

Ecuador further assented to the creation of duty-free quotas for certain agricultural goods, including corn, sorghum, ethanol, poultry, pork, dairy products and soybean oil. The country also stated it would provide preferential market access for U.S. agricultural goods and eliminate non-tariff barriers more generally. For instance, Ecuardo said it would remove restrictions and licensing requirements for remanufactured U.S. goods and accepting U.S. regulations for medical devices and pharmaceuticals, motor vehicles and parts, food and agricultural goods.

In addition, Ecuador agreed to strengthen intellectual, property and environmental protections, while implementing measures to prohibit the importation of goods made with forced labor. The deal also calls for the country to eliminate value added and digital services taxes.

The reciprocal trade agreement will go into effect 30 days after both countries have completed proper legal procedures to implement provisions of the pact.

The U.S. has finalized the terms of several other framework trade agreements, including ones with the United Kingdom, El Salvador, Argentina and Guatemala. However, some of these pacts, as well as framework deals that have yet to be finalized, are on uncertain ground following a Supreme Court ruling last month that removed the tariffs at the heart of negotiations.
For decades, investors have been urged to buy into broad, diversified market index funds like the State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEMKT: SPY). That way, your money is spread across a wide variety of companies, industries, and risk exposures. But if you look closely, those benefits aren't nearly as strong as they used to be. In fact, a recent report from Royal Bank of Canada should have every investor concerned about the safety of their own money.

Markets are nearing record levels of concentration

The cautionary report from Royal Bank of Canada, released less than two months ago, gets straight to the point. "Over the past decade, the S&P 500, which has historically been viewed as a balanced cross-section of the U.S. economy, has slowly transformed into a tech- and AI-dominated index," the report begins. "We believe this 'Great Narrowing' should be top of mind for investors."

Will AI create the world's first trillionaire? Our team just released a report on the one little-known company, called an "Indispensable Monopoly" providing the critical technology Nvidia and Intel both need. Continue 

The research observes how tech stocks and AI stocks now make up a historic percentage of the overall index's value. From 1990 to 2015, the top 10 companies in the S&P 500 index accounted for 17.7% to 23.4% of the index's total value. In 2020, however, that percentage increased to 28.6%. Today, that figure is even higher at an astounding 40.7%!

Image source: Getty Images.

"Many investors believe an S&P 500 fund offers wide diversification," Royal Bank of Canada concludes. "But, more than $40 of every $100 invested flows into just 10 companies, creating a feedback loop where passive inflows disproportionately support the largest stocks, increasing their weights and reinforcing performance leadership regardless of fundamentals."

None of this means that markets are necessarily overvalued, and index funds still offer high levels of instant diversification. But if you're investing in index funds thinking that the fate of a single company won't tank your portfolio, think again. The AI growth stock Nvidia, for example, now accounts for 8% of the S&P 500's value! Your money likely isn't as diversified as you once believed.

Now might be a great time to see what it would take to truly diversify your portfolio to account for this concern.

Should you buy stock in SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust right now?

Before you buy stock in SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, consider this:
The development of the Middle Corridor is bringing economic benefits not only to Central Asia but also to Europe, according to Alkis Drakinos, AzerNEWS reports.

Speaking at the South-Eastern Europe and Trans-Caspian region business summit held within the framework of the Global Baku Forum, Drakinos emphasized that the growing demand for trade, energy, and infrastructure is driving sustained interest in the corridor.

Drakinos, who represents the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in the South Caucasus, noted that global market fluctuations are unlikely to reduce the importance of the route.

Central Asia is experiencing a demographic boom. The societies there are very young. Economies are producing more and needs are also growing, he said.

According to him, the benefits of expanding trade links extend beyond the region itself. Countries of the European Union not only import resources such as energy from the region but also export goods to the rapidly growing markets of Central Asia.

As a result, a sustainable trend is forming, trade volumes are increasing, and in the long term the development of this route will fully justify itself, Drakinos added.

He also stressed that having multiple transport routes is crucial for economic resilience.

In todays world it is much better for market participants who have a choice not to depend on a single route or logistical option. When there is a whole ecosystem of transportation alternatives, that is the real source of sustainability, he said.
Cases of a virus with no vaccine and no specific treatment are popping up across the country. Its called human metapneumovirus, or HMPV, and it's on the rise nationwide, according to data from the National Respiratory and Enteric Virus Surveillance System (NREVSS). WastewaterSCAN data, which tracks pathogens in wastewater, also currently shows a high concentration of HMPV, with clusters in New Jersey and California.

It's reasonable to be concerned about a virus without a vaccine or treatment, but infectious disease doctors advise caution rather than alarm. Heres why.

Meet the experts: Amesh A. Adalja, MD, is a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security; Thomas Russo, MD, is a professor and chief of infectious diseases at the University at Buffalo in New York.

What is human metapneumovirus?

Human metapneumovirus is a virus that can cause upper and lower respiratory tract infections in people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The virus can infect anyone, but younger children, people with weakened immune systems, and older adults are the most vulnerable to getting sick with HMPV.

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It was first identified in the Netherlands in 2001 (but was found to have been circulating as early as the 1950s) and is in the same class of viruses as respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV.

"It's a little bit more of a nuisance virus," explains Thomas Russo, MD, a professor and chief of infectious diseases at the University at Buffalo in New York. Meaning that, "it's not as virulent" as things like the flu, COVID, or RSV.

Symptoms of HMPV usually overlap with those of other respiratory viruses and can include cough, fever, nasal congestion, and shortness of breath. More severe infections can lead to bronchitis, pneumonia, middle ear infections, bronchiolitis (an infection of the small airways), and asthma attacks.

According to the NIH, gastrointestinal symptoms can also occur with HMPV and be more severe in older adults with comorbidities or weakened immune systems.

How does human metapneumovirus spread?

Russo says that HMPV spreads similarly to other respiratory viruses. He explains that this means you can get the virus from close personal contact with someone who is sick, breathing in air thats been infected by someone with HMPV who coughed or sneezed, or touching objects that have the virus on them and then touching your mouth, nose, or eyes.

Why are cases increasing?

The increase in cases isnt shocking, according to infectious disease experts. HMPV cases increase every yearit is a routine seasonal respiratory virus, says Amesh A. Adalja, MD, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.

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HMPV tends to peak in late winter and early spring, adds Russo. This is pretty typical in terms of when we see cases, he explains.

Adalja also notes that it's more than likely you've already had HMPV growing up. "Infection is ubiquitous in childhood," he says.

What to do if you suspect you have HMPV

While there are tests for human metapneumovirus, its not something you can usually get at your PCP's office. Instead, these tend to be used in diagnostic panels you might get at a hospital, Russo says.

Theres also no specific antiviral treatment for HMPV, explains Adalja. Russo says this means that doctors usually recommend supportive care, such as drinking plenty of water and getting rest. Basically, it's a good idea to follow your usual flu/cold protocol, stay home, and keep an eye on your symptoms in case they worsen.

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"Pay attention to the warning signs of developing a severe respiratory infection," Russo says. If you have any symptoms like dizziness, blue lips, or confusion, it's time to see a provider to make sure you're getting enough oxygen.

Beyond that, don't let the fact that there's no vaccine or antiviral treatment scare you too muchthere are many common respiratory viruses that don't have a vaccine or specific treatment, like the common cold

How to lower your risk of getting HMPV

The same measures that help to protect you from other respiratory viruses also work against HMPV, Russo says. That means doing your best to avoid people who are obviously sick, practicing good hand hygiene, and avoiding touching your nose, mouth, and eyes.

If youre considered high risk for more severe forms of HMPV, Russo recommends avoiding crowded indoor settings. If you can't avoid such settings, wearing a mask is a good idea.

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Just keep this in mind, per Adalja: The vast majority of people have no issue with HMPV infection.

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Bitdefender have uncovered a new AI-assisted malware development model dubbed vibeware, revealing how a Pakistan-aligned threat actor is industrialising cyberattacks across South Asia by rapidly generating large volumes of disposable malware variants.

The activity is linked with medium confidence to APT36, also known as Transparent Tribe, a threat group historically associated with targeting the Indian government, diplomatic missions and defence-related entities. The latest research shows a strategic pivot away from reliance on off-the-shelf malware toward an AI-enabled production pipeline capable of releasing new variants at a near-daily cadence.

Rather than pursuing technical sophistication, the vibeware model prioritises scale. Attackers use large language models and AI-integrated development tools to rewrite similar malicious logic across multiple programming languages, including Nim, Zig and Crystal, alongside Rust and Go. By shifting into niche or less commonly monitored languages, the group effectively resets the detection baseline for many security tools.

Bitdefender researchers describe this approach as a form of Distributed Denial of Detection. In several cases, victims were infected with multiple parallel implants written in different languages and using separate communication protocols. If one access path is blocked, others remain active, complicating incident response and increasing operational resilience for the attacker.

The research also highlights the growing use of Living Off Trusted Services techniques. Instead of relying solely on attacker-controlled infrastructure, the malware embeds command-and-control communications within legitimate platforms such as Slack, Discord, Google Sheets and Supabase. This allows malicious traffic to blend into normal business activity, making detection and disruption more difficult.

While many of the analysed samples contained coding flaws and incomplete logic consistent with AI-assisted generation, the overall strategy remains effective. The volume and diversity of variants increase the likelihood that at least one implant will evade traditional signature-based or behaviourally tuned detection engines.

The targeting remains highly focused on South Asian regional politics and national security, with primary victims linked to Indian government institutions and embassies. Secondary targets include organisations connected to defence, foreign affairs and strategic policy. However, the implications extend beyond one geography.

The real shift is not in malware sophistication, but in malware production. AI is lowering the barrier to entry for experimenting with new languages and delivery mechanisms. Even imperfect code can become operationally successful when deployed at scale.

For organisations across Australia and the broader APAC region, the findings underscore the need for layered detection strategies that prioritise behavioural analysis, anomaly detection and monitoring of trusted cloud services, rather than relying solely on static signatures.

The full report, APT36: A Nightmare of Vibeware, provides detailed technical analysis, indicators of compromise and defensive recommendations.
COMPANY NEWS: Australias first portable AI factory has arrived in Australia, built on clean energy that the national grid cannot absorb and positioned to attract global technology investment to Australian soil.

WinDC today announced a strategic partnership with Armada to deploy Australias first network of portable AI factories powered by renewable energy. The partnership is designed to position Australia as a destination for global technology investment, using the countrys vast clean energy resources to power AI computing infrastructure that the worlds biggest technology companies are actively looking to build. The first unit is already on Australian soil.

Australia wasted 7.2 terawatt-hours of clean energy in 2025, up from 4.5 terawatt-hours the year before. This is forecast to grow to over 10 terawatt-hours in 2026, because the national power grid cannot scale to transport generated electricity fast enough. WinDCs model addresses this directly. Rather than extending poles and wires to carry power from regional renewable sites back to cities, WinDC places data centre infrastructure at the generation site, where the energy is created  avoiding the need to use the already congested transmission grid.

Under the partnership, WinDC will deploy 11 megawatts of modular data centres designed and built by Armada and its partners across renewable energy sites in New South Wales and other locations in the National Energy Market, as well as Western Australia. Initial locations include wind, solar and battery sites. Each unit deploys in approximately 90 days, runs on 100% renewable energy with zero Scope 2 emissions verified to the GPU-hour, and has a market-leading price point. The units are shipping-container-sized, ISO-conformant, and fully relocatable by truck.

Australia has the wind, the sun, and the land to be a genuine force in global AI infrastructure. What has been holding us back is the grid. We identified that problem ten years ago, working alongside renewable energy providers on the East Coast, and this is the solution we built, said Andrew Sjoquist, Founder and CEO of WinDC.

For renewable asset owners, hosting a WinDC unit converts curtailed generation into a commercial opportunity, thereby improving the yield of their generation asset. For the broader energy market, the localised consumption of electricity, as opposed to transmitting it long distances to metropolitan city-based data centres, reduces the demand and therefore investment required in electricity transmission networks  the grid. The units use a closed-loop cooling system that requires no water, a significant point of difference from conventional data centres.

The demand for real-time data processing and AI inference is growing faster than centralised infrastructure can support, said Dan Wright, Co-Founder and CEO of Armada. This partnership with WinDC enables sovereign AI factories to be built where energy is produced, delivering resilient, scalable compute without waiting on grid expansion in Australia.

The partnership comes as Australias role in the global AI build-out is becoming a growing question of national economic policy. Australian superannuation funds are currently directing billions into data centre operators overseas. WinDC is building sovereign AI infrastructure on Australian soil, powered by Australian renewables, with an eye to attracting global technology companies to locate capacity in the country rather than in the United States or Europe.

Armada Edge Platform handles deployment and operations across distributed sites and integrates with the WinDC SWARM platform, which prioritises and manages the efficient use of renewable energy during operations.

Armadas units are currently built in the United States and Europe. Armada and WinDC have agreed to a "Made in Australia" vision as part of the partnership, and are planning to shift to Australian-based production to commence once WinDC reaches a defined number of units in-country.

WinDCs partnership with Armada reflects a clear Made in Australia commitment -aligning with national initiatives such as the National Reconstruction Fund and broader sovereign capability policies - to ensure that the next generation of AI-ready infrastructure is not only deployed here, but increasingly built, integrated, and scaled from Australia itself, said Andrew Sjoquist.
Logicalis Australia has expanded Erica Smith's remit to Head of Marketing and Vendor Alliances. The new role unifies brand strategy, demand generation, and partner engagement to turbocharge growth and channel alliances across Logicalis Australia.

Ericas expanded scope brings the Vendor Alliances function under her leadership, aligning marketing, vendor strategy, and go-to-market execution to strengthen Logicalis Australias brand presence and deepen relationships with key technology partners and the broader channel ecosystem across hybrid cloud, security, AI, networking, and digital workplace solutions.

As part of this transition, the Alliances function will now operate within a newly structured Marketing and Vendor Alliances team. Erica leads a newly created team of seven across Australia and Malaysia, bringing fresh perspective, new energy, and strong channel experience to the business as Logicalis Australia expands for significant growth.

Lisa Fortey, general manager, Logicalis Australia, said, Erica has made a significant impact on Logicalis growth in a short period of time. She brings a rare combination of strategic marketing expertise, structured alliance management, and commercial acumen.

"Ericas leadership is strengthening Logicalis Australia brand awareness, deepening our strategic partnerships, and creating more cohesive go-to-market programs that support sustainable growth across the business. I am delighted she leads this expanded remit, with a fresh new team full of passion and energy for accelerating growth.

Erica Smith, head of marketing and vendor alliances, Logicalis Australia, said, Im delighted to take on this expanded remit. Bringing marketing and vendor alliances together creates a powerful opportunity to align brand, demand generation, and partner strategy under one clear vision. My focus is on streamlining processes, strengthening vendor engagement, and elevating the Logicalis brand in Australia. By aligning structured partner planning with clear go-to-market motions, we can better connect vendor investment to commercial priorities and customer outcomes.

Logicalis Australia has an incredibly talented team across marketing and alliances, and Im excited to build on the strong foundations already in place to enhance customer engagement, deepen partner relationships, and support continued growth.

With capability spanning demand generation, strategic alliances, campaign execution, business development, and partner program management, the team is designed to operate as an integrated growth engine. Supported by regional resources across Australia and Malaysia, the structure enables closer collaboration between marketing and vendor engagement, ensuring go-to-market programs are aligned to commercial priorities and customer outcomes.

Erica joined Logicalis Australia in late 2025 and has since demonstrated strong capability in aligning marketing programs with vendor strategy and demand generation. Erica brings more than 25 years of experience in IT marketing and channel leadership. Prior to joining Logicalis Australia, she was Chief Marketing and Alliance Officer at Blue Connections IT, with a proven track record of integrating marketing and vendor alliances.

Her career began at Ingram Micro, where working with more than 100 vendors shaped her deep understanding of the technology ecosystem. She later held senior sales and account leadership roles at Dell Software Group, Frontline Systems (now NTT Data), and Commander, developing strong commercial and vendor management expertise.

Lisa Fortey said, "Erica is widely recognised across the technology channel for her collaborative leadership style and commitment to values-led marketing. She has received multiple industry accolades for marketing innovation and sustainability-led initiatives, reinforcing her reputation for aligning brand strategy with measurable business outcomes.
At Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2026, Tencent Cloud, the cloud business of global technology company Tencent, announced its partnership with Maxon , a leading provider of professional software solutions for 3D design, motion graphics, and visual effects, among other creative applications. This partnership introduces powerful generative AI capabilities designed to augment the creative process, putting the artist firmly in the drivers seat.

Founded in Germany and now contributing to creative communities worldwide, Maxon is recognized for delivering powerful yet approachable tools that help creators across industries. Through its partnership with Tencent Cloud, the company is integrating Tencent HY 3D Global into its Oscar-winning Cinema 4D tool on iPad and desktop, bringing scalable generative AI directly into the workflows of millions of creators around the globe. Powered by Tencents self-developed generative AI model, Tencent HY 3D Global offers API-based services for high quality 3D model generation and processing. With this integration, Cinema 4D  already established as a leading solution for 3D animation, modeling, simulation, and rendering  gains new AI-driven capabilities that enhance speed, reliability, and creative flexibility. Cinema 4Ds new feature is expected to be available in late 2026.

This partnership comes at a pivotal moment, as the artistic community is raising concerns that AI could undermine human creativity, replace jobs, or rely on models trained without clear ethical standards. Tencent Cloud and Maxon are responding to these concerns with transparency and a creator-first approach, ensuring that artists remain firmly in control. At MWC, Tencent Cloud presented the first recorded demonstration of the integration, highlighting a workflow where the creator leads every step of the process. In this setup, generative AI functions as a supportive assistant, enhancing efficiency and unlocking new creative possibilities without replacing human ingenuity.

This partnership builds on the long-standing relationship between Tencent and Maxon to introduce new ways for creators to experiment and responsibly enhance their workflows with generative AI. Together, they signal a shared commitment to innovation and a joint effort to shape the future of modern 3D design tools.

Fred Sun, General Manager of Europe, Tencent Cloud International, said, We are proud to partner with Maxon to bring Tencent HY 3D technology into Cinema 4D. This collaboration underscores our leadership in scalable AI solutions and highlights our commitment to empowering creators with tools that enhance productivity while preserving artistic integrity. We are opening new opportunities across 3D design, character creation, and immersive experiences, demonstrating how innovation can responsibly support the creative community.

David McGavran, CEO of Maxon, said, This partnership reflects our core values of delighting customers, empowering the artistic community, and fostering curiosity and exploration. That is why we are approaching generative AI thoughtfully. Our commitment remains unchanged: to build tools that amplify human creativity and strengthen the professional workflows our users rely on. By integrating Tencents HY 3D technology into Cinema 4D, we are providing a tool that streamlines tedious tasks and helps creators move more quickly from concept to execution, while the artist remains fully in control.

Philip Losch, Chief Technology and AI Officer of Maxon, added, Working closely with Tencent Cloud has given us the agility to experiment and iterate quickly. The collaboration unlocks new levels of scalability and reliability for creators. It ensures generative AI delivers high quality results that expand what artists can achieve, while maintaining the flexibility and precision they expect. This sets the stage for a new era of creative workflows.
The countries with the largest share in foreign investments in fixed capital in Azerbaijan in 2025 have been revealed, AzerNEWS reports.

The figures were included in the Report on the Activities of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan for 2025, which was discussed during a session of the Milli Majlis.

According to the report, 19.8% of total investments in fixed capital last year, amounting to 4.2 billion manats ($2.47 billion), came from foreign sources.

Out of the 4.0 billion manats ($2.35 billion) invested by foreign countries and international organizations, 96.3% was provided by investors from the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Turkiye, Russia, the United States, Switzerland, Japan, Iran, Hungary, India, and France.

Overall, 21.2 billion manats ($12.47 billion) were invested in fixed capital from all financial sources in 2025 for the development of Azerbaijans economic and social sectors.

Of this amount:

74.8% (15.9 billion manats  $9.35 billion) was directed to the non-oil and gas sector.

25.2% (5.3 billion manats  $3.12 billion) was invested in the oil and gas sector.

The report also highlighted increasing activity from private investors. Compared with the previous year, investments in Azerbaijans economy by the non-state sector rose by 11.5%, while investments from this sector in the non-oil and gas segment increased by 11.1%.
People love gifts, and thus by extension love gift givers. And, while something off-the-shelf is great, whats better is something highly personalised. No matter what youre thinking of, Cricut can make it that bit extra special with a little inspiration.

Long-time readers know Mrs iTWire is an early childcare teacher, and one big event on the pre-school calendar is always graduation day when a cohort has all grown up into big kiddies and are ready to move up to primary school. Some of these children have attended for three years, moving through the ranks of Joeys, Koalas, and Wombats.

For the 2025 graduating class, Mrs iTWire rolled out the mighty Cricut Maker 4 to delightfully adorn graduation teddie bears - replete with cap and gown - with the childs name, class and year in gold lettering.

It looks impressive, and with practice, it's also pretty simple to do. Heres how she went about it:

Items

Cricut brand Smart Iron on Glitter vinyl

Cricut maker 4

Weeding tool

Cricut Mini Heat press and mat

Steps

Use Cricut Design Space to find an appropriate font, determine appropriate size.

Type out all names and make 22 copies of class name and year.

Cut - the Cricut maker 4 automatically mirrors all content, which was a bit of a learning curve for someone who is used to manually doing it, but it works excellently.

Weed out text and cut backing into individual parts.

Heat - test the little graduation gowns/hats to ensure they wont scorch or melt.

Determine optimum placement and press. Here, we opted for several shorter presses to preserve the fabric and ensure the text was properly affixed.

Of course, its not all about the graduating class. The other children all love - and who wouldnt, at any age - an end-of-year Christmas T-shirt too.

Here, Mrs iTWire designed some wonderful personalised shirts for the Joeys, with their name and a special Santa hat that truly stands out with bling and a cool, crinkly feel.

This magic is achieved by using Cricuts black regular lino, and the Cricut red iron-on glitter vinyl for a very special effect.

Steps

Design in Design Space

Cut once (black elements)

Cut twice (red elements)

Heat transfer onto shirt in two stages, using the Cricut heat-press app to determine the optimal temperature and time. These can be set on the heat press to ensure correct settings; too much heat or too long a duration can result in melting, scorching, and/or discolouration of the T-shirt, while too little means it will not properly adhere.

Check out these results!

Pass one ...

And after pass two ...

While it may seem obvious in hindsight, the fact you can blend materials and layer them on top of each other is something iTWire confesses it did not think about until watching a festive demonstration by Cricut themselves, one year. It always continues to show that with Cricut, you really can do anything; the limitation is your own imagination.

Now, why stop there? While in a Cricut-y mood, Mrs iTWire also personalised an art kit for her mother, or, why, Mother-in-law iTWire.

Items

Raw wooden Art box

Stencil made of Permanent Smart Vinyl using Cricut Maker 4

Torch paste, gloves, brush and squeegee (available on Amazon)

Heat gun (available on Amazon or any hardware store)

Steps

Design using images and fonts included in the Cricut Design Space All Access subscription

Cut and weed to retain negative space plus a frame of permanent vinyl.

Place and adhere vinyl to the box, ensuring there are no air bubbles or loose edges.

Apply a good layer of Torch paste evenly over the image without exceeding the outer limits of the vinyl. Use the squeegee to scrape away excess.

Allow to sit for 10 minutes (or according to Torch Paste instructions)

Peel off the vinyl stencil.

Use the heat gun held approximately 20cm away from the project, applying heat evenly across all areas in a sweeping motion.

Once the desired colour is achieved, allow to cool and wipe with a damp cloth to remove residue.

Polish with beeswax or lacquer as preferred.

Here's the finished product:
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As American and Israeli armed forces hunt Iranian missile launchers, radar sites and warships, Iran is taking aim at a different set of targets: the civilian institutions that define the modern age of globalization.

Tehran's strategy in what some are calling the third Persian Gulf War - following clashes in 1991 and 2003 - threatens to imperil its more prosperous neighbors' standing as a hub of global trade and finance. On Friday, the Dubai International Financial Center, home to banks such as Goldman Sachs and a Ritz-Carlton hotel, was hit by a drone attack, causing minor damage to one building.

At issue is more than the essential energy cargoes that are now blocked from transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Among Iran's first targets for retaliation after the initial U.S. and Israeli attack on Feb. 28 were Amazon data centers in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, symbols of those nations' technological ambitions.

On Wednesday, after a missile slammed into a downtown Tehran building belonging to state-owned Bank Sepah, the nation's oldest, Iran promised to strike "economic centers and banks belonging to the United States and the Zionist regime in the region."

The Iranian strategy illustrates the vulnerability of critical links in the global economy and explains why the U.S., China, Europe and Japan in recent years began emphasizing supply chain resilience rather than pure cost efficiency.

"There's going to be a change to the default assumption that there is no risk for operating in a place like Dubai. There is risk. There is vulnerability," said Richard Nephew, a former U.S. diplomat now at Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy. "The risk premium for doing business in the Gulf was always assumed to be essentially zero."

No longer. In recent weeks, the aura of safety that lured financial professionals to the Persian Gulf from around the world has been shattered.

Those with the most at stake are Iran's neighbors, including the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, which have marketed themselves to global audiences as ultrasafe for individuals and their money.

"We go out, we leave our doors open, our cars have the keys in the ignition. You don't even have to worry about your property," said Mohamed Bahaa, APCO's Dubai-based managing director for the private sector in the Middle East and North Africa. "Nothing beats it."

These fast-modernizing sheikhdoms have remade their economies in recent years, diversifying away from oil and gas into tourism, finance, trade and artificial intelligence.

While China is perhaps better known as a beneficiary of globalization, the emirates also have thrived thanks to cross-border linkages.

Over the past quarter century, Dubai, the UAE's largest city, emerged as a center of global trade, finance and tourism, attracting wealthy expatriates. Once a dusty pearl-diving settlement, the city saw its population rise to more than 4 million from less than 1 million in 2000.

A reputation for neutrality drew customers of all stripes. Wall Street bankers and Indian executives relied on the same low-tax, lightly regulated market that sometimes drew less savory investors. Among them: the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, which relied on a network of front companies there to handle its illicit trade in oil, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.

Dubai's evenhanded stance, however, earned it no combat reprieve. Iran has launched 1,600 drones, 15 cruise missiles and 294 ballistic missiles against the UAE since the war began, the emirates' Ministry of Defense said Saturday.

In recent fighting, Iranian drones damaged Dubai International Airport, one of the world's busiest. Cargo movements were briefly paused at Jebel Ali, one of the world's largest container ports, after debris from a rocket intercept landed nearby.

Financial markets were caught unawares. As the war began, stocks were riding high on a wave of AI-related optimism and investors made little distinction between good credit risks and bad.

"The risks were higher than people understood," said Fabio Natalucci, chief executive of the Andersen Institute for Finance and Economics in Washington. "They're now scrambling to figure out how long this will last."

Any corporate or investor second thoughts about the region would continue a broader rethinking of globalization that began following the 2008 financial crisis and accelerated amid the covid pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

For decades following the Cold War's end, companies stretched their supply lines across thousands of miles of ocean and placed outsize bets even in notoriously unstable regions like the Middle East. Government officials and business executives alike assumed that expanded trade would promote a more stable global environment.

Today, companies that operate globally must hedge against unexpected developments in a growing list of venues, said Demetrios Marantis, a former U.S. trade negotiator, citing Venezuela, Cuba, the Middle East and Ukraine.

"You have to assume the worst," he said. "Businesses really have to be paying attention to potential flash points because they're flashing," he said.

As Dubai came under fire this month, several banks such as Citibank and Standard Chartered ordered employees to work remotely. Some investors already are considering moving investments from the Middle East to Hong Kong, the CEO of CSOP Asset Management, Ding Chen, told Bloomberg Television on Thursday.

Once the war ends, the Gulf states may try to reduce their reliance on the United States, which officials in the region believe launched the war without adequate consultation, Nephew said. That could create business opportunities for European defense firms.

Many expatriates anticipate an eventual return to the status quo ante.

Though a person was killed by falling attack debris not far from his Dubai home, Reza Baqir, global head of sovereign advisory services at Alvarez & Marsal, remains confident about the emirates' post-conflict prospects.

Once the fighting ends, Baqir, the former head of Pakistan's central bank, said that he expects the government to create a "very aggressive set of incentives to demonstrate that Dubai is back in business."

So far, the firm's clients are reviewing their financial exposure and adopting a cautious stance toward new business but are not bolting for the exits. Baqir said he, too, intends to stay put along with his wife and teenage daughter.

"I feel safe," he said. "It is certainly a situation which is not easy to deal with at all. [But] I have a business to run."

The reemergence of geopolitical risk - and the breakdown of the traditional U.S.-led global order - is drawing greater attention from business leaders, especially in the financial sector. In May, JPMorgan Chase established a new geopolitics center to advise clients on an "increasingly complex global business landscape."

Headed by Derek Chollet, a former State and Defense Department official, it will draw on advice from others, including former British prime minister Tony Blair and former House speaker Paul D. Ryan.

In a March 9 podcast posted on JPMorgan's website, Chollet said he was "pretty bullish" about prospects for the current conflict eradicating Iran's malign role in the region.

"If you think of all of the change that the Middle East has seen in the last decade, in terms of investment, and becoming a transportation, financial, tourism, AI hub of the world, all the changes in Saudi [Arabia], UAE and Qatar, the dramatic change we've seen in that part of the world, the one country that has been doing the most to undermine that has been Iran," he said.

Iran enters an economic war with little to lose. The U.S. for years has tried to isolate Iran from the global economy, maintaining at least eight separate sets of financial sanctions. Businesses and individuals in Iran, a nation of 93 million, are prevented from using the U.S. dollar, the global reserve currency.

The result is a stunted economy that has largely missed the globalized progress of the past few decades. Vietnam's annual non-oil trade, for example, is roughly seven times that of Iran, though the two nations have roughly the same population.

In February, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent took credit for creating "a dollar shortage" in Iran, which he said contributed to the collapse in December of a major bank, a plunge in the Iranian currency and the start of widespread anti-government protests.

Iran has its own weapons. Last week saw oil tankers burning off the Iraqi shoreline and a Qatari natural gas plant shut down to avoid Iranian fire. On Friday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Iran's attacks on civilian targets were a sign that Tehran is becoming "increasingly desperate."

There is probably more to come. The state-owned Bank of Sepah that was targeted by the U.S. or Israel earlier in the week has ties to the Iranian military and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. When the bank's digital processing facility was destroyed, it was processing March paychecks for Iranian military personnel, according to Iran International, an anti-regime media organization based in London.

"The Americans should expect our painful retaliation," the semiofficial Fars News Agency said on Telegram, advising people in the region to stay at least one kilometer away from any bank.

Iran has launched thousands of missiles and drones against an ever-widening array of targets, achieving relatively modest results. But if even a handful of explosive drones hit soft targets such as storage tanks for oil, chemicals or fertilizer or the vessels that carry them, they could disrupt key global arteries, said Monica Gorman, managing director at Crowell Global Advisors and a former supply chain specialist in the Biden White House.

"I think they have correctly identified ways they can inflict real pain," she said.

(COMMENT, BELOW)




He rose in opposition to President Barack Obama and has reversed many of his policies.

But perhaps no Trump undertaking runs so directly counter to Obama's approach than the Iran War.

Obama sought to accommodate the Iranian regime, while Trump hopes to topple it.

Obama tolerated an Iranian nuclear program, even one theoretically constrained by a nuclear deal, whereas Trump wants to destroy it or set it back for years.

Obama facilitated the rise of Iranian power in the region. Trump, in contrast, is endeavoring to crush it.

Back then, Obama operated on the basis of conciliation and caution. Today, Trump is all about confrontation and assertion.

We don't know how Trump's military operation in Iran will turn out. There are a number of ways to see it going sideways or falling short of its goals.

But there's no doubt that Trump's vision of the Middle East  with Israel and the Arab states putting their enmity behind them, while the Iranian regime is much reduced or eliminated  is more in keeping with US interests than Obama's.

The Obama theory was that Iran could be made into a responsible regional player if the nuclear issue were set aside, and if the United States forged a balance of power between Sunni powers in the region and Shia Iran.

The 2015 Iran nuclear deal (or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) restricted Iranian nuclear activity, while allowing the regime to sit on the cusp of a nuclear weapon and giving it major sanctions relief.

The Obama administration literally sent pallets of cash to Tehran, and the relaxation of sanctions gave the regime more running room to build up its missile arsenal and terrorist proxies around the region.

Trump 1.0 disrupted this model by tearing up the nuclear agreement and creating a maximum pressure campaign to squeeze the regime financially.

The campaign had kneecapped Iranian oil revenue and significantly depleted the regime's foreign reserves when Joe Biden came into office in 2020, hoping to revive the Obama strategy.

Before Oct. 7, Iranian power had reached a high-water mark. Its proxies dotted the region, from Gaza to Lebanon to Iraq to Syria to Yemen.

It was working with US adversaries China and Russia. It was partaking of regional leadership, just as Obama had imagined, but not as a moderate force.

Iran wielded its proxies as instruments of an Islamic radicalism threatening to Israel and US interests.

In retrospect, Oct. 7 looks to be for Islamic extremists what Pearl Harbor was for the Japanese  a brilliant, if awful, tactical success that carried within it the seeds of strategic defeat.

Israel went about systematically degrading Iran's proxy forces and then degraded Iran's defenses in retaliation for missile strikes.

This paved the way for the 12 Day War and Trump's strike on the Iranian nuclear program, known as Operation Midnight Hammer.

The strike was a signal that we weren't going to trust or verify  we were going to try to blow up and bury as much of the Iranian nuclear program as possible.

Operation Epic Fury is the second act. It seeks to destroy more of Iran's nuclear program and is going after the foundations of Iranian power that Obama left unaddressed in the nuclear deal  namely, the Iranian missile program and other elements of its military.

The campaign is the very opposite of the JCPOA, in its means (military action rather than diplomacy) and its ends.

If it achieves maximal success, there won't be any Iranian regime to deal with any longer; if it falls short of that, Iranian power and influence will nonetheless have been dealt grievous blows rather than being accommodated or enhanced.

The hope is that if the Islamic Republic falls during or after the war, or is defanged, it will open the way to build on the Abraham Accords.

That first-term Trump initiative rejected the conventional wisdom that the United States had to distance itself from Israel to make peace in the region.

Instead, the US could embrace Israel in a way that was anathema to Obama, and bring together the Jewish state with its Gulf allies, while marginalizing Iran.

Much depends on successfully prosecuting Operation Epic Fury, but there's no doubt that what Trump is trying to achieve would be better for the peace and security of the region than the policy pursued by one of the least worthy Nobel Peace Prize winners in history.

(COMMENT, BELOW)
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President Donald Trump on Sunday endorsed Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr's threat to revoke broadcast licenses over news coverage of the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran, calling media organizations "Corrupt and Highly Unpatriotic" in a Truth Social post.

"They get Billions of Dollars of FREE American Airwaves, and use it to perpetuate LIES, both in News and almost all of their Shows, including the Late Night Morons, who get gigantic Salaries for horrible Ratings," Trump wrote.

"As I used to say in The Apprentice, FIRED,'" he added.

Carr, in his Saturday post on X, warned he would deny or revoke government-issued licenses if broadcasters run what the agency deems "fake news." The warning was the latest salvo from the official who since becoming FCC chairman at the outset of Trump's second term has relished the role of media enforcer.

"Broadcasters that are running hoaxes and news distortions - also known as the fake news - have a chance now to correct course before their license renewals come up," Carr wrote on X. "The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they do not."

Carr said "changing course" would be a savvy business decision for broadcasters - though he did not mention any by name - given "trust in legacy media has now fallen to an all time low of just 9% and are ratings disasters." It's unclear what trust metrics Carr is citing, but Gallup found in 2020 that 9 percent of Americans have "a great deal" of trust in mass media, though another 31 percent said they had "a fair amount" of trust.

"When a political candidate is able to win a landslide election victory after in the face of hoaxes and distortions, there is something very wrong," Carr said, presumably talking about Trump, who received 312 electoral votes and 49.9 percent of the national vote in the 2024 presidential election. "It means the public has lost faith and confidence in the media. And we can't allow that to happen. Time for change!"

Carr's post elicited backlash from Democratic politicians and press freedom advocates, who have long criticized the administration's frequent insistence that adversarial or unflattering coverage is "fake."

"If Trump doesn't like your coverage of the war, his FCC will pull your broadcast license. That is flagrantly unconstitutional," Gavin Newsom, the Democratic governor of California, responded on X.

Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) said Carr's statement is a "clear directive to provide positive war coverage or else licenses may not be renewed."

Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-Massachusetts) wrote a letter to Carr calling the chairman's remarks a "stain" on the FCC's legacy and urging him to resign.

Will Creeley, legal director at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, called Carr's statement "dangerous" in a statement to The Washington Post.

"Brendan Carr's authoritarian warning - that networks risk their broadcasting licenses for Iran war reporting that the government doesn't like - is outrageous," Creeley said. "When the government demands the press become a state mouthpiece under the threat of punishment, something has gone very wrong."

Carr's comments appeared to build on a separate post Saturday by Trump on Truth Social in which he condemned the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and other news outlets over their coverage of damage to U.S. military aircraft at a base in Saudi Arabia, calling them "Lowlife 'Papers' and Media" whose reporting amounted to wanting the United States "to lose the War." Trump did not mention any broadcasters. Spokespeople for the Times and the Journal did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The White House did not immediately comment on whether Trump included any broadcasters in his criticism of this line of coverage.

Scrutiny over the Iran war, which began with a U.S.-Israeli attack last month, has escalated the administration's pressure campaign, in which Carr has become a key participant, against legacy media - although the FCC only oversees radio and television stations such as local NBC affiliates or NPR member stations that license publicly owned airwaves to broadcast programming.

He has evoked condemnation from free speech advocates for pressuring Disney's ABC and its affiliate stations to temporarily take comedian Jimmy Kimmel off the air, expanding the equal-time rule to cover daytime and late-night talk shows, launching investigations into numerous media companies, and overseeing a lengthy merger review of Skydance's purchase of CBS parent company Paramount that included the network appointing a conservative ombudsman to review content.

A bipartisan group of FCC commissioners including chairs from both parties petitioned the agency in November to repeal its news distortion policy - a rarely used instrument that has been at the heart of Carr's media campaign - arguing that even without enforcement action, "the specter of government interference alone chills broadcasters' speech." At the time, Carr said the petition was "quite rich" coming from people who, he said, censored conservatives. A spokesman for Carr did not immediately respond to a question about whether Carr's remarks were targeted at specific broadcasters.

Trump spent much of Friday and Saturday attacking news organizations as well. He shared an infographic on Truth Social titled "President Trump Is Reshaping the Media," cataloguing the departures of prominent journalists and TV anchors under a section labeled "Gone," which also includes "massive layoffs" at The Post.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth complained Friday about what he called "fake news from CNN," over a report indicating that the administration underestimated the war's impact on the Strait of Hormuz. He also said the network would improve once Skydance Paramount chief David Ellison - whose pending purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery includes CNN and requires Trump administration approval - takes it over.

CNN Chairman and CEO Mark Thompson pushed back in a statement Friday.

"We stand by our journalism," Thompson said. "Politicians have an obvious motive for claiming that journalism which raises questions about their decisions is false. At CNN our only interest is in telling the truth to our audiences in the U.S. and around the world and no amount of political threats or insults is going to change that."

(COMMENT, BELOW)




I was pro-Trump months if not years before most people reading this - July 10th 2015, to be precise. Yet I have confessed to grave misgivings about this latest war, and those misgivings were not assuaged by yesterday's remarks by the President. This is nothing to do with Levin vs Tucker vs Ben vs Megyn, etc, but for the more basic reason that America, not to be indelicate, is totally crap at war - or as I wrote twenty years ago (and read more recently):

The object of war is not to destroy the enemy's tanks but to destroy his will. As Liddell Hart put it: 'Our goal in war can only be attained by the subjugation of the opposing will...'

In my ancient bestseller, the thought occurred while I was standing next to a burnt-out Saddamite tank on the highway between the Jordanian border and Baghdad - when, only a few miles into Iraq, I was already having some nagging doubts about our will. This time, alas, I cannot stand next to a burnt-out Iranian warship because President Trump has assured us that they're all at the bottom of the sea, which no doubt is very heartening when one recalls all Tehran's tremendous naval victories over... er, India... South Africa... Papua New Guinea... um...

Yet, notwithstanding, the object of war remains not to destroy the enemy's tanks ships but to destroy his will. The Pentagon has failed to win any war for three-quarters of a century because it has no grasp of this concept. As a longtime New Hampshire resident and a naturalised US citizen, I regret this, but it is an objective fact.

So how's Iran's will holding up? Well, following the assassination of the Supreme Leader, the Assembly of Experts went frantically scrambling for their Gorbachev, in order to transition to detente with the Great Satan, or, failing that, an Admiral Donitz, to ensure that as many as possible of the IRGC surrender to the Americans rather than the Israelis. So, with these objects in mind, the Assembly of Experts eventually settled on ...the son of the previous guy. Khamanei Junior became a widower, an orphan and a grieving parent all within a few minutes on the Saturday before last. If anyone could be forgiven for thinking, "Aw, screw it, I'm retiring to my condo at the Four Seasons in Toronto, or maybe my 50 million apartments overlooking the Israeli Embassy in Kensington", it would surely be the Boyatollah. So I am doubtful that he took the gig because his will is destroyed.

The military cliche is that no plan survives first contact with the enemy. So clearly it makes sense to have no plan at all. On that opening day, Mr Trump was talking about the Iranian masses rising up to take back their country. That didn't happen, so the President moved on to muse about "regime change" - which is narrower but pre-supposes a faction sufficiently organised to pull it off. The only fellows to hand were the Kurds, so by last Wednesday there were reports that those in Iraq had been trained and armed by the CIA to cross the border into northern Iran. But, unlike the ADHD types of the commentariat, actual Kurds remember Gulf War One, when they rose up heroically ...only to get comprehensively screwed over by George H W Bush and the rest of the muthableepers back in Washington. Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. (A lesson the rah-rah right might usefully learn.)

So, by the weekend, Trump was demanding "unconditional surrender". By Monday, the President had presumably been apprised that, in the actual region where Iran lives, that would look as if Islam were unconditionally surrendering to the Zionist Entity. Which even the most washed-up ayatollah would have no reason to sign on to. So by yesterday's Florida press conference there was a faint whiff of walkbackery: well, anyway, it'll all soon be over because we're running out of targets to hit - which is more or less what the late Donald Rumsfeld said to me a handful of shock'n'awes back in October 2001.

So it sounds like there's some pressure to declare victory and go home (see Bush One above).

Against that, it should be said that there is no evidence, as of the time of writing, that the new Supreme Leader has any corporeal existence. On the Internet, where as the cool kids will tell you all the real wars are won, this video has been doing the rounds - of bigshot Iranians pledging allegiance to a cardboard cutout:

   . pic.twitter.com/LQbUGy1ZTi     (@IsraelPersian) March 9, 2026

Yeah, that's pretty funny, making allowances for the fact that memes, gifs, AI "slop" are remorselessly moronising the remnants of our civilisation. Supposing for the sake of argument that the Assembly of Experts has truly annointed a cardboard cutout as Supreme Leader, is that necessarily such a bad idea? For one thing, it makes it much harder for the Yanks to off him, assuming the mullahs took the precaution of ordering up a dozen copies from Kinko's or Staples.

For another, would the condition of our own civilisation be any worse had it been governed by cardboard cutouts this past quarter-century? Speaking for myself, I would far rather be ruled by a life-size piece of cardboard than by, say, HM The King, M Macron or at least four-fifths of the last third-of-a-century's worth of American presidents.

Which brings us back to the point I have attempted, with minimal success, to emphasise for a quarter-century: it's the home front, stupid.

This is insanity Muslims with armbands on horses chasing down people ? In Manchester? The police? What do you want us to do?? Join Restore Britain  this will all be a bad dream a thing of the past come 2029 pic.twitter.com/bLY9R6DuQY  Alexandra (@Alexandr4Denman) March 6, 2026

The New Mounties always get their infidel.

Bush's coalition-of-the-willing approach to overseas expeditionary forces cannot be replicated a generation on, because Britain, France, Germany, Canada et al are a lot more Muslim than they were back in 2002. To be sure, the Euro-Brit leaders would love to be in on the latest Yank military adventuring, because it makes them look geopolitically relevant (hence the French president's visit to, ooh, Cyprus), even if it does all end in humiliating failure and droned moppets. Nevertheless, demography cautions even the most preening geopolitical poseur: in the world's first industrialised city, the constabulary has surrendered the streets to a Muslim militia (note the uniform) on horseback, patrolling the thoroughfares lest kuffars insufficiently respectful show up at the many vigils for the late martyr Khamenei:

Britain, Canada and Western Europe are a little further ahead, but America is already well advanced on the same trajectory:

It's absolutely perfect... A liberal man in NYC yelling about how everyone is welcome, as a Muslim man yells "Allahu Akbar!" and uses him as a literal springboard to throw a homemade bomb. The West's suicidal empathy on video. https://t.co/d0CeWGvAiO  Geiger Capital (@Geiger_Capital) March 9, 2026

Right now, America's most iconic city has a Syrian "First Lady" who grew up in the Gulf monarchies currently being droned nightly by Iran. Nevertheless, since October 7th, she has been on the side of the mullahs' longtime proxy Hamas. The cheerleaders for the new war say Trump has "decapitated" the Tehran regime. Okay. But in a certain sense, from Gracie Mansion to wherever London's mayor lives to the premier's office in Baden-Wurttemberg, Islam has decapitated the west, no?

As I said of this "decapitation", c'est magnifique, mais ce n'est pas la guerre. As I also said that day, in order to win, all the Islamic Republic has to do is survive.

Right now, they're surviving. It's not clear that Manchester and New York are. So America's back in the war business ...and we're still surrendering the home front.

Priorities, please.
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In Boston's federal courthouse next week, US District Judge William Young will take up Equal Means Equal v. Trump, a lawsuit challenging the Military Selective Service Act of 1967. Enacted during the Vietnam War, the law to this day requires men to register for the draft when they turn 18, but bars women from doing so. What is striking about the case isn't the claim that the statute discriminates against women who want to register. It is their claim that such discrimination violates a nonexistent constitutional provision.

"Plaintiffs bring this action under the Twenty-Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution, (hereafter the ERA)," the complaint asserts. It quotes the text of the Equal Rights Amendment  "Equality of rights shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex"  and notes that "the ERA was ratified in 2020." That was when the Virginia Legislature voted to ratify the amendment, bringing the number of state legislatures that voted for the ERA to 38, the threshold necessary to amend the Constitution.

To be sure, the plaintiffs concede, there is "some disagreement about the ERA's validity," inasmuch as Virginia (and several other states) voted for the ERA decades after the ratification window closed in 1979. But they urge the judge to disregard inconvenient details like mandatory deadlines, to humor their claim that the 28th Amendment has been added to the Constitution, and to declare that the exclusion of women from Selective Service registration is therefore unconstitutional.

The plaintiffs in the case aren't the only ones engaging in constitutional wish-casting. On March 25, the American Bar Association is scheduled to host an online program built on the same fanciful premise.

According to the ABA's promotional material, the webinar will feature a "stellar panel of lawyers" advancing the claim that the proposed Equal Rights Amendment was ratified but "has yet to be implemented as part of the Constitution."

By that logic, the ERA both exists and doesn't exist  Schrodinger's amendment.

But such constitutional alchemy flies in the face of constitutional reality. The Equal Rights Amendment was approved by Congress in 1972 and submitted to the states for ratification. If three-fourths (38) of the states had approved the amendment within the specified seven-year deadline, the ERA would have been added to the Constitution.

At first ratification proceeded briskly. Within two years, 33 states had approved the ERA. But then enthusiasm for the amendment dwindled. Only two more states said yes before the seven years ran out  leaving the amendment three states short. Congress then granted a one-time extension to 1982, but it made no difference. No additional states voted to approve the amendment.

Under the long-established amendment process, that was the end of the matter. The ERA had expired unratified. No less an authority than Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg  one of the amendment's most devoted champions  acknowledged as much. For Americans who wanted an Equal Rights Amendment, Ginsburg told an audience at Georgetown Law School in 2020, there was only one way to proceed. There would have to be "a new beginning," she said. "I'd like it to start over."

Yet some activists insisted that the door to ratification wasn't closed and that the ERA would become part of the Constitution whenever three more state legislatures voted for it. Eventually, three more did: Nevada in 2017, Illinois in 2018, and Virginia in 2020. Under longstanding constitutional rules, those votes were nullities. But a new legal theory sprang up to argue that the plug had never been pulled on the ratification process and, with Virginia's vote, the ERA had become the Constitution's 28th Amendment.

Proponents of this theory claim that Congress has no authority to set a deadline for ratifying constitutional amendments, and that no matter how belatedly a state legislature votes to approve a proposed amendment, its vote must be added to the total. But what about the five states that initially voted to ratify the ERA and then rescinded their ratifications? Sorry, say the ERA activists, "rescissions don't count." Their position is reminiscent of the old "Brezhnev Doctrine" during the Cold War  once a country went Communist, it would stay Communist.

The archivist of the United States, whose job it is to certify constitutional amendments, has repeatedly determined that the ERA cannot be added to the Constitution because it was never properly ratified. That determination was unaffected by former president Joe Biden's announcement, a few days before leaving the White House, that the ERA was now "the law of the land."

If wishes were amendments, the Constitution would extend to thousands of pages by now. Over the generations, more than 11,000 amendments have been proposed. But only 27 achieved the broad national consensus that Article V requires: supermajority support in both houses of Congress, followed by ratification in at least three-fourths of state legislatures.

The ERA is not the only amendment to have been submitted by Congress to the states and failed to win ratification. Advocates insist that this one must be treated differently, but they hardly even pretend their position rests on solid constitutional reasoning. A friend-of-the-court brief filed on behalf of the plaintiffs in the draft-registration lawsuit illustrates the approach. Submitted by more than 50 organizations, it doesn't grapple with the ratification deadline or the mechanics of Article V. Instead, it offers a short account of the oppression of women in history, beginning with the Magna Carta and the early common law doctrine under which women were denied economic autonomy. "The ERA is valid and must be recognized as the Twenty-Eighth Amendment," the brief declares.

But the Constitution is not amended by historical narrative or moral appeal. It is amended by following a specified legal process  a process that for more than a century has included a deadline set by Congress for ratification to take effect.

Supporters of the Equal Rights Amendment may believe passionately that it deserves to be part of the Constitution. Many Americans would agree with them. But the path to achieving that goal is the one Justice Ginsburg described: Propose the amendment anew and persuade three-fourths of the states to ratify it.

In de facto terms, as Ginsburg also observed, Supreme Court jurisprudence in the decades since the 1970s has effectively prohibited most forms of sex discrimination even without a 28th Amendment. "There is no practical difference between what has evolved and the ERA," she said in 1997.

If enough Americans want an Equal Rights Amendment added to the Constitution anyway, the path remains open. The amendment process is demanding by design  not to frustrate reform, but to ensure that changes to the Constitution genuinely reflect an overwhelming national consensus. ERA supporters are free to build that consensus. What they cannot do is expect a federal judge to pretend they already have.

Jeff Jacoby is a columnist for The Boston Globe, from which this is reprinted with permission.

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Internal medicine and functional medicine physician Shiv K. Goel discusses his article Agentic AI in medicine: the danger of automating the doctor. Shiv analyzes the new ARPA-H ADVOCATE program which aims to deploy autonomous AI agents for heart disease care within three years. The conversation highlights the critical difference between processing data and understanding a patient, noting that AI cannot read the fear in a voice or the silence between words. Shiv warns of the liability black hole that arises when algorithms make high-stakes decisions and argues that technology must serve the healer rather than replace the human connection. Discover why the next three years will determine whether code redefines the sacred responsibility of medicine.

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Transcript

Kevin Pho: Hi, and welcome to the show. Subscribe at KevinMD.com/podcast. Today we welcome back Shiv K. Goel, internal medicine physician and functional medicine physician. Todays KevinMD article is Agentic AI in medicine: the danger of automating the doctor. Shiv, welcome back to the show.

Shiv K. Goel: Thank you for having me, Kevin, again.

Kevin Pho: All right. What is your latest article about?

Shiv K. Goel: My article is about how agentic AI, which is coming soon, is going to shape things and what we can do to create a right framework so that it is not an AI scaling medicine. This article actually started with a discomfort I couldnt ignore. A lot of people were asking if AI can replace you as a physician or if AI can scale medicine. I felt that was a strong framing. The better question is whether we can protect the soul of medicine, human judgment, relationships, and accountability while rapidly developing an autonomic system designed by those who may never have sat with patients through fear, grief, uncertainty, and end-of-life diseases.

I use the Illinois Advocate program as a catalyst in this article because it is a concrete example of the shift from AI that suggests to AI that can act in cardiovascular care, potentially on a fast authorization timeline.

Kevin Pho: For those who arent familiar with AI agents, they are autonomous software programs that use AI to perceive their environment, make decisions, and take action, sometimes even without human input today. Now talking about today, in March, how are AI agents being used in health care?

Shiv K. Goel: Exactly. Traditionally clinical AI is often decision support. They dont make a decision. They support it. Such AI flags, predicts, or suggests something. But agentic AI is goal-directed. It can operate with a degree of autonomy, adapt over time, and take steps such as ordering, messaging, adjusting medications, and managing triage pathways. So the shift is happening from suggesting to doing. That is why governance and override mechanisms become non-negotiable.

Kevin Pho: In your article, you talk specifically about a government program, the Illinois Advocate program. Yes. Again, for those who arent familiar with that, what is it?

Shiv K. Goel: The Advocate program is a shift from the AI instead of suggesting to acting as a physician or a doctor, especially in cardiovascular care. It is not just for a fast authorization timeline, which it is, but it is also about how an AI is going to decide what medications to order and what the diagnoses are. Instead of diagnosing, a physician would be busy justifying an AI. The AI has already made the decision, and now it is a physicians job to justify why that diagnosis is what it is. I think this danger lies in actually shifting the AI from a non-human role to a human role.

I wish my soul understood earlier that competence isnt just pattern recognition and guidelines. As a human, it is more about presence, listening, and the courage to slow down when something feels off. I can give an example. A patient comes to us and all their labs look OK. You ask the patient how they are feeling, and they say they are OK, but you know something feels off even if the metrics look fine. In that space, we as physicians decide to poke further to find out what exactly is going on and find the root cause of the issue.

An AI agent works on inputs based on what the lab values look like and what symptoms a patient is putting in there. A lot of times people are not very comfortable putting their trust in a non-human AI, especially when it comes to very intimate things, their personal stories, or things they dont feel comfortable sharing. A lot of times they dont even tell a physician. If the physician is not smart enough to understand their body language, how they enter a room, and what their eyes are saying, that is an issue. It is a whole picture that we take into account. The whole idea is the shift from a predictive model to a helper to a decision maker. That is what agentic AI is. They are acting as health care agents. I wouldnt say physicians since they dont go to school. The main thing is that AI is here to help us. It is not here to replace us because an AI can never replace a human.

Kevin Pho: We are both internal medicine physicians, and I think we agree that doctors are more than just diagnosticians. Sometimes it requires the relationship that we have with patients that helps them more than just simply spitting out a diagnosis. Right? If AI replaces us in terms of just giving diagnoses, that is the same thing as calculators replacing mathematicians doing math.

Shiv K. Goel: Exactly. Why do people need to go to school then? You have a calculator, and a calculator will tell you. It is not just going to make us more dumb, but it is also going to take away from what we do. AI should help the healer. It is not here to replace the healer because it can never replace the healer. We are human, and we are the ones who created the AI. We take into consideration so many things, like the unspoken data and the right layer of diagnosis. Usually, when I start seeing a patient, I keep my mind open. I dont jump on things just because the patient has put those symptoms in there. A lot of times I know the diagnosis before I even go and see the patient by looking at their labs and their chart. But many times that diagnosis is not really the right diagnosis at all. Many times patients go to the ER, and when I go and see a patient there, it is a completely different picture.

Imagine the amount of autonomy we are giving to an AI, which is actually replacing us. I am not against AI at all. I am pro AI in a way because AI is here. It helps me cut down on so much of my work such as scribing. Sometimes I use it to synthesize all the data together so it can save me time. Then I have more time for the patients to help them and listen to them. But if the AI can replace me completely, and I have to justify the AI, then I dont have to go to medical school. I can just have another AI open, and one can justify another AI, and anybody can do that.

Kevin Pho: Now, what if the AI makes a mistake? Who is liable in those cases?

Shiv K. Goel: Exactly. The blame comes to the physicians even when the physicians have had no role in designing that AI. We are only here justifying the AI. Because the AI says this, I have to justify it because the hospital system has already established that this is basically a diagnosis of the patient. If the patient asks questions about why it is this diagnosis, or even if I feel like this is a wrong diagnosis, I cannot change it because that AI was already installed in the system. People have already made the diagnosis, so I am just there to give it a face. But I am putting my whole life in danger because I know this is not a right diagnosis. So who is responsible for it at that time? Is it the AI or the physician? That is a very great question that you ask.

Kevin Pho: I love that in your article you wrote that the silence between words is almost as important as what is said, and sometimes an AI, as of today anyway, cant really replicate that.

Shiv K. Goel: It cannot because it is all about creating that space between you and the patient or another person. It is the silence a lot of time that matters. A person who holds their breath before saying something tells you something is off even if their metrics look fine. That is when as physicians we try to ask more questions and give them that confidence that it is OK. It is OK to feel vulnerable. It is OK regarding what they had gone through. They can trust us. But an AI cannot do it. They do not have that emotional part. They dont understand what it means to hold a space and what it means to give time for the story to unfold itself.

Kevin Pho: Now, eventually all of this can be programmed into an AI. But still, the question we need to ask patients is if that is good enough for them. How is that different from these people that you hear about having personal relationships with ChatGPT? Even though ChatGPT is a wonderful conversationalist, they are having essentially a relationship with a machine. That is a question that we need to ask patients. Are they going to be comfortable? No matter how polished an AI is and all the things that we are talking about eventually can be programmed into AI, but at the end, do they want that relationship with a machine or a human?

Shiv K. Goel: That is a very good question. We have already seen this happening, and I feel like somewhere we all have already started to have some kind of a relationship with AI. We might be using it as a scribe or as a mentor. People are using it to confirm things. We used to ask our colleagues or our friends if we had a problem, and now we ask AI if we want to write something. We are already having some kind of relationship with the AI, even though we dont name it.

The real problem I feel is not that we cant have a relationship with the AI. The question is if we are really having a right relationship and if we have any responsibility. I feel like the AI is just exposing what was already broken in the system to begin with. For example, there was news about a teenager who committed suicide with the help of an AI because he was in love with the AI. Everybody was blaming the AI for that, but I feel that it just exposed what was already broken. Where are the parents? Where are their friends? Where are the social structures that keep people so lonely and alone that they cant even share their issues and problems with them? They have to take help from an artificial intelligence with whom they feel comfortable at 3:00 AM. This is a very important take-home message. I feel that AI should serve the healer and not replace the healer. When it comes to relationships, I think as humans we should be paying more attention to what is happening around us in my own family and in my neighborhood. Even if we start from small responsibilities, I think we can still prevent something that has not yet come, where we dont know what the consequences would be.

Kevin Pho: In your article, you talk about the path forward with AI being human first. What would that mean?

Shiv K. Goel: That means that as a human, we have feelings. We understand so many different languages, such as your body language, your pose, your eyes, and a lot of those things. I know you mentioned that AI can be trained. I dont think an AI can really be trained in picking up all those clues because there is another aspect. I can pretend to act a certain way just to get my pain medications. I know that patients sometimes fool us. So I dont think AI can actually or should replace us.

Otherwise, what would happen then? We dont need the physicians. We could just have AI agents everywhere. All the medical schools could just close down. Because whose license is this? They can give a license also to the AI. Why use my license on that? Just as nurses or nurse practitioners work under a physicians license, we could work under an AI license. That is where I think this is going if we do not do anything. If technological companies are creating those AI agents for financial or non-financial reasons, do I have any say in what is coming, or has it just already been decided and I will have to follow what is coming?

Kevin Pho: We are talking to Shiv K. Goel, internal medicine physician. Todays KevinMD article is Agentic AI in medicine: the danger of automating the doctor. Shiv, as always, we will end with take-home messages that you want to leave with the KevinMD audience.

Shiv K. Goel: Yes. I would say it again that AI should serve a healer instead of replacing the healer. High-risk clinical AI must remain clinician-supervised and capable of being overridden by a clinician. If we automate the doctor instead of automating the bureaucracy, we may gain speed and lose the very things that make medicine healing: relationship, judgment, and accountable human presence.

Kevin Pho: Shiv, again, thank you so much for your insight. Thanks again for coming back on the show.

Shiv K. Goel: Thank you for having me, Kevin. Have a good day.
By AzerNEWS Staff

On 13 March, a roundtable meeting between the President of the Turkic Culture and Heritage Foundation, Aktoty Raimkulova, and representatives of Azerbaijani media outlets was held at the Foundations headquarters in Baku.

According to AzerNEWS, the meeting was organised to express gratitude to Azerbaijani media organisations for their continued coverage over the years of the Foundations activities aimed at promoting the rich cultural heritage of the Turkic world at the international level.

During the press conference held within the framework of the event, detailed information was provided about the Foundations activities in recent years, including its successfully implemented large-scale projects and international events. Participants also reviewed the organisations development trajectory and highlighted achievements in promoting the shared cultural heritage of the Turkic world globally.

Welcoming the participants, the President of the Foundation, Professor Aktoty Raimkulova, emphasised the important role played by the media in the successful implementation of the organisations projects to date. She expressed satisfaction with the close cooperation between the media and the Turkic Culture and Heritage Foundation.

Raimkulova noted that such roundtable meetings are of particular importance for jointly discussing future cooperation prospects and fostering closer relations.

Reflecting on the past three years, Raimkulova spoke about the Foundations activities and described the years 20242025 as a period of growth for the organisation.

I would like to note that on 27 February the third meeting of the Foundations Council was successfully held in Bishkek. Previous Council meetings were held in Azerbaijan in 2024 and in Kazakhstan the year before. Thus, the Foundation continues to carry out its mission consistently and strengthen cultural cooperation among the Turkic states. The years 20242025 have been a period of growth and institutional development for the Foundation. Last year, in particular, was marked by the implementation of a number of academic, cultural and practical projects. Notably, decisions adopted by the heads of Turkic-speaking states have further expanded the Foundations scope of cooperation, Raimkulova said.

During the meeting, Raimkulova also presented the Foundations strategic directions and priority objectives for the coming years. The presentation introduced media representatives to new projects and initiatives planned to further strengthen cultural ties among Turkic states.

It should be noted that the Turkic Culture and Heritage Foundation is an international organisation established to preserve, study and promote the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of Turkic peoples, as well as to develop scientific, publishing and humanitarian cooperation among Turkic countries.

Following the event, an iftar dinner was organised for all invited guests on the initiative of the Foundation to mark the holy month of Ramadan.
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23:56 BJP wins two RS seats in Odisha; BJD and Independent secure one each The ruling BJP on Monday won two of the four Rajya Sabha seats from Odisha, while the opposition BJD and a saffron party-backed Independent candidate bagged one seat each in the biennial polls held in Bhubaneswar, officials said. Returning officer and Odisha assembly secretary Satyabrata... Read more >

23:25 Nitish, Nabin win RS seats; counting halted for 2 in Haryana Nitin Nabin (second from left) and Nitish Kumar/ANI Photo Bihar's longest-serving chief minister Nitish Kumar and new Bharatiya Janata party president Nitin Nabin were elected to the Rajya Sabha from Bihar as the ruling NDA swept the elections held in three states for 11 seats of the Upper House on Monday. Of the total 37 vacancies of Rajya Sabha,... Read more >

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15:24 Woman mauled to death by stray dogs in Pune A 33-year-old woman was mauled to death by a pack of stray dogs in Pune district in the wee hours of Monday, police said. The incident, captured on CCTV, took place at around 2 am when the woman, identified as Shobha Waghmare, was walking on a service road in the Chakan area adjacent to the... Read more >

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14:18 'Opportunity to strike Iran came only after PM Modi left' The ambassador of Israel to India, Reuven Azar, has addressed ongoing theories regarding the timing of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Israel and the subsequent joint military actions involving the United States and Israel against Iran. Speaking on the geopolitical climate... Read more >

14:09 Deepfake Attacks Rise 900%, Most Women Take 'No Action' A report by technology firm pi-labs, published in early 2026, has sounded a warning over a 'digital deception epidemic' in India.The study reveals a 900 per cent surge in deepfake content in recent years. It highlights a staggering gender disparity, finding that more than 90... Read more >

14:07 Women CEOs At 3 Insurers, None In Banks When Business Standard looked into the data on women representation in Indian listed and insurance companies, the numbers were underwhelming.Only 15 per cent per cent of the board members are women in Indian banks while number is slightly better for insurance companies but still than 20... Read more >

14:04 Iran conflict: Indian carriers have cancelled 4335 flights The Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu on Monday informed the Lok Sabha of the number of flights cancelled by Indian carriers and foreign carriers due to the West Asia crisis and the number of Indian nationals who have returned during the 6th day of the Parliamentary Budget... Read more >

13:52 Delhi-bound Air India plane diverted to Ireland due to tech issue An Air India A350 aircraft from New York to Delhi was diverted to Shannon in Ireland due to a suspected technical snag on Monday morning. There were around 300 people onboard the plane which was airborne for nearly six hours before getting diverted to Shannon, according to... Read more >

13:46 Kharge raises LPG shortage issue in RS; govt says oppn trying to bring anarchy Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday expressed concern over the shortage of LPG in the country and accused the government of not taking preemptive measures to check the crisis and black marketing of the cooking gas. Union Minister and Leader of the House J P Nadda responded,... Read more >

13:17 PhonePe temporarily pauses IPO listing process PhonePe on Monday announced it has temporarily deferred its public market listing process due to the current geopolitical conflicts and market volatility and will resume the listing process once there is some stability in global capital markets. Sameer Nigam, PhonePe's CEO said, We sincerely... Read more >

13:16 Has Benjamin Netanyahu been killed? This video grab of Benjamin Netanyahu's X handle shows him having a coffee Dismissing viral claims regarding the health and status of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's Ambassador to India, Reuven Azar, has confirmed the leader is very much alive and clarified that recent footage of him is authentic.The ambassador addressed the viral social media... Read more >

13:08 Court lists MJ Akbar's plea against Priya Ramani for Sep 24 The Delhi High Court on Monday listed former Union minister M J Akbar's plea challenging the acquittal of journalist Priya Ramani in his criminal defamation case over the allegations of sexual misconduct for final hearing on September 24. Trial court record has been received. Written... Read more >

12:59 When do US, Israel plan to invade Iran? Envoy says... A bombed building in Beirut. Pic: Emilie Madi/Reuters Israel's Ambassador to India, Reuven Azar, on Monday said that neither United States nor Israel intends to invade Iran, stressing that the focus remains on encouraging change within Iran through pressure from its own people rather than through military occupation. Speaking in Delhi at a... Read more >

12:38 Small Towns Surge Ahead Of Cities In MF folios Investors from smaller towns have taken the lead over those in the country's largest cities in terms of mutual fund investor folios for the first time, signalling a sharper rise in participation from regions beyond the major urban centres in recent years.The MF industry classifies... Read more >

12:27 EC removes DGP, Kolkata CP in poll-bound West Bengal A day after the announcement of the West Bengal assembly poll schedule, the Election Commission on Monday appointed senior IPS officer Siddh Nath Gupta as the director general of police, replacing Peeyush Pandey, an official said. The poll panel also removed Kolkata Police Commissioner... Read more >

12:07 US tells citizens to use commercial flights out of Gulf The United States International Travel Department, in its updated travel advisory on Monday, said it is closely monitoring the situation in West Asia and advised American citizens in the region that commercial travel options remain available, although sudden flight cancellations are possible.In a... Read more >

11:37 11 Indians held in US for staging robberies to secure visas Eleven Indian nationals have been indicted in the United States for their alleged involvement in a fraudulent conspiracy to orchestrate staged armed robberies aimed at helping individuals secure illegitimate immigration status. The United States Attorney's Office for the District of... Read more >

11:36 Salman meets Akhilesh Yadav in Mumbai Bollywood superstar Salman Khan recently met Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav in Mumbai, and the photo of their meeting has been going viral. Akhilesh Yadav took to his Instagram account on Sunday to share a picture posing alongside Khan. While sharing the picture, the politician kept... Read more >

10:41 Thousands of targets... here's how long Israel will bomb Iran A damaged building in Tehran. Pic: IRIB/ANI Video Grab The Israel Defence Forces' (IDF) offensive in the combined military campaign with the United States against Tehran is moving according to plan, outstripping initial timelines, as reported by The Times of Israel.Military officials indicated on Sunday that strikes on the Iranian defence sector are... Read more >

10:22 Won't be sending a ship: US allies snub Trump American allies have adopted a cautious stance or issued direct refusals following President Donald Trump's call for roughly seven nations to dispatch warships to the Strait of Hormuz.The demand comes as the critical maritime oil route faces significant disruption amidst the ongoing conflict with... Read more >

10:02 Dubai airport diverts flights to Al Maktoum airport Dubai Airports announces the diversion of some flights from Dubai International Airport (DXB) to Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC).Flights were temporarily suspended at Dubai International Airport following a drone-related incident near the airport, authorities said on Monday, as tensions... Read more >

09:45 Dialogue with Iran already yielding results: Jaishankar External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has championed direct dialogue with Tehran as the most efficient method for resuming maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, as India seeks to protect its energy security amidst intensifying Middle East tensions.In an interview with the Financial... Read more >

09:29 Trump asks 7 nations to send warships to police Strait of Hormuz United States President Donald Trump announced that he has requested approximately seven nations to deploy warships to assist in maintaining transit routes through the Strait of Hormuz as the conflict with Iran continues to impact the critical maritime corridor. The President's remarks... Read more >

09:18 Dubai-bound flight returns to Kochi after security concern An Emirates flight bound for Dubai from Kochi returned to the airport in Kochi on Monday following a security incident reported from the destination airport, a CIAL spokesman said. Flight EK533 departed Cochin International Airport (CIAL) at 04.30 am with 325 people on board. En route, the... Read more >

08:53 EC orders shunting out of chief secy in poll-bound Bengal The Election Commission has ordered the appointment of Dushyant Nariala as the new chief secretary of West Bengal, which goes to assembly polls in two phases next month. Till now, Nandini Chakravarty was the state chief secretary. EC said she would be kept out of poll-related... Read more >
An 18-year-old woman has been convicted of rape after she pinned down a victim during a horrific gang sex attack.

Claire Marsh is thought to be the youngest woman in Britain to be convicted of rape after she also punched the 37-year-old victim in the face and ripped off her top as she was gang-raped on a canal towpath.

A 15-year-old boy, who is too young to be named, forced the woman to have sex, while others in the 14-strong group  including a boy aged 12  shouted encouragement as the brutal attack unfolded shortly after midnight on 22 July last year.

Marvin Edwards, 18, Brentford, west London, also raped the woman, after she had been thrown into the Grand Union Canal in Ladbroke Grove, west London and dragged out.

Two boys aged 15 and 16 were cleared of the same charge at Blackfriars Crown Court in London.

Judge Timothy Pontius told Marshs barrister: She will know that, given that this was a particularly vile and horrific offence of sexual brutality, a substantial custodial sentence is inevitable.

At the start of the two-and-a-half-week trial Richard Whittam, for the prosecution, told the jury Marsh, from Margate, Kent, as female could be convicted of rape because she encouraged it.

The womans ordeal began when she set off home by the canal after a lovely summers evening with friends.

A young couple approached her to share a cannabis spliff but suddenly she was surrounded and robbed before being thrown into the canal.

As she got out they grabbed her and she was raped.

She briefly escaped but was caught by the gang, kicked and punched repeatedly and dragged naked along a gravel path, lacerating her bare skin.

Eventually she fled naked to her home more than a mile away.

Gang members were arrested after a tip-off and DNA evidence proved Edwards guilt.

Marsh admitted hitting the woman but denied taking part in the sex attack.

She was remanded in custody for reports and will be sentenced at a later date along with the 15-year-old, who admitted rape, and Edwards.

Courtesy BBC News

In context

Claire Marsh was given a seven year custodial sentence in a young offenders institute for her part in the vicious attack .

Her two co-accused, aged 15 and 18, were sentenced to five years.

Police said it was the gangs need to boast about the crimes which allowed officers to piece together evidence overheard by the public.

Marsh, described by officers as intelligent, is rumoured to have become involved in the gang because of a relationship with one of them and may have been trying to show off.

Home Office figures show between 1995 and 1999, 18 women were convicted of rape or aiding and abetting it, but most of those were against children.

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Taiwan saw a surge of Chinese military planes near the island, its defense ministry said yesterday, after a sharp drop in flights over the past two weeks had sparked discussions among observers.

The ministry detected 26 Chinese military aircraft around the island on Saturday, with 16 of them entering its northern, central and southwestern Air Defense Identification Zone. Seven naval ships were spotted around the island, it reported.

The increased number of aircraft came after the ministry reported a fall that left analysts scratching their heads about what Chinas military may be up to.

Taiwan didnt report any Chinese military planes that went beyond the median line and entered the zone for a week from Feb. 27 to March 5. After two were detected on March 6, the next four days had none. Such flights resumed in small numbers between Wednesday and Friday.

The drop coincided with the annual meeting of Chinas legislature. While such flights have fallen in the past during major events and public holidays, this years fall was more prominent than in the past.

Analysts said the meeting could not be the sole reason behind the recent drop. Another potential factor could be a desire to calm the waters with Washington weeks before a visit by U.S. President Donald Trump. The White House has said that Trump would travel to China from March 31 to April 2, though Beijing has not officially confirmed that.

Some observers also suggested the decline may be driven by a shift to a next phase in Chinas military training and modernization, with the army appearing to be exploring a new model for joint training between its forces. KANIS LEUNG, HONG KONG, MDT/AP

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Recent calls have emerged to launch another community spending incentive program aimed at boosting local consumption, with the restaurant industry reporting average sales increases of 20 to 30 percent during such campaigns.

In a recent interview with public broadcaster TDM, the Macao Catering Industry Association highlighted that the period from this month through next month is traditionally a slow season for the catering industry.

Citing the substantial boost in revenue for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) achieved by the governments previous Community Consumption Grand Rewards programs, the associations president, Aeson Lei, urged the authorities to meet the industrys expectations and the publics needs by considering the reintroduction of these programs to stimulate consumer spending.

It has been approximately three months since the latest round of the Community Consumption Grand Rewards program ended.

With the conclusion of the Lunar New Year, tourist numbers have gradually decreased, and the market has returned to a quieter pace.

This has prompted renewed calls for the government to initiate additional rounds of such incentives during the off-season.

Suggestions include optimizing the program by shifting to weekend consumption vouchers, with verification conducted on weekdays, and extending the redemption period so residents can benefit across more industries.

A scholar, examining the issue from a macroeconomic perspective, has confirmed that consumer incentive programs can effectively stimulate private consumption and enhance market vitality.

However, they cautioned that the increase in residents traveling north  the practice of visiting mainland China, particularly cities like Zhuhai and Guangzhou  for weekend shopping diverts spending away from the local economy.

The issue of residents traveling north to shop has often been linked to the implementation of the Northbound Travel for Macau Vehicles scheme, which has made it more convenient for residents to shop in mainland China, resulting in decreased business for local restaurants.

However, some stakeholders argue that the challenges faced by Macaus SMEs cannot be solely attributed to this policy.

In an interview with the Chinese-language media outlet Exmoo, published earlier this month, Ip Wai Keong, a member of the Transport Consultative Committee, stated that the challenges faced by Macaus SMEs cannot be solely attributed to the Macau Vehicles Northbound policy.

He emphasized that residents demand for border crossings during holidays would persist even without this policy. Ip advocated for the government to implement a comprehensive set of measures and develop additional policies to support SME growth, thereby safeguarding local employment.

Comprehensive reports recommend that the government focus on consumption vouchers to channel benefits to a wider range of industries and encourage local spending.

For instance, optimizing redemption time slots could incentivize spending in Macau during weekends, while extending the redemption period would increase convenience. These measures are expected to diversify spending patterns, allowing residents to explore more industries and unlock the diverse potential of Macaus consumer market.

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Thailands Death Fest invites people to confront mortality while also offering practical services and spiritual advice for the inevitable.

The unusual fair, now in its second year, has broached the subject thats uncomfortable for many. Its also one of the central teachings of Buddhism, which shapes much of Thailands culture, about lifes unavoidable sufferings: birth, old age, sickness and death.

Sangduan Ngamvinijaroon attended the three-day event Friday with her mother in Nonthaburi province near Bangkok. She said death used to be a difficult subject for her family, but having spent more than 20 years caring for ill family members, including her husband with a stroke and relatives with cancer, she has witnessed several deaths firsthand and now feels more at ease talking about it.

She said she liked the fair because its not just about dying well. Its also about the present moment and taking good care of our lives while were still here.

The event brought together experts and organizations involved in health care, financial planning, palliative care, funeral services and memorial innovations. Activities and talks focused not only on preparing for death but also on maintaining quality of life until the final days.

Death involves everybody. Its not just about you, said Zcongklod Bangyikhan, editor-in-chief of The Cloud magazine and one of the events lead organizers. Instead of wondering what dying will be like, maybe we should think about how to make things easier for the people who remain after were gone.

One popular exhibit is called Test Die. Visitors can lie inside coffins of different sizes and styles while looking at themselves in a mirror suspended above. The experience is designed to prompt reflection rather than fear.

Office worker Phinutda Seehad said it felt calming.

I dont think Im scared of death, she said. I also dont want to die, but when the time comes, I dont think it will be that frightening.

One company displayed a biodegradable coffin made from mycelium  the rootlike fibers of fungi  which helps naturally with decomposition.

Founder Jirawan Kumsao said the design reflects a more environmentally friendly approach to burial. Although she brought a human-sized coffin to the event, her company mainly produces coffins for pets.

It gives people comfort to know theyve cared for their pets until the very end, she said. It looks like a spacecraft, a capsule, for sending them to another world.

Noppasaward Panyajaray, founder of the online memorial platform Sharesouls, has seen a similar emotional bond. Her service allows users to store photos and share stories about loved ones, creating a digital space where friends and family can leave messages and pay their respects.

She said her original idea was for the platform to preserve memories of family members. But she was surprised to find that many users were creating memorial pages for their pets.

Many people sent me a message to say thank you, because nowadays we dont really have any space to store stories or memories about their pets, she said. Every pet is meaningful to their owners as much as a family member. JINTAMAS SAKSORNCHAI, NONTHABURI, MDT/AP

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Laman Ismayilova



The Grand Hall of the Heydar Aliyev Palace in Baku was filled with anticipation as one of the greatest masterpieces of world opera, Giuseppe Verdi's Aida, took the stage in a breathtaking performance, AzerNEWS reports.

From the very first notes, the audience was transported to the grandeur and intrigue of Ancient Egypt  a world where love, duty, loyalty, and tragic choices collide.

This four-act opera, renowned for its sweeping choral scenes, epic musical landscapes, and nuanced psychological storytelling, once again proved why Aida is celebrated as one of the pinnacles of operatic art. The evening became an extraordinary journey through Verdi's genius, leaving the audience spellbound.

A highlight of the performance was the debut of the role of Radames by the world-renowned tenor and People's Artist of Azerbaijan, Yusif Eyvazov. His commanding presence and powerful, expressive voice imbued the Egyptian commander with dramatic depth and emotional resonance, captivating the audience from the first aria.

Sharing the stage with him were Azerbaijan's finest operatic talents: Afag Abbasova as Aida, Fidan Gadiyeva as Amneris, Avez Abdulla as Amonasro, Gulnaz Ismayilova as the High Priestess, Akram Poladov as Ramfis, Igor Yadrov as Pharaoh, and Fakhmin Akhmadli as the Herald. Each performance shone with technical mastery and dramatic intensity, creating a truly immersive experience.

The production was led by Honored Artist Ayyub Guliyev as musical director and conductor, staged by Honored Art Worker of Georgia Mikheil Kvaliashvili, and directed by Honored Art Worker Khafiz Guliyev. The set and artistic design by Honored Art Worker Ayyub Fataliyev, along with the choreography by People's Artist of the USSR Gamar Almaszade, brought a visual splendor that complemented the music. Choir master Sevil Gadiyeva and concertmasters Daniil Kirillov, Roza Salimova, and Ilakha Sadikhzade ensured every note resonated with clarity and precision.

With its monumental staging, rich scenic design, and compelling musical drama, the evening became more than a concert, it was a full theatrical spectacle. The standing ovation and prolonged applause reflected the audience's admiration, as Verdi's immortal masterpiece left an indelible mark on all who attended.

Media partners of the event are Azernews.Az,Trend.Az, Day.Az, and Milli.Az.
The Zhongshan Municipal Peoples Government recently hosted its first fair at Tap Seac Square, featuring six distinctive exhibition zones showcasing smart home appliances, high-end manufacturing, food, and cultural tourism. Che Weng Keong, president of Commerce and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM), attended the opening ceremony and announced a framework cooperation agreement with Zhongshan authorities. He expressed optimism about achieving resource complementarity and fostering industrial synergy, while emphasizing Macaus role as a service platform for trade and economic cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries to enhance sales channels and support Zhongshan enterprises in expanding internationally.

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Macau is currently grappling with local employment issues, cited as its most pressing social challenge, with claims that the numerous job fairs organized by authorities have had little impact on improving the employment situation, particularly as individuals with disabilities face increasing challenges in finding work.

The local association Macau People Power recently submitted a letter to Chief Executive Sam Hou Fai, urging the authorities to address the root causes of employment issues, reform outdated policies on non-local workers, and prioritize training for local youth instead of focusing on large-scale talent recruitment initiatives.

In the written petition, the grassroots group emphasized that while the government has organized numerous job fairs and vocational training programs, the employment situation has not improved significantly.

They stated the government has failed to address the core of the problem in resolving employment issues.

The petition, as highlighted by the groups president, Lam Weng Loi, emphasizes that the root cause of employment issues in Macau lies in outdated non-local worker policies, rather than simply extending or reducing non-local worker quotas.

He further stated, Macau currently lacks clear criteria for approving these quotas, resulting in certain companies being able to employ a large number of non-local workers while hiring very few locals. Additionally, he criticized the authorities for refusing to publish a minimum ratio of local to non-local workers that all companies must adhere to.

Continuing the discussion on the influx of non-local workers, Lam expressed concerns that the unlimited supply of low-cost labor in the market will lead to a severe distortion in local labor costs, ultimately resulting in diminished purchasing power for residents.

Amid ongoing discussions to address the root causes of employment issues, the group highlighted a consensus among both the government and the public on the necessity of protecting local jobs.

Concurrently, another organization noted that the economic climate has increasingly hindered employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities.

Hetzer Siu Yu Hong, national director of the Macau Special Olympics (MSO), stated that a lack of diversity in job opportunities leads to all individuals with disabilities competing for a single role, which he described as a form of alternative competition. He expressed hope that authorities would introduce more diverse training programs to enhance the skills of people with disabilities, thereby creating broader employment and upward mobility opportunities.

In fact, when it comes to employment, beyond employers willingness to hire, we must also consider how to enhance the capabilities of individuals and align those skills with specific job roles, he said.

He further suggested that career planning for people with disabilities be incorporated into youth policies, and that professional input should be sought to tailor development pathways for individuals with varying abilities and needs.

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Jet fuel prices are rising as the war in the Middle East disrupts global oil supplies, putting cost pressure on airlines as the busy summer travel season approaches.

Experts say its not a question of if airfares will go up, but when, for how long and by how much. The impact may be felt most on long-haul international routes, which burn significantly more fuel than shorter flights.

Some airlines outside of the U.S. have announced fare increases or fuel surcharges in an effort to offset the growing expense. In the U.S., United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby recently warned that airfare increases will probably start quick as increasing fuel costs work their way through the industry.

Why are jet fuel prices rising?

The war is constraining oil exports and prompting major producers like Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Iraq to scale back output as shipments face growing obstacles.

Iran has attacked commercial ships across the Persian Gulf and targeted oil infrastructure in Gulf Arab nations following U.S. and Israeli strikes. The attacks have effectively halted traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow passage that carries about one-fifth of the worlds oil supply.

The volatile crude oil prices causing retail gasoline prices to swing up sharply have had the same effect on the price of jet fuel. The average price in the U.S. reached $3.99 per gallon on Friday, up from $2.50 the day before the war started two weeks ago, according to the Argus U.S. Jet Fuel Index. The index tracks the average price airlines pay for jet fuel across major U.S. airports.

Figures from the U.S. Department of Transportations Bureau of Transportation Statistics show that U.S. airlines paid about $2.36 per gallon for fuel in January, the most recent data available.

What does it mean for airlines?

Some airlines are partially protected from sudden price spikes through fuel hedging, a strategy that allows them to lock in fuel prices months or even years in advance. But not all airlines hedge, and those that do are usually only protected for a portion of their fuel needs, meaning prolonged price surges may cause more carriers to raise fares.

No one hedges anymore, and even if you do, hedging the crack spread is really hard to do, Kirby said at a Harvard event last week. The crack spread is the difference between the price of crude oil and the price of products produced from it, like gasoline.

Another factor for airlines: Air space closures have required rerouting flights around parts of the Middle East, which can mean longer routes, additional fuel burn and higher operating costs.

What does it mean for travelers?

Travelers may feel the impact in several ways.

Airlines can add or increase fuel surcharges, an extra fee common among carriers outside of the U.S. thats added on top of the base ticket price.

Major U.S. carriers, however, dont charge a separate fuel surcharge. Instead, they build fuel costs into the overall ticket price, meaning any increase is more likely to show up as a higher base fare for travelers, according to Tyler Hosford, security director at global risk management firm International SOS.

Airlines also may adjust what they charge for premium add-ons  such as seat upgrades, extra legroom seats, checked bags or priority boarding  as another way to offset higher operating costs. For consumers, that means even if the base fare doesnt rise immediately, the total cost of a trip could still increase once additional fees and upgrades are factored in.

If higher fuel prices persist, airlines may also adjust schedules or reduce certain routes, said Christopher Anderson, a professor at Cornell Universitys business school whose research includes operations and information management in the hospitality and airline industries.

How high couldairfares climb?

Its difficult to predict exactly how much ticket prices could increase as a result of costlier oil and fuel. Industry analysts say the impact of higher jet fuel costs can vary based on the route, airline and travel demand.

Fuel typically accounts for 20% to 25% of an airlines operating costs, making it the second-largest expense after labor, according to Rob Britton, an adjunct marketing professor at Georgetown University and retired American Airlines executive. A sharp rise in fuel prices therefore can have a major impact on airlines budgets.

Which airlines have announced price hikes?

So far, most fare increases and fuel surcharges are coming from airlines based in the Asia-Pacific region, but experts expect more airlines  especially those without fuel hedging  to follow if high jet fuel prices persist.

Hong Kongs flag carrier, Cathay Pacific, said it would increase its fuel surcharge starting Wednesday.

The price of jet fuel has approximately doubled since March amid the latest developments in the Middle East, the airline said in a statement Thursday.

Other airlines with price increases or new surcharges include:

 Air France-KLM said roundtrip economy fares on long-haul flights could rise by about 50 euros (about $57).

 Air India introduced fuel surcharges Thursday on certain routes. After March 18, the carrier says the surcharge will increase by up to $50 for all tickets to Europe, North America and Australia.

 Hong Kong Airlines increased fuel surcharges across several routes as of Thursday.

 FlySafair in South Africa announced a temporary fuel surcharge. RIO YAMAT, MDT/AP

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The Liaison Office of the Central Peoples Government in Macau has called on the city to fully align with the national 15th Five-Year Plan, stressing that Macau stands at a once-in-a-generation crossroads to diversify its economy and deepen integration with mainland China.

The Liaison Office held the briefing on the afternoon of March 13 to convey the spirit of the National Peoples Congress and the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference, commonly known as the Two Sessions.

Attendees included Chief Executive Sam Hou Fai, former Chief Executives Ho Iat Seng, Fernando Chui Sai On, and Edmund Ho, Legislative Assembly president Chui Sai Cheong, principal officials of the Macau SAR government, Macau deputies to the NPC, Macau members of the CPPCC National Committee, and representatives from all sectors of society, totaling about 270 people.

Also present were Bian Lixin, new commissioner of the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Macau, and deputy directors Lu Yuyin and Zhang Yingjie.

Liaison Office director Zheng Xincong presided over the session.

Three-point directive from Zheng

Zheng emphasized that this year marks the start of both the national 15th Five-Year Plan and Macaus Third Five-Year Development Plan, meaning that the nations development has entered a new phase, providing Macau with unprecedented strategic opportunities.

He set out three overarching points on how Macau should implement the Two Sessions spirit.

These points centered on confidence in national development, understanding Macaus strategic role, and, finally, the need to translate policy into concrete action.

Zheng urged Macau to deeply recognize the hard-won development achievements and the stable security situation, and be even more determined in our confidence and determination to achieve high-quality development.

He said that despite complex domestic and international changes, the CPC Central Committee, with President Xi Jinping at its core, had united the entire Party and the people of all ethnic groups to complete the main economic and social development goals of the 14th Five-Year Plan, calling the results a remarkable report card.

Zheng said the key to studying and implementing the Two Sessions spirit lies in studying new situations, solving new problems, and generating more good experiences, and proposed five specific tasks for Macau.

These tasks include: aligning with the national 15th Five-Year Plan and building social consensus around Macaus own Third Five-Year Plan; upholding and improving executive-led governance and enhancing the SARs governance efficiency; steadily promoting moderate economic diversification and advancing the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin; safeguarding national security and social stability; and strengthening patriotic and Macau-loving forces under the One country, two systems principle.

Call for unity and One country, two systems

Zheng emphasized that implementing the Two Sessions spirit requires all sectors of Macau society to fulfill their responsibilities and work together.

He called on representatives and officials to take the lead in studying and accurately grasping the core essence of the NPC and CPPCC spirit, to unite and lead wider society, and to carry out various forms of learning and publicity activities.

He also underscored the importance of supporting the Chief Executive and the SAR government in governing according to law, promoting the implementation of the central governments decisions and plans in Macau, and continuously writing new chapters in the successful practice of One country, two systems with Macau characteristics.

Chui Sai Cheong on CPPCC message

Chui Sai Cheong, speaking on behalf of the Macau members of the CPPCC National Committee, outlined the key messages from the 14th CPPCCs fourth session, which ran from March 4 to March 11 in Beijing.

Chui said that the CPPCC session underlined 2026 as both the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China and the opening year of the 15th Five-Year Plan, and that the committee called for broader unity and collaboration to turn the national blueprint into reality.

He also relayed that central leaders, including President Xi Jinping and Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang, had repeatedly urged Hong Kong and Macau to use the 15th Five-Year Plan window to seize unprecedented opportunities while strengthening patriotic forces and deepening integration into the national development landscape.

He added that the Macau members of the CPPCC National Committee had submitted 112 proposals touching on Macaus economic diversification, its role in the Greater Bay Area and the HengqinMacau Cooperation Zone, innovation-driven growth, and had been asked by central leaders to anchor on the national plan and to play Macaus unique role in the broader project of Chinese modernization.

CE urges national alignmen

Chief Executive Sam Hou Fai called for Macau to swiftly translate national directives into action by closely aligning the SARs Third Five-Year Plan with Chinas 15th Five-Year Plan, emphasizing economic diversification and national security as top priorities.

Sam said the government would proactively and closely connect with the national 15th Five-Year Plans design and implementation while scientifically drafting and executing Macaus own third plan.

The CE outlined focus areas including upholding national security, boosting governance efficiency, advancing education-science-talent integration, accelerating Hengqin cooperation, and optimizing industrial structures.

He also noted the government last year completed preliminary research on 36 areas, established a dedicated task force, and finished overall coordination for its scientific formulation, with drafting now underway alongside public consultations.

On economic diversification, he pushed for promoting Macaus strengths in finance, trade, culture, and tourism; accelerating Hengqin cooperation; fostering high-end talent and modern industries; and leveraging Greater Bay Area synergies to realize one center, one platform, one base under national core interests.

Edmund Ho calls on Macau to ride national development wave

Former Chief Executive Edmund Ho Hau Wah urged Macau to look beyond the SARs borders and align with Chinas global rise, warning that missing the national development express train risks economic obsolescence.

Speaking at Fridays Liaison Office meeting, Ho, a key architect of Macaus post-handover boom, pinpointed high-quality development, defined by new quality productive forces and high-speed development. He urged the SAR government, in crafting its third Five-Year Plan, to scientifically gauge moderate economic diversification and nurture competitive industries leveraging Macaus strengths.

The first Chief Executive of the Macau SAR cautioned against parochialism and advised Macau to envision what kind of country China will become in the coming decades. Dont just place it in this small place of Macau or think only about the local environment, Ho said.

Macau must see what the world situation is; mainly, after 12 years, after 16 years, what kind of country it will be, Ho added.

He urged Macau to introduce appropriate new productive forces, bolster education and talent, and realign social and industrial structures with national trajectories  even if it takes one or two generations.

Look at which industries in our economy and society are necessary, which industries have vital competitiveness that can integrate with the countrys development.

Calling on Macau, Ho said, I hope that in Macau today we pursue scientific development, not purely engage in some non-national industries, he said. We must think long-term, definitely long-term.

Warning, If not, its very likely some of our resources will be wasted, national assets possibly lost because conditions are lacking.

He invoked Xi Jinpings 2019 Macau visit and noted that national support hinges on alignment. As long as thoughts and methods dont fit the country, there will be no support.

He concluded, The whole national development will not wait for you. NS

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*Hiring Barriers

 Job fairs fail to ease employment woes as people with disabilities hit hardest, group says

* The Script Road | Macanese anglicized after early move to Hong Kong, author finds

* Labor | FAOM backs annual leave boost for long-serving employees

* Ethiopian runner Akilu Asfaw narrowly won the International 10K, finishing one second ahead of Kenyas Ezekiel Letaya

* Liaison Office urges Macau to seize opportunities in 15th Five-Year Plan

* Calls have emerged to launch another community spending incentive program aimed at boosting local consumption

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Monay, March 16, 2026  edition no. 4911

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Sands China will present works by three emerging Macao contemporary artists  Lei Ieng Wai, Leong Chi Mou, and Dor Lio Hak Man  at Art Central in Hong Kong from March 25 to 29.

The exhibition will feature multi-media paintings and thematic installations, highlighting each artists distinctive style: Leis geometric explorations of urban life, Leongs gilded surfaces reflecting Macaus landscapes, and Dors delicate portrayals of city life.

Through Art Central, the company aims to promote young Macau artists onto the major international art stage, demonstrating the vitality of Macaus new generation of contemporary artists, the gaming operator said in a statement.

Since its founding in 2015, Art Central has been a highlight of Hong Kong Art Month and an important global platform for creative exploration and cultural exchange. This years edition will be held over five days at the Central Harbourfront, bringing together emerging artists, international masters, collectors, and art institutions from around the world.

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The St. Regis Macao held an event last week to recognize the contributions of women in the hospitality industry.

The gathering, led by general manager Stuart-Wayne Douglas, brought together female leaders and professionals from Macau to highlight their role in the citys hospitality sector.

A key feature of the evening was The Art of Mixology  Women Bartenders Episode, showcasing six female mixologists from across Asia. Each presented signature cocktails, demonstrating technical skill, creativity, and contemporary mixology trends.

Douglas noted the importance of supporting professional development and cultural exchange in the sector.

At The St. Regis Macao, we are privileged to honor the remarkable women whose passion and leadership continue to shape our industry. Their influence extends far beyond their roles  they inspire the next generation of hoteliers and help define the future of luxury hospitality, he said.

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The criminal offensive by US imperialism against Venezuela on 3 January has put the country back in the international spotlight. The outrage sparked by this military aggression has been accompanied by a discussion on the left about the Bolivarian Revolution that developed after Hugo Chavezs victory in the 1998 presidential election.

[This article was originally published in French at marxiste.org, get your copy of the new and improved edition of Wellred Books' The Venezuelan Revolution: A Marxist Perspective here]

Our International has very actively defended the Venezuelan revolution against its detractors (both on the right and on the left). In the early 2000s, we launched an international campaign called Hands off Venezuela! We published a large number of articles on this theme. But to get a very concrete, vivid idea of what the Venezuelan Revolution was all about, you absolutely must watch a documentary called The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.

Its two directors, Kim Bartley and Donnacha OBriain, arrived in Caracas in September 2001. Their intention was to paint a portrait of Chavez. But, at the same time, the Venezuelan opposition and the US administration were drawing up a battle plan to overthrow the regime and crush the revolution. This reactionary offensive culminated on 11 April 2002 in an attempted coup detat. Within 48 hours, that coup had failed in the face of mass mobilisation and the opposition of a large section of the army.

Bartley and OBriains film crew recorded these major events day by day, then hour by hour. The result gives us a glimpse of what a genuine revolution looks like.

Chavez and the masses

In accordance with the initial project, the documentary begins by describing the powerful relationship between the oppressed masses of Venezuela  the overwhelming majority of whom live below the poverty line  and their president, Hugo Chavez, whom they supported with almost religious fervour.

We see and hear what our comrade Alan Woods explained in an article published in 2004:

With every fibre of their being, they yearn for a fundamental change in the conditions of their lives. For them, this is what Chavismo means. And this great dream of a change in their lives is summed up in their minds in one man  Hugo Chavez. [] They would be ready to suffer hunger and poverty, to sacrifice all their possessions, to risk their lives (as they did two years ago) for him.

At an open-air rally, Chavez defends his plan to take control of the countrys oil industry  its main economic resource  and finally make it benefit the poorest. Facing tens of thousands of enthusiastic people, he declared loudly and clearly:

I have had to face very strong international pressure! But I dont care. If one day I have to go to hell to defend the Bolivarian people of Venezuela, I will go and fight in the depths of darkness!

Cynical leftists will judge this style bombastic. On the contrary, the way Chavez says these words  and the way the masses react to them  highlights his oratorical genius, his ability to stir the hearts and minds of the people.

The documentary also takes us to the bourgeois neighbourhoods of Caracas, where we hear wealthy Venezuelans speak with utter contempt for Chavez, as well as the poor, the exploited and the oppressed. The oligarchy is incensed by this revolution that threatens its power and privileges. One woman declares:

The people do not understand the concept of sacrifice, nor the value of things. [] [Chavezs] goal is to make us flee the country so that it is left in the hands of inexperienced and worthless people who have never fought for anything

Macron once described them as people who are nothing.

The coup

In February 2002, Chavez announced the restructuring of PDVSA, the countrys oil company, which for decades had made the fortunes of the Venezuelan bourgeoisie and large American companies. Chavez changed the management of PDVSA and significantly tightened the terms of its commercial relations with foreign multinationals. His policy was to use increased oil revenues to develop extensive social programmes in the areas of housing, health and education. As a result of this policy, many Venezuelans saw a doctor for the first time in their lives.

In the eyes of the reactionary oligarchy and American imperialism, this was unacceptable. In Washington, a coup was carefully crafted. Then head of the CIA, George Trenet, declared:

We are obviously concerned about the situation of our third-largest oil supplier. I believe  and the State Department believes  that Chavez is not concerned about US interests.

The threat was clear.

On 10 April 2002, private television channels (all hostile to Chavez) broadcast a statement by senior Venezuelan military officers threatening Chavez with a coup if he did not resign. In the wake of this, the head of the employers confederation and the opposition, Pedro Carmona, called on his supporters to demonstrate the following day, 11 April.

The documentary then follows, hour by hour, the events of this chaotic and bloody day, which clearly unfolded according to a detailed plan drawn up in Washington. During the night of 11 to 12 April, Chavez was arrested and held captive (no one knows where) by the generals behind the coup. On the morning of 12 April, the Miraflores presidential palace was taken over by the Venezuelan opposition. Amid the general confusion, no one paid any attention to the European film crew inside the palace, who filmed the presidential inauguration of Pedro Carmona and all the events of the following 48 hours.

The new regime made no secret of its dictatorial nature. To the cheers of several hundred reactionaries gathered at Miraflores, one of the coup leaders read an official statement:

All deputies and substitutes are relieved of their duties in the National Assembly. Also relieved of their duties are: the president and magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice, the Attorney General of the Republic, the Comptroller General of the Republic, the Ombudsman, and all members of the National Electoral Council.

The mobilisation of the people

But the very next day, 13 April, the tide turned abruptly. The people revolted and took to the streets despite brutal repression by the Caracas police, who were loyal to the reactionaries. The army split, with the vast majority opposing the coup. Loyal to Chavez, the presidential guard recaptured the palace right under the noses of the coup leaders, who fled or were arrested.

Both inside and outside the presidential palace, the scenes filmed are of a dramatic intensity that even the best fiction rarely matches  precisely because these are real events. At this point in the documentary, its theme is no longer Hugo Chavez; it is the heroism of the masses, their refusal to give in to the reaction, their unwavering determination to save the revolution.

In the early hours of 14 April, Chavez was brought back to the presidential palace. His first words are to ask all Venezuelans to return home. He calls on them to remain calm. He adds:

To all those who oppose me, I say: keep going! Of course, I will try to change your minds. But you cannot fight the [Bolivarian] constitution, because it belongs to you. [] You must recognise this.

Chavez was wrong: the oligarchy would never recognise it and could not recognise it, because its class interests were at stake. A few months later, in December 2002, it attempted another coup, this time in the form of a lock-out by employers and a vast operation to sabotage PDVSA. Once again, it was the mobilisation of the masses  and the PDVSA workers in particular  that saved the revolution.

The Venezuelan oligarchy and US imperialism have never given up on regaining control of the countrys oil industry. To remove this threat once and for all, it would have been necessary to expropriate the Venezuelan oligarchy and foreign multinationals, place the countrys economy in the hands of workers and peasants, break the bourgeois state and replace it with a workers state controlled by the masses. In the absence of such a policy, and despite the heroism of the people, the revolution petered out. After Chavezs death in 2013, the regime led by Maduro has continued to shift to the right, and the gains of the revolution have been gradually liquidated.

The Venezuelan Revolution remains a treasure trove of valuable lessons for all those who want to fight capitalism and imperialism. Many of these lessons can be found in The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, a masterpiece of documentary filmmaking.

[Get your copy of the new and improved edition of The Venezuelan Revolution: A Marxist Perspective here]
Elnur Enveroglu



Fazil Mustafa, Chair of the Committee on Public Associations and Religious Organisations of Azerbaijan's National Assembly, has sent a letter to the writer Varis Yolcuyev, sharing his views on the recently published novel "?r?vanda xan qalmad?" (No Khan remained in Erivan).

The committee chair wrote:

Reviving historical memory through the medium of artistic expression is one of the most important manifestations of civic responsibility. In this work, you present the complex political processes that unfolded at the beginning of the nineteenth century, the fate of the Erivan Khanate, and the dramatic events that took place in Azerbaijani lands during that period through a combination of literary imagination and historical fact. In doing so, the book strengthens the readers sense of historical reflection and national memory. I would particularly like to emphasise that works of this nature contribute to strengthening societys historical consciousness, preserving national memory, and reinforcing the moral foundations of civil society. The expression of historical justice through artistic literature plays a distinctive role in shaping public thought and consolidating a sense of national identity. I am confident that works such as ?r?vanda xan qalmad? will make a significant contribution to increasing readers interest in our history, preserving national memory, and making Azerbaijani literature even more appealing for new generations.

Varis Yolcuyev (often published simply as Varis) is an Azerbaijani writer, journalist, and public intellectual known for his contributions to contemporary Azerbaijani literature and media. Born in 1969 in Baku, he graduated from the Faculty of Journalism at Baku State University. Over the years, he has built a career that combines literary writing with journalism and public commentary.

Yolcuyev first gained recognition through his work in the Azerbaijani press, where he wrote analytical articles, essays, and cultural commentary. His journalism often explores social issues, national identity, and historical memory, themes that later became central to his literary works. In addition to working in the media sector, he has held editorial and communication roles in various institutions and has remained an active voice in Azerbaijans intellectual and cultural life.

As a novelist, Varis Yolcuyev is known for blending historical themes, social analysis, and dramatic storytelling. His works frequently explore Azerbaijans past and present, focusing on the moral dilemmas of individuals caught within broader political and historical transformations. Through fiction, he often revisits episodes of regional history and national experience, aiming to engage readers with both narrative depth and historical reflection.

His recent novel, ?r?vanda xan qalmad? (No Khan remained in Erivan), reflects this approach by examining historical developments surrounding the fate of the Erivan Khanate and the political upheavals of the early nineteenth century.

Today, Varis Yolcuyev is regarded as one of the notable contemporary voices in Azerbaijani literature, contributing to discussions about history, identity, and society through both journalism and fiction.
The flights to and from Rodrigues that were cancelled on Sunday, 15 March 2026, due to adverse weather conditions in Rodrigues have now been renumbered and rescheduled for Monday, 16 March 2026.

Our Call Centre has contacted affected passengers and informed them of the new flight timings as follows:

All flights scheduled on Monday, 16 March 2026, will operate as per their original schedules, except for flight MK 134/5, which will now operate as follows:



Air Mauritius apologises for the inconvenience caused and thanks its customers for their understanding.
At least 102 people have died following floods and landslides triggered by heavy rains in the Gamo Zone of southern Ethiopia, according to local authorities.

The official death toll, which was initially reported at just over 30 on Tuesday, rose steadily over the next 24 hours. By Thursday, a senior police officer confirmed 64 deaths, before authorities later revised the figure to 102, with dozens still missing.

Most of the casualties occurred in highland communities where water-soaked slopes collapsed after days of intense rainfall. The town of Arba Minch and nearby areas experienced two days of continuous downpours, causing widespread destruction to homes, farmland and infrastructure.

Officials have warned residents in vulnerable areas to remain vigilant as further flooding and landslides remain possible. Mudslides have also blocked major roads while several bridges have been submerged.

The disaster comes amid widespread flooding across East Africa, where heavy rains have also claimed dozens of lives in neighbouring Kenya in recent days. Scientists say climate change is contributing to more frequent and intense storms across the region. The tragedy echoes a similar disaster in July 2024, when more than 229 people were killed by a landslide in the neighbouring Geze Gofa Zone.
Nigerian soldiers have killed at least 20 terrorists during a counter-offensive in the northeastern State of Yobe, the military announced on Thursday, March 12.

The operation followed attacks on Monday that left at least 14 people dead, including 10 soldiers, in Borno and Yobe States, according to local civilian and military sources.

In a statement dated Wednesday and released on Thursday, regional military spokesperson Sani Uba said troops repelled coordinated terrorist assaults on a military base in Goniri, Yobe state, from late Monday into the early hours of Tuesday. He said more than 20 terrorists were killed in the fighting, including a senior commander identified as Abu Yusu, the Munzir of Dursula.

Uba added that several soldiers sustained injuries but did not provide details on the number affected.

A resident of the nearby village of Katarko earlier told AFP that attackers killed four troops and set fire to buildings and military vehicles in Goniri. The insurgency in northeastern Nigeria has claimed more than 40,000 lives and displaced about two million people, according to the United Nations.

Last week, seven soldiers and 11 civilians were killed when Boko Haram fighters attacked a military base and raided the nearby town of Ngoshe in Gwoza district near the Cameroon border, shooting and abducting residents. Nigeria has since intensified its counterterrorism operations against the militant group.
An artisanal mine collapsed on Thursday, March 12, 2026, morning in the Central African Republic, killing eight people and injuring five others, according to miners at the scene.

The accident occurred in the mining town of Nourroum, the capital of Ouham-Pende prefecture in the countrys northwestern region.

Alban Moussa Yakata, a mine operator in Nourroum, told The Associated Press that the victims were deep inside the mine digging when the collapse occurred. He described the moment as devastating, saying those nearby felt helpless as the tragedy unfolded.

Authorities from the Ministry of Mines and Geology had not responded to requests for comment. Mine collapses are common in the Central African Republic, where thousands of people depend on small-scale artisanal mining for their livelihoods, often working in hazardous conditions with little protective equipment despite government licensing of mining cooperatives.
The Nigeria Labour Congress has called on the government of Nigeria to urgently intervene as petrol prices surge to between 1,170 and 1,300 per litre across the country.

In a statement issued on March 15, the NLC President, Joe Ajaero, said the sharp increase in fuel prices has intensified economic hardship for workers, pushing up transportation costs, food prices and the general cost of living.

He urged the government to introduce immediate relief measures, including wage support and cost-of-living assistance, to cushion the impact on workers and vulnerable citizens. Ajaero also stressed the need for the authorities to make Nigerias public refineries fully operational in order to reduce reliance on imported petroleum products and stabilise domestic fuel supply.

The labour leader further called for tax relief for low-income earners, expanded social support programmes and greater transparency in the management of oil revenues, adding that any gains from rising crude oil prices should be directed toward improving the welfare of Nigerians.
The Government of South Africa said on March 15 that it is reviewing Israels response submitted to the International Court of Justice in the genocide case relating to the conflict in Gaza Strip.

In a statement, South Africas Department of International Relations and Cooperation confirmed that Israel filed its response on March 12 to the countrys written pleadings under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

The Government said it will now examine the submission before deciding whether to request permission from the Court to file additional written arguments or proceed directly to the oral phase of proceedings.

The statement also noted that despite three binding rulings by the ICJ ordering Israel to prevent acts of genocide and allow humanitarian assistance, destruction and loss of life in Gaza continue. It added that tensions are being compounded by developments in the Gulf and Israeli attacks in Lebanon, raising concerns about wider regional instability.

South Africa first filed the genocide case on December 29, 2023, and requested urgent provisional measures due to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The ICJ subsequently issued orders on January 26, March 28, and May 24, 2024, directing Israel to take steps to prevent acts that could fall under the Genocide Convention and to report its actions to the court.
Michael Randrianirina, President of Madagascar, appointed on March 15, Mamitiana Rajaonarison as the countrys new prime minister during a ceremony at the presidential palace in Antananarivo.

Speaking at the ceremony, the President said he selected Rajaonarison because of his integrity and long-standing work in the fight against corruption. He emphasised the need for upright and incorruptible individuals to restore public confidence in national leadership.

Randrianirina also tasked the new Prime minister with quickly forming a government that will implement the administrations national refoundation policy and deliver tangible results for the Malagasy people.

Before the appointment, Rajaonarison served as director general of Madagascars Financial Intelligence Unit, the state body responsible for combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism.

The appointment comes six days after President Randrianirina dissolved the government led by former Prime minister Herintsalama Rajaonarivelo, paving the way for a new administration.
South Sudans Army (SSPDF) on Sunday, March 15, deployed troops in Akobo town, securing full control after announcing earlier in March that it had recaptured the area from opposition forces.

Akobo, located near the Ethiopian border in Jonglei state, had been the last stronghold of the Sudan Peoples Liberation Army-in-Opposition (SPLA-IO) in the Lou Nuer regions, following the fall of bases in Nyirol and Uror counties.

This marks the first time the SSPDF has regained authority over Akobo since the outbreak of the civil war in December 2013.

Reports indicate that fighting occurred on Saturday morning before government troops entered the town with vehicles and military equipment. Residents reportedly fled to neighbouring Ethiopia ahead of the deployment. Videos shared on social media and reviewed by Radio Tamazuj confirmed the presence of SSPDF forces patrolling the town and establishing a security presence. The army had initially claimed to have recaptured Akobo on March 10, though a significant portion of its forces remained stationed at Dec-Deng across the river.

In coordination efforts, SSPDF commanding officers met with officials from the United Nations mission in Akobo to discuss maintaining security and restoring stability in the town.

The government-appointed Akobo County Commissioner, James Kueth Makuach, issued directives urging civilians to keep firearms at home and move freely without fear, emphasising accountability for those who defy the order.

Commissioner Makuach also encouraged residents who had fled the area to return voluntarily, appealing to local leaders, women, teachers, traders, faith-based organisations, and humanitarian groups to help normalise life in Akobo. His statement underscores the governments intention to restore civilian administration and social services in the town following years of opposition control.

Meanwhile, the SPLM-IO-appointed commissioner, John Wiyual Lul, who crossed into Akobo-Tiergol on the Ethiopian side, addressed the Lou Nuer community during Sunday prayers. Lul urged the community to maintain peace and unity, advising displaced residents to remain alert while in temporary locations. The dual messaging reflects ongoing efforts to manage both security and civilian concerns as Akobo transitions back under government control.
Additional sessions are being held within the framework of the Global Baku Forum, which this year is dedicated to the theme Bridging Disagreements in the World in Transition.

AzerNEWS reports that the event has brought together former heads of state and government, leaders of international organizations, and influential experts from around the world in Baku.

Participants are discussing a wide range of topics, including global security, international cooperation, and the geopolitical challenges shaping the modern world.

The 13th Global Baku Forum serves as an international platform for dialogue among political leaders, policymakers, and experts, focusing on ways to address emerging global risks and strengthen cooperation in a rapidly changing international environment.
Alleged additional charges for contrast-enhanced CT scans at three Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) hospitals have reportedly been discontinued after nearly two and a half years following intervention by the Human Rights Commission.



The issue was reported at Bharat Ratna Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Hospital in Kandivali, VN Desai Hospital in Santacruz, and Cooper Hospital in Juhu, where CT scan services are operated by private diagnostic providers under PublicPrivate Partnership (PPP) arrangements.



While the base CT scan charges remained Rs 1,200 as per the municipal hospital rate structure, patients undergoing contrast-enhanced scans were allegedly charged an additional Rs 1,848 under CT contrast injector charges, taking the total cost to Rs 3,048.



Advocate Tushar Bhosale raised the issue before the rights commission, alleging that patients visiting municipal hospitals for subsidised healthcare were being asked to pay additional procedural charges for contrast administration after diagnostic services were outsourced under the PPP model.



Following the complaint, the commission issued notices to the hospitals seeking clarification.



In its reply, VN Desai Hospital told the commission that contrast material for CT scans is now being provided directly by the hospital, leading to the discontinuation of separate injector charges. Similar responses were reportedly submitted by Cooper Hospital and Bharat Ratna Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Hospital stating that the issue had been addressed after the notice.



A diagnostic bill issued earlier at VN Desai Hospital shows how the billing structure had functioned before the change. The bill, generated by Krsnaa Diagnostics Ltd  the private operator managing CT scan services at the hospital under a PPP contract  listed CT Abdomen Pelvis Contrast Study  Rs 1,200 and CT Contrast Injector Charges  Rs 1,848, taking the total billed amount to Rs 3,048.



The bill shows that while the CT scan itself accounted for less than 40 per cent of the total amount charged, the contrast injector component constituted more than 60 per cent of the final bill.



Medical imaging specialists note that contrast-enhanced CT scans require the injection of contrast dye to improve visibility of organs and blood vessels during imaging. Earlier, BMC hospitals themselves supplied the contrast dye, meaning the cost was included within the regulated CT scan rate.



CT scans in municipal hospitals are typically priced between Rs 1,000 and Rs 2,000, significantly lower than rates in private hospitals. However, health policy observers say additional procedural charges introduced by private operators can increase the final bill for patients.



Patients visiting municipal hospitals often do so because of the expectation of low-cost treatment. When procedures advertised at regulated rates result in higher final bills due to additional components, it can create financial strain, said Dr Prakash Ghag, general physician.



Attempts to contact VN Desai Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Mayura Nagale for comment were unsuccessful.




With the interim stay on banning plaster-of-paris (PoP) idols nearing its end this March, an environmental activist has approached the Bombay High Court seeking a complete statewide ban on the manufacture of PoP idols, particularly those used during the Ganesh festival.



Environmental activist Rohit Joshi has filed a fresh Public Interest Litigation (PIL) urging the court to enforce the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) guidelines issued in May 2020, which recommended prohibiting PoP idols due to their severe impact on water bodies.



The move comes at a crucial time, just before large-scale manufacturing of Ganesh idols begins for the upcoming festival season.



Joshi had earlier filed a petition seeking implementation of the CPCBs guidelines. However, the Bombay High Court had granted interim relief, putting the implementation of the guidelines on hold while allowing immersion of PoP idols under certain conditions. That interim arrangement remains operative until the end of March.



In the run-up to the Maghi Ganesh Utsav held in February, Joshi along with a group of sculptors had approached the Supreme Court challenging the High Courts interim order. The apex court, however, recently directed the petitioner to pursue the matter before the Bombay High Court itself.



Upon the interim directions issued by the High Court concerning the immersion of PoP idols, which are presently operative until the end of March, we decided to mention the present Public Interest Litigation before the Court, Joshi said.



He added that the matter needed urgent consideration as idol makers across Maharashtra would soon begin mass production of Ganesh idols for the forthcoming festival season.



In this circumstance, the petitioner seeks to mention the present matter before the Court so that appropriate cognisance may be taken prior to the commencement of large-scale manufacturing of PoP idols for the forthcoming festivals, Joshi said.



According to Joshi, the petition primarily seeks implementation of the CPCBs 2020 guidelines, which have remained largely unenforced despite being issued nearly six years ago.



Our petition is for implementation of the 2020 guidelines of CPCB, which were not implemented for six years, he said.



During earlier proceedings, however, the CPCB had informed the court that its guidelines were advisory in nature and not mandatory, a position that became one of the contentious points in the litigation.



The environmental debate around PoP idols has intensified over the years, with activists repeatedly flagging the ecological damage caused by the material during immersion. Unlike traditional clay idols, PoP idols do not dissolve easily in water and often release harmful chemicals and dyes into lakes, rivers and coastal waters.



In May 2020, the CPCB issued detailed guidelines discouraging and effectively banning the manufacture and use of PoP idols, citing their environmental impact. The guidelines recommended the use of natural clay idols and eco-friendly materials as an alternative.



Later, in August 2024, the Bombay High Court directed authorities to ensure compliance with rules favouring non-PoP Ganesh idols, though the broader issue of an outright ban has remained under judicial scrutiny.



Environmentalists argue that continuing the use of PoP idols undermines pollution control efforts, especially in a state like Maharashtra where lakhs of idols are immersed every year during Ganesh Chaturthi.



Under provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, violations of pollution control norms can invite legal action and penalties, including fines and other punitive measures.



Traditional clay idol makers have also backed the demand for stricter regulation on PoP idols, saying the shift towards chemical-based materials has harmed both the environment and traditional artisans.



PoP idols are not our culture. They are polluting our water bodies and natural water resources. Clay Ganpati idols are our culture and they are environment-friendly. This needs to be followed, said Vasant Raje, a traditional clay idol maker.



With Ganesh festival preparations typically beginning months in advance, activists say the High Courts decision in the coming weeks could shape how idols are manufactured across Maharashtra this year, potentially impacting thousands of idol makers, traders and festival organisers.




The US is rapidly running out of shock absorbers to cushion the oil market from the loss of Middle Eastern crude supplies as the Iran war rages. As the US-Israeli war on Iran enters its third week, at least 15 per cent of the worlds oil supplies remain effectively trapped inside the Gulf following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.



Saudi Arabia, the worlds largest oil exporter, is scrambling to divert as many as 5 million barrels a day to the Red Sea port of Yanbu. The UAE is also diverting some extra crude exports through the Fujairah oil terminal. Even so, roughly 15 million bpd of Middle Eastern supply remains shut out of global markets  a disruption without precedent in the post-Second World War era.



The shock has pushed Brent crude above $100, while Irans new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has said the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed as Tehran seeks to exert pressure on the United States and Israel, though he has indicated that individual countries could co-ordinate ship movements with Irans navy.



Washington has acknowledged that the US Navy is currently unable to forcibly reopen the waterway. While the US has offered financial guarantees to insure vessels against war-related losses to restart transit, most shippers appear unwilling to take the risk. US President Donald Trump has also urged allies to deploy warships to secure Hormuz alongside the US, though any such operation remains weeks away.



In past crises, the world has typically looked to the spare production capacity held by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allied producers, collectively known as OPEC+. But it is not much help in this situation. The Trump administration  acutely aware of the political sensitivity of rising gasoline prices  has spent the past two weeks pulling nearly every available lever to relieve pressure on the market. Last Thursday, Washington issued a 30-day waiver allowing countries to buy sanctioned Russian crude oil and petroleum products currently at sea. The US Treasury had already issued a similar 30-day waiver specifically for India.



The volume under discussion is significant. But the headline number overstates the likely relief, even if the waiver is extended. China, India and Turkey have already been buying the bulk of Russias oil despite Western sanctions, meaning the waiver releases far fewer incremental barrels onto the market than the total volume suggests.



Taken together, these measures underline a stark reality: Washington is running out of tools capable of offsetting the compounding impact of the Hormuz closure on the global oil market.



And when supply fails to meet demand, not only do prices go up, but consumption drops. In the context of oil, that can hammer economic activity. Asia is most vulnerable. The region relies on the Middle East for roughly 60% of its crude imports, and the full impact of the disruption is only beginning to be felt. Tanker journeys from the Gulf to Asia typically take about a month, meaning flows will start to dwindle sharply in the coming two weeks.



Without further supply relief, governments from South Korea to Sri Lanka may be forced to begin rationing fuel, damaging already fragile economies. Countries including Japan, Vietnam and India are already moving in that direction.



With no clear sense of when Hormuz will be reopened, the pressure on the global oil supply chain is intensifying. As the US exhausts its emergency options, the upward pressure on oil prices will likely grow, putting even more political pressure on Washington.



Reuters




President Donald Trump released a Statement honoring Military Working Dogs and Police Dogs.

Trump was Mondays KVML Newsmaker of the Day. Here is the Statement:

Since the dawn of our Republic 250 years ago, Americas working dogs have defended our freedom on the frontlines of battleproviding crucial security, protection, and companionship to our men and women in uniform. This National K-9 Veterans Day, we celebrate these exceptional dogs for their vital role in keeping our country safe, strong, and free.

On March 13, 1942, the United States Army officially launched its War Dog Program during World War II with the creation of the Army K-9 Corps. Since then, Military Working Dogs have deployed to every major field of battle and continue to serve as integral members of our operations on land, at sea, and in the air.

To earn the title of Military Working Dog, candidates undergo rigorous training and evaluation before being assigned to specialties, including drug and explosive detection, security operations, and search-and-rescue. Their intellect, speed, temperament, acute sense of smell, and relentless drive enable these high-performing dogs to excel and execute in high-stakes missions. Their innate abilities are enhanced by an inexplicable bond and enduring partnershipof trust, loyalty, respect, and lovewith their human handlers.

From General George Washingtons beloved dog, who stood alongside our first Commander in Chief during the most decisive moments of the Revolutionary War; to Chips, who attacked enemy forces firing at soldiers during the invasion of Sicily and became the most decorated K-9 in World War II; to Conan, a Belgian Malinois who took part in the operation I initiated to kill ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, dogs have always played a central role in the story of the American military. Today, approximately 1,600 working dogs deploy alongside their human partners in combat zones with our most prestigious military units, along our borders, and throughout the entire world.

Dogs have also contributed in extraordinary ways to our local and federal law enforcement. Earlier this year, Boa police canine in Gastonia, North Carolinaheroically rescued a missing 13-year-old boy with special needs in the middle of a blizzard. For generations, Bo and other police dogs and canine troops have served with bravery and devotion, which enhance our law enforcement capabilities and the lethality of our fighting force.

Dogs are not merely faithful friends or companionsour canine cadre are guardians of our liberty too. Today, I join a grateful Nation in honoring the enduring legacy, remarkable acts of heroism, and incredible contributions of Americas highly-skilled four-legged warriors. In the new Golden Age of America, the same loyalty, courage, and fighting spirit they embody are being unleashed across our Nation.

The Newsmaker of the Day is heard every weekday morning at 6:45, 7:45 and 8:45 on AM 1450 and FM 102.7 KVML.
Australian authorities have marked a significant milestone in the investigation into the death of Kenyan chef Caleb Leriano with the arrest of a primary suspect. South Australia Police confirmed that they apprehended 22-year-old Alan Kiplimo in Western Australia, allegedly as he attempted to flee the region.

Detectives are currently extraditing Kiplimo to Adelaide to face a formal murder charge. Upon his arrival, officers will escort him to a watch house before he makes his initial appearance in a magistrates court.

The tragic case began when first responders found 24-year-old Lerianos body inside a crashed vehicle in Morphett Vale, a suburb of Adelaide. Although emergency teams performed Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) at the scene, they could not revive him.

Detectives soon realized that Lerianos injuries were inconsistent with a car crash, despite the initial scene suggesting a typical traffic accident. The forensic evidence instead pointed toward an assault, prompting the South Australia Police to launch a major crime investigation.

Investigators believe Leriano drove his red BMW to the vicinity of Sapphire Reserve during the early hours of Wednesday for a pre-arranged meeting. The police suspect that an attack took place shortly before the car collided with a pole, making the nature of this meeting a crucial aspect of their ongoing investigation.

To track the suspect across state lines, detectives utilized advanced digital technology and pored over hours of CCTV footage. This trail eventually led them to Perth  more than 2,500 kilometers away  where they secured the arrest before the suspect could move further.

Caleb Leriano moved to Australia in 2025, carrying a dream and a culinary degree from Kenyas prestigious Utalii College. He built a meaningful career as a chef, specializing in providing high-quality meals for residents in aged care and disability support facilities.

His sudden death has shook the local community in Adelaide and the wider Kenyan diaspora. Friends and colleagues continue to mourn the loss of a young man known for his talent, dedication, and bright future.
Dr. Joyce Kithure, the spouse of the Deputy President, is pushing for a united front to transform Nairobi into a cleaner, more inviting city for both residents and entrepreneurs. During her visit to Dandora on Saturday, she made it clear that maintaining the citys hygiene requires a team effort rather than a solo act by the government.

She challenged every stakeholder to step up and play their part in this transformation.

Nairobi is our capital city, and its cleanliness reflects who we are as a nation. Government alone cannot achieve this goal without the participation of the people, she noted.

The second lady shared these insights while leading a community clean-up exercise in Nairobis Dandora estate. She reminded the public that the same care people give to their living rooms should extend to the streets and markets they use every day.

As we clean our houses every day, we must also extend the same responsibility to the spaces outside our homes, i.e., the streets, drainage channels, markets, and public spaces where we live and work. A clean Nairobi will not come from policy alone; it will come from the collective effort of its citizens, Dr. Kithure stated.

She underscored the idea that while laws are important, the real power to change the city lies in the hands of the people who call it home.

This community exercise forms a key part of the Science Adding Value to the Environment and the Communities Initiative (SaVE), a program Dr. Kithure personally leads. The initiative focuses on finding practical solutions and using innovation to spark community action, all with the goal of protecting the environment and making life better for everyone.

Dr. Kithure pointed out that neglected streets do more than just look bad  they pose a genuine threat to public health.

Poor sanitation exposes our communities to diseases such as cholera, typhoid, and other waterborne infections. Children are especially vulnerable, and as leaders and citizens, we have a duty to protect their health and their future, she added.

The cleanup in Dandora is just the beginning. Dr. Kithure plans to take this mission to other neighborhoods across the capital, including Kawangware, Kibra, Mathare, Korogocho, Mukuru, and the Central Business District (CBD)

Dr. Kithure also issued a passionate appeal to all Kenyans to rethink how they handle their trash, specifically to prevent blocked drainage systems that often lead to flooding. She believes that the citys transformation depends as much on personal behavior as it does on physical labor.

Cleaning alone is not enough. We must also change our habits. Let us dispose of the waste responsibly. Let us avoid throwing plastics and garbage into drainage systems. Let us educate our children about protecting the environment. And let us support recycling and sustainable waste management, she urged.
Prime Cabinet Secretary and Foreign Affairs Minister Musalia Mudavadi left for Moscow Sunday to address the plight of Kenyans caught in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. While early rumors suggested a high-level sit-down, Mudavadi will not meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin during this trip.

A press release from his office on Sunday, March 15, clarified that the Prime CS will instead hold talks with influential Russian ministers. These discussions will cover various diplomatic concerns and the broader relationship between the two nations.

Musalia Mudavadi, Prime Cabinet Secretary and Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, leaves for Moscow, Russian Federation, for bilateral meetings, the statement from his office read.

This visit is a high-stakes mission for Mudavadi as he navigates a complex humanitarian crisis. He will personally address the plight of Kenyans  some who joined by choice and many others who were tricked into servicenow trapped in the trenches of the Russia-Ukraine war.

The human cost of this conflict has already hit home. Official reports confirm that at least 10 Kenyans have died in the fighting, with 28 others currently missing in action. Intelligence data suggests a much larger scale, indicating that over 1,000 Kenyans have been swept into the Russian military. This surge in numbers has sparked urgent questions about how the government plans to shut down the fraudulent recruitment rings operating within our borders.

During his meetings in Moscow, Mudavadi will fight for a clear, safe path to bring these citizens home.

Mudavadis talks with the Russian top government officials will seek to address the situation that surrounds Kenyans who may have been voluntarily or involuntarily drafted into the Russian military, the statement added.

The statement further explained, The Prime CS will intensify diplomatic efforts to engage directly with Russian authorities through dialogue to prevent further risks arising from misleading recruitment or false promises of employment.

Beyond the immediate crisis of the war, Mudavadis mission aims to forge a deeper, more resilient partnership between Nairobi and Moscow. He intends to broaden collaboration in crucial areas such as education, health, infrastructure, and energy, while simultaneously creating new opportunities for Kenyan workers through labor mobility agreements. At the heart of his economic agenda is a push to turn Russia into a major buyer of Kenyan goods.

There exists a great potential for the export of Kenyan coffee, tea, and floriculture to the Russian market, especially at a time of Middle East turbulence and beyond, Mudavadi said.

The Prime CS also wants to move beyond reactive diplomacy. He intends to establish a clear, transparent framework that ensures the safety and dignity of every Kenyan currently living, studying, or working in Russia. This permanent safety net would safeguard citizens from slipping through the gaps in foreign legal systems or becoming susceptible to exploitation.

Mudavadis schedule in Moscow is packed with high-level engagements:
The European Union should give special attention to Azerbaijan as an island of stability in a region under pressure, former Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme said during a panel discussion at the Global Baku Forum, AzerNEWS reports.

Speaking at the 13th edition of the forum in Baku, Leterme noted that Azerbaijan has achieved significant progress over the past two decades.

According to him, under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev, the country has created substantial opportunities for economic development.

Azerbaijan has seen impressive achievements over the past 1520 years. We must understand that we need to gain Azerbaijan's attention. We are obliged to respect Azerbaijan as a partner with whom dialogue is necessary, Leterme said.

He emphasized that the EU should approach relations with Azerbaijan through mutual respect and constructive engagement, warning that interference in internal affairs can undermine dialogue.

For example, when we interfere in the internal affairs of a country like Azerbaijan and adopt resolutions, we must understand that by doing so we are closing the doors to future negotiations, he stated.

Leterme also pointed out that such actions complicate cooperation in key sectors, including energy.

We have been interfering in Azerbaijan's internal affairs for years, and the next day we come and ask: Can you sell us more gas? This is a typical European attitude that does not work in a world where interests are more important than values, he added.
Kisumu Governor Anyang Nyongo has hit out at the aggressive removal of former Cabinet Minister Raphael Tuju from his multi-million-shilling business property in Karen, Nairobi. Nyongo questioned why the state deployed a massive wave of police officers to manage what he describes as a private civil matter that belongs in a different arena.

The recent event surrounding the handling of Raphael Tujus Laon dispute and commercial affairs raises serious questions about the conduct of institutions entrusted with upholding the rule of law in our country, he said in a statement issued on Sunday.

RELATED  Raphael Tuju Loses Court Bid to Stop Auction of Multi-Billion Karen Property

A Threat to Democratic Progress

The governor noted that Kenya has endured a long, difficult journey to establish a democracy that protects the rights and liberties of every citizen. He views these latest developments as a major step backward.

The use of uniformed police officers whose primary duty is to maintain law and order to facilitate actions that seemingly bypass established legal processes is troubling, the Kisumu County boss said.

Nyongo pointed out that the government should use the police to protect the public, not to skip over the standard legal steps required in commercial disagreements.

Governor Nyongo argues that civil law provides a clear and established framework for debt recovery and business disagreements. He believes these issues require transparent, legal handling rather than the tactics recently witnessed in Karen.

The resort to nocturnal operations and coercive displays of state power in matters of a civil nature invites legitimate public concern. One must ask, under what legal provision are such actions justified? he wondered.

A Call for Dignity and Due Process

The governor pointed out that Tuju is a former senior public servant who has represented Kenya at the highest levels. He noted that regardless of the details of the financial dispute, Tuju is not a fugitive or a criminal. In Nyongos view, no citizen deserves treatment that leads to public humiliation or harassment.

Those entrusted with public authority must exercise it with restraint, legality and respect for due process. Ultimately, every Kenyan, regardless of status, creed, or political inclination, deserves fair and just treatment under the law, he said.

Nyongo concluded by reminding those in power that they must use their authority with caution and a deep respect for the law.

The scene at Dari Business Park on Saturday morning felt more like a tactical operation than a typical property handover. Kenyans woke up to viral videos showing five vehicles filled with heavily armed police officers descending on the Ngong Road property in Karen.

The officers arrived around 2 am, under the cover of darkness, to oversee Tujus removal from the 21-acre site. This move followed reports that the property had been sold at auction to settle a long-standing bank debt.

A Tense Night at the Compound

The police arrival followed a chaotic Friday night. Tuju himself had to confront a group of hired goons who tried to seize the premises. The compound houses his private office and approximately 25 other active businesses, all of which became entangled in the struggle.

This standoff stems from a court ruling that finally allowed the auction of the property. The sale aims to recover a debt that has climbed to over Sh1.9 billion after years of intense legal battles in the halls of justice.

By Saturday, a high-profile group of leaders gathered at the disputed site to stand with the former cabinet minister. They included Homa Bay Governor Gladys Wanga, Rarieda MP and Senior Counsel Otiende Amollo, Jimi Wanjigi, and renowned advocate PLO Lumumba.
Among the favorite activities of SIU Carbondales World Languages and Cultures Day is learning American Sign Language. (Photo by Yenitza Melgoza)

1,400 students to visit SIU for World Languages and Cultures Day

by Pete Rosenbery

CARBONDALE, Ill.  Southern Illinois University Carbondale will celebrate the 50th World Languages and Cultures Day on Thursday, March 19, with 1,400 students from 23 high schools across the state learning the history and future of languages and cultures.

The celebration, 50 Years of Learning, 250 Years of Belonging, is from 8:30 a.m. to noon in the Student Center. Festivities begin with a welcome session at 9:15 a.m. hosted by Jennifer Smith, a professor of Spanish and co-acting interim dean of the College of Liberal Arts, along with Lourdes Albuixech, an associate professor of Spanish, and School of Languages and Linguistics (SLL) faculty members.

Smith has been watching high school students come to the event for the last 20 years.

It is incredibly rewarding to see students get excited about other languages and cultures. The event brings so much energy to campus and reminds teachers that what we do truly matters, she said. Our hope is that students begin to see how studying another language can open their minds to entirely new worlds and inspire them to continue their studies in this area. But even if they simply walk away from the day excited about the fun they had, we still consider that a success.

Media availability

Reporters, photographers and camera crews are welcome to cover World Languages and Cultures Day. For more information or assistance in arranging interviews on Thursday, March 19, contact Rachel Wolters, coordinator for recruitment and retention in the College of Liberal Arts, at rachelw@siu.edu or 618-318-2197.

Brody Bluemel, a professor and SLL director, noted the regional importance of the event, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary along with the nations 250th anniversary.

In our increasingly interconnected world, language skills, and intercultural communication are core competencies. For students in Southern Illinois, this event is a gateway. It transforms language from a high school graduation requirement into a living, breathing tool for career success and cultural empathy, he said. Whether students eventually pursue business, healthcare, technology, or any other profession, the ability to navigate a multilingual world is a distinct competitive advantage.

The event is also a testament to SIUs long-standing commitment to global citizenship.

This Golden Anniversary is particularly poignant as it aligns with the 250th anniversary of the United States, he said. We are celebrating the fact that for two-and-a-half centuries, the American story has been written in many languages. Our school has spent the last 50 years ensuring that Southern Illinois students are central characters in that ongoing, diverse narrative.

This years celebration has several new features, including:

A poster contest for high schools based on this years theme. The posters will be displayed in the Student Centers Art Alley during the event and with SLL faculty members serving as judges.

Numerous interactive sessions will take place from 10 a.m. to noon in the International Lounge, in addition to 20-minute sessions in the Student Centers river rooms, ballrooms and auditorium. A college fair will also take place during the morning in the John W. Corker Lounge.

There will also be numerous interactive, hands-on demonstrations and a variety of topics in breakout sessions throughout the morning. Session titles include:

Hot Ones Challenge with SLL faculty.

The Spanish Sprint: Race Through the Regions  a high-speed scavenger hunt across virtual Spain.

Kichwa Musical Instruments, Dancing, and Language.

Syriac: The Language of Middle Eastern Christianity.

Discover Taiwan: Study Abroad and Cultural Exploration.

Chinese Paper Cutting: The Art of Jianzhi.

Immerse Yourself in Tswana Culture.

The Rhein in Germany.

Non-verbal Communication in Ghanaian Community: Gong-Gong Beating, Stone Throw, Whistling and Dance Language.

Meditate Like a Monk.

Language As User Interface.

Students from the following schools are expected to attend:

Arcola Jr/Sr High School.

Benton Consolidated High School.

Carbondale Community High School.

Carterville High School.

Central A&M High School, Moweaqua.

Chester High School.

Cobden High School.

Du Quoin High School.

Eldorado High School.

Frankfort Community High School, West Frankfort.

Herrin High School.

Johnston City High School.

Marion High School.

Massac County High School.

Mount Vernon Township High School.

Murphysboro High School.

Odin High School.

Okaw Valley High School, Bethany.

Pana High School.

Pinckneyville Community High School.

Red Bud High School.

Trico High School.

Vienna High School.

The School of Languages and Linguistics and the College of Liberal Arts is sponsoring the celebration.
Another act of profound lamentation: Armenian historians have once again turned their attention to the hurdy-gurdy, a symbol of cherished cultural memory. Tears flow across the arena, and voices rise to the world: "Guard! Our ancient heritage is being eroded in Karabakh!"

The pattern has persisted for centuries, as predictable as a finely tuned timepiece. Wherever Armenian families settlebe it on distant planets or in the crater of a volcanoa khachkar inevitably emerges, seemingly sprouting from the earth like a mushroom after rain. And it is never an ordinary khachkar, but always the "oldest," cloaked in venerable moss and patina, as if Noah himself had placed it there after the flood. Its historical narrative often takes the form of oral testimony: "We brewed coffee here in the sand when dinosaurs were still learning to lay eggs."

These monuments function as political markers of the territory: by placing a stone inscribed with a cross, the land is declared historically Armenian.

In the 19th century, the Georgian-Armenian intellectual Ilya Chavchavadze described this phenomenon of "miraculous reproduction" of history with sharp satire in his work Armenian Scientists and Egregious Stones. He documented how individuals, armed with chisels and zeal, reshaped someone elses history directly onto ancient monuments. His observations, both humorous and poignant, remain striking today: centuries-old inscriptions were altered, overwritten, and manipulated to serve new narratives.

A century and a half later, the instruments of revision have changed. Instead of chisels, todays actors use glossy reports, paid experts, and polished briefs for Western policymakers, whose knowledge of Caucasian history is no deeper than their familiarity with lunar tea varieties.

The result remains the same: lamentation, appeals to the genocide of culture, and, predictably, European resolutions calling for the protection of ancient Armenian monuments.

Yet the historical reality is more nuanced. Many of these so-called shrines are in fact the cultural heritage of Caucasian Albania. Current Azerbaijani interventions are not acts of destruction, but of restorationremoving artificial layers and historical fabrications that were imposed centuries ago. This process uncovers the monuments authentic character, cleansed of later alterations and misrepresentations, restoring the historical integrity of the region.
Singapore, March 16: Empyrion Digital, a Singapore-headquartered next-generation data centre developer and operator, today announced it has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Cypress Telecom Limited ("CypressTel") and its affiliate DataShell, which together deliver secure, low-latency network services and interconnection-ready data centre capacity in major regional hubs to support strategic infrastructure growth across Asia.

Under the terms of the MOU, CypressTel will have data centre capacity optionality with Empyrion Digital's bid in for its 2nd data centre in Singapore. This reflects a shared commitment to enabling high-performance digital infrastructure and Singapore's leading position as a connectivity hub.

Additionally, Empyrion Digital and CypressTel have agreed on a term sheet for Empyrion to provide data centre capacity to CypressTel at one of Empyrion's upcoming North Asia projects.

"Demand for scalable, secure and interconnected infrastructure continues to rise across Asia," said Mark Fong, CEO of Empyrion Digital. "This strategic MOU with CypressTel and its affiliate DataShell, a leading carrier-neutral global network service provider, strengthens our collective ability to support long-term digital capacity needs across Asia."

Connee Zhang, CEO of CypressTel, added, "We are excited to formalise this strategic collaboration with Empyrion Digital. With 140+ PoPs and experience supporting deployments across more than 10,000 customers globally, CypressTel brings proven execution at scale to help enterprise and partners deploy faster and scale with confidence across Asia."

Empyrion Digital continues to advance its development pipeline in Asia, focusing on core markets that offer robust connectivity, diversified ecosystem access and scalable energy availability.

About Empyrion Digital

Empyrion Digital is a next-generation digital infrastructure platform committed to sustainable practices and operational excellence. Green-by-design, we develop and operate scalable, carrier-neutral data centres for hyperscale and enterprise customers across Asia, including Singapore, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan and Thailand.

Headquartered in Singapore, Empyrion Digital is a portfolio company of Seraya Partners, a leading Asia infrastructure fund with USD 2.5 billion of assets under management.

For more information, visit www.empyriondigital.com

About Cypress Telecom Limited ("CypressTel")

CypressTel is a carrier-neutral global network service provider that empowers enterprises and service operators with secure, intelligent, and high-performance connectivity.

Our portfolio spans SD-WAN, SASE, Internet Access, private networks, cloud connectivity, AIDC, and WAN Optimization, enabling seamless digital transformation across Asia and beyond.

Built on a global backbone, CypressTel integrates network, cloud, and security into one intelligent orchestration platform -- ensuring agility, visibility, and reliability for every connection.

For more information, visit www.cypresstel.com

(ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by PRNewswire. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same)
BusinessWire India Boston (Massachusetts) [US], March 16: The Digital Engineering Awards concluded its fourth edition at Boston, Massachusetts on Thursday, honoring technology pioneers and organizations for their contributions to technology solutions and AI advancements. The gala night presented by L&T Technology Services (BSE: 540115, NSE: LTTS) along with ISG as the knowledge and research partner and CNBC-TV18 as the media partner, hosted both industry leaders and individual changemakers from 17 countries across North America, Europe, and the rest of the world. A total of 258 nominations from leading organizations and engineering pioneers competed under Engineering The Change (Team) and Engineer At Heart (Individual) categories, covering twelve distinct award segments. Each category ranging from Physical AI Impact to Digital Engineering Project, Top Sustainability Initiative, and Women Engineer of the Year, were thoughtfully curated to honor and recognize the immense contribution of engineering and technology to the world. The winning organizations include NVIDIA, AWS, Etihad Rail, IKEA Retail (Ingka Group), Rockwell Automation, JLL, Shell, Philips, Fiserv, and The Estee Lauder Companies amongst others. The awards jury panel, including Steve Hall, Prashant Kelker, Matteo Gallina, and Rajeev Chatrath, from ISG; Prof. Hossein Rahnama from MIT Media Lab; Pieter Schoehuijs, private equity advisor; and Vanessa Eriksson - Founder and Senior Advisor Vanessa Eriksson AB, evaluated the nominations based on four key criteria - innovation, unique value proposition, delivery precision, and tangible business impact. The 57 finalists also had an opportunity to tour the renowned MIT Media Lab and experience the latest innovations, first-hand. Todd Lavieri, vice chairman and president, ISG Americas and Asia Pacific, remarked, "This year's awards reflect the growing relevance of AI and digital engineering across industries, demonstrating how innovation and precision drive real business outcomes. The AI-focused categories showcased the industry's commitment to harnessing AI and engineering excellence for overall growth. The success of the Digital Engineering Awards is a testament to the power of engineering in our era of rapidly evolving technologies." S. Shivakumar, CEO, News18 Studios shared, "The fourth edition of the Digital Engineering Awards continue to be a well-rounded initiative by scaling and adopting to the latest trends of the industry. We are inspired by the diversity and agility shown by this year's participants, and it is gratifying that this collaboration offers a robust platform for industry leaders to share transformative stories and inspire others toward impactful solutions." "We are proud to celebrate the extraordinary innovation shaping our industry through the Digital Engineering Awards. This year's entries reflected a powerful shift underway, as AI continues to evolve. Its convergence with Engineering Intelligence (EI) will be transformative, dramatically accelerating real-world impact across industries and everyday life. We are honored to be part of this unique innovation journey and remain steadfast in celebrating the organizations and individuals who are boldly engineering a smarter, more sustainable future," added Amit Chadha, CEO & Managing Director of L&T Technology Services. LIST of WINNERS Engineering The Change (Teams Awards) 1. Digital Transformation of the Year:- Championi. Maharashtra Cyber (Maharashtra Cyber Security Project)- Challengeri. The Estee Lauder Companies (A Scalable, End-to-End Manufacturing, Packaging, and Engineering Agenda at The Estee Lauder Companies)ii. Tenneco (Anti roll Bar Bracket Digital Twin)- Commendablei. AGCO (Driving Digital Transformation: AGCO Parts Shop B2B Initiative)ii. Mondelez India (Connected Shopfloor Leaders: Empowering Autonomous Decision Making)iii. Rockwell Automation (Simplifying Automation System Deployment with DeviceTools) 2. Digital Engineering Project/Program of the Year:- Championi. Santos (Santos next-generation Integrated Production Model (IPM))- Challengeri. IOGP (Digital Hub for IOGP standardized parts and equipment (HIPE) specifications - Low Voltage Motor MVP)ii. Kaynes Semiconductor (Digitally Engineering India's Semiconductor Future)- Commendablei. Fiserv (API Hub: Engineering Scalable Digital Impact)ii. McNeilus Companies (Model-Driven Digital Assembly: A Scalable Industry 4.0 Approach for Connected Manufacturing)iii. Shell (NextGen IM - Integrated Digital and Information Management Program for Capital Projects and Assets) 3. Engineering Product of the Year:- Championi. Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, R&D Centre (OmniHub - IoT Terminal)- Challengeri. Epiroc (LinkOA)ii. Komatsu (Komatsu WX04B - Battery-Electric LHD with Ground-Level Swap and Class-Leading Energy Density)- Commendablei. Marelli (Zone Control Unit (EliteZone platform))ii. Navico Group (Simrad AutoCaptain Autonomous Boating System)iii. Vanderlande (SPOX - a revolutionary system that redefines parcel sortation) 4. AI Impact of the Year:- Championi. Partex.AI (Engineering AI That Delivers Measurable Enterprise Value - Partex.AI's End-to-End Biomedical Intelligence Ecosystem)- Challengeri. Collins Aerospace (Leveraging Generative AI to Transform Avionics Development Processes)ii. Syntonym (Scaling Vision AI with Privacy by Design)- Commendablei. AVEVA (AVEVA's Industrial AI: Efficient Engineering, Connected to Lifecycle Performance)ii. AWS (AWS Automated Reasoning Checks)iii. Improzo (From Insight to Impact: Engineering Scalable AI for Life Sciences Outcomes) 5. Physical AI Impact of the Year- Championi. Etihad Rail (Track Inspection with Locomotive - TrackEI)- Challengeri. NVIDIA (Scaling Robotics and Autonomous Care in Healthcare)ii. Philips: (Transcend Plus: AI-Driven Cardiovascular Ultrasound for Transforming Cardiac Care)- Commendablei. AMD: (Powering AI and HPC Performance Through MI Instinct DCGPU)ii. Autodesk (Project Atom: AI for 3D Scan-Driven Construction Progress Intelligence)iii. AutoStore (CarouselAI: AI Robotic Piece-Picking for Global Warehouse Fulfillment) 6. Excellence in Value Realization:- Championi. IKEA Retail (Ingka Group) (INGKA Group's Process Intelligence & Intelligent Automation Department: Engineering Value at Enterprise Scale)- Challengeri. LivaNova (Essenz Affordability Initiative: Improving Access to Cardiopulmonary Care Worldwide Essenz)ii. Sephora (Engineering the Next Generation of Scalable, Reliable, and Intelligent Retail Systems)- Commendablei. Clear Correct (Redefining Value in Dental Care with Digital Engineering)ii. Interac Corp. (Customizable and future-ready verification solution - Interac Verified credential service)iii. Tele2 (Intelligent Automation at Tele2) 7. Top Sustainability Initiative:- Championi. HPE Professional Services Delivery (HPE Adaptive Green AI: Reducing AI's Environmental Footprint)- Challengeri. Delta Flight Products (DFP) (Aircraft Water Volume Monitoring)ii. Stanley Black & Decker (DEWALT Batteries Sustainable Packaging)- Commendablei. Dow Inc. (Formulation-Level PCF Calculator for Coatings: Empowering Data-Driven Sustainability)ii. Honeywell (Honeywell EMS & Ionic BESS: Accelerating Sustainable Energy Transformation for Island Communities)iii. Vestas (VESTAS R&D - Component Net Weight Corrections in PLM Operations -Enhancing Sustainability Accuracy through AI) Engineer At Heart (Individual Awards) 1. The Distinguished Digital Engineering Leader- Frank van Dijck, Vanderlande- Keisuke Suzuki, Japan Lifeline (JLL)- Prahlad Venkatapuram, Meta 2. The Digital Engineer of the Year:- Beena Anand, Intel- Jonathan DeRocher, Dow Inc.- Pankaj Goel, ExxonMobil 3. The Woman Engineer of the Year:- Dr. Marry Gunaratnam, Northern Credit Union- Jyotika Athavale, Waymo- Madina Doup, Shell 4. The Innovator of the Year:- Batuhan Ozcan, Syntonym- Dr. Rahmat Agung Susantyoko, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, R&D Centre- Gaurav Tripathi, Partex.AI 5. AI Trailblazer of the Year:- Abhishek Trigunait, Improzo- Deepika Manglani, Los Angeles Times- Hari K. Kapparapu, Alcon (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by BusinessWire India. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same)
However, overall imports during the month grew at a faster pace of 21.61 per cent, rising to USD 80.09 billion from USD 65.84 billion in February 2025, the ministry data showed.

As a result, India's overall trade deficit, merchandise and services combined, widened to USD 3.96 billion in February 2026, from (-) USD 2.72 billion in the corresponding month last year.

Merchandise exports in February declined marginally to USD 36.61 billion from USD 36.91 billion. Merchandise imports increased from USD 51.33 billion to USD 63.71 billion.

Services exports rose to USD 39.53 billion from USD 31.65 billion. Services imports rose to USD 16.38 billion from USD 14.51 billion.

Overall trade growth for the fiscal year (April-February), the cumulative value of overall exports, including both merchandise and services, is estimated at USD 790.86 billion as compared to USD 747.58 billion in corresponding period during the last financial year.

It is an estimated growth of 5.8 per cent and increased around approximately USD 42-43 billion.

India's total exports had touched an all-time high of USD 824.9 billion in financial year 2024-25. This marked a yearly growth of 6.01 per cent over USD 778.1 billion exports in 2023-24, setting a new annual milestone. The 2024-25 exports exceeded the initial anticipation of USD 800 billion. (ANI)
India is currently negotiating six Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with different countries and regional groups as part of its efforts to expand trade partnerships, according to information released by the Ministry of Commerce. The ministry said negotiations are ongoing with Australia, Sri Lanka, Peru, Chile, the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), and Israel. Among these, the India-Australia Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) negotiations began in February 2023. Since then, 11 rounds of negotiations have been held so far as both sides continue discussions on the proposed trade pact. India is also negotiating the India-Sri Lanka Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement (ETCA). Talks for this agreement began in 2015 and a total of 14 rounds of negotiations have been held. The last round of discussions took place from July 24 to July 26, 2024. Negotiations are also underway for the India-Peru Free Trade Agreement (FTA). The talks were launched in 2017 and nine rounds of negotiations have been conducted so far. The latest round of discussions was held from November 3 to November 5, 2025. The ministry also shared that India has initiated negotiations with Chile for a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). The negotiations were launched on April 1st, 2025 and four rounds of discussions have been held so far. The most recent round of talks took place from December 1 to December 5, 2025. The commerce ministry also said India has started negotiations for an FTA with the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). The first round of negotiations for this agreement was held from November 26 to November 28, 2025. In addition, India has begun discussions for a Free Trade Agreement with Israel. The first round of negotiations between the two countries was held in February 2026. The ministry noted that these ongoing negotiations are part of India's broader efforts to strengthen its trade relations with global partners and expand market access through comprehensive trade agreements. Apart from the ongoing negotiations, the ministry also highlighted progress in other trade agreements. India has signed FTAs with the United Kingdom on July 24, 2025 and with Oman on December 18, 2025, which are currently under ratification. Meanwhile, negotiations for FTAs with New Zealand and the European Union have already been concluded. The ministry added that India has also launched negotiations for a Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) with the United States in March 2025. On February 7, 2026, India and the United States announced that they had reached a framework for an interim agreement regarding reciprocal and mutually beneficial trade. The ministry also noted that the India-Korea Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) is currently under review for upgradation. The review process started in 2016 and a total of 11 rounds of negotiations have been held so far, with the last round taking place in Seoul from July 17 to July 19, 2024. The ministry further stated that Terms of Reference (ToR) have been signed for several upcoming trade negotiations. These include a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) with the Philippines, a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Maldives, an FTA with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with Canada. (ANI)
VMPL Pune (Maharashtra) [India], March 16: A groundbreaking artificial intelligence (AI) mobile application, Save the foot, was officially unveiled on March 14th at the 10th International Diabetes Summit held at the JW Marriott, Pune. This innovative digital tool is designed to help both clinicians and patients manage diabetic foot ulcers (DFU) with greater speed and precision, aiming to significantly reduce avoidable amputations. The launch was headlined by two distinguished experts who provided critical clinical perspectives on the impact of this technology: Dr. Unnikrishnan AG (CEO & Chief Endocrinologist, Chellaram Diabetes Institute) offered insights into systemic diabetes management, emphasizing that even a minor ulcer can escalate into a severe medical emergency within just 48 hours. Dr. Tapish Sahu (Senior Vascular & Endovascular Surgeon) provided specialized expertise on limb salvage, demonstrating how the app's AI scanning grid overlays with medical wound grading to determine severity with surgical precision. Both experts highlighted that managing a diabetic foot ulcer is 90% monitoring. They explained that Save the foot effectively bridges the gap between rural patients and specialist care by allowing users to grade wound severity directly from a smartphone photo. The 10th International Diabetes Summit 2026 is part of the Chellaram Diabetes Institute's (CDI) efforts to tackle the escalating problem of diabetes. By hosting global speakers alongside Indian experts, the summit brings the latest clinical practices to the frontline of diabetes care. How 'Save the foot' Supports Better Outcomes: The app serves as a decision-support tool for clinicians. Using AI-powered image capture, it analyzes photos to instantly determine wound size and severity. This provides doctors with the real-world evidence required to make faster treatment decisions, which is vital for complete healing. Furthermore, Save the foot enhances management by integrating with advanced therapies like Esmolol Hydrochloride. This treatment redefines wound closure by targeting the three critical phases of healing--inflammation, proliferation, and remodeling--while actively preventing ulcer recurrence. Key Features of 'Save the foot': - AI Image Analysis: Provides instant wound assessment through mobile photography. - Healing Tracker: Offers clear progress charts to monitor the healing journey over time. - Wound Grading: Uses a standardized grading system to help track progression. - Secure Patient Records: Manages a comprehensive history of treatment and wound status. - Encrypted Cloud Storage: Ensures all personal health data is stored safely and privately. The debut of Save the foot marks a major milestone in using technology to improve the lives of those living with diabetes complications. Availability: The Save the foot app is free for everyone and available for download on both the Google Play Store (Android) and the Apple App Store (iOS). (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by VMPL. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same.)
VMPL New Delhi [India], March 16: The embroidery technology sector witnessed a major product reveal in Bangalore as actress Pranitha Subhash launched the Turbo 1.5 by HSW, a machine designed to reach speeds of up to 1500 RPM and positioned as India's fastest single head embroidery machine. The event brought together entrepreneurs, embroidery professionals and industry partners who gathered to see the latest development from the Surat-based company, which recently completed 13 years in the embroidery machine industry. HSW has built its reputation around single head embroidery machines widely used by boutique owners, garment businesses and independent entrepreneurs, many of whom run embroidery businesses from home. The company today serves more than 6000 customers across India and several international markets, with many users building small businesses around embroidery production. The newly launched Turbo 1.5 has been designed to focus on speed and production efficiency. HSW Turbo 1.5 Specifications: - 10-inch touch screen computer system - 12 needle configuration - Maximum speed of 1500 RPM - Automatic and manual thread trimmer -Automatic and manual colour change - Large embroidery - 5 years warranty - Suitable for T-shirts, blouses and lehenga kali work Speaking at the launch event, HSW founder Tapan Kapadia said the company has always focused on creating machines that allow individuals to build businesses rather than simply operate equipment. "Embroidery has the potential to change lives when technology becomes accessible," Tapan Kapadia said. "Our machines are used by people who start small and gradually build their own businesses. Turbo 1.5 is built to give entrepreneurs the speed and efficiency they need to grow." Along with Turbo 1.5, HSW also introduced two other single head embroidery machines as part of the new lineup. One of them is the Ultra, an upgraded version of the company's most successful 5G series. The single head embroidery machine is designed for garment businesses and embroidery professionals looking for reliable production speeds and a larger working area. HSW Ultra Specifications: - 10-inch touch screen computer system - 12 needle setup - Maximum speed of 1200 RPM - Automatic and manual thread trimmer - Automatic and manual colour change - 5 years warranty - Large embroidery area suitable for garments and customised textile work The third model unveiled at the launch was Neo, a compact single head embroidery machine developed for first time users and small production setups. The machine focuses on ease of use and practical design for everyday embroidery work. HSW Neo Specifications: - 12-needle system - Maximum speed of 1200 RPM - Compact and user-friendly design - Automatic and manual thread trimmer - Automatic and manual colour change - 2 years warranty - Suitable for caps, T-shirts, blouses and lehenga kali work During the event, Actress Pranitha Subhash interacted with attendees and spoke about the growing interest in entrepreneurship among individuals exploring embroidery as a source of income. Over the years, HSW machines have helped thousands of people start embroidery businesses of their own. Many of these entrepreneurs are women who began small embroidery units from home, including widows and single mothers looking for stable income opportunities. The company also supports its customers through online training and service assistance so that first time entrepreneurs can learn machine operation and production techniques without needing to travel for technical guidance. With the launch of Turbo 1.5 along with the Ultra and Neo models, HSW is adding three new single head embroidery machines to its portfolio for garment businesses and entrepreneurs looking to start increase production capacity. (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by VMPL. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same.)
India remains engaged with the US for a mutually beneficial trade agreement, Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said on Monday. He said at a media briefing that India and the US announced a trade deal on February 2, and a Joint Statement for the same was released on February 7. "On February 7, 2026, the 25% additional ad-valorem tariffs imposed by the U.S. on certain Indian exports citing India's imports of Russian oil were removed," he said. The Commerce Secretary said that pursuant to the US Supreme Court judgement of February 20, 2026 invalidating reciprocal tariffs, the reciprocal tariffs are no longer in force. "The US Government has issued Executive Orders imposing 10% tariffs pursuant to Section 122 of the Trade Act, 1974 on certain products from all countries. India remains engaged with the US side for a mutually beneficial trade agreement," he said. Sources said the US is trying to recreate a tariff architecture globally and once that is created, will be better to sign the trade deal. They added that trade agreement would be signed when a new architecture of tariffs globally is implemented by the US. There were indications earlier that Interim Trade Agreement could be signed in March. Commerce Ministry officials had said last week that India and the United States remain engaged for a mutually beneficial trade agreement, and there is no hold off in bilateral engagement. The Ministry rejected reports in sections of the media that talks between India and the United States for a Bilateral Trade Arrangement are on hold. The United States and India last month announced that they have reached a framework for an Interim Agreement regarding reciprocal and mutually beneficial trade. The framework reaffirmed the countries' commitment to the broader US-India Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) negotiations, launched by President Donald J Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 13, 2025, which will include additional market access commitments and support more resilient supply chains. "We have noted a media report regarding ongoing trade talks with the US. It is denied that there is any hold off in bilateral engagement. It is reiterated that the two sides remain engaged for a mutually beneficial trade agreement," the Commerce Ministry had said. In a fresh development, the Donald Trump administration has initiated fresh investigations into alleged "unfair trade practices" by 16 major trading partners, including India, China, and Bangladesh. The move aims to reinstate tariff pressure following a US Supreme Court ruling last month that declared previous levies illegal. These inquiries are being carried out under "Section 301" of the Trade Act of 1974. This legislation grants the US Trade Representative the authority to enforce tariffs or other punitive actions against nations found to be using unfair trade practices. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer indicated that the investigations could result in new tariffs being applied to China, the European Union, India, Japan, South Korea, and Mexico by the coming summer. The "excess capacity" probe also extends to several other partners, including Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Singapore, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Switzerland, and Norway. Notably, Canada, the second-largest trading partner of the US, was excluded from the list. The BTA, formally proposed in February 2025, seeks to more than double bilateral trade between India and the US, from the current USD 191 billion to USD 500 billion by 2030. (ANI)
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) press department vowed that Iran would continue to "pursue" and seek to "kill" Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he is "still alive", according to Tasnim News, AzerNEWS reports.

At the same time, the IRGC also mentioned the possibility that Netanyahu had left Israel along with his family, despite the lack of any proof for such claims. Netanyahu's office previously denied that he was harmed.

Furthermore, the IRGC said it carried out heavy missile attacks against an industrial zone in Tel Aviv and US military bases in Kuwait and Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan.

The United States and Israel continue their military strikes against Iran, targeting multiple sites in the central province of Isfahan. At least 15 people have been reported killed.

In response, Iran has launched a barrage of missiles at Israel, with impacts reported in the city of Holon, and it claims to have attacked U.S. bases in Iraq and Kuwait.

U.S. President Donald Trump stated that the Iranians have reached out to him regarding a potential deal, but he indicated that the terms arent good enough yet.

The death toll from Israeli attacks in Lebanon has risen to 826, while the number of people displaced has grown to 831,000.
PNN New Delhi [India], March 16: The Faculty of Design at CEPT University is inviting applications to its PG programs for 2026. The Faculty of Design at CEPT offers a contemporary design education to address various streams of knowledge and production in an evolving and ever-expanding discipline of design. Our undergraduate program provides a rigorous yet flexible choice-based learning ecosystem, whilst our postgraduate programs offer highly specialised engagements with industry-oriented design domains. Prof Saleem Bhatri, Dean, Faculty of Design, shares, "The Faculty of Design is pioneering a multidisciplinary choice-based design education in India whilst also addressing the country's evolving design competency landscape. Our PG Programs are designed to advance professional goals and frame career paths. They provide specialised design knowledge, technical skills, cutting-edge technological proficiencies, methodological competencies, and domain-specific expertise, transforming our graduates into industry-ready specialists." Programs Offered Master's in Computational Design and Fabrication (MCDF): The Master's in Computational Design and Fabrication (MCDF) program nurtures designers who can conceptualise form, explore materials, and adopt cutting-edge fabrication processes to develop contemporary design solutions. Rooted in computational design, this program extends across multiple domains -- from product design to built-environment, and operates at diverse scales, ranging from furniture to building envelope systems. CEPT is uniquely positioned to offer this program, where students will be mentored by academics and practitioners from the fields of design, technology, and architecture. The University also recently signed an MoU with Chennai-based Tvasta Manufacturing Solutions Pvt. Ltd., a deep-tech startup that specialises in construction 3D printing. Through this collaboration, the University will establish an advanced additive manufacturing workshop on its campus, marking a meaningful contribution to India's pursuit of future-ready construction technologies. Master's in Furniture Design (MFD): The Master's in Furniture Design program focuses on training professionals to actively engage with the rapidly growing furniture industry. The Indian furniture market has been positively impacted by increasing urbanization, a younger demographic, rising disposable incomes and the growth of the office and hospitality sectors amongst others. The program considers various propositions and considerations in the furniture sector, from online markets to rental offerings, from the mass manufacturing ecosystems of large industries to the scaled productions of the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME's), from the expanding role of the furniture designer as a professional to that of an entrepreneur. Overall, this program will equip students with the essential technical skills, design abilities, and specialized domain knowledge, while focusing on developing a deep understanding of materials and manufacturing processes, techniques and technologies, prototyping, ergonomics, aesthetics, material connections, detailing, structuring systems, economics, characteristics (such as modular, flatpack, etc.), and typologies. The program encourages visits to industries, manufacturing units, trade fairs, and exhibitions. For Admission Details, click: Admissions at FD About CEPT University CEPT University advances excellence in education, research, and practice to shape creative leaders capable of addressing real-world challenges across products, projects, places, and processes. The University brings together the disciplines of architecture, planning, technology, design, and management in an integrated learning ecosystem. Its studio-centered teaching programs foster critical thinking, professional judgment, and ethical responsibility, preparing graduates to engage meaningfully with complex spatial, social, and environmental contexts. CEPT's research deepens understanding of human settlements and spatial systems, while its advisory projects translate knowledge into practice -- contributing to more livable, inclusive, and sustainable habitats. Through education, research, and advisory work, CEPT seeks to enrich the quality of life in India's cities and towns, while engaging with global discourses on human environments. The University comprises six faculties: viz. the Faculty of Architecture, the Faculty of Design, the Faculty of Management, the Faculty of Planning, the Faculty of Technology, and the CEPT Foundation Program. In December 2023, CEPT University was recognized by the Government of India as a Centre of Excellence in Urban Planning and Design. This comes with an endowment of Rs. 250 Crore to be used towards the research and training on India specific knowledge in Urban Planning and Design over the next 25 years. CEPT is ranked NIRF 6th in the category of Architecture and Planning (NIRF 2025), only private University in Top 10 NIRF Rankings. CEPT University was established by the CEPT University Act of 2005 enacted by the government of Gujarat. It was originally started in 1962 as the School of Architecture supported by the Ahmedabad Education Society. The Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) of the Government of India recognizes the University as a Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (SIRO). CEPT University is recognized as a Center of Excellence by the Government of Gujarat. CEPT University has over 30 ongoing collaborations and exchange programs with top-ranked universities across the world. (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by PNN. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same.)
Amid mounting controversy over the Moinabad farmhouse drug bust, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MP Putta Mallesh Kumar issued a clarification after the farmhouse was raided, saying that he did not do anything wrong, and had only gone for a dinner meet with friends. Addressing the controversy, the TDP MP said he was invited to dinner by his friends and has not done anything wrong. He said the people of Eluru will understand him. "I haven't done anything wrong. I'm answerable to the people of Eluru. I had only gone for a dinner meet with my friends. I did nothing wrong at that dinner. I want to tell the people of Eluru that I have not committed any mistake. I will never betray the trust they have placed in me. The people of Eluru will understand; they don't trust media or social media reports. I will always speak the truth. I will never tell lies," Kumar said in a video statement. His statement comes after he was among 10 people detained during a raid by the Elite Action Group for Drug Law Enforcement (EAGLE) team of the Telangana Police at the farmhouse of former BRS MLA Pilot Rohit Reddy in Moinabad in Rangareddy district. Chevella DCP Yogesh Gautam said that six people, including Telugu Desam Party (TDP) Lok Sabha MP from Eluru, Putta Mahesh Kumar and former Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLA, Pilot Rohit Reddy, tested positive for drugs. Officials also confirmed that a firearm was discharged during the raid and that a small quantity of suspected drugs was recovered from the location. Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) Chief YS Sharmila Reddy on Sunday strongly criticised the involvement of Eluru TDP MP Putta Mahesh in the alleged drugs party at Moinabad. Sharmila said it is shameful that a sitting Member of Parliament was caught at a drug party. While Parliament sessions are going on in Delhi, the MP was reportedly attending a party here and indulging in cocaine, she alleged. "What message is an MP giving to society by getting caught while consuming drugs? Is he encouraging the youth to use drugs?" she questioned. (ANI)
Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) leaders intensified their attack on the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) following the alleged involvement of Eluru MP Putta Mahesh Yadav in a drugs rave party, demanding his immediate resignation from the Lok Sabha and suspension from the party. Addressing the media separately in Eluru and Kakinada, YSRCP leaders said the incident had brought disrepute to constitutional institutions and accused the ruling coalition of shielding those involved. They alleged that the TDP has effectively turned into a "Telugu Drugs Party" after a sitting Member of Parliament was reportedly caught consuming drugs at a rave party in a farmhouse at Moinabad near Hyderabad. Speaking at the YSRCP district office in Eluru, district president and former Kaikaluru MLA Doolam Nageswara Rao, along with Eluru constituency in-charge Mamillapalli Jayaprakash (JP), Chintalapudi constituency in-charge Kambham Vijayaraju and city party president Gudidesi Srinivasa Rao, said it was deeply shameful that Putta Mahesh Yadav, who had earlier promised during elections to make the Eluru Parliament constituency drug-free, was now allegedly caught in a drugs party. They stated that drug test reports had reportedly returned positive and demanded that he immediately resign and apologise to the people. Rao criticised the TDP leadership for remaining silent despite the seriousness of the allegations and warned that if action is not taken, the party would launch large-scale protests along with public organisations. He also alleged that drug and ganja cases have increased significantly across the state after the coalition government came to power, citing regions such as Guntur, Mangalagiri, Visakhapatnam and Nellore where narcotics are allegedly being sold openly. YSRCP leaders said it was humiliating for the people of Eluru that their elected representative was allegedly involved in such an incident. Mamillapalli Jayaprakash alleged that the coalition government attempted to shield the MP but could not do so because other political figures were also present at the event. He said drugs and illicit liquor have become easily available in the region and demanded strict action against the MP. Chintalapudi in-charge Kambham Vijayaraju said the incident had forced the people of Eluru to bow their heads in embarrassment and exposed what he described as the coalition's willingness to give MP and MLA tickets to individuals lacking moral values. He demanded a comprehensive investigation to determine whether Mahesh Yadav had links to a larger drug network. Former minister Kurasala Kannababu, speaking to the media at his camp office in Kakinada, also condemned the incident and questioned why TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu had not responded to the allegations. He said the episode raises serious questions about the TDP's credibility, especially when the party had run campaigns such as "Drugs Vaddhu Bro" claiming to build a drug-free society. Kannababu asked whether such slogans were merely publicity exercises while leaders within the party themselves were allegedly involved in drug-related activities. He criticised the coalition government for what he described as a series of scandals involving its leaders, saying one leader was caught in immoral conduct while another was allegedly involved in drugs. Kannababu further alleged that despite claims of creating a drug-free Andhra Pradesh, incidents of drug and ganja seizures continue to surface across the state. He cited recent cases in Madanapalle and Kuppam, as well as reports of large drug seizures near Ibrahimpatnam, and said the government has failed to control narcotics while the police are being used to file cases against political opponents. He accused the government of maintaining silence in the hope that the controversy would fade away and demanded that Chandrababu Naidu immediately clarify his position on the MP's alleged involvement. Kannababu said the people of the state are watching closely and urged the government to take decisive action against those responsible in order to send a strong message to society. Meanwhile, speaking to reporters, former MLA TJR Sudhakarbabu also said Chandrababu should sack the MP after testing positive for taking drugs at a party held in Hyderabad. Terming TDP as "Telugu Drugs Party", Sudhakarbabu said liquor and drugs are freely available in the State, and the MP has shown his true colours. "It is for Chandrababu to take action, or it remains to be seen whether he activates his hotline with his Telangana counterpart to pull the MP out of the case. Chandrababu, though in coalition with Jana Sena and BJP, has an active hotline channel with Congress leadership, which he has used to sabotage the Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation project, and now it remains to be seen what he does with the MP," said Sudhakarbabu.He said the MP is the son of a former TTD Chairman, and his taking drugs and being at the scene where bullets were fired defines his character. "Chandrababu has let the TTD Chairman BR Naidu get away, though his obscene videos went viral, and if he fails to take action against the MP, it sends a wrong message to society. We demand action against the MP and the TTD Chairman," he said. TDP MP Putta Mallesh Kumar was among 10 people detained during a raid by the Elite Action Group for Drug Law Enforcement (EAGLE) team of the Telangana Police at the farmhouse of former BRS MLA Pilot Rohit Reddy in Moinabad in Rangareddy district. (ANI)
The Odisha Congress accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of engaging in "political engineering" and attempting horse-trading to support Independent candidate Dilip Ray in the Rajya Sabha elections scheduled to be held on Monday. Addressing a press conference here on Sunday, Odisha Congress president Bhakta Charan Das and Odisha Congress in-charge Ajay Kumar Lallu alleged that the BJP was backing an Independent candidate despite lacking the required numbers, which they claimed was a strategy to influence votes through money power. Lallu alleged that Dilip Ray, during his tenure as Coal Minister, was involved in a corruption case and was later convicted for three years. Questioning the BJP's support for such a candidate, he said the Congress would challenge the matter in the Supreme Court. Lallu further alleged that four individuals attempted to enter a hotel in Bengaluru, where Congress MLAs were staying after arriving to meet the party leadership. According to him, two of the individuals were reportedly arrested by the police and were found carrying blank cheques. He claimed that during questioning, the individuals allegedly admitted that they had been sent by the Independent candidate, Dilip Ray. Meanwhile, Odisha Congress President Bhakta Charan Das also raised concerns about the whereabouts of Congress MLA Dasarathi Gomango, claiming that the legislator has been missing since last week. Das issued an ultimatum stating that if the MLA does not establish contact with the party by 7:00 PM, Congress will initiate legal action against him. He also pointed out the numerical strength in the election, stating that the BJP is aware that it only has 22 votes in its favour. In contrast, the joint candidate supported by the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and Congress, Datteswar Hota, has the backing of 33 votes, which exceeds the required 30 votes needed to win. The polling for the biennial elections to the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) to fill the 37 seats across 10 states is scheduled to take place on March 16, with the counting of votes on the same day at 5 pm. The term of 37 members who were elected from Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Telangana will conclude in the month of April, vacating the seats for new members to be elected. (ANI)
The Haryana government has informed the Supreme Court that it has decided to close the criminal prosecution against Ashoka University history professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad, who was booked for allegedly making comments on 'Operation Sindoor', India's counter-operation against Pakistan in response to the Pahalgam terrorist attack, as a "one time magnanimity". A bench led by Surya Kant noted the submissions of Additional Solicitor General S. V. Raju, appearing for the State of Haryana, who informed the Court that, pursuant to its earlier order, where it had urged the State government to consider closing the case against Mahmudabad as a one-time act of magnanimity, the authorities have now decided to close the proceedings. "In reference to courts earlier order, ASG SV Raju, on behalf of the State of Haryana states as one time magnanimity not to grant any sanction for prosecution. Consequently, the proceedings pending before... chargesheet has already been filed. We have no reason to doubt that the petitioner who is a highly learned professor will act in a prudent manner", the Court noted. Earlier, on August 25, the Supreme Court in an interim order barred the Magistrate from taking cognisance of the charge sheet filed in an FIR against Ali Khan Mahmudabad, associate professor and head of the Political Science department at Ashoka University in Haryana, over his social media posts on Operation Sindoor, and asked why it was 'misdirecting itself'. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi's order came after Haryana Police informed it that it had filed a closure report in one FIR against Mahmudabad and in another FIR, a chargesheet was filed. Hence, it quashed the FIR in which the closure report was filed, and with regard to the other FIR, it barred the Magistrate from taking cognisance of it. A professor of Ashoka University, Ali Khan Mahmudabad, was booked for allegedly making comments on 'Operation Sindoor.' He was arrested by the Haryana police at his residence in Delhi, following the registration of two separate cases. The Ashoka professor was charged with, among other things, endangering India's sovereignty, unity and integrity for his comments on Operation Sindoor. The State Women's Commission had earlier termed Mahmudabad's social media comments as disparaging toward women officers in the Indian Armed Forces and said it also promoted communal disharmony. On May 13, Bhatia had dispatched the summons to the associate professor. He clarified that his comments had been completely misunderstood. (ANI)
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday carried out search operations at the residential and office premises of real estate firm Mantri Developers Private Limited and its directors in Bengaluru in connection with a money laundering investigation, officials said. The searches are being conducted under the provisions of Section 17 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The operation was launched at around 8 am by a team from the ED's Delhi office as part of an ongoing probe into suspected financial irregularities linked to the company. As per the officials, ED's multiple teams simultaneously searched various residential and office locations associated with the real estate firm and its directors to gather evidence related to the alleged money laundering activities. During the searches, investigators are examining financial records, digital devices and other documents that could help trace the flow of funds and establish possible violations of the law. Officials indicated that the action is part of the agency's broader effort to track and investigate suspected laundering of illicit funds through corporate entities. Earlier on Friday, the ED said it has frozen 90 bank accounts and incriminating material in the form of digital as well as documentary evidence during searches carried out on March 12 at 19 premises across Chandigarh, Haryana, Punjab and Bengaluru. The action was part of the raids conducted in Chandigarh, Punjab's Mohali, Haryana's Panchkula and Gurgaon, and Karnataka capital Bengaluru in connection with the IDFC First Bank Scam involving embezzlement of public funds amounting to Rs 597 crore pertaining to the Haryana government, Chandigarh Municipal Corporation and other government accounts. ED said, "The amount of Rs 597 crore was to be kept as a fixed deposit with the bank; however, the accused persons diverted these government funds without authorisation." The search operations covered former bank employees, namely Ribhav Rishi and Abhay Kumar, their family members, beneficiary shell entities, namely Swastik Desh Projects, Capco Fintech Services and Maa Vaibhav Laxmi Interiors, SRR Planning Gurus Private Limited, jewellers, namely Sawan Jewellers and real estate developers like Vikram Wadhwa and his business entities. ED initiated an investigation under PMLA, 2002, based on an FIR registered by the State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau, Panchkula, in February 2026, in relation to a mismatch of balances in the bank account of the Development and Panchayat Department, Haryana, held with IDFC Bank and AU Small Finance Bank. (ANI)
Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday said that the election schedule for Assembly polls in four States and one Union Territory has been made according to the convenience of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP). "I feel the dates which are announced, and phases which are decided in elections are done as per the convenience of the BJP," the Congress Lok Sabha MP representing Wayanad constituency in Kerala said. The dates for the 2026 Assembly polls in Kerala and three more states-West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and Assam and the UT of Puducherry was announced by the Election Commission yesterday. Addressing a press conference in the national capital on Sunday, the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar described the assembly polls a "festival of pride" and urged first-time voters to participate enthusiastically. Special intensive revision of the voters' lists in these four states and one union territory has already been conducted, with final electoral rolls published. Polling in West Bengal will be conducted in two phases on April 23 and April 29. Kerala and Assam will vote in a single phase on April 9, while Tamil Nadu will go to the polls on April 23. Voting in Puducherry will also take place on April 9. The counting of votes for all four states and Puducherry will be held on May 4, the ECI announced. The terms of the current assemblies are set to end on different dates: May 7 in West Bengal, May 10 in Tamil Nadu, May 20 in Assam, May 23 in Kerala, and June 15 in Puducherry. (ANI)
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday expressed deep sorrow over the tragic incident that occurred at SCB Medical College and Hospital in Odisha's Cuttack. It a major government-run medical institution in Odisha where several people lost their lives following a massive fire that broke out in the trauma care ICU of the medical institution. The incident reportedly happened around 3 am leading to the loss of several lives and injuries to others, triggering widespread concern and grief. In a message posted on HMOIndia X handle, Shah described the incident as "extremely painful" and extended his heartfelt condolences to the families who lost their loved ones. He said the loss of life in such an unfortunate event is deeply distressing and expressed solidarity with the affected families during this difficult time. "The incident at SCB Medical College in Cuttack, Odisha, is extremely tragic. My deepest condolences to those who have lost their loved ones in this accident. The Odisha government is engaged in relief and rescue operations. I pray for the speedy recovery of the injured," Shah posted on X. Shah also noted that the government of Odisha has initiated relief and rescue operations immediately after the incident. As per officials, state authorities and emergency teams are working on the ground to assist victims, provide medical care to the injured and ensure that necessary support reaches the affected families. Hospital authorities and local administration are reportedly monitoring the condition of the injured patients and providing them with necessary treatment. SCB Medical College and Hospital is one of the oldest and largest government medical institutions in eastern India and serves as a major referral hospital for patients from across Odisha and neighbouring states. The hospital frequently handles a high volume of patients and provides specialised medical care in multiple disciplines. While the exact cause and circumstances of the incident are yet to be officially detailed, authorities are expected to review the situation and take appropriate steps to ensure safety and prevent such occurrences in the future. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also stated the mishap at the hospital was "painful", and offered condolences to those who have lost their loved ones. Praying for the speedy recovery of the injured, the PMO also announced "an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh from PMNRF (Prime Minister's National Relief Fund) to the next of kin of each deceased and Rs 50,000 for the injured. Regarding the unfortunate incident, PM Modi also spoke with Odisha CM Mohan Charan Majhi over the telephone and held a detailed discussion. "I informed him (PM) about the emergency measures taken for all those affected, the process of shifting patients, and the special medical care being provided to them. I also briefed him about the high-level judicial inquiry ordered by the state government into the incident," Odisha CM posted on X. Earlier today, Odisha CM mentioned in his post, "I personally visited SCB Medical College and reviewed the situation. I have also directed the administration to ensure that all possible government assistance is provided to the affected people. All concerned departments and teams are working continuously in full coordination. During this sensitive time, I am grateful to the Prime Minister for his compassionate concern and his assurance of all necessary support." Majhi expressed deep sorrow after learning about the tragic fire incident at the Trauma Care ICU of SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack. The Chief Minister conveyed his condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in the fire and announced an ex-gratia assistance of Rs 25 lakh each for the next of kin of the deceased from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund (CMRF). During his visit to the hospital, the Chief Minister met patients undergoing treatment and their relatives, offering them reassurance and support. He also directed the concerned departments and medical authorities to ensure the best possible medical treatment for other patients who were shifted from the ICU following the incident. Further, the Chief Minister ordered a departmental inquiry to investigate the cause and circumstances of the fire incident. (ANI)
President Droupadi Murmu on Monday expressed deep sorrow over the fire incident, which occurred at the S.C.B. Medical College and Hospital's Trauma Care ICU centre in Odisha's Cuttack. The President conveyed her distress at the tragic loss of life. According to the Rashtrapati Bhavan office, President Murmu wished for the speedy recovery of the injured victims. "Deeply distressed by the loss of lives in the tragic fire incident at a hospital in Cuttack, Odisha. My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families. I wish a speedy recovery to those injured," said President Murmu. Union Home Minister Amit Shah also expressed sadness over the fire incident. In a post on X from Home Minister's official handle, Shah described the incident as "extremely painful" and extended his heartfelt condolences to the families who lost their loved ones. He said the loss of life in such an unfortunate event is deeply distressing and expressed solidarity with the affected families during this difficult time. "The incident at SCB Medical College in Cuttack, Odisha, is extremely tragic. My deepest condolences to those who have lost their loved ones in this accident. The Odisha government is engaged in relief and rescue operations. I pray for the speedy recovery of the injured," Shah posted on X. Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated the mishap at the hospital was "painful" and offered condolences to those who have lost their loved ones. Praying for the speedy recovery of the injured, the PMO also announced "an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh from PMNRF (Prime Minister's National Relief Fund) to the next of kin of each deceased and Rs 50,000 for the injured. Earlier, a devastating fire broke out at the Trauma Care ICU of S.C.B. Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack on Monday night, which resulted in the death of 10 people and left at least 11 hospital staff members injured during rescue operations. According to local corporator Deepak Kumar Das, the incident occurred between 2:00 a.m. and 2:30 a.m. Speaking to ANI, Das said, "We came to know at 3 am that. So, I reached the hospital. The incident occurred around 2-2.30 am. It was raining at that time. As per the information available to me, a short circuit had occurred there, which led to this mishap...An inquiry will reveal whether the incident occurred due to an old AC or if there was another reason behind this..." Following the incident, Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi expressed deep grief. He visited the site and directed authorities to ensure the safe relocation of all patients. The Chief Minister also announced an ex-gratia of Rs 25 lakh from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund (CMRF) for the next of kin of each deceased. (ANI)
The daughter of Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has filed a Rs 10 crore defamation suit before a court seeking permanent and mandatory injunctions, damages, and an unconditional apology against several individuals and online platforms for allegedly publishing and circulating defamatory content linking her to the criminal activities of Jeffrey Epstein. According to the civil suit, the plaintiff, an investment professional with nearly three decades of global experience, including professional engagements on Wall Street, has alleged that a coordinated and malicious online campaign was orchestrated to tarnish her reputation by spreading false and misleading allegations across social media and digital platforms. The suit states that beginning around February 22, 2026, a series of defamatory posts, articles, videos, threads, thumbnails and captions were published and amplified online, attempting to associate the plaintiff with Jeffrey Epstein and his criminal activities. The content was allegedly circulated widely on platforms including X, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, as well as blogs and digital news portals. The plaintiff has alleged that the defamatory campaign comprised a coordinated series of reports, posts, videos, shorts, thumbnails, captions and community posts aimed at spreading false narratives and causing reputational damage. According to the suit, several social media accounts amplified the content, along with several unidentified persons described in the suit as "John Doe(s)" or "Ashok Kumar(s)." It claims that the defendants acted in concert to propagate a fabricated narrative suggesting that the plaintiff had direct or indirect financial, personal or business links with Jeffrey Epstein or his associates. It is also alleged that online posts falsely claimed that the plaintiff or the firm where she worked, Realm Partners LLC, received funding or financial benefits from Epstein or his network. Further, the suit states that certain posts also falsely suggested that the plaintiff, along with Robert Millard, played a role in engineering the collapse of Lehman Brothers. The plaintiff has described these allegations as entirely false, malicious and devoid of any factual basis. According to the plaint, the defendants allegedly used sensationalist and manipulative formats such as edited videos, misleading captions and doctored thumbnails to maximise public outrage and digital virality, thereby amplifying reputational harm. The plaintiff has further stated that the defamatory content has been widely viewed and shared globally, including in the National Capital Territory of Delhi, causing continuing damage to her professional reputation, personal dignity and standing in the financial industry. The suit also alleges that the plaintiff has been targeted and discredited because she is the daughter of Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, who previously served in the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and currently holds a senior position in the Union Cabinet. Before approaching the court, the plaintiff, through her counsel, issued a cease-and-desist notice dated March 6, 2026, directing the defendants to remove the impugned content and refrain from further defamatory publication within 72 hours. However, the suit claims that despite receiving the notice, the defendants and intermediary platforms failed to comply and continued to circulate and host the allegedly defamatory material. In light of these circumstances, the plaintiff has approached the court seeking removal of the impugned content, a permanent injunction restraining further publication of defamatory material, damages of Rs 10 crore for reputational harm, and an unconditional apology from the defendants. (ANI)
China-UK cooperation gains momentum as British businesses eye new opportunities

Xinhua) 08:44, March 16, 2026

LONDON, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of representatives from Britain's government, industry and academia attended a series of events in the country over the past week aimed at promoting deeper China-UK economic and trade cooperation. Participants highlighted the importance of long-standing bilateral ties and expressed strong expectations for expanding cooperation in multiple sectors.

Peter Burnett, chief executive of the China-Britain Business Council, described British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's visit to China in January as "historic." In an interview with Xinhua, Burnett said the visit "laid the groundwork for deeper cooperation and more business opportunities between the two countries."

He noted that British companies are willing to strengthen bilateral ties in fields including professional services, health care, high-quality agricultural products, creative industries and sports.

John Primrose, deputy director of Exports and Inward Investment for the Scottish Government, emphasized China's importance as one of Scotland's key trading partners, particularly for products such as whisky and salmon.

Primrose welcomed the reduction of tariffs on imported British whisky and highlighted the positive impact of Chinese investment in Scotland. Investments in sectors such as energy, high-tech industries, manufacturing, construction and tourism have created thousands of jobs, he said, adding that the Scottish government is introducing new measures to attract further investment.

Aileen Keyes, international tax and trade director at Diageo, a British multinational alcoholic beverages company, said strong economic ties and friendship between China and the United Kingdom are crucial for the company's operations. The company currently operates about 50 facilities across China.

Recognizing the unique terroir of Yunnan Province, Diageo has opened a distillery there to produce whisky tailored to Chinese consumers' tastes. The company has also established a research and development center in Shanghai, collaborating with Scottish partners to develop products for the Chinese market. Keyes added that Diageo plans to participate in various trade and economic expos in China to further engage with the market.

Andrew G. Ross, senior lecturer at the School of Business at the University of Dundee, highlighted China's role as one of the world's largest economies, characterized by its vast domestic market, extensive manufacturing capacity and rapidly advancing technological capabilities.

China plays a critical role in global supply chains for electronics, machinery, electric vehicles, batteries and renewable energy technologies, Ross said. Meanwhile, the country's large and increasingly affluent middle class continues to generate strong demand for high-quality goods and services from international markets.

Grant Richardson, CEO of Sunamp, a thermal storage technology company, noted that his company sources the majority of its critical components from China. Sunamp has recently established a production facility in China in partnership with a local strategic partner to explore opportunities in the Chinese market and expand its presence in the Asia-Pacific region.

Richardson said he plans to visit the new facility later this year and emphasized that China's visa-waiver policy for British visitors has made it easier for companies to exchange knowledge and send staff to China.

As China accelerates its green development, cooperation between China and the United Kingdom in renewable energy is also gaining momentum.

In 2025, Octopus Energy, Britain's largest energy supplier, partnered with Chinese automaker BYD to launch Britain's first vehicle-to-grid bundle, offering users "free charging" through smart charge-discharge technology and rebates. The company has also formed a strategic partnership with one of China's leading wind turbine manufacturers to explore opportunities in the wind energy sector.

Zoisa North-Bond, CEO of Octopus Energy Generation, said the company's new partnership with China's PCG Power aims to deepen its understanding of China's renewable energy market and explore how software solutions can better integrate renewable energy into energy systems.

Eddie Barnes, director of the John Smith Centre at the University of Glasgow, noted that Scotland has set ambitious targets to achieve net-zero emissions. Cooperation with China, he said, will be essential to reaching that goal by combining Chinese and Scottish expertise in developing relevant technologies.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
United States President Donald Trump declared that he does not want to make a deal with Iran, while also claiming that Tehran is seeking diplomacy, AzerNEWS reports.

In a telephone interview with NBC, the US leader explained that the terms "arent good enough yet," while refusing to share his conditions for ending the conflict. Trump repeated that the US was working with other countries to "secure" the Strait of Hormuz, after the waterway was closed by Iran following the outbreak of hostilities. He also expressed doubt that Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is "even alive." Furthermore, the US president threatened to bomb Iran's Kharg Island "a few more times just for fun."

Iranian officials repeatedly vowed to continue the war, contradicting Trump's claims. They also said oil exports from Kharg Island were uninterrupted, despite the US saying all infrastructure on it had been destroyed.
Addressing the gathering here, Banerjee accused the BJP of creating an "unplanned situation" that has caused suffering among citizens across the nation.

"We are the first who sit in the meeting regarding the LPG gas cylinder issue. People suffer due to an unplanned situation by the BJP. Why BJP create this situation? This gas is not balloon gas," she said.

She urged people not to fall for rumours and assured them that the state government is "handling the situation". "Don't put your leg in any rumours. We handle the situation. Keep faith, we are with you," Banerjee added.

As tensions remain high within the West Asia region amid the US-Israel attack against Iran, India maintained that there is adequate crude oil inventory in the country, but LPG supply continues to be a bit of a concern.

In the inter-ministerial press briefing, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas Joint Secretary Sujata Sharma said, "Despite concerns around LPG supply, there have been no reports of dry-outs of gas supply at LPG distributorships across India."

"Crude is available in sufficient quantity. All refineries are operating at the highest capacity. Our petrol pumps are operating normally. No dry out has been reported anywhere...," she said.

She also asserted that 100 per cent supply of PNG and CNG transport consumers is being maintained.

The Government said it continues to prioritise the interests of domestic consumers and ensure uninterrupted LPG supply, particularly for households and priority sectors. (ANI)
Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma on Monday inaugurated and laid the foundation stone for 326 development works worth Rs 1,902 crore during the state-level 'Rajasthani Tribal Pride Day' programme held at Beneshwar Dham in Dungarpur district. He also urged youths to remain cautious of those attempting to instigate them for political gains. The Chief Minister arrived at Beneshwar Dham by helicopter during his one-day visit to the district, where he was welcomed by BJP leaders and administrative officials. He later visited the Valmiki Temple and the Hari Temple and offered prayers. CM Sharma also inspected an exhibition organised on the occasion and reviewed stalls showcasing products made by women from self-help groups. During the programme, he distributed scooters to meritorious girl students, tablets to "Lakhpati Didis", and loan cheques to women self-help groups. Addressing the gathering, CM Sharma said the tribal community has made a significant contribution to Rajasthan's development journey. He stated that Beneshwar Dham, an important religious site for tribals, had remained neglected for years but the present government would undertake development works worth around Rs 130 crore there, including construction of ghats, roads and expansion of basic facilities. The Rajasthan CM said the government is promoting small and cottage industries while also working to preserve tribal art and cultural heritage so that artisans receive fair value for their work in the market. Remembering tribal freedom fighter Birsa Munda, the Chief Minister said his contribution had remained under-recognised for years but Prime Minister Narendra Modi ensured nationwide recognition during the celebrations marking his 150th birth anniversary. Sharma also paid tribute to tribal leader Govind Guru and other tribal heroes for their sacrifices and efforts toward social upliftment. Without naming anyone, the Chief Minister also targeted leaders of the Bharat Adivasi Party, alleging that some people in the Vagad region were misleading tribal youths for political purposes. He claimed that while such leaders educate their own children in major cities like Jaipur, Kota and Sikar, they incite local tribal youths instead of encouraging them toward education and development. Sharma further said the Union Government has opened new avenues for development in the region by establishing a nuclear power project worth Rs 45,000 crore in Banswara. (ANI)
West Bengal BJP President and MP Samik Bhattacharya on Monday urged the Election Commission to ensure fair elections in the state. He said voters should be able to participate without fear amid what he described as a politically influenced administration hampering investigations and destroying evidence. Speaking to ANI in the national capital, Bhattacharya said, "It is the Election Commission's responsibility to conduct fair elections. It is the Election Commission's responsibility to provide the people of West Bengal with a flawless voter list, removing intimidation and allowing them to participate in elections in a fear-free environment." "In West Bengal, there is nothing called administration. Instead of cooperating with the CBI inquiries into post-poll violence, the police are confiscating all evidence, erasing it, and threatening people to withdraw the FIR. This is a totally politicised administration. Party and administration are not separate, so conducting elections in such a place is difficult. Therefore, the Election Commission has made a decision," he said. Polling in the State is set to be held in two phases on April 23 and 29, with the counting of votes for both phases to be conducted on May 4, setting the stage for a high-stakes contest between the BJP and the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC). West Bengal Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari will contest from Nandigram, where he defeated Mamata Banerjee in 2021, and from Bhabanipur, the constituency currently represented by the TMC chief, as per the first list of 144 candidates released by the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) today for the upcoming West Bengal Legislative Assembly elections. BJP MLA Agnimitra Paul will contest from Asansol Dakshin, actor-turned-politician Rudranil Ghosh is set to run from Shibpur, and BJP MLA Bankim Chandra Ghosh will contest from Chakdaha. West Bengal has 294 Assembly seats, and the party is expected to announce the remaining candidates soon. (ANI)
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday expressed grief over the fire mishap at a hospital in Odisha's Cuttack, which resulted in the death of 10 people and left at least 11 staff members injured. The incident occurred at the SCB Medical College and Hospital's Trauma Care ICU centre in Cuttack on early hour on Monday. Sharing a post on X, Rajnath wrote, "The fire mishap at a hospital in Cuttack, Odisha is deeply saddening. My thoughts are with all those who have lost their loved ones. Praying for the speedy recovery of those who are injured. The State Government is providing all possible assistance to those affected." https://x.com/rajnathsingh/status/2033466775325880452 Prime Minister Narendra Modi also said the mishap at the hospital was "painful" and offered condolences to those who have lost their loved ones. Praying for the speedy recovery of the injured, the PMO also announced "an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh from PMNRF (Prime Minister's National Relief Fund) to the next of kin of each deceased and Rs 50,000 for the injured. Expressing deep grief over the incident, Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi also announced an ex-gratia of Rs 25 lakh from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund (CMRF) for the next of kin of each deceased. He later visited the site and directed authorities to ensure the safe relocation of all patients. Earlier, local corporator Deepak Kumar Das told ANI that the incident occurred between 2:00 am and 2:30 am. Das added, "We came to know at 3 am that. So, I reached the hospital. The incident occurred around 2-2.30 am. It was raining at that time. As per the information available to me, a short circuit had occurred there, which led to this mishap...An inquiry will reveal whether the incident occurred due to an old AC or if there was another reason behind this." (ANI)
In view of the impact of the ongoing tensions in West Asia, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu reviewed the LPG stock, booking, and supply situation in the state from the RTGS office. According to the release, representatives of various gas supply companies attended the meeting. Senior officials informed that 17,209 metric tonnes of LPG stock are currently available in the state. Officials revealed that gas supply is being carried out through 1,154 agencies belonging to BPCL, HPCL, and IOCL. The Chief Minister inquired about the measures being taken to prevent LPG cylinders from being diverted to the black market. He also instructed officials to ensure that LPG cylinders are not misused during delivery, as stated in the release. The Chief Minister directed authorities to take steps to remove public concerns regarding LPG availability. Chandrababu Naidu also reviewed the LPG supply to Anna Canteen kitchens, and officials informed that there are no supply issues at present, according to the release. The Chief Minister instructed officials to avoid confusion among the public regarding gas supply. He also directed that the delivery time of LPG cylinders should be brought back to normal. The CM ordered officials to monitor LPG supply, stock, and bookings on a daily basis. He further instructed that daily activities in hospitals, schools, and temples should not be affected due to LPG supply issues. The Chief Minister suggested holding discussions with hotel associations to reduce LPG consumption if necessary. Officials also stated that the central government is expected to allocate more LPG to Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Karnataka in the coming days. The Chief Minister suggested exploring alternatives such as pipeline gas and induction stoves as substitutes for LPG. Meanwhile, earlier today, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said there have been no reports of dry-outs of gas supply at LPG distributorships across India. In a statement, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said that LPG bookings have shown a decline, with about 77 lakh bookings recorded yesterday compared to 88.8 lakh bookings on March 13, 2026. Several States and UTs, including Bihar, Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan, have issued orders for allocation of non-domestic LPG in line with government guidelines. The Ministry said that commercial LPG cylinders have been placed at the disposal of State Governments for priority distribution and are now available to consumers in 30 States and UTs. (ANI)
Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) and actor-turned-politician Vijay held a consultation meeting with party functionaries on Monday to discuss preparations related to the upcoming assembly elections in Tamil Nadu. The meeting was held at the party's office in Teynampet in Chennai, where key administrative members and party officials were present. Vijay, who launched Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam, has been actively engaging with party members and holding internal consultations to strengthen the organisation and prepare for the political challenges ahead. The consultation meeting forms part of the party's ongoing efforts to consolidate its organisational network and mobilise its cadre as it gears up for upcoming political activities in the state. Earlier in the day, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) Executive Committee Chief Coordinator KA Sengottaiyan said public support is steadily growing for Vijay to become the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, asserting that the actor-turned-politician's decision to step away from cinema to serve the people has resonated with voters. Speaking to reporters after arriving at the Chennai airport from Coimbatore, Sengottaiyan said that the Model Code of Conduct and all election-related rules apply equally to every political party and that TVK is strictly following them. "The election code of conduct applies to all political parties equally. Not only election-related regulations but all government rules are being followed properly by our movement. All activities under the leadership of Vijay are being carried out strictly within these regulations," he said. Referring to Vijay's recent public meeting, Sengottaiyan remarked that it appeared as if numerous restrictions had been imposed specifically on the TVK leader. "From the way things unfolded, it seemed as if as many as 51 restrictions were imposed only on Vijay. People are now questioning whether other parties in the electoral field are also following the same election rules," he added. Sengottaiyan further highlighted Vijay's transition from cinema to politics, saying the move has generated considerable goodwill among the public. According to him, the actor left behind a highly successful film career to dedicate himself to public service. The Election Commission of India on Sunday announced the schedule for Assembly elections in five states and one Union Territory, including Tamil Nadu, where polling will be held in a single phase on April 23, and counting will take place on May 4. Following the announcement, the Model Code of Conduct came into immediate effect across the state as political parties intensified their preparations for the polls. (ANI)
Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy ordered all Congress MLAs and MLCs, including women legislators, to attend the budget session of the assembly and Legislative Council and participate actively in the debates. The Chief Minister emphasised that there should be good coordination between the government Whips and MLAs in the house during the discussion. Participating in the CLP meeting, the CM said that the People's Government is presenting a third budget in the session. The Governor's address outlined the government's priorities and future plans and it served as a roadmap for the government, CM Revanth Reddy said, adding that every member must speak and respond strictly in accordance with the party line and the government. "The roadmap we formulate now will serve as the agenda for the upcoming elections". Further, the CM said that debate on the failures of the previous government does not require it, and it is the right time to focus on our future plans and how to fulfill the people's aspirations. The Government Whips were instructed to coordinate in the House in the selection of the topics and the issues during the debates. "We must ensure that the House proceedings are conducted efficiently without allowing discussions to be sidetracked or House time to be wasted," he said. All the MLAs should attend the session promptly, and the Women legislators should not only ensure their attendance but also actively participate in the discussions. The CM stressed the participation of women members in the debates. "The damage caused by individuals will ruin the entire system. Our survival in politics depends entirely on upholding and preserving the integrity of the system". The Chief Minister noted that the previous BRS government did not allow the opposition to speak on important issues. The then-CLP leaders, Bhatti Vikramarka and Jana Reddy, were also denied the opportunity to speak. He was also suspended for the entire session and for the duration of the tenure as an MLA, and was barred from entering the House, the CM recalled. Stating that all the Assembly committees will be constituted soon, CM Reddy suggested that the MLAs and MLCs tour other states and study the best-practice policies. The MLAs were also ordered to focus more attention on the drinking water crisis in the summer. The '99-Day "Praja Palana - Pragati Pranalika" should be taken directly to the people at the grassroots level, the CM said. (ANI)
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Monday and briefed him on development initiatives of the state government. The Chief Minister informed PM Modi about different programmes and activities being organised in the state under Kisan Kalyan Varsh. After meeting with PM Modi, the Chief Minister told reporters, "Our government is working for all four categories - farmers, women, poor, and youth. We are celebrating the Farmer Welfare Year very well. We are working by combining around 16 departments which include animal husbandry, fisheries, horticulture, agriculture, cooperative etc. for the purpose," he said. "We have discussed in detail about the farmers' welfare and other subjects related to development of the state. I am happy that the Prime Minister has blessed our work to move forward, and its results will also be good in the future," he added. Earlier this year, the Chief Minister announced that Madhya Pradesh is observing 2026 as 'Year for Farmers' Welfare'. For the effective implementation of Farmer Welfare Year, 16 departments of the state government are working in close coordination to strengthen various dimensions of agriculture, including production, cost, marketing, income, and overall welfare. The Chief Minister highlighted that the state's agricultural growth rate reached 16 per cent, reflecting the inherent potential of the sector and the success of policy initiatives. He clarified that the government's objective is not limited to increasing production, but also to enhancing farmers' income and reducing agricultural input costs through practical and effective measures. He added that developmental and welfare-oriented programmes would continue throughout the year. The government remains committed to ensuring farmer prosperity, sustainable agriculture and renewed strength for the rural economy, he said. (ANI)
Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar has hit out at AIMIM MLAs for walking out of the Telangana assembly while Vande Mataram was being sung. He said it was not just a protest but "a direct insult to the national song and the spirit of our motherland". "Shameful that MIM MLAs chose to walk out of the Telangana Assembly while Vande Mataram was being sung. This isn't just a protest; it is a direct insult to the national song and the spirit of our motherland," he said in a post on X. "Why is MIM allergic to Indian symbols? Their true colors are out for everyone to see," he added. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had in December last year addressed the special discussion on 150 years of the National Song, Vande Mataram in the Lok Sabha. He remarked that Vande Mataram, the mantra and the clarion call which energized and inspired the freedom movement of the nation, showing the path of sacrifice and penance, is being remembered and it is a great privilege for all in the House. PM Modi highlighted that it is a matter of pride that the nation is witnessing the historic occasion of 150 years of Vande Mataram. All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi has accused Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) of pushing India towards a "theocratic nation." "This should not be made a test of loyalty...The way the BJP and RSS were taking forward the nation, it would become a theocratic nation," he said in an interview with ANI last month. "...Our Constitution begins with 'We the people', not with 'Bharat Mata ki Jai'...Article 25 of the Constitution guarantees the fundamental right to freedom of religion...Do they want to finish the national anthem?...What about my freedom of religion?...We don't need any certificate of loyalty," he added. (ANI) .
A Congress delegation of three members, including Syed Naseer Hussain, Varun Chowdhary, and Satyapal Brahmachari, met with the Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar after the counting of votes was halted for two vacant Rajya Sabha seats in Chandigarh. Speaking to reporters, Syed Naseer Hussain said that they approached the Chief Election Commissioner to lodge a complaint regarding alleged irregularities in the Haryana Rajya Sabha elections, calling for the footage of the polling be sent to them, and "Today, in Haryana, the Rajya Sabha election was taking place. We came to the Chief Election Commissioner to lodge our complaint regarding the alleged irregularities being carried out by the Election Commission in this election. Varun Chowdhary is a Member of Parliament from Ambala, Satyapal Brahmachari is a Member of Parliament from Sonipat, and I am from Karnataka. The three of us came to meet him in the evening. Abhishek Manu Singhvi and his entire legal team also tried to meet him," he said on Monday. "Today, the election was held in Haryana. Two of our (Congress) MLAs have been allegedly targeted in a conspiracy to invalidate their votes. When they went to cast their votes, no one raised any objection, and when they came out after voting, there was still no objection. However, after the voting was completed, someone filed an application claiming that our (Congress) MLAs had shown their votes to someone. We want to emphasise that the entire process conducted by the Election Commission, including the voting, was being recorded on CCTV cameras. We demand that the CCTV footage be sent to the Central Election Commission so that the matter can be thoroughly investigated," he added. Amid a halt in counting for the Rajya Sabha elections in Haryana following objections over certain votes, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday wrote to the Election Commission of India alleging an attempt to interfere with the integrity of the ongoing election process. In his letter to the poll body, Kharge stated that there was a "clear attempt to interfere with the integrity of the election" and urged the Commission to take immediate action. Kharge requested the Election Commission to grant immediate time for a Congress delegation led by Abhishek Manu Singhvi, along with senior party leaders, to meet the Commission before the declaration of the results. "There is a clear attempt to interfere with the integrity of the election and it must be stopped/ redressed by the ECI immediately. Furthermore, no disqualification of our legitimate voters/ votes cast can be allowed in what is clearly a transparent attempt to taint/derail the process. Given the time sensitive nature of the matter, we request time immediately for a delegation led by Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi along with senior leaders from the party to meet your good self before the declaration of the results. We have copied Shri. Omar Hoda, National Coordinator from the AICC's Law Department for ease of communication," the letter from Kharge said. Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition in the Haryana Assembly Bhupinder Singh Hooda said that permission from the Election Commission would be required before the counting process could begin. "Permission needs to be taken from the Election Commission before starting the counting," he told reporters. Voting for the Rajya Sabha elections was halted after objections were raised over two votes cast by Congress legislators. BJP leaders Gaurav Gautam and Kishan Bedi objected to the two votes. Congress has also objected to the vote cast by Haryana Minister Anil Vij. The counting process has been halted for a long time amid the objections. Gautam is serving as the polling agent for the BJP, while Bedi is the party's election agent. (ANI)
Irans new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei was reportedly flown to Russia for medical treatment after being injured during airstrikes on Tehran, according to a report by the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Jarida, AzerNEWS reports.

The publication claimed that Khamenei was secretly transported to Moscow aboard a Russian military aircraft following the strikes carried out on February 28.

Citing unnamed sources, the report said Khamenei successfully underwent surgery and is currently receiving treatment at a private hospital linked to one of Russias presidential residences.

According to the newspaper, the evacuation was conducted as part of a top-secret operation, amid concerns over his safety and the difficulty of maintaining secure conditions inside Iran during the ongoing conflict.

The report has not been independently verified, and there has been no official confirmation from Iranian or Russian authorities regarding the alleged evacuation or medical treatment.
The suspension of eight Opposition MPs is expected to be revoked on Tuesday following a consensus reached in a meeting convened under the chairmanship of Speaker Om Birla, sources said. The MPs include Gurjeet Singh Aujla, Hibi Eden, Dean Kuriakose, Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, B Manickam Tagore, Dr. Prashant Yadaorao Padole, Chamala Kiran Kumar Reddy, and S. Venkatesan, who were suspended earlier on a motion moved by the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju. The eight opposition members were suspended from Lok Sabha for the remainder of the budget session on February 4 for violating rules and "throwing papers on the chair" following uproar in the House over Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's insistence on mentioning a specific reference about the border tensions with China in eastern Ladakh in 2020. Sources said that in today's meeting with Leaders of Parties in the Lok Sabha, members agreed to uphold the dignity and established traditions of Parliament. It was collectively decided that no Member from either side shall approach the opposite side in the Well of the House, tear papers and throw them towards the Chair, or climb on the officials' table inside the House. A reaffirmation was also made that all Members would adhere to established parliamentary decorum and traditions, and that both sides would ensure such incidents are not repeated, the sources said. The Lok Sabha Secretariat has issued a bulletin reminding Members about the maintenance of decorum within the Parliament Estate. The bulletin draws attention to Direction 124A(2)(iii) of the Directions by the Speaker, which prohibits certain activities within the Parliament House Estate to keep the area and passages free and accessible for Members of Parliament. The advisory also highlights that the direction specifically prohibits the carrying of firearms, banners, placards, lathis, spears, swords, sticks, and brickbats within the Parliament Estate. Members have been repeatedly advised not to bring or display posters, placards, or banners inside Parliament. The Bulletin further notes that in some instances, AI-generated portraits, pictures, and slogans of a derogatory nature have been displayed on posters and placards. The Members have once again been advised to strictly comply with Direction 124A(2)(iii) and other relevant rules, and warned that disciplinary action may be taken in the event of any violation. Congress leader KC Venugopal on Monday demanded that the suspension of eight opposition MPs be revoked immediately, saying that while Parliament has witnessed countless protests in the past, suspending members in such a manner should not become a practice He called the Opposition MPs' suspension "unfair" and a "disturbing trend." "Rose in the Lok Sabha to raise concern over the unfair suspension of 8 Opposition MPs for this Session. Parliament has seen countless protests, but the suspension of MPs is a disturbing new trend which cannot be allowed to continue. This suspension should be revoked immediately," Venugopal said in X post. Lok Sabha on Monday took up discussion on the demands for grants for the Railways Ministry with several members taking part in the discussion. While the opposition members accused the government of not fulfilling its promises, the members of BJP and NDA highlighted the achievements. BJP member Ganesh Singh said a significant transformation has taken place in the Railways in the last 10 years. The Rajya Sabha took up discussion on supplementary demands for grants for 2025-26. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is likely to reply to the debate on Tuesday. With some members suggesting holiday on March 18 and 19 in view of festivals, Chairman CP Radhakrishnan said that it has been considered favourably by the government. He said that instead of March 19 and 20, the House will sit on March 28 and 29 to make up for the lost time. (ANI)
The Delhi High Court on Monday disposed of the petition of actor Celina Jaitley after noting that her brother, who is currently detained in UAE, does not want to communicate with her. She had filed a petition seeking consular access and a direction to the Ministry of External Affairs to facilitate communication with tm her brother Vikrant Jaitley, who is detained in the UAE. The High Court took note of the fact that consular access has been provided to Vikrant Jaitley 9 times since his arrest. Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav disposed of the petition after he was informed that Major (Retd) Vikrant Jaitly doesn't want to communicate with Celina Jaitly. It is also noted that Vikrant Jaitly has refused any communication with Celina Jaitly and is not willing to take any legal assistance at this stage. It was also informed that Vikrant has said that any decision in this regard will be taken by his wife. The high court noted that Vikrant Jaitly made it clear during a consular meeting. A report prepared by the embassy of India in Abu Dhabi was also filed in the High Court by ASG Chetan Sharma. On February 17, the Delhi High Court granted 4 weeks' time to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to have a meeting with Retired Major Vikrant Jaitly, who is detained in Abu Dhabi. His wife had filed a note in the matter. The court directed the supply of a copy of the note to Celina Jaitly and MEA. Advocate Sandeep Kapoor, Srishti Agarwal alongwith advocate Raghav Kacker, appeared for Celina Jaitly. The Delhi High Court on February 12 asked the Ministry of External Affairs to have a meeting with Retired Major Vikrant Jaitly and get the power of attorney signed in favour of an Emirati law firm, Khalid Al Maree and Partners. The Central Government has issued a letter to the firm to represent Vikrant Jaitly. " If he is not willing to get legal assistance from the firm, then he will suggest the name of another firm," the High Court had said. Earlier, the high court had asked Charul Jaitly and Celina Jaitly to sit together, have some conversations and work in tandem in order to secure the release of Vikrant Jaitly Central Government standing counsel for MEA had submitted that she took instructions from the ministry and said that there is no provision to facilitate the meeting with foreign nationals, including the courts, as per the Legal Assistance Treaty between India and the UAE. The High Court had also asked the ministry to subject the approval to local authorities, and let the embassy officials apprise Vikrant about the engagement of the law firm. Advocate Raghav Kacker, counsel for Celina Jaitly, had submitted that a letter has been issued by the Ministry to law firm Khalid Al Maree and partners. In case he is not willing to take assistance from Khalid Al Maree, there can be some other firms, the High Court had said. Charul Jaitly had said that there might be a compromise with the investigation in view of the sensitivity of the case. Vikrant Jaitly wants India Government to engage a lawyer for his defence. If Vikrant Jaitly is not willing to take legal assistance from Khalid Al Maree, then he should suggest a name, the court said. On February 10, the Delhi High Court had asked the counsel for the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to get in touch with the ministry/Consulate to facilitate the interaction of Major (Retd) Vikrant Jaitly with the court. The court had asked the parties not to interact with the media without court permission. On February 3, the Delhi High Court had directed the Ministry of External Affairs to issue an order to a legal firm to represent Celina Jaitly's brother, Major (retd.) Vikrant Jaitly in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. It was submitted that the legal firm is willing to represent Major (Retd.) Vikrant Jaitly free of cost (Pro Bono). They have found out the details of the case on their own. On December 23, after a chamber hearing, the Delhi High Court issued fresh directions in the plea. Earlier, the Delhi High Court had directed the Centre, through the Ministry of External Affairs, to facilitate communication between Celina Jaitly and her brother, who has been detained in the UAE for over a year. Jaitly had approached the Court seeking effective legal assistance, along with regular updates on her brother's welfare and legal status. (ANI)
Haryana Congress President Rao Narendra Singh on Monday lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party, alleging that the Rajya Sabha election process has exposed the ruling party's "anti-Dalit" stance. Speaking to reporters, Singh congratulated party workers for supporting a candidate from a marginalised background while warning of strict action against any Congress legislators who may have "betrayed the party," pointing to alleged cross voting by certain members. Haryana Congress President Rao Narendra Singh, while talking to the reporters, said, "BJP's anti-poor, anti-Dalit ideology has been exposed... Congress sent a person hailing from a poor Dalit family to the country's biggest Panchayat, and I congratulate all the workers of the party..." "Those who betrayed the party will be subjected to strict action," he added. Meanwhile, MLA Jassi Petwar, while speaking to ANI, said, "Our application was rejected by the Returning Officer and our vote was cancelled basis the false complaint filed by them (BJP)... BJP plays the politics of financial power and they will have to lose... The way they threatened our MLAs and this is why they will have to face the consequences... Congress will definitely win today..." On the other hand, a Congress delegation of three members, including Syed Naseer Hussain, Varun Chowdhary, and Satyapal Brahmachari, met with the Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar after the counting of votes was halted for two vacant Rajya Sabha seats in Chandigarh. Speaking to reporters, Syed Naseer Hussain said that they approached the Chief Election Commissioner to lodge a complaint regarding alleged irregularities in the Haryana Rajya Sabha elections, calling for the footage of the polling be sent to them." "Today, in Haryana, the Rajya Sabha election was taking place. We came to the Chief Election Commissioner to lodge our complaint regarding the alleged irregularities being carried out by the Election Commission in this election. Varun Chowdhary is a Member of Parliament from Ambala, Satyapal Brahmachari is a Member of Parliament from Sonipat, and I am from Karnataka. The three of us came to meet him in the evening. Abhishek Manu Singhvi and his entire legal team also tried to meet him," he said on Monday. Meanwhile, voting for the Rajya Sabha elections was halted due to objections to two Congress votes. BJP's Gaurav Gautam and Kishan Bedi have objected to both votes. Congress has also objected to Minister Anil Vij's vote. The counting was halted for over an hour. Gaurav Gautam is also the polling agent for the BJP, and Kishan Bedi is the election agent for the BJP. On the Rajya Sabha elections, Haryana BJP President Mohan Lal Badoli said, "It seems some miracle will happen in this voting of Haryana. Our demand is that elections should be held fairly. We demand that if anyone has made a mistake in any way, their mistakes should also be investigated. We challenged two votes; they (Congress) challenged one vote in the same way..." (ANI)
Congress leader Deepender Singh Hooda on Monday asserted that the party won the Rajya Sabha seats in Haryana despite the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) allegedly resorting to illegal means to tilt the results in their favour. Hooda expressed his gratitude to party workers for standing firm under pressure while accusing the ruling party of attempting to "strangle democracy" to win a single legislative seat. Deepender Singh Hooda, while speaking to the reporters, said, "BJP tried every single illicit method... They made Gujarat's Dy CM the Observer, strangled democracy just for a Rajya Sabha seat, but I congratulate the workers of the party for working under every kind of pressure, and this seat went in favour of the Congress... 4 valid votes were wrongly deemed invalid..." Meanwhile, amid a halt in counting for the Rajya Sabha elections in Haryana following objections over certain votes, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday wrote to the Election Commission of India alleging an attempt to interfere with the integrity of the ongoing election process. In his letter to the poll body, Kharge stated that there was a "clear attempt to interfere with the integrity of the election" and urged the Commission to take immediate action. Kharge requested the Election Commission to grant immediate time for a Congress delegation led by Abhishek Manu Singhvi, along with senior party leaders, to meet the Commission before the declaration of the results. "There is a clear attempt to interfere with the integrity of the election and it must be stopped/ redressed by the ECI immediately. Furthermore, no disqualification of our legitimate voters/ votes cast can be allowed in what is clearly a transparent attempt to taint/derail the process. Given the time sensitive nature of the matter, we request time immediately for a delegation led by Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi along with senior leaders from the party to meet your good self before the declaration of the results. We have copied Shri. Omar Hoda, National Coordinator from the AICC's Law Department for ease of communication," the letter from Kharge said. On the other hand, voting for the Rajya Sabha elections was halted after objections were raised over two votes cast by Congress legislators. BJP leaders Gaurav Gautam and Kishan Bedi objected to the two votes. Congress has also objected to the vote cast by Haryana Minister Anil Vij. The counting process has been halted for a long time amid the objections. Gautam is serving as the polling agent for the BJP, while Bedi is the party's election agent. (ANI)
Indore Bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court held a hearing in the disputed Bhojshala-Kamal Maula Complex issue and proposed that the court would visit the site before the next hearing is held on the matter. During the hearing on Monday, the division bench of Justice Vijay Kumar Shukla and Justice Alok Awasthi further directed that if any party is yet to file its objection or suggestion related to the report of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), then it may submit before the next hearing, which is scheduled for April 2. "Considering the nature of the petition and that the petition is a public interest litigation, applications for intervention are allowed to the extent that the intervenor would be given right to the audience only at the time of hearing and may file documents in support of the submissions on affidavit, which are proposed to be raised," the Court said. "Parties may submit their respective objections/opinion/suggestions or recommendations in respect of the report of the Archaeological Survey of India before the next date, if not already filed, in terms of the directions contained in para 9(ii) and (iii) of the order dated 22.01.2026. The Court proposes to visit the site before the next date of hearing," the order read. Meanwhile, Bhoj Utsav Samiti Advocate Shreesh Dubey said that sought additional time from the court to file their suggestion, which the court granted and instructed to file it before the next hearing. "During the previous hearing, the court gave three weeks time to the parties to submit their suggestions or objections. Most of the suggestions and objections from the parties have now been received. Though, we had sought additional time from the court to submit our suggestions, which the court accepted and directed that to be submitted before the next hearing. The next date of hearing in the matter has been scheduled for April 2," Dubey told ANI. The advocate further said that the court would visit the Bhojshala site without the presence of the petitioners, lawyers, or any respondents related to the matter before the next hearing. "During the proceedings, the court also stated that it would conduct a site visit to the Bhojshala premises without the presence of the petitioners, lawyers, or respondents of the case. The next hearing will take place on April 2, and any suggestions or objections can be submitted in between before the next hearing," he added. There is a disputed site, the Bhojshala complex, situated in Madhya Pradesh's Dhar district. For Hindus, the Bhoj Shala complex is a temple dedicated to Goddess Vagdevi (Saraswati), while for Muslims, it is the site of the Kamal Maula mosque. According to an arrangement in 2003, Hindus perform puja at the complex on Tuesdays from sunrise to sunset, while Muslims offer namaz on Fridays from 1 pm to 3 pm. (ANI)
Israel will reopen the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt for limited movement of people on March 18 after it was closed at the start of the war with Iran, according to CNN and Al Jazeera, citing Israeli authorities. According to CNN, Israel's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) said the crossing between Gaza and Egypt will reopen on Wednesday in both directions. COGAT said the crossing would operate under strict conditions. According to CNN, the COGAT said it would maintain "necessary security restrictions" for the passage of people. The crossing had been closed at the start of the war with Iran after Israeli authorities ordered the closure of all crossings leading into Gaza. Before that, the Rafah border crossing had reopened at the beginning of February for a limited period to allow a small number of patients from Gaza to travel for urgent medical treatment and return to the enclave, the CNN reported. CNN said it's unclear if the same number of Palestinians will be allowed to cross, or if it will be even fewer. On March 2, COGAT announced that the Kerem Shalom crossing would reopen for the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, but Rafah remained closed, CNN reported. Meanwhile, Al Jazeera reported that Israeli authorities confirmed the reopening date and restrictions. According to Al Jazeera, the Israeli government agency coordinating activities in the occupied Palestinian territories and Gaza said the crossing would reopen on March 18 (Wednesday). The COGAT, according to Al Jazeera, said the crossing between Gaza and Egypt would reopen in both directions "for limited movement of people only". According to Al Jazeera, Israel closed the crossing on March 1 after launching its joint war on Iran with the United States, citing security concerns. The crossing had reopened in February after remaining shut for several months. The Rafah crossing is considered critical for the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza and for the evacuation of critically ill patients. (ANI)
US President Donald Trump on Sunday (local time) accused Iran of spreading artificial intelligence-generated disinformation about the ongoing conflict and criticised media organisations for reporting "false information" about damage to American military assets. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said, "Iran has long been known as a Master of Media Manipulation and Public Relations. They are Militarily ineffective and weak, but are really good at 'feeding' the very appreciative Fake News Media false information." He also alleged that Tehran has begun using artificial intelligence (AI) as a "disinformation weapon". "Now, A.I. has become another Disinformation weapon that Iran uses, quite well, considering they are being annihilated by the day," he said. Trump said some visuals circulating online about Iranian attacks on ships are all "false information". "They showed phony 'Kamikaze Boats,' shooting at various Ships at Sea, which looks wonderful, powerful, and vicious, but these Boats don't exist -- It's all false information to show how 'tough' their already defeated Military is!" he said. The president also disputed reports that several American refuelling aircraft had been struck. He said, "The five US Refueling Planes that were supposedly struck down and badly damaged, according to The Wall Street Journal's false reporting, and others, are all in service, with the exception of one, which will soon be flying the skies." He also rejected claims that the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) had been attacked or set ablaze. He said, "Buildings and Ships that are shown to be on fire are not -- It's FAKE NEWS, generated by AI. For instance, Iran, working in close coordination with the Fake News Media, shows our great USS Abraham Lincoln Aircraft Carrier, one of the largest and most prestigious Ships in the World, burning uncontrollably in the Ocean. Not only was it not burning, it was not even shot at -- Iran knows better than to do that!" Trump also criticised media organisations that reported the claims and said such outlets should face "Charges for TREASON for the dissemination of false information." He said, "The story was knowingly FAKE and, in a certain way, you can say that those Media Outlets that generated it should be brought up on Charges for TREASON for the dissemination of false information!" He said Iran was losing militarily but was attempting to claim victories through "those that they create through AI, and are distributed by Corrupt Media Outlets." "The fact is, Iran is being decimated, and the only battles they 'win' are those that they create through AI, and are distributed by Corrupt Media Outlets", the President said. He added, "The Radical Leftwing Press knows this full well, but continues to go forward with false stories and LIES. That's why their Approval Rating is so low, and I can win a Presidential Election, IN A LANDSLIDE, getting only 5% positive Press --They have no credibility!" He also praised Brendan Carr, the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), for reviewing broadcast licences of some media organisations. "I am so thrilled to see Brendan Carr, the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), looking at the licenses of some of these Corrupt and Highly Unpatriotic 'News' Organizations." Trump added that broadcasters receive public airwaves but use them "to perpetuate LIES". He said, "They get Billions of Dollars of FREE American Airwaves, and use it to perpetuate LIES, both in News and almost all of their Shows, including the Late Night Morons, who get gigantic Salaries for horrible Ratings, and never get, as I used to say in The Apprentice, 'FIRED.'" (ANI)
Taiwanese forces also said that they have monitored the situation and responded.

In a post on X, the Ministry of Defence wrote, "2 sorties of PLA aircraft and 7 PLAN vessels operating around Taiwan detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today. #ROCArmedForces have monitored the situation and responded."

https://x.com/MoNDefense/status/2033347515811283196

Earlier on Sunday, Taiwan's Ministry of Defence detected 26 sorties of People's Liberation Army (PLA) and 7 People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) vessels around its territory up until 6 am (local time).

Taiwanese forces also said that sixteen of the twenty-six sorties entered the country's northern, central and southwestern part Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ).

Taiwanese forces also said that they have monitored the situation and responded.

In a post on X, the Ministry of Defence wrote, "26 sorties of PLA aircraft and 7 PLAN vessels operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today. 16 out of 26 sorties entered Taiwan's northern, central and southwestern part ADIZ. #ROCArmedForces have monitored the situation and responded."

China's claim over Taiwan is a complex issue rooted in historical, political, and legal arguments. Beijing asserts that Taiwan is an inseparable part of China, a viewpoint embedded in national policy and upheld by domestic laws and international statements.

Taiwan, however, maintains a distinct identity, functioning independently with its own government, military, and economy. Taiwan's status remains a significant point of international debate, testing the principles of sovereignty, self-determination, and non-interference in international law, as per the United Service Institution of India.

China's claim to Taiwan originates from the Qing Dynasty's annexation of the island in 1683 after defeating Ming loyalist Koxinga. However, Taiwan remained a peripheral region under limited Qing control. The key shift came in 1895, when the Qing ceded Taiwan to Japan after the First Sino-Japanese War, marking Taiwan as a Japanese colony for 50 years. After Japan's defeat in World War II, Taiwan was returned to Chinese control, but the sovereignty transfer was not formalised. (ANI)
In a post on X, Jaishankar wrote, "Pleasure to meet FM Constantinos Kombos of Cyprus today in Brussels. Discussed ways to further strengthen our strategic partnership and exchanged views on the situation in West Asia. Holding the Presidency of the Council of the EU, appreciate Cyprus' support in advancing European Union-India engagement."

This would be Jaishankar's first meeting with Kombos since he assumed office.

Kombos wrote in a post on X, " Ahead of the Foreign Affairs Council and the informal exchange with #India's Minister of External Affairs @DrSJaishankar it was a real pleasure meeting with my dear colleague Dr. Jaishankar. Insightful exchange focusing on: Further steps of the Cyprus-India strategic partnership, in view also of the upcoming visit of President Christodoulides to India."

Cyprus also spoke about the impact of the EU-India Summit and the signing of the EU-India free trade agreement.

He wrote, "EU-India relations, following the recent EU-India Summit and the successful conclusion of the EU-India Free Trade Agreement."

Kombos also spoke about the West Asia conflict in his post on X and said that he and Jaishankar had exchanged views on the issue.

"The profoundly concerning developments in the #MiddleEast. Underlined that diplomacy and dialogue is the only sustainable paths to de-escalation and stability," Kombos' post read.

Jaishankar is on an official visit to Brussels, Belgium, beginning March 15 to 16 at the invitation of European Union (EU) High Representative and Vice President Kaja Kallas to interact with Foreign Ministers of the 27 EU member states at the Foreign Affairs Council Meeting.

During the visit, EAM Jaishankar is to hold meetings with the leadership of the European Union and his counterparts from Belgium and other EU Member States.

The visit of EAM, coming shortly after the historic 16th India-EU Summit, is expected to further deepen India's Strategic Partnership with the European Union. (ANI)
Sharing his concerns via social media platform X, Araghchi, warned that the environmental fallout poses a severe risk to the local population. In his statement, he noted, "Residents face long-term damage to their health and well-being."

https://x.com/araghchi/status/2033355919468150786?s=20

Highlighting the enduring nature of the environmental impact, the Foreign Minister suggested that the consequences would be felt for decades. He stated that the "contamination of soil and groundwater could have generational impacts."

Araghchi demanded international accountability following the attacks on the city's infrastructure, asserting that "Israel must be punished for its war crimes."

These accusations follow a massive aerial campaign by the Israeli Air Force (IAF), which confirmed on Sunday (local time) that it struck more than 200 targets across western and central Iran over the past day.

The IAF stated that the strikes targeted military infrastructure, including ballistic missile systems, defence installations, and operational headquarters where soldiers of the Iranian regime operated.

The Israeli military clarified that these strikes were part of its ongoing campaign targeting Iran's ballistic missile network and air defence systems in multiple locations across the country.

Earlier, the IAF shared footage of Lockheed Martin F-35I "Adir" stealth fighter jets heading toward Iran for the mission, referencing the deployment of these advanced aircraft for long-range strike operations.

The violence has also spread to neighbouring regions, with an Israeli air strike in southern Lebanon killing five people and wounding six others, according to Lebanon's National News Agency.

The agency reported that the strike targeted the town of Qatrani in the Jezzine district as hostilities continued to ripple across the border.

In a major escalation at dawn on Sunday (local time), Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its naval forces carried out coordinated missile and drone strikes on four United States airbases.

The IRGC stated that the strikes targeted command centres, air traffic control towers, and air defence facilities linked to "American terrorist" forces in the region.

The Iranian force claimed that several assault battalions simultaneously struck these bases with precise and crushing blows.

According to reports from Al Jazeera, the IRGC further asserted that satellite imagery showed extensive damage to the targeted sites, marking a significant intensification of the regional military confrontation. (ANI)
Secretary of Irans Supreme National Security Council Ali Larijani has warned of what he described as a possible conspiracy to frame Iran for a major terrorist incident.

AzerNEWS reports that Larijani made the remarks in a post on the social media platform X, addressing the United States.

"Ive heard that the remaining members of Epsteins network have devised a conspiracy to create an incident similar to 9/11 and blame Iran for it. Iran fundamentally opposes such terrorist schemes and has no war with the American people."

The September 11, 2001 attacks involved coordinated terrorist strikes in New York City and Washington, when hijacked airplanes were crashed into major targets, killing thousands of people.

Jeffrey Epstein, a US financier who was convicted of sexual exploitation crimes, died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial. His name has been linked to numerous influential figures in politics and business.

There is currently a prominent conspiracy theory circulating on social media, with many users claiming that a second 9/11-style attack is going to occur in California, specifically targeting the U.S. Bank Tower. They allege that Larry Silverstein, who owns the U.S. Bank Tower in Los Angeles, is involved. This claim is based on the fact that he allegedly made $4.5 billion in insurance money following the events of 9/11.
US President Donald Trump has issued a stern warning regarding the future of NATO, suggesting the alliance could face a "very bad" outlook if member nations do not assist in securing the Strait of Hormuz. In a telephone interview with the Financial Times published on Sunday, the President delivered a blunt message to European allies concerning the strategic maritime passage. He argued that nations benefiting from the waterway must share the burden of its protection. "It's only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries of the Strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there," Trump told the newspaper. He further cautioned that "if there's no response or if it's a negative response, I think it will be very bad for the future of NATO." The President highlighted previous American support for Ukraine during its conflict with Russia as a point of comparison. He remarked, "We didn't have to help them with Ukraine. Now we'll see if they help us because I've long said that we'll be there for them, but they won't be there for us." When questioned on the specific nature of the assistance required, Trump indicated he expects "whatever it takes," including the deployment of minesweepers to the region. While NATO is traditionally a North American and European defence alliance established to maintain stability and protect its members, rather than an instrument for offensive operations, Trump reiterated his expectations while returning to the White House from Florida. Speaking aboard Air Force One, he noted, "We're always there for NATO. It'd be interesting to see what country wouldn't help us with a very small endeavour, which is just keeping the Strait open." The President also suggested that international partners could assist in neutralising threats originating from the Iranian coast. He stated a desire for "people who are going to knock out some bad actors that are along the shore," in reference to Iranian units utilising naval mines and drones in the Gulf. Trump expressed continued dissatisfaction with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer regarding the lack of immediate UK backing for recent US-Israeli military actions against Iran. "The UK might be considered the No. 1 ally, the longest-serving, etc., and when I asked for them to come, they didn't want to come," he said, mentioning a conversation held with Starmer earlier on Sunday. He criticised the timing of the British offer, stating, "And as soon as we basically wiped out the danger capacity from Iran, they said, 'Oh, well we'll send two ships,' and I said, 'We need these ships before we win, not after we win.' I've long said that NATO is a one-way street." (ANI)
United States President Donald Trump launched a sharp attack on the Supreme Court of the United States after a ruling related to tariffs, accusing the court of undermining his administration's efforts to protect American economic interests. The President also criticised Jerome Powell, Chair of the Federal Reserve, over alleged financial mismanagement connected to a renovation project in Washington DC. In a lengthy statement on Truth Social, Trump said the ruling on tariffs was the most significant decision for him and argued that the court's position could benefit foreign countries and companies at the expense of the United States. "The decision that mattered most to me was TARIFFS! The Court knew where I stood, how badly I wanted this Victory for our Country, and instead decided to, potentially, give away Trillions of Dollars to Countries and Companies who have been taking advantage of the United States for decades. Our Supreme Court has made these Countries very happy but, as the Court pointed out, I have the absolute right to charge TARIFFS in another form, and have already started to do so. The Hundreds of Billions of Dollars that our Adversaries want our Country to pay back to others that have disrespected the U.S.A., until I came along, should be marked down, in the eyes of the Public, as just another reason why the United States had been in such major decline --But, not anymore, because we have MADE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN and, very soon, it will be GREATER THAN EVER BEFORE!" The President thanked three conservative justices -- Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh -- for what he described as their "Wisdom and Courage" in relation to the case. He further alleged that the court had increasingly become politically influenced and claimed that judges appointed by Democrats tended to vote together in major rulings. Trump also revived his long-standing claim that the 2020 United States presidential election had been unfairly decided, criticising the judiciary for refusing to entertain legal challenges related to the vote. "The Democrats on the Court always 'stick together,' no matter how strong a case is put before them -- There is rarely even a minor 'waver.' But Republicans do not do this. They openly disrespect the Presidents who nominate them to the highest position in the Land," he said in the statement. In the same message, the President turned his criticism toward Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, accusing him of mishandling a renovation of the Federal Reserve complex in Washington. "The Courts treat Republicans, and me, so unfairly, always seeming to protect those who should not be protected. They are highly politicized. Cases don't matter, the Judge does!" Trump said. He also criticised US District Judge James Boasberg, alleging political bias in judicial decisions related to his administration and calling for scrutiny over the handling of cases involving the Federal Reserve project. Trump argued that the tariff decision reflected what he described as a broader pattern of politically driven rulings that he believes have affected policies pursued during his presidency. The President maintained that he would continue to pursue alternative tariff mechanisms to safeguard U.S. economic interests and reiterated his pledge to prioritise policies aimed at strengthening the country's trade position. (ANI)
Iran has declared that logistical and service facilities supporting the United States aircraft carrier strike group led by the USS Gerald R. Ford would be considered legitimate military targets, warning that any infrastructure assisting the carrier's operations could face attacks as tensions escalate in West Asia, reported Press TV. According to Iranian reports, authorities stated that the support centres providing services to the American carrier group deployed in the Red Sea are now viewed as part of the operational network of the vessel and therefore legitimate targets under wartime conditions. The warning comes amid the ongoing confrontation between Iran and the United States and its allies in the region. Iranian officials said the move is aimed at deterring further military actions against the country. In a statement cited by Iranian media, authorities said, "The logistical and service centers providing support to the aforementioned carrier group in the Red Sea are considered targets of the Islamic Republic." The declaration comes as hostilities in the region have intensified following a series of military strikes and retaliatory actions involving Iran, the United States and Israel. Over the past weeks, both sides have exchanged attacks targeting military assets, infrastructure and shipping routes across the Gulf region. The aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford is one of the United States Navy's most advanced warships and has been deployed as part of a carrier strike group aimed at strengthening Washington's military presence in West Asia. The carrier typically operates with a fleet of escort vessels, including guided-missile destroyers and cruisers, as well as support ships that provide logistical assistance and maintenance. The broader conflict has already disrupted maritime security and energy routes in the Middle East. Missile and drone attacks have been reported across several Gulf countries, and concerns have grown about the safety of key shipping lanes and oil transport routes, particularly around the Strait of Hormuz. Diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the crisis have so far yielded limited progress, while regional governments warn that further military escalation could threaten global energy supplies and stability in the Middle East. Iranian authorities have reiterated that their actions are intended as a response to what they describe as aggression by the United States and its allies. Meanwhile, the deployment of the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group continues to symbolize Washington's military posture in the region as tensions remain high and the conflict shows little sign of easing. (ANI)
The Israel Defence Forces' (IDF) offensive in the combined military campaign with the United States against Tehran is moving "according to plan," outstripping initial timelines, as reported by The Times of Israel. Military officials indicated on Sunday that strikes on the Iranian defence sector are set to "further ramp up," alongside persistent attempts to "reduce missile fire on Israel." Despite the accelerated pace, the IDF remains prepared for at least "three more weeks of operations" within Iran. The military cited the existence of "thousands more targets" yet to be neutralised across the capital and various provinces. "We have thousands of targets ahead," IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin stated during a briefing on Sunday. He further added that the military is "ready, in coordination with our US allies," with operational strategies extending through the holiday of "Passover" and "deeper plans for even three weeks beyond that." The Times of Israel noted that following the initial "decapitation strikes" on February 28, which resulted in the death of Ali Khamenei and over "40 top Iranian officials," the IDF has shifted its primary focus. Current efforts are concentrated on the total destruction of Iran's "military industry," targeting the production of ballistic missiles and air defence networks. Comparing this conflict to the brief escalation in June 2025, officials described the present operation as "far more extensive." While the previous engagement aimed to stop the development of a "nuclear weapon," the current war is viewed as a chance to eliminate Iran's "strategic threat" for the "foreseeable future." Consequently, the IDF is working to "systematically degrade" the entire Iranian defence apparatus. This includes targeting the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' (IRGC) missile firms, as well as private entities manufacturing "components" for naval weapons and "spy satellites," as detailed by The Times of Israel. Military sources claim that the strikes have already inflicted "significant damage," asserting that Tehran currently lacks the "ability to manufacture any new missiles." Simultaneously, the IAF has continued to "hunt down" launchers, reportedly disabling approximately "70 per cent" of the regime's 500 ballistic missile units. The Times of Israel further reported that the IDF has achieved "aerial superiority" across most of the country. This was made possible after the Israeli Air Force successfully neutralised over "100 air defence systems" and roughly "120 detection systems" within the early stages of the campaign. Beyond hardware, the military is targeting "centres of power," specifically the command units of the "internal security forces and Basij." The IDF estimates that between "4,000 and 5,000 Iranian soldiers" have been killed, while witnessing a sharp decline in "morale" and instances of "desertion" within the missile divisions. The overarching objective of the joint US-Israeli mission is to "distance threats" and "create the conditions" for the local populace to eventually "topple the regime," as per the report by The Times of Israel. (ANI)
Rahman and his Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) government face many urgent challenges but can use this opportunity to bring lasting protections for human rights, the groups stated in a letter published today.

Prime Minister Rahman came to office following a landslide election victory in February.

The election was conducted by an interim government that had replaced the 15-year rule of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who was toppled by mass protests in 2024.

While widespread rights violations, including enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings under Hasina's rule, ended, the interim government continued to arbitrarily detain political opponents.

It was also unable to end mob violence against journalists, religious minorities, and cultural centres, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said.

"Tarique Rahman has been given a wide mandate to bring change, including by many Bangladeshis who risked their lives to overthrow an autocratic government," said Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

"Success will require meaningful reform to ensure that independent institutions are capable of delivering accountability and upholding the rule of law, and a real commitment to upholding rights such as freedom of religion and expression."

Among the priorities highlighted in the letter are ending arbitrary detention, holding those responsible for past violations accountable, abolishing the abusive Rapid Action Battalion, and protecting ethnic and religious minorities.

The groups also urged the government to protect the rights of over a million Rohingya refugees currently in Bangladesh and establish a strong and independent National Human Rights Commission.

They made specific recommendations in the letter for policy measures and legislative steps.

During the election campaign, the BNP made numerous commitments to safeguard rights, including economic rights, by increasing resources for health, education, environmental protections, and social security.

The nine rights groups that wrote the letter are Amnesty International, Article 19, CPJ, CIVICUS, FIDH, Fortify Rights, Human Rights Watch, Kennedy Human Rights Center, and Techglobal Institute. (ANI)
In a statement posted on the social media platform X, the IDF confirmed that the manoeuvre is "aimed at enhancing the forward defence area."

This initial phase is part of a "broader defensive effort to establish and strengthen a forward defensive posture," which specifically targets the "dismantling of terrorist infrastructure and the elimination of terrorists operating in the area."

Further detailing the tactical deployment, a second post, originally shared in Hebrew by the IDF's official account (@idfonline), specified that "91st Division Forces" have begun "focused ground activity" to expand the designated defence zone.

The military explained that this expansion is vital "to remove threats and create an additional layer of security for the residents of the north."

To prepare the battlefield for these ground units, the IDF disclosed that it "struck numerous terror targets in the area using artillery and the Air Force" prior to the forces' entry.

These operations are being conducted "alongside the 146th Division," with a primary mission of "defending the Galilee settlements."

Accompanying the Hebrew post were several pieces of visual documentation, including night-vision footage and high-contrast images.

The visuals depict IDF soldiers, their faces blurred for operational security, moving through dense Lebanese terrain under a green thermal tint.

One image captures a soldier inside a structure using a headlamp to inspect coiled wiring or equipment, illustrating the "focused" nature of the mission to dismantle infrastructure.

The IDF maintained that these actions are a direct response to the "Hezbollah terror organisation, which decided to join the campaign and operate under the auspices of the Iranian terror regime."

The military stated that it "will not allow harm to the civilians of the State of Israel" as operations continue in southern Lebanon. (ANI)
Dismissing viral claims regarding the health and status of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel''s Ambassador to India, Reuven Azar, has confirmed the leader is "very much alive" and clarified that recent footage of him is authentic. The Ambassador addressed the viral social media rumours, asserting that a recent video of the Prime Minister at a cafe is genuine and was not created using artificial intelligence. "Prime Minister Netanyahu is alive. I saw him personally when I was in Israel more than once. This video at the cafe is not AI-fabricated. There is a lot of disinformation," he said The intervention follows a wave of online reports alleging that a recent public address by the Israeli leader was AI-generated, with some posts further speculating that he had died. These claims gained significant traction across various platforms, leading to a heated debate over the authenticity of official government footage. The controversy intensified after Netanyahu shared a brief clip on X, formerly Twitter, depicting him casually drinking coffee at a cafe. During the recording, the Prime Minister briefly raises his hand, seemingly displaying five fingers. Observers have noted that this specific gesture appeared to be a direct response to viral allegations that a previous video of the leader featured an AI glitch, which social media users claimed showed six fingers. The initial dispute began when critics pointed to perceived visual inconsistencies in Netanyahu''s earlier addresses, alleging the use of deepfake technology. However, Israeli diplomatic officials have dismissed these theories as baseless. Ambassador Azar maintained that the cafe footage provides clear evidence of the Prime Minister being alive, stating that any suggestions of AI manipulation are entirely unfounded. (ANI)
The Israeli Air Force (IsAF) has successfully targeted and destroyed the aircraft used by the Iranian leadership at Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran, marking a significant blow to the regime''s strategic mobility. In a post on X, the air force confirmed the strike, stating that they "destroyed the plane of the leader of the Iranian terror regime at the ''Mehrabad'' airport in Tehran." The aircraft was identified as a critical logistics and diplomatic tool used by the former Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, additional senior officials from the terror regime, and elements in the Iranian military. The IsAF noted that the plane was vital to "advance military procurement and manage relations with Axis countries through domestic and international flights". Consequently, the mission was specifically designed to disrupt the operational synergy between Tehran and its regional allies. According to military officials, "the destruction of the plane impairs the ability to coordinate between the leadership of the Iranian terror regime and Axis countries, in building military power, and in the regime''s rehabilitation capability." By eliminating this high-value target, Israel has significantly hindered the regime''s ability to maintain its military and diplomatic networks, asserting that "another strategic asset has been removed from the Iranian regime". This high-profile strike was part of a broader, intensive aerial campaign. The IAF on Sunday (local time) said it struck more than 200 targets across western and central Iran over the past day, targeting military infrastructure, including missile systems, defence installations, and operational headquarters. Detailing the scale of the offensive in a post on X, the IAF stated, "In the past day: The Air Force struck more than 200 targets in western and central Iran and continues to strike the ballistic missile array and defence systems of the Iranian terror regime." The military confirmed that the targets included "headquarters in which soldiers of the Iranian terror regime operated, defence systems, and sites for the production and storage of means of combat". These strikes are part of an ongoing campaign specifically targeting Iran''s ballistic missile network and air defence systems in multiple locations across the country. To carry out these long-range operations, Israel has deployed its most advanced aerial technology. In an earlier post on X, the IAF shared footage of its stealth fighter jets heading toward Iran for the mission. "He is Adir, and he is also on his way to Iran. Special documentation of F-35I jets on their way to strike," the post said, referring to the Lockheed Martin F-35I Adir aircraft. The deployment of these specialised jets underscores the complexity and reach of the Israeli Air Force''s current strike operations. (ANI)
The External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar thanked "the people of Armenia" for facilitating the successful evacuation of 550 Indian nationals from Iran. In a post on X, Jaishankar wrote, "Thank the Government and the people of Armenia for facilitating the safe evacuation of over 550 Indian nationals from Iran so far. Appreciate their support in these challenging times. @AraratMirzoyan." Earlier, the Jammu and Kashmir Students Association said that more than 70 Indian students, majority of them from Jammu and Kashmir, who were stranded in Iran amid the ongoing war situation in the region, have returned safely to India via a connecting journey through Armenia and Dubai, following a coordinated evacuation effort. The Association said that these students had been stranded in Iran due to the ongoing war-like situation and deteriorating security conditions in the region, and are now returning safely to India. It further said that most of the students travelling in this batch are studying at Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, and other universities across Iran. Before boarding the flight, the students travelled by buses from different cities in Iran and undertook a long land journey to Armenia, reaching Zvartnots International Airport in Yerevan to board the evacuation flight. Diplomatic channels between New Delhi, Yerevan, and Tehran coordinated closely to help facilitate the evacuation successfully. Meanwhile, as the conflict entered its third week the Israeli Air Force (IsAF) has successfully targeted and destroyed the aircraft used by the Iranian leadership at Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran, marking a significant blow to the regime''s strategic mobility. In a post on X, the air force confirmed the strike, stating that they "destroyed the plane of the leader of the Iranian terror regime at the ''Mehrabad'' airport in Tehran." The aircraft was identified as a critical logistics and diplomatic tool used by the former Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, additional senior officials from the terror regime, and elements in the Iranian military. The IsAF noted that the plane was vital to "advance military procurement and manage relations with Axis countries through domestic and international flights". Consequently, the mission was specifically designed to disrupt the operational synergy between Tehran and its regional allies. According to military officials, "the destruction of the plane impairs the ability to coordinate between the leadership of the Iranian terror regime and Axis countries, in building military power, and in the regime''s rehabilitation capability." By eliminating this high-value target, Israel has significantly hindered the regime''s ability to maintain its military and diplomatic networks, asserting that "another strategic asset has been removed from the Iranian regime". This high-profile strike was part of a broader, intensive aerial campaign. The IAF on Sunday (local time) said it struck more than 200 targets across western and central Iran over the past day, targeting military infrastructure, including missile systems, defence installations, and operational headquarters. (ANI)
Forty-five flights from various countries in the Gulf region, includng the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman and the Qatar are expected to land at various airports in India on Monday, an Indian government official said adding that around 2,20,000 Indians have returned to the country since February 28, when the war first began. Flights are operating from Qatar, as its airspace has partially reopened, with three flights expected today and tomorrow to different destinations in India, according to Aseem Mahajan, Joint Secretary (Gulf) at the Ministry of External Affairs. MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that 550 Indian nationals have crossed into Armenia through the land border. At the same time, 90 Indians have travelled into Azerbaijan from Iran via the land border. Addressing an Inter-Ministerial Briefing on recent developments in West Asia, the MEA official said that, however, Kuwait's airspace remains closed, and special non-scheduled flights are expected to operate soon. For travellers in Bahrain and Iraq, transit through Saudi Arabia is being facilitated, he said. Further, the MEA official said that two Indian nationals were killed in Sohar, Oman. "On March 13th, in an attack in Sohar city in Oman, unfortunately, two Indian nationals had lost their lives. The embassy of India in Muscat is in constant touch with the families of the deceased Indian nationals and is coordinating with the concerned Omani authorities. Their mortal remains are expected to be repatriated to India soon. None of the Indian nationals is seriously injured..." the MEA Joint Secretary (Gulf) Mahajan said. The official spokesperson for MEA, addessing the interministerial briefing today said, "We also have had approximately 90 of our nationals from Iran cross over into Azerbaijan through the land border. These movements were facilitated by our embassy in Tehran. They helped them with visas, as well as with immigration formalities that were required. In this group of 550 people that I mentioned, who have crossed from Iran into Armenia, we also have 284 people who had gone to Iran on pilgrimage. These people are there right now in both these countries. Some of them have already returned, and others would be returning in the next few days or so. Our embassy in Tehran, in spite of all the difficulties, continues to be fully functional. For the last few days, they have also been able to relocate students who were outside Tehran to cities which are safer for them." Rajesh Kumar Sinha, Special Secretary in the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, said that an Indian-flagged vessel from the UAE is en route to India. "Indian-flag vessel 'Jag Laadki', which sailed from the UAE on 14th of March, is carrying about 81,000 tonnes of Murban crude oil, is safely en route to India. The vessel and all Indian seafarers on board are safe. They'll be reaching tomorrow at Mundra Port," he said. Sinha added, "Shivalik LPG carrier, which sailed from the Persian Gulf, crossed the Strait of Hormuz and headed towards India, will be reaching today around 5 pm..." "Before its arrival, documentation, priority berthing, and everything have been arranged at the port so that there is no delay in the discharge of cargo by this vessel. All Indian seafarers in the Persian Gulf area are safe. No incident has been reported in the last 24 hours, and we are keeping a continuous watch on the situation. We are in touch with each vessel and its crew. 22 vessels, as was reported on Saturday, also. 22 Indian flag vessels with 611 Indian seafarers remain in the west of the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf," Rajesh Kumar Sinha said. Meanwhile, Dubai International Airport briefly suspended all flights on Monday after a nearby fuel tank caught fire, as fighting raged across West Asia and US President Donald Trump turned up the pressure on other countries to help end the de facto Iranian blockade of the vital Strait of Hormuz. Trump said that NATO faces a "very bad" future if US allies fail to help open the Strait of Hormuz, the critical oil transport conduit effectively shut by Iran in the war, as per Al Jazeera. Qatar's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Majed al-Ansari, told reporters in Doha that Iran needs to "stop the attacks" on the country, as per Al Jazeera. He said in the news conference that Qatar has distanced itself from the Iran war, but retains the right to respond to the Iranian attacks on the Gulf country if necessary. In the early morning of Saturday (local time), a missile targeting a residential area was intercepted, which prompted authorities to begin evacuating residents as a precaution, he said. (ANI)
Ukraine does not want to lose US support for its war against Russia as a result of Washingtons war with Iran, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has told journalists, AzerNEWS reports.

We dont want to lose the Americans while they are without a doubt currently preoccupied with the Middle East, the Ukrainian leader told the media on Saturday. His comments were under embargo until today.

We are showing our willingness to help the United States and their allies in the Middle East by offering to share Ukraines drone expertise, and we strongly hope that as a result of the Middle East, the United States will not turn its back on the question of the war in Ukraine, he added.

The United States and Israel continue their military strikes against Iran, targeting multiple sites in the central province of Isfahan. At least 15 people have been reported killed.

In response, Iran has launched a barrage of missiles at Israel, with impacts reported in the city of Holon, and it claims to have attacked U.S. bases in Iraq and Kuwait.

U.S. President Donald Trump stated that the Iranians have reached out to him regarding a potential deal, but he indicated that the terms arent good enough yet.

The death toll from Israeli attacks in Lebanon has risen to 826, while the number of people displaced has grown to 831,000.
The human rights organisation Paank has released its Monthly Human Rights Report for February 2026, documenting a series of serious violations across Balochistan and neighbouring regions. According to the Paank report, the data highlights a continued pattern of enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and alleged torture carried out during the month. The Paank report states that 109 cases of enforced disappearances were recorded in February 2026, reflecting what it described as the systematic targeting of civilians in different districts. Several incidents were also reported outside Balochistan, including in Karachi in Sindh and Dera Ghazi Khan in Punjab. Districts such as Nushki, Hub, Quetta, Gwadar, Panjgur and Kech reported multiple cases of disappearances and illegal detentions. According to the Paank report, 41 individuals who had previously been detained were later released, but many reportedly suffered severe mental and physical torture during custody. The organisation said these releases indicate the continued use of coercive interrogation methods and arbitrary detention practices. The Paank report further documented 50 cases of extrajudicial killings during February, underscoring what it described as the deadly consequences of unchecked state power in the region. The organisation alleged that Pakistani security forces were involved in detentions and killings carried out without due legal process, contributing to a climate of fear and impunity. Among the cases highlighted in the Paank report is that of Karim Jan, a driver from Turbat who was reportedly forcibly disappeared in January and later found dead in Kech district on February 1. Another case cited is Yasir Lehri, a tailor from Mastung who was allegedly killed by security forces on February 2, with his body reportedly not returned to his family. The report also mentioned the deaths of individuals, including Jasim Baloch, Bakhshi Baloch, Balach Baloch, and Hassan Basri, whose killings were attributed to shootings or alleged custodial actions by security forces or state-linked groups. Overall, the Paank report warned that the human rights situation in Balochistan continues to deteriorate, stressing the need for independent investigations, accountability mechanisms, and international monitoring to address enforced disappearances, torture, and extrajudicial killings in the region. (ANI)
The Budget Session, which is the 11th session of the 17th Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile for the financial year 2026-2027, scheduled from March 16-30, commenced on Monday morning here in the North Indian hill town Dharamshala. One of the key highlights of the discussion today was the renewal of US funds. Speaker Khenpo Sonam Tenphel made the commencement announcement and it was convened in the presence of Deputy Speaker Dolma Tsering Teykhang, Penpa Tsering, Sikyong/ president of the Tibetan government in exile, along with Kalons (ministers) of the Kashag and members of Parliament. The proceedings began with the singing of the Tibetan national anthem, followed by the Speaker's opening address and the appointment of Acting Speakers and members of the Ad Hoc Committee for the session. In his opening remarks, the Speaker reflected on the vision and tireless efforts of the 14th Dalai Lama and the elder generation of Tibetans in exile. He also acknowledged the continued support of the Government and people of India, as well as numerous countries and international supporters, which have enabled Tibetans to preserve and promote their unique language, culture, and religious traditions during more than six decades of exile while also strengthening international awareness of the Tibetan cause. The Speaker further referred to recent legislative developments in the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China, noting the passage of policies promoting "ethnic unity" and the broader policy of Sinicisation, which aim to tighten control over minority nationalities and religious practices. He expressed concern over the targeting of the Tibetan language and identity under such policies, while urging Tibetans living in the free world to continue safeguarding and strengthening Tibetan linguistic and cultural traditions. Sikyong Penpa Tsering, who currently holds the Finance portfolio of the Central Tibetan Administration, presented the CTA's proposed budget for the fiscal year 2026-2027, amounting to Rs 3,407.42 million. Dorjee Tseten, an MP in exile, told ANI, "March is our parliament session and it is the first day of the budget session. The President, who led the cabinet, proposed the annual budget for 2026 to 2027 and the proposed budget is 3407 million rupees. It is tabled today at the Parliament and during the next two weeks, the members of the Parliament will discuss the proposed budget and, if needed, any amendments to propose, and finally, will pass the budget." "The budget session is very significant in terms of our annual work in terms of the monetary will be discussed and through budget, we highlight the objective and the plan of the government in-exile. One of the key highlights of today's discussion is the renewal of US funds and in the budget statement it is clearly mentioned by the President that this time US appropriation Bill mention in the budget, Central Tibetan administration recognising as the Tibetan government in exile so this is key highlight, which is welcomed by all the parliamentarians and more discussions have been started in terms of how we want to strengthen our movement, how we can invest and expense more in terms of our political campaigns to counter China in Asia and across the world," he added. (ANI)
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Monday that the United Kingdom will not be drawn into a wider war in West Asia, after US President Donald Trump warned that the future of NATO could be at stake unless allies, including the UK, provide military support in the region. Starmer said in his press conference that the UK's priority remains protecting its citizens in the region while taking necessary steps to defend itself and its allies. https://x.com/Keir_Starmer/status/2033486641969689041?s=20 He said, "First, we will protect our people in the region. Second, while taking the necessary action to defend ourselves and our allies, we will not be drawn into the wider war. And third, we will keep working towards a swift resolution that brings security and stability back to the region and stops the Iranian threat to its neighbours." Starmer acknowledged that the cost of the West Asia conflict has been borne by the whole world, calling to end the "war as quickly as possible". "I want to see an end to this war as quickly as possible because the longer it goes on, the more dangerous the situation becomes and the worse it is for the cost of living back here at home," the UK Prime Minister said. Greece and Germany also distanced themselves from the war. "The war in Iran has nothing to do with NATO, a German government spokesperson said, adding that Germany would not take part in the war nor in keeping the Strait of Hormuz open through military means. "As long as this war continues, there will be no participation, not even in any effort to keep the Strait of Hormuz open by military means," Al Jazeera quoted the spokesperson as saying. Greece also will not engage in any military operations in the Strait of Hormuz, Greek government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said, as per Al Jazeera. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said that diplomacy is the right way to solve the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz and there are no naval missions Italy is involved in that could be extended to the area. "As far as Hormuz is concerned, I believe diplomacy needs to prevail," Tajani told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting in Brussels, as quoted by Al Jazeera. "Italy is involved in defensive naval missions in the Red Sea but I don't see any missions that can be extended to Hormuz," he added. Trump had said on March 14 that "many countries" will dispatch warships to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, without offering details about which states are on board, as per Al Jazeera. (ANI)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday released yet another video of himself interacting with people amid death rumours circulating on social media. This follows a previous video of Netanyahu sipping coffee and showing his five fingers. "Sticking to the guidelines and winning together >>" Netanyahu captioned the video. https://x.com/netanyahu/status/2033515975379911114?s=20 Dismissing viral claims regarding the health and status of Netanyahu, Israel's Ambassador to India, Reuven Azar, has confirmed the leader is "very much alive" and clarified that recent footage of him is authentic. The Ambassador addressed the viral social media rumours, asserting that a recent video of the Prime Minister at a cafe is genuine and was not created using artificial intelligence. "Prime Minister Netanyahu is alive. I saw him personally when I was in Israel more than once. This video at the cafe is not AI-fabricated. There is a lot of disinformation," he said. Netanyahu on Sunday debunked the rumours of his assassination, following a surge of social media posts suggesting his demise. In a post on X, he posted a video drinking coffee and showing his five fingers after Iran's social media accounts claimed he was dead and his old video showed was AI-generated, showed him with six fingers. Netanyahu captioned the video as, "They say I'm what? Watch >>" https://x.com/netanyahu/status/2033190035764232360?s=20 Earlier in the day, Netanyahu's office confirmed that he is "fine". The clarification was issued after a correspondent from the Anadolu Agency questioned his office regarding widespread claims on digital platforms that "Netanyahu has been assassinated." In a direct response, Netanyahu's office dismissed the reports, stating, "These are fake news; the Prime Minister is fine." The rumours gained momentum after the Israeli PM posted a video of a press conference on Friday discussing the ongoing conflict involving the US, Israel, and Iran. Some social media users alleged that the footage was AI-generated, claiming to have identified six fingers on the Prime Minister's right hand. Specifically, viewers pointed to a moment at the 0:35 mark where Netanyahu raises his hands, asserting that visible extra flesh near his little finger was a 'Classic AI finger glitch'. (ANI)
Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) has voiced serious concern over the killing of Jahangirnagar University student Sharmin Jahan Khadija and called for a prompt, impartial and transparent investigation to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident, Dhaka Tribune reported. Dhaka Tribune reported that in a statement issued on Monday, TIB urged the university authorities and law enforcement agencies to ensure that the investigation is conducted fairly and that those responsible for the crime are brought to justice with strict punishment. As per Dhaka Tribune, Sharmin Jahan Khadija was a student of the Public Administration department at Jahangirnagar University and served as the deputy leader of the university's Youth Engagement and Support (YES) Group. Citing the organisation's statement, Dhaka Tribune said that Khadija was killed on Sunday in the Islamnagar area near the university campus, an incident that has caused widespread concern among members of the JU YES Group. According to Dhaka Tribune, TIB emphasised that the murder should be treated with the highest level of seriousness and that investigators must focus on uncovering the truth behind the killing. Dhaka Tribune further reported that Khadija had been actively involved with the JU YES Group since December 8, 2025, and had played a prominent role in anti-corruption awareness and social initiatives. She was elected deputy leader of the group on January 27, 2026. The report by Dhaka Tribune added that Khadija belonged to the 2021-2022 academic session and was also engaged in several social and voluntary organisations. According to Dhaka Tribune, TIB expressed profound grief over her death and reiterated that authorities must prioritise a transparent investigation so that justice can be ensured at the earliest. "TIB family is deeply saddened by her untimely and tragic death," they said. (ANI)
Sixty-four agricultural groups, including the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA), have sent a letter to the chief executives of two of the nations largest domestic fertilizer producers, urging them to support the removal of duties placed on imported phosphate products from Morocco.

The recent Middle East conflict has led to increases in the prices of U.S. fertilizer, regardless of actual impact to the U.S. supply, says the letter

sent to Mosaic Company CEO Bruce Bodine and J.R. Simplot CEO Garrett Lofto.

We strongly urge efforts to lower and stabilize prices by renouncing support of phosphate duties incurred through antidumping and countervailing duty investigations, underlines US farmers.

In 2020, the Commerce Department, acting on a petition filed by Mosaic, imposed duties on phosphate fertilizers imported from Morocco and Russia. Mosaic claimed at the time that unfairly subsidized foreign companies were flooding the U.S. market with fertilizers and selling the products at extremely low prices. The petition was supported by J.R. Simplot.

As a result of the decision, at least one Moroccan company halted shipments of phosphate fertilizers into the U.S., which led to price hikes and shortages, saddling farmers with a hardship that has only worsened in recent weeks.

The conflict, on top of already high U.S. input prices, further negates the need for U.S. companies to need CVD protection, the letter says, noting that on the contrary U.S. agricultural security requires that farmers have increased access to critical fertilizers.
Pakistan said on Sunday that its forces carried out strikes on military facilities and what it called terrorist hideouts in southern Afghanistan, the latest escalation in a growing confrontation with the interim Taliban government, AzerNEWS reports via TRT World.

Security sources in Pakistan said the operation targeted a technical support site and an equipment storage facility in Kandahar.

Another strike reportedly hit a tunnel near Kandahar that officials said was used by the Afghan Taliban and the terror group Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

Pakistans fighter jets over Afghanistan

Residents in Kandahar said they saw fighter jets flying overhead during the night and heard explosions.

One resident said an aircraft passed over a mountain housing a military facility before a blast lit up the area with flames.

Explosions were also reported in Spin Boldak, southeast of Kandahar, while authorities in Khost Province near the border said clashes broke out late Saturday.

Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the strikes caused limited damage, hitting a drug rehabilitation center and an empty shipping container in Kandahar.

The places they are talking about are far away from these two places, he told AFP, disputing Pakistans account.

The strikes came a day after Pakistan said it had intercepted drone attacks launched from Afghanistan. Officials said at least three locations were targeted, including the countrys military headquarters in Rawalpindi, near Islamabad.

The office of Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari accused the Afghan Taliban of crossing a red line by targeting civilians and vowed retaliation.

Islamabad launched a military operation against militant groups in Afghanistan last month after a string of attacks inside Pakistan. The Taliban government has denied allowing militants to use Afghan territory, while Pakistan insists its strikes are aimed only at extremists.

Border clashes between the two sides have intensified in recent weeks, disrupting trade routes and forcing residents near the frontier to flee their homes.

According to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, at least 75 civilians have been killed and 193 wounded in Afghanistan since February 26 as a result of the escalating violence.
The Council of the Arab League has hailed the efforts made by the Al-Quds Committee, chaired by King Mohammed VI, for the protection the Holy city and preservation of its identity.

In a statement issued Sunday following the Israeli decision to close Al-Aqsa Mosque, undermining the freedom of worship and access to the Holy site, the Council of the pan-Arab organization recognized the key role played by Al-Quds Committee and Bayt Mal Al-Quds Acharif Agency, executive arm of the Committee, and expressed support for their actions for Al-Quds and resilience of the Palestinians living in the Holy city.

The Arab League has also reaffirmed the sovereignty of the State of Palestine over the entire city of East Al-Quds, capital of the State of Palestine.
A series of US government assessments issued between 2021 and 2025 depict Algeria as an entrenched authoritarian system dominated by the military, with Washington expressing growing concern over political repression, limits on civil liberties, state-controlled economy and use of proxies involved in terrorist acts in the region.

The reports come as Senator Ted Cruz introduces legislation in the US Senate calling for classifying Algerias Polisario proxies as a terrorist organization, with Representative Joe Wilson sponsoring a similar bill in the Congress.

According to the State Departments successive humanrights reports, Algerian security forces engaged in arbitrary arrests, maintained what the department describes as political prisons, and were implicated in torture allegations. The reports cites serious problems of judicial independence, noting that President Abdelmadjid Tebboune appoints prosecutors and judges without effective oversight.

US rights monitors say at least 250 people were detained in 2023 for peacefully expressing their opinions. Journalists, lawyers and activists face systematic harassment, and civilsociety groups have repeatedly urged the government to release detainees they consider political prisoners. International rapporteurs cited by Congress say investigations rarely lead to fair trials.

Washington also reports that Algerias political reforms remain largely cosmetic. The 2020 constitution, adopted after the Hirak protest movement, did little to shift power away from the security establishment. Legislative elections in 2021 and 2024 were boycotted by much of the opposition, and congressional reviewers say the votes were held under close military monitoring. US assessments identify Tebboune as the central decisionmaker despite official claims of institutional renewal.

Freedom of expression and association remain restricted. New media laws adopted in 2023 require journalists to disclose sources and expand state control over online outlets. Associations face closures, judicial pressure and prosecution under an expanded antiterrorism law introduced in 2021, which US officials say encompasses nonviolent political activity.

Economically, U.S. investment reports describe Algeria as hampered by bureaucracy, shifting regulations and heavy state intervention. The oil and gas sector continues to generate about 95% of export earnings, while fiscal deficits have widened sharply, rising from an estimated $29 billion in 2022 to $62 billion in 2024. Investors face customs delays, foreigncurrency restrictions and a regulatory environment that U.S. officials say remains unpredictable.

Youth unemployment near 30% fuels social discontent, and many of those detained in recent years are young activists tied to postHirak mobilizations.
Filming for season 5 of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives has been paused amid a domestic assault investigation involving cast member Taylor Frankie Paul and her ex-boyfriend Dakota Mortensen.



Police in Draper City confirmed an open investigation with allegations made by both pic.twitter.com/dYbYpSmoAa  Bye Wig Hello Drama (@HousewivesHub) March 16, 2026

-The Bachelorette is set to premiere this Sunday, March 22 and the star of said show, Frankie Tyler Paul who is also the lead of Secret Lives of Mormon Lives is being accused of alleged domestic assault....again.-SLoMW has been filming non-stop since the show premiered and currently in production for Season 5 that has reportedly been paused to deal with the fallout of Frankie getting into another domestic assault situation against her on again/off again baby daddy, Dakota Mortenson.-Frankie had previously been arrested for domestic violence in 2023.-The 4th season of SLOMW just premiered and shows the days leading up to Frankie filming The Bachelorette. After being cast for the show, Frankie hooked up with her baby daddy Dakota once again and revealed that they did not use protection. It is also being reported that she had a fling with TikTok Musician Ben Lambert.
The energy transition was the first trend to put the electric grid in the spotlight. Built for baseload generation rather than a swarm of wind and solar installations scattered all over the country, the grid and its expansion to incorporate more wind and solar became the main topic of transition discussions. Then came AI, and the conversation suddenly became really urgent. There is one pressing question, however. Who will pay for that expansion?

The U.S. electricity grid, like all national grids, was built out in the first half of the 20th century. According to critics, little has been done on it since then, making the grid as it is unsuitable for modern energy demand and supply trends. On the supply side, there are the wind and solar installations that do not behave like baseload power plants and need new transmission lines to connect to demand centersa problem especially acute in European countries. On the demand side, there is Big Tech and its data centers that are already straining the grids capacity and are about to strain it even further.

Big Tech majors have in recent months announced plans to spend a collective $600 billion in their artificial intelligence business this year alone, Reuters Ron Bousso noted in a recent analysis of the electricity needs of the industry and the challenges it faces in finding this electricityand the grid being able to supply it. This is a massive amount of money being committed to a business that seems to require more electricity than there is readily availableand consumers are feeling the pinch in their monthly bills.

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Opposition against data centers has been growing among people in states with high concentrations of such facilities as they drive electricity prices higher. State governments and Washington have in response been mulling over ways to reduce the burden on voters, with President Trump earlier this year suggesting Big Tech build their own power plants.

We have an old grid. It could never handle the kind of numbers, the amount of electricity that's needed. So I'm telling them, they can build their own plant. They're going to produce their own electricity. It will ensure the company's ability to get electricity, while at the same time, lowering prices of electricity for you, the U.S. president said in February.

The idea of making Big Tech take care of its own electricity supply has been around for a while now, as electricity demand soars and bills follow. Big Tech firms are requesting a supply of hundreds of gigawatts of power for data centers as they connect to the U.S. grid. Power utilities, meanwhile, are allocating billions of dollars on grid expansion in response to the AI-driven surge in demand. Again, the question arises, who will pay for that expansion? Passing the cost on to customers is standard practice for any business, but there is a limit to which an additional cost can be passed on to customers before those customers rebel.

Data center developers have said they want to pay their fair share, but the question is, what does fair mean? Timothy Fox, managing director at ClearView Energy Partners, told the Wall Street Journal recently. Cost allocation for transmission has always been a very complex and difficult question. Its an imperfect science.

The publication noted the case of PJM, the grid operator with the largest concentration of data centers in the world, whose answer to the question of who will foot the bill was to split the costs 50:50 between all customers in the 13 states it serves and between regions. Unfortunately, this only solves part of the problemthe transmission part. There is also another partgeneration capacity.

Reuters Bousso wrote that as of December, Texass grid operator, ERCOT, had applications seeking as much as 226 GW of large-load electricity supply, mostly coming from data center operators. This is three times as much as the existing power generation capacity supplying data centers, Bousso noted. In PJMs area of operation, electricity shortages are on the cards, per the grid operator itself. Because saying that data center operators should generate their own electricity is all very well, but building the generating capacity takes timeand gas turbines are in short supply.

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Big Tech has become a big fan of gas generation recently, as they discovered their power purchase agreements with wind and solar operators are not enough to secure the kind of reliable power supply their data centers need. But even gas power plants take time to build, and that appears to be time that industrial power consumers from the information technology industry dont have, especially including the wait times for gas turbines, which span years due to the sudden surge in demand.

What all this suggests is that policymakers would need to make an important decision, and soon. They will have to choose between encouraging the intensive growth of Big Techs AI business and shielding consumers from sky-high electricity prices.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

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For years, Iran -- together with its long-term sponsors China and Russia -- has been increasing pressure on neighbouring Iraq to remove the remaining powers from its semi-autonomous northern region and subsume it as a regular governorate into a single unified country, firmly rooted in Beijing and Moscows sphere of influence. The reason for this was underscored exclusively to OilPrice.com by a senior energy source who works closely with Irans Petroleum Ministry: By keeping the West out of energy deals in Iraq, the end of Western hegemony in the Middle East will become the decisive chapter in the Wests final demise. On the other side of the power equation, the U.S. and its key allies wanted the Kurdistan Region (and Iraq) to terminate links with Chinese, Russian and Iranian companies connected to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. The U.S. and Israel also had a further strategic interest in utilising the Kurdistan Region as a base for monitoring operations against Iran, as fully analysed in my latest book on the new global oil market order. However, the war in Iran may have turned the relationship between the Baghdad-based Federal Government of Iraq (FGI) and the Erbil-based Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on its head.

Last month saw Baghdads key transport route oil exports (which still generate around 90% of its government revenues) closed off to it, with the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz. This southern route transported nearly all the FGIs crude from Basra into the Persian Gulf, through the Iran-controlled Strait into the Gulf of Oman, and finally into the Arabian Sea, from where it could be moved anywhere Iraq wanted, although much of it headed east to Asia. The only other significant export route in Iraq moves oil to its northern region into the Turkish port of Ceyhan, from which it can be moved into mainland Europe or shipped elsewhere via the Mediterranean. This route is through the Iraq Turkey Pipeline (ITP), operated by the Kurdistan Pipeline Company (KPC), and ultimately controlled on the Iraqi side by the KRG. However, the ITP has long been the focus of the broader power play between East and West, as exercised on the ground respectively by the FGI and KRG. This is because it is the financial lifeline for the KRG, providing its primary economic leverage by which it can continue to function as a semi-independent region. Up until a couple of weeks ago, Baghdad had done everything in its power to prevent the KRG from utilising the ITP to its maximum potential through crude oil sales done independently of Baghdad. This culminated in the Baghdad-engineered shutdown of the pipeline that began in March 2023 and only resumed last September.

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As further testament to those who believe God has an impish sense of humour, Baghdads ability to make any meaningful money from its own crude oil exports now rests squarely on the KRG agreeing to its request to allow it to use the ITP to move its oil to Turkey. This has become even more pressing for the FGI following the decision of newly installed Iranian Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, to keep the Strait of Hormuz blocked until further notice. Given the inability to monetise the vast bulk of the 3.3-3.5 million barrels per day of oil that it usually shipped south through the Strait of Hormuz, Baghdad last week formally asked the KRG that it be allowed to pump up to 200,000 bpd crude from its state-managed Kirkuk oilfields to Turkeys port of Ceyhan, a senior source close to Iraqs Oil Ministry exclusively told OilPrice.com last week. This is a starting point, with the hope that it could be increased in the coming weeks, but weve heard nothing back from them [the KRG] yet, the source added. A senior source in the European Unions (E.U.s) energy security complex told OilPrice.com exclusively over the weekend that any agreement from the KRG would come with a very long list of conditions.

One of these would be meaningful compensation to the KRG for the potential revenue lost as a result of the Baghdad-led shutdown of the ITP from March 2023 to September 2025. KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani stated in June 2025 that losses had already reached US$25 billion, and by the time that the shutdown was lifted the Association of the Petroleum Industry of Kurdistan (APIKUR) estimated total losses to Iraq surpassed US$35 billion. This figure includes several components, including the much lower percentage of its federal budget entitlements over the period, with only IQD 24.3 trillion (US$18.5bn) transferred against the IQD44.4 trillion owed. The KRG also incurred over US$1 billion in arrears to international oil firms for production that occurred before and during the shutdown. And it was forced through financial budget shortfalls from Baghdad to sell some of its oil at knockdown prices to keep the Kurdistan Region afloat. Bigger than that, though, is they [the KRG] want a complete re-drawing of the whole budget payments for oil deal, said the E.U. source.

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Even before Baghdads shenanigans related to the recent extended shutdown of the ITP, the KRG had felt they were on the wrong end of the original 2014 Budget Payments-for-Oil deal that formed the basis of the financial relationship between Baghdad and Erbil. In this, the KRG agreed to export a certain volume of oil from its own fields and Kirkuk via Iraqs State Organization for Marketing of Oil (SOMO) and to not independently sell oil from the fields on the international markets. In return, the FGI in Baghdad would disburse a certain level of payments to the KRG from Iraqs central budget. The initial figures agreed by both sides were 550,000 bpd of oil a day from the KRG side to the Federal Government in Baghdad and 17% of the federal budget after sovereign expenses (around USD500 million at that time) per month in payment from Baghdads side to the KRG. Even before 2017, the deal did not work properly, with both sides accusing the other of failing to fully deliver on their obligations, but in 2017, two events occurred that complicated this already difficult situation. One was the independence referendum in Kurdistan, in which over 90% of the population voted in favour of full independence from the rest of Iraq, as also fully detailed in my latest book on the new global oil market order. The response from Baghdad, and neighbouring Iran and Turkey was an instant putting down of this nationalist momentum. The second was the effective takeover of the KRGs oil sector by Russia, through three key deals, also examined in the book. Part of the reason for the KRGs move to Moscow was that the Kurdistan Region felt it had been betrayed by the West, as it had been led to believe that Washington would support its move to independence as a reward for the Kurdish Peshmerga army being the key instrument that stopped the further rise of Islamic State at the time. That said, Moscow used its newly found leverage over the KRG to exacerbate the chaos between it and the FGI with a view to provoking Baghdad into finally removing all of Erbils powers and simply rolling the Kurdistan Region into the wider Iraq.

As it now stands, the move is on in Erbil to use the KRGs leverage over Baghdad to move further away again from the FGI, and toward the sort of greater independence originally envisioned back in 2013, before the omni-toxic 2014 Budget Payments-for-Oil deal. Specifically, back on 23 April of that year, the KRG passed a bill that would allow it to independently export crude oil from its fields and those of Kirkuk in the event that Baghdad failed to pay its share of oil revenues and exploration costs for crude found in the Region, as analysed in depth in my latest book. A corollary bill to create an oil exploration and production company separate from the FGI in Baghdad and to establish a sovereign wealth fund to take in all energy revenue was approved at the same time. At that point, the Kurdistan Region was producing around 350,000 barrels per day (bpd)  out of a total 3.3 million bpd across Iraq -- and planned to increase this to 1 million bpd by the end of 2015. In sum, the Region intended the 2013 bill to give it complete financial independence from the rest of Iraq as a precursor to total political independence shortly thereafter. The next phase -- after independent oil sales were assured by the Kurdistan Region -- was the planned referendum on independence, which was stymied in 2017. Thats what the Kurdistan Region really wants, and this is a good time for it to steer things back in that direction, concluded the E.U. source.

By Simon Watkins for Oilprice.com

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There is an old military phrase that no plan survives first contact with the enemy, and it seems that Iran missed the memo on how it was meant to respond to the latest attacks on it by the U.S. and Israel. These, and the earlier attacks last year in the same vein, can be seen as an extension of the war effectively launched by Iran via its proxy Hamass murderous attacks of 7 October 2023 on Israel. In any event, wildcard factors are now in play that threaten sustained upheaval across the Middle East for years to come, and elevated oil, gas, and gasoline prices alongside that. Irans new leader (largely a genetic copy of the previous one) has encouraged one such thread with the continued de facto blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, through which up to a third of the worlds oil is transported and about a fifth of its liquefied natural gas (LNG). At around the same time, the -- still, Islamic Republic -- of Iran said the world should be ready for oil at $200 a barrel as its forces hit merchant ships. So, is this likely?

Dealing with the key problem itself -- an effectively closed Strait of Hormuz -- looks impossible at this stage of the conflict, given the operational parameters within which U.S. President Donald Trump wants his military to work. He does not want to put men on the ground around the Strait, which would be the only realistic option to try to ensure safe passage for ships, a senior Washington-based source who works closely with the U.S. Treasury Department exclusively told OilPrice.com last week. Without that, deploying navy ships to escort merchant ships through the Strait would still be subject to drones and missiles launched from elsewhere in Iran, and to the IRGCs [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] fast attack boats, and even before that, the U.S. Navy would have to de-mine the area now as well, he added. As it stands, the Trump administration has said that it is working on a plan to secure the Strait -- including the U.S. Development Finance Corporation providing insurance for ships -- but no definitive proposal has yet emerged, nor any timeline for this.

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In the absence of restoring this key transit route for global oil supplies, the onus will increasingly fall on increasing supplies into the market from elsewhere. Several solutions are being implemented to this effect, just as they were in the early aftermath of Russias 2022 invasion of Ukraine, as thoroughly detailed in my latest book on the new global oil market order. Back then, Brent crude rose to over $120 a barrel  a level it has again approached following the recent U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran. One of the more effective strategies back in 2022 was freeing up barrels from the strategic petroleum reserves of member countries of the International Energy Agency (IEA). The agency last week recommended releasing 400 million barrels from these, dwarfing the five previous collective releases, the largest of which was 180 million barrels across two tranches in 2022. U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright has now said that Trump has authorised the release of 172 million barrels from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, beginning this coming week. The problem is that several IEA countries are unable to free up such reserves at short notice, with the full quota of extra oil available likely to take up to 120 days to come into the market.

Another mechanism to effectively increase global oil supply is to grant temporary waivers for countries to use energy from sanctioned countries. Back in 2022, this policy was applied to oil from then-sanctioned Venezuela, and a blind eye was turned on oil from sanctioned Iran as well. Following the U.S.-led removal of Nicolas Maduro as President on 3 January, Venezuelan oil can be used freely as far as the U.S. is concerned, although volumes remain low after years of oil sector neglect. Now, it is Russia that will be the prime beneficiary, with the U.S. Treasury issuing a temporary 30-day waiver (expiring 11 April 2026) for countries to buy sanctioned Russian oil, including India. Russia has also indicated that it is willing to resume natural gas and LNG exports to countries that have been hit by the Iran conflict, including those reliant on Qatari LNG. That said, even these increased volumes from Russia will not compensate for continued supply losses from the Strait of Hormuz.

Given the ongoing seesawing in the conflict, it is impossible to know precisely how much oil supply will be lost on a steady basis. However, a guide to the price implications of various levels of oil supply loss was quantified a while back by the World Bank. It said that a small disruption in global oil supply  reduced by 500,000 to 2 million bpd (roughly the same as the decrease seen during the Libyan civil war in 2011)  would see the oil price initially rise 3-13%. The Brent crude oil price was trading around $73 a barrel before the latest U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran began; so on this basis, to about $75-82 a barrel. A medium disruption  involving a 3 million to 5 million bpd loss of supply (roughly equivalent to the Iraq war in 2003) would drive the oil price up by 21-35%; so around $88-98 a barrel. And a large disruption  featuring a supply fall of 6 million to 8 million bpd (like the drop seen in the 1973 Oil Crisis)  would push the oil price up 56-75%; so around $113-127 a barrel. The World Bank did not specifically factor in the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz in its projections, but Houston-based Vikas Dwivedi, global energy strategist at Macquarie Group, sees this as creating a domino effect of events that could push crude to $150 a barrel or higher. As he told OilPrice.com last week: We think about the conflict and the closure around the Strait of Hormuz as an impulse function on pricing, meaning the reduced transit is creating the action and will require numerous policy, military, and logistical responses to mitigate the upward price move which we believe could reach $150 per barrel along the path.

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The key point here for Trump is what these figures mean for the U.S. economy and for his -- and his partys chances -- at the 3 November mid-term elections and the later Presidential elections. As fully analysed in my latest book on the new global oil market order, historical data highlights that every US$10 pb change in the oil price results in around a 25-30 cent change in the price of a gallon of gasoline, and for every 1 cent that the average price per gallon of gasoline rises, more than US$1 billion or so per year in consumer spending is lost. Politically speaking, since 1896 the sitting U.S. president has won re-election 11 times out of 11 if the economy was not in recession within two years of an upcoming election. However, sitting U.S. presidents who went into a re-election campaign with the economy in recession won only once out of seven occasions. The same pattern broadly applies to the re-election chances of candidates of any sitting presidents party in U.S. mid-term elections as well. Trump may still seek another term as President, but even if he does not, his Republican Party will want to optimise their chances for another of their members to be in the top job, which means keeping gasoline prices -- and therefore, oil prices -- at the low end.

One thing President Trump is always acutely aware of, the Washington source told OilPrice.com recently, is that he does not want the U.S. drawn into a long, unwinnable conflict like Russia in Ukraine. He famously pledged an end to endless wars [in his commencement address to the United States Military Academy at West Point on 13 June 2020, detailed in my latest book], and that was a vote winner in his electoral base, and hes loyal to them, he said. He can justify a short conflict on the basis that it is in Americas national interests, but anything more than a few weeks, and he knows hell be in trouble with that [voting] bloc, he added. A senior source in the European Unions security complex exclusively told OilPrice.com: He [Trump] laid out four clear objectives for the attacks on Iran at the beginning, and we believe he will say in the coming two or three weeks that he has broadly achieved all of them -- and that he will monitor the nuclear programme, missiles, and proxies on an ongoing basis, and will react again if he sees any danger there for the U.S. -- and then hell pull out.

By Simon Watkins for Oilprice.com

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The United States is close to announcing a coalition to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz, the Wall Street Journal and Axios reported, while Iran warned that it is not close to giving up, and neighboring Iraq continued to feel the spillover effects of the war.

The Trump administration, as soon as this week, plans to announce that multiple countries have agreed to form a coalition that will escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz, the WSJ reported on March 15, citing unnamed US officials.

The report said the matter is still being discussed and that the mission could shift depending on battlefield conditions. It also said potential participants were debating when such a mission would begin  during hostilities or only after a cease-fire.

Axios, citing four sources, later also reported that US President Donald Trump hopes to make the announcement on a coalition in the upcoming week and that he is considering seizing Iran's strategic Kharg Island, which US forces bombed on March 13, if traffic remains blocked in the strait.

In a social media post earlier, US President Donald Trump had said: "The Countries of the World that receive Oil through the Hormuz Strait must take care of that passage, and we will help  A LOT!"

In an interview published on March 16 by The Financial Times, Trump said that NATO faces a "very bad future" if member nations do not help the United States in Iran.

Its only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries of the strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there, the FT quoted Trump as saying.

On March 15, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke with Trump about the importance of reopening the Strait of Hormuz in order to stop disruptions to global shipping, a Downing Street spokesperson said.

Starmer also held a conversation with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, during which they discussed how the ongoing closure of the strait is affecting international shipping. The leaders agreed to continue their discussions on the Middle East conflict during a meeting scheduled for March 16, Downing Street said.

Energy Crisis Fears

The WSJ also reported that US oil executives had warned administration officials that the energy crisis caused by the Iran war is likely to get worse.

It said that in a series of White House meetings and recent talks with Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, the CEOs of Exxon Mobil, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips said disruptions to shipping in the strait would continue to create volatility in global energy markets, WSJ reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Should military forces begin escorting ships through the strait while hostilities were still under way, it would mark a dangerous new phase in the US-Israeli war on Iran.

Tehran has fired back at US Arab allies in the region and could target foreign navies in the strait, even though Trump and other US officials have said Irans Navy has been destroyed during the US-Israeli air strikes.

Despite being pounded by US and Israeli air power, Iran has remained defiant, launching missiles and drones against Israel and US Arab allies in the region.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi on March 15 disputed a claim by Trump that Tehran was seeking to negotiate with Washington. Trump said he was not ready for talks because Tehrans terms were not good enough.

We have never asked for a cease-fire, and we have never asked even for negotiations," Araqchi told CBS TV. "We are ready to defend ourselves for as long as it takes.

Iraq Feels The War

Meanwhile, Iraq continued to feel the effects of the war in the neighboring country, with officials there reporting multiple attacks, either against Iran-allied groups or on US-linked sites.

Iraqi authorities said five people were wounded on March 15 in a rocket attack on the Baghdad airport complex, which houses a US diplomatic facility.

The Iraqi government said that "five rockets targeted Baghdad International Airport and its surrounding area, injuring four airport employees and security personnel, and an engineer."

Security forces said they seized the launchpad used for the attack in the al-Radwaniya area southwest of Baghdad.

Baghdad's heavily fortified airport includes a massive military complex with Iranian military and security bases, a central prison holding many terrorist suspects, and a US diplomatic and logistics site.

Since the beginning of the war, Iraq has closed its airspace across the country. Mainly Sunni Arab Iraq -- nominally a US ally -- also has a large Shi'ite population with militias and political forces linked to Iran.

Iran-allied militias have claimed daily drone and missile attacks against US bases.

The US Embassy in Baghdad has also been targeted, with a drone striking the complex on March 14 -- the same day three Iran-allied fighters were killed in strikes, blamed by many on the United States, in the capital.

Reuters quoted security sources as saying three explosive drones hit an Iranian opposition camp east of Sulaimaniya in Iraqi Kurdistan on March 15, killing one fighter.

Israeli military spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin said that Israel still has thousands of targets to strike inside Iran.

"We still have thousands of targets in Iran, and we are identifying new targets every day," he said.

Meanwhile, Israel continued to batter sites believed to be housing Hezbollah members in Lebanon. Israel's military late on March 15 said it was striking Hezbollah infrastructure in the southern suburbs of Beirut following earlier raids focused closer to the border.

By RFE/RL

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China has remained publicly silent after U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday urged Beijing to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the critical oil chokepoint that has been largely shut down during the escalating war with Iran.

The standoff around the narrow waterway, through which roughly 20% of the worlds oil supply normally passes, has already sent crude and natural gas prices sharply higher, raising fears of a sustained disruption to global energy flows.

According to reporting by the Associated Press, Chinese officials declined to directly address Trumps request when asked during a daily briefing on Monday, instead reiterating Beijings broader call for de-escalation in the region.

The White House is pushing major oil-importing nations to take a more active role in protecting tanker traffic through the strait. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said his administration has contacted roughly seven countries that rely heavily on Middle Eastern crude shipments and expects them to help secure the route.

Im demanding that these countries come in and protect their own territory, because it is their territory, Trump said, referring to the shipping corridor used by many Asian economies to import energy supplies.

China is particularly exposed to any disruption in Hormuz traffic. Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration shows that the majority of crude moving through the strait ultimately heads to Asian markets, including China, India, Japan and South Korea.

In the first quarter of 2025, more than one-third of the oil transiting the Strait of Hormuz was destined for China, according to reporting by The Hill citing EIA data.

Washington is now working toward assembling a multinational naval coalition to escort commercial shipping through the passage. Officials cited by The Wall Street Journal said the mission could be announced as soon as this week, though details remain under discussion and participation from key partners is not yet confirmed.

European and Asian governments have reacted cautiously so far. Britain confirmed Prime Minister Keir Starmer discussed reopening the strait with Trump, while South Korea said it would closely coordinate with Washington before making any decision.

Trump has also signaled that the standoff could affect his diplomatic schedule with Beijing. Trump told the Financial Times on Monday that he may delay a planned visit to China later this month if there is no clarity on whether Beijing will help secure the strait. The trip is currently scheduled for March 31 through April 2 and would include a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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The European Union foreign ministers are discussing on Monday the potential to move an already operational mission in the Middle East region to try to help unblock the Strait of Hormuz, the EUs foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said ahead of the meeting.

We will discuss the Middle East... And there, the main topic will be how to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, Kallas said.

The EU, while receiving only 12% of Qatars LNG  which is now shut-in due to the war  is exposed to spiking natural gas prices as Asia is now winning the competition for alternative spot supply. The soaring oil prices and choked fuel flows in the Middle East and in Asia, which is prioritizing domestic supply, are also putting a strain on energy costs for households and businesses across the EU.

Ahead of the foreign ministers council today, Kallas said that she spoke with

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres about whether it was possible to also have the same kind of initiative like we had the Black Sea initiative, how to get the grain from Ukraine out, because the closure of Strait of Hormuz is really dangerous for the oil supplies, energy supplies to Asia.

The EU has the ASPIDES mission in the Red Sea and will discuss whether it is possible to really change the mandate of this mission, Kallas said.

Related: Six Stocks That Could Soar in an Era of Regional Instability

If we want to have security in this region, then it would be easiest to actually already use the operation that we have in the region, and maybe a change a bit.

It is in our interest to keep the Strait of Hormuz open and that is why we are also discussing what we can do in this regard, from the European side, the EUs top diplomat said.

After bombing Irans vital Kharg Island this weekend, U.S. President Donald Trump urged Countries of the World that receive Oil through the Hormuz Strait must take care of that passage, and we will help  A LOT!

By Michael Kern for Oilprice.com

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The Japanese government is considering the possibility of purchasing Ukrainian-made attack drones to strengthen its defense capabilities, AzerNEWS reports.

Kyodo News reported on this, citing its own sources.

One option for implementing the plan is to sign a bilateral arms transfer agreement that includes provisions for protecting classified information, the sources said.

The idea emerged after Ukraine itself proposed such cooperation to Japan, a diplomatic source told the media outlet. Ukrainian drones are noted for their long flight range and resistance to electronic warfare.

Although purchasing drones from Israel is also being considered, the Japanese government appears to believe that acquiring drones from Ukraine would be less controversial amid widespread international criticism of Israels military actions in the Gaza Strip.

Although Japan has little experience in the field of drones, Ukraine has repeatedly improved its systems in a short time based on real combat experience, which has made them very effective, a representative of the Japanese Ministry of Defense stated.

In the draft budget for the 2026 fiscal year, which begins in April, the Ministry allocated JPY 277.3 billion ($1.7 billion) to strengthen defense capabilities with unmanned systems.

In particular, Japan plans to develop the concept of Synchronized, Hybrid, Integrated and Enhanced Littoral Defense (SHIELD) to counter potential attacks on remote islands. The plan includes the purchase of a large number of drones, including strike and reconnaissance systems.

The Japanese government is also moving to relax rules on the transfer of defense equipment, possibly as early as April, to allow the export of lethal weapons in principle.

A proposal from the ruling coalition, submitted earlier this month to Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, outlines allowing weapons transfers if an agreement on defense equipment transfers is signed and granting Ukraine exceptional status in view of Japans national security needs.

In February, it was announced that Ukraine was ready to cooperate with Japan in the defense sector, including sharing technologies for naval drones and UAV interceptors. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky shared this in an interview with Kyodo News. According to him, deeper cooperation in this area could become a historic step for both countries.

Zelensky noted that Japan is among the countries with licensed production and domestic manufacturing of missiles and air defense systems capable of countering ballistic threats. Ukraine would therefore be interested in joint production or technology exchange.
The war in the Middle East is exposing the high cost of dependence on fossil fuelsit is ripping away national security and sovereignty, the UN climate secretary told an EU summit on Monday.

Sunlight doesnt depend on narrow and vulnerable shipping straits, wind blows without massive taxpayer-funded naval escorts [and] renewable energy allows countries to insulate themselves from global turmoil and to side-step might-is-right politics, Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), said at the 2026 Green Growth Summit in Brussels.

According to Stiell, the oil and gas market turmoil resulting from the war in the Middle East is an abject lesson on how reliance on fossil fuels can harm global economies and national security.

The war and the de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the vital chokepoint through which 20% of global oil and gas flows pass, have pushed energy prices up by about 50% in two weeks, with the benchmark crude prices at $100 per barrel early on Monday.



Related: One Stock To Watch As the Rare Earth War Intensifies

The EU is particularly vulnerable to natural gas price spikes, while the biggest supply disruption in history is also choking off jet fuel and diesel supply as Middle Eastern flows are off the market, Asian refiners slash run rates, and Asian fuel producers are limiting or banning fuel exports to ensure their domestic supply.

Stiells message to ministers meeting in Brussels was simple: Meek dependence on fossil fuel imports will leave Europe forever lurching from crisis to crisis, with households and industries literally paying the price, the UN said.

Renewables turn the tables, the official added, noting that fossil fuel dependency means economies, household budgets and business bottom lines are at the mercy of geopolitical shocks and price volatility in a chaotic world.

Economies are scrambling to contain the fallout from depending on Middle East oil and gas supply and energy commodity prices. India and China are boosting coal consumption and production, developed north Asian economies are likely to boost nuclear power and renewable energy rollout, and Europe will seek to continue raising the share of clean energy supply while considering capping natural gas prices.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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Iraq is scrambling to restore a northern oil export route that would send crude from the Kirkuk fields directly to Turkeys Mediterranean port of Ceyhan, as the war involving Iran has effectively shut down the countrys southern export corridor through the Gulf and forced Baghdad into an urgent search for alternative outlets.



According to Reuters reporting, Oil Minister Hayan Abdul-Ghani said Iraq is revamping sections of the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline network so federal crude can flow north without relying on infrastructure controlled by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq.

The move comes as Baghdad remains locked in a dispute with the KRG over export routes. Earlier Monday, Abdul-Ghani said Iraq had not yet secured Kurdish approval to transport roughly 200,000 to 250,000 barrels per day of Kirkuk crude through the Kurdistan Regions pipeline to Ceyhan.

Instead, Iraq is preparing to revive its own federal route. Abdul-Ghani said the Iraqi-Turkish pipeline capable of carrying 200,000 to 250,000 barrels per day is undergoing final testing and could begin exporting oil directly from Kirkuk to Turkey within about a week, according to Rudaw.

Related: One Stock To Watch As the Rare Earth War Intensifies

Only about 100 kilometers of the 48-inch Baiji-Fishkhabour pipeline remain to undergo hydrostatic testing. Once completed, crude could be pumped directly from the Kirkuk fields into the system without passing through the Kurdistan Regions export network.

The pipeline has been largely out of service since 2014 after sustaining heavy damage during the Islamic States advance across northern Iraq.

The push to revive the northern route reflects the scale of the export crisis now facing Iraq. Before the regional war escalated, the country was producing just over 4 million barrels per day under an OPEC quota of about 4.4 million bpd. But military operations in the Gulf and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz halted Iraqi oil exports within days of the conflict erupting.

Production has since collapsed to roughly 1.5-1.6 million barrels per day, with output now maintained primarily to supply domestic refineries and power plants.

Baghdad has attempted to improvise emergency export routes, including trucking crude through neighboring countries such as Turkey, Syria, and Jordan. Those shipments total roughly 200,000 barrels per day, which is only a fraction of Iraqs normal export capacity.

The crisis has also begun to disrupt operations at the countrys northern fields. Iraqs state-run North Oil Company has taken over operations at four major Kirkuk oil and gas fieldsAvana, Bay Hasan, Jambour, and Khabbazafter BP withdrew staff due to security concerns following the outbreak of the regional war, according to Rudaw.

The takeover allows the state company to run the fields for at least one year to prevent operational disruptions.

BP had previously signed a long-term agreement with Baghdad to redevelop the Kirkuk fields, a project expected to increase oil output by up to 500,000 barrels per day and expand gas investment across the region.

Meanwhile tensions between Baghdad and Erbil have intensified over control of northern export routes, revenue sharing and security in the Kurdish region.

Kurdish officials say the federal government has imposed what they describe as a suffocating embargo on the regions energy sector, while Baghdad has accused the Kurdistan Regional Government of refusing requests to move up to 300,000 barrels per day through the Kurdish pipeline system.

Repeated drone and missile attacks blamed on Iran-aligned armed groups targeting energy infrastructure in the Kurdistan Region have further complicated efforts to restart exports through the northern corridor.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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Japan has started releasing oil from its reserve to stabilize supply amid the continuing tanker traffic freeze in the Strait of Hormuz.

Initially, the government will release 15 days worth of oil consumption and then continue with another 30 days worth at the end of the month, Japanese media reported.

Resource-poor Japan is overwhelmingly dependent on imported energy. In crude oil, Japanese refiners rely on imports from the Middle East for as much as 95% of their feedstocks. Most of the oil comes from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar. Of these Middle Eastern supplies, about 70% typically arrive in Japan on tankers traveling through the Strait of Hormuz.

Because of that high level of dependence on foreign sources, refiners called on the government earlier this month to tap the oil reserve to avoid a supply crunch, according to a Bloomberg report citing unnamed sources. A Reuters report from last week cited a Japanese lawmaker as saying the government had asked the operator of the strategic oil storage site to prepare for emergency releases of crude.

At the end of 2025, Japan had 254 days of oil reserves, including 146 days worth of consumption in national reserves, and more than 100 days of inventories with the private sector. This is a much more comfortable supply cushion than, for instance, Australias, but if the crisis extends in time, the situation will become problematic for the G7 member, which boasts one of the largest oil reserves globally.

The last time Japan was forced to tap its oil reserves was in 2022, when, as a member of the International Energy Agency, it took part in a joint release of oil to calm down soaring oil prices after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The IEA is once again set to release oil from its joint stocksthe largest in history at a total of 400 million barrels.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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Interest in the Alaska LNG export project has spiked since the war in the Middle East choked 20% of global LNG supply and sent Asian buyers scrambling for expensive spot cargoes.

Glenfarne Group, the majority owner and developer of the Alaska LNG Project, aims to sign soon binding offtake agreements with buyers and advance final investment decisions to later in 2026 and early 2027, company executives told Reuters on the sidelines of an energy conference in Tokyo on Monday.

There's a real interest, particularly with everything happening in the Middle East right now. Everyone would like to get those (preliminary deals) turned into long-term agreements, Adam Prestidge, president of Glenfarne Alaska LNG, told Reuters.

The $44-billion Alaska LNG project, strongly promoted and supported by the Trump Administration over the past year, has received a shot in the arm from the conflict as buyers seek greater diversification, following initial lukewarm reception of the Alaska project among Asian LNG buyers and investors.

Alaska LNG is designed to deliver North Slope natural gas to Alaskans and export LNG to U.S. allies across the Pacific. An 800-mile pipeline is planned to transport the gas from the production centers in the North Slope to south-central Alaska for exports. In addition, multiple gas interconnection points will ensure meeting in-state gas demand.

Glenfarne now looks to take the FID for the pipeline in 2026, later than a previous target in late 2025, Prestidge told Reuters. The developer also aims for an FID on the export terminal in early 2027, the executive added.

The company is now working to finalize binding agreements and ensure financing, and all these steps are all well underway, Prestidge said.

Last month, just before the Middle East war erupted, Glenfarne signed a preliminary 20-year agreement with TotalEnergies, under which the French supermajor, a key global LNG trader, would buy 2 million tons per year of LNG from the Alaska LNG project.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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Oil markets remained volatile in early Asian trade on Monday as Trump attempts to form a broader coalition of countries to protect shipping through the Strait of Hormuz amid fresh attacks on energy infrastructure across the Middle East.

At the time of writing, West Texas Intermediate had dipped 0.53% to $98.19 after an initial surge, while Brent was continuing its climb, rising 0.41% to $103.60 per barrel.

The volatility follows a weekend of escalation in the Middle East conflict, beginning on Friday evening when the U.S. bombed military assets on Kharg Island, the heart of Iran's oil export system. Iran responded by warning the UAE to evacuate three major ports, claiming the ports had been used by the U.S. to launch strikes.

On Saturday, a drone attack resulted in a fire that halted oil loadings at the UAE's Port of Fujairah. Oil loadings later resumed, with reports that the fire had started from debris after the drone had been successfully intercepted. The same day, a missile struck inside the U.S. embassy compound in Baghdad, leading the U.S. to update a security alert telling citizens to leave the country.

By Sunday, there were further reports of attacks across the region, including strikes on the Ali Al Salem base in Kuwait, Baghdad International Airport, and Dubai International Airport. The UAE said it had been attacked by four ballistic missiles and six drones from Iran, while Saudi Arabia reported intercepting 37 drones in a matter of hours in its eastern region, home to major oil installations.

To counter the escalating supply risk in the region, Japan began releasing oil reserves on Monday, starting with 15 days of private-sector reserves and then one month of state-held stocks, for a total of about 80 million barrels. The move underscores how seriously Asian importers are treating the supply threat from Hormuz.

Washington, meanwhile, insisted that the crisis will be temporary, with U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright saying on Sunday that the war will "certainly come to the end in the next few weeks" and that energy prices would begin to ease afterward.

Prices today are still far below what they were in the Biden administration, where they were begging, bartering and bribing Iran to behave better. pic.twitter.com/kwdJ7rRRNM  Secretary Chris Wright (@SecretaryWright) March 15, 2026

President Trump, meanwhile, said he was in talks with several countries about forming a coalition to reopen and police the Strait of Hormuz, though he declined to identify which governments might join. He said such an operation would begin immediately once a coalition was in place.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed also condemned the continued Iranian attacks on Gulf states in a phone call, calling them a serious escalation that threatens regional security and stability.

For oil traders, the focus will be on tanker flows through the Strait of Hormuz and any further attacks on infrastructure or production. While reserve releases and messaging may move prices temporarily, this is ultimately a question of supply fundamentals and logistics.

By Josh Owens for Oilprice.com

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By Taxpayers Association of Oregon Foundation,

Just in time during the Academy Awards we offer our results of the Oregon Taxpayers Awards as voted upon by 400+ responses.

Here are the results:

WORST OREGON POLITICAL FIGURE

WINNER! Oregon Governor Tina Kotek: Her $4.3 billion gas tax (hikes gas taxes 15%, ups DMV fee 300%, hikes transit wage tax 100%) soared through the Legislature with as little public notice and involvement as possible. That gas tax is currently suspended because a referendum petition drive was launched by Senator Bruce Starr, Representative Ed Diehl, and Jason Williams of the Taxpayers Association of Oregon, which freezes the tax until a public vote is held if the petition secures the required number of valid signatures. Kotek threw a $9,330 taco party for government employees. Kotek authored a bill that raises the threat level requirements for registering as a sex offender, meaning that many of the 18,000 unregistered violent sex offendersrapists and sexual predatorsno longer qualify as dangerous under the new classification. Another Kotek bill delays (possibly by years) the time required to process sex offenders. Both bills died. (KATU 1/31/25, SB 820, SB 821)

RUNNER UPS:

 Kris Strickler, Head of the Oregon Dept. of Transportation (resigned): The projected costs of the Rose Quarter road expansion increased from $450 million to $1.9 billion (they wanted to cap Interstate 5 and build a park and houses on top of it), stalling the project and prompting the project manager to resign after only eight months. The I-5 bridge between Oregon and Washington saw its projected costs balloon from $4.8 billion to $10 billion, which has stalled the project and resulted in the project managers resignation. Under Stricklers administration, ODOT made a disastrous $1 billion accounting error. (OPB 11/13/25, OPB 12/11/25, Clark County Today 9/5/25, KGW 3/5/25)

 Congresswoman Val Hoyle: She violated the STOCK ACT when she failed to report her stock trades, which turned out to be extremely profitable. In fact, in three years, her investments grew from $439,000 to $1.7 million! A 2025 audit revealed gross mismanagement during her tenure as head of Oregons Labor Department, with civil rights and labor-violation cases ignored, dropped, and backlogged. Hoyle voted for the government shutdown (as a protest to spend more money despite the Federal $38 trillion debt) and voted against the Laken Riley Act, which mandated detention for illegal migrants who commit crimes like burglary, assaulting law enforcement, and violence that leads to death. (OPB 9/17/25, State Audit 11/25, DHS PR 1/29/25)

 Leslee Barnes, Multnomah County Preschool Director (resigned): As director, she diverted $833,494 of county tax dollars to her own family-owned child care business, which is a blatant conflict of interest. Even worse, it served only nine children at the time  $92,000 per child! Barness county government salary was $151,000. (Willamette Week 7/29/25)

 Six Oregon government officials publicly celebrate the murder of Charlie Kirk: A Cornelius school board member, a Springfield school employee, a Lincoln City teacher, a Pleasant Hill School official, a McMinnville City Councilor, and a Wilsonville Dev. Review Board member all made positive online comments on Charlie Kirks murder. Liberal activists cheer Kirks murder while being angry over the death of foreign drug-boat narco-terrorists. (Oregonian 9/11/25, Lincoln Chronicle 9/19/25, KVAL 9/12/25, KEZI 9/17/25, KOIN 9/18/25)

WORST EXAMPLE OF OREGON GOVERNMENT WASTE

WINNER! Taxpayers subsidized a $700 million Ritz-Carlton hotel that went bankrupt. The most expensive hotel in Oregon received tax breaks and went bankrupt within the first year of opening. The newly built food court next to the hotel also received tax breaks. (Oregonian 4/9/25)

RUNNER UPS:

 $200,000 for Kotek and staff to travel to Asia to promote Oregon. We could not find a single news article or public relations activity to complement their core mission during their long 14-day trip. (OPB 9/25/25)

 $46,100 European trip for politicians to study car-free cities. Three Portland City Councilors, along with staff, flew to Vienna to study government-controlled housing programs and car-free cities. (Oregonian 9/18/25)

 $91,000 Hawaii travel for sewer agency meetings. Various public sewer officials in Washington County helped to create a separate Oregon-based sewer organization and then directed it to host their information meetings in Hawaii (2,600 miles away from where both organizations were located). Some staff stayed at $1,000/night beachfront luxury hotels. (Oregonian 11/21/25)

 Koteks $9,330 taco-tostada party for government employees. Koteks government employee appreciation event went against ethics guidelines. (Oregon Capitol Chronicle 1/8/25)

 $900,000 fence to block the homeless. ODOT has spent $900,000 on a single fence to keep the homeless away from the I-405 freeway. Homeless people have just moved around it. (Oregonian 6/11/25)

 $2,900 in adult-intimacy toys for the state psychiatric hospital. More than 60 items at taxpayer expense were provided to patients to help them express themselves. (KGW-TV 6/26/25)

 $1.2 billion for non-citizen health-care benefits. 105,000 non-citizens are enrolled in Healthier Oregon program. (KATU 10/20/25)

 $10 million in tax dollars to build a Portland mega-restaurant. Lawmakers approved the construction of a celebrity-branded James Beard food court. Why are national celebrities getting tax bailouts from Oregonians? Another Portland food court, the newly built Flock Food Court, next to the Ritz-Calrton Hotel, also received tax benefits. Make no mistake, taxpayer-funded restaurants steal customers and destroy other restaurants that are not government-funded and that play by the rules like everyone else. Over 100 Portland restaurants have closed due to the 20 new/increased taxes enacted since 2019. This is a doom loop where the government over-taxes restaurants into extinction while using the tax money to pay private people to build new ones. (OPB 6/28/25, KOIN-TV 1/19/25)

 Affordable housing director paid $240,000 to leave. Portland paid its Housing Department head to leave after serving only one year. The director discovered $20 million in unspent renter-relief funds and was told not to make the discovery public. (OPB 11/20/25)

 Benefits for those who quit work. Newly enacted SB 916 gives 10 weeks of unemployment benefits to workers who leave jobs to strike against their employers. Oregon joins three other states in this self-defeating policy. Coincidentally, all three pay-to-strike states lead the nation in unemployment. (SB 916 in 2025)

GOLDEN SCHNOZ: (government sticks its nose where it doesnt belong)

WINNER! Cities block Federal ICE employees from renting hotel rooms. Newports mayor and the city of Waldport have opposed Federal immigration enforcement agents to find a hotel for a major operation. At the same time, the State of Oregon spent $29 million of tax dollars for the Ramada Inn airport hotel, which exclusively housed non-citizen migrants entering Oregon. (OPB 11/25/25, Oregonian 2/5/25)

RUNNER UPS:

 Bill limits elected lawmakers to only 25 bills. The Oregon Senate President authored a bill limiting the number of bills. This handicaps minority party and independent lawmakers, who already feel like their legislation is blocked by the same Senate President. (HB 2006)

 SB 426 punishes property owners if they are victims (yes, victims) of theft. Oregon became the first state in the nation to hold homeowners financially liable if they are cheated by a contractor who fails to properly pay his workers. That means when you pay a contractor $200,000 to build a house, if the contractor doesnt pay his workers and leaves town, you are responsible for paying the $200,000 again.

WORST BUREAUCRATIC BUNGLER OF 2025

WINNER! 20 prisoners accidentally released. Oregon Corrections accidentally gave early release to 20 prisoners based on confusing Judicial orders. Police re-arrested 17 of them, while three others are still missing. (Oregonian 11/26/25)

RUNNER UPS:

 Oregon has the nations 8th highest food-stamp error rate at a whopping 14%. Nearly 1 in 7 food stamp dollars were incorrectly calculated in the recent audit. (Oregonian 8/14/25)

 ODOT makes $1 billion accounting error. The Transportation Dept. failed to perform a basic accounting function, causing a $1.1 billion forecasting error. The error misrepresented nearly 20% of their entire budget, forcing a massive delay in projects to avoid plunging into debt. This comes as ODOTs mismanagement of costs for the I-5 bridge replacement, Rose Quarter project, and Abernathy Bridge have all exploded 200% to 300% above projections. (KOIN-6 2/7/25)

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By Taxpayers Association of Oregon Foundation,

Amazon has offered $83 million to buy solar energy and storage in Eastern Oregon to power its data centers, but a state council needs to sign off on the deal before its finalized. The Sunstone project sold to Amazon in the Pine Gate Renewables bankruptcy court auction in January, but the Oregon Energy Facility Siting Council must approve the purchase before Amazon owns the 1,200 megawatts of solar power and 7,200-megawatt hours of energy storage on 17 square miles in Morrow County. Amazon, among many companies seeking to power new AI data centers throughout the United States, has contended PacifiCorp failed to meet its obligations to supply power to data centers in Eastern Oregon, an allegation PacifiCorp denies.

Data centers have become huge energy consumers which has in some cases reduced available supply and driven up electricity costs for the region. Below is a chart to see how electricity rates have climbed over 50% since 2022.
Senate Republican Caucus Mourn the Passing of Former Oregon Senate President Gene Derfler

By Oregon State Senate Republican Caucus,

SALEM, Ore.  The Oregon Senate Republican Caucus is mourning the passing of former Oregon Senate President Gene Derfler, who died at the age of 101.

Gene Derfler devoted decades of his life to serving his state and his country as a World War II naval aviator, successful Salem small business owner and realtor, and a generational leader in the Oregon Legislature. He served in the Oregon House of Representatives from 1988 to 1994 and in the Oregon Senate from 1994 to 2002, including terms as Senate Majority Leader and Senate President.

During his time in the Legislature, Derfler played a central role in reforming Oregons workers compensation system and championed policies aimed at strengthening opportunities for workers, families, and small businesses.

On February 24, 2026, Derfler returned to the Capitol, where he received a Senate courtesy and joined Senate Republican Leader Bruce Starr (R-Dundee) at his desk on the Senate floor.

Gene Derfler was the kind of leader who left Oregon better than he found it. It was an honor to welcome him back to the Senate just weeks ago, said Leader Starr. Those of us who had the privilege to serve alongside him saw firsthand his steady leadership, sharp mind, and deep love for this state. Oregon is better because of Gene Derflers life of service, and he will be greatly missed.

Derfler was born in Portland on May 24, 1924. After serving as a naval aviator during World War II, he built a successful furniture and appliance business in Salem and later worked in real estate before entering public service. In the Legislature, he became known for his focus on practical reforms and bipartisan problem-solving.

After retiring from public office, Derfler remained active in Salem, pursuing woodworking and crafting intricate carvings of native Oregon fish and wooden toys for local children. One of his piecesa lifelike Chinook salmonis displayed in the lobby of the Senate Republican Caucus office.

He and his beloved wife, Thelma, were married for 77 years and raised three children together. She passed away in 2022.

The Oregon Senate Republican Caucus extends its condolences to the Derfler family and all those who knew and admired Genes remarkable life and legacy.


By Oregon State Senator David Brock Smith:

Newsletter excerpt of sponsored and chief-sponsored bills,

CHIEF SPONSORED LEGISLATION

HB4075  Digest: This Act makes the State Treasurer use unclaimed moneys to guarantee a loan to a hospital. Requires the State Treasurer to use up to $44 million from the Unclaimed Property and Estates Fund to guarantee a loan made to a rural hospital for financial stabilization.

HB4097  Digest: This Act lets the Oregon Ocean Science Trust form a nonprofit. Authorizes the Oregon Ocean Science Trust to create and maintain a nonprofit organization.

HB4153  Digest: Allows farm stores on farmlands. Allows counties to approve farm stores as nonfarm use on lands zoned for farm use.

SCR204  Digest: Honors the AOC on the 120th year since it was founded. Honors the Association of Oregon Counties on the 120th anniversary of its founding.

SCR206  Digest: Pays respect to the life and memory of Aaron Woods. In memoriam: State Senator Aaron Lionel Woods, 1949-2025.

CO-SPONSORED LEGISLATION

HB4045  Digest: The Act requires a response within a specified time for certain search warrants. The Act goes into effect when the Governor signs it. Requires a social media platform to respond to a search warrant within 72 hours of service, and all other communications providers to respond within five business days of service, when the warrant pertains to an investigation of stalking or a crime constituting domestic violence.

HB4047  Digest: The Act tells OHA to create a new hospital license type. Requires the Oregon Health Authority to adopt rules and procedures to allow a hospital to apply for a license as a rural emergency hospital.

HB4052  Digest: The Act makes a new tax credit for new banks. Creates a corporate excise tax credit for each of the first three years that a bank does business in this state. Applies only to Oregon-chartered banks that commence business in tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2027, and before January 1, 2033.

HB4099  Digest: This Act creates the Task Force on Responding to Veterans in Crisis and makes the task force submit a report to the legislature. Establishes the Task Force on Responding to Veterans in Crisis and directs the task force to submit a report to the interim committee of the Legislative Assembly related to emergency management and veterans no later than September 15, 2026. Sunsets the task force on December 31, 2027.

HB4102  Digest: This Act changes the way DEQ can agree to make a regulatory process work faster or better. Modifies the authority of the Department of Environmental Quality to enter into agreements with regulated entities to expedite or enhance a regulatory process.

HB4108  Digest: This Act lets Eugene add some noncontiguous land to the city. Allows the City of Eugene to annex noncontiguous land upon receipt of a petition from all owners of the land that satisfies four eligibility criteria.

HB4121  Digest: The Act creates new systems and structures and changes law to improve emergency response in the state. Creates authority to coordinate emergency management. Requires state agencies to designate liaisons for emergency management. Imposes duties on the Oregon Department of Emergency Management related to management of emergency preparedness assets. Modifies the definitions of and grant requirements for Resilience Hubs and Resilience Networks. Authorizes certain training facilities to host overnight training activities. Requires the Oregon Department of Emergency Management to obtain fingerprints of employees and contractors. Authorizes counties to waive certain civil penalties related to food service facilities during emergencies. Requires the Department of the State Fire Marshal to study health coverage for firefighters. Establishes grant programs for emergencies.

HB4131  Digest: The Act says the BOP has to give a license to run a mobile pharmacy to someone who meets the requirements. Directs the State Board of Pharmacy to issue a license to operate a mobile pharmacy to a qualified applicant. Establishes requirements for a mobile pharmacy.

HB4132  Digest: Makes changes to veteran laws. Requires the director to be a veteran who has received a discharge or release under other than dishonorable conditions. Allows the director to appoint a deputy director, subject to approval by the Governor. Directs the department to develop and implement a grant program for suicide prevention and workforce training and preparation. Allows moneys in the Veterans Services Fund to be used for the grant program. Increases an expenditure limitation for the purpose of the grant program. Directs the director to distribute moneys appropriated for county veterans service officer programs on a quarterly basis. Directs the department to provide a report on the quarterly distribution process. Changes who are allowed to request county veteran discharge records. Increases, from $5,000 to $10,000, the cap on the individual grant amount that is allowed under the Veteran Educational Bridge Grant Program. Directs the Judicial Department, in consultation with the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission, to study methods for providing access to veterans treatment courts to residents of each county or judicial district. Takes effect on July 1, 2026.

HB4151  Digest: The Act changes the crime of initiating a false report. Increases the penalties for the crime of initiating a false report when a person intentionally causes an enhanced law enforcement response and recklessly causes serious physical injury or death as a result of the response. Punishes by a maximum of five years imprisonment, $125,000 fine, or both.

HB4157  Digest: The Act says that some hearsay about some sex crimes can come into evidence though the speaker is available. Provides that certain hearsay statements related to certain sex crimes are not inadmissible in evidence, even though the declarant is available as a witness.

HCR201  Digest: Honors an important agency that helps fight fires as it turns 75 years old. Celebrates the 75th anniversary of the Oregon Fire District Directors Association.

HJM201  Digest: Asks Congress to pass a new law so people who were victims of wildfires will keep getting the help they need. Urges Congress to pass legislation to permanently extend federal tax cuts for wildfire victims.

SB1535  Digest: The Act allows ELC to change some standards for who can use a day care subsidy program. The Act tells DELC to create a work group to study and report to the Senate and the House on liability insurance issues for child care providers and on how to increase access and reduce costs for those providers. The Act sunsets the work group in 2029. The Act takes effect 91 days after session ends. Allows the Early Learning Council to modify the priority given to families receiving temporary assistance for needy families for participation in the Employment Related Day Care subsidy program. Directs the Department of Early Learning and Care to convene a work group to study the cost and availability of liability insurance and other liability issues for child care providers. Identifies work group participants. Directs the work group to report to the Legislative Assembly on options to increase child care provider access to liability insurance, to reduce the financial burden of liability insurance on child care providers and to use other strategies to address liability issues for child care providers. Requires the work group to submit the report to the Legislative Assembly by November 1, 2027. Sunsets the work group on January 2, 2029.

SB1561  Digest: This Act allows an owner a separate path to restore a destroyed home. Requires local governments to approve restoration or replacement of dwellings rendered uninhabitable under an alternative process that is not a land use decision.

SB1585  Digest: The Act would set a maximum percent required for matching grants made by the state to small cities for capital projects. Sets maximum matching fund requirements for state grants to small incorporated cities for certain capital construction and municipal infrastructure and improvements.
A fighting century from Salman Ali Agha, supported by Saad Masood and Shaheen Shah Afridi, wasnt enough as Pakistan fell 11 runs short against Bangladesh in the third ODI at the Shere Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka, on Sunday. The hosts clinched the series 2-1.

By PakPassion Staff (March 15th, 2026)

Chasing 291, Pakistan were rocked early, losing three wickets within the first three overs. Salmans resilience kept the chase alive, guiding Pakistan deep into the contest.

On debut, Saad Masood showed maturity under pressure, adding 79 runs with Salman for the sixth wicket to steady the innings. Saad struck 38 off 44 balls with five boundaries. Later, captain Shaheen Shah Afridi joined Salman to forge a crucial 68-run stand for the eighth wicket. Shaheens aggressive 37 off 38 balls, featuring two fours and two sixes, brought Pakistan close to the target.

Salman was the standout performer, scoring a brilliant 106 off 98 deliveries with nine fours and four sixes. He also shared a 50-run partnership with fellow debutant Muhammad Ghazi Ghori, who contributed 29 off 38 balls. Despite his heroics, Pakistan were bowled out for 279 in the final over.

For Bangladesh, Taskin Ahmed starred with four wickets. Earlier, their batting was led by Tanzid Hasans 107 and Towhid Hridoys unbeaten 48, helping them post 290 for five. Haris Rauf claimed three wickets for Pakistan, while Shaheen and Abrar Ahmed picked up one apiece.
Kim Jong Un was accompanied by his teenage daughter on Saturday as he oversaw a major missile test involving 12 precision rocket launchers, AzerNEWS reports via North Korean state media.

According to the state-run Korean Central News Agency, a long-range artillery unit of the Korean People's Army carried out the drill on Saturday using twelve 600mm ultra-precision multiple rocket launchers and two artillery companies.

It said the test showcased the destructive power of North Koreas nuclear-capable weapons, a day after Japan and South Korea raised alarm over the salvo of missile tests.

The rockets fired in a single salvo and struck an island target in the East Sea about 364 km away with what authorities said was 100 per cent accuracy, demonstrating the systems concentration strike capability.

The North Korean media report came a day after South Koreas military said it detected about 10 ballistic missiles fired from North Koreas capital region toward the eastern sea.

South Koreas national security council called the launches a provocation that violated UN Security Council resolutions that bans any ballistic activities by North Korea.

The exercise involved 12 launchers firing in waves, making it a larger coordinated salvo than many earlier demonstrations of the system.

Mr Kim said that the drill would expose enemies within the 420km (260 mile) striking range, to uneasiness and give them a deep understanding of the destructive power of tactical nuclear weapon, KCNA said. He apparently referred to South Korea and US troops stationed in South Korea.

If this weapon is used, the opponents military infrastructure within its striking range can never survive, Mr Kim said, according to KCNA.

Mr Kim added, Worldwide, there exists no tactical weapon that surpasses the performance of this weapon system.

Pictures released of the military drill showed Mr Kim and his daughter, reportedly named Kim Ju Ae and aged about 13, walking near huge olive-green launch trucks and looking at weapons being launched from them. The girl has been accompanying her father at numerous high-profile events like missile tests and military parades since late 2022, stoking outside speculation that shes being groomed as his heir.

Dramatic pictures of the launch showed multiple rockets, at least eight in a single row, being launched simultaneously from ground-based launchers in a wide, open landscape, leaving thick white smoke trails behind them.

Experts say North Koreas large-sized rocket launchers blur the boundaries between artillery systems and ballistic missiles because they can create their own thrust and are guided during delivery. North Korea has said some of these systems are capable of delivering nuclear warheads.
Nava Thakuria





When most of the veterans and their parties failed to impress the electorates of Nepal in the recently conducted single day polling on 5 March 2026, a relatively new party and young leaders earned mandates in the Himalayan republic. Rashtriya Swatantra Party (RSP), which was formed in the middle of 2022, recorded a resounding victory in the election necessitated by the violent youth uprising in September 2025 that shook the south Asian nation of 30 million people and collapsed the government in Kathmandu. The party with young leader Balendra Shah as its prime ministerial candidate won in 125 seats out of 165 constituencies where polling was conducted to fill up the 275-member House of Representatives. Balendra, the engineer-turned-rapper-turned politician even defeated his nearest rival KP Sharma Oli, the veteran Marxist in his home turf (Jhapa-5 constituency of eastern Nepal). The former Kathmandu mayor defeated Oli by a margin of around 50,000 votes in the electoral battles. Mentionable is that the four-time premier, who leads the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) was ousted last year during the deadly anti-corruption uprising.





The CPN-UML was restricted to 9 seats only, whereas the Hindu majority republic's oldest party Nepali Congress (NC) emerged a distant second with 18 constituencies. According to the Nepal Election Commission, Nepali Communist Party (NCP, a combination of Maoist parties) succeeded in 7 seats followed by Shram Sanskriti Party (3) and pro-monarchist Rastriya Prajatantra Party (1). RSP chairman Rabi Lamichhane and Pushpa Kamal Dahal alias Prachanda, who led the anti-monarchy violent movement (1996 to 2006) and fought the electoral battle with an NCP candidate won in their respective constituencies. However, NC president Gagan Thapa lost the battle. More than 60 % of total 19 million Nepali voters exercised their franchise in the election, where 10 women candidates (nine nominated by RSP and one by NC) also emerged victorious. The remaining 110 seats in the Parliament are elected by the proportional voting system, where the RSP received altogether 5,183,493 votes and thus earned additional 57 seats. The NC got 1,759,172 votes to earn 20 more seats. The CPN-UML with 1,455,885 votes got 16 seats, followed by NCP (811,577 votes 9 seats), SSP (385,856 votes 4 seats) and RPP (330,684 votes 4 seats).





Conducted under the mentorship of interim premier Sushila Karki, who once served Nepal Supreme Court as its chief justice and was sworn in on 12 September 2025 as first woman Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, the election was peaceful. When President Ramchandra Paudel will appoint Balendra as the new premier of Nepal, he is supposed to be one of the youngest heads of Nepal government and first one from Madhesh province. Located in the southeastern region, bordering Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, the province is believed by Sanatani Hindus to be the birthplace of Maa Sita (of great epic Ramayana era) when it was known as Janakpur.





Earlier, the Maithili speaking politician attracted global media attention by withdrawing the China-backed Damak project in Jhapa district from the election manifesto. Strategically located near to Siliguri corridor (Chicken's neck), the project (lately renamed as Nepal-China Friendship Industrial Park) is linked to Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative, which was considered as an annoying development for New Delhi. Otherwise, Balendra promised to follow Nepal-First policy while dealing with foreign nations. He also pledged to create 1.2 million jobs to address the growing unemployment problem and frustration among the Nepali youths and establish social safety measures including healthcare insurance facilities and other welfare initiatives to the entire Nepali population.




Kathmandu, Nepal March 16, 2026: In a significant move for South Asian biodiversity, forest authorities, environmental scientists, and wildlife conservationists from Nepal, India and Bhutan have agreed to form a collaborative transboundary network. This alliance aims to strengthen the protection and conservation of small wild cats across the region. The decision was finalized during the concluding session of the third international transboundary meet, held at the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve. Organized by the Global Tiger Forum (GTF) under its GEF-7 programme, the summit brought together regional experts to address the long-neglected needs of smaller felidssuch as the Fishing Cat, Leopard Cat, and Jungle Catwhich often live in the shadow of larger predators like tigers and leopards.



The newly established network will facilitate joint scientific research and a comprehensive situation analysis of small wild cat populations and their habitats across the shared Terai and Himalayan landscapes. Highlighting the ecological importance of these "mesopredators," officials noted that small wild cats play a vital role in maintaining the balance of regional ecosystems by regulating rodent and small mammal populations. By aligning their conservation strategies, the three nations hope to mitigate common threats, including habitat fragmentation, human-wildlife conflict, and illegal poaching, while fostering cross-border cooperation and community engagement.



A key highlight of the meet was the release of a specialized field guide by WWF-India, titled "An Identification Manual for Wild Cats in the Dudhwa Landscape." This manual is designed to assist frontline forest officials and researchers in accurately monitoring these elusive species. Leading experts, including Dr. Rajesh Gopal of the Global Tiger Forum, emphasized that this initiative is not only about protecting South Asian wildlife but also about building a global model for transboundary conservation. As the nations move toward implementation, the network is expected to bridge critical data gaps and ensure that the region's small cats receive the scientific and political attention necessary for their long-term survival.
CCTV: A referendum was held in Kazakhstan on a new constitution on March 15. Does China have any comment on that?



Lin Jian: China congratulates Kazakhstan on the smooth referendum on the new constitution. As Kazakhstans close neighbor and permanent comprehensive strategic partner, China is glad to see Kazakhstan enjoying long-term peace and prosperity. We are confident that under the leadership of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Kazakhstan will make new and even greater strides in national development and achieve the grand goal of building a Just Kazakhstan.

China attaches great importance to developing its relations with Kazakhstan. We stand ready to work with Kazakhstan to deliver on the important common understandings between the two presidents, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation on all fronts, and bring the bilateral relations to a new level.

Anadolu Agency: U.S. President Donald Trump said he is currently in talks with seven countries to form a coalition to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz and will announce it as early as this week. Hopefully, China, France, Japan, South Korea, the UK, and others that are affected by this artificial constraint, will send ships to the area so that the Hormuz Strait will no longer be a threat by a nation, he wrote on his social media. What is Chinas comment? Is there a request from the U.S.?



Lin Jian: The recent tense situation in the Strait of Hormuz and waters nearby has impacted the route for international goods and energy trade, disrupting peace and stability in the region and beyond. China once again calls on parties to immediately stop military operations, avoid further escalation of the tense situation and prevent regional turmoil from further impacting the global economy.

EFE: According to recent media reports, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has been under Chinese sanctions since 2020, could join President Trump during a possible visit to China later this month. Could the Foreign Ministry clarify whether those sanctions would affect his ability to travel to China if such a visit takes place?



Lin Jian: The sanctions target Mr. Rubios words and deeds when he served as a U.S. senator concerning China.

Yonhap News Agency: Its reported that Air China will resume flights from Beijing to Pyongyang starting from March 30. Can you confirm that?



Lin Jian: Relevant department has released information on that. China and the DPRK are friendly and close neighbors. Resuming passenger flights is a positive move that facilitates the friendly exchanges between the two peoples.

Al Araby Television Network: U.S. President Donald Trump said he hopes China will help secure the Strait of Hormuz. How would China respond to this?



Lin Jian: I just answered this question. Chinas stance is clear. We once again call on parties to immediately stop military operations, avoid further escalation of the tense situation and prevent regional turmoil from causing greater damage to global economic growth. We are in communication with relevant parties to work for the deescalation of the situation.

Anadolu Agency: About this navy coalition that U.S. President is trying to get together for the Hormuz Strait, Australian government said they wont send any naval forces to the Strait. Japanese Prime Minister said they havent received any request yet and the South Korean government reckoned that they had a request and they are carefully deliberating a response about it. Is there a request that China sends ships to the waters around the Strait? What will be your response if you get such a request?



Lin Jian: China is in communication with various parties on the current situation and is working for deescalation.

AFP: We noted that on Friday, Foreign Minister Wang Yi had a phone call with Afghan Foreign Minister Muttaqi. The Foreign Ministry statement said that Chinas Special Envoy on Afghan Affairs was conducting shuttle diplomacy between Afghanistan and Pakistan which have recently been engaged in military conflict. Does the spokesperson have more details on this, including on which dates Chinas Special Envoy has met with either side, thats Afghanistan and Pakistan?



Lin Jian: Afghanistan and Pakistan are and will always be each others neighbor. Issues between the two countries can only be resolved through dialogue and consultation. The pressing priority is to prevent the escalation of the conflict and return to the negotiating table at an early date.

China has been mediating between the two sides via its own channels. Over the past few days, Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke on the phone respectively with Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar and Afghan Foreign Minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi. The Special Envoy on Afghan Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China has been shuttling between Afghanistan and Pakistan to mediate. Chinese embassies in Pakistan and Afghanistan have been in close communication with the two sides. Both countries have expressed appreciation for Chinas active mediation efforts. China hopes that both sides will remain calm and exercise restraint, engage face to face as soon as possible, achieve a ceasefire at the earliest opportunity, and resolve differences and disputes through dialogue. China will continue to make active efforts to facilitate reconciliation and ease tensions between the two sides.

BBC: On the current talks going on in Paris between China and the U.S., do you have any update on those talks? Is there anything coming from that you can tell us about?



Lin Jian: Id refer you to competent authorities for anything specific.

Reuters: We reported today that Viet Nam is preparing to have to cut some flights due to concerns about the supply of jet fuel amid the situation in Iran. Foreign Minister Wang Yi is in Viet Nam at the moment and has met with Viet Nams Foreign Minister. The question is during that meeting, did the foreign ministers discuss energy security issues?



Lin Jian: The situation in the Middle East has dealt a blow to global energy security. Relevant countries should immediately stop military operations and prevent the regional turmoil from causing a greater impact on global economic growth. China stands ready to strengthen coordination and collaboration with Viet Nam and other countries and jointly tackle energy security issues.

BBC: We heard various analysts etc. saying that the current war was to really eat into Chinas available fuel. How worried is the government about fuel supplies if the war is going on? And is there a certain point at which if the war kept going, it would really have a big impact on Chinas fuel supplies?



Lin Jian: On the situation regarding Iran, I just made clear Chinas position. On the specifics that you mentioned, Id refer you to competent authorities.
On March 11, 2026, at the invitation of the Government of the Republic of Chile, Ni Hong, President Xi Jinpings Special Envoy and Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, attended the presidential inauguration in Valparaiso, the seat of Chiles Congress. A day earlier, he met separately in the capital Santiago with Chilean President-elect Jose Antonio Kast and outgoing President Gabriel Boric.

Ni Hong conveyed President Xi Jinpings warm greetings and good wishes to Jose Antonio Kast, noting that China stands ready to work with Chiles new government to carry forward their traditional friendship and deepen the China-Chile comprehensive strategic partnership. Jose Antonio Kast thanked President Xi Jinping for sending a special envoy all the way to Chile to attend the presidential inauguration, and asked Ni Hong to convey his hearty greetings and best wishes to President Xi Jinping. Jose Antonio Kast noted that developing relations with China and adhering to the one-China principle is a state policy of Chile, and the new government will continue this diplomatic tradition. Chile highly values its relations with China and stands ready to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with China in such areas as trade, investment, science and technology, housing construction, health, and disease prevention and treatment.

Ni Hong conveyed President Xi Jinpings warm greetings to Gabriel Boric and spoke positively of Gabriel Borics contributions to advancing China-Chile relations during his tenure. Gabriel Boric asked Ni Hong to convey his sincere greetings to President Xi Jinping, noting that China is an important partner of Chile and expressing hope for further development of bilateral relations.
On March 10, 2026, local time, Zhang Guoqing, President Xi Jinpings Special Representative, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council, attended the second Nuclear Energy Summit in Paris and delivered a keynote address.

Zhang Guoqing stated that China has always followed a rational, coordinated and balanced approach to nuclear security put forward by President Xi Jinping, and made positive contributions through concrete actions to advancing global nuclear energy development. China stands ready to work with all parties to jointly implement the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, the Global Civilization Initiative, and the Global Governance Initiative, and jointly promote innovation-driven development in nuclear energy, strengthen the security foundation, enhance industrial coordination, and pursue win-win cooperation. This will enable nuclear energy to better contribute to the development and prosperity of all countries, and make new contributions to building a clean, beautiful and sustainable world and a community with a shared future for humanity.

The Summit was attended by heads of state and government and high-level representatives from over 30 countries, as well as heads of relevant international organizations. A joint statement of the Summit entitled Safe and Affordable Nuclear Energy for All was issued.
When Kieran Culkin, last years winner for Best Supporting Actor, arrived onstage at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles at Sundays Academy Awards to pass on the crown, he did so by praising the five men up for the award. Gentlemen, you gave us performances we will always remember, Culkin said. Now it is my genuine pleasure to give one of you a moment I hope you will never forget. The announcement that followed was indeed unforgettable, but mostly for those watching rather than the nominees in attendance. Sean Penn took home the Oscar for his role as the sadistic white supremacist Col. Steven Lockjaw in the rollicking One Battle After Another, but the actor was a no-show. Sean Penn couldnt be here this eveningor didnt want to, Culkin ad-libbed to audible guffaws from the crowd, so Ill be accepting the award on his behalf.

When Culkin made the announcement, the other nominees could be seen clapping politely within their Brady Bunch picture squares, save for one: Sinners Delroy Lindothe veteran actor who, along with Frankensteins Jacob Elordi and Sentimental Values Stellan Skarsgard, was up for his first-ever Oscarsat still, his hand over his mouth. Watching at home, I didnt sense that Lindo felt snubbed for his work, but instead stung that the academy had opted to reward someone for whom none of this seemed to matter anymore. I dont get very excited about what well call the Academy Awards, Penn had said in 2024, criticizing the Oscars for extraordinary cowardice in limiting different cultural expressions.

Its not unheard of for nominees to miss the actual Oscars ceremony, although it is usually because of scheduling conflicts. But even though Penn was the clear front-runner, the writing was on the wall ahead of Sunday night that he wasnt going to make the trip, something hed also done the first three times he was nominated. Apart from Januarys Golden Globes (at which he was photographed smoking cigarettes at his table, despite the fact that its illegal in California to smoke indoors), Penn has been mostly MIA this awards season, winning both a BAFTA and an Actor Award (formerly known as a Screen Actors Guild Award) in absentia. Sean Penn, Please Dont Skip the Oscars, read an ultimately fruitless entreaty published by Variety last week, calling for him to attend if only for the cause of good TV and so audiences dont lose out on his brand of chaos.

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According to the New York Times, Penn had decided to sit out the show because of his plans to instead visit Ukraine, a country that has been central to the actors recent activism, most notably in the 2023 documentary Superpower, which he filmed about Russias invasion there. (Indeed, later on Monday, President Volodymyr Zelensky posted a picture of him meeting with Penn apparently in Kyiv, calling the actor a true friend of Ukraine.) In 2022 he gave Zelensky one of his Oscars apparently as a symbol of faith that the Ukrainian leader would prevail in war and one day return it to Penn in Malibu. But Penn also said that he was so disgusted that academy producers didnt want Zelensky speaking at the show in 2022 that he didnt care if Ukraine melted down his Oscars to bullets they can shoot at the Russians.

Still, if Penn was hoping to make some grand gesture through his absence on Sunday night, it actually had the opposite effect: It felt petty and small. On a night when Culkin had been open on the red carpet about how emotional he was at the chance to hand on the award, and on an evening when three other actors in the category were experiencing Oscars excitement for the very first time, Penn came across not as someone sitting nobly above the Hollywood fray; he came across as someone who didnt care whether his absence would make his fellow actors feel silly for caring at alla jerk, if you will. In other words, he came across as Sean Penn.

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There is no doubt that Penn is one of the finest actors to ever live. Sundays award was his third Oscar, making him a member of an elite club of three-time winners that includes only him, Meryl Streep, Frances McDormand, Ingrid Bergman, Jack Nicholson, Walter Brennan, and Daniel Day-Lewis. (Only Katharine Hepburn has more, with four.) But for decades, the actor has been as famous for his pugnacity and self-importance as for his talent. In addition to his repeated arrests and convictions for hitting people (mostly, but not entirely, photographers), Penn is notorious for his activism, self-seriousness, and humorlessnessthe latter quality was memorably on display when he chided Oscars host Chris Rock onstage some 20 years ago for a mostly harmless joke he told about Jude Law. Penn can be difficulta quality women rarely get to exhibit, especially if they want to be celebrated professionally, much less in Hollywood. I do know how hard I make it to appreciate me often, Penn said with a flash of self-awareness when he won for Milk in 2009. With this reputation, perhaps Penns absence for much of awards season is precisely why he won on Sunday: Without any lecturing acceptance speeches or reminders of his lawless behavior, voters could instead think solely of his remarkable, scene-stealing work in the movie, rather than his remarkable, scene-stealing ego.

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And indeed, if you sift through the Oscar-campaigning tea leaves, there were a few signs that Penn did perhaps want another little gold man. In addition to showing upalbeit grumpily and with cigarettesto the Golden Globes, he took part in an interview for Varietys Actors on Actors series (a traditional campaign stop) and was lauded in a curiously timed New York magazine report, published just before Oscars voting began, about efforts he made in 2013 to secure the freedom of an American man from a Bolivian prison. Still, if Penn was secretly angling for a win, he had little to lose from showing up to the capstone night to receive the prize, save for the nasty headlines right-wing outlets would inevitably print about his speech. But to that, I can only think of Pete Buttigiegs words about the right branding leftists as a bunch of crazy socialists no matter what, so you may as well go out onstage and say what you want to say.

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Indeed, Penn has previously used his two Oscar wins to seize the moment to speak his heart in ways that eloquently combined politics with deep respect for other actors. When he won for Mystic River in 2004, during the Iraq war, he told the crowd, If theres one thing that actors knowother than that there werent any WMDsits that there is no such thing as best in acting. For Milk, he praised his collaborators on the biopic of LGBTQ+ rights campaigner Harvey Milk while issuing a heartfelt plea for equality only months after California passed Proposition 8.

What an enormous missed opportunity, then, to not use the Oscars spotlight to remind audiences of the righteous furynot just the indiscriminate kindthat motivates Penn. This was an evening, after all, that gave the award for Best Documentary to a film that was expressly about resistance to Vladimir Putins invasion of Ukraine. It was an evening when everyone from Javier Bardem to host Conan OBrien felt the need to get political. Hell, Penn won for playing a bombastic, hypocritical, egotistical racist who is unwittingly used as a pawn by a grander right-wing cabal. What better chance to take the stage and deliver a dig at you-know-who?

For my money, the most appropriate thing Penn couldve done to be both respectful to his fellow nominees and true to his own ideals would have been to pull a version of the famous Marlon BrandoSacheen Littlefeather stunt: Turn up to the show, graciously take the stage with a quick thank-you, then turn the microphone over to whichever victim of the worlds many current injustices Penn wanted us all to hear from. Then he couldve gone out for a smoke.

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Last year, the Oscars held a funeral for fun and frivolity. The fashion was drab and conservative, marking the start of the Trump 2.0 era with solemn traditionalism. But this Sunday night, there were encouraging signs of life on the red carpet. Bold florals, cheeky feathers, and unexpected textures signaled a return of inspiration; the dresses were busy and the suits were adorned, all bursting with personality. It was a smorgasbord of styles and vibes, and with the dual threats of A.I. and political censorship breathing down Hollywoods neck, it felt like a celebration of human originality.

Bird flu struck some of the biggest stars of the evening, who arrived in fluffy plumage. Nicole Kidman wore a flared feathered corset from Chanelthe only kind of peplum Ill acceptwith an avant-garde sprinkling of single feathers down the skirt. Also in Chanel, Teyana Taylor channeled a zebra, or maybe a porcupine, with stripes of dense feathery fringe that I would never be able to stop cuddling. Merging a Disney villain look with a callback to Black Swan, Demi Moore slithered along with an oily green sheen in what could be a ticklish actors torture device. With a subtler feathered accent, Ejae, who sang in KPop Demon Hunters, sported tiny puffs on her custom fringed Dior gown.

Louis Vuitton turned out a delicious metallic sheen and a set of rare-to-see cap sleeves on Emma Stone, and encrusted Wunmi Moksaku in sequins angled this way and that to look like crinkled aluminum. Kylie Jenner brought her own opalescence in custom Schiaparelli that shone like a cats-eye gem.

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Big flowers had a big night. Odessa Azion wore a black fringed Versace Couture robe over pants and a chain of Pandora necklaces, looking just the right amount of disheveled for someone so extravagantly bejeweled. Rose Byrne and Anne Hathaway did floral trains two ways: gestural and chic on Byrne, cutesy and retro on Hathaway.

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Sundays most stunning suit was from Saint Laurent on Frankensteins Felix Kammerer, who slunk around in a too-big jacket whose oversized shoulders somehow looked just right. The chocolate-orange luster, the cuffed sleevesit was the pinnacle of casual decadence. Shades of brown looked equally superb on Domhnall Gleeson, who is clearly listening to someone who knows how to dress redheads, and Kiernan Culkin, dressed as a black and tan for St. Patricks Day.

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Im a sucker for moire, and I loved the two ways it showed up on the red carpet this year. KPop Demon Hunters Audrey Nuna wore a strikingly original Thom Browne dress with a voluminous moire skirt whose formality was thrillingly undercut by the casual asymmetry of its bustles. On top, the sharp lines of beading were so dense it looked like a sheet of metal. Barbie Ferreira, meanwhile, wore allover moire in a hat-tip to International Klein Blue. With a raw-edged corset on top and buttons all the way down the bottom, the Gap Studio look gave the impression of a deconstructed, inverted suit.

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Monochrome suits got a bit edgier than usual on Hudson Williams, in a pinky ring and flare-legged Balenciaga; Miles Caton, in color-coordinated cowboy boots and a tie tack (more tie tacks, please!); and Timothee Chalamet, in white rubber boot soles and hands full of rings. Buddy Guy ditched the suit altogether in favor of leather overalls, which might have tipped into the Pillion realm of fetish gear were it not for the whimsical polka dots he wore underneath.

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Pastels and bright tones are always welcome in the gloom of mid-March. On a few of Sundays dresses, they were extra playful with busy details and contrasting textures. Felicity Jones was an early daffodil in elegant boatnecked satin bedecked with pearls, beads, and tulle down the backa real business in the front, et cetera situation. Li Jun Li wore skeins of yarnor was it her corset lacing?swooped and sculpted around her body, layered like the petals of a giant rosebud. In custom Louis Vuitton, Chase Infiniti dripped the lavender petals of a lilac bush. Jessie Buckleys Chanel gown, a take on the one Grace Kelly wore to the 1956 Oscars, was thick and solid on top, light and airy on bottom, like winter giving way to spring.

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Theres something mesmerizing about a dress that can make the curves and lumps of a human body into a series of rectangles. Renate Reinsve of Sentimental Value was a strip of Louis Vuitton cinnamon gum, or maybe a Fruit by the Foot; Kirsten Dunst was a stack of custom Celine VHS tapes.

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If I were at the Academy Awards, I would ask Mia Goth and Zoe Saldana to sit on my shoulders, angel- and devil-style, in their contrasting lace slips. Goths was shabby-chic and scalloped at the edges like a grandmas tablecloth, while Saldanas was delicate as a champagne flute and dressed up with an Art Deco necklace.

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I simply must hand it to the wearers of some of the strangest textures of the evening: Sentimental Values Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, who spouted a tongue of shag carpeting from her neckline; The Secret Agents Alice Carvalho, who made good on the old phrase about being beautiful enough to make a potato sack look good; and The Secret Agents Laura Lufesi, who wore a unfussy patchwork number from the young Brazilian label Misci. In an industry whose riches are too often reserved for recycled IPand whose faces may be converging on a single beauty idealfashion surprises on the red carpet are a necessary reminder of how energizing an artful, unexpected creation can be.

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Ill never forget a commercial I saw on the Armed Forces Network while I was in Iraq. It was a warning about the dangers of PTSD, and it showed a man washing his hands, the water running with blood, as he recalled some traumatic scene that was reflected in the bathroom mirror, mangled bodies stretched out into the distance behind him. Despite its graphic nature, the commercial didnt surprise mewhen it comes to serving in the military, we rally around those who saw friends killed beside them, who huddled in the dirt while bombs fell around them.

But the research shows that for many who are diagnosed with PTSD, the condition arises not from what was done to us but what we didor what we failed to prevent. This mechanism, known as moral injury, can be sympathetic (I couldnt save them) but is often not sympathetic at all (I killed them). For people carrying this factor in PTSD, the task of integration, of sitting with and holding what weve done, is far more challenging.

We are, once again, engaged in a war, despite the fact that Donald Trump campaigned on stopping American involvement in foreign wars. At the time of this writing, he has involved us in three to five separate armed conflicts, depending on how you count them. With Iran, Trump may be gesturing at ending the conflict for the cameras (and the stock markets), but Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth quickly cast doubt on the idea that there will be a quick end to the fighting. And just a few days ago, the president intimated the potential for violent action against Cuba.

Whether or not you view these military commitments as righteous, what cannot be denied is that we are clearly in the midst of an era of heightened U.S. intervention across the world. This joins wildly spiking levels of demonstrations, civil unrest, and political violence domestically. This means that the people we arm and train and ask to use violence on our behalf are having to do so at an unprecedented rate.

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The one thing notably absent in these scraps are large-scale ground commitments. While 13 American service members have died in the war so far, there is a temptation to believe that our troops will be mostly spared. We are not seeing image after image of flag-draped coffins. And so the hope follows that PTSD wont dog our active military members because they are fighting largely at a clean distanceflying planes, dropping bombs, firing missiles and drones from a safe remove.

For some, this may indeed be true. For many, it wont be. Because, for veterans of modern warfare, the question isnt how to come to grips with something that befell us in the manner of a natural disaster. Its how to reconcile what we see in the mirror. We know we are not monsters, but we are equally sure that we have done monstrous things. The justification of authority and mission, in my experience, props you up for a while, but it fades fast, and in the end youre left with the bald fact that you could have said I will not do this, damn the consequences. You could have looked at the possible outcomes of the duty you were agreeing to, and turned away from it. We are a volunteer force that hasnt seen a draft in over 50 years. Many of us were private contractors. Nobody made us sign up.

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For me, the moment I felt this most directly happened years after I returned from Iraq, where I had worked as a targeting officer. I was strolling through a beautiful spring Manhattan night when my friend called me a good guy. I was suddenly overwhelmed, turning to her with a cold anger I didnt know was in me. Our peaceful evening suddenly went sour as I argued for the next 15 minutes, asking her if she thought the mothers of the Iraqis would look at my comfortable life in New York City, at the amazing meal wed just shared in peace and comfort, at the well-appointed apartment I would be returning to, and tell me I was a good guy. If they would, I would accept it, I told her, but I knew that they wouldnt.

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Related From Slate This Could Be the Real Decisive Factor in the War With Iranand Hegseth Seems Oblivious to It Read More

This is moral injury: the bone-deep understanding that you are not a good guy. Not because of anything dramatic, not because of some special flaw within you, but because you are guilty of the most common tic in how humans navigate existenceturning others into objects. This kind of basic human cruelty is as common as the grass. In nonviolent settings, it leads to mean-girl-style ostracism or political backstabbing around the corporate watercooler. But that same impulse, unfolding on a battlefield or a police encounter gone pear-shaped, gives us Abu Ghraib or the recent killings in Minnesota.

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When it comes to people who end up as targets, we have heard the label domestic terrorist quite a bit lately. For targeting officers like me, the most common label was the enemy. In my time in law enforcement, we called them EDPs (Emotionally Disturbed Persons), individuals, and, very often in my experience, idiots. This systematic stripping away of humanity is the critical tool that empowers us to access what we need to pull a trigger, swing a baton, or produce the package necessary to action a target. The result is final. Once it is done, there is no taking it back. The refrain I was just doing my job wears thin awfully fast. In the end, youre left with who you thought you were and the emerging picture of who you actually are.

That picture is complex, but ruminating on your actions can quickly become torturous. And we live in an age of outrage cycles, call-out culture, and social media condemnation. In our intensely public lives, we have never been more exposed to those who are angered by our actions. No past, it seems, is ever far enough in the rearview mirror. The internets general advice for those who wish to atone, blaring across X and Reddit and beyond is the shorthand KYS (kill yourself). Too many heed that call.

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Pilots, missile and drone operators, targeting officers, fire control technicians, artillery officers, and tactical mission planners may not be what we called pipe-hitters when I was in Iraqthose direct-action combat operators who kill up close and personal. But the phenomenon of moral injury means they dont have to do that to still be in real danger of carrying home the kinds of invisible wounds that will dog them for the rest of their lives. Moral injury is a major contributing factor in many cases of PTSD and, in one study, its strongest predictor. I think about whoever carried out the mission two weeks ago that wound up striking the girls school in Iran, an attack that killed roughly 175 people, mostly children. Maybe Im naive, but I cannot picture anyone involved in that mission walking away, shrugging their shoulders, and just getting on with their life.

We have so far not committed any real numbers of ground troops to our expanding number of foreign interventions. But whether or not we see it, we are surely hurting the ones we are asking to fight for us. We must be aware of this, plan for it, and be ready to help them when their symptoms inevitably emerge. In my experience, the blaring questions will be Why did I do this? What did I think would happen? Given the administrations shifting narratives for attacking Iran, those will be difficult questions to confront.
Akbar Novruz



China and the US ended the first day of trade talks in Paris on Sunday without any major developments. Talks will continue tomorrow when the US delegation is set to leave. The Chinese delegation will stay one more day before leaving on Tuesday, AzerNEWS reports.

The first day of the sixth round of trade talks between the worlds two biggest economies  led by Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent  was rather uneventful for journalists waiting outside the venue, the headquarters of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Vice-Premier He was accompanied by Li Chenggang, Chinas top international trade negotiator, and Bessent was with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.

Trumps visit to China will be the first for a U.S. president since he went in his first term in 2017. It will come five months after the two leaders met in the South Korean city of Busan and agreed to a one-year truce in a trade war that temporarily saw tit-for-tat tariffs soar to triple digits before the two sides climbed down.

Still, trade remains a source of tensions. The commerce ministry on Friday hit back against the Trump administrations new trade investigation into 16 trading partners, including China. The investigation  which came after a Supreme Court ruling struck down Trumps sweeping global tariffs that were imposed last year  could pave the way for new tariffs.

Another issue that could be discussed is the Iran war, especially when global anxiety is soaring over oil prices and supplies. Trump said Saturday that he hopes China, France, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom and others will send warships to keep the Strait of Hormuz open and safe.

Before Sundays talks, Gary Ng, a senior economist at French bank Natixis and a research fellow at the Central European Institute of Asian Studies, said the Paris meeting is likely the most important bilateral one before the Xi-Trump summit.

The key issue is whether China and the U.S. can agree on what is agreed and manage disagreement. Iran is a new factor, but Beijing is more concerned about the flip-flopping of U.S. policies, he said.

Last week, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said it would be a big year for China-U.S. relations. While he did not confirm the state visit, Wang said that the agenda of high-level exchange is already on the table.

Bessent and He have led trade negotiations between the countries since last year, having met in Geneva, London, Stockholm, Madrid and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
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In two weeks, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Trump v. Barbara, the terms vitally important birthright citizenship case. On April 1, the court will address whether the words in the 14th Amendment, all persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside, apply to children born in the United States to parents who are not U.S. citizens or permanent residents at the time of their birth. Because so many of us approach this issue with an imperfect understanding of the American history of migration, deportation, citizenship, and nationality, a whole lot of bad originalism seeps into the legal discourse about an issue so crucial that the drafters of the 14th Amendment chose to locate it in the Constitution itself. On this weeks Amicus podcast, Dahlia Lithwick spoke to Anna O. Law, the Herbert Kurz Chair in Constitutional Rights at CUNY Brooklyn College. Her new book, Migration and the Origins of American Citizenship, will be published on March 24. You should not listen to the oral arguments in this case without understanding the long and complicated history of American citizenship. Their conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Dahlia Lithwick: You start the book by just staking out this elaborate mythology that we all seem to buy into about how migration worked throughout American history. And as you say, this is belied by actual historical fact, by actual political practice. What is it that most of us are told about how citizenship has been handled from the Colonial era until today, and how wrong have most of us gotten that history?

Anna O. Law: The biggest myth about American immigration is that until the federal government started enforcing our borders in the late 19th century, it was just open borders. And so everybody who wanted to come could just show up, work hard, and it feeds right into the American dream myth, right? My ancestors came with nothing but the clothes on their back and a willingness to work hard. But the period before the federal government took over immigration didnt mean there were no laws and that there were no migration restrictions. Theres plenty of work and existing scholarship that says the states were enforcing migration laws in the 19th century. But since I started in the Colonial period, I realized, and it even shocked me, that some of the stuff in U.S. immigration law today, like likely to become a public charge, that says People who cant economically take care of themselves: We dont want them, well that originated in the Colonial period. So stretching from the Colonial period to 1888, first the colonies, and then the states had elaborate sets of laws recruiting certain groups of people to come and restricting other people so they could not come.

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Bad originalism works because it mines these deeply held myths, these altogether false narratives about American history. And it sounds plausible even when its wrong. In your introduction, you quote Yale Law Schools Jack Balkin, reflecting upon the use of collective memory in a constitutional argument. And the sin here is: In not knowing more about how early immigration, migration, citizenship laws, naturalization policies work, we distort our collective memory and then start telling stories about the American dream, and everybody could come and go, and doors were flung open, and it was a land of equal opportunity. And that actually has not just political effects on the conversation we have about citizenship, but an actual legal effect on the stories we then tell at the Supreme Court.

What we know and what we dont know about immigration and citizenship history has so many political effects and legal effects, because the myth goes: We were very generous for a very long time, and at some point that had to stop because of the ills of mass migration. And the federal governments entry into migration sounds benevolent, but only one state had benevolent migration laws, and that was New York. All the other states, who controlled international and interstate migration, were restrictionist. The state of Massachusetts, for instance, was just deporting people to Ireland, to Europe, to other states because they didnt want to be economically and socially responsible for poor and disabled people. Another example of states running migration is, during this long period, from the Colonial period to 1888, states also controlled internal migration. So slave states could ban free Black peoplenot enslaved people, but free Black people as wellfrom being in their borders and could dictate the conditions of why and how long they can stay.

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In all of the tension around the founding and the founding documents, there lurks this question of Native American belonging and exclusion and citizenship.

The Trump v. Barbara case is about birthright citizenship. When we talk about U.S. citizenship, there is a tendency to assume that, Well, of course everyone wants legal citizenship because it means access to rights, privileges, and protections. But for Native people, that is not to be assumed, because Native people, Indigenous populations, have a distinct relationship to the land as well as to the U.S. government and state governments. Native people, not all of them wanted U.S. citizenship. What they most wanted was their sovereignty and their land ownership respected. So citizenship was not always a great thing for Native Americans. They dont want rights given to them by settler governments. They want their own right of self-determination and self-government in their Native nations. How citizenship has been used by the federal government toward Native Americans has been not to grant rights, but to take away their collective rights that are secured through treaties. And so the orientation of African Americans, Chinese immigrants, or any immigrants to the United States, the goal is to gain legal citizenship. But for Native Americans, that is not at all the goal. Some choose American citizenship to stay on their land, but that also means that they are now subject to U.S. laws and they have cut ties to their tribal nations.

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Related From Slate One of Trumps Worst U.S. Attorneys Just Stepped on the Dumbest Possible Rake Read More

Its just not possible to understand the debate we are having right now without locating it in the Reconstruction Amendments and the creation of formal Black citizenship and the conferring, finally, of birthright citizenship to the children of those who were born legally on American soil. And also, finally vesting authority in the federal government and not in the states. This purported to lift up former enslaved people, but the results were very mixed for other groups that were not white.

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The 14th Amendment and the birthright citizenship clause in particular is one of the high points of U.S. history. But because what I did in this book was to study groups of people that are usually studied separately, in different bodies of scholarship, when I cut through those disciplinary silos that I saw, the birthright citizenship clause and the 14th Amendment is not a tide that lifts all boats. And the birthright citizenship clause makes very clear for African Americans, both formerly enslaved and who were free Black Americans, that they are unquestionably U.S. citizens. The 13th and 14th Amendments, though, have negative effects for Chinese immigrants. Chinese immigrants started arriving in the United States in significant numbers in around 1850 in California. And because of the 13th Amendments passage, the country was very anti-slavery. They had just fought a civil war over slavery, but Chinese immigration comes to be portrayed in the national press and in public opinion over time as unfree immigration. And Chinese migration was so different from enslavement, but it gets painted as slavery, as a kind of unfree labor, and that paves the way for one of the first federal immigration laws after the federal governments takeover of immigration, the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which excludes all Chinese laborers, which is basically all Chinese immigration. And that was not completely lifted until 1965.

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Can you please unpack the really freighted language in the birthright citizenship clause that is subject to the jurisdiction thereof. I think we thought we knew what it meant. And suddenly its up for debate.

When the Framers of the 14th Amendment wrote that provision, subject to the jurisdiction thereof, it was pretty clear they meant everyone except certain very narrow categories of exclusion. So for example, they dont mean children born to diplomats who are serving in the United States. They dont mean Native Americans, and they dont mean children born to invading soldiers. Those were the clear categories, but today I hear bizarre interpretations of what that means. And by bizarre, I mean ahistorical and wrong. I hear arguments that it was about the children whose parents were temporary immigrants. Thats not what they were talking about. A common argument Ive heard is, Well, there were no illegal aliens back then. Well, actually there were unauthorized people, if you want to call them that, [under] just over a century of state laws. So there are plenty of people who had broken some of those laws. And then if you only want to restrict it to federal immigration law, the Congress passed a law in 1808 banning the international slave trade and still ships are smuggling enslaved people in. And so the Framers of the 14th Amendment knew about that. They knew about those ships coming in. They knew about the hundreds of African enslaved people smuggled in after the 1808 congressional ban. So there were unauthorized people in the U.S. And did the 14th Amendment include their children? Yes, it did. And they knew that. But the group that the Congress and public opinion most despised at the time were the Chinese immigrants in the West. And there are extensive discussions about, Surely you dont mean the birthright citizenship clause to mean the children born to Chinese immigrants? And the Framers said, No: Yeah, we mean them. Because even though their parents cannot gain citizenship because there are laws banning them from naturalization, we do mean the children.

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Can you lay out for us, based on your scholarship in this area, why the 14th Amendment Framers chose to use the words all persons when they decided to bestow American citizenship to those born on American soil, why those words were important and why that has to be the lodestar here?

Its very significant. They could have said that the rights of equal protection and due process are for all citizens. They chose not to use all citizens. It says all persons. And I think they were very mindful of the fact that a bloody civil war had just concluded. They were mindful of the fact that states had been discriminating against Black people. And its the states who were going to do any sort of discrimination. So by saying all persons, they are now making clear that U.S. citizenship stands above state citizenship and that the federal government will enforce the protections of state citizenship. So it is enormously important that they meant all persons, including Chinese people who are not citizens, who then used the federal courts to fight against the Chinese Exclusion Act, and they did so very successfully. One thing I think readers really need to know is that the birthright citizenship provision is in the U.S. Constitution as an amendment and not a law passed by Congress. Why did they do that? The Framers did it the hard way. They went through the Article 5 process of changing the Constitution instead of just passing a law. Birthright citizenship first comes up in the Civil Rights Act of 1866. But the Framers were worried, If its just a law passed by Congress and the president, then a future Congress could pass another law wiping it away, or a future Supreme Court could come along and wipe it away. So by putting it in the Constitution, they meant to make it more durable. They meant to raise the bar of what it would take to amend it and to get rid of it and to change it. And so birthright citizenship is not just a law passed by Congress. And you certainly cannot change it by executive order.
Picture this: youre walking home at night, distracted by your phone, when something trails behind you in the shadows. That something turns out to be a 4.27-foot-tall humanoid robot that cant figure out how to get around you. Welcome to 2026, where consumer robotics collides with unprepared public spaces in the most awkward ways possible.

When Robots Cant Read the Room

On March 12, 2026, around 9 PM in Macaus Patane residential area, a 70-year-old woman encountered the Unitree G1 during what should have been a routine promotional activity by Study Hard Education Centre. When she paused while checking her phone, the remotely operated robot stopped directly behind herunable to navigate around this simple human obstacle.

Her startled reaction was painfully relatable: Youre making my heart race! Youve got plenty to do, so whats the point of messing around with this? Are you freaking crazy? She was hospitalized overnight for distress, though she declined to press charges. Education center representative Towin Mak explained to TDM that the robot simply couldnt bypass her when she stopped.

The Tech Behind the Awkward Encounter

The Unitree G1 isnt some cheap knockoff. This compact humanoid stands 1.3 meters tall and weighs 35kg. It comes loaded with:

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3D LiDAR sensors

Depth cameras

NVIDIA Jetson Orin processor for AI tasks

With 23-43 degrees of freedom and reinforcement learning capabilities, it can recover from falls and navigate complex environments. Yet despite all that computational power, it couldnt execute the simple human courtesy of stepping aside. The incident highlights a crucial gap: robots excel at technical challenges but stumble on social protocols that toddlers master instinctively.

Chinas Robot Reality Check Goes Viral

The viral video titled The First Humanoid Robot Arrested by Police sparked everything from jokes about robotic Miranda rights to serious debates about public safety protocols. Police actually escorted the robot awayone officer placing a reassuring hand on its shoulderbefore returning it to its 50-year-old owner with a warning.

This isnt Chinas first rodeo with public robots: EngineAIs T800 has patrolled Shenzhen tourist areas, while Xiao Hu directs traffic in Shanghai. But none previously required police intervention.

The Macau incident perfectly captures our current momentcaught between the promise of helpful humanoid assistants and the reality that we havent figured out the social software yet. As these robots multiply in public spaces, youll increasingly encounter them in malls, airports, and sidewalks. The real challenge isnt building better sensors; its teaching machines to navigate the delicate dance of human social space.

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Any computer you own today will probably die an unremarkable death in either a closet or a landfill. But supercomputers are a lot more expensive and tend to go out with a bit more ceremony. Take Sierra, for example. This supercomputer, which once ranked as the second-fastest on the planet, was shut down in October 2025 and subsequently ripped apart at a government lab in California.

Supercomputers are essentially thousands of processors and graphics chips all working in concert inside racks resembling tall cabinets lined up in rows. Sierra had 240 of those racks, with a footprint of approximately 7,000 square feet. Powering it all were a bunch of Power9 CPUs and Nvidia's Volta V100 GPUs, which at peak output could reach 94.64 petaflops. Before disassembly, the Sierra lived at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where it spent roughly seven years running classified nuclear simulations for the National Nuclear Security Administration, the agency responsible for maintaining America's nuclear missiles.

When it debuted in 2018, it was number three on the TOP500 list  the ranking system for the world's most powerful supercomputers. And in its prime, Sierra was quite the hotshot  the same year, it climbed to the second place. The top spot was held by a machine called Summit over at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. Both supercomputers earned HPCwire's Top Supercomputing Achievement award that year, and together they pretty much represented the pinnacle of American high-performance computing. Of course, nothing stays at the top forever. By the time the government decided to pull the plug, Sierra had dropped to 23rd in the global rankings. All in all, the US reportedly spent at least $325 million on Sierra and Summit combined.

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Read more: 10 Of The Most Advanced Nuclear Submarines In The World

Why axe something that was still working okay?

The entrance to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California, USA - JHVEPhoto/Shutterstock

So why shut down something that still technically worked? Well, some of it has got to do with the "bathtub curve," which refers to the process of components failing early due to manufacturing defects, stabilizing for a while, before eventually breaking down again as the hardware ages. Now, Sierra never quite reached that final stage, but it was headed in that direction, according to the lab's associate director for weapons simulation and computing, Rob Neely, who spoke to Wired.

Moreover, neither IBM nor Nvidia still manufactures the specific chips inside it, so if anything broke, it's not like they could've fixed it. On top of that, the specific Red Hat Enterprise Linux build that Sierra ran on had lost IBM support entirely. That said, the biggest factor was that, in 2024, Sierra got its successor in the form of the El Capitan at the same facility. It uses AMD's MI300A chips and can draw up to roughly 35 megawatts of power, over three times Sierra's 11. At 1.809 exaflops, El Capitan is roughly 19 times faster and is currently the world's fastest supercomputer. With that sitting right next door, keeping Sierra running just didn't make financial sense anymore.

With everything pointing in the same direction, it was time for Sierra to go. Now, disposing of old electronics is complicated enough, but since Sierra handled classified nuclear weapons data, the confidential status made things exponentially harder. According to Wired, staff removed lithium-ion batteries by hand, had system boards and processors industrially shredded, and turned flash memory components into powder.

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Read the original article on SlashGear.
The administration of Donald Trump is expected to receive around $10 billion from investors as part of an agreement allowing the continued operation of TikTok in the United States, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal citing sources familiar with the matter, AzerNEWS reports.

According to the report, in January the US and China reached an agreement on the sale of TikToks American division to a specially created consortium. The group includes Silver Lake, Oracle, and the UAE-based investment company MGX, along with several other investors.

Under the terms of the agreement, investors have already transferred about $2.5 billion to the United States Department of the Treasury. The total amount of payments is expected to reach $10 billion as further transactions are completed.

The publication notes that this represents one of the largest payments ever recorded in connection with government assistance in facilitating a corporate deal. US officials reportedly say the amount reflects President Trumps role in negotiating with Beijing over TikToks continued presence in the US market.
There have been many strange ways to power an aeroplane.

In this story were going to look at 10 of the strangest methods. There wasnt room to get into several other fascinating engines, fuels or methods of propulsion, including diesel (used on some German and Soviet bombers), steam (used in various high and low-tech ways) and mind-boggling things like ion-propelled aircraft, so maybe we will have to return to this rather wild subject. Here are 10 aircraft with totally bizarre engines

10: Wankel

Perhaps the Wankel is not really a rotary engine, though it is often described as one. In a true rotary, the entire engine rotates around a fixed camshaft, but the Wankel uses a rotor in a stationary combustion chamber. With no oscillating pistons, Wankels are incredibly smooth and, therefore quiet, a compelling feature for any aircraft that doesnt want to be heard.

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The first aeronautical application of the Wankel was the 1970 Wright Aeronautical RC-2-60 fitted in the late Lockheed Q-Star, the prototype of an ultra-quiet surveillance aircraft for the Vietnam war, intended to be inaudible at 1500 feet and therefore able to snoop on Vietcong activities at night without being noticed.

10: Wankel

The Wankel-powered Q-Star did not progress to production, and neither did one of the most unlikely aircraft of the 1970s: the Citroen RE-2 helicopter (pictured). Citroen had invested hugely and unsuccessfully in Wankel-powered car development, so seeking to recoup some of the costs, Citroen bizarrely decided to develop a Wankel-powered helicopter.

The lightweight Citroen helicopter demonstrated potential in testing, but sadly, it decided to ditch the project. The Wankel finally found its niche, though; today, several products (mostly drones) use Wankel engines, primarily due to their quietness but also because they can be impressively compact and minimise the vibration of sensitive sensors.

9: Lift jets

The dependency on long runways makes land-based military aircraft vulnerable to airfield attacks, and carrier aircraft dependent on dangerous landings and take-offs from massive ships. For these reasons, the ability to perform vertical take-offs and landings (VTOL) has long been desirable.

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One solution that was repeatedly tried was small, dedicated lift fans. A lift jet is a small engine mounted vertically and used exclusively for take-off and landing. There are several advantages of this approach, one being it is relatively easy to create a VTOL aircraft that is supersonic, such as the Mirage IIIV (pictured).

9: Lift jets

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Lift jets were fitted to several experimental prototypes, but only the Soviet Yakovlev Yak-38 Forger (essentially a rather inferior Sea Harrier) used them operationally. The most ambitious to fly was the Dornier Do 31 tactical transport (pictured), which combined two Harrier-type Pegasus-style engines with no fewer than eight lift jets!

The chief disadvantage of lift jets is the enormous deadweight and loss of internal volume to a part that is only used for take-off and landing, as well as increased maintenance and parts needs. The US Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II uses a lift-fan driven by the main engine (combined with a rear three-bearing swivel nozzle).

8: Ramjets, scramjets and tip jets

The ramjet is a simple form of a jet that requires the intake of fast air to function. It is ideal for fast aircraft launched from a mothership or missiles launched from a fast aircraft. Though simple and efficient for high-speed flight, its chief disadvantage is the inability to start with static air. The spectacular Nord 1500 Griffon (pictured) had a ramjet and a turbojet.

Unlike a ramjet, a scramjet does not slow the air down before combustion. A scramjet has no shock cone (a body that slows the air), and is very efficient at very high speeds. The Boeing X-51 Waverider was an unmanned research scramjet experimental aircraft for flight at extreme speeds.

8: Ramjets, scramjets and tip jets

Helicopters are complex machines, but replacing the transmission system and piston (and later turbine) engines with tip ramjets created a far lighter, more straightforward solution. Indeed, the YH-32 Hornet (pictured) enjoyed 90 horsepower (68kW) from two ramjets mounted on the rotor tips, weighing only 13 pounds (5.9kg).

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Though the ramjet is among the simplest form of jet propulsion as it doesnt require fans, it is also incredibly noisy and thirsty. Though its terrible range made the H-32 an impractical vehicle for military operations, it did much to pioneer US helicopter gunships.

7: Riout 102T Alerion

French engineer Rene Louis Riout built his first flapping wing aircraft in 1913, the DuBois-Riout. He managed to get the machine off the ground in 1916, but it crashed almost immediately. Undeterred, Riout continued to develop concepts for flapping-wing aircraft (ornithopters).

And so, the Riout 102T Alerion was born (or hatched). Its fuselage was made of tubular steel and covered with aluminium. The closed cockpit was located at the very front of the machine, in the nose and the engine, a small V-twin engine was installed behind the pilot and the attachment point of the four flapping wings.

7: Riout 102T Alerion

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The aircraft was equipped with four small retractable wheels and four wings operating in pairs. By early 1938, construction of the Alerion was completed and it was moved to Chalais-Meudon (an aeronautical research and development centre to the southwest of Paris).

Wind tunnel testing began with the wings stationary, then later flapping, before the final stage of deformation was tested (this deformation produces thrust to propel the aircraft). The wings gave way under the wind tunnel's rigours combined with the flapping's violence. The machine was not repaired  and it never flew.

6: Rockets

Rockets can offer tremendous thrust and speeds at any altitude you like, but they come with some severe limitations and, often, safety concerns. The Opel RAK.1, the first purpose-designed rocket plane flew on September 30, 1929. It reached a top speed of 150 km/h (93 mph).

The first operational military rocket-powered aircraft was the Messerschmitt 163 Komet interceptor, the fastest aircraft of World War 2, with a top speed of around 659 miles per hour (1054 km/h), around 200mph (322km/h) faster than the swiftest piston-engined fighters. It had an endurance of minutes and landed on skids.

6: Rocket

Whereas most fighters of the time had a climb rate of around 3000 feet per minute, the rocket-powered Me 163 clawed upwards at an astonishing 16,000 feet per minute. Pilots of the time were ill-equipped to understand what was happening at such extreme climb rates and speeds.

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The Bachem Ba 349 Natter was essentially a manned surface-to-air rocket-powered missile, developed in 1943 to counter the mounting Allied bombing of Germany. It first flew with a human on board in March 1945, but crashed after a minute or so, killing the pilot.

In the early days of jet aircraft, some jet aircraft were designed with an auxiliary rocket, often to increase the climb rate . The logistical and safety concerns of rocket fuel meant designers were very happy to rely on pure jet propulsion once engines had sufficient power. Rockets continued to be used for ultra-performance test aircraft like the North American X-15 (pictured).

5: Pulse jets

Pulse jets are one of the simplest types of jet propulsion. Air coming through a one-way valve is combusted in pulses and then released through a nozzle; the low pressure created by the expulsion is used to draw more air in. The pulsing nature of the device results in a distinctive buzzing sound.

Though simple and capable of high speeds, the pulsejet is loud and creates a great deal of vibration. The American engineer Robert Goddard (1882-1945) created a pulsejet engine in 1931 and rather spectacularly demonstrated it with a jet-propelled bicycle. The best-known example is the Argus As 109-014, used to propel Nazi Germany's Fiesler Fi 103 cruise missile, better known as the V-1.

5: Pulse jets

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The Fieseler Fi 103R Reichenberg, was a crewed version of the V-1. It was intended to be used as a human-guided cruise missile for attacks against the advancing Allies. On 15 March 1945, it was decreed that such missions were not part of the German warrior tradition, and the Reichenberg unit was disbanded.

Germany also tried to develop several other pulsejet fighters, but the engine proved unsuitable. Pulsejets were also used to propel target drones, boost a piston-engined fighters performance (the Soviet Lavochkin La-9RD), and an experimental helicopter (the XH-26 Jet Jeep), among other aircraft. With todays growing interest in low-cost engines for decoys and one-way attack drones, the pulsejet may reappear.

4: Humans and pedals

The earliest efforts at human flights involved overconfident attempts at leaping out of towers or off cliffs, with frantically flapping arms, often with feathers attached. These inevitably ended badly, but that does not mean that human-powered flight is impossible, but peddling was better than flapping.

Several hardy souls have decided that the generally earthbound state of the most civilised conveyance known to man, the bicycle, is a ludicrous hindrance and have pedalled their way to the heavens with hugely differing levels of success: usually briefly and invariably slowly.

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PICTURE: MIT Daedalus, from 1988

4: Humans and pedals

The first human-powered flight to be officially witnessed and accredited (and filmed for a Pathe news reel just to really hammer the point home) was achieved by SUMPAC (Southampton University Man Powered Aircraft) in England, which had been built by students between 1960 and 1961 to make a bid for the Kremer prize.

To pilot the craft, a professional cyclist was to be trained how to fly a glider by the exceptionally talented pilot Derek Piggott (1922-2019). As it turned out, the cyclist turned out to be untrainable and Piggott ended up gamely pedalling SUMPAC into the air, and the history books, himself.

3: Stipa-Caproni

A moving fluid, such as air, speeds up as it flows through a constricted section of a pipe. Italian engineer and aircraft designer Luigi Stipa (1900-1992) believed he could harness this effect to create a more efficient aeroplane. For his new design he intubed the propeller in a duct, creating an aircraft of grotesque barrel-like appearance.

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Though the aircraft, which flew in 1932, had fine low-speed handling, was quiet and had a high rate of climb for an aircraft of similar power and wing loading, most of the benefits were cancelled out by the increased drag of the overall shape, and so the concept was not pursued further.

3: Stipa-Caproni

Though not successful, the work informed the motor-jet-powered Caproni Campini N.1, an early jet aircraft that first flew in 1940. A motorjet is a type of proto jet engine which uses a piston engine to drive its compressor stage.

The Stipa-Caproni looked comical, with an extremely stubby shape more redolent of a cartoon image of an aeroplane than an actual experimental design. Ducted fans did not disappear, later appearing on airships, drones, hovercraft, and other experimental aircraft.

2: Nuclear

The most alarming form of aircraft propulsion is nuclear. Nuclear power offers almost unlimited range, so it was a tempting technology for building a nuclear-armed bomber in the air for a prolonged period to act in the deterrent role. The US and USSR studied the technology producing a variety of technology testbed aircraft.

The NB-36H flew with an active nuclear reactor but it was not used for propulsive purposes, but to test crew shielding from radiation. The standard B-36 aircrew, plus two nuclear technicians were housed in an 11-ton section lined with lead and rubber. A monitoring system dubbed "Project Halitosis" measured the emission of radioactive gases from the reactor.

2: Nuclear

A major issue, never solved, was how to shield the crew to prevent radiation sickness effectively as well as the very worrying implications of a crash. With the arrival of intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the desire for bombers of limitless range was reduced. Just counting US research efforts alone, a staggering $1 billion was spent, equivalent to around $10.6 billion today.

Project Pluto was a US plan to stick a nuclear ramjet in a cruise missile. A nuclear ramjet is a type of engine that uses a nuclear reactor to heat air and create thrust. To be known as SLAM (Supersonic Low-Altitude Missile). This terrible idea was cancelled but, unfortunately is possibly alive today in Russia as the 9M730 Burevestnik (NATO reporting name: SSC-X-9 Skyfall).

1: Coal powered ramjet

Alexander Lippisch (1894-1976) was a German aeronautical engineer who designed the world's first rocket-powered glider. He was also a pioneer in supersonic aerodynamics and designed the Messerschmitt Me 163 rocket-powered interceptor.

Despite the Me 163s astonishing speed and flesh-disintegrating fuel it was not his most outlandish suggestion. With Germany facing defeat in the Second World War, in desperation German aircraft designers seemingly went out of their way to conceive the barmiest possible flying machines. A contender for one of the most unlikely was the Lippisch P.13, a design intended to create a supersonic fighter.

1: Coal powered ramjet

There was a need to create an aircraft that could fight on despite increasingly chronic fuel shortages by avoiding the use of conventional fuels. Lippisch suggested a coal-powered ramjet and combined it with a startling futuristic design.

The Kronach Lorin was a small ramjet, tested on the ground in Vienna. It was intended to be used in the German interceptor planes Lippisch P.13a, and Lippisch P.13b. Small granules of coal were to produce an even burn, carried in a basket revolving on a vertical axis at 60 rpm. The P.13 had not flown by the time Soviet forces arrived in Vienna.

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Credit: Jordan Adams

Trail cameras are meant to capture what happens in the forest when no humans are there to witness it  but one camera has captured visuals of what its like to be immersed in a wildfire.

Last week, multiple wildfires burned through sections of central and western Nebraska. As of March 14, officials estimated around 600,000 acres have been affected, making the wildfire one of the biggest in the states history.

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Trail camera owner Jordan Adams knew the wildfires had gone through the rural Brady, Nebraska area where his trail camera was, and so he went out to see what was left. He found his non-cellular Tasco trail camera had melted.

Jordan Adams

Jordan Adams

Jordan Adams

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However, when Adams brought what was left of the camera home and peeled it apart, he was surprised to find the memory card intact inside.

The trail camera managed to capture several fiery photographs before its demise. Adams described his reaction as utter amazement and excitement to see just what the camera had caught.

Jordan Adams

Jordan Adams

Jordan Adams

Jordan Adams

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Adams shared the photos with the Trail Camera Junkies Facebook group, where several users described similar experiences in catching a wildfire on a trail camera  and even some trail cameras that were high enough on the tree to survive.

The wildfire that melted Adams camera was one of three wildfires in the region that began on March 12  one of those fires is now being described as the largest in Nebraskas history. As of Sunday, March 15, firefighters were still working to contain the fires.

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Take a look at the best trail cameras or the best rugged cameras.
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For travelers hoping to board a plane this week, inclement weather and long security lines are likely to cause headaches at the airport.

As a partial government shutdown affecting Transportation Security Administration funding drags on, TSA officers have been calling out of work at high rates after missing their first full paycheck.

"Its devastating to their finances," Johnny Jones, Secretary-Treasurer of AFGE TSA Council 100 and a Dallas-based TSA worker, told USA TODAY. "My family had to get rid of our vacation plans, and everybodys having struggles. There are a lot of people who dont have money for food, gas, and childcare; its a sad state of affairs."

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TSA lines are longer. What you can do before going to the airport

Jones acknowledged that TSA agents have been calling out of work, saying that many have had to seek other ways of earning income as the shutdown continues.

"Theres no end in sight; they dont know how long this is going to go on," he said.

For travelers, the long lines can be frustrating and stressful.

Are the long security lines at airports real?

Yes, but they can vary.

At Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas, the line was out the door just to get inside on March 16, while over at Reagan National Airport in Washington, DC, the wait times were reportedly under 5 minutes.

Travelers wait in Transportation Security Administration screening lines at the San Antonio International Airport in San Antonio, Texas, U.S., March 14, 2026.

AUS posted footage on X showing the general security line for its Checkpoint 1 stretching out of the building, well past the sidewalk out front and into a walking path at 4:30 a.m. local time on March 16. The video pans past flyers with backpacks and rolling suitcases, alternately inching forward and standing still under a dark sky as they make their way to the indoor screening area. By 5:30 a.m., the line had shortened a bit and moved inside by 5:41, according to subsequent posts, though the airport noted it was "still seeing some lines outside for general screening with CLEAR."

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Since the TSA agent call-outs aren't planned, wait times at airports can be unpredictable.

Erik Hansen, senior vice president of government relations at the U.S. Travel Association, told USA TODAY that even the threat of long security lines can disrupt travel.

"The callouts arent systematic, thats why travelers are facing the threat of really long lines and that unpredictability of not knowing whether its going to be a 15 minute wait time or a three hour wait time," he said, noting that travelers have to prepare for the worst case when heading to the airport, even if they ultimately don't have to wait in long lines.

USTA is calling on members of Congress to pass legislation to end the shutdown and restore smoother travel.

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Many flyers have taken to social media to note how unusual and confusing the situation can be.

"I have never seen anything like the TSA lines at LaGuardia right now. INSANE," one user wrote on Bluesky. "Pretty sure the line goes all the way back to Midtown."

"We are outcome specific in that we want to make sure (TSA officers) are paid, that they show up to work and receive the paychecks they deserve for keeping Americans safe when they fly," Hansen said. "We are letting (members of Congress) know that this is unacceptable, that theyre keeping America waiting, slowing America down."

What if I miss my flight because of the long lines at TSA?

You're not entitled to a refund if you miss your flight because of long security lines, so make sure you leave extra time at the airport if you're traveling during the shutdown.

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American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines did not immediately respond to USA TODAY's request for comment on whether there's been a significant change in passengers missing their flights. United Airlines said it had no data to share.

When will TSA lines go back to normal?

It depends.

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson (TSA is part of DHS) told USA TODAY in a statement that security screening delays are likely to increase as the shutdown drags on.

"American travelers across the country are facing hours-long airport lines, that will worsen as this shutdown continues," the statement said. "More than 300 TSA officers have quit since the DHS shutdown began and callouts are approximately double the normal rate."

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The spokesperson said DHS anticipates the number of resignations and call-outs to increase the longer the shutdown lasts. While TSA agents missed their first full paycheck on March 13, most had only received partial payment in the previous pay period.

"When you get a partial paycheck, when you expect $2,000 and you receive $500, and then you expect $2,000 and you receive zero, youre now $3,500 in the hole," Jones said. "I dont have anybody I can call and ask for $3,500."

For travelers, the best thing to do for now is to leave extra time at the airport and check your airport's website and social media for the most up-to-date information about wait times, since the TSA pages aren't being updated during the shutdown.

Also, remember to treat the TSA officers who do show up to work with respect.

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"If you get stuck in a long line and youre in a position where youre going to miss your flight, just know, or if your lines are long and you make your flight, just know its not the fault of the TSA officer. The people who came to work are making sure to follow the policies and procedures to make sure you get to your destination safely," Jones said. "Just because the line is long, we're not going to deviate from those policies and procedures; the risk is too high in the situation we find ourselves in."

Zach Wichter is a travel reporter and writes the Cruising Altitude column for USA TODAY. He is based in New York, and you can reach him at zwichter@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why TSA waits are wildly different depending on your airport
Malaysias Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry has urged hotels to offer guests a 23-hour stay, using a model such as 2pm check-in and 1pm check-out, as the country prepares for Visit Malaysia 2026.

The proposal brings hotel check-in and check-out times into a wider policy debate about guest value, service standards and tourism competitiveness in Malaysias accommodation sector.

The ministry set out the position in a written parliamentary reply dated 26 February, saying longer stays could improve the visitor experience and strengthen Malaysias hospitality offer.

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It also made clear that hotel check-in and check-out times remain a commercial decision for operators, not a fixed national rule.

What the ministry wants

The ministrys stated position is simple: hotels should consider a minimum 23-hour stay for guests.

The example it gave, 2pm check-in followed by 1pm check-out the next day, is intended to increase the usable room time for travellers without turning the issue into a formal mandatory standard at this stage.

The discussion has gained attention because hotel check-in time and check-out time are widely used search terms among travellers comparing accommodation value before booking.

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This push is linked directly to Visit Malaysia 2026, the national tourism drive that aims to raise arrivals and improve service delivery across the travel chain.

MOTAC said in a separate February statement that Visit Malaysia 2026 is targeting 47 million tourist arrivals, placing added focus on hospitality standards and front-line visitor experience.

Why check-in times matter

For travellers, the commercial issue is not only room rate but how many usable hours are included in a one-night stay. Standard hotel check-in and check-out policies often leave guests with fewer than 24 hours on the property, especially where later arrivals and earlier departures are enforced.

Recent reporting on the Malaysian debate shows the ministry is responding to concerns about value for money as part of its tourism marketing strategy.

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Search behaviour also supports the commercial relevance of the issue. Google Hotels listings for Malaysia place check-in and check-out fields at the centre of the booking flow, showing how closely timing is tied to price comparison and booking choice.

Public discussion on travel forums and hotel sites also shows that common market practice in Malaysia often sits around a 2pm or 3pm check-in and a noon or 11am check-out, although this varies by property and brand.

That matters for hotel operators because short stays increase pressure on housekeeping, front desk operations and room turnaround.

At the same time, a clearer and more guest-friendly hotel check-in policy can become a competitive differentiator, especially in high-volume leisure markets where consumers compare terms closely across online travel platforms.

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This operational tension explains why the ministry has framed the idea as an industry recommendation rather than an immediate requirement.

What happens next

The ministry said it is in discussions with the Housing and Local Government Ministry on whether operating-hour standards could be considered within local council licensing requirements.

It also linked the issue to a review of the Tourism Industry Act 1992, which is intended to strengthen MOTACs role in raising accommodation sector standards and service quality.

That means the next phase is likely to centre on whether hotel check-in and check-out times remain purely a business policy or become part of a broader service framework tied to licensing, regulation or tourism quality measures.

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For now, no compulsory national standard has been announced, and the ministry has told consumers to read hotel terms carefully before making reservations.

For the hotel industry, the immediate takeaway is that room access times are no longer a minor housekeeping detail.

In Malaysia, hotel check-in and check-out times are now being treated as part of the wider tourism product ahead of Visit Malaysia 2026, with implications for pricing, operations, guest satisfaction and regulatory oversight.

"Malaysia pushes hotel check-in and check-out times into tourism policy debate" was originally created and published by Hotel Management Network, a GlobalData owned brand.





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Bad news for most spring breakers heading to Universal Orlando's brand-new theme park.

Epic Universe's Stardust Racers roller coaster has extended its temporary closure, initially set to end Feb. 19.

According to AllEars, this is the third time its closure has been extended. It was originally scheduled to end Feb. 22, then extended to Feb. 28, then into March, and now into April.

How much longer will Stardust Racers be closed?

Stardust Racers will be closed through Sunday, April 5, 2026.

Why is Stardust Racers closed?

Stardust Racers is closed for its annual inspection and maintenance, according to WESH 2 and Fox 35.

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"Stardust Racers is undergoing its first annual planned inspection and maintenance process. We are efficiently completing the work all at once and are also making additional capacity and throughput enhancements, which is extending the temporary closure period," Universal Orlando officials said in a statement.

What is Stardust Racers at Universal theme park? Where is Stardust Racers located?

Florida Theme Park Rides - The USA TODAY Florida Network was invited to be among the first to visit Epic Universe before it opens to the public next month. One of Celestial Park's rides is Stardust Racers, a dual-launch racing coaster that hurls you across the cosmos

Stardust Racers is a dual-launch racing coaster located in the Celestial Park section of Epic Universe at Universal Orlando Resort in Florida.

How fast does Stardust Racers go? How intense is Stardust Racers?

Stardust Racers reaches speeds of 62 mph, rises to 133 feet in the air, and runs along 5,000 feet of track.

The coaster begins with two powerful launches, with another toward the end of the ride. The two tracks glide between each other many times throughout the ride, including during the "Celestial Spin."

What is the difference between yellow and green tracks on Stardust Racers?

There is no difference in the tracks on Stardust Racers, except when certain spins happen, according to officials.

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Adam Rivest, vice president of creative management and branding at Universal Orlando, recommended the green track during the day and the yellow track at night solely for the scenery.

What are the physical requirements to ride Stardust Racers at Universal Orlando in Florida?

According to Universal Orlando's website, guests:

Should be able to independently: (1) maintain an upright position, (2) support your torso, neck, and head while absorbing sudden and dramatic movements, and (3) brace your body with at least one natural upper extremity.

When seated, both natural legs must, at a minimum, terminate below the ankle. No prosthetic limbs.

Must be able to take a small step into the ride vehicle compartment, either independently or with assistance from a companion.

There is also a height requirement: a minimum of 48 inches (4 feet).

Guests are required to store all loose items in lockers and will go through metal detectors before riding.

How much are tickets to Universal Orlando's Epic Universe in Florida during spring break, March 2026?

As of March 2026, a one-day ticket to just Epic Universe starts at $139 per adult and $134 per child between the ages of three and nine. You cannot park hop to the other theme parks with this ticket.

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Universal Orlando also offers different Epic Universe ticket packages that include visits to the other parks on separate days.

Where is Epic Universe located in Florida?

Plug this into your GPS: Epic Universe, 1001 Epic Blvd., Orlando, Florida. Universal Orlando's newest theme park opened its doors earlier this year, in May 2025, the first for Orlando in more than 25 years.

What happened with the death on Stardust Racers?

Kissimmee, Florida, resident Kevin Rodriguez Zavala, 32, was found unresponsive on the Stardust Racers coaster after riding it late at night Sept. 17, 2025, and later died on the same night. Universal Orlando officials shut down the ride for an investigation into what happened, while Rodriguez's family has publicly pursued answers into what went wrong.

The family of Zavala had retained civil rights attorney Ben Crump to investigate the death and see what the theme park is doing to prevent this from happening again.

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As of December 2025, the Orange County Sheriff's Office determined that no criminal acts occurred in Zavala's death. Sheriff's investigators said the case was ruled an accident and is closed, releasing a final incident report on Dec. 11.

In a statement shared with USA TODAY NETWORK Florida, Crump and the family offered this statement:

"The family of Kevin Rodriguez Zavala and Universal have reached an amicable resolution in this matter. The terms are confidential. The family is grateful for the communitys support and asks for privacy at this time

Samantha Neely is a trending reporter for the USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida, covering pop culture, theme parks, breaking news and more. You can get all of Floridas best content directly in your inbox each weekday by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY, at https://floridatoday.com/newsletters.

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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Epic Universe coaster closed until April. Here's why, when it reopens
Two weeks of US-Israeli air strikes have displaced millions inside Iran, raising fears in neighboring countries about a possible refugee spillover that could potentially turn into a humanitarian crisis, AzerNEWS reports.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said it is preparing for potential humanitarian needs in the region, estimating that up to 3.2 million people have been temporarily displaced inside Iran, most of whom are fleeing Tehran, which on March 13 saw one of the heaviest days of bombardment in the conflict so far.

Several of Irans neighbors closed their borders at the onset of the air strikes, which started on February 28, and have only sparingly allowed mainly citizens of third countries to cross as they transit home.

Pourkaz is one of the 3.2 million people in Iran who the UN refugee agency estimates have been displaced since the war began between Israel and the United States, and Iran. While some are seeking shelter in safer parts of Iran or one of its neighboring countries, others are returning from abroad, heading toward the fighting to protect their families and homes.

So far, relatively few people have chosen to leave: The UN estimates that only about 1,300 Iranians have fled via Turkiye each day since the war started, and on some days, more people return to Iran than depart. But Irans neighbors and Europe are growing increasingly concerned about a possible migration crisis should the war drag on and are making contingency plans.

As Pourkaz was entering Turkiye, Leila Rabetnezhadfard was headed the other way.

Rabetnezhadfard, 45, was in Istanbul preparing to marry a German university professor when the fighting started. She postponed the ceremony and left for home in Shiraz, in southern Iran.

How can I feel safe in Istanbul when my family is living in Iran during the war? said Rabetnezhadfard, explaining that bringing her family to Istanbul wasnt an option because her apartment is small, her brother needs medical care, and life there is expensive.

I will not leave Iran until the war ends, she said.

The UN has warned that continued fighting will likely push more Iranians to flee their homes.

As in the 12-day conflict last year, many Iranians are now sheltering in place, without money to flee or perhaps because of US President Donald Trumps Feb. 28 warning.

Stay sheltered. Dont leave your home. Its very dangerous outside. Bombs will be dropping everywhere, he said.

Although large numbers of Iranians havent fled the country yet, people have been leaving major cities for the relative safety of the countryside bordering the Caspian Sea north of the capital, Tehran, according to the International Organization for Migration.

Movement out of Iran appears limited mainly because people are prioritizing staying with their families, as well as the safety of their families and property, and due to security conditions and logistical constraints, said Salvador Gutierrez, chief of the IOMs mission in Iran.

If Irans critical infrastructure is destroyed, that could lead to waves of people trying to cross into one of Irans neighbors: Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Turkiye and Iraq.
Sunday, October 13th 2024, marked the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction (IDDRR), a globally recognized event that was first observ
Robot training facility drives humanoid robot development in Zhengzhou, C China's Henan

People's Daily Online) 09:36, March 16, 2026

Trainers train robots at a heterogeneous humanoid robot training facility, located inside a 4S store for heterogeneous humanoid robots in Zhongyuan Science and Technology City, Zhengzhou, central China's Henan Province. (People's Daily Online/Chang Liyuan)

A three-robot band took to the stage at a 4S store for heterogeneous humanoid robots in Zhongyuan Science and Technology City, Zhengzhou, central China's Henan Province, on March 10, drawing applause from more than 20 visitors on a study tour.

A heterogeneous humanoid robot training facility inside the store was completed in just 40 days, following an agreement signed at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) 2025 in Shanghai last July. This makes Henan the third place in China to host a heterogeneous humanoid robot training facility, after Beijing and Shanghai.

In the agricultural robot zone of the training facility's exhibition hall, a robot was trained on tasks such as pollinating and pruning strawberry plants. In the service robot zone, another robot progressed under a trainer's guidance from stiff movements to fluid motions. Meanwhile, in the specialized robot zone, a robot broke through a guardrail and carried out inspection and maintenance operations inside a mock tunnel.

Chen Yang, business manager at Henan Embodied Intelligence Industrial Development Co., Ltd., explained that the 4S store and training facility operate on an innovative "front shop, back factory" model. The ground floor is open for free visits, while the second floor charges admission and showcases dozens of major robot models that visitors can interact with.

Chen explained that at the training facility, each robot is assigned a dedicated trainer, with data from every movement uploaded to the cloud to support future upgrades. More than 150 million visual data points have been collected from a clothes-folding task alone.

The facility houses 140 humanoid robots, trained to perform tasks across six areas, including modern agriculture, industrial manufacturing and health care. The training is carefully aligned with Henan's 12 pillar industries and 27 application scenarios.

A trainer trains a robot to grasp and place objects at a heterogeneous humanoid robot training facility, located inside a 4S store for heterogeneous humanoid robots in Zhongyuan Science and Technology City, Zhengzhou, central China's Henan Province. (People's Daily Online/Chang Liyuan)

A trainer trains a robot to prune strawberry plants at a heterogeneous humanoid robot training facility, located inside a 4S store for heterogeneous humanoid robots in Zhongyuan Science and Technology City, Zhengzhou, central China's Henan Province. (People's Daily Online/Chang Liyuan)

A trainer trains a robot to pick strawberries at a heterogeneous humanoid robot training facility, located inside a 4S store for heterogeneous humanoid robots in Zhongyuan Science and Technology City, Zhengzhou, central China's Henan Province. (People's Daily Online/Chang Liyuan)

A robotic dog interacts with a young visitor at a 4S store for heterogeneous humanoid robots in Zhongyuan Science and Technology City, Zhengzhou, central China's Henan Province. (People's Daily Online/Chang Liyuan)

Robots present a dance performance at a 4S store for heterogeneous humanoid robots in Zhongyuan Science and Technology City, Zhengzhou, central China's Henan Province. (People's Daily Online/Chang Liyuan)

A robot mimics human movements using its sensors at a heterogeneous humanoid robot training facility, located inside a 4S store for heterogeneous humanoid robots in Zhongyuan Science and Technology City, Zhengzhou, central China's Henan Province. (People's Daily Online/Hou Linlin)

Robots perform inside a 4S store for heterogeneous humanoid robots in Zhongyuan Science and Technology City, Zhengzhou, central China's Henan Province. (People's Daily Online/Chang Liyuan)

A robot carries out inspection and maintenance operations inside a simulated tunnel at a heterogeneous humanoid robot training facility, located inside a 4S store for heterogeneous humanoid robots in Zhongyuan Science and Technology City, Zhengzhou, central China's Henan Province. (People's Daily Online/Chang Liyuan)

A robotic dog interacts with a young visitor at a 4S store for heterogeneous humanoid robots in Zhongyuan Science and Technology City, Zhengzhou, central China's Henan Province. (People's Daily Online/Chang Liyuan)

A 185-cm-tall humanoid robot, the tallest of its kind in China, stands at a 4S store for heterogeneous humanoid robots in Zhongyuan Science and Technology City, Zhengzhou, central China's Henan Province. (People's Daily Online/Chang Liyuan)

A robot prunes strawberry plants at a heterogeneous humanoid robot training facility, located inside a 4S store for heterogeneous humanoid robots in Zhongyuan Science and Technology City, Zhengzhou, central China's Henan Province. (People's Daily Online/Chang Liyuan)

A humanoid robot writes the Chinese character "fu," meaning good fortune, at a 4S store for heterogeneous humanoid robots in Zhongyuan Science and Technology City, Zhengzhou, central China's Henan Province. (People's Daily Online/Chang Liyuan)

(Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun)
Amid rising geopolitical tensions and disruptions to global energy flows, Japan has announced plans to release 80 million barrels of oil from its strategic reserves starting March 16, highlighting concerns over the countrys dependence on Middle Eastern energy supplies, AzerNEWS reports.

According to reports cited by the South China Morning Post, this will mark the first time Tokyo has independently deployed its national oil reserves. The move comes ahead of a coordinated response by major energy-consuming nations within the International Energy Agency, which have agreed to collectively release a record 400 million barrels of oil from strategic stockpiles.

Analysts say Tokyos decision reflects the urgency of the situation, as waiting for a coordinated international decision could have triggered a sharp rise in domestic fuel prices, potentially weakening demand and corporate profits.

Xu Tianchen noted that Japan is particularly vulnerable due to its heavy reliance on shipments passing through the Strait of Hormuz. According to Japans Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, more than 90 percent of the countrys oil imports come from the Middle East, making the strait a critical route for the Japanese economy.

The decision comes amid a prolonged conflict in the region, with the de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz entering its second week, raising fears of prolonged disruptions to global energy supplies.

Japans energy vulnerability could also deepen broader economic pressures. Relations between Tokyo and China have deteriorated following remarks by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi regarding Taiwan in November. Since then, Beijing has introduced export restrictions on strategic materials and dual-use products, affecting several Japanese companies and pushing bilateral relations to one of their lowest points in recent years.

According to Xu Weijun, Japan has previously mitigated the impact of such restrictions through stockpiles, alternative supply sources, government subsidies, and corporate profits. However, the ongoing conflict involving Iran and disruptions in energy routes could weaken this buffer and intensify Beijings economic leverage over Tokyo.

Analysts also note that China may be better positioned to weather prolonged price volatility. Although a significant portion of global liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments also pass through the Strait of Hormuz, Chinas energy mix still relies heavily on coal and rapidly expanding renewable sources, providing a partial shield against fluctuations in global oil prices.
LOS ANGELES  Paul Thomas Andersons One Battle After Another was crowned best picture at the 98th Academy Awards, handing Hollywoods top honor to a comic, multi-generational American saga of political resistance.

The ceremony Sunday, which also saw Michael B. Jordan win best actor and Sinners cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw make Oscar history as the first female director of photography to win the award, was a long-in-coming coronation for Anderson, a San Fernando Valley native who made his first short at age 18 and has been one of Americas most lionized filmmakers for decades. Before Sunday, Anderson had never won an Oscar.

But One Battle After Another, the favorite coming in, won six Oscars, including best director and best adapted screenplay for Anderson, the Oscars' first trophy for best casting and best supporting actor for an absent Sean Penn.

I wrote this movie for my kids to say sorry for the housekeeping mess that we left in this world  were handing off to them, said Anderson while accepting the screenplay trophy. But also with the encouragement that they will be the generation that hopefully brings us some common sense and decency.

Sinners, which came in with a record 16 nominations, also landed some big and even historic wins. Coogler, the widely loved filmmaker, won the first Oscar in an unblemished career that started out with Jordan in 2013's Fruitvale Station. Arkapow, only the fourth female cinematographer ever nominated, won the award in a long-in-coming triumph for women behind the camera.

I really want all the women in room to stand up, said Arkapaw. Because I dont feel like I get here without you guys.
Dateline: Mar 17

Dateline travels to Vienna where fifty percent of the population is eligible for affordable and secure rent through social housing.

Tonight on SBS, Dateline travels to Vienna where fifty percent of the population is eligible for affordable and secure rent through social housing.

What can Australia learn from Europes largest landlord?

Fifty per cent of Viennas population live in some form of social housing  either the government owned Gemeindebau or government-subsidised properties, which are dotted all around the city.

Some are even inside or adjacent to the first district or the Innere Stadt, Viennas old town, which is home to iconic tourist attractions like The Hofburg Palace and St Stephens Cathedral.

Viennas social housing system has led residents and international media to dub the city a renters utopia.

9:30pm tonight on SBS.
How do newsrooms verify sources in time of war?

ABC, SBS and Seven News tell Media Watch how they endeavour to fact-check information in times of conflict.

News reports of a girls school being bombed in Iran last week were attributed to US and Israeli forces -a topic analysed this week by Media Watch host Linton Besser.

In times of war, how do newsrooms verify information given the speed with which news is reported?

Three TV newsrooms advised ABC how they tackled such a difficult story.

Comment from an SBS spokesperson:

Whenever there is an international story that is difficult to verify, SBS works with trusted sources and agency partners to decide what we can report responsibly, using verified images and video, and attributing conflicting claims. SBS does not have a reporter in Iran, but works closely with a network of agency partners and our Persian, Arabic, and Hebrew teams, who have trusted sources in the region. SBSs Chief International Correspondent is based in Europe, and regularly travels to the Middle East. He had already been deployed to Israel when the current conflict began. When deciding on deployments to conflict zones, SBS considers its ability to appropriately resource the deployment of staff to the region, as well as the potential safety risks.

Comment from a Seven Network spokesperson:

Questioning every fact and every image when covering a conflict is always a difficult, but critical, task for any news organisation and within the realms of deadlines 7NEWS has been actively crediting every shot with its location and source beyond the high-level checks before images even get to air to try to protect our audiences from disinformation.

Statement from an ABC spokesperson:

We have been working to attempt to verify the various elements of the school strike story since it occurred. We have published multiple breakouts on the story and been transparent about what information we know and where it is coming from. We assess daily where our teams need to be to provide up to date coverage for Australian audiences. Iran has been a content priority over the past fortnight. We have multiple applications in to travel to Iran. We have contacts for information about Iran and have been able to speak to people inside the country, protecting their identities. The last ABC team to travel to Iran was Jonathan Miller and Foreign Correspondent last year after the 12-day war. A producer has been newsgathering in Lebanon since the start of the Iran war. Correspondent Matt Doran and camera operator Hamish Harty have now also deployed to Beirut. We had existing staff in Israel and deployed additional people there because it was where we could get resources at the start of the war. We also had people in Dubai, UAE and Erbil, Iraq.
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Media Watch: Mar 16

Tonight, Dubai influencers caught in Iran's crosshairs mysteriously change their tune.

Tonight on Media Watch hosted by Linton Besser

Journalists scramble to verify the tragic death of school children in Iran. Scared or safe?

Dubai influencers caught in Irans crosshairs mysteriously change their tune.

Plus statistics show Victorian judges issue more suppression orders than any other state. But is it true?

Tonight 9.20pm on ABC.
Rod Prosser, sales boss to depart 10 / Paramount ANZ.

Ive made the decision that its the right time for me to take a break and reset before the next chapter.

Rod Prosser, Chief Sales Officer at Paramount ANZ, is departed after 15 years at Network 10 / Paramount.

A member of the Paramount ANZ senior leadership team, Prosser became Chief Sales Officer in 2018 transitioning to Paramount ANZs Chief Sales Officer in 2020.

He joined the company in 2010 and has held a number of senior roles including Executive General Manager, Revenue and Client Partnerships, Sales Director of Brisbane and Sydney, National Head of Trading and Sport Sales and General Manager of 10s Brisbane and South-East Queensland station, TVQ.

Beverley McGarvey, President of Network 10, Head of Streaming and Regional Lead for Australia and New Zealand, said: Rod has been an important leader within our advertising division and the wider management team and has guided the sales team with clarity and focus. We thank him for his contribution over many years and wish him every success.

Lee Sears, President, International Markets Advertising Sales, Paramount Global, said: I want to thank Rod for his leadership, integrity and friendship, he has been a tremendous leader of the team and the Paramount business in Australia. He has set the team up for continued growth and I sincerely wish him well in the future.

Rod said: It has been a privilege to lead the commercial team at Paramount ANZ. Im proud of what weve achieved together and grateful for the support of our teams and clients.

After 15 years at Paramount, Ive made the decision that its the right time for me to take a break and reset before the next chapter.

Prior to joining Network 10, he held senior sales roles at the Nine Network and ACP Magazines. He also sits on the Boards of OzTAM and Premium Content Alliance.

Prosser departs at the end of April.

Grant Madigan (pictured below), who has been appointed to Vice President, Sales will assume accountability for the Australian Sales team and report directly to Lee Sears.
Small Town Scandal

In Tom Sainsbury's new comedy he stars as an aspiring true crime Kiwi podcaster, faking it until he makes it.

New Zealand has certainly been kicking some goals lately in scripted comedy.

Hot on the heels of musical comedy Happiness, and mystery comedy Blue Murder Motel, comes Tom Sainsburys new comedy Small Town Scandal on ABC, and the recently launched Crackhead now on HBO Max.

Sainsbury (Wellington Paranormal, Shortland Street, Sweet Tooth, Nude Tuesday) stars as aspiring true crime podcaster Toby Buchanan whose reason for existence is to produce 6  8 episodes of intriguing content.

And like a good episode of Only Murders in the Building he knows that in the best true crime podcasts the mystery unfolds in real time. So when his wealthy uncle (Peter Hambleton) is discovered dead and bloodied as a result of supposed abberant automated lawnmowers, he finds himself with the perfect case to unravel.

An under-achieving, lovable loser, Toby is also back in NZ from Australia where his career as an investitative reporter went belly-up at The Sydney Chronicle newspaper. Dependent on his mother Sue (Felicity Kendal) who is busy sewing frocks for the local races, the pressure is on to find new employ.

Standing in his way is former high-school bully turned local cop Matt (Alexander England), married to Katie (Morgana OReilly), who still dishes out the put-downs to poor Toby even as he is about to discover his uncles very corpse.

But Toby is committed if nothing else, to his new-found cause. Interrogating over-the-top aunt Janine (Jodie Dorday) proves hilarious, and she drops enough clues for him to chase up a lead. In fact Toby stumbles from clue to clue in spite of himself, from cop stations, to seedy motels, to veterinarians dealing in drugs. Hes on a mission in his Toyota complete with fluffy dice and eyelashes on the headlights. Seriously.

Felicity Kendal is an amazing get as his doting mother in her home craft workshop, with just enough time to devote to her sons sleuthing.

I feel like Im in Murder She Wrote .if there were that many murders in your town, surely youd just leave?

NZs Rose Matafeo, Robert Lloyd and Loren Taylor also feature.

But this is Tom Sainsburys series and he owns it as the meek master of bad disguises, failing upwards in order to solve a crime and go viral in the process.

8:30pm Tuesdays from March 17 on ABC Entertains
Nazrin Abdul



The government of Japan is not currently considering deploying its naval forces to patrol the waters of the Strait of Hormuz, Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said during parliamentary debates.

As reported by AzerNEWS, speaking in response to lawmakers questions, Koizumi stated that the dispatch of the countrys Self-Defense Forces is not on the agenda at the moment.

At the same time, the minister noted that Japans existing legal framework theoretically allows the deployment of Japanese vessels to the region if it becomes necessary to ensure the protection of Japanese citizens lives, health, or property. However, Koizumi refrained from commenting on whether the current situation in the Middle East meets the criteria for such a scenario.

Meanwhile, Australia has also signaled a limited role in the region. The countrys Infrastructure and Transport Minister Catherine King said in an interview with the ABC Radio that Australia plans to send a military aircraft to the United Arab Emirates to assist with defense-related efforts.

However, King emphasized that Australia will not deploy naval vessels to the Strait of Hormuz.

We have not been asked to do so, and we are not participating in efforts related to restoring navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, she said, adding that Canberra has no plans to send ships to the area.

Earlier reports also indicated that Germany and the United Kingdom are not considering deploying their naval vessels to the Strait of Hormuz either.
COPENHAGEN, March 16 (Reuters) - Europe should keep an open mind on helping to ensure freedom of navigation for ship traffic in the Strait of Hormuz even if the continent did not support the U.S.-Israeli decision to go to war with Iran, Denmark's foreign minister said on Monday.

President Donald Trump said on Sunday his administration was talking to several countries about protecting ships in the waterway that Tehran has mostly blocked to oil tanker traffic.

"We must face the world as it is, not as we want it to be," Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told journalists ahead of talks in Brussels with fellow EU foreign ministers on Monday. The topic could also be raised at an EU summit later this week.

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"Even if we don't like what's going on, I think it's wise to keep an open mind on whether Europe ... in some way can contribute, but with a view towards de-escalation," he said.

He added Denmark had yet to receive any request from the U.S. for help.

HOME TO SHIPPING COMPANY MAERSK

Denmark, home to container shipping company Maersk and other maritime groups, in 2024 sent a frigate to the Red Sea to participate in a U.S.-led coalition to safeguard traffic from attacks by Yemen's Houthi militants.

"Denmark is a sea-faring nation and we have in every way an interest in ensuring free navigation," Rasmussen said.

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"As the small country that we are, but a large maritime nation, we must remain open to this question."

Denmark has previously assisted when the United States sought partners for military operations in the Middle East, but relations have soured over Trump's repeated demands for U.S. control over Greenland.

(Reporting by Stine Jacobsen, editing by Terje Solsvik and Barbara Lewis)




As the holy month of Ramadan reaches its final days, millions of Muslims in the UK and around the world will be marking the end of fasting with the celebrations of Eid ul Fitr.

Also written as Eid al-Fitr, the name means 'festival of breaking the fast' and also signals the start of Shawwal, the month that follows Ramadan. This is the first main Eid event of the Islamic calendar.

Saudi Arabia began its Ramadan fasting on Wednesday, February 18. The UK - along with other countries - began its Ramadan fasting a day later on Thursday, February 19. This variation in Ramadan starting points is likely to mean a similar split in Eid ul Fitr dates.

READ MORE:

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This month, the new moon is born on Thursday, March 19. The first faint crescent starting to form around its edge will be very difficult, if not impossible, to spot on that day, meaning a verified moonsighting is unlikely anywhere - except in the USA where visibility will be much easier.

If the crescent can't be seen, Ramadan will go on for one more day and Eid will be on the day after that.

Where will the Eid moon be visible?

Global data from UK Government astronomers at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, indicates that the crescent will NOT be visible on March 19 in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Indonesia, Bangladesh and South Africa. It will simply be too slender and faint for anyone to see, experts say.

In the UK, Morocco and Turkey, it will be very difficult to see the crescent on March 19 but it may be possible to spot it with a telescope. However, officials in Morocco rely only on naked-eye sightings and do not accept the use of telescopes to look for the moon.

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Even a conventional telescope won't be sufficient for Muslims in Egypt and Nigeria to see the crescent on March 19. Only high-powered astronomical equipment stands any chance of catching a glimpse.

The forecasts state that the crescent moon will be easily visible everywhere by Friday, March 20, and Saturday, March 21, as it will have increased in size so it's more conspicuous. But these two days fall after the dates when moonsightings will be held.

What does this mean for Eid 2026?

Saudi Arabia's national calendar has already set a date of Friday, March 20, for Eid ul Fitr 2026, based on its own astronomical predictions.

As the country began its Ramadan a day earlier, it will also be looking for the Eid moon a day earlier than other nations. It's thought Saudi observers will gather for official attempts to sight the moon on Wednesday, March 18.

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The UK-based New Crescent Society explains that it will be impossible for Saudi Arabia to see the crescent on March 18, as it's a day before the new moon is even born.

This would then mean a Saudi declaration of a 'negative moonsighting' - meaning it wasn't spotted - and Ramadan continuing for one more day before Eid gets underway on March 20, in accordance with the kingdom's own calendar predictions.

The New Crescent Society says UK moonsightings, as well as those in neighbouring Morocco, will be a day later on Thursday, March 19, when the crescent will be very difficult to find in the evening sky because it's so early in the lunar cycle. This will probably mean Ramadan going on another day and Eid being on Saturday, March 21.

The society said: "Morocco will look for the moon on Thursday 19 March. The moon will be very, very hard to see. We expect no crescent sightings, and so they complete 30 days for Ramadan and Eid on Saturday 21 March. For context, Morocco has never seen such a thin moon in decades of sighting records. They accept naked eye sightings only.

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"Our UK moonsighters will [also] search for the moon on Thursday 19 March. We are in a similar position to Moroocco with a moon which is extremely difficult to see. Therefore we expect Eid to be on Saturday 21 March.

"However, there is a thin chance we [in the UK] could see the moon if we have perfect weather conditions - and if we do, Eid would be on Friday. Seeing such a moon would break a record for us - and we will try our best."

In a nutshell, this all points to the following forecasts of Eid dates.

Eid ul Fitr 26 predictions - key dates:

Eid ul Fitr 2026 for Saudi Arabia : Friday, March 20

Eid ul Fitr 2026 for UK : Saturday, March 21

Eid ul Fitr 2026 for Morocco : Saturday, March 21

Eid ul Fitr 2026 for Pakistan : Saturday, March 21

Eid ul Fitr 2026 for Bangladesh : Saturday, March 21

Eid ul Fitr 2026 for South Africa: Saturday, March 21

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It's worth pointing out that some organisations in the UK align with the Saudi declarations, including Green Lane Masjid in Birmingham, which usually holds a huge outdoor Eid gathering in the city's Small Heath Park if the weather is fine and the ground dry enough for prayer mats. Other Eid events in the city have already been announced.

Despite Islamic tradition calling for Muslims to look for the moon locally rather than relying on overseas reports, the UK has no nationwide Islamic authority giving a ruling on dates, so there can be differences in the Eid celebrations, even within the same city.
March 16 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump called on allies over the weekend to help secure the Strait of Hormuz as Iranian forces continue attacks on the vital waterway amid the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, now in its third week.

Trump said his administration has already contacted seven countries, but declined to identify them. In an earlier social media post, he said that he hoped China, France, Japan, South Korea, Britain and others would participate.

Iran has effectively shut the Strait, a narrow passage of water between Iran and Oman, choking off a fifth of global oil supply in the biggest disruption ever.

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Below are how some countries have responded to Washington's call to send ships to the region:

JAPAN

Japan does not currently plan to dispatch naval vessels to escort ships in the Middle East, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on Monday.

"We have not made any decisions whatsoever about dispatching escort ships. We are continuing to examine what Japan can do independently and what can be done within the legal framework," Takaichi told parliament.

Takaichi will travel to Washington this week for talks with Trump that she said will cover the conflict with Iran.

AUSTRALIA

Australia will not send naval ships to assist in reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a government minister said on Monday.

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"We won't be sending a ship to the Strait of Hormuz. We know how incredibly important that is, but that's not something that we've been asked or that we're contributing to," Catherine King, a member of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's cabinet, said in an interview with state broadcaster ABC.

SOUTH KOREA

"We will communicate closely with the U.S. regarding this matter and make a decision after careful review," South Korea's presidential office said on Sunday.

Under South Korea's constitution, overseas troop deployments require parliamentary approval, and opposition figures have said any dispatch of warships to the Strait would need consent from the legislature.

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BRITAIN

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Monday he would not be "drawn into the wider Iran war" whilst reiterating he was working with allies to reopen the Strait.

"We are working with others to come up with a credible plan for the Strait of Hormuz to ensure that we can reopen shipping and passage through the Strait. Let me be clear, that won't be and it's never been envisioned to be a NATO mission," he told reporters.

EUROPEAN UNION

EU foreign ministers will on Monday discuss bolstering a small naval mission in the Middle East but they are not expected to discuss expanding its role to include the choked-off Strait, diplomats and officials say.

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The EU's Aspides mission - named after the Greek word for "shields" - was established in 2024 to protect ships from attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebel group in the Red Sea.

GERMANY

Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said on Monday that Germany would not participate with its military in securing the Strait.

"What does Trump expect from a handful of European frigates that the powerful U.S. Navy cannot do? This is not our war, we have not started it," Pistorius said.

Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said in an interview with Germany's ARD television on Sunday that he was "very sceptical" that extending Aspides to the Strait of Hormuz would provide greater security.

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DENMARK

Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said on Monday ahead of the EU ministers' meeting that it would be wise to keep an open mind to this question "as the small country that we are, but a large maritime nation".

Even if Europe did not support the U.S.-Israeli decision to go to war, "we must face the world as it is, not as we want it to be", he told journalists.

ITALY

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on Monday that diplomacy was the right way to solve the crisis in the Strait, adding there were no naval missions Italy was involved in that could be extended to the area.

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GREECE

A government spokesperson said on Monday that Greece would not engage in military operations in the Strait of Hormuz.

(Compiled by Himani Sarkar and Jakob Van Calster; Editing by Michael Perry, Tom Hogue and Milla Nissi-Prussak)
Martin Ryan, who was arrested in Azerbaijan in December 2023, was convicted Monday for spying.

He was accused of collecting information about Azerbaijans military cooperation with Turkey, Iran and Pakistan, and helping to recruit French-speaking Azerbaijanis to cooperate with French intelligence.

One of the recruits, Azad Mammadli, an Azerbaijani citizen, was tried for treason, alongside Ryan and was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

France denies spying accusations

Authorities said Ryan arranged for Mammadji to meet French intelligence agents, who allegedly tasked him with recruiting Azerbaijanis and Russians at a Moscow university where he studied.

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In his final statement to the court, Ryan denied spying and said he had acted unknowingly.

"I consider myself guilty only in that I should not have established contacts with some embassy employees, or that I should have shared information about them with the appropriate authorities," Ryan told the court.

"I did not spy. I am not a spy, and during the court case I tried to prove this."

Diplomatic tensions

France has rejected the accusations, insisting that Ryan is not linked to French intelligence, arguing that he was caught in the crossfire of diplomatic tensions.

The French foreign ministry "assures us that state services are fully mobilised to secure his release."

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Ryans arrest and trial came during a period heightened tensions between France and Azerbaijan over Frances support for Armenia.

France has a large Armenian diaspora and supplies arms to Yerevan.

Azerbaijan lifts Armenia border restrictions, but hurdles to peace remain

Renewing ties

French President Emmanuel Macron and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev spoke by phone earlier this month and discussed revitalising bilateral relations and prospects for cooperation, Aliyev's office said in a readout.

Before his arrest, Ryan, who holds British citizenship as well, was the CEO of an Azerbaijani company, Merkorama, which imported food and raw materials and offered consulting services for foreign companies.

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Ryan drew attention when hep published an open letter to the French president urging Paris to stop what he called its denigration of Azerbaijan and defending Baku's position in its conflict with Armenia.

In May last year Azerbaijan pardoned another French citizen, Theo Hugo Clerc, who had been jailed for three years for drawing graffiti in the Baku metro.

(with newswires)
There are three poles on which the Middle East stands: the Arab nation states, Turkey and Iran.

For the West and Israel to hold influence in the region, we need two poles on our side. In this delicate balance of power, thus far we have successfully isolated Iran since the 1979 Islamist revolution. But the talk of a new cold war from Israeli politicians against Turkey risks wrecking this formula. Worse, this thinking fails to understand Turkey and does Irans bidding.

To an American audience, potential Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett last month declared that a new Turkish threat is emerging. Several days ago, Bennett again warned Turkey that after Iran, we wont stay idle. Former Israeli defence minister, Yoav Gallant, another possible runner for prime minister, also views Turkey in hostile terms.

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Turkey and Iran are rivals. They have been fighting a cold war for decades as champions of competing claims of leadership of over 1.8 billion Muslims around the world. Turkey is a Sunni Muslim nation of 86 million, inheritor of the Ottoman Empire, and faces East (Russia) and West (Balkans). Iran is a Shiite nation of 92m and the result of the Safavid Empire. For almost three centuries, these empires were at war. Now, their successor states continue that bitter rivalry.

Israeli threats in the past could have been interpreted as politicking, but after the Israeli attack on Doha, Qatar, targeting Hamas officials, there is deep concern across the Middle East that no nation is safe. Israel desperately needs Turkey and Arab nations as allies for it cannot secure its existence by enraging all. Indeed, Turkey has deeper strategic interests that outweigh tactical support for Hamas.

Turkey is a vital Nato ally, its second largest army, and producer of advanced drone technology. Donald Trump also enjoys a deep friendship with the Turkeys president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, one of the few leaders who stayed in touch with the US president during his legal battles and isolation. Trump is said to have been impressed with Erdogans removal of Bashar Al-Assad in Syria and the instating of Ahmed Al-Shara. Turkey dismantled a pro-Iran regime in Syria.

Unlike Iran, Turkey and Israel maintain diplomatic relations. Turks holiday in Israel and vice versa. Erdogan has met Benjamin Netanyahu multiple times. In Iran, hatred for Israel is state doctrine as is calling for the Jewish states destruction. In Turkey, the collective memory of the nation frequently recalls that, when Isabella and Ferdinand expelled Jews from Spain, the Ottomans sent their navy to rescue Jewish people. When the modern Jewish state was founded, Turkey recognised Israel in 1949, the first Muslim nation to do so. Relations are now strained, but friends of Israel must help change that course.

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Iran fears Turkey more than it does Israel. As we have seen so far, Israel has no domestic leverage in Iran. The previous supreme leader and his successor are both Azeri Turks. Approximately a quarter of the population of Iran today is Azeri with deep linguistic, cultural, and familial ties to Azerbaijan, northern neighbour of Iran. Azerbaijan and Turkey are, in turn, family members among nation states. Turkey has tentacles inside Irans population and the ability to harm its cohesion. Increasing tensions with Turkey would guarantee the loss of Israels relations with Azerbaijan.

Israel is fighting a multi-front war in Iran, Syria, Yemen, Gaza, and the West Bank, and suffering from the trauma of October 7. Rather than tilt the Turks and Iranians both against Israel, it is to Israels benefit to carry Turkey and the Arab nations with it towards a plain of coexistence. There are 400m Sunni Arabs in the Middle East, with 21 nation states, increasingly led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE. This is a new dynamic where power has shifted from Damascus, Baghdad and Cairo. The Sunni Arabs outnumber Iran, Turkey and Israel combined. They also have links to the wider Sunni Muslim world of 50-plus nations where the Shiite population is only 15 percent.

Arnold Toynbee wrote of creative minorities, a small elite group of leaders who in his A Study of History guide civilisations through crises by devising innovative solutions. The UAE is leading that creative minority in the Middle East, and the Abraham Accords are a standing testament to that new thinking. Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, the president of the UAE, has also had his disagreements with Turkey over the Muslim Brotherhood. But the UAE and others would be forced to side with Turkey in any possible conflict with Israel. This only would strengthen Iran and its Hamas proxies and further isolate Israel.

Shiite extremism is on the rise. The fanatics have vowed revenge after the killing of Irans supreme leader. Hezbollah and the Houthis are only two manifestations. For Israels own security, the safety of the wider West and our Arab allies, deeper diplomacy with Turkey is more promising than greater hostility. President Erdogan is a listener in every meeting I have participated. Whoever wins the election in Israel, Erdogan will be listening, as will be Arab leaders, for a pathway to a Palestinian homeland that is not a threat to Israel. That pursuit will secure Israel.

Ed Husain is a senior fellow at the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations and a professor of international relations at Columbia University in New York and Georgetown University in Washington DC
Hungary's opposition leader Peter Magyar branded Prime Minister Viktor Orban a traitor and accused him of enlisting Russian agents to interfere in the country's upcoming parliamentary elections.

Magyar delivered the remarks at a rally in central Budapest marking Hungary's national day, which commemorates the 1848 uprising against Habsburg rule, a revolt that was ultimately crushed by the Russian Empire.

Hungary goes to the polls on 12 April. Magyar's Tisza Party leads Orban's Fidesz in most opinion polls. Fidesz has governed Hungary with an absolute parliamentary majority since 2010.

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"Orban invited the most skilled Russian agents to our country to interfere in the elections and once again rob us of our most sacred possession, Hungarian freedom, for which our ancestors gave their lives," Magyar said.

He was referring to press reports alleging that Russia has deployed a team of agents from its Budapest embassy to influence the electoral campaign in Orban's favour. Russia has denied the allegations.

"Lies, deception and harassment, that is what they have in store for us. Viktor Orban betrayed Hungarian freedom for thirty pieces of silver, for himself and his dynasty. Shame, shame, shame," Magyar said.

Magyar also took direct aim at Orban's campaign narrative, in which the prime minister portrays himself as the guarantor of peace and stability while casting the opposition as willing to drag Hungary into war.

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"To provoke war, to threaten war, to incite war  this is his last weapon against the Hungarians, deployed to keep himself in power," Magyar said. His Tisza Party, he added, stands firmly against any form of military involvement.

"We don't want war, we don't want war," he said.

Opposition focuses on the cost of living

Magyar also devoted a significant portion of his speech to economic issues, pledging to improve living standards and address the cost-of-living pressures facing Hungarian households.

"Viktor Orban is a traitor who betrayed our common future. He did not build a country, but his own dominion. He did not elevate the homeland, but made it the poorest and most corrupt country in the EU," Magyar said.

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He added that his future government aims to bring back EU funding earmarked for Hungary, currently frozen over concerns about corruption and the rule of law.

Magyar also promised to prioritise the repair of public services if his party wins the election.

"Citizens are entitled to the best available public healthcare, wherever they live. They are entitled not to die prematurely from preventable diseases, and not to wait years for a routine examination," Magyar said.

The opposition leader also pledged to introduce a two-term limit on the office of prime minister should Tisza come to power.
By Guy Faulconbridge

MOSCOW, March 16 (Reuters) - Kenya said on Monday that it had agreed with Russia that Kenyans would no longer be eligible for signing up to fight in the war with Ukraine after the scale of Russian recruitment triggered anger in some African countries.

Kenya says that more than 1,000 Kenyans have been recruited to fight, attracted by monthly salaries of several thousand dollars and bonuses of more than $6,000 for contract soldiers.

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After meeting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Kenyan Foreign Minister Musalia Mudavadi praised the relationship with Moscow, including Soviet recognition of Kenyan independence from Britain in 1963.

On the issue of Kenyans fighting in what the Kremlin calls its "special military operation" in Ukraine, Mudavadi said agreement had been reached to no longer allow Kenyans to sign up to fight.

"His excellency has conversed with us on the issue of the welfare of Kenyans who are in Russia and more specifically those who are involved in the special operation," Mudavadi said at a joint news briefing with Lavrov.

"And I want to make it clear that we have now agreed that Kenyans shall not be enlisted through the (Russian) Ministry of Defence - they will no longer be eligible to be enlisted," he said. "There will no further enlisting."

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He added that consular services would be organised through proper diplomatic channels for those Kenyans who had already signed up and required assistance.

Lavrov said that Kenyan citizens had voluntarily signed contracts to fight alongside the Russian army.

It is unclear exactly how many Africans have gone to fight in Ukraine but Kyiv says over 1,700 Africans fighting on the Russian side. The Russian defence ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

MINISTER CITES ECONOMIC TIES

Before the trip to Moscow, Mudavadi told Reuters that he hoped to stop Kenyans enlisting to fight.

"We want Kenyans stopped - they should not be enlisted at all," Mudavadi said. We are getting a lot of pressure from some of the affected families who are now gathering more courage to come forward and speak to the issue.

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A Kenyan intelligence report presented to lawmakers in February said that more than 1,000 Kenyans had been recruited to fight on Russia's side in the war in Ukraine, five times more than authorities had previously estimated.

Kenyan politicians have described what they say is a network of rogue state officials who have colluded with human trafficking syndicates to recruit Kenyans to fight for Russia in Ukraine.

Mudavadi said Kenya and Russia could boost cooperation in energy, tourism, and agriculture.

"We do not want for any reason our partnership with Russia to be defined from the lenses of the special operation (in Ukraine) agenda only," he said. "The relationship between Kenya and Russia is much more broad than that."

(Reporting by ReutersEditing by Andrew Osborn and Aidan Lewis)
Donald Trump unleashed a new attack on Sir Keir Starmer as his proposal for a multi-national naval force to re-open the Strait of Hormuz was struggling to gain momentum.

Early on Monday, the Prime Minister said Britain would not be drawn into the wider war as he and other world leaders refused to jump to Trumps demand for a fleet of warships to unblock the key waterway.

The UK, Germany, Italy, Australia, Japan and Greece were among countries who at least initially declined to sign up to the US presidents plan to get commercial ships. with naval escorts, moving again through the strait.

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As his plan appeared to be floundering Trump reserved some of his strongest criticism for Sir Keir and the UKs stance.

I was very surprised with the United Kingdom because the United Kingdom two weeks ago I said why dont you send some ships over and he really did not want to do it, the president said.

I said you dont want to do it, weve been with you, you are our oldest ally, and we spend a lot of money on Nato..to protect you.

He stressed that the US had worked with the UK on Ukraine, adding: Then they tell us that we have a mine ship around, and they dont want to do it.

Its terrible.

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I was very surprised. I told him, we requested two aircraft carriers which they had and he did not really want to do it.

He then also criticised Sir Keir over his leadership style.

The Prime Minister of the UK yesterday told me Im meeting with my team to make a determination, Trump said, revealing more details of their talks by phone.

I said you dont need to meet up with the team, you are the Prime Minister, you can make your own..why do you have to meet with your team to find out whether or not you are going to send some mine sweepers.

Trump said that maybe the UK would join the proposed naval force, while on French president Emmanuel Macron backing it, he added: I think hes going to help.

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Earlier, speaking in Downing Street, Sir Keir distanced himself again from the US presidents offensive military action against Tehran.

He stressed: "While taking the necessary action to defend ourselves and our allies, we will not be drawn into the wider war.

He added that the UK was working with other countries, including in Europe, to develop a "viable, collective plan" to re-open the strait.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer holding a press conference on the Iran war on Monday morning (Getty Images)

We want to make sure that that involves as many partners as possible, particularly talking to European partners, inevitably talking to Gulf partners, and to the US because we need a credible, viable plan, he explained.

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He emphasised it would not be a Nato mission, adding: This is to say the least not easy, it is not straightforward therefore we have to make sure that we have got that credible plan in place.

The Government had yet to make decisions on what the UK would contribute to the efforts to re-open the strait, he added, but stressed the need for this to happen to address the growing oil crisis.

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius on Monday flatly rejected Trumps latest plea for military support in the war.

This is not our war, we have not started it, he said.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said his country was involved in defensive naval missions in the Red Sea but I dont see any missions that can be extended to Hormuz.

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Iran has effectively closed the key strait, through which a fifth of global oil supplies flow, by targeting more than a dozen vessels since the start of the war.

Choking off use of the waterway has triggered an oil crisis, with petrol and other bills rising in Britain and other countries.

With the war now in its third week, naval experts are warning that using navy ships to escort oil tankers through the narrow strait would be fraught with danger given the risks from Iranian drone attacks.

A tanker hit by a drone strike by Iran which has closed the Strait of Hormuz (ROYAL THAI NAVY/AFP via Getty Images)

Trump, though, has threatened that Nato faces a very bad future if its members fail to come to Washingtons aid as the stand-off over the Hormuz Strait deepened the Iran crisis, with oil back above $100 (75) a barrel.

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But Australia said it was not planning to send navy vessels to the Middle East to escort ships through the waterway,

Japan took a similar stance as Germany also voiced scepticism about the proposal.

Britain is considering whether to deploy mine-hunting drones but will only get involved in defensive action, having questioned whether the offensive US-Israeli airstrikes on Iran are lawful.

Donald Trump and Sir Keir Starmer have clashed over the Iran war (PA Wire)

Asked about Trumps Nato warning, Cabinet minister Pat McFadden described the current US presidency as very transactional with a lot of rhetoric, adding that he believed that US-UK ties would outlast all the personalities involved.

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His comments appeared to show a growing disquiet in Whitehall at Trumps approach to the war in which he has launched a series of scathing attacks on Sir Keir for only allowing US forces to use UK bases for defensive military operations such as targeting Iranian missile sites.

With the Iran war creating turmoil across the Middle East and shaking up global energy markets, Trump on Sunday insisted that nations relying heavily on oil from the Gulf have a responsibility to protect the strait.

Im demanding that these countries come in and protect their own territory because it is their territory, the US president said aboard Air Force One on the way from Florida to Washington.

However, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, a staunch Trump supporter, said on Monday her country, constrained by its war-renouncing constitution, has no plan to dispatch naval vessels to escort ships in the Middle East from where it gets 95% of its oil.

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Australia, another key Indo-Pacific security ally to the US that also relies heavily on fuels made with Middle Eastern crude, said it will not send naval ships to assist in reopening the strait either.

A smoke plume rise from a fire at Dubai International Airport (AFP via Getty Images)

Global air travel remains severely disrupted due to the Iran war which has closed or restricted key Middle Eastern hubs including Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi, forcing airlines to cancel thousands of flights and stranding tens of thousands of passengers.

A drone strike on an oil depot closed Dubai International Airport for several hours on Monday before flights started to resume.
By Alimat Aliyeva

The ongoing conflict in the Middle East is beginning to disrupt the supply of vital medicines to countries in the Persian Gulf, putting at risk the delivery of life-saving treatments such as anti-cancer drugs and other pharmaceuticals that require constant refrigeration. As traditional air routes become less reliable, pharmaceutical companies are being forced to reroute flights and search for alternative land transport options, AzerNEWS reports.

Executives from several Western pharmaceutical companies say they are exploring new ways to deliver medicines to the region. One option under consideration is transporting shipments by land from the airports of Jeddah and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia. Other potential logistics hubs include Istanbul and Oman, according to reports by Reuters.

So far, there are few clear signs of a severe shortage of medicines in the Gulf states. However, industry experts warn that the situation could quickly deteriorate if the conflict continues or intensifies. The Gulf region relies heavily on imported pharmaceuticals, and many of these drugs have short shelf lives and must be transported under strict cold chain conditions  meaning they must remain within a narrow temperature range from production to delivery. Maintaining this system becomes far more challenging when shipments are rerouted or delayed.

Last week, more than 100 representatives from the pharmaceutical and logistics sectors participated in a webinar organized by Pharma.Aero, a company specializing in life-science logistics. The discussion focused on the growing risks to pharmaceutical supply chains in the Persian Gulf and the potential long-term impact on global transportation networks.

Some logistics providers say the industry is still managing the disruption for now. However, medicine inventories across parts of the Persian Gulf and Asia are gradually shrinking. Longer delivery routes mean higher fuel costs, extended transit times, and increased pressure on temperature-controlled storage, all of which drive up transportation expenses.

Analysts note that the situation highlights how geopolitical conflicts can quickly affect global healthcare supply chains. Even small disruptions in transport routes can delay critical medicines, potentially affecting hospitals and patients who depend on regular deliveries of specialized treatments.
With the Law on Artificial Intelligence entering into force on March 1, 2026, the debate has moved beyond whether to embrace the technology to how best to develop and deploy it in a systematic, effective manner tailored to national circumstances.



Technology experts from the UK, Ireland, and Denmark see Vietnam as well-positioned to advance AI, provided it acts decisively and crafts a suitable strategy.

Peter Bom, CEO of Denmark-based SMT Data, told the Vietnam News Agencys reporters in London that the UK benefits from deep collaboration between universities and academia, producing a wealth of research that extends beyond current capabilities to projections five to ten years ahead. Vietnam stands to gain considerably by engaging proactively and adapting these insights to its local context.



Beyond research, AI use is prevalent in European corporate sectors where both triumphs and setbacks offer valuable lessons. According to Bom, there are numerous examples of companies that have successfully applied AI, experiences from which Vietnam can certainly learn.



According to experts, effective AI adoption requires a well-defined strategy, especially around data governance and identification of goals. Bom underscored the need to embrace AI while enabling firms to leverage it fully, backed by explicit policies. This starts with pinpointing precise goals and the value AI can deliver, alongside tight coordination to ensure data consistency, reliability, and verification from diverse sources.



Prof. Long Tran-Thanh from the University of Warwick noted Vietnam's solid progress relative to Southeast Asia, though a distance remains from global tech leaders



In Vietnams current AI landscape, the finance and banking sector leads in effective application. Yet substantial untapped potential exists in health care, education, and agriculture, which are tied to practical challenges in developing countries.



Long lauded the UK as a premier global AI research centre and a strong potential partner of Vietnam, particularly in AI training and foundational studies.



On resources for AI growth, Assoc. Prof. Dr Harry Nguyen from Irelands University College Cork described Vietnam as one of the proactive nations ready to capitalise on the AI surge, with notable strengths in workforce scale and quality.



Recent years have seen Vietnam establish numerous universities and AI research centres, cultivating a new cohort of young researchers and launching new projects. Specialised conferences and journals are proliferating, deepening integration into global research networks.



Overseas Vietnamese intellectuals represent another vital asset, Nguyen said, adding they always look toward Vietnam with a keen interest in contributing to its tech and AI progress.



For AI strategy, Nguyen identified quality data as the cornerstone. Building, collecting, and managing data, paired with developing large and smaller language models attuned to Vietnamese culture, will enable effective rollout across private and public sectors.



AI also emerges as a key enabler for Vietnam's ambition to build financial and technology hubs. Applications can boost efficiency, automate workflows, cut costs, and sharpen data analytics, which are essential pillars of a modern financial system.



Against that backdrop, AI transcends a passing technological fad to serve as a powerful engine for innovation and sharper economic competitiveness in the years to come./. VNA
According to the provincial police, intensified campaigns to combat illegal entry and residence since January have uncovered 88 cases of foreigners violating regulations on entry, exit and residency.

Of these, 82 were found to be residing and working illegally, while six had overstayed their temporary residence permits, including one case of illegal entry.

On February 19, the Immigration Management Division under the Dong Nai Department of Public Security coordinated with local authorities to inspect an area in Bien Hoa ward where signs of organising illegal stay in Vietnam were detected.

Investigations revealed that several foreign nationals had been sponsored by two companies headquartered in Ho Chi Minh City to apply for temporary residence cards under the category of investors. However, the individuals were not genuine investors but had completed procedures through intermediaries in order to remain in Vietnam.

Authorities are currently compiling documents to initiate legal proceedings in accordance with regulations.

Earlier, on January 9, the Immigration Management Division, in coordination with the Immigration Department of the Ministry of Public Security, conducted surprise inspections at the branch of T.P Interior Co., Ltd. in Binh Minh commune and D.B Production and Trading Co., Ltd. in Phuoc Tan ward.

During the inspections, competent forces discovered that the two businesses were employing 50 foreign nationals who were residing and working in Vietnam illegally.

Expanded inspections on January 12 uncovered an additional 25 foreign nationals working illegally at several companies and household businesses in Binh Minh and An Vien communes and Phuoc Tan ward.

Later, on January 27, the Immigration Management Division coordinated with the Song May Industrial Park police unit to inspect boarding houses in Ho Nai ward and a construction site in the locality, where seven foreigners were found to be living and working illegally.

On February 6, authorities detected and handled six additional cases of foreigners overstaying their temporary residence permits, including one person who had illegally entered Vietnam and was seeking employment in the Becamex Binh Phuoc Industrial Park.

For organisations, individuals and foreigners found violating regulations, the Immigration Management Division has advised the provincial police to handle the cases in accordance with law. Those subject to administrative fines have been expelled from Vietnam and banned from re-entering the country for three years.

Local authorities said violations have increased recently as some individuals take advantage of Vietnams policy extending the validity of electronic visas from 30 to up to 90 days to attract international visitors.

Many foreigners entered Vietnam between late 2023 and 2024 before seeking illegal employment at businesses and household establishments in the province. Others reportedly entered the country illegally through border provinces and later travelled to Dong Nai in search of jobs.

The immigration authority urged organisations and individuals to carefully verify documents such as passports, visas and work permits when hiring foreign workers, and to promptly report suspected cases of illegal residence or employment to the nearest police agency./.VNA
Vinacas Chairman Pham Van Cong said Vietnams cashew industry recorded export turnover of about 5.5 billion USD in 2025, the highest level ever. He noted that the result reflects the industrys remarkable development, dynamism and timely adaptation to complex and unpredictable challenges both domestically and globally.



Despite this success, Cong and many members of the association said the industry is likely to face significant headwinds in 2026 as geopolitical instability in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, along with changes in global trade and shipping, will affect export activities.



Vietnam also remains heavily dependent on imported raw cashew nuts, mainly from African countries. Several African nations have introduced restrictive policies, such as temporary export bans at the beginning of the harvest season to prioritise high-quality raw materials for domestic processors. Some countries have also set minimum export prices and increased taxes and fees on raw cashew exports.



These factors make raw cashew imports more difficult and costly, reducing profit margins for Vietnamese enterprises.



Meanwhile, the conflict in the Middle East has disrupted global logistics, driving up fuel prices and shipping costs.



According to Bach Khanh Nhat, Permanent Vice Chairman of Vinacas, the structure of export markets has already changed in recent years. For more than a decade, the US was the largest market for Vietnamese cashews, but in 2025 it has fallen to second place, behind China.



Following the introduction of US reciprocal tariff policies in April 2025, many enterprises shifted their focus to the Middle East and achieved positive results, helping the region become the third-largest export market in 2025, accounting for more than 10% of Vietnams cashew export market share.



However, with the current conflicts, the Middle East market is expected to face significant disruptions.



Nhat advised businesses to be particularly cautious with shipments to the region, especially regarding delivery timing. If goods are shipped while the conflict continues, vessels may be forced to anchor offshore for extended periods, tying up companies cash flow and increasing bank interest costs.



In addition, if market conditions change by the time goods arrive, buyers may request price renegotiations, which could lead to financial losses for Vietnamese exporters.



Another major concern is the sharp and unpredictable rise in maritime freight costs. Shipping rates can change weekly or even daily, and additional surcharges may be imposed if vessels must alter routes or extend travel time due to security concerns.



Given these risks, businesses are advised to carefully consider any new contracts with partners in the Middle East and closely monitor developments before making decisions.



At the same time, enterprises should step up efforts to expand exports to existing markets such as the US and China, the worlds two largest cashew-consuming markets. Even a modest increase in market share in these markets could help offset declines in exports to the Middle East, Nhat said.



Cao Thuc Uy, CEO of Cao Phat, one of Vietnams leading cashew processors and exporters, advised firms not to rush into purchasing raw cashew nuts this year. The global supply of raw cashew nuts is forecast to increase this year, enterprises should avoid competing aggressively for raw materials, which could drive up prices unnecessarily.



With shipping costs fluctuating due to geopolitical tensions and uncertain market conditions, companies are urged to proceed cautiously rather than rush to buy raw materials at high prices, he added.



Many enterprises are shifting toward developing deep-processed cashew products to create higher added value and expand consumption markets, the association said, adding that this is seen as a strategic direction, not only for business development but also for strengthening Vietnams position in the global cashew value chain./. VNA
Green industrial parks are increasingly emerging as a decisive factor in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) to Vietnam, as global investors place greater emphasis on sustainability, renewable energy, and low-carbon production.

Statistics show that about 80% of FDI enterprises prioritise investing in industrial parks with green energy infrastructure, reflecting a growing shift in investment preferences amid tightening global environmental standards.

According to the Vietnam Energy Association (VEA), the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) introduced by the European Union (EU) has been fully applied since 2025 to sectors such as steel, aluminium, cement and electricity. Vietnamese exporters of these products are now required to provide data on greenhouse gas emissions per unit of output.

From 2026 onward, the CBAM will enter a new phase, requiring importers to verify emissions data and purchase CBAM certificates corresponding to the embedded emissions of goods entering the EU. If importers can prove that a carbon price has already been paid during production, the equivalent emissions may be deducted.

At the same time, global initiatives such as RE100, which calls on companies to commit to using 100% renewable electricity, are exerting growing pressure on supply chains in industrial parks. Major multinational corporations, including Samsung, Apple and Intel, have pledged to shift entirely to renewable energy, pushing suppliers to adopt greener production models.

Lien Ha Thai industrial park in Hung Yen province. (Photo: VNA)

The VEA forecasts that by 2030, renewable energy demand in industrial parks could account for 2530% of total industrial electricity consumption. In addition to clean electricity, enterprises are increasingly seeking Energy Attribute Certificates (EACs) to support sustainability reporting and emissions accounting.

According to Nguyen Duc Hien, Deputy Head of the Party Central Committee's Commission for Policies and Strategies, industrial parks remain the main destination for foreign investment flows. Data from the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Finance shows that by the end of 2025, Vietnam had more than 500 industrial parks with a total planned area of about 145,000 hectares, with an average occupancy rate exceeding 75%.

These parks account for around 3540% of newly registered FDI in the country. In particular, FDI in the manufacturing and processing sector is heavily concentrated in industrial parks, representing 7080% of total registered capital in this field.

However, new global requirements such as CBAM and RE100 commitments are forcing Vietnamese industrial parks to accelerate their green transition in order to remain attractive to investors.

According to Truong Khac Nguyen Minh, Deputy General Director of the Prodezi Long An JSC, developers are witnessing more specific demands from investors. In addition to high-quality infrastructure, businesses require a stable electricity supply, clean water, high-speed telecommunications, skilled labour, and efficient administrative support.

Investors are also increasingly interested in ready-built factories, access to renewable energy, green finance, and opportunities for industrial symbiosis to optimise the use of materials, waste and energy within industrial parks.

The value of an industrial park lies not only in the land it leases, but in its ability to create a sustainable ecosystem that enables investors to grow, Minh said, adding that the Prodezi Industrial Park model focuses on smart, green and circular infrastructure alongside comprehensive investment support.

Meanwhile, Director of the ACUD Vietnam Construction Technology JSC Bach Ngoc Tung said Vietnam is entering a new development phase in which economic growth must go hand in hand with environmental and social responsibility.

Amid stricter green trade barriers in key export markets such as the EU and the US, as well as increasing competition from neighbouring countries including Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia in attracting high-quality FDI, transitioning to eco-industrial parks is an inevitable path for Vietnams sustainable development./.
In the field of higher education, the city aims to reduce the concentration of students in the central urban area by expanding university development toward outer districts. This will involve building second campuses for institutions whose main campuses have already been fully developed, and relocating universities with small land areas, incomplete infrastructure and limited historical value to designated university urban zones.

Within the central urban area, Hanoi plans to stop building new higher education facilities. Campuses that already have well-developed infrastructure will remain but may be transformed into advanced training centers, research and technology transfer hubs, or startup and innovation centers.

New training facilities will instead be located at second campuses where universities can organize academic activities, practical training and student accommodation. Universities and colleges with limited land areas and insufficient facilities will be relocated outside the central urban area.

Hanoi also plans to move higher education and vocational training institutions from the inner city to satellite urban areas, forming university clusters with modern, shared infrastructure in designated zones across the capital.

For institutions whose land area and infrastructure do not meet required standards, the entire campus will be relocated. The city will support the development of infrastructure at the new locations while repurposing the old campuses in the inner city for general education and other public purposes.

For institutions that are not required to relocate completely, the city will still support infrastructure development at their new campuses. Their existing inner-city sites may be used for research activities, technology transfer, innovation initiatives, postgraduate training, high-quality vocational education, general education or public spaces.

Once training activities are gradually moved outside the central urban area, Hanoi plans to develop research and education zones on the former sites. Newly built universities are expected to follow the model of large university clusters combined with concentrated research centers.

Several major university complexes are expected to be developed with modern, integrated infrastructure in areas such as Hoa Lac - Xuan Mai, Thach That, Son Tay and Soc Son.

Hanoi also aims to strengthen the development of nationally significant universities, upgrade several major institutions into high-quality training centers with regional and global reputations, and encourage investment in internationally recognized universities.

Institutions expected to receive focused development investment include Vietnam National University, Hanoi; Hanoi University of Science and Technology; Vietnam National University of Agriculture; National Economics University; Hanoi Medical University; Hanoi National University of Education; and the Military Technical Academy (Le Quy Don University).

Thanh Hung
The meeting was attended by Politburo member and Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee Nguyen Duy Ngoc, deputy prime ministers, leaders of ministries and central agencies, and representatives of the Hanoi municipal government.



At the meeting, PM Chinh praised Hanois efforts in simultaneously developing three major strategic documents, namely a draft Politburo resolution on the capitals development in a new era, a draft revised Capital Law to be submitted to the National Assembly, and the Hanoi Capital Master Plan.



He described the Politburo resolution as the political foundation, the revised Capital Law as the legal foundation, and the master plan as the spatial foundation for development.



The PM stressed that the master plan must reflect Vietnamese wisdom, culture and identity while serving as a key driver for the capitals future development and that of the entire region and the country.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh chaired a meeting between the permanent Government members and leaders of Hanoi to review and provide feedback on the draft Hanoi Capital Master Plan with a 100-year vision on March 14. (Photo: baochinhphu.vn)

According to the Government leader, the philosophy of the plan must place people at the centre and as the driving force of development, and Hanoi should aim to become a prosperous, civilised and modern city that preserves its cultural identity.



He also highlighted the need for a multi-centre, multi-layer, green and smart urban structure that harmonises people, culture, society and nature, preserving the traditional character of villages in the city and city in villages.



Among the strategic priorities he outlined were comprehensive urban renewal, modernisation of rural areas, smart services, advanced industry, expanded underground infrastructure, optimised land use, airport-driven economic development, restoration of rivers and ecosystems, improved environmental management and traffic solutions, and stronger development of cultural and creative industries.



The PM also suggested that Hanoi consider building a planning exhibition centrr to publicly display the capitals master plan, enhance oversight and attract investment while serving as a tourism attraction.



To ensure feasibility, he emphasised the need to prioritise projects with strong spillover effects and mobilise diverse financial resources, including public-private partnerships, BOT and BT models, transit-oriented development mechanisms, bond issuance, and dedicated funds such as social housing funds.



He reaffirmed that domestic resources would play the decisive and long-term role, while international resources would serve as an important catalyst in implementing the capitals development vision.



According to reports and opinions at the meeting, Hanoi previously developed two parallel planning systems - the Capital Plan under the 2017 Planning Law and the Hanoi General Plan under the 2024 Urban and Rural Planning Law, which led to overlaps and inconsistencies between socio-economic development strategies and spatial planning. Several long-standing issues such as traffic congestion, flooding and environmental pollution have yet to be fully resolved, leading to inefficient use of resources.



To adapt to the two-tier local government model, the trend of smart urban development and increasing regional and international connectivity, Hanoi is now focusing on building a single comprehensive master plan for the capital with a long-term vision of 100 years. The plan aims to establish a unified legal foundation and create new development momentum for the city.



The initiative follows Resolution No. 258/2025/QH15 adopted by the National Assembly on December 11, 2025, which allows the formulation of an integrated capital master plan combining the Capital Plan and the Hanoi General Plan.



The planning timeline includes short-term development through 2035, medium-term goals to 2045, long-term orientation to 2065, and a strategic vision for the next 100 years.



The draft plan proposes 11 breakthrough solutions, including strengthening regional connectivity, building a coresatellite urban model with Hanoi as the central city driving development across the Capital Region, the Red River Delta and the Northern Key Economic Region, and expanding urban railway systems alongside transit-oriented development (TOD).



Other key priorities include developing new growth poles to ease population pressure in the inner city, building smart, green and sustainable urban systems, comprehensive urban renewal, multi-layer spatial development, unlocking the development potential of the Red River as a symbolic axis of the capital, expanding airport infrastructure, addressing environmental pollution, and establishing land reserves to support long-term growth.



The plan identifies nine development poles, nine major centres and nine key development corridors, connected through ring roads and economic corridors to strengthen regional and international links, including connections to border gates and seaports. It also outlines cultural and heritage landscapes along the Da River, Red River and Duong River, as well as a western green heritage belt linking natural attractions and historical sites./.VNA
In an interview with the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) ahead of the election of deputies to the 16th NA and Peoples Councils at all levels for the 20262031 term, Nyamayemombe said the figure also aligns with Vietnams electoral law, which stipulates that at least 35% of candidates on the official list must be women.

She noted that the proportion reflects both the aspirations and the capacity of women to engage in decision-making processes, bringing their perspectives and experiences into law making and enforcement for the countrys development and prosperity.

Nyamayemombe added that many female candidates are likely receiving strong backing from their families, signalling a positive shift in social attitude in Vietnam, where women are increasingly recognised as playing an essential role in public affairs.

The development also mirrors Vietnams sustained efforts to establish legal and policy frameworks that promote gender equality, alongside long-term investment in education and capacity building. Together, these factors have created a more favourable environment for women to step into leadership and decision-making roles.

From UN Womens perspective, the trend highlights the growing presence and influence of Vietnamese women in political life, while also sending a powerful message to younger generations that political participation is a viable and meaningful path for women.

Caroline Nyamayemombe, Country Representative of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) in Vietnam. (Photo published by VNA)

The country representative pointed to global parliamentary data and UN Women research showing that when women are practically represented, decision-making bodies tend to prioritise issues closely tied to peoples daily lives, including health care, education, social protection, equality before the law and community welfare.

In Vietnam, women made up about 30-31.6% of deputies in the 15th NA, placing the country among those with relatively high levels of female parliamentary representation in the Asia-Pacific region.

Greater diversity in parliament, she said, helps enrich debate, ensure policies are more closely aligned with real-life needs, and foster a governance system that is more inclusive and people-centred, thus benefiting society as a whole.

According to the UN Women representative, Vietnam has taken a number of effective steps to promote womens political participation, offering valuable lessons for other countries.

The National Strategy on Gender Equality for 20212030 sets specific targets for womens representation in elected bodies and leadership positions across the political system, the public sector and the economy, helping create a clearer leadership pathway for women.

National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man and officials attend a ceremony reviewing the activities of the Group of Women Deputies of the 15th National Assembly in Hanoi on December 9, 2025. (Photo: VNA)

Mass organisations such as the Vietnam Womens Union and the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union also play a crucial role by mobilising, identifying and nurturing female talent for political engagement.

Vietnam has also invested heavily in leadership training. The Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics, for example, runs a range of programmes designed to prepare future leaders and managers. Introducing targeted measures to expand training opportunities for women could further strengthen the pipeline of female candidates for leadership roles.

In addition, international development cooperation initiatives and academic and cultural exchanges have contributed to reshaping public perceptions of womens roles while opening up more learning and career development opportunities for women in fields such as science, governance and diplomacy. UN Women, together with other UN agencies, is supporting initiatives aimed at advancing womens leadership in Vietnam.

As Vietnam moves into a new stage of development, Nyamayemombe said sustained investment in both institutions and people will be crucial to further enhancing womens political participation.

Key priorities include strengthening the implementation of gender equality policies and targets, through effective monitoring mechanisms and adequate resources; expanding training, mentorship and networking programmes for female leaders, especially young women, first-time candidates and women in the public sector; and continuing efforts to challenge gender stereotypes while promoting a more balanced sharing of unpaid care responsibilities so women have greater opportunities for learning, networking and career advancement./.VNA
Numerous international news agencies and media outlets covered Vietnams election of deputies to the 16th National Assembly and Peoples Councils at all levels for the 20262031 tenure, describing it as an important political event following the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam and taking place as the country continues to advance its socio-economic development goals in the new stage.

Media organisations from Southeast Asia, the Middle East, China, Russia, Cuba and Western countries carried reports on the event.

According to an article by Malaysias national news agency Bernama, the election is held as Vietnam continues to promote socio-economic development objectives and refine its policy system for a new development phase.

The article noted that the election is not only an opportunity for nearly 79 million voters nationwide to exercise their electoral rights and responsibilities, thereby selecting outstanding and deserving representatives who will convey their will and aspirations to the National Assembly and Peoples Councils for the new tenure, but also a concrete step in implementing the 14th National Party Congresss Resolution in connection with the Partys personnel work, involving the responsibilities of authorities at all levels and sectors.

The agency emphasised that the event takes place as Vietnams reform process, known as Doi Moi, has achieved great and historically significant achievements across many aspects of social life after four decades. It also highlighted the countrys ongoing efforts to streamline its organisational apparatus to make it more efficient and effective.

Meanwhile, Malaysias The Star also published an article on Vietnams election, which is held every five years to select around 500 deputies to the 16th National Assembly and Peoples Councils at all levels for the 20262031 term. According to the newspaper, the election is an important political event demonstrating the peoples right to mastery in choosing outstanding representatives who will convey their will and aspirations to the bodies of State power.

On the television channel Al Jazeera, images of vibrant banners and Vietnams red flags with yellow stars lining the streets of Hanoi vividly reflected the festive atmosphere of what is described as a national festival. The channel also quoted several voters as expressing expectations that the newly elected National Assembly deputies and Peoples Council members will continue to promote the countrys modernisation process, as Vietnams economy recorded positive growth over the past year and is implementing major reforms under the leadership of Party General Secretary To Lam.

Al Jazeera also cited Party chief To Lam as telling reporters shortly after casting his vote in Hanoi on the morning of March 15 that the election aims to choose the most prestigious people to continue leading the country in its development path.

China's Xinhua News Agency highlighted the organisation, scale and political significance of the election, noting that nearly 79 million voters nationwide are casting ballots to elect about 500 deputies to the 16th National Assembly, while also selecting representatives to Peoples Councils at all levels for the new tenure.

Other international media outlets such as Russias Sputnik, China Central Television (CCTV), Cubas Prensa Latina and several Western news agencies also reported on Vietnams election day. They described it as a major political event in the country and conveyed the message of a national festival, noting that the election features a number of important innovations reflecting improvements in organisational work and implementation methods./.
Investigators carry out a detention order against the suspects. Photo: H.N.

On March 15, the Dong Nai Provincial Police announced that they had successfully cracked a major investigation known as Case 1025H, targeting a large-scale illegal invoice trading ring operating across multiple provinces and cities.

Authorities previously detected a major value-added tax invoice trading network operating in an organized and inter-provincial manner. The group used sophisticated methods and had been active for a long period. The provincial Economic Police Division launched a special investigation to dismantle the network.

After a period of investigation, police simultaneously carried out enforcement operations on March 13.

Initial findings identified the suspects involved in the ring as Doan Nguyen Thai Hang, Nguyen Thi Hoai Thuong, Ngo Duc A, Tran Cong Hoa, Nguyen Thi My Ngoc, Bui Thi Hau, Huynh Thanh Khoa, Le Thi Oanh and Tran Thi Thu Thuy.

According to investigators, the suspects established more than 60 shell companies to issue fraudulent value-added tax invoices. The group illegally traded more than 10,000 invoices with a total recorded value exceeding VND6 trillion (US$246 million).

The Economic Police Division of the Dong Nai Provincial Police has initiated criminal proceedings, filed charges against the suspects and placed nine individuals in pre-trial detention while the investigation continues and expands.

Hoang Anh
Laman Ismayilova



Azerbaijan has hosted its first-ever National Forum on Cochlear Implantation, AzerNEWS reports.

The forum, held in honor of the International Cochlear Implantation Day, was initiated by the Social Support for People with Cochlear Implants Public Association.

The event took place at the Nizami Cinema Center and was ceremonially opened with the performance of the State Anthem of Azerbaijan. During the opening ceremony, representatives of relevant ministries delivered speeches outlining the government's policy in the field of cochlear implantation and the achievements made in the country.

Speakers included Jalya Akhmadova, Adviser to the Minister of Labor and Social Protection of the Population; Nelli Veysova, Adviser to the Chairman of the Board of the State Agency on Mandatory Health Insurance; Jeyhun Mammadov, Member of the Parliamentary Committee on Science and Education; Heyran Safarova, Chief Adviser of the Special Education Sector at the State Agency for Preschool and General Education under the Ministry of Science and Education; Naila Huseynova, Dean of the Azerbaijan State Pedagogical University; Davud Ragimli, President of the Union of Organizations for Persons with Disabilities; and Elshan Aliyev, Chairman of the media organization EMEDIA GROUP.

The forum continued in the format of two panel sessions. The first panel included members of the Azerbaijan Parliament, who shared their perspectives on current issues in the field. Participants included Elchin Mirzabayli, Gunay Aghamali, Vugar Iskandarov, Parvana Valiyeva, and Aydin Mirzazade.

The second panel was attended by medical professionals. Presentations were delivered by Hamida Abbasova, geneticist; Sahila Mirzayeva, pediatric neonatologist; Ilakha Aslanova, audiologist; Tajeddin Muradov, ENT surgeon; Gunel Suleymanli, neurologist; Madat Sadigov, implantation specialist; Adila Mursalova, speech therapist and defectologist; Tarana Mammadova, general surgeon; and Afet Israfilova. They provided detailed information on cochlear implantation procedures and subsequent rehabilitation processes.

The main goal of the forum was to improve the quality of life of people with cochlear implants in Azerbaijan, strengthen their social integration, and raise public awareness on the topic.

During the event, it was noted that a social and medical approach to cochlear implantation surgeries began to be gradually implemented in Azerbaijan in 2015. Since 2020, the inclusion of these surgeries in the mandatory health insurance system by the State Agency on Mandatory Health Insurance has opened a new stage in the development of this field. This step has made it possible not only to perform surgeries but also to provide full support for the subsequent development of children and adults with cochlear implants.

Speakers emphasized that further strengthening state support for people with cochlear implants is of great importance for the future of thousands of families, parents, and children. They noted that the measures taken in this area are an important manifestation of socially oriented and humanistic state policy.

Media partners of the event are Azernews.Az, Trend.Az, Day.Az and Milli.Az.
Public high school admissions in Vietnams two largest cities are expected to face intense competition in the 20262027 academic year, with tens of thousands of ninth-grade graduates unable to secure places in public schools.

Education authorities in both Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi say growing numbers of students completing lower secondary education are putting increasing pressure on the public high school system.

Around 51,000 students in HCMC may miss public school places

According to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training, nearly 170 public high schools have registered Grade 10 enrollment quotas for the 20262027 academic year, with a projected capacity of about 103,739 students.

However, the number of ninth-grade graduates has surged following the expansion of the citys administrative boundaries. If all students choose to take the entrance exam for public high schools, the admission rate would be only around 61 percent.

This means approximately 65,000 students would have to pursue other education pathways, including private high schools, vocational training institutions or continuing education programs.

Among the citys regions, the former Ho Chi Minh City area and the former Ba Ria - Vung Tau area could admit about 66 percent of ninth-grade graduates, while the former Binh Duong area would admit only around 44 percent.

Education officials aim to increase the public high school admission rate to at least 70 percent of middle school graduates. If that target is achieved, the number of students unable to enter public schools would decrease from around 65,000 to about 51,000.

To expand enrollment capacity, the department has instructed schools to urgently review facilities, assess their ability to receive additional students and propose repairs, upgrades or equipment purchases where necessary.

Enrollment quotas for each school will be determined based on the number of ninth-grade students in each area, the conditions of school facilities and the ability to organize teaching.

Ho Chi Minh Citys Grade 10 admissions process will include two methods: direct admission and entrance examinations.

Direct admission applies to certain specialized cases, such as students who complete lower secondary education at Thanh An Secondary and High School in Thanh An commune, or students graduating from Le Hong Phong Secondary School in Con Dao who apply to Vo Thi Sau High School.

Ethnic minority boarding schools will also admit students according to specific regulations set by the Ministry of Education and Training.

Most students will enter through the entrance examination, which is expected to take place on June 1 and 2.

Candidates will sit three written exams - literature and mathematics (120 minutes each) and a foreign language (90 minutes). Each subject is graded on a 10-point scale without weighting.

Students must take all three tests and score above zero in each subject to qualify for admission consideration.

For specialized high schools, Ho Chi Minh City currently has four institutions: Le Hong Phong, Tran Dai Nghia, Hung Vuong and Le Quy Don.

Applicants must take four exams, including the three general subjects and an additional specialized subject. The specialized subject is counted with double weight when calculating admission scores.

Students in the city may also apply to the High School for the Gifted under Vietnam National University - Ho Chi Minh City. If they are not admitted or choose not to enroll there, they can still be considered for admission through their previously registered regular preferences.

About 59,000 students in Hanoi expected to enter private education

In Hanoi, education authorities estimate that about 147,000 students will complete lower secondary education in the 20252026 academic year.

Under the citys post-secondary education orientation plan, about 88,000 students will be admitted to public education institutions, including public high schools, continuing education centers and vocational education institutions.

This means roughly 59,000 students will attend private high schools or private vocational education institutions.

Hanoi currently has 124 public high schools, including four specialized schools, 117 regular public schools and three schools operating under financial autonomy.

The city plans to establish three new high schools for the 20262027 school year, including two public institutions - Viet Hung High School in Dong Anh commune and another school in the A11 area of the Cau Giay new urban zone - along with a private high school on Minh Khai Street.

However, the Department of Education and Training has not yet announced the enrollment quotas for the two new public schools.

According to the draft master plan for Hanoi with a 100-year vision, the city will need an additional 91 high schools between 2031 and 2045 to ensure sufficient classroom capacity.

Currently, 33 wards and communes across the capital still face shortages of schools and are expected to receive priority for new education infrastructure in the coming years.

Hanoi will hold its Grade 10 entrance examination from May 30 to June 1.

Students will take three independent tests: mathematics, literature and a foreign language. Candidates may choose from English, French, German, Japanese or Korean for the language exam.

The mathematics and literature exams will be written tests lasting 120 minutes each, while the foreign language exam will be a 60-minute multiple-choice test graded by computer software.

The exam questions will follow the requirements of the 2018 general education curriculum and focus mainly on Grade 9 content.

Authorities also noted that students applying for Grade 10 must have residence in Hanoi, rather than permanent household registration as required previously.

The city has removed its former enrollment zoning system. Each student may now register up to three preferences for non-specialized public high schools anywhere in Hanoi.

In addition, the education department has reduced the score difference between admission preferences by 0.5 to 1 point in order to increase students chances of being admitted.

Thanh Hung - Le Huyen
Speaking at the opening of the VietnamJapan Space Horizons 2026 Forum themed Partnering for the New Era and the inauguration of the Vietnam Space Centre (VNSC) at Hoa Lac Hi-Tech Park in Hanoi on March 13, the PM emphasised that Vietnams space development must be driven by innovation, international cooperation and the principles of "three accelerations" and "three together".

The forum, held from March 1215, gathers representatives from the Vietnamese of Science and Technology, the Japanese Embassy in Vietnam, the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, and those from other Japanese agencies and organisations, international partners, scientists and businesses from the two countries operating in the space sector.



It aims to deepen cooperation between Vietnam and Japan in space technology and foster the formation of a space economy ecosystem in Vietnam, while marking a new step forward in the extensive strategic partnership between Vietnam and Japan in the era of science, technology and innovation.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh visits the Vietnam Space Museum at the Hoa Lac High-Tech Park in Hanoi (Photo: VNA)

In his remark, PM Chinh highlighted the significance of the inauguration of the VNSC and the forum, saying that they mark an important milestone in the development of Vietnams space science and technology sector and open a new chapter of deeper, more substantive and effective cooperation between Vietnam and Japan.



Noting that the VNSC is a modern infrastructure complex with a scale and technological level among the most advanced in Southeast Asia, the PM expressed high appreciation and sincere thanks to the Japanese government, organisations and businesses for their valuable contributions. Their support, he said, has helped the Vietnamese Government, enterprises and people achieve fruitful cooperation outcomes in recent years, laying a solid foundation for Vietnam and Japan to continue reaching new heights together for prosperous development of each country and for peace, cooperation and development in the region and the world.



The Vietnamese people have long dreamed of exploring the universe, he said, adding that that dream came true in modern times when Vietnam was the first Asian country to send a citizen into space with the flight of hero Pham Tuan in 1980.



In 2006, the Government approved the national strategy for research and application of space technology, aiming to support the countrys industrialisation and modernisation. Vietnam subsequently launched its first telecommunications satellites VINASAT-1 in 2008 and VINASAT-2 in 2012. The country has also made notable progress in satellite development. PicoDragon, Vietnams first domestically developed satellite, was launched in 2013. MicroDragon, jointly developed by Vietnam and Japan, was launched in 2019 for earth observation missions. In 2021, NanoDragon, fully developed by Vietnamese engineers, was successfully placed into orbit. Meanwhile, the radar satellite LOTUSat-1 has been completed and is awaiting launch, demonstrating Vietnams growing capacity to master advanced technologies.



PM Chinh stressed that Vietnam consistently pursues the development of space technology for peaceful purposes, in line with the UN conventions and international law, while ensuring national independence and self-reliance alongside effective international cooperation.



Vietnam aims by 2030 to achieve a mid-level position in space science and technology development within Southeast Asia, and after 2030 to build national capabilities to independently develop satellite technologies and apply space data to address global challenges and national security needs.



To realise these goals, the Government leader has defined an action motto of exploring space, mastering technology, strengthening cooperation, pursuing sustainable development, and ensuring a peaceful cosmos.



According to the PM, space science and technology must contribute directly to national development.



Vietnam will continue to improve institutions, mechanisms and policies governing space activities, moving toward the development of a national space law, he said, adding that the country will mobilise and efffectively use resources for space development with the contributions from the State, businesses, and research institutions and scientists, thus gradually forming a satellite data services market and a space technology application ecosystem.



The country also plans to implement major national programmes to enhance earth observation capabilities; build shared satellite data infrastructure; strengthen strengthening real-time analysis, forecasting and operational support; and develop high-quality human resources in space science and technology.



The PM assigned the VAST to operate the VNSC effectively and sustainably, ensuring that it performs functions in research, integration, testing, operations, data exploitation, training and technology transfer so that it can truly become a core national infrastructure for space science and technology. The Government leader stressed the need to deepen international collaboration, particularly between Vietnam and Japan. He called for translating high-level agreements between the two countries into concrete projects and cooperation programmes with clear responsibilities, timelines and measurable outcomes.



Priority areas for cooperation include high-quality human resource training, technology transfer, satellite operation, remote sensing applications, data analysis, technical standard development and building a space industry ecosystem, he said.



Vietnam and Japan should coordinate closely to launch the LOTUSat-1 satellite by the end of 2027 and ensure its effective operation, while expanding cooperation to build Vietnams long-term capacity in earth observation, satellite data application, and the gradual development of small satellite systems.



The PM also encouraged stronger connections among ministries, research institutions, universities and enterprises in both countries, urging businesses to participate more deeply in the global space industry value chain.



The two sides should continue to leverage dialogue mechanisms, forums and bilateral, regional and international cooperation programmes to further deepen VietnamJapan cooperation in this field, he added.



He affirmed that Vietnam will continue creating more favourable conditions for international organisations, development partners and domestic and foreign business communities to support and accompany the country in advancing space science and technology. He expressed his belief that with the attention of the Party and State leadership, the determination of ministries and localities, the dedication of scientists and engineers, and the close partnership of Japan and international friends, the VNSC will become a strategic launch pad, enabling Vietnams space science and technology sector to advance rapidly and reach new frontiers.



Japanese delegates highlighted that the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity in Asia and the World between Vietnam and Japan is entering a new phase of development, with cooperation in science-technology, innovation and digital transformation, including space science, play a key role in enabling the two countries to achieve rapid and sustainable development.



They also spoke highly of Vietnams development strategy based on science, technology and innovation, expressing confidence that bilateral cooperation in space technology will continue to expand without limits. The Japanese side reaffirmed its commitment to supporting Vietnam in expanding cooperation in space technology for peaceful purposes, particularly in disaster prevention, climate change response and socio-economic development.



Before attending the forum, PM Chinh and delegates toured the satellite control and operation centre at the VNSC, which monitors satellites in orbit, plans control operations, receives and processes satellite data, and provides products for ministries, local authorities and national security needs.



The PM also visited the satellite research and development area, which includes clean rooms for satellite integration, testing equipment and simulated space environments used to verify satellite performance before launch.



Delegates also viewed the MicroDragon-2 satellite, weighing about 50 kg, designed both to monitor forest changes and to test Vietnams ability to design and manufacture satellites domestically, thereby building technological self-reliance.



The VNSC is the first high-tech science project in Vietnam implemented with an ODA loan from the Japanese Government, with a total investment of over 7 trillion VND (over 266.2 million USD).



Covering an area of 9 ha, the project provides infrastructure to receive the transfer of earth observation satellite technology, including training personnel and manufacturing and launching the LOTUSat-1 satellite. It aims to enhance capacity for disaster prevention, climate change response, resource management and environmental monitoring through remote sensing data to support socio-economic development and national security./.VNA
The project, titled Go Chau Thien Hoi, focuses on promoting chau van ritual music associated with Mother Goddess worship. By building a digital resource platform and creating interactive cultural spaces, the initiative aims to make the heritage more accessible to young audiences while encouraging deeper understanding and appreciation of the tradition.



The practices related to the belief in the Mother Goddesses of the Three Realms in Vietnam date back to the 16th century.



In this tradition there are three realms, namely Heaven, Water and Mountains/Forests. The Mother Goddess is a nymph who descended to Earth, lived as a human and became a Buddhist nun referred to as the Mother of the World. There are also many other spirits considered legendary heroes.



In Mother Goddess worship, male and female spirit mediums perform spirit possession rituals at various temples. Each spirit possession ritual consists of up to 36 spirit incarnations, and each spirit has its own costume, dance, songs and offerings. During the rituals a band of musicians perform chau van ritual songs for the spirits.



Passed down through generations, the tradition continues to be practised by communities today as a response to their environment, providing them with a sense of identity and continuity. It was recognised as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2016.

Growing interest



Since its launch in November 2025, the Go Chau Thien Hoi project has attracted more than 700 students from over 120 universities and colleges nationwide, and has recorded over 100,000 views across digital platforms, which demonstrates significant interest among young people in the heritage.



The project is designed to become an intergenerational bridge where the practical values of Mother Goddess worship are digitised and systematised so they become more standardised and accessible.



The project goes beyond shortterm publicity to develop a heritage ecosystem in the digital environment, entrusting young people as principal actors in inheriting, engaging with, and disseminating traditional cultural values.



Origins of idea



The project leader, Van Hong Thien, said his idea for the project began in 2022 when he watched a music video inspired by the Tu Phu (Four Palaces) belief. The colours and melodies in the piece sparked his curiosity and encouraged him to explore the tradition more deeply.



When I began my research, I realised that a whole worldview of the Vietnamese is expressed through the practice of Mother Goddess worship, the student from FPT University said.



Those music videos only serve to introduce the public to the tradition, but when I encountered original materials such as ancient chau van and the traditional practices of our predecessors, I truly felt moved and developed a special affinity for this faith.



Thien and his team have undertaken research since 2023 before officially launching the Go Chau Thien Hoi project, with main activities held in Hanoi, Hue and Ho Chi Minh City.



The launch event took place at Thuy Trung Tien Temple in Hanoi, where a scholarly publication and the Digitised Library of Vietnamese Dao Mau Mother Goddess worship were unveiled, laying the projects academic foundation.



Digital heritage



The team plans to carry out field surveys to study local ritual practices in Central Vietnam and to add materials to the digital archive. Meanwhile, in HCM City, the project will stage a multimedia art exhibition combining images, practice videos and chau van lyrics, creating a space where tradition and technology meet.

According to Thien, it has been both an opportunity and a fortune that the group has received guidance and partnership from many researchers, master performers and experienced cultural practitioners, which has helped the project reach a much wider community.



The project concentrates on sourcing materials already preserved by researchers and master practitioners, then presenting them in formats that resonate with young people. For example, interactive exhibitions or collaborations with artists to create works inspired by Mother Goddess worship, he said.



To tailor the content, the team surveyed about 2,000 young people in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang. The survey results help them design activities that closely match young peoples cultural engagement needs, especially those aged 18 to 30.



Alongside the nationwide activities, the project is introducing a range of longterm products developed on a rigorous academic foundation with close specialist consultation. The highlight is a book that collects, reconstructs, and critically edits valuable chau van texts to preserve the original wording offered to the deities and to standardise source materials for ritual practice.



Preserving tradition



The book is the result of author Nhat Tangs 20 years of work. It not only gives readers access to the ritual texts themselves but also serves as a resource for exploring the beliefs, history, sites, people and distinctive cultural traits of Vietnams regions.



In addition, the Digital Library of Mother Goddess Worship has been developed by building on the digitisation approach pioneered by researcher Le Van Thao and the Enter Vietnam team. This vast data system is not only a valuable repository for preservation but is also being put to practical use in national education, helping bring the heritage closer to communities through technology.



The projects distinction is not in discovering new knowledge but changing how it communicates. It moves from preserving to interacting, combining live events with online platforms to create a multilayered experience that bridges traditional practice spaces and the digital world.



This approach guides people from curiosity to clear understanding, and from loving the heritage to feeling responsible for protecting it. It positions young people as active participants who inherit and refresh the heritage within its core values, helping keep it alive in modern life./. VNA
Placing these two resolutions side-by-side raises a common concern: will these two drivers collide in practice?

That question surfaces repeatedly in development projects and in every controversial adjustment of electricity prices, reflecting a long-standing dilemma for state-owned enterprises: how to follow market principles without drifting away from social objectives.

Guidance cannot exist through role alone

When the state economic sector is required to operate under market principles, competition with the private sector becomes unavoidable. The real issue is whether such competition leads to shared growth or mutual destruction.

Resolution 79 is correct in its goals and orientation, but it needs a clear roadmap to avoid becoming a "paper-only" success that lags in real life. More importantly, without a clear boundary between the state and private sectors, Resolution 79 could inadvertently weaken the spirit of Resolution 68. When "guidance" is misunderstood as "doing it for them" or "infringing on their space," the most important growth engine can easily be harmed.

Experience from transport infrastructure highlights a long-standing paradox: some SOEs were assigned to implement multiple nationally important expressway projects, yet their charter capital was far too small relative to total assets and investment scale. Such a capital structure made it difficult to mobilize additional resources, causing them to miss critical opportunities.

Only after capital was increased in a substantive way did the situation change. The enterprises accelerated immediately, simultaneously implementing multiple large projects, including under PPP models.

The lesson is clear: assigning a leading role to SOEs without providing adequate resources places them in a high-risk position.

Resolution 79, therefore, should not be interpreted as strengthening SOEs to expand and dominate, but as assigning them to do exactly what they are meant to do, in truly key sectors with strong spillover effects.

If an economy only invests in sure wins will struggle to achieve breakthroughs. Leading in the spirit of Resolution 79 means daring to move first and accepting controlled risks, especially in new sectors, high technology, and strategic infrastructure, where the private sector is not yet ready to participate.

This requires not only more flexible evaluation mechanisms, but also protection for those who dare to act and take responsibility for the common good. If all risks are automatically treated as violations, no one will have the courage to move ahead.

Market discipline and uncomfortable decisions

One notable shift is how some large state-owned groups are approaching Resolution 79 not by seeking more preferential mechanisms, but by putting pressure on themselves to tighten discipline.

Operating according to the market means accepting difficult, even sensitive, decisions. Electricity is a prime example. Market orientation does not mean ignoring social goals, but it cannot avoid cost transparency, reflecting true value, and encouraging efficient resource use.

The boundary between market forces, social welfare, and political duties is where the guiding role of SOEs is most clearly tested.

Alongside this, governance reform is no longer an abstract concept. Many SOEs have begun pushing digital transformation, standardizing processes, and improving operational efficiency, creating real value rather than just changes on paper. This proves that market discipline, if strictly enforced, can yield "sweet fruit."

One important point of Resolution 79 that may be oversimplified is that it is not only about state-owned enterprises. Its deeper focus is on managing all resources of the state sector, including capital, land, infrastructure, public assets, and investment funds.

Assets owned by the people as a whole do not mean that only the state sector should be prioritized in their use. What matters is efficient allocation for society through transparent, market-based mechanisms. SOEs are just one tool among many, not an end in themselves.

Institutional bottlenecks

Ultimately, people remain the decisive factor. Under the same mechanism, some places perform very well while others barely move. The difference lies in capacity, courage, and sense of responsibility among implementers, especially leaders.

Leading is not about overwhelming the private sector, but about opening the way for the market to function better, allocate resources more efficiently, and lay the foundation for long-term growth.

If implemented properly, Resolution 79 will not contradict Resolution 68, but complement it, forming two parallel pillars: the state plays its role in strategic guidance and development creation, while the market, with the private sector as the main driver, is given sufficient space to grow.

Tu Giang
Associate Prof, PhD Nguyen Thi Truong Giang.

At the 2026 Enrollment and Career Counseling Festival jointly organized by Tuoi Tre Newspaper and the Ministry of Education and Training on March 8, a candidate asked: "In the current trend of press mergers, will the demand for jobs in the journalism industry decrease?"

Associate Prof, PhD Nguyen Thi Truong Giang, Deputy Director of the Academy of Journalism and Communication, said it is not only the journalism and communication industry that finds it difficult to get a job, but it is a general issue of the labor market.

In recent years, especially over the past two years, the merger and streamlining of the apparatus at press and media agencies nationwide has been strongly implemented under major policies of the Party and the state. Not only journalism but many other sectors, agencies and organizations are also undergoing mergers, Giang said.

She added that in the journalism and communications field, these mergers have changed the number of press agencies. Many newspapers and broadcasting stations, including radio and television, have been merged, affecting the jobs of thousands of journalists.

However, Giang said that in the context of the fourth industrial revolution, especially with the development of AI and social media, the demand for accurate, official and clean information across media platforms, particularly digital platforms, remains very high.

Every day when we wake up, thousands of pieces of information flow to our phones and computers. But selecting useful, appropriate and valuable information among them requires the role of professional journalists. Therefore, mergers may lead to changes in the number of press agencies but they do not necessarily reduce job opportunities. In fact, development space can expand beyond traditional journalism to new platforms such as digital journalism, multimedia journalism and data journalism, she said.

She believes that students who are passionate about becoming journalists who deliver information quickly, accurately and with humanity can still confidently choose this field of study.

Dang Hong Son, vice rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities under Vietnam National University Hanoi, said the journalism and communication field is diverse, from political-news journalism to corporate communication. Besides, personal communication is also developing strongly and playing an increasingly large role.

Therefore, changes in state management of media and journalism do not narrow but actually expand the labor market, especially in the private sector and among individuals who build and develop their own brands, the representative said.

At the event, another student raised a concern: Currently the local government model is shifting from three-level to two-level, and many state agencies have redundant staff. So which major should we choose?

This candidate also expressed the desire to study at the National Economics University (NEU).

PhD Le Anh Duc, Head of the Training Management Department at NEU, said that in the new era, young people should not worry too much about whether they will work in the state sector or other sectors. First of all, they need to strive to study to become valuable people, becoming human resources that many organizations and enterprises need.

Therefore, if studying at NEU, in my opinion, no matter which major you follow, you need two basic skills. First is being proficient in English, because in an international labor environment, no matter where you work, you need to be able to use this language. Second, in addition to the professional knowledge of the major you follow, you need digital competency. The higher the digital competency, the easier it is to adapt to many job environments after graduation. In the era of the digital economy and digital society, digital competency will certainly be one of the important criteria in recruitment, Duc said.

On March 6, NEU announced enrollment information for the 2026 regular undergraduate program. The school will recruit 9,000 students, an increase of 500 compared to last year.

The school is expected to open 15 new majors/training programs, including: Financial Technology (taught in Vietnamese), Digital Economics, Applied Mathematics, Marketing Technology, Environmental Technology and Sustainable Development, Logistics and Supply Chain Management Technology, Internal Audit, International Economics, International Development, Quantitative Risk Management, Valuation, Statistics and Business Intelligence, Creative Industry Management, International Human Resource Management, and Health Economics (all taught in English).

Regarding the enrollment method, the school maintains three admission methods, including: Direct admission (3 percent), admission based on High School Graduation Exam scores, and combined admission method (97 percent).

Thanh Hung
On the first day of the Lunar New Year 2026, Phong, from Hai Phong, received news that he had been admitted to a PhD program at University of Tokyo, one of Japans top universities. Phong considers this a memorable milestone, as it required a decade-long journey of sustained effort.

Surviving Russias exams

Phong is a former math major student at Tran Phu High School for the Gifted. Before graduating from high school, he secured a full scholarship under the VietnamRussia intergovernmental agreement.

Given my familys circumstances at the time, self-funded study abroad was simply not an option. This scholarship gave me the chance to touch my dream, Phong recalled.

Even so, the early days were far from easy. Arriving in Russia with virtually no Russian language skills, Phong entered an intensive preparatory year to catch up with the curriculum in semiconductor physics at Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University.

Once officially enrolled, his first shock came from oral examinations. In Russia, final exams often combine problem-solving with oral defense. Students draw a question, solve it, then professors probe the solution and expand into related topics. I had to survive those exams in a language I had learned for just one year, Phong said.

The language barrier made his first year especially stressful. At one point, during a physics exam, he failed to answer a single question simply because he could not understand what the professor was asking.

"That moment made me tear up out of helplessness," Phong said. Afterward, he became determined to improve his Russian, actively seeking out Russian classmates to practice communication. Thanks to that, when he had the chance to retake the exam, Phong prepared thoroughly and achieved a perfect score in this subject.

Although the academic environment was somewhat strict, these experiences also trained Phong in critical thinking, problem-solving skills, perseverance, and resilience under pressure.

European education and the doctoral turning point in Japan

After graduation, realizing that what he had learned was just theory, Phong decided to return to Vietnam to work as a research engineer at LG from late 2021. The corporate environment helped Phong access professional working methods, learn how to optimize processes, and solve problems in real-world contexts.

Phong applied for the Erasmus Mundus QuanTEEM masters program, a joint program run by three universities in France, Germany, and Denmark.

Balancing work with applications and writing an essay on applying AI in his professional experience, Phong won a full Erasmus Mundus scholarship in 2023, including a monthly stipend of 1,400 euros.

Eager to experience different education systems, he chose to study in all three countries. Phong observed that in France, programs emphasize heavy calculations and written exams with dense course loads; in Germany, students enjoy greater autonomy, with oral exams focusing on depth of understanding and knowledge integration; and in Denmark, learning centers on presentations, teamwork, and defending viewpoints.

These diverse European experiences helped Phong develop flexible thinking, clear presentation skills, and confidence before academic panels.

In late September 2025, after completing his masters thesis in France, Phong applied for a PhD at the University of Tokyo. After a document screening round and two preliminary interviews, he traveled to Japan for a written exam and a panel interview with six professors.

Experience with written exams in countries like France and Russia, combined with interview and presentation experience from Germany and Denmark, helped me manage the pressure and stay calm before the panel, Phong said.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, he received his PhD admission letter from the University of Tokyo and is set to begin his program in April 2026.

Looking back on a decade spanning Russia, France, Germany, Denmark, and Japan, Phong believes perseverance, not ones starting point, is the most important factor. The early years in Russia were anything but rosy. But if I had given up, I certainly would not have had the opportunities that came later, he said.

Even so, Phong does not see this as an endpoint, but as a chance to pursue scientific research seriously and to its fullest extent.

Thuy Nga
Under the plan, the HanoiAmsterdam route will commence operations on June 16, 2026, with an expected frequency of three return flights per week using modern wide-body Airbus A350 aircraft. This will be the first direct air link between Vietnam and the Netherlands, helping to shorten travel time and enhance connectivity between Vietnam and one of Europes key economic, logistics and aviation transit hubs.

The flight schedule is designed to provide convenient travel options for passengers from Europe to Vietnam, while also facilitating connections to the airlines domestic and regional network, including Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, Nha Trang and Phu Quoc, as well as destinations across Southeast Asia, Northeast Asia and Australia.

With the addition of the HanoiAmsterdam service, the carrier will increase its total number of direct routes between Vietnam and Europe to 12, serving eight destinations including Paris, Frankfurt, London, Munich, Milan, Copenhagen, Moscow and Amsterdam.

Nguyen Quang Trung, Deputy General Director of Vietnam Airlines, said Europe has always been one of the carriers key international markets. The launch event and sales campaign for the HanoiAmsterdam route in the Netherlands demonstrate the airlines commitment to strengthening cooperation with travel agencies and partners across the region. He expressed his confidence that the new route would create more convenient connectivity between Europe and Vietnam, contributing to the growth of tourism, trade and people-to-people exchanges.

By expanding its flight network and intensifying market promotion in Europe, Vietnam Airlines continues to affirm its role as the national flag carrier in enhancing links between Vietnam and major global economic centres, thereby helping boost trade, tourism and the international promotion of the country and its people.

Market data show that two-way passenger traffic between Vietnam and the Netherlands exceeded 122,000 in 2024 and continued to grow in 2025, with the HanoiAmsterdam route alone recording a year-on-year increase of over 40%. Amid rising travel demand between Europe and Southeast Asia, this new route is seen as an effective solution to shorten travel time, reduce transit stops, and enhance passengers' experience.

Beyond passenger transport, the new route is expected to create significant opportunities for air cargo, particularly for Vietnams high-value exports to Europe such as electronics, textiles and garments, fresh agricultural produce, and seafood. The direct connection will shorten delivery time, optimise supply chains, and improve the competitiveness of Vietnamese businesses./. VNA
Held from March 1316, the event is among the major tourism fairs in France, bringing together hundreds of travel agencies, tourism promotion organisations and destinations from around the world, while drawing large numbers of visitors and industry professionals seeking information and exploring travel opportunities.

Director of QAsia Travel Than Thi Thanh said international arrivals to Vietnam have grown strongly in recent years, with France remaining an important market. With 15 years of experience in the tourism sector, she noted that after the COVID-19 pandemic, demand among French travellers for Vietnam has steadily increased.

According to Thanh, French tourists are particularly interested in Vietnams cultural and historical values as well as its traditional identity. Authentic experiences such as exploring mountainous areas, learning about ethnic minority communities, enjoying local cuisine and discovering the countrys history are especially appealing to them.

Tourists visit the Cao Dai Holy See in Tay Ninh province (Photo: VNA)

Chief Executive Officer of Vietnam Original Travel Than Duc Manh said the fair provides an important opportunity to promote Vietnams tourism image to the European market, particularly French visitors.

With nearly 20 years of experience serving this market, his company designs programmes tailored to French travellers rather than conventional tours. The itineraries focus on local cultural exploration and feature homestays that allow visitors to experience daily life in local communities. In addition, eco-resorts in remote areas have been developed to promote community-based tourism and offer distinctive travel experiences.

Regarding challenges in attracting French tourists, Manh noted that airfares remain relatively high. Recently, several transit flights via Doha and Dubai were cancelled due to the Middle East conflict. However, he expressed confidence that these are temporary factors and will not have a lasting impact on the growth of French arrivals to Vietnam.

Frederic Poirier, regional director for Southeast Asia, India and Oceania at Nomade Aventure travel company, said Vietnam has long been an important destination in the firms adventure tourism programmes.

Nomade Aventure began organising tours to Vietnam in the 1990s and, after nearly 30 years, the country continues to attract travellers thanks to its cultural diversity and identity-rich ethnic communities, he said. Visitors can participate in a range of nature-based activities, from light trekking to more challenging expeditions, while also exploring Vietnams rich cultural heritage.

Vietnams diverse tourism products are also a major advantage, Poirier added. Travellers can experience mountain tourism, seaside resorts, cross-country rail journeys or explore rapidly developing urban centres. He noted that during a recent visit to Vietnam two months ago, he was impressed by the modern development of Ho Chi Minh City.

Many French visitors attending the exhibition also expressed interest in travelling to Vietnam. Evelyne, a Paris resident seeking information for her upcoming holiday, said she hopes to visit the country after watching numerous documentaries about it. Besides its beautiful landscapes, she said she is particularly interested in the Vietnamese people.

Earlier, a survey released by the fairs organisers on March 11 showed that Vietnam ranks among the Asian destinations most searched by French travellers, alongside Japan and Thailand, reflecting growing interest in long-haul destinations offering rich cultural and natural experiences./. VNA
The first ministerial meeting under the 3+3 strategic dialogue mechanism between Vietnam and Chinas foreign affairs, defense and public security ministries took place in Hanoi on Monday morning.

On the Vietnamese side, participants included Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung; Minister of National Defense Gen. Phan Van Giang; and Minister of Public Security Gen. Luong Tam Quang.

The Chinese delegation was led by Foreign Minister Wang Yi; Minister of National Defense Sr. Lt. Gen. Dong Jun; and Minister of Public Security Wang Xiaohong.

Vietnamese and Chinese foreign ministers exchanged views on strategic issues. The two foreign ministers agreed in their assessment that Vietnam-China relations have made very positive and comprehensive progress.

Both sides emphasized the need to continue implementing measures to further deepen the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries.

Leaders from the ministries of foreign affairs, defense and public security of both countries also attended the meeting.

Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung delivered remarks at the conference.

Leaders from Vietnams ministries of foreign affairs, defense and public security were present at the meeting.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi also spoke at the event.

Senior officials from Chinas ministries of foreign affairs, defense and public security took part in the discussions.

Tran Thuong-Pham Hai
Viet Duc Friendship Hospital (Hanoi) announced the successful completion of Vietnams first simultaneous heartlung transplant

First simultaneous heartlung transplant

On August 23, 2025, Viet Duc Friendship Hospital (Hanoi) announced the successful completion of Vietnams first simultaneous heartlung transplant. This is among the most challenging techniques in cardiothoracic surgery, as it requires replacing the heart and both lungs at the same time using donated organs.

The patient, T.N.Q (38), suffered from Eisenmenger syndrome, leading to irreversible right heart failure and severe tricuspid regurgitation (TR). Her health had deteriorated day by day, and her chances of survival were extremely slim.

The surgery lasted more than seven intense hours, followed by nearly 50 days of intensive care. This success not only saved a patients life but also placed Vietnam among the small group of countries capable of performing simultaneous heartlung transplants, affirming its multi-organ transplant capacity at a regional level and approaching international standards.

Prior to that, in October 2023, the National Lung Hospital (Hanoi) made an impression by performing two consecutive lung transplants within 24 hours. Notably, both cases satisfied the highest technical level according to the standards of the UCSF Lung Transplant Program (University of California, USA), one of the world's leading centers.

This success puts Vietnam on the list of prestigious lung transplant centers capable of handling complex cases with internationally standardized processes.

Temporarily attaching a hand to the leg

In September 2025, Binh Duong General Hospital (HCMC) successfully performed a rare microsurgery: "nurturing" a severed hand on a leg for nearly two months before reattaching it to its original position. The patient was a woman nearly 20 years old, carrying twins at 34 weeks, who suffered a labor accident that crushed the lower third of her right forearm and completely severed her hand.

Immediate reattachment would have required a 78 hour operation with a high dose of anesthesia, posing a serious risk of miscarriage. If the stump was closed, the mother would be permanently disabled. Facing this life-and-death puzzle, the multi-disciplinary team decided to temporarily graft the hand onto the lower leg to maintain blood supply to nurture the tissue, waiting for the fetuses to be old enough.

On November 28, 2025, once the twins were developing stably, doctors separated the hand from the leg and reattached it to the forearm in a 13-hour microsurgical operation. Blood vessels, tendons, muscles, and nerves were meticulously reconstructed, while fetal heart rates were closely monitored throughout the procedure.

Post-surgery, the hand was warm and pink, starting to move slightly. Later, the mother gave birth to two healthy baby boys via cesarean section.

Taking a kidney out for repair and re-transplantation

In October 2025, Central Military Hospital 108 (Hanoi) performed a rare autologous kidney transplant, opening a new direction in organ preservation. A 37-year-old woman had a large aneurysm in her left renal artery, with a life-threatening risk of rupture.

Many experts recommended that the female patient have her kidney removed. However, to avoid the patient having to undergo lifelong dialysis, doctors decided to perform laparoscopic surgery to remove the kidney from the body, reconstruct the blood vessels externally, and then re-transplant that same kidney.

The surgery lasted nearly 4 hours, with a "golden time" of 20-30 minutes to process the vessels outside the body to avoid irreversible ischemic damage. The aneurysmal part was removed and reconstructed using autologous vessels, after which the kidney was re-transplanted into the left iliac fossa.

After surgery, the kidney functioned well, and the patient did not need anti-rejection drugs because it was an autotransplant.

Three months of reviving+ a child in a vegetative state after drowning

The patient was T.Q.M (3), from Thai Nguyen Province. On October 25, 2025, the child drowned for about 20 minutes in a pond. When found, the child was floating face down, with bluish lips and pale skin. The family performed first aid for 1520 minutes without response before rushing the child to emergency care.

On the sixth day, the child unexpectedly opened his eyes and moved his legs, then gradually weaned off the ventilator and survived the critical phase.

Severe sequelae remained: profound hypoxic brain injury, quadriplegia, cognitive impairment, complete loss of gross motor function, inability to speak or cry, and no response to the surrounding environment. Doctors predicted cerebral palsy or a prolonged vegetative state.

In mid-November 2025, the family transferred the child to another hospital in Tu Liem (Hanoi) for continued treatment.

Doctors devised a treatment regimen combining hyperbaric oxygen therapy with intensive rehabilitation.

By February 24, after three months of treatment, the child could walk independently, communicate well, and had near-normal cognitive function.

Phuong Thuy
Akbar Novruz



Azerenergy Open Joint Stock Company has signed procurement contracts with the Austrian company GUGLER Water Turbines GmbH for the supply of electromechanical equipment for three new small hydroelectric power stations (SHPs), AzerNEWS reports.

Within the framework of the projects, which have a total value exceeding (USD 12.4 million) 21.1 million AZN, the design, production, transportation, and installation of Francis-type water turbines will be carried out.

Under the agreement, Chardagli-1 and Chardagli-2 small hydroelectric power stations will receive the necessary electromechanical equipment as well as installation supervision. For this purpose, (USD 9.6 million) 16,355,579 AZN has been allocated.

In addition, a separate contract has been signed for the Aliagali small hydroelectric power station. The agreement, valued at (USD 2.8 million) 4,746,480 AZN, covers the supply of relevant equipment and the commissioning of the station.

The projects form part of Azerbaijans ongoing efforts to expand renewable energy capacity and strengthen the countrys hydropower infrastructure.
According to Director of the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade Vu Ba Phu, the wood sector remains one of Vietnams key export industries in 2025, with export turnover of timber and wood products reaching about 17.2 billion USD.



Ho Chi Minh City accounted for a major share of the total, with a turnover of over 9 billion USD. Vietnamese wood and interior products are now present in more than 160 countries and territories, with the US market alone making up over half of the sectors total export value.



However, the industry is also facing multiple challenges. Major markets such as the European Union and the US are imposing increasingly stringent requirements on product quality, traceability, and sustainable development.



In addition, the sector is under pressure to accelerate its transition toward greener production and emission reductions in line with global sustainable trade trends. Changes in tariff policies, particularly from the US, are also affecting competitiveness, while rising geopolitical risks are disrupting supply chains, pushing logistics costs higher.



According to Vice Chairman of the Handicraft and Wood Industry Association of Ho Chi Minh City (HAWA) To Ngoc Ngoi, these challenges require the industry to strengthen forecasting capacity, risk management, and adaptability.



Wood-processing enterprises in Ho Chi Minh City have proactively reformed their operations by optimising production and business processes, investing in advanced machinery and technology, and tightening the management of legally sourced timber supply chains. They are also accelerating digital transformation in governance and trade promotion while adopting energy-saving and environmentally friendly production solutions.



Businesses are also seeking ways to reduce production costs to enhance competitiveness. Phung Quoc Cuong, production director of Bao Hung Co. Ltd., said his company has partnered with two suppliers to introduce new packaging solutions that help green the packaging process.



The new packaging reduces product box size, minimises damage during transportation, and cuts packaging costs by 2030%, helping the companys products compete more effectively in the US market.



Meanwhile, CEO of Viet Goods Import-Export JSC Nguyen Van Sang said enterprises must pay greater attention to product design and comply with environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards to increase export value and competitiveness. Ngoi emphasised that to move beyond simple outsourcing and production based solely on orders, Vietnamese wood enterprises need to invest more strongly in design and product development to raise added value.



Experts noted that Vietnamese workers possess high craftsmanship and can produce highly personalised products, which is becoming a new global consumer trend. Combined with modern design and certified raw materials, Vietnams wood industry has the potential to create high-value products that can compete strongly in international markets.



According to Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment Nguyen Quoc Tri, the ministry is committed to supporting wood enterprises through several strategic pillars. These include improving the institutional framework to create favourable conditions for sustainable development, ensuring legal timber supplies through the development of domestic raw material zones and sustainable forest certification, and helping businesses improve their capacity to comply with international trade defence measures and technical environmental standards.



Meanwhile, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Peoples Committee Nguyen Van Duoc has called on HAWA and the citys wood industry to pursue five strategic goals, including leading the shift toward green production; enhancing design, technology and branding to move from Made in Vietnam to Made by Vietnam; strengthening supply chain transparency through technology; diversifying export markets to regions such as the Middle East, South Asia and Latin America; and contributing to the citys target of achieving double-digit economic growth in 2026./. VNA
Benefiting from rich biodiversity and a wide network of national parks and biosphere reserves, the country has increasingly attracted interest from both domestic and foreign investors. Developing trail tourism is therefore considered an important strategic direction for the sustainable growth of the tourism sector.

The Embassy of the Czech Republic in Vietnam has expressed its willingness to cooperate with the Vietnam National Authority of Tourism (VNAT) in advancing an initiative to establish a trail-marking system.

According to Jaroslav Zukerstein, Deputy Ambassador and Charge dAffaires of the Czech Embassy, nature exploration tourism, particularly hiking in mountainous areas, has become highly popular worldwide. One key factor behind its appeal is the long-established trail-marking network in the Czech Republic, widely regarded as one of the most comprehensive and well-known systems globally.

He noted that this travel trend is gaining momentum across Asia, especially among young people. In Vietnam, more young travellers are choosing short weekend trips to explore forests, mountains and local ecosystems.

The initiative is expected to contribute to the development of eco-tourism and adventure tourism in Vietnam. In addition to installing trail signs, Czech experts will organise training sessions for forest rangers, local residents and student volunteers, enabling them to maintain the system independently without relying on foreign specialists.

The Czech Embassy has proposed launching a pilot project in a specific locality. Based on monitoring and evaluation results, a model could then be developed for wider replication. Tourism experts from the Czech Republic are expected to visit Vietnam later this month to present technical standards, safety requirements and the value of trail networks.

Nguyen Thi Hoa Mai, VNAT Deputy Director General, said the initiative aligns with the countrys orientation towards sustainable tourism development. However, she stressed the need to ensure compliance with forestry regulations and guidelines on forest protection.

Currently, trail tourism products in Vietnam remain limited by the lack of clear route planning, unified standards and supporting infrastructure such as rest stops, rescue stations and safety equipment. A pilot scheme, combined with close coordination among tourism and forestry authorities, national parks and local administrations, could help improve service quality and create new eco-tourism opportunities nationwide./. VNA
In an interview granted to Vietnam News Agency correspondents in Beijing on the occasion of the steering committees 17th meeting in Hanoi, Binh said that the committee is the highest-level mechanism coordinating cooperation between the two governments. It plays an important role in implementing and concretising common perceptions reached by the top leaders of the two Parties and countries.



Over the course of 16 previous sessions, the mechanism has proven effective as a central platform for coordinating bilateral collaboration across sectors while reviewing and urging ministries, sectors and localities of both sides to effectively implement cooperation agreements.



The 17th meeting provides an opportunity for the two sides to comprehensively review progress in bilateral cooperation since the previous session and further implement high-level common perceptions.



As a practical step to implement the foreign policy outlined at the 14th Party Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam, and boost bilateral relations towards the six major orientations, the meeting is expected to boost political, defence, security and judicial cooperation, people-to-people exchanges, local-level collaboration and coordination at multilateral forums. The two sides will also hold candid and constructive exchanges to address existing challenges in bilateral ties in a spirit of friendship and mutual respect, consistent with common perceptions reached by high-ranking leaders of both countries.



Regarding the first ministerial-level Strategic Dialogue among the foreign, defence and public security ministries of Vietnam and China - known as the 3+3 Dialogue, the ambassador described the mechanism as an important form of inter-sectoral cooperation. Notably, this is the first 3+3 dialogue mechanism that each country has established with a foreign partner. The dialogue had previously been conducted at the deputy-ministerial level in 2024 alongside the 16th meeting of the Steering Committee, yielding positive outcomes. The decision to upgrade the mechanism to the ministerial level reflects the growing political trust between the two sides and highlights the importance both attach to strengthening strategic exchanges in key sectors.



For two countries sharing a long land border such as Vietnam and China, an inter-agency cooperation mechanism plays an important role in border management, crime prevention and control, and addressing non-traditional security challenges, Binh stated.



Regarding bilateral ties, the ambassador expressed confidence that the potential and scope for cooperation remain substantial, providing a solid basis for translating the common perceptions of the high-level leaders into concrete outcomes, thereby contributing to the development of the Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership and the building of a VietnamChina community with a shared future which carries strategic significance.



In terms of strategic connectivity, the two sides will accelerate infrastructure linkages, prioritising railway and expressway connections as well as border gate infrastructure. Key projects include standard-gauge railway routes linking Lao CaiHanoiHai Phong, Lang SonHanoi and Mong CaiHa LongHai Phong.



Economically, the two countries aim to make better use of free trade agreements such as the ASEANChina Free Trade Area 3.0 and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), improve the business environment and enhance institutional and standard connectivity to facilitate balanced and sustainable trade growth.



Vietnam also encourages Chinese enterprises to expand investment in priority sectors including high-tech manufacturing, strategic infrastructure, the digital and green economies, renewable energy and smart urban development, he added./. VNA
Recent developments in private investment show that, as confidence in the private sector has grown and is a key driver of economic development, investors are strengthening support for enterprises not only through capital but also management expertise and market connectivity. This approach helps create financial value while enhancing the competitiveness of domestic firms and promoting innovation and modernisation in Vietnams key industries.

At the same time, investors are adopting a more selective approach, focusing on companies with strong operational foundations, clear technological capabilities, and significant growth potential. Investment standards are increasingly shifting toward quality and long-term value, placing higher expectations on Vietnamese enterprises in terms of governance, technology adoption, and sustainable development strategies.

One example is the increasing focus on green mobility as countries step up efforts to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. In this setting, some investors are teaming up with Vietnamese companies in the automobile and motorbike manufacturing industry that are leading the way in meeting growing demand with advanced technology and sustainable development models.

Nguyen Thanh Thao, General Director of the Thien Viet Securities JSC (TVS), said Vietnam has more than 77 million motorbikes in circulation, with around 3 million new units sold annually, making it one of the worlds largest two-wheeler markets. Against this backdrop, Dat Bike, a domestic enterprise that has mastered key technologies from research and design to manufacturing, has drawn investor interest.

The TVS recently announced a 4 million USD investment in Dat Bike, which will be used to expand production capacity, strengthen supply chains, upgrade distribution networks, and enhance research and development. Beyond capital, the TVS will also support the company with corporate governance consulting, strategic planning, value-chain optimisation, and connections to capital markets to improve operational efficiency and long-term growth prospects.

Nguyen Ba Canh Son, founder and CEO of Dat Bike, said the investment reflects not only financial backing but also strong confidence in Vietnamese-developed technology and the companys growth strategy. The partnership is expected to accelerate production expansion, diversify products, and improve service while contributing to Vietnams broader net-zero commitments.

Vietnams furniture industry is becoming more connected to global manufacturing networks and is entering a new growth phase by tapping directly into international markets through cross-border e-commerce.

Manufacturers and exporters say the sector has gradually shifted from contract manufacturing for global partners to selling directly to consumers worldwide via online platforms.

Ryan Fitzpatrick, Vice President of Wayfair Global Selling and Head of Furniture, Decor & Soft Home for North America, said Vietnam has become an essential pillar in the global furniture supply chain, with strong production capacity, particularly in the mid-range and high-end segments.

To further support Vietnamese businesses, Wayfair recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency (Vietrade) under the Ministry of Industry and Trade at the Wayfair Global Selling Vietnam Summit 2026 held recently in Ho Chi Minh City. The agreement seeks to launch programs that support Vietnamese businesses and boost the countrys standing in the global furniture market.

Hoang Minh Chien, Deputy Director of Vietrade, shared that working with specialised e-commerce platforms like Wayfair can help broaden modern distribution channels and boost the presence of Vietnamese products, such as furniture, wood items, and home decor, in competitive markets like North America and Europe./.
The event took place on the occasion of the 17th meeting of the Vietnam  China Steering Committee for Bilateral Cooperation and the first ministerial-level strategic dialogue on foreign affairs, national defence and public security between the two countries.



Welcoming Wang's return visit to Vietnam, Trung highly valued the significance of the strategic exchange between the two foreign ministers on this occasion, which demonstrates a high level of political trust, strategic cohesion, and comprehensive and substantive cooperation between their countries.



Congratulating China on the success of the recent fourth sessions of the 14th National People's Congress and the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, as well as on its recent socio-economic achievements, Trung underlined Vietnam's confidence in and support for China's stronger development and increasingly important contributions to peace, stability, and development in the region and the world.



He affirmed that the Party, State, and people of Vietnam always consider the consolidation and development of relations with China as a strategic choice and a top priority in Vietnam's foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, self-strengthening, and multilateralisation and diversification of external relations.



For his part, Wang expressed his pleasure at visiting Vietnam again and congratulated the country on the successful organisation of the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam.



China always supports the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee, headed by General Secretary To Lam, in leading Vietnam to continue obtaining new and even greater achievements, he stated.



The visiting official added that China is ready to work with Vietnam to strengthen strategic trust and develop together, bringing tangible benefits to the peoples of both countries.

The strategic discussion between the Vietnamese and Chinese Ministers of Foreign Affairs in Hanoi on March 15 (Photo: VNA)

At the meeting, both host and guest acknowledged the highly positive and comprehensive strides in Vietnam  China relations over the recent past.



They agreed that the two countries diplomatic agencies need to strictly adhere to the high-level common perceptions, continue close coordination, and effectively implement measures to deepen the Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership and promote the building of a Vietnam  China community with a shared future that carries strategic significance, guided by the six major orientations.



The two sides should meticulously prepare for coming visits and meetings at all levels while working with ministries, sectors, and localities to make new breakthroughs in substantive cooperation, thereby bringing the relationship between the two Parties and the two countries to a new level, they said.



Trung proposed that the two countries improve the quality and effectiveness of cooperation in various fields; promote balanced and sustainable trade; expand the import of goods, especially farm produce from Vietnam, to the maximum extent; accelerate strategic connectivity; increase high-quality investment; and promote technology transfer in industrial cooperation. They should also coordinate closely to ensure energy security, and increase scholarships for Vietnam, focusing on such fields as basic science and high technology.



The Vietnamese minister also suggested both sides further encourage result-oriented cooperation between localities, strengthen tourism links, strive to increase the numbers of tourists visiting each other, and foster cultural ties.



Appreciating his hosts cooperation proposals, Wang emphasised China's willingness to closely coordinate with Vietnam to fruitfully implement the high-level common perceptions. He suggested that both sides promote economic, trade, and investment partnerships more strongly.



China is ready to encourage its large and capable enterprises to expand investment in Vietnam, he noted, adding it will provide more bilateral and multilateral scholarships for Vietnamese students and further step up cultural, educational, and tourism exchanges.



During the event, the two officials also sincerely and straightforwardly discussed sea-related issues and other international and regional matters of mutual concern./. VNA
Earlier, the Ministry of Home Affairs reported that according to updated data from the Office of the National Election Council, by 20:00 on March 15, a total of 76,043,527 voters had cast their ballots in the election of deputies to the 16th National Assembly and Peoples Councils at all levels for the 20262031 term, accounting for 99.38% of all registered voters nationwide.



Lao Cai was the locality that completed voting the earliest (at 17:45) and, together with the central city of Hue, was one of two out of 34 localities to reach 100% voter participation. Notably, Lao Cai province has 173 voters aged 100 and above (31 men and 142 women). The oldest voter is Giang Nu Sua, aged 114.



Most localities recorded voter turnout rates above 99%, including Ha Tinh (99.99%), Lai Chau (99.97%), Tuyen Quang (99.96%), Dien Bien (99.91%), Lang Son (99.82%), Thai Nguyen (99.82%), Ca Mau (99.81%), Vinh Long (99.67%), Can Tho (99.35%), Nghe An (99.34%), Da Nang (99.92%), Tay Ninh (99.04%), Gia Lai (99.02%), and Quang Ngai (99.01%). Nationwide, no constituencies recorded a voter turnout below 50%.



A preliminary assessment of the election progress nationwide shows that most provinces in the northern mountainous region completed voting early with very high turnout rates, including Lao Cai, Lai Chau, Tuyen Quang, Dien Bien, Lang Son, and Thai Nguyen.



By the end of the voting process, polling stations across the country maintained a stable, serious, and orderly atmosphere, with strict compliance with electoral laws and regulations. Public opinion generally expressed confidence, consensus, and support for the election, with voters showing a clear awareness of the value of their ballots.



Domestic and international media outlets continued to closely follow and update developments of the election. Coverage focused on the voting process in provinces and cities, as well as at polling stations. Particular attention was given to the participation of Party and State leaders, members of the armed forces, elderly voters, first-time young voters, ethnic minority communities, religious dignitaries, and voters in border areas, islands, mountainous regions, and disadvantaged localities. By 19:00, 6,402 news articles about the election had been published in domestic newspapers, magazines, portals, and specialised websites.



Political security and social order and safety was maintained, with no complex incidents or unusual situations reported./. VNA
Experts said that while institutional frameworks can be modelled after those of established financial hubs worldwide and policies designed in line with international practices, building a qualified workforce  from regulators and financial experts to investors  requires a long period of training and experience accumulation.

Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh, Chairman of the Executive Council of the Vietnam International Financial Centre, said the IFC establishment is closely linked to the transformation of Vietnams growth model. To sustain fast and stable growth, the country needs to move towards a model driven by high productivity, innovation, institutional quality, and more efficient mobilisation and allocation of resources.

He perceived that a modern financial centre will help Vietnam upgrade its capital market, connect directly with global capital flows, diversify financial products, and advance green and digital finance  all critical to long-term growth.

However, deeper financial integration also entails risks. Global experience shows that some countries failed when opening their financial markets without adequate preparation in institutional frameworks, supervisory capacity and macroeconomic risk governance.

Given this, Binh stressed that the IFC development should rest on five core factors: global connectivity; a stable, transparent and advanced legal framework; high-quality human resources; international-standard governance and management capacity; and a development-enabling ecosystem that includes both an attractive investment environment and a high quality of life.

These five elements form a unified whole, ensuring the safe and efficient operation of the IFC. Among them, the human element plays a decisive role, he emphasised, elaborating that without a management team knowledgeable about the international financial market, and without experts capable of designing products, operating trading infrastructure and monitoring risks, even advanced mechanisms and policies will be difficult to be carried out.

Sharing this view, Hubertus Vaeth, Managing Director of Frankfurt Main Finance and Founding Vice Chairman of the World Alliance of International Financial Centres, said human resources are the top priority for any emerging financial hub, covering both regulatory capacity and operational expertise.

He noted that a financial centre requires not only strong operational capacity but also effective supervision and enforcement. As finance is increasingly driven by technology, expertise in developing software, risk management systems and fintech platforms is becoming essential.

Dr Ha Thuc Vien, Vice President of the Vietnamese-German University, said participation in the global financial system requires a workforce that understands both the domestic market and international practices.

As a new financial centre, Vietnam should not simply replicate the products of established hubs but develop distinctive financial products to create competitive advantages, which needs strong professional competence and innovation capacity, he added.

Human resources must be developed in advance

Human resources development for the IFC of Vietnam is being promoted through a combination of short-term training for professionals already working in the sector and long-term education at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

A number of specialised programmes have been launched, including courses run by the Vietnamese-German University with input from German experts.

Deputy Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Van Phuc said workforce training for the IFC should be implemented at multiple levels, from personnel directly operating the centre to those working in financial institutions. As the financial market and technologies evolve rapidly, training programmes must be regularly updated and strengthened through cooperation with businesses and international partners.

Deputy PM Binh said that Vietnam must develop a workforce meeting international standards, particularly in regulatory and dispute settlement institutions. In the initial phase, when domestic human resources remain limited, the country should attract experienced executives and leading experts from international financial institutions while building a methodical training roadmap to transfer expertise to domestic personnel.

In the competition among global financial centres, human resources are often the long-term and most-difficult-to-replicate advantage. Singapore, Hong Kong (China), and Dubai (the UAE) have all invested heavily in financial education and attracted international talent. For Vietnam  an emerging financial centre, preparing human resources is viewed as not just a task for the education sector alone, but a crucial cornerstone for its ability to engage more deeply in the global financial value chain for decades to come./. VNA
The next phase of the Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship project implemented by ADA University has officially begun in Ganja, with an opening ceremony held on March 14, AzerNEWS reports.

The initiative, launched for young people living in Ganja and surrounding regions, is being implemented with financial support from the ADA University Foundation and PASHA Holding, in partnership with the Center for the Development of Cultural and Creative Industries.

The main objective of the training program is to strengthen analytical thinking, problem-solving skills, algorithmic approaches, and the ability of young people to develop technological solutions, preparing them for the demands of the modern labor market.

Speaking at the event, ADA University Vice-Rector for Strategy and Development Vafa Kazdal said the university is expanding its activities in the regions to make modern and high-quality education accessible to a wider audience while creating new opportunities for youth to develop innovation, creativity, and leadership skills.

Within the framework of the project, participants receive training in backend programming fundamentals, data science and artificial intelligence basics, as well as AI4Art, the application of artificial intelligence in art. The courses are taught by lecturers from ADA University and are conducted in an intensive hybrid format over four months in Ganja.

In addition to theoretical lessons, participants work on practical assignments and real projects, allowing them to apply their knowledge and develop technical skills relevant to the labor market. The program also includes seminars and workshops aimed at improving communication, teamwork, presentation, and time-management skills.

Participants who successfully complete the program are offered internship and career opportunities. For this purpose, SABAH Hub organizes internship programs for project participants. Several young people who completed the first stage of the initiative are currently taking part in a paid internship program at SABAH Hub.

One of the participants, Siraj Akbarov, a third-year student at Ganja State University, said the program provided valuable practical and theoretical experience. He noted that the training deepened his understanding of artificial intelligence and gave him the opportunity to apply his knowledge through real projects under the mentorship of instructors.

The project is also supported by the Bridge to Bright Development initiative implemented by McKinsey & Company, which focuses on career preparation. As part of the initiative, four professional mentors selected from among last years participants were provided with individualized mentoring programs offering guidance on career planning, professional development, and specialization.

The Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship project aims to expand access to modern education in Azerbaijans regions and foster the development of creative and innovative youth. The initiative is aligned with the national development strategy Azerbaijan 2030: National Priorities for Socio-Economic Development and the strategic plan currently being prepared by ADA University for the period 20252030.
Fulian Precision Technology Component Co., Ltd. raised its charter capital from $342 million to $368 million in late January, and further to $381.4 million in late February, according to business registration filings reported by newswire Technode. The purpose of the capital increase has not been disclosed.

Based in Quang Chau Industrial Park, Bac Ninh province, the Fulian Precision Technology Factory has a registered investment capital of $621 million and spans just under 50 hectares. The facility is Fulian's largest undertaking in Vietnam.

The company specialises in producing electronic components, motherboards, computers and computer peripherals, servers and server chassis, communication equipment, network cards, network switches, digital TV receivers, graphics cards, memory and security products.

Foxconn is the world's largest contract electronics maker and Apple's main iPhone maker. The group produces many flagship devices such as iPad and iPod (Apple), Kindle (Amazon), and PlayStation (Sony), serving hundreds of millions of users worldwide.

Foxconn has invested more than $4 billion in Vietnam since the group ventured into the Southeast Asian country in 2007. After nearly 20 years of operations, Foxconn has had more than 94,000 employees and several large-scale factories in Bac Ninh as of 2025.

Despite the impact of US tariff policies, the group has maintained positive growth. The investment in Vietnam reflects Foxconns broad strategy to expand production and strengthen its position in the global supply chain.

Foxconn expanding $500 million MacBook and iPad plant The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment released a report on September 25 recommending the approval of a proposal for environmental permits at a factory in Bac Giang province.

Hon Hai scoops up 25 per cent stake in Goertek Electronics Vietnam Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Ltd., through its subsidiary New Wing Interconnect Technology (Bac Giang) Co., Ltd., announced on February 21 that it has acquired a 25 per cent equity stake in Goertek Electronics Vietnam Co. Ltd for $50 million.
The event was held on March 12 in Ho Chi Minh City, featuring the Longevity Workshop titled 'From Loving Therapy to Loving Kindness'. The gathering served as a platform to discuss how nurturing compassion can lead to sustainable prosperity.

GG Corporation chairperson Luu Bao Huong joined a panel of experts to explore the internal heart-mind as a foundation for modern life, asserting that inner mindfulness is the ultimate secret for navigating an era dominated by AI.

Nguyen Phuong Lam, a well-known entrepreneur and philanthropist who has held senior leadership roles at international financial institutions, argued that as technology advances, the capacity for loving kindness or internal capital becomes the defining human advantage.

Nguyen Phuong Lam shared his thoughts on the role of compassion in today's volatile world

Sustainable success should not be measured solely by personal financial figures. When kindness and trust, the most precious assets in business and social relationships, converge, common fortune naturally follows, Lam said.

Drawing on his leadership in finance, Lam posited that this internal cultivation allows individuals to release their inner selves and focus on social sharing activities with high communal significance.

This sentiment was echoed by acclaimed stage director Pham Hoang Nam, who described compassion as a comprehensive value system comprising intellect, knowledge, and relationship networks rather than mere therapy.

Nam outlined his framework for integrative thinking and the power of the word 'and', where the heart-mind grows by holding seemingly opposing values together rather than selecting one over the other.

He claimed to apply this principle to his own creative work, noting that his profession is never a solitary act but involves people at every stage, requiring a balance of intellect and empathy.

Similarly, Emmy-winning director Johnny Burke provided a visual narrative for these philosophical lessons through his newly released documentary 'Loving Karma', the sequel to 'Tashi and the Monk', which premiered at the event.

Burke argued that individuals cannot exist as isolated entities and that internal transformation possesses the power to move and change entire communities, depicting benevolence as the essential foundation for a high-quality life.

The publication of The Universal Within transforms simple dialogues into profound reflections on how to truly live a flourishing life rather than merely existing, he said.

Pham Hoang Nam (second from right) and Johny Burke (second from left) discussed the most important lessons from the book

These perspectives mirror the structure of the book itself, which distils lessons from eight influential Vietnamese figures across music, literature, medicine, and business. Designed as a series of stories that encourage readers to apply ancient wisdom to contemporary challenges, the book approaches the concept of heart-mind as a universal interior where thoughts, memories, and values converge to guide long-term decisions.

The resonance between the book, the films, and the speakers arguments lies in their shared emphasis on Living Heritage and the preservation of Vietnamese values for future generations. Both the literary and cinematic works argue that the heart-mind acts as a compass, ensuring that knowledge and responsibility meet to create lasting value for the nation.

The Universal Within is currently available as an e-book on Amazon, with a Vietnamese print edition scheduled for release through Fahasa on April 1. All proceeds from the sales will be donated to Living Heritage Foundation to support education, health, and social initiatives throughout the country.

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Ebook, new hope to local publishing sector Ebooks are revitalising the local publishing sector even as traditional publishing undergoes a drastic decline in sales revenue due to COVID-19 impacts.
With a global network of members and partners spanning 180 countries, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) brings extensive international experience in advancing professional standards, sustainability capabilities, and transparent financial ecosystems.

As part of the UK delegations Green Finance Skills Trade Mission to Vietnam in early March, the ACCA held strategic working sessions with leaders of the Vietnam International Financial Centres (VIFCs) in both Danang and Ho Chi Minh City.

The meetings focused on exploring cooperation in talent development, sharing international experience, and strengthening connections with global financial institutions.

During the discussions, the parties exchanged views on the critical role of high-quality financial talent, internationally recognised professional standards, and sustainability capabilities in building globally competitive financial centres.

To Quoc Hung, country manager of ACCA Vietnam, shared international experience in developing professional competencies in key areas such as environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations, risk management, sustainability reporting, and financial transparency. They are factors that are becoming increasingly important in attracting global capital and strengthening foreign investor confidence.

According to Hung, aligning Vietnams financial framework with international standards will be key to attracting global capital and building investor confidence.

Through long-standing collaboration with the Ministry of Finance on the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards, the ACCA has supported Vietnams efforts to enhance transparency and comparability in financial reporting, said Hung. We will continue contributing global expertise and professional standards to support the development of the VIFC, which will play an important role in strengthening transparency and investor confidence in Vietnams financial markets.

He added that the organisation also aims to connect the ACCA professional network between Asia and the UK with stakeholders of the financial centre, helping to attract capital, expertise, and talent.

With Vietnams growth momentum and ongoing reforms, the VIFC could become one of the countrys most significant investment opportunities in the past decade, said Hung.

The meetings further reinforce the strategic partnership between the ACCA and the two VIFCs. Throughout the process of developing Vietnams international financial centres, the ACCA has been among the leading international organisations actively contributing through major initiatives and policy dialogues, offering professional insights on human capital development and international professional standards.

During the skills trade mission, the ACCA, with the role of judging panel chair of the Sustainability Reporting Award for listed companies, also shared the practices of sustainability reporting in Vietnam last year.

In general, listed companies in Vietnam gained stronger governance and structure, with more companies formalising ESG oversight at board level. They have also increased quantitative disclosures in terms of emissions, energy, water, waste, and other areas, with some companies providing 35 years of data.

However, there are some points that need to be improved, the finding said, such as limited Scope 3 disclosure (especially emissions in financial services), limited double materiality, and a growing need for stronger internal controls and independent assurance for ESG data reliability.

On the same occasion, the ACCA, the University of Economics under the University of Danang, and KPMG Vietnam renewed their trilateral cooperation agreement, building on the success of their partnership since 2021 and further strengthening collaboration between academia, an international professional body, and a Big Four firm in developing a comprehensive training ecosystem.

The initiative not only provides students with knowledge aligned with international standards but also equips them with practical skills, professional mindsets, and opportunities to gain exposure to a professional working environment.

ACCA publishes global study on corporate sustainability reporting progress As the COP30 conference kicks off this month in Brazil, new research from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) highlights that understanding how business operations affects stakeholders is crucial for organisations seeking resilience and long-term success.

Standard Chartered and ACCA deepen collaboration to develop Vietnams talent for a sustainable future Standard Chartered Bank Vietnam and ACCA have strengthened their collaboration to support talent development in Vietnam, reaffirming their shared commitment to building future-ready capabilities for the finance and banking sector.
Hanoi  Numerous international news agencies and media outlets covered Vietnams election of deputies to the 16th National Assembly and Peoples Councils at all levels for the 20262031 tenure, describing it as an important political event following the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam and taking place as the country continues to advance its socio-economic development goals in the new stage.

A large number of ethnic minority voters in Gao commune, Gia Lai province, head to polling stations early in the morning. (Photo: VNA)

Media organisations from Southeast Asia, the Middle East, China, Russia, Cuba and Western countries carried reports on the event.

According to an article by Malaysias national news agency Bernama, the election is held as Vietnam continues to promote socio-economic development objectives and refine its policy system for a new development phase.

The article noted that the election is not only an opportunity for nearly 79 million voters nationwide to exercise their electoral rights and responsibilities, thereby selecting outstanding and deserving representatives who will convey their will and aspirations to the National Assembly and Peoples Councils for the new tenure, but also a concrete step in implementing the 14th National Party Congresss Resolution in connection with the Partys personnel work, involving the responsibilities of authorities at all levels and sectors.

The agency emphasised that the event takes place as Vietnams reform process, known as Doi Moi, has achieved great and historically significant achievements across many aspects of social life after four decades. It also highlighted the countrys ongoing efforts to streamline its organisational apparatus to make it more efficient and effective.

Meanwhile, Malaysias The Star also published an article on Vietnams election, which is held every five years to select around 500 deputies to the 16th National Assembly and Peoples Councils at all levels for the 20262031 term. According to the newspaper, the election is an important political event demonstrating the peoples right to mastery in choosing outstanding representatives who will convey their will and aspirations to the bodies of State power.

On the television channel Al Jazeera, images of vibrant banners and Vietnams red flags with yellow stars lining the streets of Hanoi vividly reflected the festive atmosphere of what is described as a national festival. The channel also quoted several voters as expressing expectations that the newly elected National Assembly deputies and Peoples Council members will continue to promote the countrys modernisation process, as Vietnams economy recorded positive growth over the past year and is implementing major reforms under the leadership of Party General Secretary To Lam.

Al Jazeera also cited Party chief To Lam as telling reporters shortly after casting his vote in Hanoi on the morning of March 15 that the election aims to choose the most prestigious people to continue leading the country in its development path.

China's Xinhua News Agency highlighted the organisation, scale and political significance of the election, noting that nearly 79 million voters nationwide are casting ballots to elect about 500 deputies to the 16th National Assembly, while also selecting representatives to Peoples Councils at all levels for the new tenure.

Other international media outlets such as Russias Sputnik, China Central Television (CCTV), Cubas Prensa Latina and several Western news agencies also reported on Vietnams election day. They described it as a major political event in the country and conveyed the message of a national festival, noting that the election features a number of important innovations reflecting improvements in organisational work and implementation methods.
The Vietnam Logistics Business Association (VLA) has conducted a survey of 49 logistics companies in Vietnam from March 3 to 11. The survey reveals that a little over 73 per cent of firms are closely watching the developments in the Middle East. This underscores the increasing vulnerability of Vietnams logistics community to global geopolitical fluctuations. This trend is particularly true after the supply chain disruption during the pandemic. Many companies have begun monitoring potential risks that could disrupt international transportation.

One of the key findings is that just under 90 per cent of companies report moderate to severe impacts on their business operations. In particular, 51 per cent of companies report impact levels of 4 to 5, signalling severe or crisis conditions that require swift policy responses.

The survey indicates that around 39 per cent of companies rate the impact as moderate, mainly reflected in declining profit margins. Close to 35 per cent of companies say the impact is severe, causing operational disruptions and revenue declines.

About 16 per cent of companies assess the situation as extremely serious, posing risks of a crisis or operational disruptions. Meanwhile, 10 per cent report little to no impact from the Middle East tensions, mostly domestic firms not engaged in international shipping routes.

According to industry experts, the Middle East tension can create a rippling effect on the global transportation system, from energy prices, shipping schedules, and insurance premiums, to congestion at transshipment ports.

43 per cent of companies consider the surging freight costs as the greatest challenge. A little over 16 per cent of respondents report prolonged delivery times, while 14 per cent have experienced order cancellations or delays from customers. Businesses also find difficulties in securing shipping space (4 per cent) and higher cargo insurance premiums (2 per cent).

According to the VLA, shipping companies adjusting routes or extending voyages to avoid conflicted areas can disrupt schedules and drive up transportation costs. Simultaneously, surcharges related to war and maritime security risks are added to freight rates. The surge in logistics costs is putting pressure on supply chains, forcing many import and export businesses to adjust shipping plans or delay orders.

To mitigate the impact, logistics companies have proposed several measures, including stabilising the fuel market as well as monitoring and controlling domestic fuel supply and prices to prevent sudden fluctuations that could affect transportation costs.

In addition, businesses have also called for tax and fee support measures, such as reductions in corporate income tax, VAT, and certain sector-specific charges during the challenging period.

Middle East tensions raise energy, logistics and FX risks for Vietnam corporates Escalating conflict in the Middle East is raising concerns about credit risks for Vietnamese businesses as energy and transport costs climb and global financial volatility intensifies.

Middle East conflict raises risks for global coffee market The US-Iran conflict could put pressure on the coffee market through higher production costs, a volatile dollar, skyrocketing fuel prices and growing logistical uncertainty, especially with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the risk of paralysis in the Suez Canal.
On March 11, the Japanese firm held the groundbreaking ceremony for the 167-hectare development in Thanh Hoa province. With an investment of $115.8 million, the park features comprehensive technical infrastructure and targets Japanese and other international investors with production linkages to the Thang Long industrial park system in Vietnam.

Speaking at the ceremony, Kenta Kawanabe, general director of Thang Long Industrial Park Co., Ltd. under Sumitomo Corporation, said, The group started surveying potential locations in Thanh Hoa in May 2022, after studying several sites across Vietnam. We select Thanh Hoa because of its abundant and high-quality workforce, strategic location, convenient transport systems, and strong support from local authorities.

With extensive experience in industrial park development, Sumitomo is committed to implementing the project in Thanh Hoa with high standards of technical infrastructure, services, and investment environment.

Kawanabe said, The groundbreaking of Thang Long Thanh Hoa Industrial Park marks a new step in expanding the Thang Long industrial park system in Vietnam. It also demonstrates Sumitomos long-term commitment to supporting the provincial socioeconomic development.

Mai Xuan Liem, Standing Vice Chairman of Thanh Hoa Peoples Committee, said, The groundbreaking ceremony for the Thang Long Thanh Hoa Industrial Park  Phase 1 is of great significance, reflecting the strong cooperation and further strengthening the comprehensive strategic partnership between Vietnam and Japan.

He added, With the reputation and experience of Sumitomo Group, along with the strong support of provincial authorities, Thang Long Thanh Hoa Industrial Park will quickly take shape as a modern and well-planned industrial park. It is expected to enhance the provinces investment attraction and development in the coming years.

In Vietnam, Sumitomo has invested in industrial parks in Hanoi, Hung Yen, Phu Tho, Thanh Hoa, and Quang Tri. Looking ahead, the corporation plans to develop more parks in southern provinces.

Sumitomo seeks Khanh Hoa backing for LNG and OSW projects Japan-based Sumitomo Corporation is keen on investments in the Van Phong 2 liquefied natural gas (LNG) power plant and other offshore wind (OSW) power ventures in Khanh Hoa province.

Sumitomo scoops up 49 per cent stake in Danang hydropower plants Sumitomo Corporation has acquired a 49 per cent stake in Mekong Electric Power Engineering and Development JSC, which owns the Dak Di 1 and Dak Di 2 run-of-river hydropower ventures in Danang.
Vientiane  Many Vietnamese people in Laos have expressed strong interest in Vietnams election of deputies to the 16th National Assembly (NA) and Peoples Councils at all levels for the 20262031 tenure, highlighting the important role of these bodies in the countrys new development phase.

A voter under treatment at the Ho Chi Minh City Hospital of Dermato-Venereology drops her ballot into a mobile ballot box on March 15. (Photo: VNA)

Nguyen Thi Thu Huyen, Chief of the Office of the Vietnamese People Association in Vientiane, told the Vietnam News Agency said the Vietnamese community in Laos always closely follows the homeland's development and is encouraged by Vietnams steady socio-economic progress and improving living standards.

She noted that following the 14th National Party Congress, the country is entering a new era of prosperous development.

According to Huyen, the NA and Peoples Councils at all levels play a vital role in realising development goals. During the 20212026 tenure, the 15th NA and local People's Councils introduced reforms, adopted important laws and resolutions to perfect the institutional framework, remove development bottlenecks and strengthen supervision over major national issues. Their activities have become increasingly transparent and responsive to voters aspirations.

At the local level, Peoples Councils have further affirmed their position as bodies of the state power at the grassroots level, making key decisions on socio-economic development and social welfare, she went on, expressing her hope that deputies in the new tenure will continue to enhance their sense of responsibility, maintain close contact with voters and contribute to policymaking for fast and sustainable national development.

She stressed the need to improve policies for overseas Vietnamese to enable them to serve as a bridge for international cooperation and national promotion.

Huyen also described strengthening parliamentary diplomacy through active participation in regional and global parliamentary mechanisms like the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) as essential for boosting mutual understanding, building trust, advancing cooperation among countries and addressing shared challenges such as sustainable development, climate change and non-traditional security ones.
The global security landscape is facing a defining challenge. As urban density increases and threats become more complex, the Public Safety Sensors Market has become the essential frontier for real-time situational awareness. Moving beyond the era of "reactive monitoring," the modern municipal and industrial enterprise is demanding proactive, sensor-driven detection. According to the latest strategic data from Evolve Business Intelligence, this market is on a robust trajectory, valued at USD 2.59 Billion in 2025 and projected to reach USD 5.83 Billion by 2036, growing at a CAGR of 7.44%.

For safety and security leaders, this surge represents a transformative opportunity. Navigating a sector defined by the transition from standalone detectors to integrated IoT safety networks requires more than hardware; it requires precision intelligence.

Market Dynamics: The Leaders Dilemma

Market leaders today face a unique set of "innovation-bred" problems. When public safety requires the seamless detection of acoustic, chemical, and radiological threats, the primary challenge is no longer just sensitivity; it is false-alarm reduction and network integration.

The Intelligence Gap: The market share is currently dominated by basic motion and smoke sensors, but the shift toward Acoustic Gunshot Detection and Chemical-Biological Sensors requires sophisticated edge-AI processing, which remains a global deployment bottleneck. Regulatory and Privacy Friction: High-value surveillance sensors face intense scrutiny regarding civil liberties. A leaders ability to demonstrate "privacy-by-design" (such as metadata-only transmission) is now as critical as the sensors technical accuracy. Connectivity Volatility: With the rise of Smart Cities, the transition to 5G-enabled safety grids is a strategic necessity. Ensuring sensor uptime during network congestion or emergency scenarios is a primary hedge against operational failure.

Explore the full dataset and strategic forecast: Public Safety Sensors Market: Trends & Forecast to 2036

Strategic Solutions: The Blueprint for Sustained Dominance

To navigate these challenges, leaders must look beyond standard hardware specs and employ a multi-layered strategic approach. Here is how specialized intelligence services bridge the gap between sensor breakthroughs and actualized revenue.

Deep-Dive Competitive Intelligence: Assessing the LiDAR & Radar Pipeline While PIR sensors provide stable revenue, the real value shift is in 4D Imaging and LiDAR for Public Safety. Deep-Dive Competitive Intelligence allows leaders to monitor competitor investments in "privacy-friendly" tracking that doesn't rely on facial visuals. Granular Research & Custom Insights: Identifying High-Need Verticals Generic data won't help you navigate the nuances between Critical Infrastructure Protection and Event Security. Granular Research identifies specific "pain points"from the radiological detection needs of transit hubs to the acoustic needs of urban high-crime corridors. TAM Expansion Funnel: Finding Growth in Industrial Safety With the market expanding toward $5.83 Billion, the "Total Addressable Market" (TAM) is growing as oil, gas, and mining sectors adopt public-safety-grade environmental sensors. The TAM Expansion Funnel helps leaders identify the "hidden" billions in the private industrial sector. GTM (Go-To-Market) Strategy: Navigating Regional Smart-City Grants Dominating the US market requires a different playbook than penetrating the rapid urban expansion in Asia-Pacific. We craft regionalized GTM Strategies that leverage local public-safety grants and specialized law enforcement distribution networks. Regulatory Due Diligence: Mitigating Post-Market Compliance Risks As new standards for emergency response interoperability (such as FirstNet in the US) reach the market, Regulatory Due Diligence ensures your product roadmap aligns with evolving global mandates, protecting your brand equity. Supply Chain Intelligence: Securing Specialized MEMS Components The transition to miniaturized safety sensors increases vulnerability to MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) shortages. Supply Chain Intelligence maps the global landscape for specialized sensor foundries, ensuring your production remains synchronized.

Regional Outlook: Where the Growth Lives

To truly master the Public Safety Sensors Market, one must understand the geographic nuances highlighted in the research:

North America: The Value Leader . Driven by massive homeland security budgets and a robust pipeline of high-tech safety initiatives, this region remains the primary revenue engine for premium, integrated sensor suites.

The . Driven by massive homeland security budgets and a robust pipeline of high-tech safety initiatives, this region remains the primary revenue engine for premium, integrated sensor suites. Asia-Pacific: The Volume Driver . Driven by the world's largest smart-city projects in China and India, this region is the fastest-growing market for both hardware sensors and large-scale safety monitoring networks.

The . Driven by the world's largest smart-city projects in China and India, this region is the fastest-growing market for both hardware sensors and large-scale safety monitoring networks. Europe: The Center for "Integrated Public Care." Driven by strong public safety initiatives and the "Safe City" framework, the focus here is on multi-modal detection and harmonizing data standards across borders.

The Path to 2036

The transition from simple detection to intelligent, predictive safety ecosystems is the defining urban trend of the decade. For current safety leaders, the path to 2036 is paved with the integration of AI-driven sensor fusion and V2X emergency communication.

By integrating specialized servicesfrom Supply Chain Intelligence to TAM Expansionleaders can ensure they don't just detect a threat, but actively redefine the standard of public safety.

Master the $5.83B Shift

In a market defined by high stakes and regulatory complexity, the difference between leading and lagging is the quality of your strategy.

Don't let technical or geopolitical volatility dictate your growth.

To turn complex sensor data into a clear, actionable roadmap for the next decade, or explore the full dataset, Send us an Enquiry.
A north Wales prostate cancer group has been working with employers to fund PSA testing through fundraising, with members reporting early detection as a result, but a Welsh Government official told the Senedd on Friday that the UK health systems decision not to introduce national screening remains unexplained.

The issue was raised at the final scrutiny session of the Sixth Senedd by Carolyn Thomas MS (Labour, North Wales Region), who said she had met the north Wales group and could not understand why prostate-specific antigen testing was not being made available nationally through the NHS.

They are working with employers to do testing themselves through fundraising, explained Ms Thomas.

Many in that group have had early detection because of that prostate specific antigen testing through their own initiatives.

Theyre asking, and I dont understand, why the UK-wide health system will not roll out PSA testing through the NHS. Could you explain that to me?

Nick Wood, deputy chief executive of NHS Wales, said he could not, but acknowledged the scale of the problem.

I cant explain why the UK health authorities decided not to introduce national screening for prostate, Mr Wood said.

Thats a policy decision that theyve made.

Ms Thomas pressed him on what could be done.

How can we change it? Because its obviously working, through private testing funded by these charities, she said.

Mr Wood drew a distinction between what the north Wales group was doing and a formal NHS screening programme.

Prostate-specific antigen testing is available via GP self-referral, he said, but uptake is low because men tend not to present for it.

I think there needs to be a wider public health message to men, because we know that men are not  Im speaking as one whos not  very good at it, Mr Wood said.

Prostate is the second biggest cancer in the UK. People are not getting tested early enough, they need to be given access, but also choose to take that access as well, he said.

Mr Wood pointed to new womens health hubs introduced this year as the start of a process that should ultimately be extended to address mens health, with prostate cancer a priority.

Ms Thomas also raised breast screening during the session, citing a petition calling for a Welsh Government-led awareness campaign.

She told the committee the current attendance rate stands at 69.1 per cent, and that reaching 80 per cent would produce around 156 additional early cancer diagnoses each year.

No commitment to a specific campaign was given during the session.

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A man from north Wales says he feared he was going to die after spending 44 hours on a corridor at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd before surgeons removed his gallbladder, which had become gangrenous.

Steve Jones, 68, from Deganwy, is one of dozens of patients whose experiences are revealed in an undercover investigation by S4C current affairs programme Y Byd ar Bedwar, broadcast tonight at 8pm.

New figures disclosed in the investigation show almost 89,000 patients were treated in corridors or other non-clinical environments in hospitals run by Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board between 2022 and the end of October 2025.

Mr Jones went to Ysbyty Glan Clwyds emergency department in October 2025 with severe stomach pains and was placed on a corridor after triage.

It was like a warzone, he told Y Byd ar Bedwar. I thought I was going to die, to be honest. It was frightening.

His partner Haf Poole, a former nurse who worked at Wrexham Maelor Hospital until retiring in 2020, stayed with him throughout and challenged a decision to discharge him after two days.

He wasnt safe on the corridor, she told the programme. There were no monitors, no drip stands, nothing really.

After she intervened, Mr Jones was sent for a scan, given a diagnosis and moved to a ward bed overnight before undergoing surgery on his third day in hospital.

[On his third day in hospital, Steve underwent surgery to remove his gallbladder  which had become gangrenous.

Credit: Y Byd ar Bedwar]

Ms Poole said the surgeon told her it was the worst gallbladder he had seen in years.

If Steve had gone home, he would have had sepsis, he would have died, she said.

Mr Jones said: Its definitely shaken me and Id be scared of going back there.

Journalists on the programme also spoke with 40 people who said they had witnessed or experienced corridor care in BCUHB hospitals, and filmed patients receiving treatment in emergency department corridors at both Ysbyty Glan Clwyd and Ysbyty Gwynedd.

The investigation found patients received corridor care for almost ten hours on average at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd last year, the longest average wait among hospitals in north Wales.

The longest individual corridor stay was recorded at Ysbyty Gwynedd in 2024, with one patient spending more than five days on a corridor.

A nurse at Ysbyty Gwynedd, who spoke anonymously to the programme, said treating patients in corridors had become normal.

Its every day. Its daily now. You go to work expecting it, they said.

Im sure things are being missed because theres no way you can get the best care when youre a patient on a corridor.

As an experienced nurse, you sometimes feel guilty that you have to ignore someone because its so busy on the corridor.

All I can say is the staff are genuinely doing their best, they really are trying but its not good enough just to rely on that. Something needs to change.

Dr Phil White, Deputy Chair of the Welsh Council of the British Medical Association, said the situation was dangerous.

Weve been saying for some time as a medical association that this is unacceptable, its dangerous for patients, he said.

There simply arent enough staff to cope with the workload.

[Dozens of patients were filmed receiving care on corridors in the emergency departments at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd and Ysbyty Gwynedd.

Credit: Y Byd ar Bedwar]

He raised concerns about patient monitoring and dignity.

Some of these patients are on drips, maybe antibiotics, and people in those circumstances need to be monitored  which is very difficult for staff, he said.

First of all, theres no privacy when youre receiving treatment like this. You would at least want to be behind curtains but these patients are just on display along the corridor.

Its not fair. Theres no dignity there at all.

In a statement, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board said it recognised that too many patients were waiting too long in emergency departments.

Unfortunately, some patients are cared for in non-designated or corridor spaces, the statement said. We have put in additional clinical oversight to help ensure patient safety however we know this can be a distressing experience for patients, their families and our staff. We are very sorry to anyone who has experienced long waits or received care in these circumstances.

The health board said improving patient experience in its emergency departments was its top priority and that a team of external experts was working within the health board bringing experience from across the UK.

The Welsh Government said corridor care was not acceptable.

We are clear that the delivery of care in undesignated or non-clinical environments is not acceptable. It compromises patient dignity, safety, and staff wellbeing, and we are determined to end this practice through system-wide reform, its statement said.

The Welsh Government said it had placed an experienced intervention team into north Wales to support the health board as part of the level 5 special measures process, and had committed an additional 200 million across Wales for staffing, same-day emergency care and community services, with a further 2.7 million specifically for Betsi Cadwaladr to reduce pressure on emergency departments.

Y Byd ar Bedwar: Gofal ar Goridorau is on S4C tonight at 8pm and is also available on S4C Clic and BBC iPlayer, with English subtitles.

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The British Sign Language (Wales) Bill has passed its final stage in the Senedd, with North Wales MS Mark Isherwood describing Wednesdays vote as a momentous occasion.

Mr Isherwood, who chairs the Senedd Cross Party Group on Deaf Issues, moved the Stage 4 motion for the bill, calling it an absolute privilege to do so.

He said the legislation, once implemented, will firmly place Wales as a leading nation in how BSL policy is designed and delivered for the benefit of the Deaf community.

The bill is the sixth Members Bill to have passed in the Welsh Assembly or Senedd since 1999.

Mr Isherwood told the Senedd the journey had begun in October 2018, when delegates and Deaf community members at the North Wales Lend Me Your Ears Conference called for dedicated British Sign Language legislation in Wales.

In February 2021, the Senedd voted to note his proposal for a bill aimed at promoting the use of BSL and strengthening access to education and public services through the language.

Members endorsed the principle again in late 2022.

In June 2024, the Senedd voted to allow Mr Isherwood to bring the legislation forward following a successful Members Bill Ballot.

Mr Isherwood told Wednesdays debate that BSL is not simply a means of communication for many Deaf people but their first language  the primary way they express themselves, connect with others, and access the services they rely upon.

He said too many Deaf people are still prevented from accessing essential public services because those services are not available in the language they use every day.

This Bill will put in place a framework to help ensure that position changes, he said.

He described the bill as without doubt, the most progressive BSL legislation in the UK.

Mr Isherwood thanked members across the chamber for their support, saying: The importance of the legislation is highlighted by the overwhelming support I have received from Members across the Chamber, and from Government.

The Wales Consortium, a group of organisations representing the Deaf community and British Sign Language sector in Wales, welcomed the vote.

The consortium, whose members include Action Deafness Cymru, the British Deaf Association, the National Deaf Childrens Society Cymru and RNID among others, said the bills passage ensures that the distinct language and culture of BSL signers is recognised.

It said: The Welsh Government is now required to take action to address the long-standing inequalities that our community experiences.

The consortium said BSL signers had had to navigate inaccessible public services every day and had their language needs denied across healthcare, education, transport, and more.

The Bills passing is a critical step in the right direction to address this, the consortium said.

The experience and expectations of Deaf BSL signers can be central to how we improve public services across Wales. We want to have a real say over the decisions that affect our lives.

The consortium credited campaigners across the Deaf community for the bills passage and singled out Mr Isherwood as a tireless advocate for the Deaf community within the Senedd.

The Wales Consortium is co-chaired by Alison Bryan and Dr Rob Wilks, and includes ABSLTA (Association of BSL Teachers and Assessors), Action Deafness Cymru, ASLI, British Deaf Association, COS (The Centre of Sign-Sight-Sound), National Deaf Childrens Society Cymru, NRCPD, RNID, Signature, Talking Hands Deaf Children and Young People, and VLP.

Following the Stage 4 debate, Mr Isherwood joined Deaf community members from across Wales at a celebratory event in Cardiff Bay.

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A charity hero who once drove a JCB from John OGroats to Lands End is launching a month-long Easter gift mission across North Wales.

Esmor Davies, in his eighties, is delivering hundreds of Easter eggs and toys to childrens wards, hospices and charities across the region.

The civil engineer was left stunned after the Wrexham-based Pendine Park care organisation handed over a bumper donation of eggs and cuddly toys to help power his latest kindness campaign.

Esmor, who lives in Buckley, said: I never expected anything like this. It is just cracking!

There are so many eggs I can hardly fit them all in my car. It is so generous of everyone here at Pendine Park to get behind my campaign like this.

Twenty years ago Esmor received a citation from Buckley Town Council for his unstinting devotion to charity work.

Over the last 40 years he has travelled across the world for good causes, from leading food convoys to bombed out communities in Bosnia, delivering aid to tsunami victims in Sri Lanka.

More recently he headed to war-torn Ukraine with items such as tools, jump leads, shovels, clothing, blankets, generators and other pieces of equipment.

Esmor is also known for his annual Christmas fundraising efforts, decking out his giant tractor with vibrant illuminations and playing musical melodies as he delivers gifts to childrens wards at hospitals, hospices, and community charities.

Esmor recently re-dedicated his tractor to his beloved daughter, Christine, who sadly died in 2021, aged 53, after suffering from Rheumatoid Arthritis, so that his future charitable activities would be done in her name.

He said: We have been successfully doing the Christmas gifts run for so long, that this year I figured why not go for Easter as well.

I have redecorated the trailer tractor with Easter themed cuddly rabbits, chicks and other toys, along with Easter eggs and Easter themed games to deliver to local charitable causes over the month leading up to Easter Sunday.

I have been amazed at how many people have got behind me with this, donating chocolate eggs, other sweet treats, and childrens gifts, all of which will be handed out on our journey.

Well be heading to different hospices and hospitals across Denbighshire, Wrexham and Flintshire.

I want to thank everyone who has got behind the idea and supported me with this, including the Pendine Park care organisation.

Pendine Park consultant artist in resident Sarah Edwards said they were keen to help Esmor on his mission.

We first encountered Esmor at Christmas when he brought his tractor along to our care homes in Wrexham, she said.

His visit went down a treat with our residents so when we heard he was going to spread yet more joy over the Easter celebrations, we were happy to support him.

When Pendine Park staff heard about the cause, they gave it an extra boost by bringing in their own additional seasonal gifts to donate to Esmors campaign.

Sarah said: The whole team here at Pendine has been so generous in getting behind Esmors Easter extravaganza. I want to thank them all for helping us provide such a bountiful donation.

Fun-loving Esmor donned a bright yellow Easter chick suit when he turned up at Pendine Parks Bryn Bella residential care home to collect the huge selection of treats.

He joked with residents and promised to make a return visit with his tractor to show them how wonderful it looks when fully decorated in Easter style.

He said: Well sing some songs and have some great laughs to celebrate the start of spring.

It is so wonderful to see the smiles and hear the laughter from young patients in hospital and at childrens hospices when we deliver these gifts, all donated from their local communities.

It is an important way of showing them that no matter what they are going through they are not alone and they are always in our hearts.

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********** VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED ***********

Body cam footage and a 911 call have been released in a shooting that left a man dead in the area of Prater Way and McCarran Boulevard earlier this month.

It happened at the Silver State Plaza on March 12.

In a 911 call, a man later identified as 39-year-old Jedidiah Guerra tells a dispatcher he plans to enter Planet Fitness and kill everyone inside, but says he doesn't want to.

He says he has a gun and tells officers to come and get it.

He says the gun he has is "one that will make you shoot me" and calls himself a "friend of God."

When a negotiator called Guerra, they spoke briefly, with Guerra telling the negotiator that officers would have to kill him before hanging up.

The negotiator tried calling him back 13 times.

When officers arrived, a drone was deployed to find the vehicle, a Chevy S10, that Guerra had identified on the phone with the dispatcher.

Officers also entered Planet Fitness to ensure everyone's safety.

At around 11:54 a.m., officers saw Guerra release a dog from his truck. He then sped south through the parking lot toward police, raising a gun and pointing it at officers.

He sideswiped a marked police vehicle and crashed head-on into an unmarked vehicle.

Gunshots can be heard, as well as an officer yelling, "He's got a gun!"

When shots stop ringing out, an officer can be heard saying, "We got him."

Officers then waited for an armored vehicle to arrive and made calls over a PA system for Guerra to exit his truck.

14 minutes of announcements were made without a response from Guerra, after which officers approached the truck at around 12:13 p.m.

They found Guerra inside, and medical personnel immediately began rendering aid, but he was ultimately pronounced dead at the scene.

MARCH 16 UPDATE:

The Washoe County coroner has identified the suspect killed during a police shooting in Sparks last week.

The coroner says 39-year-old Jedidiah D. Guerra died at the scene from multiple gunshot wounds.

The investigation is ongoing.

ORIGINAL STORY:

A suspect is dead and two officers are in the hospital following a police shooting in Sparks.

It happened at a shopping center near E. Prater Way and N. McCarran Boulevard.

Sparks Police tell us they were called to the shopping center around 11:30 a.m. Thursday after a man said he planned to shoot people inside of a business.

The shooting occurred after officers arrived. The suspect died at the scene; the two officers were taken to the hospital with non life-threatening injuries.

The Washoe County Regional Officer-involved shooting protocol has been enacted. Reno Police and the Washoe County Sheriff's Office is investigating.

This is an active investigation. Anyone with information is encouraged to call Secret Witness at (775) 322-4900 or secretwitness.com.

Previous story

According to Sparks Police a police shooting occurred in the area just after noon.

All lanes of McCarran Boulevard in Sparks are closed between E. Prater Way and Lincoln Way due to heavy police activity in the area.

You're asked to avoid the area. We'll update this story as we learn more.
CATALINA SECURES DISTRICT-SCALE SILVER PORTFOLIO IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA



Catalina Secures District-Scale Silver Portfolio in WA

Perth, Mar 16, 2026 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Catalina Resources Limited ( ASX:CTN ) advised it has entered into a binding option agreement to acquire 100% of Spinifex Silver Pty Ltd, including its exploration licences located in the Eastern Goldfields and Pilbara regions of Western Australia (Figure 1*).



HIGHLIGHTS



- Binding agreement to acquire 100% of Spinifex Silver Pty Ltd, including District-scale silver portfolio covering ~265 km2 across the Fraser North and Nabberu projects



- Fraser North hosts multiple high-grade historical silver intercepts within a mineralised trend extending ~17.5 km, including historical intercepts up to 4m @ 816.5 g/t Ag from 8m



- Fraser North is located within the Albany-Fraser Orogen, host to major deposits including Nova-Bollinger



- Nabberu Project located in the Earaheedy Basin, prospective for SEDEX-style silver mineralisation within the Frere Formation



- Low-cost acquisition structure preserving capital while adding meaningful optionality to portfolio which includes Central-Yilgarn which recently returned 48m @ 2.61g/t Gold at the Chicken Little prospect



The proposed acquisition follows a period of strong operational and corporate progress for Catalina, with the Company advancing exploration across multiple projects while repositioning its portfolio to focus on scalable gold, copper and silver systems in Western Australia. Over the past four months Catalina has:



- Completed a Central Yilgarn drilling campaign, with the first batch of assays from the Chicken Little Prospect returning 48m @ 2.61 g/t Au from 15m, with additional assay results pending



- Executed an asset swap with Forrestania Resources, resulting in the acquisition of the Breakaway Dam Project, a confirmed VMS copper system where drilling is currently underway



- Reinterpreted the Beasley Creek Project as a Cu-Au VMS-style system, expanding the Company's copper exploration pipeline



- Secured the Aerosmith Project, adding a further prospective VMS copper target to the portfolio



- Acquired Auric North Pty Ltd, establishing a second district-scale gold exploration platform in Western Australia's Mid-West with multiple drill-ready targets and historical gold intercepts including 10m @ 1.43 g/t Au



- Strengthened the Company's balance sheet through a strategic placement with Newcam Minerals and the disposal of the NBR project



Executive Director, Ross Cotton, commented:



"Over the past four months Catalina has made significant progress advancing and reshaping its exploration portfolio. We have completed a major drilling campaign at Central Yilgarn, delivered a strong initial result from the Chicken Little Prospect of 48m @ 2.61 g/t Au from 15m, secured the Breakaway Dam VMS copper project where drilling is now underway, and expanded our exposure to copper through the Beasley Creek reinterpretation and the acquisition of the Aerosmith Project.



We have also added a second district-scale gold exploration platform through the acquisition of Auric North, while strengthening the Company's balance sheet through corporate initiatives including the Newcam placements and the disposal of the NBR project in Tasmania adding approximately $1.73M AUD to the Company's cash balance.



The acquisition of Spinifex Silver represents the next step in this strategy, adding district-scale silver exposure alongside our gold and copper projects. With drilling underway at Breakaway Dam, further assay results pending from the Central Yilgarn program and multiple exploration programs advancing across the portfolio, Catalina is entering a period of sustained exploration activity and news flow across several projects."



Transaction Summary



Under the binding agreement Catalina has agreed to acquire 100% of Spinifex Silver Pty Ltd. Key terms include:



- Consideration payable will comprise an immediate issue to the vendors or nominees of $250,000 fully paid ordinary shares in the Company on a 5-day VWAP.



- Standard conditions precedent including due diligence and regulatory approvals.



Catalina considers the overall structure to be cost-effective relative to the size, location and geological setting of the portfolio, while preserving capital.



Project Significance



The Spinifex Silver Project provides Catalina with exposure to a district-scale silver exploration opportunity within Western Australia. The portfolio comprises two project areas covering approximately 265 km2 and includes the Fraser North Project, where historical drilling has confirmed shallow high-grade silver mineralisation along a 17.5 km trend.



The Fraser North Project is located within the Albany-Fraser Orogen, a highly prospective geological province that hosts several significant mineral deposits, including the Nova-Bollinger Ni-Cu deposit.



Historical exploration has identified multiple high-grade silver intercepts, highlighting the potential for the project to host a larger mineralised system.



The Nabberu Project is located within the Earaheedy Basin and is prospective for SEDEX-style silver mineralisation hosted within the Frere Formation, the same stratigraphic package that hosts the Earaheedy Zn-Pb-Ag deposit. The project remains largely underexplored, with significant strike extent yet to be systematically tested.



Together, the projects provide Catalina with exposure to both high-grade silver mineralisation and large-scale basin-hosted silver systems within emerging exploration provinces of Western Australia.



Project Overview



Fraser North Project



The Fraser North Project is located approximately 300 km east of Kalgoorlie within the Albany-Fraser Orogen, a highly prospective geological province that hosts several significant mineral deposits including the Nova-Bollinger Ni-Cu deposit.



Historical exploration within the project area has been undertaken by several explorers including AngloGold Ashanti Ltd ( ASX:ANG ) and IGO Limited ( ASX:IGO ), comprising airborne geophysical surveys and aircore drilling programs.



Drilling reported in Western Australian Mineral Exploration (WAMEX) Reports A102032, A114806 and A116740 identified zones of elevated silver mineralisation within the Fraser North project area, including intersections such as:



- 4.0m @ 816.5 g/t Ag and 0.2% Co from 8m (VPA021)

- 1.0m @ 319 g/t Ag from 16m (17AFAC30049)

- 4.0m @ 48.2 g/t Ag and 0.2% Co from 14m(17AFAC30054)

- 4.0m @ 40.9 g/t Ag and 0.2% Co from 10m (17AFAC30068)

- 4.0m @ 51.1 g/t Ag and 0.2% Co from 36m (VPA103)

- 2.0m @ 32.1 g/t Ag and 0.2% Co from 9m (VPA075)



These historical results define a mineralised silver trend extending approximately 17.5 km, highlighting the potential for the project to host a significant silver-bearing mineralised system.



The presence of shallow high-grade silver mineralisation combined with the large strike extent provides multiple opportunities for follow-up drilling and target generation.



Nabberu Project



The Nabberu Project is located approximately 230 km northeast of Wiluna within the Earaheedy Basin, an emerging exploration province prospective for sediment-hosted base metal and silver mineralisation.



The project lies within the Frere Formation, the same stratigraphic unit that hosts the Earaheedy Zn-Pb-Ag deposit discovered by Rumble Resources. Mineralisation within this basin is interpreted to be consistent with SEDEX-style (Sedimentary Exhalative) systems, where metals are deposited from hydrothermal fluids into sedimentary basins. Historical drilling undertaken by Goldstone Resources Limited ( ASX:GRL ) intersected anomalous silver mineralisation at Nabberu, including:



- 5.6m @ 14.8 g/t Ag from 60.6 m including 1.2m @ 41.6 g/t Ag (ZK1401)

- 1.0m @ 9.4g/t Ag from 82.5m (ZK1401)



These results are reported in WAMEX Report A106375.



Structural deformation within the Stanley Fold Belt provides potential fluid pathways and traps for mineralising systems, with approximately 18 km of prospective strike remaining largely untested.



*To view tables and figures, please visit:

https://abnnewswire.net/lnk/BQI68988





About Catalina Resources Ltd





Catalina Resources Ltd (ASX:CTN) is a mineral exploration company focused on discovering and advancing gold and multi-commodity projects in tier-one jurisdictions. Backed by a technically experienced team with deep industry knowledge, Catalina is committed to creating value through focused exploration across highly prospective and underexplored regions in Western Australia.

The company's core assets are located in the Central Yilgarn and Laverton regions, two of the most historically productive and geologically endowed gold provinces in the country. Both projects have demonstrated the potential to host significant mineralisation, with early-stage drilling already delivering promising results.

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Jack Harlow explains his conscious shift from rap to R&B, calling it a move that made him "get blacker" and deepened his connection to Black music.

AceShowbiz - Jack Harlow recently discussed his artistic shift during an appearance on The New York Times podcast Popcast, where he revealed that he "got blacker" by transitioning from rap to rhythm and blues music.

The rapper behind the track "Lovin On Me" explained that his move into R&B was a conscious decision that deepened his connection to Black music and its sound. He acknowledged the cultural significance and expressed his admiration for the genre's roots.

During the conversation, podcast hosts contrasted Jack Harlow's choice with that of some white artists who often move away from rap toward more traditionally white music styles. Harlow said he is "hyper aware of the politics of today" and understands why many of his white peers have sought a "safer landing spot" outside of rap.

However, Jack Harlow emphasized that going against this trend made his desire to explore R&B even stronger. He stressed that his decision was driven by genuine creative intent rather than external pressures.

The new album titled Monica marks Harlow's official foray into R&B, reflecting both his personal growth and artistic evolution. His comments reveal a thoughtful engagement with genre and identity as he crafts his music moving forward.
Ballerina Farm's Hannah Neeleman announces her ninth pregnancy, linking a ballerina's strength to the resilience of motherhood and homesteading life.

AceShowbiz - Hannah Neeleman, the influencer and homesteader behind Ballerina Farm, recently revealed she is expecting her ninth child with husband Daniel Neeleman. The announcement came through an Instagram post on Wednesday, February 25, paired with a promotion for Ballerina Farms Farmer Protein Powder.

In the accompanying video, Hannah reflects on her past career as a ballerina, highlighting the qualities often overlooked in the art form. As a ballerina, you are associated with many things: elegance, grace, poise, she says in a voiceover while displaying her baby bump. She emphasizes strength as a key attribute, explaining that beneath the stages beauty lies discipline, sweat, and resilience. That strength never leaves you. It prepares you, she adds.

The video closes with Hannah standing on the porch of their Utah home, her hand resting on her pregnant belly. The caption underscores the parallels between ballet and farming routines: Their routines make strength easy to see: practice, repetition, balance, and care. The same things many of us rely on every day, just expressed differently. Farmer Protein was made to support that kind of strength.

Hannah and Daniel Neeleman are already parents to eight children. They recently welcomed their eighth child, daughter Flora Jo, in January 2024. Remarkably, just days after Floras birth, Hannah competed in the Mrs. World pageant, where she earned the title of Mrs. American in 2023.

Educated at Juilliard, Hannah has drawn public attention over the years for her traditional wife or trad wife lifestyle, a characterization she doesnt fully embrace. In an interview with The Sunday Times in 2024, she explained, Because we are traditional in the sense that its a man and a woman, we have children, but I do feel like were paving a lot of paths that havent been paved before.

Social media users have often labeled Hannah and fellow influencer Nara Smith as trad wives, much to their annoyance. The two families recently spent time together on Ballerina Farm, with Hannah sharing moments of their visit on Instagram. Nara Smith, 22, visited with her family from out of state, bringing her three children to meet the Neelemans in Utah.

While Hannah is a stay-at-home mother, she contributes significantly to the farms operations alongside Daniel. She clarified that the traditional woman label is something she hesitates to accept fully. When asked about household roles, Daniel described their partnership as equal, calling themselves co-CEOs. Hannah agreed, stating, Yeah. We are.

Regarding feminism, Hannah expressed uncertainty about what the term means today. She admitted to feeling judged for the choices she and Daniel make. We try so hard to be neutral and be ourselves and people will put a label on everything. This is just our normal life, she said.

Hannah highlighted her husbands ability to ignore outside criticism. She noted, Daniel is so good about that. He says you cant lean into what people are saying or the titles people are putting on you. You just have to live your life and shut that out, because if not it will overtake you.

This announcement of Hannahs ninth pregnancy further cements her unique blend of motherhood, entrepreneurship, and public life. Her journey continues to attract attention for how she balances traditional family values with modern business and social media influence, all while preparing to welcome another child to the growing Neeleman family.
First trailer for HBO's Lanterns drops tomorrow. See new shots of Hal Jordan & John Stewart in a gritty, western-inspired series.

AceShowbiz - HBO has announced that the first official trailer for Lanterns will premiere online tomorrow, accompanied by a brief teaser showcasing fresh shots of Hal Jordan and John Stewart.

The teaser introduces viewers to the series leads, John Stewart, played by Aaron Pierre, and Hal Jordan, portrayed by Kyle Chandler. While it remains unclear whether this teaser includes footage previously seen at HBO Maxs Upfront event in Sao Paulo last year, fans have already begun dissecting the new material.

According to a description from Omellete.com, the brief teaser features a flying sequence with Hal Jordan but does not reveal the characters wearing their iconic Green Lantern costumes. The aesthetic of the teaser is described as a western vibe, fitting for the series predominantly rural USA setting. The color palette leans heavily on brownish tones, reflected in both the environment and the characters costumes.

Within the teaser, there is a moment of tension between the two heroes, with John Stewart asserting that he is better at saving people than Hal Jordan. The footage also hints at a Green Lantern squirrel character, likely Chp from the comics, adding a subtle nod to longtime fans. The teaser suggests that the two have been working together for some time, with Hal Jordan acting as a mentor or substitute teacher to John Stewart.

Speculation had circulated that the Lanterns series, known for its more grounded approach to the Green Lantern mythos, might avoid featuring the traditional Green Lantern costumes. However, an updated breakdown from Argentinian journalist Matias Lertora indicated that both Jordan and Stewart will indeed don their suits in the series. Lertora noted seeing the costumes in two separate shots and described them as faithful to a particular comic book design, though he refrained from revealing further details.

Interestingly, Lertora also mentioned an element in the teaser that could spark controversy due to a potential contradiction with the broader DC Universe (DCU) continuity, though specifics were not disclosed.

HBO and James Gunn, who is involved with the project, have been actively promoting the teaser. Gunn tweeted, "Their legacies continue," highlighting the importance of these characters within the DCU.

Additionally, there has been an early leak of the full teaser online, though its availability is uncertain. Fans eager to catch a glimpse before the official release may find it circulating briefly on various platforms.

The series is helmed by showrunner Chris Mundy, with James Hawesknown for directing episodes of Slow Horses, Penny Dreadful, The Mist, and Snowpiercerdirecting the first two episodes. The creative team also includes Damon Lindelof, the Emmy Award-winning creator behind Lost and Watchmen, as well as comic book writer Tom King. Other key contributors include Justin Britt-Gibson, Breannah Gibson, and Vanessa Baden Kelly.

Lanterns centers on new recruit John Stewart and Lantern legend Hal Jordan, two intergalactic law enforcement officers who become embroiled in a dark, earthbound mystery while investigating a murder in the American heartland. The story focuses on their partnership and the challenges they face within a terrestrial setting rather than the cosmic scale usually associated with Green Lantern tales.

Supporting the main cast is Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner, another Green Lantern with a notable presence in the comics. His role is described as a supporting character within the series.

When the project was initially announced, James Gunn described it as, "a story of a couple of Green Lanterns, John Stewart and Hal Jordan. We have a few other Lanterns peppered in there but this is really a terrestrial based TV show which is almost like True Detective with a couple of Green Lanterns who are space cops watching over Precinct Earth." He added that the duo uncover a terrifying mystery that ties into the larger DCU narrative.

As anticipation builds ahead of the full trailer release, fans of the DC Universe and Green Lantern mythology are keen to see how this grounded, detective-style approach will reshape iconic heroes Hal Jordan and John Stewart for the small screen.
DC's 2027: James Gunn's Superman sequel & Matt Reeves' Batman return. No crossover, but two iconic heroes headline a blockbuster year.

AceShowbiz - Production timelines for Man of Tomorrow and The Batman Part II have officially been disclosed, revealing a busy 2027 ahead for DC Studios. Despite both movies focusing on iconic superheroes, fans should not expect a crossover between Superman and Batman anytime soon.

The year 2027 will see back-to-back releases featuring two of DCs most beloved characters. James Gunn is set to write and direct Man of Tomorrow, an unconventional follow-up to the 2025 Superman film that uniquely positions Lex Luthor as a co-lead character.

Meanwhile, Matt Reeves returns to helm The Batman Part II, a sequel that will arrive five years after the first installment. While the HBO series The Penguin offers some narrative continuity, this sequel remains separate from the broader DC Universe (DCU), much like the show.

With the status of DC Studios The Brave and the Bold uncertain and progressing slowly, The Batman Part II will serve as the primary Batman feature for fans in the near future. Freed from the restrictions of a shared universe, Reeves has the creative freedom to pursue his vision for the Dark Knight.

According to Page Six, filming for these major projects is on the horizon. Sources revealed that Man of Tomorrow will begin production on April 17 in Atlanta. Shortly after, the next Minecraft sequel is scheduled to start on May 1 in New Zealand. Following these, the Robert Pattinson-led The Batman Part II will commence shooting on May 29 in London.

This overlap in production scheduleswith two high-profile superhero films shooting simultaneouslyhas left some DC fans disappointed about the lack of a shared storyline or crossover event. Previously, rumors suggested that James Gunn might develop a Worlds Finest movie teaming up Superman and Batman, but he has instead chosen to focus on Supermans alliance with his nemesis, Lex Luthor, in Man of Tomorrow.

The cast for Man of Tomorrow is headlined by David Corenswet as Clark Kent/Superman, Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, and Rachel Brosnahan portraying Lois Lane. Other notable cast members include Isabela Merced as Kendra Saunders/Hawkgirl, Frank Grillo as Rick Flag Sr., and Lars Eidinger as the main antagonist, Brainiac. Rumors also suggest appearances from Aaron Pierre as John Stewart/Green Lantern and John Cena as Peacemaker. The movie is slated for a July 9, 2027 theatrical release.

The Batman Part II is directed by Matt Reeves, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mattson Tomlin. The film stars Robert Pattinson reprising his role as the Caped Crusader, alongside Scarlett Johansson, Colin Farrell, Andy Serkis, and Jeffrey Wright. Fans can expect this sequel to hit theaters on October 1, 2027.

As Warner Bros. plans these large-scale productions, DC Studios appears committed to delivering major superhero experiences, even if the anticipated crossover between Superman and Batman remains off the table for now. Both films will offer distinct narratives and new directions for their respective heroes, marking an exciting period for DC fans.
Moby revisits his 1999 dating claim about Natalie Portman, who denied it as inappropriate. The years-long dispute explained.

AceShowbiz - Moby has opened up about the long-standing disagreement between himself and Natalie Portman regarding their past interactions in 1999. The controversy stems from his 2019 memoir Then It Fell Apart, where he claimed to have briefly dated the actress when he was 33 and she was 18. Portman strongly denied this, describing their connection very differently.

In the memoir, Moby described a short-lived relationship, but Natalie Portman publicly refuted this version soon after. In a 2019 interview with Harpers Bazaar UK, she said she was surprised by his claim, recalling instead that he acted in a way that felt inappropriate due to their age difference. She stated that their acquaintance began after one of his concerts, where he proposed they could be friends. Portman emphasized that they only spent a few occasions together before she distanced herself because she felt uncomfortable with his advances.

Reflecting on the situation in a February 2024 interview with The Times, Moby admitted, "It's hard for me to make sense of it." When asked if their dispute had become a "sour episode between two people who seem decent," he responded that he did not disagree with that characterization, demonstrating a more tempered perspective than in the past.

Following Portmans denial, Moby publicly apologized via Instagram. He acknowledged that including her in his memoir without prior notice was inconsiderate and that he failed to respect her reaction. He expressed admiration for her intelligence, creativity, and activism, and regretted any distress caused to her or her family.

He also addressed their 14-year age gap, admitting that he should have behaved more responsibly and respectfully when they first met nearly 20 years earlier. Despite these acknowledgments, Moby maintained in a 2021 interview with The Guardian that he would not describe his behavior as "creepy," though he conceded he was an out-of-control alcoholic and drug addict at the time, which contributed to selfish and inconsiderate actions.
James Blake returns to London, promoting his introspective new album 'Trying Times'a confident blend of his signature sound and stripped-back instrumentat...

AceShowbiz - James Blake has returned to London with his longtime partner Jameela Jamil after spending 11 years in Los Angeles. Now 37, Blake is renowned as one of the music industry's most influential yet understated talents, having collaborated with a diverse range of artists from Beyonce to Bon Iver. Currently, he is in New York promoting his latest album, Trying Times, which marks a confident new chapter in his career and offers a deeply introspective take on the turbulent world we live in.

The sound of Trying Times is a seamless blend of the styles that have defined Blakes work over the years. It moves fluidly from the moody, expansive ballads reminiscent of his 2013 breakthrough album Overgrown to the more experimental ambient textures found on 2023s Playing Robots Into Heaven. Yet, this new album carries a distinct tonemore stripped back and rooted in traditional instrumentation than much of his previous work.

Throughout his career, Blakes harmonic vocals have had a unique pull, capable of adding emotional depth to any musical context. His collaborations span genres including hip-hop, R&B, and alternative music. Despite his prolific collaborative output, he notes that many recorded sessions remain unreleased, underscoring his focus on quality over accolades. I dont think of it like landing a track with someone, he says. I just care about the music if its good.

Trying Times is Blakes seventh studio album and his first to be released independently through his own label, Good Boy Records. The album is a bold assertion of his artistic independence. It features a notable collaboration with UK rap heavyweight Dave, whose vibrant flow on the track Doesnt Just Happen highlights the ongoing momentum of British rap. The albums lead single, Death of Love, channels the smooth melodic groove of 1980s pop, yet its lyrical content sharply contrasts the nostalgia of its sound.

Interestingly, the electronic elements that once defined much of Blakes music are more subtle here. He explains that the current music production landscape is heavily automated, making the act of picking up a guitar feel almost rebellious. This shift towards more traditional instruments is a conscious reaction to the overwhelming digitization of music production.

Asked about the process behind Trying Times, Blake reveals that the album took several years to complete, with some tracks originating during the pandemic. The core creative team was small and intimate, described as his chosen musical family, including Jameela Jamil, Don Maker, Bob Mackenzie, and Josh Smith. This group has been a consistent presence in his work, helping him channel his personal worldview into his music.

The albums title, Trying Times, is an intentional understatement, reflecting the severity of current global challenges. Blake shares that in England, the phrase trying times can be used to describe truly difficult situations, making it a subtle yet poignant choice. He believes listeners will recognize the weight behind the phrase when they experience the album.

One of the most striking songs on the album is Death of Love, which Blake clarifies is not a breakup song despite its title and tone. Instead, it addresses the erosion of empathy in online discourse. He discusses how the desire for visibility often blocks genuine understanding between people, exacerbated by algorithm-driven content that prioritizes anger and outrage. Referencing leaked corporate emails, Blake explains how companies intentionally stoke anger for engagement, raising questions about the authenticity of much of what is seen online. Death of Love captures this complex and troubling dynamic, though Blake admits he has no definitive answers.

Stylistically, Trying Times marks a shift back toward acoustic and traditional sounds. While his previous album embraced modular synths and electronic experimentation, this record features more guitar and piano. Blake notes that his reputation as an electronic musician is partly due to his voice manipulation techniques, which have made his vocals sound otherworldly. However, he observes that many modern productions have become similarly artificial, making the raw sound of a guitar or piano feel fresh and even rebellious.

Explaining his production techniques, Blake contrasts the unpredictable nature of modular synths with the deliberate sequencing used on tracks like Rest of Your Life. This song features a 90s rave-style piano arpeggiation created using a generative sequencer called the Torso T1. The device allows for input of many parameters, creating controlled yet spontaneous results. Remarkably, some of these parts were composed during a plane flight, showcasing Blakes improvisational approach.

Improvisation is central to Blakes creative process. He often experiments with various gear and sequencers, spending hours testing different equipment to find new sounds. Despite not selling much of his gear, he enjoys the freedom to explore and innovate, though much of it ends up stored away in his hellish hoarding storage unit, which he is currently working to clear out.

Jameela Jamil plays a crucial role beyond being Blakes partner in life. She is also deeply involved in his music as an executive producer and co-producer on the album. Her contribution includes arranging, referencing, and helping to unlock creative challenges during the songwriting process. Blake credits her with having a unique ability to bring songs to their fullest potential, a partnership that has been vital since their work together on his earlier album The Colour in Anything.

Looking ahead, Blake has been collaborating with rising talent Lola Young, whom he describes as having an extraordinary voice. Their partnership began through Blake reaching out to her directly, impressed by her vocal qualities. He challenges the idea that a voice is simply innate, emphasizing that it is a craft to be developed and refined, a philosophy that aligns with his own meticulous approach to music.

In sum, Trying Times represents a mature, reflective phase in James Blakes career. It embraces vulnerability and complexity, offering listeners a nuanced perspective on contemporary life through both lyrical content and sonic choices. By stepping away from fully electronic production and emphasizing organic instrumentation, Blake asserts his artistic independence and creative integrity in a music landscape often dominated by automation.

This album, supported by a tight-knit creative team and enriched by meaningful collaborations, underscores Blakes continued relevance and evolution as an artist unafraid to confront the chaos of our era with honesty and innovation.
BTS's new album ARIRANG honors Korean history. Discover the animated teaser linking 1896's first "Arirang" recording to their musical legacy.

AceShowbiz - BTS is paying tribute to Koreas cultural history with its upcoming album ARIRANG, highlighted by a newly released animated teaser that draws a powerful connection between past and present musical legacies.

The animation, unveiled on March 12, takes inspiration from a historical account published in The Washington Post on May 8, 1896, titled Seven Koreans at Howard. It tells the story of seven young Korean men who journeyed to the United States and made some of the first known audio recordings of Korean voices in Washington, D.C., including the earliest recording of the traditional folk song Arirang.

The video begins with a message explaining its historical roots while clarifying that the depiction is a creative interpretation rather than a strict retelling of events. It then illustrates the seven men arriving in America, joyfully performing outside Howard University for an eager audience. The narrative then fast-forwards 117 years to 2013, when BTS takes the stage, performing to thousands of enthusiastic fans. This juxtaposition highlights how the bands global success mirrors the pioneering efforts of the musicians from 1896 in introducing Korean music to the Western world.

The teasers soundtrack shifts from a reflective piano melody to an upbeat EDM rhythm, potentially offering a preview of the sound on the forthcoming album. Text displayed at the bottom of the screen reads, Every story begins with a song. When the world feels heavy, when your heart feels light, what is your love song? This poignant question invites reflection on musics emotional resonance and cultural significance.

Released just one week ahead of the March 20 launch date for ARIRANG, the teaser is part of a larger campaign celebrating Korean identity. On the same day, BTS revealed the albums cover art, featuring members RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V, and Jungkook dressed sharply in tailored suits, exuding a businesslike and contemplative aura.

Since announcing the albums title in January, the group has expressed an intention to honor their roots. The traditional song Arirang holds deep cultural meaning in Korea, often associated with themes of connection, separation, and reunion. This legacy informs the albums concept, which BTS describes as a deeply reflective body of work exploring their identity and heritage.

ARIRANG contains 14 tracks that promise to delve into these themes, and the teasers blend of historical narrative with modern performance underscores the bands role in continuing the cultural dialogue across generations. Fans and observers are eagerly anticipating the full release, which aims to deepen the understanding of Korean culture through music.

Watch the animated ARIRANG teaser to experience this evocative tribute firsthand as BTS bridges past and present with artistry and respect.
Brooklyn Beckham and Nicola Peltz present a united front at the Elton John Oscars party, showcasing solidarity amid family tensions.

AceShowbiz - Brooklyn Beckham and Nicola Peltz appeared to set aside recent family tensions as they enjoyed a rare date night at the 2026 Oscars. The couple attended the 34th annual Academy Awards viewing party hosted by Elton John AIDS Foundation on March 15 in West Hollywood, California, showcasing their solidarity in the face of ongoing family challenges.

The pair arrived on the red carpet in coordinated black outfits, capturing attention with their elegant yet understated style. Nicola Peltz, 31, wore a striking black one-shoulder gown featuring delicate lace and subtle cutouts, while Brooklyn Beckham, 27, opted for a classic black suit, complementing her look perfectly. Their appearance marked a rare public outing together as they maintained a united front amid personal difficulties.

Despite their poised red carpet moment, recent months have been turbulent for the couple, particularly due to a highly publicized rift between Brooklyn Beckham and his parents, David Beckham and Victoria Beckham. The conflict first came to light in January when Brooklyn made a social media statement accusing his parents of trying to undermine his relationship with Nicola Peltz.

In his January 19 post, Brooklyn Beckham revealed he had kept silent for years but felt compelled to speak out after his parents and their team continued to engage with the press. He stated that he was standing up for himself for the first time and expressed that he did not wish to reconcile with his family. His allegations included claims that his parents controlled the family narrative in the media and behaved inappropriately during his wedding to Nicola in 2022.

Among the more controversial accusations, Brooklyn said that his mother danced in a manner he found inappropriate at their wedding ceremony. He also alleged that his parents had been actively trying to damage his relationship with Nicola Peltz since before their marriage and that these efforts had persisted.

While David and Victoria Beckham have remained mostly silent in response to these claims, they publicly wished Brooklyn a happy birthday in early March through an Instagram Story. The message included a nostalgic photo and expressed their love, but it did not indicate any resolution of the underlying family issues.

Interestingly, just hours before attending the Oscars event with Nicola, Brooklyn Beckham posted a birthday tribute to his mother-in-law, Claudia Heffner Peltz, on his Instagram Stories. The tribute, posted on March 14, celebrated Claudias birthday, which had been two days earlier, with heartfelt wishes and affection. This gesture appeared to contrast with the ongoing tension between Brooklyn and his own parents.

Beyond their personal drama, Brooklyn Beckham and Nicola Peltz were among several couples who used the Oscars night as a special occasion for date night. The star-studded event featured many notable pairs arriving in stunning attire, making it one of the most memorable evenings of the year in Hollywood.

Some other couples who captivated attention on the Oscars red carpet included Rose Byrne and Bobby Cannavale, with Rose wearing Christian Dior, as well as Zinzi Coogler and Ryan Coogler in custom Louis Vuitton designs. Sandra Delgado and Wagner Moura also made an impression, with Wagner dressed in custom Zegna.

Additional notable pairs gracing the occasion were Cary Elwes and Lisa Marie Kubikoff, Spike Lee and Tonya Lewis Lee, and Tash Moseley alongside Wunmi Mosaku, who wore custom Louis Vuitton. Veteran actors Ed Harris and Amy Madigan also attended, with Amy in Dior, while Molly Sims and Scott Stuber shared the spotlight as well.

The event further included appearances by Ben Falcone and Melissa McCarthy, Jimmy Kimmel and Molly McNearney, Ethan Hawke with Ryan Hawke, and Kirsten Dunst alongside Jesse Plemons. Rising stars Paul Mescal and Gracie Abrams, Alba Baptista with Chris Evans, and Usher paired with Jennifer Goicoechea were also part of the glamorous lineup.

Other couples who made the night special included Kelly Ripa with Mark Consuelos, Josh Dallas alongside Ginnifer Goodwin, Priyanka Chopra with Nick Jonas, Liza Powel O'Brien and Conan O'Brien, Stephanie Allynne with Tig Notaro, Emily V. Gordon paired with Kumail Nanjiani, and Natalie McQueen accompanied by Josh Groban.

The Oscars 2026 night proved to be much more than just a celebration of cinematic achievements; it was also a moment for couples to enjoy the spotlight together, showing support and affection amid the glitz and glamour. For Brooklyn Beckham and Nicola Peltz, it was a chance to focus on each other despite ongoing family struggles, highlighting their commitment in a highly publicized chapter of their lives.

As the evening unfolded with unforgettable fashion and star-studded appearances, the tension surrounding the Beckham family remained an undercurrent  yet the couples shared appearance suggested they are navigating their challenges united. The Oscars 2026 red carpet served as a reminder that, even amid personal difficulties, moments of joy and connection can still shine brightly.
Writers Guild Awards ceremony canceled due to staff strike. WGAW respects picket lines, postpones event. Alternative celebration planned for nominees.

AceShowbiz - The annual Writers Guild Awards ceremony has been cancelled by the Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) due to an ongoing strike involving 115 of its staff members. After months of unsuccessful contract negotiations between the Writers Guild Staff Union (WGSU) and WGAW management, union president Michele Mulroney informed all nominees and presenters that the traditional March 8 event at the JW Marriott Hotel in Los Angeles will not proceed as planned.

In a memo released Sunday morning, Mulroney explained the decision, citing the strike by the non-supervisory staff represented by the Pacific Northwest Staff Union (PNWSU). She emphasized the guilds respect for the staffers' right to strike but also expressed a desire to avoid forcing nominees, guests, and talent to cross picket lines. An alternative celebration for the Los Angeles winners and nominees will be arranged at a later date.

Earlier this week, the WGSU publicly shared on Instagram that the guild had declined to continue bargaining over its first union contract and warned that the awards ceremony would be canceled if the union did not accept the previous contract offer by Friday. The union accused WGAW management of attempting to create division between union staff and writers during a critical period of studio negotiations.

"Make no mistake: This is an attempt by WGAW management to drive a wedge between union staff and WGA membership when we should be building unity ahead of (studio negotiations)," the WGSU wrote in their Instagram statement.

Responding to the cancellation, the WGSU expressed sadness, calling the Writers Guild Awards a source of pride for those involved in producing the event annually. They urged the guilds management to return to the negotiating table and bargain in good faith to prevent further disruptions affecting guild members.

The strike began on February 17 after the 115 staffers, who unionized with the PNWSU in April 2025, accused WGAW of engaging in surface-level bargaining and unfair labor practices. They filed a formal complaint with the National Labor Relations Board concerning these allegations. The staffers seek protections against intrusive use of artificial intelligence to monitor employees, as well as standardized just cause protections, including due process rights through arbitration.

Another key issue in the contract negotiations is wage scale. The staffers are advocating for union scale wages with larger annual increases than those negotiated for writers in Hollywood studio contracts. The WGSU argues this is necessary because staff members lack agents to negotiate over-scale pay on their behalf.

Support for the strike has been visible among WGA members, with dozens joining the WGSU picket lines at the WGAW headquarters on Fairfax. Estimates put the total number of picketers from both groups at around 120. Jacky Penn, vice chair of the WGAW Committee for Black Writers, noted the strong bonds formed during the 2023 writers' strike, crediting staffers for their dedication throughout the previous work stoppage.

"We would not have survived the 2023 strike without the staffers. They were the first to show up on the picket lines before any writers showed up and they were the last to leave at the end of the day," Penn said.

Meanwhile, the Writers Guild of America East will continue with its own awards ceremony in New York, where winners will be announced as planned. The WGA East, which operates independently from WGA West except for key joint studio contract negotiations, maintains a longstanding union contract with its staffers and is not affected by any strike action. This years East Coast nominees include notable names such as Paul Thomas Anderson for One Battle After Another, Ryan Coogler for Sinners, Chloe Zhao for Hamnet, and Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie for Marty Supreme.

In television categories, nominees include writers from The Pitt, Andor, The Studio, and Pluribus.

Looking ahead, the WGA is scheduled to begin contract negotiations with studios represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on March 16. While the WGAW has assured members that the WGSU strike will not directly impact these talks, it has canceled membership meetings intended to gather input for the guild's negotiating committee due to the ongoing work stoppage.
Jennifer Garner & Ben Affleck reunite for son Samuel's 14th birthday paintball outing. See photos and details on their co-parenting focus.

AceShowbiz - Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck reunited to celebrate their son Samuels 14th birthday with a family outing at Combat Paintball Park in Castaic, California. The pair were photographed together on Saturday afternoon, carrying paintball gear as they prepared for the days activities.

The couple, who married in 2005 and separated in 2016, appeared focused on their children during the outing. Garner kept her head lowered, while Affleck looked ahead as they walked through the park. Samuel was accompanied by two friends who followed close behind.

During the visit, the former couple was seen moving around the paintball grounds both together and separately. Alongside Samuel, they also share two daughters: Violet, 20, and Seraphina, 17.

This joint appearance comes shortly after Garner candidly discussed the challenges and rewards of co-parenting on the "One Nightstand" podcast. She reflected on how raising children in two separate households requires both parents to assume dual roles. "When your kids grow up in two separate households, I become mom and dad, and he becomes dad and mom," she explained, noting the unique balance needed in their parenting approach.

Garner also acknowledged the losses and gains involved in their parenting dynamic since their 2015 separation, emphasizing that it has helped her to let go of certain expectations. She described the experience as a blend of yin and yang, where neither parent fulfills the traditional roles exclusively but rather shares responsibilities equally.

Throughout the years, the exes have maintained an amicable co-parenting relationship, frequently seen together at family events like birthdays and holidays. Last March, they were spotted sharing affectionate moments during another paintball outing with Samuel, highlighting their ongoing connection for their childrens sake.

In addition to birthday celebrations, the pair have been photographed attending events such as an Easter gathering with their kids last April, a Red Sox game in July, and a movie outing in September, all showcasing their collaborative efforts in parenting.

On this recent day out, Jennifer Garner wore a white tank top paired with blue jeans, while Ben Affleck opted for a casual white T-shirt and gray jeans. The couples united presence at Samuels birthday reflects their commitment to raising their children together despite their separation.

While Affleck was last married to Jennifer Lopez from 2022 to 2025 and is currently single, Garner has been in a relationship with businessman John Miller since 2018. Nevertheless, their focus remains on co-parenting and supporting their childrens milestones as a team.
Chinese medical team offers free consultations for children in northern Togo

Xinhua) 10:14, March 16, 2026

LOME, March 14 (Xinhua) -- The 28th Chinese Medical Team on Saturday organized free medical consultations and donated medicines to the Sainte Marguerite Home, a center for vulnerable children in Kara city in northern Togo.

A total of 37 children and 10 staff members benefited from the initiative, carried out by the Chinese medical team based in Kara. The team included a surgeon, a traumatologist, a gynecologist-obstetrician, a laboratory technician, a radiologist and an acupuncturist.

Xi Gang, head of the medical team, assured the orphanage of the team's readiness to further contribute to improving the children's health care.

Essoham Balakiyem Adekpessim, head of the Sainte Marguerite Home, welcomed the free consultations and the donation of medicines. He also praised the health cooperation between China and Togo, saying that such collaboration helps strengthen the health sector for the benefit of disadvantaged populations.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
Louis Theroux investigates the toxic "Manosphere" on Netflix. Meet the influencers shaping young men's views in this powerful documentary.

AceShowbiz - Louis Theroux has partnered with Netflix to deliver a powerful documentary examining the toxic world of the "Manosphere," an online community known for its anti-feminist ideology and influence over young men.

The documentary, titled Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere, follows Theroux as he immerses himself in this controversial environment, meeting key figures accused of promoting harmful ideas. Among those featured are HS Tikky Tokky (also known as Harrison Sullivan), Sneako (Nicolas Kenn De Balinthazy), and Myron Gaines. The film seeks to understand how these influencers have gained traction and shaped the views of their predominantly male audiences.

Louis Theroux is no stranger to tackling difficult topics. His previous work includes documentaries on hate groups like the Aryan Nation and the Westboro Baptist Church, as well as his 2015 film My Scientology Movie, which drew criticism from the Church of Scientology. However, Inside the Manosphere stands apart because it explores how an extreme ideology has seeped into mainstream culture, largely propelled by social media platforms.

Earlier in 2025, Netflix shared its streaming statistics for the first half of the year, revealing that the most-watched series during that period was Adolescence, a gripping four-part drama. The show, which holds a 98 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, dramatizes the impact of the "Manosphere" on a vulnerable teenage boy accused of murder. Though Inside the Manosphere and Adolescence share thematic elements, Theroux confirms the documentary was filmed before the series was released, making any similarities coincidental.

So what exactly is the "Manosphere"? It is a broad term describing an online network of communities united by anti-feminist beliefs. Many within the movement contend that society unfairly targets men due to an alleged feminist conspiracy. This community includes various subgroups such as incelsmen who identify as involuntary celibatesand those involved in Gamergate, a campaign notorious for online harassment of women in gaming.

The "Manosphere" has been linked to the alt-right, with figures like Andrew Tate, Adin Ross, and Jordan Peterson cited as influential voices. Many adherents use the concept of the "red pill" from the movie The Matrix as a metaphor for awakening to perceived societal injustices against men, though the films creators, Lana and Lilly Wachowski, have publicly distanced themselves from the movement.

The movements rhetoric has not only fueled divisive online discourse but has also been connected to real-world violence. In 2014, Elliot Rodger killed six people in Isla Vista, California, leaving behind a manifesto filled with anti-feminist views associated with the "Manosphere." Similarly, in 2018, Alek Minassian carried out a vehicle attack in Toronto, Canada, killing 11 people, nine of whom were women, framing it as part of an ongoing "incel rebellion." Minassian was later convicted on multiple counts of murder and attempted murder, while Rodger died by suicide during a police standoff after his attack.

The official synopsis for Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere describes it as an unflinching investigation into a rising ultra-masculine network and its polarizing online personalities. Therouxs conversations with HS Tikky Tokky, Sneako, Myron Gaines, and other prominent "Manosphere" creators such as Justin Waller and Ed Matthews provide rare insight into their beliefs and motivations.

Reflecting on the documentary, Louis Theroux told Deadline in early 2026 that while the subject matter might remind viewers of Adolescence, the documentary stands apart in tone and approach. He noted, "It's sort of nothing like Adolescence but it's in the precinct of what the boy in Adolescence might have been watching." Theroux also explained that the series was filmed before Netflix released Adolescence, and though the show served as a proof of concept for public interest in the topic, the urgency of the subject was already clear.

One intriguing aspect of making Inside the Manosphere was Therouxs experience of becoming part of the content ecosystem he was documenting. Many of the influencers he filmed recorded and streamed his presence, creating a feedback loop that affected how the story unfolded.

Theroux recalled, "I knew they would be streaming or filming me and would put that content out. And I hoped we'd get this feedback loop where there was a meta narrative that was then affecting my approach to the story." He added that sometimes this dynamic was uncomfortable, especially when his children would tease him about being "owned" in the footage, but it ultimately strengthened the documentarys narrative.

Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere is set to premiere on Netflix on Wednesday, March 11, 2026. The film promises viewers an in-depth look at a troubling online culture that continues to shape the beliefs and attitudes of many young men worldwide.
Saxophonist Carlos Aguilera, who played during his own brain surgery, passes at 38. Remembering his resilience and extraordinary story.

AceShowbiz - Carlos Aguilera, the talented musician renowned for playing the saxophone during a groundbreaking 12-hour brain tumour operation, has sadly passed away at the age of 38.

His death was announced on Friday, prompting an outpouring of tributes from friends, colleagues, and fans who admired his resilience and extraordinary spirit.

At just 27 years old, Carlos Aguilera captured worldwide attention in October 2015 when he played the saxophone live during a complex brain surgery at Malaga's Carlos Haya Hospital. This unprecedented event involved a team of 16 medical professionals, including neurosurgeons, anaesthetists, neuropsychologists, and nurses, who carefully monitored him while they removed a tumour from his brain.

In a remarkable display of determination, Carlos Aguilera performed as part of the Malaga Municipal Band during the procedure, helping surgeons ensure critical brain functions remained intact. The Malaga Municipal Band, one of Spain's oldest and most respected musical ensembles, confirmed his passing in a heartfelt public statement.

"We are deeply saddened to announce the loss of Carlos Aguilera Hurtado, a gifted young saxophonist who joined our band as a trainee a decade ago," the statement said. "His tenacity during his illness and his pioneering surgery in Europe, where he played his instrument mid-operation, made him a shining example of courage."

The band, founded in 1859 and known for performing at local festivals, expressed their condolences to Carlos Aguilera's family and friends, honoring his memory and impact on the community.

Following this announcement, social media filled with tributes remembering Carlos Aguilera as a symbol of perseverance and inspiration. Fans and acquaintances shared their sorrow and admiration for the musicians strength and talent.

One tribute read, "What a terrible loss - may your music soar high, my friend." Another commented, "A giant among giants. A fighter who knows how to enjoy life. You deserve full respect from Malaga and the wider cultural community." Others echoed sentiments of respect for his resilience and the legacy he leaves behind.

A former university friend added, "Carlos, rest in peace! An excellent musician, a great friend, and an even better person. Sending love to the family during this difficult time."

Local media recalled the extraordinary nature of the 2015 surgery, highlighting it as the first documented case in Europe where a patient played the saxophone during brain surgery. Prior to this, a similar case had only occurred in the United States.

During the operation, Carlos Aguilera was sedated and administered painkillers but remained awake, avoiding general anaesthesia to allow surgeons to monitor his neurological functions in real-time. The medical team included three neurosurgeons, two neuropsychologists, three neurophysiologists, an anaesthetist, and five nurses, all working in concert during the 12-hour procedure.

Before playing the jazz standard Misty, Carlos Aguilera was asked to read a musical score to confirm his cognitive abilities. Neurosurgeon Guillermo Ibanez explained the rationale behind this unusual method, stating that the operation was tailored to protect Aguileras professional life as a musician.

Carlos Aguilera had been playing the saxophone since the age of nine. Reflecting on his experience during the operation, he described the sensation as feeling like he was "lying on a beach." He expressed gratitude for the opportunity to continue his passion despite the challenges.

Two months ago I was on a stretcher, and now I have my whole life in front of me. I have been born again, he said at the time. Music has been with me for more than half my life, so when the doctors said this was possible, I didnt hesitate.

While the cause of Carlos Aguilera's death has not been disclosed, his legacy as a pioneering musician who faced adversity with courage remains vivid. His story continues to inspire both the medical and musical communities, demonstrating the powerful intersection of art and science.

The memory of Carlos Aguilera endures through his music and the remarkable bravery he showed during one of the most innovative surgeries in European medical history.
Oscar-nominated documentary exposing corruption in Alabama's prisons. A broader study of complicity in the justice system, sparking calls for nationwide reform.

AceShowbiz - The Oscar-nominated documentary feature The Alabama Solution exposes the deep-rooted corruption within Alabamas prison system and its devastating impact on inmates. Co-directors Andrew Jarecki and Charlotte Kaufman emphasize that the films relevance goes beyond Alabamas borders, presenting a broader "study of complicity" in the justice system.

At the recent SCAD Savannah Film Festival, where The Alabama Solution was featured during the annual Docs to Watch panel, Kaufman described the documentary as a critical look at how the public, institutions, and individuals are all entangled in a flawed system. Jarecki hopes the film will spark reform efforts not only in Alabama but also across other states struggling with similar issues.

Reflecting on their collaboration, Jarecki shared how the project began nearly seven years ago. He was deeply interested in the American prison system, having visited numerous prisons. His then 14-year-old daughter, an avid reader, had been reading a book by Anthony Ray Hinton, a man wrongfully convicted and imprisoned in Alabama for many years. She suggested they read it together, sparking a journey that led them to Montgomery, Alabama.

During their first visit, they met a contact who had access to the prison system, one of the most secretive in the US. They learned about the possibility to volunteer inside prisons distributing hygiene packages and attending revival meetings. Jarecki then connected with Kaufman, known for her investigative skills, and invited her to join him on the next trip. This marked the beginning of a six-and-a-half-year investigative process into the Alabama prison system.

Before The Alabama Solution, the duo had also collaborated on the second part of the acclaimed documentary series The Jinx, which explored themes of complicity through the story of Bob Durst and the people who enabled his crimes. Kaufman noted that The Jinx Part II and The Alabama Solution share thematic similarities, both examining human nature and the collective complicity of society in perpetuating injustice.

They hope their documentary exposes the myths surrounding the prison system  that it is corrective and makes society safer. Kaufman explained that the general public remains complicit largely because the true nature of the system is hidden from view. By revealing the realities inside prisons, the filmmakers aim to initiate broader conversations and solutions.

The filmmakers encountered unexpected realities when they first entered the prisons, especially regarding the presence of contraband cell phones. Despite warnings from the warden not to engage with inmates, Jarecki and Kaufman found the prisoners to be more trustworthy than the guards escorting them. Inmates discreetly passed notes and shared their stories, revealing a network of communication that defied official restrictions.

Jarecki explained that the presence of cell phones was not due to inmates smuggling them in independently but largely because guards facilitated their entry. Many guards, earning a base salary of $36,000 a year, could supplement their income significantlyup to $70,000 or $80,000by selling drugs and contraband inside the prison. This economic incentive perpetuates the corruption that fuels the system's dysfunction.

Charlotte Kaufman described the use of cell phones by inmates as a form of resistance and a tool to break through the secrecy and oppression of the prison system. Since around 2013, prisoners have been risking severe repercussions to communicate with the outside world, build community, and organize. The leaders featured in the film represent just a fraction of those who have courageously leveraged this technology to expose abuses.

Building trust with inmates was crucial to the films development. Kaufman noted that the prisoners had been sharing their stories via social media and other channels long before the filmmakers arrived. The challenge was to create a long-term relationship that went beyond isolated clips and headlines, enabling a fuller, more nuanced portrayal of their experiences as leaders and human beings, not just victims.

The film captures moments of tension and confrontation, reminiscent of the psychological intensity found in The Jinx. Kaufman acknowledged the risks involved in documenting such a volatile environment, both for the filmmakers and the people they filmed. One scene involving a hospital visit highlights the delicate balance of trust and exposure when confronting wrongdoing.

Throughout the process, Andrew Jarecki and Charlotte Kaufman have navigated complex ethical and emotional terrain to shine a light on a system that thrives on secrecy and complicity. Their work challenges viewers to reconsider accepted narratives about justice and safety and to recognize the urgent need for systemic change.

The Alabama Solution stands as a powerful call to action, exposing the intertwined failures of individuals, institutions, and society in perpetuating injustice. By documenting this civil rights struggle, the film offers a rare window into a hidden world and a hopeful path toward reform.
Bella Hadid's runway comeback at Prada Fall 2026. See her layered looks and first walk for the iconic house at Milan Fashion Week.

AceShowbiz - Bella Hadid made a striking return to the runway during Milan Fashion Week, appearing four times in the Prada fall 2026 show. This marked her first-ever walk for the iconic fashion house, showcasing a series of layered looks that captivated the audience.

Bella Hadid had not walked a runway since the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in October, making this moment a significant comeback. Her presentation at Prada was notable for the seamless transitions between each outfit, revealing intricate layers beneath each look.

For her initial appearance, Hadid wore a sheer navy skirt paired with an oversized chore jacket. The look was accessorized with embellished knee-high socks and delicate kitten heels, combining elegance with an edge.

Her second walk removed the jacket, unveiling that the sheer skirt doubled as an organza trench coat layered over a barely visible white shift dress. Complementing this ensemble was a navy top-handle bag, adding a refined touch.

In her third outing, she shed the trench coat and swapped her navy bag for a bright green version, showcasing the printed white poplin shift dress that had been hidden under the previous layers. This subtle change highlighted the versatility of the collections styling.

For the final look, Hadid appeared in long bloomer-style shorts paired with a knit tank top, completing her series of four distinct runway moments. Each appearance demonstrated a carefully curated layering technique, emphasizing the transitional nature of the fall collection.

Designers Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons cast 15 models for the show, each of whom walked four times with incremental removals of layers. This innovative format resulted in a total of 60 runway appearances, creating a dynamic and engaging presentation.

Bella Hadid has been gradually returning to modeling after managing her Lyme disease diagnosis. Concerns arose during last years Victorias Secret Fashion Show when she appeared to struggle walking, which was later attributed to the heavy 50-pound wings she wore rather than her health condition.

Her return to high fashion was further cemented in September 2024 when she walked for Saint Laurent after an extended break to focus on her wellness. The Prada show continues this positive trajectory, marking a powerful statement in her ongoing career.
Candace Owens investigates Erika Kirk's past in "Bride of Charlie," questioning the truth behind her public narrative and upbringing.

AceShowbiz - Candace Owens is scrutinizing the background of Erika Kirk, widow of the late Charlie Kirk, in her newly released multi-part documentary series titled Bride of Charlie. The series delves into Erikas upbringing and the accuracy of her public narrative.

In the episode released on Wednesday, February 25, called A Wrinkle In Time, Candace Owens, 36, expressed serious concerns about Erika Kirks truthfulness. Owens stated, "What alarms me about Erika isnt so much the fact that she lies, which we will prove to you over and over again, but its also the fact that I dont know that shes aware that shes lying." This accusation implies a disconnect between Erikas perception of her own past and the facts Owens claims to have uncovered.

The initial episode focuses on Erikas claim of being raised by a single mother, a key part of her public image. Owens disputes this, saying that the single mother narrative is an oversimplified and deliberately constructed version of a more complex family history. Owens cites an investigative journalist, Elizabeth Lane, whose viral tweet questioned the authenticity of Erikas portrayed life story. Owens acknowledged this is Lanes opinion but based on what she calls consistent, observable patterns of behavior.

Candace Owens had a close relationship with Charlie Kirk before his tragic death. In a video from September 2025, Owens described him as an amazing person, and called him her best friend and brother. Owens also referenced the traumatic events surrounding Charlies fatal shooting at Utah Valley University on September 10, 2025, when he was just 31 years old.

Owens further challenges the image of Erika Kirk as simply a grieving widow. She accuses her of fabricating elements of her past for reasons that Owens suggests may be harmful or deceptive. After Charlie Kirks death, Erika took over as CEO of Turning Point USA, the organization her husband once led.

According to Owens, Erika promotes the idea that she was raised by a strong, independent, entrepreneurial single mother, named Lori Frantzve, who instilled Christian values in her. However, Owens alleges that Erikas father, Kent Frantzve, was very much involved in her upbringing and even served as a stay-at-home dad for several years during her childhood.

Owens referenced a profile on Erika Kirk published by The New York Times in September 2025. In that article, Erika described the experience of being a single mother to her two children with Charlie Kirk as actually the least traumatizing part of her new life. She also mentioned that she was raised by a single mother after her parents divorced, calling her mother her blueprint.

Candace Owens argues that Erikas public image is carefully crafted to promote the idea that one can be a successful CEO and boss babe while being raised by a single mother. Owens insists this portrayal is inaccurate. She claims Kent Frantzve was consistently present during Erikas formative years, including her teenage years, and that for some period, he was the primary caregiver at home.

To support her claim, Owens played a clip from an episode of The Charlie Kirk Show podcast, where Erika Kirk spoke warmly about her father being a stay-at-home dad when she was four years old. And I gotta say it was really sweet. And really special. I was 4, Erika said in the clip.

Owens also pointed out that Erika was about 10 years old when her parents divorced in 1998, and that her father remained involved throughout her childhood. Owens mentioned information from people who knew Erika during that time, including classmates and past boyfriends, to back up her assertions. She also noted that Erika had a stepfather named Larry Ginta, who was a consistent presence in her life even before her parents divorce was finalized.

Us Weekly has reached out to Erika Kirk and Turning Point USA for comment on these allegations but has not yet received a response.

The trailer for Owens investigative docuseries has sparked a mix of reactions online. Supporters of Erika Kirk have come to her defense, especially after she received a standing ovation during President Donald Trumps State of the Union address in Washington on Tuesday, February 24. Many accused Candace Owens of using her platform to damage Erikas reputation unjustly.

Among critics of Owens claims was Ben Shapiro, who called her a conspiratorial, evil person during the February 24 episode of his podcast, The Ben Shapiro Show. This highlights the divisive nature of the controversy surrounding the personal histories of both Erika and the late Charlie Kirk.

The unfolding dispute demonstrates the challenges faced by public figures managing personal grief and public narratives, especially when under intense scrutiny from former allies and the media. As Candace Owens continues to release episodes of Bride of Charlie, more details may emerge that further complicate the public perception of Erika Kirks life story and leadership at Turning Point USA.
Dive deeper into the MCU's Daredevil: Born Again. The official Disney+ podcast features exclusive cast & creator insights, premiering March 17, 2026.

AceShowbiz - Marvel Television's Daredevil: Born Again is expanding its presence on Disney+ with an exciting new companion podcast set to premiere tomorrow, Tuesday, March 17, 2026.

Following the successful launch of the first season of Daredevil: Born Again, the MCU show created by Dario Scardapane, Chris Ord, and Matt Corman, fans will soon get more in-depth coverage and exclusive insights through the Daredevil: Born Again Official Podcast. This marks Marvel Studios' first official series companion video podcast on Disney+.

The premiere episode will feature a comprehensive look back at Season 1, including discussions with key figures such as Wilson Bethel (who portrays Benjamin Poindexter/Bullseye), executive producer and showrunner Dario Scardapane, executive producer Sana Amanat, and executive producer and Head of Marvel Television Brad Winderbaum.

According to a press release, future podcast episodes will offer unparalleled access to the series' cast and crew. Listeners and viewers can expect detailed episode breakdowns, Easter egg highlights, and behind-the-scenes looks at various aspects of the production, including stunts, the musical score, costumes, and more.

The Daredevil: Born Again Official Podcast will not only be available on Disney+ but also accessible on YouTube. Audio-only versions will be distributed across popular platforms such as Apple Podcasts and Spotify, broadening the reach to fans who prefer audio content.

Meanwhile, Daredevil: Born Again fans eagerly await the release of Season 2, which is scheduled to debut on Disney+ on March 24, 2026. The upcoming season will consist of eight episodes and continues the story with Charlie Cox and Vincent D'Onofrio reprising their iconic roles as Matt Murdock/Daredevil and Wilson Fisk/Kingpin, respectively. The series has already been renewed for a third season, signaling strong confidence from Marvel Television in its ongoing success.

The official synopsis for Season 2 reveals a darker and more intense chapter: "In Season 2 of Marvel Television's Daredevil: Born Again, Mayor Wilson Fisk crushes New York City underfoot as he hunts down public enemy number one, the Hell's Kitchen vigilante known as Daredevil. But, beneath the horned mask, Matt Murdock will try to fight back from the shadows to tear down the Kingpin's corrupt empire and redeem his home. Resist. Rebel. Rebuild."

This new podcast offers fans a unique opportunity to deepen their connection with the series and get an insiders view of the creative process behind one of Marvel Televisions most compelling shows.
Jessica Alba and Cash Warren finalize divorce after 17 years. See how they split assets, investments, and the $5.5 million settlement.

AceShowbiz - Jessica Alba and Cash Warren have officially finalized their divorce nearly a year after announcing their separation, with the court signing off on their settlement documents on March 16, 2025.

The filing, obtained by E! News, details how the former couple is dividing their shared assets accumulated throughout their nearly 17-year marriage. They agreed to split equally all community property acquired from the date of their wedding on May 19, 2008, until their separation on December 27, 2024.

This community property includes investments in businesses such as WeWork and Culver Studios, stocks, as well as shared belongings like furniture and artwork from their former residence and jointly purchased properties.

As part of the settlement, Jessica Albawho shares three children with Cash Warren: Honor, 17, Haven, 14, and Hayes, 8will pay her ex $5 million from the proceeds of selling one of their jointly owned homes. She is also required to set aside $500,000 dedicated to their childrens expenses.

Furthermore, Cash Warren will receive half of the acting royalties and residual payments from Jessica Albas roles during their marriage. This includes income from films and TV projects such as Machete, Valentines Day, The Office, Barely Famous, and Dear Eleanor. He will also receive 50 percent of the restricted shares from The Honest Company, the business Jessica Alba founded.

On the other hand, Jessica Alba will earn half of Cash Warrens earnings from his producing ventures during the marriage, including projects like Being Terry Kennedy and Crips and Bloods: Made in America. Profits from projects completed before their marriage or after their split will remain separate property.

Regarding custody arrangements, the documents state that Jessica Alba and Cash Warren will share joint legal custody of their three minor children. Interestingly, the agreement specifies that neither party will pay child support to the other at this time.

The court filing elaborates on their shared responsibilities in decision-making for their childrens welfare. While day-to-day decisions will be made by the parent with physical custody at the time, major decisions concerning health, education, and welfare require joint agreement.

Both parents must jointly approve significant changes such as switching schools, extracurricular activities, issuing new identification documents like passports or drivers licenses, and any body modifications.

Medical and mental health treatment decisions can be made by either parent, but they must inform the other within 48 hours unless it is an emergency. This ensures ongoing communication and cooperation despite their separation.

Both Jessica Alba and Cash Warren have waived any future spousal support obligations, marking a clean financial break as they move forward independently.
50 Cent trolls Young Buck with a hilarious Dukes of Hazzard spoof, pulling GloRilla's sister into their rap feud. See the viral post.

AceShowbiz - 50 Cent and Young Buck have reignited their ongoing feud in a fresh round of social media trolling, with an unexpected involvement from GloRilla's sister.

On Sunday, March 15, 50 Cent took to Instagram to poke fun at his former G-Unit artist and longtime rival, Young Buck. In a playful post, he recreated the iconic poster for the 1979 television show The Dukes of Hazzard, casting himself and Buck as the lead characters Bo and Luke Duke. Adding a humorous twist, he inserted the head of GloRilla's sister, BroRilla (also known as Scar Face), over the character Daisy Duke, complete with the signature shorts. Even rap rival T.I. was included in the spoof as Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane.

Interestingly, BroRilla appeared unbothered by being pulled into the feud and seemed to appreciate the attention from 50 Cent. In the caption, he wrote, "They Mad because you up! Young Buck kicked out, you in the group...at least I know you ain't looking at my a*s. LOL."

However, Young Buck did not take kindly to the trolling. He responded with a video criticizing 50 Cent for petty antics and challenged him to walk through his Queens, New York neighborhood to prove his respect there. This challenge implied that 50 Cent lacks respect in his hometown.

Adding fuel to the fire, Tony Yayo, another G-Unit member, joined the conversation in the comments, joking, "We be in Southside all the time," accompanied by a laughing emoji. 50 Cent replied swiftly, mocking Young Buck as a "broke boy" for only being in his own neighborhood.

Not stopping there, 50 Cent shared another Instagram post featuring a gossip blogger covering Young Buck's 2019 transgender scandal, which initially sparked their feud. This move highlights how 50 Cent often uses trolling with a mix of creativity and pettiness to escalate conflicts.

The back-and-forth between 50 Cent and Young Buck continues to unfold publicly, blending humor, personal jabs, and social media theatrics. Meanwhile, GloRilla's sister remains a surprising yet willing participant in this ongoing drama.
Reuters investigation may have unmasked Banksy. New evidence points to a real name, but the artist's team remains silent and challenges the report.

AceShowbiz - The elusive street artist known as Banksy may finally have been identified, according to a detailed investigation published by Reuters on March 16, 2026.

The report reveals the discovery of a handwritten and signed confession related to a disorderly conduct misdemeanor from approximately 25 years ago. The signature on the document appears to read Robin Gunningham, a name linked multiple times to court records about the arrest.

Banksys official company, Pest Control, stated the artist has decided to say nothing in response to the revelations. Meanwhile, Banksys lawyer, Mark Stephens, challenged many details of the report, emphasizing that his client does not accept that many of the details contained within your enquiry are correct. Stephens neither confirmed nor denied the artists identity but warned Reuters that publishing the investigation could breach privacy and endanger Banksys safety.

This is not the first time the name Robin Gunningham has surfaced in connection with Banksy. The Mail on Sunday first suggested in 2008 that Gunningham was the true identity behind the artist, but Banksys manager at the time denied that the accompanying photograph showed the artist.

Other theories over the years have pointed to figures like Robert Del Naja, frontman of the band Massive Attack, as potential candidates for Banksys identity.

The crucial piece of evidence highlighted in the Reuters investigation is the signed confession from an arrest in New York City in 2000. According to Banksys former manager, Steve Lazarides, the artist was detained by NYPD for defacing a Marc Jacobs Men billboard.

In the confession, Banksy described the act as a humorous adjustment and signed the document with the initials RG. At the time, authorities reportedly did not realize they had apprehended the now-famous artist, who had only recently begun using the Banksy pseudonym and signature style.

The report also notes that in 2008, Banksy supposedly changed his legal name from Robin Gunningham to David Jones, a common British name, to help conceal his identity and blend in more easily.

While Banksy remains silent and his representatives maintain ambiguity, the newly surfaced evidence could mark a turning point in understanding the true identity of one of the worlds most enigmatic artists.
Season 5 of Secret Lives of Mormon Wives on hold. Filming suspended due to a cast member's serious personal issues and an ongoing domestic assault investigat...

AceShowbiz - Production on season five of Secret Lives of Mormon Wives has been temporarily suspended, sources report. Filming is currently on hold due to serious personal issues concerning one of the cast members, Taylor Frankie Paul.

According to an insider speaking to People, "They are not filming. Taylor Frankie Paul has some pretty serious stuff happening regarding her past, and they will see what happens. Until that resolves, they are off." Neither Hulu nor Taylor Frankie Paul has issued an official statement, leaving details largely unknown.

The situation reportedly centers on Taylor Frankie Pauls troubled relationship with her ex-partner, Dakota Mortensen. Draper City police have confirmed an ongoing "domestic assault investigation" involving allegations from both parties. The authorities have been involved since late February, indicating a prolonged and complex case.

A source close to the show told People that "None of the women want to be associated with her," highlighting the strain this controversy has placed on the cast. This distancing is especially simple for Whitney Leavitt, who lives far from Utah and is currently performing in Chicago on Broadway.

This is not Taylor Frankie Pauls first domestic violence incident. In 2023, she was arrested and accused of throwing a chair that struck her daughter. At that time, she faced two felony charges of domestic violence in the presence of a child and one count of aggravated assault, according to CBS News. Later, during an appearance on Call Her Daddy, she stated that all charges had been dropped.

Despite the filming pause, Taylor Frankie Paul is preparing to appear on the upcoming season of The Bachelorette, which is scheduled to premiere on March 22. To date, ABC has not announced any changes regarding the shows airing. Notably, Taylor Frankie Paul was seen publicly attending the Oscars as recently as last night, maintaining her public profile amid controversy.

The future of Secret Lives of Mormon Wives season five remains uncertain as the investigation continues.
In an expedited procedure, the European Commission recently raised tariffs on ceramic and porcelain products from China. Additional tariff measures are also being considered to protect the European internal market from the Chinese export engine. Is the EU economy now facing a trade war with Beijing, alongside the potential import halt on rare earths?

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Tensions in international trade policy are escalating on multiple fronts. After the U.S. Supreme Court initially declared the tariff regime implemented by President Donald Trump since April of last year unlawful, it appears the administration has explored new ways to stabilize its tariff policy going forward.

The signs on the international trade front continue to point toward turmoil. Not least, it is the ramped-up Chinese export machine that is increasingly in the crosshairs of U.S. protectionism and European defensive measures.

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Beijing is using its massive export engine to offset deflationary pressures in its domestic economy -- a result of state-induced capital misallocation and a shrinking population. Through export subsidies and other support measures, the government seeks to stabilize employment while boosting industrial production.

However, this comes at the expense of trade margins and production capacities in other countries, which increasingly fall behind in competition with China.

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It was predictable that the still high-purchasing-power internal market of the European Union would attract attention, given the U.S.'s hardline approach. Europe risks becoming a de facto unloading hub for Chinese goods. The consequences are evident in the trade balance, which recorded a deficit of 305 billion for the EU economy last year.

Weakened by its own energy policy and the regulatory framework of the green transition, European manufacturers in nearly all industrial and consumer sectors face the global competitive arena with their backs to the wall. The ongoing deindustrialization has significantly contributed to many European business models losing ground in international competition.

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Germany, in particular, appears as a sort of laboratory experiment: in trade with China, the country has now become a net importer of capital. The former know-how advantage of German engineering is no longer unassailable -- it seems to be history.

European policymakers now appear determined to pursue a path of protectionism themselves.

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On February 7, 2026, the European Commission adopted Regulation 2026/274, responding to the Chinese export surge with anti-dumping tariffs. The first targeted product group: ceramic and porcelain imports. Around 60% of the assortments in European e-commerce and physical retail come from Chinese production. Tariffs within this group were raised from 18-36% to a consolidated 79%.

The affected products include, among others, tableware and kitchen items made of ceramic, porcelain, and stoneware originating from China. This also includes items such as spice grinders, coffee mills, and pizza stones. The new tariff regime is set to last initially for five years.

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The commission acted without involving national parliaments -- mirroring the approach frequently criticized when applied to U.S. President Donald Trump, particularly in trade matters. In precisely those instances where Brussels regularly demands transparency, multilateralism, and rule-based procedures, it now itself takes unilateral executive action. Viewed in this light, criticism of Trumps unilateralism appears profoundly hypocritical.

The commissions executive action reflects a rather elastic interpretation of its mandate. Should it identify dumping practices by trade partners -- as in this case -- it may impose corresponding tariffs. Neither the Council of the European Union, the European Parliament, nor national governments are involved in this process - a clear indication of growing concentration of power in Brussels.

The consequences of this tariff move -- which is likely to expand to additional product groups -- impact not only Chinese exporters but also European traders. They report liquidity shortfalls, rising insolvency risks, and significant challenges in compensating pre-financed transactions. The interests of European consumers evidently play no role in Brussels decisions.

Should further categories such as e-bikes, auto parts, or tires be added, as is currently rumored, this could have tangible effects on consumer prices across the EU. Moreover, the tariffs apply retroactively to ongoing shipments, further exacerbating the financial strain on European traders.

Brussels drastic response indicates that parts of European industry are under severe pressure from Chinese imports -- and that the escalation in trade policy has now reached a new level.

So far, the Chinese leadership has not reacted to Brussels tariff measures. Chancellor Friedrich Merz may place trade issues at the forefront during his visit to China from February 24-26, where he is also expected to meet President Xi Jinping.

Recall that last year the dispute over the strategically critical export of rare earths -- dominated by China -- nearly escalated twice. Beijing is not hesitant to wield its geostrategic leverage in trade policy and defend its interests with a firm hand.

Fundamentally, a recalibration has occurred. In its strategy toward China, the EU is first raising the tariff wall, ignoring potential countermeasures from Beijing. Starting July 1, 2026, e-commerce imports from third countries with a value under 150 will face a 3 flat-rate fee per package. This aims not only to complicate invoicing by Chinese companies via third countries but also to exert targeted pressure on trade channeled primarily through platforms like Temu and Shein.

According to the EU, these measures aim to curb unfair competition and stabilize the internal market. Of course, such claims must be taken cum grano salis. Europeans are, after all, the undisputed masters of hidden trade protectionism. Their regulatory catalogs -- particularly in climate policy -- contain numerous non-tariff measures with deep protective effects.

Global trade is increasingly moving within geopolitical spheres of influence. Europeans would be wise to align with U.S. rules and integrate into the Western hemisphere. Yet Brussels appears intent on simultaneously confronting both major trade blocs.

Image: AT via Magic Studio
The Communist dictatorship in Cuba is on its last legs. For decades, it had a parasitical relationship with the Soviet Union, which kept it alive economically, militarily, and politically. The Soviet Union was able to last for as long as it did because it was truly gargantuan, spanning two continents and filled with natural resources which the government utilized to stave off the inevitable end of all Marxist regimes. But when it, in turn, collapsed, Cubas economy took an even deeper dive than before, euphemistically referred to as the Special Period.

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Then, oil-rich Venezuela, the wealthiest country in South America, became Communist and extended a lifeline to Cuba while it, too, oppressed its people and ruined the country. With the arrival of Donald Trump, that lifeline is now gone. Cuba has no oil and we can see what happens when fossil fuels disappear (paying attention, global warmists?).

Thanks to decades of Communist rule, Cuba is as decrepit as Haiti. Yes, that bad. Buildings and homes are literally disintegrating each year due to the harsh Caribbean sun and sea air, the inhabitants unable to repair the damage, and there are piles of garbage on the streets (it is hard to imagine that Havana and many other Cuban cities were once pristine). Food is scarce. In cities, there are certain spots that are livable, even beautiful. They are either for Cubas nomenklatura or where tourists -- particularly Canadian, French, and Spanish Communists -- stay and visit. Ordinary Cubans rarely eat fish -- and Cuba is an island in the Caribbean! And sugar, for which the country was famous and resulted in the Dance of the Millions during WWI? Nope.

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The reader may be aware that Zimbabwe was once a breadbasket. Under black Communist rule, it, too, has had to import food.

Incidentally, something that has not been acknowledged is that the Communist regime would have been overthrown long ago, except that escaping to Florida was a pressure valve that sent the potentially most dangerous foes overseas (even so, there have been occasional outbursts, the most well-known being El Maleconazo). This is similar to what happened after the Russians crushed the Hungarian revolt; after some hesitation, the Soviet and Hungarian Communists opened the border to let the Hungarian fighters emigrate to Austria; this safety valve was recorded in a much-neglected work by James Michener, The Bridge at Andau.

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The Communists in America and Canada have always insisted the reason for decrepitude in Cuba is not Communism but the American embargo, omitting the fact that there are over a hundred countries that can trade with Cuba. They will voice compassion for the suffering Cubans as a result of the embargo while being noticeably catatonic when it comes to the persecution, jailing, or execution of political prisoners and of the Ladies in White (its fascinating seeing leftists turn on and off the compassion spigot at will). They will also forget -- deliberately so -- that the embargo does not apply to food or medicine, though the items have to be paid for with cash. Credit by U.S. banks is not going to be allowed, mostly because the Communist government has defaulted on previous foreign loans. Their stance is not too surprising when one takes into account that some liberals have denied the Cambodian genocide by the Khmer Rouge took place.

The regime is obviously crippled with the Venezuelan oil supply cut off. And Trump, through Marco Rubio, has set his sights on it, but unlike the Venezuelan and Iranian dictators, it has wisely not challenged the Americans to come and try to invade the island. Regardless, there are reports of demonstrations against the government, which are becoming more violent and more vengeful, carried out in the dead of night since the island goes entirely dark after sunset due to lack of energy. There are reports of at least one office of the Communist Party being torched. Its a good start.

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So if the government collapses, or is overthrown, dont expect a peaceful transition of power as was the case in Czechoslovakia or Hungary or East Germany. Expect a bloodbath. Cubans are very vengeful. And they have decades of anger, suffering, and deprivation to fuel that overdue bloodbath. The rulers know this. If the regime makes a deal with Trump on time in order to obtain some oil it might, just might survive, albeit weakened, but if Trump and Rubio walk away and keep the pressure on, its the end.

Incidentally, notice that the demonstrations in Cuba are not anti-American (after all, the Cubans are not liberals). And they are not protesting the boycott.

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And speaking of liberals, be prepared to see hordes of liberal white saviors with their prefabricated signs taking to the streets while claiming to speak for the Cuban people against Trump, just like they have been telling Iranian and Venezuelan exiles that they know better than the Venezuelans and Iranians themselves. I cannot tell you how many times liberals who cannot even speak Spanish and know nothing about pre-Castro history, nor Cuban culture, have lectured me about how wonderful life is in Cuba under the Communist dictatorship. For decades, liberals in America and other countries demonized Cuban-Americans, and attacked in one way or another Cuban-Americans who spoke out against the regime, from Paquito DRivera to Andy Garcia to Camila Cabello.

There exists one difference, though. Since the beginning, the Cuban dictatorship sent to the United States hundreds of agents as refugees to infiltrate Cuban-American organizations, and liberal ones as well (I suspect there were some in the Biden Administration), and for just plain espionage. It appears that some are already beginning to make noise over the present situation. For example, in an American Communist website, there is a photo of just such a group. Notice several things: one, almost all wearing red shirts, two, they have their raised clenched fist (the clenched fist as a Communist salute emerged in the 1930s as a response to the Nazi salute), third, their prefabricated signs have the picture of Che Guevara, and fourth, they refer to the embargo as the American blockade. Blockade, not an embargo, is the word that the regime has used on its people and foreign sympathizers to explain the shortages of everything, to give the impression that nothing can get through. I suspect that if the regime does fall, these agents will not return to Cuba.

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And if the Cuban regime is overthrown, what then? Chaos. There is no organized resistance in the country that could take over. Possibly there may be a military coup detat. Possibly Cuban-Americans will step in. Either way, do not expect the new government to pay off the defaulted national debts and diplomatic agreements of the previous government.

As for the long run, a new constitution is ready that takes into account all the historical mistakes in governments, as well as the special Cuban circumstances.

But chaos or no chaos, anything will be an improvement over Communism.

Armando Simon is a retired historian and psychologist, author of When Evolution Stops and A Prison Mosaic.

Image: Brian Snelson
From 1776 to today, the total number of Americans is estimated to have been around 600 million. Thats about twice what the population is today. One wonders how many historical figures most Americans can name. There are, of course, the obvious ones like George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and MLK, who are probably at the top of the list for most Americans. They were all known for having done great things.

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Most of the rest no one remembers. According to Grok

The average American can likely freely name 1030 historical figures without much promptingmostly U.S. presidents, Founding Fathers, major civil rights icons, and a few global names like Einstein, Hitler, or Napoleondepending on education, age, and interest in history. Advertisement

Sure, guys like Victor Davis Hanson and Al Franken could probably rattle off thousands, but for the mere mortals among us, a hundred or two probably tops us out.

There is one name, however, that, while it likely doesnt come up in the first go around for most Americans, is certainly known by a majority: Benedict Arnold.

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Arnold was a brilliant general and a true American hero. In fact, the United States might never have succeeded in defeating the British had it not been for him. He was the second in command to the feckless and incompetent General Horatio Gates at Saratoga in September of 1777. At the time, the Americans were on the ropes. They had lost New York, just taken another beating at Brandywine, and were in the process of losing their capital, Philadelphia, for the second time in less than a year.

Whats more, their pleas for assistance across Europe were falling on deaf ears. No one wanted to waste resources on some bedraggled rebels who didnt have enough munitions, supplies, or experience to take on the most powerful military in the world. Giving them money was a great way to go broke while antagonizing a more powerful enemy. Things were looking very bleak indeed.

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This was the background in mid-September, when General Gates wanted to take a cautious approach at Saratoga, despite the British General John Burgoynes troops being outnumbered 9,000 to 7,000. Arnold was vociferous about being more aggressive, and eventually Gates relented. The battle ended as a draw, but the patriots had held their ground and survived. Nonetheless, Gates and Arnolds relationship had deteriorated to the point that Gates dismissed him.

Three weeks later, the second of Saratogas battles would take place, and Arnold wasnt about to stand around and do nothing. Without authorization, he rode out into the battlefield, led the men on horseback, and played a pivotal role in the decisive assault that resulted in the British surrender and the capture of 6,000 of Burgoynes men, getting gravely wounded along the way.

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The victory at Saratoga, something of a shot heard round the world, was very possibly the single most important engagement in the war. That battle signaled to the rest of the world that the rebels just might be able to beat the British and convinced European powers, particularly the French, to support the Americans with men and money. And without Arnold, its possible that none of that would have come about. We cant know for sure, but Arnold was hailed as a hero.

But thats not how hes remembered. No, the hero who played what might have been the most critical role in the most important battle of the American Revolution is instead remembered as a traitor.

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Unhappy with the way he was treated by Congress and highly in debt, Arnold allowed his loyalist wife to lead him to betray the country by attempting to give the British the fort at West Point, which was strategically located above the Hudson River.

Sure, that was 250 years ago, but the name Benedict Arnold is one of the very few that Americans still remember. And its not just because he was a traitor. Weve had lots of traitors, from the Rosenbergs to Aldrich Ames to half the Obama and Biden administrations. Arnolds name endures because of when he played his role, at the moment of our countrys birth.

Which is where you come in. The United States is at a precipice. If we learned anything from 2020, its that there is a massive cheating machine running through the heart of America. Across the country, Americans watched as that election was literally hijacked. For four years, anyone who suggested the country had been the victim of a coup detat was called a conspiracy nut and an insurrectionist.

Today, we know its true, and a vast majority of Americanstellingly, including Democrats, who will likely lose votessupport Voter ID and the SAVE America Act. The reality is, if Congress does not pass the SAVE America Act, America will go the way of Virginia and New York City, where a small, concentrated elite will convince a majority of the population they are moderates and then govern like Communists once they get in office. A free United States will not survive another wave of elections where just enough fraudulent votes are manufactured that moderate Democrats are installed, who then rule as tyrants.

And once the American Republic has collapsed and the country is thrown into a hot civil war, history will wonder how the greatest nation in the world shattered into a million pieces without anyone stopping what was so obviously a fatal condition.

History will then look back on 2026 and find its villain, in the person of John Thune, the man who stood in the way when 85% of the American people wanted to fix this fatal flaw. Think about that.

Benedict Arnolds name lives on as a symbol of treachery, when in fact, at the time, between one-third and one-half of the country wanted to remain loyal to Britain. And here Thune is defying the wishes of 85% of the American people for God knows what reason. If I were standing in front of Thune right now, this is what I would say to him:

You will be to the American Republic what Brutus was to the Roman Republic. For generations, your progeny will be labeled as the spawn of a traitor.

The incredible thing is, you can do something that most Senators, indeed, most men, never get a chance to do: Change history writ large. Few men in history have stood where you do, at a crossroads where the choices are so stark and monumental for the future. One road leads to a leftist dystopia in which freedom and prosperity are extinguished under a Democrat tyranny imposed under the guise of diversity, equity, and inclusion. The other leads to the messy chaos of freedom and Capitalism, an imperfect combination that nonetheless powers the long-term march of prosperity.

Most men dont get the opportunity to write their story on the stage of history. You actually do, in real time. There have been a few dozen men who have occupied the position you hold, and probably less than 1% of Americans can name a single one of them. You can embrace saving America, becoming the champion of freedom, and literally saving the Republic. In a universe where very few legislators can be seen as champions for freedom, you have the opportunity to become one. Sure, getting the SAVE America Act through the Senate is probably a lot like herding cats, but thats the job you signed up for.

Which legacy will you leave behind, freedom and prosperity, or a dystopian tyranny? Because thats the choice youre faced with. Choose carefully, because historys being written, both yours and ours, the American people.

Image by Vince Coyner.
In modern journalism, narrative comes first.

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The storyline is written before the reporting begins.

Facts arrive later  if at all.

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A now-deleted social media post from CNN offered a striking example of how easily reality can be reshaped when facts collide with the wrong storyline.

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When two suspects were arrested after throwing homemade bombs near the residence of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, CNN initially described them as two Pennsylvania teenagers [who] crossed into New York City  for what couldve been a normal day enjoying the city during abnormally warm weather.

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The attempted bombing was mentioned only afterward.

The framing read less like a crime report and more like the opening line of a travel brochure.

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CNN eventually deleted the post, acknowledging it failed to convey the seriousness of the incident.

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But the original description revealed something important about modern media culture.

These were not simply teenagers enjoying a warm spring day in Manhattan.

CNN host Abby Phillip later admitted the reporting was inaccurate, another reminder that narrative often outruns facts.

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CNN, in its mission statement, claims We are truth-seekers and storytellers. Which is it?

News reporting should seek truth. Leave storytelling to Hollywood.

According to reporting in the New York Post, the suspects allegedly self-radicalized after consuming ISIS propaganda and had traveled to countries such as Turkey and Saudi Arabiadestinations often linked to jihadist networks.

Authorities say the pair carried homemade explosive devices filled with triacetone triperoxide, or TATPa volatile compound known to counterterrorism investigators as the Mother of Satan.

The explosives, fortunately, failed to detonate.

But the suspects were not tourists. They were allegedly radicalized extremists attempting a violent act.

Yet CNNs initial instinct was to soften the narrative.

Notice the passive voice in the original tweet: their lives would drastically change.

No. Their lives did not mysteriously change through some twist of fate.

They changed their lives the moment they chose to build bombs and throw them into a crowd.

This kind of linguistic reframing has become routine in modern journalism.

When perpetrators belong to groups favored by progressive narratives, their actions are softened, contextualized, or reframed.

When suspects are associated with political opponents, the language becomes immediate, moralistic, and unforgiving.

We have seen this pattern repeatedly.

AI-generated image

Consider the 2014 shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Media outlets quickly adopted the description gentle giant, framing Brown as an innocent victim. Only later did investigations confirm that Brown had attempted to seize a police officers weapon and then charged the officer, leading to a shooting ruled self-defense.

The narrative fueled protests nationwide  and even prompted members of Congress and professional athletes to kneel in solidarity.

A similar narrative emerged in 2020 after the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Early media coverage portrayed Blake as an unarmed victim of police violence.

Later investigations revealed that Blake was armed with a knife and had resisted arrest while attempting to enter a vehicle containing children. As with Ferguson, the initial storyline spread nationally long before the fuller facts emerged.

Another example occurred during the 2019 confrontation involving a smiling Nick Sandmann and other students from Covington Catholic High School with a Native American activist. Early media coverage portrayed Sandmann as the face of racial hostility after a brief video clip circulated online.

Longer footage later showed the situation to be far more complicated, with the students attempting to defuse tensions rather than provoke them.

Several media outlets, including CNN, eventually settled defamation lawsuits with Sandmann.

Then there was the media description of a deported migrant widely referred to as a Maryland man, omitting key facts about his immigration status and alleged ties to criminal networks.

The phrasing suggested an ordinary American citizen rather than an illegal immigrant connected to human-smuggling operations.

The pattern is consistent: descriptions soften when the subject fits a politically protected category.

But when the accused fall outside that category, the tone shifts dramatically.

Consider how aggressively the media pursued accusations against Donald Trump regarding civil claims brought by E. Jean Carroll. ABC News host George Stephanopoulos repeatedly stated that Trump had been found liable for rape, despite the jurys verdict not reaching that conclusion under New York law.

Trump sued for defamation, and ABC ultimately settled.

The problem is not simply occasional mistakes.

Mistakes happen in journalism. The problem is the direction of the mistakes.

When errors consistently favor one ideological narrative while harming another, they cease to look accidental.

They begin to resemble editorial policy.

And once readers begin to suspect that news organizations are shaping reality rather than reporting it, the damage spreads far beyond a single story.

Public trust collapses, political polarization deepens, and citizens retreat into competing information ecosystems where no common set of facts exists.

In that environment, journalism ceases to function as a watchdog and begins to operate as a political actor.

In the CNN example, two alleged extremists carrying explosive devices were initially presented as teenagers whose pleasant day in New York City had somehow gone wrong.

Violence becomes contextualized. Responsibility becomes blurred.

Readers are subtly encouraged to sympathize with perpetrators rather than confront the threat they pose.

Meanwhile, individuals associated with conservatives, Trump supporters, or traditional religious groups are often portrayed as morally suspect from the outset.

Journalism once operated under a straightforward principle: report what happened.

Today, the emphasis increasingly falls on shaping how readers should interpret what happened.

Facts become secondary to narrativeand narrative increasingly serves a political agenda.

The CNN tweet was deleted, but the episode revealed how easily journalism can slide into storytelling that reshapes reality rather than describes it.

Two alleged bomb throwers were not teenagers enjoying a warm day.

They were suspects accused of attempting an act of terrorism.

Those are very different descriptions.

And in journalism, description is everything.

Americans are not blind to these patterns.

The public has noticed. Confidence in the media now sits near historic lows. Episodes like this explain why.

Gallup reports that only 28 percent of Americans trust the mass media.

When the press repeatedly filters events through ideological lenses, readers eventually stop trusting the storytellers.

And when trust disappears, journalism loses the one thing it cannot function withoutcredibility.

Brian C. Joondeph, M.D., is a Colorado ophthalmologist who writes frequently about medicine, science, and public policy.

Follow Brian: Twitter @retinaldoctor. Substack Dr. Brians Substack. Truth Social @BrianJoondeph, LinkedIn @Brian Joondeph, and email [email protected].
March 12, 2026. At an ROTC class at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA a former National Guard soldier convicted of giving material support to ISIS and ISIL killed a Professor of Military Science and wounded two ROTC cadets. In an act of enlightened Military Science, he was promptly stabbed and beaten to death by other cadets.

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Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, 36, was sentenced to 11 years in prison in 2017. Prosecutors asked for 20 years, but a sympathetic judge took pity on him when he claimed to recognize his terrorist support as a mistake. For unknown reasons, he was released early and if he was on probation thereafter, it apparently wasnt effective. He decided to rectify his mistake in claiming his jihadism was a mistake.

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The man he killed, Lt. Col. Brandon Shah, survived multiple combat deployments only to be murdered by a jihadist who should have been denaturalized and never released from prison.

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The media, of course, continues to do its best to obfuscate the facts of any terrorist attack, though thats a bit more difficult with this one than many. The media, however, is never shy about blaming guns for crime, a narrative particularly useful in helping cover up Islamist attacks. In this case, the primary peddler of that narrative is Norfolks Soros-sponsored prosecutor, one Rahmin Fatehi, who didnt mention Islamist terrorism, Lt. Col. Shah or the bravery of the ROTC cadets who ended what surely would have been a massacre.

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This was Fatehis focus:

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This is a national sickness. We live in a country where people care more about guns than they care about six-year-old children. They care more about guns than they care about synagogue worshippers. And they care more about guns than they care about college students. What that means is that it does not matter how hard President Hemphill [president of ODU] works, how hard chiefs work, somebody will be a victim eventually. It is a matter of time. And until there's the political will to break the spell of the cult of gun absolutism you will see more incidents like this. Advertisement So if you're looking for someone to blame don't look at anybody up here. Look at our lawmakers who don't have the courage to implement sensible gun control measures. Look to a Supreme Court that enables them. And do something about it. That is the lesson. Let's mourn the people who died. Let's decry what happened. But let's keep the focus where it belongs. It belongs on us and having to change something so that we don't have to suffer through this.

So, Americans are sick. They care more about guns than children and Jews and college students, and presumably college professors, though Fatehi couldnt bring himself to mention Shah. Shahs death is apparently the fault of the Supreme Court for daring to recognize the Second Amendment says what it means and means what it says. Its an unalienable, individual right, but that doesnt matter to Fatehi, who is probably disappointed he couldnt decline to prosecute Jalloh because those Nazi, fascist ROTC kids killed him.

Or perhaps Fatehi was merely overcome with emotion? Perhaps he didnt have all the facts about Jalloh? Perhaps he didnt really mean to attack an express, unalienable civil right, part of the Constitution hes sworn to uphold? Perhaps he didnt mean to blame law-abiding American gun owners for terrorism? Fox News gave him the opportunity to clarify his remarks:

"I absolutely stand by what I said. It is the truth, no matter how much the gun lobby wants to deny it. [skip] No matter the ideology of an attacker, that attacker is more dangerous with a gun than without one."

Jalloh apparently bought the stolen gun he used only a day before the attack from the thief for $100. The thief has been charged, and Jalloh committed at least one felony by buying and possessing the gun before he used it to murder Shah.

Norfolk has a prosecutor who doesnt understand, or care, that criminals dont obey any law, particularly jihadists planning mass murder. Nor does Fatehi understand, or care, that it was armed citizens that saved innumerable lives at the synagogue in Michigan, as they regularly do around the nation. The police cant be there when attacks happen, and armed citizens save lives.

Hopefully, the ROTC cadets who killed Jalloh are lawyered up. Fatehi is virtually certain to want to prosecute them for murder.

Become a subscriber and get our weekly, Friday newsletter with unique content from our editors. These essays alone are worth the cost of the subscription.

Mike McDaniel is a USAF veteran, classically trained musician, Japanese and European fencer, life-long athlete, firearm instructor, retired police officer and high school and college English teacher. He is a published author and blogger. His home blog is Stately McDaniel Manor.
Democrats used to be on the side of victims, but not so much anymore. Women were among their most important victims, suffering under the Republican war on women. In the past, they reflexively defended rape victims, accusing anyone of not wanting to immediately lynch accused rapists of blaming the victim. But that was before they decided vicious illegal alien criminals were higher on the victimization ladder than American women. Now, pretty much any Democrat favored victim grouptrans, drag queens, all manner of domestic criminals, criminal Democrat congressmen, Jihadiststakes precedence over womenand Jews.

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We no longer hear about the Republican war on women, but we are seeing an increasingly fervent Democrat war on the Jews. At Powerline, Scott Johnson explains:

It didnt take long for the mainstream media to come up with a preferred story line for Ayman Mohamad Ghazalis wild terrorist attack at West Bloomfields Temple Israel synagogue. In addition to the New York Times stories cited below, see, for example, this Associated Press story (Man who rammed into Michigan synagogue had just lost family in an Israeli strike in Lebanon), this Washington Post story (Suspect in synagogue crash lost family in Israeli attack on Lebanon, official says), and this NBC News story (The suspect in the attack on Temple Israel near Detroit lost several family members in an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon last week, according to a local Lebanese official and a mayor in Michigan). Compare and contrast with the New York Post profile of Ghazali. Advertisement

Graphic: X Post

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Commentary executive editor Abe Greenwald turned to the subject in Commentarys daily newsletter yesterday. He called his column Turning terror into context.

Greenwald tells us the Synagogue and pre-school Ghazali attacked was founded in 1941 dedicated to the formation of a Jewish state.

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The horror!

We also learn some of Gazalis family members were supposedly killed in an Israeli air strike in Lebanon. What the media is not telling us is that Gazalis brothers were apparently members of Hezbollah, Irans proxy terrorists dedicated to the genocide of all Jews.

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The point is the real victim here is Ghazali, who was compelled to drive his truck loaded with $2000 dollars in fireworks into the Synagogue and run down one security guard, but was thwarted by security gunfire in his attempt to murder hundreds of pre-school Jewish children. He apparently bravely shot himself when it was apparent he wasnt going to succeed in slaughtering children. In a preview of his final destinationnot 72 virginshe was promptly smoked and barbequed.

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In a sane, healthy society, anyone attempting the mass murder of children would be seen as the demonic monster he is, but to the thinking of our Democrat establishment and media, even that kind of evil may not only be excused but praised if the monster is sufficiently high on the Democrat victimization scale. Greenwald further notes:

From October 7, 2023, to this day, every last bit of the psy-op against Israel and the Jews has relied on inverting both morality and truth. Hamas attempted a genocide, so Israel is accused of genocide. Zionism is, among other things, a means of preventing genocide, so Zionism itself is framed as a genocidal ideology. Hamas targeted innocents, slaughtered babies, and raped women, so Israel is accused of all three. Hamas kept food from Gazans, so Israel is accused of a starvation plot. Jews are indigenous to Israel, so Israel is accused of colonizing a native population. Jews are attacked across campuses and elsewhere in America, so were lectured on Islamophobia. The Iranian regime has been waging a half-century-long war to destroy Israel, so Israel is accused of starting a war with Iran.

The inversion of morality and truth against Jews, American women, and sanity has been in effect long before October 7. That day of infamy just brought Islamist apologists out from under their rocks and made them entirely shameless in calling good evil and evil good.

Ultimately, American women raped by illegals are only providing necessary reparations for the evils done to illegal immigrants. Stores forced to close by never-prosecuted shoplifters are providing just reparations for the evils of slavery. And Jews bring their slaughter on themselves because they resist being slaughtered by the people theyve unjustly colonized in the land theyve occupied and the God theyve worshipped for some 3000 years.

Greenwald again:

That his brothers are suspected of being in Hezbollah perfectly encapsulates the larger pathological loop: In their effort to extinguish the Jews, Jew-haters kill their ownat which point they must go out and try to kill more Jews.

Democrats are usually wrong, but never in doubt. Their certainty may end western civilization.

Become a subscriber and get our weekly, Friday newsletter with unique content from our editors. These essays alone are worth the cost of the subscription.

Mike McDaniel is a USAF veteran, classically trained musician, Japanese and European fencer, life-long athlete, firearm instructor, retired police officer and high school and college English teacher. He is a published author and blogger. His home blog is Stately McDaniel Manor.
It's almost insulting.

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After running out of other people's money -- and oil -- Cuba's military dictatorship has decided to 'allow' Cuban-Americans to spend their investment money on their socialist hellhole island, supposedly to make money.

According to NBC News:

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HAVANA  Cuban nationals living abroad in places such as Miami will be allowed to invest in the private sector and own businesses in their homeland, the country's economic czar has told NBC News in an exclusive interview. Oscar Perez-Oliva Fraga, Cuba's deputy prime minister, said that a "blockade" by the United States is hampering these efforts as the island grapples with an energy crisis, rare violent protests and public pressure from the Trump administration. Advertisement Cuba is open to having a fluid commercial relationship with U.S. companies" and "also with Cubans residing in the United States and their descendants," Fraga said in a sit-down in Havana, ahead of announcing the news to his country Monday night.

That's not the attractive prospect they think it is. In fact, it's pretty much a scam to take gringo's money, too, now that they've run out of other suckers, particularly with President Trump shutting down Cuba's "free" oil supplies from Venezuela.

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But that's water off a duck's back to this regime, which is looking for a new sugar daddy to fleece.

You see, money is just waiting to be made in the communist island paradise, so come on in and invest your money -- and take your risk -- in the infrastructure, or the small businesses that the dictatorship has benevolently allowed to exist now. Out of the kindness of its heart, the communist dictatorship has decided to allow the people it called 'gusanos' or, worms, to gather some of that manna from the great hammer and sickle people's republic as it falls from the sky.

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File under 'unclear on the concept.'

They seem to think that investing in that great shambles they've turned the country into is a privilege, not the mother of all risks.

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It's not just that there's no infrastructure, no running water, no guarantee of power, and no consumers with buying power from which to make all this money.

Their biggest problem is that they stand there as the scorpion of Aesop's Fables, seeking a free ride across the river -- and can't stop stinging their host, because as Aesop's story had it, they must act according to their nature, which in this case is communist.

The Cuban government has quite the history of allowing, and then expropriating private business any time that business starts to make money.

We saw that with their 2010 opening to private business -- tiny two-table cafes, buttonhole-repairing businesses, and other big moneymakers the government deigned to allow to exist as a concession to their own economic failure which inhibited their capacity to hire bureaucrats. Once these tiny rag-picking businesses started to make some money, the goons came to get those filthy Kulaks.

We also saw it in 2016, with another apertura, as some call these things, and we saw it in 2022. We saw it as recently as 2025. Anyone who makes money in these tiny business is a sitting duck for expropriation which is always going to happen so long as this regime stays in power.

Why anyone would think the Cuban regime would respect private property this time, even with the Trump administration supposedly looking over their shoulder, is a fool.

The gravy exists only so long as the Trump administration does -- elect a Democrat, which is what the Cuban regime is banking on -- and then the harvesting begins. They do this every time. They know Democrats aren't going to do anything about it, which is why they bank on Democrats getting elected.

What this ridiculous proposal is is nothing but a request to the hated gusanos to bail them out now that they've stiffed every creditor they've ever had -- China, Japan, Mexico, Venezuela, certainly Russia, and many more.

Now there's no one left to fleece but the Cuban-Americans who know very well what they do, particularly when no one's looking.

Cuba, in fact is one of the most hellish regimes in the world for investment, and ranks near the rock bottom on every investment climate metric and transparency index out there. Now the Cuban-Americans are supposed to invest in them?

Will any be dumb enough to shell out? Perhaps if U.S. trade credits are extended, meaning, Uncle Sam covers the expropriation losses, but I am hoping we don't see that from the Trump administration.

It defies belief that anyone would ever invest in a regime that has stiffed every investor it had. It's nothing but a bait-and-swith three-card monte that will guarantee losses for anyone who hands them money to invest.

The one and only way to attract investment on that desperate island, is a complete change of government. Cubans on the island seem to understand this, given the rioting seen on the island now.

There won't be much of any profit under the current regime of thieves and communists. The Cubans are the ones who know.

Image: Pixabay, via Picryl // CC0 1.0 public domain dedication
Republicans continuously earn the epithet The Stupid Party. Arguably the most important legislation affecting the Mid Term elections is the SAVE Act, which will make it more difficult, but not impossible, for Democrats to commit election fraud. It enjoys approval margins reaching 90%, which includes some 70% of Democrats, yet Senate Democrats oppose it, and Senate Republicans balk at eliminating the unholy filibuster, even though they apparently have the votes necessary to pass the legislation with a simple majority.

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Graphic: Truth Social Post

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If the will of the American people means anything at all anymore, how can a necessary law with that kind of approval languish in the do-nothing Senate?

Should they fail to pass the SAVE Act in its most effective form, its a virtual certainty theyll lose the House and Senate through massive election fraud. Should they lose both, Democrats will immediately abolish the filibuster and enact their entire list of threats, including packing the Supreme Court, impeaching President Trump, prosecuting every Republican, reforming immigration to ensure every illegal stays in America and our borders are once again thrown open, and establishing a fundamentally transformed, America last socialist our democracy. Theyll ensure America turns into an eternally Democrat-ruled one-party state.

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Civil War II, anyone?

Does this sound outlandishly alarmist? Weve gone, in short order, from Democrats claiming election fraud just doesnt occur, to it doesnt occur that much, to it occurs but isnt really a problem, to outright defense of election fraud.

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The Senate is the supposed greatest deliberative body in the world, and the filibuster arguably preserves a semblance of minority power against a political party that would exceed the bounds of our constitutional, representative republic, but Democrats have made clear they neither respect our Constitution, nor the boundaries of sanity and decency.

Their arguments against voter ID, proof of citizenship, removing the dead, illegal immigrants, felons and the otherwise ineligible from voter rolls, ballot harvesting, abuse of absentee voting, same day vote reporting, paper ballots and every other effective means of eliminating election fraud are as transparent as they are anti-American. Black people arent too stupid to get photo ID. Married women know they need to change their names in government data bases. The elderly likewise have no difficulty in getting ID.

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Sen. Chuck Schumer (D, NY) has taken the deceptive lead in calling the SAVE Act racist, claiming its Jim Crow II. Honest Elections Project Executive Director Jason Snead commented on Fox via The New York Post:

Now, Schumer is smearing the SAVE Act the same way because he has no legitimate excuse for opposing a law that makes sure only American citizens are voting  which more than 80% of Americans support. Schumers smears were false then, and they are false now, Snead continued. Schumer and the Democrats keep trying to rig the rules of our elections by pushing failed, California-style election laws that invite chaos and fraud. Thats not what Americans want. Advertisement

Graphic: Social Media Post

Who trusts a guy who puts cheese on raw hamburger?

Its likely that Republican failure to secure elections would not only lose the Senate and House due to unrestrained election fraud, but also due to Republican voter disgust. Enough Republicans would simply decline to vote. Wouldnt that be rather politically suicidal? It would, but Republicans are going to conclude that if they cant get their elected representatives with an acknowledged slim majority to vote for something as popular and necessary to the survival of the Republic as the SAVE Act, whats the point? Their votes just dont matter anymore. A great many Republicans are very nearly there.

Without a filibuster, both parties would have to work again. No more frequent recesses, two to three day work weeks and wallowing in the perks of office. No more allocating their duties to unelected bureaucrats. As it is, far too many Republicans assume theyll always have Normal Americans votes. For whom else will they vote? Crazy, communist Democrats?

Its no longer a binary choice. The greatest contemporary danger is Normal Americans deciding participating in the system our politicians have evolved is futile. When enough Americans decide their votes dont count and the politicians they elect dont give a damn about them or the Constitution and rule of law, theyll quit participating and seek other alternatives. We really dont want to go there, but Democrats do.

End the filibuster, go after the Democrats using every lever of power legitimate under the Constitution. Quit pretending they care about America or Americans. If they get power, theyll do it to every American and wont give a damn about the Constitution. Power and money are their currency, all about which they care.

I could be wrong, but I doubt it, and the survival of our republic hangs in the balance.

Become a subscriber and get our weekly, Friday newsletter with unique content from our editors. These essays alone are worth the cost of the subscription.

Mike McDaniel is a USAF veteran, classically trained musician, Japanese and European fencer, life-long athlete, firearm instructor, retired police officer and high school and college English teacher. He is a published author and blogger. His home blog is Stately McDaniel Manor.
In Cuba, the locals are in absolute revolt against a 67-year communist tyranny and all its economic failures. Expectations -- a critical element in igniting a revolution -- are rising, and locals are no longer afraid of the state. They are shouting 'libertad' in their hundreds of thousands:

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Stop romanticizing socialism. None of that aid will get to the Cuban people. The dictatorship steals it and sells it to them in dollars, currency which they don't get paid. What the Cuban people need is freedom. Cuba will be free soon thanks to Donald Trump. Clock is ticking. pic.twitter.com/FfaVkuqB4R  Libertad  (@Libertad12021) March 14, 2026

FREEDOM CHANTS: Cubans attack Communist Party building, set fires in streets amid reported gunfire as island nation faces worsening blackouts and fuel shortages. https://t.co/hIT0aCn5QU Advertisement March 14, 2026

Here is the latest from the city of Moron, where the local communist party headquarters was burned to the ground:

WATCH: Cubans set fire to Communist Party headquarters in Moron, Ciego de Avila pic.twitter.com/qnU8In2u99 Advertisement March 14, 2026

And yet, amid this clear public sentiment, borne of 67 years of zero-freedom total communist rule -- summary executions, political prisoners, mob 'repudiations,' starvation rations, complete corruption of the billionaire ruling class, these so-called socialist 'revolutionaries' are gearing up to 'defend' the status quo, as if Marie Antoinette had a special boutique army to counter the Paris mob:

DSA is going to Cuba! 20 DSA members are joining the Nuestra America Convoy this March 21st. Well bring much-needed material aid, volunteer our labor in solidarity, and show the world that Cuba is under siege, but they are not alone. pic.twitter.com/V7rS4pcLYu Advertisement March 13, 2026

This Swedish official, a member of the European Parliament, is going to Cuba to defend the communist dictatorship.



In other words, a blonde, highly educated Swedish woman is going to Cuba to explain to people who can't eat more than a handful of plain white rice that the Cuban https://t.co/V35qtLhGTe  BowTiedMara (@BowTiedMara) March 15, 2026

We are now 10 days away from the Nuestra America Convoy to Cuba, which will feature several different delegations, including an Influencer Delegation that includes Hasan Piker.



That is especially amusing given that Piker previously backed out of a Cuba trip over legal pic.twitter.com/whf9VOiqvb  Stu Smith (@thestustustudio) March 11, 2026

On The 1600:@davidrkadler joins @carlo_versano to shine a light on U.S.-Cuba tensions ahead of sailing to Cuba on the Nuestra America Convoy in March to deliver humanitarian aid.



Full episode: https://t.co/FWpcp2K1Sn pic.twitter.com/FrYuCssl1E  Newsweek (@Newsweek) March 11, 2026

It's just plain sickening. Where are their questions about the political prisoners, the torture chambers, the starvation rations, the fallen infrastructure, the lack of any rights or rule of law? Any questions about the total blackouts the island is enduring? These aren't right-wing fantasies, these are the realities on the ground of those who have to live in that communist hellhole. Do any of them ever ask why so many Cubans just want to leave?

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That they are going now, to lecture the angry locals, and prop up the regime -- in the current climate -- actually makes me fear for their safety. Nobody should be setting foot in Cuba at this point. I'd really like to see the reality-T.V. footage of their visit, given how angry the locals are.

This one, Swedish greenie activist, Greta Thuberg, is a special case. She's not going, but she's using her soapbox to demand oil for Cuba to keep its government afloat:

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Environmental STOP OIL activist Greta Thunberg is angry at President Trump for stopping oil to Cuba.



She is demanding that President Trump allow oil imports to the communist Cuban government. pic.twitter.com/ND8uCmfB49  Wall Street Mav (@WallStreetMav) March 15, 2026

As a greenie activist, we thought she didn't like oil. Didn't she once sail a boat on a carbon-footprint free model? Now it's only O.K. if Cuba has oil. I guess we know what's going on here ...

GLOBAL WARMING: Greta Thunberg blocked oil tankers 3 years ago in the name of saving the planet. She is now demanding Trump send Venezuelan oil tankers to Cuba. The climate emergency was apparently never about oil. It was about who controls it. pic.twitter.com/5C8FEcUzya  @amuse (@amuse) March 15, 2026

Meanwhile, the ruling Cuban elites do have a Marie Antoinette style about them:

Este especimen es Sandro Castro, nieto de Fidel Castro, multimillonario, dueno de haciendas, autos deportivos y varios negocios.



Ademas se hace pasar por influencer, aunque solo dice incoherencias producto del consumo de drogas.



Nunca en su vida ha trabajado, pero es de las pic.twitter.com/LvsygRGwhm  Gustavo Cardenas (@gustav0cardenas) March 14, 2026

That's who this group is going to cozen up to, and attempt to rally support for -- the billionaire elites still ruling the slave empire of Cuba.

Not only is the specter repulsive, it's downright dangerous. They don't seem to understand that Cuba is a hellhole in the throes of a revolution -- and they're the reactionaries about to learn the hard way that communism is in its death throes on that nightmare tyranny.

Image: Screenshot from X.
No country on Earth has had a more storied and admired history of successful immigration than ours. We welcome those who come to contribute, but recent attacks at Old Dominion and a large Reformed Synagogue in Michigan highlight the powerful alliance that Americas leftists have created with Muslim immigrants and their first and even second-generation descendants.

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Religiosity by itself does not deterministically block assimilation. However, devout Muslims are likelier to retain distinct cultural and religious practices (e.g., lower intermarriage, stronger in-group networks). Additionally, pious religiosity correlates with many markers of lower cultural assimilation (e.g., visible practices such as dress, endogamy, use of co-ethnic institutions). Studies find devout individuals are more likely to keep religious dress, attend religious services, and marry within the faith, each of which is a countervailing force to assimilation.

But Muslims go further than merely keeping to themselves as, say, the Amish or Ultra-Orthodox Jews do. Two of the key determinants that separate Muslims from prior immigrants:

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First, many Muslims believe that following Sharia Law, a fusion between faith, political, and military doctrine, is a religious requirement. Polls tend to gloss over how important this is by asking Should Muslims have the choice to live under Sharia, which gets higher affirmative responses than asking whether Sharia should replace U.S. law.

This ignores that, for devout Muslims, the mandate is for Sharia to become the law of the land. This raises a question: If a significant portion of Muslims endorse Sharia law and, by extension, other covenants from the Quran, how can we be sure of an individuals loyalty?

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Second, unlike the Christian and Hebrew Bibles, the Quran specifically imposes on faithful Muslims a duty regarding dealing with non-believers: Conquer them via voluntary or forced conversion, with those who refuse to convert killed, enslaved, or denied full rights. These are not theoretical demands, but very real ones, and whats happened in those lands Islam conquered and what is happening in Europe should give all of us pause and reject specious fears of being called an Islamophobe.

Once established, Islamic societies, no matter how many skyscrapers they build in the Gulf states, depend on a religious theocracy that dictates peoples lives and requires their submission to a worldview virtually unchanged since the Dark Ages.

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Meanwhile, our homegrown leftists, communists, and anarchists seek to destroy American-style capitalism and individualism. They are already integrated into the American system through the Democrat party, which theyve completely conquered. As an example of how they operate, Washington state just passed a 9.9% surtax on income above $1 million. If you live in Seattle, the effective income tax rate is over 18%, the highest in the country!

(Washingtons wealthy are already responding. Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz announced hes moving to Florida. This follows efforts in other Blue States to effectively punish success while fulfilling the social justice warriors demand for income redistribution. Unfortunately, leftist millionaires are not made wise through experience, and they bring their leftist policies to their new red-state homes.)

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Like the tens of thousands of recent Islamic immigrants, Americas homegrown leftists see themselves working to create a social structure that requires everyone to be subordinate, not to Islam, but to social justice, which demands that no one should live better than anyone else, regardless of how hard they work.

Today, Islamist movements and Americas left (everything from the Democrat party to the hardcore Antifa types) have converged tactically around shared grievanceschiefly anti-imperialism, opposition to U.S./Israeli policy, and critiques of global capitalism. Their alignment is pragmatic, symbolic, and ultimately short-lived rather than representing ideological fusion. Eventually, this temporary allignment will fracture, resulting in a return to the loathing that both positions have for each other. Before that happens, though, this enemy of my enemy alliance, if left unchecked, can destroy the American system.

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Lacking a widely shared understanding of the problems we face and the ability to prioritize threats, we have not met the challenge posed by an enemy bent on our destruction. Marxists are convinced that once theyve obtained their goals, they can turn on the Muslims and destroy them next. Neither side will tolerate the others existence after theyve destroyed us.

Sooner or later, traditional America, its institutions, and leaders must come to see the threat, prioritize a response, and rally fellow Americans to the realities and challenges we face.

God Bless America!

Image created using AI.

Author, Businessman, Thinker, and Strategist. Read more about Allan, his background, and his ideas to create a better tomorrow.
Sen. Jim Banks, an Indiana Republican, is asking a question that should have been asked years ago: Why are Chinese nationals still getting flight training on American soil while Beijing is working overtime figuring out how to outgun us?

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Banks sent a letter to the TSA's acting administrator pushing for changes to the Flight Training Security Program  specifically, barring nationals from foreign adversary states, including China, from American flight schools, National Review reports.

U.S. officials have been raising red flags for years that China is methodically scooping up Western aviation expertise  including anything that touches military applications. In 2023, the Commerce Department cracked down on several aviation outfits it concluded were helping train People's Liberation Army pilots in Western and NATO techniques, with Reuters reporting that those firms were training PLA aviators using Western methods. A year later, the U.S. and its Five Eyes partners had to issue a public warning that China was still recruiting former Western military personnel to train its pilots, including for carrier operations. American intelligence agencies were quietly telling ex-"Top Gun" pilots to watch their backs and their contacts.

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The Justice Department recently arrested former Air Force F-35 instructor Gerald Eddie Brown Jr. for allegedly providing defense services to Chinese military pilots without authorization. Former Marine pilot Daniel Duggan faces similar accusations, allegedly running a training operation in South Africa.

While it can be argued that not every Chinese national in an American cockpit is a spy, the CCP doesn't need a flight school full of operatives. It just needs enough access, in enough places, to pick up skills and relationships it can use later. And the CCP is notorious for requiring businesses and individuals to conform to the government's requirements.

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We spend billions trying to stay ahead of China militarily, and then leave side doors open that let them walk off with pieces of that advantage through entirely civilian channels.

Banks' proposal isn't about hostility toward Chinese people. It's about plugging an obvious hole. The U.S. has every right to decide that adversarial governments don't get to use our runways and our instructors to build better fighter pilots. If Beijing wants a world-class air force, it can figure that out on its own.
Aidan OBrien is still effusive in his praise of Albert Einstein as the highly-touted colt moves into his three-year-old career.

Unbeaten in two starts as a juvenile, an injury forced him to miss Royal Ascot and he never made it back to the track last season.

Despite training several other Group-winning two-year-olds last season, OBrien is still in no doubt that Albert Einstein is best in class, with his only question mark being how far he will stay.

Its been wet, we havent been held up with them but we have had to be careful not to overdo them on the bad ground, said OBrien.

Aidan OBrien shows off Albert Einstein at Ballydoyle on Monday (Gary Carson/PA)

All the main horses, everything has gone well for them. From the Guineas horses the number one at the moment is Albert, hes done very well physically. Hes big and powerful and very rapid.

We wont know if hes going to get the mile until we do it. The stride people, the heart people, the pedigree people, everyone says that he will get a mile, but hes a very quick thinker.

Hes rapid to do anything, hes quick to leave the stalls and very quick into his stride. Were not going know and were not going to search to find out because we dont want to wake him up too much.

Were going to train him asleep and see whats going to happen.

Albert Einstein on the gallops at Ballydoyle (Gary Carson/PA)

Albert Einstein is part of a trio of horses earmarked for editions of the 2000 Guineas run in England, Ireland and France.

The other horse is Puerto Rico and the other horse after that is Gstaad, and we all know what hes done, OBrien continued.

At the moment the three of them are being trained for the Guineas, Id imagine one of them will go to France and then hopefully come back to the Curragh.

With the way the ground is at the moment, Id imagine theyd all go straight there. Listening to the lads, I think two will go to Newmarket and one will go to France and then the Curragh  I think thats what theyre thinking.

Albert is the main horse. When we started working him in the spring of his two-year-old career we thought all the two-year-olds were no good and we thought he was the only horse we had.

He was that much above everything else, it was unusual. He had his two runs and won his maiden very easily, it was a six-furlong race and he was keen enough, he was rapid through the race and the second (Power Blue) won a Group One after.

Then he had the mishap, he doesnt look big but hes powerful, hes wide and strong.

Still unbeaten  Home-bred Albert Einstein (Wootton Bassett) gains Group Three success in the @GAINEquine Marble Hill Stakes for Aidan O'Brien and Ryan Moore @coolmorestud | @curraghrace pic.twitter.com/Yh8Ve9SLFR  Racing TV (@RacingTV) May 25, 2025

He went on: He picked up a little fracture at the Curragh. He was so far ahead of the other two-year-olds at the start it wasnt funny.

Hes unbelievably quick. Everyone is telling us hell stay, but its whether he can get down and relax. Were training him without looking at him, hell go to the Guineas without having come off the bridle.

Speed-wise I dont think weve had a horse like him. I dont know whether hell stay, but well learn on the day. The minute the gates open he is rapid, he just lands running.

You cant make the running with a horse like him. Excitement-wise hes unbelievable as his injury wont bother him this year.

Hes the horse everyone is dreaming about because we dont know whats going to happen. Hes in the Derby because with a horse like him how can you not put him in, but Id be happy if he stays a mile.

The plan at the moment is they will all go to the Curragh in a fortnight and that will be their biggest work before it, but we wont ask them anything, theyll just float up.
Max Dowman walks out for open Arsenal training alongside Declan Rice (Getty Images)

Martin Odegaard and Jurrien Timber have both been ruled out of Arsenals Champions League clash with Bayer Leverkusen.

The Gunners drew the first leg of their last-16 tie 1-1 in Germany last week and will look to secure a quarter-final spot in the return fixture in north London on Tuesday night.

They will have to do so without Odegaard, who continues to be sidelined by a knee injury.

The Arsenal captain has played just once since February 12, when he first picked up the issue against Brentford.

Odegaard briefly returned off the bench against Tottenham last month but had not fully recovered and has been absent since.

Timber, meanwhile, has been almost an ever-present in the Arsenal side this season but is also now out.

The versatile defender appeared to suffer an ankle issue early in the 2-0 win over Everton on Saturday.

Timber attempted to carry on but signalled to the bench 20 minutes later and was brought off before half-time.

Neither player took part in an open training session at London Colney on Monday and Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has now confirmed they will not be available to face Leverkusen.

However, Leandro Trossard will be involved after training on Monday. The Belgian picked up a minor injury against Mansfield in the FA Cup last weekend that has kept him out of the last two matches.

Both of them [Odegaard and Timber] are out, Arteta said at his pre-match press conference. Trossard is okay, he felt good so he's available.

Max Dowman was also involved in the first-team session on Monday morning.

The 16-year-old produced a remarkable cameo off the bench against Everton to drag Arsenal to victory.

Earlier this season, Dowman became the youngest player ever to feature in the Champions League and he could play a part in the second leg against Leverkusen.

Arsenal remain without Mikel Merino after surgery on a foot injury.
Global beauty retailer Sephora has announced it is opening two stores in Scotland this summer, with the firm saying it is bringing double the magic to a country that has long been calling for it.

The stores in Glasgows Silverburn Shopping Centre and Edinburghs St James Quarter will mark the companys first foray into Scotland, some three years after it opened its first UK outlet in London.

The firm said hoardings at both sites will appear imminently, featuring the brands black-and-white stripe motif complete with a Scottish nod.

The Glasgow store is set to boast 5,048 square feet of retail space, while the Edinburgh outlet will measure 4,961 square feet.

Sephora said the stores will give Scots the chance to buy brands including rhode, Haus Labs and Makeup by Mario on home soil for the first time, along with Sephora UK exclusives.

Sephora UK managing director Sarah Boyd said: The Sephora UK team and I are thrilled to finally reveal that were bringing our temples of beauty to not one, but two incredible Scottish cities this summer  with fans crying out for a Scottish beauty playground.

It has been three years since we opened our first UK store; from the very beginning weve been searching for the perfect locations for us to open in the region  and we are so happy to have found them in Edinburghs St James Quarter and Silverburn Glasgow.

Opening in both Edinburgh and Glasgow this summer is about bringing double the energy, double the access, and double the magic to a country that has long been calling for it.

Scotland also steps into a landmark summer, so the timing couldnt feel more meaningful, and Sephora UK is proud to play a part in a special season that is set to make its mark in the history books.

We know how eagerly our Scottish customers have waited while we expanded across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and we truly want to say thank you for your patience and loyalty.

Now, Scotland, lets get even more bonnie together.

Sephora was established in Limoges, France in 1969, and has since grown to a global network of more than 3,200 physical stores, along with e-commerce and digital platforms.

The firm said the new Edinburgh and Glasgow stores will open alongside its new small-format boutique stores, which were recently announced to debut this summer in London.

St James Centre estate director Anne Ledgerwood described the opening of a Sephora store in the capital as a major moment for both St James Quarter and Edinburghs shopping scene.

As one of the most influential names in global beauty, its arrival brings a new retail experience to the city and an exciting addition to St James Quarters growing beauty line-up, she said.

Sephoras immersive concept and curated brand offer will our give customers something truly new, whether they are long-time fans or discovering the brand for the first time.

Silverburn general manager David Pierotti said: Sephora coming to Glasgow marks such a big moment for the city and the west of Scotland and we are so pleased to be home to its largest store in the country.

Our commitment to delivering an award-winning, first-class retail experience for our guests is demonstrated through our diverse offering of leading names across fashion, lifestyle and beauty.

I know our community in Glasgow will be very excited to see another globally recognised brand join us and we look forward to welcoming them to Sephoras temple of beauty here at Silverburn.
Red carpet lead

Well... all those who said the dramatic creative changes at the top of big fashion houses last year wouldnt cut through to the public didnt anticipate the Matthieu Blazy (Chanel) and Jonathan Anderson (Christian Dior) red-carpet effect.

Both designers, not yet a year into their posts, have been relentlessly showcasing their wares (and wears) during this awards season. Its fair to say neither fully hit their stride until Sunday night, with both serving up dress after stunning dress.

First out of the limos (a surprisingly early arrival for an A-lister; she was one of the first to arrive) was Jessie Buckley, radiant in red and pink Chanel. Over the past few months, Buckley has often looked as though fashion was happening to her rather than for her. But Danielle Goldberg, a top Hollywood stylist who also works with Greta Lee and Saoirse Ronan, finally captured Buckleys contradictions  shes both earthy and luminous  with this joyful strapless satin and silk dress, part sculpted, part flowy. For the first time, Buckley looked comfortable as well as radiant.

Jessie Buckley in sculptural Chanel - Julian Hamilton

Like Buckley, Rose Byrne, in hour-glass Dior, embroidered with white cyclamen, met the right dress. Kirsten Dunst in architectural black ruffles; prima ballerina Misty Copeland in a David Koma black tuxedo with a white tutu hem (shades of Jonathan Andersons new Bar jackets at Dior), Kate Hudson (not normally a notable dresser, but her watery blue beaded Armani Prive strapless peplum dress looked stunning); Chloe Zhao in her Lady Dedlock black veil and Audrey Nuna, in a tailored gold and black jacket that exploded into a Scarlett OHara crinoline below the waist, all looked delightfully idiosyncratic.

Youve got to hand it to Gwyneth Paltrow, who always knows how to steal the spotlight. In her blush pink Armani Prive gown, she took the concept of a thigh split to new heights  a not-so-subtle reminder that the over-50s can still bare all when its done judiciously. Naomi Watts also rocked slit-to-the hip Balenciaga at the after party, while Philipine Leroy-Beaulieu did a deep V-neck. And then there was 80-year-old Goldie Hawn, still somehow working her dizzy blonde charm and getting away with it.

A not-so-subtle full-side split for Paltrow - JILL CONNELLY/EPA/Shutterstock

Rose Byrne in Dior - ANGELA WEISS

Kirsten Dunst in custom Celine - Gilbert Flores

Ballerina Misty Copeland in David Koma - Valerie Goodloe/MediaPunch

Kate Hudson in glittering Armani Prive - Shutterstock

Chloe Zhao in a Lady Dedlock-esque black veil - DANIEL COLE

Its rare that red carpet dresses jet in direct from a show. These days theyre usually created from scratch. The fact that Byrne and her stylist Kate Young felt confident taking on a catwalk design (an adaptation of look 35 from the spring 2026 couture collection), is just one example of how this years Oscars fully embraced high fashion  not the gimmicks, but the creativity and craft. They even had Dame Anna Wintour presenting. If you didnt stay up (thats what were here for), she was good at playing herself  and as Naomi Campbell has frequently demonstrated, thats not a given.

Anna Wintour in Dior and Anne Hathaway in Valentino presented the award for Best Costume Designer - Stewart Cook

Mia Goth also opted for a Dior gown - JC Olivera

Bland beige and samey sadness be gone. Gen Z and millennial actresses like Mia Goth in frothy white Dior, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas in an exploded Loewe neckline, Odessa Azion in a Valentino crystal-embellished wrap jacket and long black skirt, and Teyana Taylor have all grown up with Instagram and TikTok, where anyone can familiarise themselves with and air their views about major designers without forking out for a subscription to Vogue.

Taylor hasnt put a foot wrong on the red carpet (although she could have lost the necklace). Id assumed that one reason she has such amazing poise is that she has a long neck. But this Chanel textured slip dress revealed she simply has incredible posture and knows how to bend her body into shapes for the camera.

Teyana Taylor knows how to wear a dress - Shutterstock

Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas in monochrome Loewe - Lexie Moreland

The moment they get a decent role, actors are courted by major houses. Nicolas Ghesquiere, Louis Vuittons creative director, designs unapologetically conceptual clothes that arent always easy to wear. Vuitton pays its ambassadors life-changing sums of money, so those chosen quickly learn how to enrage with high-concept outfits. Not everyones a winner. Chase Infinitis ruffled, corseted, draped train had almost as much going on as One Battle After Another, her Oscar-nominated break-out. Conversely, Emma Stones shimmery empire line had too little. At least it did in pictures. Zendaya on the other hand, was perfection in an off-the-shoulder brown Vuitton dress that suited her colouring beautifully.

Chase Infiniti had almost too much going on in a Louis Vuitton gown... - Jordan Strauss

... while Emma Stone, also in Louis Vuitton, had too little - Jeff Kravitz

Robert Pattinson and Zendaya presented the Best Director award together

For all the stunning frocks, the biggest lesson is about styling. Red lipstick was the biggest star. Renate Reinsve, the Norwegian nominated for Best Actress in Sentimental Value, had already selected a stunning, strapless red Vuitton dress with an off-centre train. But her less-is-more styling (matching red shoes and lipstick, slicked back hair and Carolyn Bessette Kennedy decision to forgo jewellery bar a single cuff) made it outstanding.

Renate Reinsve kept it simple in a strapless Vuitton gown - Lexie Moreland

Styling decisions also rocketed Kathy Bates lavender grey beaded satin gown by bridal designer Sareh Nouri into the memorable category. When was the last time you saw such a sophisticated matching of hair and outfit colours? Melissa McCarthys gold beaded dress with its black neckline and long sleeves and Wunmi Mosakus emerald green sequinned Louis Vuitton were two more well-judged decisions. And Kate Hawley, whose Frankenstein costumes won her an Oscar, looked glorious in her billowing black taffeta bow-necked cape and multiple brooches.

Kathy Bates in Sareh Nouri - Lexie Moreland

Men are embracing brooches too. I lost count of how many. Much better than that blighted era when they expressed their rebelliousness by rejecting bow ties and dressed like identical bouncers. I liked this years floppy bow ties trend, as seen on Paul Mescal, among others.

Adrien Brody in Gucci - Penske Media

Paul Mescal, with girlfriend Gracie Abrams, in Celine

For women, peplums are a definite thing. More high fashion from the catwalks  see a (thinner than ever) Nicole Kidman in Chanel. Heavy handed accessorising made Anne Hathaways floral Valentino  not a million miles from Byrnes Dior  seem old-fashioned. Elbow length gloves, diamond drop earrings, blinding necklace and backcombed hair were the embodiment of the old adage (which I just made up). Namely: you dont have to take it all, just because its all available to you.

Nicole Kidman opted for Chanel in another high fashion look - Frazer Harrison

Other misses? It seems like plucking low hanging fruit because she always gets it wrong, but Heidi Klums strapless, corset-style, jewelled bodice managed to look basic despite all those adjectives.

Heidi Klum didnt quite get it right in her strapless dress - Gilbert Flores

Timothee Chalamets once-again too-long trousers are a no from me. The normally sure-footed Vicky Krieps could have oomphed up her make-up slightly. The curved neckline on her Bottega Veneta black column dress didnt need that necklace either.

Timothee Chalamet in Givenchy - Shutterstock

Sigourney Weavers Valentino look managed to strike the right balance on stage - JC Olivera

Initially, from the pictures I thought Sigourney Weavers gold Valentino dress washed her out in the pictures, and that her make-up wasnt helping. On stage however, the effect was subtle and delicate. This Oscar dressing malarkey isnt easy.
Tilray Brands has agreed to buy some of BrewDogs US assets, including its Ohio-based brewery and hotel and Las Vegas site, following a UK rescue deal.

The New York-based firm, which produces medicinal cannabis as well as craft beer in the US, said it had agreed to acquire certain key assets across North America.

This incorporates its brewery, pub and hotel in Columbus, Ohio, bars in New Albany and Cleveland in Ohio, and flagship pub in Las Vegas in Nevada, a franchised site in Denver, Colorado, and a licensed bar in Columbus International Airport.

It did not disclose the price of the deal.

People at a BrewDog venue in Columbus, Ohio (SOPA Images Limited/Alamy Live News)

Tilray, which bought a number of BrewDogs assets and bars in the UK earlier this month, said the acquisition will help it to expand into the US craft beer industry.

Irwin D Simon, Tilrays chief executive, said: The acquisition of BrewDogs key US assets strengthens our US beverage platform and advances our regional craft beer strategy across North America.

BrewDog has built a strong following in Ohio and established a highly visible presence in Las Vegas, including a flagship brewpub located on a premier stretch of the Las Vegas Strip.

These assets fit squarely within our brewpub model, creating destination-led venues that deepen consumer engagement while providing new opportunities to introduce and sell our broader portfolio of Tilray beverage brands.

Tilray had already agreed to buy the global brand and related intellectual property, its UK brewing operation and 11 of its pub venues across the UK and Ireland, preserving 733 jobs.

It also bought BrewDogs Australian business including a Brisbane-based brewery and a number of owned and franchised bars.

But the deal, which rescued the company out of administration, resulted in the closure of 36 bars in the UK, with around 480 workers losing their jobs.

The move also meant that any equity holders will be left empty-handed and not receive any returns from the deal.
Operator: NCP runs many pay and displays in the capital including this one near the British Museum (Google Maps)

Britains biggest car park operator NCP has fallen into administration putting almost 700 jobs at risk.

The 95 year old company, one of the UKs best known corporate names, manages around 340 car parks in major towns and city centres, airports, hospitals and transport hubs and employs 682 people.

Zelf Hussain, Rachael Wilkinson and Toby Banfield of PwC have been appointed as joint administrators and will now take steps to stabilise the business while assessing options for its future. The car park sites will continue to stay open for now.

In a statement PwC said NCPs performance has deteriorated over a number of years post-COVID-19 as demand for parking has not recovered to historic levels, particularly across city-centre and commuter locations.

Continued shifts in commuting and customer driving patterns have impacted site occupancy, while the high concentration of long-term, inflexible leases has meant the Company has been unable to reduce costs in line with revenue or to exit loss-making sites, resulting in ongoing trading losses.

The company now has insufficient cash available to meet its financial obligations and the directors have therefore taken the decision to appoint administrators.

Zelf Hussain, said: NCP has faced a challenging trading environment over several years, with changing consumer behaviours impacting volumes, and a high fixed cost-base leading to trading losses. Our priority on appointment is to ensure continuity of service while we undertake a detailed review of the business.

All sites are open, staff remain in post, and trading continues as normal. We will be engaging with landlords, employees and other stakeholders as we explore all options, including the potential sale of all or part of the business, to secure the best possible outcome for creditors.

NCP sites in central London include Bloomsbury Square, Brunswick Square, Kings Cross, Harley Street and Marylebone Road. The company name is one of the few in Britain that has become a generic term, often being used to refer to any major city centre car park.

NCP can trace its roots back to 1931 when it was incorporated by Colonel Frederick Lucas. But it only became a major force in London when it was taken over by Central Car Parks, a company founded after the Second World War by Sir Ronald Hobson and Sir Donald Gosling who saw the potential for using bombsites as places to park the growing number of privately owned cars driving into central London.

They invested 200 to convert a single bombsite in Holborn, London into a parking area. By 1959, they acquired NCP from Lucas's widow and adopted the "National" branding to reflect their ambition for country-wide expansion.

It has been owned by Park24, a Tokyo-listed company, since 2017 after being sold by Australias Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund.

Latest accounts filed at Companies House show that it made a pre-tax loss of 28.2 million in the year to 30 September 2023 and was 22.5 million in the red the previous year.
Welsh broadcaster Carol Vorderman will appear across a series of shows on Channel 5s daytime TV line-up on Tuesday morning.

The 65-year-old will take over the channel from 9am to 3pm as she features across its scheduled morning programming, joining the likes of Jeremy Vine and Vanessa Feltz.

Vorderman will kick off the day on broadcaster Vines eponymous debate show, before making her way on to Storm Huntley and Alexis Conrans news programme later that morning.

Carol Vorderman will join the likes of Jeremy Vine for the takeover (Jordan Pettitt/PA) (Jordan Pettitt)

The TV presenter will then join Matt Allwrights show, which also looks at the news stories of the day, before wrapping up her takeover on Feltzs discussion-led chat show.

The appearances are to celebrate Vordermans return to Channel 5 in her role as team captain on quiz show Celebrity Puzzling, which sees stars put to the test with a series of puzzles and challenges.

Throughout the day, the broadcaster will also be sharing information about the upcoming series of her new show and giving viewers a taste of what to expect.

Vorderman said: It will be great to chat about everything from the issues of the day to real-life stories and consumer topics, and of course to share a bit about Celebrity Puzzling.

I love a good puzzle, so Im excited to give viewers a taste of whats coming.

Federico Ruiz, commissioner for Daytime at 5, said: Carol is a broadcasting powerhouse and were really excited to have her taking over our daytime schedule.

Carol Vorderman said she is really looking forward to her Channel 5 takeover (Ian West/PA) (Ian West)

Each of our shows has its own unique personality and audience, from debate and current affairs to consumer issues and heartfelt stories.

Ruiz added that viewers will get to enjoy her trademark energy and sharp wit all day on 5.

Vorderman is known as the former co-host of Channel 4 game show Countdown, and has also appeared as a panellist on ITVs Loose Women.

She also starred on ITV reality show Im A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here! in 2016, and appeared on its all-star spin-off, titled Im A Celebrity South Africa, in 2023.

Vorderman will appear on Channel 5 from 9.15am on Tuesday March 17.
The US trade deficit in goods widened in 2025, but the gap with China narrowed in the full year, government data shows

Beijing said on Monday it has "lodged representations" and urged Washington to "correct its erroneous ways" after the US launched new trade probes last week, with negotiators from both countries meeting in Paris.

Washington's trade investigations target 60 economies including China and will look into "failures to take action on forced labor" and whether these burden or restrict US commerce.

Those investigations came a day after a separate set of US probes centred on excess industrial capacity that target 16 trading partners including China, which Beijing's foreign ministry criticised as "political manipulation".

"We urge the US side to immediately correct its erroneous ways, meet China halfway... and resolve issues through dialogue and negotiations," Beijing's commerce ministry said in a statement.

Read moreChina calls on US to cancel Trump-era tariffs following Supreme Court ruling

The latest round of investigations "is extremely unilateral, arbitrary and discriminatory", it said, accusing Washington of "attempting to construct trade barriers".

Trade officials from both countries met in Paris on Sunday for talks that Washington has said would last for two days.

China has "lodged representations" with the US over the newest forced labour trade probes, the Chinese commerce ministry said.

Human rights groups and United Nations experts have voiced alarm over allegations of forced labour affecting minority groups in China's western Xinjiang region, which Beijing has dismissed as "fabricated".

The two sets of trade probes will likely take months, but could justify new tariffs after the US Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs in February.

Washington has said Trump will visit China from March 31 to April 2, although Beijing has yet to confirm those dates.

Trump told the Financial Times in an interview that the summit could be postponed because of the Middle East war.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
Chinese online retail giant JD.com is launching in the UK through its new Joybuy platform, as it seeks to target bargain-hunting British shoppers.

The 30 billion ecommerce firm is launching the shopping platform on Monday, as it seeks to challenge major rivals including Amazon in the UK.

The move comes after US and Hong-Kong listed JD.com pulled out of talks for two separate deals to buy major UK retail brands over the past two years.

In 2024, the group abandoned plans for a possible deal to buy Currys, and last September it walked away from talks over a potential takeover of Argos from Sainsburys.

The group is now going to challenge both retail brands, among many others, with its launch.

Chinas largest retailer will offer products across technology, appliances, beauty, home, groceries and other essentials.

It said it will also offer next-day delivery to about 17 million households across the UK from its launch after establishing its own logistics operations.

The group will run distribution sites from Milton Keynes and Luton to help deliver significant scope from the start of its operations in the UK.

Bosses said the business plans to establish itself in the UK for a long time and believes a combination of its product range, value and convenience will entice new customers.

Matthew Nobbs, managing director of Joybuy UK, said the firm was confident about its growth prospects in the country.

We are here for a long time, as our CEO has said, he told the Press Association.

We have spent a lot of time working and honing to get our web and app proposition right, making it work in beta testing over the time.

We have to make sure the customer experience is really great.

The company is simultaneously launching into six new European markets, which include Germany, the Netherlands, France, Belgium and Luxembourg.

The business struck a 2.2 billion euro (1.9 billion) deal to snap up Germany-based electronics retail group Ceconomy last year.
Oscars host Conan OBrien shocked Hollywood A-listers with a paedophile joke seemingly about Jeffrey Epstein and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor during his presentation of the 2026 ceremony.

The TV host and comedian didnt name the duo directly, but he referenced the furore surrounding the Epstein files when he made a point about the absence of any British acting nominees.

For the first time since 2011, there are no British actors nominated, OBrien said, adding: But at least they arrest the paedophiles over there.

The crowd didnt seem to know how to react to the joke, with shock seeming to ripple across the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. However, applause then broke out.

Millions of files related to the case of Epstein were unveiled in January, linking the convicted paedophile to world figures, including Bill Gates and US president Donald Trump.

But it was disgraced royal former Prince Andrew  full name Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor  who was arrested in February 2026 on suspicion of misconduct in public office. Investigators are trying to determine if Andrew sent sensitive government information to Epstein.

Conan OBriens joke shocked audiences at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles (ITV)

When the initial wave of emails was released in November 2025, the US president was mentioned and, in one email, Epstein claimed Trump knew about the girls.

Trump told reporters that he knows nothing about the emails. The president has consistently denied any wrongdoing and has characterised efforts to release the full files as a hoax. He has not been accused of criminal wrongdoing, and an appearance in the Epstein files does not suggest otherwise.

In January, comedian Nikki Glaser also made a joke about the Epstein files during the Golden Globes.

Directing her attention to the high-profile crowd, which included stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Julia Roberts, Glaser admitted that she couldnt believe the amount of star power we have in this room tonight.

She continued: Its insane. Theres so many A-listers. And by A lists, I do mean people who are on A lists that have been heavily redacted.

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor after being arrested in February (Reuters)

The 2026 Oscars saw One Battle After Another take home Best Picture and Best Director for Paul Thomas Anderson and Best Supporting Actor for Sean Penn, who snubbed the ceremony.

Hamnet star Jessie Buckley won Best Actress while Michael B Jordan won Best Actor for Sinners. Meanwhile, Amy Madigan took home Best Supporting Actress for her role in horror film, Weapons.
Nato leaders rejected US president Donald Trumps call to get involved in the war against Iran, despite mounting pressure from Washington.

A day after Japan, Australia and the UK said they had no plans to send naval ships to the strategic waterway, Germany joined in saying Nato had nothing to do with the US-Israeli war on Iran.

It is not Natos war, a spokesperson for German chancellor Friedrich Merz said. Nato is an alliance to defend the alliance area. The United States did not consult us before this war, and so we believe this is not a matter for Nato or the German government.

Mr Trump earlier said his administration had contacted seven countries and expected them to help secure the waterway, which Iran has effectively blockaded.

Im demanding that these countries come in and protect their own territory because it is their territory, Mr Trump told reporters aboard the Air Force One. Its the place from which they get their energy.

German defence minister Boris Pistorius also dismissed the American request. This is not our war. We have not started it. What does Donald Trump expect a handful or two handfuls of European frigates to do in the Strait of Hormuz that the powerful US navy cannot do? he said, downplaying warnings by the US president that failing to come to Washingtons aid could have consequences for the Nato alliance.

Japanese prime minister Sanae Takaichi earlier said the US had yet to make any formal request for assistance.

We have not made any decisions whatsoever about dispatching escort ships. We are continuing to examine what Japan can do independently and what can be done within the legal framework, she said.

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Dan Caine said on Friday that the situation in the Strait of Hormuz is 'complex' after traffic through the waterway trickled to a halt (Defense Department)

Ms Takaichi told lawmakers: Legally speaking, this is very difficult. We are carefully examining what can be done within the scope of current laws and what is the best course of action at this time. At the same time, we are continuing to engage with Iran to help de-escalate the situation while also exchanging information with various countries.

Japan has begun releasing oil reserves to stabilise supply, but says sending its Self-Defence Forces abroad would be politically sensitive. Takayuki Kobayashi, the policy chief of Takaichis ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said the threshold for military involvement was extremely high.

Trump on Strait of Hormuz: "Really, I'm demanding that these countries come in and protect their own territory, because it is their territory ... they should help us. You could make the case that maybe we shouldn't be there at all, because we don't need it. We have a lot of oil." pic.twitter.com/y97MflXvLs  Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 16, 2026

Australia has also rejected calls to provide naval support to secure shipping in the strait. Weve been very clear about what our contribution is to requests and so far that is to the UAE [United Arab Emirates] obviously providing aircraft to assist with defence particularly given the number of Australians that are in that area in particular, transport minister Catherine King said.

We wont be sending a ship to the Strait of Hormuz, Ms King said.

We know how incredibly important that is but thats not something weve been asked or were contributing to.

James Paterson, the shadow defence minister, said that Australia would have to carefully consider any request for naval assets. You would need to have a naval vessel thats capable of protecting itself against drone and missile attacks.

A navy vessel is seen sailing in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway through which much of the worlds oil and gas passes, on 1 March 2026 (AFP/Getty)

And in 2023, when a similar request from the United States came to help in the Red Sea against the Houthis terrorist organisation, we werent able to provide any naval vessels because we didnt have ones that could protect themselves that were available for that mission, he told Australias Channel Nine.

Most other countries approached by Mr Trump are reluctant to send military ships to the Strait of Hormuz, despite US pressure. In an earlier social media post, he said he hoped countries including China, France, Japan, South Korea and Britain would take part.

The UK is considering sending aerial minesweepers, but officials have warned that deploying warships could escalate the conflict.

Prime minister Keir Starmer also went on the record to warn that Britain will not be drawn into the wider war.

My leadership is about standing firm for the British interest, no matter the pressure, he said, without naming Mr Trump.

File. Liberia-flagged tanker Shenlong Suezmax, carrying crude oil from Saudi Arabia, that arrived clearing the Strait of Hormuz, is seen at the Mumbai Port in Mumbai, India, Thursday, 12 March 2026 (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Observers note that European leaders are under pressure from rising fuel costs at home but are wary of repeating past mistakes like the 2003 Iraq war.

Italian foreign minister Antonio Tajani said diplomacy was the right way to solve the crisis in the strait and there were no naval missions Italy was involved in that could be extended to the area.

As far as Hormuz is concerned I believe diplomacy needs to prevail, he told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting in Brussels.

Italy is involved in defensive naval missions in the Red Sea, he claimed, but I dont see any missions that can be extended to Hormuz.

A South Korean protester wears a mask of US president Donald Trump during a protest against Trumps request to dispatch warships to the Strait of Hormuz in front of the US embassy in Seoul on 16 March 2026 (AFP/Getty)

France has ruled out sending additional military forces, saying its current posture aims to maintain regional stability rather than escalate tensions. On Monday, in a post on X, the French foreign ministry said its navy was staying in the eastern Mediterranean. Posture has not changed: defensive it is.

Dutch prime minister Rob Jetten said it would be very difficult to launch a successful mission there in the short term, according to the countrys ANP news agency.

Luxembourgs deputy prime minister Xavier Bettel said his country would not give in to blackmail from Washington. Don't ask us to send troops, he told reporters in Brussels.

Greek government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said his country would not take part in any military operations in the Strait of Hormuz.

A US Air Force B-1 bomber is loaded with bombs at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire. UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer said he is working with allies on a plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz (PA)

Denmark, a country which has clashed repeatedly with Mr Trump over his demands that it cede Greenland, said even if the EU did not agree with the war, it should consider helping reopen the strait.

Even if we dont like whats going on, I think its wise to keep an open mind on whether Europe, Danish foreign minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said, in some way can contribute, but with a view towards de-escalation.

In an interview with the Financial Times on Sunday, Mr Trump warned that Nato faced a very bad future if his proposal for a military operation in the Strait was ignored or rejected.

Kaja Kallas, the European Unions top diplomat, said on Monday: This is not Europes war, but Europes interests are directly at stake. She met foreign ministers from across the 27-nation bloc in Brussels.

She added: For the time being, there was no appetite in changing the mandate of the Operation Aspides.

A cargo ship sails towards the Strait of Hormuz (AP)

In Asia, South Korea has not committed either way, saying theyll continue to communicate closely with the US regarding this matter and make a decision after careful review.

It was reported last week that China has been in talks with Iran about ensuring safe oil and gas passage.

However, the US president said he might postpone his trip if it did not provide assistance.I think China should help too because China gets 90 per cent of its oil from the Straits, Mr Trump said.

We may delay, he said in reference to his visit if China did not offer support in the Gulf.

On Monday, Mr Trump claimed that numerous countries have told me theyre on the way, without naming any.

Some are very enthusiastic about it, and some arent. Some are countries that weve helped for many, many years. Weve protected them from horrible outside sources, and they werent that enthusiastic. And the level of enthusiasm matters to me, he said during an event at the White House.

We have some that are really enthusiastic. Theyre coming already. Theyve already started to get there, he said. You know, it takes a little while to get there.
President Donald Trump on Monday left House Speaker Mike Johnson and others visibly shocked by revealing private medical information about a House Republican while television cameras broadcast the scene.

Trump was speaking during an impromptu press conference  where he was expected to field a few questions about the ongoing Iran War  before a scheduled lunch with Kennedy Center board members, when he began praising the way House Speaker Mike Johnson has managed to keep his majority together despite having only a two-vote margin since earlier this year.

Seated between Johnson and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, whom Trump had earlier revealed is battling early-stage breast cancer, he asked the Speaker about one GOP member who was very ill. Johnson replied that Florida Representative Neal Dunn had been suffering from real health challenges and a pretty grim diagnosis while still showing up to work and voting, calling him a real champion and a patriot.

Trump then interjected to ask about Dunns diagnosis before revealing, unprompted, that it had been a terminal diagnosis.

He would be dead by June, said Trump, prompting Johnson to jump back in, more than a bit surprised.

U.S. President Donald Trump, flanked by the Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, speaks during a lunch with the Kennedy Center board members in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 16, 2026. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst (REUTERS)

Ok, that wasnt public, Johnson said.

Johnson added that Trump had connected with Dunn to offer condolences and later arranged for him to receive medical treatment from White House Medical Unit doctors and other military physicians at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.

The man has a new lease on life. He acts like he's 30 years younger, and he walked into the conference meeting, and we thought we'd seen a ghost, and I spoke with him over the weekend, and he's encouraged and thankful, and he thanks the President for his leadership and intervention, Johnson said.

Trump re-entered the conversation by recounting how Johnson had told him that Dunn had been terminal with a really bad heart and remarked how there was nothing they could do for the longtime Florida representative.

I realized I have doctors in the White House ... the White House, doctors are incredible and they've helped me with other people. They're helping me with people right now, people that are very sick... like they're miracle workers. And I said, I have to call them. And I called the two doctors, they're both great. And they immediately went over to see the congressman, and he was on the operating table, like two hours later, Trump said.

Earlier this year, Dunn said he would not seek re-election in Florida's 2nd district. Last month, amid rumors that Dunn might resign early, his office told Politico that he would serve out the duration of his term.

Since January, House Republicans had been operating with just 218 seats, a virtual two-seat majority, after the death of Rep. Doug Lamalfa of California died and the resignation of former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia.

Because Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) frequently votes against House Republican leadership, Johnson has often struggled to keep his conference together to pass party-line legislation or procedural rules needed to debate and pass bills without resorting to a fast-track procedure that requires two-thirds of the House to support a bill.

His margin effectively narrowed earlier this month when California Rep. Kevin Kiley announced he was registering as an Independent, though Kiley said he would still caucus with the GOP and support Johnsons leadership.
Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff, was by Donald Trumps side on Monday despite her recent diagnosis - Annabelle Gordon/AFP via Getty Images

Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff and one of the most powerful officials in the US government, has been diagnosed with breast cancer.

Donald Trump said Ms Wiles, 68, would remain in her post during her treatment for early-stage breast cancer, calling her one of my closest and most important advisers.

Ms Wiles, the first female White House chief of staff, said she had been diagnosed with cancer last week and thanked the president for his support.

Susie Wiles is an incredible Chief of Staff, a great person, and one of the strongest people I know but, unfortunately, she has been diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer, and has decided to take on this challenge, IMMEDIATELY, as opposed to waiting, Mr Trump wrote on social media on Monday.

She has a fantastic medical team, and her prognosis is excellent!

During the treatment period, she will be spending virtually full time at the White House, which makes me, as President, very happy!

He added: Susie, as one of my closest and most important advisers, is tough and deeply committed to serving the American People. She will soon be better than ever!

Mr Trump described Ms Wiles as one of the strongest people I know - Annabelle Gordon/AFP via Getty Images

Ms Wiles said she was grateful to have an outstanding team of doctors who detected the cancer early and are guiding my care, and I am encouraged by a strong prognosis.

I am deeply thankful for the support and encouragement of president Trump as I undergo treatment and continue serving in my role as White House chief of staff, she continued.

Soon after Mr Trump announced Ms Wiless diagnosis on Monday, she was sitting next to her boss for a press conference at the Kennedy Centre in Washington, DC.

While answering questions from the media, Mr Trump said his chief of staff had just started treatment for a minor difficulty, and predicted she would be around for a long time.

Ice maiden helped bring stability to Trump administration

Ms Wiles, whom the president affectionately refers to as the Ice Maiden, is credited with bringing stability to his second administration and avoiding the infighting which consumed his first term.

Before she joined the White House, she was co-campaign manager for Mr Trumps successful 2024 presidential campaign, in which he picked up all seven key states on his return to the White House.

It is a sign of Mr Trumps regard for Ms Wiles that she remained in place despite making unguarded comments about other top officials for a Vanity Fair article, which was published in December.

In a series of interviews, she labelled Elon Musk, the governments former efficiency tsar, an avowed ketamine user and referred to JD Vance, the US vice-president, as a conspiracy theorist.

On Monday, Mr Vance said his family was praying for our dear friend as she takes on her next fight!

Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said Ms Wiles epitomises what it means to be a strong leader and is one of the nicest people Ive ever met.
On paper  and most likely, until recently, in the mind of Donald Trump  a conflict between Iran on one side and Israel and the United States on the other should have a predictable outcome.

As with Operation Midnight Hammers strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities in the 12-day war last summer, and again in Venezuela, it would all be over swiftly, and relatively cleanly, with the minimum of fuss. By now, roughly speaking, Iran would be under the control of a new Trump-approved ruler and, handily, another oil-rich nation would be under American tutelage.

It is fair to say that the current conflict has not gone to plan, quite possibly because there never was much of a plan in the first place. Iran was not as puny a foe as President Trump assumed. For one thing, as is now clearer than ever, it enjoys effective control of much of the worlds supply of oil and gas through the Strait of Hormuz, with the baleful effects now being felt internationally.

One of the few things the Islamic Republic of Iran can be said to be superlative at is the taking of hostages. That is exactly what it has now done to the global economy.

The other special skill of Iran, and of its terrorist associates in the region, is asymmetric warfare. It is a world leader in using cheap but devastating drones on civilian and industrial targets.

The ill-defended highrise hotels, the ritzy malls, and the vast oil and gas fields of the Gulf states provide a rich array of targets. Force majeure has already led to the closure of the Qatari LNG operations, the most important export supply on Earth. Most importantly, Iran is busily strangling what is arguably the worlds most critical waterway  the Strait of Hormuz. The regimes hold on power seems secure.

It was indeed not supposed to be this way. Only a few days ago, the US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, an absurdly swaggering ex-Fox News host, declared smugly that no one needs to worry about the strait because its something we're dealing with, we have been dealing with it.

Now, worryingly, President Trump himself has been pushed by events to ask for help from various countries, mostly allies, that depend on oil and gas from the Gulf. These include Japan, France, South Korea, the UK  and China.

There is a particular naivety about asking Beijing to help America win a war that China has already condemned, and in which it is rumoured to be supporting Iran and negotiating immunity for its own vessels.

For a number of reasons, it is also a problematic request for the rest of the allies the US has called upon. First, its Americas war, and Israels. Other countries belonging to the West, if that term still applies, were never consulted about it. If they had been, they would have been rightly horrified. Not only that, but Mr Trump said he didnt need any help from anyone.

Being asked to help clear up the mess is therefore rather galling, not least because Mr Trump has spent the past year insulting, undermining, imposing tariffs on, and even threatening to annex land from otherwise friendly powers.

The second issue is still more difficult, and arises because this war was so clearly not thought through. As was stated bluntly by Sir Keir Starmer, no one else wants to be dragged into a US-Israeli war of choice that has no endgame in sight.

By the sounds of it, Sir Keir and others may agree to dispatch some limited resources, such as mine-busting drones, but only when a viable plan has been worked out  a pointed reference to Americas ill-prepared rush to conflict. In those circumstances, another loose coalition of the willing might come up with a scheme to liberate the Persian Gulf to maritime traffic, but it will have to be one agreed by all those involved, and not just be a matter of placing the Royal Navy under US control for the duration.

What has been obvious from the outset remains true now. There is, in fact, no military solution to the very genuine problem of Irans nuclear ambitions. On the other hand, there is wide international consensus that an Iran armed with nuclear weapons would be a disaster for the region and a threat to the world, triggering a rapid proliferation among Irans neighbours, with Israel, even with its own nuclear weapons, badly exposed.

A negotiated settlement with Iran under international supervision remains the best way forward, and is inevitable when the fighting stops. In truth, it will be close to the Iran nuclear deal negotiated by Barack Obama that Mr Trump withdrew from in his first term in 2018. Indeed, such a treaty was almost agreed a few weeks ago, before Mr Trump was persuaded by Benjamin Netanyahu to go to war instead.

The terrible irony is that the war has actually strengthened Irans negotiating power. It has not been President Trumps finest hour. His Nobel Peace Prize has probably slipped from his grasp  but at least he may have finally learnt that even the US needs allies.
Undated handout screengrab from the police interview of Nathan Bennett. Photograph: Avon and Somerset Police/PA (Photograph: Avon and Somerset Police/PA)

A dangerous paedophile who sexually abused five children in his care at a nursery in Bristol has been jailed for 24 years.

Judge Hart described Nathan Bennett as evil and said that he had thought seriously about imposing a life sentence because it was difficult to assess whether he would ever not be a risk to children.

Bennett, 30, an early years practitioner, won the trust of two- and three-year-old boys at the Partou King Street nursery by showering them with affection before abusing them, sometimes in front of other children.

Hart told Bennett the children should have been safe at the nursery. He said: You were lurking, ready to abuse them and pollute their innocence with your vile desires. You are an incorrigible and dangerous paedophile.

The judge said the childrens extreme youth mean they could hardly have been more vulnerable and described the circumstances of the case were highly uncommon.

Hart said: You prioritised your sexual satisfaction over the welfare of these little children. That was due to grossly distorted thinking and a degree of, to use perhaps an old fashioned word, evil.

He noted that parents of other children at the nursery who had not been identified as victims would fear their loved ones had also been abused or had witnessed Bennetts attacks.

The judge imposed an extended determinate sentence of 30 years, comprising 24 years custody and six years extended licence. He told Bennett that if, once he was released, he did not follow the terms of his licence he would be recalled to prison and serve the full 30 years.

The mother of one of the children told Bristol crown court her son trusted Bennett to care for him but was manipulated.

She said: The guilt and anger has been overwhelming. We sent him to this nursery we thought was a safe place. We hadnt protected him. Something that is all you want to do as parents.

What truly worries us is the future unknown. What will our son remember as he grows? What will happen when he begins to understand the significance of the abuse? How will it affect him? Will it impact his relationships, his mental health? We will not truly know the impact for many years.

A father told of how he felt dead inside when he heard his son had been abused. When he broke the news to his wife she screamed and cried. Her son heard her and asked: What is wrong with Mummy?

Bennett, of Corston, near Bath, was found guilty by a jury of eight offences including rape. He had pleaded guilty to 13 other charges in relation to four of the boys.

During his trial it emerged that parents had raised concerns about him in the six months before Bennett was caught.

He was finally stopped in February 2025 when a nursery manager saw Bennett on CCTV putting his hand down the trousers of a child.

In a statement issued by the law firm Leigh Day, 12 families whose children attended the nursery said the sentence did not begin to repair the harm caused to so many children.

They said: Over the months before Bennetts arrest, a number of parents raised concerns about his behaviour. We know concerns were raised to members of staff  we believe those warnings and complaints were not properly followed up or escalated. Had appropriate action been taken sooner, we fear some of the abuse children suffered may have been prevented.

The nursery is part of the Partou group, which was founded in the Netherlands.

A Partou spokesperson said: In the year since these offences first came to light, we have worked with a number of individuals and organisations to consider any ways in which we could strengthen our safeguarding of the children in our care.

We have acted upon recommendations and as a result have increased training provided about safeguarding, strengthened policies, including with regard to recruitment and whistleblowing, increased the number of personnel in our leadership team who focus on safeguarding and introduced more internal and external auditing.

We have also committed to expanding the use of CCTV across the Partou estate. We are in consultation with other sector stakeholders and government to support initiatives that strengthen safeguarding across the sector.
Thousands of British travellers have had their plans thrown into disarray after Dubais main airport was shut down following a nearby drone strike.

Dubai International Airport announced at 1.36am GMT on Monday it had suspended flights after a drone hit a nearby fuel tank.

Many Emirates flights already in the air were diverted, while others waiting to take off were cancelled.

Passengers onboard a flight from London Stansted nearly made it to Dubai, but were diverted to Vienna, Austria.

The suspension of flights also affected thousands of people who were hoping to finally return to the UK after being stranded in the Middle East - or other parts of the world where UK flights connect in the region - since the start of the US-Israeli campaign against Iran.

The fire caused a temporary shutdown of Dubais main airport (AFP via Getty Images)

All seven Emirates flights from Dubai to London Heathrow on Monday were cancelled.

Five flights from UK airports returned to their points of origin. They included a flight from Edinburgh, which had made it as far as Egyptian airspace before it turned back.

Dubai International Airport said at 6.11am that flights were gradually resuming to selected destinations.

It remains unclear whether the drone was intercepted or what its intended target may have been.

Social media posts claimed the drone struck a nearby fuel tank, sending a large plume of black smoke into the air close to the airport, though this has not been officially confirmed.

About half a million passengers per day usually use airports in Dubai, Doha or Abu Dhabi, which are vital hubs for travel between Europe and the continents of Asia and Australia.

Global aviation has been thrust into turmoil over the last two weeks after the US and Israel bombed Iran, prompting retaliatory strikes across the region.

Smoke rises from a fire near Dubai International Airport following a drone strike on Monday (AFP via Getty Images)

Most Middle East airspace had stayed shut over fears of missile and drone attacks during this time, but airlines have more recently attempted to ease bottlenecks and resume services.

Monday mornings incident marks the third time since the start of the conflict that Dubais airport has been impacted by nearby strikes, with drone warfare wreaking chaos across the Gulf.

On social media, frustrated travellers worldwide expressed their dismay at the latest round of flight disruptions and demanded answers from airlines.

The United Arab Emirates and other Gulf countries host US military facilities, which Iran has said would be a target. However, drone strikes have also reportedly struck civilian infrastructure like hotels and ports.

Meanwhile, the US and Israel have also targeted civilian infrastructure across the region, predominantly in Iran, as well as increasingly in Lebanon.

At least 800,000 Lebanese people have been displaced, with Israel on Monday announcing a ground operation in southern Lebanon.

Elsewhere, the economic fallout of US President Donald Trumps war in Iran has continued to ripple across the world, following the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

An economist has warned that soaring prices triggered by the conflict will make London families up to 1,500 worse off.
Fox News uses a headline that Hegseth ranted about during demands for a more patriotic press

Days after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth railed against a hypothetical news headline and demanded a more patriotic media, his former employer, Fox News, ran a banner with the exact words he denounced.

Hegseth berated the press during a briefing on Friday over coverage of U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, as the war has engulfed the Middle East since February 28.

The former Fox News host groaned that a TV news banner or headline might read Mideast War Intensifies...alongside visuals of civilian or energy targets that Iran has hit, because that's what they do.

He instead suggested the hypothetical headline should read: Iran Increasingly Desperate, and slammed the media for not covering President Donald Trumps war in a way the White House would prefer. They know it and so do you, if it can be admitted, he added.

Coincidentally, Hegseths former employer, Fox, ran an interview with its Chief Foreign Correspondent, Trey Yingst, on Sunday with a chyron banner reading: Mideast War Intensifies.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseths former employer, Fox News, used a headline he had ranted about just days earlier after encouraging the media to be more patriotic (Defense Department)

Coincidentally, Fox News ran a banner with the same headline former anchor Pete Hegseth ranted about just days earlier (Fox News)

The serendipitous moment was first noted by @BadFoxGraphics on X and later shared on the newsletter for CNNs Reliable Sources with Brian Stelter. The Independent has contacted the Department of Defense for comment.

Trump and other administration officials typical lashings targeting news media has been amplified since the start of the war in Iran, with officials accusing U.S. media of spreading false information to try and change Americans perceptions about the war.

The president went on a rant against corrupt media outlets in a Truth Social post Sunday, claiming without evidence that Iran has been working in close coordination with the Fake News Media to distribute AI-generated videos showing Iranian military victories.

You can say that those Media Outlets that generated it should be brought up on Charges for TREASON for the dissemination of false information! Trump wrote.

While AI-generated and false videos about the war have been spreading at an alarming rate online, credible news organizations have not been sharing them  despite Trumps claims.

Trump lashed out at reporters while aboard Air Force One on Sunday (AP)

Trump then accused the Radical Leftwing Press of purposefully publishing the false information and bragged that the U.S. was decimating Iran, echoing a claim often made by members of the administration.

The president also lashed out at reporters who asked questions about the conflict in Iran during a press briefing aboard Air Force One on Sunday, slamming ABC News as maybe the most corrupt news organization on the planet.

Ever since Trump ordered lethal strikes on Iran last month, resulting in the deaths of over 1,300 Iranians and at least 13 U.S. service members, White House officials have criticized the medias coverage of the war, accusing some outlets of spreading false information to try and sway public opinion.

As a result, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr said broadcasters licenses could be revoked for coverage of the war that the White House perceives as unfair.

Trump said he was thrilled to see Carr looking at the licenses of some of these Corrupt and Highly Unpatriotic News Organizations.
Diesel prices have soared by an average of 18p per litre since the start of the Middle East conflict, new figures suggest.

The RAC said the average price of the fuel at UK forecourts on Sunday was 160.3p per litre.

This is compared with 142.4p when the US-Israeli campaign against Iran began on February 28.

The 13% increase means diesel is at its most expensive level since November 2023.

Petrol prices are up 7% over the same period, rising from 132.8p per litre to 141.5p per litre.

The last time petrol was more expensive was August 2024.

Oil prices  which have a significant effect on the cost of wholesale fuel  have exceeded 100 dollars a barrel for the first time since 2022 in response to Irans stranglehold on oil tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

RAC head of policy Simon Williams said: Drivers with diesel cars are really feeling the heat.

Prices have shot up 18p a litre in just two weeks, adding 10 to the cost of a full tank.

The average cost of filling up a 55-litre family car with diesel is now 88, whereas for petrol its 78.

The UK has fewer refineries than ever and those we do have are more geared towards petrol production than diesel, so were reliant on imports which has contributed to diesel prices rising faster.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves told petrol retailers last week they had a shared obligation to keep prices down for motorists.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves, second left, and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, centre, met petrol retailers and energy suppliers at No 11 Downing Street last week (Dan Kitwood/PA) (Dan Kitwood)

The Petrol Retailers Association (PRA) had threatened to pull out of the Downing Street meeting with Ms Reeves and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband after claiming the Governments inflammatory language over rising fuel prices had led to abuse against forecourt workers.

At the Downing Street meeting, Mr Miliband warned executives from the forecourt operators and firms including Asda, BP, ExxonMobil and Shell that the Government would not tolerate unfair practices in the industry.

The Chancellor hosted industry chiefs in 11 Downing Street on March 13 in response to rising concern about the impact of the Middle East crisis on household finances.
With the Cheltenham Festival over and the Flat season fast approaching, thoughts are naturally turning to the prospect of Constitution Hill wowing his fans on the level this summer.

There is a multitude of options available to the former Champion Hurdler in his new venture and Barry Geraghty, who sourced the nine-year-old and classed the young Constitution Hill as part of his family, is pondering if he might even seen at the highest level back in Ireland later in the year.

He said: I was in a meeting at the Curragh and the racecourse was in the background and I was just imagining him being there in the autumn running in the Irish St Leger and the thought of him running in a Group One is magic. Youd have to think he would be a contender in a race like that.

Its a different avenue, but his jumping and the heavy falls left its mark on him and his confidence and it has to be the right thing to do rather than keep rolling the dice over hurdles.

Hes a classy individual and it will be easy to watch him parade before a Flat race than worrying about him getting round. Hes a gorgeous horse in every sense and you can never take his Champion Hurdle away from him.

Constitution Hill took his final bow at Cheltenham when parading prior to the opening day of the Festival and with his jumping days now seemingly behind him, Geraghty is in no doubt where he fits into the pantheon of hurdling greats.

When you talk about how great he was as a hurdler, to have won a Champion Hurdle and to break the track record at Cheltenham on his third start, you have to be a special horse, continued William Hill ambassador Geraghty.

Golden Signet set the standard previously in the Supreme and there is no doubt he is one of the greats.

Golden Cygnet, Istabraq and Constitution Hill for me are the ones that blew the roof off this place when they did their winning.
Abbas Araghchi was responding to US media reports that Mohammed bin Salmans public opposition to US attacks did not reflect his private position. Photograph: Xinhua/Shutterstock (Photograph: Xinhua/Shutterstock)

Some Gulf states hosting US forces may be covertly encouraging the slaughter of Iranians, Irans foreign minister has claimed in a thinly-veiled attack on Saudi Arabia.

Abbas Araghchi demanded clarification on reports that Mohammed bin Salman was in regular private conversations with Donald Trump, urging the US president to continue hitting the Iranians hard.

Araghchi was responding to the second US media report in a week claiming the Saudi crown princes public opposition to the US attacks on Iran did not reflect his private position. Stances should be promptly clarified, he said in a post on X after stating that hundreds of civilians had been killed in US-Israeli attacks, including more than 200 children.

Ali Larijani, the secretary of Irans supreme national security council, issued an appeal directed at Muslim populations in the Gulf states urging them to ask themselves which side they were on in the war and why no Islamic country had stood by the Iranian people.

Defending Irans attacks on Gulf states, he said: Are we being asked to stand idly by while US bases in your countries are being used to attack us? The confrontation today is between America and Israel on the one hand, and the Muslim Iran and the forces of resistance on the other.

The warnings came as Iranian attacks escalated on Monday, with drone strikes in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, in one of its most comprehensive sets of assaults since the war started.

Iran also vowed to keep the strait of Hormuz closed indefinitely to enemies and those supporting their aggression, amid signs that the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (ICRG) were tightening their grip inside the country after the appointment of an uncompromising hardliner, Mohsen Rezaee, as military adviser to the supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei.

Rezaee, a former commander of the IRGC for 16 years, played a key role during the bloody Iran-Iraq war. He said at the weekend there should be no ceasefire until the US agreed to vacate its military bases in the Middle East. His appointment consolidates the grip that the IRGC achieved with the recent appointment of Khamenei.

The Iranian death toll headed towards 1,500 after neighbourhoods across Tehran suffered one of the most intense bombardments since the start of the war, with electricity grid infrastructure being hit and power being temporarily lost in eastern parts of the capital.

The mayor of Tehran, Alireza Zakani, said the capital had suffered 13,000 separate attacks, more than half of the total attacks on Iran. Parts of the Tehran metro were suspended.

Censorship inside Iran, including the internet blackout, has become more intense over the past 48 hours with newspapers and Telegram channels becoming largely inaccessible.

Speaking at his weekly morning press conference, Irans foreign ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei, said that vessels belonging to countries not involved in the war have been allowed to transit the strait of Hormuz with coordination and permission from Irans military.

Two Indian-flagged gas tankers bound for Gujaraet have been allowed to pass through the strait after direct talks between Iran and India, but no blanket agreement has been reached for future passage for Indian ships.

Araghchi said the deal was a one-off due to his history of engagement with India. There are reports Iran in return is asking for access to medicines and the release of three of its ships captured by India.

Iranian officials were delighted that Trump had received a largely negative response with his call to seven countries, including China, France and the UK to join a US-led coalition in helping to open the strait of Hormuz.

Any fissures in the US-European relations are being seized upon by Iranian officials and media as a sign that Trumps unilateral war, in which no country but Israel had any prior input, will not be endorsed.
Pierre Bonnard is viewed by Aidan OBrien as his prime contender for the Betfred Derby at Epsom.

Fourth on his debut at Leopardstown, the Camelot colt went on to win his maiden at Dundalk before the Zetland Stakes at Newmarket and the Group One Criterium de Saint-Cloud.

Despite winning big races all over the world, OBrien still views the Epsom Classic as the pinnacle of the sport.

He said: The Derby is still the race, its what the whole breed is based on. You can kid yourself about other races and some of them are great for the older horses but anyone that breeds a horse, that is where they are aimed.

Some of them dont do an awful lot after it because it is such a tough race. Its the ultimate test, mental, physical, they have to be quick, they have to stay. Its a brutal race, but that is the way it has to be, unforgiving. Its the race the whole breed is based on. Its just the way it is.

Regarding Pierre Bonnard, currently around 6-1 for the Derby, OBrien said when hosting the media on Monday: Pierre Bonnard is being trained for Epsom, were very happy with him. He might have the two Irish trials (Ballysax and Leopardstown Trial) before it.

Hes very straightforward, hes a big Camelot, hes very relaxed and chilled. Christophe (Soumillon) was always super impressed by him, Ryan (Moore) rode him for the first time yesterday morning.

I remember running him at Leopardstown first time and the next time going to Dundalk I was afraid, but Wayne (Lordan) said hed handle the surface no bother and he loved it so that means hell handle fast ground.

Youd imagine hell get a mile and a half well because hes so relaxed. Hes big and hes classy and hes done very well. Hes a big, rangy horse.

Hawk Mountain and Action, first and second in the Futurity Trophy at Doncaster, are also on the Derby trail but France could come into it for the winner.

Hawk Mountain will be trained for Epsom or France, said OBrien.

If some of the other horses go to Epsom hed be possible to go to France as hed be very comfortable at a mile and a quarter. Hell run in a trial somewhere first. Listening to the lads he could be going to France and he could have a trial for it, but well see what happens with the Epsom horses.

Action is very well. He ran a very good race at Doncaster and will be trained for a Derby, Id imagine he will be trained for Epsom. Obviously he could go to Chester or Leopardstown for a trial. At the moment we are thinking Pierre Bonard is doing the two Leopardstown trials, but obviously something will run with him. He looks an Epsom type.

As usual, OBrien has several three-year-old colts who at this stage might not have achieved as much as some but could develop into Classic contenders.

He said: Constitution River could be another French Derby type or he could be Epsom. He had a mishap after winning the Futurity (at the Curragh). We think he could be and Irish Guineas, French Derby type.

Benvenuto Cellini, or Newspaperofrecord (dam) I call him. Hes an Epsom horse Id say, hes done very well. Hes a great mover and Epsom will probably suit him.

Were very happy with Montreal. We think hell get the Derby trip but you couldnt be sure. We think hes a legitimate Epsom horse.

Causeway looks a nice horse, he looks like a horse who will stay. Montreal is one who took a big step forward from his first run to his second while Isaac Newton is a very dark horse.

Port Ferdinand did well to win at Naas from a bad draw in bad ground, hes going to stay. Hes out of a very good mare.

Straight Up will probably be trained by a Derby trial or something like that. He was dropped out too far at Newmarket in the Autumn Stakes, hes a lot better than that.

One who is unlikely to make Epsom but is clearly well regarded is the unraced George Stubbs.

We always thought the world of George Stubbs which is why we gave him the name, said OBrien. But every time we gave him one last piece of work before running he disappointed.

Hes a mile-and-a-half horse. Hes called George Stubbs because everything about him is beautiful. He wont get out to be a Derby horse, but he could end up at (Royal) Ascot. Maybe he was just a little weak.
Fuel prices in some parts of London have surged to as much as 253.9p per litre as the Middle East conflict continues into its third week.

Petrol prices across the UK are up by 7% since November 2023, according to new figures from the RAC, marking a rise from 132.8p per litre to 141.74p per litre.

Global oil supply chains have struggled amidst the closure of the Strait of Hormuz - a waterway in the Persian Gulf where more than a fifth of the worlds oil passes through. And with the strait showing no sign of reopening, more fuel hikes are likely on their way.

In the capital, the Chelsea Cloisters Gulf garage is selling unleaded petrol for 253.9p per litre, while diesel is 264.9p. This is significantly higher than UK fuel prices, which are roughly 141.74p for unleaded petrol and 161.20p for diesel.

The garage does not display its prices outside the garage, only at the pump. It is not known what the price of the petrol at the garage was prior to the war, but The Standard reported the same garage was selling unleaded for 238p per litre just four days ago, representing an increase of almost 16p.

Elsewhere in the capital, prices are well below average. One petrol station in Ruislip, also owned by Gulf, is selling unleaded for 121p per litre, according to comparison site Petrol Prices.

Pumps in the east of London seem to have more favourable prices, in comparison to areas in west and central London.

In figures released by the RAC, Asda was seen to have the cheapest petrol of all the UK supermarkets at 137.8p. Tesco followed at 138.6p, Sainsburys at 139p, and Morrisons in last place at 139.1p.

In data analysed by The Standard, American wholesaler Costco has two locations amongst some of the capitals cheapest petrol retailers.

A service launched by the government in February this year, Fuel Finder, has encouraged retailers to update their prices regularly. Petrol Prices publish the cost of fuel across pumps in London at regular intervals.

Here are some of the cheapest and most expensive petrol stations for unleaded petrol in and around London:

Full table below:

Most expensive

Petrol station Prices (p) M1 London Gateway 172.9 M4 Heston Moto Motorway 171.9 BP Victoria Road MFG Victoria Road 165.9 M25 South Mimms 162.9 Shell Park Lane 155.9 Esso Park Lane 155.9 BP Haverstock Hill 154.9 BP Neasden Lane 152.9 BP Cambridge Heath 149.9 Gulf West Drayton 149.9

Cheapest
Jimmy Kimmels dig at Donald Trump and director Paul Thomas Anderson referencing the mess that we left in this world were among several politically charged comments from stars on the stage of the 98th Academy Awards.

Award-winning actor Javier Bardem, who was presenting the award for best international film, said as soon as he reached the microphone: No to war and free Palestine.

The Spanish star was wearing an anti-war badge.

Javier Bardem wore a No to war badge (John Locher/AP) (John Locher)

TV host Jimmy Kimmel was also on presenting duty.

Ahead of announcing the winners of documentary short and documentary feature, he appeared to make a dig at the US president, whose wife Melanias own documentary was recently released.

Oh man, is he gonna be mad his wife wasnt nominated for this, he quipped.

On a more serious note, he added: We hear a lot about courage at shows like this but telling a story that could get you killed for telling it is real courage.

As you know, there are some countries whose leaders dont support free speech.

Kimmel went on to announce the documentary feature winner as Mr Nobody Against Putin.

Its co-creator David Borenstein told the audience the film is about how you lose your country.

He continued: What we saw when working with this footage is that you lose it through countless small, little acts of complicity.

When we act complicit, when a government murders people on the streets of our major cities, when we dont say anything, when oligarchs take over the media and control how we can produce it and consume it, we are based on a moral choice.

Accepting the award for best adapted screenplay for One Battle After Another, its director Paul Thomas Anderson said he was incredibly honoured to be part of this history.

He added: I wrote this movie for my kids to say sorry for the housekeeping mess that we left in this world we are handing off to them but also with the encouragement that they will be the generation that hopefully brings us common sense and decency.

Host Conan OBrien during the Oscars on Sunday evening (Chris Pizzello/AP) (Chris Pizzello)

And as Norwegian film Sentimental Value won the Oscar for best international feature, its director Joachim Trier paraphrased writer James Baldwin when he took to the stage.

All adults are responsible for all children, lets not vote for politicians who dont take this seriously into account, he said.

Even the awards host, Conan OBrien, made some more serious comments amidst his stream of gags.

He told the ceremony: If I can be serious for just a moment, everyone watching right now, around the world, is all too aware that these are very chaotic, frightening times.

Its at moments like these that I believe that the Oscars are particularly resonant.

Check it out, 31 countries across six continents are represented this evening, and every film we salute is the product of thousands of people speaking different languages, working hard to make something of beauty.

We pay tribute tonight, not just to film, but to the ideals of global artistry, collaboration, patience, resilience, and that rarest of qualities today, optimism.

So let us please celebrate. Let us celebrate not because we think all is well, but because we work and hope for better. New days ahead.
Jimmy Kimmel takes aim at Trump and Melania documentary at Oscars: Oh man is he gonna be mad

Jimmy Kimmel took aim at Donald Trump while presenting an award at the 2026 Oscars.

Kimmel kicked his rivalry with the U.S. president back into gear when announcing the winner for Best Documentary Feature  poking fun at Melania Trumps critically maligned documentary released earlier this year.

Oh man, is he gonna be mad his wife wasn't nominated for this, Kimmel said without specifically name-checking Trump.

A documentary about the First Lady was released in January and, despite struggling to sell tickets ahead of time, it surpassed expectations, grossing $7 million on its opening weekend.

Jimmy Kimmel was up to his old Trump-mocking ways at the Oscars as he present the award for Best Documentary Short Film (Getty Images)

Kimmel previously commented on the takings, saying on his show: Speaking of rigged outcomes, the Melania documentary. A lot of people, myself included, have been wondering how this movie managed to sell $7 million worth of tickets last weekend when almost every theater seemed to be empty leading up to the release.

The TV host had earlier side-stepped mentioning Trumps name while calling out some countries whose leaders dont support free speech. He added: Im not at liberty to say which, but lets just leave it at North Korea and CBS.

Kimmel was referencing CBSs cancellation of Stephen Colberts The Late Show, which was announced in 2025. The U.S. network said it was a financial decision.

The late-night host regularly feuds with Trump, with the president branding Kimmel the worst host the Oscars has ever had.

In 2024, Kimmel read aloud a statement posted by Trump on his social media site Truth Social, in which the former U.S. president attacked the presenters hosting abilities.

Has there EVER been a WORSE HOST than Jimmy Kimmel at The Oscars, Trump wrote. His opening was that of a less than average person trying too hard to be something which he is not, and never can be. In response, Kimmel joked: Isnt it past your jail time?

Trump was mocked over wife Melanias maligned documentary (Getty Images)

In September 2025, Trump gloated over the temporary suspension of Kimmels late-night show after the hosts comments about the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

The move arrived after Kimmel said on his show: We had some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and with everything they can to score political points from it.

Trump quickly took to social media to gloat over the situation, writing: Great News for America: The ratings challenged Jimmy Kimmel Show is CANCELLED.

The 2026 Oscars saw One Battle After Another take home Best Picture, Best Director for Paul Thomas Anderson and Best Supporting Actor for Sean Penn, who snubbed the ceremony.

Hamnet star Jessie Buckley won Best Actress while Michael B Jordan won Best actor for Sinners. Meanwhile, Amy Madigan took home Best Supporting Actress for her role in horror film Weapons.
Jessie Buckleys family have said they are proud of the Kerrywoman after she won the Oscar for best actress on Sunday night.

She became the first Irish actress to win the prize, taking home the award for her portrayal of William Shakespeares wife Agnes Hathaway  historically known as Anne  in the film adaptation of Maggie OFarrell novel Hamnet.

While Buckleys parents and three sisters attended the ceremony in Los Angeles, around 60 family and friends watched the 98th Academy Awards in the family hotel and bar.

On Monday, the lobby of the Arbutus hotel was turned into a radio studio as RTE broadcasted a series of interviews about Jessies upbringing and career.

The hallway was decorated with a giant picture of Jessie, a poster of the movie Hamnet and balloons  in the spirit of Ms Buckleys message back home: Dont go to bed, keep partying.

Her cousin Brendan Fuller said the bar was filled with people who had been part of Jessies journey on Sunday night, some of whom he had not seen since she was on the BBC show Id Do Anything in 2008.

It was like a carnival from the get go, he told the Press Association.

It was like a reunion and get together, and there was tuxedos and dresses and glitz and glam and everything.

Admiring her new friend. Jessie Buckley wins Best Actress for HAMNET! #Oscars pic.twitter.com/oP3bHtAVOk  The Academy (@TheAcademy) March 16, 2026

Asked if there were nerves as the ceremony went on, he said: There was so much confidence ahead of the Oscars. Im always more of a realist and a pessimist.

Theres Rose Byrne, theres Emma Stone, theres these incredible actors who did incredibly well, and throughout the night youre seeing these unbelievable performances and movies who are nominated but dont get the award.

It just got shakier and shakier in the room, it went from chatter to kind of a bit more of a simmer down. The best actor award was just beforehand, and then it was really just tense and quiet and nervy.

When it was announced, I heard it was her name, Jess Buckley, but I was still trying to look around people to make sure it was her that was getting up off her seat.

(Youre) trying to soak it all in, but it doesnt actually land at all, at all, I think it, I wont believe it until Im holding Oscar  no pressure Jessie.

Brendan Fuller is Buckleys first cousin (Lina Jevdet/PA) (Lina Jevdet)

As media gathered outside the family Arbutus hotel in Killarney, people stopped to shake Mr Fullers hand outside  with some slowing down their drive to ask him how Jessie did at the awards.

Fiona Crowley, who runs a stage school in Killarney that Jessie Buckley worked at while a student, said that her win is huge for younger people.

She said boys and girls can look up to people like Jessie and say God, maybe I could do that, but also know it is okay to be normal on the global stage.

Jessie Buckley accepting the award for best actress during the Oscars ceremony (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello) (Chris Pizzello)

I think thats really important and I think thats a really good thing.

I think thats really important for people to see you can be a mom, you can be somebody who is young, whos vibrant, but who has lived a life going in different directions, and yet you can still be yourself.

You dont have to have a fake accent, you dont have to have a fake body, you dont have to have a fake persona. You can actually just be yourself and isnt that what shines in the end.

Marie Moloney, deputy chair of Kerry County Council, said they were so, so proud of her.

Ms Moloney, who is a lifetime member of the Killarney Musical Society, said she had known Jessie Buckley since she was a young girl.

She joined the childrens chorus at Killarney Musical Society back in the year 2000 when she was about 10 years of age, she told PA.

Marie Moloney said she had known Buckley since she was a young girl (Lina Jevdet/PA) (Lina Jevdet)

Subsequently, she came back and she auditioned for a lead role in Carousel and got the lead lead role, went on to receive a nomination for her acting in that role, and won that category with the Association of Irish Musical Societies.

We feel that we gave her a little kickstart in life, brought her into the world of nominations and awards.

The Jessie Buckley you see on the Oscar stage, or on any stage is the Jessie Buckley that left Killarney 18 years ago to go into that big world of acting. And she has not changed that one bit.

Shes still the Jessie Buckley we all love and adore, and she was always so friendly, so kind and so full of fun, and as Ive said several times to other people, a little bit of devilment thrown in there, too.

She said her Oscars speech made her very emotional and said it was a beautiful tribute for women and to mothers all around the world.

She added: It just goes to show that if you have the belief and the passion and the will to do it (and) hard work, you can achieve that.

All the young boys and girls that are looking on now and seeing what Jessie has achieved might be saying to themselves, well, Id like to do that, and I can do that. If she can do it, I can do it.

She said a civic reception has been approved for Jessie Buckleys return to the town.
Kieran Culkin calls out Sean Penn for snubbing Oscars after Best Supporting Actor win

When Sean Penn won his third Oscar at the 2026 ceremony, he didnt show up to collect the award  and Kieran Culkin made a dig at his expense.

Penn won the Best Supporting Actor trophy for his role in Paul Thomas Andersons One Battle After Another, having previously won Best Actor for Mystic River and Milk in 2004 and 2009, respectively.

However, after last years winner, A Real Pain star Culkin, announced six-time nominee Penns victory, he revealed that the actor wasnt there to claim the award.

According to The New York Times, Penn was visiting Ukraine instead. The actor has been one of the most high-profile supporters of Ukraines President Zelensky during his countrys war with Russia.

In his usual wry tone, Culkin poked fun at Penns absence, telling the crowd: Sean Penn couldnt be here this evening. Or didnt want to. So I'll be accepting the award on his behalf.

Viewers laughed along at Culkins comment at home, with one writing on X/Twitter: Funniest thing said tonight. Kieran Culkin saying it like it is.

Oh Kieran you are iconic for this! another added.

Kieran Culkin poked fun at Sean Penns Oscars absence after announcing hed won Best Supporting Actor (Shutterstock / Kevin Ramirez/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock)

Host Conan OBrien then joked about the situation, sarcastically stating: We had a no-show in Sean Penn  this things a humdinger; youve got to stay tuned!

Penns victory arrives despite expressing disdain for the ceremony in the past. In 2024, he accused the Oscars of limiting different cultural expressions and said that ceremonies like the Oscars should be viewed as television shows first.

While receiving a career tribute at Marrakech Film Festival, he said: The Academy have exercised really extraordinary cowardice when it comes to being part of the bigger world of expression, and in fact, have largely been part of limiting the imagination and very limiting of different cultural expressions.

Sean Penn won an Oscar for One Battle After Another (Warner Bros Pictures)

He beat his One Battle After Another co-star Benicio Fel Toro, Delroy Lindo (Sinners), Stellan Skarsgard (Sentimental Value) and Jacob Elordi (Frankenstein), who were all present at the ceremony.

Penn also didnt show up at several awards ceremonies in the run-up to the Oscars, including the Baftas, where he also won Best Supporting Actor. His win makes him the fourth male actor in history to receive three acting Oscars in total, joining Walter Brennan, Jack Nicholson and Daniel Day-Lewis.

The 2026 Oscars saw One Battle After Another also take home Best Picture and Best Director for Paul Thomas Anderson. Hamnet star Jessie Buckley won Best Actress while Michael B Jordan won Best actor for Sinners. Meanwhile, Amy Madigan took home Best Supporting Actress for her role in horror film Weapons.
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Kieran Culkin made a tongue-in-cheek remark about Sean Penn at the 2026 Oscars after the veteran actor was absent to collect his award.

Penn won the Best Supporting Actor prize for his role in Paul Thomas Andersons One Battle After Another, marking his third Academy Award after previous Best Actor wins for Mystic River and Milk in 2004 and 2009.

However, when last years winner Culkin, who won for A Real Pain, took to the stage to announce the result, he revealed that Penn was not present at the ceremony to accept the trophy.

The Oscars 2026 reviewed: Jessie Buckley wins and all the big moments

According to The New York Times, Penn was in Ukraine.

Kieran Culkin made a tongue-in-cheek remark about Sean Penn at the 2026 Oscars (AFP via Getty Images)

The actor has been one of the most prominent Hollywood supporters of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky since Russias invasion.

In typically dry fashion, Culkin joked to the audience: Sean Penn couldnt be here this evening. Or didnt want to. So I'll be accepting the award on his behalf.

The quip drew laughter from the audience and quickly sparked reactions online.

One viewer wrote on X: Funniest thing said tonight. Kieran Culkin saying it like it is.

Another penned: Oh Kieran you are iconic for this!

Host Conan OBrien also poked fun at the situation, telling the audience: We had a no-show in Sean Penn  this things a humdinger; youve got to stay tuned!

Penns absence comes despite his complicated relationship with the Academy Awards.

Speaking in 2024 while receiving a career tribute at the Marrakech Film Festival, the actor criticised the Oscars, accusing the Academy of stifling artistic expression.

Penn pictured at the Golden Globes (CBS)

The Academy have exercised really extraordinary cowardice when it comes to being part of the bigger world of expression, and in fact, have largely been part of limiting the imagination and very limiting of different cultural expressions, he said.

Penn beat a strong field in the Best Supporting Actor category, including his One Battle After Another co-star Benicio del Toro, Delroy Lindo for Sinners, Stellan Skarsgard for Sentimental Value and Jacob Elordi for Frankenstein. All four attended the ceremony.

Penn was also absent from the Baftas and the Actor Awards, where he was also triumphant. He did attend the Golden Globes, where he was defeated by Skarsgard in the category.

With the win, Penn becomes only the fourth male actor in history to receive three acting Oscars, joining Walter Brennan, Jack Nicholson and Daniel Day-Lewis.

One Battle After Another was one of the nights biggest winners, also taking home Best Picture and Best Director for Paul Thomas Anderson.

Elsewhere, Jessie Buckley won Best Actress for Hamnet, while Michael B. Jordan picked up Best Actor for Sinners. Amy Madigan won Best Supporting Actress for her role in the horror film Weapons.
On receiving the phone call to inform her that she would be given 2,000 cash as part of a no-strings-attached payment, Aeryn was shocked.

My partner and I were just staring at each other. I was speechless for a good 10 minutes, she said. These things dont happen often to me; Im not a very lucky person.

Aeryn had been chosen to participate in the first UK trial to test the impact of unconditional cash transfers on homelessness, which saw young people leaving care given a one-off 2,000 cash lump sum.

Findings collated by Kings College London and the Centre for Homelessness Impact showed that young people who had received the money were more likely to be in stable housing and less likely to be sofa-surfing than those who had not been given the payment. They were also found to be happier and to have stronger relationships, and were less likely to stay overnight in hospital.

Aeryn was placed in care between 2019 and 2021, before deciding to rebuild her life and apply to university.

Young people who received the money were more likely to engage with health services and to invest in stable housing (iStock)

At the time when her personal adviser informed her that she had received the money, she had been saving for a computer to help with her studies.

I was working on a laptop that was slow and it kept crashing. Id been saving for a new PC, but when I got the money, it meant I could finally get the thing I really needed to help with uni, she said.

She was also able to treat herself and her boyfriend to a trip to Liverpool, where they spent the weekend walking around the shops, making a Build-a-Bear, and visiting iconic Beatles landmarks.

As part of the trial, 99 young people leaving local authority care in nine areas of England received the one-off 2,000 payment from June 2023. Their outcomes were tracked at six and 12 months, and compared with the outcomes of 200 similar care leavers who did not receive the payment.

It concluded that participants who received the money were 8 per cent more likely to be in stable housing six months later, with a 6.6 per cent drop in sofa-surfing. It also found that between 2 per cent and 4 per cent fewer care leavers experienced an eviction linked to antisocial behaviour.

Young people who received the money were initially more likely to engage with health services, such as seeing a GP, and less likely to stay overnight in hospital, with 17 fewer stays. Social workers were required to inform researchers if any participants had experienced adverse outcomes, with none reported.

Those who received the cash also consistently reported that they spent 12 per cent less on alcohol, tobacco or drugs than they had previously.

Care leavers who received the 2,000 payment were less likely to be sofa-surfing (Alamy/PA)

Speaking of the impact it had, Aeryn said: I think it pushed me forward. I was performing better at uni because I had the PC, but I could also use the PC to play games online.

My partner was living a long way away, but having the PC meant we could actually spend time together online.

She added: For me, I didnt have a lot of support; it was a case of having that money helped. It was quite a good feeling to have, because it meant that my care experience had been worth something.

While Aeryn invested some of the money in things that would help with her studies, other care leavers were able to invest it in hostel stays, clothing, and going to job interviews.

Aeryn is studying forensic investigation at university, and hopes to become a crime scene investigator.

Professor Michael Sanders, director of the experimental government team in the Policy Institute at Kings College London, said: The findings from the trial are encouraging, with consistent positive effects on participants housing stability, wellbeing, social connectedness, contact with health services and other outcomes we measured.

Effects on some housing outcomes appear to shrink over time, which suggests that a one-off transfer of this amount may be insufficient to have durable effects on housing outcomes. But even so, these results highlight the potential benefits of unconditional cash transfers, which are not only easier and cheaper to administer than other types of interventions, but also allow recipients more agency and dignity, recognising that they themselves are usually best placed to make decisions about their lives.

Dr Ligia Teixeira, chief executive of the Centre for Homelessness Impact, said: Cash transfers have a strong evidence base internationally as a simple tool for preventing harms from poverty. We are excited to have the first results from rigorous causal research to test their effectiveness in preventing homelessness.

Policymakers and local authority leaders should consider direct financial support for young people leaving care, with no strings attached, as a policy tool and a practical way of helping their transition to independent living.

The trial was funded by the Centre for Homelessness Impact and the Cabinet Office evaluation task force, through the Evaluation Accelerator Fund.

The government has been contacted for comment.
Michael B. Jordan, winner of the award for best actor in a leading role for "Sinners," attends the Governors Ball after the Oscars on Sunday, March 15, 2026, in Los Angeles (AP Photo/John Locher)

Beyond the glittering spectacle broadcast to millions, the Academy Awards unfold a different, more candid drama behind the scenes. During commercial breaks, the Dolby Theatre transforms into a flurry of activity: a dash to network, offer congratulations, or perhaps a quiet word of consolation. For some, its an opportunity to slip away to the renowned lobby bar, momentarily out of the public eye.

The Associated Press was present inside the Dolby Theatre at Sunday's 98th Oscars, observing these untelevised moments. While many A-listers notoriously leave their red carpet arrival until just 30 minutes before showtime, live television, unlike a film premiere, famously waits for no one.

And it can be a helpful excuse when, say, youre Paul Mescal and you dont want to do the glambot. Sorry, I dont have time, he said politely. But as he made his way up the stairs to the Dolby Theatre with girlfriend Gracie Abrams by his side, she laughed and snarked you sure you dont want to do the glambot?

A Hudson/Hawn/Russell Oscars

Early in the show, after Conan OBriens opening bit, Kate Hudson made her way to the lobby bar during a commercial break where she was soon joined by Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell. She had a brief moment of panic that she might be needed in the auditorium and found a nearby staffer who eased her worries as they looked over the schedule on an iPad.

Danny Fujikawa, left, and Kate Hudson in the audience during the Oscars on Sunday, March 15, 2026, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Im good! she said as she made her way back to her mom and Russell and the three continued chatting.

They stayed close all evening. As they made their way out of the auditorium after the show, Hudson, who did not win the best actress prize, was still in good spirits and excitedly congratulated Michael B. Jordan on his win. Later, Kieran Culkin stopped Hawn and Russell and said it was really cool watching you interact with your daughter.

Drinks for the stars

Part of the fun of the lobby bar experience is getting a little glimpse into what the stars like to drink. After the absent Sean Penn took the best supporting actor prize, Jacob Elordi made his way to the bar with his mom, keeping her close with an arm around her shoulder. He chose a nice tequila, Don Julio 1942, with a bit of ice and lime.

Australian actor Jacob Elordi attends the 98th Annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California on March 15, 2026. (Photo by ANGELA WEISS / AFP via Getty Images) (AFP/Getty)

In another part of the room, Nicole Kidman laughed and socialized while sipping champagne. Nearby, Jessie Buckley was doing the same. Mescal chose a pink colored tequila drink, while Abrams opted for champagne.

Nick Jonas held two bottled waters and a mixed tequila drink in his hand, which he sipped slowly. But it seems he or someone else wanted a vodka drink, which a kind server checked on and informed him that there was none to be offered. He thanked her and made his way back to the bar to leave a cash tip.

Elle Fanning, from left, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, and Nick Jonas in the audience during the Oscars on Sunday, March 15, 2026, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Some stars werent drinking though. Domnhall Gleeson snacked on Hershey kisses with almonds, while Heated Rivalry star Hudson Williams ate a single sliced cucumber.

Emma Stone has another dress incident

Ok, so this one wasnt quite as dramatic, or public, as Emma Stone telling the Oscars audience and millions watching from home that her dress broke as she accepted her best actress Oscar for Poor Things, but Stone had another minor dress incident in the lobby. While chatting with Bugonia screenwriter Will Tracy and his date, she lost her diamond ring which had affixed itself to the back of her gown.

Emma Stone appears in the audience during the Oscars on Sunday, March 15, 2026, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

The woman with Tracy performed a delicate operation to remove the ring, dress unscathed and get it back on Stones middle finger.

Afterparty planning

Much of the chatter outside of the show revolved around what people were doing after, and complaints about not being on the list for Vanity Fair, which culled its invites this year in an effort to make it more exclusive.

Jessie Buckley, from left, winner of the award for best actress in a leading role for "Hamnet," Michael B. Jordan, winner of the award for best actor in a leading role for "Sinners," and Amy Madigan, winner of the award for actress in a supporting role for "Weapons," pose in the press room at the Oscars on Sunday, March 15, 2026, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP) (AP)

Stone made a plan to jump on a big bus with her Bugonia peers and stop by the Universal Pictures party before heading to A24's bash. When asked about Vanity Fair, she said, its so weird, even if youre nominated it doesnt mean you can go.

Family support from the mezzanine

Both Jordan and Buckley made special mention of their families in the audience during their acceptance speeches. Both Jordans father and Buckleys family were seated in the same section  not bad seats by any stretch but a bit out of view of the person on stage.

(AFP/Getty)

After the wins, many around the families were eager to congratulate them as well.

The Sinners crew sticks together

When the show ended and the One Battle After Another crew lingered on stage, hugging one another and watching, the Sinners group made their way out of the auditorium together. Jordan hugged costume designer Ruth E. Carter, while Joachim Trier found his way to Ryan Coogler to do the same. Ryan and Zinzi Coogler paused to look up at the screen which was already replaying Jordans acceptance speech.

Jessie Buckley, winner of the award for best actress in a leading role for "Hamnet," attends the Governors Ball after the Oscars on Sunday, March 15, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Omar Benson Miller, who played Cornbread, was still processing the night. In the theater and at the bar, the Sinners wins were by far the most enthusiastically celebrated. Though he said he has a tendency to be a sore loser, he still felt the palpable love for their film. Hey, we got a couple! he said.

Scenes from the Governors Ball

The first stop of the night for most is the Governors Ball, just a few escalator rides up from the Dolby. The happiest area was the Warner Bros. One Battle After Another tables where Leonardo DiCaprio, sipping red wine, and Benicio Del Toro, with champagne and not a few small beers, held court with studio executives, including Pamela Abdy. David Zaslav stopped by to chat with DiCaprio too, patting his star on the back. When DiCaprio saw co-star Chase Infiniti approaching the area, he made a gesture that was not entirely dissimilar to his famous cheers from The Great Gatsby.

Leonardo DiCaprio embraces Paul Thomas Anderson as 'One Battle After Another' wins Best Picture at the 2026 Oscars (Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty Images)

Elsewhere Renate Reinsve ditched her shoes and walked barefoot through the party, which was carpeted. Steven Spielberg told Train Dreams director Clint Bentley about his plans to stop by Vanity Fair and how much he wanted to talk to Paul Thomas Anderson. Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons stayed close to Alicia Silverstone, while Kerry Condon sampled the prime rib.

And Mandy Patinkin sat alone sampling sushi and trying to make a phone call as the music blared. Patinkin said he was honored to be there to support his late friend Rob Reiner.

Rob made a beautiful movie, he said.
Macron suffered a beating in last nights elections - Gonzalo Fuentes/AFP

France voted in the first round of municipal elections on Sunday in what many regard as a barometer for next years presidential election.

The results revealed a deeply divided country. Marine Le Pens Right-wing National Rally performed strongly but Jean-Luc Melenchons hard-Left la France Insoumise (LFI) did better than expected. The centre-Left Socialists and centre-Right Republicans wont be disappointed with the results; although the influence of two traditional heavyweight parties have diminished in parliament this century, they retain strong roots at municipal level.

In Paris, Emmanuel Gregoire, the Socialist candidate, polled 36.4 per cent of the vote, well ahead of Rachida Dati, his Republican rival, on 24.8 per cent.

Any candidate who received at least 10 per cent of the votes qualifies for Sundays second round and those who polled 5 per cent and above can merge with another candidate if they wish.

Parties have until Tuesday evening to confirm whether their candidates will stand in the second round or if they will withdraw in order to assist a better-placed ideologically aligned candidate.

In an editorial on Monday, the conservative newspaper Le Figaro described this as the traditional charade of condemnations, decrees, boycotts, and outstretched hands.

This charade is known in France as the Republican Front or the Cordon Sanitaire, the process by which self-styled respectable parties collaborate in order to block Marine Le Pens party from taking power.

It worked effectively in the 2024 parliamentary elections. On that occasion, Le Pens party were the clear winners after the first round and on course to form a government; but in the days before the second round conservatives allied with communists, and Socialists with centrists in order to defeat Le Pen.

In the two years since, however, many in France have changed their minds and now consider Jean-Luc Melenchon as the most dangerous extremist.

Like the Green Party in Britain, Melenchons LFI brazenly courts the Muslim vote and since 2023 several of the party  including Melenchon  have been accused of anti-Semitism. Last month two of the partys parliamentary assistants were charged with involvement in the brutal death of a nationalist student.

Despite these incidents, LFI performed strongly in many large towns and cities across France in the first round of voting. In the northern city of Lille they are neck and neck with the Socialist party, and in Toulouse they polled 27 per cent of the vote.

The cities have traditionally been the fiefdom of the Left in France, but Sundays results demonstrated that Le Pens National Rally is making inroads. In the 2020 municipal elections, their most significant success was winning the southern city of Perpignan. Their mayor was re-elected yesterday with more than 50 per cent of the vote (a candidate who receives more than half the vote in the first round is guaranteed victory).

After Sundays first round, the National Rally is in contention to win the southern cities of Marseille, Toulon and Nimes. Nice may also fall to an ally of Le Pens. These cities have been ravaged in recent years by mass immigration and crime, much of it caused by drug gangs with links to North Africa.

Jordan Bardella, the president of the National Rally, declared his satisfaction with the results of the first round, saying that the French people have clearly expressed their will and their desire for change.

Bardella made an appeal to other Right-wing parties, independents and those who reject both the chaos of the far-Left and absorption into Macronism. He wants these candidates to withdraw or ally with the National Rally in the second round of voting in order to defeat the Left.

The party that suffered the most dispiriting results in Sundays first round was Emmanuel Macrons centrists. The ship is sinking as expected said one of the presidents entourage.

When Macron was elected to office in 2017 he made a rousing victory speech in the courtyard of the Louvre Museum. Acknowledging the divisions in our nation which have led some people to extreme votes, the young president promised that my responsibility will be to bring every woman and man together.

Macron has done the opposite. He has pushed more people to the extremes, towards Le Pens National Rally and Melenchons La France Insoumise. These are now the dominant parties in France, and the divisions between the two are deep and dangerous.
Met commissioner pressing US for access to unredacted Epstein files in Mandelson probe

Britains top police officer is pressing the US authorities to share unredacted versions of the Epstein files as the Metropolitan Police investigate claims that Peter Mandelson leaked sensitive information to the late paedophile.

The Met commissioner Sir Mark Rowley is said to have last month asked the US ambassador Warren Stephens for full documents relating to the peer, who was sacked as UK ambassador to the US over his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.

Sir Mark is expected to push the US authorities further during a visit to Washington this week, according to reports.

Police are investigating the Labour peer on suspicion of misconduct in public office, while Thames Valley Police is leading a separate probe into Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor for the same alleged offence.

Both men were arrested and bailed last month after the US Department of Justice (DoJ) released 3 million documents relating to the late billionaire.

Metropolitan Police commissioner Mark Rowley met with the US ambassador in February (PA)

However, some information in the exchanges had been redacted to protect victims and avoid jeopardising ongoing investigations.

The Met has confirmed it is actively seeking further details from law enforcement partners, including in the US.

It is feared that if the American authorities refuse to cooperate, formal requests for the emails will need to be submitted under a legal agreement between the US and the UK.

It could take up to a year to access the documents under the formal process, called a mutual legal assistance (MLA) request, and there is no guarantee the DoJ will release them.

The Met is investigating claims Lord Mandelson passed on market-sensitive information to Epstein during his time as business secretary. The 72-year-old, who was sacked from his post as ambassador to the US last year and resigned from the House of Lords in February, has previously denied any wrongdoing.

A picture of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, Jeffrey Epstein and Peter Mandelson, thought to be taken in Marthas Vineyard, Massachusetts, was unearthed in the Epstein files (US Department of Justice)

Emails from 2009, published in the Epstein files, led to allegations Lord Mandelson had passed on an assessment of potential policy measures by one of then-prime minister Gordon Browns advisers.

Police searched two of Lord Mandelsons properties in connection with their investigation.

In a statement last month, the Met said: Officers have arrested a 72-year-old man on suspicion of misconduct in public office. He was arrested at an address in Camden on Monday, 23 February and has been taken to a London police station for interview.

This follows [the execution of] search warrants at two addresses in the Wiltshire and Camden areas.

Sir Keir Starmer has faced a major backlash over the decision to appoint the Labour grandee to the key diplomatic role despite the latters continued friendship with Epstein after he was convicted of soliciting a minor for prostitution in 2008. Morgan McSweeney quit his role as Sir Keirs chief of staff over the scandal.

Peter Mandelson leaving his home in north London home last week (PA)

The first batch of documents relating to the decision to appoint Lord Mandelson, released last week, revealed the prime minister was warned there was a general reputational risk over his friendship with Epstein.

Mr Mountbatten-Windsor is separately being investigated by Thames Valley Police on suspicion of misconduct in public office in his role as a UK trade envoy.

The royal was pictured leaving a police station in Aylsham, Norfolk, on 19 February after he was released under investigation following a day of questioning.

Last week, the first known picture of Mr Mountbatten-Windsor, Epstein and Lord Mandelson together was uncovered.

The men were pictured around a table wearing bathrobes while drinking out of mugs printed with the US flag in a photo believed to have been taken in Marthas Vineyard, Massachusetts, between 1999 and 2000, according to ITV News.

The US authorities sent an MLA to the Home Office in 2020 requesting Andrew Mountbatten-Windsors assistance as an alleged witness to Epsteins offending.
Scotland Yard chief Sir Mark Rowley will this week press US authorities to expedite the release of unredacted exchanges between Lord Peter Mandelson and Jeffrey Epstein, according to reports.

Commissioner Sir Mark is travelling to Washington having met Warren Stephens, Americas ambassador to the UK, on February 24 when he is understood to have raised the issue.

The Standard has been told this was a pre-arranged meeting which had been in the diary for several months to discuss his upcoming trip amongst other matters.

Police have already made contact with the US Department of Justice in an attempt to secure the release of documents relating to Mandelson, 72, and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor as they investigate claims that both men leaked sensitive government information to paedophile financier Epstein.

However, there are growing concerns that formal requests for the emails will need to be submitted under a legal agreement between the US and the UK if American authorities decide to play hardball, The Times said.

The process of securing the documents, called a mutual legal assistance request, takes about a year. Even then there is no guarantee the DoJ will release them.

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Lord Peter Mandelson in bathrobes alongside Jeffrey Epstein (US Department of Justice)

The investigation into the ex-Duke of York, 66, is being led by Thames Valley Police.

The Metropolitan Police is probing Lord Mandelson for alleged misconduct in public office during his time as business secretary in Gordon Browns government.

He was subsequently bailed, but later released from his bail conditions, although he remains under investigation.

The failure to fully redact emails involving men accused of wrongdoing in the Epstein files prompted a backlash from lawyers for victims.

Both Lord Mandelson and Andrew deny any wrongdoing.

The Met will not comment on its ongoing investigation, but has previously said it is assessing information within the Epstein files and actively seeking further detail from law enforcement partners, including those in the United States.

Last week, a picture of the Kings disgraced brother Andrew and Lord Mandelson in bathrobes alongside Epstein emerged.

ITV News said the image had been taken in Marthas Vineyard  an island in Massachusetts  and is the first of the two men with Epstein that has been uncovered.
A terrified mother has told of her fears her teenage daughter could die after she contracted meningitis following a night out.

Two people have died since the outbreak in Kent, linked to the Club Chemistry nightclub in Canterbury, which has announced it will close its doors for the rest of the week.

Three schools and the University of Kent have now confirmed meningitis cases as thousands of people are contacted in the Canterbury area over the outbreak.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has so far said it is aware of 13 cases with signs and symptoms of meningitis from Friday to Sunday.

Casey Marlow, 19, had attended the Spring Fling event at the club on the evening of March 6, and her mother Emma said that her condition suddenly deteriorated days after.

Casey Marlow (Facebook)

Emma, a custody detention officer from Ashford in Kent, told Metro: Casey went to the nightclub on Friday 6 March and a few days later said she had a sore throat, but at first we didnt think anything of it.

Then on Saturday she pulled up outside my house and called me saying she felt awful, she had a raging temperature, a stiff neck and a terrible headache.

She looked really pale and we just went to the hospital where she has been ever since. Shes in isolation but shes getting a bit of colour back.

Emma said that her daughter should now make a full recovery, having been put on antibiotics and having a lumbar puncture.

She said: I would just say to people be aware and even if you arent sure just get yourself checked out if you live in the area and dont feel well.

Ive had the UK Health Security Agency on, and they wanted to know who else Casey was with that night so they could be traced and checked.

The UKHSA has since said anyone who visited Club Chemistry on March 5, 6 or 7 should come forward for preventative antibiotic treatment as a precautionary measure.

A sixth form student who died following the outbreak was named by her headteacher on Monday.

The pupil who died was a student at Queen Elizabeths Grammar School in Faversham (Alamy/PA)

Juliette, a Year 13 pupil at Queen Elizabeths Grammar School in Faversham, will be hugely missed, according to school headmistress Amelia McIlroy.

Ms McIlroy said: She was incredibly kind, thoughtful and intelligent and she loved our school. She was really very happy here.

Juliette embraced everything that school had to offer, with great enthusiasm and joy and her humour and her positivity were captivating.

In short, she was a lovely girl. Her beautiful smile, her loving nature and her sense of fun will be hugely missed.

A University of Kent student has also been confirmed to have died.

Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys was the second school to confirm a case of meningitis, while Norton Knatchbull School in Ashford confirmed on Monday afternoon that one of its Year 13 students has meningitis.

"We have now been informed that the diagnosis has been confirmed, and the student is receiving appropriate hospital treatment," a statement from the headteacher read.

"Our thoughts are with them and their family at this difficult time."

The school said it was in close contact with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), which has confirmed that "the wider school community does not require any additional measures beyond being vigilant for symptoms".

Seperately a UKHSA spokesperson said: We can confirm that UKHSA has worked with the University of Kent to provide advice letters to all 16,000 students, advising on recent cases, signs and symptoms, how to obtain antibiotics, and what to do if they feel unwell.

Not all 16,000 students at the university will be given antibiotics, only those who are regarded as close contacts of those affected, such as living in the same accommodation block.

(Gareth Fuller/PA Wire)

Club Chemistry said in a Facebook post on Monday afternoon: Weve made the decision to close the venue for the rest of this week.

While we havent been directed to do so, the safety and wellbeing of our community, our guests and our staff comes first - always.

We know this news may be worrying and we are working closely with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA). We will share updates as soon as we have them.

The Chemistry nightclub in Canterbury which is linked to the meningitis outbreak (Gareth Fuller/PA) (PA Wire)

Club owner Louise Jones-Roberts said earlier on Monday that the venue had been contacted by the UKHSA to try to trace people who could be affected.

It was reported on Monday that health officials were alerted to cases of meningitis two days before issuing public warnings about the spread of the disease, prompting questions about why the alerts were delayed.

A UKHSA spokesperson told The Standard: UKHSA was notified of a cluster of cases late on Saturday. We acted immediately and communication to those at risk took place on Saturday evening and Sunday.

Meningococcal bacteria can cause serious illness, including inflammation of the lining of the brain and blood poisoning, which can rapidly lead to sepsis.

Anyone can get meningitis but it is most common in babies, children, teenagers and young adults and it can spread very quickly in places such as universities and colleges.

At the university campus on Monday, students described their worries as they queued for antibiotics.

The specific strain of meningitis has not yet been identified.

Several students were wearing face masks and staff handed out more to those waiting.
Former MAGA Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene said on Monday that shed spoken to senior White House officials whom she claimed, in some cases, privately opposed Donald Trumps war with Iran.

The revelation comes as Greene, formerly one of Trumps biggest backers in Congress, has issued withering criticism of the president over his decision to launch military strikes in Iran. A member of the GOPs isolationist wing, Greene has consistently opposed U.S. commitments in foreign conflicts, including the war in Ukraine.

Greene told The Situation Room co-anchors Wolf Blitzer and Pamela Brown that a generational divide increasingly exists within the presidents MAGA base, with younger voters and Gen X Republicans like herself viewing the conflict as being waged on Israels behalf.

Many of the older Americans from the baby boomer generation that watch Fox News all day long very much believe the talking points on Fox News, and they, you know, theyve spent decades of their lives convinced that fighting these wars is the right thing to do. But the younger generations  Im Gen X  millennials and Gen Z are very much against this war, and so when you talk to people on the ground, thats how it comes across, said Greene. Its very generational.

Younger generations want to be able to afford their American lives, and they dont want their taxpayer dollars shipped off [overseas], Greene continued.

Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene left Congress in January (Getty)

She was quick to blame the president for abandoning his America First agenda, pointing out that the president had first broken with her last summer over the vote to release the Jeffrey Epstein files held by the Department of Justice. Trump, Greene said, had perverted the MAGA brand into something that nobody wants.

This is absolutely absurd, and its 100% a betrayal to what MAGA was supposed to be when we voted in 2024, and its turned into some perverted, deranged version of MAGA now that nobody wants, said Greene.

The former MAGA congresswoman was asked in the interview about the reported opposition of Vice President JD Vance to Trumps military operation in Iran. Greene responded that she wouldnt go into her own private conversations, while revealing that there was disagreement over the war among senior White House officials shed spoken to.

I wont speak for anyone, but there are people in the administration, high up in the administration, I know that dont support this, but the longer they stay silent, it hurts them. It definitely hurts them in the future, she told CNN on Monday.

Vice President JD Vance was reported to have expressed reservations about Trumps plans to launch a war with Iran before it took place (Getty)

The U.S. and Israeli war with Iran is now estimated to have resulted in the deaths of more than 1,300 people across Iran, as well as the deaths of 13 U.S. service members. Donald Trump, on Saturday, spoke with NBC News and claimed that Iran was seeking an agreement to end the war, which he was not ready to sign. Irans foreign minister on Sunday then denied that his country was ready to stop fighting, during an interview with CBSs Face the Nation.

Meanwhile, the Iranian armed forces, including its Revolutionary Guard corps, have sought to restrict commercial shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway through which as much as 20% of the worlds oil supply typically travels. Oil prices have shot up past $100 per barrel, and in the U.S. average gasoline prices have jumped by more than 70 cents per gallon, according to AAA.

Members of the isolationist wing of the presidents MAGA base were cheered by Trumps denunciations of endless war and recurring military engagements in the Middle East during his 2024 run for president. Now, the administration is haunted by those same proclamations as the president shows little sign of seeking the off-ramp that many Republicans in Congress and, according to Greene, in the White House, too, want him to take.

President Donald Trump campaigned against endless war during his 2024 bid for the presidency (AFP/Getty)

Polling suggests that more than half of Americans oppose the war with Iran, while about four in ten support it. On Capitol Hill, the wars terms have been denounced by Democrats, while some members of the opposition party have called the killing of Irans Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, a positive development for the region.

Greenes critiques of Trumps warmaking emerged last year as the president escalated a campaign of strikes targeting small boats in the Caribbean that U.S. forces claimed were trafficking drugs. That campaign ramped up and culminated in the abduction of Nicolas Maduro, Venezuelas president, in a U.S. raid to seek Maduros prosecution in the U.S. for drug trafficking charges.

She and other figures in the broader MAGA community off Capitol Hill have become increasingly vocal opponents of Trumps actions against Venezuela and support for Israel in now two military campaigns against Iran under his second presidency, and have accused the president of doing the opposite of what he promised on the campaign: to use Americas wealth at home, not abroad.
Leading members of Nato have dismissed Donald Trumps demands for assistance in the war against Iran, with Germany insisting that the conflict has nothing to do with the military bloc.

Mr Trump had called on allies to help the US police the Strait of Hormuz, which has been blockaded by Iranian forces in response to the intense US-Israeli bombardment that began on 28 February.

It is not Natos war, said a spokesperson for German chancellor Friedrich Merz. Nato is an alliance to defend the alliance area. The United States did not consult us before this war, and so we believe this is not a matter for Nato or the German government.

Sir Keir Starmer also went on the record to warn that Britain will not be drawn into the wider war.

Oil tankers and cargo ships lineup in the Strait of Hormuz as seen from Khor Fakkan in the United Arab Emirates (AP)

He refused to commit to sending in warships to help allow oil tankers to pass through the strategic waterway, even after a former Downing street adviser warned that he may need to consider fuel rationing if supplies dry up.

Sir Keir said: Ultimately, we have to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to ensure stability on the market. That is not a simple task. There have been discussions going on in relation to a viable plan.

We want to make sure that that involves as many partners as possible, thats been our stated directive here, particularly talking to European partners, inevitably talking to Gulf partners and to the US, because we need a credible, viable plan, if we can.

Responding to Sir Keirs reluctance to get involved, President Trump said he was not happy and very surprised, adding: They should be involved enthusiastically.

The ongoing war of words came as a senior Labour source, who is a regular part of the security discussions in relation to Iran and Ukraine, told The Independent that the feedback coming to the government from Republican allies as well as Democrats is one of deep despair at the erratic behaviour of the president with a number of allies questioning his judgement.

Mr Trump has warned that Nato faced a very bad future if member states did not use their navies to support the US in the Strait of Hormuz, as Iranian forces use drones, missiles and mines to prevent fuel tankers from transporting a fifth of global oil supply.

Germanys defence minister Boris Pistorius dismissed the American request.

What does (...) Donald Trump expect a handful or two handfuls of European frigates to do in the Strait of Hormuz that the powerful US navy cannot do? he said, downplaying warnings by the president that failing to come to Washingtons aid could have consequences for the Nato alliance.

Meanwhile, Italian foreign minister Antonio Tajani said diplomacy was the right way to solve the crisis in the strait and that there were no naval missions Italy is involved in that could be extended to the area.

As far as Hormuz is concerned I believe diplomacy needs to prevail, he told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting in Brussels.

Italy is involved in defensive naval missions in the Red Sea, but I dont see any missions that can be extended to Hormuz, he added.

The Dubai skyline with the landmark Burj Khalifa skyscraper is pictured as a smoke plume rises from an ongoing fire near Dubai International Airport (AFP/Getty)

Meanwhile, UK work and pensions minister Pat McFadden warned: It is not a Nato war, it is a US-Israeli action. The articles of association of Nato are that it is a defensive alliance.

Some allies, however, did signal a cautious willingness to assist the US.

Kaja Kallas, the EUs foreign policy chief, said the bloc is looking to unblock the passage by discussing with the United Nations a similar deal to the one which allows for grain to be exported from Ukraine despite the war with Russia.

Ms Kallas said the EU is also discussing whether it could change the mandate of its Middle East naval mission, Aspides, which currently protects ships in the Red Sea from attacks by Yemens Houthi rebel group, to include the Strait of Hormuz.

Denmark, a country which has clashed repeatedly with Mr Trump over his demands that it cede Greenland, said that even if the EU does not agree with the war, it should consider helping to reopen the strait.

Donald Trump warned it would be very bad for the future of Nato if allies to do not help secure the Strait of Hormuz (PA)

Even if we dont like whats going on, I think its wise to keep an open mind on whether Europe... in some way can contribute, but with a view towards de-escalation, said Danish foreign minister Lars Lkke Rasmussen.

The war, which is now in its 17th day, has caused the price of oil to surge to one of the highest rates since July 2022, peaking at $104 (78) per barrel on Monday as fuel costs continue to soar.

The conflict shows no signs of abating. The Israeli military has claimed that it still has thousands of targets to hit across Iran, with new ones identified every day.

We have a precise plan. We still have thousands of targets in Iran, and we are identifying new targets every day, military spokesperson Brig Gen Effie Defrin said in a televised briefing.

It also expanded its operations in southern Lebanon against Hezbollah on Monday.
The Houthis sit alongside the key Bab el-Mandeb strait and have a long history of firing missiles at passing ships, such as this tanker that was attacked in 2024

Suffocate every alternative: these words might summarise Irans next move after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) triggered the greatest oil supply shock in history by closing the Strait of Hormuz.

President Trump seems to have been surprised by Irans response to the US and Israeli onslaught, but Americas Gulf allies have spent decades planning for exactly this kind of emergency. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, for example, have both created alternative export routes to reduce their dependence on the Strait of Hormuz.

Four decades ago, Saudi Arabia built a pipeline across the Arabian Peninsula, running for almost 750 miles from the oil terminal at Abqaiq beside the Gulf all the way to the Red Sea port of Yanbu. The UAE, meanwhile, constructed a pipeline from Abu Dhabi to Fujairah, the countrys only port located outside the Strait of Hormuz.

The first would allow Saudi Arabia to re-direct about two thirds of its oil exports  perhaps five million barrels per day  to reach customers via the Red Sea, though Yanbu has never handled that volume before. The second would provide a route for about 1.5 million barrels of the UAEs oil exports to reach tankers waiting at Fujairah each day.

Together, these alternatives cannot fully compensate for the loss of the 20 million barrels that used to pass through the Strait of Hormuz daily. At best, they might make up for about a third of that total. But that is better than nothing and provides some solace to the oil market and, by extension, consumers.

So Iran has a ruthless counter-move: choke the alternatives to the Strait of Hormuz. On Monday, a killer drone duly attacked Fujairah and started what the authorities called a large fire in the oil industries zone. This strike will have been designed to deter tankers from using Fujairah to load UAE crude.

Yanbu, Saudi Arabias biggest Red Sea port, is well within range of the missiles possessed by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebel movement, which controls large areas of neighbouring Yemen, including the capital Sanaa.

At this moment, dozens of tankers are steaming across the Indian Ocean and heading for Yanbu, requiring them to enter the Red Sea through the Bab el-Mandeb strait.

The Houthis sit alongside this vital choke point and they have a long history of firing missiles at passing ships, including in response to Israels offensive in Gaza. Between 2022 and 2024, their attacks reduced container vessel traffic through the Red Sea by 90 per cent. At least twice in 2021 and 2022, the Houthis also launched missiles at oil installations in Yanbu.

So far, the Houthis have stayed out of Irans retaliatory campaign. If they were to take the opportunity to use their proven capability to suffocate the principal alternative to the Strait of Hormuz, and deprive the market of re-routed Saudi supplies, this would almost certainly drive the oil price even higher. There is unlikely to be another moment when the Houthis could enter the war to greater effect.

Iran has spent years providing them with missiles and IRGC advisers for exactly this contingency. As the Islamic Republic fights for survival against the combined might of America and Israel, achieving the simultaneous double closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb would amount to a coup de main, with the potential to turbocharge panic in the oil market.

But are the Houthis willing to play their part? They share the same Shia faith as Irans leaders, but they are members of a different sect  Zaydism. They might have been swayed by the personal authority of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the late supreme leader, but whether they consider his son and successor, Mojtaba Khamenei, as equally deserving of their alliance remains to be seen.

Most importantly, the Houthis know that if they do attack the convoys of passing tankers and close the entrance to the Red Sea, they will immediately suffer the retaliation of America and Israel as well as Saudi Arabia. The Houthis have endured regular air strikes from all three countries in the past, but the stakes are far higher today, meaning they would risk even heavier reprisals.

Abdul Malik al-Houthi, the leader of the movement, is now in the unique position for an Arab rebel leader of being able to take a decision with potentially global consequences. The sight of nearby tankers will be sorely tempting.
A satellite view of Irans Kharg Island on 7 March, before US military strikes this weekend. Photograph: EU, Copernicus Sentinel  2 imagery handout/EPA (Photograph: EU Copernicus Sentinel-2/EPA)

Oil prices have climbed again amid mounting supply fears after the US struck Irans vital Kharg Island oil hub and Donald Trump demanded allies help reopen the strait of Hormuz.

Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose 1.8% to $104.98 per barrel during early trading on Monday. Another weekend of violence across the Middle East compounded concerns over the conflict, and its ramifications for global energy markets.

The US president claimed on Saturday that US strikes had totally demolished most of Kharg Island, telling NBC News that its military may hit site a few more times just for fun.

Kharg, a five-mile-long coral island in the Persian Gulf about 16 miles from the mainland, is a key processing hub for Iran, through which 90% of the countrys oil exports typically flow.

Trump claimed on social media that he had avoided striking oil and energy infrastructure on the island for reasons of decency, and that only military targets had been hit.

But the decision to strike Kharg, which had been largely left untouched by the US-Israeli operation during its first two weeks, did not soothe the apprehensions rattling through global markets.

Related: Beyond the strait: why attacks on Kargh Island could keep oil prices high

The strait of Hormuz, one of the most important waterways in the world, through which about a fifth of international oil supplies usually travel, has been all but closed since the start of the crisis.

Trump claimed this weekend many countries will send ships to help reopen the strait. He did not identify which countries would purportedly do so, but publicly urged specific US allies  France, Japan, South Korea and the UK  and China to join a team effort to protect ships passing through the strait from Iranian strikes.

The response was decidedly muted. South Koreas foreign ministry said it was exploring various measures from multiple angles to help secure energy transport routes. UK ministers are drawing up plans to send minesweeping drones to the strait, amid concerns that complying with Trumps demand to send ships could escalate the crisis.

Oil prices topped $100 per barrel last week for the first time since Russias invasion of Ukraine four years ago, as the US-Israel triggered a market rally which increased fuel costs around the world  and propelled shares in major oil companies to all-time highs.

Frustration has been growing in recent days as fuel costs continued to rise around the world. The average US fuel price hit $3.70 per gallon on Sunday, according to AAA, up 62 cents on where it stood a month ago.

I dont give a shit about Iran. I dont want to pay higher gas, Kevin Dass, an underemployed father of two, told the Guardian in Detroit last week, after paying $3.49 per gallon to fill up his vehicle.

Trump, for his part, attempted to play down the risk of fuel prices remaining high for a sustained period. I think theyll go lower than they were before, he told NBC.

Theres so much oil, gas  theres so much out there, Trump added. But you know, its being clogged up a little bit. Itll be unclogged very soon.

Related: Trumps call for allied deployment to strait of Hormuz meets muted response

Countries across Asia have been scrambling to confront the energy crunch, from fuel subsidies in Thailand to rationing in Bangladesh.

Wholesale gas prices rose in Europe on Monday morning as the conflict continued to disrupt liquefied natural gas exports from the region. The benchmark Dutch front-month contract was up by 1.82 at 51.94 a megawatt hour.

Stock markets across Europe were mixed, with the FTSE 100 marginally up while markets in France, Germany, Spain and Italy fell less than 1%.
A nursery worker who raped and abused young children in his care has been jailed for 24 years.

Nathan Bennett, 30, preyed on the two- and three-year-olds at the Partou King Street nursery in Bristol. He was found guilty by a jury last month of eight charges, including rape, sexual assault and assault by penetration, relating to five children. On Monday, he was jailed at Bristol Crown Court for 24 years, with an extended licence period of six years.

Bennett previously admitted 13 other charges relating to four of the five victims, who were aged two at the time.

The court heard that concerns were raised by parents and staff about Bennetts behaviour towards the children in his care in February last year. The police launched an investigation after staff caught him on CCTV putting his hands down the trousers of a child, which led to Bennetts arrest and later the closure of the nursery.

He was noted by staff to sit children on his lap for lengthy periods of time, wore a pair of trousers with holes in the crotch area, and seemed territorial about certain toddlers and their parents, the court heard.

During the trial, video interviews with two of the children in the case  referred to only as Child A and Child E  were played to the jury.

Concerns were raised about Bennetts behaviour towards the children in his care last February (PA)

Child Es mother also gave evidence, telling the court how her son had demonstrated how he had been abused at his nursery.

I got him to stop doing it. I asked him when did that happen. He said it happened at nursery, she said.

Giving evidence, Bennett said he was emulating what was done to him as a child, and denied having a sexual attraction to children.

The defendant, from Corston, Bath, was found guilty by the jury of:

Two charges of raping a child under 13

Four charges of the sexual assault of a child under 13

Two charges of assault of a child under 13 by penetration

He previously pleaded guilty to 13 other charges. They were:

Eight charges of sexual assault of a child under 13

Four charges of causing a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity

One charge of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child

Sentencing Bennett to 24 years in prison with a further six-year licence period, Judge William Hart described Bennett as an incorrigible and dangerous paedophile.

Watching, as we did in this trial, the closed-circuit television footage of the little children at King Street nursery running around and playing brings a smile to the face of any decent person and any parent... happy, innocent toddlers in a secure setting, the judge said.

But the children we see were not secure. They were at risk because, unknown to staff and parents, you were lurking, ready to abuse them and to pollute their innocence with your own vile desires.

Nathan Bennett, having presided over your trial and having heard and seen the evidence upon which you were convicted, I am unhesitatingly driven to the conclusion that you are an incorrigible and dangerous paedophile with an uncontrollable and ungovernable sexual interest in male toddlers.

Not only the evidence against you, but your own evidence at trial and your presentation leads me to that conclusion. I find it impossible to predict for how long you will remain such a danger.

The judge added: The simple fact of the matter, though, is that you prioritised your own sexual satisfaction over the welfare of these little children, and that was due to your grossly distorted thinking, and a degree of, to use an old-fashioned word, evil.

The families of the children affected by the abuse committed by Bennett said they wanted answers as to how he was able to commit his crimes.

Bennett was described as incorrigible and dangerous by the judge (Avon and Somerset Police)

In a statement issued by law firm Leigh Day, which represents several of the families involved, they said: Todays sentence marks the end of a criminal investigation that has been devastating for families, but it does not begin to repair the harm caused to so many children.

We entrusted our children to Partou King Street nursery, believing they would be safe, cared for and nurtured. Instead, that trust was catastrophically broken by someone who abused his position in the most unimaginable way.

We know concerns were raised to members of staff  we believe those warnings and complaints were not properly followed up or escalated. Had appropriate action been taken sooner, we fear some of the abuse children suffered may have been prevented.

Leigh Day partner Andrew Lord, who represents a wider group of families affected by Bennetts abuse, said: This is one of the most deeply distressing cases any parent can imagine.

Todays sentence is an important step in holding Bennett accountable for his heinous crimes, but it does not address any wider issues that may have allowed him to continue working with very young children despite warning signs.

We are continuing to investigate civil legal action on behalf of families who are seeking answers, accountability, and assurances that safeguarding has drastically improved.
Canadian actress Rachel McAdams paid an emotional tribute to the late Diane Keaton during the Oscars, describing the Hollywood star as a legend with no end.

Keaton, who died in October aged 79 from pneumonia, was best known for her roles The Godfather, Father Of The Bride and her Oscar-winning performance in Annie Hall.

During the 98th Academy Award ceremony, the American actress was remembered for her absolute singularity.

Rachel McAdams speaking during the In Memoriam segment of the Oscars (Chris Pizzello/AP) (Chris Pizzello)

Appearing emotional, McAdams, who starred alongside Keaton in The Family Stone, said: For over 50 years, luminous on screen and indelible in life, believe me when I say, there isnt an actress of my generation who is not inspired by and enthralled with her absolute singularity.

She wore so many hats, literally and figuratively, actress, artist, author, activist, but no hat more important to her than being mother to her two children.

She meant so much to so many of us.

I remember she used to sing this old girl scout song on set, which is just so her.

Actress Diane Keaton at the 76th Academy Awards (Ian West/PA) (Ian West)

Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other is gold. A circle is round. It has no end. Thats how long Ill be your friend.

And so to our friend, Diane Keaton, celebrating a life in silver and gold, a legend with no end.

McAdams played Keatons daughter in the 2005 festive film which also starred Sex And The City actress Sarah Jessica Parker and Legally Blondes Luke Wilson.

Keaton shot to fame in the 1970s with her role as Kay Adams in The Godfather, as well as with her collaborations with Woody Allen.

She won an Oscar for Allens influential film Annie Hall and became associated with the title characters menswear-centric wardrobe.

Her many beloved films included The First Wives Club, Somethings Gotta Give and The Book Club movies.
Salman Rushdie said he would like to be talked about for his books rather than as the free speech Barbie.

In a conversation with George Packer of The Atlantic at the New Orleans Book Festival on Friday, the British-Indian novelist looked back at the 2022 knife attack that nearly killed him and left him blind in one eye, and the first work of fiction he had written since.

I don't feel symbolic, you know. I feel actual. I feel like I'm a working writer trying to make his work, he said. When youve written 23 books, its a little frustrating to be known not even for a book, but for something that happened to a book in 1989  when that was my fifth published book and this is my 23rd. Can we please talk about books? I keep trying to say.

Rushdie was attacked by 27-year-old New Jersey resident Hadi Matar at the Chautauqua Institution in New York in August 2022.

After being stabbed multiple times in a frenzied 27-second attack, Rushdie was hospitalised for six weeks, lost the sight in one eye and the partial use of a hand.

Though Matar didnt reveal a clear motive for the attack, it was widely believed to have stemmed from a fatwa issued by Irans then-supreme leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini against Rushdie over his 1988 novel The Satanic Verses.

In the wake of the fatwa, Rushdie had spent the better part of a decade hiding in London after the books Japanese translator, Hitoshi Igarashi, was stabbed to death.

Matar was sentenced to 25 years in prison for attempted murder in May 2025.

Salman Rushdie says he doesnt want to be seen as a symbol in debates about censorship (AP)

Talking about his memoir, Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder, which explores the attack and its aftermath, the author said it was almost unbearable to write, and almost unbearable not to write.

Its a love story. Its a story of recovery. Its a story about what use art has in the face of a trauma, he said.

After finishing Knife, Rushdie said a door in my head opened and the stories came back. His new short story collection, The Eleventh Hour, was published in November 2025.

The author explained that he had been worried the trauma and just the shocking impact of what happened would leave him unable to write fiction anymore.

Despite not wanting to be known as a defender of free speech, Rushdie spoke about where he thought censorship primarily came from.

Historically, attacks on free expression have come from the rich and powerful, and the religious, he said. Thats always been there, and of course, political repression. We live in it every day these days.

Coming from a more liberal background, there now seems to be a different kind of problem. One is self-censorship, I think, particularly if youre a young writer now. I think therere young writers now who are worried about what they're allowed to write about, he added.

Without appropriation there is no art. If you can only write about the thing that you are, thats such a tiny piece of human experience that you run out of it quite quickly.
(Getty Images)

Sam McKnight is the latest person to fall in love with Sri Lanka. The island offers everything from misty tea plantations and wildlife-filled national parks to golden beaches and historic cities.

Here, McKnight shares his personal guide to Sri Lanka  the places he loves, the hotels worth booking, and the spots that keep him coming back

Where is your favourite destination and why?

Sri Lanka. The country is amazing and feels` relatively unspoilt.

When was the last time you were there, and who were you with?

The last time I was there was for the first three weeks of January and I was travelling with a close friend. I had a companion voucher for British Airways and found flights to Hyderabad in India, which is only an hours flight from Sri Lanka, so this time it happened quite organically.

Sam McKnight takes us through a stay in Sri Lanka (Daniel Lynch)

Where do you like to stay there?

When Im touring around the island as we did for the first week, the most important thing is a clean, comfortable bed and a good breakfast. The rest you can kind of take or leave. One great place we stayed was Thaulle Ayurveda Resort, which is absolutely divine. It has really beautiful rooms overlooking a lake and you can see crocodiles sitting on the rocks from your window. I had the most incredible Ayurvedic massage Ive ever had there; I came back to London thinking I need to find a place for a really good massage near home.

What has been your favourite meal there?

The food in Sri Lanka is fantastic. I love eating the street food, including hoppers and lots and lots of fresh mango. But you dont have to stick to local cuisine  many places cater for everything and offer great international dishes. Im not a big red meat eater but I had a delicious steak every night at the hotel.

Amangalla in Galle (Aman)

Three favourite restaurants?

Other than sampling street food, we mostly ate in hotels. The food at Thaulle Ayurveda Resort was excellent. If you want to go really upmarket, there are two Aman resorts in Sri Lanka  one in Galle and one in Tangalle on the south coast.

What would you do if you had only 24 hours there?

I would do an elephant safari, which takes about four hours and lets you see elephants in the wild. I would also go down to one of the beaches in Galle, maybe have lunch at the Aman resort there. Id also recommend Kandy, which is worth visiting even though it does get very busy (just make sure you check the schedules when planning a trip to the temples and other sightseeing spots). The tea plantations are also amazing, and you can learn all about the history.

What is the one unmissable thing you recommend doing?

It would either be an elephant safari or discovering a beautiful, deserted beach. Then theres also the tea plantations. The thing is, because its a small island you can do all of these things as theyre close together. Its not like each element is a day apart. Is there a hidden gem you are willing to share?

The Fortress Hotel & Spa is amazing. It sits on the most beautiful little promontory that sticks out into the Indian Ocean and it has the longest deserted beach fringed with palm trees, where you can see the best sunsets. It looks like a real old Portuguese fortress but it was actually built in the 1970s. I havent heard many people talking about it but I spent eight days there just lazing about reading books  it was heaven.

A must-see: visiting the elephants (Ralfs Zigurs)

Where do you like to let your hair down?

To be honest, I didnt do anything like that. I spent a lot of summers in Ibiza but I dont go on holiday to do that kind of thing anymore.

Who do you call to have a good time there?

Its not that expensive to hire a driver in Sri Lanka and they make really good tour guides. Your driver will know everything; they can organise tickets for safari parks, take you to hidden spots, show you the best places to buy souvenirs and street food  all that kind of stuff.

Which are your favourite shops?

The only thing I really shopped is the traditional sarong-like garment known as a veshti or lungi. Theyre decorated with beautiful checks and stripes or block colours. I would find a place that sold them in each town we went to, and there were thousands but no two were the same.

Your favourite beauty spot?

Probably Koggala Beach on the south-western shore.

Sri Lanka boasts many beautiful beaches (Ruwan Lakmal)

Your packing essential?

You dont need to take much. Walking shoes if youre planning on hiking. Heres what I took: a pair of sandals, the trainers and jumper I travelled in, a few pairs of shorts, some T-shirts, three shirts in case I felt like getting dressed for dinner. Swimming trunks, all my sun creams and lotions and options, a lot of books. Do take some bug spray, but really you can travel very, very light.

Is there a song that reminds you of the place?

It would have to be any of the tracks on an old Ministry of Sound chill-out album Ive got on my Apple Music called On the Beach. I downloaded it from a CD  I think its from 2003. Its my go-to beach soundtrack.

Your dress code for the destination?

Its not a dressy, South of France situation. Its much more laid-back and low-key, and because its so hot, you dont need much. Youll probably mainly be wearing swim stuff or shorts and a T-shirt.

Have you ever had an emergency incident there?

No. Although we did once have a hotel booked and when we turned up it was really dreadful. Stained sheets, mattress on the floor  the pits. And it was New Years Eve. Luckily, our van driver found us a really amazing alternative hotel nearby.

Which building would you like to live in there?

The Last House, which was built by Geoffrey Bawa, a famous Sri Lankan architect, in Tangalle. The unique and spectacular building is a boutique hotel, but I would gladly live there. There are also many other Bawa-designed hotels and houses to visit across the island.

Favourite memory from there?

Being two feet away from an elephants eye in Pinnawala, an orphanage for elephants. That was a moving experience.
Long queues of students waiting for antibiotics at the University of Kents Canterbury campus on Monday. Photograph: Carl Court/Getty Images (Photograph: Carl Court/Getty Images)

A university and three schools have been struck by an outbreak of invasive meningitis that has killed two young people and left 11 others in hospital.

One of the young people to have died was a student at the University of Kent, while the second was a sixth-former at Queen Elizabeths grammar school (QEGS) in Faversham.

Two other schools, Simon Langton grammar school for boys in Canterbury and Norton Knatchbull school in Ashford, confirmed that both had a year 13 student in hospital with meningitis.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said on Monday evening it was continuing to investigate the outbreak, with 13 cases notified since March 13, including the two deaths.

The sixth-form student at QEGS was named as Juliette by teachers, who described her as a kind and intelligent young woman.

It is with great sadness that we are confirming the loss of Juliette, a much-loved and treasured member of our school community. Juliette was a student at our school for seven years. She was incredibly kind, thoughtful and intelligent and she loved our school and was very happy here, said the headteacher, Amelia McIlroy.

Juliette embraced everything that school had to offer with great enthusiasm and joy and her humour and positivity were captivating. She was a genuinely caring and attentive listener, a true friend who listened with warmth, respect and sincere interest to her peers and to our staff.

In short, she was a lovely girl  her beautiful smile, her loving nature and her sense of fun will be hugely missed. We are all devastated. Our love and thoughts are with her family and friends at this terribly sad time.

Juliettes father told the BBC the family were beyond devastated and they have no words to express their loss.

Over the weekend it was reported that a University of Kent student was one of two people to have died after contracting the disease, while 11 more people were seriously ill in hospital.

Long queues of students  many wearing face masks  were building at the institutions Canterbury campus on Monday morning, as they awaited antibiotics. Many turned up after being approached directly by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) because of possible contact with infected people. Others are thought to have arrived after calling 111.

Teaching has finished at the university for this term and exams are under way. All assessments due to take place this week will be moved online, affecting about 1,700 students, but the campus remains open. Its not a Covid lockdown situation, a spokesperson said. There are still staff and students around. Its quieter because teaching has finished anyway.

Related: Kent meningitis outbreak: key questions answered

Kirab Rhoda, 18, a law and criminology student from Uganda, said her mother had offered to book her a flight home after the news of the meningitis outbreak, but she was feeling reassured by the university handing out medicine.

I feel reassured because the school cares, I feel [its] safer than not any action taking place. This is really assuring to all students, she said.

Law student Millie Inglis, 21, said she got a message to collect antibiotics, adding: We were just pretty shocked. It just feels like a repeat, it feels very Covid-esque. As long as everyones all right, though, I guess thats all that matters, really. Were just making sure that it doesnt get any worse.

On Monday, Helen Whately, the MP for Faversham and Mid Kent, said: The meningitis outbreak in our area is a huge shock. Feeling so deeply sad for the young lives lost  a year 13 pupil at QEGS and a Uni of Kent student. My heart goes out to their families.

In a post on Facebook, she added: Its incredibly worrying too for the families of the young people in hospital, and others at risk. I am asking the NHS urgently for more information and guidance, especially given the rumours going round about where they may have picked it up.

Whately said she had spoken to the health secretary, Wes Streeting, and was expecting to hear from the UKHSA on Monday morning.

The UKHSA said it had been notified between Friday and Sunday of 13 cases of people with signs and symptoms of meningitis. Some students at the University of Kent have been given antibiotics, while others are in hospital. The specific strain of meningitis has not yet been identified.

We can confirm that UKHSA has worked with the University of Kent to provide advice letters to all 16,000 students, advising on recent cases, signs and symptoms, how to obtain antibiotics, and what to do if they feel unwell, a UKHSA spokesperson said. Not all students were to be given antibiotics, only those regarded as close contacts of those affected.

The UKHSA confirmed that some cases visited Club Chemistry in Canterbury, and they are offering free antibiotics at temporary sites to anyone who went there on 5, 6 or 7 March.

Louise Jones-Roberts, the owner of the venue, told the Press Association more than 2,000 people would have visited the club over those three days, and would now need tracing for antibiotics.

She said her thoughts were with the families of those affected by the outbreak. Im devastated. I cant imagine what the families are going through. Our thoughts are with the families. Meningitis affects healthy, young people and this is devastating.

Meningococcal bacteria can cause serious illness, including inflammation of the lining of the brain and blood poisoning, which can rapidly lead to sepsis. Anyone can get meningitis, but it is most common in babies, children, teenagers and young adults.

The UKHSA said anyone with meningitis and septicaemia symptoms should seek medical help urgently. Symptoms include a rash, sudden fever, severe headaches, a stiff neck, vomiting and diarrhoea, joint and muscle pain, sensitivity to bright lights, cold hands and feet, seizures, confusion and extreme sleepiness.
At the 2026 Oscars ceremony, actor Sean Penn joined a small coterie of male performers who have three Academy Awards to their name. But the 65-year-old, who was named Best Supporting Actor for his brilliant portrayal of a racist military officer in Paul Thomas Andersons One Battle After Another, wasnt among the stars gathered at Los Angeles Dolby Theatre on Sunday night.

Sean Penn couldnt be here this evening, or didnt want to, so Ill be accepting the award on his behalf, Succession star  and last years Best Supporting Actor winner  Kieran Culkin quipped after opening the golden envelope.

So where was Penn on one of the biggest nights of his acting career? According to a report from the New York Times, the actor, who previously earned Oscars for Mystic River in 2004 and for Milk in 2009, chose to skip the ceremony in order to head to Europe.

Penn won best supporting actor for his performance as Colonel Steven J Lockjaw in One Battle After Another (Warner Bros)

His plan as of late last week, anonymous sources told the paper, was to visit Ukraine, although they did not specify what he would be doing there or where precisely within the country he would be going. On Monday, an AFP reporter spotted Penn leaving a car in Kyiv, and he has since been photographed in a meeting with president Volodymyr Zelensky.

Swapping a glitzy Hollywood party to spend time in a country torn apart by war  its not exactly your usual A-list behaviour, but it is certainly quite typical of the unusual turn that Penns life and work has taken in recent years.

This is, after all, the man who lent one of his Oscar statuettes to Zelensky, promising that it should remain in the capital city of Kyiv until Ukraine wins the war against Russia  and who previously debated melting down his two little gold men to make bullets they can shoot at the Russians.

Penn met up with Zelensky after being awarded another Oscar (Ukrainian Presidential Press Service)

What is perhaps particularly notable is, where other celebrities activism has notably waned in the years since Russia invaded in 2022, replaced by other splashier and more of-the-moment causes, Penn has remained stalwart, persisting as one of Americas loudest voices in the defence of Ukraine.

So how did Penn, the star who was once best known for his tumultuous marriage to Madonna in the late Eighties, become such a passionate supporter of Zelensky? Its worth noting that this is not the first cause that Penn has taken up. Far from it.

Sean Penn was photographed in Kyiv on Monday (Genya Savilov / AFP via Getty Images)

His activism has roots in his familys liberal politics. His father, the actor and director Leo Penn, was blacklisted from Hollywood in the Fifties after refusing to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), the organisation designed to root out alleged Communist sympathisers.

Penn Jr, meanwhile, emerged as one of the film industrys most outspoken activists in the early Noughties, when George W. Bush went to war in Iraq in the wake of the September 11 attacks. Penn, sceptical of the existence of weapons of mass destruction, took out an ad in The Washington Post in 2002, in which he called on the then-president to change his mind.

Months later, he travelled to Baghdad to personally record the human face of the Iraqi people so that their blood  along with that of American soldiers  would not be invisible on my own hands, as he put it in a powerful statement to the press.

A few years on, he operated a rescue boat during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, managing to pick up survivors who had been trapped in their homes. Then, in 2010, following the devastating earthquake in Haiti, he set up and ran what would become one of the countrys biggest refugee camps. It was an endeavour that, unlike many celebrity brushes with humanitarianism, won praise from experienced aid workers for making a tangible difference, and Penn was later named as an ambassador-at-large for Haiti to recognise his hands-on work.

Sean Penn has a long history of political and humanitarian activism (Getty Images)

Not all of his ventures have been as well received, though. Penn has been criticised for his past defence of controversial South American leaders such as Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, with whom the actor became close friends, and Cuban president Raul Castro. And in 2015, he embarked on a bizarre trip to Mexico to interview the drug lord El Chapo for Rolling Stone magazine; the circus surrounding the venture overshadowed Penns aim to contribute to this conversation on the war on drugs. I have a terrible regret, he later reflected on the whole debacle.

His work has also attracted many of the usual barbs prompted by A-list activism, namely that his ventures are prompted less by genuine altruism and more by a desire to be at the heart of the story, like some sort of real-life Hollywood hero (who can pop home to Malibu for a bit of rest and relaxation whenever he fancies).

His involvement in Ukraine initially began when he was searching for a lighter directing project to pursue, after planned documentaries about the exiled Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad and the assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi didnt pan out.

The story of Zelensky  an actor and comedian who had starred in a TV series about an ordinary bloke who ends up as president after his rant about government corruption goes viral, and had then himself successfully won a presidential election on an anti-corruption platform  seemed like good material for a film.

We thought wed follow this kind of interesting story that would have been a light-hearted take, Penn said at the time.

The Covid pandemic meant that filming ended up being delayed, and it wasnt until late 2021 that Penn finally headed to Ukraine. He and Zelensky eventually met on 23 February 2022; their initial encounter wasnt filmed, the actor has said, so that the politician could figure out whether he could trust him or not.

What neither of them could have predicted was that on that night, Russia would invade Ukraine. The following day, which the pair had agreed would mark the start of filming, would be the first day of the war.

Sean Penn presented Vlodymyr Zelensky with one of his Oscar trophies in 2022 (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office)

Inevitably, the project moved in an entirely different direction. What had been intended as a lightly comic portrait of a celebrity-turned-politician would morph into a depiction of a nation thrown into conflict. Zelensky, though, kept his planned appointment with Penn on 24 February.

It seems as if this second meeting stoked an abiding admiration on the Americans side. I saw a very big change in him from one day to the next, Penn recalled. At that moment, he was the significant target. But he wasnt going anywhere. That day, he found out that he was born for this.

The fact that Zelensky chose to stay in the capital city, rather than accepting offers to leave his country for his own safety, seemed to especially impress Penn. President Zelensky and the Ukrainian people have risen as historic symbols of courage and principle, he said in a statement released a few weeks later. Ukraine is the tip of the spear for the democratic embrace of dreams. If we allow it to fight alone, our soul as America is lost.

Penns documentary Superpower premiered at the Berlin Film Festival the following year. The unabashedly pro-Zelensky movie  If its propaganda, Im proud, he told one audience  shows the star traipsing through the rubble and meeting with civilians who have had their lives turned upside down.

The response was mixed. While The Independents Geoffrey Macnab praised Penn and his co-director Aaron Kaufman for their sprawling and uneven but also heartfelt and inspiring effort, other critics questioned the stars apparent need to place himself at the heart of the story once again.

The Guardians two-star review described it as a queasy-making examination of the celebrity-blighted news cycle where somebody like Penn is the de facto messenger of tragedy. Was the film more concerned with Sean Penn, real-life action hero, than it was with the heroism of the Ukrainian people? Or was the actor doing vital work in keeping the Ukraine conflict front of mind for American viewers?

The president and the actor have struck up a friendship over the years (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office)

Penn, perhaps to his credit, kept up his friendship with Zelensky long after the cameras stopped rolling. In late 2022, he made headlines for handing over his Oscar statuette to the president, telling him to bring it back to Malibu after a Ukrainian victory. Its just a symbolic silly thing, but if I know this is here with you then Ill feel better and stronger for the fight, the actor said. Zelensky, in response, presented him with a very different accolade: Ukraines Order of Merit.

Then in 2025, following a tense moment between president Donald Trump and Zelensky during a White House meeting, Penn doubled down on his praise for his friend, hailing him as constantly, extemporaneously genuine in his desire to secure freedom for Ukraine. I think the last significant moment that we [Americans] were bridging a division was in support of Ukraine and its head of state, he said. And if we lose track of that, we really have to ask ourselves if were losing track of the value of democracy.

Just a few weeks later, Penn headed to Ukraine to meet with special forces, and at the Cannes film festival in May, he posed on the red carpet with soldiers, along with U2s Bono and The Edge.

With his latest visit to Kyiv, the latest member of the Oscars three-timers club shows no erosion of his own unique form of activism. Where other actors might have opted to pledge support for Zelensky in their winners speech (and be praised for their powerful words on social media), Penn clearly prefers a more hands-on approach.

Its his personal visit, thats how he sees it, that he needs to be in Ukraine, a senior Ukrainian official told AFP on Monday. He just wants to support Ukraine. Whether he offers up his latest trophy to Zelensky remains to be seen.
As he accepted the Best Picture Oscar last night for his rollicking chase movie One Battle After Another, the filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson cast his mind back to 1975, and the murderers row of films selected by Oscar as the best of that year: Dog Day Afternoon, Jaws, Barry Lyndon, Nashville, and the categorys eventual winner, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest. There is no best among them, Anderson said. There is just what the mood might be that day.

Whats funny, though, is that Andersons earnest, generous logic (why are we competing and besting? What are we doing?) didnt much apply to his own category mates: there was no day when the mood may have shifted support to an F1 win, or a Sentimental Value one. This was, as proven by a night of endless back and forth between them, a two-horse race between One Battle and Ryan Cooglers vampire actioner Sinners. It meant an otherwise well-reviewed and successful movie like Marty Supreme went home entirely empty-handed, while  for all its early buzz and ubiquitous Jessie Buckley Best Actress wins this awards season  even Hamnet felt curiously irrelevant come the ceremony itself. And it made the Academys recent insistence on turning the Best Picture category into a 10-horse race, whether its warranted or not, seem completely redundant.

The Academy increased the number of Best Picture nominees from five to 10 in 2009, officially to recognise and include movies that get squeezed out of the race, per a statement at the time. But unofficially, the move was an immediate mea culpa for the absence of Christopher Nolans The Dark Knight from that years Best Picture nominees. The lack of Batman was a big setback for Oscar, providing immediate ammunition to critics who claim the Oscars rarely highlight real commercial hits or the films that people actually see. And considering how revered The Dark Knight was, and how it earned Heath Ledger a posthumous Supporting Actor trophy anyway, it did feel strange it didnt get into the Best Picture top five. Expanding the field to 10, then, was a well-intentioned course correction.

Sinners and One Battle stars Michael B Jordan and Leonardo DiCaprio competed in the Best Actor category (The Academy/Getty)

But in execution, 10 annual Best Picture nominees dilute the waters. This year, the staid Netflix film Train Dreams earned a Best Picture nod, as did the aforementioned Brad Pitt vehicle F1, and Yorgos Lanthimoss divisive extra-terrestrial comedy Bugonia. It felt palpable on Sunday night that these movies were the also-rans  each got introduced via celebratory montages sprinkled throughout the show, but they were otherwise rarely mentioned. Their stars didnt present awards, and host Conan OBrien didnt joke about them in his monologue (ironically, it was the Best Picture-snubbed horror movie Weapons that provided the most comic material). Buckley won for Hamnet, Sentimental Value won Best International Film, F1 won Best Sound, and Guillermo del Toros Frankenstein took home a few technical prizes, but the rest of the Best Picture nominees  which also included the Brazilian thriller The Secret Agent  went home with nothing. There was a sense that few of them really mattered to the film culture of the last year.

The real thrill of this awards season had been the developing face-off between the ones that did. Sinners and One Battle share unexpected parallels: thematically, they are about race and power and rebellion; theyre also incredibly expensive blockbusters made by the same production regime at Warner Bros, and their respective releases were shadowed by questions about what their success or failure would mean for the future of original storytelling in Hollywood, as well as the modern ability of superstar actors to get bums in seats.

A return to a tight five, just as it was in the halcyon days of 1975, would give the Oscars a sense of focus

No one knew in advance which one would clean up at last nights ceremony, both having won important accolades at the Golden Globes, the Baftas and the Actor Awards in recent weeks. And as the ceremony zig-zagged between them  the shock of One Battles Teyana Taylor and Sinners Wunmi Mosaku both missing out on Best Supporting Actress to Weapons Amy Madigan, but One Battle taking the inaugural Best Casting award, then Sinners taking Cinematography, Michael B Jordan swiping Best Actor over Leonardo DiCaprio and then Anderson beating Coogler to Best Director  their rivalry provided the only bursts of suspense in an otherwise languid evening.

One Battle director Paul Thomas Anderson with his trophy (AFP/Getty)

In the hours since the close of the ceremony, social media has been abuzz with disgruntled Sinners fans expressing annoyance with its lack of a Best Picture win, and critics of One Battle lambasting its perceived failings.

Setting aside where you stand in these arguments, its exactly the sort of passion that movies ought to inspire, and speaks to the fact that this was a pair of films that sparked enormous amounts of conversation and doubled as proper, maximalist big-screen events. And theyre also the worst advertisement going for a 10-strong Best Picture line-up comprised of mostly dead wood.

But a return to a tight five, just as it was in the halcyon days of 1975, would give the Oscars a sense of focus, and more accurately reflect what we were watching and what we truly cared about in the past 12 months of film.

And dont worry about the Dark Knights of the world  the Oscar voting body is younger, more diverse, and less stuffy now. That would have gotten it a Best Picture nod, not merely an opened-up field so a nomination was a given. Its something the Academy ought to think about for next year.
Queueing for fuel at a filling station in Wellawatte on the outskirts of Colombo on Monday. Photograph: Ishara S Kodikara/AFP/Getty Images (Photograph: Ishara S Kodikara/AFP/Getty Images)

Sri Lanka is introducing a shorter four-day working week to preserve its shrinking fuel and gas reserves, as the Middle East conflict continues to severely disrupt energy supplies in the region.

Countries across south Asia are facing crippling shortages of fuel and LPG gas, which are used for everything from home cooking to cremating bodies, as most supplies have been held up in the Gulf since the US and Israel began bombing Iran.

The strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping route for most of south Asias oil and gas, has effectively been shut for two weeks as it has been blockaded by Iran in retaliation for the US and Israeli strikes.

Related: IEA to consider release of more oil reserves as Iran war keeps prices high

All countries in the region import almost all their fuel and gas and most warned they only have enough supplies to keep the lights on for a few more weeks.

Bangladesh, fearful of running of out fuel to power the garment factories that are crucial to its economy, announced early Ramadan holidays for universities to save energy and has imposed scheduled power blackouts.

Pakistan, which relies on 85% of its energy coming through the strait of Hormuz, moved schools to remote online teaching this week and raised fuel prices in an attempt to stop hoarding.

Sri Lanka is among the countries cutting working hours to save fuel, which it mostly sources from the Middle East. From Wednesday, state institutions, as well as schools and universities, will operate only four days a week. Civil servants are being told to work from home where possible.

We are also asking the private sector to follow suit and declare every Wednesday a holiday from now on, Prabath Chandrakeerthi, commissioner general of essential services, told reporters after an emergency meeting chaired by the president, Anura Kumara Dissanayake.

In scenes reminiscent of Sri Lankas economic crisis four years ago, fuel rationing began on Sunday. Long lines formed outside petrol stations and motorists were limited to 15 litres of petrol or diesel a week, while public transport was allocated up to 200 litres.

Officials said the countrys petrol and diesel reserves would last nearly six weeks but warned that any disruption to fresh supplies could severely affect the island. They insisted that essential services, including hospitals, ports and emergency services will continue to operate as usual.

The government has said that a prolonged war in the Middle East, and a failure to secure the safe shipping of energy through the strait of Hormuz, could seriously undermine its efforts to emerge from its economic crisis of 2022.

At an emergency meeting on Monday, Dissanayake reportedly told senior officials: We must prepare for the worst, but hope for the best.

In India, where 60% of its LPG gas supplies come from Gulf states, long queues formed across the country for cooking gas canisters and many restaurants closed their doors or took slow-cooking dishes off the menus.

Hotels warned they would soon have to close and a major steel plant said it would have to shut down operations. The prime minister, Narendra Modi, sought to reassure people there was no LPG shortage and no need to panic.

India claimed some diplomatic success over the weekend as two of its tankers, carrying critical supplies of gas, were able to successfully navigate through the strait on Saturday, which is likely to help ease distribution as they arrived in India on Monday.

Speaking to the Financial Times, Indias foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, said the Indian tankers had been allowed through the strait after direct negotiation with the Iranians. I am at the moment engaged in talking to them and my talking has yielded some results, he said.
Keir Starmer was foiled again in his quest to be clear on Monday - Chris J Ratcliffe/Pool/EPA/Shutterstock

Breaking news! Speaking at a press conference in front of two enormous Union Flags, scheduled to be replaced by hedgehogs, the PM told a stunned nation that he grew up in a working-class home.

We didnt have enough money in our house, he said, holding back tears, and the only way his father could afford tools was to go out and make some. This is why hes capping energy bills (for four months) and fuel duty (till September). After that, who knows?! Hopefully Iran will have surrendered or well have invented the fusion reactor, whichever comes first.

We have been clear and consistent in our objectives throughout this conflict, said the PM, First, erm. Second, uh. Third, you get the gist. His chameleonic skin turned red, white and blue in a bid to vanish from scrutiny. The fact is, Britains position makes zero sense. Trying to explain it in the Commons, serial flak-taker Stephen Doughty  a human minesweeper  was accused by the Lib Dems of being a poodle, and by the Tories of being a scaredy cat.

The remarkable thing is that the Government is both. We will send ships to the Gulf, said Doughty, not to fight Iran but to protect the sea lanes. But if Iran fires upon us, Stephen, will we not fire back?

This nation is already at war! declared Bernard Jenkin, a reality the Left is trying to escape. Labour MPs called for de-escalation. Debbie Abrahams urged the Government to bring peace to Palestine. And the Green Party is working on a policy paper called Queering the Strait of Hormuz.

Meanwhile, Trump is furious with Great Britain. We requested two aircraft carriers, he shouted at a press conference, which they had and [Starmer] didnt really want to do it. Alas, HMS Beatrice and HMS Eugenie were being resprayed in time for Pride.

Donald Trump was pictured with two Republicans who looked like they had won a White House tour - Aaron Chwartz/Pool/EPA/Shutterstock

The president was sitting in front of six even bigger flags, flanked by two middle-aged Republicans who looked like a couple that had won a tour of the White House and were surprised to find themselves on camera during a pivotal moment in World War III.

Text POTUS for updates on Iran, read the news ticker on the TV screen  or text FLOTUS for Oscars gossip and the secret to super soft skin.

Of course, the real diplomacy is taking place out of view. As we speak, Doughty informed the Commons, Yvette Cooper is on a call to the secretary of state, Marco Rubio (in the bottom right of a Zoom call, shouting to be heard above 40 callers from other mid-tier nations.)

And the PM, pathetically, told his own presser that Donald and he had spoken, as if their 30-second chat conducted over the deafening roar of Air Force One made all the difference.

I really want to get this right, Mr President, because my father was a tool maker.

WHAT? Your father was a MULE TAKER? Why did he want to take another mans mule? People work hard for those things, Keith. And why are the British still riding around on mules anyways? GET A CAR!

The PM howled internally. Foiled yet again in his noble quest to let me be clear.
Senator John Cornyn speaks to members of the media at the Austin Marriott Downtown on 3 March in Austin, Texas. Photograph: Brandon Bell/Getty Images (Photograph: Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

Republican senator John Cornyn and Democratic congressman Greg Casar of Texas squabbled outside Austins international airport on Monday over funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), as the shutdown of the agency enters its second month.

Cornyn, the longtime Texas senator who is locked in a tough primary battle against attorney general, Ken Paxton, went to Austin-Bergstrom international airport to bring Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees lunch. As he pulled up outside the terminal, he encountered Casar, whose district includes Austin and who a spokesperson said was there to catch a flight back to Washington DC.

Why dont you tell your Democrats to vote to pay these poor people? Cornyn told Casar in a crowd of reporters.

Lets do it, Casar replied, prompting Cornyn to shoot back: No, you do it!

The two then talked over each other, with Casar, who chairs the congressional progressive caucus, saying that Democrats had proposed legislation to fund only TSA while working out the broader questions around immigration enforcement.

Not acceptable, Cornyn replied, before bringing up a recent mass shooting in downtown Austin.

Related: Airline CEOs urge Congress to end shutdown and pay airport TSA officers

These people are keeping us safe, he said. Tell the Democrats to vote for funding the DHS.

The two then parted ways, with Casar later saying that Cornyn was refusing to compromise over immigration reforms in order to secure the presidents backing in the Senate race, which could help him fend off Paxtons primary challenge.

Hes bootlicking so hard to get Donald Trumps endorsement that hes willing to go to any length, no matter how degrading it is, Casar said. And to me, that is really sad from the senator who we used to think of as a little more independent, a little bit more Texas tough.

The department has been without funding since mid-February, after Democrats said they would not vote to authorize its operations unless Republicans agreed to new restrictions on federal agents conducting immigration enforcement, including that they show identification, stop wearing masks and cease detaining people on the street.

The shutdown has meant that employees of TSA, which is under the homeland security department, have gone weeks without pay, leading to lengthy security lines at some airports and public pleas from airline CEOs to end the standoff.

Speaking to reporters at the airport, Cornyn said TSA employees had missed one full and one partial paycheck, and that Democrats should reauthorize funding for DHS while negotiations over immigration operations play out.

We can talk about that after people start getting paid again, Cornyn said. Those debates will not end when they get paid, but it just means we wont be holding these poor people hostage who have nothing to say about what those reforms will look like.

Democrats last week tried to win unanimous agreement in the Senate to pass legislation that would fund DHS operations outside immigration enforcement, but were blocked by Republicans. The GOP also tried to pass a DHS funding bill that did not include reforms, but it did not receive enough Democratic support to clear the filibusters 60-vote threshold to advance.

Earlier today, Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic House minority leader, announced the party would later this week begin circulating a petition to force a vote on similar legislation in the Republican-controlled chamber. The petition needs 218 signatures to succeed, and Democrats control 214 seats.
Thousands of people have signed a petition in support of one of the last remaining pie and mash shops in west London, which is facing closure after a landlord threatened to more than double its rent.

Ruth Phillips has been serving up traditional food at Cockneys in Portobello Road for over 30 years.

But earlier this month she was told her rent would be increasing from 31,500-a-year to a completely unaffordable 64,000.

Some 3,000 people have now signed a petition urging the property agent and landlord pushing for the rise to rethink.

Ms Phillips told the Standard: Im devastated. I know the amount I can afford and its certainly not 64,000.

Nobody else is paying these high rents. They go between 30,000 to 40,000.

Ruth Phillip uses a recipe dating back more than 100 years (Cockney's)

She added: Every five years I have a rent review, and its never been a problem before. I have had five rent reviews. The rent has always gone up, obviously, 5,000 each time.

But because new people have moved into the area...they are hellbent on putting my rent up from 31,500 to 64,000. We are trying to negotiate but they dont seem to be climbing down.

Cockneys and Bush Pie & Mash in Uxbridge Road are the last two traditional pie and mash shops remaining in west London.

Ms Phillips runs the shop with the help of her family and uses a recipe dating back more than 100 years, given to her by an old shopkeeper.

She is now faced with going to arbitration court in a bid to find a compromise.

Ruth Phillips has been serving up food at Cockneys in Portobello Road for over 30 years (ES)

I would not be able to survive, she said. What it would mean is me and my son would be working for the landlord.

Kensington and Bayswater MP Joe Powell, who set up the petition, told the Standard that it was difficult to speak to the landlord directly because the building appears to be owned by a company registered abroad.

He told the Standard: Unfortunately, as with a lot of London property it seems to be registered through a company, possibly a shell company and thats one of the things we need to fix in terms of having an accurate understanding of who owns and controls property in London.

So, we are not entirely sure [who the landlord is], but we do know who the managing agent is and I have asked them for an urgent meeting and am yet to get a reply.

Mr Powell added: If you look at the businesses round here, there are not many left like this, so we need to save Cockneys.

Cockneys is one of the last two traditional pie and mash shops remaining in west London (Cockney's)

We are in a situation now where we risk losing one of our few remaining institutions on Portobello Road unless we can persuade the landlord and the agent to be reasonable.

I think North Kensington has gentrified a lot over the last few decades, there is no doubt about it. But people come here because of the mix.

They come here for the record shops, for the vintage clothes, for the pie and mash shop. And they are not going to come here if its just souvenir shops and coffee shops. So, it is self-defeating. If we dont keep the mix on Portobello Road, then the rents will end up going down in the long term anyway.

We need to protect these institutions.
Three arrested after mans body found in wheelie bin in Coventry

Three people have been arrested on suspicion of murder after a mans body was found in a wheelie bin in Coventry.

A man and a woman in their forties and a man in his twenties were detained overnight in Blackpool and remain in police custody for questioning, West Midlands Police said in an update on Monday.

The man is believed to be aged between 40 and 50 (West Midlands Police)

It comes after a member of the public discovered the body of a man believed to be aged between 40 and 50 in a council bin with a green lid near Cashs Park on Friday. The identity of the man has not yet been established.

Police said they are working to formally identify the man and establish how he died.

On Sunday, officers released a number of images of the bin the man was discovered in and a description of his tattoos and asked anyone who recognised them to come forward.

The force said the man has a tattoo of a cross with a snake wrapped around it on his back and the words Little Stardust, and a tattoo on his right arm saying nan with a clover and the colours of the Irish flag.

All three suspects have been arrested on suspicion of murder and assisting an offender, police say (West Midlands Police)

They added that it is believed he may have been hit by a vehicle before being moved to the park.

All three suspects have been arrested on suspicion of murder and assisting an offender, police said.

Detective Chief Inspector Phil Poole from West Midlands Polices major crime unit said: After beginning our investigation this weekend, we have made a number of arrests overnight.

Police are urging anyone who recognises the bin to come forwards (West Midlands Police)

All of these people remain in custody at this time while we continue to build a picture of what might have happened. Thank you to everyone who has been in touch providing information so far.

We are continuing to appeal to anyone who might know more about what happened and whether they can help our investigation.

The force said anyone with information can call 101 quoting log 4148 of 13 March.
US actress Tina Fey, Fifty Shades Of Grey actor Jamie Dornan and Four Lions star Riz Ahmed have been named as the first hosts for the UK edition of Saturday Night Live (SNL).

Fey, 55  who was previously the head writer and lead cast member on the sketch shows US version  will host the UK series first episode on March 21, where she will be joined by Isle Of Wight indie band Wet Leg as the musical guest.

Northern Irish actor Dornan, 43, will host on March 28, and will be joined by Brit Award-winning rock band Wolf Alice as musical performers; while Ahmed, also 43, will host on April 4, when 2000s indie band Kasabian will perform.

Jamie Dornan will host SNL UK as Wolf Alice perform (Matt Crossick/PA) (Matt Crossick)

SNL UK will be broadcast live from London at 10pm every Saturday night on Sky, with each episode lasting 75 minutes and a different host taking to the stage each week alongside the shows inaugural cast.

The cast will be made up of Hammed Animashaun, Ayoade Bamgboye, Larry Dean, Celeste Dring, George Fouracres, Ania Magliano, Annabel Marlow, Al Nash, Jack Shep, Emma Sidi and Paddy Young.

It comes after the writers for the shows first-ever official UK edition were announced, including 8 Out of 10 Cats writer Charlie Skelton, who will serve as the head writer for the satirical news segment, The Weekend Update.

He will be joined by Stath Lets Flats actor and comedian Al Roberts, Have I Got News For Yous Bella Hull and comedians Celya AB, Chris Cantrill, Grainne Maguire, Humphrey Ker and James Farmer.

Riz Ahmed is among the first hosts announced for SNL UK (Ian West/PA) (Ian West)

The series head writer, Jonno Johnson, said: The number of funny, talented writers we have got to work on SNL UK is ludicrous.

Some of them have been doing this for years, some of them its their first ever writing job.

All of them make me giddy to come to work each day. Could not imaginably feel luckier that we get to make this show together.

The shows US version has been running since 1975, and is responsible for launching the careers of the likes of Fey, Bill Murray and Eddie Murphy.

Saturday Night Live UK will launch on Sky and streaming service Now every Saturday from March 21, and will also be available on catch-up.
Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel is currently in Rome delivering a four-part lecture series outlining his beliefs about the Antichrist on the Vaticans doorstep, having previously attacked Pope Leo XIV as a woke American pope.

Thiel, 58, a co-founder of PayPal and the data mining company Palantir, delivered the first of the series Sunday and will present three subsequent instalments on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week, in which he will reportedly explain his complex personal philosophy regarding the imminence of Armageddon.

The lecture series is invitation-only, no recording devices are permitted within the venues  the locations of which have repeatedly changed  and two Catholic universities previously tied to the conference have denied their involvement.

Thiel, who grew up in an evangelical Christian household, delivered a similar set of talks in San Francisco last September, which again took place behind closed doors; illicit recordings subsequently leaked, and The Guardian posted extensive excerpts.

Silicon Valley titan Peter Thiel previously delivered a four-part series of lectures on the Antichrist and Armageddon in San Francisco last fall (AP)

In those speeches, the tech investor was heard defining himself as a libertarian, or a classical liberal, who deviates in one minor detail, where Im worried about the Antichrist, which he characterized as a spiritual descriptor of the forces of evil or an evil king or tyrant or anti-Messiah who appears in the end times.

Thiel told his audience of predominantly young male professionals in California that he believed the End of Days would be brought about by an Antichrist figure who encourages a fear of existential threats against humanity in order to consolidate power, giving climate change, AI and nuclear warfare as examples of topics they might use to instil anxiety about a coming Third World War.

Thiel said such a person would use the ensuing paranoia to justify a push toward a one-world state and the enforced stagnation of scientific progress and technological advances, something he believes is already underway.

Seeing the Antichrist as both an individual and a malign force compelling the unification of the world under a single global state has prompted Thiel to oppose such international organizing bodies as the United Nations and the International Criminal Court.

His earlier lecture series, characterized as diffuse, meandering and often confusing by The Guardian, also saw him warn against Pope Leo as a woke American pope and anti-science Luddites such as the climate activist Greta Thunberg.

Pope Leo XIV, who has been labelled woke by Thiel, has issued a series of barely-veiled attacks on the Trump administration since ascending to the papacy last year (AP)

He also mused on the role President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Democrats Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Gavin Newsom, and Zohran Mamdani might play in his cosmology.

The talks were peppered with pop cultural references, with Thiel alluding to everything from Jonathan Swift and JRR Tolkiens The Lord of the Rings to Alan Moores Watchmen while finding time for side swipes against his tech industry peers, Bill Gates and Marc Andreessen.

Responding to his arrival in Italy, Il Messaggero quotes an essay by the Catholic theologian Father Paolo Benanti, originally published in Le Grand Continent, in which the priest critiqued the self-styled prophets bleak message as depicting a society incapable of self-government in which the only alternative to apocalypse would be a technocratic order imposed by an elite of rulers.

He continued: In this vision, democracy understood as the self-government of equal citizens is already dead  and all that remains, in the darkness of a data center, is the clinical management of its corpse.

Benanti considers Thiels speaking tour a prolonged act of heresy against liberal consensus: a challenge to the very foundations of civil coexistence, Il Messaggero concludes.

Thiels arrival in Rome and warnings of an anti-Messiah ushering in the End of Days has already proven highly controversial in the Holy City (AP)

At home, Thiel has happily aligned himself with the Trump administration, personally donating to the presidents 2016 campaign, while Palantir is among those helping to pay for the new ballroom being constructed in place of the East Wing of the White House.

The company has also inked an agreement with ICE to streamline the process of identifying people the agency is targeting for deportation, a move that led to protesters targeting Thiels final San Francisco lecture with placards that read Predatory Tech, We Do Not Profit from People Who Profit from Misery, and Not Today Satan.

Thiel is also known to be close to the vice president, having supported Vance's early career in venture capital and having poured millions of dollars into his successful bid for the Ohio Senate in 2022.

While the billionaire may take exception to Pope Leo, the Chicago-born pontiff has equally made his opposition to the Trump administration clear, recently criticising the Iran conflict and last March sharing an article on social media opposing its treatment of migrants with the headline: JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesnt ask us to rank our love for others.

Leo also warned Catholic priests in February against being seduced by illusion on the internet and the dangers of AI, just as Thiel warned the Antichrist might do.
Donald Trump unleashed a new attack on Sir Keir Starmer as his proposal for a multi-national naval force to re-open the Strait of Hormuz was struggling to gain momentum.

Early on Monday, the Prime Minister said Britain would not be drawn into the wider war as he and other world leaders refused to jump to Trumps demand for a fleet of warships to unblock the key waterway.

The UK, Germany, Italy, Australia, Japan and Greece were among countries who at least initially declined to sign up to the US presidents plan to get commercial ships. with naval escorts, moving again through the strait.

As his plan appeared to be floundering Trump reserved some of his strongest criticism for Sir Keir and the UKs stance.

I was very surprised with the United Kingdom because the United Kingdom two weeks ago I said why dont you send some ships over and he really did not want to do it, the president said.

I said you dont want to do it, weve been with you, you are our oldest ally, and we spend a lot of money on Nato..to protect you.

He stressed that the US had worked with the UK on Ukraine, adding: Then they tell us that we have a mine ship around, and they dont want to do it.

Its terrible.

I was very surprised. I told him, we requested two aircraft carriers which they had and he did not really want to do it.

He then also criticised Sir Keir over his leadership style.

The Prime Minister of the UK yesterday told me Im meeting with my team to make a determination, Trump said, revealing more details of their talks by phone.

I said you dont need to meet up with the team, you are the Prime Minister, you can make your own..why do you have to meet with your team to find out whether or not you are going to send some mine sweepers.

Trump said that maybe the UK would join the proposed naval force, while on French president Emmanuel Macron backing it, he added: I think hes going to help.

Earlier, speaking in Downing Street, Sir Keir distanced himself again from the US presidents offensive military action against Tehran.

He stressed: "While taking the necessary action to defend ourselves and our allies, we will not be drawn into the wider war.

He added that the UK was working with other countries, including in Europe, to develop a "viable, collective plan" to re-open the strait.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer holding a press conference on the Iran war on Monday morning (Getty Images)

We want to make sure that that involves as many partners as possible, particularly talking to European partners, inevitably talking to Gulf partners, and to the US because we need a credible, viable plan, he explained.

He emphasised it would not be a Nato mission, adding: This is to say the least not easy, it is not straightforward therefore we have to make sure that we have got that credible plan in place.

The Government had yet to make decisions on what the UK would contribute to the efforts to re-open the strait, he added, but stressed the need for this to happen to address the growing oil crisis.

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius on Monday flatly rejected Trumps latest plea for military support in the war.

This is not our war, we have not started it, he said.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said his country was involved in defensive naval missions in the Red Sea but I dont see any missions that can be extended to Hormuz.

Iran has effectively closed the key strait, through which a fifth of global oil supplies flow, by targeting more than a dozen vessels since the start of the war.

Choking off use of the waterway has triggered an oil crisis, with petrol and other bills rising in Britain and other countries.

With the war now in its third week, naval experts are warning that using navy ships to escort oil tankers through the narrow strait would be fraught with danger given the risks from Iranian drone attacks.

A tanker hit by a drone strike by Iran which has closed the Strait of Hormuz (ROYAL THAI NAVY/AFP via Getty Images)

Trump, though, has threatened that Nato faces a very bad future if its members fail to come to Washingtons aid as the stand-off over the Hormuz Strait deepened the Iran crisis, with oil back above $100 (75) a barrel.

But Australia said it was not planning to send navy vessels to the Middle East to escort ships through the waterway,

Japan took a similar stance as Germany also voiced scepticism about the proposal.

Britain is considering whether to deploy mine-hunting drones but will only get involved in defensive action, having questioned whether the offensive US-Israeli airstrikes on Iran are lawful.

Donald Trump and Sir Keir Starmer have clashed over the Iran war (PA Wire)

Asked about Trumps Nato warning, Cabinet minister Pat McFadden described the current US presidency as very transactional with a lot of rhetoric, adding that he believed that US-UK ties would outlast all the personalities involved.

His comments appeared to show a growing disquiet in Whitehall at Trumps approach to the war in which he has launched a series of scathing attacks on Sir Keir for only allowing US forces to use UK bases for defensive military operations such as targeting Iranian missile sites.

With the Iran war creating turmoil across the Middle East and shaking up global energy markets, Trump on Sunday insisted that nations relying heavily on oil from the Gulf have a responsibility to protect the strait.

Im demanding that these countries come in and protect their own territory because it is their territory, the US president said aboard Air Force One on the way from Florida to Washington.

However, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, a staunch Trump supporter, said on Monday her country, constrained by its war-renouncing constitution, has no plan to dispatch naval vessels to escort ships in the Middle East from where it gets 95% of its oil.

Australia, another key Indo-Pacific security ally to the US that also relies heavily on fuels made with Middle Eastern crude, said it will not send naval ships to assist in reopening the strait either.

A smoke plume rise from a fire at Dubai International Airport (AFP via Getty Images)

Global air travel remains severely disrupted due to the Iran war which has closed or restricted key Middle Eastern hubs including Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi, forcing airlines to cancel thousands of flights and stranding tens of thousands of passengers.

A drone strike on an oil depot closed Dubai International Airport for several hours on Monday before flights started to resume.
Donald Trump told reporters he was not happy with the UK - AARON SCHWARTZ/POOL/EPA/Shutterstock

Donald Trump has accused Sir Keir Starmer of failing to show leadership amid a row over defending the Strait of Hormuz.

Speaking to reporters, the US president also revealed that the Prime Minister said he needed to consult his team over whether to send warships or minesweeper boats to help reopen the shipping lane, which has become a choke point for oil shipments in the war with Iran.

European leaders have resisted Mr Trumps calls to form a coalition, comprised of nations reliant on Middle East oil, to help keep the Strait of Hormuz open.

In his latest rebuke of the Prime Minister, the president said Sir Keirs unwillingness to help defend the route was terrible, while adding that the UK should be enthusiastically helping the US with its war efforts.

Mr Trump said at the White House on Monday: I was very surprised with the United Kingdom. Two weeks ago, I said: Why dont you send some ships over? And he [Starmer] really didnt want to do it.

Youre our oldest ally, and we spend a lot of money on, you know, Nato and all of these things to protect you. I mean, were protecting them

I think its terrible... I was not happy with the UK. I think theyll be involved, maybe, but they should be involved enthusiastically.

Reporter: Have you been speaking with President Macron about the coalition to reopen the Strait of Hormuz?@POTUS: "Yeah, I have spoken to him. He's been, on a scale of 0-10, I'd say he's been an 8. Not perfect  but it's France." pic.twitter.com/VqCGUHUFDa  Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 16, 2026

Mr Trump added: You know, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom yesterday told me: Im meeting with my team to make a determination.

I said: You dont need to meet with the team. Youre the Prime Minister, you can make [up] your own [mind]. Why do you have to meet with your team to find out whether or not youre going to send some minesweepers to us or to send some boats?

In a later press conference on Monday, Mr Trump reiterated his criticism of Sir Keir, calling his response to the war very disappointing, and saying Britain used to be the Rolls-Royce of allies.

The Telegraph understands that during the call between the two leaders, Sir Keir referred to consulting British military officials who were in contact with their American counterparts.

Downing Street sources pushed back on the idea that Sir Keir was required to consult his team before deciding whether to agree to Mr Trumps request.

On Monday, allies insisted that they would not be dragged into a wider conflict by sending warships to protect the strategic waterway, which is responsible for a fifth of the worlds energy supplies.

Downing Street sources have pushed back on the US presidents claim about his phone call with Sir Keir Starmer - Chris J Ratcliffe/POOL/EPA/Shutterstock

Britain, France, Germany and South Korea have so far signalled reluctance to meet the US presidents demand to bolster security in the strait, which Tehran has largely blocked.

Tankers in the region have been targeted by Iranian drone boats, sea mines and other weapons since the start of the US-Israeli military campaign on Feb 28.

The shipping risk has brought most traffic to a standstill and caused economic upheaval, including soaring oil prices.

Daily oil exports from the Gulf dropped by at least 60 per cent in the week to March 15 compared with February, according to shipping data and Reuters calculations.

Sir Keir said he wanted to see the Middle East conflict brought to an end as quickly as possible as he vowed not to have Britain drawn into the conflict.

I want to see an end to this war as quickly as possible because the longer it goes on, the more dangerous the situation becomes and the worse it is for the cost of living back here at home, he said during a Downing Street press conference.

Not Europes war

The Prime Minister was joined in his sentiment by Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, who said the war in the Middle East was not a matter for Nato.

Mr Merz also said that the US and Israel did not consult us prior to this war.

There was never a joint decision on whether to intervene. That is why the question of how Germany might contribute militarily does not arise. We will not do so, Mr Merz said at a press conference alongside Rob Jetten, the Dutch prime minister.

Kaja Kallas, the EUs foreign policy chief, also told Mr Trump that the conflict was not Europes war.

France is one of the few nations that have proposed using European warships to escort vessels through the strait, but only after fighting subsides and with permission from Iran.

Two people watch as the Shivalik, an India-flagged tanker, arrives in Indian waters on Monday after travelling through the Strait of Hormuz - Amit Dave/REUTERS

Emmanuel Macron, the French president, said that during a call on Sunday he had challenged his Iranian counterpart, Masoud Pezeshkian, to restore navigation through the choke point.

The public rebuttals came after Mr Trump warned that Nato faced a very bad future should its allies refuse to join his efforts to protect the waterway.

Since his return to the White House, the military alliance has been fighting to maintain US support for Article 5, the mutual defence clause which states an attack on one member is an attack on them all.

Iran warns US of another Vietnam

Mr Trump has previously threatened to ride roughshod over the clause if he did not get his own way.

Speaking about Nato allies, the US president said on Monday: Ive been saying for years that if we ever did need them, they wont be there, not all of them, but they wont be there.

We dont need to work with them in Ukraine. And then they tell us they have a mine ship around, and they dont want to do it. I think its terrible, he added.

Meanwhile, Saeed Khatibzadeh, Irans deputy foreign minister, warned the US that it would face another Vietnam War if it deployed ground soldiers in the country.

He did not rule out negotiations but made it clear it was for America and its allies to come forward with a proposal to end the conflict.

Just read what happened in Vietnam, Mr Khatibzadeh told Sky News. They understand those that dragged them into this war can drag them also into a quagmire.

The war has killed at least 1,300 people in Iran, at least 880 in Lebanon and 12 in Israel, according to officials in the countries. At least 13 US military members have been killed, including six in a plane crash in Iraq last week.
A protester with the Main Street Alliance holds a sign outside the supreme court. Photograph: Nathan Howard/Reuters (Photograph: Nathan Howard/Reuters)

Donald Trump has claimed he has the absolute right to impose new tariffs after the US supreme court ruled many of the import duties he imposed last year were illegal.

The president attacked the court in a late night broadside on Sunday, accusing it of having unnecessarily RANSACKED the US  and failing to show him sufficient loyalty.

In February, the supreme court found that a 1977 law designed to address national emergencies did not provide the legal justification for many of the tariffs the Trump administration had put on countries around the world.

The administration has scrambled in recent weeks to piece back together its controversial trade agenda and regain economic leverage.

Trump swiftly imposed 10% tariffs on goods from much of the world under a different law, section 122 of the 1974 Trade Act. But these expire after 150 days, in July. While the president also vowed to raise this temporary duty to 15%, he has yet to do so.

US officials launched a string of trade investigations last week, which set the stage for the potential imposition of a new wave of permanent tariffs to take the place of those that were repealed.

Related: Trump illegally used executive power to impose global tariffs, supreme court rules

Our Supreme Court has made these Countries very happy but, as the Court pointed out, I have the absolute right to charge TARIFFS in another form, and have already started to do so, Trump wrote on social media on Sunday.

The supreme courts decision did not say the president had the absolute right to charge tariffs in another form.

This completely inept and embarrassing Court was not what the Supreme Court of the United States was set up by our wonderful Founders to be, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. They are hurting our Country, and will continue to do so.

He posted hours before US officials were due to convene with their Mexican counterparts on Monday, for talks over the future of their trilateral USMCA trade accord with Canada.

Trump is also due to meet his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, at the end of March, after an extraordinarily turbulent year for economic relations between Washington and Beijing. In an interview with the Financial Times on Sunday, he suggested that their summit may be delayed, however, while urging a string of countries including China to send ships to the Middle East to help reopen the strait of Hormuz.

The US president has continued to use US economic power to try to push other countries around despite the supreme court ruling. He threatened to cut off all trade with Spain earlier this month after its government refused to give the US permission for two jointly operated bases in southern Spain to be used in US strikes on Iran.
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President Trump shushed a female reporter on Air Force One on Sunday, before branding her as a very obnoxious person.

The exchange took place during a press gaggle, during which Trump took questions about the Iran War.

The reporter had asked the president about a picture of him at a dignified transfer ceremony of soldiers killed in the conflict with Iran. The image had been used in a fundraising email for his political action committee.

When asked whether the use of the image was appropriate, Trump said, I do.

President Trump swerved a question about US Military personnel killed in the Iran War, during a press gaggle aboard Air Force One (Getty Images)

The journalist followed up by questioning whether Trump was raising money from the fallen troops. Then, the president changed tack and said that he didnt see the email.

I mean, somebody puts it out, he added. We have a lot of people working for us.

He went on to claim that theres nobody thats better to the military than me.

Eventually, Trump turned back to the reporter and asked her which news outlet she worked for. She responded by saying ABC News.

One of the worst, most fake, most corrupt...you know what, ABC News, I think its maybe the most corrupt news organizations (sic) on the planet, he said. I think theyre terrible.

Youre much better, he said, addressing a male journalist.

During the press gaggle, Trump raised a finger and shushed the ABC reporter as she tried to ask another question.

Trump was also questioned about using a photograph taken at a dignified transfer ceremony in a fundraising campaign (REUTERS)

Youre a very obnoxious person, he added.

In yet another exchange between the pair, the ABC reporter asked Trump whether he had any comment on the 6 U.S. service members killed in an Iranian drone strike on a base in Kuwait.

While being asked the question, Trump stared intently at the journalist. When they finished, he abruptly turned away.

Go ahead, he told the other reporters. Who else?

Later on Sunday, the president posted multiple lengthy Truth Social posts, attacking the media for its coverage of the Iran War, the Supreme Court justices who voted against his tariffs, and championing Fox News host Mark Levin.

Trump has repeatedly boasted about the United States military successes in the conflict with Iran.

Yesterday, he claimed that an Iranian oil facility had been totally demolished but that the U.S. could continue to bomb the site just for fun.

Last week, he said that there is practically nothing left to target in Iran.

Trump claimed that he had not seen the email before it was sent out (Never Surrender Inc.)

Meanwhile, questions have continued to be raised over the cost of the war.

The U.S. allegedly used $11.3 billion worth of munitions in the first week of the war, sources told The New York Times.

The sources claimed that Pentagon officials confirmed the figure in a closed-door briefing last week, with the huge sum not including the cost of the United States huge military buildup in the Middle East.

Oil prices have spiked as a result of the conflict, too, putting pressure on Trump domestically after he promised to lower energy prices during his presidential campaign.
Donald Trump is reportedly considering postponing his anticipated visit to China later this month, a move aimed at intensifying pressure on Beijing to facilitate the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and stabilise soaring oil prices amid the ongoing conflict with Iran.

In an interview with the Financial Times on Sunday, Mr Trump suggested that Chinas significant reliance on Middle Eastern oil obliges it to support a new coalition he is attempting to assemble.

This coalition seeks to ensure the safe passage of oil tankers through the strait, which has seen global oil flows disrupted by Iranian threats. "We'd like to know" if Beijing will assist before the trip, Mr Trump stated, adding, "We may delay."

This uncertainty underscores the profound shift in global politics following the US-Israeli strikes on Iran over the past fortnight.

A cancellation of the face-to-face meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping could trigger substantial economic repercussions, particularly given the fraught relationship between Washington and Beijing, marked by reciprocal tariff threats over the last year.

The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding the potential delay.

In an interview Sunday with the Financial Times, Trump said China's reliance on oil from the Middle East means it ought to help with a new coalition he is trying to put together to get oil tanker traffic moving through the strait after Irans threats have throttled global flows of oil (AP)

In Beijing, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Lin Jian, confirmed that China and the US remain in communication regarding Mr Trumps visit. "Head-of-state diplomacy plays an irreplaceable strategic guiding role in China-U.S. relations," Mr Jian remarked during a daily briefing.

Trump's new comments came as U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was meeting with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng on Monday in Paris for a new round of trade talks that were meant to pave the way for Trumps Beijing trip. The U.S. and China have declared a truce that has prevented both sides from levying dueling tariffs, but the stakes remain high.

In the early days of the Iran conflict, Trump had said U.S. navy vessels would escort oil tankers through the strait, and downplayed the threat posed by Iran.

But as oil prices soared, he and his administration have been forced to consider new options  including the idea, broached this weekend, for other countries to join the push with their own warships. So far, none has yet formally heeded the call.

Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as he returned to Washington from a weekend in Florida that the U.S. had spoken to about seven nations about offering military support.

In the early days of the Iran conflict, Trump had said U.S. navy vessels would escort oil tankers through the strait, and downplayed the threat posed by Iran (PA Wire)

He wouldn't say which ones, though, and demurred when he was asked directly about China  though he subsequently suggested that he'd made such an offer to Beijing.

China's an interesting case study," he said, noting its reliance on Gulf oil. "So I said, Would you like to come in and we'll find out. Maybe they will, maybe they won't.

War in Iran has sent the price of oil skyrocketing, which has raised the price Americans pay at the pump, just as the midterm election season begins to heat up. China, though, has faced its own economic pressures and recently lowered its 2026 target for growth slightly to 4.5% to 5%, its slowest projected growth since 1991  meaning prolonged disruptions in the strait could have long-term impacts for Beijing as well.

Lin, at the briefing in Beijing, did not respond directly to questions about Trumps call for outside help in the strait. He noted the impact on goods and energy trade and repeated his government's call for an end to the fighting.

"China once again calls on all parties to stop military actions immediately, avoid further escalation of tensions, and prevent instability in the region from having a greater impact on global economic development, he said.
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Trumps Kennedy Center board approves his plan to shutter institution for two years of renovations

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts will close this summer for two years of renovations, the centers Trump-appointed board unanimously voted on Monday.

The president has insisted the lengthy closure is necessary to carry out sweeping updates to the nations flagship arts center, which has suffered a string of artist cancellations in recent months under the Trump administration. He said Monday changes will include replacing the complexs heating system and marble.

What I know best in the world is construction, President Donald Trump said Monday at the White House. The best way to do it is close it, do it properly and reopen it, have a grand reopening. And when its finished its going to be far better than it was when it was originally built.

Renovations will began after July 4, according to the center.

Trump has said the project could cost around $200 million, below the $250 million Congress approved for upgrades last year.

The $200 million renovations are expected to begin after July 4 (AP)

Democrats have suggested the closing of the center is in-part to distract from a string of high-profile issues since Trump took it over, including the Washington National Opera cutting ties, and the declining attendance for major performances.

I was very clear in advising them that while Im not against renovations if they need to be done, I am totally against the process, it being unlawful, them not checking with the Congress, Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty, a Kennedy Center board member who has sued to block the closure, told The New York Times on Monday.

Mondays vote comes after an announcement Friday that interim Kennedy Center leader Richard Grenell was stepping down.

On Monday, the board voted to name Matt Floca, the former vice president of facilities at the center, as the new executive director.

Last year, Trump cleaned house at the Kennedy Center, replaced its typically bipartisan leadership with a board of allies, and attempted to officially add his name to the centers title, a move critics say is not legal.

Since taking over the center, the president has hosted the Kennedy Center Honors and first lady Melania Trump premiered a documentary about herself there earlier this year (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

The board also installed Trump as its chairman last February.

Since the leadership change, Trump has often made himself and his allies the stars of the show at the center.

In December, Trump became the first president to host the Kennedy Center Honors, though the news-making move did not translate into a wide audience. The show reportedly suffered a sharp decline in viewers compared with previous years.

Earlier this year, the Kennedy Center hosted the premiere of an Amazon-backed documentary about first lady Melania Trump.

The president has taken a marked interest in remaking Washington monuments, compared with his recent predecessors.

In addition to the Kennedy Center change-up, Trump has sought to leave his mark on the White House, demolishing parts of the East Wing to make way for an opulent new ballroom complex (Getty Images)

In addition to the Kennedy Center makeover, the president demolished parts of the White House as part of a plan to build a new ballroom and East Wing complex.

Trumps interest in national signs and symbols goes beyond the capital and his administration has carried a wide-ranging effort to scrub national parks and historic sites of content it deems overly critical, often singling out material that deals with the history of racism in the U.S.
Tankers sail in the Gulf, near the strait of Hormuz. Photograph: Reuters (Photograph: Reuters)

Donald Trumps call for allies to send ships to the strait of Hormuz to protect commercial shipping vessels and unblock global oil supplies has met a muted response.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump called on the UK, China, France, Japan, South Korea and other countries to send ships to the waterway, the worlds busiest shipping route, which is being violently blockaded by Iran.

In his post, Trump alleged that many countries would send ships to keep the strait open and safe. But allies including the UK, Japan, China and South Korea have so far failed to commit. Germany also appeared sceptical on Sunday when the foreign minister Johann Wadephul said a scheme to protect ships from Houthi attacks in Yemen was not effective.

He also issued a warning to allies in an interview in the FT, saying that Nato faces a very bad future if US allies fail to assist in opening up the strait of Hormuz.

Its only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries of the strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there, Trump told the newspaper.

Here are the key stories of the day at a glance.

Trumps call for allied deployment to strait of Hormuz meets muted response

Countries including the UK, Japan, China and South Korea have said they are still considering their options but without making commitments after the US president, Donald Trump, urged them to send warships to the strait of Hormuz to secure the vital shipping route.

Read the full story

US not ready to seek deal to end war with Iran, Donald Trump says

Donald Trump has warned he is not ready to seek a deal to end the US-Israeli offensive against Iran, saying that though he thought Tehran was keen to negotiate a ceasefire, the US would fight on for better terms.

Trumps comments came as Iran launched fresh missile and drone attacks on countries in the Gulf and on Israel, and Israeli and US warplanes launched new waves of strikes on Iran.

Read the full story

Trump media chief under fire for threatening broadcasters

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chair, Brendan Carr, is facing pushback from a Republican lawmaker after warning on Saturday that broadcasters could lose their licenses if they run what the federal agency deems fake news over the Iran conflict.

Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin said in an interview on the Sunday Briefing on Fox News that he was not in favor of the government control of private enterprise or efforts to meddle with freedom of speech protected under the constitution.

Read the full story

Democrat calls both parties feckless for ceding war powers to Trump

Democratic US senator Cory Booker has criticized both his own political party as well as its Republican counterpart for being feckless in ceding congressional war powers to Donald Trump, saying that their decision could embolden the president to unilaterally attack Cuba, North Korea and other countries.

Read the full story

What else happened today:

Catching up? Heres what happened on 14 March 2026.
Donald Trump made clear that his personal grudge with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky hasnt abated during a phone interview with NBC News.

Speaking with Meet the Press anchor Kristen Welker on Saturday, the president knocked Zelensky for offering assistance to the U.S. and Middle Eastern countries, the latter of which the Ukrainian president said on Friday were seeking his aid in sharing drone detection technology.

The last person we need help from is Zelensky, Trump told Welker.

Iran continues to bombard neighboring countries with drone and missile attacks, targeting U.S. and Israeli military assets, as the war stretches into its third week. The Trump administration has repeatedly declared victory while the U.S. and Israel continue to launch attacks in recent days. Iranian forces, in response, have largely closed off the Strait of Hormuz, choking global shipping traffic.

The lengthening conflict threatens to become a focal point of Trumps second year in office as Republicans, including some within his own administration, call for the president to find an off-ramp and conclude the war before the effects on the American economy get any worse. Democrats continue to blast the war as illegal, even as some conservative members of the party have signaled support for its aims.

Trump said the last person the US seeks help from in the war against Iran is Ukraines Zelensky, who has offered the Trump administration the support of its drone technology (AFP via Getty Images)

Trump and the Ukrainian leader have always had a rocky relationship due to Zelenskys perceived closeness with former President Joe Biden and Zelenskys refusal to aid the first Trump administration in efforts to besmirch Bidens name as part of an effort to sabotage Bidens 2020 election campaign.

The president lost to his Democratic opponent that year, and the episode led to his first of two impeachments by the House of Representatives.

That relationship exploded early last year, when the president and Vice President JD Vance appeared to engineer a confrontation with the Ukrainian leader at the White House. The two blamed him for gambling with World War Three as the conversation devolved into a shouting match in front of the cameras that stunned reporters in the room.

On Saturday, Trump told NBC News that Zelensky remained the obstacle preventing a peace deal from being reached between his country and Russia, which have been actively at war for four years. Trump administration officials pursued a peace agreement last year and claimed it was close at hand, but the efforts did not appear to amount to anything.

Vice President JD Vance said his confrontation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was probably the most famous thing Ive ever done, or maybe ever will do (Getty Images)

Im surprised that Zelensky doesnt want to make a deal. Tell Zelensky to make a deal because Putins willing to make a deal, Trump said, reiterating his long-stated belief that Russias Vladimir Putin is opposed to the war he started in Ukraine.

Zelensky is far more difficult to make a deal with, the U.S. president continued.

Trump and his team looked at Ukraine with frustration last year as the conflict there stubbornly resisted his attempts to broker a peace deal, part of the presidents public campaign for the Nobel Peace Prize. Among the sticking points pushing a deal out of reach according to news reports include Russias demand for Ukraine to stay out of NATO and not be linked to any European security force, as well as Moscows territorial demands. Some of the territory demanded by Russian negotiators is currently occupied by Ukrainian troops.

The U.S. president, at times, has pointed to those territorial demands in particular as prizes for which Russian soldiers had sacrificed.

"Well, he's going to take something," Trump told Foxs Maria Bartiromo last year. "I mean, they fought and uh, he has a lot of property. I mean, you know, he's won certain property, if you say that, he's won certain property."

Ukraine, under Zelensky, has rejected the idea of surrendering any land its forces hold to Russian demands as part of a peace agreement.
The effective closure of the strait of Hormuz by Tehran, in retaliation for airstrikes by the US and Israel, has proved catastrophic for global energy and trade flows Photograph: Reuters (Photograph: Reuters)

Donald Trump has ratcheted up the pressure on European allies to help protect the strait of Hormuz, warning that Nato faces a very bad future if its members fail to come to Washingtons aid.

The de facto closure of the vital waterway by Tehran in retaliation for airstrikes by the US and Israel has proved catastrophic for global energy and trade flows, causing the largest oil supply disruption in history and soaring global oil prices.

The US presidents call for allies to enter the war by sending ships to the strait to protect commercial shipping vessels and unblock global oil supplies has met a muted response. Australia, France, Japan and the UK are among the countries to have said they have no plans to send ships.

Trump told the Financial Times in an interview: Its only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries of the strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there. If theres no response or if its a negative response, I think it will be very bad for the future of Nato.

EU foreign ministers will discuss on Monday bolstering a small naval mission in the Middle East but are not expected to decide on extending its role to the strait.

Trump also told the FT he may delay a summit with Chinas Xi Jinping as he ramped up the pressure on Beijing, an Iran ally, to help secure the strait. It was reported last week that China was in talks with Tehran to allow safe oil and gas passage.

Trump said he expected China to help unblock the strait before he flies to Beijing. I think China should help, too, because China gets 90% of its oil from the straits, he said, suggesting that waiting until the summit would be too late. Wed like to know before that.

On Sunday Trump said his administration had already contacted seven countries for support, but he declined to identify them. In an earlier social media post, he said he hoped China, France, Japan, South Korea, Britain and others would participate.

Im demanding that these countries come in and protect their own territory because it is their territory, Trump told reporters onboard Air Force One on the way from Florida to Washington on Sunday. Its the place from which they get their energy.

The presidents appeals have so far failed to produce any commitments. Japans prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, speaking in parliament, said Japan did not currently plan to dispatch naval vessels to escort ships in the Middle East and confirmed the US had yet to make a formal request for assistance.

Prolonged restrictions on tanker traffic in the strait of Hormuz could threaten Japans energy security. The worlds fifth biggest economy imports 90% of its oil from the Middle East, 70% of which is shipped via the waterway. Takaichi is expected to discuss the war when she meets Trump in Washington later this week

On Monday, Japan began dipping into its oil reserves to alleviate supply concerns  the first time it has taken that step since Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Japan is initially releasing 15 days worth of reserves held by the private sector, followed by a months supply of state-owned oil, according to the Kyodo news agency.

Sending its self-defence forces abroad is politically sensitive in officially pacifist Japan. The defence minister, Shinjiro Koizumi, also pushed back on the pressures for Tokyo to dispatch ships. What we can technically do and whether we should do it under the current circumstances is a different story, he said.

Australia has also pushed back on the request for naval assistance. We wont be sending a ship to the strait of Hormuz, the transport minister, Catherine King, told the national broadcaster. We know how incredibly important that is but thats not something weve been asked or were contributing to.

The UK said it was considering dispatching aerial minesweepers to help clear the waterway of mines in an attempt to allow the flow of oil exports to resume. However, officials said sending ships could worsen the situation given the volatile nature of the war.

French foreign ministry officials emphasised that their current military posture was aimed at ensuring regional stability rather than escalating the conflict.

South Koreas presidential office said it would continue to communicate closely with the US regarding this matter and make a decision after careful review.

The blockade on the strait has sent the price of energy soaring globally. Oil prices continued to rise on Monday, hitting more than $104 a barrel in early trading.

With the conflict now in its third week, Trump on Sunday did not put a timeframe on concluding the war but said oil prices are going to come tumbling down as soon as its over, and its going to be over pretty quick.

The US energy secretary, Chris Wright, told ABC that it would certainly come to the end in the next few weeks  could be sooner than that.

Trump has said Washington is in contact with Iran but expressed doubt that Tehran was prepared for serious negotiations to end the conflict. The US president previously claimed Iran wanted to negotiate but this was disputed by the Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi. We have never asked for a ceasefire, and we have never asked even for negotiations, Araghchi told CBS News. We are ready to defend ourselves for as long as it takes.

Araghchi sought to project an image of strength and resilience despite waves of US and Israeli airstrikes that have killed a number of Iranian leaders, sunk much of the Islamic Republics navy and devastated its missile arsenal.

Its not a war of survival. We are stable and strong enough, he said. We dont see any reason why we should talk with Americans, because we were talking with them when they decided to attack us, and that was for the second time.

The impacts of the war continued to be felt in the Gulf, as Iran maintained its bombardment of the region.

Missiles and drone attacks hit the United Arab Emirates. A drone-related incident sparked a fuel tank fire near Dubai airport that disrupted travel, while a missile killed a civilian in Abu Dhabi.

In the eastern emirate of Fujairah, a drone attack on oil infrastructure sparked a large fire, authorities said, reporting no injuries.

Agencies contributed to this report
Former Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has lent her wholehearted support to conservative commentator Megyn Kelly after she accused rival Mark Levin of having a micropenis over the weekend during a war of words about the U.S.-Israeli airstrikes on Iran.

I wholeheartedly support Megyn Kelly telling the world that Mark Levin has a micropenis, Greene wrote on X (Twitter) Monday.

Its the most deserved insult and I dont care if its vulgar. And Trumps gigantic defense of Levin only enraged the base more. People are DONE. MAGA destroyed by micropenis Mark Levin.

Levin, a long-time Tehran hawk, began the exchange of insults with Kelly Sunday by tweeting his disapproval of her latest statement of opposition to the conflict.

Former Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has lent her wholehearted support to conservative commentator Megyn Kelly after she attacked rival Mark Levin in deeply personal terms (Getty)

Poor Megyn Kelly, he wrote on X. An emotionally unhinged, lewd, and petulant wreck. Shes completely revealed and destroyed herself.

Shes everything people say she is, but much worse. Never an intelligent, thoughtful, or substantive comment. Utterly toxic.

Kelly responded: Micropenis Mark Levin thinks he has the monopoly on lewd. He tweets about me obsessively in the crudest, nastiest terms possible.

Literally more than some stalkers Ive had arrested. He doesnt like it when women like me fight back. Bc of his micropenis.

Levin replied: Busy Sunday morning for Megyn Kelly. She wakes up and has micrope*is on her mind.

Mark Levin and Megyn Kelly have a long history of social media feuding (Getty)

Suffice to say, if it talks like a harlot, and posts like a harlot, its well, you know the rest. Shalom!

President Donald Trump then waded in on his own platform, Truth Social, to champion Levin.

Mark Levin, a truly Great American Patriot, is somewhat under siege by other people with far less Intellect, Capability, and Love for our Country, the president said, hailing Levin as Tough, Strong, and Brilliant and noting that another Fox host, Sean Hannity, had nicknamed him The Great One.

Trump continued: He is a true Conservative, and Intellect, far smarter than those who criticize him but, above all, he is a man of Great Wisdom and Common Sense who truly loves our Country.

When you hear others unfairly attack Mark, remember that they are jealous and angry Human Beings, whose sway is much less than the Public understands, and will, now that they know where I stand, rapidly diminish.

President Donald Trump unexpectedly weighed on the argument, backing Levin without explicitly rebuking Kelly (AP)

Levin and Kelly have a history of bitter fighting on the platform, with the former calling the latter an evil, narcissistic lunatic earlier this month.

Late last year, he attacked her when she stood up for MAGA activist Jack Posobiec, whom Levin had accused of associating with antisemites, branding Posobiec, Kelly, and fellow right-wing influencer Candace Owens very sinister grifters.

She called him an old, angry anti-Christian nut in retaliation before Levin dismissed the trio as Woke Reich psychos and groyper-bigots.

As the feud rumbled on, Levin invoked an old culture war controversy his principal enemy was caught up in: Meg Kelly, whose ratings were so bad on NBC she became a laughingstock, was canned for promoting blackface on Halloween.

You see, she was always a degenerate bigot. This is why shes cool with Candace Owens and Jack Posobiec. This is why she slobbers over Qatarlson [Tucker Carlson].

Kelly hit back: Youre just upset bc Im not afraid of you or your baseless slurs. Youre an old, irrelevant, bitter, angry man who could never make it in the Fox News primetime.

We used to laugh at you there for your red-faced tantrums over everything.
AI is already revolutionising the workplace and the rapidly evolving technology offers plenty of opportunities for those who embrace it.

Benefits of AI include enhanced efficiency and productivity, improved decision-making and better customer experience, while downsides include potential for major job and skills displacement, ethical and privacy concerns, and lack of a human touch.

Either way, the technologys uptake is rapidly accelerating. A recent UK government report found that the proportion of job roles requiring AI use is expected to grow as a proportion of the overall job market from around 1.7% at present to almost 12% by 2035.

Read more: How to protect your finances if you lose your job

When it comes to current AI use, one study from KPMG showed that 69% of Britons already use AI for work, study or personal reasons.

However, while nearly half (48%) of respondents said they can use AI tools effectively, the UK is generally falling behind other countries when it comes to AI literacy and training  so those with a knowledge base could benefit when it comes to job hunting.

Everybody's going to be using it. People are using it. They don't even know they're using it, says Penelope Silver, AI strategist at the ElevAIte Academy.

Those who have the skills are going to be looked at more attractively by employers.

So if youre looking to find a job or progress your professional career, its worth brushing up on your AI knowledge ASAP.

Here are a range of free AI courses and resources that can help you upskill your career.

AI Skills Hub

In a bid to upskill 10 million workers, the UK government has launched the AI Skills Hub, which offers free AI training that is built by leading industry partners and backed by Skills England and the Department for Science Innovation and Technology.

Read more: 3 variables that will determine AI's economic impact

The hub aims to help UK organisations and individuals to build their foundational AI skills through a programme of 14 courses, that can take anywhere between 20 minutes and a full day to complete.

AI offers plenty of opportunities for those who embrace it. (d3sign via Getty Images)

Produced with partners including Accenture (ACN), Amazon (AMZN), Google (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), Salesforce (CRM) and Sage (SGE.L), the courses are designed to fit around working life and teach practical AI skills that can be used right away, whatever the industry or role.

Subjects include Introduction to Generative AI, Working with AI: Digital pathway, Mastering Prompting and AI Fundamentals for Business. Complete certain courses and you can earn a Foundation AI Skills Boost Badge.

Online learning platform

The number of course providers in everything from art to languages and technology has boomed in recent years  with many offering free classes on subjects including AI.

UK online learning platform FutureLearn offers dozens of courses on AI, with many of them free if you complete them within three weeks. You can then upgrade them to a certificate for 39 should that be useful for your career.

Initiatives such as the Institute of Coding, a collaboration between employers, charities and universities, also provide free digital skills courses subject to certain requirements or completing them within a set amount of time.

Read more:'I launched my company before AI was sexy  theatre school helped me'

While some of the Institutes courses are also available on Futurelearn and subject to the same terms and conditions, there are others listed that are free to those that meet the eligibility criteria. These include Artificial Intelligence: Foundations for Practice and Research, which is developed by TechUPTraining and funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

You can also access a range of AI skills courses through established global learning platforms like Coursera and Udemy, but these do generally come with a monthly fee.

Edx.org also has a range of programmes covering everything from AI for business to generative AI for data scientists and using the technology in government procurement from notable providers, but youll need to pay if you want a certificate.

Sector-specific AI training

Sector-specific AI training is also available from a wide range of providers, including charities, professional bodies, education establishments and government-backed initiatives.

Charity Excellence, for example, offers free AI training for charities that covers everything from how to hold smarter meetings to understanding the risks associated with AI and using it for fundraising.

Meanwhile, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) offers a free AI for accountants course that covers relevant AI tools, how generative AI can improve productivity and the role it can play in an audit.

Those working in the National Health Service can access a catalogue of AI learning resources through the NHS Learning Hub, which covers topics including ethical, legal and regulatory considerations when using health data, and using digital technology in healthcare.

AI resources for local businesses

Its worth checking out what is available in your area too as many local authorities and their partners offer AI courses to support businesses and the regional economy.

The Grad Recharge initiative from Manchester Digital on which Silver is a teacher, for example, is supported by the city council and is designed to help out-of-work STEM and digital bootcamp graduates launch careers in the wider regions digital and tech sector.

In Scotland, charity GlasgowLife offers a free 12-week Glasgow Code Learning Digital Skills Courses: Pro course, which takes place at one of Glasgow Clyde Colleges three campuses.

To find whats available in your area, check out whats on offer through local business associations, growth hubs and charities, alongside council initiatives.

Free AI courses from tech giants

Many of the Big Tech companies also offer free AI courses, particularly ones focusing on their own products.

IBM SkillsBuild is aimed at helping everyone from high school age up to power their future in tech and offers a wide range of AI skills courses for learners, educators and organisations alike on subjects such as prompt writing, creating a CV and using it in the workplace.

Microsoft Learns AI learning hub is a good way of getting your head around using its AI-power digital assistant Copilot in Microsoft 365 apps like Word, PowerPoint and Outlook, alongside more general courses on generative AI.

Many tech giants offer free courses in how to use their own AI products. (lixu via Getty Images)

Meanwhile, the OpenAI Academy has extensive free resources available on how to best use its flagship generative AI chatbot, ChatGPT.

Grow with Google also has a range of resources on how to make the best out of AI and upskill your career, including videos, courses and online events, although disappointingly some of its courses appear to only be available through Coursera.

It is worth keeping an eye out for offerings from other major organisations too.

EY, for example, has collaborated with Microsoft on its free AI Skills Passport programme, a 10-hour course that covers everything from what AI is to ethical considerations and practical applications.

However, one thing to watch out for is AI courses that claim to be free but are actually just marketing for paid-for courses.

AI and cybersecurity

Free AI courses are somewhat scarce when it comes to cybersecurity, although some are better at covering issues of risk and security than others.

James Bore, chartered security professional at Bores, highlights the University of Helsinkis Elements of AI course for considering the impacts of AI and security risks more than others.

Meanwhile, the Massachusetts Institute of Technologys DetectFakes experiment is helpful for learning how to recognise deepfakes and disinformation  or, at least, realise how bad we as humans are at spotting it, he adds.

The UKs National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) also offers some guidance on understanding the risks and benefits of using AI tools in the workplace.

Be aware of AIs limitations

As with anything AI-related, its always worth bearing in mind the technologys limitations including its ability to hallucinate (creating plausible-sounding but incorrect information) and the potential for data bias.

The key rule to remember is that AI can be wrong, and often is in a very confident and plausible way, says James Bore, chartered security professional at Bores.

Read more: Pope Leo urges priests to stop using AI to write sermons

So anyone using it really needs to understand that any output should be checked before being relied upon.

AI strategist Silver echoes these sentiments. The way that I look at AI is to do your heavy lifting in the middle, so mainly admin work, stuff like that, she says. And then at the end of it, you have to check everything.

The moral of the story? While AI can be an invaluable tool at boosting productivity and providing insights, always ensure you keep the human in the loop.

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China's five-year blueprint set to fast-track tech adoption on factory floor

Xinhua) 10:30, March 16, 2026

BEIJING, March 14 (Xinhua) -- China's latest five-year blueprint doesn't just pledge to develop new quality productive forces -- it maps out exactly how to get there.

The outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030), adopted on Thursday, places the integration of technological and industrial innovation in a prominent position, aiming to move lab-born technologies onto factory floors to unlock trillion-yuan opportunities across its real economy sectors.

These high-value opportunities stem from the plan's designation of new-generation information technology, new energy, new materials, intelligent connected new energy vehicles, robotics, biomedicine, high-end equipment and aerospace as strategic emerging industries for priority development.

The plan also spotlights quantum technology, biomanufacturing, hydrogen and nuclear fusion energy, brain-computer interfaces, embodied AI and 6G as future industries to be nurtured.

China's emerging pillar industries are expected to break the 10-trillion-yuan benchmark by 2030, while frontier technologies are poised to mushroom into an entirely new high-tech sector over the next decade.

CORPORATE ROLE

Tech firms are rapidly striving to harness the tremendous growth potential of this new wave propelled by innovation. Humanoid robots wowed audiences at this year's Chinese New Year gala with their kungfu moves and natural interactions with people. Now, these breakout stars are moving from spectacle to real-world deployment.

Galbot, the walnut-cracking sensation of the festival gala, recently debuted at a Beijing pharmacy -- locating drugs on shelves and retrieving them with precision.

Chinese-made smart robots are also training on multiple automotive factory floors, showcasing the vast potential of deploying such intelligent machines for real-world efficiency gains. In January, UBTECH, a humanoid robot developer in Shenzhen, struck a deal to supply robots to aviation giant Airbus for use in its manufacturing facilities.

These vibrant corporate innovation activities reflect China's push to put enterprises front and center in venture investment, R&D and commercialization.

The new five-year plan calls for greater corporate participation in decision-making, implementation and data sharing for major national sci-tech projects. It also encourages leading tech companies to form "innovation consortia" for collaborative research on key technologies and pilot demonstrations.

In Hangzhou, an innovation hub in eastern China, Deep Robotics is benefiting from this academia-industry collaboration mechanism. Last July, this leading Chinese private robotics startup teamed up with Zhejiang University to launch a postdoctoral workstation. The first researcher has since started work at the facility.

According to the major development targets for the 2026-2030 period outlined in this year's government work report, China projects an average annual increase of at least 7 percent in nationwide R&D spending. Enterprises account for over 77 percent of this investment currently, a level comparable to the United States and Japan.

GOV'T BACKING

At the just concluded national legislature session, a lawmaker from Hubei, a central Chinese province, revealed that basalt fiber, which was used as a special material for the national flag showcased on the moon's far side in the 2024 Chang'e-6 mission, has already been applied to firefighter uniforms by local teams. The rapid tech transfer was made possible by their pilot testing platform.

The 15th Five-Year plan highlights the rollout of such pilot testing platforms, including a national AI application pilot base. These government-backed facilities bridge the gap between research findings and corporate profits.

The blueprint maps out how China plans to achieve original innovation from zero to one -- viewed as a strategic capability that cannot be acquired from abroad -- and continuously scale it up.

"If lab R&D achieves the '0 to 1' breakthrough, then pilot testing aims to complete '1 to 10,' and enterprises are responsible for turning '10' into thousands and millions," said Liu Qing, director of the Yangtze River Delta National Innovation Center.

Additionally, to enable its vast legacy manufacturing sector to benefit quickly from AI-powered digitalization, Chinese authorities have introduced a tiered smart factory certification system, offering eligible facilities preferential treatment in taxation, financing, bidding and IPOs.

As of 2025, China has built over 35,000 basic-level, more than 8,200 advanced-level, over 500 excellence-level and 15 flagship smart factories nationwide.

At a busy training facility in western suburban Beijing, humanoid robots were using VR and motion capture system to learn practical skills like warehouse operations, material sorting, and product packaging. This is a humanoid robot school jointly built by the government and a private firm. Similar facilities are already operating in Shanghai, Wuhan, and Hangzhou.

These efforts are also reflected in the use of national research funds. The National Natural Science Foundation of China has partnered with four private pharmaceutical firms through a joint fund to bankroll solutions to technical bottlenecks these companies are eager to overcome.

Exploring "sandbox regulation," or testing frontier tech in a controlled, isolated environment to foster new businesses, has also been written into the plan.

GLOBAL OPPORTUNITIES

China's economic agenda stands ready to bring dividends to foreign investors. The plan seeks to channel foreign investment into advanced manufacturing, modern services, high-tech sectors, and green energy and environmental technologies. It also aims to attract multinational companies to set up regional headquarters and R&D centers in China.

An increasing number of global investors have taken note of this shift. Last October, AstraZeneca's new global R&D center was opened in Beijing, marking the British pharmaceutical giant's sixth global strategic R&D center and its second in China, following its first in Shanghai.

"We are seeing a transition from 'growth at all costs' to industrial upgrading," said Shirley Yinghua Shen, Greater China tax policy leader of Ernst & Young (China) Advisory Limited. "The focus is no longer just on attracting capital, but on integrating foreign technology into China's new quality productive forces."

Another pharmaceutical giant, Bayer, has also expressed strong optimism. "Through a series of favorable policies for foreign investment, it has consolidated the development expectations of enterprises," Sue Wang, vice president of Public Affairs and Sustainability, Bayer China, told Xinhua.

Bayer is looking forward to "continuing investment in China under the blueprint of the 15th Five-Year Plan, seizing opportunities in the Chinese market, and working with partners to bring more innovative solutions to market," said Wang.

"The coming half-decade marks a pivotal transition period for China's economy, moving from high-speed growth to high-quality development," said Hu Jinbo, a national advisor and chemist from the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

"Tech innovation will serve as the core engine driving this transformation while injecting new growth momentum into the global economy," he added.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
The strange coalition defending Tehran By Rawan Osman

web posted March 16, 2026 As the United States and Israel confront the Islamic Republic of Iran, a familiar coalition has mobilized in opposition. The same networks that loudly condemned Israels war against Hamas in Gaza are now rallying behind the slogan No War on Iran. Activist organizations such as CodePink, Democracy Now!, Zeteo, and Independent Jewish Voices have joined broader campaigns urging Western governments to avoid confrontation with Tehran. This alignment reveals a striking contradiction. Many of these organizations frame themselves as champions of human rights, feminism, minority protection, and democracy. Yet in opposing efforts to confront the Islamic Republic, they are effectively shielding one of the most repressive regimes in the modern world. The irony becomes clearer when examining the record of the regime they seek to protect. According to Amnesty International, Iran carried out more than 850 executions in 2023, making it one of the worlds leading executioners per capita. Many of those executed were convicted on vague political charges such as enmity against God, a provision routinely used against dissidents. Human rights groups report that executions continued at a similarly alarming pace in 2024 and 2025. The repression extends far beyond the death penalty. Following the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody in 2022, nationwide protests erupted across Iran. Security forces responded with overwhelming violence. Investigators cited by the United Nations estimate that more than 500 protesters were killed and over 20,000 arrested during the crackdown. Women and girls played a central role in these protests, challenging the states system of compulsory veiling enforced by the regimes morality police. Despite the language of womens liberation often invoked by Western activist movements, the Islamic Republic remains one of the most restrictive systems for women in the world. Iranian law requires male permission for many aspects of womens lives, including travel and marriage. Female activists face harassment, imprisonment, and sometimes execution. Minorities fare no better. Religious groups such as the Bahais face systematic discrimination, including bans from higher education and confiscation of property. Ethnic minorities, including Kurds and Baluch, are disproportionately targeted by security forces and executions. According to Freedom House, Iran scores only 12 out of 100 in global freedom rankings, placing it among the least free political systems in the world. For more than three decades the country was ruled by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who held ultimate authority over the military, judiciary, and political institutions. On February 28, 2026, Khamenei was killed during the opening strikes of the current war between the United States, Israel, and Iran. His death has added further uncertainty to a system that had long concentrated power in a single unelected office. Yet the Islamic Republics impact does not stop at its own borders. For decades, Tehran has invested heavily in building an arc of armed proxies across the Middle East. Through the activities of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its external operations networks, Iran has funded, armed, and trained militant organizations including Hizbullah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, the Houthis in Yemen, and a web of militias operating inside Iraq and Syria. These proxy forces have played decisive roles in some of the regions most destructive conflicts. In Syria, Iran and Hizbullah intervened to sustain the regime of Bashar al-Assad during the countrys civil war, a conflict that has killed more than 500,000 people and displaced millions. Their involvement prolonged a war that devastated entire cities and reshaped the regions humanitarian landscape. In Lebanon, Hizbullahs dominance has effectively subordinated the Lebanese state to the strategic interests of Tehran. The groups military power operates parallel to, and often above, the countrys formal institutions, contributing to political paralysis and economic collapse. The network extends into illicit economies as well. Hizbullah and elements of the Assad regime have been widely linked to the production and trafficking of Captagon, an amphetamine-like drug whose trade generates billions of dollars annually. Shipments originating from Syria and Lebanon have repeatedly been intercepted in Gulf states and across Europe, illustrating how regional instability has been intertwined with transnational criminal networks. Irans reach has also extended into attempts to silence critics abroad. Dissidents in exile have faced surveillance, harassment, and assassination plots. The Iranian-American journalist Masih Alinejad has been the target of multiple kidnapping and assassination attempts uncovered by U.S. authorities. The Iranian-German dissident Jamshid Sharmahd was abducted abroad and later executed in Iran. Western intelligence agencies have also linked Iranian operatives to plots targeting political figures, including U.S. President Donald Trump. Meanwhile, Iranian officials have long defined their foreign policy through hostility toward the U.S. and Israel. State-sponsored rallies regularly featured chants of Death to America and Death to Israel, and official propaganda even displayed countdown clocks predicting Israels destruction. None of this history appears to trouble the coalition currently campaigning against confronting the regime. Instead, opposition to military action against Iran has been framed as a defense of peace and international stability. But this framing obscures a central reality: the Islamic Republic has been one of the primary drivers of regional violence for more than four decades. Its financial and military support has enabled armed groups across the Middle East, including Hamas, whose October 7, 2023, attack triggered the devastating war in Gaza. Without the training, funding, and weapons supplied by Tehran over many years, the scale of that conflict would almost certainly have been very different. This contradiction lies at the heart of the current debate. The same activists who describe themselves as defenders of Palestinian rights, womens liberation, and democratic values have mobilized against confronting a regime that systematically suppresses all three. Wars often clarify political realities that peacetime rhetoric can obscure. The current confrontation with the Islamic Republic is producing precisely such clarity. It is revealing that some of the loudest voices claiming the mantle of human rights are, in practice, shielding one of the worlds most repressive regimes. And it is exposing the uncomfortable truth that the language of justice and liberation can, at times, become a tool for protecting the very forces that deny those principles to millions. In that sense, the conflict with Tehran is not only a geopolitical struggle. It is also a moment of moral illumination, one that is making increasingly clear who truly stands with freedom, and who stands in the way of it. Rawan Osman is a JCFA researcher and Syrian-born activist. Home

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Wins for best make up and sound spare UKs blushes at Oscars

Wins in the categories for best make up and best sound spared the UKs blushes at this years Academy Awards, on an otherwise poor night for British talent.

The UK failed to take home any of acting Oscars up for grabs  the fifth year in a row this has happened and the longest gap of its kind so far this century.

There was bad luck in the category for best original score, where three British composers were nominated but all lost out.

The UK also missed the chance of securing the first ever Oscar for casting.

The first of Britains two successes came early in proceedings on Sunday night, when Cheshire-born Mike Hill was among the team who won the Academy Award for best make up and hairstyling, for their work on Guillermo del Toros update of the classic horror story Frankenstein.

It was followed later by British sound engineer Gareth John making his way to the stage as one of the joint winners of the Oscar for best sound, for the sporting drama F1.

The UKs Gareth John, second from left, celebrates his Oscar success with fellow winners Al Nelson (far left), Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Gary A Rizzo and Juan Peralta, who collectively won the Academy Award for best sound for the film F1 (Jordan Strauss/AP) (Jordan Strauss)

This is the second year in a row that John has won this award, sharing it in 2025 for his work on the sci-fi epic Dune: Part Two.

The UKs best hope for success in one of the acting categories was the Oscar for best supporting actress, where the nominees included Bafta-winner Wunmi Mosaku, for her role in the horror film Sinners.

But Mosaku  who has joint British-Nigerian nationality  lost out to the American Amy Madigan, who won for her part in the supernatural mystery Weapons.

Delroy Lindo, who was born and raised in London before moving to the US as a teenager, was among the nominees for best supporting actor, also for the film Sinners.

Lindo, who now considers himself an American, lost out to veteran US actor Sean Penn, who won for the comedy action epic One Battle After Another.

No British talent had been nominated for either best actor or best actress, the first time this has occurred in the same year since 2012.

The absence of any nominees in these categories, together with Mosaku and Lindo missing out, means the UK has now failed to win any of the four acting awards in every year from 2022 to 2026.

The last time the country endured an acting Oscars drought of this length was in the 1990s.

British talent dominated the nominations for best original score, with nods for Jerskin Fendrix (for Bugonia), Max Richter (Hamnet) and Jonny Greenwood (One Battle After Another).

In any other year, a win for the UK in this category might have been guaranteed.

This year, however, all three composers were up against Ludwig Goransson, who had already picked up a Bafta, Critics Choice award and Golden Globe for his work on Sinners, and who duly added the Oscar to complete the set.

The UKs Nina Gold had a chance to cap her long career in the film industry by winning the first ever Academy Award for casting, but she lost out to the American Cassandra Kulukundis (One Battle After Another).

The two British wins at this years ceremony is down from six wins last year and is the lowest number since 2017, when the country picked up just one Oscar.
Gerry Adams has spent decades rejecting claims that he played a pivotal role in the Provisional IRA - Jordan Pettitt/PA

Gerry Adams must have approved the IRAs assassination of Lord Mountbatten, a veteran investigative journalist has claimed in court.

John Ware claimed a senior figure in the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) told him of intelligence saying the Kings great-uncle could not have been murdered without the knowledge and approval of Mr Adams.

He claimed Brian Fitzsimons, the former head of the RUC special branch in Belfast, also told him that intelligence reports said Mr Adams had organised a wave of bombings following his release from Maze prison, Co Down, in 1977.

The documentary-maker added that police sources and former members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army led him to believe Mr Adams served on its army council from the late 1970s until 2005.

Mr Ware, who has made several TV programmes about the Troubles, was giving evidence in a civil claim against the former Sinn Fein president, which alleges Mr Adams played a pivotal role in the Provisional IRA and was liable for orchestrating its bombings. The High Court heard Mr Wares witness statement in London on Monday.

Lord Mountbatten was the Kings great-uncle - Hulton Archive/Getty

Lord Mountbatten was killed when the IRA blew up his lobster boat during a holiday in Mullaghmore, Co Sligo, in August 1979.

The attack also killed Nicholas Knatchbull, his teenage grandson, and Paul Maxwell, a 15-year-old deckhand. Lady Brabourne, the mother of Lord Mountbattens son-in-law, was also on the boat and died from her injuries the next day. The others on board survived.

Mr Adams, 77, has spent decades rejecting claims that he was a leading figure in the paramilitary group, or had any involvement in terrorist activity.

He emphatically, unequivocally and categorically denies any involvement in the bombings or being a member of the IRA, his lawyer told the court.

Three victims of three IRA attacks have been the case against Mr Adams, alleging that he is liable for damages for the injuries they suffered by virtue of his affiliation and leadership role in the IRA.

The claimants are John Clark, a victim of the 1973 Old Bailey bombing in London, Jonathan Ganesh, who was wounded in the 1996 London Docklands bombing, and Barry Laycock, a victim of the 1996 Arndale shopping centre bombing in Manchester.

They are suing Mr Adams for a symbolic 1 in compensation for vindicatory purposes.

Adams denial grated with IRA members

In his statement, Mr Ware said he made a documentary for ITVs World In Action (WIA) in 1983 that focused on Mr Adams because he was one of the single most influential strategists in the Republican movement.

He said Mr Adamss denial of being an IRA member so obviously lacked credibility that they struck me and WIA as a flat lie.

He claimed that former and serving Provisional IRA members agreed to give interviews for the programme because they resented this denial.

Invariably, some of them thought that Adams had sold out by virtue of his political strategy, but the principal motivation for many Provisional IRA interviewees was their complete and utter astonishment at Adamss brazen, unequivocal and unambiguous denial of his role in the IRA, his statement said.

It clearly grated with many of them that when Adams said that he strongly supported the armed struggle, his denial of actual Provisional IRA membership allowed him to avoid taking personal responsibility for their actions.

In short, they saw Adamss denial of Provisional IRA membership as insufferably hypocritical.

Mr Adams has attended each day of the case, flanked throughout by several security guards. He is due to start giving evidence on Tuesday.

The trial before Mr Justice Swift is expected to end this week.
Gabriela Teixeira, who works as a yoga teacher and a birth doula, says she and her children are entitled to benefit from the full value of her late husbands properties, which his brother claims were shared with him and his mother - Facebook

A yoga teacher is in a 5m inheritance battle after claiming she lost her dying husbands fortune because of his brothers fears she would disappear to Brazil after his death.

Gabriela Teixeira, 51, married Abbas Moaven, a London-based property investor and restaurateur, in 2002, and they had two children together.

But after Mr Moaven died at the age of 45 in 2012, Ms Teixeira learnt that his estate  which she expected to split with her daughter Elis, 22, and son Aryan, 19  could be worth nothing.

Weeks before his death, her husband had signed a document stating that four of his London properties were not entirely his, but shared equally with his mother, Nazemi Tehran, and his younger brother, Amir Moaven.

Gabriela Teixeira, pictured arriving at the High Court, had two children, now aged 22 and 19, with her investor and restaurateur husband - Champion News Service

And after debts were paid off, it was alleged, she and her children, who were the sole beneficiaries of his estate, would receive nothing from his share of the properties.

Now Ms Teixeira and her children are fighting a High Court battle against her husbands brother to restore the properties to her husbands estate, and allow her and her children to inherit their full value.

She claims that the documents signed by her husband were a sham designed with the clear aim of defeating a claim by Ms Teixeira and/or her children against the estate.

Her lawyer points to a note from a meeting between the two brothers, which detailed that Amir Moaven was concerned about what would happen if Abbas passed away and his wife disappeared with the two children to Brazil.

Amir Moaven says the documents signed just before his brother Abbas died simply put into writing a shared ownership that had always been the case - Champion News Service

Amir Moaven, 55, claims that the properties  in Queens Gate, Holland Park, Kensington and Maida Hill  were only put into his late brothers name for cultural reasons because he was the elder brother.

Ms Teixeira, who also works as a doula, claims the disputed properties should be part of her husbands estate, leaving her and her children with up to 5m inheritance after debts are paid.

But her brother-in-law insists the declarations of trust were legitimate, and simply put into writing what had always been the case, that the properties were owned in equal shares.

The two Moaven brothers came to London from their native Iran in 1982 to live with her father.

In 2001, Abbas Moaven met Ms Teixeira at one of his restaurants, and she moved into the Kensington property with him. She told the court he had never suggested he was not the sole owner of the flat.

Flats in buildings in Holland Park and, below, Queens Gate are among the four properties at the centre of the dispute - Champion News Service Ltd

Champion News Service

Abbas Moaven was diagnosed with cancer in 2009 and died in May 2012, with his last will leaving his estate in third shares to his widow and two children.

But the court heard the estate was substantially diminished because of the documents Mr Moaven signed detailing the properties shared ownership.

Alexander Learmonth KC, for Ms Teixeira, said the result was that the estate was potentially insolvent because of other debts.

He argues that the documents were obviously shams designed to prevent Ms Teixeira or creditors from making a claim after his death.

He pointed to a lawyers note from a meeting between Abbass solicitor and Amir, which read: His concern was what would happen if Abbas passed away and his wife disappeared with the two children to Brazil. How could they prevent this, and how could they prevent her from having access to the funds from the property assets?

A subsequent note following another meeting added: Amir confirmed his main intention was to secure Abbass childrens welfare because he was certain that any assets passed over to Abbass wife would be dissipated.

A very bitter dispute

Mr Learmonth said it was telling that Amir Moaven had produced nothing showing a financial contribution by Amir or Nazemi to any of the properties.

He added: It is deeply unsatisfactory that 14 years later, Gabriela and her two children  now grown from infancy to adulthood  have still not been able to obtain a proper account of Abbass estate, let alone to receive their inheritance.

Barrister Lydia Pemberton, for Mr Moaven, described the row as a very bitter family dispute, but insisted the declarations were the written manifestation of a long-standing agreement that the properties were held by the two brothers and their mother in equal shares.

She added: Shortly stated, Amirs case is one of a pooling of resources between himself, Abbas and their mother, demonstrated by their years of joint business ventures.

The court heard the Moaven brothers mother died in 2023, and her will leaves half of her estate to her surviving son, and a quarter each to grandchildren Elis and Aryan.

Following a week-long trial, Deputy Master Bowles reserved his decision on the case until a later date.
Social media has turned certain destinations into bucket list essentials, but the reality doesnt always match the Instagram feed.

These seven places get more hype than they deserve while equally stunning alternatives sit empty and affordable just down the road.

Instead of Iceland, Visit the Faroe Islands

Iceland welcomed 1.8 million tourists from January to September 2025 despite high costs and the closure of budget airlines like Play. The country faces housing shortages driven by tourism, with locals priced out by Airbnb conversions and inflated rents.

Iceland expects even more visitors in 2026, with the government proposing higher tourist taxes to manage environmental impact. Hotels cost $200-plus per night, meals run $50 to $70 at restaurants, and rental cars start around $100 daily.

The Faroe Islands offer Icelands dramatic cliffs, waterfalls and moody weather with a fraction of the crowds. Located halfway between Scotland and Iceland, the 18-island archipelago has only 50,000 residents and far fewer tourists.

Find Out: Im a Luxury Travel Agent: These Are the Destinations My Wealthy Clients Are Booking for 2026

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Flights from Copenhagen cost around $300 round-trip, and from Reykjavik about $200. Ferry service from Denmark starts at $120 one-way. Car rentals run about $80 to $90 daily, comparable to Iceland, but accommodation costs less. Hostels start under $30 per night off-season, and subsidized ferries between islands cost as little as $3.

The Faroe Islands charge hiking fees to preserve trails, but ferries and public buses remain affordable thanks to government subsidies. You wont find Icelands massive tour infrastructure, which means fewer crowds at natural sights and more authentic interactions with locals.

Instead of Tulum, Visit Bacalar

The hotel occupancy in Tulum, Mexico, hotel dropped to 49.2% in September 2025 compared to 66.7% the previous year, while Cancun and Bacalar stayed above 65%. The problem isnt lack of interest but uncontrolled overdevelopment.

Tulum transformed from backpacker haven to luxury destination over the past decade. Exclusive beach clubs charge $20-plus for day access to beaches that used to be free. Boutique hotels push $300 to $500 per night. The town struggles with traffic, limited public beach access and environmental degradation.

Bacalar sits 100 miles south of Tulum on the Lagoon of Seven Colors, a freshwater lake with crystal-clear water and seven shades of blue and green. The small town offers the laid-back vibe Tulum had 15 years ago without the crowds or inflated prices.

You can reach Bacalar on the Tren Maya from Tulum for $7 to $50 depending on class or take a three-hour ADO bus. The town remains walkable, taxis are affordable and food costs significantly less than in Tulum.

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Hotels and guesthouses start around $40 to $50 per night compared to Tulums $200-plus. Restaurants serve meals for $10 to $15 instead of Tulums $30 to $50 plates. Bacalar is all about sustainable tourism with no massive hotels or all-inclusive resorts.

Instead of the Maldives, Visit Zanzibar or Palawan

The Maldives sells overwater bungalows and crystal water at absurd prices. All-inclusive resorts run $333 to $2,000 per night. Each resort occupies its own island, trapping you with limited dining options and activities. Getting there requires expensive flights and seaplane transfers.

The country faces severe environmental threats from rising seas. Coral bleaching damaged many reefs. The experiences feel sterile and artificial despite the natural beauty.

Zanzibar has Indian Ocean beaches, Arabic architecture, spice plantations and Stone Towns UNESCO-listed old city at manageable prices. The island sits off Tanzanias coast with regular flights from Dar es Salaam.

Beaches on the north and east coasts rival Maldives beauty with white sand and turquoise water. Hotels range from $50 budget guesthouses to $200 to $300 boutique resorts.

Palawan in the Philippines provides another alternative with El Nidos limestone cliffs, Corons shipwreck diving and endless island-hopping opportunities. Hotels cost $45 to $83 per night. The people remain welcoming and the islands feel adventurous rather than packaged.

Instead of Machu Picchu, Visit Kuelap or Choquequirao

Machu Picchu requires advance permits, costs $50 to $70 for entrance and suffers from Disney-level crowds despite visitor caps. The town of Aguas Calientes exists almost solely to extract money from tourists with inflated hotel and restaurant prices. Altitude sickness affects many visitors who fly directly to Cusco.

The ruins remain spectacular, but youll share them with thousands of other people taking the same photos. The experience feels rushed and commercialized.

Kuelap in northern Peru offers equally impressive pre-Incan ruins without the tourist infrastructure or crowds. The Chachapoyas culture built this fortress city around 900 AD on a mountain ridge at around 10,500 feet elevation.

The site features massive stone walls, circular buildings and llama sculptures. Cable cars now provide access, but visitor numbers remain low. You can explore without time limits, crowds or feeling like cattle moved through checkpoints. The surrounding cloud forest region offers waterfalls, hiking and traditional villages.

Choquequirao requires more commitment as the other Machu Picchu. The ruins sit across the valley from Machu Picchu but receive only a few thousand visitors annually versus Machu Picchus million-plus. The trek takes two days minimum, keeping crowds minimal. The site covers a larger area than Machu Picchu with extensive terraces and structures still being excavated.

No permits required, no time limits, no crowds. Just you and Inca ruins in their natural setting.

More From GOBankingRates

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 4 Most Overrated (and Overpriced) Travel Destinations  And Where To Go Instead
Image Credit: Ralf Roletschek - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia.

Airplanes are expensive machines. A Boeing 737 can easily cost tens of millions of dollars depending on configuration, age, and paperwork. It is therefore a little surreal that one such jet recently found itself in legal trouble over a sum smaller than the price of a decent used car.

That is exactly what happened to Ryanair, Europes famously frugal low-cost airline, when a court bailiff stepped aboard one of its aircraft at Linz Airport in Linz, Austria and effectively tagged the jet as seized property.

The debt behind the drama? About 892.87, or roughly $1,182.

Yes, a commercial airliner was temporarily claimed by a court officer over a four-figure dispute.

The Delay That Started It All

Image Credit: Depositphotos

The story began in July 2024 when a Ryanair flight from Linz to Palma de Mallorca, Spain ran spectacularly late. The delay stretched to around 13 hours. For passengers, that meant missed plans, ruined itineraries, and an inordinate amount of time spent time staring at departure boards.

Some travelers eventually bought replacement tickets on other flights to get to their destination. Ryanair refunded the original ticket price, but that was not the end of the matter.

European aviation law includes a powerful consumer protection rule known as EU261. Under this regulation, passengers can receive fixed compensation when flights are severely delayed or cancelled, provided the airline is responsible. For shorter routes within Europe, the standard payout is 250 per passenger.

One traveler decided to pursue the compensation through legal channels after Ryanair declined to pay. Eventually the passenger won in court. The ruling meant the airline owed the compensation plus legal costs and interest, bringing the total to just under 900.

That should have been the end of the story. Pay the bill, move on.

When the Bill Went Unpaid

Image Credit: Shutterstock.

But the money did not arrive.

So the passenger turned to the next step available under Austrian law. Enforcement.

Enter the bailiff.

The court officer waited for an opportunity when a Ryanair aircraft was physically present in the country. When the moment came, the bailiff boarded a Ryanair Boeing 737-800, registration EI-EXE, which had arrived from London Stansted Airport in London, United Kingdom.

Imagine the scene. Passengers waiting to depart, cabin crew preparing the flight, and suddenly a legal official walking on board with paperwork.

The bailiff demanded payment.

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There was just one problem. Ryanair flights are famously cashless. Even the snacks are card only. The crew did not have hundreds of euros sitting in a drawer somewhere near the galley coffee machine.

According to reports, the pilot even offered to pay by credit card to resolve the situation immediately. The bailiff could not accept that. The enforcement order required cash.

With payment unavailable, the bailiff escalated the procedure. A seizure notice was placed on the aircraft. In Austria, this takes the form of a sticker called a Pfandungsmarke, sometimes nicknamed the cuckoo sticker.

Once attached, it legally marks the asset as seized property tied to a debt.

The Sticker Heard Round the Aviation World

Image Credit: Depositphotos

Before anyone panics, no one tried to tow the plane away or sell it for spare parts. The aircraft was not physically impounded, and it was allowed to continue operating flights. The sticker simply signaled that the jet had been formally attached to the debt enforcement process.

Still, it made for an unusual chapter in aviation operations. A passenger compensation claim had climbed all the way up the enforcement ladder and ended with a court officer standing inside a commercial jetliner demanding payment.

The unexpected visit delayed the aircrafts next departure from Linz by roughly half an hour.

Ryanair later downplayed the incident and said the aircraft had not been seized in any meaningful operational sense. Technically that is correct. The jet was never grounded.

But the message was sent regardless.

Within three days the airline paid the outstanding amount.

A Lesson in Passenger Rightsand Persistence

For aviation watchers, the episode became a perfect illustration of two things. First, Europes passenger rights laws have real teeth.

Second, even a giant airline operating hundreds of aircraft can find itself momentarily outmaneuvered by a determined passenger, a court ruling, and a bailiff holding a very official sticker.

All over less than the price of a used hatchback.

Source: View from the Wing

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Across the United States, there are countless small towns that locals cherish for their charm, history, and natural beauty. While many travelers flock to major destinations, these hidden gem communities-from quiet coastal villages to scenic lake towns-have managed to hold onto their laid-back character. Here are ten beloved small towns across the U.S. that locals secretly hope stay under the radar.

1. Avila Beach, California: A Sunny Central Coast Escape

Juancat  stock.adobe.com

Along California's Central Coast, Avila Beach offers a slower, sunnier alternative to some of the state's busier seaside destinations. Its gentle, south-facing shoreline keeps the weather warm, and the vibe relaxed, while a charming waterfront promenade, nearby wineries, and scenic coastal trails give visitors plenty to explore.

2. Parker, Arizona: A Desert Town With a Riverfront Lifestyle

CheriAlguire  stock.adobe.com

Parker, Arizona, is a desert town with a surprisingly bustling waterfront lifestyle. Boating, fishing, and lazy river days are a way of life here, and sunsets over the water feel especially magical against the surrounding desert landscape. Residents love Parker for its small-town camaraderie and the simple joy of living somewhere where the river is always just steps away.

3. Saugus, Massachusetts: A Historic New England Community

Wangkun Jia  stock.adobe.com

Just north of Boston, Saugus, Massachusetts, blends deep New England history with everyday local charm. The town is perhaps best known for its historic ironworks and classic roadside eateries, but longtime residents also appreciate its tight-knit neighborhoods and convenient access to both the city and the coast. It's the kind of place where generations of families have built lasting roots.

4. Goliad, Texas: One Of Texas's Most Historic Small Towns

Laurens  stock.adobe.com

History comes alive in Goliad, one of the most storied small towns in Texas. With beautifully preserved Spanish colonial architecture, centuries-old landmarks, and a peaceful setting along the San Antonio River, the town feels like a living timeline of Texas history.

5. Surfside Beach, South Carolina: The Family-Friendly Coastal Gem

Kirk Fisher  stock.adobe.com

Known as "The Family Beach," Surfside Beach has earned its reputation as one of the most welcoming coastal communities in South Carolina. Wide sandy shores, gentle waves, and a friendly, laid-back atmosphere make it ideal for quiet beach days and evening walks along the ocean.

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6. Heber Springs, Arkansas: A Beautiful, Natural Gem

Often overlooked in favor of more tourist-driven destinations, Heber Springs is a quiet town in the foothills of the Ozark Mountains. Home to the serene waters of Greers Ferry Lake and the sinuous banks of Little Red River, this hidden, charming town in Arkansas is a dream come true for nature lovers.

7. Milford, Kansas: A Gateway to Kansas' Largest Lake

Sitting near the shores of Milford Lake-the largest lake in Kansas-this small town is a paradise for outdoor enthusiasts. Fishing, boating, hiking, and wildlife watching are all part of everyday life here, especially around the nearby Flint Hills landscape. Locals adore Milford for its peaceful scenery.

8. Salvo, North Carolina: A Quiet Outer Banks Village

Kyle  stock.adobe.com

Salvo offers a quieter slice of coastal North Carolina life. The village is beloved for its windswept dunes, wide beaches, and spectacular views of both the Atlantic Ocean and Pamlico Sound. Residents and returning visitors appreciate how Salvo feels wonderfully unhurried compared to some of the busier beach towns nearby.

9. Blanding, Utah: A Scenic Basecamp for Red Rock Adventures

venemama  stock.adobe.com

A gateway to some of the most remarkable landscapes in the American Southwest, Blanding, Utah, sits within reach of red rock canyons, ancient cliff dwellings, and sprawling desert vistas. The town's welcoming spirit and deep connection to the surrounding land make it a favorite base camp for exploring southeastern Utah.

10. Ashland, Wisconsin: A Lake Superior Town Full of Character

MelissaMN  stock.adobe.com

On the shores of Lake Superior, Ashland blends historic charm with breathtaking natural scenery. The town is famous for its colorful murals and as a gateway to the Apostle Islands, where sea caves and island adventures await. Residents love Ashland for its strong community pride, rich maritime history, and the ever-changing beauty of the big lake.

Feeling inspired? Try planning your own trip using Only In Your State's itinerary planner.
The experiment lasted only two and a half seconds, but it ignited a century of space exploration that sent humans to low Earth orbit and eventually to the moon.

On March 16, 1926, Robert H. Goddard launched the worlds first liquid-fueled rocket on a snowy farm in Massachusetts. Historians say that Goddard's 10-foot rocket would pave the way for the modern machines that do everything from putting satellites in orbit to sending humans to the International Space Station and beyond.

His unlocking of that ability to use liquid fuel really just sets the stage for any other country around the world that is launching rockets, Ed Stewart, a curator at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, told ABC News. It all comes back down to March 16 in 1926 because he was the one that proved that it could be done and then actually did it.

Clark University Archives and Special Collections - PHOTO: Robert Goddard stands next to a liquid oxygen-gasoline rocket in the frame from which it was fired in Auburn, Massachusetts, March 16, 1926.

The rocket was the first of its kind, powered by liquid propellant rather than gunpowder or other solid fuels used by most rockets at the time, according to NASA. The rocket flew for less than three seconds and reached an altitude of about 41 feet.

While scientists overseas had already been experimenting with rocketry in places like Russia and Germany, according to historical documents, it was Goddards 1919 paper, A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes, that made the physicists discovery famous worldwide, explained Stewart.

It caught the attention of people all around the world, even people that were doing some experimentation with rockets and liquid fuels and things like that in other parts of the world, Stewart said.

The paper suggested that rockets could one day travel to the moon and caught the attention of the Smithsonian Institution, which invested money in rocket research.

1,300-pound satellite expected to re-enter Earth's atmosphere tonight

I think the breakthrough was, first of all, that Goddard had this dream of getting a rocket ship off the surface of the Earth, said Charles Chuck Agosta, a physics professor at Goddards alma mater, Clark University. And then, of course, the dream was to go to Mars.

Other scientists, like Hermann Oberth of Germany, later built on Goddards theory, and that progress eventually contributed to the development of the V-2 rocket, Stewart noted. And eventually, rockets based on Goddard's pioneering work led to sending astronauts into space and to the moon.

Goddard earned his masters and doctorate in physics at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, before returning to teach at the school in 1914. He eventually served as director of the physics department for two decades.

Clark University Archives and Special Collections - PHOTO: Dr. Robert H. Goddard at blackboard, circa 1924.

Today, faculty at Clark say his legacy still looms large on campus.

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Goddard once used a bicycle wheel to show funding agencies how gyroscopes could help steer rockets in space. Today, Agosta uses that same wheel to teach his students about angular momentum.

Despite his legacy, Goddard's breakthrough didnt immediately capture the publics imagination. Stewart says that when the first liquid-fueled rocket launched, space travel was still widely viewed as science fiction by many.

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I do think that at the time it was still so far-fetched that even once he proved that the basic version of the technology would work, people still were thinking of it more as a novelty, Stewart said.

Much of what we know about those early experiments comes from Goddard's wife, Esther Christine Kisk Goddard, a photographer from Worcester, Mass. She documented many of the tests, leaving behind footage that offers a window into the creation of the worlds first modern rockets.

According to NASA, Goddard created and launched more than 35 rockets throughout his lifetime. It was because of his pioneering work in modern rocketry that, in May 1959, NASA renamed its first spaceflight complex to the Goddard Space Flight Center.

The center is home to missions such as the Hubble Space Telescope, the James Webb Space Telescope, and the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, scheduled to launch as early as fall 2026.

The global return to the moon and beyond

During his initial launch tests, Goddard fueled his rocket with gasoline and liquid oxygen, according to the Roswell Museum in New Mexico, where the physicist spent part of his career. Todays modern rockets no longer use gasoline, opting for other fuels such as liquid hydrogen, liquid methane and refined kerosene along with liquid oxygen, which acts as an oxidizer.

On the 100th anniversary of Goddard's discovery, the United States is on the cusp of sending the first astronauts to the moon since 1972 as part of the Artemis II mission. The 10-day trip will send four astronauts around the far side of the moon in NASA's Orion spacecraft, launched into orbit by the most powerful rocket ever to send people into space. A rocket that may never have come to fruition had Goddard not experimented on that faithful day in 1926.

What could the next 100 years of rocket technology bring?

I'm pretty confident that in a hundred years, we're going to be all over space, Agosta said.

Considering the thousands of airplanes in our own skies every day, he says its inevitable and that we'll at least be in the planets close to us by the next century.
Shelves of boxes of Great Value pasta - PJ McDonnell/Shutterstock

If you're a regular Walmart shopper, then you've probably purchased a fair number of Great Value products over the course of your adult life. They're reliably cheaper than name-brand products, and often, you can't even tell the difference. Many customers say Great Value products taste just as good if not better than the name brand.

Walmart officially debuted the Great Value brand in 1993 and, by the late 2000s, it had become the largest food brand in sales and volume nationwide. You're not going to find merely a hundred different Great Value products when you walk inside the store; you're going to find more than a hundred different Great Value product categories. It takes a lot of manpower and resources to make all those products, and it's not like there are Walmart factories and farms all across the country that are churning them out.

Instead, Walmart relies on other manufacturers to supply it with Great Value products, and then it simply slaps on the Great Value logo. In some cases, those manufacturers are also the ones making the name-brand versions of the same foods. So, the reason you can't tell any difference between your can of name-brand peas and the Great Value option might just be because there's literally no difference at all. Same peas, different label. Don't believe us? Here are a handful of the famous brands behind Walmart's Great Value products.

Read more: 14 Things You've Always Believed About Aldi (That Aren't True)

1. Sara Lee

Sara Lee sandwich bread on shelf - JHVEPhoto/Shutterstock

Yes, the major name brand behind Walmart's Great Value bread is Sara Lee herself. So how do we know this? One of the easiest ways to track which manufacturers and famous brands are behind store-brand products is to keep an eye on food recalls. When a manufacturer issues a recall, they'll typically list every brand the recall impacts. So, if they list a famous name brand alongside a store brand, you can pretty accurately assume the two products came from the same manufacturing line.

This is what happened in 2015 when the maker of Sara Lee bread  Bimbo Bakeries  recalled nearly 50,000 packages of bread distributed across 11 states, after it was discovered the bread could contain glass from a broken factory lightbulb. The recall applied to Sara Lee products that were being sold under the Great Value brand, as well as the Kroger store brand and Nature's Harvest, among others.

Bimbo Bakeries makes a whole lot more than just Great Value and Sara Lee bread. Part of what is claimed to be the largest baking company in the world, Bimbo Bakeries also produces Thomas' English muffins, BallPark buns and rolls, Entenmann's sweet treats, Cheesecake Factory at Home products, and more.

2. Conagra

Conagra Brands sign - Jetcityimage/Getty Images

Similarly to Bimbo Bakeries, Conagra is a major food company that produces a ton of your favorite brands, as well as Great Value products. Within the Conagra family of brands, you'll spot Healthy Choice, Slim Jim, Marie Callender's, Hunt's, Duncan Hines, Vlasic, Banquet, Hebrew National, and more common household names. As such, it's a given that Conagra has the expertise necessary to produce a range of white label products, too (a white label product is any product made by one brand and sold to another brand that sells it as its own).

It became clear that Conagra produced Great Value items when a recall was issued that affected both Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter. Unfortunately, things turned dangerous with this recall  and pretty costly for Conagra. The recall occurred in 2007, when the two peanut butters were linked to a salmonella outbreak. Supposedly, the salmonella bacteria grew on the raw peanuts used to make the products, after being stored in an environment that was overly moist due to a leaky roof and bad sprinkler system.

More than 600 individuals fell ill during the outbreak. Conagra accordingly recalled all of the peanut butter manufactured between 2004 and 2007. The problem didn't end there, though. Federal criminal charges were brought against Conagra, and the company wound up paying more than $11 million to settle.

3. Hefty

Boxes of Hefty sandwich bags - PJ McDonnell/Shutterstock

You may have strong feelings regarding your trash bags and food storage bags, but if you think Hefty is superior to Great Value in every way, you may just want to think again. Yep, that's right: Walmart's Great Value trash bags and food storage bags are made by Hefty.

This is a long-standing relationship, too. Walmart's commitment to Hefty as its Great Value bag manufacturer was confirmed in 2010, as the chain invested in its Great Value lineup in an effort to cater to shoppers dealing with a not-so-great economy (and in fact, it was reported that shoppers purchased a record-high amount of store brands versus name brands in 2009). However, 2010 was a rocky year for Hefty, and even with commitment from Walmart, the larger corporation that owned Hefty, Pactiv Corp., could not withstand its own economic woes. Later that year, Reynolds Group purchased Pactiv for around $4.4 billion.

Today, Reynolds still owns Hefty, alongside Reynolds Wrap and lesser-known brands like Diamond and Presto. As of 2023, we know that Reynolds was still making Great Value trash bags, as the company was involved in a lawsuit that claimed it was marketing the bags as recyclable, even though they were not. Reynolds settled and offered to pay $3 million and either remove the claim from packaging or make sure the bags were actually recyclable moving forward.

4. Wells Dairy

Blue Bunny ice cream in freezer - PJ McDonnell/Shutterstock

Sometimes a Great Value brand relationship is kept hush-hush and you have to do a little digging around into recalls and lawsuits to trace those connections. Other times, Walmart is loud and proud about its manufacturers. This is the case with Wells Dairy  and while you might not know Wells Dairy, you definitely know its biggest brand: Blue Bunny.

Wells Dairy began supplying Walmart with its ice cream from the 1980s onward, before Great Value was even launched. The company is headquartered in what's been called the Ice Cream Capital of the World: Le Mars, Iowa. There, farm-fresh milk travels less than half an hour to a manufacturing plant, where it becomes Great Value ice cream. Other ingredients that go into the ice cream, like cookies, are also made nearby. In addition to creating Great Value and Blue Bunny ice cream, Wells also makes Halo Top, Blue Ribbon Classics products, and Bomb Pops.

However, just because Wells Dairy makes both Great Value ice cream and all these other name brands, don't expect a vanilla Great Value pint to taste the same as what you'd get from Blue Bunny. The ingredients differ as does the taste. While some may find Great Value's flavor to be superior, they may be less pleased with ingredients like cellulose gel and carrageenan.

5. Land O'Lakes

Boxes of Land O'Lakes butter - Anatoliy Tesouro/Shutterstock

Butter can get pricey if you're not careful, but some home cooks are adamant that buying high-quality butter really does make all the difference in your cooking and baking. That said, if you've been sheepishly buying the Great Value butter due to the lower cost and thinking you're doing yourself a disservice, cheer up  Great Value butter isn't all that inferior, and in fact is very likely made by Land O'Lakes.

The theory stems from a packaging switcheroo that occurred in 2025, when shoppers who purchased Land O'Lakes butter opened up their boxes to find sticks of Great Value butter instead. Neither company has verified the claim that Land O'Lakes must make Great Value butter, but it definitely seems the most plausible explanation for the mix-up.

When you take into account the range of other products and services Land O'Lakes produces beyond its recognizable butter and similar dairy items, the idea that it could also make Great Value butter just makes sense. For example, Land O'Lakes produces Kozy Shack-branded products, as well as Vermont Creamery products. It sells ingredients for foodservice operations, including restaurants and schools. The company even makes animal feed, and we're not just talking feed for cattle or swine  zoos are among Land O'Lakes clients, too. Given all that, making a little extra butter would be nothing.

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6. Perdue

Perdue chicken strips and cutlets in packaging - Khairil Azhar Junos/Shutterstock

Perdue produces a large number of chicken products. You want chicken in just about any form? Chances are Perdue provides it, from fresh chicken breasts and pre-diced raw chicken nuggets to pre-grilled tenders  and Perdue is also sending chicken to your local Walmart under the guise of the Great Value brand.

This is another one of those connections that was revealed to the public via a recall. In 2010, Perdue Farms issued a recall that didn't even pertain to Perdue-branded products. Instead, it was all about Great Value. The company had shipped out some frozen Great Value chicken nuggets that were suspected to potentially contain "foreign materials." When a recall lists "foreign materials" as its cause, it can really mean anything wound up in the food  glass, metal, rocks, even wood  though in this case the material in question was blue plastic pieces.

This wasn't the last time that Perdue would need to recall some of its white label products, either. In 2019, it recalled chicken breast patties produced for Chef Quik, after bone fragments were found in the ready-to-eat chicken products. Then in 2024, it recalled organic chicken nuggets it had produced for Butcherbox, again due to foreign material (metal).

7. Smucker's

Rows of Smucker's products - Tikalily/Shutterstock

Smucker's may be most well-known for its jams and jellies, but behind Smucker's is the J.M. Smucker Co., and it makes far more than just fruit preserves and ice cream toppings. Dunkin' coffee, Folgers, Hostess, Jif, Milk-Bone  they can all be traced back to J.M. Smucker. Beyond the sweet treats the company makes and sells under the Hostess banner, it has also historically made Great Value's bakery items. We know this thanks to a 2024 recall that impacted more than 40,000 cheese Danishes and cinnamon rolls, which J.M. Smucker issued specifically for Great Value.

However, as of 2026, it's been confirmed that J.M. Smucker no longer makes Great Value bakery products. While it's not entirely clear what went wrong, it may have been that the company abandoned those products at the same time that it divested its Cloverhill and Big Texas brands, in early 2025.

When the divestment was announced, the company said it was turning over some of its private label products to JTM Foods, in order to prioritize its resources within the baked goods category and focus specifically on Hostess  so, it would make sense that the Great Value baked goods would get the boot. Furthermore, JTM Foods does indeed produce retailer private brands, though it's not immediately clear what they are.

8. Krusteaz

Boxes of Krusteaz pancake mix - PJ McDonnell/Shutterstock

The Krusteaz Company is most well-known for its namesake product line of pancake and waffle mixes, but it also makes products under other brands. For example, it owns the Buck Wild snack mix brand Alpine cider and WildRoots trail mix. It also makes Walmart's Great Value pancake and waffle mix, so if you've been paying extra for name-brand pancakes and waffles, it might be time to switch up your grocery haul.

Yet again, this is a connection we know about thanks to a recall. In 2022, Continental Mills (which changed its name to Krusteaz in recognition of Krusteaz's 90th anniversary in late 2022) issued a recall for Great Value buttermilk pancake and waffle mixes, due to foreign material contamination. Pieces of a cable used in the manufacturing process broke into the mixes before they were distributed to stores across the country.

The recall woes didn't end there. In 2024, both Krusteaz and Great Value frozen waffles and pancakes were recalled, alongside a number of frozen waffles and pancakes sold under a wide range of other name and store brands, due to possible listeria contamination. In this case, the products had not been processed directly by Krusteaz. Instead, they were produced by TreeHouse Foods, which specializes in manufacturing private label foods on other brands' behalf, including everything from candy and cookies to pickles and pretzels.

9. Wonderbrands

Wonder bread on store shelf - JRomero04/Shutterstock

Say "Wonderbrands" and you're probably going to think of  what else?  Wonder Bread, but the company makes other bread items, too, including those sold under the D'Italiano and Country Harvest brands. It's important to note that Wonder Bread in the United States is not the same as Wonder Bread in Canada.

In Canada, Wonder Bread is owned by the aforementioned Wonderbrands. In the United States, Wonder Bread and all associated Wonder products are owned by Flowers Foods. This is nothing new, either. The two Wonders have been completely separate since the 1920s. For our purposes, we're talking about the Canadian Wonder Bread and Wonderbrands, as the latter produces Great Value bread for Walmarts across Canada.

This fact came to light in late 2024, when a recall was issued for breads and buns produced by Wonderbrands and sold under the Great Value brand, as well as the Wonder brand and several others. The products had been distributed throughout Newfoundland, Labrador, Ontario, and Quebec. Seven different Great Value products were impacted in total.

10. Fisher Nuts

Bags of Fisher nuts - The Image Party/Shutterstock

Whether you're browsing the baking aisle for pecans or walnuts to throw into cookies or a pie, or strolling the snack aisle looking for a salty, crunchy bite to satisfy some cravings, you'll probably see a good amount of store shelf real estate taken up by the Fisher nuts brand. While the brand is technically owned by John B. Sanfilippo & Son, which includes a few other brands beneath the umbrella, Fisher is by and large the most recognizable of the bunch. The same people churning out those Fisher nuts are also churning out your Great Value nuts (meaning if you want to save money on your grocery bill, given the sometimes eye-wateringly high price of nuts, definitely switch to Great Value).

We know this to be the case due to a 2024 recall when John B. Sanfilippo & Son recalled Great Value honey roasted cashews due to undeclared ingredients. Often, if a product is recalled due to undeclared ingredients, it means the packaging failed to list certain ingredients that could cause serious or life-threatening reactions for people with an allergy. However, in this case, it was the fact that the packaging mentioned the wrong product altogether. Instead of honey roasted cashews like the packaging claimed, the containers were filled with coconut cashews  posing a potential problem for anyone with a coconut or milk allergy.

11. Tyson

Tyson chicken in store - Billy F Blume Jr/Shutterstock

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture records of establishments doing business as different brands, Tyson Foods Inc. also produces food for Walmart's Great Value brand. However, that's not the only store brand that Tyson caters to. You can also find Tyson products sold under the store brands at Costco, Aldi, Food Lion, Giant Eagle, Harris Teeter, Hannaford, Kroger, Meijer, Public, Safeway, Target, and Sam's.

In other words, for just about any store-brand chicken you buy, chances are good that Tyson probably produced it. Keep in mind that Tyson Foods doesn't just make chicken, even if that's the food most synonymous with the name. Tyson Foods also owns Jimmy Dean sausage, Hillshire Farm, BallPark hot dogs, Hillshire meats, and many other brands. In other words, Tyson has its fingers in a lot of pies.

One Reddit user who previously worked at Tyson supported this claim further in 2025. One of their job duties was to spend part of their time filling Tyson plastic bags of chicken breasts, before switching to filling Great Value bags with the same chicken breasts.

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St. Patrick's Day honors and celebrates Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. This holiday is an Irish tradition that honors their Saint, who is credited with spreading Christianity throughout Ireland. Observed annually on March 17, the day commemorates his death. People celebrate his legacy worldwide with parades, shamrocks, feasts, and the wearing of green. This event is considered a prosperous, auspicious time due to its origin stories and associated folklore. Looking at astrology, some individuals may also experience greater luck on this day, influenced by their corresponding astrological aspects. Read on to discover the four luckiest birth months this Saint Patrick's Day 2026.

Why is Saint Patrick's Day a "Lucky Holiday?

There are several reasons behind the saying "The Luck of the Irish." This phrase was popularized by 19th-century Irish Americans, especially after they experienced success during the Gold Rush. The Celts believed that finding a four-leaf clover brought luck, warded off evil, and was considered magical. In Irish folklore, leprechauns are said to guard pots of gold at the end of the rainbow  and catching one was believed to bring extraordinary fortune. Ultimately, the holiday is associated with hope and love, giving life a deeper meaning.

The Astrology of Saint Patrick's Day 2026

On March 17, 2026, the Waning Crescent Moon in Pisces offers a glimmer of hope, leading up to the New Moon in Pisces on the following day, March 18. A new moon provides opportunities to set new intentions, align with fresh goals, and dream with the future in mind. In Pisces, we're urged to follow our heart and intuition above all. Positive changes are on the horizon!

Which Birth Months Have the Luckiest Saint Patrick's Day 2026?

Check for your birth month. Disregard your birth date.

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March

Since St. Patrick's Day falls in March, its fitting that those born in this month will have a holiday filled with luck. This year, St. Patricks Day coincides with a Moon in Pisces, occurring just before the New Moon. This alignment creates a special opportunity for both March Aries and Pisces to connect with their intuition and reflect on their emotions. Typically, the Waning Crescent Moon stirs intriguing dreams that help individuals explore their unconscious desires. Those born in March will experience similar feelings; however, they will have the chance to use their insights to uncover deeper truths about themselvesespecially with Mercury retrograde interacting with the North Node of Destiny in Pisces. This is a fortuitous time that can reveal hidden passions and emotions, creating a sense of magic. People born in March are called to emphasize introspection, to seek a fresh start, and to have the courage to pursue their innermost aspirations.

May

People born in May are set to experience significant personal growth and opportunities around St. Patrick's Day. Whether you identify as a sensual Taurus or a talkative Gemini, you'll enjoy the positive energy impacting your social and professional life. There's an opportunity to connect with friends on a deeper, more spiritual level. It's an ideal time to discuss their aspirations and embrace a new mindset, especially with the New Moon occurring the following day, on March 18. You may start to feel like a key member of your work team. While you might have recently felt undervalued at your job, you are now recognizing where you excel and truly belong. You will feel valued and appreciated in your career.

September

September-born individuals will feel a surge of energy on a personal level. Whether you are a detail-oriented Virgo or a diplomatic Libra, you're in a prime position to make the most of the astrology surrounding St. Patrick's Day. A strong wave of love for friends, family, and significant others will sweep over you. Expect to be popular! You're being appreciated by those you care about. Make sure to prioritize self-care as well. You may be feeling exhausted and need to take a step back from your daily routine to focus on centering your energy. If you can resist getting caught up in the past, youll find your own pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Be mindful of the leprechauns from your pastthese could be old flames, outdated friendships, or challenging connections. While they may be tempting, remember that they are tricksters, and staying aware will help protect you. Overall, focus on your own needs and wants, rather than always putting others first. Move onward and forward!

November

On St. Patrick's Day, the cosmic energy will intensify the emotions and intuition of those born in November. Whether you're a soulful Scorpio or an adventurous Sagittarius, this is a time for growth. November-borns will experience a surge of nostalgia-driven creativity, making it an ideal moment to reflect on the past to intentionally shape their future. Connecting with ancestors can provide additional healing. Engaging in activities such as memory-based scrapbooking, cleansing your altars, and connecting with spirits will help you strengthen familial bonds. This is a chance for introspection and to heal wounds with care and compassion. The planetary energy is gentle, offering a boost of love and support as you move forward and open your heart to new possibilities.

This story was originally published by Parade on Mar 16, 2026, where it first appeared in the Astrology section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
For more than four decades, the Iranian regime has operated as the worlds most dangerous state sponsor of terrorism, funding proxy militias, targeting U.S. forces and destabilizing entire regions. Yet establishment Washington has long treated Tehran as a diplomatic puzzle waiting to be solved rather than a hostile regime executing a deliberate strategy  one that openly chants "Death to America."

That disconnect is glaring in a new Fox News poll that confirms what history has already shown: 61% of Americans say Iran poses a real national security threat to the United States. The remarkable part is not the poll result, but how long Washingtons foreign policy establishment has taken to catch up with what voters already understand.

Americans have watched Iran fund Hezbollah, Hamas and other terrorist groups across the Middle East. Iranian-backed militias have launched hundreds of attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria, killing and injuring hundreds of American service members. Tehran has consistently threatened the Strait of Hormuz, a choke point carrying almost 20% of the worlds oil supply. The pattern is glaring from Lebanon to Yemen that Iran wages proxy warfare and sponsors terrorism that directly threatens U.S. interests and global stability.

After more than 40 years of the same behavior, voters are hawkish on Iran  not out of ideology, but experience. Tehran funds terrorism, targets U.S. forces and threatens global energy markets. The conclusion is simple: this regime responds to strength, not further diplomatic engagement.

Trump's Operation Epic Fury Proves Reagan-style Peace Through Strength Is Back

Smoke and flames rise at the site of airstrikes on an oil depot in Tehran on March 7, 2026.

However, much of Washington still approaches Iran as a negotiating partner. For decades the strategy has been the same: diplomatic frameworks, sanctions relief and meetings to moderate Tehrans behavior, even pallets of cash. However, a regime built on proxy warfare and regional destabilization is unlikely to abandon that strategy through negotiations alone. That reality helps explain why the United States is confronting the same Iranian threat today that it faced 40 years ago.

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The historical record undermines the diplomatic theory. As negotiations dragged on, Iran expanded its proxy networks and led 160 attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria, just from October 2023 to February 2024. While policymakers debated strategy in Washington and Europe, Tehran continued building missiles and expanding militias to pressure the United States and its allies.

This is why the Fox News poll is more than a snapshot of voter sentiment. It exposes a deeper divide in American foreign policy, thinking it is not Republican versus Democrat, but voters versus the foreign policy establishment. Americans have formed their own conclusions after decades of watching Iran use intimidation, violence and proxy militant groups to destabilize entire regions.

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Iran War, 11 Days In: Us Controls Skies, Oil Surges And The Region Braces For Whats Next

The regime has repeatedly tested American resolve through asymmetric threats designed to create pressure without triggering full-scale war. This consistent pattern makes clear that Irans strategy is confrontation, not regular geopolitical rivalry. That reality explains why public opinion is significantly hawkish rather than supportive of more negotiations. For many Americans, the lesson of the past 40+ years is straightforward: Iran responds far less to engagement than it does to credible deterrence.

Deterrence, in this context, is about credibility. History shows aggressors are far less likely to escalate when they believe aggression will bring immediate and severe consequences. For decades, Iran has operated in the gray zone  using proxy militias, cyber operations and maritime disruption to pressure the United States while avoiding direct confrontation. That strategy has worked, allowing Tehran to expand missile capabilities and its terror network while Americas responses appeared inconsistent.

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Washingtons foreign policy establishment often overlooks that voters want results rather than another cycle of policy debates built on theory. That disconnect is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain because foreign policy must eventually align with the publics understanding of national security threats.

The gap in perspective is now producing an equally glaring political divide. When voters believe that policymakers are unwilling to confront direct threats to Americans, trust in leadership erodes. National security debates look detached from reality while Americans face the consequences from attacks on U.S. forces, rising energy costs, and proxy conflicts spreading across the Middle East.

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While the American response has often been inconsistent, Iran has maintained a clear geopolitical strategy: funding terrorist networks, arming proxy militias, threatening strategic shipping routes and exploiting regional instability to expand its influence.

After decades of terrorism, proxy warfare and regional destabilization, Americans no longer see Iran as a diplomatic puzzle waiting for another round of ineffective negotiations. They see a strategic threat that requires credible deterrence. The poll confirms that voters have already reached that conclusion. The real question now is whether Washingtons foreign policy establishment is willing to acknowledge the same reality.

Click Here To Read More From Mehek Cooke





Original article source: Americans know Iran is our enemy. Its time establishment politicians agreed
Demos buying biggest election runoff prize of 2026

By Mark Alexander

web posted March 16, 2026

Special congressional elections are complicated and generally result in abysmal voter turnout, often worse if they go to a runoff.

But there was one election last week where the Demo propaganda stakes were higher than any other contest ahead of the midterms: The race to fill the seat of former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene in Georgias 14th Congressional District. That election is now headed for a runoff on 7 April, and Demos hope they can buy this headline on 8 April: Democrat Defeats Trump-Backed Candidate in MTGs District.

Among recent elections won by Democrats rumored to be early warning signs for Republicans would be the Miami mayoral race in December, where a Democrat took the office for the first time in nearly 30 years. Miami is about 70% Hispanic, much of that of Cuban descent, and that Demo defeated the Trump-endorsed Hispanic candidate in a landslide  the Republican only getting 41% of the vote. That was a seismic shift.

And then there was the election that Demos and their Leftmedia talkingheads and scribes declared was a final nail in the coffin of Republican midterm House and Senate majority retention  the special election for the 9th District Texas State Senate seat. Leftist union boss Taylor Rehmet flipped a Republican seat, defeating his opponent by 14% in a district that Donald Trump carried by 17 points in 2024. The district had not been represented by a Democrat since 1991.

Despite the fact that this was just a state district election, the propaganda value of this win was significant, even though Rehmet will likely be unseated in November when he attempts to defend the seat.

Moreover, Rehmets win reflected a Demo strategy to rally their constituents for an election that they knew would bring out few voters  in this case, only 15% of registered voters turned out.

Now, to be clear, in both the Miami and Texas Demo victories, there were two major factors that Trump is now trying to correct.

First, as I noted last year, was Trumps failure to stay on message regarding the number one concern of Americans: the economy. Trump is still struggling to convince voters his top concern is affordability.

But a much bigger factor in the heavily Hispanic Miami and Texas elections, as I also noted last December, was the failure of the administration to recognize the disastrous political implications of its ICE operation optics. They did not finally get those optics right until February.

So, what was the special election strategy takeaway from the Texas Senate election that is central to the Demos effort to win in Georgias 14th Congressional District  a win that would be their single biggest propaganda win ahead of the midterms?

They have demonstrated that big bucks can flip a Republican district in an election with low voter turnout.

Georgias 14th District special election last week was for the seat abruptly vacated by Republican agitator Marjorie Taylor Greene after she fell into disfavor with Trump last November  realizing that without Trump, she would not win the primary to retain her seat.

In the crowded primary contest Tuesday, with 12 Republicans and three Democrats, a Libertarian and an Independent, two candidates advanced to the runoff on 7 April. The Republican is our friend and neighbor, State District Attorney Clay Fuller, who is backed by Trump.

His opponent will be Demo Shawn Harris.

Clay is also an Air National Guard LtCol, Deputy Staff Judge Advocate, and former White House Fellow.

Harris has a long record as a Veteran and retired senior Army National Guard officer. But his record is deeply tarnished by his association with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, and their Democrat Party socialists, who have willfully undermined our military and national security capabilities.

Despite the fact that 17 candidates were on the ballot, there was just a two-point spread between Harris and Fuller, but Fuller and other Republicans got about 59% of the vote, leaving Harris and Democrats with about 41%.

The winner of the upcoming runoff will serve out the remainder of Greenes term until January 2027 and will have to defend the seat in the general election this November.

So, how do I know that the Demos are banking big time on winning this district in the 7 April runoff?

Harris previously ran against Greene in 2024, getting about 36% of the vote  similar to his vote tally last week. But as of today, Harris has raised almost $4.3 million from the Demos nationwide network of big donors and their political action committee ActBlue.

That is $1.3 million more than the other 16 candidates combined.

By comparison, Fuller has raised about $490,000 and has loaned his campaign about $300,000. Of course, given the fact that Greene announced her resignation in November, Republicans have only had four months to raise funds.

With the two 7 April runoff finalists now determined, the Demo strategy is again banking on big donor bucks for Harris and low voter turnout  using Harriss huge money advantage to activate his constituency, which was their model for success in the Texas Senate seat special election.

At R+19, Georgias 14th is the states most Republican-leaning district, so a Demo win there would be the biggest propaganda coup this year.

Harris claims: We know were going to get all of the Democratic vote. We know were going to do extremely well with the independents. And we know were pulling roughly somewhere between 15% and 20% when it comes to Republicans.

Meanwhile, Fuller says: I think its important for us to unite as a party. We know that the Republican Party is going to consolidate around President Trumps choice. Were going to drive out the vote. Everybody in the field understands that a Democrat cannot represent Georgia 14  and were going to rally around as a party and go defeat Shawn Harris.

To do that, Fuller will have to win the support of fellow Republican and former state Sen. Colton Moore, who placed third with 12% of the vote.

Mark Alexander is the executive editor of the Patriot Post.
FILE PHOTO: A map showing the Strait of Hormuz and Iran is seen in this illustration taken June 22, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

By Samia Nakhoul

DUBAI, March 16 (Reuters) - Gulf Arab states did not ask the U.S. to go to war with Iran, but many are now urging it not to stop short by leaving the Islamic Republic still able to threaten the Gulfs oil lifeline and the economies that depend on it, three Gulf sources told Reuters.

At the same time, these sources and five Western and Arab diplomats said Washington was pressing Gulf states to join the U.S.-Israeli war. According to three of them, President Donald Trump wants to show regional backing for the campaign, to bolster its international legitimacy as well as support at home.

"There is a wide feeling across the Gulf that Iran has crossed every red line with every Gulf country, said Abdulaziz Sager, chairman of the Saudi-based Gulf Research Center and familiar with government thinking.

At first we defended them and opposed the war, he said. But once they began directing strikes at us, they became an enemy. There is no other way to classify them.

IRAN ATTACKS THE SIX GULF STATES

Tehran has already demonstrated its reach, attacking airports, ports, oil facilities and commercial hubs in the six Gulf states with missiles and drones while disrupting shipping through the Strait of Hormuz - the artery carrying about a fifth of global oil and underpinning Gulf economies.

The attacks have reinforced Gulf fears that leaving Iran with any significant offensive weaponry or arms manufacturing capacity could embolden it to hold the regions energy lifeline hostage whenever tensions rise.

As the war entered its third week, with U.S. and Israeli airstrikes intensifying and Iran firing at U.S. bases and civilian targets across the Gulf, a Gulf source said the prevailing mood among leaders was unmistakable: that Trump should comprehensively degrade Iran's military capacity.

The alternative, the source said, was living under constant threat. Unless Iran was severely weakened, he said, it would continue to hold the region to ransom.

Predominantly Shi'ite Muslim Iran has often viewed its Sunni Arab Gulf neighbours - close allies of the U.S. that host American military bases - with deep suspicion, even if relations with Qatar and Oman have generally been less fraught.

Over the years, Iran and its regional allies have been accused of attacks on Gulf energy installations, not least a 2019 strike on Saudi Arabias Abqaiq and Khurais oil facilities - for which Iran denied responsibility - that halved Saudi output and rattled energy markets.

For Gulf leaders, inaction is now the greater risk.

The effect of Irans attacks this month goes far beyond specific material damage, not only disrupting oil flows but damaging a hard-won image of stability and security that has underpinned Gulf countries' attempts to expand trade and tourism and rely less on fossil fuel exports.

"If the Americans pull out before the task is complete, well be left to confront Iran on our own, Sager said.

GULF FEARS OF TRIGGERING WIDER WAR

In response to questions about those concerns, the White House said the U.S. was "crushing (Iran's) ability to shoot these weapons or produce more", and that Trump was "in close contact with our partners in the Middle East".

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Of the Gulf countries, only the United Arab Emirates responded. It said that it "does not seek to be drawn into conflicts or escalation" but affirmed its right to "take all necessary measures" to safeguard its sovereignty, security and integrity, and ensure residents' safety.

Sources in the region said unilateral military action by any Gulf state remained off the table because only collective intervention would avoid exposing individual countries to retaliation.

Moreover, consensus is still elusive. The six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council - Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman and the UAE - have held just one Zoom call, and no Arab summit has been convened to discuss coordinated action.

Gulf leaders remain deeply fearful of triggering a broader, uncontrollable conflagration.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said last week that Gulf partners were stepping up even more and were willing to go on the offense while already working with Washington on collective and integrated air defenses, though he did not specify what else they might do.

A senior UAE official said his country had chosen restraint, after Iran said the U.S. military had used the UAE to strike Kharg Island, home to Iran's main oil export terminal.

Yet Sager said Saudi Arabia, Iran's main rival for regional influence, could be forced to retaliate if Iran crossed red lines, notably with strikes on major oil facilities or desalination plants or causing heavy casualties:

In that case, Saudi Arabia would have no choice but to intervene.

He said Riyadh would nevertheless try to calibrate any response to avoid further escalation.

GULF'S STRATEGIC DILEMMA

At heart, the Arab Gulf states face a strategic dilemma, said Fawaz Gerges of the London School of Economics: balancing the immediate threat of Iranian attacks against the far greater risk of being drawn into a war led by the U.S. and Israel.

Joining that campaign, he said, would add little to Washingtons military superiority while sharply increasing exposure to Iranian reprisals. The result is calculated restraint: defending sovereignty and signalling red lines without entering a war the Gulf countries neither started nor control.

Right now, Irans leverage is evident. It has effectively been deciding which ships can pass through the strait, something no state in the region considers acceptable.

"Now that Iran has shown it can shut down Hormuz, the Gulf faces a fundamentally different threat, said Bernard Haykel, professor of Near Eastern studies at Princeton University. If its not addressed, this danger will be long-term.

Trump on Sunday called - with little initial success - for a coalition of nations to help reopen the waterway.

Haykel argued that, while the global economy depends on Gulf oil and gas, most of it flows east to China, Japan and other Asian economies, meaning that they, too, must shoulder responsibility.

"China helped secure maritime routes off Somalia; it may be willing to step in here too, Haykel said.

(Additional reporting by Alexander Cornwell in Jerualem and Parisa Hafezi in Dubai, writing by Samia Nakhoul; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
A green, white, and red marque advertises country cookin' at West Side Cafe - Kay Vaughan / Google

The best hole-in-the-wall restaurants in Texas are representative of the diverse influences that crafted traditional Texas food. These are institutions that serve comfort food from neighborhood locations. There's simply not enough space to list all of the best mom-and-pop restaurants in Texas. Texas is a massive state  it takes as long to drive from Houston to El Paso as it does to drive from El Paso to Los Angeles.

However, the restaurants included here make a viable argument for the title. They are where locals take friends and family. They aren't tourist traps. Some of them are famous, and many of them draw a crowd, but they are deservedly famous and the crowd is local. Tex-Mex is one of the state's best-known genres, but these restaurants also demonstrate the impact Cajun, German, Czech, and Southern recipes have had on regional cuisines. Texas has always been a melting pot of flavors, and there are also examples of how the cuisine is continuing to evolve in exciting ways. These restaurants are among the best in the Lone Star State.

Read more: 25 Popular Ruth's Chris Steak House Menu Items, Ranked Worst To Best

Habanero Cafe  Austin

Two people leaving a small cafe with a red roof and a neon sign out front - Ronald D. / Yelp

Habanero Cafe is a neighborhood restaurant that serves some of the best Tex-Mex food in the state. There's a saying in Austin that no matter when you moved here, old Austin died the day you arrived. It's a nod to a city that is trying to hold on to its identity in a constantly evolving landscape. Habanero Cafe has been on both sides of the equation. It's an OG now that has been serving Tex-Mex classics since 1998. However, it is a spin-off from Dos Hermanos, a small local chain that was popular in the '80s, and some locals lamented the death of old Austin when it sold three of four restaurants to outside buyers in the late '90s.

Arturo Ibarra bought the remaining location from his father and his uncle (the Hermanos), and kept the legacy of the Tex-Mex staple burning by serving top-notch breakfast and lunch plates. If you visit on a Sunday morning, you will hear a local crowd ordering Roberto's Special (two over-easy eggs topped with ranchero sauce and a side of beef fajita served with French fries and charro beans) even though the menu item was renamed years ago. And you won't hear the waitress correct them because they still remember what the order means. Other favorites include chile colorado, caldo de res (weekends only), and gorditas.

habanerocafe.com

(512) 416-0443

501 W. Oltorf St, Austin, TX 78704

Starlight Theatre  Terlingua

A rundown, concrete building with Starlight Theatre painted on the facade - Brenda T / Yelp

The Starlight Theatre is one of the most remote restaurants in the nation. The closest commercial airport is in Midland. From there, it's a four hour drive through the desolate Chihuahuan Desert to reach the abandoned mining town of Terlingua. The Starlight Theatre welcomes hungry travelers from among the ruins of a ghost town next to a small cemetery that looks like a set from a gunslinger movie.

The restaurant has a western-themed menu that caters to hungry hikers who spent the day exploring the rugged Chisos Mountains in Big Bend National Park. Adventurers swap stories about black bear encounters between bites of cheeseburger, smoked brisket queso, and chicken-fried antelope. There's always an edge-of-the-world fever in the air at the Starlight that makes the meal memorable.

The restaurant has a strong association with chili. In 1967, a New York journalist authored an article in Holiday magazine titled "Nobody Knows More About Chili Than I Do." While the title was atrocious enough, he went too far when he included a recipe that called for beans. He met Texas chili master Wick Fowler for a West Texas cook-off. Judging took place in the abandoned Starlight Theatre. The cook-off is an annual tradition now, and the Starlight serves a fine bowl of Texas Red.

thestarlighttheatre.com

(432) 371-3400

631 Ivey Road, Terlingua, TX 79852

Vera's Backyard Bar-B-Que  Brownsville

A yellow, wooden restaurant at night with a sign advertising Vera's BBQ - FoodWanderer A / Yelp

Vera's Backyard Bar-B-Que is one of Texas' most revered smokehouses, but unlike most of the state's other joints, the specialty isn't brisket. Here, it is all about barbacoa. There are several barbacoa recipes, but it's hard to find anyone preparing it more traditionally than Armando Vera does at his Brownsville joint. His father opened the restaurant in 1955, and it is the last known place in Texas to smoke barbacoa in an in-ground oven. Barbacoa is popular across the state, so for many Texans making the pilgrimage is a bucket-list experience. The James Beard Foundation recognized Vera's with an America's Classics Award in 2020.

Traditional Texas barbacoa is made from the head of the cow. The practice originated alongside ranching in Texas. The heads of the cows were given to vaqueros to use as food. They would clean and wrap them, then smoke them overnight in an underground pit. The meat is flavorful and moist, with a texture somewhere between brisket and pot roast. Vera's smokes whole heads wrapped in aluminum foil in the brick lined pit. The meat is sold on Saturdays and Sundays only, and makes an excellent excuse for a weekend getaway.

facebook.com/VerasBackyardBarBQue

(956) 546-4159

2404 Southmost Rd, Brownsville, TX 78521

Piedras Negras Tortilla Factory  Eagle Pass

A blue and white two-story building with a truck outside - Ronald D / Yelp

Underscoring the significance of barbacoa in Texas, it's also the specialty at the Piedras Negras Tortilla Factory in Eagle Pass. The unassuming restaurant has been serving some of the best barbacoa in Texas for more than 36 years. Local fans line up on weekend mornings to buy it by the pound in foam containers to go. The flavorful, tender meat is perfect wrapped in a fresh, warm tortilla and served alongside fried eggs. The restaurant is unanimously praised on Yelp and has a 5-star rating. In addition to barbacoa, the menu includes menudo, tamales, chicharrones, and carnitas.

At the Tortilla Factory, barbacoa is sold in two varieties  cachete and mixta. Cachete is cheek meat, and mixta is a blend of everything else. Cachete has a firmer texture and rich flavor that tends to be the more universally preferred between the two. Piedras Negras is the sister city to Eagle Pass on the Mexican side of the border. The town has its own claim to Tex-Mex fame as the birthplace of nachos. They don't serve nachos at the Tortilla Factory, but it's worth hunting down a plate while you're in the neighborhood.

piedrasnegrastortillafactory.toast.site

(830) 773-6706

340 North Pierce Street, Eagle Pass, TX 78852

Mary's Cafe  Strawn

Pick up trucks and trailers fill a parking lot in front of Mary's Cafe - Spicy M. / Yelp

There's a high likelihood you have never heard of Strawn, Texas. It's a rural town with a population of less than 600, about two hours west of Dallas. Mary's Cafe draws crowd's to the small town and is perennial contender in the best-chicken-fried-steak-in-Texas debate. In 2019, The Texas Bucket List reported that Mary's Cafe sold 50,000 pounds of chicken-fried steak annually.

In Texas, chicken-fried steak is a complex cuisine. Award-winning journalist and cookbook author Robb Walsh explained three regional variations in an interview with The Austin Chronicle. There's a battered and deep-fried version, a breaded Central Texas variation that resembles wiener schnitzel, and pan fried. Walsh explained the most authentic recipe as a tenderized round steak dipped in buttermilk and dredged in flour, and then pan fried. He called Mary's the most authentic he's tasted. Mary's Cafe is a must-visit for chicken-fried steak fans.

facebook.com/pages/Marys-Cafe

(254) 672-5741

119 Grant Ave, Strawn, TX 76475

Cajun Craven  Houston

A strip mall restaurant with red block letters advertising the name Cajun Craven - David T. / Yelp

Cajun Craven is an example of a unique fusion that developed in Texas' biggest city in the early 2000s. The Bayou City is much more diverse than most non-Texans realize and has a vibrant culinary scene that has drawn praise from Padma Lakshmi. Houston is home to the second-largest Vietnamese population in the U.S. and many Southeast Asian ingredients and cooking techniques translate well to Cajun recipes. Cajun Craven was one of the original pioneers that introduced Viet-Cajun food.

Owner Henry Tran, is a Vietnamese immigrant who worked as a shrimper in Port Arthur. He started selling seafood boils out of a trailer in the late '80s before eventually opening a brick-and-mortar location in 2008. He sells boiled crawfish in Cajun-style and Craven-style, which is tossed in spices and garlic butter. The expansive menu also includes po' boys, a half-pound Cajun burger, and fried rice. Cajun Craven offers an opportunity to sample one of the newest genres of food that is uniquely Texan.

cajuncraven.com

(281) 922-7588

12141 Beamer Rd, Houston, TX 77089

West Side Cafe  Fort Worth

White exterior of West Side Cafe with red signs - Adele Q / Yelp

West Side Cafe is one of the best examples of the classic Southern diners that are ubiquitous in the Lone Star State. This is Texas comfort food. The breakfast menu includes bacon and eggs, buttermilk pancakes, and biscuits and gravy, but the menu doesn't stop there. The lunch section beckons with chicken-fried steak, cheeseburgers, and Frito pie. It's one of the hardest decisions most patrons will make in a week. There's also a daily lunch special, and it's meatloaf three days a week. "For the best meatloaf in the Metroplex, you need to visit West Side Cafe," one local advised on Yelp.

The cafe shares the building with an insurance company in the parking lot of a nondescript strip mall on the western edge of Fort Worth. The building opened as a Pizza Inn in 1972 and churned through two other restaurants before West Side Cafe opened in 1996. It's a Cowtown classic and some of the best country cooking in Texas.

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westsidecafefortworth.com

(817) 560-1996

7950 Camp Bowie West, Fort Worth, Texas 76116

Hays City Store  Driftwood

Trucks and SUVs parked in front of stone building with a green awning. - Marissa G. / Yelp

Hays City Store is a Texas-sized hole-in-the-wall that was started on a shoestring budget in an abandoned convenience store that originally opened in the 1980s. A breakfast and lunch counter was added in the '90s and was a popular eatery in the rural Hill Country community. In 2015, it was resurrected by the husband-and-wife team of Travis and Tamra Tindol who wanted to serve Texas comfort food.

The menu is giant. In an interview with the Hays Free Press, the owners narrowed their top recommendations down to chicken-fried steak, truck stop enchiladas, fried shrimp, bone-in pork chop, Greek salad, or a burger. Many patrons rave about the pizza that is made with homemade dough and tomato sauce, whole-milk mozzarella, and cooked in a wood-fired pizza oven. The original diner has expanded to include an ice house and a live music stage named in honor of legendary Austin bluesman W.C. Clark. It's a favorite gathering spot for locals.

hays-city-store-tx.onepage.me

(512) 722-3905

8989 Farm to Market 150, Driftwood, TX 78619

The Original Donut Shop  San Antonio

A roadside marquee in front of a drive thru donut shop. - Orlando D. / Yelp

Donuts and breakfast tacos are two of Texas' favorite breakfast foods. The Original Donut Shop sells them both from the same drive-through. It opened as a traditional donut shop in 1954 and then somewhere along the line tacos were added to the menu. Now, it's famous for both food items. Tacos include chorizo and egg, carne guisada, and bacon and egg. But one of the highest-praised tacos is one of the simplest  toasted bean and cheese. The fresh donuts include all the classics such as simple glazed, Long John's, and apple fritters.

The Original Donut Shop is a standout in San Antonio. That's an impressive feat considering the city is generally considered ground zero for Tex-Mex food and can make a strong argument for having the best tacos in the country. An average taco shop in San Antonio would likely be considered exceptional in almost any other city. The fact that the donut shop is able to pull crowds of locals is a testament to the exceptional food it serves. It's a must-try in the Alamo City and a welcome break from the tourist traps along the River Walk.

originaldonut.shop

(210) 734-5661

3307 Fredericksburg Rd, San Antonio, TX 78201

Hruska's Store & Bakery  Ellinger

Cars and SUVs parked in a lot in front of a large convenience store. - Suchi O. / Yelp

Hruska's is one of the unique bakeries that has gas pumps out front. It looks like a supercharged truck stop from the freeway, but the bakery has been making some of the best kolaches in Texas since 1962. Kolaches have a long history in the state. They were introduced by the large Czech population that immigrated to Texas in the 1850s. The pastries hold a traditional spot in Texas cuisine, and the state has added its own twist to the dish  the sausage kolache is considered a purely Texas invention.

The top kolache places in Texas are all exceptional. Hruska's is undoubtedly in that group. It's a third-generation, family-run business that opened in 1912. One of the founder's sons opened a service station on Highway 71, connecting Houston and Austin, in the 1950s and soon the store relocated to join it. Kolaches were added to the offerings in 1962 when a neighbor started baking batches in her kitchen and bringing them to the store to sell. The kolaches are made on-site now, and they are still fresh and delicious. If you're looking for an alternative to fresh-baked pastries, Texas Monthly named the burgers among the 50 best in the state.

hruskas-bakery.com

(979) 378-2333

109 W State Hwy 71, Ellinger, TX 78938

The Boiling Pot  Rockport

A hand-painted sign of a black kettle boiling on an open fie on the side of a weathered wooden building. - Grace V. / Yelp

Texas has 367 miles of open Gulf shoreline. Fresh seafood is readily available in coastal areas of the state, and there are some great seafood joints in that region. Many of them serve captain's platters of fried seafood and french fries, but The Boiling Pot is different. As the name implies, it specializes in Cajun-style seafood boils. The restaurant has been a favorite with locals since it opened in 1985 and remains one of the top places in the state for seafood.

At The Boiling Pot, shrimp, crawfish, crab, sausage, potatoes, and corn are boiled in Cajun-spices and then tossed with butter. The food is poured on paper-lined tables and guests peel and eat with their hands. In addition to the boils, the restaurant serves oysters on the half-shell, boudin, and gumbo. According to the website, the restaurant opens at 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 11 a.m. on the weekends. It always closes "when it feels right."

theboilingpotrockport.com

(361) 729-6972

201 Fulton Beach Rd, Rockport, TX 78382

Taqueria Chihuahua  Giddings

The exterior of an orange and yellow restaurant with outdoor seating - The D / Yelp

Taqueria Chihuahua is a roadside diner in Giddings that the uninitiated would likely fly past without batting an eye if it weren't for the overflowing parking lot. Curious newbies crane their necks to see if it is a flea market or a roadside curiosity. Those who know pull over and join the line waiting to order. Taqueria Chihuahua simply has some of the best tacos and Tex-Mex food around. The only complaint most customers have is that the cat is out of the bag and the lines are getting longer.

Online reviewers are nearly unanimous in their praise for the restaurant. The menudo and tamales receive a fair number of shoutouts from customers, but most reviewers rave about the tacos served on homemade tortillas. They are giant tacos, bordering on what could be considered a burrito. The restaurant closes at 2 p.m., which means breakfast tacos are a definite specialty. The barbacoa, carne guisada, and fajita tacos also receive high marks. It's really impossible to go wrong at Taqueria Chihuahua, once you get past the line.

facebook.com/taqueriachihuahua3927

(979) 542-3927

1935 E Austin St, Giddings, TX 78942

Big Texan  Amarillo

Large yellow building with five Texas flags spaced along the front - Habesen/Getty Images

We can debate if the Big Texan is a hole-in-the-wall, a roadside attraction, or a culinary destination. What's not debatable is that it is a must-try dining experience in the North Texas Panhandle. The oversized steakhouse has been a popular Route 66 pit stop since it opened in 1960. Some of that is because there isn't much else around. It's never easy to make Amarillo by morning (it's nearly an eight hour drive from San Antonio), and you don't want to pass it because there isn't another city with a population of more than 150,000 in a two-hour radius.

Once you make it, the Big Texan is the place to be. It's most famous for the 72-ounce steak challenge with an 11% success rate, but there is plenty on the menu for non-professional eaters as well. Steaks are the obvious choice, but there are also cheeseburgers, quesadillas, and barbecue options. All the food is solid, but you are in the Big Texan for the atmosphere as well. It's a uniquely Texan dining experience from the time the 60-foot neon cowboy waves you off the interstate until you mosey on out.

bigtexan.com

(806) 372-6000

7701 I-40, Amarillo, TX 79118

Methodology

A man makes calculations using a tablet and computer. - Garun .Prdt/Shutterstock

The author is a native Texan with more than 40 years of personal experience, but any critic who relies solely on their own judgement is either a fool or a narcissist. Other Texans were also polled for their favorite local joints. Commendations from food journalists were weighted heavily. In addition, all the restaurants featured here are supported by overwhelmingly positive online reviews across Google, TripAdvisor, and Yelp.

For more food and drink goodness, join our newsletter and add us as a preferred search source. Get taste tests, food & drink news, deals from your favorite chains, recipes, cooking tips, and more!

Read the original article on Mashed.
Key Points

Oklo develops advanced Aurora powerhouses that require next-generation nuclear fuel (HALEU).

Centrus is the only company with an approved facility for HALEU production.

10 stocks we like better than Oklo 

This month, nuclear energy companies Oklo (NYSE: OKLO) and Centrus Energy (NYSE: LEU) have agreed to pursue discussions on a joint venture focused on deconversion services for high-assay, low-enriched uranium (HALEU), as well as advancing related supply chains and fuel-cycle technologies.

These two companies figure to play prominent roles as the United States expands its nuclear energy capabilities, but if you are considering investing, one stands out as a better buy today.

Will AI create the world's first trillionaire? Our team just released a report on the one little-known company, called an "Indispensable Monopoly" providing the critical technology Nvidia and Intel both need. Continue 

Image shows two cooling towers at an energy facility against a blue sky backdrop.

Image source: Getty Images.

Oklo's reactors require next-generation nuclear fuel

Oklo is an early-stage nuclear energy company that develops advanced fission power plants called Aurora powerhouses. These powerhouses are built on liquid-metal cooled-sodium fast reactor technology based on the Experimental Breeder Reactor-II (EBR-II), which operated for over 30 years at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) before being shut down in 1994.

In January, Oklo entered an agreement with Meta Platforms to develop a 1.2 gigawatt (GW) power campus in Ohio. As part of the agreement, Meta will prepay for power, providing Oklo with upfront capital to advance the project. The first phase is targeted for 2030, and it will eventually scale up to the full 1.2 GW capacity by 2034.

Oklo's Aurora powerhouses use high-assay, low-enriched uranium, a next-generation nuclear fuel with enrichment levels higher than that of traditional low-enriched uranium (LEU) used in today's nuclear power plants. You can think of it as premium fuel for next-generation microreactors. This is where Centrus comes into the picture. The company is the only one with an enrichment facility approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to produce HALEU enriched up to 20%, giving it a first-mover advantage.

Currently, Centrus procures low-enriched uranium (LEU) used in today's reactors and sells it to customers. One of its providers, TENEX, is a Russian-based entity that Centrus will need to move away from when the Prohibiting Russian Uranium Imports Act (signed in May 2024) goes into full effect in 2028. To secure domestic production of these key fuels, Centrus aims to be an enriched uranium producer at its Piketon facility in Ohio.

The company was recently awarded a $900 million task order from the U.S. Department of Energy to expand its Ohio facility and projects that the first new production cascade (a series of centrifuges used to enrich uranium) at Piketon will be operational in about 3.5 years.

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Which nuclear energy stock is right for you?

Oklo and Centrus face different hurdles. For example, Oklo's Aurora Powerhouse at the Idaho National Laboratory isn't set to operate until late 2027 at the soonest, although infrastructure delays for a project of this type aren't out of the question. In contrast, Centrus is already profitable and currently sources and sells LEU, but it will require significant capital expenses to expand its Ohio facility and become a domestic producer of both LEU and HALEU.

Both stocks benefit from positive developments in the nuclear energy industry and the push to expand nuclear power. Oklo is still far from generating an operating profit, and its timeline for commercial operations is still years away. Centrus has a lot of work ahead of it as well, but its business is established and profitable, making it a better nuclear stock for investors to buy today.

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Courtney Carlsen has positions in Centrus Energy. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Meta Platforms. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Three major wildfires, including the largest one in Nebraska history, have burned around 600,000 acres of land in central and western Nebraska and remained 0% contained on Sunday after killing one person, officials said.

Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen has declared a state of emergency, freeing up additional resources to battle the blazes. Pillen has also deployed Nebraska National Guard troops to assist local firefighters.

Two Nebraska Army National Guard UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters are also working to fight the blazes, officials said.

Nebraska Forest Service - PHOTO: The "Morrill Fire," pictured here, March 15, 2026, has burned more than 460,000 acres in Morrill and Arthur counties, Nebraska, authorities said.

The Morrill Fire has consumed more than 460,000 acres across Morrill, Arthur and Keith counties, making it the biggest wildfire in Nebraska history, officials said. The fire killed one person on Thursday in Arthur County, Pillen said at a news conference on Saturday.

The Cottonwood Fire has burned about 100,000 acres in Dawson County near the city of Gothenberg, Nebraska state officials said, while the third fire burning is the Road 203 Fire in Blaine and Thomas counties, near the village of Halsey, which has burned more than 40,000 acres, state officials said.

Tracking the devastating wildfires across the Plains

All of the fires were 0% contained as of Sunday, officials said.

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A cross-country storm bringing snow to other parts of the Midwest on Sunday is expected to bring dry and windy conditions to the areas where the fires are burning, making the battle even more of a challenge for firefighters.

Nebraska State Police Troop D - PHOTO: An aerial image taken, March 13, 2026, of a wildfire burning in Dawson County, Nebraska.

"The winds are supposed to be extraordinary," Gov. Pillen said at Saturday's news conference.

Pillen called on mayors of Nebraska's largest cities, Omaha and Lincoln, to provide additional personnel and equipment. The governor said he also would contact nearby states, including Iowa, to request help.

4 dead and 142 injured in Oklahoma wildfires; more than 400 homes damaged statewide

Both the Lincoln and Omaha fire departments said they are sending personnel and equipment to battle the blazes.

"Our hearts go out to the residents of Keith County," said Omaha Mayor John Ewing Jr., according to Omaha ABC affiliate KETV. "Omaha stands ready to support our neighbors. By deploying these resources, we are providing critical relief to local crews while ensuring that our own city remains fully protected and staffed for local emergencies."

After taking a helicopter tour on Saturday of the areas where the fires are burning, Gov. Pillen said, "I think it's important that all Nebraskans pray."
California teachers are warning about how the profession has changed over the past three decades, citing lack of support for teachers to address behavior issues and an overall decline in standards.

A survey from EdWeek's 2026 installment of its State of Teaching Report, found 40% of teachers in California plan to retire or quit in the next 10 years.

Fox News Digital spoke with six California teachers, many of whom have 30 years of teaching experience or on the cusp of retirement.

"I would like to see a shift in attitude toward teachers as an authority. Teachers have, since we are the professionals, the right to make decisions, education decisions, curriculum decisions, rules and consequences," Tera Fowler told Fox News Digital.

San Francisco Teachers Union Strike Leaves 50,000 Children Out Of School

California teachers told Fox News Digital that the profession has changed over the past three decades, citing lack of support for teachers to address behavior issues and overall decline in standards. (iStock)

Fowler, 63, plans to retire soon after teaching for over 30 years. Since she started her teaching career, she noticed students are being "coddled" more.

Read On The Fox News App

"The biggest change is the lack of discipline and consequences for the children and the increasing expectation of entitlement of the parents  that they are expecting more and more," she said.

In California, the share of teachers who say they plan to retire in the next 10 years is between 40% and 49% with an estimate of 45%, Holly Kurtz, director of the Education Week Research Center , previously told Fox News Digital.

Kurtz said that California teachers are on average older than teachers in many other states, according to the most recent federal data. The average age of a California teacher is 45.5, while the average teacher age in the U.S. is 42.9. Therefore, age is likely the major reason why California teachers are more likely to say they plan to retire in the next decade than teachers in other states, according to Kurtz.

"Age is probably the number one thing. You get to about my point in the career  it doesn't make sense to do anything else, so you stick with it until you're too old to do something else, and then you retire," California teacher Doug Kosak told Fox News Digital.

Top Teachers Union Under Fire As Lawmakers Push To Strip Union Of Unique Federal Charter: 'Lost Their Way'

Kosak, 56, taught for 24 years in public school at Temecula Valley Unified School District and Mesa Unified School District. The 20-plus-year teaching veteran added that "progressive discipline" had emerged over the years, tying up his workdays.

"I can attribute this to the attitudes, the lack of discipline in the schools, inability to hold kids accountable. There are so many other factors that prevent me from doing my job effectively," he said.

Nick Pardue, who teaches economics to seniors, also cited the lack of discipline and support for teachers to enforce standards. Responding to EdWeeks survey results, he said the "lack of support from administrative staff and behavior issues" could be another reason driving teachers to retire.

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After teaching for over 30 years, the 54-year-old echoed what others have said that the profession has changed.

"This positive behavior support where they really didn't want any negative punishments for students who were acting out or misbehaving. So they were looking for positive interventions with the idea that students  every once in a while  they lose themselves," Pardue said.

Nick Pardue, who teaches economics to seniors at Paris Union High School District, also cited the lack of discipline and support for teachers to enforce standards.

According to the EdWeek report, 36% of teachers nationwide say they plan to retire in the next 10 years. Kurtz explained that there is evidence that indicates that teacher morale has been declining across the country and is at, by some measures, "the lowest point in recent memory."

Pardue, an Army veteran, believes teachers are encouraged to pass kids, regardless of what their skill levels are.

"They also like having a dashboard for certain kids and ethnicities. That became a huge priority. So there's a lot of politics that got infused into teaching that I think created a lot of problems," he said.

Steve Campos, who has been teaching for over 30 years, said student behavior has gotten worse.

Conservative Icon Rips Teachers' Unions As Schools Turn Into 'Propaganda Agencies'

"Times have changed," Campos, 54, told Fox News Digital. "The lack of discipline sometimes  just student behavior. It's not like it used to be. There's been a big change and a big difference in what we're asked to do  what we are dealing with. Yeah, it's just kind of spiraling quickly."

Jennifer Stoeber, who is getting ready to retire soon after teaching for 30 years, told Fox News Digital that the curriculum has become more "inclusive" over the years.

"Our curriculum has changed and become more inclusive, in some ways good  putting more emphasis on areas instead of teaching the curriculum as it used to be," Stoeber said. "In our social studies books, we focus more on inclusive issues on other cultures and not so much on our history itself."

Gevin Harrison, who started teaching 14 years ago after a 24-year career in the Air Force, discussed how teachers would reinforce values that were being taught at home.

"I consider myself a newbie. So I'm not really sure if I would be able to track any change," Harrison said. "If I was going to mark the change, I would probably compare the years that I've been teaching with the years that I was in high school."

"Teachers used to reinforce the values that you would learn at home and chances are, if you got in trouble at school, your parents were going to be ticked because they were all on the same sheet of music," he added.

The California Department of Education did not respond to Fox News Digital 's request for comment.





Original article source: California teachers cite discipline problems as survey shows at least 40% plan to quit in next decade
FILE PHOTO: People bang pots and pans during a protest against electricity power cuts, amid U.S. sanctions and an oil blockade that have deepened the country's crisis, in Havana, Cuba, March 7, 2026. REUTERS/Norlys Perez/File Photo

By Dave Sherwood

HAVANA, March 16 (Reuters) - Cuba's national electric grid collapsed on Monday, the country's grid operator said, leaving around 10 million people without power amid a U.S.-imposed oil blockade that has crippled the island's already obsolete generation system.

Grid operator UNE said on social media it is investigating the causes of the blackout, the latest in a series of widespread outages that last for hours or days and that this weekend sparked a rare violent protest in the communist-run country.

Officials ruled out a major power plant failure, but had still not pinpointed the root cause of the grid collapse, suggesting a problem with transmission.

Officials said they had begun restoring power to small clusters of circuits, or microsystems, across the country, an early but necessary first step in bringing the full grid back online.

The United States has ratcheted up pressure this year on long-time foe Cuba since capturing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro - Cuba's most important foreign benefactor - in January.

U.S. President Donald Trump cut off Venezuelan oil shipments to Cuba and threatened to slap tariffs on any country that sells oil to Cuba, strangling the Caribbean island's already antiquated grid.

Cuba said on Friday that it has entered into talks with the United States with the hope of defusing the crisis. Trump has said in recent weeks that Cuba is on the verge of collapse and is eager to make a deal with the United States.

Cubans have grown accustomed to power outages, whether tied to the oil supply shortfalls or systemic failures in the grid, which can also be the result of depressed power generation.

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"No, the news didn't surprise me," said Havana resident Dayana Machin, 26, adding that all Cubans were scrambling now to find alternatives to grid-provided electricity.

"We're getting used to living like this."

RUNNING ON FUMES

Cuba has received only two small vessels carrying oil imports this year, according to LSEG ship tracking data seen by Reuters on Monday.

The first tanker discharged fuel in January at the Havana port coming from Mexico, which was a regular supplier to the island until then. The second vessel, from Jamaica, discharged liquefied petroleum gas - known as cooking gas - in February.

Venezuela, once Cuba's main oil supplier, has sent no fuel to the island this year.

Venezuela's state company PDVSA last month loaded gasoline in a tanker that it had previously used to transport fuel to Cuba, but the vessel has not left Venezuelan waters, PDVSA documents and tanker monitoring data showed.

No large imports have entered this year through Cuba's main hubs of Matanzas or Moa, which typically handle crude for refining and fuel oil for power generation, according to satellite images analyzed by TankerTrackers.com. The ports of Havana and Cienfuegos also have not had import activity in more than a month, it added.

(Reporting by Dave Sherwood, additional reporting by Anett Rios and Alien Fernandez in Havana and Marianna Parraga in Houston; Editing by Brendan O'Boyle, Will Dunham and Nia Williams)
PRAGUE, March 16 (Reuters) - Czech President Petr Pavel called the new government's reduced defence spending unjustifiable on Monday, adding to criticism that Prime Minister Andrej Babis' 2026 budget plans have faced, including from its largest NATO ally, the United States.

Babis' populist ANO party took power in December. Last week it pushed through a revamped 2026 budget plan, which cut the defence ministry's allocation to 154.8 billion crowns ($7.28 billion), or 1.73% of gross domestic product, lower than the previous government's proposal.

The government says it has budgeted nearly 2.1% of spending for defence, but the country's fiscal watchdog warns that includes items like road projects that may not meet NATO criteria.

Pavel, a former NATO official, criticised the spending levels in a meeting with Finance Minister Alena Schillerova on Monday, the president's office said.

"According to the president, it is not justifiable that defence expenditures stagnate or even decrease at a time of growing security threats," the statement said.

Pavel has previously warned of a loss of trust from allies because of defence spending but has signalled he would not veto the budget.

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ALLIES MUST PULL WEIGHT, US ENVOY SAYS

Schillerova said the president "did not hide" he wanted more money for defence, but she defended the plans.

Babis has said money was needed elsewhere, like in healthcare. The Czech Republic will still meet its 2% of GDP spending commitment in NATO, he said last week.

U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker said on X last Thursday, responding to the Czech lower house's budget approval, that all allies "must pull their weight", following similar criticism from the U.S. ambassador to Prague.

European NATO countries are under pressure to raise defence spending. Alliance members last year pledged to raise spending to 3.5% of GDP plus 1.5% on other defence-relevant investments over the next decade. But Babis has said the country was not on a path to that new target.

($1 = 21.2670 Czech crowns)

(Reporting by Jason Hovet; editing by David Gaffen)
More than 450,000 homes and businesses were without power Tuesday after a one-two punch from Winter Storm Iona and severe storms and multiple tornadoes.

That's down from more than half-a-million outages throughout Monday and early Tuesday. The bulk of those outages are in Michigan where more than 111,000 customers were left in the dark Monday night, according to the latest numbers from PowerOutage.us.

Iona dropped 36 inches of snow in the community of Herman in the western Upper Peninsula. Our senior meteorologist Jonathan Erdman says at least 14 counties across Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula may have set all-time snow records.

(MORE: Our Complete Severe Outbreak Recap)

Travel Nightmare Continues

More than 1,700 flights were canceled Tuesday morning, and delays were topping 10,000 according to FlightAware.com.

That's down from the more than 4,000 flights canceled nationwide Monday. The FAA temporarily grounded flights at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, Charlotte/Douglas International Airport and Washington Dulles International Airport. There was also a ground delay at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston due to winds.

The severe weather combined with the continuing government shutdown created a nightmare scenario for travelers trying to get through security in Atlanta. People were jammed together in long lines snaking through the airport .

Photo by Megan Varner/Getty Images

Austin-Bergstrom International Airport shared video of the astonishingly long lines of travelers waiting to get through security before daybreak Monday.

(MORE: Traveling Today? Check Our Travel Tracker)

TSA union leaders in Atlanta held a news conference Monday outside Hartsfield-Jackson, warning that air travelers could face increasingly long wait times as the shutdown continues. Even so, union leaders said, many officers are still reporting to work despite mounting financial strain.

Monday's Severe Weather

The National Weather Service has confirmed 22 tornadoes since Sunday's severe outbreak, including an EF0 in Charlotte, South Carolina on Monday. No injuries were reported but multiple homes were damaged and a roof was ripped from a warehouse.

Photo by Peter Zay/Anadolu via Getty Images

On Monday we also saw a flurry of reports from neighborhoods and communities up and down the East Coast of downed trees and powerlines cutting off roads. Fire departments, sheriff's deputies and utility crews were out all night Sunday and early Monday inspecting damage and working to clear roads.

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From Shippenville Elk Twp. Volunteer Fire Dept. via Facebook

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A church and nearby homes in Summersville, Missouri, were significantly damaged, with reports that the foundation of the church was lifted off the ground. In a Facebook post, a resident shared dramatic photos of the damage to one home.

Schools in Raleigh and Chapel Hill, North Carolina, were closed Monday, and the state's governor urged residents to enable emergency alerts on their phones ahead of expected wind gusts of 74 mph.

In Atlanta, public schools switched to remote learning as tornado watches were issued across the metro area. Other school districts outside of the city have delayed the start of classes by several hours. Washington, D.C., schools closed two hours early.

In Alabama, the Morgan County Sheriff's department shared video of snow falling between Hartselle and Decatur. The National Weather Service also issued a Winter Weather Advisory, as scattered snow showers fell across north Georgia Monday afternoon.

Winter Storm Wallop

The snow totals in the Midwest are simply staggering. Greenbay, Wisconsin, is digging out from its second heaviest snowstorm ever recorded, after getting 26.6 inches of snow.

The blizzard conditions and deep snow trapped people on highways through the region. Southbound lanes of Interstate 35 were shut down Sunday afternoon in southeast Minnesota. The state DOT said no travel is advised on state highways in the area.

In Wisconsin, dozens of vehicles were stuck on I-94 near Osseo on Sunday.

In Michigan, the Coast Guard and Mackinac Island firefighters pulled off a daring rescue in whiteout conditions after a man on a snowmobile went out onto the ice of the Straits and got lost.

Mackinac Island Fire Chief Jason St. Onge and five other firefighters went out on the ice, and the chief said: "It was extremely slow going as drifting snow was waist deep and the ice jagged and difficult to climb over."

A Coast Guard cutter was able to spot the man who had reached open water, and the crew picked him up and got him on board their vessel.

It took firefighters 40 minutes to walk 2,000 feet back to shore in the arduous conditions. In a press release, the Fire Department said, "The ice is no joke, not an inland lake or a mill pond, conditions can and do change by the minute. Not one entity endorses the ice nor is anyone in charge of its safety or security. Each and every trip is CROSS AT YOUR OWN RISK. In this particular case it was cross at the First Responders risk."

This is a developing story; check back frequently for updates.
A Lake Michigan shipwreck off Door County that was missing for almost 140 years until found in June 2025 was named to the Wisconsin State Register of Historic Places.

The very intact remains of the wreck of the F.J. King, a three-masted canal schooner that sank in Lake Michigan off Door County in 1886 and remained missing for almost 140 years, were placed March 11, 2026, on the State Register of Historic Places by the Wisconsin Historical Society.

The Wisconsin Historical Society announced March 11 that the wreck of the 144-foot-long, three-masted schooner F.J. King, which sank in 1886, is now listed on the state register, making it the 34th shipwreck in waters off Door County named to the register. It lies submerged in about 140 feet of water in Lake Michigan off Baileys Harbor and Liberty Grove.

The shipwreck is historically significant because the remains are a very intact example of a shipping vessel unique to the Great Lakes, a news release from the historical society said. The listing for the F.J. King on the Wisconsin Shipwrecks website says the wreck already has been a source of information on wooden schooner construction of the time and should continue to provide maritime archaeological information.

The F.J. King was constructed as a double-masted vessel in 1867 by master shipbuilder George R. Rogers in Toledo, Ohio, to service the coal and grain trade between Lake Michigan and the lower Great Lakes. It underwent several ownership changes during its service, homeporting in Chicago and then New York, and in 1885, the year before it sank, had a third mast added and was adapted for the lumber and iron ore trades.

It was what was called a "canal schooner" or "canallers," a type of vessel unique to the Great Lakes because it was designed to transit the locks of the Welland Canal that bypassed Niagara Falls while carrying the maximum amount of cargo through the locks with only inches to spare. The canallers generally sailed from Lake Michigan ports with grain from the Midwest and brought it to eastern ports on Lakes Erie and Ontario, then returned to Lake Michigan with coal to heat cities and power factories.

The F.J. King sank Sept. 15, 1886, while carrying iron ore south from Escanaba, Michigan, to Chicago when it was hit by a southeastern gale that raised waves of 8 to 10 feet, according to an article on the Shipwreck World website. The hull split seams and started leaking, and the ships pumps could not keep up with the incoming water. Other efforts over several hours to keep it afloat failed. Capt. William Griffin and crew escaped in the ship's yawl before the King sank bow-first at about 2 a.m. The crew later were picked up by the schooner La Petite.

The location of the wreck's remains were unknown, though, and finding it became something of a Holy Grail for maritime archaeologists and shipwreck enthusiasts, the Shipwreck World site said in its story, with diving clubs offering rewards for its discovery.

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After 139 years, the F.J. King was found in June 2025 when a citizen science class held on the water by Brendon Baillod, president of the Wisconsin Underwater Archaeology Association, to learn remote sonar operation detected a sunken vessel that subsequently was determined to be the King. The site was documented by Wisconsin Historical Society maritime archaeologists and volunteers in August and October 2025. It has not been visited by divers outside of the initial surveys.

State and federal laws protect the wreck of the F.J. King. Divers may not remove artifacts or structure when visiting this site. Removing, defacing, displacing or destroying artifacts or sites is a crime. For more information on the King and other shipwrecks in Wisconsin waters, visit wisconsinshipwrecks.org. For more on State Register and National Register historic listings in Wisconsin, which are administered by the Wisconsin Historical Society, visit wisconsinhistory.org.

Contact Christopher Clough at 920-562-8900 or cclough@usatodayco.com.

MORE: Door County's New Year's Eve Cherry Drop moves from Sister Bay to Sturgeon Bay

MORE: Scandinavian heritage festival in Door County named one of country's top 10

FOR MORE DOOR COUNTY NEWS: Check out our website

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Door County shipwreck missing for 139 years is now a historic place
Wondering when Eid al-Fitr will be? Well, so are about 2 billion Muslims.

Ramadan is now well into its last 10 nights. With the expected sighting of the waxing crescent moon happening this week, nearly 2 billion Muslims worldwide and the roughly 1% of Ohioans who are Muslim will celebrate Eid al-Fitr at the end of Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar.

Does Eid al-Fitr have a definite date? How does Saudi Arabia declare the end of Ramadan? When will we see the new crescent moon? Here's what to know about the holiday that marks the end of the holy month.

When is Eid al-Fitr 2026? Has Saudi Arabia confirmed Eid al-Fitr?

Many Muslim communities around the world rely on Saudi Arabia and their trained moon spotters to confirm the date of the first day of the month of Shawwal, Eid al-Fitr, according to Middle East Eye.

As Muslims await the waxing crescent moon sighting, Eid al-Fitr 2026 is expected to fall on the night of March 18 or March 19, depending on when spotters see the waxing crescent moon, according to Islamic Relief.

Shawwal, the Islamic month that succeeds Ramadan, begins immediately upon the sighting of the crescent moon, or "Shawwal moon." The first day of Shawwal brings Eid al-Fitr, marking the end of Ramadan.

Imagine explaining to your boss that you need a day off, but you are not sure if Eid is going to be on Thursday or Friday. You won't know for sure until the night before, since you must wait to see if the crescent moon is actually spotted. Once it is sighted, Muslims prepare for one of the largest celebratory days in Islam.

When will the waxing crescent moon emerge? Possible timing for Eid al-Fitr, end of Ramadan

As of March 16, the moon is in the waning crescent phase at 8% illumination, according to Space.com.

However, we want a waxing crescent to confirm the end of Ramadan. It is anticipated to appear on Wednesday, March 18 at 9:23 p.m. in Columbus, according to Time and Date.

What is Eid al-Fitr?

Eid al-Fitr is the first of two celebratory days in the Islamic calendar, both observed every year. The holiday is marked on one day, but some Muslims will celebrate the festival for as long as three days. Eid al-Fitr is celebrated on the first day of Shawwal, the 10th month in the Islamic calendar.

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Eid is not on the same date every year. Like Ramadan, the date of the holiday is determined by the Islamic Hijri calendar, which is on a lunar cycle. Each year, the start and end of Ramadan and both Eid holidays fall about 11 days earlier than the year before because of the lunar cycle. The sighting of the crescent moon determines the start of these holidays.

What does Eid mean?

Eid in Arabic means "festival" or "feast," and Fitr means "breaking the fast." In other words, Eid al-Fitr literally means festival of breaking the fast.

How do you pronounce Eid?

"Eid" can be said like the word "feed" without the "f." But here's a quick Arabic language lesson if you want to know how to really pronounce it.

"Eid" is "" in Arabic and is actually pronounced as "'ayid." The first Arabic letter of the word, '', is a consonant, which is pronounced using the back of your throat.

How is Eid al-Fitr celebrated? What do people do on Eid?

Muslims will wake up early in the morning, preparing food and getting ready to attend Eid prayers at local masjids. It may feel strange for Muslims to eat during daylight hours after a month of fasting between dawn and sunset, but it is actually forbidden for Muslims to fast on Eid al-Fitr.

On Eid, Muslims will follow the way of Prophet Muhammad, also known as Sunnah in Islam. Sunnah is not followed just on Eid, but every day. Specific Sunnahs on Eid include:

Taking a bath or shower

Wearing ones best clothes and perfume

Saying Takbeer or praising God on the way to Eid prayers

Taking a different path home from attending Eid prayer

Eid traditions vary from country to country, but friends and families commonly gather and spend time together at each others homes, enjoying sweets and delicious food after Eid prayers in the morning. Children will receive gifts and money, also known as Eidi.

How do you wish someone a happy Eid?

Muslims will hug their friends and family and greet them with Eid Mubarak, meaning blessed festival in Arabic.

When is Eid al-Adha, the second Eid in the Islamic calendar?

The second Eid of the Islamic calendar, Eid al-Adha 2026, will fall on the 10th day in the Islamic month of Dhu al-Hijjah, which is predicted to fall on the evening of May 26, and end on the night of May 27.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: When is Eid al-Fitr? How Ramadan end date is predicted by Saudi Arabia
The lefts hypocritical attacks and doxxing of ICE By Rachel Alexander

web posted March 16, 2026 The left is attacking, threatening and doxxing ICE agents in order to impede them from doing their jobs arresting illegal immigrants. Doxxing them is a federal crime ; publicly disclosing personal information of a federal agent. The attacks and threats on ICE agents have reached an unprecedented level under the Trump administration. DHS announced in January that there has been a 1,300 percent increase in assaults on ICE agents since President Donald Trump took office, a 3,200 percent increase in vehicular attacks and an 8,000 percent increase in death threats. There were 275 assaults and 66 vehicular attacks last year. Numerous ICE agents have been injured from violence. Some officers were struck by vehicles, such as one who suffered leg injuries in Florida last September. One was beaten with a metal coffee cup in Houston causing facial burns and lacerations in November 2025. Others were punched or strangled. A man posted an ICE attorney's home address on social media, urged others to harass her and her family, and called for "swatting" her  false emergency calls to provoke armed police response. Gregory John Curcio was arrested and prosecuted. The left demands that ICE agents stop wearing masks, but there is no federal law that restricts them from wearing them. Some states like California have passed laws prohibiting them from wearing masks, but the Trump administration is currently challenging these in court. The left is hypocritical about ICE agents wearing masks. Their radical factions, such as Antifa and Black Bloc, wear masks to disguise their identities. Of course, theyre doing it to avoid being identified and arrested later, whereas ICE wears masks in order to avoid being harassed and threatened. The ICE List website, which was launched last June, publishes names, photos and links to public profiles on LinkedIn and Facebook of ICE agents, Border Patrol personnel, immigration judges and other DHS-related figures. It uses AI tools to identify masked agents from photos or videos of operations. The site now contains at least 4,500 profiles. Metas Facebook, Instagram and Threads block links posted to the site due to exposing personally identifiable information. The site, which is run by Irish activist Dominick Skinner, who lives in the Netherlands, is hosted on an Icelandic top-level domain (.is). Icelands Minister of Infrastructure Eyjolfur Armannsson said he intends to pursue legal amendments regarding Iceland's management and policies for the .is domain in order to crack down on doxxing. Skinner is conveniently ignoring the Netherlands aggressive stance on deporting illegal immigrants. The Netherlands is considered one of Europe's more aggressive countries conducting deportations in 2026, with faster processes, reduced protections and higher rejection/return efforts amid rising asylum cases. Rejections of claims for asylum there increased 56 percent in 2025 over 2024. The Dutch Parliament passed a law last July which makes illegal immigration a crime, now waiting for Senate approval. This was in part due to the influence of the conservative Partij voor de Vrijheid (Party for Freedom) under Geert Wilders. The PVV has participated in governing coalitions, where it pushes for stronger controls against illegal immigration. Leftist politicians are riling up agitators into violence. Rep. Pramila Jayapal called obstruction "inspiring. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries called for resistance "in the streets." Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz called ICE agents modern-day Gestapo. California Gov. Gavin Newsom called them secret police. Rep. Rashida Tlaib repeatedly stated ICE is "terrorizing our communities," "turning our country into a fascist police state," a "rogue agency" and called for its abolition. Rep. Ilhan Omar described actions as "vile and beyond cruel," "state violence" and advocated to "abolish ICE." Rep. Jasmine Crockett compared ICE to "slave patrols." Sen. Bernie Sanders urged people to "figure out a way to stop ICE from what they are doing as soon as possible. We all know whats going on. The politicians know that mentally ill people seeking to divert their anger and problems elsewhere feed into the hype, making ICE the bogeyman instead of working on their own personal problems and blaming their families and environment they grew up in for their unhappy lives. Julie Mikela Winters, a transgender with a lengthy arrest record, threw a knife at an ICE officer outside Portland's ICE building last September. Angelica (Adrian) Guerrero, a trans activist with a history of disorderly arrests, slashed the tire of an ICE transport van and threatened federal officers with a knife, shouting, Im going to f*** you up and Im going to stab you. The Border Patrol released photos of a bearded transgender woman suspected of spiking the tires of ICE vehicles. But the reality is ICE arrested illegal immigrants more aggressively under the previous Democratic presidential administrations of Joe Biden and Barack Obama. Obama was nicknamed Deporter-in-Chief by critics for deporting so many. He deported between 3.1 million and 5.3 million depending on the analysis, the highest of any president during the modern era. Biden deported 3.7 million to 4.6 million  while not as many as Obama, he was only in office for one term. In contrast, Trump only deported 932,000 to 1.2 million during his first term, and only 622,000675,000 so far during his second term. So this perception that Trump is engaging in mass deportations is fake news, its not even as significant as the efforts under his Democratic predecessors. Incidentally, thanks to the fake alarm, many illegal immigrants are self-deporting. Approximately 1.92.2 million have self-deported under Trump. Its ironic that the lefts incitement combined with the fake news scare articles are responsible for this. I guess the conclusion is that if you thought Trump was ramping up efforts against illegal immigration, hes really not. Its just faux outrage created by the left to attack him over anything. We now live in an Orwellian world where the left and their comrades in the fake news spin everything to make Republicans look bad, regardless of how incorrect and hypocritical the attacks are. Rachel Alexander and her brother Andrew are co-Editors of Intellectual Conservative. She has been published in the American Spectator, Townhall.com, Fox News, NewsMax, Accuracy in Media, The Americano, ParcBench, Enter Stage Right and other publications. Home

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Jonathan Calvert (left) is lead author of the research. David Borton (right) is the senior author. (CREDIT: Nick Dentamaro)

One participant pointed to her chest. That, she explained, is where she felt her foot hit the treadmill. Not the foot itself, not the ground beneath it, but a sensation somewhere above the injury that her brain had learned to translate into something useful. It wasnt like I could feel my foot hit the treadmill or anything like that, she said, but it was close.

Close is a word that carries real weight in spinal cord injury research. For people who have lost all sensation and movement below the waist, close to normal is not a consolation. It is a clinical milestone.

A team from Brown University, Rhode Island Hospital, and VA Providence Healthcare has now reported results from a small but significant clinical trial, the first to demonstrate simultaneous motor control and sensory feedback in people with complete spinal cord injuries. The findings were published in Nature Biomedical Engineering.

David Borton (left), an asociate professor of engineering and brain science at Brown, and Jonathan Calvert (right), an assistant professor at UC Davis who led the research as a postdoctoral researcher at Brown. (CREDIT: Nick Dentamaro)

Two Arrays, One Damaged Cord

Three volunteers participated. Each had lost the use of their legs following complete thoracic spinal cord injuries. Surgeons implanted two small electrode arrays along each participants spine, one positioned above the injury site and one below it. Both arrays delivered patterned electrical pulses designed to mimic the signals that normally travel through an intact spinal cord.

The study ran for 12 to 14 days per participant, conducted entirely in a hospital setting. At the end, the electrode arrays were removed.

Prior research had established that stimulation below a spinal injury can activate the nerve networks responsible for leg movement. What had never been attempted was combining that motor stimulation with a simultaneous strategy for restoring sensory awareness of limb position, targeting both sides of the injury at once.

This is the first time that simultaneous motor stimulation and sensory feedback have been demonstrated in people with complete spinal cord injuries, said David Borton, an associate professor of engineering at Brown and a biomedical engineer at the VA Center for Neurorestoration and Neurotechnology. By providing both motor activation and simultaneous sensory feedback, we are making progress toward restoring coordinated movements and functional independence.

The DJ Board

Before any walking experiments, the team needed to figure out which electrical patterns would actually produce useful leg movements in each person. The spinal cord is not a simple system. The parameters that activate one persons muscles may do nothing in another. Finding the right settings across a 32-channel electrode array, with adjustable amplitude, frequency, and location, involves an enormous number of possible combinations.

Perilesional EES framework to restore sensorimotor function in individuals with paraplegia. (CREDIT: Nature Biomedical Engineering)

To navigate that complexity, the researchers built what they called the DJ board: a physical control panel of knobs and sliders that let participants directly adjust their own stimulation in real time while watching their legs respond. Participants were given target leg positions and poses and dialed the settings until their legs reached them.

Participants told us that using the DJ board was actually a lot of fun, said study lead author Jonathan Calvert, an assistant professor of neurological surgery at UC Davis who worked on the project as a postdoctoral researcher at Brown. They really enjoyed being able to see their legs move again and having their own control through the interface.

Data from those sessions trained machine learning models developed by Thomas Serre, a professor of cognitive and linguistic sciences at Brown. The algorithms found optimal matches between target muscle patterns and stimulation parameters far more efficiently than trial and error alone could manage.

The space of possible stimulations is huge, far too large to be efficiently searched by trial and error, said co-author Lakshmi Narasimhan Govindarajan, a recent Ph.D. graduate from Serres lab now at MIT. Machine learning provides an opportunity to more efficiently search and personalize stimulation patterns.

Sensation Without a Direct Line

The sensory challenge required a different strategy altogether. Below a complete spinal injury, the nerve pathways that normally carry sensation from the legs to the brain are severed. There is no way to stimulate those pathways directly. The researchers instead targeted the spinal cord above the injury, where connections to the brain remain intact, but where those connections map to the chest, shoulders, and arms rather than the legs.

The approach they used is called sensory substitution. Instead of restoring the original sensation, it creates a new one that the brain can learn to interpret. Stimulation intensity above the injury was synchronized with the angle of the participants knee joints, so that as the leg moved further from a neutral position, the feeling in the chest or arm grew stronger. Participants practiced while blindfolded, using one arm to indicate where they thought their leg was positioned based solely on what they felt from the stimulation.

Participants were able to use sensory feedback provided by stimulation to accurately report joint angles. (CREDIT: Nature Biomedical Engineering)

Two participants achieved correlations of 0.9 or above between their actual leg position and their reported perception of it. A third participant showed significantly better performance with the stimulation active than with it off, even though that person retained some residual sensation below the injury.

We found that the participants could report the angle of their knee with high accuracy based on the intensity of sensations generated by stimulation, Calvert said. Participants indicated that this type of sensory feedback could be very useful in their daily life, such as transferring in and out of their wheelchair.

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One participant described learning the system over time: I know thats a pointed left foot, or I know thats a flexed right foot. The more you did the stimulation, the more I learned.

Walking, With Help

The central experiment brought both systems together. Supported by an overhead harness and assisted by physical therapists, the participants performed stepping movements on a treadmill while both electrode arrays delivered stimulation simultaneously.

The lower array activated the muscle groups needed for walking. The upper array provided real-time sensory feedback tied to foot position during the gait cycle, pulsing to signal when each foot struck the ground. Participants were not relying on their eyes.

One participant correctly identified foot strikes on both sides more than 87 percent of the time, with most correct responses occurring within about half a second of actual contact. A second participant showed significantly higher accuracy when the upper array was active than when it was off.

Supralesional EES evokes quantitatively and qualitatively diverse percepts. (CREDIT: Nature Biomedical Engineering)

The chest sensation the first participant described, the one that told her where her foot was, was not a perfect replica of normal feeling. Participants described their sensations in varied terms, ranging from a light flutter just beneath the skin to something deeper that felt like it came from within the muscle. But they could use it. That distinction between accurate and natural is central to understanding what this research actually achieved.

What Comes Next

The trial was brief by design. The electrode arrays were externalized, meaning the connecting wires exited the skin, which required participants to stay hospitalized throughout the study. That constraint prevented any exploration of long-term rehabilitation effects, real-world use, or how the system might perform outside a controlled lab setting.

The researchers also noted that stimulation above the injury, while effective for sensory substitution, produced sensations in body areas unrelated to the legs. The brain can learn to reinterpret those signals, as participants demonstrated, but the process takes time. A cochlear implant provides an instructive parallel: the sounds it produces initially feel unnatural, but over months of use, most recipients integrate them into normal hearing.

No device-related adverse effects were reported across all three participants, clearing the way for longer and more ambitious studies. The team plans to recruit new participants for trials conducted outside the hospital, testing whether the system holds up in daily life.

Theres reason to believe that coordinated stimulation across an injury site could produce positive rehabilitation effects, Borton said. Thats not something we were able to fully explore in this study, but that we plan to pursue in future work.

Dr. Jared Fridley, chief of spinal neurosurgery at the University of Texas at Austin, who contributed to the research during his time at Rhode Island Hospital, framed the significance of the two-way approach directly: By simultaneously restoring motor activation and meaningful sensory feedback, were moving beyond isolated function toward coordinated, purposeful movement. Thats a critical step if neurotechnology is going to translate into real-world independence for people living with severe spinal cord injury.

Practical Implications of the Research

For the roughly 300,000 Americans living with spinal cord injuries, current technology can partially restore movement in some cases, but restoring sensation has remained an unsolved problem. This research demonstrates that both functions can be targeted at once in people with complete injuries, using hardware that is already common in clinical neurosurgery for pain management.

The machine learning approach developed here could reduce the time and clinical resources needed to configure these systems for individual patients, lowering one of the main barriers to broader adoption. A fully implantable version of this technology, without the externalized wires that restricted this trial to a hospital setting, is technically feasible and represents the logical next step.

Beyond walking, participants pointed to everyday situations where sensing limb position matters, feet slipping off wheelchair footrests, transferring from a chair, knowing whether a leg is in a safe position without looking. The technology demonstrated here would not need to restore natural feeling to be genuinely useful. It would only need to be reliable, learnable, and wearable.

Research findings are available online in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering.

The original story Electrical stimulation can restore ability to move limbs after spinal cord injury is published in The Brighter Side of News.

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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA)  Epilepsy is a brain condition that causes recurring seizures and impacts one in 26 people in the United States. For the second year, the Epilepsy Advocacy Network hosted its education conference at the I Hotel & Illinois Conference Center in Champaign.

Doctors and advocates were showing ways to manage the condition. But the Executive Director, Kari Jones, said it is not just for people with epilepsy.

Urbana community services grant funding more programs, supporting the area

Whether its someone who has epilepsy or someone in the community who just wants to learn more to be more supportive of people with epilepsy, said Jones.

The founding director of Epilepsy Advocacy Network, Erika Fleck, was diagnosed at the age of 30. Being from a rural area, Fleck said it was hard for her to find information and treatment, and now shes trying to get more accessible care for others.

I knew there was a need, and there needed to be, and I wanted to stop the stigma with epilepsy too and let them know there were more options out there, said Fleck.

Epilepsy Advocacy Network has offices and assistance in more than 60 counties in and around Central Illinois, providing support groups, case coordination and seizure first aid training. This year, theyre adding a major component in the fight against the condition  mental health.

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You just got diagnosed, and you want to have those coping mechanisms, and you just want to talk to somebody about this, and so we offer that as well, said Fleck.

Illinois Secretary of States Office accepting applications for annual summer job program

Shaun Webb is now a board member for the network, but started as someone seeking help.

They got me in contact with people who supported my mental health, said Webb. They gave me the ability to find others like me  how they had been successful in their epilepsy journey, how they were dealing with this new phase of life.

Webb said he wouldnt be where he is without the support hes gotten along the way, and now he wants to be a support for others.

Theres no greater gift than to give back. Thats what they did for me when I needed it the most, said Webb.

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCIA.com.
Germany's Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul speaks with the media as he arrives for a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the European Council building in Brussels, Monday, March 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

BRUSSELS (AP)  European countries on Monday sought more details about U.S. President Donald Trump's plans for the war on Iran and warned that NATO must not become involved in it, as they weighed whether to agree to his call to send warships to help shore up security in the Persian Gulf.

The cool response to Trumps demand reflects wide caution about the U.S.-Israeli war among allies kept in the dark before, and largely since, it was launched on Feb. 28.

Trump has asked partners  including France, China, Japan, South Korea and Britain  to help secure the Strait of Hormuz for global shipping. He said the United States was talking to about seven countries, but he wouldnt say which ones and gave no indication of when such a coalition might be formed.

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer insisted Britain will not be drawn into the wider war, and said British troops should only be sent into action that is legal and has a proper thought-through plan. But his country is considering other forms of help in conjunction with allies.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Trump also warned that if theres no response or if its a negative response, I think it will be very bad for the future of NATO.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that NATO is a defensive alliance, not an interventionist one. And that is precisely why NATO has no business being involved here. He said he hopes that NATO allies will treat one another with the necessary respect within the alliance.

Merz agreed that this Iranian regime must come to an end, but he said that "based on all the experience we have gained in previous years and decades, bombing it into submission is, in all likelihood, not the right approach.

EU debates Trump's demand

Many are keen to know when the war will end.

At a meeting in Brussels, where European Union foreign ministers gathered to discuss Trump's demand, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said it's important for the U.S. and Israel to define when they consider the military aims of their deployment to have been reached.

We need more clarity here, Wadephul told reporters.

Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna also said that U.S. allies in Europe want to understand Trumps strategic goals. What will be the plan?

Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski invited the Trump administration to go through the proper channels.

If there is a request via NATO, we will of course out of respect and sympathy for our American allies consider it very carefully, he said. Sikorski made a reference to Article 4 of NATO's founding treaty, which allies can invoke if they believe their territory or security is under threat.

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Acting in Europe's interests

Still, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said that it is in our interest to keep the Strait of Hormuz open."

Kallas had urged the 27 member countries to expand the EU's Operation Aspides naval mission to protect shipping in the Red Sea up into the Persian Gulf. But after chairing the meeting, she said there had been no appetite to boost its mandate.

But Kallas said the EU would closely monitor threats to maritime security also in the Red Sea, where Aspides operates with three warships. The risk that the Houthis get involved is real. So we must remain vigilant, she said.

Yemens Iran-backed Houthi rebels have so far remained on the sidelines of the war even as it has spread across the Middle East, raising questions about why, and perhaps when, the battle-hardened group might join the fight.

It was not immediately clear whether some European countries might go it alone and form a coalition of the willing to provide military support on an ad hoc basis.

This is not a NATO issue, retired Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, former commanding general of the U.S. Army in Europe. Its up to individual nations who are also members of NATO to decide if they want to deploy capabilities to secure the Strait of Hormuz, he said.

In an interview with The Associated Press, he said most European leaders will view the war with Iran as a war of choice by the United States, and leaders, including Britains Starmer, may think why should the Royal Navy have to come participate. That said, he noted that European nations have an interest in keeping oil and gas flowing through the strait.

The war in Iran has driven up energy prices worldwide, with Brent crude up more than 40%. The conflict has also disrupted the wider global supply chain beyond oil, affecting things like pharmaceuticals from India, semiconductors from Asia and oil-derived products like fertilizers that come from the Middle East.

Cargo ships are stuck in the Gulf or making a much longer detour around the southern tip of Africa. Planes carrying air cargo out of the Middle East are grounded. And the longer the war drags on, the more likely that there will be shortages and price increases on a wide range of goods.

France has said it is working with countries  French President Emmanuel Macron mentioned partners in Europe, India and Asia  on a possible mission to escort ships through the strait but has stressed it must be when the circumstances permit, when fighting has subsided.

French senior officials, speaking anonymously on ongoing talks, said the Netherlands, Italy and Greece had shown interest and that Spain might be involved in some way.

Starmer said Britain is discussing with the U.S. and allies in Europe and the Gulf the possibility of using its mine-hunting drones already in the region.

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Associated Press writers Geir Moulson and Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin, Jill Lawless in London, Sylvie Corbet in Paris and Emma Burrows in London contributed to this report.
Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli airstrike targeting a police vehicle in the central Gaza Strip, March 15, 2026. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa

By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Rami Ayyub

CAIRO/JERUSALEM, March 16 (Reuters) - Envoys from U.S. President Donald Trump's "Board of Peace" have met representatives of Hamas in Cairo in an effort to safeguard the Gaza ceasefire, under serious strain since the United States and Israel began bombing Iran, three sources told Reuters.

The weekend meeting is the first publicly reported since the start of the Iran war between the Palestinian militant group and the board, a new international body personally headed by Trump, which has been tasked with overseeing post-war Gaza.

Following the meeting, Israel announced on Sunday that it would soon reopen the sole crossing for pedestrians between Gaza and Egypt, shut since the Iran bombing campaign began. One of the sources said he believed the Israeli announcement was a direct result of the meeting between Hamas and the board.

Prior to the war in Iran, Trump's plan for Gaza was his flagship initiative for the Middle East.

The sources said the Hamas representatives warned the board that the Palestinian militant group could back away from its previous promises under the Gaza ceasefire if Israel maintains new restrictions on Gaza imposed during the Iran war.

Israel shut Gaza's borders after the war's launch on February 28, saying crossings could not be operated safely. It later resumed the limited flow of goods and aid but kept shut the sole crossing for pedestrians into Egypt, at Rafah on Gaza's southern edge. On Sunday it announced it would reopen the crossing later this week following a "security assessment".

Reuters has previously reported that talks on the disarmament of Hamas - meant to be a focus of the next phase of Trump's plan - have been on hold since the start of the Iran war.

FURTHER MEETINGS EXPECTED THIS WEEK

One of the sources said Trump's board was represented at the talks with Hamas by Aryeh Lightstone, an American aide to Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff. The other two sources said meetings that included Lightstone were on the agenda although they were unable to confirm whether Lightstone had attended yet.

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Further meetings were expected this week. The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

A U.S. official said that Lightstone had attended Gaza-related meetings in Cairo in the past several days, without confirming whether he met with the Hamas delegation. U.S. negotiators were continuing to meet with regional partners to fulfil Trump's 20-point plan for Gaza, the U.S. official added.

Israel's government did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether its decision to reopen the Rafah crossing was a result of the Cairo meeting. Hamas declined to comment.

IRAN WAR SEES CONTINUED ISRAELI STRIKES ON GAZA

Trump's plan for Gaza began with an October ceasefire that left Israel controlling more than half the enclave's territory, with nearly all its more than 2 million people crammed into a narrow strip of land under Hamas control.

The initiative had appeared to gain momentum in the month leading up to the war with Iran, including new pledges for reconstruction and the reopening of Rafah.

Israel's military has continued to strike Gaza during the broader regional war, including attacks on Sunday that killed 12 people, including nine police officers. The military has cited threats or fire by Hamas for its attacks.

A Palestinian official with knowledge of the Cairo talks said that Hamas believed Israel was exploiting the war on Iran to slip away from its obligations under Trump's plan. Israel rejects this.

Trump's Gaza plan has hinged in part on whether Hamas militants would lay down their arms in exchange for amnesty, a step intended to pave the way for reconstruction and further Israeli military withdrawals.

None of the sources said whether disarmament would be discussed in Cairo talks this week.

(Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Cairo and Rami Ayyub in Jerusalem with additional reporting by Ahmed Shalaby in Cairo and Steve Holland in Washington)
Meghan Markle could be using her upcoming Australia trip to revive her podcasting career.MEGA; UNSPLASH

RadarOnline.com can reveal Meghan Markle is said to be planning to use an upcoming visit to Australia to test the waters of podcasting again  with insiders claiming the duchess hopes a guest appearance during the trip could help revive her stalled media ambitions and potentially resurrect her own podcast projects.

Markle, 44, and her husband, Prince Harry, 41, are expected to travel Down Under in mid-April, marking their first visit to the country since their official royal tour of Australia and the South Pacific nearly seven years ago.

Markle is reportedly planning a return to podcasting during an upcoming trip to Australia.MEGA

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who stepped down as working members of the British royal family in 2020 and now live in Montecito, California, are said to be planning meetings tied to their philanthropic work and business ventures while visiting cities including Sydney and Melbourne.

While full details of the itinerary have not been confirmed, sources said Markle is planning to use some of her time on the trip to make a guest appearance on the Besties company podcast Her Best Life, which was originally launched and co-hosted by Australian media personality Jackie "O" Henderson and Gemma O'Neill.

The appearance is expected to coincide with a speaking engagement linked to the Besties brand.

Meghan Markle Eyeing Careful Return To Podcasting

She is reportedly planning a guest appearance on the Besties podcast 'Her Best Life.'MEGA

One source familiar with the plans said: "The expectation is that Meghan Markle will cautiously step back into the podcasting arena during the Australia visit, but in a very measured way.

"Rather than launching a full project straight away, the idea is for her to appear as a guest on an established show while she is there and gauge the reaction."

The insider added, "It is essentially a way for her to dip her toe back into podcasting without committing to anything major just yet. A guest spot allows her to reconnect with listeners and reintroduce herself into that space while keeping the pressure relatively low."

'The Perfect Stage' for Podcast 'Reintroduction'

Markle's team reportedly views the Australia visit as a chance to reintroduce her to podcast listeners.MEGA

The source continued: "The thinking behind it is that Meghan and Harry's so-called 'fake royal tour of Australia,' as their critics call it, gives Meghan the perfect stage to quietly reintroduce herself into the podcasting world.

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"Simply by visiting Australia, she will already attract a huge amount of media attention, so adding a podcast appearance into the mix naturally amplifies that visibility."

The insider continued: "From her team's perspective, the trip creates a ready-made spotlight where she can remind audiences that podcasting is still something she intends to pursue.

"If the guest appearance lands well and generates the kind of interest they are hoping for, the idea is that it could become the first step toward reviving her own podcast projects."

"In other words, it is being seen as a soft relaunch, a way of laying the groundwork for a potential return to hosting her own show in the future," they noted.

Long Term Plans To Revive Audio Projects

Sources said the guest appearance could lead to future podcast projects.MEGA

The insider added that Markle has been quietly exploring ways to revive her audio projects after previous ventures stalled.

"There is absolutely a longer-term plan to bring Meghan's own podcast back in some form, but the immediate strategy is far more cautious than that," they explained.

"The thinking right now is to ease back into the space rather than launching something major straight away. Appearing as a guest on another show while she is in Australia gives her the chance to test the waters again."

The source concluded, "If the response is positive and there is renewed interest, then the idea would be to build on that momentum and potentially revive her own podcast further down the line."

Markle previously hosted the podcast Archetypes, which launched in 2022 under her deal with Spotify before ending the following year. The show explored stereotypes faced by women and featured interviews with high-profile guests.

More recently, she launched another podcast project titled Confessions of a Female Founder, which debuted in April 2025 through Lemonada Media and focused on conversations with female entrepreneurs. That series is currently on indefinite hiatus as of last year.
Prince William and Princess Kate may not be on board to see the Sussexes.MEGA

RadarOnline.com can reveal Princess Catherine and Prince William are said to be firmly opposed to any renewed royal reconciliation with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex prepare for a potential return to the United Kingdom, amid what insiders describe as an already fragile moment for the monarchy.

Catherine, 44, and William, 43, are understood to be wary of renewed tensions resurfacing if Harry, 41, and Markle, 44, step back onto British soil this summer following a recent overseas trip to Jordan.

Prince William and Middleton are said to 'dead against' reuniting with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.MEGA

The Sussexes recently traveled to the Middle East for a two-day visit focused on humanitarian work, including meetings with medical teams supporting children evacuated from Gaza for treatment.

Although the visit was not an official royal tour, observers noted its resemblance to traditional diplomatic engagements. The trip took place as the royal family continues to navigate fallout from the arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, 66, the ex-Duke of York, who was detained last month on suspicion of misconduct in public office.

The deepening divide between William and Harry dates back several years, particularly following Harry's memoir Spare, published in 2023, which contained criticism of royal life and family relationships.

According to royal insiders, Catherine remains particularly troubled by the public airing of grievances against the institution.

'Those Revelations Did Lasting Harm'

Prince Harry's memoir is said to be playing a huge part in the apparent feud.MEGA

Sources close to the Wales household said both Catherine and William believe the monarchy is already under intense strain and that a high-profile reconciliation could worsen internal tensions rather than ease them.

One palace source told us: "From Catherine's perspective, the situation changed fundamentally after the memoir and the series of interviews that followed it. She feels that once private grievances were aired so publicly and in such detail, particularly on global platforms, it altered the dynamic within the family in a way that cannot simply be reversed.

"In her view, those revelations did lasting harm to how the monarchy is perceived and chipped away at public confidence in the institution. Because of that, she believes trying to draw a line under it now, as though nothing happened, would be unrealistic."

"Reopening those chapters, especially during a period when the royal family is already under pressure, risks stirring up the same tensions and creating further instability," the insider claimed.

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A 'Fragile' Monarchy Becomes Major Obstacle

The future king is said to think a reunion with the Sussexes could further damage an already 'fragile' monarchy.MEGA

Another source said: "William sees the monarchy as being in a particularly fragile position right now, with multiple pressures already bearing down on the institution. From his standpoint, introducing another highly charged situation into the mix would be unwise. He feels that welcoming Harry and Meghan back into the royal fold at this stage could reopen old disagreements and tensions that the family has spent years trying to calm behind closed doors.

"In William's view, the focus needs to be on stability and rebuilding trust, and he worries that revisiting those unresolved issues could disrupt that effort."

A separate royal aide said the Prince and Princess of Wales are also concerned about the message reconciliation might send to the public.

One source close to the Wales household said: "Among those around William and Catherine, there is a strong sense that royal duty cannot be treated as something that can be paused and then resumed whenever circumstances change. They feel that stepping away from official responsibilities and later seeking to re-enter the fold risks sending mixed signals about what public service in the monarchy actually represents.

"In their view, the strength of the institution rests on continuity, reliability, and a clear commitment to long-term duty. If that principle becomes blurred, they worry it could undermine the very idea of what it means to serve within the royal family. They are basically dead against any reunion with the Sussexes."

No word yet if the foursome will try and break bread.MEGA

Prince Harry's Side

The Sussexes' recent Jordan trip drew attention because of its timing. The visit included meetings with World Health Organization teams and local medical professionals supporting displaced children. Supporters of the couple say the visit demonstrated their continued relevance on the international stage despite stepping down as working royals in 2020.

Some insiders close to Harry suggest he views the monarchy as entering a period of upheaval and believes he and Markle could play a constructive role

One source said, "Harry has become more convinced over time that the monarchy is approaching a pivotal moment for its credibility and public standing. In his view, the institution needs to evolve if it wants to remain relevant, and that means bringing in perspectives that reflect a more modern, globally engaged form of public service.

"He believes the royal family should be reaching outward more actively and adapting to changing expectations. From where he stands, he and Meghan feel they have shown they can operate effectively on the international stage and could contribute meaningfully in helping the monarchy reconnect with a wider audience."

The situation has been further complicated by Windsor's legal difficulties. The former Duke of York was arrested last month after leaked emails allegedly linked him to confidential government information during his tenure as the UK's special trade envoy between 2001 and 2011.

Against that backdrop, Catherine and William have continued with public appearances, including attending the BAFTA awards earlier this year, presenting a united front while speculation grows about whether Harry and Markle will travel to Britain in the coming months.
Michael B. Jordansdatinghistory may not be as crazy as you would think. The hunky, newly-minted Oscar winner keeps his personal life so private that you almost have to assume he's more saint than, well, sinner in that regard. (We'll be here all day.)

Jordan, 39, took home the 2026 Best Actor trophy for playing identical twins Smoke and Stack in the 2025 smash Sinners, bringing his beloved mom as his date to the biggest night of his career thus far.

Michael B. Jordan and his absolutely adorable mom Donna Jordan at the Oscars on March 15, 2026Photo by John Shearer/98th Oscars on Getty Images (Photo by John Shearer/98th Oscars on Getty Images)

Jordan's been in the spotlight since he was a child on shows like The Wire and All My Children. Throughout his more than two decades as a star, he's managed to keep his love life pretty firmly in the shadows: The world only knows for sure about just one of his past romances ... and he doesn't love to discuss the topic as a whole.

Im not tripping over it, he told GQ in February 2025 of his romantic life. Im so work-focused. I would want somebody to fit into the flow of my life, of where I am. And thats timing, right? You can meet the right person, and be at the wrong time, and it just doesnt work out."

Fair enough!

That said, the 2020 Sexiest Man Aliverevealed on David Letterman'sNetflix talk show My Next Guest Needs No Introductionwith David Letterman in December 2025 that his life outside of work is "pretty boring" and that he'd like to start a family somedayso here's hoping the next lady lucky enough to snag him has similar goals!

I want to start out small. I want a kid. I want children," he said. "I want  I want children, but I figure I got to start off with like plants and dogs.

He added with a chuckle, If I can take care of a plant, I can take care of the dog. If the dogs cool, then I have a shot.

Something tells us he's going to do just fine once the timing works out. In the meantime, behold: Here is all you need to know about Michael B. Jordans dating history.

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Is Michael B. Jordan single now?

As far as we know, yesbut he likely wouldn't be too forthcoming either way.

"I think the person thats going to be right for me lines up with the timing with who she is as a person, where Im at in my life, how open I am to even ... to that, you know?" Jordan told GQ in February 2025.

As for where he might meet his next partner? In his Saturday Night Livemonologue from Jan. 29, 2023, Jordan made references to being single and using dating apps, saying, I just directed my very first movie, Creed III. Right after that, I went through my very first public breakup. Now, most people after a breakup are like, Im gonna get in better shape. But I was already in Creed shape, so I had to be like, I guess Ill learn a new language. Anyway, estoy en Raya.

Related: Michael B. Jordans Net Worth and How the Oscar Winner Made It

Did Michael B. Jordan and Lori Harvey split up?

Michael B. Jordan and Lori Harvey at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party March, 2022Rich Fury/VF22/Getty Images (Rich Fury/VF22/Getty Images)

Michael B. Jordan made headlines in late 2020 when it was discovered he was dating Steve Harveys stepdaughter Lori Harvey. The pair, who reportedly officially began seeing each other around January 2021, split almost a year and a half later in June 2022.

Harvey and Jordan were first spotted together at an Atlanta airport around Thanksgiving 2020. It was reported that the duos 10-year age difference was largely behind their split, as Harvey was not yet ready to settle downand, as he previously mentioned, Jordan wants to start nesting.

Jordan later told GQ that his longest relationship to date at that point "lasted just over a year." Though he didn't get into specifics, it appears that timeline matches up with his romance with Harvey.

Related: The Best Parts of Michael B. Jordans SNL Takeover According to Fans

Did Michael B. Jordan date a Kardashian?

Michael B. Jordan has been romantically linked in the press to Kendall Jenner in the past. The rumors began in May 2015 when Jordan and Jenner were spotted leaving an afterparty for the Met Gala at the same time.

Jordan denied the romantic pairing. Kendall's a friend of mine, you know. I don't know her, like, that well, but I know her enough. People's perspective on that is what it is."

Jenner, being probably the most private KarJenner in the clan, characteristically kept mum on the rumors as well.

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Michael B. Jordan, Hailey Bieber and Kendall Jenner in January 2026Photo by Jerritt Clark on Getty Images (Photo by Jerritt Clark on Getty Images)

The speculative couple received a lot of backlash online, causing Jordan to respond.

"It's the world we live in. They see white and black. I don't," he said. "A lot of Black fans were feeling like, 'Oh, my God, he should have been with a Black woman' and that whole thing. I get it, but on the other hand it's, like, relax. You knowit's 2015. It's okay! People can like one another, not necessarily from the same history or culture or whatever the fk it is."

Related: Keeping Up With the Kardashians' Net Worth: How Much Money Kim Kardashian, Kendall Jenner and Their Siblings Really Have

Did Nicki Minaj and Michael B. Jordan date?

Nicki Minaj in November 2018Photo by Stephane Cardinale - Corbis on Getty Images (Photo by Stephane Cardinale - Corbis on Getty Images)

It does not appear that Nicki Minaj and Michael B. Jordan have ever dated, and based on her unhinged heel turn ever since Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion got famous, it sounds like he dodged one helluva bullet there.

Minaj sparked dating rumors in November 2018 at the E! Peoples Choice Awards when she decided to publicly shoot her shot in her acceptance speech for Female Artist with the Black Panther actor.

And shout-out to Michael B. Jordan cause he's gonna be taking it off of me tonight, Minaj joked.

She later explained the flirtatious callout. I think he introduced himself to me one time, I believe at the Met Gala  I was watching Black Panther last night, so he was just ... happened to be fresh in my mind.

Related: Nicki Minajs Net Worth Is More Than Young Money

Who has Michael B. Jordan dated?

It has been confirmed that Jordan dated Lori Harvey for around a year and a half from around the end of 2020 until June 2022. However, the other supposed women in his past have been mainly speculative.

Kiki Layne at the 2019 Sundance Film FestivalPhoto by Rich Polk on Getty Images (Photo by Rich Polk on Getty Images)

In January 2019, it was rumored Jordan was dating fellow actor Kiki Layne after the two were seen flirting at a party during the Sundance Film Festival. A source told PEOPLE at the time, Michael and Kiki were super flirty all night. He spent literally all night talking and focused on her ... [Jordan] left the club first and she followed." However, the pair were not publicly seen together again, meaning if anything did happen, it was short-lived.

Related: The View Hosts Struggle to Keep Their Cool Talking to Michael B. Jordan

Cindy Bruna at a 2019 Met Gala afterpartyPhoto by Daniel Zuchnik on Getty Images (Photo by Daniel Zuchnik on Getty Images)

Jordan was also rumored to be romantically involved with model Cindy Bruna in May 2019 when the two were first spotted enjoying each others company at a Met Gala afterparty and then again leaving dinner a few days later. However, that was the last time the two were seen together in public.

Jordan has also been rumored to have had a fling with Kendall Jenner and with Black Panther costar Lupita Nyongo, both of which he has denied.

Iggy Azalea in September 2012Photo by Imeh Akpanudosen on Getty Images (Photo by Imeh Akpanudosen on Getty Images)

Jordan reportedly dated rapper Iggy Azalea reportedly from April 2012 until January 2013. It is rumored the relationship started when the Fancy rapper declared Jordan had Big d*ck energy.

Azalea allegedly called Jordan out on Twitter following their breakup, writing, Love someone who understands that the dream comes first. Love someone that loves the fact that you have goals  I tried to date a guy but I only saw him once in 9 months because I kept cancelling in favor of work ... sorry guy!

Seeing how each of their goals and dreams worked out, we're willing to bet he's not too bummed about that breakup.

Cassie Ventura in February 2015Photo by Michael Bezjian on Getty Images (Photo by Michael Bezjian on Getty Images)

Jordan briefly dated Cassie Ventura in 2015 while she was on a break from her abusive relationship with Sean "Diddy" Combs. No one knew about the brief dalliance until Combs' sex trafficking and racketeering trial a decade later, when Ventura's stylist said admitted to setting Jordan and Ventura up, noting (via PEOPLE), He fine, she fine. I mean, why not?

Fair! That said, the pairing didn't make it past the "getting to know each other" stage, per reports

Rumors from 2023 that Jordan was romantically linked with British model Amber Jepson turned out to be invalid.

Taylor Russell in January 2025Photo by WWD on Getty Images (Photo by WWD on Getty Images)

Jordan was most recently linked to Taylor Russell after the actress split from Harry Styles; the Bones and All starlet and Jordan were spotted walking together in London. At the time, Russell was slated to co-star with Jordan in his remake of The Thomas Crown Affair, but has since exited the projectand seemingly Jordan's black book as well.

Related: Trevor Noah's Dating History, From Minka Kelly to Dani Gabriel, Jordyn Taylor and More

This story was originally published by Parade on Mar 16, 2026, where it first appeared in the Celebs section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
FILE PHOTO: A tanker sails in the Gulf, near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from northern Ras al-Khaimah, near the border with Omans Musandam governance, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in United Arab Emirates, March 11, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo

March 16 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump called on allies over the weekend to help secure the Strait of Hormuz as Iranian forces continue attacks on the vital waterway amid the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, now in its third week.

Trump said his administration has already contacted seven countries, but declined to identify them. In an earlier social media post, he said that he hoped China, France, Japan, South Korea, Britain and others would participate.

Iran has effectively shut the Strait, a narrow passage of water between Iran and Oman, choking off a fifth of global oil supply in the biggest disruption ever.

Below are how some countries have responded to Washington's call to send ships to the region:

JAPAN

Japan does not currently plan to dispatch naval vessels to escort ships in the Middle East, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on Monday.

"We have not made any decisions whatsoever about dispatching escort ships. We are continuing to examine what Japan can do independently and what can be done within the legal framework," Takaichi told parliament.

Takaichi will travel to Washington this week for talks with Trump that she said will cover the conflict with Iran.

AUSTRALIA

Australia will not send naval ships to assist in reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a government minister said on Monday.

"We won't be sending a ship to the Strait of Hormuz. We know how incredibly important that is, but that's not something that we've been asked or that we're contributing to," Catherine King, a member of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's cabinet, said in an interview with state broadcaster ABC.

SOUTH KOREA

"We will communicate closely with the U.S. regarding this matter and make a decision after careful review," South Korea's presidential office said on Sunday.

Under South Korea's constitution, overseas troop deployments require parliamentary approval, and opposition figures have said any dispatch of warships to the Strait would need consent from the legislature.

BRITAIN

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Monday he would not be "drawn into the wider Iran war" whilst reiterating he was working with allies to reopen the Strait.

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"We are working with others to come up with a credible plan for the Strait of Hormuz to ensure that we can reopen shipping and passage through the Strait. Let me be clear, that won't be and it's never been envisioned to be a NATO mission," he told reporters.

EUROPEAN UNION

EU foreign ministers will on Monday discuss bolstering a small naval mission in the Middle East but they are not expected to discuss expanding its role to include the choked-off Strait, diplomats and officials say.

The EU's Aspides mission - named after the Greek word for "shields" - was established in 2024 to protect ships from attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebel group in the Red Sea.

GERMANY

Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said on Monday that Germany would not participate with its military in securing the Strait.

"What does Trump expect from a handful of European frigates that the powerful U.S. Navy cannot do? This is not our war, we have not started it," Pistorius said.

Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said in an interview with Germany's ARD television on Sunday that he was "very sceptical" that extending Aspides to the Strait of Hormuz would provide greater security.

DENMARK

Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said on Monday ahead of the EU ministers' meeting that it would be wise to keep an open mind to this question "as the small country that we are, but a large maritime nation".

Even if Europe did not support the U.S.-Israeli decision to go to war, "we must face the world as it is, not as we want it to be", he told journalists.

ITALY

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on Monday that diplomacy was the right way to solve the crisis in the Strait, adding there were no naval missions Italy was involved in that could be extended to the area.

GREECE

A government spokesperson said on Monday that Greece would not engage in military operations in the Strait of Hormuz.

(Compiled by Himani Sarkar and Jakob Van Calster; Editing by Michael Perry, Tom Hogue and Milla Nissi-Prussak)
Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrives for the opening of the appeal in the case over Libyan campaign financing, for which he was briefly jailed last year, at Paris appeal court, France, March 16, 2026. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes

PARIS, March 16 (Reuters) - Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy is due to appear in court on Monday to appeal a conviction for criminal conspiracy over attempts to procure campaign funds from Libya, for which he received a five-year jail sentence last year.

It made Sarkozy the first post-war president of France to be imprisoned - a stunning downfall for a man who led the country from 2007 to 2012. He was incarcerated in October at La Sante prison in Paris and was freed three weeks later, after a court agreed to release him under judicial supervision, which included a ban on leaving France.

Sarkozy's conviction capped years of legal battles over allegations that his successful 2007 election campaign took millions in cash from Libya during the rule of late dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

Sarkozy, who has always denied the charges, was accused of making a deal with Gaddafi in 2005, when he was France's interior minister, to obtain campaign financing in exchange for supporting the then-isolated Libyan government on the international stage.

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Judges said there was no proof that Sarkozy made such a deal with Gaddafi, nor that money that was sent from Libya reached Sarkozy's campaign coffers, even if the timing was "compatible" and the paths the money went through were "very opaque".

But they said Sarkozy was guilty of criminal conspiracy between 2005 and 2007 for having let close aides get in touch with people in Libya to try and obtain campaign financing.

"The fight against corruption is not just a matter of integrity: it is a prerequisite for protecting the rule of law and maintaining effective democracy," said rights groups Sherpa, Anticor and Transparency International France in a statement on Friday.

Sarkozy's lawyer Christophe Ingrain said he had no comment ahead of the appeal trial opening.

(Reporting by Juliette JabkhiroEditing by Gareth Jones)
On the 20th anniversary of Stephen Harpers first victory (2006)  the decline of the Tory tradition in Canada since the 1980s (Part Two) By Mark Wegierski

web posted March 16, 2026 By the early 1990s, the federal PC party had conclusively proved to most people that it did not really embody the traditions and principles of Canadian conservatism. The three largest groupings in the federal PCs were mostly anti-conservative. Probably the largest of these groupings were the "situationists" (1) -- persons such as Brian Mulroney, who could be considered "conservative" only in the sense of wanting to maintain the status-quo, and keep themselves in so-called "power", without any reference to conservative principles. In the run-up to the 1983 Party convention, and to the 1984 federal election, Mulroney had, by a few partisan-sounding statements, allowed the mantle of being a right-winger to fall on him. He probably did so because he believed that it would be to his advantage in the upcoming election. The mood of the electorate was unusually tending towards a sense of revulsion against what were becoming perceived among considerable numbers of people (outside of the media and intellectual elites) as the excesses of the radical Trudeau social experiments. One especially remembers Mulroneys statement that he would try to appoint every living, breathing Tory to government positions ahead of Liberals. But his behaviour upon attaining office was completely different. Mulroney governed with a timidity that suggested that he had won a minority, not a majority government. The ferocious, round-the-clock media attacks against the allegedly hard-right Mulroney regime, in a period when the conservative media presence in Canada was virtually non-existent, did not increase his confidence. The situationists or upholders of the status-quo were the ones who aspired to be superficial administrators or managers, rather than trend-setting political leaders of the country. The support of the status-quo, no matter what it is, is obviously not the key tenet of conservatism -- by that calculus, the geriatric Soviet Politburo members (with their official atheism and Marxism-Leninism) could have been seen as the greatest "conservatives" in the world! To be a "situationist" is to sacrifice principles for the sake of a blind support of the status-quo, and one's place in it. It is the very opposite of what has been called in earlier articles "governing strategically". The second major grouping were persons who could be called the "social democrats", such as Joe Clark (Canadas Prime Minister for nine months in 1979-1980, and leader of the federal Progressive Conservative party from 1976-1983, and 1998-2003) and Flora Macdonald. They were, in their arguments, very similar to the situationists, but as "Red Tories" they also made the claim of representing "the real tradition" of the Tory party, which they defined as an extensive welfare-state and intense government interventionism. They appeared to forget that the core of a real "National Policy" could only be an authentic Canadian nationalism. It could be argued that their support of the excesses of multiculturalism, of virtually the entire social agenda of left-liberalism, of special benefits for recognized minorities, and so forth, contradicted the notion of a more traditionally-based "Tory welfare-state", which was, historically-speaking, grounded on the social unity and cohesion generated though such immemorial institutions as family and church. Indeed, the term "Red Toryism" may be seen as a misnomer. Rather than representing a more positive synthesis of toryism and social democracy (as typified by George Parkin Grant, Eugene Forsey, and certain elements of the old Co-operative Commonwealth Federation - CCF) -- such persons typically combine the less salubrious aspects of both liberalism and socialism, i.e., socially-anarchic liberalism without individual enterprise, and collectivistic socialism without any genuine social sense. Most of the so-called "Red Tories" have only a superficial and tenuous resemblance to the real Tory tradition. Thirdly, there were the so-called "libertarians", persons like Sinclair Stevens, who looked to America for inspiration and were, above all else, gung-ho free-marketeers and capitalists. It is a fundamental mistake to automatically and totally equate conservatism and capitalism. How can the strong traditional ethos of conservatism endure within a system that places its highest values on hyper-consumption, the unrestricted inflaming of the lower human desires, and the promotion of a soulless and rootless "market-ethic"? As the preeminent Canadian political philosopher, George Parkin Grant, once remarked, it is liberalism, not conservatism, that is "the perfect ideology for capitalism". The "Red Tories" are right insofar that Sir John A. Macdonald was no fan of either America or materialistic capitalism. Canadians should remember that the United Empire Loyalists came here precisely because they did not want to be Americans. They chose loyalty to their Sovereign, and a higher order, to the freewheeling liberal republicanism of America. Canada was itself created as an act of national and political will in direct contradiction to "basic economic realities" (which dictated north-south trading patterns). To a large extent, Canada attempted to maintain its independence in contradiction to the notion that economic forces are the overwhelming factor in history. The defining moment of the Dominion of Canada, the British North America Act (1867), established "peace, order, and good government" as Canada's founding principle, not the ultimately liberal "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness". For most of Canada's history, "Free Trade" was fiercely opposed by the Conservative Party, as a fundamental threat to Canada's once considerably tory identity. Footnotes: (1) The author is aware that there is a big-S philosophy of Situationism, which originates in the radical thought of media critic Guy Debord. The terms are obviously unrelated. The author uses the term situationist to suggest in situ  sitting in one place  and also because a locution like status-quo-ist sounds too awkward. To be continued. Mark Wegierski is a Canadian writer and historical researcher. Home

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A new Fox Nation special goes into the harrowing case of Chris Watts' plot to murder his pregnant wife and their two young daughters.

The new special will be available to watch on Fox One starting on March 23.

Watts was sentenced in November 2018 to life without parole for the murders of his wife, Shanann Watts, 34, and their daughters, Bella, 4, and Celeste, 3.

Watts, then 33, pleaded guilty to all charges against him in exchange for prosecutors not pursuing the death penalty, the Weld County District Attorney's office said.

Chris Watts Final Texts To Pregnant Wife Shanann Watts Before Grisly Murders Revealed In Netflix Doc

Chris and Shanann Watts with their daughters. (Fox News)

Immediately after the crime, in August 2018, Watts told responding officers from the Frederick Police Department in Colorado that his wife and two young daughters had up and "vanished."

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"My kids are my life," he told KMGH . "I mean, those smiles light up my life. When I came home and then walked in the house, nothing. Vanished. Nothing was here."

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Chris Watts was sentenced to life in prison for murdering his pregnant wife and daughters.

Within days of the disappearance, Chris Watts was arrested and the bodies of his pregnant wife and children were found.

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A break in the case came after a neighbor provided home security video showing Chris backing up his truck into the driveway early in the morning the day Shanann and the children disappeared. The video did not show Shanann or the children leaving.

Along with the video, authorities also tracked Watts' digital footprint, including his cell phone data and GPS tracking data.

According to court documents, Shanann Watts' body was found in a shallow grave near this oil tank on August 21, 2018, near Roggen, Colorado. Both of her daughter's bodies, 4-year-old Bella and 3-year-old Celeste, were submerged for days in the same oil tanks in rural eastern Colorado, prosecutors said.

After failing a polygraph on August 15, 2018, he confessed during an interview. He led investigators to an oil and gas site operated by Anadarko Petroleum near Roggen, Colorado, where the bodies were recovered.

Shanann Watts, who was approximately 15 weeks pregnant at the time, was found in a shallow grave.

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Bella and Celeste were found, authorities said, inside separate crude oil storage tanks at the same site. Their bodies were recovered after the tanks were drained.

The body of Shanann Watts, 34, was found in a shallow grave near an oil tank on property owned by the oil and gas company where her husband had worked.

Watts confessed that he strangled Shanann in their bed after he told her their marriage was over, and she said he would never see their children again. Watts said his wife correctly suspected that he was having an affair, but he did not tell her about his ongoing relationship with a co-worker before killing Shanann.

Authorities have speculated that Watts wanted a chance to start over with the woman. Watts told investigators that the woman "never asked him to get rid of his family" but their relationship may have "contributed" to his actions.

After he strangled Shanann, Watts said Bella came into their bedroom clutching a blanket and asked what was wrong with her mother. Watts claimed his wife wasnt feeling well. Their daughter continued watching as Watts wrapped the body in a bedsheet and began crying when he pulled it down the stairs of their home, he said.

Watts said he put her body on the floor of his trucks back seat. When he went inside, Celeste was also awake.

According to Watts, he put the girls into the backseat of the truck, where they occasionally napped on each others laps as he drove.

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A photograph of Shanann Watts and her daughters, Bella, 4, left, and Celeste, 3, is shown at a makeshift memorial in Frederick, Colorado.

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Watts claimed he had no plan for his daughters but drove to an oil work site about 40 miles east of the familys home. He worked there as an operator for an oil and gas producer. He told police he pulled Shananns body from the truck as the girls asked, "What are you doing to mommy?"

Watts confessed he went back to the truck and used Celestes blanket to smother her as Bella watched from a seat beside her sister. He then put Celestes body inside an oil tank before returning to the truck and smothering Bella using the same blanket. Her last words were, "Daddy, no!" he told police, adding that Bella struggled under the blanket. He said he put her body inside another oil tank and buried Shananns body nearby.

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Watts insisted that he did not plan to kill his wife or children.

The Associated Press and Fox News' Stephanie Nolasco contributed to this report.





Original article source: Fox Nation documentary examines Chris Watts Colorado family murder case
Rep. Jill Tokuda, D-Hawaii, said she had no hesitations about remaining in her seat at the 2026 State of the Union when President Donald Trump challenged lawmakers to stand if they agreed the U.S. government should prioritize its citizens' safety over that of illegal aliens.

Like every single one of her Democratic colleagues, Tokuda, a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, stayed put as Republicans stood for over a minute and a half, applauding in a show of support for the presidents statement.

A voter approached Tokuda about the moment two weeks later, pressing her on why she didn't stand.

"The statement was: The first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens. I noticed you did not stand," a voter who identified herself as Arline said.

Trump Shames Democrats In Viral State Of The Union Challenge On Migrant Crime: First Duty

Rep. Jill Tokuda, D-Hawaii, attends the State of the Union address during a Joint Session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol on Feb. 24, 2026. (Getty Images)

"Id like to know your reasoning why you did not stand."

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After a brief smattering of applause from the audience, Tokuda thanked Arline for the question, noting that lawmakers dont always get easy questions at town hall events.

"But that decision was easy for me," Tokuda said.

She said her reaction was based on her interpretation of Trumps challenge, stating that she believed the president had no intention of fielding the support for the statement.

"If it had been a genuine question, a true question  not a ploy to be able to put on some commercial later on to say look at all those Democrats who dont believe in protecting Americans  I absolutely would have stood," Tokuda said.

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Democrat Slammed For Staying Seated During Trump Speech Honoring Victims Families

Trump delivers the first official State of the Union of his second term.

Tokuda did not reference the moment in her immediate reactions to the State of the Union.

Instead, on her website, she focused on Trumps tariffs.

"If you consider tariffs and the hundreds of billions of dollars that tariffs have taxed on everyday Americans  the hundreds of billions of dollars hes collecting in tariffs have been a tax on everyday people," Tokuda said, highlighting comments made to a local outlet.

In the past, Tokuda has criticized Trumps immigration crackdown efforts for hitting close to home.

"Were all one degree of separation from knowing somebody who is right now living in fear, worried that they could be picked up off the streets, or they could be deported, even if they have no grounds to," Tokuda told the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) last year.

Democrats Big Misfire At State Of The Union Has Gop Strategists Salivating: Huge Moment

The Trump administration reaffirmed that all illegal immigrants are eligible for deportations as they focus on arresting violent criminals first.

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"There [are] too many looking over their shoulder and fearing for their lives right now."

Tokudas office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.





Original article source: Hawaii Dem reveals why she stayed seated during Trump's viral SOTU moment about prioritizing Americans
Downtown Pecs, Hungary - Benedek/Getty Images

Hungary is an enigmatic country at first glance. Landlocked in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe, it sits at a crossroads of civilizations, which for centuries has made its people carve out their unique identity while having to bridge their culture with neighbors in every direction. Those cultural crossroads are at their brightest in the picturesque university city of Pecs, an architectural and artistic hidden gem which sits hidden in Hungary, the European country where the U.S. dollar goes far.

Just under three hours south from the busy touristic streets of Budapest and a short drive from the Croatian border, Pecs lies in the foothills of the Mecsek Mountains. Pronounced "Pe-tch", the area's history spans across millennia and has seen Roman, Celtic, and Ottoman rulers as its landlords. Now a lively city and home to the oldest university in Hungary, Pecs hosts over 20,000 students, with its campuses spread around the historic city center, contributing to its youthful atmosphere.

Hang out in local cafes surrounded by beautiful university buildings, and indulge yourself on a budget not far above a student's  this affordable destination costs under $800 for all expenses during a week's stay. Thanks to its location in the heart of Hungary's Baranya Hills wine country, Pecs also offers the opportunity to sample its harvest in a trendy wine bar or visit a nearby winery, making this city one of the best hidden gem destinations in all Hungary.

Read more: 11 Must-Know Dos And Don'ts For Getting Through Airport Security, According To TSA

Pecs as a walkable museum

The Zsolnay Cultural Quarter in Pecs, Hungary - posztos/Shutterstock

As Hungary's first university was founded in Pecs in 1367, the city continues to flourish to this day both due to its medieval legacy and its burgeoning youthful spirit. The Janus Pannonius Museum, named after the city's celebrated bishop and an ardent contributor to its academic spirit, is located in the city's historic center, covering a wide range of exhibits from fine arts to archaeology. Incidentally, the Early Christian Necropolis of Pecs, a UNESCO World Heritage site and the largest Christian tomb complex outside of Italy, is right around the corner. While bursting at the seams with art and history, Pecs certainly stands out as a cheaper, less touristy alternative to Budapest's increasing overcrowding issues that haunt many a European capital.

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Pecs earned the title of one of Europe's Capitals of Culture, and the Zsolnay Cultural Quarter will immerse you in the city's cultural heritage  showcasing the stunning porcelain produced by the Zsolnay family who called the quarter its home dating back to 1851. Marvel at the Gyugyi Collection of vases and pots finished with Eosin (Zsolnay's secret iridescent glazing technique), visit a glove-manufacturing atelier on site, and admire contemporary art at the m21 Gallery. This crown jewel of Pecs is sure to leave an impression. After all, it's East-Central Europe's largest cultural building complex. As it is large, opening hours vary throughout the exhibits, so it's wise to check out their website to plan around your schedule.

Wine, hearty meals, and scenery in Pecs

Historical center of Pecs - mehdi33300/Shutterstock

Having worked up a healthy appetite sightseeing around Pecs, a heartwarming and cozy corner is the next order of business. If you want to eat like a local in a place that'll make you feel like you belong, seek out the Istvan Pince (Istvan Cellar). This humble hole in the wall hides a delicious menu in its underground cellar, where you can stuff yourself like a cabbage roll under $13. Try its famous bean goulash, "Gypsy roast", and a local wine spritzer called froccs, pronounced "frerch". Reviewers sing high praise for the establishment, with a 4.6 rating from over 700 Google reviews.

Thanks to its sub-Mediterranean climate and the cover of the Mecsek Mountains, the Pecs region is well known for its winemaking. Yielding familiar varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay, as well as local native grapes like Kekfrankos, the wines are full-bodied and pair well with the locally hearty cuisine. The Eleven wine bar on Szechenyi Square is the perfect venue to spoil your palate with its rich selection and a meal under $40, and you can buy a few bottles to take home at their kiosk as well. Just a 40-minute drive east of Pecs you'll find the artisanal Planina Borhaz Winery where you can experience an excellent and budget-friendly tasting tour of the local wines for $17, led by the owner.

Ready to discover more hidden gems and expert travel tips? Subscribe to our free newsletter and add us as a preferred search source for access to the world's best-kept travel secrets.

Read the original article on Islands.
Sarahjane Ternier, the long-time partner of former North Miami mayor Philippe Bien-Aime and mother of three of his children, has been detained by federal immigration officials. Her detainment comes weeks after a federal civil complaint was against Bien-Aime accusing him of using fraudulent documents to obtain citizenship and bigamy.

Sarahjane Ternier, the long-time partner of former North Miami mayor Philippe Bien-Aime and mother of three of his children, has been detained by federal immigration officials amid an ongoing effort to strip the Haiti-born politician of his U.S. citizenship.

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman confirmed Friday to the Miami Herald that Ternier was arrested by agents on Wednesday in Miami in relation to a final deportation order issued on July 31, 2000. According to the agency, Ternier entered the U.S. on June 12, 1994; her appeal of the deportation order was dismissed on Oct. 23, 2002, by the Board of Immigration Appeals. She will remain in ICE custody pending her removal from the United States. ICEs detainee locator showed on Saturday morning that she was being held at the Broward Transitional Center.

Ternier and Bien-Aime have long been a couple, though details from Bien-Amies ongoing federal denaturalization case cast doubt upon whether the couples 1993 marriage in Haiti was legitimate. According to the case, he was simultaneously married to two other women during his relationship with Ternier, a registered nurse

When reached by phone by a Herald reporter, Bien-Aime, 60, did not offer much comment on Ternier being in ICE custody, beyond saying, Shes coming home. Bien-Aime said he did not know who her lawyer was. The federal government has accused Bien-Amie of spinning a decades-long web of deceit involving multiple identities  and wives  to gain a green card and later American citizenship.

Prior arrest

Ternier also wasnt always saying who she was.

A criminal complaint filed in the U.S. Northern District of New York shows that on Feb. 14, 1997, she attempted to enter the U.S. using a fake Canadian identification card.

She was in a car with a man named William Jean Louis when they arrived at the Champlain Port of Entry at the Quebec-New York border. Broward County has records of a 2001 marriage between Ternier and a Haitian man with a similar name.

During the inspection in New York, the officer noted that Ternier did not match the identification on the citizenship card. She was unable to match the card signature, or produce additional documentation to support her claim, read the complaint.

After a search of the car revealed a Haitian passport with Terniers name and photo, Ternier ultimately admitted to her true identity. She told the officer she was on her way to Florida to obtain an an illegal residence and look for work in the United States.

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She pleaded guilty to possessing an I.D. with the intent to defraud the U.S. and was ordered to spend two days in jail (which was listed as time served) and pay a $225 fine and a special assessment, according to a judgment.

ICEs statement to the Herald did not specify if this arrest also led to the immigration case where Bien-Aime and Ternier were ordered deported in July 2000. The denaturalization complaint against Bien-Aime states the 1997 deportation case was opened against him for not being in possession of a valid entry document. Bien-Aime had testified during those proceedings that he had used a fake passport to enter the United States in 1995, according to federal court records.

Three wives, two husbands

Ternier has long been publicly described as Bien-Aimes wife. The couple share three adult children and frequently appeared together during his political career, which spanned several terms as a North Miami councilman, a term as North Miami mayor and an unsuccessful bid for county commissioner.

But according to the federal denaturalization complaint, Bien-Aime was simultaneously married to other women at various points, including during the times he lived with Ternier.

Court documents say that Bien-Aime married Ternier in Haiti on June 20, 1993, under the name Jean Philippe Janvier. But the federal filing also shows that same day he also married another woman, Beatrice Gelin, under the name Philippe Bien-Aime. A U.S. immigration summary of Haitian government records show that the marriage and divorce certificates for Janvier and Ternier were found to be fraudulent.

On April 16, 2001, Ternier married Jean Louis. The following month Bien-Aime married Marie Rose Evelyn Chauvet in Broward County, online court records show. He later applied for and obtained permanent residency and eventually U.S. citizenship in 2006 through his marriage to Chauvet, according to the civil complaint.

But during all those years of marriage to Chauvet, Bien-Aime was still married to Gelin in Haiti because his divorce certification was fraudulent, according to federal documents, and he was living part-time with Ternier and raising their children. Broward County online records show that an older child, a daughter, was the subject of a paternity lawsuit Ternier filed against Bien-Aime months before her 2001 marriage to Jean Louis.

Terniers love story with Bien-Aime was briefly detailed in a 2021 profile of the politician by Island Origins Magazine. According to the article, the duo met and fell in love in Haiti. As a 9-year-old, Ternier had a crush on Bien-Aime, who is 10 years her senior. The two would eventually reconnect as adults and have been inseparable since, the story said.

Hes a loving man, a loving father, Ternier told the online magazine, and described him as a protector and provider and hands-on father to their three private school-educated children. Ternier also quit her nursing job to canvas fulltime for Bien-Aime during his mayoral run, according to the profile, which also notes that two of his children have political aspirations.

One of their children is listed as a planner for North Miami in the office of land use services on the city website as well as her private LinkedIn.
EXPRESS PRIO: Illegal immigrant teacher accused of groping young girls in his class

An undocumented immigrant has been charged with multiple counts of assault and battery after it was alleged that he had groped several students at a Virginia high school.

Israel Flores Ortiz, 18, is a junior at Fairfax High School. He was arrested on March 7 and appeared in court on Friday morning.

Ortiz illegally entered the country in 2024 from El Salvador. He was released under a federal policy from the Biden administration.

According to the mother of one of the victims, Ortiz would allegedly sneak up behind girls he didn't know and grab them by the crotch. "There's a group of about 12 individuals that have reported this assault," the mother said.

"It was all perpetrated by a single individual who is a stranger to the girls. He just sneakily walked up behind them and put his hand in between their legs." Victims claimed Ortiz had been touching them inappropriately for months; however, police have listed his official offense date as February 25.

Victims say Israel Ortiz would sneak up behind girls and grab them by the crotch (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

"It was not just a butt smack or a butt grab," the unnamed mother said. "It was a groping of a private area. It had been occurring for several months."

The victims' parents were unhappy with how the school district and Principal Georgina Aye handled the case. "I think from the very beginning, Fairfax County has attempted to diminish what happened to these girls," said one parent, calling the county's approach to the incident "abysmal."

Aye released a letter on March 12, warning parents of a "student touching students' buttocks." The letter read, "We are writing to share the news of the recent arrest of a student who was charged with inappropriately touching other students at school."

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"These incidents involved the student touching students' buttocks while they were transitioning in the hallways," it continued. Parents say the letter was only sent out after they "demanded it."

They claimed that the principal's choice of words led to the victims being bullied, "adding fuel to the rumors that they were just attention seeking."

"The girls have experienced harassment and bullying from peers at school," a parent said. Parents claimed that Fairfax County Public Schools would allow Ortiz back into class if he was released from custody.

However, County Judge Dipti Pidikiti-Smith denied his request to be released on bail, even after the prosecution agreed. Pidikiti-Smith, who received surveillance footage of the incident, claimed the bail request didn't adequately protect the public.

ICE agents are looking to deport Ortiz (Image: Getty)

A detainer was issued on Ortiz at the time of his arrest by Immigration and Customs Enforcement so that he could be deported. But the agency said that the Fairfax County Sheriff's Office didn't honor the detainer. "Unfortunately, sanctuary politicians like [Virginia] Gov Abigail Spanberger are outlawing cooperation with ICE and choosing to RELEASE criminal illegal aliens from their jails back onto their communities to create more American victims," said ICE in a statement.

The victims' parents are also concerned that even if Ortiz is convicted, he won't serve the time they believe he deserves. Ortiz was charged with assault and battery, not sexual assault, meaning he could spend just under a year in jail.

The parents agreed that the most important thing is making sure this doesn't happen to other girls in the future. "I feel like this seems like a crime of someone that will escalate ... if it's not handled properly, and that's been my concern," said a parent.

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An illegal immigrant released during the Biden administration has been charged with multiple counts of assault and battery after allegedly groping female classmates in the hallways of a Virginia high school, according to parents and school officials.

"I think this entire horrifying situation is the direct consequence of policy with really dysfunctional priorities, and that's to shield adult illegal immigrants at the expense of children's safety, even in their public schools," Stephanie Lundquist-Arora, the mother of 3 students in the Fairfax County School System, told Fox News.

Lundquist-Arora joined "Fox & Friends Weekend" to discuss the arrest of a 19-year-old student accused of touching several female classmates inappropriately while they were walking through the halls of Fairfax High School.

Illegal Immigrant Accused Of Assaulting Nj Teen Could Be Released Under Sanctuary Policies, Ice Warns

Fairfax County Public Schools bus is seen outside of Lutie Lewis Coates Elementary School in Herndon, Va. on Thursday, May 11, 2023.

The student, identified as Israel Flores Ortiz, was arrested and charged with nine counts of assault and battery after allegedly touching female students while they were walking through the hallways between classes, according to a letter sent to parents by Fairfax High School officials.

Lundquist-Arora claims officials at the high school waited two weeks to inform parents and the move only came after parental pressure.

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High School Senior Charged With Random Murder After 68-Year-old Woman Found Dead In Massachusetts Home

Fox News reached out to both Fairfax High School and the school district (FCPS).

A contact for Fairfax County High School did not immediately return Fox News Digital's requests for comment.

FCPS provided the following statement:

"While Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) is unable to comment on specifics due to federal and state privacy laws, we prioritize student and staff safety and we fully investigate any time someone shares that an incident has occurred at school, or that they do not feel safe at school. We are grateful to our law enforcement partners who continue to work swiftly and thoroughly when there are safety concerns in our schools. The safety of all FCPS students and staff remains a top priority."

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Original article source: Illegal immigrant released under Biden charged with groping female students at Virginia high school
A United States Postal Service collection box stands on a city sidewalk as pedestrians walk nearby. Photo: Tareq Ismail / Unsplash

(The Center Square)  Voters casting their ballot by mail in Illinois must have it postparked by midnight on election day.

But, the Illinois Attorney Generals office announced with recent postmark changes that went into effect in December, ballots dropped off at a Postal Service retail location on election day may not be postmarked until one or two days later, disqualifying the ballot.

Ballots properly postmarked can be counted up to two weeks after election day.

USPS AND TAXES

While the USPS postmark will still show the date of the first automated processing operation, the postmark may no longer reflect the date when the piece of mail, including your tax filings, was dropped off at a local post office.

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Thats the warning from the Illinois Department of Revenue. Officials are encouraging taxpayers who mail their returns and payments to do so earlier than they typically would to ensure they meet the April 15 filing deadline.

FIX A LEAK

The Illinois Commerce Commission is sharing tips for utility customers to take part in the national Fix-a-Leak Week.

Among the tips are to replace worn-out toilet flappers, place drops of food coloring in the take to see if theres a leak, and ensure tight connections for shower heads.

Another tip, always be sure to turn off the water line before starting repairs.
Iranian authorities say they have arrested dozens of people accused of spying for Israel across several provinces, according to state media reports over the weekend.

Fars, a news agency affiliated with Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), reported Sunday the West Azerbaijan prosecutors office had arrested 20 individuals in the northwestern city of Urmia for allegedly providing Israel with information about military, police and security sites.

On Saturday, Irans Ministry of Intelligence said it had arrested several "enemy operatives" across the country, including a 10-member group in Mazandaran province and another 10-member network in Khorasan Razavi province, according to Tasnim, a semi-official news agency.

Authorities said the suspects transferred the locations of military installations and economic infrastructure and shared coordinates of public places, academic institutions and research centers with Israel.

Iranian Regime Spreading Anti-israel Propaganda Across Dozens Of Social Media Accounts: Report

In southern Khuzestan province, intelligence officials also reported arresting a three-person "terrorist team" accused of carrying out armed attacks against security forces and government facilities.

Read On The Fox News App

The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Israel has relied on tips from ordinary Iranians to identify targets for strikes inside Iran, citing a senior Israeli security official.

The newspaper said information about potential targets is sent through Israeli Persian-language social media accounts and is verified by Israeli authorities before strikes are carried out.

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Cia Urges Iranians To Use Burner Phones, Tor To Contact Us In Persian-language Video

A woman holds an Iranian flag during a funeral in northern Tehran, Iran, on March 14, 2026.

In a separate development, Bahraini authorities said Sunday they arrested five people accused of passing sensitive information to the IRGC and helping recruit operatives for potential attacks inside the country.

According to a statement from Bahrains Police Media Center, the suspects allegedly collected and transmitted coordinates and images of sensitive locations, including hotels, to the IRGC.

Iranian Regime Spreading Anti-israel Propaganda Across Dozens Of Social Media Accounts: Report

Click Here To Download The Fox News App

Officials said one suspect previously received training at IRGC camps in "trafficking persons and recruiting operatives to participate in implementing terrorist plots."

The five detainees were referred to Bahrains Public Prosecution, while a sixth suspect identified in the case is believed to be a fugitive abroad.





Original article source: Iran arrests dozens accused of spying for Israel in new internal crackdown
President Donald Trump announced "major combat operations" against Iran on Feb. 28, with massive joint U.S.-Israel strikes attack targeting military and government sites, officials said.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was among those killed in Tehran on the first day of strikes and his son Mojtaba Khamenei was chosen to succeed him. Iran is responding with missile and drone attacks targeting Israel, regional U.S. bases and multiple Gulf nations. Iran is also attempting to block some shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

Israel is also intensifying its long-running strike campaign against the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia in Lebanon.

Watch special coverage on Nightline, "War with Iran," each night on ABC and streaming on Disney+ and Hulu.

Latest Developments





Mar 17, 5:17 PM

Iran confirms death of security chief Ali Larijani

Iran's Supreme National Security Council has confirmed that senior official Ali Larijani is dead.



In a statement published by the semi-official Tasnim news agency on Tuesday, the council said Larijani died alongside his son, a security deputy of the secretariat, and several members of his protection team. It did not provide details on how or where the deaths occurred.



Earlier Tuesday, the Israeli minister of defense said Larijani, the head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, was killed in an overnight attack on Iran.

Mar 17, 4:32 PM

DNI head backs Trumps Iran threat determination after Kent resignation

Hours after National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent resigned over his objections to the war in Iran. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard on Tuesday publicly backed President Donald Trumps authority to determine what constitutes an imminent threat on the war.



As our Commander in Chief, he is responsible for determining what is and is not an imminent threat, and whether or not to take action he deems necessary to protect the safety and security of our troops, the American people and our country, Gabbard tweeted.



In the lengthy X post on Tuesday, Gabbard stopped short of directly addressing Kents resignation, or Kent by name.



The Office of the Director of National Intelligence is responsible for helping coordinate and integrate all intelligence to provide the President and Commander in Chief with the best information available to inform his decisions, Gabbard added.



After carefully reviewing all the information before him, President Trump concluded that the terrorist Islamist regime in Iran posed an imminent threat and he took action based on that conclusion, she continued.

Mar 17, 3:58 PM

More than a dozen Reaper drones lost in combat

More than a dozen unmanned MQ-9 Reaper drones have been lost in combat as part of the operations against Iran, two U.S. officials confirmed to ABC News.



The Reaper drones were either lost to Iranian missile fire or were destroyed on the ground by incoming fire.



Reaper drones can be used as reconnaissance aircraft, but they are also equipped with Hellfire missiles used to strike at targets.

Senior Airman Haley Stevens/USAF - PHOTO: A U.S. Air Force MQ-9 Reaper assigned to the 556th Test and Evaluation Squadron armed with an AIM-9X Block 2 missile sits on the ramp at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada, Sept. 3, 2020.

The loss of this number of Reapers is indicative of how many of these key unmanned aircraft must be operating as part of the U.S. operations against Iran.



The loss of the drones in the Iran war was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

Mar 17, 3:58 PM

IRGC confirms death of Basij commander

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps confirmed that Basij commander Gholamreza Soleimani has been killed in an "Israeli-U.S. attack."



In a statement on Tuesday, the IRGC said that Soleimani's assassination shows "importance and role of the Basij" in the fight against Israel and the United States.

Mar 17, 3:08 PM

Israel says it will deepen its position in Southern Lebanon

The Israel Defense Forces said on Tuesday they are deepening their position into Southern Lebanon, claiming they are creating "additional layer of security for residents of northern Israel."



"In recent days, IDF troops from the 36th Division have begun limited and targeted ground operations aimed at enhancing the forward defense area," the IDF said in a statement.



"The troops are continuing efforts to establish the forward defensive posture in order to remove threats and create an additional layer of security for residents of northern Israel," the IDF said.

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Mar 17, 3:07 PM

IDF claims without evidence that Hezbollah preparing for an attack

The Israel Defense Forces claimed, without evidence, that Hezbollah is planning for an attack against Israel, including rocket barrages, in the coming hours, according to a statement.



In a letter addressed to Hezbollah fighters, Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem praised them and pledged to continue fighting on Tuesday.

Mar 17, 11:48 AM

Trump says most NATO allies won't join war, but US doesn't 'need' them

President Donald Trump said that "most of our NATO 'allies'" do not want to join the U.S. and Israel's war against Iran.



Trump claimed allies' refusal to join is "despite the fact that almost every Country strongly agreed with what we are doing, and that Iran cannot, in any way, shape, or form, be allowed to have a Nuclear Weapon," he wrote in a post on social media.



"Because of the fact that we have had such Military Success, we no longer 'need,' or desire, the NATO Countries assistance  WE NEVER DID! Likewise, Japan, Australia, or South Korea .... WE DO NOT NEED THE HELP OF ANYONE!" he said in the post.

Yuri Gripas/EPA/Shutterstock - PHOTO: President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin in the Oval Office of the White House, on St. Patrick's Day, March 17, 2026, in Washington.

French President Emmanuel Macron said the country would never take part in operations to unblock the Strait of Hormuz, and that it is carrying on with work to prepare a coalition that could provide freedom of navigation once hostilities ended, according to Reuters.



"We are not party to the conflict and therefore France will never take part in operations to open or liberate the Strait of Hormuz in the current context," Macron said at the start of a cabinet meeting to discuss the conflicts in the Middle East, according to Reuters.

Mar 17, 10:22 AM

NCTC Director Joe Kent resigns over opposition to Iran war

National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent resigned Tuesday over his opposition to the war in Iran, becoming the highest-profile administration official to step down publicly over the conflict.

In a resignation letter posted publicly on social media, Kent wrote that Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation and said he could not in good conscience support the war. The National Counterterrorism Center is housed within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. ABC News has reached out to ODNI for comment.

Mark Schiefelbein/AP - PHOTO: Joseph Kent, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, speaks during the House Committee on Homeland Security on Capitol Hill in Washington, Dec. 11, 2025.

Kent, who is an Oregon native, is a combat veteran who served over 20 years in the U.S. Army and completed 11 combat deployments in the Middle East. Kent led the U.S. counterterrorism and counternarcotics enterprise and he served as the principal counterterrorism adviser to the president, according to ODNI.

Kent also invoked a deeply personal loss in explaining his decision. He is a Gold Star husband whose late wife, Navy Senior Chief Petty Officer Shannon Kent, was killed in action during a suicide bombing while serving in Syria in 2019.

"I cannot support sending the next generation off to fight and die in a war that serves no benefit to the American people nor justifies the cost of American lives," Kent wrote in his resignation letter.

Mar 17, 9:24 AM

Tanker hit by falling debris, not projectile, UKMTO says

A tanker at anchor off the coast of the United Arab Emirates was struck on Tuesday by "falling debris" rather than a projectile, as had previously been thought, the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations Centre said in an updated advisory.



The vessel, which has not been publicly identified, was "subjected to falling debris from interceptions in the vicinity of the vessel," UKMTO said.



There was "minor" damage to the vessel and the crew were reported as safe, the organization said.



-ABC News' Zoe Magee

Mar 17, 8:13 AM

IDF details Larijani killing in 'precise' strike

The Israel Defense Forces said on Tuesday that Ali Larijani, the influential Iranian security official whod been a key representative of former Supreme Leader Ali Khomenei, was killed in a "precise" Israeli aerial strike.



The IDF statement followed the Israeli defense minister's announcement of the death.

Ho/KHAMENEI.IR/AFP via Getty Images - PHOTO: Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani attend the sixth international conference in support of Palestinian intifada (uprising), in Tehran.



"Following the elimination of Khamenei, Larijani consolidated his status as the de facto leader of the Iranian regime and led the combat efforts against the State of Israel and countries across the region," the IDF said in a statement.



Describing him as the "de facto leader" of the Iranian regime, the IDF said that Larijani was killed by an Israeli Air Force strike near Tehran.



Israel described Larijanis death as a "further blow" to the Iranian leaderships abilities to manage the war against the U.S. and Israel.

Click here to read the rest of the blog.
Spring break is here, and Floridas beaches are about to fill up with visitors looking for sunshine, waves, and long days by the water. For many travelers, that also means packing a cooler with drinks to enjoy on the sand.

But before you bring that six-pack to the shore, its important to know the rules. Not every Florida beach allows alcohol, and breaking local ordinances could lead to hefty fines or even jail time.

If youre planning a beach day around Jacksonville or Northeast Florida, heres what you need to know about where alcohol is allowed, where its banned, and the penalties you could face if you ignore the rules.

When is Spring Break 2026 for Duval County students?

For Duval County Public Schools students in Jacksonville, the break runs March 1620.

When do colleges in Jacksonville have spring break?

The University of North Florida, Jacksonville University, Edward Waters University and Florida State College at Jacksonville are all also scheduled for spring break between March 16 and 20.

Can you drink alcohol on Jacksonville Beach?

No. Drinking alcohol on Jacksonville Beach is illegal.

According to the City of Jacksonville Beach, alcoholic beverages and open containers are generally prohibited in public places, including the beach itself.

That means you cannot legally drink alcohol:

On the sand

On public streets

On sidewalks

At public beach access points

Violating Jacksonville Beachs alcohol ordinance can result in fines up to $500 or up to 90 days in jail.

Visitors planning a beach day should leave alcoholic beverages at home or enjoy them at licensed bars and restaurants instead.

Can you drink alcohol on Neptune Beach?

No. Alcohol is not allowed on Neptune Beach.

According to the City of Neptune Beach, consuming alcoholic beverages on the sandy beach area is prohibited. The city also bans glass containers, which are considered a safety hazard.

Under local ordinances, drinking alcohol in public areas like the beach is considered a criminal offense. These rules are actively enforced by local authorities to help maintain public safety and keep the beach family-friendly.

Can you drink alcohol on Ponte Vedra Beach?

No. Alcohol is prohibited on Ponte Vedra Beach.

Ponte Vedra Beach falls under St. Johns County, where local rules ban alcoholic beverages in public beach areas and on the sand.

The county also prohibits:

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Glass containers

Smoking

Vaping

Law enforcement and beach patrol officers enforce these rules to protect the environment and public safety.

Is alcohol allowed on Amelia Island Beaches?

No. Alcohol is not allowed on Amelia Island beaches.

According to the City of Fernandina Beach and Nassau County regulations, possessing or drinking alcoholic beverages on the beach is strictly prohibited.

This rule applies to:

Beaches within Fernandina Beach city limits

Nassau County-managed beach access points

The sandy beach areas of Amelia Island

Anyone caught with open containers or consuming alcohol on the beach could face fines up to $500 or possible incarceration

What are Florida's laws regarding alcoholic beverages in public?

According to Florida's Open Container laws, the public consumption of alcohol is generally prohibited, which includes spaces such as parks, streets, or even beaches. Depending on where you are, you can be cited for possessing an open alcoholic beverage while in public.

However, Florida law firm HP Defenders writes that exceptions do exist, with certain beaches having designated areas where alcohol consumption is allowed.

Does Jacksonville have an open container law?

Yes. Jacksonville has an open container law that restricts alcohol in many public areas.

Drinking alcohol in public parks and other public spaces is generally prohibited. However, there are exceptions.

Alcohol may be allowed if:

A special event permit has been issued by the City of Jacksonville

The event is held in a designated Open Container Area

Alcohol consumption is limited to the event timeframe

Outside of permitted events, open containers in public parks and similar areas are not allowed.

Which beaches across Florida allow alcohol during spring break months?

ABC Wines shared an updated list last year of where you can bring booze on your beach day (responsibly!) and their restrictions.

Beaches on Florida's East Coast

Beachside communities are feeling the effects of spring break with crowds, tourists and traffic jams beachside. Crowds pack the beach near the Westgate Cocoa Beach Pier.

Flagler Beach: Alcoholic beverages are permitted on the beach.

Cocoa Beach: Alcoholic beverages are permitted on the beach.

Playalinda Beach: Alcoholic beverages are permitted on the beach.

Beaches on Florida's West Coast

Madeira Beach: Alcoholic beverages are permitted on the beach, just not in glass containers.

St. Pete Beach: Alcoholic beverages are allowed on the sand at beachfront hotels, but only for hotel guests.

Treasure Island: Alcoholic beverages are allowed. However, no alcohol is allowed on the beach between the 8500 block and the 9900 block of Treasure Island Beach between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.

Redington Beach: Alcoholic beverages are permitted on the beach, but alcohol is not permitted on the neighboring (and similarly named) beaches of Redington Shores and North Redington Beach.

Siesta Beach: Alcoholic beverages are permitted on the beach, just no glass containers.

Turtle Beach: Alcoholic beverages are permitted on the beach, just no glass containers

Lido Beach: Alcoholic beverages are permitted on the beach, just no glass containers

Naples Municipal Beach: Alcoholic beverages are permitted on the beach; however, they are not permitted on the pier (except beer and wine between noon and one hour past sunset). Alcohol is not permitted one block north and one block south of the pier on 12th Avenue, 13th Avenue and Broad Avenue South.

Florida Panhandle Beaches

University students enjoy spring break near Senor Frogs Mexican Food & Fiesta in Panama City Beach, Fla., March 18, 2025. (Tyler Orsburn/News Herald)

Panama City Beach: Alcoholic beverages are permitted year-round, except for March. Enforced in 2016, the ban was put in place after years of unruly crowds and spikes in violence.

Pensacola Beach: Alcoholic beverages are permitted on the beach, omitting an alcohol-free zone located on a ... portion of the beach on the Gulf of Mexico on Pensacola Beach extending 320 feet west of the existing Pensacola Beach Gulf Pier and 225 feet north of the shoreline to the sand fencing, encompassing an area approximately 1.75 acres (Escambia County, Code of Ordinance, Chapter 6, Sec. 6-3. - Alcohol-free zone).

Perdido Key: Alcoholic beverages are permitted on the sandy areas of the beach.

Shell Island: Alcoholic beverages are permitted year-round.

Can I consume alcohol in Florida state parks?

No. For those wanting to ditch the crowds and head to a state park beach, keep in mind you'll have to ditch the alcoholic drinks.

Alcoholic consumption is also not permitted in public locations within any of the Florida state parks, including beaches, tubing/paddling areas, or first-come, first-served picnicking areas. It is allowed in reserved overnight accommodations and covered picnic pavilions.

Doris Alvarez is a Breaking and Trending Reporter for The Florida Times-Union. You can get all of Jacksonvilles best content directly in your inbox each weekday by signing up for the free Daily Briefing and News Alerts newsletters at jacksonville.com/newsletters.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Can you drink alcohol on the beach in Florida? Here are the rules
The Book

Of Rice, Love and War by Elana Sabharwal

Amidst the turmoil of the Vietnam War, the line between loyalty and betrayal is blurred in this gripping romantic spy thriller.

Amelie, a French journalist born in colonial Indochina, navigates the treacherous landscape of espionage as a communist spy working for the North Vietnamese. Under the guidance of her handler, Tran, Amelie finds herself entangled in a deadly game of cat and mouse, operating between Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand.

When Amelie receives crucial evidence from a burned CIA operative in Bangkok, she becomes further embroiled in the war's chaos and her emotions are torn between two men: Magnus, a dashing Scottish reporter, and Tom, a charismatic American officer.

As the stakes heighten and allegiances are tested, Amelie must confront the devastating impact of violence on her life and the cost of loyalty, duty, and love. Can she survive the war, find love, and uncover the truth without losing herself in the process?

How the book came to be

The author of LOVE, RICE AND WAR, Elana Sabharwal explains: Growing up in South Africa in the mid 70s, I was always listening to adult conversation which focused on the war in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), Embeth Davidtz's latest movie, Dont Lets Go the Dogs Tonight, is an example of the climate at the time. And of course, the South African Bush wars with our neighbours, like Angola who were supported by the USSR. The threat of communism was real.

The Vietnam War wasnt really mentioned, and I discovered it in Life Magazine at the school library. The photos were raw and ignited compassion and curiosity. I tried to talk about the war to adults who dismissed it as Americas war, not our concern, so I never understood it.

Finally, in 2011, I travelled to Vietnam and realised I wanted to write a story set during the war and explore the conflict. I hoped to write a novel from a womans perspective, unlike the war novels written by men featuring male protagonists.

The gist of my story came to me on a flight from Saigon to Danang. The following 10 years I spent researching and writing the story. I think someone who hasn't fully understood what the war was about would have a better idea after reading my book, without having to delve into academic and historical accounts. I have referenced the actual characters from that period and used creative license to incorporate them and events into the story.

A strange coincidence happened when I decided to call my male protagonist Tom Bass. I discovered that a book about Pham Xuan An, a communist spy, was written by Thomas Bass. It was strange, as I had already planned to base my character, who was to be my female protagonists communist handler, on Pham Xuan An. I decided not to change Basss name, and in the end, was encouraged to continue and complete this novel.

Why you would read this book Complex female protagonist: born in colonial Indochina, of French and English parents, and working as a communist spy for North Vietnam. The author ELANA SABHARWAL wanted to explore the role of a female spy since it's classically a male-dominated field

A unique setting: Vietnam's involvement in the Vietnam War provides a rich and complex historical backdrop, allowing for the exploration of politics, culture, and human relationships amidst conflict.

Author has been to Vietnam and did copious amounts of research to support the novel

About the author

Elana Sabharwal is a Goldsmiths graduate with a master's degree in Screenwriting. With a global background spanning Italy, India, and South Africa, Elana brings a unique perspective to her writing. Her debut novel, The Delhi Deception, was published in 2012 and was optioned for film. Elana now resides in the New Forest, England, where she continues to write.

What we thought

'Avery complex and thoroughly detailed story that shows how female spies operate. It is compelling to the extreme - a must read!

Natalie Key for Femalefirst

RELEASE DATE: 28/03/2026 ISBN: 9781806340538 Price: 10.99

by Natalie key for www.femalefirst.co.uk


A Russian LNG tanker, Arctic Metagaz, damaged earlier this month and currently adrift without crew, floats in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea between Malta and the Italian islands of Lampedusa and Linosa, in this handout picture released on March 13, 2026. Marina Militare/Handout via REUTERS

BRUSSELS, March 16 (Reuters) - Italy, France and seven other nations told the European Commission that a Russian liquefied natural gas tanker adrift in the Mediterranean represents an ecological threat, and they urged swift action, a letter showed on Monday.

Russia's Foreign Ministry acknowledged that the vessel was adrift in the Mediterranean and said Russia's further involvement in resolving the situation depended on "concrete circumstances".

The letter from EU states to the European Commission said the Arctic Metagaz was drifting in waters between Malta and Italy. Its state posed a "dual challenge" -- upholding maritime safety and preventing an ecological disaster against the background of EU sanctions imposed on Russia.

"The precarious condition of the vessel, combined with the nature of its specialised cargo, gives rise to an imminent and serious risk of a major ecological disaster in the heart of the Union's maritime space," the letter seen by Reuters said.

The EU said the vessel was part of Russia's "Shadow Fleet" intended to circumvent sanctions imposed in connection with Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Action to resolve the situation, including surveillance, monitoring and other technical support, risked "undermining the integrity, effectiveness and the deterrent value of the EU sanctions regime".

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Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement on the ministry website that Moscow was in touch with the vessel's owner and foreign "competent bodies". It had no crew, she said, and was carrying 700 metric tons of different types of fuel and "a substantial amount of natural gas".

"The international legal norms applicable to the current situation imply the responsibility of coastal countries ... for resolving the situation with the drifting vessel and preventing an environmental disaster," Zakharova wrote.

"Further involvement by the shipowner and Russia as the flag state will depend on the specific circumstances."

Russia's Transport Ministry earlier this month said the Arctic Metagaz, carrying LNG from the Arctic port of Murmansk, was attacked by Ukrainian naval drones and said the weapons had been launched from the Libyan coast.

Libya's maritime agency reported on March 4 that the vessel sank in waters between Libya and Malta after catching fire a day earlier. Kyiv has not claimed responsibility for any such attack.

(Reporting by Angelo Amante; Editing by Hugh Lawson, Ron Popeski and David Gregorio)
Eric Olson and Ray Reser will compete for the office of Portage County executive in the April 7 election.

Portage County executives serve four-year terms. Current Executive John Pavelski filed a notice of non-candidacy in the race.

To learn more about registering to vote and to find your polling place, visit My Vote Wisconsin.

The Stevens Point Journal asked each of the candidates to address important issues in the district and why they are running for the position.

Eric Olson

Eric Olson

Municipal residence: City of Stevens Point

Age: 53

Occupation and education: Director of Extension Lakes at UW-Stevens Point. I have a bachelors degree in urban forestry and a masters degree in urban and regional planning.

Relevant experience: For 16 years I have led the Extension Lakes office, which entails hiring and supervising staff, managing an annual budget and working with county and local government to interpret state statutes related to government finance and operations.

Campaign website/Facebook page: www.olsonforportageco.com

Ray Reser

Ray Reser

Municipal residence: Town of New Hope

Age: 70

Occupation and education: County Board chair, Town supervisor. I hold a Ph.D. in the geosciences

Relevant experience: I have served two terms on the Portage County Board, was elected County Board chair and served concurrently as Portage County executive during a medical emergency. I have also served on the County Board of Adjustment and on multiple county and town planning and review committees, in addition to volunteer consulting positions for both the county and local law enforcement. I worked in the trades as a union laborer, a journeyman carpenter and taught the state apprenticeship program at NorthCentral Technical College.

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Campaign website/Facebook page: www.reserforportagecounty.com and Reser for Portage County Executive on Facebook

Why are you running for office?

Olson: Im running because I believe strong, accountable county leadership matters. The next county executive will play a critical role in protecting what makes our county a great place to live, while helping us build a better future together. I have worked in public service for over 30 years and understand how government decisions can affect people across our community, from farmers and small businesses to families and seniors. I want to leverage my background, experiences and community connections to defend and advance the public good in Portage County.

Reser: In brief, Portage County both requires and deserves proven leadership and vision. My experience working cooperatively with an often-divided County Board as both board chair and county executive provide equally critical skill sets for maintaining functional and forward-moving county operations, capital projects and financial planning. Experience in the county executive position is critical to seamless and qualified oversight of our $142 million budget and supervision of 650 county employees. I bring that direct and successful background to the table. I am running with that proven experience as well as public and institutional trust across the county and beyond.

What makes you the better candidate in this race?

Olson: I have the training and professional background the executive position requires. My experience includes managing government budgets, supervising public employees and applying state law to local government. I have brought people together to resolve differences and identify practical solutions to complex problems. I am also the candidate who actually wants to do this job and keep the county executive role. My opponent wants to eliminate the position in favor of hiring a county administrator who reports to the County Board chair. I believe this position should remain elected, so power stays where it belongs: with the voters.

Reser: A proven record of moving county projects forward that have been stalled for years. A demonstrated work ethic that Portage County deserves in leadership. A thoughtful approach to understanding and tackling difficult issues, and the ability to reach across any aisle to unite decision-makers and make meaningful progress for all residents of Portage County. A long background in the trades, science and farming, combined with a deep knowledge and pride of Portage County's environment and resources, both natural and human. But perhaps most important, the ability to work cooperatively and effectively as a non-partisan leader.

What is the most pressing issue facing Portage County, and how would you address it?

Olson: Were seeing a growing cynicism in the county about democracy and voting. People voted to save the Portage County Health Care Center twice, but county leadership sold it anyway. People did not vote to build a $150 million jail and law enforcement center, but county leadership is making that happen anyway. People voted to create the county executive, but my opponent wants to eliminate it. Our democracy is based on the concept that peoples votes mean something; they matter. We need new leaders who respect the voters.

Reser: Counties are unique and complex. There is no single challenge I can pull out without doing disservice to others of equal concern. As a start, Portage County will likely be facing significant shortfalls in state and federal funding for services across multiple departments. We will still need to balance that loss while providing the maximum services. We have critical groundwater contamination issues that are costing municipalities millions in treatment while leaving private well owners with no adequate resources. We are facing an increase in taxes to cover mandated infrastructure projects we have delayed for too long.

What are residents telling you are their most important issues and how would you address them?

Olson: Residents are concerned about the cost of living, particularly housing and property taxes. There are people who grew up in Portage County, went to UW-Stevens Point, landed a good job here, but are priced out of our housing market so they buy in Wood County. We need to support efforts like the Portage County Community Land Trust and Habitat for Humanity to create more affordable housing options. We can also create county initiatives modeled on Stevens Points home maintenance and loan programs, implementing them in places like Rosholt and Junction City so that more people can stay in their homes long term.

Reser: Residents are worried about increased taxes, potential loss of critical services due to decreased funding, water-related issues, federal interference in local policing and affordable housing. All these issues need to be approached in measured, pragmatic and thoughtful ways that reflect our recently vetted and approved county core values and mission. In a time of deep division, we need unity and mutual respect across local government, to act together as a county, for the county. I have built that trust and created that consensus. I will address these issues by continuing to build cooperation on realistic achievable goals and fostering support for those goals.

How will you balance providing essential services with rising concerns of affordability and cost of living?

Olson: We should be more price-conscious regarding major capital projects so that we arent forced to hold the line on taxes by reducing public services that contribute to our quality of life. The plan that the current executive and board chair developed is arguably the most expensive and disruptive course. We could build a new four-courtroom courthouse as an addition to the Courthouse Annex for less money and with fewer complications. A similar courthouse addition is under construction right now in Pierce County and is costing significantly less than what is proposed for Portage County.

Reser: Portage County isnt alone in these challenges; all counties are struggling with current levy cap limitations and the transfer of funding for services from the state to counties. I will work with legislators in Madison to lift this cap and loosen restrictions that currently hinder funding of education, infrastructure expansion and business attraction, along with lobbying to increase shared revenue under Act 12 to offset local costs.

How will you work with the County Board to identify viable solutions to long-standing issues in the county?

Olson: The role of the county executive is to support and manage staff and to present an annual budget. The County Boards role is to set policy and vote on the annual budget. I applaud the current board chair for providing training that reinforces board members legislative responsibilities and how they differ from the executives role. Opportunities exist within this current structure to find viable, durable solutions through communication that focuses on identifying shared interests and creating pathways for mutual gain. My role as county executive will be to ensure a true county-wide perspective in these deliberations and decisions.

Reser: In a word, with leadership. I have successfully worked with the County Board to address some of the longest-delayed capital improvement projects and address environmental concerns that have plagued the county for decades. That type of success doesnt happen by chance, it takes a concerted and honest effort to work across boundaries, parties and perceptions of what Portage County needs today and into the future. Building that working relationship between the County Board and the county executives office has long been a challenge in the county, but we have that relationship now, and I will continue to work cooperatively to ensure that progress carries through.

Erik Pfantz covers local government and education in central Wisconsin for USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin and values his background as a rural Wisconsinite. Contact him at epfantz@usatodayco.com.

This article originally appeared on Stevens Point Journal: Eric Olson, Ray Reser vying for the Portage County executive office
LOS ANGELES  TV viewers were treated to a movie-fueled spectacular at Sundays 98th Academy Awards.

"One Battle After Another" won big with six Oscars, including best picture and best director for Paul Thomas Anderson. "Sinners" scored four wins, including best actor for Michael B. Jordan, whose acceptance speech soared amid a rousing Dolby Theater standing ovation.

But the real drama wasnt on TV.

Heres what USA TODAY saw behind the scenes  from the backstage media room, in the audience, and at the Oscar bars  and what you didnt catch on the ABC broadcast hosted by Conan O'Brien (now streaming on Hulu).

1 / 0 See Michael B. Jordan's career  'Sinners,' 'Creed,' and Oscars win After a long, heated race, Michael B. Jordan is officially an Oscar winner.



The actor, producer and director took home the award for best actor at the 98th Academy Awards on March 15, 2026, for his lead dual roles in Ryan Coogler's "Sinners."



Prior to his Oscar-winning role, however, Jordan initially broke out in television, playing Wallace in Season 1 of the HBO crime drama series "The Wire." His film breakout role was "Fruitvale Station," and he's also known for his work in the "Creed" and "Black Panther" movies.



Scroll through to see more photos of the actor, also known as MBJ, throughout his career and his journey to the Oscars.



Pictured here, Jordan poses with the Oscar for best actor for "Sinners" in the Oscars photo room at the 98th Academy Awards.

'Sinners' star Michael B. Jordan is the best at the Oscars

Jordan rode to a strong finish in his first-ever Oscar win, overtaking a strong field that included onetime front-runners Timothee Chalamet ("Marty Supreme") and Leonardo DiCaprio ("One Battle After Another"). When Jordan stepped from the roaring Dolby Theater crowd into the backstage media room, normally jaded journalists burst into a booming standing ovation  prompting the chuffed actor to ask, "What's up?" and hold his chest for a moment.

Jordan said he felt extremely blessed.

"Man, it feels great, he said, looking at his Oscar.

But it wasn't all about winning. Earlier in the show, when "Weapons" veteran Amy Madigan was crowned best supporting actress, Jordan jumped out of his seat during the commercial break to hug "Sinners" costar Wunmi Mosaku, who lost out in the category.

Afterward, Jordan posted a sweet photo on Instagram Stories of his mother, Donna, proudly holding her son's historic Oscar envelope. At the Governors Ball afterparty, Jordan smiled while watching his Oscar personalized and celebrated with his sister, Jamila Jordan-Theus. He capped the evening in classic L.A. style, taking Oscar to In-N-Out for a burger where the surprised late-night diners went wild.

Kylie Jenner and Timothee Chalamet at the 98th Oscars.

Chalamet gets support from Elle Fanning, Adrien Brody

With every winner, there are four other Oscar category losers  including Chalamet in that best actor category. The ambitious actor battled hard for the honor during awards season. But, on Oscar night, Chalamet was roasted in the monologue by O'Brien for past comments about ballet and opera, and ultimately came up short to Jordan. It was a long evening.

Though most of the audience leaped to their feet when Jordan's name was announced, Chalamet stayed seated next to date Kylie Jenner for nearly 10 seconds in the front row before slowly standing to applaud.

In the following commercial break, "Sentimental Value" star Elle Fanning rubbed Chalamet's shoulder from the row behind the actor. Her boyfriend, Gus Wenner, also gave a supportive pat on the back. Last year's winner, Adrien Brody, who presented the award, pulled Chalamet in close for a long handshake before the ceremony resumed.

Chalamet and Jenner gamely stayed through the ceremony before exiting hand in hand, skipping the Governors Ball to head straight to the Vanity Fair party across town.

Jacob Elordi hangs at bar with mom, Mia Goth, 'Frankenstein' crew

"Frankenstein" star Jacob Elordi lost his best supporting actor race to "One Battle" star Sean Penn, who didn't even show up at the Academy Awards to accept his third win. During the commercial break, Elordi immediately exited the theater to the lobby bar with his mother, Melissa, his Oscar date, and kept to a small group in the bar corner.

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Later, the two were joined by "Frankenstein" costars, including Mia Goth (who perused the gratis cocktail menu with Melissa), Felix Kammerer, who played Frankenstein's brother, William, and Mike Hill, who won the Oscar for best makeup. Even as Elordi drank what appeared to be ice water, the group got rowdier and happier through the night.

Stellan Skarsgard, who also missed out in the best supporting actor category for his acclaimed role in "Sentimental Value," greeted Elordi before seeking bar relief of his own.

"Part the sea, to the bar," Skarsgard said, working his way through the crowd with his wife, Megan.

1 / 0 Kate Hudson, Jacob Elordi and more stars brought family to 2026 Oscars Hosted again by Conan O'Brien , the 98th Academy Awards are officially underway.



Ahead of the award ceremony, stars celebrated film's biggest night with their families by their side. See the sweetest photos here.



Pictured here, mother-and-daughter Goldie Hawn (L) and Kate Hudson attend the 98th Annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California on March 15, 2026.

Kate Hudson has big fears of missing Oscar moments with Goldie and Kurt

Kate Hudson happily exited the theater during the first commercial break, chatting animatedly with Emma Stone about their respective outfits. The nominated "Song Sung Blue" star joined her parents, Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell, for cocktails before Hudson suddenly wondered whether she might miss the best actress award at the lobby bar. Hudson scurried to a headphone-wearing theater director to ask about the schedule. She was told there was plenty of time.

Im good, a relieved Hudson chirped to her parents, sailing back to the bar. The family finished their drinks and strolled leisurely back into the show.

1 / 0 See the best celebrity photos captured at the 2026 Oscars Host Conan O'Brien welcomes viewers and audience members to the Oscars show at the 98th Academy Awards in Los Angeles, March 15, 2026.

Grogu gets carried away in quick Oscar exit

One of the night's cutest surprise guests, Grogu, aka Baby Yoda, didn't stay long in the theater after an audience appearance alongside an adoring Hudson. As soon as the show cut to commercial, the green puppet was carried out of the theater on a red cushion. Grogu did not make an appearance at the Governors Ball.

Paul Thomas Anderson faces the situation room after best picture win

One Battle" creator Paul Thomas Anderson, who won three Oscars as writer/producer and director, was impressed with the array of global journalists backstage. This is cool. This is like the situation room, the first-time winner said.

Anderson was not overly eager to wade into politics backstage when asked about the global climate.

1 / 0 The best Oscars moments you didn't see on TV, from backstage sightings to celeb hangouts From Emma Stone and Demi Moore having a catch-up to all the winners embracing their major moment backstage, here's a look at everything going on behind the scenes at the 98th Academy Awards.



Pictured here, Conan O'Brien talks to Amy Madigan, winner of the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for "Weapons," backstage during the Oscars.

"I thought we were supposed to be partying," he said, then added: I dont know where its going. But I know the end of our movie has our hero, Willa, heading off to continue to fight against evil forces.

Holding two of his Oscars, Thomas added that he hopes to see common sense and decency back in fashion.

'KPop Demon Hunters' songwriters finished acceptance speeches backstage

One of the more controversial moments of the telecast came when the winners of best original song  for Golden in KPop Demon Hunters  had their group acceptance speech cut off onstage.

In the media room, they got to finish their speeches.

Yu Han Lee thanked his family, calling the win an incredible honor." Mark Sonnenblick also thanked his family, his husband, and everybody who worked on this movie.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Michael B. Jordan, Timothee Chalamet, Elordi backstage Oscar moments
A U.S. Border Patrol agent looks across the U.S.-Canada border near Malone, N.Y., on Sept. 16, 2024. Photo: Glenn Fawcett / U.S. Customs and Border Protection via Flickr / United States Government Work

(The Center Square)  There are at least 700 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps members in Canada who pose a national security threat, a Canadian member of Parliament warns. The IRGC is part of the Iranian armed forces.

We have 700 IRGC agents, whom we know about, who are currently active in this country, Melissa Lantsman, a conservative MP for Thornhill, Ontario, said during a recent parliamentary debate. She also said Canadas Minister of Public Safety Gary Anandasangaree could not even tell us if there was more than one who has been expelled.

Iranian refugees and Canadians of Iranian descent are terrified that the repression and reach of that regime is right here in our country, she said. We know of senior members of the regime who have worked out in the same gyms as they have, a neighborhood gym in my own constituency. We know of senior members of the regime eating in fancy steak houses. We know of senior members of the regime's kids who are studying in universities here.

There has been violence in our communities. There have been people kidnapped. There have been, potentially, murders because of the reach of the mullah's thugs.

She also held a news conference stating that IRGC agents presently on Canadian soil are using Canada as a safe haven to organize and to fundraise and to terrorize diaspora communities right here at home.

 : A clearly shaken up Melissa Lantsman explains that hundreds of IRGC terrorists are freely living it up in Canada. Terrorizing Iranian Canadians & Jewish Canadians, with impunity.Elbows up Liberals could care less as shots ring out daily at Jewish communities and pic.twitter.com/5Npdjq02UN Bruce McGonigal (@bruce_mcgonigal) March 11, 2026

Anandasangaree later said individuals who are believed to be members of IRGC are being thoroughly investigated by the Canada Border Service agencies. They're going through the legal process of being removed. Some have already been removed. We will continue to ensure that every single member who is inadmissible to Canada will be removed.

Lantsman said Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney was nowhere to be found as the debate on the threat of Iran to Canadians continued in parliament.

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Carney has provided mixed messages on the U.S./Israel strike against Iran, first stating he supported it with regret. He also said it was a failure of international order and occurred without engaging the United Nations or consulting with allies, including Canada, BBC News reported. Two days later, he said the strikes were inconsistent with international law.

The Canadian warning comes as The Center Square has reported on northern border national security and terrorism threats for years. Sources have told The Center Square that the national security crisis is largely due to Trudeau-era visa policies that admitted men considered Special Interest Aliens into the country, including a member of ISIS who later went on to plan a terrorist attack in Toronto.

It also has to do with a lack of resources or political will to address a massive international crime ring involved in drug trafficking, organized crime, human smuggling and money laundering in Canada. Several Canadian groups have called on Canadian authorities to address the threat, noting that the government doesnt even have data about several threats it's requested.

The Canadian-U.S.-Future Borders Coalition, Canadian Center of North American Prosperity and Security, and others are also working with Texas leaders to develop national security solutions, The Center Square reported.

Last February, President Donald Trump declared a national emergency at the U.S.-Canada border after a record number of illegal border crossers were reported entering the U.S. from Canada. Among them were the greatest number of known or suspected terrorists (KSTs) apprehended coming from Canada as terrorist arrests soared under the Biden and Trudeau administrations, The Center Square first reported.

Last December, the Trump administration identified at least 18,000 KSTs released into the U.S. during the Biden administration. The total also included 2,000 Afghans released into the U.S. with have ties to terrorist organizations, The Center Square reported.

An additionL 1,500 Iranians were apprehended by U.S. Border Patrol agents after they illegally entering the U.S. nationwide from 2021 to 2024. Nearly half, 729, were released into the country who werent properly vetted, authorities told The Center Square in an exclusive report.

The Center Square obtained the data after Trump authorized the use of American-built B2 bombers to strike three nuclear facilities in Iran last June.

Nine months later, a U.S./Israel attack against Iran is entering its third week and concerns are growing about retaliatory Iranian terrorist attacks on U.S. and Canadian soil.
Medically reviewed by Amy Kwan, PT

Credit: Carrastock / Getty Images

Age doesn't matter as much as training experience, body composition, and technique when determining how much a woman can squat.

Strength training, including squats, supports bone density, mobility, and independence, especially after age 50.

Gradual progression, proper form, mobility work, and adequate recovery help safely increase squat strength over time.

Squatting is a compound weight-lifting exercise that uses equipment such as barbells or dumbbells to help build muscle and strength. For women, the amount of weight to use depends on a number of variables, from training experience to mobility level, but does age factor in? Squat strength is highly individual, but there are a number of science-backed tips that can help you determine the optimal number to squatand help you safely increase the amount of weight you lift over time.

How Much Should a Woman Be Able to Squat?

Your age can play a role in how much you squat, but experts say your starting strength is highly variable among women, depending on training experience, training history, and body composition.

However, Blake Brightwell, CSCS, NSCA-CPT, RSCC*D, told Health that the general population should work to achieve a back squat equal to or greater than their bodyweight.

A woman who is new to lifting may initially squat around 40-60% of her body weight as she develops her technique and foundational strength, and then, with several months of consistent training, that often increases to approximately 60-80% of her body weight," Kathleen Benson, CSSD, CPT, RDN at VNutrition, told Health. "Recreational lifters who have trained for a year or longer are able to squat around their body weight, while more experienced lifters may squat over 120% of their body weight. However, please note that these benchmarks are general reference points rather than strict standards.

What if Youre in Your 40s?

Age doesn't matter as much as your technique and training.

"Someone in their 40s with a lower body fat percentage could potentially squat way more than a 20-year-old with a higher body fat percentage and poor form, low muscle mass, and weak mechanics," Danielle Gray, NASM-CPT, WFS, CES, Celebrity Trainer and CEO of Train Like A Gymnast, told Health.

How Strength Changes After 50

From the age of 50 onwards, women have a higher risk of osteoporosis (a chronic disease that causes bones to progressively weaken over time), which puts them at greater risk of falls. However, research shows that strength training can significantly increase bone density in this age group.

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"Studies show that moderate-intensity resistance training about three days per week can meaningfully support bone health," Michael Richardson, MD, president of the Massachusetts Academy of Family Physicians, and founder of Bespoke Primary Care, a concierge primary care practice in Wellesley, Massachusetts, told Health.

"[Weight squats] build strength, but more importantly, they train a functional movement pattern that we rely on in day to day life," said Richardson. "Being able to squat well helps with everyday actions like sitting, standing, and maintaining balance. This becomes increasingly important as we age and try to prevent falls."



What If Youre Below These Benchmarks?

If you're below the squatting benchmarks, there are ways to safely increase your strength and training load over time. You can start by improving your squatting ability, ankle and hip mobility, balance, hamstring and quad flexibility, and core stability.

"This can be done by doing different squat variations like deep goblet squats, single leg squats, animal flow, static and dynamic stretching, and isolated anti-flexion and rotation core exercises," said Gray. "As your range of motion and mobility improve, your personal record (PR) will increase. This can also help prevent injuries."



Why Squat Strength Matters More Than You Think

Studies show that strength gains through weighted exercises like squats have positive impacts on health and lifespan.

Total body strength and lean body mass (muscle, bone, and connective tissue) are directly correlated with longevity," said Brightwell. "Since we lose strength and lean body mass as we age, the best insurance plan is to get as strong as possible at a young age and maintain as much of this strength and lean body mass as possible over the course of life."

For example, squats and other strength-training exercises are important for building strength, bone density, and muscle mass, which aid mobility, prevent osteoporosis, and support independence later in life.



How to Safely Increase Your Squat Strength

There are a number of expert-backed tips you can implement into your training program to safely increase your squat strength. If you're new to weightlifting or want to achieve maximum strength benefits, you can also work with a certified personal trainer (CPT), who can teach you proper form and help you create a consistent routine.

Be consistent: "It's important to perform the movement two to three times per week with a 24-48 hour rest between training sessions," said Brightwell.

Increase your volume slowly: "For beginners, 2-3 sets of 8-15 repetitions is a great starting point, increasing the total volume (sets x repetitions x load) by 5-10% per week. It is recommended to only manipulate one of these variables per week.

Push yourself: As for intensity, work close to technical failure, leaving 1-2 repetitions in the tank per set.

Mind your form and recovery: "Attention to technique and recovery is absolutely important to increasing squat strength," said Benson. "Maintaining proper squat form consistently, getting adequate rest between training sessions, and supporting training with nutrition including adequate protein intakecan all help individuals increase strength over time."

Read the original article on Health
An FBI agent assigned to then-special counsel Robert Muellers investigation into Donald Trumps 2016 campaign has made bombshell allegations charging that misconduct, political bias, and overzealous thoughts permeated the team  to the point of festooning the walls of their office with anti-Trump cartoons and drinking alcohol while on the job.

A Lets get him attitude colored the two-year investigation into false claims that Trump and his advisers colluded with Russia to win the 2016 presidential election, the unidentified agent said.

The allegations were first made in December 2020, when the agent was interviewed as part of an internal FBI probe into alleged misconduct by then-supervisory intelligence analyst Brian Auten  a central figure in both the Russia collusion hoax and the Hunter Biden laptop cover-up.

The Mueller investigation consumed more than half of Trumps first term as president. AFP via Getty Images

Special counsel Robert Muellers investigation found no evidence of collusion between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia. AP

In a Sunday night letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) detailed the most troubling aspects of the agents account, saying it confirms long-standing concerns that political bias rotted the decision-making process within the Mueller team  The American public deserve answers.

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Among the most damning allegations:

There was no authority for the Special Counsels Office to open a case on Tom Barrack, a billionaire friend of Trumps and chairman of his 2017 inaugural committee, over false claims that he was an unregistered agent of the United Arab Emirates. The FBIs Washington Field Office already had declined to open an investigation into the now-78-year-old but the Mueller team nevertheless arrested Barrack, held him in jail, and charged him with being an agent of a foreign government. After a lengthy and expensive legal battle, Barrack was acquitted by a jury in 2022. He now serves as US ambassador to Turkey.

The Mueller team chronically abused federal surveillance, or FISA, warrants that govern secret monitoring of suspected foreign agents to target Trump campaign advisers, even renewing them over the objections of FBI agents. In one case, the agent claimed, the target of the investigation [was] cooperating and the [surveillance warrant] would not give us anything more and there was nothing in the past FISA that aided the investigation other than to prove the Target was being honest with the investigators  there were no corroborating facts that tied [the target] to certain facts that we thought were originally true. When investigators decided to apply for a fourth warrant against the aide, the agent pointed out a series of needed corrections. In response to the proposed revisions, FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith told him: We cant send this. The DOJ subsequently decided the corrections werent needed. Clinesmith later pleaded guilty to doctoring an email that underpinned a FISA warrant application for another blameless Trump adviser, Carter Page. He was sentenced to 12 months probation and kept his law license after a short suspension.

Mueller prosecutor Zainad Ahmad, a protege of former Barack Obama Attorney General Loretta Lynch, repeatedly violated security protocols: For example, she brought classified documents to a meeting at WFO [Washington Field Office] without adherence to FBI security policy by bringing her classified notebook to the meeting without a proper carrying bag. What was worse, she came to WFO from her residence, meaning she kept her notebook at the residence.

Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe referred to President Trump in a derogatory manner in an official interview record  and DOJ prosecutors later tried to pressure FBI agent Michelle Taylor to change the tone of the [document] to reflect that McCabe spoke about [Trump] without the negative connotation. Taylor refused and left the FBI shortly after her secondment to the Mueller team ended, the agent said.

A general atmosphere  of bias [in the office was] led by one young prosecutor, Aaron Zelinsky  There were caricatures and cartoons that were anti-Trump. Zelinsky, who handled the zealous investigations into Trump advisers Roger Stone, George Papadopoulos and Michael Caputo, resigned from the DOJ in January 2025.

Muellers investigation ran until March 2019, at a cost to taxpayers of more than $30 million, but found no evidence of Russia collusion.

In May 2023, another special counsel, John Durham, released a report describing the Trump-Russia probe as seriously flawed and finding that the FBI discounted or willfully ignored material information that did not support the narrative of a collusive relationship between Trump and Russia.

Grassley has asked Bondi and Patel to produce all emails, files and personnel records relevant to the agents allegations by March 29.
Zendaya had an unexpected cameo at a Las Vegas wedding after fuelling marriage speculation with Tom Holland.

Zendaya flashes a ring on that finger

The 29yearold actress, who became engaged to her SpiderMan: No Way Home costar in late 2024, has been seen wearing a new ring on her left hand in recent weeks. Earlier this month, her longtime stylist Law Roach claimed the couple had already tied the knot, and on Thursday (12.03.26) night, Zendaya appeared to confirm the rumours at Essences Black Women in Hollywood Awards.

Just as fans were still buzzing about her ring reveal, Zendaya unexpectedly stepped into a very different wedding role  as a surprise witness for a couple tying the knot in Sin City.

Over the weekend, the actress stunned guests at a chapel ceremony when she quietly slipped through the doors to watch the nuptials. Footage shared on A24s Instagram Stories shows Zendaya peeking into the room, prompting gasps from the crowd as she took a seat in the back row to enjoy the ceremony.

Additional clips show her applauding the newlyweds and even signing the official marriage documents as a witness.

While adding her signature, she joked: Last name reveal, referencing her longrunning decision to go by a single name professionally.

Zendaya also posed for photos with the couple  Payton Whitmore and Kadeem Strickland  alongside her The Drama costar Alana Haim, who was also in attendance.

At the Black Women In Hollywood Awards, host Marsai Martin teased her cousin Zendaya about her famously private love life and asked her to give me a sign.

The Euphoria star shyly flashed what looked very much like a wedding band, prompting cheers from the audience. According to People, she was also overheard accepting congratulations from fellow attendees.

Law Roach had previously insisted the wedding had already taken place, telling Access Hollywood: The wedding has already happened. You missed it. When pressed on whether he was being serious, he replied: Its very true! Zendayas mother, Claire Stoermer, later shared the clip on Instagram with a laughing emoji, adding the cryptic caption: The laugh

Zendaya and Tom, also 29, first sparked dating rumours in 2016, though they did not publicly confirm their relationship until 2021 when they were photographed kissing. Both have repeatedly stressed their desire to keep their romance private.

Tom told The Hollywood Reporter: Our relationship is something that we are incredibly protective of we dont think that we owe it to anyone.

Zendaya echoed the sentiment in GQ, calling their bond sacred and something she wants to experience and enjoy amongst the two people that love each other.
Patient in Canada waits over 12 hours in hospital emergency room: 'I'd rather pay

A woman seeking emergency care for severe abdominal pain recently shared her frustration on social media with the long wait times at a Canadian hospital.

Amanda Gushue, 37, first visited her primary care physician  who sent her to the emergency department (ED) with a swollen appendix.

After waiting for two hours in triage, she was sent to the waiting room  where she was shocked to see that it could be anywhere from five to 15 hours before she could see a doctor or nurse.

How To Use Trumprx To Find Cheaper Cash Prices On Medications

She ultimately waited another 10 to 12 hours before she was seen.

Nearly all of the 150 seats were full, according to Gushue, a resident of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. "This is what we deal with when we go to the hospital on a regular basis  youre looking at spending a full day there," she told Fox News Digital.

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Gushue shared that one elderly woman came in with a head wound, "bleeding profusely," and had to wait for two hours before she was seen.

Gushue said she attributes the long wait times to a scarcity of doctors. "We have tons of nurses, but no doctors."

Even after she was admitted, Gushue claimed she received sub-par care and was not given sufficient privacy.

Dangerous Tiktok Trend Leaves Boy Badly Burned As Doctors Issue Warning

Canada has a universal healthcare system that is funded through taxes, according to the governments website.

Eligible residents of a province or territory can apply for public health insurance to access free healthcare services, the website states.

"I would rather pay for my healthcare at this point and get treated fairly," Gushue said.

After waiting two hours in triage, a patient in her late 30s was sent to the waiting room  where she was shocked to see a 15-hour wait time displayed. (iStock)

"The healthcare system is overworked right now, and these doctors are probably exhausted," she said, expressing her point of view. "They're working around the clock, and then after a 16- or 17-hour shift, you get a cranky doctor."

Gushue was ultimately admitted. She had her appendix removed recently.

She is now recovering and said she "feels great."

In 2024-2025, there were more than 16.1 million unscheduled emergency department visits in Canada's hospitals, an increase from about 15.5 million the year before, according to the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).

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Among those patients who were admitted into the hospital from the emergency department, nine out of 10 of the ED visits were completed within 48.5 hours, the above source stated. For those who were not admitted, nine out of 10 were completed within around eight hours.

Median wait times vary widely by province, CIHI stated.

Some of the main factors contributing to the extended wait times include staff and bed shortages, hospital flow issues (due to lack of primary care access), and overcrowding that leads to system stress, according to the Canadian Medical Association.

"The healthcare system is overworked right now, and these doctors are probably exhausted," Gushue said.

Dr. Warren Thirsk, an emergency room doctor in Edmonton, recently shared with the Calgary Journal that he sometimes sees more than 100 people in the waiting room of his hospital, which only has 30 chairs.

"People who can stand, stand. Some are on the ground, and were hoping theyre alive," he said. "And you walk by this carnage, and then you start your day."

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The doctor added that some patients wait all night to receive care. "What used to be a mass casualty event is now the new norm," he said, per the report.

Another ED physician, Dr. Michael Howlett, who is president of the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians, also shared his concerns about the situation.

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"Ive worked in emergency departments since 1987, and its by far the worst its ever been. Its not even close," he told CityNews, a Canadian news outlet.

"Weve got people dying in waiting rooms because we dont have a place to put them," he went on. "People [are] being resuscitated on an ambulance stretcher or a floor. Those things have happened."

Canada has a universal healthcare system that is funded through taxes, according to the governments website.

In January, Albertas minister of hospitals announced an investigation into the death of a 44-year-old man who died after waiting nearly eight hours in an Edmonton emergency department with chest pain, according to local reports.

A system review has since been completed by Acute Care Alberta, identifying emergency department overcrowding and triage challenges. The review issued multiple recommendations to prevent similar incidents, though a formal investigation into the death remains ongoing.

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The government also announced new triage liaison physician roles in major hospitals, as physicians report continued overcrowding and capacity issues.

Fox News Digital reached out to Nova Scotia Health and Canada Health requesting comment.





Original article source: Patient in Canada waits over 12 hours in hospital emergency room: 'I'd rather pay
Pope Leo XIV on Sunday called for an immediate ceasefire in the war involving Iran, delivering his strongest remarks yet on the conflict and urging leaders responsible for the fighting to halt violence after deadly strikes that hit schools and civilian areas.

The Associated Press reported the pope made the remarks at the end of his Sunday noon blessing at the Vatican, where he appealed to leaders involved in the conflict to halt the fighting and pursue dialogue instead of continued military escalation.

"On behalf of the Christians of the Middle East and all women and men of good will, I appeal to those responsible for this conflict," Leo said. "Cease fire so that avenues for dialogue may be reopened. Violence can never lead to the justice, stability, and peace that the people are waiting for."

Leo did not cite the U.S. or Israel by name, though he appeared to reference an attack in the opening days of the war that struck a school in Iran and killed more than 165 people, many of them children.

Iran War, 11 Days In: Us Controls Skies, Oil Surges And The Region Braces For Whats Next

Pope Leo XIV called Sunday for an immediate ceasefire in the war involving Iran. (Getty Images)

U.S. officials said the strike may have been based on outdated intelligence, and an investigation into the incident is underway.

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The pope said he was particularly close to the families of victims killed in attacks that have struck schools, hospitals and residential areas during the conflict.

He also expressed concern about the impact of the fighting in Lebanon, where aid groups have warned the escalating conflict could trigger a humanitarian crisis.

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Iran Vows 'Decisive' Self Defense At Un After Trump Kills Supreme Leader In Operation Epic Fury

This picture obtained from Iran's ISNA news agency shows the site of a strike on a girls' school in Minab, in Iran's southern Hormozgan province, on Feb. 28, 2026.

Christian communities in southern Lebanon are of particular concern to the Vatican, as they have long been seen as an important presence for Christians across a largely Muslim region.

For much of the two weeks since the conflict began, Leo has limited his public comments to broader appeals for peace and dialogue while avoiding direct references to the U.S. or Israel  a stance consistent with the Vaticans longstanding tradition of diplomatic neutrality.

Some Catholic leaders, however, have taken a more direct stance on the conflict.

Red Cross Shares Audio Of Iranian Civilian Explaining Situation On The Ground In Tehran: 'No Respite'

Pope Leo XIV arrives to hold his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican on March 4, 2026.

Cardinal Robert McElroy, the archbishop of Washington, described the war as morally unjustifiable, while Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich criticized the White House for sharing social media posts about the war that included video game-style imagery.

Meanwhile, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin rejected Washingtons characterization of the fighting as a "preventive war," but said the Holy See continues to keep lines of communication open with all sides.

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"The Holy See speaks with everyone," Parolin said. "When necessary we speak also with the Americans, with the Israelis and show them what to us are the solutions."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.





Original article source: Pope Leo urges war leaders to halt fighting after deadly strike on school sparks outrage
The Severe Weather Outlook on Monday, March 16.  National Weather Service

A rare and potentially dangerous storm system is barreling toward the DMV as forecasters say the region could be facing tornadoes, destructive winds, and widespread power outages by Monday afternoon.

The National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center have placed the DC metro area under a Level 4 out of 5 Moderate Risk for severe weather  a designation rarely issued for the region and one that signals widespread severe storms are possible.

The last time the area saw a similar risk level was more than two years ago, according to meteorologists tracking the system.

Here are our Key Messages for Monday (3/16). pic.twitter.com/WaRlodZjmO  NWS Storm Prediction Center (@NWSSPC) March 15, 2026

The reason for the concern becomes clear when looking at the forecast maps: a large swath of red  the Moderate Risk zone  stretches directly across the Maryland-DC-Virginia corridor, placing millions of residents squarely in the potential path of dangerous storms.

Clouds increase today w/ highs in the 50s-low 60s.



For Monday, the Storm Prediction Center has upgraded the area to a Moderate Risk of severe t'storms. Damaging winds (some with gusts up to 65-75 mph) and a few tornadoes (locally stronger) are possible. #MDwx #VAwx #DCwx #WVwx pic.twitter.com/5186tEqNI8  NWS Baltimore-Washington (@NWS_BaltWash) March 15, 2026

Forecasters say the storm threat will ramp up Monday as a powerful cold front barrels toward the East Coast.

Warm air surging into the region ahead of the front will collide with cooler air behind it, creating a volatile atmosphere that can rapidly produce severe thunderstorms.

Expect mainly quiet weather this weekend ahead of severe weather likely to impact the entire region on Monday (Mar 16). This is in response to a strong cold front which will increase the risk of damaging wind gusts and even a few tornadoes. #MDwx #VAwx #DCwx #WVwx pic.twitter.com/LpTCIk7aPo  NWS Baltimore-Washington (@NWS_BaltWash) March 14, 2026

The combination of the vigorous dynamics ahead of the potent front and maximum daytime heating will be ripe for eruption of severe weather, the National Weather Service said in its latest forecast discussion.

Meteorologists say storms could begin developing late in the morning, but the highest risk window currently runs from early afternoon into the evening hours, when a fast-moving line of storms is expected to sweep across the area.

That timing could bring the worst weather directly into the evening commute, with damaging winds and lightning posing a specific threat.

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The National Weather Service warns gusts could reach 70 to 80 mph, strong enough to snap trees, knock down power lines, and cause structural damage in some areas.

Severe weather is expected on Monday, March 16.  National Weather Service

Forecasters say several tornadoes could develop, with at least the possibility that one or two could become stronger. Large hail, torrential rain, and frequent lightning are also possible as the storms race east across the Mid-Atlantic.

The system is expected to organize into a powerful squall line moving up the East Coast  a type of storm structure capable of producing widespread wind damage over a large area.

The Storm Prediction Center says the threat stretches from the Southeast into the Mid-Atlantic, but the bullseye Monday afternoon appears to include much of Maryland, Northern Virginia, and the DC region.

Meteorologists with the Capital Weather Gang warned the storms could produce violent wind gusts capable of toppling trees and power lines, potentially leading to travel disruptions and flight delays.

Dangerous storm outbreak could slam D.C. area Monday; tornadoes possible



An intense storm system could bring widespread and severe thunderstorms to the D.C. region on Monday, capable of producing violent wind gusts, hail and tornadoes in addition to torrential rain and pic.twitter.com/Ku5zlXmqHG  Capital Weather Gang (@capitalweather) March 15, 2026

Another local forecast group, Washingtonian Weather Geeks, said the setup could produce widespread damaging to possibly destructive winds and several tornadoes.

 SEVERE WEATHER OUTBREAK EXPECTED TOMORROW ACROSS THE DMV:



The Storm Prediction Center has upgraded the DC Metro Area to a very rare Level 4 out of 5 risk for severe weather, the first since August of 2023. The greatest chance for storms will be between 12PM-8PM Monday. pic.twitter.com/WVWIbLSNem  Washingtonian Weather Geeks (@WashingtonianWx) March 15, 2026

Residents are urged to closely monitor forecasts and ensure they have multiple ways to receive weather alerts.

Even after the storms move through, the system wont be finished.

Behind the cold front, winds will remain strong into Tuesday as sharply colder air pushes into the region.

Temperatures that climb into the 60s and 70s on Monday could plunge into the 30s and 40s on Tuesday, bringing a blustery end to the storm system.

For now, forecasters say the key message is simple: stay alert Monday afternoon and evening.
Credit: Photo by Paden Johnson - UADA Photo

Key Points

Scientists at the University of Arkansas are exploring rice proteins as a dairy-free alternative for plant-based cheese, offering a potential option for people with dairy allergies or vegans.

Researchers found that proteins from different parts of the rice grain  brown rice, rice bran, and broken kernels  produce cheeses with distinct textures and meltability.

The prototype rice-based cheeses contain about 12% protein, which is significantly higher than many commercial plant-based cheeses, while also repurposing rice-milling byproducts to support a more sustainable food system.

Absolutely everyone should get to savor a great piece of cheese. That, however, is usually a no-go for anyone allergic to dairy. But, according to new research from food scientists at the University of Arkansas, there might soon be an easy solution. In March, Mahfuzur Rahman, an assistant professor of food science at the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, along with his food science graduate student Ruslan Mehadi Galib, shared more about their study, published in the journal Future Foods, looking into the capabilities of rice proteins as an alternative food source for those with allergies.

In a single rice grain, we have three different types of protein  from brown rice, white rice, and bran, Rahman said. Thats the fundamental understanding we wanted to develop. When you say, rice protein, what does that mean? Is it brown rice protein? Bran protein? Broken kernel protein?

It turns out that the difference matters a lot, as those three protein sources are exactly what make rice such a promising ingredient for plant-based cheesemaking.

How different rice proteins change plant-based cheese

The researchers isolated proteins separately from brown rice, rice bran, and broken kernels, which are standard byproducts of rice milling, and then used each to develop a plant-based cheese prototype made with organic coconut oil and corn starch. After some experimentation and cooking, they discovered that each protein source behaves slightly differently. These differences translate directly into how the final cheese looks, melts, and feels in your mouth.

When scientists say rice protein, it turns out that could mean a few different things. Researchers isolated proteins from brown rice, rice bran, and broken kernels to see how each one behaves. Those differences ended up shaping the final cheese, from firm slices to creamy, spreadable styles.

Credit: Photo by Paden Johnson - UADA Photo

According to the team, the broken-kernel protein produced the softest cheese with the highest "meltability," making it an excellent choice for grilled cheese. Brown rice protein, on the other hand, created a firmer texture and offered higher nutritional value. Lastly, rice bran protein proved surprisingly useful, as its strong water-holding capacity helped minimize oil separation in the cheese, making it an excellent choice for spreadable cheese.

Importantly, the team found that the rice-based cheeses contained about 12% protein, which is substantially higher than commercially available plant-based alternatives.

Turning rice byproducts into sustainable dairy alternatives

Beyond being a protein-rich alternative, these cheeses also offer the bonus of being environmentally sustainable. The team explained that this is especially important in Arkansas, which produces the most rice in the U.S.

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Typically, rice bran and broken kernels are considered "low-value byproducts," often used in pet food or beer brewing, if they are used at all  meaning this new research could give these byproducts a new purpose. It might also help rice farmers earn a little extra income.

Related: The United States of Cheese: Everything to Know About Americas Growing Artisan Cheese Scene

"Utilizing these rice milling byproducts for protein extraction presents a significant opportunity to expand the U.S.-based rice protein market while promoting a sustainable circular economy," Rahman said.

Rahman explained that more work needs to be done, including refining the cheese formulas and evaluating shelf stability, but soon, you might actually be able to have your cheese(cake) and eat it too, even if you're vegan or allergic.

How this prototype rice-based cheese compares to commercial vegan cheese

Most plant-based cheeses on the market are made from ingredients such as cashews, almonds, soy, or coconut oil. While these products can replicate the creamy texture of dairy cheese, many contain little to no protein, often just 0TK to 2TK grams per serving.

Rice-based cheese could offer a different nutritional profile. In the University of Arkansas study, the prototype cheeses contained about 12% protein, which is significantly higher than many commercially available vegan cheeses.

Rice proteins may also provide another advantage: fewer common allergens. Many dairy-free cheeses rely on nuts or soy, which can be problematic for people with allergies. Because rice is generally considered a low-allergen ingredient, rice-based cheese could potentially expand options for consumers who currently have limited dairy-free choices.

Read the original article on Food & Wine
Sean Penn in Kyiv on March 16

Credit: Genya SAVILOV / AFP via Getty

NEED TO KNOW

Sean Penn was photographed in Ukraine's capital Kyiv on Monday, March 16, one day after he won his third Academy Award

Penn did not attend the 98th Oscars, at which he won Best Supporting Actor for his performance in One Battle After Another

Penn also met with Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy during his latest trip to the country, which remains at war more than four years after Russia launched a full scale invasion

Sean Penn is spending time in Ukraine just after he won his third Academy Award at the 2026 Oscars.

Penn, who did not attend the 98th Academy Awards on Sunday, March 15, was photographed in Ukraine's capital Kyiv on Monday, March 16. The actor was out of the country by the time Kieran Culkin presented and accepted this year's Oscar for Best Supporting Acotr on Penn's behalf.

Shortly after, The New York Times reported that Penn traveled to Europe in the days before the Oscars and that his plan "as of late last week" was to spend time in Ukraine rather than attend the show, citing two people who spoke anonymously.

On March 16, Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, shared a photo showing him and Penn speaking together. "Sean, thanks to you, we know what a true friend of Ukraine is," Zelenskyy, 48, wrote in a caption. "You have stood with Ukraine since the first day of the full-scale war. This is still true today. And we know that you will continue to stand with our country and our people."

Penn has been a vocal supporter of Ukraine and Zelenskyy in the years since Russia invaded the Eastern European country in February 2022. The Oscars producer thought, Oh, hes not light-hearted enough. Well, guess what you got instead? Will Smith?" Penn told Variety in a September 2023 interview, noting that the 2022 Oscars became best remembered for Will Smith slapping Chris Rock mid-show.

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I thought, well, f---, you know? Ill give them to Ukraine. They can be melted down to bullets they can shoot at the Russians," he said of giving one of his Oscar statuettes to Zelenskyy at the time.

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Penn won his third career Oscar on March 15 for his performance in One Battle After Another as antagonist Steven J. Lockjaw. The actor previously took home the Best Actor Oscar for his work in Mystic River in 2004 and Milk in 2009. Penn has also been nominated for Oscars over the years for his performances in the movies Dead Man Walking, Sweet and Lowdown and I Am Sam.

Outside of Penn's acting and public-facing shows of support for Ukraine, he co-directed a 2023 documentary on Zelenskyy's path from comedian and actor to the country's president and leader during wartime, which is currently streaming on Paramount+.



Read the original article on People
I lived in Tennessee for a few years, and one of my most cherished memories is taking scenic drives to lesser-known spots: hidden-away waterfalls, little-known restaurants, and, of course, the charming small towns that give the state its character. These towns may not be at the top of bucket lists or featured on the cover of a travel magazine, but their remoteness gives them an authenticity thats impossible to deny. For proof of this, I invite you to explore one particular hidden small town in Tennessee: Bell Buckle. Its as cute as its name, filled to the brim with local shops, charming cafes, and even an annual daffodil celebration. If you do visit, youll be quite welcome-just be sure to slow down and enjoy the rhythms of this tucked-away place.

Why This Tennessee Small Town Flies Under the Radar

Most folks visiting Middle Tennessee have one destination in mind: Nashville. And who could blame them? With its unbeatable restaurant scene, live music at any hour of the day, and landmarks like the Country Music Hall of Fame, theres so much to do in Music City. But drive just an hour southeast of Nashville, and youll find that Bell Buckle offers all of these things, just on a simpler scale. You wont find bustling honkytonks, but you will discover amazing local talent. Bell Buckle isnt trying to be the next big thing, but its underrated nature makes it that much more memorable.

What Makes This Small Town So Special

What makes Bell Buckle so special cant really be boiled down to one thing, but the beautifully preserved downtown is certainly a cornerstone of its charm. This walkable railroad village, with its colorful storefronts and welcoming awnings, is actually listed on the National Register of Historic Places. But this isnt just a facade; the small businesses behind the buildings are every bit as vibrant as their exteriors. If youre someone who loves meandering into local art galleries, antique shops, and cozy cafes, Bell Buckle is the perfect place to spend an afternoon-or longer! Annual events like Daffodil Days in March and the RC-Cola and MoonPie Festival in June bring in lots of regional visitors.

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Daffodil Days, held the third weekend of March each year, is a true celebration of spring. The tradition dates back to 1978, and the focal point is the explosion of daffodils that bloom each year. Its a great introduction to Bell Buckle, complete with family-friendly activities, live music, and flower shows. Similarly, the RC-Cola and MoonPie Festival show the towns character and just a bit of quirkiness. This event celebrates the Souths original fast food: an RC Cola and a MoonPie (two graham crackers with a marshmallow center and a chocolate coating).

Best Things to Do in This Quiet Tennessee Town

A leisurely walk through town is time well spent in Bell Buckle. One of the most popular stops is the Bell Buckle Cafe, where you can enjoy Southern classics like fried catfish, chicken pot pie, country fried steak, and a fan-favorite: carrot souffle. Its the kind of place where youll be invited to sit back, indulge in a hearty meal, and enjoy live music and lively conversation. Prefer something a bit quieter? Slip into Bell Buckle Coffee Shop & Book Swap, where you can enjoy specialty coffee drinks and find your next great read.

So, there you have it! This quiet town in Tennessee isnt exactly unknown-and visitors are always welcome-but do keep in mind that you wont be getting a crowded, stereotypical tourist experience here. Instead, you may just feel like youve found your home away from home. You can learn more about planning your visit by checking out Bell Buckles Chamber of Commerce.

Feeling inspired? Try planning your own trip using Only In Your State's itinerary planner. For related content, take a look at these Tennessee towns that are so dreamy, youll swear youve seen them on TV.
Michael B. Jordan in 2026; Will Smith in 2025

Credit: Doug Peters/PA Images via Getty; Sergi Alexander/Getty

NEED TO KNOW

Will Smith is celebrating Michael B. Jordan's big win at the 2026 Oscars

After the Creed star won Best Actor for his performance as twin brothers Smoke and Stack in Sinners, he shouted out Smith and other Black actors who have won the award over the years in his acceptance speech

Smith, who won Best Actor for his performance in 2021's King Richard, took to social media to acknowledge Jordan's shoutout and to return the mutual love

Will Smith is feeling the love from Michael B. Jordan and sending it back his way.

On Sunday, March 15, the 39-year-old Creed actor shouted out the 57-year-old star while accepting the Best Actor award at the 2026 Academy Awards for his performance in Sinners. It was his first time being nominated at the prestigious ceremony, and he beat out Leonardo DiCaprio, Ethan Hawke, Timothee Chalamet and Wagner Moura to take home one of the show's most competitive awards.

While onstage delivering his acceptance speech, Jordan celebrated fellow Black actors who had won in the Best Actor and Best Actress categories over the years, saying, "I stand here because of the people that came before me: Sidney Poitier, Denzel Washington, Halle Berry, Jamie Foxx, Forest Whitaker, Will Smith."

Will Smith accepting Oscar in 2022

Credit: Neilson Barnard/Getty

"And to be amongst those giants, amongst those great greats, amongst my ancestors, amongst my guys," he continued.

On Monday, March 16, Smith took to Instagram to shout out Jordan's achievement. He shared a photo of the younger actor holding up his Oscar, simply captioning it, "CONGRATS, Beloved. Makin History!"

Smith has been nominated in the Best Actor category three times over the years for his performances in Ali, The Pursuit of Happyness and King Richard. He took home the Oscar for the latter in 2022.

His win that night was overshadowed by an onstage altercation Smith was involved in with Chris Rock, who made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith. Smith walked onto the stage and slapped the comedian across the face, resulting in him being banned from attending the ceremony for 10 years.

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He'll be able to return to the award show again in 2033.

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Michael B. Jordan with his award at the 98th Oscars in 2026

Credit: Ser Baffo/Disney via Getty

While accepting his award, Jordan, who played twin brothers Smoke and Stack in the movie, thanked his costars Wunmi Mosaku and Hailee Steinfeld.

"Wunmi, thank you so much for giving Smoke an opportunity to be him," Jordan said. "Hailee, at home  you know she's getting ready to have a baby right now  thank you so much for being the other half of Stack."

He concluded his speech, saying, "Thank you, everybody in this room and everybody at home for supporting me over my career. I feel it. I know you guys want me to do well, and I want to do that because you guys bet on me. So thank you for keeping betting on me. And Im gonna keep stepping up. ...I love you. I love you. I love you."

Going into the 2026 ceremony, Sinners was the most-nominated film with a record-breaking 16 nods. It took home wins in four categories, including Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography and Best Original Score.

Read the original article on People
Spanish Defence Minister Margarita Robles arrives at the informal EU defense ministers meeting at Forum, in Copenhagen, Denmark, August 29, 2025. Thomas Traasdahl/Ritzau Scanpix/via REUTERS

MADRID, March 16 (Reuters) - Spain will not take part in any military mission in the Strait of Hormuz because it considers the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran to be illegal, Madrid's defence and foreign affairs ministers said on Monday.

The leftist coalition government led by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has criticised the offensive and banned participating U.S. aircraft from using jointly operated bases in southern Spain.

Defence Minister Margarita Robles rejected a demand by U.S. President Donald Trump for military support to secure the waterway - which Tehran has de facto blocked to oil tanker traffic - and his threats of a "very bad future" for NATO allies failing to do so.

"Spain will never accept any stopgap measures, because the objective must be for the war to end, and for it to end now," Robles said.

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The situation in the strait is a matter of grave concern for Europeans, but the European Union's position should be that the war must end regardless of economic considerations, Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said.

"We mustn't do anything that would add even more tension or cause the situation to escalate further," he told reporters in Brussels.

Some EU members such as Germany, Italy or Greece have also signalled they will not join military operations in the strait, while others including Denmark have yet to make a decision.

(Reporting by David Latona; Editing by Charlie Devereux and Kevin Liffey)
Dozens of petrol stations across Australia have run out of fuel as panic buying continues.

Panic buying leaves petrol stations dry across Australia

Supply disruptions and surging demand have left some towns without petrol or diesel, with regional communities facing the greatest strain. Drivers queuing at empty stations have sparked concern that shortages could ripple through local economies and daily life.

In New South Wales, 32 of roughly 3,000 service stations were reported out of at least one type of fuel, the state government said. Premier Chris Minns acknowledged that the state has sufficient fuel overall but warned that sudden spikes in demand make restocking challenging.

He said: Its harder to restock those petrol stations if theyve got more than expected out of the bowser on any given day.

Brett Hosking, president of the Victorian Farmers Federation, highlighted towns such as Wedderburn, Victoria and Robinvale, Victoria had run dry, leaving residents and seasonal workers struggling to access fuel for commuting, farming, and daily chores.

The federal government has released part of its fuel stockpile to prioritise regional communities, though it has ruled out rationing.

In Western Australia, two stations in Manjimup also dried up. Donelle Buegge, the local shire president, said independent stations were struggling more than major brands such as BP, leaving smaller towns vulnerable.

Peter Khoury, spokesperson for the NRMA, explained retail petrol prices are near record highs in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

He said: We are now in a permanent high point  in those three cities.

Farmers and rural communities are feeling the strain. Xavier Martin, president of NSW Farmers, warned that diesel shortages threaten food production, while Stuart King, mayor of Swan Hill, said seasonal workers in Robinvale, Victoria are struggling to reach farms.

King added that the shortages are affecting community wellbeing, with some residents reducing travel, delaying trips to visit family, and cutting back on recreational activities due to rising fuel costs.

He described the situation as a cumulative stress on regional life that could linger if supply and demand remain imbalanced.
US-POLITICS-IMMIGRATION-TRUMP (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

As the Trump administration appears to shift its sweeping mass deportation agenda, rattled immigration hardliners warn the move could become a midterm liability.

Major conservative groups are pushing President Donald Trump to make 2026 the year he shifts his mass deportation agenda into overdrive. However, the calls come at a time when the administration  reeling from two deadly shootings in Minneapolis and tanking public support for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)  is seemingly backing down from a wider deportation policy that targets all illegal immigrants, not just criminals. (RELATED: Is Newsoms Office Lying About Devastated Father Never Calling For Help? We Have Receipts)

With a razor-thin 217-214 GOP majority in the House of Representatives, the stakes for the presidents agenda are high as midterm elections loom. Just a few House elections will decide whether Democrats can regain control of key committees, block major bills and become a general obstacle to the presidents legislative priorities.

President Trump secured a second term in the White House largely on the promise to enforce the entirety of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as written by Congress, Matt OBrien, deputy executive director of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), told the Daily Caller News Foundation. Those of us who value national sovereignty and the rule of law are now concerned that Team Trump is going to revert to the same lazy, selective enforcement policies relied on by past presidents.

Trump shook up the status quo when he first ran for president in 2016 on a campaign theme that revolved around an unprecedented increase in immigration enforcement. Running for a third time in 2024 in the wake of then-President Joe Bidens border crisis, he heavily championed the concept of mass deportations.

Americans voted for a change and millions of inadmissible aliens entered during Bidens four years, Lora Ries, a senior immigration policy expert at the Heritage Foundation, told the DCNF. So just focusing on worst of the worst criminal aliens, that gets you hundreds of thousands, but it doesnt get you millions, and we need millions deported.

The president did buckle down on immigration enforcement during his first year back in office, with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) touting roughly 675,000 deportations and 95% fewer border encounters throughout 2025 compared to the prior administration. Even these numbers, however, have been criticized by more hardline staffers within the administration who say raw deportation numbers  the forced repatriation of illegal migrants with final deportation orders  is much lower.

The White House is denying that theres been any official change in enforcement policy.

Nobody is changing the Administrations immigration enforcement agenda, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement provided to the DCNF. President Trumps highest priority has always been the deportation of illegal alien criminals who endanger American communities.

DHS did not respond to a request for comment.

WASHINGTON, DC  DECEMBER 15: U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with White House Border Czar Tom Homan during a ceremony for the presentation of the Mexican Border Defense Medal in the Oval Office of the White House on December 15, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

A Course Correction

FAIR, Heritage and a slate of other conservative organizations teamed up in February to launch the Mass Deportation Coalition, a group dedicated to pressuring the White House to increase deportations by leaps and bounds. The advocacy group says its releasing a blueprint on how to achieve one million repatriations by the end of 2026  and wants to show these plans to the president himself.

However, these calls are coming at a time when Trump, top White House officials and congressional allies are strongly signaling a refined deportation strategy that focuses more exclusively on illegal aliens with serious criminal histories.

During a press conference in late January, the president seemingly urged his team to lighten up on enforcement and expressed sympathy for those who came here unlawfully, but are otherwise working without issue on farms or hotels, with the president adding that were looking to get the criminals out right now. On Tuesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson said the GOP faced a hiccup with Hispanic voters due to perceived overzealous immigration enforcement, but said a course correction was incoming with the ouster of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

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Earlier in March, the president declared that Oklahoma GOP Sen. Markwayne Mullin would be taking Noems place by the end of March. While a staunch Trump ally who supports hawkish border policies, its not clear yet where he stands on the current shift in messaging. A Mullin spokeswoman referred the DCNF back to the White House when asked about mass deportations.

Surveys in recent shows an incredible decline in support for immigration enforcement, with more Americans than ever before voicing approval for abolishing ICE altogether.

Trump re-entered the White House with a strong mandate on immigration policy, with voters overwhelmingly viewing him as the better candidate to handle immigration over then-Vice President Kamala Harris during the 2024 election. However, his standing on the issue has since fallen, where public approval on his handling on immigration has sunk to the lowest level since his return, according to a Reuters/Ipsos survey released in mid-February.

After four years in which millions and millions of illegal aliens poured across our borders totally unfettered and unchecked, we now have the strongest and most secure border in American history, by far, Trump said in his February State of the Union address. In the past nine months, zero illegal aliens have been admitted to the United States, but we will always allow people to come in legally, people that will love our country and will work hard to maintain our country.

Despite public denials from the White House, senior administration officials have stated theyve noticed conspicuous changes in enforcement in recent weeks. One administration staffer  speaking on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss internal matters  told the DCNF that ICE agents are increasingly ignoring notifications to pick up illegal migrants.

White House Deputy Chief of Staff James Blair privately encouraged House Republicans earlier in March to quit hailing mass deportations and instead shift messaging to the removal of violent illegal migrants, according to Axios. Blair reiterated as much in a social media post.

NEW YORK, NY  APRIL 11: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), officers prepare for morning raids to arrest undocumented immigrants on April 11, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

Turn Out Trumps Base

Issues surrounding DHS leadership and direction began in earnest amid Operation Metro Surge, a joint ICE and Border Patrol mission in Minnesota where scuffles with anti-law enforcement agitators led to the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in January. The killing of two Americans at the hands of federal agents led to incredible public backlash and gave Democrats an opening to block DHS funding unless key reforms were made, with key agencies in the department still suffering from a lack of money.

The aftermath not only sparked the swift departure of Tricia McLaughlin, the top DHS spokeswoman, but also resulted in Trump booting Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, a decision he made after two days of bipartisan grilling before congressional committees.

Border hawks are warning that a shift away from mass deportations could actually backfire for the president, as his support base may not feel energized to go to the polls come November.

With Trump not on the ballot, they have to turn out Trumps base and mass deportations is something that we found through our polling, turns out Trumps base, Chris Chmielenski, president of the Immigration Accountability Project (IAP), told the DCNF. So were hoping that with the Trump administration, it is just a messaging thing, and when it comes to policy that theyre going to continue to move forward with mass deportations.

The IAP, another founding partner of the Mass Deportation Coalition, released polling on Thursday that indicates many GOP voters could stay home if the administration gives up on its core campaign promise, with the group finding that 74% of Trump voters are more likely to vote in the upcoming midterms if the president exceeds one million deportations in 2026.

The poll notably found even higher numbers for Hispanic Trump voters, with over 75% of Hispanic respondents saying they would also more likely vote for Republican candidates in November if Trump undergoes mass deportation efforts.

So we found that actually, this particular issue that they seem to be running away from, is something that motivates his base and could end up backfiring on them, Chmielenski said.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporters byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.
U.S. President Donald Trump gestures as he arrives back to the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 15, 2026. REUTERS/Aaron Schwartz

WASHINGTON, March 16 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump will sign an executive order on Monday to formally launch a task force to prove fraud nationwide led by U.S. Vice President JD Vance, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said.

Trump and Vance are scheduled to sign the order at 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time (1930 GMT) at the White House, according to the president's schedule.

Trump previously tasked Vance with leading administration efforts to investigate fraud in Minnesota. The forthcoming order "will investigate fraud across the country," Leavitt told reporters at the White House.

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The New York Post, citing a document describing the order, singled out California, Illinois, New York, Maine and Colorado as U.S. states with "insufficient" fraud oversight. Reuters has not verified the report.

Vance last month criticized Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, who was Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris' running mate in 2024, over his efforts to combat fraud and froze than a quarter of a billion dollars of Medicaid funding for the state.

Walz has slammed the Trump administration for what he called "a campaign of retribution."

(Reporting by Katharine Jackson and Nandita Bose; writing by Susan Heavey; editing by David Ljunggren)
President Donald Trump said Monday that White House doctors helped treat Rep. Neal Dunn after the Florida Republican was given what he described as a "terminal" diagnosis.

Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., recounted the episode during remarks at the White House, saying Dunn was continuing to work in Congress despite a "pretty grim" outlook.

"He would be dead by June," Trump told reporters.

Johnson said he informed Trump of Dunns health challenges and the president suggested involving White House medical staff.

Florida Republican Rep Neal Dunn Announces Retirement From Congress After Five Terms

Rep. Neal Dunn, R-Fla., arrives for the House Republican Conference caucus meeting at the U.S. Capitol, March 4, 2026. (Getty Images)

The speaker said White House doctors arranged for Dunn to receive treatment at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where he underwent emergency surgery.

Read On The Fox News App

"The man has a new lease on life. He acts like he's 30 years younger," Johnson said.

Trump praised White House doctors as "miracle workers," saying they moved quickly to help Dunn.

"I said, I have to call them. And I called the two doctors. They're both great. And they immediately went over to see the congressman, and he was on the operating table like two hours later," Trump added.

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Republican Lawmakers' Early Retirement Rumors Send Shockwaves Through House Gop

House Speaker Mike Johnson, President Donald Trump and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles attend a meeting at the White House in Washington, March 16, 2026.

Dunn, a physician and former Army surgeon who represents Floridas 2nd Congressional District, announced in January that he would not seek re-election after five terms.

In a statement at the time, the congressman said he wanted to "pass the torch to new conservative leaders, return home to Panama City, and spend more precious time with my family and our beloved grandchildren."

"It has been my greatest honor to fight for lower taxes, our military and veterans, the unborn, healthcare innovation, and policies that empower Americans over bureaucracy and addressing threats from Communist China, Russia and others," he added.

Republican Lawmaker's Early Retirement Rumors Send Shockwaves Through House Gop

Rep. Neal Dunn arrives at the Rayburn House Office Building on Nov. 2, 2023.

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As of mid-March, 60 House members, including 23 Democrats and 37 Republicans, have announced they will not seek re-election in the 2026 election cycle, according to the U.S. House of Representatives Press Gallery "Casualty List."

Several Republicans are running for other offices, including governor and Senate, while Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, lost his primary to Steve Toth.





Original article source: Trump reveals terminal diagnosis for sitting congressman, intervention from White House doctors
FILE PHOTO: A tanker sails in the Gulf, near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from northern Ras al-Khaimah, near the border with Omans Musandam governance, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in United Arab Emirates, March 11, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo

March 14 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday called on nations to send warships to keep the Strait of Hormuz open for shipping as Iranian forces continue their retaliation campaign amid U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran.

About a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas normally passes through the strait, a narrow passage of water between Iran and Oman. Tehran's ability to stop shipping through the channel could give it enormous leverage over the U.S. and its allies.

"The Countries of the World that receive Oil through the Hormuz Strait must take care of that passage, and we will help  A LOT!" Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. "The U.S. will also coordinate with those Countries so that everything goes quickly, smoothly, and well."

In an earlier post on Saturday, Trump predicted that "Many Countries, especially those who are affected by Irans attempted closure of the Hormuz Strait, will be sending War Ships, in conjunction with the United States of America, to keep the Strait open and safe."

Trump wrote that he hoped China, France, Japan, South Korea, Britain and others would send ships to the area.

"In the meantime, the United States will be bombing the hell out of the shoreline, and continually shooting Iranian Boats and Ships out of the water," he wrote.

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The White House did not respond to a request for comment on whether any countries had agreed to send ships.

Western nations have bolstered their military presence in the eastern Mediterranean during the conflict in Iran, focusing on the security of Cyprus after an Iranian-made drone hit a British military base on the island on March 2.

Britain is also exploring additional options for deployments to the Gulf after Iran stepped up attacks on vessels, defence minister John Healey said on Thursday. The British government is talking to allies and partners about "a range of options to ensure the security of shipping in the region," a Ministry of Defence spokesperson said on Saturday.

The French Navy is deploying about a dozen naval vessels, including its aircraft carrier strike group, to the Mediterranean, Red Sea and potentially the Strait of Hormuz as part of defensive support to allies threatened by the conflict.

France has been consulting with European, Asian and Gulf Arab states over the past week with a view to putting together a plan for warships eventually to escort tankers through the strait, French officials said.

Trump said on Thursday the U.S. was willing to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz to protect them from Iranian attack, as his administration searches for ways to ease high oil prices fuelled by the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

(Reporting by Bhargav Acharya in Toronto and Milana Vinn in New York; Editing by Toby Chopra, Sergio Non, Rod Nickel)
FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump looks on during a round table on collegiate sports in the White House in Washington, D.C., March 6, 2026. REUTERS/Nathan Howard/File Photo

March 15 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump warned NATO of a very bad future if allies do not help open up the Strait of Hormuz and said he may also delay a planned summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, in comments published by the Financial Times on Sunday.

"I think China should help too because China gets 90% of its oil from the Straits," Trump told the newspaper, adding he would prefer to know Beijings position before the planned visit.

We may delay, he said of the trip.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng wrapped up the first of two days of talks in Paris on Sunday to iron out kinks in their trade truce and clear a path for Trump's trip to Beijing to meet with Xi at the end of March.

The U.S. president said countries that benefit from the shipping route should help secure it.

Its only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries of the Strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there, he told the FT.

Trump on Saturday called on nations to send warships to keep the narrow waterway open for shipping as Iranian forces continue attacks following U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, saying he hoped countries including China, France, Japan, South Korea, Britain would send ships to the area.

When asked to specify the assistance he wanted, Trump told the FT that it could include minesweepers and other military assets to counter drones and naval mines.

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"Were hitting them very hard," Trump said of Iranian forces, according to the FT. "They've got nothing left but to make a little trouble in the Strait  these people are beneficiaries and they ought to help us police it."

Iran effectively shut the strait after the United States and Israel launched attacks against it more than two weeks ago. About a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas normally passes through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow passage of water between Iran and Oman.

Trump also warned Washington could launch further strikes on Kharg Island, Irans main oil export hub, saying U.S. forces could target its oil infrastructure if needed.

We can hit that in five minutes," he said. "And theres not a thing they can do about it.

Trump also criticised Britains response after speaking with Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

"The UK might be considered the number one ally and when I asked for them to come, they didnt want to come," Trump told the Financial Times, adding that Britain only offered to send ships after the U.S. had already reduced Irans military capabilities.

The White House and the Chinese foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

(Reporting by Rhea Rose Abraham and Devika Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Tom Hogue and Deepa Babington)
FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping as they hold a bilateral meeting at Gimhae International Airport, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, in Busan, South Korea, October 30, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo

By Bo Erickson and Trevor Hunnicutt

WASHINGTON, March 16 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday said he is seeking to delay a highly anticipated trip to China in early April by about a month because of the Iran war.

"We've requested that we delay it a month or so," Trump told reporters at the White House.

China's embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trump's requested delay in his scheduled March 31-April 2 trip to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping underscores how the Iran war has upended his foreign policy agenda.

It also risks magnifying tensions between Washington and Beijing, as the Mideast crisis has joined trade and Taiwan among the spectrum of issues separating the world's two biggest economies.

TRUMP'S REQUESTS FOR ASSISTANCE WITH IRAN

Iran has responded to joint U.S.-Israeli attacks by threatening to fire on vessels moving through the strait, through which its own ships continue to transit at near-normal rates. Trump has called on numerous nations, including China, to help ships safely transit the Strait of Hormuz, where one-fifth of the world's oil transits on a daily basis.

Trump's request for assistance so far has largely been rebuffed. China, which imported around 12 million barrels of oil daily in the first two months of 2026, most in the world, has not directly responded to his request.

"The president looks forward to visiting China," spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told reporters. "The dates may be moved. As commander-in-chief, it's his number-one priority right now to ensure the continued success of this operation, Epic Fury. So we'll keep you posted on the dates as soon as we can."

On Sunday, Trump told the Financial Times he might postpone the meeting if China did not help unblock the Strait of Hormuz.

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Iranian crude oil has kept flowing through the Strait of Hormuz at a near-normal pace, a Reuters review of shipping data shows, though overall exports from the Middle East have dropped more than 60% since the war started. Most of Iran's oil exports go to China, according to U.S. Energy Department data.

TRAVELING ABROAD 'MAY NOT BE OPTIMAL' AMID WAR

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday that Trump may need to delay the trip due to coordinating the war effort - not because of the request that China help police the strait or because of any trade disagreements.

"The President wants to remain in DC to coordinate the war effort," Bessent said. "Traveling abroad at a time like this may not be optimal."

Beijing has not specified dates for Trump's visit and normally does not detail Xi's schedule far in advance.

PREPARATIONS FOR TRUMP-XI MEETING MOVE AHEAD

Preparations for the meeting at its originally scheduled date are ongoing. On Monday, Bessent was in Paris for talks with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng aimed at teeing up trade and other agreements for Trump and Xi in Beijing.

In those talks, which began on Sunday, the Chinese showed openness to potential additional purchases of U.S. agricultural goods including poultry, beef and non-soybean row crops, one source said before the second day of meetings. They also discussed the flow of rare earth minerals largely controlled by China and new approaches to manage trade and investment between the countries.

Spokespersons for the U.S. Treasury and the U.S. Trade Representative's office declined to characterize the talks.

"Head of state diplomacy plays an irreplaceable role in providing strategic guidance to China-U.S. relations," said Lin Jian, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, when asked about Trump's remarks over the weekend during a regular press conference. Both sides are communicating about the trip, Lin added.

(Reporting by Bo Erickson, Katharine Jackson, Nandita Bose, Susan Heavey, David Lawder and Trevor Hunnicutt, editing by David Ljunggren, David Gaffen and David Gregorio)
New York State Police  New York State Police

A wrong-way crash involving six vehicles killed two passengers and left another person critically injured on the Southern State Parkway, New York State Police announced on Monday, March 16.

The collision happened on the westbound Southern State Parkway just west of Exit 17 South in the Town of Hempstead (Nassau County) at about 10:13 p.m. on Sunday, March 15, according to state police.

Troopers responding to reports of a multi-vehicle crash found several disabled vehicles in the eastbound lanes upon arrival, investigators said.

A preliminary investigation found that Diana Kutateladze, 36, of Oceanside, was driving a 2020 black Cadillac Escalade westbound when she sideswiped a gray BMW traveling in the left lane, police said.

Kutateladze then lost control of the Escalade, crossed the center median, and continued westbound in the eastbound lanes, striking multiple vehicles before crashing head-on into a 2016 black Toyota Highlander, according to investigators.

Six vehicles and 10 drivers or occupants were involved in the crash.

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Two passengers in the Toyota Highlander were pronounced dead at the scene. They were identified as Donald Maxwell, 82, and Liscent B. Maxwell, 88, police said.

Several other people were taken to nearby hospitals following the crash. One person suffered critical injuries, while the remaining injuries were described as non-life-threatening.

State police said speed and impairment were contributing factors in the crash.

Kutateladze was arrested and charged with:

Aggravated Vehicular Homicide.

Vehicular Manslaughter.

Vehicular Manslaughter.

Assault.

Driving While Intoxicated.

Reckless Driving.

The investigation remains ongoing. Anyone who witnessed the crash or has video footage is asked to contact Investigator Jeffrey Shillingford with the New York State Police at 212-814-9597.

Details about Donald and Liscent Maxwells lives were not immediately available. Their loved ones are invited to share details with Daily Voice by emailing jpikora@dailyvoice.com.
A coastguard boat approaches an Indian liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carrier, Shivalik, as it arrives at Mundra Port via the Strait of Hormuz, amid the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran, in Gujarat, India, March 16, 2026. REUTERS/Amit Dave

BERLIN/BRUSSELS/LONDON, March 16 (Reuters) - Several U.S. allies said on Monday they had no immediate plans to send ships to unblock the Strait of Hormuz, rebuffing a request by President Donald Trump for military support to keep the vital waterway open.

Trump called on nations to help police the strait after Iran responded to U.S.-Israeli attacks by using drones, missiles and mines to effectively close the channel for tankers that normally transport a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas.

Germany, Spain and Italy were among allies that ruled out participating in any mission in the Gulf, at least for now. Other countries were more circumspect, with Britain and Denmark saying they would consider ways they might help, but emphasising a need to de-escalate and avoid getting dragged into the war.

"What does (...) Donald Trump expect a handful or two handfuls of European frigates to do in the Strait of Hormuz that the powerful U.S. Navy cannot do?" German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said in Berlin on Monday, as he downplayed threats by Trump that failing to come to Washington's aid could have consequences for the NATO alliance.

"This is not our war, we have not started it," he added.

The conflict has nothing to do with NATO and Germany has no plans to be drawn into it, German government spokesperson Stefan Kornelius said.

"Neither the United States nor Israel consulted us before the war, and ... Washington explicitly stated at the outset of the war that European assistance was neither necessary nor desired," the spokesperson said.

Spain said it would not do anything that could escalate the conflict, while Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini said sending military ships to a war zone would be interpreted as joining the conflict.

"Italy is not at war with anyone and sending military ships in a war zone would mean entering the war," Salvini told reporters in Milan.

NATO countries, several of whom have been at the sharp end of criticism from Trump in recent months, are wary of angering the White House, and some signalled willingness to help find a solution, even if plans remain vague for now.

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EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the bloc was in talks with the United Nations about replicating a deal that had been used to allow grain to be exported out of Ukraine during its war with Russia.

EU DISCUSSING MANDATE OF RED SEA MISSION

The EU is also discussing whether it could change the mandate of its Middle East naval mission, Aspides, which currently protects ships in the Red Sea from attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebel group, to include the Strait of Hormuz, Kallas said.

But Greece, which leads the Aspides mission, will limit its participation in the Middle East to the Red Sea, said government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis.

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer, whose reluctance to help the initial U.S. attacks drew sharp criticism from Trump, said Britain would work with allies on a collective plan to secure freedom of navigation through the strait.

But he said this would not be easy, and he reiterated that the UK would not be drawn into a wider war. Britain has autonomous mine-hunting systems that could be used, Starmer said.

Denmark, traditionally one of the most enthusiastic NATO allies but which has clashed with Trump over his demands that it cede Greenland, said the EU should consider helping reopen the strait even if it didn't agree with the war.

"Even if we don't like what's going on, I think it's wise to keep an open mind on whether Europe ... in some way can contribute, but with a view towards de-escalation," Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said.

Dutch Foreign Minister Tom Berendsen said that were NATO to agree any mission in the Gulf it would take time to draw up a framework.

"These are weighty decisions, and any action must be both feasible and impactful. At this moment, no decision is on the table," Berendsen said on Monday in Brussels.

(Reporting by Sabine Siebold, Andreas Rinke, Stine Jacobsen, Angeliki Koutantou, Gavin Jones, Lili Bayer, Anthony Deutsch and David Latona; writing by Charlie DevereuxEditing by Matthias Williams, William Maclean, Peter Graff)
The U.S.-Israel war with Iran has pushed global oil prices to above $100 a barrel, even after the Trump administration last week announced the second-largest-ever release from the nations stockpile of emergency crude.

The jump in oil prices is ratcheting up costs for gasoline and airfares, and threatens to push up prices for an array of other goods that rely upon oil for transport, such as groceries and apparel.

Oil traders are concerned about the potential repercussions of a prolonged Iranian closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the maritime trading route along the southern coast of Iran that facilitates the transport of about one-fifth of the global oil supply.

Iran live updates

Global crude oil prices hovered around $101 per barrel on Monday, which marked a staggering 44% increase since the Middle East conflict broke out two weeks earlier. U.S. gasoline prices have jumped 73 cents since the war started, clocking in at an average $3.71 a gallon on Monday, AAA said.

The current oil crisis has renewed questions about why the U.S. stockpiles oil, how much oil the reserve contains, and if a release of more crude could stop the rise of gasoline prices.

What is the Strategic Petroleum Reserve?

Established after the Arab Oil Embargo triggered an energy crisis in the early 1970s, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) provides an emergency source of oil that is intended to protect the U.S. against a sudden supply crunch.

Brandon Bell/Getty Images - PHOTO: In an aerial view, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve storage at the Bryan Mound site is seen on October 19, 2022 in Freeport, Texas.

The reserve, which can reach as many as 714 million barrels, is stored in large, high-security underground salt caverns along the gulf coastlines of Louisiana and Texas.

As of Friday, March 6, the reserve stood at just over 415 million barrels, or 58% of overall capacity, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The president retains wide discretion to release oil from the reserve in what he deems an emergency. In such cases, the U.S. sells the oil on the open market, which in theory should bring oil prices down by increasing supply.

Generally, the strategic petroleum reserve is a good tool for dealing with price increases, Jenny Rowland-Shea, director of public lands at the nonprofit Center for American Progress, told ABC News. The thinking behind it is you flood the market with crude oil and that can provide some immediate relief.

Before the SPR oil release announcement last week, the U.S. had put petroleum on the market under emergency conditions four times since it was founded in 1975, according to the U.S. Energy Department.

Most recently, President Joe Biden authorized the release of 180 million barrels over six months in March 2022 after a spike in oil prices that followed the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

AP - PHOTO: An oil tanker burns after being hit by an Iranian strike in the ship-to-ship transfer zone at Khor al-Zubair port near Basra, Iraq, March 11, 2026.

Can the Strategic Petroleum Reserve stop the rise in oil prices?

The Trump administration on March 11 announced the release of 172 million barrels of oil from the SPR over the next 120 days. The announcement by the Department of Energy also said it would "more than replace these strategic reserves with approximately 200 million barrels within the next year."

The move came as part of a larger release by the International Energy Agencys 32 member countries, including the U.S., which agreed to put a total of 400 million barrels on the market, marking the biggest oil release in IEA history.

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For reference, as many as 20 million barrels of oil passed through the Strait of Hormuz each day in 2024, the IEA found. The global oil release announced last week, in turn, is equivalent to the amount that passed through the strait over a typical 20-day period before the U.S-Israel war on Iran.

Will the rise in oil prices drive up inflation? Experts weigh in

The extraordinary measures taken by the U.S. and other nations last Wednesday cooled the rise in oil prices but crude continued to tick higher, jumping about 1% since early last Thursday morning.

The stubborn price increase stems from two overlapping factors, analysts said: The delayed release of reserve petroleum onto the market, and the comparatively small amount of promised barrels of oil relative to the massive supply shortage.

Logistical challenges and market forces create a lag time in the release of reserve oil, meaning the move cannot address an immediate supply shock such as the shipping concerns in the Strait of Hormuz, Tom Seng, a professor of energy finance at Texas Christian University, told ABC News.

Its not an immediate thing where somebody opens up a valve, Seng said.

International Energy Agency announces largest ever release of reserve oil amid Iran war

Even more, some analysts said, the release of oil was simply too small to address the scale of lost petroleum. In a given month before the war, as many as 600 million barrels of oil passed through the Strait of Hormuz -- a figure 50% larger than the 400 million barrels announced this week.

Oil traders fear a prolonged conflict in the Middle East, which could leave the strait closed for more than a month, some analysts said. Even after the war ends, infrastructure repair and production ramp-ups could keep oil output below pre-war levels for an indeterminate period, they added.

Benoit Tessier/Reuters - PHOTO: Royal Oman Police Coast Guard patrol boat surveys the area as the traffic is down in the Strait of Hormuz, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Muscat, Oman, March 12, 2026.

I dont see this as much more than a band-aid with weak adhesive, Steve Allen, an economist at North Carolina State University, told ABC News of the SPR oil release.

In addition to the oil release, the Trump administration has taken other steps to address price increases. Thursday of last week, the Treasury Department announced a 30-day waiver of sanctions against purchasing oil currently loaded on any Russian vessel in an effort to further boost supply.

What is Kharg Island? Iranian petroleum site takes center stage as oil prices soar

In a social media post the same day, Trump downplayed the rising oil prices, saying they would financially benefit the U.S.

"The United States is the largest Oil Producer in the World, by far, so when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money. BUT, of far greater interest and importance to me, as President, is stopping an evil Empire, Iran, from having Nuclear Weapons, and destroying the Middle East and, indeed, the World," Trump said.

The U.S. still has 243 million barrels of oil in the SPR, which amounts to 34% of its total capacity. IEA members, which include the U.S., hold a total of 1.2 billion barrels of oil, the group said on Wednesday.

Additional releases from the global reserve could ease upward pressure on oil prices, but such moves cannot reverse or even stop continued price increases in the event of an ongoing war, some analysts said.

I believe it will have a minimal effect on additional supply in the marketplace, Seng said. Consequently, itll have a minimal effect on keeping a lid on prices.
Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani is facing mounting criticism for his governments inability to stop pro-Iranian militias and the Islamic Republic of Iran from attacking American, French, Italian and Kurdish military personnel and facilities in Iraq.

On Saturday, the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad said that all U.S. citizens in Iraq should leave "immediately," as "Iran-aligned terrorist militias have attacked the International Zone in central Baghdad on multiple occasions."

The announcement came after a missile reportedly struck a helipad inside the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad early Saturday.

Speaking on background, a State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital, "The United States strongly condemns attacks by Iran and Iran-backed terrorist militias against U.S. diplomatic personnel and facilities, civilian targets and energy infrastructure in Iraq, particularly in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region."

Us Embassy In Baghdad Targeted As Iran Launches Attacks During Operation Epic Fury

A billboard featuring a photo of Ali Khamenei, Irans supreme leader who was killed in U.S. and Israeli airstrikes, is seen along a street in Baghdad on March 9, 2026.

The statement added, "As Secretary Rubio has said, the Iraqi government must take all possible measures to safeguard U.S. diplomatic personnel and facilities and ensure militia groups cannot use Iraqi territory to threaten the United States or the region. Doing so is in Iraqs interest," the spokesperson noted, "We retain a range of options to protect our interests. We do not preview sanctions or sanction actions."

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A Kurdish official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Fox News Digital that the Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) in Iraq "are paid and armed by the Iraqi government. They are on the Iraqi payroll. This is not the first time they have fired on the U.S., the Kurdistan Regional Government [KRG] and the energy sector. These PMF have brazenly attacked U.S. military bases."

According to the official, "Many of these leaders [from the PMF] are part of al-Sudanis government and his very coalition."

In a statement to Fox News Digital on Sunday, an official for Iraqs Embassy in Washington, D.C., flatly denied the allegations against al-Sudani. "We would like to unequivocally confirm that the allegations claiming the Prime Minister granted a green light to any armed group to target U.S. or Western interests are completely false. The Iraqi government has repeatedly emphasized its firm rejection of any attacks on diplomatic missions or foreign interests."

The representative added, "The Prime Minister has also issued several statements condemning such acts, describing them as terrorist activities, and has directed the relevant authorities to pursue those responsible and bring them to justice."

Al-Sudani raised eyebrows last week when he congratulated the Islamic Republic of Irans selection of its new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the assassinated second Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei. "We express our confidence in the ability of the new leadership in the Islamic Republic of Iran to manage this sensitive stage, and continue to strengthen the unity of the Iranian people in facing the current challenges," al-Sudani reportedly said.

When asked about the congratulatory statement to Khamenei, the Iraqi Embassy official said, "This action falls within the scope of standard diplomatic practices carried out by many countries, including several Gulf states. Iraq maintains diplomatic relations with neighboring countries, including Iran, while simultaneously ensuring balanced relations with all its regional and international partners."

Iran Proxies Wage War On Israel, Threaten Us Interests As Iraq Slammed For Not Disarming Them

A member of the Imam Ali Battalions, the armed wing of the Islamic Movement of Iraq  a member faction of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) paramilitaries  holds up a picture depicting Iraqi PMF commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis (who was in a US drone strike in early 2020), as other group members gather with its flags during a rally to mark annual Quds (Jerusalem) Day commemorations in Baghdad on April 5, 2024.

The intensified attacks on the international anti-jihadi coalition in Iraqs autonomous Kurdistan region on Friday resulted in the death of a French soldier and injuries to six other people. According to France 24, the commanding officer, Colonel Francois-Xavier de la Chesnais, said the French soldier, Arnaud Frion, was murdered by an Iranian-designed Shahed lethal drone.

The Iraqi Kurdish news outlet Rudaw reported on Saturday that the "Kurdistan Region was targeted with seven explosive-laden drones early Saturday as Iran and its proxy forces in Iraq continue to target the U.S. consulate in Erbil and other military and civilian sites in the Region." Rudaw said since the start of U.S. Operation Epic Fury the Kurdistan area has been targeted with over 300 drone and missile attacks, resulting in the killing of seven people and 35 injured.

The Kurdish official complained that al-Sudanis "government is not serious about taking on militias because the militias are part of the government." However, the official praised the U.S. "The Americans are going after them aggressively over the last week with attacks on their [PMF] positions."

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According to a Long War Journal report, "Airstrikes, likely conducted by the U.S. as part of the U.S.-Israeli operation against the Islamic Republic, have continued targeting Iran-backed Iraqi militias." Neither the U.S. nor Israel have commented on reports that they are striking the PMF.

Fox News Digital secured information in early March from the Israeli Defense Forces that drones have been fired at Israel from Iraqi territory since the start of the war.

The PMF told the Iraqi News Agency that American military forces have conducted 32 airstrikes against PMF headquarters since February 28.

The Kurdish official urged the Trump administration to "demand that Iraqs government stop paying and arming the PMF and target their banking system that finances the PMF." The official continued, "We have shared information with the Iraqis and the Americans, who have in turn shared information with the Iraqi government." On the terrorist activities of the PMF the official said, "The al-Sudani government has been unwilling to confront them."

Trump Threatens To End Iraq Support Over Al-maliki Comeback Bid Tied To Iran Influence

Supporters gather in Baghdads Sadr district holding Iranian flags and posters of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei following the announcement that he was killed in U.S.-Israeli attacks, on March 1, 2026

The official bemoaned that the al-Sudani government initiated a "handful of arrests last year, and they were released on bail and were able to flee to Iran." The Kurdish official said the KRG "provided the information to the Iraqi government about the perpetrators" who fled to the Islamic Republic.

An Iraqi official dismissed the reports on PMF terrorists, stating," I have not heard of such a thing. I guess that's not true."

The Kurdish official cited two PMF groups as the most bellicose toward the U.S.: Asaib Ahl al Haq (League of the Righteous) and Kataib Hezbollah. The Trump administration sanctioned Asaib Ahl al Haq in March 2024. The State Department said Asaib Ahl al Haq "and its leaders are violent proxies of the Islamic Republic of Iran" and the group "is extensively funded and trained by Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Qods Force."

The U.S. government sanctioned Kataib Hezbollah in 2023. The Kurdish official also charged the al-Sudanis government with imposing an embargo on imported goods to Iraqi Kurdistan as a way "to strip away our autonomy and everything we can built over 30 years." The autonomous Kurdish government is widely considered a robust pro-American ally.

Iran-backed shi'ite groups fighters celebrate on a street, after the IRGC attack on Israel, in Basra, Iraq, October 1, 2024.

The Iraqi official denied the embargo, stating, "The federal government does not pursue a policy of embargo against the Kurdistan Region. The current measures aim to unify the legal, customs, and trade framework across all Iraqi borders in line with the federal constitution.

"No country can afford contradictory internal trade and customs regimes, as this risks harming the national economy as a whole. Our objective is a unified, fair economic framework that protects state revenues while respecting the regions specificities, and we believe this is best achieved through dialogue and cooperation."

Smoke rises from the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Images)

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Entifadh Qanbar, a former spokesman for the deputy prime minister of Iraq, told Fox News Digital that "One could even describe the PMF as the Iraqi branch of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, effectively functioning as an Iraqi Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The PMF operates through a network of militias that frequently attack U.S. forces, foreign interests, and targets in Kurdistan."

He argued for "The dismantling of the mother organization  the PMF itself. As long as the PMF exists, militias operating under its umbrella will continue to attack U.S. forces and regional targets."

Fox News Digital reporter Greg Norman-Diamond contributed to this report.





Original article source: US warns Iraq must act against Iran-backed militia attacks on American assets
Michael B. Jordan wrote diary entries for his characters in Sinners.

Michael B. Jordan has won the Best Actor Oscar for his work in Sinners

The 39-year-old star won the Oscar for Best Actor at the Academy Awards on Sunday (15.03.26) for his dual portrayal of the Smokestack Twins in Ryan Coogler's horror flick and went to detailed lengths to create a background for his alter egos.

Speaking backstage to Deadline at the ceremony in Los Angeles, Michael said: "I try to go from the earliest memory that I can conjure up and think of, and I write all the way up to the first page of the script.

"That gives me an opportunity to figure out where they're coming from, and that informs a lot of their decisions. Smoke is quiet, he's a protector, and then Stack is a little bit more light and buoyant, a little bit of a slick talker and a troublemaker. So, I tried to just establish different perspectives."

Coogler explained how the Creed star was the first person who came to mind when he came up with the idea for the film  which claimed four Oscar wins.

The 39-year-old filmmaker said: "As soon as I imagined what those two characters were going to be, I knew I had to call Mike."

In his acceptance speech, Michael paid tribute to the five other Black actors who have previously won the Best Actor award  Sidney Poitier, Denzel Washington, Forest Whitaker, Jamie Foxx and Will Smith.

He said: "I stand here because of the people who came before me and to be amongst those giants, those greats, my guys...

"I want to thank everybody in this room and everybody at home for supporting my career. I know you guys want me to do well and I wanna do that because you guys bet on me.

"So thank you for keeping on betting on me. I'm gonna keep stepping up and keep being the best version of myself I can be, so thank you to everybody in this room that had something to do with my success, I love you guys.

"Everybody at home who supported the movie and went to see it once, twice, three times, thank you, because you guys made this movie what it is. I love you."

The Just Mercy star revealed how he and Coogler took inspiration from the late Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman on the set of Sinners.

Speaking at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival last month, Michael recalled: "It was early in the shoot - maybe the first two weeks - and it was the first day that I had to go between both twins, going back and forth, and we were trying to figure out who goes first, Smoke or Stack.

"I was having a lot of conversations in between, and I dropped my accent and it was full Mike talking for a second. And then I tried to get back into the mindset of one of the twins, and it took me a little bit longer to get back into character than I would have liked.

"I remember me and Coogs were having a sidebar conversation between one of the setups, and he was like - not these words verbatim, but along the lines of - What would Chad do? And I kind of looked at him for a second and was like, Alright, say no more. I knew exactly what he meant. And that propelled and pushed me, gave me another gear to go to. So yeah, Chadwick was with me. Hes always with me."
U.S. President Donald Trump, next to U.S. Vice President JD Vance, speaks during an event to sign an executive order creating an antifraud task force headed by Vance, in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 16, 2026. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

By Humeyra Pamuk and Bo Erickson

WASHINGTON, March 16 (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President JD Vance on Monday expressed support for the way President Donald Trump was handling the war in Iran and said he trusted him to make sure that "the mistakes of the past" are not repeated.

Vance's comments appeared to be an effort to counter questions about whether his well-known anti-war and isolationist views put him at odds with Trump. Since the war began on February 28, Vance had not publicly offered unequivocal support for it.

Part of the speculation over a possible disagreement had been triggered by Trump's comments in previous weeks that Vance, who served in the U.S. Marine Corps two decades ago, was "philosophically a little bit different" than him and that he was "maybe less enthusiastic" about attacking Iran.

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Vance, asked on Monday if he was "onboard" with the war and whether he had any "hesitation," said the president has long said Iran should not obtain a nuclear weapon and that he agreed with him.

"I think one big difference is...we have a smart president whereas in the past, we've had dumb presidents and I trust President Trump to get the job done, to do a good job for the American people, and to make sure that the mistakes of the past are not repeated," said Vance, standing alongside Trump during an Oval Office event.

Vance, once a self-described "never-Trumper," wrote an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal in early 2023 saying Trump's best foreign policy was not starting any wars during his first four years in office between 2017 to 2021.

"My entire adult lifetime has been shaped by presidents who threw America into unwise wars and failed to win them," wrote Vance, who has also been openly critical of Washington sending billions of dollars worth of weapons to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia's invasion.

(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk and Ryan Patrick Jones in Toronto; Editing by Caitlin Webber, Colleen Jenkins and Rosalba O'Brien)
Severe weather threats across the United States have millions of Americans on alert for blizzard conditions, potential tornadoes and record-breaking high temperatures in the coming days. Successive punches of snow and wind are set to impact the eastern half of the country on Monday, after weekend storms made roads impassable in the Upper Midwest.

The storm system that brought blizzards and life-threatening travel conditions to the Northern Plains and Upper Great Lakes on Sunday is moving east, threatening the region with potentially damaging winds and tornadoes. Forecasters said mid-Atlantic states and Washington, D.C., were at greatest risk for both of those.

Map shows areas under severe storm alerts for Monday, March 16, 2026. / Credit: CBS News

The cold front was expected to move off the East Coast by Tuesday, bringing sharply colder weather in its wake, forecasters said.

The late winter blast comes as Hawaii continues to be affected by a separate storm system that caused severe flooding over the weekend, and as parts of the West experienced an unusually early heat wave that was expected to last through much of the week.

Blizzard slams Northern Plains, Upper Great Lakes

Intense blizzard conditions persisted Monday in parts of the Upper Midwest, after the storm brought as much as 2 feet of snow to parts of Michigan and Wisconsin by morning.

Additional snowfall of a foot to 20 inches of snow can be expected in upper Michigan, along with gusty winds, on Monday, the National Weather Service said. Schools were closed in a number of communities in both states on Monday, including Milwaukee and Marquette, Michigan.

Blizzard warnings were still in effect Monday evening and expected to last until at least Tuesday morning, as heavy snow tapered off but lingered on the backend of the storm system, CBS News meteorologist Nikki Nolan said, noting the Great Lakes region was expected to see between 6 and 12 inches of additional snowfall.

Map shows winter weather alerts for Monday, March 16, 2026. / Credit: CBS News

So far, the highest snowfall reports from the blizzard came from sections of Michigan and Wisconsin, where 33 to 36 inches have piled up as of Monday night, according to Nolan.

More than 600 flights flying out of and into the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport were canceled on Sunday, according to FlightAware, a website that tracks flight disruptions. At O'Hare and Midway international airports in Chicago, more than 550 flights were canceled Monday.

A no-travel advisory that had been issued in southern Minnesota was lifted Monday. Gov. Tim Walz had authorized the Minnesota National Guard to support emergency operations ahead of the storm, CBS Minnesota reported.

Map shows the snowfall forecast across the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes through Monday night, March 16, 2026. / Credit: CBS News

Wisconsin snowplow driver Aaron Haas said it was one of the worst storms he had seen in years. On Sunday, he was stacking piles of snow as high as his truck in the town of Marshfield.

"You can't see anything when you're on the highways outside of the city," he said.

Blizzard conditions are likely to stretch into Monday with additional lake-effect snow behind the storm.

Severe weather threat expanding east

The storm system that dropped snow by the foot in the Midwest barreled toward the East Coast with dangerously high winds and potential for "producing strong and long track tornadoes," the National Weather Service warned Monday.

"Wind is the primary threat, but within any of these areas of strong wind there could be some embedded tornadoes and even the potential for a tornado to develop ahead of the line," said Evan Bentley, a meteorologist with the weather service.

The biggest threat stretched from Maryland to the upper edge of South Carolina.

Map shows areas at risk of possible tornadoes on Monday, March 16, 2026. / Credit: CBS News

A stretch from parts of South Carolina to Maryland appeared most likely to experience particularly damaging winds Monday afternoon, the weather service said. That could include Raleigh, North Carolina; Richmond, Virginia and the nation's capital. The weather service said an increased  albeit much lower  risk stretched north to a portion of New York and south to northern Florida.

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Officials said schools in Raleigh and Chapel Hill, North Carolina, would be closed on Monday. Gov. Josh Stein urged residents to enable emergency alerts on their phones ahead of expected wind gusts topping 70 mph.

A 97 mph wind gust was reported Monday in Whiteface, New York, which was well to the north of the forecasted severe threat area.

Map shows areas at risk of damaging winds on Monday, March 16, 2026. / Credit: CBS News

Freeze Alerts were being issued Monday in the Southeast behind the cold front, with below freezing temperatures as low as the teens expected through Wednesday morning in the region as winds cool things down more than usual for this time of year.

Wind chills below freezing were expected to reach the Gulf Coast and the Florida Panhandle by Tuesday with warnings also in effect in parts of Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Texas, forecasters said. To the North, rain was expected to change over to snow behind the cold front with heavy snow possible in the central Appalachians of West Virginia.

Early-season heat builds in the West

While the central and eastern U.S. brace for storms, the western U.S. is heading into an unusually early heat wave driven by a strengthening ridge of high pressure.

Beginning Monday and continuing through much of the week, record-high temperatures are possible across Southern California, the Desert Southwest and the Great Basin, forecasters said. Desert areas could see temperatures climbing into the 90s and 100s, while much of California and the interior West may experience highs in the 70s and 80s.

The warm, dry, and windy pattern is also expected to increase wildfire danger across parts of the West and High Plains.

In Nebraska, about 30 National Guard members were deployed over the weekend to help combat multiple wildfires across a broad swath of range and grassland, the state's Emergency Management Agency said.

Landslides, rescues, and collapsed homes on Maui

Acres of farmland and homes have been flooded in Hawaii. Roads have been closed, and shelters opened. PowerOutage.us, which tracks outages nationwide, reported over 30,000 electric customers in Hawaii without power as of Sunday evening.

Flash flooding has been a major problem in recent days in places like Maui, Molokai and the Big Island, where rain had been falling from 1 to 2 inches an hour overnight, according to the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency.

This photo provided by Maui County shows flooding from days of downpours in Hana, Hawaii, on Friday, March 13, 2026. / Credit: Maui County via AP

Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen said in a social media post late Saturday that some areas of Maui had received 20 inches of rain in the previous 24 hours.

"We're seeing flooding, landslides, sinkholes, debris and downed power lines across the county," he said. Expressing gratitude in the Hawaiian language, the mayor added "mahalo for continuing to look out for one another."

Video footage in Bissen's post showed washed-out or collapsed roads, a car stuck by floodwaters and raging waterways. National Guard members and fire department workers made multiple floodwater rescues, Bissen said.

All of Hawaii's islands had spots with more than 15 inches of rain, while parts of Maui were overwhelmed with double that amount, the weather service said.

While the worst of the storm had passed as of Monday, more heavy rain is expected later this week. Bissen said there were no reports of injuries or deaths and crews were assessing damage.

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All in the family
Matipandile Sotheni (above) allegedly shot dead Marius van der Merwe weeks after he had testified against police officers

A former member of an elite police unit has been charged with the murder of a whistleblower who testified at a major police corruption inquiry in South Africa.

Matipandile Sotheni, 41, appeared in court accused of killing Marius van der Merwe in December last year.

Sotheni is accused of shooting dead Van der Merwe in full view of his family in a case that caused national outrage. He has not commented on the charges.

Van der Merwe, identified only as "Witness D" during his appearance at the inquiry, known as the Madlanga commission, had implicated police officials in the torture and murder of a suspected robber in his testimony.

His testimony was seen as blowing the lid on the extent of police corruption at a local level in South Africa and led to the suspension of several of the officers he had named.

The Madlanga commission was established by President Cyril Ramaphosa after a senior police officer alleged that organised crime groups had infiltrated the government. This led to the suspension of South Africa's Police Minister Senzo Mchunu, who has denied having any links to criminal gangs.

South Africa's parliament is also investigating these allegations.

In addition to Van der Merwe, three of the 12 people implicated in the robbery suspect's killing have since died. Two were shot dead, while one killed himself, police say.

The suspected robber has since been identified as Emmanuel Mbense, who died in April 2022 - a case which was shrouded in mystery until Van der Merwe's shocking testimony.

Van der Merwe said he was ordered to dispose of Mbense's body by local police chief Julius Mkhwanazi. He has since been suspended over the accusations, which he denies. No arrests have been made in this case.

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Sotheni, arrested over the weekend, was one of three suspects police had identified in Van der Merwe's murder.

Security was tight at the court as armed officers escorted Sotheni, dressed in all black, into the packed courtroom. The former officer showed no emotion and stared ahead during proceedings.

In contrast, Van der Merwe's grieving wife, also dressed in black, could be seen wiping away tears during the brief hearing.

Van der Merwe's sister, Natasha, told reporters ahead of the proceedings that the family believed the person who ordered his murder was "definitely someone my brother knew".

Police spokesperson Brig Athlenda Mathe said Sotheni was the alleged hitman while another suspect, Wiandre Pretorius, was the driver of the car used in the drive-by shooting. Pretorius is the suspect who killed himself.

This car has since been seized but police are still looking for the firearm used in the murder, believed to be an AK-47.

Sotheni also faces charges of attempting to kill Van der Merwe's wife and children.

The case was postponed to 25 March for a formal bail application.

More BBC stories on South Africa:

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Prince Harry and Meghan Markles upcoming visit to Australia may not go as smoothly as they hope.

Keep reading to learn why

MORE: Follow Wonderwall on MSN for more top news

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle visit Bondi Beach in 2018. By: MEGA

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are set to return to the land down under for the first time since leaving The Firm. However, with their dramatic departure and support for the monarchy at an all-time low, Tom Sykes believes they should be prepared for some hostility.

The Sussexes are likely to be lightning rods in Australias ongoing debate about the royal family and the countrys constitutional future, he wrote for his The Royalist Substack.

For now, one thing seems certain: Harry and Meghan will need thick skins when they arrive in a country where they are no longer assured of a warm welcome, the journalist added.

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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle during their last day of their tour of Australia and New Zealand. By: MEGA

Harry and Meghan stirred controversy after visiting Jordan. According to commentator Daniela Elser, carrying out philanthropic trips to different countries without being senior working royals could cost them their titles.

The issue with the Sussexes spot of DIY [do-it-yourself] royaling isnt what they did, but when they did it. They are indeed still a duke and duchess and off doing some DIY royaling, it is now, she wrote for news.com.au.

The images of Harry and Meghan in Jordan are a clear reminder of the need to draw clear lines between the crown and the people who just happen to be related to King Charles III, the expert noted.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle depart Sydney for New Zealand in 2018. By: Richard Milnes/ MEGA

The Firm is reportedly less than thrilled with the couples appearance in the Middle East, especially after Andrew Mountbatten-Windsors arrest. The Palace is livid, a source told Rob Shuter for his Naughty But Nice Substack. It looks like a full-scale royal tour without the permission slip.

This feels like kicking the family while theyre down. Andrew is a five-alarm fire  and the Sussexes just lit a match of their own, the insider said.
Spring may be almost here, but it might not feel like it for millions facing alerts for wintry weather, including heavy snow, possible tornadoes and high winds.

More than half a million customers were without power early Monday as a wide-ranging pattern of severe weather spread across large parts of the country, according to poweroutage.us.

Almost 30 million people are under winter alerts, including blizzard warnings extending into Michigan. More than 120 million people from the Mississippi Valley into New England are under wind alerts, while 60 million from northern Florida to New York state are under the risk for severe storms capable of destructive winds and numerous tornadoes.

The region at greatest risk for damaging straight-line winds of more than 75 mph and tornadoes was the mid-Atlantic, specifically from northern South Carolina to southern Maryland. Boston, Philadelphia and New York could see heavy rain and isolated strong wind gusts.

Across the Upper Midwest and the upper Great Lakes region, a major winter storm is moving through with heavy snow continuing to fall across Wisconsin and Michigan. As of Monday morning, more than 129,000 customers were without power, according to poweroutage.us. More than 13,000 customers are in the dark in Wisconsin.

Throughout Monday, an additional 6 to 12 inches of snow is expected to fall from eastern Iowa into Michigan.

Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, declared a snow emergency for Monday after the National Weather Service issued a blizzard warning for the southeast part of the state. "Travel is not advised and will be difficult throughout this weather event," County Executive David Crowley said in a statement on X.

A family shovels snow in Little Chute, Wis., on Sunday. (Wm. Glasheen / USA Today via Imagn) (Wm. Glasheen)

Semi-trucks were left stranded on an interstate in Wisconsin, according to images released by the state's Department of Transportation.

Strong winds and blizzard conditions will make travel extremely hazardous in these areas until the weather system moves north into Canada later Monday.

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Energy companies from New York to Tennessee put workers on standby to respond to repairs from downed power lines.

People also need to be prepared for prolonged and additional power outages as there are many customers across Ohio and Western Pennsylvania which are still without power Sunday morning from strong winds on Friday, AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Dan Pydynowski said.

Air travel has also been severely affected, with more than 2,700 cancellations within, into or out of the country as of Monday, according to Flightaware.com. More than 3,000 flights have been delayed.

A ground stop was ordered at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and Charlotte Douglas International Airport due to the weather, but was later lifted, according to an FAA alert. A ground stop has been ordered for Washington Dulles International Airport because of thunderstorms.

One driver recorded near white-out conditions with very low visibility north of Ames, Iowa.

Severe thunderstorms are likely to sweep across the entire eastern U.S. on Monday, with the interior mid-Atlantic the worst-affected region, the weather service said in an early forecast.

"The combination of the vigorous dynamics ahead of the potent front and maximum daytime heating will be ripe for eruption of severe weather, especially across interior Mid-Atlantic late Monday afternoon into early evening," it said.

Florida will be hit by heavy rain and a recent warm spell across the South will be replaced by Arctic air and below-freezing temperatures from the Florida Panhandle to the Gulf Coast, with the wind chill factor, by Tuesday morning.

Parts of Arkansas were under a tornado warning Sunday, with high winds toppling trees.
A Florida woman accused of fleeing a crash that killed an 8-year-old boy was seen shaking her head and laughing during her first court appearance Friday as a judge read the charges against her via video conference.

The Polk County Sheriffs Office said 30-year-old Victoria Johnson of Winter Haven was arrested Thursday and charged with leaving the scene of a crash involving death, leaving the scene of a crash with serious bodily injury, tampering with evidence, driving without a license causing death and giving false information to law enforcement officials.

Johnson appeared before a judge Friday during a first appearance hearing held by video conference, where the charges were formally read.

During the hearing, Johnson shook her head and was seen laughing on video as the judge read the charges against her.

Repeat Offender Street Racing At 106 Mph Mows Down Emt After Previously Killing Someone In Crash: Police

A Florida woman accused of fleeing a crash that killed an 8-year-old boy was seen laughing in court as a judge read the charges in a Polk County hearing Friday. (Fox News)

After appearing to laugh in disbelief, Johnson was heard saying, "I wasnt even in the car."

Read On The Fox News App

She was then told not to speak about the facts of her case before the judge asked whether she wanted to return Saturday for a continuance after securing an attorney.

"I dont know which one is better," Johnson said.

Illegal Immigrant With Prior Duis, Deportation Order, Suspected In Crash Killing 8-Year-old California Girl

"I cant give you any advice, maam," the judge responded. "Ill appoint the public defender today if you want me to."

A Florida woman accused of fleeing a crash that killed an 8-year-old boy was seen laughing in court as a judge read the charges in a Polk County hearing Friday.

"Yes, please," Johnson replied.

Just before 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, deputies received 911 calls from Faith Baptist Church in Winter Haven reporting two boys had been run over by a vehicle before the driver fled the scene.

Major County Sheriff Rejects Ice Detainer On Illegal Immigrant Who Killed Young Boy In Hit-and-run

The boys were at a church event and attempting to cross Crystal Beach Road when they were struck by a northbound vehicle, investigators said. An 8-year-old boy died from his injuries, while a 10-year-old boy suffered a broken arm, broken femur and compound skull fracture and remains hospitalized in critical but stable condition.

Witnesses described the vehicle as a dark-colored mid-sized SUV, and parts found at the crash scene were consistent with the lower portion of the vehicle.

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Surveillance video from the area showed a truck traveling southbound and another vehicle heading north. Audio from the footage suggested something was struck by the second vehicle before it was seen turning east, authorities said.

Driver Federally Indicted In 100-Mph Smuggling Crash That Killed Texas Grandma, 7-Year-old Girl



A Florida woman accused of fleeing a crash that killed an 8-year-old boy was seen laughing in court as a judge read the charges in a Polk County hearing Friday.

Investigators later learned Johnson had called authorities Thursday to report her dark blue 2009 Hyundai Santa Fe stolen. When deputies located her, she initially claimed the vehicle had been stolen the night before.

She later told deputies she had loaned the SUV to someone who did not return it before admitting she had been driving Wednesday night and that she "thought she might have hit someone."

As deputies transported Johnson to a substation for questioning, they spotted the SUV being driven by Corey Stewart  the man she told investigators she had given the vehicle to "to get rid of."

Illegal Immigrant Accused In Deaths Of College Soccer Player, Girlfriend Had Prior Dwi Dismissed: Records

Deputies followed the SUV to a nearby residence where Stewart and a passenger initially refused to come outside. A search of the vehicle revealed damage, missing parts and possible biological material consistent with a pedestrian strike.

Johnson allegedly told investigators she had been driving around near her home for about 20 minutes but could not recall the exact roads she traveled. The area she described was consistent with the crash location, about 2.8 miles from her residence.

She also told deputies she had been listening to music and driving to relax and acknowledged her license had been suspended following a DUI arrest. Johnson said she knew she was not supposed to be driving and believed she would likely face felony charges.

Illegal Immigrant Accused In Dui Crash That Killed College Soccer Player, Girlfriend: Report

Authorities said Johnson admitted using methamphetamine before driving that night and later met Stewart at a Circle K in Winter Haven, where he drove her SUV to a house where they used meth before going fishing at a nearby pond. Johnson later allowed him to keep the vehicle.

FOX 13 in Tampa reported that Johnsons public defender had been appointed.

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"This was, in fact, a tragic, terrible accident, but upon my reading of the affidavit, it doesn't really seem that anything she did to cause the accident," her public defender said.

The judge ultimately set Johnsons bond at $100,000. However, in a separate case she was held without bond for violating probation tied to a previous DUI case in January.





Original article source: Woman accused of fatal hit-and-run that killed 8-year-old laughs during first court appearance
FBI

A body found below a mans garage floor is believed to be Jill Kloppenburg, a missing Massachusetts woman who vanished last year, authorities said.

Kloppenburg, 47, was last seen leaving her home in Lowell  where she was temporarily living with roommates  on January 2, 2025, according to the FBI. She was later reported missing on February 26, 2025.

She has not been seen or heard from since, the FBI said in an alert on her disappearance.

Her remains were possibly found at a home in Tyngsborough on Sunday, March 15, Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan announced on Monday, March 16, WCVB-TV reported.

A suspect, Shawn Sullivan, who lives at the home, was taken into custody on a murder charge in connection with the discovery, Ryan said, according to the TV station.

Sullivan, 40, was arrested after his friend called police in Nashua, New Hampshire, on Tuesday, March 10, to report that Sullivan admitted to killing a person named Jill, according to Ryan, the TV station reported.

Montana Womans Body Was Found in Basement Freezer. A Man Is Now Charged With Her Murder

The friend told authorities that Sullivan "claimed that he had shot her and then buried her under the floor in a garage, Ryan said, according to the TV station.

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The tip led to police visiting Sullivans home, where he lives with his family, Ryan said, according to CBS News.

While carrying out a search, police used radar technology and spotted what turned out to be human remains in a plastic bag under Sullivans garage, according to Ryan.

Authorities started digging up the garage and reached the remains, Ryan said, according to CBS News. They're now working to positively identify the body.

Kloppenburgs uncle, Steven Kloppenburg, wrote in a Monday, March 16, Facebook post that officers visited him the evening of March 15 and said they were 100% positive the remains were [Jills] though they still have to confirm it with DNA and an autopsy has to be done to try to determine a cause of death.

She was a lost soul and may finally be at peace now, Steven wrote of Jill.

Massachusetts Family Concerned for Missing Woman Who Has Not Been Seen in 4 Months

Jill and Sullivan are believed to have known each other, according to authorities, WFXT reported. The exact nature of their relationship was unknown at press time.

Sullivan will also be charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury as well as improper disposal of a body, authorities said, according to the TV station.

It was not currently clear whether he had retained an attorney who could comment on his behalf as of March 16.
CBS, Paramount / Jon Kopaloff, Getty Images

Luke Grimes traded Hollywood for Montana  but not everyone in his new hometown is thrilled about it.

TheMarshals star recently revealed that some locals havent exactly rolled out the welcome mat since he and his family relocated to the Big Sky State.

In fact, one recent moment made it clear just how protective some small-town residents can be when outsiders start arriving.

A Not-So-Warm Welcome

On the March 13 episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, Grimes said the tension showed up unexpectedly during a visit from friends.

Read More: Luke Grimes Faced One Brutal Call Before Marshals  Telling Kelsey Asbille the Truth About Monicas Fate

The actor explained that friends from California were visiting and had driven to Montana with their California license plates. After the group returned from a hike, they discovered someone had written a blunt message on their vehicle.

We get off the hike, and someone had written go back in the dust on their car, Grimes said. People are super weird about it.

Because of reactions like that, the 42-year-old said hes careful about revealing exactly where he lives, adding that locals would get really mad at me.

Small-Town Spotlight

Grimes said life in his new Montana home also means being more cautious about everyday activities.

I cant go to bars there anymore because whatever that one idiot is, is at that bar, and he cant wait to start a fight with me, he told Rogan.

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Read More: Riley Green Says Luke Grimes, Tim McGraw Helped Him Prep For Marshals Role

Grimes joked that the situation feels like a win-win for someone trying to provoke him  and a lose-lose for him.

While the actor didnt specify the exact town he lives in, the experience highlights something many small communities face when a popular show or celebrity suddenly puts them on the map.

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For longtime locals, an influx of attention  and newcomers  can sometimes feel like their quiet corner of the world is changing overnight.

Why Luke Grimes Moved to Montana

Grimes announced earlier this year that he and his wife, Bianca Rodrigues Grimes, had officially left Los Angeles behind and settled in Montana with their young son, Rigel Randolph.

I was going up there three or four months out of the year, Grimes previously told Fox News Digital. Anytime wed get done filming, and Id come back here, it sort of felt like I was leaving home rather than going back home. My wife and I just fell in love with it and decided to live here.

Back on Screen as Kayce Dutton

Grimes is currently starring in Marshals, the latest expansion of Taylor Sheridans Yellowstone universe.

The new series follows Kayce Dutton as he joins an elite unit of U.S. Marshals, using his experience as both a cowboy and a Navy SEAL to bring justice to Montana.

The shows debut proved to be a major success for CBS, earning an early Season 2 renewal.
Conan O'Brien couldn't resist poking fun at Timothee Chalamet's ballet and opera controversy as he opened the Academy Awards on Sunday (15.03.26).

Conan O'Brien returned as Oscars host

The 62-year-old presenter returned to host the Oscars for the second year in a row, and during his opening monologue he took a playful swipe at the Marty Supreme star's recent comments that "no one cares" about the art forms.

He quipped: Security is very tight tonight.

Theres concerns about attacks from the ballet and opera communities.

"Theyre just mad you left out jazz.

The camera cut to Timothee and his girlfriend Kylie Jenner, and he was seen laughing at the jibe.

Also in his monologue, the host warned the evening "could get political".

He joked: "I should warn you tonight could get political. Okay? And if that makes you uncomfortable, theres an alternate Oscars being hosted by Kid Rock. Its at the Dave and Busters down the street.

Conan also appeared to joke about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew, and the Epstein files as he noted there were no British stars nominated for Best Actor or Best Actress.

He said: "A British spokesperson said: 'Yeah but at least we arrest our paedophiles...'"

He also mocked Netflix boss Ted Sarandos, joking his attendance at the ceremony in Los Angeles' Dolby Theatre was his "first time" inside a theatre.

Impersonating Ted, he asked: Why are they all together enjoying themselves? They should be home alone, where I can monetise it."

Conan opened the ceremony with a pre-taped segment, in which he was dressed as Amy Madigan's Aunt Gladys from Weapons, and then ran through different scenes from the Best Picture nominees, all while being pursued by the killer kids from the film, with the sketch then transitioning to live shots inside the venue of the kids chasing a stuntman as the host stepped out in his tuxedo.

Towards the end of his monologue, the host grew serious as he noted the "chaotic, frightening times" of the modern world.

He said: Tonights Oscars are being watched by more than a billion people around the world.

Tonight is an international event. If I can be serious for just a moment, everyone watching right now around the world is all too aware that these are very chaotic, frightening times. Its at moments like these that I believe that the Oscars are particularly resonant.

Every film we salute is the product of thousands of people speaking different languages working hard to make something of beauty.

We pay tribute tonight, not just to film, but to the ideals of global artistry, collaboration, patience, resilience and that rarest of qualities today  optimism. So let us please celebrate. Not because we think all is well, but because we work and hope for better.
alxpin / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Retiring abroad is no longer just a budget-saving strategy  its a way for affluent retirees to maximize their golden years. Many are leaving the U.S. in search of a higher quality of life, even with a comfortable nest egg.

Read Next: Im Retired and Regret Waiting Too Long To Take These 5 Trips

For You: 5 Clever Ways Retirees Are Earning Up To $1K per Month From Home

For high-net-worth retirees, factors like safety, political stability, healthcare and taxes often outweigh price considerations. Access to luxury amenities, private care and expat communities are also big draws. So where are the wealthy choosing to retire in 2026? Here are four top destinations for affluent retirees looking to spend their golden years abroad.

Portugal

From bustling Lisbon and its trams to Porto and its centuries-old architecture, Portugal can be enchanting to many. Known for its safety, favorable climate and established expat communities, Portugal offers a high quality of life that attracts wealthy people looking to have their American dollars go further.

As of early 2026, there was a 1.9% increase in net inflow of millionaires to Portugal from the previous year, putting the estimated number of high-net-worth individuals at about 175,000. The country has formerly offered wealthy individuals residency in exchange for real estate investments, which explains some of the appeal. However, Portugal suspended its golden visa program as the government said it wanted to fight against price speculation in real estate.

Find Out: What a Wealthy Retirees Monthly Budget Looks Like at Age 78

Greece

Greece ranks highly among many seniors as a popular retirement destination. Not only is the country the birthplace of democracy, but it is rich in history and archaeology. Foreigners are also attracted to its myriad of islands  many of which are known for their iconic blue and white architecture.

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If you plan on retiring there, you can apply for a golden visa; that is, if you have $250,000 to spare. Thats the minimum real estate investment to make to be granted a five-year residency permit. Once you live there, you can enjoy a 7% tax rate on foreign income for retirees.

The Bahamas

The Bahamas is appealing for several reasons  namely, endless beaches and crystal blue waters. Its proximity to the U.S. doesnt hurt either.

In addition, the country allows foreign investors to apply for permanent residency in exchange for investments in the country, also known as a golden visa program. Buying a property valued at $500,000 or more will enable you to apply for such a visa. However, while this is the minimum investment requirement, Bahamian authorities give real estate investments of at least $1.5 million priority, which potentially prices out most Americans in the middle class.

While the cost of living can be higher than in the U.S., one advantage is that the country is considered a tax haven  it has no income tax, capital gains tax, wealth tax, corporate tax, gift tax, inheritance tax or sales tax. The rich love tax loopholes, which makes a move to the Bahamas all the more appealing.

Thailand

Thailand is a much sought-after destination in Southeast Asia, as it offers an affordable and high standard of living, plus the food scene will get anyones taste buds watering. The country boasts several assets, including ancient ruins, scuba-diving sites, tropical islands, palaces, Buddhist temples and multiple UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Thailand has been a popular destination for retirees because it provides long-term visas for people over 50, as well as offering excellent private healthcare. Because the country is so affordable, people with a lot of money will see their retirement savings last much longer and theyll get much more, too.

More From GOBankingRates

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Wealthy Retirees Are Moving to These 4 Countries
Christopher Polk/2026GG - Getty Images

Brazilian actor Wagner Moura is nominated at the Oscars this evening for Best Actor, becoming the first Brazilian man to break into the category. By his side will be his partner of nearly three decades, Sandra Delgado. Moura and Delgado met when they were in university, and they now have three children, Bem, Salvador, and Jose. Here, what to know about Wagner Mouras wife, Sandra Delgado:

Shes from Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.

Like Moura, Delgado is Brazilian. She received her BA in Social Communication and Journalism from Universidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA) in 1998 and has a Masters in Photography and Social Sciences from UCAM in Rio de Janeiro (2001).

It was at the Universidade Federal da Bahia (Federal University of Bahia) where she met Moura, who was also studying for a degree in journalism.

Delgado is an artist.

According to her website, she is a Journalist, photographer, documentary filmmaker, and screenwriter. She currently lives and works between Rio de Janeiro and Los Angeles. As a visual artist, her main media is photography, but she also uses engraving, video, projection and audio in her installations.

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Before college, I mainly worked with photography, but since then I have expanded my range to include video, audio, projection and installation, using my documentary background, Delgado writes. My mainly search as an artist is the understanding of continuity and finitude. In one hand, Im interested in understanding the impact of time in our bodies, minds, culture, nature and matter. Because of that, Im obsessed by the touch of time that I can see in the soil erosion or in the wrinkles of an old face.

Delgado continues, I find beauty in the imperfection. I believe in the Wabi-Sabi concept that we are all transient beings on this planet. Our bodies, as well as the material world around us, are in process of returning to dust.She adds, The use of reminiscences comes from my need to share others people experiences, cultures and identities. Personal stories, memoirs and family photos are materials like clay or ink for me.

Shes working on her debut film, The Outsider.

NELSON ALMEIDA - Getty Images

The Outsider will follow the life of Claudia Andujar, the Swiss-born and naturalized Brazilian artist and activist. The film will trace Andujars life from surviving the Holocaust to her remarkable work as a photographer whose practice is used as a tool for activism with a focus on human rights and sustainability, according to Variety. Andujars work has largely focused on historically marginalized populations in Brazil and has contributed to the demarcation of Indigenous lands and vaccination campaigns in the countrys Amazon region. Her work is part of the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Tate in the UK, as well as having a dedicated gallery at Brazils prestigious Inhotim museum.

The Outsiders will be executive produced by Moura, who will also have a small role in the film.

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A U.S. flag on a passenger cycle in Havana last week. (Yamil Lage / AFP/Getty Images)

For more than six decades, communist Cuba thwarted every destabilizing measure Washington aimed its way  assassination plots, a trade embargo, sabotage, travel bans and, most notoriously, the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, when Fidel Castro's revolution was still young and the Cold War raging.

Now, many are wondering: Is the death knell finally tolling for the Cuban Revolution?

And is President Trump on track to achieve a goal  toppling the island's communist rulers  that eluded John F. Kennedy and successive presidents?

Trump has stated repeatedly that Cuba is next in his crosshairs, after his ongoing war against Iran and the overthrow in January of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

But many experts caution that predictions of communist rule ending have proved illusory.

A poster of late Cuban leader Fidel Castro reads "Death to the invader" in Havana. (Yamil Lage / AFP/Getty Images)

"A lot of people have lost their shirts betting on the end of these guys over the last 67 years, so I wouldn't go that far," said Jorge Castaneda, Mexico's former foreign minister. "But the only way [Cuba's government] can save itself is by doing everything on the economic front that Trump and the Miami people want them to do, in exchange for holding on to political power."

It was oil  specifically, Trump's de facto energy blockade  that finally forced Havana's entrenched leadership to go to the negotiating table with its longtime nemesis across the Florida Straits.

On Friday, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel went on national television and confirmed that Havana has been engaged in secret talks with the Trump administration.

Underscoring the gravity of the moment, Diaz-Canel stressed that the talks were directed by him and "the historic leader of our revolution," Raul Castro, the nonagenarian younger brother of Fidel, who died in 2016.

Read more:Cuba, reeling from oil crisis, acknowledges talks with Trump

Diaz-Canel's words masked what was, for adherents of a revolution celebrated by the global left, a painful reality.

"Cuba isn't negotiating out of conviction, but out of asphyxia," Stephanie Henaro, a Mexican analyst, wrote on X. "Regimes don't sit down with their historic enemies when they are strong."

In justifying the bilateral talks, the Cuban president cited the country's energy collapse, noting that some areas have gone more than 30 hours without power.

Long lauded for its free educational and healthcare systems, Cuba is seeing schools and hospitals shut because of a lack of electricity. The national waiting list for non-life-threatening procedures has almost reached 100,000, including more than 11,000 children, the government says.

Cuba, which imports 60% of its oil, has not received a fuel shipment in three months, Diaz-Canel said.

Once U.S. forces whisked Maduro to a New York prison, Trump cut off shipments of oil from Venezuela  which, under socialist rule, had long provided crude to its ideological ally.

Trump strong-armed other nations, notably Mexico, to stop sending oil to the island. He also pressured countries to expel the cadres of Cuban physicians who had been a linchpin of healthcare across much of the Americas, while providing much-needed cash to Havana.

And with many Latin American countries swinging to the right in recent years, Cuba no longer enjoys the support it once had.

People inside a private convenience store in Havana watch Friday as Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel speaks on TV. (Ramon Espinosa / Associated Press)

The island is experiencing its worst days since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union, Havana's steadfast patron. The Communist Party survived that blow  and outlasted an almost-decade-long "special period" of austerity after the loss of Moscow's support. Still, the special period saw adults lose an average of 12 to 20 pounds, according to estimates.

In recent weeks, furious Havana residents have signaled their displeasure with the outages in nightly crescendos of clanging pots and pans. Scattered reports of violent anti-government protests have emerged, despite the hard-line control of security services.

"We are at the limit: The situation is critical and precarious," Yaima Sardinas, a manicurist and mother of three, said by phone from Havana. "During the special period, yes, there were blackouts, but one could always find rice, maybe some meat. Now it's almost impossible."

"These days," added Sardinas, 42, "you see unfortunate people on the streets, picking through the trash. That didn't happen in the special period."

When Diaz-Canel unveiled bilateral talks, the tone was distinct from his recent denunciations of Washington's "suffocation policy" and his vows of "creative resistance" to Trump's bullying.

The talks will probably focus on an economic and political overhaul. But broad reforms would mean transforming a deeply embedded, command-and-control system that, while faulty, has endured for 67 years, despite unrelenting pressure from Washington.

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio  the Cuban American who is Trump's point man on Cuba  has blamed the calamitous current tableau on the island's leadership, not on the U.S. blockade.

"The humanitarian crisis is getting out of hand because the Cubans don't know how to run an economy," Rubio said in Florida last month.

Others say such comments underplay the consequences of the oil blockade.

"The Trump regime has succeeded in crushing the economy," said Robin Lauren Derby, a UCLA historian who follows Cuba.

Turning Cuba's largely state-owned system into a haven for private business  and a welcoming destination for Cuban American entrepreneurs from Florida  implies displacing powerful players in Cuba's military-industrial complex, which runs much of the economy.

Rubio has spoken of gradual transition in Cuba, and even Trump  who called on Iranians to take to the streets once the United States and Israel began bombing Tehran  hasn't predicted a large-scale revolt.

Speculation has centered on a Venezuela-style scenario in which current leadership is somehow sidelined in favor of a Trump-friendly replacement.

But many experts see few parallels with Venezuela, which, unlike Cuba, has a recent history of free markets and opposition parties, while lacking Cuba's ubiquitous security architecture. And after generations of "resistance," Cubans have a built-in disdain for the country's "imperialist" antagonist.

"Cuba is not going to be a walk like Venezuela," Derby said. "The issue of sovereignty really means something to Cubans."

In his comments, Diaz-Canel hinted at resistance to political change. Talks would proceed, he said, with "respect for the political systems of both states, and for the sovereignty and self-determination of our government."

Children play last week during a school activity in a park in Havana. (Ramon Espinosa / Associated Press)

Cuba probably will be open to an expanded private sector role and offering U.S. firms preferential access, said Ricardo Torres, an economist at American University. Potentially more problematic will be calls for compensation payments to U.S. companies and individuals  many in south Florida  whose property was expropriated after the revolution.

Another key factor is Florida's Cuban American population. A crucial base for the Republican Party, they probably will object to leaving the current governing infrastructure in place, Venezuela-style. Cuban exiles have demanded multiparty elections, freedom of speech, the release of political prisoners and other reforms.

"If Trump and Rubio betray Miami, they may get into a lot of trouble," Castaneda said.

On the other hand, a greatly debilitated Cuban government has few cards to play.

"Cuba has entered these negotiations in a very weak position," Torres said. "They will have to make concessions."

There are already some signs. Just last week, Havana announced that it was releasing 51 prisoners in the spirit of good will and close, fluid relations with the Vatican."

The Vatican  which helped broker talks that led to a U.S.-Cuba thaw during the Obama administration  has been playing a similar intermediary role with Trump and Havana.

On the U.S. side, some are predicting that Trump will agree to open up travel to the island, which is key to revitalizing the moribund tourist economy. The blackouts and lack of jet fuel have decimated tourism, a key source of revenue.

A return of foreign visitors would be a boon for many, including the likes of Bruno Diaz, 56, a father of three in Havana who makes a living as a cab driver and musician, catering to the tourist trade. He hasn't worked in weeks.

"We are in such a delicate situation  with people going hungry, so many shortages  that whatever news of a change gives us hope," Diaz said following news of the U.S.-Cuban talks.

"We just hope it's not only words, and that we will see real change soon. Because people can't take it anymore."

McDonnell and Linthicum reported from Mexico City, Ceballos from Washington. Special correspondent Cecilia Sanchez Vidal in Mexico City contributed to this report.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
The search for missing Arizona 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie, the mother of "Today" co-host Savannah Guthrie, entered its seventh week Sunday morning.

Savannah, who skipped NBC's Olympics coverage to spend time with her family during the search effort, still hasn't returned to work, although she visited her colleagues earlier this month after returning to New York from her native Tucson.

Her mother is believed to have been abducted from her longtime home in the Catalina Foothills, an upscale suburban neighborhood in northern Tucson, in the early hours of Feb 1.

Authorities have recovered Nest doorbell camera video of a masked suspect who remains unidentified. They recovered additional images last week that have not been publicly released, and it's unclear that they are of value to the investigation.

Nancy Guthrie's Suspected Abduction: Timeline Of Events In Disappearance Of 'Today' Host's Mom

There are billboards up in multiple states across the southwestern U.S., from Texas to California, with sightings reported in major cities, including Houston and Los Angeles, asking for anyone with information to come forward.

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Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos warned last week that the suspect could "absolutely" strike again and hinted that he believes he knows the potential motive in an interview with Savannah Guthrie's network, NBC.

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos speaks to the media on Feb. 3, 2026, in Tucson, Arizona. He was answering questions about the search for Nancy Guthrie, the missing mother of NBC host Savannah Guthrie.

"We believe that it was targeted, but we can't  we're not 100% sure of that," he said. "And so it would be silly to tell people, 'Yea don't worry about it. You're not his target.' No, you could be."

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Investigators said previously that the victim's pacemaker last synced via Bluetooth around 2:30 a.m. the night she went missing. They found blood drops on her front porch, leading to the driveway, where the trail stopped.

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A mixed DNA sample recovered inside her home has been sent to a private Florida lab and has not yet been unraveled.

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Photos released on Feb. 10, 2025, show a "subject" on Nancy Guthrie's property.

Federal law enforcement sources previously told Fox News Digital it provided only a partial profile that was insufficient for the FBI's CODIS database of known offenders as well as investigative genetic genealogy techniques.

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Separately, Nanos confirmed that investigators are looking into some kind of power or internet outage the morning of Nancy's abduction, but he said it was not connected to a utility box around the corner from the home showing signs of having been tampered with.

Annie Guthrie, her husband Tommaso Cioni, and Savannah Guthrie at their missing mother Nancy Guthrie's home on Monday, March 2, in Tucson, Arizona. (Fox News)

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Authorities said last week they had looked into the box and ruled it out.

There's a combined reward of over $1.2 million for info that cracks the case.

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The family is asking anyone with information to dial 1-800-CALL-FBI.





Original article source: Nancy Guthrie update: Search for Savannah Guthrie's missing mother enters seventh week with no arrests
Iranian workers removing debris from a street in Tehran after airstrikes on March 15, 2026.

For some 46 years, until 2025, Iran enjoyed a North Korea-like reputation in the heart of the Middle East: unpredictable, reckless, dangerous, self-destructive, nihilistic and inevitably, one day, nuclear.

But was it really ever all that formidable?

The mullahs came into power after the removal of the Shah and subsequently the interim secular socialists.

They did so by taking American hostages, murdering opponents, executing former supporters and transforming the most secular and modern of the Middle East Muslim nations into the most medieval  one that routinely hanged homosexuals, adulterers and almost anyone who questioned the authority of the ayatollahs.

In other words, these were gruesome people, but they didnt necessarily have a competent military.

The theocracys only link with monarchical Iran was that it inherited near limitless oil and natural gas reserves, sophisticated arms and the Shahs modernized cities.

It controlled the key strategic chokepoint at the Strait of Hormuz and enjoyed a geostrategically critical location between Asia and the Middle East.

It fueled Irans historical chauvinism and pique that the millennia-long historical preeminence of Middle Eastern Persia was not fully appreciated by its Arab neighbors.

So there were lots of natural advantages  for the most part squandered.

Under the camouflage of Shiite puritanism and otherworldliness, the ayatollahs proved even more corrupt (and far more incompetent) than the Shahs entourage.

They fought a destructive eight-year war with Saddam Husseins overrated Iraqi dictatorship and showed they were mostly just as militarily incompetent.

Over decades, they killed and wounded thousands of Americans by bombing US embassies, barracks and bases in the Middle East  without directly confronting the American military.

For years, they sent lethal shaped-charge IEDs to the Shiite insurgents to slaughter and maim thousands of Americans and their allies in Iraq, and to the Taliban to do the same in Afghanistan.

At the first sign of popular unrest, the regime never hesitated to gun down thousands of unarmed protesters.

And of course they were abject hypocrites  hating the West, damning the Great Satan, yet sending their pampered children to universities in America.

The apparat proved quite earthly in its desire for money, estates, foreign travel and the good life.

Their general strategies were never hard to follow.

One, the theocrats prior familiarity with Americans under the Shah and in exile in Europe bred an irrational fixation with and hatred of the West that made them useful proxies for the grand designs of communist and then oligarchic Russia, and later an ascendant communist China.

Iranian realpolitik alliances with secular communists were based on the quid pro quo of granting Russia and China access to the Gulf while selling oil to China, and buying arms from both.

Two, they were endlessly chagrined that the Persian Shiites had been overshadowed by more populous Sunni Arab neighbors that supposedly lacked Irans historical sophistication and more legitimate claims of speaking for global Islam.

They aimed to correct that historical travesty by mobilizing clients and proxies to bully, isolate and weaken Arab autocracies, especially pro-Western ones.

Three, they believed their eventual destruction of Israel would regain their countrys lost prestige and honor, by finally accomplishing what the Sunni world had failed to do.

By arming murderous clients in Lebanon, Gaza, Syria, the West Bank and Yemen, they fashioned a global network of death that terrified Western leaders and many of their Arab neighbors.

Fourth and finally, they sought to diminish the role of the United States in the Muslim world, drive it from the Middle East and wage an opportunistic war against American citizens and soldiers, via their terrorist surrogates.

By 2017, Iran was considered all-powerful in the Middle East with its missiles, soon-to-be nuclear status and client killers who would murder Westerners and Israelis year after year.

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For the last seven American presidents, the very thought of challenging Iran militarily was taboo, all the more so after the American misadventures in Afghanistan and Iraq.

No one, perhaps not even the Israelis, actually calibrated the true status of Iranian arms.

Despite its huge advantages in population, Iran could not defeat Iraq and was reduced to sending 10-year-olds as human pawns to clear minefields.

It never directly confronted Israel but always used surrogates to murder Jews  either abroad, as in the 1994 slaughter in Argentina, or through its ring of fire terrorist cliques that surrounded the borders of the Jewish state.

In sum, no one  with the exception of President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu  apparently realized that beneath its shell, theocratic Iran was rotten and decayed.

Its corruption and hatred of its own people ensured that not even huge revenues and sophisticated Chinese and Russian weapons could translate into a modern, lethal military.

And in summer 2025, the Israelis and Americans first proved that Iran was indeed hollow.

Its Arab partner in Syria imploded in weeks.

The supposedly goose-stepping Hezbollah shock troops were decimated.

Scary subterranean Hamas may have been deadly in surprise attacks against unarmed women, children and the aged, but they were nearly obliterated by the IDF.

The Houthis mimicked Irans madness as they sent drones and missiles to shut down the Red Sea, but the US and Israel finally demonstrated the ease with which their Western opponents could destroy their airfields, ports and power generation.

So here we are in 2026, watching the systematic destruction of the entire five-decade facade of a supposedly invincible Iranian military, the elimination of its theocratic leaders, and the dismantling of the Iranian military and Revolutionary Guard terrorists.

The regime has no military ability to ensure its survival.

All it has is a rope-a-dope strategy that assumes a White House attuned to domestic criticism, the looming midterms, the price of gas, and pressure from allies to end the war before the global economy sinks into recession.

We are left somewhat confused.

Why did prior presidents not hold Iran accountable for its killing, thus nourishing the myth of Iranian invincibility?

Why did Israel not respond earlier to Iran itself, rather than just its terrorist clients?

And what now are the remaining theocrats thinking? What is their strategy of survival?

They intend to ride out the bombings and, at some point in extremis, expect an armistice via negotiations.

They plan to wait out the tenures of both Trump and Netanyahu and hope for a sympathetic president like Obama, or a non compos mentis Biden, or someone ideologically akin to Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

With Trump and Netanyahu out of office, they dream of using their oil to re-arm and resume their role as Chinese and Russian proxies, eventually getting the bomb  and this time perhaps using it.

Theocratic Iran, in its fantasies, still believes that if it ever destroyed Israel, the world, especially given the recrudescence of Western antisemitism, would be appalled  for a day or two.

Then it would resume business as usual.

And with a dozen or so deterrent nuclear-tipped missiles at their backs, the Iranian ritual boilerplate of crazed pronouncements would follow.

Thus, we would go full circle back again to a crazy Iran, its murderous clients and its unhinged  but effective  threats.

Victor Davis Hanson is a distinguished fellow of the Center for American Greatness.
A woman sifted through rubble in the remnants of her house in Tehran on Sunday

Most people, although not everybody, want this war to end as quickly as possible. But on what terms? That is where positions diverge.

The United States

President Donald Trump's war aims have been somewhat opaque, appearing to vacillate between a simple curtailment of Iran's nuclear programme, to capitulation to all US and Israeli demands, to the total collapse of the Islamic Republic regime.

So far, Iran has neither capitulated nor collapsed. But its military has been severely weakened by 16 days of relentless precision bombing.

Indirect talks between the US and Iran in Geneva in February, mediated by Oman, were making progress on the nuclear file.

The Omanis say Iran was prepared to make major concessions that offered significant reassurance Tehran was not pursuing a nuclear weapon.

What Iran was not prepared to discuss was curtailing or cancelling its ballistic missile programme nor its support for proxy groups around the region, like the Houthis in Yemen or Hezbollah in Lebanon.

In an ideal world for Washington, and for many of its allies, this war ends with the collapse of the rule of the ayatollahs, to be swiftly replaced by a peaceful, democratically elected government that no longer poses a threat to its people or its neighbours. But as of Monday, that shows no sign of happening.

A next best result for the US would be if a severely damaged Islamic Republic were to then modify its behaviour, stop mistreating its citizens and end its support for radical militias in the region. Again, this looks unlikely after Iran chose as its new supreme leader, a man most likely to irritate Washington in the form of Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of his late, hardline predecessor, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

With rising global oil prices, a partially blocked Strait of Hormuz and increasing unease back home that America is getting sucked into yet another costly Middle Eastern conflict, there will be mounting pressure on President Trump to call off this war. But it will be hard for him to present it as anything other than a failure if the regime in Tehran survives, unchastened and defiant.

Iran

Iran wants the war to stop as quickly as possible but not at any price - ie not if it means caving in to all Washington's demands.

It knows that it probably has the "strategic patience" to outlast Trump in this war, plus it has geography on its side.

Iran has the longest coastline of any Gulf state and it has the capacity to threaten shipping - which in normal times carries around 20% of the world's oil supplies - indefinitely as it passes through the narrow chokepoint of the Strait of Hormuz.

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The US president's call on countries to come and help cope with the consequences of a war he co-started with Israel is being met with reluctance. The UK, Europe and other countries are wary of putting their navies in harm's way, escorting commercial vessels through the Strait, when they did not support this war in the first place.

Officially, Iran says the war must end with a cast-iron guarantee that it won't be attacked again and it also wants war reparations for the billions of dollars' worth of damage done by US and Israeli airstrikes. It probably knows it won't get either. But Iran's Islamic Republic leadership and its Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) only have to survive this conflict to be able to present it to their people and the world as a victory.

Israel

Iranian missiles have damaged homes and buildings in Tel Aviv

Of the three combatant nations  the US, Iran and Israel  the Israelis seem to be in the least hurry to end this war. They want to see as much as possible of Iran's ballistic missile stocks destroyed, along with storage depots, command and control centres, radar sites and IRGC bases.

All of these, of course, can be rebuilt when the shooting stops so Israel wants Iran to understand there is a severe cost in doing so, namely that the Israeli Air Force is quite capable of returning and bombing them again in a few months' time.

Israel sees Iran's missiles and its suspect nuclear programme as an existential threat.

Iran has  or at least had, up until this war started - a highly-developed homegrown missile and drone industry. (It gave its ally Russia the Shahed drones that have pummelled Ukraine).

Iran has also been enriching uranium to 60% purity, far beyond the level needed for civil nuclear power.

Taken together, the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sees these twin threats as something Israel cannot live with.

The Gulf States

The British Broadcasting Corporation

The Gulf Arab states  Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman  thought they could live with the Islamic Republic just across the water. Until now.

They are furious that despite declining to back this war on Iran they have still been coming under almost daily bombardment from Iran's drones and missiles.

In the first few hours of this Monday alone, the Saudi defence ministry reported it had intercepted more than 60 projectiles aimed at its territory.

"A red line has been crossed", one Gulf official told me. "There is zero trust between us and Tehran and we cannot have normal relations with them after this".
In the mountainous region of northern Chihuahua, several clandestine graves have been discovered in recent months in the municipality of Casas Grandes, where authorities have reported a large number of victims.

One of the locations where authorities have recovered the most bodies is an ejido known as "El Willy," where reports from the Chihuahua Attorney General's Office indicates that a total of 91 bodies have been found through investigations and forensic work since early 2025.

Reports say the investigation at "El Willy" began after the arrest of a member of a criminal group, which led authorities to uncover multiple clandestine graves in the area. For several years, the region has faced the presence of the armed group La Linea, an armed wing of the Juarez cartel.

As reported by Infobae Mexico, Adalberto Oros Salido, the district prosecutor for northern Chihuahua, said authorities determined that two of the bodies recovered at the property belonged to suspected members of organized crime who died during a previous confrontation with members of Mexico's Defense Ministry.

Oros Salido also said that, so far, 62 of the bodies have been fully identified through genetic testing conducted by forensic specialists.

Investigators working at the property have also collected additional evidence connected to the case. During their work at the site, authorities recovered at least 70 spent shell casings of different calibers, suggesting the location may have been the scene of violent acts linked to criminal activity.

According to Mexico's National Registry of Missing and Disappeared Persons, more than 121,000 people have been reported missing across the country as of early 2025. Over the past five years, the state of Chihuahua has recorded a total of 2,557 disappearances that remain under investigation, according to data from the State Attorney General's Office.

For years, the state of Chihuahua has been hit by violence linked to organized crime due to its location as a corridor for drug trafficking and migrant smuggling toward the United States.

One of the groups with the strongest presence in Chihuahua is La Linea, which was born as an armed wing for the Juarez cartel indented to help the drug trafficking organization defend its border territories in and around Chihuahua. Since then, La Linea has evolved into a drug and human trafficking group. Federal agencies have said that La Linea also taxes other Mexican criminal groups to move their merchandise through the Juarez Valley and generates revenue by selling synthetic drugs such as fentanyl.

According to Insight Crime, La Linea also has a significant presence along the border with El Paso, where it controls the local drug market in the city center. Authorities believe the group is responsible for the uptick of drug smuggling in the area in recent years.

Originally published on Latin Times
by Frs Shinto and Binoy

While Israel has begun a ground operation in southern Lebanon, Fathers Shinto and Binoy spoke to AsiaNews about their presence, along with the Missionaries of Charity, among the people most affected by the conflict. In the silence before the Blessed Sacrament, "the noise of the war fades away for the peace that only Christ can give. A man in need is helped.

Beirut (AsiaNews)  Many ask why we stay when it is dangerous. The answer is simple: our presence is our mission, writes Father Shinto Moongathottathil. A member of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (CSsR, also known as Redemptorists or Liguorini), he looks at the escalating fighting between Hezbollah and Israel from Lebanon.

In that quiet hour before the Blessed Sacrament, the noise of the war fades away, and we find the peace that only Christ can give, he writes at a time of great concern over the regional repercussions of the war launched by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against Iran, with renewed tensions between Lebanon and the Jewish state.

After the recent bombing of Lebanons capital and the countrys southern border, Israel launched a ground operation (read invasion) in southern Lebanon. This is bound to cause more bloodshed, as Father Poly Kannampuzha, superior of the Liguorini in Kerala, notes. On the feast of St. Clement, I invite all of you to pray for our confreres in Lebanon and Saudi Arabia (Frs Binoy, Lijo, Shinto, Wilson, and Johnson) who were affected by the war, he writes.

The situation in Lebanon, in particular, is alarming, he adds. "Most of the air strikes are happening in the capital, Beirut, and our confreres are not far" from the area where the strikes are concentrated. The religious are not panicking. But let us support them with our prayers and reach out to them in solidarity."

This is essential work, as evidenced by a testimony from the Redemptorist superior, Father Binoy Uppumackal, who cites the rescue two weeks ago of a man in conditions of unimaginable suffering.

Below is the full accounts of Father Shinto and Father Binoy to AsiaNews:

A Mission of Presence: Walking with the People of Lebanon

The situation in Lebanon today is very heavy. Every day, we hear the sounds of war, and we see the fear in the eyes of those around us. Thousands of families have been forced to leave their homes, carrying only what they can hold. Schools and streets are crowded with people who have nowhere else to go.

In the middle of this fear, we three Redemptorist missionaries (Fr Binoy, Fr Shinto, and Fr Lijo) have made a clear choice. We are staying. We are not just watching this war from a distance; we are living through it alongside the people. Many ask why we stay when it is dangerous. The answer is simple: our presence is our mission.

A very important part of our mission here is our brotherhood with the Missionaries of Charity (MC Sisters). We celebrate the Holy Mass with them. In a time of war, the Eucharist is our greatest strength. We also help the Sisters with their beautiful service to the poor. We lead days of recollection and hear confessions, providing spiritual support to those who are tired. During this time of struggle, we hold a special time of Adoration for the inmates and those living in the Sisters' care. In that quiet hour before the Blessed Sacrament, the noise of the war fades away, and we find the peace that only Christ can give.

Our mission also takes us into the heart of our local neighbourhood. Even in the midst of war, we go out to visit the families in our locality, especially those who are elderly or too sick to leave their homes. During a war, these people often feel the most forgotten. When we visit them and give them Holy Communion, we are bringing them more than just a sacrament; we are bringing them the comfort of the Church. We sit with them, listen to their worries, and pray with them. These visits remind them that even when the world feels like it is falling apart, God is still walking with them.

Sometimes, people think missionaries must always be "doing" big things. But we have realized that simply staying is the most powerful thing we can do. When the people see that we have not run away, it gives them courage. It tells them, "You are not alone. God has not forgotten you."

As Redemptorists, we follow the path of St. Alphonsus by staying close to those who are most abandoned. We kindly ask you to keep Lebanon and the Middle East in your prayers. The destruction around us is great, but the grace of God is greater. We don't know when this war will end, but we know where we belong. We belong here, with the broken-hearted, continuing the mission of plentiful redemption. Our presence is a small sign of Gods love, and as long as there is a need, we will remain.

Indian Redemptorist Fr Binoy Mandapathil CSsR, Mission Superior, Lebanon Mission Community, talks about a recent incident that shows dedication towards the weakest elements of the population:

Two weeks ago, we encountered a man in a state of unimaginable suffering. He had taken refuge in a narrow toilet, too afraid to come out, terrified of the police, and too weak to move. His body was covered in wounds, attacked by rats, and the stench of decay surrounded him. His skin was peeling, and he was unable to utter a sound.

When we found him, the sight was overwhelming. The smell was so strong that I could hardly bear to touch him. Yet, with courage and compassion, we managed to lift him into an ambulance. But our struggle did not end there. At the hospital, he was refused admission. The doctors feared his condition was contagious, labelling it as secondary diseases, and they turned him away.

It was then that the true strength of the community and faith shone through. With the support of many kindhearted people and the determination of the Missionary Sisters, we fought for him to receive the care he desperately needed. Eventually, he was operated on, and after the procedure, he was welcomed into the Home of Peace, the house of the MC Sisters.

Today (16 March), I visited him again. The transformation is remarkable. He is no longer the broken man we found in that toilet. He can sit properly, he smiles, and above all, he is deeply grateful. His gratitude is not only for the medical care but for the love and dignity restored to him.

This story is a living testimony of Gods mercy working through human hands. Where hospitals saw danger, compassion saw a brother in need. Where society turned away, faith embraced. And where despair reigned, hope was reborn.

Thank God for the courage of the MC Sisters, for the strength of those who stood together, and for the healing that now allows this man to live with dignity once more.

(Nirmala Carvalho contributed to this article)
Todays headlines: Tokyo has begun distributing oil from its strategic reserves; In Myanmar, the military junta-controlled parliament has convened for the first time; In Thailand, the Bhumjaithai Party has consolidated its power with the appointment of the Speaker of the House; New armed clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

WAR IN THE MIDDLE EAST  JAPAN

US President Donald Trumps calls to form a coalition to ensure the safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz appear to have fallen on deaf ears after Japan and Australia stated they would not send military vessels. This morning, Japan  which relies on oil imports from the Middle East for 95% of its supply  announced the distribution of fuel drawn from its strategic reserves, which can last up to 254 days.

UNITED STATES  CHINA

This morning, at the headquarters of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in Paris, preliminary agreements between the United States and China could be finalised after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng held several hours of talks yesterday ahead of Trumps trip to China at the end of March to meet President Xi Jinping.

MYANMAR

Parliament met for the first time today, five years after the military coup that brought an end to Myanmars democratic era. Brigadier-General Khin Yi, chairman of the USDP, the militarys party, was elected Speaker of the Lower House, whilst the head of the military junta, General Min Aung Hlaing, is expected to be chosen as the countrys president.

THAILAND

In Thailand too, MPs have elected Sophon Saram as Speaker of the House of Representatives, a leading figure in the Bhumjaithai party, to which Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul belongs. Under Thailands system of government, the Speaker of the House sets the legislative agenda and decides the voting schedule, including the next session for the formal appointment of the Prime Minister  a move that should secure Anutin another term following his election victory on 8 February.

PAKISTAN  AFGHANISTAN

The Pakistani army reported that it had launched new armed attacks against Afghanistan during the night between Saturday and Sunday, successfully striking military installations and terrorist hideouts in the southern province of Kandahar, the base of supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada. On Friday evening, the Taliban had struck three locations in Pakistan with drones.

INDIA

India has released the well-known activist Sonam Wangchuk after six months in detention. Wangchuk, 59, has staged several hunger strikes in defence of the environment, tribal communities and greater autonomy for Ladakh, a mountainous region bordering China and Pakistan. He was arrested in September after taking part in protests against the Indian government, but it is unclear whether the charges against him of making provocative speeches have been dropped.

RUSSIA

The President of the Republic of Bashkortostan, Radiy Khabirov, has formed a working group to search for soldiers missing in action in the war in Ukraine, most of whom hail from the Bashkir region itself. The task, described as a priority issue requiring immediate action, has been entrusted to Irina Pankina, a republican deputy in the Moscow Duma, alongside Ufas Prime Minister, Ruslan Khabibov, and several senior officials.

TAJIKISTAN  CHINA

China and Tajikistan are preparing to carry out the second phase of the major project to build border control and defence posts along the two countries shared border, with nine further sites fully funded by the Chinese to the tune of million, without any Tajik taxation, not for humanitarian reasons, but for geopolitical calculations according to analysts at Asia Plus, defending areas critical to the Chinese in Gorno-Badakhshan.
by Santosh Digal

They arrived in Burma in 1865, maintaining a constant presence in the service of vulnerable people. Active in nine communities, they provide education, healthcare and support to women who are victims of violence, trafficking and poverty, in a country marked by political instability and war. Cardinal Charles Maung Bo: A testimony of love that knows no bounds.

Yangon (AsiaNews) - For 160 years, the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd have been working in Myanmar to serve the poor and needy with dedication and compassion. Since 1865, their mission  which encompasses education, healthcare, missionary work, social services and pastoral care  has been a living and fruitful witness to the Gospel.

Today, over 50 sisters work in nine communities across Kachin State, Eastern Shan State, Kayah State, Mandalay Division, Bago Division and Yangon Division. The sisters provide young women with education and vocational training. They work in the healthcare sector and assist HIV-positive children and those whose parents are HIV-positive or drug-dependent. Furthermore, dedicated to child protection, they work on the prevention of gender-based violence.

They care for women at risk of human trafficking and street children. They are actively involved in prison ministry, social welfare and advocacy programmes focused on human rights and dignity, gender equality, pro-life issues, environmental sustainability, justice and peace. In Myanmar, they promote interfaith dialogue, particularly with Buddhists, who form the majority in the country, to foster understanding and cooperation on social issues affecting vulnerable populations and communities.

One of their centres is located in Myit Nge, central Myanmar, where the sisters care for around 40 boys and girls from conflict zones. Four paid teachers and two nuns work there. The centre, known as Kalay Saunt Shout Yae Gayhar (child-friendly space), was founded in 2021 to assist students affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and the political conflict following the 2021 military coup.

As a result of these circumstances, the education of many young people has suffered. The sisters help them to continue their education and build their future amidst many challenges. Sr. Amy Martina, director of the centre, explained that the childrens parents are poor and have been deeply affected by the countrys current tragic situation.

Meanwhile, in Loikaw, an area currently affected by the conflict in Myanmar, the Sisters of the Good Shepherd are assisting displaced people from various villages who have fled due to the ongoing violence. Families in Loikaw are living in makeshift accommodation due to the long-standing instability, reports Sr. Florence, who works in a shelter for women and girls who are victims of domestic violence.

The population of Loikaw lives in precarious conditions, without emergency healthcare or means of subsistence, whilst fighting between the Peoples Defence Force (PDF) and the national army continues with gunfire and prolonged shelling around the city. In the Daw U Khu area too, the sisters are helping displaced families in Buddhist monasteries.

In Mandalay, the former royal capital of Myanmar, the sisters run the Rose Virginie Empowerment Centre for Young Women, where they offer women vocational training courses to ensure they have a livelihood and a future. The centre is designed to help women who are victims of abuse or human trafficking. The centres aim is to help women earn a living and lead a dignified life, said Sr Chaw Su Aung, the coordinator.

The centre offers courses in bookkeeping, IT and cooking. It teaches time management and self-control, as well as raising awareness on issues such as human trafficking, womens rights and exploitation. After completing the course, women and girls are placed in safe and suitable environments. There are around 50 women of Catholic, Baptist, Buddhist and Muslim faiths, hailing from conflict-torn areas such as Kachin State and other ethnic strongholds, including Kayah, Chin and Karen States.

The Sisters of the Good Shepherd in Myanmar celebrated 160 years of presence on 12 March 2026. Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, Archbishop of Yangon, presided over the Mass of Thanksgiving. In his homily, the cardinal thanked God and the sisters for their service to the country, amidst difficult challenges. Their journey bears witness to a love that knows no bounds and a mission that continues to flourish, he said. May the spirit of the Good Shepherd continue to guide their steps for many years to come.

Today marks a fundamental milestone for the Catholic community and the people of Myanmar. We have gathered in prayer and joy for the Mass of Thanksgiving, celebrating the 160th anniversary of the arrival of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd in our beloved country, said Sr. Rebecca Kay Thi Oo, head of the Good Shepherd Unit for East Asia, which includes Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.

She also paid a grateful tribute to the pioneers and her fellow sisters who followed in their footsteps, courageously serving people with love and dedication. These 160 years are a milestone for all of us to renew our commitment to God, as we continue our mission of justice, mercy, respect, human dignity and reconciliation to create a better society, said Sr Rebecca Kay Thi Oo.

Since the Sisters of the Good Shepherd first set foot in Myanmar in 1866, they have been a symbol of hope, compassion and selfless service. For 16 decades they have walked alongside marginalised people, offering empowerment to women and girls, quality education, holistic development to young people, comfort and protection to the vulnerable, as a spiritual reference rooted in the heart of the Good Shepherd.

In 1835, in Angers, France, Saint Mary of Saint Euphrasia Pelletier (17961868) founded the Congregation, which was approved in the same year by Pope Gregory XVI. It was Bishop Paul Ambrose Bigandet, the first Apostolic Vicar in Lower Burma, who asked the sisters to go there. After their arrival in 1866, they faced enormous challenges posed by numerous ethnic tribes and other populations: poverty, civil wars between ethnic groups, illiteracy and corruption, as well as natural disasters such as droughts and floods. Furthermore, the country lacked advanced agricultural techniques and had inadequate communication and transport systems.

In the 1960s, the country embraced Burmese socialism and a campaign of nationalisation, which paved the way for an anti-Western trend, including xenophobia, and repressed missionaries. These measures dealt a severe blow to the countrys economy and exacerbated poverty. In 1973, some Sisters of the Good Shepherd returned to the country to restart the mission, teaching catechism and English in seminaries. Since then, they have continued their pastoral work in various dioceses, right up to the present day.
by Joseph Masilamany

After a series of violent incidents, including the burning of an activist's vehicle and the desecration of a Hindu symbol, places of worship are back at the centre of public debate in Malaysia. A PAS party member has called for restraint. The issue is linked to the land on which Hindu temples are located, whether private or state-owned, while the government is struggling to find solutions acceptable to all.

Kuala Lumpur (AsiaNews)  A member of Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS), a Malaysian Islamist party, has called for restraint amid rising tensions related to disputes over places of worship, stating that acts of intimidation and violence risk threatening the countrys fragile interreligious balance.

Ab Halim Tamuri, the party's representative in Selangor state, issued his statement in Malay, Mandarin Chinese, and Tamil, after a social activist's car was set on fire in recent days.

Such actions are deeply regrettable and unacceptable in a country that upholds the rule of law and values harmony among its multi-ethnic population, he said.

Halim stressed that disputes over land ownership or the construction of places of worship should be handled through legal channels and relevant authorities rather than through public confrontation.

Taking matters into ones own hands can threaten public order, he stressed.

The political leader also urged the central government to act. Delays in addressing this issue will only create space for speculation and the spread of misinformation that could inflame ethnic and religious sentiments, Halim said.

Likewise, he called on religious leaders to help calm tensions.

In recent days, three vehicles belonging to activist Cikgu Chandra, known for his comments on certain incidents related to ethnic and religious tensions, were set on fire.

Police are investigating a possible act of intimidation.:

I will not move anywhere and I will not flee this area. I believe almost all Malaysians are supporting this struggle, Cigku stated today. My answer is clear  no. Instead, this incident has further strengthened my spirit to continue speaking out, he added.

Meanwhile, the authorities are also investigating allegations regarding the desecration of a sacred Hindu symbol and the assault against Muslim preacher Zamri Vinoth, a controversial figure repeatedly accused of making discriminatory and racist comments against the Hindu community online.

Malaysia's National Unity Minister Aaron Ago Dagang urged police to act against those responsible, warning that such incidents could jeopardise the country's delicate racial and religious balance.

Malaysia is home to a diverse population that includes ethnic Malays, Chinese, Indians, and indigenous communities. Islam is the official religion, but the constitution guarantees freedom of worship for other faiths, including Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Sikhism.

For decades, controversies have periodically resurfaced over places of worship, particularly Hindu temples built on private or government land.

These temples were established by Indian plantation workers during the colonial period, often without formal land titles.

Subsequently, with the expansion of urban development since the 1970s, conflicts over land ownership have occasionally led to relocation or demolition orders, particularly in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor.

A highly controversial case occurred in 2007, when a historic Hindu temple in Kampung Rimba Jaya, Shah Alam, was demolished, sparking protests from residents. More recently, renewed disputes have arisen over temples located on land earmarked for urban development.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who came to power promising reforms and an inclusive government, has attempted to balance the sensitivities of different religious communities, but several civil society groups argue that progress is too slow, leaving the door open to new tensions, while reforms regarding land status and the protection of religious sites have yet to materialise.
The price of a coconut in Thailand, which was 20 baht before 2020, has now dropped to as low as 2 baht, putting small farmers out of business. According to local producers, a few companies with Chinese capital now control much of the supply chain, imposing extremely low prices and distorting the market.

Bangkok (AsiaNews)  Thai farmers blame China for the drop in coconut prices, which have fallen to as low as 2 baht per fruit (about six US cents). With Chinese investors now dominating the supply chain, small farmers earnings have been drastically reduced, forcing many to envisage the possibility of shutting down their business if the Thai government does not take urgent action.

Representatives of growers on the Sathing Phra Peninsula in the southern province of Songkhla, have threatened to take their protest to Parliament, explaining that the wholesale price, which before the pandemic was 20 baht per coconut, has plummeted more recently from 10 to 2 baht, while lower-quality fruit is paid as little as 1 baht.

For many, revenues can no longer cover production costs, prompting some farmers to leave the fruit on the trees or consider cutting them down.

According to a senator who heard producers' complaint, the crisis is not simply due to oversupply, but to distorted market mechanisms: a few large companies linked to Chinese investors dominate the supply chain, controlling purchasing and exports to China, with the power to dictate their own prices, while Thai farmers are unable to sell their crops to other buyers.

The problem particularly affects the supply chain of aromatic nam hom coconuts, which are highly sought after in the Chinese market for beverages.

In recent years, the entire trade chain, from harvesting to export, has been progressively taken over by companies registered in the names of Thai citizens but linked to Chinese investors, sometimes operating fraudulently.

According to some estimates, just six or seven large companies now control a large portion of the sector. According to police, these companies purchase the coconuts at very low prices, between 2 and 5 baht, and then export them to China for 35-50 baht each.

Earlier this month, law enforcement raided several warehouses and processing plants in Ratchaburi province, the heart of the coconut trade, questioning more than a dozen people, including several Chinese nationals, as part of an investigation into a network of front companies.

In recent years, the growing presence of Chinese capital has also reduced the role of traditional local intermediaries, known as lhong. These wholesalers collect the produce directly from the farms and transport it to warehouses or sorting centres, where prices are set based on the quality of the harvest and market demand.

According to some industry players, over 80 per cent of the coconut wholesale trade is now controlled by Chinese capital, a situation that further reduces the bargaining room for small farmers.

In recent years, Thai farmers have reconverted their production following the strong demand for sweet coconut water from China.

In some areas of Thailand, palm sugar plantations and shrimp farms have been abandoned in favour of the more profitable and less labour-intensive production of nam hom coconuts.

This has increased supply: Thailand now produces around two million coconuts a day, but foreign demand has not grown at the same rate, putting downward pressure on prices.

According to the Think Forward Center, a think tank affiliated with the People's Party, Thailand's main progressive party, the country produces approximately 550 million coconuts for export annually, over 80 per cent of which comes from the central regions.

In 2025, supply increased by over 55 per cent, while export volumes increased by approximately 9.7 per cent. This brought the total value of sales down to 6.5 billion baht (US$ 200 million).

The fruit sector accounts for over a quarter of Thailand's agricultural exports and employs tens of millions of workers, many informally. Despite the growing challenges posed by climate change, such as severe floods and droughts, the coconut market is worth six billion dollars.

Today, however, the sector is further exposed to market fluctuations due to lower supplies of fertilisers, which, like oil, mostly pass through the Strait of Hormuz, blocked by the US and Israel's war against Iran.

The Thai government has listed coconuts among the agricultural products under monitoring and introduced several support measures for farmers, such as purchasing a portion of coconuts at 5 baht each and launching investigations into purchasing centres suspected of operating through front men. Even with these measures, however, prices averaged 3.20 baht per coconut in February, while in December the price hovered around 5.75 baht.

According to the Think Forward Center, restoring prices would require absorbing approximately 20 million excess coconuts and supporting small and medium-sized businesses that use coconut products, with the goal of restoring the producer price to 7.5 baht per coconut by the third quarter of 2026.

Photo: Nipanan Lifestyle on Unsplash
by Vladimir Rozanskij

Whilst the Russian pavilion at the Venice Biennale is causing controversy, there are also works in Russia striving to move beyond propaganda in their reflection on current affairs. This is illustrated by the story behind the exhibition *Dies Illa*, opened by Grisa Bruskin at the *Zilart* Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow.

Moscow (AsiaNews)  The decision to admit a pavilion for contemporary Russian art at the Venice Biennale is causing much debate, pitting those who refuse to make concessions to the country waging war in Ukraine against those  such as director Pietrangelo Buttafuoco  who believe that culture and art, which stand above and beyond all conflicts, should not be censored. The problem is that, since the start of the war, Russian art has been subjected to systematic and suffocating censorship, with blacklists of painters and writers under constant scrutiny by the police.

The BBCs Russian service attempts to describe the current context, starting from the fifth floor of the Zilart Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow, where the renowned artist Grisha Bruskin has opened the exhibition Dies Illa, which concludes the Change of Decor project on which Bruskin had worked for ten years, exhibiting many works in various museums. The journalists present, along with art critic Igor Grebelnikov, complained that the museum management had forbidden them from filming the exhibition, at the artists own request.

Bruskin was rather surprised, stating that he had not asked for anything of the sort: its fine not to take selfies in front of every artwork, but forbidding the media from sharing the exhibited content was certainly not his intention, although he adds that popularity is not my primary concern, as he told the Blueprint agency. The exhibition Dies Illa is a highly complex collection of installations that address power and ideologies, war and flying dronesincluding the Iranian Shahedsand the images are highly impactful, which explains the caution in sharing them on social media.

Bruskins installation-performance is a dramatic space constructed by him and the architect Igor Cirkin, in which the viewer becomes part of the action, immersing themselves physically and mentally. Consequently, as in a theatre, visitors were asked to refrain from taking photos or filming videos upon entry, so that they could focus on their presence within the work and their interaction with it, as a representative of Zilart told the BBC.

The exhibition does indeed feature objects resembling drones and aeroplanes. According to some eyewitnesses, visitors are asked not to approach the sculptures of girls wearing hijabs and explosive belts with their mobile phones. There is also a work entitled Crowd and Power. The caption describes it as small printed figures marching in the shadow of a mechanical double-headed eagle. On the Zilart website, photographs of part of the installation can also be found, though with a notice prohibiting photography within the exhibition.

Thus, not only among the works of Russian dissidents abroad, but also at home, there are those who seek to resist propaganda and censorship, and to offer images and food for thought on current affairs and the fundamental aspects of society, life and death, and on many issues where it is not easy to draw clear lines of separation between those who espouse unacceptable views and those who are guided by the desire to express values that are not traditional and codified, but rather inner and surprising.